The Disappearance Day Of Srila Gopal Bhatta Das Goswami

July 8, 2003

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa 108 Shri Shrila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj's US Tour 1999

Part Two: The Disappearance Day of Srila Gopal Bhatta das Goswami

Continuing on the New York leg of His 1999 US tour on this, the disappearance day of Shri Gopal Bhatta das Goswami, His Divine Grace Shrila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj, along with His spiritual associates, visited the ISKCON Mandir in Brooklyn. There, Shrila Gurudeva and His entourage were warmly received with flower garlands and all appropriate paraphernalia by the Vice-president, Shri Kadachar das, and other enthusiastic devotees. The illustrious visitors then took darshana of the Holy Deities.

Leaving the Brooklyn temple, they made their way to Thompkins Square Park in downtown NYC, where rousing kirtana was led by Shri Bhuta Bhavana das, loudly resonating the words of Narottama das Thakur: "Ye anila prema dhana etc, " and the Holy Names of Shri Krishna. This took place with Shrila Gurudeva at the very spot under the tree where, in the 1960's, Shrila Prabhupada (His Divine Grace Shrila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj) had initially disseminated His message of Krishna Consciousness to the West. After the exhilarating kirtana was finished, Shrila Gurudeva gave an eloquent and spiritually insightful speech in the way that only He can. In a mood of intense devotion, He elucidated the significance of this special day, the disappearance of Shri Gopal Bhatta das. The highlights of this speech are as follows:

"On a day such as this, one should pray for the mercy of the Vaishnavas. It is the injunction of the shastras that we should do this on both the appearance and disappearance days of saintly persons, as the mercy of the gurus and the spiritual benefit accrued is particularly strong at those times. Shri Gopal Bhatta, one of the six Goswamis is in fact, in Krsna-lila, the gopi Ananga-Manjari. He appeared at Ranganatha Dhama at the house of Venkata Bhatta in South India. Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself stayed at Venkata Bhatta's house for a period of four months, profoundly influencing Shri Gopal Bhatta. Shri Gopal Bhatta eventually went to Vrindavan where, among His many spiritual achievements, He obtained the Shaligrama Shila from the Gandaki River in Nepal and established the Radha-Ramana Temple in Vrindavan. "

Shrila Gurudeva then recited "Shad Goswami Ashtakam" and gave an explanation of its significance. He stated that it is our duty to remember Shri Gopal Bhatta on the day of His disappearance. He said, "We may not have seen Shri Gopal Bhatta directly, but we have seen our Gurudeva (His Divine Grace Nityalila Pravishtha Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa 108 Shri Shrila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Goswami Maharaj), Who is His Absolute Counterpart. Therefore, today we pray for the mercy of Shrila Gurudeva. We pray that He may forgive our offenses, and that we may attain the rare opportunity of service to His Lotus Feet. We also fervently pray for the mercy and service of His Ishtadeva, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. "

Seeing His Divine Grace Shrila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj speaking "Hari-katha" with the people from the park gathered around to listen was like traveling in a time machine to those earlier years, when Shrila Prabhupada had first initiated the Krishna Consciousness movement in the West. One could clearly see the ongoing indestructible nature of Sampradaya. Even though different gurus have their own individual personalities, in a certain respect, they are one. Via the medium of these direct representatives of the serving aspect of Shri Bhagavan, the divine message of Shri Krishna goes on throughout time, unchanged, for the welfare of all living entities.

It is worth noting that in the 1960's, when His Divine Grace Shrila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj was still known as Shri Krishna Ballabh Brahmachari, He met His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktvedanta Swami Prabhupada at the Damodar Mandir in Vrindavan. At that time, Shrila Prabhupada delineated His plan to go and preach in the West, and asked Shri Krishna Ballabh Brahmachari to accompany Him. Shri Krishna Ballabh Brahmachari explained, with great humility and deference, that He could not do so, as He had the instructions of His own Guru Maharaj to follow, along with many responsibilities deputed to Him within His own Math. In 1997, Shrila Gurudeva's shiksha guru, His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Paramhamsa 108 Shri Shrila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj, gave Him the order to go to the West, as He Himself could not make the journey. He was advised to continue preaching to the western world the message of Divine Love of Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as put into motion by His predecessor, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

In His lectures, Shrila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj sometimes can be heard to say that He requests His shiksha guru, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, to forgive Him for not having been able to accompany Him to the West, due to His other responsibilities. Shrila Gurudeva is among the most spiritually elevated personalities of His time, or any other time, and is the President/Acharya of Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math. He exemplifies by this demonstration of humility, the true nature of the bonafide acharya. We should follow the example of Shrila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj and, with sincerity, adopt this position of utter respect and humility toward all great spiritual personalities. The behavior of the acharya is always for the benefit of the fallen souls, and in accordance with the will of Bhagavan Shri Krsna.

On this special day, following Shrila Gurudeva's example and instructions, we offer our most humble dandabat pranams at His Lotus Feet, at the Lotus Feet of Shri Gopal Bhatta das Goswami and to all the Vaishnavas.

Humbly submitted by,

Rashbihari das

Akinchana das

Lalita dasi

Vrinda devi dasi

August 1, 1999

For further information about the 1999 US tour of Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj, contact GOKUL at bhakti@gokul.org