Proper Worship

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, noon programme, 28 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু জীবে দয়া করি' ।
স্বপার্ষদ স্বীয় ধাম সহ অবতরি ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

"Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode."

Sri Krishna Chaitanya means the Supreme Lord. When Nimai Vishvambhar took sannyas, His name became Sri Krishna Chaitanya—Chaitanya means Krishna who has come to this world to awaken jiva souls' consciousness (chetan). To bestow His mercy on the jiva souls, He comes to this world together with His associates (parsada)—all those associates who performed pastimes with Krishna in Dvapar-yuga, came in this Kali-yuga with Mahaprabhu.

Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a combined form of Sri Sri Radha Krishna—He is Krishna who has taken the heart and halo of Sri Radha. We sing in one of the kirtans,

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

They are making a festival for Gopal here, but if you do not worship Srimati Radharani and just keep saying "Gopal, Gopal," what result will you get? In Mahaprabhu's time, there was a devotee named Vallabha Bhatta Goswami who always chanted the Name of Gopal and worshipped Gopal and was very proud of his commentary on Bhagavatam, but he did not respect Sridhar Swami's commentary on Bhagavatam. Mahaprabhu said,

prabhu hasi' kahe,—"swami na mane yei jana
vesyara bhitare tare kariye ganana"

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu smilingly replied, "One who does not accept the swami [husband] as an authority I consider a prostitute."

(Chaitanya-charitamrta, 3.7.115)

When the wife does not respect and obey her husband, what do you call such a woman? A prostitute. So, when Vallabha Bhatta Goswami said, "My commentary on Bhagavatam is better than Sridhar Swami's!" Mahaprabhu said, "If one does not respect Swami [husband and, in another way, Sridhar Swami], then such a person is like a prostitute." After that conversation with Mahaprabhu, Vallabha Bhatta left his worship of Bala Gopal and started to worship Sri Sri Radha Govinda. If you read Chaitanya-charitamrita, you can find this pastime there. That is why,

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

We must worship Radharani. At the same time, who has taken Radharani's mood (who embodies Her mood)? Gauranga. Therefore, if we do not worship Gauranga, if we do not worship Nityananda ("Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha Krsna pabe (নিতাইয়ের করুণা হবে ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ পাবে): when Nitai bestows His mercy, you will reach Radha-Krsna in Vraja"), then we can never get Radharani...

The religion of Dvapara-yuga was archan, puja, but the religion of Kali-yuga is Harinama-sankirtan. Therefore, if you do not practise chanting the Holy Name, then what can we say? Nityananda Prabhu is guru-tattva—"Guru bade Gauranga bhaje, sei papi raurave padi maje: the sinner who worships Gauranga without the Guru will fall into a terrible hell."

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

This means that we are devotees of Gauranga. Before you become a devotee of Krishna, you must become a devotee of Gauranga. What does Krishna Himself say? "Those who say they are My devotees, are not My devotees. Those who are My devotees' devotees, are My real devotees." Mahaprabhu Himself, who identified Himself with the ego of a devotees (bhakta-abhiman), said, "I am a devotee of devotees of devotees!"

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)

This is how Mahaprabhu worshipped the Lord. Do you understand?

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