CAREFUL APPROACH

Madhavendra Puri expressed the verse Ayi dina-dayardra natha, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said,

ei sloka kahiyachena radha-thakurani
tanra krpaya sphuriyache madhavendra-vani
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 2.4.194)

This sloka was expressed by Srimati Radharani in the mood of deep separation from Krishna, and Madhavendra Puri also tasted those deep feelings of separation. This is two persons, and here Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is also tasting that verse. Iha asvadite ara nahi chautha-jana: no fourth man can taste this verse properly. If this is the comment of Srila Kaviraj Goswami, then where are you, and where am I? Everyone is unqualified. If divine grace will come then it may be possible to touch that verse sometimes; otherwise, keep it in the museum! There is no other way. Be qualified and take it. This is the proper thinking.

Thakurera chandana-sadhana ha-ila bandhana (Cc: 2.4.148): Madhavendra Puri wanted to hide himself, but he could not hide because Gopal had ordered him to bring chandan, sandalwood. He needed to collect the chandan and if he did not reveal himself as Madhavendra Puri how would he be able to get that chandan? Therefore he unhappily exposed his own position and told the people of Gopal’s order. It was proved by Gopinath, because Gopinath stole ksir for him. This made everyone very enthusiastic to help him and the king’s men arranged everything to send the chandan.

How can you stop the cheating? That is very difficult. Cheating business is going on in the society of Srila Saraswati Thakur in many places by many persons. They do not even know that they are cheating, which is worse. If they know it is cheating, then there is some hope for them. But they do not know they are cheating.

The difficulty is ego. Ego is a dangerous difficulty in society. This is existing within the sahajiya sampradaya: they are thinking, “Yes, I am qualified.” But Srila Raghunath Das Goswami said,

asa-bharair amrta-sindhu-mayaih kathanchit
kalo mayati-gamitah kila sampratam hi

“Eighty years have passed, and still I have not got Your mercy. With so much hope I have passed eighty years but still I am ignored by You and I have not got Your mercy.” If Raghunath Das Goswami said this vese, then how can we expect to get this type of fortune?

asa-bharair amrta-sindhu-mayaih kathanchit
kalo mayati-gamitah kila sampratam hi
tvan chet krpam mayi vidhasyasi naiva kim me
pranair vrajena cha varoru bakarinapi

“Now I am going to die, and if You still do not bestow Your mercy, then what shall I do? Now I shall leave Krishna, because without Your mercy Krishna is useless for me.”

Raghunath Das Goswami showed this type of mentality in old age. In another verse, he says, “Kam and krodha are attacking me.” In which way will kama, lust, attack Raghunath Das Goswami? We can say that he is describing this for us, but when he is writing it is not for us; he is not thinking, “I am writing for Govinda Maharaj.” He is not thinking that, he is thinking, “I am writing for myself”. This is in the Manah-siksa of Das Goswami: “I am attacked by lust.” In which way are you attacked by lust? You left everything in young age: jahau yuvaiva malavad Uttama-sloka-lalasah. And now you are such an old man. You cannot digest one cup of buttermilk. But Raghunath Das Goswami has written this there. That type of writing is so glorious: Gurau gosthe gosthalayisu sujane bhu-suragane.

Srila Saraswati Thakur and Srila Guru Maharaj were in the same place and same rank in their realisation. What I have got from his lotus feet I can only say a little bit about. And they are not cheating. If tears would come in their eyes they would think it is false. They are actually real tears for Radha-Krishna, real tears for Krishna, but they are checking them and saying that it is false. They are telling themselves, their own selves, that, “It is false, it is impossible, how will it come to me? I am unqualified.”

In his last days Srila Guru Maharaj was always saying, “Nitai, Nitai.” He is Srila Rupa Goswami’s man. Everyone knows he is Rupa Goswami’s man, so why was he telling, “Dayal Nitai, dayal Nitai”? He can say ‘Mahaprabhu’ at least, but he was not going up to that. He was living within the zone of Sankarsan and not going to Radha-Krishna, even though he is actually living within those Pastimes. When Srila Saraswati Thakur gave charge to him, and when Srila Saraswati Thakur wanted to hear from him, then we must believe that he is living within that zone. And how strongly did Saraswati Thakur give opposition when the secretary ordered someone else to chant it! Saraswati Thakur stopped it, “No, no one here is qualified to sing this song; only Sridhar Maharaj can do it. I want to hear from Sridhar Maharaj.”

I do not want to make anyone hopeless, but I want to be perfect and I want to see that our society is perfect all around. I understand that this is not possible, but still, to hope is not bad. Today we may not get it but one day we will be enriched with pure devotion. This is because the seed of Krishna consciousness is a very high standard seed. That is why we are giving this connection: today or tomorrow, they must get it. It has no limit in time, space, or anything like that. Very unqualified persons will also be enriched. That is possible. It is like lottery money. Rickshaw wallahs and others may win the lottery, and they are becoming rich.

This article is a continuation of the post Jay Ma Kali.

Source

Spoken on Sri Lalita Saptami in September 2000.

References

gurau gosthe gosthalayisu sujane bhu-suragane
sva-mantre sri-namni vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-sarane
sada dambham hitva kuru ratim apurvam atitaram
aye svantar bhratas chatubhir abhiyache dhrta-padah
(Manah-siksa: 1)

“O mind, I grasp your feet and beg you with sweet words: please cast away all hypocrisy and develop intense, unprecedented love for the spiritual master, Vrajabhumi, the residents of Vraja, the pure Vaisnavas, the brahmanas, the gayatri mantra, the Holy Name, and the transcendental shelter that is the fresh young couple of Vraja, Sri Sri Radha-Krishna.”

asach-chesta-kasta-prada-vikata-pasalibhir iha
prakamam kamadi-prakata-pathapati-vyatikaraih
gale baddhva hanye ’ham iti bakabhid-vartmapa-gane
kuru tvam phutkaran avati sa yatha tvam mana itah
(Manah-siksa: 5)

“I am being bound tightly around the neck by the fearsome highwaymen of lust, anger, and so forth with the painful, fearsome ropes of my wicked deeds; I am being killed!” Cry out in this way to the Vaisnavas, the guardians on the path to Krishna, the slayer of Baka, so that they save you from these foes, O mind!”

yo dustyajan dara-sutan suhrd-rajyam hrdi-sprsah
jahau yuvaiva malavad uttama-sloka-lalasah
(Srimad Bhagavatam, 5.14.43)

“Being very eager to gain the association of Lord Krishna, King Bharat, although in the prime of youth, gave up his very attractive wife, affectionate children, most beloved friends and opulent kingdom, exactly as one gives up stool after excreting it.”