The First-class Preaching | The Appearance of Srila Saraswati Thakur

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Anyway, before talking to Saraswatī Ṭhākur I mentioned a couple words about Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. His extraordinary presentation of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. And, it's from the group of his children as we know, he had several sons and several daughters. And you know, everybody has a unique history, actually. But, Saraswatī Ṭhākur has the most unique history, because it's... He descended to propagate Mahāprabhu's saṅkīrtan, under exclusive care and order of Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. That's what I want to say. And, I think you should say something Mahārāj, and later I will...

Śrīla Goswami Mahārāj: Sure, keep speaking. Continue your thought, I'll certainly speak soon.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Well, the thought is, I've read one article about one son of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur who passed away, not showing a lot spiritual integrity in life. But, got... had mental disease and passed away in early age. And before he passed away, everybody felt he's gonna what... pass away soon and start chanting. Bhaktivinod's family start chant hari-nām. And, that son at the last moment said, “Actually, I was Vaiṣṇava from Rāmānuja-sampradāya, and in my life I made some offense with Mahāprabu's teachings. Now, by taking the birth in the pure Vaiṣṇava family, I'm liberated from this offense. And, I will continue my spiritual journey.” It's an article I've read. [Goswāmī Mahārāj: Hm, Hm.] And they say, that Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur wrote this article, but he is not really quoting directly, that that's name of his son. He's talking that as somebody else.

Śrīla Goswami Mahārāj: And, Guru Mahārāj says, “Out of all of his children, only two showed genuine interest in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.” [Avadhūt Mahārāj: Yes.] “And. of the two, we consider one a sahajiyā.” [Avadhūt Mahārāj: Right.] So, how rare śuddha-vaiṣṇava, śuddha-bhakti is. So, even being born in the family of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur is no guarantee, It's not a blood line, seminal transmission. Gurudev says more appropriately... 'cause once I said to him, we were doing research for various books that, “Oh, there's a daughter of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur alive in London.” I went, "Do you think it could be useful to interview her?” And, he said, "We are not interested in blood line, blood connection flesh connection.”

And I shuttered, realizing, “Why should I expect like, that she has some insight”
So, Gurudev says more appropriately, then substantially, that Saraswatī Ṭhākur was attracted to the... How does he say... you know... “The wealth of the melted heart of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur.” That's what brought him down to appear in that family. So, we don't refer to him as the son, and him as the father, implying some sort of flesh connection, blood connection. Which, Guru Mahāraj says, “That is what the Madhva line has descended into.” But, rather on the following this substance. The substance of what is given.

Because, as Guru Mahāraj indicates in his poetry, and the poetry was written as a birthday song. That's why they don't sing on the appearance day, cause it's a birthday song. But in one line there he says, vrajakānana-bahumānana-kamalapriyananyanam, guṇamañjari-garimā-guṇa-harivāsanavayanam (Śrī Dayita Dās Praṇati Pañchakam: 4.3−4) —I forget the lines, actually— praṇamāmi ca caraṇāntika-paricāraka-sahitam (Śrī Dayita Dās Praṇati Pañchakam: 4.6), that we worship the Guru in... not in isolation. Just as Kṛṣṇa is not worshipped in isolation, that is to divorce Him of His śakti.

We don't divorce... we don't worship the Guru in isolation, he is surrounded by his entourage; his followers. So, in this verse, Guru Mahārāj describes a kuñja in a spiritual world, that is the leader as kamala-mañjarī; that means Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. Sometimes Śrīla Gurudev would look at that picture they keep using, Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur with the beard and the mālā and say... And he said, "And to think he's a fourteen years old girl in the spiritual world.” So to remind us, that Guru is not the external form they're showing at any given point in time.

So, Guru Mahārāj says in his poetry, "In that kuñja, in the spiritual world, it is predominated by kamala-mañjarī; Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur". And there, also is guṇa-mañjarī, and nayanamaṇi-mañjarī. Nayanamaṇi-mañjarī means Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur. Guṇa-mañjarī means Śrīla Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj. He said, there, nayanamaṇi-mañjarī, and this shows the poetic expertise of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, he uses the word 'guṇa' to mean three separate things. The name of Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj, his secret name in the spiritual world.

He send... He sings the guṇas, means 'the qualities.' He's singing the qualities of guṇa-mañjarī, the guṇas of guṇa. And that's creating what? Guṇa. Sometimes guṇa means 'threads.' So, these are cinmaya threads. That are, he's saying, “When one quality, another quality, another quality, another quality, they're weaving, a spiritual tent and harivāsanavayanam And, Hari: Kṛṣṇa, He's irresistibly drawn to dwell there, within the tent of the innumerable qualities of Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj, sung by Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur.

So, it is from that plane, others may be going in that direction, and we wish them well, on their spiritual path and their journey. But, they're not Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, Saraswatī Ṭhākur. Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj, they're not practitioners They're not following spiritual advice and practices indicated by the great Vaiṣṇava's in the scriptures, so that they can make progress toward that plane. Rather, they have descended from there, to distribute something. So, Śrīla Gurudev says that, “Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur irresistibly drawn in attraction by the wealth of the melted heart of Bhahtivinod Ṭhākur descended into this plane.” Right.

And, we know, as we've heard, that was in Jagannāth Purī. How close to the Jagannāth altar and Deity? If He... If He was any closer, he would have been born on the altar. Right. That close. [laughing] And, during that pregnancy Bhakrivinod Ṭhākur made some special appeal, to the... there's so many subordinate, secondary Deities you see there. They're highlighted and indicated during the time of Ratha-yātrā by commentators. One is Vimalā-devī. And, since he felt as if Vimalā-devī had answered his prayers... Remember, all these devīs; Goddessess, they're shadows here, chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā (Bs: 5.44.2).

But, their... whatever their shadow representation, there's substance on the other side. So they didn't achieve that devī/devā position for nothing. Right. So, there's some on the other side, of which their shadow, there's spiritually substantial position. So, he named him Vimalā Prasād. And, we know, as Vimalā Prasād he's very serious, beyond serious. [chuckling] That, well the indications that Gurudev said, “Just as Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur invited Jagannāth Dās Bābājī Mahārāj to verify the birth place of Mahaprabhu. That, he also invited him to verify the appearance of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, that this is indeed that personality, who is descended to save the world, as it were.”

Because, it's indicated in the scriptures, that the savior, just to use a word, the mercy incarnate will appear in the east. And it's given some indication of being Nilācala-Puruṣottam-ṣetra-Jagannāth Purī. So, that's always been interpreted as Jagannāth, and jagannāth-prasād. Oh, Jagannāth appears there, and through jagannāth-prasād the world is liberated. And, once a year he comes out, by his mercy, ascends the chariot, and there's the Ratha-yātrā. As we know, what is the cause of that coming out? Is intolerable separation from Vrṇdāvan, as Jagannāth is Dwārakā-Kṛṣṇa. There are many... as we hear, someone will say, "Well, there's Indradyumna story, and then there this and that story".

What would Guru Mahārāj say? “All are possible, he's showing different things to the different people, according to the adhikār and capacity.” Just as when Kṛṣṇa enters Kaṁsa's arena, ten different points of view are expressed or observed, noted, by Vishvanath Chakravarti and other Ācāryas. So, that Jagannāth... and he's leaving, he went into the sky, he merged into the Deity, he walked across the sea, he entered Gopīnāth. Guru Mahārāj said, "All are possible, he's showing different things to different people.” But... So, that Jagannāth... so taking it that the savior will come from the east, mercy personified will appear in Jagannāth Purī, it's been understood as being Jagannāth Dev. But, we see that it is also an equally applicable to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswatī Ṭhākur.

Because, frankly speaking, if it were not for him, no one in this room would know anything about Jagannāth, jagannāth-prasād, or any other kind of prasād. Right.That's what we have to understand, the debt of every member of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement. And. actually, not only outside India, but within India, and I'll mention that in the moment. But, particularly, for those with no saṁskār, no idea. It is all the mercy of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, janakādhika-vatsala-snigdha-padaṁ (Śrī Śrī Prabhupāda-padma Stavakaḥ: 7.3). As Guru Mahārāj indicates in his song, "He is more affectionate than your own father, than your parents.” You think, “Who could love you more?” Him. Why? 'Cause he's bringing you in connection with something real.

Like, there is common trope; stereotype in the west, is the parents, they have some expectations from the children and, blah, blah, blah. Right. His expectation is a wonderful thing, that we aspire to. Right? Kṛṣṇa-dās, rādha-dāsi, right, to enter that realm. So, he's more affectionate, and that he's truly has our interest at heart. And that Saraswatī Ṭhākur, as he told, “How... why... how are we included?” We know that when he was revealing his plans to his disciples, he once said, "I envision a youth hostel in London.” 'Cause he planned to spend the next ten years of his life preaching in London and the west.

So, he's sent the book Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya with Bon Mahārāj, as the advanced party. But he planned to personally spend the next ten years of his life preaching in the west.
And he said, “I envisioned a youth hostel where for the non-vegetarians we'll arrange for them, from a..” In India, they say hotel, but means restaurant. You know, near-by restaurant. “We'll arrange for them, take care of them that way.” And, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj is a Bhaṭṭācārya-Brāhmiṇ. He was shocked to hear this. And said, "I think that the result of this policy, rather than liberating those folks, will be to introduce contamination into our Maṭh.”

And Saraswatī Ṭhākur said, "Oh, you don't know. I decided this ten thousand years ago.” That's what he said. Right. Think about that. “I decided this, I made this decision ten thousand years ago.” And, Guru Mahārāj said, “It was like a lightening bolt, to his heart, but illuminating.” What he was prepared to do to bring others in connection into Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. He was living a life of seclusion, doing nirjan-bhajan, chanting three lakhs of kṛṣna-nām a day, that's a hundred, ninety-two rounds. Not sixteen, or sixty four. A hundred, ninety-two rounds every day, living in seclusion in Māyāpur.

And, the inspir... Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur prodding him and the inspiration came to him to come out, to come down from his mahā-bhagavata platform. As a mahā-bhagavata, you see that everything is perfect. Even the worm in stool is rightly situated, and inevitability making progress. So, nothing needs adjusting, everything is fine, everything is perfect. So we're told, the mahā-bhagavata has to come to the second class position. Which is one of discrimination—good, bad, desirable, undesirable, favorable, unfavorable— to interact with others, make the choices about things. Right.

So, he gets the inspiration to come down from that position. Why? For the benefit of others. Like, we hear about the Goswāmīs, lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau tri-bhuvane... (Śrī Śrī Ṣaḍ Goswāmy-aṣṭakam: 2.2). Lokānāṁ hita-kāri, means their compassion is towards the people in general. That's motivating what they do. Otherwise, they would remain in seclusion, we'd never know anything about them. Only some great, great souls or, people with inconceivably good fortune would interact with them. And maybe we'd hear something, but otherwise they would be inaccessible. So, he gets an inspiration to come down to the madhyam position, to interact with others, to extend, promote Kṛṣṇa Consciousness to others. Right.

And, some... a page of the Charitāmṛtam comes in. What would be the activities You know, bhāga... nām-saṅkīrtan, bhāgavat-śravaṇ, sādhu-saṅga, murtī-pratiṣṭhā; establish murtī. Oh, and, lupta-tīrtha... to a... the holy places. These five things. So, if you see the Gauḍīya Maṭh logo, these five things are represented there. Bhāgavat-śravaṇ; to hear Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. You know, nām-saṅkīrtan, bhāgavat-śravaṇ, sādhu-saṅga, mur... what did I say?.. murtī-pratiṣṭhā; establishing Deities, and renovating, rediscovering, promoting the holy places. Those are the general activities of Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭh. Right.

And... So, when he answered Guru Mahārāj, he said, "You have to employ the principle of vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti.” That means... Vaikuṇṭha in this context means, 'unlimited or without constraint.' Vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti means like, 'liberal to the extreme.' Now, it should be pointed out, this would be suspect, if it came from someone who had character issues, who was not a perfect brahmacārī, chanting a hundred, ninety-two rounds in seclusion. That type of person. We don't see loose behavior in him. But. in essence, he's saying, “He's willing to tolerate others and their behavior or lack of saṁskār, to bring them in connection with Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.

As Guru Mahārāj... but Guru Mahārāj... Really, Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj personified vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti to the extreme, because he dealt with all of us. That's why he said once... said, "After dealing with all of you, nothing would surprise me”. He said, "Except, that they're chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa in China, that surprises me". So, but nothing else.” [laughing] And he didn't mean that entirely as a compliment. [Avadhūt Mahārāj: Maybe] So, and I include... and I include myself. I don't exempt myself from that. So, that's what he said, “We will have to employ vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti. A very liberal, generous way of dealing with people to bring them in connection with Kṛṣṇa.”

As Śrīla Prabhupād; Śrīla Swami Mahārāj did when he went to America. A Maṭh, technically speaking, a Maṭh has only brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs, those are the members of the Maṭh. Just like you go to the Buddhist Temple, the Wat. It's brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs. That's what makes a Maṭh. And, then for various reasons, at time, this/that, you know, on the far part of the land, a Deity here/there... As Gurudev said, when he named Sevā Āśram, saying, An Āśram can have different.. Āśram, you know, gṛhastha-āśram, etc...” But A Maṭh, technically speaking, only has sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs. That's what it means. Swami Mahārāj goes to America, he things he's going to have a Maṭh with brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs, and then all these women are coming. And they're sincere, they're serious, whatever, and he's saying, “What to do?”

And, then what do they say back in India, the people that are envious of him, “That he's... He allows men and women to mix freely in the āśram..." They said all kind of things that were untrue, or half true. And as Guru Mahārāj said, "Half truth is worse than falsity." So... But, a Maṭh is exclusively brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs. But, Saraswatī Ṭhākur realized, in the extension of this two other places, with other countries with other customs, there must be a very generous vision, which he had. While, he himself was a perfect picture of sadācā... vaiṣṇava-sadācār, etc... So. he's willing to tolerate in others, so Guru Mahārāj wrote, śithilita-vidhi-rāgārādhya-rādheśa-dhānī (Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj: 1.3). That he... the word there means, 'to loosen or slacken.'

He's not loose, he's not slack, he's not a slacker, but he's willing to loosen things to bring others onboard. That sort of idea, nikhila-bhuvana-māyā-chhinna-vichchhinna-kartrī, vibudha-bahula-mṛgyā-mukti-mohānta-dātrī (Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj: 1.1−2). And, in the first two he said, “Like he's dropping an atom bomb, an ontological atom bomb, on the karmīs, yogīs, jñānīs — finished.” Just says Guru Mahārāj found it hard at the beginning, this jñāna-śūnyā bhakti was a little difficult for him, being that, he knew so much, had so much śāstric knowledge and understanding. But Saraswatī Ṭhākur took him deeper and deeper. One disciple, having been a Māyāvādī, and now going so deep into Kṛṣṇa conception under Saraswatī Ṭhākur, he lost his mind and was institutionalized for a while. Couldn't handle the transition. [laughing]

But, that Saraswatī Ṭhākur, Jagannāth Dās Bābājī Mahārāj said, "Yes, this is he, for whom we've been waiting.” Because, Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur gives everything, guru-daṁ grantha-daṁ gaura-dhāma-daṁ nāma-daṁ mudā, bhakti-daṁ bhūri-daṁ vande bhakti-vinodakaṁ sadā (Śa: Śrī Laghu-chandrikā-bhāṣya, Maṅgalācharaṇa, 8). The whole wealth of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement, really comes from Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. But, he had maybe five, seven disciples. Who is going to distribute that, you need a distributer. Like we know, you may have a great product, but you need a good, you need good distribution, otherwise it's not going to happen. Saraswatī Ṭhākur is the distributor of the wealth of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur.

But, he by nature is a recluse philosopher. Although, he had one period in his forties, where he was a tutor for aristocratic British, 'cause, he would sometimes show his disciples a postcard. The lady said, she was taken by him, and wrote back to her friends in England, she said, "There's this one Bengali gentleman, who was tutoring our children.” She said, “Although, he is a traditional Bengali...” She said, “He's European in his ways. He's embraced European ways.” So, he'd like to show that, he understood that, you know, you're not going to promote Kṛṣṇa Consciousness being a sādhu passing stool in a ditch, in the jungle of Bengal.

Prabhupād said it once, he liked those huts. By the way, the huts come with a ten year guarantee for the roof, that they won't leak. So, they're not just huts the way you might think. But, Prabhupād said, “I could stay here in a hut happily.” He said, "But, then none of the gentlemen from Calcutta will come. But, if they hear that we have AC room, and a AC bus that will take you, the first class, then they will come.” And he was right. You see that. But, so the idea of the traditional sādhu living in the jungle, that... you're not going to attract the intelligentsia there. It seems silly and superficial, but it's true. Look, even the Mahābhārata, it says in the Bhāgavatam. And, it's... you know... Bhāgavatam is written by Vedavyāsa, so he should know.

But he says, how's it is go... strī-śūdra-dvijabandhūnāṁ, trayī na śruti-gocarā (SB:1.4.25.1−2). And, then he uses the word mūrkha. Mūrkha means for... he made the Mahābhārata for idiots. That's what he says, right in the Bhāgavatam. For fools, for people who dont get it, who can't follow philosophy. “I'm gonna give them the same thing in the form of the story.” Trayī na... strī-śūdra-dvijabandhūnāṁ, trayī na śru... (SB:1.4.25.1−2) So, that's the mighty Mahābhārata, Vyās is saying, "This I wrote for fools". So... Or, people who are philosophically unable to... they're ontologically challenged. So, what to speak of that, what to speak of now. Right.

What sort of methods have to be considered to deliver Kṛṣṇa Consciousness to the people, in general. So, Guru Mahārāj says, his model was pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange, matala sadhu-jana visaya-range (Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur). And, he said, “The visaya-range, what does it mean? 'Bait', that we use some bait, we dangle some bait, to entice the people towards Kṛṣṇa conception. But, as I like to remind the devotees, don't eat the bait. Right. Don't eat your own bait. Right. No matter how hungry you get. Right. The bait is for attracting others, don't become a victim of your own propaganda. Right. So, a little reminder. You know, a pop-up [boop!]. Don't eat the bait, you're eating the bait, you're a victim of your own propaganda. Don't listen to yourself. You just created that to attract others. [laughing]

But, anyway that he with a particular nature, needed a marketing person. That he found in Śrīla Bhakti Vilās Tīrtha Mahārāj. Saraswatī Ṭhākur living in the jungle of Māyāpur, has some Deity sevā inherited from Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. Śrīla Keśava Mahārāj's sister is bringing some lucī, some purīs everyday, and a little prasād for them to take. And the passing of Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj comes. So, as the word spread and reached Māyāpur, then he started making his way towards Navadvip.

It said when he was in the boat on the way, and we know on the other side Tīrtha Mahārāj has told to his friends in Calcutta, "Do you want to see a real Paramahaṁsa?" And, the guy said, "There are none left, they're all bogus. Don't talk to me about these Paramahaṁsa.” “No, there's one left who's real!” “I don't believe it. They're all bogus, every last one of them!” “No, there's one.” “All right.” They go, and he's taking him to see Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj. And as I pointed out, a mundane scholar did an analysis of these so-called 'Saints of Bengal.' Happened to discover this fact, accidentally, inadvertently she said, “You know, for all these other saints I am describing here, they have there fans, they have there detractors.” She said, “But, there's this one that everyone agrees was real. He has no detractors.”

And, it's Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj. So,they go there and it's... Bābājī Mahārāj has left the world. Then, they here he has one disciple that lives in Māyāpur. They get on the boat to go there, but the news has already reached Saraswatī Ṭhākur, he's coming. And, so they meet half way. And, we're told Saraswatī Ṭhākur saw that Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī is coming in a boat to him. Because, the Guru will see the disciple as vilās, an extension of his Gurudev. So, you can understand, he has some... will have some connection with this individual. And, Tīrtha Mahārāj says to him, “We gotta go to Calcutta.” Remember. Calcutta was the capital of India; the British India, up to a certain point.

He's saying, “Here in the jungle of Māyāpur, they're not going to come.” And, then it was really a jungle. Right. Imagine, we find it difficult to go there now, what it was like in 1917... or something else... inaccessible, you could say. Said, “So, I need to take you to Calcutta.” And, we know so, before that... I may have the date off a little bit, but... Because, Bābājī Mahārāj has left world, but before that he told the idea to Bābājī Mahārāj about going to Calcutta. And, Bābājī Mahārāj said, “Prabhu, don't do that. Calcutta is māyā.” [laughing] It's the, like the seat of māyā. Mākālī, you know... what do they say?.. mākālī-calcutta-walī. Like, mākālī, I'm your Calcutta man. So, I'm a mākālī man from Calcutta. Something along those lines. Right.

So, he's saying, “Don't go there, it's just māyā.” Right. And, what did Saraswatī Ṭhakur say, “I have so much faith in the dust of your holy lotus feet, of which one particle can liberate thousands of Calcutta's.” So, that's how he expressed his own opinion. Not, disagreeing, but saying, “I have so much faith in a particle of dust from your holy lotus feet. That can liberate thousands of Calcutta's. And, if in fact, Calcutta is the seat of māyā, then what better place to establish the worship of Guru-Gaurāṅga and Rādhā-Govinda.” Like that, that's how the Divine personalities express their differences with one another.

So, to Calcutta they went, and one sense the rest is history. But, we know when we say that, pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange, matala sadhu-jana visaya-range (Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur). That they're living in a hired house, so-called hired house in Baghbazar. And, Saraswatī Ṭhākur says, “For a flagship center he envisions, they need...” In modern times, I would say it would be like, three million dollars, if we fracture in cost differential and that. And, so... or one million dollars. You can say, one million dollars.

So, the word goes out. Gauḍīya Maṭh, they're collecting donations to establish, you know, flagship center. Calcutta needed a million dollars. And, one disciple of his gives three million dollars. So, all the devotees are happy and they say, “Prabhupād, more than what you wanted. As, you asked for one million dollars, Sakhī... Jagabandhu Prabhu gave three million dollars.” And, he said, “That is good for Jagabandhu Prabhu and so much benefit he'll get. But, what I wanted has not been fulfilled.” “Oh, how so?” “I wanted that a million people would give a dollar.”

“Each person will give one dollar. In that way, the sukṛti, a wave of sukṛti would flood the area. Because, each person giving a dollar for this, they'd get so much sukṛti for doing that. That's what I wanted. But, Jagabandhu Prabhu, he's given three million, that's good for him certainly. And, good for us for building the temple. But, not exactly what I wanted.” Right. So, we see that sort of heart. It comes out in different ways. It's not obvious with Saraswatī Ṭhākur. We... Every picture we see of him, his the epitome of gravitas. But, we don't realize how much heart he has. Right. As in the prayer of Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī to Sanātan Goswāmī Prabhu, vairāgya-vidyā... no... uh... what is it?

vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasaṁ prayatnair
apāyayan mām anabhīpsum andham
kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ para-duḥkha-duḥkhī
sanātanas taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi
(Vilāpa-kusumañjali: 6)

Sanātan Goswāmī, you're really compassionate and you're so happy in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. We know they're drowning in waves, you know, gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhur (Śrī Śrī Ṣaḍ Goswāmy-aṣṭakam: 4.3). They're drowning in waves of ecstatic Divine emotions. But, what makes them unhappy? To see there're other people who are not— who are not connected with Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. That makes them sad. They think, “Oh, you could be drowning in this ocean of ecstasy, instead what are you doing? Searching for a drop of water in the desert.” Right. They're trying to say, “There are trillion trillion stars in the known universe. And, on one tiny blue planet there are these... supports life and conscience beings. And, human beings are the conscience elite. And, if they get lucky on a good day, they experience what? A drop of happiness, a moment of pleasure.”

That's a bleak scenario. Right. Like, Shakespeare, Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (Macbeth). The best writer arguably in English, that's his conclusion. Right. “Trillion trillion stars, lucky on a good day, a drop of...” What is true, that's the bad news. The good news is it's fake news. It's not true. Right.

What's true is the trillion trillion stars are like an iceberg floating in an ocean of consciousness. Consciousness is a more vast substance, right, encompassing objective consideration. And, what is the ultimate, all-encompassing Divine substance, ānandam. Right. So... And, Kṛṣṇa is ānanda personified. So, they're saying, “You could be drowning in ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ, sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam (Cc: Antya-līlā, 20.12.3−4). Instead, you're searching for a drop of water in the desert.” There's no water in the desert. Wrong... You're looking in the wrong place. But, there's an ocean of ecstasy here. Saying, that makes them unhappy. That made him unhappy, not other things.

So, he started the Gauḍīya Maṭh; Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭh to extent Kṛṣṇa conception to others. Said at one point, “I started ten years ago, but came out of the jungle. Now I've got five hundred men who say what I say.” Right. It was extending, expansive, but he really wanted it to go outside of India, to the rest of the world, particularly English speaking countries. So much so, that Guru Mahārāj said, “Like, he's telling this all the time.” 'Cause, Swami Mahārāj Prabhupāda said to Guru Mahārāj, “Remember when Prabhupād told me this?” And, Guru Mahārāj said, “I don't know. He was telling everyone that all the time. So, when he specifically told that to you, I don't know about preaching in the English speaking countries.”

But, so much so, Guru Mahārāj said that, “A man who was a farmer. Whose job was to plow fields.” Right. With oxen, two bull and an oxen thing. He said, “That man was studying English.” And, the other devotees said, “Prabhu, why are you studying English?” And, he said, “Well, Prabhupād keeps saying, 'We're going to have to preach...'” He goes, “Maybe, one day I'll be plowing the fields of America.” [laughing] That shows to what degree he was emphasizing this. And, he called it mūrkhimāḥ-lok. “We did not take it yet to mūrkhimāḥ-lok.” But, for that, he had Śrīla Swami Mahārāj Prabhupād, the Divine Grace A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupād. And, it's interesting, when he was a householder... as you can see...

If you saw a householder like that and you're running a temple, you'd say like, “Hey, we should get Abay Prabhu to get more involved in the temple.” Right. I mean, you would think that. This like, fired-up householder, like, “Let's get him a...” And, Sara... When they said it to Saraswatī Ṭhākur, he said, “No, no, no, just let him, you leave him alone. He'll come at another time. Like, he'll do the desire sevā at another time. Don't... don't try to get him involved in your Maṭh.” That's very interesting and prescient, actually. So, anyway, he got the message, Bhakti Siddhānta, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī (Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj). Guru Mahārāj took the name 'Saraswatī' like, Saraswatī Ṭhākur, and turned it into...

Cause, she's Goddess Vāk; Vāk Devī. She's the Goddess of speech, song, sound— anything connected like that. Right. Like, scripture is sound in a book form. So, he takes... Guru Mahārāj, just see his mind, little... different places a little bit of his poetic skill and way of seeing things comes out. So, he takes the word 'Saraswatī' and reads it as Vāk Devī... Saras... Goddess Saraswatī, and then vāk-vāṇī. So, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī (Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj). And, knowing the whole thing about vapu and vāṇī. Vapu meaning the form and vāṇī the sound or the instructions. So, we're told that's like form and substance.

But, Guru Mahārāj said, and also, “Vāṇī has the danger of turning into a type of vapu.” When people are just riveted to just one thing that was said by the Guru, and eliminate all other things from consideration. Right. Anyway... So, he... he's... he says, Guru Mahārāj, “Beating in the heart.” Like, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī (Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj). May he all... his Divine voice being always playing in my heart. That was playing in the heart of Śrīla Prabhupād; Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupād. His in Vṛndāvan, he could've legitimately retired. He said, “I tried to do what I could, I'm here in Vṛndāvan to spend my final days, taking kṛṣṇa-nām, reading the scriptures, following the advice of Rūpa and Sanātan.” No one would have found fault with him.

But, the voice of Saraswatī Ṭhākur his playing in his heart. And, he can't deny that. It played in the heart of Guru Mahārāj. Otherwise, he would have been in nirjan-bhajan, we would have never met him. That voice of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, undeniable voice that demands kīrtan. He says, “Kīrtan means a fight; Kṛṣṇa conception with Māyā misconception.” That's his conception of kīrtan. So, then Bhakti Vendata Swami Prabhupād found the order of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, guruvajnam sirasi-dharyam saktyavesa svarupine, hare-krsneti mantrena pascatya-pracya-tarine (Śrīla Prabhupād Praṇām: by Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāj, Verse 2), Śrīla Gurudev; Govinda Mahārāj wrote.

Guruvajnam, the order of Guru. Sirasi-dharyam, taking it on his head. Saktyavesa svarupine, empowered; saktyaves Divine empowered. Hare-krsneti mantrena, and he gives hare-kṛṣṇa mantra to everyone. Pascatya-pracya-tarine, and preaching in the western world. A very beautiful, in four ślokas, sort of captured all the Prabhupād... Oh, Prabhupād. But, that was on the order of Saraswatī Ṭhākur. So, there is no Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement without him. Right. We wouldn't know about Bhakitvinod Ṭhākur. In one sense, he is the most important, 'cause, we can say, “Well, Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur...” Yeah, but we don't get Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur without Saraswatī Ṭhākur. We don't get Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj without him. We don't get... Govinda Mahārāj is without Śrīdhar Mahārāj. We don't get Swami Mahārāj without him.

So, he's 'it'— he's everything. And, still to this day, the only thing going on is Saraswatī Ṭhākur or so-called former followers of him. There's nothing else going on, besides him, to this day; a hundred, over a hundred years later. So, how great he is I can't properly express and our debt to him. But, I've taken up a lot of time. Mahārāj will say something. And, how pleased he would be with Mahārāj's activities and the spreading, extension of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in the digital age. If the printing press—I'll conclude with this—if the printing press was the bṛhad mṛdaṅga, then what is the internet? I can't even think of the metaphor?

Avadhūt Mahārāj: River.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Huh?

Avadhūt Mahārāj: River.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: No. An ocean of sound, you know, I mean...

Bhakti Lalitā: Mahā...

Avadhūt Mahārāj: River means current.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Not enough... The internet, like, would be... It's hard to explain.

Bhakti Lalitā: Mahā-bṛhad mṛdaṅga.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Ev... It has to be like a mahā-mahā. You'd have to put on few...

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Mahā fiber.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Mahā... no that's.... you know, he's using a drum, 'cause it draws attention. The flow is already assumed. It's distributing the flow. The drum brings your attention. You hear the drum from far away. So, the internet is inescapable. So, it's like a mahā-mahā-koṭi-bṛhad mṛdaṅga. Ten million bṛhad mṛdaṅgas. Or actually, more like even that's too small. I'd say six billion mṛdaṅgas. That's what it is, potentially. Six billion bṛhad mṛdaṅgas. And, one of them is in your pocket at all times.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: That's one of the comparisons. Another comparison is like, it's like Gaṅgā is Divine stream and streaming from Divine world.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Yes.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: It's also from our 'Infiniti Media...'

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Live stream.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: We're trying to stream that current, the 'conscious river' purifying. Think that Saraswatī Ṭhakur must be very pleased with that, because His idea was that something Divine going on in every world, at every moment the Divine world. So, through media and producing content, we're translating that ever-fresh spiritual current, that's coming from the conscious world to the world of matter, and purifying everyone. By your grace now, it's definitely established. And, what are temples are trying to daily stream and post. And, that's what Saraswatī Ṭhakur wants. That's why he wants the books, he want the newspaper. He wants all kinds of media; spiritual media. There's general media, there's culture media...

Goswāmī Mahārāj: And digital media.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Deep media and obviously, we think if he would be today. And, obviously he's today here. I'm sure he's please with that because he say... Hey, actually all ideas of exhibitions came from him. The Vedic Planetarium idea also coming from him.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Theistic Exhibition.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: And, he... Yeah, he would think about recruiting, exposing concepts to people. Showing them an art form. Showing them a sound form. And, I've read some of his... like, there's a few of his publishing concepts on what exhibition should be like. Like, he's talking about some example of Bhāgavatam [???] story, that story, this story. And, I also understand, he's dealing at a particular time, with particular audience, which is important. And, he's trying to see what is audience will connect with. But, that's only very basic level. In his own spiritual magnitude, he's like cooking really, really deep substance in his heart. He understands what's in his heart may not appeal to everyone, but you think how do I take this to the highest ideal...

Goswāmī Mahārāj: And, actually Bhaktivinod called those people, ādhunika, means the modern educated Bengali.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Right. So, you're thinking, “I have the most incredible substance, how do I connect everybody with that.?” That's like incredible, because if you think, “Oh, you know, we sell diamonds, we're always going to sell diamonds for those who have money to pay.” But, you think, “But, how do I take the diamond, and first I have to establish value.” So, he's trying to establish value at all kinds of means. And, that's why he's so... his expression is like, “There's no shortage of anything in this world, just hari-kathā.”

Gosāmī Mahārāj: Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Avadhūt Mahārāj: He's like, his value in hari-kathā is the most important value in this world. And... And, as much it's like substance. And, how much you can water is your problem. You know, how much flavor you can add is your problem. But, he giving you that incredible ocean of hari-kathā. And, he start that is what people lacking. Because, people say “Well, if you know, if we have better internet people start work.” People say, “Oh, we have a justice and social life. And, people become a better people.” But, we know it's all not really substantial. There's no less world value with internet. There's no less ignorance with like, the greatest social system, like in Switzerland, which has highest suicidal rate. There is not greatest value in consciousness, like China, which is trying to be like massive socialism, massive capitalism. Like, we see people suffering everywhere. And, what is suffering from is the lack of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.

And, that's why Saraswatī Ṭhākur attention was like, don't go political, don't fight with political system. Don't go social... they try... don't try to feed or please everybody there. Try to do this one thing, is like, some kīrtan distribution and you'll be fine. And, even if somebody will not accept this medicine, you'll be full of that nourishment. And, it's an interesting thing, sometimes we'll go to chant outside. And, you know, some people like what we do, some people don't care what we do. You know, it's interesting. Today, we're going to go to Chiang Mai Market. So, we will chant in Chiang Mai Market, we see like high interest of Chinese people. Sometime I even tell Līlā, go meet these people, [Goswāmī Mahārāj laughing] meet these people. Because, we go without something like... They see this procession, then they naturally want to join. And... But, you see some other people, like merchants, they're like happy. They're like, “Oh, these guys are interesting, they play our instrument.”

“Cause Thai people know mṛdaṅgas and karatāls, but they first time see how this apply in kīrtan. They don't really understand, because the never heard kīrtan.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Means they're getting some sukṛti.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: But, they're happy. They're like, even sometimes when I go buy something at a market, they say, “Oh, you're the guys who dance?” I say, “I'll give you a discount.” [Goswāmī Mahārāj laughing] But, it's an interesting way that people react. You know, somebody excited. Somebody, just like some western people, just thinking, “What the hell is this? Like, what is this white people doing here?” But, you know, Saraswatī Ṭhākur, he'd say, “If, you just do that, don't try to like... don't try to point old people aren't very receptive or they're super receptive.” Just like in Los Angeles, we're going to chant in Venice beach. And, everybody go to Venice beach, it's like, they expect some kind of freak show. And, you really like, you're going through L.A. And you see the most low class art, people, junkies, drug addicts.

And you're like Chinese tourist and you think. “I'm coming to the most influential culture, [Goswāmī Mahārāj laughing] and you see a bunch of... you know, like a bunch of people. Some of of them there like... there thing is like, “Don't do work, do love, which means like sex.”

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Make love not war.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Right. Make love not war. But, to them, it's like, love means like sexual expression to yourself. That's the best you can express love. So, you can see oldest kind of like, the hippest things that people think, all this rock and roll is so cool, this counter... alternative culture is so cool. But, you end up like a bunch of junkies sitting with you're like very screwed-up ideas. [Goswāmī Mahārāj laughing] But, when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, all these junkies suddenly they're like, widely wakened. And, even sometimes when we chant hari-nām, you know, they're like bringing their drums and musical instruments. So, we stay together and they're joining, they're jamming. And, that means like, they know what Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is. And, by looking...

Goswāmī Mahārāj: And, they're responding favorably. And, they're actually accumulating sukṛti.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Right, right.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: So, some later time, we don't know when, but it's going to make sense to them. And, they're going to come out of that coma.

Avadhūt Mahārāj: Right. So... so... So, one thing is very good, is that the world is in coma. And, that coma is the shock of the spiritual, via like experience, where can envision yourself. And, like world of self is on, “Oh, I'm the King. I'm the consumer. I'm the rich man. I'm like...” And, you'll see like people like, “The richest Chinese Women, she's producing the screens for every mobile phone you have.” And, she's like a billionaire. And, you think, “Oh, she must be very happy person.” But, then look at her interview, you understand, that person's life frustrated. Or, you go to see, “Oh, biggest movie star jump off the forty-second story of the building and commit suicide.” You think, “Why, this person did that? He should be like climbing to his career, trying to like, you know, be coolest person on Instagram. Be the most favorable person, protect the animals, protect the people. And, suddenly he commits suicide.”

So, which means like, “Nothing will really satisfy you.” That's what Saraswatī Ṭhākur direct answer. “What are you looking for? Are you looking illusion, perception or are you looking for satisfaction?” So, by participating this kṛṣṇa-kīrtan, your heart will be satisfied, you'll be internally pleased. Even, at the very beginning, you don't really get everything. Just like get in a train and you see where you'll be taken. Just like us. You know, we got into train by his mercy. And, uh... So, later I should speak something in Russian. So, just to conclude, what we can understand is... just like, why everybody believed Jesus Christ, or Mohammed, or... like, you know, great spiritual leader. 'Cause Saraswatī took... Saraswatī Ṭhākur took the highest spiritual gems, and he established distribution system with everyone is getting commentated.

The people who lives in the Maṭh, the people who comes to the Maṭh, people who keep prasādam, who eats prasādam. And, he put this incredible distribution system. And, really when we talk about Prabhupād, it's just really his extension. And, that's what sometimes several people don't understand. There would not be Prabhupād without Prabhupād. And, that's why they called him Prabhupād, because he exactly did what Saraswatī Ṭhākur want. He did like, he didn't manufacture much, you know, what Prabhupād likes art; all the spiritual art. Prabhupād likes books, so I do the books. Prabhupād liked to build the Maṭh, so I'll build my center. So, Śrīla Prabhupād did exactly what Śrīla Prabhupād wants. Then, you can understand that, were the Prabhupād title came from. Because, he did exactly what his Guru want. And, you know, that's our fortune to be connected with Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupād. And, in coming in connection with him, someone like, you know, Abhay Babu.

And, what Govinda Mahārāj said, “Who could believe that Abhay Babu become Prabhupād?” But, it's showing if you were to sincerely accept order of Guru, sacrifice yourself. Just like in the, you know, spiritual world there's not a short of... shortage of position of... Like, anybody would like to self sacrifice, he'll give glorious position by the glorious he asks. So, anyway... I think later we should say something in Russian. We should share the song.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Yes. Will sing the song Guru Mahārāj wrote.
Bs: Brahma-saṁhitā
Cc: Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta
Śa: Śaraṇāgati