Purity, Simplicity, and Faith

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Puri Dham, second evening class
21 June 2017, translated from Bengali, part 5

The Lord has kindly given us nine doors, but so many dirty things come from each of them—tears come from the eyes, spit and vomit come from the mouth, wax comes from the ears, mucus comes from the nose, stool comes from the back door, etc. But the Lord has been so merciful—He has given us a tongue that we can chant the Holy name with, but if we instead discuss and criticise others, speak all sorts of bad things, listen and discuss village news, then what is the use?

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.236)

Leave the deceitful devotion. Deceitful means 'kutinati,' being crooked. "Sarala hale gorara siksa bujhiya la-ibe: if you are sincere and simple-hearted you will understand Gora's teachings." (Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.3) If you want to understand Gora's teaching, you must become sincere, simple-hearted. If you play politics, you will not understand Gora's teaching.

There is a very beautiful kirtan, the dearest kirtan of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur,

সর্ব্বস্ব তোমার চরণে সঁপিয়া
পড়েছি তোমার ঘরে ।
তুমি ত' ঠাকুর, তোমার কুকুর
বলিয়া জানহ মোরে ॥

sarvasva tomara, charane sapiya,
padechhi tomara ghare
tumi ta' thakura, tomara kukura,
baliya janaha more

I have offered everything at Your feet and taken shelter in Your home. You are my Master; please consider me Your dog.

Saranagati, 19.1

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."

Saranagati, 19.2

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

tava nija-jana, prasada seviya,
uchchhista rakhibe yaha
amara bhojana, parama-anande,
prati-dina habe taha

"Whatever remnants Your devotees leave behind after honouring Your prasad I will eat every day with great joy."

(Saranagati, 19.3)

How beautiful this is! Great sannyasis would come to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and give him respect, they had faith in him and paid full obeisance to him.

Sometimes people say, "We live in the temple (we are Math-vasis) and the outside people are all householders," but:

গৃহী হউক ত্যাগী হউক ভক্তে ভেদ নাই ।
ভেদ কৈলে কুম্ভীপাক নরকেতে যাই ॥

grhi ha-uka tyagi ha-uka bhakte bheda nai
bheda kaile kumbhipaka narakete yai

"There is no difference between devotees—be they householders or renunciants. If someone makes distinctions between them, they go to the hell of boiling oil.

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 17.22

Guru Maharaj also said that one can stay in the house but be a sannyasi—those who have no attachment, no attachment or relation with the wife are as good as a sannyasi. If one discriminates based on whether one is a householder or a renunciate, they will go to hell. We must try to always serve Hari, Guru, Vaishnavs—everything comes by their mercy.

যোগ্যতা বিচারে কিছু নাহি পাই
তোমার করুণা সার ।
করুণা না হৈলে কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া
প্রাণ না রাখিব আর ॥

yogyata vichare kichu nahi pai
tomara karuna-sara
karuna na ha-ile kandiya kandiya
prana na rakhiba ara

O master! I am devoid of ability and intelligence, and greatly distressed. Please accept me. When I examine myself for qualifications, I find none. Your mercy is everything. If you are not merciful to me, then, crying, I will no longer maintain my life.

Even if there is any qualification in me, I will not get anything through it—if Gurupadpadma gives me his mercy, then only can I get some supreme benefit. That is why the scriptures say that you must give up deceitful devotion—then you will understand everything. If there is dirt in your heart, Bhakti Devi (Goddess of Devotion) will not come there. We must first clean the dirt from our hearts. If we do not remove the dirt from our hearts, we will not be able to understand anything, but if we can make ourselves fit, if we can engage ourselves in the service of the Lord, then we will get supreme benefit.

মঠ মন্দির দালান বাড়ীর না কর প্রয়াস ।

অর্থ থাকে কর ভাই যেমন অভিলাষ ॥

matha mandira dalana badira na kara prayasa
artha thake kara bhai yemana abhilasa

"Do not endeavour to make monasteries, temples, or big houses, but if you have wealth, brother, then you can make them, as you desire."

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 9.29

If it is necessary, you can make a building—when devotees come, it is necessary to give them a room, then they can stay there. Big buildings are made for devotees. If you do not have such money, then do Vaishnav by giving prasad to devotees, and if you cannot provide that too, then serve devotees with sweet words. This is told in the scriptures and we must always think about it.

'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)

If you have the strongest faith in what the scriptures say, then you know that by serving the Lord and the Guru no debt remains—no debt to your mother, father, sages, demigods or anyone else. Suppose you were worshipping some demigod, now you do not, so you think that it is an offence, but you must not keep any of such thinking in your mind. Many times people say also that if the husband does not follow ekadasi, then the wife should not follow it either, but this is wrong—even if the husband does not follow it, you must follow it.

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Sarvasva tomar charane sampiya' and 'Hari haraye Nama Krsna' concluding thus the class.]

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