(3/12) Proper Worship Comes from Proper Identification

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Festival anniversary,
4 March 2019, evening, part 3
Translated from Bengali

[Clamour] Do not speak. This is not a place for talking. No gramya-katha, no nonsense talks. This is a place for talking about the Lord, so this is all we must talk about here. So, only talk about He whom you come to serve here. Do not talk about any material news, about your houses, etc. I am telling it to you straight.

One time, Parvati Devi asked Lord Siva, 'Prabhu, whose worship is the highest?' Lord Siva replied, 'The worship of Lord Vishnu is the highest.' Hearing this answer, Parvati became upset because she always served Lord Siva, but then Lord Siva continued:

আরাধনানাং সর্ব্বেষাং বিষ্ণোরারাধনং পরম্ ।
তস্মাৎ পরতরং দেবি তদীয়ানাং সমর্চ্চনম্ ॥

aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi tadiyanam samarchanam

'Of all types of worship, the worship of Lord Vishnu is the highest, but the worship of His devotee is higher still.'

(Quoted in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.11.31)

You can find this quote in Padma Purana. In other words, Lord Siva said, 'The worship of Lord Vishnu is considered to be the highest, but even higher than Lord Vishnu's worship is the worship of Lord Vishnu's devotees.' When Parvati heard this, she became happy again, thinking, 'Oh, my husband is a devotee of Lord Vishnu, so I am worshipping Lord Vishnu's devotee.' So, The worship of Vaishnavs (devotees of Lord Vishnu) is the highest.

What does Supreme Lord Krishna Himself say? He says, 'Those who say that they are My devotees are not My devotees. Those who are devotees of My devotees are My actual devotees.' In other words, Lord Krishna says that the worship of His devotees is higher than even His worship. That should be our identity.

নাহং বিপ্রো ন চ নরপতির্নাপি বৈশ্যো ন শূদ্রো
নাহং বর্ণী ন চ গৃহপতির্নো বনস্থো যতির্বা ।
কিন্তু প্রোদ্যন্নিখিলপরমানন্দপূর্ণামৃতাব্ধে-
র্গোপীভর্ত্তুঃ পদকমলয়োর্দাসদাসানুদাসঃ ॥

naham vipro na cha nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na cha grha-patir no vanastho yatir va
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

'I am not a brahman, not a ksatriya, not a vaisya, not a sudra; neither am I a brahmachari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify Myself as a servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, who is the beloved of the gopis, an ocean of nectar, eternally self-effulgent (self-manifest) and filled with the entire scope of all possible highest ecstasy.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.13.80; Padyavali)

We are not priests, fighters, merchants, workers or anything else – we are only servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the Lord.

The problem is that we do not even know who we are. Everybody who is born in this world forgets their own identity. When we are asked about our identity, we only talk about our bodily identification. We see a cow and say this is a cow; we see a bull and say that this is a bull; we see a madman and say that this is a madman; we see a goat and say that this is a goat; we see a dog and say that this is a dog; we see a girl or a boy and say that this is a girl, that is a boy; and we call ourselves men or women. But this is all wrong. This is not who we are. This is only what these bodies are. Somebody is born as a cow, so they are called a cow, and I am born in a human body, so everybody says that I am a human. When somebody asks you, 'Who are you?' what should you reply?...

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 27 Mb
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