Disappearance of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Goswāmī Mahārāj:
...govindābhidham ujjvalaṁ vara-tanuṁ bhakty anvitaṁ sundaraṁ vande viśva-guruñ cha divya-bhagavat-premṇo hi bīja-pradam (Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāj Praṇām).
Jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda paramahaṁsa-parivrājakāchāryya-varyya aṣṭottara-śata-śrī śrīmad Śrīla bhakti sundar govinda dev-gosvāmī mahārāj tirobhāv-mahotsava tithi, kī jaya!
Jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, kī jaya!
Bhagavān Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, kī jaya!
jaya sa-parikara śrī-śrī-guru-gaurāṅga-gāndharvvā-govinda sundarjīu, kī jaya
Śrī girirāj-govardhan, kī jaya!
Śrī rūpānuga guru-varga, kī jaya!
Śrī rūpānuga-dhāra Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, kī jaya!
Rūpa-sanātan bhaṭṭa raghunāth śrī jīvā gopāl bhaṭta dās radhunāth ṣaḍ goswāmī prabhu, kī jaya!
Namāchāryya śrīla haridās ṭhākur, kī jaya!
Śrī-kṛṣṇa-chaitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhar śrī vāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda, kī jaya!
Śrī-śrī rādhā-kṛṣṇa gopa-gopīnāth śyāma-kuṇḍa rādhā-kuṇḍa giri-govardhan, kī jaya!
vṛndāvan dhām, kī jaya!
Sevā-kuñja, kī jaya!
Navadwip dhām, kī jaya!
Śrī chaitanya sāraswat maṭh, kī jaya!
Śrī govinda-kuṇḍa, kī jaya!
Gaṅgā-devī jamunā-devī bhakti-devī tulsī-devī, kī jaya!
Śrī gupta-govardhan, kī jaya!
Oṁ viṣṇupād viśva-vareṇya śrīla a.c. bhakti vedanta swāmī prabhupād, kī jaya!
Śrī chaitanya sāraswat maṭh ācārya vṛnda kī jaya!
Jaya śrīla bhakti bimal avadhūt mahārāj kī jaya!
Jaya śrīla bhakti rañjan madhusūdan mahārāj, kī jaya!
Jaya srī paramānanda prabhu, kī jaya!
Śrī kṛṣṇa-priya didi, kī jaya!
Śrī bhakti-lalitā devī, kī jaya!
Sāma-veda bhakta-vṛṇda, kī jaya!
Sevā-vṛṇda, kī jaya!
Śrīla bhakti sundar govinda dev-gosvāmī mahārāj tirobhāv-mahotsava tithi, kī jaya!
Nitaī-gaurā premānande, hari..!
[from the audience: Hari, Haribol!!! Śrīla Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī Mahārāj, kī jaya!!!]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: Hare Kṛṣṇa... So, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj wanted to know the... He wanted to gain the favor, appreciation of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur. And, he was thinking, “What is the way to his Guru's heart?” What is the pathway to the Guru's heart? So, we see Guru Mahārāj composed Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam, and his famous... many wonderful... Every verse is extraordinary. But one that utterly captured Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur.
śrī-gaurānumataṁ svarūpa-viditaṁ rūpāgrajenādṛtaṁ
rūpādyaiḥ pariveśitaṁ raghu-gaṇair āsvāditaṁ sevitam
jīvādyair abhiraksitaṁ śuka-śiva-brahmādi-sammānitaṁ
śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum īśo bhavān
(Śrīmad Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam, 9)
He is identifying what is Bhaktivinod Thākur's gift to the world. His gift to the world is Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement. What we call Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the purview... the domain of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī; She is Kṛṣṇa consciousness personified. We may think, “Oh, are you forgetting Kṛṣṇa?” No. this is how you remember Kṛṣṇa. This is how you think of Kṛṣṇa—it's through Her—Her Grace. It is... Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a gracious extension of Her
heart. She is sharing Kṛṣṇa with us. She owns Kṛṣṇa; exclusively is Her possession. Bhaktivinod Thākur says, “Kṛṣṇa is owned exclusively by Rādhārāṇī and Her girlfriends and their assistants.” Like a copyright, patent, trademark—they own Kṛṣṇa—they alone can distribute Kṛṣṇa if they so... pleased to do so.
So, all praise to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī—rādhā-dāsyam, the service of Her Holly lotus Feet—otherwise known as rādhā-dāsyam, or Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement.
It's that one thing—coming in connection with that—the lotus feet of the ultimate Guru,
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She is Śrī Guru and its highest form of expression. She is the ujjvala-rasa-ācārya; ...kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya vande guroḥ śrī-charaṇāravindam (Śrīla Viśvanāth Cakravartī Ṭhākur: Śrī Gurvvāṣṭaka. 7) [beginning] sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair... All the sādhus are saying, “Guru is whom? DirectlyKṛṣṇa.” Like the other day, someone was... we're having discussion, and someone said, “You wanna know how to understand what Guru Mahārāj says, and... Just so, you know, he is God! Guru Mahārāj is God!”
Once you understand that he is God—as good as God—then you understand how to receive what he is telling you. And we say, “Ohhh... how can you say such thing?” “Oh, I say in the presence of Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, who will whole-heartedly agree with me, and dance, and chant and celebrate what I have said.” Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau...(Su: 6.23). The statement is there within Upaniṣad. Only if you... If there's no difference to you between what God says and Guru says, then, tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ (Su: 6.23). Then to that person everything is revealed... But we think, “No, God is like that... And Guru, you know... I mean, they're good, but...” That person won't understand.
But who understands—not only good as God—but greater. How? In the sense—more accessible—God is accessible through Guru. And, remember, who is the ultimate Guru? If there's some reluctance to accept this... The ultimate Guru is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and Kṛṣṇa will be very happy if you say that She is superior to Him, “And only through Her do we get You. And not only do we get You through Her—we get more of You through Her, than we would get by going to You directly.” Govinda-vallabhe rādhe prārthaye tvām ahaṁ sadā...(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa) Gopāla Baṭta Goswāmī saying... And how did Guru Mahārāj say it? “If you want the direct connection with me...” Kṛṣṇa's saying... He says, “That's not my department...” [chuckle] That is... She knows...” And even the big man in this world, right...
Wether they're President, King, Prime-minister, whatever the top position...
We say, “I'd like to arrange the meeting...” “Oh, see my secretary... I don't even know what my schedule... You know, the secretary arranges everything... So, I can't even tell you... You have to ask them. Is it OK?” And they will say. Even in this world we experience that, what to speak about Her Supreme position. She... And why, also... Because no one has a more full conception of Kṛṣṇa then Her. What is Her conception of Kṛṣṇa? That's what we're interested in. How does She see Him? What... Just think of that, the way She views Kṛṣṇa. She's sharing Her view of Kṛṣṇa with us in the form of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement. That is Her Supreme Mercy, rādhe vrndavanadhiṣe karuṇāmṛta vāhinī...(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa).
It's a the ultimate, you know... flow of karuṇāmṛta vāhinī—means, of supreme compassion and mercy—is coming from the heart of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She is illuminating whole existence with Her, as Gurudev said, tuṇga-maṇi mandire... Her heart is a lighthouse of kṛṣṇa-prema, illuminating the whole spiritual world. Things like the Sun are just reflections of Her illuminating capacities; they're the dim reflection... She is illuminating everything with Her heart. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is Her heart; Her heart is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, when Guru Mahārāj says in his prayer, ...tad dātum īśo...
śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum īśo bhavān (Śrīmad Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam, 9).“Oh, Bhaktivinod Thākur, this is your gift to the world—the nectarine service to the Holy Lotus Feet of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And this is what all you're revealing.”
This is what Mahāprabhu came down to give. When Kṛṣṇa's already familiar with Her... [chuckle] And He's saying, “What is this? How She behaves—the sort of expressions coming from Her, from Her heart, Her speech—the divine ecstatic emotion waves over Her divine form. And I'm totally captured by Her. But how She is captured by me; what She sees in me?” And then, particularly, Kṛṣṇa being naughty, as He is, separating himself from Her, and hiding in the kuñja to see what happen. “If She is like this when we're together, I shatter to think what She is like when we're separated.” And then, what He sees astonishes Him,
apāraṁ kasyāpi praṇayi-jana-vṛndasya kutukī
rasa-stomaṁ hṛtvā madhuram upabhoktuṁ kam api yaḥ
rucaṁ svām āvavre dyutim iha tadīyāṁ prakaṭayan
sa devaś caitanyākṛtir atitarāṁ naḥ kṛpayatu
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Ādi, 4.52)
The Caitanyāṣṭakam of Rūpa Goswāmī says,”Kṛṣṇa surveyed the billion, trillion gopīs of inconceivable beauty, quality, characteristics, charm... And, when absent One... One... The trillion minus One. And we think, “Oh, negligible... The trillion minus one is still, more-or-less, a trillion...” Knowing Kṛṣṇa, “What happened? The flow, the quality, the rasa is going down... What happened?” And serving all... the scene... She is gone. She left. That personality who can totally capture Kṛṣṇa, She's... So, the absence of One, the whole experience turns into something else, and Kṛṣṇa leaves, searching for Her. So, He's captured. He's saying, “The whole world is mad after me, my fragrance, my aroma, my... everything... The fragrance of my beloved drives me mad.” You're all mad, puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca... (SB: 7.9).
The original fragrance of the earth, the fragrance of the flowers, aromatic... you know, driving everyone mad... Combine with feminine... femininity, driving everyone mad... “I'm mad for Her! Her fragrance drives me mad... Her touch...” etc. So, and She... What is one of Her names? Kṛṣṇa-mayī. That means, She is full of Kṛṣṇa. To what degree? There's no one who is more full of Kṛṣṇa than She. Even Kṛṣṇa wants to experience, what Kṛṣṇa consciousness is like—Her Kṛṣṇa consciousness—it's captured Him. So charming, so astonishing, so wonderful. So, what is the consequence of what Kṛṣṇa observed—than Rādhārāṇī in separation—that He comes down into this world? And expressed to certain degree in Caitanya-bhāgavat. What would Guru Mahārāj say? “No...” śrī-gaurānumataṁ svarūpa...(Śrīmad Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam, 9).
That only Svarūpa Dāmodar knows everything; Lalitā-sakhī... And, that very thing that Mahāprabhu came down to celebrate, is known fully to Svarūpa Dāmodar, worshiped by Sanātan Goswāmī, relished by Rūpa Goswāmī, and extended in his rasa-scriptures, tasted by Raghunāth Dāsa; extended to Kṛṣṇadāsa. Kṛṣṇadāsa gives us Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Jīva and Baladeva protecting that from adulteration, from those who challenge its legitimacy, from imitation-ism. And he's saying... What is it? “Brahmā, Śiva, Nārada, Uddhava, they want a drop of that divine substance,
āsām aho caraṇa-reṇu-juṣām ahaṁ syāṁ
vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām
yā dustyajaṁ sva-janam ārya-pathaṁ ca hitvā
bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.61)
And these girls, a gopī girls, what they got, they want to have a drop of that divine substance. Then we think, “This is a big advertisement... a big buildup... Then what is it? Please tell me, what is that thing you're talking about, that brought Kṛṣṇa down in the form of Mahāprabhu... That is worshiped by Sanātan, relished by Rūpa, and extended by Raghunāth, Kṛṣṇadāsa, Brahmā, Śiva, Śuka, Nārada—they want a drop of it... Please tell me what is it? Śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho... (Śrīmad Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam, 9.4). The service of the nectarine service of the holy lotus feet of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. That kṛṣṇa-mayī who is full of Kṛṣṇa. There is... You can't get more Kṛṣṇa at any other source, then from Her. Then he said, ...tad dātum īśo bhavān (Śrīmad Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam, 9.4). “Bhaktivinod Thākur, this is your gift to the world.”
And what happened? Saraswatī Ṭhākur was captured. So, he saw the way to the heart of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, is to glorify Bhaktivinod Thākur. The way to the heart of
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj... Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda-Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, is to glorify his Guru Mahārāj. That's why he accepted all of us, and extended the Caitanya Saraswat Maṭh around the world to glorify his Guru Mahārāj. Guru Mahārāj is everything to him. And he is showing so much love and affection to others, but, really, it's all... There's this one pivotal point—is the promotion of the glories of his Guru Mahārāj—and the service of his Guru Mahārāj. And what did Gurudev say, “If you will do that... You glorify Guru Mahārāj, serve the holy lotus feet of Guru Mahārāj...” He said, “I'll become your slave.” We shattered the rule... “Mahārāj... Don't say that...”
And he said, “No... I'm happily...” And without any reluctance, he said, “You serve my Guru Mahārāj... Promote the glories of my Guru Mahārāj, I am... I will become your slave, if you do that.” And, really, he is the slave to his disciples, devotees, friends. Always tolerating us, because of this connection with the holy lotus feet of his Guru Mahārāj. He would sometimes say to me... he go, “Mahārāj, remember what you've told..?” And I'm like, “What..?” “That I'm fanatic for Guru Mahārāj...” And I go, “Yes, Mahārāj...” “Yes..!” [laughing] “Yes, we're two fanatics for Guru Mahārāj. Guru Mahārāj is God—good as God—as far as we're concerned.” And, I said on his Vyās-pūjā, in front of him... I said, “How Guru-centric are we? If Kṛṣṇa Himself comes before us, we will turn to Gurudev and say, 'Is that Kṛṣṇa or not?'” [laughter]
And when I said that, Śrīla Gurudev from his vyāsa-āsana, he started going like... [loud hand clapping] Like that... “Yes!” And he knows... How can I say that? What do I know? But he knows, “Oh, now Guru Mahārāj is speaking through him.” I must of hear that from Guru Mahārāj... He heard it a thousand times. But he knows, when I said that, comes from Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. He said, “That kind of faith...” When he was young... We know, Guru Mahārāj himself described him as a 'briskly boy'... [chuckle] I have to look it up, actually, to be sure... But means, like a young and full of enthusiasm and... But not like just a young, enthusiastic person... Supremely intelligent and funny... Like Guru Mahārāj said, “He has something from before... Not that he just came and got everything... He already came with something.”
And, it become fully expressed in service to the holy lotus feet of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. It still, sometimes... I would remind Gurudev of some of his pastimes, and he would... “Oh...” You know, I was a little... you know... what would be the word..? Proud, then, or something, you know. He would play it down... But, Guru Mahārāj said it in his glorification... But he was young... But, anyway... He was proud because of his connection with Śrīla Guru Mahārāj... We can adjust that way, that, “No. My Guru... What my Guru said is perfect, and I know that.” “Wow... you young man... Why you're speaking to your elders in this way.” That kind of thing. So, when after his Badrinath parikramā completes and he's come down to Vṛndāvan. And, they're at the Āmli Talā Maṭh of Śrīla Bhakti Sāraṅga Goswāmī Mahārāj, beloved friend, god-brother of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj.
There... Because, when did that happened? Like I'm telling before about Kṛṣṇa hiding in the kuñja, observing Rādhārāṇī. Some say, that's the spot; that's the place
where he was observing, and make the decision to descend as Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu.
So, divine any way you take, and Mahāprabhu would go there and then recall that decision. Anyway, it's such wonderful place... And still there, near our Sevā KuñjaMaṭh. Mahārāj knows better then me... [referring to Mādhusūdan Mahārāj] Around the corner, so to speak... [inaudible at the background; chuckle] An Yamunā... Just near. And... But... So, Guru Mahārāj always serving his god-brothers, actually. They would say, “No, leading... guiding us and leading us. To him it is the service... They need... Who is the reliable voice of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur, after his departure?”
They know that's Guru Mahārāj. Śrīla Prabhupāda Swāmī Mahārāj knew that, Goswāmī Mahārāj, Mādhava Mahārāj, Jajavar Maharaj, Bon Mahārāj, Purī Mahārāj... name them... Keśava Mahārāj, they all deferring to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. So, Guru Mahārāj writes this śloka celebrating when Mahāprabhu came there. But it's a... how to decipher what that date is? So, some elder, senior devotees, they're sitting there, they can't understand... what is the date, though? What is written is wonderful, saying, when Mahāprabhu came... But there's some encrypted date... “And that we can't understand, you know... And they're wondering, maybe there's some fault. And Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj, he is young at this time... Maybe in his twenties, actually, you know... And he begin by telling, “You know, what my Guru Mahārāj wrote is perfect.”
“No, but no one can understand this, you know...” “I can understand.” “Ahahaaa! You're just a boy!” “No, I can understand clearly what my Guru Mahārāj says.” “Oh, then you, please, explain to everyone.” And he said, “Well, you see, the kovidās, the Vedic Vaiṣṇava poets, their system for dating... this is like a mystical encryption. They have a system, like cāri-veda—four Vedas—catur-veda, that can be used as four. There's also tri-veda, sometimes three... pañca-ratna five, nava-ratna nine,
tri-ratna three... [laughing] And, a different ways to indicate the number one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. So, he's saying, “But what they do—after they've indicated the numbers is—they put them in reverse order. And you have to know this, and you have to know the system.”
So, it says, ratnesu-vedānite, nine, five, four. Then put in reverse, is telling you, “In the year 459, Mahāprabhu come here and sat beneath this three, and recollected when He made that decision to descend to this world, enveloped in the heart and halo of
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, as Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu.” What kind of boy is this? [laughing] And then so many things like that. Guru Mahārāj told... And also the subtle things, that we've seen... The picture we've published, actually, when Saraswatī Ṭhākur has been greeted, and he is greeting Governor John Anderson, then the Governor of Bengal. And Goswāmī Mahārāj is there— we're told—looking like a priest... They experimented with, sometime... with that type of dress. And... So, you see Governor... Saraswatī Ṭhākur, and we're told, and if you see his hand... Because I had the original only and like—you could be lost looking at what's in his palm—it's so beautiful.
It's inconceivably beautiful and mystical. Because you can... is a shock there... of that. So, you see Saraswatī Ṭhākur and the garland, and then Governor John Anderson... You see Goswāmī Mahārāj, no garland. And, Gurudev telling Goswāmī Mahārāj... Goswāmī Mahārāj loved Gurudev very much. As Guru Mahārāj says in the praṇams, you know, the ...guru-gaṇair āśīṣa-saṁbhūṣitaṁ... Less you think, “Oh...” less they say, “Oh, Śrīdhar Mahārāj, He is so attached to Govinda Mahārāj.” They would say... Mādhava Mahārāj say, “Śrīdhar Mahārāj, you make a great advisor to the King, but not a good King, you know...” But when he got Govinda Mahārāj, they say, “O, o... What's gonna happen? Now, he's got someone, so, now he's gonna start promoting Śrīdhar Mahārāj; now he's got a good, 'right arm' assistant. But, still...
So, Goswāmī Mahārāj, he love Govinda Mahārāj so much. And Govinda Mahārāj making engagement. When Guru Mahārāj more-or-less retired, then he make engagement—take Goswāmī Mahārāj, and other great Mahārāj from disciples of Saraswatī Ṭhākur. So, Govinda Mahārāj thinking about it, and he goes, “Oh, I know why you don't have a garland...” And Goswāmī Mahārāj goes, “Well... not necessary for me to have garland. Prabhupāda Saraswatī Ṭhākur has a garland, Governor John Anderson are VIP guest... has a garland... Not necessary...” “No, no, you must have a garland. You're Aprākṛta Prabhu, descended in the nityānanda-vaṁśa line.” So, not only we say they are prākṛta, but Saraswatī Ṭhākur—it shows his brilliants, and also little humor—he called him Aprākṛta Prabhu... [laughing]
So, he is AB... he is that... Prabhupāda took that from him. He's calling, “AB Goswāmī...” And he go, “I'm AC...” you know... [chuckles] And Goswāmī Mahārāj started, he go, “Veda's like KK...” This, you know, used this initials. So, anyway... He said, “Oh, no, no... everything is fine...” And Gurudev... “No, no, they must give you garland. You're Bhakti Sāraṅga Goswāmī... Aprākṛta Prabhu, nityānanda... they would give you garland. But, I'm thinking, the garland man, he was late. And... So, there was two garlands. So, he gave one to you, one to Prabhupāda Saraswatī Ṭhākur; one to you. And then you took your garland, and you gave it to Governor John Anderson. That's what this picture reveals.” And Goswāmī Mahārāj said, “Oh, you're now in the terrain of Viśvanāth Cakravartī Ṭhākur...” [chuckles]
And what he means, and particularly in Sārārtha Darśini dīpikā-
ṭīkā of Viśvanāth... He's always finding some littlest thing that just seems like a detail... In kṛṣṇa-līlā... or in the speech of Kṛṣṇa and vraja-gopīs. Or, what is being described in the Bhāgavatam, and extracting the highest sort of siddhānta and understanding from that one thing. You know, the Sun rosed in the eastern horizon, that he... Viśvanāth would tell us what is that indicate. So, he is saying, “Now you're in that zone of Viśvanāth Cakravartī Ṭhākur...” [laughing] And... So, guru-gaṇair, that meant the Guru section, āśīṣa-saṁbhūṣitaṁ... (Praṇām) So, we say, “Oh, Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj, he has this unconditional love and affection for Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj, so he's saying, he's so wonderful' and all these things... He's blinded by his love and affection for Govinda Maharaj.”
So, Guru Maharaj knowing that, he's saying, “No, no...” In this first line he's saying, “It's not just me...” Well, if we think, gurvvābhīṣṭa-supūrakaṁ... (Praṇām). He fulfilled all the desires of his Gurudev. So, therefor “No, not just me.” “Yes, that is true, every desire I ever had, Govinda Mahārāj fulfilled that desire. But not I'm just saying because I'm blinded by mu love and affection for him, but, ...guru-gaṇair āśīṣa-saṁbhūṣitaṁ... All my god-brothers—he also is blessed—he has their blessings. They know who he is, too. ” Not just his Guru, who would naturally rewarding him. But they all are singing the glories of Govinda Mahārāj, as well. When some disciple of Mādhava Mahārāj say, ”Why there, you know, praise..? Why so much praise's going to Govinda Mahārāj..?” To his Guru, Mādhava, he's saying, “Why you're praising him so much?”
Like, “I'm your disciple... Why would you...Why you're praising Govinda Mahārāj more then you're praising your own disciples? And, Mādhava Mahārāj said, “I must... How can I not? You see the type of service he is doing for Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj; that is the most praise-worthy thing.” And, Keśava Mahārāj... Oh, I was gonna say, again, on that line of seeing the subtle things. That, on Bon Mahārāj's Vyās-pūjā in Vṛndāvan... And Goswāmī Mahārāj is there, and he is also good at this... [chuckle] And Govinda Mahārāj, he's young... he's in the aisle, and Goswāmī Mahārāj is giving some... What's the word for something that can be two ways..? [inaudible, from the audience] Hah? No, not ambiguous... it means, it can be interpreted in two ways... Anyway... I'll think of it... [inaudible, from the audience]
No, it's open to interpretation... be interpreted in more then one way... So, He is speaking this glorification, but everything he's saying, you could interpret it another way, which would—lets just say—was less than glorifying... [laughing] [inaudible, from the audience] Hah? Double entendre... Thank you... Duble antaun... [GM take on French pronunciation; laughter] for the French... Oh, there's no French people... I forget... [laughing] Anyway... Yeah, double entendre, double meaning... And, so, he is...
And, we're told, Bon Mahārāj's sitting there, and he knows—no one's gonna get it—they only gonna se the glorifying part, you know... But then, he's looking around the room, and then he makes eye contact with Govinda Mahārāj, and he can see, Govinda Mahārāj gets it... [laughing]
He is the junior, but he is tuned in; he is fully and... vāva... [laughing]
He is appreciating that. So, that's an example. And then, later... And Gurudev, we know, he did this all the time. He get say so, “Oh, you're simple-hearted Vaiṣṇava...” And, he could be a very high like saralā. Rūpa Goswāmī says, “One of the qualities of the Vaiṣṇava. But he could say, “Simple-hearted Vaiṣṇava” to mean something else... [chuckle] Or someone's coming, they go, “Gurudev, so-and-so is maybe coming...” “If he can come, that would be very nice... And if he does not come, that would be even better.” [laughter] And many, many, many things like that. But... So, and I would see this mastery of the double entendre. And one says, reading... writing of Raghunāth Dāsa Goswāmī, and you see the supremely clever banter from Kṛṣṇa and the vraja-gopīs.
And then they're doing it. They have... They can glorify Kṛṣṇa, but it's actually an insult. And that's make Kṛṣṇa... They're saying, “Oh, You descended in the world to save all the fallen souls, and, you know... And You are the Ācārya of the despicable behavior... [laughter] And... Then I said, “All these things they're saying, and the double entendre of the vraja-gopīs, it's from their minds...” You think, “How can they do that?” And, it make Kṛṣṇa happy... It's not an insult. It's because of their love, the depths of their love, they can speak to Him like this. And Kṛṣṇa Himself... Kavirāj Goswāmī says in the beginning of Caritāmṛtam... He said, “The Vedās are just praising
me, nonstop, twenty four hours a day, since before the beginning of time.” Right...
Like saying, “You, and Your innumerable avatāras, You descended in this world and rescued the fallen souls; all Your movements are Divine. We're singing your praises... The Vedās, the Upaniṣads... And they're going on like that, nonstop.” And what is Kṛṣṇa says there... He said, “But if my beloved, Rādhārāṇī, She is chastising me...” He said, “My mind is captured by that. I no longer hear the prayers and the praises of the hymns in the Vedās. I'm captured by the loving chastisement of my beloved.” That's the inside into Kṛṣṇa conception. So, when I was hearing... When I read this part, and
I thought... I was thinking like, “I've heard this... I've heard this before. Where've I heard this before?” And I went... “Oh, Gurudev, he does this...” And I thought, “He is qualified to enter there and participate in those pastimes.”
They're not looking for tourists, right... Who can enter that plane and contribute. I thought, “He can do that. He could enter there, and say something that would make them all laugh.” That would be that irreverent thing, that's like, “Was it praise, or was it an insult.” Like, he can do that... I thought, “Oh My Lord... He is qualified to enter that plane, and be a part of that group.” So, and Śrīla Guru Maharaj knows better then me... [chuckle] But he did tell me to assist others in understanding the glories of Śrīla Govinda Maharaj. Because he was content to always be in the background
arranging the service of Śrīla Guru Maharaj. That's his only concern, śrī-rūpa-mañjarī-pada, sei mora sampada, sei mora bhajana-pūjana... (Śrī-Rūpa-Mañjarī-pada by Śrīla Narottam dās Ṭhākur).
Sei... my bhajana, my pūja... my sei mora... my mantra, my japa, my vrata, my tapa... What did I learn sitting at the feet of Govinda Maharaj? That is the service of the lotus feet of the rūpānuga-dhāra, that is our bhajana, our pūjana, our mantra, our japa, our tapa, our vrata. Whatever we encounter in that service, its all those things to us. We're not off duty, in isolation doing some mantra, japa, tapa, bhajana, you know... No. we serve the lotus feet of Guru Maharaj; that's our mantra, that's our japa, our tapa, our vrata, our bhajana, our pūjana. He... That's why he... This currant was flowing in him as well. So, and what is it like? It's when you think of... Like we heard, Saraswatī Ṭhākur saying, you know... he looks very deeply... Saying, “Bhaktivinod is Gadādhar Paṇḍit, Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj is Svarūpa Dāmodar..”
#00:36:41: And by... How you say..? Implication, you know: Rādhārāṇī and Lalitā-sakhī.
In my conception... And, you know, comparisons are odious, but still... But only if... But... Unless it's true. That's another thing... If its truth, right... And Gurudev told, after so many years they went to Hapānīya with Bābājī Mahārāj, Acyutānanda was there, Jajavar Maharaj... other... Jajavar Maharaj and Bābājī Mahārāj says, “We take it as Varṣāṇā.” Means, Rādhārāṇī's place. Another words, they're saying, “We see Guru Maharaj like Rādhārāṇī... Saraswatī Ṭhākur is Rādhārāṇī. We see him that way.” To say that about your god-brother is a... something, then again. Their Guru is Saraswatī Ṭhākur... They're saying, “No... but we see Śrīdhar Mahārāj like that; we're taking Hapānīya as Varṣāṇā.” Meaning, seeing Guru Mahārāj as Rādhārāṇī's delegation.
And that is the vision of Śrīla Gurudev; that is our vision. And he says, “Then... But he's our Guru, how shall we see in him..? What happy adjustment can be made? That, if Saraswatī Ṭhākur could see Bhaktivinod and Gaura Kiśor in this way, then we... It will be OK... [chuckle] More then OK, if we see Guru Mahārāj as Rādhārāṇī, and Gurudev as Lalitā-sakhī.” And... And not that's just... And then there's reason to believe this, right...
rādhā-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharma-bindu
nirmañchanopakaraṇī-kṛta deha-lakṣām
uttuṅga-sauhṛda-viśeṣa-vaśāt pragalbhāṁ
devīṁ guṇaiḥ sulalitāṁ lalitāṁ namāmi
(Śrī Lalitā-aṣṭakam: 1)
Rūpa Goswāmī singing the glories of Lalitā-sakhī, And, if this is the first verse, and it is, then it has even more significance. There're others and they're all beautiful. But if he starts with this, then you can understand—Śrī Rūpa is telling you to conceive along this lines—he's telling you, this is where you begin your vision. You may look here, there... But, no... Take it from Śrī Rūpa; this is how She shall be seen, and appreciated, and glorified. And what is he say about Lalitā-sakhī? That, the lotus feet of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā-Mukunda, if in Their Divine play, pastimes, she's not consider... If she sees a drop of sweat, she will assume deho-lakṣaṁ—a hundred-thousand body—she would expend a hundred thousand times to remove that. To make sure there's no a slightest disturbance in that plane.
Her vision is not cast elsewhere. She's thinking, “Any possible disturbance, I'll expend myself a hundred-thousand times to remove that, so that not the least disturbance will come to Them.” Again, I thought, “Where have I seen this?” I've seen this... I've experienced... Where did I see this?” Oh, I saw this in Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj... The same approach to the service of the holly lotus feet of Guru Mahārāj; not the least disturbance will enter that plane. Guru Mahārāj would be upstairs... Prema-dhāma-deva Stotram, Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, Golden Volcano, Subjective Evolution... gāyatrī muralışta-kirtana- dhanaṁ radhāpadam dhimahi... All these things will be coming out of Śrīla Guru Maharaj, because Govinda Mahārāj is making sure, not the least disturbance will enter that plane.
And, whatever that is, he would take it upon himself. And not as a burden, or reluctantly, but happily. That once he knows something is the service of the lotus feet of
Guru Mahārāj, he is eager for that. So, he is Guru Mahārāj in the upper plane, like, pūjāla rāgapaṭha gaurava baṅge mattala sādhu jana viṣaya raṅge (Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur: Gaudiya 1930). And Gurudev downstairs, moving in the plane of the Maṭh, like Lalitā-sakhī, arranging all the different services, that not the least disturbance will enter Guru Mahārāj's domain. And all this streaming, wonderful, streaming of Kṛṣṇa conception, and Gaurā-kathā will come from Śrīla Guru Mahārāj; so, he enabled all of that. And how? With the least resources. So many devotees, they only know the Maṭh after everybody came... [chuckle] I remember when one devotee devoted some money for a pump.
They had a tube-well, and someone gave a donation... This is a Nineteen Eighty... Gave some money for... So, that instead of pumping like this, there would be... The water could come out. And what did Govinda Mahārāj do? He arranged the feast, like to... And received the pump, you know... Then like... [sound of the conch shell blowing] You know, they doing the pūja. We have the installation of the pump, and, then a big feast after words. [laughing] Many things like that. So, and how was he... things going on up to that point? Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj's intelligence, as he had a least amount of resources. Guru Mahārāj was reluctant to make a Maṭh. So, he make something very small, in deference to the wishes of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur.
So, Keśava Mahārāj had more resources, he said, “Myself, Tīrtha Mahārāj, Mādhava Mahārāj... we've got man, money, you know... resources. And what we're unable to do, Govinda Mahārāj does with his intelligence.” That sort of praise came from
Śrīla Keśava Mahārāj toward him. He's saying, “We, the leading disciples of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, but we couldn't do with all our man power, and our resources, Govinda Mahārāj's done with his intelligence. So, what is Guru Mahārāj say, guru-gaṇair āśīṣa-saṁbhūṣitaṁ— It's not just me‑all my god-brothers, they've... He's also ornamented, right... Wearing like an ornament, their blessings. And then I feel compelled... [chuckle] in this moment. That means, he looks even more beautiful. So, Gurudev's like... This like, ...govindābhidham ujjvalaṁ vara-tanuṁ bhakty anvitaṁ sundaraṁ... (Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāj Praṇām).
And the way he said it... He said, “What did this mean..?” He said, “I'm looking very nice...” [laughter] Could you say, “Ornamented with this...” and he said, “Yes, yes... But also looking very nice.” [laughter] Like Puṇḍarīk Vidyānidhi looking at himself in the mirror... [laughing] So, and then... So, and all these different ways. And, of course, His Divine Grace Śrīlā A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swāmī Mahārāj, he saw Govinda
Mahārāj as his child. Had so much love and affection for him. Eating breakfast together, sending him to distribute his Back to Godhead magazines. And, you know, telling him like, “Oh, when they say this, then you say that, you know...” And... Because the thing about Maa Kali come up... And he said, “What shall I do?” And he said, “You tell, yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti... (Bg: 9.25).
You know, Gītā... bhūtāni yānti... look who were her associates? Or, do either... Don't you see? She's standing on that... with swords... How many heads? Maa Kali's wearing in a garland... You want your head to be there? [chuckle] You tell them!” [laughing] “Yes Swāmī Mahārāj.” [laughing] The original distributor of Back to Godhead magazine is Govinda Mahārāj. And, when long at last, then Swāmī Mahārāj become the world-wide Ācārya, distributing Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world, realizing, fulfilling Mahāprabhu's prediction, dream of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, the... I mean Bhaktivinod Thākur... The order of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur. But, what Gurudev said about that? He said that, “ Saraswatī Ṭhākur is like a Superman...” [chuckle] He said that.
“And then Swāmī Mahārāj...” He said, “Then took it and spread it all over the world, because he got the order from his Gurudev.” So, then comes time, Prabhupāda spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world, and now is going to inaugurate the opening of the ISKCON, Māyāpur-Candrodayā Mandir, be the world headquarters, the flagship, the center if ISKCON, and Deity installation... So, what is Prabhupāda's idea..? Like, what will be the best way to do that? Who would be the guest of honor? There's only one person in Prabhupāda's mind; who that would be? And is Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī... And with Govinda Mahārāj. Because Śrīdhar Mahārāj means Govinda Mahārāj. Like gaurā-nitāi, you can't separate one from the other; that's a fault. Anyone who thinks like that is at fault; Guru Mahārāj withdraws from you.
He can withdraw. Although—as he can mercifully imbue—he can withdraw. So, Prabhupāda said, he would have Govinda Maharaj bring Śrīdhar Maharaj, for the opening. And... 'Cause later, when the devotees say, “What... How... What should we do for the installation, Prabhupāda?” He said, “Śrīdhar Maharaj has arrived, the Deities are installed. Next question...” [chuckle] Not like, “I mean, should we go like this, or like that... I mean, how..? Do we twirl them, or there's some..?” :”No. Śrīdhar Maharaj has arrived, They're installed; understand that...” [chuckle] And we see in the famous picture, where the only person in history that Prabhupāda ever shared the vyāsa-āsana with. The only person in history he ever said, was his śikṣā-guru. He didn't tell us that about anybody and everybody, right...
There they are, sharing the vyāsa-āsana saying how they met. And Guru Mahārāj's gives his talk... His health not so good at the time, but he gives an extraordinary talk... But that's for another time. I've mentioned this recently. And Prabhupāda saying many wonderful things... But then, the both of them, they want to hear from Govinda Mahārāj. And Bābājī Mahārāj was there, on the side. So, they gave, you know: Guru Mahārāj, Gurudev, Bābājī, Kṛṣṇadās Bābājī Mahārāj, over in the corner, with his mouth going, [trembling voice] “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa...” Like none stop... [laughing] And, so, now they want... And Gurudev said... He thought, “I'm taking Guru Mahārāj there, and assisting Guru Mahārāj as always...” But he didn't expect to speak. But then, Guru Mahārāj, Swāmī... they want to hear from him.
And you see, he's... And... So, not expecting to speak, not having prepared anything mentally, like... What shall he say, you know..? And this is like the Inauguration; this is it! This is that moment, and only comes ones in life. What would be appropriate to say. How to appropriately glorify Prabhupāda, and always remembering his Guru, who is sitting there, Śrīdhar Maharaj, as well. Is there way they can both be glorified? Do you have to dismiss one to glorify the other... Isn't there a way they can all be glorified, that could be pleasing to the guru-varga? And... What should be said? And then taking in consideration who is Guru Mahārāj, who is Prabhupāda, what he's done, what their relation, all this things... He is only... He's the qualified person to raise to the occasion, at that moment.
And what is he do? He selects the... See how he... His heart expresses itself.
And, so, he quot Raghupati Upādhyāya... And he goes,
kaṁ prati kathayitum īśe
samprati ko vā pratītim āyātu
go-pati-tanayā-kuñje
gopa-vadhūṭī-viṭaṁ brahma
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya, 19.98)
Yeah, ...go-pati-tanayā-kuñje gopa-vadhūṭī-viṭaṁ brahma... kaṁ prati kathayitum īśe... Just slow down... kaṁ prati kathayitum īśe samprati ko vā pratītim āyātu, he says... He begin, and we thought, as soon as he said this, Guru Mahārāj said,
Kṛṣṇadās Bābājī Mahārāj went... [yelling] “Hare Kṛṣṇa!!!” Because he knows what it means, already, you know... [chuckle]. So, Bābājī Mahārāj said, “Oh, this is perfect!” Others, they never even heard this before; they don't know where this is going. But Bābājī Mahārāj knows, so he lets out... [yelling] “Hare Kṛṣṇa!!!” His joyous chant. And he's saying... And what is Govinda Mahārāj saying, like... “Who can I tell..? Who will believe me..? Who I... When we ate breakfast together, and he offered me purīs and sabjī and I said, I'll eat muri, and he said, “You simply cheating your stomach” [laughter]
And he gave me the Back to Godhead... You know, Abhaya Bābū, you know, who gave this house for Guru Mahārāj's little preaching center. Whom we know so... Who treated me like his son with so much love and affection, that... Or, Abhaya Bābū, Abhaya Caranāravinda, he would become His Divine Grace A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swāmī Prabhupāda, and spread Kṛṣṇa Consciousness all over the world. Would anyone believe it? Is there anyone qualified to hear this. And if I told them, would they believe me?” Because, the original verse he's saying, “If I told you what is Kṛṣṇa... That Kṛṣṇa, who is crawling in the courtyard of Nanda Mahārāj, and then, onto the lap of Yaśodā, sucking her breast-milk—that param-brahmā, the Yogīs are trying to reach him—the brahmā, the brahmāvādīs, the jñānis, the mayāvādīs, everyone...”
They want the param-brahmā... And can... “Would anyone believe me? Is anyone qualified here... If I told...” What's the param-brahmā do, personally..? [chuckle] What is He doing? He is chasing after the gopī girls in the bushes of Vṛndāvan...(?) Would anyone believe that? Is there anyone qualified to hear that without their minds being destroyed, or becoming offensive? Guru Mahārāj said, “No. When Mahāprabhu comes—people are hearing—they'll believe it.” So, but Govinda Mahārāj is saying... And Swāmī Mahārāj... He's using it to glorify Swāmī Mahārāj, “Who can I tell? Who would believe me..? Who I've known so affectionately, he's spread Kṛṣṇa Consciousness all over the world! Is there anything more wonderful then that?” And Swāmī Mahārāj's very happy to hear that.
And he also told, “And my Gurudev, Śrīdhar Mahārāj, he regards him as his śikṣā-guru and me as his loving, affectionate son.” And what did Prabhupāda-Swāmī Mahārāj say? “What Govinda Mahārāj says is true. I accept his Guru Mahārāj as my śikṣā-guru, and him as my loving, affectionate son.” But, he didn't say to accepted all the things said about him, because he is a humble Vaiṣṇava. But he's loving that, hearing... And Bhaktivinod... And Saraswatī Ṭhākur is loving hearing that. Bhaktivinod Thākur, Gaura Kiśora—they all smiling upon that transaction—and happy to hear that, guru-gaṇair āśīṣa-saṁbhūṣitaṁ... (Śrīlā Govinda Mahārāj's Praṇāms). Because Govinda Mahārāj is ornamented with all their blessings; he wears them as a decoration.
And humbly keeping his ecstatic emotional interior, in check; not to express before everyone less... The lover section be mislead. But it's there, and always there. I've told, sometimes in the humorous way, that the... Remember that the vraja-gopīs are also very funny. They're the funniest. They've the most sweet, delightful humor, and is ontologically based, it's siddhāntically perfect; but very funny, you know... [chuckle] And he, again, shows that. And... And told, when... And, we're talking earlier, that we both like, all the sweets from the sweet shop, to show, we're giving to Mahāprabhu on Gaurā-pūrṇimā. And I bought diabetic ones for Gurudev. He likes seeing them, and their beauty, and seeing that they've been offered to Mahāprabhu, but he would take the diabetic once.
So, that time came, and he couldn't take all the things. But sometimes we've privilege to take prasādam with him on his veranda. And, you know, the Bengali boys, when they're cooking, they have to make so many things, and they get excited... some inspiration... But then, maybe they made something he can't take. But, they still want to distribute, and they come and … [interruption; GM,“Is the mic working..? OK... [chuckle] I don't know where it is... OK, but I... If you say... Vāsudev's ...pramā-jñāna vāsudev... you know, it must be true.”] And, anyway... So, they would like, walk by Gurudev's and like, hiddenly... like, drop it on their plate, and then go. And then, Gurudev normally takes prasādam in silence. And this time he's saying, you know... He's going, “Ohoooo... Rādhārāṇī is veeeery unhappy...”
And we're going like, “What..?” And he is singing the song, you know, in Bengali. And I said, “Mahārāj, what is that?” And he look like he want me to ask... [laughter] “Ohhh, Mahārāj... Rādhārāṇī is veeeery unhappy.” And I thought, “Why is She unhappy?” You know, like—we have to put the stop to that right the way. And he says, “Because...” He said, “Kṛṣṇa, He is not only... He's going to the house of another gopī. But She's on Her like, veranda, balcony, and He is going in Her courtyard, so, that She can see, He is going to the house of another gopī. It will be better if he kept this as a secret. But He's going in front of Her, flaunting like that, and going to the house of another. Rādhārāṇī is veeeery unhappy.” And what does he mean?
He's saying, “It's bad enough they're giving you this wonderful prasādam, but do they have to like bring it right in front of me, and put it on your plate...” [laughter] But, you see... So, it show the vision of mahā-bhāgavata. This is a very simple thing in... of the world. But what is it trigger? The respond from his heart—is this song, beautiful song about Rādhārāṇī being on in it—so, that is his world; that is his domain. And he is, very mercifully, descending from there, to deal with us. Because, he sees us as extension of the lotus feet of his Guru Mahārāj. So, not to neglect, and to be very tolerant.
But, he's saying, “Oh, they can...” And who is Guru Mahārāj's delegation? Rādhārāṇī. All Rādhārāṇī-based. And, the last thing I want to say, is that... Which means, it's probably the second or third... What can I say. [chuckle]
But just like a people, you know... [laughing] Really, it's meant to be the last thing that I'll say. It's that, like here, we're very fortunate... This Divine environment, with lotus flowers, the campaka trees, and the Kokila... [whistle; imitating sound of Kokila] That's the Kokila... [whistle again; repeats three times] So, we hear them... When I hear them, it reminds me of Gurudev, and also, what he told me about poetry of Śrīlā Rūpa Goswāmī. And he said... Remember, when he was a child.... 'Cause, I know, like Him getting up at three, every day like three, three-thirty... Resting again, but up. And one day he told us, “Oh, that... from my childhood I'am habituated.” And then he would go, and crawl on the laps of his father... His father would go like, “Shush... Don't wake up mom.”
You know, and he'll be there... And his father was teaching him the mantras from Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga, Sanskrit... And he knew them all from childhood... And, so many ślokas... The early in the morning, some mood would be there, deep. With Vaiṣṇava Mahārāj in London, we would go early, like three, three- thirty... And Gurudev would be there, chanting ślokas from the Antya-līlā of Caritāmṛtam, Gītā-govinda, other places... And we... Vaiṣṇava Mahārāj and I considered ourselves very fortunate to be there. And Vaiṣṇava Mahārāj said, “We're like a cātaka birds. The cātaka bird only takes water from the raincloud. It won't drink water from any other source.” So, Rūpa Goswāmī says, “It's... That's the position of the devotee; they only go to the source for their nourishment.
Even if there's lightening thunder, they only... They don't seek another shelter, another source. So, anyway... He said that... So, we're in Navadwip, and the Kokilas, are making their beautiful sound... And Gurudev's listening, and he said, ”Hah...” He said, “Oh, two males are competing for the affection of the female...” And he said, “When, in my childhood...” He said, “Before we had any clock or watch even...” Understand where he grew up, in Bamanpara, which means Brāhmaṇpara... Means like, you know, the city of brāhmaṇs. Everyone there's a brāhmaṇ. You know, no clock , no watch, no time-piece. And he said, “How do we tell time? From the sky, stars... the sky; those things. And the sounds of the Kokila and other birds...”
And... [laughings] And, in classic Gurudeva's fashion, he say, “When I hear certain sounds and observe certain signs...” He feels... He said, “Then I knew, was time to get up and eat muri.” [laughter] Not just time to raise; time to get up and eat muri... [laughing] Puffed rice, you know... So, but then, he said, “But the sound of the Kokila...” And they're harbingers of like, Spring time, different things... And has a special meaning in the poetry of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī. And we're told the other day, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, in his prayers of glorification of the Six Goswāmīs of Vṛndāvan, saying, kūjat-kokila-haṁsa-sārasa-gaṇā kīrṇe mayūrākule... (Śrī Śrī Ṣaḍ-Gosvāmy-aṣṭakam, 5). It's very beautiful. He's saying,, “What are the sounds of Vṛndāvan?” Kūjat means a sweet sound... kū... kūjat-kokila... kokila, Cuckoo... that bird...
What is it here in Thailand? [whistle; imitating sound of Kokila] That bird...
Anyway. It's the Cuckoo in the West, kokila in Sanskrit. And haṁsa, means swan , mayūrā, means peacock. We now hearing peacocks in the morning... So, said, the kokila, it's a very sweet sound. And it's said to be a reminiscent... Various ways described as a reminiscent of the liquid sweetness of the voice of Kṛṣṇa. It's what they do when you have the two, they going... [whistles; imitating sound of two Kokilas pitching higher and higher tones] They start going back and forth, trying to do sweeter, sweeter, sweeter, sweeter, sweeter, sweeter... So, that's the voice of Kṛṣṇa. You listen, and the next
time it's... no, its like before, but sweeter, like before, but sweeter, like before, but sweeter... More sweet, more seductive, more charming.
So, it's reminiscent of the... sometimes the voice of Rādhārāṇī is also compare like that. But in this context, the voice of Kṛṣṇa; the liquid sweetness of the Kokila. And then, Gurudev told... He said, “In poetry of Rūpa Goswāmī...” This one line, and it goes, kurvati kila kokila-kule ujjvala-kala-nàdam jaiminir iti jaiminir iti jalpati savisàdam... (Stava-mala: Atha gìtàvalì, 32). “That, mysteriously, when hearing the sound of the Kokila, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī starts saying, ...jaiminir, jaiminir, jaiminir… She's praying to Jaimini Rṣī to save Her.” Like desperately, jaiminir, jaiminir, jaiminir… And Gurudev explain, “And, it is the habit of the people in Vṛndāvan, that when there's the thunder and lightening, maybe all be struck dead. So, when the thunder and lightening come, you take the name of Jaimini Rṣī.”
And if you would chant, jaiminir, jaiminir... you'll be saved from being struck by thunder and lightening. But this is very peculiar, you know, a virodha-alaṅkāra, the juxtaposition of the... The sound of the Kokila is so sweet... We're told, it's like a liquid sweetness of the voice of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. Why hearing that? Isn't She saying,
jaiminir, save me! jaiminir... Because in separation, the sound, that which brings about the rememberance of voice of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is like a thunder and lightening striking the heart of Rādhārāṇī. She may not survive. That's the intensity of Her level of separation; so, She is chanting... Rūpa Goswāmī says, “Jaiminir iti jaiminir iti jalpati savisàdam... to be saved.” So, just hearing the sound of the Kokila outside the window awaken this sort of remembrance in the heart of Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj.
And, to conclude with this, the... what he awakens in the hearts of others; that we all know. And that will be spoken and addressed too. Everyone who's been, the...
Had the good fortune to be bathe in his merciful, loving, affectionate glance. But in service to the lotus feet of Guru Mahārāj, he was send to one village for collection, like they still do... The potato collection, and the rice collection... Mainly rice, and potatoes... [from the audience, “Dhal...”] And dhal... So, he... In Rārādeśa, which is, actually, where he and Guru Mahārāj referring; that part, section. It's not Rādhā; it's Rārā, but, that's the Bengali thing... And it means, 'where the Gaṅgā does not flow'. But, some special mercy went to... Because, why's so many..?... But, if it's consider inauspicious, where the Gaṅgā...
It's said, “That place where the Gaṅgā does not flow, or the Pāṇḍavas not... they not visit, in exile; inauspicious.” So, what is Mahāprabhu... budhi... He sends Puṇḍarīk Vidyānidhi, you know... Mukunda... Even, what..? Nityānanda... Many... All the great devotees... So many come from there. So, everything is not what it may seem, at first. And then, Guru Mahārāj—Gurudev; so many great devotees. It's excuse to send the best, in the sense—those who have Gaṅgā-like prema streaming from their hearts—have them appear there. So, he goes to one town... I can't remember the name right now... (no... no... ) And in that town... [chuckle] like every town in India, there's... Someone's like, the richest man in the town, and usually commit... The local people like, you know, “Oh, Bābā, I... My wife, you know...” And they're like, ”Oh, dear...” they give something.
Like the Kings wore gold. Looks like a snake of gold going around their arm. So, when people would come, the King and the Quine listen, and then they... [sound of cracking] Brake off a piece of gold, and give it to that person. And then the next person comes. Because gold is very soft. This is gold... pure gold. So, they uncurl a little bit... “Oh, that's a double...” [sound of cracking] Give it to them. So, that system is there in India... Their leading man in the town, you know... But in this town, that person with the wealth is an notorious miser; he won't give anybody anything. So, when Govinda Mahārāj comes, the local boys, they're saying... Govinda Mahārāj, “I've come from Caitanya Saraswat Maṭh, for Gaurā Pūrṇimā...” And they go, “You get nothing. This guy is a total miser... You not gonna leave here with the grain of rice, OK.”
“Oh, no... well, by Guru Mahārāj and service to his lotus feet... I mean...” “Alright, this we got to see... We want to see how humiliated you going to be, when you come away empty-handed. Lets join the fun!” They all following Govinda Mahārāj there. And he goes in and preaches to the man, and they're thinking like... They can't wait to see him come out with his tail between his legs, so to speak, humiliated; head hang in shame, as he would leave the town empty-handed. And rather, what do they see? That bullock cart's staffed... you know, packed to like, overflowing, and it's ready to collapse. And Govinda Mahārāj, with his head high, leaving town. And they're going, :”What happened?” And they're telling that man, “You're miser, you won't give anything to anyone. What happened? Look at him... What happened in there?”
And that man said, “He filled my heart with super natural joy. I would of given him more if he asked for it... [laughing] So, there's, what's in the heart of Śrīla Gurudev, and what he is able to transfer into the hearts of others, and that's fully appreciated... What's that? Kṛṣṇa-prema bīja-pradam... Guru Maharaj said, “What is it, really? The seeds of kṛṣṇa-prema—he is distributing those seeds, affectionately, mercifully, tolerantly—to one and all.” The seeds of kṛṣṇa-prema, of divine love and affection. And it's a gift from the heart of Śrīla Govinda Maharaj to the heart of all of his disciples, followers, friends, god-brothers, everyone; to the whole animation. So, no more auspicious time than the descend of Śrīla Gurudev into this world, and then his absence.
By the pull of affection upon the heart in separation, he will pull us into that upper world, that higher domain of service, where Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, Śrīla Prabhupāda and the guru-varga are there, and Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Rādhā-Govinda... Everyone. That dancing plane... He's taking... charming everyone. I said, “You can charm the hood off of the Cobra.” He's charming everyone to follow him into that sweet domain. Jaya Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj's tirobhāv-maha-mahotsava tithi, ki jaya! [From the audience, “Ki jaya!“] Now, I ask for the secretary of
Śrī Caitanya Saraswat Maṭh—as given that position by Śrīla Gurudev, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj—Śrīla Bhakti Rañjan Mādhusūdan Mahārāj to say some words in glorification of Śrīla Gurudev.
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Jaya Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, ki jaya! Jaya Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, ki jaya! Jaya Śrīla Bhakti Sudhīr Goswāmī Mahārāj, ki jaya... Who has made—what is very often for me a sad day—into a happy day, by hearing this glorifications of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj... [Goswāmī Mahārāj corrects, “Gurudev”] Of Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj. And this year, it is the Tenth Anniversary of Gurudevas Disappearance... And ten years passed by. And in some ways to me, it is inconceivable... that is so long. And in some... On other occasions it make me thinking—it feels like forever—like a lifetime, in fact, since Gurudev's disappearance from the world, So, very... First of all,
om ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
(Gautamīya-tantra)
And, vāñchā-kalpatarubhyas’ cha
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva cha
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
(Maṅgalācaraṇa: prayer to the Vaiṣṇavas)
So, I did have one or two things to say... [laughter] But then I got so absorbed listening to Goswāmī Mahārāj... I can sit and listen all day... And the one thing that Goswāmī Mahārāj pointed out: how the Guru Mahārā gained so much grace... One of the ways he got so much grace from Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur was if Śrīla... Saraswatī... He glorified Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur's Guru. But also, I have some other way of seeing... Not to contradict that, of course... [GM, “Yes...”] but some other way of seeing our relationship with Śrīla Gurudev and Śrīla Guru Mahārā, that I felt in my own case, and in the case of others devotees, that Guru Mahārā was very pleased and gave some special grace. Because we gave so much recognition to Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj... [GM, “Yes...”]
And, it didn't strike me at first... It just felt like a very normal thing, because our relationship with Guru Mahārāj was through Gurudev, through Govinda Mahārāj. From the first hours of being in Caitanya Saraswat Maṭh, essentially. And, so, it was so natural that we have appreciation for Govinda Mahārāj. And Govinda Mahārāj, he is young, and he is, I can say, one of us. But he is young, thin and energetic... [laughter] and lively, and he is, obviously, you know, in charge of everything what's taking place. With the Bengalis quite strict and strong, you can say. And with the westerners, you can say, very affectionate, and maybe even trying to understand, where they're coming from... [laughter] as they say. But they were inseparable from the beginning... and coming to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj.
But one incident happened, that after being in India for the Eighty Two (1982) Eighty Three (1983) time, then Śrīla Guru Mahārā asked for the Gaura-pūrṇimā of Eighty Three, he send me to Malaysia, which is very close to here; he send me to Malaysia, where at that time there's many changes, like the geography of the Temple... So their allegiance of Temples around the world. Because many things have happened in the main structure of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement. And Guru Mahārāj called me up to his... Not room... His veranda... And he said to me, “Mahānanda, in Malaysia we have one temple and one devotee... I want you to go to Malaysia and help with the Temple. Devotee there, so...” This way I went to Malaysia. And Malaysia as you know is very... is close to India, though, interestingly, we were... all... Everybody was poor in those days.
And I went to Malaysia first, by ship... [from the audience, “Wow!”] By the unreserved train down to Madras... [from the audience, “Aha...”] And then...[laughter] The Citāṁbaram, a passenger ship, which... It's India... It's Indian passenger ship. You have to... [laughter] factor all this in. Because, we didn't have enough money for the flight between there... I didn't have any money, and it was Dayāda Gaurāṅga... who is taking me... [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Well... I also, by going on this ship, we got as many books as we could at that time. So, it was very heavy things to take, But the point is, it's quite close to India, and Guru Mahārāj is saying, “You come to... You comeback for the festivals, and come to India whenever you can, but now your sevā is there. So, we would come... Myself, I would come, or Dayāda would come, so somebody was there in the Temple, basically. So, sometimes, when I was not able to come there for every festival. Then, principally, there was two festivals: Gaura-pūrṇimā and Guru Mahārāj's Vyās-pūjā—these two festivals in the year were the main events. And, then, one year... then I wasn't able to come for the Gaura-pūrṇimā, because the Dayāda Gaurāṅga was coming.
So, later on in the year, when it was quite, and it was perhaps, July or something... Then Dayāda said, ”OK, you... now you have a chance to go, you go there to India.” When I came to India, I'm with Guru Mahārāj... we've come, of course, we're coming to see Guru Mahārāj, our Guru. And, we're with him for some days, and I was, perhaps eight days in India. Not a long tome, but a short time, that time. But then, one day Guru Mahārāj asked, “Oh, when you're returning to Malaysia?” And I said to him, “Guru Mahārāj, my flight...” We did have a flight at that time. “But their flight is such-and-such a day, but...” I said... I said to Mahārāj, “With your permission, can I go one day earlier to Calcutta, because I'm missing Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj? And I see... I hear he is in Calcutta, and with your permission I may just go and give my respect to him.”
Because, we've come here to Caitanya Saraswat Maṭh, and I felt that's just very... like natural; you coming to meet Guru Mahārāj, but we're coming to meet Gurudev and he's not there at the Temple. It is a quite time, he's doing some duty in Calcutta. And, anyhow, Guru Mahārāj said, “Yes, you do like that, I'm happy. Then I was surprised that he arranged, who bwcome Dāmodar Mahārāj, Subal-śākhā Prabhu. And he arranged for him to go with me to Calcutta. And I said, “Guru Mahārāj, I'm happy, I can find … [chuckle] my way around.” But Guru Mahārāj said, “No. He will go with you.” And, so, Subal-śākhā Prabhu, at that time, he took me and we met with Gurudev when he was in Calcutta... Everything very happy. But, it's... I, sometimes, remember this in particular, because I felt that this was part of why Guru Mahārāj was pleased, you can say.
So, getting something of the grace of Guru Mahārāj, by the appreciation of his dear-most devotee... [GM, “Yeah...”] So, Mahārāj was saying before, “Guru is as good as God...” [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: In both directions, yes; Guru is as good as God. And, also, how we're coming to God? Through His devotees... [ GM, “Yes.”] And Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj, our Guru Mahārāj. Then, he's our Guru Mahārāj, but we're appreciating his devotees, as... not an artificial thing, as an automatic thing. So... We... with some like, feedback, unexpected, if you like, feedback, in this way. Then, also, understood more and more the glories of Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj. And, then, presently, in Nineteen Eighty Five (1985) Guru Mahārāj's Vyās-pūjā time, was the time when Guru Mahārāj gave sannyāsa... gave sannyāsa to Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj. Not that Govinda Mahārāj was wanting at all. But rather, Guru... Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj is avoiding Guru Mahārāj, his request to take sannyāsa, year by year.
Because, Govinda Mahārāj, he, actually, he said, “I know what Guru Mahārāj is doing, and I don't want to think about the time after he has left from this world. We will menage everything in do course of time.” But Guru Mahārāj that year absolutely insisted, and we were there with Gurudev, we were there through that period. And Gurudev then was with Guru Mahārāj. And Guru Mahārāj told him in Bengali, “You must take sannyāsa, tomorrow. And if you don't take sannyāsa tomorrow, I should leave from this world. And then, Gurudev understood that now that time has come, he must receive sannyāsa from Guru Mahārāj. And, so, very strong, forceful like transmission from Guru Mahārāj to Gurudev, and then, presently at the next Gaura-pūrṇimā... Gaura-pūrṇimā of Nineteen Eighty Six (1986).
When all of the senior sannyāsis, both, in India and world-wide, would gather. Then, at that time, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj very publicly, and with the cameras, etc...
Then, very publicly, he appointed Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj. He said, “Now, from now on, I retire, and I'm putting him in my chair. Whatever regard you have for me, you have that of him. This is my consideration, my consideration of Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj.” And, so, on that day, we also witness very much that, way that Guru Mahārāj's desire, long time desire manifested in the continuation of the Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur's line, that currant; that, that would come through Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev- Goswāmī Mahārāj. Now, in remembrance of one dear devotee who's passed away, Śruta Srāva Prabhu, Śrīpāda Vaiṣṇava Mahārāj.
He use to say... often say, “I'm just a track driver at work... [laughter] I can put up my hand, and say, “When I was just Gurudeva's car driver...” [laughter] [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Oh, yes! It's higher then the car driver, at least two meters... [laughing; interrupted]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: Like Dāruka, Kṛṣṇa truck driver... [laughter] So, Kṛṣṇa is Arjuna's truck driver... [laughter]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: “But my position was the lowly... [chuckles] car driver... [Gm, “Ahhhh...”] over the years.” But, we've been with Gurudev in very natural environment, if you like... No, being with him—family environment, family environment is the natural—is the most natural environment. When you with family, and all these things, really—that is the environment which is nourishing to the heart—which is fulfilling everything. And we, sort of, unknowingly, not really thinking, “Oh, patra, the family.” But really, when we reflecting, we see, and what we're feeling, we're very much made a family member. Not by us, you know, stepping in the door, but by being brought in through the door, and being accepted. And, sometimes, really, especially the earlier years and all the way through, sometimes I felt almost like, poor Gurudev...
After Guru Mahārāj's disappearance in Nineteen Eighty Eight (1988) in August, Guru Mahārāj was Gurudeva's association... [GM, “Yes...”] He was Gurudev's association. And after that... Are you saying, “Oh, poor Gurudev. He's only got us now.”
[GM, “Yeah...”] Like, whatever... What a substitute. No substitute for Guru Mahārāj, of course... [GM, “Yeh...”] And, so... But Gurudev, through out Guru Mahārāj's tenure, if you like... But in his own tenure, all the time he's got not only myself. He's got his family, the family of devotees. And Gurudev, one thing about him, he did not like to be alone... [laughter] He did not like to be alone... [laughter] He wanted to have somebody with him, always... [interrupted]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: And in that sense, show you, two personalities—Guru Mahārāj, Gurudev—how they're connected and inseparable. Guru Mahārāj, alone. No one; just exclusive... You know, his high thinking; one or two people can come. Gurudev's high thinking, you know; it's like a bus station, surrounded by so many people, at every moment... [interrupted]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: Yes, by his wish... He wouldn't... Ii's like, he is the opposite. So, it's not that, “Oh, this type of personality. You have to be like this personality, or that personality...” Both, they're acceptable, right... And, just see two of them. And one is the opposite—they're unified in their understanding and promotion—but their personalities are totally different, and complementing one another.
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: So, we have seen through Gurudev, if you like... Witnessing through Guru Mahārāj's eyes—how he's giving so much—giving everything, Not only so much, everything, to him. And giving all the certificates... What we've been hearing today from Śrīla Goswāmī Mahārāj. Some of these examples of Śrīla Gurudev's greatness. But also, from our lowly side of being part of the family... And, what can I do? How can I help? What's needed? This kind of family relationship. In the family, you've always got somebody who needs to run around and do the things. So we were the run-rounders... [chuckle] and doing the things in many ways. And we have seen that anything that Gurudev is giving instruction to do, anything he's saying, it is all honest, and it's all for the best.
Everything was, actually, honest, and for the best for what? For the service of Guru Mahārāj, for the service of extending the glories of Guru Mahārāj. And Gurudev didn't particularly liked to be photographed, actually... [GM, “Yes...”] But, Gurudev... And in the beginning we, sort of, tried to keep him under the protective... But Gurudev understood, these photos, they are going everywhere, and what are they doing, actually?They're in the glorification of Guru Mahārāj. So many things he did, which wasn't necessarily, directly his personal preferences, but it was all for service... [interrupted]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: He told me, when they take the pictures, “Why they're sending me so many pictures of my face?” [laughter; MM, “Oh, yes...”] He said, “What I want to see, if I'm preaching, I want to see like, I'm on the side, and then you see a hundred people that I'm, you know... and again, for the glory of the Maṭh... [MM, “Yes...”] And not a close-up of my face... [laughter] Twenty different pictures of my face, and there's like five hundred people at the event, and you don't know that, because you're seeing the picture of my face.” [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: And, really, some of his events was five hundred people. Some of his events was five thousand people... [GM, “Thousands...”] also, literally. And, plus, that Moscow event was limited to how many?
Goswāmī Mahārāj: Yeah, Avadhūt arrange it for fifty thousand, and then, the government got nervous... [laughter] And then they came and said, “You can't do this.” He said, “Well, if you say we can't do it at all, that's gonna look very bad for you... And the press, and the journalists...” He... Avadhūt Mahārāj's very clever. So, then they said, “Alright, but you have to scale it down .” So, then they're up in twenty thousand people. And Avadhūt Mahārāj in his humility... this huge event... He came and apologized to Gurudev for there only being twenty thousand people...” [laughter]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: “Sorry Gurudev... [laughter] We're limited, we can't have so many people... only twenty thousand can attend.” [laughter] I better keep a gentle clock running, otherwise I loose... So, Śrīla Gurudev... Glorious at every step in whatever he did. And we all knew Gurudev as like Indian; he was there part of the Maṭh. He was... We knew him from Navadwip, from Calcutta, and Hapānīya.You can say...[GN, “Yeah...”] Those kind of three places... [GM, “Right...”] we can say. Everybody from the Western World... Identity of Govinda Mahārāj was Navadwip, primarily, Dum-Dum Park in Calcutta.... [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Yeah, Navadwip, Calcutta, but we have to say, Hapānīya. Because, actually, even though not very often, but several times we went to Hapānīya with Gurudev. Those were quality days. Gurudev, he was at home in Hapānīya
[GM, “Aha... yes...”] He was very, very happy that Hapānīya was Guru Mahārāj, Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj's best place. And he was always like, actually— like a boy in Hapānīya... [GM, “Yeah...”] —that kind of mood... [GM, “He was in his home...”] And his Guru Mahārāj's brother, Āmāra Bābū... [GM, “Yes, Āmāra Bābū...”] Like that. So, we... But renewing... Gurudev, basically, identity was: Indian, servitor of Guru Mahārāj. And simple by nature, honest by nature. And then, when some invitation, or invitations started coming, “Oh, Govinda Mahārāj, please, you come to the West.”
And, in fact invitations has come before. Even headed by A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swāmī Prabhupāda, “Please, you come to the West, Govinda Mahārāj, and see the Western World, preach to the Western World... [interrupted]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: And also, on this note... [MM, “Aha...”] Just, I had to say it, for the sake of saying it, and what if... what if was possible... The big “What if?” So, once I said to Guru Mahārāj... I already knew what the answer be to what I said. But Guru Mahārāj... So we're in... You know, asking, “If you will come, if we could arrange... We'll do everything; we will arrange for you to go...” You know, Saraswatī Ṭhākur wanted you to go, you know... So, now I'm asking once... just to get it on the record that I've asked. I'm saying, “And we'll take care of everything, can you come?” And I know what he's going to say... “Can you come to the Western World?” [MM, “Yes...”] And he said, you know, he's laughing, “My Guru Mahārāj...” And told...
And then he said, “I cannot go...” He said, “But I'll tell you this...” He said, “I will see, I will go to the Western World, and I will see everything through the eyes of Govinda Mahārāj...” [MM, “Jaya...”]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: So, this way, from the time of Śrīla A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swāmī Prabhupāda's invitation for him, Govinda Mahārāj, to come to the west. Then invitations had been coming during the presence, of direct presence of... manifest presence of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj in the world. But Gurudev always say, “Guru Mahārāj's... I cannot leave Guru Mahārāj... It's impossible.” Which is fully understandable. And then, the... After Guru Mahārāj's disappearance, and then, after some months... Then the development of the Samādhi Mandir of Guru Mahārāj. And along with that, some other developments taking place in the Maṭh. As well as the carrying for the settling of the whole Mission. Not just the buildings, but the devotees hearts all over the world, etc.
Śrīla Gurudev very much involved in the security of the Mission, the Maṭh, the developing of the Temple. And then, as Guru Mahārāj's Samādhi Mandir, The Temple of Union in Separation came to completion. And then some other things are getting settled. Then, after about three years, Gurudev, he started to indicate that, “Yes, I can go... I can go to the Western World...” [GM, “Aha...”] “It may be possible” And... But then Gurudev didn't have a passport. He didn't have anything official to get the passport with... [laughter] in the sense of... [GM, “Birth certificate...”] birth certificate, you know, marriage... [“GM, “License...”] Like all these things which are considered... oh, mortgage... [GM, ”Right...”] You know, like... [GM, “Yes...”] employment slips...
All the kind of things you have to do, to show that, you know... To prove you exist. [chuckles]
But we had a very... Bengalis are known for being clever. Gurudev also explained about this... about their cleverness. And, it's also in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, when Mahāprabhu was saying to Jagadananda Paṇḍit, right? About, “Oh, you be careful in one tract of land, when you're going to Vṛndāvan... [GM, “Right...”] go accompanied by soldiers, because... [GM, “Right...] there... [GM, “Highway robbers...”] And they were captured the Bengalis... [GM, “Right...”] Because, they know they're smart, and they'll keep them and use them... [GM, “Oh, yes...”] to help with their administration... [GM, “Right...”] this side... [laughter] So, Bengalis are smart. And we had one quite smart Bengali, and he love to do this... He really love to do this, to try to find the way to do impossible with the authorities.
And, really, none of us know if it's gonna to happen. Except, you know, Gurudev was also blessed—whatever he wants to happen—it will happen... [interrupted]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: Satya-sankalpa... That's what Keśava Mahārāj said about Govinda Mahārāj. What he desires internally, it must come to pass.
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: And, so, his passport came to pass... [GM, “Yeah...”] And his father's name in the passport: Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Mahārāj... [laughter]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: Like Prabhupāda, Swāmī Mahārāj... I saw his passport, the one he came to America with, and it says, “Father: Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur...
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Beautiful... [GM, “Same thing...”] So, then, step after step... And, then, still in the Western World, we know... Most of the world... Even when Gurudev got his passport, and got visas for traveling, somehow, because his identity was so much Indian... Like Indian; simple Indian, much of the world didn't believe that actually, he's going to come around the world; really is going to be so? [GM, “Yes...”] And, then, all credit to Mohanānanda Prabhu and Sāraṅga Mahārāj... [GM, “Yes...”] for their putting into action... [GM, “Logistics...”] what was happen... The logistics, and a little bit of more impossible... [GM, “Pushing...”] have to be achieved, also. Not only the impossible passport, but other impossibles. And then Gurudev... That's the like, the rest is history. He came... [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: After twenty four world tours, and you may... Those of you who know that as you may calculate it in whichever way you like... [GM, “Yes...”] Gurudev's calculation is twenty four world tours... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa...] He actually came out of India more then that. But he... [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Right, whether it qualified... And also some was world tour, whatever it is: A and B. Because he went half here, comeback to India, had his Vyās-pūjā... Half, and then comeback. So, this was... [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: From Nineteen Ninety Two, to... [GM, “To Two Thousand Ten...”] Two Thousand Ten... So, eighteen years. And some of them was extensive, for many months, and some were a little shorter. Bu this... I mentioned this
because this is another like... not chapter, but another volume of the book of Śrīla Gurudev's glories, you know... We have Caitanya-caritāmṛta... We have the Ādi-līlā, Madhya-līlā, Antya-līlā... [GM, “Yes...”] This was like whole section of Gurudev's life, where he is bringing Guru Mahārāj... He is bringing Guru Mahārāj around the world, and
Guru Mahārāj is seeing through him, also... [GM, “Yes...”] We can say that… [GM, “Same... Both ways, yes...”] Yeah... And, so, this is how so much of the world got to... actually, have a relationship, a personal relationship with him.
Even though, many, they were able to come to India, but many were not able to come to India, and would have some communication. But this was a greatly nourishing time for the world-wide devotees. Again, doing what—as Śrīla Goswāmī Mahārāj so clearly pointed out—presenting Guru Mahārāj... presenting Guru Mahārāj... presenting Guru Mahārāj. Presenting Guru Mahārāj, presenting Saraswatī Ṭhākur; presenting our line. So, we're so fortunate to be able to remember something of the... a really exalted line that we are connected with, in our journey. Our life journey, which is taking us through so many species, and now, as a human... And now, as a human, connected with such great personalities, who not only like, friendly, accommodating, generous to the extreme. Not seeing anybodies fault, only the good part inside them.
But, those, you can say—all good qualities in themselves—but all in relation to what?To taking the jīva souls, the fallen jīva souls, back from the lowest place to the highest place. The mission of Mahāprabhu, and Nityānanda-vīracandra, the mission coming through Rūpa Goswāmī to the present day, to our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, our Gurudev—and through, to the present time. This is the connection of... the wires of the currant of our line, our family, our Sampradāya. This is the generated... This is the origin. The source of the energy, the source of the connection from the upper world to this world—coming from the highest place, and we can say—down, through such personalities.
But, Gurudev seeing how Guru Mahārāj... His contribution is like... He's putting it as more then such-and-such...such-and-such, naming so many great personalities who're the world-famous. Including, recently, it was Rāmānuja Ācārya's... I forget, appearance, or disappearance? Well, actually, both were recently... appearance...[GM, “Yes...”] and then disappearance... [GM, “Right...”] I think... And, then, Gurudev very clearly was saying, “Rāmānuja Ācārya's so famous everywhere; Guru Mahārāj, much more then that.” With all do respect to Rāmānuja Ācārya... [GM, “Yes...”]
But who is Guru Mahārāj? And, maybe his fame as... in terms of numbers... And, you know, thousands of people coming, etc, to see him... is less in quantity. But, Gurudev said, “In time, people will come to understand who is Guru Mahārāj.”
Because the quality of Guru Mahārāj's is everything to the world. That Śrīla Gurudev recognized to the full degree. We may get a little glimpse... And we're getting that glimpse through him... We're getting our glimpses through those who have got some clear understanding. But Gurudev use to say, also, about Guru Mahārāj. He said, “I was very familiar with Guru Mahārāj. But I was reminded of his greatness, when I saw the interactions of Guru Mahārāj's god-brothers... [GM, “Yes...”] with Guru Mahārāj.” He's great, as he's... As Gurudev said, “This great, great general of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur's mission. How their submissive giving, all honor and appreciation to Guru Mahārāj. That Guru Mahārāj gave everything to Gurudev. Not only gave everything to him, but everybody; all of his... All of Guru Mahārāj's senior section.
That senior section of the disciples of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, gave their blessings to Gurudev. Gurudev adjusted with the western world, he adjusted with the nature of so many. And, deliberately adjusting sometimes... [laughing] in front of us... [laughter] Very humorous examples too... But deliberately adjusting, so that he is approachable, approachable to distribute what is in the storehouse, that treasure of love of Godhead. So, I'm very happy to report that on this Tenth Anniversary of Gurudeva's Disappearance, that I'm able to focus on happy things, of the glories of Śrīla Gurudev, of what for us, actually, was extremely tragic day... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa...] his disappearance... That, even know's his disappearance, we won't focus on at this time... [GM, “Yes...”] The glories of
Śrīla Gurudeva, unlimited!
Jaya, Śrīla Bhakti Sundar... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa...] Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, kī, jaya! The glories of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, unlimited! Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, kī, jaya! And Bhagavan... That title of Bhagavan given also... used as a address to Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur, by Gurudev, in his clear vision of who is Saraswatī Ṭhākur, Bhagavan Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, kī, jaya! And to all... Śrīla Goswāmī Mahārāj... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa...] kī, jaya! Our Śrī Caitanya Saraswat Ācārya-Vṛndā, kī, jaya! [from the audience, “Jaya...”]
Goswāmī Mahārāj: Paramānanda or Lalitā, or... [MM, “Yes, definitely...”]
You select... [pointing to MM]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Oh, I select..? Well, Paramānanda Prabhu is sitting right beside me. And today many devotees are on the other side of the camera, out of necessity of our present circumstance. We're very happy to have Paramānanda Prabhu here with us. And Paramānanda, he has much first hand experience of many līlās-pastimes of Śrīla Gurudev, and he is sitting with us here, and then Bhakti Lalitā, she's just sitting on the other side of Gurudev here... We'll here from her in few minutes...
Paramānanda Prabhu: Jaya! Śrīla Gurudev, kī, jaya! [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa” MM, “Jaya”] After hearing from both of you what can I say...
Paramānanda Prabhu: Really... But something came to my mind. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started His South Indian tour, His first stop, like we've mentioned before was Kūrma-kṣetra. And in Kūrma-kṣetra we hear, a brāhmiṇ comes forward, and he invites Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to come for... he invites Him for lunch, basically. So
Mahāprabhu goes to his house... His name was Kūrma as well... brāhmiṇ Kūrma. And Mahāprabhu takes lunch, and brāhmiṇ serving Him very nicely. And then Mahāprabhu's giving him instructions. And it says that He converted him. Just by His association He converted him. And when the time came for Mahāprabhu to leave, brāhmiṇ, he submitted his humble plea, and he said, “Can I come with You, because I cannot conceive my life without You; it isn't possible.”
“And now you're leaving. How can You do it to me? You come to me, and now you're leaving me. What kind of behavior is that?” And Mahāprabhu said, “Don't say such words. You have some responsibilities here, and I give you a tip.” He said, “If you just follow my instructions.“ [GM, “Yes...”] That He says is from the śloka, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa... (Cc: Madhya, 7.128) He says, “If you just follow my simple instructions: whoever you meet, wherever you go, talk about Kṛṣṇa. Then we will meet again.” And then He adds, “More then that—I will never leave your company—I will always be with you.” So, in similar way, we can say about Śrīla Gurudev. Even though he is not present for us, but he is fully, especially at this moment, he is fully represented in his instructions. And they're so sweet.
My daily routine is to listen to Gurudevas talks, his morning darśans, his talks during some big occasions... Doesn't matter... His morning darśans are very sweet.
And his instructions, and so many things he's saying, but there's always certain thread in all his talks. And three things he talks the most about. One is, be humble, be tolerant, tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc. Ādi 17.31, Śikṣāṣṭaka 3] Sometimes he mentions these śloka several times during his... [chuckles] His short talk... [chuckles, GM, “Yes...”] Really, to the point that we stop... we stop hearing it, we stop... [GM, “Yes...”] we stop understanding... he's keep mentioning it... he's keep telling us that. But another thing, he's always telling, is to be sincere, chased, or loyal to your Spiritual Master... [GM, “Yes...”]
That everything will come to you, naturally. And, then another thing—to be, whatever you do, service, whatever it is in your devotional life—do it with love and affection, as a key to success. So, if we are, he's personification of all of it... [GM, “Yes...”] Like he was saying, when Śrīla Guru Mahārāj... he just joined the Maṭh, and you can correct me... But Guru Mahārāj asked him, “Are you ready to follow me, and not your mind... [GM, “Yes...”] Are you ready to listen to me and not to... [GM, “Yes...”] any others...” And Gurudev said, “And I was very young and foolish, and I said, 'Yes of course... [laughter]I will follow that.' But, little I knew how difficult it will be.” [GM, “Yes...”] So, even though he says, “It's a very simple thing i'm giving you, simple advise, but I'm not saying, it will be easy to follow... [GM, “Yes...”] It will not be easy, but still, we shall try.”
And again, chased, loyal to his Spiritual Master, I mean, both of you just said so many things on that subject. So, if we are to follow those instructions, Śrīla Gurudev will always remain in our hearts. More then that. When we find our place in his heart, and this is the success of a disciple, success of our spiritual life, to find the place in the heart of the Guru. I will conclude here...[GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] Jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev- Goswāmī Mahārāj, kī, jaya! [GM, “Jaya!”]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Just on the way to Lalitā... Please... [PP, “On the way to Lalitā ...”] a couple of voice... on the way...[inaudible] Just... Just... [GM, “Just your another Thai representative...”
Paramānanda Prabhu: Just one more story came to my mind... [GM, “yeah, yeah...”] Mādhusūdan Mahārāj reminded me that during his last moments, he's thinking, how can he serve to Guru Mahārāj... [GM, “Yes...”] really. But he visited Thailand not long before he left the world... [GM, “Yes...”] And he visited here... He was very fixated on idea of going to Japan... [GM, “Aha...”] And he was not feeling well. And I was naturally afraid, that if he travel something may happen... some health complications, and I will be responsible. And it is Mādhusūdan Mahārāj who've always called me when Śrīla Gurudeva was on the route to Bangkok; he would give me a call, or send me a message, “Now you have a great responsibility on your shoulders... [GM, “Yes...”] [inaudible from the audience] I remember that... [GM, “Yes...”]
And I always remember that... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] [MM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] And I would always ask, “But why, why... why you really want to go to Japan?” He's always asking me, “Can you arrange a short trip to Japan?” And at that point... At some point he said, “Let just go there fo a day; we fly in the morning, we fly out in the evening.” [laughter] I was so surprised, because he was really fixed on it. [GM, “Aha...”]
And I've been asking him, why is that? And he said, “Prabhu, because I want to do last big service to my Guru Mahārāj. I want to go there and I want to plant the flag... [GM, “Aha...”] of Śrī Caitanya Saraswat Maṭh , on behave of Guru Mahārāj, on that soil... [MM, “Jaya”...][GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] And then I said, “Gurudev, but you know that it's highly possible.”
And he look at me, “Then I will go in your suitcase...” [laughter] And of course, some realizations... later on, that realization came to me, why he was saying that. And, he actually he went in my suitcase... [GM, “Haha...”] Although, on his behave, Mādhusūdan Mahārāj came... [GM, “Went...”] and planted the the flag... [GM, “There you go...”] of Śrī Caitanya Saraswat Maṭh... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] And before that, Vaiṣṇava Mahārāj... So, this happened... Now I'm giving... [PP's giving mic to Kṛṣṇa Priya Didi]
Kṛṣṇa Priya Didi: OK... Thank You... Jaya, Mahārāj... But, actually, I often... like, I mean, no story? I like to listen, because like I join Mahārāj, Gurudev when they've come to Bangkok. But, sometimes he didn't like... how to say it? Acting as Guru, or acting as, “Oh, I need to preach...” Something like that. But mostly, he was acting as a family member... [GM, “Ahhh...”] Yah, it's like Grandfather who come to visit like, Grandchildren... [interrupted]
Kṛṣṇa Priya Didi: Yeah... Yes... and then, I feel, somehow, very comfortable how see... at him, and then I feel like, “Wow!” this is like kind of like great personality...
[GM, “Yeah...”] And then, my ego just went down... [laughter] Because I were very difficult to kind of like to serve to somebody, or listen to somebody. But when I was observing... right... [GM, “Yeah...”] when he was like in Bangkok, when he was sitting... I was feeling kind of like, his nature... like his great personality, and let me down... like humbles... [GM, “Yes...”] First, because he've showed us, he's not Guru... He is not going to be a big Guru, I'm sure... like, “OK, now you have to bow to me because I'm Guru...” But he show, kind of like, “Oh, I'm your family, your father, your grandfather.”
That's why he has captured my heart... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] Like, “Wow, I should, maybe like, listen to him... [chuckle] as a family member. Like, he's so sweet, and mostly, his very kind of humor...[GM, “Yes...” chuckles] He's not like really... how you say it? He's very kind, Mahārāj... [GM, “Yes...”] he's very kind, and then... That's why he's like... somehow I feel like he's very... [interrupted]
Kṛṣṇa Priya Didi: Yeah... Kind of like that, Mahārāj... And then, somehow he's not like... Press you so much, how to act to be a good devotee. But I can see how I can be a good devotee by seeing him... [GM, “Yes...”] And as his devotee, I've learned so much... Like I observe, and then, “Wow... Like, how the devotees, his devotees have so much faith in him; how is it possible?” I was thinking so many years... many years... not just like short times... And somehow his nurturing came through highlight... highlight... like highlight... Like ghost come... like, you know, to my heart and take over... [GM, “Yes...”] by his disciples... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] Yeah... And then, I'm like, OK, then I think, it's the time also for me it's like humble to him, and show how he is a good example... To also show to other devotee... [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] I try to like follow and be humble as Gurudev... [GM, “Jay”] [interrupted]
Mādhusūdan Mahārāj: Gurudev was two hundred percent genuine... [GM, “Yes...”] No nothing... [GM, “That's right...”] two hundred percent genuine...
Goswāmī Mahārāj: He could say, repeatedly to people on the phone, “I'm so happy to hear your sweet voice...” But when he said that, I was thinking, “Mahārāj, you say this all the time...” But, it's like he meant it every time... [inaudible; some commotion] As he meant it every time,“I'm so happy to hear your sweet voice...” And on the other end it's like, “Ohhh...” [laughter] And I thought, he was not playing... He felt that.. [inaudible] Yes... Lalitā, Bhakti Lalitā.
Bhakti Lalitā Devī Dasī: This is a very heavy day for me, as a disciple who came to the lotus feet of Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, in his early days as a Ācārya, in Nineteen Ninety One (1991) And Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj had just disappeared, and it was before Śrīla Gurudev begin his World Tour. And the Mission was... We talk about family... This was like the brahmacārīs were your uncles and brothers, and the Ṭhākur-mālā is your grandmother, and Rāma Pisimā was your great aunt. And Maṭh was very small. Gurudev hadn't gone out yet... And traveling with him by car to Purī, and going on so many adventures with him. And Gurudev taking us in. Becoming our everything... and for so long. I was blessed to sty with him for a little more then seventeen years.
And, like Bhaktivinod Thākur says, in Godruma, and... nadīyā-godrume nityānanda mahājana, ...kṛṣṇa mātā, kṛṣṇa pita, kṛṣṇa dhana-prāṇa... (Ājñā-Ṭahal. by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur) Gurudev was like that for us. He was our mother, our father; he was the wealth of our life... Everything was centered around him. And this is a day he withdrew from this world, and some of us were present with him, and watched him withdraw from this world. And, that left very strong impression on me, being there at his lotus feet, and knowing that timing is very important for him. He was always consulting his Pañjikā for every last thing. Everything had to be auspicious. And his departure was also auspicious. On this Dvādāsi day, after following Ekādaśī, the very early morning, before sunrise, four-thirty AM (4:30AM).
And, gone... It seem like eternity... With bad health, with poor health and tolerating various teases, he would call them: bronchitis, pan-colitis... many thing that ended with “tis.” Some of them we never even heard of. And watched him endure poor health for so long, it seem like it never was gonna end. And watching him serve, and sacrifice himself through all that difficulty, and finally deciding—this was the moment—the auspicious Dvādāsi morning, ten years ego today. Refusing his intervention... Kiśorī Didi, our Śrīla Gurudeva's nurse, trying to give him some intervention to help him breath, open his longs; he refused it, throw it on the floor. Refused breathing apparatus and withdrew himself voluntarily from this world, going into samādhi. And, if you were there, you could see, this is not someone who just died.
This is someone who withdrew voluntarily from this world, and entered samādhi, meditation. And, we saw, very peacefully leaving... And a life of inconceivable dedication, sacrifice from his Guru Mahārāj lived, withdrawing from this world. My remembrance of every moment of that morning, ten years ago, today. And seeing all these auspicious people coming from every direction, coming to pay their respects, on his veranda in Dum Dum Park. And people we didn't even recognized. Coming from the neighborhood, from quay Kalī, from surrounding areas. And everyone coming to honor
the departure of this great personality. And going to Navadvīpa for his samādhi. Everyone coming to help, and it's such hot day... The hot season in India, as well as here...
And after completion of his samādhi, puṣpa-vṛṣṭi, small droplets of rain fell on his Tulasī plant that was placed on the top of his samādhi. Never would of understood fully that inconceivable day, how... It was something like out of the pages of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, something extraordinary; a great soul leaving the world, and leaving very strong impression. So, every year on this day I wake up and relive this experience, and try to reflect on what we have separated from, our father, our mother, our friend, our well-wishing confident. He was more to us then we could conceive of. And knowing that he wanted us to continue. And, before his departure, for weeks before he left, he kept asking... And, he use to hate when we used nick-names for everybody. We cut everyones name: Śruta,Yudhā, Sarva; everyones name become halved.
And he didn't like that. But at the very end he started to do that. And he would call me Lali. Aravinda was... Aravinda, Locana Prabhu become Aro. And he said, “Hey, Lali, where do you want to stay when I go? One room... I wanna give you some place...” And I just didn't know what to say. For weeks he kept asking. And I just knew... Like, this is gonna be darkness when you go... I can't imagine it... And, then I kept silent for sometime. And, then he said it one last time, and I thought, I'm just gonna give him my real answer. I'm not gonna just come up with some real, moral take, and have a key to... And I said, “I wanna be next to you, a room next to you in Goloka-Vṛndāvan...” [chuckles] And I thought I gave such a smart answer... [chuckles] And he was... He looked at me with like, frustration... [laughter]
He made this Mission for us, he sacrificed his life to make guest houses for his devotees, Temples for his devotees... Deities for us... Everything was for the service of his Guru Mahārāj and the devotees. And he wanted that something be left for us. So, that's still my prayer. I stand firm in my answer to him, that I want the room, at least underneath him... [chuckles] Where his lotus feet are residing in Goloka-Vṛndāvan... That's the room I want... So, we hope he will be pleased to see we're enduring in his separation, and trying to give ourselves and continue serving him in his Divine Mission. Serving his devotees, and his Deities all over the world. Jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, kī jaya! [GM, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”] Tirobhāv-mahotsava tithi kī jaya!
Goswāmī Mahārāj: I think, suffice to say that, what we've learned on the recap is that to please Śrīla Gurudev, we glorify Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. To please Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, we glorify Śrīla Gurudev, and all the Vaiṣṇavas... He'll be happy. And Gurudev was very generous in his praise of others, by pointing out their devotional qualities in everything. That, of course, he is Gurudev. Guru Mahārāj said, “His heart—in the same way—just like Kṛṣṇa.” And he says, ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno...(SB: 9.4.63) I'm suppose to be independent, but in the presence of devotion, I loose my independence... And, what else...sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyaṁ... (SB:9.4.68), saying, everyone said, “Oh, the great devotees, they can meditate on the Lord in their hearts.” You know, the great yogīs, the great thinkers, they always thinking of Kṛṣṇa...
Wow, they're so great, you know... And Kṛṣṇa, “What about me? Whom I'm thinking of? My devotees. They're always in my heart, I'm always in their heart.” Same thing Guru Mahārāj, Gurudev, Prabhupāda, all these great devotees. And the pull of separation will take us toward... You know, pull of his heart, upon our hearts will take us toward that domain. Hare Kṛṣṇa.... And, I just like to say, we should have sang this from the very beginning... Gurudev liked this song so much, emona durmati... (Dainyātmikā by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākur). Guru Mahārāj always like... And I like to sing that... Then, his praṇams. But, actually, lets do the praṇams, and then that... And then Abhirām low kīrtana... Where're the flowers? There's some flowers, on Tirobhāv—Disappearance Day—you can offer flowers...
Bg: Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā
Cb: Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavat
Cc: Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Hbv: Hari-bhakti-vilāsa
SB: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
Su: Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad
Abbreviations
- SB:
- Śrīmad Bhāgavatam