Guest guest Posted August 9, 2001 Report Share Posted August 9, 2001 > Dear Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Maharaja, > > Please accept my humble obeisances and please forgive all my offenses > against you. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. > > Congratulations on taking sannyasa. > > Though I appreciate your profuse apologies, I was surprised to see that, > after all that humility, you signed your name with the honorific > "Maharaja". As far as I've understood, "Maharaja" is a title used to > respectfully address others, not to refer to oneself. For a sannyasi to > sign his name with "Maharaja" seems to me something like my signing my > name "Mahadyuti Prabhu". > > Though I understand that these days some sannyasi-gurus in our movement > are initiating others into the sannyasa order as "So-and-so Maharaja", I > wonder what is the precedent for it. I never heard of Srila Prabhupada > initiating a sannyasi as "Maharaja" (though there may be instances of > which I'm unaware). As far as I know, it was always "Swami" or "Goswami" > (the latter sometimes preceded by "dasa" and sometimes not). > > I'm aware, of course, that I'm breaching etiquette by daring to correct a > sannyasi. Please forgive that I'm taking some license on the basis that > (a) I am your godbrother of similar vintage, and (b) no one expects an > uncultured person like me to observe etiquette, anyway :-) (probably one > of the reasons I am NOT a sannyasi). > > All good fortune in your new ashrama. > > All glories to Srila Prabhupada. > > Your servant, > Mahadyuti das In fact, "Maharaja" means "great King". "Maha" = "great" & "raja" = "King". So, yes, it is most probably highly inappropriate for anyone in the renounced order to refer to himself as a "great King"! "As I recall", Srila Prabhupada and Srila Saraswati Thakur used to refer to themselves as "Tridandi Bhikshu", which means "beggar with 3 staffs" (danda = staff, tridandi = one who holds 3 staffs/rods, bhikshu = beggar). In order to show humility, which our new Maharaj has done in signing his letter, he would be better advised to sign his name as "Tridandi Bhikshu Bhakti Vishrambha Madhava Swami/Goswami" or simply "Tridandi Bhikshu Bhakti Vishrambha Madhava" (because Swami/Goswami also mean "master" and in humility he might not like to use that too!). Vaishnava dasanudas, Basu Ghosh Das Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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