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Our
Eternal and Omniscient Guardian by
Çréla
Bhaktivedänta Vämana Gosvämé Mahäräja
The
Spiritual Biography We
have assembled here today for a special reason, that is, to honour the
disappearance day or viraha-tithi,
of my most beloved Gurudeva, jagad-guru
nitya-lélä praviñöha oà viñëupäda añöottara-çata
Çré
Çrémad Bhakti Prajïäna Keçava Gosvämé Mahäräja. When people of this world write biographies,
whether of common persons or eternally perfect and liberated saints, they always
examine two The
birth and death of the living entity entangled in fruitive action occur merely by the dictates of his past
deeds and their consequences. But Bhagavän does not
undergo material birth and death because He is saccid-änanda,
the embodiment of spiritual existence, consciousness and bliss. Similarly, the
advent and disappearance of eternally perfect, liberated souls are not material.
Such personalities are not bound in the cycle of birth and death by their
activities and the results of those activities. This has been stated
unambiguously in the scriptures. On
this same full moon day, my Gurudeva disappeared from
this world at a glorious time, thus depriving
us of his merciful association. Where did he go? To his eternal abode and
destination, Goloka Våndävana. Those who are eternally perfect and eternally
liberated automatically achieve a destination that lies wholly beyond the reach
of ordinary persons. Our
Eternal Well-wisher If
ever the question should arise whether or not Çré Guru
and the Vaiñëavas deceive us, the scriptures confirm
that, in a way, they do. They accept the various hardships of this world just to
assist those who are sincere in their efforts to practise hari-bhajana
or
sädhana-bhajana.
And to those who avoid sädhana-bhajana
and instead engage in whimsical activities, Guru and the Vaiñëavas remain somewhat indifferent. This, especially, is
to be understood. If
the residents of the maöha,
or spiritual institution, behave correctly and engage themselves in sädhana
and bhajana
by
completely devoting their lives to the service of Çré
Hari, Guru and the Vaiñëavas, they can attain complete perfection. Qualified
guardians assume the role of well wishers, even in this world; what then to
speak of our spiritual guardians, in whom we witness a far more exalted
conception of guardianship. Who
is Gurudeva? He is our best friend. He is our eternal
well-wisher, who offers shelter to the shelterless.
How is this? He is the exclusive point of refuge for those who can find no
shelter in this world. None is as merciful and compassionate in the prison house
of this world as he is. Guru
is concerned for our spiritual well-being. People often make a display of caring
for others’ material well-being, but they do not understand the importance of
spiritual welfare; nor can they help anyone else grasp this. Unless we receive
Bhagavän’s causeless mercy, we will not identify the
correct path to Him or ever find an appropriate guardian. Guru
of the Universe Those
who have become acquainted with the path of sädhana-bhajana
by
personally pursuing that path and successfully surmounting the various obstacles
and hardships along the way, and who in turn point submissive souls in the same
direction, fall within the category of jagad-guru-tattva,
spiritual teachers of the entire universe. In relation to guru,
people often think, “This person is my guru,
that person is your guru,
and that other person is his guru,”
but the scriptures presents a different conception: mannäthaù
çré jagannätho madguruù çré jagadguruù My
Lord is the master of the universe, and my guru
is the
spiritual preceptor of the entire world. Less
intelligent people err in their attempts to understand this. That person who is
my guru
is
the guru
of
all fourteen planetary systems, and therefore he is jagad-guru,
guru
of
the entire universe. This is a scriptural truth, not mere fantasy. We may think
that we honour our Gurudeva by praising him profusely,
and that he will be pleased by our display of devotion, but this reveals a
misunderstanding about guru-tattva.
It is not like this. When
the guru
has
attained omniscience, he falls in the category of antaryämi-tattva,
which is to say he is all-knowing like the Supersoul.
Nothing need be presented to him as newsworthy. He is inherently aware of our
mistakes, imperfections, faults and shortcomings; and yet he still showers us
with abundant encouragement to pursue spiritual life, inspiring us to perform
sädhana-bhajana.
This is his special mercy. Çré
Kåñëa, the Original Guru In
his hari-kathä,
Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Prabhupäda has said that
the people of the world plainly
failed to understand the instructions of Bhagavad-gétä
and
Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
though the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Çré Kåñëa, spoke them directly. They are unable to grasp these
same teachings today, and will also be incapable of doing so in the future.
Having reflected on the living entity’s plight, Çré
Rädhä and Çré Kåñëa personally appeared in this world in their combined
form of Gaurahari, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, and assumed
the role of jagad-guru
to
instruct all humankind. This
indicates that Bhagavän is the original cause of the
living entities’ engagement in hari-bhajana and
is most concerned for them. Thus, by His personal example, He has arranged to
teach the living entities how to chant the names of Çré Kåñëa and engage in
bhajana
of
Çré Rädhä and Çré Kåñëa with deep and ardent
yearning. His expression of bhajana
is
portrayed in such literary works as Çré
Caitanya-caritämåta
and
Çré
Caitanya-bhägavata,
which depict His pastimes. Can
there possibly be any deficiency in Çré Kåñëa?
He
does not lack anything. Çrémad-Bhägavatam (6.9.22)
states, “svenaiva
läbhena samaà praçäntam
–
Bhagavän is always jubilant and fully satisfied by His
own spiritual perfection.” While this is true, Bhagavän becomes distressed upon seeing the miserable
condition of the living entities, and He weeps. This is the
natural disposition of a guardian and is why Bhagavän
personally descended to preach the process of sädhana-bhajana
and
näma-saìkértana,
the congregational chanting of the holy names. Many
people raise the doubt, “Is Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu still
bestowing His mercy today? After all, are there not numerous examples to show
that only His personal associates received His favour?” It is the conditioned soul’s
doubting nature to always seek defects in others, be they Vaiñëavas or Bhagavän Himself. His
mentality is like that of an ant which tries to find a hole in a temple composed
of gems. This is his great misfortune. The
Path of Humility and Surrender The
scriptures instruct us to care for our own wellbeing and
the well-being of others, but we are unable to
understand what this means. Our crippled nature blights
everything and our useless fault-finding mentality
takes us nowhere. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu has
instructed: tåëäd
api sunécena taror api sahiñëunä amäninä
mänadena
kértanéyaù sadä hariù Çré
Çikñäñöakam (3) One
should continuously chant the holy name of Çré Hari,
thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless
than insignificant grass that has been trampled
beneath everyone’s feet, being more tolerant
than a tree, being prideless and
offering respect
to everyone according to his respective position. The
scriptures describes how one can become amäné-mänada,
free from the desire to receive honour and able to offer all respect to others.
Our guru-varga,
or line of previous äcäryas,
has beautifully elaborated upon this point: amäné
mänada haile kértane adhikära dibe tumi My
prayer is that when I have abandoned the desire for
honour and am able to offer all respect to others, you
will bestow upon me the ability to perform kértana. What
does this mean? If I can become amänémänada,
I may actually achieve something in spiritual life. But if, instead, I nurture
desires unfavourable for bhakti,
I will never attain any success. My devotional practices will merely deceive me
and others. Our guru-varga
is
revealing this fact to us. The scriptures offer abundant advice and regulations
for our benefit, but we do not understand them. The instructions from the lotus
lips of a sad-guru,
whose heart melts with compassion, have such uncommon potency that he bestows
his mercy upon the living beings through the power of these words
alone. What
will allow us to understand this? By
çaraëägati,
dedicating ourselves completely to the lotus
feet of Çré Guru, there is hope that we may make
advancement. But if Guru and the Vaiñëavas see that I
am extremely proud, eager for name and fame, and behaving whimsically, they will
become indifferent to me. If I do not understand anything despite being told
repeatedly, and if I do not follow the path indicated by Çré Guru, they may deprive me of their association. It is
not their purpose to deceive us. This is not even the motive of Bhagavän, let alone of His associates, who are always eager
to bestow mercy upon the conditioned souls. Çré Guru
and the Vaiñëavas only wish to see us advance
spiritually, but we do not realise
this. Avoid
Offences at All Costs Today
is my Gurudeva’s disappearance day, but my heart is
not weeping. I have never missed him, from
the core of my heart. I am not in the least bit concerned that I have lost such
a precious stone, a touchstone. I have my dress of a sädhu
and
know that I will eat and live nicely. This attitude is a matter of serious
concern. Those
who wish to follow the process of sädhanabhajana
and
who try to engage themselves in thoughts
of Bhagavän and in service to Him, should be extremely
watchful. Çréla Narottama
Öhäkura has written “vando
mui sävadhäna-mate
–
I bow to the lotus feet of my Çré Gurudeva with great care and
attention.” What
does “care” refer to here? The scriptures instruct us to be attentive not to
commit offences. One
should always keep this in mind. While chanting the holy name, one should
carefully avoid näma-aparädha;
while visiting the dhäma
one
should avidly avoid dhäma-aparädha;
and while serving
the deities one should take great care not to commit sevä-aparädha.
Moreover, while residing with Guru and the Vaiñëavas
and serving them, one should attentively guard against committing guruaparädha
and vaiñëava-aparädha. With
so many obstacles and restrictions, one may wonder where to go and what to do.
But the more easily we shall attain our goal. A careful examination of the
scriptures reveals that they contain Bhagavän’s words
of discipline and regulation. Whatever instructions or advice Bhagavän has conferred upon us is repeated by Guru and the
Vaiñëavas. They do not fabricate anything. What they
say to their community of followers they glean from the scriptures’ positive and
negative injunctions. The
Guru’s Chastisement “When
I’m praised,” one may think, “I feel so much pleasure; but when criticised, I feel great discomfort.” That is not the
correct attitude. It is inappropriate to hear Guru and the Vaiñëavas glorify one. Rather, I should consider it my great
fortune if, for my spiritual welfare, they mercifully punish and rebuke me out
of love. But I am unable to tolerate this, and it leads me to present
counter-arguments to defend myself. In néti-çästra,
the scriptures delineating moral conduct, it is stated, “bhåtyaçca
uttardäyakaù
–
he who immediately answers back on
being directed should be rejected as a servant.” One
should listen to Guru and the Vaiñëavas when they deem
it necessary to rectify us. One and
patience, in the faith that they are speaking for our benefit only. They have no
selfish motive. We must always maintain this attitude, for what will Çré Guru’s attitude be towards us if we don’t? Extremely
mild. He may treat us like an esteemed personality, a master, and behave like
our servant. And then if he doesn’t listen to us, we may decide to reject him as
our gurudeva. Once,
Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Prabhupäda said with deep regret, “Those who think they must
have a guru
to
live in this world, just as a person who wants to cross a river must procure a
boatman, or a person who wants his clothes washed must locate a washerman, have been cheated. Such persons, who try to
understand Gurudeva’s actions with their material
intelligence, have never once seen or met me, nor with this attitude will they
ever do so.” The
eternally liberated souls always speak the message of Vaikuëöha. They never utter anything
for their
selfish interest, but nonetheless we see faults in them. In doing so, we create
problems for ourselves and are simply being betrayed from all
directions.
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