Now the question is: how is mental strength increased? Trńádapi suniicena. It is often seen that when someone says something an immediate reaction arises in a person’s mind. This is quite natural; it is not a sin. To stand in the way of sin, to retaliate or fight against it, this is natural. However, this does not prove how much internal stamina or force a person has. Thus it is said: trńádapi suniicena. Mahaprabhu [Shrii Caetanya Deva] gave this instruction to his devoted disciples:

Trńádapi suniicena taroriva sahiśńuná;
Amániná mánadena kiirtaniiyá sadá harih.

[You must be more humble than the grass and as tolerant as the tree. You must give respect to those whom no one respects, and always do kiirtana of Lord.]

In order for someone to awaken or gradually increase their internal stamina one will have to engage in proper work as follows:

Trńádapi suniicena. A person should be more humble than a blade of grass. Grass is such an ordinary thing. People walk on grass and the grass endures it. However, that grass contains tremendous life force. Rather, grass has even more life force than human beings. How much strength do animals like cows and elephants get by eating grass! Yet this grass bears the neglect of human beings without showing any reaction. But here it does not say “as tolerant as grass”, but rather that human beings will have to acquire more tolerance than grass.

Let us suppose someone attacks you. What will you do? Will you grab your rifle and run after them? No. First see how much tolerance you have. Endure it to the extent that you are able. Afterwards, if the matter goes beyond your capacity to bear, then that is another matter.

Now, when you have proven that you have within you enough capacity to endure, then what will happen? Your courage will increase. You will have faith that a certain amount of strength is stored within you. Then if you tell someone, “leave your sinful ways, take to the path of spirituality, take initiation, do sadhana,” you will find that your work is accomplished. This will be the case nearly ninety percent of the time. And if your work is not accomplished then other path will open up.

Mahaprabhu has explained the significance of the word suniicena:

Trńa haite niicu haiyá save nik nám
Ápani nirabhimánii anye dive mán.

“With more tolerance than a blade of grass sing the name of Parama Puruśa. Give up your egotism; then others will sing your praises.”

Taroriva sahiśńuná. A very large tree which does not bear fruit is called vanaspati in Sanskrit, and a tree which is large in size but which also bears fruit is called vrkśa or taru, while those trees which are very beautiful to look at are only called taru. If they are not beautiful to look at then they are called vrkśa. In Sanskrit all plants are called mahiiruha, that is, that which parts the earth and rises up. A small sapling can be called mahiiruha even though it is small in size, although in this case it can be called shishu-mahiiruha [baby mahiiruha].

To be tolerant like a taru means that a human being must be as enduring as a vrkśa or taru, which tolerates so many blows and counterblows. However, this does not mean that if a wicked person comes to strike you or kill you that you will bear it without protest. It means that you should test how much strength to endure you have within you, so that a deep belief in yourself will awaken through knowing to what extent you can endure.

Now it is seen that you do not put your capacity to endure to the test. If something happens you react right away. I will say that instead of doing that, from time to time test how much capacity to endure you have inside you so that your self-confidence will become steadier. Be like a tree, which does not protest even if it is cut or ask water from human beings in the scorching heat of summer, but rather gives flowers to the priests and fruits and shade to travelers without asking those priests or travelers for water.

Kát́ileha taru yeman kichu ná bolay
Shukáiyá maile káre páni ná máuṋgay.

[When the tree is felled, it does not object;
And when it withers, it does not ask for water.]

Bear in mind that you have a duty towards others, but that no one has any duty towards you. Everyone’s individual duty is fixed. Only one who move forward with this as his or her only thought can do proper service. Otherwise the thought may remain in the mind of the one doing service that I have done such and such work for that person, so that person ought to do such and such for me. The thought must remain in the mind of the one doing service that I have a duty towards others but no one has any duty towards me.

Just as a tree serves and benefits everyone by giving shade, fruit, flowers and firewood without asking anything in return, a spiritual aspirant should lead their life with the same kind of noble sense of ethics. But it is interesting to see that there are many people in the society who can be heard saying that they have been doing service to society for many years. Their secret wish is that they might be given a pension or a medal. They hope for a recommendation from the government saying that since I played an important role in the struggle for independence then an independent India should give me a government pension. This kind of secret wish remains hidden in their mind. These kinds of people hope for some government title or government grant in exchange for their service to society, just as a shopkeeper exchanges salt for money. Actually such service is not service at all.

Amániná mánadena. Ápani nirabhimánii anye dive mána. People commonly show respect to those people who have achieved an honorable position in society, but here Mahaprabhu’s statement is: show respect to those neglected people who have no position in society, who are not held in esteem, to whom no one shows respect, those whom no one asks how they are doing. Inquire about how they are doing and help them to become established in society.

You must have often noticed that when a well-dressed gentleman talks, people address them with terms of respect such as ápani [respectful “you”] or ájiṋe [yes, sir]. But when talking with an ordinary labourer, you address them as tumi or tui [familiar and very familiar “You”]. When the stamp of poverty is visible on the face or in the dress then people use the familiar forms of address like tumi or tui, but when the stamp of affluence is on the face or the dress then people spontaneously speak to that person with respect. In Ananda Marga I address everyone with the familiar form, tumi, as in the English “you” [in the intimate sense].

Kiirtaniiyáh sadá Harih. What is kiirtana? When someone vocally sings the praises of God so that others can hear, it is called kiirtana. When it stays on the lips but is barely audible, then it is called mánasokti. And when it is confined to the lips and does not come out at all, then we call it upáḿshu. When it passes the lips and enters into another’s ear then we call it vácanika. When it is not a whisper but can be heard by distant ears, then that loud utterance is kiirtana. If this song of praise does not reach the ears of others, then we cannot classify it as kiirtana or give it the same respect. Now, when one does kiirtana, that person benefits and the person who hears kiirtana also benefits. People also sing bhajans [devotional songs] in a loud voice, but for their own satisfaction rather than for the satisfaction of others.

Bhajana is also vácanika but it is not kiirtana. Kiirtana and bhajana are not the same. Kiirtana’s greatness exceeds that of bhajana; it is incomparable. The difference between the two is firstly that bhajana is not heard at as great a distance as kiirtana, and secondly that people sing bhajans so that they can experience happiness, not so much to give happiness to others. Conversely, the ideation behind kiirtana is that others might also enjoy the same happiness listening to the praises of God that I get by singing the praises of God. This is the fundamental difference between bhajana and kiirtana. For this reason, Mahaprabhu has said kiirttaniyah sadá harih, rather than bhajaniiyah sadá harih. The benefit of kiirtana is that one whose mind is dirty becomes purified and one whose mind is already pure becomes even purer. One whose mind is holy becomes even holier. One whose mind was soiled but is no longer so is vimala, and one where it is not known if there was dirt in his or her mind or not, but at present there is not, is called nirmala.

Now kiirtana helps everyone. Whose kiirtana? Kiirttaniiyah sadá harih, that is, always do the kiirtana of the Lord. In ancient times people used to do the kiirtana of the kings and emperors. During the Mogul era, at the time of Akbar, singing the praises of the emperor became a traditional practice. Dilliishvarah jagadiishvaro vá [sing the praise of emperor of Delhi as well as of God in the same tone]. But what is gained by doing the kiirtana of this mortal man? Mahaprabhu gave the instruction to do the kiirtana of the Lord, not of the emperor.

Now the meaning of the word Hari is “one who steals, one who robs”. That is, he who, without their knowing, steals the sins or saḿskáras that a person has accumulated over lifetimes. Sins increase the burden of a person’s life; it makes a person’s life unbearable. So by whatever means a person’s burden must be lightened. Buddha used to say:

Sinca bhiikkhu imaḿ návaḿ sittá te lahu messati
Munca pure munca paccheta majjhe munca bhavassa páragu.

Buddha says: “O mendicant, look and see. Water is entering the boat that you have boarded in the hopes of crossing to the other side of the river. So get rid of that water right away.” Sinca bhikkhu imaḿ návaḿ. If you get rid of the water your boat’s load will be lightened. Sittá te lahu messyati. A human being’s burden grows along with the past, the present and the future. For example, perhaps you are thinking: once you were eating rich, delicious and costly foods such as háluyápuri, murg-mashallam, namkiin poláo – this is all the burden of the past. Similarly, today you will eat this and that, you will wear such and such, afterwards you will go to your friend’s house and they will ask you about what you are wearing – this is the burden of the present. In the same way, you will earn money in the future by doing business, become rich and gain esteem in the society – this is the burden of the future. Buddha warned his mendicants who were thirsty for liberation: O mendicants, lighten the burden that lies before you.

Buddha gave this explanation of the word bráhmańa:

Yassa pure ca pacche ca majjhe ca natthi kincanam
Akincanaḿ anádánaḿ tamahaḿ vrumi bráhmańam.

“That person who does not carry any burden from the past, who has shaken off the burden of the present and who does not create any new burden for the future, who does not want anything from anyone or gives anything to anyone, is a true bráhmańa.”

Today, however, we see its opposite. The priests of today openly hanker after dakśińá [an offering in the form of money or property] even after receiving sidhá [an offering in the form of materials such as rice, vegetables.] So whatever form this burden may take, it has to be shaken off. If a person is to reach the other shore of life, then he has to lessen his life’s burden. But human beings are very weak, so they cling to their burden and do not want to give it up. Even if they know that all these things constitute their life’s burden and there is the fear of their life’s boat sinking due to this burden, even then they do not want to give them up. Even if they know that their son is very wicked, they do not want to disown him. So what will happen then? Who will bear their burden? If Parama Puruśa comes to them and says: O human being, give me your burden, I will bear it for you – even then they are not ready to do so.

There is a story from Japan in this regard. In Japanese their country is called “Nippon”, in English, “Japan”. Once there was an immense load of wood with an old lady. She was at death’s door. She was saying: “I have to carry this load of wood every day. If I die now it will be a good thing. How much of a load can I carry everyday in this way! I can no longer take it”. At that very moment the god of death came to her and said: “Old woman, come along with me. You won’t have to carry this heavy load any longer”. That burden had been on the hands of old lady for so long. She thought, how best to carry it? The old lady said: “Lord of death, it is good that you have come. Please lend me a hand. Please pick up my load and place it on my head.”

There is a word in Sanskrit, pratyabhijiṋá, for those old experiences or past saḿskáras that influence people in the present. Due to these pratyabhijiṋá human beings are bound by various bondages and they do not want to be liberated from these bondages so quickly. There is a song of Rabindranath:

Jaŕáye ache bádhá, cháŕáye yete cái
Cháŕáte gele vyathá váje,
Mukti cáhiváre, tomár káche yái
Cáhite gele mari láje.

[I am tied to so many bondages. I want to get rid of them; When I try to do so, those bondages affect me. When I approach You with the prayer of liberation from those bondages, I feel extremely ashamed.]

Due to the bonds of obstacles people cannot move ahead. Even if they make efforts to free themselves from these bondages they still do not succeed. The mind does not want to distance itself from those bondages because it gets temporary pleasure from them. A dog cuts its lips chewing on a bone in the cremation ground. Blood flows from them and a little of that blood is swallowed. The dog thinks that this is juice coming from the bone. Much later, when a burning sensation starts coming, then it stops chewing on the bone. The same happens with people. They are not getting juice from the bone but rather blood from their own lips.

Now, without their permission and without their knowledge, Parama Puruśa steals the burden of people’s accumulated saḿskáras, thus one of his names is Hari. If he does not steal them, then these weak and obstinate human beings will never be able to cross over to the other side of life’s river. So Hari’s duty is to lighten the load of human beings. Hence it is only fitting that people do the kiirtana of Hari, their greatest friend, and not of anyone else.