Keeping Current Clean

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
20 December 2010

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'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)

Sraddha means faith. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari (শ্রদ্ধা-অনুসারী ভক্তি-অধিকারী, Cc, 2.22.64)—the devotion you have comes through faith. Before sraddha, there is first sukriti. Scriptures and our Gurudev say, "Adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya." (আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া, Brs, 1.4.15) First sukriti is necessary. There cannot be faith without sukriti.

Sukriti means "tad vastu tadiya sevaya" (তদ বস্তু তদীয় সেবায়)—using His property for Him, for His service. There are two types of sukriti, ajnata and jnata (knowing and unknowing). From sukriti comes sraddha. There are also 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). And then, sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari (property of one's devotion depends on one's faith).

Through sraddha there comes good association, sadhu-sanga. What happens during sadhu-sanga? Sravanam, kirtanam. There are many kinds of sravan, many kinds of katha in this world, but what you listen to from a sadhu, is called sravan-kirtan. We sing every day (in Parama Karuna kirtan),

visaya-katha parihari mukhe bolo gaura hari
gramya-katha parihari mukhe bolo gaura hari

I give this akor (ornamental line) in the song, and I see everybody searches in the books trying to find it but no one can find it. (His Divine Grace laughs.)

You must avoid (parihari) material talks. If there is no Krishna-katha in some talk, that is gramya-katha. You must avoid such talks—you must avoid what is not related to Krishna-katha, not related to Krishna, to service, to your Guru. That is all gramya-katha. "Gramya-katha parihari," and "mukhe bolo Gaura Hari." Only say "Gaura Hari!" Visaya-katha is material talks, material subjects, all the "How are you?" talks, people are always talking about so many thing. You see that such katha is going on all over the world, and it annoys me very much, I cannot tolerate it when people talk so much.

Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj also could not tolerate it. When he came to Nabadwip, he lived on the bank of the Ganges. He cut some leaves from a palm tree and made a small house for himself, and there he sat and only chanted all the time. He could not tolerate hearing so many outside talks, so he came to the bank of the Ganges and stayed in a quiet place where he could chant without any problem.

sri-gauranga-parisada thakura bhakti-vinoda
dina-hina patitera bandhu

"Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of all low and fallen souls."

They are all parsads (associates) of Mahaprabhu and they all came to Nabadwip. Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj also came to Nabadwip from Vrindavan because Gaura-lila is here in Nabadwip, and he also sat in a quiet corner on the bank of the Ganges and chanted the Holy Name. Both Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj and Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj came to Nabadwip from Vrindavan and lived like this, but Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's style was different—he declared a totalitarian war against maya.

Sach-chid-ananda Bhaktivinod Thakur also fought against misconception. Even before he came to Nabadwip, when he was a magistrate Puri, there was some problem with a baul and he punished that man. Later, when he came to Nabadwip (Krishna-nagar), he saw there were so much opposition to Krishna consciousness, he saw that Mahaprabhu's conception was going to down and becoming hidden. He prayed to the Lord, "Please send someone! Please send someone who can continue Mahaprabhu's movement!" When the current of a river is flowing, the water in the river is good, but when the current stops, the water becomes dirty. So, just like Bhagirath, Bhaktivinod Thakur (through Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur) was suddha-bhakti-mandakini dhara, a carrier of the current of pure devotion.

Bimala Prasad (previous name of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur) did a sata-koti Nama yajna (he chanted a hundred crores of Holy Names). It took him six years, six months and sixteen days to finish it, and at the end Guru Gauranga Gadharva Giridhari appeared in front of him. He did not install these Deities, did you know about that? These Deities are still there in Mayapur Chaitanya Math, he brought Them there from the place where he found Them. He was walking down the street one day, chanting, and suddenly he saw these Deities in front of him, in some hut or something like that.

Devotee: No murti-walla was necessary?

No, it was not necessary to order or do anything.

At that time, there were also problems. Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur actually saw Bhaktivinod Thakur as Radharani's parsad, part of Radharani, and saptam (seventh) Goswami also. He had so much affection for him, but his brother was a sahajiya and wanted to make some disturbance in the mission. Bhaktivinod Thakur gave his sampradaya charge to Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Bimala Prasad, but his brother also wanted to get a share of the "cake." Sundarananda Vidya Vinod, who wrote about this later in the Gaudiya, and all the devotees understood that only Bimala Prasad could do what Bhaktivinod Thakur wanted because he had got the power. In the end, that brother left and stayed in Ula (Birnagar), the place where Bhaktivinod Thakur was born. After that, Prabhupad established his mission. This is the history.

Baba badha Radha (seeing Bhaktivinod Thakur as father is an obstacle to seeing him as Radharani). Baba means father, badha means obstacle, and Radha is Radharani, you know that. When that Deity of Guru Gauranga Gandharva Giridhati appeared before Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, They ordered him to preach the main conception, and in the sixty-four years* that he was alive for he made sixty-four temples all over India and abroad...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!

*(In Indian calculation, the age is calculated with one year difference from the Western system. For example, when a child is considered one year in the West, it is considered two years old in India.)

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