(2/8) Disciple's Life

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
28 February 2019, evening, part 2
Translated from Bengali

Many of us here are initiated. The meaning of taking initiation is becoming a disciple, but not everybody who takes initiation can be called a disciple. Being a disciple means living according to your guru's instruction (to be able to mould yourself obediently according to your guru's disciplining).

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

‘Devotees submit their entire being when they take initiation. At this time, Krishna accepts them as His very own.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.192)

When we genuinely want to take initiation from our guru, we must take it promising that we will serve our guru with our entire body (kaya), mind (mana) and speech (vakya), heart (prana) and soul (mana). It means that we will serve with our bodies, physically; we will serve with all attention, dedicating all our thoughts to his service; and we will always follow what our guru tells us. This is what real initiation is. Everybody who takes initiation must serve their guru and Vaishnavs. Serving your guru does not mean you must massage his feet or rub his body with oil. Serving your guru means you do what your guru tells you to do – it means you must live as your guru teaches you to live and you must live to please him. This is what real service is.

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

‘Devotees submit their entire being when they take initiation. At this time, Krishna accepts them as His very own.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.192)

You have all heard that Mahaprabhu sent Srila Sanatan Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami to Vrindavan. It is a very difficult place to stay in, and at that time there were no houses, no rooms, nothing there. Now our Guru Maharaj made a big temple there, so when we come there, we take shelter of the temple; but when Mahaprabhu sent Srila Sanatan Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami to serve there, there was nothing – they stayed there shelterless. They slept beneath a different tree each night and served the Lord like that. Later, some temples and ashrams appeared. Actually, Srila Sanatan Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami were a little sad because they realised that everybody would go to Puri at the temple of Ratha-yatra and get to see Mahaprabhu, but they had to stay behind in Vrindavan. Mahaprabhu understood it, so He told them that they could come to Puri at the time of Ratha-yatra. Mostly, Srila Sanatan Goswami would come though. Srila Rupa Goswami either could not make such a long journey or he was very busy with his service in Vrindavan. Srila Sanatan Goswami would rely on him to continue their service there, and he would come to Puri regularly.

When Srila Sanatan Goswami went to Puri from Vrindavan, he would walk barefoot through thick jungles and on scorching hot sand. One year, because of all the sores he had got on his feet, he contracted a very bad skin disease, something like scabies. He had sores all over his body that oozed pus. Seeing his condition, he thought, 'This body has become so rotten that I cannot serve the Lord with it anymore. I would rather leave this body – I will throw myself under the chariots in front of Lord Jagannath and Mahaprabhu, chanting His Name.' When he arrived in Puri, he stayed with Srila Haridas Thakur, and he told about his plan to him. Eventually, the news about his intention reached Mahaprabhu's ears. When Mahaprabhu heard about it, He scolded him harshly. This is when this verse was spoken:

দীক্ষাকালে ভক্ত করে আত্মসমর্পণ ।
সেইকালে কৃষ্ণ তারে করে আত্মসম ॥

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

‘Devotees submit their entire being when they take initiation. At this time, Krishna accepts them as His very own.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.192)

Mahaprabhu told Sanatan Goswami, 'When you took initiation from Me, you surrendered everything to Me. You gave Me your body, mind and soul, so this body is not yours anymore. You cannot give it up just because you decide to do so. I will do so many things with this body – I will write scriptures with this body, I will serve Vaishnavs with this body. So you cannot just decide to give up this body. You cannot destroy My property! I have kept My property with you – this is not your body, it is Mine, so you cannot just decide to get rid of it. Anyway, even if you think that you can leave this body and come to the Lord like this, then I will leave thousands of bodies right now. Let us see if I can come to the Lord like that or not. Even if a living entity leaves bodies at every second, it will not come to the Lord like that. If you do not chant the Lord's Name, no matter how many bodies you change, you will not come to the Lord. Souls change their bodies all the time, do you think that helps them come to the Lord? It does not work like this. Why are you even thinking of this, Sanatan?' Then, Srila Sanatan Goswami spoke, 'Prabhu, my body has gone so bad, but You keep coming to embrace me – I am only committing offences to You...' Hearing this, Mahaprabhu forcefully embraced Sanatan Goswami, and all his disease was gone. Then, Mahaprabhu said, 'Sanatan, I touch you and embrace you for My own benefit – by touching you, I can become pure.'

This is what happened between Mahaprabhu and Srila Sanatan Goswami. This is what Mahaprabhu told him and this is how he showed everybody that he was a great Vaishnav – He revealed the glory of a Vaishnav through him.

When the Ratha-yatra festival finished and the chariots returned to the temple, it was time for Srila Sanatan Goswami to leave. Feeling dejected at the prospect of his imminent departure, Srila Sanatan Goswami spoke to Srila Jagadananda Prabhu. He said, 'Prabhu told me to come for Ratha-yatra, but now the festival is over, it is time for me to go back to Vrindavan. You are so fortunate, you always stay with the Lord...' Srila Jagadananda Prabhu was a little jealous of Srila Sanatan Goswami because Mahaprabhu always praised him and always spoke about him. Although Mahaprabhu, no doubt, loved Jagadananda Prabhu very much (you can read about it in Sri Prema-vivarta), Mahaprabhu vested Rupa and Sanatan with all His power to ensure that His message would continue to be preached in this world after Him – to ensure that His mission and goal in coming to this world would be successful and continue through a genuine guru-parampara. Later, Jiva Goswami and Srila Raghunath Das Goswami came – Mahaprabhu vested them with His power, too.

You must remember these things and preach about it. There are many outside movements (auls, bauls, kartabhajas, and so on), but you must explain to people how Mahaprabhu's line continued. His line continued through Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Sanatan Goswami and Srila Raghunath Das Goswami. Remember this and preach about this. Our line (dhara) is called Rupanuga-dhara, or Rupa-Saraswati-dhara.

So, Srila Sanatan Goswami told Srila Jagadananda Pandit, 'Prabhu, it is time for me to leave... But you are all very fortunate because you always stay near the Lord,' Srila Jagadananda Pandit replied, 'Yes, right, it is time for you to leave now. Why are you not leaving?' Then, Srila Sanatan Goswami went to Mahaprabhu and tearfully told him (he did not complain, he only said it sadly), 'Prabhu, it is time for me to leave, the festival is over. I was hesitating to leave, but Jagadananda Pandit also says that I should go and asked why I was not leaving for Vrindavan.' Hearing this, Mahaprabhu flared up. Mahaprabhu loved Jagadananda Pandit, but He could never put up with any disrespect towards Sanatan Goswami. 'Maryada-langhana Prabhu sahite na pare (মর্যাদা-লঙ্ঘন প্রভু সহিতে না পারে). if you disrespect a devotee, the Lord cannot tolerate that.' Mahaprabhu said, 'Jagadananda was born only yesterday, who is he to tell Sanatan what to do?! Even I learn so much from Sanatan – who gave him the right to tell him to leave?!' Jagadananda Pandit lowered his head and said nothing, but Srila Sanatan Goswami began to cry. He cried(!) because another person was getting scolded! Usually people smile and get happy when others are scolded, but Sanatan Goswami cried! He told Jagadananda Pandit, 'Brother Jaga, you are so fortunate! You get scolded by Mahaprabhu! But we are very unfortunate because He has never scolded us. He is giving you sweet things, but with us He giving us bitter things. Scolding is not bitter, it is sweet. The love the Lord gives us is bitter, but His love for you is so sweet.' If gurudev chastises or disciplines you, it is your great fortune – it never happens without great fortune.

This is what Mahaprabhu taught through Srila Sanatan Goswami. We must always remember and think about this; otherwise, if we do not study Mahaprabhu's teachings (in particular, what Mahaprabhu taught Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami), then we will not be able to understand anything.

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Size: 25 Mb
Length: 51 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Steer Clear of Offences
2) Disciple's Life
3) Mahaprabhu's Standard of Cleanliness
4) Shift Your Priorities
5) Make No Mistake
6) Non-Negotiable Stance
7) Be Strong and Straight
8) Do Not Run After Knowledge