(10) Full-Fledged Religion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Krishna Janmastami, Tarakeswar
23 August 2019, evening, part 10
Translated from Bengali

(হে) দেব ভবন্তং বন্দে ।
মন্মানস-মধুকর মর্পয় নিজপদ-পঙ্কজ-মকরন্দে ॥
যদ্যপি সমাধিষু বিধিরপি পশ্যতি ন তব নখাগ্রমরীচিম্ ।
ইদমিচ্ছামি নিশম্য তবাচ্যুত তদপি কৃপাদ্ভুতবীচিম্ ॥১॥

(he) deva bhavantam vande
man-manasa-madhukaram arpaya nija-pada-pankaja-makarande
yadyapi samadhisu vidhir api pasyati na tava nakha gramarichim
idam ichchhami nisamya tavachyuta tadapi krpadbhutavichim [1]

'O Lord, I offer obeisances unto You. Please place the bee of my heart in the honey of Your lotus feet. O Achyuta! Although even Brahma, in his samadhi, cannot see the lustre of the tips of Your toenails, I have heard of the waves of Your wonderful mercy and I desire to see it.'

ভক্তিরুদঞ্চতি যদ্যপি মাধব ন ত্বয়ি মম তিলমাত্রী ।
পরমেশ্বরতা তদপি তবাধিক-দুর্ঘটঘটন-বিধাত্রী ॥২॥

bhaktir udanchati yadyapi madhava na tvayi mama tila-matri
paramesvarata tad api tavadhika-durghata-ghatana-vidhatri [2]

'O Madhav! Although I do not have even a sesame-seed size of devotion to You, Your supreme power is the creator of even more improbable miracles.'

অয়মবিলোল-তয়াদ্য সনাতন কলিতাদ্ভুত-রসভারম্ ।
নিবসতু নিত্যমিহামৃতনিন্দিনি বিন্দন্মধুরিম-সারম্ ॥৩॥

ayam avilola-tayadya sanatana kalitadbhuta-rasa-bharam
nivasatu nityam ihamrta-nindini vindan-madhurima-saram [3]

'O eternal Lord, may the bee of my heart reside eternally at Your lotus feet, where there is an abundance of the most wonderful honey, which surpasses the nectar of immortality, and thus attain the ultimate sweetness.'

There is another nice kirtan, 'Srita-kamala-kucha-mandala dhrta-kundala,' composed by Srila Jayadev Goswami. He famously wrote, 'Dehi pada-pallavam udaram. I place Your tender feet on My head.' Have you heard the story of Jayadev Goswami and Padmavati?

He was born there, but the point is what pastimes he performed. Do you not remember it? When we go to Ritudwip on the last day of the parikrama, we always talk about him. He came from the bank of the Ganges and stayed there, composing scriptures. It was there that he famously expressed Lord Krishna's words, 'Dehi pada-pallavam udaram. I place Your tender feet on My head.'

How can one get devotion to the Lord? Devotion comes from association with devotees. Remember this. The only way to develop devotion is by associating with the devotees of the Lord. We are here to observe Lord Krishna's appearance, but celebrating His appearance here is not enough – His appearance should take place in the heart. Lord Krishna must appear in the heart of every one of us. Before that happens, we need Bhakti Devi to appear in our hearts. If we want Goddess of Devotion to appear in our hearts, we must associate with devotees.

You can see that we have been speaking Hari-katha all this time, and at the back people are lying down and sleeping...

Who has the right for devotion? Those who have faith. So, those who have faith have devotion. Do you understand the meaning of faith (sraddha)? It means believing (visvasa). Somebody says that God has no form – they have no faith in God and worship formless Brahman. But if somebody says that God has a form, if they see Lord Gopal and serve Him lovingly, then they have faith and there is God for them. There is no God for those who have no faith, and those who have no faith have no devotion.

Listen to what Lord Krishna says to Uddhav Maharaj in Srimad Bhagavatam.

যথা যথাত্মা পরিমৃজ্যতেঽসৌ
মৎপুণ্যগাথাশ্রবণাভিধানৈঃ ।
তথা তথা পশ্যতি বস্তু সূক্ষ্মং
চক্ষুর্যথৈবাঞ্জনসম্প্রযুক্তম্ ॥

yatha yathatma parimrjyate 'sau
mat-punya-gatha-sravanabhidhanaih
tatha tatha pasyati vastu suksmam
chaksur yathaivanjana-samprayuktam

'By always remembering and glorifying the Holy Name, beauty, qualities, pastimes, associates of the Lord, who is filled with eternity, consciousness and bliss, the soul reforms and, crossing over the results of all their activities performed birth after birth, they regain their original form removing all suffering.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.14.26)

We are suffering in this world so much! So many people suffer from all kinds of diseases, so many people die of hunger in this world. Besides humans, there are so many other living entities – so many beasts, birds, insects, bugs live in drains and other filthy places. Snakes, frogs and dogs live in all kinds of places, suffering in their lives. But by following full-fledged religion of worshipping the Supreme Lord's Names and qualities – by sincerely worshiping the nectar of the Lord's Name, the nectar of the Lord's qualities, the nectar of the Lord's pastimes – the soul can become reinstated in its original position as a servitor. When you apply anjan (potent kajol, or antimony) on the eyes, it restores the eyes' vision; in the same way, if you chant the glories of the Lord's Holy Name, qualities, pastimes, and so on, then – by practising devotion by worshipping the Lord's Deity, and so on – all internal unwanted elements go away, and then faith, unswerving sincerity and taste come, and then one will always want to practise sravan and kirtan.

When does one develop this continuous desire to practise sravan and kirtan? Until and unless all dirt leaves our hearts, we will not want to practise sravan and kirtan – we will not like listening about devotion to the Lord, about the Lord, we will not like glorifying the Lord, we will not feel any taste for all this.

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