(2/7) Two Unexpected Questions

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening festival class
Sri Nityananda-Trayodasi, 7 February 2020, part 2
Translated from Bengali

[In the middle of the class at the holy Sri Ekachakra Dham, on the holy appearance day of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, an elderly devotee suddenly gets up and ardently asks His Divine Grace...]

Devotee: Can I ask something? I follow ekadasi. If I do something bad to another person, will my sin be removed if I take Jagannath prasad?

What do you mean by 'doing something bad to another person'? It is not good to harass others and give anybody anxiety.

Devotee: Yes, but if I take Jagannath prasad on the ekadasi day, will my sin be removed?

Does anyone take Jagannath prasad on ekadasi? It is prohibited to take grains on ekadasi.

Devotee: Not grains...

What do you mean? Jagannath's prasad is all grains. You can take it on the dvadasi day to break your fast (to do paran). You must not take it on ekadasi. If you have Jagannath prasad, you can take it during the paran time (you can find paran times in the Vaishnav calendar). Take it on the dvadasi day.

Devotee: If I am in the bathroom, passing stool, can I chant 'Hare Krishna'? Would that be offensive?

There is no offence in doing that. You can do it. But do not take your beads with you! You can chant with your mouth. No problem. Even Mahaprabhu Himself would chant the Holy Name when He went to the bathroom. At the house where Mahaprabhu stayed (in Gambhira, Puri Dham), a devotee called Gopal served the Deities of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. One time, Mahaprabhu went to the bathroom holding His tongue between His teeth. Seeing this, Gopal asked, "Prabhu, is there anything wrong? Why are You biting Your tongue?" Mahaprabhu explained, "My tongue has become so naughty that when I am going to a dirty place to pass stool, it keeps saying, 'Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!'" In reply, Gopal said, "But why, Prabhu? What offence is there in chanting the Holy Name when going to the bathroom?"

কি শয়নে, কি ভোজনে, কিবা জাগরণে ।
অহর্নিশ চিন্ত কৃষ্ণ, বলহ বদনে ॥

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

"Whether you are sleeping, eating or waking up, incessantly think about Krishna and chant the Name of Krishna with your mouth."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.28.28)

We are told to chant the whole day and night, at any time. There is no consideration of right or wrong time for chanting.

প্রভু কহে,—"কহিলাঙ এই মহামন্ত্র ।
ইহা জপ' গিয়া সবে করিয়া নির্ব্বন্ধ" ॥

prabhu kahe—kahilan ei maha-mantra
iha japa' giya sabe kariya nirbandha

"Always chant the Holy Name—there is no obstruction, no binding, you can chant this Holy Name at any time."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.23.77)

"There are no prohibitions, so why can You not chant when going to pass stool?" Hearing Gopal's words, Mahaprabhu said, "Yes, Gopal, you are right! Today, you have become Gopal Guru! You have taught Me something, so I shall now call you Gopal Guru. I was wrong." So, even when you are sitting in the toilet, passing stool, you can chant the Holy Name. There is no prohibition regarding that. On the contrary, I always tell everyone to chant—you sit there for fifteen minutes every day, then why will you not chant during this time?

You know, I saw abroad that people read newspapers in toilets. They do not have time to read newspapers, so they take them to read them while passing stool. [Devotees laugh.] I told them: at this time, instead of reading, you can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, it will be better. I saw once a man taking a newspaper to the toilet and asked him why he was taking it there; the man told me that he was going to sit in the toilet and read it—otherwise, he did not get time to read newspapers. [Devotees laugh.]

So, you can chant the Holy Name while passing stool. Mahaprabhu endorsed it. There is no consideration of time or place when it comes to chanting the Holy Name.

Devotee: But if they only chant during passing stool and not at other times, that is not right. [Laughter.]

Yes, that is not right. I have told you—you must chant all day long, at every moment. You must always remember the Lord's Name. Always remember the Lord. If you can always remember the Lord and leave this body in this way, then your life will be meaniful. I have seen many times, even at the temple, that people go to the toilet to pass stool and do not come out for two days; on the third day, when bad smell starts coming from the bathroom, somebody comes and finds them dead (our Nabadwip temple is very big, so it is hard to notice at once when somebody is missing). So, people die falling into their own stool. If you chant the Holy Name while passing stool and happen to die, you will get benefit. When people go to the bathroom, they also often slip or get a stroke and die... This is the situation in this world. So, there are no restrictions or prohibitions about chanting in the bathroom, but it is not right to take your chanting beads to the bathroom. If somebody chants in the bathroom without the beads, what is the problem?

কি শয়নে, কি ভোজনে, কিবা জাগরণে ।
অহর্নিশ চিন্ত কৃষ্ণ, বলহ বদনে ॥

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

"Whether you are sleeping, eating or waking up, incessantly think about Krishna and chant the Name of Krishna with your mouth."

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.28.28)

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sinful Souls' Scrape
2) Two Unexpected Questions
3) Do Not Lose This Pull
4) Great Mercy for Great Hearts
5) Kali-Yuga Servants
6) Why Have You Come?
7) Practise and Pray