(3/8) Hari-Kirtan Comes from Heart

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Hooghly District, preaching programme,
21 February 2019, evening, part 3
Translated from Bengali

We do not want anything from you – we do not want your money or wealth. Sadhus subsist on alms. Why? Everything is the Lord's property and wealth, and Maya Devi only keeps something with you in this illusory world – so, when sadhus come, they collect something from that. They come, talk to you, explain to you spiritual truths and take something (ten–fifty rupees) to use it for Lord Govinda's service. Conditioned souls do not understand the Lord, do not know the Lord. Do you think a handful of rice or a bunch of rice paddy knows how to serve the Lord? Does a flower tree know how it can make a garland out of its flowers and place it on Lord Govinda's neck. It does not. That is why we grow flower trees – we take care of the plant, pick some flowers, make a garland and place it on Lord Govinda's neck (or on the necks of our guru and Vaishnavs) or pick some flowers and place them at Lord Govinda's feet (or the holy feet of our guru and Vaishnavs). By serving our guru and Vaishnavs in this way, it is possible to come to the Lord.

Every day I tell you what Srila Prabhupad said. You cannot get a letter from the Lord. But Vaishnavs send you letters or come to you and say it personally, 'Come to the temple. The appearance of Lord Gaurahari is coming soon, so please come and do the parikrama of the holy abode where Mahaprabhu appeared, in the company of sadhus. Observe the festival of Gaura Purnima and Jagannath Misra's anandotsav. Come and observe Janmastami, Radhastami, Gurudev's festivals!'

'Bhaktera hrdaye sada govinda-visrama (ভক্তের হৃদয়ে সদা গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম). Govinda always rests in the heart of His devotees.' Gurus and Vaishnavs bring the Holy Name from Goloka Vrindavan to this world. We offer prayers to Pancha-tattva:

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু নিত্যানন্দ ।
শ্রীঅদ্বৈত গদাধর শ্রীবাসাদি গৌরভক্তবৃন্দ ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

They have brought the Holy Name to this world. In other words, the Holy Name comes to this world through them and through the guru-parampara. We must come to those who distribute the Holy Name in this world. Such saints do not beg for anything for themselves, for their own selfish interests.

I have told you before also that the kirtan sung by a hired kirtan party can never be kirtan proper. It can be beautiful poetry, it can be pleasing to the crowd, but it is not Hari-kirtan or Hari-bhajan – it is Maya-kirtan and Maya-bhajan. Remember this. This is Maya consciousness – people do this for sense-gratification. In this world, many people chant the Holy Name – somebody does asta-prahar kirtan, somebody does 24-prahar kirtan, somebody does sixteen-prahar kirtan; people do this, that, but none of this is devotion. Devotion means that you chant kirtan and serve the Lord every single day, with heart and soul; it means serving devotees, coming to devotees.

Those who come to this world on behalf of the Lord (the Lord's close associates) come to give you news about the Lord. If we have intense hankering, we can approach a Vaishnav, and the Vaishnav will let the Lord know about it. This is how the relationship works – through a medium. You cannot get a letter from the Lord directly. If you want to come to the Lord, you must come through a Vaishnav.

— : • : —

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Length: 43 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Your Necessity and Interest
2) My Mission
3) Hari-Kirtan Comes from Heart
4) Come Forward
5) Do Not Cheat Yourself
6) Soul's Shelter
7) Genuine Devotion Comes from Genuine Devotees
8) Leashed and Lashed Life