(8/13) Internal Purity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja of Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
1 January 2021, part 8, translated from Bengali

কৃপা কর বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া, ভজিতে ভজিতে,
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya, bhajite bhajite,
abhimana hau dura

‘Please be merciful, Vaishnav Thakur! May my ego go away by always worshipping you in full knowledge of the relationship.’

‘আমি ত বৈষ্ণব’, এ বুদ্ধি হইলে,
অমানী না হ’ব আমি ।
প্রতিষ্ঠাশা আসি’, হৃদয় দূষিবে,
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

‘ami ta vaisnava’, e buddhi haile,
amani na ha’ba ami
pratisthasa asi’, hrdaya dusibe,
haiba nirayagami

‘If I think, “I am a Vaishnav”, 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)

Listen carefully and remember this.

গৃহী হউক ত্যাগী হউক ভক্তে ভেদ নাই ।
ভেদ কৈলে কুম্ভীপাক নরকেতে যাই ॥

grhi hauka tyagi hauka bhakte bheda nai
bheda kaile kumbhipaka narakete yai

‘There is no difference between devotees, regardless of whether they are householders or renunciates. Those who discriminate go to the hell of boiling oil.’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 17.22, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

Many say proudly, ‘I am a brahmachari, and you are a grihastha!’ ‘There is no difference between devotees, be they householders or renunciates. If someone makes distinctions between them, they go to the hell of boiling oil.’ In Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur’s time, there were twelve great sannyasis in the mission, and the Mission Secretary was Sri Kunja Babu (he took sannyas later, and his name became Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj). Although Sri Kunja Babu was a grihastha, everybody, including all sannyasis, offered their full, prostrate obeisances to him: sannyasis offered full sastanga-dandavats to a grihastha devotee. It was Srila Prabhupad’s order that everyone must offer obeisances to Sri Kunja Babu. You should think why he ordered everyone to do so.

Moreover, you may have two–three children, not more than that, but Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur had eleven(!) children, and he would always say, ‘Emana durmati samsara bhitare padiya achhinu ami. O Lord! I have fallen into this vile world!’ He wrote so many beautiful books and poems. Although he was a householder with eleven children, everybody would come to him from Nabadwip, including all the babajis, and everyone would pay their obeisances to him. Why? Because he was a genuine Vaishnav – that is why everyone paid obeisances to him and hankered for his mercy. You must remember this.

Much depends on our behaviour and mood. If I am jealous of others or hate others, if I cannot love anybody, then nobody will love me. If I do not believe or respect anyone, then nobody will believe or respect me. On the other hand, if I treat others with respect, then I will get respect from others; if I trust others, then others will trust me. In the same way, if I do not want good for anybody, the Lord will not want good for me, and if I want benefit for everyone, then the Lord will want me to get benefit as well. But if I am jealous of everyone, the Lord will be very angry with me. You must remember this. That is why it is said, ‘If I think, “I am a Vaishnav”, then I will never stop desiring honour (expecting others to respect me).’ If I get the ego that ‘I am a Vaishnav’, then the desire for name and fame (pratistha) will come to my mind, and my heart will become polluted. As the result, I will clear the road to hell for myself and end up living in hell: once pratistha comes, we become heavy and end up in hell.

তোমার কিঙ্কর, আপনে জানিব,
‘গুরু’-অভিমান ত্যজি’ ।
তোমার উচ্ছিষ্ট, পদজলরেণু,
সদা নিষ্কপটে ভজি ॥

tomara kinkara, apane janiba,
‘guru’-abhimana tyaji’
tomara uchchhista, pada-jala-renu,
sada niskapate bhaji

‘May I consider myself your servant and give up the ego of a guru. May I 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)

‘I will consider myself Your servant (kinkar, das). I will not have any ego that I am a guru (that I can teach others).’ Even if you take initiation from me and become my disciples, it does not mean that I am giving you mercy – on the contrary, it means you are giving mercy to me. When you come to take initiation from me, you actually come to give me your mercy. A guru must always think in this way. When somebody came to offer their obeisance to Srila Prabhupad, Srila Prabhupad would say, ‘Daso ’smi. I am your servant.’ He would pay obeisances to his disciples. I do not give obeisances to my disciples because they will be disturbed, ‘Oh no, I have committed such a big offence, my guru is offering me obeisance!’ but I always think in my mind, ‘I am your servant.’ It is said in the kirtan we are singing, ‘I will consider myself your servant and give up the ego of a guru.’ When you consider yourself a servant, then your ego will go away. ‘I will always earnestly worship the remnants of your food, your foot dust and the water that has washed your feet. I will take the remnants of your food, I will live on Your mercy (prasad).’ It is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness constantly (sada) and earnestly, sincerely (niskapate).

নিজে শ্রষ্ঠ জানি’, উচ্ছিষ্টাদি দানে,
হবে অভিমান-ভার ।
তাই শিষ্য তব, থাকিয়া সর্ব্বদা,
না লইব পূজা কা’র ॥

nije srestha jani’, uchchhistadi dane,
habe abhimana-bhara
tai sisya tava, thakiya sarvada,
na laiba puja ka’ra

‘If I believe, “I am the greatest”, I will start giving others my food remnants and other things, getting weighed down by ego. So, I pray to always remain your disciple and not accept worship from anyone.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Have you not seen it anywhere? There are many gurus who will say, ‘Give my prasad to everyone!’ They forcefully give their prasad to others. I have told you about Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj – he once ate the prasad he was given, along with the plate! First, he took all prasad that was on his plate, but then the old lady who had invited him to her house thought, ‘How can I not get his prasad?’ She started forcefully putting more prasad on Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj’s plate. Babaji Maharaj understood what she was doing, so he ate all the prasad she had put for him again, and, along with that, he also ate the banana-leaf plate! [Some devotees laugh quietly.] This is not a joke – it is the truth! He ate the banana-leaf plate. This is what Babaji Maharaj did, but some go about saying, ‘Oh, give my prasad to everyone!’ and they become proud that everyone is taking their prasad. This is ego. Do you understand it? You can see Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj’s picture in the guru-parampara photographs (second from the right). When we do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we go to his bhajan-kutir and speak about this pastime. I have also written about it in Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala. Another time, somebody gave Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj a little money – Babaji Maharaj took the money and continued his way, but having walked three miles, he suddenly turned back and went to return that money. He said to the man who had given it to him, ‘I am sorry. I cannot tolerate the burden of this money. I keep thinking what I will do with this money, what I will buy. It gives me a headache, and I cannot chant the Holy Name! Please take it back.’ This is how he served the Lord…

We always want to be disciples (sisya tava thakiya sarvada); we do not want to take worship from anyone (na laiba puja ka’ra). For example, why do we not allow anyone to touch our feet? You serve the Lord with these hands, you cut the Lord’s vegetables with these hands, then why will you touch the feet of such a fallen soul as myself? That is why I prohibit to touch my feet. Sometimes, I am talking to somebody and do not notice who is coming, so somebody can come, touch my feet and go away, but I do not like anyone to touch my feet.

Mahaprabhu also did not allow anyone to touch His feet. One time, when somebody did it secretly and in a clever way, Mahaprabhu told Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya to kick that person out, but internally He was actually pleased to see that devotee’s ingenuity. That devotee came to clean the Gundicha Temple with everyone. He thought, ‘How can I get some water from the devotees’ feet?’ When Mahaprabhu climbed some place to sweep and clean it, that devotee came to Mahaprabhu’s feet and suddenly poured a pot of water on them – the water started flowing down, and he quickly scooped that falling water and drank it. When Mahaprabhu saw that, He told Svarup Damodar, ‘Hey, look at your gaudiya [Bengali]! What on earth is he doing?! I am washing the temple, and He is pouring water on My feet and drinking it?! What kind of person is he?!’ That devotee was very clever! ‘Ye jana Krsna bhaje sei bada chatur. Those who worship Krishna are very clever.’ Although Mahaprabhu kicked that devotee out, He was pleased internally, ‘How ingenious! I do not allow anyone to touch My feet, but he has managed to drink water that has washed My feet! How clever he is!’

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

‘If 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 shall earnestly cry at your holy feet.’

কৃপা কর বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া, ভজিতে ভজিতে,
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya, bhajite bhajite,
abhimana hau dura

‘Please be merciful, Vaisnav Thakur! May my ego go away by always worshipping you in full knowledge of the relationship.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর

dayal vaisnava thakur
dayal vaisnava thakur
vaisnava thakur
dayal vaisnava thakur

[His Divine Grace continues to chant ‘Nitai-guna-mani’, ‘Emana durmati samsara’ and ‘Gaya Gaura madhur svare.’]

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 39 Mb
Length: 80 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Know and Love the Lord
2) Develop Deepest Dedication
3) At Lord's Home
4) Pure Preacher's Position
5) Clear Vision
6) Clear Identity
7) Sustaining Yourself on Gurudev's Words
8) Internal Purity
9) Kirtan-Yajna
10) Give Up Illusory Luxuries
11) Who Will You Blame?
12) Analysis Is Paralysis
13) Western Idiosyncrasies