(4/8) Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (3)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Vyasa Puja of Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, the main festival programme
1 January 2021, part 4, translated from Bengali

…Gurudev did not spare anyone, not even his own brother. In Gurudev’s time I kept record of all expenses in a ledger. One time, when Gurudev took that ledger, he asked me about one of the records that said that I had given two hundred rupees to somebody. Who did I give that money to? To Dhananjaya, Srila Gurudev’s younger brother. Gurudev asked me why I had given him the money. Then, he called his brother and asked him, ‘Why did you take two hundred rupees?’ Dhananjaya said, ‘To buy some keo-karpin oil for Mother.’ Gurudev became angry and said, ‘Your mother used to live on muri, and now she is buying keo-karpin oil with the Deities’ money?!’ He said even harsher things, but it would not be appropriate to repeat it publicly. So, when it came to service, Gurudev did not spare even his family, including his own mother. Moreover, Gurudev told me personally, ‘You must not go to the house of that woman.’ Thakur Ma (Srila Gurudev’s mother) said after that, ‘Oh, Acharya Maharaj is big now, so he does not come to my room anymore,’ but Gurudev prohibited me to go there, then how can I go there? Gurudev said, ‘There is Maya there. If you go there, you will be caught by Maya. You can offer your obeisance from far, but you are not to go there ever again.’

Gurudev told me that when we cook some dish for the Lord, or when we offer arati to the Lord, we offer the pancha-pradip lamp and other items, and we always clean those items before using them. So, Gurudev said, ‘We have made a family and collected many utensils. Gurudev takes us (the utensils), cleans us, polishes us and uses us for the Lord’s service.’

I also remember one more thing Gurudev told. I cannot help saying it. When Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad was a householder and lived in Kolkata (his name was Abhay Babu at that time), Srila Sridhar Maharaj stayed at his house during several months together with Gurudev (his name was Gaurendu Brahmachari then; he was very young and had not taken sannyas yet). You know that Srila Prabhupad preached much about Srimad Bhagavad-gita and knew it by heart. So, he would take Gurudev to various places – he told Gurudev, ‘You are a brahmachari, so you will sit on the vyasa-asan and recite the slokas, and I will explain their purport.’ This is how much Srila Swami Maharaj loved Gurudev. Later, when Srila Prabhupad lived in the Radha-Damodar temple, translating Srimad Bhagavatam into English, Gurudev would publish Gaudiya Darshan from our temple, where he wrote Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s lectures and slokas (many things were actually written by Gurudev himself, but he would sign them with Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s name). When Srila Prabhupad read those articles, he said, ‘I may have many sons, but I consider Govinda Maharaj my true son. In fact, I consider him my only son because he can write such excellent things.’

When Gurudev had just come to the temple, within seven days Srila Sridhar Maharaj decided, ‘This boy will be my successor in the future.’ Why did he say so? Srila Sridhar Maharaj told Gurudev, ‘Do not listen to what your mind tells you, listen to what I say.’ Some time later, Gurudev happened to be given some dal with insects in it, and he ate it. Srila Sridhar Maharaj saw it and asked him, ‘Why did you eat that dal? There were insects in it.’ Gurudev replied, ‘I did not want to eat it, but then I remembered that you had told me not to listen to my mind but to listen to you, that is why I ate what was given to me.’ Such was Gurudev.

In 1973, Srila Swami Maharaj invited all Gaudiya Maths for the inauguration of ISKCON’s Sri Chandrodaya Mandir in Mayapur. Many did not come, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj went there together with Gurudev and Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj (there are photographs from the inauguration, you can see them seated there). Gurudev was a householder at that time – he came from Kolkata, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj told him, ‘Do not leave, let us go to Mayapur. Swami Maharaj has invited us.’ When they came to Mayapur, Gurudev asked Swami Maharaj, ‘You are opening a temple, but where is the fire sacrifice? I do not see any inauguration paraphernalia.’ Then, Srila Swami Maharaj said, ‘Srila Sridhar Maharaj is my siksa-guru – he has come, so the temple is already inaugurated.’ During the inauguration programme, Srila Swami Maharaj gave a class and then requested Srila Sridhar Maharaj to speak, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj said (as if on purpose, showing some trickery), ‘I am not feeling well, so Govinda Maharaj will say something on my behalf.’ (Although Gurudev was a grihastha, Srila Sridhar Maharaj always called him Govinda Maharaj.) During his speech, Gurudev recited this sloka:

কম্প্রতি কথয়িতুমীশে সম্প্রতি কো বা প্রতীতিমায়াতু ।
গোপতি-তনয়াকুঞ্জে গোপবধূটী-বিঢং ব্রহ্ম ॥

kam prati kathayitum ise samprati ko va pratitim ayatu
go-pati-tanaya-kunje gopa-vadhuti-vidham brahma

‘Whom can I tell? Who will believe me when I say that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is hunting gopis in the bushes by the banks of the Yamuna? In this way the Lord demonstrates His pastimes.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.98)

The meaning of this sloka is this: ‘Whom can I tell this? Who will understand this? The Supreme Lord Himself is running after milkmaids in the jungle! Who will believe it?’ In the same way, Gurudev was saying, ‘Whom can I tell that this Abhay Babu, whom we all previously knew as an ordinary householder, has now become a great Jagad-Guru (world guru) and preaches Krishna-katha all over this world?’ Hearing Gurudev recite this sloka and understanding Gurudev’s thought, Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj exclaimed, ‘Hari bol! Hari bol!’

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Satiating Hunger
2) Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (1)
3) Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (2)
4) Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (3)
5) Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (4)
6) Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (5)
7) Srila Gurudev's Pastimes (6)
8) Come as a Beggar