by Rupa Raghunath das
Srila Gurudeva was incredibly merciful for accepting us despite our many shortcomings and weaknesses. He didn’t hold anything back from us, but wholeheartedly gave everything he had, showing us all what pure unalloyed devotion to Radha and Krsna is.
The picture below was taken by Sriman Madhuvrata prabhu, Srila Gurudeva’s cook, exactly one year before Srila Gurudeva entered Samadhi, on Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Goswami Maharaja’s appearance day. We were in Mauritius at that time and I asked Srila Gurudeva, what would please him the most.
He replied,
“Always do bhajan (the devotional activities given by our acaryas). This will please me. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare…
I have come for that.” He paused and then added, “…and if you have time, you can do my service (serve me).” It is such an extreme fortune when the most merciful Sri Guru enters our
lives. We have spent millions after millions of lifetimes uselessly in sense gratification. Yet, despite our glaring disqualifications, he never judged or condemned us.
Srila Gurudeva came to this world for no other reason than to shower immense mercy upon us. Whenever Srila Gurudeva casts his glance upon you, either laughingly or while chastising, it is certainly not ordinary. Srila Gurudeva is always seeing the Divine Couple Sri Sri Radha and Krsna with eyes filled with love, premanjana-churita bhakti vilocanena. When those eyes which are saturated with prema, glance at you, one becomes immensely blessed.
We all experienced and remember how Srila Gurudeva moved our hearts simply by looking at us with so much love. He genuinely cares about us. His entering Samadhi last year is also his unfathomable mercy as the pain caused by his disappearance churns our hearts to create an intense mood of deep separation from him. Unless we feel separation from Sri Guru, how can we know what separation from Radha and Krsna is?
If we contemplate and deliberate on Srila Gurudeva’s astonishing qualities, we will each find various specialities that were perfectly exemplified in him and which deeply moved us. The most prominent quality that moves me is his unsurpassed loving compassion.
In fact, indivisible from him, is his very nature of unsurpassed compassion. He always emphasized love and affection among devotees and all of his acts were just that, to show us what is real love and happiness, so we can be relieved of all our suffering and misfortune.Indeed, his translating books and his remarkable commentaries took place by his compassionate nature.
When Srila Gurudeva started travelling to the West, his age was already advanced. He was seventy–five in 1996 when he began his first World Preaching Tour. Over the next fifteen years, due to his immense compassion for all the fallen souls, he circled the globe some 35 times constantly spreading the message and mercy of Sri Caitanyadeva. Wherever I saw Srila Gurudeva, either in Badger, Houston or Vancouver, he was always blessing the devotees.
He always accommodated everyone; whatever we offered, he would graciously accept it no matter how big or small and somehow engaged us in the service of the Lord. Everywhere devotees would all try to somehow have an exchange with Srila Gurudeva and receive his blessings. Even when he was ninety and his movements became more restricted, he continued blessing everyone.
It is not easy to understand the nature of Srila Gurudeva’s unlimited mercy and compassion. In a darsana in San Francisco in the summer of 2008, Srila Gurudeva said,” My real purpose is to give what I have realized. Sometimes people do not understand me or what I am doing.”(Walking with a Saint, pg. 260)
In Delhi, during his sickness pastime, we were in Sriman Brajanath prabhu’s room, when suddenly Srila Gurudeva came in. Brajanath prabhu and another devotee were holding Srila Gurudeva up and supporting him on either side while he was trying to walk. Even in that condition, when he had hardly eaten in weeks, he still raised his right hand giving us his blessings.
Later on at that time, Jnana Shakti prabhu and I went into his room. Srila Gurudeva was barely moving at all. We both stood there by his lotus feet, praying to him. In those few minutes that we were silently there, Srila Gurudeva somehow was aware of our presence and opened his eyelids several times, mercifully glancing down at both of us. It broke my heart to see him there hardly moving but still giving mercy. Such is the unlimited compassion of Srila Gurudeva.
“Even after my departure from this world, you can ask me any question
and I will inspire you in your heart. Don’t think of Gurudeva as a mortal
being. He will inspire you. I feel this way; I ask my Gurudeva questions…
Otherwise, if one is not so pure, he will not speak with him directly. Rather,
inspiration will come.”
(S.B.V. Narayana Maharaja, Walking with a Saint 1/28/09 Malaysia morning walk.)
In Orlando, Florida Srila Gurudeva said to me that Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja taught him everything, not only in his personal presence. I was inquiring how he would answer our questions when he is no longer with us in this world. He replied that the answer must come. He mentioned that just like when his Srila Gurudeva sent him out for preaching, many arguments would come and automatically he was able to clear them by the mercy of his Gurudeva. He motioned with a flick of his hand as if to say the arguments were simply cleared away.
Such is the power of a bona fide Guru. A bona fide Guru is never elected by popular vote or by some executive committee. What is the qualification of a Guru? Srila Gurudeva says,
“Guru should be tattva-darsi, a realized soul… Surrender to a soul like that.”
(Germany, Dec. 14, 2001)
Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada says the same thing,
“This is the qualification of Guru, tattva-darsi…But here is the responsibility of guru, first that he must save the disciple from the cycle of birth and death.”
(Vrindavana, Nov. 6, 1976)
If one is not a realized soul and properly qualified, he will not be able to give others the power to understand or realize the truth.
Photo: Stavyadeva das
Just like an airplane pilot. One cannot fly a plane just because his father flew a plane. The pilot needs to be properly qualified and trained. Similarly, a person must have the qualification to take the position of Guru. If one is not sufficiently qualified, both he and his followers will go down. The people on the airplane may cheer for their pilot but if he is not qualified, his plane will crash.
As Srila Gurudeva said, “the initiating guru should not be less than a madhyama-adhikari…Otherwise there will be so many difficulties in your devotional life. If that guru falls down, your life will be ruined and you will cry bitterly.”
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada says, “Only a person who has descended from the spiritual world can speak about that place. One who belongs to the phenomenal world cannot actually report on matters of the transcendental plane. However, upon receiving the fortune of hearing hari-katha from the lotus lips of a great personality who has descended from the spiritual world, one can obtain information about Vaikuṇṭha – the infinite Kingdom of God.
No transcendental entity can be comprehended through a worldly line of thought. It is not appropriate to consider the transcendent and the phenomenal to be one and the same. With good fortune, one may find a great person who has come from the other world.
Sri Caitanyadeva has therefore said:
krsna yadi krpa karena kona bhagyavane
guru-antaryami rupe sikhaye apane
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 22.47
When a soul becomes extremely fortunate, Sri Guru showers mercy upon him by coming personally to teach him. He appears externally in the form of Sri Guru, and internally in the form of the Supersoul.” -
Everyone Should Be Selfish About Their Eternal Welfare by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura Prabhupada (Rays of the Harmonist – Year 4, Issue 12) Excerpt from:
How do we get the mercy of Sri Guru? Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada said that we have to cry for the Lord like the genuine crying of a child for the mother. When we are completely materially exhausted and cannot find solace in any material situation; in that condition, when we cry piteously and remorsefully to the Lord, the Lord sends His very own dearmost associate to us. Ye yatha mam prapadyante…“However you deal with Me, I reciprocate.”
According to our adhikara, the Lord reciprocates accordingly. He hears our crying, but what exactly are we crying for? We have to learn to cry for pure service to God, our inherent purpose… If the buildings are on fire, you run. You can’t stick around trying to figure out how it started. You have to act fast and get out. Similarly, on the battlefield Sri Krsna is concerned and wants Arjuna to act fast, surrender. Sri Guru wants the same from us.
Sri Guru is the manifest representative of the Supreme Lord. Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Goswami Maharaja explains in a letter written on the 6th of June,1972 that Sri Guru is Bhagavat-svarupa, he who in nature personifies Sri Bhagavan. He is the eternal servant but at the same time, Sri Gurudeva is inseparable from Sri Bhagavan. As Bhagavan can see deep into the core of our hearts, Sri Guru can also see.
Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Goswami Maharaja
“Sri Guru, the Vaisnavas and Sri Bhagavan – these three are antaryami. In other words, they are the internal witnesses and know our heart. They see the Truth and speak the Truth. They extend their causeless compassion to the conditioned souls of this world in ways that are unnoticed by mortal intelligence and inconceivable to it. Truly nothing in this world can compare to their compassion.
Only a soul who possesses sufficient spiritual merit can fathom something of their unsurpassed compassion. .. Longing to see the innermost love and devotion of the sadhakas and sadhikas blossom, Sri Guru and Sri Bhagavan fulfil their desires in ways that are at times obvious and at others unseen. In this way they secure the sadhakas’ and sadhikas’ conviction in sadhana-bhajana.”
Sri Guru is an avesha-rupa of bhakti, the manifestation of the Supreme Lord, yet Sri Guru never considers himself to be Sri Krsna. Srila Prabhupada says in chapter 6 of the Teachings of Lord Caitanya that, “As far as the avesha-rupa is concerned, when Krsna empowers some suitable living entity to represent Him, that living entity is called avesha-rupa, or saktyavesha-avatara.” Such a person has the power to transmit realization in the heart of the disciple and remove anarthas (unwanted desires) through engagement in bhajana.
Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami, in an article entitled, One Must Correctly Identify a Vaisnava says:
“The mercy of Sri Guru and the Vaisnavas is the one and only means by which a jiva can attain the ultimate goal of life. Only by their mercy is it possible for him to obtain the merciful, sidelong glance of the most compassionate Sri Bhagavan. This we have heard repeatedly… Only when we respect Vaisnavas in a manner befitting their respective qualification can we become free from knowingly or unknowingly committing Vaisnava-aparadha.
Only then can we realise the transcendental, merciful form of the Vaisnavas, which bestows all desired perfection…Until we can identify Vaisnavas and develop an intimacy with them in which we regard them as our bosom friends, we will be unable to realise the true nature of their affection for us.”
(Sri Gaudiya Patrika,Year 7, Issue 9, translated in English by the Rays of the HarmonistTeam, Number 11, Kartika 2002)
Sripad Madhava Maharaja says in the biography, The Supreme Treasure Srila Gurudeva,
“The scriptures proclaim that Sri Guru is an inconceivably different and non-different, worshipable manifestation of the Lord. The relationship of a disciple with his spiritual master is as good as his relationship with the Supreme Lord.”
Srila Gurudeva further explains in his book, Guru-Devatatma, “First, we must think that guru is our atma, our life and soul.” Sri Guru is the embodiment of mercy and compassion. Sri Guru is our only hope. He has come to fulfill the innermost desire of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.
Photo: Stavyadeva das
The Lord appears in this age in the form of Sri Gaurasundara, having accepted the ecstatic emotions and luster of Sri Radha. Sri Gaurasundara distributed a very rare form of prema-bhakti that was never given before.
This prema-bhakti unveils our original spiritual nature and is the highest manifestation of compassion. All the immortal contributions of all the previous avataras and acaryas are included in this gift of Sri Gaurasundara which Srila Gurudeva came to give.
Very beautiful, thankyou. I love all the Gurudeva quotes, acaryas’ quotes, and sweet photos.
I wonder sometimes in isolation, then like now I wonder on the caste side, if a new devotee comes, he says he was a cleaner or kitchenhand, then he is designated sudra. But what if he doesn’t say his mother is the descendant of a Swedish Airforce pilot, most bravest man in Galipoli, saved 180 lives but got his head cut off by Japanese, his wife Scottish in the early days had the silver card you must have had, to get into private parties. If you didn’t have this, you just did not get in. She was a rebel without a cause, told ‘ladies’ don’t go out with men and neither go out to do the Charleston which was all the rage back then, she like myself did all this back then. A rager, an individual, possibly into all kinds of things. The father, gone through Russian Revolution, Stalin and the holocaust, savagely cruel life, not knowing where is this brother that sister for years, and like Christ has to rise again, when he sees his own name on a plaque in Red Square. Now he knows where everyone is, but that only came to him recently in life. Like Prabhupad didn’t ‘figure it out’ until those final years, then it all became crystal clear to him. I know from this my family is of high breeding. My brothers ex wife also was a wealthy family. Now they say, to me, these two are invited to our ‘this city’ hierarchy party, but I cannot go as these are the top of the cream of society and I am down there with the beggars and paupers. I wonder how can this be, without a police check. I have no criminal record, and have done amazing things, some messed up, but some world changing. Who decides on this, and how far do devotees organisations, eg Iskcon, GMVS go into checking someones past before they decide, this one is lower class, or higher, without knowing? How can this be. I do not understand, in the forest without a guide,, I love you Sri Gurudev, daily offerings, and lots of love in tears, but one thing, who decides where a new disciple fits in, who decides which class they are and how can they do this when they do not even know someone. Thier surname, or the mothers and that links to people around the globe. Anyone shed a light on my question. Please some servant explain, lead me to that light switch like an I Ching reading that turns my inner light on and I go ‘Aha, now I understand’. I like to understand rather than just say ‘Oh I agree’, without really knowing. Hare Krishna Jaya Sri Guru, still in my heart. Always, Radhe Radhe Radhe Govinda.
Dear Nandalal prabhu,
Dandavat pranams. I pray that the full mercy of Srila Gurudeva’s heartly blessings be upon you.
You obviously come from a very brave and noble family. Do not worry, in a society of pure devotees, your place is guaranteed. Cultivate your mood of love and service to Sri Guru and from there all auspiciousness comes. You are already accepted by Srila Gurudeva. Any service we do for Guru comes only by his mercy. We have to mold our life in such a way that his mercy can fully act on us.
Please, do not doubt for one moment your place in the Vaisnava community. In such a society, no devotee is considered low class. After all, we are all brothers and sisters and Sri Guru is our loving father and dearmost friend.
We may go through a stage where we feel that we do not belong either to the material or spiritual world, but we should not despair as this stage is very temporary. It is a fact that we all belong to the spiritual devotional world. Everybody has to realize this at their own pace. Do the needful to keep well and healthy both materially and spiritually. It is important to keep a healthy balance for steady progress.
I wish you well my brother. Just keep up your hearing and chanting and encouraging others as you are already doing. Services are unlimited. If one door closes, another opens. Nobody decides who is a sincere devotee. It is between you and your Guru. As our love for Sri Guru matures, our heart automatically opens up for association with his loving devotees.
Yours sincerely,
Rupa Raghunath das
Beautiful, I love the way you express yourself, clear and concise,with depth and gentleness.
Thank you Rupa Raghunatha Prabhu!
Saci
All Glories to Sri Sri Gurudev. I sent a copy of this to a mate who is a senior detective, help them see, they also are servants of Krishna. And one great mate who has helped me like no other around this area. They still live old ways, but hey, he loves to read these. I post it to my Facebook page and then take the pictures to my you tube Nandalal108 ROCK FOR RADHARANI musical and bit of film seva. Help the world enjoy the second wave, the tsunami of bhakti and help realise they have all missed out on sharing the most awesome company in all the three worlds. The sum total of 33,000? demigods, the very essence of rupanuga bhakti in its’ highest form. Simple, follow me and this nectar will also be yours.
How can I ever repay you for this? Hare Krishna.
Dandabats Prabhuji: Thank you for sharing. Very nice realizations and understandings of Srila Gurudeva. Touched my heart. tk you.
SD
Thank you too prabhu for the very nice pictures used here of Srila Gurudeva; one with his arms raised in Badger and another of him giving blessings in Hawaii. They’re beautiful and very much appreciated.
ooh now i see – in the word document you actually added his name in the caption – i will insert them …
ys raghava
done!
Thank you Raghava Prabhu. Your service is appreciated all over the world.
Radhe Radhe Govinda Govinda Radhe Radhe Govinda Govinda What ever else is unimportant, this is all that matters, and I miss washing His socks. The only time in my life ever washing someone elses’ socks was absolute bliss. Even dirty, they smell so sweet. Its not dirt, just the dust of His lotus feet. In seperation. Vaisnava Dasa Nudas.
Lovely – thank you!
All Glories to Sri Guru & Gouranga
Thanks for these beautiful words and sentiments Prabhu.
All Glories to Sri Guru & Gouranga!
Thank you Rupa Raghunath Prabhu ji.
A loverly put together article tugs at my heart
All glories to Sri Gurudeva & all the Vaishnava’s.
Jai Sri Sri Radhey Shyam!
Jai Sri Sri Nitai Gaurahari!
Jai Srila Gurudev!
Jai Srila Gurudev!
Jai Srila Gurudev!
Jai Srila Gurudev!