(1/9) Have You Forgotten?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Nrisingha Palli, 3 February 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

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

We have spent here, at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nrisingha Palli, two–three days in a very good way. ‘Vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana (বৈষ্ণব সঙ্গেতে মন আনন্দিত অনুক্ষণ). My mind is always joyful in the association of Vaishnavs’ (Srila Narottam Das Thakur). We must always stay in the association of Vaishnavs, in the association of sadhus and in Krishna-kirtan. We must engage our hearts, our minds and entire beings in service. It is necessary to serve the Lord, the guru and Vaishnavs with all our hearts. This is the main thing. How many people can serve their guru, can serve their Lord in this way? What we do is mostly karma instead of service.

You should not do that which does not please your guru (which your guru does not like). Service and karma look the same. When a cat is carrying a mouse in its mouth, and when a cat is carrying its kitten in its mouth, both actions look the same, but one is karma (done for one’s own pleasure), and the other one is service (done for others’ benefit and pleasure). If you do service, you will get not only devotion (Krishna-bhakti): you will actually get transcendental love for the Lord (Krishna-prema).

‘Bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-sangena parijayate (ভক্তিস্তু ভগবদ্ভক্তসঙ্গেন পরিজায়তে). You can get devotion by associating with devotees’ (Brihan-naradiya Purana). It is necessary to always associate with devotees.

I always sing one very beautiful kirtan:

কৃপা কর বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া, ভজিতে ভজিতে,
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya, bhajite bhajite,
abhimana hau dura

‘Please be merciful, Vaishnav Thakur! May my ego go away by always worshipping you in full knowledge of the relationship.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

It is necessary to know what sambandha (relationship) is. Unless you know the relationship, your ego will not go away. What does sambandha mean? We look at each other, and we know that we are human beings, but it is said in the scriptures that every jiva soul is an eternal servant of Lord Krishna. Therefore, I am an eternal servant of Krishna, and everyone is my master. This is how we must see ourselves. Everybody is my master, and I am a servant. It is necessary to think in this way. Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur also said to his disciples, ‘Daso ’smi. I am your servant.’

‘কৃষ্ণ-নিত্যদাস’—জীব তাহা ভুলি’ গেল ।
এই দোষে মায়া তার গলায় বান্ধিল ॥

‘krsna-nitya-dasa’—jiva taha bhuli’ gela
ei dose maya tara galaya bandhila

‘Jiva souls forgot that they are eternal servants of Krishna. Because of this mistake, illusion threw its ropes around their necks.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.24)

We forget that we are eternal servants of Krishna…

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Length: 81 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Have You Forgotten?
2) Morning Shows the Day
3) Genuine Surrender
4) In Search of Hidden Treasure
5) Humility and Dedication
6) Jnana-Sunya Bhakti
7) Taking a Stand Against Maya
8) Be One-Pointed
9) A Word of Warning