Preparing for Parikrama of Antardwip

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

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First of all, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy, after that I am offering my obeisance to all Guru-varga, all the worldwide acharyas, to all my God-brothers and sisters, to all devotees, listeners, and all of you praying for your mercy to this low soul.

Today, very beautifully, you have done the parikrama of Sri Godrumdwip and Sri Madhyadwip, you have heard the glories of Sri Godrumdwip and Sri Madhyadwip. Tomorrow, we will do the parikrama of Antardwip, or Mayapur. We will start from here by buses, they will take us to the ghat, then we will cross the Ganges and then start walking from Ganga Nagar. We will go to the place of Gaura Nitai's meeting, to Chandradaya Mandir, from there to Jagai Madhai Ghat, and then we will enter Yogapith. From there, we will go to Srivas Angan, Sridhar Angan, Advaita Prabhu's dwelling, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj's samadhi, the house of Gadadhar Pandit; from there to Chaitanya Math where we will visit Prabhupad's samadhi mandir and bhajan kutir; from there, we will go to Chand Kazi's samadhi, and after that, finally, to the temple of Sri Jagannath Baladev Subhadra. There, we will take the ekadasi anukalpa (non-grain prasadam). You know that it is ekadasi tomorrow, so we will be fasting until midday. After taking anukalpa parasad, we will talk about the glories of Sri Simantadwip and Sri Rudradwip. Then, the buses will be waiting for us there, we will return here by bus.

So, tomorrow is the parikrama of Sri Antardwip, it is the island of atma-nivedan, or saranagati (self-submission, or self-surrender). We have sung in one of the kirtans just now,

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ॥
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥

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

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

It is necessary to have humility—to consider yourself extremely low and bereft. Some think, "Oh, I have become a sannyasi, I am a Maharaj now!" and when somebody calls them "prabhu" by mistake, they say, "I am not a prabhu, I am Maharaj!" I have heard such things. I hear everything. Common people do not understand these things, for them everyone is a prabhu—they say casually, "Prabhu, how are you?" Devotees called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu "Prabhu"—to be a "prabhu" is a much higher position than a "Maharaj," but you say, "I am not a prabhu, I am Maharaj." Nobody wants to be a servant (das), everybody wants to be a master (prabhu). That is the great problem...

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, Antya-lila, 6.239)

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি অহঙ্কার ॥

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি অন্যে করবি পালন ॥

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others, instead nurture them.

জীবন-নির্ব্বাহে আনে উদ্বেগ না দিবে ।
পর-উপকারে নিজ-সুখ পাসরিবে ॥

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others.

(Sri Siksastakam Giti)

Who will be able to do kirtan? Only those who are humbler than a blade of glass, who are more tolerant than a tree, have the right, the qualification to chant kirtan—only they can tolerate everything, only they can have the patience. It is necessary to have tolerance. It is always necessary to remember about patience.

You have come to Krishna consciousness, to the temple, you work so hard, but on top of that you also have to put up with being chastised. Here, you will get 'dal' (ডাল, pulses) and you will also get 'gal' (গাল, scolding, abuse). Many say, "I am working so nicely, but nobody cares about me! They do not give me medicine, they do not give me a proper place to sleep"; or they say, "I am working now, but who will look after me when I am old? I had better go back to my house." Such thoughts come to us... We sing about "goptrtve varan" (embracing Lord's guardianship), but these only words for us—we do not apply it in our own lives. We forget that Krishna is our guardian, that Krishna looks after us, protects us. We think that only we will be able to protect ourselves. If you realise that there is one person to protect you, then the Lord will look after you and you will never face danger in your life; but if you think there is nobody to protect you, then all kinds of enemies will jump at you (kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya, rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa, kanak, kamini, pratistha—lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy, desire to see, taste, smell, hear, feel nice things, desire to have money, companions, fame).

কৃষ্ণ-বহির্ম্মুখ হঞা ভোগ বাঞ্ছা করে ।

নিকটস্থ মায়া তারে জাপটিয়া ধরে ॥

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vanchha kare
nikatastha maya tare japatiya dhare

"When souls become averse to Krishna and desire enjoyment, nearby Maya seizes them."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.2)

Maya is always roaming all four directions—she can at any time take us away from the service of the Lord and throw us into the material world according to the result of our own actions (karma). Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur sings (Saranagati), "When I was young, I did so many things, I worked so hard, but it has all become an impediment to my spiritual life."

শৈশব-যৌবনে, জড়সুখ-সঙ্গে,
অভ্যাস হইল মন্দ ।
নিজকর্ম্ম-দোষে, এ দেহ হইল,
ভজনের প্রতিবন্ধ ॥

saisava-yauvane, jada-sukha-sange,
abhyasa ha-ila manda
nija-karma-dose, e deha ha-ila,
bhajanera pratibandha

"In my childhood and youth, I always indulged in material happiness and I have become habituated to bad things. Because of my own sins, this body has become an impediment to spiritual practice."

We have been enjoying material world and we now have developed bad habits. Those who we have thought to be our dear and near (wife, husband, sons, daughters, friends, brothers, etc.) have turned out to be not our near and dear but disguised dacoits—they will drink all your blood to the last drop. Suppose you work now—when you die, your wife will continue getting your pension, so even after your death she will keep sucking your blood. Those for whom we do everything in this world turn out to be dacoits.

গর্দ্দভের মত আমি করি পরিশ্রম ।
কার লাগি' এত করি না ঘুচিল ভ্রম ॥

gardabhera mata ami kari parisrama
kara lagi' eta kari, na ghuchila bhrama

I toil laboriously like a donkey. For whom am I doing this? Still my illusion has not been dispelled.

For whom have I been doing all this? None of us can say now. Now, everyone says they have become Krishna-bhaktas—everybody has taken initiation and got enrolled into this school, but do you graduate just by getting enrolled? I keep telling it to you time and time again...

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