All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

GUIDANCE

Issue #27

A compilation of holy discourses emanating

from the holy lotus mouth of

His Divine Grace

Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru

Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj

published from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

at SCSMathInternational.com during April-June 2021

CONTENT

Healthy Spiritual Life

Exclusive Mood

Seek Sadhus' Shelter

What Are You Doing?!

Happy and Busy Days

Whose Child Are You?

Adjust Wavelength

Avoid Provincialism

Dubious Actions

Effect of Pure Chanting

Correcting Your Attitude

Pure Surrender Without Gaps

Current of Eternal Service

Proper Preaching

Srila Gurudev's Festival Etiquette

Quality and Qualification

Best Worship

Golden Chance

Proper Attachment to Service

Can You Not or Will You Not?

Latest News

Hapless Hindus

Enter Auspicious Life

Cannot Practise or Do Not Want to Practise?

Gurudev's Disappearance

"Everything Plunged Into Darkness"

Service Alertness

Service Milestones

Service Challenges

Gurudev's Insight

Gurudev's Loving Affection

Nurturing Gurudev's Mission

Vaishnavs' Signature Qualities

Preaching Opportunity

Mercy and Service

Perfect Rules

Amidst Blazing Fire

Take Care of Yourself

Sadhus' Fight

Be Exclusive, Be One-Pointed

Sri Guru Is All-in-All

Escaping Ocean of Suffering

Gurudev: Surrounded by Affection

Param Dayal Gurudev

Where Will You Run?

Honouring Hari-Prasad

Exclusive Path

Lord's Messenger

'Managing' Your Life

Internal Purity

Pray To Be One-Pointed

Mahaprabhu's Gift

At Vaishnavs' Mercy

Spiritual Deposit

Lacking Spirituality

About Srila Lochan Das Thakur

Leave Separate Interests

Muddled Minds

An Auspicious Evening

An Auspicious Evening

Turning Back Home

Beyond Comfort Zone

What Are Your Plans?

Life In Lord's Family

Not So Fast, Not So Cheap

Mano-dharma vs. Bhagavat-dharma

Eternal Values

Ultimate Word of Scriptures

Guided and Misguided

Exclusive Zone

Insurmountable Devotion

Perfect Mood Comes From Perfect Practice

Greatest Sadness

Brahman Threads

Me-Eating

Unswerving Vision

Highest Life

Honest Life

'What Is My Service?'

Parikrama Adhivas: Forsake Your Happiness

Parikrama Adhivas: Fixed In Service

Relief of Surrender

Our Eternal Campaign

'May You Always Remain In This Line'

Know the Relationship

Devotional Attachment

Seva Bhumi

Follow Vaishnavs' Example

Live a Sheltered Service Life

Healthy Spiritual Life

23 October 2018, Kolkata, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Sri Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Jay Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar, Giriraj Govardhan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

First, I am paying my humble obeisance at the lotus feet of my beloved Gurudev, beloved Divine Master, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj; then I am paying my humble obeisance to all guru-varga, all Gaudiya acharya-vrinda, all Vaishnav-vrinda, to all my godbrothers, godsisters, all my friends, well-wishers—I am paying my humble obeisance to you all.

Actually, we do not know what is good, what is bad for our spiritual life, we do not know anything. "Kiser bhalo haya kabhu na bujhinu (কিসের ভালো হয় কভু না বুঝিনু). I can never understand what is good for me." You always think you know everything, but even Lord Brahma says, "Others may be able to understand Krishna, but I cannot." That is why, we must fully surrender to our Gurudev. We sometimes want to do some material things, we want some material enjoyment, but Gurudev will never advise to do what is bad for our spiritual life.

Srimad Bhagavatam says,

svayam nihsreyasam vidvan
na vakty ajnaya karma hi
na rati rogino 'pathyam
vanchato 'pi bhisaktamah

"A pure devotee who is fully accomplished in the science of devotional service will never instruct a foolish person to engage in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, not to speak of helping him in such activities. Such a devotee is like an experienced physician, who never encourages a patient to eat food injurious to his health, even if the patient desires it."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 6.9.50)

We sometimes want to eat some other food... Suppose I come to a doctor, and, seeing my disease, the doctor tells me that some kinds of food are not good for this disease, but I cannot leave that food—I still want to take it. The doctor will always warn me, "Be careful! Do not take this food!"—the doctor will advise and order me emphatically not to take that food. Even if I want to eat something wrong, the doctor will not allow me to—the doctor will always warn me not to take what is not good for me. In the same way, a proper guru will tells us what is not good for our spiritual life, he will tell us everything. If we sometimes want to do something bad, a proper guru will always say that we must remove that kind of desire.

When we go to a doctor, the doctor prescribed some medicine and if we take that medicine and follow all instructions of the doctor, then we will be cured—our health will be good. The same is true for spiritual life also—Gurudev tells us what is bad for us, for our spiritual life, he tells us what not to do, and if we follow that (if we do not do what our Gurudev tells us not to do), then our spiritual life will be healthy and clear. This is the main thing. This is said in Srimad Bhagavatam also.

We must understand this. On the other hand, if we serve Maya, we will have to enter a very dark place,

andham tamah pravisanti
ye 'sambhutim upasate
tato bhuya iva te tamo
ya u sambhutyam ratah

"Those who are engaged in the worship of demigods enter into the darkest region of ignorance, and still more so do the worshipers of the impersonal Absolute."

(Sri Isopanisad, 12)

* * *

Exclusive Mood

23 October 2018, Kolkata, part 2

Those who serve Maya, who serve mundane things, who serve or always accumulate jada-vidya (mundane knowledge, mundane education) will go to a dark place. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also says,

jada-vidya yata, mayara vaibhava,
tomara bhajane badha
moha janamiya, anitya samsare,
jivake karaye gadha

"All mundane learning is an exhibition of maya and an obstacle to Your service. It brings about infatuation for the temporary world and makes an ass of the soul."

(Saranagati, 3.3)

What we need is para-vidya (transcendental knowledge), whereas jada-vidya always takes us to a dark place. We can get education or some knowledge, but you must use that knowledge for the service of the Lord. This is the main thing. You have got everything you have from your Guru, from the Lord, and you must understand that you must use everything for the service of the Lord. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita also says that only those who have got the mercy of the Lord can understand this—only they can understand the Lord. It is necessary to have mercy.

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

"Only those who receive even a trace of the Lord's mercy, can understand the Lord."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 6.83)

Those who can understand this, will never be enjoyers, exploiters or even renunciates—they will always be servitors. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also says the same thing—we have not come to this world to be renunciates or enjoyers, our mood is that we will always be servitors. It is necessary to have a servitor's mood. Srimad Bhagavad-gita supports this too. Krishna Himself says, "If someone serves Me with devotion, with love and affection, I give them pure devotion, and they will be getting pleasure and happiness from their service."

tesam satata-yuktanam, bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam, yena mam upayanti te

To those devotees who are always lovingly engaged in My service, I give the divine inspiration by which they can come to Me.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 10.10)

"I give pure devotion to those who serve Me with eternal devotion, with love and affection, and they will feel a great pleasure, paramananda."

Who is a devotee? What is the character of a devotee?

mach-chitta mad-gata-prana, bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantas cha mam nityam, tusyanti cha ramanti cha

Always thinking of Me, those surrendered souls converse about Me, enlightening one another with the nectar of their devotional realizations, ever content and ecstatic in their divine natures.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 10.9)

A devotee's heart, their life, mind, everything is surrendered to the Lord, and they always listen to Hari-katha, Hari-kirtan—they always spend their life in sravanam, kirtanam, and they always derive pleasure from it.

yat karosi yad asnasi, yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya, tat kurusva mad-arpanam

"O Kaunteya, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give and whatever vow you may keep-do everything as an offering unto Me."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

Sri Krishna says to Arjuna, "Whatever duty you have, whatever you do, whatever you want to enjoy or steal, whatever donation or sacrifice you want to make, do everything for Me. You must do everything for My pleasure!" This is possible for those who have a great devotion. What is the highest devotion (uttam bhakti)? Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu told,

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

"The highest devotion is that which satisfies Lord Krsna, free from the coverings of any pursuits such as action, knowledge."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.1.11)

If you practise what is favourable to devotion, that is uttam bhakti, the highest devotion, and there should be no other desires, no other wishes except for service to Krishna, service to the Lord, service to the Absolute. What do such devotees do every day? They do everything for the Lord—they do arati, mangal arati, Tulasi parikrama, temple parikrama, chant bhajans, kirtans, they cook, etc.—they do everything for the Lord. That is called 'anyabhilasita sunyam' (being free from any other desires). Srimad Bhagavatam says the same thing, and Sri Prahlad Maharaj also says the same thing,

sravanam kirttanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arccanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam

iti pumsarpita visnau
bhaktis cen nava-laksana
kriyeta bhagavaty addha
tan manye 'dhitam uttamam

Prahlada Maharaj said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental Holy Name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Krishna through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.5.23-24)

Leave everything (jnana, karma, yoga, etc.) and only surrender to the Supreme Lord Vishnu. Practise properly sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, etc. There are nine kinds of devotion. When we do Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, we visit the nine islands of Nabadwip, and all these nine kinds of devotion exist within the nine islands of Sri Nabadwip. When we go there, we always speak about it.

* * *

Seek Sadhus' Shelter

23 October 2018, Kolkata, part 3

Srimad Bhagavatam says, "Who is the greatest donor (bhuri-da)?" You know the story of King Prataparudra from Jagannath Puri. Because he was the king, Mahaprabhu always avoided him. Despite being a king, King Prataparudra always did much service, much Vaishnav-seva, and he always wanted to meet with Mahaprabhu, always wanted to get Mahaprabhu's mercy, but Mahaprabhu always kept distance from him because of his position as a king. Even Nityananda Prabhu, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, Raya Ramananda, Svarup Damodar tried to persuade Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu would not listen to anyone. Finally, Nityananda Prabhu instructed King Prataparudra, "Mahaprabhu will be chanting very much in front of the chariots at Ratha-yatra time, and when, overwhelmed by ecstasy, He gets tired, He will come to lie down in Balagandi Udyan (Lord Jagannath's garden)—at that time, you will wear a devotee's dress, come there to massage His feet and you must recite this sloka, then you will get Mahaprabhu's mercy." The sloka King Prataparudra is there in Srimad Bhagavatam,

tava kathamrtam tapta-jivanam
kavibhir iditam kalmasapaham
sravana-mangalam srimad-atatam
bhuvi grnanti te bhurida janah

"My Dear, bestowing the greatest fortune that is attained after so many births, exalted souls come to this world and live here by singing and spreading Your nectarean glories that are life and soul for those suffering in this material world being devoid of Your divine love; that are the gist of all poets' songs; that are the destroyer of all sins; that benefit anyone who hears them; and that possess universal attraction."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 14.13)

"O Krishna! How will all those who are suffering so much from adhibhautik, adhidaivik, adhyatmik (miseries caused by one's body, by the nature, and other souls) and so many problems in this mundane world be rescued from this kind of situation?"

"A sadhu will come for them."

"Who is the greatest donor in this world?"

"The greatest sadhu is the one who distributes Hari-katha, Krishna-katha, who distributes the Holy Name in this world. You must come and listen from him."

Such saints are the greatest donors in this world (maha-vadanya) because they distribute Hari-katha in this world, and through this Hari-katha all those who are full of sins, who are suffering from all sorts of problems, will get pleasure—all the conditioned souls will come to surrender to the Lord, they will get spiritual benefit and go to their home!

That is why, we must go to that kind of vadanya, that kind of bhurida, that kind of data who distributes the Holy Name—we must come and surrender to him! We can understand that Krishna Himself comes in this Kali-yuga as His Name and as Radha-Krishna's combined form (Gaurahari, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) with Hari-sankirtan. Srimad Bhagavatam contains the proof that it is the Lord Himself who comes in this age of Kali,

krte yad dhyayato visnum
tretayam yajato makhaih
dvapare paricharyayam
kalau tad dhari-kirtanat

"Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Visnu, in Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krsihna maha-mantra."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 12.3.52)

What you can get what you got in Satya-yuga through meditation (dhyan), in Treta-yuga through sacrifices, in Dvapar-yuga through Deity worship (archan, puja)—you can get everything in this Kali-yuga through Hari-sankirtan. That is why, Hari-sankirtan is the main thing, Hari-sankirtan, Nama-sankirtan is the highest gift and practice in this world.

param srimat-padambhoja-sadasangaty-apeksaya
nama-sankirtana-prayam visuddham bhaktim achara

"Simply practice pure devotional service, mainly in the form of Name-sankirtana, with the hope of gaining the eternal contact of the Lord’s divine lotus feet."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 2.3.144)

If you aspire for the association of the lotus feet of a sadhu, then you must practise Nama-sankirtan with pure devotion, then you will get the proper association.

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

"Only chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name—there is no other way, no other way, no other way."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.7.76)

A jiva soul has no other way except for chanting the Holy Name, except for Harinam—without chanting the Holy Name, you will not get anything in this age of Kali.

kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara
nama haite haya sarva-jagat-nistara

"In the Kali-yuga, Krishna appears in the form of the Name. The entire world is delivered through that Name."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 17.22)

Every scripture, every great soul (mahajan) says this.

* * *

What Are You Doing?!

23 October 2018, Kolkata, part 4

Mahaprabhu Himself told,

prithivite achhe yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

"My Name will spread to every village and town on this earth."

"My Name will spread and be preached everywhere, in every corner of the world!"

So, we must practise with the proper guidance of guru—we must practise in the way that Gurudev tells us to practise. Think properly about what Gurudev tells.

Gurudev said wherever you are staying, you must maintain your practising life, your spiritual life properly. You must do everything—mangal-arati, sravan, kirtan, practise everything, and practise properly. You can turn your house into a temple. You can live as a householder, you can live as you are, it is not a problem, but make Gurudev's altar there, make Deities' altar there and do mangal-arati, cook and offer the bhog, do archan, keep Tulasi and do Tulasi parikrama every day; you can sing kirtans every day with the song book. This is what practising life is. You can keep in touch with Krishna consciousness.

The problem, on the other hand, is that you are always busy with your own self, with your own life... I was just telling about it the other day—you think you are enjoying your life, but in the meantime you are actually destroying it. It is by a great fortune that you have got a human body, but you are now destroying it, you are wasting your life. It took so much fortune for you to get this body, it is very rare to get a human body, but you do not know its value—you do not know what this human body is for. You must understand the value and purpose of this human life by hearing about it from a proper sadhu. You are always busy with some karma, jnana, yoga, you always want to enjoy, but this is not the proper etiquette! This is the not a proper life! That is why, it is always necessary to avoid bad association, to avoid what is not favourable to devotion.

You must avoid bad association. These are not just my words. Srimad Bhagavatam says it. You can read Eleventh Canto, you will see there,

tato duhsangam utsrjya
satsu sajjeta buddhiman
santa evasya chhindanti
mano-vyasangam uktibhih

"An intelligent person should therefore reject all bad association and instead take up the association of saintly devotees whose words cut off the excessive attachment of one's mind."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.26.26)

Those who are intelligent (sumedha), who have a proper brain, always avoid bad association and keep good association of the proper sadhu. Sadhus give proper advice, and with this great sadhu's advice, all unhappiness, all the suffering that you undergo in this world will be removed from your heart. I always tell you this, all the time. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita also says the same thing,

sadhu-sanga-krpa kimva krsnera krpaya
kamadi 'duhsanga' chhadi' suddha-bhakti paya

"One is elevated to the platform of devotional life by the mercy of a Vaisnava, the bona fide spiritual master, and by the special mercy of Krishna. On that platform, one gives up all material desires and the association of unwanted people. Thus one is elevated to the platform of pure devotional service."

'duhsanga' kahiye—'kaitava', 'atma-vanchana'
krsna, krsna-bhakti binu anya kamana

"Bad association is called associating with those who are given to deception, self-deception, and those who desire anything else except for Krishna and devotion to Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.24.97, 99)

Mahaprabhu also told,

niskinchanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya
param param jigamisor bhava-sagarasya
sandarsanam visayinam atha yositam cha
ha hanta hanta visa-bhaksanato 'py asadhu

Greatly lamenting, the Lord then informed Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, "'Alas, for a person who is seriously desiring to cross the material ocean and engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord without material motives, seeing a materialist engaged in sense gratification or seeing a woman who is similarly interested is more abominable than drinking poison willingly.'"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.11.8)

You are taking poison! You are always mixing with materialists, you are always looking at ladies—what are you doing?! You are taking poison! You must avoid all this!

asat-sanga-tyaga,—ei vaisnava-achara
'stri-sangi'—eka asadhu, 'krsnabhakta' ara

"A Vaishnav should always avoid the association of ordinary people. Common people are very much materially attached, especially to women. Vaishnavs should also avoid the company of those who are not devotees of Lord Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.87)

This is what bad association is. Try to understand this, and avoid such association, then you will get proper guidance and proper benefit.

So, I have told you today something about the sadhan-bhakti, about how you must practise. Always remember these things, these are very important things for our life, and try to follow it. Gurudev often said, and the scriptures also give this example—if you drink milk and at the same time also drink alcohol, then whatever benefit you get from drinking milk will be gone. What it means is that you must avoid what is unfavourable to devotion and you must accept only what is favourable to devotion. You must totally reject what is unfavourable to devotion. It is very important.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Happy and Busy Days

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 1

Dandavat. Jay Gurudev.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I am very happy to see you all today. Past two-three weeks I have been busy in Nrisingha Palli, after that there was Hapaniya pancham-dol—the appearance festival of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Gopinath jiu in Hapaniya. When the festival in Hapaniya finished, I returned the same day to Kolkata. I had some work yesterday here, and today I have been to Uluberia, I had to do some service for the new temple's inauguration—I met with the devotees there and discussed how we will manage the inauguration. I came back from travelling just one hour ago, and I am very happy to see you. I see that everybody is here.

Please accept my humble obeisance, Srila Ashram Maharaj, dandavat.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: Please accept my humble obeisance too. How are you, Maharaj?

I am fine. After the festival, Krishna and Gurudev are giving me so much nourishment because this year I have no problems with health—no sickness, nothing. I am OK.

During the parikrama and festival time I was afraid to check my blood sugar because I had not been following the health rules and regulations so much, I had not watched my diet so much, there was no timetable for meals, etc. I know that if I checked it and sugar was high, I would have some tension, but I checked it yesterday and my sugar level is 106 after fasting. I am thinking it is Krishna's mercy because during the parikrama I sometimes took rice three times a day as I did not want my stomach to disturb me—if I take chapati or some other things, then I get much problem with the acidity and other things, that is why I took rice, and there is no problem, I see my sugar is OK.

As I was saying, I had some bank job here in Kolkata yesterday, and today I went to Uluberia because they are starting to paint the temple, and when all painting works are finished, I will make the date for the inauguration of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar. I still have not make the date yet.

This Wednesday I am going to Vrindavan. I have some service in Delhi and Vrindavan, so I want to go to Vrindavan, Govardhan for a few days. I know it is very hot there now and I cannot tolerate so much heat, but I have to go there for some service. I have not been able to go to Vrindavan for so many days and months because of the pandemic situation—I usually go there every kartik, but I could not go there last year, that is why I am thinking I must go there. I have bought the ticket for going there, but I have not bought the return ticket yet—I must see how much service is there, then I can decide when I can come back. It is not sure for now. If I can finish everything quickly, then I will come back soon. I have some service there, and when there is some service somewhere, I must go there. I do not want to waste my life—if I can use all time for the service to Gurudev, I am always happy.

I was almost twenty days in Nrisingha Palli, the festivals finished there, and next it is Gurudev's disappearance festival coming, then Nrinsigha-chaturdasi. Every temple will make a festival on these days, and I will also make a festival wherever I am at that time.

You know, there was a very strange number of initiations this Gaura Purnima. Total one hundred and forty devotees took first and second initiations. Thirty or thirty-two devotees took second initiation and one hundred and eight devotees took the first initiation. It is too many initiations in one day. I started in the morning and finished only at about four o'clock, and immediately after that I joined the festival Gaura Purnima programme—Mahaprabhu's appearance festival. I had been giving initiations the whole day, it was too much for me that day...

* * *

Whose Child Are You?

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 2

Actually, when somebody who does not practise properly takes initiation, it gives me a problem, health-wise also. Gurudev sometimes said, "The day when I do not give any initiations, my health is good, and the day when I give initiations, my health becomes bad because people come and give all their bad karma to their Guru." So, if somebody does not practise properly, it gives a problem to Gurudev's health. This is what Gurudev told.

That is why, this year I told the devotees who were writing down the names for initiation that initiation can be given only to those who follow all the rules and regulations, who practise properly and chant the Holy Name, who follow the four rules and regulations (who avoid all bad things, such as gambling, drinking alcohol, illegal sex, eating meat, fish, etc. they have to be proper vegetarians). Only such people can take initiation otherwise so much problem is coming to me...

It is necessary for everybody to practise properly. I went today to Uluberia and one Indian boy there is actually ready to take sannyas, but his parents are crying. The boy does not want to get married, and I tried to reason with his parents, to teach them some advice. Parents only give you a body, they do not give you yourself, so if Krishna wants to take you for His service, it is a great fortune—Srimad Bhagavatam says that is one member of any family becomes a sannyasi, fully surrenders to the Lord, then twenty-one generations of that family finish all their material bondage (karma-bandhan) and get liberation.

Gurudev also said, "Brihat svartha paite haile, ksudra svartha tyaga korte habe." It means that if you want to get a great benefit, you must avoid small, trifle benefits. His parents cry, "Oh, my son is running the shop!" What is this? This is such a small, trifle matter. This boy is Krishna's son, and if Krishna wants to use His own son in His service, who can stop it? If you want to stop it, then you will only get a body—the Lord will take this boy to his dham.

You are born in this human body not to serve Maya. You have got this human body to serve the Lord, to serve your Gurudev (the Lord's associate). You did not get this body to serve Maya. We only always serve Maya, we are always surrendered to Maya, and this is our main problem. We are always surrendered to Maya. What is this? Sometimes I become very annoyed unhappy about this kind of situation.

Krishna wants you to come and surrender to Him—He wants you to become a full-timer, wants you to give your entire life to His service—and then what kind of bondage, what kind of things come up? Maya always comes in between! Maya Devi is always very strong, and sometimes we are surrendering to Maya—that is our problem.

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Adjust Wavelength

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 3

This year I miss everybody who could not come for Gaura Purnima very much. I know you all have a great desire to come, and if you have a desire to come for next Gaura Purnima, Krishna will of course fulfil your desire. Surely Krishna will fulfil your desire. Try to come and try to arrange for your plane ticket, plane fare. I know there are many economical problems in some parts of South America and the economical condition in the world in general is not good, but you should remember at this time,

tomara sevaya, duhkha haya yata,
seo ta' parama sukha

"All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness."

(Saranagati 16.4)

So much sadness, so many problems, so much bondage will come, but we must overcome everything and always go forward. We must have a great desire. It is necessary to have a great desire to do service. Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that if you come one step towards Krishna (if you come forward to Krishna one step by one step), Krishna will come ten steps towards you (He will come towards you ten steps by ten steps). Guru and Krishna are always ready to give you mercy, but the problem is that we do not have the qualities, we do not have the capacity to accept that mercy—we cannot catch and receive that mercy. We must be proper receivers, it is necessary. The line is OK, but the problem is that the receiver is not good. We must be proper receivers otherwise we will not get the sound properly—we will not hear anything properly.

This year many temples did not make Nabadwip Dham Parikrama. ISKCON did a small parikrama (instead of five-six parties they had only one party who did the parikrama), and this year also they did not stop or halt us; they did the parikrama in the same way as we did—started in the morning and came back in the evening. Our previous temple, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math (Jal Mandir), also did a small parikrama with about 150-200 people, not so many.

Actually, it is not about the quantity of people. This is a grand festival of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Temples are supposed to get government permission to have this festival, but why must I get their permission? I did not ask any permission. Government will give permission for one hundred people! Why is it necessary to go and get permission from the government? It is not! When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chanted kirtan, He did not ask Chand Kazi for any permission! Even Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur never asked the government for any permission. Then why is it necessary to ask the government for permission now? I said it was not necessary. If I was to go and apply for permission to hold this festival, the government will forward it to the police, and the police will come and disturb us. We did our parikrama without any police, without anything, what is the problem? No problem. Everything is the will of the Lord, will of Krishna.

If you have the strongest faith, then you will succeed, you will overcome all obstacles. It is necessary to have the strongest faith.

Anyhow, the festival went OK and it was very nice. Fifty-seven rooms were ready in the new guesthouse building. Despite that, many people still stayed in the nat mandir because they did not want to walk a little far, they wanted to stay with me and disturb me. People still slept in the corridor on my veranda—they like to disturb me. I came after the class at ten o'clock at night and wanted to go to sleep, but they talked and laughed in front of my gate until twelve o'clock. OK, no problem. I have to tolerate. Gurudev tolerated so much, and I must tolerate everything too... Gurudev told sometimes, "When I am in my room, I am used to hearing dogs bark, so no problem, if you put a generator right behind my door, I will get used to it too." My situation is the same. No problem.

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Avoid Provincialism

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 4

[Addressing one of the devotees.] I did not see you in the photographs taken during the Gaura Purnima festival [in your city]. Did you not join the programme this year? Why? Because you were not invited? You must make this grand festival all together. Why is it necessary to wait for an invitation? I never invite anyone for this festival—I only say that everybody can come for Gaura Purnima, but I do not invite anybody personally.

It is necessary to preach. It is necessary to preach and expand Srila Gurudev's mission. Everybody must avoid enviousness, everybody must avoid anger and ego. Ego is always a problem. Try to understand this.

Everybody says that there is a lack of harmony in some countries, but everybody must understand that we do not hanker for any post. We do not go after posts—it does not matter who is the president, who is the secretary, who is the treasurer, or who is the guru in a particular place. The post is only one—Gurudev, and we are all 'lamp posts.' This is very important to understand. It is not necessary to think, "Oh, he is the temple manager, and I do not have any post at the temple." This post, that post—this is not a question. If somebody cleans the plates, takes care of the garden, does cow seva at the temple, that is a great service.

You know that Mahaprabhu would always tell everybody not to touch His feet, but Mahaprabhu did not forbid Kalidas—Mahaprabhu said about Kalidas, "Do not tell him 'no'." Mahaprabhu allowed Kalidas to touch His feet. Why? Because Kalidas is extremely humble. He took prasadam from everybody's plates thinking, "I have no capacity, I have no right to sit together with great Vaishnavs. When they throw away their plates after taking prasadam, I will take their remnants from those plates. This is my capacity."

It is necessary to be humble, tolerant, and to give honour to others.

There is another thing called pradesi-katha (provincialism). I wrote about it in the third volume of Guidance, these are the words of Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. The chapter is called 'Pradesi-katha and Hari-seva' (Provincialism and Service to the Lord). It means the following. Somebody's mentality is, "I was born in Bengal, so I will only show love and affection for Bengali people." This is not good. We must show love and affection for everyone from all over the world. Sometimes somebody lives at the temple or becomes the temple manager, and they give a nicer room to those who come from their own country or village, they give much more preference to them. This is called pradesi-katha (provincialism, putting one's own provincial interests above the interest of the whole). Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that this mood is not good. I have seen that so many devotees have this kind of quality in them. They say, "Oh, he is coming from my family, he is my relative," so they give them many opportunities to do service. This is not good. First you must see who does service, it does not matter whether it is your family relative or not. You must not discriminate. This is called 'nepotism' (svajan-pusunota—the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs, etc.) You give preference to your relatives, but who is our relative? Somebody is born in the same family as I and I think this is my brother? No. Everybody is my relative! Everybody belongs to our one and the same family—Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Family. You must understand this. We must give chance to serve to everybody. We do not see who comes from where. Sometimes we also breed some family quarrel among devotees, which is not good. Why will we do that? We must finish all family quarrels within family—we must not transfer it onto others.

Even Srila Sridhar Maharaj shows this. Gurudev said that if Rama Devi had done something wrong and Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave her a tight slap, she would remember it for her entire life after that. Even Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not discriminate, "Oh, she did something wrong, but she is my sister, so it is OK, we will not punish her." No, it is not like that. Srila Sridhar Maharaj was not like that. Gurudev told also once directly to me when I was in his mother's room, "If you listen to me, if you are my disciple, then you are not to go to Tarangini Devi's house ever again." (Gurudev never said 'my mother,' he always said 'Dhananjay's mother'). He told me to never go to her house, and I followed that, I did not ask him why.

You must understand what I am trying to say. I wrote about this in the third volume of Upadesh, the English translation is also there. You can read what Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says. It is a very nice chapter. Guidance Book, Volume Three, chapter Provincialism and Service to the Lord, page 109.

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Provincialism and Service to the Lord

(From Guidance 3, page 109)

There are innumerable kinds of thorns and traps in the domain of service to the Lord. One of them is provincialism [putting one's own provincial interests above the interest of the whole]. There are many mundane pious programmes organised with provincial interest, and many become attacked by such mentality during the devotional programmes as well. In fact, when one become overcast by such mentality, it creates an obstacle for the devotional programmes. If one makes a show of trying to make something that externally looks like a devotional programme, then it is just one of the activities meant for enjoying its result.

When people, bound by provincial or national mentality, display enthusiasm and readiness for devotional activities(?), they actually have no eagerness for service or love for the Lord and Vaisnavs—they are more or less just beggars for sense gratification or selfish opportunism. Provincialists and nationalists who are engaged in either pious or inauspicious activities call it 'love for one's country' and 'love for one's nation' and are highly esteemed by the society; but such mundane love(?) is considered and censured as 'lust' (kama) and has no place in the domain of loving devotion whatsoever.

When provincialists put on a show of making a devotional programme, they look at the country, society, nation of the people from their former (non-devotional) life and think that they are dependent(?) on their mercy. Easily and very firmly enthroning the concern about the benefit(?) of the non-devotee society and country in their hearts. They personally speak Hari-katha, chant kirtans, or, with even greater enthusiasm, arrange for others to speak Hari-katha while they themselves get very busy ardently performing all kinds of other services (welcoming, serving guests, etc)—but very often sincere sadhus (indifferent to the material world), for the fear that others will give them a side-eye, become a little restrained, but, no matter how hard they try, their internal, heart-felt passion cannot cover up for the love of non-devotees towards their country, friends, and family. How long can those who feel natural surge and inspiration deep in their hearts hide themselves under the cover of such external hesitation?

Sometimes people also see someone from their province or country and, identifying themselves with their group or introducing themselves as a representative or a leader from that group, they act like they are very enthusiastic to arrange various devotional(?) programmes supporting service of the Lord, (Harinam sankirtan, circumabulation of the holy dham, staying in the holy dham, listening to Hari-katha, etc.). However, when such people do not identify themselves with that particular group, they have no enthusiasm to do all this, neither do they want to get involved in any way.

Sometimes people also think that if they they want to build a house for the Lord or some temple in their area or country, then they are ready to give support or show sympathy; but if they want to build a temple, etc. or preach in another district, then their compassion diminishes, often coming to a complete halt, or even turns into envy or animosity. For example, no Indian or Bengali will agree to help you financially if you want to preach Krsna consciousness or build a temple in London or Germany. West or North Bengalis will help you financially to build a temple or preach Krsna consciousness in East Bengal (Bangladesh), but the East Bengalis (Bangladeshi) do not want to help preaching Krsna consciousness in West and North Bengal.

Some people are even more narrow-minded—so much so that they say if you do not build a temple in our area, if you do not preach Krsna consciousness in our area, we will not support or help you in any way. There are even people who for the sake of preaching Krsna consciousness(?) first help a lot, and when they hear that there will be another temple in the area half a mile away from them, then you will get no help from them for that temple! Such people think rationally, "If we have a temple in our area, then our housewives can go to have the darsan of the Deity on foot, but if they propose to make a temple a little far, then our beloved wives will feel deprived of such opportunity. So, we cannot help or support such temple construction in any way." Such rational thinking proves that the enthusiasm, the eagerness one feels at first is not out of love for transcendental Lord Krsna or His devotees—it is for satisfying one's own senses, for seeking an opportunity to enjoy or secure commodity for enjoyment. Such pretence of service to the Lord is nothing more than an external screen. Internally, they are trying to fulfil their own purpose (religion, wealth, material aspirations, liberation) or find mundane happiness with the help of the Lord and His transcendental devotees.

Many people put on such a show to come in the proximity of the lotus feet of a bona fide Guru. When it comes to using the money from their locality for the service in the temple of another locality, they take the opposite side and stand still showing their ethical and impartial (detached) side. They show no support for the preaching of Krsna consciousness in other areas. Moreover, if another locality is more attracted to Krsna consciousness or there is much more preaching of Krsna consciousness in another locality, people pull back! The reason why it is important to analyse such mentality is because in such mentality the eagerness to enjoy is stronger than the enthusiasm for service. Spiritual benefactors always pray for the mercy of the Guru, Vaisnavs and the Lord so that they may leave such mentality; they constantly and sincerely cry to the Guru and Vaisnavs so that pure consciousness may awaken within them filled with the causeless, unconditional desire to satisfy the desires of Lord Krsna—they do not pray for any service performed out of provincial self-interest. Even though love for one's country or one's nation may be the highest moralist teaching in the world of selfish undertaking, no matter how highly it is esteemed by the mundane non-devotees, this mentality is contrary to the love of Godhead. The acute deficiency of love of Godhead and love (attachment) for one's body, house, etc.—these obstacles possess the hearts of both materialists and practitioners.

Provincialism is not kindness to the jiva souls. 'Mercy to the jiva soul' has nothing to do with the country, time, nation, or the person. There is no pursuit of self-interest in mercy to the jiva souls. There must be no attachment to mundane objects (one's own body, house, country, society, etc.). Only those are initiated into the propensity of the consciousness to please the Lord can be inspired to extend kindness to the souls. Attachment to one's house in disguise of nobility stands on the stage of the world in the form of a Mohini-murti of provincialism—sometimes it also wears a long piece of cloth (worn on one's neck) with the name of religion printed all over it and flashes it in front of all common people; but spiritual experts have caught up with this deceit and cheating. Practitioners must be careful about this.

There are two dangers in the practising life—fostering anger towards provincialism, or, on the contrary, attachment to it. It is not a duty of the intelligent people who practise Krsna consciousness to become vindictive towards any particular province, be it your own or others'. We must leave all designative ideas and become eager to engage in the service of the Lord without hypocrisy and tendency to cheat ourselves or others, but with clean consciousness, free from offences; we must worship the instruction coming from the holy lotus feet of our Divine Master in each and every province; preach the name of Sri Guru and Gauranga everywhere; we must dedicate everything—our life, wealth, knowledge, intelligence, speech, all 'place, time and person'—in selfless assistance to the service of the Lord. If devotees can preach Krsna consciousness or build a temple of the Lord in America using the money of Bengalis(?), it will be service to the Lord; and if devotees can build a place for the devotees of the Lord to practise Krsna consciousness in some area in Bengal using American money or if devotees preach the translation of Srimad Bhagavatam in Bengali, then more people can know about the Supreme Lord—in this way, the Lord will be satisfied. We must engage in the service of the Lord, inspired and encouraged by this ideal. East Bengalis (Bangladeshi) are not the owners of wealth, neither are Americans, nor are Indians—the king of this world is not the owner of wealth, neither are his subjects. People are only entrusted with some particular amount of money. The exclusive owner of all wealth, all knowledge, all living entities is the Supreme Lord, and He can be found in this material world only in the form of the transcendental sound. He appears in this world in the form of a Deity and the transcendental Name. Wherever there is service to this Holy Name, wherever there is love for Sri Harinam Prabhu, wherever, be it abroad or in this country, the Name of Sri Chaitanya is remembered—every country's, every province's, every nation's wealth, knowledge, intelligence, living entities must be utilised. We must not prevent the world from having the consciousness that 'everything belongs to Him' (isavasya) by drawing the curtain of provincialism over service consciousness. Beware!

Many provincialists will not hear anything about the eternal spiritual religion save and except if it is the religion of one's country, nation, bodily heritage. If one possesses such mentality, then, even if they pretend to listen about the exclusive and genuine religion of the soul, they will neither allow it to enter their ears, nor will they be able to judge about it with an unbiased mind within their hearts. Such mentality, as well as fanaticism in the name of faith in the common and ancestral religion, love for the nationalist or patriotic religion is actually defined as apathy towards the benefit of the soul. "Our family line are saktas," "Our society or nation are Sivaite," "Our province's religion is Buddhism" or we accept whatever other concocted religion, worshipping our ancestors, five deities (panchopasana, mayavadi conception), etc. so called Vaisnavism, or prakrta-sahajiya. Therefore, just as people stick to drinking hard water from a well just because their father had dug it ('tatasya kupah'), we also follow various concocted religions lending our faith to family, nation, society or country. Sincere seekers and spiritual benefactors never follow such ideas. If just because Christianity is preached in Europe; Buddhism is preached in various places on the Asian continent; mayavad, karma-jada-smartism, worship of ghosts, sahajiyaism, atibadi, etc. are preached in India—people from all those places, inspired by the love for their own nation, try to excommunicate the non-deceitful non-dual eternal religion of the soul, who will they be cheating then?

"I was born in Odisha, so I must support the atibadi doctrine. I was born in Bengal, so I must flatter the sahajiyas. The society of Raja Ram Mohan Roy has increased, so it is necessary to establish it in any possible way. Or because I was born in Europe, if there is anything other higher and more nourishing than Christianity, I will not care to listen to it,"—such resolute promise has nothing to do with the search for the truth or the love for the truth. If one, under pretence of searching for the truth or love for the truth, tries to measure the religion of the soul through their sense perception to see weather some other type of provincialism arises or not—this is also not search for the truth.

Trying to measure the eternal benedictine religion of the soul under the cover of searching for the truth, Raja Ram Mohan Roy's expedition to Tibet or his discussions about Indian and foreign religions is nothing but a form of provincialism. Mundane thinking or worldly thinking is the mother of provincialism. There is one preacher of a concocted religion who saw once a mouse stealing ghee wicks from the room where Siva-linga was. Seeing it, he reasoned, "Will the Lord who is not able to protect the paraphernalia that is to be offered to Him, be able to protect anyone else?" It was perhaps under the influence of such thoughts that he actually left his own provincial religion and pretended to search for the truth, but in fact he did not reject provincialism because what he accepted later on, with even more faith and determination, proved to be the same provincialism but in another form. Because he had provincial eyes he could not understand that what he saw was mundane and provincial. His sharp intellect, genius, erudition, judiciousness were covered by the screen of self-deceptive search for the truth, throwing him eventually into a tight grip of provincialism. In this way, his sham search for the truth proved to be a manifestation of mundane mentality and was even more condemnable.

There is a fake doctrine of so called synthesis (samanvayavad) preached in this world to cater for such sham search for the truth through mundane vision, which is but an even greater deception of oneself and others. This so called teaching of synthesis appeared as a cooked up form of amusement for people on pretence of supporting all forms of provincialisms. If we say, "The highest religion is only religion of the soul or bhagavat-dharma," then we cannot place any provincial doctrine on our heads considering it to be equal. So, "it does not matter where and what kind of provincialism it is, all are the same"—forgetting this basic principle people resort to various devious means to promote their own provincialism, which is but 'synthesis' for the sake of one's own pleasure.

We must be cautious and not fall prey to any despicable version of doctrines that offer provincialism in disguise of real search for the truth. "Bona fide religion is enacted by the Supreme Lord Himself" (dharmantu saksad-bhagavat-pranitam); devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society (etavan eva loke 'smin pumsam dharmah / bhakti-yogo bhagavati tan-nama-grahanadibhih), "the supreme occupation for all humanity of service to the transcendental Lord" (sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir-adhoksaje), "Bhagavatam is a religion for the pure devotees who completely reject all religious activities motivated by mateiral gain and who are free from envy" (dharmah projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam), etc.—if we consider these scriptural statements we can see that pure devotees reject all kinds of provincialism, they are devoid of envy and live by the eternal religion of the soul that is supremely worshippable and devoid of even a trace of deceit—such religion must be accepted independent of the place, time or person.

Practitioners who seek truth aspiring for eternal spiritual benefit and entrance into the spiritual domain must be always careful about this. All teachings that have sprung, are springing and will spring from provincialism are an obstruction of the religion of the soul and are a fleeting friend of material religions. As soon as we see any of these symptoms in any doctrine, we must always keep away from it. Followers of all these doctrines will try to tarnish the eternal religion of the soul in the name of provincialism or some other dull religion, but it is necessary to judge such teachings with a neutral and sane mind, and when you come to judge it, you must internally, with a pure heart and intense desire, pray to the Supreme Lord so that the soul may remain always engaged in the loving service and that it may be wise enough to become free from provincialism. If there is even a slightest attachment to the mundane or worldly mentality, one's sincere search for the truth cannot not prove successful. Beware!

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Dubious Actions

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 5

I saw today in the news that the BJP chief minister of Tripura (where Agartala is, there is also a famous Jagannath Temple there) Biplab Kumar Deb went to one man's house and cut his hair with scissors because that man had promised in 2018 that he would not cut his hair until the communist rule did not go—he said, "When the chief minister comes to my area, then I will cut my hair." So, this chief minister came to his house and personally cut his hair. This was posted in the news about Biplab Kumar Deb. He is a very young man, forty-nine years old, he is a good man.

One time, Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, also chastised one man—the man had promised that he would not wear shoes until Narendra Modi became the prime minister. When Narendra Modi got the news, he called that man's house and chastised him, "What kind of promise have you made? It is nonsense! You must wear shoes!" Then, the man said, "OK, since you are telling me to do it, then I can wear shoes." So, you see, there are such people in this world...

There is a devotee also who took a lock of Gurudev's hair when Gurudev left and tied it to his sikha. But Gurudev's things, everything related to him is auspicious, and we sometimes go to the bathroom, go to the toilet—we do not want to take any part of Gurudev to the bathroom or toilet. Do you understand? But he did that...

[Later, His Divine Grace noted: "Last programme I said something about *** taking Gurudev's hair, but some misunderstood it thinking that *** has made an offence. Both he and his wife have so much attachment because they both personally served Gurudev in Gurudev's last days, and when they and I were taking Gurudev's eternal body in the ambulance from Dum Dum Park to Nabadwip, there was very much separation, so after that they did something with a lock of Gurudev's hair. It is not actually an offence. Gurudev allowed it in his lifetime, so it is not a problem. You do not need to think, "Oh, he has made an offence! This is such a big offence!" No. I read what is published at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math International website. Somebody can think, "Oh, we are taking that hair to the bathroom, it is not good," at the same time we sometimes also clean Gurudev's stool, and that is also service. Actually, it is not necessary to gossip about all this."]

Gurudev's body is aprakrita, his body is not natural or material. Gurudev left his body at 4:20 a.m., but when we were bathing his body in front of the samadhi mandir of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, his body was not hard at that time—it was soft. Even when I had to push and place the body into the samadhi, I saw there was no difference in his body—it was just as it was, not hard, not anything, he looked the same as if he was just sleeping... That day is coming on 24 April this year... Every year this day is very unbearable for me, and every year this day comes to me. I have to tolerate this day every year... Gurudev also could not tolerate Srila Sridhar Maharaj's disappearance day. I have only once or twice seen Gurudev present in Nabadwip Dham on this day, all other years he passed his time with other devotees either in Kolkata or some foreign country (mostly with devotees in foreign countries).

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Effect of Pure Chanting

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 6

Question: Could you please comment on verse 66 from Sri Sri Prema-dhama-deva Stotram?

I am not such a big expert at Sanskrit, but I can see and read it to you from the book.

atma-siddha-savalila-purna-saukhya-laksanam
svanubhava-matta-nrtya-kirtanatma-vantanam
advayaika-laksya-purna-tattva-tat-paratparam
prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

Actually, this is describing antya-lila, Mahaprabhu's last moments. It is written here that when the Lord showed the mood of Srimati Radharani, He showed very deep separation from the Lord, and because of that separation Mahaprabhu became like crazy... "This is the all-conquering conclusion: the highest conception of the Ultimate Reality must also be the highest form of ananda, ecstasy. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna, ecstasy Himself, tasting His own sweetness and dancing in ecstatic joy. His own Holy Name is the cause of His ecstasy, expressed as dancing, and the Holy Name is the effect of His ecstasy, expressed as chanting. The cause is the effect. The dynamo is creating ecstatic energy which makes Him dance, and His chanting distributes that ecstasy to others. I offer my obeisances to that beautiful Golden Lord, Gaurangasundar, the divine form of Krishna prema." This is the translation of this verse. It is written here that this kind of ecstasy would occur through His chanting of the Holy Name. "The highest conception of the Ultimate Reality must also be the highest form of ananda, ecstasy." How can I explain this to you?!

"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna, ecstasy Himself, tasting His own sweetness and dancing in ecstatic joy. His own Holy Name is the cause of His ecstasy, expressed as dancing, and the Holy Name is the effect of His ecstasy, expressed as chanting. The cause is the effect. The dynamo is creating ecstatic energy which makes Him dance, and His chanting distributes that ecstasy to others."

He is enjoying Himself, and His chanting distributes that ecstasy to others. This realisation produces happiness. Reality must be the highest form of ananda. Mahaprabhu is experiencing that pleasure, ananda, Himself, He is feeling that joy Himself, and He is distributing that joy to others also because Mahaprabhu comes in the form of the Holy Name. Krishna's Name, beauty, pastimes, etc. are non-different from the Lord Himself. So, Mahaprabhu is getting pleasure Himself and He is distributing that pleasure to others. This is the main meaning of this verse. This is the kind of pleasure that comes through the chanting of the Holy Name. When you chant, chant, and chant, this kind of pleasure can come. Yet, we cannot experience that until we become qualified to chant the Holy Name purely. We always chant Nama-aparadh and so much Nama-abhas, but pure chanting of the Holy Name comes through good association. If you can chant through good association, at that time you will get pleasure and more pleasure. It is necessary to realise this.

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Correcting Your Attitude

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 7

Question: On the one hand, it is said that devotees should think in the interest of the Math, and, on the other hand, it is important to practise properly at home but this practice should not prevent the interest of the Math. Yet, somebody says, "Oh, I have Deities at home," "I am chanting at home"...

Yes, it is necessary to follow this. Actually, everybody should understand the interest of the temple, the interest of the devotees. You cannot be biased thinking, "Oh, she is my family member and I will support her even if she does something wrong." This is not correct.

Devotee: ...If the person already has this attitude that, "I am OK, I am practising at home," how can they correct themselves and focus on the interest of the Temple?

If they listen to lectures, if they want to change, then slowly, slowly they can change. If somebody wants to correct themselves, if somebody wants to purify themselves, then if they try, they can do it. If somebody is not interested in that, if they think, "What I am doing is right, what I am thinking is right," then there is no question. Actually, this is wrong. You must always think, "Is what I am thinking correct or not? Is what I am doing correct or wrong?" You must understand this yourself. If you only see things your way and think this the only right way, then you have a problem. We must correct and adjust ourselves. It is necessary for spiritual progress.

Question: You always say there is no time to lose in this world, but you also say that we need to have patience in the process...

Gurudev says, "Sahasa vidadhita na kriyam: do not do anything suddenly." It means, "Wait and see." That is why Gurudev always says that we must be tolerant and patient. It is necessary to have these qualities. And not to lose time means you must not lose your time on other things. You must always be alert, always eager and available for the service of the Lord. Always engage yourself in the service of the Lord. Even I must also engage myself in the service of the Lord. And when it comes to other things, then you must exercise patience, but not in relation to service. When it comes to service, you must do what is necessary immediately.

It is also necessary to be patient and tolerant when somebody does wrong. If you do something wrong, you must understand it is not good, you must tell yourself, "It is not good," "It is not good," and correct yourself. This is how you can sometimes control and handle the situation. Otherwise, if you cannot control it, then you must give everything over in the hands of the Lord.

This is what happened in Hapaniya. Last year, some man forcefully took Gurudev's favourite pond Shanti Sarovar, in Hapaniya. At first, he wanted to give me money for it—ten thousand rupees per year, but I told him that I am not a businessman, I told him not to do this, but that man is very bad, he is a big gunda [thug] who has probably killed many people. He had been always nagging me, and in the end he took the pond forcefully. I prayed to Radha-Gopinath, "O Gopinath, You are the controller. Please arrange something!" In the end, one-two months ago somebody threw a bomb and killed that man. The man was so bad that when the news spread that he had died, all the villagers made a festival.

So, there is a controller—Krishna. We will try our best, but when we cannot manage, we must give it to His hands, "Gurudev, Krishna, please you take over now."

You all know that I am out of the main temple of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and so many people come and tell me, "Please come and take over the temple!" but I always say, "No, wait and see." It is necessary to have patience. One day will come, and we will go there easily. When their offences increase and get very high, then they will go down on their own. This is called 'aparadher bhoja'—the load, or burden, of offences. When this burden of offences becomes too much, their boat will sink and they will go to hell. If you put five kg into a boat, the boat can take it, but if you put five quintal (five hundred kg), the boat will sink. So, when the load of their offence becomes too much, they will sink. In the meantime, we must oil our own machine—we must see to ourselves, we must not see others' faults. We must be very humble. Krishna is powerful, He has all power, and He is the controller. Then, one day will come, and everything will be harmonised. It is not necessary to worry.

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Pure Surrender Without Gaps

Kolkata-Worldwide, 4 April 2021, part 8

[Addressing Doyal Nitai Prabhu's mother.] When everybody here hears about Doyal Nitai Prabhu keeping money for Gaura Purnima and you sending it, everybody is very astonished—a little boy, but he every day keeps aside some money for Mahaprabhu. You taught him in this way, and I say that parents must raise their children in this way in all houses. Boys must learn to come to Vaishnavs, pay dandavat, they must learn to play the mridanga, to chant kirtans, dance, etc. Almost every family has children, and they must teach their children in this way. You give him tiffin money (pocket money) to buy some food at school, but he keeps one-two dollars from that money for Mahaprabhu's service, for Gurudev's service. Muslim people also have a rule—they earn money, and one-two per cent of that money they must give to Allah. Many devotees also do this. I know they are getting so much austerity in their life. I see devotees from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, how difficult their life is. They go to Spain from Venezuela, and there they work the whole day just to pay their bills, house rent, and food. Still, they are happy to serve the Lord, to serve Krishna consciousness.

Question: How can we stop feeling disturbed by the three-fold miseries?

Adhibhautik, adhidaivik, adhyatmik: miseries caused by one's body, by the nature, and other souls. This is a simple matter, a simple question. "Bhagavata pada Vaisnavera sthane, ekanta asraya kara Chaitanya-charane." Read Bhagavatam under the guidance of a great Vaishnav and take shelter under guidance of Gauranga Mahaprabhu and His associate. That is the main answer. Mahaprabhu also chastised Srila Sanatan Goswami,

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

The main problem is that we do not surrender properly. I was talking to that boy in Uluberia today. I told him: what kind of surrender is this? Are you surrendered to Maya or are you surrendered to your Guru? Ask yourself this question. If I show off that I have taken initiation, I put on tilaks, wear kanthi-mala, etc.—I am surrendered! This is not what a surrendered soul is. A surrendered soul is one who follows 100% what Gurudev tells. If Gurudev says, "Jump from the seventh floor," you must jump, you must not think whether you will die or not. You must depend on your Guru. But the problem is that you do not have any faith in your Guru. You are thinking, "Oh, if I go there, what will happen?" You do not depend on your Guru, you do not have faith in your Guru. You must go wherever Gurudev takes you—if Gurudev takes me to hell, OK, I will go to hell. It is necessary to have proper surrender.

If you do not surrender properly, then some lack of devotion and some gap will come. We sometimes follow all rules and regulations, we put water in the pot—we put, and put, and put again and again—but the pot never gets full, it always remains empty. You are giving more water, and again the same thing. What is happening? Because there is a hole in the bottom of your pot! So, we do what is favourable to devotion, but at the same time we also do what is unfavourable to devotion—we eat more, we sleep more, etc. This is not favourable to devotion. Eating too much, sleeping too much, gossiping too much, too much prajalpa, too much gramya-katha. Everybody keeps asking me, "Maharaj, how do you get so much energy to chant?" I do not waste my time on talking and gossiping—talking, talking, talking, talking nonsense, I do not like it. If I hear somebody talking too much, I get very annoyed. Now I cannot tolerate it so much, I cannot take it when I hear somebody gossiping and talking, talking, talking nonsense things, prajalpa, etc. I am not interested in all this.

Sometimes, we see people have so many exercise machines at home—they practise body balance, they do fasting, they control their diet, they do all sorts of things to keep their body fit, but if you just pay full obeisances one hundred times a day, it will cover all your exercises. If you have the habit of walking one-two hours a day, you will get energy—if you sit in one place all the time, then you will walk fifteen minutes in the parikrama and you will be out of breath. You must be habituated to being energetic. As the saying goes, "a man is a slave of habit." If you do something every day, it will become your habit. Try to understand this.

As for the three-fold miseries, you can see the examples of Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. Their character, their practice shows it perfectly.

You know, one time, Gurudev said about one sannyasi, "He is my servitor, he always stays near me, but why does he always fight with me?" I said, "Gurudev, it is like Jagadananda Pandit and Mahaprabhu," and Gurudev became very angry, "Jagadananda Pandit?! Are you comparing him to Jagadananda Pandit?! Jagadananda Pandit followed 100% what Mahaprabhu told, but does he follow me?! When Jagadananda Pandit went to Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu told him not to mix with the Vraja-basi people and to always stay with Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami, and he listened properly. Does he [that servitor] listen to me?!" Gurudev was angry with me, "Are you comparing him to Jagadananda Pandit?!"

...I am going to Vrindavan next week because there is some service there. I am not going there for eye exercise. When devotees come, then I will do the parikrama. This time I am not going for parikrama, I am only going to my temple, Gurudev's temple and Radha Damodar's Temple to pay obeisance, my dandavat; then I will go to the Govardhan Temple and will pay my obeisance to Giriraj Govardhan there. I am not going on parikrama this time. I am only going because there is some emergency service there that I have to attend to.

Jay Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.

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Current of Eternal Service

Vrindavan-Worldwide, 11 April 2021, part 1

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Mission ki jay
Sri Dham Vrindavan ki jay
Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Rasabihari jiu ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Dandavat, all the devotees. Please accept my humble obeisance. I am now in Vrindavan, in front of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Rasabihari, in the nat mandir. I have been to Govardhan today—I had some service in Nandagram and at the Govardhan Temple. I also went briefly to Varshana, but I paid my dandavat from downstairs, I did not have time to go up. I returned to Vrindavan after lunch, there is a little service here.

The Govardhan Temple is very nice. I saw Uma Devi Dasi did a good service—she made a very good, high wall and a garden. In Gurudev's time, Gurudev said there would be a chabutara (a raised cottage, or hut) there, and the chabutara (where the samadhi mandir stands) also looks good. Also, Gurudev wanted to have a small goshala in Govardhan. There used to be one cow at the temple before, but that cow disappeared a few years ago. So, I am thinking to make a small goshala there, it will be possible to do that in two-three days. I will keep one cow there, and the man who will serve the cow is coming from Nabadwip this Thursday. I went to search for a cow today, I have visited many places, some devotees are also searching, but we have not found anything so far. Anyhow, there is a market in Govardhan, I will buy a cow there next Thursday. It is necessary to keep a cow in our Govardhan Temple for the service. We have cows in every temple where there is the capacity to keep a cow. For example, there is no place to keep a cow here in Vrindavan, but there is place in Govardhan, and I think if there is one cow, it will give five-six litres of milk, that will be sufficient for the devotees and for the bhoga of Giriraj Govardhan. They have been buying milk every day, but it is good to have our own milk.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: You mentioned also you had some service in Nandagram...?

Yes, I had some service in Nandagram, but I do not want to tell about it for now...

Actually, there is Srila Sridhar Maharaj's bhajan kutir in Pavan Sarovar, and I want to establish that place... Pavan Sarovar is also Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj and Srila Sanatan Goswami's bhajan kutir, so I want to establish something there, some of our devotees can stay there, it will be good. This is the service I have in Nandagram.

By the blessing of all the devotees, I am very well here in Vrindavan. It is a little hot here, but it is tolerable, no problem. Sripad Purujit Prabhu (Venezuela) did a very excellent service in the building of Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, on the top floor. He made a toilet and bathroom in every room, and he also installed A/C in two-three rooms. It is very nice. He did a very nice service. He also painted all temple, all guesthouse, all of Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's house, upstairs, and even in Govardhan also. He did a very nice job, very nice service. I appreciate his service very much. May he increase his spiritual life by the mercy of Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari. They did so much while they were here. When I come, I do not stay here so long, so I cannot do so much, but Sripad Purujit Prabhu was staying here with Amita Sakti Devi Dasi and his brother Nimai Chanda Prabhu, and they only asking my permission, "Can we do some service here?" I agreed, and they did very nice painting job, very nice bathrooms in Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's building. I saw today they also painted Govardhan Temple, it is also very nice. I am very happy with their service. May Krishna bless him. Not only does he maintain the Parama Karuna Temple in Caracas, but he also did service here. He is giving everything he has for the service of Gurudev, it is very rare to get a devotee like that.

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Proper Preaching

Vrindavan-Worldwide, 11 April 2021, part 2

Last programme I said something about *** taking Gurudev's hair, but some misunderstood it thinking that *** has made an offence. Both he and his wife have so much attachment because they both personally served Gurudev in Gurudev's last days, and when they and I were taking Gurudev's eternal body in the ambulance from Dum Dum Park to Nabadwip, there was very much separation, so after that they did something with a lock of Gurudev's hair. It is not actually an offence. Gurudev allowed it in his lifetime, so it is not a problem. You do not need to think, "Oh, he has made an offence! This is such a big offence!" No. I read what is published at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math International website. Somebody can think, "Oh, we are taking that hair to the bathroom, it is not good," at the same time we sometimes also clean Gurudev's stool, and that is also service. Actually, it is not necessary to gossip about all this.

[Addressing devotees in London] ...Can you not make brahmacharis in London?

Devotee: It is not so easy! I do not know why...

Because there is too much maya. If you practise Krishna consciousness without the guidance of Gurudev, then your practise will be the practise of Maya (worship of illusion). Always have chastity, always be sincere. You must be a sincere seeker, you must have chastity. I am telling this not only for the London devotees, but everybody. It is necessary to be a sincere seeker and to have chastity, then there will be no problems—if you make a temple or preach in this way, Krishna will send people. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur opened sixty-four temples, and so many brahmacharis and sannyasis joined at that time. So, if you preach properly, it will not be necessary to hire anybody from outside.

It is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness. Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission. Sravan and kirtan are the main necessary practices. It is necessary to practise sravan and kirtan through good association. "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, chittete kariya aikya ara na kariha mane asa (গুরুমুখ-পদ্মবাক্য চিত্তেতে করিয়া ঐক্য আর না করিহ মনে আশা)—make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart, and do not desire anything else within your heart." You must follow what Gurudev tells 100% otherwise problems can come. It is necessary to following Gurudev's order, Gurudev's will 100%, we must do what he wants us to do.

We must be open with everybody, it is not necessary to hide anything. This is the main thing.

Question: We know from the texts like Gaura-ganodesha-dipika, that the associates and servants who accompany Lord Chaitanya are also present in His pastimes as Krishna. My question is whether these associate and servants recognised their own and each other's transcendental personality.

Yes, all those who perform pastimes in Krishna-lila, come as associates of Sriman Mahaprabhu,

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode.

Can they recognise themselves? Is that your question? Even if they do, they will not tell about it in front of everybody. The point is that we can recognise them. Srila Sanatan Goswami once said to Mahaprabhu, "There are some symptoms of the Lord described in Srimad Bhagavatam, and I see all those symptoms in front of me right now. I think that Kali-yuga's avatar has already come." Hearing this, Mahaprabhu said, "No, no, no! You are just very attached to the Lord, that is why you are saying this. I do not know anything about that."

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Srila Gurudev's Festival Etiquette

Vrindavan-Worldwide, 11 April 2021, part 3

Question: I am your disciple, please give me your mercy and service. All devotees want to arrange the disappearance festival of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Please instruct us what to do to offer an appropriate festival.

Gurudev and Guru Maharaj's appearance and disappearance are non-different. They are the same. On this day Gurudev always gives his mercy. Gurudev is always eternal, so his tirobhav and avirbhav, disappearance and appearance, are not different from each other, they are the same. That is why, you must serve Gurudev's mission and Gurudev's devotees at any time, all the time, not only on these days.

As for how to hold this festival, there are many rules and regulations. You can cook something that Gurudev likes and offer it to Gurudev. Remember him, speak in his glorification. That is sufficient. You can also try to serve the mission Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math according to your capacity. These are the main things. The important thing is to do it under the guidance of your Guru.

At the same time, all of our guru-varga never say, "Oh, you are all my disciples." Rather, they say, "You are all my gurus." So, you are all my gurus, when you took initiation from me, it means you gave me mercy, that is why you took shelter from me. This is the vision of our guru-varga.

I always want to be a disciple, I do not want to be a guru. I always want to remain a disciple, therefore I want to serve everybody—even those who took shelter of Gurudev, who took shelter of Guru Maharaj, who took my shelter. These things do not matter. For me, everybody is great Vaishnavs, and I am their servant. This is my vision.

So, understanding that Gurudev's appearance and disappearance are non-different from each other, you can always serve him in whichever possible way. Every day when we come to do puja, we start from guru-puja, when we come to do abhisekh, we start from guru-abhisekh, if we do archan, we start from guru-archan. Whatever we do, we always start from guru-puja. This is our line, this is Gaudiya line. Gurudev is asraya vigraha, embodiment of shelter—he is non-different from Sriman Nityananda Prabhu or Srimati Radharani.

saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, who is said by all the scriptures to be the Lord Himself, and considered to be so by the sadhus, yet is also the Lord's beloved devotee."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 7)

Gurudev is the Lord Himself, he is non-different from the Lord. Sri Uddhav Maharaj also says that Sri Guru is non-different from the Lord. So, we have to follow proper etiquette and be humble, tolerant, give honour to others... Do not discriminate, "He is Acharya Maharaj's disciple," "He is another guru's disciple," "He is that guru's disciple," "He is this guru's disciple." It is very bad to see like that. Those who see it in this way have a very short-sighted vision. Your heart must be broad. Do not be narrow-minded.

* * *

Quality and Qualification

Vrindavan-Worldwide, 11 April 2021, part 4

Question: Srila Sridhar Maharaj says if we chant with a wrong conception or unconsciously, then it is called Namabhas, or shadow of the Name, that we will not get the real thing through that. What should our conception be? What should we be thinking while we are chanting?

Gurudev says that the main thing is not to make Nama-aparadh so much. We are always making so many Nama-aparadhs. You can often see that when somebody comes and says, "Prabhu, can you do this service?" We say, "Oh, I am busy, I am chanting japa!" I have some service, but I am avoiding it, and that is also called Nama-aparadh.

Srila Haridas Thakur said, "How will we get liberation? Through Namabhas." Sometimes, we are sleeping and chanting, that is not chanting, that is Nama-aparadh. Sometimes we are chanting and suddenly some service comes, but we avoid that service. What for do we chant? We chant in order to get service, so when we get service, chanting becomes of secondary importance. That is why, Gurudev sometimes told, "Everybody tells me they are chanting sixteen rounds, they are chanting sixty-four rounds, but when I am chanting four rounds, I sweat too much!"

"Sevon mukhe kaha Krsna Nama." It means you should chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra with your mouth when you are doing service, that is the best process.

Question: How can we use common sense in Sri Gurudev's service for his satisfaction?

The scriptures, Gurudev, and Guru Maharaj say, "What is called seva? Service means we must satisfy Gurudev and the Lord." If we think how Gurudev, Guru Maharaj, and the Lord will be satisfied and do that, that will be service.

Question: Is thirteen years old too young to take the second initiation?

Do you want to do more service?

Devotee: Yes, I want to help with the cooking and puja.

Then it is necessary for you to take the second initiation. It does not depend upon age, it depends only upon one's qualification. Those who have the quality and qualification can take the second initiation, or the first initiation. If you have no service mood, no service quality, what for will you take the second initiation or the first initiation? If you have service mood, if you are eager to serve, if you have desire to serve the Lord, to engage in the Deities' service, in the cooking service, then you should take the second initiation.

Question: I understand that the connection with the Divine Plane is through a Guru, but in my case I have abandoned my diksa-guru and at the moment I am without any formal initiation. My question is who do I offer my service to? Can I offer it to you?

That is up to you. If you have faith in me, I have no objection. You must always serve my Gurudev. I accept service for my Gurudev, not for myself.

[Regarding another devotee.] I have invited him to please come here, and now I am waiting when he will come to see my ugly face. I have sent Kamalendu Prabhu, Sudevi Didi, and Navin Krishna Prabhu to invite him because I do not want to go to the mission where he is staying—I have already sold my head to the lotus feet of Gurudev and I keep my head under my Gurudev's guidance, I cannot give that head to others, that is why I cannot go there myself.

* * *

Best Worship

Vrindavan-Worldwide, 11 April 2021, part 5

Question: When Mahaprabhu asked Ramananda Ray, "Who should we worship?" He said that the worship of Radha Krishna was the best. Then, be it at home or at the temple, is it enough to worship only Mahaprabhu, or we must worship and install the Deities of Radha Krishna as well?

mahaprabhu sri chaitanya radha-krsna nahe anya
rupanuga janera jivana

"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is nondifferent from Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and is the very life of Sri Rupa's followers."

Radha and Krishna are non-different from Gauranga Mahaprabhu, but in this age of Kali worship of Radha and Krishna is very difficult. It may be not difficult, but people sometimes become sahajiya when do so. That is why, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said,

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline."

You must keep raga-patha (the path of worshipping the Yugala Murti of Sri Sri Radha Krishna by rendering spontaneous loving service) in your heart. Mahaprabhu also asked Ramananda Ray another question. He asked, "Who should we meditate on? Which meditation (dhyan) is the highest?" The answer is the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna are the best objects of meditation. This is what you should keep in your heart—you can always think (practise dhyan) about Their lotus feet, but it is not necessary to show it externally like sahajiyas do. When you come to Vrindavan, you can hear everyone here says, "Radhe! Radhe!" That is why, we are to worship Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Moreover,

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

"If Gaura had not come, then what would have happened? How would we have maintained our lives? Who would have revealed to the world Radha's glory and the extremes of Her ecstatic divine love?"

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

If Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had not come, who would have let us know about the glory of Srimati Radharani? Srimati Radharani's Name is not even mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam. Sri Vasu Ghosh writes very nicely in his song,

varaja-yuvati bhavera bhakati
sakati ha-ita kara?

[If Gauranga Mahaprabhu had not come,] who would have had any qualification for the Vraja-gopis' ecstatic devotion?

So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's worship is the best and main worship, but first it is necessary to take shelter of a bona fide Guru. Without the mercy of Gurudev, without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, it is not possible to worship Gauranga. "Guru bada diye Gauranga bhaje, sei papi raurave padi maje: the sinner who worships Gauranga without the Guru will fall into a terrible hell." So, we worship both Gauranga and Nityananda, Nitai and Gaura. This is our main worship.

...Many people from Gauda-desh want to stay at Radha Kunda. They come and start saying, "Radhe! Radhe!" but they do not actually know Srimati Radharani's mood, do not know the mood of Srila Raghunath Das Goswami—they only want to copy and imitate what we hear from Gurudev about. Sahajiyaism, sahajiya conception, and mayavad are very bad diseases. Everybody comes to Vrindavan for their own interest...

nijera posana, kabhu na bhaviba,
rahiba bhavera bhare

"I will never think about my own maintenance; I will always remain within the shelter of loving attachment for You."

(Saranagati, 19)

People come to Vrindavan for their own interest, not for service, not for Gurudev's mission, not for the service to Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari—they only come for their own interest; they stay here and become bhogi (enjoyers). There are three categories of people—bhogi, tyagi, and sevi. Bhogi is enjoyers, tyagi is renouncers, and sevi is servitors. But I see now that everyone here in Vrindavan is now becoming bhogi—everybody wants to be enjoyers. They use motorcycles, watch television, they stop sravanam, kirtanam, etc. That is why I have come here, I want to make some changes...

[Addressing a devotee.] Anyhow, practise properly and try to serve. Do not listen to gossips and so many nonsense things. Do not criticise others. All right? Ku-boliba na, ku-suniba na, ku-dekhiba na—we will not say bad things, we will not listen to bad things, and we will not see bad things.

[Addressing a devotee.] If you are afraid of death, chant the Holy Name. One day we all have to die, you know that. Do you remember the story of Vritrasur who was killed by Indra, how they took Dadhichi Muni's bones and Vritrasur surrendered? That pastime shows very nicely that you can never say who is a Vaishnav, a devotee.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance and please forgive my offence.

[Srimad Bhagavatam describes this pastime in Sixth Canto, chapters 9-13. Presenting below a short summary of this pastime:]

When Vritrasur, a fierce-looking and extremely effulgent demon, by mistake appeared from a yajna, fear-stricken demigods ran to the Supreme Lord to seek a solution how to get rid of this imposing demon. The Supreme Lord advised demigods to turn for help to a sage named Dadhichi whose bones could serve as a powerful weapon against the demon. Following the instruction of the Lord, demigods came to Dadhichi and asked him for help. Dadhichi agreed to sacrifice his body for a higher purpose, and demigods thereby got a weapon that could kill Vritrasur. The great long battle between demigods and Vritrasur started during which Vritrasur happily embraced his fate advising Indra, "If one is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and depends on Him in every respect, then victory, opulence and peace of mind are all inevitably available. Such a person has nothing for which to aspire in the three worlds. The Supreme Lord is so kind that He especially favours such a devotee by not giving him opulence that will hamper his devotional service. Therefore I wish to give up everything for the service of the Lord. I wish always to chant the glories of the Lord and engage in His service. Let me become unattached to my worldly family and make friendships with the devotees of the Lord. I do not desire to be promoted to the higher planetary systems, even to Dhruvaloka or Brahmaloka, nor do I desire an unconquerable position within this material world. I have no need for such things."

* * *

Golden Chance

Betur, 22 January 2020, part 1
Translated from Bengali

By a great fortune, you have got this service to the Lord. And not just got service, but you have got this service in the house of your Guru (guru-griha). Many serve from their homes, but you have got this opportunity to stay an serve at the temple. Those who stay outside can also come here in the evening, can chant kirtans and practise here. The Lord has given you this chance.

The problem is that we took initiation, we took the Holy Name a long time ago, but we you do not practise. You do not pass an exam just by getting enrolled into a school. Remember this. Do you think you can pass the exams just by getting enrolled? No, you cannot. You have all been enrolled into this school, but nobody has been able to pass so far, nobody is qualified to pass. You do not pass the exams just by getting enrolled—having got accepted into a school, you must study, then you will be able to pass the exams. So, you all have this opportunity to study here. A temple is a place where there is service to the Lord. Jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaishnava seva—you can serve the Lord here. You are very fortunate to have got this chance to serve the Lord right here at your Guru's house...

Everything here is service, there is no small service or big service—somebody washes the dishes, somebody makes cow dung patties, somebody plants flower garden, somebody waters plants, and so on. All service is the same, there is no difference. Do no think, "I am the secretary!", "I am the manager!", "I am a brahmachari," "I am a ksatriya," "I am this," "I am that."

You have all read this expression "para-dharmo bhayavahah" (it is dangerous to follow another's path) in Srimad Bhagavad-gita.

sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah, para-dharmat svanusthitat
sva-dharme nidhanam sreyah, para-dharmo bhayavahah

Even if it is imperfect, it is better to do one's duty according to one's own nature, than to do another's well. Even death in the discharge of one's own duty is better, for to perform another's is dangerous.

What is "para-dharma" [others' religion]? Many interpret it in a wrong way—they say that if a brahman follows the path of a ksatriya, this is a foreign ('other') religion, if a Hindu follows Muslim religion, this is a foreign ('other') religion. Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu says this is not so. The religion of every soul is to serve the Lord, and if the soul does anything else except that, that is called a foreign, or 'other', religion. The one and only duty of every jiva soul is to serve the Lord. Be it an ant, a tree, a flower or anything else, everyone's duty is to serve the Lord, however a jiva soul cannot do it in every birth. If a palm tree wants to serve the Lord, can it do so? It cannot. If somebody comes, collects date juice, makes gur out of it, and then uses it to make sweet rice for the Lord, then you can say that this palm tree could do some service to the Lord. We, on the other hand, can serve the Lord out of our own accord.

The problem is that, although we have this opportunity in this lifetime, many still do not serve the Lord—they say they cannot take initiation because they cannot give up some things. Animals cannot give up eating meat because they do not understand it (if they do not get meat, they die), but if humans decide, "I will not eat meat, fish, etc.," they can do it if they want to. We all used to eat meat before, but when we heard the proper conception and understood it, we gave it all up. Still, there are people who cannot get great things because they cannot give up small things...

Many people say, "Why will I chant the Holy Name at this age? I will do it later!" Some of you present here are old now, you can understand yourself what old age is like—if you think you will practise Krishna consciousness later, you are cheating the Lord. "When I get old and retire, then I will practise," but when you grow old, you will struggle to walk, your stomach will pain, your neck will pain, etc. Do you think you will enjoy practising Krishna consciousness when you are sick? The older you get, the sicker you will get, and you will not be able to walk, you will not be able to do parikrama, you will not be able to cook, to worship the Lord or do anything else. This is how your life will pass in vain. So, those who say they will practise Krishna consciousness when they get old, are cheating the Lord. Not only that, you can remember Santosh Prabhu—he died at such a young age. Do you think you know how long you will live?

* * *

Proper Attachment to Service

Betur, 22 January 2020, part 2
Translated from Bengali

It is said in the scriptures, that if you are doing the puja of the Deities and Gurudev comes to the temple at that time, you must leave the puja and come to pay obeisance to your Guru. Do you remember who did not do it, who made this offence?

There was one servitor of Nityananda Prabhu named Ramdas Minaketan. One time there was a kirtan at Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's house, and when Ramdas Minaketan came there, the proud brahman who was doing puja showed no respect to him. The brahman made an offence. Ramdas Minaketan came to Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, the author of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, and said, "Krishnadas, who has your brother brought to chant kirtans and do puja?! It makes my body hair stand on end!" Then, Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami had a fight with his brother who had invited that brahman, he told him, "You did wrong! You do not like Nityananda Prabhu. You say you love Gaura, but you do not give any respect to Nitai! What is this?" Nityananda is guru-tattva. Yes, He goes to different houses, He does this, He does that, people say so many things considering Him mad, but who is able to understand Nityananda Prabhu? Later, when Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami went to sleep, Nityananda Prabhu Himself came to him in a dream saying, "O Krishnadas! Wake up, wake up! Do not stay here in Jhamatpur, come to Vrindavan!" Next morning Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami woke up and left his house for Vrindavan where he later composed Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita.

So, no matter what, when your Guru comes, you must leave everything aside. And here the situation is that I had told you I was coming at a certain time, why did not do the arati? The arati must be at half past five in the evening, so why did you not do it timely? Why did you have to sit and wait for me when I had told you I was coming later and do the kirtans, speak, etc. The main thing is the service to the Lord—you must always do it with heart and soul.

* * *

Can You Not or Will You Not?

Betur, 22 January 2020, part 3
Translated from Bengali

You must chant kirtans every day, and you must always think, "I must do what Gurudev has told me to do."

I know and I can understand everything. Everybody comes and chants kirtans in front of me, but when I am not looking, they do not do kirtans, they do not practise thinking, "Gurudev cannot see, Gurudev does not know." This is martya-buddhi (considering Gurudev a mere mortal), it is an offence against the Holy Name. You can chant the Holy Name millions of times, but if your mentality is like this, there will be no result. Such an attitude is an offence against the Holy Name, you must always leave such mood. Always keep away from any offences of the Holy Name.

You think, "I have come today with Gurudev, everybody sat down, we did kirtans, and when Gurudev is in Nabadwip, Kolkata, Nrisingha Palli, Bankura, or Ekachakra, then Gurudev does not see what I am doing." But Gurudev can understand everything internally. If we do not understand it, then you have a problem. Gurudev can understand everything. When Srila Gurudev was in America and I was here, he called me and said that he knew some job had been done. He understands everything.

We work the whole day from morning till night, but when you close your eyes, everything will be left behind. When a father leaves much wealth to his sons, his children enjoy with it or sell it, spend the money and become beggars. You can see these things happening in the world. You have come to stay here at the temple, but you always wear pants—why cannot you wear a dhoti? Why cannot you listen to what I say? If you listen to what I say, then tomorrow you will wake up and wear a dhoti. This is my word. You cannot wear pants when you stay in the temple.

Devotee: I cannot wear a dhoti [I have some problem wearing it]

You cannot say you cannot wear a dhoti. If you try, you will not say you cannot wear it. "I cannot chant the Holy Name" and "I will not chant the Holy Name" is not the same. Is it "I cannot chant the Holy Name, I do not get time to chant the Holy Name" or "I will not chant the Holy Name"? Which of the two is true? You do not want to chant, then you will not get time. Even if you do not get time to chant during the whole day, you can still chant it when you take rest. Can you not do your japa when you are resting? If you go to the market, if you talk to everybody, spend time gossiping, talking nonsense, etc., then you will not have time. So, the point is that if you say, "I will not do," then leave it. You cannot say, "Oh, I cannot wear clothes." This is not a question! Hindu people cannot wear their clothes (dhoti)—this is unheard of. This is not the culture. You are staying at the temple, so you must wear a dhoti, you must put tilaks, wear kanthi-mala, shave your head. You must shave your head, this is the rule of the temple! When you come to stay at the temple, you must follow these rules.

If I apply for a policeman's job, will anyone say I am a policeman if I do not wear the police uniform? It is the same here. If you go to school and do not wear the school uniform, will anyone let you into the school? Here too, it is also a school or university—if you are to stay here, you must wear devotional uniform. Is what I am saying right or not? You cannot say that you cannot wear it, that it is difficult to wear it—when taking initiation, everyone wears a dhoti. Then, you must learn to wear a dhoti! You must wear a dhoti at the temple. This is the rule.

What for do you stay in the temple? When new people come, what will they learn looking at you? It is not a matter of age also, even small children come to the temple and wear a dhoti. I saw a boy came to Tarakeshwar temple, he is ten years old, and I told him to wear a dhoti. It is necessary to wear a dhoti! You must also apply tilaks; if you do not know how, they will teach you how to apply then and what mantras to recite when applying them. You must chant the Holy Name, you must practise Krishna consciousness if you want to get the Lord, and if you think you do not need all this, then I will not say anything more. If you think you do not need all this, if you do not need the Lord, then well and good—then leave it all.

* * *

Latest News

Kolkata-Worldwide, 18 April 2021, part 1

Dandavat. Last week on Sunday I was in Vrindavan, and today in the morning I came back to Kolkata. I started from Mathura yesterday in the morning and arrived in Kolkata very early in the morning today, it is not so many hours, about twenty-four.

I went to Vrindavan and Govardhan to make some little changes in the management there. That was my service in Vrindavan. This is why I suddenly left for Vrindavan.

This was my seva there because Gurudev told me to take care of his mission, that is why I had to go there. I always take care of all temples, particularly in Puri and Vrindavan. Now it is all very clean. This was the main service, and there was also other service. In his time, Gurudev said that he wanted to make a chabutara (hut) in Govardhan, and Uma Didi is taking good care of that chabutara. I saw she had made a big wall also because the neighbours had been causing disturbance, she did a good service. She also takes a very good care of all the trees, made a garden behind the temple.

In his time, Gurudev also said that it was necessary to keep one-two cows in Govardhan, so this time I also made one goshala and got two cows and two calves. The cows are giving a lot of milk, so it is not necessary to buy milk now. I got very big cows.

This was the main service in Vrindavan and Govardhan this time. I spent there about ten-seven days and came back this morning. Tomorrow I have a train to Siliguri. Every year I make Gurudev's festival here in different temples, but this year I want to stay in Siliguri. I always make the temple anniversary festival in Siliguri, but I could not go there last year because there was a lockdown right after Gaura Purnima. Besides, the preaching in Siliguri is not going on properly because there is no good preacher there. That is why I was thinking to stay there seven days and make Gurudev's festival there, it will also bring much happiness to the devotees in Siliguri, North Bengal. Because there is no proper preaching there, not so many devotees come from Siliguri.

Actually, a temple is for preaching. If there is no preaching, then it is very difficult. That is why I have to go there. My train is tomorrow. I only came to Kolkata today to have a little rest and to take some books from here to Siliguri. I also took some books for Vrindavan because almost all books had finished there. So, I have been resting today, some devotees also came and I spoke to them...

* * *

Hapless Hindus

Kolkata-Worldwide, 18 April 2021, part 2

Question: I have some Hindu relatives who do everyone's puja—Krishna, Siva, Rama, everyone—and they also eat meat and cannot give that up. I am wondering what I can say to them.

You can tell them that if they eat meat, they will get karma-phal for that. It means that if you eat meat, be it cow's meat or chicken meat or any other meat, you will become a chicken, a chicken, a goat, or some other animal in future. This is what the scriptures say. Even if you take fish, you will get fish body in future. This is what you can tell them, and this is what is said in the scriptures, Manu Samhita in particular,

mam sa bhaksayitamutra
yasya mamsam ihadmy aham
etan mamsasya mamsatvam
pravadanti manisinah

"That creature whose flesh I am eating here and now will consume me in the next life.' Thus meat is called mamsa [mam—me, sa—he, I am eating him, he will eat me], as described by learned authorities."

This sloka is there, and its meaning is that if you eat any flesh it means you are taking your own mamsa, flesh. Sometimes, Bengali people eat only fish and they are proud that they do not eat meat, but it is all the same—if you eat meat or if you eat fish, the result will be the same—you will be eating your own flesh. We always change our bodies, and when this body is dead, you will go to another life. This is what happens.

Another thing is that you say they worship Siva, Lord Krishna, and every other Deity, but they must understand that Krishna does not take their puja because they are not devotees. So, if they worship Krishna, Jagannath, and all other Deities, all these Deities will not accept their puja—all their worship becomes useless. This is the answer to that. Krishna Himself says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "My devotees only know Me, and I know only My devotees. I do not see anybody else other than them." Krishna only takes care of His devotees, He does not take care of anyone and everyone. That is why it is important to become a proper devotee, "Grhe thako, vane thako, sada 'Hari' bole dako. Whether you stay in a house or in a forest, always call out the Holy Name."

At the same time, when they do such worship, they can get some punya for that, it may bring something auspicious in their life, but ultimately they get this human body or any other body, and they will get the karma-phal depending on how they use their life. The problem is that they have got a human body, but they cannot understand that this human body is very meaningful, very valuable. Those who understand the value of this human body use this human body for the service to the Lord.

* * *

Enter Auspicious Life

Kolkata-Worldwide, 18 April 2021, part 3

Always attend to service, that is the main thing. Service is our vow. I will explain what service means. If you make your Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan happy with your activity, that is called seva. Our intention, our strongest desire should be to please our Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan (the Lord) in whichever possible way, then it will be seva. Otherwise, if you do something but it does not please your Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan, then it is not seva. You must think about it in that way. Whatever you do, you must please your Guru, Vaishnav, and Bhagavan with that. You should understand this, this is very important.

Srila Ashram Maharaj, you will not believe it. There is an unbelievable situation in Vrindavan! The BJP government of UP (Uttar Pradesh, including Vrindavan, Govardhan) gives special cards for all the sadhus who live in temples, and with this card all the sadhus can use the local train, bus, etc. without any fare, for free. You can also get a local ration with that card—the government gives rice, dal, wheat, etc. And if you have a cow, the government gives 900 rupees per month for the cow. This time I saw there were not so many street cows—the government took all cows and made a huge goshala for them, they are giving many jobs to the local people and they are looking after the cows nicely. So many auspicious things are going on there now. And both Vrindavan and Govardhan are very clean. They have made big roads. It is very nice. Radha Kunda and other place are maintained very nicely. There are CCTV cameras on all streets in Vrindavan, Govardhan, including all the parikrama path. Everything is fine and very nice in Vrindavan and Govardhan now. The municipality takes care of so many things. The streets are not dirty. There used to be so much monkey stool everywhere, but now the government cleans the streets from time to time.

Question: We hear that we must serve Bhagavatam every day, and Bhagavatam means a devotee-Bhagavatam and the scripture-Bhagavatam. So if we do our daily service and do not have time to study the scriptures, how then can we fulfil our commitment to doing both?

If you have permission from your Guru, you can read Bhagavatam, but you must first take shelter at the lotus feet of Gurudev. "Bhagavata pada Vaisnavera sthane, ekanta asraya kara Chaitanya-charane. Read Bhagavatam under guidance of a Vaishnav and take exclusive shelter of the lotus feet of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu." You must read Bhagavatam under the guidance of a bona fide Guru. You must first take Mahaprabhu's shelter, and Mahaprabhu means Mahaprabhu's devotee. Mahaprabhu comes to this world along with His associates and His holy abode ("svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatara").

tava nija-jana kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi

You have sent a great soul, Your associate (to rescue me).

daya kari more patita dekhiya
kahila amare giya

Seeing me so fallen and being merciful, he came to me and said....

Mahaprabhu Himself sends His associate, His own person to this world as a guru, and you must take shelter of that guru, then you can understand everything. First saranagati is necessary.

Srimad Bhagavatam says you must read Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavad-gita says you must read Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita says you must read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata says you must read Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata. Yes, Srimad Bhagavatam is the main scripture, but if you read it, you will not be able to understand everything. Our guru-varga has written many books extracting the main slokas of Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita—you can take those books and read them, then you can easily understand everthying. If you start from Srimad Bhagavatam, you will not understand anything because when you come to study, you must start from the primary level, then proceed on to the secondary, higher secondary, then college, and then university level. Srimad Bhagavatam is university level. First learn from the primary level. Read Srimad Bhagavad-gita. You can read it, you can learn from there, then gradually you will understand everything easily.

Another thing is that the main purport of Srimad Bhagavatam is "Jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaishnava seva." You should engage yourself in preaching. "Kiniba, lutiba—I will take and I will give it to others." It means you must take shelter of a bona fide Guru, receive the seed of the Holy Name from your Guru, then you must chant the Holy Name and you must distribute this Holy Name to others also. You must do service yourself, and you must engage others in service too. That is called jive daya. You are serving Gurudev, you are serving the Lord, and you must also engage others in the service to your Gurudev and the Lord. You are chanting the Holy Name, and you must also engage others in chanting the Holy Name, engage others in the Lord's service. This should be your main vision. Name ruchi means you will chant, chant, chant, and then, when your offences are removed through continuous chanting, you will get real taste (ruchi). If you chant one-two times, you may not get any taste, you may think it is bitter, but it is necessary to chant, chant, and chant without offence, then taste will come. Vaishnav-seva means Bhagavad seva. Vaishnavs are non-different from the Bhagavatam scripture.

So you understand what I am saying? First it is necessary to surrender (saranagati), you must take shelter of a bona fide guru, it is necessary to have the strongest faith in your Guru, after that you must practise with strongest faith, and not just for one day—we must practise everyday. We must offer bhog every day. We always sing,

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha jaya

By honouring the Lord's prasadam I conquer over all worldly illusions.

(‘Suddha-bhakata' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Prasad-seva means you must take prasadam otherwise you eat something, go to the toilet, and everything is finished at that, but if you take prasadam, it removes all prapancha, all diseases. We have five kinds of diseases—avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits). How can you remove all these diseases? By taking prasadam.

* * *

Cannot Practise or Do Not Want to Practise?

Kolkata-Worldwide, 18 April 2021, part 4

Question: We hear that it is important to be tolerant, it is important to be humble, but in our material life we cannot manage if we are always humble; the material world is very different, so if we are always in a humble mood, we cannot maintain our life properly...

It is necessary to practise it. You are not humble, but you have to be humble. We are trying, trying, trying, trying, and trying to be humble. We are trying to be honest. Tolerance is also necessary. You can all see my own example—you can see how much I am tolerating and learn something from my example. Sometimes, when I cannot tolerate it, I start biting my own arms. I know I cannot slap anyone, so I do not bite anybody—I bit my own arms.

Actually, sometimes we do so many wrong things, so many nonsense things, so many offences thinking that our Guru does not know about it, that he cannot see or understand it. We think Gurudev is like any other material person, but this is an offence against the Holy Name—to consider your Guru a mere mortal (gurute martya-buddhi). We think our Guru has an ordinary human body, so when he is not near, he cannot see what we are doing—he is living now in India, and I am living far away in South America or America. This is nonsense. Gurudev can see everything. Why does he not say anything then? Because everything runs its own course—when you make offences again and again, eventually the burden of offences will become so great that you will sink under its weight on your own. When this burden is too much, you will sink yourself. Wait and see. First offences are towards devotees, then offences go to Vaishnavs, then to Gurudev, and finally to the Lord. You can remember Ramachandra Puri—he made offence to Vaishnavs, then to his Gurudev, and finally his offences went to Mahaprabhu, and after that he disappeared from Puri. This is how it happens. Only wait and see.

* * *

Gurudev's Disappearance

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

Today is the holy disappearance day of Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Today, Sri Gurupadpadma left his body... It is a very painful separation day, but we are peacefully observing this day today. Vaishnavs' disappearance and appearance are the same, they are non-different from each other—Vaishnavs are the Lord's very own, Gurudev is the Lord's very own associate.

saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, who is said by all the scriptures to be the Lord Himself, and considered to be so by the sadhus, yet is also the Lord's beloved devotee."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 7)

So, today is the disappearance day of Sri Gurupadpadma—he chose this day and left this world, left our sight on this day, at 4:20-30 in the morning. He is present now in his samadhi form and bestowing his mercy upon us from there. He always stays within his eternal pastimes. The Lord and Gurudev always stay within their eternal pastimes. Gurudev gave us all charge and is now giving his mercy from there. Without his mercy, we would not have been able to live to this day, we would not have been able to practise Krishna consciousness to this day. If Gurudev does not bestow his mercy on us, we will be removed from service and Krishna consciousness. Without mercy of Gurudev we cannot think about Harinam, Hari-seva, about worshipping the Lord or practising Krishna consciousness. Without his mercy, we cannot know, we cannot understand anything about what is service, what is the worship of the Lord, or what is Krishna consciousness.

This day is very pathetic for me and for everybody also. This day is intolerable for me. I can tolerate so many things, but this day, when Gurudev left, is unbearable.

The day before Gurudev left this world, I had come from Nabadwip to see Gurudev in Kolkata. I had met with him, spoken with him, and I could not even imagine that Gurudev would leave me the next day... The day when I came to see Gurudev was ekadasi, you all know it (it was ekadasi yesterday). I had to go back to Nabadwip the same day because I was supposed to go for a preaching programme in Mednipore, but the next day, in the morning, when I heard the news at 4:45 or 4:30, I could not understand what I had to do. Somebody told me I had to go to Kolkata, so I went to Kolkata to see Gurudev.

So, I came to Kolkata again... Then, an ambulance was arranged, everyone was there—Gurudev's daughter and his grandson were also there, some devotees were also there. I took Gurudev to Nabadwip in the ambulance. We arrived in Nabadwip in the afternoon. I gave the news to all television, radio, newspapers, etc. I also sent a message to all Gaudiya Maths' acharyas in Mayapur Vaishnav Association—hearing the news, they sent their representatives to see Gurudev...

Actually, the place where Gurudev's samadhi mandir is now was chosen by Gurudev himself. Initially, I prepared a place near the main gate, near Srila Sridhar Maharaj's bhajan kutir, but Gurudev said he preferred to stay near his Guru Maharaj's samadhi mandir. First, he said he wanted me to tell everyone to burn his body and throw it in the Ganges, but I said that it was impossible because his followers all over the world would not accept it. Then, Gurudev said, "OK, if they do not accept it, then I would rather you kept me near my Guru Maharaj's samadhi mandir."

There was a mango tree in that place. It was almost dead, and slowly, slowly it died, and there was only a little stump left. We took out that stump and started digging the ground for Gurudev's samadhi... When we brought Gurudev to Nabadwip, we bathed his body with ghee, Ganges water, etc. It was almost five o'clock in the evening, but I remember Gurudev's body was just like before. Gurudev's transcendental body remained just the way it was when his soul had left it. There was no change in the colour or anything else. It was very soft and beautiful—his body was as soft as cotton... I was surprised to see that. Such the body of a transcendental devotee.

After Gurudev's body was bathed on top of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's samadhi mandir, it was then seated in his samadhi... Somehow everyone told me that I had to go down inside the hole to write the Brahma gayatri with some tilak clay on his body and to put the tilaks also. I could not control myself that day—I did not understand anything, I could not think straight. I do not know how, but somehow I went down, did what they told me to do, and then they started putting the soil... When the soil was up to Gurudev's head, I could not stay there any more. I went far away as I could not bear to see that sight. After that, I did not stay there. When everything was finished, they offered bhoga to Gurudev, did the arati, and placed a Tulasi tree on top. I had also got some new corrugated iron and arranged a fence on the four sides of the samadhi and covered it with a roof. Fourteen days later I started making Gurudev's samadhi mandir. This is the rule—it is possible to start making a samadhi after fourteen days have passed. Many told me to wait for one year, but I said, "What if I am not alive in one year, who will make Gurudev's samadhi then?" So, I started Gurudev's samadhi mandir in fourteen days after his disappearance. After that, you all know what happened....

* * *

"Everything Plunged Into Darkness"

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

It is impossible for me, a fallen soul, to glorify Srila Gurudev. I have no quality, no qualification to glorify him. Ten million mouths, ten million tongues are not sufficient to chant Gurudev's glorification, then how is it possible for somebody like me, a mere fallen soul, to glorify him?

Gurudev is always with us. I see all the time that Gurudev always takes care of us, Gurudev always protects me. In danger or at any other times, whatever the situation may be, I always take shelter of Gurudev and Gurudev keeps and sustains me with his mercy.

I could not understand it before, but when Gurudev left this world, I felt I had an umbrella over my head and now that umbrella was gone... A banyan tree gives shade to everybody, and Gurudev is like a banyan tree—he sheltered me from everything. In the shade of his lotus feet, you do not feel any pain or disturbance. Those who have a little relationship with Gurudev, can feel what is called separation—only they can understand what the agonising pain of separation is, how painful it is. Only those who feel that separation can understand it...

I came to Gurudev's lotus feet in 1991-1992, and since that time I have only been trying to fulfil his order, to serve him. I tried to follow Gurudev's instruction as much as it is within my capacity. I do not know to what extent I fulfilled his desire, but Gurudev tolerated me so much. Many times I did something that was not to his liking, and Gurudev would chastise me a lot—I liked his chastisement very much. Gurudev always said, "If I chastise everybody, they will run away from me. There is only one person who I can chastise," and he mentioned my name. He said, "I can chastise only Acharya Maharaj because I know he will always stay with me, he will never leave me." Gurudev always said that.

I always spoke to Gurudev about all happy and all sad things. I would come to him at 2-3 o'clock in the morning. Sometimes he would call me at night, at 2:30-3 o'clock, and I would immediately run to him—even if I was sleeping in a gumcha, if Gurudev called me, I would immediately go to him. I never thought to take time to put on a dhoti and a shirt—I rushed as I was, in a simple gumcha. And Gurudev took me for his own... "Janakadhika-vatsala-snigdha-padam." I have got so much affection from Gurudev—his affection was so much more than what I even did not get from my father or mother... When Gurudev left this world, I thought, "Now there is no one left in this world who will chastise me." I always spoke to Gurudev heart to heart, I told him about all happy and unhappy things, and when Gurudev left this world, I could not understand anything—what was going on, what was going to happen, everything plunged into darkness for me... I thought, "I am alone!" I became alone, but then so many foreign devotees came to me and always stay with me, and I gradually thought, "I am not alone any more. I will carry on and spend my happy and unhappy days with them..."

Gurudev gave me many tasks, he gave me many service responsibilities, and he gave me many very difficult services, but I never said no to Gurudev, and I was successful in every single task by his mercy. Gurudev sent me for preaching in India, Gurudev also sent me abroad many times—I went together with him and alone also. Gurudev tested me if I would be able to go on my own or not, and it would be impossible to accomplish all this without his mercy. I succeeded only by the mercy of my Gurudev. Gurudev sent me to preach in Bengal, Gurudev sent me for rice collection, potato collection, and I succeeded by his mercy. Gurudev gave me very difficult services, so many hard decisions. Many years ago Gurudev gave me the responsibility of arranging Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama (the main festival), I also arranged a big festival on Gurudev's appearance day, the appearance festival of Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sirdhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Gurudev gave me this responsibility and told me to take care of devotees. This is how I made so many guesthouses, I made Govinda Kunda, I made so many branches of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Gurudev gave all these tasks to me, and he was happy to watch me do it. I never shied away from any job.

Sometimes, Gurudev would get angry and tell me, "Get out from here!" I would get out, and in half an hour I could come back and say, "I need two lakhs rupees." Gurudev said, "I told you to get out!" and I said, "Yes, you have told me to get out, but you did not forbid me to come." This is how I always came back to Gurudev. I would always sit by Gurudev's side just like a baby calf sits by the side of its mother. When there was service, I would do it, and at all other times when Gurudev was in Nabadwip, I would sit quietly like a baby calf with its mother. I did not say anything or ask any question—I always sat and waited for his order or instruction like a chatak bird that always waits for a drop of rainwater...

* * *

Service Alertness

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Every time Gurudev started out from Kolkata to Nabadwip, he would call me—he did not tell anyone that he was coming to Nabadwip but he would call me and tell he was coming. He would instruct me, "I am coming to Nabadwip, do not tell anybody," and I told only one-two persons secretly so that they cleaned Gurudev's room a little bit. Then, when Gurudev was in Krishnanagar (he always used that road because there was no road through Kalna at that time), he would call me again and say, "I am in Krishnanagar." Then we would be ready to start kirtan and give Gurudev a welcome, do some sankirtan. When Gurudev arrived, we would go up to Gurudev's room, do the arati, etc.

I knew what Gurudev liked to eat, and I would go to the market the day before his arrival, buy everything and have it kept in his kitchen—I knew that when Gurudev came, his servant would start cooking for Gurudev. Gurudev always left Kolkata early in the morning and arrive in Nabadwip at about nine o'clock. So, I would go to the market the day before and keep everything ready in Gurudev's room. Gurudev liked chamarmani rice. It is a very nice kind of rice. Gurudev could not eat atop chal—it caused problem in his stomach, but he liked chamarmani parboiled rice. He also ate begun bhaja (fried aubergine, but the aubergine had to be without seeds). He also liked very hot aloo siddho (boiled potato) with two-four overfried chillis. Sometimes, he also took split chickpea dal or moong dal, and some subji. He did not like to have too many items. You know that he had blood sugar, but he would still sometimes ask for some ice-cream. He liked ThumbsUp, and he also liked mango. Mango has a lot of sugar, but he did not care—even if his sugar was high, he still ate mango. Later, he stopped eating potato so much, but he liked aloo posto a lot.

I was always alert towards Gurudev—I know everything, what he likes, what he eats, etc.

You can see the Deities here in Siliguri. These Deities were chosen by Gurudev himself. One day, Gurudev told me, "Come, we will go out." We went to the man who makes Deities, and Gurudev showed me these Deities saying he had them made a long time ago. There was a flood in 2000, but the Deities were not damaged, so Gurudev said they were of a very good quality. Gurudev asked me, "Do you like these Deities?" I said, "I do." And Gurudev told me to take the Deities. We made the order, the Deities only had to be painted, and the man who made the Deities said he would send them to the temple in a few days. Initially, Gurudev said he wanted to send them to Malaysia, but it did not happen, and then a temple was made here in Siliguri, and I installed these Deities here. So, Gurudev himself liked and chose these Deities of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar. Gurudev himself gave this name.

This temple here in Siliguri was started when Gurudev was abroad, in America. I came here for a festival arranged by Devananda Gaudiya Math, and the devotees liked me a lot, so I called Gurudev and asked if I could make a temple here. Gurudev said he was very sick and was going for an operation, but if I wanted to make a temple in Siliguri, I could do it. He gave me permission. Later, he saw the domes of the temple. Gurudev asked me at that time if the foundation of the building was strong enough, and by the mercy of the Lord there is no problem to this day. Gurudev could not come here himself because of one man, you know it. Gurudev wanted to come here when it was very hot in Kolkata, but one man, although he was Gurudev's disciple, betrayed Gurudev. Gurudev was very upset. He said, "If somebody takes initiation from me and behaves likes this after that, I will not go there." He was angry and did not come. How is it possible for a disciple to cheat his Guru like this? It is unimaginable. That is why Gurudev called him a blood-sucking mosquito. Gurudev said, "My disciple sucks my blood just the way a mosquito sucks human blood." I often remember these hard words of Gurudev. When somebody loses Gurudev's mercy, they become great offenders. You have heard Ramachandra Puri's story—he first made an offence to Vaishnavs, then he made an offence to his Guru, and in the end he made an offence to the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu, after that he was forced to leave Jagannath Puri, and nobody knows where he went after that.

Gurudev always liked trees and cows. He never allowed to cut any trees. One time, some worker lady gathered dry leaves and was burning them at the bottom of a tree. Gurudev saw it and said to her, "What are you doing? The tree feels pain from the heat! You are making the tree suffer so much, and the Lord will give you the same suffering for this." He also never allowed to sell a single cow from the goshala. Gurudev said, "If you sell a cow, some Muslim man will buy and eat it, and you will suffer the reaction for this. Do not do this." He also did not allow to sell fish from the pond. Now that we had to leave Nabadwip, they have sold all cows, they have sold all fish, they have cut so many trees and sold them. This is all an offence. When I made the construction, I made it very well, you cannot take a single brick out of the walls, otherwise they would take bricks out and sell them too. They sold the fans, the fridge, they sold Gurudev's television. This is what is going on there. And this is all not my problem—they are doing this, and they are the ones who are plunging into trouble for this...

* * *

Service Milestones

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

Gurudev brought me up, he taught me everything. Just like a blacksmith burns a piece of iron and then makes a hammer or a pair of scissors, etc. out of it, in the same way Gurudev moulded me from a young age. I came to the temple before I was thirty. Before I came to the temple, I had a job, and Gurudev told me one word (he told me to leave it) and I at once gave it up and stayed at the temple. It was a very profitable job—I used to teach at a college and got a very good salary, about 170-200,000 rupees—but I left it without thinking, following Gurudev's word. Gurudev said that if you want to get great things, you must give up small things, and I always remember it.

I also remember what Gurudev told about Vaishnav seva—how one must serve Vaishnavs, how one must serve devotees, how to manage the temple, how to discipline others. I have learnt everything from Gurudev. Gurudev taught me the power of tolerance, and you can see how much I am tolerating now following what Gurudev has taught me.

I looked after the cows at the temple, I took care of the construction works. How is it possible to do so much? If you can, you can do, but all this is possible only by Gurudev's mercy. I also cultivated the temple's fifty-bigha land (31 acres, or 12.5 hectare)—I cultivated wheat, mustard, etc. After that, I made many branches of the Mission—I made a temple in Bamunpara and Siliguri in Gurudev's time, the temple in Ekachakra was also half-completed in Gurudev's time. All the other temples were made after Gurudev left. Gurudev heard about the temples in Ganga Sagar and Bankura, but he did not see them in his lifetime. Anyhow, wherever he is now, he can see everything from there and he is giving his mercy from there. He can see everything from his samadhi.

You think this is just a Deity here, but it is actually not so—Gurudev himself is sitting here. He can hear everything, he can see everything, but he is staying in his samadhi form now, so he is not saying anything. This feeling must come to us—we must realise that Guru never leaves this world; he exists eternally, he is present wherever there is eternal service going on.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj had many disciples—he had many renounced disciples, many brahmachari and sannyasi disciples; he had many thousands of disciples, but he chose Gurudev. Although Gurudev was a householder at that time, Srila Sridhar Maharaj forcefully took him out of his householder life, gave him sannyas and made him the acharya. At first, Gurudev lives as a brahmachari, then he went to householder life and followed the religion of family life. After that, Srila Sridhar Maharaj brought him back and gave him sannyas—he seated him firmly at his feet at the end of 1985, and two years later, in August 1988 Srila Sridhar Maharaj left this world.

It is very hard to tolerate separation from one's Gurudev. In my life, I suffered so much, and I never cried, even in the hardest times, but I cried when Gurudev left this world and every year when Gurudev's disappearance day comes, I cannot check myself... I have tolerated so many austerities and pain, my godbrothers have given me so many austerities, they even threw me into prison, but even then I did not feel any struggle—I chanted the Holy Name, took prasad, I sat in jail and read scriptures. They filed a false case against me and got me thrown into jail, but I never suffered there. Whatever pain I got, I always stayed with Gurudev, and the only real pain I got was the pain when Gurudev left.

I always did whatever Gurudev told me. I remember one day Gurudev told me in the afternoon, "I want a samosa. Go to the shop and bring me some samosas." I went to a shop and brought him some samosas. Another time he told me, "Bel fruit is overripe on the trees, they are falling on the ground. Why are you not giving me any? Make me some bel sherbet." He told me and I made it. One time, when Gurudev was in Australia (at that time I had not taken sannyas yet, I was a brahmachari, my name was Vinod Ranjan), I knew that the plaster in Gurudev's bathroom had started to fall off the walls and I wanted to repair his bathroom. I took the key and had it repaired, and when it was being repaired, I thought that Gurudev's room was very small, so I expanded it a little. In the meantime, somebody complained to Gurudev that I had broken his house. Gurudev was very upset to hear it and did not talk to me after that. Even when he came back to Nabadwip, he did not speak to me. At that time, he stayed at Sevak Kunja Bhavan, the Centenary Building, and at some point he decided to go to see his previous house. When he came and saw his previous house, he was very surprised, "Oh, he has done a very nice job! I will move back to this building tomorrow." I had also spend some extra money at that time, and when Gurudev went to see the goshala, he saw that I had made a big extension at the back of it. Gurudev was surprised and pleased, "Oh, this is what the money was spent on. Now I understand. I did not know you had made this big goshala." Another time, one of Gurudev's godbrothers complained to Gurudev, "Acharya Maharaj is stealing your money!" Gurudev asked him, "Yes, I know he is 'stealing' money, but can you tell me where he is keeping that money?" Then, the next day some devotee from Australia went with me to Bamunpara and hidingly took a picture of the temple construction in Bamunpara. When that devotee was showing pictures to Gurudev, Gurudev asked him, "What is this? Where was this picture taken?" The devotee told Gurudev it was in Bamunpara, and Gurudev was very surprised, "In Bamunpara?! Are they making a temple there?! I thought they were making a guesthouse there! I did not know Acharya Maharaj was making a temple there!" After that, Gurudev called the person who had complained about me before and said pointing at that photograph in his computer, "Do you see this photo? Do you see what is in this photo?" They said they did not know what it was. Gurudev said, "Oh, you are are staying in Nabadwip, but you do not know anything? This is Bamunpara! He is making a temple there. You said yesterday he was stealing money, but this is what he has been 'stealing' the money for." Gurudev was pleased.

* * *

Service Challenges

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Gurudev guided me in so many ways.

When Gurudev was making Vrindavan temple and was going to buy the land there, he sent me to Vrindavan for the first time. At that time I was a new person and did not know anything—Gurudev told me, "Can you take this attaché case, a small briefcase, to Vrindavan?" I said, "Yes, I can." I had never been to Vrindavan in my life, I had never even been to the Howrah station in my life, and I had no idea how I would go there—there were no mobile phones at that time, and I did not even have a ticket. Anyway, Gurudev gave me the briefcase and told me to take good care of it. He did not say what was inside, and I did not ask because it was not my business. So, I came to the Howrah station—I saw it was a very big station, and the crowd was overwhelming. I asked somebody which train was going to Vrindavan and got on the train I was shown. I had bought an express train ticket, but I did not have a booked seat, so I sat near the bathroom on the floor with the briefcase by my side. I sat there until Mughalsarai station (it is half way to Delhi; because it was a Muslim name, this station has been renamed since then by the BJP government, it is called Deen Dayal Upadhyaya now). After Mughalsarai, I asked someone to give me their seat for fifty rupees, the person agreed, and the rest of the way I sat. In this way, I came to Vrindavan, gave the briefcase to the man who was selling the land. At that time there were no mobile phones, and the man called Gurudev using the old kind of phone. He told Gurudev that he had got the briefcase, and after that I went back to the station the same day. I came to the station in the afternoon and caught a train back to Kolkata that same evening. I did not have any business to stay there, and I never even thought to go around, to see any places in Vrindavan. Gurudev told me to go and give the briefcase, and I went there, gave the briefcase and returned the same time. When I returned, Gurudev said, "You did a great job! Do you know what was inside the briefcase? There was seventy lakh rupees. If anybody had known there was so much money inside, they would have killed you and taken the money." Hearing this, I was happy I had not asked what was inside, otherwise I would shiver with fear all the way.

Several years later, when I took sannyas, Gurudev phoned me early in the morning from Kolkata saying, "Oh, I could not sleep the whole night today! Looks like that our Puri Math has been occupied." I was surprised, "How can that be? How can our Puri Math be occupied?" Gurudev said somebody from Puri had called him and told the news. This is what is called 'jumping over the goda [a raised and sloped place for cows to stand and eat hay on] to eat grass.' The man should have let me know first, but instead he told Gurudev and disturbed him. What an offender. I was in charge of the management, I had sent him to Puri, but he went and told Gurudev directly without telling anything to me first. The thing was that somebody had forcefully occupied a land behind the temple, and Gurudev told me he could not sleep the whole night and that I had to go to Puri. I said I would go. Then, I took a shower, went to the Howrah station, and from the Howrah station I took a taxi to Dum Dum Park—I thought I would go by bus, but Gurudev told me not to worry about money and not to waste any time. So, I came to Kolkata by taxi, came to Gurudev, and then Gurudev told me to go to Puri the same day. I did not have any ticket at that time, but I managed to get a general ticket—I gave some money to somebody on the train and got a seat. I took the name of Lord Jagannath praying, "O Jagannath, please be merciful to me," and Lord Jagannath arranged everything—when I came to Puri, the man who had broken the fence of our temple came to me and offered me a full obeisance. I was surprised, "This man is my enemy, but he is paying me a full obeisance!" I came there very angry, ready to fight, but when I saw him paying obeisance to me, I spoke to him calmly. I told him, "Brother, you are an Odia man, a devotee, why are you hijacking the Lord's place? You have made an offence." He said he had done it out of anger. I asked him what he was angry about. Somebody told him not to interfere with the temple management (removed him from his service) and he got angry and did what he did. He was doing some carpenter job and wanted to stay on his own land. I told him not to worry and to leave the land. He did not want to leave, so I asked him how much money he wanted. He asked for 50,000 rupees. I asked him, "Why must I give you 50,000 rupees?" He said he had been looking after the temple, he had done this, this, that. Then he said, "OK, give me 20,000 rupees." I told him I did not have 20,000. I offered him 8,000 rupees. In this way, we bargained down to 15,000 rupees. In the end, I gave him 8,000 rupee (what I had with me), asked another person to give the other 7,000 and told that man to go away. After that, I stayed in Puri for three more days—I fixed the wall, made it higher, made the gate—and then left.

So, in my life I had to do all these hard, hard, very difficult jobs, and I was always successful. Anyhow but I did it. Whether it was getting building plans approved, whether it was any other job, everything was unhampered in the end. You know, when Gurudev was very sick, he could not walk or go upstairs to the second floor, and his servitors used to carry him upstairs, but it was very dangerous (what if they dropped Gurudev?), so I wanted to make a lift in the building. Formally, it was not allowed to make a lift in a building without government permission. I knew Subhas Chakraborty (the leader of CPM at that time) and I went to speak with him. He said he would write to the chairman of the party and get it resolved. There are different groups within a party, so in the end the chairman wrote to me back saying that no permission had been granted. I went to Subhas Chakraborty again and told him they had ignored his letter. He told me, "Go ahead and make the lift. Who will stop you? You do not need anyone's permission. Go ahead and make it." And I did. Gurudev said then to everyone, "So, do you see? You said it was impossible to make a lift, but he has made it!"

There were so many very, very hard jobs like this. I had to deal with the most difficult jobs, with all kinds of fighting and conflicts. At some point I had to even take a rifle in my hands. After that, Gurudev told me not to touch a gun again—he told me to never get a gun license. He said, "You have a very sharp hand, and you get angry easily, so if you take a gun, you will kill somebody!" One time, I took a mock gun used for shooting birds and shot into a monkey that was spoiling the temple's mangoes—I did not think it would actually hit the monkey. After that Gurudev told me to never take a gun in my hands again. Gurudev told me two things—to never drive a motorcycle and to never get a gun license. Gurudev gave me all these instructions and I followed his word.

* * *

Gurudev's Insight

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

I have heard and learned a lot from Gurudev. Gurudev gave me so many instructions how to maintain the temple, and Gurudev is dur-darasi—he has a great foresight, he can foresee everything.

I remember how Gurudev managed *** Prabhu once. *** Prabhu had been living at the bottom of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's bhajan kutir, and the problem was that he was staying at the front of the temple and he would stand and pass urine in front of everybody. It does not look good. Gurudev told me, "You must remove him from there!" But how? I knew he would not leave his room because he had lived in that room for more than fifty years. So, Gurudev said, "Tell him you want to repair and make his room nice, then he will agree to move out." I did that, and started the repairs. Then, while I was repairing that room and putting marble on the floors, Gurudev called me from abroad saying, "You must close the bathroom in that room." How clever Gurudev is! I blocked the bathroom and made an office in that room. When the repairs were over, *** Prabhu wanted to come back to that room again, and I told him, "But how will you stay there? There is no bathroom in the room!" He did not come back to that room. This was the instruction of Gurudev. Gurudev always managed in this way—very tactfully.

Gurudev told me that after Srila Sridhar Maharaj disappeared, there were only two-three people in the temple who supported him—the others were all unhappy that Srila Sridhar Maharaj had made Gurudev the sevaite (the president) of the Mission. So, to manage the situation at the temple, Gurudev made one of the men who was against him the temple manager. As a result, that man got very happy and never again openly said or did anything against Gurudev (he may have been doing something behind Gurudev's back, but he never openly protested against Gurudev after that). The man is against Gurudev, but Gurudev made him the manager—you can see how Gurudev managed it!

Gurudev told me many things about the devotees, what relation they had with Srila Sridhar Maharaj, etc., and Gurudev taught me so many things—how to be humble, how to be tolerant, how to give honour to others. He taught me this in so many ways.

One time, I had arranged for nine or ten buses to go somewhere, but not all buses had come that morning, and everyone was waiting. I called the bus service, but they did not answer my calls. Then, I told one devotee from Venezuela who could drive a big bullet motorcycle to take me to the bus stand. On the way, that devotee ran over a goat with his motorcycle! The local people had got very angry, they started fighting, and I ran away not to get involved. Later, the man who was the temple manager at that time came and complained to Gurudev about this, and Gurudev said, "No, problem. How much do they want for the goat?" The man said, "They are asking for 250 rupees." Gurudev said, "OK, here, take 250."

Another time, some woman came and started shouting at Gurudev and chastising him so much. I could not stand hearing it—I took up a bamboo stick and hit the woman to make her stop, as a result of which her hand got broken. Gurudev sent her to hospital, and you can see how he managed it. That woman wanted to go to the police station to complain about Gurudev, but Gurudev arranged a car with a security guard and ordered to take that woman to Kolkata, leave her there and tell her to never come to the temple again. I sometimes see that lady in Vrindavan now—she has paralyses now. I saw her this time when I went to Vrindavan too—she was begging.

There are so many pastimes that happened with Gurudev and me, so many things happened...

One time *** came to Gurudev, but Gurudev was not happy with his mood, and when *** came to say something, Gurudev (I was sitting in front of him) quickly took up a newspaper, lifted it high cover his face and pretended he was busy reading it. Later, Gurudev told me, "Do you know why I did that? I know what he was coming to say—he was going to say something that I cannot tolerate hearing, so I better cover my face and not hear it at all."

Another time, Damodar Maharaj came to see Gurudev. Some brahmachari at Kaikhali temple served prasadam to Damodar Maharaj and gave him some patol (it was Chaturmasya time, Kartik month, when patol, a type of vegetable, should not be taken according to the strict rules). Damodar Maharaj got very upset, declared a hunger strike and came to Gurudev. When he came, Gurudev was resting, so Damodar Maharaj waited, waited, and waited. At 2:30 p.m. Gurudev woke up and somebody informed him that Damodar Maharaj had been there, waiting for him for more than two hours. Gurudev was surprised, "Two hours? Some problem must have happened." Then, Damodar Maharaj came in, and Gurudev asked him calmly, "What has happened, Maharaj?" Damodar Maharaj said, "Kick out that boy otherwise I will not return to the temple in Kaikhali!" Gurudev asked again, "What has happened, Maharaj?" Then, Damodar Maharaj explained, "He gave me patol!" Gurudev said, "What is the problem, Maharaj? You offer the bhog, prasadam comes, and he gave you patol. Do you eat patol?" Damodar Maharaj said, "No, no, I am not eating patol!" Gurudev said, "I also do not eat patol—I eat prasadam." Damodar Maharaj insisted, "No, you must kick him out!" Then, Gurudev explained to him, "Maharaj, there is only one brahmachari with you. Nobody can stay with you. I sent this one brahmachari to you, and even if he tortures you, even if he beats you, you must be tolerant. Nobody wants to stay with you, but that boy is still there. You know that if he leaves, you will have to cook, do puja, etc. Can you do that? I do not have a helicopter to come to Kaikhali, do puja, and come back here! Can you do puja and cook? If you can, then I can tell that boy to come here and stay with me. Do you want that?" Then Damodar Maharaj calmed down and said, "No, I cannot..." And Gurudev concluded, "So, you must tell me that he can stay there." After that, Gurudev gave Maharaj some good nourishment—gave him some sweet, some biscuit, a chocolate, and Damodar Maharaj left peacefully. This is how Gurudev managed him.

So many things happened. Gurudev could always understand who could stay at the temple and who could not. One time I brought somebody to Gurudev for taking initiation, but after that the boy left. Gurudev asked me, "Where is that new boy?" I told Gurudev that he had left. Then, Gurudev said, "You always like to make luchi fried in kerosine. I knew this boy would not stay at the temple, but you brought him to me for initiation, and now he has left. I know who can stay here and who cannot..."

I have also seen how much attachment Gurudev had to his Guru Maharaj and to the Deities. Some devotees gave money to Gurudev, and one time Gurudev got to know that his mother was buying keo-karpin oil, which is a little expensive oil. Gurudev chastised Dhananjay, his brother, so much. He swore him, "Your mother used to be a beggar working in other people's houses, but now she has become queen—she has come to the temple, stays in a good house, has two-three servants, and now she is using keo-karpin oil?! What is this?! This oil costs two hundred rupees! This is Deities' money, this is Guru Maharaj's money! If she does this again, she will have to go away from the temple!" Gurudev was very heavy about this.

Another time, one of Gurudev's nieces had been always disturbing me so much in my brahmachari days, and Gurudev knew about it. One day, Gurudev told his brother, "If you come here, you can come, but I will not allow your daughter to come here. She must never come to the temple again." She left at that time and never came for maybe ten years, only when Gurudev got very sick, in 2008-2009, she came again, otherwise she never showed her face at that temple. Gurudev was very heavy about this.

* * *

Gurudev's Loving Affection

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

One day, on the poila baisakh (Bengali New Year), Gurudev told, "Come, let's go swimming in the Ganges today!" I went with Gurudev and a few other devotees. Coming to the Ganges, Gurudev took off his uttariya and went into the Ganges. He liked swimming in the Ganges and could swim very well. We also went swimming. Gurudev had a diamond on his arm—some foreign devotee had given it to him, and he always wore it (it must have been worth two-four lakhs rupees, a very expensive stone). When Gurudev went swimming, that diamond got lost in the river. Gurudev told me, "Ganga Devi has taken my diamond! Well, what to do." Then, as Gurudev was coming out of the Ganges, he paid obeisance to the Ganges and suddenly he felt something had hit his leg—he bent to see what it was and saw it was that diamond. He said, "See? Ganga Devi has returned it now." So many miraculous things like this happened to Gurudev.

Gurudev never liked misconception, and he never tolerated misconception. He was also always very frugal—he did not like to waste money, but he would spend money whenever it was necessary. One time, Gurudev told me, "Today I will go to my temple in Hapaniya!" We went to Hapaniya, and on the way, he stopped the car, gave me one hundred rupees and told me to buy some sweets and yoghurt. I got a little late, and when I got back, Gurudev asked me, "Why are you late? You must have been bargaining! Do not bargain, it is not good—when you are buying something for the Deities, do not bargain."

Gurudev also taught me how to distribute prasadam. Gurudev said that when you give prasadam to others, you must look at the face of the person whom you are giving and then judge how much and what to give. Does it mean that you will give more paneer, sweets, etc. to the person who is closes to you? No. If somebody has diabetes, do not give sweet dishes to them, and if somebody likes sweets, give them some extra sweets. Also, you must see who you are giving because a child does not eat as much as an adult person, so if you see a child sitting with his or her mother and give everyone the same amount, then the child will waste prasadam. This is what Gurudev told me. He gave a lot of different advice like that.

Gurudev possessed a lot of supernatural power from above. He could understand what was happening and what was going to happen. He knows everything.

Gurudev loved to eat, and he loved to feed others. He also loved taking prasadam together with all the Vaishnavs. I saw when he was making Srila Sridhar Maharaj's disappearance or appearance festivals in the early days, he always liked to take prasadam with all the devotees. At that time, the big prasadam hall had not been made, and Gurudev always took prasadam with the devotees—with the other sannyasis and brahmacharis. When Gurudev went to Puri, he gave Vaishnav-seva inviting Vaishnavs from all temples and giving prasadam to everyone.

Gurudev could tolerate so many things, but the only thing he could never tolerate was any disrespect towards his Guru Maharaj. He has zero tolerance when it came to any abuse or disrespect towards his Guru Maharaj. He did not tolerate it when anyone said anything untoward about his Guru Maharaj. Such was his love for his Gurudev.

During various festivals, when I invited Vaishnavs from other Gaudiya Maths, Gurudev would always take a very good care of them. He would always ask what was being cooked, how much prasadam was being distributed, if everybody was happy with their prasadam or not. He would ask everything. Not only that, he would also send his servitor to see if the Vaishnavs were getting nice prasadam or not, to see what was going on in the prasadam hall, if everyone was taking prasadam properly or not. Gurudev's servitor would go there, check and then come back and report everything to Gurudev. Gurudev always took a great care about that. Gurudev managed and took care of everything. He would also tell me to buy chaunsa mango for Srila Guru Maharaj's disappearance festival and distribute it to everyone...

One time, Gurudev told me, "Can you come with me?" I foolishly asked Gurudev, "Where?" Then Gurudev told me, "This is not 100% surrender." I remember all these things Gurudev told me... Gurudev also said that when your Guru chastises you, that is his blessing, his mercy. I myself realised and understood it gradually too. I could understand how much I loved and cherished Gurudev's chastisement. If somebody asks me what is necessary for us in our spiritual life, I will say that the only thing that is necessary is your Guru's chastisement. Sri Sivananda Sen understood it, Sri Jagadananda Pandit understood it, and Srila Sanatan Goswami also realised what is called Guru and Vaishnav's blessing in the world of devotion. It is a blessing when your Guru chastises you. We always pray that Gurudev may teach us how to live and serve properly. My Gurudev's chastisement used to be there in my life, but now I do not have such a fortune—who will chastise me now? Gurudev's chastisement was always very loving and affectionate...

I remember also another thing. I do not know how Gurudev knew it, but somehow he knew that I never drink milk. I always fed the cows, took care of the cows and served the cows at the goshala, but I could never drink milk. So, Gurudev allowed me to take chhana (curd)—he asked a servitor to give me curd in the evening. I was junior at that time, I had come to the temple maybe one-two months before, so all the senior devotees were very surprised, "He has not been here for even two months and he is getting curd?! We have been at the temple for ten-thirty years, but we never get any curd!" The person who was distributing prasadam said, "Do not ask me, this is an order from above—this is High Commander's order." Then everybody kept quiet—it was Gurudev's order, so they had no say in the matter.

I remember in 2005 I had to go for an operation. I had a stone in my gall bladder and having tolerated, tolerated, and tolerated for a long time I finally thought it was not good and sought medical help. I took some money some devotees had given me, and went to Chennai for the operation. I needed 50,000 rupees, but I only took 15,000. Gurudev ordered his secretary to immediately arrange for the money and send it to me, he said, "I do not know how you will do it, but you must arrange and send the money to him." The money he sent was also not sufficient, and then he sent more money through Sripad Puri Maharaj from Puri (he already expired). Gurudev told me, "Do not worry how much money it takes, as much as it is necessary, you must stay there, do not come back—once your operation has finished, then you can come back." Then, the operation took place and the next day I immediately took a train and came back to the temple. Gurudev was astounded, "What is this?! What a foolish boy you are! You had an operation just yesterday—you should have come back by flight, why did you have to take a train? And why did you come back so soon? They have not even taken out the bandages after the operation!" I told Gurudev, "It is OK, I will take them out myself." (And that was true—when it began to itch, I took all the bandages and plaster myself.) Gurudev said, "What a strange, astonishing man you are!" I said, "Gurudev, what will I do there? I do not like to stay outside the temple." Gurudev said, "All right, but you had an operation only yesterday. Why was it necessary to come today? And you came by train, in the sleeper class! What is this?!" I said, "Why is it necessary to spend more money? Aeroplane, A/C ticket—it is not necessary. I came in the sleeper class happily." Then Gurudev said, "Oh, happily?!" This is the kind of affection, this is the kind of love I received from Gurudev. Who can understand his love and affection? You cannot understand it just by taking initiation...

* * *

Nurturing Gurudev's Mission

Disappearance festival of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, 24 April 2021, part 8
Translated from Bengali

You cannot become a disciple just by taking a mantra from a guru. It is necessary to have and show your love, affection for your Guru, to take him as your own...

You can see a lady sitting here. She is an old lady, she must be over sixty years old, but she gives whatever pension she gets to the Math. Even now when we came to Siliguri, she gave money for Gurudev's festival. When there was a lockdown, she would also give money every month to help the mission. She also collects outside—she phones some devotees abroad and collects in this way for the temple. They are serving Gurudev with their heart and soul. You can see how beautifully they have also dressed the Deities here. We have brought this dress, crowns, etc. from Vrindavan. There is a small boy also who saves money from his tiffin box money (pocket money for buying some food at school)—he saves little by little and says, "I will buy something for my Gurudev with this money." The other day he sent some money and asked the devotees, "Buy Gurudev a watch, buy him a gold one!" I told them I would not wear a gold watch, but can you imagine it? A little boy saves money for his Guru from his pocket money. Actually, I do not wear a watch so much, only when I go out I use it to see the time—I forget that there is a clock in the mobile phone. Their love comes from heart.

When I was in Vrindavan, I thought I would go to Siliguri, so I bought the outfits, crowns, and a peacock fan for the Deities, also some clothes for Gurudev. This is what is called,

nijera posana, kabhu na bhaviba,
rahiba bhavera bhare

"I will never think about my own maintenance; I will always remain within the shelter of loving attachment for You."

(Saranagati, 19)

We must not think about our own self. If you care for and think about your Guru and Vaishnavs, then your Guru and Vaishnavs will care for and think about you...

I called Sripad Niriha Maharaj and Sripad Vishnu Maharaj and told them to wake up early in the morning yesterday, to go temple to temple in Mayapur to invite all the Vaishnavs to the temple, and to give prasadam to everyone today. I told Tarok Prabhu to cook nicely today—some chilli paneer, vegetable pulao, paneer rasa, patoler rasa, sukta, sak, chutney, he also said he would get a curd cake. They ordered it from a sweet shop...

The construction of the Prasadam Hall in Nrisingha Palli is now complete, there is only the marble left to put. The new Prasadam Hall will accommodate up to five hundred people at a time. We have made a very big Prasadam Hall behind the temple. Everything is Gurudev's mercy. I did not have a single rupee—I left the temple in Nabadwip empty-handed, but so many branches have appeared since then. I go for preaching and gradually everything comes. There is a temple completed in Uluberia also. The Deities installation will be after Nrisingha-chaturdasi. All the painting works are now completed, and only the marble must be polished. One devotee gave ten-eleven-katha land (0.16-0.18 acre; 670-735 sq.m.), and I have made a temple there. Gurudev gives his mercy, then it is all possible. I do not do any business, I do not smuggle anything—if the Lord gives, the devotees give, then I spend it. Devotees have given some money for this festival, but it was more than necessary, so I will spend the rest on other things—I was thinking yesterday where to use that money, and I thought that the floor here in the nat mandir has become bad and I will marble or tile it. Gurudev arranges everything. A new four-storey guesthouse building is now also almost complete in Nrisingha Palli—there are seventy-six rooms there, and if ten people stay in one room, it can easily accommodate seven hundred and sixty people, and there is a bathroom in every room, so the accommodation is not a problem. By Gurudev's mercy, everything is arranged. When they gave the land in Uluberia, I thought I could sometimes go there in hot season, bathe in the Ganges sometimes. They will keep a room for me, and I can go and stay there sometimes. Gurudev has arranged everything, and I have no problem—I did not have to sell any cows, fish, or trees to manage. The main thing is Gurudev's mercy. If you have Gurudev's mercy, you have everything. Those who have no mercy, have nothing. Empty vessels make the most noise, so it is necessary not to just dress as a sadhu, it is necessary to actually become a sadhu.

Gurudev left this world and kept this fallen soul here. I gave my word to Gurudev, "Whatever difficulty, whatever pain or obstacles come, I will not leave you." That is why, I have never left you. I am still looking after Gurudev's devotees and temples. I did not leave Nabadwip out of my own accord. Devotees said they would kill me and begged me to leave, then I agreed. Now they are calling me to come back, but as long as there is all this fighting, as long as they have not left, I will not go there. Gurudev kept this fallen soul here and left this world, and if the Lord always keeps me engaged me in the service of Gurudev and his devotees, that is sufficient for me. Vaishnavs are the Lord's very own, they come on the oder of the Lord and they leave on the order of the Lord...

You know, when I saw Gurudev for the last time, I could not understand it at that time. Two days before that, Gurudev called me and said, "Come to Kolkata immediately." I went to Kolkata, spent there a night, and the next day I was supposed to go to Mednipore for preaching (on the dvadasi day)—I thought I would take paran early in the morning and then go. The next day after I came to Kolkata, I took prasadam in the afternoon and came to see Gurudev again. Gurudev asked me, "Have you taken prasad?" I said, "Yes, I have." Then I told Gurudev, "I am leaving now, I have to go back to Nabadwip." Gurudev said, "Nabadwip? Will you not take me with you?" I said, "Gurudev, you are not well now. You will go later." Then, Gurudev said to me, "Oh, but you will come tomorrow..." I did not know that this was my last meeting with Gurudev... I could never in my life imagine it. I left Kolkata, reached Nabadwip in the evening, took some rest, and in the morning woke up quickly to get ready to leave. Suddenly my phone rang and they told me to come to Kolkata immediately because Gurudev's health was bad. They did not tell me that Gurudev had left, they just told me to come. I took the driver and told him to start out as soon as possible. When I came to Kolkata, then I saw what had happened... After that, we called an A/C ambulance and brought Gurudev to Nabadwip. In the ambulance, there was only I and Gurudev's two servitors from Brazil, Deva Bandhu Prabhu and Nanda Priya Didi. After we had arrived in Nabadwip, I called television, radio, sent the news to different temples. Because Gurudev left me as the acharya, I had to bathe Gurudev, apply tilaks on his body. Then, Gurudev was placed in the pit—he had told before where his body should be kept, he had chosen a place near Param Guru Maharaj. Everybody told me I had to go down because I was the acharya, and I had to write the Brahma Gayatri mantra on his chest. I did not even know if I was dead or alive, but they forced me to go down and write the gayatri. Gurudev left his body at 4:20 in the morning, but by the time this happened it was already evening (by that time, the devotees came from Delhi and Singapore—as soon as they got the news, they took a plane and came), but his body was just as it was, very soft and beautiful. Then, they started covering the samadhi with soil, and when the soil was up to Gurudev's head I said I could not stay there anymore and somebody took me out away from there and made me sit afar. Then everything finished, they offered bhog to the Deities and Gurudev. A Tulasi tree was placed on top of the samadhi. I had asked somebody to buy sheets of corrugated iron, and Santosh Prabhu, who was the manager at that time, brought the iron; we made a fence around and some roof on top. After that, fourteen days later I started building the samadhi mandir...

Now Gurudev will never call me again—nobody will call me at two o'clock at night, nobody will call me and say, "I am coming from Kolkata," "I am in Krishnanagar," "I am coming." I still keep Gurudev's phone number in his memory...

You must know that Gurudev loved Siliguri, and he wanted to come here, but because of one person he changed his mind in the end. He said, "If somebody takes initiation from me and then sells my house—if somebody becomes my disciples and then betrays me—I will not go to Siliguri now." He was very pained by that and he did not come because of that, but he gave me permission to make the domes and he saw the photographs of the domes. He said the domes looked very nice. Yet, getting much pain he did not want to come here in the end. Gurudev said, "How can I go there if the person has given me so much pain?" That is why he never came to Siliguri, but initially he thought he would come and stay here after Gaura Purnima, during the hot season, because it is a little cooler here. Gurudev could not take heat, so if he had come here, he would have got some relief from heat. In his last days, he could not stay without an A/C on. The current in Nabadwip always goes out, then we have to run the generator, and it makes much noise. Here, you can live comfortably without an A/C because it is not so hot. That is why he liked this place very much, but finally he had to refuse to come.

Anyhow, Gurudev has told me so many things, there are so many memories... Here you can see the Deities that Gurudev himself chose and liked, here is also Gurudev's Deity installed. You are fortunate that you can serve Gurudev here every day. Somebody makes garlands, somebody cleans the dishes, somebody cleans the temple, etc. It is your fortune to have this service. Gurudev is present here eternally, and you are engaged in his eternal service. Never leave this service. Always continue your service. If you cannot come, help the temple with one-two rupees. Those who have no money, can come and do some service bodily; those who have no money can serve with their hearts and minds. Try to serve the Lord and Gurudev with whatever capacity you have. My greatest happiness is if you serve the Deities, serve Gurudev here. So many obstacles and difficulties will come—they will criticise you, they will say bad things about you if you come to the temple (especially when young girls come to the temple, people start saying all kinds of nonsense), but you must tolerate everything. You know, there are now two new girls in our temple in Nrisingha Palli. One is unmarried, and the other one has had the marriage ceremony, but because of the problems in the house of her husband, she left that place and came to the temple. Both have passed B.A. The unmarried girl used to work very hard at home—she would sew and get about fifteen thousand rupees income. She left it and came to me. They are both very strong and strict girls—no brahmachari will be able to disturb them. Despite their young age, they are both serving now in Nrisingha Palli. I have placed them in charge of the temple—'in charge' means they look after the storeroom, kitchen, they make sure everyone takes prasadam, etc. They look after everything, and the temple is very big there. Anyhow, they are serving very nicely there. I had arranged for a husband for the girl who is unmarried, the boy is my disciple, it would be a good marriage, but she did not want to get married, and I told her that she was a grown up (she is twenty-four), that she was not below eighteen, so it was ultimately her decision. Her parents could not persuade her to agree, and I did not force her either. She said to me, "Gurudev, will you kick me out? Will you throw me into fire? If you want to make a marriage fire and throw me into that fire, OK, then I will agree." What was I to say? I told her, "OK, leave it. I will not ask you again." Her father called me and complained, "She is not listening to me, please speak to her, she must get married." I told him I could not tell her anything—if I said anything to her, she would start arguing again. If she wants to serve, let her serve. And she follows the rules. These girls tell everyone, "If anyone does not wake up for the mangal arati, they will not get anything to eat!" Now everyone is afraid and everyone comes for the mangal arati and sits for the kirtans, etc. Before they did not—only the pujari came to do the arati, and everybody else slept. Now they have set the rule and everybody comes.

Anyhow, so much has been said today. I am finishing here now.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Hairnam sankirtan ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol.

* * *

Vaishnavs' Signature Qualities

Kolkata-Worldwide, 18 April 2021, part 5

[A devotee expresses concern about His Divine Grace taking a long train journey to Vrindavan.] The train journey is not a problem. When travelling by train, you feel a little bored because you have no job, no service, you are only sitting on the train without doing anything. There is no austerity in it. In Mahaprabhu's time, Mahaprabhu, Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami walked to Vrindavan. How much they suffered when they lived in Vrindavan or Puri! They would sit under a tree, doing their bhajan and Vaishnav-seva there. When we go there, we get an A/C room, but in those days there was no A/C, no electricity. When it gets very hot outside and electricity is gone for even one hour, we lose our mind, but I am thinking how much Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami, Sri Madhu Pandit, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami tolerated when they stayed in Vrindavan—there is too much cold in winter and too much heat in summer. I have seen here in Vrindavan people who have no house live in the street, under some tree, or in a shed without any doors, all open—they have no fans or anything. When I think how much those great devotees from Mahaprabhu's times worshipped the Lord and how much austerity they tolerated here, I feel I have no problem.

Are there any questions from anybody?

Question: I have never seen anyone commit offences and I have never been offended by anyone, and I was wondering if I should still say 'please forgive my offences' just in case I commit offences without knowing it?

You think you are not making any offence, but this is not so. Actually, we are making so many offences all the time. Real Vaishnavs will not see others' faults—real Vaishnavs will see their own faults. This is the quality of a real Vaishnav. A Vaishnav must be 'adosa-darasi' (must not see anyone's faults). We always make so many offences—even when we are walking or breathing, so many elements get killed; even when we are drinking some water, we consume so many bacteria. Who says that we do not make any offence? We always make so many offences...

In another way, whether you are making an offence or not, you do not have to think about it—every time you pay an obeisance to a Vaishnav, you must always ask, "Please forgive my offence"; when you come in front of the Deities and pay a dandavat to Them, you must ask, "Please forgive my offence." It is necessary to express this from your heart. Whether you are conscious of your offence or not, you must always ask for forgiveness of your offences.

I can give you one example of a brahmachari who made an offence yesterday. It was necessary to buy something, and one brahmachari went to the market to buy some vegetables or something else. When he came back, he was all wet with sweat because it is very hot outside now. Another brahmachari saw him and started laughing, teasing him, "Oh, very nice! You are sweating now!" The first brahmachari said to me, "Maharaj, do you see? I went to the market and came back all sweating, and he is teasing me! I did not do any particular service before, but now you have given me this service and I am always busy supervising the construction, going to the market, seeing what is necessary to get for the construction, etc. I have just been to the market to get some bhoga, some vegetables, and that brahmachari does not go out, he stays at the temple, and he is laughing at me now!" That was an offence. I told him, "Do not worry that he is laughing or teasing you. It is not necessary to think about this. Do your service and do not mind him."

You know, even Srila Sanatan Goswami once had a problem. There was a devotee who had some physical deformity as a result of which he walked in a crooked way. One day, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu invited him to come for Vaishnav-seva that Srila Sanatan Goswami was arranging, but he did not go there because he was angry with Srila Sanatan Goswami. Srila Sanatan Goswami asked Srila Rupa Goswami, "What has happened? Why did he not come?" Srila Rupa Goswami replied, "I have invited him, I do not know why he did not come." Then, Srila Sanatan Goswami himself went to that devotee. He paid an obeisance to him and asked him, "Prabhu, please forgive my offence. I do not know what I have done wrong that you have not come..." That devotee was angry, "You have made an offence! Do you remember the Rasa-purnima day? That day you came here and seeing me walk in a crooked way, you laughed at me! Do you remember that?! You mocked me because of my body." Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu replied, "Yes, Prabhu, I remember that day. I laughed that day, but I was not laughing because of you. That day, when I was doing Govardhan parikrama, I saw some very amusing pastimes of Radha and Krishna, and seeing those pastimes I became overwhelmed with joy and began to laugh. This is why I laughed—I was not laughing because I saw you." In this way, Srila Sanatan Goswami apologised to that devotee, brought him to his house, gave him prasadam and served him.

So, what is the problem if you ask for forgiveness for your offences? Gurudev also taught me something once. One day, I came to Gurudev and said, "Gurudev, when I pay dandavat to ***, he does nothing in response—he turns his back and walks away." Do you know what Gurudev replied? He said, "It is all right. Every time you see him, pay him obeisance." And I did that. Then, a few months later, one day Gurudev was sitting at his verdanda in Acharya Bhavan. At that time, I was downstairs in front of his house. I saw *** coming and paid obeisance to him—he again turned his back and walked away as he did every day. Gurudev saw it and called me to his room. He asked me, "Are you still paying your obeisance to him?!" I replied, "Yes, Gurudev, you told me to pay obeisance to him, and I have been doing it." Then Gurudev said, "From today, you are to never pay obeisance to him again." And I did that. My point is that when Gurudev told me to pay obeisance to him, I did that, what is the problem? I did not give any objection to Gurudev. And every time I paid obeisance to him, he would turn his back to me and run away.

Anyway, I am finishing here for today.

One last thing I would like to tell everybody is that you must make Gurudev's disappearance festival. Gurudev's or any Vaishnav's appearance and disappearance are non-different from each other, so you must make a festival in your country on this day. Make this festival according to your capacity (as grand as you can), and Gurudev will be happy with your service. Chant the glorification of Gurudev on this day and try to observe it as much as you have connection with Gurudev. Whatever we see in this world, whatever good association, whatever we have got, we have got everything only by the mercy of Gurudev. Everything we have is by his mercy. So, you must make a festival on Gurudev's disappearance day, it will be a dvadasi day. Fast on the ekadasi (Friday), and the next day you can make a festival. This is my advice to everybody. Please take care of yourself.

* * *

Preaching Opportunity

Siliguri—Worldwide, 26 April 2021, part 1

Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance. I am very happy to see you all. I have just come back from a preaching programme. I am in Siliguri now. There was a good programme here yesterday. They made the festival in all temples—in Nrisingha Palli, Uluberia, Tarakeshwar, etc. In Nrisingha Palli they invited Mayapur devotees, but many devotees are a little afraid to come because of the pandemic situation, so not so many sannyasis and brahmacharis came—maybe thirty-forty devotees. I made the festival in Siliguri this year, and about four hundred people joined yesterday. Here too people are afraid because of the coronavirus and the pandemic situation. Some shop are closed, there is some partial lockdown sometimes.

Now 350,000 people are affected by coronavirus every day in India, and almost fifteen thousand in Bengal. Anyhow, I am continuing my preaching. After I came back from Vrindavan, I stayed one day in Kolkata and came here in Siliguri on Monday. The festival has now finished, so I will again go back to Kolkata the day after tomorrow. I came here because I have some service here—I could not come to Siliguri for a long time. Every year I come here after Gaura Purnima, but last year lockdown started soon after Gaura Purnima, so I could not come. The devotees here feel some gap, many feel disheartened because I do not come, that is why I thought that I would come here now otherwise when the election results are announced, another lockdown can start and I will not be able to come then. I thought now was a good opportunity to preach here. I am staying here for seven days, giving a class in the temple every day, and a good number of devotees come every day. I am trying to give nourishment to the devotees.

And I am very happy to see you all now.

Devotee: Can I ask you a question?

Last time you asked me why your name was Bimala.

Devotee: Yes, I wanted to ask if there are any other reasons why you have chosen Bimala Devi as my name?

It is not necessary to always think about your name—you must always think about Lord Krishna and Gurudev. It is not necessary to think about your name so much. You must think about the Lord—how to increase your service, how many rounds you chant, how you serve your Guru. This is what you should be thinking about. It is not necessary to think about your name, about the explanation of its meaning, etc.

Devotee: I think she is asking if you could tell something about Bimala Devi.

Oh, Bimala Devi? But why is it necessary?

Bimala Devi is Laksmi Devi. She always serves Lord Narayan, Jagannath. At some point, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur thought that there was so much misconception about Mahaprabhu's teaching, about Vaishnavishm that it was necessary for somebody to come and clean Krishna consciousness from all that misconception. Mahaprabhu, Jagannathdev had to send someone who could clean Krishna consciousness, who could distribute pure Krishna consciousness all over the world. That is why, Sri Bhagavati Devi, the wife of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur went to Jagannathdev's Temple and prayed to Bimala Devi, "Please send someone who can preach Krishna consciousness properly—please send someone who can preach pure Krishna consciousness of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu." Bimala Devi was pleased with their prayer and gave them a son (he was Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's sixth son). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur named him Bimala Prasad thinking he had come as prasad (mercy) of Bimala Devi. So, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's previous name is Bimala Prasad, and after taking sannyas his name became Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad.

* * *

Mercy and Service

Siliguri—Worldwide, 26 April 2021, part 2

Question: How can I place myself on the plane of devotion if I have material desires in my heart?...

You should practise properly, chant the Holy Name and always keep good association, then if any material desire comes, it will be removed through good association, through sravanam and kirtanam. Somebody asked Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad this same question, and Srila Prabhupad gave this answer that I have told you just now. Srila Prabhupad says that if you want to overcome material desires, you must properly practise sravanam and kirtanam.

How do you practise sravanam and kirtanam? You must chant five kirtans every morning and five kirtans every evening. Chant Gurudev's kirtan, Pancha-tattva's kirtan, Vaishnav Thakur's kirtan, Nityananda Prabhu's kirtan, Gaura Hari's kirtan, Radha-Krishna's kirtan, and then the maha-mantra. In this way, chant five-six kirtans every morning and evening. You must give time to your Deities, to chanting the Holy Name, to sravanam and kirtanam, then you will gradually be able to overcome material desires—material desires will be removed from your heart. This is 100%, 200% sure. There is no doubt about that. If you practise and sing these kirtans properly every day, then you will be all right. I am telling this to everybody, not only for the person who is asking the questions. This answer applies to everybody—those who practise five kirtans in the morning and five kirtans in the evening, who practise every day and chant the Holy Name, can overcome material desires.

Question: We always hear that we must try to get mercy, but who should we really ask for that mercy?

Mercy means your Gurudev gives you some service and if you properly attend to that service, that is your mercy. And yes, you must wait for mercy—if you can get some service from your Guru, that is his mercy. I have told many times what is mercy. You chant the Holy Name, but what for do you chant the Holy Name? If you get service, that is the result of your chanting. A chatak bird always waits for a drop of rainwater, and in the same way we must always wait when Gurudev gives us some service. It can be any service. Sometimes, Gurudev will call somebody and say, "Oh, send some money for this service," that is service and they do that; somebody else cleans plates, brooms, cooks, does so many other kinds of service. Everything is service. I am in Siliguri, but if somebody stays in Nrisingha Palli where the construction is going on and sends pictures of the construction, that is also service. Somebody also sends pictures of preaching in their countries—that is also service.

Actually, now I have learned to use my android mobile phone, and from time to time I see the pictures devotees send in whatsapp from their own country, I see what kind of practising is going on there. I practise seeing these photos now. Sometimes, when I read for a long time and become tired, I take out the phone and browse through the photo, I see what programmes devotees have. I am very happy to see it. I always like to see preaching programmes. I want to see how much preaching is going on in your country, how you are preaching.

It is necessary to preach—'kiniba, lutiba Harinama rasa'; you take the Holy Name from your Gurudev and you must distribute it after that. There are so many devotees all over the world, and if each of you makes at least one devotee within a year, that is sufficient. If there are two hundred devotees this year, then there will be four hundred next year and eight hundred in two years. You must increase your preaching programme and spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. That is my request and you can say it is my order for everyone. This is your service (seva). OK?

vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana
sada haya krsna para-sanga

"In the association of Vaishnavs, my mind is always joyful—in their association I always get the association of Krishna."

('Thakura Vaishnava pada' by Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

When you are getting good association, you are actually getting the association of the Lord Himself.

These Deities here in Siliguri were chosen by Gurudev in 2005. One time, Gurudev took me with him to the man who makes Deities (murti-walla) in Nabadwip. He showed me these Deities and asked, "Do you like these Deities?" I said I did, and then Gurudev said, "Then you can take Them!" After a few days, Gurudev brought these Deities to the temple and asked me, "Where are you going to install Them?" We thought They could be perhaps installed in Malaysia, but then I bought this house here in Siliguri, and Gurudev told me that I could take these Deities and install Them here. These Deities's Name is Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar...

* * *

Perfect Rules

Siliguri—Worldwide, 26 April 2021, part 3

Question: We had a meeting with the devotees yesterday, and somebody brought a picture of Nabadwip Deities and put it on the altar. Can we keep that photo in our altar?

Yes, it is not a problem. Deities have no fault. Deities did not make any disturbance—why will you not keep Nabadwip Deities? You should always keep Nabadwip Deities on your altar. I have a problem with those who want to hijack the Deities—actually it is they who have a problem, not me...

Are there any other questions?

Devotee: I am sorry. I meant that somebody from another Math brought Gaura Nitai Deities and kept Them on the altar. Is it OK to keep these Deities from another mission?

Yes, you can serve Them. When a Deity has come, you must serve the Deity properly, with full faith…

[Addressing a devotee who did not go to the temple but made a festival at home.] Why did you have a home festival? You should have gone to the festival at the temple. If there is a temple in your city or nearby, you must go to the temple. How do you make a festival alone at home? You only cook, offer some bhog, and take prasadam—it basically means cooking too much and eating it yourself... You must always go to the temple. What did Gurudev make the temple for? For preaching, to arranging festivals and for giving you a place where you can gather and take devotees' association. It is necessary to understand this. Everybody have a right to stay at the temple, everybody has a right to go to the temple, and everybody must follow the rules and regulations of the temple—be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others. Follow the rules and regulations that Gurudev has established, that will be perfect. We cannot make our own rules, it is not good. The rules must be always the rules and regulations that Gurudev has set. Always behave very nicely with the devotees, be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others. This is what Gurudev teaches us, these are the main qualities we must have. Be humble, tolerant, and give honour to others, and you must also have proper surrender—do not be a hypocrite, do not practise false renunciation; surrender must be proper.

One time, Gurudev told me, "Come with me." I was very busy at that time and asked without thinking, "Where?" That was my mistake. Later, when I was in the car with Gurudev, Gurudev told me, "You are foolish. This is not 100% surrender. Your Gurudev is calling you with him, and you are asking where. You should have said, 'Yes, I am ready to go,' and go." Gurudev taught me in this way. Gurudev also told me much about what is called tolerance, how to behave, etc. Gurudev also told me that one time, when Srila Sridhar Maharaj was beating him, instead of running away Gurudev came closer to Srila Sridhar Maharaj so that he could beat him better. Srila Sridhar Maharaj asked him, "What is this? I am beating you, but why are you not running away—why are you coming closer to me?" Gurudev explained, "You do not know how to beat, that is why I am coming closer." Such was Gurudev's relationship with his Gurudev. And now, if I tell any follower that I am going to beat them, they will run away...

* * *

Amidst Blazing Fire

Siliguri—Worldwide, 26 April 2021, part 4

Question: In Bhagavad-gita, 7.16, Krishna says that there are four kinds of people who are fortunate to worship Him—the afflicted, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of happiness and the self-realised. Could you tell a little more about the nature of those who come to seek happiness?

Yes, four types of people come to the Lord—arta (the distressed), artharthi (the poor), jijnasu (the curious), jnani (the knowledge-seekers). Somebody comes to the Lord and asks Him to fulfil their material desire, somebody asks for money, somebody comes to know so many things—they want to know who they are, they ask many questions (these are jnani, knowledge-seekers). But Srimad Bhagavad-gita says,

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

When you come to ask, you must ask honest question—the enquiry must be honest. So, many people come to the Lord for so many reasons and goals, and Krishna says,

krsna kahe,—ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha
amrta chhadi' visa mage,—ei bada murkha
ami—vijna, ei murkhe 'visaya' kene diba?
sva-charanamrta diya 'visaya' bhulaiba

"Krishna says, 'They worship Me, desiring material happiness—leaving aside nectar, they ask for poison. They are great fools. I am very intelligent though. Why will I give these fools material things? Instead, I will give them the nectar of My lotus feet and make them forget the material world."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.38-39)

Krishna says, "They worship Me with some material desire within them, but I will not fulfil their material desire—in lieu of that I will give them My lotus feet and they will become very happy." So, many types of people come to Krishna consciousness and if they practise properly, then even those who do not know much (kanistha-adhikari), who have very weak faith (kamala-sraddha), can gradually advance and become devotees. Conditioned souls' nature is to ask for something material, but the more they ask, the more pain they feel—"visaya anale jvalichhe hrdaya, anale badaye anala. A fallen soul burns in the ever-increasing fire of mundanity." If there is a fire and you blow air onto it, the fire will blaze more and more, but if you put water, it will be put out.

visaya anale jvalichhe hrdaya
anale badaye anala
aparadha chhadi' laya krsna-nama
anale padaye jala

A fallen soul burns in the ever-increasing fire of mundanity. Avoiding offences, chant Krsna's Name. This pours water on the fire.

('E ghora samsare')

When you chant the Holy Name without offences, this is like water coming to put out that blazing fire of material life. This is the effect of pure chanting of the Holy Name. So, we must chant the Holy Name without offence, this is very important.

We all have to leave this world in one way or another, but at present we have got this opportunity to chant the Holy Name, to practise Krishna consciousness, and we must try to do that. We must practise ourselves and we must try to engage others in the service of the Lord. Please be careful in the present situation and chant the Holy Name. This is the main thing in our life.

Jay Srila Gurudev
Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

* * *

Take Care of Yourself

Kolkata—Worldwide, 2 May 2021, part 1

Hari bol. Dandavat.

Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi, Tulasi Devi, Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda, Radha Kunda, Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham, Sri Nabadwip Dham, Sri Vrindavan, Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Tandiya sakha Math samuha ki jay
Sri Mather sevak vrinda, bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhaktir-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled sannyasi-vrinda ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

I can see all the devotees, all the good-hearted devotees—I can see that they are all still continuing the programme, continue practising Krishna consciousness, and come to meet with us every week—and that is giving me so much pleasure.

Dandavat, Srila Ashram Maharaj, how are you? Please accept my humble obeisance.

Srila Ashram Maharaj: Dandavat. Please accept my humble obeisance at your feet. I am fine, Maharaj. How are you? How is your health?

I am a little tired today, I do not know what has happened.

I could not sleep last night because I was worried about the result of the election in Bengal, and today I have heard the news that the election result is not favourable for the devotees. That is probably why I am a little tired today. Mamata Banerjee has again, for the third time, come to be the chief minister of Bengal for five years, and she is not favourable to devotees. This is why we are a little worried, and this is why I am feeling a little tired today. I was very worried about the election result and could not sleep the whole night, but I took some rest today at noon for one and a half hours...

Devotee: Maharaj, but it is the same—whether this party comes or that party comes, they are the same...

No... Only those who are suffering can understand it. I have been ousted from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math only because of them...

Anyhow, I am very eager to meet with the devotees. That is my priority. At present, all the devotees are also afraid—so many devotees in Delhi, Bengal, Gujarat, Bombay, and South India are now affected by covid— and I am praying to the Lord, praying to Gurudev, "Please, give some energy to them so that they can fight against this covid." I am getting many news from various places that devotees are suffering because of covid. There is already one devotee in Delhi who has passed away recently, and his son (rather young, thirty-eight years old) is in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at present, fighting against covid, getting oxygen... It is very sad news for us. Moreover, there are many of our devotees who are doctors (Krishna Kanta Prabhu, Rama Sundar Prabhu, and many others) and they all work in hospitals. I am also worried about them. Madhumangal Prabhu is in isolation at his home, he is also covid positive, and his wife, a pregnant lady, is also covid positive. I am praying for them. I have talked with Madhumangal Prabhu today, I told him not to worry, and he also says, "Maharaj, I am not worried." So, we must all be very careful in this situation. Actually, I have also taken some risk recently. I have been to Vrindavan after Gaura Purnima, I have been to Siliguri, I gave lectures there, I have been to many other places attending preaching programmes. I know I have taken very much risk, but now I am in the room and I have told all the devotees here in Dum Dum Park (Kolkata), "Please, control yourself. Do not go out." I have told them also that everybody must use sanitisers and a mask. It is a must.

We have a second wave of coronavirus in the country, and it is very dangerous—it is spreading very fast. There are more than four hundred thousand people attacked by covid every day, and almost four thousand people die every day in India, and more than a hundred people die in West Bengal every day. This is the situation now—we must all be careful. I am also controlling myself [I am not going out so much]. I know I also have to be careful... Devotees' nature is to be very humble, tolerant and to give honour to others, and in this situation we must have tolerance.

I know that there has been a lockdown for one year in many countries, and the financial condition all over the world is very bad, everybody is suffering, but amidst all this devotees are still thinking about me, they are still thinking about Gurudev, and I am not only thanking them for that—to say 'thank you' is a very small thing—but I am saying to them: Gurudev's mercy, the Lord's mercy is always with them. Devotees always try to help and take care of Gurudev's Mission as much as it is possible by them, as much as it is within their capacity, and if we all stay together in this way, we can overcome everything.

The problem is that we all have ego. This is the problem in our spiritual life. We cannot stay united because of our ego. We do not give proper attention to the devotees, we do not take proper care of the devotees. This is the result that must come when there is a lack of preaching. In this age of Kali, only few persons will join Krishna consciousness, and even when people join, those of them who do not have so much sukriti will not be able to continue their spiritual life—they will leave this path, leave Krishna consciousness. That is why, we must chant more and more, we must preach more and more, and we must practise more and more. Always continue following all the rules and regulations—we must distribute the teachings that we have got from our Gurudev to others.

I know it is very difficult. We say we must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others, it is very easy to say this, but it is very difficult to apply and produce this in our own selves. Even I myself do not have so much tolerance, I do not have so much humility, and I also cannot give respect to others. That is my very bad quality, but Gurudev has accepted me as his servant, as his dog to protect his devotees and his mission, and I can only try to do that—if I am ever successful, it is possible only by the mercy of the devotees and by the mercy of Gurudev because I myself do not have any quality or qualification...

* * *

Sadhus' Fight

Kolkata—Worldwide, 2 May 2021, part 2

Everybody is giving money, everybody is giving help, but there are only few persons who give their son or daughter to serve the Mission full-time. It is very rare all over the world. Here in India also, people have much hope that their son would become adult, get married, and produce babies. Every father and mother want that, but rare are the devotees who would want their children to serve the Lord instead. For example, Srila Narottam Das Thakur's mother gave her son money to go to Vrindavan. Srila Narottam Das Thakur cried to his mom, "Mother, if you do not let me go to Vrindavan, I will commit suicide! I will die!" She allowed him to leave and not only that—she also gave him some money to go to Vrindavan. This is very rare. Sri Vishnupriya Devi and Sri Sachi Mata also sacrificed so much in their lives—if Sri Vishnupriya Devi had not made this sacrifice, we would not have got Nimai as a sannyasi, as a preacher...

If I cannot keep devotees well, it is a big problem for me—it always gives me much pain. One by one, devotees—some of my godbrothers, some of my friends—are passing away. It is very sad. One by one devotees are now attacked by covid...

Question: With all the recent tragedies happening, with Kali-yuga advancing, I was thinking how to continue my sadhana—no matter how much I try, it is still so difficult...

Yes, it is correct. Sadhana is very difficult. But we must try our best. Keep trying and trying. This is a battlefield. We will not run away from the battlefield—we will always stand and fight against Maya. In every situation and under any condition, Maya Devi always takes the jiva soul to her side—Maya Devi is extremely powerful because she has got her power from the Lord. You know this.

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

"My alluring, 'trimodal,' illusory potency is practically insurmountable. However, those who take shelter in Me can overcome this powerful obstacle."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

Because Maya Devi has got her power from the Lord, she is very powerful. That is why, if devotees always stay together, if there is sankirtan going on, if there is practising and sadhana going on, then Maya Devi cannot stay here. This is our main hope. In our present situation, we must practise more and more. I have told you—you can send me the photographs of your practising, I am happy to see them. I want to keep myself busy with seeing that, I will also try to compose one more book, Guidance 5. I want to keep myself busy with this kind of service because due to the pandemic situation we cannot go for preaching so much, the government is being strict about it now. So, it is better for everyone to keep yourself busy with service. Please you all take care of yourself. In this situation, everybody should practise on their own, do not be disheartened. You worry because of this pandemic situation, "If I do not work, what will I eat? How will I maintain my family?" I know it is very difficult for the devotees now, our devotees are mostly not very rich people, they have to depend upon their own work all the time, for that they are a little anxious now, but at such times as now you must think about Srivas Pandit. Srivas Pandit had nothing, but Mahaprabhu told him not to go begging, and Srivas Pandit listened to His instruction and did not go begging—after that, Krishna Himself took care of him. The Lord takes care of His devotees. This is always true. You can see Mahabharata, you can see the Kuruksetra war, you can see Ramayana (when Ramachandra fought against Ravana)—you can see everywhere that finally demons are always defeated by the sadhu. Om is always at the side of a sadhu. That is our faith, that is our hope.

* * *

Be Exclusive, Be One-Pointed

Kolkata—Worldwide, 2 May 2021, part 3

Question: I am very grateful to Your Divine Grace for being always there with me, for protecting me. I have so many things not favourable to devotional life in me, I feel I am incompetent in so many ways. What can I do?

What is unfavourable to devotion is called anaratha. We must be always free from any unwanted material desires,

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

"The highest devotion is that which satisfies Lord Krsna, free from the coverings of any pursuits such as action, knowledge."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.1.11)

Always be 'anyabhilasita sunyam'—be free from other desires.

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari
kaya-mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva
ei bhakti parama karana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation. One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 13, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

We must be exclusive, one-pointed in our desire (ananyabhilas), we must have no other desires (anyabhilas). Only think about Krishna, think about the temple, think about the devotees—that is good. If you think about good things, then all bad things (anarthas) will automatically be removed from you. Do not worry so much about this. When you think some anartha is coming, you must give more and more attention to practising—concentrate your mind on practising.

[Addressing a devotee:] When will you start your retired life?

Devotee: Very soon, Gurudev, by your blessing.

Gurudev told me, "Leave your job, leave everything and join Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math full-time—I will be very happy," and when he told me that, I agreed and left my job, everything. Gurudev's blessing means service. If you follow Gurudev's instruction, that is the blessing—you must have no other intention.

All right, I am offering my obeisance to everyone. I pray to everybody—please take care of your health, and I will also take care of myself.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay
Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj ki jay
Srila Bhakti Vijay Trivikram Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Bandhav Puri Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Niskam Shanta Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Vijnan Muni Maharaj ki jay
Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Please forgive my offence. Dandavat. Thank you so much.

[Addressing a devotee:] If you want to preach, you can start preaching. Start preaching as you did before. Some problem will come, you must be ready for that. When Gurudev told me in the early days to start reading Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, I also listened to so much criticism. They said I was a little boy, I did not know anything about the conception. Later, when Gurudev gave me this position, I also heard so many things—they said I am not a follower of Gurudev, that I have cut up Srila Rupa Goswami's line, etc. I have listened to everything and tolerated it. If they criticise you, you too must digest a little. What is the problem? You have not seen how much I am tolerating—you have not seen from what kind of a dangerous position I have come. If anyone can understand it, they will understand easily what I am saying...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Sri Guru Is All-in-All

Disappearance day of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, evening class, 24 April 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

First of all, I am offering my full obeisance at the holy lotus feet of Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy, after that I am offering my obeisance to all Guru-varga, to all my God-brothers and sisters, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, to all devotees, and I am praying to you all for your mercy to this low soul.

Today is the disappearance (tirobhav-tithi) of my Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. To observe this day, we have made today a festival here in Siliguri—devotees came, took maha-prasadam. However, I told you this morning that there is no difference between Gurudev's appearance and disappearance. Vaishnavs come to this world on the order of the Lord, they preach the Lord's message in this world. You have heard in one of the kirtans,

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

"Satisfied by the Vaishnav's prayer, Krishna will be merciful to this sinner."

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari' dandaiba niskapate

"With a cloth around my neck, joined palms, and straw between my teeth, I will sincerely submit myself at the Vaishnav's feet."

So, if you pray to Vaishnavs, Krishna becomes very merciful. If we keep anything (if we submit some appeal about anything related to the Lord) at Gurudev's feet, he will send our prayer to the Lord. We cannot appeal to the Lord directly—if we go to the Lord directly, the Lord will not hear our prayer. If we want to reach the Lord, we have to go through the medium of a Guru.

The scriptures say, "Guru bada diye Gauranga bhaje, sei papi raurave padi maje: the sinner who worships Gauranga without the Guru will fall into a terrible hell." If somebody wants to worship Gauranga eluding the Guru, such a sinner will go to hell. Therefore, if you want to go to Srimati Radharani, you must first get permission from Lalita, Visakha, then they will take you to Srimati Radharani. If you cannot get to Srimati Radharani, you will not be able to get to Krishna. Gurudev is said to be an incarnation of Srimati Radharani. Gurudev is Srimati Radharani Herself—be it in vatsalya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, or any other mood.

Sriman Nityananda Prabhu represents sakhya-rasa, and we also say that Gurudev is non-different from Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. "Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha Krsna pabe: without Nityananda Prabhu we cannot get mercy of Radha-Krishna." Srila Raghunath Das Goswami had tried to go to Mahaprabhu many times, Sivananda Sen had also tried, but only when they had got Nityananda Prabhu's mercy could they come to Mahaprabhu. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami made the chida-dahi festival in Panihati, he served all the Vaishnavs and got Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's mercy in this way. Nitai gave him service—He told him to feed all the Vaishnavs, to arrange for chida (flat rice), dahi (yoghurt). Before that, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami had tired many times to come to Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu did not allow him to stay—every time Srila Raghunath Das Goswami came to Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu told him to go back home. However, when Nityananda Prabhu kept His lotus feet on his head and said, "Now you can go. Now all your material bondage has now been undone, all obstacles are now removed—you are free. Now you can get Mahaprabhu's mercy," then he could come and stay with Mahaprabhu.

In the same way, if we do not hanker for Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, if we do not obtain Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's mercy, we will not be able to get to the Lord. If we do not get Srimati Radharani's mercy, we will not be able to get to the Lord, and to come to Srimati Radharani, you must first go to Lalita and Visakha, take their permission, then you can come to Srimati Radharani. When we get permission from Radharani, when we get the visa from Radharani, then we can get the darshan of Sri Krishna in Vrindavan. Therefore, we must first approach Vaishnavs.

First, it is necessary to take shelter at the holy lotus feet of Sri Guru (guru-padasraya), then you must take initiation. When you take initiation, it does not end there. You do not pass the exams just by getting admitted into a school—once you are admitted into a school, you must study. In the same way, you have got admitted into this spiritual school, or we can say transcendental university, and if you want to pass the exam, you must study your whole life. This studying is sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission. These devotional practices are called nava-vidha bhakti (nine kinds of devotion). You have heard about these practices in the kirtan "Bhajahu re mana..."

sravana, kirtana, smarana, vandana
pada-sevana, dasya re
pujana, sakhi-jana, atma-nivedana
govinda-dasa-abhilasare

Govinda Das desires to engage in the nine practices of devotion: hearing about, glorifying, remembering, praying to, attending to, serving, worshipping, befriending, and surrendering to the Lord.

* * *

Escaping Ocean of Suffering

Disappearance day of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, evening class, 24 April 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

"Adau sraddha, tatah sadhu-sanga. First comes faith, then good saintly association." First sukriti must come—it is necessary to have sukriti from previous life otherwise you cannot serve the Lord without sukriti. After sukriti, there must be faith. There are four types of faith—kamala-sraddha, taranga-sraddha, drdha-sraddha, sudrdha-sraddha (soft lotus-like faith, wave-like faith, strong faith and the strongest faith). The more faith one has, the more devotion one has. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari: the quality of devotion depends upon faith." (Cc, 2.22.64) The type of devotion you get depends on the degree of your faith. You cannot get the Lord without devotion—you cannot get the Lord through any material activities (karma), through any knowledge (jnana), or mystic practices (yoga). Only if you want devotion, only if you have devotion, can you get the Lord. How will devotion come? "Bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate. You can get devotion through the association of devotees." (Brhan-naradiya Purana) If you associate with devotees, you will get devotion. Sadhu-sanga (saintly devotees' association) means sravan and kirtan.

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

Days are passing in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Days are passing, and we do not know when our death will come. We do not know when this life will pass away from us, and there is no way to avoid it—one way or another, we all must go. Once born, everyone has to die, and once dead, everyone has to be born again. However, if you want to leave this world of janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi (the world of birth, death, old age, and disease, Bg, 13:9), there is a solution. "Bhagavata pada Vaisnavera sthane, ekanta asraya kara Chaitanya-charane. Read Bhagavatam under guidance of a Vaishnav and take exclusive shelter of the lotus feet of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu." We must hear Bhagavatam (hear the holy topics about the Lord) from Vaishnavs, and we must take shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So, if we do not want to suffer this birth, death, old age, and disease, then we must take shelter at the lotus feet of Vaishnavs and Gauranga.

Gauranga Mahaprabhu is a combined form of Radha and Krishna. Krishna Himself took the heart and halo of Radharani and appeared in this Kali-yuga. Who has got what remained of Her? Srila Gadadhar Pandit Goswami. He is the incarnation of Srimati Radharani—whatever remained from Srimati Radharani (after Gauranga had taken Her heart and halo) incarnated as Sri Gadadhar Pandit Goswami.

sri-radhara bhave yini suvarna varana
sangopange navadvipe yanra sankirtana
kalite upasya sei krsna gaura-hari
navadha bhakti tanre upasana kari

"I worship with nine kinds of devotion Sri Krishna who is worshipped in Kali-yuga as Sri Gaura-Hari garbed into the divine mood and golden complexion of Sri Radha and performing sankirtan pastimes in Sri Nabadwip."

(Sri Sri Nabadwip-sataka, 1, Bengali translation by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

The Lord can be easily attained through sankirtan. Kali-yuga's religion (dharma) is Harinama sankirtan. If somebody can take the Holy Name genuinely, without offences, then they can attain the gift of prema (transcendental love for the Lord). Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu went door to door knocking at the door of every jiva soul, distributing this gift of Sri Krishna-prema. Have you heard in one of the kirtans,

are bhai! nitai amara dayara avadhi!
jivere karuna kari,' dese dese phiri' phiri'
prema-dhana yache niravadhi

"O brothers! My Lord Nitai's mercy is limitless! Bestowing His mercy upon the souls of this world He wanders from place to place perpetually offering the great treasure of ecstatic spiritual love to all."

He quickly takes those who are fortunate, who have faith, and the position of those who have no faith is pathetic and deplorable. This Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, but at the same there is one great good quality in this age—it is easy to get the Lord in this age through sankirtan.

Therefore, take shelter of a bona fide Guru and practise Krishna consciousness. It is necessary to take shelter at the lotus feet of a Guru (guru-padasraya). You cannot practise Krishna consciousness without the shelter of the lotus feet of a Guru. Mahaprabhu Himself took initiation from Ishwara Puri in Gaya. When Mahaprabhu went to Gaya to perform the last rites for his departed father, He got the darshan of His Guru, and as soon as Mahaprabhu saw Ishwar Puri, He said,

"samsara-samudra haite uddharaha more
ei ami deha samarpilana tomare"

"Please rescue Me from this ocean of material existence! I am surrendering Myself to you."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, Adi-khanda, 17.54)

"Prabhu! Save Me from this ocean of material existence that I keep on roaming time and time again!"

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

"Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?"

Actually, we cannot blame anyone, this is not anyone's fault—I am my own friend and I am my own enemy.

kama-krodha-adi chaya batapare deya bhaya
avasana haila asi bela

I am attacked by the six highway robbers lead by kama and krodha, and my life is coming to its end...

("Anadi karama-phale" by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy), rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa (desire for enjoyment through eyes, tongue, nose, ears, and skin), kanak, kamini, pratistha (desire for money, women, and fame)—we have all these diseases inside, so we are our own friends, and we are our own enemies. You can never get rid of all these disease unless you practise properly and stay conscious of all these diseases. That is why, we must always practise Krishna consciousness in strict adherence to the lotus feet of Sri Guru and Vaishnavs. There is no other way. Always practise Krishna consciousness in this way.

* * *

Gurudev: Surrounded by Affection

Disappearance day of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, evening class, 24 April 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Our Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, came to Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj in 1947 and stayed with him as a brahmachari. He came to the temple when he was seventeen years old and stayed at the temple for twenty-four years. After that, he went to live in his family, but even when he left to live at his home, he did not leave the temple—he always took care of the temple and always helped Param Guru Maharaj as a secretary of the Math.

In the early days, Gurudev took Param Guru Maharaj and devotees to different places—he made tours of the chari-dham parikrama (Puri, Vrindavan, Badrinath, South India) and many other holy places. Srila Gurudev loved Param Guru Maharaj so much—within just seven days after he came to stay at the temple, Srila Sridhar Maharaj declared that in the future this boy would be the next acharya after him.

After that, much water flew under the bridge down the Ganga... I have spoken about Srila Sridhar Maharaj many times, you all know his pastimes. After many years, Srila Sridhar Maharaj brought Srila Gurudev back to the temple again and gave him sannyas. Srila Sridhar Maharaj had waited for Gurudev for thirty years to give him his chair—he had been waiting for him to come back from his family life. In the end, Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "If you do not take this chair, I will break the temple and give the Deities to my godbrother!" When Gurudev still did not agree to take this chair, Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "If you do not take sannyas and take responsibility for Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, I will commit suicide and you will be held responsible for my suicide!" Then Gurudev had to agree. Srila Sridhar Maharaj had a very close relationship with Gurudev.

When Srila Swami Maharaj, the founder of ISKCON, was going to inaugurate ISKCON in Mayapur in 1973, Srila Sridhar Maharaj came to the inauguration ceremony with Gurudev. When Gurudev gave a short lecture on behalf of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, Srila Swami Maharaj was astonished to hear it, "How much this boy knows!" In that lecture, Gurudev recited a sloka,

kam prati kathayitum ise samprati ko va pratitim ayatu
go-pati-tanaya-kunje gopa-vadhuti-vitam brahma

"To whom can I say and who will believe me if I say that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is hunting the gopis in the bushes by the banks of the Yamuna?!"

A small cowherd boy herds cows on the bank of the Yamuna and all the women of Vraja's brahmans are running after Him all over Vrindavan! And who is this young boy? This is not an ordinary boy—He is the Lord Himself, Vrajendra-nandan Sri Krishna (the son of the king of Vraja). He is Nanda-kishor, Sri Nanda-nandan Krishna! Who could have said it? In the same way, who would have thought that Srila Swami Maharaj, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, who was known as Abhay Babu, who used to run his shop business in Kolkata, had at his old age gone abroad, travelled all over the world and established such a big ISKCON! How many foreign devotees he brought to this path! He used to be a simple grihastha, but he established hundreds of temples of ISKCON all over the world. Who would have said that this Abhay Babu who used to sit in his shop would become Jagad Guru? After he took initiation from Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, he got association of many Vaishnavs, especially Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and in the end he took a ship and went abroad—he had been prevented three times, but he still went there and preached Hari-katha all over the world.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj was very affectionate to Srila Gurudev from Srila Gurudev's very young age—Gurudev used to always say that he was a very naughty, a very bad boy, but Srila Guru Maharaj moulded him very nicely. Srila Sridhar Maharaj sent Gurudev to a school to study Harinama-amrita-vyakaran, he got him admitted into a school to study Sanskrit, and he taught him so many things. Many of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's godbrothers would always come from various Gaudiya Maths to see Srila Sridhar Maharaj (Srila Keshav Maharaj from Devananda Gaudiya Math, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaj, Srila Bhaktyaloka Paramahamsa Maharaj from Paramahamsa Gaudiya Math, Srila Vaikhanash Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kumud Shanta Maharaj, and many others). Everybody would come to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and everybody said, "If you want to hear Hari-katha, you must come to Srila Sridhar Maharaj." Gurudev was there at that time—he always served them all, he would arrange for their prasadam, etc. And they all loved Gurudev. Srila Swami Maharaj also said that although he had many biological sons, he actually had only one real son—Gaurendu Brahmachari (Srila Govinda Maharaj). Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj also loved him very much. All of Param Guru Maharaj's godbrothers loved him. Even Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj (Kunja Babu) respected and was very affectionate to Gurudev although he was not on very good terms with Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Srila Sridhar Maharaj trained Gurudev in this way, "Even if the relationship with my godbrothers is a little strained, you must go, give obeisance to him and come back." One time, when Gurudev was with Param Guru Maharaj at a train station, they saw Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj, who was the Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Math. Srila Sridhar Maharaj was two compartments away from him in the train, and he sent our Gurudev to pay dandavat to Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj. He taught him in this way, "I may not be able to go and talk to him, he may not respect me, but it is not a problem—you can go and pay dandavat to him." I have heard it from Srila Gurudev's own mouth.

* * *

Param Dayal Gurudev

Disappearance day of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, evening class, 24 April 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

When there was much disturbance in ISKCON and many foreign devotees started coming to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said, "I will not be able to mix with them so much, I will not be able to understand their behaviour and practice. Govinda Maharaj, you will take the responsibility for the western devotees." After that, I can tell you that I have seen so many respectable Vaishnavs, so many scholars came to Gurudev, serve Gurudev, and Gurudev gave love and affection to everybody. Such is his quality. His actual quality was such that he would accept everybody and take everybody on his lap through his smiling face. Gurudev gave respect even to those who were his enemies! Even Gurudev's enemies cannot forget Gurudev's affectionate behaviour. Gurudev was extremely merciful (param dayal). This is how Gurudev served his Guru Maharaj.

You know, in Gurudev's time everybody ate one-paisa worth of muri (puffed rice) in the morning, but Gurudev knew I ate more muri, so he would arrange two-paisa worth of mudi for me. He was very caring.

In the early day, the situation at the Math was not so good, it was actually was very bad. Here is an example. There was a dumur (fig) tree at the temple—they would pick that dumur fruits (figs) and cook them. Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave an order that everybody had to take turns climbing the tree every day—one day one person, another day another person, and so on. Gurudev said that when it was his day to climb it, he was very afraid because that tree was full of ants. They would make dumurer tarkari (figs subji) at the temple. Gurudev also told that before they would use a small bar of lifebuoy soap that cost three rupees, and now brahmacharis are using lux and expensive imperial leather, glycerine soap. Gurudev said that in the early days he would use mustard oil mixed with salt to brush his teeth, and instead of a toothbrush, he would take a twig from a mango tree and brush his teeth with that—he never used to use a toothbrush or toothpaste. Now brahmacharis cannot live without a toothbrush or toothpaste. And they would never sleep on a bed with a mattress—but now brahmacharis and sannyasis do not want to live in the temple unless they have a thick mattress... This is what Gurudev told.

The other day a lady came to me, she said she was inviting everybody to come to her house tomorrow. She said she would feed everyone kitchuri. If you take kitchuri in the evening, your stomach will be hot. Can she not make some rice and dal? If you make only some tok dal and rice, that is better than giving kitchuri! I like tok dal a lot (dal cooked with pieces of green mango). I like to take it every day. I took it this morning and will take again in the evening. Now that I am in Siliguri I like to eat one-two green mangos every day. Today I cut it myself and took. I take it in Kolkata sometimes too. I also like kul (jujube) when it is in season. When I go for preaching, I sometimes feel very hot and when I take kul, it cools my head.

* * *

Where Will You Run?

Disappearance day of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Siliguri, evening class, 24 April 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

kamala-dala-jala jivana talamala
(ei achhe ei nai jivana talamala)
bhajahu hari-pada niti re

Life is shaky—it is here now, and then it is gone. Serve the Lord's feet! O mind, serve the Lord's feet.

When water falls on a leaf, it totters on the leaf ready to fall at any moment—our life is also like that. We can leave this world at any moment. Money, wealth, cars, houses, family, relatives, friends—we will all have to leave everything.

smasane sarira mama padiya rahibe
vihanga-patanga taya vihara karibe

My body will be laid to rest at the crematorium. There birds and insects will enjoy it.

This body will be burnt at the cremation ghat. You know, there is one devotee who was sitting, eating and talking to others and suddenly he died. I was in Bardhaman that day, collecting rice at rice mills. Sripad Vishnu Maharaj called me at ten-eleven o'clock and told the news. I went to the programme there, took prasadam, and then left... When people get old, they sometimes get so weak that they cannot even eat...

vrddha-kala aola, saba sukha bhagala,
pida-vase ha-inu katara

"Then old age came, and all happiness fled. Subjugated by disease, I became distressed."

(Saranagati, 6.3)

When old age comes, all happiness goes away. We jump all around as long as we are young, but health gradually goes down. We have got this human birth, and if you cannot keep it properly, then it is very sad. Those who serve the Lord are very fortunate.

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

"Service does not come by just a little fortune. Only after ten million births of good fortune, can you leave this material world behind."

You are getting this opportunity to serve the Lord by a great fortune. If somebody does not understand it, it is very sad.

You must all come for Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Some come with a return ticket to immediately go back to their home, this is very sad... This is like birds who go out in the morning, fly everywhere during the day, and in the evening again return to their tree. One devotee came for the festival from so far, but he left the next day. He could have stayed for a few days at least. What is there to be afraid of? If you are to die one day, nobody can prevent that. Where will you run? "There is no place for you to run to, brother—Yamaraj is always behind you." The only way to remove this fear of death is to practise Krishna consciousness, to serve the Lord. The scriptures say that a guru who cannot save you from the deathly material existence cannot be a guru. So, what is there to be afraid? You are born, then one day you must die. Everybody's day is already written, and nobody can prevent that from happening. That is why, always:

krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-nama-kirtanam
rama-rama-gana-ramya-divya chhanda-nartanam
yatra-tatra-krsna-nama-dana-loka-nistaram
prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

Later, the Supreme Lord travelled to the holy places of pilgrimage in South India with the clever intention of delivering the fallen souls. Appearing as a beautiful young renunciate, He distributed the sweet Names of the Lord, singing: "Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna he," as He strolled down the different pathways, entered temples, and visited homesteads during the sacred pilgrimage. Infused with an inconceivable type of divine inspiration, the Lord freely chanted "Rama Rama" and joyfully danced with the most charming gestures. Irrespective of time or personal qualification, the assembled bystanders were delivered by the Lord, who inspired them to chant Krishna's Holy Names. I offer my obeisances to that beautiful Golden Lord, Gauranga Sundar, the divine form of Krishna prema.

(Prema-dhama-deva Stotram, 22)

"Yatra-tatra-krsna-nama-dana-loka-nistaram. Anyone and everybody is liberally delivered by the gift of Krishna's Holy Name."

You must all come to the temple. Keep in touch. This is your temple. You can also go to different temples—spend ten days in Nrisingha Palli, ten days in Tarakeshwar, ten days in Ekachakra, ten days in Ganga Sagar. Nobody will mind it. You can spend one-two or four-six months travelling like this. Everybody is so much attached to their houses, children, etc. If you want to leave your house even for some time, your children will start crying and will not let you go... In this case, you have a temple here in Siliguri, you can serve here. Stay here, serve at the temple. Nobody forbids it—stay here, do service, this is not a problem. I am not saying you must all go to Nrisingha Palli. You can stay here and serve here. As long as you are alive, engage yourself in the service of the Lord. One day everybody has to die. You have pain in your back, legs, etc. This pain will always be there, but it is our mind that is sick, not our bodies. If you keep your mind right, then everything will be all right. "Asustha hoya mora mana, asustha nay mora sarira: my mind is sick, my body is not sick." The problem is that our mind is sick...

* * *

Honouring Hari-Prasad

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

We have got an opportunity to come here and make a programme in this district after a long time. A day without Hari-katha is a bad day. The day when we cannot speak Hari-katha, cannot practise sravan (cannot hear Hari-katha) is a bad day for us. We do not want to stay even one day without Hari-katha, and we must not also stay without hearing or speaking Hari-katha even one day.

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

"Whether you are sleeping, eating, or resting, always chant the Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, Madhya-khanda, 28.28)

When you are sleeping, when you are eating, when you are sitting, etc.—always chant the Holy Name. There are no rules and regulations about chanting the Holy Name. Wherever you are, in whatever state or situation you are—whether you are wearing good clothes, whether you are wearing dirty clothes, even if you are in a contaminated state—you can always chant the Holy Name.

Through the Holy Name such souls as ourselves who have forgotten Krishna (we have all forgotten Krishna, our Original Primeval Father) can awaken their consciousness. We can cure our disease through the Holy Name of the Lord. We suffer from five diseases—avidya (ignorance), asmita (false identification), raga (misdirected love), dvesa (aversion to anything that goes against one's enjoyment), and abhinivesa (being unable to give up unfavourable habits). As long as we have these diseases within us, we will not be able to find any relief from this material world.

Avidya (ignorance) is our real disease. We are ignorant—we have no knowledge. The knowledge that you all find in this world, that people roam around the world with, is not real knowledge, it is actually all ignorance. We will not be able to free ourselves from this ignorance for as long as we have not awakened to the realisation that we are not this body. We think, "This is my body," "This is my son," "This is my wife," "This is my relative," "This is my friend," "I am my own master"—for as long as we think like this, the taste for the Holy Name will not come to us, we will not like to chant the Holy Name.

We have got this day in our lives by a great fortune. Today is the disappearance day of Srila Lochan Das Thakur. Vaishnavs' appearance and disappearance are the same, they are non-different from each other. It is only with material vision that we see that somebody has come and has left. Our respectable host has called me and you all today not only for taking prasad. We have come here to take Hari-prasad—to honour the prasad of Hari-katha. This is the only prasad that you all must take—always hear Hari-katha. We have come here today only for this reason—to say a few words and to hear something about the Lord, about Sri Krishna.

Where is Krishna? Krishna is present in Krishna-katha. In which forest (van) does Krishna stay? In sravan. If you listen about Krishna, you will get Krishna...

* * *

Exclusive Path

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Many of us have taken initiation, but many of us have not been able to become a disciple. Yes, you have taken initiation, but one does not become a disciple just by taking initiation. Nobody passes the final exams at school just by getting admitted to a school—you must fail if you do not study. In the same way, in Krishna consciousness and spiritual practice the first step is guru-padasraya—taking shelter at the holy lotus feet of Sri Guru. Once you surrender at his holy lotus feet, you can start serving him. However, if we do not take proper good association of great devotees (sadhu-sanga) and Vaishnavs (Vaishnav-sanga), if we do not practise the nine kinds of devotional practices starting from sravan, kirtan, etc., if we do not practise the panchanga (five main devotional practices—sadhu-sanga, Nama-sankitan, Bhagavat-sravan, Mathura-vas, sraddhaya sri-murtir sevan; association of saints, chanting the Holy Name, listening about the Lord, residing in a holy abode of the Lord, worshipping Deities with faith), we will be removed from devotion. We may have entered the path of devotion, the world of devotion, however it does not take long to get removed from there. It is very difficult to progress down the path of devotion, but it is very easy to get removed from it. Remember this. One gets removed because of Vaishnav-aparadh, seva-aparadh, dhama-aparadh, Nama-aparadh. Always keep far from any Vaishnav-aparadh, seva-aparadh, dhama-aparadh, Nama-aparadh (offences to devotees, service, holy places, and the Holy Name). To your last breath you must be very careful about it and always try to avoid offences.

We have been averse to Krishna since the time immemorial. Outside people worship many demigods and demigoddesses, they can understand very well who is their father, mother, friends, relatives, wife, daughter, son, son-in-law, etc., but they do not understand who Guru is, who the Lord is. Do you know what Lord Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita? He says, "My devotees do not know anybody except Me, and I also do not know anybody except My devotees." These are Krishna's own words. Those who are exclusive, one-pointed devotees do not know anything or anyone except Krishna—they become crazy taking the Name of Krishna. So, this very Krishna has taken the heart and halo of Srimati Radharani and appeared as Gauranga Mahaprabhu right next to your door here in Sri Nabadwip Dham. He went door to door telling everyone,

jiva jago, jiva jago, gorachanda bale
kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

Sri Gorachand calls, “O souls, awake! O souls, awake! How long will you sleep on the lap of the witch Maya?

"O souls! Stop sleeping! Wake up! How long more are you going to sleep on the lap of Maya?"

Maya Devi always removes us from the service of the Lord—she gets her power from the Lord Himself and with that power she always tries to remove and keep us far from service. This Maya Devi always conspires against us and throws us into the desires of enjoyment and liberation. However, if you want to get the Lord, you will never get Him through any material activities (karma), any knowledge (jnana), any mystic practices (yoga), or attempts to get liberation (mukti)—no matter how much you may practise all these things, you can never get the Lord through that. If you want to get the Lord, you must get devotion. There is no other way to get the Lord except through devotion. No matter how wise you are, no matter how much knowledge you have, you will not get the Lord through that. If you are to get the Lord, you need devotion. You know, Srimati Radharani never went to any university—She only 'studied' at the University of Devotion. She worshipped (aradhana) the Lord through Her devotion, that is why Her name is Radharani—'She who worships the Lord the most.' That is why She is the highest among all gopis, She is the crest-jewel of all gopis.

So, taking the heart and halo of this Srimati Radharani, Krishna appears in this Kali-yuga as Gauranga Mahaprabhu. He wanted to know, "Why does Radharani cry so much taking My Name? What sort of happiness does She get when She is serving Me?" Lord Sri Krishna comes in Kali-yuga to taste all these thing as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, a combined form of Sri Sri Radha Krishna.

sri-radhayah pranaya-mahima kidrso vanayaivasvadyo
yenadbhuta-madhurima kidrso va madiyah
saukhyam chasya mad-anubhavatah kidrsam veti lobhat
tad-bhavadhyah samajani sachigarbha-sindhau harinduh

"'What is that great glory of Sri Radha's love? What is My extraordinary loving sweetness and charm that Sri Radha enjoys? And what is the joy Sri Radha feels by experiencing My sweetness and charm?' Yearning to taste these three sentiments, the moon—Krishna-chandra—was born from the ocean of the womb of mother Sachi."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 1.6)

* * *

Lord's Messenger

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

The Lord comes Himself and sometimes sends His associates as the Guru. Krishna told Uddhav Maharaj, "Acharyam mam vijaniyan. Know the Guru (acharya) as being non-different from Me." 'Acharya' is a person who practises (achar) and preaches (prachar); he is non-different from the Lord.

saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, who is said by all the scriptures to be the Lord Himself, and considered to be so by the sadhus, yet is also the Lord's beloved devotee."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 7)

We chant this kirtan written by Srila Visvanath Chakravati every morning,

samsara-davanala-lidha-loka
tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, the ocean of goodness who assumes the form of a cloud of mercy to deliver the souls burning in the blazing fire of material existence."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 1)

The only way to save yourself from this material existence is to take shelter at the holy lotus feet of Sri Guru. Only if he saves and engages us in the service of the Lord, can it be possible for us to find relief. At the same time, we too must make an effort—we must try. You cannot do nothing and think that the Guru will do everything for you. That is why, we must always be alert and careful that we may not be removed from Krishna consciousness at any time.

We must serve Sri Hari, Guru, and Vaishnavs. The true religion consists of three aspects: jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaishnava seva. Jive daya means we must be kind to the jiva souls; it means that we must bring the souls who are averse to Lord Sri Krishna to this path. Such souls have forgotten the Supreme Lord, they have forgotten their own father, their own address and have fallen into illusory bondage.

We come to this world again and again—life after life we stay in some hired place, and life after life we are forced to leave one hired place and go to some other hired place. Somebody hires a place for fifty years, somebody thirty years, somebody eighty years, but for as long as you stay in a hired place, you will not know any peace or happiness. What happiness is there? If you have no place of your own, if you keep on hiring some place to stay in—if you stay in some place six months, one year, or two years, and keep on moving from place to place, one day you will think that it is better to buy your own land and leave in a thatched hut rather than keep on moving like that. We too, every single one of us, are staying in this hired place here, but we must try to reach our own home. Our home is in Goloka Vrindavan, where the Lord resides, where we all come from. We left our home and have wandered throughout 8,400,000 species, or even more than that—8,400,000 species is minimum because if somebody is unfortunate, they have wandered throughout even more species before they have finally got this human body.

bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara

"One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India should take advantage of his birth and bring benefit to all other people."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 9.41)

Brahma took initiation from Krishna and created this material universe according to the realisation that he had got from the Lord, and we now anyhow live in this world—somebody worships Durga, somebody worships Kali, somebody worships Lakshmi, somebody worships Vishnu, somebody worships Narayan, so many people worship demigods, demigoddesses. However, it is said in the scriptures,

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

"Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager, or worker) or asram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life, or monk) you may belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell (Raurav)."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.26)

Even if you follow the four varnas (brahman, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra) and four ashrams (brahmachari, grihastha, vanaprastha, sannyasi), you will have to go to hell again and again. I have written in the third volume of Guidance how much suffering we undergo in hell. We suffer here in so many ways, but sadhus, Gurus and Vaishnavs are very merciful—they come right to our door. These close associates of the Lord come and try to send us back to the Lord...

* * *

'Managing' Your Life

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

I have been preaching in Hooghly for many days now—by Gurudev's mercy I have been coming to this area for many years (more than twenty-five years now). I have been coming to this particular house because the hosts, Gopal Prabhu, his wife (Manorama Devi Dasi) and mother-in-law were initiated many years ago by Srila Gurudev, so I have always felt that I must come here on that account. When I started coming, Manorama Didi would take me to different houses of her relatives and other people, and they would gradually also come to this path. Then, Manorama Didi's daughter passed away, it is very sad, but what can be done? Everybody has their lifespan written for them, so everyone lives as long as they are meant to live. This is how it happened so that the daughter passed away and the mother stayed alive...

We are all here in this world only for a short time. We all have to leave this world, and nobody will come and tell you, "You are going to die tomorrow." You will not get any notice. There are some fortunate souls like Pariksit Maharaj who had got an advance notice that he would die after seven days; and hearing this, he did not waste time on any gramya-katha, gramya-varta—he did not worry how this family and household would run after him. This is actually how you all must live, but you cannot. That is why, we chant every day,

emana durmati samsara bhitare
padiya achhinu ami

"O Lord! This wretched soul has fallen into this material world..."

('Emona Durmati' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Even when people retire from their material life, they do not stop worrying about their families... I have told Gopal Prabhu today, "What is there for you in this family life?" He said, "I am managing the household." I said, "Who are you to manage anything? The Lord is the manager!" Now he should understand it—the Lord has taken his wife too, but even now he cannot dedicate his full time to serve the Lord. I told him to come to the temple, to stay there, chant the Holy Name and do service. Even if he comes and only makes flower garlands, that is also service. You can understand it yourself too—when you stay at the temple, you can give full time to service, but is it possible to do that when you are staying at home? Never. You have to look after your cows and goats, sons and daughters, this and that. I am giving you an opportunity—I have opened many different temples where even old people can come and practise Krishna consciousness full time.

What is the use living for one hundred years? If I live just ten years but give full time to the service of the Lord, that is sufficient. I keep on telling you this, but you tell me, "Who will look after my cows, calves and goats? Who will look after my children?" The Lord is the only master, but we have forgotten Him—we only give our full time to the material life, to the family life. I have seen many people who come and practise Krishna consciousness at first, but then they fall into material bondage and leave to serve their old parents. What can you say? The scriptures say,

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

Your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods—all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord. I tell it to you time and time again. Because we have no faith in this we are not able to process along the path of devotion. Your devotion depends on your faith. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari: the quality of devotion depends upon the quality of one's faith." (Cc, 2.22.64)

You can often see that somebody took initiation at the temple a short time ago and is progressing in Krishna consciousness practice, and there are some who have been staying at the temple for a long time, but they have not progressed. Why is it like that? There is no question of seniority or juniority in devotion. You cannot judge one's seniority or juniority based on anyone's age. The criterion is one's devotion. It can be a ten-, five-, or six-year-old small girl, but if she has been practising Krishna consciousness—if she pays obeisance to the Guru, Vaishnavs, the Lord, if she is devotes to the Lord, chants kirtans, etc.—then you must pay obeisance to her and respect her. On the other hand, there can be some eighty-year-old old lady, but you will only hear gramya-katha (village talks), gramya-varta (village news) and other nonsense talks from her mouth (what her daughter-in-law has done to her, what this daughter-in-law did, what that daughter-in-law did, etc.—she goes everywhere and only talks about her daughters-in-law). If that is the case, then there is no use living for eighty or a hundred years in this world. Yet, if it is a small ten-year-old girl but she only practises Krishna consciousness, chants the Lord's Name and serves the Lord, then you must pay obeisance to her and have much respect for her.

* * *

Internal Purity

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

We sing the kirtan, "Krpa kara Vaishnava Thakura,"

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite
abhimana hau dura

"O Vaishnav Thakur! Please be merciful! Knowing the true relationship I will worship You and my ego will go far away."

First it is necessary to know the real relationship (sambandha). If you worship the Lord knowing the true relationship, your ego will go away. If you know the spiritual relationship and worship the Lord, then even a father will offer obeisance to his son. This is a rule. If the son is very advanced in Krishna consciousness and serves the Lord, then even his father must pay obeisance to him and address him as "Prabhu" (Master). Generally people think, "I am his father, he is younger than me! He is my son!" This ego is not good. If you know the real relationship and practise Krishna consciousness, your ego will go away. This is the meaning of these lines from the kirtan. Do you understand its meaning?

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

"If I think, 'I am a Vaishnav,' then I will never stop expecting honour from others—my heart will become polluted by the desire for fame and I will end up in hell."

Somebody thinks, "I have become a Vaishnav!" or "When did you take initiation? I took initiation long before you, why must I pay obeisance to you?" If you think you have become a Vaishnav, you will not be able to give honour to others. We must give honour to everyone—somebody can be young, can be old, but we must offer obeisances to everyone. Srila Prabhupad often said, "All of you seated here are my gurus. You have taken initiation from me means you have given me mercy." These are very beautiful words. A real guru will never say, "I have given you mercy by giving you initiation." No. You are giving me mercy by taking initiation from me. A guru must have this kind of mood. This is called humility.

dainya, daya, anye mana, pratistha-varjana
chari gune guni hai karaha kirtana

"Humility, compassion, honouring others, and giving up prestige—become qualified with these four qualities and chant the Name."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Sri Siksastakam Giti)

Who has the right to chant kirtan? Those who have humility, who have a heart for others, who have honour for others, and who reject any name and fame—those who have these four qualities have the right to chant kirtan. This is the way how one must practise Krishna consciousness. I am saying all this now here, but in fact I am saying this all to myself—I am saying all this now to teach my own self. I am not saying it for you only, I am saying for my own self also. I too must practise all this. I also pray, "O Lord, please let me be like this. O Gurudev! Please give me some intelligence so that I can become humble, kind, so that I may respect others and leave all desire for prestige." I am saying this now so that I too can become like that—if I keep on saying about it, then one day can become like this. I am not coming to give advice to you—if I keep on saying about this, then I believe that one day these qualities will come to me. We must think in this way.

dainya, daya, anye mana, pratistha-varjana
chari gune guni hai karaha kirtana

"Humility, compassion, honouring others, and giving up prestige—become qualified with these four qualities and chant the Name."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Sri Siksastakam Giti)

* * *

Pray To Be One-Pointed

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

[His Divine Grace chants kirtans.]

gurudeva!
bada krpa kari', gauda-vana-majhe
godrume diyacha sthana
ajna dila more, ei vraje vasi',
harinama kara gana [1]

Gurudev! Bestowing a great mercy on me, you have given me a place in Sri Godrumdwip amidst the forests of Gauda. You ordered me: "Reside in this abode which is non-different from Vraja and chant the Lord's Name."

kintu kabe prabho, yogyata arpibe,
e dasere daya kari'
chitta sthira habe, sakala sahiba,
ekante bhajiba hari [2]

But when, O master, will you mercifully grant this servant the qualification to do this? When will my heart become steadfast? When will I tolerate everything and serve the Lord exclusively?

Our mind, our heart is always fickle. Our mind and heart cannot sit still—we are not able to concentrate them on the Holy Name. Mind is always fickle—as soon as there is some disturbance, we say, "I will give up chanting!" Many live in their family and when some trouble comes (somebody died, somebody got sick, this problem, that problem), they do not feel like chanting the Holy Name and they give it up. They cannot tolerate anything. But do you remember Prahlad Maharaj? How much austerity Prahlad Maharaj got! He was thrown into fire because he was chanting the Lord's Name! His worshippable father (Pita Thakur) threw him into fire because he was serving the Lord! He tied Prahlad Maharaj to an elephant's leg! He threw Prahlad Maharaj from a ten-thousand-feet mountain! He threw his ten-year-old son into water! This is the kind of austerity Prahlad Maharaj had been getting from five years old, and he tolerated everything. Does anyone give us so much austerity? No. Nobody throws us into fire, nobody throws us from a mountain, nobody ties us to an elephant's leg. If a five-year-old boy could tolerate all this, then why cannot we tolerate a little? We must learn from his example.

We pray, "My heart will become fixed, and I will tolerate everything." You know, there is a Bengali saying, "Bend the bamboo while it is green—if you try to bend it when it matures, it will crack (Bengali proverb, equivalent to English 'strike the iron while it is hot"). Learn from a young age, otherwise you can bend the bamboo when it is green, but if you try to bend it when it is mature, it will not bend—it will break. Somebody says, "I will practise Krishna consciousness when I am old." Do you think you will be able to? When you get old, your health will be bad, your legs will pain, your back will pain. You think will you chant the Holy Name when you are old, but when you grow old, your fingers will pain. So many kinds of pain and problems will come in old age, how do you think you will practise then?

How beautiful these words are—"When will my heart become steadfast? When will I tolerate everything and serve the Lord exclusively?" When will I be able to concentrate my mind and make it one-pointed? It is necessary to become an one-pointed, exclusive devotee—the mind must be fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord, at the lotus feet of Sri Guru. We pray that we may understand well who the guru is. We understand well who our mother, father, brother, friends are—in the same way, we must understand our relationship with the Guru and the Lord.

saisava-yauvane, jada-sukha-sange,
abhyasa ha-ila manda
nija-karma-dose, e deha ha-ila,
bhajanera pratibandha [3]

In my childhood and youth, I always indulged in material happiness and I have become habituated to bad things. Because of my own sins, this body has become an impediment to spiritual practice.

I was small, then I grew up, but I never woke up for the arati, I ate in the afternoon and again went to sleep—I must wake up in the afternoon, offer some fruit to the Lord, but I do not do all this. Those who do puja must be alert—they cannot eat and sleep till the evening. It is necessary to wake the Deities and give Them bhog at four in the afternoon. In this way, from a very young age we have got into bad habits under the influence of bad association, and now this body has become an obstacle to spiritual practice. This body is not favourable to devotion life, rather it has become unfavourable. This is all our own fault—this is the result of our own actions. If I had come to this path from childhood, if I could practise Krishna consciousness from an early age, then my body would not have become like this. If I had been waking up for mangal arati from my childhood, if I had been doing service from my childhood, then my habits would be good. Man is a slave to his habits. If our habits are bad, then what will become of us? We find ourselves amidst all kinds of bad habits, and now we pray to Gurudev... We have become ruined by the five kinds of diseases:

vardhakye ekhana, pancha-roge hata,
kemane bhajiba bala'
kandiya kandiya, tomara charane
padiyachhi suvihvala [4]

Now aged, I am afflicted by five-fold diseases. Tell me, how shall I serve? Crying incessantly, I have fallen at your feet, utterly bewildered.

* * *

Mahaprabhu's Gift

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

"Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode."

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

"To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees."

What does it say here? "Sri Krsna Chaitanya Prabhu jive daya kari." Who is Sri Krishna Chaitanya? Mahaprabhu. When Mahaprabhu took sannyas, His Name became Sri Krishna Chaitanya because He is Krishna who comes to this world to awaken the consciousness (chetan) of all living souls. Out of mercy to the souls, He comes to this world along with His associates (sva-parsada). He performes His pastimes along with all the Vraja gopis in Dvapar-yuga, and all these Vraja gopis come together with the Lord in this Kali-yuga. Advaita Prabhu, Haridas Thakur, Nityananda Prabhu, Gadadhar Pandit—they all come in this Kali-yuga as the Lord's associates. What do they come for? 'Atyanta durlabha prema'—they come to distribute the rarest divine love that nobody can ever get. Brahma, Siva and many other exalted personalities always think, "When will I get this Krishna-prema?" They always cry for this Krishna-prema, they always call out to the Lord, "O Lord, when will I get pure divine love for You?" Mahaprabhu comes to this world and personally goes door to door distributing this very Krishna-prema to everyone.

Somebody can ask a question, "Why is Radharani's Name not mentioned anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam?" Srimad Bhagavatam is not man-made, it is not written by anyone by pen, with one's own hand. Initially, Sukadev Goswami spoke it in front of Pariksit Maharaj; after that, Suta Goswami heard it and then spoke it again at Naimisaranya forest in front of sixty thousand rishis. This is how Bhagavatam appeared in this world. Nobody wrote it initially. Srimad Bhagavatam was spoken by Sukadev Goswami, a young boy of about sixteen years old. The book we all see now was later written by Srila Vedavyas (recording what had been spoken by Sukadev Goswami). That is why, it is said, "Aham vetti, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va. Lord Siva said, 'I know it, Sukadev knows it, and Vyasadev may or may not know it.'" Vyasadev gave such mercy to Sukadev that Sukadev could know everything, even what Vyasadev himself may or may not know. This is what Sivji Maharaj says. These are very beautiful words. So, why is there no mention of Srimati Radharani's Name anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam? Srimad Bhagavatam contains an extensive description of the devotion of Sri Prahlad Maharaj, and we know that his devotion is very good, but the devotion of Srimati Radharani is much higher than his. The answer to this question is this. Sukadev Goswami felt, "I cannot preach it in this world, I cannot speak in front of all the people about that highest transcendental mood of Srimati Radharani. I cannot show it to the world." Her devotion is so much higher!

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline."

We must keep the raga-path in our hearts—we will not show it in front of everyone. That is why Sukadev Goswami felt he could not describe it to the whole world. Although Srimati Radharani's devotion is so much higher, Sukadev Goswami did not describe or even mention it in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Therefore, this great devotion of Vraja should be the eternal object of our meditation. One time, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Ramananda Ray, "Which of mediations is the greatest?" Ramananda Ray replied, "The highest meditation is the meditation on the holy lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna (meditation on the yugala-murti of Sri Radha and Sri Krishna)." This is written in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita; if you read it, you will find it there. It is also written there, "Who is the richest person?" "Those who are enriched with the wealth of Krishna are the richest persons!" In other words, those who have Krishna-prema are the richest persons.

So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu roamed this land going door to door and searching whom to give this very Krishna-prema, "Who wants to buy it? Who wants to take it?" He distributed this Krishna-prema to the whole world going door to door. Those who had some good fortune opened their door, and those whose fortune is bad kept their door closed. What does 'door' mean here? One's heart. This door is the door of your heart. You must open your heart (hriday), your very being (prana)—you must invite the Lord with your heart and give Him a place to sit in your heart. That is why Sri Vasu Ghosh wrote,

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

"If Gaura had not come, then what would have happened? How would we have maintained our lives? Who would have revealed to the world Radha's glory and the extremes of Her ecstatic divine love?"

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

If Gauranga had not come, who would have known the glory of Srimati Radharani?

varaja-yuvati bhavera bhakati
sakati ha-ita kara?

[If Gauranga Mahaprabhu had not come,] who would have had any qualification for the Vraja-gopis' ecstatic devotion?

Who would have been capable to reveal the ecstatic devotion of the young girls of Vraja if Gaura had not come?

These are such beautiful words, written by Sri Vasu Ghosh.

So, then it says,

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

"To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees."

Mahaprabhu taught surrender. You can read Mahaprabhu's Siksastakam and see the third and fourth verses there, then you will understand what Mahaprabhu's teaching is. The third verse is,

trnad api sunichena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.239)

Be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and give honour to others—if you can be like this, then you will get the right to chant the Holy Name. It is necessary to earn the qualification, or right, to chant the Holy Name of the Lord.

sri-krsna-kirtane yadi manasa tohara
parama yatane tanhi labha adhikara

"If you are intent on chanting the Name of Krishna, then, with great care, become qualified to do so."

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others, instead nurture them.

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others.

(Sri Siksastakam Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You must give up your own happiness for the sake of others' happiness. Be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and give honour to others. 'Vrksa-sama ksama-guna' means you must be forgiving (ksama)—if somebody makes an offence and you cannot forgive the person, then what kind of a Vaishnav are you? When you cut a tree, it does not turn its face away from you—it still gives you shelter in its shade. You can cut a tree's branch, but when the sun is very hot, you go to the other side of the tree and take shelter by its trunk. When a tree can be that forgiving, we too much show this quality. 'Pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana'—somebody ill-treats you, does it mean you will also ill-treat the person? No. You will give up all vengeance. If somebody is mean to you, if somebody swears or criticises you, it means they have a problem that is why they swear you—they have some difficulty, that is why they are criticising or being mean to you. Do you understand this?

This is the meaning of 'sikhaya saranagati'—Mahaprabhu comes to teach surrender. Surrender means being extremely humble, being tolerant and giving honour to others. This is what Mahaprabhu taught. What does the other, fourth, verse of Mahaprabhu's Siksastakam teaching say?

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, I do not want beauty, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

People always pray, "Give me wealth, give me knowledge, make me beautiful, give me a good wife, make me a poet, make me beautiful, etc." Mahaprabhu said, "No. I do not want any wealth. I do not want any followers. I do not want any beautiful wife. I do not want to be a poet. I do not want to live a lifetime of Brahma (Jagadish)."

dhana jana ara, kavita-sundari,
baliba na chahi deha-sukha-kari
janme janme dao, ohe gaurahari!
ahaituki bhakti charane tomara

"When will I declare that I do not desire wealth, followers, erudition, beautiful women, or any other bodily pleasure? O Gaurahari! Birth after birth, please give me unconditional devotion to Your feet."

(Saranagati)

What do I want birth after birth? I only want unconditional devotion to Your holy lotus feet. I do not want any wealth!

nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana
nahi magi svarga ara moksa nahi magi
na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi

"I do not pray for bodily pleasure, learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven, I do not pray for liberation, and I do not pray for any supernatural powers."

(Sri Siksastakam, 4.1-2, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

"I do not want heaven, I do not want liberation." How beautiful Mahaprabhu's teaching is!

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord’s guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me'..."

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"Engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion ..."

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"These are the six types of saranagati, and if you can surrender in all the six ways, Krishna will hear you."

rupa-sanatana-pade dante trna kari'
bhakativinoda pade dui pada dhari'

Bhaktivinod places a straw between his teeth and falls before Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu, clasping their feet.

kandiya kandiya bale, ami ta' adhama
sikhaye saranagati karahe uttama

Crying and crying, he prays, "I am so low! Please elevate me by teaching me surrender."

It is said here that surrender consists of six aspects (sad-anga saranagati). These six aspects are humility, self-submission, relying on the Lord (it means you realise that Krishna is your maintainer, guardian), believing in the Lord's protection, accepting only what is favourable to devotion, and rejecting everything that is unfavourable to devotion.

Krishna is our maintainer. Krishna is our protector.

marabi rakhabi yo ichchha tohara
nitya-dase prati tuya adhikara

"You may kill me or protect me as You wish. You have full authority over Your eternal servant."

If He wants He can kill, if He wants He can save. Nobody else has the power to save us. If Krishna wants somebody to die, the person will die.

Also, we must always accept that which is favourable to devotion. Many people do what is favourable and at the same time also do what is unfavourable to devotion. This will not do. "Anukulyasya samkalpah, pratikulya vivarjjanam. Accept what is favourable, reject what is unfavourable."

We pray, "Chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi' chhaya guna deha' dase (ছয় বেগ দমি' ছয় দোষ শোধি ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে). O Vaishnav Thakur! Please subdue the six urges, rectify the six defects and please bestow the six good qualities upon this servant." The six urges are vakya-veg, jihva-veg, mano-veg, krodha-veg, udar-veg, upastha-veg (urges of speech, tongue, mind, anger, stomach, and genitals). We must always control all these six urges. These six urges are unfavourable to devotion. If you can control them, that is called bhakti-anukul (doing something favourable to devotion), and if you cannot, then it is bhakti-pratikul (doing something that is unfavourable to devotion). Suppose you are doing a yajna. If you put one spoon ghee and then one spoon water, you cannot make yajna like this. You must put ghee, and if you put water, the fire will go out. Therefore, if you do what is favourable to devotion but do not give up doing what is unfavourable, what result will you get? If you drink alcohol and milk, what will that give you? Alcohol will take away all the benefit of drinking milk. So, people think, "I will eat fish, meat, eggs, onion, garlic, and I will chant the Holy Name." You can never chant the Holy Name like this. It may sound like the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but "Nama aksara bahiraya bate tabu Name kabhu naya (Pv, 7.1). This is mere alphabet, mere letters of the Name, but it can never be the Holy Name proper."

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

"Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1)

If you want to chant the Holy Name, then you must understand,

'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya

"Good association", "good association," all the scriptures keep saying. Only by good association can you get all perfection.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

It is necessary to keep good saintly association. Sadhus are those who practise Krishna consciousness, who serve the Lord with unswerving determination (nistha). Those who do not practise even one of the practises of Krishna consciousness (sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission) are called 'asat' (inauspicious, unsaintly). 'Asat' means liars, thieves, free mixers (who illegally associate with girls). And those who practise at least one of the devotional practices are called 'sat.' Remember all this. Always do what is favourable to devotion and do not do what is unfavourable to devotion (always leave, give up what is unfavourable). We must not lie, we must not disrespect others, and we must avoid the association with those who gamble, drink alcohol, mix freely with women, who kill (such persons are 'asat'). Always associate with those who are 'sat' (who practise at least one of the nine devotional practices).

* * *

At Vaishnavs' Mercy

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 8
Translated from Bengali

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

"When will Sri Chaitanya be merciful to me? When will I reach the shade of the Vaishnavs' feet?"

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

"When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?"

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama
samsara-anala haite magiba visrama

"Weeping, I will convey my sorrows to the Vaishnav and pray for shelter from the fire of material existence."

What does it say here? We must pray to Vaishnavs. If you send a letter to the Lord, you will not get a reply. However, if we send our letter or call to a close and dear associate of the Lord, then we will get some news from the Lord. The near and dear of the Lord will tell you about the Lord—they will give you the news about the Lord, they will tell you where the Lord stays, what the Lord eats, what the Lord likes to eat, where the Lord sleeps, how He eats—they can answer all your questions. It says here, "Kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama samsara-anala haite magiba visrama." When will I get respite from this ocean of material existence? This is not only this life—how many lifetimes we have passed! How many families we have changed! When will I get relief from this material life? After death we must go to another life, and before that we have also had so many lives, so many families—we have gone through a cow's family, a goat's family, a sheep's family, a cat's family, etc.

jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam
trimsal-laksani pasavah chatur-laksani manusah

"There are 900,000 species living in the water. There are also 2,000,000 nonmoving living entities, such as trees and plants. There are also 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, and there are 1,000,000 species of birds. As far as quadrupeds are concerned, there are 3,000,000 varieties, and there are 400,000 human species."

(Padma Purana)

We have passed 900,000 aquatic species, we have passed through 2,000,000 immobile species (trees, hills, etc.), we have been born 1,100,000 times as all kinds of insects and bugs! We flew 1,000,000 times in the sky, and we were born 3,000,000 times as cows, goats, sheep, cats, pigs, etc., and we have gone through 400,000 human species. You know that there are such human species who even eat human meat; there are human species who eat dogs' meat; there are humans who eat goats', pigs' meat, who eat snakes, frogs. You know, if you go to China and want to eat a pakora, they will give you cockroach pakoras! Just as they eat fish fries here in Bengal, they eat cockroach fries in China, and it is expensive too. Somebody also eats earthworms, snakes, etc. There are such places (Nagaland, for example). There are places where they eat dogs' meat, cats' meat. We have gone through such species of humans, but now we have got this clean birth in India... We can come to Vaishnavs and pray for a relief from this material life. What will Vaishnav Thakur say then? Vaishnav Thakur will appeal to the Lord on my behalf. If I submit my application directly to the Lord, my appeal will not be granted. We must submit our application to Vaishnavs, then it will be sent upstairs, considered, and if they decide that this person is OK, they will sing it and order to give us a grant, otherwise the 'bill' will not be passed.

suniya amara duhkha vaisnava thakura
ama' lagi' krsne avedibena prachura

"Hearing of my sorrow, the worshippable Vaishnav will thoroughly pray to Krishna on my behalf."

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

"Satisfied by the Vaishnav's prayer, Krishna will be merciful to this sinner."

So, we will pray to Vaishnav Thakur, then Vaishnav Thakur will send our prayer to the Lord—hearing Vaishnavs' appeal, Krishna becomes very merciful, He will take pity on such fallen lowly soul as myself and fulfil my desire. Without Vaishnavs' appeal on our behalf, the Lord will never fulfil our heart's desire. In this way, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur prays,

vinodera nivedana vaisnava-charane
krpa kari' sange laha ei akinchane

"Bhaktivinod prays at the feet of the Vaisnavas: "Mercifully take this lowly soul with you."

* * *

Spiritual Deposit

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite
abhimana hau dura

"O Vaishnav Thakur! Please be merciful! Knowing the true relationship I will worship You and my ego will go far away."

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

"If I think, 'I am a Vaishnav,' then I will never stop expecting honour from others (I will never become void of the desire for honour)—my heart will become polluted by the desire for fame and I will end up in hell."

If I start thinking that I am a Vaishnav, I will not be able to give honour to others. And when pratistha comes (when I become proud of my wealth, knowledge, beauty, etc.), it will pollute my heart and I will become a resident of hell—it means I will be very soon removed from this line, from the service of the Lord clearing the road to hell for myself. When pratistha comes, we become very heavy. If somebody gives you a garland, you must take shelter of Gurudev, "Gurudev, I am offering this garland at your holy lotus feet." We must always give 'jay' and pay obeisance to our Guru. Even if you do not do anything in particular (a festival, etc.), you must wake up, look into the calendar and give 'jay' to your Guru and Vaishnavs. Always pay obeisance to your Guru and Vaishnavs when you wake up in the morning, always give them 'jay'. Always keep faith and show respect to them. Always see the calendar—whose appearance day it is, whose disappearance day it is. Even if you cannot make a festival, at least you can give them 'jay', it will bring you benefit. When you give 'jay' to your Guru and Vaishnavs, it brings you sukriti. For example, today is the disappearance day of Srila Lochan Das Thakur—give 'jay' to him, remember him. We must always remember the words of Vaishnavs. If I remember the words of Vaishnavs, I get some benefit, some deposit through that. If you have no deposit in the bank, how will you cross the Viraja River? It is a great river—if you want to cross it, you must keep something aside for the fare. That fare is devotion. You must accumulate devotion day by day to cross that river. You cannot get devotion in one day. Like, if you want to make a house, it does not come in one day—you save and put some money aside for some time. Here too, you must accumulate devotion day by day, you must increase your deposit, and Chitragupta [bookkeeper appointed by Yamaraj to keep record of everyone's activities] is there—he writes everything in a diary for you and sees how much you have accumulated. If you have no devotional deposit, you will not be able to cross over the Viraja River and enter the transcendental world—you will be sent back from there.

tomara kinkara apane janiba
'guru'-abhimana tyaji'
tomara uchchhista pada-jala-renu
sada niskapate bhaji

"I will consider myself Your servant and give up the ego of a guru. I will always earnestly take Your remnants, Your foot dust, the water that has washed Your feet."

"O Vaishnav Thakur! I will always consider myself your servant/maidservant so that I may never become proud and get the ego of a guru. I will always worship your holy remnants and the water that has washed your feet."

nije srestha jani' uchchhistadi dane
habe abhimana-bhara
tai sisya tava thakiya sarvada
na laiba puja ka'ra

"If I, loving myself more than anyone else, bestow my remnants, etc. on others, then I will become filled with ego. Therefore, I will always remain Your disciple, I will not take worship from anyone."

I have told you about Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. When somebody gave him prasadam, he would take everything and not leave anything on the plate and when he was forced to eat more one time, he ate even the plate too. He did not give his prasad (remnants) to anyone. If you give your prasad to others, you will become proud. Sometimes people push, "Take it, eat it"—we should not touch it then (not to leave our prasad for others). It is also said here that I will not take worship from anyone. When we become like this, then Vaishnav Thakur will give us the right to chant kirtan.

amani manada haile kirtane
adhikara dibe tumi
tomara charane niskapate ami
kandiya lutiba bhumi

"When I become free from the desire for honour and be able to give honour to others, you will give me the right to chant Your kirtan. I will earnestly roll on the ground and cry at Your holy feet."

* * *

Lacking Spirituality

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 10
Translated from Bengali

[Following kirtans, His Divine Grace resumes the class:]

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, aspiring for his service; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all assembled guru-varga, godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this low soul.

You have heard today some glorification of the Lord. Please listen carefully. [There is much clamour and noisy commotion in the audience.]

dinera madhye abala-tabala
kata pachala parite para
tara madhye kintu tumi ekbara
govinda bale, ara katha baliba na

"All day you talk all kinds of nonsense, how much idle talk you engage in! But find time amidst all that to chant the Name of Govinda, do not talk about other things!"

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 the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krsna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krsna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236-237)

Prabhupad Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says, "O mind, what kind of pauper are you? Are you lacking bhojan (food) or bhajan (Krishna consciousness)?" Now is the time for prasadam, and so many more people have come. You have come to this world to indulge your material senses, have you not? But we do not come to this world for this!

bhajiba baliya ese samsara-bhitare
bhuliya rahile tumi avidyara bhare

"You came into this world saying, 'O Lord, I will serve You', but, having forgotten this promise, you have remained in ignorance."

We came to this world saying we would serve the Lord, but we have forgotten everything due to our ignorance. I have told you before—we must accept what is favourable to devotion and we must give up what is unfavourable. There are talks about the Lord going on here, but you are obstructing it. Those who obstruct Hari-katha and service of the Lord are offenders at the holy lotus feet of the Lord. You are making offence to Him about whom we are talking here. You have got your mouth to speak about Him, but we avoid speaking about the Lord and only know to speak about our own selves. Satisfying the whims of your mind is not Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is following the Guru, the Vaishnavs, serving the Guru, the Vaishnavs, and satisfying them.

chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba

"Without service to the Vaishnav, you cannot get any relief."

Who can get any relief without service to Vaishnavs? Therefore, our religion is jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaishnava seva. We must serve Vaishnavs—if we cannot serve the Lord, our Guru and Vaishnavs, we will not be able to save ourselves from this illusory environment.

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-gurur krpa vina na dekhi upaya

"It is not possible to conquer maya by engaging in maya. I see no other way to get relief except for the mercy of sadhus."

Unless we can get the mercy of our Guru and the sadhus, we cannot overcome this illusory world.

* * *

About Srila Lochan Das Thakur

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 11
Translated from Bengali

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Lochan Das Thakur. You know Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata was composed by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, and Srila Lochan Das Thakur composed Sri Chaitanya-mangala that contains even more pastimes of the Lord than Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata.

Srila Lochan Das Thakur appeared in a village near Katwa, Bardhaman District. This is the area where also our Guru Maharaj appeared and most of our guru-varga (Sri Narahari Thakur, Sri Acharya Srinivas, and many others) stayed. I have told you before that the appearance and disappearance of Vaishnavs are non-different from each other. Today is Krishna-ashtami, the the disappearance day of Srila Lochan Das Thakur. As I have just said, Srila Lochan Das Thakur composed Sri Chaitanya-mangal and appeared near Katwa in a village called Kogram. He was very fortunate because he got association of Gauranga Mahaprabhu's devotees from a very young age. His Guru is a devotee named Srila Narahari Thakur, and Srila Lochan Das Thakur writes in Sri Chaitanya-mangal,

thakura sri-narahari, dasa prana adhikari
yanra pada prati ase asa
adhamahe sadha kare, gora guna gahibare
se bharasa e lochana-dasa

"May Sri Thakur Narahari, an exalted and competent servant of the Lord, fulfil my longing to sing the glories of Gora (Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu). This is the aspiration of this Lochan Das."

amara thakura sri-narahari-dasa
pranati vinati karon pura mora asa

"I am offering obeisance to my worshippable Lord, Sri Narahari Das, and appealing to him fulfil my prayer."

In those days, all people chanted glorification of Laksmi, Shani and other demigods, but Srila Lochan Das Thakur composed Sri Chaitanya-mangala.

The name of Srila Lochan Das Thakur's father is Sri Kamalakar Das, and his mother's name is Sri Sadanandi. Because Srila Lochan Das Thakur was the only son of his father, he was the darling of his parents, the apple of their eyes. He very often stayed at the house of his grandfather and he was married at a very early age, but it did not affect him—he was very detached from everything material. He had no attachment to the material world, and he lived in the house of his Gurudev (Sri Narahari Thakur) in Srikhanda from his youth.

Before Srila Lochan Das Thakur composed Sri Chaitanya-mangala, he offered his obeisance and prayers to Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, the composer of Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata (this book was previously known as Sri Chaitanya-mangala),

vrindavana dasa vandiba eka-chite
jagata mohita yanra bhagavata gite

"I am offering my whole-hearted obeisance to Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, whose 'Bhagavat-gita' [lit. the song of 'Bhagavata', ref. to 'Chaitanya-bhagavata'] has captivated the whole world."

(Sri Chaitanya-mangal, Sutra-khanda)

In Sri Chaitanya-mangala, Srila Lochan Das Thakur describes the conversation that took place between Mahaprabhu and Sri Vishnupriya Devi before Mahaprabhu left her to take sannyasi. Mahaprabhu would always feel restless—He was going to leave His house and a very young (thirteen-year-old) wife. Srila Lochan Das Thakur describes,

prabhura vyagrata dekhi, visnupriya chandra-mukhi,
kahe kichhu gad-gad svare
kaha kaha prananatha, mora sire diya hata,
sannyasa karibe naki tumi

"Seeing some perturbed eagerness in the Lord, moon-faced Vishnupriya Devi spoke in a little trembling voice, 'Tell me, tell me, Prananath. Put Your hand on my head and tell me—are You going to take sannyas?'"

loka mukhe suni iha, vidarite chahe hiya,
agunite pravesiba ami
to lagi jivana-dhana, rupa nava yauvana,
vesa vilasa bhava-kala

"'I hear people talk. You want to tear my heart apart—I will enter fire! You are the treasure of my life. This time of life is filled with beauty, fresh youth, it is the time when You dress well, live well, and love.'"

tumi yabe chhadi yabe, ki kaja e chhara jive,
hiya pore yena visa jvala

"'When You leave me, what will this wretched soul live for? My heart is burning in the agony as if I have taken poison...'"

What did Mahaprabhu say hearing this lamentation of Sri Vishnupriya Devi? It is described very beautifully in Sri Chaitanya-mangala of Srila Lochan Das Thakur.

e bola suniya panhu, muchaki hasiya lahu,
kahe suna mora pranapriya
kichhu na kariha chite, ye kahiye tora hite
sabadhane suna mana diya

"Hearing these words, the Lord said with a slight, gentle smile on His face, 'Listen to Me, dear. Do not stir your heart, what I am saying to you is for your benefit. Listen to Me carefully and attentively.'"

jagate yateka dekha, michha kari saba lekha,
satya eka sabe bhagavan
satya ara vaisnava, ta vine yateka saba,
michha kari karaha geyana

"'Everything you see in this world is false. The only truth is the Supreme Lord. Devotees of the Lord are also truth; know that other than, everything is false.'"

The Lord's Name, qualities, form, associates, features are the only truth, and everything else is false.

michha suta pati nari, pita-mata adi kari,
pariname keba na kahara
sri-krsna charana bahi, ara ta kutumba nahi
yata dekha saba maya tanra

"'Sons, husbands, women, parents, etc. are all false. Ultimately, nobody belongs to anyone. Except for Sri Krishna's lotus feet, there is no kin. Everything you see here is His illusion.'"

Who will you take as your own in this world? Only Krishna. Everything else in this world that you feel akin to, it is all maya, illusion.

ki nari purusa dekha, atma se sabara eka,
michha maya-bandhe bhave dui
sri-krsna sabara pati, ara saba prakrti,
e katha na bujhaye koi

"'Whether it is a man or a woman, everyone's souls is the same. Only those who are situated in illusory bondage see them as two different entities. Sri Krishna is everyone's husband, and all souls are female. Nobody can understand this.'"

raktareta sammilane, janma vistha mutra sthane,
bhume padi haya ageyana
bala yuba vrdda haiya, nana duhkha kasta paiya,
dehe-gehe kare abhimana

"'When some blood and semen is combined, one is born from the same place where urine and stool come out. It all later falls unconscious on the ground. Going through childhood, youth, old age, souls suffer so many austerities and become proud of their body and house.'"

This is so true! My father, mother have given me this body, but they have not given me that which I am. When this body expires, dirty things (stool, urine, blood, etc.) come out of it. Nothing else comes out of it. This body is a place of urine and stool. It is born from earth and after death it is again mixed with earth. People identify themselves with this body and suffer because of that.

bandhu kari yare pali, tara sabe dei gali,
abhimane vrddhatra kala vanche
sravana nayana andhe, visada bhariya kande,
tabu nahi bhajaye govinde

"'When all their friends have run away, everyone will swear them, and they will be cheated in their old age because of their pride. Deaf and blind, filled with sorrow, they will weep, but even then they will not worship Govinda.'"

krsna bhajibara tare, deha dhari e samsare,
maya bandhe pasari apana
ahankare matta haiya, nija prabhu pasariya,
sese paya naraka-yantrana

"'They have got a body in this world and if they use it to worship Krishna, they will automatically leave all illusory bondage. However, those who lose their mind because of pride forget their own Master and in the end they undergo hellish sufferings.'"

We sing, "Ahankare matta haina, Nitai-pada pasariya, asatyere satya kori mani. Maddened with pride, forgetting Nitai's feet, I accept untruth as truth." We always think, "This my house, my son, etc." We become so proud and suffer in hell.

tora nama visnupriya, sarthaka karaha iha,
michha soka na karaha chite
e tora kahilum katha, dura kara ana chinta
mana deha krsnera charite

"'Your name is Vishnupriya [who is dear to Lord Vishnu], so fulfil its meaning. There is no need for all this false grief in your heart.' I have told you all this, so do away with all worries and dedicate your mind and body to Krishna consciousness."

"Do not be grief-stricken—I can die one day too, so what is there to cry about? I have come to this world and I can do something good for this world." Mahaprabhu advised Sri Vishnupriya Devi in this way and revealed His chatur-bhuja murti to her—He showed her that He was not an ordinary human being.

apane isvara haiya, dura kare nija maya,
visnupriya parasanna chita
dure gele duhkha-soka, anande bharila buka,
chatur-bhuja dekhe achambita

"He is independent Lord, so He removed His own illusion. Vishnupriya felt pleased at heart—her sadness and grief had gone and her heart became filled with joy. She was then greatly surprised to see the Lord's four-armed form."

Seeing the Lord's form, Sri Vishnupriya Devi became very happy, however she still saw the Lord as her husband—this feeling did not leave her.

tabe devi visnupriya, chatur-bhuja dekhiya,
pati budhhi nahi chhade tabu
padiya charana tale, kakuti minati kare,
eka nivedana suna prabhu

"Yet, even seeing the four-armed form of the Lord, Vishnupriya Devi could not give up her perception of the Lord as her husband. She fell at His feet and pleaded earnestly, 'Prabhu, please hear my one prayer.'"

mo ati adhama chhara, janamila e samsara,
tumi mora priya prana-pati
e hena sampada mora, dasi haiyachilum tora,
ki lagiya bhela adhogati

"'I am a very fallen wretched soul, I was born in this material world, but You are the dearmost lord of my heart, You are my all in all. Such is my wealth, I have become Your maidservant. Why am I so unfortunate?'"

iha bali visnupriya, kande utaroli haiya
adhika badila paramada
priya-jane artti dekhi, chhala chhala kare ankhi,
kole kari karila prasada

"Saying this, Vishnupriya Devi broke down and began to sob. Her plight became even worse. Seeing the grief of His beloved, with His eyes filled with tears, He took her on His lap and spoke mercifully:"

suna devi visnupriya, tomare kahila iha,
yakhane ye tumi mane kara
ami yatha tatha yai, achhiye tomara thani
ei satya kahilama dara

"'Listen, Vishnupriya Devi. I have told you that whenever you think of Me, I am always in your room, wherever I may be at that time. I assure you this is the truth.'"

prabhu ajna vani suni, visnupriya mana guni,
svatantra isvara ei prabhu
nija sukhe kara kaja, ke dibe tahate badha,
pratyuttara na dilena tabu

"Hearing Prabhu's advice and order, Vishnupriya composed herself thinking, 'This Prabhu is independent Supreme Lord. He does what pleases Him, what use is it trying to stop Him?' So, she said nothing in reply."

visnupriya heta mukhi, chhala chhala kare ankhi
dekhi prabhu sarasa sambhase
prabhura acharana katha sunite lagiye vyatha
guna gaya e lochana dase

"Vishnupriya Devi listened to the Lord's sweet words with her face lowered and eyes filled with tears... As Lochan Das relates these pastimes of the Lord, it gives him pain to hear about this behaviour of the Lord."

This is what Srila Lochan Das Thakur writes. He also wrote kirtans in glorification of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. Parama karuna, Nitai-guna-mani amara, etc. He also wrote about the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Govinda in a book called Durlabha-sara:

are nikunja vane, syamera sane,
ki-rupa dekhilum rai
kemana vidhata, gadala murati,
lakhai nahika yai

"O what sort of form have I seen of Rai next to Shyam in Their Nikunja grove! It is inconceivable that the Creator can produce such a form!"

sajala jalada, kanura varana,
champa varani rai
mani marakata, kanchane jadita,
aichhana rahala thai

"There I beheld Kanu's body is the blue emerald colour of a water-bearing cloud, and Rai's golden colour is like that of a champa flower!"

kiye aparupa, rasa mandala,
ramani mandala ghata
mana-matha mana, paila achetana,
dekhiya o anga chhata

"What a superb form! He enjoys amorous pastimes with young ladies! Seeing His lustrous form, my mind swooned and I fell unconscious."

vadane madhura, hasa adhare,
hrdaye hrdaye sanga
kona rasavati, rasera avese
kusuma sayane anga

"He is lying on a bed of kusum flowers, His face emanating sweetness, His smile most affectionate, He is filled with joy and overcome with amorous ecstasy."

navina meghera, nivida abha,
tahe vijuri ujoi
dasa lochanera, rai saravasa
o-rasa avese so-i

"There is a lightning striking through the dense glow of this fresh rain-cloud. Rai is all in all for Lochan Das who is overwhelmed by these pastimes."

At the age of eighty-five, this Srila Lochan Das Thakur left his body. Today is his disappearance day. We must pray to Vaishnav Thakur, "Wherever you are, Prabhu, please bestow your mercy on this fallen and low soul so that I may live this life serving you."

Jay Srila Lochan Das Thakur ki jay
Tandiya tirobhav tithi-bara maha-mahotsav ki jay

* * *

Leave Separate Interests

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 12
Translated from Bengali

Soon is Nityananda-trayodasi. Please come to Birbhum on 25 February, there will be a festival in our temple in Ekachakra. Many of you have also got the invitation to Gaura Purnima, please come. I think many of you have been to Nrisingha Palli recently—you have seen that now we have many rooms there. Come, there is no problem with accommodation—come for the parikrama of the holy dham. A few days later there will be a festival in Birbhum, in Ekachakra, you must all come. The programme and prikrama are for three days (dvadasi, trayodasi, and chaturdasi). You can come earlier, on the ekadasi day, also, it is not a problem. Everyone will start coming from the ekadasi day, and there are enough rooms for everyone, so everyone can come.

You see that everyone is all right—nobody is ill, nobody has got corona, nobody has died. If Gurudev gives his mercy, if Gurudev keeps us alive, if the Lord keeps us alive, then nobody can do anything to us. There are twenty-year-old people who die of corona and there are one-hundred-year-old people who get corona and come back from hospital. So, there is no need to be afraid. I have told you—practise Krishna consciousness, do not stop it. You may live only for ten years but if you practise Krishna consciousness, it is sufficient; if, on the other hand, you do not practise Krishna consciousness, there is no use living for one hundred years. We must practise Krishna consciousness.

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

"I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of the sadhus. There is no other way to conquer samsara."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13)

There is no other way to conquer this material existence unless you chant the Holy Name.

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

"Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1)

You can never chant the Holy Name in bad association; always keep good association, then you will get supreme benefit—you can get the Lord! Please come to your home! You are all my relatives. We are all amritasya-putra, we are sons of nectar—we all have one father, so we are all brothers and sisters. Please remember that we are all related, we are all family. I have just told you—our only near and dear is Krishna, nobody else. Everyone else is svajanakya-dasyu (স্বজনাখ্য দস্যু, dacoits disguised as well-wishing family). They may look as your well-wishers and your relatives, but they are actually like dacoits. Do you not see what is going on in the world? Do you not read newspapers, watch TV or hear the news? Children kill their mothers. Mothers create the bodies of their children with their own blood for ten months (the Lord gives the soul, but parents create the body), after that they nourish and take care of the child, wipe their stool, etc., and then this very child kills his or her parent. Is this a relative? Is this your well-wisher and near and dear? No. They are dacoits disguised as your relatives. Everyone in this world knows nothing besides their own interest. However the Lord does not want any separate interest. He says,

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

He says, "Leave all religion..."

* * *

Muddled Minds

Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 13
Translated from Bengali

There is a religion of a father, mother, friend, relative, well-wisher, etc.; there is a religion of a sudra, brahman, brahmachari, grihastha, sannyasi, vanaprastha—but Lord Krishna says, "Leave all religions and surrender to Me." Do you understand?

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

Do not be upset, do not be disheartened that you do not do your duty, that you will incur sin—I have liberated you from all sins. Many of you think, "I have not served my father," "I have not served my mother", "I have not served my daughter," "I have not served my friends," but the Lord says, "If you serve Me, all kinds of other services are automatically carried out." If you serve the Lord, all demigod worship is automatically carried out—you do not need to worship any demigod (Lakshmi, Durga, Ganesh) separately. You can see that many make a museum of Deities at their homes. They think if you do not worship Manasi, she will get angry and you will get bitten by a snake and die. People are very afraid of death, but everyone must die one day, then why be afraid of death so much? One who is born has to die one day.

You know how the saying goes, "Janma-mrtyu-biye tin Vidhatar niye." There are three things—birth, death, and marriage—these three things are not in the hands of anybody, they are only in the hands of the Lord, that is they come through the Lord. If you have marriage written in your destiny, then you will get married, and everyone gets birth and death. You are born, so you must die; you die, so you must be born again. However, if you do not want to suffer from birth, death, old age and disease, then there is only one way—surrender to the Lord, call out to the Lord. "Grhe thako, vane thako, sada 'Hari' bole dako , whether you stay in a house or in a forest, always call out the Holy Name." "Sukhe duhkhe bhule nako vadane Harinam koro re: in happiness or sadness, never forget it, always chant the Holy Name." When happiness comes, we forget, and when unhappiness comes, when we are in hospital and suffer, then we remember and call out to the Lord. You get on a motorcycle and drive it without thinking about anyone, and when your leg gets broken, then you call out to the Lord while you are being taken to hospital.

maya-jale baddha ha'ye
achha michhe kaja la'ye
ekhan-o chetana peye
radha-madhav-nam bala re

Bound in Maya's net, you work in vain. Now, while you are still conscious, chant 'Radha-Madhava'.

[Clamour in the audience. A devotee tries to hush them.]

They are hungry. I have told you—they are hungry for food, but O mind, what kind of pauper are you? What do you beg? Srila Prabhupad wrote, "Are you coming to beg for bhojan (food) or bhajan (Krishna consciousness)?" There is a small book of Srila Gurudev that has been composed recently, that article of Srila Prabhupad is written there.

There was once a festival at the temple of Gaudiya Math and somebody came and had the guts to ask, "When are they going to give food to the poor here?" Hearing this question, Srila Prabhupad gave this answer. O mind, tell me, what pauper are you? What do you lack? What do you beg for? Do you need money? Do you need good qualities? Do you need beauty? Do you need followers? Is this what you are roaming around for? And because you are not getting it, you consider yourself a pauper, is it not so?" Somebody says they have no money, they are poor. Somebody does not have some coveted qualities, so they say they are poor. Somebody does not have beauty—they think they have dark skin and if they had lighter skin, they would have got a nice husband!—such people also think they are poor (poor for beauty). Yet, the truth is this. What pauper are you? You want to enjoy the pleasures of the material world—you think you will be well off if you eat nicely and get all these material things, but you are mistaken! You are greatly mistaken! All these things only increase your disease! All the things that you find here at the temple are serving the Lord, but you want the things that even animals get! You think you are a pauper because you lack food, but even goats and dogs eat the food you want so much. Why do you need to come here then? If you want to give a pill to a child, the child will not take it—you must sugar coat it (put it inside a sweet-ball). In the same way, this is a great place of pilgrimage here, a temple where the Supreme Lord resides and where His Hari-katha is going on, there is only maha-prasad here. Come, dear mind! If you desire your own benefit, then come! Do not become a beggar for food! Come here as a beggar for Krishna consciousness! Take the dust from the holy lotus feet of the greatly merciful devotees of the Lord on your head!

bhakta-pada-dhuli ara bhakta-pada-jala
bhakta-bhukta-sesa—ei tina sadhanera bala

"The dust of the devotees' feet, the water that has washed the devotees' feet, and the devotees' food remnants—honouring these gives one strength to engage in spiritual practice of Krishna consciousness."

This is how we must think. You can see that wherever there is a festival, people start coming when it is time to eat. If you invite everyone in the morning, nobody will come. You can see now too—this place was empty at first and now it is full. I have reprinted this article of Srila Prabhupad in the book, you can buy it. You should all come to the festival, please take care of yourself.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj.

I will chant one more kirtan now and finish.

ke yabi ke yabi bhai bhava-sindhu para
dhanya kali-yuge re chaitanya-avatara

Brother, who will cross? Who will cross this ocean of material existence? Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears in this fortunate Kali-yuga!

amara gauranger ghate ujanakheya vaya
kadipati nahi lage amani para haya

At my Lord Gauranga's ghat the upstream ferry runs without requesting any fare. Everyone crosses freely.

hari-namera tarikhani sri-guru-kandari
sankirtana-keroyala du'bahu pasari

The Lord's Names are the ferryboat, Sri Guru is the captain, and the arms raised in the sankirtan are the oars.

sarva-jiva uddhara haila premera vatase
lochana padiya raila karamera dose

All souls have thus been delivered by the winds of divine love. Only Lochan Das has fallen and remained behind, as a result of his sins.

* * *

An Auspicious Evening

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-sri-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighna-vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar, Giriraj Govardhan ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya-varya Ashtottara-shata-sri Srimad Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay. Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams cha
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana raghunath-anvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-chaitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita sri-visakhanvitams cha

I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of my Guru, the predecessor Gurus, the Lord's devotees, Sri Rupa, Sri Sanatan, Sri Raghunath, Sri Jiva, Sri Rupa's followers, Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Advaita Prabhu, Sri Chaitanyadev's associates, Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, Sri Lalita Devi, Sri Visakha Devi, and all of Their associates.

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

I offer my obeisance unto Sri Gurudev, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the salve of divine knowledge.

gurvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

I offer my obeisance unto he who perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev's associates; who is expert in all aspects of Vedic knowledge, both conceivable and inconceivable; who is the pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line; who is known as 'Govinda'—Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj; whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is infused with pure devotion; who is the Guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.

devam divya-tanum suchanda-vadanam balarka-chelanchitam
sandrananda-puram sad-eka-varanam vairagya-vidyambudhim
sri-siddhanta-nidhim subhakti-lasitam sarasvatanam varam
vande tam subhadam mad-eka-saranam nyasisvaram sridharam

I offer my obeisance unto my lord, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, whose speech is most pleasing; whose divine form is adorned with garments the colour of the newly-risen sun; who is an abode of intense, ecstatic devotion; who is the sadhus' sole choice; who is an ocean of renunciation and knowledge; who is a treasure-house of perfect conclusions; who is resplendent with pure devotion; who is the best of Srila Saraswati Thakur's followers; who is the giver of all good; who is the leading general of the tridandi-sannyasis; and who is my sole shelter.

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Again and again I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy, and wish-fulfilling trees.

vrndayai tulasi-devyai priyayai kesavasya cha
krsna-bhakti-prade devi satyavatyai namo namah

Again and again I offer my obeisance unto Vrnda Devi, who is known as Tulasi Devi and Satyavati, who is most dear to Krishna, and who bestows devotion to Krishna upon us.

atha natva mantra-gurun gurun bhagavatarthadan
vyasan jagad-gurun natva tato jayam udirayet

Having offered obeisance to one's initiating Guru, to the Gurus who have taught one the meaning of the Bhagavat, and to all the authors of Vedic literature, who are the Gurus of the entire world, proclaim "Jay!"

jayah sa-parikara sri-sri-guru-gauranga-gandharva-govindasundar-padapadmanam jayastu!

All glory to the lotus feet of Sri Guru, Sri Gaurasundar, Sri Sri Gandharva-Govindasundar, and all of Their associates!

vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatan Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath Das Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami.

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

[Clamour in the audience.] Please do not talk, stay quiet. If some of you are are busy cooking, busy with the service to the Lord, then do your service with your hands and only say "Krishna", "Krishna" with your mouth. There must be no other talks.

So, we are very fortune because we have come today on this auspicious evening. There is a very special day coming very soon...

[His Divine Grace calls a devotee and instructs:] Can you get a lau [gourd]? Make some payesh with lau, milk, and sugar. Mahaprabhu is leaving Nabadwip tomorrow [to take sannyas]. Make some payesh from lau and milk, enough for everyone to get some.

On this day today, Mahaprabhu sat together with all the devotees in the evening in Nabadwip. Only four devotees (Vakreshwar Pandit, Mukunda, Nityananda, Sachi Mata, and maybe Vishnupriya) knew that Mahaprabhu would leave tomorrow in the morning. Everybody else did not know it. Mahaprabhu left early in the morning, at dawn, He swam across the Ganges... He left Sachi Mata and Sri Vishnupriya Devi to save such fallen souls of this world as ourselves. Do you know what Mahaprabhu told everyone that evening (today)? Mahaprabhu asked,

"Do you really love Me or not?"

"Yes, Prabhu, we love You."

"If you have any love and affection for Me, then only say 'Krishna'—do not say anything except 'Krishna.' I am leaving Nabadwip, but My life, My heart and soul will stay with you all. I will always be with you."

Then, Mahaprabhu told Srivas Pandit,

"Srivas, you must have kirtan at your house every evening. You will see Me come there. You must have kirtan at your house in the evening, every day."

One time, somebody asked Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, where do You stay?"

Mahaprabhu replied, "I stay at Sachi Mata's kitchen, in Nityananda's dancing, at Srivas Angan, and at Raghav Bhavan." Sachi Mata's kitchen is where Nimai's Mother always thinks about Him and cooks for Him—where she thinks, 'If only Nimai was there, I would cook all these nice things for Him and feed Him!'. Srivas Angan is the house of Srivas Pandit. And Raghava Bhavan is the house of Raghav Pandit in Panihati where Raghav Pandit's sister Damayanti cooks so many things for Mahaprabhu during the whole year, and two months before Ratha-yatra, when Sivananda Sen and Raghav Pandit would go to Puri with all the devotees, they would put baskets full of different pickles (achar), kasundi, pitha (cakes), pana (snacks), etc. on their heads and carry it all to Mahaprabhu in Puri.

And today, on this day, is a very auspicious day—to fulfil the desire of His devotees, He told His mother, "Mom, please make some payesh with milk and lau." His mother was surprised, "Oh my, but it is cold in the evening—who is going to have lau?" Magh Mas was coming (end of winter season), and on poila magh Mahaprabhu took sannays. Mahaprabhu walked to Katwa and took sannyas from Keshav Bharati. Tomorrow He walks the whole day—it is forty or forty-five kilometres to Katwa from Nabadwip. He walked the whole day and in the evening appeared at the door of Keshav Bharati's ashram.

Each of our temples observes this day. It is Sankranti tomorrow. It is the day when Mahaprabhu left Nabadwip. Before He left, He told everyone,

yadi ama'-prati sneha thake sabakara
tabe krsna-vyatirikta na gaibe ara

"If you have any love and affection for Me, then only say 'Krishna'—do not say anything except 'Krishna.'"

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 28.27)

Why does Lord Krishna come in this Kali-yuga? What was His purpose? To rescue the conditioned souls who are ruined by Kali and live in the material bondage of illusion. The souls of the material world always think, "This is my house," "This is my room," "This is my son," "This is my relative," "This is my wife," "This is my daughter." They always think about this and live in a world of "my, my, my." There is so much illusion... We sing in a kirtan written by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur,

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

"When will Sri Chaitanya be merciful to me? When will I reach the shade of the Vaishnavs' feet?"

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

"When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?"

When will I be able to surrender at the holy lotus feet of Vaishnavs and know about the Lord?

* * *

An Auspicious Evening

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

We keep on coming to this world again and again. There is a sloka in Vishnu or Padma Purana, you can also find it in Srimad Bhagavatam,

jalaja nava-laksani sthavara laksa-vimsati
krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksanam
trimsal-laksani pasavah chatur-laksani manusah

"There are 900,000 species living in the water. There are also 2,000,000 nonmoving living entities, such as trees and plants. There are also 1,100,000 species of insects and reptiles, and there are 1,000,000 species of birds. As far as quadrupeds are concerned, there are 3,000,000 varieties, and there are 400,000 human species."

We have been born 900,000 times in water—we have been born as all kinds of crocodiles, sharks, fish; there are so many kinds of fish living in water. We have been born 2,000,000 times as all kinds of trees, plants, hills, etc. We have been born 1,100,000 times as all kinds of insects, spiders, frogs, snakes, ants, etc. We have been born 1,000,000 times as birds—you can see so many kinds of birds flying in the sky. We have been born 3,000,000 times as all kinds of animals—cows, goats, sheep, cats, pigs, dogs. And we have been born 400,000 times as humans in all kinds of countries. You can see also how many devotees from different countries are with us also—Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. They all come from so far. Can you imagine where their home is? It is right under the earth (on the other side of the globe). This Earth is like a ball—it is evening here for us now, but it is only early morning for them. It is just the opposite there. There are such countries. I have even been to the places where the sun never sets—it is light there all day long. We find it hard to stay there because we are used to sleeping during the night, but there it is day all day long—the sun only sets there for 5-10 minutes and then again rises. When I saw this, I thought, "Oh God, what kind of country have I come to?" I went there at another time also and that time there was no day—the sun did not rise and it was dark all day long. It is dark there twenty-four hours a day! I have been to that place, and we have a temple there. In this way, we have been born in very different countries before. Having crossed all these 8,400,000 species we have got this human birth here in Bharata-bhumi (India).

durlabha manava janma labhiya samsare
krsna na bhajinu duhkha kahiba kahare?

"I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery?"

bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara

"One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India should take advantage of his birth and bring benefit to all other people."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 9.41)

We have been born here in India—the place where there are so many pure things that you will not find anywhere else in this world, the place where the Lord has come so many times (He appeared here in Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapar-yuga, Kali-yuga). This is a pure land. The Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati are here. There is the Themes and many other rivers in other countries, but you can never find there such beautiful things as you find here...

We have been born as human beings in this wonderful land, but we must fulfil the purpose of this birth and we must help others. What does 'help others' mean? It means to give people something having got which they will not have any other desires. When people talk about helping others they mean giving somebody ten, fifty or a hundred rupees, giving somebody some food, a blanket in winter, etc. But these things are trifle. If you give somebody a blanket, a month or two later they will again want something. If you give somebody ten or fifty rupees, next time you see them they will ask you for a hundred rupees. All these things do not stop desires. Yet, Mahaprabhu has given us such a gift, such mercy that you will be astonished to think about it.

sri-krsna-chaitanya-daya karaha vichara
vichara karile chitte pabe chamatkara

If you consider the mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you will be wonder-stricken to realise it.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.15)

What has He given us? What has the Lord given us coming in this Kali-yuga? Going door to door He distributed His very own Name to everyone. There is no difference between the Lord Himself and the Lord's Name, the Lord's form, the Lord's pastimes. Mahaprabhu went door to door calling out to everyone,

jiva jaga, jiva jaga, gorachanda bale
kata nidra yao maya-pisachira kole

Sri Gorachand says, "O souls, awake! O souls, awake! How much longer will you sleep in the lap of the witch Maya?"

"You are sleeping in the lap of the witch Maya! Wake up! Worship Krishna!"

uthare uthare bhai ara ta samaya nai
'krsna bhaja' bale uchchaihsvare

Wake up, wake up, brother, there is no time! Worship Krishna!

"Chant loudly the Lord's Name, 'Krishna! Krishna!'"

* * *

Turning Back Home

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Those who worship Lord Brahma come to live on the planet of Lord Brahma; those who worship Lord Siva come to live on the planet of Lord Siva; those who worship humans come to live on the planet of humans—but if you worship the Lord, if you return to the Lord, you will never again have to suffer from birth, death, old age, and disease. We are born and we have to die. Do you all believe that? Does anyone of us know when we are going to die? We do not know it, but anyhow one day we will have to leave this world.

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

(Gitavali, Arunodaya kirtan, 1.3, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We can leave this world at any moment—this life is temporary—one can be talking, talking and suddenly die. One day we all have to leave. We are saying now, "This is my house," "This is my room," "This is my son," but what is all this for?

gardabhera mata ami kari parisrama
kara lagi' eta kari, na ghuchila bhrama

I toil laboriously like a donkey. For whom am I doing this? Still my illusion has not been dispelled.

Who am I struggling so much in this world for? You will have to leave everything once your eyes close. I say, "These are my ears," "This is my head," "These are my legs," "These are my eyes," but who am I? Tell me, who am I? I am a soul (atma). I am not so-and-so Maharaj, I am not so-and-so Das, I am not so-and-so Mallik, etc. When Mahaprabhu was asked, "Who am I?" He said,

jivera 'svarupa' haya—krsnera 'nitya-dasa'
krsnera 'tatastha-sakti' 'bhedabheda-prakasa'

"By its intrinsic nature, the soul is an eternal servant of Krishna; the souls comes from the marginal energy of Krishna and are simultaneously one with and different from the Lord."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.108)

I am wearing these clothes today, but tomorrow I will take it off and wear fresh clothes. Everybody is like that—you are wearing one sari today, and tomorrow you will wear another sari. Just as I always keep changing clothes, in the same way I keep on changing bodies. As the saying goes, "As you sow, so you reap." You will get what you deserve according to your actions. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If I kill something in this life, next life it will kill me. If I slaughter some animal in this life, next life that animal will slaughter me. I have got a human body in this life, I have my mother, father—they are my parents, but they only give me this body, they do not give me that who I am, they do not produce my soul. If they could give me the soul, then do you think anyone's parents or children could die? You say "my mother," but she only gave you this body, she did not give you your soul. Who gives life? The Lord. We have come from the Lord and we must go back to the Lord.

The Lord has given you life. You are laughing, moving your hands, doing everything—this is only because there is a jiva soul inside. You can move this body only for as long as the jiva soul stays within your body. When the soul leaves the body, then this body will be left at the cremation ghat.

smasane sarira mama padiya rahibe
vihanga-patanga taya vihara karibe

My body will be laid to rest at the crematorium. There birds and insects will enjoy it.

If a mosquito bites you now, you kill it, but when this body is taken to the cremation ghat, so many ants, insects, etc. will start eating it. If somebody dies and the children cannot come within two-three days, you know the body starts decaying...

This world is not eternal! One day you have to leave this world. But, you must understand that you have come to this world promising to serve the Lord... You stay for ten months and ten days in the womb of your mother with your head facing down and legs facing up (so much suffering!), all kinds of insects or worms bite your body. You know that pregnant women often like to eat sour things. When they eat sour things, it increases acidity and blocks nutrition for the baby. Suffering so much in the womb of our mothers, we begin to cry and call out to the Lord. The Lord does not come to every jiva soul. If somebody has sukriti and a great fortune, then the Lord can give His darshan to that soul. He comes and asks, "Why have you called Me?" "Prabhu, I cannot stay here anymore! Please take me out of here!" "I will, but you will come out and forget Me." The soul is suffering so much that it says, "I will not forget You." "I will give you eyes, will you use your eyes to see My Deity? Will you serve Me with your hands? Will you circumambulate My holy abode with your legs? Will you speak about Me with your mouth?"

bhajiba baliya ese samsara-bhitare
bhuliya rahile tumi avidyara bhare

"You came into this world saying, 'O Lord, I will serve You', but, having forgotten this promise, you have remained in ignorance."

'Ignorance' (avidya) means Maya. Maya creates everything within this illusory world. Whatever you get here—your father, wife, sons, brothers, sisters, all your so called near and dear—this is all Maya's samsar (the family world of illusion).

* * *

Beyond Comfort Zone

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

We live in the world of Maya (illusory environment). It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita,

daivi hy esa gunamayi, mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante, mayam etam taranti te

"My alluring, 'trimodal,' illusory potency is practically insurmountable. However, those who take shelter in Me can overcome this powerful obstacle."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.14)

The Lord Himself says that He has created Maya and it is impossible to overcome this Maya because Maya Devi is very strong—her power comes from the Lord Himself. If you put a piece of iron into fire, it will become hot and if you keep it a little longer in the fire, it will become red; after that, if you touch somebody with that iron, it will burn the person. Iron itself does not burn anybody, but when that iron gets some power from fire, it can burn. In the same way, the Lord has empowered Maya Devi. Just as iron gets its power from fire to burn things, in the same way Maya Devi gets her power from the Lord and becomes invincible—it is impossible to overcome her. What is the solution then? Lord Krishna says that if anybody takes shelter of Him, if anybody surrenders to Him, then He rescues that soul from Maya—Maya Devi runs away from that soul. When you surrender to the Lord, Maya Devi cannot attack you anymore. When such surrender comes, you will feel, "This family is not mine—I am only a security guard here." Usually, the father says, "I am the head (master) of the family," when the father dies, his son says, "Now I am the master of the family," and then the grandson takes over, and so on. The truth is that nobody is a master. Who is the master? The only master is the Lord. Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "I existed before, I exist now, and I will always exist in future."

The Lord was, is, and will always be there, but you will not—you will have to leave this world. But as long as we are in this world, we must use this life wisely. What for have we come here? Have we come here to earn money, to eat and to sleep? Who does not do that? There are so many street dogs—do they get no food? Do they get not place to stay at? You can see so many dogs sleep on the street—they are all alive somehow, and they also get to eat, sleep and do everything. What is the difference between us and dogs then? You know, you can cook nice things, some nice paneer rasa—if you tell a pig to eat it, it will never eat it, but if you give it a bucket of stool or filth, it will enjoy it so much. You can see elephants. They eat banana trees and live happily. Yet, we struggle so much just to get nice food. You may have seen camels also. Gurudev says camels eat certain plants with thorns—their tongues bleed eating thorns, but they still do not stop eating it, they continue eating. Just like that, we too live in this material world and struggle so much, but we still do not want to give it up. We cannot leave Maya. No matter how much we suffer, we still think, "No, it is OK, I will stay here."

You think you will go and come to this world again again, but there is no guarantee that you will get a human life again. You can see so many dogs, cats, goats, chicken, cows, etc. roaming the streets. What makes you think you will be born as human next life? You have already crossed all these species and got this human body now through some good intelligence—yet if you misuse this life and become demoted, you will have to go back to all those species again according to your actions (karma).

Lord Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "If somebody thinks about Me, if somebody worships Me, then I will personally take care of them." Krishna says, "My devotees do not know anyone except Me, and I too do not know and do not see anyone except My devotees." Therefore, we must become devotees of Lord Krishna. We must want the mercy of Vaishnavs.

We are prepared to do anything for the sake of some trifle gain, for the sake of some trifle interest, but at the same time we cannot give up meat, fish, etc. Do you think that people die if they do not eat meat and fish? You are very attached to your food, but you know people abroad eat cow's meat, in China they eat snakes, frogs, dogs, I have seen in some places where people eat raw pork. Raw! In Nagaland, they eat hundred of kilograms of dogs' meat, and not only that—they have dogs' corpses lying on the streets and people in Nagaland eat dogs' vomit(!!!). These are such people. You feel repulsed at that, but some people eat dogs' vomit, and that too here in this very country. So, if cannot leave some small trifle things, then how will we get great things?

We must return to the Lord—if you do, we will not have to suffer birth, death, old age and disease, we will not have to keep on coming and going getting all kinds of bodies (dogs, goats, cats, sheep, etc.). However, in order to attain that, we must give up small things. Some sacrifice is required...

* * *

What Are Your Plans?

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

We must practise Krishna consciousness. The Lord comes in this Kali-yuga and brings His Holy Name. The people of Kali-yuga are all conditioned souls ruined by Kali... You know, in Satya-yuga people lived for 100,000 years. Do you think you can live for 100,000 years? In Satya-yuga people practised meditation for 60-70,000 years,

narayana-para veda narayana-paraksaram
narayana-para muktar narayana-para-gatih

They would sit and meditate without eating anything—they would 'eat' air. Do you think you can do that? You can do that for one day, five days, but not longer. In Treta-yuga, people lived for 10,000 years and they would practise yajna (fire sacrifices). In Dvapar-yuga, people's lifespan was 1,000 years, and they worshipped Deities. However, in Kali-yuga, people's lifespan is only 120 years, and now the situation is such people eat all kinds of things and nobody lives to 120 years (many live for forty-fifty years, get a stroke, and die; a very rare person can live to even one hundred years). However, there is no use getting a lifetime of one hundred years if you do not chant the Holy Name! If you live for only ten years and chant the Holy Name, that is better than living for one hundred years without any use. So, we actually do not need to live for one hundred years—if we are to live for only ten years, we will chant the Holy Name during these ten years. You think you want to live longer to enjoy longer, but this is not right—you must think, "Even if I live for ten years—if I can chant the Holy Name, it is OK."

kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara
nama haite haya sarva-jagat-nistara

"In the Kali-yuga, Krishna appears in the form of the Name. The entire world is delivered through that Name."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 17.22)

Coming to this world in the form of His Name, the Lord goes door to door telling everyone,

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

"Only chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name—there is no other way, no other way, no other way."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 7.76)

There is no other path in Kali-yuga except for chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. To chant this Holy Name, you need to follow four things (four regulative principles). We often say,

aparadha sunye haye laha krsna-nama
achirat tumi pabe krsna-prema-dhana

"Chant the Holy Name of Krishna without offence and you will quickly get the treasure of divine love to Krishna."

We must become free from offences. We will not kill any jiva soul. Somebody can say, "Oh, you say not to kill anyone, but you have just cut a lau [gourd] and some sak [spinach]." Yes, we cut it, but we do not eat it. Who are we cooking for? We are not cooking for ourselves—we are cooking for Govinda, Gopal. You give what you cook to Govinda, and if Govinda, Gopal leaves any prasadam for us, then we will take that. So, who must we cook for? For Govinda. Who do you work for? For Govinda. Who do you drive a car for? For Govinda. Who do you run a business for? For Govinda. Everything is for Him, not for our own enjoyment.

atmendriya-priti-vancha—tare bali 'kama'
krsnendriya-priti-ichchha dhare 'prema' nama

"The desire to gratify one's own senses is kama (lust), but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema (love)."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 4.165)

We are doing everything for the pleasure of the Lord, not for our own pleasure. You must realise, "Whatever I do, I will do it for the Lord." This is the difference between a devotee and a non-devotee. Devotees cook something at their home and outside people also cook at their homes, but outside people (non-devotees) cook for their own enjoyment, and devotees cook for the Lord. One is kama or karma (lust or selfish interest), and the other is seva (service).

Karma and seva look the same. Suppose a cat has a kitten and the kitten is cold—the cat will pick the kitten up with its mouth and carry it to a warm place. At another time, that same cat will be also carrying a mouse in its mouth—is that the same thing? Does a cat carry its kitten in its mouth to eat it? No, it does not. It carries the kitten to serve the kitten, to take care of the kitten. And does the cat carry a mouse to look after it? It does not. The cat clenches its teeth so hard that the mouse dies in its mouth, and the cat will eat that mouse. So, externally both may look the same, but it is actually not. In the same way, they are cooking here today, and somebody else is cooking in another house next door—in one house they are cooking for the Lord, and in the other house for their own selves. One is seva, and the other is karma. If you do karma (do something for your own pleasure), you will have to get bound by that karma and go to hell, and if you serve the Lord, you will not have to suffer from birth, death, old age and disease and you will come to the Lord without having to return to this world ever again. When you are born, you have to die, and if you are not born, then there is no death, no old age—you will stay with the Lord in His eternal abode in Goloka Vrindavan.

Anyhow, much has been said, I am going to chant a few kirtans and after that I will speak again.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Sri Guru-charana-padma', 'Sri Krsna-Chaitanya Prabhu daya kara', 'Ohe Vaishnava Thakura', 'Nitai-pada-kamala', 'Gaurangera-duti-pada', 'Hare Krishna maha-mantra'.]

* * *

Life In Lord's Family

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj begging him for his causeless mercy, aspiring for his service; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all assembled guru-varga, godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this low soul.

What day is bad for us? A bad day is a day without Hari-katha, i.e. a bad day for us is the day when we cannot hear, cannot speak Hari-katha, the day when we cannot chant and glorify the Holy Name of the Lord.

dinera madhye abala-tabala
kata pachala parite para
tara madhye kintu tumi ekbara
govinda bale, ara katha baliba na

"All day you talk all kinds of nonsense, how much idle talk you engage in! But find time amidst all that to chant the Name of Govinda, do not talk about other things!"

How much people speak! When the Lord takes your mouth away, then you will not be able to speak again—He will take your power of speech away and send you to a cow's body, dog's body, goat's body. Therefore, we must always chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, "Krishna, Krishna."

'krsna-nama' kare aparadhera vichara
krsna balile aparadhira na haya vikara

"The Holy Name of Krishna always considers who is an offender. Even if an offender chants the Name of Krishna all the time, it produces no transformation within them."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8:24)

'Hare Krishna' cannot come to the mouth of those who are offenders of the Holy Name. When Mahaprabhu went to Kasi after taking sannyas, He saw that Kasi was full of mayavadi sannyasi, and one sanodiya brahma asked Him, "Prabhu, they have studied the Vedas, Vedanta so much, they know all the Vedas, Vedanta, etc. by heart, there are so many scholars in Kasi, but why does the Holy Name of Krishna does not come to their mouth? What is the reason?" Mahaprabhu replies, "They are offenders of the Holy Name of Krishna." That is why it is said,

'krsna-nama' kare aparadhera vichara
krsna balile aparadhira na haya vikara

"The Holy Name of Krishna always considers who is an offender. Even if an offender chants the Name of Krishna all the time, it produces no transformation within them."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8:24)

Somebody can chant the Holy Name, but once you hit them into their stomaches, they will cry, "Baba! Ma!" [Father! Mother!] You will not hear "Hare Krishna" from them. So, the Holy Name does not come to everyone's mouth. That is why Mahaprabhu says, "The Holy Name of Krishna always considers who is an offender. Even if an offender chants the Name of Krishna all the time, it produces no transformation within them. The Holy Name cannot come to the mouth of those who are offenders of the Holy Name of Krishna." After that, Mahaprabhu asked that sanodiya brahman to invite Prakasananda Saraswati to one gathering. At that time, Mahaprabhu explained all this in the presence of Prakasananda Saraswati. After a long discussion and debate about some slokas, everyone surrendered to Mahaprabhu.

Mahaprabhu said, "I came to Kasi with a basket of Harinam—I came to sell the Holy Name, but nobody wanted to buy it. I gave the Holy Name freely to anyone and everyone, but they did not want to take it..." So, not everybody gets an opportunity to take the Holy Name. Not everybody has sukriti. I was telling you yesterday what sukriti is. It means, "Tad vastu tadiya sevaya. His things for His service."

Many people have Tulasi tree at their home. You put a Tulasi leaf at the lotus feet of Govinda, you put a Tulasi leaf on the chest of Gurudev and Govinda, and when you offer bhog, you also put a Tulasi leaf on the offering. You have heard in one of the kirtans,

chhappanna bhoga, chhatrisa vyanjana,
vina tulasi prabhu eka nahi mani

The Lord does not accept even one of fifty-six grain offerings or thirty-six vegetable offerings without tulasi leaves.

Even if you cook fifty-six dishes, the Lord will not accept it without a Tulasi leaf. You must offer bhog to the Lord with a Tulasi leaf. That is why, everybody must keep Tulasi in their house.

You can see that they have decorated this place with flowers today. People use so many flowers at sraddha-bari (places where people hold Hindu ceremonies for the diseased led by hired brahmans, etc.), people use so many flowers at different ceremonies, at weddings, people put flowers on dead bodies before going to the cremation ghat. So, not all flowers have the same kind of fortune—not all flowers get to be used for the service of the Lord. Everything must be used for the service of the Lord. Everything that is created in this world, is meant for the service of the Lord, but only devotees can utilise everything in this way. Somebody plants a coconut palm tree and says, "I have planted it, I have been watering it!" but you are not the master who gives life to this palm tree. You cannot save this tree—you can give water, you can take care of the tree, but the only master who gives it life and keeps it alive is the Supreme Lord. That is why,

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

[Limbs of surrender:] "Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord’s guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me.'"

Krishna protects and Krishna maintains. Krishna takes care, Krishna protects. If He does not protect us, nobody can protect us. The Lord is the Supreme Master, nobody except him can save one.

You can see *** Prabhu in this house. I have known him since he was a little boy of two-three years old. One day, he was walking down the street in the evening with his own son and nephew (his sister's son). A lorry hit them—both small children died and he was taken to hospital and after much treatment he survived. He struggled so much but survived. So, if the Lord does not protect you, if He wants to take you, He will take you—and if He wants to protect you, He will protect you. "Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara: whether you keep me or kill me, it is up to You." If He wants to kill you, He will kill you, and if He wants to keep you, He will keep you.

That Prabhu has much sukriti. When his mother was alive (she is Gurudev's disciple) and once came to the Math perhaps at Gaura Purnima time to do the parikrama, at that time she came to me (it was before 1999 when I took sannyas) and said, "Prabhu, you go to all the big people's houses, will you not come to the house of a poor person like me?" After that I came to her family house with a few devotees. There was no room for us to stay, they stayed in a thatched house at that time and somebody even slept on the veranda outside (it was summer, so we were not cold). She arranged for us to stay in another house. So, I have known this family for a long time. They live near Tarakeshwar. We went to their house for preaching when I was a brahmachari, and gradually, many people there became devotees—there appeared many disciples of Gurudev. Now there is a temple there (Tarakeshwar).

...They have come to this path coming out of Maya's family and living now in Krishna's family. Many devotee came from this area (Basirhat), Uluberia and other places. Those who are fortunate come to this line.

* * *

Not So Fast, Not So Cheap

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

When I left home and came to the temple, my previous family had not got any message or letter from me—for twelve-thirteen years they did not know where I was. They even did my sraddha ceremony deciding that I was dead. Later they got to know that I had taken sannyas. Many of them hated me for that. I used to work as a college teacher and they despised me for quitting that job and joining a temple. My mother heard so much criticism from my brothers, later she left the world and got some peace, and all my aunties suffered so much—they all died crying and suffering because of problems in their family. There is a temple now in that place, a very good thing has been done there. It is said in the scriptures that if at any house a son becomes a sannyasi, twenty-four generations get liberation. When I left my material life and came to the temple, I came to Gurudev wearing just my clothes, and Gurudev has made me so big—I travel all over the world, and the whole world is now in my hand.

In this way, it is a great fortune to be able to practise Krishna consciousness.

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

"Service does not come by just a little fortune. Only after ten million births of good fortune, can you leave this material world behind."

I am not forcing you to leave your families. I did not have my own family (I did not get married), so I left and came to the temple. Vishnupriya Devi gave up so much in her life, she even gave up Mahaprabhu (Nimai)—she let Him leave...

Today is the day when Mahaprabhu left His home. Do you know what He said? "Ami yai yai mane kari, ami yaite nahi pari—maha-maya pichanete taya!" The Lord says, "I have decided that I will leave, but I could not! I want to leave this material world, but Maya is always pulling Me behind!" Tomorrow in the morning He will come to the temple of Keshav Bharati. Gurudev told me about the conversation that took place between them on this day. I asked Gurudev once, "Keshav Bharati spoke to Mahaprabhu the whole day and night. What did they speak about?" Then Gurudev told about it slowly and in detail chanting the glory of this pastime. That conversation was like that. Keshav Bharati said,

"You have come to take sannyas, but You are only twenty-four years old! How will You take sannyas at twenty-four? Moreover, sannyas is prohibited in Kali-yuga. How can you take sannyas at twenty-four? You should be at least fifty..."

"Prabhu, I am now fifty years old," said Nimai Vishvambhar.

"Fifty? Even if You are fifty, You have not conquered the faults of pancha-rasa (five material tastes)!" These five tastes are the enjoyment of beauty (eyes), taste (tongue), smell (nose), sound (ears), and touch (skin). These five tastes must be always controlled. We are always attracted to beautiful things. Suppose there are two cars going down the road—one is new and beautiful and the other one is old and ugly; which of the cars will your eyes follow? Suppose there are two girls walking down the street, one is dark and another one is a beauty; where will your eyes fall? You will look at the beautiful girl. Is it right or not? Eyes always want to see beautiful things. What is enjoyment through taste? Have you ever seen ants in a tin of gur [molasses]? Sometimes you open a tin and see there are so many ants in it—they come there on their own, start eating and think, "I will eat more, I will eat more!" in the end, they eat more and more and die there. They are destroyed by their own greed for tasty food. Enjoyment through the sound is also like that. I have seen some tamed elephants—people control them through sound. The attraction to touch and smell is also like that.

Then, Mahaprabhu said, "All right, I am sixty now."

"Even if You are sixty," said Keshav Bharati, "if you have not conquered the six enemies, You cannot take sannyas even at sixty."

What are these six enemies? Kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (illusion), mada (madness), matsarya (envy). Lust means you always want more, want more, you always have desires, you want to enjoy more and more. Anger. Who should you be angry with? With those who are against devotees, nothing else. Greed must be only greed for Hari-katha. You can also be greedy for the prasadam of the Lord. 'Madness' means ego—somebody is proud of their money, somebody is proud of their bodily beauty, somebody is proud of their qualities, etc. We always take untruth for truth. One time, when I was preaching in Bardhaman, I went to one devotee's house—he had just made a very big two-storey house with marble floors, etc. I was to stay in that house for two-three days, and I told him, "Prabhu, many devotees are inviting me to take prasadam at their house," but he said, "No, no, you must stay at my house the whole day! You must stay at my new house and I will feed you three times a day." This is ego. Everybody wants to make a programme at their house in the morning or afternoon, I told we could make a programme in the evening at his house, there will be more people, but he did not like that, "No, you must make all programmes here at my house. Come, come, take a look what a beautiful house I have made! I have not taken even one rupee from my father, I have made it myself!" Next morning, that devotee went outside to clean something in the garden and when he cut some small plant he saw there was a snake there, and the snake bit him by the hand. There is a hospital three miles from his house, but he did not get time to even reach that hospital. They called an ambulance, put him in the ambulance, but he died before they could reached the hospital. So, if you think, "This is my money," "This is my house," "This is my car"—this is all ego. Then, there is also matsarya, envy. The Lord says, "I have given a place for everything, but I will not give any place for envy." Do you understand what 'matsarya' means? It is envy, jealousy. The actual meaning is that we cannot stand seeing others doing good. Suppose a boy passes an exam very well, you are supposed to be happy for him, but instead you get very happy if he fails. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, "Para-sukha duhkhi. When I see others happy, I feel unhappy, and when I see others unhappy, I get so happy." This is our situation. Asesa kamana hrdi majhe mora. I have unlimited desires in my heart. We always want more, more, more. Krodhi dambha-parayana. We are angry and very proud.

asesa kamana hrdi majhe mora
krodhi, dambha-parayana
mada-matta sada visaye mohita
himsa-garva vibhusana

There are unlimited sinful desires within the core of my heart. I am angry and arrogant, always maddened with vanity, infatuated with mundanity, and malice and pride are my ornaments.

Always remember this.

Then, Mahaprabhu said, "All right, I am ninety now."

"If You cannot practise nine kinds of devotional practice (nava-vidha bhakti), You cannot take sannyas even when You are ninety."

What are the nine kinds of devotion? You know that there are nine islands in Nabadwip. Do you know which island represents which kind of devotion? Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam (hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). These nine kinds of devotion are practised on the nine islands of Nabadwip. Our old temple that we had is in Koladwip, this is a place of pada-sevanam, and the new temple is now in Godrumdwip (Nrisingha Palli), this is kirtanam. You can see the new book Sri Nabadwip Dham Mukta-Mahatmya-Mala, all this is explained and described there. Nabadwip is an eight-petal lotus, and in the middle is Antardwip. You should buy and read this book—if you do not read, then what is the use having this book? Sripad Bhakti Pramode Puri Maharaj said once, "You are writing so many books, but people will end up using them to wrap chanachur." This is so true. These days people only read their mobile phones. In Mednipur there is a boy who was not even nineteen when he went blind looking into his phone all the time. People get used to mobile phones so much that they cannot even chant on their beads after that. You must stop this addiction to mobile phones. Do you understand? Only use your phone when it is necessary.

So, Keshav Bharati said that even at ninety it is not possible to take sannyas. Mahaprabhu said,

"OK, I am one hundred now!"

"Even if You are one hundred," Keshav Bharati replied, "if You cannot control Your ten senses, You cannot take sannyas even then!"

It is necessary to control your ten senses. People get so proud, "I have conquered the whole world"—yes you have, but you cannot conquer your own self! Have you conquered your eyes? There are five senses to perform action and five senses to acquire knowledge. The five karmendriya are feet, hands, rectum, genitals, mouth (pada, pani, payu, upastha, vak); the five jnanendriya are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin (chaksu, karna, nasika, jihva, tvak). So, Keshav Bharati was saying that until and unless you can subdue all these senses, you cannot take sannyas.

This is the conversation that took place between Mahaprabhu and Keshav Bharati. Those who can control all this, they can attain everything.

* * *

Mano-dharma vs. Bhagavat-dharma

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 8
Translated from Bengali

In this world, the number of jiva souls in animal species is very large, but the number of humans is very small. Among people, many say they follow the Vedas (somebody says they follow Rig Veda, somebody says they follow Yajur Veda, somebody says they follow Sama Veda, somebody says they follow Atharva Veda), but while they say that they follow the Vedas, they do what is prohibited by the Vedas. Does any of the Vedas say that you can kill jiva souls? There are four principle acharyas in the this world (Vishnu Swami and others), and people say, "We belong to this movement," "We belong to that movement"—like, there is a group called Haribol who claim that they have conquered everything, but they all eat fish, meat. There is also another group, I have seen them in Mathura, they do not eat meat on Fridays—on Fridays, they offer and take vegetables. What is this? You must chant the Holy Name all the time, constantly, eternally.

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

We are eternal servants of Lord Sri Krishna—not for two days or seven days or one hour!

Some people also say, "As many faiths, so many paths (yata mat tata path)" or "Jive prema kare yei jana sei jana sevichhe isvara: love God by loving others." They say "love others" and write it on big sign boards. It is like you make a big sign board saying "Glass Factory" and when you go there you do not get even any glass at all. They are liars. They write "love others" on big boards, and if you come inside and see what is happening, you will see that they eat chicken saying that it is good for health! This is their "love for others." And this "As many faiths, so many paths (yata mat tata path, যত মত, তত পথ)"—what is their idea or belief? They do what they want saying that everybody's belief is different, so there are different paths, but this is all wrong. We must live according to what the scriptures tell. We must hear the siddhanta (conclusion) of the scriptures. We must accept and follow the teachings that are given by the Lord Himself. It is not necessary to create any teaching yourself. If a train goes off the track, it will tip over. So, we must follow the real path.

That is why, it is said that you can find so many gurus in this world. Many say, "Eat whatever your soul wants." Ha! The soul does not want all this. Atma's duty and desire is to serve Paramatma, and all this food is something that the mind, the tongue want! The soul dwells on an internal plane, and the mind dwells in the external world. You are sitting here at the class, but some are sitting and thinking about a movie they have seen, somebody is sitting and thinking about the money they kept in their chest, somebody goes to Vrindavan but in the meantime thinks, "I wonder if a goat has eaten my lau..." Mind goes to all these things, it lives in the external world. The soul dwells in the internal world, it always wants to serve Paramatma, it always hankers to serve the Lord. And here we get people who say, "Eat whatever your soul wants." They teach others wrong things. I have told you many times—if I was to tell everyone, "Come, you can eat meat, fish," there would be a huge crowd of people lining up for initiation; and if I say, "No, you must give all this up," you will see that nobody will come.

When we go to primary school, we study with so many classmates; when you finish primary school and later go to high school, there are less pupils there; when you proceed on to college, there are even less students; and when you reach university, you will see only one-two persons of your classmates there. People fall for the fascinating illusions of the world. It is said, "Out of ten million workers you will get one wise person; out of ten million wise people you will get one liberated soul (who feels no attraction to this world), and out of ten million liberated souls you will get one devotee of Krishna." Such devotees always think about Krishna,

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

Whether you are sleeping, eating, or resting, always chant the Name of Krishna.

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, Madhya-khanda, 28.28)

The Gaudiya Mission of Mahaprabhu (Gaudiya Math, Chaitanya Math) preaches this pure teaching. To tell you the truth, there are very few people in this world who preach such things. You can easily get laukik gurus (family teachers), kaulik gurus (ancestral teachers), but you will not find a paramarthik guru (a bona fide spiritual teacher)...

* * *

Eternal Values

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

If a father does not truly bring you to this path of Krishna consciousness, he is not a father to you. If your friends do not truly bring you to this path of Krishna consciousness, they are not your friends. Your greatest friends are those who can give you attachment to the lotus feet of Sri Krishna—your kin, your own are those who bring you to the Lord, who take you out of this world of Maya and engage you in the service to the holy lotus feet of the Lord. You should come to this kind of personalities and serve them. O Vaishnav Thakur! You are the nearest person to me, you are my greatest friend!

We are sons of nectar. All of us are children of one father—we are sons and daughters of the Lord! We are relatives to each others. You think that I am in Nabadwip and you are here in Basirhat, somebody is in Mexico, somebody is in Colombia, somebody is in Venezuela, somebody is in London, somebody is Muslim, somebody is a brahman, somebody is a ksatriya, etc. But all these distinctions are created by us.

Somebody can wear a brahman thread and say, "I am a brahman!" which means they wear the thread today and they are a brahman and if they take it off they are not a brahman any more—is that so? You must first become a brahman. One does not become a brahman just by saying so or by wearing a brahman thread.

Therefore, surrender to a bona fide guru and practise Krishna consciousness in your own life. Mahaprabhu is so merciful! He is not an ordinary soul. Choosing Sachi Mata and Jagannath Misra as His parents, He appears in this Kali-yuga. He has given this world the transcendental magnanimous love for Supreme Lord Sri Krishna! He tolerated so much in this world, but He did not take up any weapon. Have you read Mahaprabhu's teaching? It is so beautiful. What teaching did He give to this world? People worship Kali, Durga, but they turn God into a bribe-taker. We make the Lord our servant. People say, "O Mother Durga, please give me strength, please give me money, etc." and in return for that they give Mother Durga some money—she becomes their servant and people expect her to serve them. Devotees do not behave like that, they never say such things to the Lord. When brahmans do their puja during Durga Puja, you can hear them say in loudspeakers, "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, varyam dehi, kavitam dehi, sundarim dehi (give me wealth, give me knowledge, make me beautiful, give me a good wife, make me a poet, give me a beautiful girlfriend), etc." "Give me this, give me that"—they make Gods their servants and in lieu of that they give their gods some bribe (some banana, some money, some flower, etc.). You come to worship a demigod but instead of worshipping them you turn them into bribe-takers and your servants. But Mahaprabhu said,

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"I do not want wealth, I do not want knowledge, I do not want beauty, I do not want to be a poet or even Lord Brahma himself. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

prabhu tava pada-yuge mora nivedana
nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana
nahi magi svarga ara moksa nahi magi
na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi

"O Lord, I am appealing at Your holy lotus feet—I do not pray for bodily pleasure, learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven, I do not pray for liberation, and I do not pray for any supernatural powers."

(Sri Siksastakam, 4, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Devotees do not want heaven. Heaven is temporary. You get to heaven due to pious activities, but when the result of those pious activities finishes, you have to come back again to this world. If you do pious activities, you will go to heaven, and if you make a lot of sins, you will go to hell, but even if you go to heaven, once your pious credit finishes, you have to go back to this world. That is why devotees do not want heaven. Even if you stay there for hundreds of thousands of years, you will still have to come back. Devotees do not want liberation. What do they want? "My Lord, please allow me to have devotion and attachment to Your holy lotus feet birth after birth. Whatever birth I may take, even if I am born as a dog, please allow me to be born as a dog in the house of Your devotee—taking prasad, Your devotee will throw the plate away, and I will take the remnants from that plate. Devotees do not want to become Brahmas. When Hiranyakasipu asked Lord Brahma for immortality, Brahma said that it was not in his power—he said, "Even thought I am a disciple of Krishna and I was created by Krishna, I too have to die one day. I too will have to leave this body and go to some other place." Kali, Durga, Ganesh live for some days, and then somebody else becomes Kali, Ganesh, Laksmi, or Saraswati...

* * *

Ultimate Word of Scriptures

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 10
Translated from Bengali

We cannot serve all 330,000,000 demigods. What do the scriptures say?

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

If you have faith in Lord Krishna, then all other activities and duties are automatically fulfilled—it is not necessary to serve any gods or demigods. Your debts to your father, mother, rishis, demigods are cleared. They accuse you of leaving service to your parents and becoming a sadhu, but

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

If you worship Krishna, then all other duties and debts are fulfilled. If you worship Durga today, then you will not have any money left to worship Kali. If you worship Kali, then you will not have any money left to worship Laksmi. If you worship Lakshmi or Kartik , then you will not have any money left to worship Ganesh. If you worship Siva, Parvati will get angry that you do not worship her. Who will you worship then? That is why it is said that the worship of all dogs is fulfilled if you worship Krishna.

sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo, moksayisyami ma suchah

"Give up all kinds of religion and surrender to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, do not despair."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.66)

This is sloka is given lastly in the eighteenth chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. What does it say? "Leave all religions—the religion of serving your friends, the religion of serving your father, the religion of serving your mother, the religion of Muslims, the religion of Christians, Buddhism, Hinduism. Leave all religions. You must leave even the Hindu religion. Follow My religion—worship Me. I will liberate you from all sins." This is the gist meaning of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. If anybody asks you what is the gist of Srimad Bhagavad-gita, the meaning is this, "Leave all religions and surrender to Me, I will save you from all sins." This is the last word of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. This is so beautiful.

There is also another sloka in Gita,

api chet suduracharo, bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah

"If even a very sinful person serves Me exclusively with devotion, he should be regarded as saintly, for his resolve is perfect."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.30)

A person can be very bad, a person may have done so many bad things, but if they leave everything and surrender to the Lord, the Lord then liberates them from all sins taking them on His lap and giving them the right (the qualification) to serve Him. So many nice, beautiful things are expressed in Srimad Bhagavatam and Srimad Bhagavad-gita. If you do not try to understand it, if you do not study what is said in the scriptures, then how will you learn? You must study, you must hear Hari-katha. You do not become educated just by getting enrolled into a school—you must attend lessons, study. If you do not do that, you will fail. Here too it is the same—you will fail if you do not study and practise what Krishna consciousness is. If you do not practise properly, if you do not come to the classes, etc., you must fail. Practice makes perfect. You must practise kirtan. Wake up early in the morning, chant five kirtans in the morning and five kirtans in the evening. How many minutes does it take? Fifteen-twenty minutes. Can you not give this time to the Lord? You are busy the whole day! You are gossiping the whole day at the tea store, women gossip the whole day what their mother-in-law, what their daughter-in-law, etc. did. How does this affect your spiritual life? You are wasting your time gossiping and the time will pass.

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

My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Death can come at any time. You have some days in your hand, then do not waste this time—practise Krishna consciousness.

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

We do not prohibit you from doing your work, nobody tells you to leave your home and go stay in a jungle becoming a naga sannyasi. Whether you are staying at home or in a forest, always chant the Holy Name.

aparadha sunye haye laha krsna-nama
achirat tumi pabe krsna-prema-dhana

"Chant the Holy Name of Krishna without offence and you will quickly get the treasure of divine love to Krishna."

You must make yourself free from offences and chant the Holy Name of Krishna. There is no other way. This is the last word. No matter what may be said, this is the ultimate word.

* * *

Guided and Misguided

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 11
Translated from Bengali

There was an old lady who worked as a servant at the house of Srivas Pandit. Although she was a menial servant, there is nobody like her in this world. Her name was Duhkhi. One day, before Mahaprabhu came to Srivas Pandit's house, Srivas Pandit told her, "Duhkhi, fetch some water from the pond—Prabhu is coming today, He will need water to take bath." Duhkhi thought, "My God, I bring water every day, but today the Lord is coming and I will bring some water for His bathing! How wonderful!" Then, Duhkhi went to bring water and as she was carrying it to the house tears were following from her eyes. When Mahaprabhu saw her, she paid her obeisances to Him with tears flowing from her eyes, and Mahaprabhu asked, "What is your name? Why are you so unhappy?" She said, "My name is Duhkhi..." Then, Mahaprabhu said, "From today, your name is Sukhi!" What service did she do? She did not go to school, she did not know anything, but she did service. What service was that? She brought some water. She only brought some water for the Lord, but through her service she got the Lord.

So, if you want to get the service of the Lord (it can be any service), you must always be alert and think, "What and when do Guru and Vaishnavs need? What pleases Gurudev? What does my Lord love?" Gurudev is the Lord's close associate. If you write a letter to the Lord, you will not get any reply, but if you send your letter to your Gurudev, then he will deliver that letter to the Lord—he will tell you the news from the Lord, he will tell you where the Lord is staying, what the Lord eats, what the Lord does, etc. If you surrender to Gurudev, you will learn everything about the Lord from your Gurudev. You must go to the person from whom you can hear about the Lord.

Suppose you are walking or driving down the street and you ask somebody on the street how to get to the place you need—the person does not know where it is and tells you to go in a wrong direction. You do not believe the person for some reason and you ask another person, the other person says, "No, go in this direction," and points in the opposite direction. There are such people in the world—they do not know the way but they still give you advice. If you ask a boy from the Lord's house where the Lord stays, what the Lord eats, how the Lord lives, he will tell you everything. You must go to a bona fide person.

Therefore, it is necessary to always have good association.

'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya

"Good association", "good association," all the scriptures keep saying. Only by good association can you get all perfection.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

You must listen to what the sadhus say. To eat from the same plate with a sadhu, to sleep on the same bed with a sadhu—this is not sadhu-sanga. Even mosquitos sleep with a sadhu, but do you think they come for association? No, they come to bite and disturb. There are also people who, like mosquitos, come to disturb sadhus, they do not do anything. Those who truly take good association, live following the instruction and advice of the sadhus—they hear from Gurudev and practise what Gurudev tells. It is impossible to practise Krishna consciousness without strict adherence (anugatya) to your Guru. So, sincere practitioners always live in strict adherence to their Guru. Otherwise, without anugatya, no matter what you do,

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Krishna for anything except devotion, He can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, and so on—but He will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.18)

If instead of devotion you want money, a house, a car, etc. from the Lord, the Lord will give you all this and take devotion away from you—He will hide devotion from you.

Practise Krishna consciousness in this way, remembering all I have told you today.

* * *

Exclusive Zone

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 12
Translated from Bengali

Does anybody have any questions? Have you been able to hear what I was saying? Do not be afraid to ask if you want to know anything.

Question: How many Krishnas are there?

ekale isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

"Lord Krishna alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.142)

There is Mathuresh Krishna, there is Dvarakesh Krishna, and there is Vraja Krishna—They are all one, They exist and perform Their pastimes simultaneously. You should try to understand that this is achintya bhedabheda tattva (inconceivable oneness and difference). Are you trying to say that Krishna is an adopted son of Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda? Srimad Bhagavatam always says "Yasoda-atmaja" and "Nanda-atmaja" (the son of Yasoda, the son of Nanda Maharaj), but for the sake of His pastimes Krishna appeared from the womb of Devaki.

Later, when Krishna left Vrindavan, the residents of Vrindavan were overcome by separation. There can be no union without separation. Actually, Krishna never leaves Vrindavan, but His pastime was such that externally He did leave for Mathura. This is the whole idea behind Ratha-yatra. Why does Jagannath come out in His chariot? In Dvapar-yuga, everybody assembled at Kuruksetra on that particular day to take bath in the holy river as it was the day of a solar eclipse. Vraja gopis came there too to see Krishna. When they came, they saw Krishna sitting surrounded by all kinds of royal opulence and they became upset thinking, "We do not want this Krishna! We did not come here to see this Krishna. We want Krishna who is a cowherd boy." Then, they pulled Krishna away saying, "Come, You must come with us!" This is how the chariots' procession took place.

So, there is only one Krishna, but He performs His different pastimes in different places. He performed His pastimes in Dvaraka, Mathura, etc., and we say 'Dvarakesh Krishna', 'Mathuresh Krishna", and 'Vraja's Krishna'. The Vraja gopis cry in separation from Krishna—Mother Yasoda cried so much that the tears from her eyes formed a drain. Yet, we see in the scriptures that although there is Dvarakesh Krishna, Mathuresh Krishna and Vraja's Krishna, but in fact Krishna never leaves Vrindavan.

Are there any other questions?

Question: Why does Laksmi Devi sit in Belvan?

Because she does not accept gopis' guidance. She thinks, "I am more beautiful than Radha, I am Narayan's sakti and always stay with Naranya in Vaikuntha!" There are millions of Laksmi Devi's in Vaikuntha serving Lord Narayan, but even the chief among them (Maha-Laksmi) could not enter Vrindavan. Why? Because she had no chastity to gopis. Without chastity (anugatya, strict adherence) to the gopis no one can ever enter the rasa-lila of Vrindavan. Sivji Maharaj could enter though because he had accepted chastity to the gopis, but Laksmi Devi did not. That is why, she is sitting in Belvan and crying. To this day she has not been able to enter there—she still has not earned the right to enter Vrindavan. These are very high things. Even somebody like Laksmi Devi cannot enter there because she thinks, "I am very beautiful, I will not accept devotion to Radharani, a mere milkmaid." Why is Radharani's Name 'Radha'? Because She is the best worshipper of the Lord—She worships (aradhana) the Lord the most. Gopis' devotion is different from anybody else's devotion. We also sometimes think how much devotion the Vraja gopis have. Even Lord Brahma, even Siva, even Narada, even the queens who stayed with Krishna (Rukmini, Satyabhama and many others) do not have as much devotion to Krishna as they do. Krishna says about all of them, "You are staying with Me, you are saying you are My big devotees, but you cannot compare to those who live in Vrindavan!"

* * *

Insurmountable Devotion

Basirhat, 13 January 2021, part 13
Translated from Bengali

One time, Krishna showed a pastime of being ill. Suddenly, He had a very strong headache. What medicine was prescribed? Krishna Himself came disguised as a doctor (He was lying in the room showing He was sick, and at the same time He also came as a doctor) and said, "Do not worry, Krishna will get well. Here is what you should do—if you give Him some dust from the feet of His devotees, then He will recover." Narad is Krishna's devotee, Siva is Krishna's devotee, Brahma is also His devotee, but none of them wanted to give their foot dust—they were thinking about themselves worrying they would commit a sin and go to hell. Yet, Vraja gopis said, "If we commit a sin, let it be—even if our legs burn, if we get leprosy on our legs, if our legs rot, we have no objection as long as our Krishna is OK." They gave their foot dust.

Another time, Krishna decided to test and prove Radharani's chastity. That day He had fever—He was lying ill in His room in Nandagram with Mother Yasoda by His side. Disguising Himself as a doctor again, Krishna came and said, "Mother, your son's health is very bad. It is necessary to apply some water." Mother Yasoda said, "I am putting water on His head, but it does not help." The doctor explained, "No, this water will not do. Only She who has never had the darshan of Surya, who has never seen any other man's face can bring this water. She must bring it from the Yamuna in a clay pot with a hundred holes." Jatila could not do that, Kutila could not do that. Both of them always criticised others saying, "This girl is bad," "That girl is bad," so Mother Yasoda thought, "They always say others are bad, then they must be chaste themselves." She asked Jatila, Jatila said, "How is it possible to bring water in a pot with holes? It is not possible!" So, she could not do that, then Kutila also could not do that. None of the prominent girls could bring water. In the end, Krishna (in the doctor's disguise) said to Mother Yasoda, "You have gone to the wrong place! You must go to Radharani." Krishna created some illusion, and Mother Yasoda went to look for Radharani. When Mother Yasoda came and explained the matter to Radharani, Radharani immediately understood, "Prabhu, this is Your lila." She surrendered everything to Krishna, "Whatever You do, Prabhu, that will be. If You want that water to be brought, then it will be brought; and if You do not want it to be brought, then it will not happen." (It is necessary to have this kind of surrender—a surrendered soul has no offence.) Then, taking Krishna's Name, Radharani put the clay pot into the water, and, taking Krishna's Name, She took it out; then She carried it to Krishna's home on Her shoulder—Krishna closed all holes in the pot with a hundred fingers. Nobody could see it. Do you think you can see everything with these eyes? You must see with your heart's eyes. Everybody saw Her carrying water in that pot with holes, but no water came out. Everything is possible through devotion. If you want to bind the Lord, you need the rope of devotion. You cannot get the Lord by anything else except devotion. The Lord always stays with His devotees; He does not stay with non-devotees—He shows them His impersonal form.

When we worship Gopal, we dress Him, we feed Him, we fan Him. If you go to Vrindavan, you will see there is A/C installed for the Deities. When it is hot, we suffer and use A/C, in the same way we also put an A/C in the Lord's room. We put chadar on when we feel cold, and in the same way we must give chadar to the Deities also. When it is very cold in Russia, they make very thick, blanket-like clothes for the Deities. It is necessary to adjust to the environment and serve accordingly.

One can understand and know the Lord through devotion. Those who have devotion can understand this. You know, at first Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said about Mahaprabhu, "I do not think that He is the Lord!" Gopinath Acharya told him in reply, "You have no mercy, that is why you do not think so. I have some mercy, so I think He is the Lord."

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

"Only those who receive even a trace of the Lord's mercy, can understand the Lord."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 6.83)

You cannot understand the Lord without the Lord's mercy. In the same way, you cannot understand a sadhu without the sadhu's mercy. We need sadhus' mercy...

"Bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate (Brhan-naradiya Purana)—you can get devotion through the association of devotees." You can get devotion only through the association with the devotees—you will not get devotion associating with non-devotees. "Asat-sanga sada tyaga chhada anya gita-raga—give up bad association, do not listen to the material songs and music." (Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 15) You must give up all other songs, music, etc. You must give up all bad association. Always associate with devotees, sadhus. Giving up bad association (asat-sanga) means we do not do village talks, we do not discuss village news, do not speak without necessity. You must associate with those who speak only about Krishna. Always avoid and ignore the association of those who speak about all the other things except Krishna. If somebody likes to talk behind others' backs, they are called 'drain inspectors'. Do you understand what a 'drain inspector' means? It means somebody always goes to the drain, and when you come to a drain, will you not get bad smell? Does the place where people pass stool not smell? If you always dig in dirty things—gossiping, criticising about others, talking bad things about others—then you will always get a bad smell, you will not get anything good from that. You must give all this up! You have eyes, but you must not see such things—you must close your eyes. You have ears—listen to Krishna-katha with your ears. You have a mouth, but you must always speak about Krishna consciousness, not about anything else.

vaisnava-charitra sarvada pavitra
yei ninde himsa kari'
bhaktivinoda na sambhase tan're
thake sada mauna dhari'

"The character of Vaishnavs is always pure. Bhaktivinod keeps quiet and does not associate with those who are envious of Vaishnavs and who criticise Vaishnavs."

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that whenever he hears any offence of Vaishnavs, he always remains silent and grave, he does not speak about it. Always remember this—always talk about devotional topics and associate with devotees, then you will get supreme benefit.

"Kabe habe bolo se dina amara: tell me, when will that day be mine?..."

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

* * *

Perfect Mood Comes From Perfect Practice

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 1

Haribol. Dandavat.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Vrinda Devi, Tulasi Devi, Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay
Sri Shyama Kunda, Radha Kunda, Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay
Sri Mayapur Dham, Sri Nabadwip Dham, Sri Vrindavan, Mathura ki jay
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay
Baladev Subhadra Jagannathjiu ki jay
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Singapore Devotees ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
All the Singapore devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Sri Srimad Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay. Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Dandavat. I am very happy to see you all today at this programme. In particular, I am happy to see you all because by the mercy of Gurudev, you are all our family members, you are connected to the Rupanuga-guru-varga line and you practise Krishna consciousness under guidance of Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Gurudev, and Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu. You follow all the rules and regulations very strictly—I know that and I am very happy to see this mood. I know that because I see you are chanting and dancing with so much enthusiasm, and if you did not practise properly, then Krishna-nam, the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, would not come to your mouth or tongue.

'krsna-nama' kare aparadhera vichara
krsna balile aparadhira na haya vikara

"The Holy Name of Krishna always considers who is an offender. Even if an offender chants the Name of Krishna all the time, it produces no transformation within them."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8:24)

The Holy Name of Krishna always judges and considers whether the person who is chanting is an offender of the Holy Name (Nama-aparadhi) or not—if the person is an offender, the Holy Name will not come to their tongue. Therefore, those who are offenders do not have any devotional symptoms. Yet, you all are very perfect devotees, you follow all the rules and regulations, and I am very happy with that because that is the line of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Following ekadasi, following all the rules and regulations—these are the main things in our spiritual life. "Achar-prachar Namer adhikarya. One earns the right to chant the Holy Name by practising and preaching." It means you must both follow Krishna consciousness and preach. 'Kinibo-lutibo'—we will buy and we will distribute what we have got. This is what 'achar-prachar' means. We will follow the rules and regulations, and then we can preach these things to others also.

So, I am very happy to see you all. I am very happy to see that all the devotees are there and that there is a very large group of young devotees, young boys coming to this line of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Problems will always come in preaching. I know that Singapore is a strict country and you cannot go out to the street, cannot make programmes outside, there are so many rules and regulations and also this covid situation now. We must be always careful in this situation, then by the mercy of Gurudev we will conquer and overcome everything, all kinds of bondage, all kinds of problem.

tomara sevaya, duhkha haya yata,
seo ta' parama sukha

"All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness."

(Saranagati 16.4)

You are doing so much service, and in the course of service so much sadness, so many things can come, but "sukhe duhkhe bhule nako vadane Harinam koro re—in happiness or sadness, never forget it, always chant the Holy Name." Sometimes happiness comes, sometimes sadness comes, but we will overcome all this. The most important thing above all is that we must follow the rules and regulation and we must want to be devotees. We must be humble, tolerant and give honour to others. These are the main things in Mahaprabhu's teaching, and Gurudev taught also the same thing all over the world. Gurudev went to Singapore many times, and I have also been to Singapore many times. When I get chance again, I will go to Singapore and preachi to you all, I will meet with you all. I am very eager to go there because my heart is always with you. My body may be here, but my heart is always with you. In my life, you are my best friends. Do not worry about anything.

Here in India the pandemic situation is very bad, but we always depend on the Lord. Something always comes up, so many problems come by the will of the Lord, but you will see that first something bad comes very forcefully but after that it will stop.

* * *

Greatest Sadness

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 2

Nitai Charan Prabhu (a Mexican devotee and a saffron brahmachari—a very nice and very humble devotee) left his body the day before yesterday. It happened in the evening. He went for the arati in Ekachakra—when the arati finished and everybody gave 'jay', he paid dandavat and did not wake up... He left his body there. His cremation happened yesterday in the morning. Some local dham-basis took his body and burnt it on a wooden pyre in Ekachakra, on the bank of the Yamuna river (you know that there is Yamuna River in Ekachakra). Everything was done very nicely and properly for him, but I feel a little sad... When Ray Ramananda and Mahaprabhu were talking to each other, when Mahaprabhu was asking questions and Ray Ramananda was giving answers, one of the questions was, "What is the biggest sadness?"

'duhkha-madhye kona duhkha haya gurutara?'
'krsna-bhakta-viraha vina duhkha nahi dekhi para'

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked, "Of all kinds of distress, what is the most painful?" Sri Ramananda Ray replied, "Apart from separation from the devotee of Krishna, I know of no unbearable unhappiness."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, Madhya-lila, 8.247)

Do you think that the biggest sadness is when your father dies, your mother dies, your wife dies, your husband dies, or your son or daughter dies? No, it is not. Separation from a devotee (bhakta-viraha) is the greatest sadness in our life. We have lost so many devotees in our life, we have lost so many great personalities... A few days age we also made a festival in Siliguri in honour of Srila Gurudev's disappearance. I was there. Every year when this day comes it is intolerable for me. I can tolerate everything, but when this day comes, it is intolerable. I feel very emotional and cannot control myself...

When Krishna left Vrindavan, the same thing happened to all the Vraja gopis—especially to Srimati Radharani, Mother Yasoda, and Nanda Maharaj. They also cannot tolerate separation from the Lord. This kind of feeling of separation must come to us too...

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara
sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

"May I have the same affection and attraction to your feet that I now have for material things."

(Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We are very attached to our material things, but this kind of attachment must come to spirituality (to the spiritual values). We have some relationship with our husband, wife, son, father, etc., but this kind of relation must come to us towards the Lord and Gurudev.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj writes about Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur,

krpaya hari-kirtana-murti-dharam
dharani-bhara-haraka-gaura-janam
janakadhika-vatsala-snigdha-padam
pranamami sada prabhupada-padam

"He is the embodiment of Hari-kirtan. He mercifully relieves Mother Earth of the burden upon her. He is an associate of Sri Gaura, and more kind and affectionate than a father. Eternally I offer my obeisance to my master's feet."

"Krpaya hari-kirtan"—he is the worshippable Deity embodiment of Hari-kirtan. His entire being was only Hari-kirtan...

* * *

Brahman Threads

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 3

Do you have any spiritual questions, please?

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

Question: What is the number of threads that brahmacharis should have in their brahman thread? I sometimes hear from the devotees that we are using six threads...

No, nine threads, not six. If any of you do not have nine-thread brahman thread and you cannot make it there, then I can send you some brahman threads because if your brahman thread is broken, the scripture say that you cannot talk until you have worn a new thread. So, everybody who has taken the second initiation must always keep an extra thread with them. If your brahman thread breaks, you cannot speak—you can talk only after you change the brahman thread, wear another one (take the old one off through your legs and put on a new thread) and recite the gayatri. First you must recite the gayatri, then only can you talk to anyone else. This is the rule set by the scriptures. Hari-bhakti-vilas says this. If your brahman thread is broken, you cannot talk—first wear a new one, then recite the gayatri, and only after that you can talk. That is rule.

So, if you need, I can send you some brahman threads. The brahman threads we use are hand-made because what they sell at the market is not made well. Our sannyasis Sripad Niriha Maharaj, Sripad Vishnu Maharaj, Sripad Sadhu Maharaj know how to make them, Kamalendu Prabhu also knows. I myself do not know how to make it, I have never done it in my life, but they know it, they make and practise all this. I have never made a brahman thread because my brahman thread has never broken. Everybody’s brahman thread breaks after a few months, but mine has never broken. I never take it out and always use soap when taking bath, etc. but it has never broken, it is still the same as it was. It has never broken in my life...

* * *

Me-Eating

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 4

[Addressing a new devotee:] I am very happy to see you, it is very nice that you are joining good association—some sukriti will come to you through that. Because you have faith (sraddha), you are joining this programme, and that is very good for you. Later, you must take shelter of a bona fide guru (gurupadasraya), continue practising, and then you can come to your real home. Our real home is in Goloka Vrindavan. We are all children of nectar (amritasya-putra)—we come from nectar (amrita) and we must go back to that nectar. This is what he scriptures, Srimad Bhagavad-gita in particular say. We all must go to the place where we come from.

Do you have any questions? Is there anything you want to know?

Question [from another devotee]: We have one question. Some new devotees are coming to the programmes, but they eat meat and we tell them to give up meat. How can we better explain it to them?

Yes, it is necessary to give up meat, fish, etc. If you eat any meat, it means you are a sinner—you are committing the same sin as when killing your own mother, father, killing brahmans, etc. In another way, if you eat meat, it means you take your own flesh. Do you understand what I am saying? You must avoid fish, meat, etc. otherwise when you eat meat, fish, mutton, etc. it means you are taking your own meat because when you leave this body, you will take a body of a chicken or sheep, etc. Eating meat means eating your own body. This is the scriptures say.

mam sa bhaksayitamutra
yasya mamsam ihadmy aham
etan mamsasya mamsatvam
pravadanti manisinah

"That creature whose flesh I am eating here and now will consume me in the next life.' Thus meat is called mamsa [mam—me, sa—he, I am eating him, he will eat me], as described by learned authorities."

Very big Puranas say this. If you eat meat, chicken, mutton or any other kind of flesh, you are taking your own flesh, your own meat because when your body rots or is burnt, it will be mixed with soil and then another body of a chicken, a dog, a cat or some other animal will be produced from that soil. So, if you eat meat, you eat your own flesh and you commit the sin of killing brahmans, killing your mother, father, etc. It is the same as when you eat grains on ekadasi—when you eat grains on ekadasi, you also commit a sin equal to the sin of killing your own mother and father.

* * *

Unswerving Vision

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 5

***, how are you?

Devotee: I am entering the Singapore Military service next week...

Is it for two years?

Devotee: Yes.

How will you maintain your life? Will you not be able to come home for two years?

Devotee: No, I can, I will be at home every Saturday and Sunday.

OK, good. They are going to give you some training, aren't they?

Devotee: Yes...

And how will you maintain your food there?

Devotee: They are giving vegetarian food, but not prasadam.

That is not a problem because what can you do? That is the rule of every Singapore citizen that you have to join military service, then what can you do? And will you get any salary for that?

Devotee: Yes, they are giving a salary.

Good. You must use that salary for preaching programmes, pay with it for any expenditure of the preaching programmes. If you can use that money for the Lord, it will reduce whatever karma-phal you will get by doing that military service. Even if you have to kill some birds or animals during the training and they give you salary for that, you must use that salary for the purpose of the Lord. You can use that money for preaching, for programme or any expenses related to that, that will be good. Try to serve the Lord anyhow, then whatever reaction will come, it will not affect you otherwise that reaction will go to you. Do you understand?

Another devotee presenting one of the present devotees: Here is a devotee, she was asking the meaning of her name the other day...

OK, thank you. 'Bimala' means one who has no dirt in their heart—one who had no dirtiness, no bad things, one who always thinks good. 'Mala' means dirt, stool, and 'bi-mala' means no dirt, no stool. This is the meaning of the word. I also told you last time that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's previous name is Bimala Prasad because Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and his wife Sri Bhagavati Devi went to Bimala Devi (Laksmi Devi) in Jagannath Puri and prayed to her to give them a good son. Following that, Krishna sent them a good, devotional son who was able to preach Krishna consciousness all over the world. He preached pure consciousness (suddha prachar)—pure devotion of Rupanuga live. Such was the preaching of Sripad Bimala Prasad. Later, when he took sannyas, he became known as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

* * *

Highest Life

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 6

Question: Is there any service I can do?

Prabhu, if you come here every day, if you join the programmes and help the devotees, that is seva (service). This time now is a very good time to join Krishna consciousness full time as a brahmachari. If you can do that, that will be better, this is the highest service. However, you cannot come right now because you have so much responsibility—your mother died, and your father is still working, your sister is very young, etc. You are only sixteen years old now, but if think that you want to practise Krishna consciousness full time and live a brahmachari life, that is the highest service. If you can do that, it will be good. If you do not have a desire to do that, then you can study, find a job and you can also do much service, but along with that you will have so much responsibility—you will spend much time and energy taking care of your family, which is necessary to do in your life when you become a householder or live outside the temple.

Our Gurudev and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur both joined at a very early age, from the beginning of their life. Gurudev was about your age when he joined Krishna consciousness (seventeen years old), and he later studied Sanskrit, Harinam-amrita-vyakaran, so many other things. So, this is the highest time, the best time to join Krishna consciousness. If somebody wants to be a proper preacher, a proper brahmachari or sannyasi, I am giving much enthusiasm, support and instruction to such devotees.

You joined Krishna consciousness at sixteen, and this is your great fortune. There are many children here who were born in the family of devotees, and they are also very fortunate. You know, I myself was not born in a devotees' family, but by the mercy of Gurudev, Krishna sent me to the lotus feet of Gurudev and I have never left his lotus feet in my life—I always keep myself very tightly tied to his lotus feet.

So, if somebody wants to live a brahmachari life, it is the highest life because when you start a family life, so much burden and so many problems come—you have to work, you have to earn money to maintain your family and do so many other things. A householder cannot give their full time to Krishna consciousness. For instance, you make programmes every Saturday, but brahmacharis stay at the temple every day, they join the programmes every day, they serve every day, think about the Lord every day, etc. Do you understand what I am saying? So, if somebody wants to live such a life of a brahmachari, if somebody is thinking about these things in their heart and life, that is very nice.

I am also telling to everybody who is thinking of becoming a brahmachari or a sannyasi: the scriptures say that if a son in some family becomes a sannyasi, then through that boy his twenty-one generations of forefathers (like, his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc.) become rescued from all material bondage. Whatever position they may be in, whatever planet they may live on, they are suffering so much, but owing to that son who becomes a sannyasi they all go to Goloka Vrindavan.

So, this is my advice for everyone who is thinking of joining full time and also for those family members who are worried about the young age of their son joining Krishna consciousness full time. When I joined, all my family, all my relatives said I had become crazy because I had left everything, including my big job, and became a brahmachari surrendering at my Gurudev's lotus feet. They worried who will take care of their mother, who will take care of their father, etc. but my mother died in a very good way, she had no problem, but the parents of those who criticised me suffered very much in their lives—they did not have any money, they could not even get medicine. There was so much problem. And my mother died suddenly and without a problem. Now my brother and everybody else are very happy because they understand now that what I did is good for them also. Before they used to think, "Oh, my son has left, my brother has left, who will take care of this family?" I was the eldest son in the family, so all responsibility was expected to be on me. But now they understand it. I think about Krishna, I think about my Gurudev, and Krishna takes care of my family and everybody else...

It is very important to understand all these things.

* * *

Honest Life

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 7

How are you, *** Prabhu? Are you studying now or working?

Devotee: Working and studying.

Oh, both... Are you helping your parents? Do you give money to your mother? What you are doing? Are you drinking Thumbs Up and 7Up and eating chocolate with your money? You must give money to your mother. All right? They are struggling so much in their life, I do not even know if they have their own house. Do they have their own house?

Devotee (the father): The house where we are studying now will actually belong to us, and he is staying with all of us.

Yes, of course. They must stay with you, it is very important. Why will they leave you? They will stay with you, it is good because they were not born in the western culture where a sixteen-year-old boy leaves his parents and goes to stay with his girlfriend, separately. This is a very bad situation. It is not like that here in India, and I think that it is not like that in Singapore also. Your children must stay with you, that is good. If somebody wants to get married and if they have their own house, then they can get married and stay separately, that is all right, but to take a girlfriend and live with her illegally, separately from the parents, that is not good. Your parents have been taking care of you since you were a baby, they have been doing everything for you, taking care of you, suffering for you, and now that you turn sixteen you leave your parents and go to live a life of enjoyment? I do not support such things. I am dead against that. Do you understand what I am saying? If somebody leaves his family and goes to stay at the ashram, taking brahmacharya, that is another thing, but if you leave your father and mother to stay in your own house with a girlfriend, it makes me and everybody else very sad. Think about it. Your father and mother have been taking care of you since you were a baby, they are suffering and struggling so much to give birth to you, to make sure you can study, to make sure you have everything, and now you leave them and go to live a life of enjoyment. This is a completely bogus life. It is an abominable life. If you want to join the mission full time, I will be very happy. If you say you want to serve me, you can come to me then, and I will make you a sannyasi. I will send you back to Singapore sometimes for preaching, it is not a problem, but you will stay in the house of other devotees, not in your parents' house, but your parents can come and meet with you, it is not a problem.

You can see the example here in India. There are two sannyasis, one is twenty-six years old (Sripad Bhakti Tilak Niriha Maharaj) and the other one is twenty-eight years old (Sripad Bhakti Chandan Vishnu Maharaj). I made one of them a sannyasi when he was a twenty-year-old brahmachari (Sripad Bhakti Tilak Niriha Maharaj). Now he is twenty-six years old and he is taking care of my temple, a big temple.

You cannot imagine what kind of chastisement I give him (Sripad Bhakti Tilak Niriha Maharaj). When my Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj came to the Mission, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj told him, "You must follow me. Do not follow your mind." Srila Sridhar Maharaj told him only that. And Srila Sridhar Maharaj also beat my Gurudev, but I do not beat, but I think that what I did to him was actually more than beating. One time, I was there [Sri Nrisingha Palli] at Gaura Purnima and he made some mistake after Gaura Purnima (I told him to do something in one way, and he did more than that, following his mind), and after Gaura Purnima I told him to hold his ears and squat ten times in front of everybody. He is a sannyasi, but he did that happily in front of everybody without any shyness or anything. This is the kind of chastisement I gave him.

His father also gives him respect addressing him 'Maharaj' and paying dandavat to him. He also always addresses his father 'Prabhu'—he does not say 'dad' or 'papa'. I told his father that I will make a great preacher from this boy. From the beginning I have been teaching him and making him a great sannyasi who can be humble, tolerant and give honour to others. These are his good qualities. Not only that, he is truthful—he can never tell a lie. This is his very important quality. He has never told a lie in his life. It may sometimes be necessary to tell a lie for management, but if I was to tell him, 'Go there and tell a lie', he cannot do that. Such is his quality.

* * *

'What Is My Service?'

Speaking online to the devotees in Singapore,
1 May 2021, part 8

Devotee: I have got a question. What is my service?

You are still studying now. Come every day to the class, chant kirtans, practise properly, take part in the preaching programmes. This is your service now because you are studying now and I cannot tell you that you must leave your studies and join Krishna consciousness full time or come to India. For now you must study. Later, when you get a job and earn money, you can serve your Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan with that money. For now you do not have your own money—you are studying and you have to take money from your parents—so I cannot tell you that you should give donation for the temple, for this, for that. I cannot tell you that because you are a student now, so for now practise properly, keep good association. These are the main things in your life. Practise nava-vidha bhakti (nine devotional practices: sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission). That is the service you should do.

Devotee: Can I ask what my name means?

Oh, it is a very nice name! Gurudev gave you this name Vijayanti (Vaijayanti). 'Vaijayanti' means one who always overcomes any trouble, and you are the proof of that. I saw what kind of disease (a tumour) you had in your brain, despite so much trouble you are alive in this world and talking in front of me. That is a miracle. So, you will always succeed everywhere in your life, I can tell you that. I am not an astrologer like your father, but I can tell you that you will succeed in your spiritual life—there will be no problem, no bondage. You will be always victorious ('vaijayanti': always 'jay', you will be always accompanied by victory). You will always succeed, you will always be able to defeat Maya.

Devotee: I would like to ask you for a blessing...

You are already always doing service. You work and send every month some amount of money, some contribution, to me every month, that is your important service. Try to continue this service, try to always help. You know that whenever devotees send some money, I always buy bricks, cement, rod, iron and pay for labour with that money. Even though I have left Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math (main temple), devotees have not left me, they always with me. When they come at Gaura Purnima time or at any other time or festival, they suffer so much having to stay at some hotel, some rented house, but this year devotees were happy because they could get their own room at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. There are a hundred rooms ready in the new building named Sri Bhakti Sundar Angan. So, next year, if the situation is good and the pandemic finishes, devotees will start coming again and they will be able to stay happily with me in the same building without any problems.

If I go back to the main Math of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, that is OK, and if do not go back, that is also not a problem for me because there is too much trouble there and I do not fight with them. I am fine with it. Krishna has made other arrangement and I can stay at Sri Nrisingha Palli, I can stay in Dum Dum Park, and I am better here, my health is also good.

So, you already always do your service. You come from a devotees' family—both your mother and father are good devotees, they are helping the Mission very nicely. I pray to the Lord that your father may again be able to come to India, that is my happiness. He is always very sick because of his old age (he is more than seventy years old) and because he cannot tolerate the cold weather (cold weather is very bad for him), so I pray he remains in good health and I also pray to the Lord that you may remain in good health and that everything goes well at your work, then you will be able to continue your service. That is your seva.

Dandavat. Haribol.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

* * *

Parikrama Adhivas: Forsake Your Happiness

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams cha
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana raghunath-anvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-chaitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita sri-visakhanvitams cha

I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of my Guru, the predecessor Gurus, the Lord's devotees, Sri Rupa, Sri Sanatan, Sri Raghunath, Sri Jiva, Sri Rupa's followers, Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Advaita Prabhu, Sri Chaitanyadev's associates, Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, Sri Lalita Devi, Sri Visakha Devi, and all of Their associates.

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

I offer my obeisance unto Sri Gurudev, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the salve of divine knowledge.

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

I offer my obeisance unto he who perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev's associates; who is expert in all aspects of Vedic knowledge, both conceivable and inconceivable; who is the pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line; who is known as 'Govinda'—Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj; whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is infused with pure devotion; who is the Guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.

devam divya-tanum suchanda-vadanam balarka-chelanchitam
sandrananda-puram sad-eka-varanam vairagya-vidyambudhim
sri-siddhanta-nidhim subhakti-lasitam sarasvatanam varam
vande tam subhadam mad-eka-saranam nyasisvaram sridharam

I offer my obeisance unto my lord, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, whose speech is most pleasing; whose divine form is adorned with garments the colour of the newly-risen sun; who is an abode of intense, ecstatic devotion; who is the sadhus' sole choice; who is an ocean of renunciation and knowledge; who is a treasure-house of perfect conclusions; who is resplendent with pure devotion; who is the best of Srila Saraswati Thakur's followers; who is the giver of all good; who is the leading general of the tridandi-sannyasis; and who is my sole shelter.

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha
krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Again and again I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy, and wish-fulfilling trees.

vrndayai tulasi-devyai priyayai kesavasya cha
krsna-bhakti-prade devi satyavatyai namo namah

Again and again I offer my obeisance unto Vrnda Devi, who is known as Tulasi Devi and Satyavati, who is most dear to Krishna, and who bestows devotion to Krishna upon us.

atha natva mantra-gurun gurun bhagavatarthadan
vyasan jagad-gurun natva tato jayam udirayet

Having offered obeisance to one's initiating Guru, to the Gurus who have taught one the meaning of the Bhagavat, and to all the authors of Vedic literature, who are the Gurus of the entire world, proclaim "Jay!"

jayah sa-parikara sri-sri-guru-gauranga-gandharva-govindasundar-padapadmanam jayastu!

All glory to the lotus feet of Sri Guru, Sri Gaurasundar, Sri Sri Gandharva-Govindasundar, and all of Their associates!

vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatan Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath Das Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami.

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Today, by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, by the mercy of Lord Nrisinghadev, by the mercy of Nabadwip Dham, by the mercy of Nitai and Gaura, we are present here at Sri Godrumdwip, Nabadwip Dham. The name of this place is Nrisingha Palli or Deva Palli. Today is the adhivas day of Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama. Our Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama will start tomorrow. We will walk through the nine islands of Nabadwip (nava-dvip, 'nine islands')

gaura amara ye-saba sthane
karala bhramana range
se-saba sthana heriba ami
pranayi-bhakata-sange

"In the company of loving devotees, I behold all the places my Gaurasundar roamed during His ecstatic Pastimes."

You all know that Nabadwip Dham consists of nine islands. We always begin this parikrama from Antardwip (Mayapur), it is situated in the centre, surrounded by the other eight islands. We will start out tomorrow in the morning, at about half past five. Many of you live in householder homes and are not used to waking up early, but everybody must wake up one hour thirty-six minutes before the sunrise.

udila aruna purava-bhage
dvija-mani gora amani jage
bhakata-samuha la-iya sathe
gela nagara-vraje

The sun arises in the east, and the jewel of the brahmans, Sri Gorachand, awakes. Taking His devotees with Him, He goes out about the town.

'Aruna' time [the time when the horizon turns crimson with the first rays of the rising sun] means one hour thirty-six minutes before the sunrise time. The morning arati is at 4-4:45 a.m. every day. After the arati, we will start out with the parikrama. We will first go to pay obeisance to Lord Nrisinghadev, then we will get on the buses that will be waiting near the temple. We will go to the ghat by bus, it is a ten-fifteen minute ride. At the ghat, we will take a boat (the tickets have already been bought, everyone will be given tickets at the ghat or in the bus). I know it is a little difficult for you to go by bus because not everybody can get a seat, but you will have to stand for ten-fifteen minutes. Do not stray and roam anywhere, it is Nabadwip Dham Parikrama tomorrow. You have come to do this parikrama, to earn some sukriti, but instead of that you can commit offence to the holy abode (dham-aparadh). Try not to make any offences. You must do this dham-parikrama forsaking your own happiness. Do not think about your own happiness. The Lord always takes care of His devotees, He takes care that His devotees stay happy. We used to do the whole parikrama on foot, but now we left the main temple of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and it would be very difficult for you to walk so far, so we have arranged buses to take us to the ghat. The buses will also pick up on the way back. In this way, you will not have to struggle so much.

So, our Nabadwip Dham Parikrama starts tomorrow. First, we will go to Antardwip, then Simantadwip, from there we will get on the buses and go to Rudradwip. Everybody must get off the bus and offer obeisances there, do not stay in the buses. Many think, "If I get off the bus, I do not know if I will get the seat again or not." I know it. I can understand what you all think. I can see everything, what you are doing or not doing. Have I not told you?

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, the Lord has given me the power to understand everything, who does what—how much everyone practises, how much service everyone does. I can understand everything. You do not need to show anything in front me. I can see who shows false renunciation, they worship Gaura only to impress others. Externally, somebody may show they are a 'tyagi' (renunciate), but inside they are actually a 'bhogi' (enjoyer). "Vaisnavi pratistha tate kara nistha. Firmly establish yourself as a servant of the Lord."

So, I am praying to you all—please, take part in Nabadwip Dham Parikrama properly. Everybody must wear Tulasi beads on their necks. You can buy the neck beads for ten rupees at the bookstore...

* * *

Parikrama Adhivas: Fixed In Service

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Nabadwip and Mayapur are not places for strolls and outings—this is not a place for eye-exercise. You must do dham-parikrama (circumambulate the holy abode); go on this parikrama being intently fixed on chanting kirtan with all the devotees. We will go with kirtan to different places within this holy land, we will sit at different places and hear Hari-katha.

Crossing the Ganges, we will go first to one temple, offer obeisance there, and after that we will go to the temple where Gaura and Nityananda met for the first time. When Nityananda Prabhu left Ekachakra Dham, He first came to that place here in Nabadwip. You all know this place, it is the house of Nandan Acharya (Nandan Acharya Bhavan). We will go there to offer our obeisance. After that, we will go to offer obeisance at the puspa-samadhi of the founder of ISKCON, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, we will speak some Hari-katha there. From there, we will go straight to Yogapith, the house of Sachi Devi and Jagannath Misra, where Mahaprabhu appeared under a neem tree. We will chant kirtans and speak Hari-katha there. From there we will go to Srivas Pandit's house, the place where Chand Kazi broke a mridanga. Nearby, there are also the houses of Advaita Acharya Prabhu and Sri Gadadhar Pandit (Advaita Acharya came to Mayapur from Shantipur and stayed there). We will not stop there for a long time because there is not much time or place, so from there we will proceed to Chaitanya Math, the place where the bhajan kutir and samadhi of Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur is. We will sit there for some time, speak some Hari-katha about Chaitanya Math. From there we will go to Chand Kazi's samadhi. You know that this is that Chand Kazi who broke a mridanga—he did wrong at first, but later he became a devotee of the Lord, a devotee of Mahaprabhu, and his samadhi is there now under a great tree. Before that, we will also go to Jagai-Madhai Ghat. This ghat is the place where Madhai hit Nityananda Prabhu. Although Mahaprabhu at first could not forgive him for this, Nityananda Prabhu forgave him and later Mahaprabhu also forgave his offence. Now the current of the Ganges has changed, but before the Ganges was flowing through those places and there were many ghats in that area. So, that ghat where the pastime took place later became known as Jagai-Madhai Ghat. When Madhai approached Mahaprabhu and asked what service he could do, Mahaprabhu gave him the service of cleaning the bank of the Ganges. A lot of people came to Nabadwip to bathe in the Ganges, and there used to be no toilets—people would pass stool and urine on the bank of the Ganges—and Mahaprabhu gave this responsibility of cleaning that ghat to Madhai. Later, the ghat became known as Madhai Ghat, or Jagai-Madhai Ghat. We will go there, offer our obeisance and speak some Hari-katha. There is a new temple there now, we started going there just two years ago. From there we will go to Yogapith. So, after Chand Kazi's samadhi we will go to the place where we always take prasadam. Everybody will get prasadam, water, etc. at the same place as always. Before that, we will also take prasadam at the Math of Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj (the place where Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu met). Whatever is cooked here in the morning will be given there. We will cross the Ganges and take prasadam at the first stop. Later, after taking prasadam at noon, we will go to the temple of Lord Jagannath and then to the place of Sridhar Pandit (Sridhar Angan). From there we will walk a little and take the buses again. About seven kilometres away from there, there is Rudradwip. We will pay our obeisances at Rudradwip, we will sit there for some time, hear some Hari-katha, and then again get on the buses and return to the temple here. There will be evening class every evening. Everybody must take part in the evening arati, class, kirtans. I am also here with you all.

I know you want to come here and eat well, have a nice room, etc. I have been coming here twice a week and I have been here for some time already, making sure you get everything for staying. You can see that there is a new building now, it is not completed yet, so we had to get the rooms cleaned, painted, etc.

So, come here to the temple every day, join the kirtans and the class. The next day (the day after tomorrow) we will again take buses up to Gauranga Setu Bridge. You will not have to walk to the bridge, it is far from here. We will go until the bridge by bus and will start walking from there and do the parikrama of the other side of Nabadwip starting from our old temple. We will return again by buses after taking prasadam. The second day is very short, there are not many places, so you will not have to walk much. Koladwip parikrama is not so big. There is a temple of Praudha Maya (Paramatala), a temple of Vriddha Siva, and there is also the Deity of Mahaprabhu that was served by Sri Vishnupriya Devi (at her father's house). Vishnupriya Devi worshipped Mahaprabhu before their marriage, and after Mahaprabhu left Nabadwip, she personally had that Deity made and installed it in her father's house. Mahaprabhu left her when she was only thirteen years old, and from that age she always thought about Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu's Deity is there at that house, and His wooden shoes bearing the footprint of His soles are also there. After that, we will go to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji's samadhi mandir and bhajan kutir. He was the one who gave recognition to the appearance place of Mahaprabhu (Yogapith). We will go there and pay our obeisance. The place is small, but we will sit there for some time and speak some Hari-katha. After that, we will take prasadam and return here to the temple again by bus. The second day is short. The next day will be ekadasi. I thought about it and decided not to make you struggle on this day. I thought we would do parikrama for five days, but we will go to Rudradwip on the first day, and you can stay here at the temple on ekadasi and take some rest, hear some Hari-katha.

This is our programme for the nearest days. Remember it. If you go to other places besides this programme, this is anyabhilasita—your other, material desires. There are so many things to hear and to see, you can go to so many places, see so many sights, I know that. I heard somebody went to Mayapur today. I can understand who went to Mayapur. I told you all yesterday we would go there, but they still went there on their own. They come to enjoy...

We come here to practise Krishna consciousness, to serve the Lord. Today is adhivas. What does it mean? 'Adhivas' means 'Bhagavaner nikate vas' (staying with the Lord). Upavas and adhivas both have this meaning. You must spend your days in the service of the Lord. Do you think 'staying with the Lord' means you have to live in the same room with the Lord? Many want to stay close to Gurudev, but I can easily understand when somebody pretends, it is easy to understand that. If you read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, you can see that in Mahaprabhu's time also there were many people who pretended. It is easy to understand this, and such people eventually get caught—you cannot pretend for long. Gurudev always said that people think sadhu-sanga means staying near the sadhu, but even worms in stool stay close to the sadhu, even mosquitos stay near—do you think they do sadhu-sanga? They do not. They disturb the sadhus... If you make a show of doing kirtan, if you make a show of practising Krishna consciousness, it will not bring any result. It is not necessary to be like that... You do not need to show anyone what service you do. Gurudev can understand what service you do or not do. You do not need to say what you are doing. You must never praise yourself in front of Gurudev. It is an offence. If you are doing service, do it from far. You must understand within you, internally, what service is necessary to do. It is not necessary to show anything.

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Relief of Surrender

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

We have come here to practise Krishna consciousness. We have not come to this line to pretend. To become a sadhu and to dress as a sadhu is not the same thing. There many people in this world who only dress as sadhus. I have told you about it. Gurudev also said, "Be a sadhu, do not just dress yourself as a sadhu." It is very difficult to become a sadhu, but it is very easy to pretend or dress as a sadhu. You do not need to tell anyone about service, you must do service.

So, we have come here for Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. I have heard many times from many devotees that if we do this parikrama, there will be an outbreak of coronavirus, but we believe that "Marabi rakhabi, yo ichchha tohara: whether the Lord kills me or keeps me, it is up to Him. If He wants to kill, He will kill, and if He wants to save, He will save." (Saranagati, 1.11) Despite the coronavirus I did not stop preaching. I have been going house to house to so many places collecting rice, dal, etc., preaching and speaking Hari-katha. Sometimes a police car stopped us, but then I would speak to them, explain it and continue the way. Despite coronavirus, I will speak Hari-katha, I will speak about the Lord. This is always my mood. This is how, through continuous speaking about this Hari-katha to you all, I have brought you here for this Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. Therefore, you must try to do this parikrama well, do not fight with each other about the rooms, food, etc. ("I have not got a place!", "I have not got a room!", "I have not got this!", "I have not got that!") How long more will you sleep on the lap of witch Maya?

You know, many think, "This is my husband, this is my son, my child, etc."— they always think "this is mine," and they obstruct their husband or son from coming to this path. They think, "My husband is my thing. I will enjoy with him." But you may enjoy with a body, but you cannot enjoy with the person—he can leave you and come here. The Lord can take him away from you. I keep on telling you—my parents have given me this body, but they have not given me that who I am. Those who know or have studied some science, can understand this. Even in science, they call this "biological father," "biological mother." They give us this body, some genes in our blood. If you check your blood group, you will see that you have your father's and mother's blood mixed in you. So, yes, they have given us this body, but they have not given us that which we are. I have come to serve the Lord, but I fell into illusory bondage and forgot this. We have forgotten it since time immemorial. Yet, sadhus, gurus, and Vaishnavs come to us out of a great mercy,

tava nija-jana kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi
daya kari more patita dekhiya
kahila amare giya

"You have sent a great soul, Your associate (to rescue me)! Seeing me so fallen and being merciful, he came to me and said...."

Therefore, I pray to you all—do not obstruct those who want to practise Krishna consciousness. I have tested so many people. I have brought so many people to the temple, to take shelter of Gurudev, but then I see that many wives take their husbands as objects of enjoyment, and in the end their husbands leave them (leave the world). The Lord says, "Do you think you are going to enjoy My property?" and He takes the soul away and throws the body at them. What will you do with the body? A few hours after death it starts to stink! You think so much about this body—the skin, nose, ears, etc., but this is only a body; the inner substance, the life force, is given by the Lord. The Lord gives it of His own accord, and He can take it away also of His own accord. So, you must not obstruct those who want to serve the Lord. When somebody has got back this fortune to serve the Lord, you must never obstruct such people. The Lord cannot tolerate this. If you do this, the Lord will teach you a good lesson. This is Krishna consciousness—you must understand that you and your body are not the same things.

* * *

Our Eternal Campaign

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

You must understand that 'I' and 'my body' is not the same thing. People always say 'my head', 'my eyes', 'my ears', 'my mouth', etc. but this is all my body—if you dissect it, what will you get? You will get only some meat. I have seen many times when a car hits some dog, the body of the dog keeps lying there, and it is merely some meat. The body is made of five material elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether). When someone dies, their body decays in the soil and gets mixed with earth again—or the body is cremated and the ashes are then thrown on the ground.

Therefore, as I have told you earlier, adhivas means 'Bhagavaner nikate vas' (staying with the Lord). This time I knew that foreign devotees would not be able to come this year, and you know that I do not want a single rupee from anyone of you who have come for Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama. Gurudev never told me to charge anyone money for the parikrama. Yet, I see that many ladies, together with their sons, did so much collection.

There are so many disciples in our Mission, but not many have been able to become devotees. There is one devotee in Tarakeshwar. Some problem came, and he left—it was actually not due to any problem but due to a lack of his sukriti. Anyhow, he too started collecting and collected much potato. The main thing is that I do not come to you to ask you for potato. You know, I had an operation in 2005 and some foreign devotee told Gurudev, "Acharya Maharaj has just had an operation, he should not be sent for collection." Gurudev said, "Is it possible to stop him? His health is bad, he has just had an operation, but he came from Chennai the very next day by train! He did not even stay for two days in Chennai. Do you think it is possible to stop him from going on collection? And who are you to obstruct him? You cannot obstruct the Lord's service. Even if you have thousands of rupees, you cannot destroy the Math with that money." When we bring a handful of rice or potatoes from somebody's house, do you know how much sukriti these people who give donation get? One handful of rice, one potato or ten potatoes or a sack of potatoes—there are so many plants, and these plants' soul, water, air, soil, and all kinds of other demigods that there are, they all get an opportunity to serve the Lord. Everybody wants to serve the Lord. There are 330,000,000 demigods, and all of them want to serve Lord Sri Krishna.

Every single thing in this world belongs to the Lord, and sadhus think, "How can I use everything for the service of the Lord?" Uninitiated people do not offer bhog, do not get prasadam—they just cook something and eat it (they cook and enjoy). They cook something today, pass stool in the morning, and then again fill up their stomaches. Yet, sadhus, gurus, and Vaishnavs do not take anything that has not been offered to the Lord—they do not accept what was not first enjoyed by the Lord. Sadhus take potato, rice, etc. and use for the service of Govinda—only after that they take prasadam of the Lord, and all the devotees also take that prasadam. This is the difference between sadhus and non-sadhus. You think, "Oh, Maharaj came to my house for a sack of potato," but this is not so. By the mercy of the Lord, it will not take me even two minutes to buy two hundred sacks of potato, but I want you all to come here—if I had not come to your house, if you had not given some potato to the temple, you would not have come here today. There would not have been any connection. We went to the rice mills with old Ashok Prabhu. He has had so many operations, but he forcefully took me to rice mills in Bankura area saying, "No, you must stay for four days!" He is very busy, he cannot stay with me for long, but we have gone on collection three times! Here is Ashok Prabhu from Begumpur also. He wanted to make a seven day programme, but we had to cut it down to four days because I did not have time. During these programmes we distributed invitations to everyone, we called everyone to come. So many ladies went on collection and earned sukriti with so much labour. There is Nisikanta Prabhu also, he went collecting one-two rupees from a house—somebody gives one rupee, somebody twenty, somebody fifty. He came with a big bag full of coins and gave it to me. Also, there are the devotees came who are serving in the kitchen—what sort of happiness and peace they are getting from this service to the Lord! Krishna Himself came in this Kali-yuga as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, a combined form of Radha-Krishna, to taste what sort of happiness and peace Radharani gets from serving Him. We sing in one of the kirtans,

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

"If Gaura had not come, then what would have happened? How would we have maintained our lives? Who would have revealed to the world Radha's glory and the extremes of Her ecstatic divine love?"

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes to this Kali-yuga to tell the world about the glories of Srimati Radharani. He went door to door begging, "Krsna bolo, sange chala, ei matra bhiksa chai. I am begging you only for one thing: come with us and chant 'Krishna'!" This is what we do too—we go door to door and tell you the same thing, we write it in the invitation letters also. Somebody gives twenty-five kg potato, somebody gives fifty kg potato, somebody gives one sack or two sacks of potato, somebody gives some rice for the service of the Lord.

bhakter jinish prabhu lutiputi khay
abhakter jinish prabhu ulti nahi khay

"The Lord eats anything and everything when a devotee offers it, but He does not take anything from a non-devotee."

Somebody says, "I will not give you anything! Go away from here!" I still go there again and again. Somebody closed the gate of the rice mill when we came, disrespected us, but we still go there again and again. Why? Not because we need their rice, not because we are needy. We come to them to use their hard-earned wealth in the service of the Lord, so that they can get some sukriti, so that they do not have to be born as dogs, goats, cows, etc. next life.

In Hooghly district (Begumpur), they are many lady devotees, I see also many of them are coming here. Many devotees are coming from all over Bengal and they called me saying, "I have collected something for the temple, can I send it there?" Many devotees came also from Bardhaman, Tarakeshwar, some devotees also came from Kalna...

* * *

'May You Always Remain In This Line'

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Gurudev told me, "You are doing everything, but you did not take care of me. You do not understand how you must take care of me." What does it mean? So many come for festivals—some come just to see the festival, and some come to do service. Everybody is not the same. That is why it is said, "Sraddha anusare haya bhakti adhikari. Your devotional qualification depends upon your faith." You cannot buy devotion at the market with money. Which 'market' can you get devotion at? You can only get devotion at the market of devotees. Devotion is where devotees are. Wherever Bhakti Devi (the Goddess of Devotion) stays, she wants a clean place. What is the dust and sand? Kanak, kamini, pratistha (desire for money, women, and fame); kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy); rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa (desire for enjoyment through eyes, tongue, nose, ears, and skin).

So many devotees have come from many places. Sripad Niriha Maharaj went collecting house to house and came back in the car with all the rice, dal, etc. This time we collected not only rice and dal. I told everyone that foreign devotees are not coming, so I told devotees to give some dal, plates, sugar, etc. Devotees from Amadpur and Golpur sent all sugar. Somebody sent oil, somebody sent dal. Many different devotees sent everything for the festival. It is a great joy that all the devotees together are making this festival of Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. It is my great joy that you went door to door leaving all shyness, all shame. What is there to be ashamed of anyway? Many devotees came bringing many ingredients. I do not want to tell everyone's names now. I am also trying to do everything so that you do not have to struggle. We now have a very nice new building, so the accommodation is now much better than last year.

One day in January (two months ago), when I was doing a programme in Bankura, the owner of the land (where the new Prasadam Hall is being built now) called me and said, "If you want that thirty-acre land, you have to register it now. It is already late, you have to pay now." I thought: Where will I get so much money? I had ten-twelve lakhs, and they were asking for another ten-twelve lakhs. I called Srila Janardan Maharaj, and he said, "Do not worry, I will send it." Then, the land was registered and purchased, but now it is necessary to make a Prasadam Hall, and I want to make another three-four floors above it because I know many of you do not like to walk far to the new guesthouse—many think, "I will bathe outside, it is OK, I do not need a room—I can stay on the veranda, but I can always be there at the class and kirtans." I can understand it, I know many of you do not want to walk so far, so I will start building some rooms above the Prasadam Hall after the festival. When the construction of the Prasadam was to start, I also worried where I would get money, and mainly Purujit Prabhu (Venezuela) and Ravindra Krishna Prabhu (Sinapore), along with some other devotees, took care of it. You can also see here an old lady, a devotee from Australia. She gets pension every month and gives most of it to me, and on top of that she also does some collection from other devotees. One devotee from London has also sent a donation. Devotees love me very much, I cannot even say it...

Seeing your devotion and love, I do not want to leave you and go anywhere. I want to stay together with you. I always think about your eternal benefit, I always pray that you can cut this illusory bondage and stay forever in the eternal abode of the Lord—I pray that we will meet with you all again there.

So many devotees have come from so many places, I cannot tell all names now. Do not think, "Oh, Maharaj forgot about me, he did not mention my name." I remember everyone's names. Madhumangal Prabhu came from Bokaro, Sanjiv Prabhu came from Delhi, Ramasundar Prabhu called yesterday. I told Madhumangal Prabhu to bring some medicine because devotees will walk a lot and may need help, and he is a doctor, working at a hospital. During the Ekachakra festival, Krishna Kanta Prabhu came, he is also a doctor. Madhumangal Prabhu works as a doctor and makes programmes on Sunday, and there are so many devotees in Bokaro now—many young boys have come to this path in this way. "Prana achhe yara, sei hetu prachara (প্রাণ আছে যার সেই হেতু প্রচার): as long as you have life in the body, you must preach."

It is so hard for people to give their child to the temple, but you can see that here we have four lady devotees. Two elder ladies and two young girl who said they did not want to get married and live a family life (they want to stay as brahmacharini). It is good. I have no objection. If anyone wants to stay at the temple and live as a brahmachari, then they must be given a chance. They have faith that the Lord will take care of them. "Avasya raksibe Krsna visvasa palana: we must believe that Krishna will certainly protect me." Krishna protects me, Krishna looks after me.

There is also Kamalendu Prabhu, Sudevi Didi. They are staying with me and doing so much, working day and night. They have decorated the temple so nicely. They always take care of my food, health, etc. I never worry about these things myself, but they always worry and watch how I sleep, what I eat, etc. They always look after me. If I get thirsty, they always give water, etc.

So, the Lord has given us this chance to serve, and we must take this advantage and use it wisely.

There is also Shanti Prabhu, Kishor Prabhu, Keshto Prabhu, Tarok Prabhu. They are always enthusiastic to cook, they take care of your prasadam department. I have taken all Gurudev's burden in 1991, and I have never asked Gurudev for anything. There are senior devotees present here, Ashok Prabhu, Rama Prabhu and others, they have known me from my brahmachari days, can you say that anyone has ever come to straight Gurudev and asked him for a room to stay? Never. Everyone who came would always come and ask me. I always managed accommodation and all the other managerial things. During Gaura Purnima I did not even go to my room—I stayed at the office all the time and slept sitting there. This was my situation.

This time many devotees from Siliguri could not come because of the problems with trains... Anyhow, so many devotees have come here. Many devotees have helped. I am paying my full obeisance to them and expressing my gratitude to them. I do not want to belittle anyone. May the Lord bless them. I pray for them to the Lord that He may give them intelligence and devotion so that they may always remain attached to the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna. I cannot give you blessings so that you may increase your material wealth, it is an offence, and it is not necessary to do that. What is necessary and all I can pray for is that you may remained attached to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, so that you may get devotion to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Always remain in this line, always stay together, then you will get supreme benefit. Birth after birth we have been enjoying wealth, eating, sleeping. Even animals eat, sleep, and enjoy. Birds, beasts get to eat, but we have not got this life to eat. We have got this body to practise Krishna consciousness, to serve the Lord. If we do not use this body in the service of the Lord, then there is no use in having this body. Always remember this.

Now, we shall chant some kirtans...

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Know the Relationship

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace chants 'Gurudev bara krpa kara,' 'Krpa kara vaisnava thakura':]

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite
abhimana hau dura

"O Vaishnav Thakur! Please be merciful! Knowing the true relationship I will worship You and my ego will go far away."

It is necessary to understand relationship (sambandha). I was telling you yesterday—none of us should want to be a master (prabhu), but the problem is that we are all becoming masters, none of us wants to be a servant (das). Everybody has become a great Vaishnav now. We do not understand the relationship! If we keep practising Krishna consciousness with the knowledge of relationship, then our ego will go away. Ego is the greatest fault. Somebody is proud of their wealth, somebody is proud of their followers (family, friends, etc.), somebody is proud of their beauty, somebody is proud of their qualities, and so on. Somebody can sing kirtans very well and they are proud of it. When will all this ego go away? When we can understand the relationship—when we understand, "I am an eternal servant of Lord Krishna."

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"When the jiva soul makes the mistake of forgetting that it is an eternal servant of Krishna, Maya captures the soul by its neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.24)

One day, one great pandit who was extremely learned in Vedas, Vedanta, and all the scriptures, said to Mahaprabhu, "What is this? You are a sadhu, but You are dancing and chanting here. Have You read any Vedas or Vedanta?" Mahaprabhu replied, "My Guru thought I was a fool, so he prohibited Me to read Vedas and Vedanta. He never told me to read all this—considering Me a fool, he never gave Me this right." You can see how humble Mahaprabhu is about himself. He said, "My Guru only told me to chant the Holy Name."

kiba mantra dila, gosani, kiba tara bala
japite japite mantra karila pagala

"My lord, what kind of mantra have you given Me? What kind of power does it possess? Chanting this maha-mantra made me mad!"

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 7.81)

When Guru and Vaishnavs bestow their mercy on us, then we can attain everything. The problem is that we are not able to give honour to others...

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

"If I think, 'I am a Vaishnav,' then I will never stop expecting honour from others—my heart will become polluted by the desire for fame and I will end up in hell."

If I think that I have become a Vaishnav, I will not be able to give honour to others and then I will have no other way except to go to hell. I will feel a great desire to get honour and it will contaminate my heart. I myself will clear the road to hell. There is no other way. Therefore, it is necessary to be very careful!

tomara kinkara apane janiba
'guru'-abhimana tyaji'
tomara uchchhista pada-jala-renu
sada niskapate bhaji

"I will consider myself Your servant and give up the ego of a guru. I will always earnestly take Your remnants, Your foot dust, the water that has washed Your feet."

"I will know myself as your servant, your menial worker." Many come and say, "Gurudev, give me your prasadam." Sometimes, you have not even started taking prasadam yet, and they come and say, "Give me your prasadam." This is a show-off devotion. If you want to get some prasadam, you must wait—when Gurudev takes prasadam, his glass and plate will be taken away to be cleaned, then you can take something from there. Otherwise people have no service mood, but their mood is such that they want to impress others. This is called, "Loka dekhana gora bhaja—worshipping Gora just to impress others." We must learn from Kalidas. What did Kalidas do? Kalidas never sat together with Vaishnavs to take prasadam. Many think, "I will go first and sit at the front of the line!" But Kalidas would hide and wait from afar. When the Vaishnavs finished taking prasadam, they would throw their plates away in some place, and Kalidas would go there and take that prasadam from their discarded plates like a dog. This is what is called "tomara uchchhista pada-jala-renu sada niskapate bhaji—I will always earnestly take Your food remnants, Your foot dust, the water that has washed Your feet." Why does it say here 'earnestly' (niskapate—'without any deceit or other desires')? Because we are all deceitful. We show false renunciation (phalgu-vairagya). Our renunciation must be yukta (proper), not phalgu (false). We do not need to show anything to impress others. We say to people, "I do not need anything! I will leave and go to stay in a forest or a cave!" But you forget that you will go to live in a cave, but your stomach will go with you. You will end up following what your stomach wants... You know the story of Gita's samsar.

People worry so much about their rooms, their food, but when your body falls dead on the street, it may rain on it, etc. We do not understand this.

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

My days are passed in useless work and nights are wasted on sleeping. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting next to me.

('Durlabha manava janma labhiya' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We do not know when we will fall silent and go away—my body will fall dead on the ground and dogs and jackals will feast on it. We all have to go from here. Gurudev often said that when you go to primary school, you have many classmates, when you go to high school, only five people will be left, and when you enter college or university, there will be only one-two people from those who you started studying with. Even if you come last, but you must pass.

We do not practise false renunciation. There are things that are necessary. If we were to walk the whole day tomorrow, we would not be able to go anywhere the next day. That is why, a bus is necessary, to have a bus it is necessary to have some money. Even to cross the Ganges you need that one-two rupees—you cannot cross it without any money or ticket. It is necessary to have some money to serve the Lord. You cannot say that you do not need anything. Even to buy one nice flower garland you need fifty rupees. Those who say, "I do not need anything," say it to impress others, but they have desires inside them. I do not like this at all. If you say you do not need anything, how will you live? If you do not run the fan here, if there was no electric current here, if there was no generator, no oil for the generator, then everybody would suffer. There are so many things that are necessary for service. We must always think about this.

So, I was telling you about Kalidas. Mahaprabhu gave him the right to touch His feet. Everybody tried to touch Mahaprabhu's feet, but not everybody could get this right. Mahaprabhu gave this right only to Kalidas. At the entrance of Jagannath Temple there is a place where you wash your feet before entering the temple. When anyone tried to come near Mahaprabhu, devotees would stop them, but when Kalidas came and tried to drink the water which Mahaprabhu's feet had been washed with (such was his mood—he was always a beggar), everybody tried to stop him thinking he was a nobody, but Mahaprabhu stopped them saying, "No, do not stop him." Everybody laughed at him—his clothes were torn, he ate others' remnants, nobody liked him and tried to shoo him away. Yet, Mahaprabhu told everybody not to stop Kalidas. Why? Because Kalidas ate the holy remnants of Gaudiya Vaishnavs—he became a great expert Vaishnav (Mahaprabhu called him 'jhanu vaishnav', 'a seasoned, or expert, Vaishnav')! This is how he got the right to touch Mahaprabhu's feet.

You know how Srila Narottam Das Thakur came from Bangladesh. Srila Lokanath Das Goswami said he would not take a single disciple in this life, but Srila Narottam Das Thakur said he would take only one guru, he felt, "I will not take initiation from anyone except him. He is a genuine Vaishnav, I will take initiation from him." He came to Vrindavan from Bangladesh taking thirty rupees from his mother. He pled with his mother, "Mother, please do not stop me. Please let me go to Vrindavan." You know that even if the father gets angry and kicks his son out of the house saying, "I do not want to see his face again!", the mother still secretly sends food for her son—mothers are always more affectionate. So, Narottam Das Thakur's mother sent him to Vrindavan. She is a real mother. A real mother is she who gives her son for the service of the Lord. A real husband or a real wife is the one who disregards their own enjoyment for the sake of the service of the Lord. Those who obstruct their relatives or family members from serving the Lord are very unfortunate. Some devotees recently heard their son would take sannyas, they called me shedding crocodile tears, "Who will look after us?" I told them, "What do you mean who will look after you? If you give everything up to the Lord, then the Lord will take care of you, but you have no faith in that." They have no faith that "Krishna will certainly protect you" ('avasya raksibe krsna'). Who is looking after me? The Lord. My parents are not looking after me! You can see also Sripad Niriha Maharaj. His father told me, "I will file a court case againt you! You have taken my son away!" After a while he understood that his son was not his, that he belonged to the Lord-he understood that he was under the spell of illusion—and he has now also come to this path, হe too has now left everything and is serving the Lord.

So,

tomara uchchhista pada-jala-renu
sada niskapate bhaji

"I will always earnestly take Your remnants, Your foot dust, the water that has washed Your feet."

We must not do all this to impress others. When you come to somebody's house, they want to wash your feet just to take that water after that. People go crazy just to wash your feet. If I tell them, "Do this service," they refuse—they say, "No, we must wash your feet now!" Even if you tell them you have no time, they do not listen. Gurudev says that even if Brahma comes in front of you and says, "Come with me. There is no need for you to stay here, come with me," even if Indra (the king of heaven) comes to you and says, "Come, I will take you to heaven," you must say, "No! Go away! I have my service to do!"

nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana
nahi magi svarga ara moksa nahi magi
na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi

"I do not pray for bodily pleasure, learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven, I do not pray for liberation, and I do not pray for any supernatural powers."

(Sri Siksastakam, 4.1-2, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We do not want heaven, we do not want liberation. Sadhus know that heaven is temporary and if you go there, you will have to come back. Do you think you can stay there forever? Whether you go to hell or heaven, you will have to go back from there. Only if you go back to your home, will you not have to come back from there. If you stay in a rented house, today or tomorrow you will have to leave it—today you will have this problem, tomorrow another problem, and so on.; in the end, you will think, "Better I buy some small land and make a thatched house, that is better than keep on moving from place to place." If, however, you understand that you have lost your home, that you have come to this world leaving your own home, then you will not feel any peace until and unless you have reached your home. We must return to our own home. This is a rented place, we cannot stay here for long, we have to leave one day, but when you reach your own home, nobody will chase you from there. This is what this Krishna consciousness is for. Yet we live in this world surrounded by buildings, houses, rooms, and all kinds of other worries. Where will all that be? There is no end of this cycle of birth and death.

These are such beautiful words. If you do not read about this all the time, it will not stay in your mind. That is why, you should chant kirtans, chant all the time, out loud. We have printed so many books—read them, chant the kirtans, practise out loud.

What for do we worry much?

e deha patana ha'le ki rabe amara?
keha sukha nahi dibe putra paribara

When this body drops dead, what will remain ‘mine'? Upon death neither my sons nor my family will give me any satisfaction.

Nobody and nothing will make us happy here. Therefore, it is said that we must leave all deceit and worship the holy remnants of Guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord.

nije srestha jani' uchchhistadi dane
habe abhimana-bhara
tai sisya tava thakiya sarvada
na laiba puja ka'ra

"If I, loving myself more than anyone else, bestow my remnants, etc. on others, then I will become filled with ego. Therefore, I will always remain Your disciple, I will not take worship from anyone."

Why do real Vaishnavs never give their prasad to others? Because if they do, they will become proud—they will feel they are the greatest because everyone is taking their remnants. We must always consider ourselves disciples. "I do not need to become a guru, I will always stay a disciple." Before anyone becomes a guru, they must first become a disciple, and you do not become a disciple just by taking a mantra. If you are to become a disciple, you must be able to digest chastisement of your Guru and you must be able to change yourself accordingly. I have written about this in the book, you can see it there (Guidance, Volume 4).

amani manada haile kirtane
adhikara dibe tumi
tomara charane niskapate ami
kandiya lutiba bhumi

"When I become free from the desire for honour and be able to give honour to others, you will give me the right to chant Your kirtan. I will earnestly roll on the ground and cry at Your holy feet."

When will Vaishnav Thakur give me the right to chant kirtan? When I become free from any desire for honour, when I learn to give honour to others, when I learn to tolerate everything, and when I become lower than a blade of grass.

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Nitai-guna-mani amara', 'Yadi Gaura na haite', 'Jaya Radha Madhava', Hare Krishna maha-mantra.]

* * *

Devotional Attachment

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

One more thing I did not say is that there are caps for everyone. Ashok Prabhu is sitting over there (near the entrance) on the bench—if you have not taken one yet, you can come to him before or after taking prasadam, he will give you a cap. My phone number is written on the cap—if you stray or get lost on the way, you can show the cap to someone, ask them to call me, and we will pick you up. This year it is not going to be so crowded because this year there are not so many parikrama parties. But in case you still get lost, wear the cap, and it will also protect you from the sun (you will not feel so hot). The way is actually straight tomorrow—we will go by bus to the ghat, then cross the Ganges, and then it is a straight road to Jagannathdev's temple. You will get prasadam in the morning at our first stop where we sit and speak Hari-katha (Nandan-acharya Bhavan), and at noon the prasadam will be near Jagannathdev's temple as each year.

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

"Again and again I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy, and wish-fulfilling trees."

First of all, I am offering my full obeisance at the holy lotus feet of Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy, after that I am offering my obeisance to all Guru-varga, to all my God-brothers and sisters, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, to all devotees, and I am praying to you all for your mercy to this low soul.

Today is the holy adhivas day, a holy day of the Lord. [Clamour in the audience.] Please keep quiet. Not a word. I have told you so many times not to speak gramya-katha. "Dinera madhye abala-tabala kata pachala parite para, tara madhye ki eka-bara govinda bolate nara! How many idle talks we have during the day, how much we talk during the day! We talk all sorts of nonsense and cannot even one time take the Name of Govinda!" Many ask me, "Maharaj, how do you get so much energy?" Do you want to know? Shall I teach you how? If you use your energy on other things, if you talk about this and that, then you will not get taste to chant the Holy Name, you will get the strength from the Holy Name. You will be walking tomorrow—if you walk without chanting the Holy Name, you will not get energy; but if you walk chanting Krishna-kirtan, you will see—you will not even think that you have walked so many miles. So, go with the parikrama and chant kirtan. There will be two parties, two microphones—there will be a cart at the front of the parikrama and at the back. The cart at the back is to take to the parikrama those who cannot walk so fast.

You must have some attachment. I see that not so many have this attachment. Gurudev said the same thing, and I am also saying the same thing. What does attachment mean? You will see tomorrow—many will go for the parikrama taking mrdangas, karatals, flags, etc. but when they return they lose it on the way and return without them. I see everything. People have no attachment. They go playing the mridanga, but when they stop playing, they keep somewhere and forget about it, then they run around looking for it. Mridanga, karatals are my strength—if I go to fight against Maya but lose mridanga, karatals on the way, then how will I fight? With bare hands? Walk and beats the drums! Kirtan is chanted with mridanga and karatals—you must play karatals and mridanga at the end of the parikrama too, not only around me.

Do the parikrama in this way... "Dhaitava pachhe pachhe. I will run after you." Do not run ahead and do not go shopping. I go at the front and I can see what is going on. When you go with the parikrama, you must chant kirtan, do not go anywhere otherwise you will get lost. Remember why you have come and stick to it firmly.

* * *

Seva Bhumi

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 8
Translated from Bengali

First of all, I am offering my full obeisance at the holy lotus feet of Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy, after that I am offering my obeisance to all Guru-varga, to all my God-brothers and sisters, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, to all devotees, and I am praying to you all for your mercy to this low soul.

As I have told you, today is adhivas. Devotees can serve in many ways. Many think, "I have no money, what service can I do?" But there are so many opportunities. Guru, Vaishnavs arrange so many ways in which one can serve, but you are not taking advantage of these arrangements. Gurudev opened so many temples, you can stay at the temple and serve the Lord, but no...

Some came to help but then they left ten days ago and now they are fighting for rooms. Why leave then? You could stay here, take prasadam, do some service, help me. Those who are staying at the temples are helping so much—I saw that even small girls carry thirty-fifty kg sacks on their heads (they were helping to unload a car). I feel pain to see this. Last night a car came with bhoga and many boys and girls were unloading sacks with rice, potato, and dal. This is service. Nobody says that everyone must serve with money—those who have money can serve with money, those who do not have money can collect or serve with their hands. Those who wash the dishes also do serice; those who cook also do service; those who prepare rooms also do service; those who distribute prasadam also do service; those who cut vegetables also do service. We cannot hire some outside people to do everything. You can hire people to do kirtans (to sing or to play the mridanga and kartals), you can hire people to do the puja, but what does that give? If you hire people to do this, it gives no benefit. Hired people cannot chant kirtans. So, try to participate in service. Would you like it if some hired outside people distribute prasadam to you? We must do everything ourselves, we must help with different services. We are going for the parikrama tomorrow, but then you can help the day after tomorrow to cut the vegetables, etc. Try to help, otherwise if you do not help there will not be such a big festival. The Lord is giving you service...

So, 'adhivas' means 'Bhagavaner nikate vas' (staying near the Lord)—it means participating in the service of the Lord. It can be any service. Just as your devotion depends on your faith, in the same way the service you get also depends on your faith. You can see devotees who came from Nepal, they are very poor people, but they come to do some service. They are poor—they live by practising Krishna consciousness, taking prasadam. I have seen how poorly they live and how much they struggle to raise the children in the family, but they cook, offer bhog to the Lord and take prasad. They learn how to cook Bengali way and also learn Bengali language... It is good. I have heard that about twenty more devotees are coming from Nepal tomorrow...

Devotees also call from different countries, they ask how they can serve, etc. Everybody can take part in service. This is seva-bhumi (land of service). Wherever you go, wherever you stay, you must serve the Lord eternally (daily, non-stop).

ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi
grhete goloka bhaya

On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there.

('Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Where is Goloka? Do you understand?...

* * *

Follow Vaishnavs' Example

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

If you have any questions, you can ask later. If there is anything you do not understand, you can ask me later, I do not mind it. But the question must be honest enquiry (pariprasna), nothing else.

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

Surrender (tad viddhi pranipata). Once you surrender, you can ask questions. Next is service mood or temper (sevaya). You must keep yourself engaged in service. You must run your life following what Guru and Vaishnavs tell. Follow their example.

Many of you have seen an old lady staying here affectionately known as Asha Ma. When I was preaching in Bardhaman, Sripad Vishnu Maharaj called me and said she had left her body. I was sitting at a rice mill at that time, collecting rice. (At that time, I was going to different rice mills, sugar shops, gur shops, etc.) Actually, we do not feel very sad—there is some separation, but we understand that everything happens by the will of the Lord. So many old ladies left their bodies in Nabadwip, but I never got a chance to be there at that time—I was always busy preaching outside. When Gurudev's mother passed away, Shankari Didi passed away, Rama Didi passed away, I was not there on any of these days. I was always preaching somewhere outside at that time and could not come. And I have hardly ever been to the cremation ghat. I never usually go there. But Asha Didi's fortune was such that I did go. She always treated me as her son although I never liked to hear such 'motherly' talks because I am a sannyasi and I get annoyed by such things. Anyhow, I told Sripad Niriha Maharaj to arrange for an A/C car at the municipality to take the dead body and I told him, "Give me seven hours, I will come." I finished collection that day, took prasadam at our temple in Bardhaman, and started out from there at three-four o'clock. Ashok Prabhu from Bankura came with me. I told him, "You do not have to come with me, you have been walking and working so much the whole day, I will just take the dead body." He still came. And Asha Didi is very fortunate—such was the will of the Lord. When we arrived at the cremation ghat, we were able to burn her body immediately. It often happens that when you come there, you have to wait for as long as ten hours sometimes, the whole night can pass before a furnace becomes available and you can burn the body, but by the will of the Lord when we came I saw there was nobody there. Just as I put the dead body into the furnace, I saw some other body had come, so we were lucky. By the will of the Lord, I did not have to stay there for a long time. Her nieces, daughters sent some money and I told them I would make some Vaishnav seva and a hom yajna for Asha Didi.

Such is the fortune of those staying at the temple. They pass away and sadhus take their bodies, carry it on their shoulders, put it into a car, sprinkle or bathe it with the Ganges water, etc. There is a tradition that prescribes putting fire into the mouth of the dead body, but when the mouth was used for chanting the Holy Name, you never put fire into it.

gangara-parasa ha-ile paschate pavana
darsane pavitra kara—ei tomara guna

If the Ganges touches someone, he is later purified, but you purify souls simply by seeing them—such is your power.

When sadhus carry the body on their own shoulders and when Ganges water touches the body, nothing else is left to be done. This is all that is required. Until the dead body is placed into the furnace, we always chant kirtan, and we never say "Bolo Hari." [A common tradition in India.] Somebody said, "Bolo Hari," and I told him, "Hey, quiet! Only Hare Krishna maha-mantra must be chanted!" People do not understand it. When the person is alive, you never tell them to chant the Holy Name, and when they are dead, when you are carrying the dead body of the person and tell the body to take the Name of the Lord ('bolo' means 'say', and 'Hari' is the Name of the Lord). Whom are you telling to chant? No matter how much you tell it to the body, the dead body will never say it. Such is the idea of the people. We always do everything different from what outside people do, our tradition is just the opposite.

* * *

Live a Sheltered Service Life

Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama Adhivas, evening
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 22 March 2021, part 10
Translated from Bengali

It is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness.

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

"Understand the essence: life is temporary and filled with all sorts of adversity. Carefully taking shelter of the Name, engage in your work."

(Gitavali, Arunodaya kirtan, 1.3, by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

This life is not eternal, and this life is full of dangers. You must live this life taking shelter of the Holy Name. Krishna told Sri Uddhav Maharaj, "Acharya mam vijaniyam: you must know that an acharya is I Myself." We wake up early in the morning and sing in a kirtan,

saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, who is said by all the scriptures to be the Lord Himself, and considered to be so by the sadhus, yet is also the Lord's beloved devotee."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 7)

On the one hand Gurudev is the Lord Himself, and on the other hand Gurudev is also said to be the dearest, closest person of the Lord. When we go for the last day of the parikrama, where do I take you? To Champahatti in Ritudwip. This is the place where all seasons (ritu) exist simultaneously in one place. (A part of Bardhaman district is now located in that area—Nabadwip consists of nine islands and some part of it is located within Bardhaman district; previously, the Ganges used to flow through that area, and at some point the current changed and that area became a part of Bardhaman.) So, when Jayadev Goswami and his wife Padmavati lived there in Champahatti, Jayadev Goswami was going to write the line "Dehi pada pallavam udaram" (“I place Your tender feet on My head"), but he suddenly forgot what he was going to write. He stopped writing and told his wife, "Have you finished cooking? Make the offering, I am going to take bath in the Ganges and will come after that." When he left for the Ganges, the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself came in disguise of Jayadev Goswami (nobody could understand who He was) and told Padmavati, "Have you finished cooking and making the offering? Give me prasadam now!" Padmavati fed the Lord thinking He was her husband. After that, the Lord went to the room where Jayadev Goswami had been writing—He wrote that line "Dehi pada pallavam udaram" and went away. After a while, real Jayadev Goswami came home and said to Padmavati, "Where is my prasad? Have you not finished cooking? What has happened?" Padmavati said, "You have just eaten!" "What do you mean I have just eaten?! Where did I eat?" "Just now you came and took prasad!" "What do you mean I took prasad?!" "Yes, you ate and went to your room." Jayadev Goswami was very puzzled, and when he came to the room, he saw the line that he had hesitated to write was completed—"Dehi pada pallavam udaram. I place Your tender feet on My head." The Lord Himself shows what sort of service Srimati Radharani does for Sri Krishna in Seva-kunja... This is the pastime that took place here in Ritudwip that is non-different from Varshana. The Lord Himself took prasad from Padmavati's hand, even she could not understand who came in disguise of her husband.

So, Krishna consciousness is such that once you get that taste you can never forget it. If you ever get the real taste for the Holy Name, you will never be able to leave Krishna consciousness. But we are very unfortunate—although we are all children of the Lord, we are sitting here at ease having forgotten the Lord. The great souls come to us and tell us again and again,

mahanta-svabhava ei tarite pamara
nija karya nahi tabu yana tara ghara

"It is the general practice of all saintly people to deliver the fallen. Therefore they go to people's houses, although they have no personal business there."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 8.39)

Why do they come to other people's houses? Not for their own business. They come for your benefit, they come to help you—so that you could come to this path and start practising Krishna consciousness (start serving the Lord). That is why Lord Krishna told Sri Uddhav Maharaj, "Uddhav, you must know that an acharya is I Myself." Therefore, Gurudev is the Lord Himself. The Lord comes to this world in the form of the Guru and teaches us everything. This is how Gurudev has bestowed so much mercy on this fallen soul although I may not have spent so much time with him personally.

Many say, "Oh, Acharya Maharaj never stayed with Gurudev." It is true—I never wanted to stay with Gurudev like a mosquito that annoys with its buzzing and biting. I have always took Gurudev's burden off his shoulders and put it on my head. You can understand it yourself too. Even now when the cooks come to cook, they come and ask me how many kg rice they must cook. Even now when a fan breaks down, they come to me and ask to fix everything, "Gurudev, a fan has broken." There is nobody who would help—nobody who would get a mechanic and get it fixed. They do not think that they can get it fixed themselves, instead they come and disturb their Gurudev. This is not Guru-seva. Giving headache to your Guru is not Guru-seva. When will they understand this?

There are many devotees who have been my disciples for ten years already, but how many of them think about the devotees? They do not understand what service to devotees is. When I was in Nabadwip, I always worried when it rained, "Who is staying in the pandal? How are they? Is there any water falling through the pandal? Where do devotees sleep? Is there any trouble? Is everyone OK? Is anyone suffering? Is everybody fed well?"

Here, it is not so bad also—in Nabadwip, neighbours always came and gave so much problem, but here there are not such problems. It is a little crowded at the prasadam time, but do not worry—everybody will get prasadam, one lot will sit, take prasadam, then another lot will come. If there is any problem, you can tell me. Try to understand that "no pain, no gain" (Kosta na korle kesta pawa yaya na. Lit. 'You cannot get Kesta [Krishna] without suffering some difficulty'). I see that many are sleeping on the veranda, and I am requesting you all—if you sleep on the veranda, please stay quiet, everybody has to wake up early in the morning. The microphone will start waking you all up at half past three every day...

And I want to say also to all those who are staying in the nat mandir. Please remember this. There are not only two-three bathrooms that you see at the front, near the entrance—some of you may not have seen it, but there are also several bathrooms at the back of the temple, near the kitchen. You do not have to wait for others and crowd at the entrance—use the bathrooms at the back. This is for those who are staying in the nat mandir. Other than that, every room has a bathroom, as Gurudev wanted. In Nabadwip we also made a bathroom in every room, and here too. Village houses often have no bathroom at all, is not so? And here the arrangement is good, all the rooms have a bathroom, there is no problem. The only problem is the management. It is necessary to make sure that water runs well, it is necessary to check that all taps are closed in the morning when we leave for the parikrama. Sometimes you go for parikrama and forget to close taps. If you waste water, you yourself will suffer later. We also have tanks with drinking water for everyone.

Try to do this parikrama well, and do not quarrel in the buses. I am saying it to you with folded palms. Do not worry about anything, everything will be all right. You know, seventy devotees came today in a bus from Tarakeshwar. A bus has perhaps fifty seats, and the way is five or six hours—so, twenty devotees sat in the bus on the floor or stood. They travelled like this for five-six hours, and here it is only ten minutes, so what is the problem? Our buses will come in the morning, they are numbered. Get on the bus and do not fight for seats. I have also seen one (very bad) habit among you—somebody gets on the bus, takes a seat, and keeps a seat next to them for their husband, wife, mother, daughter, etc. When you get on the bus and start fighting, it gives me only pain, nothing else. It is not good to be like this.

We come to serve our Guru, so as far as possible, you must not give any headache or disturbance to your Guru. You can understand what my situation is. You think I sit quietly in my room, but this is not so—I have four mobile phones, and they call me saying, "Oh, I have not got a room!", "Oh, which room should I give them?", "Oh, the water is not running!", "Oh, a fan has broken!" I sit till after midnight dealing with all this and wake up at three-four o'clock. I sleep for two-three hours. I am used to it, so it is not a problem for me...

Tomorrow we will start our parikrama—I must walk and chant kirtan together with you all. Try to chant all the kirtans. Do not think, "Oh, they will sing and I will listen." No, you must also sing. You can see Sripad Rama Prabhu going behind the parikrama [on the second cart, with the second loudspeaker] and chanting kirtan, you can learn from him. Chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, sometimes chant 'Nitai Gauranga', nothing else. Everybody knows how to chant this, everybody can chant it. The Lord does not want to hear your tune—chant as you can. Chant the Lord's Name and He will respond. I have seen that many women do hulahuli at their homes when chanting the Lord's Name—why then do you not call your sons by hulahuli? You call your sons by their names. If you call them by hulahuli, will they respond to that? Answer me. Do you know what Srila Sridhar Maharaj said? "If you think that you will make much noise and that is chanting the Holy Name, then why do you think bats are abused for their annoying noise?” You think your loud chanting is Harinam, but bats also make much noise—is that also Harinam? If it is, then why do you call them bad names when they make noise?

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

"Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1)

If you chant the 'Holy Name' in unholy association, it can never be the Holy Name. If you want to chant the Holy Name,

'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva-sastre kaya
lavamatra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

"Good association", "good association," all the scriptures keep saying. Only by good association can you get all perfection.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.54)

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of the sadhus. There is no other way to conquer samsara.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13)

One more thing I want to say to you is this. Please do not take prasadam in your rooms, do not make the rooms dirty. We have come to serve the dham, not to make it dirty. People eat and leave the plates as it is. It is not good. You will be taking prasadam in a field tomorrow, please keep all the plates in one place. We are going to other temples, and if you behave well, then others will also say, "Their Guru has taught them well." And if you climb the temples, leave dirty plates after taking prasadam, etc., then people will say, "This Maharaj has not taught his disciples anything!" Please remember this. Wherever you go, follow the rules and regulations. We will be taking prasadam in a mango grove tomorrow beside the temple of Sri Jagannathdev, keep all plates in one place after you take prasadam otherwise the temple will have a problem (they will have to clean the place). Here too, I have bought and kept there a special drum—throw all plates into that drum. Do not throw plates on the street or anywhere you like. After prasadam you will go to your rooms, please do not make the rooms dirty. This is all a part of practising Krishna consciousness. Cleanness is a part of Krishna consciousness.

How many days will you be alive in this world? As long as you are alive in this world, chant the Holy Name, live your life serving the Lord. Gurudev used me to make so many temples, if any of you want to stay at the temple permanently, if you want to do service, then come to me, get in touch with the temple. If you want to spend your life at a temple, then you are extremely fortunate. Not everybody has this kind of fortune. When I first came to the temple, Gurudev told me, "You have come to get great things, and to do that you have to give up small things." I understood it at that time—I had to give up small things, this is how I could do so many great things.

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of the sadhus. There is no other way to conquer samsara.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13)

Please practise Krishna consciousness. "Grhe thako, vane thako, sada 'Hari' bole dako, whether you stay in a house or in a forest, always call out the Holy Name." "Ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi grhete goloka bhaya. On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there." When there is eternal (daily, non-stop) service going on in a house, that house is Goloka Vrindavan. We must engage in eternal service...

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