(4/6) Srila Prabhupad: Divine Benefactor

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's disappearance
Nrisingha Palli, morning, 3 January 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

কুলিয়াতে পাষণ্ডীরা, অত্যাচার কৈল যা’রা,
তা সবার দোষ ক্ষমা করি’ ।
জগতে কৈলে ঘোষণা, ‘তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা’,
হন ‘কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ’ ॥

kuliyate pasandira, atyachara kaila ya’ra,
ta sabara dosa ksama kari’
jagate kaile ghosana, ‘taroriva sahisnuna’,
hana ‘kirtaniyah sada harih’

‘You [Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad] have forgiven the atheists from the Kulia village despite their atrocities and proclaimed to the whole world: one who is as tolerant as a tree can always chant the glories of the Lord.’

(Acharya Vandana)

Kulia is the same place as Nabadwip. When Prabhupad Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was in Nabadwip, he was assaulted by the babajis and goswamis of Mayapur, but he showed no resistance – instead, he forgave everyone and declared, ‘Be as tolerant as a tree and chant the Holy Name!’

করিতেছ উপকার, যাতে পর উপকার,
লভে জীব শ্রীকৃষ্ণ-সেবায় ।

karitechchha upakara, yate para upakara,
labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya

‘You are helping others, and through your help, other souls get a chance to serve Lord Krishna.’

(Acharya Vandana)

Srila Prabhupad’s help was such that everyone was benefitted through it. What kind of help was it? For example, if you use bananas in the service of the Lord, you can help banana trees in this way because these banana trees will get some spiritual benefit through you. This is the kind of help that benefits everyone. You can come to somebody’s house and ask them for a handful of rice or a sack of potato. Common people cannot serve the Lord themselves because they do not offer bhoga, they do not take prasad (somebody can be a vegetarian, but they do not take prasad), so to give benefit to such people, you can use their wealth and property in the service of the Lord.

Last year, there was a lockdown. Do you know what we did with all the potato we had collected? There are many small temples in Mayapur, in some of which devotees did not even have anything to eat. Somebody suggested I sell the potato we had, but I said no. I took all the potato and sent Sripad Niriha Maharaj to distribute everything to temples – he went temple to temple and gave some rice, dal, potato, soya and oil to all the temples in Nabadwip. It was not possible for temples to buy that many things during lockdown, and we also did not have many festivals (Vaishnavs could not come during the lockdown), so we did not use this bhoga. What was I to do? I sent Sripad Niriha Maharaj in a car and had everything distributed to the temples in Nabadwip. For example, they went to Champahati (when we go for the parikrama, we always have a big programme there every year). They went also to Mamgachi, Vidyanagar. I even sent bhoga to the place where Sripad Tirtha Maharaj is staying (where he made his temple). I do not care who criticises me – I sent bhoga everywhere. If you give, then it is necessary to give to everyone. We sent bhoga to Sri Chaitanya Math also, but we did not send it to ISKCON because they have money and did not lack bhoga. We also distributed bhoga to everyone in the neighbourhood – people stood in a long queue to take rice and potato. But it was much more important to give this bhoga to Vaishnavs. It is necessary to use the property of the temple for the service to Vaishnavs. Because it was good for the reputation of the temple, we gave also something to common people, so that they may have a favourable attitude to the temple (they can say in the future, ’Maharaj has built this temple, and he also gave rice to us!’). People see us building temples and think that we have money, but this money belongs to the Lord – I myself am a beggar. We collected very much rice and potato last year, and I could not allow it to get wasted, so we distributed everything.

দূরে যায় ভব-রোগ, খণ্ডে যাহে কর্ম্মভোগ,
হরিপাদপদ্ম যা’তে পায় ॥
জীব মোহ-নিদ্রাগত, জাগা’েত বৈকুন্ঠদূত,
‘গৌড়ীয়’ পাঠাও ঘরে ঘরে ।

dure yaya bhava-roga, kande yahe karma-bhoga,
hari-pada-padma ya’te paya
jiva moha-nidra-gata, jaga’te vaikuntha-duta,
‘gaudiya’ pathao ghare ghare

‘[Through service to Lord Krishna] heart disease goes away, all enjoyment and selfish pursuits break apart, and the souls attain the lotus feet of the Lord. You send Gaudiya Vaishnavs, messengers of the spiritual world, house to house to awaken souls sleeping in illusion.’

(Acharya Vandana)

People are sleeping on the lap of Maya. They forget the Lord and sleep in the lap of illusion. When we sleep, we do not think about anything, we do not realise that we are sleeping, but the problem is that when we wake up, we still continue sleeping because we live in oblivion, forgetting the Lord. We do not remember anything about our past lives, and we do not remember the Lord. Srila Prabhupad sent messengers from Vaikuntha (brahmacharis and sannyasis) for such sleeping souls – on his order, they went house to house, calling out, ‘Wake up, brother! Wake up! Stop sleeping!’

উঠরে উঠরে ভাই, আর ত সময় নাই,
‘কৃষ্ণ ভজ’ বলে উচ্চৈঃস্বরে ॥

uthare uthare bhai, ara ta samaya nai,
‘krsna bhaja’ bale uchchaihsvare

‘They call out loudly: ‘Wake up! Wake up, brother! There is no time left! Worship Lord Krishna!’’

তোমার মুখারবিন্দ- বিগলিত মকরন্দ,
সিঞ্চিত অচ্যুত-গুণগাথা ।
শুনিলে জুড়ায় প্রাণ, তমো মোহ অন্তর্দ্ধান,
দূরে যায় হৃদয়ের ব্যথা ॥

tomara mukhara-binda- vigalita makaranda,
sinchita achyuta-guna-gatha
sunile judaya prana, tamo moha antardhana,
dure yaya hrdayera vyatha

‘The drops of nectar falling from your holy mouth are suffused with the glorification of the Infallible Supreme Lord. Hearing them soothes our souls, dissipates all ignorance and illusion and removes all pain from our hearts.’

জানি আমি মহাশয়, যশোবাঞ্ছা নাহি হয়,
বিন্দুমাত্র তোমার অন্তরে ।
তব গুণ বীণাধারী, মোর কন্ঠ-বীণা ধরি’,
অবশেতে বলায় আমারে ॥

jani ami mahasaya, yaso-vanchha nahi haya,
bindu-matra tomara antare
tava guna vina-dhari, mora kantha-vina dhari’,
avasete balaya amare

‘I know that you are a great soul and there is not a drop of desire for fame within you. Your glories are like a vina player – they have captured the vina of my throat and, paralysing me, force me to sing.’

(Acharya Vandana)

The Vaishnav poet says, ‘Prabhu, I know that when I say all these things, no pratistha will come to you, and you will not consider me a flatterer (karta-bhaja).’

Do you understand what karta-bhaja means? I can tell you. For example, there is a ‘temple-in-charge’ (manager). Many people come to compete and fight with the manager, ‘Oh, he is not giving me a good room!’, ‘Oh, he is not giving me good food!’ They often bypass the manager and come to complain directly to gurudev. This is ‘goda dingiye ghas kawa’:‘bypassing the proper channel’ [lit. ‘jump over the goda, a raised platform for cows to stand while eating grass, to eat grass’]. For example, there are managers in Puri and Vrindavan, but people cross over them and run to other places, thinking, ‘Oh, if I give that man some money, he will like me, and I can stay there nicely.’ Such people are called karta-bhaja (those who get what they want by flattery). There are such aul, baul and karta-bhaja people (apa-sampradayas).

জানি আমি মহাশয়, যশোবাঞ্ছা নাহি হয়,
বিন্দুমাত্র তোমার অন্তরে ।
তব গুণ বীণাধারী, মোর কন্ঠ-বীণা ধরি’,
অবশেতে বলায় আমারে ॥

jani ami mahasaya, yaso-vanchha nahi haya,
bindu-matra tomara antare
tava guna vina-dhari, mora kantha-vina dhari’,
avasete balaya amare

‘I know that you are a great soul and there is not a drop of desire for fame within you. Your glories are like a vina player – they have captured the vina of my throat and, paralysing me, force me to sing.’

বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান, করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ,
শুনিয়াছি সাধুগুরুমুখে ।
কৃষ্ণভক্তি সমুদয়, জনম সফল হয়,
এ ভব-সাগর তরে সুখে ॥

vaisnavera guna-gana, karile jivera trana,
suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe
krsna-bhakti samudaya, janama saphala haya,
e bhava-sagara tare sukhe

‘Singing Vaishnavs’ glories rescues and protects the jiva soul – I have heard this from the holy mouths of sadhus and gurus. When devotion to Lord Krishna arises in you, your life will become successful and you can happily cross this ocean of material existence.’

তে-কারণে প্রয়াস, যথা বামনের আশ,
গগনের চাঁদ ধরিবারে ।
অদোষ-দরশী তুমি, অধম পতিত আমি,
নিজগুণে ক্ষমিবা আমারে ॥

te-karane prayasa, yatha vamanera asa,
gaganera chanda dhari-bare
adosa-darasi tumi, adhama patita ami,
nija-gune ksamiba amare

‘So, my attempts are like those of a dwarf who hopes to catch the moon in the sky. You never see anyone’s faults, and I am a fallen, lowly soul – please forgive me out of your benevolence.’

শ্রীগৌরাঙ্গ-পারিষদ, ঠাকুর ভক্তিবিনোদ,
দীনহীন পতিতের বন্ধু ।
কলিতমঃ বিনাশিতে, আনিলেন অবনীতে,
তোমা’ অকলঙ্ক পূর্ণ ইন্দু ॥

sri-gauranga-parisada, thakura bhaktivinoda,
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite, anilena avanite,
toma’ akalanka purna indu

‘To dispel the darkness of this Age of Kali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, a close associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of fallen souls, brought to this earth you, a spotless, unblemished full moon.’

কর কৃপা বিতরণ, প্রমসুধা অনুক্ষণ,
মাতিয়া উঠুক জীবগণ ।
হরিনাম-সংকীর্ত্তনে, নাচুক জগত-জনে,
বৈষ্ণব-দাসের নিবেদন ॥

kara krpa vitarana, prema-sudha anuksana,
matiya uthuk jiva-gana
harinama-sankirtane, nachuka jagata-jane,
vaisnava-dasera nivedana

‘Please bestow your mercy so that jiva souls may arise, feeling constantly intoxicated with the nectar of love for the Lord. May the whole world dance in the sankirtan of the Lord’s Holy Names. This is the humble plea of this servant of Vaishnavs.’

(Acharya Vandana)

Jay Prabhupada Jay Prabhupada
Jay Prabhupada Jay Prabhupada

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Srila Prabhupad's Exclusivity
2) Listen and Learn
3) Live Exemplary Life
4) Srila Prabhupad: Divine Benefactor
5) Life's Purpose
6) Strings Stronger Than Steel