(12) Worship Comes From Heart, Not Pocket

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Lord Siva's Temple inauguration,
5 March 2019, morning, part 12
Translated from Bengali

You must explain these things to people. They say, 'Oh, I get a brahman to do the Deity worship at my house.' No! This is your worship, so you must do it yourself. You can remember the example that Param Guru Maharaj gave. I tell you about it from time to time. There was one man who worshipped a Narayan sila. He used to be quite poor, so at first he worshipped the Deity himself. Later, when he grew old, his back and legs began to pain, so he could not climb to the Deity room anymore. His son had grown up and started working, bringing money to the family. They became well-to-do, so one day his son brought some cashew nuts. He told his mother, 'Mother, I have got my salary today and got some cashew nuts. When the brahman comes, tell him to offer them to the Deity.' When the brahman came and entered the Deity room, he saw the cashew nuts and became so greedy that he could not control himself. The brahman was old and had no teeth, so he took the stone for grinding sandalwood and started shelling the nuts, banging them with the Narayan sila against the stone. He sat there, shelling the nuts and eating them! The mother of the family heard the banging noise coming from the room, and, wondering what that noise was, she came to the room and saw the brahman shelling the nuts with the sila! She exclaimed, 'O brahman! What on earth are you doing?! This is the Lord, our Deity, how can you shell nuts with Him?!'

People invite brahmans to do Deity worship, but those hired brahmans drink, smoke, take drugs – what kind of worship can they do? Do you call them because they know the mantras and you do not? What is there in those mantras? You can take a book and recite the same mantras. You have some devotion for the Lord, so you can worship the Lord, but they come and do so-called worship only for money. The more money you give them, the more mantras they will recite, and if you pay them less, they will recite just a few mantras and go away quickly. What kind of worship is that? That is why Srila Prabhupad said, 'You cannot worship a Deity for ten rupees, just as you cannot chant kirtan for fifty rupees.'

One time, Radharani, a famous singer from Nabadwip (she must be dead already; she was older than me), came to me and said, 'Brother, where is your gurudev?' She came to offer her obeisances to Gurudev, but Gurudev was not at the temple at that time – he was abroad. It happened many years ago, maybe twelve–twenty years ago. She offered her obeisances at the staircase leading to Gurudev's room. After that, I asked her,

'Didi, you were singing kirtan at Haritala for two hours. How much did they pay you?' (Haritala is a small temple next to our temple in Nabadwip.)

'About six thousand rupees,' she replied.

'So many thousands of people came to listen to you singing, but when I went there to give Srimad Bhagavatam class, there were maybe only one or two hundred people. Why is that people do not come to listen to Bhagavatam, but when you come to sing, so many people crowd there? Do you mind if I ask you something? You have been singing kirtan for so many years – how many people have you brought to this line?'

'Brother, shall I tell you the truth? You and your gurudev chant kirtan in this world not for money – you do it so that people can come to this path and practise Krishna consciousness, serve the Lord. But I sing kirtan for money. I come and sing for three–four hours if people pay more, and if they pay less, I sing for only two hours.'

She spoke the truth at that time. When I was coming here, I saw so many people gathered to sing Lord Siva's kirtan – there are so many parties, so many singers. If you listen to such kirtan, you will not get any spiritual benefit. These are Lord Siva's words! You can find them in Padma Purana. Lord Siva says that if you drink milk, you get nourishment; but if a snake touches that milk and leaves its poison in it, the milk will look the same as before but if you drink it, you will die. So, if you listen to kirtan, you are supposed to get spiritual benefit, but if you listen to hired singers' kirtan, you invite a spiritual disaster in your lives – it is the same as death. Do not go to listen to the kirtan sung by hired singers. Instead of that, it will be better if you sit at home and chant yourselves simply clapping hands, 'Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.' Say together with me:

হরে কৃষ্ণ হরে কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ হরে হরে ।
হরে রাম হরে রাম রাম রাম হরে হরে ॥

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Do not be shy, do not be afraid. Do not restrain yourselves. Call the Lord! Many people make the ulu-dhvani sounds when praying to the Lord, but when you want to call your son at home, do you also make ulu-dhvani? Will your son come to you like that? He will not. You must call him by his name (Pala, Gauranga, Nitai, Haridas, or any other name), and you must call him loudly, then he will hear you. It is the same with the Lord. He is far, so you must call Him loudly. At the same time, He is also near because He is present wherever devotees speak about Him. Do not call out to the Lord mentally, silently. Hare Krishna is the Lord's Name, it means Radha-Krishna. 'Hare' means 'One who steals.' Who has stolen Krishna's mind? Srimati Radharani. And Rama in 'Hare Rama' is not about Lord Rama from Treta-yuga and Ramayana. 'Rama' means 'One who captivates' – this is also Srimati Radharani. Remember this. Everybody must chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra loudly. Say together with me:

হরে কৃষ্ণ হরে কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ হরে হরে ।
হরে রাম হরে রাম রাম রাম হরে হরে ॥

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

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