(2) Srila Prabhupad's Effulgence

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Puri Dham parikrama, 3 July 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

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শ্রীগৌরাঙ্গ-পারিষদ, ঠাকুর ভক্তিবিনোদ,
দীনহীন পতিতের বন্ধু ।
কলিতমঃ বিনাশিতে, আনিলেন অবনীতে,
তোমা' অকলঙ্ক পূর্ণ ইন্দু ॥

sri-gauranga-parisada, thakura bhaktivinoda,
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite, anilena avanite,
toma’ akalanka purna indu

‘To dispel the darkness of this Age of Kali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, a close associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of fallen souls, brought to this earth you [Srila Saraswati Thakur], a spotless, unblemished full moon.’

(Acharya Vandana)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is an associate of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, and Srila Prabhupad is Nayana Manjari, one of Vraja gopis, in Krishna-lila. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is a friend of all fallen souls – he came to Bimala Devi and prayed, 'O Gauranga Mahaprabhu! O Krishna! O Bimala Devi! O Jagannath! Please send me somebody who could clear all the bogus sampradayas spread in this world (aul, baul, kartabhaja, nera, darvesh, and so on).' Have you seen the group of people chanting 'Rama Narayana' on the way? They passed Srila Haridas Thakur's samadhi-mandir and did not even enter it... I notice everything... There are thirteen main bogus sampradayas – aul, baul, kartabhaja, nera, darvesh, saki, sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta, jata-gosani, atibari, chudadhari, gauranga-nagari. We must never associate with them. Srila Prabhupad came, demolished all these movements and established a pure Gaudiya sampradaya.

If Srila Prabhupad had not come to this world, we would not have got anything in this world. That is why Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote that Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur gave us the guru. He wrote:

গুরুদং গ্রন্থদং গৈরধামদং নামদং মুদা
ভক্তিদং ভূরিদং বন্দে ভক্তিবিনোদকং সদা

guru-dam grantha-dam gaura-dhama-dam nama-dam muda
bhakti-dam bhuri-dam vande bhaktivinodakam sada

'He is the giver of Sri Guru; he is the giver of scriptures; he is the giver of Gaura’s holy abode; he is the giver of the Name; he is the giver of pure devotion. He is the greatest donor. I forever offer my obeisance to this Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.'

(Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is the giver of the guru, the giver of the scriptures, the giver of the holy abode of Lord Gauranga. Now people say that Mahaprabhu's actual birthplace is in Prachin Mayapur ('Ancient Mayapur', next to Nabadwip Town), but this is a lie! Mahaprabhu's birthplace is in Yogapith. Yogapith was discovered and granted to this world by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. He is also the giver of the Holy Name. Bogus sampradayas chant, 'Nitai-Gaura Radhe Syam' – what does it mean? It means that they place Nitai-Gaura next to Radha-Krishna. This is a big offence. Such chanting must be stopped! The Hare Krishna maha-mantra must be chanted! Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur gave the pure Name to this world. Not only that, he also said, 'I am a sweeper at the market of the Holy Name.' He was actually the seventh goswami. We chant in one of the kirtans, taking the names of the six goswamis:

জয় রূপ সনাতন ভট্ট রঘুনাথ ।
শ্রীজীব গোপালভট্ট দাস রঘুনাথ ॥

jaya rupa sanatana bhatta raghunatha
sri-jiva gopala-bhatta dasa raghunatha

‘All glory to Sri Rupa, Sanatan, Raghunath Bhatta, Sri Jiva, Gopal Bhatta and Raghunath Das!’

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

These are the six goswamis, and Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is the seventh goswami. After him, there was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, who appeared in this world owing to Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also wrote a very beautiful kirtan 'Sri Saraswat Arati' that we sing at each of our temples. In other temples, they sing 'Jaya jaya Radha-Krsna yugala milana', but we do not chant it because this is too high. We chant Srila Sridhar Maharaj's kirtan:

জয়রে জয়রে জয় গৌর-সরস্বতী ।
ভকতিবিনোদান্বয় করুণা মুরতি ॥

jayare jayare jaya gaura-sarasvati
bhakativinodanvaya karuna murati

‘Glory, glory to Sri Gaura–Saraswati, the holy embodiment of mercy in the line of Sri Bhaktivinod Thakur.’

প্রকাশিলে গৌরসেবা ভূবন মঙ্গল ।
ভখতিসিদ্ধান্ত শুদ্ধ প্রজ্ঞান উজ্জ্বল ॥

prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala
bhakati-siddhanta suddha prajnana ujjvala

‘Revealing service to Sri Gaura, which spreads auspiciousness in this world, you presented devotional teachings (bhakti-siddhanta) that radiate self-effulgent pure transcendental knowledge.’

(Sri Saraswat Arati, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

There are other lines there, but I would like to mention these first four ones. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is very merciful (karuna-murati) because he gave Srila Prabhupad to this world. Jagad-Guru Srila Prabhupad manifested in this world service to Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu – he manifested service to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharvika Giridhari.

Param Guru Maharaj also composed this poem:

ভয়ভঞ্জন-জয়শংসন-করুণায়তনয়নম্ ।
কনকোৎপল-জনকোজ্জ্বল-রসসাগর-চয়নম্ ॥

bhaya-bhanjana-jaya-samsana-karunayata-nayanam
kanakotpala-janakojjvala-rasa-sagara-chayanam

‘He (his holy form) has arisen from the birthplace of golden lotuses, an (exalted, supramundane) ocean of the nectar of divine consorthood.’

(‘Sri Dayita-dasa-pranati Panchakam’, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

Read all this poetry! Instead of sitting at home and chatting with others, read these things.

ভয়ভঞ্জন-জয়শংসন-করুণায়তনয়নম্ ।
কনকোৎপল-জনকোজ্জ্বল-রসসাগর-চয়নম্ ॥
মুখরীকৃত-ধরণীতল-হরিকীর্ত্তন-রসনম্ ।
ক্ষিতিপাবন-ভবতারণ-পিহিতারুণ-বসনম্ ॥
শুভদোদয়-দিবসে বৃষরবিজানিজ-দয়িতম্ ।
প্রণমামি চ চরণান্তিক-পরিচারক-সহিতম্ ॥১॥

bhaya-bhanjana-jaya-samsana-karunayata-nayanam
kanakotpala-janakojjvala-rasa-sagara-chayanam
mukhari-krta-dharani-tala-hari-kirtana-rasanam
ksiti-pavana-bhava-tarana-pihitaruna-vasanam
subhadodaya-divase vrsaravija-nija-dayitam
pranamami cha charanantika-paricharaka-sahitam [1]

‘He (his holy form) has arisen from the birthplace of golden lotuses, an (exalted, supramundane) ocean of the nectar of divine consorthood; His large, merciful eyes dispel (the suffering souls’) fear and proclaim (the surrendered souls’) victory; His tongue (constantly) vibrates the whole Earth planet with Sri Krishna-sankirtan; and his beauty, resplendent in the (saffron) robes of the newly risen sun, purifies the whole universe and dispels all suffering of material existence – on his holy appearance day, I again and again bow down to this beloved associate of Sri Vrisabhanu-nandini as well as all servitors of his lotus feet.’

(Sri Dayita-dasa-pranati-panchakam, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

If you read the explanation of this poem, you will see how beautiful this glorification is. Srila Sridhar Maharaj also wrote about Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur:

শ্রীগৌরানুমতং স্বরূপবিদিতং রূপাগ্রজেনাদৃতং
রূপাদ্যৈঃ পরিবেশিতং রঘুগণৈরাস্বাদিতং সেবিতম্ ।
জীবাদ্যৈরভিরক্ষিতং শুক-শিব-ব্রহ্মাদি-সম্মানিতং
শ্রীরাধাপদসেবনামৃতমহো তদ্দাতুমীশো ভবান্ ॥

sri-gauranumatam svarupa-viditam rupagrajenadrtam
rupadyaih parivesitam raghuganair asvaditam sevitam
jivadyair abhiraksitam suka-siva-brahmadi-sammanitam
sri-radha-pada-sevanamrtam aho tad datum iso bhavan [9]

'O wonder of wonders! That which, on the order of Sri Gaurachandra, Sri Svarup Damodar knows the internal purpose of; which is adored by Sri Sanatan Goswami; which is distributed by the preceptors headed by Sri Rupa Goswami, who teach transcendental mellows; which is tasted and enhanced by Sri Raghunath Das Goswami and his followers; which is carefully protected by the votaries headed by Sri Jiva Prabhu; and which (from a respectful distance) is venerated by great personalities such as Sri Suka, Lord Siva, Indra (the chief of demigods) and Lord Brahma (the grandfather of all beings) – you are capable of giving us that treasure of the nectarine rapture of servitude to the holy feet of Sri Radha.'

(Sri Bhaktivinod Viraha Dasakam, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

When Srila Prabhupad read what Srila Sridhar Maharaj had written, he said to him, 'You did not write it yourself – you may have held the pen, but it was Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur who himself came and wrote this. Happy style.' Srila Prabhupad commented that he could not stop Srila Sridhar Maharaj – he sent him to the Godavari for some service, and when Srila Sridhar Maharaj returned from there, he gave him sannyas in 1930. He crossed over many other senior devotees who were waiting to get sannyas and gave sannyas to Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

So, we have come today to offer our obeisances to this place, the temple of Pujyapad Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj at the birthplace of Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

Jay Srila Prabhupad ki jay.

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1) Srila Prabhupad's Birthplace
2) Srila Prabhupad's Effulgence