Dignity of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham
26 March 2016

(4) ENTERING SERVICE PLANET

We do not follow Mirabai, we want to serve under the guidance of Vraja gopis, under the guidance of Radharani, under the guidance of Vaishnavs. Our service mood is like this. Also, Das Goswami Prabhu once did not accept a pot that was coming from Chandravali's place.

Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "Baba badha Radha (বাবা বাধা রাধা)." He said it because his brother Lalita Prasad thought, "Bimala Prasad [previous name of Srila Prabhupad] is a son of Bhakti Vinod Thakur, and I am also a son of Bhakti Vinod Thakur, so we are the same. Our father helped to make Chaitanya Math in Yogapith, so I also have some share of that Chaitanya Math." And Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, "You see Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur as a father, but I see him not only as a father, he is not than a father, he is more than even a Guru—he is Kamala Manjari, Radharani's associate."

This is what our preaching style is based upon, and this is what it should be like. "Tosamod kori' guru hate pare na (তোষামোদ করি' গুরু হতে পারে না): one who flatters you, cannot be a guru." If you read Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's lectures, then you can see what his mood was like. We should understand our temple's dignity, this is the main thing.

SURRENDER

We must always engage ourselves in service and try to enter the service planet.

শুদ্ধ ভকত-চরণ-রেণু
ভজন-অনুকূল ।
ভকত-সেবা পরম-সিদ্ধি
প্রেমলতিকার মূল ॥

suddha-bhakata-charana-renu
bhajana-anukula
bhakata-seva parama-siddhi
prema-latikara mula

"The dust of pure devotees' feet is favourable to devotion. Serving the devotees is the supreme fulfilment and the root of the creeper of divine love."

Saranagati is the main thing. If you sing and explain this song from Saranagati (19), you can understand what it is,

সর্ব্বস্ব তোমার চরণে সঁপিয়া
পড়েছি তোমার ঘরে ।
নিজের পোষণ কভু না ভাবিব
রহিব ভাবের ভরে ।

sarvasva tomara, charane sampiya,
parechhi tomara ghare
nijera posana, kabhu na bhaviba,
rahiba bhavera bhare

I have offered everything at Your feet and taken shelter in Your home. I will never think about my own maintenance; I will always remain within the shelter of loving attachment for You.

"Tie me near to you, tie me to your door."

বাঁধিয়া নিকটে আমারে পালিবে,
রহিব তোমার দ্বারে ।
প্রতীপ-জনেরে আসিতে না দিব,
রাখিব গড়ের পারে ॥

bandhiya nikate amare palibe
rahiba tomara dvara
pratipa-janere asite na diba
rakhiba gadera pare

"Tie me up nearby and maintain me. I will remain at Your doorstep. I will not allow anyone who is against You to enter, I will keep them outside."

"I will not allow anyone who is against you to come to your door."

তব নিজ-জন প্রসাদ সেবিয়া
উচ্ছিষ্ট রাখিবে যাহা ।
আমার ভোজন পরম-আনন্দে
প্রতিদিন হবে তাহা ॥

taba nija-jana prasada seviya
uchchhistha rakhibe yaha
amara bhojana parama-anande
pratidina habe taha

"Whatever remnants your devotees leave behind after honouring Your prasad, I will eat that every day in great ecstasy."

Mahaprabhu did not allow anyone to touch His feet, but He did allow one devotee (Kalidas) to do it because that devotee always took remnants of the devotees. After prasadam, you throw the plate outside—that devotee would take that prasadam.

Gurudev said that if you serve devotees, Krishna will come to serve you. You can see Kadam-khandi—it is in Vrindavan, near Nanda-gram, and you can see there many slokas written Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Srimati Radharani came to that place to cook for Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami—Radharani Herself came to cook sweet rice for them! Sanatan Goswami cried after that, "You are giving so much austerity to Her! Do not give any more austerity to Her."

WITHOUT OFFENCE AND EGO

We have joined this mission, we have accepted a Guru and taken initiation, but now we must serve our Guru. The main thing is how to make your Guru happy.

You must also always avoid Vaishnav aparadh because when you make offence to a Vaishnav, you making an offence to the Lord. You see how mercy Vaishnavs are. Once, Durvasa Muni came to Ambarish Maharaj's house. The day before Ambarish Maharaj did nirjal ekadasi and in the morning when Durvasa Muni came, Ambarish Maharaj took some charanamrita for paran (to break the fast). Durvasa Muni became very angry, but Krishna could not tolerate that and sent Sudarshan after Durvasa Muni. Durvasa Muni ran everywhere out of fear, but Ambarish Maharaj said to Krishna, "O Lord, please protect him, please protect him, please protect him!" Such is Vaishnav's mercy—"Please protect him." So, you can understand how merciful they are.

We always want mercy, mercy, mercy, but our heart is always full of ego—how shall we keep the mercy of the Guru and Vaishnavs? We always ask, "Gurudev, give me mercy. Gurudev, give me mercy," but if I am full of ego how will I keep that mercy? Here is one example.

There was a sadhu who lived in a thatched house. One day when he was cooking something, a man came to his house, sat on a chair and said, "Hey, sadhu! Give me some knowledge!" The sadhu thought, "What has this man come to me for? He has no surrender. He must have come to test me." Thinking like this, the sadhu brought two glasses of water (one glass had plain water, and the other one some sugar water) and poured the sugar water into the other glass. All water fell down and the man's leather shoes, pants, everything got wet. The man became angry and shouted, "Hey sadhu! You have no brain! What are you doing?! I am all wet! I know something, but you are a big fool!" The sadhu replied, "I am doing this to show you that you have come to me to ask for some knowledge—you want to take some knowledge, some lesson from me—but you know more than me. Your brain is full of knowledge, and if I put something in you, it will all overflow and fall down."

So, if you come to somebody to get anything, you must come in a surrendered mood, this is the main thing.

FAITH vs KNOWLEDGE

"Only those who got the mercy of Chaitanya can understand the pastimes of Chaitanya." Who knows Gurudev? Who can understand Gurudev? Who can understand Guru Maharaj? Only those who have got mercy from Guru Maharaj, who have got mercy from Gurudev can understand Guru Maharaj, can understand Gurudev.

Somebody once told Gurudev, "Maharaj I have a Ph.D. degree in Bengali and I know Chaitanya-charitamrita very well. Can I compose Chaitanya-charitamrita?" Gurudev replied, "You may be a Ph.D., a double Ph.D., or a triple Ph.D., you can know so much, but without Chaitanya's mercy you cannot compose Chaitanya-charitamrita."

জ্ঞান-যোগ-কর্ম্মচয় মূল্য তার কিছু নয়
ভক্তির বিরোধী যদি হয় ।

jnana-yoga-karma-chaya mulya tara kichhu naya
bhaktira virodhi yadi haya

"Karma, jnana (fruitive activities, knowledge) are nothing, have no value if it is against devotion." If something is against devotion, it has no value. Full surrender is necessary.

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion."

MAKE YOUR HOUSE A TEMPLE

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য-দয়া করহ বিচার ।
বিচার করিলে চিত্তে পাবে চমৎকার ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya-daya karaha vichara
vichara karile chitte pabe chamatkara

"If you consider the mercy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, you will be wonder-struck to realise it."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 8.15)

What Chaitanya-chandra gave to us, what Guru Maharaj, Gurudev gave to us, is incomparable, inconceivable, and we must have faith in that, we must believe that. You must practise in a proper way and make your house a temple, then you can run, you can continue your practising life. Gurudev said no matter where you stay you can maintain your spiritual life. These are the main things.

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

sakala-sadhana-srestha ei pancha anga
krsna-prema janmaya ei panchera alpa sanga

"These five limbs of devotional service are the best of all. Even a slight performance of these five awakens love for Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.125)

Chant the Holy Name without offence. If you make offence to the Lord, his associates, Vaishnavs, can remove your offence, but who will remove your offence if you make offence to the Vaishnavs? No one can remove your offence then.

মালী হঞা করে সেই বীজ আরোপণ ।
শ্রবণ-কীর্ত্তন-জলে করয়ে সেচন ॥

mali hana kare sei bija aropana
sravana-kirtana-jale karaye sechana

As a gardener, they must plant that seed and water it with practising: hearing and chanting.

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 19.152

GUIDED BY LOVE

There will be some unwanted branches on your tree. What are they? Bhukti mukti, enjoyment and liberation. You must cut those unwanted branches, then your tree will grow high.

"Krishna-arthe akhila-chesta (কৃষ্ণার্থে অখিলচেষ্টা): you must do everything for Krishna." [Cc, 2.22.126, one of the 64 bhaktyangas.] "Krishna-pritye bhoga-tyaga (কৃষ্ণপ্রীত্যে ভোগত্যাগ): you must accept and renounce things being guided by love to Krishna." [Cc, 2.22.116, one of the 64 bhaktyangas.] If something is necessary for the service to the Lord and some offence comes through that, it can be acceptable. For example, we cook for a big festival and so many insects die while we cook. What can you do? But if you cannot do any offence for your own indriya-tarpan (ইন্দ্রিয়-তর্পণ), for your own enjoyment, it is not acceptable.

Continue and practise properly in this way and you will be perfect.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay!
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

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