Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

[Raguraman]

Hare Krishna,

 

All glories to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

 

I am deeply touched by the teachings of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

 

http://www.stephen-knapp.com./organized_religion.htm

 

Where can I get to know more about is teachings etc.

[Guest guest]

Dear Raguraman,

 

You can purchase a wonderful book call Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati - his life and precepts from mandala publishing. You can order on-line at:

http://mandala.org/

 

Some of his writings that you may be interested in can be found at these three web sites:

http://www.bvml.org/

http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/

http://www.mahaprabhu.net/

 

This should get you started anyway.

 

Good luck,

 

Your servant,

Audarya-lila dasa

[Guest guest]

[Guest guest]

 

http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/prabhupada_saraswati/index_dlife.html

 

 

http://www.hknet.org.nz/parishad-BVT-BSS.htm#APP4

 

[Guest guest]

http://www.bvml.org/SBSST/index.htm

[Gauracandra]

I have heard that sometimes when he would lecture to an audience, afterwards Srila Sridhar Maharaj would have to explain to the audience what was just said. I find I have to concentrate pretty hard when reading Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's writings, but the end result is very good. Also, I agree with Audarya Lila's recommendation of the Mandala book "Siddhanta Saraswati - his life and precepts" I think it is called. Very handsome book, with never before seen (to me atleast) photos.

[Raguraman]

Hare Krishna,

 

All glories to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja

 

Thankyou Guest. I enjoyed reading through all your links.

[Guest guest]

The first biography of Prabhupada Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur is known as Saraswati Jayasree. It was written by Sundarananda Vidyavinode, some years prior to the passing away of Srila Saraswati Thakur in 1938.

 

This book contains many interesting facts about the early life, initiation and first disciples of Srila Saraswati Thakur, and it consists of many "rememberances" of different devotees who knew Srila Saraswati Thakur from very early years, such as Bhakti Pradip Tirtha Maharaj, and Kunja Babu, etc..

 

For instance, in this book it is written that the first brahma-gayatri diksa ceremony performed by Sarsawati Thakur was in 1910 at the house of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur in Kolkata, and that the devotees who received brahma-gayatri were Bhakti Pradip Tirtha and two other young men who were disciples of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur .

 

Sripad Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaj is just in the process of publishing this book.

 

The devotees who love Srila Saraswati Thakur will love reading this book, for it refutes many of the lies and misconceptions that have been preached by the sahajiya opponents of Srila Saraswati Thakur.

 

Hari Hari bol,

 

Muralidhar das,

Sydney

 

 

 

[krsna]

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada.

 

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada was known as 'simha' (lion) 'guru' due to his fearless and ferocious preaching. If an impersonalist saw him on the street, the impersonalist would cross the road in fear, or turn off onto another street. Those who didn't, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta would go up to and shake them violently, his huge body towering over them, and say, "Why do you say the Lord has no form? Nonsense offender!"

We have already mentioned his birth and some of his early pastimes in conection with his father Srila Bhaktivindoda Thakura, and his 'Guru' Srila Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji Maharaja.

 

He appeared on February 6th 1874. Father was deputy magistrate of Puri, had been for three years. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur had been concerned that the pure teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would be usurped by unauthorized persons, who were members of 13 apasampradayas and so he prayed for a Ray of Vishnu. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura had started his mission for Lord Caitanya late in life. He was also very busy with his profession. But he wrote profusely, and wanted someone to preach boldly to establish these pure teachings.

 

The Padma Purana predicted Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati: a very elevated, pure and learned personality would appear in Purushottama-ksetra to spread the glories of Lord Jagannatha all over the world. His activities would be very unique.

 

When he was 6 months old, the Rathayatra was held. The cart stopped in front of Srila Bhaktivinoda's house (which was on the main road between the temple and the Gundica mandira. The cart stayed there for 3 days. On the 3rd day, Bhagavati devi (mother of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati) brought out the child and the 'pujaris' picked him up and put him on the cart. He crawled to the base of Lord Jagannatha, and touched His lotus feet. Simultaneously a garland fell from the neck of the Lord and landed around the child. The pujaris exclaimed that this boy is particularly blessed by Lord Jagannatha.

 

The 'Annaprasha' festival (first grains ceremony), first grain taken by children which is usually given when the first sign of teeth are there something like six-months old, so for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati the first grain was Jagannatha Prasada. Vimala devi is offered the 'prasada' after Jagannatha takes; hence his name Bimala Prasada. When during the 'Anna-prasna' ceremony the child is shown the 'shastra' and coins to give some indication as to his nature by what he goes for baby Bimal chose the Srimad Bhagavatam as opposed to the gold coins.

 

When he was five family had become senior deputy magistrate: only three of these in all of India under British Raja. Mango incident happened at this time. Never again took ripe mangos. But he took green mango chutney offered by his disciples; this was a favourite of his.

 

When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati was 7 years old, his father Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura moved to Calcutta, to the "Bhakti-Bhavan" house was building. While digging foundation they found Deity of Lord Kurma. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura gave him his first initiation and the name Siddhanta Saraswati; and initiated his son into the worship of Lord Kurma. He was doing this every single day without missing. Even when he was admitted into school.

He was a very expert student. However his preference was to study the Vaishnava books of his father. He did just that and studied books of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, but never fell behind in school - he remembered everything after hearing it once. His teachers were astonished, and his father was very pleased.

 

As a boy, Bimala Prasada delivered his oldest brother Acyutananda from an offense he'd made in his last life. Acyutananda had a nervous disease, and once became very sick. Bimala Prasada took 'karatals' and chanted the 'Hare Krishna mantra' constantly for 6 days without eating. Then Ramanuja-sampradaya 'tilaka' appeared on Acyutananda's forehead. He said, "I am a Ramanuja Vaishnava. I committed an offense to a Gaudiya Vaishnava in my last life and therefore had to take this birth. Now I am relieved." Then he left his body for dead.

In 1892, after passing his entrance examination, Bimala was admitted into the Sanskrit College of Calcutta. There he spent considerable time in the library studying various books on philosophy. He also studied the Vedas under the guidance of Prithvidhara Sharma. As a student he contributed many thoughtful articles to various religious journals. However he did not continue with his college studies for long.

We told this story before, but from another angle; Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had taken initiation from Bipin Bihari Goswami, who came in the line of Gadadhara Pandit, through Janavi Devi. However once when Bipin Bihari Goswami was visiting Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the Thakura paid obeisances and Bipin Bihari Goswami placed his foot on Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's head. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati saw this and was surprised. He thought this was a dangerous thing for Bipin Bihari Goswami to do. When Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura left the room, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura asked him a question: "You are my father's 'guru'. But do you know who he is?" Bipin Bihari Goswami was taken aback at this 7-year-old's question. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati continued, "My father is a 'nityasiddha', an eternal associate of the Supreme Lord. Do you have sufficient spiritual potency to place your foot on his head?" Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura returned at this time, so the conversation was interrupted. Bipin Bihari Goswami said, "Your son is bold to the point of being rude." Later on, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura found this out and used to tell this story to his disciples.

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in Krsna-lila is Kamalaman-manjari, and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati is his eternal assistant, Nayana-manjari. At age 13 he started higher education. Once Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura returned from Puri with Tulasi and initiated his son into chanting Hare Krsna Mahamantra and he also took 'Nrsingha mantra' initiation, 'ugram bhiram maha-vishnum'.......etc.

 

During this time he invented, and developed a shorthand script called 'Vikanta', so much was his genius.

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, after seeing the wonderful vision of a golden 'mandira', began begging door to door for funds to establish the Yoga Pitha. At 18, Srila (Bhakti) Siddhanta Saraswati entered Capital Sanskrit College affiliated with Calcutta University. Within a short time mastered the 6 limbs of Sanskrit studies: 'shiksha', 'jyotish', 'chanda', 'alankara', etc.

 

When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati was 22 he left college to avoid taking householder life. He took up work under the king of Tripura. Tripura had been turned to a Vaishnava state by the king of Manipur, who was a disciple of Narottama dasa Thakur.

So Srila Bhaktisiddhant Saraswati became Raja Pandit there for 3 years. He retired with full pension, which Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati accepted for a few years and then voluntarily stopped.

 

Around this time he took initiation from Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji. Srila Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji had been a grain merchant before taking 'babaji'. He'd gone to Vrindavana and did 'bhajana' for a long time. Then he came to Navadwipa. By this time Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had retired and had built a 'bhajana kutir' in Navadwipa (Godruma). He gave Srimad Bhagavatam class there every day. Srila Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji used to come to these classes. Srila Bhaktivinoda told Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati to accept Srila Gaura Kishora as initiating 'guru'. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati approached Gaura Kishora, asking "Please give me your mercy." Gaura Kishora answered, "Mercy is not mine to give. It is the property of Lord Chaitanya Himself. I'll ask Him, and if He agrees, I can give you."

Second time they met, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati inquired, "Did you ask Him?No, I forgot." Third time same thing happened. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati said, "You worship that great cheat, Krishna, Who is cheating everyone. And so you are also cheating me. But if you continue in this way, I will simply give up my life, because my life is useless without receiving you mercy." Then Gaura Kishora das Babaji gave initiation to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati as Varshabhanavi-devi dasa. Then Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati gave up all other activities to chant 194 rounds daily for 7 years. He had a 'kutir' but did not spend the time to repair the roof; he just used an umbrella if it rained.

 

In 1897 he started an autonomous Catuspathi ('Sanskrit' school) wherefrom monthly journals entitled "Jyotirvid", "Vrihaspati", and many old treatises on astrology were published. In 1898, while teaching at Sarasvata Catuspathi, he studied Siddhanta Kaumudi under Prthvidhara Sarma, at Bhaktibhavana. By the time he was twenty five he had become well versed in Sanskrit, mathematics, and astronomy, and he had established himself as the author and publisher of many magazine articles and one book, Suryasiddhanta, for which he received the epithet Siddhanta Sarasvati in recognition of his erudition.

 

In 1895 Sarasvati Gosvami accepted service under the Tripura Royal Government as an editor for the biography entitled Rajaratnakara, the life histories of the royal line of the independent Tripura Kingdom. Later he was entrusted with the responsibility of educating the Yuvaraja Bahadur and Rajkumar Vrajendra Kisore, in Bengali and Sanskrit. After a short period of time, Siddhanta Saraswati took up the responsibilities for inspecting various ongoing activities in the royal palace for the state of Tripura. However, after finding enviousness, malice and corruption surfacing in every corner of his inspection, Siddhanta Saraswati very quickly developed an aversion to state affairs and gave notice of his intention to retire to Maharaja Radhakisore Manikya Bahadur. The Maharaja approved of Siddhanta Sarasvati's plans for renunciation and awarded him full pay pension. However, after three years Siddhanta Sarasvati also renounced his pension. With his father, he visited many Tirthas and heard discourses from the learned pandits. In October 1898 Siddhanta Sarasvati accompanied Bhaktivinoda on a pilgrimage of Kasi, Prayag, Gaya and other holy places. At Kasi a discussion was held with Ramamisra Shastri regarding the Ramanuja Sampradaya. After this talk Siddhanta Sarasvati's life seemed to take a turn, his inclination towards renunciation increased, and he quietly continued to search for a 'sadguru'.

 

When Siddhanta Sarasvati was twenty six his father, understanding the mind of his son, guided him to take initiation from a renounced Vaisnava saint, Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji, who we will now bring into the picture. actually it is inpossible to separate these three especially, anyway we will do our best to shed some light on their all effulent forms. Although it is like shining a candle to illumine the Sun globe.

 

One disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura who wanted to continue the mission came looking for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in Navadwipa at this time, knowing him to be as powerful a personality as his father. He went around asking the locals if they knew of a sadhu matching Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati's desciption, but they all answered, "We don't know of a sadhu, we only know of one madman. We see him moving here and there, crying aloud and sometimes rolling on the ground." So he went searching for him in the jungle next to the Ganga, where they said he sometimes could be seen. Suddenly he heard Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati crying "Krishna Krishna Haribol! Nitai Gaura Hari Bol!" He saw him burst out from the forest and plunge, fully dressed, into the Ganga. He kept on shouting in the water, splashing about. Then he came out. The disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura then approached him, requesting him to come to Calcutta to head up the sankirtana mission there. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati answered, "Sankirtana? Can you not see the wonderful 'sankirtana' mission of Sri Caitanya right here in the holy 'dham' of Navadwipa? Is it not wonderful? Sri Pancha-tattwa are chanting and dancing in ecstacy, surrounded by all their associates. Can you not see this?" Then Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati ran off, again shouting "Haribol" in great ecstacy. As it was sunset by this time, that man took his bath in the Ganga, and mentally renounced the idea of organizing the 'sankirtana' mission.

 

But later on, in 1918, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati appeared at his door in Calcutta, in 'sannyasi' robes with 'danda', freshly shaven, and ordered, "Now we are founding a Society, the Sri Gaudiya Matha. Draw up the papers immediately and have it registered. Though he'd arrived at 4 p.m., the work was done before that same afternoon was ended.

 

Even before 1918 he decried the 'Jatigosai'/'brahmana' monopoly of giving initiation only to born 'brahmins'. He preached very boldly against them. The 'brahmins' challenged him, "where does the 'Gaura mantra' appear in any authorized scripture as a Gayatri?" (Because the Gaudiya Vaishnavas would take this 'mantra' as a 'pancharatriki mantra' for 'brahminical' initiation.) They said, "Sri Chaitanya claimed only to be a devotee. Why do you say he is the Supreme Personality Of Godhead and use His name in place of authorized scriptural names and 'mantras'?"

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati cited Chaitanyopanishad from the Atharva-veda, discoverd by Srila Bhaktivinode, 19 verses glorifying Lord Chaitanya. In another assembly he directly attacked the 'brahmins' and 'Jati Gosais'. He initiated the movement to take back the teachings of Lord Caitanya from the hands of such unauthorized persons. Srila Vishvanatha, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, his disciple Uddhava dasa Babaji, his disciple Madhusudana dasa Babaji, were all saintly renounced souls: after Baladeva there was no-one to strongly represent the pure teaching of Lord Caitanya and preach them boldly. During Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's time, Gaudiya Vaishnava meant Baul, Aula, Sakhi-Beki, Jati Gosai, etc. who were all degraded. The Vaishnavas got no respect. At this time the shaktas became strong from Rama-Krishna-Vivekananda, and this put further obstructions for the establishment of pure Vaishnava dharma. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati preached against all of this nonsense.

 

When Srila Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji Maharaj left the planet, the 'babajis' wanted to do the 'samadhi' rites. He'd said he wanted to have his body dragged through the streets by his "disciples". The 'babajis' had gathered to do that, they'd tied a rope around the neck.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati crossed over to Navadwipa from Mayapura and stopped them, saying "None of you are his disciples." Babaji Maharaja had one disciple, that one was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, (in other records it says he only had two disciples, the other was Vamsivata dasa Babaji Maharaja, who was an 'avadhuta'). "I am the right claimant to perform these last rites." They said, "But he was a 'babaji', and you are not." Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati answered, "Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji does not come in 'babaji' line. He was initiated by Nimai Chand Goswami, who was a Nityananda Parivat, coming in the line of Lord Nityananda. He received his 'Vesha' ('babaji' dress) from Bhagavata dasa Babaji Maharaja, who is an initiated disciple of Jagannatha dasa Babaji."

 

Before Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, from time of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, param-bhakta Vaishnavas would get 'Vesha' (white knee length cloth, 'koupin', waterpot and bead-bag) initiation, not 'tridandi sannyasa'. "Bhaktivinode Thakur also took 'Vesha' from Jagannatha dasa Babaji. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, though 'diksha' initiated of Bipin Bihari Goswami, received 'siksha' and 'vesha' from Jagannatha dasa Babaji. And Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji received 'siksha' from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's line is Bhagavata Parampara, not seminal line." So he challenged them to show that any such line came from Rupa or Sanatana Goswami. As to be a Rupanuga means coming in Bhagavata Sampradaya. Rupa told of Advaita's rejecting His own son Madhusudana because he accepted Lord Caitanya only, but not Lord Nityanananda.

"If you are Babajis, then you are fully sense controlled. So the one of you who has not engaged in any illicit activities in the past 1 year, come and do the last rites." No one stood up. "One month? One week? 24 hours?" No one stood up. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati then placed Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji Magharaj's body in 'samadhi'. So after finishing with the 'smartas', 'jati gosais', he took on 'Babas'. He would take on and defeat anyone solely to establish pure unalloyed, undeviated Krsna consciousness.

 

Then in 1918 he opened his first center in Ultadanga Road in Calcutta. He was then 44. Kunjabihari Vidyabhusana (Bhakti Vilasa Tirtha Maharaja) was his main manager and a prominent devotee in the Matha. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati had made a vow after taking 'sannyasa' that he would never touch money. Everything was arranged by his disciples. Many of them wishing to assist his mission took up responsible jobs, e.g. Kunja Babu became a post-master.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati did 'nagara kirtana' with disciples and was invited to programs by the King of Burdwan or the King of Kooch Bihar; everywhere he established Lord Caitanya's teachings as the most excellent spiritual philosophy.

 

He knew all Vaishnava philosophies most expertly. He brought out books on their 'darshans', e.g. Madhwacharya's arguments against Mayavadis.

As well as other Vaishnavacaryas like Ramanuja. In the temple he established in Mayapur he built 4 small temples in honor of the 4 Vaishnava sampradayas. He put the deities of the 4 founder acaryas there; Madhwacarya; Ramanujacarya; Nimbarkacarya; and Visnu Swami.

 

He started the Gaudiya Mission in the midst of war and national liberation agitation. He was uncompromising in his disregard of such mundane concerns. "The most important thing is to invoke the spirit of devotion to the Supreme Lord; this concern lies far above any material consideration." Many leaders objected, but he continued. In this period the aristocratic young Abhay Charan . (latter known as Srila A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) visited Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati on the rooftop at Ultadanga Road; At this time Abhay charan . was adherent of the national liberation movement, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati convinced him in one sitting of the vital necessity of Lord Caitanya's mission over everything else.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati's 'sannyasa': happened in 1918. He could have taken 'babaji' but didn't. Many 'babajis' wanted to initiate him, as he'd shown himself to be such a powerful exponent of Vaishnavism (e.g. his 3-day debate with caste 'brahmins' attended by Vaishnava scholars, in which he resoundingly defeated caste pretensions and established the Vaishnava view of 'brahminical' status by quality of work, not birth).

When he gave himself 'tridandi sannyasa' (or more correctly, had taken 'sannyasa' from a picture of Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji Maharaj), this was a shock to even his supporters, including disciples of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The controversy was not over the method of initiation in this instant as some criticise him for. But over 'varnashrama'; they thought he was returning to the 'Varnashram-dharma' that Lord Caitanya had rejected in his talks with Srila Ramananda Raya. But the concern was for nothing, as he was not continuing the bodily 'varna'-and-'ashram' system, but was establishing 'Daivi-varnashrama'.

Srila Prabhodananda, Lokanatha Goswami were great Gaudiya 'sannyassis' of the past. Prabhodananda Saraswati converted a great 'smriti acharya', Gopal Bhatta Ghosh, and gave him 'tridandi sannyasa'. Srila Gadadhara Pandita was also 'tridandi sannyasi'. Without establishment of 'Daivi-Varnashram-Dharma', 'babaji' (supposedly, or with the concept of 'paramhamsa' initiation) will, as it had become a farce.

 

In this way Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati travelled and preached initially from Mayapura to Vrndavana and challenged the authority of the 'babajis', and others.

Some ritualistic and narrow minded persons found fault, as one can even do with the moon in the sky. "They protested that this was unauthorized." He said, "Everything I am doing can be supported by scriptural reference, but nothing you do can be. You take young boys who don't even know how to clean themselves after passing stool and giving them 'sakhi rupa.' I am giving 'samskara' to reform the fallen souls, and this 'samskar' is the 'Hari Nama', which Lord Chaitanya gave as the 'siddha pranali'. No rules of caste or creed bind this 'Harer Nama diksha."

Then they tried to say that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati was not properly initiated in an established line. He disproved this. Srila Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji Maharaja was initiated in line of Nityananda, but he (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati) did not accept that line. In fact Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati rejected that line from Nimai Jatgoswami (line of Nityananda, Jahnavi, Bir Chandra Prabhu. Rather Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura stressed Bhagavata Sampradaya, and didn't care for material or seminal lines.

 

Therefore in his pranams the term, 'Rupanuga virrudhapa siddhanta', 'any conclusion against the precepts of Rupa Goswami is to be rejected immediately' is to be found.

 

In his life he founded 64 Gaudiya Math temples throughout India. For his further preaching and attempts to spread Krsna consciousness beyond the bounds of India, as his father had desired too, he sent three disciples to west, and he gave ten westerners initiation, mostly from young intelligent men from Germany and a couple of elderly women in St John's Wood in London, by sending sannyasis to Germany and England(Rupa Vilasa dasa. 1988. "Raya of Visnu".).

During this time Abhay Caran . (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) met Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada. He was a young man - a 'khadi' clad follower of Gandhi's national movement. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada, seeing this bright faced young man before him, convinced him of a necessity to preach Krsna consciousness. "In this world there is no shortage of anything, only Krsna consciousness." Srila Bhaktisiddhanta also requested young Abhay Caran ., "You are an intelligent young man. If you ever get money, print books in the English language." Our Srila Prabhupada was so impressed that he took this as his life's mission. Some eleven years later he took diksa initiation from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, who told his other disciples who printed the Sajjana Tosani newspaper on his order, "Whatever Abhay Caran writes, print it." He obviously knew his worth.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada was always eager to reveal transcendental knowledge. Whenever he found an eager listener he would go on speaking, not knowing bounds of time and space. Disregarding requests of his medical advisers, up to the last moment, he continued to deliver the message of the Supreme Lord to all people. This was his only purpose for his appearance in this world. All his tours were highly successful, though not without events because many of his disciples were not from orthodox 'Brahmin' families. Though they wore the sacred 'yajnopavitra', 'brahmin' thread of the twice-born, many so-called 'Brahmins' objected. Shops would refuse to sell their goods to Bhaktisiddhanta's 'brahmana' and 'sannyasi' disciples, even though according to the 'Pancaratrika' system of 'Vaisnava agamas', they were all properly initiated as 'brahmanas' and 'sannyasis'.

His whole life was spent in a mood of loving devotion to the Lord. He was fully devoted to spreading the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The numerous publications and commentaries on the works of the previous 'acaryas' establishing the Lord to be 'saccidananda vigraha' is quite evident of this fact.

In 1936, whilst residing in the holy dhama of Jagannatha Puri at the age of 62, he left this mortal world to again return to the loving pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krsna in Brajaloka the topmost planet in the spiritual sky.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati used to "install" the printing presses that were acquired by the Gaudiya Matha for literature publication.

 

He gave many a heavy class on detachment from material life. Later, while writing, he observed a monkey stealing bananas from the godown, which was just next to his study. He ran out with a stick to chase the monkey away, overturning his writing table and spilling ink on the pages of his manuscript. When the cook saw this, he inquired, "Today you told that one must be detached. How to understand your behaviour just now - for two bananas you jumped from your writing to chase a monkey, and even ruined your work in the process?" Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati answered, "These bananas belong to Srimati Radharani, because they are to be used in Krishna's service."

 

He went to take a bath in a 'pukkur', and when he was seven steps above the surface of the water, the water rose seven steps and touched his lotus feet. Then all the 'brahmacaries' jumped in, to bath in the 'caranamrta'.

 

At the Yoga Pith temple was a cook who was very passionate. He fought with every devotee there except for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta himself. Then he died. After the funeral ceremony was completed, the Gaudiya Matha 'brahmacharies' were sitting together and talking about how much trouble they'd had with the cook - each was telling stories about the fights he'd had with him. Suddenly Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati appeared at the doorway and said, "He always washed his 'dhoti' nicely and was very clean." From then on nobody dared say anything negative about that cook. Although Srila Bhaktisiddhanta was renoun for his aggressive, and even 'chopping' attacks on the 'mayavadins' and other such offenders, he always showed true Vaishnava respect and appreciation for all of the devotees.

 

When one 'mayavadi sadhu' was preaching his oneness philosophy in the presence of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and his disciples while they were riding on a train from Calcutta to Puri, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta ordered his 'brahmacaries' to feed the 'sadhu' some rotten mangos which had been donated to his party earlier (they were ripe when donated, but got rotten because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta would not take them due to his vow, and therefore no disciple would take either). After being obliged to eat four mangos, that sadhu fell at Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's feet and swore he'd never preach the philosophy of exclusive oneness again.

 

His 'kirtana' procession (with him personally at the head) would stop all traffic wherever it went in Calcutta; in Puri even the brahmins accepted his 'nam-sankirtana' as fully authorized.

 

Sometimes he would raise his danda to strike his 'mayavadi' opponent if he didn't accept his preaching.

 

He stayed in Puri in his last days. He lectured for some days at the place known as "Goverdhana" in Puri, and before and after his talk he would recite prayers praising Goverdhana Hill and requesting shelter in some corner there. He would sometimes comment to his disciples, there's not much time left. They could see something was going to happen soon, but weren't sure what.

 

He got very sick ten days before he left his body. Two days later he wrote his last instruction: "Somehow we must become qualified to attain the shelter of Rupa and Raghunatha. Always chant Hare Krishna, always preach Krishna consciousness, and stay away from Vaishnava-aparadha. In this way become qualified to get the shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Raghunatha." Two days after that he wrote his letter to Srila Prabhupada (Abhaya Charan .).

 

All the big intellectuals of Calcutta had a memorial gathering upon hearning word of his death. One (an atheist), in eulogy, said: "Who will we argue with now?"

 

[krsna]

Brahmins and Vaishnavas

Sri Bhakti Kusum Sraman Maharaja

 

Feeling pained by the distress of others, caused by the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the pure principles of Vaishnavism, there arose in Prabhupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura an indomitable enthusiasm to preach in an extensive manner Sriman Mahaprabhu's pristine religion of divine love. At that time his initiating spiritual master Srila Gaura Kishore das Babaji Maharaja, who would not allow anyone to touch his feet, by his own will bestowed the dust of his feet upon the head of Srila Saraswati Thakura and gave him the order to preach the message of Mahaprabhu in an extensive way. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada preached strongly about the conclusions of the scriptures which corruptly selfish readers of the scriptures conceal.

 

siksa guruke ta' jani krishnera svarupa

antaryarni bhakta srestha ei dui rupa.

 

"I know the instructing Guru to he the own-self of Krishna in these two Forms - the in-dwelling Monitor and the best of devotees." Ch. Car. (Adi 1/47)

 

In the Anubhasya (commentary) to this verse of the Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Srila Sarasvati Thakura has written, "He who gives instruction on Hari bhajana is the instructing (siksa) Guru. A Guru or Acharya is never devoid of bhajana or badly behaved. The great Guru who takes bliss in bhajana and the mental Guru (Chitta-guru) Who gives the discrimination for accepting things favorable to bhajana are the two types of instructors. The instructions of bhajana differ with the differences in the stage of practice (sadhana) and attainment (sadhya). Sri Gurudeva, the bestower of Krishna, by enriching his disciple with the knowledge of relationship (sambandha-jnana) unfolds to him the realization of his own service. After attaining the grace of that initiating Guru, the instructions, which are then given on the immaculate service of Vishnu, are described by the name 'abhideya'. The instructing Guru in the form of a servitor - the embodiment of abhideya, is not a different entity from the initiating Guru - the bestower of sambandha-jnana. Both of them are Gurudeva. To see or understand them unequally brings spiritual offence. Between Krishna's Form (rupa) and His Own Self (svarupa) there is none of the dissimilarity brought about by language. The initiating Guru is Sanatana - the bestower of Madana Mohana’s Lotus Feet. To the souls who have forgotten God and are unable to roam in Vraja he gives the realization of the Feet of God as one's all in all. The instructing Guru is Rupa - the bestower of the fitness to perform service to Govinda and to the Feet of His Dearest One."

 

In the eighth chapter of the Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita we can see Sriman Mahaprabhu saying to Srila Raya Ramananda

 

kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya

yei krishna tattva vetta sei guru haya

 

"Whether one be a Brahmin, or a Sannyasi, or a Sudra, he who is versed in the truth of Krishna is a Guru."

 

In the Anubhasya to the that verse Srila Sarasvati Thakura has written, "Let him be a Brahmin by caste, or let him be a Ksatriya, Vaisya or Sudra ; let him be a sannyasi by stage of life or let him be a brahmachari, vanaprastha or grihastha ; let him be situated in any caste or stage of life - he who is versed in the truth of Krishna can become a Guru, i.e. a I>vartmapradarsaka-Guru, an instructing Guru or an initiating Guru. The fitness to be a Guru rests only upon the knowledge of the truth of Krishna - it does not rest upon caste or stage of life; this direction of Sriman Mahaprabhu is not opposed to the scriptural directions. By following the purport of this Sri Visvambhara Mahaprabhu was initiated by the sannyasi Sri lsvara Pun. Sri Nityananda Prabhu was Initiated by the sannyasi Sri Madhavendra Puri Gosvami (by Srimat Laksmipati Tirtha according to another opinion) and Sri Advaitacharya was initiated by the sannyasi Sri Madhavendra Puri. Sri Rasikananda was initiated with Pancharatrika initiation by Sri Syamananda who appeared in a family who were not seminal Brahmins, Sri Ganganarayana Chakravarti and Sri Ramakrishna Bhattacharya (seminal Brahmins) were initiated by Sri Narottama Thakura who appeared in a family who were not seminal Brahmins, and Katwa's Sri Yadunandana Chakravarti was Initiated by Sri Dasa Gadadhara. Being a religious-minded hunter etc. was not even an obstacle for many people to become instructing Gurus. By the proper application of the rules of the Mahabharata's clear injunctions in pursuance of the Vaishnava faith and by the utterance in Srimad Bhagavata's Seventh Canto, Eleventh Chapter, 32nd verse

 

yasya yal laksanam proktath

pumso varna bhiv yanjakam

yadan yatrapi dris yeta

tattenaiva vinirdiset

 

"The signs (qualities) that divide mankind into castes have been described, wherever those qualities are observed then the appropriate caste will be ascertained there accordingly. (Caste will not be ascertained by birth alone."

 

A person who is versed in the truth of Krishna naturally has the character of a Brahmin. Therefore, wherever it is said that anything apart from 'seminal Brahminism' (which is introduced in the Age of Kali ) will not do, Mahaprabhu has carefully given us the understanding that even a 'seminal Sudra' who is a knower of the truth of Krishna is able to become the Guru there, for he has attained scriptural Brahminism. Those knowers of the truth of Krishna who do not accept the Savitra Samskara ( the ceremony of acceptance of the sacred thread ), which is mentioned in the Katyayana Grihyasutra within the Vedic Vajasaneya section, are all Brahrnins initiated in the ekayana. However, most of the time, foolish people are unable to understand that they are infallible Brahmins (achyuta brahmana) and they thus become condemned to hell. It is for this reason that the sacred thread ceremony and the function of acting as Acharyas even for seminal Brahmin sects has been going on since the very beginning in Rasikananda Prabhu's family, in Navani Hoda's family and in Mukunda Dasa's family of Khetari. It is not that since the bhajanandi Vaishnavas have not accepted the savitra samskara that this is the only rule. Vaishnavas ascertain caste by characteristics. But, as foolish people are unable to ascertain caste in that manner, Sri Mahaprabhu has clearly given the understanding of the purport of the scriptures. Even though the compiled conclusions of the Haribhaktivilasa are one with "Mahaprabhu's exemplary behavior and instructions, people, by the judgement of fools, are under the belief that they differ. By their judgement the quoted word 'Guru' alludes to the sravana (hearing) Guru or to the Guru instructing on bhajana, it does not allude to the initiating or mantra-giving Guru, since, in their opinion, the fitness to be the bestower of divine knowledge is ascertained and introduced by family reputation, that is, by blood or semen ; so by their idea, devotion to Krishna, the propensity of the pure soul, is not independent. Moreover, according to their foolishness, the initiating or mantra - giving Guru is superior to the sravana -Guru and the instructing Guru on bhajana. Factually, the only result of this type of idea which is born from sensory knowledge is spiritual offence."

 

In the conclusion of the Amritapravaha-Bhasya on Sriman Mahaprabhu's aforementioned saying, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura has written, "When it is mentioned in the Haribhaktivilasa that if there is a fit person of a high caste present then it is improper to accept the Krishna mantra from a person of low caste, then this is vaishnavism relative to the society ; that is, it is for those who practice family life by the customary rules and who have somewhat of a desire for spirituality. But for those people who know the import of vaidhi and raganuga bhakti and who wish to get pure Krishna devotion, the rule for them is that in whatever caste or stage of life the suitable knower of the truth of Krishna may be in, he should be respectfully accepted as a Guru. In the words of the Padma Purana quoted in the Sri Haribhaktivilasa

 

na sudrah bhagavad bhaktasthe'pi bhagavatottamah

sarva varnesu te sudra ye na bhaktah janardane

 

sat karma nipuno vipro mantra tantra visradah

avaisnavo gurur na syad vaisnavah svapaco guruh

maha kulaprasuto'pi sarva yajnesu diksitah

 

 

sahasra sakha dhyayi ca na guruh syada vaisnavah

vipra ksatriya vaisyas ca guravah sudra janmanam

sudras ca guravas tesam trayanam bhagavat priyah

 

 

"Those who have taken recourse to the devotion of Krishna are never to be counted as Sudras but they are to be glorified as Bhagavatas. Amidst all the castes, those people who are devoid of devotion to Sri Janardana are Sudras. A Brahmin who is expert in the six works and also in mantras and the tantra should not be selected as a Guru if he is a non-Vaishnava. If someone from a dog-eater family is a Vaishnava he may be accepted as a Guru. Even if one is born in the best of families, even if one is initiated in all the sacrifices and is learned in all the branches of the Vedas, if he is a non-Vaishnava he is unable to become a Guru. Generally, Brahmins, Ksatriyas and Vaisyas should be the Gurus of Sudras but even Sudras can be the Gurus of these three castes if they are dear to God ."

 

In the Padma Purana there is also another saying

 

arcye visnau siladhir gurusu nara matir vaisnave jati budhir

visnor va vaisnavanam kalimala mathane pada tirthe’ mbu buddhi

sri visnor namni mantre saka’ akalusahe sabda samanya buddhir

visnau sarves varese tada tira samadhir yasya va naraki sah

 

 

"That person who thinks the worshipped Deity to be just stone, who considers the Vaishnava Guru to be a mortal human being, who considers the caste of a Vaishnava, who considers the water that has washed the feet at Vishnu and Vaishnavas to be just water, who considers the Name and Mantra of Vishnu, which is the destroyer of all sins, to be just a sound, and who considers the Lord of lords Vishnu to be equal to other demigods is condemnable to hell."

 

na me' bhaktas caturvedi

mad bhaktah svapacah priyah

tasmai deyam tato grahyam

sa ca punyo yatha hy aham

 

 

"It is not that if one is versed in the four Vedas, i. e. is a Choube Brahmin, then he is a 'devotee'. Even if My devotee is dog-eater he is dear to Me, the devotee is the proper object of charity and the proper acceptor of gifts; devotees are just as worshippable as Me."

 

It has been described in the Srimad Bhagavata (3-33-8)-

 

aho bata svapaco'to gariyan

yaj jih vagre vartate nama tubhyam

te pusta paste juhuvuh sasnur aryah

brahman ucurnar na grinanti ye te

 

 

"Oh Lord I Those persons in whose mouths Your Name is present, even though they be born in a dog-eater family, are the best of all. Those persons who glorify Your Name have performed all types of penances, they have done all sacrifices and they have bathed in all the holy places, therefore they are to be counted amongst the Aryans."

 

vipra ad dvisada guna yutada dara vinda nabha

padaravinda vimukhat svapacam baristham

manye tadarpita mano vacane hitartha

pranam punati sa kulam na tu bhuri manah

(Bhagavata 7-9-9)

 

"Even if they be dog-eaters, I respect those people who dedicate their mind, endeavor, words, wealth and life to Krishna as being better than Brahmins who are endowed with the twelve qualities but who are adverse to the Lotus Feet of Krishna, because he (the devotee appearing in a dog-eater family) purifies his family, and proud Brahmins are unable to do that."

 

In the Sri Hari bhakti sudhodaya Third Chapter, verses 11 and 12,

 

bhagavad bhakti hinasya jatih sastram japastapah

apranasyaiva dehasya mandanam lokaranjanam sucih

sad bhakti diptag nidag dhadur jati kalmasah

svapko'pi budaih slaghyo na veda jno'pi nastikah

 

"The noble family, knowledge of the scriptures, japa and penances of people devoid of devotion to God are just like the ornaments of a dead body and are of no use at all, they are only for public entertainment. Those people whose sins of low birth have been burnt up by the blazing fire of good character and true devotion, even though they be dog-eaters, are respected by the learned, but even if an atheist knows the Vedas he is not worthy of respect.

 

The words of the Tattvasagara in the Sri Hari Bhaktivilasa's second Vilasa, twelfth verse

 

yatha kancha natam yati kasyam rasa vidha natah

tatha diksa vidhanena dvija tvam jayate nrinam

 

 

"In the same manner that bell-metal attains the quality of being gold by the influence of a special chemical process, so also, by the influence of initiation men attain the state of being twice-born (i.e. Brahminism)."

 

In the commentary to this verse the conclusion of Srila Sanatana Gosvami Prabhu is nrinam sarvesameva dvija tvam 'viprata' . (All men can attain the Brahminism of the twice born.)

 

There is also the statement of the Vishnupurana in relation to the glories of mahaprasada

 

naivedyam jagadisasya tvan napa nadi kancha yat

bhaksya bhaksya vicaras ca nasti tad bhaksane dvijah

brahma vinnirv vikaram hi yatha visnus tathaiva tat

vikaram ye prakur vanti bhaksane tat dvija tayah

kusthav yadi sama yuktah putra dara vivarjitah

nirayam yanti vipras tasman na vartate punah

 

"Oh Brahmins ! No kind of consideration is to be given to the edibility or non-edibility of the things such as food and drink, which have been offered to Vishnu. Those Brahmins who judge about its edibility lose their sons and wives and being attacked with leprosy go to hell, from where they do not return."

 

When all of these non-envious Bhagavata conclusions were preached on a large scale by Srila Prabhupada, and when many descendants of Brahmins accepted initiation from a few Vaishnava acharyas who came from families other than Brahmins by following the conclusion of Sriman Mahaprabhu's above mentioned verse and also the ideal of Sri Ramakrishna Bhattacharya and Sri Ganganarayana Chakravarti's acceptance of initiation from Srila Narottama Thakura, who appeared in a Kayastha family, a terrible agitation was seen amongst the Karmajada Smartas. They girded up their loins to prove the Vaishnavas to be lowly. A few established people of the caste Gosvami sect also joined those Smartas due to the attachment of the materialistic social tie, and instead of exhibiting the moral courage to protest against them, they began to support them. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura, who was then bed-ridden with rheumatism, said in a roaring voice, "ls there not such a person manifest in the Vaishnava world who is capable to hold a meeting with them and by the conclusions and original logic of the scriptures put a stop to these lowly activities which are the frenzied dance of the three material qualities?" Srila Sarasvati Thakura then wrote "Brahmana 0 Vaisnavera Taratamya Visayaka Siddhanta"(The conclusion about the subject of comparison between Brahmins and Vaishnavas) and read it to Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura. [This discussion can be seen in the book ‘Brahmana 0 Vaishnava’ published from Sri Chaitanya Math, Sridham Mayapur.] Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura was so glad upon hearing the essay that, although he was unable to arise, out of joy he sat up and said to Srila Sarasvati Thakura in vigorous language, "Sarasvati, truly, truly Sarasvati! Truly, truly the acharya sun, lighting the face of the Vaishnava world. By the light of these judgements the darkness of the Karmajada Smarta's doctrine will certainly soon be dispelled."

 

At 3 p.m. on Friday 8th September 1911 A. D, the meeting for the discussion between the Karmajada Smarta Brahmins and the Vaishnavas was begun at Midnapore District's Balighat Uddhavapura. Prabhupada Srila Sarasvati Thakura set out from Calcutta with Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura's follower Sriyukta Sureshchandra Mukhopadhyaya on the 6th September and at 10 p. m. he reached the Sauri Prapannasrama where he saw that Panditapravara Srila Madhusudhana Gosvami Sarvabhauma (of Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvamipada's family) from Sridhama Vrindavana's Radharamana enclosure and Panditapravara Srila Visvambharananda Devagosvami (of Srila Shyamananda Prabhu's family) from Sripata Gopivallabhapura were waiting for him there The two Gosvamipadas and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura's follower Srimat Sitanatha Bhaktitirtha Mahasaya accorded Srila Prabhupada a reception with the honor befitting an Acharya. In their mutual meeting of giving and taking affection the waves of bliss began to flow. Srila Sarasvati Thakura, along with the other Vaishnavas, arrived for the meeting on the 8th September. The seminal Brahmin pandits of the Karmajada society also joined the meeting from various places at the correct time. Many people introduced by the name of descendants of customary Acharyas from the caste Gosvami society also took their seats in the debate under the Karmajada party. By the Karmaj ada Smarta's opinion:

 

1) Even if a person appearing in a Sudra family is initiated by the Pancharatrika initiation according to the Vaishnavite scriptural rules, still he is not fit to worship the Salagrama.

 

2) He who does not take his birth in a Brahmin family by seminal consideration is not fit to undertake all tasks. Even if he is a Vaishnava of the highest order (uttama adhikari) he is never able to perform the duties of an Acharya.

 

By the consent of all, Panditapravara Sri Visvambharananda Devagosvami accepted the Chair as the meeting’s president. Prabhupada Srila Sarasvati Thakura then began to recite the conclusions which were written in the ‘Brahmana 0 Vaisnavera Taratamya Visavaka Siddhanta,' in order to destroy the said doctrine. This address is divided into the Prakritajana section and the Harijana section. When he began to recite the glories of Brahmins from the Prakritajana section the pandits of the opposing side lost themselves in joy. It was not known to them that there were this many utterances in various scriptures expressing the glories of Brahmins. When the discussion was begun clearly with the original reasoning of the scriptures as to who is a Brahmin, who is a Vaishnava, what is the relationship between them both and who is whose Guru etc., the joy of those people opposed to the Vaishnavas vanished. On not getting any suit able counter many people amongst them started an uproar. After the uproar was quelled some argumentative people spoke three or four statements no doubt, but they were reduced to ashes immediately by the cannon like good logic issuing forth from Srila Sarasvati Thakura's mouth. Gradually, the meeting went on for three days. Making known the substantiality of Srila Sarasvati Thakura's conclusion, Srila Madhusudana Gosvami Sarvabhauma, Sriyukta Ramananda Dasa Babaji and Sriyukta Sitanatha Bhaktitirtha Mahodaya lectured on the subject that no matter what family a Vaishnava appears in, he always has perfect fitness for worship of the Salagrama and recital of the Vedas. On the final day, Srila Sarasvati Thakura, as concluding speaker, delivered a speech in vigorous and ornate language for a period of two hours. There remained nothing for the opposite side to counter. Thousands of voices extensively proclaimed the victory of the Vaishnavas.

 

After the meeting thousands and thousands of people halted and surrounded Srila Prabhupada in order to take the dust of his feet. The guards told them to stay peacefully and assured everyone that their longed for object would be given. The guards then took a large basin full of water for touching his feet in and took Srila Prabhupada to another place. To give the water that washed his feet was a far-removed subject. Srila Prabhupada would never even allow anyone to touch his feet. If anyone prostrated to him he would immediately return the prostration and exhibit the behavior of the Vaishnava's ideal - ''I shall not take anyone's worship." To protect Srila Prabhupada from the pressure of the crowd, despite his intense objections. The guards forcefully collected the water which had touched his feet and then took Srila Prabhupada to a resting-place. Gradually, a few water pots full of water were added to this water and within a short time it was completely exhausted. On receiving the water which had washed Srila Prabhupada's feet the people were grateful and felt blessed.

 

[krsna]

 

From Back to Godhead Vol.1 Part 9

March 1952

An offering by

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

It is the honest belief of Srila Saraswati Thakur that people in general, modern philosophers and thinkers as also the religionists will be struck with wonder when they seriously make a study of the gift of Lord Chaitanya.

 

Oh! my Master

The evangelic angel.

Give us thy light,

Light up thy candle.

 

Struggle for existence

A Human race,

The only hope

His Divine Grace.

 

Absolute is sentient

Thou hast proved.

Impersonal calamity

Thou hast moved.

 

This gives us a life

Anew and fresh.

Worship thy feet

Your Divine Grace.

Had you not come

Who had told,

The message of Krishna

Forceful and bold,

 

That's your right

You have the mace.

Save me a fallen

Your Divine Grace.

 

The line of service

As drawn by you,

Is pleasing and healthy

Like morning dew.

 

The oldest of all

But in new dress

Miracle done

Your Divine Grace.

 

 

Om Vishnupada Sree Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami appeared in this mortal world in the year in February on as the third son of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur known as Late Kedarnath Dutt in His early householder life. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati was known as Bimala Prasad Dutt in His early life and from His very boyhood, inspired by His devotee father, lived a strict pious and religious life. One instance in His early life will prove how much He was rigid in His principle of religious way of life. The instance may be cited here as a matter of course. Srila Kedar Nath Dutta as an ideal Grihastha used to worship Sree Sree Radha Govinda Vigraha at his house. As such one day he purchased some good quality mangoes for the deity when Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati was a mere child. The child Bimala Prasad pretending the childish nature ate up the mangoes without the knowledge of His father. The father when he came to know that the mangoes purchased for offering to the deities at his house were swallowed up by his child Bimala Prasad, he mildly rebuked Him and warned Him also not to commit the mistake in future. The child Bimala Prasad took up this matter very seriously and as the proverb goes that child is the father of future men, so He proved Himself then as the future Acharya of the human community. From that day forward till His departure from this mortal world He remembered that mistake which He had committed in His early life and as a matter of self imposed punishment He never touched mangoes of any kind for His eating purpose. In His later life He was so many times requested by His thousands and thousands disciples to accept mangoes but He always reminded of His childish so called mistake and always quoted the instruction from the Ishopanishad that everything belongs to the Almighty God. No body therefore accept anything in this world unless the same has first been offered to Him (Almighty God).

 

Another instance of His early life may be stated here that when Bimala Prasad was on the lap of his beloved mother His father Late Kedar Nath Dutta was posted as Magistrate of Puri. The Car festival of Sree Sree Jagannathji took place at that time. The house was situated just near the main road through which the Car used to pass. So when the Car was moving it stopped all of a sudden in front of the house where Sri Bimala Prasad was on the lap of His mother. The Car of Jagannath stopped and did not move with utmost endeavour of the pulling devotees. The mother of Bimala Prasad took this opportunity and was helped to get up on the Car for Darshan of the Deity with her saintly son. The baby Bimala Prasad was then thrown on the holy feet of Sree Sree Jagannathji and at once the baby was blessed by the God as some flowers fell down on the baby from the hands of the Deity. After this incidence the Car began to move and every intelligent person present there could understand that the child Bimala Prasad was not an ordinary one. There are many such small but very significant instances from His very childhood which indicated Bimala Prasad to be a future great personality and it so happened that in His later age He became the most powerful Acharya in the line of Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya in the disciplic succession from the Madhyacharya who was in the line of Brahma Sampradaya coming down Brahma the Creator of this Universe. There are four Sattawata or transcendental spiritual Acharya Sampradayas or fundamental schools of Theism such as the Brahma Sampradaya beginning from Brahma after His initiation from the Personality of Godhead; the Rudra Sampradaya beginning from Sankara or Mahadeva; the Shree Sampradaya beginning from Sreemati Luxmi Devi the Eternal Consort of Shree Narayana and the Kumar Sampradaya beginning from the Kumar namely Sanak Sanat Kumars. Sree Madhyacharya belonged to Brahma Sampradaya, Sree Ramanuja to the Sree Sampradaya, Sree Vishnuswami to the Rudra Sampradaya and Sree Nimbarka belonged to Kumar Sampradaya. All these four Acharyas are bonafide preachers of the pure transcendental philosophy dealing with the problems of the world, the living entities and the Almighty God who is the Father of the creation as well as the living entities who are falsely trying to dominate over the creation and the controlling energy known as the material Nature.

 

Sree Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj happened to be the tenth generation in the line of disciplic succession from Lord Chaitanya who accepted Srila Iswar Puri as His spiritual Master. Srila Madhabendra Puri was the spiritual Master of Srila Iswar Puri and He (Sri Madhabendra Puri) belonged to be in the disciplic succession from Madhyacharya who was direct disciple of Sree Vyasdeva. The Spiritual Master of Srila Vyasdeva was Srila Narada Muni who was directly initiated by Brahma the originator of the Brahma Sampradaya and therefore my spiritual Master Sree Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj belonged to the transcendental spiritual school of philosophy of the Brahma Sampradaya linking Brahma to Vyasdeva; from Him to Madhyacharya, from Madhyacharya to Lord Chaitanya and from Lord Chaitanya to Himself in a systematic principle of disciplic succession as stated in Bhagavad-gita.

 

As a bonafide Acharya of the Brahma-Madhya-Gaudiya Sampradaya the mission of Sree Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami was to re-establish the pure form of theism as propounded by Lord Chaitanya in the line of His predecessors. Lord Chaitanya preached only the teachings of Bhagwat Geeta in the most practical way to suit the present environment created by the dark age of quarrel and fight. In the latter-age calculated to be two hundred years before the advent of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj many pseudo-spiritualistic parties in the name of Lord Chaitanya grew up like mushrooms to exploit the noble sentiment of spiritualism of the innocent people of Earth. Such pseudo-spiritualistic parties deviated poles asunder from the preaching of Lord Chaitanya because they were unfit to undergo the disciplic regulations and as such they had mitigated a via-media principle of rotten materialistic idea with pure spiritualism. They misunderstood the highest form of worship contemplated by the Gopies of Brindaban in the transcendental loving pastimes of Lord Shree Krishna and misidentified the spiritual process with a materialistic idea of erotic principle. As such the highest principle Rashlila stated in the Bhagwat to be understood and relished at the stage of the Paramhansas was made a plaything by such pseudo parties are known as the Oal, Baoul, Nera, Karta Bhaja, Sain, Darbesi Sakhi-vekhi, Sahajia, Caste Goswamins, Caste Brahmins and so on. These pseudo parties passed as the disciples of Lord Chaitanya with their cheap nefarious activities and of all the above parties the Sahajias and the Caste Goswamins became the most obstinate obstructors to the onward progress of the universal movement of Lord Chaitanya.

 

The Philosophy of Lord Chaitanya was that God is One without a second. He is known as Shree Krishna but His incarnations such as Rama Nrisingha are all identical with Him. The living entities or Jivas are qualitatively one with Godhead but quantitatively they are innumerable but eternal servitors of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The present materialistic activities of the Jivas are to be understood as the acts of Maya or illusion and therefore they are all waste of energy of the human being. The energy of the human being as also of other living being should therefore be directed under the bonafide regulations of the Acharya so the line of Lord Chaitanya and as such He vehemently protested against the principles of those pseudo transcendentalists now passed in the name of Lord Chaitanya.

 

Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode initiated the reformatory movement by literary contributions while he was still engaged as a high Government Officer. During his householder life and serving as a Magistrate he wrote books of various descriptions in Bengali, English, Sanskrit & etc. to present an actual picture of pure devotional activities of Lord Chaitanya. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj got inspiration from his very Childhood all about Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode's movement. As a matter of fact out of all his other son's Srila Saraswati Thakur practically worked as the private secretary of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur as such Bhaktivinode Thakur gave Him (Srila Saraswati Thakur) the transcendental Power of Attorney to espouse the cause of Lord Chaitanya and so after Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur's departure--Srila Saraswati Thakur took up reins of that reformatory movement.

 

The first and foremost task of Srila Saraswati Thakur was to excavate the holy birth-place of Lord Chaitanya at Sreedham Mayapur in the district of Nadia in West Bengal. To substantiate this preliminary act of His great future movement Srila Saraswati Thakur had to face tremendous difficulties offered by the caste goswamins at Nabadwip--because they apprehended a lawyer in that initial movement. The caste goswamins were exploiting and still are exploiting the religious sentiments of the common people in the name of Lord Chaitanya and presented themselves as so called relative and descendants of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda. Factually Lord Chaitanya or for the matter of that Lord Nityananda accepted nobody as their relative or kinsmen who were not devotee of the Lord. On the contrary Lord Chaitanya accepted Thakur Haridas, who happened to come out of a Mohammedan family, as the Namacharya or the most powerful authority for preaching the samkirtan movement which Lord Chaitanya inaugurated so arduously.

 

Lord Chaitanya, as it is stated in the Bhagwat Geeta or in other authentic scriptures, wanted to re-establish the Vaishnava Dharma on the real basis of spiritualism. He never deprecated the natural caste system but neither He approved of the birth-right caste system, which has degenerated into slut of anachronism. Lord Chaitanya opined that anyone who is well conversant with the philosophy of the Absolute Truth Shree Krishna, never mind what he is either a born Brahmin or Sudra or in the Ashram of a Sanyasi or Grihastha, is perfectly competent to act in the role of Spiritual Master. And He practically demonstrated this fact during His preaching work.

 

The caste goswamins assisted by the other pseudo-transcendentalists made a clique to check up the universal movement of Lord Chaitanya and made a business of dispatching those foolish followers to the kingdom heaven after having drawing a lumpsum amount for this priestcraft hooliganism.

 

Sree Sreemad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj wanted to check up this pseudo-spiritualistic activities of the so-called followers of Lord Chaitanya and present the actual thing for acceptance by the general public religionists and modern philosophers for a critical study of the sublime gift of Lord Chaitanya. It is the honest belief of Srila Saraswati Thakur that people in general, modern philosophers and thinkers as also the religionists will be struck with wonder when they seriously make a study of the gift of Lord Chaitanya.

 

What was thought by modern leaders like Gandhi and Rabindranath was long long before thought by Lord Chaitanya not as a public leader of political aspiration but as the Father of all living entities. The movement of Lord Chaitanya is generally known as the Samkirtan movement which is a transcendental process of self-realisation by removing the dust of materialism on the mirror of human intelligence. The present problem confronting the human civilization is due to lack of a proper introspection of the goal of human knowledge.

 

 

[krsna]

The name of Krishna on the lips of the supreme Lord (Sri Caitanya) had the power of making all persons, who heard it, realize the truth of whom they had been told by the scriptures. This was a most marvelous experience.

In this Iron Age it is only the name of Krishna appearing on lips of a bona fide sadhu who can lift the conditioned soul to the plane of the absolute. As a matter of fact even the scriptures also can only faintly describe the personality Godhead. The mere study of the scriptures can convey no full knowledge of the absolute as substantive entity. The name Krishna has the power to put the person on the absolute plane and endow the words of the revealed scriptures with their living meaning.

 

On the plane of the absolute all entities serve Godhead in infinite variety of forms and run harmoniously into, instead of clashing against, one another. Division of the person who once hears the name of Krishna undergoes this marvelous change. He can only then really believe in Godhead because he understands and sees whom he is to serve. He becomes in the substantive sense a bona fide theist or Vaisnava. - Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati

 

[Guest guest]

A Few Glimpses of the Lotus Feet of Srila Bhaktididdhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada

By

His Divine Grace Om Visnupad Srila Bhakti Promod Puri Goswami

Once Srila (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura) Prabhupada was viewing the Deities of Sri-Sri Guru Gauranga-Gandharvika-Giridhari at the Sri Caitanya Math, standing on the front porch of the temple. The door of that temple is not very wide and Srila Prabhupada did not have his glasses on.

Standing next to him was one of his dear disciples. The disciple thought perhaps Prabhupada could not view the Deities very well through the narrow doorway. He said, "Prabhupad, this doorway is not very wide. So it is not possible to view the Deities very well from inside." Hearing this, Prabhupad smiled, and he said for the benedit of all of us, "We should not think of the Supreme Lord as an object of our vision. Instead we should meditate on the thought of how we can acquire some qualifications so we can become worthy objects of His vision. We should think about whether He wants to see us, and whether He will want to reveal Himself to us.

 

atah sri-sri krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam-indriyaih

sevonmukhe-hi jihvadau svayam-eva spuratyadah

 

(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, "The holy name, form, qualities, and pastimes of Sri Krishna are divine and transcendental. They cannot be experienced by material senses. The Lord manifests Himself spontaneously on the tongue of a devotee who is eager to serve Him." Just as a devotee waits to see the Lord with great patience and eagerness, sometimes the Lord also waits with great patience and eagerness to see His devotee. It is described in the Caitanya-caritamrta how the hidden Deity of Gopal in Vrindavan was waiting for His beloved devotee, Sri Madhavendra Puri.

 

bahu-dina tomara patha kari niriksana

kabe asi madhava ama karibe sevana

(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madya-lila 4.39)

 

For many days I have been watching the road for you, and I have been wondering, 'When will Madhavendra Puri come here to serve Me?'" In this way the Supreme Lord, who succombs to His devotee's love, waits to see His devotee with great eagerness.

 

bhaktera dravya prabhu 'kari' kari' khaya

abhaktera dravya prabhu 'ulati' na caya

 

"The Lord will grab food from His devotee, but He will not even glance at anything given by a non-devotee." This is why the eagerness to serve Him in loving devotion has to be present.

 

Srila Prabhupada's loving devotion for the lotus feet of his Gurudev is beyond our comprehension. At one time he told us, "When I used to think that I was a big scholar of mathematics and philosophy, by my good fortune I got darshan of the lotus feet of Sri Gurudev. He ignored everything that was previously appreciated in me by others: my truthfulness, my moral and pious life, and scholarship, knowing them to be of little value. When he ignored whatever was good in me, I realized how good he himself was, he who could ignore so many "good qualities" in me; what inconceivable wealth there was in him. Being ignored by him, I realized that there was no one more fallen than me, more contemptible than me, and that this was my real identity. This great soul did not consider the things which I considered to be highly desirable, such as scholarship and pure moral character, to have any value. Then I realized what was in this great soul was absolutely priceless. I prayed very humbly to the Supreme Lord for His mercy. Later, by the mercy of the Supreme Lord, I realized that without receiving the mercy of this great soul and serving him, nothing good could happen to me.

 

When I realized that and acted accordingly, by taking shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Gurudev and by receiving his unlimited causeless mercy, I considered my life fulfilled. I have understood that if the people of the world do not receive the same jolt that I received from my Gurudev, then their consciousness will not awaken.

Therefore I am telling everyone, 'I am more stupid than anyone else in the world; please, all of you, do not be stupid like me. Do not live your life within the limitation of a calculating consciousness. Please enter the realm of the unlimited, and you will become very wealthy. I am only asking you to accept that which I have understood, by the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord, to be supremely beneficial.'

 

In another place he wrote, "Even after seeing Srila Gaur Kishore Das Babaji, many people, the immature and the clever, the young and the old, the scholarly and the foolish, those lacking devotion and those proud of their devotion, did not have the proper transcendental vision to see him. This is the transcendental power of a pure devotee. Hundreds of people came to him for his instruction, to fulfill their material desires. But that instruction was actually deceiving them. Many people take the garb of sadhus, and many people outwardly act like sadhus, but in reality, not only are they not sadhus, but they are very far from any sadhu. But there is no such impurity in my Lord. By his own example he demonstrated that purity was truth.

His genuine affection was incomparable to anything in this world. He had no dislike for his competitors or his enemies. Even to those who received his mercy, he did not demonstrate any external favor. He used to say "In this world there is no one who is the object of my liking or disliking. I consider everyone to be respectable."

Another inconceivable thing was that often deceitful, materialistic people whose mood was unfavorable to pure devotion, would surround my Gurudev without understanding his real position. They considered themselves objects of his affection yet kept their attachment to petty things. But he did not outwardly make any effort to get rid of them, nor did he accept them in any way.

 

On the 29th of October, 1934, Srila Prabhupad discovered the place of pilgrimage where Srila Rupa Goswami saw Sri Gopal in the village of Sati-gara in Mathura. I remember in 1935, starting from the 8th of October, Srila Prabhupad observed Sri Damodar-vrata on the bank of his beloved Sri Radha Kunda. Every day he gave lectures on Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Upanishads, and other holy scriptures. Every day he would circumambulate Sri Radha Kunda and would hear or talk about the eight daily pastimes (asta-kaliya-lila ). At this time, to properly serve Sri Vraja-mandal, he started regular meetings preaching the glories of Sri Vraja-Dham (Sri Vraja-Dham Pracarini Sabha ).

 

How much he loved talking about Krishna is inconceivable. He would talk about Him for hours on end, and if anyone asked or even gestured for Srila Prabhupad's prasad to be brought in, he would be displeased. There were times when his disciples requested him not to talk very much, being so instructed by experienced doctors. If anyone would ask him how he was, Srila Prabhupad would answer,

"I am fine. My only disease is that I am not allowed to talk about Krishna."

He use to say, "To wake up one sleeping soul, to make one conditioned soul aware of his real identity, one should be willing to give gallons of blood."

 

Srila Prabhupad was extremely affectionate to his disciples, and if he found out any one of them was bewildered by Maya he would shed tears. In confronting those who had a demoniac mentality, he was deadly like a thunderbolt. Yet in his loving relationships his heart was softer than a flower. In any of his Maths, if any of his servants had to face a difficulty due to lack of money, Srila Prabhupad used to take great care to send that money as soon as he heard about it. He could not bear the thought that a devotee had to undergo hardships due to lack of money. He used to become very concerned if he heard of any devotee being ill. His affection could not be compared with that of millions of fathers and mothers.

 

If we were ever sad and miserable, as soon as we sat near him, all sadness went away due to the shower of his unlimited affection. Even his chastisement seemed very sweet.

 

"Srila Prabhupad has chastised me," we would say with great pride, and considered ourselves to be very fortunate. All difficulties in our service were made worthwhile a million times over when we could see the signs of pleasure on his affectionate lotus face. What we felt can be expressed by this verse of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura in his book Sarangati:

 

tomarasevaya duhkha haya yata, seo ta' param sukha

seva-sukha-duhka parama sampada, nasaye avidya-duhkha

 

The suffering that comes from Your service is also our supreme happiness. Both the suffering and the happiness that come from Your service are our greatest treasure, and they destroy the miseries that come from ignorance.

 

If we could not properly perform some service which had been ordered by Srila Ourudev, it would cause us great sadness. Our service to Srila Gurudev seemed to consist of everything: devotion, worship, meditation, realization, austerity, and sacrifice. He was most dear to Krishna. Therefore, if we could somehow bring him some satisfaction, we considered that the highest fulfillment of our devotional practice.

 

If Srila Prabhupad went away from us for a few days, our hearts would ache in separation. We would think day and night, "When will he come back again?"

Alas! How many years have passed since he left this planet! How am I spending my days in this long separation from him? Why is my soul still living here? For the sake of what kind of happiness? Perhaps due to my offenses to the holy name and at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupad, my heart has become hard like a thunderbolt and it does not feel any pain anymore. If I really loved him, how could I live this worthless life here? 0 merciful lord, please protect this fallen servant of yours. Even though I'm so fallen, so sinful, and so deviated from the path of devotional service, please pick me up and put me at the shelter of your lotus feet.

 

Once you did give me shelter at your lotus feet, considering me the servant of the servant of your servants. We also got the assurance that if necessary, you would come here again and again to rescue the fallen souls, like myself. 0 merciful Gurudev, your heart is so full of affection! Please forgive all the offenses I have committed at your lotus feet, knowingly or unknowingly. The day before you left us, I clasped your lotus feet on my chest, and you looked at me with eyes full of affection. Please remember that. I am stupid, ignorant, bereft of scriptural knowledge; I do not know what is good or bad for me. Please correct me and make me worthy of your service. Please make me understand what my faults are and what my offenses are, so I will have the privilege of serving you.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said to Murari Gupta,

sei bhakta dhanya, ye na chare prabhura carana

sei prabhu dhanya, ye na chare nija-jana

durdaive sevaka yadi yaya anya sthane

sei thakura dhanya tare cule dhari ane

(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 4.46-47)

 

Glorious is that devotee who does not give up the shelter of his Lord, and glorious is that Lord who does not abandon his servant. If by chance, a servant falls down and goes somewhere else, glorious is that master who captures him and brings him back by the hair.

 

You gave me the Tulsi beads so I could offenselessly take the holy name. But alas, I am still indifferent to that. My worshipable Godbrothers, who are all my wellwishers, have set such examples for me by their own actions, but I was not inspired by that. I do not have the desire to take the holy name, what to speak of having love for the holy name. Have I been deprived of the mercy of the holy name due to my offenses at your lotus feet and the lotus feet of the Vaisnavas? 0 merciful Prabhupada, please give me love for the holy name. Please inspire me. Let those lotus feet of yours, which I had the good fortune to hold to my chest and which are more cooling than millions of moons, be installed and be worshipped in my heart for all eternity. This is my only prayer to you.

 

[krsna]

A SPECIAL RESIDENCE FOR THE LADY DEVOTEES

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

On 21 September 1925, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

 

Prabhupada gave a long lecture to the devotees assembled at the Gaudiya Math about how to lead an exemplary devotional life. An excerpt from that lecture follows:

 

 

All of you please perceive everything of this world as ingredients for serving Krishna; everything of this world is actually meant for Krishna’s service. Please see the whole race of women as beloved consorts of Krishna, and help them to always engage themselves in the service of Krishna. Please do not consider them as objects of your sense enjoyment. They are to be enjoyed by Krishna; they are never to be enjoyed by the living entities. Please do not see your fathers and mothers as a means to your own sense gratification, but see them as Krishna’s fathers and mothers. Please do not see your sons as a means to your own sense gratification, but see them as belonging to the group of servitors of Bala Gopala.

 

With your eyes, please see the kadamba tree, the river Yamuna and its sandy bank, and the beauty of the full moon. You won’t have anymore mundane feelings; you will see Goloka, and the beauty of Goloka will be manifest in your home. Then you won’t have any material feelings for your home. You will be relieved from the propensities of householder life.

 

Our maths are being built at many places,and many sannyāsīs, vānaprasthas, grhasthas and brahmacārīs are living there all the time and receiving the opportunity to learn spiritual conduct. But we have been trying for along time to also give the mothers [women]the opportunity for devotional service. Of course, those who have the facility and opportunity for devotional service in their own homes do not need a separate residence.

 

But very often we hear that many of them are impeded in their devotional service due to bad association. It will be very beneficial for them if we can build Sri Vishnupriya Palli [palli means“neighborhood”] in Sridham Mayapura, near the residence of Sriman Mahaprabhu, and they can live there separately from their families and render devotional service. They actually belong to the group of Sri Vishnupriya Devi [the wife of Mahaprabhu, who was left behind in Nabadwip when He took sannyāsa].

 

Therefore, it is proper for them to live in the house of Sriman Mahaprabhu and to serve Him under the shelter of Sri Vishnupriya Devi. There should not be any bad association or mundane male association for them there.

 

Only a few devotees like Ishan [the old devotee servant who took care of Sri Sachidevi and Sri Vishnupriya Devi after Mahaprabhu left] can stay at a distance and take care of them. It is necessary to have such an exemplary neighborhood so that the mothers[women] can read scripture every day, discuss devotional topics with each other, and have an . about devotional topics, so they can give up all luxury, live an exemplary, saintly life, al-ways chant the holy name, and take care of the ingredients of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s service and serve him in every way.