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(1/7) Last Rites

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 19 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)

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams cha
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunath-anvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-chaitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams cha

'I worship the holy lotus feet of my initiating and instructing Sri Guru as well as all predecessor gurus, all Vaishnavs, Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, their dear associates Raghunath and Jiva, Advaita Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev along with all His near and dear ones, and Sri Radha–Krishna along with Their associates headed by Lalita and Visakha.'

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

'I offer my obeisance to Sri Guru who has opened my eyes, rescuing me from the illusory darkness of ignorance by applying the potent kajal of knowledge upon my eyes.'

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.'

vrndayai tulasi-devyai priyayai kesavasya cha
krsna-bhakti-prade devi satyavatyai namo namah

'Again and again I offer obeisances to Vrinda Devi (Tulasi Devi), who is very dear to Lord Kesava, who bestows devotion to Krishna and is known as Satyavati.'

atha natva mantra-gurun gurun bhagavatarthadan
vyasan jagad-gurun natva tato jayam udirayet

'Before reciting scriptures that can conquer material world, let us offer obeisances to our initiating Guru, to the Guru who teaches us the meaning of Srimad Bhagavatam, to Sri Vyasadev and all gurus in the universe.'

jayah sa-parikara sri-sri-guru-gauranga-gandharva-govinda-sundar-padapadmanam jayastu!

'All glory to the lotus feet of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva-Govindasundar and all Their associates.'

vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

'I worship Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatan Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath Das Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami.'

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

It is our great fortune to be present here again today. I heard that our Sripad Nityananda Prabhu's father has left his body. In honour of his departure, his son arranged vaishnav-seva, vaishnav-hom (rites involving a fire sacrifice and other rituals) and bhakta-seva, so we are present here on this occasion.

Gurudev always said that if Vaishnavs leave this world, various common rites and ceremonies (kriya-karya) are not very important for Vaishnavs – what is important is vaishnav-seva and vaishnav-hom. We must always take care that we can do vaishnav-seva and bhakta-seva properly. Nityananda Prabhu and his brothers and other family members appeared in this house, and his father got a great son like him. This is very fortunate. Because they came to this line, his father receives an offering from Vaishnavs bypassing smartavad rites. Srila Prabhupad wrote a very beautiful letter to a devotee. The devotee wrote to Srila Prabhupad informing him that his father had passed away and asking him what he had to do. In reply, Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur wrote:

'When I received your letter, I had understood everything. I knew your father had passed away. One of the initiated sons should give maha-prasad as pindu after ten days (on the eleventh day), and they must serve pure devotee brahmans. When somebody chants the Holy Name, the scriptures do not prescribe to think of them as being a ghost or perform common funeral rites. Smartavadis arrange all the rites according to their own qualification. [His Divine Grace: everybody's qualification is different, an outside person cannot come and say, 'Oh, they are spending less on the rites, so I will also do like that! My father has died too, so I will call these sadhus to do the rites for him.' No. We do not do this. Those who do it for money come and do it. We do not do these rites for anybody except for devotees.] Particularly, if one performs the sraddha rites for their mother or father according to the smarta rules, then the father, the mother, as well as the person who does this sraddha for them, will have to again be born in the womb of a mother. The devotees of the Lord do not accept the rules and teachings of the smarta brahmans. Your eternal well-wisher, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati.'

This is what Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur wrote.

 

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CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 28.8 Mb
Length: 68 min
Language: Bengali

 


 

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Last Rites
2) Gist of Fire Sacrifice
3) Remembering Departure of Haridas Thakur
4) Seek Devotion
5) Nought in a Knot
6) Knowledge of Relationship
7) Worshipful Mood

 

 


 

Practice Makes Happy
'You chant the Holy Name, you always remember Krishna, remember Gurudev, you always practise properly and engage yourself in service to the Lord, so Krishna always makes you happy.'

Sometimes it may come to your mind that what you are doing is bhajan, service,
but it may be all karma.

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