Internal Purity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

We sing the kirtan, "Krpa kara Vaishnava Thakura,"

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."

First it is necessary to know the real relationship (sambandha). If you worship the Lord knowing the true relationship, your ego will go away. If you know the spiritual relationship and worship the Lord, then even a father will offer obeisance to his son. This is a rule. If the son is very advanced in Krishna consciousness and serves the Lord, then even his father must pay obeisance to him and address him as "Prabhu" (Master). Generally people think, "I am his father, he is younger than me! He is my son!" This ego is not good. If you know the real relationship and practise Krishna consciousness, your ego will go away. This is the meaning of these lines from the kirtan. Do you understand its meaning?

'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—my heart will become polluted by the desire for fame and I will end up in hell."

Somebody thinks, "I have become a Vaishnav!" or "When did you take initiation? I took initiation long before you, why must I pay obeisance to you?" If you think you have become a Vaishnav, you will not be able to give honour to others. We must give honour to everyone—somebody can be young, can be old, but we must offer obeisances to everyone. Srila Prabhupad often said, "All of you seated here are my gurus. You have taken initiation from me means you have given me mercy." These are very beautiful words. A real guru will never say, "I have given you mercy by giving you initiation." No. You are giving me mercy by taking initiation from me. A guru must have this kind of mood. This is called humility.

দৈন্য, দয়া, অন্যে মান, প্রতিষ্ঠা বর্জ্জন ।
চারিগুণে গুণী হই করহ কীর্ত্তন ॥

dainya, daya, anye mana, pratistha-varjana
chari gune guni hai karaha kirtana

"Humility, compassion, honouring others, and giving up prestige—become qualified with these four qualities and chant the Name."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Sri Siksastakam Giti)

Who has the right to chant kirtan? Those who have humility, who have a heart for others, who have honour for others, and who reject any name and fame—those who have these four qualities have the right to chant kirtan. This is the way how one must practise Krishna consciousness. I am saying all this now here, but in fact I am saying this all to myself—I am saying all this now to teach my own self. I am not saying it for you only, I am saying for my own self also. I too must practise all this. I also pray, "O Lord, please let me be like this. O Gurudev! Please give me some intelligence so that I can become humble, kind, so that I may respect others and leave all desire for prestige." I am saying this now so that I too can become like that—if I keep on saying about it, then one day can become like this. I am not coming to give advice to you—if I keep on saying about this, then I believe that one day these qualities will come to me. We must think in this way.

দৈন্য, দয়া, অন্যে মান, প্রতিষ্ঠা বর্জ্জন ।
চারিগুণে গুণী হই করহ কীর্ত্তন ॥

dainya, daya, anye mana, pratistha-varjana
chari gune guni hai karaha kirtana

"Humility, compassion, honouring others, and giving up prestige—become qualified with these four qualities and chant the Name."

(Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Sri Siksastakam Giti)

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