(7/7) Worshipful Mood

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 19 December 2020, noon, part 7
Translated from Bengali

'আমি ত' বৈষ্ণব', এ বুদ্ধি হইলে,
অমানী না হ'ব আমি ।
প্রতস্ঠাশা আসি', হৃদয় দূষিবে,
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

"ami ta' vaisnava," e buddhi haile,
amani na ha'ba ami
pratisthasa asi', hrdaya dusibe,
haiba niraya-gami

'If I think, "I am a Vaishnav", then I will never stop desiring honour – my heart will become polluted with the desire for prestige, and I will end up in hell.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If I think, 'I am a Vaishnav', I will become proud and I will not be able to give honour to others (I will not be able to become amani – desiring no honour). Then, pratistha will come: 'I am a great Vaishnav!', 'I am given a big garland!', 'Everybody says jay to me!' Do you know what Prabhupad used to say? If you say, 'No, no, do not put a garland on my neck!' What does it mean? Srila Prabhupad said that these are only lip-deep words, it actually means you are saying, 'Yes, give me a garland, give me more garlands!' This is how pratistha comes. Kanak, kamini, pratistha-baghini chhadiyachhe yare sei ta vaisnava (কনক-কামিনী প্রতিষ্ঠা-বাঘিনী ছাড়িয়াছে যারে সেই ত বৈষ্ণব): Vaishnavs are those who give up money, women and fame the tigress (Vaisnav Ke? Srila Saraswati Thakur). Who is called a Vaishnav? It is the one who can give up money, women and fame. When fame comes, it contaminates the heart, and you will clear your road to hell.

তোমার কিঙ্কর, আপনে জানিব,
'গুরু'-অভিমান ত্যজি' ।

tomara kinkara apane janiba
'guru'-abhimana tyaji'

'I will consider myself Your servant and give up the ego of a guru.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'I will be your servant' – we must give up the ego that we are teachers, that we are gurus. We must always remain disciples and leave guru-abhiman.

তোমার উচ্ছিষ্ট, পদজলরেণু,
সদা নিষ্কপটে ভজি ॥

tomara uchchhista pada-jala-renu
sada niskapate bhaji

'I will always earnestly worship the remnants of Your food, Your foot dust and the water that has washed Your feet.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

There is one pastime that happend when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in Puri. When everybody enters the temple of Lord Jagannath, there is a tap for washing your hands and feet. Have you seen it at the temple there? Mahaprabhu would walk barefoot, and He would wash His feet at that tap before entering the temple. One day, when Mahaprabhu was washing His feet, surrounded by Govinda (His servitor) and other devotees, a devotee called Kalidas came there and touched Mahaprabhu's feet. Govinda immediately became alert and cried, 'Do not touch the feet! Do not touch!' But Mahaprabhu stopped Govinda, saying, 'Do not prohibit him.' Mahaprabhu prohibited everyone to touch His feet, but not Kalidas. Do you understand what kind of devotee one must become? Mahaprabhu said, 'He has become a jhanu vaishnav (a seasoned, or crafty, Vaishnav).' When everybody took prasad, Kalidas did not sit together with everyone – he stood afar and watched where everyone threw their plates, and after everyone finished taking prasad, he picked those plates and licked them. That was Kalidas. He got the right to touch Mahaprabhu's feet.

'I will always earnestly worship the remnants of Your food, Your foot dust and the water that has washed Your feet.'

তোমার উচ্ছিষ্ট, পদজলরেণু,
সদা নিষ্কপটে ভজি ॥

tomara uchchhista pada-jala-renu
sada niskapate bhaji

'I will always earnestly worship the remnants of Your food, Your foot dust and the water that has washed Your feet.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

People consider themselves the best. I have told you about Srila Jaganath Das Babaji Maharaj. One time, somebody invited him to take prasad, and Srila Babaji Maharaj took all prasad that was there on his plate, but the host pushed him, 'Take some more! Take some more!' The person thought, 'If I do not force him to take more, then he will not leave anything on the plate. How will we get his prasad then? We have brought him home, but how will we get his prasad?' Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj then thought, 'I have finished taking prasad and telling them not to give me more, but they are still putting rice and vegetables on my plate!' Then, Srila Babaji Maharaj ate everything again, and not only the food – he also ate the banana-leaf plate! It is the truth – Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj ate the banana-leaf plate! When the host saw it, they realised they had committed an offence. When people say, 'Here, take my prasad!' they become proud considering themselves a guru.

তাই শিষ্য তব, থাকিয়া সর্ব্বদা,
না লইব পূজা কা'র ॥

tai sisya tava thakiya sarvada
na laiba puja ka'ra

'Therefore, I will always remain Your disciple, I will not take worship from anyone.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We will not take worship from anybody! When somebody comes to me and says, 'Maharaj, please accept my obeisance,' I say, 'I do not take anybody's obeisances. I keep all obeisances at Gurudev's feet.' Srila Prabhupad said, 'You can find many pranam-taking (obeisance-taking) and pranami-taking (donation-taking) gurus in this world, but you will not find a genuine spiritual guru.'

অমানী মানদ, হইলে কীর্ত্তনে,
অধিকার দিবে তুমি ।
তোমার চরণে, নিষ্কপটে আমি,
কাঁদিয়া লুটিব ভূমি ॥

amani manada haile kirtane
adhikara dibe tumi
tomara charane niskapate ami
kandiya lutiba bhumi

'When I become free from the desire for honour and learn to give honour to others, you will give me the right to chant Your kirtan. Rolling on the ground, I will earnestly cry at Your holy feet.'

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

doyal vaisnav thakur
doyal vaisnav thakur
doyal vaisnav thakur
doyal vaisnav thakur

O merciful Vaishnav Thakur! O merciful Vaishnav Thakur! O merciful Vaishnav Thakur! O merciful Vaishnav Thakur!

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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