(9/13) Spiritual Deposit

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Singur (West Bengal), 5 February 2021, part 9
Translated from Bengali

কৃপা কর বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর ।
সম্বন্ধ জানিয়া, ভজিতে ভজিতে,
অভিমান হউ দূর ॥১॥

krpa kara vaisnava thakura
sambandha janiya, bhajite bhajite,
abhimana hau dura [1]

‘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 ॥২॥

‘ami ta vaisnava’, e buddhi haile,
amani na ha’ba ami
pratisthasa asi’, hrdaya dusibe,
haiba nirayagami [2]

‘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 I start thinking that I am a Vaishnav, I will not be able to give honour to others, and when pratistha comes (when I become proud of my wealth, knowledge, beauty, and so on), it will pollute my heart, and I will become a resident of hell – it means that I will be very quickly removed from this line (from the service of the Lord), clearing the road to hell for myself. When pratistha comes, we become very heavy. If somebody gives you a garland, you must take shelter of gurudev: ‘Gurudev, I am offering this garland at your holy lotus feet.’

We must always give jay and pay obeisances to our guru. Even if you do not do anything in particular (for example, do not make a big festival), you must still wake up, check the calendar and give jay to your guru and Vaishnavs. Always pay obeisances to your guru and Vaishnavs when you wake up in the morning, always give them jay. Always keep faith and show respect to them. Always check the calendar and see whose appearance day it is, whose disappearance day it is. Even if you cannot make a festival, at least you can give them jay, it will bring you benefit. When you give jay to your guru and Vaishnavs, it brings you sukriti. For example, today is the disappearance day of Srila Lochan Das Thakur – give jay to him, remember him.

We must always remember the words of Vaishnavs. When we remember the words of Vaishnavs, we get some benefit, some deposit through that. If you have no deposit in the bank, how will you cross the Viraja River? It is a great river – if you want to cross it, you must keep something aside for the fare. That fare is devotion – you must accumulate devotion day by day to cross that river. Devotion does not come in one day. For example, if you want to make a house, it does not happen in one day – you must save and put aside money for some time. Here too, you must accumulate devotion and increase your deposit day by day. Chitragupta [the bookkeeper appointed by Yamaraj to keep record of everyone’s activities] is there – he writes everything in a diary for you, and he sees how much you have accumulated. If you have no devotional deposit, you will not be able to cross over the Viraja River and enter the transcendental world – you will be sent back from there.

তোমার কিঙ্কর, আপনে জানিব,
‘গুরু’-অভিমান ত্যজি’ ।
তোমার উচ্ছিষ্ট, পদজলরেণু,
সদা নিষ্কপটে ভজি ॥৩॥

tomara kinkara, apane janiba,
‘guru’-abhimana tyaji’
tomara uchchhista, pada-jala-renu,
sada niskapate bhaji [3]

‘May I consider myself your servant and give up the ego of a guru. May I always earnestly worship the remnants of your food, your foot dust and the water that has washed your feet.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

‘O Vaishnav Thakur! I will always consider myself your servant (or maidservant), I do not want to become proud and have the ego of a guru. I want to always worship your holy remnants 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 ॥৪॥

nije srestha jani’, uchchhistadi dane,
habe abhimana-bhara
tai sisya tava, thakiya sarvada,
na laiba puja ka’ra [4]

‘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)

I have told you about Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. When somebody gave him prasad, he would take everything and not leave anything on the plate, and when he was forced to eat more one time, he ate even the plate, too. He did not give his prasad (food remnants) to anyone. If you give your prasad to others, you will become proud. Sometimes people push, ‘Take some’, ‘Eat some.’ We should not touch such food (not to leave our prasad for others). It is also said here that we must not take worship from anyone.

When we become like this, Vaishnav Thakur will give us the right to chant kirtan.

অমানী মানদ, হইলে কীর্ত্তনে,
অধিকার দিবে তুমি ।
তোমার চরণে, নিষ্কপটে আমি,
কাঁদিয়া লুটিব ভূমি ॥৫॥

amani manada, haile kirtane,
adhikara dibe tumi
tomara charane, niskapate ami,
kandiya lutiba bhumi [5]

‘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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Size: 52 Mb
Length: 108 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Honouring Hari-Prasad
2) Exclusive Path
3) Lord's Messenger
4) 'Managing' Your Life
5) Internal Purity
6) Pray To Be One-Pointed
7) Mahaprabhu's Gift
8) At Vaishnavs' Mercy
9) Spiritual Deposit
10) Lacking Spirituality
11) About Srila Lochan Das Thakur
12) Leave Separate Interests
13) Muddled Minds