(2/7) Our Plight and Plea

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 31 January 2021, part 2

কবে শ্রীচৈতন্য মোরে করিবেন দয়া ।
কবে আমি পাইব বৈষ্ণব-পদছায়া ॥১॥

kabe sri chaitanya more karibena daya
kabe ami paiba vaisnava-pada-chhaya [1]

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

কবে আমি ছাড়িব এ বিষয়াভিমান ।
কবে বিষ্ণুজনে আমি করিব সম্মান ॥২॥

kabe ami chhadiba e visayabhimana
kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana [2]

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

গলবস্ত্র কৃতাঞ্জলি বৈষ্ণব নিকটে ।
দন্তে তৃণ করি’ দাঁড়াইব নিষ্কপটে ॥৩॥

gala-vastra krtanjali vaisnava-nikate
dante trna kari’ dandaiba niskapate [3]

‘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)

We have a chaitya-guru in our hearts, and we constantly pray to him, ‘When will Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu give some mercy to me? When will I get the shelter of the guru and Vaishnavs?’ It is not possible to reach the Lord (our real home) without the guru and Vaishnavs.

‘Kabe ami chhadiba e visaya-abhimana? When will I leave this material ego?’ Everyone has some ego (abhiman), even I also have ego. Those who have much wealth and property have ego; those who are very beautiful have ego; those who are very educated have ego. There are so many kinds of ego in this world, and actually we must have ego, but what ego should we have? Our ego should be ‘I am an eternal servant of the Lord! I am an eternal servant of my guru and Vaishnavs!’ It is necessary to have this kind of ego. If somebody thinks, ‘I am a guru!’, ‘I am an acharya!’ that is also ego. Srila Narottam Das Thakur says, ‘Sisya thakiba sarvada. I want to always remain a disciple.’ We always want to be disciples, not gurus.

‘Kabe visnu-jane ami kariba sammana?’ When will I give respect to all Vaishnavs? When will I stand in front of Vaishnavs with much humility (gala-vastra krtanjali), taking grass into my mouth like a cow (dante trna kari’), without any deceit (niskapate)?…

কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া জানাইব দুঃখগ্রাম ।
সংসার অনল হৈতে মাগিব বিশ্রাম ॥৪॥

kandiya kandiya janaiba duhkha-grama
samsara anala haite magiba visrama [4]

‘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)

We always want to get respite from family life (from samsara anala, the wild fire of material life). Sometimes, those who do some government service say, ‘Oh, Maharaj, I will join Krishna consciousness after I retire.’ The truth is that when they finally retire, they end up more and more involved with their family lives. We should cry for respite. What is our sadness? We do not know anything, we cannot worship Lord Krishna properly, we cannot worship our guru properly, we cannot practise properly, we cannot chant on our beads properly, we cannot chant our gayatri three times a day properly – that is our sadness, and this is true sadness. People become sad, worrying, ‘Oh, I cannot eat properly’, ‘I cannot sleep properly’, ‘Oh, I have this problem’, ‘Oh, I have that problem’, ‘This happened’, ‘That happened’ – we always grumble and worry about something. But our real problem, our real sadness is that we cannot get respite from the fire of material existence. That is why we pray to Vaishnavs. If you approach the Lord directly, the Lord will not listen to what you are saying – He will not accept your prayers. But if you submit your appeal, or application, to Vaishnavs, if you tell them what you need, then your application will be accepted. Vaishnav Thakur is very merciful – he will pray to the Lord for you.

শুনিয়া আমার দুঃখ বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
আমা’ লাগি’ কৃষ্ণে আবেদিবেন প্রচুর ॥৫॥

suniya amara duhkha vaisnava thakura
ama’ lagi’ krsne avedibena prachura [5]

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

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If Vaishnav Thakur accepts my application, he will pray to the Lord for me, and hearing his request, Krishna, who is very kind, will listen to his prayer. Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita that He knows only His devotees, and His devotees also know only Lord Krishna. ‘Devotees’ means Vaishnav Thakur. So, if Vaishnav Thakur gives us his mercy, the Lord will grant our application.

বৈষ্ণবের আবেদনে কৃষ্ণ দয়াময় ।
এ হেন পামর প্রতি হবেন সদয় ॥৬॥

vaisnavera avedane krsna dayamaya
e hena pamara prati habena sadaya [6]

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

বিনোদের নিবেদন বৈষ্ণব চরণে ।
কৃপা করি সঙ্গে লহ এই অকিঞ্চনে ॥৭॥

vinodera nivedana vaisnava charane
krpa kari’ sange laha ei akinchane [7]

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

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) "I Want to Surrender"
2) Our Plight and Plea
3) Wealth of Nanda Maharaj's Yard
4) Pure Sambandha
5) Blessing In Disguise
6) Unconditional Life
7) Jewel of Sincerity