(6/15) Sincere and Deep Prayer

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, preaching programme,
16 January 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

কবে শ্রীচৈতন্য মোরে করিবেন দয়া ।
কবে আমি পাইব বৈষ্ণব-পদছায়া ॥

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya

‘When will Sri Chaitanya (my chaitya-guru) be merciful to me? When will I come in the shade of Vaishnavs’ feet?’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When will Chaitanya (my chaitya-guru) shower His mercy on me, and when will I be able to take shelter at the lotus feet of Vaishnavs?

কবে আমি ছাড়িব এ বিষয়াভিমান ।
কবে বিষ্ণুজনে আমি করিব সম্মান ॥

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana

‘When will I give up this mundane ego? When will I give honour to the Lord’s devotees?’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When will I leave all my material ego? People are proud of their money, beauty, friends and families. They think, ‘Why must I go to the class? I am sitting nicely at home and watching news, series and soap operas on TV.’

When Mahaprabhu went to Ramkeli, He met with Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu, who were very big ministers in the government of Emperor Hussein Sah at that time (one of the brothers was the treasurer, and the other one’s post was similar to that of a chief minister). Despite their big position, the brothers came to Mahaprabhu very humbly: they fell at His feet holding a blade of straw in their teeth, showing, ‘We are lower than even cows.’

গলবস্ত্র কৃতাঞ্জলি বৈষ্ণব নিকটে ।
দন্তে তৃণ করি’ দাঁড়াইব নিষ্কপটে ॥

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari’ dandaiba niskapate

‘I will stand before a Vaishnav sincerely, with a cloth around my neck and joined palms, holding a straw between my teeth.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

‘Sincerely’ means to come without wanting to show anything to others or wanting to impress others. It is necessary to feel this and to practise spiritual life very deeply, internally, not for the sake of showing anything to others.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।
গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

‘gorara ami, gorara ami’ mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara laile phala phale

‘Just saying, “I am Gora’s! I am Gora’s!” will not do. Only when you follow Gora’s practice and Gora’s conception will you get the proper result.’

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।
গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari’
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

‘You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you out, thief (hypocrite)!’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6–7, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

Gora knows what you are doing. You cannot cheat Him or hide anything from Him.

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া জানাইব দুঃখগ্রাম ।
সংসার অনল হৈতে মাগিব বিশ্রাম ॥

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama
samsara-anala haite magiba visrama

‘Weeping, I will tell Vaishnav Thakur about my miserable life and pray to him for respite from the fire of material existence.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

This material life is compared to a fire. We also sing in a kirtan written by Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur:

সংসার-দাবানল-লীঢ়-লোক-
ত্রাণায় কারুণ্য-ঘনাঘনত্বম্ ।
প্রাপ্তস্য কল্যাণ-গুণার্ণবস্য
বন্দে গুরোঃ শ্রীচরণারবিন্দম্ ॥

samsara-davanala-lidha-loka-
tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

‘I offer my obeisance unto the lotus feet of Sri Guru, who is an ocean of good qualities and auspiciousness and who, as a thick rain cloud of mercy, brings relief to this world devoured by the forest fire of material existence.’

(Sri Sri Gurvastakam, Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur)

Material family is a blazing fire, and we have fallen into it. Be it a human family, a goat’s family, a dog’s family or any other family in this world, it is all a blazing fire. I have told before that we have got this human birth in this land of India having wandered throughout 8,400,000 species, but we must be careful not to become demoted. Everyone hopes to be promoted, but if you become demoted, you will have to be again born as cows, dogs, cats, jackals or any other species. We certainly do not want this to happen. We have got these human births and these nice bodies now. It is said even about the Lord Himself:

কৃষ্ণের যতেক খেলা, সর্ব্বোত্তম নরলীলা,
নরবপু তাহার স্বরূপ ।

krsnera yateka khela, sarvottama nara-lila,
nara-vapu tahara svarupa

‘The highest form of the Lord is Krishna, who plays His eternal divine pastimes like an ordinary human being.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.21.101)

Lord Krishna and Gauranga Mahaprabhu come to this world assuming a human form, and we have now got similar human bodies – we must not waste this opportunity. These bodies will go away one day. You have not got these bodies only for sleeping, eating, breeding and fearing. Everyone in this world is worried about their lives, nobody has time to listen to Hari-katha. What do scriptures say?

জীবন অনিত্য জানহ সার,
তাহে নানাবিধ বিপদ ভার
নামাশ্রয় করি’ যতনে তুমি,
থাকহ আপন কাজে ॥

jivana anitya janaha sara
tahe nana-vidha vipada-bhara
namasraya kari’ yatane tumi,
thakaha apana kaje

‘You must know the main truth that this life is not eternal and full of various dangers. Carry on your life but try your best to take shelter in the Holy Name.’

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

This life is not eternal!

দিন যায় মিছা কাজে নিশা নিদ্রাবশে ।
নাহি ভাবি মরণ নিকটে আছে বসে ॥

dina yaya michha kaje nisa nidra-vase
nahi bhavi marana nikate achhe base

‘My days pass in useless work and nights are wasted on sleep. It never occurs to me that death is there, waiting right next to me.’

(Sri Kalyan-Kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Days pass as the sun rises and sets, rises and sets – moment after moment, year after year, our lives are passing. We can leave this world at any moment. Because we have not been able to practise Krishna consciousness and serve the Lord, we will have to keep coming back to this world again and again. The only way to get out of this world is to take shelter of the Lord. That is why we sing in this kirtan, ‘Weeping, I will tell Vaishnav Thakur about my miserable life and pray to him for respite from the fire of material existence.’

শুনিয়া আমার দুঃখ বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর । আমা’ লাগি’ কৃষ্ণে আবেদিবেন প্রচুর ॥

suniya amara duhkha vaisnava thakura
ama’ lagi’ krsne avedibena prachura

‘Hearing about my sorrow, worshippable Vaishnav Thakur will ardently pray to Krishna on my behalf.’

বৈষ্ণবের আবেদনে কৃষ্ণ দয়াময় । এ হেন পামর প্রতি হবেন সদয় ॥

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya

‘Hearing Vaishnav Thakur’s appeal, merciful Lord Krishna will take pity on this wretched sinner.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Hearing about my sorrow, Vaishnav Thakur will pray to the Lord for me, ‘O Lord! Please give this devotee some respite from the material world.’ Vaishnav Thakur prays for us to the Lord. That is why we are told that if Vaishnav Thakur is not happy with us, the Lord will not help us. Hearing the prayer of Vaishnav Thakur, merciful Lord Krishna will take pity on such wretched sinners as we are. What does Srimad Bhagavad-gita say? The Lord says there, ‘I know only My devotees (I do not know anyone except them), and My devotees also do not know anyone except Me – they do not know and do not understand anything except Me.’ That is why we must pray to the Lord’s devotees.

বিনোদের নিবেদন বৈষ্ণব চরণে । কৃপা করি সঙ্গে লহ এই অকিঞ্চনে ॥

vinodera nivedana vaisnava charane
krpa kari’ sange laha ei akinchane

‘Bhaktivinod prays at the holy feet of Vaishnavs: “Please take this destitute soul with you.”’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Finally, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur prays, ‘Prabhu! I am praying at your lotus feet – wherever you go, please take me with you.’

You should sing these kirtans yourselves. I have told you many times – buy kirtan books (the small one is just twenty rupees) and read these kirtans in the morning and in the evening. There are prayers (vandana) to Sri Guru, Sri Vaishnav, Sri Pancha-tattva, and so on. Pray to their feet in this way. No tune is necessary – no karatals or mridanga are necessary: you can just clap your hands and sing sweetly, with heart and soul. You must learn what is written in these kirtans – if you read them, you will understand their meaning. These kirtans are very beautiful.

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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