3 JANUARY 2021 [MORNING CLASS | PART 5]

Life's Purpose
"Wherever Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur may be now, we pray at his holy lotus feet that he may give us his mercy so that we may pass this life serving him heart and soul."

• BHAGAVAT DARSHAN: REVELATION NOT SPECULATION •

PREFACE
'Now I am here, imperfectly trying to follow the Perfect Path, through the help of the Perfect Master. What more can I ask from life? Only that by the mercy of the Vaishnavas my attempt will become perfect. Please, help me to become a perfect servant of my Gurudeva. This is my prayer to you all forever.'

BHAGAVAT DARSHAN
'How many days are there in our hand? Can we say that? No, we do not know it. In the future how many days can I enjoy with this illusory environment? I cannot even say who I was in my previous life. I have got, as a reaction, this human body with some fine brain. I have willing, feeling, thinking power within this body, but I must try to discover something that will give me eternity, and also that which is very important for me—love, beauty, affection and dedication. Various qualities will come to me for the service of that transcendental abode of Lord Sri Krishna. We want many things for our pleasure and enjoyment, but everything exists eternally with its transcendental form within the qualities of Krishna. Therefore if we try to get it through bhakti-yoga, we can easily attain that property.'

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• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Three, chanted on Mondays)
'He ardently preached that service performed in various divine relationships (from dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya- to madhura-rasa) and the (paramount) service beauty of Sri Radha’s servitors in the highest paramour madhura-rasa, as well as any transcendental hankering of the self-realised souls in Sri Vraja Dham, can indisputably be realised in Sri Vrajendra-nandan only – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

(5 August—7 September)

3 JANUARY 2021 [MORNING CLASS | PART 6]

Strings Stronger Than Steel
"People like to talk nonsense and all kinds of things. Sometimes, you can see people are lying down almost dead, but even then they are talking on the phone! When somebody comes to the temple, do you think they have no desires?"

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

FOR THE READER’S APPRECIATION
'What more can I say than this? At least I may say that if this scripture is reckoned as one of the most ancient scriptures, then it is an unprecedented and truly authoritative source of the teachings of Krishna-bhakti, devotion for the Supreme Lord, Krishna. Again, if it is suggested that this scripture was not originally found in this province (Bengal), so it was actually authored by Sri Sri Mahaprabhu, what could be more happy for us?'

FEELINGS OF APPRECIATION
'When we attain the mercy of the Supreme Lord by faithfully following four-headed Lord Brahma, and when we become fit recipients of the Supreme Lord’s grace as the result of singing with a pure heart the divine songs of His unending glories, at that moment we shall know the genuine fruition of our reading, recitation or singing of Brahma-samhita.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Four, chanted on Tuesdays)
'Overcome with strong bouts of divine love surging through Him and becoming unconscious of the world around Him, He dances madly and chants kirtan; the tears streaming incessantly from His eyes flood His body, the colour of molten gold and tall as the mount Sumeru, His clothes, the colour of the newly risen sun, and the earth in all fourteen directions around Him; He glows as He chants, ‘Krishna! Krishna!’, shouts jumbled up words and relishes various postures and behaviours (roaring with laughter, etc.) under the influence of divine love – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

3 JANUARY 2021 [NOON ADDRESS | PART 1]

Gaudiya Vaishnav Sangha Address (1)
"I am offering my obeisance at the holy lotus feet of this great soul, merely trying to offer some flower-offering. It is not possible to do this for such a fallen soul as myself, but by the mercy of the guru-varga and on the order of the guru-varga, I am merely trying to say a few words today."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

PROLOGUE
'By the grace of Om Vishnupad Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada and his personal associates, we now find that fortunate souls the world over have become intoxicated with Sri Gaura-sankirtana. This jewel of holy books, as the elixir of life of all such blessed souls, will fortify them more and more. With this faith we are attempting to bring this book to light in the international English language.'

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
'By their grace, and by the grace of the unalloyed devotees in their line, I was given the service of rendering into English this holy book Sri Brahma-samhita from the Bengali translation and elaborate commentary of the most venerable Om Vishnupad Sri Srila Sachchidananda Bhaktivinod Thakur. The work was first published in 1897, and also edited by our Param-Gurudev Prabhupada Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Five, chanted on Wednesdays)
'He reveals (first, to Sri Sanatan and then to Prakasananda) sixty-two interpretations of the famous verse ‘Atmaramas cha… ittham-bhuta-guno harih’ (‘Even self-realised, self-satisfied souls are moved to worship the Lord’) from Srimad Bhagavatam; interpreting the various lexical meanings of the eleven words of this verse, juxtaposed in different ways, He reveals a treasure-mine of multitudinous meanings of this verse in consonance with the precepts of pure devotional conclusions – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj about fasting on ekadasi and accepting material facilities:

"One time, a devotee came here from Vrindavan on the day of ekadasi. He reached in the evening and, after taking bath in the Ganges, attended kirtans, danced, circumambulated the temple and so on. Then, I asked him whether he would take any anukalpa. He replied, 'Generally, I do not take anything, but if you like, then, of course, I must take anukalpa. Your will is greater than my fasting.' That was his decision.

"My Guru Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) always wanted maximum energy: you should take good food and do good service. That was his maxim. Krishna is not a liquidated party: take full prasadam and do full service. Do maximum service, and you should take whatever is necessary for that. You are to take it for the cause of Krishna, not for your own cause. You are Krishna's, so if you grow weak, His service will be hampered, and both you and Krishna will be losers thereby. 'My soldiers will be well-fed and well-working.' That was our Guru Maharaj's principle. Napoleon said, 'One full-fed soldier is equal to ten half-fed soldiers.'

"So, prasad-seva: if it is service, then it must be taken in a serving mood, of course. But, at the same time, the individual position of a devotee should be taken into consideration. Sahajiyas do not Fast on ekadasi at all: 'Oh, we are in Vrindavan, and there is no fasting in Vrindavan.' But Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad did not like that – it is sahajiya (imitation) if you go on feeding your senses in the name of Krishna-bhakti (devotion to the Lord). For the service to Krishna, it is necessary to keep up the body and to provide nourishment to it, so we must take what is necessary for service. We do not like it if by fasting a loss of energy is effected. If fasting does not hamper your service, you may go on fasting – perhaps, your gurudev wanted that...

"For service, I must accept what is necessary to make me physically fit so that I can render more service. So, accepting material things is not objectionable. It is fruitful, not detrimental. Rather, it produces something of a pure character, which helps everyone. This is how a disciple receives and accepts things. At that same time, he may even blame himself, 'I cannot go on with my worldly life without the help of this or that!' He will blame himself, but the underlying spirit must be, 'If I do not take it, I shall be unfit; I will not be able to do my bit of service to the Lord, to my gurudev.'

"Moreover, by taking up renunciation, I will be a loser. I will incur a loss for myself, for the world, and my guru's service will be hampered. In this spirit, devotees are to take everything. For the cause of Krishna, for the cause of their guru, they will accept anything.

"Suppose there is a very miserly karmachari (manager). Because he does not want to spend money, he may not attain a particular result; then, some difficulty comes, and the opportunity is lost. This manager will be held responsible by the proprietor: 'Why did you not spend money? Why are you afraid of spending money from my store? Because of your miserly habit, the opportunity has been lost! Why should you not spend My money for My interest?' So, to render service to Krishna, to my gurudev, to Vaishnavs, to the world, to everyone, I must keep up this mundane body, and I am entitled to take something for that.

"Miserliness is mayavada; it is the renunciation spirit, and it will mar Krishna's interest. What we need is yukta-vairagya: I shall take from the store of Krishna to keep myself fit and to do service. It is Krishna's account, and if I do not do that, I should be a separatist, a mayavadi, a renunciationist. I shall render maximum service to Krishna, and I must take without any hesitation whatever is necessary to make myself fit for the service; otherwise, I shall be punishable."

"You do not need to know the meaning of each ekadasi tithi because if you know it, you will want to get this result, that result, etc."

(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)

In honour of Lord Vamanadev's appearance:

Lord Vamandev
"Vamandev was a son of Aditi and Kasyap Rishi. Aditi was very sad because all of her sons had left the heaven because of the torturing of the demons, that is why Vamandev came to her womb. On the other side, there was Bali Maharaj..."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | 3 October 2015)

Lord's Avatar
"It is a very auspicious day today because it is Vamandev's avirbhav. Every year on this dvadasi, we first perform archan for Vamandev, then offer some sweet rice, and with that sweet rice prasadam we do the paran (break our fast) on the dvadasi day...."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 6 min | 30 August 2020 | Bengali&English)

Kasyap Rishi's Advice to Aditi Mata
"Only those who forgot Krishna have this kind of intelligence, this kind of sense that they think, 'He is bad, he is good.' If we have any relation with the Lord, then we will have no enemies. Kasyap Rishi advised his wife Aditi, 'Reject that which is imaginary, which is lies, and worship the Lord.'"
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 4 min)

Appearance of Lord Vamanadev
"The proper time came and the Lord appeared first in the heart of Kasyap Rishi and then came to the womb of Aditi Mata. When the Lord Himself entered her womb, Brahma and all demigods began to pray to the Lord showing a very exalted mood. Everything around became very auspicious..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 5 min)

Satisfying the Lord
"Bali Maharaj asked Vamanadev, 'O brahman, what do you want? Tell me, and I can give You anything you wish.' Vamanadev replied, 'I do not want much. I know you have everything but I want only something small.'"
• Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 7 min)

In honour of Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu:

Srila-Jiva-Gosvami-Prabhur Sochaka
"O merciful Sri Jiva Gosai, the treasure of my life, the son of Anupama! Whoever hears about the beautiful character of this highly learned great soul will be wonderstruck!"

Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu
"I have no power to say what kind of devotion to his Guru Jiva Goswami had. Jiva Goswami's service cannot be compared to anyone's service. Whatever order he would get, he would place it on his head and do it all the time—his mind never went to any other place."
• Download / listen to the audio (8 Mb, 23 min | 2012)

Protected Journey
Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj explains the pranam-mantra of Srila Jiva Goswami in the book Dignity of the Divine Servitor: "I offer my full dandavats unto the lotus feet of Srila Jiva Goswami who is the protector of our spiritual life. He rescues us from the whole illusory environment..."

Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu: The All-Rounder
"Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu did everything alone—he cooked, did puja, cleaned the temple, brought water from the Yamuna, and also did personal service to his Guru. He was busy with his service from morning to night, and did everything alone."
• Download / listen to the audio (0.6 Mb, 2 min | 9 September 2011)

Early Pastimes of Srila Jiva Goswami
"Although Jiva Goswami was a very small baby, when he saw Mahaprabhu's beauty, he kept it in his heart and always thought about it—whether he slept, ate, or was awake, he all the time was thinking about the beauty of Mahaprabhu. When he was studying later, he always thought about Gaura Nitai's form, Gaura Nitai's beauty and pastimes."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 4 min | 30 August 2020)

Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu's Mercy
"We are giving our full obeisance to him from here. We pray to his lotus feet, 'We are fallen souls, Prabhu, we have no quality, no qualification. Wherever you are staying now, Prabhu, please make us your foot dust and keep us under your feet.'"
• Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | 30 August 2020)

Prayers to Sri Vaishnav Thakur:

• SONG: Ei-bara karuna kara | এইবার করুণা কর
"O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the fallen, without you there is no one. In every birth I aspire for the dust of your feet."

• SONG: Ohe Vaisnava Thakura | (ওহে) বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
"O worshippable Vaishnav, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant. Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet. You can give Krishna, you have that power. Calling, 'Krishna!' 'Krishna!', I run after you."

• SONG: Ki-rupe paiba seva | কিরূপে পাইব সেবা
"I am so wicked, how will I ever get service? I do not have any attachment to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs! Prabhu, you see no fault in others, you are the saviour of the fallen. Please deliver Narottam this time!"

• SONG: Dhana mora nityananda | ধন মোর নিত্যানন্দ
"The feet dust of the Vaishnavs is where I sport and take bath, Vaishnavs' name is the water oblation. My mind is intently fixed upon the remnants of Vaishnavs, and I am elated hearing the name of Vaishnavs."

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Six, chanted on Thursdays)
'Captivated by and afflicted with an intense feeling of separation, He runs swiftly to the simha-dvara gate of Lord Jagannathdev’s holy temple; the next moment He falls down on the spot, His holy figure transformed into that of a tortoise by the influence of deep separation; attracted by the uncommon divine fragrance emanating from His holy figure, the Telangi cows residing at the temple draw near, surrounding Him – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of Srila Sachchidananda Bhaktivinod Thakur:

The Seventh Goswami [By Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj]
A summary account of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's service, life, and character. Originally published as an introduction to the first edition of Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya published as The Hidden Treasure of the Holy Dhama Nabadwipa.

On Appearance Day of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
"There is neither any comparison nor any alternative to the unparalleled gift Srila Bhaktivinod gave to this world. Choosing today’s day, he appeared in this world. Therefore, this lunar day is supremely worshippable, venerable and merciful. I have no means to worship this holy day..."

— 2020 —

Without Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur Our Line Is Nothing
"Today is the disappearance day of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur—he left us and entered his nitya-lila on this day. He is doing service in his abode now, but he is still bestowing his mercy on all devotees and on us. We cannot even think of our line without Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. He is the main personality in our line."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.4 Mb, 8 min | 21 June 2020)

Online Assembly of Dham-Bhusana Vaishnavs
"We have got an opportunity to speak and hear about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur in this class amidst the pandemic situation through the medium of zoom. Today is a very auspicious day, and we have all gathered here today to observe this holy day..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.3 Mb, 8 min | 31 August 2020)

Appearance of Universal Guru
"You all know who is Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. He is there in our guru-parampara. Our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote his pranam mantra, and everything is there in that mantra..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.3 Mb, 8 min | 30 August 2020)

— 2019 —

Gift of Saptam Goswami (1)
"Today is a very auspicious day in our Gaudiya line—the appearance day of the main personality who has started the sankirtan yajna, the guardian of our Rupanuga line, the giver of the proper conception. It is Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance day today."

Gift of Saptam Goswami (2)
"Dhama-dam. Everybody told that Mahaprabhu's place had been submerged by the Ganges. Ganga Devi first hid it and then gave this land back, but who recognised and discovered that land? It happened by the mercy of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. He was staying at that time in Godrumdwip, Svananda-sukhada Kunja..."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's Kirtans
• Gurudev bada krpa kari' • Nadiya-godrume nityananda mahajana • Emana durmati samsara bhitare • Amara jivana sada pape rata • Gaya gora madhur svare • Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
• Download / listen to the audio (8.7 Mb, 24 min)

Early Pastimes of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
"Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's family actually came from Odisha. His father's name is Ananda-chandra Dutta. He was a very pious, religious man, and he got married here in Nadia district to a daughter of a big landlord..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.4 Mb, 10 min)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's Early Association
"Once, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur met a siddha Raghunath Das Babaji Mahasay. Raghunath Das Babaji did not like to mix with Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and also told others not to mix with him, however later he understood who Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur was..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 4 min | 12 September 2019)

— 2018 —

Speech at Sri Surabhi Kunja
"Today is a very good day—the holy appearance day of Sachchidananda Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. We have assembled here at this festival hosted by the Saraswata Gaudiya Vaishnav Sangha on this lunar day at Surabhi Kunja every year since 1996. This year too we have all assembled here on this very occasion..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.8 Mb, 12 min | 22 September 2018 | Bengali)

— 2015 —

Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur
"If Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur had not come in this world, where, in whose lotus feet would we have found our shelter? He gave us all these things and he gave us Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. If you think about it, you can understand how much he gave to the jiva souls..."
• Download the audio (3.6 Mb, 11 min | 3 October 2015)

— 2014 —

Glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur (7 September 2014)
"Unless you have no ego, unless you reject jealousy, you cannot understand what Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has given to us. Only a rupanuga (follower of Srila Rupa Goswami) can understand the glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, otherwise it is impossible."

Extraordinary Glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
"Devotion is akinchana-guhya-vidya (sacred education, para-vidya, suddha-saraswati), and he who enhances devotion, its beauty and charm and distributes it to us is called Bhaktivinod Thakur. It is his appearance day that we are celebrating today."
• Download / listen to the audio (4.3 Mb, 13 min | 7 September 2014)

— 2013 —

Recognising Guru: What Is Your Obstacle?
"Brother, you see Bhakti Vinod Thakur as your father, but I see him as my spiritual master. That is the difference. What you see is a father (baba), and that is the obstacle (badha) that prevents you from getting Radharani (Radha)."
• Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min | 24 February 2013)

The Worship of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur
[Sri Gaudiya Darshan, by Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj]
"Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur did so much seva for the sampradaya of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He lived during a very heavy time period. He was a very exclusive devotee of Mahaprabhu and specifically worshipped Deities of Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhar...."

শ্রীল ভক্তিবিনোদ ঠাকুরের ভজনকুটির (স্বানন্দ-সুখদা-কুঞ্জ) (শ্রীনবদ্বীপধাম মাহাত্ম্য-মুক্তা-মালা)
"শ্রীল গুরুদেবের কৃপায়, সমস্ত ভক্তিবৃন্দের কৃপায় আমাদের শ্রীচৈতন্য সারস্বত মঠ (আন্তর্জাতিক) পরিক্রমা সঙ্ঘ এখন শ্রীল ভক্তিবিনোদ ঠাকুরের ভজনকুটির ও সমাধি-মন্দিরে এসেছে । এই গৃহে শ্রীল ভক্তিবিনোদ ঠাকুর থাকতেন ও ভজন করতেন ।"

Glories of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
A Bengali class on the holy appearance day of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur spoken in 2014 by His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj.
• Download / listen to the audio (18.5 Mb, 41 min | 7 September 2014)

• SONG: Sri Guru Parampara | শ্রীগুরুপরম্পরা
"...Their dear follower is Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. His associate is the best of the topmost devotees, Srila Gaura Kisor Das Babaji, whose sole joy is Sri Hari's service."

Prayers to Sri Vaishnav Thakur:

• SONG: Ei-bara karuna kara | এইবার করুণা কর
"O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the fallen, without you there is no one. In every birth I aspire for the dust of your feet."

• SONG: Ohe Vaisnava Thakura | (ওহে) বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
"O worshippable Vaishnav, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant. Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet. You can give Krishna, you have that power. Calling, 'Krishna!' 'Krishna!', I run after you."

• SONG: Ki-rupe paiba seva | কিরূপে পাইব সেবা
"I am so wicked, how will I ever get service? I do not have any attachment to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs! Prabhu, you see no fault in others, you are the saviour of the fallen. Please deliver Narottam this time!"

• SONG: Dhana mora nityananda | ধন মোর নিত্যানন্দ
"The feet dust of the Vaishnavs is where I sport and take bath, Vaishnavs' name is the water oblation. My mind is intently fixed upon the remnants of Vaishnavs, and I am elated hearing the name of Vaishnavs."

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Seven, chanted on Fridays)
'He is a holy embodiment of the beautiful reality which is beyond the reach of one’s eyes and ears, which paralyses the very necessity of intelligence and which leaves even firmly fixed consciousness dumbstruck when divine love surges up – even Brahma, Sambhu (Siva), as well as their revealed scriptures, Vedas and tantras cannot conceive of such reality, so they merely keep searching after Him – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of Namacharya Srila Haridas Thakur:

Namacharya Srila Haridas Thakur (1)
"Today is a very auspicious day—a grand festival in honour of Srila Haridas Thakur's disappearance day. How great his glory is! Haridas Thakur was Mahaprabhu's companion in the preaching of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.5 Mb, 10 min | 12 September 2019)

Namacharya Srila Haridas Thakur (2)
"When prasadam came from Jagannath temple, Govinda would serve it to Mahaprabhu, and every evening, when Mahaprabhu went to bed and Svarup Damodar, Ray Ramananda returned to their own places, Govinda would take that prasadam for Srila Haridas Thakur. That was the routine every day. One day, however..."
• Download / listen to the audio (5 Mb, 14 min | 12 September 2019)

Srila Haridas Thakur's Niryan
"Everybody must remember the three wishes of Srila Haridas Thakur. 'I want to keep Your lotus feet in my heart, to see Your lotus face with my eyes, and with my my mouth, I want to chant Your name. This is my only hope and prayer...'"
• Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min | 3 October 2015)

Withdrawal of Srila Haridas Thakur
"On this day Mahaprabhu gave a great festival for Haridas Thakur; on this day Haridas Thakur left this world. Actually, Haridas Thakur is always with us—he did not leave this world, only his body left..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.1 Mb, 9 min | 11 September 2011)

Disappearance of Srila Haridas Thakur (24 September 2009)
The sad and loving Pastime of the Lord and His devotee, Namacharya Haridas Thakur: "Prabhu, do not give me Maya. I know you love me so much, that is why I do not want to hear from You any further. Please give me some mercy—I want to go before You. Please, Prabhu, fulfil my desire."

• SONG: Ye anila prema dhana | যে আনিল প্রেমধন
"I will break my head on a rock, I will enter into fire. Not finding the association of Sri Gauranga, who performed His Pastimes with all these associates, Narottam Das weeps."

• SONG: Ei-bara karuna kara | এইবার করুণা কর
"O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the fallen, without you there is no one. In every birth I aspire for the dust of your feet."

• SONG: Ohe Vaisnava Thakura | (ওহে) বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
"O worshippable Vaishnav, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant. Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet. You can give Krishna, you have that power. Calling, 'Krishna!' 'Krishna!', I run after you."

• SONG: Ki-rupe paiba seva | কিরূপে পাইব সেবা
"I am so wicked, how will I ever get service? I do not have any attachment to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs! Prabhu, you see no fault in others, you are the saviour of the fallen. Please deliver Narottam this time!"

• SONG: Dhana mora nityananda | ধন মোর নিত্যানন্দ
"The feet dust of the Vaishnavs is where I sport and take bath, Vaishnavs' name is the water oblation. My mind is intently fixed upon the remnants of Vaishnavs, and I am elated hearing the name of Vaishnavs."

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part One, chanted on Saturdays)
'Demigods, perfected souls, liberated souls, yogis and Lord’s devotees always sing His praise; He relieves the world from the blazing forest fire of three-fold miseries (caused by the desire for enjoyment, liberation and perfections) brought about by inauspicious actions (performed in aversion to the Supreme Lord); an ocean of generosity, He bestows His own Name from the nectarean storehouse of Lord Sri Krishna’s Names – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

3 JANUARY 2021 [NOON ADDRESS | PART 2]

Gaudiya Vaishnav Sangha Address (2)
"I am a beggar, and I would like to ask you all for some alms today. This is the alms I am begging you for: may I be able to make myself pure by serving all the devotees and servants of this Srila Prabhupad, and may I keep myself engaged in the service to you all."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

ILLUMINATION
'Once my Divine Master, Sri Bipin Bihari Prabhu, instructed me to write expanding on that commentary of Sri Jiva Goswami Prabhu. So, it is with a joyful heart that this humble servitor has presented a few words herein. If the devotees reflect on these writings with the pure theistic intellect of distinguishing mundanity from transcendence, the heart’s desire of this servitor will be fulfilled, because pure devotion will be preached in the world.'

VERSE 1
'With His personal eternal Name, eternal form, eternal qualities and eternal pastimes, Krishna alone shines resplendent above all other entities as the Supreme. The Name "Krishna" is His eternal Name that proclaims Him to be the supreme existence by His characteristic of attracting the Love of all beings.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Two, chanted on Sundays)
'Very tall, beautiful and infused with divine love, His holy form increases gods’ joy; the lustre of His body, which puts millions of golden lotuses to shame, is worshipped by the Moon; and His intrinsic form is a holy abode of divine pastimes manifest as eternal ever-increasing transcendental ecstatic transformations that spring up as He revels dancing in Sri Krishna-sankirtan – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

3 JANUARY 2021 [WORLDWIDE ADDRESS | PART 1]

Illustrious Acharya
"I am offering my obeisance at the lotus feet of Bhagavan Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, whose disappearance day took place today and who is a great personality. He is not an ordinary person of this material world – he came from Goloka Vrindavan, from the Lord Himself, and when his job finished here, he passed the responsibility onto his beloved disciples and went back to his home."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 2
'It lies beyond the faculty of the jiva’s puny intellect to conceive how the divine abode, despite being the vast triquadrantal majesty of God, comes to be accommodated in the nether regions of the quadrant of the mundane majesty; and it is demonstrative of the greatness of Krishna’s inconceivable potency.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Three, chanted on Mondays)
'He ardently preached that service performed in various divine relationships (from dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya- to madhura-rasa) and the (paramount) service beauty of Sri Radha’s servitors in the highest paramour madhura-rasa, as well as any transcendental hankering of the self-realised souls in Sri Vraja Dham, can indisputably be realised in Sri Vrajendra-nandan only – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj:

His Divine Grace Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

"When Kunja Babu [later, Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj] came to meet Srila Prabhupad, Srila Prabhupad could recognise that this young man would be able to help him a great deal. Our Guru Maharaj's nature was like that of a philosopher—he did not like to mix with the public, but Kunja Babu filled that side as he could mix with public and bring persons to Srila Prabhupad, enabling thus Srila Prabhupad to speak about the sastra. Srila Prabhupad wanted to speak about Mahaprabhu, but his temperament was such that he did not like to become involved with inviting people and taking responsibility for looking after them or their accommodation, feeding, etc. So, when Kunja Babu joined, he took up that responsibility. Srila Prabhupad got educated society ready to hear his speech about Mahaprabhu, and his style of speaking was a little philosophical, so he preferred educated society as his listeners. Kunja Babu did that service—he took the trouble of inviting, accommodating, and feeding the public. All these troublesome burdens were taken on by Kunja Babu.

"Gaudiya Mission had gradually grown from this combination—the material help of Kunja Babu and the spiritual work of Srila Prabhupad. They were the father and the mother of the mission, the cofounders of Gaudiya Math. The practical, material side of the service was done by Kunja Babu. Srila Prabhupad once said in Benares (I heard it directly from his mouth), 'I only want a good audience, and Kunja Babu has done that service to me the best. Amongst all my disciples, Kunja Babu has served me the best by bringing to me a good audience. I only want a good audience, nothing else, in this world, and in that direction, Kunja Babu has helped me greatly.'

"In the end, Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's order was to form a governing body of ten or twelve, and Kunja Babu had to manage as long as he lived. 'Kunja Babu's intelligence excells that of all,' this was told about him. We took it as Kunja Babu was the manager during Prabhupad's lifetime, but he was actually managing the whole institution, so he should be respected even though he was a grihastha and we were sannyasis. Later, many complaints were heard against him, but Srila Prabhupad had told us that Kunja Babu had to manage as long as he lived and that he should be respected. Srila Prabhupad did not select anyone as his follower acharya, that is why there was eventually a difference of opinion amongst us. There were also many ambitious sannyasis who were eager to go on as acharyas themselves. There were generally two parties, one accepting Vasudev Prabhu as the acharya, and the other one accepting Kunja Babu..."

His Divine Grace Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj:

"Sri Bimala Prasad got initiation from Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj and later, when he took sannyas, he became known as Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. At some point, he promised that he would complete chanting one hundred crores Holy Names and after that start preaching Mahaprabhu's proper conception, but as he was chanting the Holy Name, one day Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Giridhari came in front of him and Srimati Radharani said, 'You must preach pure conception of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, the combined form of Radha-Krishna.' Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, 'I am alone, how will I preach?' After that so many great scholars (dig-pals) came to help him—our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kumud Shanta Maharaj and many others. This is how Prabhupad started preaching the proper conception in this world.

"In Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswat Thakur's time, the secretary of Chaitanya Math was a grihastha, his name is Kunja Bihari Prabhu (affectionately known as Kunja Babu), later he became Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj. Kunja Babu could not always stay at the temple, but he always served Chaitanya Math from his householder life. Moreover, when he would come to visit Chaitanya Math, to see Prabhupad, at that time almost all sannyasis would give him their full obeisance."

3 JANUARY 2021 [WORLDWIDE ADDRESS | PART 2]

Advent of Hari-Kirtan Murti
"We have heard about so many glories of Bhagavan Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur from many Vaishnavs and scholars, and our Param Guru Maharaj (Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj) also described everything in his poetry."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 3
'Initially, the ‘meditational’ pastimes of Goloka and Gokula may appear in the heart of a devotee in the stage of holy practice through worship by the mantra, and secondly, the unrestrained ‘free-willed’ pastimes are revealed to the devotee in the stage of perfection. This is the general position of Goloka or Gokula, which will be further illumined as the text evolves.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Four, chanted on Tuesdays)
'Overcome with strong bouts of divine love surging through Him and becoming unconscious of the world around Him, He dances madly and chants kirtan; the tears streaming incessantly from His eyes flood His body, the colour of molten gold and tall as the mount Sumeru, His clothes, the colour of the newly risen sun, and the earth in all fourteen directions around Him; He glows as He chants, ‘Krishna! Krishna!’, shouts jumbled up words and relishes various postures and behaviours (roaring with laughter, etc.) under the influence of divine love – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

3 JANUARY 2021 [WORLDWIDE ADDRESS | PART 3]

Srila Prabhupad's Mission
"Srila Prabhupad taught everyone what pure service is – he taught that everything could be used, and is meant to be used, for the service of the Lord. He established sixty-four temples, and all the brahmacharis, sannyasis of these temples preached house to house and distributed Hari-katha."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 4
'The core of that eternal holy abode which is called Gokula is the hexagonal land of Krishna’s abode. The stamens or petals are the residences of the cowherds, or gopas, who are Krishna’s own, His dearmost friends and high loving devotees that are a part of His own self. Those abodes appear like many walls, all beautifully effulgent. The extensive foliage of that lotus constitutes the subforests that are the abodes of the loving damsels of Krishna, headed by Sri Radhika.'

VERSE 5
'(The area surrounding Gokula is being described.) In the outer section of Gokula there is a miraculous quadrangular area extending in four directions, known as Svetadvipa. It is divided into four sections on four sides. Each of these divisions are the residences of Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Five, chanted on Wednesdays)
'He reveals (first, to Sri Sanatan and then to Prakasananda) sixty-two interpretations of the famous verse ‘Atmaramas cha… ittham-bhuta-guno harih’ (‘Even self-realised, self-satisfied souls are moved to worship the Lord’) from Srimad Bhagavatam; interpreting the various lexical meanings of the eleven words of this verse, juxtaposed in different ways, He reveals a treasure-mine of multitudinous meanings of this verse in consonance with the precepts of pure devotional conclusions – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

3 JANUARY 2021 [WORLDWIDE ADDRESS | PART 4]

Srila Prabhupad's Teachings
"Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj often said that Srila Prabhupad’s words were very hard, like a stone or thunderbolt, but inside he could be soft as a lotus. Fathers are always very loving and affectionate to their sons, but Srila Prabhupad gave more love and affection than any father could give."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 6
'That Lord of Gokula is the transcendental Supreme Personality of Godhead—the own self of eternal ecstasy. He is beyond the purview of mundanity, and He ever enjoys in the all-conscious spiritual realm; He is never associated with the beguiling mundane nature.'

VERSE 7
'Krishna is the indifferent predominator of the external deluding nature, Maya: He does not consort with external Maya. Yet Maya is not wholly separate or divorced from the Supreme Absolute Truth that is Krishna. In His will to create the world, He unites with His own transcendental potency, Rama; and His enjoyment in the form of casting His glance, which is the dispatching of His potency of time, is purely indirect.'

VERSE 8
'The personification of the transcendental potency of the Lord, Ramadevi, is Destiny, beloved consort of the Supreme Lord. At creation, the appearance of the effulgence of the portion of Krishna’s plenary portion is Bhagavan Sambhu, the manifest male organ of the divinity—the reflection of the eternal effulgence.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Six, chanted on Thursdays)
'Captivated by and afflicted with an intense feeling of separation, He runs swiftly to the simha-dvara gate of Lord Jagannathdev’s holy temple; the next moment He falls down on the spot, His holy figure transformed into that of a tortoise by the influence of deep separation; attracted by the uncommon divine fragrance emanating from His holy figure, the Telangi cows residing at the temple draw near, surrounding Him – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

3 JANUARY 2021 [WORLDWIDE ADDRESS | PART 5]

Unimaginable Service
"It is unforgettable. We do not know who Krishna and Gurudev take service from – only those who have some sukriti, who have some great fortune can participate in service in their lives.There are so many rich people, there are so many big people, but only a fortunate soul can do service."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 9
'In this illusory world, all beings from gods to men, etc., along with all their planes of existence, are under the reign of Maya; here, all that be is efficiently and instrumentally generated, that is, born of sexual union. With all the discoveries of material science, everything knowable is of sexual origin. Trees, plants and even insentient beings are all produced of the union of male and female.'

VERSE 10
'Mahesvara Sambhu, the male principle of the efficient cause representing the primal male organ, is united with the instrumental cause represented by his Maya potency. Maha-Vishnu, the Lord of the universe, partially advents within him by the casting of His glance.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Seven, chanted on Fridays)
'He is a holy embodiment of the beautiful reality which is beyond the reach of one’s eyes and ears, which paralyses the very necessity of intelligence and which leaves even firmly fixed consciousness dumbstruck when divine love surges up – even Brahma, Sambhu (Siva), as well as their revealed scriptures, Vedas and tantras cannot conceive of such reality, so they merely keep searching after Him – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

10 JANUARY 2021 [WORLDWIDE ADDRESS | PART 1]

Good Mind, Good Heart
"So many things are bound to happen, but our duty is to practise properly, to chant the Holy Name, to follow all the rules and regulations. Sometimes, some problems come, some things can happen in family life, and it gives us a little pain, but when something bad comes, we should always ignore it."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 11
'That Lord of the universe, Maha-Vishnu, possesses thousands upon thousands of faces, thousands upon thousands of eyes, thousands upon thousands of feet, thousands upon thousands of arms, thousands upon thousands of Incarnations in thousands upon thousands of plenary expansions; He is the soul of the universe and the creator of thousands upon thousands of living beings.'

VERSE 12
'Maha-Vishnu is known as Narayana in the mundane world. From this eternal Personality the water of the causal ocean is born. A plenary portion of Sankarsan of the Paravyoma, with thousands upon thousands of plenary expansions, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Male; for His divine sleep He reclines upon those waters of the causal ocean.'

VERSE 13
'The divine seeds of Sankarsana are born from the pores of Maha-Vishnu as infinite golden egg-cells; those golden cells are covered by the five predominant material elements.'

VERSE 14
'That Maha-Vishnu enters into each and every universe (or cosmic egg) in His individual plenary portions. All those divine portions are His supramundane almighty form—the eternal form of Maha-Vishnu with thousands upon thousands of heads—the soul of the universe.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part One, chanted on Saturdays)
'Demigods, perfected souls, liberated souls, yogis and Lord’s devotees always sing His praise; He relieves the world from the blazing forest fire of three-fold miseries (caused by the desire for enjoyment, liberation and perfections) brought about by inauspicious actions (performed in aversion to the Supreme Lord); an ocean of generosity, He bestows His own Name from the nectarean storehouse of Lord Sri Krishna’s Names – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

10 JANUARY 2021 [WORLDWIDE ADDRESS | PART 2]

Uninterrupted Service Life
"Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur drastically reduced the rules and regulations. He even relaxed the rules of following ekadasi. All our guru-varga, all followers of Sri Rupanuga line have already accepted and established all these things. We must try to follow the rules and regulations as much as we can. We must always do our best in our practising lives."

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 15
'Maha-Vishnu created Vishnu from His left side, Prajapati from His right side, and He created Sambhu, the divine manifested masculine effulgence, from between His eyebrows.'

VERSE 16
'When the endless jivas—who are sparks of transcendental consciousness emanating from the chit rays of Paramatman—identify themselves in the (pure) ego of exclusive servitors of the Supreme Lord, their relationship with the mayik world no longer endures; they become members of the Vaikuntha world. When they forget that ego and want to become enjoyers of Maya, the egoistic principle of Sambhu enters their existence and gives them the frame of reference of being separate enjoyers.'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Two, chanted on Sundays)
'Very tall, beautiful and infused with divine love, His holy form increases gods’ joy; the lustre of His body, which puts millions of golden lotuses to shame, is worshipped by the Moon; and His intrinsic form is a holy abode of divine pastimes manifest as eternal ever-increasing transcendental ecstatic transformations that spring up as He revels dancing in Sri Krishna-sankirtan – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

"Guru is the divine messenger of immortal hope and joy in this mortal and miserable world. His advent is the most auspicious and happy event to the suffering animation and can be compared to the rising of the morning star that can guide the traveller lost in the desert. A gentle touch of Sri Guru's merciful hand can wipe away the incessant tears from all weeping eyes. Oh the day when this poor soul realises the causeless grace of Sri Gurudev."

(Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Sri Guru and His Grace)

All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

Dear Devotees, Friends, and Well-Wishers,

Please accept our humble obeisance at your holy feet.

Bowing down at your holy feet, we would like to extend a humble and earnest invitation to your holy self to join the grand celebration of the divine appearance day of Sri Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Sri Srimad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj that manifests this year on 22 September 2025 (Monday).

Considering the irrevocably calamitous circumstances we are placed in following the disappearance of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma, we pray to be able to observe this day immersed in Sri Hari-katha, Hari-kirtan, and Hari-seva, which are so extremely dear to our Sri Gurupadpadma, who continues to guide, protect and watch over us, albeit unseen to our mundane vision.

On this holy day, as far as possible, please join and render assistance to the festivals observed in your communities and focus eternally in your lives on contributing the core ingredient of every service endeavour – your entire being, mind, heart and soul. In the words of His Divine Grace, "Gurudev's lila is going on, but only the fortunate souls can see it, that is why we must engage everybody in service on his appearance day. Whatever capacity we have – in kaya, mana, vakya (body, mind and speech) – we must serve his appearance day."

Taking your foot dust on our heads, we humbly pray that this supremely worshippable divine appearance day of Sri Gurupadpadma, celebrated with much joy and grandeur by the fortunate souls throughout the entire creation, may pass auspiciously in every house and heart.

Your aspiring servants,
on behalf of SCSMathInternational.com

Satisfying the Lord
"Bali Maharaj asked Vamanadev, 'O brahman, what do you want? Tell me, and I can give You anything you wish.' Vamanadev replied, 'I do not want much. I know you have everything, but I want only something small.'"
• Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 7 min | 30 August 2020)

In honour of the forthcoming divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2010 }

My Joy and My Plight
"I have never wanted this—that I would sit in one place and everybody would come, pay obeisance to me. Never. I want to go and chant and dance everywhere, preach in the villages—this is my life. It is impossible for me, it is actually an austerity for me, but I have to keep Gurudev's word."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 8 min | 8 October 2010)

"I Need Your Mercy!"
"I am here today to get your mercy—I am here today to worship you, I have not come to take worship. I only want to serve the Vaishnavs, I have no other desire. I do not want anybody to do my puja, I want to serve you all."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.8 Mb, 8 min | 8 October 2010)

2011

Sri Vyasa Puja Day: A Happy Day
"Today is a very happy day for me: everybody is giving their mercy to me. Also, I can see all the devotees today, they are happily enjoying the programme and glorifying Gurudev. That is my thing—I do not want my glorification, I always want to glorify my Guru."
• Download (1.3 Mb, 4 min)

Fending Maya Off: Nourish Others, Protect Yourself
"Call devotees and bring them to the temple, help them keep connection. Maya is very powerful, but when devotees are with devotees, maya always runs away. We must worry about our quality. We can be small, but our line should be perfect."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 4 min)

Kirtans
Vandana • Gurudev krpa bindu diya • Oh vaisnava thakura dayara sagara • Akrodha paramananda Nityananda Ray • Avatara sara Gora avatara • Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
• Download / listen to the audio (6.6 Mb, 20 min)

My Great Fortune and Hope
"Actually I do not know when my birth day is, but Gurudev told me, 'This is your birth day,' and that is why devotees celebrate this day. Celebrating means what? Celebrating means devotees are giving mercy to me on this day and I am becoming indebted to them."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min)

Sankirtan Yajna—Soul of Preaching
"Where it is allowed, you must do sankirtan in the street—there may be only five of you, but if you do sankirtan, people will come, even birds, beasts, trees will get benefit through your kirtan. If you sit in your house, no one will come—start the fire, wind will come."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min | 28 September 2011)

• SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA •

VERSE 17
'Thereafter, that Supreme Personality of Godhead, having entered the universe in the guises of Vishnu, Brahma and Sambhu, enacts His pastimes of sustenance, creation and annihilation. These pastimes pertain to the mundane world; thus, since they are of a lower order.'

VERSE 18
'When Garbhodakasayi Vishnu desires to create the universe, a golden lotus flower appears from His navel. Situated on a stem, that lotus is Brahmaloka or Satyaloka, the abode of Lord Brahma.'

VERSE 19
'Prior to their amalgamation, the five predominant material elements remained in their crude state, separate in different forms. At this point, the process of combining them had not yet ensued. By associating with His divine potency, the primeval Personality of Godhead Maha-Vishnu moved Maya and united those separate elements by His process of amalgamating or harmonizing them...'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Three, chanted on Mondays)
'He ardently preached that service performed in various divine relationships (from dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya- to madhura-rasa) and the (paramount) service beauty of Sri Radha’s servitors in the highest paramour madhura-rasa, as well as any transcendental hankering of the self-realised souls in Sri Vraja Dham, can indisputably be realised in Sri Vrajendra-nandan only – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of the forthcoming divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2013 }

Sri Vyasa Puja Day: My Mood and Request
"Every day is a service day for me, but today is the day when I must serve devotees more. I do not know how much I can surrender, but Gurudev made me his dog, and that is why I am serving as his dog—I am still serving and protecting the temple as a dog..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | 6 October 2013)

Sri Vyasa Puja Day: Appreciating Mercy
"You have already got it from Gurudev. We have lost our address and Krishna sent Gurudev to take us to our address. So, we already understand what is our real home. Always be successful in your spiritual life, always proceed in your spiritual life."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.1 Mb, 3 min | 6 October 2013)

Sri Vyasa Puja Day: My Only Prayer
"I am very happy to see you all. You are celebrating this festival, but actually for me this day is not a day to take puja from others, but today is the day when I must give puja to all the devotees..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min | 6 October 2013)

{ 2014 }

Part 1: How to See the Guru: Mercy
Clear guidance on how to understand who the Guru is, and how a sincere disciple should see the Guru: the Guru is not only a mahabhagavata (a great devotee), he is nondifferent from Krishna Himself.
• Download / listen to the audio (6.4 Mb, 14 min | 25 September 2014)

Part 2: How to See the Guru: Chastity
The main quality of a sincere disciple explained by several examples: one-pointed attention, rejecting the unfavourable, intense attachment to service and devotees, faith, and careful choice of association.
• Download / listen to the audio (7 Mb, 15 min | 25 September 2014)

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Four, chanted on Tuesdays)
'Overcome with strong bouts of divine love surging through Him and becoming unconscious of the world around Him, He dances madly and chants kirtan; the tears streaming incessantly from His eyes flood His body, the colour of molten gold and tall as the mount Sumeru, His clothes, the colour of the newly risen sun, and the earth in all fourteen directions around Him; He glows as He chants, ‘Krishna! Krishna!’, shouts jumbled up words and relishes various postures and behaviours (roaring with laughter, etc.) under the influence of divine love – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of the forthcoming divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2015 }

Your Fortune, My Fortune
"You have assembled here today for this occasion to give mercy to a fallen soul like myself. I feel humbled and very fortunate. It is very difficult to get the darshan of Vaishnavs. When I am giving initiation, do you know what I am remembering?..."

Be Conscious and Cautious
"To live eternally in Vraja, you must enter a relationship with your Guru, after that if you practise, you can understand your destination. How can we make Gurudev happy? If we can understand it step by step, then we will be able to understand the main teaching."

Greatness Is Not Measured by Cloth
"Religion means we must bring the jiva souls to Krishna consciousness. Gurudev gave this duty to me, and this is not only my responsibility, it is your responsibility too. Gurudev said, 'One does not become a sannyasi just by wearing a sannyasi's clothes.'"

Surrender: Eye-Opener
"'Do you not know who this is? Can you not recognise Him? He is the Guru of all, He is Lord Krishna Himself! He has come to this world to awaken the souls. He took sannyas from Keshav Bharati.' Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya did not believe it."

Mercy Means Anugatya
"It is necessary to always think about the order of your Guru. Guru's mercy means following the order of the Guru—if you follow the order of your Guru, then you get his mercy. You can go to the market, buy chanting beads and chant on them—but it is not the same."

Neither Cry nor Laugh
"You must ask yourself first, 'Do you love yourself or your Guru more? Do you love the Lord or yourself more?' Examine yourself. How long will you sleep in the lap of Maya? How long will you choke and struggle in the waters of Maya?"

Pure Current
"This Name was chanted in many villages, but with offence, and Bhaktivinod Thakur, holding the current of devotion, preached the pure Holy Name to this world just as Maharaj Bhagirath brought the Ganges to this world."

{ 2017 }

My Service Day
"I am always with the devotees, I am always thinking about the devotees and I am always thinking about Gurudev. Actually, this day is my service day. I must serve my Gurudev more, I want to serve the devotees—this is how I want to celebrate this day. This is my happiness."
• Download / listen to the audio (0.5 Mb, 1 min | 20 September 2017)

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Five, chanted on Wednesdays)
'He reveals (first, to Sri Sanatan and then to Prakasananda) sixty-two interpretations of the famous verse ‘Atmaramas cha… ittham-bhuta-guno harih’ (‘Even self-realised, self-satisfied souls are moved to worship the Lord’) from Srimad Bhagavatam; interpreting the various lexical meanings of the eleven words of this verse, juxtaposed in different ways, He reveals a treasure-mine of multitudinous meanings of this verse in consonance with the precepts of pure devotional conclusions – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj about fasting on ekadasi and accepting material facilities:

"One time, a devotee came here from Vrindavan on the day of ekadasi. He reached in the evening and, after taking bath in the Ganges, attended kirtans, danced, circumambulated the temple and so on. Then, I asked him whether he would take any anukalpa. He replied, 'Generally, I do not take anything, but if you like, then, of course, I must take anukalpa. Your will is greater than my fasting.' That was his decision.

"My Guru Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) always wanted maximum energy: you should take good food and do good service. That was his maxim. Krishna is not a liquidated party: take full prasadam and do full service. Do maximum service, and you should take whatever is necessary for that. You are to take it for the cause of Krishna, not for your own cause. You are Krishna's, so if you grow weak, His service will be hampered, and both you and Krishna will be losers thereby. 'My soldiers will be well-fed and well-working.' That was our Guru Maharaj's principle. Napoleon said, 'One full-fed soldier is equal to ten half-fed soldiers.'

"So, prasad-seva: if it is service, then it must be taken in a serving mood, of course. But, at the same time, the individual position of a devotee should be taken into consideration. Sahajiyas do not Fast on ekadasi at all: 'Oh, we are in Vrindavan, and there is no fasting in Vrindavan.' But Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad did not like that – it is sahajiya (imitation) if you go on feeding your senses in the name of Krishna-bhakti (devotion to the Lord). For the service to Krishna, it is necessary to keep up the body and to provide nourishment to it, so we must take what is necessary for service. We do not like it if by fasting a loss of energy is effected. If fasting does not hamper your service, you may go on fasting – perhaps, your gurudev wanted that...

"For service, I must accept what is necessary to make me physically fit so that I can render more service. So, accepting material things is not objectionable. It is fruitful, not detrimental. Rather, it produces something of a pure character, which helps everyone. This is how a disciple receives and accepts things. At that same time, he may even blame himself, 'I cannot go on with my worldly life without the help of this or that!' He will blame himself, but the underlying spirit must be, 'If I do not take it, I shall be unfit; I will not be able to do my bit of service to the Lord, to my gurudev.'

"Moreover, by taking up renunciation, I will be a loser. I will incur a loss for myself, for the world, and my guru's service will be hampered. In this spirit, devotees are to take everything. For the cause of Krishna, for the cause of their guru, they will accept anything.

"Suppose there is a very miserly karmachari (manager). Because he does not want to spend money, he may not attain a particular result; then, some difficulty comes, and the opportunity is lost. This manager will be held responsible by the proprietor: 'Why did you not spend money? Why are you afraid of spending money from my store? Because of your miserly habit, the opportunity has been lost! Why should you not spend My money for My interest?' So, to render service to Krishna, to my gurudev, to Vaishnavs, to the world, to everyone, I must keep up this mundane body, and I am entitled to take something for that.

"Miserliness is mayavada; it is the renunciation spirit, and it will mar Krishna's interest. What we need is yukta-vairagya: I shall take from the store of Krishna to keep myself fit and to do service. It is Krishna's account, and if I do not do that, I should be a separatist, a mayavadi, a renunciationist. I shall render maximum service to Krishna, and I must take without any hesitation whatever is necessary to make myself fit for the service; otherwise, I shall be punishable."

"You do not need to know the meaning of each ekadasi tithi because if you know it, you will want to get this result, that result, etc."

(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)

In honour of the forthcoming divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2018 }

Meaning of Guru Puja
"We must understand the meaning of 'guru-puja.' If you only offer some arati to Gurudev, this is not guru-puja. Guru-puja means guru-seva. We must always think, "How can I please my Guru? What does Gurudev want? What does he like?" We must understand this and fulfil Gurudev's most cherished desires."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | Bengali | 9 October 2018)

Key to Guru Puja
"Gurudev had explained and taught me that when you make a festival not much is necessary—a festival means Vaishnav seva, bhakta-seva. Guru-seva is not engaging your Guru in service—it means serving your Guru, serving his devotees."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 7 min | Bengali | 9 October 2018)

Service Consciousness
"If we always practise and if we always serve Vaishnavs, then we can become worthy of a particle of dust from the lotus feet of Vaishnavs—that is sufficient for us. If you fast and offer some flower to your Guru but do not take part in service—it means you think about yourself, not about others."
• Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | Bengali | 9 October 2018)

Sri Vyasa Puja Speech
"Actually, all the devotees have come here from all over Bengal and many countries also and they are celebrating my birthday, but I am not thinking about my birthday because I do not want to take any puja from devotees. I always want to be servitors' servitor, I do not want to take any service from others."
• Download / listen to the audio (5.5 Mb, 16 min | 10 October 2018)

Servitor's Livelihood
"Everything we have actually comes from our Guru. Without Gurudev's mercy we are nothing, we have no power. We are only instruments. I do not think that I am a Vaishnav, nor do I want to be a Vaishnav. I want to be a servant of the servant of Vaishnavs. That has been my desire from the beginning, since the time I started my temple life in 1992."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.1 Mb, 8 min | 12 October 2018)

On Chastity
"Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj had many qualified scholarly pandit disciples, but he chose Gurudev. You can read many scriptures many times, you may know many things, but the Guru can understand who can follow his conception, who has chastity for him."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.1 Mb, 6 min | 12 October 2018)

Mercy of Guru
"Without the mercy of the Guru, without the instruction of the Guru you cannot cross, you cannot overcome the illusory environment. We must understand clearly what is the mercy of the Guru."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 5 min | 12 October 2018)

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Six, chanted on Thursdays)
'Captivated by and afflicted with an intense feeling of separation, He runs swiftly to the simha-dvara gate of Lord Jagannathdev’s holy temple; the next moment He falls down on the spot, His holy figure transformed into that of a tortoise by the influence of deep separation; attracted by the uncommon divine fragrance emanating from His holy figure, the Telangi cows residing at the temple draw near, surrounding Him – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of the forthcoming divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2019/1 }

"I Want to Be a Good Follower of My Gurudev"
"I have never wanted to be a Guru, and to this day I still do not think that I am a Guru. I always think that I want to be a good disciple of my Gurudev—I want to be a servitor of Gurudev's devotees, I want to be a good follower of my Gurudev."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min)

Guru-Disciple Bond
"You must understand purely what Gurudev needs, what is his connection, what Gurudev wants, what his heart wants and you must always fulfil his desire. That is what the relationship between the Guru and a disciple is."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.1 Mb, 5 min)

My Sole Aspiration
'Gurudev has made me his offering to the Deities – he has used me as an offering to the Deities and his Guru Maharaj; and all I want is to be that proper offering to my guru, nothing more than that. I want to be crazy about my guru, I want to be crazy about the service to the Lord.'
• Download / listen to the audio (2.8 Mb, 6 min)

Remembering Early Days
"Today's day is accepted as the day of my birthday. I do not know by what pull I have come here. "Krishna is my mother, Krishna is my father"—I knew that from my childhood, I had such sukriti. Since my childhood I have always been inspired to read Srimad Bhagavad-gita."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.6 Mb, 10 min | Bengali and English)

Sri Guru: More than Lord
"Guru is called a holy embodiment of the Lord's mercy. You all worship or serve the Lord, but you will not get direct love and affection from the Lord. Because the Lord cannot give you direct mercy, He sends His close associate in the form of a Guru to this world."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.6 Mb, 10 min | Mostly Bengali)

Intimate Service Mood
"Many are scared to speak to Gurudev, but what is there to be scared about? Are you afraid of the one whose shelter you have taken? Gurudev is called the centre, the very heart of the disciple. This is our line."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)

On Lord's Order
"Whatever austerity comes, throw your happiness away, forget your own happiness or sadness and serve the Lord. The Lord has kept me alive, and you have all come here, you are giving me your blessing, then I am getting one more year of life."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 5 min | Bengali)

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Seven, chanted on Fridays)
'He is a holy embodiment of the beautiful reality which is beyond the reach of one’s eyes and ears, which paralyses the very necessity of intelligence and which leaves even firmly fixed consciousness dumbstruck when divine love surges up – even Brahma, Sambhu (Siva), as well as their revealed scriptures, Vedas and tantras cannot conceive of such reality, so they merely keep searching after Him – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of the forthcoming divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2019/2 }

Unswerving Devotion
"I will tell you some examples of Guru-seva. There cannot be anything more important in your life than this. You must always remember this, then you will get supreme benefit. I always pray to the Lord that you may get relief from the illusory environment and come to serve the Lord."
• Download / listen to the audio (4.8 Mb, 14 min | Bengali)

Great Advantage of Guru-Seva
"There are sixty-four devotional practices, and Prahlad Maharaj said among all those devotional practices Guru-seva has more importance. You must listen to what I am saying carefully. Remember it."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | Bengali)

Laws of Spiritual Kingdom
"When you aspire to enter Vrindavan's kingdom, you must apply for the visa at Radharani's lotus feet. When you get Her stamp of approval, then you can get the darshan of Vrindavan; and Radharani is Gurudev himself, so when you get his seal, then you can enter that domain."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min | Bengali)

Service to Guru: Abode of Benediction
"Those who fail to practise various devotional practices very quickly attain all perfection just by serving their Guru. Those who are fortunate can embrace this in their hearts—if you are always busy trying to make your Guru happy, you can attain perfection in this very life."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | Bengali)

Supreme Desire of Supreme Lord
"You want to enjoy so much, but the Lord wants to enjoy with you all together and His desire is millions times stronger. That is why the Lord sends His associates to this world who come to engage you in the service of Lord and send You back to the Lord. We sit here amidst illusion and think, 'I want more,' But how much is your capacity to enjoy?"
• Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | Bengali)

Entering Gurudev's Family
"Gurudev stretches his hand to you, but why do you not accept his hand? Gurudev calls out, 'Come, come! Come to my family!' Unless you enter this family, your anarthas will never leave you even if you chant millions of Holy Names with offences."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)

Trade Secrets of Krishna Consciousness
"If one is to come to Vraja Krishna, one must imbibe the mood of Vraja. What does it mean to get the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu? If you can attract and give joy to Nitaichand with your kirtan, then you will feel taste and joy chanting kirtan—then you can get Radha-Krishna."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)

Exposing Core of Disciple's Heart
"You do not enter into a relationship with the Guru just by taking a mantra from him. If you have love and affection for your Guru, then you have some relationship with your Guru, then your journey up the ladder of devotion has begun."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | Bengali)

Core of Mission's Heart
"If you take life away, is there any value in the body? The same is true for our spiritual life—if you remove Guru from your spiritual life, you remove life from your body. If you remove service to the Lord from a temple, this temple loses its very life."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | Bengali)

No Excuses
"We are always afraid of austerity, but we must accept any austerity, any unhappiness for the service to our guru. It is not a problem for us. Spiritual life depends on tolerance and on following the guru's instruction—always."
• Download / listen to the audio (1 Mb, 3 min)

Sri Guru's Grace
"Gurudev is the embodiment, or incarnation, of the Deity. We sometimes make some mistake in the service to the Deities, and the Deity will not chastise you, but the Deity's main servitor (Gurudev) can always chastise you. That is his mercy."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min)

Heed Your Call
"Spread Krishna consciousness. Spread Mahaprabhu's, Gurudev's and Guru Maharaj's message door to door in South Africa. Even if somebody kicks you out from their door, you must go there again and beg, 'I have come to you to give you real benefit, please take it.'"
• Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min)

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part One, chanted on Saturdays)
'Demigods, perfected souls, liberated souls, yogis and Lord’s devotees always sing His praise; He relieves the world from the blazing forest fire of three-fold miseries (caused by the desire for enjoyment, liberation and perfections) brought about by inauspicious actions (performed in aversion to the Supreme Lord); an ocean of generosity, He bestows His own Name from the nectarean storehouse of Lord Sri Krishna’s Names – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

In honour of the forthcoming divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2020/1 }

"Inconceivable, Unbelievable, and Unimaginable"
"Everybody is giving their love and affection and all together making this day for me. Actually, I am getting shy to make my birthday festival, but devotees are always enthusiastic to make this festival, even in this pandemic situation..."
• Download / listen to the audio (4.1 Mb, 10 min)

Clearing Contradictions
"Everybody's vision and feelings are not the same. Sometimes, you look like a man, but at other times, you deal or talk with others like a demon. Krishna lives in all living entities. However, we sometimes see there is also a demon living in the heart of the jiva soul."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.4 Mb, 8 min)

A Very Busy Day
"Phone calls have been coming today from all over the world starting from 3:30-4 o'clock in the morning. Everyone is calling me continuously. Not only in foreign countries they are making big festivals today, but also in all the temples, centres here in India..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min)

Service with Full Enthusiasm
"The most important thing is that all the devotees are with me. 'Maharaj, where you are, that is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math—and we will go wherever you are!' When I hear devotees say this, my heart overflows."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.3 Mb, 8 min)

'You Are My Great Friends'
'Actually, I was not born in a very big family. I was born in a small and low family, but by the mercy of Gurudev and all the devotees' love and affection, even those who are senior to me, who are my guru-varga, are giving me so much love and respect. This is my real wealth and my great fortune. This is not an ordinary matter for me; it is something great.'

'I Am at Your Service'
'I have seen how many times Gurudev went abroad to reach out to you all, to touch your heart and how much love and affection he gave to you all. Gurudev chose me as his perfect dog for his service, and I am always at your service: you can use me in any way, in any place.'

Enriched with Service
'So many phone calls have been coming the whole day from early in the morning – they are giving me so many good wishes. It is giving me much inspiration and enthusiasm for service. I am getting power and much energy from the devotees.'

Internal Inconsistencies
'We say humbly that every jiva soul is part of the Lord, but sometimes, along with the Lord, there can also be some bad thoughts, some devil working in our hearts. That is a big problem. These things depend upon one's devotion and faith.'

Big Temple Is Not All
'Even if there is a small temple, a small place with five–ten people staying there, but if they always glorify Gurudev, always singing the songs of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and preach about Mahaprabhu, that is sufficient for us and that is more important for us.'

Servitor's Pride
'Gurudev always told that in this Age of Kali, it is very difficult to conquer Maya, the illusory environment, and it is very difficult to conquer pratistha (name and fame). You can conquer kanak (thirst for money) and kamini (attraction to women), but it is very hard to give up pratistha.'

Practise, Preach and Proceed
'We must always be careful. We must preach Mahaprabhu's message properly, and we must go door to door distributing His message everywhere. This is the main duty in our lives. If you make big buildings, big houses, what is the use if devotees do not live there?'

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Two, chanted on Sundays)
'Very tall, beautiful and infused with divine love, His holy form increases gods’ joy; the lustre of His body, which puts millions of golden lotuses to shame, is worshipped by the Moon; and His intrinsic form is a holy abode of divine pastimes manifest as eternal ever-increasing transcendental ecstatic transformations that spring up as He revels dancing in Sri Krishna-sankirtan – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

pujya-sri-guru-varga-vandita-mahabhavanvitayah sada
paurvaparya-parampara-prachalita-prajya-pramurtakrteh
bhakter nirmala-nirjharasya nibhrtam samraksakam sadaram
vande sri-gurudevam anata-sira acharya-varyam nijam

"I bow my head in eternal obeisance to my Gurudev, the best of acharyas, Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj. He is the ever vigilant, stalwart guardian of the current of pure devotion whose highest form flows from our most worshippable Sri Rupanuga Guru-varga in their exclusive dedication to Mahabhav, Srimati Radharani."

prerakam prachya-paschatya-sisyanam bhakti-vartmani
bhakti-nirmalam-acharya-svaminam pranamamy aham

"I offer my respectful obeisances to Swami Bhakti Nirmal Acharya, who is energetically inspiring all of Eastern and Western disciples on the path of pure devotion."

Autobiography of Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj
To try to describe the unlimited glories of a genuine Vaishnav or Guru is a very challenging task, especially because Sri Guru exists on the plane beyond what we can grasp with our material intelligence or perceive with our material senses. Still, to remember the drops of the divine pastimes and transcendental glories of Sri Gurupadpadma, we present here an autobiographical discourse of His Divine Grace, begging him for his causeless mercy in the form of eternal service to his holy lotus feet.

Suggested kirtans:

• Vandana
• Sri Guru Parampara kirtan: Krsna haite chatur-mukha
• Sri Guru-vandana: Gurudev bada krpa kari, Sri Guru-charana-padma
• Sri Pancha-tattva-vandana: Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu jive daya kari
• Vaishnava-vandana: Kabe Sri Chaitanya more, Ki rupe paiba seva
• Sriman Nityananda's vandana: Nitai-pada kamala
• Sriman Mahaprabhu's vandana: Emona durmati
• Other: E ghora samsare, Ei-bara karuna kara Vaishnava gosai, Sarvasva tomara
• Closing: the Hare Krishna maha-mantra
• Sri Jaya Dhvani.

In honour of the divine appearance day of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

{ 2020/2 }

Serve Carefully
'You cannot proceed in your spiritual life, you cannot prosper in your spiritual life without service to Vaishnavs and devotees. It is necessary to serve devotees. This is the main thing in our lives. This is our Vaishnav culture.'

'My Actual Happiness'
'It is the quality that matters: devotees are giving themselves, giving their hearts to their guru... When I see devotees all over the world bowing themselves down at the lotus feet of Gurudev, that is my actual happiness, this is what actually pleases me.'

Always Chant
'When you are resting, taking prasadam or even going to the bathroom, you can also chant the Holy Name at that time but without beads. Always chant loudly; when you see devotees, say, "Hare Krishna!" Always chant Krishna's Name, it is good for you.'

My Fortune and My Promise
"Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is my real family. I am very fortunate and very grateful. I will try to serve all the devotees to the best of my ability until my death, until the moment I leave this body. That is my promise."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 6 min)

Rare Jewels
"I always remember so many great souls who are not with us anymore. So many householder devotees have made this kind of sacrifice—actually, they look like householders, but their mind, heart, their everything is more than a sannyasi."
• Download / listen to the audio (7.6 Mb, 18 min)

Root of Devotion
"If you want to conquer illusory environment, it is necessary to have the mercy of Guru and Vaishnavs. Guru-kripa is the root of your creeper of devotion. If you cut your creeper at the root, your devotion, your practice will dry just like a tree dries up when uprooted."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 6 min)

Remembering Right Things
"First practise chanting the Holy Name, concentrate your mind on service, and when you come to the highest position in your worship (bhajan), then you can ask such questions. We must first practise Krishna consciousness properly, chant the Holy Name, because our heart, mind is always busy with nonsense things."
• Download / listen to the audio (4.7 Mb, 12 min)

Shifting Priorities
"Why is it necessary to be sad? It is maya that always makes us unhappy. Whether you are happy or unhappy, always remember Lord Krishna. That is the ultimate advice. Always chant the Holy Name, never forget the Lord—not when you are happy, not when you are sad."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.4 Mb, 6 min)

• SRI SRI PREMA-DHAMA DEVA STOTRAM •

Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram (Part Three, chanted on Mondays)
'He ardently preached that service performed in various divine relationships (from dasya-, sakhya-, vatsalya- to madhura-rasa) and the (paramount) service beauty of Sri Radha’s servitors in the highest paramour madhura-rasa, as well as any transcendental hankering of the self-realised souls in Sri Vraja Dham, can indisputably be realised in Sri Vrajendra-nandan only – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'