Srila Janardan Goswami’s Departure

The world-famous jagad-guru Nitya-Lila-pravista Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Goswami Prabhupada’s dearmost disciple and servant, Parivrājakācārya Sri Srimad Bhakti Jivan Janardan Goswami Maharaj, left his body at 6:15 am on 5^th December 1994, at his own temple in Subashapali, Kharagpur, called Sri Gauravani Vinod Ashram.  He left his servants and disciples in a deep ocean of separation, as he returned to serve Sri Guru Gauranga and Sri Radha Nayana Vinode Jiu in the spiritual world.

Just before Srila Maharaj left his body, I was in Madras hospital to treat my body. I received a telephone call first that he had left his body. I became very, very upset and manmana*. I felt this pain of separation and I left the hospital to join his samadhi festival. I sent messages to all our temples in the Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti. And I invited all Vaisnavas to participate in his Disappearance Festival, in his samadhi.

After Srila Bhakti Jivan Janardan Maharaj’s elder godbrothers heard the news, all the sannyasis said with great pain “Oh, he was younger than us, but Srila Janardan Maharaj has left before us to join the spiritual world to serve in Nitya-Lila.”

The Early Days

Srila Maharaj and I lived together at the Sri Chaitanya Math in Mayapur, to follow Gurudeva and the Vaisnavas. I got many opportunities to live with him, and we continued to serve Guru and the Vaisnavas. So now I am feeling great separation in this lila. I cannot express it in words.

At the very beginning of Math life (in temple life) he took both Harinama and Diksha from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada. After that, with great enthusiasm and single-minded determination, he engaged himself in different services in the Chaitanya Math.

              By his simplicity and freedom from all kinds of

            duplicity, all his godbrothers, even some other

             persons also, became very astonished.

He would travel with many different sannyasis to preach. They would distribute weekly and fortnightly magazines as well as Paramatmika, and another magazine called Nadiya Prakash Daily. He served on an editorial board to have all these magazines published.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur’s Disappearance

When Srila Saraswati Prabhupada disappeared, some disagreements and disputes arose in the Gaudiya Math and the Gaudiya Mission, about management and maintenance. So they sought justice through some legal procedures.

At that time, many old Vaisnavas, sannyasis, bramacharis and Vanaprastis went to Medinipur in Manikapur. They established and stayed in Sri Shyamananda Gaudiya Math.

Pic

There, Sri Gauranga and Sri Radha Govinda deities had been installed. They served the deities there, discussed Bhagavatam, and performed sankirtan daily. In this way, preaching was going on.

Parivrajakacarya Tridandi Swami Bhakti Vichar Yayava Goswami Maharaj was selected by all to be the President of the Math, to be in charge of the Math.

At that time, Sripad Ananta Ram das Brahmacari (the Brahmacari name of Srila Bhakti Jivan Janardan Goswami Maharaj) was Bhakti Sastri, and he was also living there. He was serving in different ways. He would collect monthly subscriptions, some donations, and some paraphernalia for the temple. At that time, during his brahmachari life, we lived together for one and a half years at Sri Shyamananda Gaudiya Math.

             His simple and pure behavior, his humbleness,

            touched my heart. We became such close friends,

           that it cannot be described in words.

We would study the Bhakti granthas and the scriptures together, and discuss them with each other in the temple. Also, there was a library of the Medinipur king. There were many scriptures there. So we would go there together. And we would do research there together.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Svayam Bhagavan, the Personality of the Supreme Lord and his incarnation.

There are many, many Acharyas who have proven this. And the Goswamis have taken many authentic quotations from scriptures. We collected all these to preach and establish Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the Supreme Lord because many people did not accept that He is the Supreme Lord. So we always brought all this scriptural evidence there. That was the main objective of our research.

@24:20 So we were both researching old and authentic religious scriptures. We wanted to republish these. Many scriptures are only for karmi people and smarta (material, social, familial activities) not actually bhakti. So we wanted to publish our bhakti scriptural evidence so that we could defeat those smartas and jadabhatis (which means the materialist karmi people).

Among all these scriptures, prem avatar Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is worshipable of our guru Vargas and their life.  And we carefully and skillfully published his name and his glorification. With the blessings of well-wishers, Gurudeva, and the Vaisnavas, we had some bitter experiences. Those experiences gave us more firm faith and determination to preach in our future.

Sannyasa

Later on by any cause, the temple management, and maintenance he …Sripad Ananta Ram das brahmachari, great pundit, scholar, took sannyasa from the great Sanskrit scholar and Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur’s sannyasi disciple, Puja Lila Tridandi Swami Parivrajakacharya Srimad Bhakti Gaurav  Vaikanas Goswami Maharaj.

From him, he has accepted tridandi sannyasa according to our shantata antaratrika  … bona fide process. And his name became Tridandi Swami Bhakti Jivan Janardan Maharaj.

His Closeness

He separately constructed a Math named Sri Gaudiya Math. And the deities Gaura Vani Vinod Jiu Ashram Sri Gaudiya Math in Srivas Pali in Kharagpur. He constructed there and Sri Gauranga Radha Nayana Vinoda Jui installed deities there.

And I was within the Gaudiya Vedanta Samhiti which is established by Gurudeva Nityalila Srila Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Goswami Maharaj. And so we have the closest relationship with Srila Bhakti Jivana Janardhana Maharaj’s Bhaktivedanta samhiti.

Vyasa Puja Festival

My Gurudeva, Vishnupada 108 Srila Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Goswami Maharaj, was always taking care of his younger godbrothers.

And he offered love to them. By his love, Srila Bhakti Jivan Janardan Goswami Maharaj performed his Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja and this festival in Kharagpur temple.

My Gurudeva and others all went to join him at his temple in Kharagpur.

On Saturday, 8 February 1958, the appearance festival of Jagadguru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Swami Prabhupada, Srila Janardana Maharaj, by his exclusive enthusiasm in his ashram, made a BIG grand festival. At the meeting speech my guru Maharaj told, pujyapada Janardana Maharaj how he performed this Vyasa Puja, this is ideal for every sannyasis. @31:30?Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur his correction and his transformation, Srila Prabhupada, collected the Vyasa puja principle. Those who are not following them, and who are only performing their own Vyasa puja, accepting pushpanjali, that is not actually anusarana.  That became anukarana. They don’t follow them. But they imitate this.

Sri Gauranga Radha Nayana Vinode Jiu Nava Mandir

Later on, 26 January 1959, first day, from that day, 1 March, Sunday, this, in  Kharagpur town in Subashpali, in the (@33:48)…. ashram, Tridandi Swami Bhakti Jivan Janardan Maharaj, by his great enthusiasm, Jagadguru om Visnu Pada Astota Srila bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada, his @34:10 …avirabhava  titha Vyasa Puja and Sri guru Gauranga Sri Radha Nayana Vinoda Jiu Nava Mandir, he constructed the new temple. And He installed deities there. It was very great festival.  Gauranaga Radha Nayana Vinode Jui Nava Mandir. New temple has completed. 35:00

The founder of the Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti, Parivrajaca Acharya Nityalila Pravista Srimad  Bhakti Prajnana  Keshava Maharaj, would stay there four days a week. And he was the chief priest of the installation of the temple.

His Service Mood and Character

At his ashram in Subashpali in Kharagpur, Srila Janardan Maharaj would serve the deities daily with great determination, following all the rules and regulations and and upholding all the devotional principles. He would speak harikatha, perform arati, go on parikrama, and offer bhoga while absorbed on the astakaliya (eightfold daily pastimes of the Lord). He was always thinking of service in the spiritual world according to the 8 yamas ( periods of the day). And every day he would glorify all the stave stotras and granthas of the Goswamis, and always discuss scriptures.

He would always invite his godbrothers that were well-known to him. Whenever people would visit his ashram, he would become very excited and very happy. He would always think of how to please them. He would become unsteady.

In his service to the Vaisnavas he was so active and sincere. He would  always be teaching his servants and brahmacaris how to serve the Vaisnavas. This was his ideal service. And this quality was very rare to find in any other place.

I never saw him being angry with anyone or being unsatisfied anyone. He was always satisfied with everybody. By his childlike simplicity and plainness, his behavior that was without any kind of dupliciticty, and by his humbleness, his desire to satisfy old people and children, and women, and men, people would becomes astonished to see his behavior. He never knew what enviousness, maliciousness or jealousy was. We never saw that in his life.

Parikrama

Every year Srila Maharaj would come to Vedanta Samhiti, Devananda Gaudiya Math for the Sridama Navadvipa parikrama and  Sri Gauranga Jayanti, Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s appearance day.

On my Gurudeva’s order, every year he joined Devananda Gaudiya Math without fail. And during the time of  parikrama, he would speak on  Mahaprabhu’s Mahavadanyaya and Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s pastimes and his glorification.

According to our Rupanuga siddhanta, Rupa Goswami’s teachings exclusively, he would speak like he had mouths.

Accidentally, he left this world during this parikrama time. All devotees, thousands and thousands of devotees, felt their separation from him.

His 2 temples

Before he left, Srila Janardan Maharaj established a Math in Anchauriliya.. jungle, Kharagpur, in memory of his Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada, This was his second Math in Kharagpur. Here he would install Srila Saraswati Prabhupada , Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Sri Radha Govinda deities. He named this Math Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Gaudiya Math.

But before the installation of the deities in this new temple with a prayer hall, he left his body. He separated from Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Radha Nayana Vinoda jiu and his most beloved servants. His dearmost servants, fulfilled his desire and followed in his footsteps.

These 2 temples were established by his endeavors. Devotees should thus continue their service and preaching here in order to maintain the dignity of these two temples. I pray to Guru , Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet, this is my humble prayer.

Tridandi swami Vamana Srimad Bhaktivedanta Goswami Maharaj.