(1) Coming to Merciful Vaishnav Thakur

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, day four
20 March 2019, part 7
Translated from Bengali

We have come to this very important place. If you please stop speaking, I will like it. Please keep quiet. You must listen to Hari-katha. We have come here, and we must chant Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's kirtan here. Srila Babaji Maharaj does not like any other talks except for Hari-katha – he does not like it at all. He is a siddha-babaji (a perfect devotee of a very high order), siddha-mahapurush (a perfect great soul). He lived for 137 years! We always give 'jay' to him when we recite Jaya Dhvani, and his photograph is also in our guru-parampara on all altars (it is placed last, on the right). He is a great Vaishnav. This here is his bhajan-kutir and samadhi. Vaishnav Thakur is always very merciful...

We are always proud of some material things (we always have visaya-abhiman) – somebody is proud of their money, somebody is proud of their wealth, and so on. When will we leave this ego, this pride? 'I have become a Vaishnav', 'I have become great', 'I have become an acharya' – this is all ego. When will this ego go away from us? We must give it up. Throwing a coin at the face of a Vaishnav is not vaishnav-seva. I have seen today that many go inside Mahaprabhu's temple and ask to have Mahaprabhu's shoes put on their heads. They say that those who get a touch of those shoes get Mahaprabhu's mercy. Is that so? I have also seen that even when there are many senior Vaishnavs walking behind, people rush to offer their obeisance first. Do you think that if you offer obeisances from behind or from afar, the Lord will not see it? You must give the answer to this. Then why is it necessary for you to push and go to the front? You must know these things. When Gurudev was there, I would pay obeisance to him at this veranda and leave, thinking that when I paid obeisance to him, I paid obeisance to the Lord, the Deities.

So, you know that Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was a siddha-mahapurush Vaishnav (a great perfected soul and devotee). He used to stay at Radha Kunda in Vrindavan, but then he understood that Krishna's pastimes were all in Nabadwip. Knowing this and getting Srimati Radharani's order, he came from Vrindavan to Nabadwip.

Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj had a servitor, Bihari Dasi, who would carry him in a basket. When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur discovered Mahaprabhu's birthplace, he took Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj from here to Mayapur, and arriving at the place, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj jumped out of his basket and began to chant and dance! 'Yes, I have found it! This is the birthplace of Mahaprabhu!' He could not walk – he would be carried everywhere in a basket – but when he came to Mahaprabhu's birthplace, he actually began to dance. He is a great Vaishnav. We will speak about him some more later, but now we must offer prayer (vandana) to him.

গৌরব্রজাশ্রিতাশেষৈর্বৈষ্ণবৈর্বন্দ্যবিগ্রহম্ ।
জগন্নাথপ্রভুং বন্দে প্রেমাব্ধিং বৃদ্ধবৈষ্ণবম্ ॥

gaura-vrajasritasesair vaisnavair vandya-vigraham
jagannatha-prabhum vande premabdhim vrddha-vaisnavam

'I offer my obeisance to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, my Lord, a venerable senior Vaishnav, an ocean of divine love and a worshippable Deity of all the Vaishnavs who took shelter in Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu in Sri Gaura Dham and in Lord Sri Krishna in Sri Vrindavan Dham.'

Taking shelter in Lord Sri Krishna, who came to Nabadwip as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj stayed here in Nabadwip to reveal the pastimes of Mahaprabhu in this world. He stayed here in a small hut. Now there is a beautiful house, but when I came here for the first time, there was only a small hut. The devotees who are staying here have done much service: they have made a nice place for sitting here. Let us chant kirtan now.

...When will I get the shade of Vaishnavs' holy feet? When will I get mercy?...

[His Divine Grace chants 'Thakura-vaishnava-gana kari ei nivedana'.]

ঠাকুর বৈষ্ণবগণ ! করি এই নিবেদন,
মো বড় অধম দুরাচার ।
দারুণ-সংসার নিধি, তাহে ডুবাইল বিধি,
কেশে ধরি’ মোরে কর পার ॥১॥

thakura vaisnava-gana! kari ei nivedana,
mo bada adhama durachara
daruna-samsara nidhi, tahe dubaila vidhi,
kese dhari' more kara para [1]

'O worshippable Vaishnavs! I offer this prayer to you all. I am very lowly and wicked. Providence has dunked me into the great ocean of material existence – please catch me by the hair and get me across it!'

বিধি বড় বলবান্, না শুনে ধরম জ্ঞান,
সদাই করম-পাশে বান্ধে ।
না দেখি তারণ লেশ, যত দেখি সব ক্লেশ,
অনাথ কাতরে তেঁই কান্দে ॥২॥

vidhi bada balavan, na sune dharama jnana,
sadai karama-pase bandhe
na dekhi tarana lesa, yata dekhi saba klesa,
anatha katare tei kande [2]

'Providence is very strong – having never learned or listened to any spiritual matters, I am always bound, caught in the snare of my previous actions. Not seeing even a trace of any hope for salvation – wherever I look, there is only misery and pain! – this orphan is crying bitterly.'

কাম, ক্রোধ, লোভ, মোহ, মদ, অভিমান সহ,
আপন আপন স্থানে টানে ।
ঐছন আমার মন, ফিরে যেন অন্ধজন,
সুপথ বিপথ নাহি জানে ॥৩॥

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane
aichhana amara mana, phire yena andha-jana,
supatha vipatha nahi jane [3]

'Lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and ego pull me each in their own direction. Such is the state of my mind – it wanders about like a blind man, not knowing the right from the wrong.'

না লইনু সত মত, অসতে মজিল চিত,
তুয়া পায়ে না করিনু আশ ।
নরোত্তম দাসে কয়, দেখি শুনি লাগে ভয়,
তরাইয়া লহ নিজ পাশ ॥৪॥

na lainu sat mata, asate majila chita,
tuya paye na karinu asa
narottama dase kaya, dekhi suni lage bhaya,
taraiya laha nija pasa [4]

'Not learning anything of eternal value, my heart is immersed in falsehood. I cannot even hope for your holy feet. Narottam Das says, "I am scared to see and hear this. Please rescue me and take me with you!"'

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Coming to Merciful Vaishnav Thakur
2) Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's Pastimes
3) Service Is Not for Your Pleasure