Religion of This Age

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Betur area,
Evening, 25 January 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

We have got this opportunity today, and this kind of an opportunity does not come all the time. You always hear many kinds of kirtans—lila-kirtan, pala-kirtan, etc. But:

সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণনামে—এই মাত্র চাই ।

সংসার জিনিতে আর কোন বস্তু নাই ॥

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of the sadhus. There is no other way to conquer samsara.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13)

Please listen carefully to what I will say, after that there will be an arati. I did not come here to chant kirtan, I have come to make you chant kirtan, so that you can chant kirtan. To chant the Holy name in the association of sadhus is a very rare thing. It is said in the scriptures that a cloudy day is not a bad day—a bad day is a day without Hari-katha. The day when we do not get to hear any Hari-katha, when we do not get to chant the Lord's name is a bad day for us. Therefore, today we have got this great day—we get to hear and speak some glorification of the Lord that comes from the holy mouths of Vaishnavs, from the holy mouths of our Guru and sadhus. Where does Krishna stay (Kothay Krsna thaken)? He is in Hari-katha (Hari-kathay). In which forest does Krishna stay (kona vane Krsna thaken)? Krishna is in service (sevane). You can get Krishna by serving Him and by listening about Him. From whom should you hear about Krishna? We must hear about Lord Krishna from the holy mouths of those who have left everything in this world—who have left all personal happiness and interests—and surrendered to the Lord, Guru, and Vaishnavs.

There are four ages (Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali), there are four varnas (brahman, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra), and there are four ashrams (brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa). It is said in the scriptures:

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

"Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager, or worker) or asram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life, or monk) you may belong to, if you do not worship Krsna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.26)

Whatever varna you belong to, even if you take sannyas—if you do not worship and serve Krishna, you will fall into a terrible hell. You worship various demigods and demigoddesses—you worship Kali, Durga, Laksmi, Ganesh. There are 330 million demigods, and we cannot worship all these demigods. You worship Kali today, but if tomorrow you worship Durga and do not worship Kali, then Kali will be unhappy. If you worship Siva and do not worship Parvati, then Parvati will be unhappy. However, if we worship Krishna, then all kinds of worship are automatically accomplished:

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

It is necessary to have faith (sraddha, visvas).

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

"Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager, or worker) or asram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life, or monk) you may belong to, if you do not worship Krsna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.26)

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

'sraddha'-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"Sraddha is firm, determined faith that by service to Krishna all actions are accomplished."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.62)

It means that your debt to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods—all debts are cleared if you serve the Lord. If you water the root of the tree, then you do not have to water the tree's trunk, branches, leaves, etc. Suppose you plant wheat—if you do not water it, the seed will dry out, and if you water it too much, the seed will rot. Sahajiyas do not understand anything and transgress their rights (enter where they have no right to enter) by wanting to serve the Divine Couple (the Yugala Murti of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna). Service to the Divine Couple is not such a simple thing! We transgress our rights—we have no rights to enter there, but we want to follow another line. This is how some water their seed too much and their seed rots. This is bad too. We must serve according to our rights and qualification.

I have told you just now that there are four ages. In Satya-yuga, the lifetime was 100,000 years, and people would meditate for 60,000–70,000 years to attain God. In Treta-yuga, people lived for 10,000 years and attained God through fire sacrifices. In Dvapar-yuga, people lived for 1,000 years and attained God through Deity worship. However, in Kali-yuga, people live for 120 years only, and the religion of this age is Nama sankirtan (congregational chanting of the Holy Names). Although the life is so short in Kali-yuga, the Lord Himself comes in this age:

কলিকালে নামরূপ কৃষ্ণ-অবতার ।
নাম হৈতে হয় সর্ব্বজগৎ-নিস্তার ॥

kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara
nama haite haya sarva-jagat-nistara

"In Kali-yuga, Krishna appears in the form of the Name. The entire world is delivered through that Name."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.17.22)

There is Holy Name, and there are letters of the Holy Name. They are not the same thing. There is no difference between the Name (Nama) and He whose Name it is (Nami). The Lord's Name, beauty, qualities, pastimes, associates, and features are absolutely non-different from the Lord Himself. If we do not chant the Holy Name of the Lord in this age of Kali, then we will not be able to escape this illusory world. It is necessary to chant the Holy Name, that is why the Lord Himself comes as the Holy Name in this world. We sing in one of the kirtans:

এমন দুর্ম্মতি সংসার-ভিতরে
পড়িয়া আছিনু আমি ।
তব নিজ-জন কোন মহাজনে
পাঠাইয়া দিলে তুমি ॥

emana durmati samsara bhitare
padiya achhinu ami
tava nija-jana kona mahajane
pathaiya dile tumi

O Lord! I am very wicked-minded and have fallen into this material world, but You have sent a great soul, Your associate (to rescue me).

('Emona Durmati', Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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