Greatest Wealth, Ornament, and Aspiration

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Singur, noon programme
14 February 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Let us sing one more kirtan in glorification of Vaishnavs.

ঠাকুর বৈষ্ণব পদ অবনীর সুসম্পদ
শুন ভাই হঞা এক মনে ।
আশ্রয় লইয়া ভজে তারে কৃষ্ণ নাহি ত্যজে
আর সব মরে অকারণে ॥

thakura vaisnava pada avanira susampada
suna bhai hana eka mane
asraya laiya bhaje tare krsna nahi tyaje
ara saba mare akarane

"Brother, listen one-pointedly about the holy feet of Vaishnav Thakur, the greatest wealth there can ever be on earth. Krishna never leaves those who have taken shelter in them and worships them; everyone else simply dies in vain."

It says here "taking shelter and worshipping"—it means that it is necessary to take shelter at the holy lotus feet of a Guru. If you give your letter to the Lord, you will not get any reply. Yet if you send your letter to your Guru (Guru is the dearmost of the Lord, he is Srimati Radharani), then you will get a reply. First, you must become a servant of Vaishnavs (Vaishnav das), then you can become a servant of your Guru (Guru das), and then you can become a servant of Krishna (Krishna das). I have told you today about the qualities of Vaishnavs. The meaning here is that if you do not become a surrendered soul—if you do not take shelter at the holy lotus feet of your Guru.

সাক্ষাদ্ধরিত্বেন সমস্ত-শাস্ত্রৈ-
রুক্তস্তথা ভাব্যত এব সদ্ভিঃ ।
কিন্তু প্রভোর্যঃ প্রিয় এব তস্য
বন্দে গুরোঃ শ্রীচরণারবিন্দম্ ॥

saksadd-haritvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

"I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, who is said by all the scriptures to be the Lord Himself, and considered to be so by the sadhus, yet is also the Lord's beloved devotee."

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, 7)

The Guru is the Lord Himself, the Supreme Lord Himself! Krishna told Uddhav Maharaj, "Uddhav! Know that the acharya is non-different from Myself. He who is the acharya is My personal manifestation." Krishna said this Himself. Just as Nityananda Prabhu is a non-different form of Gaura, and Balaram is a non-different form of Krishna. The body of the Lord is one, but it manifests itself as two forms for the sake of the Lord's pastimes. Krishna and Balaram. Balaram, Baladev, or Balabhadra, They are all the same. You can also call Him Haladhar (carrier of a plough).

You can remember that Nityananda Prabhu broke Mahaprabhu's danda. Why did He break it? He thought, "This danda is I Myself, then why must You carry Me?"

So, it is said here that you must take shelter and worship. Who is the giver of shelter? Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu, or Gurudev, is ashraya-vigraha (worshippable embodiment of shelter), and the Lord is visaya-vigraha (worshippable embodiment of the object of worship).

বৈষ্ণব চরণ-জল প্রেমভক্তি দিতে বল
আর কেহ নহে বলবন্ত ।
বৈষ্ণব চরণ-রেণু মস্তকে ভূষণ বিনু
আর নাহি ভূষণের অন্ত ॥

vaisnava charana-jala prema-bhakti dite bala
ara kena nahe balavanta
vaisnava charana-renu mastake bhusana binu
ara nahi bhusanera anta

"The water that washes the holy lotus feet of Vaishnavs can grant transcendental love; nobody else possesses such power. If you do have the dust from the holy lotus feet of Vaishnavs decorating your head, there is no value in any other ornaments."

I have remembered something I heard from Gurudev. You can often see sadhus who wear turbans. It says here that no ornament can decorate your head if you do not decorate it with the dust from the holy lotus feet of Vaishnavs. You think you will wear a turban and look beautiful, but if you can just put the dust from the holy feet of Vaishnavs on your head, you do not need any other ornaments. Gurudev said this. You can see in many Gaudiya temples that sadhus wear turbans, the same as Rama Krishna Paramahamsa, as Swami Vivekananda. Some think if they wear a turban they become a sadhu. Some also walk around showing off their danda. Yet if somebody hits them, they start swearing—they will not say Hare Krishna then. That is why, "If you do have the dust from the holy lotus feet of Vaishnavs decorating your head, there is no value in any other ornaments."

Gurudev said that somebody can be chanting Hare Krishna so much all the time, but if you hit them in the stomach, they will cry, "Oh, mummy! Daddy!" They will not chant Hare Krishna any more. When you always chant Hare Krishna, then only Hare Krishna will come out of your mouth, and if that is not happening, then you are only chanting Nama-aparadh.

বৈষ্ণব চরণ-রেণু মস্তকে ভূষণ বিনু
আর নাহি ভূষণের অন্ত ॥

vaisnava charana-renu mastake bhusana binu
ara nahi bhusanera anta

"If you do have the dust from the holy lotus feet of Vaishnavs decorating your head, there is no value in any other ornaments."

তীর্থজল পবিত্র গুণে লিখিয়াছে পুরাণে
সে সব ভক্তির প্রবঞ্চন ।

tirtha-jala pavitra gune likhiyachhe purane
se saba bhaktira pravanchana

"The purifying qualities of the water from holy places is mentioned in Puranas, but all this is just a way of cheating yourself out of devotion."

Many go to holy places and bring water from there. They go to the Ganges, the Yamuna, when they go to Ekachakra, they bring water from the Yamuna there. What does Srila Narottam Das Thakur say here? He is a very great Vaishnav and a very educated person. In those days (five hundred years ago), his education equalled to a B.A. degree. He says, "The purifying qualities of the water from holy places is mentioned in Puranas, but all this is just a way of cheating devotion." No devotion can come through that—you will only drink water. You can bring that water, you can take it, but no devotion will come out from there. So many people go to holy places, do they all worship the Lord and practise Krishna consciousness? So many people go here and there in buses, does even one of them become a devotee? They do not. Not even 1% of such tourists become devotees. A thousand people will go to Vrindavan, but not even one of them will practise Krishna consciousness after that. So, this is all but cheating yourself out of devotion.

বৈষ্ণবের পাদোদক সম নহে এই সব
যাতে হয় বাঞ্ছিত পূরণ ॥

vaisnavera padodaka sama nahe ei saba
yate haya vanchhita purana

"All this can never compare to the water that has washed the holy feet of Vaishnavs, which fulfils all wishes."

When people hear these words of Srila Narottam Das Thakur, these days everyone thinks they are a Vaishnav and stretch out their legs to have others wash them. But Mahaprabhu Himself prohibited this! There was only one person whom He gave His feet. Do you remember his name? Kalidas. He became such a great Vaishnav that he deserve this qualification. What does 'qualification' mean? He had no wealth, no money, no house, no car, etc. His qualification was one: he was so humble that when Vaishnavs took prasadam, he did not sit with them. He was invited, but he did not sit with them, thinking, "I have no right to sit with them. They are big Vaishnavs, and I am lowly, I have not even been able to become their servant! How can I sit next to them?" When all the Vaishnavs threw away their plates in some place, Kalidas would go to that place and lick their plates. He took their remnants. This is prasad-seva (service to remnants, honouring remnants).

One time, Kalidas went to the house of Jhadu Thakur and gave him a mango, "Please take this mango. Use it for the service of the Lord and give me some prasad." Jhadu Thakur replied, "No, no, you are a respectable Vaishnav. How can I do that? I eat all sorts of things, I do not live a proper life. Keep the mango here, I will take prasad." Then, first Jhadu Thakur took that mango, then his wife sucked the stone, and when she finally threw the stone away, Kalidas picked it up and sucked it. Do you understand what kind of Vaishnav he was!

বৈষ্ণব সঙ্গেতে মন আনন্দিত অনুক্ষণ
সদা হয় কৃষ্ণ পরসঙ্গ ।
দীন নরোত্তম কান্দে হিয়া ধৈর্য্য নাহি বান্ধে
মোর দশা কেন হৈল ভঙ্গ ॥

vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana
sada haya krsna para-sanga
dina narottama kande hiya dhairya nahi bandhe
mora dasa kena haila bhanga

"In the association of Vaishnavs, my heart rejoices and I feel the association of Lord Krishna Himself. Poor Narottam is crying, his heart can no long endure it. Why has my situation (my life) become broken?"

দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর

Doyal Vaisnava Thakur
Doyal Vaisnava Thakur
Vaisnava Thakur
Doyal Vaisnava Thakur

দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
দয়াল বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর

Doyal Vaisnava Thakur
Doyal Vaisnava Thakur
Vaisnava Thakur
Doyal Vaisnava Thakur

I am not telling all these things to you only. I am telling it all to myself also. I myself have not been able to become such a Vaishnav. So, I am telling all this to purify myself. I have many faults, I do not have any good qualities, I am only full of faults, but if I keep telling and telling all this to myself, if I keep chanting these kirtans and talk about all this, then humility will come to me too, then I will also be able to become like this one day:

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)

I always think about this. That is why I am chanting kirtans for my own benefit and purification. I am not telling all these things for you—I am chanting these kirtans for my own purification.

— : • : —

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