THE GUARDIAN OF DEVOTION (3)

All glory to the Divine Master
and the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya

EDITORIAL

In His sublime teachings to Srila Rupa Goswamipada, Sriman Mahaprabhu compared the growth of pure devotion to a creeper. The sincere soul aspiring to achieve the ultimate purpose of life, love for Sri Krishna, must first by the mercy of Guru and Krishna receive ‘the seed of that creeper. Sraddha, or the noble faith, that Krishna's service summarily fulfills all needs, is the embodiment of that seed. As a gardener, the devotee must sow that seed in the land of his own heart and daily nourish it with the pure waters of faithfully hearing from the pure devotees the glories of the Supreme Lord and accordingly chanting those glories. Cautiously he is to nurture the tender creeper, pruning the unwanted sub-branches of all antidevotional evils that stunt the natural and healthy growth of the creeper which is later to pierce the universal shell and even the ‘lofty’ plane of non-differentiated Brahman aspired for by the liberationists. At the same time, he must protect it from outside aggressors, pests, and parasites that may uproot the creeper, the worst form being disrespect to the pure Vaishnava, since even the Supreme Lord considers the worship of His pure devotee as superior to His worship (mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhikah).

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has referred in his writings to the pure sadhu devotees who guide and protect us on the difficult path of unalloyed dedication, as ‘raksakas’ or ‘guardians.’ Due to human fallibility (evam prakrti-vaichitryat…), in the course of time the divine teachings of devotion are often adulterated by vested interest, misinterpretation, or adulteration. When conferring the u title upon our most worshipful Divine Master in 1930, our Grand-guru Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur selected the title ‘Sridhar’ from the 108 scriptural titles. He recalled the line of Sri Jivapada, ‘bhakty-eka-raksaka-sridhara (Chief Guardian of Devotion)’ who once thus referred in his writings to the famous Bhagavata commentator Sri Sridhar Swamipada. Srila Prabhupada, in recognition of the stalwart quality of his beloved disciple, then conferred the title ‘Bhakti Raksak Sridhar’ upon him. When hearing Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s Sanskrit composition in separation of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, he commented on the most happy style of the composition and expressed his confidence that at least one man would successfully follow him and continue to uphold the standard of the sampradaya (divine succession).

Thus, on this most holy day, the blessed appearance day of the most merciful descent of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, by the grace of our most venerable Guardian of Devotion, Sri Gurupadapadma Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and also by the grace of his most beloved intimate disciple who he has personally appointed as the President-Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Krishnanusilana Sangha, the illustrious Parivrajakacharya Srimad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj—it is our good fortune to present to the pious reader this humble publication of lectures and articles by Sri Gurudev and his disciples. Raksisyatiti-visvaso—we are confident that this Guardian of Devotion will provide sweet water for the devotees the world over to nourish, sustain, fortify, and protect their creepers of devotion and graciously guide them ever upward to the holy lotus abode of Goloka Vrindavan.

CONTENTS

Editorial
Declaration of the Spiritual Succession
(1) Complete Dedication
(2) Pure Devotion
(3) The Only Enjoyer
(4) The Wave of Love
(5) The Krishna Conception of Divinity
(6) Personal Knowledge
(7) Service to Guru
(8) Marching on to Glory
(9) An Experience on the Way
(10) Advent of Golden Moon
(11) Holy Talks of the Supreme Lord

Download (epub)
Download (pdf)