(5/13) Path to Qualification

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sitalpur (Bagnan), West Bengal,
31 January 2021, part 5

[His Divine Grace continues chanting kirtans.]

কৃপা কর বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া, ভজিতে ভজিতে,
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya, bhajite bhajite,
abhimana hau dura

‘Please be merciful, Vaishnav Thakur! May my ego go away by always worshipping you in full knowledge of the relationship.’

‘আমি ত বৈষ্ণব’, এ বুদ্ধি হইলে,
অমানী না হ’ব আমি ।
প্রতিষ্ঠাশা আসি’, হৃদয় দূষিবে,
হইব নিরয়গামী ॥

‘ami ta vaisnava’, e buddhi haile,
amani na ha’ba ami
pratisthasa asi’, hrdaya dusibe,
haiba nirayagami

‘If I think, “I am a Vaishnav”, I will never stop desiring honour – my heart will become polluted with the desire for prestige, and I will end up in hell.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If you do not become a Vaishnav, it is a problem, and if you think you have become a Vaishnav, it is also a problem. Both is not right. You must become a servant of Vaishnavs, a servant of your guru. The road to hell is open – if you think you have become a Vaishnav, you will go to hell. When you plant something, you have to take care of the seed and protect it from both heat and cold. When it is hot, you must water the seed twice a day; at the same time, if you pour too much water, it will rot. Sahajiyas are those who get ‘rotten’ in this way – they ‘eat’ too much and end up in trouble. That is why we are told, ‘Never associate with any of the thirteen apa-sampradayas: aul, baul, kartabhaja, nera, darvesh, saki, sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta, jata-gosani, atibari, chudadhari, gauranga-nagari.’

So, if you think, ‘I have become a Vaishnav,’ pratistha will come to you, and you will think, ‘I am a Vaishnav, why must I offer obeisances to others?’ The path to hell is cleared and open for such people (they themselves clear it).

তোমার কিঙ্কর, আপনে জানিব,
‘গুরু’-অভিমান ত্যজি’ ।

tomara kinkara, apane janiba,
‘guru’-abhimana tyaji’

‘May I consider myself your servant and give up the ego of a guru.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

The ego of a guru must be given up. Do not take worship from anyone. Many like to say, ‘I am the acharya, so you must offer me arati, you must wash my feet, you must worship me every day.’ This is the ego of a guru – as a result, such ‘gurus’ become very heavy and sink (just as a boat sinks if you overload it). Many think, ‘Oh, gurudev has given me sannyas, so I have become a guru!’ It is not so easy to become a guru! It says here, in the kirtan we are chanting, that ‘I will consider myself your servant and give up the ego of a guru. I will always live on your remnants.’

তোমার উচ্ছিষ্ট, পদজলরেণু,
সদা নিষ্কপটে ভজি ॥

tomara uchchhista, pada-jala-renu,
sada niskapate bhaji

‘May I always earnestly worship the remnants of your food, your foot dust and the water that has washed your feet.’

নিজে শ্রষ্ঠ জানি’, উচ্ছিষ্টাদি দানে,
হবে অভিমান-ভার ।
তাই শিষ্য তব, থাকিয়া সর্ব্বদা,
না লইব পূজা কা’র ॥

nije srestha jani’, uchchhistadi dane,
habe abhimana-bhara
tai sisya tava, thakiya sarvada,
na laiba puja ka’ra

‘If I believe, “I am the greatest”, I will start giving others my food remnants and other things, getting weighed down by ego. So, I pray to always remain your disciple and not accept worship from anyone.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We will always remain disciples. It is not necessary to become a guru. Remember this. It is not necessary to become a guru – you must become a servant of your guru. Those who become gurus without first becoming disciples are in a very difficult and dangerous situation – such people have the road to hell cleared for them. That is why it is said, ‘I will always remain your disciple. I will not become a guru – I will become a disciple.’ We must give honour to everyone and not desire honour for ourselves, then the Lord will give us the right to chant His kirtan.

How does one get the right to chant the Holy Name of the Lord?

শ্রীকৃষ্ণকীর্ত্তনে যদি মানস তোহার ।
পরম যতনে তঁহি লভ অধিকার ॥

sri-krsna-kirtane yadi manasa tohara
parama yatane tanhi labha adhikara

‘If you are determined to chant the Name of Krishna, then strive as hard as you can to attain the qualification for that.’

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি’ অহঙ্কার ॥
বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি’ অন্যে করবি পালন ॥
জীবন-নির্ব্বাহে আনে উদ্বেগ না দিবে ।
পর-উপকারে নিজ সুখ পাসরিবে ॥

trnadhika hina dina akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi’ ahankara
vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji’ anye karabi palana
jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija sukha pasaribe

‘You must always leave ego and consider yourself to be more lowly than a blade of grass, poor, destitute and wretched. You must practise tolerance like that of a tree and nurture others giving up vengeance. You must live without causing anxiety to others and do good unto others forsaking your own happiness.’

(Sri Gitavali, Sri Siksastaka Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

If you are determined to chant the Name of Krishna, then try your utmost to become qualified to do so. We must give honour to others and give up our own honour. When you pay an obeisance, you say ‘jay’, then the more you pay obeisances, the more you will chant the Lord’s Name. When Srila Raghunath Das Goswami was in Vrindavan, he would pay obeisances to Vaishnavs every time he saw them – even if he met someone five times during the day, he would offer his obeisance to that person five times.

Many people want to practise yoga, or various yoga-asans, but if you just go down on the floor offering your obeisances ten times a day, you will get all the exercise you want. Our yoga-asan is pranam and sastanga-pranam.

So, it is said in this kirtan, ‘I will always remain your disciple and never accept worship from anyone.’ When will Vaishnav Thakur give me the right to chant the Holy Name? When I learn to give honour to everyone.

অমানী মানদ, হইলে কীর্ত্তনে,
অধিকার দিবে তুমি ।
তোমার চরণে, নিষ্কপটে আমি,
কাঁদিয়া লুটিব ভূমি ॥

amani manada, haile kirtane,
adhikara dibe tumi
tomara charane, niskapate ami,
kandiya lutiba bhumi

‘If I become free from the desire for honour and learn to give honour to others, you will give me the right to chant your kirtan. Rolling on the ground, I shall earnestly cry at your holy feet.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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Length: 119 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) In Search of Hidden Treasure
2) Know Your Own Identity First
3) Sambandha Jnana: Launching Pad
4) Utter Desperation
5) Path to Qualification
6) Sincere Devotion
7) Highest and Rarest
8) Rivet Yourself to Sadhu-Sanga
9) Genuine Benefit
10) Great Gift
11) Enter the Land of Faith
12) Unchaste Faith
13) A Test of Faith