Dignity of the Divine Servitor

By Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

© 1991 Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
All rights reserved by the Successor President-Acharya

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip, West Bengal, India

Printed in December 1991, this book is the second compilation of the discourses and letters of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

This electronic version is prepared in 2025 as part of service to His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj.

Web address: www.scsmathinternational.com

Email: info@scsmathinternational.com

CONTENTS

Editorial

Part One

CHAPTER ONE: Vaishnava Thakur

CHAPTER TWO:  The Original Current

CHAPTER THREE:  Srila Guru Maharaj’s Divine Desire and Directives

Part Two

FIRST DISCOURSE:  Descent of Knowledge

SECOND DISCOURSE:  Lessons in Giving

THIRD DISCOURSE:  Protected Journey

FOURTH DISCOURSE:  Adjusting to His Account

FIFTH DISCOURSE:  Present Position, Brightest Prospect

SIXTH DISCOURSE:  Fortunate Indeed

Part Three

The Written Word

— Jewels —

Appendix: Dasa-vidha Nama-aparadha

The Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s Mission

Headquarters of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Books and Publications of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Editorial

gurvabhista-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 worship the holy lotus feet of he who perfectly fulfils the most cherished wish of his Divine Master; who is adept in all Vedic conceptions, both conceivable and inconceivable; who is the faithful follower in the line of Sri Rupa; who is known as Srila Govinda Maharaj; whose beautiful divine figure revels in the mellows of Divine Love; who is the Guru of the entire universe and the bestower of the seed of Divine Love for the Supreme Lord.”

I pay my sincere, fallen, and prayerful obeisances to Srila Guru Maharaj, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, and to his dearmost servitor, the glorious Sri Acharyadev of his exalted Mission of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math: His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj who has been so patient in tutoring my lowly self.

That the dignified glories of both of them can be chanted on this occasion of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj’s 63rd Appearance Day is most befitting and all-auspicious, therefore I pray to Their Divine Graces that their glorification may be accepted in the form of this book, Dignity of the Divine Servitor.

The author of Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat, Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur, was a disciple of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Generally the disciple sees his Guru as the manifestation of Krishna or Mahaprabhu. Nityananda Prabhu is directly the manifestation of Mahaprabhu, yet Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur considered it even more glorious to declare Him to be supremely exalted as the best servitor of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This example reinforces the ever-present theme of the teachings of our esteemed Sri Guru-varga exemplified in Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Govinda Maharaj, that to be a servant of divinity is the most exalted and glorious position. It is in this vein that the attempt is being made in Dignity of the Divine Servitor to broadcast our Gurudevas’ glories.

Srila Guru Maharaj was always very joyful to chant the nature of devotion and of the devotees, and he did so in innumerable ways. One of his valuable contributions to the world is the supremely holy scripture of pure bhakti, Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam. On reading the glorious descriptions given there about the life of devotion, we cannot but consider the embodiment of that to be our effulgent Om Vishnupad Sri Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj. Paying my repeated obeisances to His Divine Grace, to all our Divine Masters, to all those who assisted in preparing this publication, and to the whole Vaishnav community, I pray that you may accept the honest intention with which this book has been compiled and published. In addition, I appeal to your good nature that you may overlook my inevitable shortcomings which can only have detracted from the otherwise spotless deliveries contained herein.

Today, and for all time to come, let us joyfully join together in the congregational chanting of the glories of the Lord and His pure devotees headed by our immediate guides Srila Govinda Maharaj and Srila Guru Maharaj. We pray that by their causeless grace they may grant us even the smallest post, but within the rays of that service world. The service world is their domain.

Mahananda Dasa Bhakti Ranjan

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Nabadwip

23rd December 1991

Part One

CHAPTER ONE: Vaishnava Thakur

From a lecture given by His Holiness Tridandi Swami

Sripad Bhakti Sudhir Goswami Maharaj

in San Mateo, California, U.S.A.,

on the Appearance Day

of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj, 1990

So at last after many years we have the opportunity to glorify Srila Govinda Maharaj. And I say that because Srila Govinda Maharaj has always been seen by us to be in the background of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math; moving, and doing so many different things, and acting as an agent of representation for so many devotees to the lotus feet of Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. He did this because, as we know, Srila Guru Maharaj’s nature was not to move with a large group of people. In fact after his time in the Gaudiya Math and also after some attempts to work cooperatively with others, he more or less decided to enter seclusion; but he realised that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada’s whole mission relied upon his coming out of seclusion.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada himself was a qualified bhajananandi. At one time he was chanting three lakh (300,000) Holy Names a day in the form of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. In a month that comes close to 10 million Names. His vow was to chant a billion Names of Krishna which would take about eight and a half years to complete; and he was in the process of doing that. But from that position he received some divine inspiration to come out and help others. Sometimes it is said that once when he was crossing the River Saraswati at its confluence with the Ganga and Yamuna in the heart of Nabadwip, a piece of paper floated up to him which contained a part of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita describing the essential items of devotional service including preaching the glories of the Holy Name. He took it that this was what he should do, and of course we know the rest: he came out and gradually converted so many to Mahaprabhu’s creed.

Srila Guru Maharaj was well aware that his Srila Prabhupada did not favour devotion in seclusion, so he established the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and thought, “I’m not an aggressive preacher or canvaser, but if some will feel some relief from my Hari-katha, I won’t deny them.”

Because Srila Guru Maharaj was not inclined to do many of the various activities involved in preaching or to manage things so much, it made room for a very special assistant. Srila Govinda Maharaj came to him as a young brahmachari of about 17 years old. He was given the name Gaurendu Das Brahmachari and within a week, within a week, Srila Guru Maharaj was introducing him to other Godbrothers as his successor. He asked Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj, “I think this boy can be my successor. Examine him and tell me your opinion.” So Babaji Maharaj examined him in a way I imagine only he could, and he concluded that he was fit for such special service!

When Srila Guru Maharaj was living upstairs renting a room from Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada above his laboratory at Sitakanta Banerjee lane in Calcutta, Govinda Maharaj was there as a young brahmachari. Srila Govinda Maharaj related to us that Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada and Srila Guru Maharaj would regularly become very absorbed and spend much time discussing Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and related topics. They would become absorbed to such an extent that Srila Prabhupada’s neglect of his pharmaceutical business downstairs partly led to its decline.

Sometimes Srila Govinda Maharaj would have breakfast with Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada and he mentioned, “Even for breakfast Swami Maharaj would always have some puris fried in ghee, as well as a little sabji (cooked vegetable), and different things like that.” But Govinda Maharaj and Guru Maharaj were always keen to have mudi (puffed rice) on practically every occasion. Govinda Maharaj said that Swami Maharaj would always invite him to take puris and sabji but he would decline saying, “No, no. Mudi is fine for me,” but Swami Maharaj would object, “Mudi? That is simply cheating the stomach.” Srila Govinda Maharaj was very happy during their stay there. He said, “Swami Maharaj used to give me classes and he would teach me, amongst other things, Srimad Bhagavad-gita.”

The point I’m making is that he was there from the very beginning, and in a very special capacity. When the different factions of the Gaudiya Math would meet, Srila Govinda Maharaj was there and he witnessed many of their negotiations with Srila Guru Maharaj. He knows the discussions and all the personalities involved. In the Gaudiya Math he is therefore very well known and respected by everyone and they have known him since a long time ago.

He was so familiar with the luminaries of the Gaudiya Math and he knew their individual personalities so well that once he was going to a programme with some other Godbrothers of Srila Guru Maharaj when the following incident happened. Srila Guru Maharaj was not there, so Govinda Maharaj was accompanying a Gaudiya Math Acharya, Sripad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, along with some of his disciples to a preaching engagement. As they were approaching the venue Govinda Maharaj noticed indications in the sky that rain was likely. He then turned to one of Sripad Goswami Maharaj’s principle disciples and said, “Do you know which verse your Guru Maharaj is going to speak on at the lecture?”

The disciple replied, “Of course not. I don’t know what he’s going to say, or what he is going to talk about.”

“Well, I do.”

“How is that possible?”

To which Govinda Maharaj simply replied, “I know what verse he is going to speak on!” He then proceeded to recite the following verse:

jadachyuta katha lapah

karna piyusa varjitah

taddinam durddinam manye

meghachchhannam na durddinam

This verse means: “Normally we judge a good day by the weather. If it is sunny outside we think it is a nice day, and if the weather is bad we think it is a bad day. But the criterion for a Vaishnav is that he considers a day to be good if he has either engaged in, or has heard, some Hari-katha on that day.”

They arrived there and, as predicted by Srila Govinda Maharaj, that Acharya, a Godbrother of Srila Guru Maharaj, began his lecture by reciting and discussing this very verse. It is remarkable that by Govinda Maharaj noticing it was going to rain, he linked this with the fact that it would probably make everyone depressed, and knowing the nature of Sripad Goswami Maharaj, he concluded that he would choose this verse in order to change the atmosphere of the meeting.

Not only did Srila Govinda Maharaj compete with his contemporaries in this way but even at a very early age he could hold his own with the Godbrothers of Srila Guru Maharaj. On one such occasion he challenged in a slightly mischievous way one sannyasi who had a reputation for being a big pandit. Govinda Maharaj said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Can God commit suicide?”

The Godbrother was incensed, “Why are you asking a question like this? It is not a good question!”

Govinda Maharaj said, “Well, maybe it is not a good question, but can you answer it?”

“You shouldn’t ask such questions.”

“I know, but can you answer it?”

“Why are you pressing me in this way?”

Then Govinda Maharaj said, “Well, I know the answer. I just want to know whether you can answer it also.”

Guru Maharaj’s Godbrother then said, “You are just a boy, what do you know?”

To which Govinda Maharaj quoted this verse:

valohaham jagattam natha name vala sarasvati

valabyalasya garalam kim na hantta kalevaram

Which, in summary, says: “A baby cobra can still kill you!” He then proceeded to answer his own question by saying, “Yes, God can commit suicide. He commits suicide in Brahman, His impersonal aspect: the brahmajyoti where the infinitesimal parts of Bhagavan, the jivas, lose their individuality. In that way the Absolute commits suicide.” Srila Guru Maharaj used to tell that story often but I never heard him attribute it to Srila Govinda Maharaj. Only later I learnt who that boy was! Srila Guru Maharaj would sometimes comment, “One should not ask, ‘Can God commit suicide?’!”

Srila Govinda Maharaj many times revealed his brilliance before Srila Guru Maharaj’s Godbrothers. One occasion was at the Imlitala Temple, a Temple established in Vrindavan by Sripad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj. When Mahaprabhu first entered Vrindavan He sat beneath the tree known as Imlitala which is now in the courtyard of that Temple. There on the wall are some verses composed by Srila Guru Maharaj inscribed in marble describing the exact date of Mahaprabhu’s arrival in Vrindavan, and the time of His lila beneath the Imlitala.

In Sanskrit verse there are ways to describe numbers by implication. For example, if you say Veda it can mean the number three or four. This is because sometimes it is considered that there are three sections of the Vedas, and sometimes four. There are also other words that numbers are associated with. Thus in a sort of mystical, poetic way Srila Guru Maharaj mentioned the date, though that date generally is not known; it is only hinted at and described in a general way in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita and other places.

When first reading the slokas inscribed there, the Godbrothers of Srila Guru Maharaj could not fully understand what he had written. From their understanding some were convinced that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur might even have been of a different opinion concerning that date. So again the young Gaurendu Brahmachari, our Srila Govinda Maharaj, came and said, “Oh, I know what it means,” and they were all surprised. He then explained the date mentioned there. They reacted, “But that differs from the date given by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur.”

Govinda Maharaj replied, “That may be, but what my Guru says is right. What Srila Guru Maharaj says is true; it does not matter if anyone else differs with it, whoever they are. It is true and I can prove it.” He then proceeded to expand on various passages and thereby he explained how Srila Guru Maharaj came to those conclusions by inference from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. He astounded everyone.

Srila Govinda Maharaj is always very competent, especially at representing Srila Guru Maharaj and his conception, and he has a wonderful Vaishnav heart. It was shown one time in the following way:

Even the Gopis have groups and party spirit, this sometimes causes them not to get along with each other; and this is so also with their followers. In this way there were some differences between the different camps of Godbrothers of Srila Guru Maharaj and their disciples. One day many of them along with their disciples were going to Vrindavan to honour a holy festival. It so happened that Sripad Tirtha Maharaj and his disciples were at the same train station at the same time as Srila Guru Maharaj and his entourage. Sripad Tirtha Maharaj was sometimes described by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur as being most dear to him, Prabhupada-prestha, and he even had verses in Tirtha Maharaj’s glorification chiselled into marble in the Bagh Bazaar Math in Calcutta. But Srila Guru Maharaj and Sripad Tirtha Maharaj at that time were not on speaking terms.

Govinda Maharaj noticed Tirtha Maharaj and seeing such an august personality he felt some disturbance at not being able to properly honour him due to the differences between the two parties. He then went and asked Srila Guru Maharaj, “Tirtha Maharaj is over there. I feel compelled to offer my obeisances to him. May I have your permission to do so.”

Srila Guru Maharaj replied, “Yes, of course you may.” The faces of Tirtha Maharaj and his group of devotees up to this point were a little stern, but Srila Govinda Maharaj went over and offered his dandavats to Tirtha Maharaj and talked a little with him as well as with his group, and soon they were all smiling: he had a way of charming all of them.

Govinda Maharaj always liked to glorify the devotees and he wrote many stanzas in their praise. With his charm he liked to utilise words in a way that allowed sometimes three or four meanings to be drawn out from each verse. Occasionally, though, others would interpret his verses in other ways than he intended, as was shown when he once wrote a poem glorifying Sripad Kesav Maharaj. Kesav Maharaj took sannyas from Srila Guru Maharaj and he was an important figure in the Gaudiya Math. He was so pleased with the poem composed by Govinda Maharaj that he published it in his Math’s journal.

Later when Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj came and read it he saw that there was a double-entente throughout. Although apparently on the surface it was a glorification, there was another way of reading it in which it appeared he was making fun of Kesav Maharaj. Up until this time all the devotees there had been saying, “Look what he has written! What Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s disciple has written is really wonderful. Isn’t it great!” But Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj went and told Kesav Maharaj, “Don’t you see what he has done?”

Kesav Maharaj replied, “His composition is very good. What have you found?”

Then Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj said, “Very good! But this could also mean something else…”

Kesav Maharaj started, “You’re right…!” And they called for Govinda Maharaj and asked, “Is that what you meant?”

“Oh no! No, Maharaj!”

Through everything he was always Srila Guru Maharaj’s eternal associate and constant companion. When Srila Guru Maharaj would go to Mayapur to visit Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada, Srila Govinda Maharaj would always be there. We have a picture in which Srila Swami Maharaj and Srila Sridhar Maharaj are sharing the same vyasasana and at the microphone is Srila Govinda Maharaj. He spoke on that day by the request of Srila Guru Maharaj who was feeling unwell and therefore reluctant to speak.

In his address Govinda Maharaj quoted a verse spoken by Raghupati Upadhyaya.

kam prati kathayitum ise,

samprati ko va pratitim ayatu

go-pati-tanaya-kunje,

gopa-vadhuti-vitam brahma

“Who will possibly believe me if I tell them that the Supreme Absolute Truth is playing in the bushes with the Gopis? Who could possibly believe this?” The way he used this verse was to say, “So who could believe me that Srila Swami Maharaj who we knew before as ‘Abhay Babu’, a regular attender at the programmes in Sri Gaudiya Math—a householder with various family commitments, business concerns, etc.—that he is now a World Acharya and is known all over the planet. He has spread Krishna consciousness the length and breadth of the earth, he has done this impossible of all impossible things.”

Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada really appreciated this sort of appropriate glorification which Srila Govinda Maharaj always is capable of providing.

It may not be common knowledge, but in the realm of composition Srila Govinda Maharaj has given much. In the words of Srila Guru Maharaj: “Govinda Maharaj’s contribution is very great.” The Pandit-sabha presided over by Srila Guru Maharaj gave Govinda Maharaj various titles: one was Bhakti Sastri, later to be followed by Upadesaka Pandit, Mahopadesaka Pandit, and then Jyotirbhusan Vidya Ranjan. One of his ornaments is Sanskrit alankara—the knowledge of how to properly use the Sanskrit language. As Guru Maharaj would contemplate different verses he was composing, Govinda Maharaj would be with him suggesting various alternatives. Some of these verses were never published and some are no longer written down anywhere: at present they are only to be found within Govinda Maharaj. It is very fortunate for us all that he not only remembers them but he can represent them very nicely.

Srila Guru Maharaj has said also that the relationship between the Guru and disciple is not limited to dasya-rasa, or the master and the servant, but there is also friendship, and in some cases even a sort of paternal feeling by the disciple towards the Guru in providing care and so forth. The reality is that Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Govinda Maharaj were intimate friends. After all these years, distance was removed by their intimacy. I remember sometimes when we would speak to Srila Guru Maharaj confidentially about making some particular decision, Guru Maharaj would express his opinions in a particular way, and we would listen to those. Then he would, as it were, perk up, put his hands respectfully to his forehead, and say, “But Govinda Maharaj says we should do this, and I think that what he suggests could actually be better.”

I remember one of the last things Srila Guru Maharaj told me: as he was turning over his Acharyaship to Srila Govinda Maharaj he said, “Actually in many ways he is more qualified than I am,” and also, “If you get to know him more intimately, more personally, you will come to understand what sort of transcendental character he has.”

Furthermore, there is something that is hard and indeed impossible to erase from my memory, and I don’t try to: I was soon to be going to America and it was towards the very end of Srila Guru Maharaj’s manifest pastimes. He called me into his room and, knowing that I was leaving for the West and maybe would not see him again, he called me over to his bed. I was very close to him: eye to eye, face to face. He grasped both of my shoulders very firmly and then started shaking my body with my head jostling about, and he said, “Goswami Maharaj, this may be my last instruction to you…” The whole time he just kept on shaking me and he continued, “It is my sincere and earnest desire that you assist Govinda Maharaj. Do you understand?” I replied with my voice in a tremolo, “Yes, Maharaj.”

That is the way of the Vaishnavs, and it is further illustrated by the statement of Lord Siva:

aradhananam sarvesam, visnor aradhanam param

“Of all the varieties of worship, the worship of Vishnu is said to be the best.”

tasmat parataram devi, tadiyanam samarchanam

“But the highest and complete concept of worship is to serve the one who is most dear to Vishnu.” Just worshipping Vishnu is not complete without the potency of the one who is most dear to Him. So if we look at this in another way, the highest possible seva is the service of Srimati Radharani. It is higher than service to Vishnu or Krishna.

Tadiya—what is dear to Him? The cows are dear to Him, Vrindavan is dear to Him, His friends are dear to Him, His mother…; there are so many things, but the one who is most dear to Him is Srimati Radharani. He is making it clear that service to Her is the highest service possible to be performed. In the highest concept Srimati Radharani is the Guru. So if we extend that same concept further, then there are those who are most dear to the Guru. If we search we shall see that there may be someone who’s service outshines all the rest. In their connection the prospect of our own service may increase greatly.

Guru Maharaj was fond of telling the example that a small capitalist stands to gain much by connecting his lesser wealth with the resources of the big capitalist. With our small reserves anyone of us can buy some shares in a huge multinational corporation and thereby reap the benefits. Similarly, the devotees can connect with those who are rich in devotion and, although we may only have a small amount of serving capacity, any service rendered to them connects to something higher, and we receive a greater remuneration from that. So there is no doubt in my mind that Srila Govinda Maharaj is the most dear disciple and assistant of Srila Guru Maharaj, and that our position becomes enhanced by serving him, by glorifying him, and by participating in some way in his seva which has been given to him by Srila Guru Maharaj.

It is not by accident that everything in Srila Guru Maharaj’s possession was entrusted to Govinda Maharaj. If you look in the various Wills of Srila Guru Maharaj you will find repeatedly emphasised that every last property has been entrusted to him. If there is a rice field that they own somewhere in Nabadwip, he is in full charge of it. Furthermore, in his Last Will and Testament Srila Guru Maharaj clearly appoints Swami Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj as the Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, of the Hapaniya Math, of Krishnanusilana Sangha, and of all other Maths under his Math.

The great Vaishnavs never think in a possessive mood, instead they see that some seva has been entrusted to them by their Guru and they are compelled to try to perform that service.

I heard from Govinda Maharaj that, “Vaishnavs recognise other Vaishnavs.” This is the opposite of Vaishnav aparadha (offence to the devotees). They avoid finding fault in other Vaishnavs because they know it is so detrimental to spiritual development—in fact it is the one thing that is said can uproot the bhakti-lata, the creeper of devotion. But our goal is not just to try to avoid offending other devotees, although for us it may be a goal worth aspiring for! Beyond that we are to make progress and become enriched by giving recognition and appreciation to Vaishnavs and their service; and really we must do that. We must do that to the extent seen in the example of Srila Guru Maharaj who was so appreciative of the devotees of ISKCON.

Srila Guru Maharaj was very exalted and he was very much respected by all the members of the Gaudiya Math. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur even said that Guru Maharaj was carrying the conception of Bhaktivinod Thakur, but, despite such exalted qualification and honour, Srila Guru Maharaj never had an attitude that he was a big Guru and Acharya and that the members of ISKCON are just young upstarts. He never took the attitude, “These young upstarts, what do they know?” But he saw, “Oh, they have some connection with Mahaprabhu—they must be respected.” His attitude was like the verse in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita:

sripada, dhara mora gosanira sambandha,

taha vina anyatra nahi ei premara gandha

When the sanodiya brahmana saw the kind of ecstatic love of Mahaprabhu, he thought, “Oh, look at this, it is the most amazing thing. I know only Madhavendra Puri to be in possession of such high feelings, therefore I can understand that Mahaprabhu must have some connection with him.” Similarly Srila Guru Maharaj always saw that, by the grace of Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada, so many people have some connection with Mahaprabhu. He really appreciated that and gave them recognition for their service.

Once I told Srila Govinda Maharaj the experience we all have when we go to the Math: “Yourself and others here, you express so much appreciation for everyone—sometimes to the point of embarrassment.” Furthermore I mentioned, “I don’t know, Maharaj, but sometimes I think it’s a little too much!” To which he said, “No, we must do this. It’s not some arbitrary sort of thing but we actually must do this if we expect the grace of Mahaprabhu. If we hope to be blessed by Him then we must recognise and appreciate those who already have some grace or blessings from Him.”

Even when Srimati Radharani is with Krishna She sometimes reflects about His flute: “That flute always receives nectar from Krishna’s lips but I get that only sometimes.” This is an example of the highest devotee exalting someone in a lower position.

After publishing The Search for Sri Krishna I received a letter from Govinda Maharaj. There was such an impact in this one little letter that when I read it I almost fainted. His appreciation for this principle of glorifying others even though they are of a lower standing was so strongly evident. He wrote to the effect, “Although I have been trying to serve the lotus feet of Srila Guru Maharaj for 35 years, you have surpassed me.” He made it seem through this letter as though he had been unable to do anything, but that I had achieved something, and within such a short time. The only place that I have found such a mood expressed of deprecating one’s own position while glorifying others is in the writings and lives of the great Vaishnavs. Govinda Maharaj is a Vaishnav Thakur.

So by one means or another the Vaishnavs sometimes forcibly make us feel their love—whether by the way they distribute prasadam, by the way they appreciate other devotees, or by their many, varied, affectionate dealings—they inevitably capture our hearts.

On one occasion I received some news from the Math via one of my friends who was there, but the news felt a little disturbing to me. It concerned something I wanted to be done but it was not being done, and it was somehow implied to me that I was an outsider and unfamiliar with the inner workings of the Math. I guess everyone wants to know that their Guru loves them, so I felt hurt because that was really what I wanted to know inside—and Srila Guru Maharaj knew it. He would make me feel that I was a very intimate friend, and that gave me great encouragement; but then some news came to the contrary through someone else. I was a little disturbed, so I wrote a letter to the Math expressing this.

I received a reply from Srila Guru Maharaj in which he was very disturbed to hear what had reached my ears. He reassured me to the contrary and then said, “This is so preposterous that when Govinda Maharaj heard this, blood oozed from his heart!”

Govinda Maharaj has always personally been my affectionate well-wisher, and I feel reassured and confident knowing that after the departure of Srila Guru Maharaj he is there to give guidance and inspiration. Srila Govinda Maharaj also has a great sense of humour, and really whenever I go to India I go there with the sole purpose of having a few moments of his association, because it is very purifying and rejuvenating. As is mentioned in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya—all success is achieved by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee.

Therefore in many ways I am happy to have the opportunity to express my appreciation for him, however small and insignificant it may be coming from me. He is personally responsible for so many auspicious events in my own life in connection with Srila Guru Maharaj and therefore I have a personal debt. I don’t know to what extent the disciples of Srila Guru Maharaj and other devotees all over the world are aware of just how much they are also indebted to Sripad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj. So this is a wonderful opportunity that we could all come together and show some appreciation on this day.

Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharajer avirbhava maha-mahotsava tithi ki jaya!

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CHAPTER TWO:
The Original Current

From a lecture given by
His Holiness Tridandi Swami
Sripad Bhakti Ananda Sagar Maharaj
at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip,
on the eve of Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami
Maharaj’s Appearance Day Festival 1991

Service to Sri Guru and Vaishnav is itself the end. There is no need to consider this lila, that lila, this rasa, that rasa, without considering the pleasure of the higher Vaishnav, and that Vaishnav is Srila Govinda Maharaj. Srila Guru Maharaj—Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj—chose him, therefore I always consider that on the entire planet he is the only person who can give Krishna consciousness. Of course, we know that there is the Ramanuja-sampradaya, Madhva-sampradaya, etc., in which there are many respectable and venerable Vaishnavs, and we are not aiming to dishonour them by saying such a thing. But once we have had a glimpse of the highest siddhanta and dispensation through the introduction of Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada, we are left surprised to see that some are doubting and uncertain, some are still philosophising, others are searching the scriptures—still searching, searching, searching—but when the qualified topmost Vaishnav is standing there in front of us, what is to be done?

Srila Guru Maharaj himself has chanted Srila Govinda Maharaj’s glories so wonderfully, and in this way we are to hear from above. There is a particular current that comes from the cloud down to the ground, not from the ground up to the cloud. We are most fortunate, therefore, to have the association of Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. That title, “Dev-Goswami” is also his title. It is a brahmana title and it is fully applicable for Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

This is my personal understanding, finding, and experience: if we simply try to speak about the glories of Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, we will find that suddenly the Mission of Mahaprabhu has come upon our heads, and this is what I want to say. If I say it in the presence of Srila Maharaj, he may not be pleased with me due to his humility, but his heart’s pleasure is another thing.

Yesterday Srila Maharaj chanted the bhajan Gopinath, and having heard that, I feel there is nothing more I can say. When he sings “Gopinath,” there is Gopinath; when Srila Maharaj sings “Jaya Guru Maharaj yati-rajeswara”, there is Guru Maharaj yati-rajeswara (the Emperor of sannyasi kings). What I want to say is: when he is doing kirtan, there is trnad api sunichena, taror api sahisnuna, amanina manadena, kirtaniyah sada harih [“One who knows himself as more insignificant than a blade of grass, who is as forbearing as a tree, and who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to sing the glories of Lord Hari constantly.”]. We find there the vigraha of trnad api sunichena—the embodiment and personification of trnad api sunichena.

From the very beginning of our coming to Srila Guru Maharaj he taught us the glories of Srila Govinda Maharaj. On his own Vyasa-puja day, the day after the sannyasa of Srila Govinda Maharaj, Srila Guru Maharaj said, “Furthermore I want to say one thing, tadiyanam samarchanam, if you serve who is beloved of me, that is more than service to me.”

Parvati Devi asked Sambhu, “What is the highest worship?”

To which he replied, “Aradhananam sarvesam, visnor aradhanam param—the highest is the worship of Vishnu.” Parvati became a little sad because she worships Sambhu, yet Sambhu himself is saying there is someone higher than him. Then he said, “Tasmat parataram devi, tadiyanam samarchanam—but higher than the worship of Vishnu is the worship of His devotees: that is even greater than devotion to the Lord Himself.” In our Vaishnavism we have supreme, more supreme, and most supreme! In this way Srila Guru Maharaj wanted to say, “If you serve Srila Govinda Maharaj, I will be more happy.” He expressed this to so many.

Advaita Prabhu, weeping and crying day after day, prayed to Mahaprabhu, “Please come down here.” Was his prayer only for giving mukti to the conditioned souls—for freeing them from the cycle of 8,400,000 species of life? Was it only for that? Was it only so they would go to the Brahman whereupon they would have to come down here again? No, it was because he was unable to tolerate the anti-atmosphere. He prayed: “Unless You come and do it Yourself it is impossible.” And that prayer came from Advaita Acharya who is not an avatara of Maha-Vishnu, but he is the origin of Maha-Vishnu.

In this line I say with firm faith that Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is the original current, and this current will go everywhere from shore to shore. It is our wish and prayer that all energy of every type will be engaged for this Mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and for the service of Srila Acharyadev—and that is the only auspiciousness, the only good.

You will find genuine spiritual life in the genuine srauta-pantha (sanctioned path). It is very necessary to tell the truth that only Srila Acharyadev, who is selected by Srila Guru Maharaj, can give Krishna consciousness. This is my exclusive prayer and supplication on this day, the day Srila Maharaj took sannyasa.

Srila Maharaj previously showed his grhastha vesa (his dress of a householder) and he was humble to everybody, but we came as foreigners as sannyasis and we could not understand his true identity. However, when he showed us his Acharya form, then we had to understand. Srila Guru Maharaj selected Srila Govinda Maharaj, and he will now go to the whole world just like Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada did, but this will be the next instalment.

Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada gave the introduction—only the introduction—but he was a Saktyavesa-avatara. Nobody else could give the introduction; but it was only the beginning. In the introduction you can find the first chapter mentioned, the second chapter…, the eighteenth chapter—everything is mentioned—but now begin! That introduction was given life by Srila Guru Maharaj, from beginning to end, and now the next step is necessary and that is being given by our Acharyadev, Srila Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj. If we have read the introduction we must not think we have everything. It is a disease to think, “I have everything.”

The day after Srila Guru Maharaj gave Srila Govinda Maharaj sannyasa was Guru Maharaj’s own Appearance Day and he was very happy on that day. Early that morning I went to see him and said, “Srila Guru Maharaj, yesterday you gave Srila Govinda Maharaj sannyasa; but I think he took sannyasa many, many lifetimes ago.”

He replied, “Oh, you want to say that this is only being done to show the people who he is, but actually he is much more than that?” Srila Guru Maharaj was smiling and laughing, and on that morning, his own Appearance Day, he sat on his chair and for maybe two or three hours he talked about Srila Govinda Maharaj. This was the Appearance Day of the Guru but the Guru was doing kirtan of the disciple!

I wrote in an article that the pranam-mantram for Srila Govinda Maharaj, gurvabhista-supurakam guru-ganair asisa-sambhusitam…, was directed and composed by Srila Guru Maharaj. Srila Guru Maharaj instructed Srila Govinda Maharaj in Bengali: “Put this, this, and this as the contents of the mantram and you make the wording in such and such a manner.” But some objected, “That was not composed by Guru Maharaj, it was composed by Govinda Maharaj.” Wrong! The composer is the man who tells the idea—the language is another thing. The mantram was composed by Srila Guru Maharaj, but how can we tell to the general masses that Gurudev is telling the pranam-mantram to his disciple? The world cannot understand such a thing, but here in Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math we can tell it! Therefore, with the brilliantly clear line of the original current before us, we make our full obeisances with prayer for service at the lotus feet of he who is uniquely selected by Srila Guru Maharaj: His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

Jaya Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa-parivrajaka-acharya-varya Astottara-sata-sri Srimad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jaya!

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CHAPTER THREE:
Srila Guru Maharaj’s Divine Desire and Directives

[2nd Dec 1985]

The said Sriman Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj (of whom I, Sri Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, am the Godfather, and who is by caste Gaudiya-Vaishnav Brahmin, and who is by occupation a Religious Preacher and Worshipper of the Deities at the address Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, P.O. and Police Station Nabadwip)—the said Sriman Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj, who, despite temporarily changing his formal position, was named and recognised by me as Sri Govinda Sundar Vidyaranjan and engaged by me in all the various services of the Math; and upon whom on the 6th November 1985 I conferred the order of sannyasa whence I again named and recognised him as Sri Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj; and, since he has tirelessly and whole-heartedly assisted in the duties of organising and developing this Math and also in the duties of establishing and developing Calcutta and Hapaniya Centres, etc., and since he has arranged many donors and has provided much encouragement to even myself in the duties of managing the Math, etc., and all the above-mentioned tasks he is still performing up to this day; and since he is still naturally disposed to serve the Math and its residents, and at all times he is endeavouring for the progressive development of Sri Math, and above all, he is well-known and unanimously acclaimed as being firmly established in the philosophy of the Perfect Axiomatic Truth of Bhakti as propounded by both myself as well as by my Divine Master—thus, I hereby appoint him as my Successor Sevaite (Successor Guardian-servitor), Acharya, and President. In compliance with the Rules and Regulations of the aforesaid Deed, all my lawful claims, directorship, and rights will automatically be inherited by him. In all of my Maths, etc., he alone shall as the Acharya, confer initiation, etc., and shall as the Sevaite (Guardian-servitor) and President, manage all the duties of my established Temples, ashrams, etc. Hereby, I do reveal my final desire and directives unto all my Eastern and Western lady and gentlemen disciples, as well as to the faithful souls devoted to the Divinity, that: they must respect him as the exclusive Acharya and President, and remain faithful to him and cooperate with him in the service duties of the Math.

If anyone cannot honour these directives and this final desire of mine, then they shall be bound to disassociate themselves from my established Maths, etc….

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Part Two

Compiled from Discourses by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj

FIRST DISCOURSE:
Descent of Knowledge

Many births we have had in this world and many are awaiting us, but we have not yet found a solution to birth and death.

Because we have energy we must do something, whether good or bad. Energy is our soul’s potency: willing, feeling, and thinking are present there, so we must do something; but if we do wrong then the result will be bad, and if we do right then the result will be good. Therefore it is necessary to realise what is wrong and what is right; and this human body is the main body, the main birth in which we can realise a solution. We have had many births but there was actually no chance for such realisation, however now we do have some opportunity. If we have good association then we can realise what is good for us in this life as well as for our future living, also we will understand something of what we have done before—all these things we can realise in this birth. To get a human body is very rare but it is almost essential for the substantial advancement of the jiva (soul), and that chance is now in our own hand.

labdhva sudurlabham idam bahu-sambhavante

manusyam artha-dam anityam apiha dhirah

All religions stress the importance of the human birth. Each have some mention that in this birth we can finalise our future. We also express this, but there are some differences between our goal and theirs. Most say that if you do good, goodness will wait to reward you in the future. But Vaishnavism is eternal: a non-stop flow up to Goloka Vrindavan.

Svalpam apy asya dharmasya, trayate mahato bhayat—if you try to do something truly good, that will bring an eternal result. Now we have achieved this human body, therefore we are to try as hard as possible for our goal, and in doing so we can neglect our material duties.

ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha

samanyam etat pasubhir naranam

There is some difference between beast and man, and we are to realise this within our understanding. But only realisation cannot give us everything—there must also be some power: some strength of mind, strength of the eternal soul, etc., and that comes through the Guru and the Vaishnavs. We are to associate with those who are practising in proper consciousness. With their association our devotional strength will grow more and more. That is called sadhu-sanga, the association of a good person, a sadhu.

sadhu sanga krsna nama ei matra chai

samsara jinite ara kona vastu nai

Wherever we shall go and whatever we shall practise, it is always necessary to take the help of an expert, otherwise we can make mistakes and do wrong. There are many things before us, but we are to be able to utilise everything properly. There are many electrical components but only an expert can use them properly in order to make a machine to record and reproduce sound, a cassette player. Similarly, everywhere and in all circumstances we need the help of experts in that field—and this is the main principle for our proper advancement. But we are to discern who is actually an expert and who is not. Actually we cannot understand what is the nature of someone’s knowledge, feeling, transcendental property, etc., but only we can pray to Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu that by Their mercy we may gain good association. According to the purity of our prayer, They may grant us that.

Sometimes we may feel hopeless and sometimes we may be very enthusiastic. When we see the chanting of the maha-mantra and the dancing of the devotees all over the world we feel very enthusiastic. But if we notice that there is some improper realisation behind that chanting and dancing—that they have received much, but cannot utilise it properly—we must feel hopeless. Sometimes a devotee may ask question after question about something we consider to be a simple point, and we wonder why he cannot understand. But he is questioning because for him it is not very simple, and when we see he still cannot understand despite repeated questions and answers, we may sometimes feel very hopeless. Everywhere in Srila Guru Maharaj’s books and Srila Swami Maharaj’s books there is advice and descriptions for our benefit, and if you can capture the essence and understand that properly, you will receive everything. The only cause of not capturing that essence is a deficiency of transcendental knowledge. Our deficiency lies there, and our necessity is to take the help of an expert.

yaha, bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane

ekanta asraya kara chaitanya-charane

This verse says that in order to understand Srimad Bhagavatam properly we are to hear it from someone who is fully established in devotional service and we are to fully surrender to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Why is this advice given in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita? The point is that everything is recorded in Srimad Bhagavatam but we are unable to receive it, therefore it is always necessary for us to take good association.

We do not want money (kanak), we do not want women (kamini), and we do not want fame (pratistha). All over the world the living entities are running to try to achieve these things. Even a very unqualified person who perhaps is only a collector of fodder for the cows, also strives for these. When he goes home to his house, he is “father”—he has a wife and receives some respect from her. He may not receive respect from others but he receives respect from his family. He also has money. He may not have as much as others but even with his 10 rupees per day wages he tries to enjoy. Similarly, everywhere and in every life, kanak, kamini, and pratistha are available to some degree. But that is not actually our goal of life. Life’s goal should be to achieve transcendental knowledge. Through transcendental knowledge we can proceed to our destination.

Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur—Srila Guru Maharaj’s Gurudev—was happy to see many of his disciples organising their own maths, institutions, and temples, and doing much construction work to make the various buildings. But he also gave some warning, “We did not come into this world in order to be storemen, builders, carpenters, etc. Actually, our duty is to serve Sri Guru, the Vaishnavs, and Bhagavan: this is our main duty, and we are expanding with institutions, buildings, etc. because we want to attract other jivas—other souls.”

If devotees do not stay in the Math then what is the use of so many bricks? If devotees are not happy with their service duties then what shall we do with all these jobs? Therefore it is very essential for the conditioned souls to have the association of one who can guide their mind in a transcendental way. We are to search that special association.

It is not always clear in our sampradaya who is the Guru of many of even the great Acharyas. Who was the Guru of Rupa Goswami? Who was the Guru of Raghunath Dasa Goswami, of Gopal Bhatta Goswami, of Prabhodananda Saraswati, etc.? It is known but it is not always readily evident in the scriptures; this is because our Guru-parampara comes through the line of Siksa-gurus. The Mantra-guru is therefore sometimes little known and even the name of the Mantra-guru of a great Acharya may not be mentioned anywhere in the scriptures. Who is the Mantra-guru of Baladeva Vidyabhusana? It is not generally known, but perhaps it may be discovered if we carefully scrutinise the scriptures. However, we can readily see that Baladeva Vidyabhusana follows Visvanath Chakravarti and therefore it is accepted that Visvanath Chakravarti is his Guru—this is the Siksa-guru line.

We may not know who is the Guru of Gaura Kisor Das Babaji Maharaj or who is the Guru of Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, but from the line of Siksa-gurus we can see that after Baladeva Vidyabhusana comes Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj.

When we see street lights lit up along a bridge we can understand that the electric current is flowing along a particular path. Similarly it is necessary to see the living link.

We are not servants of one thing or another, but we are servants of our master. If he says, “This is very good,” we shall also say, “Yes, this is very good.” And if the master will say, “Those items are not good,” then we shall hate those things!

In other words, we are servants of our master. What he considers to be good, we shall similarly consider as good. Srinivas Acharya showed his nature in this way, and also we can see this in all the other great devotees.

Yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas. In the Upanisads it says that the meaning of transcendental knowledge is that it comes down from the upper level. That knowledge is not my servant. I shall worship that, I need that, and I shall go wherever it is possible to receive that. Only it is available from one who is a master of that line, and if such a master is satisfied by my service he may give that transcendental knowledge to me. I have no other way to receive it.

In Jaiva Dharma by Bhaktivinod Thakur there is a description of how one mayavadi sannyasi developed servitorship to the devotees. He came to Premdas Babaji Maharaj and asked many questions, and by hearing the replies he could understand Babaji’s property really to be transcendental. He was very learned and thought, “I am educated and have great knowledge in many fields, but of that type of knowledge I have nothing.” He then surrendered to Premdas Babaji Maharaj who invited him to stay in his ashram. The sannyasi followed his instructions and gradually transcendental knowledge also came to him.

Bilvamangal Thakur was a great expert in the mayavada section—the teachings of Sankar Acharya. But he came into the service-line of Vaishnavism and received the mercy of Krishna. Bilvamangal Thakur directly could feel that everything changed not only externally, but also internally. Everything—his willing, feeling, thinking—fully changed. The following sloka is composed by him:

advaita-vithi-pathikair upasyah

svananda-simhasana-labdha-diksah

hathena kenapi vayam sathena

dasi-krta gopa-vadhu-vitena

“I was master of advaita-marga: always with my full knowledge I remained on my seat of honour, but one cowherd boy came and took me from that simhasana and made me His servant—a servant in the mood of a woman: dasi krta gopa vadhu vitena.”

Actually, all jivas have the female form. They are sakti, potency—jiva-sakti. The form of potency is service, and the best form for service is the female form. It will not simply appear by meditation, but it will come to us only when that knowledge itself will descend into our hearts. At that time everything will change.

There is an example I like to recite: One day, while Gaura Kisor Das Babaji was walking along the road, some small boys threw stones at him thinking him to be a madman. However, Babaji Maharaj reacted by telling Krishna, “Oh, Krishna, what are You doing? You are disturbing me very much, therefore I shall go to Mother Yasoda and tell her of this incident. She will chastise You, and You will take notice of her chastisement!” Gaura Kisor Das Babaji did not think the boys to be throwing the stones, but his mood was fully different: he thought, “Krishna Himself is doing this, not those boys.” In this way, when we become Krishna conscious a wholesale change will come from within, but at the present time we cannot chant Harinam properly. Why? Because we have abhiman, ahankar: ego. When that screen of ego is withdrawn we shall find our real form and we shall be able to see everything properly. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said, Krishna nama dhare kata bala, hrdaya haite bale jihvara agrete chale sabda rupe nache anuksana. [“The Name of Krishna possesses so much power. It speaks from within my heart, moves on the tip of my tongue, and constantly dances there in the form of transcendental sound.”]

Similarly in Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu we find:

atah sri-krsna-namadi

na bhaved grahyam indriyaih

sevonmukhe hi jihvadau

svayam eva sphuraty adah

“He will dance in my heart and He will dance on my tongue—that is real Krishna-nama.”

A higher stage is also possible, some essence of which has been given by Sanatan Goswami. Generally we want to mix with the residents of that spiritual world, but Sanatan Goswami does not want such things; his is quite another plane of conception.

In his earlier days Sanatan Goswami many times asked Mahaprabhu questions for his satisfaction. But in a laughing mood Mahaprabhu would avoid his questions. Sanatan Goswami would directly ask, “In Kali-yuga is there any incarnation of Krishna?” And Mahaprabhu would reply to him in a playful way, “Oh, Sanatan, you are very naughty…,” and would avoid the answer.

Later, when in Vrindavan, Rupa Goswami wanted to offer his Guru, Sanatan Goswami, some sweet-rice. He thought, “My Gurudev likes sweet-rice. If I can secure some milk, sugar, raisins, nuts, etc., I shall be able to make some sweet-rice, offer it to Krishna, and then to my Gurudev.” A little later, a young girl, perhaps twelve or fourteen years of age, came to Rupa Goswami’s bhajan-kutir in Kadam Khandi, near to Nandagram. She told him she had come under instruction from her parents and the villagers. She mentioned they had given her some ingredients and asked her to take them to Rupa Goswami in order for him to make sweet-rice to offer to Krishna.

Rupa Goswami was surprised. He reflected, “Just this morning I wished for these things and now they have come automatically.” He happily accepted the items and immediately went the kilometre or so to Sanatan Goswami’s bhajan-kutir in Nandagram and invited him, “Prabhu, today please come to my bhajan-kutir and take some prasadam.”

Sanatan Goswami happily accepted the invitation and so Rupa Goswami made very nicely the various preparations including the sweet-rice.

Sanatan Goswami came there around noon and he saw the many fragrant and nice preparations. While taking that prasadam Sanatan Goswami thought, “I have passed maybe sixty years but I have never tasted such fine types of prasadam, I wonder in what way this has been made.” He was very brilliant like our Srila Guru Maharaj, so he then asked Rupa Goswami, “Rupa, in which way did you make these preparations? The ingredients are also very expensive and difficult to obtain. How were you able to secure such things?”

Rupa Goswami said, “Today in the early morning I was thinking that I would like to offer you especially this type of sweet-rice. Presently one girl came saying she was from the nearby village of Javat. She gave me the ingredients and asked that I prepare and offer them to Krishna.”

Sanatan Goswami was a little puzzled as he knew practically every house and all the members of each family in Vraja Dham.

Everyone considered Sanatan Goswami as their family judge. If any quarrel would come within a family they would consult with him and abide by his decisions. In this way he was very well-known especially in Nandagram, Javat, Varsana, etc. His assessment of a situation was always very accurate, and everyone respected him as the lord and judge of their family. In this way Sanatan Goswami knew all the people of Javat, but Rupa Goswami did not.

Sanatan enquired further to Rupa regarding that girl and asked from which family she had come. Rupa Goswami could only say, “She told me she came from Javat, but she did not mention any particular family.”

Sanatan Goswami then went to Javat and enquired as to whose family had supplied such fine ingredients. Finding that the ingredients had not come from anyone’s house in that village he lastly decided that it was Srimati Radharani Herself who had served Rupa Goswami by supplying the ingredients. He was very sad and approached Rupa Goswami, “What have you done? It is not good to want to fulfil your wish. I searched the whole of Javat village but what was brought this morning did not come from anyone’s house there. I am one hundred per cent sure that Srimati Radharani Herself came to you and brought these things, otherwise it is impossible to make this very special kind of prasadam. I have often accepted your cooking in the past and I have tasted many kinds of prasadam prepared by you, but on this occasion what have you done? Your wish is not good. Whom we want to worship, and whom we always search for in order to worship, She came and served us.” Sanatan Goswami was very unhappy and he left that bhajan-kutir.

Rupa Goswami was also very sad, “Oh, my Gurudev was not satisfied.” A servant was seated in front of Rupa Goswami and he witnessed the great separation and sadness that came to Rupa Goswami. His sadness in the feeling of separation was so high that his body became very hot, his breathing stopped, and his hairs all stood on end. That is a very exalted level of consciousness, and for now we are to worship that, but only from afar. We want to go there and we want to serve. There are many different levels of service, and if we make ourselves qualified to accept that, then the exalted service mood will itself appear inside our very form.

In front of us are many things that draw us away from service, but we have received a very good Guru. Now the ball is in our own court. We have everything in that we have the seed of Krishna-prema through Srila Swami Maharaj and Srila Guru Maharaj. Just to receive the seed is a very fortunate thing, and really we have that: there is no haziness there—it is brighter than sunlight. Therefore, with full consciousness we shall try to gain transcendental knowledge. That seed is in our hand and we shall try to nurture it properly.

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SECOND DISCOURSE:
Lessons in Giving

Srila Guru Maharaj many times explained that wealth is for Narayana, women are for Krishna, and fame is for Gurudev. There is a very nice saying in Bengali: guru gana sire punah sobha paya sata guna—whatever fame may come to me, if I immediately transfer that to the lotus feet of my Guru, then in an exalted and glorious way it will shine and I shall also be within its rays. So always we must try to offer ourselves to our Guru; and the Guru’s nature is that he always sends everything immediately to the lotus feet of his Guru, and in this way through the preceptorial line everything very quickly reaches Krishna.

In Sanskrit logic it is said: “satapatra vedhah—nyaya,” if a needle is passed through a pile of a hundred leaves, it must go through the leaves one at a time no doubt, but it is apparently instantaneous. The time difference between the needle penetrating each leaf is practically uncountable, but still there is a difference. Similarly when we receive some fame or anything else, if we offer that in the proper place then it will go practically instantaneously through the line of succession to Krishna. The proper place is that women are for Krishna, wealth is for Narayana, and fame is for Gurudev. In the ultimate sense Guru is Radharani and by giving fame to Guru it quickly goes by the process of satapatra vedhah—nyaya directly to Srimati Radharani. The light coming from that world will in turn make us also exalted.

Tachchatmane prati mukhasya yatha mukhasrih—if you put tilak on your forehead, you will immediately see in the mirror the presence of the tilak. In that way if you put everything through your beloved Lord, that will immediately come back to you and you will be exalted with that. This is a very nice example given to us in Srimad Bhagavatam.

So we shall try to satisfy our Gurudev—it is the only way. But the Guru must be genuine, and he must be always offering obeisances to his Guru. There is only this one main qualification: who is a hundred percent surrendered to his Guru, he can become Guru. The other qualifications are minor, such as the sixty-four kinds of activities of practising life, etc.

Prahlada Maharaj said:

sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam

archchanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam

iti pumsarpita visnau bhaktis chen nava-laksana

kriyeta bhagavaty addha tan manye ‘dhitam uttamam

The meaning of this is that there are nine principal processes of devotional service [hearing about Krishna; chanting about Him; remembering Him; serving His lotus feet; worshipping Him; offering Him payers; serving Him as a servant; becoming His friend; and fully surrendering to Him], but the super-qualification is dedication. With dedication, whatever one does will come out in the form of transcendence. For example, there may be so many flowers in a garden but they do not have any special value for us. However, if one flower is put to the hand or to the lotus feet of the Deity, we shall take that flower respectfully upon our heads. Why? A flower is a mundane thing, but when we offer it to the lotus feet of Krishna it assumes a worshipful position.

If we offer ourselves to our Guru he will not keep us for his convenience but he will send us to Krishna. He does not keep any of the energy we surrender to him, but all of it he sends on through his Guru and therefore by the process of “satapatra vedhah—nyaya” it reaches Krishna. From there mercy comes back in another form to the giver and duly glorifies him also. In this way mercy comes down from above, and that mercy is transcendental knowledge.

Actually we cannot worship Krishna with anything mundane, therefore when we go to worship the Deity we say mantrams. Before offering a flower we put some Ganges water on it and recite the mantram:

puspe puspe maha-puspe supuspe puspa sambhave

puspa chayavakirne cha hum phat svaha

Also when we take water in a pot for the Lord’s worship we recite another mantram in order to make that water transcendental:

gange cha yamune chaiva godavari sarasvati

narmade sindho kaveri jale ‘smin sannidhim kuru

By this same means we also transform ourselves with appropriate meditation accompanied by the mantram:

divyam sri-hari-mandiradhya-

tilakam kantham sumalanvitam

vaksah sri-hari-nama-varna0subhagam

sri-khanda-liptam punah

putam suksama-navambaram

vimalatam nityam vahintim tanum

dhyayech chhri-guru-pada-padma-

nikate sevotsukan chatmanah

This has the meaning: “I am a servant of the servants of the servants of my Guru Maharaj, may he give his mercy so I can worship his lotus feet, and may he offer me, along with all my energy, to Krishna.” This is the way of real archan, real worship.

Actually, with our own energy we cannot fulfil Krishna. Reality is by itself and for itself—He is satisfied with Himself and His own paraphernalia. He feels only a little deficiency in that He needs servitors to serve His servitors. He is eager to fulfil only this one need.

ratna karastava grham grhini cha padma

kim deya masti bhavato jagadisvaraya

abhira vamanayana hrta manasaya

dattam mano yadupate tadidam grhan

The devotee wants to offer something to Krishna, but what will he offer? Krishna is also Vishnu, and Vishnu lives in the ocean of jewels—ratna karastava grham.

The devotee thinks, “What shall I give to Krishna? I have some jewels which I can offer to Him, but it is not sufficient for Him. It cannot satisfy Him because He is living in the ocean where there are so many jewels. Indeed He is the master of jewels!

“Ratna karastava grham grhini cha padma—so then I may want to give some other kind of wealth such as gold or cloth or any other thing from this mundane world which, being necessary here for the maintenance of the family and so on, is considered to be wealth. But the proprietor of all wealth is Laksmi Devi and She is living with Him, Lord Vishnu, therefore He also has all wealth.”

He has much jewellery, He has all wealth, He even has a whole ocean of condensed milk! So the devotee cannot understand how he can satisfy the Lord.

ratna karastava grham grhini cha padma

kim deya masti bhavato jagadisvaraya

“What shall I give to You? You have everything.”

Then it comes to the devotee’s mind, “Oh, maybe there is one thing not within my Lord’s control, and that is His mind! My Lord’s mind has been taken by the Gopis.” Krishna’s mind always searches for the service of the Gopis, in this way He has actually lost His mind: the Gopis took it. Therefore the devotee prays to Krishna, “You have no mind, actually, so please You take my mind unto Your lotus feet, and relish with that.”

It is necessary to give Krishna our minds, and by offering it unto His lotus feet we will be glorified. Only this is necessary, but in which way shall we make our offering? Even though Krishna lives within our hearts we cannot see Him and we cannot connect with Him directly. Only through the “telescopic system” can we see Him. In the sky there are millions of stars but we cannot see them because we have no such capacity. So it is necessary to gain that ability to see, and this is achieved by means of the “telescopic system.” When with proper adjustment we put lenses in a line one after the other, through that lens system we can see something far away. In a similar way the Guru-parampara is our means of seeing Krishna. It is also through that line of Gurus that our service reaches Krishna, and it is accepted by Him immediately. This logic is mentioned in the Sanskrit books and is called “satapatra vedhah—nyaya”. We think that service reaches Krishna directly but actually it goes via each successive Guru one by one to Him just as the needle passes through a pile of leaves. It is necessary to offer ourselves to Krishna, but the only way to do so is through Guru. And we must take care to accept a genuine Guru otherwise the needle will be broken. In the scriptures we can find the symptoms of a real Guru:

krpa-sindhuh su-sampurnah, sarva-sattvopakarakah

nisprhah sarvatah siddhah, sarva-vidya-visaradah

sarva-samsaya-samchetta, ‘nalaso gurur ahrtah

“One who is an ocean of mercy, who is fulfilled in all respects, who is possessed of all good qualities, who always works for the benefit of all souls, who is free from lust, who is perfect in all respects, who is well-versed in the scriptures and who knows the science of Krishna is to be known as a Guru.”

This is the qualification of Guru, and we will receive our connection with Krishna by connecting with, and staying connected with, one in whom we find these symptoms.

Whatever we do we must do with sincerity, and that in itself will help to safeguard us. We must be sincere. Sincerity, humility, and tolerance are the necessary qualifications to receive transcendental knowledge. First is sincerity. With sincerity we can get everything, but we really must be sincere otherwise the results will not come. An analogy has been mentioned that as good steel is necessary to make a good weapon, similarly real sincerity is necessary to make a real devotee. Sincerity is the steel of the devotee. We must offer ourselves with our full sincerity. We shall also try to adopt the qualities of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others.

We must always be humble. Maya will give many tests but we must try to tolerate everything and realise why such things are happening. Furthermore, if we want to remain peacefully we must give honour to others. If we do not disturb others but give honour to them, they will not disturb us. They will think, “This person is very innocent. He is not against me, furthermore he nourishes me by giving me respect, so I must not disturb him.”

Mahaprabhu always wants that His devotees have peace in order to practise spiritual life. Such peace is only possible if the devotees are humble and tolerant, and if they give honour to others. The devotee will think, “I do not want to see whether someone is an honourable person or not, but I know my own position is that of an insignificant soul who is aspiring to be a servant of the servants of the servants of Krishna. So if someone wants any honour from me I must immediately give it to him and not give him any chance to think me to be an enemy.”

We can see an example in the Pastimes of Srila Rupa Goswami who was approached by a digvijaya pandit, a big world-renowned scholar. Hearing of Rupa Goswami’s name and fame he went to him and challenged: “If you cannot defeat me then give me your certificate by signing a statement that you have been defeated by me.”

Rupa Goswami thought, “I have no time to talk with that man.” He therefore asked, “Where is your paper? I shall sign it.” He then wrote to the effect that, “This man is a great pandit and I have been defeated by him,” and he signed it. This is the nature of the pure devotees, they do not want to cause disturbance or trouble to others. They are well aware that everything here is a passing show. People think that what they have is their wealth, but we neither know when we shall die nor where we shall go after death. Our duty is to prepare ourselves for the service of Krishna, and that is the real wealth of our lives. Our only shelter is to serve Krishna, therefore we do not want to waste our time with worldly affairs.

This is one mood of the devotees, and another is shown by Jiva Goswami Prabhu. He wanted to rectify that digvijaya pandit, and therefore chastised him: “You went to see Rupa Goswami but you do not know who he is. You think yourself to be a great pandit, but now I consider you to be very foolish. You went to the ocean of ecstasy but you did not receive even one drop of that ecstasy. You went there but came back empty-handed, therefore I consider you to be very foolish. You do not know who Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami really are, therefore you went to defeat them. You have made a great offence to them. I am their disciple and if you want to examine me then go ahead, by which you may understand something of their greatness.” Anyhow, that digvijaya pandit received the mercy of Jiva Goswami and was defeated by him within a few minutes. He could understand he had made much offence to Rupa and Sanatan, and, by Jiva Goswami’s mercy, he left his ego. The pandit immediately returned to Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami and, apologising, took shelter of them. Jiva Goswami was happy that he was able to do some service to his Guru by rescuing this digvijaya pandit from illusion.

Following this incident, Rupa Goswami, in order to teach us, showed some unhappiness towards Jiva Goswami: “You have come here to Vrindavan but now it seems through this incident that you want to acquire mundane fame.” This, however, was not the desire of Jiva Goswami, his intention was to glorify his Guru, correct the digvijaya pandit, and bestow mercy upon him. This lesson is from one of the many incidents in the lives of our Acharyas.

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THIRD DISCOURSE:
Protected Journey

Yesterday someone asked, “How do we see that Baladev Vidyabhusana is in the line of Visvanath Chakravarti and Rupa Goswami?” Actually they are protectors of our sampradaya from the illusory environment created by the pandit section.

When Baladev Vidyabhusana began writing the Govinda-bhasya, he first gave his obeisances to Krishna, then to Jiva Goswami. He considered Jiva Goswami to be our Guru by giving protection from the pandits. Baladev Vidyabhusana wrote the following pranam mantram:

yah samkya pankena kutarka pamsuna

vivarta-gartena cha lupta didhitim

suddham vyadhat vak sudhaya mahesvaram

krsnam sa jivah prabhu rasta me gatih

This is a very difficult sloka and hard for me to explain in English. What I am explaining is not a literal translation but it gives the mood, the bhava. He says, “I offer my full dandavats unto the lotus feet of Srila Jiva Goswami who is the protector of our spiritual life. He rescues us from the whole illusory environment.”

He protects us from sankhya philosophy which he compares to quicksand. When the jivas want to cross over the ocean of material existence, they first come across muddy quicksand. In the nyaya sastra, the endless dry arguments are likened to ashes, soot, and smoke blowing in the wind and covering the eyes, sky, and everything around so we cannot see what is really in our front. Through the wind of bad arguments, everything is covered and we cannot see Krishna.

Next he mentions vivarta-gartena. Vivarta-vada is Sankar Acharya’s philosophy of nirvisesa-vada which is compared to a hole in the road.

You want to go to Krishna but cannot. Why? Because in the road there are these kinds of disturbances. The first disturbance comes from sankhya philosophy; compared to mud. Not only can you not cross it, but it is the kind of mud, like quicksand, from which you cannot extract yourself. The next disturbance is kutarka, which means nyaya-sastra, argument, which is compared to the blowing of soot and smoke. Still you try to progress on your journey, but suddenly many large blind holes appear in the road. These holes are like Sankar Acharya’s vivarta-vada. This is, mayavada: vivarta-gartena cha lupta didhitim. The mayavada philosophy is waiting for you in the road like a hole; if you fall into that hole you may be lost forever. In that hole you lose your body, nobody gives you any food or nourishment, nothing is there and you die there. But, Baladev Vidyabhusana says, “Suddham vyadhat vak sudhaya mahesvaram—Jiva Goswami is the rescuer from that environment, and he has shown Sri Krishna in His exalted position—jyotira bhyantare rupam atulam syamasundaram. I offer my everything to him.” It is difficult for me to explain in English, but this is the line of thought.

So Jiva Goswami is our protector, and Baladev Vidyabhusana is a pandit of similar standing to him. He was initiated into the Madhva-sampradaya and later, after reading the literature of Jiva Goswami Prabhu and Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur he became a devotee of the Gaudiya-Vaishnav-sampradaya—Mahaprabhu’s sampradaya.

Both Radha-Govinda and Narayana are worshipped in the king’s palace in Jaipur. The tradition was always that the devotees and the King of Jaipur would first worship Radha-Govinda and then Narayana. But there was another sampradaya who objected and they created a conflict. They said, “First Narayana should be worshipped then Radha-Govinda.” They challenged the Gaudiya-Vaishnavs: “This Deity is a Deity of the Gaudiya-Vaishnavs so whoever is a qualified Gaudiya-Vaishnav within your sampradaya, bring him; we shall debate with him and certainly we will defeat him!” Then all the Vaishnavs went to Visvanath Chakravarti who was at that time in Vrindavan. He was very old and he was disinclined to go there or to engage in the debate. He thought, “Those opposing in Jaipur have a very bad argument but they do not know it.” But who was to go?

At that time Baladev Vidyabhusana was with Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur. Visvanath Chakravarti examined him to see if he could establish our conception of the worship of Radha-Krishna before the worship of Narayana. Visvanath Chakravarti became very satisfied and thought him to be the best person to establish this Gaudiya-Vaishnav principle. He therefore requested Baladev Vidyabhusana, “Please, you go to Jaipur.”

Taking his blessings he went alone to the king’s assembly in Jaipur. His body was very thin, and he had all the appearance of a Gaudiya-Vaishnav. He was not old but at that time his age was perhaps only thirty to forty. On first seeing his age the devotee king was not satisfied, but when seeing his bright face, he considered, “Yes, the better representatives may all be elderly and unable to come, but they have sent this bright younger devotee. Now we eagerly wait to see what he will be able to do.”

Baladev Vidyabhusana then faced the Ramanuja-sampradaya’s challenge. The Ramanuja pandits asked their first question: “Whose bhasya are you following?” Bhasya means interpretation. At that time a sampradaya would be recognised only if they had a bhasya of Vedanta, a bhasya of Upanisad, a bhasya of Visnu-sahasra-nama stotra, and a bhasya of Gita. In many places this criterion is mentioned that a sampradaya can be recognised when these are present. Such bhasya did not exist in the Gaudiya-sampradaya, so the pandits said, “We shall not talk with you because you are not following any sampradaya.”

Baladev Vidyabhusana responded, “If it is necessary to have such bhasya for me to talk with you, give me seven days. After seven days I shall talk with you, and at that time I shall inform you whose bhasya I am following.”

They replied, “Yes, take seven or ten days.” So he went to Govindadev, the Deity of Srila Rupa Goswami, and taking the blessings of the Vaishnavs of our sampradaya, he bowed down to Govindadev and took permission from Him to make the bhasya.

After seven days he again met with the opposing pandits and presented to them: “I am following this Govinda-bhasya of Vedanta-darsan, it is in our sampradaya.”

“Who made it?”

“I myself.”

Like Sankar Acharya and Ramanuja Acharya, he composed his own bhasya. Looking at his face and talking with him, the pandits were surprised: “Within only seven days he composed it. He is a very great pandit.”

Very easily Baladev Vidyabhusana then defeated them by clearly showing them that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Narayana is coming from Krishna, not that Krishna is coming from Narayana. He established this principle in that meeting and he proved that Radha-Krishna are both to be worshipped by everybody, and They are the Supreme Personality. The pandits became very happy, and until the present day this process of worshipping Radha-Govinda followed by the worship of Narayana is still being practised in Jaipur.

When writing the bhasya, he made his pranams to Krishna and then to Jiva Goswami. Included there is this sloka:

yah samkya pankena kutarka pamsuna

vivarta-gartena cha lupta didhitim

suddham vyadhat vak sudhaya mahesvaram

krsnam sa jivah prabhu rasta me gatih

When Guru Maharaj would explain this sloka, his mood and expression would change in such a way that, seeing his face, we would think him to be just like Jiva Goswami. It was as if Jiva Goswami was actually sitting there in front of us!

So this is the history of the Govinda-bhasya, and this is how Baladev Vidyabhusana made his commentaries. Since that time Baladev Vidyabhusana, though he was a young man, has been worshipped by the Gaudiya-Vaishnav-sampradaya. His contribution is our wealth.

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FOURTH DISCOURSE:
Adjusting to His Account

Vaishnav-aparadha is the greatest danger in the cultivation of devotional service. By seeing the activities of others we should not be quick to judge them as non-Vaishnavs. Even we find that sometimes two devotees may fight in a very angry mood. In Mahabharata it is related that when Yudhisthir was very angry sometimes he would insult Arjuna. On one such occasion he told Arjuna very angrily, “You have much power and so many good weapons unequaled by others, but why don’t you kill Karna? Why do you even bother to take your bow, Gandiva, in your hand if you don’t kill him? Throw it away!”

Arjuna had a promise that he would kill anyone who insults his Gandiva. Therefore on hearing these words Arjuna immediately took up his bow and went to sever Yudhisthir’s head from his body.

Krishna was there and said, “Arjuna, don’t be so foolish. What are you doing?”

Arjuna replied, “I am not doing this enviously, but it is my promise that if anyone will insult my Gandiva I shall kill him. I have made this promise and I am a ksatriya, therefore whoever he may be—even my mother or father—I must kill him. This is the reason I am going to kill Yudhisthir.”

Then Krishna asked, “And if you don’t kill him then what will you do?”

“I will leave my own body.”

Hearing this, Krishna said, “Then leave your body, but don’t kill your brother. If necessary then you die, but why are you preparing to kill your brother? You are foolish, you do not know what is religion.”

Arjuna reflected and immediately accepted, “Yes, this solution is possible. I must die. If I kill my brother, too much sinful reaction will come to me, so I must die.” Then he said to Krishna, “I shall die.”

Krishna replied, “Yes, now you are being sensible. You can do that.”

Then Arjuna again took his weapon, this time to kill himself. But Krishna took his hand and said, “Oh, how much shall I have to teach you? Will it be possible within one lifetime to teach so much?”

Arjuna said, “What problem can there be now? We have already decided the best solution is that I die, so I’m preparing to do that.”

“Yes, you die. But there are eight kinds of death in this mundane plane, so you should choose sensibly.” Krishna then advised, “Amongst those eight types of death, one is self-glorification. You can die in this way. Another type of death is to insult someone, therefore if you insult Yudhisthir it will be his death. So why are you using your weapons? Instead use your tongue—it is also a weapon.”

Then Arjuna enthusiastically glorified himself by proclaiming to Yudhisthir his glorious activities of battle. Simultaneously he heavily insulted Yudhisthir. “I have done this great thing and that great thing, but what have you done? Only you have been sitting in your chair giving us orders. You don’t even know what a battlefield is…”

Yudhisthir then felt great pain and said, “I am not going to live. Now I am suffering so much pain I shall die.”

Seeing Yudhisthir faint, Krishna instructed Arjuna, “Now go and touch his feet and explain to him why you have done what you did. Apologise and everything will be settled.”

This is proper harmony and adjustment. So if we see devotees quarrelling we should always try to follow this mood. We cannot immediately say that those in either party are not devotees. At first we must think why the disturbance came, and consider all the circumstances, only then can we take a proper course of action. That is our duty.

Question: Is it sure that a devotee in his next life will take birth as a devotee?

Srila Govinda Maharaj: In Srimad Bhagavad-gita Krishna tells Arjuna,

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam, tyajaty ante kalevaram

tam tam evaiti kaunteya, sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

“At the time of death the tendencies from our whole life, as well as from previous lives, will all come to us and we will receive another body according to whatever we remember.”

If I am within Krishna consciousness in this life but I am to take another birth, my next life must be again endowed with at least my present amount of Krishna consciousness. In a more exalted way that will come to me, and I shall receive a better chance.

Krishna says,

suchinam srimatam gehe, yoga-bhrasto ‘bhijayate

“One who cannot fulfil his devotional practising life in this body will receive another body after death through which he will receive a better chance to practise Krishna consciousness.”

Another thing is that we may see a good, high-class devotee remaining senseless in a coma for some days before leaving his body, so the question may arise as to what will be the outcome for him. But Krishna says about His devotee:

na hi kalyana-krt kaschid, durgatim tata gachchhati

“Whether or not a devotee can remember Me at the time of death is not the criterion for him. That is the rule for the general practitioners, but for one who is devoted fully to Me, he may be senseless in a coma for seven days, or not; but I am accountable for that. Already I have taken responsibility, therefore he has no responsibility for himself. I shall do what is good for him. If I think it will be good for him to take another birth, I shall give that, otherwise I shall arrange another situation for him.”

We can see everything in a very concise way in the books of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. He wrote many books such as Jaiva Dharma, Chaitanya Siksamritam, etc. If only we read and follow the books of Srila Guru Maharaj and the song books of Bhaktivinod Thakur we will see sufficiently. It is not necessary to read many books.

Question: In Srimad Bhagavad-gita Krishna says that an unsuccessful yogi takes his birth in an aristocratic wealthy family or a pious brahmana family. I can understand that the pious brahmana family would be very favourable for his future advancement, but to me it seems that a wealthy aristocratic family is not so good because this person would be more and more entangled in material sense gratification. Please explain this point.

Srila Govinda Maharaj: When I see the devotees who took their births in such families I can understand very quickly the answer. If their facilities can be used for the seva of Krishna then more promotion will come. If someone receives a kingdom, and if he can serve Guru, Vaishnav and Bhagavan with that whole kingdom, then he must receive more benefit than a brahmana even though that a brahmana’s family may be materially pious. Also pious does not mean devotional. Devotion is another thing, and wherever we are we must always look for the chance to gain that.

This guidance in Srimad Bhagavad-gita is actually for the general people, not for the devotees. There are many things mentioned in Bhagavad-gita: karma, bhakti-misra-karma, yoga-misra-karma, jnana-misra-karma, etc., but we shall take only that part relevant to our pure devotional line. For one who is devoted fully, his birth and death depend upon Krishna. Every responsibility is taken by Krishna for His fully surrendered devotees: everything bad and everything good in them is His responsibility. He knows in which way He will take His lost servant home. The Lord is engaged in a loving search for His lost servant. Love is necessary. The main thing is love. Everything is present where there is love, but that must be transcendental otherwise more disturbance will be felt through mundane “love”.

In this mundane world the worst thing is paramour love, but in the transcendental world where everything is superior and is for service, the topmost position is that of paramour love. By this we can begin to understand just what a great difference there is between the mundane and spiritual worlds.

When Krishna apparently seems to be taking things by stealing, it is more sweet than His accepting offerings. This does not apply to us but we must see the sun or at least the sunlight, otherwise we may blindly stay within a cave for our whole life. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur expressed this very nicely and I had it inscribed in marble above the front entrance of the Natya Mandir:

matala harijana kirtana-range

pujala ragapatha gaurava bhange

He said, “From afar we are to worship the Pastimes of Krishna, and we are to pray that in future it may come down to us through the mercy of the Vaishnavs and Guru.” We are to understand our present position and, with care and respect, progress towards our transcendental destination.

First priority is to be given to serving Guru and the Vaishnavs. By serving Guru and the Vaishnavs we receive service to Krishna. This is the main conception of Sriman Mahaprabhu. From so many slokas of different sources we can see that service to the Vaishnav and Guru is our present life’s goal, and through that we must get direct service to Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani. But always our protector is our Guru—and my Guru’s protector is his Guru; his protector is his Guru, and in this way our Guru parampara is going up to Srimati Radharani. Krishna is always present in Goloka, so the servitors are serving very happily. Krishna can show Himself at any moment, anywhere, and they are eager to engage in His service under the guidance of Srimati Radharani.

In this mundane world, however, we are to see only that Krishna appears Himself in the form of my Guru. And when there is more clarity we can see, “My Guru is a servitor of Krishna; and the supreme servitor is Srimati Radharani, therefore my Guru is a manifestation of Her.” That is not only another stage of feeling, but existence—it is another stage of transcendental realisation. But first we must become established in the plane of dedication, then we will have, gradually, the chance of service to Krishna. It will come gradually—it may come sooner or it may take many births—but when it comes, it will come gradually. The main thing is service; but we cannot serve properly, therefore it is necessary to practise in order to prepare ourselves to engage in real service.

At the present time we cannot do pure service and we cannot chant Krishna’s Name properly. For example, we know from Guru, Vaishnav, and sastra that Krishna and Krishna-nama are the same; why then do we not receive the result of Krishna Himself appearing within our hearts when we chant Krishna-nama? We must consider this point. The result of chanting real Krishna-nama is that Krishna will appear in the heart, but Krishna is not appearing within our hearts, therefore we know we are not engaging in real Krishna-nama. Therefore, in our present position we are in the stage of practising, and this is also true for other forms of service.

By practising here, the force of our habit will put us in good standing. If we practise chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, then even while sleeping, that Hare Krishna mantra will appear within us. If we practise doing service, then also while sleeping we shall think of service.

But service is necessary, and chanting Hare Krishna gives us enthusiasm to serve. When we have direct service, then there is no problem, and through my Guru it is possible. Gurudev will take all responsibility, and only our duty will be to serve him, and that will be good for us. If he gives any responsibility, we are to fulfil that—and that is our duty. In a government, everybody does not do every type of work; but it runs by some doing some parts of the duties, and some doing other parts. Our concern is with the transcendental government and we are to make ourselves as parts of that government. Only this is the main thing. And chanting is necessary no doubt, but it is necessary to chant without offence, otherwise we shall be deprived of the main connection. Offenceless chanting and service will come gradually through the mercy of the Guru. If we don’t make offence to the Vaishnavs, it will come sooner, otherwise it will be delayed and will come later, but our only hope is that one day we must be successful.

Without practising Krishna consciousness, there is no other way to rise up from the mundane plane to the transcendental plane. In this mood we are to proceed: “Only this is my duty—I shall do or die!” But everybody cannot proceed steadily in that way, for them there are many methods by which their situation can be harmonised, and the Master, their Gurudev, is there and he can understand by which way the disciples can progress and which way they cannot. He knows that: he is expert, therefore the transcendental result will come to the disciple. Gurudev means who is expert in that line.

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FIFTH DISCOURSE:
Present Position, Brightest Prospect

One day, when Yudhisthir Maharaj was in the jungle with his brothers and wife, Yamaraj wanted to examine Yudhisthir’s strength of virtue. Taking the form of a white bird, Yamaraj stayed at a kunda, a fresh-water pond. The Pandava brothers were thirsty so one by one they went to that pond to collect drinking water. First of all, Bhimasen arrived there. When he arrived there the bird told him, “First you answer my questions then you may take the water, otherwise you will die.” But Bhimasen did not care for the bird, he drank the water and died. Then Arjuna went, followed by Nakula, then Sahadeva, and each met the same fate.

Lastly Yudhisthir Maharaj went there and Yamaraj, in the form of the white bird, told him, “If you take water without answering my questions you will die like your brothers.” Seeing his brothers dead before him Yudhisthir Maharaj considered that this was no ordinary bird and that it was telling the truth.

He therefore agreed, “Yes, I shall answer your questions before drinking the water. But my brothers are all very strong and they are great warriors, why are they dead?”

“It is by my power that this has happened,” replied the bird, who then proceeded to ask many questions, four of which are particularly famous.

kacha varta kimascharyam kah panthah kah sukhi

“What is the news? What is the wonder? What is the path? And who is happy?”

Yudhisthir Maharaj considered: “This bird is not an ordinary bird, and therefore these questions are not ordinary questions.” In reply to, “What is the news?” he could have replied, “Yes, I am well…,” instead he said,

masartudarvi parighatnena

suryagnina ratridivendhanena

asmin mahamoha maye katahe

bhutani kalah pachatiti varta

“The months and seasons are like two ladles with which food is turned while being cooked; the sun is like the fire-wood for cooking with; maha-moha, illusion, is like the cooking pot; the jivas, souls, are like fish; and kala, time, is frying them. The jivas are being fried in the pot of illusion with the help of the sun, days, nights, months and seasons—the necessities for frying. The frying is being done by kala, which here also means Yamaraj. It is he who is frying us in this way in the mundane world. This is the news!”

To the question, “What is the miracle, the wonder?” Yudhisthir Maharaj answered,

ahanya-hani bhutani gachchhanti yamamandiram

sesasthiratva-michchhanti kimascharyamatah param

“Always all mankind as well as all jivas in this world are passing away. Everyone’s father passes away, their mother also, and even their juniors sometimes pass away first—but all are thinking that they will not themselves pass away. They are making houses for themselves, accumulating money, food, etc. They feel that they shall stay for such a long time, but it is only like a passing show. Everything, whether old or young, is passing away right before their eyes. It is gachchhatiti jagat—it is passing away day by day, but everyone feels they shall stay for a long time, maybe not forever, but anyhow for 80 or 90 years. No one else has time, but they have time. That is the miracle. What wonder can be greater than this? I think this to be the greatest miracle.”

Answering the third question, “What is the path, and how to go?” Yudhisthir Maharaj answered,

veda vibhinna munayo vibhinna

nasau rsiryasya matam na bhinnam

dharmmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam

maha jano yena gatah sah pantha

“We see there to be many kinds of Vedas and many kinds of rishis, so it is difficult to understand who we should follow. Each rishi’s opinion is different, and also different sections of the Vedas give different explanations and direction. So who are we to follow?”

What is mentioned in the Rig Veda is not mentioned in the Sama Veda; what is in the Sama Veda is not mentioned in the same way in the Atharva Veda or Yajur Veda; and what is given in the Vedanta is not mentioned in the same way as in the other scriptures; so which are we to follow? Also amongst the rishis there are many different opinions expressed Atri, Vasistha, Chyavana, Saradvan, Agastya, Vyasadeva, and many other rishis in this world each express different opinions. So who shall we follow? Yudhisthir Maharaj therefore continued, “It is not necessary to follow the Vedas, and it is not necessary to follow the rishis. Really, I notice that religious duty is unrecognised and remains hidden, and the only way for us to go is by following the perfect mahajan—the perfect servitor of the transcendental world. Whatever he does, we shall also do that, and we shall not follow the rishis or the Vedas. There are many rishis and scriptures: some recommend jnana-yoga, some karma-yoga, bhakti-misra karma, jnana-misra karma, yoga-misra karma, etc. So it is no necessary to follow them, but we must follow whoever is the servitor of the transcendental world. This is the way to go to that transcendental world.”

Then, in reply to, “Who is happy?” the last of the four principle questions, Yudhisthir Maharaj said:

divasasyastame bhage sakam pachati yo narah

arni apravasi varichara modate

“One who has no debt to others is happy. He may or may not have wealth, but anyhow he collects something to cook, prepares it, and offers that to the Lord. After sunset he takes those remnants and he lives with a clean conscience. He is happy.”

Many kinds of debt are mentioned. We have debt to the demigods, debt to other people for supplying food, water, etc., and also debt to many kinds of jivas from whom we receive help. In these and many ways we are in debt, but one who has no debt to others, who is satisfied with what he has without relying on others, who maintains his own living space and simply earns something which he then offers to the Lord—he is a happy man.

This world is a passing show. To have any intention for ourselves is also one kind of debt, but whatever intention we may have for the service of Krishna will not incur any debt. Krishna Himself mentioned this:

yat karosi yad asnasi, yaj juhosi dadasi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya, tat kurusva mad arpanam

“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you sacrifice, and whatever austerity you may do, do every single thing for Me, then utilise the remnants. In this way no debt will come to you. Whatever you offer to Me will be transformed and will become transcendental.”

When we walk along a path we may step on many blades of durvasa grass, but when that same kind of grass is offered to the Lord we take that upon our head. We cannot even think to crush it beneath our feet. Why? We cannot think such a thing because we know it has been offered to Krishna therefore it has assumed a transcendental position. So Krishna says, “If you can do everything for My satisfaction then you will have no debt, and furthermore you will be benefited even while in this mundane plane.” This is the main principle to be followed for our living in this world. We cannot live without taking from others. Jivo jivasya jivanam—one must kill another in order to live. Each day we kill thousands upon thousands of living entities. Even in the air there are countless souls living, so just by our breathing fresh air we kill so many others in order to purify our blood. Without taking from others we cannot live, but the kind of living advised in the scriptures is to live for the service of Krishna. That is our living light.

Bhaktivinod Thakur said,

manasa, deha, geha, yo kichhu mora

arpilu tuya pade, nanda-kisora!

“I am surrendering with everything, and from this date You are the master of me and everything connected with me. Therefore whatever I shall do will go to Your account, not to mine.”

sampade-vipade, jivane-marane

daya mama gela, tuya o-pada varane

marabi rakhabi—yo ichchha tohara

nitya-dasa prati tuya adhikara

[“In good fortune or in bad, in life or in death, all my difficulties have disappeared by choosing Your lotus feet as my only shelter. Slay me or protect me as You wish, for You are the master of Your eternal servant.”]

“As You like, You do.” This type of surrender to Krishna gives us real happiness. If we can surrender to Krishna we shall be responsible for neither our karma nor anything else. This advice you will see in Srimad Bhagavad-gita: the whole of the Gita is meant for expressing this. Indeed, the purpose of all the scriptures is to say this.

smartavyah satatam visnum vismartavyo na jatuchit

sarve vidhi nisedhascha etayoreva kinkarah

“We must not forget Krishna, and we must worship Krishna.” To not forget Him is the restriction, and to always remember Him is the wealth. Sometimes we may think it is very difficult, and it is true, but there is no other way. Without this, what shall we do? Krishna consciousness is the only way to proceed—there is no other way.

bhumau skhalita-padanam, bhumir evavalambanam

tvayi jataparadhanam, tvam eva saranam prabho

When a baby tries to walk, he will fall down many times, but he takes the help of the earth to again stand, and this is our only hope. Whatever offence we may do, if we remain relying upon Him, He will save us from that offence. Therefore we must take shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna, and that is Krishna consciousness.

Mahaprabhu said,

naham vipro na cha nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro

naham varni na cha grha-patir no vana-stho yatir va

kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher

gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

“We are not kings, brahmanas, vaisyas, or sudras, and we are not grhasthas, vanaprasthas or sannyasis, these are not our identification. Our actual identification is that of gopi-bharttuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah—only we are servitors of the servitors of the servitors.” This is our only identification, and whoever will follow Krishna consciousness can follow only in this way. If he will try to follow the Vedic culture, Hinduism, or any other path, he will not actually get Krishna consciousness. We must follow the Vaishnavs. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who worships Him is a Vaishnav. There is one way, one destination, one goal of life; and that is the main thing for us to understand in order to be successful. We can see this clearly especially in the conception and nature of our Srila Guru Maharaj, of Srila Swami Maharaj, and of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Actually they were very revolutionary. This type of revolution earlier happened in the time of Narottam Das Thakur and also, to some extent, in the time of Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami.

Rupa and Sanatan did not actually break any existing conceptions, but they were the founders of our line. Bhaktivinod Thakur was also a little gentle in his approach: he did not want to make much disturbance in the conception of the Vedas. However, Narottam Thakur broke the rules of Vedic practice, and recently we have seen that such a revolution came with Srila Swami Maharaj and the conception of our Srila Guru Maharaj, and there are many clear examples. It is for our benefit that such a revolution has come and we are most fortunate to have received such a generous connection with Divinity.

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SIXTH DISCOURSE:
Fortunate Indeed

The news of a Vaishnav’s disappearance and therefore our separation from him is very painful, but everything happens by the will of Krishna, therefore we must tolerate and continue to steadily proceed towards our transcendental destination. Many adverse things may happen on the battlefield but, with the order of a general, a good soldier must proceed. We actually have no other way than to try to proceed.

We can see an example in the time of Mahaprabhu when Srivasa Pandit’s son died in his house while Mahaprabhu was chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and dancing there. Srivasa’s mind was calm but other relatives felt much grief though they didn’t cry aloud for fear of disturbing Mahaprabhu’s singing and dancing. Mahaprabhu, however, felt that something was wrong because He was not feeling full joyfulness. When He asked if anything was amiss Srivasa did not own up to what had happened, instead he told Mahaprabhu that all was well and urged Him to continue. But Mahaprabhu said, “No, I think something has happened here. What has happened and why are you hiding it from Me?” Srivasa replied, “Yes, Prabhu, this has happened: my son has passed away. But I did not want to disturb Your mood.”

Mahaprabhu then went to see that boy and asked him, “Why are you leaving us?” To which the boy, though dead, replied, “Everything happens through Your will. By Your will I took my birth here as the son of Srivasa Pandit due to my good karma, but now my time in this body has finished and by Your will I am now going to another situation. This is happening all over the world and it is one of the rules of this plane, but I am so fortunate as I have received Your mercy and association.”

Hearing this from the dead boy everyone became very stunned. Then they all chanted and danced with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and took his body from the house. This incident happened in the presence of Mahaprabhu, so what can we say about our present situation?

There is a story of another incident which is said to have happened in the time of Buddha. A lady had just one son but he died, so she went to Buddha and prayed, “You are an incarnation of the Lord, so please bring back my son’s life.”

Buddha replied, “Yes, I can, but something is necessary in order to bring back his life.”

She prayed, “Please tell me what You need and I shall supply it.”

Buddha said, “Go from house to house in the village and bring some mustard seeds from any household where there has been no death in their family. With those seeds I shall give life to your boy.”

The woman was very simple-hearted. She went from house to house asking, “Please tell me whether in your family there has been no death. From such a household I need to collect some mustard seeds so that Mahapurusa Buddha can bring back my son’s life.” But in every house she would receive a similar reply, “Oh, my father has died,” “My uncle has died,” “My brother has died,” etc.

She then very sadly went back to Lord Buddha and, in tears, she told him, “O Lord, I have not been able to bring such seeds to You.”

“Oh, what happened? In this village could you not find any household in which no one had left their body?”

She replied, “This is so.”

To which Buddha said, “But why are you crying? This is the nature of the mundane plane.”

In Srimad Bhagavad-gita Krishna says:

jatasya hi dhruvo mrtyur, dhruvam janma mrtasya cha

tasmad apariharye ‘rthe, na tvam ‘sochitum arhasi

“The nature of this mundane plane is that for one who has taken birth, death is certain.” And:

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya,

navani grhnati naro ‘parani

tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany,

anyani samyati navani dehi

“Just as we leave aside old, worn out cloth and accept new clothing, similarly it is the nature of the jiva in this plane to leave his old body and take a new one.”

A soul who is very fortunate will receive a good, auspicious body in which he can have the chance to practise Krishna consciousness.

Krishna in Bhagavad-gita also gave some remedy to leave everything in this mundane plane:

janma karma cha me divyam, evam yo veti tattvatah

tyaktva deham punar janma, naiti mam eti so ‘arjuna

“Who can understand properly who I am, what is My birth, and what is My disappearance, he will not again take another birth in the material plane.” That proper understanding comes through transcendental knowledge from Sri Guru and the Vaishnavs and with that he achieves real liberation.

muktir hitvanyatha rupam, sva-rupena vyavastitih

One is not liberated if on leaving this body one will take another body. Nor is it real liberation if one simply does not take another body. Real liberation is when the soul enters with service into the transcendental world—muktir hitvanyatha rupam, sva-rupena vyavastitih. By the association and mercy of devotees it is possible to achieve this. If we follow in the footsteps of a devotee who is always running behind service to Krishna, then we can also easily gain entrance in that service world.

Another quote is,

muktapi lilaya vigraham krtva bhagavantam bhajante

Amongst the ordinary “liberated” souls a few are very fortunate and they also may receive the chance to enter into the transcendental service world. They have no attachment with the mundane world and also they have little or no attachment with the transcendental world. They are living in the tatastha, borderline, position but by the grace of the Vaishnavs they also receive the chance to enter into the service world.

atmaramas cha munayo

nirgrantha apy urukrame

kurvanty ahaitukim bhaktim

ittham-bhuta-guno harih

Explaining this verse Mahaprabhu said that one quality of Krishna is that He attracts even the liberated souls. Those who have no attachment to this mundane plane and are self-satisfied with their transcendental position, whether liberated or still in this world, are also attracted by the devotional mood. They also aspire to serve the world of transcendental service to Krishna.

Krishna’s quality is that first He attracts and then He distributes His ecstatic mercy, thus giving ecstasy, anandam, to His devotees. He does not need to acquire this quality: it is already in His nature.

atmaramas cha munayo

nirgrantha apy urukrame

kurvanty ahaitukim bhaktim

ittham-bhuta-guno harih

Therefore devotees always engage themselves in serving Krishna. Direct service is not possible here in this mundane plane but through Sri Guru and the Vaishnavs we have an auspicious chance to serve. The servitors do not look anywhere except at the order of Gurudev and the order of Krishna given through the scriptures. They follow that guidance exclusively.

bahu janma kare yadi sravana-kirtana

tabu ta’ na paya krsna-pade prema-dhana

The question may arise as to why we do not immediately find the manifestation of spiritual consciousness within ourselves. The reason is that we are not properly following the advice given in the scriptures. Especially we are committing the very bad offences of Nama-aparadha: we are offenders to the Holy Name. There are ten types of Nama-aparadha given in the scriptures and it is necessary to carefully avoid these. [See Appendix]

Before Srila Swami Maharaj Prabhupada went to the West there was no chance there to make Vaishnav-aparadha, Nama-aparadha, and Dhama-aparadha, therefore very quickly the Westerners received connection with Mahaprabhu’s Mission. Because they had not made such offences they submissively heard and followed Srila Swami Maharaj and they progressed easily. Later when the actions of some of them caused especially Nama-aparadha, they fell into the troublesome ocean.

The first lesson in any subject is generally very easy—simply listening. The first reading lesson is very easy with short two- or three-letter words, but with each progressive lesson there is more difficulty involved as it becomes necessary to understand and remember the longer words. In the primary stage if we are faced with some very big words we become puzzled to try to understand their meaning.

In bhakti-yoga it is explained that the first lesson is utsaha mayi: the stage when the devotees enthusiastically practise Krishna consciousness. Then in the stage of ghana tarala there is some depression in the mood of service. There are various stages of devotional service and these have been explained in the writings of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.

When Srila Swami Maharaj went to the West as an ambassador of Sriman Mahaprabhu, at that time many auspicious souls there received the chance to practise Krishna consciousness, and many also took up that opportunity. When trying to practise, difficulties will inevitably come, and if we are not careful and conscious about our devotional activities then we must fail in our class. Who practises without offence will receive promotion. However, after a few classes promotion may be stopped and in their front may come many bad things such as kanak, kamini, and pratistha—money and wealth; women and enjoyment; and name and fame. Name and fame is a very bad thing. We may feel that nobody can destroy our devotional life, but name and fame can do that, therefore it must consciously be avoided.

By the mercy of Srila Guru Maharaj we may feel ourselves to be protected from that by now, but it is foolishness if we think we have achieved spiritual life and therefore there is no need to guard against any further dangers. We must always be conscious to avoid any type of “infection”. If we take penicillin for an extended period of time, the bacteria in the body become resistant to it and the penicillin no long works. Another medicine therefore becomes necessary.

When we ourselves become resistant to one “infection” another will try to attack us to thwart our spiritual progress.

yadi vaisnava-aparadha uthe hati mata

upade va chhinde, tara sukhi’ yaya pata

This verse says that Vaishnav-aparadha is like a mad elephant which rips out by the roots the creeper of devotional service. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand what is a “mad-elephant offence.” Sometimes bad advice may come to us from someone who appears to be a Vaishnav. We may believe someone to be a good Vaishnav but if we receive bad advice from him and follow that, it will be very injurious and we shall have to go to hell. Therefore we must always be conscious about our situation and with the knowledge we have from Guru, Vaishnav, and the scriptures we shall try to avoid making any offences.

prema-maitri-krpopeksa yah karoti sa madhyamah

In madhyama-adhikara, the middle position, one generally has clear consciousness as to what is good and what is bad. In this stage, with proper direction, one can generally continue steadily with service. But it is very difficult to avoid committing offence if in the form of a good advisor-Vaishnav we are guided towards Vaishnav-aparadha. Therefore whenever the need may arise we are to follow the advice of Narottam Thakur and pray sincerely to the Vaishnavs, “Please save me.”

We are to pray, “O Guru Maharaj, please save me,” “O Vaishnav Thakur, please save me.”

The advice of the scriptures is that if we are not sure of someone we shall not glorify him, insult him, or abuse him, and we shall not go to him; instead we will avoid him—na nindiva na vandiva na yava tara pasa. If we can proceed in this way then we must achieve our transcendental destination.

It is necessary to remind ourselves that what we have already achieved is not so easily attainable by everyone. We have connection with Srila Swami Maharaj, with Srila Guru Maharaj, with the Rupanuga-sampradaya, and we have connection with Mahaprabhu. Before Swami Maharaj went to the West no one there knew Mahaprabhu’s Name, but now many are chanting the name of Krishna, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and they are dancing. We have much and now it is necessary to keep it carefully protected within our hearts. The time has now come to give protection to our creeper of devotion, our bhakti-lata, otherwise it can be destroyed.

We may feel very enthusiastic if we focus on what is written in the sastras or what is said by the Vaishnavs, but it may also sometimes make us feel hopeless to hear many things such as the injunctions, dangers, and the difficulties we may have to face on our long journey ahead. Therefore we should use our energy especially to try to protect the creeper of bhakti otherwise we are in great danger of losing everything.

te tam bhuktva svarga-lokam visalam

ksine punye martya-lokam visanti

The nature of the mundane universes is that by doing good activities we go to the heavenly planets and by doing bad activities we go to the hellish planets. In the middle area are the earthly planets. In summary we can say there are these three gradations of worlds here. But actually we are not eager to understand all these material things. Our necessity is to understand ourselves—self-realisation. Who am I? What is my duty? What is my highest destination? And what is my wealth? It is necessary to answer these questions, and we are fortunate that Mahaprabhu Himself has given us guidance. It is firmly established that Krishna consciousness is the highest conception and, by the grace of Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada, this is undefeated anywhere. We are trying to follow and we know ourselves to be so fortunate because we have come and joined in this Krishna consciousness. If we had not come we could have gone to the section of the mayavadis (impersonalists), or the sahajiyas (imitators), or to any of the many other sections of partial religious conception. Understanding the wealth we have, we shall happily and cautiously protect and keep our faith and service in this line of Krishna consciousness.

When I see the service mood of the devotees who are sacrificing so much and expending so much energy for the preaching mission of Mahaprabhu I feel so much inspiration.

We are so fortunate that we have many things, now it is the time to use that “property” properly. I heard from Srila Guru Maharaj the phrase, “religion is proper adjustment.” Everything has been given but it is necessary for us to make proper adjustment: to understand who we are; what our duty is; who is Krishna, and who is His servitor.

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Part Three

The Written Word

From correspondence by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj

Question: We want to go back to our real spiritual home and we are trying to do that but we find ourselves captured by seeking happiness in this world. What are we to do?

Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj (Srila Govinda Maharaj) replied: It is very wonderful and essential for conditioned souls to get the mercy and blessings of the true Vaishnavs in order to go back to Godhead. In this way I think you are both very fortunate souls because you received the mercy of both Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Swami Maharaj. All the conditioned souls are trying to find real happiness but you know it is not possible in this mundane world to achieve that. All happiness, all ecstasy, all joy, and victory’s fountain are coming from Krishna and Krishna-loka. We are really all members of that transcendental service world, but by misfortune and misunderstanding we have been captured by illusory happiness in this mundane plane. But Krishna is very merciful and He has given us the chance to go to our own home through our Divine Masters. It is necessary to plant and cultivate what you have received from them and that is through sadhana (spiritual practice). If we follow their guidelines by chanting the Holy Names of the Lord, reading the holy books, serving the real holy Vaishnavs, living without making offences, and maintaining our lives with their prasadam, then we must return to our holy home. That is real sadhana and as you are trying to do this I am very happy.

— — —

Question: I am very unhappy and distressed because yesterday I was robbed by a man who pulled out a gun and stole my bag in which I had, as well as other things, my chanting beads. One of my relatives is a devotee and she has a spare set of beads that were blessed by Srila Guru Maharaj. I am asking what I should do and whether I should chant on these other beads.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: Although you express much misfortune I can say clearly that you display the real mood of a devotee. It is no-doubt a very bad thing that your beads have been lost but you can understand that Krishna is testing us in many ways. In this way you can consider this to be a test for your practising position. I also consider that Krishna protected you as you were not harmed during the robbery. For now you wait a few days and if your beads still do not come back then you may chant on the extra set of beads held with your relative.

The main thing required for our devotional practising life is that we try to develop the three qualities: prayer, sincerity and dedication. You have the grace of Srila Guru Maharaj and you live with devotees. In this way I can understand you to be fortunate.

Here at the Math and around Srila Guru Maharaj’s centres in India we are receiving the association of many devotees from around the world. Although the situation of the environment is not the same everywhere, still everyone can tell others about Mahaprabhu and about our Srila Guru Maharaj. In this way they may also receive inspiration and guidance in order to cross this ocean of suffering and go to the brightest transcendental destination.

— — —

Question: My desire is that my wife will also come to this line of Krishna consciousness and that we can progress together. Gurudev, I am always praying to Your Divine Grace and I aspire for your mercy.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: The negative and the positive rules of the scriptures are:

smartavyah satatam visnum vismartavyo na jatuchit

sarve vidhi nisedhascha etayo veva kinkarah

Which means we must not forget our transcendental duty to serve Sri Guru-Gauranga, and we must always keep Krishna in our consciousness.

I think that with your association your wife’s mood is now changing gradually towards Krishna consciousness. She is a good lady and she is very much affectionate to you. When she herself will be prepared from her side to offer everything to Krishna, and by her having your association, she will then be able to understand proper Krishna consciousness and all her disturbances of mind will go out.

After Sriman Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu withdrew Their manifest pastimes many of Their higher devotees came to this mundane plane to preach in order to rescue the fallen souls. Also much advice has been given to us in the many scriptures; but that was within a system of Vedic culture. Also within that advice there is hidden treasure that is not exposed to everybody.

By the influence of the Age of Kali gradually transcendental knowledge disappeared in a shrinking way and after that the illusory activities of Maya tried to conquer everything. But through the mercy of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s dearmost eternal devotee, Srila Thakur Bhaktivinod, we have had in this age of the late 19th and early 20th century Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur who was exalted and who again magnanimously distributed Krishna consciousness in every direction. From that Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada we have presently been graced with two expert, exclusive servitor-generals of Krishna: our beloved Divine Masters Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Swami Maharaj who are my honourable Diksa-Guru and Siksa-Guru, respectively. They constitute the overflowing reservoir of the fountain distributing Krishna consciousness as well as Krishna prema-bhakti to every direction all over the world. We can see we are very fortunate in that we have the chance to touch and participate in their nectarine programme. I have no doubt that as much as is possible by us we have received mercy from that upper level but now we must proceed with our tiny property and utilise our freedom in the proper channel in order to make ourselves able to receive more and more.

Sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja—to totally reject all kinds of religion is the primary directive of Sri Krishna. And: mad bhaktanam cha ye bhaktas, te me bhaktatamah matah—“I consider one who serves My devotee to be the real bhakta,” is the final directive in the scriptures.

— — —

Question: We have read that Srila Gaura Kisor Das Babaji Maharaj lived very strictly and would not eat anything prepared by others even if it was offered to the Lord. So in our case, can we only offer cooked preparations made by ourselves or can we also offer foodstuffs prepared by others? Is there any difference between making offerings to Srila Guru Maharaj and making offerings to the Deities? In other words can we offer things to Srila Guru Maharaj that can’t be offered to the Deities?

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: What you mentioned in the name of Srila Gaura Kisor Das Babaji Maharaj is the general rule no-doubt, and it is coming from his exclusive, direct, serving mood to Sri Radha-Krishna; that is he is a bhajananandi babaji. But in another way we see that our Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Swami Maharaj and Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur used everything for the service of Krishna in relation to time, place and circumstance in order to assist the preaching mission. In that way they distributed their mercy to fallen souls all over the world; also they showed their unlimited feelings and serving attitude—Vaikuntha-vrtti.

In addition there are other rules in the scriptures. In the smrti-sastra, the scripture of smrti, it is told: dravyam mulyena suddhati—if we give in exchange for something the value of that thing, what we buy will not bring with it the karma of the person who made it.

We are followers of our merciful, exalted Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Prabhupada then we are to follow their example in a humble way.

Whatever we shall offer to Srila Guru Maharaj must also be offerable to the Deity. Really the main point is that whatever is offered by the fully dedicated soul is accepted by Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.

— — —

Question: Srila Maharaj, there are many differences amongst the devotees here and several devotees do not wish to follow the leader of the local programme. Due to their Indian family traditions some are worshipping Avataras and demigods in addition to Krishna. Furthermore one key brahmachari has returned to his family because they were asking more maintenance money which was not forthcoming. Because of these and other incidents our leader has the desire to step down and I am suggesting that if you give your permission I shall also withdraw from my humble position of assisting in the leadership, though I pray you may continue to give me engagement in some other way.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: We can understand that there is an ideal, but side by side we must notice all the different qualities of the devotees’ moods. It is necessary to harmonise these with our missionary programme. In the time of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur many things happened like this that I know of and have heard of from Srila Guru Maharaj. Also in the mission of Srila Guru Maharaj in this Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math I have seen since my joining in 1947 many, many things but by the grace of Srila Guru Maharaj we successfully faced those difficulties that came from outside and inside also. Similarly in the time of Sriman Mahaprabhu you can remember reading the character of Murari Gupta who was the close devotee of Sri Ramachandra. He worshipped Him in a temple which is still in Sri Mayapur. Also when Mahaprabhu went to preach in Daksindesa (South India), He met with many different kinds of devotees, but they were not all worshippers of Krishna or even worshippers of any of the many different types of Krishna Murti. In the time of Sriman Mahaprabhu there were many examples and we can read about some of these in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. There also we find that many types of devotees could not be tolerated by Mahaprabhu but even they were harmonised by Sri Nityananda Prabhu and the other devotees. Also you can remember the attitude of the son-in-law of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya as well as many other similar examples.

In the time of Srila Guru Maharaj, as well, we find that many things happened, but he also tolerated. What he could not tolerate was, by his order, harmonised by myself, and he would tell others, “Wait and see.”

When we observe the character of Sriman Mahaprabhu sometimes we may feel ourselves to be in a hopeless position. But when we notice the merciful attitude of Sri Nityananda Prabhu as well as that of our Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Swami Maharaj we can remember Srila Saraswati Thakur and thereby feel much hope to proceed in our life of transcendental practice. Ousting or throwing out others is very easy, but engaging them for the service of Mahaprabhu is very hard. We see in the devotees’ nature so many different types of mentality, different types of activity, and different types of devotion, but a good manager or a good preacher must try in a harmonious way to engage them in the service of the Lord. This world where we live is actually the faulty plane: it is an illusory environment. Not only do we need mercy but we need the causeless mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and the patita-pavana Vaishnavs otherwise how shall we gain spiritual strength for our practising life?

In this mundane world we also can learn something by looking at the family attitude. Many kinds of boys, girls, men, and women live in a family but the responsibility of the head of the family is to maintain everybody by teaching, supplying, and taking what is necessary for their benefit. The family head must do everything with full affection. He may sometimes chastise them, but behind is working the mood of affection.

Under leadership and with the full, natural, willing service-energy of the local devotees it was possible to build up the mission there and in the future we are expecting to see miracles there. But in the meantime when I hear your hard news I feel much disturbance and I am trying to realise why this circumstance has come. Your local leader has a very good mould, but he has only one mould with a single vision and therefore he can understand only dada and gada like Bhimasen. Dada means the order of Yudhisthir and gada is the strength of his body and weapon, his mace. But it is necessary to realise other scriptural screens. When Mahaprabhu started His first Sanskrit School, He did so at the Chandi Mandap, the Durga Mandap, at Mukunda Sanjaya’s house who was himself a devotee of Mahaprabhu. Then why in his house was there a Chandi Mandap and why did Sriman Mahaprabhu use that Chandi Mandap? Mahaprabhu did not demolish it, instead He used it to preach Krishna consciousness.

A leader must have many various qualities and if he does not have all of these then he must try to acquire them in order to be successful on the battlefield.

Please, I also ask that you pay attention to my prayer that you both try to harmonise with all the devotees. The devotees there are good, also perhaps some devotees may be less intelligent and they are going the wrong way, but it is necessary to polish them with your humble affection.

It is not proper policy to accept service from a brahmachari in exchange for giving money to his family. Here in this Math all the residential persons, the brahmacharis, sannyasis and varnaprasthas, they are not paid men but they are serving willingly and in a hard manner. We are only engaging a few paid men in the service of the Math but they hold the position of outsiders. I did not make any remark before because I had no idea this was happening.

— — —

Question: I am trying, perhaps with a little difficulty, to follow the instructions of my senior Godbrothers here but sometimes I do not know what is seva. Please let me know so I can adjust myself.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: We can make service to Guru and Gauranga in all directions around us. In Srimad Bhagavad-gita Sri Krishna said: yogah karmasu kausalam, which means that within our devotional activities proper adjustment is necessary.

Adjustment of spiritual life or mundane life is not the same for every soul, then what is suitable for you may not be suitable for another. Also different types of service are not suitable for everybody—it depends on capacity and taste. In the transcendental world, or maybe also in the mundane world, super rasa (mood) comes within the categories of santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhura. For one who has the taste for madhura-rasa within his heart, he also has playing there the four other rasas. In Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita it is recorded that when Raghupati Upadhyaya was questioned by Mahaprabhu he replied, “Adya eva paro rasah,” and Mahaprabhu was very happy to hear that. Without disturbing other devotees, I can say only this to Your Grace: that for favourable development and as suitable for your practising life make yourself with that mood.

— — —

Question: For some time the situation of a leading devotee here has been precarious but now he has fallen deeply into the illusion of women, intoxication, and aggressive behaviour. What is the cause of such a fall down, and what lessons can we learn?

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: I am very unhappy and worried to see the results of Vaishnav-aparadha and the seeds of the big tree of sahajiyaism (imitation). Also now I can understand why the real bhakti-lata-bija of Srila Guru Maharaj cannot grow properly in the hearts of some of my so-called friends. I am reminded of a friend who had a nice garden and tried growing high quality roses but failed again and again. He eventually sought expert advice and found that a certain large tree was growing a little distance away, the roots of which were taking all the nourishment so the nice rose garden could not grow despite the best seeds and gardeners. If once sahajiyaism is planted in the heart, then, without cutting down and uprooting that tree, there is no chance that any good seeds can grow. Also another heavy cause that can destroy the bhakti-lata, and that reason you know, is Vaishnav-aparadha—offence to the Vaishnavs.

yadi vaisnava-aparadha uthe hati mata

upade va chinde, tara sukhi’ yaya pata

“Offences to Vaishnavs bring about a mad elephant that uproots or breaks everything. It makes the leaves of the creeper of devotion dry up.”

This verse is given in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. Therefore it is my only prayer to you all who are the servitors and followers of Srila Guru Maharaj, “Please avoid Vaishnav-aparadha. And if in the garden of anyone’s heart the tree of sahajiyaism is growing, then immediately uproot that plant of sahajiyaism.” You are very humble and qualified therefore I think you have no problem with that. We can see from the example you cited of just where bad association and bad influence can take us. Then my prayer to the devotees of this Math is, “Please carefully avoid such dangers and try to proceed with humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others.” This is our primary lesson of Vaishnavism and the final lesson also.

— — —

Question: Recently a devotee stayed for some days as a guest in my friend’s house. While there he removed the picture of Srila Guru Maharaj from her altar, apparently because his own devotee guests would feel “more at home”. We all felt this was very wrong but we need your clarification.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: When something appears to be wrong then I have some duty to say something about that. Therefore, if it is true that the devotee’s picture of her Sri Gurudev, Srila Guru Maharaj, was removed from her altar then I have to clearly say that it was wrong to do so. An altar may consist of only one picture: that of the Guru. There may be so many Deities and other pictures on the altar but if the Guru’s picture is not there then all is lost. Not only that, but we are to respect the Guru of another sister-mission even if they are not of exactly the same family line. A clear example of this you will find in Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada’s Mission’s central Math, Sri Chaitanya Math in Mayapur, where Sri Ramanuja Acharya, Sri Madhva Acharya, Sri Nimbarka Acharya and Sri Visnuswami in Deity-form are on each side of the main temple. They are duly respected and worshipped whether we are, or are not, directly belonging to their respective sampradayas.

— — —

Question: A local sannyasi representing the Math has recently invited many of the devotees here to his wedding and in doing so has caused much disturbance in their minds. My daughter asked how he could take a wife if he is a sannyasi but I could not answer her.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: What he has done is very painful for our sampradaya. What your beloved daughter told is true and we cannot support his change of position in life. He took sannyas from Srila Guru Maharaj but the jiva, the soul, is independent. Krishna does not interfere with that independence, therefore each jiva has the freedom whether to go to hell or to heaven and that is the jiva’s own responsibility. Krishna can only search and cry for His lost servant. I am also very upset to hear the report about this sannyasi, although earlier I did receive the shadow of this news.

After the disappearance of Srila Guru Maharaj we see everywhere that many things have changed. Some changes may be good and some may be bad but we must tolerate everything from a neutral position and we cannot ignore our own promise and service to Sri-Sri Guru-Gauranga-Gandharva-Govindasundarjiu. With our transcendental serving mood we must try to proceed enthusiastically towards our bright destination. You are an experienced, old devotee and you know what is what, therefore you please try to maintain there the devotees’ service and mood within this clean and proper way.

We can say clearly that the recent activities of this sannyasi are his deviation, not progress, within our sampradaya. There is possibility everywhere for deviation therefore we must be careful for our own spiritual lives.

— — —

Question: I keep good company with serious Vaishnavs and I engage in some lecturing and writing. I try to chant properly but always I pray for your divine advice.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: Your hopeful preaching programme must give inspiration to other Vaishnavs and Godbrothers. Srila Guru Maharaj said that when we are chanting and meditating on the maha-mantra and Gayatri mantram—which are Krishna’s non-different manifestations—there is mostly some fault, whether consciously or unconsciously, and therefore we do not obtain the proper result of chanting japa. But when we try to glorify our beloved Lords and Divine Masters by way of preaching, there we cannot consciously preach wrongly. In addition our one hundred percent attention must go there, and in that way we can develop our faithful service life. Chanting is essential. Chanting Sri Harinama is always beneficial for the conditioned souls but preaching to others gives us strength of devotional life and more and more opportunity to practise Krishna consciousness. Therefore we can happily say your mood of devotion is beneficial for everybody. Chanting is very good but chanting with preaching is more positive and progressive.

— — —

Question: Living far away from India what service can my wife and I do?

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: When the devotees would ask Srila Guru Maharaj what service they could do he would always request them to keep a service connection directly with this Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. You are sincerely trying in this way and you are sacrificing for that very purpose. If you can maintain this service while establishing and running a preaching centre, that will be very good.

When devotees are in distant countries there are two principal ways of service. One is service to the Vaishnav community in the local area by distributing books, preaching by lectures and other means, giving hospitality to the Vaishnavs, etc. And the second is direct service to this central Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math which, when far away, means helping with service donations, goods, etc. for the seva activities of the Math. This is very valuable service and very carefully we are always trying to please Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga-Gandharva-Govindasundarjiu in so many ways. Of course, when it is possible, you can come here from time to time and can directly do service to the Deities, devotees, cows, paraphernalia, etc., of our Srila Guru Maharaj at the Math with all your activities. Anyhow, you both can understand the will of Srila Guru Maharaj and therefore you are eager to please him by your actions. No doubt Srila Guru Maharaj gives his blessings to you and we are all very happy for that.

For every one of us we only have a few days in our hand. This life is very short but we must look for the seva of our Sri Gurudev. Everywhere and anywhere we may have to face so many problems but we must focus only on going forwards. Certainly we must receive backing from above and there is no other way that is even slightly thinkable than to go onwards, come what may.

— — —

Question: I am facing many difficulties and my present family circumstances sometimes cause me to feel very lonely. I do not know whether we can continue to preach here or not and I cannot understand the will of the Lord for our programme here.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: Krishna consciousness is not like a mundane tree, therefore we must become confused if we are not strong enough with our transcendental knowledge. In Srimad Bhagavad-gita Krishna says:

urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham, asvatham prahur avyayam

chhandamsi yasya parnani, yas tam veda sa veda-vit

The Supreme Lord said: (Created for the purpose of satisfying the fruitive desires of the fallen souls, who are averse to the Lord, this material world is described by the scriptures in this way) “Its root is uppermost, that is, its root is situated in aversion to, and comes away from the supreme uppermost fundamental truth, the Lord. Its branches face downwards, that is, the demigods headed by Lord Brahma are its branches, and it is endless for those persons who misuse the soul’s independence to adopt the life of karma or fruitive action—in this respect it is avyayam, or indestructible; and yet, as far as devotionally orientated persons are concerned, it cannot remain even until the next day. In this respect it is ‘Asvattha,’ which means, ‘perishable and transient.’ All the aphorisms of the Vedas that promote fruitive action are represented as the protective leaves of that Asvattha tree in the form of this material world.” One who knows in this way that tree representing the mundane world is a knower of the purport of the Vedas.

Actually one who knows that Krishna consciousness is coming down in this way can maintain his full faith with that and he can follow the conception of Srila Guru Maharaj properly. Mahamaya (illusion) is always trying to hit everyone in order to massacre the life of devotion, and in this way we can understand why the devotee will feel alone sometimes. But when one can see the mercy of Krishna and the real path of his life then he can ignore everything but he cannot leave his determination.

— — —

Question: I see others leaving devotional life and I sometimes feel unsure as to whether I should keep struggling in the attempt to do my present form of service. What to do?

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: I have no other way and no other intention than the service of Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga and Their mission. I know that there is no chance of any real servitor of Srila Guru Maharaj leaving his service. If anyone has really seen and considered the transcendental activities of Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Swami Maharaj, he can easily understand that satyam, sivam and sundaram is Krishna and our only duty is to serve Him. These mundane world’s difficulties always stay around us like the current of a river in which we, the souls, are being tossed about. We now have achieved this body which is like a boat and we are to carefully, without offence, cross over this troublesome river. Otherwise, if that boat springs a leak by being hit, it will flounder and sink in the river of difficulties. There is danger but we are always to have hope and confidence in our spiritual guides because Guru and Krishna are our saviours and protectors.

Actually, about the Western World I have no real idea of living affairs but in a general way I can only say:

pasu paksi haye thaki svarge va niraye

lava bhakti rahu bhaktivinoda-hrdaye

We can stay anywhere, in any position, and in any circumstance but we must make there Their Lordships’ own devotional living space.

— — —

Question: I feel that I have been exploited time and time again in this world and my desire is to withdraw. What advice can you give me?

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: Certainly this world is a place of exploitation. Everybody is trying for his own benefit by exploiting others. Both through the scripture and by our own experience we can understand this reality. Jivo jivasya jivanam. Unless we exploit others we cannot live for even one second: we cannot breath, we cannot eat, we cannot walk or run, and we cannot talk even. But we are to understand that there is another plane that is also reactionary: it is the world which opposes this mundane environment. It is called the world of renunciation, but through that ideal we cannot actually satisfy ourselves. It is the line between two planes and there birth and death are extremely absent, however if there is no transcendental service connection then it is not possible to go to the plane above that abscissa.

Srila Rupa Goswami explained that we are to follow the middle path—yukta-vairagya—in which there is neither renunciation nor material attachment. With neither great attraction nor great repulsion we are to proceed without disturbance, and develop attachment to Krishna consciousness. What will come easily by way of wealth and necessities we can accept, but it is not good for us to expend too much effort for anything of this material plane. Certainly Krishna will provide according to our necessities and our allotted amount. Srila Guru Maharaj always emphasised that we are not to quarrel with the environment.

— — —

Question: Before engaging myself fully in devotional service I feel the need to fulfil some material duties, but I always hope in my heart that one day I will be able to render some service to Srila Guru Maharaj.

Srila Govinda Maharaj replied: I know in the line of transcendental service, illusion is always making obstructions. But nobody can consider that only after removing all disturbances can they then do Hari-seva. Our lifetime is very short in comparison to universal time, therefore with whatever we have in our hand at this moment we must try with that to make progress in our transcendental practising life. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote in one song:

samsara nirvaha kari yaba ami vrndavana,

khanatraya sodhibare karitechhi suyatana,

e asara nahi prayojana

It is impossible that only after finishing all mundane works can we then serve Guru and the Vaishnavs. It is impossible, therefore we must follow the directives of Srila Guru Maharaj and in that way cut off the knot of material attachment by the weapon of knowledge, and without delay try to proceed. We will not achieve an easy position in this mundane plane: we must always face a hard time here, but when, in that hard time, we receive the help of real friends and the mercy of Sri Gurudev, we cross over all the obstructions easily. I have no way to live without service to Srila Guru Maharaj.

Srila Guru Maharaj said, “Ye sankirtanagni prajvalita kariyachhena.” All over the world Srila Guru Maharaj arranged the fire sacrifice of sankirtan and we are the ingredients to fuel the flames of that fire, but if we hide ourselves from there then that is not real saving, but that is suiciding. That is, everything is transcendentally arranged there and therefore we cannot feel the burning sensation. Only we can feel the transcendental joyful nourishment of the mood of sacrifice.

*  *  *  *  *

— Jewels —

More gems from correspondence by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj

When all over the world the devotees are chanting and dancing with the Holy Name of Sri Krishna and receiving transcendental inspiration with their service-mood, then, by participating in that congregational chanting, we can feel real joyfulness and happiness. Once we have seen the goal of our life we must reach there through serving without stopping and without offence.

Krishna is the game-maker and our real position is that we are the eternal transcendental players in His game—His lila—and that life is fully joyful. If once we can have a glimpse of that reality then we will become most determined to become a good player. The good player automatically will always be given opportunities to play. From all directions service comes to him and he is always aiming to the goal.

— — —

This is the Age of Kali and the influence of demons is very strong. They are trying to enjoy with Krishna’s property and that is an absolutely wrong and hellish mood. But within any environment the devotee always will try to serve his Divine Master as well as the Supreme Lord. That is the nature of the devotee.

— — —

In this Age of Kali it is Mahaprabhu’s mercy that everybody has a chance to practise bhakti-yoga simply by chanting the Holy Names of Lord Krishna. If we can chant without offence then we must have hope of reaching our happy destination of an eternal service position to the Lord. We are fallen souls but if we can be good students, then our Divine Master can cleverly take us over the ocean of Maya. After so many births we have received this very auspicious and fortunate human form and we must try to utilise this sincerely and properly which means we must try to serve Guru with our full surrender.

Our beloved Divine Master, Srila Guru Maharaj, only knew service to Krishna. He had no other duty. Now with the help of his affectionate servitors from all over the world I am trying heart and soul to continue his Mission here nicely.

Then you can try to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra without offence, read the sastras, particularly Srila Guru Maharaj’s books, and try to do some service for this the Mother Math. I know Krishna will see it, and you will be benefitted.

— — —

Krishna is our all-powerful, fully independent Lord and in this way we cannot say in what ways He will choose to purify His beloved servitors. It is rare for a conditioned soul from this mundane world to want to come out and serve his beloved Lord. But Krishna Himself is also very eager to meet with such conditioned souls. Sometimes circumstances can be difficult but what else can we do? We had the great fortune of receiving the mercy of our dearmost Srila Guru Maharaj and by his grace we have hope of progressing to our happy spiritual destination. Some stalwarts may fall away but we must courageously continue to practise Krishna consciousness whatever the circumstances.

— — —

By sending me problems in my service, Krishna is taking my blood! And if I do not give my blood, how shall I get that service? We shall proceed happily with problems. If problems do not come, then we should think that it is not possible to receive mercy in a relaxed mood. With a relaxed mood, it is not possible.

Throughout my whole life there have been problems; but I am very satisfied that I did not give any problems to Guru Maharaj. All the problems that happened downstairs, whether brahmacharis fighting with one another, or women fighting with each other, or whatever, I always solved the problem downstairs. I did not throw them upstairs to cause Srila Guru Maharaj disturbance.

— — —

Transcendental knowledge is not so easy to attain or receive. It is only possible by the grace of Sri Gurudev and full surrender to his lotus feet, otherwise the illusory environment of Maya, one of Krishna’s potencies, will take the jivas to the world of imitation, making them sahajiya and thus causing them to completely lose their fortune.

We are servitors of Srila Guru Maharaj who manifested himself as a superior paramahamsa [the nature of a paramahamsa is to be able to separate service from the unwanted things of the mundane world as a swan takes only the milk from a mixture of milk and water], and who gave his directives in a practical way. Therefore we shall try to separate the milk from the water for his service. The world situation now everywhere is in a very difficult position and the mentality of the general mass is going in the way of atheism but we cannot interrupt our own transcendental service to Sri Guru and Gauranga.

— — —

By the mercy of our Gurudev, practically we are reading and practising within the same class as Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Lord Narada, Lord Sukadeva, etc. But when any disturbance of destruction comes like chaos in our practising life, then we must steadily try to get a good, merciful, Vaishnav’s association, and try to follow the guidelines of Srila Guru Maharaj.

— — —

Sankirtan means that all together we are chanting the Holy Names and offering service whole-heartedly to our Divine Master and our Lord. Krishna only looks at this qualification and no other. Here our beloved Srila Guru Maharaj began the great sankirtan fire sacrifice and up to date I am seeing that sankirtan fire, day by day, spreading all over the world through his devotees. All the devotees are trying whole-heartedly to fuel that fire. Each one is like an auspicious stick of wood fully dedicating himself for the exaltation of Srila Guru Maharaj by entering into the sankirtan fire sacrifice. These sticks are burning happily because they do not receive pain, only purification. I feel myself to be fully satisfied that I have offered myself for my Divine Master’s desire and that you are all also always trying to fulfil the desire of his Divine Grace.

It is my only prayer to you all that you must look to this central Math where there is continuous service to the Deities and Srila Guru Maharaj as well as the living sankirtan fire sacrifice which is always continuing here.

*  *  *  *  *

Appendix:
Dasa-vidha Nama-aparadha

The Ten Offences to the Holy Name

(to be carefully avoided by the devotee)

By His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj

(Rendered into English by Swami Bhakti Ananda Sagar)

harinama mahamantra sarva-mantra-sara

   yandera karuna-bale jagate prachara

sei nama-parayana sadhu, mahajana

   tanhadera ninda na kariha kadachana [1]

Hare Krishna maha-mantra—

   of all mantras the best,

Throughout the world is preached

   by saints’ potent grace behest;

Such saints to the Name devoted,

   such pure souls great:

Never dare offend them—

   never show them hate.

vrajendra-nandana krsna sarvesvaresvara

   mahesvara adi tanra sevana-tatpara

nama chintamani krsna-chaitanya-svarupa

   bheda-jnana na karibe lila-guna-rupa [2]

Lord Krishna, son of Nanda,

   of all lords the Leader—

The great Siva and all the gods

   serve His feet forever;

The touchstone of the Name

   is Krishna incarnate—

His pastimes, nature, form, also

   think not separate.

“guru krsna-rupa han sastrera pramane

   guru-rupe krsna krpa kare bhagyavane”

se gurute marttya-buddhi avajnadi tyaji

   ista-labha kara, nirantara nama bhaji [3]

“Guru’s a form of Krishna—

   the scriptures corroborate;

In the form of Guru,

   Krishna blesses the fortunate.”

Never offend that Guru

   by thinking him mere mortal;

Gain your highest objective—

   serve the Name for time eternal.

sruti, sruti-mata saha satvata purana

   sri-nama-charana-padma kare nirajana

sei sruti-sastra yeba karaye nindana

   se aparadhira sanga karibe varjjana [4]

The Vedas with Mother Gayatri

   and Srimad Bhagavatam

Illuminate the lotus feet

   of Sri Hari’s name;

Whoever vilifies

   those Holy Vedic scriptures—

Never keep their company,

   know them as offenders.

namera mahima sarva-sastrete vakhane

   ati-stuti, hena kabhu na bhaviha mane

agastya, ananta, brahma, sivadi satata

   ye nama-mahima-sindhu ke paibe para?

   ati-stuti bate yei—sei durachara [5]

The glories of the Name—

   all scriptures’ exaltation;

Dare not think their praise

   to be exaggeration.

Agastya, Ananta, Brahma,

   Siva, etc., ever

Sing the glories of that Name

   with full-hearted fervour.

Who can cross the ocean

   of the glories of that Name?

Whoever says ‘exaggeration’

   have their sin to blame.

krsna-namavali nitya golakera dhana

   kalpita, prakrta, bhave—aparadhi-jana [6]

The Holy Names of Krishna—

   eternal wealth of Goloka:

Who thinks those Names imaginary,

   mundane—he’s offender.

name sarva-papa-ksaya sarva-sastre kaya

   sara-dina papa kari sei bharasaya—

emata durbbuddhi yara sei aparadhi

   maya-pravanchita, duhkha bhunje niravadhi [7]

All scriptures claim the Name

   all sin it can destroy.

But those who spend their time in sin

   making it a ploy— Such a wicked attitude

   is that of an offender

Deceived by illusion,

   perpetually to suffer.

atulya sri-krsna-nama purna-rasa-nidhi

   tanra sama na bhaviha subha-karma adi [8]

Incomparable Name of Krishna—

   the treasure of ecstasy:

Never dare compare it with

   auspicious piety.

name sraddha-hina-jana—vidhata-vanchita

   tare nama dane aparadha sunischita [9]

Those who’re faithless t’ward the Name—

   deceived by Providence:

Giving them the Holy Name

   surely’s an offence.

suniyao krsna-nama mahatmya apara

   ye priti-rahita, sei naradhama chhara

ahamta mamata yara antare bahire

   suddha krsna-nama tara kabhu nahi sphure [10]

Despite them hearing the infinite

   glories of Krishna’s Name,

Those whose hearts don’t melt in love

   are rascals of ill fame;

Only pride and avarice

   their thoughts and deeds do yield—

The Pure name of Krishna

   to them is ne’er revealed.

ei dasa-aparadha kariya varjjana

   ye sujana kare hari-nama sankirtana

apurva sri-krsna-prema labhya tara haya

   nama-prabhu tara hrde nitya vilasaya [11]

Casting off these ten offences,

   leaving no exception,

Those pure souls who chant the Name

   in Holy Congregation—

The miracle of love for Krishna

   they will surely savour,

The Name Divine Himself will shine

   within their hearts forever.

—Tridandi-bhiksu

Sri Bhakti Sundar Govinda

*  *  *  *  *

The Logo of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

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

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, where sankirtan is always going on, is inside Krishna’s flute, and the sound om, which is the very gist meaning of gayatri, comes from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, radiating merciful rays. Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj explains that everything is found within om—coming from Krishna’s flute, its meaning is “Gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam Radha-padam dhimahi. Krishna’s flute does not make any other sound except for the glorification of Srimati Radharani.” That is the real meaning and gist of the gayatri mantram.

The position of the guru is like water; the servitors of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math are like lotuses; and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, worshipped in His divine form of Radha-Krishna (om), is the sun. The sun’s merciful rays nourish the lotus, but if there is no water—if one cannot take shelter of Sri Guru and His grace—then the lotus becomes burnt by the rays of the sun.

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math’s Mission

srimach-chaitanya-sarasvata-mathavara-udgita-kirtir jaya-srim

bibhrat sambhati ganga-tata-nikata-nabadwipa-koladri-raje

yatra sri-gaura-sarasvata-mata-nirata-gaura-gatha grnanti

nityam rupanuga sri-krtamati-guru-gauranga-radha-jitasa

‘At this supremely enchanting divine ashram, destitute and spiritually loving devotees of Sri Gaura-Saraswati, who are expert at favourable practices of Krishna consciousness, constantly chant within their hopeful hearts the glories of Lord Sri Sri Gaurasundar, the greatly magnanimous source of all incarnations of the Lord, following in strict adherence the line of Sri Sri Rupa-Raghunath, the inexhaustible storehouse of the wealth of divine ecstatic consorthood love, and being eternally eager to engage in the loving service of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govindasundar and Their associates. This effulgent and supremely worshippable King among all temples, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, is situated within Koladwip, which is non-different from Sri Govardhan, the King of Mountains, on the enchanting bank of the revered Bhagirathi River, who rescues all fallen souls, in Sri Nabadwip Dham, a holy abode of touchstones, non-different from Sri Vrindavan. Capturing Jayasri (the Goddess of Victory – Srimati Radharani), it exists eternally, leaving the entire creation of moving and non-moving entities astonished in the extremely cooling and loving shade of the soaring victory flag of its ever-increasing celebrated renown.’

(The translation of the verse is rendered from the original Bengali translation written by Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.)

Headquarters
of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Road,

Kolerganj, W.Bengal, 741302

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

Bhanjipur, Tarakeshwar,

 Hooghly, West Bengal, 712410

Phone: +91 96093 02310

Please see scsmathinternational.com for other addresses in India and worldwide.

Books and Publications of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

(English language)

(Available at scsmathinternational.com)

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Search for Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful

Sri Guru and His Grace

The Golden Volcano of Divine Love

Subjective Evolution of Consciousness

Loving Search for the Lost Servant

Centenary Anthology

Divine Aspiration

Exclusive Guardianship

Golden Staircase

Heart and Halo

Holy Engagement

Home Comfort

Inner Fulfillment

Ocean of Nectar

Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamaritam

Sri Sri Prema-dhama-devam Stotram

Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion – Volumes I, II, III, IV

By Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Divine Servitor

Dignity of the Divine Servitor

Divine Guidance

Golden Reflections

The Benedictine Tree of Divine Aspiration

Affectionate Guidance

Life’s Destination

In Search of the Original Source

Nectarean Glories of Sri Nityananda Prabhu

Religion of the Heart

Revealed Truth

By Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj:

Guidance – Volumes I, II, III, IV

Guidance (Issues 1–30): collections of lectures (electronic)

Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala

By Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur:

Saranagati

Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya

Dasa-mula Tattva

The Bhagavata

Other scriptures:

Sri Gaudiya Gitanjali (Kirtan Guide)

Holy Name and Offences to Be Avoided

Service Life

Srimad Bhagavad-gita

Sri Sri Prema-vivarta

Sri Brahma-samhita

(Many more publications in various languages are available at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in India and abroad. Please contact any of the Mission’s temples for further information.)