(15/15) Root of Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bokaro, 3 December 2019, evening, part 15
Translated from Bengali

There is no way to come to the Lord except by devotees' mercy. That is why Mahaprabhu told Srila Sanatan Goswami that sadhu-sanga is the root of devotion to Lord Krishna (this is where devotion comes from).

কৃষ্ণভক্তি-জন্মমূল হয় ‘সাধসঙ্গ’ ।
কৃষ্ণপ্রেম জন্মে, তেঁহো পুনঃ মুখ্য অঙ্গ ॥

krsna-bhakti-janma-mula haya 'sadhu-sanga'
krsna-prema janme, tiho punah mukhya anga

'Although sadhu-sanga is the root cause of devotion for Krishna, it remains the main part of life for those who have already attained transcendental love for Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.80)

Not only is good association the root of devotion, but it is also the main factor in developing divine love for the Lord. Good association can give divine love.

মহৎ-কৃপা বিনা কোন কর্ম্মে ‘ভক্তি’ নয় ।
কৃষ্ণভক্তি দূরে রহু, সংসার নহে ক্ষয় ॥

mahat-krpa bina kona karma 'bhakti' naya
krsna-bhakti dure rahu, samsara nahe ksaya

'Without the mercy of a great soul, it is not possible to attain devotion through any material activities – what to speak of attaining devotion to Krishna, it is not possible to even destroy material existence like that.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.51)

The main root of devotion is sadhu-sanga (association of pure saints).

‘সাধুসঙ্গ’, ‘সাধুসঙ্গ’—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

‘sadhu-sanga’ ‘sadhu-sanga’—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

‘All scriptures keep saying: “Good association”, “Good association.” You can attain all perfection even just by a drop of good, saintly association.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

If we can live practising chanting the Holy Name and the glories of the Lord every single day, we will get the greatest benefit. Just as you eat every day, just as you sleep every day, you should serve the Lord in the same way. You must serve the Lord every single day without fail. Always serve the Lord. Remember this. Devotion to the Lord comes from good association.

The highest service to the Lord is cooking. Those who cook for the Lord every day do the greatest service. It is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita that if you eat something without offering it to the Lord, it is stealing and it is a sin. You must honour prasad (prasad-seva). ‘Prasada-seva karite haya, sakala prapancha-jaya (প্রসাদ-সেবা করিতে হয় সকল প্রপঞ্চ জয়). The entire material world can be conquered by honouring the Lord’s prasad’ (Saranagati). So, offer food to the Lord with Tulasi leaves and take His prasad after that.

There are many kinds of services: offering archan, dressing the Deities or decorating the temple, cleaning the temple, serving the Deities – but among all these services, the main service is cooking for the Lord. Those who cook or help to cook for the Lord with all their heart and soul are the closest friends of the Lord. They cook for the Lord and feed the Lord every day, so such devotees are the Lord's best friends. Therefore, you must always give importance to this service.

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

‘Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship holy Deities with faith.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

Living in Mathura does not mean that you must leave everything and move to Mathura. 'Yatha vaisnav, tatha tirtha. A holy place is wherever there is a Vaishnav present.' Wherever Vaishnavs are, this is where a holy place is. Wherever there is Hari-katha spoken (wherever devotees speak about the Lord), this is where Goloka Vrindavan is.

If somebody takes birth but cannot serve the Lord, they will go to a terrible hell – they will never be happy in their lives. Remember this. Such people destroy their past, present and future.

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

‘Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager or worker) or ashram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life or monk) you belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.26)

'Raurav' is a very, very bad place. Those who do not worship Krishna will end up in a very difficult situation: the punishment they incur will be much worse than just hell.

We must always serve the Lord. The only way to come to the Lord in this Age of Kali is by chanting His Holy Names (Harinama-sankirtan). If you can take shelter of a bona fide guru and then chant the Lord's Holy Name and serve the Lord in the association of pure saints, then you will attain the greatest happiness in your lives. It is not necessary to have money or any material wealth for that – all you need is give your heart and soul. You must worship the Lord with all your hearts. Worship is not about giving money or some fruit – you may not have money to buy flowers, but you have your hearts, you have your minds. If you can give your hearts and minds, that is sufficient. Serve genuinely, with all your heart.

তোমার সংসারে, করিব সেবন,
নহিব ফলের ভাগী ।

tomara samsare, kariba sevana,
nahiba phalera bhagi

'I will serve Your family and never claim any result for myself.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'O Lord, I want to serve Your family, and I am not interested in what I will get for that.' What do you get if you serve the Lord? What do you get by fasting on ekadasi? It is not necessary to know all this. My guru and Vaishnavs say that I must serve Lord Krishna, so I will do. Always remember this.

আর কবে নিতাইচাঁদ করুণা করিবে ।
সংসার-বাসনা মোর কবে তুচ্ছ হ'বে ॥

ara kabe nitaichand karuna karibe
samsara-vasana mora kabe tuchha ha'be

"When will Nitaichand give mercy to me? When will all my material desires become insignificant?"

('Prarthana' by Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

কবে নিত্যানন্দ মোরে করি' দয়া ।
ছাড়াইবে মোর বিষয়ের মায়া ॥

kabe nityananda more kari' daya
chhadaibe mora visayera maya

'When will Nityananda be merciful to me and make me leave all material attachment?'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'When will the Lord take me out of this material bondage and give me a place at His feet? When will I be able to chant the Holy Name at Your marketplace? When will I be able to enter and become a member of Your family?' We all live in Maya's family here – we are so greatly unfortunate and wicked that we ended up floundering in this terrible world of material illusion (emana durmati samsara bhitare padiya achhinu ami; এমন দুর্ম্মতি, সংসার-ভিতরে, পড়িয়া আছিনু আমি). When will we enter Krishna's family and be able to serve the Lord?

You have been listening all this time, but does anybody have any questions? If you have any questions, doubts or if you want to know anything, do not be shy, you can ask. Ask and by the mercy of my Gurudev and the Lord, I can try to answer. I will say whatever Gurudev makes me say... So, was there anything you found difficult to understand? Nobody has questions? Are you shy or are you scared? Which?

'Asat-sanga-tyaga—ei vaisnava-achara. Vaishnavs always give up all inauspicious association' (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.87). You must always be careful with your association. You must associate with those who associate with pure saints themselves and always speak Hari-katha. If you associate with bad people, you become bad, too. If you associate with thieves, you will become thieves. If you associate with drug addicts, you will become drug addicts yourselves. Associate with good people.

If you come to a guru and take a mantra from him, this is not how a relationship is built. You must love your guru. If somebody loves their guru, for whatever reason it may be, it means that they have a relationship with their guru and they have a feeling of being related to him. The more you can serve your guru, the better your lives will be, the sooner you can get the result and come to the Lord. The moment you think, 'I have nobody to protect me in this world,' the enemies living all around you will come to attack you; and if you feel, 'Krishna is my guardian, Krishna will protect me,' then you will see that all dangers and difficulties will dissolve. Leave everything to the Lord, surrender to Him. You can see the example of Bali Maharaj's surrender – he gave himself to the Lord. This is the kind of surrender we must have in our lives. Prahlad Maharaj is a santa-rasa devotee, and he tolerated everything silently. No matter how much his father harassed him, he did not show any opposition. He was thrown into fire, but he was not burnt; he was thrown into water, but he was unharmed. If somebody lives taking extreme, exclusive shelter in the Lord, if somebody lives always remembering the Lord, nobody can do anything to them no matter how many obstacles, difficulties or suffering come to them. ‘Marabi rakhabi – yo ichchha tohara (মারবি রাখবি—যো ইচ্ছা তোহারা). You can kill me, You can protect and keep me alive – it is Your matter, it is up to You’ (Saranagati). If He wants to kill you, He will kill you; and if He wants to keep you alive, He will keep you alive. We must always remember this.

A bad day is not a cloudy day. A bad day for us is a day when we cannot serve the Lord, a day when we cannot remember the Lord or listen about the Lord. Our bodies subsist on rice, dal, vegetables and other foods (when we eat these things, our bodies receive nourishment), and the food for the soul is listening about the Lord and chanting the glories of the Lord. Never forget this. Always live practising sravan and kirtan, and you will see that your soul will feel peace and happiness. We have kirtan books both in Bengali and Hindi, you can get them and practise chanting.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Jaya Radha-Madhava', 'Hari Haraye Nama Krsna' and concludes the programme.]

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 35 Mb
Length: 72 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Divine Arrangement
2) Embrace Higher Life
3) Beyond Body Consciousness
4) Come Back Home
5) Material and Spiritual Urges
6) Seek Good Association
7) Scattered Hearts
8) Spiritual Interest
9) Result of Mercy and Association
10) Our Near and Dear
11) Do Not Lose Focus
12) Greatest Internal Obstacle
13) Main Priority
14) Clean Your Ears
15) Root of Devotion