vaisnava ke? am I a vaisnava?

[Paramananda das]

A devotee asks himself this question am I  really a vaisnava?Am I chanting 64 rounds daily or more as instructed by Lord Caitanya .Or am I a fallen pretender pseudo vaisnava that never cares to chant the Mahamantra with love and devotion .Am I accepting worship and having my feet washed am I taking money from kanistha adhikari disciples that also do not chant 64 rounds?What kind of vaisnava am I really?

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has told us that we should not think I am vaisnava?Why when Lord Caitanya says jivera svarupa hoya Krsna nitya dasa? Because then dainya humility goes away I will not try to chant more and better and improve my self.Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote in Harinama Cintamani first you reach 64 rounds then you must go futher and reach gradually 192 rounds.Those who have the adhikara qualifikation they wil reach 64 rounds in this life time and avoid Nama aparadha. They will think I am not really a vaisnava because I can not chant more I am so fallen I can only chant 64 rounds. Ho much more humble should a person be that chants only 16 rounds he should think I am really spaced out sometimes I do not even finish my 16 rounds and I do not tell others some times for days I do not chant 16 rounds even.Some cases are there.Big big leaders in ISKCON we have seen they did not chant 16 rounds even properly so they have all fallen down and left and they had no faith in the holy name of Krsna, just they where making a big show I am big big Guru, in fact they where just vaisnava aparadhis so we must not become like these rascals ever .I do not like to listen to kirtanas by those who do not follow 4 regs and chant even 16 rounds daily it is milk touched by the lips of a serpent. If one also hear the Mahamantra chanted from the ritviks or mayavadis also one will go to hell .They are aparadhis. The ritviks are better because they accept the teachings of Srila Prabhupada but they follow only externally some things and we have seen many are not strict.But if some can follow this apasiddhanta in some life they will be send a pure devotee by Srila Prabhupadas grace that can lead them back to Godhead .If they took diksa from Srila Prabhupada and a ritviks they tend to offend other vaisnavas and for this offence they will not go back to Godhead in this lifetime.They are hateful of others and vaisnava aparadhis.A humble vaisnava never allows others to touch his feet or take his remnants,this was shows by the associates of Lord Caitanya ,Srila Haridasa Thakura chanted 192 rounds  daily and never gave his remnants to others he never had his feet washed.  Lord Caitanya however showed us to worship and pray to Srila Haridasa Thakura for the mercy of the holy name.Holding the lotusfeet of Srila Haridas Thakura and our Gurudev on our head we should remember the teachings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada . 

na dharmam- nadharmam- sruti-gana-niruktam- kila kuru
vraje radha-krsna-pracura-paricaryam iha tanuh
saci-sunum- nandisvara-pati-sutatve guru-varam
mukunda-presthatve smara padam ajasram- nanu manah
)O Mind, don’t concern yourself with the pious and impious deeds described in the Vedas. Rather, intently serve Sri Sri Radha-Krsna in Vraja. Always remember that Lord Caitanya is the son of Maharaja Nanda and that my guru is most dear to Lord Mukunda.

Official Name: Ucchvasa: Prarthana Lalasmayi Song 8

Author: Bhaktivinoda Thakura
Book Name: Kalyana Kalpataru
Language: Bengali

LYRICS:
(1)
kṛpā koro vaiṣṇava ṭhākura, sambandha jāniyā
bhajite bhajite, abhimāna hau dūra

(2)
'āmi to vaiṣṇava', e buddhi hoile, amānī nā ho'bo āmi
pratiṣthāśā āsi', hṛdoya dūṣibe, hoibo niraya-gāmī

(3)
tomāra kińkora, āpane jānibo, 'guru'-abhimāna tyaji'
tomāra ucchiṣṭha, pada-jala-reṇu, sadā niṣkapaṭe bhaji

(4)
'nije śreṣṭha' jani, ucchiṣṭthādi dāne, ho'be abhimāna bhāra
tāi śiṣya taba, thākiyā sarvadā, nā loibo pūjā kā'r

(5)
amānī mānada, hoile kīrtane, adhikāra dibe tumi
tomāra caraṇe, niṣkapaṭe āmi, kāńdiyā luṭibo bhūmi

TRANSLATION
1) O Vaisnava Thakura! Please give me your mercy – knowledge of my relationship with Bhagavan and the ability to do bhajana, sending my false ego far away.

2) If I think "I am a Vaisnava," then I will never become humble. My heart will become contaminated with the hope of receiving honor from others, and I will surely go to hell.

3) Give me the mercy that I can renounce the false conception of my being guru and can be your servant. Let me accept without duplicity your remnants and your foot-bath water.

4) By thinking that I am superior (guru) and giving my remnants to others, I will bring about my destruction. Let me always identify as your disciple and not accept any worship or praise from others.

5) In this way I can renounce the desire for honor for myself and can offer respect to others. Weeping sincerely at your lotus feet and rolling on the ground, I pray that you will give me the ability to chant nama purel

Vaisnava ke

(By   Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad)

 

dusta mana! tumi kisera vaisnava?
pratisthara tare	nirjanera ghare
tava harinama kevala kaitava [1]

"O naughty mind! What kind of a Vaishnav are you? You stay alone at home for your own fame and name—your chanting of the Holy Name is nothing but cheating.

 

jadera pratistha	sukarera vistha
jana na ki taha mayara vaibhava?
kanaka-kamini	divasa-yamini
bhariya ki kaja, anitya se saba [2]

"Material name and fame are pig's stool. Do you not know that it is a part of maya, illusory environment? Your days and nights are filled with worries about money and women, but what is the use? It is all temporary.

 

tomara kanaka	bhogera janaka
kanakera dvare sevaha madhava
kaminira kama	nahe tava dhama
tahara malika kevala yadava [3]

"Your money is the source of enjoyment, but you must use money to serve Madhava. You hanker for women, but they are not meant for you: their only proprietor is Yadava, Krishna.

 

pratisthasa-taru	jada-maya-maru
na pele ravana yujhiya raghava
vaisnavi pratistha	tate kara nistha
taha na bhajile labhibe raurava [4]

"When Ravana fought against Raghava (Lord Ramachandra), he could not get the tree of name and fame in the desert of material illusory environment. Worship with sincerity the glory of Vaishnavs because if you do not, you will go to hell.

 

hari-jana-dvesa	pratisthasa-klesa
kara kena tabe tahara gaurava
vaisnavera pachhe	pratisthasa achhe
tata kabhu nahe anitya vaibhava [5]

"Hating devotees, always suffering from the desire for name and fame—what is so glorious about that? Pratistha runs behind the Vaishnavs, and there is nothing temporary in that—Vaishnavs's fame is eternal.

 

se hari-sambandha	sunya-maya-gandha
taha kabhu naya jadera kaitava
pratistha-chandali	nirjanata-jali
ubhaye janiha mayika raurava [6]

"Those who have a relation with the Lord, who do not have even a scent of illusion, never engage in material cheating. The nets of living alone are just like the fame of a female dog-eater—both are hell of maya.

 

kirtana chhadiba	pratistha magiba
ki kaja dhundiya tadrsa gaurava
madhavendra-puri	bhava-ghare churi
na karila kabhu sadai janaba [7]

"You give up kirtan and seek prestige and position, but what is the use of seeking such glory? Always remember that Madhavendra Puri never did anything for his own sense pleasure (lit. never stole from the house of this senses).

 

tomara pratistha	sukarera vistha
tara-saha sama kabhu na manaba
matsarata-vase	tumi jada-rase
ma'jechha chhadiya kirtana-sausthava [8]

"Your fame is pig's stool. Never think it is one and the same [as the fame of great Vaishnavs]—you only sink to endless jealousy and enjoyment of the material world, giving up the greatness of kirtan.

 

tai dusta mana	nirjana bhajana
pracharichha chhale kuyogi-vaibhava
prabhu sanatane	parama yatane
siksa dila yaha, chinta' sei saba [9]

"O naughty mind, you want to practise in a secluded place, but actually on pretence of preaching you are engaged in a foul practice. Mahaprabhu took so much care to teach this to Sanatan Goswami, always remember this.

 

sei duti katha	bhula' na sarvatha
uchchaihsvare kara harinama-rava
phalgu ara yukta,	baddha ara mukta
kabhu na bhaviha 'eka-kara' saba [10]

"Wherever you are you must not forget these two topics [false renunciation and proper renunciation] and loudly chant the Holy Name of the Lord. Whether you are a conditioned soul or a liberated soul, never think that false and proper renunciation are one and the same.

 

kanaka-kamini	pratistha-baghini
chhadiyachhe yare, sei ta vaisnava
sei anasakta	sei suddha bhakta
samsara tatha paya parabhava [11]

"Those who give up money, women, and fame the tigress, are the true Vaishnavs—they are detached, they are pure devotees, and they can defeat the whole material world.

 

yatha-yogya bhoga	nahi tatha roga
anasakta sei, ki ara kahaba
asakti-rahita	sambandha-sahita
visaya-samuha sakali madhava [12]

"Those who take only what is necessary, have no disease and are truly detached. What more can I say? When you are free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself.

 

se yukta-vairagya	taha ta saubhagya
tahai jadete harira vaibhava
kirtane yahara	pratistha-sambhara
tahara sampati kevala kaitava [13]

"Those who practise such proper renunciation are extremely fortunate—they become an extension of the Lord in this material world. If somebody does kirtan (chants the Holy Name, preaches, etc.) for their own name and fame, then the result is nothing but cheating.

 

visaya-mumuksa	bhogera vubhuksu
du'ye tyaja mana, dui avaisnava
krsnera sambandha	aprakrta skandha
kabhu nahe taha jadera sambhava [14]

"Some want liberation from the material world, and some want to enjoy—dear mind, renounce both, for they are both not Vaishnavs. What is related to Krishna and the transcendental world has nothing to do with the material world.

 

mayavadi jana	krsne-tara mana
mukta abhimane se ninde vaisnava
vaisnavera dasa	tava bhakti asa
kena va dakichha nirjana ahava [15]

"Mayavadis, impersonalists, who are averse to Krishna and have the ego of being liberated offend Vaishnavs. O mind, if you are a servant of Vaishnavs and aspire for devotion, why are you then crying and fighting for solitude?

 

ye phalgu-vairagi	kahe nije tyagi
se na pare kabhu haite vaisnava
haripada chhadi'	nirjanata bari
labhiya ki phala, phalgu se vaibhava [16]

"Those who engage in false renunciation and call themselves taygi, can never become a Vaishnav. You leave the lotus feet of the Lord and stay alone at home, but what will you get by that? The result will be false.

 

rada-dasye rahi	chhada bhoga-ahi
pratisthasa nahe kirtana-gaurava
radha-nitya-jana	taha chhadi mana
kena va nirjana-bhajana-kaitava [17]

"If you stay with Radharani's servants, giving up the snake of enjoyment, for your own name and fame, it is not the real glorious kirtan. O mind, you leave the eternal associates of Radha, what is the use cheating with your solitary practice?

 

vraja-basi-gana	pracharaka dhana
pratistha-bhiksuka tara nahe saba
prana achhe tara	se hetu prachara
pratisthasa-hina-krsna-gatha saba [18]

"The devotees of Vraja are treasure among preachers. They ask for no prestige that is an attribute of dead bodies: as long as they have life in their bodies, they preach and glorify Krishna without any desire for recognition.

 

sri-dayita-dasa	kirtanete asa
kara uchchaihsvare harinama rava
kirtana-prabhave	smarana haibe
se kale bhajana nirjana sambhava [19]

"Praying to be able to do kirtan, Sri Dayita Das loudly takes the Holy Name. Chanting of the Holy Name (kirtan) arouses remembrance (smarana), and at that time it becomes possible to practise nirjan-bhajan."