(11/14) Depths of Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
26 February 2019, noon, part 11
Translated from Bengali

We need good association. 'Asat-sanga sada tyaga (অসৎ-সঙ্গ সদা ত্যাগ). Bad association must always be given up.' Srila Narottam Das Thakur wrote this explaining Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's verse:

অন্যাভিলাষিতা-শূন্যং জ্ঞান-কর্ম্মাদ্যনাবৃতম্ ।
আনুকূল্যেন কৃষ্ণানুশীলনং ভক্তিরুত্তমা ॥

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

'The highest devotion is doing that which satisfies Lord Krishna without any other desires and without the coverings of any other pursuits, such as action or knowledge.'

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, 1.1.11)

অন্য-অভিলাষ ছাড়ি’, জ্ঞান-কর্মম্ম পরিহরি’,
কায় মনে করিব ভজন ।
সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণ সেবা, না পূজিব দেবীদেবা,
এই ভক্তি পরম কারণ ॥

anya-abhilasa chhadi', jnana-karma parihari',
kaya mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna seva, na pujiba devi-deva,
ei bhakti parama karana

'I will serve the Lord with my body and mind, giving up all other desires and pursuits of material benefit and knowledge. I will serve Lord Krishna in sadhus’ association without worshipping any gods or goddesses – this is the ultimate way to attain devotion.'

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

It is not necessary to keep all gods (Durga, Kali, Laksmi, Ganesh, and everybody else) on your altars. Vaishnavs do not worship all gods because they know that if you worship Krishna, all other gods' worship is automatically accomplished. What kind of devotion should we have? Srila Prabhupad said:

মাতল হরিজন কীর্ত্তন-রঙ্গে ।
পূজল রাগপথ গৌরব-ভঙ্গে ॥

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

'From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline.'

(Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad)

We must chant kirtan together with devotees of the Supreme Lord (Hari-jana), and the worship of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna's holy lotus feet (raga-patha) must stay in our hearts. 'Apana bhajana-katha na kahibe yatha tatha (আপন ভজন-কথা, না কহিবে যথা তথা). Do not tell anyone and everyone about your own bhajan, service and practice' (Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur). It is not necessary to tell others about your own spiritual life. We have no right to chant the kirtans, or read the books, composed by Chandi Das, Vidyapati, Jayadev and Padmavati. The seeds of your devotion will sprout and grow if you water them with sravan (listening about the Lord) and kirtan (chanting the Lord's Names and glories), but if you pour too much water, your seeds and sprouts will rot and die.

When I went to Ganga Sagar last time, one man, who never took initiation and never learnt anything, asked me, 'Who lives in a Tulasi leaf? Who lives in a Tulasi branch?' I told him, 'Have you grown too big for your boots? Why are you asking such things? You have no idea of even what is good for you, then why are you asking me such things? Do you have any devotion or love for the Lord? Are you practising Krishna consciousness properly? Are you chanting the Holy Name properly? Whatever you are doing is Nama-aparadha!' People listen to lila-kirtans, Padyavali kirtans, mangala-kirtans sung by hired bands – these singers take money and sing all these things, but what benefit does it bring to anybody? This is all only offences to the Holy Name, and what is going to happen if you keep making these offences all the time? Actually, we all make offences – we chant the Holy Name, but mostly we are only making offences.

অসাধুসঙ্গে ভাই কৃষ্ণনাম নাহি হয় ।
নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয় ॥

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

'Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

If you want to chant the Holy Name, then you must have good association.

'সাধুসঙ্গ', 'সাধুসঙ্গ'—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

'sadhu-sanga', 'sadhu-sanga'—sarva sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi haya

'All scriptures keep saying, "Good association", "Good association". You can attain all perfection even just by a drop of good, saintly association.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

We must always remember this. If we cannot remember this, then we will be in great danger – we will never be able to come to the Lord.

Sacrifice your own interest! Think about Dhanur Das's story – did his wife think about herself? She only thought about her gurudev. Remembering her guru, she threw herself into danger for the service of her gurudev, and not only did she manage to do service but she also saved that bad man. This should be our mood.

We must all take shelter at the holy feet of a bona fide guru and tell others about our guru and Vaishnavs. When you meet somebody, you should loudly chant, 'Hare Krishna! Hari bol! Nitai-Gaura Hari bol!' Offer obeisances to everybody. Give honour to everybody: 'Sakale sammana karite sakati, deha natha yatha-yatha (সকলে সম্মান, করিতে শকতি দেহ নাথ যথাযথ). Please give me the strength to give everyone appropriate honour. Sakti-buddhi-hina, ami ati dina (শক্তিবুদ্ধিহীন, আমি অতি দীন). I have no strength, no intelligence, I am very poor! Yogyata vichare kichu nahi pai, tomara karuna-sara (যোগ্যতা বিচারে কিছু নাহি পাই, তোমার করুণা সার). I find no quality or qualification within me – your mercy is everything.' I have no quality or qualification – if you do not give me your mercy, then all is lost for me.

If we truly have attachment and affection, faith and devotion, towards the holy lotus feet of our Gurupadpadma, then we will never have to face anything inauspicious in our lives. If we can leave our bodies always thinking about the Lord, always chanting the Lord's Names, then it will be arranged for us to come to the holy abode of the Lord in Goloka Vrindavan.

Pretending to be living in Mathura is not what living in Mathura is about. Pretending to be living at Radha Kunda is not living at Radha Kunda. Pretending to be living in Vrindavan is not living in Vrindavan. If you can do service in Vrindavan or Mathura, if you can serve Nabadwip Dham, then the meaning of residing at a holy dham becomes meaningful and real.

What is the meaning of this human birth? If you can engage yourself in Hari-kirtan in the association of devotees, then you can realise the true purpose of your human birth. Otherwise, if you cannot do that, then your human birth is worse than a pig's birth! There is no use getting this human birth then. If you cannot serve Lord Govinda with this body, if you cannot serve Lord Govinda with your hands, if you cannot do parikrama of the holy dham of the Lord and of Tulasi Devi, if you cannot see the holy Deity of the Lord with your eyes, if you cannot offer obeisances to the Lord with your body, if you cannot bow your head in obeisance to your guru and Vaishnavs, then you can sever this head, these legs or arms and throw them away – there is no need to have such a head, legs or arms! Always remember this, always think about this.

— : • : —

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Length: 76 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Bound and Benumbed
2) Within and Without
3) Think about Your Actual Self
4) Pivotal Difference
5) Forget Me Not
6) Antidote to Material Life
7) Mixing in Adulteration
8) Wholesome Life
9) Devoured by Darkness
10) Spiritual Power
11) Depths of Devotion
12) Guard Your Spiritual Purity
13) Focus on Lord's Happiness
14) Pure Devotees' Pure Hankering