(11/14) Devotion or Display?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 11 January 2021, part 11
Translated from Bengali

Mahaprabhu warned Srila Raghunath Das Goswami against discussing and criticising others (para-charcha):

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la’be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

‘Do not listen to village talks, do not speak about village news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour from others, give all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna and serve Radha-Krishna in your mind.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.236–237)

Serve internally, it is not necessary to show anything to others. Keep your own spiritual lives to yourselves. Many hang their chanting beads on their necks and proudly show everyone, ‘Look! I have become a devotee!’ It is said in the scriptures that among a thousand Vaishnavs there may be only one devotee of Krishna. Think about it. And we say that we have become devotees of Krishna! People sell beads for ten–fifty rupees at the market, and they will tell you, ‘Buy the beads and chant the Name!’ This is just finger exercise! I have seen many devotees holding and counting their beads and talking to others at the same time. How it is possible to chant the Holy Name like this, tell me? Is it possible to say two things at the same time? That is why Gurudev says that such chanting is not chanting the Holy Name – it is finger exercise.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj also gave one example. Suppose you have indigestion, cold or fever. You can go to a homeopathic shop and they will give you some medicine in white globules that look like sago balls. At the same time, empty globules without any medicine are also sold at the market, but if a doctor gives you empty globules, will it help you? It will not because first it is necessary to add medicine to those globules. In the same way, you must take the Holy Name from a bona fide guru – if you buy chanting beads on the street and chant the Holy Name, it can never be the Holy Name: the alphabet may be the same, but such chanting can never be the Holy Name (‘Nama aksara bahiraya bate tabu Nama kabhu naya, নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয়’; Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1).

People do finger exercise and think this is all to it. Chanting the Holy Name is not only chanting on your beads. You can chant the Holy Name with your mouth also: ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.’ These days, they have even made a counting machine and chant using the machine. Have you seen it? I notice these things; I notice everything…

Practise Krishna consciousness properly. Never criticise or gossip about others. This is our biggest fault. Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that if somebody chastises you or speaks bad to you, you must understand that it is not your problem – it is the person who does it that has a problem. The person has a problem, that is why they speak harsh to you or chastise you. There is nothing else to it. It is necessary to understand human nature. People sometimes get angry. Why? Anger comes from lust, desires. You think, ‘I will get this thing!’ or ‘I will get one lakh rupees today!’ and if you do not get what you want, you become angry. Somebody thinks, ‘I will become a guru,’ and if they do not become a guru, they become angry and go crazy. Somebody expects others to pay obeisances to them and when it does not happen, the person becomes frustrated and angry. What is this? If you are a Vaishnav, you must pay obeisance to others! Who pays obeisance to you, who does not pay obeisance to you – what is it to you? You must pay obeisance to others! Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, ‘None of them are my disciples. They are all my gurus. When you come to take initiation from me, you actually come to give me mercy. You are not my disciples; you are my gurus. Daso ’smi: I am your servant.’

If you do not read all this, where will you learn these things from? How will you even know these things?

People stretch out their legs for others to wash them and distribute their prasad to everyone, but when we chant this kirtan, we say with our mouths:

তব নিজ-জন, প্রসাদ সেবিয়া,
উচ্ছিষ্ট রাখিবে যাহা ।
আমার ভোজন, পরম-আনন্দে,
প্রতিদিন হবে তাহা ॥

tava nija-jana, prasada seviya,
uchchhista rakhibe yaha
amara bhojana, parama-anande,
prati-dina habe taha

‘Whatever remnants Your devotees leave behind after honouring Your prasad, I will eat that very happily every day.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We sing, ‘I will take the remnants of your prasad,’ but in practice we do the opposite: we give our remnants to others. Some say, ‘I am now a guru, so, here, take my prasad.’

We sing this kirtan also:

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.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When you worship the Lord, your ego must go away. But if your boat becomes too heavy – if you become proud when others give you garlands (when pratistha comes to you as the result) – then one day you will sink. This is how gurus fall down. Those who have acharya-abhiman – who have the ego that ‘I am an acharya! I can teach others!’ – can never be a guru. Those who have acharya-abhiman must fall down and get removed from the Vaishnav line.

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)

You think, ‘I am the greatest of all. I am bigger than anyone else,’ and you give your remnants to others. What is the result? You will become filled with ego, and under the weight of this ego, your boat will sink. That is why it is said that Narayan is the proprietor of kanak (money, wealth), Krishna is the proprietor of kamini (women), and gurudev is the proprietor of pratistha (name and fame). If anyone offers you a garland or pays you an obeisance, you must send everything to your gurudev, then you will not become heavy – you will be submitting everything at the lotus feet of your gurudev, and you will stay light. Do you understand what I am saying?

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)

‘I will always be a disciple. I will not be a guru – I will not take worship from anyone.’ When I am going somewhere, people often come and try to stop me, saying, ‘Gurudev, please wait, I am offering my dandavat to you,’ and I say, ‘Sorry, I cannot take your dandavat. If you offer me your dandavat, I will offer it to gurudev. I do not have the right to stand and take anyone’s dandavats.’ I feel that I am very lowly, very poor. It is necessary to be very humble. If I think, ‘I have become a Vaishnav,’ then I will not be able to give honour to others – I will think that I am the greatest and start giving my prasad to everyone.

‘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)

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Length: 101 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) What Is Surrender?
2) Proper Recipient for Proper Taste
3) Highest Stance
4) Cry and Pray
5) Seeking Respite
6) Greatest Choice
7) Nityananda Prabhu's Mercy
8) Mahaprabhu's Mercy
9) His Things, For His Service
10) Faith Is Not Idle
11) Devotion or Display?
12) Example to Follow
13) Shelter of Sri Guru's Mercy
14) Service or Offence?