(4/8) Pure Ego

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, noon programme, 30 January 2020, part 4
Translated from Bengali

Everyone comes to the Lord with their own interests, but the Lord is very merciful... We have a small Archan Kan book—those who do archan for Deities can read it and understand the rules well, our Param Guru Maharaj wrote it beautifully. There is one very important point mentioned in it. When we go to the temple, we see whether the chamar (yak-tail fan) is clean, we see whether our clothes are clean, we check whether the peacock fan, the conch for water, the lamp for five wicks and other paraphernalia are clean. We check and made sure everything is clean, but is our mind clean? You must ask yourself that. Is your mind clean? To clean your mind, Srila Sridhar Maharaj included a "nija dhyan" (meditation on the self), or "buddhi-suddhi" (purification of intelligence), sloka in the Archan book. First, you put tilaks and make sure you place them on all twelve parts of your body, you make sure everything is clean and in place, but lastly, Srila Guru Maharaj wrote that you must make sure that you submit and place your mind, heart and soul at the holy lotus feet of Sri Gurupadpadma. "Having submitted my heart and soul to my Gurupadpadma, I have got this chance to perform archan for the Lord." The final preparatory step is to make sure your mind is at the holy lotus feet of Sri Gurupadpadma.

দিব্যশ্রীহরিমন্দিরাঢ্যতিলকং কণ্ঠং সুমালান্বিতং
বক্ষঃ শ্রীহরিনামবর্ণসুভগং শ্রীখণ্ডলিপ্তং পুনঃ ।
পূতং সূক্ষ্মনবাম্বরং বিমলতাং নিত্যং বহন্তীং তনুং
ধ্যায়েচ্ছ্রীগুরুপাদপদ্মনিকটে সেবোৎসুকাঞ্চাত্মনঃ ॥

divyam sri-hari-mandiradhya-tilakam kantham sumalanvitam
vaksah sri-hari-nama-varna-subhagam sri-khanda-liptam punah
putam suksma-navambaram vimalatam nityam vahantim tanum
dhyayech chhri-guru-pada-padma-nikate sevotsukas chatmanah

"Meditate that the Lord's Temple (your body) is decorated with shining tilak, your neck bears a beautiful tulasi-mala, your chest is adorned with the Names of Sri Hari and sandalwood paste, you are wearing fine, new clean clothes, and your soul is at the holy lotus feet of Sri Guru, eager for service."

These are very beautiful words. If we study these things, it will be very good. We must understand this well.

Anyhow, much has been said already, and I can continue speaking, but time will pass, and it is Vasanta Panchami today, so I want to say a few words about it. Common people celebrated Saraswati Puja yesterday, but in the Vaishnav tradition, according to our calendar, it is today. Those who worshipped Saraswati yesterday worshipped Vidya Saraswati. There are two Saraswati Deities: one is Vidya Saraswati, and the other one is Suddha Saraswati. Accordingly, there are also two types of knowledge (vidya): para-vidya (transcendental knowledge) and apara-vidya (mundane knowledge). It is said in the scriptures that the real result of knowledge is attachment and love for the holy feet of Lord Krishna. This is what para-vidya is. The result of knowledge is not becoming an engineer, a doctor, a laboratory scientist and so on. People always run behind mundane knowledge (apara-vidya).

জড়বিদ্যা যয়, মায়ার বৈভব,
তোমার ভজনে বাধা ।
মোহ জনমিয়া অনিত্য সংসারে,
জীবকে করিয়ে গাধা ॥

jada-vidya yata, mayara vaibhava,
tomara bhajane badha
moha janamiya, anitya samsare,
jivake karaye gadha

"All mundane learning is a manifestation of illusion (maya) and an obstacle to Your service. It brings about infatuation with the temporary world and turns the soul into an ass."

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

By studying and studying we only become asses—we do not know the Lord. Why? Because we have a burden on our heads. You know, when it is cold, we put on a hat, and we feel the weight of the hat on our heads, and if you put a fifty-kg sack of rice on your head and carry it around, you will feel, "Oh, I feel so hot! I cannot bear it!" Even if you come into an A/C room, will you feel any peace? You will not because you have a burden on your head. What is the burden that we bear? We all have it. It is the burden of ego. We are proud of our money, we are proud of our knowledge, we are proud of our family, friends or followers, we are proud of our beauty, we are proud of our qualities, we are proud of our name and fame. There is also good pride. There is ego (ahankar), and there is also pure ego (suddha ahankar). Pure ego means "I am an eternal servant of Krishna."

'কৃষ্ণ-নিত্যদাস'—জীব তাহা ভুলি' গেল ।
এই দোষে মায়া তার গলায় বান্ধিল ॥

'krsna-nitya-dasa'—jiva taha bhuli' gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

"The jiva soul forgot that it is an eternal servant of Krishna. Because of this mistake, illusion threw its ropes around the soul's neck."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.24)

Every jiva soul has ego, but it is important that our ego does not dwell in the external (material, illusory) world. So, because we carry all these kinds of burden of pride and ego, the teachings of Sri Rupa-Raghunath do not enter our ears. How can we get rid of this ego? If we sincerely pay our prostrate obeisances at the holy feet of our Guru and Vaishnavs, then this burden will automatically fall off. If you have a sack of rice on your head and bow your head, will the sack not fall down? So, if we always, all the time pay obeisance to our Guru and Vaishnavs, the burden of our ego will be removed. Do you understand? It is necessary to give up ego.

So, today is Saraswati Puja day. Vaishnavs worship Saraswati Devi mentally on this day praying to get the transcendental knowledge that can give attachment and attraction to the lotus feet of Krishna. One can worship by offering flowers and other items, and one can also worship mentally. On this day, we pray, "O Saraswati Devi, please give me attachment and attraction to the lotus feet of Krishna. Please give me devotion to Krishna." This is the actual meaning of worship (puja).

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Size: 24.1 Mb
Length: 53 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Repeated Prayer, Repeated Plight
2) Watch What You Wish For
3) Lord's Mercy
4) Pure Ego
5) Beautiful Pastimes (1)
6) Beautiful Pastimes (2)
7) Beautiful Pastimes (3)
8) Take Service Serious