The Tenth Offence

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Translated from Bengali
2 December 2018, Basirhat, part 1

We have not been able to come here every year for various reasons. I first came and started preaching here in Barishat area in 2005-2006 when I was preaching and collecting house to house. Much time has passed since then. Guru Maharaj told me one thing, "At the time of Nabadwip Dham parikrama, you bring so many people—so many people have taken initiation from me—but can you say how many of them actually practise Krishna consciousness properly?"

When we go to primary school, there are many students studying with us, we do not even know how many of us there are, but when we go to high school, there are two times fewer people. When we go to college, there are even fewer people. Finally, out of one-two hundred people who we studied with at the beginning, there are only one-two people who actually enter university. So, how many people actually follow Krishna consciousness properly?

Guru Maharaj told me with sadness, "You bring so many people at Gaura Purnima and at my birthday, but out of all those people who you have brought to me to take initiation, how many actually serve the Lord?"

করিতেছ উপকার যাতে পর উপকার
লভে জীব শ্রীকৃষ্ণ-সেবায়

karitechchha upakara yate para upakara
labhe jiva sri-krsna-sevaya

"You are giving great benefit by helping other souls get service of Lord Krishna."

The very first thing required is surrender. It is very difficult to find a surrendered Vaishnav.

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ॥
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord’s guidance, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me'.

ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভাব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

Engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion.

Humility, offering yourself, having faith that Krishna is the maintainer, having faith that Krishna must protect us, etc. This kind of saranagati is first and foremost.

Listen to what I am saying carefully. Those who are cooking should also listen. It is necessary to listen carefully. If we do not listen to Hari-katha, Bhagavata-katha, then we will never get the supreme benefit. You must take Hari-katha into your heart, you must accept it within your heart.

আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া ।
ততোঽনর্থনিবৃত্তিঃ স্যাৎ ততো নিষ্ঠা রুচিস্ততঃ ॥
অথাসক্তিস্ততো ভাবস্ততঃ প্রেমাভ্যুদঞ্চতি ।
সাধকানাময়ং প্রেম্ণঃ প্রাদুর্ভাবে ভবেৎ ক্রমঃ ॥

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is faith, then good association, then practising life. After that, the offences gradually go away, faith becomes stronger, taste comes, then attachment, then there arises affection and love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

First it is necessary to hear about saranagati because if we cannot surrender, we will get no result.

There are ten offences of the Holy Name. The last offence is that if you chant the Holy Name but do not remove the egotistic mentality (the feeling that I belong to myself, i.e. if you do not realise that you belong to the Lord), if such mood does not come to you, then your chanting can never be the Holy Name. This is the tenth offence, it was kept for the last. If you chant the Holy Name but this mood of "I" and "mine" does not go away, then you must understand that your chanting is not the Holy Name, it has all been Nama-aparadh (offence to the Holy Name). Unless the mood of "I" and "mine" goes away, your chanting can never be the Holy Name.

If you are making a house to serve the Lord, if you use your house for the service to the Guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord, then there is sense in making a house. Otherwise there is no use. A house is meant for eternal service of the Lord and to maintain this eternal service some servitor is necessary, so you must think, "I will stay in this house to be that servitor." If you make a house, you must make it with this kind of mood. Someone thinks, "Oh, my wife will stay there," "My children will stay there," "My parents will stay there," but then it means that your egotistic mood of "I" and "mine" is not removed.

If a house is not used for the service to the Guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord, it can even be a temple, a Math, an ashram, or a mandir, but if it is not used for the service of the Lord and the devotees, then it can never be called a temple or a Math. A Math is a place where Vaishnavs stay and where they serve the Lord. We must always understand this. All of us should be like this.

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