(2/5) Intertwined Glory of Guru and Disciple

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Srila Narottam Das Thakur's Disappearance
18 October 2019, Nrisingha Palli, part 2

When Srila Narottam Das Thakur was not yet born, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Bangladesh and the Ganga flowing there. In Bangladesh, Ganga's name is Padma. So, here in India, the river is called the Ganga, and over there it is called the Padma River. When Mahaprabhu was there, He came to the bank of the river and, picking up a little soil, He threw it into the Ganges, shouting, 'Narottam! Narottam! Narottam!' Everybody was surprised, 'There is no Narottam here. Who is that Narottam?' After a while, a boy was born there. He was named Narottam, and then the local people understood, 'This is that Narottam.' That is the real Narottam.

He was born in a good family. His father's name was Krishnananda, and his mother's name was Narayani, just like the name of Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur's mother (her name was Narayani, too).

After Srila Narottam Das Thakur heard about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu, he would always sing, 'Nitai-Gaura, Nitai-Gaura.' He always remembered Nityananda and Gauranga and kept thinking how to go to Vrindavan. In the end, he cried to his mother, 'Mother, if you do not allow me to go to Vrindavan, I will die. I will not be able to live. Please give me permission to go to Vrindavan!' His mother gave him some money, and, taking her permission, he finally went to Vrindavan. His mother is also very fortunate.

This is how Srila Narottam Das Thakur obtained Vaishnavs' association in Vrindavan. So many great Vaishnavs lived there at that time. He got their association as well as an opportunity to serve them. In this way, Srila Narottam Das Thakur eventually started preaching about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Actually, not so many people knew about Srila Lokanath Goswami before because he was a bhajanandi Vaishnav (he never preached). But he became famous and well-known to everyone owing to Srila Narottam Das Thakur (because Srila Narottam Das Thakur took initiation from him, everybody now knows about Srila Lokanath Goswami). Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was like that, too. He himself never went to any foreign countries, but because our Gurudev preached about him Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj is now very famous all over the world. Is that correct or not? Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj is famous owing to Gurudev because Gurudev preached about him all over the world. That is why everybody now knows Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Owing to whom? Owing to our Gurudev. Somebody does not agree with that and does not believe that, but it is a fact.

The problem is this. I wrote about it in Guidance 3. When we take the Holy Name from Srila Gurudev, many of us pretend to be taking initiation (they take initiation but not a proper initiation - they only pretend to take it), but we cannot become real servants of Gurudev in this way. As a result, some of us become guru-bhogi (we enjoy the guru) and some guru-tyagi (we reject the guru). 100% people yearn for kanak (money), kamini (women), pratistha (name and fame). We see the temple established by Srila Gurudev as a place for our own enjoyment, and we are not afraid to resort to even bloodshed for that. Instead of serving the Lord, we turn the Lord into our servant, and the worshippable Deity into a bribe-taker. (Like during Durga-puja, people come and pray to Mother Durga for something and give her some food or things in return as a bribe). Unless we stay under the guidance of Sri Gurudev, the embodiment of eternal shelter, and his followers, it is impossible to practise Krishna consciousness – it will be only committing an offence.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Remembering Srila Narottam Das Thakur
2) Intertwined Glory of Guru and Disciple
3) Aural Darshan
4) Helpless and Blind
5) Drops of Nectar