Transcendental Appearance Of Srila Narottam Dasa Thakura

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Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Vrajesvara Jayatah!

 

Dear Vaisnavas, please accept our dandavat pranams. Honoring Srila Narottam dasa Thakura's transcendental appearance day on Sunday, we are sharing with you an excerpt from a lecture series on Bhakti Ratnakara, which was delivered by Srila Guru Maharaja, Sri Srimad B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami, in Kartik 1993 in Sri Vrindavana.

 

Srila Narottam das Thakur in search for his spiritual master.

 

When Srila Narottam das Thakur came to Vrindavan in search for his spiritual master, he met all the great sages. He was looking at each one of them and was searching, "Who is my spiritual master?" Finally he decided that his spiritual master should be Srila Lokanatha Goswami.

 

But when he approached him for initiation, Lokanatha Goswami became extremely angry with him. He said, "What a fool you are! There are great souls in Vrindavan. (Srila Rupa and Srila Sanatana Goswami had already left, but Sri Jiva Goswami and many others were still there) So many great souls are here and you are approaching me for initiation? This is crazy! And besides that, I made a vow not to accept any disciples. So just forget it!"

 

Hearing these words, Narottam das Thakur became depressed and very unhappy. But he was consulting with other Vaisnavas over the topic and they advised him: "Well, you have to be patient. You can not expect it all to happen in one day. Just try to do some service for Lokanatha Goswami!"

 

Accepting this advice, Narottam returned to Lokanatha Goswami and started serving him. Yet Lokanatha Goswami could immediately understood his intention and stopped him, saying: "Get out, no service here!" This was very painful for Narottam. He wanted to serve his Guru but his Guru would not accept any service. So he was thinking, "What can I do? What can I do? How can I do some secret service?"

 

Finally he found out that Lokanatha Goswami was daily going to a smal nearby forest for taking his ablutions, and emptying his body there, before he would go to take a snana in the Yamuna. So every day, after Lokanatha Goswami went there, Narottam das Thakur cleaned up the forest in that area, without his Guru knowing. In this way some time passed. But Lokanatha Goswami could sense that something was going on. He was surprised: "Every day I am coming here and it looks as if somebody swept here. I am suspicious somebody is secretly serving me here."

 

Therefor one day, after finishing, he hid behind a bush and waited.

 

Half an hour later, there came in gamsha Narottam, with a broom, chanting the holy name, very happily doing his daily service for his Guru. As he started sweeping, all of a sudden, out of a bush, came Lokanatha Goswami, bursting, shouting: "Who gave you permission to do this?" Narottam das Thakur was very, very ashamed and shy and replied: "Oh Gurudeva, I was trying to do some secret service because, you did not let me do any service to you."

 

Lokanatha Goswami strongly chastised him, "I told you, fool, you should go and take initiation from Srila Jiva Goswami, one of the great Goswamis . I have a vow, that I will not accept any disciples. So stop doing this!"

 

Expressing his heart, Narottam das Thakur, who was a great poet, quoted a very beautiful Bengali saying. He said: "If the girl has already chosen her husband, and the father wants to choose another one for her, she will not be happy with that arrangement."

 

Lokanatha Goswami did not know what to say. Finally he told him.

 

"Ok, you do what you like!", and he went off. Narottam was very happy: "Oh now I have permission for seva. Now finally I can do permitted seva!" In this way two years passed. To show us, what really means determination in accepting a spiritual master.

 

Profound sincerity in that loving relationship is there. We can find out from these stories. They are very captivating. The life and soul of a person is his connection with Krishna through his spiritual master.

 

One day as Lokanatha Goswami was chanting, one respected Vaisnava passed by. Conversing with him, Lokanatha Goswami asked him: "What shall I do with this boy? He is always serving me! But I made a vow to not accept any disciples!" The Vaisnava replied to Lokanatha Goswami: "Yes that may be true! But it seems as if he has made a vow to accept you as his Guru. And it seems that his vow is stronger than yours!"

 

Reflecting on this, Lokanatha Goswami agreed: "Ok! call him!" This news came to Narottam: "Lokanath Goswami is calling!" You can imagine what he was feeling: Finally he was called. He ran there and Lokanatha Goswami told him: "Ok, you have conquered me. I have accepted a vow that I do not want to have any disciples, but to have a disciple of your quality, this would be an honor, a purification for me."

 

That same day he gave him initiation. Their relationship was very intimate. Yet at the same time Lokanatha Goswami instructed him: "Now you go and study with Jiva Goswami." Srila Jiva Goswami had a Vaisnava- philosophy school in Radha Damodar Mandir. And it was there, in Srila Jiva Goswami's school, that he met his intimate friends, Srinivas Acharya and Srila Syamananda Prabhu with whom he studied together under protection of Srila JIva Goswami.

 

There are many beautiful stories. There is a whole book about Srila Narottam das Thakur called 'Narottam Vilas' and a lot of beautiful stories are also recorded in Sri Bhakti Ratnakarara. That is why I say: "We could start and never stop."

 

Srila Narottam dasa Thakur ki jaya!