Sell Your Heart

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Begampur, 7 March 2021, part 3

gaurangera duti pada yara dhana sampada
se jane bhakati-rasa-sara
gaurangera madhura-lila yara karne pravesila
hrdaya nirmala bhela tara [1]

One whose wealth is Sri Gauranga's feet knows the essence of devotion's rasa. The heart of one who hears Sri Gauranga's sweet Pastimes becomes pure.

Gauranga's pastimes as sweet as honey! If you read about Gauranga's pastimes, if these pastimes enter your ears—if you hear about it with your mind, with your heart—then your heart will become clean, your heart will become pure. If you only listen to the pastimes of Gauranga and Nityananda! Their pastimes are very beautiful, They perform audarya-lila—They are so magnanimous that They always bestow their mercy all over the world. Not only that, if you say, "O Gaura! O Gauranga!" then a surge of ecstasy and paramour love will awaken within you.

ye gaurangera nama laya tara haya premodaya
tare muni yai bali hari
gauranga-gunete jhure nitya-lila tare sphure
se jana bhakati-adhikari [2]

One who chants Sri Gauranga's Name develops divine love. To him, I say, "Bravo!" The eternal Pastimes are revealed to one who cries over Sri Gauranga's qualities. Such a soul is qualified for devotion.

Always chant the glory of Gauranga and His pastimes—not just for one day. You must chant about His pastimes every day, regularly. Those who do it get the right for devotion—they actually get devotion. You cannot buy bhakti (devotion) in the market or a supermarket with money; the price of devotion is faith (sraddha-mulya). How do you 'buy' devotion? "Bhakta-sangena parijayate: devotion comes from devotees' association." (Brhan-naradiya Purana) Devotion comes through good association. What is good association? Those who practise the nava-vidha bhakti properly (who practise at least one of the nine devotional practices) are good associaton. The nine devotional practices are sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, archanam, pada-sevanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping, serving lotus feet, offering prayers, engaging in service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission. If somebody does not follow a single one of these practises, they are bad association. So, every single one of you must practise properly. You have taken initiation, but only taking initiation is not sufficient for spiritual life—this is only admission; having taken initiation, you must then practise properly every day. When students enter university or college, they only get enrolled, but after that they must study. Here too, you must practise spiritual life, it is necessary to study. You cannot practise spiritual life without studying and learning. Practice is necessary.

So, those who stay in the association of Gauranga, are eternally perfected beings (nitya-siddha).

gaurangera sangi-gane nitya-siddha kari mane
se yaya vrajendra-suta-pasa
sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani
tara haya vraja-bhume vasa [3]

One who considers Sri Gauranga's associates to be eternally liberated reaches Krsna. One who always thinks about the holy land of Gauda resides in the land of Vraja.

The land of Sri Gaura Mandal is non-different from Sri Vrindavan—those who know that, who think that, who always practise that, live in Vraja. You must think about it every day.

I know you cannot come this year because of the covid situation—you cannot get the visa this year because of the government restrictions. Still, if you are thinking about this Nabadwip Dham Parikrama and do Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama with us—if you read about the places we will go to every day, if you read and remember Sri Nabadwip Dham—it will be good for you. We will first go to Antardwip, then Simantadwip, Rudradwip, Madhyadwip, Godrumdwip, Koladwip, Ritudwip, Modadrumdwip, and Jhanudwip. If you remember Sri Nabadwip Dham from far away, then you will think that you are actually in this Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama. I know you will feel very sad every day because you cannot come, but you must remember Sri Nabadwip Dham from far, it will be very nice for you. This is the proper practice and proper etiquette for you. It is very important.

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani
tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

"Those who always think about Sri Nabadwip Dham, reside in Sri Vrindavan."

If you circumambulate Sri Nabadwip Dham, it is the same as circumambulating Sri Vrindavan Dham. When you circumambulate Tulasi Devi, you get the result of doing the parikrama of Vrindavan. So, if you do Tulasi parikrama every day, you do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama every day.

When Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu became very old and could no longer do the parikrama of Govardhan, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu brought him a small Govardhan sila saying, "Circumambulate this Govardhan sila, then you will be doing the parikrama of Govardhan." Some devotess have Govardhan sila at home and you can do Govardhan parikrama every day. This is a part of the sixty-four types of bhaktyanga. The main practices among them are

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

Sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma-nivedanam—hearing, chanting, remembering the Lord, serving the Lord's lotus feet, worshipping the Deity of the Lord, offering obeisance, rendering service as a servitor, as a friend, and self-submission. Read about all this all the time.

gaura-prema-rasarnave se tarange yeba dube
se radha-madhava-antaranga
grhe va vanete thake 'ha gauranga' bale dake
narottama mage tara sanga [4]

One who swims in the waves of the nectarean ocean of divine love for Sri Gaura is an intimate associate of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava. Whether he lives in a house or in the forest, Narottam Das begs for the association of one who calls, 'O Gauranga!'

"Grhe va vanete thake"—wherever you are, you must practise Krishna consciousness. I came to Kolkata, Dum Dum Park, the day before Gurudev left his body, and I asked him at that time, "Gurudev, you have so many disciples and followers all over the world. What is your message for everybody?" Gurudev said at that time:

Whatever your situation is, wherever you are staying—on the train, bus, flight, or anywhere else, no matter what your position is, no matter what problem happens—you must chant the Holy Name, you must remember the Lord, remember your practising life. Do not forget your practising life. Practise Krishna consciousness wherever you are. Whether you are in a jungle, forest, room, house, whether you are staying in a rich house or a poor house, whatever your position is, always call out to Gauranga.

Narottam is begging for the association of such devotees. Srila Narottam Das Thakur is a highest Vaishnav, and he is praying for the associaiton of such devotees who always think about Gauranga.

Moreover, Nityananda Prabhu said, "You can buy Me if you worship Gauranga!" He was the one to start chanting,

ভজ গৌরাঙ্গ, কহ গৌরাঙ্গ, লহ গৌরাঙ্গের নাম রে
যে জন গৌরাঙ্গ ভজে, সেই আমার প্রাণ রে

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re
ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

"Worship Gauranga! Say Gauranga! Take Gauranga's Name! Those who worship Gauranga are My heart and soul!"

Sriman Mahaprabhu told Sriman Nityananda Prabhu to preach Krishna consciousness, but Sri Nityananda Prabhu thought the people in this world would not take the Holy Name of Krishna so easily, so He chanted and spread the Name of Gauranga. This is the proper line.

jaya gaura hari, jaya gaura hari
gaura hari, jaya gaura hari

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