(1/2) Ten Offences

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Translated from Bengali
January 2020, part 1

This Age of Kali is an ocean of faults, but it has one great quality—the Supreme Lord appears in this age in the form of His Holy Name.

কলিকালে নামরূপ কৃষ্ণ-অবতার ।
নাম হৈতে হয় সর্ব্বজগৎ-নিস্তার ॥

kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara
nama haite haya sarva-jagat-nistara

"In the Kali-yuga, Krishna appears in the form of the Name. The entire world is delivered through that Name."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.17.22)

aparadha-sunya haye laha krsna-nama
achirat tumi pabe krsna-prema-dhana

'Chant the Holy Name of Krishna without offence and you will quickly get the treasure of divine love to Krishna.'

We are chanting the Holy Name so much, but why are we not able to get any result? Why do we not understand anything? Do we really chant the Holy Name with all our heart? The truth is that no matter how much we do and what we do, we mostly make offences.

eka-bara krishna-name yata papa hare
patakira sadhya nahi tata papa kare

"A sinner cannot commit more sin than once chanting Krishna's Name can remove."

If we chanted the Holy Name without offences, this would be the result. At the same time, it is said in the scriptures:

কোটি জন্ম যদি করে শ্রবণ কীর্ত্তন ।
তবু না পায় ব্রজেন্দ্রনন্দন ॥

koti janma yadi kare sravana kirtana
tabu na paya vrajendranandan

"If you practise hearing and chanting for millions of lives, you may still not get the Son of Nanda who dwells in Vraja."

Even if you hear about and glorify the Lord for millions of lives, you will not get any result—you will not get the Lord.

হেন কৃষ্ণনাম যদি লয় বহুবার ।
তবু যদি প্রেম নহে, নহে অশ্রুধার ॥
তবে জানি, অপরাধ তাহাতে প্রচুর ।
কৃষ্ণনাম-বীজ তাহে না করে অঙ্কুর ॥

hena krnsa-nama yadi laya bahu-bara
tabu yadi prema nahe, nahe asrudhara
tabe jani, aparadha tahate prachura
krsna-nama-bija tahe na kare ankura

"If you chant this Name of Krishna so many times but still there is no love, there are no tears streaming from your eyes, then as I understand there are too many offences and the seed of Krishna's Name does not sprout."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.29–30)

It is necessary to give up the ten offences of the Holy Name. Most of you have taken initiation, but do you know what the ten offences are? The problem is in the first offence—criticising and blaspheming saints, Sri Guru and Vaishnavs. Both those who speak bad about sadhus and who hear bad things about sadhus are offenders. It is a sin to hear bad things about sadhus, and it is a sin to say bad things about sadhus. There is even a common saying that "when somebody does wrong and somebody overlooks it, Your repugnance burns both like straw" ("anyaya ye kore ar anyaya ye sahya tava ghrina yena tare trnasama dohe"; অন্যায় যে করে আর অন্যায় যে সহে তব ঘৃণা যেন তারে তৃণসম দহে ). Those who do something wrong are at fault, and those who overlook when somebody does wrong are just as much at fault. So, just as those who criticise Vaishnavs commit an offence, those who tolerate it when others criticise Vaishnavs also commit an offence. Do not say bad things, do not see bad things, do not hear bad things. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says:

বৈষ্ণব-চরিত্র, সর্ব্বদা পবিত্র,
যেই নিন্দে হিংসা করি’ ।
ভকতিবিনোদ না সম্ভাষে তাঁ’রে,
থাকে সদা মৌন ধরি’ ॥

vaisnava-charitra sarvada pavitra
yei ninde himsa kari'
bhaktivinoda na sambhase tan're
thake sada mauna dhari'

"The character of Vaishnavs is always pure. Bhaktivinod keeps quiet and does not associate with those who are envious of Vaishnavs and who criticise Vaishnavs."

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru)

If you hear others criticise Vaishnavs, you must keep quiet. Hearing and saying bad things about Vaishnavs is the first offence.

The second offence of the Holy Name is consider Lord Siva and other gods and goddesses equal to the Supreme Lord.

একলা ঈশ্বর কৃষ্ণ, আর সব ভৃত্য ।
যারে যৈছে নাচায়, সে তৈছে করে নৃত্য ॥

ekala isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nachaya, se taichhe kare nrtya

"Krishna is the only Lord, all others are His servants. As He makes others dance, so they dance."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 5.142)

All gods and goddesses are parts of the Supreme Lord; they are not equal to Him. A jiva soul is a part of the Lord (it is an infinitesimal particle of consciousness), and the Lord is the great consciousness. We worship Kali, Durga Siva and other gods, and we think that all kinds of worship are one and the same. Their worship is neither the same nor different. Gods are parts of the Lord.

The third offence is disobeying your Guru and considering him a mere mortal. You see that your Guru eats just like you, sleeps just like you and does everything else just like you, but Guru is a liberated soul, and we are conditioned souls. Being conditioned and liberated is not the same. You cannot serve the Lord unless you are liberated. Do you understand this? It is necessary to be always liberated to be able to serve the Lord.

You must remember the ten offences. If you do not know the ten offences, then no matter how much you chant the Holy Name, you will not get any result. If you chant and do not get the result, it means that you are not able to chant without offences. Carefully read what the offences are. Guru Maharaj always said that if you read the book about the offences of the Holy Name, you will be able to understand everything.

Only chanting the Holy Name is not everything. At the same time, the more you chant the Holy Name—as you chant and chant—offences can reduce. If you chant the Holy Name and if you glorify the Lord, then bad thoughts and desires will not come to your mind.

গ্রাম্যকথা না শুনিবে, গ্রাম্যবার্ত্তা না কহিবে ।
ভাল না খাইবে আর ভাল না পরিবে ॥
অমানী মানদ হঞা কৃষ্ণনাম সদা ল'বে ।
ব্রজে রাধাকৃষ্ণ সেবা মানসে করিবে ॥

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

"Do not listen to the mundane talks, do not listen to the mundane news. Do not eat fancy food, do not wear fancy clothes. Do not expect honour to yourself, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the Holy Name of Krsna, and in your mind serve Radha-Krsna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.236–237)

The Ten Offences to The Holy Name

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 4.9 Mb
Length: 11 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Extent of Sincerity
2) If You Want to Get Right for Service...