Monday 10th July 2006 - 01:20Guru PurnimaTalks by Giriraj Swami and Amoghalila dasa
July 20, 2005
CarpinteriaWe have gathered on the most sacred and auspicious day of Sri Guru Purnima, which is the appearance day of Srila Vyasadeva, the literary incarnation of Lord Krsna. By Krsna's will, Srila Vyasadeva compiled the Vedic literatures, which form the basis of the expansion of the message of love of God. Every preacher and every teacher of the science of Godhead refers to the Vedic literatures compiled by Srila Vyasadeva as the standard authority for spiritual knowledge. As such, Srila Vyasadeva is our guru and we worship Him on Guru Purnima, His appearance day.
Today is also the disappearance day of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, who was accepted as guru by all the devotees in Vrndavana and now by Gaudiya Vaisnavas throughout the world. He was the eldest of the six Gosvamis, the older brother and guru of Srila Rupa Gosvami, and his book Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta was the first of the great works written by the Gosvamis. So he was accepted as guru throughout Vraja.
On Guru Purnima the devotees of Vraja went to Srila Sanatana Gosvami's bhajana-kutira at Manasi Ganga at Govardhana to offer him respect. When they arrived they found him sitting motionless in trance. Eventually they began to wonder how he was remaining in trance for so long. Finally they determined that he had actually left his body and entered into eternal samadhi.
So it was an occasion of great lamentation. The devotees put Sanatana Gosvami on a palanquin and carried him around Govardhana Hill for one last circumambulation. Then, by the decision of Srila Jiva Gosvami, his remains were brought near the temple of Sri Madana-mohana in Vrndavana, because Madana-mohana had been so dear to him.
Even today we find the samadhi of Srila Sanatana Gosvami at the Madana-mohana temple. And every day the devotees there offer little balls of dough cooked by fire. They don't actually make chapatis, but they offer these little balls, which are exactly what Sanatana Gosvami used to offer to Madana-mohana. In the early days of ISKCON Srila Prabhupada said that if we didn't have time to roll chapatis we could make these balls, which got the nickname "cannon balls." They were pretty hard. So even now the pujaris offer those balls without ghee to Madana-mohana and then offer the remnants to Sanatana Gosvami.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami compiled the essence of the bhagavata philosophy in the Brhad-bhagavatamrta and guided and inspired the other Gosvamis in Vrndavana. He was also very popular with the people in general. As we just sang, dhiradhira-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pujitau: he was popular both with the gentle and with the ruffians. He was all-pleasing to everyone because he was not envious, and therefore he is worshipable (pujitau). Srila Prabhupada explains that no one can be non-envious without being Krsna conscious. And because the six Gosvamis were fully Krsna conscious, they were not envious, and so they are worshipable.
Sanatana Gosvami would go from village to village in Vraja and meet with the local people. He would engage in ordinary conversation with them: "How is your ailing old mother? Is she feeling better now?" "How is your harvest?" "How big is your herd of cows? How much milk do they give?" "How are your bulls ploughing?" "How is your daughter? Have you found a suitable husband for her?" He was so popular with them that he became part of their families, and if there was any dispute between two parties--a business dispute or even a domestic one--they would come to him, and whatever he decided they would accept. Like this he would engage in conversation with the local people, but his ultimate goal was to make them Krsna conscious. "Oh, your grandmother is sick? She should chant Hare Krsna. She will feel better." He was so popular and so respected. He was very dear to all the Vaisnavas--then and now. His instructions continue to live in Brhad-bhagavatamrta. Based on the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, he wrote many beautiful poems and prayers to Lord Krsna called Krsna-lila-stava, which devotees still read and recite today. And he wrote an elaborate commentary on the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam called Vaisnava-tosani, or Dasama-tippani. So he is our guru, in the line of Gaudiya Vaisnavism from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
On the subject of separation and the disappearance of the spiritual preceptor, I cannot help but think of the talk that His Holiness Radhanath Swami gave last night, mainly about His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja. In the talk he mentioned a dream that Bhakti Tirtha Swami had had in which Tamal Krishna Goswami appeared to him and said, "Srila Prabhupada has sent me with a message for you. Your time has come. Srila Prabhupada is calling you." Then Tamal Krishna Goswami broke down and began to cry, uncontrollably, just like a child--crying and crying and crying, inconsolably. In the dream Bhakti Tirtha Swami asked him, "Why are you crying?" And Tamal Krishna Goswami replied, "Because I know how much my disciples have suffered after my disappearance and I know that your disciples will suffer in the same way." Bhakti Tirtha Swami had that dream before he had cancer, or learned that he had it. So, that disappearance, that separation, is very difficult to bear.
Of course, Bhakti Tirtha Swami also said that he would do more for the mission and more for all of us after he left, even more than when he was physically present. So that is a consolation, that such great souls are always present and watching over us and caring for us, guiding us and encouraging us in different ways, directly and through others.
We have come to a critical moment in our history, ISKCON's history, when such stalwart devotees and preachers as His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, His Holiness Sridhar Swami, and His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami have left within such a short span of time. So it is the duty of all of us--of course, more so the duty of the more senior devotees--that although we can never do so fully, we should try to fill the gap created by their physical absence.
A little earlier I mentioned how many gurus we have among us here. Although it was said in a joking way, actually it is true. His Grace Amoghalila Prabhu is certainly a very dear disciple of Srila Prabhupada. By Srila Prabhupada's grace, he has given valuable instructions to the whole of ISKCON. His Grace Sarvatma Prabhu is a spiritual leader for Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. He gives shelter and guidance to many devotees. And Her Grace Kandarpa Manjari has trained many women. I saw her in South Africa--she may have done the same in other places--and some of the best lady devotees who have come out of South Africa have been trained by her. Ultimately, as Srila Prabhupada wrote, "Every Vaisnava is a spiritual master." By definition, every Vaisnava is a guru.
I honor all of you, and at least from my side--of course, I don't like to talk about it much because I have made so many plans in the past to travel--but I do feel that I should help the devotees who are in separation. The whole movement is suffering from the shock of the loss of these wonderful devotees whom we mentioned, and of others. Even though (I suppose I should not talk about myself so much) my main service will continue to be writing, and that message does travel and will remain, still, under the circumstances, I have to take some time to travel and try to console and encourage the devotees. And all of us, to our own capacity, to whatever extent we can, should try to do the same.
His Holiness Radhanath Swami mentioned another incident with His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja. One day a group of devotees came to visit Bhakti Tirtha Swami in Gita Nagari. These devotees had been terribly hurt over the years. Some had been gurukula students and some had just been regular devotees who joined. But they all had been terribly hurt, and they had experienced such deep pain in their hearts that for years not a single one of them would go to an ISKCON temple or attend an ISKCON program. The pain in their hearts just did not allow them to enter that atmosphere. But Bhakti Tirtha Swami had encouraged them to visit, and somehow they came to meet him. Radhanath Swami said that he himself knew them all personally, that he and they were friends. He had known them for years, but nothing could free them from the hurt, the pain they felt in their hearts. So, they came into Bhakti Tirtha Swami's room. Of course, Maharaja himself was in great physical pain because of his cancer, the tumors. And he just started to speak with them. For an hour and a half he just spoke with them, and for the whole time every single one of those devotees in that room was crying. They would get up and go and prostrate themselves at his feet and then come back and sit down and listen some more and cry.
Radhanath Swami said that he had never seen anything like it in his life. He had never seen anyone other than Srila Prabhupada with that power to affect people's hearts and transform their lives. Every single one of them was completely transformed. They came out of the room and they said, "I don't know what happened. I have never experienced anything like that." Every one of them said, "My life has been completely transformed." And one said, "I have never before met anyone so close to God."
Afterwards, Radhanath Swami asked Bhakti Tirtha Swami, "How did you do that? I have seen you for many years. You have always been a very powerful preacher and you have always been able to influence people--but not like this. I have never seen you do anything like this. How did you do it?" Bhakti Tirtha Swami replied, "I don't know. I wasn't doing anything. I didn't know what to say or what to do, but it was as if someone else was doing it and speaking to them."
Bhakti Tirtha Swami was very concerned about every devotee, and not only devotees, but everyone. But he was especially concerned about devotees who had been hurt or who were having difficulties, devotees who had been neglected, who had been abused, and he wanted to bring them back. That is part of why he made his prayer, in the mood of Vasudeva Datta, to Srila Prabhupada: "Let me suffer in whatever way required to relieve the suffering of the devotees so that they can make better progress in Krsna consciousness." He said he felt that he wasn't able to do enough for them by the usual way he had been preaching until then: traveling, leading kirtana, dancing in kirtana, giving classes, speaking with devotees individually and in small groups. He was doing something, but he felt that he wasn't doing enough. He wasn't able to help the devotees enough, to transform their lives in the way that he wanted. So he made his prayer, and his prayer was answered. Of course, he said that he didn't think it would come so quickly, that it might come in the next year, but it came very quickly. And from what we have seen and heard and experienced, his prayer was accepted, because he had a tremendous influence on the lives of devotees.
And it is continuing, even with devotees who had very little association with him. The other day a devotee from Alachua named Caitanya dasi phoned me to interview me for the Friends of the BBT newsletter. She came to the subject of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja. She really only met him twice. Once he had come to North Carolina to a devotee's house, just for the mangala-arati and morning program there. After the mangala-arati he was chanting his rounds in the temple, and just looking at him, the way he was chanting with such deep concentration, she felt that he was in Vrndavana, that somehow he was in touch with Rupa Gosvami. And by his association she was able to feel the Vrndavana atmosphere herself.
After some time of chanting in the temple, Maharaja was going to take his morning walk, his japa walk. Being in a woman's body, Caitanya dasi had never really gotten to walk with Srila Prabhupada. Maybe she did once or twice, but she was so far in the back that she was unable to hear the discussion or participate in it. So Bhakti Tirtha Swami said, "Sure, you can come." She mentioned she felt that he wasn't on the bodily platform at all, that it did not matter to him that she was in a woman's body. Then on the walk she asked him about what she had perceived during his chanting. And he replied, "You can also have the same experience if you chant with the same intensity. Anyone can." So that was one instruction.
Then some years later he came to Alachua to give a seminar on depression, how devotees can deal with depression. One of the main factors in depression, or one of the main elements, is feeling alone, feeling lonely. She said that in the last session he led the group in a guided meditation on Krsna in the heart. He described very elaborately and vividly how they should meditate on Krsna in the heart: with curly locks of hair, reddish eyes, sidelong glances, and glistening red lips. In great detail he described the transcendental form of Krsna. For twenty minutes or so the devotees were deep in this meditation. Then he brought them out, and as they opened their eyes and looked around, they saw that everyone was crying. They were feeling so much ecstasy, feeling the presence of Krsna. She felt, "How could you feel depressed knowing that Krsna, your best friend and the most wonderful person, the Supreme Person, is right there in your heart? He is always with you, and He is accessible to you at any time. So how could you ever feel depressed, with that knowledge?"
Those were her two experiences. And after he left--she expected he would leave, and we all knew he would--but still, when he left she felt terrible separation. She did not expect that she would feel such intense separation. After crying and feeling so disconsolate, eventually she felt his presence. She felt that he manifest his presence and was reminding her of his earlier instruction to her, that you don't have to go to Vrndavana to experience Vrndavana. You can experience Vrndavana even in your own home. But you have to chant. You have to enter deeply into that mood. Otherwise, she would lament; she would have the desire--actually, she still does--to become free from her family obligations and move to Vrndavana and dedicate her life fully in service to Krsna. So she felt that Bhakti Tirtha Swami was reminding her that you can actually experience Vrndavana wherever you are, by spiritual practices and the mood of devotion.
She still sometimes feels separation, and alternately she feels his presence, but his instruction, his guidance, is a permanent factor in her life now--the very principle that she tries to live by. And I am sure that she is just one of hundreds or thousands of devotees who are being guided and encouraged by Maharaja now in this difficult time. Still, it is hard, and it depends on the devotees' advancement to what extent they are able to experience his spiritual presence. So we also should remember His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami, his mood and his greatness, and do whatever we can in that mood of selfless service. Hare Krsna.
Anyone else? Amoghalila Prabhu?
Amoghalila dasa:
We can say some more things about Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja.
By Giriraj Maharaja's mercy, by his suggestion and inspiration, I wrote an e-mail message to Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja in April. He sent me a very nice reply. Then I wrote to him again that I was going to go to the Festival of Inspiration in New Vrindaban and that it would be wonderful, even though it appeared to be physically impossible, if he could come there. When I arrived in New Vrindaban, the very first thing I did was ask Gurudasa Prabhu about Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja. We had both arrived at about the same time, in the middle of the night, and we were both thinking about Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja. Gurudasa had actually spoken to him on the phone just a day or two earlier. And Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja had said that he felt he would be leaving his body within a few days. It was totally impossible for him to come to New Vrindaban.
Gita Nagari is not that far from New Vrindavan, so I decided that I would go see him, have his darsana. A lot of devotees from the festival were going to Gita Nagari for his darsana because he was giving class every Sunday in the temple room there and was going to give a class that Sunday as well. The Festival of Inspiration went on through Sunday, but many of us, including Radhanath Maharaja, decided to leave a little early. We arrived just as Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja was getting ready to come out of his room in his house there. And we were informed that he was not going to be able to go to the temple, because his body had become so painful and it was not possible for him to travel on the road. So they were going to bring him out in a nice beautiful little arrangement, almost like the Vrndavana forest. A beautiful little place had been set up so that he could speak and the devotees could hear.
When Maharaja came out, he first led kirtana. I was crying; we all were. Just seeing him leading kirtana and knowing his physical condition, I could tell that he was wracked with pain from the tumors throughout his body. He could not really move. He had had one leg amputated, and he was emaciated. The last time I saw Srila Prabhupada, his body was also emaciated. It was difficult for Maharaja to even speak; plus he led kirtana. As he was chanting he was overcome with emotion and started crying. He was chanting, but every now and then he choked up and could not quite sing. Tears were just streaming down his face. I could not stop crying myself.
And then he spoke. One thing that he said was that two or three weeks earlier, someone had come for him and told him, "Your time is up. You have fully completed your mission to Srila Prabhupada, and your service to Srila Prabhupada has been accomplished fully and gloriously. Now it is time to come back to Srila Prabhupada." Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja said that he was seeing in ISKCON how many devotees were struggling, facing obstacles and difficulties, and were somehow not able to achieve some potential that was there in them. They were not able to serve Srila Prabhupada as fully as they would have liked to do or could do if they could just overcome some obstacle. So he said to them--although his body was in tremendous pain--that he would like to stay a little longer to help the devotees in ISKCON to be a little stronger, to fight against and overcome these obstacles that were interfering with their spiritual advancement and their devotional service and their service to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada's mission. So that happened. In the subsequent weeks he hadn't left his body, and he was able to do more service.
But now he said that he felt it would be within a couple of days. Then it became too painful for him to sit. So he was taken by his caretakers back into his room. Of course, he couldn't lie down either for very long. And he could not move himself, so his caretakers, two of them, would change his position every half hour or so. His body was so decrepit, not old but like old, just full of cancer.
Then, starting with Radhanath Maharaja and all the sannyasis and godbrothers--there were at least a couple dozen--all of us were asked to say something. Of course, I cannot remember most of what I said. [laughter] The key thing for me was that even though Krsna's plan, Prabhupada's plan, had been for Maharaja to leave his body when they sent for him, Bhakti Tirtha Swami completely on his own, out of his sincere desire to help Prabhupada's movement, requested to stay a little longer. It was not because Krsna wanted it; it was not because Prabhupada wanted it. It was Bhakti Tirtha Swami's own deeply felt desire to serve the devotees. You can understand what a tremendous sacrifice that was.
Everyone spoke about their experiences with Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja. Our godbrother Narada Muni Prabhu told one story that struck me. He said that in the early 1980s or maybe late '70s, when he was a senior devotee in New Vrindavan, the manager, they were getting these reports that Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja was distributing full sets of Bhagavatams and Caitanya-caritamrtas in the New York area. It was just amazing. In the library party--which I was also with (Maharaja had trained me up)--he had previously distributed a lot of full sets to libraries, but now he wasn't going to libraries. He was going to individuals in their homes and selling whole sets of Prabhupada's books. It was amazing.
Kirtanananda was in charge in New Vrindavan and he told Narada Muni, "I want you to go and meet Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja and find out how he is doing this so we can do it too." [laughter] So Narada Muni went to New York to meet Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja and find out how he was doing it. He met him and asked him to explain, and Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja said, "Sure." He did not try to conceal anything so he could do more books than anyone else or anything like that. Probably I would try to conceal my technique. So he said, "Come with me and I will show you exactly what we are doing." He said that first of all he got lists of names from organizations like the Mutual UFO Network, names of people that were into UFOs and extraterrestrials and things like that. They got their names and addresses, and then they would go to their homes with Prabhupada's books.
So, Narada Muni went with Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja to the people who were on these lists. Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja would knock on the door and say, "We have some news for you from out of this world." [laughter] And the people would go "Ah," because they already believed in extraterrestrials contacting Earth and coming. So they would immediately feel, "Wow!" He would say, "We have some books that are out of this world." And he would pull out the Bhagavatam set and show the pictures. "These pictures are from out of this world." He would show them the Sanskrit and the verses, messages from out of this world. [laughter] The people would believe it because these books were obviously not from this world. They were from somewhere else. So they would really believe it. And they would want to have them. They knew that there was stuff from out of this world, from somewhere, and they were trying to get in touch with it and get it. So here it is! They would buy the whole set.
And Narada Muni said that if the person wouldn't take the set, if they would not take the books, then Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja would suddenly pull off his wig [laughter], and then they would know that this was really from out of this world! [laughter]
So this was Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja's mood, always serving. Srila Prabhupada loved him because when Srila Prabhupada was on the planet and Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja was doing books, he was doing things that were far out, using way-out preaching methods, in America, Africa, and even the Soviet Union and Communist Bloc.
Giriraj Swami:
Radhanath Swami mentioned one other fact about Maharaja, that his body was in so much pain from the cancer that he could hardly remain in one position for more than an hour without having to be moved; he could hardly sleep. The pain was so great that if he did happen to fall asleep he would inevitably wake up. Yet sometimes the devotees would find him deliberately staying awake, even in the middle of the night. When they asked him why, he replied, "I have to finish my rounds." Radhanath Swami appealed to him, "Maharaja, you have already done enough. Now you are sick, and as it is you can hardly sleep. You don't have to finish your rounds. Krsna will understand." But Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja answered, "No. I must finish my rounds. It is my promise to Srila Prabhupada. From the day of my initiation I have never failed to chant twenty rounds. It is my service to Srila Prabhupada. I must finish my rounds." Then His Holiness Radhanath Swami added (to us), "So what excuse can we have?"
All glories to His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja. All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krsna.
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