(13/13) Meaning of Initiation

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Singur,
7 May 2019, noon, part 13
Translated from Bengali

[To a devotee] Are you going to take initiation? Why? Because others are taking initiation today? What is this? Is it written anywhere that everybody must take initiation?

Why do people take initiation? What for?

Devotee: To get the Lord.

What?! So, all those who have taken initiation have got the Lord?? Ask them – ask those who have taken initiation if they have got the Lord.

Initiation is taken so that you can serve your guru and the Lord. This is the answer. When you take initiation, you receive a seed of the creeper of devotion and after that begin to chant the Holy Name – as the result of that chanting you can get the right to serve the Lord. This is the purpose of initiation.

To give you credit, at least you were able to answer the question. Have you ever seen a herd of sheep? There is usually one sheep running first and all the other sheep are following it... But ‘Kabe habe bala se dina amara (কবে হবে বল, সে দিন আমার) – tell me, when will that day be mine?…’

কবে হবে বল, সে দিন আমার ।
অপরাধ ঘুচি’, শুদ্ধ নামে রুচি,
কৃপা-বলে হবে হৃদয়ে সঞ্চার ॥

kabe habe bala, se dina amara
aparadha ghuchi’, suddha name ruchi,
krpa-bale habe hrdaye sanchara

‘Tell me, when will that day be mine? When, by mercy, will my offences go away? When will I get taste for the pure Holy Name?’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Always remember this. Chant this kirtan. Always pray,

কবে শ্রীচৈতন্য মোরে করিবেন দয়া ।
কবে আমি পাইব বৈষ্ণব-পদছায়া ॥

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

‘When will Sri Chaitanya (my chaitya-guru) be merciful to me? When will I come in the shade of Vaishnavs’ feet?’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

'When will I come to the shade of Vaishnavs' feet? When will Vaishnavs bestow their mercy on me? When will I learn to give honour to the devotees of the Lord?'

গলবস্ত্র কৃতাঞ্জলি বৈষ্ণব নিকটে ।
দন্তে তৃণ করি’ দাঁড়াইব নিষ্কপটে ॥

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari’ dandaiba niskapate

‘I will stand before a Vaishnav sincerely, with a cloth around my neck and joined palms, holding a straw between my teeth.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Does nobody else have any questions? Are you too shy to ask? If you have questions, you can ask.

Soon is our annual festival at Sri Nrisingha Palli. Everybody must come. There will be ekadasi soon – you can come on the next day (on dvadasi). Come for trayodasi, chaturdasi and purnima. On ekadasi we fast until noon (and then take anukalpa), and on Nrisingha-chaturdasi, we fast from the morning till evening. You can take some fruit or fruit juice if you cannot fast because of some health problems; other than that, everybody should fast from morning until evening. So, Wednesday (15 May) is ekadasi, the next day is dvadasi, paran is between 5:00 and 7:13 a.m. Then, Friday is adhivas, Saturday is Nrisingha-chaturdasi, and Sunday is the main festival.

Question: Today is the beginning of the 21-day chandan-yatra of Lord Jagannath...

Same as snan-yatra, it is mostly observed in Puri. Now is a very hot time of the year, so during this time you should apply sandalwood paste onto the Deities. In many temples, they engage several devotees to sit and grind kilogrammes of sandalwood paste at this time. After you perform archan and offer bhoga to the Deities at noon, you should apply that paste on the Deities before putting Them to rest. After that, the paste is removed in the evening. Sandalwood paste is applied for the afternoon when it is the hottest because sandalwood is cooling. The whole body of the Deity is covered with the paste to give some cooling relief from heat.

Question: Is it the same as the chandan used for tilaks?

No. Sandalwood paste comes from ground wood, and tilak chandan comes from clay. If you try to buy ready-made sandalwood paste, it is not pure – they add sand in it. Pure sandalwood paste costs more than eight thousand rupees per kilo. They will sell you any power that only smells like chandan or roses. The original sandal wood is sold in Vrindavan, in Mayapur and a few other places. They make sandalwood paste in Puri and apply it on Lord Jagannathdev. This is chandan-yatra.

At snan-yatra, they take Jagannath's Deity (not the original one, another Deity) to a pond called Narendra Sarovar and keep Him at a temple there for some time. Later, in the afternoon, they bring the Deity back – they do not leave the Lord there because the water gets cold.

Anyway, much has been said today. We came here today on the occasion of installation festival of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Shyamasundar. You are very fortunate to have come to this festival – you have got a chance to listen about the Lord and to glorify the Lord. You must always engage yourselves in the service to the Lord. This is always our main goal. This is what we have got these human births for. The meaning of human life is to chant the Holy Names of the Lord in the association of saints and engage ourselves in the Lord's service. Always serve the Lord. Always engage yourself in the Lord's service. Always think about the Lord, always practise Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness (Krsna-bhajan) means service to the Lord (Hari-seva). This is our duty. Every single one of us must live like this. There are certain things that are not conducive to this end – they must be given up. We sing,

ছয় বেগ দমি’, ছয় দোষ শোধি’,
ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে ।

chhaya vega dami’, chhaya dosa sodhi’,
chhaya guna deha dase

‘Please subjugate my six urges, rectify my six defects and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We must control the six urges, we must remove the six faults from ourselves. Actually, everything comes by the mercy of Vaishnavs.

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধুকৃপা বিনা আর না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-krpa bina ara na dekhi upaya

‘It is impossible to conquer illusory environment and break free from it. I see no other way to get relief except by sadhus’ mercy.’

(Prarthana, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

There is no other way to attain anything except by the mercy of sadhus. If we can get their mercy and get out of this material world, we can enter the domain of the Lord and take part in His service. Another thing is ‘Apana bhajana-katha na kahibe yatha tatha (আপন ভজন-কথা, না কহিবে যথা তথা). Do not tell anyone and everyone about your bhajan, service and practice. Keep it private.’ You must not tell others about your internal spiritual practice. Those who have got the Lord will never tell anybody, 'Oh, I have got the Lord.' We only want to continue serving the Lord – we are not interested in 'getting' the Lord. We hanker after the darshan of the Lord, but ‘kirtana prabhave smarana haibe (কীর্ত্তন-প্রভাবে স্মরণ হইবে). Chanting (kirtan) arouses remembrance (smaran)’ ('Vaisnava Ke?').

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Length: 70 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Qualification for Holy Life
2) Bow Your Head
3) Reckless Rat Race
4) Unfathomable Thoughtlessness
5) Deep Frying
6) 'Take Me With You!'
7) Material Obstruction
8) Beg, Collect and Practise
9) Doomed?
10) 'I Am Spirit Soul' – Are You?
11) Love, but Love Whom and How?
12) Service Consciousness
13) Meaning of Initiation