(1/13) Practise Devotion

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata (Jatragachhi), 8 February 2021, part 1

Today is dvadasi-tithi, and we are observing ekadasi today. Have you all been fasting? Do you know that it is necessary to sing a special kirtan on ekadasi? In the mornings, we sing, ‘Sri Hari vasare Hari kirtana vidhana’ and in the evenings:

শুদ্ধ ভকত- চরণ-রেণু,
ভজন-অনুকূল ।
ভকত-সেবা, পরম সিদ্ধি,
প্রমলতিকার মূল ॥

suddha-bhakata-charana-renu,
bhajana-anukula
bhakata-seva, parama-siddhi,
prema-latikara mula

‘The dust of pure devotees’ feet is favourable to devotion. Serving the devotees is the supreme fulfilment and the root of the creeper of divine love.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

It is necessary to chant these kirtans. As, it is an ekadasi tithi today, we must sing these kirtans. In the morning, we sing:

শ্রীহরি-বাসরে হরি-কীর্ত্তন-বিধান ।
নৃত্য আরম্ভিলা প্রভু জগতের প্রাণ ॥১॥

sri-hari-vasare hari-kirtana-vidhana
nrtya arambhila prabhu jagatera prana [1]

On the holy day of Sri Hari (ekadasi), when chanting Sri Hari-kirtan is prescribed, the Lord, the life and soul of the universe, began to dance.

পুণ্যবন্ত শ্রীবাস-অঙ্গনে শুভারম্ভ ।
উঠিল কীর্ত্তন-ধ্বনি ‘গোপাল-গোবিন্দ’ ॥২॥

punyavanta srivasa-angane subharambha
uthila kirtana-dhvani ‘gopala-govinda’ [2]

Starting beautifully in the courtyard of pious Srivas, the sound of the kirtan grew louder as devotees chanted the Holy Names of the Lord: ‘Gopal! Govinda!’

মৃদঙ্গ-মন্দিরা বাজে শঙ্খ-করতাল ।
সঙ্কীর্ত্তন-সঙ্গে সব হইল মিশাল ॥৩॥

mrdanga-mandira baje sankha karatala
sankirtana-sange saba haila misala [3]

The sounds of the mridangas, cymbals, conchshells and clapping hands all merged together in the sankirtan.

ব্রহ্মাণ্ডে উঠিল ধ্বনি পূরিয়া আকাশ ।
চৌদিকের অমঙ্গল যায় সব নাশ ॥৪॥

brahmande uthila dhvani puriya akasa
chaudikera amangala yaya saba nasa [4]

The sounds of the chanting that arose there filled the sky of the entire universe and destroyed inauspiciousness all around.

চতুর্দ্দিকে শ্রীহরি-মঙ্গল সঙ্কীর্ত্তন ।
মধ্যে নাচে জগন্নাথ মিশ্রের নন্দন ॥৫॥

chatur-dike sri-hari-mangala sankirtana
madhye nache jagannatha misrera nandana [5]

The all-auspicious sankirtan of the Lord resounded in all four directions, the son of Jagannath Misra dancing in its centre.

সবার অঙ্গেতে শোভে শ্রীচন্দন-মালা ।
আনন্দে নাচয়ে সবে হইয়া বিভোলা ॥৬॥

sabara angete sobhe sri-chandana-mala
anande nachaye sabe haiya vibhola [6]

Decorated with holy sandalwood paste and flower garlands, everyone danced, feeling overwhelmed with joy.

নিজানন্দে নাচে মহাপ্রভু বিশ্বম্ভর ।
চরণের তালি শুনি অতি মনোহর ॥৭॥

nijanande nache mahaprabhu visvambhara
charanera tali suni ati manohara [7]

Mahaprabhu Visvambhar danced, engulfed in joy, and the sweet beats of His feet sounded extremely captivating.

ভাবাবেশে মালা নাহি রহয়ে গলায় ।
ছিণ্ডিয়া পড়য়ে গিয়া ভকতের গায় ॥৮॥

bhavavese mala nahi rahaye galaya
chhindiya padaye giya bhakatera gaya [8]

He was so engulfed in ecstasy that His flower garland could not stay on His neck – it tore and fell on devotees’ bodies.

যাঁর নামানন্দে শিব বসন না জানে ।
যাঁর রসে নাচে শিব, সে নাচে আপনে ॥৯॥

yara namanande siva vasana na jane
yara rase nache siva, se nache apane [9]

The joy of whose Name makes Lord Siva forget about clothes; the ecstasy of whose Name makes Lord Siva dance – that very Lord is now dancing Himself!

যাঁর নামে বাল্মীকি হইল তপোধন ।
যাঁর নামে অজামিল পাইল মোচন ॥১০॥
যাঁর নাম শ্রবণে সংসার-বন্ধ ঘুচে ।
হেন প্রভু অবতরি কলিযুগে নাচে ॥১১॥

yara name valmiki haila tapodhana
yara name ajamila paila mochana [10]
yara nama sravane samsara-bandha ghuche
hena prabhu avatari kali-yuge nache [11]

By the power of whose Name Valmiki practised great austerities; by the power of whose Name Ajamil attained liberation; by hearing whose Name the bondage of material existence is destroyed – that very Lord descends and dances in the Age of Kali.

যাঁর নাম লই’ শুক-নারদ বেড়ায় ।
সহস্র-বদন-প্রভু যাঁর গুণ গায় ॥১২॥
সর্ব্ব-মহা-প্রায়শ্চিত্ত যে প্রভুর নাম ।
সে প্রভু নাচয়ে, দেখে যত ভাগ্যবান্ ॥১৩॥

yara nama lai’ suka-narada bedaya
sahasra-vadana-prabhu yara guna gaya [12]
sarva-maha-prayaschita ye prabhura nama
se prabhu nachaye, dekhe yata bhagyavan [13]

He whose Name Sukadev and Narad chant as they wander about; He whose glories are sung by thousand-mouthed Anantadev; He whose Name is the greatest of all kinds of atonements – that very Lord is now dancing. Those who are fortunate can see it.

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য নিত্যানন্দচাঁদ জান ।
বৃন্দাবন দাস তছু পদযুগে গান ॥১৪॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya nityananda-chanda jana
vrndavana dasa tachhu pada-yuge gana [14]

Vrindavan Das sings this at the holy feet of Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Nityananda-chand, who are his very life and soul.

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata)

This song was written by Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, and the other beautiful kirtan, which we sing in the evenings, was written by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. We must always practise kirtan. Do you know what my Gurudev said in his final moments, when he was about to leave this world? He said, ‘Acharya Maharaj, you are going to Midnapore, Bardhaman and many other places – you have brought so many people to me, and they took initiation – but how many disciples are there?’ Gurudev asked me, ‘How many disciples are there?’ One does not become a disciple just by taking initiation.

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

‘Devotees submit their entire being when they take initiation. At this time, Krishna accepts them as His very own.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.192)

If a boy is admitted to a school, does it mean that he has passed the final exams? Initiation means you have been admitted to a spiritual school. First, you are admitted to primary school; when you finish primary school, you go to high school, pass the exams and then can progress to college and university. So, if you are only enrolled to a school, does it mean you that you have passed all the exams? It does not. You must study to pass them. What does ‘studying’ mean for us? There are nine kinds of devotion: sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (thinking about the Lord), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet), archanam (worshipping the Lord’s Deity), vandanam (offering obeisances and prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (submitting yourself to the Lord). These nine kinds of devotional practices reside on the nine islands of Sri Nabadwip. When we do the parikrama, we go to each island and speak about each kind of devotion residing on its corresponding island. In the middle, there is Antardwip, Mayapur. The Nrisingha Palli temple that we have now is situated in Godrumdwip, and the place where our temple was before in Kolerganga (Kolerganj) is Koladwip. The area of Vidyanagar is Jahnudwip. Champahati is Ritudwip, and Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur’s birthplace, where we go last, in Mamgachi is Modadrumdwip. Madhyadwip is Gadigachha-gram. Lastly, above Mayapur, there is Simantadwip (where the temple of Lord Jagannath is) and Rudradwip near the Ganges. These are the nine islands. Devotion (bhakti) resides on these nine islands.

If you do not practise these kinds of devotion, you will not get any result. Just as you eat every day, you go to the bathroom every day, you must also serve the Lord in the same way – you must offer bhoga every day, you must chant kirtans, worship the Lord and do everything else every day. You must practise in your own lives. Otherwise, if you do not practise, you will not get any result. There is a saying in English: practice makes perfect. We do not learn to chant kirtans in the wombs of our mothers – we come to the temple and practise chanting kirtans, learn to play the karatals (some also learn to play the mridanga), learn how to worship the Lord, and so on. You can see foreign devotees – they come and play the mridanga, play the karatals, they chant kirtans.

They come from so far – from thousands of miles away. The earth is like a ball – you have India in one place, and their countries are on the other side of the globe. When it is evening here, it is only morning for them. There are also countries where there is no night for four months (the sun is in the sky the whole day and night), and when I went there during the chaturmasya time, they had no sun – there is only night the whole day! Have you seen a country like that? There is no night there! Here, we have day and we have night – maybe the night is a little longer in winter, but they have no night at all. And at another time of the year, they have no day – the sun does not even rise! It only rises for five minutes and then again sets, and it becomes night. There are such places, and those places are now flooded with the Holy Name – people are chanting the Holy Name there!

Therefore, it is necessary to practise. Born here, in the land of India, you think that you know everything, but even Brahma says, ‘Those who say that they know it can say so, but I know that I do not know anything.’ These are the words of Brahma, who took initiation from Lord Krishna Himself…

— : • : —

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Length: 84 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Practise Devotion
2) Land of Religions
3) Seva Vidya
4) Conditioned Souls' Inaptitude
5) Choose Your Association
6) Lost and Languid Souls
7) "Make the Teachings of Sri Guru Non-Different from Your Heart"
8) Price of Independence
9) "Come Back to Your Home"
10) Fighting Misconceptions
11) Goloka at Your Home
12) Ekadasi: Devotional Practice
13) Stay Connected