(1/5) Religion of This Age

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Betur area,
Evening, 25 January 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

Today, we have got this opportunity to meet and hear some Hari-katha. This opportunity does not come all the time. You always hear many kinds of kirtans – lila-kirtan, pala-kirtan, and so on – but:

সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণনামে—এই মাত্র চাই ।
সংসার জিনিতে আর কোন বস্তু নাই ॥

sadhu-sange krsna-nama—ei matra chai
samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

‘I desire only to chant the Name of Krishna in the association of sadhus. There is no other way to conquer this material world.’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 6.13, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

Please listen carefully to what I will say now. After the class, there will be an arati.

I have not come here to chant kirtan – I have come here to make you chant kirtan. It is a very rare fortune to chant the Holy Name in the association of sadhus. We hear in the scriptures that a cloudy day is not a bad day – actually a bad day is a day without Hari-katha. In other words, the day when we do not get to listen to any Hari-katha, when we do not get to chant the Lord’s Name is a bad day for us. Therefore, today we have got this great day when we have an opportunity to listen to and speak about the glories of the Lord coming from the holy mouths of our gurus, Vaishnavs and sadhus. Where does Krishna stay (Krsna kothay; কৃষ্ণ কোথায়)? He is in Hari-katha (Hari-kathay; হরি-কথায়). In which forest (kona vane; কোন বনে) does Krishna stay? Krishna is in service (sevane; সেবনে). You can get Krishna by serving Him (sevane; সেবনে) and by listening about Him (sravane; শ্রবণে). From whom should you listen about Krishna? We must listen about Lord Krishna from the holy mouths of those who have left everything in this world (who have left all personal happiness and interests) and surrendered to the Lord, to their guru and to Vaishnavs.

There are four ages (Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali), there are four varnas (brahman, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra), and there are four ashrams (brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa). It is said in the scriptures:

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

‘Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager or worker) or ashram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life or monk) you belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.26)

Whatever varna or ashram you belong to – even if you take sannyas – if you do not worship and serve Krishna, you will fall into a terrible hell. You worship various gods and goddesses (Kali, Durga, Laksmi, Ganesh, and others), but there are 330,000,000 gods! You cannot worship all of them. Suppose you worship Kali today, but if you worship Durga tomorrow and do not worship Kali, then Kali will be unhappy. If you worship Siva and do not worship Parvati, then Parvati will be unhappy. However, if we worship Krishna, then all kinds of worship are automatically accomplished:

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

‘sraddha’-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

‘Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

It is necessary to have faith (sraddha, visvas).

চারি বর্ণাশ্রমী যদি কৃষ্ণ নাহি ভজে ।
স্বকর্ম্ম করিলেও সে রৌরবে পড়ি মজে ॥

chari varnasrami yadi krsna nahi bhaje
svakarma karileo se raurave padi maje

‘Whatever varna (a priest, fighter, manager or worker) or ashram (a celibate, householder, renouncer of the household life or monk) you belong to, if you do not worship Krishna but engage in your prescribed duties, you will have to fall into a terrible hell.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.26)

'শ্রদ্ধা' শব্দে—বিস্বাস কহে সুদৃঢ় নিশ্চয় ।
কৃষ্ণে ভক্তি কৈলে সর্ব্বকর্ম্ম কৃত হয় ॥

‘sraddha’-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha nischaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

‘Sraddha is a firm, determined faith that by serving Krishna all actions are accomplished.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.62)

It means that your debts to your father, mother, rishis (sages), demigods – all debts – are cleared if you serve the Lord. If you water the root of the tree, you do not have to water the tree’s trunk, branches, leaves and every other part separately. Suppose you plant some wheat – if you do not water the soil, the seeds will dry out, and if you water it too much, the seeds will rot. Sahajiyas, who do not understand anything, transgress their rights (enter where they have no right to enter) by wanting to serve the Divine Couple (the yugala-murti of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna). Service to the Divine Couple is not such a simple thing! Attempting to do it is transgression of our rights – it means that we want to follow another line, but we have no right to enter there. This is how some water their seeds too much, and the seeds rot as the result. This is bad too. We must serve according to our rights and qualifications.

I have told you just now that there are four ages. In Satya-yuga, the duration of life was 100,000 years, and people would meditate for 60,000–70,000 years to attain God. In Treta-yuga, people lived for 10,000 years and attained God through fire sacrifices. In Dvapar-yuga, people lived for 1,000 years and attained God through Deity worship. However, in Kali-yuga, people live only for 120 years, so the religion of this age is Nama-sankirtan (congregational chanting of the Holy Names). Although life is so short in Kali-yuga, the Lord Himself comes in this age:

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

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

‘Krishna appears in Kali-yuga in the form of His Name, and the entire world is delivered through that Name.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.17.22)

There is a Holy Name, and there are letters of the Holy Name. They are not the same thing. There is no difference between the Name (Nama) and He whose Name it is (Nami). The Lord’s Name, beauty, qualities, pastimes, associates and features are completely non-different from the Lord Himself. Unless we chant the Holy Name of the Lord in this Age of Kali, we will not be able to escape this illusory world. Therefore, it is necessary to chant the Holy Name. The Lord Himself comes as the Holy Name to this world. We sing in one of the kirtans:

এমন দুর্ম্মতি, সংসার-ভিতরে,
পড়িয়া আছিনু আমি ।
তব নিজ-জন, কোন মহাজনে,
পাঠাইয়া দিলে তুমি ॥

emana durmati, samsara bhitare,
padiya achhinu ami
tava nija-jana, kona mahajane,
pathaiya dile tumi

‘I have fallen into this vile material world, but You have sent a great soul, Your associate, to me.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Religion of This Age
2) Know Thyself
3) Qualification for Chanting Holy Name
4) Come for Nabadwip Dham Parikrama
5) Live Sincere Devotional Life