(1/15) Where Does the Lord Stay?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, preaching programme,
16 January 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

‘The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill – all it takes is mercy from gurudev.’

(Bhavartha Dipika)

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-kula-churamani Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundar jiu ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Nitai Gaurachandra ki jay.
Akar Math-raj Sri Chaitanya Math ki jay.
Mayapur Yogapith ki jay.
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay.
Tadiya sakha math-samuha ki jay.
Sri Mather sevak vrinda, bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Ananta-koti Vaishnav vrinda ki jay.
Sri Gaudiya Acharya vrinda ki jay.
Tridandi-pad-gan ki jay.
Saparsada Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay.
Saparsada Sriman Mahaprabhu ki jay.
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay.
Suddha-bhaktir-vighna vinasa-kari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay.
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar, Giriraj Govardhan ki jay.
All the assembled devotees ki jay.
All the worldwide devotees ki jay.
Samagata sannyasi-vrinda, brahmachari-vrinda, bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Samagata matri-mandali, bhakta-mandali ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Samagata Sri Gaura-bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol.

We came here last year, and now, more than one year later, we have assembled here again to listen and speak about the Lord. Where does Lord Hari stay (Hari kothay, হরি কোথায়)? In Hari-katha (Hari-kathay, হরিকথায়) – in the discourses about the Lord. In which forest (van, বন) does Lord Hari stay? You can find Lord Hari in sra-van (when you listen about Him; Hari-sravane, হরি-শ্রবণে). The Lord becomes pleased when you listen and speak about Him, and especially when you worship Nitai and Gauranga, who perform Their magnanimous pastimes in Kali-yuga, through sankirtan. When you worship Gaura and Nitai through sankirtan, the Lord becomes the most pleased. Remember this. Gaura and Nitai are worshipped through sankirtan, and this sankirtan must be genuine:

অসাধুসঙ্গে ভাই কৃষ্ণনাম নাহি হয় ।
নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয় ॥

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

‘Brother, the Name of Krishna cannot be chanted in bad association: it may certainly sound like the letters of the Name, but it can never be the Name proper.’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, Srila Jagadananda Pandit)

‘সাধুসঙ্গ’, ‘সাধুসঙ্গ’—সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে কয় ।
লবমাত্র সাধুসঙ্গে সর্ব্বসিদ্ধি হয় ॥

‘sadhu-sanga’ ‘sadhu-sanga’—sarva-sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

‘All scriptures keep saying: ‘Good association’, ‘Good association.’ You can attain all perfection even just by a drop of good, saintly association.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.54)

It is necessary to chant the Holy Name in holy association.

There are sixty-four limbs of devotion, and among them these five are the main:

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

‘Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship holy Deities with faith.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

You must keep holy association, you must chant the Holy Name, you must listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, you must live in Mathura, and you must worship Deities with faith. Where is Mathura? Mathura is the place where the Lord appeared, but any place where discussions about the Lord take place is also Vrindavan. Wherever devotees speak about the Lord, wherever there is eternal, daily service to the Lord, such a place is non-different from Vrindavan.

যে দিন গৃহে, ভজন দেখি’,
গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায় ।

ye dina grhe, bhajana dekhi’,
grhete goloka bhaya

‘Any day there is devotional service at home, I see Goloka manifest itself in it.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When there is practice of Krishna consciousness and worship of the Lord going on in the house, when there is eternal daily service going on in the house, that house is Goloka Vrindavan. These are Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s words.

যে দিন গৃহে, ভজন দেখি’,
গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায় ।

ye dina grhe, bhajana dekhi’,
grhete goloka bhaya

‘Any day there is devotional service at home, I see Goloka manifest itself in it.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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Length: 120 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Where Does the Lord Stay?
2) Mahaprabhu's Advent and Gift
3) Coming Out of Maya
4) Make Yourself Qualified
5) Six Limbs of Surrender
6) Sincere and Deep Prayer
7) Lend Me Your Heart
8) Follow the Footsteps of Great Souls
9) Suspicion Leads to Suspension
10) Only One Question
11) We Are Neither Enjoyers, Nor Renouncers
12) False Ego's Folly
13) Be Sincere and Studious
14) Remembering Mahaprabhu's Sannyas
15) Way Out