Fall at the Lord's Feet

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Krishna Janmastami, evening, Tarakeswar
23 August 2019, part 6, translated from Bengali

It is my prayer to you all—please, always chant the glories (engage in kirtan) of the Vaishnavs, Gurudev, and the Lord. Here at our Math, we have small kirtan books—buy it and take it home, you can chant kirtans at home. There are so many beautiful kirtans.

"Jaya Radha Madhava kunja bihari. Glory to Radha-Madhava, the beloved of Srimati Radharani! Glory to Kunja-bihari, the Enjoyer of pastimes in the groves of Vraja." It is such a beautiful kirtan. "Nitai-pada-kamala koti-chandra-susitala ye chhayaya jagata judaya. Hena Nitai vine bhai Radha-Krsna paite nai drdha kari' dhara Nitaira paya. Cooling like ten million moons, Nitai's lotus feet soothe the world with their shade. O brother! Without Nitai, you cannot reach Radha-Krsna. Firmly grasp Nitai's feet." "Parama karuna pahu dui jana Nitai Gaurachandra. Nitai and Gaurachandra are the two most merciful Lords." We also sang during the evening parikrama:

"My money!", "My car!", "My temple!" "Everything is mine!"—when will this visaya-abhiman (possessiveness) leave us?

This is how we must pray to Vaishnavs. We will pray to Vaishnav Thakur, and Vaishnav Thakur will pass it on to the Lord, "This devotee is having it so hard, he is praying to You, O Lord. Please, bestow Your mercy on him." And the Lord will become merciful to me, a low fallen soul, an insect in stool.

When will this happen? When will I be able to chant the Holy Name of Krishna with this mouth? When will I leave possessiveness and ego? When will I be able to give proper honour to Vaishnavs?

You must try to sing this kirtan, this prayer to Vaishnavs, properly, beautifully. The meaning of this kirtan is very sweet.

We also sang earlier,

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

kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, abhimana saha
apana apana sthane tane
aichana amara mana phire yena andha jana
supatha vipatha nahi jane

"Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and ego all pull me in their own directions. Thus my mind wanders like a blind man who does not know the right way from the wrong way."

Lust goes one way, anger goes another way, greed goes another way, illusion, pride, ego—they all pull different ways. Moreover, just as a blind man cannot cross the street without the help of a person who can see, we are also blind and do not know where we must go to find the Lord! Where must we go to find Govinda?(!) Therefore, we pray to Gurudev,

ওঁ অজ্ঞানতিমিরান্ধস্য জ্ঞানাঞ্জনশলাকয়া ।
চক্ষুরুন্মিলিতং যেন তস্মৈ শ্রীগুরবে নমঃ ॥

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

'I offer my obeisance unto Sri Gurudev, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, applying the kajal of divine knowledge on my eyes.'

Gurudev gave us eyes (knowledge), and it is with those eyes that we can get the darshan of the Lord. You cannot see the Lord with these illusory eyes.

অপ্রাকৃত বস্তু নহে প্রাকৃত-গোচর ।
বেদ-পুরাণেতে এই কহে নিরন্তর ॥

aprakrta vastu nahe prakrta-gochara
veda-puranete ei kahe nirantara

"Spiritual substance is never within the jurisdiction of the material conception. This is always the verdict of the Vedas and Puranas."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 9.195)

We have eyes in our heart, and we can get the darshan of the Lord through those divine eyes within our hearts. We must pray to Gurudev that those eyes open in our hearts. Guru can remove my darkness, my ignorance, and he can distribute beautiful knowledge to me—through that knowledge, through those eyes we can get the darshan of the Lord.

You can get the Lord only through devotion. You cannot get the Lord by any other means—not through any activities (karma), not through any knowledge (jnana), not through any esoteric practices (yoga). You can get the Lord only through devotion. And how will devotion come? Bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate (ভক্তিস্তু ভগবদ্ভক্তসঙ্গেন পরিজায়তে)—you can get devotion through the association of devotees." (Brhan-naradiya Purana) If you associate with devotees, devotion will come. "Asat-sanga sada tyaga chhada anya gita-raga (অসৎ-সঙ্গ সদা ত্যাগ, ছাড় অন্য গীতরাগ)—give up bad association, do not listen to the material songs and music." (Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 15)

We sing also in one of the kirtans:

অন্য অভিলাষ ছাড়ি, জ্ঞান কর্ম্ম পরিহরি,
কায়মনে করিব ভজন ।
সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণসেবা, না পূজিব দেবী-দেবা,
এই ভক্তি পরম কারণ ॥

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari
kaya-mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva
ei bhakti parama karana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation. One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods."

(Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, 13, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

If you worship only Krishna, then the worship of all thirty-three million demigods is automatically accomplished. When we worship Durga, we cannot worship Kali at the same time; when we worship Kali, we cannot worship Laksmi; when we worship Ganesh, we cannot worship Kartik; when we worship Lord Siva, we cannot worship Parvati. We can never worship all demigods at the same time. You worship Chandra, the god of moon, but then you are not worshipping Surya, the god of sun; and when you worship the sun-god, you cannot worship the moon-god at the same time.

একলা ঈশ্বে কৃষ্ণ, আর সব ভৃত্য ।
যারে যৈছে নাচায়, সে তৈছে করে নৃত্য ॥

ekala isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

"Lord Krishna alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.142)

However, if you worship, if you serve Krishna, then all demigod worship is accomplished. That is why everybody must worship Krishna. And today is this Lord Krishna's appearance day. You are all accepting so much austerity on this day—you are all so tired, you have come from remote places, and you are fasting, not eating anything... When you fall at the feet of the Lord like this, the Lord must no doubt bestow His mercy upon you.

Devotees: Nitai Gaura hari bol!

The Lord will keep you well, He will bestow His mercy upon you. We pray to the Lord, we pray to Govinda that you may all always engage in service, in Hari-katha, in the kirtan of the Lord, and that not a single day may pass in your life without it, we pray so that you may always remember the Lord...

— : • : —

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