Srila Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj: 'My Oldest Friend'

Have you met this Maharaj before? His name is Sripad Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj. He is the last sannyasi disciple of our Guru Maharaj, and he is senior to me. There are only four direct sannyasi disciples living now: the two of us, our Sripad Srauti Maharaj, and another one is Sripad Yachak Maharaj in Vrindavan.

In his last days, Srila Prabhupad (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur) lived in his bungalow at Chatak-giri in Sri Puri Dham, and every morning he wanted to hear a particular kirtan, but the devotee who used to chant kirtan was not considered fit for that. Earlier, when Prabhupad went to Mathura, he heard Sripad Jajavar Maharaj chant kirtan: he had a very sweet voice. It is sweet now too, but in his young age he had a very, very sweet voice, and he could sing with utmost sincerity, with all his heart. Srila Prabhupad heard him sing, so in his last days, when he was in Puri, he sent a telegram to Sripad Jajavar Maharaj, saying, 'Come to Puri at once.' Sripad Jajavar Maharaj was in Gaya at that time, serving as the math commander. When he got the telegram, he had to come to Puri, and there he was engaged every morning in singing songs to Srila Prabhupad, especially the song 'Sri Rupa Manjari pada, sei mora sampada, sei mora bhajana pujana.' He was ordered to sing this song every morning, and he sang it with his utmost sincerity and in a very sweet voice. We all were present at that time, and we enjoyed this very charming sight for a long time. After that, Prabhupad left Puri and came to Kolkata, and within a month he disappeared.

Of course, as everybody knows, before his departure, he asked me to sing that very song, and twenty-four hours after that, in the morning, he left the world...

Where were you at the time when Prabhupad left, Maharaj? Did you go back to Gaya?

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (in Bengali): No, Sripad Srauti Maharaj took me with him for preaching.

Did you go to Jharkhand or Midnapore?

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (in Bengali): We were in the area of Kesari, at the house of Dvarakesh Babu.

So, when Srila Prabhupad was leaving, Sripad Jajavar Maharaj was not present – Sripad Srauti Maharaj had taken him along with him in a preaching party.

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (in Bengali): And you were there at the time of his disappearance. You did everything, his samadhi and everything else.

Yes, I observed all the last functions...

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (to the assembled devotees, in Bengali): Srila Prabhupad wanted to hear the song 'Sri Rupa Manjari pada' from Maharaj before his disappearance.

Yes... Another thing was that because I am not a good singer, Kunja Babu (Sripad Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj) asked another gentleman to sing it, but Prabhupad stopped him and said, 'I do like to hear the tune!' So, they had to stop, and I had to begin singing that song. He had some internal purpose. The experts said later, 'By asking you to sing this particular song, Prabhupad has given you admission to the plane of rupanuga.' Our highest position of aspiration is to become rupanuga, a servitor under the guidance of Sri Rupa, who is the director of raga-marga.

Almost all books on raga-marga come from Sri Rupa Goswami. Mahaprabhu taught him in Prayag (Allahabad), at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna, and Sri Rupa Goswami wrote down everything that Mahaprabhu had told him about raga-marga. Mahaprabhu also blessed him, 'Whenever it is necessary, the flow will come to you out of its own accord to help you relate the science of Krishna-prema: the peculiar divine love of raga-marga that is found in Vrindavan.' When he wrote about that kind of love, the best words were supplied to him in a way of inspiration. When he read what he had composed in front of the audience comprised of Mahaprabhu, Svarup Damodar and Ray Ramananda, they listen to it and praised it very highly.

So, Sripad Jajavar Maharaj is one of my oldest friend, my main old friend. We have lost the association of most of them now, but Sripad Jajavar Maharaj is still here, and he has kindly come here to give me his darshan.

He was dissatisfied with the household life he lived, so when he was, perhaps, fifteen years of age, he came to Puri, to Lord Jagannath. From the bottom of his heart, he was searching for a sadhu. Maharaj, how old were you when you came to Puri?

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (in Bengali): I was eighteen.

A boy of eighteen, he left his house and went to Puri with a mind to find the association of a sadhu. This is when he joined the Mission. Our Guru Maharaj was in Puri at that time, and one of his followers met Sripad Jajavar Maharaj and asked him, 'Why have you come to Puri?' Sripad Jajavar Maharaj was very simple, so he replied, 'I have come on a quest. I am searching for a sadhu, a guru.' The devotee said to him, 'Are you? Then come with me!' Maharaj, who took you to Prabhupad?

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (in Bengali): It was Sripad Bodhayan Maharaj. At that time, his name was Vaishnav Charan Prabhu.

Yes, he was Vaishnav Charan Prabhu at that time, then he became Vaishnav-ananda Prabhu, and then Sripad Bodhayan Maharaj. He was a very clever man. He took Sripad Jajavar Maharaj to Prabhupad's camp, and he joined. The acquisition of his former life was such that he went to search and he easily got what he was searching for – he joined, and joined forever, very easily.

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (to the assembled devotees, in Bengali): Maharaj was there at the time of my sannyas. It was owing to him that I got it.

No, no, Gurudev proposed it himself.

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj: Yes, he did, but you encouraged me to take it. You told me, 'Look, Prabhupad is sitting over there, go and speak to him!' I came to Prabhupad together with you, and you told Prabhupad, 'He is afraid to take sannyas.'

You were twenty-eight at that time, were you not?

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (in Bengali): Yes, it was ten years later after I joined.

You joined at eighteen and received sannyas at twenty-eight.

Sripad Jajavar Maharaj (in Bengali): Yes, then Prabhupad told me, 'Do not be afraid.'

There was somebody who discouraged him, 'You are so young, how long you will be able to live as a sannyasi? It is not sure, so do not take so much risk! You are not thinking it through.' So, he hesitated. He told me that Prabhupad had proposed him to take sannyas, but he was hesitating and some of our friends were also dissuading him. I put it to Prabhupad on his behalf, saying, 'He is hesitating,' and Prabhupad replied, 'Abhaya pade saran nebe, bhaya koy (অভয় পাদে শরণ নেবে, ভয় কই)? Are you frightened? But why? Fear is in this world, but you are going to take shelter at the fearless holy feet, so what is there to fear? Have no apprehension. All fear is confined here, in this plane, but you are going to take shelter above this area of fear – you are going to connect with the fearless world.' This came from his mouth. And Jajavar Maharaj accepted it. The last sannyas given by Prabhupad was to him, in Puri. And for about a month, every day in the morning, he used to sing the song 'Sri Rupa Manjari pada.' It was very favourite to Prabhupad. Prabhupad practically took him from Gaya to Puri only to hear this song sung with his sweet voice...

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