(14/14) Pure Devotees' Pure Hankering

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
26 February 2019, noon, part 14
Translated from Bengali

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

Question: What is the purpose of this body?

Answer: Srila Prabhupad said, "We will not stay in this world for long. If you use your body for chanting the glories of the Lord until its demise, this is the purpose of this body."

I have just told you the same thing: if we can leave this body always thinking about the Lord, then we can reach our highest benefit. To make sure that other thoughts except thoughts about the Lord do not come to your mind at the time of leaving this body, it is necessary to practise. Start practising now. Start chanting the Holy Name now; think about the Lord starting from now.

Question: What do intimate devotees hanker for?

Answer: Srila Prabhupad said, "Intimate, or the highest, devotees have no other hankering except for servitude to rupanugas (followers of Sri Rupa).

Such devotees do not crave anything else – they have no greed for money, wealth or anything else except servitude to rupanuga Vaishnavs. They only always think about Lord Krishna.

Question: Where is a holy place?

Answer: Srila Prabhupad told in this regard, "A holy place is where there is Hari-katha."

Question: Why do we see others' faults?

Answer: Being unable to rectify my own mind, we look for faults in others.

First control and set your own mind right. Because you cannot do that, you are only looking for faults in others

Who can I call my own? And who is a stranger to you? Do you think it is your wife? You son? Your daughter? Your friends or other family? No, they are not your own. Srila Prabhupad said very harsh words. Those who are averse to Lord Chaitanya (to the spiritual world of consciousness – to your guru and Vaishnavs) are not your own (they are strangers); and those who are devoted to Lord Chaitanya (to spiritual life) are your own. You must remember this.

Question: How can one live in Mathura?

Answer: If you want to enjoy and imitate living in Mathura, this this is not living in Mathura.

I have just told you about this. Read this book (Guidance 3) – you will find answers to all questions here. I have collected these questions and answers from various places and sources.

Question: How can one get rid of anarthas (unwanted habits)?

Answer: Unless a jiva soul practises Krishna consciousness, it starts looking for material prosperity, knowledge or fulfilment of various desires, therefore it is necessary to call out to the Lord by loudly chanting the maha-mantra. When one loudly chants the Holy Name of Krishna, anarthas go away.

Question: What does 'poor Narayan' ['Poor Narayan' refers to the poor (beggar class) conceived as God personified] mean?

Answer: Narayan can never be poor. A poor person can never be Narayan. Every jivatma is part and parcel of Lord Krishna, a jiva can never become God, so to call a poor man Narayan or to associate Narayan with something poor is atheistic.

If somebody says that they are serving jiva souls thinking that this is service to 'poor Narayan', they are atheists, heretics!

People say that brahmans fish, meat, onion, garlic and challenge us asking why we do not. We do not need to explain ourselves to them – our only explanation should be based on the scriptures.

Question: What is the difference between a Vaishnav and a brahman?

Answer: A Vaishnav is a devotee of Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and a brahman is a devotee of nirguna Brahman (impersonal aspect of the Lord situated beyond the influence of the material modes of nature). The knower of the impersonal aspect of the Supreme Lord is called a brahman, and the knower of the personal aspect of the Lord is called a Vaishnav. If a brahman practises Krishna consciousness in the realisation of sambandha-jnana, he can become a Vaishnav – by the mercy of Vishnu, he can be saved from the hands of impersonalists and become an 'unadulterated brahman', or a Vaishnav. Sri Jiva Goswami writes in his book Bhakti-sandarbha (177), referring to Sri Vyasadev's Garuda Purana, that one priest performing sacrifices is higher than a thousand ordinary brahmans, one person learned in the Vedas and all the other scriptures is higher than a thousand such priests, a Vaishnav is higher than millions of such learned experts, and just one exclusive devotee is higher than thousands of Vaishnavs. All Vaishnavs are brahmans, but brahmanism stands on the lowest steps of the ladder of Vaishnavism. Vaishnavs' qualities are much greater than the qualities of brahmans. A brahman is a servant of Vaishnavs: just as when a man has a lakh of rupees, he also has a thousand rupees, the same is true here too – if someone is a Vaishnav, they are automatically a brahman as well. The qualities of a brahman are included within the qualities of a Vaishnav.

You can find the evidence of this in Srila Vyasadev's Garuda Purana and Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu's Bhakti-sandarbha. I wrote this taking quotations from there.

Question: Is Krishna-sankirtan the only practice?

Answer: People who practise Krishna consciousness have no other duty. Be it a child, an old man, a young man, a woman, a man, a scholar, a fool, a rich man, a poor man, a handsome man, a pious man, a sinner – whatever position one may be in, they have no other method of spiritual practice: the only spiritual practice is 'Sri Krishna-sankirtan'.

Tell this to everybody. But in our country, all women say, 'We have not become old yet. We are still young, why must we practise Krishna consciousness? What will I get by becoming a Vaishnav?' Becoming a Vaishnav is the greatest achievement in life, and one can become a Vaishnav only by serving Vaishnavs.

Question: What happens if I listen to non-devotional talks?

Answer: If we listen to non-devotional talks or take advice from non-devotees, then we will spend millions of lifetimes in illusory bondage serving every single atom of this material world.

Question: What does a show of service mean?

Answer: It is what those who serve the Deity must not become like. If a temple priest worships the Deity for a ten-rupee salary, this cannot be 'serving' the Lord. If someone does 'kirtan' for twenty rupees, this cannot be 'chanting the Holy Name'; if you settle with somebody to give a lecture or read 'Bhagavatam' for fifty rupees, this cannot be 'Hari-katha'—this is amusement for the sake of people's joy or an eloquence display. This is not devotion, this is not Vaishnavism – it is enjoying the Name, it is pursuing one's own interest (karma-marga).

You can see people reading Srimad Bhagavatam during one whole week – they say, 'If you want me to read for one week, you must pay me seven thousand rupees.' Gurudev never liked this, and he always told us to never go there to listen to it, no matter how great the reader may be because it only brings inauspiciousness – it destroys devotion.

So, let us chant a few kirtans now. We have five minutes. What kirtan shall I chant? Shall I chant some baul kirtan? Will you be able to chant it with me? I will chant Lochan Das Thakur's baul kirtan.

[Concluding the class, His Divine Grace chants 'Ke yabi ke yabi re bhai' and then arises for the bhoga arati and leads the chanting.]

— : • : —

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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