Mahaprabhu's Gift

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু জীবে দয়া করি' ।
স্বপার্ষদ স্বীয় ধাম সহ অবতরি ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

"Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode."

অন্ত্যন্ত দুর্লভ প্রেম করিবারে দান ।
শিখায় শরণাগতি ভকতের প্রাণ ॥

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

"To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees."

What does it say here? "Sri Krsna Chaitanya Prabhu jive daya kari." Who is Sri Krishna Chaitanya? Mahaprabhu. When Mahaprabhu took sannyas, His Name became Sri Krishna Chaitanya because He is Krishna who comes to this world to awaken the consciousness (chetan) of all living souls. Out of mercy to the souls, He comes to this world along with His associates (sva-parsada). He performes His pastimes along with all the Vraja gopis in Dvapar-yuga, and all these Vraja gopis come together with the Lord in this Kali-yuga. Advaita Prabhu, Haridas Thakur, Nityananda Prabhu, Gadadhar Pandit—they all come in this Kali-yuga as the Lord's associates. What do they come for? 'Atyanta durlabha prema'—they come to distribute the rarest divine love that nobody can ever get. Brahma, Siva and many other exalted personalities always think, "When will I get this Krishna-prema?" They always cry for this Krishna-prema, they always call out to the Lord, "O Lord, when will I get pure divine love for You?" Mahaprabhu comes to this world and personally goes door to door distributing this very Krishna-prema to everyone.

Somebody can ask a question, "Why is Radharani's Name not mentioned anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam?" Srimad Bhagavatam is not man-made, it is not written by anyone by pen, with one's own hand. Initially, Sukadev Goswami spoke it in front of Pariksit Maharaj; after that, Suta Goswami heard it and then spoke it again at Naimisaranya forest in front of sixty thousand rishis. This is how Bhagavatam appeared in this world. Nobody wrote it initially. Srimad Bhagavatam was spoken by Sukadev Goswami, a young boy of about sixteen years old. The book we all see now was later written by Srila Vedavyas (recording what had been spoken by Sukadev Goswami). That is why, it is said, "Aham vedmi, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va. Lord Siva said, 'I know it, Sukadev knows it, and Vyasadev may or may not know it.'" Vyasadev gave such mercy to Sukadev that Sukadev could know everything, even what Vyasadev himself may or may not know. This is what Sivji Maharaj says. These are very beautiful words. So, why is there no mention of Srimati Radharani's Name anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam? Srimad Bhagavatam contains an extensive description of the devotion of Sri Prahlad Maharaj, and we know that his devotion is very good, but the devotion of Srimati Radharani is much higher than his. The answer to this question is this. Sukadev Goswami felt, "I cannot preach it in this world, I cannot speak in front of all the people about that highest transcendental mood of Srimati Radharani. I cannot show it to the world." Her devotion is so much higher!

মাতল হরিজন কীর্ত্তন-রঙ্গে ।
পূজল রাগপথ গৌরব-ভঙ্গে ॥

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

"From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline."

We must keep the raga-path in our hearts—we will not show it in front of everyone. That is why Sukadev Goswami felt he could not describe it to the whole world. Although Srimati Radharani's devotion is so much higher, Sukadev Goswami did not describe or even mention it in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Therefore, this great devotion of Vraja should be the eternal object of our meditation. One time, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Ramananda Ray, "Which of mediations is the greatest?" Ramananda Ray replied, "The highest meditation is the meditation on the holy lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha Krishna (meditation on the yugala-murti of Sri Radha and Sri Krishna)." This is written in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita; if you read it, you will find it there. It is also written there, "Who is the richest person?" "Those who are enriched with the wealth of Krishna are the richest persons!" In other words, those who have Krishna-prema are the richest persons.

So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu roamed this land going door to door and searching whom to give this very Krishna-prema, "Who wants to buy it? Who wants to take it?" He distributed this Krishna-prema to the whole world going door to door. Those who had some good fortune opened their door, and those whose fortune is bad kept their door closed. What does 'door' mean here? One's heart. This door is the door of your heart. You must open your heart (hriday), your very being (prana)—you must invite the Lord with your heart and give Him a place to sit in your heart. That is why Sri Vasu Ghosh wrote,

যদি গৌর না হ'ত তবে কি হইত
কেমনে ধরিতাম দে ।
রাধার মহিমা প্রেমরস-সীমা
জগতে জানাত কে ? ॥

yadi gaura na ha'ta tabe ki ha-ita
kemane dharitam de
radhara mahima, prema-rasa-sima
jagate janata ke?

"If Gaura had not come, then what would have happened? How would we have maintained our lives? Who would have revealed to the world Radha's glory and the extremes of Her ecstatic divine love?"

(Srila Vasudev Ghosh Thakur)

If Gauranga had not come, who would have known the glory of Srimati Radharani?

বরজ-যুবতী ভাবের ভকতি
শকতি হইত কার ?

varaja-yuvati bhavera bhakati
sakati ha-ita kara?

[If Gauranga Mahaprabhu had not come,] who would have had any qualification for the Vraja-gopis' ecstatic devotion?

Who would have been capable to reveal the ecstatic devotion of the young girls of Vraja if Gaura had not come?

These are such beautiful words, written by Sri Vasu Ghosh.

So, then it says,

অন্ত্যন্ত দুর্লভ প্রেম করিবারে দান ।
শিখায় শরণাগতি ভকতের প্রাণ ॥

atyanta durlabha prema karibare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

"To distribute the most rare form of divine love, He teaches surrender, which is the life of the devotees."

Mahaprabhu taught surrender. You can read Mahaprabhu's Siksastakam and see the third and fourth verses there, then you will understand what Mahaprabhu's teaching is. The third verse is,

তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা ।
অমানিনা মানদেন কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥

trnad api sunichena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 6.239)

Be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and give honour to others—if you can be like this, then you will get the right to chant the Holy Name. It is necessary to earn the qualification, or right, to chant the Holy Name of the Lord.

শ্রীকৃষ্ণকীর্ত্তনে যদি মানস তোহার ।
পরম যতনে তঁহি লভ অধিকার ॥

sri-krsna-kirtane yadi manasa tohara
parama yatane tanhi labha adhikara

"If you are intent on chanting the Name of Krishna, then, with great care, become qualified to do so."

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি অহঙ্কার ॥

trnadhika hina, dina, akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi' ahankara

"Give up your false ego, and always consider yourself lower than grass, poor, needy, and mean."

বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি অন্যে করবি পালন ॥

vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana

Practise tolerance like a tree. Stop ill-treating others, instead nurture them.

জীবন-নির্ব্বাহে আনে উদ্বেগ না দিবে ।
পর-উপকারে নিজ-সুখ পাসরিবে ॥

jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija-sukha pasaribe

Do not trouble others for your own upkeep, and forget your own happiness in the course of helping others.

(Sri Siksastakam Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You must give up your own happiness for the sake of others' happiness. Be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and give honour to others. 'Vrksa-sama ksama-guna' means you must be forgiving (ksama)—if somebody makes an offence and you cannot forgive the person, then what kind of a Vaishnav are you? When you cut a tree, it does not turn its face away from you—it still gives you shelter in its shade. You can cut a tree's branch, but when the sun is very hot, you go to the other side of the tree and take shelter by its trunk. When a tree can be that forgiving, we too much show this quality. 'Pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana'—somebody ill-treats you, does it mean you will also ill-treat the person? No. You will give up all vengeance. If somebody is mean to you, if somebody swears or criticises you, it means they have a problem that is why they swear you—they have some difficulty, that is why they are criticising or being mean to you. Do you understand this?

This is the meaning of 'sikhaya saranagati'—Mahaprabhu comes to teach surrender. Surrender means being extremely humble, being tolerant and giving honour to others. This is what Mahaprabhu taught. What does the other, fourth, verse of Mahaprabhu's Siksastakam teaching say?

ন ধনং ন জনং ন সুন্দরীং কবিতাং বা জগদীশ কাময়ে ।
মম জন্মনি জন্মনীশ্বরে ভবতাদ্ভক্তিরহৈতুকী ত্বয়ি ॥

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

"I do not want wealth, I do not want followers, I do not want beautiful women, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your lotus feet. Give me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet so that I could do Your service life after life."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 20.29)

People always pray, "Give me wealth, give me knowledge, make me beautiful, give me a good wife, make me a poet, make me beautiful, etc." Mahaprabhu said, "No. I do not want any wealth. I do not want any followers. I do not want any beautiful wife. I do not want to be a poet. I do not want to live a lifetime of Brahma (Jagadish)."

ধন জন আর কবিতা সুন্দরী
বলিব না চাহি দেহ-সুখকরী ।
জন্মে জন্মে দাও ওহে গৌরহরি
অহৈতুকী ভক্তি চরণে তোমার ॥

dhana jana ara, kavita-sundari,
baliba na chahi deha-sukha-kari
janme janme dao, ohe gaurahari!
ahaituki bhakti charane tomara

"When will I declare that I do not desire wealth, followers, erudition, beautiful women, or any other bodily pleasure? O Gaurahari! Birth after birth, please give me unconditional devotion to Your feet."

(Saranagati)

What do I want birth after birth? I only want unconditional devotion to Your holy lotus feet. I do not want any wealth!

নাহি মাগি দেহসুখ বিদ্যা ধন জন ॥
নাহি মাগি স্বর্গ আর মোক্ষ নাহি মাগি ।
না করি প্রার্থনা কোন বিভূতির লাগি ॥

nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana
nahi magi svarga ara moksa nahi magi
na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi

"I do not pray for bodily pleasure, learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven, I do not pray for liberation, and I do not pray for any supernatural powers."

(Sri Siksastakam, 4.1-2, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

"I do not want heaven, I do not want liberation." How beautiful Mahaprabhu's teaching is!

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ॥
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord’s guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me'..."

ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভাব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"Engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion ..."

ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"These are the six types of saranagati, and if you can surrender in all the six ways, Krishna will hear you."

রূপ-সনাতন-পদে দন্তে তৃণ করি' ।
ভকতিবিনোদ পড়ে দুই পদ ধরি' ॥

rupa-sanatana-pade dante trna kari'
bhakativinoda pade dui pada dhari'

Bhaktivinod places a straw between his teeth and falls before Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu, clasping their feet.

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া বলে, আমি ত' অধম ।
শিখায়ে শরণাগতি করহে উত্তম ॥

kandiya kandiya bale, ami ta' adhama
sikhaye saranagati karahe uttama

Crying and crying, he prays, "I am so low! Please elevate me by teaching me surrender."

It is said here that surrender consists of six aspects (sad-anga saranagati). These six aspects are humility, self-submission, relying on the Lord (it means you realise that Krishna is your maintainer, guardian), believing in the Lord's protection, accepting only what is favourable to devotion, and rejecting everything that is unfavourable to devotion.

Krishna is our maintainer. Krishna is our protector.

মারবি রাখবি যো ইচ্ছা তোহারা ।
নিত্যদাস প্রতি তুয়া অধিকারা ॥

marabi rakhabi yo ichchha tohara
nitya-dase prati tuya adhikara

"You may kill me or protect me as You wish. You have full authority over Your eternal servant."

If He wants He can kill, if He wants He can save. Nobody else has the power to save us. If Krishna wants somebody to die, the person will die.

Also, we must always accept that which is favourable to devotion. Many people do what is favourable and at the same time also do what is unfavourable to devotion. This will not do. "Anukulyasya samkalpah, pratikulya vivarjjanam. Accept what is favourable, reject what is unfavourable."

We pray, "Chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi' chhaya guna deha' dase (ছয় বেগ দমি' ছয় দোষ শোধি ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে). O Vaishnav Thakur! Please subdue the six urges, rectify the six defects and please bestow the six good qualities upon this servant." The six urges are vakya-veg, jihva-veg, mano-veg, krodha-veg, udar-veg, upastha-veg (urges of speech, tongue, mind, anger, stomach, and genitals). We must always control all these six urges. These six urges are unfavourable to devotion. If you can control them, that is called bhakti-anukul (doing something favourable to devotion), and if you cannot, then it is bhakti-pratikul (doing something that is unfavourable to devotion). Suppose you are doing a yajna. If you put one spoon ghee and then one spoon water, you cannot make yajna like this. You must put ghee, and if you put water, the fire will go out. Therefore, if you do what is favourable to devotion but do not give up doing what is unfavourable, what result will you get? If you drink alcohol and milk, what will that give you? Alcohol will take away all the benefit of drinking milk. So, people think, "I will eat fish, meat, eggs, onion, garlic, and I will chant the Holy Name." You can never chant the Holy Name like this. It may sound like the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but "Nama aksara bahiraya bate tabu Nama kabhu naya (নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয়, Pv, 7.1). This is mere alphabet, mere letters of the Name, but it can never be the Holy Name proper."

অসাধুসঙ্গে ভাই কৃষ্ণনাম নাহি হয় ।

নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয় ॥

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

"Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1)

If you want to chant the Holy Name, then you must understand,

'সাধুসঙ্গ', 'সাধুসঙ্গ'—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya

"Good association", "good association," all the scriptures keep saying. Only by good association can you get all perfection.

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

It is necessary to keep good saintly association. Sadhus are those who practise Krishna consciousness, who serve the Lord with unswerving determination (nistha). Those who do not practise even one of the practises of Krishna consciousness (sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission) are called 'asat' (inauspicious, unsaintly). 'Asat' means liars, thieves, free mixers (who illegally associate with girls). And those who practise at least one of the devotional practices are called 'sat.' Remember all this. Always do what is favourable to devotion and do not do what is unfavourable to devotion (always leave, give up what is unfavourable). We must not lie, we must not disrespect others, and we must avoid the association with those who gamble, drink alcohol, mix freely with women, who kill (such persons are 'asat'). Always associate with those who are 'sat' (who practise at least one of the nine devotional practices).

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