(3/8) Clearing the Path

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 7 February 2021, part 3

'আমি ত' বৈষ্ণব', এ বুদ্ধি হইলে
অমানী না হ'ব আমি ।

‘ami ta vaisnava’, e buddhi haile,
amani na ha’ba ami

‘If I think, “I am a Vaishnav,” then I will never stop desiring honour.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If I think that I have become a Vaishnav, I will not be able to show respect to others, and the result will be ‘haiba nirayagami’: I will clear the road to hell for myself.

‘আমি ত বৈষ্ণব’, এ বুদ্ধি হইলে,
অমানী না হ’ব আমি ।
প্রতিষ্ঠাশা আসি’, হৃদয় দূষিবে,
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

‘ami ta vaisnava’, e buddhi haile,
amani na ha’ba ami
pratisthasa asi’, hrdaya dusibe,
haiba nirayagami

‘If I think, “I am a Vaishnav”, I will never stop desiring honour – my heart will become polluted with the desire for prestige, and I will end up in hell.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

It means the road to hell will become cleared for me. If somebody thinks, ‘I have become a great Vaishnav’, ‘I am becoming a great Vaishnav’, ‘I have become a sannyasi (monk)’, ‘I am a brahmachari (celibate)’, ‘I am a grihastha (householder)’ or even, ‘I am a devotee’, this is all wrong. Our only identification is ‘I am a servant of devotees.’

সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া, ভজিতে ভজিতে,
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

sambandha janiya, bhajite bhajite,
abhimana hau dura

‘May my ego go away by always worshipping you in full knowledge of the relationship.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

It is crucial to understand this. Ego always creates problems. We have six enemies (sad-ripu) inside us: kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (desire, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy). Ego is also included there, it is number five (mada).

Matsaryata (envy) is also a big problem. We must think about others’ good and about others’ benefit. We must always think, ‘How can I help him/her to come to Krishna consciousness?’ Even Sriman Mahaprabhu’s teachings are like that. ‘Pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana: stop ill-treating others, nurture everyone.’ It means that if somebody says anything bad to you, you must not talk back. If somebody does any harm to you, you must not do harm to them in return – you must not become the judge because there is already somebody above you who gives judgement, and that somebody is the Lord. So, you cannot take the law in your own hands. We must control ourselves.

We must not see anyone’s faults. This is very important. We must always see our own faults. ‘Vaisnava habe adosa-darasi. Vaishnavs will not see others’ faults; they will see their own faults.’ Gurudev also says that we must not be drain inspectors. If you go to a drain, you will always get a bad smell, and the more you dig in the drain, the more stench will come. Do not think about anyone’s faults. Do not waste your time on this.

When I am saying all this to you, I am not giving advice to you; I am actually giving advice to myself to make myself clean. I am not saying that I am perfect, but if I tell, tell and tell it to myself, then one day I will become clean. So, when I say something to you, I am giving advice to myself. I know that all these things are easier said than done (it is easy to say it, but it is very hard to follow it), but I am saying all this for my own benefit.

It is necessary to have all these good qualities…

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya chitete kariya aikya"
2) Internal and Eternal
3) Clearing the Path
4) Cause of All Causes
5) Do Not Be Disheartened
6) Forthcoming Festivals
7) On Importance of Chastity
8) Study and Learn