(12/14) Guard Your Spiritual Purity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
26 February 2019, noon, part 12
Translated from Bengali

So, does nobody have questions? I guess you already know everything, you have already understood everything... You must study holy books. Read Sri Nityananda Prabhu Mahimamrita, chant kirtans. You waste much money on so many things in your lives – buy these books, they cost only forty, fifty or a hundred rupees. You do not have any idea how much it actually costs to print these books...

[His Divine Grace reads from Guidance 3, chapter '108 Questions and Answers'.]

Question: Do Kasi scholars not accept Srimad Bhagavatam?

Answer: They consider Srimad Bhagavatam to be one of the ordinary books. They think that it is just one particular Purana among many different Puranas. They do not consider it to be a great scripture at all. We think that there is actually no need for any other scripture besides Bhagavatam. When some other scripture says something, only when it follows Srimad Bhagavatam can it be accepted. The books that say something that goes against Srimad Bhagavatam cannot be spiritual.

People do not understand that Srimad Bhagavatam comes directly from the Lord. Of course, it was written down by somebody at some point in history, but it actually comes from the Lord Himself.

Question: What does the word 'anartha' mean?

Answer: Anartha (inauspiciousness, unwanted element) is that which prevents us from getting 'artha' (wealth, goal; our main necessity). Such anarthas turn us into their servants.

This is how we become servants of mundane wealth, or maya. We must use wealth, money in the service of the Lord, but we are always thinking about enjoyment. Instead of becoming servants of our guru, we use our guru or end up rejecting our guru. Do you think that anybody and everybody can be called a disciple? A genuine disciple is a person who takes the order of their guru on their head and follow it to a T. Always remember this.

What is a holy place? A holy place is wherever there is a Vaishnav.

Question: What is the cause of the famine of pure kirtan? Why is there so much sahajiya kirtan going on in the world?

Answer: Because of the insult and dishonour people show to the guru-varga, there has appeared a famine of kirtan in the world today. The kirtan of today is kirtan (glorification) of material world, kirtan for the sake of business, kirtan for the sake of amassing money, women and prestige, kirtan for the sake of mundane sense-gratification. Such kirtan is done not out of love for Krishna or for satisfying the Lord. However, when pure devotees do kirtan out of love for the Lord and for the spiritual benefit of the jiva souls, such kirtan is pure.

I wrote here about the reasons for the scarcity of genuine kirtan in this world. All kirtans are not the same.

Question: How can we be rescued from inauspiciousness, or spiritual damage?

Answer: The One who can steal (haran) our desire to enjoy is named 'Hari'. This desire to enjoy that we suffer from is called anartha. If remembrance of Krishna comes to us in the association of the Lord's devotees, then we can be delivered from inauspiciousness, otherwise not.

When we are in the association of devotees or when we remember devotees, then we can remember the Lord – thoughts about the Lord will be coming to our minds and hearts. The problem is that many of us think that we have become Vaishnavs, but it is not possible to become a Vaishnav unless you become a servant of Vaishnavs.

'"Ami ta vaisnava" e buddhi haile amani na ha'ba ami ('আমি ত বৈষ্ণব' এ বুদ্ধি হইলে অমানী না হ'ব আমি). If I think, "I am a Vaishnav," then I will never stop expecting honour from others.' You have heard the story about how Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj ate prasad along with the banana-leaf plate. Some old lady invited him to her house to take prasad, but when Srila Babaji Maharaj had eaten everything that was on his plate, the lady thought, 'Oh, I have brought Babaji Maharaj home thinking I could get his prasad, but he has not left anything on the plate!' Then, she started putting more on his plate. Srila Babaji Maharaj tried to stop her, 'Not necessary, not necessary! I do not want to take more. I have finished!' But she still insisted, 'No, no, take some more rice, dal and subji.' Understanding that the lady had some material desire, Srila Babaji Maharaj became very serious. He thought, 'She wants to take my prasad, but I am not a Vaishnav, how can I give her my prasad?'

Genuine gurus will never stretch out their legs for you to offer obeisances to them; they never allow others to touch their feet. Why? Because they think, 'I am not a Vaishnav, why will you offer me obeisances?' They never consider themselves Vaishnavs. Whenever anybody offers them obeisances, they fold their palms and say, 'I am your servant.' The guru says even to his disciples, 'I am your servant (daso 'smi).' This is the behaviour of a genuine guru.

So, when that lady put more rice, dal and other preparations on his plate, Srila Babaji Maharaj thought, 'So, you want to take my prasad? I will show you.' Then, Srila Babaji Maharaj ate whatever was put again on his plate, and this time he also ate the banana-leaf plate! When the lady saw it, she was taken aback, 'I have given so much trouble to Babaji Maharaj!' and Srila Babaji Maharaj's servitor, Bihari Das, said, 'Because of me Srila Babaji Maharaj has had to suffer so much! I have committed an offence. I will never again in my life take such invitations.'

Such was Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. But in our country, before Gurudev even finishes taking prasad, people come and stretch out their hands, 'Can I have some prasad?'... Some people think they are big Vaishnavs, so they take some prasad and then say, 'Here, I have taken prasad, now you all can take! Take my prasad!' What to speak of being Vaishnavs, they do not even have any devotion – they have not even entered the domain of devotion. They may have had some devotion before, but all their devotion is destroyed.

Karma-kanda (material activities), jnana-kanda (intellectual pursuits) are all worship of Maya (Maya-bhajan). 'Kanaka, kamini, pratistha-baghini chhadiyachhe yare sei ta vaisnava (কনক-কামিনী প্রতিষ্ঠা-বাঘিনী ছাড়িয়াছে যারে সেই ত বৈষ্ণব). Vaishnavs are those who give up money, women and fame the tigress' (Vaisnav Ke?, Srila Saraswati Thakur). One can give up money, one can give up women, friends or followers, but it is also necessary to give up this desire for name and fame. 'I have become a Vaishnav!' – this kind of desire for prestige must be given up. Give up the idea that you have become Vaishnavs.

— : • : —

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Size: 37 Mb
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