disappearance day - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT2024-03-19T03:31:50Zhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/disappearance+daySri Isvara Puri’s Disappearance Day by Giriraj Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sri-isvara-puri-s-disappearance-day-by-giriraj-swami2024-03-07T07:30:00.000Z2024-03-07T07:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3874176342,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3874176342,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3874176342?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300" /></a></p>
<p>Today is the disappearance day of Sri Isvara Puri. He was such a perfect disciple of Sri Madhavendra Puri that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Krishna Himself, was pleased to accept him as his spiritual master. Later, Lord Chaitanya visited Isvara Puri’s birthplace at Kumara-hatta and collected some earth from the birth site, which He kept very carefully and ate a small portion of daily. Thus He showed us how a faithful disciple worships a spiritual master who has faithfully served his spiritual master perfectly.</p>
<p>On this auspicious occasion, we pray that Sri Isvara Puri and his disciple Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will bless us with devotion to the spiritual master.</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=18643">https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=18643</a></p></div>Sri Isvara Puri Disappearance Day by Ramai Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sri-isvara-puri-disappearance-day-by-ramai-swami2024-03-07T06:30:00.000Z2024-03-07T06:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10968785270,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10968785270?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="231" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10968785479,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10968785479?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="207" /></p>
<p>Srimad Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami writes: “All glories to Madhavendra Puri, the storehouse of all Krishna-prema! He is a desire tree of bhakti, and it is to him that the seed of bhakti first fructified. The seed of Krishna-prema next fructified in the for of Sri Ishvara Puri, and then the gardener himself, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, became the main trunk of the tree of bhakti.</p>
<p>Isvara Puri was born in the town of Kumara Hatta on the full moon day of the month of Jyestha to a family of Brahmins hailing from Rarha. Ishvara Puri is a sannyas name. His name prior to taking sannyas is unknown. His father’s name was Shyamasundara Acharya.</p>
<p>Ishvara Puri took initiation from Madhavendra Puri, the embodiment of nectarine devotional love. Madhavendra Puri was pleased with Ishvara Puri’s guileless, sincere and loving service and thus showered him with blessings, so that he too became immersed in the ocean of love for Kṛṣṇa.</p>
<p>Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and has no need of any teacher. Even so, He wishes to teach the world that it is absolutely necessary to take shelter of a bonafide spiritual master. For this reason, He played the role of a disciple by taking initiation from Ishvara Puri when He met him at Gaya. This in itself shows beyond a doubt Ishvara Puri’s greatness and importance.</p>
<p>Then the Lord went to Gaya where he met Ishvara Puri. After taking initiation from him, He started to display the signs of love of God, and when He returned to His homeland He began to engage in the pastimes of divine love. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.17.8-9)</p>
<p>Ishava Puri had met Mahaprabhu in Nabadwip even prior to giving him the ten-syllable mantra in Gaya. He also met with Advaita Acharya, who had similarly played the role of Madhavendra Puri’s disciple. Vrindavan Das Thakur has described this meeting in the Chaitanya Bhagavata.</p>
<p>Once, Ishava Puri passed through Nabadwip when Nimai was still engaged in His pastimes as a student. He stayed there for a few months in the house of Gopinath Acharya as his guest.</p>
<p>One day he saw Nimai and was most impressed and attracted by His bodily beauty. Nimai invited Ishava Puri to his house to eat and had His mother Sachi cook and serve Him Krishna prasad. Then He and Ishvara Puri began talking about Krishna.</p>
<p>Before he left this world, Ishvara Puri sent two of his disciples, Kashisvara and Govinda, to serve Mahaprabhu. Even though they were His godbrothers, Mahaprabhu still obeyed the order of His spiritual master and accepted them as His servants.</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10968785494,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10968785494?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="194" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10968785875,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10968785875?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="199" /><br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.ramaiswami.com/sri-isvara-puri-disappearance/">http://www.ramaiswami.com/sri-isvara-puri-disappearance/</a></p></div>Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s Appearance Day and HH Gour Govinda Swami’s Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-bhaktisiddhanta-sarasvati-thakura-s-appearance-day-and-hh-g2024-02-29T10:30:00.000Z2024-02-29T10:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><strong><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8626354267,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8626354267?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="400" /><br /> <br /> By Giriraj Swami</strong></p>
<p>Today is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada’s appearance day. We have heard about His Divine Grace already. Today is also the disappearance day of HH Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja. He left on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance day.</p>
<p>I remember the first time we celebrated Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s appearance day. I was a new devotee in Boston temple in early 1970, and Srila Prabhupada instructed us how to observe the appearance day of the spiritual master in the ceremony called Vyasa-puja. Up until then there had never been any observance of Vyasa-puja in ISKCON. Apart from the actual ceremony on that day, when one offers bhoga and puspanjali and guru-puja, Srila Prabhupada instructed us to write appreciations or homages for his guru maharaja. We collected and published them. I was so new in Krishna consciousness I didn’t know much about His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura but I thought about him deeply and I had two realizations, two thoughts. First, he must have been a most wonderful personality because someone as great as Srila Prabhupada surrendered to him. And second, it was by his mercy that we came in touch with Srila Prabhupada and Krishna consciousness. He gave Srila Prabhupada the instruction to preach Krishna consciousness in the English language in the Western world, and in accordance with his divine instructions Srila Prabhupada came to America to deliver all of us. So I felt great appreciation for His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and gratitude to him.</p>
<p>Today I thought to focus more on His Holiness Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja, who may be less known to many of you. HH Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja was born in a Vaishnava family in Orissa. His family were Gaudiya Vaishnavas—worshippers of Krishna—and they worshipped the family Deity named Gopal Jiu. So Gour Govinda Maharaja grew up in that atmosphere hearing Caitanya-caritamrta, singing songs of Narottama dasa Thakura and Bhaktivinoda Thakura and worshiping Gopal Jiu. In due course, as was the custom, he married. He was educated in Hindi and other languages and other subjects. To maintain his family he taught in school as a school teacher. But within his heart, his desire to serve the Lord fully without any distraction grew stronger and stronger and, as noted in his diary, he began to pray to his Deity to relieve him of the encumbrance of family responsibility and free him—to preach and serve Krishna fully.</p>
<p>In response to his sincere desire and prayers the circumstances became such that he was able to leave the family. He adopted the name Gour Gopal and began to travel like a sannyasi although officially he was not initiated into the sannyasa order. But he began to travel as a mendicant and at the same time he was looking for a spiritual master who could properly enlighten him and engage him in devotional service. One event led to another and he came to Vrindavan to the Krishna-Balarama temple. At the Krishna-Balarama temple he wanted to meet Srila Prabhupada, the great person who had spread Krishna consciousness all over the world and made persons from outside India into pure Vaishnavas. Eventually he did meet His Divine Grace and at the very first meeting Srila Prabhupada asked him if he would like to take sannyasa. At that moment Gour Govinda Maharaja, then Gour Gopal, realized that Srila Prabhupada was his spiritual master—he knew his heart—and could help him to fulfill his spiritual desires.</p>
<p>So, Gour Gopal accepted Srila Prabhupada as his spiritual master, and soon thereafter Srila Prabhupada initiated him. Srila Prabhupada gave him his first and second initiation and, within six months, at the opening of the Krishna-Balaram temple in Vrindavan, sannyasa. Because Gour Govinda Maharaja was educated, Srila Prabhupada wanted Maharaja to translate his books into Oriya, and Maharaja took that service very seriously. He was regularly translating, but specifically for Srila Prabhupada’s Centennial in 1996 he wanted to complete the entire Srimad-Bhagavatam and took a vow not to take food until he had translated his quota for the day—perhaps one hour. And he was so strict in his vow that even when he couldn’t translate because of circumstances, such as when he would travel on long flights overseas, even then he would not eat until he had completed his quota, even if it was late at night. So, he took that order to translate very seriously.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada also wanted him to establish a temple in Bhubaneswar. Somebody had given us some land that at the time was in the wilderness. The area was completely overgrown and infested with snakes, mosquitoes, scorpions, and other creatures. Gour Govinda Maharaja took up the challenge, took up the order, took up the service, and lived in extremely austere conditions. Srila Prabhupada predicted that one day that area would become the center of the city and so it came to pass. Sometime later the government decided to run a major highway right past the property that we had been given. And naturally along the highway shops came up, residences came up, and now that area is the fastest growing area in Bhubaneswar, and a major location. In time HH Gour Govinda Maharaja did raise the funds and built the beautiful temple there. In 1977 after the Maha-kumbha-mela in Allahabad Srila Prabhupada himself went to Bhubaneswar to stay on the land. Gour Govinda Maharaja was living in a grass hut where he would do his bhajana and his translation work and Srila Prabhupada stayed right next to him in another grass hut or an extension of the same grass hut for seventeen days.</p>
<p>On the auspicious occasion of Sri Nityananda-trayodasi Srila Prabhupada laid the cornerstone for the temple. He also completed an important phase of his own writing in Bhubaneswar, maybe the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In any case, after Srila Prabhupada left, Gour Govinda Maharaja was ready to execute another important instruction from Srila Prabhupada to him that he should travel and help Prabhupada’s devotees. So he began to travel overseas and preach. Seeing the needs of the society and the needs of the devotees he evolved in mission in pursuance of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions to him. His mission in his own words were:</p>
<p>(1) To show that everything is in Srila Prabhupada’s books,<br /> (2) To show that you can get everything within ISKCON, and<br /> (3) To encourage the devotees and protect them so that they don’t fall down,<br /> go away.</p>
<p>Gour Govinda Maharaja said that Srila Prabhupada books are like an ocean filled with gems but that in order to get those gems one must go very deep. Gour Govinda Maharaja’s own books, which are actually compiled from his talks by his disciples, especially Madhavananda Prabhu . . . His talks are all classes based on Srila Prabhupada’s books, and in them he reveals just what gems there are in Srila Prabhupada’s books and that one can get from Srila Prabhupada’s books the highest realizations of Krishna consciousness. They are expressions of what is our relationship with God and how to act in that relationship and how to actually realize love for God—Krishna.</p>
<p>In a similar way he showed that you can get everything within ISKCON and he himself gave much to the society of devotees in ISKCON in terms of his krsna-katha and his realization of Krishna consciousness. He was an example of a pure devotee who had ecstatic love for Krishna and who had direct perception of Krishna. From his liberated platform of pure devotional service he could guide and encourage and enlighten us and also give us hope that if we follow the same process as disciples of Srila Prabhupada or followers of Srila Prabhupada we can also attain the same result.</p>
<p>I have had the opportunity to hear other advanced Gaudiya Vaishnavas from outside ISKCON speak about Krishna, krsna-katha, and I can honestly say that the level of krsna-katha spoken by Gour Govinda Maharaja is as high or as good as any of them. But hearing from Gour Govinda Maharaja is different because he is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a member of ISKCON. So we are getting it in our line, in the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada. Therefore it is most congenial for advancement in Krishna consciousness in ISKCON. Hearing from him or reading his books, one actually can get everything that one could ever want right within ISKCON. And the result of his association, through his talks and books and followers, is that one can feel very enlivened in Krishna consciousness, be greatly nourished and make tangible progress, what to speak of not falling down and going away. One can get a glimpse of the actual perfection of Krishna consciousness and have hope that one can actually reach the goal in this lifetime by following the process of bhakti-yoga given to us in our line from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to Srila Prabhupada and then to his followers.</p>
<p>So HH Gour Govinda Maharaja is significant not only to those who knew him personally but to those who serve in Orissa where he had his base which was actually given to him as his prabhu-datta-desa by Srila Prabhupada. His instructions are available to all of us even now and his mercy is available to us.</p>
<p>Now we come to his disappearance pastimes. It was on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance day in Mayapur in 1996. That morning I met him and fortunately I offered my obeisances to him. I placed my head on his feet, and out of his mercy and kindness he very affectionately rubbed my back and head. And that was the last time I saw him. For certain reasons I was obliged to leave Mayapur on that day to fly to America for some urgent business, and so I went. After offering my obeisances to him and packing and getting ready for the journey I went to the temple room around noon for the puspanjali and guru-puja in honor of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s Vyasa-puja and took darshan of the Deities, took blessings from the Deities, and prepared to go. Some devotees prevailed upon me to honor the feast offered to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, which I did, and still I reached the airport in Calcutta in plenty of time. But it wasn’t until much later—because where I was in America I had no opportunity to get news about ISKCON. I didn’t have a computer, or if I did I was just starting to use it and wasn’t very regular. It was only later when I met His Holiness Radhanath Swami in Chicago that I received the news that he had left this world.</p>
<p>It so happened that later on the day of Maharaja’s departure, two senior devotees came to meet him in his room, and inquired why Lord Chaitanya chose Jagannatha Puri as the place to perform His final pastimes. Maharaja began to narrate the pastimes of Krishna and how Krishna in the mood of separation from Radharani and His other friends in Vrindavan assumed the form of Jagannatha. It was a very ecstatic description, and, because of Maharaja’s advanced stage of Krishna consciousness, he felt transcendental ecstasy remembering the pastimes of Krishna. He became overwhelmed and excused himself from continuing the narration. He laid down flat on his bed and in a very deep state of Krishna consciousness left this world.<br /> His disciples, of course, were greatly aggrieved feeling intense separation from him and they decided to bring his body to Bhubaneswar to place him in samadhi, at the site of his bhajana-kutira just near the Radha-Gopinatha temple that he established on ISKCON land in Bhubaneswar. So the disappearance day of an acharya is a sad occasion because we think of him and his wonderful association and we miss him. We miss his association. But at the same time, it is, from another point of view, not just a glorious occasion, but a jubilant occasion, because the pure soul has been reunited with the Supreme Soul as the eternal servant of Krishna and returned to his eternal service with Krishna. And certainly it is an occasion of great jubilation in the spiritual world. On the absolute platform, as Srila Prabhupada explained, there is no difference between meeting and separation—both are beautiful. Once on his Guru Maharaja’s disappearance day in Surat, Srila Prabhupada said that on the absolute platform the appearance of the spiritual master and the disappearance of the spiritual master are the same—both are beautiful. Just like the sunrise and the sunset—both are beautiful.</p>
<p>Now there is a very specific connection in service between HH Gour Govinda Maharaja and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Of course, there is a general connection in terms of the mission, in terms of the general mission. Srila Prabhupada explained that preaching means distributing books, establishing temples, and making devotees. So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura did all three and Srila Prabhupada also did all three and he wanted ISKCON to do all three. He wrote in his concluding words to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has formed to execute the will of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So all followers of Srila Prabhupada within ISKCON, whatever their particular service may be are furthering that mission which ultimately results in the publication and distribution of books, establishing and maintaining the temples, and the making and maintaining of devotees. But HH Gour Govinda Maharaja served Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in a very specific way as well. And that relates to the Deity and temple of Alalanatha outside Jagannatha Puri.</p>
<p>When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was residing in Puri for the last eighteen years of His manifest pastimes, He would daily go to the temple of Lord Jagannatha for darshan, and He would see Jagannatha not in the form that we see Him, but as Krishna Himself, Syamsundara, His beautiful threefold bending form, tribhanga-lalita. But every year Lord Jagannatha is bathed in the snana-yatra ceremony, and thereafter it is said that He catches a cold and is taken into seclusion for two weeks. And for those two weeks Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and all other devotees would be deprived of Jagannatha’s darshan. So, feeling separation from Lord Jagannatha, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would walk fourteen miles to Brahmagiri to the temple of Alalanatha. The Alalanatha Deity is a four-handed Vishnu form of the Lord that was installed by Lord Brahma many ages ago, and thus that area is called Brahmagiri. So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would spend the fourteen days when Lord Jagannatha was in seclusion (anasara) at Alalanatha, and daily He would take darshan of the Deity Alalanatha.</p>
<p>As it happened over the course of time, the temple structure grew old and was in need of repair and renovations. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura came to Alalanatha in 1927 he took up the project of renovating the temple and he was so keen on the work being done expeditiously that he would personally roll bidis (cigarettes) for the workers so that they wouldn’t take time to roll their own bidis, take time away from their work on the temple renovation to roll their own bidis. That’s how sincere and intent he was in his purpose. In the course of a previous excavation, workers came upon the utsava Deity of Lord Alalanatha. In all major temples where there are large Deities, there are also smaller Deities called utsava Deities, which are used for festivals. The large Deities are never moved but the small utsava Deities may be handled conveniently and brought forward for abhiseka, taken on a procession, and put on swings and other things that the large Deities cannot move, cannot do. So the pujari put the utsava Deity of Alalanatha on the altar but that night the Deity came to him in his dream and told him that, “My very dear devotee is staying nearby and I want to go to him, I want to be in his care, I want him to worship Me.”</p>
<p>The next morning, the pujari, in obedience to the order of the Deity in the dream searched the area looking for the saintly person and eventually he found Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and gave the Deity to him. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta constructed a beautiful temple for the Deities of Alalanatha on the land just next to the Alalanatha temple compound.</p>
<p>HH Gour Govinda Maharaja also took up service at Brahmagiri for Lord Alalanatha. For the Srila Prabhupada Centennial he wanted to build something and decided to build a kirtan hall within the Alalanatha temple compound, which was much needed. And he did. It opened in the Srila Prabhupada Centennial year in 1996 and so he continued this specific line of service of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to Alalanatha.</p>
<p>Another service that His Holiness Gour Govinda Maharaja did for Lord Jagannatha was that he created a forest of trees to be used for constructing Lord Jagannatha’s chariot for Ratha-yatra every year. Lord Jagannatha’s chariots are huge and they require huge amounts of wood to be constructed. According to shastra and tradition, the wood must be of a certain type of tree. That tree grows very slowly and with the advent of Kali-yuga the forest of those trees has been encroached upon. The supply of that kind of wood has been reduced to such an extent that it appeared that within a number of years there wouldn’t be enough wood to build Lord Jagannatha’s chariots. So His Holiness Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja took up the project. The government gave him the land because they were also concerned, and with the help of his disciples and supporters he started growing a forest of these trees to produce wood for Lord Jagannatha’s chariots. The production of the wood has been so successful that now there is no immediate threat, no immediate danger that they won’t have enough of the prescribed kind of wood for Lord Jagannatha’s chariot. So HH Gour Govinda Maharaja is a great personality, munificent personality.</p>
<p>He did much not just for Prabhupada and ISKCON and the devotees of ISKCON in a limited sense but for the entire sampradaya and in fact for the larger cause of Krishna consciousness of devotional service to Lord Krishna, to Lord Jagannatha. Through his speeches and his books he explained the esoteric significance of Jagannatha Puri, of Alalanatha, of Lord Jagannatha: that Jagannatha Puri is a place of separation. Lord Jagannatha feels separation from Srimati Radharani and His other friends in Vrindavan and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in the mood of Radharani after Krishna left Vrindavan for Mathura and Dvaraka, is also in the mood of separation. So Jagannatha is in separation of Srimati Radharani and His other friends in Vrindavan and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is in the mood of separation, Radharani feeling separation from Krishna after He left Vrindavan. So it is a place, bhumi, for separation, for crying, but as Srila Prabhupada taught us and as HH Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja has confirmed and fully explained in his books, service in separation is the highest, the ecstasy of love of God in separation is the highest. Therefore devotees relish that mood of separation, especially in Jagannatha Puri.</p>
<p>So we too are feeling separation from HH Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja today. We miss him. We miss his personal presence, his merciful glance, his affectionate touch, and we miss sitting at his feet and hearing his krsna-katha. But at the same time we know that he is present and that he is pleased when we chant the holy name with attention and devotion, that he is pleased when we chant and hear about Krishna, engage in krsna-katha, and he is pleased when we serve Srila Prabhupada in ISKCON, and endeavor to spread Krishna consciousness following in the footsteps of guru-parampara—Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada’s exalted followers. So we pray to both, to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and to His Holiness Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja, that we may serve them eternally as they desire. This is parampara, serving Srila Prabhupada, his predecessors and followers, and we pray for their mercy that we may actually relish the internal moods of Krishna consciousness and fulfill their desire to bring others to Krishna consciousness—by their grace.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance day and HH Gour Govinda Swami’s disappearance day, February 26, 2008, Carpinteria, California]<br /> <br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=93603">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=93603</a></p></div>Disappearance Day of HH Gour Govinda Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/disappearance-day-of-hh-gour-govinda-swami2024-02-29T05:30:00.000Z2024-02-29T05:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><strong><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10962059273,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10962059273?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="400" /></strong></p>
<p><strong>By Madhavananda Das</strong><br /> From chapter 15 of When Good Fortune Arises</p>
<p>“I MAY LEAVE”<br /> .<br /> Shortly after hearing his comments following the 1995 GBC meetings, a couple of disciples of Gour Govinda Maharaja approached their spiritual master: “Guru Maharaja, we don’t need these people. We can leave ISKCON and start our own society. You have so many disciples, it won’t be any problem.”<br /> .<br /> Hearing their suggestion, Gour Govinda Swami became very grave. Shaking his head no, he said, “The only way I will leave ISKCON is if someone cuts off my head.” Many times Gour Govinda Maharaja would repeat an instruction regarding the devotees in ISKCON that Srila Prabhupada gave him during his visit to Bhubaneswar: “Tolerate, tolerate, tolerate, cooperate.”<br /> .<br /> In late January 1996, Gour Govinda Swami mentioned, “Srila Bhaktisiddhanta said that this material world is not a fit place for any gentleman. Therefore, because he was disgusted, he left this world prematurely. I may also leave. I don’t know. Let me ask Gopal. I will do whatever he wants.” The next day he went to Gadeigiri to see Gopal.<br /> .<br /> VISIT TO GADEIGIRI<br /> .<br /> Ghanashyam recalls his discussion with Gour Govinda Swami during this last visit to Gadeigiri: “We were talking about Gopal’s new temple and installing large deities of Radha Gopal to go with the existing small ones. Suddenly Gurudeva told me, ‘I won’t see this deity installation. You will see it, but I won’t.'”<br /> .<br /> I said, “How is that? You are ten years younger than I am. If you won’t see it, how will I?”<br /> .<br /> Gurudeva said, “No, no. You will see the inauguration of the temple and the deity because you have served Gopal so nicely. Uncle [Gopinath Giri] died thirty years ago and you went through so much difficulty to take care of Gopal. You continued all of the festivals, sarat-rāsa, vasanta-rāsa, etc. That is why Gopal is kind to you. So you will see Gopal’s new temple.”<br /> .<br /> That was the last discussion I had with Gurudeva. After that he went to Bhubaneswar for a few days and then to Mayapur where he stayed forever.<br /> .<br /> After returning from Gadeigiri, for the next four days Gour Govinda Swami lectured before thousands of people at the Prabhupada Centennial festival in Bhubaneswar. Maharaja invited many dignitaries to the function, including the king of Puri. The festival was a huge success with thousands of people coming and taking prasādam. To the devotees who were attending the function, Maharaja’s classes in Odia each evening seemed even more enthusiastic and powerful than usual. After the Centennial festival was over, Gour Govinda Swami left for the annual ISKCON management meetings in Sridham Mayapur.</p>
<p>LAST DAYS<br /> .<br /> On the 6th of February 1996, Gour Govinda Maharaja flew to Kolkata, where a few devotees who had driven his car from Bhubaneswar were waiting. Gour Govinda Swami spoke with them for a few minutes and went to the nearby Airport Hotel where he stayed the night.<br /> .<br /> Upon arrival the next morning in Mayapur he went to room 80 on the 4th floor of the Conch building where he normally stayed. That day, he attended a GBC sub-committee meeting on education. He returned to his room about 6:00 p.m. where he did some translating of Srila Prabhupada’s Śrīmad Bhāgavatam into Odia. That continued until 9:30 p.m., when he took some light prasādam.<br /> .<br /> The next day, his routine was similar. That day, Friday, 8th February 1996, Maharaja wrote what would be his last diary entry:<br /> .<br /> “By Prabhu Gopal’s mercy, somehow or other I have spent the day in Mayapur. What this servant has done today in Sri Sri Guru Gauranga’s service, that Prabhu Gopal knows and sees.<br /> .<br /> “This was the 6th day of the GBC meetings. The whole day we sat through the ISKCON constitution framing committee. We sat through two sessions. The chief aim was rejected. The secondary thing was given great stress, because for the members of ISKCON, secondary bhakti is needed, not the chief. Gradually they will come from the secondary to the chief. That which is necessary for them, that’s what they will speak about. We had to sit there silently — there was nothing else we could do.<br /> .<br /> “Prabhu Gopal, please give mercy, make kṛṣṇa-prema and bhakti available to this servant. Please make available a proper group of devotees, friends, comrades and associates. Allow this servant to be successful in the service of Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.”<br /> .<br /> The next morning his secretary, Atmaram, told him that as it was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati’s appearance day, there would be fasting to midday and a feast about 12:30 p.m. Maharaja then went to the GBC meeting and returned at 12:15 p.m.<br /> .<br /> Rasikananda Das had arranged for Jagannath mahā-prasādam that afternoon. Aside from those items, Anupam Das and his wife Madanalalasa, and Shashila, Rasikananda’s wife, had also cooked some preparations. After taking prasāda, Maharaja completed chanting his japa and had brief meetings with a few devotees, which finished around 4:20. Atmaram recalls that he looked grave. He sat on his chair gazing at the ceiling without saying anything.<br /> .<br /> WHY DID MAHAPRABHU STAY IN PURI?<br /> .<br /> Shortly thereafter, Bhaktarupa Das arrived along with two senior mātājīs who were teaching in the Vrindavan gurukula.<br /> .<br /> Bhaktarupa Das: “I was requested by these two senior devotees to make an appointment so they could see our beloved Guru Maharaja. They had both read the books and magazines published with the writings of Srila Gurudeva and were very much inspired by his sweet nectarean kṛṣṇa-kathā. One of the ladies had spent at least an hour writing a long list of questions she was going to ask. At 6:30 we entered Srila Gurudeva’s room. We paid our obeisances and sat down. Rasikananda Prabhu, Atmarama Prabhu, and two or three other devotees were also there. I introduced the ladies and Guru Maharaja acknowledged them, then mātājī posed her first question. She asked about the significance of Jagannath Puri Dham. She specifically wanted to know the reason why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chose Jagannath Puri Dham as the place to perform his final pastimes. As he had not had the opportunity to speak any kṛṣṇa-kathā for several days, Gurudeva was inspired hearing this nice question. Earlier in the week we had requested Gurudeva to give a darshan for devotees that wanted to come, but he had declined, saying that he did not want to attract any attention to himself. So upon hearing this nice question, he was inspired to speak some kṛṣṇa-kathā. He began to speak the story that many ISKCON devotees know about when Rohini Mata in Dwaraka was requested by the wives of Krishna to speak about the pastimes of Vraja. He was sitting on his bed in Mayapur, and we were sitting on the floor. I had rarely seen him so enthusiastic to share kṛṣṇa-kathā. He told that pastime, and then he called for his servant to open up his suitcase and bring his stack of notebooks. The notebook that he wanted was not in the first stack, so he called for the second bundle of notebooks. He very carefully unwrapped them, selected the proper book, and immediately turned to the particular page. These were his notes on a little known traditional story from Puri.”<br /> .<br /> Gurudeva began to speak about how one day in Dwaraka, Krishna suddenly fell unconscious, feeling separation from Srimati Radharani. Guru Maharaja said that Narada Muni, Uddhava, and Balarama came there to try to figure out what to do. Eventually it was decided that Narada Muni would play on his vina and sing some pastimes of Vraja to revive Krishna to external consciousness. While he was telling the story, Gurudeva was demonstrating with his hands how Narada Muni would play on his vina.<br /> .<br /> He related how three chariots were prepared for Baladeva, Subhadra and Krishna to go to Vraja. Balarama and Subhadra went ahead to prepare the residents of Vrindavan for Krishna’s arrival, so that Krishna would not see them in their condition of separation. However, Balarama and Subhadra were unable to accomplish their mission because as soon as they saw the condition of the residents of Vrindavan, they immediately felt ecstatic symptoms of mahābhāva — their eyes became dilated and their hands, arms and legs shrunk within their bodies — they assumed the deity forms of Baladev and Subhadra as in Puri. While he was speaking, Gurudeva was demonstrating with his hands and gesturing very enthusiastically. Then he spoke of Krishna’s arrival in Vrindavan. By providential arrangement, Krishna’s chariot arrived at the entrance of Radharani’s kuñja. At this point in his narration, I noticed that he was becoming particularly enthusiastic. He often told us that he felt a lot of pressure and anxieties when he attended the GBC meetings in Mayapur. As he continued to speak, clearly all those things were far, far away from him; he was just absorbed in the ecstasy of kṛṣṇa-kathā. As he narrated the story he began breathing a little heavily. Then he spoke of how Krishna came into the kuñja and saw Radharani in a dying condition. Seeing her, Krishna experienced the symptoms of mahābhāva — his eyes dilated and his arms and legs shrunk into his body — the form of Lord Jagannath in Puri. Krishna fell unconscious, but the scent of his body entered into the nostrils of Radharani and she regained external consciousness. At this point in his narration it was clear that Gurudeva wasn’t aware of anything around him. His breathing was becoming very heavy and he struggled to speak, but still he was focusing on the līlā-kathā. He related how Lalita was there and how she told Srimati Radharani, “Krishna has come.” At this point, Guru Maharaja seemed to realize that due to his heavy breathing all he could do was to quickly summarize the rest of the pastime. He described how Radharani told Visakha how to take care of Krishna so he could regain external consciousness. Then when Gurudeva got to the point of Radha and Krishna’s reunion in Vraja, he folded his hands and said, “I cannot speak any more right now. Please excuse me.”<br /> .<br /> We offered obeisances and left the room. I looked back and saw that Gurudeva was standing up and trying to open his kurta to get more air. I was thinking that he would lie down and rest for a few minutes, and then he would be all right, so we left. We were standing outside the room on the veranda, and the mātājīs were happily discussing how pleased they were with the opportunity to hear such kathā. But a few minutes later, Rasikananda came rushing out of the room, and said, “We have to get a doctor right away!”<br /> .<br /> Rasikananda Das: “After Bhaktarupa Prabhu left the room, Guru Maharaja told us, ‘Kīrtana! Kīrtana!’ The devotees there began to chant and Guru Maharaja calmly lay back on his bed, breathing slowly and deeply. He asked for a picture of Gopal Jiu, which his servant put in his hand. Then, gazing lovingly at that picture of his worshipable deity, Guru Maharaja said, ‘Gopal!’ Then he closed his eyes and lost external consciousness.”<br /> .<br /> NO MEDICAL SYMPTOMS<br /> .<br /> After hearing of the situation from Rasikananda, Bhaktarupa and he quickly ran to bring a doctor.<br /> .<br /> Kaviraj Dr. D. K. Brahma (Damodar Swarup Das): “Just before sandhya ārati a devotee came to my residence and told me that Gour Govinda Swami was having some problem breathing and could I come to see him. When I arrived, Maharaja was lying down. Some doctors had come before me and had said that Maharaja had already passed away. Others were saying that we should take him to Krishnanagar and give him treatment in the government hospital. I took his pulse and found that he was still alive.”<br /> .<br /> “I told them, ‘Just wait. Give me another twelve minutes time, then I may tell you to take him.’<br /> .<br /> “If they would have taken him to the government hospital, it means that they would have been pumping his chest, thinking it was a heart attack. However, according to his pulse there was nothing wrong with him. His pulse only showed that he was taking rest. The Ayurvedic science teaches how to diagnose a patient by taking his pulse. If something is wrong we can feel it. But I never found anything wrong with Maharaja. According to his pulse, everything was normal.<br /> .<br /> “By the second or third time I read Maharaja’s pulse it had become clear that he had left. Some say that he had a heart attack, but if someone dies from a heart attack generally we find that they suffer a lot. They also generally have some previous history of a weak heart. In Maharaja’s case, none of these things were there. Maharaja had the symptoms of aṣṭa-sāttvika-vikāra, ecstatic transformations, on his body. One kind of vikāra is that one doesn’t want to stay here any longer; they want to go back to the spiritual abode, back to Krishna. Nothing in Maharaja’s body failed, he just left. I am 100% sure of that. I’d never seen this kind of death before.”<br /> .<br /> Devaki Pran Das: “I was visiting Harivilas Prabhu in his room in Mayapur. Suddenly a devotee came and banged on the door. He said, ‘Gour Govinda Maharaja just left!’ Immediately we rushed to Maharaja’s room. When we went inside there were only a few devotees there. One devotee was massaging Gour Govinda Maharaja’s heart, another was crying like anything, while two or three others were chanting the holy names. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja looked like a very peaceful, sleeping child. We were not even sure if he had actually left or not and they were just trying to revive him.”<br /> .<br /> Niranjan Swami: “I was in a flat near Prabhupada’s Samadhi Mandir, speaking with Dhanurdhara Swami and Bhurijana Prabhu. My servant, Vedasara Das, knocked on the door, entered, and said that H. H. Gour Govinda Maharaja had left the planet about 30 minutes prior. I was shocked. My mind was reeling, and the only thing I could think of was, ‘Why would Krishna take him from us now?’ Somehow I couldn’t believe it. I jumped up, quickly, put on my shoes, and moved faster than my legs have ever been able to carry me since my right one was broken here in Nabadwip two years before.<br /> .<br /> “The three of us walked briskly to the Conch Building where Maharaja always stayed. I had to force my way through a crowd of devotees who had gathered outside his door. The chanting of Hare Krishna was emanating from within the room and outside as well. The room was full. Present were many senior vaiṣṇavas, GBC men and sannyāsīs. About twenty-five of Gour Govinda Maharaja’s disciples were also there. I looked towards the bed and saw Maharaja’s body propped up against the back of the bed with his legs extended forward. I immediately dropped to pay full daṇḍavats. At this point, somehow I still could not believe that he had departed. ‘Maybe he’s in samādhi,’ I thought. About six to eight of his disciples were feverishly massaging Maharaja’s legs. Another was holding a picture before his eyes. Another disciple was holding onto Maharaja’s head so that it would not fall forward. I looked intently at his face. His mouth was slightly open, his eyes closed, his face seemed effulgent and had a very peaceful appearance. His body was covered with dozens of garlands. He was not wearing a kurta, though it could barely be noticed since the many garlands hung around his neck, were covering the whole front of his body.<br /> .<br /> “Naturally everyone was quite sober. Some of his disciples were crying loudly, some softly, tears streaming down their faces as they stared intently, seemingly waiting for a sign that he would come back to external consciousness. Seeing their faces, and then looking back and forth between them and Maharaja’s face, I gradually began to feel my eyes start welling up too. It wasn’t long before I found myself crying, though not incessantly as some of his disciples were, but enough to realize that I was experiencing separation from someone who was very dear to me. I remembered the lamentation I felt when I found out that Srila Prahupada had left the planet. Though not as intense, still, I was lamenting that I had not taken advantage of Gour Govinda Maharaja’s association while he was with us, and now I was facing (though still not fully convinced) the thought that I may not ever have that opportunity again.”<br /> .<br /> Madanalasa Dasi: “When I came in the room and saw Guru Maharaja sitting on the bed surrounded by his dear disciples chanting the holy name, I thought: “My Gurudeva is just in trance, he will come back for sure.” It was only a day later after his samādhi had finished that it dawned on me that he had really disappeared from our vision.”<br /> .<br /> Niranjan Swami: “All I could do was stand in awe, chant, and within my mind pray that maybe Krishna would let Gour Govinda Maharaja stay with us a little while longer. I stood motionless for about twenty minutes, continuing to chant and then finally decided to move elsewhere towards the back of the room where I could see several GBC men having a discussion. I walked over, and saw that Jayapataka Maharaja was holding a pad of paper on which there was a diagram which looked like an explanation of how to place maharaja’s body into a samādhi. It was right about then that it finally hit, ‘Gour Govinda Maharaja really HAS left the planet!’ Tears came again, I wiped my face with my upper cloth, and decided to speak up and ask someone what had happened. The first person who seemed available for questioning was Virabahu Prabhu. So I asked him if he knew of the events leading up to his departure. I also asked if anyone had actually confirmed that he had left.<br /> .<br /> “By this time I began deliberating on the significance of Gour Govinda Maharaja’s departure. It was the appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and the year of Srila Prabhupada’s centennial. He left his body in Mayapur Dham. Present were so many devotees, both godbrothers and disciples, loudly chanting the holy names. He was speaking about Lord Jagannath just minutes before he departed. How could there be a more auspicious departure from this world? So many more things could be said about this, and I have no doubt will be said, in due course of time. But there is no trace of doubt in my mind that Gour Govinda Maharaja entered into Lord Krishna’s eternal līlā last night, and this world is now bearing the loss of a highly elevated soul and intimate associate of Lord Krishna.”<br /> .<br /> PARIKRAMA IN MAYAPUR<br /> .<br /> Niranjan Swami: “At approximately 11:00 p.m. Maharaja’s disciples finished preparing his body for parikramā. No less than 150 devotees went in procession down the stairs, into the courtyard, and then down the long walk to Prabhupada’s samādhi. Upon entering the Samadhi Mandir, the conch shell blew, the doors were opened, and then Nruhari Das, one of Maharaja’s disciples, led a very sweet kīrtana: ei bāro karuṇā koro vaiṣṇava gosāi. At the end of the kīrtana, we all loudly chanted, ‘jaya gour govinda swami, vaiṣṇava ṭhākura!’ Nobody seemed reserved to loudly chant out his name, even from amongst all of the godbrothers. To me it all seemed quite natural and spontaneous, and again I shed tears seeing the devotion coming from all who were present.<br /> .<br /> “We continued the chanting, circumambulating inside the samādhi three times, left, and then carried Maharaja’s body to Srila Prabhupada’s hut to take darshan of Sri Sri Gaur Nitai. Nruhari continued the chanting, this time leading us in chanting, ohe vaiṣṇava ṭhākura. Again we chanted Gour Govinda Maharaja’s name. Jayapataka Swami offered another garland to Gour Govinda Maharaja and the procession continued into the temple room.<br /> .<br /> “Upon entering, Maharaja’s body was brought before Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and Srila Prabhupada, who were both sitting on vyāsāsana’s in the rear of the temple. The kīrtana continued for a short time and then the procession moved to Lord Nrisimhadeva’s altar. The doors were opened and Lord Nrisimhadev cast his merciful glance. Jananivasa Prabhu brought tulasī from Lord Nrisimhadeva’s lotus feet, and placed it on Maharaja’s head. Then the curtains were opened to reveal their lordships Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sriman Mahaprabhu, and the Astasakhis. Maharaja’s body was placed on the high step before Radha Madhava’s altar. At this point, we had puṣpāñjali. Jayapataka Maharaja offered a full ārati while we all chanted Gurvaṣṭakam, and each senior devotee came to offer flower petals to his feet. I offered my petals and once again fully prostrated myself at his feet. The kīrtana continued for approximately twenty minutes more. The procession then went outside, and Maharaja’s body was placed in his car. His disciples had decided that they wanted to bring Maharaja’s body back to Bhubaneswar where he would be placed in samādhi according to full vaiṣṇava rituals.”<br /> .<br /> SAMADHI IN BHUBANESWAR<br /> .<br /> After some discussion, a group of disciples decided that Maharaja would prefer his samādhi to be in Bhubaneswar. Coincidently, this was the first year that devotees had brought his car to Mayapur. Placing his body inside the vehicle, they began a long painful journey back to Bhubaneswar.<br /> .<br /> Manimanjari Dasi: “We were in Bhubaneswar and had gotten news that Guru Maharaja had left this world. We were all standing and waiting for the car to arrive with his body. As the devotees took him out of the car his head fell to the side and something broke inside me. The kīrtana was slow, like coming from far away. I tried to glorify him but my voice was stuck inside and finally it came out as a strange sound, ‘jaya gurudeva!'”<br /> .<br /> “They took him around the temple four times, and then brought his body into the restaurant for ārati. His crying school, at this time, was in some way successful. That morning the devotees began digging a hole in his room for his samādhi. I didn’t dare to look inside.<br /> .<br /> “Later, after he was put into the samādhi, I finally went inside to put my mind into reality, and throw a little bit of sand. I then went out chanting, head empty, wanting I don’t know what.<br /> .<br /> “The next morning I again went in front of the samādhi. It was 9:30 a.m. and kīrtana was going on. At this point I got really angry. ‘We wanted to establish you as an ācārya, although the other party did not see you as anyone special.’ We lost the most precious gift of this life.<br /> .<br /> “When they had begun lowering Gour Govinda Swami’s body into the ground, the devotees were struck by the fact that although it had been over twenty-four hours since he had departed, there was no sign of rigor mortis. His body was loose like a rag-doll.”<br /> .<br /> GBC RESOLUTION<br /> .<br /> After Gour Govinda Maharaja’s departure, the ISKCON Governing Body Commission passed the following resolution:<br /> .<br /> GBC Resolution on the Demise of His Divine Grace Gour Govinda Goswami Maharaja<br /> .<br /> Resolved that:<br /> .<br /> We, the undersigned members and servants of the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, today, the 11th of February, 1996, in Sridhama Mayapura Candrodaya Mandir, express our profound bereavement on the passing of our dear Godbrother and fellow Governing Body Commissioner His Divine Grace Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Goswami Maharaja, the beloved disciple of ISKCON Founder-Ācārya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.<br /> .<br /> Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Goswami Maharaja dedicated his life to fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s order to spread Krishna consciousness throughout the world and specifically among the people of Odisha. He translated Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental literature and fulfilled Srila Prabhupada’s desire for a Krishna-Balarama Mandir in Bhubaneswar. He was not only a topmost devotee but he was also a great and learned scholar. In this time of their great grief, we pledge ourselves to the service of his disciples and followers who are determined to carry on his great service to the mission of Srila Prabhupada.<br /> .<br /> With feelings of separation we note that Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Goswami Maharaja departed this world February 9th, 1996, on the auspicious appearance of Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, while reciting the pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna, in spiritual world headquarters of ISKCON, at the conclusion of a full day of unalloyed devotional service to his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. His departure shows all auspicious symptoms and his success fills our heart with admiration. His life and disappearance pastimes shall remain a great inspiration to all members of ISKCON.<br /> </p>
<p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=106110">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=106110</a></p></div>Sripada Ramanujacharya’s Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sripada-ramanujacharya-s-disappearance-day2024-02-19T04:30:00.000Z2024-02-19T04:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10952026482,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10952026482?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="222" /></p>
<p>Today is the disappearance anniversary of Sripada Ramanujacharya, the principal acharya in the Sri, or Lakshmi, sampradaya. In a letter dated November 22, 1974, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “We find great shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujacharya because his lotus feet are the strongest fort to combat the Mayavadi philosophy.” And in the early days of ISKCON in India, before we had Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is in Hindi, Prabhupada would refer people to read the Hindi edition of the Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya’s commentary.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada often told a story about Sri Ramanujacharya’s merciful, compassionate nature. As he related it in Ahmedabad in 1972, “The servants of Krishna take all risk for Krishna’s sake. Just like Ramanujacharya. Sri Ramanujacharya’s spiritual master said, ‘My dear son, the mantra which I am giving, you chant silently and you will be delivered. It is so powerful. Don’t chant this mantra loudly so others can hear.’</p>
<p>“Ramanujacharya thought, ‘If this mantra is so powerful that if others hear it they’ll also be delivered, then why not?’ He immediately went to the market and began to chant the mantra. So, his spiritual master became very angry, that ‘I told you not to chant loudly, so that others may not hear.’ And Ramanujacharya replied, ‘My Lordship, I have done offense unto you. That’s all right. For this I am prepared to go to hell. But if this mantra is so powerful, I must speak it to everyone.’ ”</p>
<p>In this mood, following in the footsteps of Sripada Ramanujacharya, Srila Prabhupada broadcast the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita everywhere, to everyone.</p>
<p>We pray and aspire to follow in their footsteps.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>Yours in service,<br /> Giriraj Swami<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=18575">https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=18575</a></p></div>Disappearance day Anniversary of Srila Madhvacarya By HH Bhakti Rasamrta Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/disappearance-day-anniversary-of-srila-madhvacarya-by-hh-bhakti-r2024-02-17T09:30:00.000Z2024-02-17T09:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img style="height:443px;width:400px;" src="https://i.imgur.com/tYPuZGa.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>indriyesu manas tani tan-matresu yathodbhavam bhutadinamuny utkrsya mahaty atmani sandadhe</p>
<p>TRANSLATION: He amalgamated the mind with the senses and the senses with the sense objects, according to their respective positions, and he also amalgamated the material ego with the total material energy, mahat-tattva.</p>
<p>PURPORT: In respect to the ego, the total material energy is sundered in two parts — one agitated by the mode of ignorance and the other agitated by the modes of passion and goodness. Due to agitation by the mode of ignorance, the five gross elements are created. Due to agitation by the mode of passion, the mind is created, and due to agitation by the mode of goodness, false egoism, or identification with matter, is created. The mind is protected by a particular type of demigod. Sometimes the mind (manah) is also understood to have a controlling deity or demigod. In this way the total mind, namely the material mind controlled by material demigods, was amalgamated with the senses. The senses, in turn, were amalgamated with the sense objects. The sense objects are forms, tastes, smells, sounds, etc. Sound is the ultimate source of the sense objects. The mind was attracted by the senses and the senses by the sense objects, and all of them were ultimately amalgamated in the sky. The creation is so arranged that cause and effect follow one after the other. The merging process involves amalgamating the effect with the original cause. Since the ultimate cause in the material world is mahat-tattva, everything was gradually wound up and amalgamated with the mahat-tattva. This may be compared to sunya-vada, or voidism, but this is the process for cleansing the real spiritual mind, or consciousness. When the mind is completely washed of all material contamination, the pure consciousness acts. The sound vibration from the spiritual sky can automatically cleanse all material contaminations, as confirmed by Caitanya Mahaprabhu: ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. We need only take the advice of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and chant the Hare Krsna mantra to cleanse the mind of all material contamination, and this may be considered the summary of this difficult verse. As soon as the whole material contamination is washed away by this process of chanting, all desires and reactions to material activities become immediately vanquished, and real life, peaceful existence, begins. In this age of Kali it is very difficult to adopt the yogic process mentioned in this verse. Unless one is very expert in such yoga, the best course is to adopt the ways and means of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, sri-krsna-sankirtanam. Thus one can gloriously become freed from all material contamination by the simple process of chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Just as life in this material world has its beginning in material sound, similarly a spiritual life has its beginning in this spiritual sound vibration. [End of Srila Prabhupada’s purport to SB 4.23.18]</p>
<p>HH Rasamrta Swami: Hare Krishna. As Srila Prabhupada mentions in the purport this is a difficult passage. It is hard to understand intellectually how the process that is being described here actually works. It is really not possible to comprehend it in the way that we would like to with our experience of this world. Even the material world cannot be really understood. What then to speak of the spiritual world? Nevertheless very mercifully the Lord has given us the Srimad-Bhagavatam which contains information that we can somehow try to assimilate and grasp as much as we can. And by the mercy of the Lord and the acaryas these things will be revealed.</p>
<p>This chapter is entitled, ‘Maharaj Prthu’s Going Back Home.’ There are numerous such examples mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam of such glorious departures. Prthu Maharaja himself, a saktyaves-avatara who was endowed with praja palana-sakti – the power to maintain the praja of the citizens has made his life perfect and is headed back to the spiritual world. However Prthu Maharaja’s example is not the only one. In fact there are so many other examples like Bhismadev, Dhruva Maharaj and so on who’s successful and glorious passing away has been described here in this text. What then to speak of Maharaj Pariksit – because of whom the whole Srimad-Bhagavatam was spoken? Simply by hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam one can make one’s life successful as Pariksit Mahara did.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada mentions in the purport here that the process of yoga that is being described in these passages that Prthu Maharaj followed is not possible for us to follow in this day and age. For us the process primarily is to chant the holy names of the Lord and to hear and chant the glories of the Lord. Indeed this is what Sukadev Goswami immediately answered to King Pariksit. When King Pariksit asked the very important questions, “What is the duty of a man who is about to die? What should he remember? What should he worship?” And so on. Promptly Sukadev Goswami answered:</p>
<p>tasmad bharata sarvatma bhagavan isvaro harih srotavyah kirtitavyas ca smartavyas cecchatabhayam [SB 2.1.5]</p>
<p>He said for one who wants to be fearless – because generally everyone is fearful of death. So if one wants to be fearless even in the face of death then one must hear about, chant about, remember, glorify and worship The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. So this process of hearing and chanting insures a successful passing away from this world and entrance into the realm of the Lord in the Vaikuntha planets.</p>
<p>Today also happens to be the disappearance day anniversary of Srila Madhvacarya – another glorious passing away. So although there is much to talk about in this verse and purport but Srila Madhvacrya is a very important acarya for us and we come in his sampradaya we will discuss a few things about his teachings and pastimes. There is also a lot to say about Srila Madhvacarya. Nevertheless given the limitation of time we will try to at least enumerate some of the noteworthy pastimes.</p>
<p>We as Gaudiya Vaisnavas are connected to the Brahma Madhva Sampradaya. So we are called the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya. There are four Vaisnava sampradayas originating from the Supreme Lord but the primary source of each of them are firstly Sri or Laxmi – from whom comes the Sri Sampradaya. Ramanuja Acarya is considere the main acarya in this line. Then from the four Kumaras comes the Kumara Sampradaya. And Nimbarkacarya is considered the primary acarya in this. Then there is the Rudra Sampradaya, starting from Lord Siva. Visnuswami is considered the primary acarya in this sampradaya although Vallabacarya is also highly regarded by modern followers in this sampradaya. Then we have the sampradaya started by Lord Brahma. The main acarya in this sampradaya is Madhvacarya.</p>
<p>Madhvacarya’s sampraday continues on and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu – because of Whom we are called Gaudiyas, connected Himself to the Madhava Samparadaya through Madhavendra Puri who was His param-guru. Mahaprabhu took initiation from Srila Isvara Puri who in turn took initiation from Srila Madhavendra Puri. Madhavendr Puri it is said took initiation from Laxmipati Tirtha who guru was Vyasa Tirtha and so on in the Madhva line.</p>
<p>So there appears to be an interesting change at this point when Madhavendra Puri comes into the picture because until that time love of God in the mood of Vrindavan, ecstatic spontaneous love in the mood of Vrindavan, specifically in the sringara or madhurya rasa, the conjugal mood was not known in the Madhva Sampradaya. It began with Srila Madhavendra Puri. And then Isvara Puri and Mahaprabhu and all Mahaprabhu’s followers. So in a sense we can say that the Gaudiya Sampradaya is like a fifth Sampradaya. Nevertheless the Lord maintains the program or the arrangement the He has created for this world.</p>
<p>The Lord Himself doesn’t need to connect Himself to any sampradaya but nevertheless to set the example for the sake of authenticity if at all it was needed he connected Himself through Madhavendra Puri to the Madhva Sampradaya. So this is our sampradaya – The Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya<br /> – one of the four Vaisnava sampradayas.</p>
<p>This material world is sometimes compared to a deep dark well and as conditioned souls we are all deep within this well. The four Vaisnava sampradayas represent the four ropes – so to speak – that are released into this well so that those who have fallen into this well may hold on to it and climb out of the well. In other words the four Vaisnava Sampradayas are bona fide via media for us to transcend the bondage of this material world and go back to the spiritual world. So the Vaisnava sampradayas are very important for us to know.</p>
<p>Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura (down the road we will see it in his matha. Here he established the deities of the four sampradaya acaryas inoder to establish that Vaisnavism was indeed bona fide. And also that the path that he was propagating was also bona fide because it was connected to Caitanya Mahaprabhu and also these acaryas.</p>
<p>As opposed to the Vaisnava acaryas or the Vaisnava schools of thought there is the Mayavad school of thought. There is some common ground between the Mayavad schools and the Vaisnava schools. The two essential points of common ground in the two are: 1. That both accept the Vedas. The Buddhists didn’t. That was one of the prime preaching points of Buddha when he came. 2. Both accept an ultimate absolute spiritual reality which the Buddhists don’t.</p>
<p>The Buddists philosophy is called sunyavad which means void or zero. Everything is void. Everything is illusion. Nothing exists. The Mayavad philosophy in accordance with the principles taught in Sariraka-bhasya of Sankaracarya emphasised that there is an absolute reality or spiritual reality. So the common ground is there but the differences are many and very, very significant and it is for the devotee very important to know these differences so that one does not get misled, for example even though the Mayavadi’s accept the Vedas but they primarily accept as evidence or pramana only the sruti pramana and the Upanisad and the Sutra but they don’t really give much importance to the Puransa and the Itihasyas – the smrti sastra. It is not considered very highly by them but Vaisnavas give great importance to the Puranas in addition to the other scriptures.</p>
<p>Secondly when it comes to the point of the absolute spiritual reality there is a difference in terms of how we view that spiritual reality and also in how we view the material world. How do the Mayavadis deal with the diversity or the variegatedness that is found within this world if everything is one? Their philosophy is monistic, monism or everything is one. So if everything is one how does one explain the infinite variety that we see within this world? They explain it away by saying that it is all illusion.</p>
<p>In the ultimate analysis on the platform of knowledge and liberation there is no variety, there is no differentiation. Therefore they say brahma satyam jagan mithya – that the only reality is Brahman, that impersonal spiritual light and this material world is illusion and everything else within it is illusion. But the Vaisnava do not accept that. The Vaisnavas accept the material world as real but the material energy undergoes many, many transformations.</p>
<p>When we identify with the names and forms of this world that is the illusion. When we consider the body as ourselves that is illusion, but the material energy, the cosmic manifestation itself is not illusory. Furthermore the Vaisnavas also go beyond the understanding of the ultimate absolute truth as being just an impersonal light.</p>
<p>Now we will come to the four Vaisnava sampradayas. Why are there four different Vaisnava sampradayas? Because there are some subtle differences philosophically, theologically between these four. We will not get into the details of that in this class but so far as to say there is a lot of common ground between these four sampradayas – a lot of common ground. Specifically all the four Vaisnava sampradayas together differ from the Mayavadis in the understanding not only of the ultimate Absolute Truth but also the process of getting there and what happens after liberation. While the Mayavadis think that the Absolute Truth is only an impersonal light. The Vaisnavas understand the impersonal light is merely the effulgence from the transcendental body of the Lord. It is not wrong to say that the impersonal effulgence is the Absolute Truth but it is not the complete understanding.</p>
<p>So all the four Vaisnava sampradays understand that the Absolute Truth is ultimately a person – a Supreme Person, a transcendental Supreme Person. He is called Krishna, Visnu, Narayana and so on. Also a very important difference is that the Vaisnavas from all the four sampradayas emphasise eternal servitude to the Lord as the eternal function of the jiva or the soul whereas the Mayavadis do not emphasise that. They say that once the individual living entity attains the platform of liberation he merges into the Brahman and extinguishes his individuality. But the Vaisnavas say that the individuality is eternally maintained and one is eternally the servant of the Lord even after liberation. In fact it is after liberation that our real business begins of serving the Lord purely. So the conceptions of service and liberation also differ from the Vaisnava sampradayas on one hand and the Mayavadis on the other hand.</p>
<p>Among the four Vaisnava sampradayas also some differences may be there. You see even before Sankaracarya came about a thousand plus years ago Visnu swami had already advented in the Rudra sampradaya. And he had put forwarded his theology or his philosophy if suddha advaita vada – pure monism. This pure monism was also devotional. It was not monism in the way that Sankacarya would later present it. Sankara’s teachings of the Sariraka-bhasya, he tried to counteract that by presenting kevala avaita vada. He propounded the monistic idea that brahma satyam jagan mithya – the Absolute Truth is simply impersonal. There is no variegatedness – nirvisesa<br /> – no variety, no differentiation.</p>
<p>Soon after Sankara came Ramaunjacarya. Ramanuja propounded the visistadvaita-vada siddhanta – the philosophy of qualified or specific oneness visistadvaita – in which he said, “Yes i accept there is oneness butin this oneness also there is individuality. There is differentiation – visesa.” So there is specific monism differentiated monism: God, His expansions and His energies are all one in one sense but They also have Their distinct individualities. So that is differentiation as well. So Ramanujacarya qualified Sankara’s oneness by saying that there is also differentiation.</p>
<p>Later came Madhva and then of course we had also Nimbarkacarya who was also there. Nimbarkacaryas philosophy is called dvaitadvaita-vada. It is the middle-way between Sankara and Madhva’s philosphies – dvaitadvaita-vada. And Madhva was the other extreme to the Mayavadis. When the Mayavadis said kevala-advaita – only oneness, Madhva said suddha dvaita – only duality. So they are two extremes. Now we should not confuse the two. Visnu Swami said suddha advaita and Madhva said suddhadvaita. Both are Vaisnava theologies. Nevertheless in Madhvacaryas presentation he emphasised very greatly on the distinction between the Lord and everything else.</p>
<p>He said the Lord is the Absolute truth and the other truths are dependant truths. The other two truths are matter and the soul. The concept of these three truths he also accepted as Ramanuja had said. Ramanuja emphasised these three truths. So Madhvacarya said the Lord on the one hand is the independent Absolute Truth and the other two categories are dependant truths. Then he propounded the philosophical distinction between these prapanca – five kinds of differences: 1. The difference between the soul and the Lord. 2. The difference between two souls because two souls are individual souls, unique in their individuality. 3. The difference between the souls and matter. 4. The difference between matter and the Lord. 5. And the difference between different material objects which are endowed with different qualities, gunas. So in this way he gave a lot of emphasis to the distinction between the Lord. So on one extreme you have the kevaladvaita and the other extreme you have Madhvas dvaitavada. Caitanya Mahaprabhu of course presented His famous acintya bheda-and-abheda-tattva in which He harmonised everything by speaking about the simultaneous and inconceivable oneness and difference. Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the course of His travels after taking sannyasa visited Udipi, the headquarters of the Madhva sampradaya. He interacted with some of the sannyasis and the priests there. And Kaviraj Gosvami refers to the followers of Madhvacarya as tattva-vadis. Srila Prabhupada is his purport in that section of the Caitanya-caritamrta mentions how the Upanisads and the other Vedic scriptures actually describe the personal form of the Lord but the Mayavadis adopt the laksanavrtti or the method of taking out indirect meanings of these verses and the arrive at a faulty conclusion that the Absolute Truth is ultimately impersonal. Therefore they take shelter of Mayavada or illusion because they think everything is illusion. Ultimately they save that even the Lords form is illusion. That when the Lord descends into this world he accepts a body that is made of material elements. That is the meaning of the word Mayavad.</p>
<p>Madhvacarya propagated tattva-vada. He took shelter of tattva, not of maya. So the followers of Madhvacrya are called tattva-vadis. Srila Prabhupada in the Caianya-caritamrta also has given an amazing description of the life of Srila Madhvacarya in which he has briefly mentioned some of the pastimes. Because the pastimes are too numerous he mentioned many of the important ones but briefly.</p>
<p>The Madhvas accept Madhvacarya as an incarnation of Vayu – the demigod in charge of wind. They say that in Treta Yuga Vayu came as Hanuman, in Dvarpa Yuga he came as Bhima and in Kali Yuga he came as Madhvacarya. And because Vayu is a great devotee of the Lord he is also a great scholar and he is also additionally very strong physically. So Madhvacarya had all this. He was a great devotee, a great scholar and he was also physically very, very strong. So the followers of Madhvacarya call him Mukhya-prana – another name for Vayu. So for them the Mahabharata is a very important scripture. They also worship Hanuman and Bhima especially. So let us talk a little bit about the life and some of the pastimes of Madhvacarya.</p>
<p>Madhvacarya’s advent was principally to counter and defeat the Mayavad conclusions. In South India despite Ramanujacarya’s aggressive preaching for many years and very potent dissemination of the principle of pure bhakti there was still Mayavad that was well entrenched. And the Mayavadis were also becoming very aggressive and they were spreading like anything everywhere. So Madhvacarya’s purpose of advent was essentially to be like a connecting link between Sankara and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu if one looks at it like that.</p>
<p>The whole emphasis of his teachings was on countering Mayavad. Therefore we see in the Madhva sampradaya you would constantly hear the brahmanas if you are hearing them discuss countering this aspect of Mayavad and that aspect. So hammer and tongs he went after the Mayavad philosophy and he engaged in debates all through his life to establish the devotional conclusion.</p>
<p>He was born some distance from Udipi. Udipd is a town in southern coastal region of Kanarada State of South India. Many of you may have been there. There is a famous temple called Sri Krishna Math there where there is a deity of Bala Krishna that was obtained by Madhvacarya. We will talk about it shortly.</p>
<p>Twelve miles away from Udipi there is a village called Pajaka-ksetra. His father’s name was Madhyageha Bhatta – who was a brahmana of the Sivalli-brahmana community. He would worship Anantesvara who was an unusual form of the Lord in the form of a Siva-linga but was actually Lord Visnu. An Hari-Hara deity. The Anantesvara temple is very famous in that part. Just alongside it is another famous temple of Lord Siva called Chandramauli Isvara temple.</p>
<p>So Madhyageha Bhatta would regularly visit the Anantesvara temple and he would see the Sivalinga as Lord Visnu. One day at the time of the auspicious Makar Sankranthi festival thousands of people had gathered at Anantesvara temple. All of a sudden one man who seemed to be mentally deranged climbed up the flagpole that was at the entrance of the temple and he began to shout and scream and spread his hands as if he was a madman. After he had managed to attract the attention of everybody who were all standing and looking up at him he calmed down and began to speak that, “Very shortly the god Vayu would advent himself here in Udipi and he will spread the philosophy of pure devotion and he will refute very strongly and very convincingly the principles of Mayavad as enunciated by the various preachers here in South India. No longer will the devotees of lord Visnu have to hear blasphemous statements that the lord has no form, senses and so on. Now devotees will be able to live joyously.” Having made this proclamation the man descended and disappeared into the crowds and nobody knew who he was and where he went.</p>
<p>Such episodes were fairly common at that time in that part of the country where it is said by folklore that Anantesvara would enter the body of certain people whom He selected, (They might have been just ordinary people) and He would make proclamations or make prophetic statements.</p>
<p>So Madhyageha Bhatta was one of those that were there in that assembly at that time but little did he know that he would be the father of this child. Soon he was married to Vedavatidevi, a very chaste and young lady from a brahmana family. Both were very devoted. They did not have an offspring for some time so they decided to perform austerities to please Lord Anantesvara. They fasted on milk and so on for twelve long years. They would go daily to Anantesvara temple. At the end of twelve years finally they had a son.</p>
<p>At the time of his appearance there were all auspicious symptoms that appeared. The astrologers came and they were astonished to see an exceptional horoscope. The child also had thirty-two symptoms that a great personality has. They all prophesized that he would be a great personality just like Bhima and Hanuman and that he would very strongly preach the principles of pure devotion to the Supreme Lord.</p>
<p>Madhyageha Bhatta was very happy to hear this and so he celebrated a festival and many, many people came. As much as he could afford he gave away things in charity and so on. He was an exceptional child. Right from childhood there were all kinds of miracles that happened. Soon after the prescribed period, when the contamination period was over then Madhyageha Bhatta decided to take the child, Vasudev to Anantesvara temple. There was some people with him as he went.</p>
<p>On the return journey after having went and shown the child to Anantesvara and let the child have darsan of Anantesvara they got late and it was night when they were walking back through the forest, back to Pajaka-ksetra. There was a ghost who was living in a tree in the forest and he possessed one of the people who was accompanying Madhyageha Bhatta and it was a frightening situation for them and Madhvacarya who was then only a small child was called Vasudev, he was very helpless – just newborn baby in the arms of his mother.</p>
<p>The ghost who had possessed that man began to speak through the man and said, “No other mantras or chanting is going to help you. If you want me to leave this man’s body then place the feet of your child on this man’s head.” Madhyageha Bhatta was extremely fearful to do that bu nevertheless he did that. The moment he touched the feet of the child to the man’s head the ghost disappeared. So Madhyageha Bhatta understood that great things were in store for his son and that this child was definitely not an ordinary child.</p>
<p>Because he was Bhima he had a voracious appetite and he would continue to eat all and drink all day long and his mother couldn’t keep up to feed him the milk that he needed from her body. Once when he was still only drinking mother’s milk his mother went out of the house on some errand and she told her daughter who was also a very small girl, “Look after Vasudev till i come back. I will be back in a few minutes.” Vasudev began to feel hungry and he started crying. The little girl was perplexed. She did not know how to pacify him and she also started crying and she was looking around and her mother hadn’t come back. Eventually she did not know what to do. She had to give him something. So there was some sacks of grains that were kept there to feed the bull that was in the house. So she just gave him some grains to somehow pacify him and very happily he started to eat the grains and he ate the whole sack. [Laughter] When the mother came back and she saw what had happened she was alarmed (and that may be an understatement.) Madhyageha Bhatta also came and she said, “What is going to happen? He has eaten enough grains that even aa full grown bull cannot eat! Still he seems to be happy and smiling as if nothing can happen.” The biographer of Madhvacarya – Narayanacarya mentions that this was the most extraordinary annaprasana ceremony.</p>
<p>Generally children are given grains and there is a big ceremony andthen one grain is given and then it is a big thing made out of it. And just one grain! But here he had a whole sack of grains that was meant to be cow fodder. So Mahvacarya did it in grand fashion. Another time as he was growing up he asked his father for food. He was constantly asking for food! And his father said, “Look there is no food now. I borrowed money from one man to buy a new bull and this man is waiting on the doorstep. He wants his money and he will not leave the doorstep until I pay him. But I don’t have money to pay him so I have to fast today.” Vasudev said, “Father don’t worry. I will see that his debt is discharged.”</p>
<p>So he went into the backyard of the house where there was a tamarind tree. As a child he would play with these tamarind seeds. They are quite shiny seeds. Children like to play with them for those of you who may have seen the tamarind seeds. He got together a whole bunch of them – a sack of them and he called this man in. He said, “Come in. I will give you your payment.” And he help out some tamarind seeds to give him.</p>
<p>The man was surprised but just to humour the child he extended his palms forward. When they fell into his hand he saw it had become gold coins. He was struck with wonder but did not stay to argue. He fled from there in case the boy changed his mind or something else happened to that because the value of that gold was much more than the value of the bull. After some time he came back and thanked Madhyageha Bhatta saying, “Your son has given me so much payment – much more than what I gave you and it is also enough to cover all the interest and everything for the very, very late payment that you are making me.” So Madhyageha Bhatta was astonished when he heard the story.</p>
<p>One by one pastimes like this began to unfold. Actually when he was only about three and a half years old, his parents had gone off to some other place. He disappeared from their midst and walked two and a half kilometres to Ananteswara temple and came back. Actually they had to go there to find him because he disappeared. Three and a half year old child finding his way through a forest and going to Anantesvara temple! So his father was in constant anxiety about where the child would be because he had this nature of moving everywhere.</p>
<p>He was also very precautious. He was a genius child from childhood. Even at that age, around four or so when the Vidyaramba was done, the process where the child is made to write some alphabets for the first time, he learnt it just by hearing it once. Whenever his father asked him to recite the syllables one after the other, he said, “Father, don’t make me repeat. I know it.” Because one time he would hear it and he would remember it. And the father was astonished to see the intelligence of this boy. This went on like this. He very quickly grasped everything that a person had to teach him. He was quiet a protege.</p>
<p>One time he was sitting in a discourse where one brahmana was speaking on some Purana and he made some deviations from the original story and the little boy Vasudev who was only about four years old raised his hand and pointed out some corrections. He said, “Actually the story is not like this. It should be like that.” And he elaborated. Everyone was struck with wonder. He went back home and asked his father, “I spoke like this. The pandit was saying like that. Was I correct?” And the father said, “Yes you were correct. Your version was right.”</p>
<p>One time he even corrected his father who was speaking on the Srimad-Bhagavatam. There was a verse in which he was describing different types of trees like the banyan tree, the neem tree, the mango tree and so on. He missed out one tree – the likucha tree. He asked the father, “Father you missed out something. You missed out the likucha tree.” And the other people that were listening said, “Yes, yes. Please explain to us what this is.” And Madhyageha Bhatta could not answer. Young Vasudev said, “Actually my dear father you are just a pretender. You don’t even know about this. This likucha tree is actually a lemon tree.” Madhyageha Bhatta was astonished. Everyday such pastimes would take place and Madhyageha Bhatta understood how exceptional his son was.</p>
<p>Normally the sacred thread ceremony in traditional brahmana homes takes place when the child is about eight years old but understanding the nature of the boy, how precautious he was, they had it at five years. Very quickly he mastered all the rituals, the mantras that a braahmana is supposed to do, including the Sandhya-vandanam prayers, chanted the Gayatri mantras and so on. He seemed effulgent.</p>
<p>One time he was playing with his friends on a nearby hill and there was a huge snake who was in his previous life a demon called Maniman whom Bhima had killed. He wanted to reap vengeance and appeared as a snake and wanted to kill Madhvacarya. He pounced on Madhvacarya and he bit him. The children fled in fear to tell the elders. Meanwhile young Vasudev simply put his toe on the head of Maniman and killed him. Today if you go to Pajakasetra, some distance away from the house (Madhvacarya’s house is still there) there is a depression in the stone where you actually see the impression of the toe of Madhvacarya as he crushed the head of that snake.</p>
<p>His mother Vedavati-devi became very anxious and she was calling out loudly for him. He heard her from a large distance and in just one jump reached her because after all he is Vayu. So Vayu did not have a problem. He just leaped and came in front of his mother. There are numerous such instances and episodes but of course time does not permit us. I’ll just skip/jump straight to the time when he took sannyasa. He was only twelve years old. The spirit of renunciation blazed brightly in his heart. His father was heartbroken when he saw that he was associating with Acyutapreksa – a Vaisnava sannyasi who was living nearby. He approached Acyutapreksa and said, “Please don’t give my son sannyasa. He is my only son.”</p>
<p>Onetime however Madhvacarya or rather Vasudev was preparing to take sannyasa Madhyageha Bhatta heard this and he came running and he pleaded with his son, “Please, we are alone. We are old. We have no one to look after us.” Finally Madhvacarya replied, “All right. I will stay ’til such time you have another son.” So he postponed his sannyasa ceremony. Within a few months his mother was pregnant again and there was a son and as per the agreement his mother had to give the blessings. The father was still unwilling. The father actually even fell at his feet and Vasudev replied, “This is you blessing because a father will never fall at the feet of his son unless he is a sannyasi.”</p>
<p>So eventually the father relented and he went and took sannyasa from Acyutapreksa. He was called Purnaprajna Tirtha. He was very brilliant. He established many, many conclusions. He defeated many, many great scholars in debate. He especially engaged in debate with the Mayavadi scholars. In those days there was a custom in these debate competitions. Just like nowadays we have Olympics and physical sports, in those days they had these debate contests in which great scholars would come together and debate on very abstract philosophical points. There was a proper method. There would be judges and people would judge who was the winner. So he defeated all these great Mayavadi scholars. Time went by. (I am really jumping through the whole life.)</p>
<p>I would just like to speak about the Udipi temple itself. One time he felt joyful within himself and understood that something special was going to happen. Something really wonderful was to happen. By this time he was much elder in age and he decided to walk to the beach. He walked there at night and he stayed there. Soon there was a huge storm. There was a boat that was there. The boat got stuck in the coral reef. The people in the boat were in great anxiety. They called out for help. Madhvacarya took his sannyasa staff, tied his upper cloth to the end of it and waved it to control the air and he breathed in deep. Low and behold what happened? The storm subsided and the boat was pulled in towards the shore away from the coral reef.</p>
<p>The captain of the ship who was a merchant was very grateful. He came forward to Madhvacarya and offered him whatever daksina or gift that he wanted. Madhvacarya asked him what was in the boat. There was various types of merchandise. Madhvacarya was not interested in that. He asked him, “Where are you coming from?” He said, “Dvaraka.” Then he said, “Do you have gopi-chandan?” He said, “Yes indeed. I do. In fact we have lots of it. We use it as a ballast.” You know what is a ballast? You use it as a heavy weight at the bottom of a ship to balance it so that it doesn’t topple over.</p>
<p>So there was a lot of ballast. So he went and said, “Let me choose it.” So he went down and he selected a particular big block of chandan. There were many sailors in that boat. Narayana Acarya and … the biographer says that fifty sailors couldn’t lift it but Madhvacarya lean over and lifted it up like Hanuman was lifting the Gandhamadana hill. The sailors were dumbstruck. They couldn’t understand how this sannyasi could do such a thing.</p>
<p>He carried this gopi-chandan back which was very, very heavy. As he was walking back one part of the gopi-chandan broke off and fell to the ground and miraculously it revealed the deity of Balaram. He installed the deity there in the temple. The place is called Malpe. This temple still exists there. Lord Balarama’s deity is still there. Unfortunately many of the modern madhava’s don’t accept Balaram as the Supreme Lord. They think He is a jiva. That is another issue. But anyway the temple of Balaram is there.</p>
<p>Then he went on near the Anantesvara temple and there was a small lake there. He placed the chandan in that lake. The chandan dissolved and again from that there emerged a deity of Krishna. Actually as Madhvacarya had been walking to the sea and back he composed his famous Dwadasha Stotram – twelve prayers in glorification of Krishna. He completed the composition on the way back when he was carrying the gopi-chandan. So this deity of Krishna was a form of baby Krishna who was standing in one arm carrying a rope to bind the cows and the other hand a cow herding stick. So he installed the deity there and many people came forward after seeing this miracle but he just preferred to build a small temple because he didn’t want to have the temple of Anantesvara and Chandramaulisvara eclipsed by this temple. And also because he did not want it to become for people to take trouble to come stand in line and take darsan and so on. Since then the Sri Krishna Math in Udipi started.</p>
<p>There is a nice history that comes down from aural tradition of these deities Krishna and Balarama. We all know that even though Krishna was born of Mother Devaki and Vasudev in Mathura but they never enjoyed His childhood pastimes because Mother Yasoda and Nanada Maharaja in Vrindavan did so. So Mother Devaki was always lamenting that she never got a chance to see the childhood pastimes of Krishna.</p>
<p>Eventually when Krishna came to Dvaraka, mother Devaki expressed this desire to see Krishna’s childhood form and pastimes. Krishna is Bhaktavatsala – very affectionate to His devotees. So he wanted to fulfil the desire of His mother. So He transformed Himself into a child – into baby Krishna and then drank her milk. Then He began to crawl and do all the things that he would do when He was in Vrindavan. He manifested the grinding mortar. Mother Devaki was grinding and he would come up and hold the grinding rod and hold her hand and so on. Then she would give Him some butter and He would eat. This was going on in front of the astonished Devaki’s eyes. In this way with the unfolding of this pastime mother Devaki’s heart was completely satiated. Now she was satisfied having seen and participated in the childhood pastimes of Krishna.</p>
<p>Rukminidevi also heard about this and she also wanted to see. The mother may see the son as a child. That is the nature of the mother. However old the son is the mother still thinks the son as a child. But if the wife had to see the son as a child that is something strange. So Krishna then wanted to fulfil Rukmini Devi’s desire. So He summoned Visvakarma the heavenly architect from the heavenly planets and He said, “Please carve out – go to Gandaki River in Nepal. Get two suitably large shaligrama shilas from there and carve out My deity and a deity of My elder brother Balaram.”</p>
<p>So Visvakarma did that. He carved out one fairly large set of deities of Krishna Balarama and another small one which was given to Mother Devaki. It is said that Uddhava took the smaller deity to Vrindavan but then somehow They were lost. Nobody knows where those smaller deities are. The larger deities were worshipped by Rukmini Devi. On one hand she served her husband Krishna personally physically in Dvaraka and on the other hand she also worshipped these deities of Krishna and Balarama. Time went on.</p>
<p>Krishna eventually performed His disappearance pastime and at that time Arjuna took these deities and placed Them in Rukminivana. In course of time They got buried over by mud and so on. Many, many years passed. Actually couple of thousands of years passed and the merchants were looking for some ballast. They cut out the gopi-chandan from there and placed it as a ballast in the boat and that is how these deities came to Udipi. So the history of the Krishna deity and the Balarama deity is that originally They were worship by Rukmini Devi. They were personally ordered by Lord Krishna. So those Deities are very special.</p>
<p>There is a lot of culture there in Udipi. Those of you that want to get acquainted more and more with traditional culture there is still some of it remaining over there Madhvacarya established very strongly the devotional methods, processes of worship and so on. He established eight Maths and he had eight disciples he gave sannyasa to and made each of them the heads of these Maths. The Astamathas are still going on. Each of these sannyasis takes one disciple who is a sannyasi who then becomes the next acarya and so on.</p>
<p>Madhvacarya disappearance was equally dramatic. He was sitting at the Anantesvara temple giving a lecture on his lifelong favourite scripture the Aitareya Upanisad and he decided the time had come for him to depart. Even as he was discoursing on this scripture he suddenly disappeared. The asana on which he was sitting on when he disappeared is still preserved and when one goes to the Anantesvara temple there is a window through which you can look in to see that asana. We are not allowed to enter that room.</p>
<p>So on this tithi, on this day approximately seven hundred years ago Madhvacarya disappeared. Today is his disappearance day and we can pray at the lotus feet of Srila Madhvacarya to bless us with pure devotion to the Supreme Lord so that we can follow in his footsteps and achieve the success of this life. Thank you very much. Sorry i went on ’til late. I wanted to especially talk about the deity pastimes. Srila Madhvacarya ki! Jai! Grantaraj srimad Bhagavatam Ki! Jai Srila Prabhupada Ki! Jai! Gaurapremanande Hari-haribol. Hare Krishna. [End] [To receive Mayapurlive lectures by email, write to mayapurlive@pamho.net]</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10261">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10261</a></p></div>Sripada Madhvacharya’s Disappearance Day by Giriraj Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sripada-madhvacharya-s-disappearance-day2024-02-17T08:30:00.000Z2024-02-17T08:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10085783866,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10085783866?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="249" /></p>
<p>Today is Sripada Madhvacharya’s disappearance day. Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter 9, describes him:</p>
<p>TEXT 245</p>
<p>madhvacarya-sthane aila yanha ‘tattvavadi’<br /> udupite ‘krsna’ dekhi, tahan haila premonmadi</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>Caitanya Mahaprabhu next arrived at Udupi, the place of Madhvacarya, where the philosophers known as Tattvavadis resided. There He saw the Deity of Lord Krsna and became mad with ecstasy.</p>
<p>PURPORT</p>
<p>Sripada Madhvacarya took his birth near Udupi, which is situated in the South Kanara district of South India, just west of Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the South Kanara province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the south of Udupi. Near the city of Udupi is a place called Pajaka-ksetra, where Madhvacarya took his birth in a Sivalli-brahmana dynasty as the son of Madhyageha Bhatta, in the year 1040 Sakabda (A.D. 1118). According to some, he was born in the year 1160 Sakabda (A.D. 1238).</p>
<p>In his childhood Madhvacarya was known as Vasudeva, and there are some wonderful stories surrounding him. It is said that once when his father had piled up many debts, Madhvacarya converted tamarind seeds into actual coins to pay them off. When he was five years old, he was offered the sacred thread. A demon named Maniman lived near his abode in the form of a snake, and at the age of five Madhvacarya killed that snake with the toe of his left foot. When his mother was very much disturbed, he would appear before her in one jump. He was a great scholar even in childhood, and although his father did not agree, he accepted sannyasa at the age of twelve. Upon receiving sannyasa from Acyuta Preksa, he received the name Purnaprajna Tirtha. After traveling all over India, he finally discussed scriptures with Vidyasankara, the exalted leader of Srngeri-matha. Vidyasankara was actually diminished in the presence of Madhvacarya. Accompanied by Satya Tirtha, Madhvacarya went to Badarikasrama. It was there that he met Vyasadeva and explained his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita before him. Thus he became a great scholar by studying before Vyasadeva.</p>
<p>By the time he came to the Ananda-matha from Badarikasrama, Madhvacarya had finished his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita. His companion Satya Tirtha wrote down the entire commentary. When Madhvacarya returned from Badarikasrama, he went to Ganjama, which is on the bank of the river Godavari. There he met with two learned scholars named Sobhana Bhatta and Svami Sastri. Later these scholars became known in the disciplic succession of Madhvacarya as Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari Tirtha. When he returned to Udupi, he would sometimes bathe in the ocean. On such an occasion he composed a prayer in five chapters. Once, while sitting beside the sea engrossed in meditation upon Lord Sri Krsna, he saw that a large boat containing goods for Dvaraka was in danger. He gave some signs by which the boat could approach the shore, and it was saved. The owners of the boat wanted to give him a present, and at the time Madhvacarya agreed to take some gopi-candana. He received a big lump of gopi-candana, and as it was being brought to him, it broke apart and revealed a large Deity of Lord Krsna. The Deity had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the other. As soon as Madhvacarya received the Deity of Krsna in this way, he composed a prayer. The Deity was so heavy that not even thirty people could lift it. Yet Madhvacarya personally brought this Deity to Udupi. Eight of Madhvacarya’s sannyasa disciples became directors of his eight monasteries. Worship of the Lord Krsna Deity is still going on at Udupi according to the plans Madhvacarya established.</p>
<p>Madhvacarya then for the second time visited Badarikasrama. While he was passing through Maharashtra, the local king was digging a big lake for the public benefit. As Madhvacarya passed through that area with his disciples, he was also obliged to help in the excavation. After some time, when Madhvacarya visited the king, he engaged the king in that work and departed with his disciples.</p>
<p>Often in the province of Ganga-pradesa there were fights between Hindus and Muslims. The Hindus were on one bank of the river, and the Muslims on the other. Due to the community tension, no boat was available for crossing the river. The Muslim soldiers were always stopping passengers on the other side, but Madhvacarya did not care for these soldiers. He crossed the river anyway, and when he met the soldiers on the other side, he was brought before the king. The Muslim king was so pleased with him that he wanted to give him a kingdom and some money, but Madhvacarya refused. While walking on the road, he was attacked by some dacoits, but by his bodily strength he killed them all. When his companion Satya Tirtha was attacked by a tiger, Madhvacarya separated them by virtue of his great strength. When he met Vyasadeva, he received from him the salagrama-sila known as Astamurti. After this, he summarized the Mahabharata.</p>
<p>Madhvacarya’s devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship became known throughout India. Consequently the owners of the Srngeri-matha, established by Sankaracarya, became a little perturbed. At that time the followers of Sankaracarya were afraid of Madhvacarya’s rising power, and they began to tease Madhvacarya’s disciples in many ways. There was even an attempt to prove that the disciplic succession of Madhvacarya was not in line with Vedic principles. A person named Pundarika Puri, a follower of the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, came before Madhvacarya to discuss the sastras. It is said that all of Madhvacarya’s books were taken away, but later they were found with the help of King Jayasimha, ruler of Kumla. In discussion, Pundarika Puri was defeated by Madhvacarya. A great personality named Trivikramacarya, who was a resident of Visnumangala, became Madhvacarya’s disciple, and his son later became Narayanacarya, the composer of Sri Madhva-vijaya. After the death of Trivikramacarya, the younger brother of Narayanacarya took sannyasa and later became known as Visnu Tirtha.</p>
<p>It was reputed that there was no limit to the bodily strength of Purnaprajna, Madhvacarya. There was a person named Kadanjari who was famed for possessing the strength of thirty men. Madhvacarya placed the big toe of his foot upon the ground and asked the man to separate it from the ground, but the great strong man could not do so even after great effort. Srila Madhvacarya passed from this material world at the age of eighty while writing a commentary on the Aitareya Upanisad. For further information about Madhvacarya, one should read Madhva-vijaya, by Narayanacarya.</p>
<p>The acaryas of the Madhva-sampradaya established Udupi as the chief center, and the monastery there was known as Uttararadhi-matha. A list of the different centers of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya can be found at Udupi, and their matha commanders are (1) Visnu Tirtha (Soda-matha), (2) Janardana Tirtha (Krsnapura-matha), (3) Vamana Tirtha (Kanura-matha), (4) Narasimha Tirtha (Adamara-matha), (5) Upendra Tirtha (Puttugi-matha), (6) Rama Tirtha (Sirura-matha), (7) Hrsikesa Tirtha (Palimara-matha), and (8) Aksobhya Tirtha (Pejavara-matha). The disciplic succession of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya is as follows (the dates are those of birth in the Sakabda Era; for Christian era dates, add seventy-eight years): (1) Hamsa Paramatma; (2) Caturmukha Brahma; (3) Sanakadi; (4) Durvasa; (5) Jnananidhi; (6) Garuda-vahana; (7) Kaivalya Tirtha; (8) Jnanesa Tirtha; (9) Para Tirtha; (10) Satyaprajna Tirtha; (11) Prajna Tirtha; (12) Acyuta Preksacarya Tirtha; (13) Sri Madhvacarya, 1040 Saka; (14) Padmanabha, 1120; Narahari, 1127; Madhava, 1136; and Aksobhya 1159; (15) Jaya Tirtha, 1167; (16) Vidyadhiraja, 1190; (17) Kavindra, 1255; (18) Vagisa, 1261; (19) Ramacandra, 1269; (20) Vidyanidhi, 1298; (21) Sri Raghunatha, 1366; (22) Rayuvarya (who spoke with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu), 1424; (23) Raghuttama, 1471; (24) Vedavyasa, 1517; (25) Vidyadhisa, 1541; (26) Vedanidhi, 1553; (27) Satyavrata, 1557; (28) Satyanidhi, 1560; (29) Satyanatha, 1582; (30) Satyabhinava, 1595; (31) Satyapurna, 1628; (32) Satyavijaya, 1648; (33) Satyapriya, 1659; (34) Satyabodha, 1666; (35) Satyasandha, 1705; (36) Satyavara, 1716; (37) Satyadharma, 1719; (38) Satyasankalpa, 1752; (39) Satyasantusta, 1763; (40) Satyaparayana, 1763; (41) Satyakama, 1785; (42) Satyesta, 1793; (43) Satyaparakrama, 1794; (44) Satyadhira, 1801; (45) Satyadhira Tirtha, 1808.</p>
<p>After the sixteenth acarya (Vidyadhiraja Tirtha), there was another disciplic succession, including Rajendra Tirtha, 1254; Vijayadhvaja; Purusottama; Subrahmanya; and Vyasa Raya, 1470–1520. The nineteenth acarya, Ramacandra Tirtha, had another disciplic succession, including Vibudhendra, 1218; Jitamitra, 1348; Raghunandana; Surendra; Vijendra; Sudhindra; and Raghavendra Tirtha, 1545.</p>
<p>To date, in the Udupi monastery there are another fourteen Madhva-tirtha sannyasis. As stated, Udupi is situated beside the sea in South Kanara, about thirty-six miles north of Mangalore.</p>
<p>Most of the information in this purport is available from the South Kanada Manual and the Bombay Gazette.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>TEXT 246</p>
<p>nartaka gopala dekhe parama-mohane<br /> madhvacarye svapna diya aila tanra sthane</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>While at the Udupi monastery, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw “dancing Gopala,” a most beautiful Deity. This Deity appeared to Madhvacarya in a dream.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>TEXT 247</p>
<p>gopi-candana-tale achila dingate<br /> madhvacarya sei krsna paila kona-mate</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>Madhvacarya had somehow or other acquired the Deity of Krsna from a heap of gopi-candana that had been transported in a boat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>TEXT 248</p>
<p>madhvacarya ani’ tanre karila sthapana<br /> adyavadhi seva kare tattvavadi-gana</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>Madhvacarya brought this dancing Gopala Deity to Udupi and installed Him in the temple. To date, the followers of Madhvacarya, known as Tattvavadis, worship this Deity.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>TEXT 249</p>
<p>krsna-murti dekhi’ prabhu maha-sukha paila<br /> premavese bahu-ksana nrtya-gita kaila</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu received great pleasure in seeing this beautiful form of Gopala. For a long time He danced and chanted in ecstatic love.</p>
<p>May Sripada Madhvacharya bless us all.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=18573">https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=18573</a></p></div>Shri Madhvacharya Disappearance Day by Ramai Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/shri-madhvacharya-disappearance-day2024-02-17T06:30:00.000Z2024-02-17T06:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10085789484,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10085789484?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="283" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10085789670,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10085789670?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="236" /></p>
<p>Shri Madhvacharya appeared near Udupi, Karnataka in South India. He was considered an incarnation of Vayu (wind god). He had an unusually strong physique and extraordinary intellectual power.</p>
<p>Once a fierce tiger attacked Madhvacharya’s sannyasa disciple, Satya Tirtha. Madhvacharya wrestled the tiger and sent him away with his tail between his legs. Madhvacharya took diksha at age five, sannyasa at twelve and left home.</p>
<p>He appeared with a mission to fight and defeat Sankara’s Mayavada (impersonal) philosophy. By giving a pure interpretation of Vedanta-sutra he promoted pure theism. He named his innovative shastric explanation dvaita-dvaita-vada (pure dualism).<br /> <br /> <br /> With a hope of meeting Shrila Vyasadeva himself Madhvacharya walked up the Himalayas. Vyasadeva gave him a Shalagrama sila called Ashtamurti, approved his Bhagavad-gita commentary, and blessed Madhvacharya with deeper realisations of the sastras. <br /> <br /> In Udupi, Madhvacharya installed a beautiful Deity of Gopala standing alone holding a cowherding stick. This Deity manifested from within a chunk of gopi-candana (sacred clay). He established eight mathas (Temples) to lovingly serve “Udupi Krishna.” The sannyasi leaders of each matha worship the Krishna Deity with a rigorous regimen of ceremonial ritual, punctuality, and impeccable personal conduct.</p>
<p>The Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya originates with the Madhvas. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers thoroughly studied Madhva’s works before compiling their philosophy. For the Sat Sandarbhas Shri Jiva Goswami drew heavily from Madhva’s writings. Jiva Goswami found the Gaudiya philosophy of acintya-bheda-abheda tattva in Madhva’s Bhagavat-parya. Shri Chaitanya Himself visited Udupi, the seat of Madhva’s sect. The Lord introduced Hari Nama sankirtana into their sect. </p>
<p>Shri Madhvacharya serves as Madhavi-gopi in Radha-Govinda’s eternal Vrindavana pleasure pastimes. He passed away from this world while teaching his commentary to the Aitareya Upanishad in the temple of Anantesvara in 1378 AD. He lived for seventy-nine years.</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10085790662,RESIZE_192X{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10085790662?profile=RESIZE_192X" width="190" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10085790857,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10085790857?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="206" /><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.ramaiswami.com/shri-madhvacharya-disappearance/">http://www.ramaiswami.com/shri-madhvacharya-disappearance/</a></p></div>Jayadeva Goswami Disappearance Day by Ramai Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/jayadeva-goswami-disappearance-day-by-ramai-swami2024-02-01T10:30:00.000Z2024-02-01T10:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10930202880,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10930202880?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="197" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10930203088,RESIZE_192X{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10930203088?profile=RESIZE_192X" width="182" /></p>
<p>Shri Jayadeva Goswami appeared in either the eleventh or twelfth century of the Shaka era. There is a difference of opinion about his place of birth. The majority opinion holds that he was from the village of Kendubilva, presently in the district of Birbhum. Others claim that he was born in either Orissa or South India.</p>
<p>Kendubilva is situated about twenty miles south of Siuri on the banks of the Ajaya River. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhana, it is stated that Jayadeva found his Radha Madhava Deities in this river’s waters. It is also stated there that he used to rest and worship at the temple of Shiva known as Kusheshwar, which is also on the banks of the Ajaya River. Jayadeva’s father was named Bhojadeva and his mother, Vama Devi.</p>
<p>Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakur writes in his Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya that Lakshman Sen was delighted when he heard Jayadeva’s hymn to the ten incarnations, the Dasavatara-stotra. When Govardhan Acharya notified the king that it was Jayadeva who had composed the hymn, he became desirous to meet the poet.</p>
<p>He went incognito to Jayadeva’s house and when he saw him, he noticed that Jayadeva possessed all the characteristics of a great and powerful spiritual personality. Deeply impressed and attracted to Jayadeva, the king revealed his identity to him and invited him to come and live in the royal palace. Jayadeva was leading a very renounced life and was therefore unwilling to live in the opulent environment of the palace. He told the king that he preferred to live in Jagannath Puri.</p>
<p>Lakshman Sen was disappointed by Jayadeva’s intentions. He quickly suggested that he take up residence in the village of Champa Hati, saying that it was a place suitable for a person who wished to lead a meditative life. He also promised him that he would never come to disturb him again.</p>
<p>When Jayadeva agreed, Lakshman Sen had a cottage built for him in the village that was formerly known as Champaka-hatta, named after the beautiful garden of champa trees and the village market where Mahaprabhu’s associate Dvija Baninath received a vision of Him in the Satya Yuga, seeing Him in the form of a Brahmin whose skin was the color of champa flower.</p>
<p>Similarly, Jayadeva had a vision here, first of Radha-Madhava, then of Their combined form as the golden champa-colored Gauranga Mahaprabhu. </p>
<p>After the Lord gave Jayadeva this vision, He told him to go to Jagannath Puri. Although Jayadeva was sad to leave the future abode of his Lord, he obeyed the Lord’s command and made his way to Puri, where it is said that he was engaged as the king of Orissa’s court poet.</p>
<p>He spent the remainder of his life in the abode of Lord Jagannath, where he wrote the transcendental poem based on the sentiment of love in separation known as Gita-govinda or Astapadi. Indeed, Mahaprabhu told Jayadeva while giving him the vision of Navadwip that after appearing there, He would take sannyas and go to Jagannath Puri where He would relish the Gita-Govinda.</p>
<p>According to legend, Jagannath Himself ordered Jayadeva to marry his wife, Padmavati. The story is told in the Visvakosa as follows: there once was a Brahmin who was without offspring despite having worshiped Jagannath for many years in the hope of having a son. Finally, he and his wife had a daughter and they named her Padmavati.</p>
<p>When she came of marriageable age, the Brahmin brought her to Lord Jagannath to offer her to his lotus feet. When He saw them, Jagannath said to the Brahmin, “I have a servant whose name is Jayadeva. He has given up family life and has dedicated himself to chanting My names. Give your daughter to him in marriage.”</p>
<p>The Brahmin took his daughter to Jayadeva and asked him to marry his daughter. However, since Jayadeva had no desire to get married, he refused to agree to any such arrangement. The Brahmin then told him that it was Jagannath Himself who had arranged this marriage; and without another word, he left, leaving his daughter behind. Jayadeva found himself totally unprepared for this situation and told the girl, “Tell me where you want to go and I will take you and leave you there. You cannot stay here.”</p>
<p>Padmavati started to cry and said, “My father brought me here to marry you on Jagannath Deva’s order. You are my husband, my all in all. If you do not accept me, then I will fall down at your feet and die right here. You are my only hope, my Lord.” The poet and scholar Jayadev could not abandon her after such a heartfelt plea. So he became a householder.</p>
<p>[Later], Jayadeva took his Deities Radha and Madhava with him, and set off on a long journey. Once in Vrindavan, he began to serve his Deities in an area near Keshi Ghat. When the residents of the Dham heard Jayadeva sing the Gita-Govinda in his sweet voice, they were entranced. One merchant built a large temple for the Deities on that site.</p>
<p>It is said that Jayadeva returned to his birthplace in Kendubilva after living in Vrindavan for many years. He spent the rest of his life there, worshipping his Deities and performing his bhajan. He would make the long walk to the Ganges every day to take his bath there. One day, for some reason or another, he was unable to make it. Ganga Devi was so kind to him that she came personally to the village of Kendubilva so that he would bathe in her holy waters. It is said that Jayadeva died in Kendubilva and every year on the first day of the month a Magh, a large festival, is held there in his memory.</p>
<p>There is, however, a difference of opinion about where Jayadeva finished his life. Though some say he returned to Kendubilva, others claim it was Puri, and still others say that he went to Vrindavan. Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has stated his opinion that Jayadeva left this world from Jagannath Puri.</p>
<p>Though some people say that Jayadeva returned to Kendubilva to spend his last days, there is no indication anywhere that he brought his Radha-Madhava Deities with him. In fact, these Deities were taken by the king of Jaipur to a place named Ghati sometime after Jayadeva’s passing away and they are still being served in the Jaipur area.</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10930203099,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10930203099?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="275" /><br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.ramaiswami.com/jayadeva-goswami-disappearance-3/">http://www.ramaiswami.com/jayadeva-goswami-disappearance-3/</a></p></div>Disappearance Day of Sri Ramchandra Kavirajahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/disappearance-day-of-sri-ramchandra-kaviraja-22024-01-31T10:30:00.000Z2024-01-31T10:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8505766056,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8505766056?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="500" />Srila Narottama dasa Thakura has sung: “daya koro sri acarya prabhu srinivasa, ramacandra sanga mage narottama dasa—O Srinivasa acarya Prabhu, kindly have mercy upon me; Narottama dasa always prays for the association of Ramacandra Kaviraja.”</p>
<p> Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja was one of the internal associates of Narottama Thakura. The two of them were practically inseparable. Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja had obtained the full mercy and blessings of Srinivasa acarya. Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja’s father’s name was Ciranjiva Sena—his mother’s name was Sri Sunanda. At first Sri Ciranjiva Sen lived in Kumara Nagara. After he married the daughter of the poet Sri Damodara Kavi, he moved to the village of Sri Khanda. Ciranjiva Sen was a Mahabhagavata, a topmost devotee of the Lord. The devotees of Sri Khanda, headed by Narahari Sarakara Thakura all had great affection and respect for Ciranjiva.</p>
<p> Ciranjiva is mentioned in Caitanya-Caritamrta by Krsna dasa Kaviraja Goswami as follows (CC Madhya 11.92): “Gopinatha acarya continued to point out the devotees [to Prataparudra Maharaja]. ‘Here is Suklambara. See, there is Sridhara. Here is Vijaya, and there is Vallabha Sena. Here is Purusottama, and there is Sanjaya. And here are all the residents of Kulina-grama, such as Satyaraja Khan and Ramananda. Indeed, all of them are present here. Please see. Here are Mukunda dasa, Narahari, Sri Raghunandana, Ciranjiva and Sulocana, all residends of Khanda. How many names shall I speak to you? All the devotees you see here are associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is their life and soul.’ The King said, ‘Upon seeing all these devotees, I am much astonished, for I have never seen such an effulgence. Indeed their effulgence is like the brilliance of a million suns. Nor have I ever heard the Lord’s names chanted so melodiously.’”</p>
<p> Mukunda dasa, Narahari, Sri Raghunandana, and Ciranjiva all lived in Khanda.</p>
<p> They were as one, for their aim in life was the same, and every year at the time of the Ratha-yatra festival they used to go to Jagannatha Puri dhama to take darsan of the holy feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to take part in the kirtana and behold his wonderful dancing and chanting.</p>
<p> Ciranjiva Sen took birth in a vaidya family, that is, within the doctor caste. His two sons were Sri Ramacandra and Sri Govinda. These two sons were great jewels. Both of them attained the mercy of Srinivasa acaraya Prabhu, after which they went to live in Teliya-budhari-grama. Budhari-grama is in the Mursidabad district.</p>
<p> Ramacandra Kaviraja was especially enthusiastic, earnest, persevering, energetic, intelligent, and beautiful. His maternal grandfather was Sri Damodara Kaviraja, who was famous as a great poet. He used to instruct people in the philosophy of the saktas. He was also initiated into the path of dharma followed by the saktas.</p>
<p> After the passing away of their father, Ciranjiva, Sri Ramacandra and Sri Govinda went to live at the place of their grandfather Damodara Kaviraja. As they were living with their scholarly grandfather, who was a follower of sakta-ism, they too gradually became infected with this anti-devotional philosophy, even though their father had been a great mahabhagavata devotee and personal associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Ramacandra Sen became a doctor and gradually he became famous as a highly learned poet as well.</p>
<p> One day, Ramacandra Kaviraja was on the road to Yajigrama, on his way home from his wedding. At that time, Srinivasa acarya was passing on the road, accompanied by his followers.</p>
<p> One day Shrinivasa Acharaya was in Yajigrama at his own house, where many devotees had gathered to hear him lecture on Shrimad-Bhagavatam. At that time, passing by the house of Shrinivasa Acharya was Ramachandra Kaviraja the son of Chiranjiva Sen (one of Mahaprabhu’s eternal associates). He had just been married, and he and his new bride were on their way back from the wedding.</p>
<p> From a long way off, Shrinivasa Acharya saw Ramachandra Kaviraja, and Ramachandra Kaviraja also saw Shrinvasa Acharya from a distance. Upon seeing each other from a distance a deep mood of friendship arose within the hearts of those two eternally perfect devotees of Shri Gauranga. After seeing each other they were eager to meet one another. Shrinivasa Acharya inquired about Ramachandra Kaviraja from the local people. They told him that he was a great pandita named Ramacandra—a learned poet and expert doctor from a family of doctors and scholars. Hear all this, Srinivasa acarya smiled, for he was greatly pleased.</p>
<p> Ramachandra Kaviraja had heard about Shrinivasa Acharya and was eager to have his darsana. In this way, he finally went to the house of Srinivasa acarya along with his new bride and were introduced by some of the local people. The day passed quickly in discussion of Hari-katha. They spent the night where they had been staying since coming to Yajigrama, at a brahmana’s house near the home of Shrinvasa Acharaya, and the following morning went to Shrinivasa Acharya and fell before his feet offering prostrated obeisances.</p>
<p> The Acharya bade Ramachandra Kaviraja to get up from the ground, and heartily embraced him saying, “Life after life you have been my friend. Providence has brought us together again today by arranging our meeting.” Both of them felt great happiness as a result of their having met. Seeing that Ramchandra had an acute and deeply learned transcendental intelligence, Shrinivasa was very happy. He began to make him hear the Goswami scriptures. Ramacandra’s pure behavior which was always in accordance with the scriptures very much pleased Srinivasa acarya, and after a few days the Acharya initiated him in the divine Radha-Krishna mantra.</p>
<p> After a few days, Ramacandra Kaviraja left Yajigrama and returned to his own village. At that time, the local saktas became envious of him, seeing that he had been initiated into the Vaisnava faith. Ramacandra Kaviraja always marked his body with the twelve tilaka marks of a devotee and always chanted the holy name of Hari.</p>
<p> One day, after having taken his bath in the Ganges, Ramacandra Kaviraja was on his way home when the saktas confronted him saying, “Kaviraja! Why don’t you worship Siva? Your grandfather Damodara Kaviraja was a great devotee of Siva, so why have you given up his worship?”</p>
<p> Ramacandra said, “Both Siva and Brahma are guna-avataras, qualitative incarnations of the Lord, but Krsna is the root of all avataras, all incarnations. Simply by worshiping Krsna all worship is performed, just as by watering the root of a tree, all the leaves and branches are automatically nourished. Prahlada, Dhruva, Vibhisana and others who were dear devotees of Krsna are always glorified by Brahma and Siva. On the other hand Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vanasura, and others were envious of Krsna and were solely devoted to Siva. But because they were envious of Krsna, Siva himself saw to their destruction.</p>
<p> “When Brahma creates the universe, He prays to Visnu for success in the matter of creation. And Siva also submits himself to Lord Visnu by carrying upon his head the Ganges, the water that has washed the lotus feet of Visnu and that sanctifies the three worlds.”</p>
<p> Hearing all this, the smarta brahmanas, the materialistic worshipers of Siva known as the saktas were speechless.</p>
<p> Gradually, Ramacandra Kaviraja became eager to go to Vrndavana and take darssana of the holy feet of the Goswamis there. After receiving permission and blessings from various Vaisnavas in Bengal, including Sri Raghunandana Thakura, he set out for Vrndavana on an auspicious day. On the way to Vrndaavana, he vistied Gaya, Kasi, Prayaga, and many other holy places. At long last he arrived in Mathura. There bathed in the Yamuna at Visrama ghata, and after bathing, he rested for some time. He took darsana of the adi Kesava deity at the birthplace of Sri Krsna and then continued on his way to Vrndavana.</p>
<p> At that time, Srinivasa acarya was staying in Vrndavana. Arriving there, Ramacandra Kaviraja offered his obeisances at the lotus feet of Sri Jiva Goswami and Srinivasa acarya and gave the devotees there the auspicious news about all the devotees in Bengal. On the order of Jiva Goswami, Ramacandra Kaviraja went to visit the three principal deities of Vrndavana: Sri Madana-Mohan, Sri Govinda, and Sri Gopinatha, as well as the memorial shrine or samadhi of Sanatana Goswami. He took darsana of the holy feet of the principle Goswamis residing in Vrndavana at the time, including Sri Lokanatha Goswami, Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami, and Sri Bhugarbha Goswami. Seeing Ramacandra’s wonderful expertise in composing beautiful verses glorifying Sri Krsna, they gave him the title “Kaviraja,” in recognition of his scholarship.</p>
<p> After staying in Vrndavana for some time under the guidance of those great souls, and after visiting the important holy places, Ramacandra was ordered by the Goswamis to return to Bengal. Arriving in Bengal, he passed through Sri Khanda, Yajigrama, Khadadaha, Ambika Kalna, and other famous Vaisnava centers, before arriving in Nabadwipa, where he visited Mayapura. There he went to the ancient house of Jagannatha Misra, where he found Mahaprabhu’s old family servant, ^sana Thakura. After introducing himself, he took the dust from the holy feet of ^sana and prayed for his blessings, which he received. Ramacandra Kaviraja was extremely dear to Srinivasa acarya, and for this reason, Narottama Thakura considered Ramacandra Kaviraja to be his life and soul. A discussion of their pastimes together is found in the chapter on Narottama dasa Thakura.</p>
<p> Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja delivered many sinners and nonbelievers to a life of auspiciousness as a result of his mercy. At the festival in Kheturi-grama, he was one of the leaders. On the order of Narottama dasa Thakura and Srinivasa acarya he again went to Vrndavana. When he arrived there, he found that almost all the Goswamis had passed away. When he found that so many great souls had passed away, his heart was deeply pained. After some days in Vrndavana, feeling the pain of separation in this way, while deeply meditating upon the lotus feet of Sri Radha and Govinda, he entered into their eternal Vrndavana pastimes. His disappearance day is on the third day of the dark moon in the month of Pausa.</p>
<p> Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja’s disciple was Sri Harinama acarya. Ramacandra Kaviraja composed many beautiful verses in glorification of Sri Gauranga. The following song is an example of one of the many prayers composed by Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja. In this song he glorifies the inconceivable transcendental mercy of Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu who descended to save all souls in the dense darkenss of the age of Kali; here he also expresses his deep Vaisnava humility, by lamenting that he was unable to taste even a drop of the Lord’s mercy.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> Song by Ramacandra Kaviraja</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">dekha dekha are bhai gauranga canda parakasa<br /> purnimara canda yena udita akasa<br /> simharasi paurnamasi gaura avatara<br /> chadala yuger bhara dharani nistara<br /> mahitale achaye yateka jivatapa<br /> harala sakala pahun nijahi pratapa<br /> kaliyuge tapa-japa nahi kona tantra<br /> prakasila mahapratu hare-krsna mantra<br /> premera vadara kari bharila samsara<br /> pataki naraki saba paila nistara<br /> andha avadhi yata kare parakasa<br /> bindu na padila mukhe ramacandra dasa.</p>
<p> “Just see! Just see, brothers how Sri Gauranga has arisen like a golden moon. Just as the full moon had arisen in the sky, another, fuller moon arose in the form of the Gaura avatara, just to deliver us all from this dark age of ignorance.</p>
<p> His mercy takes away all the suffering of the jiva souls. Japa, mantras, austerities and other rituals are all useless for purification in the age of Kali. The only means of deliverance is the hare krsna mantra. Mahaprabhu is so kind that he has manifest the nectar of the holy name, so that the souls in this dark age can be released from the cycle of repeated birth and death and a hellish life in the lower planetary systems and experience divine love.</p>
<p> Whether one is blind or dumb does not matter; everyone one can drown in this inundation. In this way Caitanya Mahaprabhu has drowned everyone in love of Godhead, but Ramacandra dasa is so unfortunate that he could not taste even a drop of that nectar.</p>
<div><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=93073">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=93073</a></div></div>Sri Ramachandra Kaviraja's Disappearance Day !https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sri-ramachandra-kaviraja-s-disappearance-day2024-01-31T09:40:00.000Z2024-01-31T09:40:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8505623091,RESIZE_192X{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8505623091?profile=RESIZE_192X" width="188" />Shri Ramachandra Kaviraja was the disciple of Shrinivasa Acharya Prabhu and the very intimate friend of Narottama dasa Thakura. His father was Chiranjiva Sena and Mother Shri Sunanda. Chiranjiva was originally an inhabitant of Kumara nagar but after marrying the daughter of Shri Damodara Kavi he moved to Shri Khanda.</p>
<p>“Chiranjiva Sena was a pure Devotee very much loved by Narahari Sarkar and the other residents of Shri Khanda. He was extremely learned in all matters and his wife was very chaste and gentle. Her activities were completely transcendental.” [C.C Mad. 11/92]</p>
<p>Chiranjiva was from a family of physicians. His two jewel-like sons were Ramachandra and Govinda. Later they both became disciples of Acharya Prabhu and came to reside at Teliya Bhudari-gram in Murshidabad.</p>
<p>“Ramachandara Kaviraja was especially earnest, beautiful, intelligent, energetic, and enthusiastic,” said one biographer. Although married, Ramachandra and his wife, Ratanala, had no material attachments. They stayed fully engaged in the loving service of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They had no children. With steadfast devotion he served his spiritual master, Shrinivasa Acharya. In Vrindavana, Shri Jiva Goswami gave him the title, kaviraja, “king of poets.” He wrote the following beautiful verse:</p>
<p>prakasila mahaprabhu hare krishna mantra</p>
<p>premera vadara kari barila samsara</p>
<p>andha avadhi yata kare parsa</p>
<p>bindhu na padila mukhe ramacandra dasa</p>
<p>“Shriman Mahaprabhu is so kind that He manifests the nectar of the Hare Krishna mantra. The Holy Name will free all souls from the cycle of birth and death, from lower planets, from hell. The Holy Name will give one a taste of divine love for Radha-Madhava.</p>
<p>“Whether blind or dumb, anyone can drown in this flood of prema. In this way, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has filled everyone with love of God. But Ramachandra Dasa is so unfortunate that he couldn’t even taste a drop of that nectar.”</p>
<p>Ramachandra Kaviraja was one of the eight kavirajas, famous poet disciples of Shrinivasa Acharya. Ramachandra wrote Smarana Darpana, Smarana Chamatkara, Siddhanta Chandrika. He preached widely and initiated many disciples. Narottama Dasa Thakura and Ramachandra lived together as best friends. Narottama Dasa wrote, doya kore shri acharya prabhu shrinivasa; ramachandra sanga mage Narottama Dasa, “0 Shrinivasa Acharya Prabhu, please give me your mercy. Narottama Dasa always prays for the association of Ramachandra Kaviraja.”</p>
<p>In the form of Karna manjari, he serves Shrimati Radharani in Vraja lila. His samadhi is in Dhira Samira Kunja next to Shrinivasa Acharya.</p>
<p>Ramachandra wrote several books, including Smarana-chamatkara, Smarana-darpana, Siddhanta-chandrika, and Shrinivasa Acharyera Jivana-charita.</p>
<p>Ramachandra’s disappearance day is the Krishna triya in the month of Magh. He passed away in Vrindavan after the disappearance of Shrinivas Acharya.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MayapurDotCom/?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZUUyENNqSXCrATuNoPrkRBkogGPHiOx3TLUP4sTK5oQsIfZ2C9F47aVvXIt_KHDYOXySwBpK_EvmhuoADk1nAQKnKJLl6TsHeqPMmJipSYw4mHXv4MatUruLPoU6N72aAA2dAywIqlCf4tZPG-gvD6qVFS_dayYhVcB6e5aWKUygdQfV4VTUtVbfbM-mLPTHZA&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R">For Vaishnava Activities click!</a><br /> <br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://www.mayapur.com/2021/sri-ramachandra-kaviraj-disappearance-day/">https://www.mayapur.com/2021/sri-ramachandra-kaviraj-disappearance-day/</a></p></div>Srila Ramacandra Kaviraja Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-ramacandra-kaviraja-disappearance-day2024-01-31T08:30:00.000Z2024-01-31T08:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10929730485,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10929730485?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="212" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10929731065,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10929731065?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="293" /></p>
<p>Srila Narottama dasa Thakura has sung: “daya koro sri acarya prabhu srinivasa, ramacandra sanga mage narottama dasa—O Srinivasa acarya Prabhu, kindly have mercy upon me; Narottama dasa always prays for the association of Ramacandra Kaviraja.”</p>
<p>Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja was one of the internal associates of Narottama Thakura. The two of them were practically inseparable. Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja had obtained the full mercy and blessings of Srinivasa acarya. Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja’s father’s name was Ciranjiva Sena—his mother’s name was Sri Sunanda. </p>
<p>At first Sri Ciranjiva Sen lived in Kumara Nagara. After he married the daughter of the poet Sri Damodara Kavi, he moved to the village of Sri Khanda. Ciranjiva Sen was a Mahabhagavata, a topmost devotee of the Lord. The devotees of Sri Khanda, headed by Narahari Sarakara Thakura all had great affection and respect for Ciranjiva. </p>
<p>One day, Ramacandra Kaviraja was on the road to Yajigrama, on his way home from his wedding. At that time, Srinivasa acarya was passing on the road, accompanied by his followers.</p>
<p>Later, Shrinivasa Acharaya was in Yajigrama at his own house, where many devotees had gathered to hear him lecture on Shrimad-Bhagavatam. At that time, passing by the house of Shrinivasa Acharya was Ramachandra Kaviraja the son of Chiranjiva Sen (one of Mahaprabhu’s eternal associates). He had just been married, and he and his new bride were on their way back from the wedding. </p>
<p>From a long way off, Shrinivasa Acharya saw Ramachandra Kaviraja, and Ramachandra Kaviraja also saw Shrinvasa Acharya from a distance. Upon seeing each other from a distance a deep mood of friendship arose within the hearts of those two eternally perfect devotees of Shri Gauranga.</p>
<p>After seeing each other they were eager to meet one another. Shrinivasa Acharya inquired about Ramachandra Kaviraja from the local people. They told him that he was a great pandita named Ramacandra—a learned poet and expert doctor from a family of doctors and scholars. Hear all this, Srinivasa acarya smiled, for he was greatly pleased. </p>
<p>Ramachandra Kaviraja had heard about Shrinivasa Acharya and was eager to have his darsana. In this way, he finally went to the house of Srinivasa acarya along with his new bride and were introduced by some of the local people. The day passed quickly in discussion of Hari-katha. They spent the night where they had been staying since coming to Yajigrama, at a brahmana’s house near the home of Shrinvasa Acharaya, and the following morning went to Shrinivasa Acharya and fell before his feet offering prostrated obeisances. </p>
<p>The Acharya bade Ramachandra Kaviraja to get up from the ground, and heartily embraced him saying, “Life after life you have been my friend. Providence has brought us together again today by arranging our meeting.” Both of them felt great happiness as a result of their having met. </p>
<p>Seeing that Ramchandra had an acute and deeply learned transcendental intelligence, Shrinivasa was very happy. He began to make him hear the Goswami scriptures. Ramacandra’s pure behavior which was always in accordance with the scriptures very much pleased Srinivasa acarya, and after a few days the Acharya initiated him in the divine Radha-Krishna mantra.</p>
<p>Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja delivered many sinners and nonbelievers to a life of auspiciousness as a result of his mercy. At the festival in Kheturi-grama, he was one of the leaders. On the order of Narottama dasa Thakura and Srinivasa acarya he went to Vrndavana.</p>
<p>When he arrived there, he found that almost all the Goswamis had passed away. When he found that so many great souls had passed away, his heart was deeply pained. </p>
<p>After some days in Vrndavana, feeling the pain of separation in this way, while deeply meditating upon the lotus feet of Sri Radha and Govinda, he entered into their eternal Vrndavana pastimes. His disappearance day is on the third day of the dark moon in the month of Pausa.<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.ramaiswami.com/srila-ramacandra-kaviraja-disappearance/">http://www.ramaiswami.com/srila-ramacandra-kaviraja-disappearance/</a></p></div>Observing Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/observing-srila-jiva-gosvami-s-disappearance-day2024-01-13T08:30:00.000Z2024-01-13T08:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><strong><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3790405222,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3790405222?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="260" /></strong></p>
<p><strong>By Giriraj Swami</strong></p>
<p>Today is the disappearance day of Srila Jiva Gosvami, one of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, direct disciples of Lord Chaitanya. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Srila Jiva Gosvami composed and edited at least twenty-five books. They are all very much celebrated . . . After the disappearance of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami in Vrndavana, Srila Jiva Gosvami became the acarya of all the Vaisnavas in Bengal, Orissa, and the rest of the world, and it is he who used to guide them in their devotional service. In Vrndavana he established the Radha-Damodara temple, where, after retirement, we had the opportunity to live from 1962 until 1965, when we decided to come to the United States of America.” (Cc Adi 10.85 purport)</p>
<p>In London I am staying in the home of Ramanuja dasa and Shyama Sakhi dasi, and their son Varun. In Vrindavan Varun did some service to restore and preserve Srila Jiva Gosvami’s chanting beads (japa-mala), and in reciprocation, the Goswami in possession of the beads gave one to Varun. Today I chanted japa on that bead, remembering Srila Jiva Goswami’s exalted qualities and activities—and love. And in response to a prayer to him, I felt that he instructed me, “Just serve your gurudeva. By the service of your gurudeva you will get everything.”</p>
<p>In his purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 4.71), Srila Prabhupada writes, “Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhu gives the following directions in his Bhakti-sandarbha (270): ‘Chanting the holy name is the chief means of attaining love of Godhead. This chanting or devotional service does not depend on any paraphernalia, nor on one’s having taken birth in a good family. By humility and meekness one attracts the attention of Krsna. That is the verdict of all the Vedas. Therefore if one becomes very humble and meek, he can easily attain the lotus feet of Krsna in this Age of Kali. That is the fulfillment of all great sacrifices, penances, and austerities, because when one achieves ecstatic love of Godhead, he attains the complete perfection of life. Therefore whatever one does in executing devotional service must be accompanied by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.’ ”</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=81100">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=81100</a></p></div>Srila Jagadisa Pandita's Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-jagadisa-pandita-disappearance-12024-01-13T07:30:00.000Z2024-01-13T07:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2515274094,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515274094,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="2515274094?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="400" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">“Sri Jagadisa Pandita is the savior of the world. He distributes the nectar of love of Krsna just like a dense mass of dark clouds in the sky distributes rainfall.” [C.C. Adi 11.30]</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Sri Jagadisa Bhatta took his birth in the region of Gauhati. His father’s name was Sri Kamalaksa Bhatta, who was the son of Bhatta Narayana, who hailed from Goyghar Bandyaghata. Both the mother and father of Jagadisa were very devoted Visnu-bhaktas. After his parents passed away he came with his wife to live on the banks of the Ganges. His wife’s name was Dukhini devi. (His younger brother Mahesa also came with him to reside on the banks of the Ganga.)They built their house near the home of Jagannatha Misra.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Sri Gaura Sundara instructed Jagadisa to preach Hari Nam at Nilacala. Thus he took shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Jagannatha. At that time he prayed at the feet of Lord Jagannatha and was rewarded by obtaining a Deity of the lotus-eyed Lord. This he brought to Yasora, on the banks of the Ganga near Cakdaha. This Deity was brought suspended from a staff which is still being worshiped in the temple of Lord Jagannatha at Jasora. This temple is presently under the charge of Sri Gaudiya Math, and is a rickshaw ride away from Cakdaha railway station, on the Sealdah-Krsnanagar line.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda sometimes used to go to Jasora to have festivals of sankirtana. Jagadisa Pandita’s son was Sri Rambhadra Gosvami. In the temple are Deities of Sri Jagannatha Deva, Sri Radha-Vallabhaji and Sri Goura-Gopala. It is said that the Goura Gopala Deity was established by Sri Duhkhini Devi. The Deity is a golden color.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">After Lord Caitanya conducted a sankirtan festival at the home of Jagadisa Pandita, He planned to go to Nilacala. Duhkhini, however, knowing the Lord’s mind, was very distressed by feelings of impending separation. At that time Mahaprabhu gave her this Deity and said, “I will eternally remain in your house in the form of this Deity.” From that day this Deity of Gaura-Gopala is being worshiped there. In Gaur-ganoddesa-dipika it is revealed that Jagadisa and Hiranya were wives of the Vedic Brahmanas in Krsna lila. According to another opinion, “He who was previously known as Candrahasa, a famous dancer in Krsna-lila, is now famous as Jagadisa Pandita, who also takes great pleasure in ecstatic dancing.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">On one Ekadasi day, the young Sri Gaura Hari wanted to eat rice from the house of Jagadisa and Hiranya. The Lord said to His parents, “If you don’t want Me to die, then immediately go to the house of two Brahmanas by the names of Jagadisa and Hiranya, with whom I am very pleased. They are both fasting for Ekadasi, but they have prepared some offerings for Lord Visnu. If you can obtain some of that Visnu-prasada then I’ll recover my health and be able to move about.” [C.B. Adi 6.20-23] One day, child Gaura Hari was crying incessantly. His parents told him, “First tell us what you want. We’ll bring it, but please don’t cry.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">He replied, “On this Ekadasi day in Jagadisa and Hiranya’s house are many preparations of Visnu-prasada. If I can eat that then I’ll be alright.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Hearing this impossible request of her son, Saci Mata put her hand on her head and began to lament. Upon hearing the words of the child, the neighbors laughed in amazement. “How is it that such a young child as this is aware that today is Ekadasi?”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Then the ladies told Him, “Bap Nimai, don’t cry anymore, we’ll bring what you have requested.” When the two Brahmanas heard of the child’s request they were very pleased. Both of them were very intimate friends of Jagannath Misra and they were well aware that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Hari had appeared in his house. Therefore, whatever they had prepared for Lord Hari they brought before Sri Gaura Hari and told Him, “Bap, Visvambhara! We have brought everything which You requested. Now please eat it in great happiness and don’t cry anymore.”</p>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=70414">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=70414</a></div></div>Disappearance Day of Sri Jagadisa Panditahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/disappearance-day-of-sri-jagadisa-pandita-12024-01-13T06:30:00.000Z2024-01-13T06:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><div>
<div><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9983830861,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9983830861?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="450" />“Sri Jagadisa Pandita is the savior of the world. He distributes the nectar of love of Krsna just like a dense mass of dark clouds in the sky distributes rainfall.” [C.c. Adi 11.30]</div>
</div>
<div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div>
<div>Sri Jagadisa Bhatta took his birth in the region of Gaihati. His father’s name was Sri Kamalaksa Bhatta. Both the mother and father of Jagadisa were very devoted Visnu-bhaktas. After his parents passed away he came with his wife to live on the banks of the Ganges. His wife’s name was Dukhini-devi.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>After Lord Caitanya conducted a sankirtan festival at the home of Jagadisa Pandita, He planned to go to Nilacala. Duhkhini, however, knowing the Lord’s mind, was very distressed by feelings of impending separation. At that time Mahaprabhu gave her His Deity and said, “I will eternally remain in your house in the form of this Deity.” From that day this Deity of Gaura-Gopala (above shown), is being worshipped there.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>In Gaur-ganoddesa-dipika it is revealed that Jagadisa and Hiranya were wives of the Vedic brahmanas in Krsna lila. According to another opinion, “He who was previously known as Candrahasa, a famous dancer in Krsna-lila, is now famous as Jagadisa Pandita, who also takes great pleasure in ecstatic dancing.”</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>One day, child Gaurahari was crying incessantly. His parents told him, “First tell us what you want. We’ll bring it, but please don’t cry.” He replied, “On this Ekadasi day in Jagadisa and Hiranya’s house are many preparations of Visnu-prasada. If I can eat that then I’ll be alright.” Hearing this impossible request of her son, Saci Mata put her hand on her head and began to lament. Upon hearing the words of the child, the neighbors laughed in amazement. “How is it that such a young child as this is aware that today is Ekadasi?”</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>Then the ladies told Him, “Bap Nimai, don’t cry anymore, we’ll bring what you have requested.” When the two brahmanas heard of the child’s request they were very pleased. Both of them were very intimate friends of Jagannath Misra and they were well-aware that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Hari had appeared in his house. Therefore, whatever they had prepared for Lord Hari they brought before Sri Gaurahari and told Him, “Bap, Visvambhara! We have brought everything which You requested. Now please eat it in great happiness and don’t cry anymore.” Bhagavana Sri Gaurasundara, along with His friends, then enjoyed that feast. While doing so, He showed His transcendental BalaGopala form to Jagadisa and Hiranya.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>Sri Jagadisa Pandita disappearance is on the third day of the bright fortnight in the month of Pausa.<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://www.mayapur.com/2022/disappearance-day-of-sri-jagadisa-pandita/">https://www.mayapur.com/2022/disappearance-day-of-sri-jagadisa-pandita/</a></div>
</div>
<p> </p></div>Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-jiva-gosvami-s-disappearance-day2024-01-13T05:30:00.000Z2024-01-13T05:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8425440087,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8425440087?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="300" />Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten describes the branches of the tree named Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.</p>
<p>TEXT 1</p>
<p>sri-caitanya-padambhoja-<br /> madhupebhyo namo namah<br /> kathancid asrayad yesam<br /> svapi tad-gandha-bhag bhavet</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>Let me repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the beelike devotees who always taste the honey of the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. If even a doggish nondevotee somehow takes shelter of such devotees, he enjoys the aroma of the lotus flower.</p>
<p>PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada</p>
<p>The example of a dog is very significant in this connection. A dog naturally does not become a devotee at any time. But still it is sometimes found that a dog of a devotee gradually becomes a devotee also. We have actually seen that a dog has no respect even for the tulasi plant. Indeed, a dog is especially inclined to pass urine on the tulasi plant. Therefore the dog is the number one nondevotee. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtana movement is so strong that even a doglike nondevotee can gradually become a devotee by the association of a devotee of Lord Caitanya. Srila Sivananda Sena, a great householder devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, attracted a dog on the street while going to Jagannatha Puri. The dog began to follow him and ultimately went to see Caitanya Mahaprabhu and was liberated. Similarly, cats and dogs in the household of Srivasa Thakura were also liberated. Cats and dogs and other animals are not expected to become devotees, but in the association of a pure devotee they are also delivered.</p>
<p>TEXTS 2–6</p>
<p>jaya jaya sri-krsna-caitanya-nityananda<br /> jaya advaitacandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda</p>
<p>All glories to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda! All glories to Advaita Prabhu, and all glories to the devotees of Lord Caitanya, headed by Srivasa!</p>
<p>ei malira-ei vrksera akathya kathana<br /> ebe suna mukhya-sakhara nama-vivarana</p>
<p>The description of Lord Caitanya as the gardener and the tree is inconceivable. Now hear with attention about the branches of this tree.</p>
<p>caitanya-gosanira yata parisada-caya<br /> guru-laghu-bhava tanra na haya niscaya</p>
<p>The associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu were many, but none of them should be considered lower or higher. This cannot be ascertained.</p>
<p>yata yata mahanta kaila tan-sabara ganana<br /> keha karibare nare jyestha-laghu-krama</p>
<p>All the great personalities in the line of Lord Caitanya enumerated these devotees, but they could not distinguish between the greater and the lesser.</p>
<p>ataeva tan-sabare kari’ namaskara<br /> nama-matra kari, dosa na labe amara</p>
<p>I offer my obeisances unto them as a token of respect. I request them not to consider my offenses.</p>
<p>TEXT 7</p>
<p>vande sri-krsna-caitanya-<br /> premamara-taroh priyan<br /> sakha-rupan bhakta-ganan<br /> krsna-prema-phala-pradan</p>
<p>I offer my respectful obeisances to all the dear devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the eternal tree of love of Godhead. I offer my respects to all the branches of the tree, the devotees of the Lord who distribute the fruit of love of Krsna.</p>
<p>PURPORT</p>
<p>Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami sets the example of offering obeisances to all the preacher devotees of Lord Caitanya, without distinction as to higher and lower. Unfortunately, at present there are many foolish so-called devotees of Lord Caitanya who make such distinctions. For example, the title “Prabhupada” is offered to a spiritual master, especially to a distinguished spiritual master such as Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada, Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada, or Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada. When our disciples similarly wanted to address their spiritual master as Prabhupada, some foolish people became envious. Not considering the propaganda work of the Hare Krsna movement, simply because these disciples addressed their spiritual master as Prabhupada, they became so envious that they formed a faction with other such envious persons just to minimize the value of the Krsna consciousness movement. To chastise such fools, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami very frankly says, keha karibare nare jyestha-laghu-krama. Anyone who is a bona fide preacher of the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu must be respectful to the real devotees of Lord Caitanya; one should not be envious, considering one preacher to be very great and another to be very lowly. This is a material distinction and has no place on the platform of spiritual activities. Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami therefore offers equal respect to all the preachers of the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who are compared to the branches of the tree. ISKCON is one of these branches, and it should therefore be respected by all sincere devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.</p>
<p>COMMENT by Giriraj Swami</p>
<p>Even among Gaudiya Vaishnavas, we must be careful to avoid offenses. We must respect and recognize the service of all Vaishnavas. As Srila Prabhupada once said, if we do not give credit where credit is due, we will become envious.</p>
<p>TEXT 85</p>
<p>tanra madhye rupa-sanatana-bada sakha<br /> anupama, jiva, rajendradi upasakha</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>Among these branches, Rupa and Sanatana were principal. Anupama, Jiva Gosvami and others, headed by Rajendra, were their sub-branches.</p>
<p>PURPORT</p>
<p>In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (195) it is said that Srila Jiva Gosvami was formerly Vilasa-manjari gopi. From his very childhood Jiva Gosvami was greatly fond of Srimad-Bhagavatam. He later came to Navadvipa to study Sanskrit, and, following in the footsteps of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, he circumambulated the entire Navadvipa-dhama.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has described Jiva Gosvami’s Navadvipa parikrama, and this parikrama of Nityananda Prabhu and Jiva Gosvami forms the basis of the Navadvipa parikrama we perform now, under the guidance of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.</p>
<p>PURPORT</p>
<p>After visiting Navadvipa-dhama he went to Benares to study Sanskrit under Madhusudana Vacaspati, and after finishing his studies in Benares he went to Vrndavana and took shelter of his uncles, Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana. This is described in Bhakti-ratnakara. As far as our information goes, Srila Jiva Gosvami composed and edited at least twenty-five books. They are all very celebrated, and they are listed as follows: (1) Hari-namamrta-vyakarana, (2) Sutra-malika, (3) Dhatu-sangraha, (4) Krsnarca-dipika, (5) Gopala-virudavali, (6) Rasamrta-sesa, (7) Sri Madhava-mahotsava, (8) Sri Sankalpa-kalpavrksa, (9) Bhavartha-sucaka-campu, (10) Gopala-tapani-tika, (11) a commentary on the Brahma-samhita, (12) a commentary on the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, (13) a commentary on the Ujjvala-nilamani, (14) a commentary on the Yogasara-stava, (15) a commentary on the Gayatri-mantra, as described in the Agni Purana, (16) a description derived from the Padma Purana of the lotus feet of the Lord, (17) a description of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani, (18) Gopala-campu (in two parts), and (19–25) seven sandharbhas: the Krama-, Tattva-, Bhagavat-, Paramatma-, Krsna-, Bhakti-, and Priti-sandharba. After the disappearance of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami in Vrndavana, Srila Jiva Gosvami became the acarya of all the Vaisnavas in Bengal, Orissa, and the rest of the world, and it is he who used to guide them in devotional service. In Vrndavana he established the Radha-Damodara temple, where, after retirement, we had the opportunity to live from 1962 until 1965, when we decided to come to the United States of America. When Jiva Gosvami was still present, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami compiled his famous Caitanya-caritamrta. Later, Srila Jiva Gosvami inspired Srinivasa Acarya, Narottama dasa Thakura, and Duhkhi Krsnadasa to preach Krsna consciousness in Bengal. Jiva Gosvami was informed that all the manuscripts that had been collected from Vrndavana and sent to Bengal for preaching purposes were plundered near Visnupura in Bengal, but later he received the information that the books had been recovered. Sri Jiva Gosvami awarded the designation Kaviraja to Ramacandra Sena, a disciple of Srinivasa Acarya’s, and to Ramacandra’s younger brother Govinda. While Jiva Gosvami was alive, Srimati Jahnavi-devi, the pleasure potency of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, went to Vrndavana with a few devotees. Jiva Gosvami was very kind to the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, the Vaisnavas from Bengal. Whoever went to Vrndavana, he provided with a residence and prasada. His disciple Krsnadasa Adhikari listed all the books of the Gosvamis in his diary.</p>
<p>The sahajiyas level three accusations against Srila Jiva Gosvami. This is certainly not congenial for the execution of devotional service. The first accusation concerns a materialist who was very proud of his reputation as a great Sanskrit scholar and approached Sri Rupa and Sanatana to argue with them about the revealed scriptures. Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, not wanting to waste their time, gave him a written statement that he had defeated them in a debate on the revealed scriptures. Taking this paper, the scholar approached Jiva Gosvami for a similar certificate of defeat but Jiva Gosvami did not agree to give him one. On the contrary, he argued with him regarding the scriptures and defeated him. Certainly it was right for Jiva Gosvami to stop such a dishonest scholar from advertising that he had defeated Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, but due to their illiteracy the sahijiya class referred to this incident to accuse Srila Jiva Gosvami of deviating from the principle of humility. They do not know, however, that humility and meekness are appropriate when one’s own honor is insulted but not when Lord Visnu or the acaryas are blasphemed. In such cases one should not be humble and meek but must act. One should follow the example given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya says in His Siksastaka (3):</p>
<p>trnad api su-nicena<br /> taror iva sahisnuna<br /> amanina mana-dena<br /> kirtaniyah sada hari</p>
<p>“One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.” Nevertheless, when the Lord was informed that Nityananda Prabhu was injured by Jagai and Madhai, He immediately went to the spot, angry like fire, wanting to kill them. Thus Lord Caitanya has explained His verse by the example of His own behavior. One should tolerate insults against oneself, but when there is blasphemy committed against superiors such as other Vaisnavas, one should be neither humble nor meek: one must take proper steps to counteract such blasphemy. This is the duty of the servant of a guru and Vaisnavas. Anyone who understands the principle of eternal servitude to the guru and Vaisnavas will appreciate the action of Sri Jiva Gosvami in connection with the so-called scholar’s victory over his gurus, Srila Rupa and Srila Sanatana Gosvami.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>In the olden days in India, Sanskrit scholars used to try to show their proficiency by traveling and challenging other scholars and learned persons to debate, and if one was successful, he would be the champion. And if the person could actually go throughout India and defeat all of the other scholars, he was digvijaya, the greatest champion in Sanskrit knowledge or in scriptural arguments. Just like today there is competition among the cricket teams: they go all over the world and face rival cricket teams, and there is fierce competition to win the match. So, in the olden days, there used to be competition to win debates about Sanskrit and shastra.</p>
<p>But Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami were pure devotees of the Lord. They had no desire to waste time arguing and debating, to gain name and fame. So when the scholar came to debate, Rupa and Sanatana said, “You want to claim that you have defeated us? All right, you can tell people.” And they each gave him a certificate: “You have defeated me.” But when the same scholar came to Jiva Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami did not like the fact that the scholar was falsely advertising that he had defeated Rupa and Sanatana. Therefore, to uphold their honor, Jiva Gosvami engaged in debate with the scholar and defeated him.</p>
<p>Sahajiyas disrespect genuine acharyas. Generally, sahajiyas lack knowledge of scriptures. They think that study of scripture and discussion of siddhanta are for lower–class Vaishnavas. They want to hear krsna-lila, talks of the pastimes of Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan, not philosophy. Once, when Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura visited Radha-kunda, the babajis became excited because they thought that, as an acharya, he would speak about krsna-lila. But to curb the sahajiyas’ pride, he spoke on the Isopanisad—not even the Bhagavad-gita—to establish the fact that the sahajiyas should first learn the basic knowledge of the revealed scriptures.</p>
<p>Some sahajiyas think that initiating disciples is another form of materialism. And they blaspheme genuine acharyas for having many disciples. They cannot understand that the discussion of shastra and the training of disciples are transcendental, and so they blaspheme bona fide spiritual masters like Srila Jiva Gosvami. When Jiva Gosvami defeated the scholar, the sahajiyas thought that he was being proud and wanted to show that he knew more than others. They could not understand his real motives—to defend the names of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami and to curb the false prestige and false propaganda of the scholar. One of the basic principles of devotional service is that one should not tolerate blasphemy of the Lord or a devotee. Sahajiyas think that being humble means to tolerate all sorts of insults. And personally we should tolerate insult. But when there is insult to the spiritual master or the Vaishnavas or Krishna, we should not tolerate. If we are able, we should defeat the opposing party. The sahajiyas like the verse trnad api su-nicena taror iva sahisnuna/ amanina mana-dena kirtaniyah sada harih. But Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the author of the verse, Himself showed the example that although for one’s own sake one can be meek and humble and tolerate all sorts of insults, in relation to the spiritual master and the devotees one should not tolerate. Therefore, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to the place where Jagai and Madhai had insulted Nityananda Prabhu ready to kill Jagai and Madhai. And thus He showed the real meaning of trnad api su-nicena.</p>
<p>PURPORT (continued)</p>
<p>Another story fabricated to defame Srila Jiva Gosvami states that when Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami showed him the newly-completed manuscript of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Jiva Gosvami thought that it would hamper his reputation as a big scholar and therefore threw it in a well. Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was greatly shocked, according to this story, and he died immediately. Fortunately a copy of the manuscript of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta had been kept by a person named Mukunda, and therefore later it was possible to publish the book. This story is another ignominious example of blasphemy against a guru and Vaisnava. Such a story should never be accepted as authoritative.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>Mundane people are so envious that they do not hesitate to criticize such a great personality as Srila Jiva Gosvami. They even manufacture stories. Here the story is that Jiva Gosvami was afraid that Sri Caitanya-caritamrta would diminish his reputation as a devotee and scholar and therefore out of envy he threw the manuscript in a well so that the book would be lost. Indirectly, they charge that Jiva Gosvami was responsible for the death of Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. Such a claim is absurd—and offensive.</p>
<p>PURPORT (continued)</p>
<p>According to another accusation, Srila Jiva Gosvami did not approve of the principles of the parakiya-rasa of Vraja-dhama and therefore supported svakiya-rasa, showing that Radha and Krsna are eternally married.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>Svakiya-rasa means relationship with one’s own wife. And parakiya-rasa means relationship with someone who is not one’s wife, who is either not married at all and thus is under the protection of her parents, or who is married to someone else and thus is under the protection of her husband.</p>
<p>PURPORT (continued)</p>
<p>Actually, when Jiva Gosvami was alive, some of his followers disliked the parakiya-rasa of the gopis. Therefore Srila Jiva Gosvami, for their spiritual benefit, supported svakiya-rasa, for he could understand that sahajiyas would otherwise exploit the parakiya-rasa, as they are actually doing at the present time. Unfortunately, in Vrndavana and Navadvipa it has become fashionable among sahajiyas, in their debauchery, to find an unmarried sexual partner to live with to execute so-called devotional service in parakiya-rasa. Foreseeing this, Srila Jiva Gosvami supported svakiya-rasa, and later all the Vaisnava acaryas also approved of it.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>Once, a man asked Srila Prabhupada, “Krishna enjoyed with the wives of others, so did He not commit adultery?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Everyone and everything is the property of Krishna. Your wife is also Krishna’s property. So who is committing adultery?” Because all souls belong to Krishna, Krishna’s relationship with them is svakiya.</p>
<p>PURPORT (concluded)</p>
<p>Srila Jiva Gosvami was never opposed to the transcendental parakiya-rasa, nor has any other Vaisnava disapproved of it. Srila Jiva Gosvami strictly followed his predecessor gurus and Vaisnavas, Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, and Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami accepted him as one of his instructor gurus.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>If Jiva Gosvami had actually deviated from the line of Rupa and Sanatana, how could Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, who elaborately described radha-krsna-lila in parakiya-rasa, especially in Sri Govinda-lilamrta, have accepted him as siksa-guru? All the acharyas in the line following Rupa Gosvami accept the transcendental parakiya-rasa, and they also accept Srila Jiva Gosvami as siksa-guru. When they accept Srila Jiva Gosvami as siksa-guru, there cannot be any fault or deviation in him. He argued in favor of svakiya-rasa simply to pacify some ignorant disciples who could not appreciate the transcendental parakiya-rasa, and to curb the sahajiyas, who would falsely try to imitate parakiya-rasa and thus go to hell. Jiva Gosvami is faultless, and bona fide followers of Sri Jiva, or of any acharya, will defend the acharya from false accusations. Jiva Gosvami did it for his gurus, Srila Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis, and here Srila Prabhupada is doing it for Srila Jiva Gosvami.</p>
<p>We too should follow this principle. We should not tolerate blasphemy of the acharyas and pure Vaishnavas; we should defend them to the best of our ability. And if we are not able to defeat the criticism, then at least we should not hear it. We should leave the place.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>Are there any questions or comments?</p>
<p>Devotee: [inaudible]</p>
<p>Giriraj Swami: The spiritual master may not protest, because he is following the principle of humility, but the disciples can. When Sisupala blasphemed Krishna, none of the Pandavas could tolerate the insults, and they were ready to kill him. But Krishna said, “No!” He tolerated. Then finally He Himself killed Sisupala and delivered him. But the Pandavas were bound to become upset, and they were bound to take action.</p>
<p>Devotee: [inaudible]</p>
<p>Giriraj Swami: The associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are in the highest grade. Among devotees in the highest grade we shouldn’t distinguish between big and small in a material way, just as we shouldn’t distinguish between the leaves of the tulasi tree—“That one is big, so it is better” or “This one is small, so it is lesser.” All are the same because they are parts of the tulasi plant. We may distinguish between a tulasi leaf and another type of leaf, which is not sacred like tulasi, but among the tulasi leaves we should not distinguish.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!<br /> Gaura-premanande hari-haribol!</p>
<p>[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Jiva Gosvami’s disappearance day, January 14, 1994, Mauritius]<br /> <br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=17690">https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=17690</a></p></div>Mahesh Pandita Disappearance by Ramai Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/mahesh-pandita-disappearance-by-ramai-swami2024-01-09T14:10:33.000Z2024-01-09T14:10:33.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12355950079,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="232" alt="12355950079?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></p>
<p>“He who was previously a very munificent cowherd boy has now appeared as Mahesa Pandita. In ecstatic love, he dances like a madman as though intoxicated to the beat of a kettle drum. [C.C. Adi 11.32]</p>
<p>According to Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, Mahesa Pandita was formerly Maha-Bahusakha in Krsna-lila. He was a companion of Nityananda Prabhu, and was present at the Danda Mahotsava held at Paninati.</p>
<p>In Bhakti-Ratnakara, Taranga Nine, it is stated that when Narottama dasa Thakura came to visit Khardaha, he had darsana of the lotus feet of Mahesa Pandita.</p>
<p>Vrindavana dasa Thakura has described him as a ‘param mahanta’ due to the fact that he was very dear to Nityananda Prabhu. [C.B. Antya 5.744]</p>
<p>Mahesa Pandita’s original Sripat at Sukh Sagor merged into the bed of the Ganges, but his worshipful deities of Sri Sri Nitai-Gauranga as well as his samadhi were moved to Palpara. There is a railway station there, between Simrali and Cakdaha stations, on the Sealdah-Krsnanagar line.</p>
<p>His disappearance day is on the thirteenth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Pausa.</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12355949893,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="195" alt="12355949893?profile=RESIZE_400x" /><br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://www.ramaiswami.com/mahesh-pandita-disappearance/">https://www.ramaiswami.com/mahesh-pandita-disappearance/</a></p></div>Yamuna-devi’s Disappearance Day by Giriraj Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/yamuna-devi-s-disappearance-day-by-giriraj-swami2023-12-21T15:30:05.000Z2023-12-21T15:30:05.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12332276454,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="400" alt="12332276454?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></p>
<p>There is so much to be said about Srimati Yamuna-devi dasi.</p>
<p>In October of 1970 I was one of a group of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples from America going to join him in India. On the way, we stopped in Brussels, and it was there, in an apartment, that I first met Yamuna-devi—and Malati and Syamasundara (I had met Gurudas before that, in Boston). Upon entering, I could immediately feel their intense, extraordinary devotion to Srila Prabhupada—it was so palpable, so tangible; the room was just suffused with their devotion—and we spent the next several hours there together. As enthusiastic as I was to go to India to be with Srila Prabhupada, I felt like I could stay in that room forever; I never wanted to leave the association of these amazing devotees who were so attached to Srila Prabhupada and so capable of serving him in such different ways.</p>
<p>Gurudas had arranged a cheap flight on a small airline, and so, that evening we boarded an old converted dual-propeller cargo plane, bound for Bombay with a stop in Cairo. In my mood of Krishna consciousness then, I was quite oblivious to things around me. I wanted to avoid maya—anything that could distract me from Krishna—and didn’t pay much heed to anything that didn’t relate directly to my service. I was focused on the idea of chanting and hearing every word of the Hare Krishna mantra distinctly, on always thinking about Krishna and never forgetting Him. And I had heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that if you have trouble hearing, you should chant loudly. And sometimes, to really get into the holy names—and to break out of any possible lethargy—I would jump up and down. One or two of the devotees told me that they were anxious about how people in Egypt might react to my chanting, but I was determined.</p>
<p>There was unrest in Egypt at that time, and when we landed in Cairo we were met on the tarmac by soldiers and armed security guards with bandoliers of bullets around their chests and machine guns over their shoulders. And as we deplaned, walking down the steps, the men were pointing machine guns in our direction. Then Yamuna, as I learned later, saw the guards suddenly move their guns up and down, shifting their aim. And when she turned around to see why, she saw me behind her, walking down the stairs chanting japa, jumping up and down.</p>
<p>Anyway, we escaped Egypt and flew to Bombay, where, as arranged by Srila Prabhupada, we were taken to Kailash Seksaria’s house. There I went through a period of confusion—some things were difficult for me to understand and cope with—and I wasn’t sure what to do. I was a relatively new devotee, at least compared with the others in the group, and somehow I just got the inspiration to go to Yamuna and Gurudas for help. What they told me was extraordinary, and for me, revolutionary. I entered their room feeling completely at a loss, but they turned the whole thing around, saying that Srila Prabhupada had sent me to engage them in thinking about him and about topics of deep significance. They turned the whole thing completely around, and I believe they were completely genuine in the way they took it and in what they said. And that was the beginning of what proved to be a very close relationship with them both.</p>
<p>While we were staying at Seksaria Bhavan, Srila Prabhupada introduced a new tune for the Gurvastakam prayers in the morning. He tried to teach some of the men, but they couldn’t quite get it. Then he decided to instruct Yamuna, in the presence of us all, and she picked it up right away. Afterward, Srila Prabhupada told Yamuna, “Learn to listen. You cannot follow nicely unless you hear nicely, and you cannot lead nicely unless you have learned to follow nicely.” And gradually the rest of us learned the new melody.</p>
<p>In Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was invited to attend the Vedanta Sammelan in Amritsar, and so a party of seven men and two women—Yamuna and Kausalya—traveled there with him by train. The Vedanta Ashram offered us two small rooms and the use of the large common courtyard just outside. Srila Prabhupada occupied one room, Yamuna and Kausalya the other.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada was very protective of the women, and he would have them ride to programs with him in his car while the men took rickshaws. He did programs in the morning and evening—and often in between. Kausalya told me that driving to one engagement, he mentioned that he needed new shoes. “Stop at the next Bata shoe store,” he said. In the store, he told Yamuna and Kausalya, “You choose the shoes for me,” and sat down. So, they looked all around the store and found some white crisscross plastic sandals that they thought would be just right. Each of them carried one shoe up to Srila Prabhupada, and they slipped them on his feet. He smiled and asked, “Do you like them?” They responded, “Yes.” “Then we will buy them.” And so he did.</p>
<p>In the afternoons when there was some free time, Yamuna would chant in the courtyard. It was very cold in Amritsar in November, but it would be a little warmer when the sun came out in the afternoon, and she would sit cross-legged with her back erect and chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra japa continuously with her eyes closed—nonstop. She told me then that when she chanted, her ears and mind and heart opened up to the holy names and the names would enter and she would just hear the sound. She would be fully absorbed in the sound, not even thinking that she was chanting the holy names or that these were names she was hearing—she was just absorbed in the sound.</p>
<p>After Amritsar, Srila Prabhupada and his party traveled by train back to Bombay. On the way, the train stopped at the New Delhi station, and a gentleman, a lawyer named D. D. Gupta who had been corresponding with Prabhupada and had been informed of his stopover, came to meet him. He requested Srila Prabhupada to leave some disciples in Delhi to start the activities there. Prabhupada turned to Gurudas, who was riding in the same compartment, and said, “This man is inviting us. Get down and see what you can do.” Gurudas asked for some devotees, and then he and Prabhupada agreed on a team: Yamuna, Gopala, Bhakta Bruce (now Bhanu Swami), and me.</p>
<p>Mr. Gupta arranged for us to stay in two rooms in Old Delhi, near Delhi Gate. The rooms were very basic—just plain concrete with whitewash on the walls—and they abutted the courtyard at the center of the building. We would have to walk around the courtyard to use the simple latrine (though, in urgent cases, we would often run!).</p>
<p>Mr. Gupta, it turned out, was a peculiar man. He was an advocate, but not a very big one. And he was miserly. He would keep his used, dead batteries in a drawer in the hope that they would come back to life.</p>
<p>The whole situation was very austere, but it was wonderful being with Gurudas and Yamuna. We were like a family, with Gurudas and Yamuna like our older brother and sister, taking care of us in the absence of our father, Srila Prabhupada.</p>
<p>After leaving us in Delhi and spending some days in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada proceeded to Indore for the Gita Jayanti Mahotsava, and our small party joined him there. Once, when we entered his room, he looked up from his desk, and Yamuna remarked, “Srila Prabhupada, you look just like a picture I have seen of your guru maharaja looking up from his desk.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, with all humility, “All that glitters is not gold. My guru maharaja was like gold; I am like iron.”</p>
<p>From Indore, Srila Prabhupada and his party traveled to Surat, in Gujarat, where we received an overwhelming reception. In Surat something happened—I actually haven’t thought of it for years. One day I was chanting my rounds on the roof of the house where we all were staying, and somehow my mind got fixed on the idea that . . . I had heard that Srila Prabhupada said that if you can deliver just one soul back home, back to Godhead, then your own deliverance is assured. Somehow I thought of my girlfriend from before I joined, and I considered, “Maybe I should have her come and join me, and I will make her a pure devotee, and then I’ll go back to Godhead.” It all made perfect sense to me, but I thought I had better consult Gurudas and Yamuna. I was very serious, and they questioned me, “Why her in particular? There are so many souls that you could deliver back to Godhead—why her?” Indirectly, they pointed out my attachment for her, and they induced me to abandon that strategy.</p>
<p>After Surat, Srila Prabhupada stopped in Bombay, where he met with the few devotees based there. We were all staying at the Sea Palace Hotel, which was pure vegetarian and belonged to Sri Ramchand Chhabria, who knew the devotees from England and was himself vegetarian. While we were there, a new issue of Back to Godhead magazine arrived, and the first article was Srila Prabhupada’s poem “Markine Bhagavata-dharma,” written when he initially arrived in America, in Boston. We had never seen the poem before; it had never been published. Gurudas, Yamuna, and I got together to look at the magazine, and Yamuna read the poem out loud. It was written in a mood of deep humility and dependence on Krishna. And when she got to the end—“Signed—the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami”—she burst into tears. She couldn’t contain herself.</p>
<p>Years later, in September 2002, after celebrating the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, I wrote Yamuna-devi, “Two days ago I spoke of the time Srila Prabhupada’s poem “Markine Bhagavata-dharma” first appeared in English in BTG and you read it to Gurudas Prabhu and me and at the end you cried.” And she replied, “I sang this prayer this year on Vyasa-puja day, and all the while torrents of tears fell. One of my weaknesses is tears.”</p>
<p>From Bombay Srila Prabhupada went to Allahabad for the Ardha-kumbha-mela, and Yamuna and I were there with him. Srila Prabhupada spoke on the story of Ajamila and the holy name from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Only the first two cantos had been translated and published, so Prabhupada read from his Sanskrit Bhagavatam with commentaries, sometimes translating from Sridhara Swami’s and occasionally from Jiva Gosvami’s.</p>
<p>While there, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that he was speaking for Yamuna. And in April 2007, when Yamuna visited me in Carpinteria and I asked her about it, she told me something that etched an indelible impression on my heart. She always thought that she had as much right as anyone else to walk or sit close to Srila Prabhupada, she explained. And generally when he spoke, she would sit in front of the vyasasana at his feet. She had never really distinguished in terms of etiquette that men should walk closer to Prabhupada, and women farther, or that men should sit closer to him, and women farther. And the movement had been like that—like a family. In Allahabad, however, one of the sannyasis had explained to her that in India the women sat apart and that she should too.</p>
<p>About 10:30 the next morning, after she hadn’t sat at the foot of Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana as usual, Prabhupada noticed her passing by his tent and called out, “Yamuna, come in here.” She entered and offered her obeisances, and before she got up, he said, “So, you don’t want to hear anymore?” Yamuna burst into tears; Prabhupada—hearing from him—was her life. “Where were you this morning?” he asked. Yamuna told him what had happened. Prabhupada was silent.</p>
<p>That, Yamuna told me, was a turning point in her life. It changed her whole orientation in Krishna consciousness. She suddenly had the realization that she would not always have Prabhupada’s company. Since 1967, when Srila Prabhupada recovered from his stroke, she had never been able to conceive of ever being separated from him. The devotees were so dependent on him for everything, it was inconceivable to them that he would not be with them. But, she told me, every disciple must come to a personal realization that there will be a time when the spiritual master will not be present. And for her, that moment came in Allahabad, after her talks with the sannyasi and then with Srila Prabhupada.</p>
<p>Sitting in Prabhupada’s tent, she asked him, “How much time did you actually spend with your guru maharaja?” “Very few occasions,” he said. “Maybe five or six. But they were very intimate. We used to walk and talk so many things.” Then he said, “Those who think that association with the spiritual master is physical, they are no better than a mosquito sitting on the lap of a king. And what is the business of a mosquito? Simply to suck blood. So many of my godbrothers, they were big, big sannyasis, and they thought like that, and they simply sucked blood.”</p>
<p>Yamuna took Prabhupada’s words as confirmation. She now understood that she needed to go to another place to explore her relationship with him and her service to him in separation. She began to consider the question of vani (words, instructions) and vapuh (body, form), and she got more and more insight into it. As she told me, it is something “unlimitedly deep and profound. You can hear the terms on the surface, but vani means to again be in Prabhupada’s presence”—to be in his presence in separation as much as when you were in his physical association. “So, that was a turning point for me, to realize that Prabhupada was going to leave this planet: ‘He is an old man, and he is going to leave, and I have to prepare.’ ” She took it that from that moment she must start mentally preparing—find a way of continuing in Krishna consciousness that was not based on Srila Prabhupada’s personal association.</p>
<p>“So, that is that story of hearing,” she continued. “Prabhupada said, ‘I am speaking because you want to hear so much. I am speaking as much because you want to hear so much.’ So he knew that hunger. I never expressed that to him, but he knew.”As Yamuna often said, Srila Prabhupada was completely aware of every disciple in every way—both their internal consciousness and the external manifestations of their service.</p>
<p>Vani and vapuh became a major theme in Yamuna’s life—how to maintain one’s connection with Srila Prabhupada through vani to the same degree and with the same intensity as in his physical, even close personal, presence. She was convinced that it was possible, and she arranged her life in such a way as to always receive his guidance and mercy—to always be in his association.</p>
<p>Then came the Bombay pandal. Syamasundara Prabhu, who was the temple president, divided the work into different departments, with one devotee in charge of each. (Often, that devotee was the department.) And Yamuna was in charge of the Deities. We had very little money. Although we were raising funds for the pandal program, we needed it all for the event. And the treasurer, Rishi Kumar, was very tight with the money, which Srila Prabhupada considered a good quality for the treasurer. Sometimes Rishi Kumar would put a sign on his office door: “Closed for three days.” So, Yamuna was charged with raising the funds for the Deities. That was the year we got big marble ones. In the pandal we had small brass Deities, and on the last day of the program there was to be a procession from the pandal, at Cross Maidan, to Chowpatty, where there would be a program at the beach, at which Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari would be revealed for the first time to the people of Bombay. And she just couldn’t raise the money.</p>
<p>One day while she was out endeavoring to raise funds for the Deities, Yamuna became so disappointed and distraught that she just sat down on the sidewalk and wept. A black limousine, with a pious, distinguished-looking gentleman in the back seat, stopped on the road before her, and the gentleman got out of the car and asked her what was the matter. “We’re having a pandal program,” she explained, “and I’m in charge of the Deities’ outfits and decorations, and I have to raise the money, but no one is giving, and we’re running out of time.” “Don’t worry,” he replied. “I am the chairman of two of the biggest temple trusts in Bombay. How much do you need?” “Two thousand five hundred rupees,” which was really a lot back then. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Just come with me to my office, and I’ll give you a check for the whole amount.” She was that sincere and dedicated.</p>
<p>From Bombay, Srila Prabhupada sent Tamal Krishna and me to Calcutta to arrange a similar pandal program, and eventually Yamuna also came, and soon she was engaged in the service of the Deities there, Sri Sri Radha-Govinda. Every morning we would look forward to the darshan of the Deities. The worship was so beautiful—so devotional.</p>
<p>One day at the pandal site I approached Yamuna and told her that I had some questions regarding my future and the future of the movement that I just could not answer but with which I didn’t want to approach Srila Prabhupada directly. The whole mood at the time was, “Don’t disturb Srila Prabhupada. He has to translate. He has important things to do. Don’t go to Srila Prabhupada.” When I told Yamuna my questions, however, she responded, “No, you should go to him. You are just the type of devotee he would want to spend time with, and these are just the types of questions he would want to answer.”</p>
<p>So, based on Yamuna’s advice, I approached Srila Prabhupada in his room at the temple, and my meeting with him was very significant. “Before joining the movement,” I said, “I was interested in making movies, and I even made one. So I was thinking maybe I should make movies about Krishna consciousness.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “That, others are doing. Our main medium is books.”</p>
<p>Then I said, “Srila Prabhupada, now you are here, so everything is all right. But what if in the course of time, when you are not here, ISKCON falls from the standard? What should I do?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “You are also one of the important members of the Society”—I was actually very new—“You are also one of the important members of the Society, so you work for the correction. But don’t leave.”</p>
<p>These instructions have been guiding me ever since. And it was Yamuna who advised me to go and ask Prabhupada directly.</p>
<p>After Calcutta was the Delhi pandal. Again Yamuna arranged beautiful Deity worship—for Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, who later went to Bhaktivedanta Manor in England. The darshans were spectacular. But after the program, she was very sick. She was staying in the same, large house as Srila Prabhupada, and he noticed that she was missing. He inquired and found out that she was sick. She was resting in a small room—like a closet. Because she was sick, she had to have her own room, and that was all the devotees could offer. Srila Prabhupada went to visit her and found that no one was really taking care of her, and he became concerned and assigned a devotee to care for her. It was cold, and I think he gave her his own room heater—perhaps the only one. And he said that we have to take care of our devotees when they fall ill.</p>
<p>After the Delhi pandal, I went to Madras, while the rest of the party went to Vrindavan with Srila Prabhupada for the first time. There was one car—an Ambassador—with Srila Prabhupada and some men, and a bus with the rest of the devotees. Prabhupada was in the car, and he noticed Yamuna climbing into the bus. He said, “Wait! Wait!” He called her, knowing that she was very sick, and told the men to get out. Then he had her get in the back seat with Gurudas and one other man—Prabhupada was in front with the driver—and the other men went on the bus.</p>
<p>In time, Srila Prabhupada got some land in Vrindavan and put Gurudas and Yamuna in charge. And she related a couple of incidents to me that I consider to be very instructive. Once, a small group of devotees went to the Radha-Damodara temple, and the Goswami in charge invited them to have prasada. The devotees sat in the courtyard, and the Goswami arranged the Deities’ maha-prasada for them. While they were honoring the prasada, he began to blaspheme Srila Prabhupada—“Why does he wear a ring?” and all sorts of things. The devotees felt extremely uncomfortable and were tempted to just get up and walk out, but somehow they decided not to. After the incident, Gurudas and Yamuna reported to Srila Prabhupada what had happened, and Prabhupada instructed, “In Vrindavan there are five thousand caste goswamis, five thousand shopkeepers, and five thousand widows, and we have to keep good relations with all of them; otherwise we will end up in court like the Gaudiya Matha.”</p>
<p>On another occasion, Srila Prabhupada sent Gurudas and Yamuna to meet his godbrother Professor O. B. L. Kapoor. At some stage after Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura left, Professor Kapoor had taken shelter of a babaji as a siksa-guru. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had vehemently criticized these babajis, and they had staunchly opposed him. So this was a very peculiar situation, that Professor Kapoor had taken shelter of a babaji who was the type of person who was the object of his spiritual master’s criticism and in turn opposed his spiritual master. But Srila Prabhupada simply said, “That is his weakness”—that’s all. He didn’t consider that this disqualified Dr. Kapoor from helping the movement. Srila Prabhupada had a very broad view of the Krishna consciousness movement and of engaging people in it, and that was demonstrated quite vividly in Vrindavan.</p>
<p>Then Srila Prabhupada left us, and things did change. And I didn’t see Gurudas and Yamuna for many years. But then somehow my relationship with Yamuna was revived. She had been a mentor to me, and decades later she was again. Although so many years had passed, when we met again it was more or less the same—the relationship hadn’t changed, and we shared thoughts about Srila Prabhupada and his service and his mission. She was always very concerned about the mission, that Srila Prabhupada’s legacy should be preserved as it is and not adulterated or compromised.</p>
<p>I also saw that she was very absorbed in Krishna consciousness. When I think of the five main processes of devotional service (pancanga-bhakti), she was very strong in all of them.</p>
<p>sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana<br /> mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana</p>
<p>“One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura, and worship the Deity with faith and veneration.”</p>
<p>She was very strong in reading and studying. Every morning she would read the Bhagavatam and the teachings of the more recent acharyas—Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura—taking special note when they spoke about the holy name. This was a major focus for her, and she would relish reading, especially instructions related to nama-bhajana and to guru-seva.</p>
<p>Another thing about Yamuna-devi struck me as amazing. About the time of the first Bombay pandal, when we were staying in Akash Ganga, a high-rise apartment building in an affluent part of central Bombay, when we would go out she would stay back and clean. She would clean the whole place, for hours. And while cleaning, she would sing in a very ecstatic mood. The rest of us were going here and there—for service, but there were incidental benefits: seeing exotic India, meeting all sorts of cultured and interesting people, tasting varieties of delicious prasada—and she was staying back and cleaning. She put her heart into it and would be singing in an ecstatic mood.</p>
<p>Later, in April 2007, when she visited me in Carpinteria, I asked her about this, and she said that Srila Prabhupada had put greater emphasis on bhagavata-marga because he wanted his books produced, so they would be there for all time, and because he wanted his books distributed, so that the income from the sales would support the expansion of the mission. So he didn’t have much time to personally train disciples in pancaratrika-vidhi. But he did train her, and she considered personal service to him to be in the same category as personal service to the Deity. And, of course, she is right. Once, a devotee came forward to fan Srila Prabhupada, and Prabhupada stopped him, saying that he wasn’t a brahman. So, cleanliness is one of the basic principles of Deity worship. But Yamuna didn’t distinguish between cleaning the guru’s ashram and cleaning the Deity room. As she told me, “In Bombay, I learned to take joy in that cleaning. Whether you are serving the spiritual master or the arca-vigraha, the cleaning is external and internal. It is a very spiritual engagement—as powerful as distributing books.”</p>
<p>She explained that Srila Prabhupada would teach each servant about the importance and standards of cleanliness according to the servant’s capacity to understand. And she told me how strictly he had trained her. He had his four-tiered cooker, and if he found a black spot on the bottom of any of the pots, he would really chastise the servant: “This is not Vaishnava. This is Muslim. No Vaishnava will ever leave a black spot on any of the pots in the kitchen.” Prabhupada’s cooker was always to shine like gold.</p>
<p>Based on Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, Yamuna developed a whole system for cleaning his quarters in Vrindavan—an elaborate five-step procedure, going from bottom to top and top to bottom. First, she would get the big dirt off the bottom, then she would go up as far as she could reach, dusting, and then she would go back to the bottom, cleaning everything as perfectly as she could. If there was anything wrong, Prabhupada would notice and tell her about it. And keeping the rooms clean in Vrindavan was very hard: with the simmering sands of Raman Reti and the whole place being a construction zone, there was always dirt and corrosion—everywhere. The walls of Prabhupada’s rooms were pale yellow, and the floors were black stone. The floors were covered with rugs, and the rugs were covered with white sheets.</p>
<p>One morning when Srila Prabhupada came back from his walk, after Yamuna had gone through her five-step procedure and everything looked as clean as could be, he told her, “Please clean my room, Yamuna. Haven’t I taught you to clean?” “No, Srila Prabhupada,” she said. “How may I improve my cleaning?” He didn’t say anything. On his desk were a picture of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, his eyeglass case, his tilak, pens, a flower vase, and a staple gun. Srila Prabhupada took the staple gun, which was about two and a half inches long, removed it from its plastic case, lifted up the metal staple holder, and ran his little finger, his pinkie, across the thin metal strip between the staple holder and the hinge. . . . Dust. Dust. “When will you learn how to clean?”</p>
<p>If Srila Prabhupada had had the time, Yamuna told me, he would have trained all his disciples in both pancaratrika-vidhi and bhagavata-vidhi, but because he was focused more on bhagavata-vidhi, he mainly trained only his close managers and personal servants, be they men or women, in both. Srila Prabhupada knew the consciousness of his disciples—he knew their capacity—and he would train them according to their capacity to absorb it.</p>
<p>Cooking, like cleanliness, is also part of Deity worship, and Yamuna was, of course, most expert. Once, when Srila Prabhupada was coming to Vrindavan, she went to the Vraja-vasis and asked, “What is the best way to make Vraja-vasi rotis?” They told her, “You have to get this red Punjabi wheat berry. You have to grind it in the morning, and then you have to cook it with neem wood.”</p>
<p>When Prabhupada came she didn’t say a word to him, but she got that red wheat berry from Punjab, she had it ground in the morning, and she cooked the chapatis with neem wood. Then she brought the plate in to Prabhupada and put the hot chapati on his plate. He took one bite and said, “This is the red Punjabi wheat berry. You ground it this morning and cooked it with neem wood.” She hadn’t said a word to him—he just knew.</p>
<p>That was at the Radha-Damodara temple in 1972. And there is a sequel to the story about the Vraja-vasi chapatis, from Raman Reti in 1973. I am not a cook—chapatis are too technical for me—so I will read the transcription of Yamuna’s account to me in Carpinteria:</p>
<p>“One time when Srila Prabhupada came—I think it was the first time I met Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami; he was Prabhupada’s servant—I was on a bucket stove again, on the floor—no kitchen. I was making Prabhupada’s prasada, and as you may or may not know, when you cook with a bucket stove and you have a little bit of hard coal and then a little bit of soft coal and then a little bit of cow dung, it is a little hard to regulate. There is a certain temperature, and you cannot turn a switch to make it higher or lower. And then, depending on the thickness of the pot, you know what intensity you want. And then there is what you call a thawa, which is an iron griddle, concave, and to make a chapati you keep that on the stove and then you lift it off and you put the chapati on top of the flame. So, I made chapatis for Prabhupada’s lunch.</p>
<p>“Satsvarupa Maharaja wanted to bring in the lunch, thinking that I probably shouldn’t do it. He brought in the plate, came back into the kitchen, and said, ‘Prabhupada wants me to teach you how to make chapatis.’ And I said, ‘Oh, Maharaja, I would be so grateful if you could do that. I’d love to learn to make chapatis. Please.’</p>
<p>“Then I got up, and he began to wash his hands. By the time he sat down and rolled out a chapati, the thawa was really hot. He rolled out an octopus-like chapati. Now, when you roll out a chapati, the ball bearings for rolling it out is the dusting of flour, and if you roll the chapati in too much flour you actually roll flour into the surface of the flatbread and then even if you try to flap it off, you still have a crust of flour. So, you use a minimal amount for the ball bearings and then flap off the little extra.</p>
<p>“His octopus was covered with flour on a hot thawa. When he put it on, I said, ‘Maharaja, what should I be looking for?’ He said, ‘You wait until there are pimples on the top.’ As soon as the chapati hit the griddle, very hot, the pimples came very fast. He turned the chapati over, and there were little burnt holes. So there was no question of it puffing up.</p>
<p>“So, he put it on, and the little bubbles appeared at different places, and he took it in to Prabhupada. Then he came back and told me, ‘Prabhupada said, “This is excellent.” ’</p>
<p>Yamuna concludes, “So that’s how Prabhupada taught me. It was never with a whip, but they were beatings nonetheless. They were beatings over my head.”</p>
<p>Another time, in 1974, one of the devotees based in Vrindavan approached Yamuna and said, “My wife is coming, and she is a very good cook. She wants to cook for Prabhupada.” Yamuna replied, “How wonderful. I will be glad to engage her in Prabhupada’s service.” The new cook arrived after the big Mayapur festival, when almost all the devotees became very ill with dysentery and other maladies. There was really no proper arrangement for them, but Gurudas and Yamuna cared for them like parents. Yamuna was doing the cooking for the devotees there at Fogel Ashram. Under the circumstances, she really didn’t have time to cook for Srila Prabhupada, so she was very happy that the new cook was there. Meanwhile, Yamuna was trying to make arrangements for the devotees’ prasada. She had no facility, she was unable to speak Hindi and communicate with the locals, and the assistant cooks were ready to walk out at any time. She was working practically twenty-four hours. And she didn’t go to see Prabhupada the entire time.</p>
<p>She began to get messages: “Prabhupada wants you”—but she didn’t go. She just replied, “Tell him I am really busy.” She told me later, “Bad, very bad—really low consciousness.”</p>
<p>When finally she came to Prabhupada’s room, he was about to go out. So she came back the next morning.</p>
<p>Yamuna had given the new cook specific instructions. Still, the lady had taken Srila Prabhupada’s cooker and his unclean laundry and stuffed them in a bolster pillowcase meant for his seating area, now black all over the bottom. Yamuna arrived just as the lady was putting the cooker in with the clothes, in the pillowcase. Srila Prabhupada was also standing there, watching the cooker being shoved into the pillowcase. He didn’t say a word—not to the cook, not to Yamuna.</p>
<p>“Prabhupada knows everything,” Yamuna told me later. Thus he said to her, “Are you too busy to come? So I am delaying my departure for one day.” The men said, “But the cars are ready. We’re just loading them.” “No, Yamuna will stay here and cook for me tomorrow,” Srila Prabhupada stated unequivocally. “I am staying, and she is going to cook for me tomorrow morning, and then we will go.”</p>
<p>Cleanliness. More than thirty years later, Yamuna told me, “I can honestly say that I joyously engage in cleaning, and so in our ashram [in Saranagati, Canada] we sing and clean, sometimes for hours and hours and hours. Our place is very primitive; we have a dirt floor and walls, and a lot of earth outside. It is very simple, but we like to clean a lot. We enjoy cleaning, for Srila Prabhupada and the Deities.”</p>
<p>Kirtan. Yamuna had a dream. I don’t remember the details, and it is a little delicate, because she was a very private person. Anyway, in this dream, or vision—whatever it was, she took it as very real—she was a sage in the forest and Srila Prabhupada was also in the same forest, and somehow he engaged her in doing kirtan. She felt that from her past life there was a connection with Srila Prabhupada in relation to kirtan.</p>
<p>About Srila Prabhupada’s kirtan she said, “Srila Prabhupada’s kirtan had no tinge of being a performance. It was purely for the pleasure of Krishna. It allowed the chanters access to the fact that the Lord’s holy name and the Lord are nondifferent. He said that the key to engaging in kirtan without anartha was hearing and studying our literature, and that gradually it would rise to the platform of pure devotional service.”</p>
<p>And in an e-mail to Bhakta Carl, now Kalachandji das, she wrote, “Leading and chanting in kirtan has little to do with how we sound to each other. It has much more to do with how we call out to Krishna and immerse ourselves in hearing the vibrations of the holy names. What a vehicle for experiencing love of Godhead.”</p>
<p>When Yamuna and the other devotees were recording with the Beatles, George Harrison was so impressed by her singing that he told her he could make her one of the most famous and celebrated vocalists in the world. But she wasn’t interested. Her singing was meant for another purpose—pure devotional service to please Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Govinda.</p>
<p>Yamuna said that to the degree one follows Srila Prabhupada, to that degree things are revealed. And she gave the example of Bhakti Tirtha Swami. She felt that because of his deep connection with the holy name—his dedication to japa, his private time with japa—he was able to perceive Srila Prabhupada’s presence in separation. She said, “Prabhupada freely gave everything to all of us. But it is the individual’s hankering, which leads him to make certain decisions in his life to catch that mercy, that facilitates his or her perception of Srila Prabhupada, especially in separation.”</p>
<p>Yamuna recalled an incident that demonstrated to her unequivocally how Prabhupada knew his disciples. She came to the courtyard of the Radha-Damodara temple in the wee hours of one morning, remaining as silent as humanly possible so as not to disturb Srila Prabhupada, and he came out of his room and called her name. “There was no way Prabhupada could have known that I was there at one thirty in the morning,” she said. “I didn’t make any noise.”</p>
<p>But then she balanced her statement: “On the other hand, there were many times when he would say, ‘I want your report. Otherwise how do I know?’ ” And she added, “There were times when I did it, but other times, because of low Krishna consciousness, I ceased reporting in an honest way, and it contributed to my fall, to my weaknesses in Krishna consciousness. When I was open and revealed everything honestly in my reporting to Prabhupada, as we are supposed to report to Krishna, I was stronger in Krishna consciousness. And when I closed that avenue off, my consciousness suffered.”</p>
<p>In her profound humility, she explained, “Srila Prabhupada’s presence in vani and vapuh, or our ability to perceive his presence in his vani and vapuh, depends on our consciousness—whether we are able to perceive a drop of who Prabhupada was. Some devotees who never had Srila Prabhupada’s company, with their laulyam and their greed for it had more of it than I sometimes did while I was in his company, depending on my consciousness. . . .</p>
<p>“I still have no idea of the greatness of Prabhupada’s presence, then or now, although I think about it a lot, meditate on it a lot. We discuss it almost every day. It comes up in some form or other in our morning Bhagavatam class. . . . Prabhupada’s presence then and now—vani and vapuh. And it is very important to hold onto his presence as the focal point in our maturation in spiritual life, because he is the center in our spiritual life. Nothing comes without his presence. Even if the mercy comes to us through other forms, from endless different places—still, he is the fountainhead. . . . If I am qualified, then certain mercies will come to me. Mercy is not something you bargain for or arrange for or even desire for very deeply. You can have intense hankering, and then whatever comes—whatever form the mercy comes in—it is so Krishna conscious.”</p>
<p>Inevitably, we come toward the end of Yamuna-devi’s stay with us. After Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day in 2009, she wrote me a letter that shows her deep absorption in Srila Prabhupada and in the holy names, and her intimate relationship with Srila Prabhupada. I think that she really did understand Prabhupada and his mission. He gave her a lot of instruction.</p>
<p>“Dear Giriraj Swami, Pranama dandavats. Jaya Srila Prabhupada! I wanted to share a few thoughts and reflections on yesterday, Srila Prabhupada’s thirty-second disappearance day. We observed the day first at Radha-Banabehari Mandir with our morning program at Radha-Banabehari Mandir, then at a midday program at Govardhana Academy [the school at Saranagati], introducing the students to the traditional way Srila Prabhupada instructed us to honor this day, and then in the evening at a program with adults in the community, who for convenience regularly meet in the evening for any kind of Vaishnava holy day.</p>
<p>“Last night Yadubara showed his preliminary edited footage for DVD Eleven: ‘Srila Prabhupada’s Final Pastimes.’ Though I had seen much of the footage before, it had been without comment, and not arranged in sequence to tell a visual story of Srila Prabhupada’s final days and hours, the moment of his passing, and the aftermath—the Vrindavan parikrama and the samadhi entombment.</p>
<p>“One evening, sitting with my back to Srila Prabhupada’s front bucket seat, riding in a van from Tittenhurst [John Lennon’s estate] to a Conway Hall lecture in London, Srila Prabhupada said loud enough for me to hear, ‘When I die, see that my body is taken on a palanquin around Vrindavan on parikrama.’ Stunned, but immediately attentive to these words, I turned around, and on my knees, bent forward from the waist so that my head was even with his shoulder, I said, ‘Why have you told me to do this, Srila Prabhupada? Better that you tell Tamal Krishna. He has more access to seeing that this is done than I do.’ He replied, ‘No, you can tell him.’ He fell silent and said no more. I too fell silent and said no more.</p>
<p>“Yadubara’s footage last night of the thickest pastime of Srila Prabhupada’s life with us—his passing—was poignant and moving. Though I was not there physically with Srila Prabhupada, I could not have felt closer to him or experienced more of his presence had I been so. Every moment of every day has been a meditation on Srila Prabhupada, and we have been engaged in constant kirtan. Perhaps it would have been difficult for me even to have been there at that time, for except Pisima, it is clear that women were not allowed close proximity to Srila Prabhupada, and that might have been almost unbearable for me after the closeness I experienced in previous years with him.”</p>
<p>She wrote more, expressing appreciation for the devotional mood and service of some of Prabhupada’s disciples who were there—they had “a shared intent to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, glorify his mood, honor his example, and share that with others.” But her letter also expressed her concern about how at a certain point the role of women in the movement had changed. In earlier days . . . of course, she was exceptional—she would lead kirtan before thousands of people, speak before thousands of people, and render personal service to Srila Prabhupada. As she told me, at Tittenhurst she was basically Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant—she and Malati and Janaki. Purusottama would do some of the correspondence, and some of the men would give massage, but basically these ladies were doing the personal service.</p>
<p>She said that one day Prabhupada came into his room—they had just made his bed and done whatever else had to be done in the room—and said, “This is very unusual,” meaning for a sannyasi to have women do that service. He said, “This is very unusual, but it is appropriate.” He continued, “Sometimes I am like your father and you are like my daughters, and sometimes you are like my mothers and I am like your son.”</p>
<p>In the last year there was tremendous concern about Yamuna-devi’s health. At different stages she spoke to me about her condition and options, but then toward the end, perhaps in September, she came to a point with regards to her heart. Because of her size and age, the doctors were afraid to perform an invasive procedure, yet if they didn’t, there was every chance she would have heart failure, at any time. For a while she wasn’t sure what to do, but in the end she decided to just return to her home and depend on Krishna.</p>
<p>She said a few times that she was ready to go, that she felt she had done what she was meant to do, or what she could do, in this life, and she was ready to go. She had no fear, and no regrets. Personally, I questioned her conclusion about her service, and I suggested, “Well, you may have something left to do in terms of service to Srila Prabhupada.” I was thinking of her writing, that she should write about her experiences with and realizations about Srila Prabhupada. But she said, “No, I have thought about it, and there’s nothing really that I have to stay to do. If there is anything—if I am given more time—it is to try to help the women in the movement.” And she added, “I don’t think that you, as a sannyasi, can understand what the women in the movement experience. But if Krishna does give me some more time, I would like to do something for the women, to support the women, to give a strong voice to the women.”</p>
<p>No matter how dire her physical condition was, she was so Krishna conscious. My conversations with her were quite frequent after she went to Bhaktivedanta Hospital. Naturally, I was concerned about her medical condition, and so we would talk about it, and somehow or other, without my knowing how she got there, she would be talking about Krishna and Srila Prabhupada and the holy name and how wonderful devotees were and how merciful Prabhupada and Krishna were and how grateful she was. Quite the opposite of what I often experience with myself: I begin talking about Krishna and then—I don’t know how it happens—somehow I’m talking about my body. With her, I would bring up her body—how she was doing and if I could help in any way—and without my knowing how, suddenly we were talking about Krishna and Prabhupada and the holy name and the prayers of the acharyas and the wonderful service of the other devotees and just how grateful she was for what she had been given.</p>
<p>At about 6:30 in the morning on December 20, 2011, Yamuna’s constant companion and spiritual confidante, Dinatarini dasi, found that Yamuna had left. Her hand was in her bead bag, and a slight smile was on her face. She looked completely at peace—even blissful. She had been unafraid of death. She had been confident that she would again be with Srila Prabhupada, or somehow engaged in serving his mission. Such is the destination that awaits anyone who gives his or her life fully to serving Srila Prabhupada, his vani, his vapuh.</p>
<p>Yamuna-devi was a beautiful soul, a divine servant of Srila Prabhupada, his mission, and his Lords. She exemplified nama-ruci (taste for the holy name), jiva-daya (mercy for the living entities), and vaisnava-seva (service to the devotees). She was a mentor, guide, and friend to many, including me, and we will miss her personal presence. Still, we shall try to serve her in separation by upholding the ideals she held dear.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I quote from a letter Yamuna wrote me some years ago, which has given me some solace and guidance at this time:</p>
<p>“I remember when Dina and I visited you in your house in Vrindavan. We asked you one question, and you took three hours to answer it: ‘How has your relationship with Srila Prabhupada changed since his departure?’ ” Again, vani and vapuh. She continued, “The departure of loved ones helps us to change, to go deeper. Surely this will happen.”<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=19494">https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=19494</a></p></div>Sri Saranga Thakur Disappearance Day by Ramai Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sri-saranga-thakur-disappearance-day-by-ramai-swami2023-12-11T05:30:00.000Z2023-12-11T05:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10889439887,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10889439887?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="259" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10889441094,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10889441094?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="255" /></p>
<p>Vraja’s Nāndimukhi became Sāraṅga Ṭhākura in Gaura-lila.</p>
<p>Śrī Saranga Ṭhākura is mentioned in the listing of branches of the Chaitanya trunk of the tree of devotional service along with Rama Das, Kavidatta, Gopal Das and Bhāgavata Acharya (Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.10.113). He is also known as Sarnga Ṭhākura, Sarngadhar and Sarngapani.</p>
<p>He used to live in Modadrumdvīpa, which is the island in Nabadvīpa that represents, of the nine types of devotional service, the service attitude. The name of the town is Mamgachi. He would sit in a secluded place by the banks of the Ganges to perform intense bhajan. Through these practices he obtained many miraculous powers.</p>
<p>At first, Saranga Ṭhākura did not want to make any disciples for fear of disturbances to his bhajan, but Mahāprabhu repeatedly encouraged him to do so. The following account is given in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna, “When the Lord was returning after criticizing Devananda Pandit for having offended Srivas Pandit, Saranga Ṭhākura met Him on the streets of Nabadvīpa. Mahāprabhu ordered him to give up his determination to never take disciples.”</p>
<p>Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupad writes in his Anubhāṣya in Chaitanya Charitamrta: “Having been ordered by Mahāprabhu to take disciples, Saranga Ṭhākura decided that he would make a disciple of the first person that he met the following morning. As fate would have it, the next morning, a dead body washed up against him while he was taking bath in the Ganges. He revived the corpse and made him his disciple. This disciple was known as Ṭhākura Murari, or sometimes as Saranga Murari.</p>
<p>In the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna, it is further said that Murari was a boy who had been killed by snake bite and his parents had set his uncremated body afloat on a raft in the Ganges, as was the custom in that time. Saranga Ṭhākura revived him by giving initiation to him. Thus, his name Saranga Murari, who became an empowered preacher of Mahāprabhu’s dharma by guru’s grace. Descendents of Saranga Murari’s disciples still live in a village named Shav.</p>
<p>Saranga Ṭhākura’s deities were served in the town of Mamgachi. The original temple was built in front of a bakula tree. The deities of Radha Gopinath worshiped by him can be seen in this temple, as can the deity of Mahāprabhu’s other associate, Vasudeva Datta Ṭhākura, Śrī Madana Gopal. The devotees who do parikramā of Nabadvīpa Dham visit this temple for darshan. Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura established a temple not far from the above-mentioned home of Saranga Murari at the birthplace of Vrindavan Das Ṭhākura.</p>
<p>Saranga Ṭhākura disappeared on the thirteenth day of the waning moon (kṛṣṇā trayodaśī) in the month of Agrahayan. An alternative opinion is that he disappeared on the Asharh kṛṣṇā caturdaśī.</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10889441294,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10889441294?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="259" /></p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10889441894,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10889441894?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="290" /></p>
<p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.ramaiswami.com/sri-saranga-thakur-disappearance/">http://www.ramaiswami.com/sri-saranga-thakur-disappearance/</a></p></div>Sri Narahari Sarakara Thakura Disappearance by Ramai Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/sri-narahari-sarakara-thakura-disappearance-by-ramai-swami2023-12-09T12:54:34.000Z2023-12-09T12:54:34.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12311641484,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="194" alt="12311641484?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></p>
<p>Shri Narahari Sarkar Thakura was born at Shri Khanda. Shri Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami describes that the residents of Shri Khanda formed a branch of the desire tree of love of God. “Shri Khan davasi (the residents of Shri Khanda) Mukunda and his son Raghu nandan were the thirty ninth branch of the tree, Narahari was the fortieth, Chiran Jiva the forty first and Sulochana the forty second.</p>
<p>They were all big branches of the all merciful tree of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They distributed the fruits and flowers of love of Godhead anywhere and everywhere. [Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi-lila 10:78-79] Shrila Jagannatha das Babaji Maharaj once stated – “Navadwip is the abode of Goloka. Vrindavana is the abode of Gokula. And Shri Khanda is the abode of Vaikuntha.”</p>
<p>Shri Narahari Sarkar Thakura participated in all of Shri Gaurasundara’s pastimes. Bhakti Ratnakara states: “Shri Sarkar Thakura’s glories are most uncommon. In Braja he is known as Madhumati, whose good qualities are unlimited.”<br /> <br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://www.ramaiswami.com/sri-narahari-sarakara-thakura-disappearance/">https://www.ramaiswami.com/sri-narahari-sarakara-thakura-disappearance/</a></p></div>“These children are given to us by Krishna” by Lilasuka Dasihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/these-children-are-given-to-us-by-krishna-by-lilasuka-dasi2023-11-23T13:35:03.000Z2023-11-23T13:35:03.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12299734858,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="12299734858?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></p>
<p>An Offering to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on the occasion of his Disappearance Day on behalf of the Child Protection Office – North America.</p>
<p>Dearest Srila Prabhupada,</p>
<p>Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace.</p>
<p>Thank you for being the father, grandfather, and guru that we all need.</p>
<p>Thank you for the immense sacrifices you made and the hard work that you put in to create this society of devotees. Serving your mission is easy and blissful due to the beauty, wonder, and sweetness of Krishna consciousness. We feel your love in so many ways, most notably through your devotees. Simultaneously, serving this mission can be quite difficult and painful because of the deeply entrenched conditioning so many of us have.<br /> This year commemorates the 25th anniversary of ISKCON’s Child Protection Office. The establishment of this office was necessary due to the abuse of Vaisnava children experienced by members of ISKCON. Although good policy is in place as ISKCON law, the path to consistent implementation has been challenging. A lack of organization and cooperation plagues our efforts to ensure the protection of children and is standard in how we operate. Missteps regularly surface, while the children bear the brunt of our shortcomings.</p>
<p>The precious souls taking shelter of this movement from childhood rely on us to remedy the problems to avoid Vaisnava aparadha in the form of child abuse. As we aspire to rectify this social ill, your words resound in our ears and hearts with integrity, truth, and compassion.</p>
<p>Your example is our guiding light. Your clear and unequivocal teaching that children must be protected compels us forward, bringing hope that we can get this right.<br /> <br /> <strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://iskconnews.org/these-children-are-given-to-us-by-krishna/">https://iskconnews.org/these-children-are-given-to-us-by-krishna/</a></p></div>Srila Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji Disappearance dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-gaura-kishora-dasa-babaji-disappearance-day2023-11-23T06:30:00.000Z2023-11-23T06:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8214006253,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8214006253?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="199" />Paramahamsa Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji Maharaj was born into a vaishya family on the banks of the Padma River in Bagayan village in Faridpur district in what is now Bangladesh. His given name was Vamsi Das. He was born sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. He is important to us because he was the diksha guru of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada. Vamsi Das’s parents had him married at an early age according to the custom of the time, but he always remained detached from householder life. His main interest was always worshiping the Lord.</p>
<p>In 1849, Shrila Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji left grihasta life after the death of his wife. He moved to Vrindavana and took initiation from Shri Bhagavata Das Babaji, a disciple of Shri Jagannatha Dasa, Babaji. For over thirty years Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji stayed in Vrindavana performing bhajana under the trees at Giri Govardhana, Nandagrama, Varshana, Radha-Kunda, Suryakunda, Raval, Gokula. He also travelled outside of the Vraja area, visiting northern India and Bengal. Sitting in seclusion, he chanted 200,000 names of Krishna every day (128 rounds of japa). He felt painful separation from Radha-Govinda and cried profusely. As he wandered through the dvadasa vana (12 forests) of Vraja, he would loudly chant the Holy Names in a deep voice full of lamentation.</p>
<p>He would always relish the following Bhajan:</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8214005901,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8214005901?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="300" /></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">kothay go prema-mayi radhe radhe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">radhe radhe go jaya radhe radhe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">dekha diya prana rakho radhe radhe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">tomar kangal tomay dake radhe radhe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">radhe vrindavana-vilasini radhe radhe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">radhe kanu-mano-mohini radhe radhe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">radhe astha-sakhir siromani radhe radhe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">radhe vrsabhanu-nandini radhe radhe!</p>
<p>“0h Radhe Radhe! Where are You, 0h Goddess of ecstatic love? Oh Radhe Radhe! All glories to You, 0h Radhe Radhe! Oh Radhe Radhe! Please show Yourself to me and thereby maintain my life. Your most despicable fallen servant calls out to You, 0h Radhe Radhe! Oh Radhe! Oh artful enjoyer of Vrindavana. 0h Radhe Radhe! Oh Radhe! Oh enchantress of Kanu’s (Krishna) mind. 0h Radhe Radhe!Oh Radhe! Oh crest jewel of Your eight main girlfriends. 0h Radhe Radhe! 0h Radhe! Oh delightful daughter of Maharaja Vrishabhanu. 0h Radhe Radhe!”</p>
<p>In 1893, when the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was inaugurated at the Sri Mayapur Yoga Pith, Sri Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj ordered Srila Gaurakishore das babaji to stay in Nabadwip. This is where Srila Gaura Kisori das babaji remained for the rest of his life. He saw all the residents of Nabadwip with transcendental eyes, considering them to be divine beings. He thus accepted madhukari from them, cooking everything in a rejected clay bowl. It is said that sometimes he would subsist on nothing but Ganges water and mud. Sometimes he would go for long periods without eating, chanting the Holy Names constantly. He set the standard for those in the renounced order who live the life of solitary worship, remaining completely independent of others.</p>
<p>Although Bhaktivinoda Thakur was a grhasta with ten children, Srila Gaura Kisori Das babaji would often go to Bhaktivinoda’s home in Godrumadvipa, Svananda-sukhada-kunja, where he would listen to him give readings of the Bhagavat and discuss Vaishnava theology with him, Gaura Kishore Das babaji was very fond of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur was extremely impressed by Gaura Kisora’s extraordinary renunciation, his pure devotion and his attachment to the Lord.</p>
<p>Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji left this world in 1915 but before then, Srila Bhaktivinoda decided his son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada who was then known as Bhimala Prasad, to take diksha from Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada asked Babaji for initiation, Babaji who was so humble and he has never taken any disciple in his life and was determined not to take any disciple, simple addressed Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada saying that it was impossible, you are so highly qualified how can I be your guru you should go find someone else. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur told Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada that he must accept Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji, repeatedly again and again he was requesting from babaji but Babaji si ple said no. Ultimately Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada approached him with tears in his eyes he said this human form of life is only meant for self realisation and without a bona fide spiritual master it is impossible for anyone to attain love of Krishna. If you do not accept me as a disciple then I have no reason to live, I am determined to commit suicide. Babji could see that he was sincere and was speaking from the core of his heart, so babaji accepted him as his disciple and he never accepted another disciple till the rest of his life.</p>
<p>On the 30th of Karttik in 1322 (Bengali ’ 1915 AD), Paramahamsa Srila Gaura Kisora Das Babaji entered the eternal pastimes of the Lord. At the time, he was residing at Ranira Dharma-sala in Kuliya. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur received the news of his disappearance, he was overcome with feelings of separation from his guru and immediately hurried to the site of his departure.</p>
<p>On the first day of Agrahayan in Kuliya’s Nutana Cara, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada performed the samadhi rites for Srila Gaura Kisora Das Babaji according to Vaishnava Smrti injunctions. A certain Poddar Mahasaya of Lohagara in Jessore district gave the land for the samadhi, renouncing any claims on the property. Later, however, he reneged on his promise and came to live there himself and engaged in various illicit activities on the site. During the Ganges floods one season, the samadhi temple was washed into the river. On the 5th of Bhadra, 1339 Bengali (1932 AD)Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur retrieved some of his remains from the Ganges bed and took them to the Chaitanya Math where he established a samadhi temple on the banks of Radha Kund. The site was consecrated on the 2nd of Asvina, 1339 and in the course of time, a small temple housing a murti of Gaura Kisora Das Babaji was constructed there. The murti’s nitya-seva has continued ever since.</p>
<p>Jai Srila Gaur Kishore Das Babaji Ki Jai!<br /> <strong><br /> Source: </strong><a href="https://www.mayapur.com/2020/srila-gaura-kishora-dasa-babaji-disappearance-day/">https://www.mayapur.com/2020/srila-gaura-kishora-dasa-babaji-disappearance-day/</a></p></div>Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji’s Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-gaurakisora-dasa-babaji-s-disappearance-day2023-11-23T05:30:00.000Z2023-11-23T05:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-py1wsw2Zg_g/VlG4BBxsOdI/AAAAAAAAWvk/7AnkyjubmqY/s0/2015-11-22_13-41-26.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-py1wsw2Zg_g/VlG4BBxsOdI/AAAAAAAAWvk/7AnkyjubmqY/s0/2015-11-22_13-41-26.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="2015-11-22_13-41-26.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="350" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><strong>By Giriraj Swami</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Today is the disappearance day of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a great devotee - a maha-bhagavata. He was a disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and was very renounced. He had lived for many years in Vrindavan, roaming the twelve forests, chanting the holy names of Krishna, eating by begging alms, and sleeping under trees. Later, after Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered Lord Chaitanya’s birthplace in Mayapur, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, the siksa-guru of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and parama-guru of Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, instructed Gaurakisora to move to Navadvipa-dhama.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">There Gaurakisora resided on the banks of the Ganges and practiced devotional service with intense devotion and renunciation. Because materialistic men would come and disturb him with their desires for mundane blessings (asirvada), the babaji began to stay by a municipal lavatory, where the filth and obnoxious smells would discourage unwanted visitors. There he would chant in peace—in ecstasy. He would beg alms and cook in discarded clay pots, or eat parched rice with green chilies, or just ingest Ganges mud. Sometimes he would collect the discarded cloth from the crematorium, wash it in Ganges water, and use it to cover himself. His only desire was to be absorbed in the mellow of the holy name—in Krishna consciousness.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Gaurakisora was a siksa disciple and intimate friend of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The Thakura arranged a bhajana-kutira for him on the same property as Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house in Godruma-dvipa. When the time came for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to take diksa, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura advised him to approach Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was the father of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and his first instructor in the spiritual science, but the etiquette was that one would not take diksa from one’s biological father. So Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura sent him to Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was highly literate. By the age of seven, he had memorized the entire Bhagavad-gita and could even explain its verses. He had a photographic memory, and in school he read all the books in the entire library. Just by reading them once, he could remember every word, and so the library purchased new books just for him. By the age of twenty-five, he had written numerous articles and published a book, Surya-siddhanta, for which he was awarded the title “Siddhanta Sarasvati.” So, he was highly educated and literate, whereas Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja was hardly educated or literate at all.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">The first time Siddhanta Sarasvati approached Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, the babaji refused to accept him. He didn’t directly say no, but he said, “I will ask Mahaprabhu.” When Siddhanta Sarasvati returned and told his father what had happened, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura encouraged him to persevere: “You must go back and beg him with all humility and earnestness to accept you.” So, he went back, and Gaurakisora dasa Babaji again refused, saying, “Oh, I forgot to ask Mahaprabhu. I am so sorry.” When Siddhanta Sarasvati returned home, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was most upset. He knew that Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a pure devotee, and he urged Siddhanta Sarasvati to persist; he again instructed his son to beg Gaurakisora for his mercy, and he added, “If you fail this time, don’t bother to come back home.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">So, Siddhanta Sarasvati left the house and went to the Ganges. He felt so hopeless, he thought he might as well just drown himself in the river. Just then, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja appeared; he knew what was in his future disciple’s heart. Siddhanta Sarasvati just threw himself at the lotus feet of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji in abject humility and complete surrender. Finally, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji accepted him. Siddhanta Sarasvati had shown that he was free from any tinge of false pride even though he was so learned and literate and his guru was uneducated.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Srila Prabhupada remarked that Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was illiterate and could not even sign his name, yet he became the spiritual master of Sarasvati Thakura, the best scholar of his time. And thus he proved the statement of the Vedas:</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">yasya deve para bhaktir<br /> yatha-deve tatha gurau<br /> tasyaite kathita hy arthah<br /> prakasante mahatmanah</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23)</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Although Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was hardly educated or literate, learned scholars and public servants would approach him with their questions on Srimad-Bhagavatam and other shastras, and, with his realized knowledge, he would answer their questions to their full satisfaction. Sometimes devotees would read various scriptures for him and he would comment on them from his deep spiritual realization.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Still, out of his great humility, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja refused to accept any disciples; Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was the only exception.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Gaurakisora dasa Babaji enjoined Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati never to go to Calcutta, which he considered “a bastion of Kali-yuga.” So Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati remained in Mayapur. In 1905 he took a vow to chant the Hare Krishna mantra a billion times. Residing in a grass hut near the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya, he chanted the Hare Krishna mantra day and night. He cooked rice once a day in an earthen pot (or just parched the rice in the sun) and ate nothing more. He slept on the ground, and when the rainwater leaked through the grass ceiling, he sat beneath an umbrella, chanting. Locked in a small room, he chanted japa day and night, day after day, month after month, year after year. Finally, when he had completed his quota, he felt that he was ready to come out and preach. And to preach he went to Calcutta.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">In a talk at the Ardha-kumbha-mela in Allahabad, Srila Prabhupada raised the point that Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji had instructed Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati never to go to Calcutta but that everyone knows he went to Calcutta. So, Srila Prabhupada questioned whether Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had disobeyed the orders of his spiritual master. “No!” Srila Prabhupada declared. “He was never in Calcutta; he was always in Vaikuntha!”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">So, we pray to Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji:</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">namo gaura-kisoraya<br /> saksad-vairagya-murtaye<br /> vipralambha-rasambodhe<br /> padambhujaya te namah</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">He is saksad-vairagya-murtaye, the personification of renunciation (vairagya); and vipralambha-rasambodhe, always merged in the ocean of the mellow of separation from Krishna (vipralambha-rasa). Padambhujaya te namah: “I offer my respectful obeisances unto his lotus feet.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">That was the mood of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja: he was always merged in that nectarean ocean of devotion in separation, and he had no care for his body or for anything material—just hari-nama.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">He wrote a beautiful song that is completely in the mood of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. It is said that of the Six Gosvamis, Raghunatha dasa was the most attached to the service of Srimati Radharani—that he had the most intense desire to serve Srimati Radharani—and Gaurakisora dasa Babaji wrote a beautiful song in that mood. He begins with a refrain: kotai go premamayi, radhe radhe, radhe radhe—“Where is Radha, so full of love? Radhe, Radhe, Radhe, Radhe!” Then he proceeds to express the mood of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami in separation from Radharani, desiring and aspiring for Her service.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">When Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja left this world, there was some dispute over what would happen to his body. His samadhi would of course become an important place of pilgrimage, and some of the heads of the local Vaishnava centers saw this as an opportunity to raise money—for their mathas and even for their own sense gratification. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati ran to the site, but when he arrived, some of the local babajis objected: “He is not a sannyasi; how can he give samadhi to such an exalted and renounced personality?” But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati responded forcefully: “I am the only disciple of Babaji Maharaja, and although I have not accepted sannyasa, I am a celibate brahmachari, not secretly addicted to abominable habits or involved with illicit activities. Who among you can say that in the last year he had no sex or illicit contact with a woman? Please step forward.” Everyone was silent. Then he challenged, “Who has refrained for the last six months?” Everyone was silent. Next, “For the last three months?” Again, silence. “For the last one month?” Silence. “The last three days?” Still silence. They had been exposed and humbled. Not one of the babajis was fit to even touch the transcendental form of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, and one by one they walked away.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Even then there remained some question about how to handle the body, which was still lying on the ground. Out of his great humility, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja had instructed that when he departed, his body should be dragged through the streets of Navadvipa so that it would be bathed in the dust from the feet of the Vaishnavas who had walked the holy ground of the dhama. So, some of the townspeople proposed to take the body and drag it through the streets of Navadvipa. Such fools! Such rascals! But Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura stopped them. “Although we are fools and offenders,” he said, “still we can try to understand the true meaning of Babaji Maharaja’s humble request. After the departure of Thakura Haridasa, Lord Chaitanya Himself took the spiritually blissful body of the Thakura on His lap and danced. Following the divine example of Mahaprabhu, let us also bear Babaji Maharaja’s blissful body on our own heads.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">So, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati took charge of the body and placed it in samadhi on the western side of the Ganges, across from Mayapur. In time, the river’s course changed and its waters threatened the area of the samadhi. So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta brought the samadhi to Mayapur, to his matha. There he had created a replica of Vrindavan, with tamala trees and kadamba trees, with Syama-kunda and Radha-kunda, and with a small Govardhana Hill made of govardhana-silas. Most appropriately, he placed the new samadhi by the side of Radha-kunda, and that is where the transcendental remains of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji still rest today. One can go there and pray to him and feel his presence and get his mercy.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja is an ocean of mercy (all pure Vaishnavas are). I pray that he will help me to chant the holy name, to chant with taste. When I prayed to him earlier—and this may just be my speculation—I imagined that he said, “You must give up your offenses.” Then I was thinking, “What offenses?” And then I imagined that he answered, “You must chant with attention.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Of course, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura does state that inattentive chanting is the root of all other offenses and that, conversely, attentive chanting will destroy all the other offenses. “But how do I do that?” I asked. And the answer came: “You must try. You just have to make the effort.” And I suppose that is always the process—that we make our honest effort and depend on the mercy of the acharyas and Krishna.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">In my case, however, my chanting sometimes becomes such a routine that I do not even make the effort to hear every word or every mantra. I just do it. I just go through the motions. So, I guess that is my challenge, my special order—to chant with attention.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Devotees often raise the question of chanting with quality. When on a morning walk a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “How can we chant with quality?” Prabhupada replied, “The quality will come. For now, just chant as a matter of duty; chant your sixteen rounds. When the quality comes, there will be no force. You will have taste, and spontaneously you will desire, ‘Why sixteen rounds? Why not sixteen thousand rounds?’ Rupa Gosvami desired, ‘How shall I chant with one tongue and hear with two ears? Had I billions of tongues and trillions of ears, then I could relish chanting.’ ”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Srila Prabhupada said that quality means asakti, attachment, and that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed this quality: “Sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me: ‘Oh, I do not see Govinda. The whole world is vacant.’ Sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me. This is quality.” When one feels viraha-bhava, when one feels separation from Radha and Krishna, one is chanting with quality.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"> Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji is an ocean of mercy, and we pray for his grace.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">Hare Krishna.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;">[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Gaurakisora dasa Babaji’s disappearance day, November 22, 2004, Dallas]</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=7842">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=7842</a></p></div>Disappearance Day of HDG A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 2023!https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/disappearance-day-of-hdg-a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada-20232023-11-17T12:26:01.000Z2023-11-17T12:26:01.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12293501259,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="12293501259?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></p>
<p>Today, November 17, 2023, is the Disappearance Day of Srila Prabhupada.</p>
<p>Abhay Charanarvinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1st Sept 1896 – 14th Nov 1977), was a devout Krishna Bhakta in the line of Gaudiya Vaishnava disciplic succession and a dedicated preacher of Krishna Consciousness all over the world. It was due to him that Hare Krishna and Bhagavad-Gita became a household name all over the world. According to the Hindu Calendar he left for the spiritual world on the fourth day of shukla paksha of Kartik month and devotees pay homage to him on this auspicious day. As we gather to honor his departure, let our prayers and gratitude echo with profound sincerity to the spiritual luminary who illuminated our paths with the light of devotion. May this day serve as a reminder to carry forward Srila Prabhupada’s legacy, embracing the eternal dance of devotion in our hearts.</p>
<p>Detailed Schedule for Srila Prabhupada’s 2023 Tirobhava</p>
<p>07:00AM – Darshan Arati</p>
<p>07:30AM-Guru-puja.</p>
<p>07:45AM – Srila Prabhupada will be taken to Pushpa Samadhi Mandir</p>
<p>08:00AM – HH Jayapataka Swami begins glorification of Srila Prabhupada & introduces Prabhupada’s Class</p>
<p>08:15AM – Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad Bhagavatam class in the Samadhi Mandir</p>
<p>08:45AM-Glorification continues</p>
<p>10:00AM – Drama: “Srila Prabhupada – The World Acarya”</p>
<p>10:25AM-Glorification continues</p>
<p>11:30AM – Competition Awards</p>
<p>11:45AM-Abhishek at Samadhi Mandir</p>
<p>12:30PM Glorification continues & Bhoga offering</p>
<p>12:45PM-Pushpanjali at Samadhi Mandir</p>
<p>01:00PM – Maha Arati & Sri Sri Guruvastakam Kirtan</p>
<p>01:30PM Feast Prasadam</p>
<p>05:30PM – Jananivasa Prabhu begins glorification of Srila Prabhupada</p>
<p>07:00PM Kirtan</p>
<p>07:15PM-Je Anilo Prema Dhana will be sung.</p>
<p>07:25PM – Observing Tirobhava Muhurta & Pushpanjali with Harinam</p>
<p>07:35PM-Maha Arati & Sri Sri Guruvastakam kirtan</p>
<p>07:45PM-Cake Prasadam distribution at Samadhi Mandir</p>
<p>Donations would be greatly appreciated: <a href="https://www.mayapur.com/serve-mayapur/general-donation/">https://www.mayapur.com/serve-mayapur/general-donation/</a></p>
<p>His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Ki Jai!!!<br /> <br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://www.mayapur.com/2023/disappearance-day-of-hdg-a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada-2023/">https://www.mayapur.com/2023/disappearance-day-of-hdg-a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada-2023/</a></p>
<div> </div></div>Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day by Giriraj Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-prabhupada-s-disappearance-day-by-giriraj-swami-22023-11-17T12:17:36.000Z2023-11-17T12:17:36.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12293497261,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="259" alt="12293497261?profile=RESIZE_400x" />Once, on his guru maharaja’s disappearance day, Srila Prabhupada said, “On the absolute platform, there is no difference between the appearance and the disappearance of the spiritual master. Both are beautiful, just like the sunrise and the sunset.” So, although we feel separation, within that separation our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada is heightened, and thus we experience the beauty of his presence—in separation.</p>
<p>To straightaway speak about Srila Prabhupada’s departure feels abrupt to me, because it is a painful topic, but remembering Srila Prabhupada’s words that the disappearance is also beautiful, I wanted to share with you a lesson I learned from his departure.</p>
<p>A few days before he was to leave us, Srila Prabhupada expressed a desire to travel by bullock cart to different holy places in India. His Holiness Lokanath Swami had been traveling by bullock cart to different places of pilgrimage, and Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened when Lokanath Swami reported to him in Vrindavan. And Prabhupada said that he too would like to go on pilgrimage on a bullock cart. He asked Lokanath Swami to arrange it, and Lokanath Swami was enthusiastic, having been encouraged by Prabhupada in such a direct way. He immediately went to organize the cart and make all the arrangements. Govardhana-puja was to take place in a couple of days, and Prabhupada said that he would begin his pilgrimage by traveling on a bullock cart to Govardhana Hill to celebrate Govardhana-puja with the Vraja-vasis.</p>
<p>At that time, Srila Prabhupada was bedridden and emaciated. He was unable to eat, and he was able only to sip a little liquid. So he was very gaunt and weak, with almost no energy. He would just lie on his bed, and sometimes, with great difficulty, he would speak softly, often so faintly that only those very close to him could hear his words.</p>
<p>There were many devotees in the room when Srila Prabhupada had his exchange with Lokanath Swami. And immediately after the discussion ended and devotees went outside, they began to express two strong, heartfelt opinions about what Srila Prabhupada should do—and, more than that, how we as disciples should relate to Srila Prabhupada and serve him.</p>
<p>One group, which included Lokanath Swami and other esteemed, senior disciples, such as Hamsaduta Prabhu and Baradraj Prabhu, felt that we should just do what the spiritual master orders. We shouldn’t question his order; we should just execute it. And some of the other disciples, many of whom had been attending to Prabhupada’s personal care, felt that Prabhupada’s health would not sustain his travels on a bullock cart and that, because he was so emaciated (he had practically no flesh on his bones), it would be very painful for him to go. Even if they padded the cart with a mattress, it would still be a basic bullock cart, and the roads in Vraja were very rough, so the movement of the cart would jostle Prabhupada and he would feel pain. Some devotees feared that he might even give up his body on the way. So, they did not want him to be subjected to what they foresaw as certain pain—and perhaps the dire consequence of his death.</p>
<p>But this second position was very difficult to maintain under the circumstances, because Srila Prabhupada was so emphatic. “Let me travel to all the tirtha-sthanas,” he had said—to all the holy places. And whatever objections devotees had raised against the proposal, he had countered. “One-day experiment,” he had pleaded. “Rest assured. I will not die in one day.” When even Prabhupada’s kaviraja had predicted that with all the jostling on the bullock cart, Prabhupada would not survive more than two hours, Prabhupada had replied, “But I think I shall be cured.” Still, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, Bhavananda Maharaja, and others felt strongly that this “experiment” would have dire consequences. But how to convince Prabhupada?</p>
<p>So, the controversy continued. When Prabhupada said, “I think I shall be cured,” Hamsaduta and others took it that he was supporting their position. But the other side took it differently: “What does it mean that he is going to be cured? It means that he is going to leave his body and get a spiritual body. That’s how he is going to get cured.” Each party was seeing things in a particular way that supported their particular point of view.</p>
<p>Finally, things came to the stage where the bullock cart was waiting outside the gates of the Krishna-Balaram Mandir. Everything was being readied. And for the devotees who were in the mood that Srila Prabhupada should stay, it must have been like when the residents of Vrindavan saw Akrura getting the chariot ready to take Krishna to Mathura.</p>
<p>The evening before the planned parikrama, Srila Prabhupada was lying on his bed (many of you have seen his bed in his house in Vrindavan). Bhakti Charu Swami was in the room, and Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother Akincana Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja was there for a visit. Babaji Maharaja was a very advanced devotee; Srila Prabhupada had said that he was a paramahamsa. He was always engaged in hari-nama, absorbed in hari-nama, and he was always blissful. And he and Prabhupada had an extraordinarily affectionate relationship.</p>
<p>So, Bhakti Charu thought, “Let me appeal to Babaji Maharaja. If he asks Prabhupada not to go, then Prabhupada may listen.” And when he explained the situation to Babaji Maharaja, Maharaja declared, “Then he shouldn’t go.”</p>
<p>“So, do you all jointly request me not to go?” Srila Prabhupada asked when Maharaja had conveyed his conclusion. “Ji,” Maharaja confirmed.</p>
<p>“We were getting so upset,” Tamal Krishna agreed. “Two devotees told me this road is so bad that if you go on it you’re going to be jolted back and forth. The road is terrible. I just can’t understand, Srila Prabhupada, why it has to be tomorrow that we have to go. If anybody wants you to travel, I do. But why do we have to go when you’re in this condition? I can’t understand it.”</p>
<p>“All right,” Srila Prabhupada said. “I will not go.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Srila Prabhupada,” said Bhavananda. “I was in too much anxiety.”</p>
<p>“No, no, I cannot put you in anxiety. I shall do what you like.”</p>
<p>“Actually, Srila Prabhupada,” said Tamal Krishna, “we’re so attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. Tonight we were becoming mad.”</p>
<p>“No, I shall not do that,” Prabhupada said. And to Babaji Maharaja he added, “Just see how much they love me . . . Left hand, right hand. I cannot refuse.”</p>
<p>“The way you deal with us simply deepens our attachment every moment,” Tamal Krishna said.</p>
<p>And Prabhupada replied, “It is my duty.”</p>
<p>For the devotees in the room, it was a jubilant occasion that Prabhupada had agreed to wait. As Tamal Krishna Goswami had said, “We will take you on tirtha-yatra, to all the places. Just get a little stronger.” But when the news reached the other group, they were upset: “This is not our duty as disciples, to try to prevail upon our spiritual master. Our duty is to execute his will. He said that he wants to go by bullock cart to Govardhana, and our duty is to arrange for what he wants. Our duty is not to advise him or prevail upon him according to our perception.” The controversy continued until the end—the anniversary of which is today.</p>
<p>Prabhupada spent his last three days with his disciples at the Krishna-Balaram Mandir, and the last day he didn’t speak. His only words were in the morning, when the kaviraja asked him to drink some juice and he replied, “Meri kuch iccha nahin”: “I have no desire.” After that, Prabhupada didn’t speak. He was in a completely internal state of consciousness, and the devotees surrounded him with kirtan. For the last few hours, in the afternoon, the leaders opened up the doors to everyone. Young, old, children, men, women—all were allowed to be in the room with Srila Prabhupada and to reciprocate love with him. Then, at about 7:26 p.m., his tongue and mouth moved—Hare Krishna—and he left.</p>
<p>As for the controversy, it continued; even after Prabhupada left, the feelings still ran strong on both sides. And I still couldn’t determine who was right. There were devotees senior to me on both sides—devotees whom I respected and had served. Personally, I may have been closer to some of the ones engaged in Srila Prabhupada’s personal service, but still I wasn’t sure who was right, and it was on my mind.</p>
<p>It was my habit, or practice, to chant japa in Srila Prabhupada’s rooms (though not when he was there), and after he departed, I did that. I was in his room chanting japa, and behind his bed was an area with his bookshelves. So, I found a little corner there and was chanting japa, when somehow my eyes fell upon the new volume of Srimad-Bhagavatam that had just arrived—the Tenth Canto, Volume Two. It had been delivered into Srila Prabhupada’s hands in his last days. When the devotees had presented the book to Srila Prabhupada and he was looking at the pictures, everyone could see the love in his eyes. Tamal Krishna Goswami had remarked, “How much love for Krishna Prabhupada has,” as evident from the way Prabhupada had been looking at the pictures of Krishna. So, I saw the book. It had gold embossing, made especially for Srila Prabhupada. I opened it up, and it happened to open to Chapter Nine: “Mother Yasoda Binds Krsna.” I read a few verses and purports, and then I came to a verse that, to me, answered the question:</p>
<p>TEXT 19</p>
<p>evam sandarsita hy anga<br /> harina bhrtya-vasyata<br /> sva-vasenapi krsnena<br /> yasyedam sesvaram vase</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>O Maharaja Pariksit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Krsna in this pastime.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>The pastime is encapsulated in the previous verse:</p>
<p>TEXT 18</p>
<p>sva-matuh svinna-gatraya<br /> visrasta-kabara-srajah<br /> drstva parisramam krsnah<br /> krpayasit sva-bandhane</p>
<p>TRANSLATION</p>
<p>Because of Mother Yasoda’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Krsna saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound.</p>
<p>COMMENT</p>
<p>When I read these verses, I thought, “This is what happened.” The spiritual master is the transparent medium through which Krishna manifests Himself. Of course, in vraja-bhakti the relationship with Krishna is different. In Vraja, Krishna exhibits nara-lila, humanlike pastimes, in which there is complete intimacy and freedom between the devotees and the Lord. In the relationship between the disciples and spiritual master, there is always an element of awe and reverence—and duty. Still, duty is meant to lead to love. And Srila Prabhupada did say to Babaji Maharaja, “Just see how much they love me.”</p>
<p>One month earlier, there had been another incident. Srila Prabhupada had stopped drinking. Previously, he had said that when his father had wanted to leave his body, he had stopped drinking, and that this was a bona fide way to give up one’s body when the time came. Prabhupada didn’t make any announcement or anything; he just stopped drinking.</p>
<p>Upendra dasa, a very sweet devotee who was Srila Prabhupada’s servant at the time, innocently said to him, “Prabhupada, you have to drink. If you don’t drink, you will become dehydrated. And Prabhupada said, “Oh, you want me to drink? Call the GBC.” That decision—whether Prabhupada should drink or not—was no small matter.</p>
<p>So, Abhirama informed the GBC, and the GBC and senior devotees came into the room. Prabhupada said, “If I want to survive, of course I’ll have to take something. But my survival means so many inconveniences. Therefore I have decided to die peacefully.”</p>
<p>“Everything is in the hands of Krishna,” said Tamal Krishna. And that had been the mood, coming from Srila Prabhupada: everything depended on Krishna. Many times Prabhupada had said that he would accept whatever Krishna desired. If Krishna allowed him to stay, he would stay. And if Krishna wanted him to go, he would go. Previously, a disciple had asked him, “You said that your guru maharaja left early because he was disgusted. Is that the case with you?” And Srila Prabhupada had replied, “No. If Krishna allows me to stay in your association, I will be most happy to stay in your association.”</p>
<p>Now, however, Srila Prabhupada opened his eyes and said, “Krishna wants me to do as I like. The choice is mine. He has given me full freedom.” This was a different mood—a completely different answer. And it gave—and gives—us a glimpse into the intimate reciprocation between Krishna and Prabhupada.</p>
<p>So, we all went out into the anteroom and discussed. Kirtanananda Swami’s point was most clear and lucid and intelligent. “If Krishna has given Prabhupada the choice and Prabhupada is giving us the choice,” he said, “then we should ask Prabhupada to stay.” Everyone agreed: “Yes, we should ask him to stay.” Then a devotee said, “But all the GBC men aren’t here.” And Brahmananda retorted, “Come on. What GBC is going to say that they don’t want Prabhupada to stay?” So, it was decided, unanimously. We would go back into Prabhupada’s room and tell him that we wanted him to stay; Kirtanananda Swami would be the spokesman.</p>
<p>When we went back into the room, Prabhupada was lying quietly on his bed. As soon as we finished offering obeisances, Kirtanananda broke down and started sobbing. He couldn’t speak. Brahmananda, sitting behind him, rubbed his back to soothe him. Then Kirtanananda managed, “Srila Prabhupada, if Krishna has given you the choice, then don’t go! We need you!” Srila Prabhupada asked, “Is this your joint opinion? Have you discussed?” “Yes, we have all met together. We want you to remain and lead the movement and finish the Srimad-Bhagavatam.”</p>
<p>Prabhupada was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then he yawned and said, “All right.” Just like that. He agreed to stay in such a nonchalant way. All the devotees were jubilant. Within ourselves, we were rejoicing: “Prabhupada is going to stay! Prabhupada’s going to stay! He is not going to leave us. He is going to finish Srimad-Bhagavatam. He is going to lead the movement.”</p>
<p>And Prabhupada said, “This is real affection.”</p>
<p>So, when I read this verse from the Tenth Canto, I thought of these two incidents and put them together. In both cases, when the disciples had expressed themselves—“We want you to stay,” “We want you to get healthy”—Prabhupada had said, “This is real love,” “Just see how much they love me.” So, I think that all the disciples in this controversy were acting on the basis of their realization of their devotion for Srila Prabhupada, but I believe that what Prabhupada really was doing was drawing out our loving sentiments—beyond our just following the order. Following the order is a given; there is no question. We have to follow the order of the spiritual master. To disobey the order of the spiritual master is an offense against the holy name. It is a basic principle of spiritual life. So, we are not talking about disobeying the order of the spiritual master; we are talking about developing loving feelings for the spiritual master and expressing them to him. When Srila Prabhupada brought us to that stage in those two incidents, he commented, “This is real love,” “Just see how much they love me.”</p>
<p>Relating the verse from the Tenth Canto to what Srila Prabhupada did with us, there’s also a parallel between the damodara-lila and that principle of spontaneous love. Every night during the month of Damodara, we recite the Damodarastaka, including verse three:</p>
<p>itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde<br /> sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam<br /> tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam<br /> punah prematas tam satavrtti vande</p>
<p>“By such pastimes He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy and revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbued with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His devotee’s pure love, I offer my humble obeisances.”</p>
<p>The damodara-lila shows pure, spontaneous love’s special power to conquer the Lord. The Lord comes under the control of such pure love. In the same way, Srila Prabhupada—not exactly that he came under the control of our love, but I would say that he brought that love out from deep within the recesses of our hearts, and then he reciprocated with us by coming under our control, by agreeing to our requests.</p>
<p>So, this is a very deep pastime of Srila Prabhupada’s. Among the disciples who were around him at the end, it was understood that he was the perfect acharya—he had taught us by his own example how to live in Krishna consciousness, and now he was teaching us how to die in Krishna consciousness. That was the general idea in those months and weeks, that he was showing us how to retire to a holy place and how to be absorbed in hearing the holy names of the Lord, and how up until the end, even in his delicate condition, he was trying to push forward the mission and was translating and dictating purports to Srimad-Bhagavatam—until the very end. In that way, he was showing us how to die in Krishna consciousness. But within that final lesson he also brought us to this more intimate level of exchange where we could express to him our heart’s deepest desires even in spite of the barriers that I would say he deliberately put up. He deliberately put up the barriers, but then he inspired us to break through them to reach out to him and express our love for him and ask him to stay with us.</p>
<p>Even though Srila Prabhupada has now left that body, we still have that choice: Do we want him to stay with us or not? And I remember that at that time, although we had been going along in the mood that whatever Krishna wanted was all right, when we understood what really should have been in our hearts—that we wanted him to stay—we thought, “Maybe we want to be the controllers, to be the enjoyers.” So, there is always that question: Do we want the kingdom of God without God, without God’s representative, or do we want the kingdom of God with God, with His representative, as their humble servants? And so I pray to Srila Prabhupada that I will always remember this lesson and always pray and act in such a way that he will be pleased to stay with each of us individually and all of us collectively, and bind us to his lotus feet eternally.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>[“Srila Prabhupada’s Departure—Drawing Out Love”: A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, November 14, 2007, Mayapur]</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=19428#more-19428">https://girirajswami.com/blog/?p=19428#more-19428</a></p></div>The disappearance of HDG A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada by Radhanath Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-disappearance-of-hdg-a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada-by-ra2023-11-17T11:30:00.000Z2023-11-17T11:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9778725064,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9778725064?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="500" />In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna explains,</p>
<p>janma karma ca me divyam<br /> evaà yo vetti tattvataù<br /> tyaktvä dehaà punar janma<br /> naiti mäm eti so ‘rjuna<br /> [BG 4.9]</p>
<p>‘One who understands the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities never attains…never has to take birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode.’ Those divine personalities who come to distribute the treasure of prema bhakti, the emissaries of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, their lila is of the same nature as the Supreme Truth. Therefore, one who understands the divine nature of the appearance, activities and disappearance of the great souls, they never have to take birth again in this material world. Because such great personalities, their lives are cent percent dedicated in the loving service of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord reveals Himself, reveals His divine lila into this world through their words and through their actions. Just as Srila Prabhupada used to tell us, ‘That as Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master is the supreme personality of servitude Godhead.’</p>
<p>We Celebrate Both, Appearance & Disappearace:</p>
<p>On the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srila Prabhupada taught us how to observe this day of the disappearance of the Guru. He explained that there is no difference between appearance and disappearance on the spiritual level. Because, for such divine realized souls who are in contact with the eternal soul, there coming and going into this world are both only for the benefit of those who love them. Of course, on the appearance there is usually a great celebration and on the disappearance there is the celebration of tears – a celebration in the mood of separation. Appearance means unity, meeting, coming together and disappearance means the pains of separation. Krishna sometimes is known as Madan Mohan. One definition of this Madan means meeting and Mohan means separation. So Krishna teaches us to love Him through meeting with us and then through casting us into the realm of separation.</p>
<p>No Reason To Live Further Without You “Gurudev”.</p>
<p>But Only For Your Instructions, Your Words & Your Mission.</p>
<p>Seeing The Examples:</p>
<p>Raghunath Das Goswami:</p>
<p>In the life of Raghunath Das Goswami, we find how a devotee feels on the disappearance of the Lord of his life. Raghunath Das Goswami, when Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Swarupa Damodar Goswami, his Guru and life, disappeared from this world, he offered prayers, he felt so much bereft, he had no reason to go on living. In fact, he made vow to go to Vrindavan and to jump from the Govardhan hill to commit suicide. And when he went to Vrindavan, he revealed his heart through beautiful writings. He explains that the Govardhan hill, such a beautiful beautiful manifestation of Krishna, now that my Gurudeva is gone, when I look like…when I look at Govardhan hill, it appears to be a great serpent for it is coming to devour me. When I look at Radha Kund and Shyam Kund , when I look at the sky, everything around is only reminding me of the great pains that is within my heart. So in this way, Raghunath Das saw the whole world as nothing but a dread void in the absence of his spiritual master. In fact, Srila Prabhupada explains in the Bhagavatam that when the spiritual master leaves us, it is the duty of the devotee to weep in separation. To see the world as dread void in the absence of the Lord of our life.</p>
<p>So in this way Raghunath Das illustrated to us how to love our Guru. But then it is explained that he met Rupa and Sanatana. And Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis reminded Ragunath, of the order of the words of his spiritual master – to glorify the Holy Name of Krishna, to reveal to the world the teachings and the glories of his Gurudeva. And upon hearing this Raghunath Das gained life, gained determination and gained purpose to remain in this world simply as a missionary of the spirit of his spiritual master.</p>
<p>Arjuna:</p>
<p>And we find the same situation in the case of Arjuna in the Srimad Bhagavatam. After Lord Shri Krishna left this world, when Arjuna returned to Hastinapura, he was pale white, weeping tears, he saw no reason to live. This world is a place of ignorance. Anyone who is attached to doing anything in this world is simply the most unfortunate animal. The purpose of life is simply to serve and to love our Guru and Krishna. And in the absence of our Guru and Krishna what do we want in this crazy world of birth and death, of envy, lust and pride for? So Arjuna feeling this great great pain of separation in his heart he didn’t know what to do – perhaps to give up his life. And he began to reveal his life to Maharaja Yudhishthira. But then he remembered the words of Krishna. He remembered the vani, the order of Krishna that He gave him while standing between the two armies on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. And that gave him strength. In remembrance in the words of his Gurudeva he felt the divine presence of his Gurudeva more than ever before and to serve those instructions gave him a reason to live – more of a reason than he ever had before throughout his life.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada:</p>
<p>And in the life of our own beloved Guru Maharaja, Om Vishnupada Paramhansa Shri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, we find that same intensity of love. Srila Prabhupada would tell us that in the absence of his spiritual master he was wondering why go on living? This world is a dread void. But, he remembered the words of his spiritual master. His Guru Maharaja told him that you are intelligent, young man – preach in the English language all over the world this wonderful message of Shri Caitanya. He told him that on their first meeting and just within a month before he left his body. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur wrote that letter to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada knew that he was perhaps going to leave this world, so he wrote a letter to his Guru Maharaj in Jagannath Puri and he said you have so many disciples, who are sannyasis and brahmacharis, who are serving you so nicely – day and night. I am a very fallen soul, I am very distant from you. Please tell me how I can serve you. And just days before his departure, Srila Prabhupada received this letter that you take this message of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and spread it through the world in the English language.</p>
<p>So when Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati left, Srila Prabhupada had one thing to hold on to – the instruction of his spiritual master. And Srila Prabhupada would tell us that not even one moment went by in his life when he was not intimately feeling the presence of his Guru Maharaj within his heart. Because through the divine sound of vani or the instruction of Guru, the Guru lives with us forever. During Srila Prabhupada’s life, he would many times warn us that we should not be so much attached to the vapu or the physical form of the Guru. The physical form of the spiritual master is here to give us the opportunity to render personal service, but the sound vibration of his words, the sound of his instructions is the eternal connection that he grants us to the entire parampara, the disciplic line of great spiritual masters back to Krishna Himself. And in fact, as Bhaktivinoda Thakur has engraved on the Samadhi mandir of Haridas Thakur, that the great Vaishnavas, they live for ever through sound vibration. When Srila Prabhupada would quote Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, Narottam Das Thakur, Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, Rupa, Sanatana, Raghunath he was not simply like a scholar quoting some scholastic passages of the past, but he was experiencing and granting us the experience of the intimate personal association of these great personalities. And that is the great gift of spiritual life that in spiritual life there is no birth and there is no death. These great souls are eternally living and granting us their association form their sound vibration.</p>
<p>Remember The Mission & Instruction:</p>
<p>So on this day of disappearance of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, we should know how we can become an intimate associate of Srila Prabhupada. How we can live within our hearts in his personal presence, heart full of surrender of the true association of the great souls.</p>
<p>So, really in essence on these days of disappearance what we are doing is that we are taking the opportunity to intensify our remembrance of the mission and instruction so that the great souls can always be appearing within our heart. On the disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada, he is so mercifully, more than any other time is granting us the opportunity to allow him to appear within our minds, within our hearts and within our lives, but we must be attentively willing to hear his message to associate with his devotees.</p>
<p>Become Servant Of The Servant:</p>
<p>When we chant the Holy Names,</p>
<p>Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare</p>
<p>Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare</p>
<p>with an attentive and sincere heart we should know that Srila Prabhupada is with us because it is his instruction and when we serve, or when you serve your spiritual master, when you hear from him, when you execute his order, you should know that this is the greatest and most intimate way that you can associate with Srila Prabhupada, because it is his order that we become the servant of the servant of the servant in disciplic succession. Many people within the Hare Krishna movement have an unfortunate conception that to associate with Srila Prabhupada is to be ‘Prabhupada’s man’, which means to talk about him, to remember him, to teach people also directly how to serve him. But this is not the order of Guru. The order of the Guru is to become the servant of the servant of the servant in disciplic succession. This is in essence again being attached to the vapu more than the vani. Therefore, by serving the present acharya or spiritual master in the disciplic line by hearing from him, by hearing from the beloved servants of Srila Prabhupada, by serving their order factually we are more intimately associating with Srila Prabhupada than trying to simply remember him directly. And Srila Prabhupada taught in his own life.</p>
<p>So, on this very very auspicious day we should not desire to enjoy Srila Prabhuapda, we should desire to be enjoyed by Srila Prabhupada. To be enjoyed by those who are near and dear to him, to be enjoyed by his servants and the servant of his servants. This is bhakti.</p>
<p>Who Is The Confidential Servant:</p>
<p>On the disappearance day of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, I remember one year Srila Prabhupada began to cry remembering his Guru Maharaj, remembering his mercy upon him and then he pleaded with all of us and he said that my Guru Maharaj has given me this mission to spread the glories of the Holy Name throughout the world. He said I am very old man and at any time I could die, but my urgent and humble request to all of you is under all circumstances to give your lives to push on this merciful mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He said you are all intelligent young boys and girls. Work very hard to push on this mission. And those who accept this instruction, they are the true confidential associates of Srila Prabhupada. And those who assist those who are taking this instruction as their life and soul are equally intimate associates of Srila Prabhupada. This is the essence of spiritual life. Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>Iam Not Perfect, But Iam Following The Perfect:</p>
<p>To deliver the message of his Guru Maharaj. There are certain schools of spirituality where the Guru claims to be God, but in the school of bhakti we never find this. Srila Prabhupada would tell us that the only qualification that he had was that he is simply repeating the message of his Guru without adulteration. I remember one time a newspaper reporter asked Srila Prabhupada, ‘Are you perfect?’ Then Srila Prabhupada, with great humility, from the core of his heart, he said, ‘I am not perfect. But I am simply repeating the words of my Guru Maharaj and those words are perfect. Why? because my Guru Maharaj is simply repeating the words of Krishna.’ oà pürëam adaù pürëam idaà [Ishopanishad Invocation] – means all perfect. So our qualification should never be to be a big scholar or to be an advanced devotee. A bhakta never aspires to be an advanced devotee. A bhakta simply aspires for the position of being the peon, the menial servant delivering the message of his spiritual master. And to have no other purpose in life except that. To have no other motivation for anything we do except that. And this was Srila Prabhupada’s great gift that he took this divine message of pure love, pure bhakti throughout the entire world.</p>
<p>na dhanaà na janaà na sundaréà</p>
<p>kavitäà vä jagad-éça kämaye</p>
<p>mama janmani janmanéçvare</p>
<p>bhavatäd bhaktir ahaituké tvayi</p>
<p>[Shri Çikñäñöaka – Çloka Four]</p>
<p>I do not desire wealth, nor beautiful women, nor followers for prestige nor even liberation from suffering. My only desire, my Lord, is to be your servant birth after birth after birth.</p>
<p>So Many Difficulties:</p>
<p>Leaving Vrindavan, Going To America:</p>
<p>And how leaving the land of Vrindavan. In Vrindavan he was living in a holiest of all holy places – the temple of Srila Jiva Goswami. And he left that place, first to come to this Bombay and then to go on cargo ship. No money. When we go back and forth from India to America, we fly in airplanes that take less than one day; and we have a place to go when we get off of that plane. Srila Prabhupada was not even on a passenger ship. He was on a freighter. And when we got off of that boat, some strange man was coming to meet him. He didn’t know where he was gonna take him. And seeing that that security was useless he went to New York City where he didn’t know where he was going to go…and how he was going to exist. And in that humble spirit, he simply repeated the word of his Gurudeva. And what was that word? Simply chant the Holy Names and you will attain perfection of life. And he circled the globe further 12 times. And do not think it was easy.</p>
<p>Problems From Inside & Outside:</p>
<p>He was managing a worldwide society, personally. Because his disciples were not able, they were not confident. Their problems, their downfalls, their impurities, their mistakes, persecution, aggressions by governments against his movement, aggressions by other religions who could not tolerate him coming into their land…..aggressions by materialistic agencies who were kidnapping his disciples and torturing them. Aggressions by his own god brothers – many of them who could not tolerate his success were trying to undermine him. Aggressions by the so called Brahminical society of India….who could not tolerate that he was bringing Sanatana Dharma outside of the boundaries of India.</p>
<p>Wherever he went, at every level there were persecutions and aggressions against him from the outside and there was constantly the fighting for positioning and the downfalls due to weak heartedness and conditionings amongst his disciples from the inside.</p>
<p>Never Give Up:</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada accepted a task which perhaps no man in the history of this world has ever accepted – such a responsibility, such an austerity, such a painstaking commitment. He began it at the age of 70. And he never tired, he never lost hope, he never lost heart. Despite so many disappointments from his disciples, despite so much aggression against him – from all directions….Srila Prabhupada always…he shined like millions and millions of suns. Because he was only attached to one thing – to show the kindness and love of his spiritual master to the world. And it took only such a person of such commitment to spread this message through the world. So many yogis, so many gurus came to the West – they gave a talk, people clapped and they left and became famous and got in all the newspapers and when they came home they were great parades celebrating what they had done in the West. But what did they really do in comparison? Srila Prabhupada lived amongst the most fallen people of the West and personally spoon fed them to give them God Consciousness and changed their hearts – even though some times they tried to murder him because they were crazy – he kept going. Nothing could stop him because he was on a mission of love. Then through his laborious actions he actually changed the hearts of millions.</p>
<p>The Biggest Dogma:</p>
<p>There was no great celebration; there was no great fanfare for him. There was only the service of his spiritual master. And the most unfortunate dilemma is that this country of India cannot appreciate properly what he did. If somebody goes to America, gives a lecture everybody goes out this…… [clapping]. Those people are famous then everybody loves them, but what have they done? No disciples, no body changing their lives, no body giving up sinful activities and committing their lives to the teachings of Vedanta. They are just great, scholarly, very nice. Or yogis come, have follow meditation here there. That is also very nice. That is all very nice, but here is a man that went and lived amongst the most down trodden people of that society and risked his life at such an age to spoon feed them with the essence of Vedic knowledge. And by his love and his compassion he changed their hearts, he transformed their lives to give up all sinful activities….to accept the principles of the sadhus, the acharyas….and to give their life to the mission of Sanatan Dharma by the tens and hundreds and thousands.</p>
<p>India’s Misfortune:</p>
<p>And yet when he came to back India, they accused him of being CIA – CID. They accused him of…of – so what if you have made some hippies Krishna Conscious……..The most unfortunate condition of human society is when they cannot appreciate a great person in their midst. This is the greatest disaster of India. But they, what this country thinks of Prabhupada who factually is the greatest emissary of Vedanta philosophy and Sanatan Dharma that has ever lived. He has actually transformed people of every nation in the world into devotees of Rama and Krishna. Not just casual scholars, but committing their lives. And who in this country appreciates? Until the land of India appreciates this greatest representative that their land ever has, I don’t think this country is ever going to get the blessings of God. Because here is a person who more than any one sold out his life, risked his life, took on so much suffering and pain just to give India a good name in this world, and to give the gift of India to the world. While so many people were leaving this country to get money, to get prestige, to get fame. Why do Indians go to the West? For money, for comforts. He abandoned all comforts simply to give, to give the treasure of Indian culture – love of God. And who appreciates it? Often times he is criticised.</p>
<p>True Lover Of India:</p>
<p>It is a fact many of us disciples have made many mistakes, may have done foolish things. But what change of heart, even in those foolish things, have they had by the grace of Prabhupada. And there was no one who loved India more than Srila Prabhupada. He brought tens and millions of dollars from all over the world to build beautiful temples and have beautiful programs of food relief in India. In Mayapur he was feeding tens and thousands of people a day – people who were suffering from starvation. He built beautiful temples in Vrindavan, Mayapur, Bombay, Hyderabad. He travelled far and wide somehow or other trying to reverse the trend of the Indian condition of life chasing after the materialistic ways of the West. He brought his western disciples to show them that you see, here are people – none of his disciples, not a single one of them from the West who were from low class families – they were often highest most wealthy families. Because only those who were very very intelligent – he was going after everybody, but even the downtrodden hippies they were often the upper upper classes, millionaires, upper class, beyond comprehension of most Indians – they gave up everything for Prabhupada’s teachings. And when Prabhupada came back to India he wanted to show them you are chasing after these crazy things – these people had it all, they rejected it to have what you have – right here – the Holy Name of Krishna.</p>
<p>Give Honour & Glory To Srila Prabhupada:</p>
<p>One of the main goals of Srila Prabhupada’s whole mission of travelling worldwide, was to somehow or other convince the Indians to accept their own spiritual culture again. So in my opinion, this idea of trying to hide our society from the Hare Krishna movement is a blasphemy to Srila Prabhupada. He gave his life…..more than any other man in history for India’s spiritual culture. And it is only by his mercy that we have anything today. And therefore whatever name we use, we should know that our greatest service is to give the dignity and respectability of our Guru and his Guru’s name in this land. We should live; we should speak in every way that Srila Prabhupada’s name is honoured by the people of this world, and specially this land. And if we do any thing sinful, we should know that we are throwing mud on the name of our Gurudeva to the eyes of the world. So, simply if we have any appreciation or love for him, we must strictly adhere to his instructions, live a pure and gentle life and give our life for the mission of glorifying the name of our Guru and Krishna. That is our life and we live for noting else.</p>
<p>And on the disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada, we should commit ourselves one hundred thousand percent, every aspect of our life…….to work in such a way that Srila Prabhupada can appear within the hearts and the lives of everyone we come in contact with through whatever we do. Because through his appearance, love of Krishna will awaken within one’s heart. Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>The time in which Srila Prabhupada left this world was 7:30 in the evening on this day. In Vrindavan, in the very room in which Srila Prabhupada departed his earthly pastimes, every evening from…on this auspicious day from 7 o’clock to 8 o’clock the devotees gathered. Srila Prabhupada left this world on this day. There should be a mood in our spirit of performing the kirtana of Holy Name, this evening. Also, because Srila Prabhupada, very much wanted the preaching of the glories of the Holy Name through his disciples. We should perform this kirtana in such a way to impress upon the hearts of all others the joy and the glory of the chanting the names of Rama and Krishna. And to prepare ourselves, I would like to read some of the final pages of Srila Prabhupada’s biography describing his departure from this world.</p>
<p>**********************************************************</p>
<p>[Beginning of Extract from ‘Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita’ Volume 6, Chapter 55 – The Final Lesson]</p>
<p>Reminded Of Bhishmadeva:</p>
<p>More than one devotee compared Prabhupada to Bhishmadeva, who gave important instructions in his last days. As Bhishma felt no pain and delivered learned and loving discourses even from his “bed of arrows,” and as Bhishma determined by his own will the time of his departure from the world, so Srila Prabhupada spent his last days oblivious to his physical condition, defying death, and instructing his spiritually innocent sons. But Prabhupada’s sons could no longer stand by and simply hear the philosophical lessons. Prabhupada had accepted their affection when they had cried for him to stay with them, and now they wanted to express that affection in the only world they understood, a world with Srila Prabhupada living and talking with them, laughing or reprimanding them, as he liked. They wanted him to eat and drink and become physically strong again.</p>
<p>Tune To Krsna’s Will:</p>
<p>But again Srila Prabhupada seemed to change, and he began refusing food and drink. He had postponed his passing away to exchange lovingly with his disciples, and yet at the same time, by refusing to eat or drink, he was showing his preference for passing away. He admitted, when pressed, that it was an impossible course of action-to live without food or drink. Nor did he expect or want miracles. If he was to get better, it would be by taking nourishment. But for reasons of his own, he would not eat. He said recovery was material, and he didn’t want it.</p>
<p>He kept closely in tune with the will of Krishna, allowing the holy name to sustain him. The doctors who came were often puzzled, but those who were Vaishnavas understood and respected his prerogative. Prabhupada’s servants made anxiety-filled attempts to induce Prabhupada to take regular treatment. But Prabhupada preferred to take only kirtana and Bhagavatam, while at the same time sustaining a willingness to live. He empathized with his disciples’ anxiety and patiently explained the puzzling situation they were in. He wanted their care, and he allowed them to try and treat him, knowing that it was bringing them more and more into a surrender of love. But gradually it became more clear that Krishna’s will was indicating Prabhupada’s departure.</p>
<p>It Is Not My Hands, but Krsna – Balaram:</p>
<p>“Srila Prabhupada,” Bhavananda coaxed, always working on the assumption that Prabhupada could stay if he wanted, “your presence on this planet is the only thing that’s keeping the onslaught of the Kali-yuga from really taking effect. We have no idea even what will happen if you leave.”</p>
<p>“It is not in my hands,” said Srila Prabhupada, with perfect clarity of consciousness. “Krishna-Balarama.”</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada always spoke clearly, logically, and with complete devotion to Krishna. Up until the last he dealt with practical matters, forming a Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust for reconstructing ancient temples in Bengal and arranging final details regarding ISKCON properties and monies. Through all dealings he stayed always alert, and he absorbed himself in kirtana and Bhagavatam.</p>
<p>Love Is Beyond Death:</p>
<p>But it became obvious to his disciples that, despite his promise, he was again moving inevitably towards giving the final lesson. He was teaching that love was beyond death, that a disciple’s love could call the spiritual master back to the world to stay, and that a pure devotee has the ability to stay in the world beyond his allotted time. Meanwhile, however, he was progressing steadily to the final point. The devotees didn’t feel angry with him or cheated that he was doing so. He had told them that he had free will given by Krishna. And they also, by their free will, had asked him to stay, and he had agreed. But they knew he was not obliged. If, despite their prayers, Lord Krishna was telling Srila Prabhupada that he should come back home to Godhead, what could they do but accept? If Srila Prabhupada was accepting, then they would accept also. Nothing, however, could change the fact of their surrendered love; it had now become a solid pact that could not be vanquished by any material changes. They had passed the test of eternal loving service, and that could not be taken away by death.</p>
<p>No offences Ever:</p>
<p>Up until the end there were interludes of sweetness as well as displays of Prabhupada’s indomitable mood of fighting for Krishna. One day Prabhupada’s sister Pishima arrived unexpectedly, and Prabhupada asked her to cook khichadi. At that time Kirtanananda was trying to put Prabhupada on the road to recovery by gradually increasing his liquids, and Kirtanananda and the other devotees opposed the idea of his suddenly eating solid foods. But Srila Prabhupada insisted.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t matter whether what she cooks does good to me or bad,” said Srila Prabhupada. “She is a Vaishnavi. It will be good for me.” He then began speaking in an extremely humble way. “Probably I became a little puffed up because of my opulence and success,” he said. “Now God has shattered that pride. If you don’t have your body, what is there to be puffed up about?”</p>
<p>Bhakti-charu Swami protested, “Srila Prabhupada, whatever you have done, you have done for Krishna.”</p>
<p>“That may be, but in this world, unknowingly you commit offences.”</p>
<p>When Piçimä heard this, she exclaimed, “No, no, he never committed any offense.”</p>
<p>“You cannot ever commit offenses,” said Bhakti-charu. “You are God’s very dear one. How can you commit offenses?”</p>
<p>“I am a little temperamental,” said Srila Prabhupada. “I used to use words like rascal and so on. I never compromised. They used to call it “A club in one hand and a Bhagavatam in the other.’ That is how I preach. Anyway, make arrangements for my sister.”</p>
<p>You Are A Eternal Leader:</p>
<p>There were also visits from Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrothers, and again Prabhupada asked forgiveness for his offenses. One time, Nishkinchana Krishnadasa Babaji, Puri Maharaj, Ashrama Maharaj, Ananda Prabhu, Purushottam Brahmachari, and about twenty others came and sat next to Prabhupada’s bed. He was resting when they arrived, and they joined the kirtana until he awoke. When he saw them, he asked to be raised up. Sitting in the center of his bed with his Godbrothers all around, he addressed them.</p>
<p>“All over the world there is a beautiful field to preach Krishna consciousness,” he said. “I didn’t care whether I would be successful or not. People are willing to take. They are all taking also. If we preach together, the saying of Mahaprabhu, prithivite, will come true. We have everything. Spread the holy name and distribute prasadam. There is a beautiful field. In Africa, in Russia, everywhere they’re accepting.”</p>
<p>When Prabhupada began asking his Godbrothers to forgive him, they protested. “You are the eternal leader,” one of them asserted. “You rule over us, guide us, and chastise us.”</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada’s Real Humility:</p>
<p>“Forgive all my offences,” Prabhupada repeated. “I became proud of all my opulence.”</p>
<p>“No,” said Puri Maharaj, “you never became proud. When you started preaching, opulence and success followed you. That was the blessing of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Shri Krishna. There cannot be any question of your being offensive.”</p>
<p>When Srila Prabhupada presented himself as maha-patita, greatly fallen, Puri Maharaj did not accept it. “You have saved millions of people around the world,” he said. “Therefore there is no question of offenses. But you should be called maha-patita-pavana [the great saviour of the fallen].”</p>
<p>Prabhupada’s disciples regarded Prabhupada’s asking for his Godbrothers’ forgiveness as a manifestation of his humility. But they were also puzzled. Certainly Prabhupada’s Godbrothers were sincere in saying Prabhupada had committed no offense. Whatever he had done, he had done for Krishna. But Srila Prabhupada was also sincere in asking for forgiveness. That was the beautiful gem of his humility-to ask everyone for forgiveness.</p>
<p>Maha – Bhagavat Qualities Fully Displayed:</p>
<p>For the purpose of preaching, displaying this gem had not always been the most effective way to spread the merciful teachings of Lord Krishna in every town and village. But now it could be displayed. In London and now in Vrindavan, Prabhupada was showing his disciples extra affection and gratitude, without the reprimands usually necessary in training disciples. This attitude of complete humility was a symptom of the highest stage of devotional life. Srila Prabhupada had explained in his books that the madhyam adhikari, the second-class devotee, makes distinctions between the devotees, the innocent non-devotees, and the demons, whereas the maha-bhagavata, or first-class devotee, sees everyone-except himself-as a servant of God. Sometimes, however, the maha-bhagavata desires to come down from the first-class platform to the second-class platform, just to take up the most compassionate service of preaching Krishna consciousness. Prabhupada’s disciples had all read of the maha-bhagavata stage in the scriptures, and now they were seeing it fully displayed, as Prabhupada referred to himself as the most fallen and asked for everyone’s forgiveness.</p>
<p>A Loving, Sweet Controversy:</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada had heard of the program of his disciple Lokanath Swami, who was taking a small group of men on a bullock cart and preaching in villages throughout India. Lokanath had told Srila Prabhupada how in the course of their travels they had recently visited tirthas such as Badarikasrama and Bhim Kapur. Srila Prabhupada was enlivened to hear this, and he then evolved a transcendental desire to go himself on a cart pulled by bullocks to circumambulate the area of Vrindavan. Tamal Krishna and Bhavananda, who were serving Prabhupada with increased intimacy, felt themselves unable to support Srila Prabhupada in his desire, since they thought his fragile body could not survive such rough treatment on the roads.</p>
<p>But Srila Prabhupada reasoned that “Dying on parikrama is glorious,” and he asked them to take him. A controversy developed among the devotees, as some said Prabhupada’s will to go on parikrama should be immediately honored as an order from the spiritual master; he wanted it, and he should not be denied. The doctor, however, assured them that Srila Prabhupada’s body would not survive the jostling of the cart. The many devotees who crowded around Srila Prabhupada’s bed held different opinions, and Prabhupada could see this. Following his request, however, Lokanath went out and hired a cart with bullocks and prepared it for the ride. Lokanath and Hamsaduta suggested that the parikrama could go to the city of Vrindavan or visit the seven main temples of the Goswamis. But then they said that since the next day was Govardhan-puja, Prabhupada could go to Govardhan Hill. Tamal Krishna, Bhavananda, and Bhakti-charu, however, protested adamantly against the parikrama.</p>
<p>“One-day experiment,” Prabhupada said. “It is for one day. Rest assured I will not die in one day.” He liked the idea of going to Govardhan. “And we shall make our cooking there,” he said. Lokanath Swami, he assured them, was experienced. “Make very good picnic,” he said.</p>
<p>Disciples Love Is Sometimes Maddening:</p>
<p>After discussing back and forth, the devotees finally decided that early the next morning they would take Srila Prabhupada in a bullock cart to Govardhan. The majority of the devotees then left Srila Prabhupada alone for the night.</p>
<p>Later that night Srila Prabhupada received a visit from Nishkinchana Krishnadasa Babaji, who sat with Prabhupada, chanting and sometimes speaking in Bengali. Suddenly, Tamal Krishna and Bhavananda came to Prabhupada’s bedside. They were in tears and beside themselves with anxiety.</p>
<p>Prabhupada understood. “You request me not to go?” he asked.</p>
<p>“Well, Srila Prabhupada,” said Tamal Krishna, “I’ll tell you, I’m getting so upset sitting in the room upstairs. I was walking around. Two of the devotees told me that this road is so bad that if you go on this road you’re going to be jolted back and forth. The road is terrible. I just can’t understand, Srila Prabhupada, why it has to be tomorrow that we have to go. Of anybody that wants you to travel, I do. But why do we have to go when you’re in this condition? I can’t understand it. Why are we throwing everything out the window that we must go tomorrow? I can’t understand.”</p>
<p>“All right,” said Srila Prabhupada softly, immediately agreeing to their proposal that he not go.</p>
<p>“Jaya, Srila Prabhupada!” said Bhakti-charu, who was also present.</p>
<p>“Thank you, Srila Prabhupada,” said Bhavananda with great relief.</p>
<p>“All right. You’re satisfied?”</p>
<p>“Now I am, Srila Prabhupada,” said Bhavananda. “Yes. I was in too much anxiety.”</p>
<p>“Never mind. I shall not put you in anxiety.”</p>
<p>“Actually, Srila Prabhupada,” said Tamal Krishna, “we’re so much attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. To night we were becoming mad.”</p>
<p>“No, no, I shall not do that,” said Prabhupada. “Babaji Maharaj,” Prabhupada turned to Nishkinchana Krishnadasa Babaji and said, “-just see how much affection they have for me.”</p>
<p>“Srila Prabhupada,” said Tamal Krishna, “the way you deal with us simply deepens our attachment every moment.”</p>
<p>“It is my duty,” said Prabhupada, and the devotees laughed warmly, understanding. Yes, they could understand-that was his duty. By all his actions and dealings, Prabhupada’s intention was to capture spirit souls and deliver them to Krishna. His method was loving service, but he did not do it for himself. He was delivering them to Krishna. That was his duty.</p>
<p>Until Last Breath:</p>
<p>On November 14, 1977, at 7:30 P.M., in his room at the Krishna-Balaram Mandir in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada gave his final instruction by leaving this mortal world and going back to Godhead.</p>
<p>His departure was exemplary, because his whole life was exemplary. His departure marked the completion of a lifetime of pure devotional service to Krishna. A few days before the end, Srila Prabhupada had said he was instructing as far as he could, and his secretary had added, “You are the inspiration.” “Yes,” Srila Prabhupada had replied, “that I shall do until the last breathing.”</p>
<p>Prabhupada’s “last breathing” was glorious, not because of any last minute mystical demonstration, but because Srila Prabhupada remained in perfect Krishna consciousness. Like grandfather Bhishmadeva, he remained completely collected and noble and grave, teaching until the end. He was preaching that life comes from life, not from matter, and he was showing that one should preach with every breath he has. The many devotees who crowded the large room bore witness that up to the very end, Prabhupada remained exactly the same. There was nothing suddenly in congruous with what he had previously shown and taught them. At the time of his departure, therefore, he was teaching how to die, by always depending on Krishna. Prabhupada’s passing away was peaceful. During the evening of November 14, the kaviräja asked him, “Is there anything you want?” and Prabhupada replied faintly, kuchh ichchha nahim: “I have no desire.”</p>
<p>Whereever You Are, That Is Vrindavan:</p>
<p>His passing away was in the perfect situation: in Vrindavan, with devotees. A few months previously, a young girl, the daughter of one of Prabhupada’s disciples, had passed away in Vrindavan, and when Srila Prabhupada had been asked if she went back to Godhead to personally associate with Krishna, he had said, “Yes, anyone who leaves his body in Vrindavan is liberated.”</p>
<p>Of course, “Vrindavan” also means the state of pure Krishna consciousness. As Advaita Acharya had said of Lord Caitanya, “Wherever You are is Vrindavan.” And this was also true of Srila Prabhupada. Had Srila Prabhupada passed away in London, New York, or Moscow, therefore, his destination would have been the same. As Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita, “One who is always thinking of Me, surely he attains to Me.” But because Vrindavan-dham is the quintessential realm of Krishna consciousness within the universe, the ideal place for departure from this world, so it was yet another exemplary feature of Srila Prabhupada’s life that he went back to Godhead with Vrindavan as his last junction.</p>
<p>Those Vaishnavas who had taken the vow never to risk leaving Vrindavan could see that Srila Prabhupada, after sacrificing everything-including the benefit of residing in Vrindavan-to deliver fallen souls in the most godforsaken locations of the world, had returned to the holy land of Vrindavan and from there had departed for the original abode of Lord Krishna in the spiritual sky. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, “Anyone who executes service in Vrindavan certainly goes back to home, back to Godhead, after giving up his body.”</p>
<p>Surrounded By Krsna:</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada’s departure was also perfect because he was chanting and hearing the holy names of God. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead was present at Srila Prabhupada’s passing just as He was at the celebrated passing away of Bhishmadeva, who said, “Despite His being equally kind to everyone, He has graciously come before me while I am ending my life, for I am His unflinching servitor.” As Lord Krishna came before Bhishmadeva, assuring him and everyone else that Bhishma was returning back to Godhead on leaving his body, so the Lord in His incarnation of namavatara, the Hare Krishna mantra, was present for Srila Prabhupada’s departure.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada’s life had been dedicated to spreading the holy name to every town and village, and for a month he had been surrounding himself with the holy name. For his passing away, he especially wanted to fill the room with devotees chanting Hare Krishna, and Krishna fulfilled that wish. Srila Prabhupada, therefore, departed under the most favorable circumstances possible-in the most sacred place, Vrindavan, surrounded by Vaishnavas chanting the holy name.</p>
<p>How To Meet Death – “The Final Lesson”</p>
<p>An ideal spiritual teacher (acharya) always acts in such a way that others may follow his example. As Srimad-Bhagavatam states, these great souls who cross over the ocean of birth and death by taking shelter of the “boat” of the lotus feet of Krishna miraculously leave the boat on this side for others to use. And Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, by its perfect example, affords all conditioned souls the means for meeting the greatest of all dangers. An auspicious death is not merely a matter of psychological adjustment, so that one may die without regret or without becoming unduly upset. The real point is that at the time of death the soul must leave the body and take his next birth. Only the Krishna conscious soul can leave this world of birth and death and attain an eternal, blissful life in the spiritual world. Therefore one’s life is tested at death.</p>
<p>Over the last months of his life in this world, Srila Prabhupada taught how it is possible to meet death step by step in Krishna consciousness. In his last days, he told one of his sannyasis, “Don’t think this isn’t going to happen to you.” Prabhupada came into this world, on Krishna’s request, to teach us how to live a pure life of Krishna consciousness, and that includes how to finally pass away from this world to attain eternal life. Prabhupada underwent death in a way that was perfect and glorious, and at the same time in a way which we can all follow. When we have to go, we can cling to the memory of how a great soul left his body-always thinking of Krishna, surrounding himself with the medicine of chanting Hare Krishna, always desiring to hear about Krishna, and practicing detachment from the misery of the material condition. This last lesson was one of the most wonderful and important instructions Srila Prabhupada gave us. He taught by his life, by his books, and at the end by his dying. Education in how to die is meant especially for the human being. An animal dies, and a human being also dies; but a human being is supposed to understand the process of going back to the spiritual world at the time of death. Remaining always fixed and undisturbed in Krishna consciousness, Srila Prabhupada expertly taught the process. His passing away, therefore, was a perfect lesson, and one that can be faithfully followed.</p>
<p>Bereft Of His Divine Grace’s Physical Presence:</p>
<p>While there was nothing lamentable for Srila Prabhupada in his departing from the world and going back to Godhead, it was certainly lamentable for his followers and for the people of the whole world, who became bereft of the presence of their greatest well-wisher and benefactor. Srila Prabhupada had written in a Srimad-Bhagavatam purport, “When the mortal body of the spiritual master expires, the disciple should cry exactly like the queen cries when the king leaves his body.” At the departure of his own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada had written, “On that day, O my Master, I made a cry of grief; I was not able to tolerate the absence of you, my guru.” And so on November 14, 1977, as the powerful news spread around the world, those who knew and loved Srila Prabhupada were gripped by a fearful, unrestricted grief. They saw everything around them in the overwhelming atmosphere of separation from Srila Prabhupada. They turned for solace to Srila Prabhupada’s books.</p>
<p>Vani Gives Constant Association:</p>
<p>However, the disciples and the spiritual master are never separated, because the spiritual master always keeps company with the disciple, as long as the disciple follows the instructions of the spiritual master. This is called the association of vani. Physical presence is called vapu. As long as the spiritual master is physically present, the disciple should serve the physical body of the spiritual master, and when the spiritual master is no longer physically existing, the disciples should serve the instructions of the spiritual master.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada’s disciples were already carrying out his instructions, but now they would have to do so without the vapu, without the opportunity of regularly seeing and being with him. At first this was very difficult for them to face, but those who were sincere soon realized that Srila Prabhupada had, upon his departure, given them the greatest gift of all: service in separation.</p>
<p>Service In Separation:</p>
<p>Service in separation is the highest realization and ecstasy. This was the teaching of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in regard to Lord Krishna and His foremost devotees, the gopis of Vrindavan. When Krishna left His beloved gopis and went to Mathura, never to return to them in Vrindavan, the gopis (and all the other residents of Vrindavan) wept piteously in separation. They so much loved Krishna that they could not live without Him.</p>
<p>Prabhupada’s followers knew this principle of service in separation, technically known as vipralambha-seva, but to most devotees it was a theoretical realization. Before one can feel intense loving separation from Krishna, one must first feel intense attraction to Him. But for the conditioned soul who has forgotten and abandoned Krishna and has come to the material world under the spell of maya, illusion-for him, “separation” from Krishna is based on complete ignorance and forgetfulness.</p>
<p>Still Continue To Serve Him:</p>
<p>But when Srila Prabhupada departed from the world and left his disciples to carry on his mission, they immediately realized union with him in separation. He was gone, but he was still very much present. This realization was not a pretension or a myth, nor was it sentimental psychic phenomena-telepathy, “communion with the dead,” or so on. It was a completely substantive, practical, palpable reality, a fact of life. Srila Prabhupada had given them personal service, and now they would continue that service. Prabhupada was still present through his instructions, and all the nectar of his direct association-all the nectar of Krishna consciousness that he had given and shared with them-was still available.</p>
<p>Service in separation for Prabhupada’s disciples was undoubtedly a fact, otherwise, now that they were without his personal presence, how were they able to sustain themselves in spiritual life? The fact that they could continue as before, increase their feelings of devotion, and even increase their serving capacity, meant that Srila Prabhupada was very much still with them. As Srila Prabhupada’s last instruction was the lesson of how a human being should die, he now taught, beyond dying, how to practically implement the highest philosophical teachings of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. This realization gave the devotees great hope that Srila Prabhupada and the revolutionary life of Krishna consciousness he had brought with him were not finished upon his departure. Often when a great personality dies, his contribution collapses; but Srila Prabhupada’s presence remained and expanded, sustaining his devotees’ lives. He was still in charge.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada ki jaya !!</p>
<p>Be a Prabhupadanuga:</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada’s life did not end on November 14, 1977. And we hope that the readers of Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita will not feel they have finished their connection with this literature by having read it once. Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita can be read regularly, from beginning to end. Our hope is that by hearing about Srila Prabhupada the reader will become himself a Prabhupadanuga, a follower of Srila Prabhupada. We can wish no better fortune upon anyone.</p>
<p>[End of Extract from ‘Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita’ Volume 6, Chapter 55 – The Final Lesson]<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=21517">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=21517</a></p>
<div> </div></div>Bhakti Caru Swami on Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day (video)https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/bhakti-caru-swami-on-srila-prabhupada-s-disappearance-day-video2023-11-17T08:30:00.000Z2023-11-17T08:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10857662868,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10857662868?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="400" /><br /> <br /> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dmG31Xr8dec" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>“That night, Srila Prabhupada called me. I was attending Srila Prabhupada – actually one of us used to always be with Srila Prabhupada for two hours. My shift was 12am-2am. So it must have been around 1am. Srila Prabhupada called me, and told me: “The time has come for me to leave this planet, therefore you should make arrangement to take me to Vrindavan immediately.” He wanted to leave his body in Vrindavan. I was completely shocked, and immediately ran downstairs to wake up Tamal Krishna Maharaj.”<br /> <br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=12034">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=12034</a></p></div>Disappearance of Srila Prabhupada by Tamohara dasa (ACBSP)https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/disappearance-of-srila-prabhupada-by-tamoharadasa-acbsp2023-11-17T06:30:00.000Z2023-11-17T06:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/4BJEsH1.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">It is only possible to deliver a conditioned jiva from Maya,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">By divine intervention of God.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">To a realm that is higher;</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Ecstatically deep and broad.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">An ocean of liquid love!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">In His mercy, to bring us there,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">He sent us Srila Prabhupada.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Sri Krsna Caitanya desired to moisten the dried-up souls.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">To acheive it,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">He not only comes Himself, But Nitai-Balarama empowered Srila Prabhupada,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">To bountiful conceive it.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">A world encircling garland of prema-nama-sankirtana!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">All Glory to Lord Gaura Krsna! All Glory to Lord Sankarsana!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">The envious conditioned souls actually have no direct access to the Lord.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">But by His sweet will, just as the ambassador represents the king,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">The Guru is the personal embodied mercy of Lord Gaura.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">That person who would set the dove of his love of Krsna a-wing,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Can do so, by the expanded mercy of Srila Prabhupada!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">You fortunate persons around the world,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Just hear the words of Srila Prabhupada!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">His vibrations have the power to deliver you from all fears.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Just take, just try!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">You will soon become freed from all false tears.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Amazed, you will say, “He did not lie!”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">All Glories to Sri Jagad-guru, our Srila Prabhupada!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Like Sri Nityananda delivers the Jagais and Madais of their envious curse,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Who in turn help spread His mercy throughout the entire universe!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Who is the original nitya-siddha founder-acarya of the society to deliver us back to God?</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Who gave us the sauce, chapter and verse?</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">It is only you, Our Eternal Master, Srila Prabhupada!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Prabhupada planted and maintains a mighty kalpavrksa tree of bhakti,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">In fact, a world-wide forest of wish-fullfilling trees!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">All the desires of the living entities are satisfied,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Our devotional service fixed.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Then Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also satisfied.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Let us nourish the roots with our leaves,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">And offer dandavats like sticks.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">All Glories to the Devotees of Srila Prabhupada!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Sri Krsna Bless the servants of the servants of Prabhupada!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Who chant and preach determinedly, despite obstacle or strife.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">For this is true charity, true knowledge, true yoga, true religion.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">By such service, the fallen find pure love and blissful spiritual reunion!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">They reawaken the soul of their life.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Gurudeva leads us on to a place where Lord Gauranga dwells.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">No ordinary prema that!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Our obeisances again and again!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">The Lord’s hair shorn,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">In a deep place by the Yamuna,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">In the house of Kasi Misra,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Vipralambha and Sambhoga have a tug-of-war,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Causing Lord Caitanya’s tears to well,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">His heart to bend,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">His love to soar,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">His hairs to stand on end!</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">His beautiful reddish eyes…</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">His amazement never ends,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">As He comprehends the heart of Radha,</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">His blissful blackish form deeply hid beneath Her yellow-golden glow…</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">How do even Western-born fools such as Tamoharadasa know?</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">By the Unequalled Mercy of Srila Prabhupada!</p>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=1930">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=1930</a></p></div>Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Dayhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-prabhupada-s-disappearance-day-92023-11-17T04:30:00.000Z2023-11-17T04:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10857666491,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10857666491?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="400" /><br /> Note: Click here for improved version: <a href="http://www.dandavats.com/wp-content/uploads/new_SP_Disap_2008.docx">http://www.dandavats.com/wp-content/uploads/new_SP_Disap_2008.docx</a></p>
<p><strong>By Giriraj Swami</strong></p>
<p>We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada on the auspicious occasion of his disappearance festival. When we were with His Divine Grace in Surat on his guru maharaja’s disappearance day, he remarked that on the absolute platform there is no difference between the appearance and disappearance of the spiritual master—just like the sunrise and sunset, both are beautiful.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada always glorified Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he instructed everyone to take shelter of Krsna. Many people who came in touch with Srila Prabhupada were struck by this fact. George Harrison, for example, said that so many svamis and gurus tell their followers to surrender to them but that Srila Prabhupada always said, “Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead; you should surrender to Him.”</p>
<p>Once, a new devotee approached Srila Prabhupada and said, “Srila Prabhupada, I can trust you; I can surrender to you. But I can’t trust your representatives. I can’t surrender to them, because I fear they may cheat me.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Don’t surrender to me either. I may also cheat you. Surrender to Krsna.”</p>
<p>aho baki yam stana-kala-kutam<br /> jighamsayapayayad apy asadhvi<br /> lebhe gatim dhatry-ucitam tato ’nyam<br /> kam va dayalum saranam vrajema</p>
<p>“Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?” (SB 3.2.23)</p>
<p>In the beginning of devotional service an aspirant may think that he is a devotee, but as he makes progress he comes to realize that actually he is not a devotee. It is paradoxical: the neophyte thinks, “I am a devotee,” and the advanced devotee thinks, “I am not a devotee.” When we hear of Krsna’s mercy upon Putana, who was a demon, we may think, “Well, it is wonderful that He was so merciful to Putana, but at least I am not a demon; I am a devotee.” Yet although we are aspiring devotees—I don’t say that we are not devotees, but at least we can say that we are aspiring devotees—we do have some qualities in common with Putana.</p>
<p>One quality mentioned is jighamsaya—she acted out of envy. We are in the material world out of envy of Krsna. We don’t want to accept Him as the supreme enjoyer; we want to enjoy independent of Him. That means we are envious of Him, and it is actually envy that keeps us in the material world. Only one who is completely liberated and pure can be free from envy. Srinivasa Acarya glorifies the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, dhiradhira-jana-priyau: they are dear both to the gentle and to the ruffians. Dhira means one who is sober, who does not identify with the body but knows that he is the soul within (dhiras tatra na muhyati). He is dhira—sober, gentle, undisturbed. And adhira is the opposite—one who identifies with the body, or, as in the translation of this verse, a ruffian. So, the Six Gosvamis are popular with both the gentle and the ruffians. They are pleasing to everyone because they are not envious of anyone, and thus they are worshipable. Dhiradhira-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pujitau. They are nonenvious (nirmatsarau) and thus worshipable (pujitau). Srila Prabhupada explains that one who is nonenvious is worshipable because one can be nonenvious only if he is a pure devotee. Anyone other than a pure devotee must still be affected by envy. Our natural position is to serve Krsna (jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’). If we act as anything other than an eternal servant of Krsna, it means that we have not fully realized our actual position and that our original envy of Krsna, which brought us into the material world, is still, to some degree, lingering.</p>
<p>After starting his mission in New York and San Francisco, Srila Prabhupada suffered a stroke, and after all efforts to recover in America had failed, he decided to return to India to recoup his health. Before his departure, he visited the San Francisco temple. No one had expected him, in his condition, to speak, but he asked for the microphone. He spoke about his mission, how under the order of his spiritual master he had brought Lord Caitanya’s movement to America and how Krsna had kindly sent so many sincere souls. He told the devotees, “I have a few children in India from my family days, but you are my real children. Now I am going to India for a little while.”</p>
<p>One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples from San Francisco suddenly entered the room. The devotees knew that he wanted to leave Krsna consciousness, that he hadn’t taken his initiation vows seriously, and that he wanted to move on—he didn’t want a spiritual master any more. The other devotees tried to discourage him, but he had persisted. Now they were incredulous: how could he do such a thing on the night before Swamiji’s departure?</p>
<p>The devotee, Ravindra-svarupa*, fell to the floor to offer obeisances, but he didn’t rise up. Instead, he began crawling on his hands and knees toward Prabhupada. This dramatic encounter is vividly described in Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta: “Ravindra usually had a cavalier manner, enhanced by a handsome face, long tousled hair, and a beard. But now he was wretched and sobbing and crazy. He crawled towards Prabhupada, who sat but two steps off the floor on the simple redwood dais. Prabhupada looked at him with compassion: ‘Come here, my boy.’ Ravindra crawled up the steps and placed his bushy head on Prabhupada’s lap. Moved, the devotees watched as Prabhupada stroked Ravindra’s head and the boy cried and cried.</p>
<p>“ ‘What’s wrong, my son? You don’t have to be so unhappy.’</p>
<p>“Ravindra bawled out, ‘I want . . . ,’ he sobbed, ‘aah . . . to . . . aah . . . reach God directly! Without anyone in between!’</p>
<p>“Prabhupada continued to pat and stroke the boy’s head: ‘No, you continue to stay with us if possible. Don’t be a crazy fellow.’ Ravindra’s weeping subsided, and Prabhupada continued, speaking both to Ravindra and to the emotion-struck group in the room. ‘I am an old man,’ he said. ‘I may die at any moment. But please, you all carry on this sankirtana movement. You have to become humble and tolerant. As Lord Caitanya says, be as humble as a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree. You must have enthusiasm and patience to push on this Krsna conscious philosophy.’</p>
<p>“Suddenly Ravindra’s tears were gone. He jumped up, dejectedly stood, hesitating for a moment, and then hurried out the door, banging it behind him.</p>
<p>“Ravindra-svarupa’s dramatic exit from Krsna consciousness shocked the devotees. Prabhupada sat still and continued speaking to them gravely, asking them to stick together and push on the movement, for their own benefit and for others. Whatever they had learned, he said, they should repeat.</p>
<p>“They realized, perhaps for the first time, that they were part of a preaching mission, a movement. They . . . had a loving obligation to Swamiji and Krsna.”</p>
<p>Although that disciple’s exhibition might have been extreme, in principle he is no different from many of us. We also don’t want anyone between us and Krsna. We don’t want to surrender; we want to be Krsna. But by Prabhupada’s mercy we have been engaged in devotional service and are undertaking the process of purification—chanting the holy names, hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam, associating with devotees, worshiping the Deity, and as far as possible residing in Mathura, Vrndavana, Mayapur, or any temple of Gaura-Nitai or Radha-Krsna.</p>
<p>Putana was asadhvi, unfaithful. And she pretended to be something that she was not. She was actually a demon, but by her mystic powers she presented herself as a very beautiful woman. When she entered the village of Gokula she appeared so beautiful and effulgent that people thought that Laksmi, the goddess of fortune herself, had come. So when she entered the house of Nanda Maharaja and Yasodamayi, no one stopped her. She was so beautiful and effulgent that they thought she was some higher being. Actually, she was a she-demon, and she came to kill Krsna.</p>
<p>Of course, it is not entirely wrong to present oneself as something that one is not. Sometimes, for social reasons, we must, but internally we should remain faithful. The problem is that internally sometimes we become unfaithful (asadhvi). We want to surrender—we decide to surrender—but then we take back our surrender. It happens all the time. We surrender—decide to surrender—and then withdraw our surrender. We are not sure whether we should surrender. We are not sure whether the process will work, whether we will get the result. We are not sure whether we will be successful in our attempt. We are not sure whether Krsna will take care of us. We are not sure our desires will be fulfilled.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it comes to faith (sraddha), upon which all progress depends.</p>
<p>‘sraddha’-sabde—visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya<br /> krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya</p>
<p>“Sraddha is confident, firm faith that by rendering transcendental loving service to Krsna one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. Such faith is favorable to the discharge of devotional service.” (Cc Madhya 22.62)</p>
<p>Even in Srila Prabhupada’s presence devotees did not always understand him. Most of the people who joined Srila Prabhupada were young, in their late teens or early twenties, and it was years before any of them left his or her body. The first I recall was Jaya Gopala dasa, who lost his life in an automobile accident. His young wife was distraught, and Srila Prabhupada assured her that Jaya Gopala had gone back to Godhead and that she would join him. A godbrother commented that Srila Prabhupada had said that just to encourage her.</p>
<p>Then I came across a book called His Divine Grace, by Danavir Goswami. Looking through it I saw a photo of Jaya Gopala, with the caption: “Srila Prabhupada stated that Jaya Gopala was not ready to go back to Godhead but that Krsna made an exception and took him back anyway.” That is causeless mercy—Prabhupada’s mercy. Krsna has no interest in anything of the material world. He is interested only in devotees. And it is only because of the mercy of a devotee that Krsna takes interest in someone who is not yet truly a devotee. Why else would Krsna make an exception for us—other than Prabhupada’s mercy? Otherwise, who is Jaya Gopala dasa—or any of us—to Krsna? It is because of our connection with Srila Prabhupada that we have any standing in Krsna’s eyes.</p>
<p>Of course, Krsna is the Supersoul. He is in the heart of every living entity as the witness and overseer. And He loves the living entities and accompanies them wherever they go. But He is neutral. He lets them act to fulfill their desires. He doesn’t interfere. However, when a devotee intervenes, Krsna takes special interest. One who has received a devotee’s mercy gets Krsna’s mercy, and that is true of all of us, your followers, now. Otherwise, why should we be engaged in devotional service? We are just conditioned souls who have come into the material world to enjoy, in imitation of Krsna. Why should we even be in Krsna’s temple? We are here by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, and thus we are making the effort to purify our hearts, hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam and chanting the holy names, and become true devotees.</p>
<p>Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami told me a nice story—a realization or thought that he had had. It relates to Srila Prabhupada’s mercy and leads to the conclusion kam va dayalum saranam vrajema: “How shall I take shelter of one more merciful?” In other words, “He is so merciful; how can I find anyone more merciful? How can I take shelter of anyone else?”</p>
<p>Sometimes it happens that Srila Prabhupada’s followers meet saintly persons outside of ISKCON. One year, Satsvarupa Maharaja went to Jagannatha Puri, during the holy month of Purusottama, to spend some time with one such sadhu. But while there, Satsvarupa Maharaja felt uncomfortable; he didn’t feel at home in that association. He felt that Srila Prabhupada had created ISKCON to be his home and that he could feel at home only in ISKCON—nowhere else.</p>
<p>Then he went a step further. He imagined a time when he would leave his body and come to the precincts of Krsnaloka and the gatekeeper would ask him, “Who are you?” He suddenly became fearful, thinking that he was taking a gamble by turning himself into a siksa disciple of that sadhu rather than remaining an exclusive disciple of Srila Prabhupada. He wasn’t sure exactly what his relationship with that sadhu was or how that sadhu would relate to Krsna on his behalf.</p>
<p>Then he imagined a different sequence. In this one, when the gatekeeper asked, “Who are you?” he would reply, “I am Satsvarupa dasa, a disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.” Then he imagined the gatekeeper going to Srila Prabhupada and asking, “Satsvarupa has come to the gate—What should we do?” And he imagined that Srila Prabhupada would say, “Satsvarupa? My Satsvarupa? Call him immediately.”</p>
<p>To me, this provides a striking picture of Srila Prabhupada and his mercy, and it serves to answer the rhetorical question “How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he?” For us, there is no one more merciful. There is no need to take shelter of anyone else, and there will be no gain if we leave him to take shelter of anyone else.</p>
<p>Two years ago I had the good fortune to meet Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Narayani dasi again. I hadn’t seen her for many years, and then at a japa workshop here, I met her, and she told me a story that she had heard. Srila Prabhupada was giving a talk in which he said that in order to go back home, back to Godhead, one must be cent percent pure, cent percent free of material desires and attachments. When Prabhupada saw that the devotees were discouraged, he said, “All right, 90%.” Still they were dejected. Then he said, “All right, 80%.” Still they were crestfallen. Then he said, “All right, 75%—but not less.”</p>
<p>After the talk, Srila Prabhupada commented, “If you just hold on to my lotus feet, I will take you back to Godhead. I have the key to the back door.”</p>
<p>Once, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said, “Your qualification is that I give an instruction . . .” I thought the rest of the sentence would be “and you follow it,” but the statement was “Your qualification is that I give you an instruction and you try to follow it.” Not even that we follow it—just that we try to follow it.</p>
<p>(Of course, we must try sincerely and seriously, by all means, with all of our energy and resources.)</p>
<p>In our japa retreats we emphasize chanting with attention, without offense. We encourage devotees to pronounce each syllable distinctly and hear each syllable attentively. To chant inattentively is an offense. So, I thought of my initiation letter—Srila Prabhupada sent it to me in Boston from Los Angeles—in which he instructed me to avoid the ten offenses. And I thought, “Oh, my God, that was practically the first instruction I got from Srila Prabhupada—the one I got when I was initiated—and now, thirty-six years later, I still haven’t been able to follow it, which is another offense: to disobey the orders of the spiritual master.” So I thought, “I am just drowning in offenses.” And then I thought, “I better reread that letter, to try to get some strength and inspiration.” I reread it, and there was the instruction: “You should avoid the ten offenses as far as possible.” Srila Prabhupada was so merciful—he knew that I couldn’t avoid them completely. So he saved me from the offense of disobeying his order, by writing “as far as possible.”</p>
<p>So that is our qualification, according to Srila Prabhupada. And that is our hope. If we sincerely try to follow his instructions strictly—if we just hold on to his lotus feet—he will do the rest. He will take us back home, back to Godhead.</p>
<p>Hare Krsna.</p>
<p>* Not the present ISKCON leader</p>
<p>(Adapted from a talk given in Houston, November 1, 2008)<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=9022">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=9022</a></p></div>Disappearance Day of Sri Narottama Das Thakurhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/disappearance-day-of-sri-narottama-das-thakur2023-11-02T06:30:00.000Z2023-11-02T06:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><div>
<p dir="ltr"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10841874669,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10841874669?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">Darshan From Sri Vrindavan Dham on the Disappearance of Narottam Das Thakur.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Class By HH Lokanath Swami</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">(1)<br /> je ānilo prema-dhana koruṇā pracur<br /> heno prabhu kothā gelā ācārya-ṭhākur</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">(2)</p>
<p dir="ltr">kāhā mora swarūp rūpa kāhā sanātan</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">kāhā dāsa raghunātha patita-pāvan</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"> (3)</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">kāhā mora bhaṭṭa-juga kāhā kavirāj<br /> eka-kāle kothā gelā gorā naṭa-rāj</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"> (4)</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">pāṣāṇe kuṭibo māthā anale paśibo<br /> gaurāńga guṇera nidhi kothā gele pābo</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"> (5)</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">se-saba sańgīra sańge je koilo bilās<br /> se-sańga nā pāiyā kānde narottama dās</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">TRANSLATION</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">1) He, who brought the treasure of divine love and who was filled with compassion and mercy–where has such a personality as Advaita Acarya gone?</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"> 2) Where are my Svarupa Damodara and Rupa Gosvami? Where is Sanatana? Where is Raghunatha Dasa, the savior of the fallen?</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"> 3) Where are my Raghunatha Bhatta and Gopala Bhatta, and where is Krsnadasa Kaviraja? Where did Lord Gauranga, the great dancer, suddenly go?</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"> 4) I will smash my head against the rock and enter into the fire. Where will I find Lord Gauranga, the reservoir of all wonderful qualities?</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr"> 5) Being unable to obtain the association of Lord Gauranga accompanied by all of these devotees in whose association He performed His pastimes, Narottama Dasa simply weeps.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">Life of Narottama Das Thakur</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to the Premavilasa, when Mahaprabhu passed through Kanair Natashala, as He was dancing ecstatically in kirtan, He began to call out the name Narottama. When Nityananda asked Him why He was calling out this name, Mahaprabhu answered, “My Lord. You do not know your own glories. When we went to Jagannath Puri, you shed tears out of divine love, day after day. I managed to capture your divine love and save it. Now I wish to keep it here by the Padmavati River for Narottama Das.”</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">Narottama Thakur was Champaka Manjari in Krishna-lila. Eternally assisting Rupa Manjari in her service to Radha and Krishna, Champaka Manjari had mercy on the conditioned souls of this earth and appeared as Narottama in the village of Kheturi, about twelve miles from Rampur Bowaliya in the Gopalpur subdivision of Rajshahi district. This took place on the full moon day of the month of Magh sometime around the middle of the 15th century of the Shaka era.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">Narottama was born on the Maghi Purnima. From that day on he thrived and grew like the waxing moon. (Bhakti-ratnakara 1.281)</p>
<p dir="ltr">Narottama’s father was Raja Krishnananda Datta, the zamindar of the Gopalpur area. His mother’s name was Narayani Devi. Raja Krishnananda had a younger brother named Purushottam Datta, who had a son named Santosha. In order to show that His associates can take birth in any caste, Krishna had Narottama take birth in a kayastha family.</p>
</div>
<div>From his early childhood, Narottama began to display symptoms of his future greatness. Everyone was amazed to see his great intelligence and his devotional demeanor. He was constantly absorbed in meditation on the wonderful qualities of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. The Lord and His associates appeared to him in his dreams.</div>
<div>As tears poured from his eyes, Narottama would offer prayers of surrender to Shri Krishna Chaitanya, Nityananda, Advaita and the other associates of the Lord. Finally, the Lord and His associates appeared to him in a dream and consoled him with kind words. (Bhakti-ratnakara 1.285-6)</div>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">Narottama Das Thakur was said to be a Brahmachari throughout his entire life. Narottama Das visited all the places of pilgrimage. He was on the highest platform of devotional achievement. (Bhakti-ratnakara 1.256)</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jai Narottama Das Thakur Ki Jai!!!<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://www.mayapur.com/2022/disappearance-of-sri-narottama-das-thakur-14th-oct/">https://www.mayapur.com/2022/disappearance-of-sri-narottama-das-thakur-14th-oct/</a></p>
</div></div>