(2/8) Internal and Eternal

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 7 February 2021, part 2

First, it is necessary to have sraddha (faith). We do not need to show externally how much faith we have for the Lord – the question is how much faith we have for our guru, for our Master, and for the worshippable Lord internally. How much faith do we have? ‘Sraddha-anusari bhakti-adhikari (শ্রদ্ধা-অনুসারী ভক্তি-অধিকারী). The quality of devotion depends upon one’s faith’ (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.64). The other day I was explaining one of the songs from Sri Gaudiya Gitanjali:

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.’

(Sri Kalyan-kalpataru, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

The problem is our ego (abhiman). Ego disturbs everything and damages our devotion – it can take everything away from us. It is very important to understand this. We must know the relationship between us and our Master (our guru) and Vaishnavs. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said to everyone, even to his disciples, ‘Everybody is my guru.’ Such was his vision. He would say, ‘I am giving initiation to you, but it does not mean that I am giving mercy to you; in fact, you have come to take initiation from me, so you are giving mercy to me.’ Therefore, the true relationship is that everybody is our master, even those who took initiation only yesterday.

If you took initiation thirty years ago and somebody took initiation yesterday, you cannot discriminate against them – you cannot dishonour or disrespect them. Somebody may have joined Krishna consciousness a very short time ago, and you may have joined Krishna consciousness thirty years ago – you must still give respect to all devotees. They are your masters, so you must always address them as ‘Prabhu’ or ‘Didi’. Give proper respect to everyone. Do not look at who is a disciple of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, who is a disciple of Srila B. R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, who is a disciple of Gurudev (Srila B. S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj), who is a disciple of some other acharya. Do not discriminate against others or compartmentalise everyone into groups. They are all your friends, they are all your relatives. We all belong to the same family. Anyone who comes to Krishna consciousness is an amritasya putra (a son of nectar) – they all come from the Lord. This is actually true for anyone, even those who are not initiated. Everybody in this world comes from the same place – we all belong to the same place. The only difference is that somebody may not have come to Krishna consciousness yet because of the influence of maya.

Jiva souls forget the Lord and their identities under the influence of maya. This is called ajnanata or avidya (ignorance). We have no knowledge – all the education we get in this world is mundane education; it is not possible to understand real things through such education. Mundane education only tells us that our identification is that we are these bodies, but this is not our identification! Even Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says that the true form, or identity, of the jiva soul is that it is an eternal servant of the Lord (jivera svarupa haya—krsnera nitya-dasa, জীবের 'স্বরূপ' হয়—কৃষ্ণের 'নিত্যদাস'; Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.20.108).

We are eternal servants of the Lord. This is our identity. Even those who have already come to Krishna consciousness can sometimes forget it because of the influence of maya. When we learn or remember our identification, we come to Krishna consciousness and surrender, but after some time we can again forget it by the influence of maya. That is why it is said:

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধুকৃপা বিনা আর না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya
sadhu-krpa bina ara na dekhi upaya

‘It is impossible to conquer illusory environment and break free from it. I see no other way to get relief except by sadhus’ mercy.’

(Prarthana, Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

There is no way to conquer illusory environment except by the mercy of sadhus, gurus and Vaishnavs. Without their mercy we cannot overcome it. That is why we must always remember sadhus, gurus and all Vaishnavs. This is the main thing for us in our lives.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) "Guru-mukha-padma-vakya chitete kariya aikya"
2) Internal and Eternal
3) Clearing the Path
4) Cause of All Causes
5) Do Not Be Disheartened
6) Forthcoming Festivals
7) On Importance of Chastity
8) Study and Learn