(5/6) Preserving Purity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 15 December 2020, evening, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Mahaprabhu went to Vrindavan, but He did not stay there. He kept Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu there. He showed some places to them and told them that they had to discover the rest of the holy places and serve Gaudiya Vaishnavs that came to Vrindavan. Later, Mahaprabhu told Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu to join them. Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu got some scriptures and preached much in Bengal. Later, there were also Srila Acharya Srinivas, Sri Shyamananda Prabhu and, lastly, Srila Narottam Das Thakur.

Mahaprabhu knew everything – He knew everything about the Lord and the highest conception about Radharani, but He said about Himself to Vallabha Acharya, 'My guru considered Me a fool. He told Me I had no right to read scriptures, so he told Me to only chant the Holy Name, to dance and chant.'

কিবা মন্ত্র দিলা, গোসাঞি, কিবা তার বল ।
জপিতে জপিতে মন্ত্র করিল পাগল ॥

kiba mantra dila, gosani, kiba tara bala
japite japite mantra karila pagala

'My lord, what kind of mantra have you given Me? What kind of power does it possess? Chanting this maha-mantra has driven Me mad!’'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.7.81)

'I do not know how to read or write, I have no intelligence to read scriptures.' After that conversation with Mahaprabhu, Vallabha Acharya gave up his worship of Bala Gopal and started worshipping Radha Govinda.

In those days, Gaudiya Vaishnavs' line had very great devotees, but now there are many sahajiyas among Gaudiya devotees who corrupt this line by chanting lila-kirtans, who speak without siddhanta, who chant 'Radhe Radhe' without having this right.

Devotee: Is it prohibited to tell Radharani's Name? What about when chanting kirtans?

We chant such kirtans during the niyom-seva month or when we are in Vrindavan. For example, we chant, 'Radhe jaya jaya Madhava-dayite.' Other than that, we do not speak so much about Radharani, you have heard me explain this. We must serve according to our right, according to our qualification.

Devotee: I have heard that Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupad installed Radha-Krishna and Nitai-Gaura Deities together...

Mayapur is the place of Gaura's pastimes, but they installed asta-sakhis' Deities there [Srila Swami Maharaj installed only small Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Krishna's Deities; the other Deities were installed after his withdrawal – ed.] Because many people talked about it, they also brought the Pancha-Tattva Deities along with Gauranga's Deity, all in one temple. They do not follow the siddhanta. If Gauranga had not come, nobody would have known the glory of Srimati Radharani.

শ্রীগৌড়মণ্ডলভূমি, যেবা জানে চিন্তামণি,
তার হয় ব্রজভূমি বাস ।

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani
tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

'Those who always think about Sri Gauda Mandal reside in the land of Vraja.'

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

But if you bypass Gaura Mandal and go straight to Vrindavan, where will that take you? You can see also that they have installed the asta-sakhis' Deities in Ekachakra also. This is sahajiya mood. We cannot lie about sahajiya, but it is better to talk about it as less as possible.

One time, when Guru Maharaj (Srila Govinda Maharaj) was leaving Russia from a Moscow airport, two hundred twenty-five cars came to see him off. Guru Maharaj told me, 'Keep some chanting beads at hand, take them in your bag on the plane.' I was surprised. I thought, 'Why would one need chanting beads on the plane? But Guru Maharaj has told me to do it, then I will do it.' But Guru Maharaj knew everything. When we were on the plane, a couple (a husband and a wife) ran up to him, panting. They said, 'We have been looking for you for many days. We want to take your shelter.' Then, Guru Maharaj turned to me and said, 'So, Acharya Maharaj, do you see now why? Have you kept some beads with you? Give the beads.' That time, Gurudev was flying in the first class because it was difficult for him to sit in a small seat, and we all went in the 'civil' class. On that plane, there was a sannyasi from another mission – he was walking back and forth down the aisle on the plane, chanting on his beads. I came to Guru Maharaj to ask something, and he told me, 'You see this sannyasi walking over there? He is not chanting – he is just walking around to see what I am eating!' And Guru Maharaj ate in front of him, showing off what he was eating on purpose. He understood everything. Another time, some sannyasi from the same mission met Gurudev with his entourage at the airport. At that time, Srila Ashram Maharaj was there. Srila Ashram Maharaj is a quiet Vaishnav. When that sannyasi asked him, 'Why do you all say that you can chant four rounds instead of sixteen?' (It is true. We say that if you cannot chant sixteen rounds, you can chant at least four rounds so that your beads do not fast.) Srila Ashram Maharaj did not reply anything, but when he came to Guru Maharaj and told him what that sannyasi had asked, Gurudev told Ashram Maharaj to go and tell that man, 'If you chant sixteen rounds, it is 25,000 Names, and if you chant four rounds, it is 6,250 Names, which means that we chant 6,250 offences to the Name – at least this is less than 25,000 offences! So, we tell others to chant fewer offences.' It is true because if you chant the Holy Name just once, it can remove more offences than you are even capable of making.

একবার কৃষ্ণনামে যত পাপ হারে
পাতকীর সাধ্য নাহি তত পাপ করে

eka-bara krishna-name yata papa hare
patakira sadhya nahi tata papa kare

We chant the Holy Name so much, but do we get the result? Why do we not get the result? Because no matter how much we chant, it is all offences to the Holy Name. Even if you can some time chant namabhasa, you will get liberation. When asked how yavans can get liberation, Srila Haridas Thakur said, 'Namabhase mukti paibe. One can get liberation through shadow chanting of the Holy Name.' We must have faith in this. What to speak of getting liberation, we are still burning in the agony of material life.

এ ঘোর-সংসারে পড়িয়া মানব
না পায় দুঃখের শেষ ।
সাধুসঙ্গ করি' হরি ভজে যদি
তবে অন্ত হয় ক্লেশ ॥

e ghora-samsare padiya manava
na paya duhkhera sesa
sadhu-sanga kari' hari bhaje yadi
tabe anta haya klesa

'A person who has fallen into this terrible world never ceases to suffer. If you associate with sadhus and serve Hari, however, your suffering will come to an end.'

বিষয়-অনলে জ্বলিছে হৃদয়
অনলে বাড়য়ে অনল ।
অপরাধ ছাড়ি’ লয় কৃষ্ণনাম
অনলে পড়িয়ে জল

visaya anale jvalichhe hrdaya
anale badaye anala
aparadha chhadi' laya krsna-nama
anale padaye jala

'A fallen soul burns in the ever-increasing fire of mundanity. Avoiding offences, chant Krishna’s Name. It will pour water on the fire.'

(Jaiva-dharma, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Learn kirtans by heart. Chant them and learn them by heart.

Anyhow, I have told you many things. Remember what I have told you and practise Krishna consciousness. Chant the Holy Name without offences.

— : • : —

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Length: 78 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Do Not Overstep Your Limit
2) Do You Ever Think of It?
3) Glories of Great Souls
4) Do Not Deflect
5) Preserving Purity
6) Appreciate Prasad-Seva