(6/10) Sincere Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, preaching programme,
20 February 2019, evening, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, the composer of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, never got personal association, but he had sukriti. One time, a brahman called Ramdas Minaketan came to their house. That day, Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's brother arranged an asta-prahar kirtan (day-long chanting) at their house – he invited a brahman called Gunarnava Misra to perform the worship, but Gunarnava Misra worshipped only Mahaprabhu, ignoring Nityananda Prabhu. When Ramdas Minaketan, a devotee of Nityananda Prabhu, came there, he was not given any respect. He was not even given a place to sit because Gunarnava Misra was 'busy' with his worship. Ramdas Minaketan was upset to see that Nityananda Prabhu was being ignored. Later, he spoke to Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami and said that his brother's approach was based on half-hen logic (ardha-kukkuti-nyaya, অর্ধকুক্কুটী-ন্যায়). Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami was very upset and tried his best to give proper respect to Ramdas Minaketan – he took care of him and gave him prasad, and so on. That day, at night, Nityananda Prabhu came to him in a dream and called him to Vrindavan, 'O Krishna Das! Do not stay here in Jhamatpur, come to Vrindavan!' And Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami did that. That is why it is said that you must chant the Holy Name in good association.

You have also heard about Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu. When he went to Mahaprabhu, he took Ishan, a servitor, with him, but because Ishan had some material attachment, he did not make it to meet Mahaprabhu. Therefore, we must always be free from any attachment. Nobody prohibits you to live in your house, in your family, but you must live there without attachment – you should accept whatever you need for the service for the Lord. You must not take things for the pleasure of your body and senses – you must accept what is required for service. Everything in this world is created for the Lord, and whatever you get, you get it for the service of the Lord. Never forget this. It is only because of your ego that you think that you are doing everything, that everything is happening thanks to you, and so on. Such thoughts must never come to you.

And you must always be humble. This is a Vaishnav's quality.

দৈন্য, দয়া, অন্যে মান, প্রতিষ্ঠা বর্জ্জন ।
চারিগুণে গুণী হই করহ কীর্ত্তন ॥

dainya, daya, anye mana, pratistha-varjana
chari gune guni hai karaha kirtana

'Humility, compassion, giving honour to others and giving up your own prestige — become qualified with these four qualities and chant the Holy Name.'

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastakam Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Even when you call your disciple, you must say, 'Dandavat, Prabhu. How are you?' Even somebody is junior to you, younger to you, you must still give them respect, 'Dandavat, Prabhu. How are you?' You must give honour to everybody. We sing in one of the kirtans, 'Sakale samman karite sakati deha natha yatha-yatha (সকলে সম্মান করিতে শকতি দেহ' নাথ যথাযথ). Gurudev, please give me strength so that I can give proper honour to everybody.'

সকলে সম্মান করিতে শকতি
দেহ' নাথ ! যথাযথ ।
তবে ত' গাইব হরিনাম সুখে
অপরাধ হবে হত ॥

sakale sammana karite sakati,
deha natha! yatha yatha
tabe ta' gaiba hari-nama sukhe,
aparadha habe hata

'O Master! Please give me strength to give proper honour to everyone, then I will happily chant the Holy Name and all my offences will be destroyed.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

I told also yesterday, during the class in Ekachakra, that just recently people were doing Saraswati Puja. They do puja for one–two days and after that enjoy and do anything they want. You give some food to the Lord one or two days, do your puja, and then think, 'Done, the puja is over.' They pray,

ওঁ সরস্বতি মহাভাগে বিদ্যে কমললোচনে ।
বিদ্যারূপে বিশালাক্ষি বিদ্যাং দেহি নমোহস্তু তে ॥

om sarasvati mahabhage vidye kamalalochane
visvarupe visalaksi vidyam dehi namostute

'O great Goddess Saraswati, the personified knowledge possessing large lotus eyes! I offer obeisance to you, please give me knowledge.'

Mother Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, so everybody prays to her for knowledge. They worship their mother, and once the worship is done, they discard her. This is how people in this world worship gods. They enjoy and have fun. I have seen this in Tarakeshwar also. People open a temple and install Radha-Krishna's Deities there. Now the person who opened that temple is sick. Of course he will be sick when he has committed such an offence. When you worship various demigods, it is one thing, but you cannot worship Krishna like that...

People come to Saraswati and pray, 'O Devi! I am giving this rice to you, please give me knowledge in return.' They turn worshippable gods into bribe-takers and menial servants. 'Give me money', 'Give me a car', 'Give me a house'. We expect God to give us everything, to serve us. Real devotees never want all this. The only thing they pray for is, 'Please let me have devotion to Your holy feet.' When you show devotion to the Lord, it must not be devotion through some material, selfish activities, knowledge or mystic powers. You cannot get the Lord through karma, jnana or yoga. You can only get the Lord through devotion. Where does one get devotion? Through the association of devotees. You must stay in devotees' association and practise devotion. It is necessary to practise (cultivate, develop) devotion. You offer some incense, ring the bell and think that this is devotion, but it is not. Devotion comes from the heart. You must serve the Lord and call out to the Lord with all your heart and soul.

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Length: 60 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sadhus' Approach
2) Help Yourself and Others
3) Wasteful Living, Low Thinking
4) Immerse Yourself in Service
5) Clear-Cut and One-Pointed
6) Sincere Devotion
7) Hari-Kirtan Adhikar
8) Devotion to Gopis
9) Student Means Studying
10) Read and Learn