(2/18) How Does Devotion Come?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa-Puja Adhivas, Tarakeswar,
Evening, 28 September 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

What should be our mood when worshipping Sri Sri Radha-Krishna? You all know how we can get service to Them: Sri Guru is the only person who can give us the right to enter this kind of service. 'Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha Krsna pabe (নিতাইয়ের করুণা হবে ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ পাবে). You can come to Radha-Krishna in Vraja if you get Nityananda Prabhu's mercy.'

How does one attain Nitaichand's mercy? Sri Nityananda is the father of sankirtan, He is the presiding Deity of sankirtan. If you get taste for kirtan, it means that you have got Nitai's mercy. Kirtan does not mean gratification of your senses – kirtan means making Sri Nityananda Prabhu happy. It is great fortune and a very great thing to become qualified to give joy to Sri Nitaichand, to attain the right to chant the Holy Name, and to feel happiness when chanting the Holy Name.

It is impossible to serve Sri Sri Radha-Govinda without exclusive devotion to the gopis. If you can make Sri Nitaichand happy through the medium of kirtan – if He is happy with your kirtan – you can attain Radha-Krishna (you can become qualified for service in Vraja). Those who feel taste or ecstasy when chanting the Holy Name can get Vraja’s Radha-Krishna through their chanting. Only those who have become exclusive followers of Sri Gaurasundar can get service to Radha-Krishna in Vraja.

Another thing I want to tell you is that the only way to attain pure loving devotion is by pleasing your guru. There is a verse in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.2.42):

ভক্তিঃ পরেশানুভবো বিরক্তি-
রন্যত্র চৈষ ত্রিক এককালঃ ।
প্রপদ্যমানস্য যথাশ্নতঃ স্যু-
স্তুষ্টিঃ পুষ্টিঃ ক্ষুদপায়োঽনুঘাসম্ ॥

bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir
anyatra chaisa trika eka-kalah
prapadyamanasya yathasnatah syus
tustih pustih ksud-apayo 'nu-ghasam

'Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things – these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.'

The meaning of this verse is this: when you are eating, you feel satisfaction, nourishment and relief from hunger with every morsel of food; in the same way, as you practise Krishna consciousness, you will feel love, devotion, direct experience of the Lord and detachment from all other things.

With every morsel of a substantial meal (rice, etc.), you feel energy and nourishment, and your weakness goes away. At the same time, when we fast on ekadasi, we think, 'When is it going to be dvadasi? When will I be able to eat nicely?' When dvadasi comes, and we take a handful of grains, we feel nourishment, satisfaction and satiation of hunger. In the same way, if you take shelter at the holy feet of the guru (if you become surrendered) and start to practise devotional life, the action of devotion is set off. Love and devotion come to those who practise devotional life. Just as when you eat on dvadasi, you do not feel the hunger of fasting; in the same way, when you start practising devotion, Maya Devi will not be able to trouble you anymore.

One does not take shelter in the guru just by taking the mantra from him. If you practise spiritual life being always alert about the order of your guru, then it is devotional practice. Otherwise, you are hungry and you have a plate of prasadam in front of you, but if you do not eat that prasad, how will your hunger go away? Your hunger will go away if you actually take that prasad. In the same way, it is necessary to live following the instructions of your guru. Otherwise, if you just take the mantra, if you become initiated but do not live following your guru's instructions, you can never develop devotion like that. It is necessary to always be alert, 'What service does my guru want me to do?' If you can live following your guru's guidance, then it will be genuine spiritual life. If you understand what service your guru wants you to do and do that service, then you will attain devotion. Your guru may not say anything directly to you, but he gives indications, or hints, about what service you must do. If you can catch those hints and do that service, then you will get benefit.

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Size: 40 Mb
Length: 83 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Disciple's Dependence
2) How Does Devotion Come?
3) Indispensability of Guru's Mercy
4) Stop Threshing the Husk
5) Disciples' Hypocrisy
6) Strong Desires, Wrong Desires
7) Identifying Yourself with Kirtan
8) Patience Is a Virtue
9) Internal Hypocrisy
10) Unhappy Mind
11) Kirtan Is Not a Show
12) Cook to Perfection
13) Install Gurudev in Your Heart
14) Submission without Resistance
15) Service Is Not a Rite
16) Vaishnavs' Ornaments vs Demons' Ornaments
17) Vaikuntha Vani
18) Absolute Self-Submission