Vaishnavs' Mercy Is Our Refuge

His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj,
24 December 2010, part 4

Guru Maharaj always, all the time gives us guidance, gives us some instruction, but it goes in one ear and out the other...

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj kept Gurudev, kept all the devotees here to serve this Math, and this is our only hope and refuge. The mercy of Vaishnavs is our blessing, this is our hope and prayer. We must always remember and think about this.

You should come for the festival of Nityananda Prabhu in Ekachakra—even if you do not receive the invitation letter, still come. Nityananda Prabhu is in Ekachakra, and you must come and get His mercy there. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also went to Ekachakra Dham because he wanted to get mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, but when he came there he heard some akash-dhvani (lit. "sound from the sky") from Nityananda Prabhu. What did Nityananda Prabhu say to him? He said, "You have got mercy from Jagad Guru Prabhupad, from Nayana Manjari, and you must first distribute it. Why are you such a miser? First distribute what you have got, then come to Me." After that Srila Sridhar Maharaj came to this Math and started taking some disciples. Before that he had not taken any disciples.

So,

নিতাইয়ের করুণা হবে ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ পাবে,
ধর নিতাইয়ের চরণ দুঃখানি
নিতাইয়ের চরণ সত্য তাঁহার সেবক নিত্য,
নিতাই-পদ সদা কর আশ,

nitaiyer karuna habe vraje radha-krsna pabe
dhara nitaiyer charan duhkhani
nitaiyer charana satya tanhara sevaka nitya
nitai-pada sada kara asa

"When Nitai bestows His mercy you will reach Radha-Krsna in Vraja. Grasp Nitai's feet! Nitai's feet are truth, and His servants are eternal. Always aspire for Nitai's feet."

Nityananda is Guru-tattva. Remember this. Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu are non-different from each other, so if you do not get mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, you will not get mercy of Mahaprabhu. What did Nityananda sing?

ভজ গৌরাঙ্গ, কহ গৌরাঙ্গ, লহ গৌরাঙ্গের নাম রে
যে জন গৌরাঙ্গ ভজে, সেই আমার প্রাণ রে

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re
ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

"Worship Gauranga! Say Gauranga! Take Gauranga's Name! Those who worship Gauranga are My heart and soul!"

Nityananda said, "Those who worship Gauranga are My life and soul." So, you must worship Gauranga then, if you worship Gauranga, you will be worshipping Nityananda. Somebody says, "Shall we pray to Nityananda or shall we pray to Mahaprabhu?" This is ardha-kukkuti nyaya (half-hen logic).

One time—it happened in Jhamatpur Baharan, the place where Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami (the author of Chaitanya-charitamrita) lived—Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's brother invited Gunarnava Misra to do puja (Deity worship), and when Minaketan Ramdas, a devotee of Nityananda Prabhu, came there, Gunarnava Misra did not show him respect because he did not believe in Nityananda Prabhu or His devotees so much. Seeing this, Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami got angry, "You drink cow's milk but do not serve the cow! This is half-hen logic. You are giving honour to Mahaprabhu, but you are not giving honour to Nityananda Prabhu. There is no Mahaprabhu without Nityananda Prabhu and there is no Nityananda Prabhu without Mahaprabhu! You must respect both—if you respect only one of Them and do not respect the other one, it is half-hen logic."

Devotee: There is also a sloka:

দুই ভাই একতনু—সমান-প্রকাশ ।
নিত্যানন্দ না মান', তোমার হবে সর্ব্বনাশ ॥

dui bhai eka-tanu—samana-prakasa
nityananda na mana, tomara habe sarva-nasa

[Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami said to his brother,] "These two brothers are like one body, They are identical manifestations. If you do not believe in Nityananda, everything will be ruined for you!"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.175)

Yes, true.

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