SERMONS

of the

GUARDIAN of DEVOTION

Volume Two

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

© 1991 Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
All rights reserved by the Successor President-Acharya

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip, West Bengal, India

First Printing 28 February 1991

Compiled, edited and published by Tridandi-bhiksu Sri Bhakti Ananda Sagar Maharaj from informal talks by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj on the Divine Instruction of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

This electronic version is prepared in 2024 as part of service to His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj.

Web address: www.scsmathinternational.com

Email: info@scsmathinternational.com

CONTENTS

Foreword

PART ONE

Chapter One: Invite Vasudeva to the Throne of Your Heart

Chapter Two: The Eye to See the Dham

Chapter Three: Bhajan—Real and Apparent

Chapter Four: Heralding the Twilight

Chapter Five: The Krishna Sun

Chapter Six: Perspectives on the Absolute

Chapter Seven: A Holy Day

PART TWO

Chapter Eight: Approaching the Higher World

Chapter Nine: The Divine Agent

Chapter Ten: Supersubjective Reality

Chapter Eleven: Loving Surrender

Chapter Twelve: Earnestness

Pranama-mantra

The Guardian of Devotion and His Divine Servitor

The Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s Mission

Headquarters of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Books and Publications of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

All Glory to the Divine Master

and the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya

Foreword

The Holy Vibration of Divine Talks of the Supreme Lord and His Associates (Hari-katha) is an eternal benediction. Descending through the Divine Succession of the Great Divine Masters down to this plane of the mundane world, the Holy Talks of the Lord that emanate from the Lotus Mouth of the pure saint are a manifestation of the Lord Himself. No one can estimate the oceanic Grace of the Lord upon the fallen conditioned souls when He personally descends in this form of Holy Talks of Him.

My most worshipful and beloved Divine Master, Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, always loved to deliver such Holy Talks, especially in the Supreme Line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Whoever was fortunate to hear those talks, whether hailing from East or West—their hearts would bloom with happiness and transcendental prospect. When Srila Guru Maharaj in his advanced age was barely able to muster up the physical strength to come and take his seat and speak to the devotees, I would still request him to try to speak for at least only five or ten minutes—and often, after he began, he would continue for one or even two hours or more, showing all the youthful exuberance of a young man or boy. How the great souls love to eternally sing the Infinite Glories of the Lord!

Today it is our great fortune that those Holy Words that came down to us in such a simple and charming way are being brought out in book form, for the benefit of Srila Guru Maharaj’s world-wide mission and new sincere spiritual seekers as well. Srila Guru Maharaj’s words are an eternal Divine ecstatic flow. They are food for the hearts of the true devotees of the Supreme Lord and His Associates; they are the real life of the sincere souls hankering for the Godly life of Divine Dedication.

So we are very satisfied and pleased with the efforts of Tridandi Swami Sripad Bhakti Ananda Sagar Maharaj and the sincere devotees, especially—Sri Jaya Krishna Prabhu, Sri Dayanidhi Prabhu, Sri Nabadwip Chandra Prabhu, Sri Jagamohan Prabhu, Sri Risabhadev Prabhu, Sri Sri Govinda Prabhu, Sri Jagadananda Prabhu, and many other good souls who have assisted him by providing the necessary funds required for bringing out this second volume in the series of Sri-Bhakti-raksaka-divya-vani—Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion. Also, Sri Devashish Prabhu, Srimati Gurbanuga and Srimati Bhakti Sima Devi Dasis assisted with the proofreading. May Srila Guru Maharaj shower his blessings upon them all. With this prayer I beg to offer my humble obeisances unto His Lotus Feet and unto all the Vaishnavs.

Humbly,

Swami Bhakti Sundar Govinda

[Sri Gaura-purnima,

28 February 1991]

PART ONE

All Glory to the Divine Master

and the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya

Chapter One:
Invite Vasudeva to the Throne of Your Heart

Devotee: What should a devotee do when he is continually being attacked by lust, anger and greed?

Srila Guru Maharaj: One should cry for the help of the sadhu; the sadhus are posted from above. There are many who are progressing from the mundane world to the spiritual world, and special sadhus are given charge to protect those travellers. So the devotee will cry aloud: “I am going to be plundered! Give me protection!” With fervour, he will move all his nerve to the extreme: “I must not allow myself to be plundered by you! All my previous tendencies have shaped my fate, and now they have appeared; I am prey to all those nasty plunderers—please protect me! Kama, krodha and lobha (lust, anger and greed) are jumping at me!”

There are also so many artificial methods:

yamadibhir yogapathaih kama-lobha-hato muhuh

mukunda-sevaya yadvat tathaddhatma na samyati

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.6.36)

The practices of sitting postures (asanas), breath control (pranayama), etc., may help us to a slight degree, but only superficially. The deep seed can be eliminated only by taking Mukunda on the throne of our heart (mukunda sevaya yadvat tathaddhatma na samyati). If one goes on with the artificial means of pranayama and so on, lust and anger may seem to be a little reduced in power for the time being, but this is not a permanent cure. When the practices are slackened, they arise again. The relief from lust, anger and greed is only temporary.

The meditators and renouncers (yogis, jnanis) think these practices will quench their inner thirst, and they go on with constant deep meditation (nidhidhyasanam) while keeping guard outwardly with some external practices. But the devotees do not have any faith in this method. They consider the whole thing artificial. They only want to invite Vasudeva in all phases of their lives, and in this way they permanently do away with those enemies.

Devotee: Maharaj, in the beginning we are taught to follow. But it seems there is a point where we imitate, and then follow later. Because we have no qualification, when we try to follow we are actually imitating somehow. So what’s the difference between the two? When does imitation, or anukarana, become following, or anusarana?

Srila Guru Maharaj: In anusarana, following, there is sincerity; and anukarana, imitation, is only for name and fame, or pratistha. To only imitate devotion outwardly without inner purity is more or less done to get the glory of a sadhu. And anusarana means to attain from the heart, sincerely. So, true following is sincere progress, and imitation is artificiality.

It has been practically experienced that responsible services can help us not to fall prey to lust, anger, etc. Foremost is faith (sraddha), next is the association of pure devotees (sadhu-sanga) and deep engagement with the duties prescribed by the Divine Master (bhajana-kriya). Deep engagement is necessary, especially for the mind, not merely the body. And mental engagement can be attained only by responsibility. Some responsible service is given to the disciple. He feels weight and it occupies his brain; he cannot but think about it—the mind is engaged there, surely. So, the mind gets no chance to dwell on lower things. This is the beauty of deep engagement in responsible Service. In the practical sense, that helps us a great deal. Then association and Scriptures will really be of substantial help to us: as Service (pariprasna, sevaya). As much as we are able to engage ourselves in deep, responsible services, the enemies’ effect on us will be minimised. They will come and peep and then step back saying, “No—no time. He is deeply engaged. He has no time to give attention to us. He may not be enticed.” In this way, they will have to retreat. Then, if they return once, twice, thrice or more—“Oh, no time. He has no attention to spare for us. He is very deeply engaged—for Seva.”

Seva, Service, should not be merely physical; there is mental Seva, and only responsibility can capture the mind. In responsibility, the mind is compelled to think on the matter; otherwise, the mind may be free to wander hither and thither even while the body is apparently engaged. So engage the mind in deep Service, responsible Service.

*	*	*

Chapter Two: The Eye to See the Dham

The Eye of Faith

In an ordinary country there is a capital. The capital is where the existence and position of the king is more intense than in the general section of the country. Similarly, the Lord is everywhere, and His concentrated existence is found in the Dham, or the Holy Abode. With fully developed vision, we can feel the special characteristic of the Dham. We shall find His presence everywhere, but with particular intensity in the Dham. With the awakening of our real eye, we should be able to feel and appreciate according to this criterion. There is no question of a Dham for those who have no eye to see. There is also a hierarchy in the Dham. All are in serving attitude, whether birds, beasts, worms, insects—everything—all are contributing to the Reality. Their feeling of heart, their gesture, posture or movement—everything contributes exclusively to the Pastimes of the Lord.

Dhamera svarupa, sphuribe nayane: in one song, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur aspires for that pure vision of the Dham. Otherwise, it may appear quite ordinary to us, like a jungle. The purity of Ganges water is only perceived by those who have proper faith, or sraddha. Otherwise, to others eyes, it is ordinary water. The same applies to the Deity, or Sri Murti. One may think that the Sri Murti of Lord Jagannath in Puri appears to be a somewhat awkward figure: His arms seem incomplete, His feet are not visible, His eyes are enormous. Yet Mahaprabhu stood before Him for hours, shedding tears; no one could move Him from that place. What did Mahaprabhu see in that Figure, and what is He to our eyes? So, according to the depth of the vision of our inner eye, we can come to that plane of the Dham, the Deity, and the purifying Ganges water. Sraddhamayo ‘yam purusah (Bhagavad-gita, 17.3): “The nature of a person is modelled on faith.” Of what value is a mirror without an eye? In a looking-glass we should find the reflection, but if the eye is absent, what will the subject see in the glass? So, the eye to see—faith—is necessary. According to the sraddha, the specific character of the Dham, as distinct from all other places, will come into view, disclosing its real form. Everything depends on sraddha, faith.

Faith is the only effective link. If we wish to have any link with the sun or the moon, ordinary instruments won’t do, but some plenary medium like electricity, etc. can help to connect us. We must approach via a plane similar to the object. Similarly, we can approach the infinite only with the help of sraddha. We cannot hope to have any connection with that finest plane of fundamental existence of this world with the help of the eye, nose or ear, or even by intelligence or reason. If we want to have any connection with the finest plane that is underlying this creation, it is possible only through faith (sraddhamayo ‘yam purusah).

Then, the question of credibility arises: faith may be blind. But as long as the qualification of ‘blind’ faith exists, ‘seeing’ faith must also be possible! Blind faith is diseased faith, but we must connect by real or healthy faith. Then again, our experience must be confined to our own limitations; so how much faith can we accumulate?

Infinite faith in the Infinite

When we try to establish a connection with the infinite, there are infinite possibilities. But how much faith can finite things like us have? How much can we imagine? Imagination must also have a limit, yet the infinite exists, beyond even the limit of any imagination. The infinite is so spacious and broad that even our imagination fails. How much can we imagine? We are born and bred in a cell; our experience is limited and our imagination is also limited. So imagination cannot be extended to take on an infinite character. We must be conscious that we are going to establish our relationship with the infinite, where the greatest imagination is only a point. Imagination cannot devour the infinite, so imagination must not be allowed to obstruct us. How much can we imagine? Something very meagre in comparison with the infinite. We must not allow ourselves to be slaves to our imagination. The infinite is so broad, we cannot have any conception of it, we cannot imagine it. It is beyond. So we must not cower under blind faith—there may exist infinitely more than we can imagine. Only genuine faith can help us in that direction, toward the infinite. And even when we have some conception, it is said that the key to make Himself known to us is in His hand. When He opens the door, we can enter. The key is not within our hand. We can see only as much as He likes us to. He is Adhoksaja—Transcendental. We first have to accept this before we can approach Him or even expect to know Him. We must prepare ourselves with this attitude of accepting Him as Adhoksaja.

If He does not allow us to enter into His Domain, should we deny His existence? He is free to do as He pleases; what can He lose? It is we who are the losers. So we should submissively acknowledge the Adhoksaja Realm above us. Superseding Sankaracharya’s philosophy, Sri Ramanuja introduced this Adhoksaja principle.

The Supersubjective Realm

Because we cannot enter that realm as a subject or making it an object of our investigation, we deny the existence of such a thing. What does this mean? Fools may be satisfied with such an imaginary tendency, but really there is such a Domain, and when He wants to take us within His jurisdiction we can have some experience of it. This is Adhoksaja. Srimad Bhagavatam warns us with this expression, Adhoksaja. He is Adhoksaja—Transcendental, Supramental. We cannot enter that domain as a subject. Even if we approach Him as investigators, we can know Him only as much as He allows us to. Still, we have to admit that there is such a realm, the Supersubjective Realm. We are subject, and that is Supersubject. The jiva-chaitanya, the soul, is not the final existence. Socrates said that the soul is immortal and can live independent of matter. He realised that the soul is a unit independent of matter—it is not a product of matter. Yet, the soul is not the final substance. Compared to matter, the soul is spiritual, but at the same time he may be considered like matter in comparison to his Knower, the Supersoul, Paramatman, and so on. The subjective realm progresses onward, more and more. There, all are our masters. We cannot be master there, we can only be servants. If we want to enter into the highest position, we shall accept the position of the slave of the slave. Only then can we get the chance of entering into that Domain. It is not unreasonable.

Some may think that matter, gas, sky, and finally ether is the limit of existence; or, beyond ether, electricity is the limit. But beyond that is the soul, as Socrates said. There, soul is existence, transcending matter in all its phases. So, also, that soul is only a particle on the gross side of the Absolute. There is finer existence as Supersoul, and onwards. Just as in the material creation there are so many stages such as earth or stone, wood, gold, etc., there is similarly a gradation in spiritual substance. Generally, two—in the lower part Vaikuntha, and the highest sphere is Goloka or the Land of Love.

The Play of the Sweet Absolute

The spiritual existence may also be divided into three basic classes: sat, chit, anandam. Above the subjective existence of chetana, or chit, the jiva-soul, there is a higher fundamental, categorically different element of anandam, or happiness, ecstasy. That is not only chit, not only subjective, but fulfilment of the subject as anandam, full in itself, or more specifically in Himself. And this is the main element to be found in Goloka. Knowledge is rather subservient there. Knowledge—jnana, anubhuti—perception, experience, even of the transcendental, is subservient, subdued, and the automatic flow of anandam—beauty and harmony—is the real characteristic of the Goloka section. Jnana does not play any part there (jnana-sunya-bhakti). It is something like intuition. The movement there is intuitive, and full of ecstasy.

There is no movement by calculation; it is all by intuition (sambandha-jnana). How and wherefrom the direction comes, they do not care to know. They are but instruments in the hands of that Anandamaya-vilasa, or Ecstatic Play. This is Goloka, and we are told that if we have faith, we shall take the trouble of making a journey toward that plane. Faith should be the guide, impelled by our intense desire (lobha, laulyam). Our attraction and feeling of necessity for it takes precedence: “Yes, I want that.” Then, we begin. Just as Hegel said, ‘the idea precedes the action.’ So, in sraddha, we feel, “Yes, I want that thing.” Then we shall take the trouble of approaching it. So we are told that the highest position is such, that is, intuitive labour of Love in the Divine Pastimes (Vilasa). And that is the conception of the highest quarter, where one can find the best happiness, or ecstasy. One who has attraction for that will take the trouble of accepting it and going to that place; that is given by Bhagavatam and Mahaprabhu.

The Land of Beauty

Satyam is the land of the conception of existence; sivam is the hand of good; and sundaram is the land of beauty. Sivam means mangalam, that is, that which is safe from mortality—unassailable existence. There is existence in mortality—the material energy also exists. But there is a land where there is no death, and that is considered to be sivam or mangalam. And sundaram is the positive life of attraction. One aspires to live such a life. Sundaram is a life worth living. There is such a land in the highest quarter. Mahaprabhu and Bhagavatam called us for that: “Here is a soil, and you are a child of that soil. If you analyse yourself deeply, you will find that you are a child of that soil. You are not created for this land where you are always suffering from uncertainty and apprehension. Apprehension and uncertainty are always troubling you; you must cross beyond them, go up, and you will find sivam—no apprehension, but the positive life. If you really like to have it, you will have to enter into the area of Goloka, the land of beauty and love.” No consideration of calculation, no necessity of calculation or anything else. There, no fraud or deception can ever be dreamed of, so calculation and reasoning have no place at all. Automatically, all is good, all is fulfilment. It is the general conception.

Then, for satisfaction’s sake, Yogamaya has designed things in such a way that Krishna’s Associates are afraid of losing Him, and Krishna also misses Srimati Radharani, or Mother Yasoda, etc. This is designed to maintain the Pastimes there, and not out of necessity. It is not out of necessity, but it is the way of life: as a fashion it is maintained, and not for want.

aher iva gati premnah svabhava-kutila bhavet

ato hetor ahetos cha, yunor miina udanchati

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 8.110)

“The nature of Love is curved like a snake; therefore two kinds of quarrelsome pride arise between Lover and Beloved: justified and groundless.”

Srila Rupa Goswami gives this example. By nature, the serpent goes by a zigzag or curved movement. So, in the land of Prema (Divine Love), mana, abhimana (lover’s quarrel, ego) and so on, are all in the nature of dealings there, but not out of necessity or want. That is the way of Vilasa, or Pastimes.

Devotee: On Srimati Lalita Devi’s Appearance Day, you were saying how Lalita Devi goes out to the streets of Vrindavan, with a pen and paper—

Srila Guru Maharaj: Canvassing right and left, “Come and join my camp! I shall give you Engagement in the Service of Radha and Govinda.” And that is infinite.

Devotee: So, Maharaj, can one who is aspiring for Devotional Service identify himself with the thought of becoming enrolled in that particular camp?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Of course, otherwise why does that exist? That is the Infinite. There’s no rule of limitation that says all the vacancies are filled. It is not finite.

Devotee: But whether it is audacity—

Srila Guru Maharaj: Audacity, impertinence—

Devotee: Yes—to go and ask to be engaged in Madhura-lila, Divine Pastimes in Consorthood?

Srila Guru Maharaj: It will be unavoidable. Necessity does not care for anything. There is no loss in necessity. When anyone finds the aspiration in himself, he will helplessly or unconsciously appeal, “Please enlist my name.” He can’t resist.

Devotee: This question was troubling me very much. It is inconceivable how the great Associates of the Lord actually want to take others to such Engagement.

Srila Guru Maharaj: There’s no dearth of facility on that side. Mahaprabhu says,

tuya daya aichhena parama udara

atisaya manda natha bhaga hamara

“Whatever may be lacking is on My part. There is no defect on Your side.” The Acharya Thakur Bhaktivinod has given us this interpretation.

namnam-akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis

tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah

etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi

durddaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah

“O Lord, Your Holy Name bestows all good fortune unto the soul, and thus You have extended into the world Your many Names—Krishna, Govinda, etc. You have offered all Your Transcendental Potency in Your Holy Name, without enjoining any (scriptural or philosophical) hard and fast rules and regulations concerning time, place or circumstance to be observed in chanting it. Dear Lord, You have so graciously made Your Holy Name available to the ordinary souls, and yet My misfortune, My offensiveness, does not allow Love for that gracious Name to be born in My heart.”

Therefore Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, “I don’t find any taste for You in my heart—it is hard like rock. There is unlimited grace on Your side, but I am so mean, so low, and You are so high.”

Overwhelming Grace—the birth of fortune

But this feeling cannot arise without being in the relativity of that Superior World. Without that, such thoughts cannot arise. When really in the relativity of that world, the thought of overwhelming grace also arises. One feels that grace, although he feels unqualified in himself. And that is the beginning. Fortune begins there. Necessity is the mother of invention. Sraddha has come, showing such a great prospect to the devotee, and he is very eager to attain that prospect—but he fails. That failure is also in one sense participating in a particular position. He’s already in the relativity of the Infinite, otherwise he could not have made such a statement. It is infinite! Whatever degree of attainment he may reach, he’ll still be unsatisfied—because that is infinite. Na prema-gandho ‘sti darapi me harau: “Is there such an attainment in me? No. I do not possess it, because it is impossible to possess Him.” Yet, possession is there in the negative sense: “I am so negative.”

This is the nature of the Negative’s possession of the Positive, and so, She can attract the Positive. The more the negative characteristic is found in a particular place, the more the positive is attracted there. That is the underlying truth.

Srimati Radharani says, “I am in the highest need of Krishna.” So much feeling of necessity in Krishna’s absence is not to be found anywhere as in Her heart. And that satisfies Krishna. Setting aside all other demands, He wants to come and satisfy the demand of that heart where want for Him is of the highest degree. Is it not natural? Dedication. We are units or aspects of the Moiety of Dedication, and not of fulfilment. Fulfilment is a stagnant thing. It is a qualification in the limited world. But in the unlimited, such an attitude can’t stand. This is the nature there. Ksudha.

Devotee: Ksudha means unquenchable thirst?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes; unquenchable thirst, so the tiniest drop of nectar will be tasted as very, very sweet. Inundating.

Once in Madras, one gentleman put a question to me: “Your highest ideal is Chaitanyadev? Isn’t His conception dangerous? Always mad with want of something, crying and rubbing His face against the wall, such intense madness for want of Krishna—that is a dangerous thing to us! We would be rather afraid to make that the ideal for our life.”

bahye visa-jvala haya,	bhitare anandamaya

krsna-premera adbhuta charita

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 2.50)

“The amazing characteristic of Love for Krishna is found in the symptoms of burning anguish without, and ecstasy within.”

The Joy of hankering for the Truth

Extreme hankering for the truth is in itself anandam. “I want only the truth, nothing else”—that is anandam. It is unpossessed by any unessential thing. And by nature, the highest fulfilment is found in the negative aspect; the intense feeling of negativity is the highest attainment in its fullest position. Fulfilment of life is in the necessity of the Negative Potency.

Devotee: Maharaj, does that negativity mean humility?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes, it begins from humility. As Sri Chaitanyadev has taught us, one should consider himself lower than a straw and be more tolerant than a tree, and never expect honour for oneself, but always offer it to others.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has explained that we are actually lower than a straw because in our present existence we are vikrta, or deranged. But a straw is at least passive and maintaining its natural position. We have lost our proper function and become of negative value; we are lacking the positive value of a straw because we are adverse.

We are going against our own interest with our intelligence. We have intelligence, but it is misguided, opposed to the proper order of things. The straw is poised, it cannot move, but we can move in a wrong way. So we are actually in a more heinous position than a straw. We use our assets willingly to misguide ourselves, but the straw maintains its fixed position without deviation.

 In the worldly sense we may hold a position superior to that of grass or a tree, but what of that? All our credits are being misused for our selfishness. So we are lower than straw: We are armed, but armed for suicide. A madman should not possess a dagger. He is dangerous. He could stab himself at any moment—he’s mad.

The tolerance of the tree may also be seen in the same light. The tree must forbear his former actions, but we must be alert not only to the former but also to the present actions. In the present time also we may commit some wrong, so our position is more dangerous than a tree’s. The tree is only reaping the result of its previous action, but our need is to guard ourselves against our present malactivity, so we require more forbearance than that of a tree. We should think, “I must be more cautious than the tree in my attitude of forbearance. My position is more dangerous because my special attainment is going against me.”

*	*	*

Chapter Three: Bhajan—Real and Apparent

Devotee: I have heard that some Acharyas hold that smaran, internal remembrance, is of prime importance as a devotional service to the Lord, above even kirtan or chanting; or is it subservient to kirtan?

Srila Guru Maharaj: There are some who are of that opinion because smaran is exclusively connected with consciousness, or more concerned with the subtle part of our existence; so that should be the most effective form of sadhana, or means to the end. But our Guru Maharaj, and Srila Jiva Goswami, and also Kaviraj Goswami Prabhu, laid stress on kirtan—especially for the beginners. Guru Maharaj says in his song Vaishnav ke? (‘Who is a Vasnava?’):

kirtana prabhave, smarana haibe,

se kale bhajana nirjjana sambhava

“Internal remembrance can occur by the power of kirtan, and only then is solitary Service possible.” Nirjjan bhajan or smaran, exclusive solitary Devotion unconscious of the environment, is not at all possible for beginners. And Srila Jiva Goswami says (Bhakti-sandarbha, sankhya 273):

yadyapy anya bhaktih kalau kartavya,

tada kirtanakhya-bhakti-samyogenaiva

“In this Kali-yuga, of the nine basic forms of Devotional Practices, the forms other than kirtan certainly should be practised, but they must be conducted subserviently to kirtan.” And this is the principle of Mahaprabhu’s preaching. Kirtan has its own special characteristic, particularly in Kali-yuga.

kaler dosa-nidhe rajann asti hy eko mahan gunah

kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 12.3.51)

(Sri Sukadev Goswami said,) “O King, the Age of Kali, the repository of all evils, has but one glorious characteristic: in this age, those who simply chant the Holy Name of Krishna are liberated and reach the Supreme Lord.”

Also, Srila Madhvacharya has written in his commentary on Mundakopanisad:

dvapariyair janair visnuh pancharatrais cha kevalam

kalau tu nama-matrena pujyate bhagavan harih

“In Dvapara-yuga, Lord Vishnu is exclusively worshipped by the people according to the principles of Deity worship delineated in the Pancharatra Scripture, but in Kali-yuga, the Supreme Lord Hari is worshipped only by the chanting of His Holy Name.”

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, when the incarnation of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is mentioned (Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.5.32), the method by which the people will worship Him is also given:

yajnaih sarikirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah

Here, yajnah means sacrifice, dedication, which is sankirtana-praya, or sankirtana-pradhana, which means ‘predominated by sankirtan, the congregational chanting of the Holy Name’; and this is performed by those endowed with sufficient piety. So, in this Age of Iron, kirtan has its own special privilege, granted by the Supreme Lord—Mahaprabhu’s speciality is preaching, kirtan. He inaugurated and conducted Hari-kirtan.

So, kirtan has been accepted by our Guru Maharaj, Srila Jiva Goswami, and others. To write about the Lord is also within the jurisdiction of kirtan. To preach is assertion—to take the message to others.

So also, to be engaged in answering the questions of the environment automatically demands concentration, which is very rare in this age. When one is doing kirtan, he automatically cannot but give all concentration and attention. He cannot speak independently; intuitively, he must be all-attentive. For this reason, kirtan has been recommended to be the highest form of bhajan, especially in the Age of Kali.

bhajanera madhye srestha nava-vidha bhakti

‘krsna-prema,’ ‘krsna’ dite dhare maha-sakti

tara madhye sarva-srestha nama-sankirtana

niraparadhe nama laile paya prema-dhana

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya 4.70,71)

“Of all forms of Divine Service, nine forms are superior, which with great potency bestow upon the devotees Love for Krishna, and their personal relationship with Him; and of the nine, the best is Nama-sankirtan. By offencelessly taking the Holy Name, the treasure of Love for the Lord is attained.”

Mahaprabhu also accepted five principal limbs from the nine that are mentioned in the Bhagavatam as sravanam, kirtanam, etc.:

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavat-sravana

mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 22.124)

“Association with the pure devotee, chanting the Holy Name, listening to Srimad Bhagavatam, residing in Mathura Dham, and faithfully worshipping the Deity.”

So, of these five, Mahaprabhu has given Nama-sankirtan the highest position. Nama-sankirtan has been considered best of all. It has been delineated by the Acharyas. That was especially given by our Guru Maharaj, and the basis is supported by the sastra, Scriptures. But if other Acharyas have shown preference for smaran in any instance, that will be in the sense that kirtan may be in the relativity of the material environment, whereas smaran is independent of the material consideration. From that point of view, smaran may be recommended as the highest, but that is not accepted in a general way. It may be a special opinion.

In Chaitanya-siksamrita, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has clarified that there are two types of devotees in the stage just prior to attaining the highest plane of Paramahamsa or uttam-adhikara. The devotees who cross the middle stage (madhyam-adhikara) and reach towards occupying the highest position are called devotees in the stage of premaruruksu. They are classified in two sections—gosthyanandi and viviktanandi (or bhajananandi). The first are always engaged in preaching, and the second take to smaran or nirjan bhajan—a solitary life of worship, without mixing with the environment. It does not prove that one is superior to the other. The viviktanandi generally like secluded life and go on with smaran and those who are of the gosthyanandi type go on with kirtan, preaching, and also attain the highest position without corning to the school of exclusive smaran. Those who have attained the highest plane are known as premarudha.

Imaginary perfection—self-deception

Guru Maharaj clearly said that when we are in a lower position, smaran is injurious. Rather, we should take to kirtan. Kirtana prabhave, smarana haibe, se kale bhajana nirjana sambhava. The Sahajiya school (imitationists) are more fond of smaran than kirtan. They are ‘followers’ of smaran. They lead a secluded life, and mentally they go on identifying themselves with a particular sakhi of their own age, her duty, her place of attendance in a particular place of Vrindavan, in a particular lila, under the guidance of a particular sakhi, and so on. They are required to go on meditating on all these things by their so-called guru. That is the process amongst the Sahajiya school, but we do not admit that. We consider it all false and imaginary. They are not fit for the plane. They do not have real sambandha-jnana, knowledge of what is what. They only go on with the habitual repetition of a particular mental speculation, but anartha-nivrtti (purging of evils) or any other process based on it cannot be effected thereby. Their imagined achievement is sheer concoction. They are not aware of the facts—the ontological gradation from Viraja to Brahmaloka, Vaikuntha and Goloka. They are pukur-churiwala—‘pond thieves.’ To think one can steal a pond is self-deception. We think that kind of ‘smaran’ to be something like self-deception.

For example, Srila Gaura Kishor Babaji Maharaj went on with smaran. Once, there was another Babaji who constructed a kutir nearby, a small hut, and he went on imitating Gaura Kishor Babaji, doing madhukari (subsisting on alms), sitting and meditating, and wearing similar cloth. Then once Babaji remarked, “If a lady enters into a maternity ward, she cannot produce a child only by imitating the sounds and symptoms of labour. Many things are necessary before that!” So only by imitating the Paramahamsa Babaji, bhajan cannot be effected. One must have connection with suddha-sattva, the real plane, and then all the higher symptoms may appear. Otherwise, all those speculative antics will manifest.

na uthiya vrksopari, tanatani phala dhari’

dusta-phala karile arjjana

(Kalyana-kalpataru, Upadesa 18)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that if one wants fruits without taking the trouble to climb the tree, what sort of fruits can he expect? The fruits will be ruined, or rotten. Without proper progression, it is all imagination—a madman’s feat. One must gradually reach the plane of truth, suddha-sattva. There are so many planes to cross—Bhur-, Bhuvar-, Svar-, Mahar-, Janar-, Tapar-, Satya-loka, Viraja, Brahmaloka. Mahaprabhu says that the creeper of Bhakti grows and rises up to Goloka, and she has to cross all these planes.

upajiya bade lata ‘brahmanda’ bhedi’ yaya

‘viraja,’ ‘brahmaloka,’ bhedi’ ‘paravyoma’ paya

tabe yaya tad upari ‘goloka-vrndavana’

‘krsna-charana’-kalpavrkse kare arohana

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 19.153,4)

“The creeper of Devotion is born, and grows to pierce the wall of the universe. It crosses the Viraja river and the Brahman plane, and reaches to the Vaikuntha plane. Then it grows further up to Goloka Vrindavan, finally reaching to embrace the wish-yielding tree of Krishna’s Lotus Feet.”

But the pseudo-devotees do not care to know what is Paravyoma, what is Brahmaloka, what is Viraja, what is the Brahmanda. Without caring to know about these things, they approach any guru, receive some mantram, and go on meditating. But in such a stage, if one goes on meditating upon Radha-Govinda-lila, instead of entering Radha-Govinda-lila, he will rather entangle with the ladies and gents of this world. He will become entangled in the domain of lust and he will have to go to hell instead of going up to Goloka.

Charma-mamsamaya—kama, prema—chidananda-dhama. The carnal appetite is lust, whereas Love is the Abode of Divine Ecstasy. So, imitation is not success. It rather degrades. Imitation degrades. Imagination is only a mental exercise.

Devotee: What if that mental exercise is done with faith?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Mind is separate. Sraddha is connected with soul, atma, and mind is matter. Mind is material: a part of material potency. This is also clarified in Gita:

bhumir apo ‘nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva cha

ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 7.4)

Mind is a product of the material potency, and the jiva is a product of para-sakti, the principal potency; and Svarupa-sakti, the Lord’s Personal Potency, is higher than the jiva. The nature of the mind is mental speculation (mano-dharma). That has nothing to do with truth. That is drawn from the material world, the world of misconception. The mind is full of misconception (avan-manaso gocharah). Mind cannot reach the stage of feeling or perceiving truth proper. It is only related to mundane things or exploitation.

Devotee: But isn’t pure mind a product of sraddha?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Mind cannot be pure, just as a fossil cannot produce life. Similarly, mind cannot produce sraddha. Sraddha is original and fundamental. When the Supreme Lord appears in the heart, mind vanishes. Reality is just the opposite. Darkness cannot produce light: light comes, darkness vanishes. So truth appears when real pure consciousness appears, and mental speculation vanishes. The mind is concerned with misconception. It is an element of the apara-sakti, the inferior potency. That potency is both subtle and gross. Earth, water, fire, air and ether are gross; mind, intelligence and ego are subtle; but they’re all material. Soul is transcendental. And Svarupa-sakti, or the Lord’s Personal Potency, bhajan, or Divine Service, and Goloka-Vaikuntha are all Supra-mundane and Transcendental—on the other side of the soul, not on the lower side where the mind is located. Mind emerges from the ego, that is, the false ego, and it is made of the exploiting tendency. But Mahaprabhu says, mora mana—vrndavana: “My speculation is on the other side—Vrindavan.” That is not an element of this mundane plane.

Devotee: So there is a pure mind?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Properly speaking, the word ‘mind’ does not deserve to be used in this context at all, otherwise everything will be wrongly equated. The residents of Goloka also possess senses, etc., but the affairs of the mundane world are never one with that. The mundane mentality is a product of exploitation, sense-exploitation. We need relief from this mind. We are surrounded by poisonous thought. In the narration of the Tridandi-sannyasin in Srimad Bhagavatam, all the disciplines are common in that the mind should be checked.

danam svadharmo niyamo yamas cha

srutan cha karmani cha sad-vratani

sarve mano-nigraha-laksanantah

paro hi yogo manasah samadhih

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.23.45}

“Charity, constant and conditional prescribed duties, mental and sensual control, hearing the Scriptures, holy vows and duties—all these are observed to gain subjugation of the mind. Mental control is known as the supreme yoga.”

Devotee: You were talking about kirtan; I have read that Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says that japa (private chanting) is also related to kirtan (congregational chanting, or preaching), and also that Srila Rupa Goswami says there are three types of japa, namely manasik, or mental, vachika, or vocal, and upamsu, or whispered. Which is proper for us, and which is the most effective?

Srila Guru Maharaj: In upamsu there is no sound, only movement of the lips; and in manasik there is no lip movement. You ask which is superior of the three types?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Whatever is internally real will be superior. Japa must be genuine, not imitative. Our attention should always be towards the negative side. If we can practice that in a real way, our promotion cannot be checked. But without qualification, if we are very eager to go upward, there will be a tendency to fall down. Dasyaya te mama raso ‘stu raso ‘stu satyam: “May I have the aspiration for servitude.” For bhajan, or internal Service, such a temperament should always be followed. Tad dasa-dasa-dasanam dasatvam dehi me prabho.

Promotion is inevitable if we always try to adhere to the lower duty. Eagerness for promotion is the enemy. That is for pratistha (renown), and that will undermine everything. Srila Prabhupad said that imitation arises from the attraction for pratistha or desire to hold the superior position and acquire a name for oneself. That is the great enemy. Don’t fall prey to that pratistha, eagerness to hold the higher position. Rather, dainyam—humility—is the healthy sign of a devotee.

Tangible Depth in Divinity

Devotee: Maharaj, we see in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa that sometimes the glories of silent chanting are mentioned, and then in other places we see that the glories of chanting very loudly, as in the case of Haridas Thakur, are extolled. So, what is the adjustment?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Only a theoretical understanding won’t help you much. Try to catch the spirit of the thing. When backed by the sadhu, the Guru of very high type, you can do anything. By the grace of his support, whatever kirtan, etc., you may do, will be effective. Meditating may have been praised as more efficient in a particular context, but if you venture to superficially try and chant in that way, the opposition will be so great you’ll be nowhere—you will turn to be an atheist. It can happen if you don’t have sufficient support to fight against the odds. Don’t venture to attack the enemy when your position is weak. But when backed by the great generals and many munitions, you must march on. That will help us to engage in real kirtan.

The real factor is sadhu-sanga. It has association with the higher power. Otherwise, nothing has any value. The stand must be taken on the real plane—sadhu and sastra. We must cultivate the real thing. That is the all-important factor always—to keep up the reality of the bhajan. For the weaker devotee, the sadhak, or aspirant, the greatest necessity is sadhu-sanga, and the Scriptures are necessary for knowledge. Sadhu-sastra-krpa. Then kirtan will be best.

Vrindavan Das Thakur says that one feeds himself another feeds thousands and feeds himself. Who’s greater? Kirtan is to cultivate oneself and help many others to cultivate at the same time. But when you have no capital of your own, if you go to preach you will meet such opposition, asat-sanga, that the ankura, the bud, will be nipped. In that case, if you are kanistha-adhikari, a neophyte, don’t go to attack others without vigorous backing. Kirtan means to preach, or to attack others in a sense. Don’t venture, as kanistha-adhikari. You’ll be turned into an atheist. Only after passing through the proper stages—sravana-dasa, varana-dasa, sadhana-dasa and prapana-dasa (the phases of hearing, acceptance, practice, and attainment)—then you can preach independently (apana-dasa). Otherwise, only with the help of someone in prapana-dasa can you go to preach.

We should have an immovable connection with reality, an absolute conception of reality. Such a stable position is necessary. Invulnerable. A sure position, what is what—sambandha-jnana. Then we shall be able to understand and harmonise the differences that we find in the writings of the Acharyas; what applies where—under what circumstances a particular line has been advised to be taken up, and under what circumstances another has been advised. Practical knowledge.

Humility

Devotee: Maharaj, this morning we were talking about humility. What is the perfection of humility for the kanistha-adhikari?

Srila Guru Maharaj: It may vary for different persons. So, one has to think out his own way. Humility means ‘to not encroach on the rights of others’. And also, it should not be such as to kill one’s own self. It must be natural.

At the time of entering the present Bagh Bazaar Math (of Sri Gaudiya Math in Calcutta), there was a festival. From a rented house, the Deities were brought on a chariot in procession. There was chanting and dancing, and the Deities were installed in the new Temple. Mahaprasadam was distributed. At twelve or one o’clock that night we went to bed. My bed was just nearby the bed of one of my Godbrothers, a learned professor. He was very humble. In the morning, the professor said to me, speaking very slowly, “Last night, I felt so much weakness that I thought I was dying. I thought that I would arouse you, but then again I thought, ‘No, why should I disturb the Vaishnav? He’s so tired tonight, and having his rest, so let me wait’; and after waiting a little I gained some strength, so I did not have to disturb you. But I’m still very weak now.” Very slowly, and soberly, he told these things. He was dying, and he did not arouse me, only for fear of disturbing my rest.

When I heard these things from his lips that morning, although of course he put it very gently, it struck me like thunder! I at once went to Prabhupad and informed him that such was the case: “A gentleman was almost dying last night—but he was too meek to disturb me.” Prabhupad and the devotees also knew of our professor Godbrother’s nature. They took the matter seriously and immediately called for a doctor.

Sometimes I think such humility to be dangerous. The disciple’s life is a valuable property of his Guru Maharaj’s, not merely his own. He’s not to be concerned with only his interest, but he should live in the interest of his Gurudeva. I could not appreciate such humility.

Everything must be of a real characteristic—connected with reality. I am thirsty—perhaps I won’t request any Vaishnav, “Please help me with a glass of water.” Then my disease may continue, for the sake of pennywise pound-foolishness. Common sense should be utilised always.

 Devotee: Just before Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami: Maharaj left the world, he was in Vrindavan. He was lying on the bed, unable to eat anything; his condition was so bad he could barely take even a glass of water. But I marked that when anyone visited him, he would, even in that condition, always say to the devotees, “Give them Prasadam.” He himself could not eat anything—

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes, he wanted to travel through the whole of Vrindavan and circumambulate Govardhan by bullock-cart. But Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj’s help was sought, and he came and was somehow able to dissuade him from that plan. Despite his serious condition of health, Swami Maharaj wanted to go to all the places of Lila like Radha-kunda and Govardhan, offer obeisances, and return.

So the fact is that anything in connection with God—all types of bhajan—all are good. We are not against anything of that type. But we must consider what will be most effective according to our capacity. At the same time we must not commit any offence by omission. If we say that smaran is superior and that the other types of bhajan like pada-sevana, etc., are of a lower order, how can we be so audacious as to condemn them in such a way? Still, we may distinguish very cautiously, but not merely to satisfy our curiosity. Only when the necessity arises shall we venture to establish the superiority of Laksmi over Sukadev, or Ambarish, and so on. But we must not venture to make light of such matters. These are all serious points.

To consider one Vaishnav over another is not a game: the points are very subtle. They are devotees, and we must not venture to place one above the other according to our crude necessity. It is not an academic exercise that as a professor we shall amass some theoretical knowledge to quote to the students. It should not be accepted in that line. We shall always be conscious of the practical side: “They are so great, and where am I? Who am I passing judgement over?” There should be some limit to our adventurous audacity.

Devotee: My friend was relating last night that you once said ‘humility is accepting no position’.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes. ‘No position’ because a servant has no independent position—his position is always on the command of the master. He’s always situated within infinite possibility. But he’s humble to his master, not to the goondas (rogues). His humility must be chiefly towards whom? “I am humble, the lowest of the low, to whom? Towards my master. I am humble towards the Lord’s own, the Vaishnav. I am humble there.” When it is necessary for Hanumanji to burn the golden city of Lanka, his humility is not disturbed. He is as humble as anyone can be in carrying out the order of Lord Ramachandra. He is fully given, wholly surrendered.

Humility, in other words, is surrendering. Humility means no opposition to the command of the master who is related to Vaikuntha, the upper section; not to the ordinary street zone, or tiger, or serpent. Humility does not drag them into the relativity of the serpent, tiger or jackal. Their real relationship is with the Vaishnav. That is the plane where the devotee takes his stand. He’s concerned with the Vaishnav. And ‘humble’ means that he does not resist his master’s instruction.

Without opposition, he carries out whatever order comes to him. He is humble. He possesses humility, sunichata. He is not sitting on a seat of prejudice. Generally we think of humility as pertaining to the outside world, but this is not the meaning. To the standard-thinking person, the members of the outside world are deluded—they are mad. Humility is not in the standard of madness, or catering to the mad people. A madman has no standard of his own. So humility means to have a standard from the standard world. Do you follow?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Prabhupad has defined humility as ‘that which is absent where there is a spirit of enjoyment’. Enjoying spirit, or exploitation, means aggression. There, there cannot be humility. Humility is only cent per cent Service. There is no humility in exploitation, or renunciation either. These two are opposed to the normal nature of the world. They are totally misconceived. They are enemies. They are the challenging element to the normal reality. Do you understand?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: The spirit of exploitation and the spirit of renunciation—both are a revolt against the proper smooth working of the truth. So they are totally misconceived. And real humility must be in the relativity of the full aspect of the truth, not with the misconceived world. The standard is not of the misconceived, the madman.

Devotee: Yes. What about spiritual aggression? Like competition. There’s a competitive spirit between two persons who are doing the same thing. Then where’s the place for humility there?

Srila Guru Maharaj: There will be humility if it is really Service, because its object is the Centre. The devotee feels his inspiration and direction from there, and cooperates accordingly. He is connected with the Absolute Centre, so competition may be arranged by Yogamaya. He is not responsible because his necessity is only for the Centre. As we discussed, the Absolute is designed that way, but not out of necessity. Aher iva gati premnah, svabhava-kutila bhavet. It seems to be crooked, but it is not; it is the very nature of absolute dealings. It is necessary only for the variegatedness of the Service of Krishna. It is designed from the upper quarter. The devotees are not responsible for that.

Our Duty

Devotee: So we must not infringe on the property of others. There may be competition, but we should not infringe on the property of others?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Our duty will always be to dedicate ourselves more and more intensely—and we shall do that according to how we may be interfered with by the higher agency. We must always keep ourselves ready for that. Cent-per-cent we shall obey the handling from the upper house, without any hesitation. That is our duty. Whatever will be asked of us, we shall do.

On the battlefield, if the general asks a particular battalion to fight in the first battle, and they say, “Why shouldn’t the second battalion be commanded to go? Why should we go first? We shall die, and they will rejoice the victory in the last battle? Why should we go first?” What do you say?

Devotee: That is not dedication.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Of course. The military will shoot you then and there! “That is our consideration from above; it is not left to you whether Battalion 1, 2, 3 or 4 will go.” Only the highest brains have command. Complaint against that high command means to die—to be done away with immediately.

Devotion—relative and Absolute

Devotee: So, Maharaj, Arjuna followed the instructions of Krishna without question—whenever Krishna ordered him to shoot, he did so. He faithfully followed whatever instructions he received. In one incident, Yudhisthir did not follow the instructions of Lord Krishna, but when the five Pandavas were on the mahaprasthana or voluntary journey to court death, Arjuna fell prior to Yudhisthir. Why did Arjuna have to fall?

Srila Guru Maharaj: That is not the criterion of the highest devotion. Yudhisthir’s achievement was a separate thing. Devotion proper is not connected there. That is some worldly affair of sattva-guna. Yamaraj, in the form of a dog, went on—but Arjuna had to fall, Bhima had to fall. The test was something else, connected with the mundane world. And they went to Svarga, Heaven.

 That is not the highest attainment, but only a show of the outer case of the Pandavas. Really, the Pandavas are sakhas or friends of Krishna, but their going to Svarga is a separate outward affair. When the Pandavas reached Svarga, they saw that Duryodhana and others had already arrived there. Although the position of Duryodhana and company was much lower—they were the enemy camp—nonetheless, after death they all achieved their good and honoured position in Svarga.

Yudhisthir went with his old body of sattva-guna, worldly goodness. A ksatriya who dies on the battlefield is rewarded with life in Heaven. Yudhisthir went there, keeping his mortal body, although the others had to die first in order to take appropriate forms for that plane. But the plane was only that of sattva-guna, Svarga, and not the aprakrta, or Transcendental, Planes of Vaikuntha, Dvaraka, Mathura or Goloka.

Similarly, it is also mentioned in the story of the Kesavatara (Incarnations from hair) that Lord Vishnu gave a boon that a black and a white hair from his head would go and save the Earth from the horrors of the burden of sins she was suffering from. Those hairs are said to have taken the forms of Krishna and Balaram. They took up those two robes, but in that instance They are only Bhu-bhara-haranakari Avataras, or Descents appearing to relieve the Earth of its burden, and not Svayam Bhagavan or the Supreme Lord in Person. The Lord as He is in Vrindavan is entirely distinct.

So also it has been seen in many instances that the outer case is one thing, the inner man is another. The lower personality is absorbed. Just as when the prime minister comes to the city, the state governor’s function is absorbed in him, if he wishes. When the king comes to visit the colony, all the officers’ powers really vanish in him. Whatever he does must automatically be done by them, their own respective personalities dead. So when the higher descends into the lower case, the lower case loses its value. Then, when it retires, the lower case remains and the higher case ascends.

*	*	*

Nitai Gaurahari bol! We pray to Nityananda Prabhu. We want to come to an adjusted, former position: ‘If I have committed any offence, aparadha, when dealing with so many subtle things about the great personages, please, Nityananda Prabhu, absolve me of that offence and restore me to my normal humble position.”

sarva-vaisnavera pa’ye kari namaskara,

ithe aparadha kichhu nahuka amara

Vrindavan Das Thakur says, “I bow at the feet of the Vaishnavs; may there be no offence in my attempt to serve them.”

When we deal with so many great things, such as trying to speak about great personalities of the highest order, we should beg Nityananda Prabhu to pardon us for our audacity. He is patita-pavana, saviour of the fallen souls. He is adosa-darasi—He generally does not take any offence.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread—where angels fear to tread, fools rush in. Like fools, we rush into the subtlemost realm of sentiments of the high order; so we must beg to be excused by the High Personalities. Apa-siddhanta, or philosophical adulteration, strikes very harshly. It was Svarup Damodar’s Service to first examine any poems or writings for purity before they were taken to Mahaprabhu. If writings with apa-siddhanta were offered to Mahaprabhu, He would be disturbed in a very cruel way. Apa-siddhanta cruelly attacks the ideal of the higher-thinking persons.

There is a narration by Kalidas about a king who required a palanquin carrier. At random he selected a man from the crowd, not knowing that the man was a learned man, a pandit. When bearing a comer of the palanquin, the man did not carry it steadily, due to his avoiding the ants on the road.

The king enquired, “Skandam kim badhati?” (Literally, “Do you shoulder [sic] hurt?”).

The pandit replied, “Na tatha badhate skandam yatha badhati badhate”—“My shoulder doesn’t pain me as much as your ‘pain’ (your grammatical misuse of badhati for badhate)!”

So, subtle beating is there in the higher sphere, in the higher sentiment. They may be offended. We shall, not with curiosity but with all humility and all respects to Them, try to enter into that garden without disturbing any plant or person roaming in that sphere. Otherwise our talks will be pure intellectualism, and not Hari-katha.

*	*	*

Chapter Four: Heralding the Twilight

A Pioneer of Exclusive Devotion

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur appeared (in 1838) in a very famous Kayastha family, bearing the title Dutta. In Calcutta there is a place called Hat-khola Dutta which was named after the family. Near Birnagar there was a big village named Ula, and the family of the title Mustauphi were landowners there. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s mother came from this line. Bhaktivinod Thakur was born and brought up at Ula, and he studied at Krishnanagar college. Of course, he had exceptional talent. He came into contact with the then educated society. Especially, there was a Mr. Duff, a Christian missionary who established the Scottish Church College. Duff was encouraging and attracting many of the young Bengalis of the time to take up Christianity. Gradually, Bhaktivinod Thakur had close association with the Brahma Society, the so-called culturally advanced followers of Ram Mohan Ray. Maharsi Devendranath Thakur’s elder brother, Dvijendranath, was his very intimate friend.

For his livelihood he accepted government service. He was posted at Orissa in the position of subdivisional officer. He was also posted as inspector of the Jagannath Puri Temple, where his duty was to guard against corruption. At that time he came into contact with the Srimad Bhagavatam, and he tried to read it. He was gradually charmed by Bhagavatam, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita and the life of Sri Chaitanyadev. The Brahmo Association had expected much of him because of his scholarly nature; he could write and debate well. But after coming into contact with the Bhagavatam, he dissociated himself from them. When he was serving in Dinajpur he gave his speech on Bhagavatam, and it was then that he completely separated himself from the Brahmo school, and he was seen to side with the Vaishnav school of thought in the line of Mahaprabhu. And gradually he also read the sastras and wrote many books on Vaishnavism.

After his retirement, he wanted to go to Vrindavan and pass the rest of his life there. But he repeatedly had a dream that he must discover the actual Birthplace of Sri Chaitanyadev. He could not neglect that dream. He again entered into service at Krishnanagar, and there, he consulted the records of the locality. With the help of those records, and by his divine inspiration, he discovered the Birthplace at Yogapith, Mayapur. Then, with deepened interest, he visited the entire Nabadwip-mandal; and with reference to the Scriptures he gave a description of both the ancient and contemporary holy places in the Dham of Mahaprabhu. He established a committee to ensure that the Service of Mahaprabhu’s place of Advent continue. Lastly, he handed it over to our Prabhupad.

From the beginning, the fourth son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Sri Bimala Prasad (the family name of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami) was naturally inclined to the Service of Mahaprabhu. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur finally entrusted him with the Direct Service of Mayapur. He accepted that, a little hesitantly at first, but to his last moment he conducted the Service faithfully. In that matter, from the practical standpoint Kunja Bihari Vidyabhusan, later Srimad Tirtha Maharaj, assisted Prabhupad a great deal. Gradually many scholars also gathered around him. With their help, he started the movement of Sri Gaudiya Math. He was inspired to preach, and he did so up to the last moment of his life.

When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur passed away, Srila Prabhupad arranged a condolence meeting in a public hall and invited many respectable gentlemen. Amongst them were the leading scholars of the time, including Bipin Pal, the then principal of the Metropolitan School; and Satish Sarkar, Panchkari Bandopadhyaya, and others.

New Thought to the world

They all spoke very highly about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, recognising that he gave new thought to the society at large; his writings were of original character, not stereotyped. His investigations into Vaishnavism excelled that of all the modern Acharyas. Shishir Ghosh also once said, “We have heard of the Six Goswamis of the time of Mahaprabhu, but Bhaktivinod Thakur’s writings prove that he holds the seventh position amongst the Goswamis. He has left us such extensive and original writing about the teachings of Sri Chaitanyadev.” In this way, SrIla Bhaktivinod Thakur left the world his literature—he is in his literature, present forever. He has delivered his writings about the Teachings of Mahaprabhu and Bhagavatam in a systematic and scientific way, suitable to the modern age. Our debt unto his Holy Feet has no end.

The Predominant Guru of Srila Prabhupad

Although Prabhupad, as suggested by Bhaktivinod Thakur, took initiation from Gaura Kishor Babaji Maharaj, he still held Bhaktivinod Thakur as his Guru, substantially. Formally, by the order of Bhaktivinod Thakur, he took Gaura Kishor Babaji Maharaj as Gurudev. Bhaktivinod Thakur selected Srila Gaura Kishor Babaji Maharaj for him, but from what we have found in him, he knew Bhaktivinod Thakur as his Guru from the internal consideration. We find his outside and inside was filled with Bhaktivinod Thakur. Bhaktivinod Thakur not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. Prabhupad inaugurated many Maths (Ashrams and Temples), and we find that he named the Deities “Vinoda-Vilasa,” “Vinoda-Rama,” “Vinodananda,” “Vinoda-Prana,” and so on.

He saw everything through his Gurudev, Bhaktivinod Thakur. His attempt to approach Sri Sri Radha Govinda or Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is inconceivable without Bhaktivinod Thakur’s intervention in him. I attempted to write something about Bhaktivinod Thakur, and I thought that this was the key to Prabhupad’s affection towards me. His attention was drawn to me because I tried to give the greatness of Bhaktivinod Thakur’s character to the public in a systematic way. It is my own feeling. He can give everything to one who is a little attached to Bhaktivinod Thakur. That was his spirit. He thought himself indebted to Bhaktivinod Thakur’s holy life, so much so, that he saw Srimati Radharani and Gadadhar Pandit in him. This is the highest ideal of Guru-tattva: Gadadhar Pandit in Gaura-lila, and Srimati Radharani in Krishna-lila, in madhura-rasa. He also once said, “If we raise our vision and observe, we shall find Srimati Radharani in Gurudev.” If we raise our head a little and search, then we shall find that it is Srimati Radharani Herself who is behind the function of Gurudev; all others are channels or instrumentals, but the real source of Grace as Guru springs from the Original Source of Service, of Love. He saw Bhaktivinod Thakur in that light.

saksadd-haritvena samasta-siistrair

uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih

kim tu prabhor ya priya eva tasya

vande guro sri-charanaravindam

“According to all the Scriptures, Gurudev is directly the Lord Himself, and the pure devotees also realise the same. He is actually a simultaneously one and different Manifestation of the Lord, different in the sense that he is the Lord’s dearmost servitor. I offer my obeisances unto the Lotus Feet of that Divine Master, Sri Gurudev.”

We are asked to see Gurudev not opaque, but transparent—transparent to such a degree that through him the highest end, the highest conception of Service, can be seen and attained. We can attain it there. If we are earnest, we shall find the highest link, from the very Source. So we are requested not to see Guru as limited in his ordinary personification, but as the Transparent Mediator of the highest function in his line. We can see this only if our vision is deep. According to the disciple’s depth of sraddha, he will see the Lord present in his Gurudev. The Guru Principle, Guru-tattva, is very special, very noble, very broad and very deep.

So we are warned against thinking that our Gurudev is in mortal relativity. Prabhupad showed us by his ideal conduct how much earnestness one may have for Gurudev. We have witnessed this in his practices and teachings. Gurvvaika-nistha—exclusive adherence to the Service of Sri Guru. Bhaktivinod Thakur was his very being. Everything was Bhaktivinod Thakur.

Indomitable Loyalty to Mahaprabhu:

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad

Devotee: Is it true that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami would openly criticise Isvarachandra Vidyasagar (a famous Sanskrit scholar of the time)?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Once Vidyasagar wrote in a book ‘isvara-nirakara-chaitanya-svarupa’ (‘The Lord is without any figure, and He is a mass of consciousness’). As but a young boy, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad went to him and challenged, “What have you written here? You say lsvar, Lord, and then you say nirakar, formless! Where have you found this? lsvar, the Creator, the Master—He is nirakar, formless?! Where have you found that lsvar is nirakar? He has a type of akar, form, and that is Chidakara, a Transcendental Form. But you say He is only a mass of consciousness and without any figure, and He is the Creator? Where have you found this?” In this way he challenged Vidyasagar. But he was very young, and Vidyasagar may not have cared for the challenge. Nonetheless, he did his duty. That was his temperament—he would always challenge. He had to challenge whatever was against the line of Mahaprabhu, otherwise he could not have the satisfaction of having done his duty.

Devotee: No compromise.

Srila Guru Maharaj: No compromise. Protest. Once Rabindranath Tagore wrote articles in some book under a pen-name, and Prabhupad also wrote protesting against those writings, also under a pen-name.

Devotee: Maharaj, did you personally spend some time with Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes. In my later years with the mission I got chances to live with him quite often. Many persons used to come and visit him, and perhaps he liked to keep me with him to talk with them in a respectable way and to authoritatively explain his teachings to them. In his later years his memory faded, so when he spoke, some appropriate slokas from the Scriptures were required to be supplied, to indicate and support his line of thought. Very few of us could do that. When he was trying to recollect a certain sloka in support of his speech, I could generally supply it immediately, and sometimes in advance as well. Of course, we originally heard all those slokas and their proper representation from him only.

Infinite courage of the Pioneer

When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur began the Service of the Dham and Mahaprabhu, he had to do many things to attract the public to accept his discovery of the Dham as authentic. At that time, the place was uninhabited. Gradually a brick building was made, and the worship of the Deity of Mahaprabhu was begun.

The Temple came later. Generally the brahmana cooks he required would not stay there very long because it was an isolated place and there were violent elements nearby. To ensure that the Service continued, he had to undergo many undesirable things. For example, sometimes he had to prepare ganjika (hemp) by his own hand, for the cook! Otherwise, the cook would have left. At times, when ‘respectable’ persons came, he had to make arrangements for tobacco. There were many other trials.

Our Guru Maharaj, Prabhupad, also did similar things, to the extreme. When Anderson, the Governor, was invited to Mayapur, at that time it was arranged with a Calcutta hotel to bring appropriate food for the function, including even meats. The hotelier was arranged to cater for the Governor and his entourage. And when Prabhupad suggested some similar approach in foreign preaching also, I modestly protested that if the meat dishes, non-vegetarian dishes, were served in the Math area it would bring criticism to the mission; to which he replied, “No, no! I decided all these things thousands of births ago. We have to do anything and everything for the Service of Mahaprabhu.” That was his answer. Vaikuntha-vrtti—no kuntha, no limitation: “I am prepared to do anything for the Service of Mahaprabhu, for the propagation of His Mission. The Grace of Mahaprabhu should be distributed throughout the length and breadth of the whole world. And for that, anything should be done. No stone unturned. Physical connection is no connection. We shall try to save our internal purity, that is all.” And to save so many souls from impure habits and diet, Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj also took the risk of external contamination by filthy things. He had to go to the place of that anti-atmosphere to save them. If the house is on fire, one must run the risk of burns to his body if he really wants to save the inhabitants.

Devotee: Srila Thakur Bhaktivinod also had a great vision for the world.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes. He saw in his divine eye that Prema-dharma, the Religion based on Divine Love, is so self-evident in character that the intelligent could never avoid embracing such a conception of Pure Religion as the highest. Love—Prema—the fine intellect cannot but detect the purity in the Love in religion, in its highest conception. His idea was: “With an unbiased mind, the Western thinkers cannot but appreciate the doctrine of Divine Love, as given out by Sri Chaitanyadev. So I am sure that in the future many of the Western scholars will come under the flag of Sri Chaitanyadev.” This was his conviction, and he mentioned this in lectures that he delivered throughout Bengal.

When Sripad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj returned from preaching in England, he brought one Mr. Burchett back with him. A meeting was held at the Bagh Bazaar Math. That meeting was presided over by a gentleman of the name Hiran Dutta, a good scholar and a Theosophist. In his talk he said, “When we were students at City College, Bhaktivinod Thakur delivered a lecture there to the effect that in the near future Western scholars would come and join the Sankirtan under the banner of Mahaprabhu. Now, clearly, I can bear witness to the fact that his prediction is beginning to come true. I heard the lecture in my young days, and now in my old age I see the evidence—it is going to be true. I am very glad for that.”

Devotee: Did Your Grace ever have the darshan of Thakur Bhaktivinod?

Srila Guru Maharaj: No. He left the world in 1914, and I joined the mission in 1926, twelve years later.

Devotee: Perhaps you met other persons who had his contact?

Srila Guru Maharaj: There was one Parvat Maharaj who lived next door to Bhaktivinod Thakur when he passed his old age in Godrum.

“To spread the Holy Name around…“

Parvat Maharaj said that there was only a partition wall between his house and Bhaktivinod Thakur’s. That was at Surabhi Kunja. From about three o’clock in the morning, Bhaktivinod Thakur would rise and take the Name of Krishna, the Mahamantra, at the top of his voice. Parvat Maharaj described it like this. As though calling someone from afar—with this spirit Bhaktivinod Thakur would chant the Holy Name. That Maharaj was astonished to see such behaviour. There was a cement chair, and when Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur felt tired he took his seat and rested there awhile. And then after some time he would again wander in the garden, chanting at the top of his voice, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna!” With such animation in his voice he was calling—calling a person; with this spirit, and not in a formal way, but with a material hankering, he was calling for the Lord.

There was another thing I also heard about him from another source, Ram Gopal Vidyabhusan, an M.A. and Barrister-at-law.

Ram Gopal Vidyabhusan told me,

“Once we went to visit him. We had heard that a Government officer, an educated man, had become a Vaishnav Babaji. So we went to see him, and someone amongst us asked him, ‘Please speak something about Krishna and Krishna-nama (the Holy Name of Krishna).’

“After a moment, Bhaktivinod Thakur then said, ‘Oh, you want to hear something about Krishna, you want? You want Krishna-nama?’ In this way he continued for some time: ‘Krishna? You are so fortunate? You have come to hear Krishna-nama?’”

Then the consequence of that enquiry had such an influence on his body and mind, that as it is written by him personally in his own poem, Sri-Nama-Mahatmya:

krsna-nama dhare kata bala

visaya-vasananale, mora chitta sada jvale,

ravi-tapta marubhumi sama

karna-randhra patha diya, hrdi majhe pravesiya

varisaya sudha anupama [1]

hrdaya haite bale, jihvara agrete chale,

sabda-rupe nache anuksana

kanthe more bhange svara, anga kanpe thara thara,

sthira haite na pare charana [2]

chakse dhara, dehe gharma, pulakita saba charma,

vivarna haila kalevara

murchchhita haila mana, pralayera agamana,

bhave sarva-deha jara jara [3]

kari’ eta upadrava, chitte varse sudha-drava,

more dare premera sagare

kichhu na bujhite dila, more ta’ batula kaila,

mora chitta-vitta saba hare [4]

lainu asraya ya’ra, hena vyavahara ta’ra

balite na pari e sakala

krsna-nama ichchha-maya, yahe yahe sukhi haya,

sei mora sukhera sambala [5]

premera kalika nama, adbhuta rasera dhama,

hena bala karaye prakasa

isat vikasi’ puna,	 dekhaya nija-rupa-guna,

chitta hari’ laya krsna-pasa [6]

purna vikasita hanya, vraje more yaya lanya,

dekhaya more svarupa-vilasa

more siddha deha diya, krsna-pase rakhe giya,

e dehera kare sarva-nasa [7]

krsna-nama chintamani, akhila-rasera khani,

nitya-mukta suddha-rasamaya

namera balia yata, saba laye hai hata,

tabe mora sukhera udaya [8]

Chakse dhara—from my eyes tears flowed; dehe gharma—my body perspired; murchchhita haila mana—I fell into a faint; kari’ eta upadrava—the Holy Name created a great turmoil in me; chitte varse sudha-drava—causing a rain of nectarine current in my heart; more dare premera sagare—and casting me into the ocean of ecstasy, of Love; kichhu na bujhite dila, more ta’ batula kaila—I could not feel the environment around me, and became as though mad; mora chitta-vitta saba hare—I lost myself in that thought. [For an illuminating full translation extracted from Srila Guru Maharaj’s informal talks, see Search for Sri Krishna: Reality the Beautiful (chapter ‘Nectar of the Holy Name’), published by Guardian of Devotion Press.—Ed.]

That gentleman, Ram Gopal Vidyabhusan said, “I saw with my own eyes that all these symptoms were displayed in his body and mind, simply upon hearing our enquiry. Bhaktivinod Thakur said, ‘You are so fortunate, you have come to hear Krishna-nama from me? Krishna—! Krishna—!’ In this way, he entered into another domain, and so many symptoms and expressions appeared in his body and mind—convulsions, tears, all these things.” I heard this from an eye-witness.

Devotee: Is it true that prior to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s appearance the Vaishnav tradition had become very much neglected?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Very few suddha Vaishnavs were to be found, just before the appearance of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. But he adjusted religion in a modem garb, and so it was easy for many regardful students to come forward and accept suddha Vaishnavism. It had been much molested by pseudo-followers. The real ideal had become eclipsed, and so for the inquisitive it was difficult to have real entrance and real attachment for Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

The so-called babajis were especially responsible for disturbing the ideal. They hailed from any caste, they could marry, and they simply went on taking the name with no proper practice or feeling of real earnestness for the truth. They dragged on their lives with no pure practices or pure habits, and worst of all, in the name of religion they freely mixed with women. That brought in return a hatred for them in society. Similarly, those ‘goswamis’ who took up initiating disciples as their trade also lost their honour in the general respectful society, because they had some low association. The babajis and goswamis lost their prestige in society because of their imitative character. But Gaudiya Math came out with the real spirit of religion, and pure practices subsequently followed. So the attention of the educated enquirers after truth was drawn to Gaudiya Math and they flocked together.

Devotee: After hearing about great personalities like Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, we feel ourselves to be very insignificant.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes. We can but do our might, contribute our might as much as possible for the Service of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

*	*	*

Chapter Five: The Krishna Sun

If we want our shelter, it must come from overhead. Asraya or shelter is not under our feet—shelter should be over the head. The principal Vedic mantra says,

tad visnoh paramah padam

sada pasyanti surayah

diviva chaksur atatam

The Holy Feet of Vishnu who is pervading everywhere (yah idam vyapnotiti visnuh)—His feet, His lowest portion, is towards us. Paramam means ‘very highly qualified, from all standpoints’. That is not to be neglected. From the standpoint of fine existence—knowledge as well as sweetness, the Absolute is paramam padam. Sada pasyanti surayah—the scholars are always conscious of the fact; this is the real basis of their life.

Man is not an animal, wandering over the earth, mountain or jungle, but the real man is in his consciousness, and he is always conscious of a higher entity. He is always seeing or conscious of that ideal. Diviva chaksur atatam—vaguely or in a mystic way? No. As conspicuous, as clear and as real as the sun we see in the sky. Tad visnoh paramam padam. So we should really live and move in that consciousness. We are children of that conscious world.

Animal consciousness—the world of death

Tvam tu rajan marisyeti, pasu-buddhim imam jahi (Srimad Bhagavatam, 12.5.2). At the conclusion of Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Sukadev Goswami gives a warning to Pariksit Maharaj to be conscious of the firm basis of his teachings. Deception is like a serpent that stealthily comes to bite and kill. Ignorance comes stealthily and takes the soul down to the world of animal consciousness, and we are all moving under the deception of this heavy flesh and blood; therefore heavier ‘earth’ is necessary to lift us above, up onto its lap.

Diviva chaksur atatam … marisyeti, pasu-buddhim imam jahi: “So, do away with your animal consciousness that you are flesh and blood. No! You are not limited to flesh and blood, but you are a conscious unit, and you won’t die. You are not a member of this dying world, where everything is sure to die on account of its malidentification. This is forced upon you—‘you must die, you must become infirm, you must be born, you must suffer disease’—but all these are misindentification of self with your body. This is animal consciousness: consciousness that you are an animal. But you are not so. You are a conscious unit, you are spirit, you are soul.”

Not only is the soul immortal, not only does God exist, not only is He the Absolute Dispenser of good bad—but we, ourselves, are units of the conscious world. So pasu-buddhim imam jahi—separate yourself eternally from that mania, from that misconception and false identification with this material aspect which is the result of your degraded life. Be reinstated in your glorious position as soul. And how is this possible? You are tatastha (marginal) by constitution, so you cannot stand on your own two feet. You must have some shelter either mundane within your mundane identification, or above that, you must have some shelter above your head. O tatastha-jiva, you must have shelter in the Svarupa-sakti land, the final land.

The light of light

Paramam padam, the Divine Feet of Vishnu, of Narayana, of Krishna are like the sun to you, in the material comparison. That is, chaksuh, or ‘seer,’ or that which makes feeling or seeing possible. If He is withdrawn, everything is dark. If Vishnu’s Supreme Plane is withdrawn, everything will be dark. That is the light of light, and you must be eternally conscious that above you is another soil, and your shelter is there, and you are a soul unit. You must bring about this radical change in you. That plane is your shelter. This world is not your shelter. It is a prison-house to you. This broad and graphic comprehensive consideration must be the basis of spiritual understanding, otherwise there is danger of sahajiyaism, or imitationism. Tad visnoh paramam padam. We have to cross this ‘Hindenburg Line.’ [Paul von Hindenburg, 1847–1934, was a German field marshal during World War I. Noted for its immense strength, the ‘Hindenburg Line,’ also known as ‘Siegfriedstellung,’ was a defensive barrier improvised by the German Army on the Western Front, extending between Soisons and Laon.—Ed.]

The Land of Service

Basically, this is the advice of Rig Veda, the first Veda that descends from the upper world to this world: “The primary requirement for you all is to conceive that there is a world above, and ‘above’ means in the line of consciousness. Your highest identity is that of consciousness, and you must adopt that conscious world above you as your shelter. You will live and move there.” This is the radical change. Here, you are in the atmosphere of exploitation, but that is the land of service. There, you have to think in terms of service. That is on your head. That region is superior to the stuff you are made of. So do you want that connection? Or do you prefer to reign in hell than to serve in heaven? What do you like? Consider, and then come forward. You can have a prospect of attaining everything up to Krishna, the Absolute. Otherwise you will have to revolve here in this world of

jalaja navalaksani sthavara laksa-vimsatih

krmayo rudra-sankhyakah paksinam dasa-laksakam

trimsal-laksani pasavah chatur laksani manusah

(Vishnu Purana)

“There are 900,000 aquatic, 2,000,000 immobile, 1,100,000 worm-cum-insect, 1,000,000 bird, 3,000,000 animal and 400,000 human species.”

“These are the 8,400,000 classifications of species throughout which you will have to wander, in the world of action and reaction. You need to select your path. Do you want to be a member of the land of immortality? Do you want janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi (birth, death, old age and infirmity)—or immortality? If you want immortality, you will have to pay for the ticket. You will have to take the visa. You will have to prepare for such a categorical beginning. And the bond you have to sign is slavery—to Krishna. Jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya-dasa. If you want to go to that mystic land, the land of infinite hope, prosperity and prospect, you will have to go as a slave—because that plane is made of a higher stuff than you yourselves are.”

vaikunthera prthivy adi sakala chinmaya

mayika bhutera tathi janma nahi haya

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi 5.53)

There, earth, water, etc.—everything is made of consciousness, spirit. And above that, there is anandam or ecstasy, not only a matter of consciousness. Although medicine seems bitter in the beginning, in a healthy state one may taste its sweetness. Our approach to the Divine Realm may also be experienced in this way. So, in Raga-marga, the path of Divine Love, and in Krishna-loka, there is not only consciousness, but beauty is the prevailing element there.

Ideal: a ship without a rudder drifts aimlessly in the ocean. But if I have taken to heart the particular ideal of Krishna, Mahaprabhu and Bhagavatam, then I am captured. My tuft of hair (sikha) is tied with the feet of Guru Maharaj and the Divine Grace. The tuft of hair is captured. The head is captured there, and everything will be done through the head, the part of the body which is most revered in this material world.

One who has a good ideal is in possession of the most valuable wealth. On the other hand, one will only hanker for kanaka-kamini-pratistha—popularity, materials of sense pleasure, and money—all these things; but they are all animal consciousness. They are all properties in the land of animal consciousness. A radical change must be effected in us if we really want a life worth living. Such is the importance of our ideal.

A man should be judged by his ideal. The greatness of the ideal he is trying to realise is to be marked. The man of the future, the man of tomorrow, should be judged by his ideal. If his ideal is great, he is great, because if he is sincere, tomorrow or very soon he will reach it. So our ideal is the all-important factor. We may not attain our high ideal very easily. It is not inferior ‘merchandise’ to be disposed of cheaply in the market; it is most valuable. But whatever the cost, no matter.

We should feel within, “I want no less than that highest thing, that Advaya-jnana, that Autocrat. That Goodness Autocrat, the Supermost Commander of everything. I want Him, and nothing less, and I should live and move, and feel in myself that whatever I shall do, at every second, I am meant for that. I am meant for my ideal. I have no time to waste, or to hesitate for anything.

“If every moment I move in every way with the ideal in my heart, I shall always make some progress towards it. If I can just stay in touch with my ideal, that will guide and inspire me. In any and every action, whatever I shall do or undo, eat, rest, etc., my ideal will be overhead. And that will gradually take me out of all these entanglements and enticements, and one day or other I shall be able to reach it.”

Divine attraction reveals the ideal

jata-sraddho mat-kathasu nirvinnah sarva-karmasu

veda duhikhatmakan kaman parityage ‘py anisvarah

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.27)

“For one who has had the chance to acquire a taste and become attracted to talks of Me, My activity and My movement, no other temptation can any longer hold him under its power. He becomes indifferent to all other activity. The outcome is that he can understand within that all other things bear some unpleasant reaction. Yet, although he can conceive that they are all pain-producing, he is helpless to immediately free himself from their clutches. The debt is already incurred, and his debtors won’t allow him to escape: ‘I am in the midst of so many acquisitions. It is not very easy to leave them at once by my sweet will. Previously, I consciously incurred some obligations, and I cannot abruptly cut off their connection; they won’t let me free.’”

tato bhajeta mam pritah sraddhalur drdha-nischayah

jusamanas cha tan kaman duhkhodarkams cha garhayan

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.28)

“But the sraddha or pure attraction he has acquired for Me is of eternal nature. It cannot be subdued or cut off by any mundane or ordinary attempt. Despite undergoing so many sufferings, he goes on remembering Me. His thinking, aspiration and earnestness is for Me, and the more he is compelled to suffer from the pressure of the environment, a firmness in Me becomes more and more sure, and finally, invulnerable. And by standing the test of all these trials, he will stand—stand and grow beyond the jurisdiction of these mundane forces. The more pressure comes from outside, the more firmness he feels in the necessity of My help to him.

“At that time, he turns his back to all the pains of the world, and he keeps Me in front. He begins to move onward: ‘Whatever happens to me, I can’t complain. It is in my Master’s jurisdiction whether He sees fit for me to undergo these trials or not. But I won’t leave my new ideal—I can’t. Whatever may come, it may happen, never mind.’

“Still, he abuses himself: ‘What have I done? What have I done? It is rather justice that I should be tormented and troubled in such a way! It is not wrong! Really, just dealings have come to be exercised over me. Why should I have committed this wrong? I entered this wrong alliance, entered into the tribe of the goondas for exploitation. The reaction that is coming to me is well and good.’ He blames himself. He does not blame the environment for troubling him, but he sees a concentration camp within. He blames his own self, his own free will and fate. That becomes the nature of his temperament at that time. He does not look to place the fault on the shoulders of others, but he takes the whole burden: ‘Yes, the environment is doing justice to me, the traitor, the ambitious, the oppressor of the environment.’ When he’s in such consciousness, his Bhakti-yoga or Devotional Engagement becomes more and more intense. The intensity of his progress accelerates.”

proktena bhaktiyogena bhajato ma ‘sakrn muneh

kama hrdaya nasyanti sarve mayi hrdi sthite

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.29)

“With accelerated motion, his intensity towards Me grows. Then, by My appearance, all his internal and external discrepancies are gradually destroyed and evaporated. When by such an approach he reaches My Domain, or rather, I come down, extending My existence to his heart—then everything else disappears.”

bhidyate hrdaya-granthis chhidyante sarva-samsayah

ksiyante chasya karmani mayi drste ‘khilatmani

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.20.30)

Then bhidyate hrdaya-granthih: all the ties and entanglements, corners and angles, vanish. Crookedness vanishes. He finds himself in the midst of a straight, plain, graphic, spacious and all-embracing temperament. His atmosphere changes. All the ties of so many attractions to various achievements are at once dissolved. They have no necessity in this land.

Hrdayenabhyanujnato (Manu 2.1): internal approval comes to assure you that you have arrived in your own land. Chhidyante sarva-samsayah: there is no room for any doubt. You find that all your hankerings are more than fulfilled here: “I was searching; my whole body was searching.”

In Vaishnava-padavali (Anthology of Vaishnava Songs), there is an expression: prati anga lage kande prati anga mora. In the acme of Divinity, Madhura-rasa, where Srimati Radharani is Sakti (the Divine Potency of the Lord), She says, “My every limb is crying for the respective limb of My Lord; not only My Self, but every part of My Body earnestly aspires for the corresponding part of My Master’s.”

Chhidyante sarva-samsayah—every part bears witness: “Yes, we have reached the destination we were striving for, this is our full-fledged satisfaction. This is my soil, this is my home!” Every atom of the body will say it. No trace of any doubt will be found, for there is no longer any room for that. But every atom will find its fulfilment: “This is my home, this is my home! I am in home comfort, I find.”

Our Cherished Goal

Ksiyante chasya karmani: (the Lord says about His devotee) “And the force of reaction won’t come to trouble him, to drag him down or attract him backwards. That, too, is severed.” Mayi drste ‘khilatmani: “I am the fullest of the full perfection. He will be able to trace My friendship.”

This should be the course of our life, our cherished goal. Srimad Bhagavatam tells us this. Home, sweet, sweet home. You are a child of that soil. In one word, that is the goal.

Why is that the highest goal? Because that is your home. Svarupe sabara haya, golokete sthiti. This one word ‘home’ is sufficient to attract you. You are wandering in a foreign land, but here is your home. You’ll get home comfort here, and you won’t be able to deny that. So, back to God, back to home, back to Godhead.

God and Godhead

To avoid the Christian conception of ‘God’ our Guru Maharaj, Prabhupad, used the word ‘Godhead.’ ‘God’ is a particular conception of the Absolute, but ‘Godhead’ represents Bhagavatta, or the background of the conception of God, which is Svayam Bhagavan—the Supreme Lord Himself This is the highest conception of God. This is the meaning. So more than ‘back to God’ is ‘back to Godhead.’ Srimad Swami Maharaj named his spiritual magazine from this consideration.

Back to Godhead—there is home. Unsettled, we are running hither and thither with no principle of life, so our position is very sad. But this is a troublesome life. To think, ‘I can’t put my faith anywhere,’ means that I can’t find a friend anywhere. I am friendless, moving amongst foreigners or maybe enemies. But I must have a friend or some friendly atmosphere. I must come into such company in which I can put full faith, in which I can believe and trust, otherwise my life will be miserable. If wherever I cast my glance I think, “I can’t trust, I can’t trust, all are enemies”—to live in such an atmosphere is to live in a particular prison-house; all uncertainty, all untrustworthiness; that is a very deplorable position. So, by God’s grace sraddha should come to us: “I can not only trust and believe, but I cannot but show my regard to a personality of the higher position.” Gurum evabhigachchhet.

Guru—the reliable source

When we suffer from uncertainty to the extreme, we shall hanker for connection with Guru, the reliable source. I can not only put an enquiry to him with faith and trust, but Guru is a guardian who is my well-wisher more than I am to my own self. ‘Guardian’ means a friend who thinks more of me than I think of myself. He knows more about my welfare than I do. Such is the position to have a guardian, a friend, a Guru.

Narottam Thakur says, asraya laiya bhaje tanre krsna nahi tyaje: “If one can get a bona fide guardian, his future is ensured.” Krishna cannot very easily dismiss the guardian, because the guardian has a solid position in the Lord’s relationship; so if I enter into the domain of my guardian’s care, my position will be ensured.

Ara saba mare akarana. Others, who have not yet been able to tie themselves with the Holy Feet of their guardian or Guru are in an uncertain position, and they may be deviated by any agent. Their future is deplorable.

If through our sraddha we can have a real ideal in life and acquire a real guardian, then certainly our future is ensured practically. Our only duty will be towards our guardian, our Gurudev, and all other duties will be automatically accomplished.

So, to run throughout the length and breadth of this wide world, this land where nothing but various types of exploitation of various planes are existing, is to run as a ship without a rudder that can be swept away by sea-storm this side and that, endlessly, without purpose. It is through sraddha that we can connect with our highest goal of achievement and fulfilment. This matter must be solved. Then, real life begins. Any questions?

Devotee: Maharaj, you mentioned that the material world is like a prison-house. Are the demigods such as Brahma and Indra also prisoners?

Srila Guru Maharaj: They are also prisoners, but as officers. Even prisoners may become officers on the sanction of the jail government. In the prison government, senior and qualified prisoners are also given a chance for a post. Is it not a fact?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: So their position is like that. They are also imprisoned, but their position is a little higher. A duty is deputed to them, but they are nonetheless prisoners.

Planes beyond planets

Devotee: The Srimad Bhagavatam says that there are fourteen planetary systems, and yet when we see the sky at night we see so many stars and planets, it seems that the number is unlimited.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Those fourteen worlds are not only of this physical type, but range from physical to subtle. Creation stems from consciousness, towards matter. The gradation from matter up to consciousness is progressively finer and finer—the gap between matter and soul.

To fill the gap from gross to subtle, there is a progression of more and more subtle planes that finally vanish in the conscious area. The gradation from jada to chetana, from matter to spirit, or from unconsciousness to consciousness, occurs in so many steps, fine, finer, finest. It is to be conceived of in this way. Bhur-, Bhuvar-, Svar-, Mahar-, Janar-, Tapar-, Satya-loka, then Viraja, then Brahmaloka, or Brahman. In Brahman, we find the real existence of the soul. From Viraja downwards is the area of this material consciousness.

In Bhagavad-gita (3.42) we find:

indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah

manasas tu para buddhir buddher yah paratas tu sah

In brief, four stages of mundane elements in the middle are given here. First is matter, second is the senses, third is mind and fourth is judiciousness or reason. Finally, there is the soul. But in more elaborate detail, there are also seven subdivisions of Bhur, etc., up to Satya-loka. In this line, the soul is found in Brahman. Paratas tu sah. The word sah refers to Brahman. Matter may also be subdivided as stone, water, heat, gas, ether, etc. In one word it is matter, but one will also find subdivision of matter from gross to subtle. In stone one will find earth, coal, wood, maybe gold or silver. But all these elements are felt by the senses, and thus the senses are superior to all the gradations of matter.

Then there is the faculty of thinking or impulse: ‘I want this, I don’t want that.’ But further, the faculty of judiciousness, reason or intelligence is superior: ‘No, don’t want that, it will produce a certain bad effect in you’; and so on. Even more subtle than the intelligence is chitta (consciousness), which is not mentioned in Gita; further ahankar (ego), and finally the realm of soul.

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Chapter Six: Perspectives on the Absolute

Devotee: The conditioned soul has some attraction to Lord Siva in Mahesa Dham. What is Lord Siva’s position?

Srila Guru Maharaj: His position is as a master of this Maya, Illusory Potency. He is not a slave of misunderstanding, although he remains in the relativity of misunderstanding. He remains in a masterly position. In his Brihad-Bhagavatamritam, Srila Sanatan Goswami has explained that when one becomes liberated, Mayadevi comes to him, saying, “Why do you leave me? I would like to serve you, don’t forsake me!” In this way, she again comes to offer her service to Siva, that is, the liberated soul. If he is enticed by that charm, he may again enter the mundane world, but if he has the attitude and sraddha within himself to deal indifferently, he neglects it and goes upwards: “No, I have my engagement, my duty. I have no time to satisfy anyone by accepting their service. I have my Lord, I must serve Him.”

svadharma-nisthah sata-janmabhih puman

virinchatam eti tatah param hi mam

avyakrtam bhagavato ‘tha vaisnavam

padam yathaham vibudhah kalatyaye

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.24.29)

Here, Mahadeva (Lord Siva) says that if one can perform his duty in Varnasrama-dharma (Godly socioreligious function) for one hundred consecutive births, he attains to the position of Lord Brahma. Svadharma means prescribed duties according to the Varnasrama-dharma as sanctioned in the Vedas.

yatah pravrttir bhutanam yena sarvam idam tatam

svakarmana tam abhyarchchya siddhim vindati manavah

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 18.46)

Also, in Srimad Bhagavatam (2.1.6):

etavan sankhya-yogabhyam svadharma-parinisthaya

janma-labhah parah pumsam ante narayana-smrtih

Sankhya means jnana (enlightenment by knowledge and renunciation, up to Brahman); yoga means astanga-adi yoga (yoga meditation on Paramatman, headed by the eightfold system); and svadharma-nistha means niskama-karma-yoga (unselfish duty) in Varnasrama. Etavan means, ‘they can lead us so far,’ that is, up to liberation. Then, janma-labhah parah pumsam ante narayana-smrtih: we must attain the fulfilment of our life in the Service of Narayan through sraddha, from a Guru. This is the positive attainment, like a visa; and the first three classes are comparable to a passport: the yoga system, progressing towards the conception of Paramatman; Varnasrama-dharma, or executing our duties in this world because the Vedas have recommended this for our good, but at the same time we must not want anything in return (niskama); and also, sankhya—jnana, the process of neti, neti, neti, or ‘this is not, this is not, this is not,’ (na iti)—this is all gross, this is all gross, this is all gross. I am soul, I am consciousness, I am spirit—the process of elimination. Perfection in one of these three methods may be compared to gaining a passport. But janma-labhah, the real fulfilment of life, is ante-narayana-smrtih—the memory or consciousness of Narayan, after death. Narayan consciousness, Krishna consciousness, can give us proper fulfilment, and that is the visa to the Svarupa-sakti Realm (the Plane of Krishna’s Divine Potency). Is this clear?

Devotee: Yes. But sometimes it is said that Mahesa Dham is spiritual; it seems to be more like a marginal plane.

Srila Guru Maharaj: It is spiritual. Mahesa Dharn is of two kinds: first in the relativity of Maya, and secondly, Siva exists as Sadasiva, the devotee Siva. He may be entangled as a grhastha, but he can conceive that he has his superior position in a superior realm, and he holds the lowest position in that sphere. So, as I quoted, one who can successfully discharge his duty in the Varnasrama system for a hundred lifetimes attains to the position of Lord Brahma, who is the leader of the whole Varnasrama system in this world. Then, Mahadeva says tatah param hi mam: “After this, if he can continue in this way, he progresses even further: he comes to my position.”

In the relativity of this universe, Lord Brahma is the creator and manager. His position is somewhat like a prime minister, but Lord Siva’s position is like that of a king. He can even dismiss the prime minister and dissolve the parliament. His position is higher, but he describes himself as avyakrtam: “I have some limitation; I am a little indifferent.” A-vi-akrtam means ‘not well-specified,’ or ‘sometimes non-differentiated, with tyaga or vairagya.’ Thus, he says, “Renunciation and abnegation are found to be predominant in me.”

“Then, above me there is another realm which is inhabited by the Bhagavata, the followers of Bhagavan: it is they who attain to Vaishnav-pada or the Plane of Vaikuntha.” Yathaham vibudhah kalatyaye: “And when the universal dissolution is ordered, at that time I and other ruling demigods can also get release and join them. Everyone may have that chance if they move properly. O gods, this is the situation.” Mahadev said this, as mentioned in the Bhagavatam.

A clear perspective of reality

We must reach an ontological conception of what is what. The measure of exploitation, renunciation and devotion. Devotion is divided into Scriptural Devotion and Loving Devotion. In this world, exploitation may be regulated work, karma, and uncivilised or non-regulated work, vikarma. Then there is jnana, yoga, sankhya, Vedanta, and so on. Brahma has his peculiar position, then there is Siva as the master of Maya, and Siva as the servant of Vishnu, Narayana. Above that is Vaikuntha, and then Goloka.

One should have some conception, as with consulting a map. “Here is America, here is Australia, here is Japan, east, west, etc.” If travelling by ship, a map and so many references show the path. Also, practical knowledge is more reliable than theoretical emblems: “Yes, this beacon and landmark verify that we have reached the Indian Ocean.” Practical application is superior to mere theory. Sabde pare cha nisnatam: a Guru of theoretical knowledge cannot help us. One who has practical experience of the way is reliable, and able to save us and give us the real position.

Devotee: Does a jiva attain the position of Siva?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes, he can be ‘Siva,’ when he is out of the clutches of Maya; and the Vaikuntha devotee is more than Siva. When a spiritual molecule is free from the clutches of the exploitation tendency, he is known as ‘Siva.’ Pasa-baddho bhavej jiva pasa-mukta sadasiva: When he is entangled, he is ‘jiva,’ and when he is free, he is ‘Siva’ (Sivo ‘ham). But Krishna said, when giving His blessings to Uddhava (Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.14.15):

na tatha me priyatama atmayonir na sankara

na cha sankarsano na srir naivatma cha yatha bhavan

“Neither Brahma nor Siva are as dear to Me as you; My elder brother Sankarsana is not as dear to Me as you, nor even Laksmi Devi. Even My own Self is not as dear to Me as you.”

Such is the position of a devotee, a bhakta. He’s above Brahma, he’s above Siva, he’s above Sankarsana, he’s above Laksmi—he’s above Krishna Himself, by the free, sweet will of Krishna. Aham bhakta-paradhinah. This is running in the current of love, not of justice: through affection.

As in India, in the physical sense or in the sense of law, we find that the husband is master of the wife. But it may be that through affection the wife is the guide of the husband. Through affection, it is possible. This is another line of love, and no matter of right. So when the Lord says, “You are more than My own life”, it is not a false statement. “My devotee is dearer to Me than Myself. If any danger comes to him, I must stand in front. First finish Me, and then try to touch My son, My devotee!” This is the attitude of the Lord. If any danger comes to the son, the father will come forth: “Oh no, first finish me, then try to harm my son!” It is the way of affection, and that is our solace.

Take the Road of Divine Aspiration

So Mahaprabhu says, “O jiva, take that direction. Try to purchase a ticket to that department. Go through sraddha, faith and devotion, and you will be a real gainer.”

Further, Uddhava says about the Gopis, “I aspire to be a creeper or a shrub in Vrindavan, so that I can have the footdust of these Divine Damsels on my head.” In His magnanimity, Mahaprabhu offered such great things to us. He is none other than Krishna, because no one can give such a right to anyone and everyone without being Krishna Himself. Therefore the devotees say that He is none other than Krishna Himself, and more—Radha and Krishna combined, because He gives the highest wealth of both. Only both combined as Dayal Gauranga are entitled to give this chance to the ordinary soul.

This is inconceivable. Anarpita-charim chirat karuna-yavatirnah kalau: Sri Gaurangadev descended in this Kali-yuga to give what had never been given before. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, “What a great loss I am incurring, neglecting this chance! To whom should I tell it, and who will believe that I am consciously missing such a great chance? Who should I tell about my disastrous misfortune?

durlabha manava janma labhiya samsare

krsna na bhajinu duhkha kahiba kahare?

“To whom should I divulge my heart? Who will care to give me audience? Such a great chance I am trampling under my feet—I have attained this human birth, and I have just come into the vicinity of the greatest fortune, and I neglect it?”

Nine petals of the Lotus

Devotee: We have heard that the nine islands of Nabadwip represent the nine fundamental processes of Devotional Service.

Srila Guru Maharaj: The Holy SrI Nabadwip Dham is envisaged as a lotus flower. The centre of the lotus is the Birthplace of Mahaprabhu and it represents atma-nivedanam or self-surrender. One has to first surrender, and then all the practices of Devotion follow. The petals of the lotus represent sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, pada-sevanam, archanam, vandanam, and dasyam (hearing, chanting, remembering, serving the Lord’s Feet, worship, prayer, and servitorship). Sakhyam (friendship) is situated half on one side of the Ganges and half on the other. In this way, the nine islands of Nabadwip are represented as a lotus flower embodying the Nine Standard Practices of Devotion.

Devotee: It is said that Krishna appears once in a day of Brahma. How often does Mahaprabhu appear?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Although every Kali-yuga He appears to spread Nama-sankirtan, and every Dvapara-yuga Krishna also comes, those are partial representations and not Svayam Bhagavan (the Supreme Lord in Person). The Yugavataras, or Descents, for certain ages, are not Svayam Bhagavan. Svayam Bhagavan comes only once in the day of Brahma, and so Mahaprabhu as Radha and Govinda combined (Radha-Govinda-milita-tanu) also appears only once in a day of Brahma, in Nabadwip. In all other Dvapara- and Kali-yugas ordinary Krsna-avataras and Gaura-avataras appear, only to preach general worship (paricharya) and general Nama-sankirtan, as mentioned in the Bhagavatam (dvapare paricharyayam kalau tadd hari-kirtanat).

Devotee: Maharaj, I have a question: in the Navadvipa-bhava-taranga by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, he seems to to be having actual visions of Pastimes of the Lord on the various islands of Nabadwip; yet he writes in such a way that he also seems to be aspiring for those visions. Is he actually having those visions?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes, of course. His vision is inspired. The Dham has inspired these two perspectives in him. The Dham allows us to see it, according to the degree of our devotion. A doctor sees a patient according to his capacity. Higher intelligence can see deeper. Such is the case always. A higher politician can see a higher strategy, and so on.

ya nisa sarva-bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyami

yasyam jagrati bhutani sa nisa pasyato muneh

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 2.69)

“The detached, self-realised soul remains awake in the night of all beings, and the world of exploitation that all beings awaken in is similarly his night.”

A detector can see the depth afforded by its capacity. The X-ray can detect to a certain depth, the microscope has another dimension of utility. There is revelation according to one’s capacity. Deserve—and have.

mallaham asanir nrnam naravarah strinam smaro murtiman

gopanam svajano ‘satam ksitibhujam sasta svapitro sisuh

mrtyur bhojapater virad avidusam tattvam param yoginam

vrsninam paradevateti vidito rangam gatah sagrajah

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.43.17)

“O King, Sri Krishna then appeared as a thunderbolt to the wrestlers, as the supreme male to the men; as Cupid incarnate to the ladies, as a friend to the cowherd men; as an emperor to the wicked kings, as a child to His father and mother; as death to Kamsa, as the universal form of the world to the ignorant; as the Supreme Truth to the yogis, as the Supreme Worshipful Lord to the Vrsnis—and along with Baladev He entered the arena.”

When Krishna entered the arena, all the different categories of persons had different perspectives of Him, according to their inner eye. Experience of the truth must vary according to different attitudes or degrees of consciousness, and this is applicable everywhere.

Divine Sound

Devotee: Sometimes when travelling, we keep japa-mala beads with us and chant quietly. Is this proper?

Srila Guru Maharaj: You may do so, there’s no fault. Others may enquire, ‘Why are you doing this? What makes you chant this Name?” But if you are afraid that you won’t be able to give them a proper explanation [laughter], you may chant within.

Still, of course, you may say, “I have such faith, and so I am doing this. Through the medium of sound I can go to the truth.” Sound is the medium utilized everywhere for every case, and here also, why shouldn’t sound be the medium? Through the medium of sound, my mind wants to reach the place of origin of the sound vibration.

The one who must reach the origin is more subtle than sound. Sound in the ordinary sense is a very gross thing compared to the atma, the soul. But this sound is Vaikuntha-sabda, which is far more subtle than ordinary sound. It possesses more efficacy, and my sound is a gross thing in comparison to it. When it touches my ear, I can find that it is very subtle, and I am gross, considering myself a bundle of material things around the spiritual existence.

When this body will no longer exist, that sound will continue. It is undying. Its origin is Goloka, Vrindavan, the finest plane ever known to the world. The finest of the finest planes ever known.

We know of an electrical plane, an ethereal plane, but there is finer and finer. So the finest element ever known to the world is the layer of beauty and sweetness and love. That is the most original conception of existence ever known to any consciousness. That is universal.

The perspective of Love

Love means sacrifice. If they know the real meaning of love, none can say, “I don’t want love.” Anyone may say, “I don’t want power; I may misuse it.” To be in possession of power is a great responsibility. Love is also a responsibility, but it is unavoidable. We want love, from the higher—shelter in the loving lap, in the loving consideration. We want to enter a domain where everyone will love us. A home.

Home is sweet. Why? Because everyone there has some attraction and love, some blessing over us. Home is so sweet. All-favourable, all-loving, all-trustworthy. So we want to go back to home; home, sweet, sweet home.

Svarupe sabara haya, golokete sthiti. Muktir hitvan-yatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti is self-determination; the stage of self-determination, as much as our self can determine; our utmost interest. That is home, that is Goloka, that is the Plane of Krishna.

The most attractive sound is the sound of His flute. Srila Rupa Goswami has given a description:

rundhann ambubhrtas chamatkrti-param kurvan muhus tumburum

dhyanad antarayan sanandana-mukhan vismapayan vedhasam

autsukyavalibhir balim chatulayan bhogindram aghurnayan

bhindann anda-kataha-bhittim abhito babhrama vamsi-dhvanih

“Arresting the movement of the clouds, astonishing the Gandharvas headed by Tumburu and breaking the meditation of the sages headed by Sanandana; astonishing the heart of Lord Brahma, distracting the mind of the indomitable Baliraja with intense ecstasies, reeling the head of Ananta, the Serpent King who supports the earth planet, and piercing the covering of the universe—the vibration of Krishna’s flute wandered all around.”

The sound of Krishna’s flute began to reverberate. When that sound entered the ear of Brahma, he became bewildered: “Oh, what can this mean, and from where is it coming? What is this? It’s puzzling me!” Then the Infinite Anantadev who keeps unlimited universes on His lap—His head began to reel. The Total Force who supports all these Brahmandas, so many lustrous masses—the intense vibration causes even His head to reel. It attacks the heart of Radharani and the sakhas (friends); and the cows are also with their ears perked up, enquiring, “In which direction are we wanted to go?”

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Chapter Seven: A Holy Day

1. The Appearance of Srimati Vishnupriya Devi

Today is the Holy Day of Vasanta-panchami (the fifth day of the light fortnight of the moon), month of Magh, when Krishna is worshipped with the new flowers of spring. On this day, the holy advent of Srimati Vishnupriya Devi occurred. Her father was Sri Sanatan Misra of Nabadwip, who was a Brahmana and great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Srimati Vishnupriya Devi is the Eternal Consort of Sri Gaurasundar in His feature of Gaura-Narayana, and according to Sri-Gauraganoddesa-dipika, she is directly Satyabhama in Krishna’s Dvaraka-lila.

She was the second wife of Sriman Mahaprabhu in the householder period of His Pastimes. From childhood, she was devout in the Divine Service of the Supreme Lord. Kasinath Pandit was the intermediary in Her marriage to Mahaprabhu.

She was the ideal of Divine Self-surrender at the Lotus Feet of Mahaprabhu. When she was only fourteen, Mahaprabhu took sannyas, and after that she lived the rest of her life in penance. From early morning she would take the Holy Name the whole day, and for every Mahamantra that she chanted, she would put one grain of rice into a clay pot. After chanting her quota, she would take that rice, cook it and offer it to the Lord. That was all she would take for her subsistence, so gradually she became emaciated. She passed her days in this way.

Her brother was her guardian after Sachi Devi departed, and ultimately she had a Sri Murti (Deity) of Mahaprabhu, and she would worship Him in that Form. And since the time of Vishnupriya that worship is being continued up to the present in the Temple here in Nabadwip known as ‘Mahaprabhur Bari’ (the Home of Mahaprabhu). So this day of the year is connected with her holy memory, and we may achieve her Grace if we honour this time in her name, discussing her Pastimes. She will be propitiated and Sri Chaitanyadev will also be pleased with us, giving us a step forward in our transcendental march towards Him.

2. The Appearance of Sri Pundarik Vidyanidhi

Today is also the appearance day of Sri Pundarik Vidyanidhi. He is considered to be Vrisabhanu Raja of Varsana, Vrindavan, the father of Srimati Radharani. Sri Pundarik Vidyanidhi was born in a Brahmana family at Chattagram, and he bore the title ‘Vidyanidhi’ on account of his scholarship. Apparently he was a man of luxurious habits. In those days, people who could afford it would have a house in Nabadwip on the banks of the holy Ganges river; they would from time to time visit Nabadwip to regularly bathe in the Ganges and remain for some time in this Holy Place, and then return to their homes to continue their livelihood. So, Pundarik Vidyanidhi also had a house in Nabadwip.

Here, in Gaura-lila, Gadadhar Pandit was the representation of Srimati Radharani Herself. At that time Gadadhar Pandit was a young boy. He was younger than Mahaprabhu. Mukunda Datta was a follower and admirer of Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanyadev, and he also came from Chattagrain, the village of Pundarik Vidyanidhi. He knew Pundarik Vidyanidhi to be a man of higher religious type, that is, a Bhagavata type or Krishna-bhakta. But outwardly Pundarik Vidyanidhi lived a life of luxury. He was a well-to-do man, a general zamindar (state landowner). Mukunda Datta naturally knew him when he came to Nabadwip, since he hailed from the same place. Mukunda Datta went to Gadadhar Pandit and asked him, ‘Would you like to have the darshan of a Vaishnav?”

From childhood Gadadhar Pandit was very fond of Vaishnavs and Krishna-nama. He had much fondness for Nimai Pandit, when the Lord returned from Gaya. Previously he was very much afraid of Nimai Pandit, because whenever They met, Nimai Pandit would always tackle him with some apparent quarrel about etymology or something of that nature. So, after returning from Gaya, when Sri Chaitanyadev expressed His Devotional Aspect, He said one day, “Gadadhar, from your very childhood you are a devotee of Krishna, and My days have been wasted discussing grammar and mundane literature. But you, Gadadhar, My friend—your life is very successful. You have fulfilment of life. From the beginning you are fond of Krishna-nama.” So, from the beginning Gadadhar Pandit’s heart was towards Krishna. Therefore when Mukunda Datta asked him, “Would you like to see a Vaishnav who has come from afar?” the reply came, “Yes, yes, I shall go; take me there.”

So Mukunda Datta took Gadadhar Pandit to Pundarik Vidyanidhi. And what kind of Vaishnav was Pundarik Vidyanidhi? He was sitting on a luxurious bedstead, smoking a very ornate and valuable pipe. His head was adorned with beautiful oiled curly locks, and many valuable pastes were anointed on his body. Two attendants fanned him on either side.

Gadadhar Pandit thought, “Mukunda has brought me to this luxury-loving man sitting on the bedstead and smoking? What type of Vaishnav has he brought me to see?” He was disappointed at heart, and Mukunda could guess it. Mukunda Datta was a very good singer, and in a very sweet tone he sang this sloka of Bhagavatam:

aho baki yam stana-kala-kutam

jighamsayapayayad apy asadhvi

lebhe gatim dhatry uchitam tato ‘nyam

kam va dayalum saranam vrajema

This sloka was chanted by Mukunda in a very sweet tone, and this created a wonderful effect in Pundarik Vidyanidhi. The Bhagavatam says, “Who else but Krishna should we approach? Who can be so kind, so gracious? There is limitless Grace in Him. Why? Baki—Putana, came to kill Him in a treacherous way, taking the garb of dhatri, a motherly garb. In this way she came to try and kill Him; yet Krishna gave her a position as a nursemaid in His group of assisting mothers. So gracious is the Lord. Who else can we approach for our good?”

This is the meaning of the verse. “She painted deadly poison on her breast, and came to suckle the boy Krishna. So treacherous was her action. In the garb of motherly affection she tried to murder the boy, and she was given such a high position as an attendant of His mother. She was elevated to the motherly group. Such Grace, such Mercy He showed, without considering or passing judgement on the worth of that action. So other than that kindhearted and gracious Krishna, where else should we go for shelter?”

This entered the heart of Pundarik Vidyanidhi and began to vibrate, and produced such force that he was stunned; then shivering began, and madly gesticulating, he began to pull his hair and tear his silken dress, kicking over the tobacco and pipe. His rich bedding and dress were ruined, and he began to roll on the ground and cry, kam va dayalum saranam vrajema—“In whom shall we take shelter other than Him?”

Then Gadadhar Pandit thought, “Oh, I have committed a great offence in my mind, thinking that he was not a Vaishnav, because of his fashionable dress and style. Really, how great a Vaishnav he is—what a wonderful effect the memory of Krishna caused in him!”

Then Gadadhara Pandit revealed his mind.

“Mukunda, I have committed offence against this great Vaishnav. What will be my fate? When I first saw him, I shunned him; I committed offence. I think that if I take mantra from him—become his disciple—then he may forgive all my offences. There is no other way to be absolved from this Vaishnav-aparadha. I shall have to inform my Lord Gaurachandra, Nimai Pandit, about this.”

So they left the place of Pundarik Vidyanidhi, and Gadadhar went to take Nimai Pandit’s permission to become the disciple of Pundarik Vidyanidhi.

Before anyone knew that Pundarik had come from Chattagram to Nabadwip, and even before Mahaprabhu had met him, Mahaprabhu was seen to suddenly cry, “Bapa Pundarik! Bapa Pundarik!” In the mood of Srimati Radharani, Nimai was taking his name. Bapa means ‘father.’ So He was calling, “Father Pundarik! Father Pundarik!” Nimai Pandit was chanting like this, in the mood of Radharani.

When Gadadhar made his proposal to Mahaprabhu, the Lord immediately replied, “Yes, very good proposal. Go and accept him at once.” Gadadhar Pandit represents Radharani in Gaura-lila, and Pundarik is Radharani’s father in Krishna-lila: the Guru is like the father, and the disciple is like the child. So Mahaprabhu at once approved and Gadadhar took initiation from Pundarik Vidyanidhi. He was none other than Vrisabhanu Raja, and Gadadhar was the incarnation of Radharani in Gaura-lila.

Pundarik Vidyanidhi would not take bath in the Ganges because he could not tolerate that his feet would touch the holy Ganges river. Before daybreak, he would go to the Ganges and take some of the water on his head. He did not go to the Ganges by day, because he could not tolerate to see persons who would dive into the water or spit there and contaminate the pure, holy water by misusing it. Before worship, prayer, etc., the general pandit section may bathe in the Ganges and fast to purify their bodies of sin. But Pundarik Vidyanidhi would rather drink some Ganges water prior to his daily worship and duties, thereby teaching us the proper worshipful respect due to the Ganga.

In Puri, his dearmost friend and associate was Sri Svarup Damodar. When he went to Puri, he felt some pain in his heart that the priestly servants of Lord Jagannath dressed the Lord in starched cloth, which is generally considered impure. When cloth is manufactured by handloom, the thread is soaked in boiled rice water which acts as a paste to hold it firm in the loom. That cloth is considered impure, and must first be rinsed in water before offering it to the Deity. But in Puri, that was not the practice. They directly used starched cloth for dressing Lord Jagannath, and Pundarik Vidyanidhi could not accommodate this.

That night, he dreamt that both Jagannath and Balaram came to him and dealt slaps to his cheeks, saying, “You have come here to point out the defects in My servitors? What is this!”

They both began to slap him, and the dream was so tense that when he rose in the morning he found that both his cheeks were inflamed. He expressed to his most intimate friend, Svarup Damodar: “My dear friend, Svarup Damodar, such is my position. I had this objectionable feeling my heart towards these servitors, so Jagannath and Balaram have punished me in this way. See the swelling on my both cheeks!”

Such was the nature of Pundarik Vidyanidhi. In essence, we are told that he is the father of Srimati Radharani, incarnated here as Pundarik Vidyanidhi. A slight holy association of this day, his appearance day, will help us a great deal in our advancement of spiritual life.

3. The Appearance of Sri Raghunandan Thakur

Thirdly, this is also the birthday of Raghunandan Thakur. He was born in a place named Srikhanda, near Katwa, in a Kaviraj family, a lineage of Ayurvedic doctors. Raghunandan was the son of Mukunda Kaviraj, who was such a notable doctor that even kings called for him for treatment. Raghunandan was a bachelor his whole life. His figure was extraordinarily beautiful, and he was very fond of dancing. From the beginning he was, of course, a natural devotee.

The family of Mukunda Thakur worshipped their ancestral Deity at home. Once, when Raghunandan was a growing boy, who had perhaps only recently received the sacred thread and admission to worship, his father asked him, “I’m going out and won’t return in time. You please worship the Deity and feed Him—offer bhog for His food.” His expression was, “Please try to feed my Deity.”

When he was away, Raghunandan’s mother cooked many items and brought them to the temple, and asked Raghunandan to offer them to the Deity. Generally the doors are kept closed during worship, so behind the closed doors Raghunandan offered and prayed to the Lord,

“Please take these dishes I am offering You—please eat.”

But the Sri Murti did not answer or come forward to eat. Raghunandan began to cry.

“My father will rebuke me! He has requested me to feed You, and You are not eating. I’ll be punished. You have to take this food!”

The sincere boy began to cry in such a way that Krishna had to eat. Raghunandan was satisfied, and came out from the Deity room.

His mother came to remove the prasadam. ‘What is this? All the plates are empty!” Raghunandan replied,

“You asked me to feed the Deity. He has taken.”

His mother said angrily,

“You, boy, you have eaten it! The Deity doesn’t eat. We offer, everything remains, and afterwards we take the prasadam. You wicked boy, you have turned out to be such a rogue—you have eaten everything.”

“No, no, I did not eat, the Deity ate everything.”

“This is impossible, you foolish boy! Do you want to make a fool of me? This can never happen!”

He began to cry.

“No, I’m speaking the truth.”

“All right, let your father come, and I shall ask him to punish you.”

Mukunda returned, and Raghunandan’s mother complained,

“Your boy has grown to be such a rogue! He says the Deity has eaten.”

Raghunandan also petitioned his father,

“Yes, the Deity has eaten. He would not take in the beginning, but I began to cry, and then He ate.”

“Is this true?”

“Yes, it is true, my father, I am not lying.”

“Can you show me?”

“I shall try.”

So he was given another chance to worship, and from a hidden place his father could see that the Deity had actually taken the food.

Such a devotee was Raghunandan Thakur. When he danced in Sankirtana, it was such a charming scene that even Mahaprabhu was attracted. During the Jagannath Ratha-yatra seven special groups would chant and dance, and in the party from Srikhanda we find that Raghunandan was the dancer.

So today is the day connected with the memory of Sri Raghunandan Thakur, who is considered to be Pradyumna Avatar. Many more incidents occur in his pastimes—I have only touched on them. It is also said that near the banks of the lake Madhu-puskarini there is a Jambu tree, and according to his wish two Kadamba flowers bloom on that tree every day for the worship of his Deity. Many miracles are found in his pastimes.

4. The Appearance of Sri Raghunath Das Goswami

Then, the fourth personality is Sri Raghunath Das Goswami. He was born nearly five hundred years ago in Krishnapur village, Hooghly District. He came in the Kayastha caste. His father, Hiranya Majumdar, was a very rich man. His father had one brother, Govardhan, but Raghunath was the only child. His father and uncle were state landowners. At that time, they collected 20 lakhs (2,000,000) rupees in taxes. 12 lakhs was to be paid to the king, and their net income was 8 lakhs.

Raghunath heard about Mahaprabhu after His sannyas. Hiranya and Govardhan had association with Advaita Acharya, and they used to make an annual contribution to all the superior Sanskrit scholars and their schools, in Bengal, of the time.

When Mahaprabhu went back to Sri Advaita Acharya’s house (Advaita-bhavan) after His sannyas, Raghunath Das came and saw Him, and became mad with Love of Krishna. His heart was completely melted by Mahaprabhu’s beauty and charming Personality, His Devotion and His Teachings of Devotion for Krishna. Mahaprabhu Himself was also aware of this. Raghunath would not leave Mahaprabhu, but the Lord told him, “Go home. Don’t be over-enthusiastic; control yourself. Keep your Divine Love for Krishna within your heart, and don’t express it outwardly. Don’t advertise it. Very soon the time will come when Krishna will guide you. He will make a way for you. Don’t allow any external show but keep it within your heart.”

sthira hanya ghare yao, na hao batula

krame krame paya loka bhava-sindhu-kula

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 16.237)

“Compose yourself and go home—don’t be a madman. One reaches the shore of the material ocean gradually.”

Then, he later came into the association of Nityananda Prabhu in Panihati. Nityananda Prabhu said to him, “Give a feast here for My followers. You are the son of a rich man, so manage to give a feast here for My followers.”

Raghunath did so, and Nityananda Prabhu was very satisfied. He also blessed him, saying, “Very soon your bright day will come.” And He addressed His devotees, “See this young boy—he has immense wealth; in abundance he has everything required for a young man’s enjoyment, but he does not care for it. Krishna’s Grace has come down into his heart, so he does not care for anything of this world; but he’s mad to leave his home of material grandeur and become a street beggar. He has become mad for Krishna. Just see this high ideal—devotion, attraction. Love of Krishna has made him mad. He is very, very fortunate. This royal dignity and prosperity cannot please him.”

Anyway, he returned home. But one day Hiranya and the others noticed that he no longer entered the inner section of the house. He began to stay in the outer section only. His father and other guardians thought that his condition had become very grave, so ten men were engaged to keep guard that he may not leave.

One day in the early morning before sunrise, the family Guru, Yadunandan Acharya, suddenly entered the house. Finding Raghunath in the outer section of the house, he met him and requested him, “I am going out for some important business, but there is no one to worship my Deity. So please ask one brahmana disciple in my name to serve the Deity for a day or two during my absence.” As Yadunandan Acharya left, Raghunath went with him. The guards saw him going with the family Guru, so they did not interfere. On the way, Raghunath requested the Guru, “You may go ahead with your business, and I shall request the gentleman to do the worship in your absence.”

The Guru left. Raghunath took advantage of the situation. Perhaps he requested that man to do the service, but he started off in the direction away from Puri. He knew that as soon as they realised at home that he wasn’t returning, they would send men to search for him on the way to Puri. So for the whole day he walked in the opposite direction. In the evening he stopped at a cowherd man’s house, took a little milk from him and passed the night in the cowshed. Then in the morning he started for Puri.

When his guardians found that Raghunath had not returned home, they heard from the guards that he had gone with the family Guru. They went to the Guru’s house, but Raghunath was not to be found. Then they thought that he must have left for Puri, and they sent ten men to that side. They returned without finding him. In this way, Raghunath cleverly managed to escape. For twelve days he walked to Puri, taking food here and there for only three of those days. On the other days no food was necessary. He was helped by Divine Love, surcharged.

He had already heard that Mahaprabhu was at the Gambhira, the Kasi Misra Bhavan. He went there, and in the courtyard fell flat in obeisance unto Mahaprabhu.

Mukunda Datta announced to the Lord, “Raghunath has come.”

Mahaprabhu said,

“Yes, look after him. He has come with great difficulty, walking and walking without food. Take care of him for a few days. Then, he will manage for himself”

That was the direction of Mahaprabhu. For a few days Raghunath took prasadam there. After that he began to beg at the gate of the Jagannath Temple.

The parents now thought it was impossible to bring him back, and they did not make any further attempt. But they sent some money with one brahmana and two servants, instructing them to hire a house and offer Raghunath a place to stay, and see that their son may not die without food. They tried their best, but Raghunath continued to subsist on alms. Over a period of two years, Raghunath invited Mahaprabhu to take prasadam at that house, and the Lord did so for his satisfaction. After that, Raghunath left that idea, thinking, “This is only to produce some name and fame for me. Mahaprabhu is not pleased with such prasadam.”

Svarup Damodar was the dearmost Attendant of Mahaprabhu, and a very good scholar as well. Raghunath was also a scholar—we find that later he left the world beautiful poetry in Sanskrit. Mahaprabhu gave Raghunath over to the charge of Svarup Damodar, saying, “I request Svarup Damodar to take your charge, and he will advise you what will be necessary for your devotional life.”

But suddenly one day, Raghunath approached Mahaprabhu:

“Why have You managed to take me out of my house, and what is my best benefit? If You please tell me in Your own words, my heart will be satisfied.”

Mahaprabhu said,

“I have given you over to the charge of Svarup Damodar. He is more qualified than even Myself Still, if you want to hear something directly from Me, then I say in brief:

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe

bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe

amani manada hanya krsna-nama sada la’be

vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe

“Don’t indulge in worldly talk, don’t hear worldly talk. Try your best to avoid mundane matters. Don’t eat delicious dishes, but take whatever ordinary food may come of its own accord; and don’t dress luxuriously. Always try to take the Name of Krishna with the attitude of giving respect to others, without expecting respect from anyone. Be humble, but never aspire after respectful dealings from others. In this way, try to take the Name of Krishna constantly. And within, try to serve Sri Sri Radha-Krishna in Vrindavan. Mentally, be in Vrindavan rendering Service to Sri Sri Radha-Krishna-lila.”

Mahaprabhu told Raghunath that this was the essence of His advice to him. Then, He again took Raghunath’s hand and offered it to the hand of Svarup Damodar. He said, “I am giving you to the charge of Svarup Damodar. He is the best Spiritual Teacher. He will take care of you.”

After Raghunath’s arrival in Puri, Mahaprabhu stayed there continuously for sixteen years. After that, Mahaprabhu departed from the world. Raghunath left Puri and went to Vrindavan, thinking, “I have what is to be had; now I only want to see Vrindavan Dham once, and then I shall leave this body by jumping from the highest peak of Govardhan.” With this idea he went to Vrindavan, but there he came into contact with Sanatan Goswami and Rupa Goswami—he found the beginning of a new life. He thought, “What is this? Mahaprabhu has not departed—He is living in them.” Mahaprabhu delegated Rupa and Sanatan with the power to preserve the Devotional Current they had received from Him, and to present it in a new light. They were asked to prove by drawing upon different Scriptures that Mahaprabhu’s Teachings are the very gist and purpose of all the Scriptures. As in Bhagavad-gita, vedais cha sarvair aham eva vedyah: “The attempt of every Revealed Scripture is to show Me as the Highest Centre—I am the Absolute.” So Mahaprabhu said, “Krishna is the Absolute. With the help of the different Scriptures and historical reference—by all means possible—try to prove that Krishna is Svayam Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that Vraja-lila, Vrindavana-lila, is the highest achievement.”

The two brothers had already begun that work when Raghunath came into their association, and he found, “Oh! Mahaprabhu is here.” He abandoned the idea of leaving this world, and joined Rupa and Sanatan as their disciple. Mahaprabhu had already ordered Sanatan Goswami, “My followers are very poor and helpless. You’ll have to look after them whenever they come to Vrindavan. You’ll have to be the caretaker of all my disciples that come to Vrindavan.” So Raghunath came to Sanatan Goswami, and Sanatan took care of him. Raghunath was so self-forgetful that one day as he was sitting on the banks of Radha-kunda and taking the Name, a tiger came just beside him to drink water, but Raghunath paid no attention. Suddenly, Sanatan Goswami came upon the scene. He was astonished. Up until then Raghunath had lived under the shade of a tree, but Sanatan said, “Please construct a hut to live in. Don’t disregard my request—I entreat you to do this.” Then from that time he managed to construct a small dwelling and stay there. His abnegation, vairagya, was incomparable. Sanatan, Rupa, and all the goswamis’ indifference to worldly enjoyment was extreme, but Raghunath’s abnegation surpassed all.

When he was in Puri, sometimes he would beg prasadam at the gate of the Jagannath Temple, and sometimes he would take prasadam at a chatram, or free kitchen where rich men distribute prasadam for beggars. But then he thought, “I am taking what is due to others’ karma.”

The unsold Jagannatha prasadam is given to the cows of Jagannath Puri. But when it becomes so stale that it emits a bad odour, even the cows cannot eat it. So now Raghunath would wash that prasadam with sufficient water, and adding a little salt he would eat that. Mahaprabhu heard about this, and one day when Raghunath was taking that prasadam Mahaprabhu approached and suddenly took some and ate it. He said, “Oh! I have tasted many times the prasadam of Jagannath, but such sweet prasadam I have never taken anywhere!”

So, what is the taste in prasadam? It is not mundane. Raghunath had such intense faith in prasadam that he lived on apparently rotten things with a little salt—and he was the son of a family of kingly opulence. So much indifference was in him. And in his last days in Vrindavan, he would pass each day taking only a pot of ghol, buttermilk. This is not possible for a man of flesh and blood. Great souls like the goswamis are really personalities who come down from the other world, and so it was possible for them to show the ideal of abnegation. It is not possible for ordinary humans of flesh and blood to observe such a degree of abnegation without dying. But the goswamis created the standard and ideal by such vairagya. At the same time, Raghunath studied Rupa Goswami’s presentation of the highest type of Rasa or Devotional Sentiment—Madhura-rasa.

The Acme of Divine Service

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami appreciated the acme of Divine Service, the culminating point of Divine Service—Radha-dasya, which is Servitude unto Srimati Radharani. Therefore he is called the prayojana-acharya. Srila Sanatan Goswami is generally conceived of by his successors as the Acharya of sambandha-jnana. Sambandha refers to ‘what is what’—‘what is my position in the spiritual hierarchy.’ That was explained most clearly by Srila Sanatan Goswami. And abhidheya—what we should cultivate in order to attain to our objective—was mainly given by Srila Rupa Goswami. He taught us how we can attain fulfilment of our life in the Domain of Love. And what is particularly the highest point of our attainment, or prayojana, was very vividly shown by Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. In his famous sloka he says:

asabharair amrta-sindhumayaih kathanchit

kalo mayatigamita kila sampratam hi

tvan chet krpam mayi vidhasyasi naiva kim me

pranair vraje na cha baroru bakarinapi

This sloka has given us the highest conception of our attainment in the school of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. What is that? Srila Raghunath Goswami is addressing Srimati Radharani: “O Queen of my heart, for a long, long time I am waiting with great patience to have Your Mercy, which is so sweet to me that I cannot avoid it. It is heart-melting, heart-attracting, heart-crushing. It is so deeply touching me—I can’t avoid Your Service Connection. Somehow I have managed to come such a long way, to endure such a long time, but I am impatient now. Be gracious; if You are not gracious upon me, I have got no hope. I will come to the end of my patience.

“My life will end here. So much so, that, what shall I do with this Vrindavan? Vrindavan is of no use to me! What is the utility of living my life? It is useless—it will end with no utility. I can’t love even Vrindavan, which is associated with the Lila of Krishna. To say nothing of Vrindavan, I can’t relish the company of even Krishna, without You. Without You, even Krishna is meaningless to me. I can’t tolerate, I can’t relish either my own life, or this environment, or even Krishna—if He Himself comes to grace me I can’t relish that, without Your connection.

“So please be gracious upon me. You are all-in-all. Without You, Krishna consciousness is not Krishna consciousness. Your position is so great, so beautiful in Krishna-lila—You are the centre of all the Lila of Krishna. Without You I can’t conceive of any life worth living. I utterly surrender unto You, my Queen.”

This is Radha-dasya. Our best fulfilment is in the Service of Sri Radha, because only She can fully attract the Grace of Krishna. She is the other Half who can draw the maximum Rasa, Ecstasy, from Krishna—in quantity as well as in quality. So those who are serving Srimati Radharani get the highest type of qualitative Rasa from Krishna in reciprocation for their Service. That cannot be had through any other channel. Service that comes through Srimati Radharani is of the highest quality, so Her Service should be our summum bonum of life.

This was announced clearly by Srila Raghunath Das Goswami who is considered to be prayojana-acharya, the Guide to show us our highest fulfilment of life. By our association with this day and by our humble attempt to discuss all these matters, we may be benefitted in the achievement of our goal. This is the day of the advent of such great personalities.

5. Departure of Sri Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur

Today is also the day that Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur departed from this world. Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur appeared about 180 years after the Advent of Sri Gaurangadev. He composed a commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam and many other books to help the devotees coming later in the Sampradaya. He was such a great Acharya. In his own special way, he has dealt elaborately with many spiritual matters, giving the proper approach. He was the sastric or Scriptural dispensation of Sri Rupa-Sanatan, etc. By his grace, Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusan composed the Sri Gaudiya Vaishnav commentary on Vedanta-sutra, Sri Govinda-bhasya. From such great Masters there is much to be read.

Srila Visvanath Chakravarti was born in a brahmana family in Devagram of Murshidabad district. He was a great scholar of Sanskrit. He came in the line of Sri Narottam Thakur. He gave us extensive Scriptural writings to help us very precisely and elaborately to know about the Pastimes of Mahaprabhu and Radha-Krishna, Vrindavan, Nabadwip, and the Guru-parampara. The Gurvastakam we chant daily was written by him, as well as many other important works. Srila Rupa Goswami wrote Sri-Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, ‘The Nectarine Ocean of Devotional Joy,’ and Srila Visvanath wrote Sri-Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu, or ‘a drop of that Ocean’. And from Sri Rupa’s Sri-Ujjvala-nilamani, ‘The Brilliant Jewel of the Supernatural World’ (or Krishna in Madhura-rasa), he gave Ujjvala-nilamani-kirana, or ‘a ray of that Jewel’. In this way, he has given volumes of books and poems. As Sri Rupa Goswami gave the Asta-kaliya-lila of Krishna, or twenty-four-hour Service engagement with Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, he has similarly given in Chaitanya-lila twenty-four hour engagement in the Service of Sriman Mahaprabhu. So he has done great Service to the Sampradaya and profusely bestowed his mercy upon us.

5, 6. Departure of Tridandi Swamis Srimad Bharati Maharaj and Srimad Parvat Maharaj

Today is also the disappearance day of two of our senior Godbrothers, sannyasi disciples of our Guru Maharaj, Tridandi Swami Srimad Bhakti Vivek Bharati Maharaj and Tridandi Swami Srimad Bhakti Svarup Parvat Maharaj. They both preached extensively on the order of Srila Prabhupad. Sri Bharati Maharaj was very popular; his preaching style was very charming and engaging. In the beginning we appreciated his preaching very much.

Sri Parvat Maharaj was also among the earliest disciples of our Guru Maharaj. He was born at Svarup Ganja, on the other side of the Ganges from here (Nabadwip). He was born in the house directly next to Surabhi Kunja where Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur lived for some time. During his childhood, he told me, he saw Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur chanting the Name. In the early morning Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur would chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra just as one calling someone from a distance. A living thing—like one man calling another. In this way, in a living way, he was calling Krishna. He was in his old age, and his body was somewhat attacked with rheumatism. There was a cement chair constructed there; he would stroll about at his sweet will, and when he felt fatigued he would take his seat on that chair. That chair is still there today.

So, at a very early age, Srimad Parvat Maharaj came to Srila Prabhupad and accepted his shelter. For a long period he was posted as the caretaker at Bhakti Kutir, the then ‘head office,’ a small seaside house in Puri owned by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. Then, when Prabhupad began his preaching life, Parvat Maharaj became a sannyasi. During the lifetime of Prabhupad he preached throughout the whole of Bengal and beyond as well. He established a Math in Orissa.

I remember, once, when I was a newcomer in the Math, he was telling one gentleman about how he preached on the East side of Bengal. At that place, some people challenged him,

“Why have you come to preach here? Don’t you know that just nearby on the bank of the river there is a siddha-mahatma? He has attained the highest end of life. Have you seen him?”

He replied to them, “I have seen many siddha, like aloo-siddha, etc.!”

Siddha may mean a ‘perfected soul,’ but another meaning of siddha is ‘boiled.’ So he was saying,

“I’ve seen many siddha—boiled things—boiled potatoes, boiled cabbage, etc. We already have so many boiled things!”

They said,

“What are you saying? You are insulting him.”

He replied,

“This is no insult. Those who are full of all those siddhas—they know nothing. What Mahaprabhu has brought us is the highest. All other proposals are trash and nasty things. We have come from a great Mahatma to carry to you the highest objective, the summum bonum of life—accept Mahaprabhu and Bhagavatam. We hate all those ‘siddha’ imposters who are deceiving the people in the garb of religion.”

Such was the great preaching of Sri Gaudiya Math in those days.

To my best capacity I have tried my best to represent to you my humble knowledge of these Mahatmas, and I pray that they may be propitiated and give us their favour. With this prayer, I end here: vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha, patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah.

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PART TWO

Chapter Eight: Approaching the Higher World

Devotee: Guru Maharaj, what is the reason the Brahmanas of Jagannath Puri don’t allow Westerners to enter the Temple?

Srila Guru Maharaj: This is rather a case of physical purity. They strictly observe the physical purity. They don’t allow even the Mridanga into the Temple. According to them, if it is analyzed it is impure since it is made from the skin of a cow.

Also, there was a pandit of the Smarta Sampradaya, who had a peculiar religious conception; wherever he went, he always kept the wooden sandals of his guru tied about his chest. Once he wanted to enter the Temple at Pandarapur, but he was refused. The Brahmanas there told him, “They may be your guru’s sandals; no doubt, they may be pure to you in your relationship, but we nonetheless consider them sandals, so you must leave them outside.”

Such Brahmanas strictly reject the physical impurity, with some mental modification. That is their custom. So both the mental and physical habits of the Mlechha and Yavana (non-Vedic races and sects) are impure, that is, closely connected with himsa or animal-killing, etc., and generally their lifestyles are uncontrolled and boisterous in many other ways. They are not regulated according to the Vedic Scriptures. Considering all this, those Brahmanas won’t allow them entry to the Temple.

Even Gandhi wanted to enter the Puri Temple with some of his outcaste or lower caste followers, but they were prohibited. Gandhi also stayed out. He wanted to enter along with the outcastes of society. Despite his great influence over the country, he was refused entrance. Without his knowledge, Gandhi’s wife entered to have the darshan of Lord Jagannath. When he came to know of it, he severely chastised her for entering without him.

So Gandhi was more of a patriot than a devotee. He thought his lordship over his wife was permanent and absolute, not to be modified even by devotion for Lord Jagannath. But according to us, his wife did right. How permanent is the relationship between husband and wife? For the main part it is only a bodily relationship. And what is the relationship with the Lord—the Husband of husbands, the Master of the whole world? What is the nasty husband in this world in comparison with the Lord of the whole universe? For a national cause, or the cause of his political creed, Gandhi wanted to check his wife’s going to the Temple, as though God were within the jurisdiction of politics.

Haridas Thakur never entered the Jagannath Temple, nor did Rupa and Sanatan. Not only that, but Sanatan GoswamI even avoided the main streets where the servitors of the Jagannath Temple would usually pass. He did not walk there, giving respect to the current laws and by-laws (of the Pandas, the Brahmanas, whose edicts were above the jurisdiction of the king). Furthermore, Sanatan Goswami wrote in Hari-bhakti-vilasa that the devotees should try to follow all the rules and regulations he had listed therein, and any further practices that were not mentioned should be ascertained by noting the current practices in the Temple of Jagannath. He was so catholic in his faith in Mahaprabhu. In other words, whatever transpired there in the presence of Mahaprabhu should be taken by us as approved by Him, so we won’t dare to interfere with that. He is above law. His Will is law—law comes from His Sweet Will. This principle we must not forget.

Designed and Destined by the Absolute

Everything is not only designed, but also destined by Him. The whole universe is designed and destined according to His Sweet Will. His position is so high and unchallengeable; and it is Absolute Good. Rules and regulations are created only to take us to the Absolute Good, but the Absolute Good is not under those rules or any law. The Absolute is independent, above everything. Krishna-lila is the nearest approach to the Absolute Good Himself. He is whimsical. If we realise that much, that is the best conception. To place any restriction over the Absolute Good is to commit suicide. Do you follow?

Devotee: Yes…

Srila Guru Maharaj: …because it is not only good, but Absolute Good. Our intellect cannot comprehend it.

Once Swami Maharaj and myself had a talk here. Then after going from here to that blue house where Swami Maharaj stayed for three weeks, his disciple Achyutananda asked him, “What sort of talk did you have with Sridhar Maharaj?” Swami Maharaj replied to him, “If you hear that, you will faint.” What does ‘faint’ mean? It means, “It is beyond the reach of your consciousness—unintelligible to you in your present stage of realisation.”

Once Ramanujacharya wanted to modify the rules and regulations that are practised in the Jagannath Temple. While contemplating in this way, he slept on a bedstead, and when he awoke he found that his body along with the bedstead was cast to Sri Kurmam of Ganjam District, in South India, some hundreds of miles away from the Jagannath Temple.

He suddenly awoke. “Where am I?” He thought, “You gave me inspiration by instructing me in a dream to modify the existing rules and regulations that are being practised in the Temples, and now why do You oppose me? I wanted to modify the current practices of rules and regulations at the Jagannath Temple.” Then he again dreamt of the Lord telling him, “No, don’t modify here! Go elsewhere. You got the dream for the sake of other Temples, not here. Go and preach your regulations in all other Temples save and except this Temple.”

Pundarik Vidyanidhi is considered to be the incarnation of Srimati Radharani’s father, here in Gaura-lila. He thought, “What are these Pandas? They are awkward people—they do not know what is pure or impure. Indiscriminately they use starched cloth for dressing the Jagannath Deity.” At night he found that Jagannath and Balaram, two Brothers, had come to his bedside and were slapping him on both cheeks. In the morning he found that his cheeks were swollen. Others asked him, “Why are your cheeks so swollen?” He had to recount the incident. In effect, the Lord was saying, “This is not the place to suggest any change in the regulation that is going on under My direction—don’t interfere!”

So there is some special grant and there are some special rules for that place. He is Absolute, unquestionable. Our enquiries need only be for the purpose of understanding something of the inevitability of how everything enters into the Absolute Good. Any law ever conceived of ultimately enters into the Absolute Goodness. Mostly, this is a matter beyond our conceptions.

Patita-pavana Jagannatha Sarvesvara, Vrdavanachandra Sarva-rasera Akara. When enumerating one hundred and twenty Names of Krishna (Sri-Krsna-Vimsottara-sata-Nama), Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur mentions at the end, Patita-pavana: Jagannath has come to save the fallen; and Krishna’s special quality is that He is the Emporium of all Rasas: Vrndavanachandra Sarvarasera Akara—the very Source of all types of ecstasy, Personified. That is Krishna. Mahaprabhu is also Patita-pavana. He passed the major portion of His life there in Jagannath Puri. Patita-pavana means ‘Saviour of the fallen.’ Everything has its speciality. As a doctor may prescribe medicine with a free diet except for restrictions on only two or three items, similarly in the case of the Temple of Lord Jagannath we also see great liberality, with the exception of a few items.

When I first began to appreciate Mahaprabhu and came to this line, I thought that if Mahaprabhu is the Incarnation of God, then why didn’t He overthrow the non-Vedic rule? Why did he tolerate the non-Vedic rule here in India? He could have overthrown it easily. That was a question. But gradually I came to realise that this was a very trifling matter. The ruling power or political life has nothing to do with spiritual life.

Queen Kunti rather welcomed adversity. She prayed, “Keep me always in a dangerous position. That will be convenient for me to pray for Your Grace. And ordinary worldly favourable circumstances will encourage me to ignore Your valuable Grace. So always keep me in adversity.” That was her prayer. So the political environment, social environment—all other campaigns have no value. According to the result of our karma we shall be placed in a particular environment, and we must start our spiritual life from wherever we are placed; we must begin our work of conquering all those samskaras that comprise the mental encasement we are living in.

Crossing the walls of misunderstanding

Tat te ‘nukampam susamiksamanah. We should not only live in our present position without complaint, but moreover, we shall have to consider it as really necessary for our upliftment. In this way, we have to accept whatever adversities that come to us as the Grace of the Lord. We must cope, with this positive angle of vision of goodness:

“This is my real necessity. There is no error in the calculation of the Lord. This test has been extended to me for my benefit. To stand, to face and cross this opposition is my chance to have my progress in life. This test has been given by Krishna to facilitate my progressive life.” In the Bhagavatam we are advised to face all adverse circumstances in such an optimistic way. Then very easily and swiftly we shall cross these walls of misunderstanding, this Maya, and we will be liberated, and more—we will have participation in Krishna consciousness, the life of dedication.

Distinguishing Form and Substance

Devotee: Maharaj, I have a question. I have heard two things. One, that Vaishnav sannyas is the devotional line; and I have also heard that it is a formality of Varnasrama-dharma. What is it really?

Srila Guru Maharaj: The outer touch of sannyas is within the Varsnasrama-dharma (socio-religious system), but it also has its positive side. Both negative and positive sides are to be considered. Danda means ‘punishment’ as well as ‘staff’. The three dandas represent thought, word and deed. On the negative side, the three dandas of the symbolic triple staff, or tridanda, that the Vaishnav sannyasi accepts indicate that he should not use his thought, word and deed for any mundane or exploitative aim and object. But the positive side is that he will punish his thought, word and deed—to engage them in the Service of Krishna, Narayan.

Then the function becomes Vaishnavism. Those who do not believe in the positive side of life may accept sannyas only as abstinence from using their thought, word and deed for any mundane purpose. They will prefer mauna, silence. But the Vaishnav sannyasi will prefer Krishna-kirtan, singing the Glories of the Lord. They have the positive side.

So to check these three aspects of life from mingling with the incidents of this mundane world is only one side. But the other side is to use them for the spiritual object. That is Vaishnav sannyas.

Devotee: Doesn’t a brahmachari or a grihastha also utilise his thought, word and deed for the spiritual objective?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Of course; but the renounced order or order of sannyas is a special emblem, a reminder. It doesn’t follow that one who has not taken sannyas will not engage his faculties in Spiritual Service. A grihastha Paramahamsa who is a Parsada-bhakta (Associate-servitor) is also possible, without sannyas. He may not necessarily have a sacred thread either.

The necessity is only to remind us of that life. That is healthy. The sacred thread, the red cloth, the danda—they always caution us: “Think that you have dedicated your life for the spiritual objective; you are meant only for this, so be alert. Don’t misuse your red cloth, your sacred thread, the Tulasi-mala, etc.” They will remind us always. They have their utility.

A siddha-mahatma (perfected great soul) may not have red cloth. Sanatan Goswami and others wore ordinary white cloth. They accepted the minimum necessity of garments. No red cloth, no danda, no sacred thread. Pure life is possible without those things. But for the beginners these things will be helpful, so they are introduced into the society of the Vaishnav school, in the lower plane. And sometimes the higher also come to accept these lower emblems, as, for example, Mahaprabhu took sannyas.

Such an emblem or the dress of a world Acharya is also there to help the public to give proper respect to the wearer. If he is in ordinary dress, the people won’t show any respect or give any attention to his words and teachings. If a policeman or soldier is in his uniform, people will show some respect to the police or the military. But a military man or policeman may patrol in plain dress also, and do even higher service. Still, the uniform is necessary to regulate the society.

So this is something like a uniform. The society should learn to take them as the Teachers, the holy men, and feel, “We should deal with them very gently, for our future benefit.” The society will also reap that benefit; and that holy man will also gain some instruction: “Oh, I should not mix with anyone and everyone. It should be seen that my practices keep up the standard, the model of the Teachers.” Otherwise, independent of such symbols a man can culture his spiritual life, without taking the role of a brahmachari, grihastha, vanaprastha or sannyasi. Internally, he can improve his heart.

Devotee: Maharaj, how does one understand, or deal with, the falldown of a sannyasi or brahmachari? What is the correct understanding?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Generally we shall take it that there was some offence for which he could not keep the standard of life that was expected of him by his Guru Maharaj. That should be the general way of thinking about them. Some previous offence is taking its course and not allowing him to go on smoothly in the way of his realisation. It suddenly appeared and checked him. In particular cases it may be Vaishnav-aparadha or offence against a Vaishnav, and sometimes in general cases previous bad karma may have come and stood in the way of his progress.

The Vigilant Eye of the Guardian

We must always be cautious with our free choice. A minor requires the vigilant eye of the major guardian; in our immature stage our free will is surrounded by many deviations. Thus, in our lower stage it will be safe to be constantly under the guidance of a bona fide guardian until we attain promotion to the major stage. This is necessary.

Initiation and karma

Devotee: So, Guru Maharaj, if one has initiation and his karma has been removed, how is it possible for his previous karma to check him?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Do you think that by initiation all karma is finished at once? That is not claimed anywhere. The disciples are given a chance—admission. When a doctor has accepted a patient, it does not mean that he is immediately cured; he must follow the direction of the doctor—take proper diet and medicine—then he may expect that he will be cured shortly. To call the doctor and have his prescription does not mean that the patient is fully cured. This is not practical thinking. Why hover in the theoretical, imaginary world?

Devotee: I was told in a religious mission I joined that at the time of initiation all previous karma is taken away. It’s not like that?

Srila Guru Maharaj: Such a statement is only meant in the context that when you have called for a good doctor and accepted his treatment, your cure is guaranteed. Otherwise, we see that so many veterans are going down. If the Guru is so great as to be able to create a great revolution in the world, and he has given mantra to the disciples he has accepted, yet many of them are also falling back—why?

The initiation is a recommendation. It is not final. Cure is guaranteed under the treatment of a good doctor. But if as a patient you don’t care to accept his guidance and secretly indulge in an evil diet, of what value is your doctor? When you have a good doctor your cure is almost guaranteed. But you have to follow him. And also it is possible that if you are becoming a little ill and your doctor comes to know that ‘my patient has taken this bad diet’ or ‘he did not use my medicine’—then the doctor will again take up the case more seriously, and he will cure you. We may receive such help from the Guru and Vaishnav, but our free choice is never snatched away.

Real Taste for the Truth

Until and unless we find in our heart a real taste for the Truth, we are not safe. First, over the surface, spiritual life begins with sraddha, faith, and underground with sukriti, or special merit. Next is sadhu-sanga, our company with the sadhu. Within that is our surrender to Guru. Then bhajan, our serving life in various forms such as sravan, kirtan, prasada-sevan, or hearing, chanting, honouring the Lord’s remnants, etc., begins. Then anartha-nivrtti—our attraction for objects other than Krishna, objects other than God, diminishes. Then nistha—continued attempt for the Service, and not for otherwise. Then ruchi, taste, will be created.

Real taste for the truth will be created, that is, awakened in our heart. We are safe then, but not before that. When spontaneous taste for the truth is awakened within us, we are safe. We can make fair progress from that time. Prior to that we must remain under the guardian. Taste will take me: “I have acquired the taste of sweetness, so automatically I shall run towards that which is very sweet.” Until and unless we find that the Truth is sweet, Krishna is sweet, we are not safe in our approach towards Him. So many distractions may take us hither and thither.

The Guru Principle

Devotee: Maharaj, is the Guru also under the law of karma?

Srila Guru Maharaj: He is not under the law of karma. Guru, as I have mentioned before from the examples of the sadhus and the Scriptures, is generally of three kinds: one comes from Vaikuntha, or the land of wholesale truth. He comes here as an agent to take the souls up. Another Guru has one step here, another step there, and he carries persons from here to there. The last type of Guru has two feet here, but his eyes are fixed there, and he takes persons along with him to that Plane.

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Chapter Nine: The Divine Agent

I have heard that there is one American scientist who is researching, and he says that if he can get one cell from the body of Napoleon, he can make many Napoleons. In a potato many sprouts may come, and if we cut them, one sprout will produce a potato plant. So also in the human body there are many cells, and according to their scientific theory we can somehow create a man from one of the characteristic cells of his body. The mentality, the vigour, everything is contained in every particle of which the body is constructed.

Brahmanas, sudras and mlechhas

In a general sense, there is some importance in bodily or hereditary succession. In India, some recognition is given to the caste Brahmans (those born in Brahman families). But there are exceptions. So a birth from a sudra (labourer class) or mlechha (race devoid of Vedic culture) body is generally considered impure. From their ancestors they do not observe particular rites or pure customs, and the impurity is there. Many of the Smarta section and Sankarite interpreters, and some of the Madhva school also, hold that by chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, Harinama, the purification of the subtle body is effected, but the karma which is destined to be suffered or enjoyed in this particular body cannot be purified by Harinama or anything else.

Karma or the action that we have done in our previous life is classified:

aprarabdha-phalam papam kutam bijam phalonmukham

kramenaiva praliyeta visnu-bhakti-ratatmanam

“The four types of sin known as aprarabdha, kuta, bija and phalonmukha are gradually eradicated for persons exclusively attached to Devotion for the Supreme Lord Vishnu.”

Grades of karma

Prarabdha is the karma, or action, which has been attached to be enjoyed or suffered in this body; and aprarabdha is that which is deposited to be experienced in the future. Prarabdha means ‘that which has already begun,’ and aprarabdha is ‘that which has been reserved for the future.’ The stages of progress from manifest to unmanifest are classified in three: kutam, bijam, phalonmukham.

We can find this discussed in detail by Srila Rupa Goswami, with various Scriptural quotations, in his Sri-Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.

Kutam means ‘the undetectable portion of our past action.’ We cannot read the actions and results contained there, present in a microscopic way. They are undetectable to us.

We are told that in Japan they are preserving a library where the letters of the book cannot be read by the ordinary eye. The letters are so tiny that they cannot be read by the naked eye, but they must be magnified by a microscopic process. So kutam is that which is undetectable, like a plane of action, that will gradually manifest and demand its satisfaction.

Bijam, or ‘seed’, means something which is more detectable, more clear. We can identify a particular seed and know which type of plant it will produce; and phalonmukham refers to actions that are waiting to achieve their realisation very soon. They are demanding.

In the stage of prarabdha, the previous actions have reached their satisfaction in this body. These are the divisions. The general Vedic scholars are of the opinion that prarabdha or that which has already begun to be experienced in this body cannot be changed. It is out of hand. And reactions that are reserved for the future may be finished by our good activity, and we may not have to undergo them.

Harer Namaiva Kevalam

But the Gaudya Vaishnav school says that this prarabdha can also be removed. What is already destined to be experienced in this body can also be removed by Harinama, and by no other means. Only Krishna-nama, Harinama, can purify one from that which is already begun to be experienced in this body. He may be purified. A sudra or mlechha properly taking Harinama may be converted to Brahmanism. It is possible by Harinama. The Gaudiya school has given quotations from different places, and by analysis of the meaning of those quotations it holds that one may be free from the prarabdha-karma which has already begun to be experienced in this life.

bhaktyaham ekaya grahyah sraddhayatma priyah satam

bhakti punati man-nistha svapakan api sambhavat

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.14.21)

“I, the Supreme Lord and the most Beloved, am attainable by the pure saints, by virtue of the potency of their Exclusive Devotion born of faith (sraddha). Exclusive Devotion in Me purifies even the lowest outcastes known as chandalas.”

Sva means dog. Even the dog-eaters, that is, the lower section, can also be purified from their lower birth. Another verse in the same line of thought is this:

yan-namadheya-sravananukirttanat

yat prahvanad yat smaranad api kvachit

svado ‘pi sadyah savanaya kalpate

kuta punas te bhagavan nu darsanat

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.33.6)

(Devahuti said,) “O Lord, if he just hears Your Name, then chants it, offers You obeisances and remembers You, even a person born as a dog-eating outcaste instantly becomes eligible to perform the Soma sacrifice; to say nothing of the purification of those who see You directly.”

Those dog-eaters and lowest class of people can be immediately purified by taking the Name of the Lord. When the prarabdha has gone, the person becomes like Indra, but not Indra proper, a little less. Savanaya kalpate means Indra-kalpa. Now, please note very attentively Srila Jiva Goswami’s remark in his commentary.

Entrance to a higher family

Savanaya kalpate means ‘he becomes purified to such a standard that he can perform the sacrifice which is reserved only for the Brahmanas.’ Kalpate means ‘a little difference.’ So here, Srila Jiva Goswami has given his own comment. What is the little difference? When that person’s prarabdha has gone, he attains the position of a boy of a Brahman.

But the boy is not allowed to perform the Brahman yajna until and unless he is given the sacred thread. A samskara (purificatory ceremony) is necessary. Janmana jayate sudrah—by birth everyone is impure, but by samskara they are purified. But who will be fit for the samskara? Only the Brahman boy. Now, he reaches the stage of the Brahman boy, and not the Brahman.

He may have come from any caste, but after taking Harinama he should be considered to have reached the stage of a Brahman boy; and again when that Gayatri samskara or Brahman samskara is given, he gets the recognition of a bona fide Brahman and he can perform the yajna and Salagrama-archana (worship of the Deity Salagrama-sila), etc.

So with the Harinama, taking the Name of the Lord in a proper way, of course—the karma vanishes, and with body purified, he is considered to be a Brahman boy; and when the sacred thread is conferred to him he will become eligible for all the Brahminical activities.

This is the scientific position. So pancharatriki-diksa may not be necessary. Harinama is sufficient. Still, the Brahmana-samskara, the Gayatri or Vedic samskara is given, and pancharatriki-diksa is also given to help him to a greater degree. For example, one may win a university scholarship, and there may also be a district scholarship that comes to help him. The student’s university scholarship is all-important, but some subservient appreciation also comes to somewhat enhance his position.

Circle within a circle

The Harinama circle is the purifying circle, and it is the greatest circle, extending in circumference from the lowest to highest; and the pancharatrika help is a circle within the circle—it will help the candidate in taking the Name and other important practices. But without it, one may also practice.

The Divine Dispensation of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad

But there are so many Brahmans and Karma-kandis (fruitive religionists) who will offensively consider that the Vaishnavs are inferior because they have not received the sacred thread; those Brahmans, etc., must be saved. Also, a person who is taking the Name may think that Brahmans are superior and the chanter of the Name holds a lesser position.

His abhiman, or ego, must also be helped to go higher: “Yes, I am said to be more than a Brahman, so I shall have to become very careful about my movements, my eating and other practices.” This will help him to know that he must not go below the standard of an ordinary purificatory section. At the same time, society will also be warned to deal properly with these persons who are taking the Name of Hari, by conceiving that they are exclusively given to the chanting of the Name of Hari and are therefore superior to a Brahman. This system was introduced by our Guru Maharaj. He conferred the sacred thread extensively.

That is to give the position of a Brahman, outwardly. In calculation from the inner side, a Vaishnav is above a Brahman. But from the outer side also he created this particular society in which a Vaishnav who is exclusively given to Krishna consciousness must be recognised as not less, but more than a Brahman. He reformed the society to establish the position of the Vaishnav, thus also encouraging him: “You must not go down; you are taking the Name of Hari, exclusively given to Krishna consciousness, and you must maintain your position in the external way so that even the Brahman or the Vedic school will feel some reverence for the position you hold. You must be cautious in your dealings and in your practices; and also the society will think, ‘Don’t underestimate these persons who are exclusively given to Krishna consciousness.’“ In this way, he reformed society.

Although Mahaprabhu had not introduced this, our Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad, adjusted the society to bring Mahaprabhu’s Teachings to the world in a broad way.

Previously, Rupa, Sanatan and followers did not care to take any sacred thread. Also, in the sannyas system of the varnasrama, Sankara and others give up the sacred thread to the fire when they take sannyas, showing that they have no necessity of a sacred thread; they’re above that, above Brahman. Yet their creed is ‘we are one with Brahman’—and here is the infinite difference. The higher a Vaishnav is, the more he will say, “I am the slave of Krishna, and the slave of the slaves of the slave of Krishna.” But the Mayavadis identify themselves with the highest Entity. They have fallen prey to complete misconception of the Revealed Scriptures, or Veda. This is the position.

In Manu-samhita we find three classes of births:

matur agre ‘dhijananam dvitiyam maunji-bandhane

tritiyam yajna-diksayam dvijasya sruti-chodanat

(Manu, 2.260)

Matur agre ‘dhijananam: first we take our body from the mother, or the parents. Dvitiyam maunji-bandhane: the second birth is by receiving sacred thread in a Brahman family. Tritiyam yajna-diksayam: again, the third is to take this Pancharatriki-diksa, to help for further progress. This is in Manu-samhita. A Brahman man has three births.

The second, maunji-bandhane is Gayatri or Vedic diksa. It teaches us: “Try to have your reading from the example that has been set by the Veda. Don’t believe what your experience tells you, but try to follow how the revealed truth wants you to read the environment.” Don’t survey your environment with your own fleshy eye and ear, but with a more scientific education try to see things beyond that.

Of course, science is also generally mundane, but revealed truth tells us to see things in another way: nothing is for me, but everything is for the Supreme Authority. We are a particle of that. Try to read your environment in this way. Everything belongs to the centre and we are a part of that organic whole, and our duty must be ascertained accordingly.

This is the Vedic process of reading the environment. And ordinary vision is, “I am monarch of all I survey.” We want to utilize everything for our purpose. This is mundane.

Initiation—the imparting of Divine Knowledge

divyam jnanam yato dadyat kurryat papasya sanksayam

tasmad dikseti sa prokta desikais tattva-kovidaih

What is the meaning of the word diksa? Diksa is the process by which divya-jnana, or transcendental knowledge, is imparted to a person. Upanayana means that a new eye is given to the person: “The eye with which you now see cannot see correctly. But the eye is given from the Vedas, as Gayatri. From this time onwards try to learn your environment in a different way.”

Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, Mahah, Janah, Tapah, Satya—these planes of the world of your experience evolve from consciousness. Bhuh means the world of this fleshy eye, ear, etc. Bhuvah means the mental aspect of the same. In this way, there are finer and finer conceptions of things. And what is the cause of such experience? Our consciousness—soul—the light within us. So only with the help of that can we can read things around us impartially.

Savitur varenyam—and there is another realm that is venerable to this gross world of conception. Another worshippable and finer realm is there. There is another plane—God with His entourage lives there; all serve Him, the centre, and that is the norm there. It is perfectly known to the members of that world that the centre is all-in-all. We must obey the central authority, and there we can thrive. That is proper life.

There is another world in the subtlemost area. Above our soul is the supersoul area. The Gayatri mantra comes to help us with all these things. It teaches us: “Don’t think what you read by the experience of your fleshy senses is all-in-all. There are other planes of life and you must recognise them, and prepare your life’s programme accordingly.

“You cannot divorce the possibility of these different planes of existence. Prepare yourself properly for the great task. Although at this moment you cannot have any experience of it, there is a super-experience world and you must prepare yourself for that, otherwise you will have to end your life in failure. You can attain good success in this life.”

This is the purpose of diksa. Transcendental knowledge, divyam jnanam, is imparted to the man who would otherwise depend on his experienced knowledge or the knowledge drawn from his perception.

The Harinama-diksa is the most central and simple. There is one sound aspect of the Lord, and you may come in touch with that and go on cultivating the sound aspect of the Whole, in Krishna consciousness. Only with the connection and cultivation of His sound aspect you can go to the centre. That is Harinama; and in the case of the mantra, the Name is couched in a particular way to give the meaning, “I am casting myself unto Him, for His satisfaction.”

The mantra is couched in such a way that we pray: “I am throwing myself for the satisfaction of my Supreme Lord.” That helps us to take the Name with the proper attitude. Sevonmukha—we are dying for real life. Sacrifice means ‘die to live.’ It is to throw oneself. The process of surrender has been given in the mantra.

How should you advance in taking the Name? What is the process? You must throw yourself and your ego of experience in the fire. That will be destroyed and the inner ego will emerge, and that will be more beneficial for you to take the real Name and to approach the real plane where Krishna, your Lord, is living; this is to go home. These are the points in diksa.

Back to Home, back to Godhead

Devotee: Sometimes my Diksa-Guru (initiating Spiritual Master) used to say that within this lifetime one can be perfected and then, at the end of this lifetime, go back home, back to Godhead.

Srila Guru Maharaj: It is very rarely found that in this one life, in a single life from this plane one can reach the highest life. But generally it requires lives together, if in a real process. There may also be setbacks. If one commits Vaisnava-aparadha or Nama-aparadha (offence to the Vaishnav or the Holy Name), he may be detained again and again. It is not such a cheap thing. Still, there is the possibility that when properly guided a proper soul may attain the highest position in a single life. It is not impossible.

Devotee: Sometimes he said that a devotee could take birth where Krishna is having His pastimes within this material world, and he will be trained according to his given Service to Krishna, and after that go to Goloka.

Srila Guru Maharaj: What do you think? That is to live in Vrindavan. That must be helpful, but this Nabadwip is more helpful. There is the possibility of committing offences. We can be misled by taking lust as love. We can misidentify our enjoyment as Devotion or Prema. The possibility is there. In that case we would become sahajiya. They imitate everything. What is the value of only living in the land of what we see by our senses? It has been told that the Dham is aprakrta, not material, not to be experienced by our senses. We must try to live in that Dham—the chinmaya, that is, the fully conscious area.

So if we really do not want to deceive ourselves we must not ignore the steps by which we may go there. With proper help and inspiration we may know that Vrindavan is for the higher. We may get some inspiration. Caution is needed in attending Krishna-dhama, as much as it is required for attending Krishna-lila. But if we are not sincere, we may commit offences, and that will hurl us down.

The Glory of Sri Nabadwip Dham

Rather, Nabadwip Dham is more accommodating. There also aparadha is possible, but it may be minimised. Nabadwip will help us, as sadhakas (aspirants) to feel, “I am not so high; I am not holding such a high position as those of Vrindavan.” In chanting the Name or residing in the Dham—with everything there is consideration of offences; and less consideration of offences is found in Nabadwip Dham. It is more liberal. Still, the most important factor is sadhu-sanga—the superior guide.

Srila Narottam Thakur has written,

tirtha-yatra parisrama, kevala manera bhrama,

sarva-siddhi govinda-charana

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has also written:

ye tirthe vaisnava nai, se tirthete nahi yai,

ki labha hantiya duradesa

yathaya vaisnava-gana, sei sthana vrndavana,

sei sthane ananda asesa

The Divine Agent

Where is Vrindavan? We may only reach Vrindavan at the proper stage of realisation. If we take Vrindavan in the physical sense, we will commit so many offences according to our habit and we shall have to mentally go downwards. So the illumination given by the sadhu and sastra should be our guide. Only by that way can we go to Vrindavan, or anywhere and everywhere. But the guiding star must always be our Guru, to guide us and show us what is what. As long as my self is not rising to that stage, I am always in need of a guide to show me what is what, what is Vrindavan.

Vrindavan is not a physical eye-experience. It is not in the world of our flesh experience. It is highest of the high. Through sraddha, faith, we must begin our journey beyond the subjective, towards the supersubjective area. That is Vrindavan proper, where we can find Krishna proper.

It is not to be found in any physical plane. He can come here: the higher plane can come in the gross, but it is not easy for those who are living in the gross plane to rise up to the higher. They can come, an agent can come, and they can take us there. But without the help of the agent it is not easy to go to that highest plane by our own experience. So our necessity is always sadhu-sanga. To go to Vrindavan we must have a guide. He will always caution us to see things with the proper angle of vision. A guide, sadhu-sanga, is the most important factor in the life of a bona fide seeker of the truth. And next is sastra, Revealed Scriptures.

In Bhagavad-gita there are classifications in three classes: satva, raja and tama. The lowest kind of knowledge forcibly says that things are not what they are. This is tamo-guna. Such as thinking, ‘I am this body.’ In rajo-guna there is doubt, “Oh, this may not be that. My conjecture and experience may not be perfect.” And satva, the last, is of course to understand things properly as they are. So knowledge is of different stages.

To think that Vrindavan is in our mundane eye, ear and touch experience can never be Vrindavan. Vrindavan proper is in the supersoul area; and only our atma, soul, can go there; not this body, mind, etc. Otherwise what is the necessity of spiritual practices or sadhana, the means to the end?

Thus diksa is to throw oneself to the Vedic doctrine; to give up one’s own knowledge of experience and invite the revealed estimation of the environment. It is to leave this world of mundane experience and to go to the transcendental world.

Somehow we must effect that journey. There is no shortcut without that journey. Of course, with the help of a proper guide we may have a shortcut in the sense that we do not waste valuable time. Also, if we had some experience of the way in a previous life, that may help us to shorten the journey of this life.

Devotee: I went to an Ashram where they said that without directly receiving the siddha-pranali, or revelation of one’s internal identity as a Gopi, etc., spiritual perfection is incomplete.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Let them do so. They are representing the Sahajiya school. Our Guru Maharaj wrote several poems, one of which is Prakrita-rasa Sata-dusani—‘a hundred defects in the Sahajiya conception’. The defects are innumerable, but our Guru Maharaj put forward a hundred points of the defects in their process of ‘advancement.’ Mainly they are very easy purchasers. They are not prepared to pay the real price.

But the death blow to them is this:

upajiya bade lata ‘brahmanda’ bhedi’ yaya

‘viraja,’ ‘brahmaloka,’ bhedi’ ‘paravyoma’ paya

tabe yaya tad upari ‘goloka-vrndavana’

‘krsna-charana’-kalpa-vrkse kare arohana

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 19.153,4)

One must first cross the different gross and subtle layers of the Brahmanda (mundane universe); then Viraja, the extremity of the jurisdiction of Maya or misconception; then the Brahman conception, the halo of the real or transcendental world; then, Vaikuntha, which is Paravyoma, a sphere of consciousness.

The jiva comes from tatastha-loka, the marginal position or the abscissa, and he must go through higher planes where the soil is more valuable than he himself. Can you follow?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Vaikunthera prthivy adi sakala chinmaya. What is Vaikuntha? There the soil, earth, water—everything is of purer consciousness than the person who is going to enter there. Can you imagine it?

Devotee: In one of your books you mentioned a ‘land of Gurus.’

Srila Guru Maharaj: Yes. They are all Guru, they are all of superior value by nature; yet, we have to pass over them. I sometimes give an example that if it is necessary for the Service we may even put our foot on the throne of the Lord (for example, to place His crown on His head, etc.), and afterwards come back down, offer our obeisance and then come out from the Deity room.

Entering the Land of Guru

So we must enter and stay in a soil which is made of a stuff which is more valuable than our own selves. A slave when serving the emperor may come near the emperor’s bed where even his near and dear cannot go or hesitate to go. He can, only for serving. So it is only for the Divine Service, for the necessity of the highest, that we can pass through that soil. It is not an easy thing. It is inconceivable. The fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Vaikunthera prthivy adi sakala chinmaya. We must understand the conception properly. The jiva has emerged from the tatastha-sakti or marginal potency. He is a part of the marginal potency, and he must enter into the higher plane. This gross world is of gross potency, apara-sakti; the jiva, although marginal, is of a potency superior to this gross world, or para-sakti; and above both is the Internal Potency or antaranga-sakti. We have to enter into antaranga-sakti. This marginal potency is to enter into antaranga-sakti—and that is Paravyoma, and the highest quarter, Vrindavan, Goloka. It is not a light matter. It is the fact.

So we must serve. In this world there is exploitation and renunciation; beyond them is dedication. Dedication is the proper and normal world. There are gradations according to our inner tendency of serving a particular calling. We may be allowed to enter that plane where all around is reverential soil. We must go there. Apparently it is impossible, but it is possible by Grace, krpa. That is called krpa—His Grace, His free will. He is autocrat. Affection (raga, anuraga) does not differentiate between great and small. It is very generous. Only through affection and love is it possible to expect to go there one day. But it is not so easy. When one young devotee began to show so many (apparently devotional) sentiments, others came to me asking, “He is showing so many signs of higher bhava (sentiments), are they real?” I said, “Never!”

“I have no love for Krishna”

Mahaprabhu says “I am hankering for a drop of real prema; I have not yet got that; still, I am weeping, shedding tears so much, crying ‘Krishna Krishna’, but that is all hypocrisy, because the positive proof is here—without Him, I am living. I did not disappear, dissolve. I am living, I am eating, I am taking bath, I am sleeping. This is positive proof that I have no genuine love for Krishna.” Mahaprabhu Himself says that. It is such a valuable thing and we think ourselves masters of it overnight! Fools, deceivers, self-deceivers! In the positive way it can never be attained. Only in the negative way we can have some conception. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says,

vichaksana kari’, dekhite chahile haya,

haya ankhi-agochara

“Suddenly a flash came, but when I tried to see that, it disappeared. It was withdrawn.” In this way, in a negative way, we can have some idea. Whimsically He may come, and suddenly I may feel, “Oh! some experience of the higher kind of knowledge and love—but if I try to cast my eye that side? Nothing…”

Sacrifice—wholesale dissolution of the mundane experience

Do you want to die? Then come to live. We shall have to invite wholesale dissolution of everything in our experience. Hegel’s words help us: “Die to live.” What is generally considered a concrete, valuable thing must be cast into fire, for some hope which is ‘un-understandable,’ unknown and unknowable. Sacrifice means that. Sacrifice gives that suggestion. It may be thought that we pour such a valuable foodstuff, ghee, into fire; that ghee is burnt in the fire and smoke is produced, and that will create a healthier atmosphere, a kind of filtering that we invite for our benefit. Of course, to say such a thing is improper and ridiculous, yet the benefit from the unknown quarter is there. Unknown. Be disgusted with your known world, knowledge, pleasure—everything. Die to live. All risk, no gain. And when the destination has been reached to a certain extent—all gain, no risk.

Actually, what we risk is all concoction, the misunderstanding aspect. We only need to throw our misconception into fire to gain a proper conception of reality. When the unreal is put into fire, we gain the real. To die to live means this.

Here, in this world, we are habituated to think, “I am monarch of all I survey.” We want to become a monarch. Whether we are monarch or not, our tendency is to want to be monarch. All of us want to be monarch. And there is another reactionary school that says, “I do not want anything—I want nothing but dreamless sleep. Cessation is the most valuable thing in our experience—complete cessation of this life.”

Both these aspects of enjoyment, or exploitation, and renunciation, must be eliminated, and a third plane should be found to live in. That d plane is the life of a gentleman, the life of dedication. A life of duty, not to any part, but for the whole: “I live for the whole, and that whole is a part of Lord Krishna.” This is to be a lover of the beautiful. In that way we have to understand, and march onward.

Infinity—a negligible aspect of the Lord

athava bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjjuna

vistabhyaham idam krtsnam ekamsena sthito jagat

“Arjuna, the infinite of your conception is in My one negligible part. I am so great that the infinite of your conception is contained in only a fraction of Me…“

Then what is our chance of approaching Him? We may think, “Krishna is only a reflection of a picture in my mind. There is Krishna. The whole forms His one part, and I am approaching Him? My only solace will be that I am going through His agent. He has sent His agent to recruit me, and that is my hope. He has sent His men to recruit me. He’s so kind and benevolent, and that will be my hope. I must be thankful for that, and not be a traitor to His agent.” We must be cautious to see that we do not play treachery with His agent for thereby we commit treachery against ourselves.

Om Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada ki jaya! Srimad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj ki jaya!

Divine Tribute

You are all his contribution. Swami Maharaj (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad) brought you here, attracted you to this side, and I have been given some opportunity to serve you in this way (by speaking to you). Willingly or unwillingly, I am forced to do some service in that line.

It was so wonderfully and tremendously done by Swami Maharaj, his preaching to the foreign countries is an inconceivable thing—so I say Saktyavesa-avatara: some supernatural transcendental power, the Grace of Nityananda, entered into him, and as an instrument, he has done for his Lord a tremendous work to attract your attention towards the culture of Mahaprabhu Chaitanyadev. Sri Gauranga’s gift attracted your attention. Bhaktivinod Thakur could see this, and our Guru Maharaj began in his mild way.

Bhaktivinod Thakur saw it as self-evident that the intelligentsia could not but be attracted by such a plain, simple and dignified gift—the gift of Mahaprabhu, the conception of Mahaprabhu. Such a magnanimous conception of their position, as foretold by Mahaprabhu, could not but be accepted by the sincere intelligentsia of the world. He could see this general truth. Guru Maharaj began, and Swami Maharaj successfully completed that work. After all, the Divine Will was fulfilled. It is not in the jurisdiction of the lower agents of this world, the subordinate gods or agents.

We are attracted by this—die to live, reality is for itself. We are to sacrifice everything ‘for Himself.’ We are ‘for Himself.’ Our prospect is in His Service. All our prospect is in His Service, but in the highest degree it is loving service—service of affection, without any calculation of loss and gain. It is above that, in the area of love and affection, beauty and charm. We are members there. Our prospect is there. It is offered to us. Above justice, above knowledge (jnana-sunya-bhakti).

Sri Chaitanyadev—inconceivable Self-forgetfulness

Even if Chaitanyadev is considered as a human being, we have never seen in any history of the world such intense affinity for the highest as was seen in Him; such an intensified mentality towards the highest conception of Absolute; such self-forgetfulness. There is self-forgetfulness in Socrates, and the Christians also speak of self-sacrifice in Christ. But the degree of self-forgetfulness that was shown in the life of Sri Chaitanyadev was never to be conceived of or seen before, even if we think of Him as a human.

Bhaktivinod Thakur mentioned in his autobiography, “When I first came to study Bhagavata and Sri Chaitanyadev, I thought, why did an exceptional scholar like Sri Chaitanyadev support the debauchery of the Supreme Lord in Vrindavan as the highest end of life? What is the reason? He was one of the highest and greatest scholars, and He ultimately supported the debauchery, stealing, etc., of the Absolute, as being the highest conception. How was this possible? Then I began to pray to the Lord to reveal the fact to me. I couldn’t follow it.”

Then he said that the flash came; and with that, it also came to him that Chaitanyadev is Krishna Himself. He is revealing Himself, giving the clue to the scientific position of His own Identity as Krishna. Why? In the highest sense He’s Autocrat, above law. He’s the owner of the whole, above law. He’s absolute good.

We must not forget that He is absolute good, with everything belonging to Him. We put forth that we have claim over the environment or over ourselves. “I belong to me”—this is false. I am not an independent factor in this world. I am a part and a parcel. I belong to someone, I have got my master. Everything belongs to Him, and without any condition. Unconditionally every atom belongs to the controlling centre. And that is love and goodness. Where is the objection? Where is the cause for objection? No cause for objection can evidently stand if we can really find what is the real position and nature of the Cause—Absolute Good, Love.

To Love is to give

The essence of love lives by distribution; not by absorption, but by distribution. That is love. Prema is that which exists by its tendency of distribution, and that is the highest. If a mother forcibly takes her child to her breast, is it bad? The child is crying for milk, but he does not know how to mitigate the pain of hunger in his belly. So is it force, or affection?

We are labouring under so much suspicion; so engrossed in and oppressed by Maya, misunderstanding, the misrepresented part of the world, that we cannot even think of the conception of truth and goodness. We are so far from the standard of goodness and truth, we cannot understand what should be the real symptom of higher existence. So fallen. Satan says, “It is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” That is generally the outcome of our life of experience here. We want to reign in hell rather than serve in heaven. But just the opposite will be really helpful to us. Die to live.

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana

sei kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

sei deha kare tara chidananda-maya

aprakrta-dehe tara charana bhajaya

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya 4.192,193)

Previously I said that diksa was the process by which Divine Knowledge is imparted, the knowledge of the infinite world is imparted, to the finite. What is that process? Diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana: the candidate must fully surrender to a knowledge that is coming down and being imparted to him.

Sei kale krsna tare kare atma-sama: Krishna accepts him as His own. It is necessary for him to give up all his knowledge of experience, fully, perfectly, and clean-handed. Naked, he will be prepared to accept the higher knowledge, and the higher knowledge will absorb him as his own.

Sei deha kare tara chidanandamaya: from that time, he gets a conception of another body, not this body of flesh and blood or the mind. His ego becomes coloured by the higher knowledge. He hopes for another personification of his own. And aprakrta-dehe krsna-charana bhajaya: in that body he can serve Krishna, not this body of flesh or the mental body which is drawn from the experience of this world. These are unfit. Only the new body, the inner body that comes in contact with that Divinity—that body or ego, can enter there and serve; and this is by the Grace, always by the Grace, and not as a matter of right; still, the Grace is so lenient that a servitor may think, “It is my right.” Really, in tatastha-vichara (impartial judgement), if from our relative position we venture to tackle the absolute conception, we can only think that we are unfit. Only through Grace can we attain a position there.

Absolute and Relative in the Divine

Apparently Yasoda is whipping Krishna. Her position is superior to Krishna. Krishna is under her control. This is the relative position. But from the absolute position Yasoda is none but a servitor of Krishna. Yet, by Grace, in the relative position she is superior. The fact is not so different, because the potency is His own.

Sometimes He, Himself, is controlled by that fine potency of pleasure. He says in the story of Ambarish, aham bhakta-paradhino hy asvatantra iva dvija: “I am dependent upon My devotees, as if I have got no independence.”

Iva means ‘as if.’ That is His posing. Devotion is such. His Potency, peculiar particular Potency, Devotion, is so powerful that sometimes it works beyond His own Will. But that is Devotion to Him. Submission to the master is so intense that the master becomes subservient to the servant—through affection: “At My beck and call he can give his life. So how should I deal with him?” Automatically, the master’s heart goes to him. That is Love, Prema.

Srila Rupa Goswami wrote: sri-krsnakarsani cha sa. The highest and most excellent capacity and qualification of Devotion can forcibly draw Krishna towards the devotee, though He is absolutely independent. Bhakti or self-sacrifice to the extreme, sacrifice for serving—Loving Service—is so powerful that the Lord becomes a friend and in different ways He comes to meet His devotees.

Asvatantra iva dvija: “Although I am free, I depend on My devotee as though I am not. Sometimes I feel like that.”

This is independence proper. Absolute means this. Absolute does not mean that mercilessly He is bruising everything under His feet. There is love. Embracing. All interest is represented there. He has love. He is the Lord of Love. So our fortune, our luck, is represented there in Him, the transaction of love and affection is so great. Hare Krishna.

*	*	*

Chapter Ten: Supersubjective Reality

Devotee: It was very nice at your birthplace; I enjoyed that very much—

Srila Guru Maharaj: Enjoyed?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: That is not to be enjoyed. We should not use that expression ‘to enjoy’ about any place of reverence. We should try to see with only a serving attitude. Higher existence is to be tackled only with awe, reverence, and serving attitude. Otherwise, we shall be anthropomorphists; we shall take one thing for another. Martya-buddhi—aparadha. It will be offence.

Whenever we shall approach the higher subjective realm, we should feel that “I am not seeing; I am not the subject, but that is seeing me.” Do you follow?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: That is the supersubjective element. For example, when we stand before the Sri Murti, the Deity, our attitude should be, “I am not seeing Him, He is seeing me.” He’s the seer. We have to approach the transcendental world not as a seer, but as we are being seen by Him. We are being bathed, cleansed by the ray of His vision. Can you understand this?

Devotee: Yes, yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: Our whole approach should be like this, otherwise we shall see mundane things and imagine them to be spiritual. We won’t come practically in connection with that reality.

The reality is supersubjective. Taking this world as the object, we are a subject. But when I am going to have a touch of the Supersubjective, I must know that He is all-seer, all-feeler, all-hearer. The very basis of spiritual life is like this.

Then we shall come in contact with the higher reality; otherwise we shall go on plodding in the mud of imagination. The attitude should be to want to be utilised by Him, and try for any chance of serving Him: “I have come here to serve, and not to enjoy the scenery.” Can you feel this?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: This will take us to connection with the higher substance—subjective, super-subjective, super- super- super- super-subjective—the very fine, finer, finest—in this way, in the sphere of consciousness.

So jnana-sunya—one should surrender himself: “How can I be utilised by Him?” This is the way. Otherwise, what is the use of sight-seeing? Enjoy the scenery—that is offensive.

Devotee: When the environment comes to attack us, how can we see that as Krishna?

Srila Guru Maharaj: When the environment is unfavourable?

Devotee: Yes.

Srila Guru Maharaj: We shall try to find out the Supreme Will there. We should feel, “I have done something wrong, so this is coming to control me and to exact the reaction for my offences.” Tat te ‘nukampam susamiksamano. In the perfect vision, we are not to quarrel with the environment. “Not even a straw can move without the Supreme Will, without the order of the Supreme Will. So, whatever is coming to attack me is my necessity. Just that is necessary for me, to correct me.”

Just as when the mother is punishing the child, she does so only with the good will to correct the child. Similarly, the Absolute has got no vindictive nature to punish me, but His dealings are only for my correction. We shall have to see and approach in that way.

Tat te ‘nukampam susmiksamano bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam: “Whatever undesirable I find here is the result of my previous karma, and by the good will of the Supreme, that previous karma is going to be finished. I will be relieved. I will be made fit for higher service to Him, so this has come.” That is the advice in Bhagavatam. Don’t quarrel with the environment. Try to be adjusted with it; correct your own ego. Everything is alright.

Your ego is demanding some sort of comfort from the environment. That is the cause of this hitch. There’s no hitch in the outside, no ailment; but within, your ego creates the problem. That false ego should be dissolved, and the liquid nectar will flow and place you within the highest plane, the plane where there is no complaint. The smooth movement, affectionate movement of the most fundamental plane: your soul will find itself standing and walking in that plane. And the false friends—the circumstances we think to be friends but which are really all false—those false friends will be withdrawn.

That is nirguna, the causeless flow of welfare, most fundamental in the Absolute Plane. That is Bhakti proper. Bhakti means seva, service—Service Divine. That is a causeless wave. The deepest wave, the wave of the deepest plane. That is causeless and that is irresistible. That means no beginning, no end. Eternal flow. And only my soul can take a stand in that plane and move in harmony with that plane.

Katha ganam natyam gamanam. In Brahma-samhita it is mentioned, “All the talks there are as sweet as song; all the walking there, movement, is as sweet as dancing.” In this way, everything is sweet. That is the harmonious movement plane. In Vrindavan. We have to go back to that home.

We have come out with the spirit of colonisation in a foreign land, with the bad object of exploitation. For the purpose of exploitation we have come to colonise in this material world, and as a reaction we suffer. The whole cover must be eliminated, and our person within, the finest ego, must emerge. Within this gross mischievous ego there is the finer ego, soul; and that is the child of that soil. Do you understand?

Devotee: Yes. Sometimes I understand—

Srila Guru Maharaj: So, fault-finding will take us in the wrong direction. Finding fault in others is the negative side. We should feel, “Cent-per-cent I shall engage my attention to correct myself. My responsibility is there. My main responsibility is to correct myself.” “Physician cure thyself.” That should be the principle of any bona fide student of this Krishna consciousness. That is the positive side; and the negative side, indirect side, is to judge others’ practices and how to associate with them. We shall associate with the good and we shall avoid those who are not up to standard. But this is the negative side, and this is not as important as the positive side. We shall be optimistic to see good everywhere, and for ourselves we should think, “My knowledge and angle of vision is bad, so can’t see others properly.” “Physician cure thyself.”

If our achara or our own practices are good, only then can we have some qualification for preaching to others. How can one who is not in a normal position try to bring others to a normal position?

If we shall take the Divine Name, there are also many considerations. Mainly there are ten kinds of offences to avoid, which deny us proper conception. Proper conception will help proper dealing and positive attainment, which is how to get out of the negative side. Maya means misconception, misunderstanding, misleading. We are misleading the environment.

The difficulty is all apparent and suicidal. Sometimes we want causeless mercy; at the same time we can’t tolerate others in that same line. We go to judge in the case of others: “Why should he receive causeless mercy? He has got so many defects, so much anti-attitude and disqualification, why should he be accepted or given any chance?” But for us—we want, “Don’t come to judge me, otherwise I have no hope, my Lord.”

Jnana-sunya-bhakti. “If You come to judge, I have got no hope. Please grant grace, then I can hope to approach You, to offer myself to make progress towards You; if You become very lenient, not to find fault with me”; but if at the same time, in the same breath, we say, “Why should this disqualified man get any grace? Why should he get some mercy and affection?” that is hypocrisy in us, and that causes a great deal of difficulty within us. It is suicidal.

This is Vaisnava-ninda, Vaisnava-aparadha—offence to the devotee. A devotee may be accepted by Him, and gradually he will be purified; but we are very eager to find fault in him. That is most dangerous for our own progress; it is suicidal. If in my case I want something higher, but in the case of others I can’t tolerate the same behaviour of the Lord, that is a most difficult position.

Generally that is the basis of Vaisnava-aparadha. When someone has been accepted by the Lord, and He is gradually purifying him, and we give particular attention to the remnants of impurities and difficulties in him, the result is that all those difficulties will be transferred to us. This is the actual experience. If I especially mark the fault of another devotee, that will be transferred to me. It happens. In our experience and also in the sastra we have seen this.

So, one must be very careful not to make any remark generally about the practices and activities of another Vaishnav. It may be possible only in the case when one is empowered by the Supreme; just as in the case of his disciple. To correct his disciples, with a guardian’s sympathetic eye, he can mark the defects, and he will help them to remove them. There must be some affectionate heart within. Not jealousy or anything of that type, but with good will; the affectionate guardian’s want to remove the defects.

Either from the position of Siksa-Guru or Diksa-Guru one may detect the faults of the students of this line, and help them sincerely to get free from them. Otherwise, if we are attracted by those faults, they will come to us and we shall have to pay for it.

It is a practical thing; and also based on good reason and scriptural advices. We must be careful. It is also warned in the Vaishnav literature that we must be careful about Vaisnava-aparadha that comes from the jealous spirit of competition. That jealousy is very detrimental to our spiritual life.

So we all must be very careful to not be especially attracted by any defect. If some doubt about anyone comes to our attention we may refer it to the higher authority. But if we make too much of it, either in opposition or in any other way, that will be transferred back. We must know, “I am devouring. My mind is coming in touch with that fault.” That is being devoured as food, and the contamination is transferred to the critic; somehow it is entering into the mental system of the critic, and it must get its satisfaction there, as a reaction.

This is like a trade secret of our devotional line. You must be aware and very careful about these practical difficulties in the path of your life.

So we have been recommended, tat te ‘nukampam susamiksamano: the faculty of judgement has been discouraged; your standard of measuring things won’t stand there. Jnana-sunya-bhakti. You have to learn a new alphabet here. In the devotional school you have to come in connection with a new alphabet. The old alphabet won’t do. Jnana-sunya-bhakti. Give up all the pride of your past experience. Your knowledge out of experience of the mortal world won’t do here, won’t be applied here. This is the position in the case of the Infinite Autocrat and Goodness.

In our mouth we pronounce all these big things—Absolute Good—Absolute Truth—but we do not know about the characteristic of that. So we need His revelation. He reveals Himself. We must carefully note His nature.

So, jnana-sunya—give up the pride of your old experience on the basis of which you will go to judge things. It is not like that. A new law is here, and we have to think of the land of Autocrat and Goodness. In jnana-sunya-bhakti the first step will be to give up all the pride of our previous experience, and to begin a new life: “I shall accept the laws of the infinite, not the laws of this finite world that I acquired as a subject. I shall have to enter that domain as an object, of the subject. There, He is the subject and I am the object here, possessing only a particle of the space there; and that is also at His sweet will. At any time I may be dispossessed of it.” This is not in the democratic government, but in the mad monarchy—a kind of dictatorship. This is to live in the land of dictatorship, and not in the democracy and law. Jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva.

Everywhere we shall try our best to find mercy, grace, kindness, pity. Because whatever the dictator is doing is all good. We have to be trained like that. He’s the highest dictator, without fault, so we may or may not understand, but whatever is commanded by the dictator must be helpful for us. There is no law on which we shall base our judgement and give any remark. To remark is not only absolutely useless but it is faulty and injurious to ourselves. Such consciousness we have to acquire, and it is not unreasonable.

Newton said, “I am only collecting pebbles on the shore of the ocean of knowledge.” He was a man of this world, yet he had the sincerity and courage to make this statement. If such a statement is made in deference to the knowledge of only this world, what should be thought of the knowledge of the infinite unknown and unknowable? We must have courage, just as Columbus floated his ship to discover America. He had the courage. To float our little boat in the ocean of the unknown and unknowable, we must be cognisant that the laws will be of that type. The laws of the higher ocean may not be applied in the strait or local sea. A thoroughly new thing we have to study—the revealed truth. If we go to measure the infinite with the law of finite, it will be hopeless for us to go that side. We must invite and think purely of that land, that standard. The unknown world.

svayam samuttirya sudustaram dyuman

bhavarnavam bhimam adabhra-sauhrdah

bhavat-padambhoruha-navam atra te

nidhaya yatah sad anugraho bhavan

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.2.31)

“O Self-revealed One, You are Bhakta-vanchha-kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree of the devotee. The great devotees surrendered unto Your Lotus Feet, who have crossed over this ghastly insurmountable ocean of mundanity, have left the boat of Your Lotus Feet in this world (in the Guru-parampara, or in the line of Revealed Truth, Srauta-pantha)—because, they are greatly affectionate to all beings.”

The Devas (Brahma and Siva) say in the Bhagavatam, “The saints who by Your Grace have crossed that insurmountable ocean, that dreadful ocean, with dreadful waves and so many water animals—those saints again sent back the boat, which is compared with the Lotus Feet of the Lord. By the help of the Lotus Feet of You, the Infinite Absolute Lord, they cross this ocean, by the Grace of Your Holy Feet; and they again send that boat back here for others to cross the same ocean. They’re experienced about the ocean, and in which way they crossed and what difficulty they faced, and where. Your devotees are so magnanimous that after using the boat of Your Holy Feet to cross, they again send them back for us. Because their friendship for the people is very white, and pure, and You are always in favour of those devotees, so by their request You can’t refuse. You allow Your Lotus Feet again to come this side and take others across.”

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Chapter Eleven: Loving Surrender

Knowledge is our enemy, because knowledge in this world is all misleading. Its very basis is misleading. However spacious it may be, it is the negligible part of the infinite. We have collected, gathered and pushed into our brain all misleading misrepresentation. Our brains are full of misleading Maya, misunderstanding. So that is our enemy. We have to clear these things out and put in fresh things that are indented from the other world by pure sources. The theoretical is one thing, the practical another. Srila Rupa Goswami has quoted:

jnanata sulabha muktir bhuktir yajnadi punyatah

seyam sadhana-sahasrair hari-bhaktih sudurllabha

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, Purva 1.36)

“(Mahadeva says,) ‘By practice of enlightenment, jnana, liberation is attained easily enough. By pious work such as sacrifice, yajna, etc., worldly pleasure in the next life is attained easily enough. But Devotion for the Supreme Lord, Hari-bhakti, is very rarely attained.”

By cultivating our knowledge of soul, we can attain mukti, that is, emancipation or liberation from miscalculation relatively easily. Though it is not so easy, still, considering the wicked nature of the environment, in a general sense one can easily renounce everything; by elimination, elimination, elimination—all elimination, for reaching something like sound sleep. That is mukti. Permanent sound sleep.

And we can gather our things of enjoyment by yajna, altruistic action. If we take altruistic action, then as a reaction they will come back to us, for our satisfaction and pleasure.

But our real wealth, Devotion to Hari, is not so easily attained. Sadhana-sahasraih: despite thousands of practices by the aspirant, still it is sudurllabha, it may or may not be acquired. Because, that is to acquire friendship with the Autocracy. Our enjoyment is ‘labour and live.’ If we loan some labour to another, that may come back to us. So, by the help of our labour, and by the distribution of that labour, we can easily get future enjoyment. Also, by practising our sincere disgust with the present mortal environment, we can encourage our ego towards salvation. That is complete renunciation, cutting off all connection with the environment, samadhi, just like sound sleep. But to have affectionate connection with the Autocratic Infinite—that is hard to acquire.

Hari-bhakti-sudurllabha. And the gradual process of how one is to acquire that is also traced in Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu:

klesa-ghni subhada moksa-laghuta-krt

sudurllabha sandrananda-visesatma sri-krsnakarsini cha sa

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, Purva 1.17)

Klesa-ghni: all the afflicting tendencies in your mind gradually diminish. So many things—the proposal of subtle finer mundane happiness may come to try and dissuade you from this path. They are obstacles, and your sincere negligence to them develops. Subhada: all auspiciousness is given to you. Moksa-laghuta-krt: the third result is that you shall trace that mukti, the result of mere renunciation, that is, relief from the influence of the negative side, now appears to be a very small achievement. The consciousness will awaken in you that mere withdrawal from the negative side is a very insignificant achievement. Moksa-laghuta-krt, sudurllabha: if you can only feel or experience that the goal of renunciation is insignificant, it is of a lower order, does that mean you will get Bhakti? No. There is no such guarantee. Even at that stage, Bhakti remains far away from you. Sandrananda-visesatma: then if somehow by chance you come in connection with that reality, you will find some fundamental awakenment that infinite happiness is approaching you. Sri-krsnakarsini cha sa: and further, if you can continue your devotional activity in a proper line, you will find that He is coming to you as Krishna Himself, in the conception of Krishna consciousness. The Krishna concept is coming to you as Krishna Himself.

‘Krishna’ means the full embodiment of all types of ecstasy. That is approaching, or you are being allowed to have His nearer conception, as the fulfilment of your devotional activities of life. In this way, things progress.

So die to live—dive deep into reality—jnana-sunya-bhakti. The area of surrender is so high, noble, great and fulfilling. That can come. That can only take us to the plane of love and affection. If we hope to see and to live in that plane of affection and love, not this mundane affection and love, but the love of the Absolute, then we must accept complete surrender at His disposal, at His mercy. The reaction comes as love. With your highest contribution of faith towards Him, He will be aroused and He will come to accept you on His lap.

So, no risk—no gain; and that is risk towards the whole: Devotion proper. It is not merely a sum total of some certain activities, or a type of study—never. Practically it is concerned with the soul, with the inner existence of us. Giving and taking must take place from the innermost part of our heart. It is not a game to play with! No superficial knowledge or bodily or mental labour can touch it. It is the dealing of the heart to heart. And that is wholesale.

Jnane prayasam udapasya. In this world we are proud of our mania for knowledge and worldly energy; bodily or mental energy, and knowledge about so many falsified things. But He can withdraw everything. Scientists may have discovered a certain law, but if He withdraws, it will be nowhere. Nothing is possible unless backed by His will. ‘Let there be water, there was water; let there be light, there was light.’ If we can find some faith in this, then we shall perceive that everything is designed and destined by Him. So what is the utility of some provisional incident? If He wishes, He may make or mar. The law may be reversed by His sweet will. The origin of the world is such. He is an independent designer, like a great master hypnotist.

*	*	*

Chapter Twelve: Earnestness

“If You kindly remove my blindness for a moment, I would like to see that great, noble figure of Yours that others have seen.”

“No, no, it’s not necessary for your blindness to be removed. If I just say, ‘See!’ then you will see Me.”

By His will, by His order, Dhritarastra saw, without his blindness being removed. “Yes, being blind you can see Me!” Despite being blind he could see, so what sort of sight is He? He can be seen only by His order. So, neither eyes nor our mental preparation backing the eye is indispensable to see Him. He ordered Dhritarastra, “See me!” and he could see—without eyes or without the mentality of sight. Dhritarastra was janmandha, blind from birth; he had no idea of any colour or figure, but still he could see—by the Lord’s order. His position is such; so if we try to approach Him, what should our attitude be? How much earnestness should we have to approach that land?

It is easy—it is difficult. Easy, because it is our inborn tendency. It is home. But now, we are far from home. It is home, my own, so there is hope that I may reach there one day. It is my home and I won’t find satisfaction anywhere else, so I must go there, but I am far away from that home comfort. There is the difficulty—I have lost that land.

Jnane prayasam udapasya: scholarship is poison! Are you ready to admit this? All your learning is nonsense! You are plodding in the mud. All knowledge of misrepresentation—not a bag full of money, but a bag full of rocks. The brain is taxed and filled up with all misleading things. Are you ready to admit this? Not so soon! What do you say? Many of us boast of our knowledge. But the Bhakti school is striking a hammer on the head of knowledge or jnana. Rather, ignorance is better than knowledge! Can you accept that? Knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance!!

Why? Because the so-called learned are proud by comparison. They are more confident that they are holding a higher position, and to remove them from that position is very difficult. Qualitatively, they are in a position above the ordinary labourer, so they are confident of their superiority. So to relieve them of that proud superiority is more difficult than to relieve an ordinary labourer of his ignorance. That would be easy. It is easy to educate an uneducated person, but to educate an ‘educated’ person is more difficult. He has firmly entrenched himself in his superiority, so he won’t budge an inch from that position.

ei du’yera madhye visayi tabu bhala

mayavadi sanga nahi magi kona kala

(Saranagati)

The company of ordinary persons, misguided souls in the ordinary street, is somewhat better than the company and influence of the so-called scholars. That sort of subtle poison is very dangerous and difficult to remove. They’re proud, thinking, “I know. I hold a higher position than the ordinary mass.” That sort of fine ego is very difficult to remove. Ordinary persons may think, “Yes, we are culprits.” Also, the ego of the ordinary religious men is very difficult to remove. “Oh, I am a religious man.” It is very difficult to cross his so-called faith and religion, to give him something higher. This is the practical experience, and it is also advised in sastra.

vedasraya nastikya-vada bauddhake adhika

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 6.168)

Half-truth is more dangerous than falsehood. As in Sankara’s Mayavada, there is atheism in the garb of theism. They say so ‘ham, “I am the highest substance.” They take the authority or the law as non-differentiated like zero. It cannot assert. Therefore they cannot admit, “I am among the creation.” They imagine it is possible for them to hold the higher position. There is no God. There is no such thing as God who automatically holds the highest power and all that be, because ultimately there is a region of unknown and unknowable substance, and wherever there is enlightenment as a human, a wise man, he holds the highest position. “We hold the highest position.” But if we have to admit God, then we have nothing. If we are his created objects, play dolls, we have nothing. As soon as we have admitted God, then we are dispossessed of everything! So much renunciation is impossible. To hold that “I am the absolute authority” means that I am nowhere. Such self-abnegation is not so cheap! Any questions?

Devotee: What can help an intellectual to develop sastric (scriptural) vision?

Srila Guru Maharaj: When the sleeping aspect is awakened, the cover will vanish automatically. Intellectualism cannot be utilised, but that real causeless eternal wealth within should be awakened and strengthened; and this cover of proud intellectualism will evaporate. Karma and jnana are only foreign covers.

vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah prayojitah

janayaty asu vairagyam jnanan cha yad ahaitukam

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.7)

If somehow with the help of the Scriptures and His agents, the devotees or saints, we can develop our Devotion, Bhakti, then, the proper knowledge and proper apathy towards worldly substances will follow us. Healthy, proper knowledge and healthy energy will come to follow us if the reality within awakens and we become adjusted by it.

This doesn’t refer to the knowledge or energy found in this plane. This is entirely distinct. Energy is the capacity to work, to move. And knowledge is to have a conception. That will come in the retinue of Devotion.

Sambandha-jnana—‘what is what.’ A new world will awaken within. Misleading ideas will evaporate and retire, and the proper reading will evolve from within. Sambandha-jnana. “I am such and such to my Lord, and these are the Lord’s friends, the Lord’s lovers, etc.; and what sort of knowledge and movement should be mine in this new environment.”

In that way, readjustment will come from within. The present type of knowledge and energising will have to retire and be dispelled like darkness. Conceptions may be utilised only when proper conception awakens. When the professor points out our misconceptions we can learn the proper conception. “In this way you are misconceiving things; your proper conception is this; but did you misconceive this thing for that?” “Yes sir, I thought like that. Now I see the real thing is this. This is not mine. Not to speak of mine, I also belong to Krishna—my Lord.”

“Everything belongs to Him; I am not a master, I am a slave. I don’t hold the position of a master, not to speak of possessing so many properties. Even I am property to another possessor.” The calculation must begin from that plane, and a new land will be found. That aspiration and aggression to think one can conquer the whole world by the atomic energy is a false notion. It is suffering human intellect to think one has a position to challenge God: “God is only a superstition, an imaginary thing.” We need this wholesale and radical cure: “I do not belong to me, I have my eternal master.” We need slave mentality.

During the time of my Guru Maharaj’s preaching, one newspaper in Calcutta complained, “Gaudiya Math is spreading slave mentality to the country—this is most objectionable. This will destroy the military spirit of the land, so they can’t be encouraged to spread slavery. They have no patriotism, what are they!” The atheists cannot tolerate the call to come hither and live in Vaikuntha. They can’t tolerate the spreading of this ‘poison’ within the country. And they hold that in Bhagavad-gita, Krishna supported war. But that was not from their standpoint.

Yada yada hi dharmasya… The Lord says, “Sometimes the world is so thickly attacked by the atheistic influence that I have to come down again to re-establish the religious environment here. The enemies are vanquished and the good thinkers are given certain relief in their lives. I have to come.”

*	*	*

Pranama-mantra

to Om Vishnupad Astottara-sata-Sri-Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

sri-svarupa-raya-rupa-jiva-bhava-sambharam

varna-dharma-nirvisesa-sarvaloka-nistaram

sri-sarasvati-priyan cha bhakti-sundarasrayam

sridharam namami bhakti-raksakam jagad-gurum

sindhu-chandra-parvatendu-saka-janma-lilanam

suddha-dipta-raga-bhakti-gauravanusilanam

bindu-chandra-ratna-soma-saka-lochanantaram

sridharam namami bhakti-raksakam jagad-gurum

—Composed by Srila Sri Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

“I offer my humble obeisances unto the Guru of the entire world, Om Vishnupad Sri Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, who carries the conception of Sri Svarup Damodar, Sri Ramananda Ray, Sri Rupa Goswami and Sri Jiva Goswami; who delivers everyone irrespective of their caste or creed; who is the most beloved of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad; and who is the abode of Transcendental Loving Service—and the only shelter of Sri Bhakti Sundar Govinda.”

“I offer my humble obeisances unto the Guru of the entire world, Om Vishnupad Sri Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, who revealed the Pastimes of his Holy Advent in this world in the year 1817 Saka Era [1895 A.D.]; who constantly practises the wealth of Pure Loving Devotion in Divine Consorthood; and who disappeared from our eyes in the year 1910 Saka Era [1988 A.D.].”

[Translation: Sripad Bhakti Ananda Sagar Maharaj]

*	*	*

The Guardian of Devotion and His Divine Servitor

by Tridandi Bhiksu Sri Bhakti Ananda Sagar

Bhakti means ‘Devotion,’ and Raksaka means ‘guardian.’ Situated within the Holy province known by the devotees as ‘Gauda-mandala,’ the humble village of Hapaniya has now become a cherished place of pilgrimage for theistic scholars and pilgrims the world over. Small wonder, since it is the Holy Place of Advent of Om Vishnupad Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the Great Grandfather of all the faithful Vaishnav Tridandi Sannyasins, the Grand Preceptor of the Divine Nectarine Message of Sri Gaurangadev. This great saintly personage made his glorious Advent at Sripat Hapaniya of Rarh-desh, in 1895 of the Christian calendar. The formidable scholar Sriyukta Upendra Chandra Bhattacharya Vidyaratna Mahodoy and Srimati Gauri Devi were both unalloyed pure souls imbued with righteousness and devotion for the Supreme Lord Hari. At the fitting auspicious moment, Srila Guru Maharaj made his Advent, choosing them as his father and mother, and revealing the advent of his Divine Pastimes to the world. They named their beloved son Sri Ramendra Chandra Bhattacharya.

In 1923 he was attracted by the Grace of Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami, and at the Sri Gaudiya Math situated at No.1 Ultadingi Junction Road, Kolkata, he heard Sri Srila Prabhupad’s Holy Talks of the Supreme Lord. Not long after that, in December of 1926, with full surrender he joined Sri Gaudiya Math. The natural attraction for the Nama-sankirtan of Sri Chaitanyadev that Srila Guru Maharaj had felt since his very childhood now bloomed into the resplendent personality of Tridandi Sannyasin Sri Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Maharaj, at the behest of Sri Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami. Srila Prabhupad conferred this Holy Order, Name and Title upon Srila Sridhar Maharaj in the year 1930, having marked his profound expertise and depth of divine realisation in the Holy Scriptural Theistic Conclusions, thus recognising him as a veritable ‘Guardian of Devotion.’ Srila Prabhupad further solidified this recognition upon hearing Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s Sanskrit composition Sri Bhaktivinod-viraha-dasakam, when he endorsed the Holy Poem as a direct inspiration of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj took a prominent part in the founding, organising and preaching of many of the Sri Gaudiya Maths of Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami all over India. As a climax to his Divine Affection and Blessings to Srila Sridhar Maharaj, during the last days of Srila Prabhupad’s manifest Divine Pastimes in this world, he especially selected Srila Sridhar Maharaj to sing Sri Rupa-manjari-pada for him, which is well-known as the most venerated and adored Prayer of the entire Gaudiya Sampradaya; by this action we can know Srila Prabhupad’s indomitable confidence in his ‘Guardian of Devotion’ as the future Captain of Sri-Rupanuga Sampradaya, or the Divine Succession of Faithful Followers of Sri Chaitanyadev in the line of Srila Rupa Goswami. And who could doubt this? The nectarine river of Sanskrit and Bengali compositions that flowed from his pen stand as great monuments in the line of Sri Chaitanyadev. In his latter years some hundreds of disciples of the late World Preacher, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, flocked to Sri Nabadwip Dham to hear the holy informal talks and advice of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and from tape-recordings of those talks many English publications reached to the Western public, scholars and devotees. The wholehearted acceptance of his Divine Delivery and those Transcendental Works by the genuine devotees is irrevocable, not only by dint of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj’s openly avowed acceptance of Srila Sridhar Maharaj as his Siksa-Guru, but simply by the strength of their own spiritual merit. Therefore great numbers of sincere seekers from all over the world also flocked to the Lotus Feet of Srila Sridhar Maharaj to become surrendered disciples of the Guardian of Devotion.

His Divine Servitor

Om Vishnupad Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj made his Appearance in this world on 17th December, 1929, at Brahmanparha, District Burdwan, only about six miles from Sripat Hapaniya where his beloved Gurudev made his Advent, also situated in the Holy Area of Gauda-mandal. Revealing his Pastimes to the conditioned souls of this worldly plane, at the tender age of only seventeen years Srila Govinda Maharaj manifest his coming to the Lotus Feet of his Gurudev Sri Srila Sridhar Maharaj in April 1947 on the Holy Appearance Day of Sri Nrsimhadev (Nrsimha-chaturdasi).

If any of the dear readers of this short account may have, or have had, the opportunity of hearing directly from other stalwart veteran disciples of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, any fortunate soul will be able to trace the unbroken line of continuous unalloyed Divine Affection that Srila Guru Maharaj bestowed upon Srila Govinda Maharaj, and continues to eternally bestow from his Holy Abode in the Nitya-lila (Eternal Divine Pastimes).

On the Amavasya (dark-moon day) of 12th August, 1988, when Srila Guru Maharaj silently took his Form of Holy samadhi at his beloved place of bhajan, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip Dham, at that time all the devotees felt that the Exalted Moon had disappeared from their vision; yet, by his Divine Grace, Srila Guru Maharaj had already foreseen the devotees’ need for uninterrupted light, for the smooth continuation of their Devotional Services; and therefore three years before he conferred the Holy Order of Tridanda-sannyas upon Srila Govinda Maharaj, naming him as his Illustrious Successor, as the guiding light to perfectly ensure that no darkness could enter into his Sampradaya (Divine Succession).

The illustrious Acharyas or Divine Preceptors have often been described to be as brilliant as the sun. Their Divine Dispensation of Hari-katha and Hari-kirtan are as the life-giving rays of the supreme sun, giving life and warmth to all creatures, moving and stationary. They are the merciful bestowers of the very core of Love Divine for the Supreme Lord which is the Absolute Life of all that lives (divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam). In this way, it was no surprise that the faithful loving devotees of Srila Guru Maharaj could only receive with great transcendental joy the appearance in the Gaudiya firmament of Jagad-Guru Gaudiya-Bhaskaracharya Srila Sri Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj. In the Personage of his Dearmost Divine Servitor, Srila Guru Maharaj had long before selected our future Guardian.

Highly learned in Sanskrit and Bengali, Srila Govinda Maharaj has, as did his Illustrious Gurudev, given us many Divine Prayers and Songs most valuable for the cultivation of our spiritual life; his valuable natural talent coupled with his fine delivery of Hari-katha (Holy Talks of the Supreme Lord and His Pastimes), and, on the practical side of Devotional Life, his untiring Services to his Srila Guru Maharaj in nurturing and upholding Srila Guru Maharaj’s India-wide and world-wide Mission from the very beginning to the present—it was none other than he who designed and supervised the building of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math—have, as we have seen with our own eyes, ever fulfilled the Divine Desires of Sri Gurudev (gurvvabhista-supurakam).

By his Grace we have been able to continue our spiritual life and do some service to bring out this transcendental series of Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion. Gradually it will come into all languages of the world. May Guru Maharaj and his Divine Godbrother Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, and the most beloved Divine Servitor of them both, Srila Govinda Maharaj, cast their merciful glance upon us and our company, the fallen souls of the mundane world; with this prayer I beg to offer my humble sastanga dandavat pranam unto the Lotus Feet of them all.

The Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

By His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj￼

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, where sankirtan is always going on, is inside Krishna’s flute, and the sound om, which is the very gist meaning of gayatri, comes from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, radiating merciful rays. Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj explains that everything is found within om—coming from Krishna’s flute, its meaning is “Gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam Radha-padam dhimahi. Krishna’s flute does not make any other sound except for the glorification of Srimati Radharani.” That is the real meaning and gist of the gayatri mantram.

The position of the guru is like water; the servitors of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math are like lotuses; and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, worshipped in His divine form of Radha-Krishna (om), is the sun. The sun’s merciful rays nourish the lotus, but if there is no water—if one cannot take shelter of Sri Guru and His grace—then the lotus becomes burnt by the rays of the sun.

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s Mission

srimach-chaitanya-sarasvata-mathavara-udgita-kirtir jaya-srim

bibhrat sambhati ganga-tata-nikata-nabadwipa-koladri-raje

yatra sri-gaura-sarasvata-mata-nirata-gaura-gatha grnanti

nityam rupanuga sri-krtamati-guru-gauranga-radha-jitasa

‘At this supremely enchanting divine ashram, destitute and spiritually loving devotees of Sri Gaura-Saraswati, who are expert at favourable practices of Krishna consciousness, constantly chant within their hopeful hearts the glories of Lord Sri Sri Gaurasundar, the greatly magnanimous source of all incarnations of the Lord, following in strict adherence the line of Sri Sri Rupa-Raghunath, the inexhaustible storehouse of the wealth of divine ecstatic consorthood love, and being eternally eager to engage in the loving service of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar and Their associates. This effulgent and supremely worshippable King among all temples, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, is situated within Koladwip, which is non-different from Sri Govardhan, the King of Mountains, on the enchanting bank of the revered Bhagirathi River, who rescues all fallen souls, in Sri Nabadwip Dham, a holy abode of touchstones, non-different from Sri Vrindavan. Capturing Jayasri (the Goddess of Victory – Srimati Radharani), it exists eternally, leaving the entire creation of moving and non-moving entities astonished in the extremely cooling and loving shade of the soaring victory flag of its ever-increasing celebrated renown.’

(The translation of the verse is rendered from the original Bengali translation written by Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.)

Headquarters
of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Road,

Kolerganj, W.Bengal, 741302

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Bhanjipur, Tarakeshwar,

 Hooghly, West Bengal, 712410

Phone: +91 96093 02310

Please see scsmathinternational.com for other addresses in India and worldwide.

Books and Publications of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

(English language)

(Available at scsmathinternational.com)

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful

Sri Guru and His Grace

The Golden Volcano of Divine Love

Subjective Evolution of Consciousness

Loving Search for the Lost Servant

Centenary Anthology

Divine Aspiration

Exclusive Guardianship

Golden Staircase

Heart and Halo

Holy Engagement

Home Comfort

Inner Fulfillment

Ocean of Nectar

Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamaritam

Sri Sri Prema-dhama-devam Stotram

Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion – Volumes I, II, III, IV

By Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Divine Servitor

Dignity of the Divine Servitor

Divine Guidance

Golden Reflections

The Benedictine Tree of Divine Aspiration

Affectionate Guidance

Life’s Destination

In Search of the Original Source

Nectarean Glories of Sri Nityananda Prabhu

Religion of the Heart

Revealed Truth

By Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

Guidance – Volumes I, II, III, IV

Guidance (Issues 1–30): collections of lectures (electronic)

Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala

By Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur:

Saranagati

Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya

Dasa-mula Tattva

The Bhagavata

Other scriptures:

Sri Gaudiya Gitanjali (Kirtan Guide)

Holy Name and Offences to Be Avoided

Service Life

Srimad Bhagavad-gita

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta

Sri Brahma-samhita

(Many more publications in various languages are available at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in India and abroad. Please contact any of the Mission’s temples for further information.)