(5/16) How to Pray to Vaishnav Thakur

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Temple inauguration programme, Hooghly
26 January 2020, noon, part 5
Translated from Bengali

কবে শ্রীচৈতন্য মোরে করিবেন দয়া ।
কবে আমি পাইব বৈষ্ণব-পদছায়া ॥

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

"When will Sri Chaitanya be merciful to me? When will I reach the shade of the Vaishnavs' feet?"

কবে আমি ছাড়িব এ বিষয়াভিমান ।
কবে বিষ্ণুজনে আমি করিব সম্মান ॥

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

"When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?"

When will Sri Chaitanya bestow His mercy on me? When will I be able to come to the shelter of Vaishnavs' holy feet? When will I be able to pay obeisance to Vaishnavs? When will I be able to show respect to Vaishnavs? When will I leave this material ego? "My money", "My house", "I am a guru!"—all this is material ego. Even if you think, "I am Gurudev," this is material ego. Even if you think, "I have become a disciple," this is also ego. What to speak of becoming a guru, we have not even been able to become a disciple! I have told you many times that in this world, you can find many gurus, but the number of disciples is very small. If you are to become a disciple, you must accept Gurudev's chastisement (you must tolerate being chastised and be able to mould yourself accordingly). You must follow what Gurudev says. If Gurudev tells you to go in one direction, but your mind tells you in another direction and you follow it, then you can never become a disciple. You can receive the mantra, the initiation, but not everyone who receives initiation is a disciple. Remember this.

কবে আমি ছাড়িব এ বিষয়াভিমান ।
কবে বিষ্ণুজনে আমি করিব সম্মান ॥

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

"When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?"

গলবস্ত্র কৃতাঞ্জলি বৈষ্ণব নিকটে ।
দন্তে তৃণ করি দাঁড়াইব নিষ্কপটে ॥

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari' dandaiba niskapate

"With a cloth around my neck, joined palms, and straw between my teeth, I will sincerely submit myself at the Vaishnav's feet."

Taking grass between your teeth means humility:

তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা ।
অমানিনা মানদেন কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.239)

You must be humbler than a blade of grass. If you step on a blade of grass, it bends down, it shows no resistance—grass grows as the lowest plant, and if you step on it, it bends and becomes even lower than the lowest. We too must become like this—we must be as low as grass. If somebody puts their foot on my head, I should not mind it: "It is all right, I will accept it."

When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in Puri, one time a lady climbed on His shoulder to get the darshan of Lord Jagannath. Did Mahaprabhu throw her off? He did not. Govinda was nearby and seeing what the lady was doing, he scolded her, "Hey, what are you doing?! Get down! Get down!" but Mahaprabhu said, "Quiet." So, Govinda stopped and did not say anything. Later, when Mahaprabhu returned to His room in Gambhira, Govinda asked Him, "Prabhu, what is this? That lady climbed on Your shoulder, and You said not to tell her anything?" Mahaprabhu replied, "Listen, she has so much desire to see Lord Jagannath—even I do not have so much desire! I am very tall, and she climbed on top of Me to see Lord Jagannath—she has no sense that I am a man, that I am a sannyasi, and that she is a lady. Her only intent and attention was on getting the darshan of Lord Jagannath."

What did Srila Prabhupad say? If somebody says, "I will see Jagannath," Jagannath will not allow them to see Him, and if somebody comes with service mood, thinking, "I will serve Jagannath," then Jagannath will give them His darshan. Remember this.

So, I began saying—holding a blade of grass between teeth, I will come to Vaishnav Thakur sincerely, without any duplicity or hypocrisy (kapata). 'Kapata' means showing outside one thing but having inside something else. You must come sincerely, genuinely, with an open mind—you must never keep anything from Gurudev. You must tell your Guru everything. Just as when you come to a doctor, if you keep some ailment secret from the doctor, the doctor will not be able to treat you. In the same way, if you tell everything openly to your Gurudev, he will arrange everything for you. Do not keep anything from him! Whatever you do—whether you do something good, bad or wrong—you must tell Gurudev everything. If you keep something from your Guru, this is kapata, being hypocritical, insincere. I told you before—you must throw everything (your mind, intelligence and ego, your body, mind and soul) at the holy feet of your Guru. You must remember this.

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া জানাইব দুঃখগ্রাম ।
সংসার অনল হৈতে মাগিব বিশ্রাম ॥

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama
samsara-anala haite magiba visrama

"Weeping, I will convey my sorrows to the Vaishnav and pray for shelter from the fire of material existence."

শুনিয়া আমার দুঃখ বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
আমা' লাগি' কৃষ্ণে আবেদিবেন প্রচুর ॥

suniya amara duhkha vaisnava thakura
ama' lagi' krsne avedibena prachura

"Hearing of my sorrow, the worshippable Vaishnav will ardently pray to Krishna on my behalf."

বৈষ্ণবের আবেদনে কৃষ্ণ দয়াময় ।
এ হেন পামর প্রতি হবেন সদয় ॥

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

"Satisfied by the Vaishnav's prayer, Krishna will be merciful to this sinner."

বিনোদের নিবেদন বৈষ্ণব চরণে ।
কৃপা করি সঙ্গে লহ এই অকিঞ্চনে ॥

vinodera nivedana vaisnava-charane
krpa kari' sange laha ei akinchane

"Bhaktivinod prays at the feet of the Vaisnavas: "Mercifully take this lowly soul with you."

"Kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama"—I am constantly burning in the fire of this material existence! I will come to Vaishnav Thakur and beg him for respite from this suffering. "Hearing of my sorrow, the worshippable Vaishnav will ardently pray to Krishna on my behalf." What happens when you submit your plea to Vaishnav Thakur? He will speak about you and pray for you to Krishna. You will not get a letter from the Lord, but if you give your letter to a Vaishnav, if you tell about your unhappiness to your Guru and Vaishnavs, they will tell the Lord about you, and the Lord will solve all your problems. This is the rule; you must follow this process. If you tell a Vaishnav about your unhappiness, Vaishnav Thakur will tell the Lord about your unhappiness, and the Lord will remove it.

বৈষ্ণবের আবেদনে কৃষ্ণ দয়াময় ।
এ হেন পামর প্রতি হবেন সদয় ॥

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

"Satisfied by the Vaishnav's prayer, Krishna will be merciful to this sinner."

বিনোদের নিবেদন বৈষ্ণব চরণে ।
কৃপা করি সঙ্গে লহ এই অকিঞ্চনে ॥

vinodera nivedana vaisnava-charane
krpa kari' sange laha ei akinchane

"Bhaktivinod prays at the feet of the Vaisnavas: "Mercifully take this lowly soul with you."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is praying at the holy feet of Vaishnavs, "Prabhu, you are going to the Lord, please take me with you." We too will tell Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, "Prabhu! Gurudev! You are going to the Lord, please take me with you!"

This is how you must pray to Vaishnav Thakur, then we will get supreme benefit.

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Length: 120 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Opening Temple—Opening Your Eyes
2) Live As a Member of Krishna's Family
3) Meaning of Surrender (1)
4) Meaning of Surrender (2)
5) How to Pray to Vaishnav Thakur
6) Orphaned and Blind
7) Satisfying Lord and Your Soul
8) Trade Secret of Krishna Consciousness
9) Taste for Hari-Katha
10) Eternal Nourishment
11) Align Your Life
12) Two Keys to Success
13) Ekadasi Vrata (1)
14) Ekadasi Vrata (2)
15) Practise Day and Night
16) If You Want, You Can