Disappearance of Srimad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj

BSG: So, today's the tirobhāva, the disappearance day of Śrīla Aprākṛtā Bhakti Sāraṅga Gosvāmī Mahārāja, the preeminant disciple, dear disciple of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura, intimate friend of Śrīla Guru Mahārāja, and Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja, Prabhupāda, revered throughout Śrī Gauṙīya Maṭha, legendary disciple.

His Maṭha, when we visit Vṛndāvana, go on dhāma-parikramā, just around the corner from our maṭha, Imli-tāla temple is there, commemorating where... Imli means tamarind. Tamarind tree, where Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sat beneath the tamarind tree, taking Kṛṣṇa-nāma, lost in divine remembrance. He erected a temple in that spot. Also, in Nanda-grāma there's some... he had something there, because Bābāji Mahārāja used to visit there and stay there. I don't know if that was permanent or not.

But... and the Nandanācārya bhavana, his temple is there in Māyāpura. Śrīla Guru Mahārāja arranged for that for him, and he was the first sannyāsa disciple of Śrīla Guru Mahārāja. And with regard to that, in the aftermath of the disappearance of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura, and Śrī Gauṙīya Māṭha, as happens, some devotees are, how do the Bengalis put it? Returning to their house.

Means like their villiage, where they're from, and there was some lamentation on the part of Śrīla Guru Mahārāja and other devotees that one of the finest preachers of Gauṙīya Maṭha, much beloved by Sarasvati Ṭhākura, revered by all the devotees, that he would return to his house, this was a loss for everyone. And Guru Mahārāja went there with a specific intention of giving him sannyāsa. And coming from Guru Mahārāja, that's really something. Becuase usually Guru Mahārāja's going in the other direction of cautious and restraint, and in the case of Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda, thinking, "Oh, I know his family very well. They might be upset with me." and many considerations he's giving.

And we know in time, in history, rarely giving sannyāsa until the all-merciful Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Deva-Gosvāmi Mahārāja convinced Guru Mahārāja to extend this to others, myself included. That was all the mercy, really of Guru Mahārāja, but of Śrīla Gurudeva insisting, and for preaching. That was the reason.

And that's why Guru Mahārāja consented, because he could see, "If this means expansion of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and the glories of Śrī Caitanya Sārasvata Maṭha, then by all means." But that said, Bhakti Sāraṅga Gosvāmī Mahārāja was the first disciple of Śrīla Guru Mahārāja. Guru Mahārāja went to his town, to some town, and stayed there for approximately twelve days, two weeks with the expressed intention of giving him sannyāsa. Not coming away 'till this was achieved.

And because, part of Guru Mahārāja's thinking was that in the lifetime of Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura, Gosvāmī Mahārāja was such a prominent disciple, and he was also given ritvik approval when he went to England as the first venture there. Not showing so much success, later it was determined that actually, Sarasvati Ṭhākura wanted Śrīla Guru Mahārāja to go next, and Guru Mahārāja was, as he always said, a backward pushing man and presented himself as perhaps unfit in the sense that... saying, "There must be some intention and a target, something you want to achieve by who you send there." Meaning, connecting with others, extending Kṛṣṇa consciousness to them, and he said, "In this regard, I have two disqualifications. One is I'm not inclined to mix with others." And we know that. (laughter) from what we could observe, also, Guru Mahārāja also in his veranda and rarely coming down, but the other he said was, "...the intonation." Although Guru Mahārāja... and this is peculiar, because Guru Mahārāja was quite fluent in English. We learned so much English from Guru Mahārāja, from listening to him. Our vocabulary became more extensive. The use, just his use of English is so fluid, fluent. He said, "But, their intonation I can't catch." Meaning, he can't always hear and grasp what is being said.

Like we know, amongst our Russian devotees, there are many who in some instances their reading skills and comprehension exceed their conversational English, and some, the opposite. All kinds of things are possible like that. So, Guru Mahārāja said, "In consideration of these things, I may not be the fittest person." Sometime... and some devotees came to Guru Mahārāja and said like, "Don't you want to be the one?" You know, "This will be so... how do you say? Praiseworthy, and laudable. Who goes to the Western world, this will be something for, you know, their portfolio, or their resume.

Guru Mahārāja said, "No such interest do I have." He said, "My only interest is becoming the servant of a servant of Mahāprabhu. Can you help me do that? I have no other interest."
But, then someone else came to Guru Mahārāja, said, "But do you know why Sarasvati Ṭhākura wants you to go?"
Guru Mahārāja, "No."
He said, "Because Prabhupāda Sarasvati Ṭhākura said, 'Because he can't be converted.'" Like by the opposition, or Western philosophical systems, etc.
And when Guru Mahārāja heard this, he said, "That's true." (Laughter)

Then Sarasvati Ṭhākura told, he considered Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Mahārāja for some time, but I had the good fortune of meeting him twice, and I can understand what we heard from those in Gauṙīya Maṭha that Mādhava Mahārāja was a very handsome gentelman. Perfect beautiful, angelic looking gentleman, but very handsome, and someone said, "And the women of England, they're like apsaras." (laughter) And so, they thought, "Maybe he won't be the best choice to send on this mission." They don't want it to be a suicide mission.

So then, they... Gosvāmī Mahārāja at the time was a householder, Aprākṛta Prabhu, and his Nityānanda-vaṁśa lineage, and other... he's Vandya Upadhyaya, Banerjee is their name, Brāhmaṇa, qualified in every way imaginable, so he was selected, and there one lady, a Mrs. Bowtell, she was converted. He initiated her, she got the name Vinoda Vāṇi. There was a little Gauṙīya Maṭha established in London, and there's a pastime of Gosvāmī Mahārāja when I think he had nothing, facing practically starvation, totally impoverished, nowhere to go, in a park, he finds a deity which turns out to be Ananta-vāsudeva, and his fortune changes, and there's some pictures of him. You see him waiting to meet the King and Queen of England. He did. It could be one of those photo op sort of things, but wherever there was an opportunity, he was there.

We're told Sarasvati Ṭhākura used to keep a map of England, and London particularly, and wherever there was an event, he'd put a pin like the way military strategists say, "Our troops went here, and there." And that way, he was obsessed with preaching in the Western world, and particularly London. And on the basis of it, Sarasvati Ṭhākura's desire that Guru Mahārāja go there and preach, years later when Guru Mahārāja really told us whenever we tried to do something promoting him, or the Caitanya Sārasvata Maṭha, at the time he preferred that we modify that somewhat, and Gurudeva followed that in principle for many places.

But he was reluctant to name any place other than the Navadvīpa Maṭha, "Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Math," but in the case of London, he was initially reluctant, but Śrīla Gurudeva said to him that, "Sarasvati Ṭhākura wanted you to preach in the Western world, particularly to go to London, so in deference, in recognition of that desire of Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura, if you will sanction that London Maṭha will be Śrī Caitanya Sārasvata Maṭha." And with that in mind, Śrīla Guru Mahārāja sanctioned that. So the London Maṭha has a unique position in the time of Śrīla Guru Mahārāja.

And so Gosvāmī Mahārāja, Bhakti Sāraṅga Mahārāja, when he was there, we're told he met with Lord Zetland. Zetland I believe is the English pronunciation; the Bengali pronunciation is Jetland as one could imagine. And, he had been stationed in India as a Viceroy, or something, high posting and he had great appreciation for Indian culture, and Gauṙīya Maṭha in particular, specifically Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura and his followers.

He once observed about them, he said he felt he was in... it was like, when he saw Sarasvati Ṭhākura and his entorage of sannyāsis, he said it was like seeing Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles, and he meant that like from his heart. He felt that magnitude of... and he is the one who when Gosvāmī Mahārāja was in England visiting with him, said, "Svāmīji, Gosvāmī..." because he was still Gosvāmī, "...can you make me a Brāhmaṇa?" Because we hear in the teachings of Mahāprabhu to the Gosvāmīs, and Sanātana Gosvāmī Prabhu, yathā kāñcanatāṁ yāti kāṅkṣena... yathā etc. Śloka [Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 2.12], where He said, "Just as bell..." There's a process, and alchemical process by which bell-metal can be converted into gold, so this process, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can transform one into Brāhmaṇa and beyond Brāhmaṇa, Vaiṣṇava. But, he asked, "Can you make me a Brāhmaṇa? Can I become a Brāhmaṇa?"

And Gosvāmī Mahārāja said, "Yes. But you'll have to follow four principles: No illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling. Like that."
And we're told Lord Zetland said, "Impossible!"
So much so, in those meetings with British officials in India, the so-called Raj, Sarasvati Ṭhākura, through his disciples and local connections, they're arranging for the necessity of their visitors, which may not be of the 100% pure-veg category, and other things. They don't want... Sarasvati Ṭhākura did not want them to experience some sort of inconvenience, right? Remember, he's the revolutionary preacher, really of Śrī Gauṙīya Maṭha, and if these kinds of exemptions, and... circumstantial excemptions come from Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura, then he's... he has the stature, substance, credentials, vaiṣṇavatva to voice these sort of extraordinary consessions.

As when he told Guru Mahārāja once, "I'm conceiving in London a youth hostel that we can arrange through a local hotel..." Which is the Indian word for restaurant, "...to accomodate non-vegetarian section." And when Guru Mahārāja heard that... he's a Bhattacarya Brāhmaṇa, and besides that, he's Guru Mahārāja, (laughter) and Guru Mahārāja, he was shocked, and he said, "I think the end result of this policy will... our members may get contaminated, may introduce contamination in the maṭha."
So Sarasvati Ṭhākura said, "Oh, you don't know. I decided this 10,000 years ago."

And Guru Mahārāja said it was like * crashing sound * It was like lighting striking him. Not a whimsical proposal. Not something that came to him whimsically. He said, "I decided this 10,000 years ago." So, when we think of the revolutionary preaching of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura, and to this day, the whole worldwide Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an offspring of his conception.

And this is what? 2017. So, it's approximatly 1917, and onward that he began the... took sannyāsa and began the missionary activities of Śrī Gauṙīya Maṭha. So, 100 years later, it's still all about Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura and his followers. Even the so-called opposition, or those who've deviated, they're... they had connection, so even they, indirectly, point, indicate the substance of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura. And, we see that personified in his followers.

So Sarasvati Ṭhākura had so much faith in him, and appreciation, so Guru Mahārāja went to his hometown, his villiage, staying there, preaching to him for this fortnight. And he had one disciple, because Guru Mahārāja, we know when he was hesitating to initiate even Śrīla Prabhupāda's sister Bhavatāriṇī Didi, affectionately known as Pisimā. She had first initiation, Harināma from Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura. She wanted to take mantra-dikṣā from Guru Mahārāja, second initiation. Guru Mahārāja directed her to Gosvāmī Mahārāja saying, "Well Sarasvati Ṭhākura approved him, and that is safe."

And we're told also that... and I've seen also, she loved to cook. Once I had the honor, priviledge of escourting her from Calcutta to Vṛndāvana on one of these never-ending train rides, and there was one girl Nārāyaṇī with her, and Satyanārāyaṇa with me. We're in two different compartments, but she kept sending Nārāyaṇī with like... every two hours or so snacks for us that she'd made. And she had all these net bags and they were just filled with pots, condiments, cooking utensils. That was the major part of her luggage were just cooking utensils. It was like something out of the pages of Caitanya-caritāmṛtam; one of these great vaiṣṇavis, and she was going to Vṛṇdāvana, where Śrīla Prabhupāda was at the time.

And what was I going to... Oh, so she specialized in cooking all of these wonderful different types of prasādam, and she would make them for Gosvāmī Mahārāja, and regularly, but particularly Vyāsa-pūjā, and offer them all to him. And his habit was to take all of them, and mix them all together, and then take it, like that. And Gurudeva, Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja said... Then Pisimā would be like rolling her eyes like, "Oh, no." (Laughter) Because sometimes the devotees think like that. They want to check the enjoying tendency. Prasādam is not to be enjoyed, but honored.

So, sometimes they're thinking like as an act of renunciation on some level. It's, "I'll take this way." but Gurudeva said, "Pisimā would be 'Oh, no!" and like, “Mixing every...'"
And so, he had a disciple, or someone approaching for initiation who became his disciple. His name was Viṣṇujana, and Guru Mahārāja conveyed to him, and he appreciated the concept, saying, “This boy, Viṣṇujana, he’s giving up the world for you.” So, Gosvāmī Mahārāja thought, “Then I must give up the world for him. How can I remain...” He’s talking about family. “How can I? He’s giving up the world for me. Then I must give up the world for him.” And so Guru Mahārāja gave him sannyāsa, and Gosvāmī Mahārāja teased mild... He said, “The disciple… Viṣṇujana, the disciple has given sannyāsa to his guru.”

And we know he was very intense preacher. Would not leave someone unless they gave a donation. And operated under the principle that was not begging, like trying to get help from them. He’s offering them sukṛti. He’s offering them. And if you can understand this properly, philosophically, it’s a fact. You have a chance to take some of your accumulated energy and offer it in service to the lotus feet of Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura and his mission, what an opportunity has come before you. Really, truly, he felt that way.

Not that, “I’m trying to get something from you and you’re helping me.” But sometimes we’re told in one instance, someone wouldn’t give anything, but they had some broken mṛdaṅgas. He said, “Then you can give that.”
They gave that. He then sold the broken mṛdaṅgas, converted it into cash. Thereby giving some sukṛti to that individual. Another time, someone was a little upset with him. They were saying like, “I’ll pay you to go. Tell me how much I have to give you to go. Here’s a rupee. Just leave.”

And Gosvāmī Mahārāja said, “A man as sinful as you? One rupee is not enough. Rather a lakh of rupees you must give.” That’s 100,000. (laughter) “One rupee will be insufficient for a sinner like you.” And also we’re told on the Bṛhaspatibāra bala to be careful. One may incur financial loss at that time. So, Gosvāmī Mahārāja would collect at that time, knowing that others may incur financial loss. (laughter)
Many things.

And one story Gurudeva told where there was a rāṇī, means a queen and she was very favorably disposed to the devotees, but the king did not approve so much, or was not so much appreciative. And still, she wanted to somehow contribute, but it was a very delicate situation. So Gosvāmī Mahārāja and his assistant went to that kingdom, they used to have little kingdoms in India, and he was staying at some accommodations nearby, and the rāṇī, the queen sent her representative to ask him if all of his necessities were being met: lodging, food, etc. And this shows the brilliance of Gosvāmī Mahārāja, he said, “You can tell the queen that by her grace, we have everything we need. There’s only one thing I need. There’s no pillow.” And he gave a pillow-case. “A pillow I could use.”

So, they went back to the queen and said, “He has everything...” but he said, “…no pillow he has.” And then the queen stuffs the pillow-case with rupees, and gave him that pillow. And there was a preaching party composed of Gosvāmī Mahārāja, Mādhava Mahārāja, Guru Mahārāja, and Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura used to call it, “My party.” That gave great joy to them and enthusiasm, he referred to their party, “That’s myparty. There are other parties, but this is my party.”

And we know sometimes they also did programs at Svāmī Mahārāja’s in Bombay. Imagine, he invites over to his house, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, Śrīla Mādhava Mahāraja and Śrīla Gosvāmī Mahāraja. And he said… Prabhupāda, telling of such stories, said… how did he say, “Śrīdhara Mahārāja would speak, Mādhava Mahārāja would canvas, and Gosvāmī Mahārāja would collect.” (laughter) And it was to him when Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura was going through Gauṙīya Maṭha, and he came upon this writing, the bhaktivinoda-viraha-daśakam of Guru Mahārāja, and he’s reading that, and with… particularly read the line,
śrī-gaurānumataṁ svarūpa-viditaṁ rūpāgrajenādṛtaṁ
rūpādyaiḥ pariveśitaṁ raghu-gaṇair āsvāditaṁ sevitam
jīvādyair abhirakṣitaṁ śuka-śiva-brahmādi-sammānitaṁ
śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum īśo bhavān
[Verse 9]

where Guru Mahārāja is saying who is Mahāprabhu and why He came down, only Svarūpa Dāmodara knows it fully, and that’s what will be expressed in the Chapter Four of the Caitanya-caritāmṛtam. kavirāja Gosvāmī, referencing Svarūpa Dāmodara’s ślokas, will reveal the internal reason for Mahāprabhu’s descent.
And saying “Only Svarūpa Dāmodara knows this fully.” We hear that in Caitanya-caritāmṛtam, if anyone knows substantially who Mahāprabhu is and why He descended in this world, what his inner purpose is, he must’ve heard it from Svarūpa Dāmodara: mahāprabhura dvitīya kalevara, (Mahaprabhu the Second, Mahaprabhu’s other self, Mahaprabhu’ṣ second body) that is Svarūpa Dāmodara. [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 10.111]

And so that Svarūpa Dāmodara knows, and what that is is worshiped by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī Prabhu, expressed by Rūpa Gosvāmī and his followers in the bhakti-rasa-śāstras, tasted, relished by Raghunātha. Svarūpa’s extending to Raghunātha dāsa. He’s relishing that. And in the process, transferring to Kṛṣṇadāsa kavirāja Gosvāmī who’s also relishing that, and extending through Caitanya-caritāmṛtam. Jīva Gosvāmī protecting that, as is Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa from adulteration, imitation, from those who would challenge it’s authenticity.

And saying Brahmā, Śiva, Śuka, Nārada, Uddhava, they all want a drop of this divine substance. What is it? Śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum īśo bhavān. The gift of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura to the world is the service of the holy lotus feet of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī in the form of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and it was to Gosvāmī Mahārāja that Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura said, “Who wrote this?”
And he said, “Śrīdhara Mahārāja.”

He said, “Śrīdhara Mahārāja has not written this. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has written this through him, and although I may leave the world, at least one man remains behind who can represent me fully, properly, and that man is Śrīdhara Mahārāja.”
It was Gosvāmī Mahārāja whom Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura told this to. And that Gosvāmī Mahārāja, when his nityānanda-vaṁśa, that line, the family line that comes from Nityānanda Prabhu, but known as jāta-gosāñi, they’re considered sahajīya-sampradāya according to the analysis of Ṭoṭārāma bābājī, and accepted by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Sarasvati Ṭhākura, our line, that’s why Sarasvati Ṭhākura told “aprākṛta”. Prākṛta means mundane, you see, but he, “aprākṛta”. He’s a substantial person in that line. So he was revered by many on account of that status.

And in one instance, someone from that group, they expressed to him some displeasure at seeing in the Gauṙīya Maṭha publication of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they had included a picture of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura. And they said, “The Bhāgavatam should be considered the body of Kṛṣṇa, so how can you put someone’s picture there?” And Gosvāmī Mahārāja told them, he said, “You know who I am?” Aluding to his nityānanda-vaṁśa connection.
“Yes Gosāñi!”
He said more that Gurudeva told me, and I can’t say it, but so he underscored his position even in a greater degree by how much of him that person would revere and the person’s thinking, “Yes. You’re totally worshipable personality in every way imaginable.”

And Gosvāmī Mahārāja said, “My head is sold to the lotus feet of this Vaiṣṇava, Prabhupāda Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura. And don’t you know guru is to be considered Rādhārāṇī’s delegation? So, taking that guru is Rādhārāṇī’s delegation, and Bhāgavatam is the body of Kṛṣṇa, if we put the picture there, then how happy Kṛṣṇa will be?”
“Yes Gosāñi!”
(laughter)

And he had great appreciation for Śrīla Gurudeva, Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja who there’s a picture, a famous picture of Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura meeting with Governor John Anderson, the Governor of West Bengal… at the time Bengal I imagine. It was not West. Just Bengal. And you see Sarasvati Ṭhākura is going and Governor John Anderson and Gosvāmī Mahārāja is prominently seen, but no garland. And Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja said, “I know why you have no garland.”

And Gosvāmī Mahārāja said, “No. Everyone who should have a garland, has a garland. Sarasvati Ṭhākura, Governor John Anderson, all the… what does Guru Mahārāja call them? Dignitary. They all have. And Govinda Mahārāja, “No.” he said, “You should have a garland because you are also such a dignitary. But the garland man perhaps he came late, they only had two. You were certainly given a garland, but you took your garland and gave it to Governor John Anderson.”

And that’s when Gosvāmī Mahārāja said, “You have surpassed Viśvanātha Cakravarti.” Because Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura, his specialty is reading in the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, like why jasmine is blooming and the sun in the eastern horizon, what’s the significance, or western horizon, why. All these sort of things. What would appear to be not apparent, these little details, he extracts so much meaning from them.

So he said, “You’ve surpassed Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura.” And Guru Mahārāja told once at the Imli-tāla, they’re praising one Godbrother on his appearance day, but Gosvāmī Mahārāja was speaking in double entendre. The glorification he was giving could be interpreted two ways. One way, total glorification, another way, not so much. And he said, “That Mahārāja kept looking at Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja, thinking like, ‘Most people won’t get this, but I’ll see if he’s getting it.’” And he was astonished to see, “Yes, Govinda Mahārāja was obviously understanding both meanings.”

So, he was very favorite. Gurudeva was very favorite to him. He would take him. When Guru Mahārāja was not so mobile anymore, he would take him on preaching engagements, and be his brahmacāri assistant. In the final days, when he wouldn’t speak to anyone, he just became silent other than reading the Bhāgavatam, taking Kṛṣṇa-nāma, when Guru Mahārāja sent Gurudeva to him, him Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja, he spoke to.

And we know that Gurudeva knew him so well that on the way to his vyāsa-pūjā once, or holiday, the disciples picked him up. They’re taking him to Gosvāmī Mahārāja’s maṭha, and they saw it was getting ready to rain, and Śrīla Govinda Mahārāja said to him, “Do you know what your Gurudeva will lecture on today?”
And they’re saying, “Oh, of course not. How can we know what he will say? His divine personality, some inspiration will come to him.”
And Govinda Mahārāja said, “But I know what he will say?”
And they’re thinking, “What!? How can you say that? It’s so arrogant. You’re just a young man!”
And he told them this verse, what is it? Tad durinam manye, etc…
Comment: [indistinct verse, possibly gītā-mālā 3.11.5)

BSG: Beautiful. And what is says is that normally, people a judge a good day or a bad day like if the sun is shining they say, “It was a really nice day. It’s going to be a nice day.” And if it rains, they say, “Oh, it was a bad day. The weather was bad.” They’re basing their assessment in that way. Said, “But for a vaiṣṇava, they say, ‘Did I hear any hari-kathā, any kṛṣṇa-kathā, any gaura-kathā, vaiṣṇava-kathā, did I hear that during my day? If regardless of the weather conditions, if I heard some kṛṣṇa-kathā, that was a good day. And if it was a beautiful day externally, but I heard nothing about guru and Gaurāṅga and the vaiṣṇavas, then that was not a good day for me.”
And as it began to rain, and they went, of course, that is the śloka that Gosvāmī Mahārāja spoke on. And he so much revered Śrīla Guru Mahārāja when he would visit, he would consider that his annual visit with Guru Mahārāja, staying in his maṭha was like his ontological adjustment, and as he would go away, he invoked the siṁhāvaloka concept that a lion moves a certain amount and then looks back, and moves some more and then looks back, and saying, “So, we move, go back to our own, but we look back to Guru Mahārāja to see, ‘Are we still aligned with him and in alignment with Guru Mahārāja’s concept of things?’.”

And on his vyāsa-pūjā, he would always invite Śrīla Guru Mahārāja, as he was invited by Guru Mahārāja every year to the Chaitanya Sāraswat Math, they would have a meeting. They revived the Viśva-vaiṣṇava Rāja-sabhā, and they would meet, and every year Guru Mahārāja would be elected the president of the assembly. Guru Mahārāja would accept the presidency and then transfer it to Gosvāmī Mahārāja. (laughter) And he would conduct the meeting.
Where they’re praising the activities of the vaiṣṇavas in the last year, and showing some areas where they could improve. And at his vyāsa-pūjā when people would give so many gifts and praṇāmī, donations, at the end, he would take all of that and give it to Guru Mahārāja, who was… had come to celebrate his appearance day. And we’re told in the final days, when Guru Mahārāja really could not attend, people would say to him, “Oh, how was your vyāsa-pūjā this year?”
He would say, “This year was not so good.”
“Really? Why, what happened?”
“Śrīdhara Mahārāja could not come.”
So, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Jaya Śrīla Bhakti Sāraṅga Gosvāmī Mahārāja tirobhava mahā-mahotsava tithi ki, jaya!

Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Is there anything else that I may not have mentioned?
Yeah.
Comment: Very nicely presented.

BSG: Also one thing that comes to mind, he had a Society, and they had so much appreciation for Śrīla Prabhupāda, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Prabhupāda, and see how Prabhupāda has influenced like he’s using A.B. Gosvāmī, Prabhupāda was A.C. Bhaktivedānta. It’s they’re taking some lead of Gosvāmī Mahārāja, but anyway, they wanted to confer a title upon Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja, so the Society, they gave him a name, Bhaktisiddhānta dāsa Adhikārī. So, when that came to be, it’s interesting how these things happen. They’re not accidental.

So, they conferred that name, and its mentioned that Guru Mahārāja said, “That is our Guru Mahārāja’s name and title. What would be better is if you give him the title, Bhaktivedānta.” And they said, “Oh, yes. Then that we will give.”
So, even that name that’s world-renowned, A.C. Bhaktivedānta Svāmī, Guru Mahārāja’s suggestion. “Bhaktivedānta will be ideal.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Is there any question?

Question: Mahārāja, there is a question from Mahāvīrya prabhu.
BSG: Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Question: Referring to Caitanya-caritāmṛta. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā Chapter 1, Verse 99, Rūpa Gosvāmī’s verse beginning with tuṇḍe tāṇḍavinī ratiṁ, the second line expresses the desire to have unlimited sense perception for hearing the holy name, karṇārbudebhyaḥ spṛhām, whereas the third line suggests that cessation of all sensual activity, vijayate sarvendriyānāṁ kṛtiṁ. Could you please share some insight on what appears to be a paradox?

BSG: This is something that recurs consistently when we hear statements of the scriptures, or from the great devotees that on the one hand, (and it’s what people have a tendency to latch onto immediately, is) the disengagement part. Being restricted from sense-activity, or giving up all sense engagement, and such things. Unfortunately, in the case of brahmavādīs and māyāvādīs, they interpret this that there was no opportunity for such activities with positive engagement.
It’s one thing, withdrawing from the influence of the negative plane, or in this context, negative sense-perception. I mentioned the other day the term super sensuous. That means beyond the sensual reigns of the mind, ear, eye, nose, etc. People prematurely, or falsely conclude that that means no seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, feeling, of any quality or any type.

So Rūpa Gosvāmī… well, speaking of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura, in his parsing of the first śloka of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Prabhupāda said that because ādi-rasa, he extracts from janmādyasya yathaḥ, ādi-rasa, mukhya-rasa, means madhura-rasa, Prabhupāda mentions there, quoting Viśvanātha Cakravarti Ṭhākura, saying that because māyāvādīs deny this possibility or prospect of sensuality in this spiritual domain, he said they’re indirectly giving impetus for mundane sensuality.
Because as Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura says, and is given by Sanyal in Erotic Principle in Unalloyed Devotion, we can no more… how did he say? ...divorce the sexual principle from our existence than our existence. It’s that intrinsic to existence. And I mentioned in a simple way. Here, we hear the toke lizard going around with it’s mating call, particularly now, and all this animation, what’s driving it?

Freud perceived that… and maybe an over-arching theory, but that’s oddly consistent in it’s own way with what we hear in Kṛṣṇa conception, if we go to ādi-rasa, mukhya-rasa, madhura-rasa being the origin of all of this. He’s saying the sexual principle is everywhere. He goes so far as to say in other words, the driving principle of existence, so much so… and he’s an extremist, but he is Freud after all. He will say that if... all of this art in the form of artistic expression is just repressed sexuality. It’s nothing more than that.
This principle is that… what’s the word? Ubiquitous. Even all this so-called art that you’d think was one of finer creations, “Yes, the creative principle: It’s repressed sexuality.” And in an oddly similar way, Prabhupada’s saying, quoting Viśvanātha Cakravarti, Māyāvādīs, by denying the possibility of personality, sensual expression in the positive, spiritual domain, they’re indirectly giving impetus for mundane sensuality because we’re so hard-wired for that, we’ll conclude there’s no other outlet than the mundane world.

So, he says indirectly they’re giving impetus to that. So, Rūpa Gosvāmī says ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ, that it’s very perfect, powerful śloka, saying the name of Kṛṣṇa, nāmādi, nāma, rūpa, guṇa, līlā, the sound, form, qualities, pastimes. Nāmādi. ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ “...are beyond the grasp of the senses.” But, I introduce this word in this context. What he means to say is they’re supersensous. He doesn’t mean to say, “Nothing to see here. Nothing to hear. Nothing to taste. No aroma. No touch.” That’s not what he’s saying.”
He’s saying, “It’s beyond the range of mundane sensual capacity. It’s beyond the range of what the eye, ear, nose, tongue, etc. can touch or verify.” But that doesn’t mean it cannot be seen, heard, qualified, and entered into. So, the second half comes.
ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.109]

But if one becomes sevonmukhataḥ, infused with the seva current, just as electricity brings illumination in this apparatus, the shell is not the substantial thing. As we told yesterday with Prahlāda, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.31] What’s giving illumination is the current. So, he’s saying when you have the devotional current, that eye can see, that ear can hear, that tongue can taste, that nose can smell, can touch. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. [Brahma-saṁhitā, 5.38] In Brahma-saṁhitā it’s not saying that pure devotees see the paramātmā in their heart. No. That’s the target of the yogī, paramātmā-yogīs.

Saying, what does the pure devotee see in the heart? Yaṁ śyāmasundaram. Śyāmasunda-Kṛṣṇa, and what? Acintya-guṇa-svarūpa. He has an inconceivable beautiful form. The qualities of that. And once someone said to me, “Why is Kṛṣṇa blue?” It says acintya-guṇa. It’s not the blue you can conceive. Śyāma, blackish color. So, it’s saying when the senses are infused with this current, then, what Rūpa Gosvāmī is expressing there is possible, and that means adhokṣaja realm. Akṣaja means what is seen, but it means all the senses. Perception is the word.

I told recently, what was it? The Greek, and I think it’s similar to the Russian, aesthetic, which on one hand means like beauty, an aesthetic culture, but actually, literally it means what is perceptible to the senses, what can be perceived. Because Guru Mahārāja said, Reality the Beautiful. Kṛṣṇa can be perceived by the senses that are infused with devotion, can be seen, heard, tasted, touched, felt, smelled, all of that. Full sensual engagement is possible with Kṛṣṇa, and Rūpa Go... so we think, “Well, that must be wonderful.”
How wonderful?
Just the possibility is wonderful, but Rūpa Gosvāmī is telling us to what degree it’s wonderful. Oh, when I say Adhokṣaja, it means that’s the sarvendriyāṇāṁ. The suppression of the senses allows for hyper, or super sensuality. Suppression of these senses. Adha akṣaja. What we see, hear, taste, smell, that is suppressed, and what? Then nothing, or a light, or void? No. Then super sensual seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling. To what degree?

That just in and of itself, sounds like something worth pursuing, and of interest, right? But, Rūpa Gosvāmī in this poetic expression, he’s talking about magnitude of beauty. So, what is does he say? When these senses are suppressed, not… by what? By performing austerities? No. When Kṛṣṇa decides to come down in response to devotional heart expression, that’s when these senses are suppressed, mundane sensual experience, and there’s a touch of the divine. But what Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying, then under those circumstances, when mundane sensuality is suppressed, and genuine hyper, super sensuality descends, the tongue will find the holy name so tasteful that only having one tongue will induce madness, and the heart will express that, “I want millions of tongues to attempt to catch all of this sweetness.”

So, he’s not telling us, “It’s marginally more interesting than mundane sense.” That’s an insult. As we told the other day, brahmānando, and I think you said it was you read that recently, maybe even today, brahmānando bhaved eṣa. It’s around that time.
cet parārdha-guṇī-kṛtaḥ
naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ
paramāṇu-tulām api
[Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, 1.1.38]
Brahmānanda, which is infinitely superior to mundane sense pleasure, if you multiply that a trillion-fold, it’s not equal to an atomic fraction of the pleasure of kṛṣṇa-bhakti. This comes from Rūpa Gosvāmī, otherwise we would say, “Can anyone believe that?” Remember, one of the offenses of the holy name too, is if we think what we hear is some sort of exaggeration, it’s poetic description, it’s hyperbole. It may be poetic, but real.

And a qualified person no less than Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, who’s Mahāprabhu’s mouthpiece, Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying this. So, and the ears who are hearing that sound, one will want millions of ears. And Guru Mahārāja added, “And to see the beautiful form of Kṛṣṇa, one will want millions of eyes.” It’s talking about the magnitude of the beauty, charm and sweetness of Kṛṣṇa. And that it is not the outcome of mundane sense experience.
So, it’s saying that is suppressed, and Adhokṣaja comes down from that plane. Adhokṣaja realm means subjective, super subjective. And the aprākṛta realm of Kṛṣṇa, Goloka, means the super, super subjective realm, because Vaikuṇṭha, Guru Mahārāja said beautifully is the southern hemisphere of the spiritual world, the lower hemisphere. Aprākṛta-līlā of Goloka, and that makes it even more inconceivable. He brings down aprākṛta-līlā to the Earth planet, in Guru Mahārāja’s words, where the infinite is moving amongst the finite as if one of them. That makes these pastimes even more intense, as we can understand.

In Goloka-Vṛndāvana, there are no conditioned souls, right? So, the līlā there, the play there, of a different quality, but coming here, and there’s an actual mixing of pe… of various levels of conditioning or liberation, makes it even more interesting. And Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura, Guru Mahārāja had the opinion, the line of Jīva Gosvāmī, because there are those that think like Goloka’s the original, and Gokula’s an extension of Goloka in this world. Kṛṣṇa comes like that. But another opinion is, and as supported evidentiarily from Garga-saṁhitā, [1.3.29-32] when Rādhārāṇī can understand Kṛṣṇa’s intention to bring His abode down to this world, She says, “I will only go if we bring all of this. The original. Not a replica, a facsimile, or an extension. This very. We take everything with us. The original Yamunā, all of it.” And She repeats it twice to say, “I’m firm. This is non-negotiable, Kṛṣṇa.” (laughter)

So, that becomes even more extraordinary. Kṛṣṇa brings His original abode into this world, and what remains is an extension. So, Rūpa Gosvāmī is telling us that the super sensuality is activated through devotion. The current of devotion awakens those senses. Muktir hitvānyathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ, [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 2.10.6] the liberated senses. The other senses are suppressed. rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. This is hinted at in Bhagavad-gītā, [2.59] higher taste. What it’s capable of. It’s not that the mundane mind… even generic ātmā is beyond the range of the element of mind, intellect and ego. bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca ahaṅkāra. And then apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām. [Bhagavad-gītā 7.4-5] The ātmā is above all that, what to speak of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.

So, that means the liberated senses. When it says, apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā, [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, 3.19] no hands, no legs, no… it means no mundane hands, legs, eyes, etc. Vedas say,sa aikṣata, sa asṛjata, saying He glanced over the material energy and there was creation. It’s a very simple statement, but profound. What did he glance with? If eyes and such, they’re just mundane, saying He glanced over the material creation, with what? Another type of seeing.
So, that’s what Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying. When the heart is infused with devotion, the… what we generally conceive of as our senses will be utterly inadequate. So, it’s not that tongue that’s tasting, those ears that are hearing, that is our conclusion. He’s talking about the super sensuous plane, and there, the heart says, “I want millions of tongues to taste the sweetness, millions of ears to capture the beauty of that sound, millions of eyes to drink the beauty of the form of Kṛṣṇa.”
Hare Kṛṣṇa.

And then people say like, “So, what is this that you belong to? Could you explain that?” (laughter) “Is this some sort of religion? Is that a religious dress you’re wearing? Can you tell me what your beliefs are?”
“Yes ma’am. Our belief’s that God is so beautiful that two eyes are insufficient. One… if you see the beauty of God, you would want to have millions of eyes.”
“Thank you.” (laughter)

The holy name of the Lord is so sweet, one tongue is insufficient. One would want to have millions of tongues to taste that sweetness and millions of ears to capture the beauty of that sound.
Hare Kṛṣṇa.

[sings]
hari haraye namaḥ kṛṣṇa yādavāya namaḥ
yādavāya mādhavāya keśavāya namaḥ
gopāla govinda rāma śrī-madhusūdana
giridhārī gopīnātha madana-mohana
śrī-caitanya-nityānanda śrī-advaitacandra
gadādhara-śrīvāsādi gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
jaya-rūpa sanātana bhaṭṭa-raghunātha
śrī-jīva gopāla-bhaṭṭa dāsa-raghunātha
ei chaya gosāir kari caraṇa vandana
jāhā haite vighna-nāśa abhīṣṭa-pūraṇa
ei chaya gosāi jāra-mui tāra dāsa
tāṅa-sabāra pada-reṇu mora pañca-grāsa
tādera caraṇa-sevi-bhakta-sane vāsa
janame janame mora ei abhilāṣa
ei chaya gosāi yabe vraje koilā vāsa
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-nitya-līlā karilā prakāśa
ānande bala hari bhaja vṛndāvana
śrī-guru-vaiṣṇava-pade majāiyā mana
śrī-guru-vaiṣṇava-pada-padma kori āśa
hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana kahe narottama dāsa

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma
rāma rāma hare hare
nitai-gaura hari bala, hari bala, hari bala, nitai-gaura hari bala
[recites]
Jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya aṣṭottara-śata śrī śrīmad śrīla bhakti sundāra govinda deva-gosvāmī mahārāja kī, jaya!
Jaya oṁ viṣṇupāda śrīla bhakti rakṣaka śrīdhara deva-gosvāmī mahārāja kī, jaya!