(6/6) Increase Your Fortune

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, noon class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 25 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

We must not forget that we are eternal servants of Krishna. You must know your identity – you must know who you are. I am not ‘so-and-so Ray’, ‘so-and-so Chowdhury’, ‘so-and-so Prabhu’ or ‘so-and-so Maharaj’! I am not a brahmachari, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya! What did Mahaprabhu say?

নাহং বিপ্রো ন চ নরপতির্নাপি বৈশ্যো ন শূদ্রো
নাহং বর্ণী ন চ গৃহপতির্নো বনস্থো যতির্বা ।
কিন্তু প্রোদ্যন্নিখিলপরমানন্দপূর্ণামৃতাব্ধে-
র্গোপীভর্ত্তুঃ পদকমলয়োর্দাসদাসানুদাসঃ ॥

naham vipro na cha nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na cha grha-patir no vanastho yatir va
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

‘I am not a brahman, not a ksatriya, not a vaisya, not a sudra; neither am I a brahmachari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify Myself as a servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, who is the beloved of gopis, an ocean of nectar, eternally self-effulgent (self-manifest) and filled with the entire scope of all possible highest ecstasy.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.13.80)

‘I am a servant of devotees.’ I am a menial servant of devotees. People are too proud to call themselves menial servants. They think, ‘I like it when people call me “Prabhu” because then I feel I am being given honour. And if somebody calls me a servant, it hurts me.’ But we should give honour to others. That is why we sing every morning:

সকলে সম্মান, করিতে শকতি,
দেহ নাথ যথাযথ ।

sakale sammana, karite sakati,
deha natha yatha-yatha

‘Master! Give me the strength to give everyone appropriate honour.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We say ‘ki jay’ to everyone. Nitai Gaurachandra Prabhu ki jay. You must give honour to everyone. Pray to gurudev, ‘Gurudev, please hijack me!’

Recently, I sent Sripad Niriha Maharaj and one more devotee for collection. Somebody scolded them, ‘What are you begging for? Go chant your Holy Name! Go worship your Deities! Do you think that you can practise Krishna consciousness just by bringing a sack of rice from Shantipur?’ One time, I went to a house in Midnapore. A man came out to me and said, ‘Do not come to this house, I will not be able to help you.’ I told him, ‘I have not come to take your help. I have come to help you!’ To help people, sadhus go house to house and take a sack of rice, or even just a handful of rice or potato, because people cannot offer anything to the Lord themselves – they enjoy the Lord’s things, eating everything themselves and not offering anything to the Lord.

When I was going down the street recently, I saw a very hungry man. He bought some khaja (a sweat) and started stuffing it into his mouth. Seeing me, the man tried to say, ‘Nitai! Nitai!’, but his mouth was full of khaja. That is ‘pahu tule Hari bolo’ (‘chant the Holy Name with your arms upraised’) for you – He is holding khaja in one hand and raises the other arm, saying, ‘Hari bol!’ He cannot even say ‘Nitai, Nitai!’ You cannot practise Krishna consciousness like that.

Mahaprabhu said,

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la’be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

‘Do not listen to village talks, do not speak about village news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour from others, give all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna and serve Radha-Krishna in your mind.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.236–237)

Your minds must serve Radha-Krishna.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

‘My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that death is there, waiting right next to me.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

This life is always passing, always going away. We have to leave this world, but how much have you chanted the Holy Name? How much have you listened to Hari-katha? You will have to give answer to these questions one day.

You have come to this holy abode of Nityananda Prabhu as the result of a great fortune. The Lord has bestowed His mercy on you and brought you to this holy dham. If you had not got Nityananda Prabhu’s mercy, you would not have been able to come here. So many millions of jiva souls take birth and live only by eating, sleeping, fearing and breeding in this world, but how many people come here? One thousand can come, two thousand can come, even if a hundred thousand people come, that is all – definitely not more than that. You are always thinking about your enjoyment, you are always thinking, ‘I want more, I want more’, but you have got these tongues for chanting the Lord’s Name, to chant the Lord’s kirtan. If you do not chant the Holy Name of Krishna and Nitai with your tongues, your tongues will simply decay and get eaten by insects. If your tongues do not chant the Holy Name of Nitai, it is a waste of tongue – it is not necessary to keep a tongue then! You do not need a mouth if it does not chant the Holy Name of Nitai! Lochan Das Thakur said, ‘I do not want to go to any place where there is no Nitai.’

Sadhus are merciful – they come to people’s houses. You feel proud, ‘Oh, he has taken a sack of rice/potato/sugar/dal from me!’ but you do not realise that you are so fortunate! A sadhu came to your house, took a sack of rice or a sack of potato from you, took all the trouble of carrying it back to the temple and used it for the service of Nitai. You cannot offer it to the Lord yourself – you are not vegetarian, you eat non-vegetarian food, you do not follow ekadasi, you do not chant the Holy Name – even if you try to offer something, the Lord will not accept it from you. That is why devotees and sadhus come to your door, right to your room, and take some rice, dal or potato to use it in the service to Lord Govinda.

Sri Nityananda Prabhu’s dham parikrama has finished, but soon there will be Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Please come. Everyone can come. There are now one hundred rooms more in Nabadwip, so there is not problem with accommodation. After this festival, I will not go for preaching so much. There is a six-day preaching programme planned, and after that I will be in Nrisingha Palli, arranging everything so that you can come and stay there nicely…

[His Divine Grace concludes the festival programme by chanting the ‘Bhoga Arati’ and arati kirtans and commences the grand, renowned prasad distribution.]

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Length: 54 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sri Advaita Prabhu's Nityananda Stuti
2) Sriman Mahaprabhu's Nityananda Stuti
3) Approaching Nityananda Prabhu
4) Know Your Place
5) Amidst 'Dal' and 'Gal'
6) Increase Your Fortune