Srila Guru Maharaj's Line

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking online to the devotees in New York City
23 October 2011, part 3

In Mahaprabhu's time there was a pandit called Sridhar Pandit. Mahaprabhu said, "Those who do not obey Sridhar Swami are like a prostitute." Mahaprabhu said it. And Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave that name to our Guru Maharaj—Srila Sridhar Maharaj.

Prabhupad always sent Srila Sridhar Maharaj everywhere for preaching—he opened the Madras temple, he preached Kashmir and many other places all over India. In this way he fulfilled the desire of Srila Prabhupad. In his last moments, Prabhupad gave all charge, gave the flag of the Rupanuga line, to Srila Sridhar maharaj. He indicated that Sridhar Maharaj was the main preacher of the Rupanuga line. Prabhupad gave that conception and transmitted that power to Srila Sridhar Maharaj.

You know that after Prabhupad left his body, some problems came—Srila Sridhar Maharaj became sad and left Chaitanya Math... He went to Vrindavan to do bhajan. There, he stayed in Nanda-gram and Kadam-khandi. Kadam-khandi was the place where Srimati Radharani Herself came and cooked sweet rice for Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami. Sometimes Srila Sridhar Maharaj stayed there. [It is in Govardhan, Vrindavan and Nanda-gram area, a very good place—if you some time come to Vrindavan, you can go there and see it.] While Srila Sridhar Maharaj was staying there, Prabhupad gave him some akash-dhvani—Srila Sridhar Maharaj heard some sound coming from the sky—Prabhupad said to him, "You are doing bhajan here alone, but how will you rescue the souls all over the world? Do not stay here, you must go to Nabadwip! This is not your place. I have kept you to preaching Rupa Goswami's line—why are you in Vrindavan?!" Then Srila Sridhar Maharaj made Chaitanya Saraswat Math and this temple in 1941—at first it was just a thatched bamboo house, Srila Sridhar Maharaj came to Nabadwip and made a preaching centre on the bank of the Ganges. The building where Srila Sridhar Maharaj's bhajan-kutir is now is where that thatched house was. Because Srila Sridhar Maharaj got some inspiration from Prabhupad he came here and started a centre—for us, to rescue us. Otherwise if he had stayed in Vrindavan doing bhajan, he would not have made any disciples—how would we have come to his shelter then? How would we have got our Guru? He came to Nabadwip and he created Srila Govinda Maharaj, our Gurudev. If he had not been alive, if he had not come, how would we have got our Guru? We have got a real, bona fide Guru from him.

Devotee: And we have also got you from him!

[His Divine Grace chuckles.]

...This is how Srila Sridhar Maharaj started preaching.

He gave sannyas to many of his godbrothers. After Prabhupad left, Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj (he was a brahmachari at that time) went back to his home. Srila Sridhar Maharaj came there and said to him, "Prabhupad kept you for preaching, why did you go back to your home?" Goswami Maharaj replied, "Maharaj, if you give me sannyas, then I will come back again." And Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave him sannyas and the name Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj.

This Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj made a temple in Mayapur—the Gaura Nityananda mandir in Nandan Acharya Bhavan where Nityananda and Gauranga Mahaprabhu met for the first time. Every year, Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj invited Srila Sridhar Maharaj for his birthday and whatever pranami, whatever daksin, whatever presentation he got that day, he would give everything to Srila Sridhar Maharaj. He would also say, "My siksa Guru, my sannyas Guru has come and given me mercy, that is why I am getting one more year of life." When, however, Srila Sridhar Maharaj could not come to Mayapur for his birthday one year, Goswami Maharaj said, "My Gurudev, my siksa Guru, could not come, that is why I will not live to the next year, I will have to leave this year." And it happened.

You know also that when our Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, chose a place for Srila Sridhar Maharaj's samadhi (it was in Srila Sridhar Maharaj's lifetime), there was a mango tree in that place and Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, "You want to make the samadhi here but do not cut the mango tree." When Srila Sridhar Maharaj expired on 12 August 1988, that same very day that mango tree died...

You must understand who Srila Sridhar Maharaj is, who Guru Maharaj is, who Gurudev is. We must understand it. We have no eyes to recognise a sadhu, a Guru, a Vaishnav, we cannot see a sadhu, but only a bona fide Guru can recognise a great sadhu.

Devotee: How can we recognise who is a sadhu?

You can easily understand it—you have a good faith, you are keeping Gurudev, Guru Maharaj in your heart, then you can easily understand or recognise it.

— : • : —

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