(5/9) 'I Am Sold to You'

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja Day, Tarakeswar, evening class
29 September 2019, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Srila Rupa Goswamipad wrote:

অন্যাভিলাষিতা-শূন্যং জ্ঞান-কর্ম্মাদ্যনাবৃতম্ ।
আনুকূল্যেন কৃষ্ণানুশীলনং ভক্তিরুত্তমা ॥

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

'The highest devotion is that which satisfies Lord Krishna, free from the coverings of any pursuits, such as action or knowledge.'

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.1.11)

All other desires must be given up.

অন্য-অভিলাষ ছাড়ি’, জ্ঞান-কর্মম্ম পরিহরি’,
কায় মনে করিব ভজন ।
সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণ সেবা, না পূজিব দেবীদেবা,
এই ভক্তি পরম কারণ ॥

anya-abhilasa chhadi', jnana-karma parihari',
kaya mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna seva, na pujiba devi-deva,
ei bhakti parama karana

'I will serve the Lord with my body and mind, giving up all other desires and pursuits of material benefit and knowledge. I will serve Lord Krishna in sadhus’ association without worshipping any gods or goddesses – this is the ultimate way to attain devotion.'

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

There is anya-abhilasa, and there is ananya-abhilasa. We are told to give up anya-abhilasa (all other desires unrelated to the devotional life) and embrace ananya-abhilasa (exclusive desires related to the devotional life). Ananya-abhilasa means realising, 'My everything belongs only to the holy lotus feet of Krishna, and none else. I have given my everything – my body, soul, mind, etc. – to the holy lotus feet of my gurudev and Lord Krishna, so I cannot give them to anybody else. I have sold everything at the holy feet of my guru.'

The problem is that people lack the faith that gurudev wants their good. There are very few practitioners, very few devotees who speak about their spiritual lives. Mostly, everybody speaks about problems in their family lives and material lives. Hardly anybody ever speaks about the problems in their spiritual lives, about the difficulties in their practice of Krishna consciousness. The reason for this is duplicity and other desires. There are such practitioners even at the temple.

When you submit yourself to you guru and open yourself to him, gurudev will take care of you. Whoever embarks on the path of practising spiritual life must open themselves up to gurudev; it is for gurudev to see how they should practise spiritual life.

I told you yesterday about the three main holy abodes: Sri Nabadwip Mandal, Sri Ksetra Mandal and Sri Vraja Mandal. Gaudiya Vaishnavs always live in the shelter of these three places. Sri Nabadwip Mandal is especially suitable for newcomers who have only started practising Krishna consciousness and who still struggled with unwanted habits. Sri Ksetra Mandal is for those who have made some progress in their spiritual lives. Finally, Sri Vraja Mandal is for those who desire to taste the highest transcendental ecstasy (who have received that kind of right and qualification).

Mahaprasad-seva is also a limb of devotion: honouring prasad is also a devotional practice. Lying down to rest or going to the bathroom to pass stool and take a shower is also service. Even all these things are favourable to devotion. Even taking prasad is service to the Lord, but if during taking prasad you are looking what you have been given or what you have not been given, what others have been given, and so on, then it is not service. When you take prasad, you must chant the glories of prasad. Kirtan is spiritual life, spiritual practice. You must learn from your guru and Vaishnavs which kirtans are good for you, which kirtans you should chant. The kirtans that are chanted during the morning arati, the kirtans that are chanted during the bhoga-arati and noon arati, the kirtans that are chanted during the evening arati are all fixed, so you should not chant any other kirtans during the arati or instead of the designated arati kirtans. Remember this. There are also certain kirtans that are chanted during parikramas, and you should chant them, not other kirtans.

If your kirtan chanting is not suffused with service, then what you are doing turns into mere song-singing. Singings songs and chanting kirtan are not the same thing. Kirtan is part of devotion, but songs are sung for sense-gratification. When you sing some songs, you do it for your own happiness and for the happiness of others, not for the happiness of the Lord or for the happiness of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. In other words, singing songs is about doing what others like and satisfying others' desires. If you engage singing in spiritual practice – that is, if you chant Sri Nama-sankirtana (join the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Supreme Lord) following the example of great souls – then your singing will turn into spiritual practice. For newcomers and those of low qualification, Nama-sankirtana is the highest practice.

At the same time, many people sing the songs that they have no right to sing.

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

'Having travelled throughout the universe, some fortunate souls receive the seed of the devotional creeper by the mercy of Sri Guru, who is non-different from Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.151)

When you plant a seed, you must water it, but if you pour too much water, the plant will rot and die. So, we have no right to sing, for example, the kirtans composed by Jayadev and Padmavati, the rasa-kirtans, or to even discuss those kirtans, but if we do it, our devotion will be eventually destroyed. If you go to do what you have no right to do, this is called transgression. Kirtans must be chanted according to your rightful qualification. Always remember this. When you go to do any service, you must always remember these things.

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Size: 21 Mb
Length: 43 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Relentless Pursuit
2) Master's Ego vs Servant's Ego
3) Servitor's Ambition
4) Do Not Waste Time
5) 'I Am Sold to You'
6) Kirtan: Devotees' Heartbeat
7) Loving Search
8) Esoteric Sacrality of Sannyas
9) No Shortcuts