(1/13) Always Practise Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 10 February 2021, evening, part 1
Translated from Bengali

Hari bol, Hare Krishna. Jay Srila Guru Maharaj.

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Jay Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay.
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay.
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay.
Vrinda Devi, Tulasi Devi, Sri Bhakti Devi ki jay.
Sri Shyama Kunda, Radha Kunda, Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay.
Sri Mayapur Dham, Sri Nabadwip Dham, Sri Vrindavan, Mathura ki jay.
Sri Purusottam Ksetra ki jay.
Baladev Subhadra Jagannath jiu ki jay.
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay.
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay.
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay.
Jay Sivji Maharaj ki jay.
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar ki jay.
Giriraj Govardhan ki jay.
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol.

vande ’ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams cha
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunath-anvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-chaitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams cha

‘I worship the holy lotus feet of my initiating and instructing guru as well as all predecessor gurus and all Vaisnavs; Sri Rupa Goswami, his elder brother Sri Sanatan Goswami, along with their dear associates Sri Raghunath and Sri Jiva; Sri Advaita Prabhu, Sriman Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev, along with all His near and dear ones; and Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, along with Their dear associates Lalita, Visakha and others.’

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

‘I offer my obeisance to Sri Guru, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, by applying the anjan (potent kajol, or antimony) of knowledge upon them.’

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

‘I offer my obeisance to him who perfectly fulfils his gurudev’s most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his gurudev’s associates; who is expert in all conceivable and inconceivable aspects of Vedic knowledge; who is a pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu’s line; who is known as ‘Govinda’ (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj); whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is suffused with pure devotion; who is the guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.’

devam divya-tanum suchhanda-vadanam balarka-chelanchitam
sandrananda-puram sad-eka-varanam vairagya-vidyambudhim
sri-siddhanta-nidhim subhakti-lasitam sarasvatanam varam
vande tam subhadam mad-eka-saranam nyasisvaram sridharam

‘I worship Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the bestower of all auspiciousness, my only shelter and the master of all renunciates. He is my Lord, who possesses a transcendental form, whose face expression is very grave, who is clad in the holy clothes the colour of the newly risen sun. He is an abode of intense joy, the only genuine master whom one can accept and surrender to, and an ocean of divine knowledge of renunciation. A repository of holy scriptural teachings and pastimes of the highest devotion, he is a great follower of Srila Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad.’

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

‘Again and again I offer my obeisance to the Supreme Lord’s devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy and wish-fulfilling trees.’

vrndayai tulasi-devyai priyayai kesavasya cha
krsna-bhakti-prade devi satyavatyai namo namah

‘Again and again I offer my obeisance to Vrinda Devi (Tulasi Devi), who is very dear to Lord Kesav, who bestows devotion to Krishna and is known as Satyavati.’

atha natva mantra-gurun gurun bhagavatarthadan
vyasan jagad-gurun natva tato jayam udirayet

‘Before reciting scriptures that can conquer material world, let us offer obeisances to our initiating guru, to the guru who teaches us the meaning of Srimad Bhagavatam, to Sri Vyasadev and all the gurus in the universe.’

jayah sa-parikara sri-sri-guru-gauranga-gandharva-
govindasundar-padapadmanam jayastu

‘All glory to the holy lotus feet of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva-Govindasundar and all Their associates.’

vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

‘I worship Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatan Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath Das Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami and Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami.’

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

After many days, by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, we have again come to Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Tarakeshwar, especially now during what Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur called Sri Dhama Pracharani Sobha that takes place before Sri Gaura Purnima. It is necessary to preach about the holy abode and come for the parikrama of Nabadwip Dham. We sing in one of the kirtans:

শ্রীগৌড়মণ্ডলভূমি, যেবা জানে চিন্তামণি,
তার হয় ব্রজভূমে বাস ॥

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi, yeba jane chintamani,
tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

‘Those who always think about Sri Gauda Mandal reside in Vraja.’

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

Those who know Sri Nabadwip Dham reside in Sri Vrindavan Dham. Sri Nabadwip Dham is the place where nine kinds of devotion are practised. There are nine islands, and each of these nine kinds of devotion reside on a corresponding island: sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), archanam (worshipping the Lord’s Deity), vandanam (offering obeisances and prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (submitting yourself to the Lord), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet). The scriptures say that every devotee must practise these kinds of devotion.

‘Asat-sanga sada tyaga chhada anya gita-raga. Always give up bad association, do not listen to material songs and music’ (Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika, Srila Narottam Das Thakur). We often say this, but what is sadhu-sanga and what is asat-sanga? Sadhu-sanga (saints’ association) means sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), archanam (worshipping the Lord’s Deity), vandanam (offering obeisances and prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (submitting yourself to the Lord), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet). If somebody does not practise properly even one these practices, their association is called bad. We must not associate with such people. You must always practise sravanam and kirtanam: always listen about the Lord and always chant the Lord’s Name and glories.

We do the parikrama of the nine islands of Nabadwip every year. You must come and join this parikrama once a year, and you should also do this parikrama mentally every day. Everybody must come for Nabadwip Dham parikrama. This year, the parikrama will be five days. It used to be four days every year, but this year it is extended by one more day because Rudradwip is quite far, and we could not go there (we speak about its glories from afar), but it is necessary to go there. It is the place of Sivji Maharaj. We have a book Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala where you can read about every place that we visit…

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Length: 92 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Always Practise Devotion
2) Pure Devotional Life (1)
3) Pure Devotional Life (2)
4) Detach and Immerse Yourself
5) Earn Qualification
6) Humble Heartfelt Plea
7) Quality and Qualification
8) Devotional Depth
9) Surrender and Practise
10) Cut Off Material Attachment
11) Bogus Kirtan – Bogus Devotion
12) Embracing Controlled Life
13) Start From Tongue