Wealth of Nanda Maharaj's Yard

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 31 January 2021, part 3

It is very nice to sing in the morning. You must worship the Lord through sankirtana-yajna. Practise singing devotional songs, it is good for you. Try to understand it. Always remember the Lord and His devotees. Sing five songs in the morning, five songs in the evening—practise in this way, and it will be very good for you, it will give you much energy for service. You must understand this. Practice gives energy. For example, we sing every morning,

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."

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.

That love and ecstasy, that paramour love that even Lord Brahma and Lord Siva always aspire for but cannot get—that very love and paramour love is found in the yard of Nanda Maharaj, in the yard of Sachi Mata and Jagannath Misra; and the Lord comes Himself to distribute that kind of Krishna-prema. It is very rare to get it, it is not so easy to get it, but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu distributes this Krishna-prema to everybody, going door to door. He comes and teaches us saranagati—He teaches us what surrendered mood is:

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion."

It is necessary to have a strongest faith. "Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari. The quality, or degree, of devotion depends upon one's faith." If you have much faith, then your devotion is high, and if you have no faith, then you have no devotion. Somebody may be a junior devotee, somebody may be of a very young age, but if they have a very strong faith, they have more devotion than those who may be externally senior in age or position.

Devotion (bhakti) is of three main types—karma-misra-bhakti, jnana-misra-bhakti, jnana-sunya-bhakti (devotion mixed with material pursuits, devotion mixed with intellectual pursuits, and devotion free from intellectual pursuits). Accordingly, there are also three kinds of devotees—kanistha-adhikari (those who have little faith), madhyam-adhikari (those who have more faith), and uttam-adhikari (those who have the greatest faith). So, devotion does not depend on one's seniority or juniority.

Somebody may be senior—somebody may have got initiation fifty-sixty years ago—but if they do not practise properly, if they do not have a proper faith, then they actually have no proper devotion—one day they end up losing faith and losing their devotion. Srila Gurudev always tells about it.

You know, sometimes Indian people boast, "Oh, my father lived 120 years!", "Oh, my father lived 130 years!" What for were they alive for 120 or 130 years?! Somebody can live just ten years, and that can be sufficient—if you chant the Holy Name for just ten years, then even ten years is sufficient. Yet somebody lives 120 years, but their life is like hell, then what is the benefit of such a life? What is the use getting this human body then? It is useless! You may live only ten years—you can be even a small girl or a small boy—but if you chant the Holy Name, if you worship the Lord, if you practise Krishna consciousness, it is good. If you live 90-100 years but do not practise, then what is the benefit living in this world for 100 years? There is no value. It is very easy to understand this.

'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)

Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita also says,

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)

It does not matter to which order of life you belong to (you can be a brahmachari, a grihastha, a vanaprastha, or even a sannyasi—there are many mayavadi-sannyasis in this world), if you do not worship the Lord, then you are simply paving your way to hell! This is said very strictly 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)

Raurav means hell, and there are many types of hell. I have written about it in the third volume of Guidance (Upadesh).

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