He Conveys the Language of Bhakti to All

During the annual Navadvip dhāma-parikramā festival in 2012, many devotees from different corners of the globe came to Māyāpur to take part. It was apparently impossible for Śrīla Gurudev, who was approaching 90 years old to physically participate in the daily circumambulation. However, he showed an enthusiasm unknown to anyone of his age by leading kīrtana in the early hours on the opening day of the parikramā. He also spoke about the glories of the holy dhāma to all the pilgrims. Every day he would come out of his bhajana-kuṭīra to see off the devotees going on parikramā and to welcome the devotees when they returned late in the evening.

One day when all the devotees left for circumambulation leaving behind only a few servants and Śrīla Gurudev in the Maṭha, a few devotees from China had come to visit Śrīla Gurudev. They sat in front of Śrīla Gurudev’s bhajan kuṭīra and started to sing Mahāmantra in a loud voice. For a long time, Śrīla Gurudev was sitting inside his quarters listening to their singing while clapping.

After some time, he voluntarily came out to give his darśana to those devotees who were so simple that they didn’t even demand it. They had no knowledge of English and Śrīla Gurudev couldn’t speak Chinese but Mahāmantra seemed a common language of communication between them. Śrīla Gurudev’s smile broadened as they started shouting ‘Jai! Jai!’ After many pleasant exchanges of divine emotions, Śrīla Gurudev went back to his room and the devotees dispersed.

Śrīla Gurudev’s sevāks informed him that more Chinese devotees would be coming to Maṭha the next day to take his darśana. Śrīla Gurudev appreciated the Mahāmantra singing of the devotees on that day and decided to speak about the glories of Mahāmantra to them when they come the following day. He was eagerly waiting for that moment. All day he repeatedly spoke the glories of Mahāmantra to the sevāks citing several verses from the scriptures. He was contemplating Mahāmantra the whole night.

The next day about 30 Chinese devotees came and started singing Mahāmantra like the previous day, but on this day the voice was loud as many devotees joined the sankīrtana. Śrīla Gurudeva, who was already eager to shower his grace upon them, rushed out of his bhajana kuṭīra and met them. Seeing Śrīla Gurudeva, their voices raised further. Śrīla Gurudev was offered a chair and a few devotees of the Maṭha sat around him. After a while, one of us asked the Chinese devotees to stop singing so that Gurudeva could speak to them. But Gurudeva was liking their sincere singing so much that he asked them to continue chanting Mahāmantra. The kīrtana continued for nearly half an hour and it was a pleasant sight to see Śrīla Gurudev clapping like a small child and waving his head to the tune.

Śrīla Gurudev then spoke a few verses from the scriptures about the glories of the Holy Name. He narrated how Śrīla Kṛṣṇadas Babajī Mahārāja, who was nāma-siddha (perfected in chanting the Holy Name), used to chant the entire day and night with minimum rest. Śrīla Gurudev said, “He would chant the whole day and in the night I have never seen him...” And he paused.

Śrīla Gurudev, in the pretext of giving instruction to all of us, apparently seemed to be searching for an appropriate word to complete the sentence. I prompted him with the word "sleep". He declined it. He gave us some more time to prompt him with the right word. I was thinking of synonyms for sleep in my mind. 

Finally, seeing my failure he himself completed the sentence with the word "rest". He was always very careful in using appropriate words while singing the glories of Vaiṣṇavas. Vaiṣṇavas don’t sleep, they rest. Even while resting they think about their object of worship, whereas a conditioned soul sleeps in the mode of ignorance.

Śrīla Gurudev continued, “Babajī Mahārāja would chant all day and all night. He would not want to disturb other Vaiṣṇavas while resting so he would chant in a very low voice at night. Barely we have seen him taking rest. But I .... (smiles)..” This time I was extra alert to prompt him with the word "rest," but he was even quicker than me to complete the sentence, “I would "sleep" and when I woke up in the middle of the night, I would listen to his chanting in a very mild voice.” He was such an exemplary Ācārya that he always considered himself an ordinary soul or a practitioner and when it came to glorifying the Vaiṣṇavas, he wouldn’t compromise on his choice of words.

The Chinese devotees felt blessed listening to Śrīla Gurudev’s instructions on the chanting of Mahāmantra and they started to sing even more vigorously. It is very difficult to say how many of them understood the language Śrīla Gurudev spoke, but it was evident from their kīrtana that they understood the language of bhakti that Śrīla Gurudev conveyed to their hearts. After a while, Śrīla Gurudev entered back in his bhajan kuṭīra while devotees continued the kīrtanas for some more time before departing.

—Śrī Bhakti Suhrid Paramadvati Mahārāja

photos by Anjali Dasi