Practise Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata (Jatragachhi), 8 February 2021, part 1

Today is dvadasi-tithi, and we are observing ekadasi today. Have you all been fasting? Do you know that it is necessary to sing a special kirtan on ekadasis? In the morning, we sing, "Sri Hari vasare Hari kirtana vidhana," and in the evening:

শুদ্ধ ভকত-চরণ-রেণু
ভজন-অনুকূল ।
ভকত-সেবা পরম-সিদ্ধি
প্রেমলতিকার মূল ॥

suddha-bhakata-charana-renu
bhajana-anukula
bhakata-seva parama-siddhi
prema-latikara mula

"The dust of pure devotees' feet is favourable to devotion. Serving the devotees is the supreme fulfilment and the root of the creeper of divine love."

It is necessary to chant these kirtans. So, today is ekadasi tithi, so we must sing these kirtans. In the morning, we sing:

sri hari-vasare hari-kirtana-vidhana
nrtya arambhila prabhu jagatera prana [1]

On the holy day of Sri Hari (Ekadasi), Sriman Mahaprabhu, the life and soul of the universe, began dancing.

punyavanta srivasa-angane subharambha
uthila kirtana-dhvani gopala govinda [2]

With the auspicious beginning of the kirtan in the courtyard of the fortunate Srivas, the sound of the chanting, ‘Gopal!’ ‘Govinda!’ arose.

mrdanga mandira baje sankha karatala
sankirtana sange saba ha-ila misala [3]

The sounds of the mrdangas, cymbals, conchshells, and clapping hands all combined together in the sankirtan.

brahmande uthila dhvani puriya akasa
chaudikera amangala yaya saba nasa [4]

The sound of the sankirtan arose and filled the sky, destroying inauspiciousness in all directions.

chatur-dike sri hari-mangala sankirtana
madhye nache jagannatha misrera nandana [5]

Mahaprabhu Visvambhar, the son of Jagannath Misra, danced, surrounded by the auspicious Hari-nam-sankirtan on all sides.

sabara angete sobhe sri chandana-mala
anande nachaye sabe ha-iye vibhola [6]

Everyone was decorated with sandalwood paste and flower garlands, and danced, overwhelmed with joy.

nijanande nache mahaprabhu visvambhara
charanera tali suni ati manohara [7]

Mahaprabhu Visvambhar danced in the ecstasy of Himself. Hearing the rhythm of His feet was heart capturing.

bhavavese mala nahi rahaye galaya
chhindiya padaye giya bhakatera gaya [8]

While He was rapt in ecstasy, His flower garland could not remain around His neck. It tore and fell as the devotees sang.

yanra namanande siva vasana na jane
yanra rase nache siva se nache apane [9]

In the ecstasy of whose Name Siva forgets His clothing, in the ecstasy of whom Siva always dances, that Supreme Lord now dances personally.

yanra name valmiki ha-ila tapodhana
yanra name ajamila paila mochana [10]
yanra name sravane samsara-bandha ghuche
hena prabhu avatari kali-yuge nache [11]

By whose Name Valmiki became a powerful sage, by whose Name Ajamil attained liberation, by hearing whose Name the bondage of material existence is destroyed, that very Lord descends in the Age of Kali and dances.

yanra nama la-i suka narada bedaya
sahasra-vadana-prabhu yara guna gaya [12]
sarva-maha-prayaschita ye prabhura nama
se prabhu nachaye dekhe yata bhagyavan [13]

He whose Name Sukadev and Narad take as they wander about, whose glories the thousand-mouthed Anantadev sings, whose Name is the supreme form of atonement, that Lord now dances and glances upon the fortunate souls.

sri krsna-chaitanya nityananda-chanda jana
vrndavana dasa tachhu pada-yuge gana [14]

Embracing Sri Krsna Chaitanya and Nityanandachand as his life and soul, Vrndavan Das sings the glories of Their lotus feet.

This song was written by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote the other beautiful kirtan, which we sing in the evenings. We must always practise kirtan. Do you know what my Gurudev said when he was leaving this world in the end? He said, "Acharya Maharaj, you are going to Mednipore, Bardhaman, and many other places, you have brought so many people to me, and they took initiation, but how many disciples are there?" Gurudev asked me, "How many disciples are there?" You do not become a disciple just by taking initiation.

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.192)

If your child is admitted to a school, does it mean the child has passed the final exam? Initiation means you have been admitted to a spiritual school. You are admitted to primary school, you must finish it and then go to high school; pass the exams, then progress to college and then to university. So, if you are just enrolled to a school, does it mean you have passed the exams? You must study to pass! What does 'studying' mean for us? There are nine kinds of devotion: 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. These nine kinds of devotional practices reside on the nine islands of Sri Nabadwip. When we do the parikrama, we go to each island and speak about each kinds of devotion residing there. In the middle, there is Antardwip, Mayapur. The Nrisingha Palli temple that we have now is situated in Godrumdwip, and where our temple was before in Kolerganga (Kolerganj) is Koladwip. The area of Vidyanagar is Jahnudwip. Champahati is Rtudwip, and Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur's birthplace, where we go last, in Mamgachi is Modadrumdwip. Madhyadwip is Gadigacha-gram. Above Mayapur, there is Simantadwip (where the temple of Lord Jagannath is) and Rudradwip, it is near the Ganges. These are the nine islands. Devotion resides on these nine islands.

If we do not practise these kinds of devotion, then we will not get any result. We eat every day, we go to the bathroom every day, and you must serve the Lord in the same way—you must offer bhog every day, you must chant kirtans, worship the Lord, etc. You must practise in your own life. You will not get any result if you do not practise. There is a saying in English: practice makes perfect. We do not learn to chant kirtans from the womb of my mother—we come to the temple and practise how to chant kirtans, how to play the kartals (some learn to play the mridanga), learn how to worship the Lord, etc. You can see foreign devotees come and they play the mridanga, play the kartans, they chant kirtans.

They come from so far—from thousands of miles away. The earth is like a ball, and you have India in one place, and their countries are on the other side of the globe—when it is evening here, it is only morning for them. There are also countries where there is no night for four months (the whole day and night, the sun is in the sky), and when I went there during the chaturmasya time, they had no sun—there is only night the whole day! Have you seen a country like that? There is no night there! Here, we have day and we have night, maybe the night is a little longer in winter, but there they have no night at all, and at another time they have no day—the sun does not rise! It only rises for five minutes and then against sets, and it becomes night. There are such places, and those places are now flooded with the Holy Name—people are chanting the Holy Name there!

Therefore, it is necessary to practise. You have been born here in the land of India and think you know everything, but even Brahma himself says, "Those who say they know, they can say that, but I know that I do not know anything." These are the words of Brahma who took initiation from Krishna Himself...

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