(6/9) Jnana-Sunya Bhakti

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Nrisingha Palli, 3 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

As I said earlier, you do not become a disciple just by taking the mantra. Initiation means getting enrolled into a school, but after getting enrolled, you must practise.

First, it is necessary to have faith (adau sraddha).

'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)

Faith can be of different kinds: kamala-sraddha (soft, lotus-like faith), taranga-sraddha (fickle, wave-like faith), drdha-sraddha (strong faith), sudrdha-sraddha (the strongest faith). ‘Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari (শ্রদ্ধা-অনুসারী ভক্তি-অধিকারী). The quality of your devotion depends upon the quality of your faith’ (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.64). Everybody’s devotion is not the same because everybody’s faith is not the same. Some have karma-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with the pursuit of material gain), some have jnana-misra bhakti (devotion mixed with the pursuit of knowledge), and some have jnana-sunya bhakti (general devotion that is free from any desire for knowledge). Karma-misra bhakti means that you serve the Lord, thinking, ‘I will get something in return.’ Even if you think, ‘If I serve the Lord, I will go to Goloka,’ that is also one kind of desire. It is not good to be like that. Gurudev told us to chant the Holy Name with faith, and that is sufficient – what we will get or not get, gurudev and the Lord will take care of that. Such a mood is part of jnana-sunya bhakti. This is the rule. It is not our business to know what we will get or not get, what result we will get or not get. Gurudev told us to chant the Holy Name and do service, and that is what we are doing. Gurudev knows what will happened to us (whether we will go to Goloka, heaven or hell) – we will only do what gurudev told us to do. Remember this.

Karma-misra bhakti also means:

কৃষ্ণ কহে,—“আমা ভজে, মাগে বিষয়-সুখ ।
অমৃত ছাড়ি’ বিষ মাগে,—এই বড় মূর্খ ॥
আমি—বিজ্ঞ, এই মূর্খে ‘বিষয়’ কেনে দিব ?
স্বচরণামৃত দিয়া ‘বিষয়’ ভুলাইব” ॥

krsna kahe,—“ama bhaje, mage visaya-sukha
amrta chhadi’ visa mage,—ei bada murkha
ami—vijna, ei murkhe ‘visaya’ kene diba?
sva-charanamrta diya ‘visaya’ bhulaiba”

‘Krishna says, “They worship Me desiring material happiness – leaving aside nectar, they ask Me for poison. They are big fools, but I am intelligent: Why will I give these fools material things? Instead, I will give them the nectar of My lotus feet and make them forget the material world.”’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.38–39)

The Lord says, ‘They worship Me praying for some material happiness. They want something from Me.’ Such people turn God into a bribe-taker and a menial servant. ‘God, give me this’, ‘God, make so that my daughter marries well’, ‘God, help my son get a good job’, ‘God, help me get a good harvest’, ‘God make so that my business runs well.’ There are so many people with such desires. This is karma-misra bhakti. Krishna says, ‘I am not a fool, I know better than them. Why will I give them material happiness? No, I had better give them My feet, and they will forget all about the material world.’ At the same time, in another place in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Krishna says:

কৃষ্ণ যদি ছুটে ভক্তে ভুক্তি মুক্তি দিয়া ।
কভু ভক্তি না দেন রাখেন লুকাইয়া ॥

krsna yadi chhute bhakte bhukti mukti diya
kabhu prema-bhakti na dena rakhena lukaiya

‘If a devotee aspires for enjoyment or liberation, Krishna hides the knowledge about pure devotion and dismisses them, giving them enjoyment or liberation.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.18)

‘When somebody comes to Me and asks Me for enjoyment or liberation (somebody wants money, somebody wants a car, somebody wants a house, and so on) instead of devotion, I give them all they want and take devotion away from them. I will not give them devotion.’

Mahaprabhu’s teachings (siksastakam) are also like that. If you read His ‘Siksastakam’, you can understand it. We chant kirtans about His teachings during the month of Kartik, and it is said there:

ন ধনং ন জনং ন সুন্দরীং কবিতাং বা জগদীশ কাময়ে ।
মম জন্মনি জন্মনীশ্বরে ভবতাদ্ভক্তিরহৈতুকী ত্বয়ি ॥

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

‘O Supreme Lord (Master of the Universe, Jagadiswar)! I do not desire any wealth (religion, money or material desires), any followers (wife, sons, servants or maidservants) or material knowledge (beautiful poetry). My only prayer is that I may birth after birth have pure devotion to You, devoid of seeking any result.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.20.29)

Outside people say, ‘Give me wealth’, ‘Give me knowledge’, ‘Make me beautiful’, ‘Give me a good wife’, ‘Make me a poet’, and so on, but Mahaprabhu says, ‘I do not want wealth, I do not want followers, I do not want a beautiful wife, I do not want to be a poet. I only want causeless devotion to Your holy lotus feet. Give Me that kind of devotion to Your lotus feet that I may serve You life after life. I do not want any followers, friends or family, I do not want any wealth. I only want to have devotion to Your holy lotus feet.’

নাহি মাগি দেহ-সুখ, বিদ্যা, ধন, জন ॥
নাহি মাগি স্বর্গ, আর মোক্ষ নাহি মাগি ।
না করি প্রার্থনা কোন বিভূতির লাগি’ ॥

nahi magi deha-sukha, vidya, dhana, jana
nahi magi svarga, ara moksa nahi magi
na kari prarthana kona vibhutira lagi’

‘O Lord! I am submitting this appeal at Your feet: I do not pray for any bodily pleasures, knowledge, wealth or companions. I do not pray for heaven or liberation, neither do I pray for any godly opulence or powers.’

(Sri Gitavali, Sri Siksastaka, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We do not pray even for any supernatural perfections.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 40 Mb
Length: 81 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Have You Forgotten?
2) Morning Shows the Day
3) Genuine Surrender
4) In Search of Hidden Treasure
5) Humility and Dedication
6) Jnana-Sunya Bhakti
7) Taking a Stand Against Maya
8) Be One-Pointed
9) A Word of Warning