(6/13) Sincere Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sitalpur (Bagnan), West Bengal,
31 January 2021, part 6

It is necessary to become a sadhu, not just dress yourself as one. You know, when people pay obeisances in Midnapore, they tweak your feet – one time, they tweaked my feet so hard that my feet began to bleed! Can you imagine how they ‘practise’ spiritual life like that? It is necessary to practise sincerely, without any duplicity. You fall flat on the ground in a sastanga-dandavat, but when gurudev tells you to bring him something, you say, ‘Sorry, I cannot, I have no time.’ This is their ‘sincerity’. Actually, this is what insincerity is. One day people will grab and squeeze your feet so hard, and when you come to them another day, they do not even pay an obeisance. What kind of rules do they follow? Sometimes, when you have a programme at somebody’s house, they grab your feet and begin to cry, but it is a show. Have you heard of a phrase ‘crocodile tears’? Crocodiles always live in water, so sometimes you can see some water glitter in their eyes and you think the crocodile is crying, but it is not tears – it is just water. In the same way, some people will shed gallons of tears, but this is not real – it is deceit. This is deceitful devotion (kapata-bhakti). I have written about it in Upadesh 4 (Guidance, Volume 4).

শুদ্ধভক্ত-পালন, শুষ্কজ্ঞান-তাড়ন,
ছলভক্তি-দূষণ-রাম ॥

suddha-bhakta-palana, suska-jnana-tadana,
chhala-bhakti-dusana-rama

‘Gauranga Mahaprabhu takes care of His pure devotees and drives away dry knowledge. He delights in refuting bogus devotion.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We sing this kirtan every morning (‘Kali-kukkura-kadana’). Do you remember this song? What does ‘dry knowledge’ (suska-jnana) mean? It is the knowledge of mayavadis: their knowledge has dried up. They want to become one with Brahman – they want to become Gods (they think everything comes from Brahman, so they consider themselves Brahman). You may have seen also that when sahajiyas pay obeisance, they say, ‘Guru Brahma Guru Visnu Guru Devo Mahesvara. Guru is Brahma the Creator, guru is Vishnu the Maintainer, guru is Maheshwar the Destroyer.’ You will never hear us say this. We always say:

ওঁ অজ্ঞানতিমিরান্ধস্য জ্ঞানাঞ্জনশলাকয়া ।
চক্ষুরুন্মিলিতং যেন তস্মৈ শ্রীগুরবে নমঃ ॥

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

‘I offer my obeisance to Sri Guru, who has opened my eyes, rescuing me from the illusory darkness of ignorance, by applying the salve of knowledge upon my eyes.’

This a very beautiful prayer. The guru applies the ‘kajal’ of divine knowledge to remove the darkness of ignorance from my eyes. If somebody understands the meaning of this sloka, their mind can never go in any other direction. We must always think in this direction. It is said in the scriptures that those who have sincerity, who have chaste and firm devotion to Sri Gurupadpadma, have the power to rescue the entire universe. It is necessary to have sincere devotion to Sri Gurupadpadma.

Srila Lochan Das Thakur composed a very beautiful kirtan about Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. We mostly sing Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur’s and Srila Narottam Das Thakur’s kirtans (‘Nitai pada-kamala’, ‘Parama karuna, pahu dui jana, Nitai Gaura-chandra’ and others), but there are also beautiful kirtans composed by Srila Lochan Das Thakur (‘Nitai gunamani amara nitai gunamani’, ‘Akrodha paramananda’ and others).

[His Divine Grace chants ‘Nitai mora jivana dhana’ and ‘Yadi gaura na ha’ta.’]

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 57 Mb
Length: 119 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) In Search of Hidden Treasure
2) Know Your Own Identity First
3) Sambandha Jnana: Launching Pad
4) Utter Desperation
5) Path to Qualification
6) Sincere Devotion
7) Highest and Rarest
8) Rivet Yourself to Sadhu-Sanga
9) Genuine Benefit
10) Great Gift
11) Enter the Land of Faith
12) Unchaste Faith
13) A Test of Faith