Morning Shows the Day

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Nrisingha Palli, 3 February 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

We are very fortunate to be here, in Sri Nabadwip Dham, in Godrumdwip. This is a very beautiful place—Devapalli. All 330,000,000 demigods are always staying here. Lord Nrisinghadev appeared in South India, but He came here and took some rest. Even the gopis say, "Prahlad Maharaj has so much devotion—we do not have that kind of devotion, we have not got there." Prahlad Maharaj is a very great devotee of shanta-rasa. He tolerated so much torture from his demoniac father, Hiranyakasipu, starting from being fed snake poison when he was five years old... He was thrown into fire, he was thrown into water, he was tied to an elephant's leg, etc. Prahlad Maharaj tolerated everything silently—he only remembered the Lord. It is necessary to always remember the Lord.

আদৌশ্রদ্ধা ততঃ সাধুসঙ্গোঽথ ভজনক্রিয়া ।
ততোঽনর্থনিবৃত্তিঃ স্যাৎ ততো নিষ্ঠা রুচিস্ততঃ ॥
অথাসক্তিস্ততো ভাবস্ততঃ প্রেমাভ্যুদঞ্চতি ।
সাধকানাময়ং প্রেম্ণঃ প্রাদুর্ভাবে ভবেৎ ক্রমঃ ॥

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya
tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha ruchis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudanchati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

"In the beginning there is faith, then good association, then practising life. After that, the offences gradually go away, faith becomes stronger, taste comes, then attachment, then there arises affection and love. This is how love to God comes to those who practise Krsna consciousness."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.4.15-16)

Attachment to service must come gradually in this way. The feeling must come, "If I do not do service, I do not feel well." Such attachment must come. When will it come? When the diseases that we have inside us go away, then attachment will come. What are these diseases? We were just singing in the kirtan: pancha-roga hata, we are ruined by five diseases. The five disease are avidya, asmita, raga, dvesa, abhinivesa. Avidya means ignorance, identifying yourself with this gross material body. When you think that you are this body that is made of five material elements (pancha-bhautik: earth, water, fire, air, ether), that is called ignorance. Basically, it is attachment to the material world. It is a disease, and until and unless this disease is removed, we will not become detached. First, it is necessary to have nistha, sincerity—"I will do this service, and I will do it every day." I will wake up early in the morning, come to the mangal-arati, chant kirtan. I will start well from the very morning. I remember there was a poem we learnt in childhood:

সকালে উঠিয়া আমি মনে মনে বলি,
সারা দিন আমি যেন ভালো হয়ে চলি ।

sakale uthiya ami mane mane bali
sara dina ami yena bhalo haye chali

"When I wake up in the morning, I tell myself that I must behave well the whole day ..."

(From a children's poem about good behaviour)

All these things are written in common literature, but our life is also like that. When we wake up, we stand before the Lord, we think about the Lord. We must always think about the Lord, we must always do service, always take the Name of the Lord. This is what I do. We sing,

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

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite
abhimana hau dura

"O Vaishnav Thakur! Please be merciful! Knowing the true relationship I will worship You and my ego will go far away."

'আমি ত বৈষ্ণব' এ বুদ্ধি হইলে
অমানী না হ'ব আমি ।
প্রতিষ্ঠাশা আসি' হৃদয় দূষিবে
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

'ami ta vaisnava' e buddhi haile
amani na ha'ba ami
pratisthasa asi' hrdaya dusibe
haiba nirayagami

"If I think, 'I am a Vaishnav,' then I will never stop expecting honour from others (I will never become void of the desire for honour)—my heart will become polluted by the desire for fame and I will end up in hell."

If I think I have become a Vaishnav, then I will not be able to give honour to others. This is a very beautiful kirtan. If you try to explain it gradually, line by line, you will see how beautiful it is. It is necessary to sing kirtans nicely (in the proper mood).

বিষয়ে যে প্রীতি এবে আছয়ে আমার ।
সেই মত প্রীতি হউক চরণে তোমার ॥

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara
sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

"May I have the same affection and attraction to your feet that I now have for material things."

(Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

We must use everything for the Lord. Every single thing must be used for the Lord's service. This is how you can very beautifully take part in the service of the Lord.

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