Sincere and Deep Prayer

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, preaching programme,
16 January 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

কবে শ্রীচৈতন্য মোরে করিবেন দয়া ।
কবে আমি পাইব বৈষ্ণব-পদছায়া ॥

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

"When will Sri Chaitanya be merciful to me? When will I reach the shade of the Vaishnavs' feet?"

When will Chaitanya (my chaitya-guru) shower His mercy on me and when will I be able to take shelter at the lotus feet of Vaishnavs?

কবে আমি ছাড়িব এ বিষয়াভিমান ।
কবে বিষ্ণুজনে আমি করিব সম্মান ॥

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

"When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I honour the Lord's devotees?"

When will I leave all material ego? People are proud of their money, beauty, and friends and family. They think, "Why must I go to the class? I am sitting nicely at home and watching TV (series and soap operas).

When Mahaprabhu went to Ramakeli, he met with Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu, who were very big ministers in the government of Emperor Hussein Sah at that time (one of the brothers was the treasurer, and the other one's post was similar to that of the chief minister). The brothers came to Mahaprabhu very humbly—holding a blade of straw in their teeth, showing, "We are lower than even cows," as they fell at Mahaprabhu's feet.

গলবস্ত্র কৃতাঞ্জলি বৈষ্ণব নিকটে ।
দন্তে তৃণ করি দাঁড়াইব নিষ্কপটে ॥

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari' dandaiba niskapate

"With a cloth around my neck, joined palms, and straw between my teeth, I will sincerely submit myself at the Vaishnav's feet."

'Sincerely' means to do come without wanting to show anything to others or wanting to impress others. It is necessary to feel this and to practise spiritual life very deeply, internally, not of the sake of showing anything to others.

"গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি" মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।

গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

'Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" will not do. Only when you follow Gora's practice and Gora's conception will you get the proper result'.

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।

গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

'You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you, thief (hypocrite)!'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6–7)

Gora knows what you are doing. You cannot cheat Him or hide anything from Him.

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া জানাইব দুঃখগ্রাম ।
সংসার অনল হৈতে মাগিব বিশ্রাম ॥

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama
samsara-anala haite magiba visrama

Weeping, I will convey my sorrows to the Vaishnav and pray for shelter from the fire of material existence.

This material life is compared to a fire. We also sing in one of the kirtans written by Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur:

সংসার-দাবানল-লীঢ়-লোক-
ত্রাণায় কারুণ্য-ঘনাঘনত্বম্ ।
প্রাপ্তস্য কল্যাণ-গুণার্ণবস্য
বন্দে গুরোঃ শ্রীচরণারবিন্দম্

samsara-davanala-lidha-loka
tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, the ocean of goodness who assumes the form of a cloud of mercy to deliver the souls burning in the blazing fire of material existence."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 1)

Material family is a blazing fire, and we have fallen into it. Be it a human family, a goat's family, a dog's family, it is all a blazing fire. I have told before that we have got this human birth in this land of India having wandered throughout 8,400,000 species, but we must be careful not to become demoted. Everyone hopes to be promoted, but if you become demoted, you will have to be again born as a cow, a dog, a cat, a jackal, etc. We certainly do not want this to happen. We have got this human birth and this nice body now. Even it is said about the Lord Himself:

কৃষ্ণের যতেক খেলা, সর্ব্বোত্তম নরলীলা,
নরবপু তাহার স্বরূপ ।

krsnera yateka khela, sarvvottama nara-lila,
nara-vapu tahara svarupa

"The highest form of Godhead is Krsna, who plays in His eternal divine pastimes like a human being."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 21.101)

Lord Krishna and Gauranga Mahaprabhu come to this world assuming a human form, and we have now got a similar human body, and we must not neglect and lose this opportunity. This body will go away one day. You have not got this body only for sleeping, eating, mating, and fearing (defending). Everyone in this world is worried about their life, and nobody has time to hear Hari-katha. What do scriptures say?

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ-ভার ।
নামাশ্রয় করি' যতনে তুমি
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari' yatane tumi
thakaha apana kaje

'Know that the main thing is that life is temporary and filled with all sorts of danger. Carefully take shelter of the Name and do your work'.

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

This life is not eternal!

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-base
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

'My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that there is death sitting and waiting right next to me'.

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Days pass as the sun rises and sets, rises and sets—moment after moment, year after year, our life is passing, and we can leave this world at any moment. Because we have not been able to practise Krishna consciousness and serve the Lord, we will have to keep coming back to this world again and again. The only way to get out of this world is to take shelter of the Lord. That is why we sing in this kirtan, "Weeping, I will convey my sorrows to the Vaishnav and pray for shelter from the fire of material existence."

শুনিয়া আমার দুঃখ বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
আমা' লাগি' কৃষ্ণে আবেদিবেন প্রচুর ॥

suniya amara duhkha vaisnava thakura
ama' lagi' krsne avedibena prachura

Hearing of my sorrow, the worshippable Vaishnav will thoroughly pray to Krishna on my behalf.

বৈষ্ণবের আবেদনে কৃষ্ণ দয়াময় ।
এ হেন পামর প্রতি হবেন সদয় ॥

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

"Satisfied by the Vaishnav's prayer, Krishna will be merciful to this sinner."

Hearing about my sorrow, Vaishnav Thakur will pray to the Lord for me, "O Lord! Please give this devotee some respite from the material world." Vaishnav Thakur prays for us to the Lord. That is why it is said if Vaishnav Thakur is not happy with us, the Lord will not help us. Hearing the prayer of Vaishnav Thakur, merciful Lord Krishna will take pity on such a vile sinner as myself. What does Srimad Bhagavad-gita say? The Lord says, "I know only My devotees (I do not know anyone except them), and My devotees also do not know anyone except Me—they do not know and do not understand anything except Me." That is why we must pray to the Lord's devotees.

বিনোদের নিবেদন বৈষ্ণব চরণে ।
কৃপা করি সঙ্গে লহ এই অকিঞ্চনে ॥

vinodera nivedana vaisnava-charane
krpa kari' sange laha ei akinchane

"Bhakti Vinod prays at the feet of the Vaisnavas: "Mercifully take this lowly soul with you."

Finally, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur prays, "Prabhu! I am praying at your lotus feet—please, wherever you go, take me with you."

You should sing these kirtans yourself. I have told you many times—buy kirtan books (the small one is just twenty rupees); read these kirtans in the morning and in the evening. There are prayers (vandana) to Sri Guru, Sri Vaishnav, Sri Pancha Tattva, etc. Pray to their feet in this way. No tune is necessary—no kartal or mridanda are necessary; you can just clap your hands and sing sweetly. You must learn what is written in these kirtans—if you read them, you will understand what is written in them. These kirtans are very beautiful.

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