14th Disappearance Day of Srila BV Narayana Gosvami Maharaja
14th Disappearance Day of Srila BV Narayana Gosvami Maharaja
Srila Bhakti Vedant Madhav Gosvami Maharaj :
Sri Gurave Sri Gaur Chandraye
Sva Parikarya Yugala Kisoraya Ca
Vraja Dhamya Purshottam Ksetraya Radha Vanaya Ca Namo Namah
Vrindayai Tulasi-Devyai Priyayai Keshavasya Cha
Krishna-Bhakti-Prade Devi Satyavatyai Namo Namaha
(Jaya) Sri-Krishna-Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda
Sri-Advaita Gadadhara Srivasadi-Gaura-Bhakta-Vrinda
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE
First of all, I offer my obeisances to Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupada Paramhansa Swami Astotara Sata Sri Srimad Bhakti Vedanta Srila Vaman Goswami Maharaj and Om Vishnupada Sri Srimad Bhakti Vedanta Srila Narayan Goswami Maharaj, and to the entire Guruparampara, I offer my obeisances. Today, I was requested by all my God brothers and God sisters to speak something on Srila Gurudev, so I will speak about Srila Gurudev’s aarti. You know, Gurudev aarti that we are performing everyday at Navdeep math in evening time, in Delhi and Mathura, as well.
So I am speaking about Srila Gurudev’s aarti. So this unworthy sevak has composed that when Gurudev was present in this world, that aarti was written in 2005. Gurudev is very very happy with this Aarti, so I’m describing it in very short.
“Jaya jaya gurudevera aratiko sobha yamuna -tata vraja – tirthe bhakta-mano-lobha”
So, in this, all the metre and tune is like jaya jaya gaurachander aratiko sobha, same tune, same style, same meter, everything will be the same. Jaya jaya gurudevera aratiko sobha, the beauty of Srila Gurudev’s Aarti, where is it taking place? Yamuna -tata vraja -tirthe bhakta-mano lobha. It is attracting all his devotees on the banks of Yamuna in Vraja. My Gurudev’s samadhi is in Navdeep, then how we can reconcile? Maybe, that fellow who wrote that is a crazy fellow, so how we can reconcile?
So, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had taken renounced order, his desire to go to Vrindavan, on the other hand, Sriman Nityanand Prabhu decided, “I will not allow him to go to Vrindavan, I will bring him to Shantipur.” And, if you know somebody’s weak point, you can press it very easily.
What is Bhagwan’s weak point? (A devotee answered, “Bhakta Vatsal”.) In this world, parents are Santan Vatsal. Whatever parents are earning, they are keeping everything for their children. This is not a bad quality, this is a natural quality. The same way, Gurudev is Shishya Vatsal, especially Sevak Vatsal. He has so much love and affection for his disciples especially sevak. If there’s a forest and a small bear, tiger or a lion comes, and if want to touch them, it’s mother will come and attack you. The same way, if you go against any sevak, serving simple heartedly, Gurudev will not be happy and not excuse you. Your spiritual life will be ruined. And, in the same way, Bhagwan is Bhakt Vatsal. He has so much love and affection for his devotee. Bhagwan said, “Mad bhakta vinodaya, karo vivida kriye.” Why do I perform so many pastimes? To entertain my devotee, to give them pleasure, not for myself. He is not telling for others. “Mad Bhakta Vinodaya”, I want to give pleasure to my devotee. So, Bhagwan’s topmost quality is Bhakta Vatsalya. And, who is the greatest devotee than Nityananda Prabhu?! So, what Nityananda Prabhu did? He came back to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu will come after Sanyas so he’ll go before him at the banks of the Ganges because Mahaprabhu took the renounced order in Katwa.
[A devotee’s cellphone rings]
Srila BV Madhav Goswami Maharaj: Better to turn off.
Devotee: He is not listening to the cell phone.
Srila BV Madhav Goswami Maharaj: Because the mind will get distracted, it will lose attention. In America, I always say turn off your cell phones for one hour, what emergency will come? We are not going to ICU, so no problem [devotees laugh]. I spoke very friendly while you are listening, turn it off. For just half an hour, what’s the problem? This will drop your attention as well as the attention of the people around you.
So, what happened? as Mahaprabhu had taken sanyas in Katva, on the banks of the Ganges, Nityananda Prabhu came to the banks of the Ganges and told to some cowherd boys who were grazing their cows. “Listen”, Nityanand prabhu said, “very soon one mad man will come asking what is the way to go to Vrindavan? You say this (right) direction”. “Ok, very good” exclaimed the cowherd boys.
So, Sriman Mahaprabhu, after some time, came and Nityananda prabhu telling them go to Shantipur. “Advaitacharya, Mahaprabhu is coming. Bring one set of cloth , saffron cloth because Mahaprabhu has no other spare cloth. So be ready on the banks of Ganges with a boat and a cloth. And inform everyone from Navadwip and Mayapur to come for Sankirtan.”
After some time Mahaprabhu came, seeing cowherd boys grazing very happily. He called them, “hey boys I was to go to Vrindavan,” They told, “this (right) way.”
“Oh, I’m already in Vrindavan!” Mahaprabhu is so absorbed in mood, “I’m in Vrindavan, yes! And, Yamuna is this way!” “Vrindavan and Yamuna is there!” Mahaprabhu is very happy, knowing that no one is there, Mahaprabhu came and took a dip in Yamuna, praying “chidanandbhano sada nandsuno parprempatri dravbramhmagatri, adhyana lavitri jagatkshemdhartri pavitrakriyano vapurmitraputri gangadi teertth parisevit padpadma goloka saukhyaras_poormahi mahimna aaplaptavitakhil-sudhasu -jala sukhabdhau radhamukund-mudita yamunam namami “ from Chaitanya Charitamrit. So like this, he took a dip in Yamuna. And then Advaita Acharya Prabhu gave cloth to him. All of sudden, from a sky,
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked, “Advaita, You were here?”
Advaita acharya said, “Yes Prabhu.”
Mahaprabhu said, “ This is Vrindavan?
Advaita acharya said, “Yes we are in Vrindavan.”
Mahaprabhu said, “Vrindavan?”
Advaita acharya said, “Yes Prabhu.”
Mahaprabhu then looks here and there and says, “This is not Vrindavan, here we have Jackfruit tree, Mango tree, Coconut tree, this seems to be Shantipur; in Vrindavan there is Tamal tree, Pilu tree , Kadamba tree, but there is nothing here. Then I have not taken bath in Yamuna?”
Advaita Acharya said, “No prabhu, you have taken bath in Yamuna.”
Mahaprabhu said, “How come?”
Advait Acharya replies, “Wherever you’re, you’re in Vrindavan.”
Advaita Acharya continues, “And moreover, in Ganges, two canals are simultaneously flowing. Ganges in the eastern direction and Yamuna in the western direction.”
Now question may arise that, “Mahaprabhu is Swayam Bhagvan. Then why did the cowherd boys lied? They followed Nityanand prabhu’s order and lied to Mahaprabhu.
This question may arise.
Nityanand Prabhu is undivided guru tattva, this is one point.
The second point is he, Nityanand Prabhu or Baldeva Prabhu, is the origin of jiva souls. First, all jiva soul, who came directly from Baladeva Prabhu’s manifestation, they are the eternal associates of Braj. After Baladev Prabhus Expansion is Mulsankarshan, the jiva who came from Mulsankarshan, they are the external associates of Mathura and Dwarka. We should not call them jiva, they should be called as “parikar”.
Like, in this country, Australia, the Prime Minister is the topmost government officer. And one sweeper is also a government worker. But we cannot tell the Prime Minister that you are sweeper. This is an offence. The same way, you cannot tell them as “jiva souls” you have to call them as “nitya parikar” .i.e. eternal associates.
Then, third one comes from “Mahasankarshan”. Who are they? They are eternal associates of all Vaikunthya tattva, like Narayan, Narsimha dev, Ramachandra, Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, etc.; their parikar.
And then, the fourth one, they come from “Mahavishnu” means “Karanodakshayi Vishnu”. So, someone looks towards bottom, like myself came down, and suffering in this world, and slapped by maya. And, those who look upwards, according to their constitutional form, Samuhik Vaikuntha – Ayodhya, Dwarka, Mathura, Braj. This is decided by Sadhan.
They misuse their independent power. So jiva souls has – Iccha, Anubhav, Kriya. (Desire, Feeling and Willing). So, when you misuse this, then you have to suffer. We didn’t pass the test, we are failure, so we came here. So, all the original jiva soul are from Nityanand prabhu. So he ordered them, so they have to follow the origin of theirs. And moreover, he is undivided guru tattva. If Gurudev is happy, then Bhagwan is bound to be happy. If bonafide Guru is there, then it is mentioned in the scriptures, “harou hrishte gurustrata, gururushte na kashchana”. If Bhagwan is very angry and very unhappy, but Gurudev is happy, then Gurudev will easily make Bhagwan cool. And, if Gurudev is unhappy, then Bhagwan will never excuse.
So here, I am telling a Siddhanta, that who is very qualified Sadhak, there are three stages:
Mahaprabhu, though Bhagwan, but he is acting like Acharya Leela. He is never acting like Bhagwan Leela, like acharya / sadhak Leela, why ? To teach us…
Very highly qualified Sadhaks have 3 stages:
- Antar Dasha (Internal Stage)
- Ardha Bahya Dasha (Half External Stage)
- Bahya Dasha (External Stage)
“Antardashan kore Radha Krishna Darshan, ardha bahaya dashae kore pralap varnan, bharidashae kore Harinam Sankirtan”.
In the Internal Stage, they are seeing the darshan of Radha Krishna and serving there. In the Half External Stage, chopped liked a mad person, no link. In the External Stage, they’ll perform Harinam Sankirtan and Harikatha, like this. Sriman Mahaprabhu was in internal stage, when in Jagganath puri, in Gambhira, sometimes, he jumps in the ocean, sometimes, gets mixed up with cows, sometimes, in the ocean, his body became so long, and sometimes like a tortoise. When doing kirtan, Mahaprabhu came in sense, “Am I Chaitanya”. “I was with Radha Krishna, there was water sports pastime going on, why bring me back here?!” Sometimes, there is no link with each other, and sometimes, He is talking with devotees, dancing in front of Jagganath Dev’s Rath.
Again, I will give example of Srila Gurudev. When Gurudev is in internal stage, when Gurudev witness pastimes, when he was completely fit, he was in Russia. In Russia, at that time, all flights were cancelled due to forest fire. They were in Moscow for 3 hours. Gurudev said, “I promised, I must go there.” In Gurudev’s dictionary, there’s no word named “No”, only “Must Go”.
And, everyone was very scared, amid so much smoke, flight can land or not… Flight came from Delhi, India, and after more than one and a half month, that flight landed there. After that, no flight landed for the rest of the day, for again few days, it was stopped.
Look, how Bhagwan arranges. Only that (Gurudev’s) flight, which took off from Delhi, landed. Before that, as well as, after that, no flight landed. It was stopped again for few days.
So, during Gurudev’s sickness’s pastime, we were in Delhi.
In morning, Gurudev was telling, “Ubar masala… Ubar masala.” I thought, what he was speaking, I came and couldn’t find it here. Ubar masala means spice, used for cooking. Like we are using coriander, kalonji, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, etc, so many…
In Braj, one spice name is Ubar. I have never heard of it. I came here but couldn’t find. He was in internal stage. In the morning, Shrimati Radhika, every single day, goes to cook in Nandbhavan. Mata Yashoda sends Kundalata, she goes and brings Radhika.
Why?
It is mentioned in one place in scriptures, that in Braj, the topmost cook is Shrimati Rohini Devi, very good cook. Mother Yasdhoda does not cook so much. Why? With two children, if both mothers are in kitchen, it becomes very hard to control them, so Naughty! Rohini Mata cannot control both of them, they don’t listen. Rohini Mata tells, “Oh Yashode! Before Baldev was very nice, very calm & quiet, but he became double naughty, more than Krishna. What Krishna tells, He follows Him”. Once, both boys are playing, Mother Yashoda said to Rohini Devi to go and get them. Mata Rohini couldn’t catch any one of them. They’re playing Mata Rohini came back tired, “Oh Yashode! It’s not possible for me, both are very naughty, they are making me tired. When I go to catch them, they run this way… that way… zig zag. She became very tired.”
Then Yashoda went. “Baldev, Krishna! I’m asking to come back.” You have seen in television, everything is in slow motion. Yashoda Maa is running, “hau, hau, hau…” “Haua? Maiya, are you playing with Haua?” Maiya says, “No… It is it at your back, a ghost, very dangerous…” Krishna & Baldev ran towards Maiya holding finger, they came back. So, always one mother needs to take care of boys, so Mother Rohini cooks, because She is a very good cook.
In scriptures, Acharyas are showing in commentary, Mata Rohini is very first class cook, so why does Yashoda calls Radhika everyday to Nand bhavan? Who can answer?
Srila Gurudev – So Nand Baba and Yashoda Maa & Kirti Maiya and Vrishbhanu Baba, both are Brajraj, very good friend, knowing each other. Radhika is a very small girl. Krishna waited for Nand Baba and Yashoda Maiya, when they are going, & taking prasad, they are going, taking prasad like all of us here coming here and taking prasad. Same way, they went, took prasad and came back. Next day, Rohini cooked, Yashoda cooked, Krishna said, “no taste… nothing”. “What happened? Why are you not taking prasad?” Two days went by, but no taste. He told, “Mata I want to sell cook.” “What?” “We went there, that cook was very tasty.”
Then Mother Yashoda sent some servants to find out, and Kirti Maiya told that my small laali cooked. So, when Radhika was very small girl, Durvasha Rishi came and gave her benediction. “Whatever Radhika will cook will be much more tastier than nectar. Whoever will have food, cooked by her, his health will always be very nice. Any demon could not kill him, no one can beat him anywhere, and he who eats that food, his life span is very high, all miracle would be there.” So Durvasha gave Her this benediction. Then they told “Ok”, so Mother Yashoda invites Radhika to cook everyday.
Wherever Radhika is going, she is not going alone. With her, there are so many sakhis and so many manjaris. Radhika is cooking on so many stoves. Sometimes standing here, there, going and checking and all other are helping.
So, being there, so Radhika told one of her maid servant, Raman Manjari, “Hey, bring that ubar masala.”
So, this is the internal stage somehow or the other, seeing so many people, Gurudev came in Half External Stage, asking for Ubar Masala. So I came and could not find it.
So, this is half external stage. And when in external stage, speaking Harikatha and giving initiation, all of these are in external stage.
Giving one example. We are in America, Badger. We have heard that, when Srila Bhakti Vedant Swami Maharaj used to preach here, he used to go to toilet being in a line (queue) and same thing happened for Gurudev (BV Narayan Maharaj) also, in America. Whoever host us, they host here live in TV room, one small room, they gave to Gurudev and myself, big room, a master bedroom with toilet, they gave it to Brajanath, Budhat Prabhu, and Padmanabh Maharaj. And, they never told Gurudev to come and stay here or use bathroom, they never told. So many people have to go in queue, I asked Gurdev to sit here and I be in the line, when my turn came, when some body went inside after that me, come behind me. I call Gurudev, we will be there and you go for toilet, take bath, and everything, like this.
So, what happened, so Gurudev is in internal stage, half external stage and then external stage. So, being in Badger, Gurudev is chanting, the man who hosted Gurudev, he came and entered Gurudev’s room, sneaking in his room. And sitting there, Gurudev is chanting, closing eyes, sometimes chanting slow course, going on, and the man had to wait for 45-50 mins. Then, Gurudev saw him and said, “You were here? When did you come?” He responded, “I am here for almost an hour”.
Srila Narayan Gosvami Maharaj: “Almost an hour? How you came? nobody ask… Navin or someone other did not check you”.
Host: “No, no one told me anything .”
He asked Gurudev, “Shall I ask any question to you?”
Srila Gurudev said, “Yes.”
Host asks, “For how long, you were in trance?”
Srila Gurudev replied, “I’m always in trance.”
They are always in internal stage, 24 hours a day, serving the divine couple. This is their speciality. When Gurudev went for a morning walk, especially in Badger, between 80-100 person will go with him in morning walk.
When Gurudev is chanting, and if someone talks, He will become very angry. “What I’m doing you don’t know! You are pulling me down from that area, You cannot understand what I’m doing, where I am… You are only doing chattering pattering!”
So here, “Jai Jai Gurudever Artiko Shobha, Jamuna Tat Braj Tirthe Bhakt Man Lobha”. So this is Mahaprabhu took bathe in Ganges’ western direction, so jamuna tat. And, Gurudev’s Samadhi is in the western direction of Ganga. So, Jamuna tat!
Why Braj?
Braj means Vrindavan.
Navadwip is abhinn Vrindavan. And in Nawadwip, our math is in Koladwip? what is Koladwip? Koladwip No-different from Goverdhan. And, Goverdhan is very near and dear to Gurudev.
And, in Navadwip, in Gaur Mandal, my param Gurudev’s Samadhi is there, my Guru Maharaj’s, everybody’s, and so many associates of Prabhupad and other Samadhis are there in Gaur Mandal, Navadwip Dham.
So, this describes, “Jamuna Tat Braj Tirthe Bhakt Man Lobha”. So, each and every line, has very deep meaning. I’m finishing here.
Vanchcha Kalpataru Bhyascha
Kripasindhubhya Eva Cha
Patitanaam Paavnebhyo
Vaishnavebhyo Namo Namah.
