Lost and Languid Souls

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata (Jatragachhi), 8 February 2021, part 6

We were just singing this kirtan:

ছয় বেগ দমি' ছয় দোষ শোধি
ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে ।

chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi'
chhaya guna deha' dase

"Subjugate the six urges, rectify the six defects, and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant."

What are these urges, defects and qualities? Remember that you cannot do two things at the same time. If you drink alcohol and at the same time drink milk also, then whatever vitamins there are in milk, everything will be destroyed by the alcohol. This is how the body works, and in our spiritual life it is also like this. You do what is favourable to devotion, you practise six limbs of surrender:

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ॥
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভাব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara

"(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) embracing the Lord's guardianship, (4) maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', (5) engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion.

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You do what is favourable and you must also reject everything that is unfavourable. We sing this every morning. Surrender (saranagati) is the root of devotion. What is surrender? It is necessary to be humble. This is what Mahaprabhu also teaches:

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)

Who has the right and qualification to chant kirtan (to chant the Holy Name of the Lord and glorify the Lord)? Who can chant kirtan? Those who have a good voice? No. Those who can become lower than a blade of grass, have tolerance like that of a tree, and can give honour to others. Only those who have these three qualities have the right to chant kirtan, nobody else. It does not matter whether one can sing well or not—the main thing is that the person must have no ego (who is humbler than a blade of grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who can give honour to others).

What else did Mahaprabhu teach? In the outside world, people worship Durga, Saraswati Puja is also coming soon—what will everyone say?

om sarasvati mahabhage vidye kamalalochane
visvarupe visalaksi vidyam dehi namostute

"O great Goddess Saraswati, the personified knowledge possessing large lotus eyes! I offer obeisance to you, please give me knowledge."

"O Goddess of Knowledge, please give me knowledge." They offer obeisances to Saraswati and pray like this. When it comes to Durga Puja, brahmans recite their prayer: "Dhanam dehi, vidyam dehi, rupam dehi, varyam dehi, kavitam dehi, sundarim dehi, yasam dehi. Give me wealth, give me knowledge, give me beauty, give me a good wife, make me a poet, give me a beautiful girlfriend, give me fame." They keep saying, "Give me, give me, give me." Yet what did Mahaprabhu 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)

"Dear Lord, I do not want any wealth, followers, women, or fame. What do I want? May I have unswerving devotion to Your holy lotus feet."

নাহি মাগি দেহসুখ বিদ্য 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 to You for physical pleasure, for learning, wealth, or followers. I do not pray for heaven or salvation. I do not pray for any of this opulence."

Why do we not want heaven? It is explained both in Srimad Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. If you go to heaven, you will have to come back from there. You will earn much piety and go to heaven, but once that piety (punya) is finished, you have to again go down. If you commit sin, you will go to hell; if you have made many sins, you will stay there longer. It is similar to a prison—those who have committed a murder, they stay in prison longer, and those who have stolen something get released soon. It is the same in hell—if you commit many sins, you will have to stay there for a longer time, and if you commit not so many sins, you will stay there only for a short time. In any case, you will still have to come back here. Where is that place where you can do and never have to come back from there? If you go to your own home, you will not have to come back. Suppose you rent a house—if some problem comes, you have to look for another house; again, if some problem comes in the second house, you will again have to look for another house. If you keep changing houses like this, then one day you will think, "I am tired of staying at other people's houses. If I can buy some land and make even a thatched hut, it is better than living like this." Therefore, it is said that if you can come to stay in your own house, you will get supreme benefit. So, you must stay in your own house. But where is your own house? I told you the other day: we are all sons of nectar, we are all sons of God. Everyone of us, everyone who is sitting here, we are all relatives, we belong to one family.

The problem is that we have forgotten our family, that is why we become bound by illusory environment time and time again. That is why it is said:

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধুর-গুরুর কৃপা বিনা না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya,
sadhur-gurur krpa vina na dekhi upaya

It is not possible to conquer maya by illusory environment (by engaging in maya); it is only possible to get relief by the mercy of Guru, Vaishnav.

You cannot conquer illusory environment without the mercy of sadhus and your Guru.

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