SRI NABADWIP DHAM MAHATMYA MUKTA MALA

SRI ANTARDWIP (Atma-nivedan)

Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj's Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math

By the mercy of our Sri Gurupadpadma, continuing our parikrama, we have now come to our first holy place and stop for today – Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math of Pujyapad Om Vishnupad Sri Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj. Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Maharaj was a very dear godbrother of the Founder Acharya of our Math, Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Before taking sannyas, Srila Madhav Maharaj's name was Sri Hayagriva Brahmachari. We heard about him from the lotus mouth of our Srila Guru Maharaj.

Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Maharaj was a very strong and strict Vaishnav. We have heard that when the temple bell went off for prasadam, all the brahmacharis would immediately come to the prasadam hall, and the hall was full. Seeing this, Srila Madhav Maharaj thought, 'What is this? When I give class, only five–six brahmacharis are present, but when it is prasadam time, there are twenty of them!' Then, without saying a word to anyone, he came to the prasadam hall, sat on a vyas-asan and, taking Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta out, said, 'Do not mind me. Take prasadam with your mouths, and I will read to you; you can listen to me with your ears.' All the disciples became shy. Such was Srila Madhav Maharaj's character.

There is also one story that happened before Srila Madhav Maharaj took sannyas. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti-siddhanta Saraswati Thakur had to go to Mathura, and before travelling there, he had sent Srila Madhav Maharaj to Delhi to rent some suitable accommodation. It happened so that Srila Madhav Maharaj had to travel on the Janmastami day. Generally, we fast the whole day until midnight on Janmastami and take some anukalpa prasad (fruit, curd, potato, etc.) at night. But Srila Madhav Maharaj had to go to Delhi on that day, so Srila Prabhupad thought, 'He will have to make a tedious journey. If he fasts, he will have no energy, but he has got an important duty to find a house there, so he must take proper prasadam (rice, etc.).' So, Srila Prabhupad ordered his own cook, 'Hayagriva is going to Delhi tomorrow, arrange for some prasadam for him – feed him rice, dal, etc.' The cook was surprised, 'Prabhupad must have forgotten that it is Janmastami (fast) tomorrow… Shall I remind him?' Then, somewhat hesitating, the cook said, 'Prabhupad, but it is Janmastami tomorrow...' Srila Prabhupad immediately replied, 'I know that!! You do not need to teach me!' Hearing Srila Prabhupad's shout, the cook got scared and ran away. He arranged everything as Srila Prabhupad had ordered. But Srila Madhav Maharaj was very strict – although he knew it was Srila Prabhupad's order, he still hesitated and did not take rice that day. He went to the kitchen and told the cook, 'If I have to take something, I will take some sago, subji and curd. Rice, dal, etc. are not necessary.' Srila Prabhupad had another famous disciple, Prof. Nisikanta Sannyal (Bhakti Sudhakar Prabhu), whose mood was different. If he was in the place of Srila Madhav Maharaj – if Prabhupad told him to take rice on Janmastami – he would say, 'Srila Prabhupad said I must take rice, then I must take rice!' He was extremely adherent, submissive to Srila Prabhupad's order. But Srila Madhav Maharaj hesitated, 'It is not necessary. I am strong enough, I shall do the duty. If Srila Prabhupad wants me to eat something on this day, let me have some anukalpa (non-grain prasadam).'

Our Param Srila Guru Maharaj also told that one day, when there was a festival at Sri Gaudiya Math, having been busy the whole day with the arrangements of the festival, Srila Madhav Maharaj (Hayagriva Prabhu at the time) did not get time to do his mala. So, at midnight, after the festival, he went up to the roof and started doing his mala. Srila Sridhar Maharaj heard somebody chant on the roof and went upstairs to check. When he saw Srila Madhav Maharaj there, he said, 'Prabhu, go to bed. You have to wake up early for the mangal-arati tomorrow. How many rounds have you done?' Srila Madhav Maharaj said, 'Five.' Srila Guru Maharaj said, 'It is enough. Go to bed. If you take rest, then you will get strength to do even more service tomorrow, and if you try to finish your rounds now, you will have no strength and you will not be able to do anything tomorrow.'

This is our line. Srila Prabhupad says that we need to engage ourselves in service. Service mood can give you everything. 'Etat sarvam gurau bhaktya puruso hy anjasa jayet. We cannot control our senses, but it is possible to control them easily through the service to the guru and Vaishnavs.' This is what all scriptures say. In the time of Mahaprabhu, all rules and regulations were very strict. Mahaprabhu said, 'I will take prasadam only in the house of a millionaire (laksa-pati),' meaning, 'I will take prasadam only in the house of the person who chants one hundred thousand (lakh) Holy Names (sixty-four rounds) every day.' Mahaprabhu said this, but even in those days, not everybody chanted one hundred thousand Holy Names. Later, Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupad came and said, 'You must chant sixteen rounds,' but even then not everybody chanted sixteen rounds. It is necessary to chant the Holy Name, but it is necessary to chant through service:

atah sri krsna namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah

'Although Krishna's Name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc. cannot be grasped by material senses, they appear of their own accord on the tongues of those who have service mood.' It is necessary to do service. Service comes first, and it must be genuine service; otherwise, your attempt can also go in a wrong way: if some ego comes to you, you will go down. You must try to satisfy your guru and Vaishnavs without any ego, then you will get a proper result.

In his brahmachari days, Srila Madhav Maharaj (Hayagriva Prabhu) went for preaching with Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj: they went together to Madras and also discovered Sri Ramananda Gaudiya Math on the bank of the Godavari in Kovvur. Srila Madhav Maharaj was always very affectionate, very loving towards Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and he always respected him as his elder brother. Sometimes, Srila Madhav Maharaj also visited our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip.

After Srila Prabhupad's disappearance, Srila Madhav Maharaj had told Srila Guru Maharaj many times that Srila Guru Maharaj should take charge of Sri Gaudiya Math, but Srila Guru Maharaj did not want it. He said later, 'They all wanted me to become the acharya, but if I had become the acharya, then Madhav Maharaj, Kesav Maharaj, Jajavar Maharaj and others would never have become acharyas. Because I did not take disciples, they started taking disciples themselves. Later, Madhav Maharaj told me that I was not a king but rather more of a minister. He said that I could give good advice, I had the foresight, but I would not be able to work as a king.'

Srila Madhav Maharaj initially wanted to take sannyas from Srila Sridhar Maharaj, but when he came to Srila Guru Maharaj, he fell at his feet and said, 'Maharaj, I wanted to beg you for sannyas, but I cannot give up Sri Chaitanya Math in Mayapur, and I know that you will not come back there. That is why I cannot take sannyas from you. But please give me your mercy – give me my sannyas name.' Then, Srila Guru Maharaj gave him the name Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Maharaj.

In front of his disciples, Srila Madhav Maharaj was always very strict in his conduct and practice because he wanted to show his disciples a very strict ideal of a guru without any defect. But when he visited Srila Sridhar Maharaj, he would act like a child, or a pet child. There was no restriction in him, even if his disciples and followers were present too. He had no independence in the association of Srila Sridhar Maharaj. He would sleep on the floor, he would sometimes take some fried rice and pakoras, etc. He would become free in his dealings. But when he was separate, he was a very strict acharya, observing all practices and rules, so that his disciples would not mistake him to be in an enjoying mood.

I have also heard that once one of the disciples of Srila Madhav Maharaj grabbed a man by the neck and brought him to Srila Madhav Maharaj, saying, 'Gurudev, do you see? This man is distributing leaflets with things written against you!' Srila Madhav Maharaj said, 'OK, OK, leave him. Let me see the paper.' Srila Madhav Maharaj read the paper and said, 'Oh, what he is writing is nothing. I am actually worse than that. Please, bring a packet of sweets.' Srila Madhav Maharaj fed sweets to that man. This is what is called 'pratihimsa tyaji anye karabi palana: nurture others giving up vengeance' Our guru-varga teach all this to us, and we must learn from their example.

Following our Gaudiya Calendar, every year we observe Srila Madhav Maharaj's appearance and disappearance days, and we pray at the holy lotus feet of this Vaishnav Thakur: wherever he may be, may he please bestow his mercy upon us.

Jay Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Maharaj ki jay.

Entering Srimad Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj's Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math during Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

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