The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Cebu, Philippines, on February 11, 1999 (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology Volume 37)

We are fortunate to come here and hear something. God, especially the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is so kind. That is why He sometimes comes to this world, and also sometimes sends His powerful associates here to teach the world all these things. You should try to realise all these things. Otherwise, you cannot be happy. You can never be happy otherwise. So you should try to follow all these instructions if you really want to be happy.

Once upon a time, there was a very powerful king. He was so wealthy, equipped with everything necessary to be happy in this world: a wife, children, so much wealth, everything. One day, a Vaiṣṇava devotee went to his palace and wanted to meet him, but the king thought, “Oh, he is just a beggar. He is a beggar, and he has come to beg for something.” The king told his doorkeeper, “You should tell him to come another day. I am very busy.” Thus, he avoided meeting that Vaiṣṇava. After a few days, this devotee came again and asked to meet the king. But the king gave the same reply.

Again, the Vaiṣṇava tried to meet the king, but again he failed. He could not meet him. Then that Vaiṣṇava decided he should go to the king’s wife because generally, ladies are soft-hearted. He went there and sent the queen a message: “I want to meet you for some special reason.” The queen kindly allowed him to come. He came to the queen, met with her, and told her, “I am a devotee, but I am also a very skilled astrologer. I know everything: the past, the future, and the present. This king is very pious and religious-minded, but in seven days he will surely die. I have ascertained all this by astrological calculation. So you can tell him to do whatever he likes.”

Saying this, he left the place. The queen then became very worried and at once called the king, and he came at once. Now there was no delay because the queen had called the king, not that beggar saint. He asked his wife, “Why have you called me?”

“A devotee came and said that he is also an astrologer. His head was shaved; he was very beautiful; he had a beautiful tilaka on his head, and he was holding a tulasī mālā and chanting the holy name, ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.’ 

He has ascertained by astrological calculation that you will die in seven days. Saying this, he at once quickly went away. I don’t know where he went. But I am worried that within seven days you will die. What should we do?”

The king at once sent so many messengers to quickly search for that devotee. So many messengers went away to search for that devotee, and at last, just outside of town on the bank of a river, under the shade of a tree, he was chanting, “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa.” He was totally absorbed. This messenger told the saint, “O Bābājī Mahārāja, the king wants to meet you, so please come with us.”

He quickly came with them and went inside the palace. Now the king respected him so much. He gave him so much respect and even gave him a seat on his own throne. Then he quickly and very humbly folded his hands and asked, “Mahārāja, have you said that I will die in seven days?”

“You will surely die. No one can save you. You must die. I know astrology. If you have no faith in this, then you can imprison me, but your death is certain.”

“What should I do now? I don’t know what to do. I have surrendered to you, so please tell me what to do.”

“After death, you will go to the heavenly planets, and when you go there, everything will be there for you because you are a pious person. All arrangements have been made for you there. But there is one thing. Everything is ready for you: very delicious food, a very good cottage, a nice bed, so many things. You should not worry about that. But there is one thing. Somehow, some mosquitoes have gone there from India. Very dangerous black mosquitoes are there, and their bite can cause you to contract malaria. There is a mosquito net, but in one corner of that mosquito net, there is a hole. So you should take only a needle and a thread from here, so when you go there, you can repair that mosquito net. Then everything will be okay.”

“How can I take a needle from this world to there? I cannot take my body or anything there.”

“Oh, foolish king, then what have you done in your whole life? You have collected so much, but you cannot even take a needle and a thread with you from this world. You are foolish like an ass, the whole day always job, job, job, job, job, job. But among whatever you collect, you cannot even take a needle and thread with you from here. Certainly, you are like an ass. The whole day and night you are working, but for nothing. So what have you really done?” This is our position.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to teach these things. A person, from morning to morning, day and night, they are only collecting money, money, money, this, that, this, that. But yet they cannot take a thread, what to speak of a thread, they cannot even take a strand of hair with them after death. Can you take anything with you when you die? So why are you so busy, like dogs, the whole day and night for these things? What are you doing? What are we doing? We should try to think about all these things.

Whatever you have collected in your whole life, you cannot take with you, not even an insignificant thread. You cannot take anything from this world with you after you die. So why are you working like asses and dogs, hogs and pigs? What are you doing? You should think about this properly. We cannot do anything about this.

So that saint told the king, “Just now you should chant, ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.’

Give up all these things which you cannot take with you. Then you will see that, with a transcendental body, by giving up everything in this world, you will reach a higher destination than the heavenly planets. You can go to Goloka Vṛndāvana. It is a very beautiful land where there is no birth or death. There is always happiness there. The Yamunā River is there, where very sweet nectar is always flowing. There are desire trees there that can give you anything.”

Everything is there. There is an ocean of milk, butter, and ghee, and so much transcendental happiness there. You cannot imagine. There is no problem of divorce between the husband and wife. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is there. You can be engaged in His service, and thus you will be happy forever, and your life will be successful. You will only have to chant, “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.”

But you may say, “I have no time to chant because the whole day I am busy with my job.” If you have no time, then do you have time to pass stool and urine? Do you have time for this? Then you can chant even at that time.

Begin from today! Don’t wait until tomorrow, because you may die today. You must note that all the wealth you are collecting and working so hard for will not help you. Only kṛṣṇa-nāma can help you. You should fully understand this. Among lakhs and lakhs of humans, very few become devotees. Then, among lakhs and lakhs of devotees, very, very few are devotees who have surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and are actual devotees. Then, among these devotees, those who truly follow the teachings of bhakti are very rare. Among them, very rare are those who realise something and are detached from this world.

Among them, very rare are those who come to the stage of madhyama-adhikārī and realise something and are always chanting and remembering. They have no care for maintaining their lives. They are like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, like Rūpa Gosvāmī, like Sanātana Gosvāmī. Like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He left all these things. They are always absorbed in chanting and remembering. Among them, very few have attained siddhi (perfection). Then, among them, very, very few are perfect in prema. So you should know this.

Gṛhastha-bhaktas are of two kinds. This is for devotees. I am not speaking to others. I am speaking to devotees, those who have been instructed, those who have taken initiation, first initiation or second. But I am not speaking to those in the renounced order, sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs. This is for gṛhasthas.

So there are two kinds of gṛhastha bhaktas. First, there are those who are always busy maintaining their lives, their wives, their children, and others. They are always engaged like this. They are so busy with this. But they have been initiated, so they think, “Somehow, I should maintain my practice of bhakti-yoga.”

Therefore, they sometimes chant one or two rounds. Sometimes they chant their gāyatrī-mantra, sometimes not. These are secondary things for them. The maintenance of their lives, collecting money, and all other things are primary for them. They only want to be happy in this world and maintain their lives. But they also chant and remember for one or two minutes, anyhow, anyhow. They are always busy going to their jobs and offices, but they still do something for their bhakti. Their maintenance is primary, and all their devotional activities are secondary.

Then, for the other kind of devotee, their maintenance is only to support their devotional activities. They think, “Our most essential duty is our devotional activities, our chanting and remembering.” They will wake up very early in the morning, take a bath, and do everything. They will be ready, and they will chant their gāyatrī-mantra very patiently. At that time, they are not thinking of anything in this world. After that, they will chant perhaps thirty-two rounds in the morning, not talking with anyone, not seeing anyone. These devotional activities are their primary concern.

Then, at nine in the morning, very easily they will take some mahā-prasādam, some remnant of Kṛṣṇa, and go to work, to their job. But sometimes, if they are busy reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, or if Gurudeva has come, they will have nothing to do with their job or anything. They know that Kṛṣṇa will manage everything. So these things are primary for them. They think, “My life has been given for bhakti-yoga, and my maintenance is secondary.” But those devotees who are even above this, they think, “I have nothing to do to maintain anything. Kṛṣṇa will maintain everything.”

So we must try to advance in our devotional activities. We should not always be a lower-class devotee. We should try to maintain our lives so that we can engage in all our devotional activities. Our job and all these things are not our primary duty. Our primary duty is what? Chanting, remembering, and doing all these things. Like Rūpa-Sanātana, they never even begged for salt, what to speak of some sweets. If a desire sometimes came for any sweet, they would take some nimba leaves and eat them.

They told their tongues, “You should take this.” They never said, “Oh, there is only one kind of vegetable today. There is only one kind of sweet today. Sometimes rabarī should come. Sometimes sweet rice should be there. So much variety should come.” They would never speak like this. They would beg for some dry capātīs, and they would put them in water, and anyhow they ate that. Otherwise, all their time for hari-bhajana will pass away. Their time for chanting and remembering will go away.

saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau
nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau cātyanta-dīnau ca yau
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-guṇa-smṛter madhurimānandena sammohitau
vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau

Śrī Ṣaḍ-gosvāmyaṣṭakam (6)

[“They would pass their time by daily chanting a fixed number of holy names, singing particular songs, and offering regulated obeisances (to saints, deities, and the Lord’s pastime places). Thus they fully conquered the urges of eating, sleeping, recreation, and so forth. Always considering themselves to be unlimitedly lowly and insignificant, they became enchanted in sweet rapture by remembering Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s qualities. I worship Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Raghunātha dāsa, Jīva, and Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmīs.”]

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmījī used to sing this song very pathetically, weeping. But you may raise a question, “We are simply gṛhasthas. How can we do this?” Why can’t you do this? Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita was also a family man. He had daughters and sons. His one son died, but he thought, “No harm.” Kīrtana was going on, and his son died. Do you know this story? I think you have no time to open Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and read all these things. I know, because you are always engaged in job, job, job, job. Even in your dreams, you are dreaming, “Job, job, job.” While sleeping, “Job, job.” But this job cannot help you.

So try to follow the teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Do you know Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī? He was also a householder. He was very beautiful. He was more than a prince. He had a vast kingdom, and his wife was more beautiful than any heavenly goddess. She was so beautiful. His father and mother used to love him so much. He was the only son. His father was there, and two brothers were there, but there were no children, only this son. So he was like a prince. But why did he leave all these things? He could not live in family life. He was always weeping, only to meet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He always wanted to chant and remember.

I have come to remind you of all these things and to inspire you, to give a powerful injection for this. All these things are true to the fullest extent. This truth cannot be changed. Tomorrow we will again speak about all these things and hear very powerful hari-kathā. We should try to follow all these things. I am not saying that you should not try to maintain your family. No, you can be in family life and maintain that, but you should think of these things as secondary, not primary. Your primary duty is what?

There should be an aim and an object in your life. You should think about how you can be happy, how you can chant, and how you can remember. Making all these things secondary and giving prominence to maintaining your life will do nothing. So you should try to do it like this. You can maintain your family thinking, “These are all servants of Kṛṣṇa. I am also a servant of Kṛṣṇa.” We are not so qualified, so we should maintain all these things in family life, but only so we can perform devotional activities. We should maintain these things only so we can chant more, hear hari-kathā, remember Kṛṣṇa, and chant Kṛṣṇa’s name. Gaura-premānande!

Source(s): Purebhakti.com, Serve Love – Bhakta Bandhav (Bhakta Bandhav Anthology transcribed and edited by the Bhakta Bandhav Team)

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Unless indicated otherwise, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)