(5/6) Kirtan Mood

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
25 February 2019, noon, part 5
Translated from Bengali

What did Mahaprabhu teach us in this world? He served Himself, with His own hands – although He was the Supreme Lord, He practised what He preached. He never considered Himself God or a sannyasi; instead, He considered Himself to be an extremely lowly, wretched servitor. That is Mahaprabhu's teaching.

We must show in this world what Mahaprabhu taught. He is the Supreme Lord Himself who comes and sings and dances as He distributes the Holy Name in this world. He walked everywhere on foot, distributing His message. We must always remember this. We must always think and remember what the Lord wants; otherwise, we will not be able to understand anything.

যেই ভজে, সেই বড়, অভক্ত—হীন, ছার ।
কৃষ্ণভজনে নাহি জাতি-কুলাদি বিচার ॥

yei bhaje sei bada, abhakta—hina, chhara
krsna-bhajane nahi jati-kuladi-vichara

'Only a nondevotee can be considered as worthless and abominable: anyone who takes to devotional service is great – there is no consideration of class, caste or any other status for those who have taken up service to Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.67)

When it comes to the worship of Lord Krishna, there is no consideration of one's caste or creed. If somebody worships Krishna, it does not matter if they belong to the brahman, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra class.

কিবা বিপ্র, কিবা ন্যাসী, শূদ্র কেনে নয় ।
যেই কৃষ্ণতত্ত্ববেত্তা, সেই ‘গুরু’ হয় ॥

kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya

'It does not matter whether one is a brahman, sannyasi or sudra – whoever knows who Krishna is can become a spiritual master.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.8.128)

Anybody who knows Krishna can become a guru. If somebody knows the Lord, if somebody can give the Lord to others, if somebody can understand who the Lord is, we must take shelter at their holy feet. Always remember this, and always engage yourself in Harinam-sankirtan. Sravan (listening about the Lord) and kirtan (practising, chanting the Lord's glories and Names) are our main practices.

I have been telling you every day that during the stage at which we are trying to remove our unwanted habits (anarthas), we must always chant Nitai-Gaura's Names. We always say that if you chant the Holy Name of Krishna, all anarthas will go away, but if what we chant is not the Holy Name of Krishna, how will our anarthas be removed then? That is why it is said in the scriptures that when you are covered by anarthas, you cannot chant the Holy Name of Krishna, but the good thing is that when you are covered by anarthas, you can chant the Holy Names of Nitai and Gaura. Always remember this. That is why before we chant the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, and before we chant any kirtan in general, we always first chant Pancha-tattva's Names:

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু নিত্যানন্দ ।
শ্রীঅদ্বৈত গদাধর শ্রীবাসাদি গৌরভক্তবৃন্দ ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

By taking Their Names, we can become free from anarthas.

That is why we always chant Nitai's and Gaura' Names: 'Nitai Gaura Hari bol, Nitai Gaura Hari bol.' As we chant and chant Their Names, all our bad, unwanted elements will go away and then we can get taste for chanting the Holy Name of Lord Krishna.

Another thing is this. When we chant the Holy Name or even at any other time, sometimes other thoughts or some bad thoughts come to our minds (we start thinking about our wives, children, etc.) – how can then our anarthas go away? The scriptures and Srila Prabhupad explain that in this case, you must chant kirtan loudly. When you loudly, with much effort and earnestness call out, crying out, 'Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare!' then you will see that your anarthas will go away.

We must always remember these things in our hearts. We must be conscious of how all our unwanted, bad tendencies will go away.

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 Nitaichad give me His mercy? When will my material desires lose their appeal and become trifle?'

(Prarthana, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

This is a line from one beautiful kirtan. We do not usually sing all the time, but I sometimes read or sing it to myself... We must actually sing this kirtan ('Gauranga balite habe pulaka sarira'), and we must sing it to ourselves carefully. Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj used to always sing it, too.

'গৌরাঙ্গ' বলিতে হবে পুলক শরীর ।
'হরি হরি' বলিতে নয়নে ব’বে নীর ॥

'gauranga' balite habe pulaka sarira
'hari hari' balite nayane ba'be nira

'I will feel goosebumps taking Gauranga's Name, and tears will flow from my eyes as I chant, "Hari! Hari!"'

(Prarthana, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

But when we chant the Holy Name, it does not produce any transformation in us.

[His Divine Grace chants the kirtan together with the devotees.]

'গৌরাঙ্গ' বলিতে হবে পুলক শরীর ।
'হরি হরি' বলিতে নয়নে ব’বে নীর ॥১॥

'gauranga' balite habe pulaka sarira
'hari hari' balite nayane ba'be nira [1]

'I will feel goosebumps taking Gauranga's Name, and tears will flow from my eyes as I chant, "Hari! Hari!"'

আর কবে নিতাইচাঁদ করুণা করিবে ।
সংসার-বাসনা মোর কবে তুচ্ছ হ’বে ॥২॥

ara kabe nitai-chad karuna karibe
samsara-vasana mora kabe tuchchha ha'be [2]

'When will Nitaichad give me His mercy? When will my material desires lose their appeal and become trifle?'

বিষয় ছাড়িয়া কবে শুদ্ধ হ’বে মন ।
কবে হাম হেরব শ্রীবৃন্দাবন ॥৩॥

visaya chhadiya kabe suddha ha'be mana
kabe hama heriba sri-vrndavana [3]

'When will my mind reject this material world and everything in it and become pure? When will I behold Sri Vrindavan?'

রূপ-রঘুনাথ-পদে হইবে আকুতি ।
কবে হাম বুঝব সে যুগল-পীরিতি ॥৪॥

rupa-raghunatha-pade haibe akuti
kabe hama bujhaba se yugala-piriti [4]

'When will I fervently pray at the holy feet of Rupa and Raghunath? When will I be able to understand their love?'

রূপ-রঘুনাথ-পদে রহু মোর আশ ।
প্রার্থনা করয়ে সদা নরোত্তম দাস ॥৫॥

rupa-raghunatha-pade rahu mora asa
prarthana karaye sada narottama dasa [5]

'May my sole aspiration lie at the feet of Rupa and Raghunath. Narottam Das is always praying for this.'

(Prarthana, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

It is a very beautiful kirtan. We must always think about what is written in it. What does chanting kirtan mean? It means always remembering and thinking, 'When will Nitaichad give me His mercy? When will my my material desires lose their appeal and become trifle?'

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 Nitaichad give me His mercy? When will my material desires lose their appeal and become trifle?'

(Prarthana, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

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Length: 51 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Joining Prabhupad's Mission
2) Starting Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
3) Forgotten Bond
4) Mahaprabhu's Hospitality
5) Kirtan Mood
6) Keep and Protect Relationship