(4/16) Life in Kirtan

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Adhivas of Lord Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance, evening class
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 24 February 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

[After the arati, there is a lot of commotion and noise.]

I have told you before: you all have mouths, but you will not hear the Holy Name coming out of them – only other talks come out of them… Did you not hear what is said in one of the kirtans we sang earlier? Srila Lochan Das Thakur says, ‘I throw fire into the mouths of those who have no respect for Nitai!’ When we chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, Krishna Nam does not come to everyone’s mouth. People say, ‘You sing, and we will listen.’ But they cannot even hear the Holy Name. I always tell you, ‘I have not come to chant kirtan. I have come to make you chant kirtan.’ You must chant kirtan…

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

‘The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill – all it takes is mercy from gurudev.’

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First of all, I am offering my full obeisance at the reddish soles of the holy lotus feet of Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy. After that, I am offering my obeisance to all guru-varga, to all my godbrothers and godsisters, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, to all devotees. I am praying to you all for your mercy to this lowly soul.

It is not a cloudy day that is a bad day. A bad day is a day without Hari-katha. So, today is a very fortunate, a very auspicious day. We are present here, at the holy dham of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu, at Sri Ekachakra Dham in Rarhdesh, where the appearance place of Sri Nityananda Prabhu is, and we have got an opportunity to speak here about glories of the Lord.

Do you think you will be able to take any of this with you? You are not going to cross the Viraja River with all your money and material things. You will not get Gauranga’s mercy without Sri Nityananda’s mercy. No matter how much you practise Krishna consciousness, you will not get Radha-Krishna’s mercy without Sri Gauranga’s mercy. That is why I always keep telling you about Mahaprabhu’s advice to Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu:

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la’be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

‘Do not listen to village talks, do not speak about village news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour from others, give all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krishna and serve Radha-Krishna in your mind.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.236–237)

I have given you an opportunity to chant kirtan, and if you do not let me chant, then what am I to do? Must I chant alone and you will not do anything? You must also chant kirtan. If you do not chant, what result will you get?

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

‘Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship holy Deities with faith.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

You must chant the Holy Name in sadhu-sanga (association of saints), and you must listen to the narratives about the Lord in sadhu-sanga (association of saints). You must practise both sravan (hearing) and kirtan (chanting). These are the main limbs of devotion.

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

‘Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship holy Deities with faith.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

Among these five main practices, Nama-sankirtan is the highest practice:

তার মধ্যে সর্ব্বশ্রেষ্ঠ নাম-সঙ্কীর্ত্তন ।
নিরপরাধে নাম লৈলে পায় প্রেমধন ॥

tara madhye sarva-srestha nama-sankirtana
niraparadhe nama laile paya prema-dhana

‘Of all practising processes, Nama-sankirtan is the best. If you chant the Holy Name without offences, you will get the wealth of divine love.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.71)

It is not good to chant the Holy Name with offences. You must chant cleaning yourselves from all and any offence. Many of you have read about the ten offences of the Holy Name:

The Ten Offences to The Holy Name

(1) To criticise sadhus;
(2) To consider gods to be independent of or equal to Lord Krishna;
(3) To disrespect (disobey) the guru;
(4) To criticise revealed scriptures;
(5) To discuss the meaning of the Name;
(6) To consider the Name to be imaginary;
(7) To sin relying on the purifying strength of the Name;
(8) To equal chanting of the Holy Name to other pious activities;
(9) To give the Name to the faithless or out of material attachment;
(10) To be infatuated with the material life of ‘me’ and ‘mine’, to have no love and attachment for the Name.

— : • : —

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sri Ekachakra Temple
2) Parental Sacrifice
3) Full Service Sway
4) Life in Kirtan
5) Please Give These Alms
6) Remembering Glories of Sri Nityananda Prabhu
7) Sri Sivananda Sen's Mercy
8) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Eccentricity
9) Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami's Gratitude
10) Unblemished Nitai
11) Sri Nityananda's Supreme Mercy
12) Our Only Wealth and Shelter
13) Mahaprabhu's Private Order
14) Nityananda Prabhu's Campaign
15) Humility and Deep Faith
16) Save Yourself