(9/10) Soul's Needs

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Siliguri, evening, 7 September 2019, part 9
Translated from Bengali

42) Question: What is the cause of the famine of pure kirtan? Why do people not practise pure kirtan?

Answer: Because of the insult and dishonour people show to the guru-varga, there has appeared a famine of kirtan in the world today. The kirtan of today is kirtan (glorification) of material world, kirtan for the sake of business, kirtan for the sake of amassing money, women and prestige, kirtan for the sake of mundane sense-gratification. Such kirtan is done not out of love for Krishna or for satisfying the Lord. However, when pure devotees do kirtan out of love for the Lord and for the spiritual benefit of the jiva souls, such kirtan is pure.

43) Question: Who is my and everyone's benefactor?

Answer: Only a pious man surrendered to the Lord can be his own and others' benefactor. Pure devotees always try to leave bad association of people who have other desires, who pursue material goals or seek knowledge.

44) Question: What does it mean to truly take shelter at the lotus feet of a guru?

Answer: Following the advice that Sri Chaitanyadev and His associates and Krishna's devotees always give to us is called real shelter at the feet of the guru. Service to Sri Hari, guru and Vaishnavs is service to the associates of Sri Gaura Hari.

45) Question: How can we receive a message from the Holy Lord?

Answer: You cannot get a letter from the Lord directly, but you can get a message from the Lord through His devotees – and our message also can be sent to the Lord through them.

46) Question: How can we be rescued from inauspiciousness, or spiritual damage?

Answer: The One who can steal (haran) our desire to enjoy is named 'Hari'. This desire to enjoy that we suffer from is called anartha. If remembrance of Krishna comes to us in the association of the Lord's devotees, then we can be delivered from inauspiciousness, otherwise not.

Many people say that we must serve Nara-Narayan (they think that you can serve God [Narayan] by serving other people [nara]). For example, it is Saturday today, so people are doing Shani puja, and as part of that, they also go out and do some service to poor people.

47) Question: What does 'poor Narayan' ['Poor Narayan' refers to the poor (beggar class) conceived as God personified] mean?

Answer: Narayan can never be poor. [He is the master of all opulences and wealth, so how can He ever be poor? His spouse, Laksmi Devi, is the storekeeper of all wealth, then how can people make Narayan poor? Poor people also go begging, saying, 'Please give something to this poor Narayan.' Can God ever be poor, tell me?] Narayan can never be poor, and a poor person can never be Narayan. Every jivatma is part and parcel of Lord Krishna, a jiva can never become God, so to call a poor man Narayan or to associate Narayan with something poor is atheistic.

48) Question: Who is called a Vaishnav?

Answer: It is said in the scriptures, 'Sarva visnujah vaisnavas cha,' which means that everyone is born from the Supreme Lord Vishnu and everyone is therefore born as a Vaishnav. Although by our intrinsic nature everyone is a Vaishnav, when the soul comes under control of mahamaya, it is then called avaisnav (non-devotee, materialist). Devotees of Vishnu, the Supreme Controller, are Vaishnavs.

49) Question: What is the right, or qualification, for the service to Krishna?

Answer: Unless one is liberated, one cannot have the right to serve Krishna. Krishna belongs wholly to Radharani. Without service to Radharani, no one can get the right, or qualification, to serve Krishna. Sri Krishnadev is the intrinsic form of Srimati Radharani, and only Sri Gurudev can give one the right to serve Krishna.

50) Question: What is the sole duty of the man?

Answer: There is no other practice or method on this earth except for chanting the Holy Name and glories of the Lord.

51) Question: If Sriman Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, then if we worship Sriman Mahaprabhu, everything is achieved – what is the necessity to worship Krishna separately?

Answer: Those who think like this discriminate between Krishna and Gaura. There are many people who pretend to be followers of Gaura and say things like this in delirium – this is not worship of Gaura, it is nothing but deceit and pretence. Imagining something is bigger than Krishna is a concoction or illusion. Actually, a servant worships Gaura before worshipping Krishna, and when the eternally liberated souls worship Gaura, it is the same as worship of Krishna.

52) Question: How can one get rid of anarthas (unwanted habits)?

Answer: Unless a jiva soul practises Krishna consciousness, it starts looking for material prosperity, knowledge or fulfilment of various desires, therefore it is necessary to call out to the Lord by loudly chanting the maha-mantra. When one loudly chants the Holy Name of Krishna, anarthas go away.

Always chant the Lord's kirtan, and always chant loudly, forcefully. Whenever other thoughts enter your mind, chant the Holy Name loudly, forcefully. When you loudly chants the Holy Name of Krishna, all anarthas go away. Do not chant silently, in your mind – do it loudly. If some other thoughts or some bad thoughts come to your mind, chant loudly, 'Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!' The people around you will complain and say that they cannot sleep – so what? Chant even louder! They will complain for one day, two days, ten days, after that they will say that you have gone crazy and leave you alone.

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Length: 93 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Guru: Repository of Divine Love
2) Genuine Practising Life
3) Unconditional Service of Conditioned Souls
4) Be Kind
5) Fundamental Questions
6) Becoming a Devotee
7) Meaning of Spirituality
8) Solution to Internal Debates
9) Soul's Needs
10) Non-Sectarian Conception