(7/7) No Other Shelter

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar Temple, evening class,
11 February 2021, part 7
Translated from Bengali

This kirtan ‘Ke yabi ke yabi re bhai’ was written by Govinda Das, who also wrote the kirtan ‘Bhajahu re mana’.

There were two brothers in Katwa, Krishna Das and Govinda Das, who were as different as chalk and cheese. One of them worshipped Krishna, and the other one worshipped Kali. In the garden near their house, Govinda Das grew many flowers that he used for the worship of their Deities. One day, Krishna Das thought to himself, ‘If I had a flower garden like that, I could also offer flowers to the Lord.’ The next day, Govinda Das went to offer some flowers to Mother Kali. When he was going to place some flowers in Mother Kali’s hand (they put flowers at her feet and in her hand), Kali suddenly moved her hand away. Govinda Das was amazed, ‘What is this?!’ Then, the same day in the evening, he saw a dream: Kali came to him and said, ‘These flowers in the garden are not for me. They are for my Lord, Krishna, so they should be used for His worship.’ After that, Govinda Das wrote this kirtan ‘Bhajahu re mana’:

ভজহুঁ রে মন, শ্রীনন্দনন্দন,
অভয় চরণারবিন্দ রে ।

bhajahu re mana, sri-nanda-nandana,
abhaya charanaravinda re

‘Dear mind, serve the fearless holy lotus feet of the Son of Nanda.’

এ ধন যৌবন, পুত্র পরিজন,
ইথে কি আছে পরতীতি রে ।
কমল দল জল, জীবন টলমল,
(এই আছে এই নাই জীবন টলমল)
ভজহুঁ হরিপদ নিতি রে ॥

e dhana yauvana, putra parijana,
ithe ki achhe paratiti re
kamala dala jala, jivana talamala,
(ei achhe ei nai jivana talamala)
bhajahu hari-pada niti re

‘What is there in wealth, youth, sons and family? Life is tottering like water on a lotus petal. (It is here now, and the next moment it is gone – life is about to break off at any moment!). O mind, eternally serve the feet of the Lord.’

(Sri Govinda Das)

He wrote such a beautiful kirtan!

Therefore, if you worship the Lord, all worship of demigods is automatically accomplished.

Actually, everybody reaps what they sow. That is why I was just saying:

দিনের মধ্যে আবল-তাবল
কত পচাল পাড়িতে পর
তার মধ্যে কিন্তু তুমি একবার
গোবিন্দ বলিতে নারা

dinera madhye abala-tabala
kata pachala padite para
tara madhye tumi ki ekbara
govinda balite nara

‘How much nonsense you can talk every day! How many idle talks you have! Can you not say the Name of Govinda even once?’

We talk so much! ‘O mind! Worship Sri Nanda-nandan! Serve Lord Sri Nanda-nandan (the Son of Nanda Maharaj)!’ We must serve Yasoda-nandan Krishna – without service to Him, we cannot have any spiritual benefit. We were singing just now:

কে যাবি কে যাবি ভাই ভবসিন্ধু পার ।
ধন্য কলিযুগে রে চৈতন্য অবতার ॥

ke yabi ke yabi re bhai bhava-sindhu para
dhanya kali-yuge re chaitanya avatara

’Brother, who is coming? Who is coming to cross this ocean of material existence? Lord Chaitanya descends in this blessed Kali-yuga!’

(Srila Lochan Das Thakur)

We are very fortunate to have been born in this Kali-yuga because the Lord Himself appears as Gaura Hari in this age.

হরিনামের তরীখানি শ্রীগুরুকাণ্ডারী ।
সংকীর্ত্তনকেরোয়াল দু’বাহু পসারি ॥

harinamera tarikhani sri-guru-kandari
sankirtana-keroyala du’bahu pasari

‘The Holy Name is the boat, the guru is the captain, and the oars are two upraised arms in sankirtan.’

(Srila Lochan Das Thakur)

The Holy Name is the ferry, and gurudev is the captain – if you surrender to gurudev, you will be taken to the Lord. This age is blessed because Gaura Hari appears in it: we have no other way, no other shelter except Him.

I would like to finish at this for today. The bhoga has already been offered, so everybody can take prasad.

[His Divine Grace chants ‘Hari Haraye Nama Krsna’ and then suddenly says, ‘Please chant with me for some time more,’ after which he continues to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra for some time. At the end, His Divine Grace recites Sri Jaya Dhvani and concludes the class.]

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Size: 39 Mb
Length: 81 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Mahaprabhu's Order
2) Chad Kazi: Defeated Again
3) Listen and Learn
4) In Search of Real Benefit
5) Rescue Programme
6) Eating Up Old Rice
7) No Other Shelter