At Sri Vidyanagar (1)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Four
Ritudwip, 27 March 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace is chanting 'Gaurangera duti pada'.]

Devotees have chanted a very nice kirtan. You are walking to many holy places, but it is necessary to keep your mind in the holy place. I have seen with how much eagerness devotees run to take prasad. Your minds are not in the holy place—your minds are in the desires of your tongues. This is jihva-vega (the urge of the tongue). We sing in the kirtan: "Chhaya vega dami' chhaya dosa sodhi'—please subjugate the six urges, rectify the six defects." One of those six urges is the urge of the tongue. Another urge is the urge of the mind. I often see how you run ahead to some shops and stalls. What were they buying here? Mangoes? [Devotee: Guavas.] Again food. You must keep your mind in the holy place.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Mana tumi tirthe sada rata' for the first time.]

মন, তুমি তীর্থে সদা রত ।
অযোধ্যা, মথুরা, মায়া, কাশী, কাঞ্চী, অবন্তীয়া,
দ্বারাবতী আর আছে যত ॥

mana, tumi tirthe sada rata
ayodhya, mathura, maya, kasi, kanchi, avantiya,
dvaravati ara achhe yata

'O mind! You are always attached to places of pilgrimage—Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kasi (Varanasi), Kanchipuram, Avantiya, Dvaraka and so many other places."

তুমি চাহ ভ্রমিবারে, এ সকল বারে বারে,
মুক্তিলাভ করিবার তরে ।
সে কেবল তব ভ্রম, নিরর্থক পরিশ্রম,
চিত্ত স্থির তীর্থে নাহি করে ॥

tumi chaha bhramibare, e sakala bare bare,
mukti-labha karibara tare
se kevala tava bhrama, nirarthaka parisrama,
chitta sthira tirthe nahi kare

'You want to travel all these places again and again for the sake of some liberation. These places will never help you fix your mind, so all this is just your illusion, a meaningless labour."

You are struggling so much, walking all the way, but if your mind is not fixed on the holy place, then what benefit will you get? We go to places that are non-different from Kasi, Vrindavan, Radha Kunda, Shyama Kunda, Dvaraka, Mathura and other very high places—you must keep your mind in those places. In this kirtan, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says (these are not my words, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote it) that you take so much trouble coming to a holy place, but when it is the time to hear the class, you cannot fix your mind. You do not take sadhu-sanga—you only worry about food. You get food three times a day, but you are still fighting over food, creating much commotion. What is the point? You gain nothing by that. You come empty and then will go back empty too...

তীর্থফল সাধুসঙ্গ, সাধুসঙ্গে অন্তরঙ্গ,
শ্রীকৃষ্ণভজন মনোহর ।
যথা সাধু, তথা তীর্থ, থির করি' নিজ-চিত্ত,
সাধুসঙ্গ কর নিরন্তর ॥

tirtha-phala sadhu-sanga, sadhu-sange antaranga,
sri-krsna-bhajana manohara
yatha sadhu, tatha tirtha, sthira kari' nija-chitta,
sadhu-sanga kara nirantara

'The result of visiting a place of pilgrimage is sadhu-sanga (holy association) and being drawn to the exclusive service of Sri Krishna. A place of pilgrimage is where a sadhu (pure devotee) is. Always keep the association of pure devotees and firmly fix your mind."

When there is sadhu-sanga going on, you must listen to it. This is how you get association. You do not associate with someone just by being near the person. I can hear women talking from so far—everyone is busy with their own things. You are coming to circumambulate a holy place in the holy association of devotees, but you are always busy with your own thoughts and matters. There is no use. I know that humans have natural practical rules—they need to go to the bathroom and then take a shower. This is not a problem, this is something that one has to do, but you must stay focused the rest of the time.

যে তী থে বৈষ্ণব নাই, সে তীর্থেতে নাহি যাই
কি লাভ হাঁটিয়া দূরদেশ ।
যথায় বৈষ্ণবগণ, সেই স্থান বৃন্দাবন,
সেই স্থানে আনন্দ অশেষ ॥

ye tirthe vaisnava nai, se tirthete nahi yai
ki labha hantiya dura-desa
yathaya vaisnava-gana, sei sthana vrndavana
sei sthane ananda asesa

'I never go to a place of pilgrimage if there are no Vaisnavs in that place (what is the use walking so far?). Vrindavan is where Vaisnavs are, in such a place there is no end of joy."

কৃষ্ণভক্তি যেই স্থানে, মুক্তিদাসী সেইখানে,
সলিল তথায় মন্দাকিনী ।

krsna-bhakti yei sthane, mukti-dasi sei-khane,
salila tathaya mandakini

'In the place where there is devotion to Krishna, liberation is a maidservant, all water is the Mandakini."

Everybody wants to get liberation, everyones wants to get knowledge, wealth, etc. When people see something they want, they do not care about anything—they run to get it, and they do not care whether there are sadhus walking ahead and whether they should be given space first; no, everyone wants to enjoy first. What service mood is this? We sing in one of the kirtans, "Nijera posana kabhu na bhaviba rahiba bhavera bhare (নিজের পোষণ কভু না ভাবিব রহিব ভাবের ভরে)—I will never think about my own maintenance, and I will always remain in the shelter of loving attachment to You" (Saranagati). We say, "I will never think about myself. My body is for You, for Your service. If it is required for Your service, I am ready to do anything, even if it is something wrong."

যথায় বৈষ্ণবগণ, সেই স্থান বৃন্দাবন,
সেই স্থানে আনন্দ অশেষ ॥

yathaya vaisnava-gana, sei sthana vrndavana
sei sthane ananda asesa

'Vrindavan is where Vaisnavs are, in such a place there is no end of joy."

কৃষ্ণভক্তি যেই স্থানে, মুক্তিদাসী সেইখানে,
সলিল তথায় মন্দাকিনী ।
গিরি তথা গোবর্ধন, ভূমি তথা বৃন্দাবন,
আবির্ভূতা আপনি হ্লাদিনী ॥

krsna-bhakti yei sthane, mukti-dasi sei-khane,
salila tathaya mandakini
giri tatha govardhana, bhumi tatha vrndavana,
avirbhuta apani hladini

'In the place where there is devotion to Krishna, liberation is a maidservant, all water is the Mandakini, all mountains are Govardhan, all land is Vrindavan, and the internal energy of the Lord automatically appears on her own."

বিনোদ কহিছে ভাই, ভ্রমিয়া কি ফল পাই,
বৈষ্ণব-সেবন মোর ব্রত ॥

vinoda kahichhe bhai, bhramiya ki phala pai,
vaisnava-sevana mora vrata

'Vinod says, "Brother, what will I get by all this pilgrimage? My sole vow is service to Vaisnavs."'

We roam this world, but what is the point? Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, "My vow is service to Vaishnavs." Why do we arrange this parikrama and this whole festival? So that people can come to this line and practise Krishna consciousness and so that we can keep our charge up. When you buy a mobile phone, you have to charge it. In the same way, when you do this parikrama for five-seven days, it gives you charge for the year, and after one year you can come again. You must always keep yourselves charged. Sadhus arrange for parikrama and go for preaching to give you charge. There are places that do business also—they charge you for joining the parikrama and make profit. I prohibit to this do. Heart should go first. It is the first priority, and everything else goes after that. The first priority is that you can practise spiritual life and that you can be safe, that is why I worry what mistakes you make when you come to take the darshan of the Deities. It is necessary to think about this.

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