If You Worship My Gurudev, My Worship is Done

By
When we decided that we will celebrate Rāmanavamī festival in Kolkata, we did not tell Gurudev about this in advance. While he was sitting in his room, a few godbrothers entered carrying a plate with garlands, chandan (sandalwood), flowers, incense, and a lamp.

We saw that Gurudev was writing something. He looked up and asked, "What is this?"
"Today is Rāmanavamī." we replied.
"Yes," he said, "Rāmanavamī. Perform worship of Śrī Rāmachandra."
We told him, "No, we want to worship you— today is your āvirbhāv!"
He said, "Who said it is my āvirbhāv? My birthday?"
We explained, "Pujyapad Nitya Gopal Prabhu told us today is your āvirbhāv."
He said, "No, no! Do not perform my worship— worship my Gurudev. If you worship my Gurudev, then my worship is done."
We said, "You will perform your Gurudev's worship, and whom shall we worship?
And Śrīla Gurudev ordered, "We shall worship our Gurudev."

Guru Mahārāj instructed us to bring chairs. When the chairs were brought, he said, call Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Mahārāj and Bhakti Saurabh Ācārya Mahārāj. We went with that invitation from Gurudev and told them, "Gurudev is calling you." They came and sat on the chairs in Gurudev's room.
When we got ready to perform ārati of Gurudev, he told us to first perform ārati of Śrīla Bhāratī Mahārāj. See his conduct! He is the Ācārya, but told us to first perform ārati of Bhāratī Mahārāj! We proposed that we will offer worship to you and him together.
After ārati, he told us to offer the flowers to Bhāratī Mahārāj's lotus feet. Two persons took flowers in both hands and simultaneously offered flowers at the Lotus Feet of Śrīla Gurudev and Śrīla Bhāratī Mahārāj. When we were offering garlands, Gurudev told us to first offer one to Bhāratī Mahārāj. See how our Gurudev's conduct is! He has never, ever taken pride in being a guru. He was such a great Ācārya. He was the President of Sree Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭh, President of World Vaiṣṇava Association, etc. but he never showed the least bit of pride.
Another special instruction I received is why or how he became dearmost to Param Gurudev. How did he enter and capture Param Gurudev's heart? This is because of his conduct and śaraṇāgati (surrender). Gurudev is a manifest form of śaraṇāgati to his Gurudev. The degree of śaraṇāgati he has for Param Gurudev is unmatched by anyone including his many godbrothers. In every kathā, every conduct, he is surrendered—kṛṣṇa-bhakte kṛṣṇera guṇa sakali sañcāre...
All the qualities of Kṛṣṇa descend to a Kṛṣṇa bhakta; so also all of Param Gurudev's qualities have descended into the heart of our Gurudev because of his complete surrender to his Gurudev. Likewise, when we take pride that we are disciples of Śrīla Gurudev, we should ask ourselves if the qualities of Gurudeva have entered into our hearts or not. This is the proof of whether Gurudev has accepted our service or not; we should ask ourselves whether or not at least two qualities of Gurudev have descended in our hearts.
—Śrīla Bhakti Kuśala Padmanābha Mahārāj
spoken at Viraha-sabhā at Bhatinda, Punjab, 2017
translated Hindi to English



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

He Accepts Every Circumstance With Utmost Humility

By
Image
I heard something very deep and nice from a devotee that I met in Switzerland. He told me about how he had been staying at a temple there while Guru Mahārāja was visiting.  He said that the maṭha-in-charge expressed his desire that Gurudeva speak about Bhāgavatam. But then an order came that he was not allowed to speak there. In the room where the Bhāgavatam reading was, there was a young boy,. He was maybe only three months in the maṭha and recently came out of a completely material life, eating meat, smoking, etc. Anyway, he was the only one who had permission to speak about Bhāgavatam. And what did Guru Mahārāja do? He entered the room, bowed down to this boy and he sat in front of this boy and listened to his Bhāgavatam reading. This is his humbleness. This is always the way; they teach by example, not by punishing or whatever. When this maṭha-in-charge saw this whole situation, he decided in one moment to leave this institution forever. Although he left that organization, he did
Read more

"She Has Gone to Goloka-dhāma "

By
Image
Guru Mahārāja is not an ordinary person; he is sent by the Supreme Lord to rescue all of us. In the office, if we are working in one place, we may be deputed to another place to do some work. Similarly, Gurudeva has been deputed from Goloka-dhāma to help us. Guru Mahārāja has come here to fulfill the desire of Hari-Guru-Vaishnavas. In 1997, I received harināma in Gokula-Mahāvana along with my  dharmapatnī , my wife. Guru Mahārāja asked my wife, "If something bad has happened to you, how do you take this? As if Gurudeva is at fault, or as if other persons are at fault?” My wife replied, “Whatever happens, I think it is good for me, by your arrangement.” In 2013, my wife was detected with breast cancer, and later left this world. Some devotees came to the maṭha and gave the news to Gurudeva. Gurudeva replied, "She has gone to Goloka-dhāma." In the hospital, I remember when my wife was in the ICU, and the doctor came and told me, "Your wife is in the fina
Read more

The Greatness of His Simplicity

By
Image
When Guru Mahārāja visited Ukraine his programs were in a public place such as a camp near the Black Sea, like a tourist camp. So he had his own room there and after harikathā or before harikathā devotees could visit him and speak with him. Generally, it was very free, everyone could come and ask some questions and he was very happy to answer them.  My personal experience was that when I met Guru Mahārāja in his room, he was very open. I was shocked because after association with ISKCON devotees for a long time it was very difficult to meet some Guru or talk with him. It was like an audience with some Prime Minister or President, very difficult to get. But still, when we first entered Guru Mahārāja’s room I was surprised that such a great person was at the same time very humble and he asked us, "How can I serve you?" It was very very sincere, in a very simple way.  He replied to all the questions that we asked and we just talked. It was like a conversation with a family membe
Read more