Foster Devotional Feelings

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Translated from Bengali, part 3
27 January 2018, Sri Ekachakra Dham

Going house to house, Nityananda Prabhu would say,

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!"

আর কবে নিতাইচাঁদ করুণা করিবে ।
সংসার-বাসনা মোর কবে তুচ্ছ হ'বে ॥

ara kabe nitaichand karuna karibe
samsara-vasana mora kabe tuchha ha'be

"When will Nitaichand give mercy to me? When will all my material desires become insignificant?"

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

কবে নিত্যানন্দ মোরে করি' দয়া ।
ছাড়াইবে মোর বিষয়ের মায়া ॥

kabe nityananda more kari' daya
chhadaibe mora visayera maya

"When will Nityananda be compassionate to me and relieve me from the mundane illusion?"

(Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

How beautifully Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote

কবে হবে বল, সে দিন আমার ।
অপরাধ ঘুচি' শুদ্ধ নামে রুচি
কৃপা-বলে হবে হৃদয়ে সঞ্চার ॥

kabe habe bala se dina amara
aparadha ghuchi suddha name ruchi
krpa-bale ha'be hrdaye sanchara

"Please tell me, when will that day be mine? When will my offences be removed? When will the taste for the pure Name arise in my heart by the power of mercy?"

ধন জন আর কবিতা সুন্দরী
বলিব না চাহি দেহ-সুখকরী ।
জন্মে জন্মে দাও ওহে গৌরহরি
অহৈতুকী ভক্তি চরণে তোমার ॥

dhana jana ara, kavita-sundari,
baliba na chahi deha-sukha-kari
janme janme dao, ohe gaurahari!
ahaituki bhakti charane tomara

"When will I declare that I do not desire wealth, followers, erudition, beautiful women, or any other bodily pleasure? O Gaurahari! Birth after birth, please give me unconditional devotion to Your feet."

("Kabe habe bolo se dina amar" by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

What do I want? I do not want wealth, knowledge, eloquence, beautiful companions—all these things that the outside people are so proud of... Chaitanya-charitamrta (Adi-lila, 8.18) says,

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

"If you ask Krishna for anything except devotion, He can give you those things—bhukti, mukti, liberation, and so on—but He will hide devotion from you. You will not get devotion."

If you run behind the illusory environment—if you run behind enjoyment, if you run behind liberation—Krishna will give it to you, Krishna will make you happy for a few moments, but what will you think after that, when you are leaving your body? Even during this life also—if you ask for liberation or enjoyment in lieu of devotion, Krishna will give it to you, but He will never give you devotion—He will take it away and hide it from you.

Through devotion you can get the Lord; if you have no devotion, you will not get the Lord, you will not be able to do any service. When you get devotion, all other things (money, wealth, houses, cars, etc.) will be insignificant for you. We have come to this world and if we cannot attain devotion and cannot engage ourselves in the service to the lotus feet of Krishna through that devotion, then this life has no value.

How beautifully the great souls write: "jive daya, Name ruchi, Vaisnava seva." You must be merciful to the jiva souls, you must have taste for the Holy Name, and you must serve the Vaishnavs. "Chhadiya Vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba (ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা): Without service to the Vaishnav, you cannot get any relief." You must use everything for the service of the Lord.

If you have dirt in your heart, where will you find place for the Lord, tell me? We always sing in the kirtan of Nityananda Prabhu (and we must always remember it), "Ahankare matta haina, Nitai-pada pasariya (অহঙ্কারে মত্ত হৈঞা নিতাই-পদ পাসরিয়া)"—intoxicated by ego we forget the lotus feet of Nitai...

We do not know the Lord, we do not have faith in the Guru, even when we see the Deities we do not bow, do not lower our heads. How unfortunate we are... How many people come here to Ekachakra? They come to enjoy, to have a picnic; they see the Lordships and have no feelings—they turn their back to the Deities and take photos. How unfortunate they are. They do not understand anything... On the other hand, when we see the Deities, we offer obeisances, when we see a Tulasi tree growing anywhere on the street, we offer obeisance to her; when we cross the Ganga, we offer obeisances to her. This is how devotees practise devotion...

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