There Is No One Like My Guru :never develop any duplicity or crookedness in executing

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There Is No One Like My Guru

[From a Lecture given by Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaj, 7 April , l992, BBSR]

 

 

"The Gaudiya sampradaya, the parampara of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is a bona fide Vaisnava sampradaya. One should accept the instructions which are coming from the acaryas in this parampara as it is and practice them in one's life. Then You will get the mercy of Mahaprabhu. With a simple heart, that is krsna-seva. We are not speaking anything pseudo-sampradayist. We should not hear the words of pseudo-sampradayists. When Mahaprabhu ordered, "You become guru and deliver this world," that instruction has come unto my guru, Srila Prabhupada, and my guru gave me this same order. So I will never develop any duplicity or crookedness in executing this order.

 

That means I will never come in murkha--sampradaya or kapatya-sampradaya or phalgu-sampradaya, the school of fools, hypocrites and pretenders. I will never teach duplicity or crookedness to anybody. Those who are visayis, materialistic persons, are duplicitous, crooked, and envious, they come under pseudo-sampradaya. They are selfish persons. Those who are under the bonafide sampradaya coming from Gauranga Mahaprabhu, they are so powerful that they kick all such sampradayas. They are always twenty-four hours day and night engaged in loving service ot the lotus feet of Radha and Krsna, executing the order of their guru. They never desist from rendering pure service without duplicity, nikapata-seva. An acarya is natural, not pretending, he is not pretentious. He is not pretending as acarya. He is a natural acarya, not artificial. He is more humble than a blade of grass lying on the street and as tolerant as a tree. He gives respect to one and all, seeing Krsna in everybody and never demands respect for himself.

 

Our teachings which are coming through our parampara are true, coming form Mahaprabhu. They are our sadacara, our regulative principle. They are law for all humanity. And this law, this sadacara, has come down to us through parampara. If we disrespect it, if we don't execute it in our life, if we add any deliberation, if we twist it, then we will become offenders. We will commit offence by not obeying the orders of guru. Yes, namaparadha. Then we will be far away from the lotus feet of our guru. Guru will never keep us at his lotus feet. If, in order to execute, to obey the order of my guru, it is needed to become very proud, I will never hesitate to become very proud. If it is needed to become an animal, I will never hesitate to become an animal. If it is needed to go to hell for guru, I will never hesitate to do it. Do you follow me? That is how to execute the order of the guru. That is how to become a true follower of guru.

 

I will never hesitate to do it. I will never hear from anyone but my guru. Those who are saying something different form this teaching coming through bonafide parampara, coming from Mahaprabhu‹we will never listen to them. If somebody says something different, then like Bhimasena, with my fist, I will crush it. I will destroy it. I will defeat it. I am so proud. With just one speck of dust form the lotus feet of my guru, crores and crores of people of this world will be delivered. You should understand how powerful one little speck of dust of my guru's lotus feet is. There is no such a scholar as my guru. I will never accept anyone else as a scholar. There is no such teachings as those that my guru has imparted, to be found in any human being, or in any demigod. I know it very well. No one else can give such teachings. There is nothing in thiw world that is as heavy as a tiny speck of dust from the lotus feet of my guru. This is the follower of true parampara, I am following such parampara. This is the teaching, one should understand it very well.

 

Only Mahaprabhu gives prema. Mirabai got sayujya mukti, but we hate it. Gaudiya Vaisnavas hate it. We won't hear all these things. Get out from here! I am so proud, I will crush it with my fist! Entering into the body of the Lord, that was her desire. Jiva Goswami appreciated that she said that Krsna is the only male, but after that finish, chelo! Get out! Do you follow? Only Mahaprabhu gives prema, nobody else. It is a simple fact. Why are you making it complicated? It is very simple. Don't twist it, don't add any deliberation to it. As it is. This s most important. It appears contradictory but in tattva there is on contradiction. You should understand in tattva. Apparent considerations are not tattva. Apparent considerations and absolute considerations‹apara vicara and tattva vicara. All our Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy is bassed on tattva vicara, not apara vicara."

 

[gHari]

As I read the short description of the life of Goura Govinda here, I was very humbled knowing I could never have done as he did in carving a temple out of the jungles of scorpions and crawling beasties. Now I see how he did it. This story gave me great strength. Thank you for posting it, Gopaldas.

 

gHari

[Guest guest]

“…I can remember, from when I was very young, my grandfather and father and all my uncles, they had sikha, tilaka and wore kanthi-mala, they were all Vaisnavas and they were always chanting Hare Krsna.”

 

-- Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja

 

 

The Appearance of a Vaisnava

 

 

The birth of Vaisnava is unlike the birth of a conditioned soul; he takes his birth under the auspices of the Supreme Lord; he is not forced by the illusory energy (maya) to appear in this material world:

 

Na karma-bandhanam janma vaisnavanam ca vidyate

Visnur anucaratvam hi moksam ahur manisinah

 

“A Vaisnava does not take birth under the jurisdiction of karmic law. His birth and disappearance are transcendental. The wise have declared that the servants of Visnu are eternally engaged in the liberated service of the Lord and hence are free from the laws of material nature.”1

 

ataeva vaisnavera janma mrtyu nai

sange aisena, sange yayena tathai

dharma, karma, janma vaisnavera kabhu nahe

padma-puranete iha vyakta kari’ kahe

 

“The Padma Purana has said; Vaisnavas do not undergo birth and death like ordinary persons. They appear and disappear within this world of their own accord. In this way sometimes we have their association and sometimes their association is withdrawn. The devotees are not subject to any worldly considerations of duty and karma.”

 

The Divine Appearance

 

Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja made his appearance in the village of Jagannathpur, in the district of Cuttack, in the state Orissa, India. Jagannathpur is approximately eighty-five kilometers from Bhubaneswar, the state capital, fifty-five kilometers from the city of Cuttack and fifteen kilometers from Gadai Giri. He was born on the second of September 1929 at 7:30 am*. This day fell one week after Janmastami (The holy appearance day of Lord Krsna) and one week prior to Radhastami (The holy appearance day of the Lord’s eternal consort Srimati Radharani). Having performed auspicious ceremonies (samskaras) according to the Vedic tradition, his begot their first son, whom they named Brajabandhu. At the time of his divine appearance the karatalas rang and the mrdangas beat a thunderous sound as they combined in kirtana to joyfully celebrate the birth in the family of kirtaniyas from Gadai Giri. Gadai Giri village was replete with the sound of the holy name and in Jagannathpur the infant Brajabandhu was nestled up against his mother sound asleep.

His father was Isvara Manik (dasa) and his mother was Pata Dei Giri. Both were born in families who had a long-standing Vaisnava tradition. His mother’s family were the residents of the famous Gadai Giri village, the descendants of the famous Gopal Giri.[ To be continued...]

 

 

[Guest guest]

Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja: "I can remember, from when I was very young, my grandfather and father and all my uncles, they had sikha, tilaka and wore kanthi-mala, they were all Vaisnavas and they were always chanting Hare Krsna. After bathing they would put on Vaisnava tilaka, they were all Vaisnavas."

 

At home his life revolved around the service of the Supreme Lord, with both his parents and all of their relatives constantly engaged in service to the family deities.

 

As devotees, the Manik family and the Giri family had great faith in the words of Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the ancient Vedic scriptures of India. Every evening the Giri family would read one chapter of the Srimad-Bhagavatam after holding kirtana at the Sri Sri Radha-Gopala Jiu temple. Reading from the sacred scriptures was included as part of their puja, or their daily worship. In such ideal Vaisnava circumstances Brajabandhu took his birth.

 

[Guest guest]

“…From the beginning of his childhood he had a great attraction for Gopala Jiu; no strange incidents happened in his childhood,

as Gopala Jiu was always present to protect him. The Lord was always taking care of him. The child had great faith in the deity

and Gopala Jiu protected His dear devotee.”

-Dhobani Dei, cousin-sister of Srila Gour Govinda Swami

 

 

Brajabandhu And The Astrologer

 

A renowned, blind astrologer named Nityananda Khadiratna came to Gadai Giri from Dhenkanal and stayed there for two days. Whilst there he met Brajabandhu who was a small child at the time, and his mother; they were both staying at Brajabandhu’s uncle’s house at Gadai Giri. Pata Dei took her son to the astrologer, wanting to know about her son’s future. The astrologer said, “This boy is full devotion and he is very intelligent. He will marry and obtain government service. When he is in his middle age he will give up family life and become a sadhu. He will attain high knowledge and an important place in the line of sadhus. He will build temples. He will make Gopala’s place bright.” The astrologer then said, “Krsna (God) Himself has sent this child from His own abode—nitya dhama—to this material world for preaching His message and to deliver the fallen conditioned souls.”

 

Brajabandhu’s Spotless Character

 

From a very young age Brajabandhu had certain characteristics that young children don’t usually have. If he didn’t have anything sensible to say then he would not speak; he was always very sober, he never disturbed, provoked, annoyed or irritated anyone; mischief was not in his character. His older cousin, Dhobani Dei, felt that the boy was the incarnation Yudhisthira Maharaja*, as he was so honest and truthful. He was not your ordinary child. If the other children were mischievous he would keep his distance from them, and from a very young age he developed a very deep attachment for Gopala Jiu, the deity from Gadai Giri. According to his cousin Dhobani Dei, “I would hold him as a baby, from the age of one year old, because at that time his mother was bringing him here, to Gadai Giri, on a regular basis. He was very sober, very innocent, he did not speak anything to anyone, as a child he was very silent and he did not speak any nonsense! From the beginning of his childhood he had a great attraction for Gopala Jiu. No strange incidents happened in his childhood, as Gopala Jiu was always present to protect him. The Lord was always taking care of him. The child had great faith in the deity and Gopala Jiu protected His dear devotee.”

 

Not An Ordinary Child

 

Brajabandhu’s life was no means ordinary. His grandfather, Bauribandhu Giri, who was a great kirtaniya and a great devotee, taught him how to count on his fingers by chanting Hare Krsna. His grandfather would hold out his hand and Brajabandhu would make an attempt to hit the hand of his grandfather. But his grandfather would pull his hand away and Brajabandhu would miss and sometimes hit the floor. Recalling these events, Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja would become like a small child telling a story, breaking out in laughter.

 

In telling about his childhood Srila Gour Govinda Swami said, “The first thing that I could remember as a child were the songs of Narottama dasa Thakura sung by my uncles from Gadai Giri. My uncles knew kirtana, they were great kirtaniyas.” This was no ordinary childhood and no ordinary occurrence or birth.

 

Young Brajabandhu didn’t like to wrestle and play rough games with his cousins. Once his cousin brother forced him to play and wrestle but Brajabandhu said, “I will not play; my legs and hands may be broken.” On another occasion his cousin brothers tried to force Brajabandhu to steal guavas from next door neighbor’s orchard, but he refused and said, “Tell our mother and she will go to the neighbor’s house and ask for guavas but I will not steal them.” But his cousins didn’t agree, they forced him to climb the tree. Brajabandhu stayed on the lowest branch whilst his cousins were on the higher branches eating the stolen guavas. At that time Brajabandhu’s mother came out and she was worried about her son, but he said to her, “Mother, do not worry; I am not climbing the tree, I am here at the bottom of the tree on the lowest branch.” He would not steal the guavas nor would he eat the stolen guavas

[Guest guest]

Bhajana-Kirtana From a Very Young Age

 

Brajabandhu’s mother and father were very fond of studying and reading the scriptures. They would regularly read to their son. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja recalls, “I would regularly listen to Krsna-katha from my parents, they would read different puranas to me and other Vedic literature-Srimad-Bhagavatam, Mahabharata etc. such an opportunity I received at such an early age! From when I was young I was singing, dancing, doing kirtana and listening to Srimad-Bhagavatam.” His father would read to Brajabandhu from Srimad-Bhagavatam. Completing all twelve cantos once a year. By the age of eleven Brajabandhu had heard Srimad-Bhagavatam six times.

From about the age of five, Brajabandhu would travel in the company of his uncles, the stalwarts of kirtana from the village of Gadai Giri, and they would go from village performing kirtana and also singing the songs of the Vaisnava-acaryas. Young Brajabandhu would sing, play karatalas and sometimes dance ecstatically in the kirtana.

 

 

Karana-vedha-samskara

 

In Vedic culture, at the age of five, the ear piercing ceremony is performed for the boys and the girls. This was not done for fashion but a spiritual process, another of the samskaras. This also was performed for Brajabandhu by his parents.

Srila Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja: At the age of five or six, the young boys have their ears pierced, and once the piercing is done some wood—neem wood—is placed in the hole so that there is no infection. This is one of the samskaras—karana-vedha-samskara. If this is done at a very young age, then no material sound vibration will ever enter the ears, only the spiritual sound vibration will enter the ears. This my parents did for me. They pierced my ears with a needle and it hurt, but at that time my ears were very soft.

 

As the ears pierced the priest performing the ceremony chants a mantra in the ear of the child and that transcendental sound vibration will stay with the child forever. Usually the piercing is done with a needle.

From the age of five, as a part of his education, Brajabandhu was reading the Oriya Bhagavatam written by Madhusudana Rama. It is a poetry book. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja described it, “Some small sentences and some poetry. All spoke about the love of Godhead and spoke of Isvara, that everything came from Isvara the Supreme Lord, the Supreme controller.”

When Brajabandhu was five years of age Gopala Jiu came to him in a dream and said, “There are two men stealing Me. Please come and help Me. I will keep them here until you come.” Young Brajabandhu then went and woke up his grandfather and together they rushed to the temple. Gopala Jiu was not there; after some time they found Gopala Jiu in a nearby field. They also found the two men who tried to steal Gopala Jiu; they were both suffering from a serious case of diarrhea. From six years of age, Brajabandhu worshipped the deity of Gopala by making garlands and sometimes, under the light of candles, singing hymns of Him from palm-leaf manuscripts. Brajabandhu would never take any food (prasada) which had not first been offered to his beloved deities Sri Sri Radha-Gopala Jiu.