(4/6) Hear, Chant and Remember

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 11 February 2019, evening, part 4
Translated from Bengali

You live here in Tarakeshwar near Sivji Maharaj. You can pray to him, there is nothing wrong about that. You can chant kirtan, praying to him, 'Ohe Vaisnava Thakura dayara sagara e dase karuna kari'. O Vaishnav Thakur, you are an ocean of mercy! Please be merciful to this servant.' You can pay obeisance to him and pray in this way. When you go to the Tarakeshwar temple, you can walk and chant this kirtan, learn it by heart. It will bring you great benefit. Sivji Maharaj is Vaishnav Thakur. Outside people come to him with all kinds of material desires, but we are not like that. We come sincerely, without deceit (niskapata) – we do not come to him with any desires (niskama). Whoever you come to – be it gurudev, the Lord or a Vaishnav – we must not ask them for anything. We do not need anything. At the same time, Vaishnavs go begging from the people of this world. Why do they do that? To bring others to Krishna – they take people's hard-earned wealth and use it in the Lord's service.

I also went for collection the other day (I was collecting potato). These people work so hard to grow potato, and we come to them, take a sack of potato from them and invite them to the temple to hear some Hari-katha. Even the potato plant, which is so short-lived in this world, will get an opportunity to serve Lord Govinda. The earth, sun, moon, water, wind also become engaged in the Lord's service in this way. That is why sadhus go begging. They want to utilise everything and everyone in the Lord's service. They do not do this to please their own senses – they do it to please Krishna's senses, to serve the Lord. This is what we always think about.

There should be no other thoughts except thoughts about Krishna. We must always think about the Lord, we must always think, 'I want to practise Krishna consciousness.' We must always try to engage ourselves in service, then we will get supreme benefit. Always think about this.

This is what I have come to tell you. I will be going to Ekachakra soon to prepare for the festival. You have this temple here in Tarakeshwar near your homes. You must come here in the evening. This temple is not anybody's property. Remember this. This is not my temple or anybody else's temple. This is the property of those who serve here. Come here and help with services. The owners of this temple are Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Madan-Mohan. It is Their house, and we are only Their servitors. This should be our pride, or ego (abhiman). We are Their servitors. We did not come to the temple to become managers, gurus or acharyas. Gurudev has given me this responsibility to serve you all, so I am carrying out this role to serve you all. Even when I give you initiations, I see the Lord within you, so I think that when you come to me to take initiation, I get an opportunity to serve the Lord. That is why I give you initiations – to serve you. I do not consider anybody my disciple. I am here to serve you all, to help you move forward to the Lord, to show you the road to the Lord. 'Follow this path, and you will come to the Lord. Follow this path, and you will come to your own home.' This is the service responsibility Gurudev has given me, so I am doing this service. No matter what obstacles, problems or difficulties come, I never think of running away or hoping for relief.

So, I am praying to you all that you always serve the Lord, your guru and Vaishnavs. Do not waste your time on gossiping and idle talks about this thing, that thing. Always practise Krishna consciousness, chant the Holy Name, chant Krishna-kirtan. I told you yesterday that sravan (hearing about the Lord), kirtan (chanting the Lord's Names and glories) and smaran (remembering the Lord) are the three main practices. Keep listening and listening, and one day you must get benefit.

It is necessary to give place to the Lord, and to give place to the Lord, you must clear the place first. Bhakti Devi will come and sit in your heart, but if your heart is not clean, where will she sit? You call the Lord to come, but if your room is dirty, where will the Lord sit? Where will you seat the Lord, tell me? So, always hear about the Lord, chant the Lord's glories and remember the Lord. I have told you before that there are sixty-four limbs of devotion, among those practices, these five are the highest:

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

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

'Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship Deities with faith.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

Among these five highest practices, the main practices are sravan and kirtan.

তার মধ্যে সর্ব্বশ্রেষ্ঠ নাম-সঙ্কীর্ত্তন ।
নিরপরাধে নাম লৈলে পায় প্রেমধন ॥

tara madhye sarva-srestha nama-sankirtana
niraparadhe nama laile paya prema-dhana

"Of the practising processes, the best is Nama-sankirtan. If you chant the Holy Name without offence, you will get the wealth of divine love."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.71)

If you can chant the Holy Name of the Lord without offences, you can get the wealth of divine love. After that, you will get the right to do service – you will get an opportunity to serve the Lord (to feed the Lord, to dress the Lord, to pray to the Lord, to worship the Lord, etc.). This service right is given to us by gurudev. Always remember this. So, always chant the Holy Name in the association of saints. Always practise sravan (hearing about the Lord), kirtan (chanting the Lord's Names and glories) and smaran (remembering the Lord).

Whatever you do – whether you meditate, make a fire sacrifice or do anything else – the Lord says that you must do it as an offering to Him: 'If you meditate, you must meditate on Me. If you make a fire sacrifice, you must make it for Me. If you offer any worship, you must worship Me. If you can do this, then you will come to Me. If you serve Me, you will come to My planet. If you serve Lord Siva, you will come to Lord Siva's planet. And if you serve jiva souls, you will have to come to the plane of jiva souls.' For example, if you are doctor, you give others some material, external help, and as the result of that, you will attain life on the planet of jiva souls – you will have to be born as a jiva soul again... But if you serve the Lord, you can attain the abode of the Lord. There is no other way. So, always practise Krishna consciousness; always remember these things.

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Length: 75 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Spiritual Rules Are Not Rituals
2) Join Service Activities
3) Wise Up
4) Hear, Chant and Remember
5) Surrendered Service
6) Service Disturbances