(7/8) Devotional Progress

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Noon preaching programme in Adra,
13 November 2020, part 7
Translated from Bengali

The third and the fourth questions Srila Sanatan Goswami asked Mahaprabhu was, 'How can I get benefit (kise mangal habe)?', 'What is the goal of life (sadhya-vastu ki)?', 'How can I attain it (sadhya-vastu ki korle paowa yaya)?' Mahaprabhu replied that nobody can attain the goal of their life without practice (sadhana). What is this sadhana? It is the nine kinds of devotion. Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam – hearing about the Lord, chanting the Lord’s Name and glories, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Lord's Deity, offering obeisances to the Lord, serving the Lord as a servitor, serving the Lord as a friend and submitting yourself to the Lord. First, it is necessary to have faith. But before faith, there must be sukriti. Sukriti is of two types, jnata sukriti (conscious spiritual merit) and ajnata sukriti (unconscious spiritual merit).

For example, I saw that many people here grow roses. Somebody grows these roses, somebody then goes to Howrah to sell them, and eventually somebody buys them. In this way, some roses are used for weddings, some roses are taken to the crematorium, and some roses are used for the service to Lord Govinda. If somebody uses roses for Lord Govinda, then even the person who grew those roses gets some benefit. There are Tulasi trees in many houses (you can even see Tulasi growing wild on the street), but you take Tulasi leaves and offer them to the Lord. We sing in the kirtan, 'Chhappanna bhoga, chhatrisa vyanjana vina tulasi prabhu eka nahi mani (ছাপ্পান্ন ভোগ, ছত্রিশ ব্যঞ্জন বিনা তুলসী প্রভু এক নাহি মানি) – the Lord does not accept even one of fifty-six grain offerings or thirty-six vegetable offerings without Tulasi leaves.' Therefore, when you offer Tulasi, Tulasi can serve the Lord. So, when a devotee gives a handful or rice or a flower to Lord Govinda, then both the person who has planted the rice paddy and kept it underwater for three months and the rice plant get benefit. This is ajnata sukriti. The plant does not know that it has been used for the service to the Lord, but this plant will get some mercy and one day get born as a human. After that, it can serve the Lord and come back to the Lord. This is how sukriti works. Sukriti means 'His things for His service' (tad vastu tadiya sevaya).

Whom does everything belong to? You grow paddy, but whose paddy is it? Scientists can invent great vaccines against coronavirus, but we say, 'Oh my, you have become such great pandits, but do you have the power to grow a single grain of rice?' In Italy, scientists have managed to reattach head to its neck after it had been cut off. But can they create a human? They can only create some robots. They create so many things, but they cannot give life to anything. Even doctors have no power – you can spend millions of rupees, but no doctor can give you life. If the Lord saves you, then only can you be saved. There is a saying, 'I treat, He cures.' It means that doctors can give you medicine, but it is the Lord who makes you recover. When everything fails, people call out to the Lord. When you had time, you never called out to the Lord, but when you are about to die, you think about the Lord.

'Vipade sampade taha thakuk samabhave (বিপদে সম্পদে তাহা থাকুক সমভাবে): May my love for You not waver at bad or good times.' When we have money, we forget the Lord. When we are poor, then we think, 'God, God, God,' but once we get money, we forget the Lord. Is this what an eternal servant means? No. We must always call out to the Lord. Whether you have money or not, whether you have a house or not, always call out to the Lord.

[A small child makes noise.] Quiet, quiet; otherwise, I will put you in my care and take you to Nabadwip. Anyway, it will be good for you. [Devotees laugh.]

So, first is sukriti. After that, there is faith. There are four kinds of faith: kamala-sraddha (soft, fragile faith), taranga-sraddha (flickering faith), drdha-sraddha (strong faith), sudrdha-sraddha (the strongest faith). The quality of your devotion depends on your faith. Many people do not have devotion because they have too little faith. If you are to 'purchase' devotion, you must pay the price with faith. You cannot buy devotion with money. Have you ever seen devotion sold at the market? Devotion means your very being, your heart, love, affection. Can you buy all these things with money? You cannot. All these things come from one's heart. It is necessary to serve the Lord in the same way as you serve your child. Just as you nourish and take care of your child nicely, you must serve the Lord in the same way, taking care of Him with affection, then the Lord will become moved towards you.

What is the result of faith? Sadhu-sanga. This microphone I am using can be heard very far, but can everybody come here? Somebody thinks, 'Oh, I have not been invited, so why will I go there?' Whether you have been invited or not, what is the problem if you come and listen to me say a few things? Do you think you will catch a virus here? Neither will anyone tell you, 'Hey, you have not been invited! Go away from here!' So, not everybody has the sukriti, not everybody has sufficient faith, or their faith can be fickle. When it is festival time at the temple, you can see so many people coming like a wave, and when there is no festival, people do not come. Faith is finished. This is not faith proper. We must always keep connection with our guru.

You can see now that small girls buy big-big mobile phones, and they look at pictures in it, searching, 'Where can I find a nice boyfriend?' And boys look at girls' pictures, searching, 'Where can I find a nice girlfriend?' It is like tying a bell on your neck.

So, there is weak faith, fickle faith, strong faith and the strongest faith.

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

'Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

It means that your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods—all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord.

Village people say, 'This man has died, so the house has become impure.' What is this? You stop cooking for the Deities, but if you have small children at home, you still carry on cooking for them and feeding them. Even neighbours feed them. When it is time to eat, everybody comes and eats, but when it is the time for the Lord to eat, then the Lord must fast. They do not water Tulasi also during this time. They stop all service to the Lord. This kind of rule is not written anywhere in the scriptures. Service to the Lord must be daily, regularly, eternally. It should never be stopped. Once a month, girls have some problem, and they are not allowed to enter the kitchen. They can feed their husbands, they can feed their children and eat themselves also, but they cannot give food to the Lord. If you eat something without offering it first to the Lord, it means you are stealing and eating. This is a sin. This is said in Srimad Bhagavad-gita. If you do not offer bhog to the Lord, it means you are stealing His things and eating that.

So, first is sukriti, then faith, then sadhu-sanga. After that, there is bhajana-kriya, practice. The Hari-katha we speak and the kirtan we chant here are all part of spiritual practice. After that, there is anartha-nivritti (decrease of unwanted elements). If we hear about Krishna consciousness carefully, all dirt from our hearts will go away. You have given me some place where to sit here, but if you had kept ten-kg or fifty-kg sacks of rice here, where would I sit? In the same way, if you have a jungle in your heart – if your heart is full of lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, envy – where will you find place for the Lord to sit? If you always listen to Hari-katha and chant kirtan, your heart and mind will become pure – lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, envy will go away. Envy means jealousy. 'Oh, they have a two-storey house, they have so much money, and I do not have anything!', 'They have got their daughter married into a good family, but my daughter did not get married into a good family!' Some people do not like to see others doing well. In other words, when we see others happy, we feel unhappy, and if somebody is unhappy, we feel happy and clap our hands. 'Oh, he has failed the exam, very good! Clap, clap.' This is the kind of desires we have inside us. We do not like to see others doing well. The Lord says that there is no place for those who are jealous. But if you practise Krishna consciousness, envy will gradually go away from your heart and you will get supreme benefit.

So, everybody must chant the Holy Name. They have already offered the bhoga, so I am finishing now. If you invite me again, I will come and speak more. You do not need any money to invite me. If you tell me, I will come.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay

So, from now one what should you do? You should kirtans, and there are also four things you should avoid. I will tell you about it...

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sincerely, Conscientiously and Without Offences
2) Greatest Benefactors
3) Learn to Call the Lord
4) Loving Service Connection
5) Exclusive Enquiry
6) Rare Birth, Rare Gift
7) Devotional Progress
8) Step on Clean Path