(5/13) Earn Qualification

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar, 10 February 2021, part 5

গুরুদেব!
বড় কৃপা করি’, গৌড়বন-মাঝে,
গোদ্রুমে দিয়াছ স্থান ।
আজ্ঞা দিল মোরে, এই ব্রজে বসি’,
হরিনাম কর গান ॥

gurudeva!
bada krpa kari’, gauda-vana-majhe,
godrume diyachha sthana
ajna dila more, ei vraje vasi’,
harinama kara gana

‘Gurudev! Bestowing great mercy on me, you have given me a place in Sri Godrumdwip amidst the forests of Gauda. You ordered me: “Reside in this abode that is non-different from Vraja and chant the Lord’s Name.”’

কিন্তু কবে প্রভো, যোগ্যতা অর্পিবে,
এ দাসেরে দয়া করি’ ।
চিত্ত স্থির হবে, সকল সহিব,
একান্তে ভজিব হরি ॥

kintu kabe prabho, yogyata arpibe,
e dasere daya kari’
chitta sthira habe, sakala sahiba,
ekante bhajiba hari

‘But when, O Master, will you mercifully grant this servant the qualification to do this? When will my heart become steadfast? When will I tolerate everything and serve the Lord exclusively?’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

‘When will I earn the qualification?’ We are told to chant the Holy Name, but Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, ‘O Lord, You have been so merciful to me – You have told me to chant the Holy Name, but I have no qualification, I am not fit. How will I chant it? When will You take pity on this servant and allow him to earn the necessary qualification?’ What is the qualification to chant Krishna-kirtan? The ability to sing well? Knowing the tune? No.

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি’ অহঙ্কার ॥
বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি’ অন্যে করবি পালন ॥
জীবন-নির্ব্বাহে আনে উদ্বেগ না দিবে ।
পর-উপকারে নিজ সুখ পাসরিবে ॥

trnadhika hina dina akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi’ ahankara
vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji’ anye karabi palana
jivana-nirvahe ane udvega na dibe
para-upakare nija sukha pasaribe

‘You must always leave ego and consider yourself to be more lowly than a blade of grass, poor, destitute and wretched. You must practise tolerance like that of a tree and nurture others giving up vengeance. You must live without causing anxiety to others and do good unto others forsaking your own happiness.’

(Sri Gitavali, Sri Siksastaka Giti, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We must learn to forgive. If somebody has done wrong, what can you do? You should be forgiving. It does not refer to gurudev though – if you think, ‘If I do wrong, gurudev must forgive me,’ then it is wrong. What is meant here is that if somebody is jealous of you, if somebody swears you, you must not swear them back. So, when will we earn the qualification to chant the Holy Name? When will we become humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and when will we learn to give honour to everyone? Just as when we cut a tree, the tree does not say anything, nor does it stop giving us shade – we must have the same kind of tolerance. Our minds, our hearts are always fickle – our minds cannot sit still in one place. That is why Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur prays, ‘When will my heart become fixed? When will I be able to tolerate everything and exclusively serve the Lord?’

শৈশব-যৌবনে, জড়সুখ-সঙ্গে,
অভ্যাস হইল মন্দ ।
নিজকর্ম্ম-দোষে, এ দেহ হইল,
ভজনের প্রতিবন্ধ ॥

saisava-yauvane, jada-sukha-sange,
abhyasa haila manda
nija-karma-dose, e deha haila,
bhajanera pratibandha

‘Having enjoyed in my childhood and youth, I have developed bad habits. Because of my previous actions, this body has now become an obstacle to practising spiritual life.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You did not come to this line when you were young, that is why you have developed bad habits. Do you think that you will be able to chant the Holy Name in your old age? If you have not chanted and have not waken up for mangal-arati from a young age, you will not be able to do it in your later life. If you are used to sleeping in the afternoon, you will not be able to wake up the Lordships in the afternoon.

You sit in your rooms or visit your friends and families, drink tea and chat with others in the evenings – this is how bad habits are developed. Eventually, as a result of your own actions, your bodies become an obstacle to practising Krishna consciousness: you cannot practise properly, you cannot take prasadam (when you overeat or eat certain things, your stomaches become upset). You will also not be able to see in your old age – you spend your whole lives looking at all sorts of things, so in your old age you will not be able to read or see anything. Such is the state we end up in.

It is necessary to practise from a young age. People say, ‘Why practise Krishna consciousness now? I will practise when I am old.’ ‘Vrddha-kala aola, saba sukha bhagala, pida-base hainu katara (বৃদ্ধকাল আওল, সব সুখ ভাগল, পীড়াবশে হইনু কাতর). Old age came, and all happiness finished. Subjugated by disease, I became distressed’ (Saranagati). When old age comes, all happiness will be gone, and then we will lament and feel miserable amidst all the diseases. We will have no energy to practise Krishna consciousness. Will you feel happy practising Krishna consciousness when you have problems with your health?

বার্দ্ধক্যে এখন, পঞ্চরোগে হত,
কেমনে ভজিব বল’ ।
কাঁদিয়া কাঁদিয়া, তোমার চরণে,
পড়িয়াছি সুবিহ্বল ॥

vardhakye ekhana, pancha-roge hata,
kemane bhajiba bala’
kandiya kandiya, tomara charane,
padiyachhi suvihvala

‘I am now old and afflicted by five-fold material diseases. Tell me, how shall I serve? Crying incessantly, I have fallen at your feet, utterly bewildered.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

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