Pure Devotional Life (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 10 February 2021, part 3

Sadhus always live following all rules, strictly and regularly. If you live at your home and sleep till seven-eight o'clock, it will not do. You must wake up early, come for mangal-arati. You must serve the Lordships, your must offer bhog to the Lordships—you must cook for the Lord. This is how you must practise always; otherwise, you will not get any result. Practice is the main thing.

You can see that sometimes those who took initiation just one month ago can chant all kirtans well, they can give nice class, and those who took initiation ten years ago cannot do anything. It means there is a lack in us: it means we lack faith, we lack devotion. Devotion comes from devotion. I have told you before: you cannot get the Lord through any material activities, knowledge, or mystic practices. If you want to get the Lord, there is only one thing that is necessary—devotion.

You must keep devotion in your heart. You do not have to do anything to impress people. You must show devotion with your heart. So, as I said, you cannot get the Lord through any material activities, knowledge, or mystic powers—the only way to get the Lord is through devotion; devotion comes from the association of devotees. So, if you associate with devotees, you will have devotion.

It may not always be possible to associate with devotees directly, but then you must give jay to Gurudev, to Param Gurudev every day. Learn Gurudev's vandana and pranam-mantra by heart. How do you offer obeisance to Gurudev? Gurudev's pranam-mantra is written very beautifully. There is also Param Gurudev's pranam-mantra. I recited them at the beginning of the programme, and I always recite them every morning and evening. Sometimes, when I get time, I also chant kirtans to myself—sometimes, I am going in the car and chant.

By chanting kirtan, you can remember the Lord and His devotees (kirtana prabhave smarana haibe). These are the main devotional practices—sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam (hearing, chanting, remembering). How does remembering come? When you chant kirtan, you remember the Lord, and if you do not chant kirtans, you will not be remembering the Lord, His pastimes and devotees. Therefore, you must always chant kirtan, whether you are eating, lying down, or sitting. You can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, otherwise you can chant other kirtans also. Whatever kirtans you remember by heart, you can sing and sing them—practice makes perfect.

Taking initiation is just the first step, after that you have duty, and this duty is to practise sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam, pada-sevanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, self-submission, and offering obeisance. Only taking initiation is not everything. When a child is admitted to a school, it does not mean they have passed the final exam. When you are admitted to a school, you must study; then, ten years later, you advance to high school; and two years later, if you pass the exam, you get the certificate. There is no other way to get it. Therefore, there are nine kinds of devotion—sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam, pada-sevanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, self-submission, and offering obeisance; and the main thing is that you must practise sravan (hearing) and kirtan (chanting). If you cannot do that, then everything will be a waste.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Listen to the audio or download (1.3 Mb, 3 min)