(3/13) 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

‘May my ego go away by always worshipping you in full knowledge of the relationship.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

It is necessary to give up ego. We must watch out and make sure we do not have 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 with the desire for prestige, and I will end up in hell.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When the 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); but you will not come to the Lord through karma (material actions), jnana (knowledge) or yoga (mystic practices). You can come to the Lord only through bhakti (devotion).

There are three kinds of devotion – karma-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with material desires), jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with desire to know something) and 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 lowly, fallen soul.’

We must not have the ego that we are brahmacharis or sannyasis. 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, not a ksatriya, not a vaisya, not a sudra; neither am I a brahmachari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify Myself as a servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, who is the beloved of gopis, an ocean of nectar, eternally self-effulgent (self-manifest) and filled with the entire scope of all possible highest ecstasy.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.13.80)

‘I am not a brahman (priest), 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 gopis.’

Do you know what gopis say? They say, ‘We do not have the kind of devotion that Prahlad Maharaj has!’ Prahlad Maharaj is a santa-rasa bhakta (his devotional mood is the mood of neutrality, or peacefulness). Just see how much humility gopis have! Krishna says that gopis are His greatest devotees – their devotion is the highest. You know that there is santa-, dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya- and madhura-rasa (passive devotion, servitude, friendship, parenthood and paramour love). Among these moods of devotion, madhura-rasa (paramour love) is the highest. So, Krishna says that gopis are His highest devotees – there is no worship that is higher than the worship offered by gopis – and these gopis say, ‘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 ভাব-বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥

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

‘(1) Humility, (2) self-submission, (3) accepting that the Lord is your maintainer, (4) keeping faith that “Krishna will certainly protect”, (5) engaging only in what is favourable to devotion, (6) rejecting what is unfavourable to devotion.’

(Saranagati, 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 doing it. 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 develop the habit to chant.

I have written how to practise properly in the books. I know that I myself cannot practise properly – 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 that I have not become perfect myself, but I believe that if I keep speaking about it, then one day I may 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 with the desire for prestige, and I will end up in hell.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If I start thinking that I am a Vaishnav, 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 that you can pass the graduation exams just by getting admitted to a school? You can understand it yourselves. 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, and so on? You do not pass 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 constantly.

— : • : —

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Language: English

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) This Is Not a Playground
2) Wrong Worries
3) Pure Identity
4) Worshipful Devotion
5) Meaning of Discipleship
6) Free Mercy, Exclusive Rights
7) Path of Devotion
8) Krishna Conscious Life
9) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (1)
10) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (2)
11) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (3)
12) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (4)
13) Clean Mood