Make Yourself Qualified

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, preaching programme,
16 January 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু জীবে দয়া করি' ।
স্বপার্ষদ স্বীয় ধাম সহ অবতরি ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode.

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You know who is Sri Krishna Chaitanya—He is Krishna who came before in Dvapar-yuga and came now as Gauranga Mahaprabhu (Nimai, or Vishvambar) in Kali-yuga. After Gauranga Mahaprabhu took sannyas from Sri Keshav Bharati, His name became Sri Krishna Chaitanya. To bestow His mercy on the jiva souls (sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'), to rescue such lowly and fallen souls as ourselves, Supreme Lord Krishna appears in Kali-yuga. When He comes, He does not come alone: He comes in this age with all the associates with whom He performed His pastimes in Dvapar-yuga (svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari), to relish His magnanimous pastimes. In Dvapar-yuga, the Lord relishes His sweet amorous pastimes (madhurya-rasa, or madhurya-lila), but in Kali-yuga, He relishes pastimes of magnanimity (audarya-rasa, or audarya-lila).

অন্ত্যন্ত দুর্লভ প্রেম করিবারে দান ।
শিখায় শরণাগতি ভকতের প্রাণ ॥

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees.

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

He comes to distribute the rarest form of transcendental love that even Lord Siva and Lord Brahma aspire and wait to attain, and He comes to give it liberally, going door to door. He taught everyone surrender. If you read Mahaprabhu's Siksastakam, you will find there:

চেতোদর্পণমার্জ্জনং ভবমহাদাবাগ্নিনির্ব্বাপণং
শ্রেয়ঃকৈরবচন্দ্রিকাবিতরণং বিদ্যাবধূজীবনম্ ।
আনন্দাম্বুধিবর্দ্ধনং প্রতিপদং পূর্ণামৃতাস্বাদনং
সর্ব্বাত্মস্নপনং পরং বিজয়তে শ্রীকৃষ্ণসঙ্কীর্ত্তনম্ ॥

chetodarpanamarjanam bhavamahadava nirvapanam
sreyah kairava chandrikavitaranam vidyavadhujivanam
anandambudh ivardhanam pratipadam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatmasnapanam param vijayate srikrsnasankirtanam

"The Holy Name of Krishna cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguishes the fire of misery in the forest of birth and death. As the evening lotus blooms in the moon's cooling rays, the heart begins to blossom in the nectar of the Name. And at last the soul awakens to its real inner treasure a life of love with Krishna. Again and again tasting nectar, the soul dives and surfaces in the everincreasing ocean of ecstatic joy. All phases of the self of which we may conceive are fully satisfied and purified, and at last conquered by the all-auspicious influence of the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.12)

তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা ।
অমানিনা মানদেন কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

'One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, who gives honour to others without desiring it for themselves, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna'.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.239)

Mahaprabhu taught to be humble, tolerant, and to give honour to others. It is necessary to be very humble.

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ॥
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

[Limbs of surrender] ‘Humility, self-submission, accepting the Lord as your maintainer, keeping faith that “Krishna will certainly protect me”’.

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি অহঙ্কার ॥

trnadhika hina dina akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi ahankara

‘Give up ego and consider yourself lower than a blade of grass, poor, destitute and vile’.

(Gitavali, Sri Siksastaka, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

It is necessary to be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree. This is how Mahaprabhu distributed the Holy Name in this world, and at the same time He said, "Who has the right to chant the Holy Name in this Kali-yuga? Those who have become lower than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, who have learnt to give honour to others. Those who have these qualities can chant the Holy Name and can also distribute the Holy Name. Nobody else can."

We must be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and give honour to others.

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