World of Faith and Humility

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Eve of Sri Nrisingha Chaturdasi,
2 May 2015, Sri Nabadwip Dham, part 5
Translated into English from Bengali

It is necessary to have faith. Param Guru Maharaj said that for those who have ears, there exists a world of sound (if somebody is deaf, even if you drop a bomb near them, they will not hear it, is it not so?); for those who have eyes there exists a visual world (if you have no eyes, you are blind, then no matter how close one can bring some picture to you, you will not see it, it will not exist for you and will have no value); and for those who have faith, there exists a world of devotion, bhakti.

It is necessary to acquire faith. Faith can be acquired by sadhu-sanga, good association. If you have good association, if you listen to the sadhus properly (as I was saying, if you accept the conception and practices of Gora, if you accept what Mahaprabhu taught), then you will get supreme benefit.

Jagadananda Pandit said, "When I wanted to go to Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu did not tell me to go there, but when I asked Him, 'Prabhu, can I go to Vrindavan?' He did not say no. He said I could go, but when I went there, I could not see anything! Why does it have to be like this?" He cried in separation, "I think my Lord did not want me to go to Vrindavan, but seeing me ready to go, He did not say no—He told me to go. But what did I see there? Prabhu! I went there to see Your pastimes, but I could not see anything there!" How beautiful Jagadananda Pandit's words are...

যেই ভজে, সেই বড়, অভক্ত—হীন, ছার ।
কৃষ্ণভজনে নাহি জাতি-কুলাদি বিচার ॥

yei bhaje sei bada, abhakta—hina, chhara
krsna-bhajane nahi jati-kuladi-vichara

"Only a nondevotee can be considered as worthless and abominable: anyone who takes to devotional service is great—there is no consideration of class, caste or any other status for those who have taken up service to Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.67)

Mahaprabhu instructed devotees that nobody could touch His feet when they paid obeisance to Him, but there was one person for whom Mahaprabhu said, "Do not stop him." It was Kalidas.

One time, Kalidas came to the house of Jhadu Thakur to take prasadam. He carried a few mangoes with him. Seeing Kalidas, Jhadu Thakur said, "You are a brahman, why did you come to my house? I belong to a low caste, I am a cobbler and maintain my life by selling leather, and you, a brahman, have come to my house to take prasadam... I cannot give you prasad because I belong to a lower caste, but there is a brahman's house nearby, I will ask them to serve you prasadam." Kalidas refused, "No, Prabhu, it will not do. OK, I am going, but keep these mangoes, you can offer them later to the Lord and take prasadam." Having given the mangoes to Jhadu Thakur, Kalidas left and hid secretly behind the house in the bushes—he waited when Jhadu Thakur would offer the mangoes to the Lord. Soon, Jhadu Thakur offered the mangoes to the Lord and gave one to his wife—she ate the mango and spat the peel out. Kalidas saw where the peel fell—he picked that spat out peel and ate it.

Later, he came to Puri one day. At that time, nobody would be allowed to touch Mahaprabhu's feet. When Kalidas paid his obeisance and grasped Mahaprabhu's feet, devotees were about to stop him, but Mahaprabhu said, "Do not stop him! He took the remnants of all Gaudiya Vaishnavs—he has so much devotion that he took remnants from everybody's plates!" One day, when all Vaishnavs finished taking prasad and threw their plates away, Kalidas took those plates and licked them. That is why Mahaprabhu said, "Do not stop him."

It is necessary to be humble—humility must come.

দৈন্য, দয়া, অন্যে মান, প্রতিষ্ঠা বর্জ্জন ।
চারিগুণে গুণী হই করহ কীর্ত্তন ॥

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

"Humility, mercy, being considerate to others, and giving up self-establishment are the four qualities needed to perform kirtan."

How did Narayani, the mother of Vrindavan Das Thakur, get such a wonderful child? She took Mahaprabhu's prasad.

One day, when Mahaprabhu was taking prasad, a cat came and began to disturb Him. Mahaprabhu moved the cat away with His hand, and as the cat moved away a grain of rice dropped out of its mouth and fell in some place nearby. Narayani picked it up and put it into her mouth—she did not feel squeamish. When Mahaprabhu saw this, He was surprised. He thought, "Narayani has so much devotion! A grain of rice falls on the ground, but she does not feel it is dirty—she thinks it is prasad and takes it!" Later, Narayani got a bad (non-devotee) husband, but it does not matter—by the mercy of Mahaprabhu, Vrindavan Das Thakur came from her womb.

The pastimes of Vrindavan Das Thakur, this pastime of Narayani's devotion—these are examples for us to understand. You can also remember Chand Kazi who broke a mridanga but later was rescued, you can remember Jagai and Madhai who became rescued. We hear all these examples, but we ourselves are not even making an effort...

দৈন্য, দয়া, অন্যে মান, প্রতিষ্ঠা বর্জ্জন ।
চারিগুণে গুণী হই করহ কীর্ত্তন ॥

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

"Humility, mercy, being considerate to others, and giving up self-establishment are the four qualities needed to perform kirtan."

As I was saying yesterday, somebody says, "Krishna! Krishna!" all the time, but if you want to get devotion to Krishna (Krishna-bhava), if you want to serve and worship Krishna, you must first get devotion to Gaura (Gaura-bhava). Without devotion to Gauranga, nobody can serve Krishna.

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