"Give Me Your Mercy"

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
4 March 2020, part 4, translated from Bengali

I pray at your holy feet—you must anyhow, by hook or by crook, practise always, eternally. Practice should be eternal. I have made such a beautiful arrangement for you all—Sripad Tyagi Maharaj has printed this small twenty-rupee Kirtan Guide for those who do not have money. You work and can afford buying tea at the tea stall, but can you not afford buying a book for twenty rupees? Can you not sing kirtans in the morning every day? All kirtans are written in this small book—all the kirtans we sang this morning, Samsara-davanala, Sri Krishna Chaitanya jive daya kari, etc.

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari [1]

Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode.

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana [2]

To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees.

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana [3]

Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that ‘Krsna will certainly protect me'...

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara [4]

Engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion...

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara [5]

"Sri Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in the six-fold way."

This is a very beautiful kirtan written by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

When I was preaching in one of the villages recently, I was asked, "If Gauranga Mahaprabhu is Radha Krishna's combined form, then how can Radharani become Gadadhar Pandit?" This is so, Krishna has indeed taken the heart and halo of Srimati Radharani and became Gauranga, but if you take away a person's heart and halo, is there nothing left? There is. Krishna took Radha's heart and halo, and that which remained from Her became Gadadhar. That Gadadhar's guru is Pundarik Vidyanidhi. Pundarik Vidyanidhi's appearance day is on vasanta-panchami (Saraswati-puja day). I was describing his glories on that day and somebody asked me this question.

Speaking of Sarawati puja, you know that there are two Saraswatis—one is Vidya Saraswati, and another is Suddha Saraswati. There is para-vidya (pure transcendental knowledge) and apara-vidya (mundane knowledge). When people worship Vidya Saraswati, they say

om sarasvati mahabhage vidye kamalalochane
visvarupe visalaksi vidyam dehi namostute

"O great Goddess Saraswati, the personified knowledge possessing large lotus eyes! I offer obeisance to you, please give me knowledge."

However, those who pray to Suddha Saraswati, pray for devotion to Lord Krishna—not for enjoyment. We always want to stay in the line of devotion.

I told an example yesterday in the class. One time, a foreign devotee, who lives in Thailand now, was leaving India. He came to Gurudev saying, "Please give me your mercy." Gurudev said, "OK, may Lord bless you." The next day, that devotees was leaving, so he came to Gurudev again and said, "Please give me your mercy." Gurudev said, "I gave you mercy yesterday, has it already finished so quickly?" These are extremely profound, mystic words, it is necessary to understand what Gurudev said.

We learn these words, "Gurudev, please give your mercy," and keep repeating it. Devotees call and say, "Gurudev, please give me your mercy." You are not doing the service that Gurudev has given you, but you only keep repeating all the time, "Gurudev, please give me your mercy." What does mercy mean? Gurudev said, "If you have service, you have mercy. If you have no service, you have no mercy." So, when Gurudev gives you service, that is his mercy, but instead, when Gurudev gives you service, you forget about it. Have I not told you? I keep telling you to engage yourself in Hari-kirtan, Krishna-kirtan (in chanting the Holy Name, in hearing and singing the glories of the Lord). I have given you all this service—when you go back to your home, serve the Lord, wake up for the mangal-arati, chant kirtans, speak Hari-katha. I have given you this service. When you call me, you keep telling me, "Gurudev, please give me your mercy!" but you think that it is not necessary to do what I have told you to do. I have told you to do Krishna-kirtan, but you think that it is not necessary. I have told you to wake up early in the morning, chant five kirtans in the morning (it takes only ten-fifteen minutes), five kirtans in the evening, but after that you say, "Gurudev, give me some mercy." What is this? It is just repeating words that you have learnt. People offer some flowers or a garland to Gurudev's photograph and think that this is guru-puja (worship of their Guru), or guru-seva (service to their Guru). They do not understand what guru-seva is (service to their Guru). You must do what Gurudev has told you to do. You think you will buy a photo of Gurudev, take it home, offer some flowers to it or place a Tulasi leaf on his chest, and that is your service to Gurudev. I know what I am saying is heavy and you may not like it. I am not saying that it is bad to offer flowers to Gurudev, etc.—it is not bad, but there is much more to it. When Gurudev gives you some service, you must do it. If you can live in a temple, it is good because you can hear kirtans, class, etc. every day, but if you go back to your house, then you must do all these things at your home.

যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি ।
গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায় ॥

ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi
grhete goloka bhaya

On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there.

('Suddha-bhakata-charana-renu' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

Gaura Hari likes to hear His kirtan. Why? You know, many people say, "No, no, do not glorify me!" When somebody says this, it actually means the opposite, "Glorify me some more!" But here, the Lord Himself says that He wants to hear His glorification. Does He not say, "I do not live in the hearts of yogis, I do not live in Vaikuntha. Where do I live? I live where My devotees speak about Me and glorify Me."

naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu va
tatra tisthami narada yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah

"My dear Narada, actually I do not reside in My abode, Vaikuntha, nor do I reside within the hearts of the yogis, but I reside in that place where My pure devotees chant My holy name and discuss My form, pastimes and qualities."

(Padma Purana)

Always remember this. You have received something from your Gurudev, and you must practise it. Do not just keep repeating, "Gurudev, give me some mercy," "Give me some mercy." Gurudev has already given you service, you must do it properly. You must always remember this, then you will understand yourself how much you are practising...

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