(7/14) Forging Fortune

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, evening class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 25 February 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

Our Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the Founder Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, was very strict. One time, he turned Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj out of the temple just because he had gone to listen to some melodious sahajiya kirtans. Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj was the one who compiled our Sri Gaudiya Gitanjali. His samadhi temple is in Vrindavan – if you go to Vrindavan, you can find it near Pavan Sarovar (Nandagram), where Srila Sridhar Maharaj practised bhajan for some time. When this Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj went to listen to some lila-kirtan being chanted near the temple and Srila Sridhar Maharaj got to hear about it, Srila Sridhar Maharaj told him to leave. Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj left. As he was about to cross the Ganges to go to Mayapur, he met a disciple of Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, who asked him, ‘Maharaj, where are you heading to?’ Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj replied, ‘Srila Sridhar Maharaj has turned me out.’ The devotee said, ‘Srila Sridhar Maharaj? I heard he never turns anyone out… You must have done something.’ Srila Babaji Maharaj confessed, ‘Yes, I went to listen to lila-kirtan.’ Then, the disciple of Srila Prabhupad said, ‘Oh! That is why! You are a tin-lakhiya babaji (a great babaji chanting 300,000 Holy Names every day), but you are not getting taste for the Holy Name, so you went to get that taste from boys’ and girls’ kirtan?!’ Gurudev told this story very nicely.

One time, I told Gurudev, ‘Gurudev, so-and-so devotee has left because of some problem…’ Gurudev replied, ‘This is not the cause. Yaowata-i svabhavik, thakata-i asvabhavik (যাওয়াটাই স্বাভাবিক, থাকাটাই অস্বাভাবিক). It is natural one will leave; rather, it is unnatural (uncommon) that one would stay.’ How many people can stay at the temple? Who can tolerate all the austerities and practise Krishna consciousness, do service? Who has such a fortune?

অল্প ভাগ্যে সেবা নাহি হয়
কোটি জন্ম থাকলে ভাগ্য
বিষয় ছেড়ে হয় বৈরাগ্য

alpa bhagye seva nahi haya
koti janma thakle bhagya
visaya chhede haya vairagya

‘Service does not come by just a little fortune. It takes ten million births of good fortune to become renounced and give up this material world.’

Not everybody gets this kind of fortune…

Once somebody complained to Gurudev, ‘Gurudev, I sit and chant kirtan at 6 o’clock every day. I play the mridanga, and that fellow comes and plays karatals completely out of tune!’ Gurudev replied, ‘Yata chhila nada-bune haye gela kirtane ara kaste bhenge gadano kattala’ (যত ছিল নাড়াবুনে হয়ে গেল কীর্ত্তনে আর কাস্তে ভেঙ্গে গড়ানো কত্তাল; lit. ‘all the foolish peasants come to do kirtan with broken scythes as karatals’ – synonymous to ‘clodhoppers have turned artists’ or ‘fools have turned leaders’). Gurudev’s words were like that. He explained it, ‘I live in a family with all the children who have been turned out of their houses by their parents. So many people come here from all walks of life – somebody will play in this way, somebody will play in that way. Why are you complaining to me? Everybody is not right here, but slowly they will come right.’ I still remember Gurudev’s words…

I always remember Gurudev’s words. He told me many things. He told me many things about the history of Gaudiya Vaishnavs, but I do not speak about those things openly so much… My Gurudev spoke in this way – ‘sada hasya mista bhasi susila kavitva: always smiling, speaking sweet words, always with perfect poetry.’ He always chanted the Holy Name of the Lord smiling and speaking sweetly.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Free Yourself From Deceit
2) Be Truthful, Pious, and Sincere
3) Chastity In Preaching
4) Cry, Pray, and Serve
5) Service: Labour of Love
6) Service: Adherence and Attachment
7) Forging Fortune
8) Concentrate Your Mind on Nityananda Prabhu's Service
9) Direct Your Mind to Bhagavatam
10) Keep Yourself On Track
11) Are You Getting Off?
12) Gentle Clean Hearts
13) Do Not Give Up
14) False Attachments