THE PULVERISER OF EGO

Jaya Om Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakāchārya-varya Aṣṭottara-śata-śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Goswāmī Viṣṇupād Mahārāj ki jay!

On Monday 8 Kārtik on Śrī Kṛṣṇa Navamī tithi, the auspicious appearance day of our supremely worshippable Śrī Guru-pāda-padma, the nondifferent form of Vyāsa Om Viṣṇupād Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakāchārya-varya Aṣṭottara-śata-śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Goswāmī Mahārāj, a magnificent Śrī Vyāsa Pūjā festival was observed by his followers at Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh in grand fashion. The custom of Śrī Vyāsa Pūjā [worship of Vyāsa: the expounder of revealed truth] has been prevalent since ancient times. Still, since the time of Jagad-guru Prabhupād Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur we have see a grand manifestation of it although prior to this the topmost position of the Jagad-guru (Jagad-guru-tattva) has been observed in the Vyāsa Pūjā of Śrīman Nityānanda Prabhu.

In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s conception of satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi, Śrī Bhagavān is the ultimate manifestation of the nondual absolute conscious reality beyond illusion (nirasta-kuhaka parama-satya advaya-jñāna-tattva), and His worshippable personal expansion is Śrī Gurudev. This conclusion is further supported by the verse anayā rādhito nūnaṁ. Because he is the compassionate manifest expansion of Govinda, who is far beyond all knowledge produced by the senses, today even a fallen jīva sunk in the mud of offences and afflicted by misfortune and the raging forest fire of material existence such as myself is able to become a beggar of his direct mercy. When the compassionate Lord personally teaches service—the service of Himself—and manifests as the pulveriser of the mountain range of ego and destroyer of the bondage of material existence for the jīva, then we are able to worship him in the form of Śrī Guru and become fortunate. Indeed, this itself is the ultimate hope of our present stage (adhikār) although this is not the culmination of service to Śrī Guru (Śrī Guru-tattva-sādhana).

I am unqualified, and therefore to touch the ramparts of the glory of that culmination is beyond what is attainable for me. Be that as it may, today to sing the praises of this lunar phase and solar day and make my desirous heart completely hopeful as a beggar of mercy by worshipping the language of our Śrī Guru-varga, how greatly fortunate can I become!

āśā-bharair amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ kathañchit
kālo mayātigamitaḥ kila sāmprataṁ hi
tvañ chet kṛpāṁ mayi vidhāsyasi naiva kiṁ me
prāṇair vrajena cha varoru bakāriṇāpi
(Vilāpa-kusumāñjali: 102)

[“With an abundance of hope that is an ocean of nectar, somehow or other I have passed the time, but if You do not bestow Your mercy upon me now, O Rādhā, then what is the use of my life, or Vraja, or even that demon killer?”]

The poor and fallen,

Śrī Bhakti Sundar Govinda

References

janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.1)

“Let us meditate on the eternal Supreme Being because of whom the manifestation, sustenance, and dissolution of this (perceptible universe) occur; who is determined through positive inference (anvaya) and otherwise (vyatireka, negative inference) to be fully aware of all matters and autonomous; who revealed the Veda to the first seer (Brahmā) through the heart; about whom (even) the wise are bewildered; in whom exists the real threefold creation (the manifestation comprised of the three guṇas sattva, raja, and tama) as a transformation of fire, water, and earth (in which these elements combine to form numerous objects yet remain distinct); and by whose own splendour deception (māyā) is forever dispelled.”

anayārādhito nūnaṁ bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ
yan no vihāya govindaḥ prīto yām anayad rahaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.30.28)

“[The gopīs to one another:] The Lord who removes the devotees’ sorrow and fulfils their desires has certainly been worshipped by Her (i.e. Rādhārāṇī); He has abandoned us and happily taken Her into seclusion.”