Today is the auspicious advent Tithi of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Who is the redeemer of fallen souls. The ‘Vijay Vigraha’ of our Math which is taken out for Nagar-sankirtan was installed on the day of Nityananda Trayodashi. And later, during the summer time the ‘bada vigraha’ (the main deities) were installed. Our Gurudeva made extensive preaching of our Math all throughout India. Previously, we used to go to Assam many a times and used to stay in many places there. But because of the increased preaching activities of the Math, we cannot find time to go there so frequently. And during the rainy season, it is difficult to tour Assam due to heavy rains.

Today on the auspicious advent of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, we should pray for His grace. Those who have visited Math in the morning must have heard His glories. For now, the devotees have decided the subject for today’s assembly as ‘Bhakta Priya Bhagavan’—the Lord, bound by the affection of His devotees.

Here, devotees have sung,

akrodha paramananda nityananda rai
abhimaan shunya nitai nagare beday

(Lord Nityananda who is completely free from anger is the embodiment of supreme joy. He wanders throughout the town without any pride or arrogance.)

This Kirtan is composed by Sri Lochan Das Thakur. Now who is Nityananda Prabhu?

Narottam Das Thakur has written in his hymn,

vrajendra nandan jeyi
sachi suta haila seyi
balaram hailo nitai
dina hina jata chhila
hariname uddharilo
tar sakshi jagai madhai

Here, Narottam Das Thakur writes about who is Nityananda Prabhu? Nityananda Prabhu is one with Balaram. Balaram haila nitai—Balaram appeared as Nityananda. And vrajendra-nanadan jeyi sachi suta haila seyi—Vrajendra Nandan, the son of Nanda Maharaj, Nandanandana Sri Krishna appeared as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, the son of Sachi Devi. He further says, dina hina yata chhila hariname uddharilo—all the conditioned souls those who were enveloped by the illusory energy of Supreme Lord's external potency, passing through cycles of birth and death and threefold afflictions etc., in a very precarious condition, by distributing harinam They rescued them. Tar shakti jagayi madayi—Jagai and Madhai were great sinners, you have heard their names, they were also rescued by Nityananda Prabhu.

So who will rescue us? He is Sri Nityananda Prabhu Himself. He is not an ordinary human being. He is Sri Baladeva Himself. Though, He is Baladeva Tattva but still He has come in the mood of a devotee. He is self-effulgent (swayam-prakash).

If one has lust (kama) and if there is an obstacle in fulfilling it, then he will get angry. In the mood of anger, one cannot perform Sankirtan. So Nityananda Prabhu is teaching the whole world on how to perform Sankirtan. If there is any sort of material ego (gross or subtle) in the mind of a person, he cannot chant the Names of the Lord. If one really performs Sankirtan then He will do it only for the pleasure of the Lord. If he performs sankirtan with any worldly motive then he will not become successful. There is a proverb which says “means are justified by the end”. So if one performs spiritual activities with the desire to achieve some material benefit then all his means to do it will also become material. The Lord will not come to such a person. Supreme Lord is only for Himself and all objects belong to Him. The Western philosophers say that the Absolute is for Himself and by Himself. He is for nobody but everybody else is for Him. So only that person who has surrendered to the Supreme Lord completely can perform Sankirtan. The transcendental Names, Attributes and Pastimes of the Lord manifest only to a complete surrender soul. Srila Rupa Goswami has written in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu (1.2.234),

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

(Sri Krishna's Name, Beauty, Qualities, Abode, Associates and Pastimes cannot be known by the worldly use of non-eternal senses. Nobody can speak about, listen to or behold Them by the non-eternal senses.)

You may have heard the verse ‘sarva upadhi vinirmuktam tat paratva nirmalam’—one should get completely free from all material designations and purify his mind from all worldly contamination to serve the Supreme Lord. There should not be even a tinge of any material vanity related to any sort of material designation in the mind of a devotional practitioner. If there is even a scent of material pride in mind, devotion cannot appear there. Only when one becomes completely of the Supreme Lord, auspiciousness comes upon him. Scriptures says, mangalam bhagavan Vishnu—Supreme Lord is All Auspicious, and avrinchat amangalam—The rest everything, entire material universe up to the abode of Brahma is inauspicious. If there is any sort of material vanity it will bestow inauspiciousness. One should become free from all sorts of egotism related to material designations. One should understand the gravity of the implication of the above statement in regard to getting freed from all sorts of material designations. All sorts of egos like “I am a Brahmin, I am a Kshatrya, a Vaishya, a Sudra or I am a Brahmachari, a Grihastha, a Vanaprastha or a Sannyasi and even egos like I belong to a certain country and caste or creed are false egos.

adhama patit jiver dware dware giya
harinaam mahamantra den bilayia

(He knocks on every fallen soul’s door and bestows the Mahamantra to everyone.)

If material vanities remain in the heart of a person and his egos are hurt then he will become angry. If someone becomes angry then he cannot perform kirtan. There is a special significance of singing kirtans loudly. I am a conditioned soul and have many egos. Previously, I used to perform so much Nritya-Kirtan. Our Gurudeva would become very much pleased if anybody performs Nritya-Kirtan. I used to perform Nritya-Kirtan for my personal fame and reputation. Outside people used to praise me so much by telling that I am such a great devotee and Gurudeva would also praise so much but in reality I did Nritya-Kirtan for my personal name and fame. Our Param Gurudeva (Srila Prabhupad) wrote in his letters to the devotees, “I become extremely pleased (paramanandita hailam) if someone performs loud Kirtan of Names, Forms, Attributes and Pastimes of the Lord”.

He also has written in a hymn composed by him

uccaihsvare karo harinama
robo phalgu aro yukta
baddha aro mukta
kabhu na bhaaviho
ekaakaara saobo

We should loudly chant. Those who do not loudly chant Krishna, that is not correct yukta-vairagya, that is phalgu-vairagya or false renunciation.

Ajamila got rescued by loud chanting of the Holy Names of Narayan. So, if someone chants the Holy Names loudly, there is a possibility for him to get rescued like Ajamila. If someone chants the Holy Names loudly then both, the one who listens to those sound vibrations and one who utters those words will be benefited. For this reason the glories of loud chanting of the Holy Names is much more than chanting silently. For this reason only both our Gurudeva and Param Gurudeva used to encourage the loud chanting of the Holy Names. But when I do it, I cherish the desire of showing to the outside people that how much elevated devotee I am for gaining adoration from them. If this be the desire in the heart of anyone then he will not get Bhakti.

For this very reason Lochan Das Thakur is saying,

abhimaan shunya nitai nagare beday

Nityananda prabhu is free from any sort of material vanity. Similarly we should be freed from all sorts of material vanities. Only after that we can sing the glories of Supreme Lord.

Lochan Das Thakur further says,

harinaam mahamantra den bilaya

Nityananda Prabhu is distributing the Holy Names to the fallen souls.

It is not possible for practitioners like us to distribute the Holy Names to others. But we should still perform Sankirtan with the mentality of benefitting ourselves and to attract the grace of Guru, Vaishnav and Nityananda Prabhu. We should pray for the grace of Guru, Vaishnav and Bhagavan on their appearance day specially. They are very merciful by nature.

Sri Nityananda prabhu is very munificent by nature.

nitai jare dekhe tare kahe dante trina dhari
amare kiniya laha bhaja Gaura Hari

(Placing straw between His teeth, He says to everyone, “Worship Gaura Hari and you will purchase Me and make Me your slave.”)

Though, Nityananda Prabhu is Baladeva Himself, but still He is holding straw in between His teeth only to show humility. He is playing the pastimes of a devotee. There are so many beasts and birds who cannot perform worship. But if people chant the Holy Names loudly then even those animals will be benefitted by hearing the Names of the Lord. By performing sankirtan we will not only benefit ourselves but also living entities like trees and plants who cannot speak.

Nityanand Prabhu, in the spirit of humility being humbler than a blade of grass—in trinadapi sunichen mood, distributes the Holy Name to all.

He says, amare kiniya laha bhaja gaura hari—Worship Gaura Hari and you will purchase Me and make Me your slave.

He is asking everyone to chant the Names of Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu is Supreme Lord Himself Who has accepted the mood and the complexion of Srimati Radharani and made His advent in this special Kaliyuga only to grace the fallen souls. He is very compassionate since He has taken the mood of Srimati Radharani Who is very merciful Herself. So if one chants the Names of Gaur Hari, all his problems would be dispelled.

eta bali nityananda bhume gadi jai
shonara parvata yena dhulate lutaye

After telling this Sri Nityananda Prabhu started rolling on the ground and appeared as if a mountain of gold is rolling in the dust.

hena avatare jar rati na janmilo
lochan bole sei papi elo ar gelo

If someone cannot develop love and devotion for such a munificent form of the Lord, Then Lochan Das says that such a person is a sinner whose life is futile and who has only taken birth fruitlessly and will also die fruitlessly

Narrottan Das Thakur writes in one of his hymn,

nitāi-pada-kamala, koṭi-candra-suśītala
je chāyāy jagata jurāy
heno nitāi bine bhāi, rādhā-kṛṣṇa pāite nāi
dṛḍha kori' dharo nitāir pāy

(The lotus feet of Lord Nityananda are a shelter where one will get the soothing moonlight not only of one, but of millions of moons. If one wants to experience real peace, he should take shelter of Lord Nityananda. Unless one takes shelter under the shade of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, it will be very difficult for him to approach Radha-Krishna. If one actually wants to enter into the rasa-lila pastimes of Radha-Krishna, he must firmly catch hold of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda.)

se sambandha nāhi jā'r, bṛthā janma gelo tā'r
sei paśu boro durācār
nitāi nā bolilo mukhe, majilo saḿsāra-sukhe
vidyā-kule ki koribe tār

(Anyone who has not established his relationship with Nityananda Prabhu is understood to have spoiled his valuable human birth. Such a human being is actually an uncontrollable animal. Because he never uttered the Holy Name of Nityananda Prabhu, he has become merged into so-called material happiness. What can his useless education and family tradition do to help him?)

Nityananda prabhu has rescued so many fallen souls like Jagai and Madhai. Today is the Tithi of His appearance. To pray for His causeless mercy on this special day is both a great fortune for us as well as a special devotional limb for us to perform.

To be continued..