SRI SRI GURU-GAURANGA JAYATAH
Historic Reflections on an Historic Occasion An appreciation of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj by Sri Chidananda Das Brahmacari
parivrajakacaryya-varya astottara-sata Sri Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev- Goswami Maharaj is very glorious because it gives us the opportunity to offer our homage to His Divine Grace's lotus feet and most glorious activities. He is such an exalted and rare person that I can't begin to speak of his divine qualities and qualifications. I am very fallen so I hope these feeble words will somehow reach up to his lotus feet which are standing high over the heads of everyone and offering cooling shelter to all. Srila Govinda Maharaj spent most of his life at the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in the holy dham of Nabadwip with the association of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramahamsa-parivrajakacarya-varya astottara-sata Sri Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaj. Srila Guru Maharaj was one of those great souls one rarely gets a chance to associate with. He was a quiet person who was content talking about Krishna to whoever had the good fortune to came his way. He was compassionate with all fallen souls. He was the personification of pure devotion and the best preacher the world has ever seen. His poetic style and vast storehouse of devotion charmed the whole world. No one went from him the loser. He dedicated the final years of his long and glorious life to helping many devotees who came to take his superexcellent devotional mood. Srila Govinda Maharaj was with Srila Guru Maharaj most of his life and reflects all the super excellent qualities of Srila Guru Maharaj plus many more. Sri Guru Dev is not an ordinary person. He is a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All the scriptures corroborate this. He is the most confidential servant of the supreme Lord. He is eternally situated at the Lord's lotus feet and he has been invested with all the power of the Lord. We should never think of him as an ordinary person but we must honour him more than the Supreme Lord.
When we speak of Sri Guru Dev, we are speaking of a fundamental principal of the transcendental world that descends to this world. We are talking of a basic substance of which many other substances are built and shaped. We are not talking of a sectarian or relative concern. We don't discriminate between my guru and your guru. We don't see the genuine guru as part of the dualities of this world. He isn't subject to the 'good and bad' relative considerations we use in this world. If gurudev is genuine, he is part of the original guru in the spiritual world and this guru will appears in an infinite number of forms. From the one basic Guru, many other gurus come and they will reflect the original guru. As the absolute truth is one, guru dev is also one. Guru Maharaj taught the original guru is Nityananda Prabhu and a genuine guru in this world will reflect Nityananda Prabhu's qualities and qualifications. A real guru must have a connection with Nityananda Prabhu. The scriptures say we should approach a guru to learn the Absolute Truth. The Srimad Bhagavatam (11.17.27) says,
There are some verses and stories in the Srimad Bhagavatam that can help us understand the greatness and glory of Sri Guru Dev.
The qualifications of Sukadeva Goswami were self-evident and the great sages could see this simply by looking at him. He travelled all over the earth completely disinterested in material matters. He was satisfied within himself because of his great achievement in devotional service. He did not manifest any symptoms of belonging to any social order or status of life. He had heard the Srimad Bhagavatam from his father. He didn't have to accept any formal spiritual training or a formal spiritual master. He wasn't a normal condition soul like us. He was wandering in the forest like a madman followed by women and children when suddenly he appeared at the assembly of Maharaj Pariksit. When all the great sages saw him they were astonished. He was only sixteen years old. His legs, hands, arms, shoulders, forehead and the other parts of his body were all perfectly formed. His eyes were beautifully wide, and his nose and ears were highly raised. He had a very attractive face, and his neck was well formed and beautiful like a conch shell. He was blackish and very beautiful due to his youth. He was surrounded by saintly sages and demigods just as the moon is surrounded by stars, planets and other heavenly bodies. Maharaj Pariksit bowed his head upon seeing him. After he entered the arena, he sat perfectly pacified, intelligent and ready to answer all questions. Everyone, even his spiritual master gave him honour. Maharaj Pariksit said, 'O brahmana, by your mercy only, you have sanctified us, making us like places of pilgrimage. Simply by remembering you, our houses become instantly sanctified, what to speak of seeing you, touching you, washing your holy feet and offering you a seat. Just as the atheist cannot remain in the presence of the Personality of Godhead, so also the invulnerable sins of man are immediately vanquished in your presence, O saint! O great mystic! Lord Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, has accepted me as one of His relatives, otherwise, how is it that without being divinely inspired, you have voluntarily appeared here? You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees so I am begging you to show us what is to be done and what is to be avoided. O powerful brahmana, it is said that you hardly stay in the houses of men long enough to milk a cow.' Sri Sukadeva Goswami said, 'My dear King, your question is glorious because it is the most important matter for hearing and it is approved by all transcendentalists. One who desires to be free from all miseries must hear, glorify and remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the saviour from all miseries. (Excerpts from Srimad Bhagavatam, 1st Canto Ch.19 and 2nd Canto Ch.1) There is a lesson here and that is Sukadev Goswami was not an ordinary living entity and in fact was the spiritual master of even his spiritual master and many other great spiritual masters. His spiritual master, Vyasadev, and his spiritual master, Narada Muni, were in that assembly and received their disciple and grand-disciple with honours. Although he appeared like a madman, he was a perfect living entity. We generally don't think of the Lord's great devotees as undergoing rigorous spiritual training or reformatory processes. This is something that ordinary men do. The scriptures also don't write of them in this way. We think of them as masters, not as disciples. Even though Sukadev Goswami's spiritual master was in the assembly as well as many other great sages such as Bhgu, Vasistha, Parasara, and Angira, Sukadev was the spiritual master of everyone. He delivered the Srimad Bhagavatam and everyone was satisfied. All were complete in their devotional service but Sukadev was requested by everyone to deliver the Bhagavatam. The scriptures mention something about the spiritual master, the disciple and their relationship but they do this to show him as the master he is. Lord Brahma, our first spiritual master, received the gayatri mantra directly from Krishna. He meditated on it and became perfect. He saw the whole material and spiritual sky and wrote the Brahma-samhita. Vedavyas had complied all of the Vedas but still felt dissatisfied within himself. His spiritual master, Narada Muni, appeared and told him to mediate on Krishna. He saw both the spiritual and material worlds and wrote the Srimad Bhagavatam. Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami saw Nityananda Prabhu in a dream. Nityananda Prabhu told him to go to Vrindavan where he would achieve all things. Krishnadas awoke and immediately left for Vrindavan where he achieved everything. Srila Ragunatha Das Goswami simply offered some flat rice and yogurt to Nityananda Prabhu and he was able to go to Jagannatha Puri and become Lord Chaitanya's personal assistance secretary. Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur was born in the family of Bhaktivinod Thakur and Srila Prabhupada saw his spiritual master only a few times. Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Govinda Maharaj were also perfect from their birth. They were not condition souls like us. They are both eternal gurus who are manifestations of the one eternal guru, Nityananda Prabhu, and like Sukadev Goswami, didn't have to under go any religious purificatory process. We think of them as masters not disciples. Srila Guru Maharaj was born in the beautifully transcendental village of Hapaniya, not far from the holy land of Nabadwip Dham where Mahaprabhu took His birth and displayed His holy pastimes that set in motion the greatest religious revolution the modern world has ever seen. Hapaniya is not an ordinary village as the whole village is the home of Srila Guru Maharaj's family who were highly advanced in religious principals. His father, mother and all of his relatives were advanced Brahmans who were following the God-centred system of the vedas. They all believed in God and were thoroughly religious persons. The whole village was divinely protected by the protector of all dhams, Lord Siva, so no outside irreligious influences could penetrate. One of the first slokas Guru Maharaj learned was in praise of lord Siva, which was also a sign that the son of Lord Siva would be born in a nearby village. Guru Maharaj had the rare and valuable opportunity to lived a happy and protected life absorbed in thoughts of the supreme Lord. When he was born there were Sanskrit students placed as guards outside his room to keep the ghost away. There were reading Sanskrit all night and Srila Guru Maharaj was naturally hearing the language of the gods from his appearance. As a young child he heard a Sankirtan party in the distance and began crying and demanding that his father take him there. When his father did, he became satisfied and stopped crying. We are reminded of the crying of Mahaprabhu as a child and the only thing that would satisfy Him was the chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna by the ladies of the house. As a young student he was a strong debater. He was able to debate with even his teachers. He never lost an argument and always took the side of God and defeated those on the side of atheism. Again we are reminded of the activities of Mahaprabhu as a child. He liked to go out everyday for debating and when He defeated the greatest pandit in India, Kasmir Pandit, He became world famous. Before Guru Maharaj met his spiritual master, he was preaching the teachings of Mahaprabhu and the importance of taking the holy name of the Lord. He told one friend who thought it was first necessary to worship the Buddhists and then the Sankarites before going to Mahaprabhu, that Mahaprabhu had taught 'wherever you are, take the association of a sadhu and you can take the holy Name'. It wasn't necessary to go in a step by step way. One could go to the highest position simply by worshipping Mahaprabhu through His bona fide agent. Once, before he was initiated, he was chastised and stopped for going to associate with Srila Bhaktisiddanta because some devotees thought he was a British spy. Srila Guru Maharaj took it as his fate and remembered a story from the Mahabharata where Sukadev was similarly checked in his higher education. He became even more determined to keep visiting in order to find out if this was the real thing. Externally he didn't protest but internally he didn't like being stopped for any reason, especially a false one. Only a few years after he took initiation, his godbrothers recommended him for sannyasa. They said he was a good preacher and his incomparable ability of preaching could best be used in the service of the Mission. He was given sannyasa and preached all over India. Srila Prabhupad wanted him to go to London but he felt foreigners wouldn't be able to follow his accent. One year before Srila Prabhupad left this world, Srila Guru Maharaj composed a Sanskrit poem in glorification of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Srila Prabhupad was so happy that he said, "Finally I have found someone that will remain after I leave." Just before Srila Prabhupad left this word, he called Srila Guru Maharaj to sing Sri Rupa-Manjaripada which symbolises the highest entrance into the divine service of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna and thus transferred his complete divine power, mission, disciples and everything to Srila Guru Maharaj. Srila Guru Maharaj exhibited extra ordinary qualities through out his life. We don't think of him as an ordinary condition soul. It just wasn't possible. We think of him and study his life from the point of view of him being an eternally liberated soul. We think of him as a great master, not as a disciple. The scriptures enjoin us to think this way as they write of the qualities and characteristic of great souls. Mahaprabhu instructs Sanatan Goswami,
We can never see anything ordinary in the life of Srila Guru Maharaj. His beautiful form enchanted the whole world as that world came from all it's far corners to offer him prostrated obeisances and hear the divine flow of supremely sweet nectar that flowed from his deep inner wisdom and devotion in Krishna Consciousness. In his very advanced age he sacrificed himself so the Krishna Consciousness that the world had received from Srila Bhaktisiddanta and his disciples could be saved. Due to his influence thousands and thousands of people are able to practice Krishna Consciousness. Srila Govinda Maharaj also exhibits the same super human and extraordinary qualities and qualifications that Srila Guru Maharaj and all other genuine gurus display. He was never a condition soul and it is offensive to think that way about him. From his birth until the present he has been an eternally liberated soul. He was born in a village, Brahmanpura, near Hapaniya and we have to think Guru Maharaj's and his relationship is eternally very close. (Both villages share the same Siva temple and history relates that both Guru Maharaj's family and Srila Govinda Maharaj's family had interrelations at this temple.) Brahmanpura, like Hapaniya, is also an extraordinary and divinely inspired area. After Mahaprabhu took sannyasa, He roamed for three days there completely unconscious. Mahaprabhu saw millions of cows grazing very peacefully and thought he was in Vrindavan. Although many people saw Him, no one could bring him back to consciousness. In the time of Srila Govinda Maharaj's, there were also thousands and thousands of cows that roamed freely. Srila Govinda Maharaj grew up herding cows. He was a cowherd boy. There were so many cows that the local Siva temple never had to us wood or cow dung for fuel because there was so much butter and ghee that unused puries cooked in ghee could be used as fuel. There was such an abundance of milk, it was never sold. Sometimes the grass was green from being watered with excess milk. His family were professional musicians and still the sounds of the transcendental world flow over the area. The cowherd men sing the songs of their village brother who couldn't speak English but went off to be a great sadhu and has travelled the world in a jet airplane when even motor cars or motor scooters can't enter his village. It is even better to walk than use bicycles in Brahmanpura. When devotees visit on their yearly visit, all the residence come and look eagerly and hopefully for their friend that left many years ago and hasn't yet returned. The mystical qualities still abound as every morning and evening the residence sing of Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu, Lord Siva and their Lord and master, Srila Govinda Maharaj. Before Srila Govinda Maharaj was born his mother heard an omen from the sky that said "I am Lord Siva and you are about to give birth to my son. After his birth, take my son to my temple and I will bless him. He will perform miraculous and superhuman activities that no one else could possibly perform. Your whole family and village will be blessed by the activities of this boy and he will become a great sadhu that will change the face of the world." His mother did this and the son of Lord Siva entered the world. From the beginning of his life, Srila Govinda Maharaj performed feats that astounded everyone. Once when he was very young, he and his mother were taking care of a sick relative and the relative died unexpectedly in the middle of the night. The Hindu custom is the body must be removed immediately. The house was in the middle of the jungle and there were many wild animals lurking outside. The nearest relative's house was several miles away. Srila Govinda Maharaj showed no fear, and as a young boy walked several miles to the next house and brought help. He had no fear of even the wildest and most dangerous animals. Besides having no fear, the wild and furious animals liked him. We are reminded of Lord Chaitanya travelling to Vrindavan through the Jarakanda jungle inspiring all the wild animals to chant Hare Krishna. As a young boy Srila Govinda Maharaj roamed around his village completely disinterested in material affairs. He took care of cows and practically never went to school but by the time he was a twelve years old he had read all the major writers of India and the west. He has a perfect memory and never forgot anything he read. Many say he is more intelligent that Srila Guru Maharaj. When he read something once or the maximum twice, he would never forget it. When he first read the Chaitanya-caritamrita, he memorised it completely. His family were professional musicians so they were always singing and just by hearing them sing, he memorised all the Vaisnava songs. When his uncle's brother was studying the Bhagavad-gita and was reading the slokas out loud, Srila Govinda Maharaj memorised the whole Gita just by hearing the slokas' from a little distance. His nature was to help the downtrodden and the weak. The boys in his village were always fighting. He learned how to fight when he was young and He protected the weaker from the older bullies. He never lost a fight and soon every one from all the villages respected him. In the area of Srila Guru Maharaj's Math there were and still are many gundas. They would go to other areas and perform dacoitry (rob and kill) and in the course of their dacoitry they met Govinda Maharaj's father and uncles. They wanted to learn to sing so they accepted Govinda Maharaj's father as their guru. They knew young Govinda Maharaj and later when he came to the Math, they watched him as he built Srila Guru Maharaj mission from a thatched hut with a high bamboo pole with a flag on top to an international organisation. In 1947 Srila Govinda Maharaj wandered into the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math of his own accord. He was already complete in his activities and completely self-realised. He had nothing to do with the material world. Srila Guru Maharaj and some of his godbrothers were having a discussion on how to continue the disciplic succession line of Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur. Everyone knew Srila Guru Maharaj was the successor acharya of Srila Saraswati Thakur but no one knew who his successor would be or how his succession would continue as Guru Maharaj's Math was in the hands of thieves and gundas. The present succession was in danger. The great sage godbrothers of Srila Saraswati Thakur were having a discussion about this but no one knew the solution. Srila Govinda Maharaj wandered in and upon seeing him, every one knew what was to be done. They stood up and greeted him and gave him all honour and respects. Simply by seeing his beautiful form they knew the solution to their problems would be solved. His legs, hands, arms, shoulders, forehead and other parts of his body were all perfectly formed. His eyes were beautifully wide, and his nose and ears were highly raised. He had a very attractive face, and his neck was well formed and beautiful like a conch shell. He was very beautiful due to his youth. They gave Srila Govinda Maharaj the highest chair and glorified him the same way the sages of Naimasaranya and Maharaj Pariksit glorified Sukadev Goswami. They said, 'O brahmana, by your mercy, you have sanctified us, making us like places of pilgrimage. Simply by remembering you our houses become instantly sanctified, what to speak of seeing you, touching you, washing your holy feet and offering you a seat. Just as the atheist cannot remain in the presence of the Personality of Godhead, so also the invulnerable sins of man are immediately vanquished in your presence, O saint! O great mystic! Lord Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, has accepted me as one of His relatives, otherwise, how is it that without being divinely inspired, you have voluntarily appeared here? You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees so I am begging you to show us what is to be done and what is to be avoided. O powerful brahmana, it is said that you hardly stay in the houses of men long enough to milk a cow.' Srila Govinda Maharaj was honoured and said, 'Your question is glorious because it is the most important matter for hearing and it is approved by all. Then he said,
From that point he took complete charge of the Math and allowed Guru Maharaj the time and freedom to preach. He gave Guru Maharaj everything he needed. Guru Maharaj was able to remained as the most powerful preacher the world has ever seen. He was completely protected by Srila Govinda Maharaj, the son of Lord Siva. He had his full support and backing. Govinda Maharaj organised the entire mission for Guru Maharaj. No problems came to Guru Maharaj. Govinda Maharaj took care of all problems and gave guru Maharaj the relief he needed so he could preach. All of Guru Maharaj's godbrothers gave their full support to Srila Govinda Maharaj as all the great sages gave their support to Sukadev Goswami. Srila Govinda Maharaj arranged every thing. He took the whole burden of the Math on his head. Some people say Srila Govinda Maharaj took formal initiation from Srila Sridhar Maharaj and was a siksa disciple of Srila A C Bhaktivedanta Prabhupad. This is true but we have to see him as the eternal guru that comes in an infinite number of forms. He is a full manifestation of Nityananda Prabhu. He is the guru and the master of everyone. He took initiation but that is not the same type of initiation we take. His initiation is only for setting the example for us. His initiation is the same type of initiation Krishna took from Sandipani Muni or Mahaprabhu took from Iswara Puri. An example has to be set for others to follow. We have to take initiation because we are condition souls. We need a spiritual master in order to get out of the quagmire of material life but the eternal guru doesn't. He is already complete in his life. We need to see Srila Govinda Maharaj as the master he is, not always as a disciple. He will always say he is a servant and a disciple of this guru or that guru and that is his real qualification. The real guru doesn't think he is the master. He thinks he is a servant. The sloka (Cc. Mad. 20.108),
Srila Guru Maharaj explains in the eleventh chapter of Sri Guru and His Grace,
Srila Guru Maharaj offered Srila Govinda Maharaj all honour when he first came to the Math. Besides giving him complete charge, two and a half years before he left this world, he gave him complete legal charge. A disciple must offer everything to his guru dev and we see this with Guru Maharaj offering everything to Govinda Maharaj. This honour can only be given by a disciple to his spiritual master. It actually isn't a gift of honour or a gift of some material property but it is the offering from the heart of one great soul to another. It is a offering of love. It is the offering a perfect disciple gives to his spiritual master. Srila Guru Maharaj is in the role of a disciple and he is offering everything to his master, Srila Govinda Maharaj. This is an exchange of madhura rasa between two eternal souls of the spiritual world. We can't compare it to anything material. Srila Prabhupad offered his whole mission to Srila Govinda Maharaj before he even went to the western world.. Again this is the offering of a perfect disciple to his spiritual master. These are offerings of the highest order. They are offerings of love from one great soul to another. There is actually no question of trying to distinguish between who is the master and who is the disciple in the highest sense. Love transcends everything. They are all three masters and disciples simultaneously. Guru Maharaj and Srila Prabhupad offered everything to Govinda Maharaj out of intense love for him and Srila Govinda Maharaj offered everything to them out of intense love. It is unique in the history of Vaisnavism. Even the spiritual master of Sukadev Goswami hearing the Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadev, doesn't compare with Srila Guru Maharaj giving complete charge of his Math to Srila Govinda Maharaj before he left this world and of Srila Prabhupad offering his western mission before he had even started to preach. Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Prabhupad knew how to serve, honour and worship a great soul and Srila Govinda Maharaj knew how to serve, honour, and worship them. That was their qualification and this is an example of the highest order of madhura rasa or loving exchanges between great souls. This is the inner meaning of the relationship between Srila Guru Maharaj, Srila Prabhupad and Srila Govinda Maharaj. They are all great gurus and we have to see them that way. Sri Guru Dev is the perfect teacher and he can teach the whole world even his own guru. We see in all scriptures primary importance is given to Sri Guru Dev. He comes in an infinite number of forms, all with the same purpose which is to take us condition souls back home back to Godhead. He comes for our benefit, not his own. He is completely self-sufficient and self-satisfied. He may appear like an ordinary person, or a disciple, but he isn't. He is one form of the infinite form of the sweet absolute. We are fortunate we have such a great guru before us as His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Paramahamsa-parivajakacarya-varya astottara-sata-Sri Sri Srimad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev Maharaj. He is a guru of that world where he is the guru of all great and empowered gurus. He is fully fixed at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and of his Guru Maharaj and is carrying out his order and desire perfectly. This day is very special because we can glorify Sri Guru dev as the master he is, the friend and well-wisher of all living entities. I hope and pray for his causeless mercy and that he will overlook my oceans of faults and offences at his lotus feet. Chidananda Das Bramachari
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