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 in the audience.] I have told you before—you have your mouth, but one will not hear the Holy Name coming out of it, only other talks come out of it... 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." People 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 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 God-brothers and sisters, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, to all devotees, and I am praying to you all for your mercy to this low soul.

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

Will you take all this with you? You will not cross the Viraja river with your money, material things, etc. You will not get Gauranga's mercy without the mercy of Sri Nityananda, and no matter how much you practise Krishna consciousness, you will not get Radha-Krishna's mercy without the mercy of Sri Gauranga. That is why, I always keep on 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 the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krsna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krsna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 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 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

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 22.124)

You must chant the Holy Name in sadhu-sanga (saintly association) and you must listen to narrations about the Lord in sadhu-sanga (saintly association). 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

"One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 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 the practising processes, the best is Nama-sankirtan. If you chant the Holy Name without offence, you will get the wealth of divine love."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.71)

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

The Ten Offences to The Holy Name

(1) Criticising sadhus.
(2) Considering any of the gods to be lords independent of Krishna.
(3) Disobeying Sri Guru.
(4) Criticising the scriptures.
(5) Considering the Holy Name's glory exaggerated praise.
(6) Considering the Holy Name imaginary.
(7) Considering that one can sin (and be absolved) because one chants the Holy Name.
(8) Considering chanting the Holy Name equivalent to pious worldly works.
(9) Giving the Holy Name to faithless persons on account of material attachment.
(10) Remaining devoid of love for the Holy Name and filled with egotism and possessiveness even after hearing the Holy Name's glories.

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