(5/10) Bhakta-Abhiman and Bhakta-Bhav

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, preaching programme,
23 February 2019, evening, part 5
Translated from Bengali

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

'Do not listen to village talks, do not speak about village news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself and give all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna and serve Radha-Krishna in your mind.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.236-237)

Please do not speak! If somebody speaks about their own matters when there are discourses about the Lord going on, the Lord will never look at you with a pleased eye. He will keep you in this state again and again.

If you want to leave this material world, the only way to do it is through Harinam-sankirtan.

সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণনামে—এই মাত্র চাই ।
সংসার জিনিতে আর কোন বস্তু নাই ॥

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

'I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of sadhus. There is no other way to conquer this material world.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13)

If you listen to outside people singing kirtans, it will not do you any good.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।
গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara laile phala phale

'Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

Do not only say, 'Oh, I am a devotee of Gaura! I am a devotee of Gaura!' You must follow what He teaches, particularly in His Siksastaka. Outside people say, 'Make me rich (dhanam dehi)', 'Make me clever (vidyam dehi)', 'Make me beautiful (rupam dehi)', 'Give me a good wife (bharyam dehi).' But Mahaprabhu says:

ন ধনং ন জনং ন সুন্দরীং কবিতাং বা জগদীশ কাময়ে ।
মম জন্মনি জন্মনীশ্বরে ভবতাদ্ভক্তিরহৈতুকী ত্বয়ি ॥

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

'I do not want wealth, I do not want followers, I do not want beautiful women, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could serve You life after life.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.20.29)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said also:

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 say that I do not want any wealth, followers, poetic gift or any other bodily happiness? O Gaura Hari! Birth after birth, please give me unconditional devotion to Your holy feet!'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'আমি ত' বৈষ্ণব', এ বুদ্ধি হইলে,
অমানী না হ'ব আমি ।
প্রতস্ঠাশা আসি', হৃদয় দূষিবে,
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

"ami ta' vaisnava," e buddhi haile,
amani na ha'ba ami
pratisthasa asi', hrdaya dusibe,
haiba niraya-gami

'If I think, "I am a Vaishnav", then I will never stop desiring honour – my heart will become polluted with the desire for prestige, and I will end up in hell.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If I think that I have become a Vaishnav, then I will not be able to give honour to others! If you say such things, if you think that you have become a great devotee, you are in great danger! Always remember this. We have not been able to become servants of devotees yet – we have not even been able to become their foot dust. This is what we must always think about. How can such a heretic, fallen, lowly soul as I am become a devotee? People show so much male ego and become allured by women, and at other times, they show much female ego and become allured by men. How can such heretics ever become devotees? Therefore, we must keep trying to develop devotional qualities:

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি অহঙ্কার ॥

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi ahankara

'Give up ego and consider yourself lower than a blade of grass, poor, destitute and vile.'

বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি অন্যে করবি পালন ॥

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

'Practise tolerance like that of a tree, stop ill-treating others and nurture everyone.'

জীবন-নির্ব্বাহে আনে উদ্বেগ না দিবে ।
পর-উপকারে নিজ-সুখ পাসরিবে ॥

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

'Live without causing anxiety to others; do good unto others forsaking your own happiness.'

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastakam Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We must throw our own happiness for others' happiness (to help others). What does it mean 'to help others'? Giving people clothes, medicine, money is temporary, fleeting help – such things do not bring auspicious benefit to anybody. Making somebody rich is not help – it can also spoil the person. You can see countries fighting against each other these days, throwing bombs, killing people. They spend so much money on buying weapons to fight other countries. All this is done to create wars, not to ensure peace. This is an example of how money destroys everything. On the other hand, money can also be used for the service of Lord Govinda.

We should not consider ourselves enjoyers. Everything that is created in this world is ingredients for the Lord's service. If you reject everything, you become a mayavadi or a sunyavadi. If you use the Lord's things for the Lord's service, then both your life and the life of the things you use become successful. For example, if you make a flower garland and use the flowers to make garlands for the Lord, then the life purpose of those flowers will be realised. The same happens if you grow cabbage or wheat and use it for Lord Govinda's service. 'Ye dina grha bhajana dekhi grhete goloka bhaya (যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায়). On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there' (Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur). 'Yatha vaisnav, tatha tirtha – a holy place is wherever there is a Vaishnav present' (Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur). A holy place is present wherever there are Vaishnavs present.

'Chhadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payechhe keba (ছাড়িয়া বৈষ্ণব-সেবা নিস্তার পায়েছে কেবা): Without service to Vaishnavs, you cannot get any relief.' You cannot get relief from this material world without service to Vaishnavs. We must always live serving Vaishnavs. We must not become proud of our position or knowledge (show acharya-abhiman) or become proud that we have become devotees (show bhakta-abhiman). We must always have the mood of a devotee (show bhakta-bhav), and we must always serve the Lord in such a mood. We must not be proud that we have become devotees – we must have the mood of a devotee.

If you can have such a mood, then you can get service in the transcendental abode. Paramatma knows everything about your soul (atma), and the soul knows everything about Paramatma. The soul knows what Paramatma wants or needs because it has a relationship with Paramatma. The soul always wants to serve Paramatma, but until and unless the soul becomes free from material bondage, it will remain a slave of Maya and will not be able to serve the Lord or practise Krishna consciousness. Always remember this.

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Length: 82 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Oblivious Existence
2) Practise Hari-Kirtan
3) Your Deepest Need
4) Engage Yourself in Sankirtan
5) Bhakta-Abhiman and Bhakta-Bhav
6) Deadly Dearth
7) Surrender Comes First
8) Wasted Time, Wasted Life
9) Managers' Mania
10) Remember, Love and Serve the Lord