(1/5) Vaishnavs' Nature

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, second afternoon programme
12 February 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace starts the afternoon class by reciting Sri Jaya Dhvani and then chanting ‘Gurudev krpa bindu diya’ and ‘E-bara karuna kara.’]

Sri Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.17.27): ‘Acharyam mam vijaniyan. Know the acharya to be non-different from Me.’ Who is called an acharya? The acharya is the one who both practises and preaches. Mahaprabhu said:

আপনে আচরে কেহ, না করে প্রচার ।
প্রচার করেন কেহ, না করেন আচার ॥
'আচার', 'প্রচার'—নামের করহ 'দুই' কার্য্য ।
তুমি—সর্ব্ব-গুরু, তুমি—জগতের আর্য্য ॥

apane achare keha, na kare prachara
prachara karena keha, na karena achara
‘achara’, ‘prachara’,—namera karaha ‘dui’ karya
tumi—sarva-guru, tumi—jagatera arya

‘Some follow rules and regulations but do not preach Krishna consciousness; some preach Krishna consciousness but do not follow rules and regulation. You perform both duties in relation to the Holy Name by your personal behaviour and by your preaching; therefore, you are the spiritual master of the entire world, and you are the most advanced person in the world.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.102–103)

There are many gurus in this world. There are gurus who preach but do not follow the rules (they do not follow any rules and regulations, but they preach to others). Some gurus come to you all the time to do kirtan. They sing well – yes, the Supreme Lord and Saraswati gave them a good voice – so they go house to house singing kirtans. What does Bhagavatam say? If somebody reads Bhagavatam for money, if somebody chants kirtans for money, if somebody speaks Hari-katha for money or listen to such things, it brings only inauspiciousness and offences (nama-aparadha) to your life. There are four kinds of offences: offences to the Holy Name, to service, to holy places and to Vaishnavs. We were singing just now:

এইবার করুণা কর বৈষ্ণব গোসাঞি ।
পতিতপাবন তোমা বিনে কেহ নাই ॥

ei-bara karuna kara vaisnava gosani
patita-pavana toma bine keha nai

‘O worshippable Vaishnav, please be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the fallen! I have no one except you.’

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

‘Please be merciful to me. There is no one in this world who is as merciful as You are.’

কাহার নিকটে গেলে পাপ দূরে যায় ।
এমন দয়াল প্রভু কেবা কোথা পায় ॥

kahara nikate gele papa dure yaya
emana dayala prabhu keba kotha paya

‘If anyone comes to you, their sins go away. Where can you find such a merciful master?’

গঙ্গার পরশ হৈলে পশ্চাতে পাবন ।
দর্শনে পবিত্র কর এই তোমার গুণ ॥

gangara parasa haile paschate pavana
darsane pavitra kara ei tomara guna

‘After touching the Ganges, one can eventually attain salvation, but your quality is such that one can be purified just by seeing you.’

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

If you have a bath in the Ganges, you become pure: in other words, people become pure by touching the Ganges. But one can become pure just by seeing (getting the darshan of) a Vaishnav. Who is a Vaishnav? One who dresses as a Vaishnav, wears tilaks and neck-beads and chants on some beads? Vaishnavs are those who practise Vaishnavism. Always remember this.

Who can chant kirtan? Mahaprabhu said, ‘Who has the right to chant kirtan?’

তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা ।
অমানিনা মানদেন কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥

trnad api sunichena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

‘One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree and who gives honour to others without desiring it for themselves is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.239)

তৃণাধিক হীন দীন অকিঞ্চন ছার ।
আপনে মানবি সদা ছাড়ি’ অহঙ্কার ॥
বৃক্ষসম ক্ষমাগুণ করবি সাধন ।
প্রতিহিংসা ত্যজি’ অন্যে করবি পালন ॥

trnadhika hina dina akinchana chhara
apane manabi sada chhadi’ ahankara
vrksa-sama ksama-guna karabi sadhana
pratihimsa tyaji’ anye karabi palana

‘Give up ego and always consider yourself lower than a blade of grass, poor, destitute and wretched. You must practise tolerance like that of a tree and nurture others giving up vengeance.’

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

We must give up our own happiness for the sake of others’ happiness. Those who come to the line of Gaudiya Vaishnavs never think about their own happiness, clothes, an easy life or anything like that. They have no consciousness of their wives, sons, friends, relatives or any other bodily relations. The devotees of the Lord are our real family; they are our greatest wealth and greatest friends. There are thousands and thousands of disciples all over the world (they are my disciples or Gurudev’s disciples), but we do not actually say that they are our disciples. When somebody comes to take initiation from me, I feel, ‘They have come to give me mercy, that is why they have come to take initiation from me. I am not the one giving mercy here.’ Such humility must be there.

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Length: 30 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Vaishnavs' Nature
2) Heartfelt Prayers
3) Devotional Ingenuity
4) Devotional Substance
5) Pure Name Comes From Pure Heart