(8/13) Rivet Yourself to Sadhu-Sanga

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sitalpur (Bagnan), West Bengal,
31 January 2021, part 8

Devotee: Maharaj, we were singing this in ‘Nitai mora jivana dhana, Nitai mora jati’ – what does this line mean?

যে দেশে নিতাই নাই, সে দেশে না যাব ।
নিতাই-বিমুখ জনার মুখ না হেরিব ॥

ye dese nitai nai, se dese na yaba
nitai-vimukha janara mukha na heriba

‘I will never anywhere where there is no Nitai – I do not want to see the face of anyone who is averse to Nitai!’

(Srila Lochan Das Thakur)

Yes, it is true. We will not go to a place where Nitai is not worshipped. It means that you must not associate with those who do not worship Nitai. At the same time, if you think like this and say, ‘Oh, I will not go to preach abroad – there is no Nitai there!’ then it is not right. We go abroad to spread Nitai’s mercy. Gurudev is supremely merciful, he is Vaishnav Thakur – he comes to all the countries to rescue such fallen souls as us.

[His Divine Grace resumes kirtans, chanting, ‘Yasoda-nandana Krsna’ and the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and then continues the class.]

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

‘The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill – all it takes is mercy from gurudev.’

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the reddish soles of the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy and aspiring to serve him. Then, I am offering my full obeisance to all the assembled guru-varga, godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees and to all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this lowly soul.

Today is a very auspicious day. A day without Hari-katha is a bad day. It is not a cloudy day that is a bad day – a bad day is the day without any Hari-katha. We have got this opportunity to sing some kirtan, which we have just been doing now, and now we can speak some Bhagavad-katha (we can speak about the Lord). We start by offering our obeisances and prayers to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs. There is no other way for us except for praying to them – we can only pray, ‘Please, Prabhu, forgive my offences.’ I have been an offender for many lifetimes, and I pray that gurudev and Vaishnavs may forgive me.

শক্তিবুদ্ধিহীন, আমি অতি দীন,
কর মোরে আত্মসাথ ॥

sakti-buddhi-hina, ami ati dina,
kara more atmasatha

‘I have no strength, no intelligence, I am very poor. Please hijack me!’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

‘Please hijack me! Take me out of this illusory world and throw me at the lotus feet of the Lord, so that I can spend this life serving my guru and Vaishnavs.’ This is our only prayer to the guru and Vaishnavs, this is our only desire. We are averse-to-Krishna souls – we have forgotten the Lord:

কৃষ্ণ ভুলি' সেই জীব অনাদি-বহির্ম্মুখ ।
অতএব মায়া তারে দেয় সংসারাদি-দুঃখ ॥

krsna bhuli’ sei jiva—anadi bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsara-duhkha

‘Forgetting Krishna, the soul turned towards the external illusory world in primeval times. As the result, illusion (Maya) gives such a soul various material miseries.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.117)

Because we have forgotten the Lord, we are now suffering from the burning agony of the threefold miseries. If you want to get out of this world, the only way to do it is to take shelter at the holy lotus feet of the Lord. That is why we must serve pure devotees. We must surrender at the lotus feet of Sri Guru and Vaishnavs.

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

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

‘(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) accepting that the Lord is your maintainer, (4) keeping faith that “Krishna will certainly protect”, (5) engaging only in what is favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting what is unfavourable to devotion.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Be humble, surrender yourselves and always aspire for the association of pure devotees.

‘সাধুসঙ্গ’, ‘সাধুসঙ্গ’—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

‘sadhu-sanga’ ‘sadhu-sanga’—sarva-sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

‘All scriptures keep saying: ‘Good association’, ‘Good association.’ You can attain all perfection even just by a drop of good, saintly association.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

You can never get any result or any perfection without the association of saints (sadhu-sanga). Good, saintly association is our only path, our only way.

— : • : —

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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