(1/4) Transcendental Glory of Srila Swami Maharaj

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
18 November 2020, Kolkata, part 1

Today is the disappearance day of the great Vaishnav Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad.

First, I am giving my full obeisance at the holy lotus feet of my beloved Gurudev, Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Then, I am giving my full obeisance to all the sannyasis, brahmacharis and all the devotees. And I am giving my full obeisance at Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad's holy lotus feet, whose disappearance day is today.

We do not know such words to celebrate his festival. We know, we have heard a hundred times that if we glorify Vaishnavs, it gives great benefit (vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana; বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ). We have heard it a thousand times, but how much we can glorify Vaishnavs from our hearts? How much can we serve Vaishnavs with our hearts? That is the main question. I have heard a hundred, a thousand times about these things, but I am still unqualified, I do not know such words to glorify this kind of personality. Despite that, I have heard something from the lotus mouth of Srila Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, so I can try to tell you about that.

Everybody knows that Om Vishnupad Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad took initiation from Bhagavan Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, the Founder Acharya of Gaudiya Math all over the world. Our Gurudev said once in a lecture (I heard it from him personally) that Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj made a channel, or a tunnel, from the West to India, and so many Western devotees are now coming through that route. He was the one who cultivated the land in the West and planted good seeds there; we water those seeds from time to time, and now that the trees have grown, we are getting their fruit.

Mahaprabhu said many times:

পৃথিবীতে যত আছে নগরাদি গ্রাম ।
সর্ব্বত্র প্রচার হইবে মোর নাম ॥

prthivite yata achhe nagaradi grama
sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

'My Name will be spread in every town and village of the world.'

Actually, Mahaprabhu only said it, but who realised these things?

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur tried to spread the Harinam maha-mantra in the West in many ways, he sent some of his disciples to preach in the Western world, but they could not succeed. Then, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur made one disciple – Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad – who went to preach in the Western world and conquered the whole world by preaching Krishna consciousness.

I also want to say something about his relationship with Srila Sridhar Maharaj based on what I have heard from Gurudev.

When Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj stayed in Chaitanya Math (Mayapur), he once went for preaching in Allahabad. At that time, he lived as a vanaprastha (vanachari), and Srila Swami Maharaj stayed as a grihastha in his family house. When Srila Sridhar Maharaj came to Allahabad for preaching, Srila Swami Maharaj met Srila Sridhar Maharaj for the first time. From that time, he had a good relationship with Srila Sridhar Maharaj.

Three-four years after Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad's demise, in 1941, Srila Sridhar Maharaj established his own mission, Sri Chaitanya Saraswati Math, in Kolerganj (Koladwip). At that time, Srila Swami Maharaj invited him to come to Kolkata and stay in his house at Sita Kanta Banerjee Lane. Accepting the invitation, Srila Sridhar Maharaj stayed at his house many times with our beloved Gurudev, who was a saffron-clad brahmachari, Sri Gaurendu Brahmachari, at that time. Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad often went to house programmes. Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not go (he stayed at Srila Swami Maharaj's house), but whenever Srila Swami Maharaj went to small arranged programmes, he took our gurudev. At the programmes, Swami Maharaj would tell our Gurudev, 'You sit on the vyasa-asan and just reicte the slokas from Srimad Bhagavad-gita, and I will give explanation.' You can see how humble he is. He said, 'I am a householder, so I have no capacity to sit on the vyasa-asan, but you are a brahmachari, so you can sit on the vyasa-asan. You can read Srimad Bhagavad-gita, and I can explain it, do not worry.'

So, Srila Swami Maharaj was always very enthusiastic to preach everywhere, both in India and in the West. Even when he was a householder, he always tried to go door to door preaching the proper conception.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Transcendental Glory of Srila Swami Maharaj
2) Srila Swami Maharaj's Reply
3) Srila Swami Maharaj Starts His Mission
4) Srila Swami Maharaj's Return to India