Advent of Srila Prabhupad

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
2 January 2021, part 1, translated from Bengali

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay
Suddha-bhakti-vighnar vinasankari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar, Giriraj Govardhan ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
All the assembled devotees ki jay
All the worldwide devotees ki jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
chaksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

'I offer my obeisance unto Sri Gurudev, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, applying the kajal of divine knowledge on my eyes.'

gurvvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam
chintyachintya-samasta-veda-nipunam sri-rupa-panthanugam
govindabhidham ujjvalam vara-tanum bhakty anvitam-sundaram
vande visva-gurun cha divya-bhagavat-premno hi bija-pradam

I offer my obeisance unto he who perfectly fulfils his Gurudev's most cherished desires; who is fully adorned with the blessings of his Gurudev's associates; who is expert in all aspects of Vedic knowledge, both conceivable and inconceivable; who is the pre-eminent follower of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's line; who is known as 'Govinda'—Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj; whose beautiful, effulgent, exalted form is infused with pure devotion; who is the Guru of the entire universe; and who is the giver of the seed of divine love for the Supreme Lord.

devam divya-tanum suchhanda-vadanam balarka-chelanchitam
sandrananda-puram sad-eka-varanam vairagya-vidyambudhim
sri-siddhanta-nidhim subhakti-lasitam sarasvatanam varam
vande tam subhadam mad-eka-saranam nyasisvaram sridharam

I offer my obeisance unto my lord, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, whose speech is most pleasing; whose divine form is adorned with garments the colour of the newly-risen sun; who is an abode of intense, ecstatic devotion; who is the sadhus' sole choice; who is an ocean of renunciation and knowledge; who is a treasure-house of perfect conclusions; who is resplendent with pure devotion; who is the best of Srila Saraswati Thakur's followers; who is the giver of all good; who is the leading general of the tridandi-sannyasis; and who is my sole shelter.

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Again and again I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy, and wish-fulfilling trees.

vrndayai tulasi-devyai priyayai kesavasya cha
krsna-bhakti-prade devi satyavatyai namo namah

Again and again I offer my obeisance unto Vrinda Devi, who is known as Tulasi Devi and Satyavati, who is most dear to Krishna, and who bestows devotion to Krishna upon us.

atha natva mantra-gurun gurun bhagavatarthadan
vyasan jagad-gurun natva tato jayam udirayet

Having offered obeisance to one's initiating Guru, to the Gurus who have taught one the meaning of the Bhagavat, and to all the authors of Vedic literature, who are the Gurus of the entire world, proclaim "Jay!"

jayah sa-parikara sri-sri-guru-gauranga-gandharvagovindasundar-padapadmanam jayastu!

All glory to the lotus feet of Sri Guru, Sri Gaurasundar, Sri Sri Gandharva-Govindasundar, and all of Their associates!

vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatan Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunath Das Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami.

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura-bhakta-vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Yesterday, the festival of holy appearance day of our Gurupadpadma, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj was completed. When we stayed in Kolerganj, Nabadwip, we would go to Bamunpara every year. Now, there is a big problem at the place. Santosh Prabhu used to stay in Bamunpara, and he would arrange a festival, but now there is nobody there to do it, and we do not know who will arrange anything or who is doing what there. That is why, to avoid giving you austerity and pain, we do not go there. Tomorrow we have one more festival—the festival of the disappearance of Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad. Many are leaving early tomorrow, so I will speak about Srila Prabhupad today. He is a grand pillar in the sky of Sri Gaudiya line.

I got some time earlier today, and I studied a scripture describing Srila Prabhupad's pastimes (Gaudiya Acharya Bhaskar Srila Prabhupad, Bengali). I had this book before also, in Kolkata. Tomorrow is Srila Prabhupad's disappearance, and I wanted to read this book. I had brought some books here, but I saw this book was not in my room, so I got another copy. Tomorrow, there will be a programme organised by the Gaudiya Vaishnav Sangha. I have been invited to speak through zoom (it is held online this year); the programme is from 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. After that, at 7 p.m. we will have our own zoom programme. I can speak English or Bengali, it is not a problem. Last time, when it was Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's appearance day, there was also an online programme with Gaudiya Vaishnavs.

So, tomorrow is Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's disappearance festival. He is Gurudev of our Param Gurudev (Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj). You can see Srila Prabhupad's Deity in various temples. In Gaudiya Math, everyone calls Srila Saraswati Thakur 'Prabhupad', but later ISKCON devotees also wanted to called Srila Swami Maharaj 'Prabhupad', and there is no fault in that (anyone can call their Guru 'Prabhupad'). However, if somebody downplays the position of Srila Prabhupad, they make an offence. I myself never create any contradiction, I also sometimes call Srila Swami Maharaj 'Prabhupad'—Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Srila Prabhupad. I know the relationship between our missions and with Srila Prabhupad, so I give honour to everyone.

I know very well that you can never get any respect if you do not treat others with respect. If you do not want good for others, if you do not have faith in others, the Lord will not want good for you. If you want everyone to face an ill fate, the Lord will make you face an ill fate too. If you want good for everyone, the Lord will want good for you too. You must always remember this. It is not necessary to humiliate anyone or make anyone small.

You all know that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur appeared in this world in Sri Jagannath Puri, at a place called Narayan Chata. Srila Sach-chid-ananda Bhaktivinod Thakur was nine years old when he was married, and his wife was five years old. In olden days, marriages took place at a very young age. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur's first wife died, and he got married again. He had all his children from his second wife. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was his sixth son. Before that, Bhaktivinod Thakur was a school teacher in Mednipore. Then, he took an ICS (Imperial Civil Service, under the British government) exam, and having passed it, he became Deputy Magistrate. He served as Deputy Magistrate in Dinajpur (in present day Bangladesh), and it was there that he became interested in Mahaprabhu. He wanted to understand what Mahaprabhu's real religion was. After Mahaprabhu left, there was Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Srila Acharya Srinivas, Srila Shyamananda Prabhu, and they continued Mahaprabhu's conception and teachings. After them, time passed, and people started criticising Vaishnavs, and the society of Vaishnavs became full of imitation and wrong behaviour (sahajiya). Muslim would not call temples "math"--they would use the word "akhra" (আখড়া), which means a club or a place for musical or sports exercises (a dirty place).

In this way, in the name of pure religion, many dirty, polluted things were taking place, and people abused those who wore tilaks. Vaishnav religion was dragged to a dirty place. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur saw what was happening and was disgusted...

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