(8/12) Devotional Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Festival anniversary,
4 March 2019, evening, part 8
Translated from Bengali

You say that Lord Siva is great, then you must listen to what Lord Siva says and follow it. What does he say? If you drink milk, you get nourishment. Everybody knows it. Milk contains all vitamins. So, if you drink milk, you get nourished, but if a snake touches some milk, the milk will still look the same, but if you drink it, you will die. In the same way, if you hear the Holy Name, you get benefit, but if you hear offences of the Holy Name, you will be harmed (it brings inauspiciousness).

We must make sure that what we chant is actually the Holy Name.

People dress up, put tilaks, smear mustard oil on their bodies, sprinkle onion juice into their eyes to cry a lot and dance and sing like that. This is not kirtan. People do this to entertain the audience, to show their poetic skills, but all this is not kirtan. You do not chant kirtan signing a contract for ten, fifty or a hundred rupees – and whoever hears such kirtan only incurs harm as the reaction. You can chant or hear such kirtans your whole life, it will not give you anything.

কোটি জন্ম যদি করে শ্রবণ কীর্ত্তন ।
তবু না পায় ব্রজেন্দ্রনন্দন ॥

koti janma yadi kare sravana kirtana
tabu na paya vrajendranandan

'Even if you practise hearing and chanting for millions of lives, you will not get Krishna, the Son of King of Vraja.'

হেন কৃষ্ণনাম যদি লয় বহুবার ।
তবু যদি প্রেম নহে, নহে অশ্রুধার ॥
তবে জানি, অপরাধ তাহাতে প্রচুর ।
কৃষ্ণনাম-বীজ তাহে না করে অঙ্কুর ॥

hena krnsa-nama yadi laya bahu-bara
tabu yadi prema nahe, nahe asrudhara
tabe jani, aparadha tahate prachura
krsna-nama-bija tahe na kare ankura

'If you chant this Name of Krishna many times but still there is no love, no tears streaming from your eyes, then you can know that there are too many offences and the seed of Krishna’s Name does not sprout in you.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.29–30)

It is necessary to chant the Holy Name without offences. This is what the scriptures tell us. We must try to follow this.

পৃথিবীতে যত কথা ধর্ম্মনামে-চলে ।
ভাগবত কহে সব পরিপূর্ণ ছলে ॥

prthivite yata katha dharma-name-chale
bhagavata kahe saba paripurna chhale

'Bhagavatam says that whatever is going on in this world in the name of religion is complete cheating.'

(Based on Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.2)

You do not understand this. You come to worship Lord Siva, and tomorrow also so many people will come to offer water to Lord Siva. Many will come saying, 'Please make so that my son gets a good job', 'O Sivji Maharaj, please make so that my daughter gets a good husband.' Do you think that Lord Siva is your servant who will fulfil all your desires? Everybody comes to the Lord asking Him for something. And Krishna says:

কৃষ্ণ কহে,—আমা ভজে, মাগে বিষয়-সুখ ।
অমৃত ছাড়ি’ বিষ মাগে,—এই বড় মূর্খ ॥
আমি-বিজ্ঞ, এই মূর্খে ‘বিষয়’ কেনে দিব ?
স্ব-চরণামৃত দিয়া ‘বিষয়’ ভুলাইব ॥

krsna kahe,—"ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha
amrta chhadi' visa mage,—ei bada murkha
ami—vijna, ei murkhe 'visaya' kene diba?
sva-charanamrta diya 'visaya' bhulaiba"

'Krishna says, "They worship Me desiring material happiness — leaving aside nectar, they ask for poison. They are big fools, but I am intelligent: Why will I give these fools material things? Instead, I will give them the nectar of My lotus feet and make them forget the material world."'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.38-39)

'They come to Me and ask Me for some material happiness, but I am not a fool – why must I give them material things? Instead, I will give them My holy feet and make them forget all about this material world.'

The problem is that we turn God into our menial servant. Instead of serving Him, we say, 'O God! Please give me good health', 'O God! Please let my daughter find a good husband', 'O God! May my son get a good job!' – everybody comes with all their problems to God. They always think only about their bodies. But you should be serving the Lord with devotion. What we forget is that we have come to this world to serve the Lord.

Another thing that Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said is that we turn worshippable Gods into bribe-takers. How so? You have heard that even here in Bankura, if you want to get a job as a primary school teacher, you should give ten or twelve lakh rupees (1,000,000–1,200,000 rupees) to a minister, and then you will get the job. I am not going to tell the name of any party – everybody does this. Those who take this money and give you work are called bribe-takers. In the same way, we come to Durga, Kali, Laksmi, Ganesh and say, 'O Mother Kali! O Mother Durga! Please give a job to my son.' In lieu of that, you give the Deity a hundred rupees and some fruit. 'I am giving you this, and you please make the arrangements for me.' So, you turn Gods, who are to be worshipped by us, into bribe-takers.

You do not like to hear all this, but this is the truth. My words are straightforward. I like to tell the truth. Do not worship God like that. Even coming to the Deities in the evening, offering some incense, offering arati and other worship will not do.

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.'

অসাধুসঙ্গে ভাই কৃষ্ণনাম নাহি হয় ।
নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয় ॥

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

'Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.3, 7.1; Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

You can never chant the Holy Name in bad association. If you want to chant the Holy Name, you must do it in good association. As you listen and listen to sadhu-sanga, all dirt will gradually be removed from your hearts.

— : • : —

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Size: 27 Mb
Length: 56 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Pure Hearts' Kirtan
2) Worship of Lord Siva
3) Proper Worship Comes from Proper Identification
4) Know Thyself
5) Pivoted Life
6) Short-Lived and Short-Sighted
7) Do Not Cheat Yourself
8) Devotional Service
9) Temple Is Not Made of Bricks
10) Spiritual Foundation
11) Stray Souls
12) Embrace Sheltered Life