(11/13) Search for the Eternal

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bandipur, 15 November 2019, evening, part 11
Translated from Bengali

You have heard about Vasudev Vipra who had leprosy. He would pick up the insects falling from his sores and put them back into the sores. This is how much tolerance he had. He thought, 'If these insects are happy to live in my body, let them live there.' We must remember all the glories and glorification of Vaishnavs, and we must embrace the path they embraced in their lives. Search for that which is eternal. Giving up all that is unfavourable to devotion, practise that which is favourable to devotion.

When you come to serve the Lord, there will be many obstacles and dangers – you must not mind them (consider all those obstacles trifle and of no consequence) and continue going forward in your service to the Lord. Always remember this.

The Lord comes in this age as a teacher – He practised Himself what He taught us.

নিজ আচারি' ধর্ম্ম জীবকে শিখায় ।
আচার না করিলে শিখান না যায় ॥

nija achari' dharma jivake sikhaya
achara na karile sikhana na yaya

'First follow the instruction yourself, then teach others. If you do not practise what you preach, your preaching will not work.'

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught us by His own example – He practised what He preached.

In Sri Dham Puri, at Gambhira, He showed His vipralamba-lila – the pastimes of divine separation. He showed that there is more happiness in separation because in separation you are always anxious, 'Where can I find the Lord? Where am I to go to find the Lord?'

Search for that which is eternal! In this world, we are always searching for uneternal things: 'Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, bharyam dehi. Make me rich, give me knowledge, make me beautiful, give me a good wife’ – these are all non-eternal, temporary and fleeting, things. You can enjoy all these things, but after a few days you will have to leave everything in this world and go away. You wish to have money, cars, houses and other material things, but if you serve the Lord, then the Lord takes charge of everything.

ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

sad-anga saranagati haibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

‘Lord Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender to Him in these six ways.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Such six-fold surrender must come to us.

One time, Srivas Pandit's only son died, but Srivas Pandit did not tell anything to Mahaprabhu because he did not want to disturb the Lord's kirtan. You can see how much attraction he had for Mahaprabhu and for chanting the Holy Name.

Where does Mahaprabhu stay? At Sachi Mata's kitchen, wherever Nityananda Prabhu dances, at Srivas Pandit's house and at the house of Raghav Pandit. Sachi Mata always cooks and thinks, 'When will my Nimai come to eat?' Just like Mother Yasoda also always thinks, 'When will my Gopal come? When will I be able to serve Him and feed Him?' We must be like that, too. Such irresistible attraction for the Lord must come to us. Young wives in Vraja forgot everything – shyness, shame, fear – and ran behind Krishna.

When the Lord appeared in Gokula, He showed many kinds of pastimes, but for His mother He was always her child. This is vatsalya-rasa (serving the Lord as a parent). We must always remember these things. But our situation is such that we are members of the illusory world – we always share our residence with Kali and live amidst strifes and quarrels. We cannot even give up the greed of our tongues. Because people cannot give up eating fish and meat, they cannot come to this path. This is the main problem...

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 36 Mb
Length: 76 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Appreciate Your Fortune
2) Fossil Hearts
3) God Is Great
4) Getting in Touch With God
5) God's Message
6) Higher Purpose in Life
7) Service Is Not Abstract
8) Choose the Right Path
9) Purity Comes From Practice
10) Embrace Eternal Life
11) Search for the Eternal
12) Service Comes from Heart
13) Educate Yourself