(1/1) Sri Govardhan Parikrama

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Govardhan Parikrama, part one
28 October 2019, morning

AT SRI AANYOR VILLAGE

Say together with me, 'Hari bol! Hari bol!'

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Jay Sri Giriraj Govardhan parikrama ki jay.
Giriraj Govardhan parikrama-kari bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
All the assembled devotees ki jay.
All the worldwide devotees ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Samagata Sri Gaura bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Listen carefully. Continuing our parikrama, we have come to the village called Aanyor. 'Aanyor' means 'bring more'.

Tomorrow is Sri Govardhan puja. On this day all the Vraja-basis brought so many cakes, sweets, fruit and all kinds of other preparations and ingredients, and Giriraj Govardhan immediately finished everything. This is called 'annakut mahotsav'. Vraja-basis offered a huge mountain (kut) of rice (anna) to the Lord. Tomorrow also we will be offering a big mountain of rice to Giriraj Govardhan. Whatever Sri Giriraj Govardhan was offered, He finished everything at once. There were so many preparations and a whole mountain of rice, but not only did Giriraj Govardhan take everything, He said, 'I am still hungry! I am even hungrier than before! Bring more! Bring more!' Vraja-basis replied, 'Oh, let us go back home and bring more then.' But Govardhan told them, 'You do not have to go to your homes – I will take from your homes Myself.' Then, extending His arms far and wide, Govardhan took everything: He is very eager to engage everybody in service on this day. He kept saying, 'Bring more! Bring more!'

ভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু লুটিপুটি খায়
অভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু উলটি নাহি খায়

bhakter jinish prabhu lutiputi khay
abhakter jinish prabhu ulti nahi khay

'The Lord eats anything and everything when a devotee offers it, but the Lord does not want to take anything from a non-devotee.'

(Based on Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.9.185)

The Lord always takes things from His devotees. He always thinks about His devotees and always listens to His devotees. But He will not take anything from non-devotees because even if non-devotees do some service, they do it with some condition. This is not service. Service must be unconditional. It should not be mixed with any material desires (karma-misra), 'Oh, I will serve the Lord and get something in return' – this is not service. If this is your mood, then whatever you do, it will all be karma. Higher than that is jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with some desire to know), and above that is jnana-sunya bhakti (devotion without any desire to know) and jnana-sunya suddha-bhakti (pure devotion devoid of knowledge-seeking).

There is a gradation of devotion. One's devotion depends on faith: 'Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari (শ্রদ্ধা-অনুসারী ভক্তি-অধিকারী)' (Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.64). The more faith you have, the more devotion you have. We must give our lives to the Lord. It is not sufficient to give only your bodies, souls and minds – you must submit your entire lives to the service and the holy lotus feet of Lord Govinda. Do not set any conditions. 'I will give something to You, and I will take something from You.' Not like this. This is conditional service, or karma-misra bhakti. Service must be without any condition. That is the main thing about service.

So, coming here, we take the dust of this holy place on our heads and from here we proceed further, to Sri Govinda Kunda, where Sri Madhavendra Puripad and Sriman Mahaprabhu received the darshan of Gopal. This here is not just some forest dust – this dust is the dust from the holy feet of Vraja-gopis!

[His Divine Grace starts kirtan and continues the parikrama.]

AT SRI GOVINDA KUNDA

....Vraja-gopis prayed to all the trees and shrubs, 'Please do not let us ever leave Vrindavan.' They also prayed, 'O Lord! May we become creepers and shrubs in Vrindavan and be able to stay here. Your devotees will come here and we will be able to listen about You from them, we will be able to talk about You. Please keep us here in Vraja as some creepers.' In this way they are still staying here in Vrindavan as all kinds of grass, creepers and trees. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also came here, and He sat here, on the bank of Sri Govinda Kunda where are at present. When He came here, He cried and lamented, 'O Krishna! O Krishna! When will I be able to have the darshan of the Lord? When will I be able to meet with the Lord?' Mahaprabhu taught everybody by His own example. He both preached and practised what He preached. Manifesting His separation pastimes, He lamented, 'When will I be able to have the darshan of my Lord Krishna?' Coming here, we should chant Mahaprabhu's kirtan.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Gaurangera-duti-pada'.]

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 5 Mb
Length: 11 min
Language: Bengali, English