(3/13) Pure Devotional Life (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 10 February 2021, part 3

Sadhus always live following all rules strictly and regularly. If you live at home and sleep till seven–eight o’clock, it will not do. You must wake up early and come for mangal-arati. You must serve the Lordships, you must cook and offer bhoga to the Lord. This is how you must always practise; otherwise, you will not get any result. Practice is the main thing.

You can see that sometimes those who took initiation just one month ago can already chant all kirtans well, they can give nice lectures, but those who took initiation ten years ago cannot do anything. It means that there is some internal lack: it means there is a lack of faith and devotion. Devotion comes from devotion. I have told it to you before: you cannot get the Lord through any material activities, knowledge or mystic practices. If you want to get the Lord, there is only one thing that is necessary, and that is devotion.

You must have devotion in your heart. You do not need to do anything to impress others. You must show devotion with all your heart. As I have just said, you cannot come to the Lord through any material activities, knowledge or mystic powers – the only way to come to the Lord is through devotion, and devotion comes from the association of devotees. If you associate with devotees, you will have devotion.

It may not always be possible to associate with devotees directly, but there are other ways how you can get their association. For example, you must give jay to Gurudev and Param Gurudev every day, learn gurudev’s vandana and pranam-mantra by heart. How do you offer obeisance to your gurudev? Gurudev’s pranam-mantra is there, it is written very beautifully. There is also Param Gurudev’s pranam-mantra. I recited them both at the beginning of the programme, and I always recite them every morning and evening. Sometimes, when I get time, I also chant kirtans to myself – sometimes, I chant when I am going somewhere in the car.

By chanting kirtan, you can remember the Lord and His devotees (kirtana prabhave smarana haibe). These are the main devotional practices: sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam (listening about the Lord, chanting the Lord’s Name and glory, remembering the Lord). How does remembering come? When you chant kirtan, you remember the Lord, but when you do not chant kirtans, you are not remembering the Lord, His pastimes or His devotees. Therefore, you must always chant kirtan – even when you are eating, lying down, sitting or doing anything else, chant at that time. You can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra or other kirtans. You can sing and sing whatever kirtans you remember by heart – practice makes perfect.

Taking initiation is just the first step. After taking initiation, you have some duty, and this duty is to practise sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), 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), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet). Only taking initiation is not all. When a child is admitted to a school, it does not mean the child has passed the final exam. When you are admitted to a school, you must study, then, ten years later, you advance to high school, and only two years later, if you pass the final exam, you get the certificate. There is no other way to get there. Therefore, there are nine kinds of devotion: sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), 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), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet). The main thing is that you must practise sravan (listening about the Lord) and kirtan (chanting the Lord’s Name and glory). If you cannot do that, then everything will be a waste.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Always Practise Devotion
2) Pure Devotional Life (1)
3) Pure Devotional Life (2)
4) Detach and Immerse Yourself
5) Earn Qualification
6) Humble Heartfelt Plea
7) Quality and Qualification
8) Devotional Depth
9) Surrender and Practise
10) Cut Off Material Attachment
11) Bogus Kirtan – Bogus Devotion
12) Embracing Controlled Life
13) Start From Tongue