(6/8) Practise What Is Preached

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, 21 March 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur writes in his poem ‘Vaishnav ke?’: ‘Dusta mana, tumi kisera vaisnava? Kirtana chhadiba pratistha magiba (দুষ্ট মন ! তুমি কিসের বৈষ্ণব ? কীর্ত্তন ছাড়িব, প্রতিষ্ঠা মাগিব). Naughty mind! What kind of Vaishnav do you think you are? Instead of chanting kirtan, you only beg for prestige!’ Those who chant lila-kirtans and pala-kirtan have ego. They think, ‘I can chant kirtan!’ This is not kirtan. Such chanting actually means rejecting kirtan. What does such chanting give? Nothing. When you chant kirtan, you chant it to please the Lord, to please your gurudev – not for your own fame.

We were singing just now:

(ওহে) বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর, দয়ার সাগর,
এ দাসে করুণা করি’ ।
দিয়া পদছায়া, শোধ হে আমারে,
তোমার চরণ ধরি ॥১॥

(ohe) vaisnava thakura, dayara sagara,
e dase karuna kari’
diya pada-chhaya, sodha he amare,
tomara charana dhari [1]

‘O Vaishnav Thakur! You are an ocean of mercy; please be merciful to this servant – grant me the shade of your feet and purify me. I am clasping your feet.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

ছয় বেগ দমি’, ছয় দোষ শোধি’,
ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে ।

chhaya vega dami’, chhaya dosa sodhi’,
chhaya guna deha dase [2]

‘Please subjugate my six urges, rectify my six defects and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You all know what the six urges are, what the six defects are and what the six good qualities are. All this is written at the end of our calendars. What is favourable to devotion, what is unfavourable – everything is there. The six urges are mana-vega, krodha-vega, jihva-vega, udara-vega, upastha-vega, vakya-vega (urges of the mind, anger, tongue, stomach, genitals and speech). The six defects are (1) eating too much, hoarding things (atyahara); (2) engaging in material activities that are not favourable to devotion (prayasa); (3) talking too much or talking nonsense (prajalpa); (4) following inferior practices or neglect activities favourable to devotion (niyamagraha); (5) associating with non-devotees (janasanga); (6) being fickle-minded (laulya). We must always pray for six good qualities, ‘Please cut off these six urges and faults and give me six good qualities – give me that which is good for practising Krishna consciousness.’ This is what we must pray to Vaishnavs. The six good qualities are (1) enthusiasm; (2) firm faith; (3) perseverance; (4) engaging in activities that satisfy the Lord and His devotees; (5) abandoning all bad association and wrong attachment; and (6) following the behaviour prescribed by pure devotees.

ছয় বেগ দমি’, ছয় দোষ শোধি’,
ছয় গুণ দেহ দাসে ।
ছয় সৎসঙ্গ, দেহ হে আমারে,
বসেছি সঙ্গের আশে ॥২॥

chhaya vega dami’, chhaya dosa sodhi’,
chhaya guna deha dase
chhaya sat-sanga, deha he amare,
basechhi sangera ase [2]

‘Please subjugate my six urges, rectify my six defects and bestow the six good qualities upon this servant. Please grant me the six kinds of good association. I am waiting, hoping to attain good association.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

We always pray for the holy association of devotees. Without good association you can never be successful. We always want to keep good association, we always want to practise spiritual life. We must read and study gurudev’s books, listen to gurudev’s lectures. Always remember this.

একাকী আমার, নাহি পায় বল,
হরিনাম সংকীর্ত্তনে ।
তুমি কৃপা করি’, শ্রদ্ধাবিন্দু দিয়া,
দেহ কৃষ্ণ-নাম-ধনে ॥৩॥

ekaki amara, nahi paya bala,
hari-nama sankirtane
tumi krpa kari’, sraddha-bindu diya,
deha krsna-nama-dhane [3]

‘Alone I am not getting strength to chant the Lord’s Holy Name. Please give me a drop of faith and bestow upon me the treasure of Krishna’s Name.’

কৃষ্ণ সে তোমার, কৃষ্ণ দিতে পার,
তোমার শকতি আছে ।
আমি ত’ কাঙ্গাল, ‘কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ’ বলি’,
ধাই তব পাছে পাছে ॥৪॥

krsna se tomara, krsna dite para,
tomara sakati achhe
ami ta’ kangala, ‘krsna krsna’ bali’,
dhai tava pachhe pachhe [4]

‘Krishna is yours, so you have the power to give Him. I am very poor – calling out, “Krishna! Krishna!” I am running behind you.’

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Who can give Krishna? We always sing in one of the kirtans, ‘Vaisnavera hridaye sada Govinda visrama (বৈষ্ণব হৃদয়ে সদা গোবিন্দ-বিশ্রাম). Lord Govinda always rests in Vaishnavs’ hearts.’ Lord Govinda always stays with Vaishnavs.

One does not become a Vaishnav just by putting on tilaks and wearing Tulasi beads.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।
গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

‘gorara ami, gorara ami’ mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara laile phala phale

‘Just saying, “I am Gora’s! I am Gora’s!” will not do. Only when you follow Gora’s practice and Gora’s conception will you get the proper result.’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

Those who live in Nabadwip are proud, ‘We come from Mahaprabhu’s land!’ but do they follow what Mahaprabhu teaches? It is the same in Ekachakra. People proudly say that they are from the same place as Nityananda Prabhu, but they do not follow Nityananda Prabhu’s teachings. Many people say that Mahaprabhu went to Puri Dham being overwhelmed by Srimati Radharani’s mood, but Gurudev says that Mahaprabhu rejected Nabadwip and accepted Puri. The mood of Nabadwip people was very bad, they even tried to kill Mahaprabhu! Because Mahaprabhu said:

কিবা বিপ্র, কিবা ন্যাসী, শূদ্র কেনে নয় ।
যেই কৃষ্ণতত্ত্ববেত্তা, সেই ‘গুরু’ হয় ॥

kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei ‘guru’ haya

‘It does not matter whether one is a brahman, sannyasi or sudra – whoever knows who Krishna is can become a spiritual master.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.8.128)

And all the brahmans opposed it, ‘Never! Brahmans are the highest caste, only they can be gurus!’ Then, all the big, famous brahmans of the time came to Nitai and said, ‘Hey, You are one of us! Why do You speak against Your own kin? All the chandals and sudras must sit on the ground, and we, brahmans, must be given a higher seat!’ Mahaprabhu said, ‘No. If a sudra knows Krishna consciousness, he can be given a higher seat, and if a brahman is not a devotee of Krishna, he must be given a lower seat.’ The brahmans could not accept this. They started torturing Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu left, thinking ‘They do not have to kill Me. I will take sannyas and leave.’

That is why it is said:

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।
গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

‘gorara ami, gorara ami’ mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara laile phala phale

‘Just saying, “I am Gora’s! I am Gora’s!” will not do. Only when you follow Gora’s practice and Gora’s conception will you get the proper result.’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

People say with their mouths, ‘We are devotees of Mahaprabhu’, ‘We are devotees of Gurudev’, ‘We are disciples of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj’, ‘We are disciples of Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj’, but they do not follow the words of their guru. We say, ‘Guru-mukha-padma-vakya chittete kariya aikya, ara na kariha mane asa (গুরুমুখ-পদ্মবাক্য চিত্তেতে করিয়া ঐক্য, আর না করিহ মনে আশা). Make the teachings from Sri Guru’s lotus mouth one with your heart and do not desire anything else,’ but we do not follow what our gurudev says.

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।
গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

‘gorara ami, gorara ami’ mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara laile phala phale

‘Just saying, “I am Gora’s! I am Gora’s!” will not do. Only when you follow Gora’s practice and Gora’s conception will you get the proper result.’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

It is necessary to accept Gora’s practice (achar) and Gora’s conception (vichar). We must follow in our lives what Gauranga Mahaprabhu says, we must learn how to practise it; otherwise, we will not get anything. In this world, there are many people who make a show of worshipping Gaura. People drink tea, alcohol, smoke, eat meat, fish and other things, but when somebody hires them, they dress up as Vaishnavs and come to sing kirtans. What will you learn from them?

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।
গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari’
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

‘You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you out, thief (hypocrite)!’

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.7, Sri Jagadananda Pandit)

You cannot cheat Gora – He knows what you are doing. Jagadananda Pandit wrote it so beautifully in his Prema-vivarta.

So, what does it say in this kirtan we have just sung? ‘O Vaishnav Thakur! Please remove six faults and six bad urges from me. Please give me six good qualities and six types of good association. Alone I do not have the ability to properly chant the Lord’s Name. Please give me a drop of your mercy so that I can chant the Holy Name…’

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