At Sri Radha Kunja-Bihari Gaudiya Math

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Sri Kunja-Bihari Gaudiya Math
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali

By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, we have come today to Sri Gaudiya Math established by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

You know that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur is the founder acharya of Sri Chaitanya Math and all Gaudiya Maths.

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

sri-gauranga-parisada thakura bhakti-vinoda
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite anilena avanite
toma' akalanka purna indu

"Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of all low and fallen souls—to dispel all darkness of this dark age, he brought to this earth you [Srila Saraswati Thakur], a spotless full moon."

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has brought Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur down to this world from Sri Goloka Vrindavan to establish the channel of pure conception of Mahaprabhu.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote this kirtan about Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur,

কৃপয়া হরিকীর্ত্তনমূর্ত্তিধরং
ধরণীভরহারক-গৌরজনম্ ।
জনকাধিকবৎসলস্নিগ্ধপদং
প্রণমামি সদা প্রভুপাদপদম্

krpaya hari-kirtana-murti-dharam
dharani-bhara-haraka-gaura-janam
janakadhika-vatsala-snigdha-padam
pranamami sada prabhupada-padam

"He is the embodiment of Hari-kirtan. He mercifully relieves Mother Earth of the burden upon her. He is an associate of Sri Gaura, and more kind and affectionate than a father. Eternally I offer my obeisance to my master's feet."

He is the very embodiment of Hari-kirtan. When he speaks Hari-katha or chants Hari-kirtan, that is kirtan. He is also more affectionate than a father!

সুজনার্ব্বুদরাধিতপাদযুগং
যুগধর্ম্মধুরন্ধর-পাত্রবরম্ ।
বরদাভয়দায়ক-পূজ্যপদং
প্রণমামি সদা প্রভুপাদপদম্

sujanarvuda-radhita-pada-yugam
yuga-dharma-dhurandhara-patra-varam
varadabhaya-dayaka-pujya-padam
pranamami sada prabhupada-padam

"My master, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, established the religion of the age, Krishna-sankirtan, and is the chief minister of the universal assembly of leading Vaisnavas. His lotus feet are worshipped by millions of virtuous souls and fulfil the desires of those who dispel souls' fears. Eternally I offer my obeisance to my master's worshippable feet."

Gaura's sujan-gan (the great exalted devotees of Gauranga Mahaprabhu) worship and pray to him. We have come today to the temple of this Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says, "Following the whims of your mind on pretext of service is not service; following the order of the Guru, serving the Vaishnavs and satisfying them is called service." You may travel to many holy places, you may practise all sixty-four types of devotion, you may chant hundreds of thousands of Holy Names, but if you do not follow the guidance of Vaishnavs, you will not get any result. Krishna consciousness cannot be practised without following the order of Vaishnavs. Whatever you do, wherever you stay—even if you stay in Vrindavan, Mathura, or Goloka—you will not get any result if you do not follow the order of Guru and Vaishnavs.

It is very rare to find a sadhu in this world.

[এই কলি-যুগে] সাধু পাওয়া কষ্ট বড় জীবের জানিয়া ।

সাধুগুরুরূপে কৃষ্ণ আইল নদীয়া ॥

[ei kali-yuge] sadhu paoya kasta bada jivera janiya
sadhu-bhakta-rupe krsna aila nadiya

Understanding that [in this Kali-yuga] it is very difficult for a soul to find a sadhu, Krishna came to Nadia in the form of a pure devotee.

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.8

You will see many gurus in this world, many open temples and guru business in this world—it is very easy to do guru business, but one cannot become a bona fide guru without first becoming a bona fide disciple. There are many gurus in this world, but there are very few disciples.

Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said very beautifully about Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur,

নিখিল-ভুবন-মায়া-ছিন্নবিচ্ছিন্নকর্ত্রী
বিবুধবহুল-মৃগ্যা-মুক্তি-মোহান্ত-দাত্রী ।
শিথিলিত-বিধি-রাগারাধ্য-রাধেশ-ধানী
বিলসতু হৃদি নিত্যং ভক্তিসিদ্ধান্ত-বাণী ॥

nikhila-bhuvana-maya-chhinnavichchhinna-kartri
vibudhabahula-mrgya-mukti-mohanta-datri
sithilita-vidhi-raga-radhya-radhesa-dhani
vilasatu hrdi nityam bhakti-siddhanta-vani

"With his first step, he vigorously cut asunder the whole plane of exploitation, and with his second, he put a stop to all the calculations of the different scholars with their different conceptions of liberation. With his third step, he eased the hard rules and regulations by a touch of the Divine Love: he gave us the worship of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda. The real existence of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad is in his divine teachings. May those teachings dance eternally within the core of your heart."

You can see that some sadhus often fight so much, but Srila Prabhupad declared totalitarian war against maya—if one must fight, one must fight against maya! There are also so many rules and regulations in Krishna consciousness, but Srila Prabhupad eased those rules, made them less strict.

One time, one devotee came to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and said, "Prabhupad, there are so many siddha sadhus (holy people who have attained perfection, siddha)." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur replied, "Yes, true. There are many aloo siddha, begun siddha, patal siddha, etc." ['Siddha' means 'perfection', and 'siddha' can also mean 'boiled'. Aloo - potato, begun - eggplant, patal - pointed gourd.]

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj also writes,

জয়রে জয়রে জয় গৌর-সরস্বতী ।
ভকতিবিনোদান্বয় করুণামুরতি ॥

jayare jayare jaya gaura-saraswati
bhakativinodanvaya karuna murati

'All glory, all glory to Sri Gaura–Saraswati, the holy embodiment of mercy in the line of Sri Bhaktivinod Thakur'.

প্রকাশিলে গৌরসেবা ভূবনমঙ্গল ।
ভখতিসিদ্ধান্ত শুদ্ধ প্রজ্ঞান উজ্জ্বল ॥

prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala
bhakatisiddhanta 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'.

One time, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was doing Vraja Mandal parikrama, the same way as we are doing it now. The devotees who cooked for the parikrama party at that time, came to Srila Prabhupad and said, "Prabhupad, everybody goes for the parikrama, everybody gets so much sukriti and piety, but I cannot even go out—all I have seen is the kitchen, I have spent all this time there." Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur told, "Whatever result everybody has earned doing this parikrama, whatever sukriti they have got, if you put it all together—your sukriti is much more than that!" Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also told that when people come to the temple, everybody gives respect to the pujari, everybody bows down to the pujari, but nobody comes to show respect to the devotees who cook. They call them negligently 'cooks' and give them no honour. But Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that the service of those who cook for the Lord is very valuable—they cook for the Lord with their own hands. Those who cook favourite items of the Lord, who make them nicely and offer them to the Lord—they are extremely dear servitors of the Lord.

During his last moments, this Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur wanted to hear 'Sri Rupa manjari pada' kirtan from the mouth of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj—in this way he indicated that he has left Srila Sridhar Maharaj to preach Sri Rupa Raghunath conception in this world. After that, overwhelmed by sadness, Srila Sridhar Maharaj came to Vrindavan and stayed at Pavan Sarovar (we will go there tomorrow) where he then received Srila Prabhupad's order following which he returned again to Nabadwip and established Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Kolerganj. His exclusive servitor Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj then preached Srila Sridhar Maharaj's conception, Srila Prabhupad and Sriman Mahaprabhu's conception, all over the world.

Jay Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

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