(1/6) Trials and Aspirations

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 15 December 2020, noon, part 1
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)

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

'I offer my obeisance to him who perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev's associates; who is expert in all conceivable and inconceivable aspects of Vedic knowledge; who is the pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line; who is known as "Govinda" (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj); whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is infused with pure devotion; who is the Guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.'

devam divya-tanum suchhanda-vadanam balarka-chelanchitam
sandrananda-puram sad-eka-varanam vairagya-vidyambudhim
sri-siddhanta-nidhim subhakti-lasitam sarasvatanam varam
vande tam subhadam mad-eka-saranam nyasisvaram sridharam

'I worship Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the bestower of all auspiciousness, my only shelter and the master of all renunciates. He is my Lord who possesses a transcendental form, whose face expression is very grave, who is clad in the holy clothes the colour of the newly risen sun. He is an abode of intense joy, the only genuine master whom one can accept and surrender to, and an ocean of divine knowledge of renunciation. He is a repository of holy scriptural teachings and pastimes of the highest devotion and a great follower of Srila Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad.'

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

'Again and again I offer obeisances to the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy and wish-fulfilling trees.'

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

As many times before, by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma and Vaishnavs, we have come today to this village. We have come to hear and speak about the glories of Sriman Mahaprabhu, who is the Lord of everyone's heart (Praner Thakur), about the glories of His devotees and Vaishnavs. It is said in the scriptures:

বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ
শুনিয়াছি সাধুগুরুমুখে

vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana
suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe

'Singing the glories of Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul – I heard this from the mouths of sadhus and my guru.'

(Acharya Vandana)

We must chant the glories of Vaishnavs, chant the glory of Mahaprabhu. Sriman Mahaprabhu told Sriman Nityananda Prabhu, 'Preach the Holy Name of Krishna in this world! Go door to door and beg people to take this Holy Name.'

Many of you have also come to this line, and you must all be tested to see how much you have been practising during the year. When you study at school or college, you take exams at the end of the year to test your knowledge, and it is like this here, too. We must pass the exams in our spiritual life. Gurudev and the Lord will test you to see how far you have advanced in your service and Nama-sankirtana. The Lord has sent you to this world to preach about Him and to hear about Him, to speak about Him to others, to go door to door and deliver the message about Him to everyone. But as you do it, you will be tested. People will not want to listen to you: conditioned souls who live in material illusory bondage will not want to hear about God. You can see that there are many more people who chant lila-kirtan, pala-kirtan, who sing nicely using different music instruments. But you must test yourself. You must still go begging door to door.

What is the purpose of begging? One time, somebody asked Prabhupad, 'You have big temples and buildings, then why do your people go begging door to door?' I wrote about it nicely in Upadesh 4. Srila Prabhupad explained the purpose of begging. Why do you think sadhus go begging?

Devotee: 'Bala Krsna, bhaja Krsna...'?

This is not collection. Yes, when we do collection (when we collect money, etc.), we advise people to chant Krishna's Name, but this is a different matter.

When Srivas Pandit went for collection, Mahaprabhu prohibited him to do it because Srivas Pandit was a householder, and people would criticise him, saying, 'He collects money and uses it to maintain his family!' If people criticise, they make offences, and those who hear such things also make offences. Is that so or not?

[To a restless devotee] Sit quietly and listen. It is not necessary to speak to anybody now. It is not necessary to arrange anything – your gurudev has come, so everything is automatically arranged. When Vaishnavs have come to your house, everything is automatically accomplished. It is not necessary to worry about food, water, fire sacrifices; these are all secondary things. Vaishnavs comes to speak Hari-katha, so listen to it with your heart. You cannot hear Krishna-katha with your ears, just as you cannot see a sadhu with your eyes – you must listen to Hari-katha with your heart, and you must see a sadhu with your ears. And when you do dham-parikrama, you must do it with your head. When circumambulate holy places, externally we walk, but actually we walk with our heads – we take the dust of those places on our heads. What did Uddhav Maharaj say? 'I have come to Vrindavan and have got their footdust, so I can realise that I cannot become like gopis, I cannot serve like them. But they walk to many places along the streets, so I wish to be some grass growing along those streets. If I can get some dust of Vraja, dust of devotees' feet, that is sufficient for me.'

What is our position compared to that? That is why Srila Prabhupad said, 'Dusta mana tumi kisera vaisnava (দুষ্ঠ মন ! তুমি কিসের বৈষ্ণব): naughty mind, what kind of Vaishnav are you?'...

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Trials and Aspirations
2) Strongest Conviction
3) Everything Is His Will
4) Eternal Path
5) Sadhus' Mercy
6) Jewels of Your Life