(3/6) Glories of Great Souls

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 15 December 2020, evening, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Guru Maharaj has a book called In Search of the Original Source. I have translated it into Bengali recently. What does 'in search of the original source' mean? Where have we come from? Where was I? Where have I come? Where will I go? I do not know anything.

Srila Swami Maharaj said once when he went abroad: people get PhD here in India and after that go to America, to California and New York.

'Why did you come here?' Srila Swami Maharaj asked one man.

'I came to continue my studies,' the man replied.

'What will you do after that?'

'I will become a researcher and earn much money.'

'So, you have come to America in search of dollars? But I have come here from India to show American people the hidden treasure of India. I have found that treasure from my Guru Maharaj, and I have now come to distribute it to American people.'

Having got that hidden treasure, Srila Swami Maharaj wrote Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. He knew all its seven hundred verses by heart. He also knew many verses from Bhagavatam. He translated it into English. He sat at

I wrote about Srila Swami Maharaj in Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala. When Srila Swami Maharaj was first opening IKSCON in Mayapur, he bought five khatas of land (3,600 sq.ft. or 334.5 sq.m.) and invited everyone to the opening ceremony, but Gaudiya Math devotees did not come. Because they did not like Western boys and girls who did not practise properly, and so on. But Srila Sridhar Maharaj went there. Although Srila Sridhar Maharaj is a son of a brahman lineage, he went to Srila Swami Maharaj's temple and called Srila Swami Maharaj Nityananda Prabhu's 'saktya-vesa-avatara'. When they were at the temple together (Srila Sridhar Maharaj came with our Gurudev and Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj, who stayed at our Nabadwip Dham and whose samadhi mandir is in Vrindavan, near Pavan Sarovar in Nandagram), Srila Sridhar Maharaj asked Srila Swami Maharaj, 'You are inaugurating a temple, but where is your yajna and priests?' Srila Swami Maharaj replied, 'You are my siksa-guru. When a Vaishnav like you have come, my temple is already inaugurated.' Then, the class, the Hari-katha, started, Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that he was not feeling well, so he requested Srila Govinda Maharaj to speak. There is a photograph of then all seated at that inauguration programme: Srila Govinda Maharaj was wearing white clothes at that time, he had beautiful curly hair... When Srila Govinda Maharaj spoke this verse:

কম্প্রতি কথয়িতুমীশে সম্প্রতি কো বা প্রতীতিমায়াতু ।
গোপতি-তনয়াকুঞ্জে গোপবধূটী-বিঢং ব্রহ্ম ॥

kam prati kathayitum ise samprati ko va pratitim ayatu
go-pati-tanaya-kunje gopa-vadhuti-vidham brahma

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.98)

The meaning of this verse is this: Krishna, a beautiful cowherd boy, herds cows, His body covered in dust, with an uttariya cloth tied around His waist and a flute in His hands, and beautiful housewives (Vraja gopis), Laksmi and Maha-laksmi are running behind Him. Who can say who this young cowherd boy is? Who is able to know this Boy? In the same way, Srila Swami Maharaj was a householder shop-owner called Abhay Babu, but who has he become now?

He has brought all these boys and girls from abroad and makes it possible for them to practise Krishna consciousness and serve the Lord. This is not some small matter. He converted those who followed Christianity, Confucianism and other religions and brought them to this line. He cannot but be glorified and praised. You must always glorify Vaishnavs; never criticise them. We must glorify their qualities (engage in guna-kirtan). You cannot get anywhere without attaining the mercy of gurus and Vaishnavs. We must speak about all their great qualities.

When Srila Gurudev spoke that sloka, saying that Srila Swami Maharaj had gone to America to preach about Mahaprabhu – who would have said? – Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj exclaimed, 'Hari bol! Hari bol!' Everybody joined in and started chanting, 'Hari bol!' Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that he was very pleased to hear what Srila Govinda Maharaj had said, and Srila Swami Maharaj said, 'In this material world, I have many sons, but in the spiritual world, I have only one son, Srila Govinda Maharaj (Gaurendu Brahmachari).' He called Gurudev his only son and loved him as a father (vatsalya-rasa). Srila Swami Maharaj also stayed and slept in the room where Gurudev stayed in Nabadwip. Moreover, Srila Govinda Maharaj (he was a brahmachari at that time) and Srila Sridhar Maharaj stayed in Srila Swami Maharaj's house during eight years. They sometimes came there, sometimes went back to Nabadwip and other places, but they would sometimes stay a few months with Srila Swami Maharaj at his house at Ultadanga Road, Kolkata. Srila Swami Maharaj was a householder at that time.

There are many other pastimes also. You can find many more things described in the book Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala. When we go to ISKCON during the Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we speak about these things there.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Do Not Overstep Your Limit
2) Do You Ever Think of It?
3) Glories of Great Souls
4) Do Not Deflect
5) Preserving Purity
6) Appreciate Prasad-Seva