(3/5) Qualification for Chanting Holy Name

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Betur area,
Evening, 25 January 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু জীবে দয়া করি’ ।
স্বপার্ষদ স্বীয় ধাম সহ অবতরি ॥১॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari’
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari [1]

‘Bestowing His mercy on jiva souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode.’

অত্যন্ত দুর্ল্লভ প্রম করিবারে দান ।
শিখায় শরণাগতি ভকতের প্রাণ ॥২॥

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana [2]

‘To distribute the rarest form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life and soul of devotees.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Before Mahaprabhu took sannyas, His Name was Nimai, and after He took sannyas, His Name became Sri Krishna Chaitanya – it means that He has given consciousness (chetan) to all jiva souls of this world. He personally comes from Sri Goloka Vrindavan in this Age of Kali to show kindness to all jiva souls, to rescue such lowly and fallen souls as ourselves. He said:

হরের্নাম হরের্নাম হরের্নামৈব কেবলম্ ।
কলৌ নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব নাস্ত্যেব গতিরন্যথা ॥

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

‘Chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name, chanting the Holy Name – there is no other way, no other way, no other way.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.7.76)

In this Age of Kali, except for chanting the Holy Name, there is no other way, no other way, no other way. Who has the right, or qualification, to chant the Holy Name? Who can chant it? It is written very beautifully:

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
‘অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ’—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥৩॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
‘avasya raksibe krsna’—visvasa palana [3]

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

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Mahaprabhu comes to teach us surrender to the Lord. ‘Dainya’ means it is necessary to be very humble, to feel that we are very lowly: ‘I am a servant. I am an eternal servant of the Lord. I am a servant of Vaishnavs, of all devotees of Krishna.’ Next is ‘atma-nivedana.’ We must submit ourselves, we must sacrifice and throw ourselves at the lotus feet of the Lord. ‘Goptrtve varan’ means feeling that ‘Krishna is the maintainer’, ‘Krishna takes care of everything.’ ‘Avasya raksibe Krsna’ means having faith that ‘Krishna will certainly protect.’

ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভাব-বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥৪॥

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava–varjanangikara [4]

‘[Surrender means] engaging only in what is favourable to devotion and rejecting what is unfavourable to devotion.’

ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

sad-anga saranagati haibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

‘Lord Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender to Him in these six ways.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

The last two limbs of surrender are very important. It is necessary to accept that which is favourable to devotion, and it is necessary to reject that which is unfavourable to devotion. Suppose you do a fire sacrifice. If you put one spoon of ghee and then one spoon of water, can you do a fire sacrifice like this? You cannot. If you drink both alcohol and milk, the alcohol will destroy all good properties of the milk. It is the same as having difficulty breathing and smoking or having acidity or gas and eating anything and everything. It is necessary to accept what is healthy and give up what is unhealthy. In the same way, it is necessary to accept what is favourable to devotion and reject what is unfavourable to devotion.

রূপ-সনাতন-পদে দন্তে তৃণ করি’ ।
ভকতিবিনোদ পড়ে দুই পদ ধরি’ ॥৬॥

rupa-sanatana-pade dante trna kari’
bhakativinoda pade dui pada dhari’

‘With a straw between his teeth, Bhaktivinod falls before Rupa and Sanatan, clasping their feet.’

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া বলে, আমি ত’ অধম ।
শিখায়ে শরণাগতি করহে উত্তম ॥৭॥

kandiya kandiya bale, ami ta’ adhama
sikhaye saranagati karahe uttama

‘Crying bitterly, he prays, “I am a wretched soul! Please grant me the highest qualification by teaching me surrender.”’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 26 Mb
Length: 53 min
Language: English

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Religion of This Age
2) Know Thyself
3) Qualification for Chanting Holy Name
4) Come for Nabadwip Dham Parikrama
5) Live Sincere Devotional Life