Service Succession

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata-Worldwide, 23 August 2020, part 7

Are there any questions?

Question: Could you please tell us if there is a pastime of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Siliguri?

No, there is not. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to North Bengal, He only went up to Malda, not farther than that (crossing the Ganges, He came to Ramkeli to meet with Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami). However, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur went to Siliguri and Darjeeling, etc. and he established a centre in Darjeeling, but devotees could not tolerate so much cold, so that centre is now already closed. Gurudev told me that if I got a chance, I could make a centre in Darjeeling, but when I went to Darjeeling for the first time to search for a land, I saw that there was a big problem with water shortage, that is why I felt very uncomfortable to make a centre there. The water there used to come only from the mountain, so there was always water deficiency. That is why I did not do anything there, but when I made a centre in Siliguri, many devotees, including foreign devotees, actually went to Darjeeling from Siliguri for book distribution. Darjeeling is a tourist place, so it is a very good place for collection and book distribution. Now also they keep water in some other way, so there is no problem with water in hotels, etc. If devotees want, they can preach there. It is a good place for preaching because, as I said, it is a tourist place.

Are there any other questions?

Question: How did Govinda become Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's servitor?

Govinda Das is Ishwar Puri's disciple. When Ishwar Puri became very old, Govinda Das asked him, "Gurudev, whom shall I serve after you?" Ishwar Puri ordered his disciple Govinda Das, "You can go to Mahaprabhu and serve Him." After that, when Ishwar Puri left his body, Govinda Prabhu came to Mahaprabhu and prayed to Him, "Please accept me as Your personal servitor." At first Mahaprabhu was a little hesitant to accept his prayer, He said, "Gurur sevak haya manya se amara (গুরুস সেবক হয় মান্য সে আমার, Cc 2.10.142). We must give respect to a servitor of our Gurudev. How shall I accept you as My personal servitor?" Svarup Damodar, Ray Ramananda were there at that time, and they said, "Yes, Prabhu, that is what scriptures say—gurur sevak haya manya se amara, we must always give respect to Gurudev's servitors. But if Gurudev gives an order, how will You avoid it? Will You follow the instruction of the scriptures or will You follow your Gurudev's instruction? That is our question. What is important for You?" Then, Mahaprabhu admitted that the order of the Guru was more important, and He accepted Govinda, "Yes, I have to follow my Guru's instruction, so I have to accept your service. You can come as My personal servant." This is how Govinda Prabhu became a personal servitor of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Also, I remember one time I saw a disciple of Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj had come to our Math to take shelter of our Gurudev. Gurudev told him, "You are already a disciple of my guru-varga (Puri Maharaj), then how can I give initiation to you? If you want to stay and serve here, bring a letter from your Guru where your Guru will say, 'Govinda Maharaj, I do not mind it, you can take my servitor for your service,' then I can accept you."

Srila Janardan Maharaj: ...We first purchased the property here in Soquel on Radhastami day. The county gave us the title for the property, it was 1993, twenty-eight years ago.

Yes, Srimati Radharani is important for our spiritual life. Also, Sri Lalita-samptami is on Tuesday next week. Gurudev always gives respect to Srimati Lalita Devi and he always told us, "When you go for Vrindavan parikrama, you will go to Uchagaon, the bithplace of Lalita Devi." So, every year when we go to Vrindavan, we first visit Lalita Devi's birthplace, then we go to Varshana to see Radharani's and Vrishabhanu Raja's house. Also, we visit Ravel, Srimati Radharani's birthplace... We must give Srimati Lalita Devi as much respect as we give to Srimati Radharani, and we must worship Srimati Radharani,

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

You will never get the mercy of Krishna without worshipping Radharani. Therefore, we must worship Srimati Radharani. Moreover, Krishna takes the heart and halo of Srimati Radharani and comes to this world as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. For this reason, we always worship Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

I am closing the meeting for today and again giving my obeisance to my guru-varga who are present here—Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj and Srila Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaj. I am also giving my full obeisance to my friend Srila Bhakti Vijay Trivikram Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Bandhav Puri Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Niskam Shanta Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Vijnan Muni Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Vaibhav Parivrajak Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Rasik Sannyasi Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Ujjval Sajjan Maharaj, Sripad Bhakti Nandan Sadhu Maharaj—I am giving my full obeisance to you all, as well as all the devotees all over the world. Please forgive my offences and please accept me as your humble servant. I am always at your service—you can call me any time, I am always with you. Do not worry about anything, you are always in my heart. I have to follow Gurudev's order, so I have to always be with you no matter what circumstances, no matter what problems come along. I am always ready to fight against maya. You always give me so much enthusiasm and energy to serve my Guru.

Jay Srila Gurudev Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay

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