The Country’s Misfortune (Deśera Durdaiva)

This article was first published in Dainik Nadīyā Prakāśa on Monday, 7th May 1928 and was written by Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja prior to accepting initiation. Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja asks why we stubbornly refuse to accept the truth and continues to explain the misfortune of India in that its people continue to hold onto ignorant beliefs and mundane dharma.

So, why are we not prepared to hear the truth? If the truth is unpleasant, why do we become irritated? If I reject it, will the truth be destroyed? Perhaps such a bewildered analysis is presented to us by our envy-driven mind, which deceives us. Just as a lamb closes its eyes to an approaching hunter in order to protect itself, we also try to avoid the all-consuming jaws of the ghastly form of time by turning away from it. But what is the result? Who is cheated? Time or us? The fearful lamb does not escape the hunter’s clutches simply by shutting its eyes – instead it is killed at the very next moment. Similarly, like cowards, we are increasingly falling into the jaws of time, unprepared and in large numbers. Yet none of us are lacking in intelligence! Everyone carries a mountain-range of false ego like the Himalayas in their heart, and are constantly worshiping it. If someone claims my mountain-range is an inch shorter, I immediately claim theirs is twenty inches shorter and then I inflate mine sixteen-fold! However, when time comes knocking and all wisdom becomes futile, then we find ourselves forced to retreat and we hide behind that same mountain-range.

Alas! Can I really believe this statement that my mountain of pride is actually causing my complete destruction? Even if some well-wisher screams at the top of their lungs to wake me, I do not awaken. Instead, if I can wake up and then go back to sleep again, then internally, I admire my own intelligence. Alas! Will this deceitful sleep never be broken? This worldly existence severely scorches us, and time constantly defeats us. Knowingly or unknowingly, we all want to achieve relief from the three kinds of suffering. But what is the way? On one’s own imagined path? Rather, forgetting the path, I will remain eternally subjugated – yet I will not listen to the advice of any liberated person. Instead, I will listen to the words of a hypocritical charlatan, because they align more with my views, but I will not seek refuge in a true sādhu! I am a patient wanting to be treated, but I only want a doctor who will administer medicine and treatment that matches my mentality! If the medicine is bitter I would rather die, whether it cures the disease or not. Whatever the case, I will not take refuge in a real doctor! I will break, yet I will not bow! How long will this foolishness of ours last?

When the country becomes afflicted like this with such ignorance and misfortune, if indeed some great personality descends and makes every effort to rescue it, if the ācārya himself, embodying perfect conduct, proclaims a message of fearlessness from door to door to the jīvas for the welfare of the country, if he frees the imprisoned jīvas who have forgotten their inherent nature, suffering from the disease of material existence from time immemorial from their ignorance with the knowledge of śāstra, and provides respite from the disease of mundane life by showering them with the nectar of hari-kathā and awards them eternal wealth – even if I see hundreds of jīvas burned by the three miseries of material life taking refuge at his supremely soothing lotus feet, calling out in joy, and even if at certain auspicious moments I perceive a glimpse of his causeless mercy within my own heart – if despite all this, we, the people of this land, remain deceived, then is it not a misfortune for our country?

If there is disregard in honouring the son of a brāhmaṇa of mixed lineage, if wealth, which is the apple of a millionaire’s eye, is considered to be as insignificant as straw, if mundane knowledge of the community of learned and established scholars is understood to be worthlessness, if beauty, lineage and wealth are perceived as vanity, if the affection of a mother, the love of a wife, and parental love for children, among other familial pleasures, are all seen as deceptions of māyā, and even after witnessing the best of men surrender at the feet of a genuine guru – if the eyes of the country remain closed, then is that not a misfortune for this country?

If, despite hearing the continuous lion-like roar of the ācārya, who is the bearer of divine messages from Vaikuṇṭha and the dispeller of illusions, the country continues being enchanted by various mundane dharmas which bewilder the mind such as meditation, penance, knowledge, etc., and fails to accept the golden opportunity to drink from the stream of nectar of the highest objective propagated by Śrīman Mahāprabhu, which is devoid of deceit and served by those paramahaṁsas who are free from envy, then is it not a misfortune for the country?

(Translated by Swami Bhaktivijñāna Giri)

📚 Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee Series by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Vaiṣṇava Nindā by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura The Country’s Misfortune by Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja Śiva-tattva & the Position of Lord Śiva by Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja Oh Bābā! Bolacche-re! by Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja Problems and Solutions by Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja The Highest Attainment and Present Adjustment by Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja Āgun Jvālbe (Light the Fire!) by Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Mahārāja Dharma and the Modern World by Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda Faith Confirms the Absolute by Śrīla B.G. Narasiṅgha Mahārāja Go Deeper! by Śrīla B.G. Narasiṅgha Mahārāja To Be a Servant by Śrīla B.G. Narasiṅgha Mahārāja Harmony – Real and Apparent by Swami B.V. Giri The Definition of Faith by Gaura Gopāla Dāsa Ātma Samīkṣā – The Value of Introspection by Kalki Dāsa Frogs in the Well of Prejudice by Kalki Dāsa

Gauḍīya Sārasvat Pariṣad

The Country’s Misfortune (Deśera Durdaiva)

The Country’s Misfortune (Deśera Durdaiva)

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The Country’s Misfortune (Deśera Durdaiva)

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