All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

Dear Devotees, Friends, and Well-Wishers,

Please accept our humble obeisance at your holy feet.

In view of the approaching grand separation festival of the divine disappearance of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj, the President and Sevaite-Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, on 20 May 2021 (Thursday) and following some enquiries from the devotees, we can humbly share the following as a way of general guidance on conducting festivals that we have learned from the association and eternal divine pastimes of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj. Generally, the programmes arranged and hosted by Sri Gurupadpadma would go as follows:

• Assembling, gathering and welcoming all august Vaishnavs and devotees with obeisances, sweet words, garlands, chandan paste;
• A brief introductory opening speech;
• Chanting kirtans:

From the holy lotus mouth of Sri Gurupadapdma Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

• "Gurudev, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj always wanted to give some prasadam to the devotees, and I saw in Chaitanya-charitamrita, Prapanna-jivanamritam, and even Jagadananda Pandit's Prema-vivarta that if you have something, you must give it to others—if you have no wealth, you can give others some prasadam, and if you have no prasadam, nothing, you can give others sweet words. That is the main thing. You can make others happy with sweet words."

• "All the devotees know how to cook, what is there to it? When Nityananda Prabhu is in Ekachakra, He likes roasted and mashed eggplant (begun pora), and when Nityananda Prabhu comes to Venezuela or Colombia, He takes arepa there. What is the problem? Nityananda Prabhu's taste is different—He can take different things from everybody and from everywhere as long as you cook it with heart. The main thing is to serve with heart—not to do anything artificially. When you do any service or cook anything, you must do it with heart, then it will be good for everybody, and then Mahaprabhu, or Krishna, or Nityananda Prabhu will be happy—They will enjoy, and Gurudev will also enjoy. This is the main advice how to do everything. It is necessary for us to understand this."

An extensive guidance on the proper service mood during the Vaishnav seva festivals is kept in the Daily Practice section of the website:
Observing Festivals
A page of the Daily Practice section dedicated to Vaishnav-seva and observing festivals. "Why are you making a festival? Making a festival means you are inviting many people and you are giving them some prasadam, engaging them in Krishna consciousness—it means practising Krishna consciousness."

Favourite Preparations
When asked, His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj replies, "When devotees give me something with affection, I take that." Presented on this page, however, is a list of preparations favourite to His Divine Grace that was provided by the servitors of His Divine Grace.

Your servants,
on behalf of scsmathinternational.com

For enquiry:

In honour of Sri Shankaracharya:

Sriman Nityananda Prabhu said: "O Jiva, from here, see Sri Sankarpur. See how far it shines along the bank of the Ganga. When Sankar Acharya was conquering all directions, he came there to conquer Nabadwip. At heart, Sankar Acharya was a great Vaisnava; only externally was he acting as a nondualist and servant of Maya. He was a highly empowered manifestation of Siva who was expert at preaching a conception of veiled Buddhism. Siva performs this duty according to the order of the Lord. When Sankar Acharya came to Nadia, Gaurachandra revealed Himself to Sankar Acharya in a dream and mercifully spoke sweet words to him, 'You are My servant, and following My order, you are very cleverly preaching illusionism. Nabadwip Dham is very dear to Me, and illusionism will never have a place here. Here, Vrddha Siva and Praudha Maya propagate imaginary interpretations of the scriptures. They deceive, however, only those who oppose My devotees. In general, My devotees reside here. This place is not for preaching misconception. Therefore, you should go elsewhere. Do not trouble the residents of Nabadwip.' Understanding the position of Nabadwip through this dream, Sankar Acharya went elsewhere, inspired with devotion."

(Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya, chapter 15)

For the consolation of the distressed and shattered:

Student: After the disappearance of the Spiritual Master, how should the disciples continue his Mission?

Srila Sridhar Maharaj: You must not neglect your conscience. You may go to fight as a soldier, to save your country, or your people, or your honour. Your environment does not depend on your whim. It may appear extremely perplexing, but you will have to face that. However complex the battlefield may be, as a soldier, you will have to fight. Otherwise you have no faith in your own cause.

There may be disturbances. Rather we say there should be, there may even be fighting amongst devotees, but we should not leave the preaching of Mahaprabhu, despite all differences. Disturbance must come, because our most beloved Guru has withdrawn from amongst us. Such a great curse has been thrown on our heads; should we like to live peacefully? In its wake disturbances must come, and we must undergo them. Still, we must remain sincere; we must face the difficulty in a proper way. It has come to train us to go in the right direction.

What we received from our Spiritual Master we understood only in a rough estimation. Now, things have come in such a way that we have to scrutinise ourselves in every position. We have to analyse ourselves. Atma-niksepa, self-analysis, has begun. We are under trial. What we received from our Spiritual Master, in what way have we received it? Properly, or only showingly? The time has come to purify us, to test whether we are real students, real disciples, or his disciples only in face and confession. What is the position of a real disciple? If we live in the society, what is the depth of our creed? In what attitude have we accepted his teachings? How deep-rooted is it within us? The fire has come to test whether we can stand. Is our acceptance real? Or is it a sham, an imitation? This fire will prove that.

So, we must not be afraid of any adverse circumstances. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, "A happy ksatriya hankers for the battle you are facing (sukhinah ksatriyah Partha labhante yuddham idrsam)." Our karma has come to face us, to surround us, and we can't avoid it. These disturbances are a result of our own karma; they came from within us. So, we must not quarrel. We must act properly in dealing with that.

We have to scrutinise more accurately what we thought we understood. Everyone must ask himself, "Where am I? What is my real need? And how much am I hankering for the real thing?" All these things will be expressed and made public. So, this is the real field of sadhana, or practice. Our practice, our advancement, needs all these difficulties. Otherwise we may not know what is progress. We will become hypocrites and give the same adulterated thing to others. So, to purify ourselves it is necessary that so many disturbances come.

And God has no error. He commands the environment. It is not our responsibility. The responsibility of the environment does not rest upon us. Our responsibility is within ourselves alone. The environment is in the hands of the Lord. He has not done any wrong to me. If I am sincere, then I have to adjust myself with this environment and put my faith before Him. By our stand in any circumstances in the battle, our patriotism will be put to the test. We will be tested to see whether we are real soldiers or not.

Anything may come, but we will have to face that. I must not forget my Lord, my Guru, my Gauranga, my Radha-Govinda, under any circumstances. Under all unfavourable circumstances, I must stand with my head erect and say, "Yes! I am a servant of that clan, that sampradaya. Everyone may leave me, but I shall stand alone!" With this attitude we must march on, whatever the circumstances may be. Then the recognition may come in my favour, that, "Yes, under such trying circumstances he is still there." Our superiors will be pleased with us.

We must analyse ourselves. How much are we selfish? To what percent are our unwanted bad habits, anarthas, still present within our hearts? How much are the impurities of karma, jnan, mental desires, and other filthy things mixed with the real faith—that must come out, and that must be eliminated in different ways. If we want real good, no one can hinder us. With this spirit we must move, and then we will be able to understand what is what...

(Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Sri Guru and His Grace)

In honour of Srila Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj:

Sripad Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj (by Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, spoken on Srila Jajavar Maharaj's disappearance day)
"Srila Jajavar Maharaj joined the Gaudiya Mission of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur at a very young age. He could sing nicely, and he looked very simple—there was not a shadow of inauspiciousness in his body..."
• Download / listen to the audio (8.4 Mb, 25 min)

All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

Dear Devotees, Friends, and Well-Wishers,

Please accept our humble obeisance at your holy feet.

We are writing to inform Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math family and well-wishers of the arrangements that are being made following the footsteps and supreme example of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj. Following the guidance set by our beloved Divine Master Sri Gurupadpadma Ananta-sri-vibhusita Om Visnupad Paramahamsa-kula-chudamani Visva-varenya Sri Srimad Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj, the Acharya and Sevaite of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, a grand Vaishnav-seva Festival honouring the eternal glory of His Divine Grace is to be observed on the eleventh day following the calamitous events of His Divine Grace's disappearance, which falls on 20 May 2021 (Thursday), which is in accordance with what His Divine Grace had arranged for his beloved Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj following the disappearance of His Divine Grace on 27 March 2010. We pray to all devotees and well-wishers that they try to find the strength to arrange the best possible festival with all proper decorum as taught by His Divine Grace himself, for his eternal pleasure and joy, taking all necessary precaution considering the pandemic situation.

Guidance on how such festivals are observed can be found in numerous photographs posted on the website, as well as in the written Daily Practice section of the website: Observing Festivals. Generally, it should consist of Sri Hari-kirtan and Sri Hari-katha that are so very dear to our Sri Gurupadpadma, followed by offering a special arati, puspanjali, bhoga, and distributing maha-prasadam. The most important service now is to remember the divine teachings of His Divine Grace and to try to carry the ever-victorious flag of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math following the earnest desire, eternal wish, and pure precepts of our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj.

Your servants,
on behalf of scsmathinternational.com

For enquiry:

(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)

In honour of Srila Gadadhar Pandit Goswami:

Sri Gadadhar Pandit: Mahaprabhu's Shadow
(A chapter from His Divine Grace's Bengali book Sri Puri Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala)
"Sri Gadadhar Pandit stayed with Mahaprabhu from his childhood. His father's name was Madhav Misra, and his mother's name was Ratnavali Devi. They lived in Mayapur near Jagannath Misra's house. Mahaprabhu could never stay without Gadadhar Pandit, and Gadadhar Pandit could not stay without Mahaprabhu even a moment too..."

At Sri Chatak Parvat and Sri Tota Gopinath Temple
His Divine Grace is speaking at the bhajan-kutir of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur and Sri Tota Gopinath temple on the first day of Sri Puri Dham parikrama, telling the pastimes of Srila Haridas Thakur's disappearance and Srila Gadadhar Pandit.
• Download / listen to the audio (4.9 Mb, 13 min | 14 July 2015 | Bengali)

Sri Gadadhar Pandit's Life in Puri
A special discourse given by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj for Sri Gaudiya Darshan, 1995, dwelling on "Puri Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math" and "Jagannathdev and His Dham."

Pandit Sri Gadadhar Goswami [Posted at Sri Gaudiya Darshan]
Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's article on Srila Gadadhar Pandit's paramount sacrifice: "Pandit Goswami's life is a special offering of silent and complete self-sacrifice to his beloved. Only those who can taste unprecedented joy by appreciating the wonder within the ornament of contradiction in seeing the bag of a beggar on Laksmi Devi’s shoulder are fit to appreciate the extraordinary glory of Srimat Pandit Goswami's unprecedented personality..."

Prayers to Sri Vaishnav Thakur:

• SONG: Ei-bara karuna kara | এইবার করুণা কর
"O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the fallen, without you there is no one. In every birth I aspire for the dust of your feet."

• SONG: Thakura vaisnava-gana | ঠাকুর বৈষ্ণবগণ
"O worshippable Vaisnavas, I offer you this prayer. I am very fallen and misbehaved. Destiny has immersed me in the fearsome ocean of material existence. Please grab me by the hair and pull me to the shore."

• SONG: Ohe Vaisnava Thakura | (ওহে) বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর
"O worshippable Vaishnav, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant. Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet. You can give Krishna, you have that power. Calling, 'Krishna!' 'Krishna!', I run after you."

• SONG: Ki-rupe paiba seva | কিরূপে পাইব সেবা
"I am so wicked, how will I ever get service? I do not have any attachment to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs! Prabhu, you see no fault in others, you are the saviour of the fallen. Please deliver Narottam this time!"

• SONG: Dhana mora nityananda | ধন মোর নিত্যানন্দ
"Nityananda is my wealth, Gaurachandra is my lord, my very life is the Divine Couple. Advaita Acharya is my strength, Gadadhar is my family, and Narahari is my play and pastimes."

All Glory to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga

Dear Devotees, Friends, and Well-Wishers,

Please accept our humble obeisance at your holy feet.

With deep pain and sorrow we are bound to give the news that our beloved Sri Gurupadpadma, His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj, has chosen to withdraw from this world today, adorning with his painful pastime the holy day of Sri Krishna Chaturdasi of Sri Madhusudan Month (10 May 2021). His Divine Grace entered his eternal pastimes peacefully in hospital at 4.00 a.m. suffering a heart attack while undergoing treatment.

The holy body of His Divine Grace has been taken to his beloved Sri Ekachakra Dham and placed to reside there eternally in his holy and worshippable samadhi form.

We beg all devotees of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math to please take care of yourself and each other and to try to find strength to overcome this painful situation and to help each other carry on in a united way.

Your servants,
on behalf of scsmathinternational.com

"I can say to those of you who are helping and supporting my Guru, who are serving Gurudev's temples, that I will always be with you, and I am always with all of you too—wherever I go, wherever I am, I will take you all with me. Even if I die, I will take you all with me. I do not know how long I will be alive in this world, neither do you know how long you will stay in this world, but I will always be with you, I will always look after you."

(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)

For the consolation of the distressed and shattered:

"Wherever Gurudev keeps one, everyone must accept and follow it. This applies to every single practitioner. 'Guru krpa hi kevalam'—the mercy of Gurudev is all in all; but those who are clever at their practising life and service life, want to bring satisfaction and happiness to Gurudev. It is necessary to always be conscious, 'What is favourite to Gurudev?' For example, puspanna, khichudi and paramanna—these three offerings are given to the Lord. But what does my Lord love? What does He really like? If you know it and can arrange for such things, it is good. Those who are very observant in their service life, must always be alert towards such things."

(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)

"Having been taught Sril Bhaktivinod Thakur's exalted teachings and ideal, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad has made a great arrangement for the preaching of pure devotion—he established temples and centres in many countries and places all over the world and sent Vaisnav sannyasis to preach. He was an embodiment of bhagavat-vani (message of Srimad Bhagavatam). In his instructions he told, 'We have not come to become carpenters and builders. We are merely messengers of divine message. You will be abused and humiliated a hundred times, but you must never leave Hari-kirtan. As soon as we leave Hari-kirtan, the surrounding environment will come to attack you.' His ultimate advice for the surrendered souls was chaste adherence to the guru: 'Stay all together in strict adherence to the main shelter-giver (Sri Gurupadpadma), your only duty is to continue practising and preaching Sri Rupa-Raghunath's message.'"

(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)

"The disciples did many activities enthusiastically but they actually did not know what devotional service is. When Gurudev disappeared, his influence of covering the shortcoming in the disciples also withdrew with him. At that time some of the devotees got back their previous subtle position, and they became confused. Ultimately it depends upon their own karma, their good fortune, and also the quality of their practising life—these three will contribute towards a good result. It is necessary for the devotees to know very clearly what they want to practise, then they will not go off the track—and in that also their own good fortune and good activities are necessary, otherwise they will not reach their goal. We must be able to recognise what is what."

(Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

Question: It seems that we have one type of fear that having got some connection with your self we may lose that at death. I do not want to have connection with anyone else, I want to stay with you. So, I feel some type of fear...