(2/12) Worship of Lord Siva

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Festival anniversary,
4 March 2019, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Whoever is present here, please listen careful to what I will say – listen attentively, with your heart and soul. As long as we have even attachment to this world, the talks about the Lord will not enter our ears. Still, it is the mercy of sadhus, gurus and Vaishnavs that we come to take their shelter and show some desire to hear about the Lord from them. These talks are not some pleasure talks – these talks bring actual benefit. It is necessary to learn to like that which is good for you.

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

'The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill – all it takes is mercy from gurudev.'

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy and aspiring to serve him; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all the assembled guru-varga, all my godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this lowly soul.

We are assembled here, in this area near Nabadwip, for the installation of Lord Siva's temple at the ashram of Sri Sri Guru Gaura Nityananda Prabhu; and today is the adhivas of this festival. The main festival will be the day after tomorrow. You have heard it. When we went to your houses, we invited you all and took some dal, rice and money from you for this festival, to use it for the service to the Lord. We tried and will try to do that. If Sivji Maharaj bestows his mercy on us, if Nitai-Gaura bestow Their mercy on us, then we will be able to use all that for the service to the Lord, Vaishnavs, sadhus and devotees.

Anyhow, there are so many things I have come to tell you. We know that Lord Siva is known as Ashotosh (he is easily pleased), so if we try to worship him by offering him just a bael leaf, it will please him, but this is a temporal matter. The main thing is that we must understand what Sivji Maharaj says. He is Param Vaishnav, a great devotee of the Lord (vaishnavanam yatha sambhu). When we offer arati to Lord Siva, we chant the kirtan 'Ohe Vaisnava Thakura dayara sagara ei dase karuna kari'. We offer him arati addressing him Vaishnav Thakur. Apart from that, you all know Lord Siva's mantra (Om namaha Sivaya) – recite this mantra when you offer your obeisances.

You have also heard the pranam-mantra of Tulasi Devi:

বৃন্দায়ৈ তুলসীদেব্যৈ প্রিয়ায়ৈ কেশবস্য চ ।
কৃষ্ণভক্তিপ্রদে দেবি সত্যবত্যৈ নমো নমঃ ॥

vrndayai tulasi-devyai priyayai kesavasya cha
krsna-bhakti-prade devi satyavatyai namo namah

I offer my obeisances to Vrnda Devi, who is very dear to Lord Kesav, who bestows devotion to Krishna and is known as Satyavati.

You have seen here before that we first offer arati to the Lord, then we do Tulasi parikrama. But now you should first do Sivji Maharaj's arati, after that offer the arati to Gaura-Nitai, then do Tulasi parikrama. From now on, you must do two aratis.

[To the cooks] Hey, do not put so many chillis! Will everybody be able to eat that? The Lord will eat it and not say anything, but you are putting so many chillis that everyone's heads will get heated...

— : • : —

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Length: 56 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Pure Hearts' Kirtan
2) Worship of Lord Siva
3) Proper Worship Comes from Proper Identification
4) Know Thyself
5) Pivoted Life
6) Short-Lived and Short-Sighted
7) Do Not Cheat Yourself
8) Devotional Service
9) Temple Is Not Made of Bricks
10) Spiritual Foundation
11) Stray Souls
12) Embrace Sheltered Life