(6/8) Non-Negotiable Stance

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
28 February 2019, evening, part 6
Translated from Bengali

We must remember these things and know how to chant kirtan.

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.'

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastakam Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Who can chant the Holy Name of the Lord? Those who are humbler than a blade of grass, who have more tolerance than a tree, and who give honour to others – those who have such qualities – are the only ones who have the right to chant the Holy Name of the Lord. If you can approach to such a soul, then you can find the real Holy Name.

Srila Prabhupad says that the qualities of a Vaishnav (vaisnavata) are present wherever there is strict, chaste adherence (anugatya). If one has no anugatya, one has no Vaishnav quality. Remember this. If somebody tries to worship Krishna, Gaura or Nitai without strict, chase adherence to their guru (guru-anugatya), this is Maya consciousness (worship of Maya). This is not Krishna consciousness. It is not possible to worship the Lord bypassing the guru. It can be anything else in the world but not Krishna consciousness. We must never forget this.

'Kanak, kamini, pratistha-baghini chhadiyachhe yare sei ta vaisnava (কনক-কামিনী প্রতিষ্ঠা-বাঘিনী ছাড়িয়াছে যারে সেই ত বৈষ্ণব). Vaishnavs are those who give up money, women and fame the tigress' (Vaisnav Ke?). Those who can give up money, women and fame are capable of granting and distributing the genuine Holy Name in this world. We must come to take shelter at the holy feet of such Vaishnavs. We must not look this side, that side. We will follow whatever our guru has told us. This is our final word. As long as we have life in our bodies, may we never deviate from the service and the holy instructions of our gurudev. May we never think of doing that. If we get such horrible thoughts, we will be in great danger. We must always be conscious of this, and we must always remember this. We must never forget about this.

This is what Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur told us. Both he and our Param Guru Maharaj spoke about these things very nicely.

Our Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj left Mayapur and, feeling dejected, went to Vrindavan. After that, he came back to Nabadwip and established his own Math. So, we have no problem. How much suffering, how much agony, how much pain there was – always fighting, always dealing with the police. Why live like that? We did not come to this world for this. We did not come to this world to fight for money, buildings, houses and rooms. Those who fuss about all this do not practise spiritual life – they deceive everybody. Our guru-varga are those whom our Gurudev gave recognition to. Remember this.

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

‘My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that death is there, waiting right next to me.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

The truth is that on the pretext of taking initiation from a guru, we only pretend to take initiation. Instead of serving our guru, we end up becoming guru-bhogi (we exploit our guru) and guru-tyagi (we reject our guru): we see the temples established by our guru as objects of enjoyment. In other words, we come to the temple established by gurudev, thinking, 'I will live and enjoy here.' It does not cross our minds, 'I want to serve the temple.' This is how we eventually become guru-bhogi and guru-tyagi. Instead of serving the Lord, we turn Him into our servant.

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Length: 51 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Steer Clear of Offences
2) Disciple's Life
3) Mahaprabhu's Standard of Cleanliness
4) Shift Your Priorities
5) Make No Mistake
6) Non-Negotiable Stance
7) Be Strong and Straight
8) Do Not Run After Knowledge