(4/7) Know Your Place

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Ganga Sagar, anniversary festival, noon class
12 January 2020, part 4

If you serve devotees, the Lord will come to serve you. There is nothing else except service to devotees. The Lord says, "Those who say they are My devotees are not My devotees. Mahaprabhu told Nityananda Prabhu, "Go and preach about the Holy Name of Krishna," but instead of preaching about the Holy Name of Krishna, Nityananda Prabhu began preaching about the Holy Name of Gauranga.

ভজ গৌরাঙ্গ, কহ গৌরাঙ্গ, লহ গৌরাঙ্গের নাম রে
যে জন গৌরাঙ্গ ভজে, সেই আমার প্রাণ রে

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re
ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

"Worship Gauranga! Say Gauranga! Take Gauranga's Name! Those who worship Gauranga are My heart and soul!"

(Sriman Nityananda Prabhu)

This is how He preached.

We too always chant, "Doyal Nitai! Doyal Nitai!" During the last days of his life, our Param Guru Maharaj (Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) showed a pastime of illness and would always repeat, "Doyal Nitai, Doyal Nitai [Merciful Nitai, Merciful Nitai]." When somebody gave him his beads to chant the Holy Name, he said, "Give it to Govinda Maharaj," and he only chanted, "Doyal Nitai, Doyal Nitai."

বিষয় ছাড়িয়া কবে শুদ্ধ হ'বে মন ।
কবে হাম হেরব শ্রীবৃন্দাবন ॥

visaya chhadiya kabe suddha habe mana
kabe hama heraba sri-vrndavan

"When will my mind, leaving the material world, become clean? When will I see Sri Vrindavan?"

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

"When will my mind become cleansed of all material contamination and when will I behold Sri Vrindavan Dham?" This is our humble prayer.

You must serve the Deities in such a way that Deities (vigraha) do not become a nigraha ('burden' or 'confinement') and then galagraha ('throttling'). You must always remember this. We must always think how we can serve the Deities. It is necessary to preach much about the Deities. We must continue our attempts in this way, thinking, "How will serve the Lord? How will I worship the Lord?"

Everybody must chant kirtan according to their right or qualification. Srila Narottam Das Thakur sang: 'Vrndavane chabutara tahe mora mano-ghera—My entire mind dwells within the courtyard of Vrindavan.' But we all know very well where, in which courtyard, our minds dwell. Is our mind at the lotus feet of the Lord? Srila Narottam Das Thakur has the right to sing it, that is why he says that his mind dwells within the courtyard of Vrindavan, but we know where our minds are. "Chabutara" is something like a pond, or a place. The puspa samadhi mandir of Gurudev in Govardhan that we made is also situated near a chabutara, a small pond. Gurudev also described it as a Tulasi temple. So, Srila Narottam Das Thakur sings, 'Vrndavane chabutara tahe mora mano-ghera—My entire mind dwells within the courtyard of Vrindavan.' We sing it, repeating his words, but does it mean that we also dwell in Vrindavan? We can only think about this high ideal. Those who have the right can meditate on that; otherwise, if you meditate on this without first attaining the qualification, you will be going down the path of sahajiya (imitation). Live according to your capacity.

Question: Should we offer obeisance to the Lord if the temple is closed?

Yes. The Lord can see that I have come. Many people say many things. We must always offer obeisances to the Lord. If the temple is closed, we will not disturb the Lord—we can offer our obeisances and leave. What is the problem? But you cannot sit in the temple and talk prajalpa and gramya-katha. It is a big offence to do this in front of Deities. For example, you are going to take prasad now in the nat mandir, but that is because there is no other way, the place here is small. When you take prasad, you must remember where you are.

We must always think about these things. If we can live amidst such thoughts, we will get the supreme benefit.

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Increase Glory of Temple
2) Coming to Ganga Sagar
3) Service Eyes
4) Know Your Place
5) Cannot Have Your Feet in Two Boats
6) Our Exclusive Duty
7) Gift of Pilgrimage