Adjusting with Others and Yourself
"If somebody preaches, it is good! Why will we criticise them? People come for Krishna consciousness and we do not care who comes from what country, who is lower, who is lowest. Only if somebody is bad association, you must always avoid such association."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 20 September 2020)

• DIVINE SERVITOR •

SURRENDER AND SERVE
'It is necessary to see what should be the one target in our lives, and that is service to Guru and Vaishnava. This is the main thing of value in our lives. To get a position or to get a chair is very easy. Anyone, anywhere, can make a chair for himself. But to receive mercy from Guru and Vaishnava is very difficult, although that is the wealth of our lives, and that is what we need for our practising life. Our only hope is that our Gurudev, his Godbrothers, and other Vaishnavas will not leave us. They are always giving us causeless mercy and we are able to maintain our spiritual lives with that.'

All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

Disappearance Festival of Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa
Parivrajakacharya-varya Ashtottara-sata-sri
Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

I offer my obeisance to him who perfectly fulfils his gurudev’s most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his gurudev’s associates; who is expert in all conceivable and inconceivable aspects of Vedic knowledge; who is a pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu’s line; who is known as ‘Govinda’ (Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj); whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is suffused with pure devotion; who is the guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.

Dear Devotees, Vaishnavs, and Well-Wishers,

Bowing down at your holy feet, we would like to extend a humble and earnest invitation to your holy self in eternal memory of our worshippable Sri Gurupadpadma, Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj, to join the observance of the divine disappearance day of the supremely worshippable Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Sri Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, that manifests this year on 9 April 2025 (Wednesday).

His Divine Grace Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj has many times instructed on how to hold special programmes and taught it many times by his own example. Usually such programmes consist of: kirtans, lecture or reading of scriptures, arati, pushpanjali (offering of flowers to a photograph), and prasad-seva (cooking a special offering, offering it at the altar or to a photograph, and distributing it to devotees).

We hope all devotees find an opportunity to observe this holy day for the satisfaction of Sri Gurupadpadma, keeping the divine Guidance on their heads: "Always sit amidst fire blazing on all four sides. This fire is Hari-katha, kirtan, service to the Lord, and service to the guru. You must progress in your practising life keeping the sacrificial fire of your service ablaze."

Your aspiring servants,
On behalf of SCSMathInternational.com

Satisfying the Lord
"Bali Maharaj asked Vamanadev, 'O brahman, what do you want? Tell me, and I can give You anything you wish.' Vamanadev replied, 'I do not want much. I know you have everything, but I want only something small.'"
• Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 7 min | 30 August 2020)

Bhakta-Bhav
"We should always remember devotees' service mood. Embracing bhakta-bhav, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared as a devotee and He shows what is the mood of a devotee. We can see His teachings and realise what is necessary to have if we want to have the mood of a devotee."
• Download / listen to the audio (10.7 Mb, 26 min | 27 September 2020)

• DIVINE SERVITOR •

THE LIVING LIFE
'If we can engage proper intelligence for the service of the Lord then we must certainly be the gainer. Proper intelligence is necessary, and that comes with the association of the devotees. Our mind is always going this way, that way and every way, but when we get the association of the devotees we shall automatically and always talk about Krishna consciousness.'

In honour of Sri Ramanuja Acharya:

• Service: Faith and Surrender
"Gurudev told the story of Dhanur Das and his wife, Ramanuja Acharya's disciples, and how they maintained their family life..."

• How to See the Guru: Chastity
"Ramanuja Acharya heard there was a Guru in Alwar (South India). He came to that Guru and asked, 'You know one mantra that can give liberation. I want to get this mantra...'"

• Odds and Ends: Ramanuja Acharya's bed
"One time Ramanuja Acharya he went to Tirupati and stayed one month at one ashram there. He had a good servitor called Govinda who always served him..."

In honour of Sripad Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaj:

Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj remembers:

When I got sannyas, Sripad Bon Maharaj was present there, as well as many others also. Sripad Bon Maharaj remarked, "Prabhupad has got a high satisfaction by giving you sannyas. We have never seen so much satisfaction in him at the occasion of any other sannyasi. He is highly satisfied with conferring sannyas to you."

....When Sripad Bon Maharaj returned from England, he put so many disturbing questions to our Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad), "What do you know about that country? They are so brave, so gorgeous! Staying here, we cannot have any proper estimation of the civilisation in London at present. We are all ignorant. If we are to preach in London or Europe, we will have to be trained in a different way!" That was his advice to our Guru Maharaj, and Guru Maharaj, being pressed, rather attacked by his own disciple in such a way, withdrew himself by saying, "This is not our way of thinking. Our Guru Maharaj, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, did not even know how to sign his name, but we think that all the scholarship, wealth, everything is there in a nail of his toe." Guru Maharaj represented himself in a mild and humble way, but there was also professor Sanyal present there, and he came out like a tiger at our Bon Maharaj, "Have you lost all you have got from Guru Maharaj?! You are bold enough to talk in such a boisterous way? Have you forgotten how to behave with your Divine Master?" He was furious; Bon Maharaj had to check himself. Anyhow, Prabhupad said about him, "Bon Maharaj went to preach in my first year in England and in my second year in England." Prabhupad had gone through it using Bon Maharaj.

So, when I heard that Sripad Bon Maharaj had returned from Europe and put forth so many arguments of the Western persons saying that they could not be answered, I wanted to hear what those questions were that could not be answered. He reluctantly spoke about the arguments he had had to face there, and I began to answer them one by one. Then, when Sripad Bon Maharaj could not say anything more, Srila Swami Maharaj [Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj], who was present at that round table meeting, said, "Here, Europe is defeated by Asia!"

* * *

...At that time, all the preachers had been taken back from the compass of the country and were concentrated to work in Kolkata—they used to have to go door to door collecting bhiksa (alms, donations). Sripad Bon Maharaj's party, he and one or two brahmacharis, went to some part of Kolkata for collection. Generally, seeing some gentleman standing by, one of the members of the party would run up to him and say something like, "We come from Gaudiya Math, we want to make some collection. Dear sir, you are a devoted person of this locality, please make some contribution." So, one time, Bon Maharaj asked some gentleman to give him some addresses of good benevolent gentlemen whom they could approach to get some money for their purpose. The gentleman showed Bon Maharaj the way saying, "Just go to that house, you will find the right person there." Bon Maharaj went there in good faith. When he knocked on the door, the door was open. A lady came out. Seeing him, she said, "Oh, you are a sadhu! What do you want from me?" The gentleman who had directed Bon Maharaj there, was laughing behind him—the lady was a prostitute. Bon Maharaj was perplexed—it was a lady. Anyhow, he still gave her the letter of invitation saying, "We have got such and such festival, we want you to come and we want to ask you for some contribution." I do not know if the lady had given him anything or not, but all the people around were laughing. After that, Bon Maharaj came back to Prabhupad and said, "Prabhupad, I will not go for any collection again." Prabhupad asked him, "Why? What has happened?" Bon Maharaj related the incident saying that some rogues had guided him to a prostitute's house. After that, Prabhupad delivered a lecture: "There are many of you who have left their own property, but still I send you out for collection. Do you think that I am doing wrong? I am not. The visayi (materialists) always want to entrap us within their material life, but we must learn to utilise everything and anything in the service of Krishna, then only are we saved; otherwise, if we leave, give everything away, all this visaya (material elements) will be left there and as soon as it gets any chance, it will come to bite me. So, whatever comes to us, we should deal with everything in such a way that rather, 'Whatever I shall come across, it will give me some impression to remember Krishna—everything should utilise me for a particular service to Krishna.' If left there, they will be enemies, but they should all be turned into friends. They will help me, remind me, excite me in the service of Krishna. We must have this kind of adjustment in this world. So, nothing should be left off. 'Nirbandhah Krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam uchyate: when one is not attached to anything, but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Krishna, one is rightly situated above possessiveness.'"

"My Nature"
"Whenever I get time, I like to read books. To this day, I still like reading. I have a habit to always read. Whenever some new books come out, I read it. Actually, I do not want to teach anybody, I want to learn myself more and more. That is my nature."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 6 min | 27 September 2020)

• DIVINE SERVITOR •

SWEET SUCCESS ASSURED
'Sometimes we achieve what we want and sometimes we do not. But service life is not like that. We must not involve ourselves with any mundane matter. We must involve ourselves with service and we must try to fulfil our service, but the result is in the hand of Krishna. Whatever comes may be good or may be bad but as much as possible I must always try to be successful. This is our life, and joyfulness and success must finally come to us.'

Good News
"I have got some good news today, not everybody may have heard it, so I want to tell you about it... I have been praying to Krishna for that—and now they have filed a case, I am sure one day justice will happen."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 27 September 2020)

• DIVINE SERVITOR •

ANSWERS THROUGH LETTERS
'After the disappearance of Srila Guru Maharaj, in his separation so many inauspicious things have happened, and due to that I am really too much shocked both mentally and bodily, but by the will of Krishna, there is no other way to spend a single moment without His seva programme. Nirjan-bhajan may be possible singlely but sankirtan is not possible without Vaishnava association; in that way we are in the proper line of our Srila Guru Maharaj. Until death we must try to maintain our joyful sankirtan life.'

In honour of Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj:

His Divine Grace Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

"When Kunja Babu [later, Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj] came to meet Srila Prabhupad, Srila Prabhupad could recognise that this young man would be able to help him a great deal. Our Guru Maharaj's nature was like that of a philosopher—he did not like to mix with the public, but Kunja Babu filled that side as he could mix with public and bring persons to Srila Prabhupad, enabling thus Srila Prabhupad to speak about the sastra. Srila Prabhupad wanted to speak about Mahaprabhu, but his temperament was such that he did not like to become involved with inviting people and taking responsibility for looking after them or their accommodation, feeding, etc. So, when Kunja Babu joined, he took up that responsibility. Srila Prabhupad got educated society ready to hear his speech about Mahaprabhu, and his style of speaking was a little philosophical, so he preferred educated society as his listeners. Kunja Babu did that service—he took the trouble of inviting, accommodating, and feeding the public. All these troublesome burdens were taken on by Kunja Babu.

"Gaudiya Mission had gradually grown from this combination—the material help of Kunja Babu and the spiritual work of Srila Prabhupad. They were the father and the mother of the mission, the cofounders of Gaudiya Math. The practical, material side of the service was done by Kunja Babu. Srila Prabhupad once said in Benares (I heard it directly from his mouth), 'I only want a good audience, and Kunja Babu has done that service to me the best. Amongst all my disciples, Kunja Babu has served me the best by bringing to me a good audience. I only want a good audience, nothing else, in this world, and in that direction, Kunja Babu has helped me greatly.'

"In the end, Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's order was to form a governing body of ten or twelve, and Kunja Babu had to manage as long as he lived. 'Kunja Babu's intelligence excells that of all,' this was told about him. We took it as Kunja Babu was the manager during Prabhupad's lifetime, but he was actually managing the whole institution, so he should be respected even though he was a grihastha and we were sannyasis. Later, many complaints were heard against him, but Srila Prabhupad had told us that Kunja Babu had to manage as long as he lived and that he should be respected. Srila Prabhupad did not select anyone as his follower acharya, that is why there was eventually a difference of opinion amongst us. There were also many ambitious sannyasis who were eager to go on as acharyas themselves. There were generally two parties, one accepting Vasudev Prabhu as the acharya, and the other one accepting Kunja Babu..."

His Divine Grace Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj:

"Sri Bimala Prasad got initiation from Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj and later, when he took sannyas, he became known as Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. At some point, he promised that he would complete chanting one hundred crores Holy Names and after that start preaching Mahaprabhu's proper conception, but as he was chanting the Holy Name, one day Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Giridhari came in front of him and Srimati Radharani said, 'You must preach pure conception of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, the combined form of Radha-Krishna.' Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, 'I am alone, how will I preach?' After that so many great scholars (dig-pals) came to help him—our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kumud Shanta Maharaj and many others. This is how Prabhupad started preaching the proper conception in this world.

"In Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswat Thakur's time, the secretary of Chaitanya Math was a grihastha, his name is Kunja Bihari Prabhu (affectionately known as Kunja Babu), later he became Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj. Kunja Babu could not always stay at the temple, but he always served Chaitanya Math from his householder life. Moreover, when he would come to visit Chaitanya Math, to see Prabhupad, at that time almost all sannyasis would give him their full obeisance.

Father-Son Pastime
"It is stated in Sri Hari-bhakti-vilas that those who observe this ekadasi attain a liberated form upon leaving their body. I will be reading about a pastime of Sri Govinda from Gopal-champu by Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu. Listen to it properly. This is a pastime of Nanda Maharaj and Lord Krishna, and it happened tomorrow, the day after ekadasi."
• Download / listen to the audio (10.3 Mb, 25 min | 27 September 2020)

• DIVINE SERVITOR •

TREASURES: SHORT EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS
'Outer space is a foreign place to us and it is only possible to survive there in a carefully protected space-capsule. Similarly we are to lead spiritual life in this world in an environment carefully protected by devotion.'

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In honour of Lord Ramachandra's appearance:

Reading from Guidance 4
"I am writing here something comparing the pastimes of Ramachandra and the pastimes of Krsihna-chandra, as well as Nanda Maharaj and Vasudev's vatsalya-rasa..."
• Download / listen to the audio (5.3 Mb, 13 min | 2 April 2020)

Peculiarity of Lord's Pastimes
"I have read Ramayan, but I am telling you the gist point... There are many incarnations—Narayan, Ramachandra, Vamanadev, Balaram, and others, but Krishna is the full Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, Gaura-lila is even higher..."
• Download / listen to the audio (7.6 Mb, 18 min | 2 April 2020 | Class and Kirtan)

Niti and Priti
"It was Ramachandra's vijay utsav yesterday, and we would like to clarify some things about Rama-tattva and Krishna-tattva. In Rama-lila, rules and regulations are the highest, and love and affection go down, but this is not the highest ideal..."
• Download / listen to the audio (3.7 Mb, 9 min | 9 October 2019)

Laksman's Grudge
"Sita Devi was crying so much, and Laksman could not bear the thought of doing it, but because Ramachandra was his worshippable Lord and his elder brother, he had to do it—but Laksman could not forget the kind of pain he got at that time..."
• Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min | 9 October 2019)

Hanuman's Service Drive
"I will give you some example of Hanuman's love for Rama, of his desire to serve Rama. We can see how much Ramachandra loves Hanuman and how much Hanuman loves Him. It is necessary to have such service desire."
• Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 2 March 2020)

• Sri Dasavatara Stotram | দশাবতারস্তোত্রম্
'To fulfil the wish of great sages, You mercifully fight a battle, pleasing everyone with the tribute of Ravan's ten heads! O Kesava who assumes the form of Lord Rama! Glory to You, O Lord of the universe, O Hari!'

Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj about fasting on ekadasi and accepting material facilities:

"One time, a devotee came here from Vrindavan on the day of ekadasi. He reached in the evening and, after taking bath in the Ganges, attended kirtans, danced, circumambulated the temple and so on. Then, I asked him whether he would take any anukalpa. He replied, 'Generally, I do not take anything, but if you like, then, of course, I must take anukalpa. Your will is greater than my fasting.' That was his decision.

"My Guru Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) always wanted maximum energy: you should take good food and do good service. That was his maxim. Krishna is not a liquidated party: take full prasadam and do full service. Do maximum service, and you should take whatever is necessary for that. You are to take it for the cause of Krishna, not for your own cause. You are Krishna's, so if you grow weak, His service will be hampered, and both you and Krishna will be losers thereby. 'My soldiers will be well-fed and well-working.' That was our Guru Maharaj's principle. Napoleon said, 'One full-fed soldier is equal to ten half-fed soldiers.'

"So, prasad-seva: if it is service, then it must be taken in a serving mood, of course. But, at the same time, the individual position of a devotee should be taken into consideration. Sahajiyas do not Fast on ekadasi at all: 'Oh, we are in Vrindavan, and there is no fasting in Vrindavan.' But Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad did not like that – it is sahajiya (imitation) if you go on feeding your senses in the name of Krishna-bhakti (devotion to the Lord). For the service to Krishna, it is necessary to keep up the body and to provide nourishment to it, so we must take what is necessary for service. We do not like it if by fasting a loss of energy is effected. If fasting does not hamper your service, you may go on fasting – perhaps, your gurudev wanted that...

"For service, I must accept what is necessary to make me physically fit so that I can render more service. So, accepting material things is not objectionable. It is fruitful, not detrimental. Rather, it produces something of a pure character, which helps everyone. This is how a disciple receives and accepts things. At that same time, he may even blame himself, 'I cannot go on with my worldly life without the help of this or that!' He will blame himself, but the underlying spirit must be, 'If I do not take it, I shall be unfit; I will not be able to do my bit of service to the Lord, to my gurudev.'

"Moreover, by taking up renunciation, I will be a loser. I will incur a loss for myself, for the world, and my guru's service will be hampered. In this spirit, devotees are to take everything. For the cause of Krishna, for the cause of their guru, they will accept anything.

"Suppose there is a very miserly karmachari (manager). Because he does not want to spend money, he may not attain a particular result; then, some difficulty comes, and the opportunity is lost. This manager will be held responsible by the proprietor: 'Why did you not spend money? Why are you afraid of spending money from my store? Because of your miserly habit, the opportunity has been lost! Why should you not spend My money for My interest?' So, to render service to Krishna, to my gurudev, to Vaishnavs, to the world, to everyone, I must keep up this mundane body, and I am entitled to take something for that.

"Miserliness is mayavada; it is the renunciation spirit, and it will mar Krishna's interest. What we need is yukta-vairagya: I shall take from the store of Krishna to keep myself fit and to do service. It is Krishna's account, and if I do not do that, I should be a separatist, a mayavadi, a renunciationist. I shall render maximum service to Krishna, and I must take without any hesitation whatever is necessary to make myself fit for the service; otherwise, I shall be punishable."

"You do not need to know the meaning of each ekadasi tithi because if you know it, you will want to get this result, that result, etc."

(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)