(2/6) Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, evening programme
13 February 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Having a strong desire means making an effort. Many say, ‘When the Lord calls me, then I will go to Nabadwip.’ If you do not make any effort, then how will you go there? You are your own friends, and you are your own enemies. We have got these human births promising the Lord to practise Krishna consciousness. Sadhus come and keep calling you to Nabadwip, to do parikrama; you are given so much opportunity. There is no lack of accommodation, there is no worry about money. If you do this Nabadwip Dham parikrama (dhama-parikrama), you will get relief from the parikrama of the material world (samsara-parikrama). Guru Maharaj wrote a very beautiful poem:

অনিত্য এ দেহ-রথে চড়িয়া মৃত্যুর পথে
হিংস্র-শার্দ্দূল-পূর্ণ সংসার কানন ।
ভ্রমিতে হবে না আর এছার ভুবন ॥

anitya e deha-rathe chadiya mrtyura pathe
himsra-sarddula-purna samsara-kanana
bhramite habe na ara e-chhara bhuvana

‘You do not have to wander any longer in this vile world, riding along the path of death in the chariot of this temporary body in the forest of material existence filled with ferocious tigers.’

(‘Ahvana: Appeal’, Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

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

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

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

(Acharya Vandana)

Does anyone of us know when the time will come and when we will be summoned to leave this world? I have been to many people’s houses today, and I have seen that many of the people who used to lived there were no more. I could not meet with many of those whom I had met many times before. That is why I am saying: sadhus come and call you so many times, ‘Come, do the dham parikrama, it will give you peace and happiness in your next life.’ You have got this human birth now, and if you live like an animal (like cows, goats, sheep, cats, and so on) – if you only eat, sleep, fear and enjoy and do not remember or think about the Lord – then you will have to go back and get demoted (you will have to be born as frogs, goats, cows, grass, trees or some other species). You can see the trees – they stand without any clothes or cover, and they remain standing outside even when it is raining and so much water is falling on them. They had done some wrong or some offence, as the result of which they have now got this tree birth.

Do you know who once got a tree birth? If you go to Vrindavan, you will see there a place known as Yamalarjuna vriksa (‘the twin trees’). We always visit that place, it is near Nanda Maharaj’s house in Gokula. Srimad Bhagavatam describes what happened there (if you read it, you can find it there). One day, tied to a mortar for His mischief, Krishna crawled to those two trees, and the trees fell down. Have you heard this story? Who were those Yamalarjuna trees? They were Nalkuver and Manigriv, Kuver’s two sons. One day, they went into a lake or a river and were doing some foul things with ladies. It happened so that Narad Goswami was passing that place, but they had no shame or shyness. The ladies quickly grabbed some clothes and covered themselves, but Nalkuver and Manigriv were so intoxicated with their wealth that they had no sense of who was passing by (that a sadhu was there, and so on). So, Narad cursed them, ‘You are so shameless! Next life you will be born as trees!’ That is how the two brothers were born as twin Yamalarjuna trees. When Narad cursed them, they started crying, ‘What will become of us?’ Narad said, ‘Do not worry, when Krishna comes in Dvapar-yuga, He will rescue you.’

One day, Krishna’s mother was boiling some milk (she would make paneer, curd, butter and other preparations from milk), but Gopal (Krishna) came and started demanding milk. Mother Yasoda tried to explain to Him that she was busy, but do small children understand such things? Gopal kept disturbing His mother, so Mother Yasoda fed Him her breastmilk, but then the milk she had kept on the fire started boiling over – she quickly put Gopal down and ran to save the milk. Gopal became very angry! He called His friends over, and they went to the room where Mother Yasoda kept curd and butter. The boys climbed on top of each other’s shoulders and started feeding all the butter and curd to monkeys! Krishna said, ‘Here, take it! Mother did not give Me milk, so I will give everything to monkeys!’ When Mother Yasoda came there and saw the scene, she was horrified, ‘Gosh! I have been making all this curd and butter so nicely, but He has fed everything to monkeys! Gopal, You are so naughty! I will tie You!’ Nanda Maharaj had 900,000 cows (can you imagine it? 900,000 cows!), so Mother Yasoda started bringing rope to tie Gopal. No matter how much rope she used, she could not bind Him. She tied one piece of rope, but it was two fingers too short! She tied another piece of rope, and it was again two fingers too short! She kept trying and trying – she tried so hard that she started to perspire. We sing in the Damodarastakam kirtan:

নমামীশ্বরং সচ্চিদানন্দরূপং
লসৎ-কুণ্ডলং গোকুলে ভ্রাজমানং ।
যশোদাভিয়োলুখলাদ্ধাবমানং
পরামৃষ্টমত্যং ততো দ্রুত্য গোপ্যা ॥

namamisvaram sach-chid-ananda-rupam
lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam
yasoda-bhiyolukhalad dhavamanam
paramrstam atyam tato drutya gopya

‘I am offering my obeisance to the eternal, all-cognisant and blissful Supreme Lord, who wears shining earrings, who is resplendent in His eternal abode, Gokula, and who runs away from a mortar in fear of His Mother Yasoda but is then outsmarted and caught roughly by her.’

রুদন্তং মুহুর্নেত্রযুগ্মং মৃজন্তং
করাম্ভোজযুগ্মেন সাতঙ্কনেত্রম্ ।
মুহুঃশ্বাসকম্প-ত্রিরেখাঙ্ককণ্ঠ
স্থিত-গ্রব-দামোদরং ভক্তিবদ্ধম্ ॥

rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam
karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram
muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kantha
sthita-graiva-damodaram bhakti-baddham

‘I am offering my obeisance to Lord Damodar (who was tied around His belly with a rope of devotion), who is crying bitterly and wiping His fearful eyes with His lotus hands. He is sobbing again and again, which makes the necklace on His chubby neck (adorned with three sweet lines) shake.’

(Sri Sri Damodara Astakam, 1–2)

Mother Yasoda wanted to beat Gopal, and Gopal ran away from her with tears in His eyes! He in front of whom the entire three worlds tremble in fear is crying in fear of His mother! This is called vatsalya-rasa, parental love. There is santa- (neutral relationship), dasya- (servitude), sakhya- (friendship), vatsalya- (parental relationship) and madhura-rasa (paramour relationship). At first, Gopal wanted to show His play, ‘Who are you going to bind? We shall see that!’ but then, seeing that ‘Mom is struggling so much, she cannot bind Me,’ He agreed to be bound by her. So, when Mother Yasoda tried to tie Him again, He let her do it.

Mother Yasoda tied Gopal to a mortar. Have you seen or heard what kind of mortars there were before? They used mortars to grind rice, wheat and other things. You must have seen cows tied to such mortars – they go in circles and grind wheat or rice. These mortars are very big and long. Mother Yasoda tied Gopal to such a mortar thinking that He would not be able to go anywhere, but Gopal started crawling with the mortar tied to Him! He came to the two Yamalarjuna trees. With the mortar tied to His back, He felled the trees, and two men came out. They said with folded palms, ‘Prabhu, we have been rescued by Your mercy.’

From this pastime we must understand that it is necessary to have desire and it is necessary to try. Mother Yasoda tried and tried, tried and tried…

[His Divine Grace is distracted by somebody in the audience.] Hey, why are you sitting over there and talking? Come here and sit quietly. Sit quietly and listen about the Lord! Your mind is always fickle. I always sing this kirtan, ‘When will my mind become steady?’ It is necessary to always make your mind steady and peaceful. Do not fidget – whatever happens happens by the will of the Lord, you must rely on Him (you must leave everything up to Him and have faith that He will take care of everything). If He wants to kill someone, He will kill them, and if He wants to save someone, He will save them (‘marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara’). Do you think we are able to do anything? Do we have any power? We do not. Therefore, leave everything to the Lord. You must not be anxious about anything.

So, Mother Yasoda tried to bind Gopal. Two things are necessary: one is effort, and the other is mercy. If you try, you will get mercy. If I make one step towards the Lord, the Lord will make ten steps towards me. But if you do not make any step forward, He will not come to you. What does the Lord say? ‘If you care for Me, I will care for you. If you think about Me, I will think about you.’ And if you yourselves think about yourselves, then the Lord will not care about you. You must leave everything to Him.

— : • : —

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Length: 58 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Attachment to Sadhus
2) Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
3) Jivan Chakravarti's Pastime (1)
4) Jivan Chakravarti's Pastime (2)
5) Result of Service Mood
6) Joining Lord's Pastimes