Guidance, Volume 3

Preface
Meaning of Festival

By His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

We have assembled here today on the occasion of the holy appearance day of Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. It is our great and highest fortune that our Sri Gurupadpadma, having manifested himself in the Deity form, is taking our service and worship. Today also we have gathered here in the nat-mandir of Sri Sri Gaurasundar and Gandharva Govinda-sundar-jiu and are making a festival in honour of his holy appearance day.

When we hear that there is a festival held in the Vaishnav tradition or any other tradition, we understand the word 'festival' (utsav) as a social function, but when Vaishnavs make a festival, it is called 'mahotsav' ('grand festival'). Vaishnavs make mahotsavs. In vernacular language it is often called 'mochchhav' and sometimes we hear people say, "Oh, Vaishnavs are making a mochchhav today. Come, we will get some prasad there," but the real meaning and purpose of a mahotsav is actually realised when Vaishnavs are served properly. Even if you serve non-Vaishnavs for all eternity, it will be not be a mahotsav. Only when there is Vaishnav-seva, can it be a mahotsav. The purpose of a mahotsav is to please Vaishnavs. We see such mention in the scriptures.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur discussed this matter in his books very earnestly and gave it much importance. He says that if one serves Vaishnavs—even if it is two-four Vaishnavs only, but if they are pure Vaishnavs—then the purpose of the mahotsav is fulfilled.

Today, Krishna-kirtan and Krishna consciousness is spread all over the world, and it is our great fortune that we can take part in it bringing ourselves thus a greatest benefit. The hearts of all the Vaishnavs have assembled here today for this purpose.

One can recognise a Vaishnav by following the Vaishnav's guidance—the qualities of a Vaishnav (vaisnavata) are present where there is adherence to Vaishnavs' guidance; the qualities of a Vaishnav are present where there is more humility than that of a blade of grass; the qualities of a Vaishnav are present where there is more tolerance than that of a tree. In this way, there are three different kinds of Vaishnavs (they are described in Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu): uttam (senior), madhyam (middle), and kanistha (junior).

"Our intrinsic identity is that we are members of Goloka or Vaikuntha, which is the abode of Lord Ksirodakasayi, Kamala-pati." Our original form is that we are all Vaishnavs, that is we are all servants of Vishnu. Vishnu is Sarvesvaresvara (Supreme Lord), He is Vrajendra-nandan (Son of Nanda Maharaj) and we are all His servants and maidservants. Therefore, in our original form we are members of Goloka, but at present, due to our activities and faults, we have become averse and fallen into the ocean of maya, illusion, and we are struggling and splashing amidst it. Forgetting the service of the Lord, we enjoy ourselves roaming throughout heaven, hell and all the planes in-between: when we do something good, we go to heaven; when we do something bad we go to hell—in this way we play ducks and drakes with our lives, squandering life in vain. But the Lord is not pleased with that. Srila Guru Maharaj has a book called Loving Search for the Lost Servant where he says that the Lord is waiting for His lost servant, His lost children.

There is a prison in every country. Suppose there are 125 million people in a country—100,000 of them may be in prison, but you cannot judge or learn about the world based on those 100,000 bad people. The transcendental abode is the plane where souls engage themselves entire twenty-four hours a day in the service of the Lord. This is the place of our original existence and this is what constitutes the activities of our original form. However, because we are looking for our own happiness, we have all of a sudden, by some bad fortune, got into prison.

There is, however, a way to reform. All the Vedas and allied scriptures are pointing in that direction, and sometimes the Lord comes also Himself or His devotees appear in this world. Taking pity on the conditioned souls like us, they come to educate us and take us to Goloka Vrndavan, engaging us again in service or giving us such an opportunity. It is these three agents that we must connect with and relate to—the Guru, Vaishnav, and Bhagavan. They come to the prison from time to time when the religious standards decline. There are different ways to reform the prisoners, "Vedadi-sarva-sastranam samanjasya-badhayakam: all the scriptures, all the Vedas give us adjustment and show us the path to follow." That road is the path of saranagati:

saranagatera, akinchanera—eka-i laksana
tara madhye pravesaye 'atmasamarpana'

"There are those who have surrendered to the Lord and those who are free from material desires. Both of these types of devotees have one common quality—complete self-surrender."

sarana lana kare krsne atmasamarpana
krsna tanre kare tatkale atmasama

"When one fully surrenders unto Krishna's lotus feet, Krishna accepts them as His very own."

se-i deha kare tara chidananda-maya
aprakrta-dehe tanra charana bhajaya

"When the devotee's body is transformed into spiritual existence, the devotee, in that transcendental body, renders service to the lotus feet of the Lord."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 2.22.96, 99 ; 3.4.193)

This is the straight Grand Trunk Road—we can see by the mercy of Vaishnavs that the scriptures lay a road through a mountain and if we take this road, then we can proceed undaunted (maya sya hy akuto-bhayah; SB, 11.12.15).

bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syad
isad apetasya viparyayo 'smrtih
tan mayayato budha abhajet tam
bhaktyaikayesam guru-devatatma

"A person of fine intelligence will serve with single-minded devotion to his Guru, who is his Lord and dearmost friend. But those who have turned away from the Lord adopt the illusory ego of considering the perishable body to be the self, forgetting their true identities. Their consciousness absorbed in 'secondary pursuits', i.e., mundane objectives, they are always fearful on account of the body and its attachments."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.2.37)

We experience so much disturbance, so much difficulty, but all fear comes from secondary pursuits. 'Secondary pursuit' means pursuit of anything other than Krishna. When one does something related to the service of Krishna, then there is no place for any secondary pursuit. We have opened our own separate account and all the good or bad actions we perform come to that account—all burden falls on our shoulders. The only problem is that having opened that account I all of a sudden find myself completely broke.

Where is our real destination, our real position? The Lord has mercifully given us free will so that we could serve Him, so that we could practise Krishna consciousness. Our genuine existence consists of willing, feeling and thinking, but we have misused it. I have dragged myself into this perverted ugly form, and now I am suffering and enjoying with that. However, our hope is that the sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs will show us the light.

The Lord Himself says, "I come from time to time":

yada yada hi dharmasya, glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya, tadatmanam srjamy aham
paritranaya sadhunam, vinasaya cha duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya, sambhavami yuge yuge

"O Bharata, whenever there is a decline of religion and an uprising of irreligion, I personally make My advent. I appear age after age to deliver the saintly devotees, vanquish the miscreants, and firmly establish true religion.

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.7-8)

The Lord comes Himself, but who is actually even more important for us than the Lord Himself? His devotee. The Lord comes Himself or He sends His devotee, "Go and rectify them by hook or by crook. If I come and show them My four-armed form, what will that give them? It is necessary to first give them the eyes."

andhibhuta chaksu yara visaya dhulite
kemane se para-tattva paibe dekhite

"Our eyes are blinded by the dust of the illusory environment. How can we then see the transcendental world?"

"Even if I show Myself to them, will they be able to see it? Go and make all the arrangements so that they could see Me."

Devotees then come to this world, tolerating all kinds of pain and sadness: sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs appear in this world to engage us in the service of the Lord and bring us back to their transcendental abode full of spiritual bliss. Krishna comes Himself, He sends His devotees and with the help of the Vaishnavs we can get the qualification to engage in the eternal service in that transcendental abode of the Lord and return to the life of our real identity.

Whatever is done in this world is called karma (frutive work) and whatever is done in the world of devotion is called seva (service). There is no need for renunciation. The scriptures also tell us that it is necessary to practise "yukta-vairagya" (proper renunciation). Why? "Whichever direction you go, your bad luck is such that you will get rough road everywhere. Even if you try your best to trudge through, you will still not be able to go—you will stumble and break your leg. Look, I am giving you a pavement, you can go along it." The Lord says (Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.2.34):

ye vai bhagavata prokta upaya hy atma-labdhaye
anjah pumsam avidusam viddhi bhagavatan hi tan

"No doubt, even ignorant people can reach the Lord if they follow the process prescribed by the Lord Himself, namely bhagavat-dharma, or devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. "

"Take shelter of bhagavat-dharma. If you take shelter of the devotees of the Lord, you can get eternal supreme benefit." The Lord Himself says, "There is only one way to get Me. Our only duty, our only activity is to surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord."

satam prasangan mama virya-samvido
bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah
taj-josanad asv apavarga-vartmani
sraddha ratir bhaktir anukramisyati

"In the association of sadhus, discussions of the Pastimes of the Lord bring joy to the ear and heart. Relishing these discussion and association, you will quickly progress to the path of liberation, thereafter faith, attachment and devotion to the Lord will ensue."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.25.25)

The Lord says Himself, "Keep association of the sadhus who talk about Me, who discuss topics related to Me, and in whose association My service is accomplished—by their mercy you will get everything." They have no other business—their only business is to run following one single course, they do not understand anything other than that. Sadhus try to engage themselves wherever there is service to the Lord, wherever there is service to the Lord's devotees. Whatever we get, we get by the mercy of the sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs. There is only one path: to worship the Lord following the footsteps and guidance of the sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs.

When the Lord comes in the form of a Guru, He actually comes Himself— Guru is non-different from the Lord. It is written in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta (1.1.47): "Siksa-guruke ta' jani krsnera svarupa: I know that siksa-guru is non-different from Krishna." It can blow your mind if you think about it. "Antaryami, bhakta-srestha—ei dui rupa: the Lord manifests Himself in two forms, as the Supersoul and as His dearmost devotee." When we get the seed, what do we do with it after that? How will a tree grow from that seed? From that seed there will sprout a tree that will be adorned with the fruit-bearing creepers that bestow highest and most auspicious result—how will this happen? Who will explain all this to me? I can learn all this if Krishna comes Himself. The Lord has told clearly in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.2.34):

ye vai bhagavata prokta upaya hy atma-labdhaye
anjah pumsam avidusam viddhi bhagavatan hi tan

"No doubt, even ignorant people can reach the Lord if they follow the process prescribed by the Lord Himself, namely bhagavat-dharma, or devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

The Lord Himself tells the shortcut road to Him. Suppose I like chana-dal or rasagulla—if you give me a bitter subji, will I like it? I want the things that I like. In the same way, the Lord Himself says, "I am bound by devotees—I am completely satisfied through bhakti-yoga. I am a follower of My devotees."

sadhavo hrdayam mahyam sadhunam hrdayam tv aham
mad-anyat te na jananti naham tebhyo manag api

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 9.6.68)

This is simple language. The Lord Himself says, "Devotees are My heart, and I am the devotees' heart—they do not know anything except Me, and I do not know anything except them."

ye daragara-putrapta-pranan vittam imam param
hitva mam saranm yatah katham tamstyaktumutsahe

"When the sadhus give up everything—their homes, wives, children, relatives, riches and their very life and take exclusive shelter in Me, how can I ever leave them?"

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 9.4.65)

"When one leaves their wives, their very life, children, wealth, everything and surrenders to Me, worships Me, do you think I can ever leave such a great donor?"

In this way, the Lord Himself says in the scriptures, "Worship in the way that I like (do what makes Me happy), then you will get My entire wealth."

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CONTENTS:

• Foreword
• (Preface) Meaning of Festival
• What Is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Its Distinctions
• "Without Lord Krishna Life Is Meaningless"
• The Unrenounceable
• Sri Radhastami
• Proper Renunciation
• Astakala-Lila
• Is Religion the Cause of National Downfall?
• Householders and Renunciates
• Provincialism and Service to the Lord
• Offenders
• Hell
• Devotional Mood (Bhakta-Bhav)
• Home-interest vs Math-interest
• Samsara and Bhakti
• Questions and Answers