Good News

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 27 September 2020, part 3

I have got some good news today, not everybody may have heard it, so I want to tell you about it. A while ago, our prime minister inaugurated a temple of Lord Rama in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama. [Background: In 16th century, a muslim king broke the original temple on the site and built there a mosque. The mosque was then demolished about thirty years ago, and following decades of fights over the land, the site was again legally restored as Lord Rama's birthplace and turned into a temple of Lord Rama.] So, the latest news is about another mosque near Adi-Keshav's temple in Mathura (those of you who have been to Vrindavan parikrama have seen it). Two people have filed a court case in Allahabad Court saying that the Muslim people had taken the place forcefully, but as this is Krishna's birthplace and the land is registered in the name of Adi Keshava, therefore the mosque that the Muslim king had built is unauthorised. So, Krishna's Birthplace Committee has now filed a court case with the Allahabad Court—they want to again take possession of that land in Krishna's birthplace. It is good news because there is always so much security there—they check everyone and do not allow any mobile phones or electronic devices, you cannot take a camera with you, even mridangas, karatalas, conches, etc. are not allowed because of the mosque! It is very painful that we cannot take a mridanga, karatals with us because of a mosque! What is this? I have been praying to Krishna for that—and now they have filed a case, I am sure one day justice will happen.

Does anyone have any questions today?

Question: Is it true that you cannot sleep at night or take a nap on ekadasi because if you do, you will lose your fast?

No! No, no, no. You can sleep, it is not a problem. Sleeping, resting is also a part of service. If you do not sleep, if you do not take rest, then how will you serve? Your health will be damaged.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj wrote in Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's pranam mantra,

নিখিল-ভুবন-মায়া-ছিন্নবিচ্ছিন্নকর্ত্রী
বিবুধবহুল-মৃগ্যা-মুক্তি-মোহান্ত-দাত্রী ।
শিথিলিত-বিধি-রাগারাধ্য-রাধেশ-ধানী
বিলসতু হৃদি নিত্যং ভক্তিসিদ্ধান্ত-বাণী ॥

nikhila-bhuvana-maya-chhinna-vichchhinna-kartri
vibudha-bahula-mrgya-mukti-mohanta-datri
sithilita-vidhi-raga-aradhya-radhesa-dhani
vilasati hrdi nityam bhakti-siddhanta-vani

"With his first step, he vigorously cut asunder the whole plane of exploitation, and with his second, he put a stop to all the calculations of the different scholars with their different conceptions of liberation. With his third step, he eased the hard rules and regulations by a touch of the Divine Love: he gave us the worship of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda. The real existence of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad is in his divine teachings. May those teachings dance eternally within the core of your heart."

Srila Bhakti Sriddhanta Saraswati Thakur reduced so many rules and regulations (sithilita-vidhi-raga-aradhya-radhesa-dhani). He reduced the rules and regulations for the benefit of devotees. So, you can sleep, you can take rest. Otherwise, if you give many rules and regulations, no one will follow ekadasi! You know, we are supposed to take anu-kalpa (a little bit food) on ekadasi, but we always take brihat-kalpa (enormous meal). There is always opulent prasadam coming on ekadasi. You worry how to fast without rice, flour, dal, etc., but Krishna has arranged everything for us to be able to follow ekadasi—there are so many kinds of fruit, you can take as much potato as you want, you can take original tapioca. So many things are there that can be taken.

So, when people say that you cannot sleep, that you must chant the whole night, it is a misconception, it is not a good idea. You can sleep, you can take rest as required, it is not a problem.

Are there any other questions?

Question: What is the proper way to chant the Holy Name and chant bhajans?

It is depends on you. You can chant loudly, you can chant not loudly, but chanting loudly is better. Haridas Thakur chanted loudly. If you chant silently, then so many things, so many problems will be coming to your mind—you cannot control your senses. So, if you chant loudly, it is the best. This is so also because all the birds, beasts, trees, etc. cannot chant the Holy Name themselves, but if you chant loudly, they can hear the sound vibration from you and they can get purified, they can get benefitted through you. That is why chanting loudly is good. As I have just said, Srila Haridas Thakur, who is Namacharya, always chanted loudly. Also, different types of chanting produce different types of result. If you chant silently or quietly, it produces one type of result, and if you chant loudly, it produces another type of result. If you chant and dance, it is also another result. Chanting loudly is good—when we do arati and sing at the arati, we dance and chant, and it brings a good result.

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