At Nityananda Prabhu's Feet

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, India
21 February 2016

Today in a very beautiful way, we have concluded the celebration of Sri Nityananda Trayodasi, Sri Nityananda Prabhu's appearance maha-mahotsav. It is not all the time, it is not every day that we can come to the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. We must pray at the lotus feet of Nityananda Prabhu.

জীবে দয়া, নামে রুচি, বৈষ্ণব সেবা ।
ইহা বহি সনাতন নাহি আর ধর্ম্ম ॥

jive daya name ruchi vaisnava seva
iha bahi sanatana nahi ara dharma

"Be merciful to the souls, chant the Holy Name, and serve the Vaishnavs. Sanatan, besides this, there is no other religion."

We have no other path except service to the Vaishnavs. We must serve the Vaishnavs, be merciful to all souls, and have taste for chanting the Holy Name. This is how it is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness, and this is what we have taken the shelter of the lotus feet of the bona fide Guru for. Without getting the mercy of Gurudev, you cannot get mercy of the Lord. Besides the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, there is nothing in this world, so we must get the mercy of Doyal Nitai: Nityananda is supremely merciful and He can do anything. He has actually given us Gaura. We sing the kirtan,

যদি গৌর না হ'ত তবে কি হইত
কেমনে ধরিতাম দে ।
রাধার মহিমা প্রেমরস-সীমা
জগতে জানাত কে ? ॥

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

"If Gaura had not come, who in this world would know the glory of Radha?" In the same way, if Nityananda had not come, who would know the glory of Gaura? Nityananda Prabhu preaches the glory of Gaura in this world and we must worship the lotus feet of this Nityananda Prabhu—we must come to His lotus feet and pray.

Every year we do parikrama around Sri Nabadwip Dham of Gauranga, and every year we do parikrama around Sri Ekachakra Dham of Nityananda Prabhu. This kind of fortune is called sukriti—to be able to do these parikramas in this world you first must have sukriti, good fortune. Sukriti means jnata sukriti and ajnata sukriti (conscious and unconscious good fortune). Flowers or trees cannot serve the Lord themselves, but if you use some flower for the service to the Lord, in this way that flower tree can do some service. Everyone can be engaged in the service of the Lord...

Why do we chant the Holy Name? We chant the Holy Name to get the service of the Lord. If we get the service of the Lord it means we get the mercy of Gurudev: if you get mercy of the Guru, it means you get the service to the Guru. We must always remember this and always think about this.

How can we get the mercy of the Guru? By serving and satisfying the Vaishnavs. If you have service, you have mercy: Gurudev gives mercy to those who do service. Always remember it. Gurudev will give you mercy if you serve your Gurudev. Gurudev said, "If you have no service, you have no mercy." We must always remember this and we must always serve under the guidance of the Guru...

So many people around the world do kirtan, but they do not follow a Guru. People practise sixty-four bhaktyanga (devotional practices), but if they do not follow a Guru, then their practices are not service. Practising the sixty-four bhaktyangas means serving your Guru. You can practise all sixty-four bhaktyanga but not get any service to your Guru, not get any mercy of your Guru... You must think about this.

So we pray that we may try to serve the Guru, Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan. Mind is fickle and naughty ("Dustha mana tumi kisera Vaishnava? Naughty mind! What kind of a Vaishnava do you think you are?") "Satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan—following Gurudev, serving the Guru, the Vaishnavs and satisfying them is what is called bhajan." You must remember it. Service means acting under the guidance of the Guru and Vaishnav, and this is what we pray for. We must surrender to Gurudev and meditate on what he wants.

It is said in the scriptures,

হরিস্থানে অপরাধে তারে হরিনাম ।
তোমাস্থানে অপরাধে নাহিক এড়ান ॥

hari-sthane aparadhe tare harinama
toma-sthane aparadhe nahiko edana

"If somebody offends the Lord, the Lord's Name delivers them, but if somebody offends you, they have no way to be saved."

If you make an offence at the feet of the Lord, Vaishnavs can save you, but if you make an offence at the feet of the Vaishnavs, at the feet of the Guru, who will save you then, tell me? If you make an offence to the Vaishnavs and the Guru, they will not be able to save you. You must always remember it.

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