Pure Identity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 23 February 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

...So, we were singing,

সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া ভজিতে ভজিতে
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

sambandha janiya bhajite bhajite
abhimana hau dura

"Knowing the true relationship I will worship You and my ego will go far away."

It is necessary to give up ego. We must watch out that we do not get the ego that "I have become a big Vaishnav!"

প্রতিষ্ঠাশা আসি' হৃদয় দূষিবে
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

pratisthasa asi' hrdaya dusibe
haiba nirayagami

"My heart will become polluted by the desire for fame and I will end up in hell."

When desire for pratistha (name and fame) comes into my heart, it will clear the road to hell for me. That is why, Vaishnavs never say, "I have become a Vaishnav." Mahaprabhu never said, "I am the Lord!" In this world, everybody says that this world is created by Brahman—such people are jnanis (knowledge-seekers). However, you will not get the Lord through karma (fruitive actions), jnana (knowledge), or yoga (mystic practices). You can get the Lord only through bhakti (devotion).

There are three kinds of devotion (I told you about it yesterday)—karma-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with material desires), jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with desire to know something), jnana-sunya suddha-bhakti (pure devotion devoid of any pursuit of knowledge). We must have jnana-sunya bhakti (devotion without desire to know anything)—"I do not know anything, I do not understand anything. O Lord, I am a low and fallen soul."

So, we must not have the ego that we are a brahmachari or a sannyasi. When describing His own identity, Mahaprabhu said,

নাহং বিপ্রো ন চ নরপতির্নাপি বৈশ্যো ন শূদ্রো
নাহং বর্ণী ন চ গৃহপতির্নো বনস্থো যতির্বা ।
কিন্তু প্রোদ্যন্নিখিলপরমানন্দপূর্ণামৃতাব্ধে-
র্গোপীভর্ত্তুঃ পদকমলয়োর্দাসদাসানুদাসঃ ॥

naham vipro na cha nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na cha grha-patir no vanastho yatir va
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

"I am not a brahman, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra. Nor am I a brahmachari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, the maintainer of the gopis. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 13.80)

"I am not a brahman, I am not a ksatriya (fighter), I am not a vaisya (businessman), I am not a sudra (menial worker). I am not a sannyasi (monk), I am not a brahmachari (celibate), I am not a grihastha (householder). What am I? I am a servant of the servant of the holy lotus feet of the gopis." Do you know what the gopis say? They say, "We do not have the kind of devotion that Prahlad Maharaj has!" Prahlad Maharaj is a santa-bhakta (his devotional mood is the mood of neutrality, or peacefulness). Just see how much humility the gopis have. Krishna says that the gopis are His greatest devotees, their devotion is the highest. You know that there is santa-, dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya-, madhura-rasa (neutral devotion, servitude, friendship, parenthood, and consorthood), and among these moods of devotion, madhura-rasa is the highest. So, Krishna says that the gopis are the highest devotees, there is no worship that is higher than the worship of the gopis. And these gopis says, "We still do not have the kind of devotion that Prahlad Maharaj has." How humble they are! They think so low of themselves.

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

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

"Humility, self-submission, taking the Lord as your guardian, keeping the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion."

(Saranagati, 1, by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Sri Nanda Kumar (Lord Sri Krishna) hears the prayers of those who have got these six limbs of surrender. We sing this every morning. Those who chant kirtans are habituated to do that. I have told everyone—take Gaudiya Gitanjali with you (if you cannot buy the big book, you can take the small one). Chant kirtans every day, learn them by heart, this is how you will get the habit to chant.

I have written how to practise properly in the books, and I know that I myself cannot practise properly too, but why do I tell you about it then? Because if I keep telling you about it, then I will become clean. I have written so many things in the books, read them. I know I have not become perfect myself, but I believe that if I keep speaking about it, then one day I will perhaps become pure. I am telling you all these things not for your benefit, but for my own benefit.

Then, it is written in the kirtan,

প্রতিষ্ঠাশা আসি' হৃদয় দূষিবে
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

pratisthasa asi' hrdaya dusibe
haiba nirayagami

"My heart will become polluted by the desire for fame and I will end up in hell."

If I start thinking that I am a Vaishnav, then I will end up in hell. As I wrote in the fourth volume of Guidance, one does not become a disciple just by taking initiation. You take initiation, and after that you do not keep connection with your guru, do not practise anything, never think about the temple or anything—you think that you have taken initiation and got everything. Do you think you can pass the graduation exams just by getting admitted to a school? You can understand it yourself. Moreover, when you start going to school, do you stop at passing the fourth grade exams or do you continue to study at high school, college, university, etc.? You do not pass the exams just by getting enrolled. It is necessary to study. There is a saying in English, "Practise makes perfect." You may be able to play the mridanga well or sing kirtans well, but if you do not practise it for four-six months, you will forget how to do it. If you are a good cook but do not cook for several months, you will forget how to cook. It is necessary to practise.

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