Practise What Is Preached

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 21 March 2021, part 6

Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur writes in his poem "Vaishnav ke?", "Dusta mana, tumi kisera vaisnava? Kirtana chhadiba pratistha magiba—My wicked mind, what kind of a Vaishnav are you? You think you will give up kirtan and instead seek name and fame!" Those who chant lila-kirtans, pala-kirtan, have ego, they think, "I can chant kirtan!" This is not kirtan, this actually means you give up chanting kirtan. What does such chanting give? Nothing. When you chant kirtan, you chant it to please the Lord, to please your Gurudev—not for your own fame.

We were singing just now,

(ওহে) বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর দয়ার সাগর
এ দাসে করুণা করি ।
দিয়া পদছায়া শোধহে আমারে
তোমার চরণ ধরি ॥

(ohe) vaisnava thakura dayara sagara
e dase karuna kari
diya pada-chhaya sodha he amare
tomara charana dhari

"O worshippable Vaisnava, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant. Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet."

ছয় বেগ দমি' ছয় দোষ শোধি
ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে ।

chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi'
chhaya guna deha' dase

"Subjugate the six urges, rectify the six defects, and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant."

You all know what the six urges are, what the six defects are, what the six good qualities are. This all is written in the [Bengali] Calendar. What is favourable to devotion, what is unfavourable, everything is there. The six urges are mana-veg, krodha-veg, jihva-veg, udar-vega, upastha-veg, vakya-veg (mental urge, urge of anger, tongue, stomach, genitals, speech). The six defects are (1) Eating too much, hoarding things (atyahara); (2) Engaging in material activities that are not favourable to devotion (prayas); (3) Talking too much or talking nonsense (prajalpa); (4) Following inferior practices or neglect of activities favourable to devotion (niyamagraha); (5) Associating with non-devotees (janasanga); (6) Being fickle-minded (laulya). We must always pray for six good qualities, "Please cut off these six urges and faults, please give me six good qualities—give me that which is good for practising." This is what we must pray to Vaishnavs. The six good qualities are (1) enthusiasm; (2) firm faith; (3) perseverance; (4) engaging in activities that satisfy the Lord and His devotees; (5) abandoning all bad association and wrong attachment; and (6) following the behaviour prescribed by pure devotees.

ছয় বেগ দমি' ছয় দোষ শোধি
ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে ।
ছয় সৎসঙ্গ দেহ হে আমারে
বসেছি সঙ্গের আশে ॥

chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi'
chhaya guna deha' dase
chhaya sat-sanga deha' he amare
basechhi sangera ase

"Subjugate the six urges, rectify the six defects, and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant. Grant me the six kinds of good association. I have sat at your feet, desiring that association."

We always pray for the good association of devotees—without good association you can never be successful. We always want to keep good association, we always want to practise. We must read and study Gurudev's books, listen to Gurudev's lectures. Always remember this.

একাকী আমার নাহি পায় বল
হরিনাম সংকীর্ত্তনে ।
তুমি কৃপা করি শ্রদ্ধাবিন্দু দিয়া
দেহ কৃষ্ণ নাম ধনে ॥

ekaki amara nahi paya bala
hari-nama-sankirtane
tumi krpa kari sraddha-bindu diya deha' krsna-nama-dhane

Alone I do not have the ability to properly chant the Lord's Name. Mercifully give me a drop of faith and bestow upon me the wealth of Krsna's Name.

কৃষ্ণ সে তোমার কৃষ্ণ দিতে পার
তোমার শকতি আছে ।
আমি ত কাঙ্গাল 'কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ' বলি
ধাই তব পাছে পাছে ॥

krsna se tomara krsna dite para
tomara sakati achhe
ami ta' kangala 'krsna krsna' bali
dhaitava pachhe pachhe

Krishna is yours. You can give Krishna. You have that power. I am very poor. Calling, 'Krishna!' 'Krishna!', I run after you.

Who can give Krishna? You always sing in one of the kirtans, "Vaisnaver hridaye Govinda visram (বৈষ্ণবের হৃদয়ে গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম): Govinda always rests in the heart of a Vaishnav." Govinda always stays with Vaishnavs, and one does not become a Vaishnav just by putting on tilaks and wearing Tulasi beads.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।

গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

Those who live in Nabadwip are proud, "We are from Mahaprabhu's land!" but do they follow what Mahaprabhu teaches? In Ekachakra it is the same—people proudly say they are from the same place as Nityananda Prabhu, but they do not follow Nityananda Prabhu's teaching. Many people say that Mahaprabhu went to Puri Dham being overwhelmed by the mood of Radharani, but Gurudev says that Mahaprabhu rejected Nabadwip and accepted Puri. The mood of Nabadwip people was very bad, they even tried to kill Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu said,

কিবা বিপ্র, কিবা ন্যাসী, শূদ্র কেনে নয় ।
যেই কৃষ্ণতত্ত্ববেত্তা, সেই ‘গুরু’ হয় ॥

kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya

"Whether one is a brahman, a sannyasi, or a sudra, regardless of what one is, one can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 8.128)

And all the brahmans opposed it, "Never! Brahmans are the highest caste people, only they can be gurus!" Then all the big famous brahmans of the time came to Nitai and said, "Hey, You are one of us, but why do You speak against Your own kin? All the chandals, sudras must sit down, and we, brahmans, must be given a higher seat!" Mahaprabhu said, "No. If a sudra knows Krishna consciousness, he can be given a higher seat, and if a brahman is not a devotee of Krishna, he must be given a lower seat." The brahmans could not accept this. They started torturing Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu left, "They do not have to kill Me. I will take sannyas and leave."

That is why it is said

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।

গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

People say with they mouth, "We are devotees of Mahaprabhu," "We are devotees of Gurudev," "We are disciples of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj," "We are disciples of Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj," but we are not following his word. We say, "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya chitete kariya aikya ara na kariha mane asa (গুরুমুখ-পদ্মবাক্য চিত্তেতে করিয়া ঐক্য আর না করিহ মনে আশা): Make the teachings from Sri Guru's lotus mouth one with your heart, and do not desire anything else within your heart"—but we do not follow what Gurudev says.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।

গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6)

It is necessary to accept Gora's practice (achar) and Gora's conception (vichar). We must follow what Gauranga Mahaprabhu says in our lives, we must learn how to practise it, otherwise you will not get anything. There are many people who show they worship Gaura. People drink tea, alcohol, they smoke, eat meat, fish, etc. and when somebody hires them, they dress up as Vaishnavs and come to sing kirtans. What will you learn from them?

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।

গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

You show the world you serve Gora simply by wearing tilak but secretly you misbehave. Gora will catch you, you thief!

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7)

You cannot cheat Gora, He knows what you are doing. Jagadananda Pandit wrote it so beautifully in his Prema-vivarta.

So, what does it say in this kirtan we have just sung? "O Vaishnav Thakur! Please remove six faults, six bad urges from me. Please give me six good qualities, give me six types of good association. Alone I do not have the ability to properly chant the Lord's Name. Please give me a drop of your mercy so that I can chant the Holy Name...."

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