(12/13) Appreciation for Prasad

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Hapaniya Dham, Vyasa Puja Mahotsav
22 October 2019, morning, part 12
Translated from Bengali

[After the holy Vaishnavs from Sri Mayapur Dham make their speeches, His Divine Grace concludes the programme with the following address.]

It is already time for the arati, so I speak briefly, I will not take much of your time. [Seeing the audience is restless, His Divine Grace remarks] Hari bol! Have you all come for kichuri or for prasad? It seems to me that you have heard that there will be kichuri distributed here today, so you have come to eat kichuri. But when Vaishnavs give you this prasad (in the form of their holy Hari-katha), you do not like to take it. Do you know why you do not like it? When you have a fever, when you are sick, everything will taste bitter to you – you will not like to eat anything. Similarly, the holy teachings of Sri Rupa-Raghunath will not enter our ears for as long as we have desires in our hearts – for as long as there is lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion and envy in our hearts. If you observe it, you can understand yourselves who is listening and who is sitting restless, waiting for kichuri.

I have told you yesterday that you were born at the holy appearance place of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, so you must keep up the dignity of this place and the dignity of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Many great Vaishnavs came here: Pujyapad Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj, Pujyapad Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj, Pujyapad Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Goswami Maharaj, Pujyapad Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Goswami Maharaj, Pujyapad Bhakti Vivriti Puri Maharaj, Pujyapad Bhakti Saudha Ashram Maharaj, Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj and many others. This is a pure land, but you cannot understand anything of it – you have no idea of what kind of place this is.

'Vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe (বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ শুনিয়াছি সাধুগুরুমুখে). Singing Vaisnavs' glories rescues and protects the jiva soul – I have heard this from the holy mouths of sadhus and gurus' ('Jayare jayare jaya paramahamsa mahasaya'). Maharaj has said just now that when a Vaishnav is born in some lineage or family, that lineage or family becomes blessed. But what do we do? It is the Damodar month now – 'damodar' means 'dam' (rope) and 'udar' (belly). Mother Yasoda tried to bind Krishna, but no matter how much rope she used, the rope was always two fingers too short. One finger is mercy, and the second finger is desire. If you do not have desire, you will not get mercy. If we make one step towards the Lord, the Lord will make ten steps towards us; but if we do not step towards the Lord ourselves, the Lord will not come forward to us Himself. So, if you continue behaving and living like this, you will never in your lives be able to come to the Lord. No matter what you do – you can celebrate Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's appearance, you can even be born in the very place of his appearance, you can build many temples – you will still fall into Maya's well and continue living in the bondage of your material lives.

কয় বার এলি কয় বার গেলি
তবু তত্ত্ব না শিখিলি ।
নিজের মাথা নিজে খাইলি
এ দোষ দিবি কারে ভাই ?

kaya bara eli kaya bara geli
tabu tattva na sikhili
nijer matha nije khaili
e-dosa dibe kare bhai?

'Coming and going, coming and going, and never learnt anything. You have been eating your own brain, who will you blame now, brother?'

It is our fault! Who will you blame for it? It is all our fault that we have ended up in this situation.

Param Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj composed so many beautiful poems. For example, as Maharaj mentioned earlier, he composed 'Sujanarvuda-radhita-pada-yugam' about Srila Prabhupad; it is a very beautiful song. He also wrote 'Srimad Bhaktivinod Viraha Dasakam' about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur:

শ্রীগৌরানুমতং স্বরূপবিদিতং রূপাগ্রজেনাদৃতং
রূপাদ্যৈঃ পরিবেশিতং রঘুগণৈরাস্বাদিতং সেবিতম্ ।
জীবাদ্যৈরভিরক্ষিতং শুক-শিব-ব্রহ্মাদি-সম্মানিতং
শ্রীরাধাপদসেবনামৃতমহো তদ্দাতুমীশো ভবান্ ॥

sri-gauranumatam svarupa-viditam rupagrajenadrtam
rupadyaih parivesitam raghuganair asvaditam sevitam
jivadyair abhiraksitam suka-siva-brahmadi-sammanitam
sri-radha-pada-sevanamrtam aho tad datum iso bhavan

'O wonder of wonders! That which, on the order of Sri Gaurachandra, Sri Svarup Damodar knows the internal purpose of; which is adored by Sri Sanatan Goswami; which is distributed by the preceptors headed by Sri Rupa Goswami, who teach transcendental mellows; which is tasted and enhanced by Sri Raghunath Das Goswami and his followers; which is carefully protected by the votaries headed by Sri Jiva Prabhu; and which (from a respectful distance) is venerated by great personalities such as Sri Suka, Lord Siva, Indra (the chief of demigods) and Lord Brahma (the grandfather of all beings) – you are capable of giving us that treasure of the nectarine rapture of servitude to the holy feet of Sri Radha.'

('Srimad Bhaktivinod Viraha Dasakam', Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur read this poem, he was very pleased, and he commented, 'Happy style. It was not composed by Sridhar Maharaj, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur himself has written this!' In 1930, when Srila Sridhar Maharaj was at Sri Ramananda Gaudiya Math in Kovvur (on the bank of the Godavari), he gave a class on Ramananda-sambad, and Pujyapad Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaj said about him, 'He cannot but take sannyas. It is inevitable. He must take sannyas now!' And that year Srila Prabhupad did give him sannyas.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also composed the arati song:

জয়রে জয়রে জয় গৌর-সরস্বতী ।
ভকতিবিনোদান্বয় করুণা মুরতি ॥

jayare jayare jaya gaura-sarasvati
bhakativinodanvaya karuna murati

‘Glory, glory to Sri Gaura–Saraswati, the holy embodiment of mercy in the line of Sri Bhaktivinod Thakur.’

জয়রে জয়রে জয় গৌর-সরস্বতী ।
ভকতিবিনোদান্বয় করুণা মুরতি ॥

jayare jayare jaya gaura-sarasvati
bhakativinodanvaya karuna murati

‘Glory, glory to Sri Gaura–Saraswati, the holy embodiment of mercy in the line of Sri Bhaktivinod Thakur.’

প্রকাশিলে গৌরসেবা ভূবন মঙ্গল ।
ভখতিসিদ্ধান্ত শুদ্ধ প্রজ্ঞান উজ্জ্বল ॥

prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala
bhakati-siddhanta suddha prajnana ujjvala

‘Revealing service to Sri Gaura, which spreads auspiciousness in this world, you presented devotional teachings (bhakti-siddhanta) that radiate self-effulgent pure transcendental knowledge.’

(Sri Saraswat Arati, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur mercifully gave us Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad.

You all know the kirtan 'Yasomati-nandana' composed by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and that is sung at all temples at noon, and Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj composed 'Jaya Sachi-nandana':

জয় শচীনন্দন, সুর-মুনিবন্দন,
ভবভয়-খণ্ডন জয় হে ।
জয় হরিকীর্ত্তন, নর্ত্তনা বর্ত্তন,
কলিমল-কর্ত্তন জয় হে ॥

jaya sachi-nandana, sura-muni-vandana,
bhava-bhaya-khandana jaya he
jaya hari-kirtana, nartana vartana,
kali-mala-kartana jaya he

'All glory to Sachi’s son, who is worshipped by demigods and sages and who destroys all fear of material existence! Glory to Him! He inaugurated the dancing and chanting of the Lord’s Names and removed the contamination of Kali! Glory to Him!'

Srila Vasu Ghosh also wrote:

যদি গৌর না হ’ত, তবে কি হইত,
কেমনে ধরিতাম দে ।
রাধার মহিমা, প্রম-রসসীমা,
জগতে জানাত কে ? ॥

yadi gaura na ha’ta, tabe ki haita,
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima,
jagate janata ke?

'If Gaura had not come, what would have happened? How would we have lived? Who would have revealed to the world Radha’s glory and the acme of Her ecstatic divine love?'

Who in this world would have known about the glory of Srimati Radharani if Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu had not come?...

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Length: 138 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Blessed Navami-Tithi
2) Step Beyond Material Knowledge
3) Outsmarting Gopal
4) Glorious Hapaniya
5) Beautiful Twist of Fate
6) Austere Beginnings
7) Hapaniya: Hidden Jewel
8) Transcendental Values
9) Month of Internal Churning
10) Devotees' Inner Wealth
11) Holy Assembly at Sripat Hapaniya Dham
12) Appreciation for Prasad
13) Concluding Words