HIS REVERENCE FOR MY GURU-PADAPADMA

Once my most worshipable guru-pādapadma, aṣṭottara-śata-śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, accompanied by five or six sannyāsīs and ten to twelve brahmacārīs, arrived at Śrī Gaura-vānī-vinoda Āśrama in Subhāspallī, Khaḍagpura [West Bengal]. Pūjyapāda Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Mahārāja, pūjyapāda Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Trivikrama Mahārāja and the prominent sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs of Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti were present with Śrīla Guru-pādapadma.

The founder of that āśrama, pūjyapāda Śrīmad Bhakti Jīvana Janārdana Mahārāja, had made grand arrangements for the vyāsa-pūjā of his most worshipable gurudeva, nitya-līlā-pravista om visnupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. Many Vaisṇavas gathered for the festival.

At the beginning of the function, the disciples of pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja came, on the order of their gurudeva, to offer flowers at the lotus feet of my gurudeva, astottara-śata-śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, who was seated on a beautifully decorated seat.

Śrīla Gurudeva directed them to offer flowers at the lotus feet of their gurudeva, tridandi-svāmī Śrīmad Bhakti Jīvana Janārdana Mahārāja, saying, “In regard to worship, it is the injunction of the scriptures to first perform arcana-pūjā of the lotus feet of one’s own śrī guru-pādapadma, followed by worship of the feet of one’s param-guru (grand spiritual master), the guru-paramparā and then Śrī Bhagavān. Bhagavān has personally stated:

[One must always worship one’s guru first, and only then worship Me. If one follows this process properly, one will naturally attain all perfection. But if one neglects this process, everything will be fruitless.]

Therefore, it is inappropriate to transgress this traditional rule.”

After that, paramārādhya Gurudeva also instructed his most dear Śrīmad Bhakti Jīvana Janārdana Mahārāja to [first] receive arcana, pūjana, and puṣpāñjali[from his disciples]. Pūjyapāda Śrīmad Janārdana Mahārāja regarded my guru-pādapadma as his śikṣā-guru; therefore, without any hesitation, he followed his instruction. His disciples proceeded to joyfully and splendidly worship their gurudeva with sixteen articles (ṣoḍaśāopacāra) and offer puṣpañjali (flowers). Thereafter, in great jubilation, they all offered flowers at the feet of my gurudeva and received his merciful blessings.

Throughout his life, whenever pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja remembered this incident, he would always mention, with tears in his eyes, my guru-pādapadma’s magnanimity, parental affection for his followers, his expertise in bhakti-siddhānta, and his guru-niṣṭhā.

A RASIKA AND BHAVUKA BHAKTA

I first had the darśana of pūjyapāda Mahārāja in 1947 when I came to Śrī Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha, the main maṭha of Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti. Then, he was a naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī. It was around that time that he established his illustrious maṭha in Khaḍagpura. He came to perform Śrīdhāma Navadvīpa parikramā under the guidance of my guru-pādapadma, bringing with him some faithful pilgrims from Śrī Śyāmanānda Gauḍīya Maṭha, Medinipura. While on the parikramā, Śrīla Guru-pādapadma would occasionally order him to speak hari-kathā, and as he would listen to that hari-kathā, Śrīla Guru-pādapadma would become supremely elated.

Pūjyapāda Śrīmad Janārdana Mahārāja’s name at that time was Śrī Anantarāma Brahmacārī. It was from my spending that time in his company that our relationship gradually began to thicken. He was endowed with all the qualities befitting a Vaiṣṇava. His natural disposition was to be sweetly-spoken, humble, tolerant, never wanting respect for himself and always ready to give respect to others. He was well-versed in scriptures like Śrī Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, Bṛhad-bhāgavatamṛta, Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, Lalita-mādhava, Vidagdha-mādhava, Stava-māla, Stavāvalī, the “Śrī Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī” and “Sārārtha-darśiṇī” commentaries on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, respectively], and Śrī Baladeva Vidyabhūṣaṇa’s Govinda-bhāṣya, and he was firmly established in the perfect conclusions (siddhānta) of Vaiṣṇavism. He was perpetually engaged in speaking hari-kathā. Notably he was a rasika and bhāvuka bhakta. As a regulation , he would daily worship tulasī, behold ārati, mark his whole body with the name of his worshipable goddess, Śrīmatī Rādhikā, and lovingly recite stavas and stutis.

HIS EXCLUSIVE MOOD OF SERVICE TO SRI RADHA

In his hari-kathā, I have particularly observed that he was a śrī rūpānuga Vaiṣṇava ācārya. On the aforementioned vyāsa-pūjā festival, daily at the time of brāhma-muhūrta, I noticed how he would recite, with intense love, stavas and stutis like Śrī Rādhikāṣṭakam, Śrī Gāndharvā-saṁprārthanāṣṭakam, Śrī Viśākhānandadābhidha-stotram, Śrī Utkaṇṭhā-daśakam, Śrī Cāṭu-puṣpañjali, Śrī Kārpaṇya-pañjikā-stotram, Śrī Utkalikā-vallariḥ, Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍāṣṭakam, and Śrī Govardhana-vāsa-prārthanā-daśakam. When I heard him do this, extreme faith in these stavas and stutis arose within me, and from then on, following his footsteps I began to recite them. By constantly being in pure association (sat-saṅga), my faith in them increasingly developed.

I had heard that among Kṛṣṇa’s rāgātmika associates, the gopīs are topmost. Among them, some have the same affection (sama-snehā) for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, some have more affection for Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-snehādhikā) and others have more affection for Śrī Rādhā (śrī rādhā-snehādhikā). Among the śrī rādhā-snehādhikā, the gopīs headed by Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī are foremost. And the rāgānuga-sādhakas under their guidance are foremost among sādhakas. I have observed this mood in pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja. When he would explain the following verses in his hari-kathā, his internal exclusive mood of servitude to Śrī Rādhā (rādhā-dāsya) would thoroughly manifest.

“O Devī Gāndharvikā! Today, in utter desperation, I throw myself on the ground like a stick. Filled with great distress, I implore You with a choked voice to be merciful to this fool and count me as one of Your own.”

                                                        –  Śrī Vilāpa-kusumāñjali (96)

“He Devī Śrī Rādhike! I am Yours, I am Yours! I cannot live without You. Knowing this, please give me a place at Your lotus feet.”

“O Varoru Rādhā, it is as rare to fulfil my hope as it is to attain an ocean of nectar, but I pass my days, greatly longing to fulfil it. Now You must give mercy to this poor, unhappy person. What to speak of my life, everything – my residing in Vraja and even my service to Kṛṣṇa – is useless without Your mercy.”

“I worship Śrīmatī Rādhikā who has lotus-petal eyes, I remember Śrīmatī Rādhikā whose face is sweetly smiling, and I speak of Her whose heart is melting with compassion. My life has no other purpose than serving Her.”

“When, with rasa, will I serve Śrī Rādhā, whose arrow-like sidelong glance causes Śrī Nanda-nandana to faint, the flute to fall from His hands, the peacock-feather crown to slip from His head, and His yellow cloth to fall from His body?”

“O daughter of Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja, ocean of rasa, that beautiful boy who wears a gracefully tilting peacock feather in His hair is actually the original Personality of Godhead. Still, He is always falling at the feet of Your maidservants and pitifully begging them with many humble words to gain entrance into Your kuñja where the two of You engage in Your playful loving pastimes. My life would be successful if I could even be one stick in the broom Your maidservants use to clean Your delightful kuñja.”

HIS AFFECTION FOR VAISNAVAS AND HIS COWS

Almost fifteen years ago, at the special request of pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja, pūjyapāda Vāmana Mahārāja and I went to see him at Śrī Gaura-vāṇī-vinoda Āśrama. We were all charmed by the way he served Vaiṣṇavas and the example he set by doing so. His darling Kālindī, Gaṅgā, Śyāmalā and other cows would be standing on the veranda, yearning for his affection. He had so much fondness for them.

RAGANUGA AND RUPANUGA

One day, he [Śrīla Bhakti Jīvana Janārdana Mahārāja] very affectionately said to me, “Tell me, tell me, what is śrī rāgānugā and śrī rūpānugā? Are they the same or does each contain a speciality? I have asked many Vaiṣṇavas, but I was not fully satisfied by their answers.”

When I heard his question, at first I felt somewhat hesitant to give an answer before someone so well-versed in siddhānta. However, at his repeated insistence and upon pūjyapāda Vāmana Mahārāja’s indication, I, like a student under examination, said, “According to what I have heard from śrī guru and Vaiṣṇavas and from what I have understood from continuous study of bhakti-śāstras, my firm conviction is that if those who develop a greed to attain the beauty of the services and moods of the eternally perfect associates in dāsya-, sakhya-, vātsalya-, and madhura-rasa, as described in the rasa-śāstras Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu and Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, and perform sādhana-bhajana following the eternally perfect moods (nitya-siddha-bhāva) [of one of the those associates] out of longing to attain the beauty of those services and moods, they are called rāgānugā-sādhakas.

“However, those who have developed a greed to follow in the footsteps of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī – his innate form (svarūpa) engaged in serving Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and accordingly, his eternally perfect and meticulous skill in performing yugala-sevā, his greater affection for Śrī Rādhā (śrī rādhā-snehādhikā-bhāva), as well his other moods – and out of an ardent longing to attain the above-stated moods perform sādhana-bhajana accordingly – they alone are rūpānuga-sādhakas. As an associate of Śrī Gaura, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has performed sādhana-bhajana in his form as a sādhaka, and in his pure, spiritual form (śuddha-śarīra) as Rūpa Mañjarī, he serves Śrīmatī Rādhikā in partiality to Her. Only those who follow Śrī Rūpa in this way, in both of these moods, are rūpānugā. There is a special consideration in this regard: every rūpānugā is rāgānugā, but not every rāgānugā is rūpānugā.”

Hearing this, pūjyapāda Mahārāja became overwhelmed with emotion and said, “Today, I have become extremely delighted to hear your deliberation on this. It is what I wanted to hear. Prior to this, no one has so clearly presented to me such a fully perfect and conclusive discernment [on this topic].”

HIS SPECIAL AFFECTION FOR ME AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY ANURAGA FOR KRISHNA – KATHA

Whenever he would see me, he would shower me with an affection that had a simple, natural intimacy (laukika-sadbandhuvat). As much as possible, he did not like dealings that were filled with giving him honour (maryādā). When we would meet each other, he would grab my hands and have me sit on a seat that was the same level as his seat. He wouldn’t even hesitate to have me sit on his own bed.

Towards the end of his life, he spent some days in Kolkata for treatment. After Śrīdhāma Navadvīpa parikramā in 1994, I went to have his darśana with Śrīmān Banavārī Lāl Siṁhānīyā and a few brahmacārīs. We all offered prostrated obeisance to him. Immediately upon seeing me, despite the doctor’s prohibition and my repeated request, he got off his bed, offered daṇḍavat-praṇāma, took hold of my hand, and made me sit beside him on his bed. Remembering topics of his ārādhyā-devī, Śrīmatī Rādhikā, tears welled in his eyes and he began to cry, “Alas, alas! I have not been able to perform any sādhana-bhajana.”

Seeing his state of bhāva, everyone became overwhelmed with emotion, and the pond of our eyes become filled with tears. Forgetting his illness, he began an iṣṭa-goṣṭhī on the topic of Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s compassion (karunā). Seeing his extraordinary deep attachment (anurāga) to kṛṣṇa-kathā, we were all stunned.

SRIMATI RADHIKA, SRI KRISHNA’S TOPMOST BELOVED

Every year, without fail, he would attend the Śrīdhāma Navadvīpa parikramā conducted by Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti, as well as [the Samiti’s] parikramās of Vraja-maṇḍala, Kṣetra-maṇḍala, Dvārakā, South India and other places. He used to say, “The most worshipable Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja has given an invitation to me for all the time saying, ‘You must certainly come for all of our functions.’ ”

For this reason, even after my gurudeva entered aprakaṭa-līla, every year pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja would unfailingly participate in Śrīdhāma Navadvīpa parikramā and Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā. 1993 was his last Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā. When the parikramā arrived at Śrī Paiṭhā-grāma near Govardhana, he spoke about that place.

“This Paiṭhā-grāma is an extra special place for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. Nearby at Candra-sarovara, when, at the time of rāsa, Kṛṣna disappeared, Kṛṣṇa’s beloveds became maddened with feelings of separation from Him and searched for Him here and there. Some asked the birds and animals of Kṛṣṇa’s whereabouts, and some inquired from the trees and vines. Some vraja-ramaṇīs thought themselves to be Kṛṣṇa and others thought themselves to be Pūtanā, Śakaṭāsura, Aghāsura, etc. In this way, they would become maddened in the anubhāva named līlā [enactment of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes]. At that time, Kṛṣṇa manifested before them in the form of four-handed Vāsudeva. At first, the different gopīs who saw this form while searching for Kṛṣṇa offered Him praṇāma, understanding Him to be Nārāyaṇa, and then moved on, taking no notice Him. But as soon as Śrī Kṛṣṇa saw Śrīmatī Rādhikā, He became incapable of maintaining His Nārāyaṇa form. Upon seeing Her, He appeared before Her in His own svarūpa, that is, the svarūpa of Vrajendra-nandana. It was thus proven at this place that among all the gopa-ramaṇīs, Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the topmost beloved of Kṛṣṇa. ‘Yathā rādhā priyā viṣṇos, tasyāḥ kuṇḍaṁ priyaṁ tathā / sarva-gopīṣu saivaikā, viṣṇor atyanta-vallabhā – Just as Śrīmatī Rādhikā is most dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Her pond, Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa, is equally dear to Him. Among all the beloved gopīs, none are as dear as Śrīmatī Rādhikā’ (Padma Purāṇa).”

Upon hearing this deliberation, everyone became charmed.

DEFYING THE RESIDENT RADHA-KUND BABAJIS

When on this parikramā, we reached Rādhā-kuṇḍa he addressed the resident Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa bābājīs, saying, “You are all erudite persons, you have given up everything and have become penniless, and you are performing bhajana in Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Vṛndāvana. All of you please come [and speak with us]. Why do you slander and criticize the followers of Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura? Why do you say that saffron coloured cloth, sannyāsa and so on are divergent from the bhajana of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas? We Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas garbed in saffron colour humbly desire to discuss this. All of you, please come here and discuss this topic with us.”

Quoting a verse and the commentary of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta (2.7.14) he gave proof of the following:

[Devotees of Śrī Bhagavān, who remain perpetually engaged in serving the toes of His lotus feet, can eliminate with ease the strong knot of yearning to enjoy the fruits of one’s prescribed duties. This task cannot be performed by those who are not devoted to Him, such as jñānīs and yogīs, despite their attempt to put an end to the swelling waves of sense enjoyment. You are thus advised to perform bhajana of Śrī Kṛṣna, the son of Vasudeva.]

[Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra, if he is conversant with transcendental knowledge about Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he can become a guru.]

[He went on to say,] “The nine roots of Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s wish-fulfilling tree of prema are all sannyāsīs who wore saffron-coloured cloth: Śrī Paramānanda Purī, Śrī Keśava Bhāratī, Śrī Brahmānanda Purī, Śrī Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Viṣṇu Purī, Śrī Keśava Purī, Śrī Kṛṣṇānanda Purī, Śrī Nṛsiṁha Tīrtha, and Śrī Sukhānanda Purī. Śrīman Nityānanda Prabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara and others were all sannyāsīs. Even sannyāsīs wearing saffron coloured cloth are seen among the Śrī Rādhā-ramaṇa Gosvāmīs – both Gosvāmīs in times gone by and also in current times. Please come and speak with us; please deliberate on this. If we have any fault or defect, please explain it to us.”

Hearing his loud roaring in this way, not a single bābājī came before him. The approximately six to seven hundred people who were listening to his excellent conclusive statements, deeply understood in truth and essence that the conceptions of the Sarasvata Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas [the line of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda] alone are immaculate and fully and perfectly conclusive.

GOPISVARA MAHADEVA AWARDS KRISHNA-PREMA

One time, on Śrī Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā at Nandīśvara Parvata in Śrī Nandagrāma, there was an iṣṭa-goṣṭhī on the topic of śiva-tattva, and it was apparent that devotees held different opinions. In that assembly, I had said that Śrī Sadāśiva is viṣṇu-tattva. His non-different form in Vṛndāvana is Gopīśvara Mahādeva; in Govardana it is Cakleśvara Mahādeva; in Nanda-grāma, it is Nandīśvara Mahādeva and in Kāmyavana it is Kāmeśvara Mahādeva. All of these forms of his are completely identical, divine existential reality (tattva). Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says in reference to Śiva, “vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhu – Śrī Śiva is the greatest Vaiṣṇava.” He is the greatest friend of Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, who, in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, has even given the process for worshipping him. Even his praṇāma-mantra says:

O protector of the land of Vṛndāvana, O husband of Umā, O Soma-mauli, you who carry the moon on your head! O you who are worshipped by Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, and Nārada! O Gopīśvara, please bestow upon me unconditional prema for the lotus feet of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, who perform loving pastimes in Vraja.]

“Therefore, Gopeśvara Mahādeva is worshipable for the Vaiṣṇavas. By his merciful blessing, one is able to obtain vraja-bhakti.”

Hearing this, a few Vaiṣṇavas present took a contending stance. “There is no place in the Śrī Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya to worship Śaṅkara” they said. “He cannot give vraja-prema.”

In that assembly, pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja quoted the following śloka from Śrīla Raghunātha Gosvāmī’s Śrī Vraja-vilāsa-stava (87):

[To obtain the jewel of being embraced by the arms of Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara, the gopīs, who possess firm, loving, intimate attachment for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, joyfully worshipped Gopīśvara Mahādeva (Sadāśiva) with great devotion and had all their internal desires fulfilled without delay. Daily I worship that Gopīśvara Mahādeva who resides on the bank of the Yamunā.]

In this way, he cleared any confusion on this topic. “The vraja-gopīs pray to Gopīśvara Mahādeva to obtain kṛṣṇa-prema, and that Gopīśvara Mahādeva awards this kṛṣṇa-prema. There is therefore no more room to doubt that Gopīśvara Mahādeva bestows the cherished objective of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. For this reason, each and every one of us pray to him for his mercy.”

Both parties were satisfied with his conclusion.

THE MEANING OF THE WORD “SAMADHI”

One time, pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja asked my guru-pādapadma, nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, about the Vaiṣṇavas’ explanation of the word samādhi. He said, “Vaiṣṇavas explain the word samādhi in various ways, but their explanations have not satisfied my mind. Please enlighten me about the meaning of this word.”

My guru-pādapadma said, “Samādhi means to become sama-dhī, acquainted with the inner-desire of one’s object of worship (upāsya-tattva). In this way, saturated in that mood (bhāva), one engages oneself fully in service to that [object of worship]. The damsels of Vraja naturally remain in a constant state of samādhi. At the time of their auspicious departure, the transcendental, perfected body (siddha-śarīra) of the Vaiṣṇavas becomes spiritually the same as that of their object of service (sevyā), and they fully dedicate themselves in service to their sevyā in every way. This is the true meaning of the word samādhi.”

Upon hearing this answered so concisely, pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja became extremely delighted.

HIS NISTHA IN SRILA PRABHUPADA

On the day of Śrī Māyāpura parikramā during Śrī Vedānta Samiti’s Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma parikramā, pūjyapāda Janārdana Mahārāja would arrive at the samādhi of his most worshipful nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa Śrīla Prabhupāda and extol Śrīla Prabhupāda’s glories. As he would do so, his throat would choke up, he would become overwhelmed with emotion and unable to speak further. He could only weep, tears flowing from his eyes. Beholding such bhāva and guru-niṣṭhā, the audience would become overwhelmed.

In this way, many divine memories of him are appearing in my heart, but I fear increasing the length of this essay. I therefore offer hundreds and hundreds of flowers from my heart at his divine feet. My only prayer at his lotus feet is that he may cleanse my hundreds and hundreds of faults, shortcomings and offences and thus count me among the recipients of his mercy.

Praying for a particle of mercy from
Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas,

Tridaṇḍi-bhikṣu Śrī Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa

Translated by the Rays of The Harmonist team

from the Viraha-smāraka-prakāśana

Part 1: https://www.purebhakti.com/resources/harmonist-monthly/104-centennial-editions-i/1682-an-offering-of-transcendental-memories-part-one

Part 2: https://www.purebhakti.com/resources/harmonist-monthly/105-centennial-editions-ii/1688-an-offering-of-transcendental-memories-part-two