We Gain Faith in the Scriptures Just By Seeing Him
We cry for this material world, but not a single tear will appear in our eyes for the Lord. Yet our Guru Mahārāja exhibited extreme viraha (separation grief) from his most beloved Gurudev and manifested various stages of bhava, and the highest stage of prema vipralambha (love in separation). He gave us a glimpse of all those varieties of bhava, bhakti, and prema in the transcendental world.
Although he is the eternal personal associate of the Lord, he practiced every limb of sādhana-bhakti to teach us all. As sādhana is meant for those in the conditioned state, what is the need of it for a perfected soul? But by staying amongst us and demonstrating the highest standard of sādhana-bhakti, he abided by all the rules and regulations perfectly in order to instruct us.
He also exhibited the varieties of bhava which manifested spontaneously in his divine body during his kirtan pastimes which the fortunate amongst us have witnessed. I had heard from Śrī Amarendra Prabhu that during one such instance when Guru Mahārāja was dancing in great ecstasy during kirtan, those vibrations spread around and even dogs began dancing just like when Mahāprabhu was passing through Jharkhand forest. By his presence and through the transmission of power through saṅkīrtana, all the animals of the forest began dancing. As Guru Mahārāja had absolutely no external awareness at all, thorns pricked his feet and even though he bled, he was not even aware of it.
One afternoon while singing kirtans in his bhajan-kuṭīra, Guru Mahārāja went into such great ecstasy that his whole body stiffened and he lost consciousness. His mouth was open and there were no signs of breathing. We had heard in Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta how the devotees that attended Mahāprabhu during such times when He exhibited such ecstatic symptoms. They would sometimes hold a strip of cotton cloth under his nose to check if He was still breathing. As we felt afraid and did not know what to do, we tried this. Then in great fear, we called out, “Gurujī, Gurujī!” but did not come to external awareness. We then shook his divine body for a long time and he slowly came to external consciousness. He finally opened his eyes with great effort and looked as if he didn’t understand where he was or how he got there.
Although he is the eternal personal associate of the Lord, he practiced every limb of sādhana-bhakti to teach us all. As sādhana is meant for those in the conditioned state, what is the need of it for a perfected soul? But by staying amongst us and demonstrating the highest standard of sādhana-bhakti, he abided by all the rules and regulations perfectly in order to instruct us.
He also exhibited the varieties of bhava which manifested spontaneously in his divine body during his kirtan pastimes which the fortunate amongst us have witnessed. I had heard from Śrī Amarendra Prabhu that during one such instance when Guru Mahārāja was dancing in great ecstasy during kirtan, those vibrations spread around and even dogs began dancing just like when Mahāprabhu was passing through Jharkhand forest. By his presence and through the transmission of power through saṅkīrtana, all the animals of the forest began dancing. As Guru Mahārāja had absolutely no external awareness at all, thorns pricked his feet and even though he bled, he was not even aware of it.
One afternoon while singing kirtans in his bhajan-kuṭīra, Guru Mahārāja went into such great ecstasy that his whole body stiffened and he lost consciousness. His mouth was open and there were no signs of breathing. We had heard in Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta how the devotees that attended Mahāprabhu during such times when He exhibited such ecstatic symptoms. They would sometimes hold a strip of cotton cloth under his nose to check if He was still breathing. As we felt afraid and did not know what to do, we tried this. Then in great fear, we called out, “Gurujī, Gurujī!” but did not come to external awareness. We then shook his divine body for a long time and he slowly came to external consciousness. He finally opened his eyes with great effort and looked as if he didn’t understand where he was or how he got there.
This was like when Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya would sing loud kirtans and bring Mahāprabhu back to external consciousness when He would lie unconscious near Jagannātha Mandir, on the beach, or in Jagannātha Ballabh Gardens. After coming to external consciousness, Mahāprabhu would cry out “Where have brought me now? Where is Śrī Kṛṣṇa who is playing on His flute?” Although Guru Mahārāja did not say such words to us, he opened his eyes with such great effort and did not know where he was. Thus Guru Mahārāja exhibited the symptoms of bhava-bhakti to us.
And we witnessed his pastimes of prema-viraha (love in separation), when he would visit Param Gurudev's bhajan-kuṭīra and cry in desperation. Nothing of this material world was pleasing him. By the strength of his own mercy, he showed us a glimpse of all these ecstatic symptoms because while are reading about all these in the scriptures, we are without real darśana of such symptoms, thus we will not be able to have faith in such scriptural statements given in Śrī Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta. When we have the fortune of witnessing them happen before our eyes then we will develop greed for them. Everything is there in this material world, but nothing was pleasing him.
During such times we would have to read Śrīla Param Gurudev's biography or read out Param Gurudev’s antim-vani (last instructions) to him, show him the tridaṇḍa bestowed to him by Param Gurudev, place his japa-mala in his hand, or show him Param Gurudev's photograph and see that he would experience great bliss. This way we could witness what great bliss ensues after feelings of separation from the dearmost object of worship. We could also see that speaking about his dear most object or seeing and keeping the things gifted by our dear most object nearby that it brings great happiness and bliss. Thus Guru Mahārāja exhibited to us the various stages of devotion while relishing them himself.
To have darśana and association of a vaikuṇṭha-priya (pure and dear devotee) of the Lord is sudurlabhā, extremely rare. It is our extraordinary fortune that such a great saint appeared amongst us and gave us his darśana. Alongside it is our great misfortune, or say my greatest misfortune, that in spite of residing near such a great sadhu, I was not able to associate with him. Śrī Nandanandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa's dear most associate from Vaikuṇṭha mercifully appeared before us and gave us his darśana, but it is my great misfortune that I did not associate with his divine qualities, teachings, and instructions and with his divine personality to a full enough extent, unable to fully grasp what had come here to give us. This is my greatest misfortune and regret. But Guru Mahārāja has been always eager and enthusiastic to inspire such unqualified disciples as myself to perform devotional practices.
And we witnessed his pastimes of prema-viraha (love in separation), when he would visit Param Gurudev's bhajan-kuṭīra and cry in desperation. Nothing of this material world was pleasing him. By the strength of his own mercy, he showed us a glimpse of all these ecstatic symptoms because while are reading about all these in the scriptures, we are without real darśana of such symptoms, thus we will not be able to have faith in such scriptural statements given in Śrī Śrī Caitanya Caritamrta. When we have the fortune of witnessing them happen before our eyes then we will develop greed for them. Everything is there in this material world, but nothing was pleasing him.
During such times we would have to read Śrīla Param Gurudev's biography or read out Param Gurudev’s antim-vani (last instructions) to him, show him the tridaṇḍa bestowed to him by Param Gurudev, place his japa-mala in his hand, or show him Param Gurudev's photograph and see that he would experience great bliss. This way we could witness what great bliss ensues after feelings of separation from the dearmost object of worship. We could also see that speaking about his dear most object or seeing and keeping the things gifted by our dear most object nearby that it brings great happiness and bliss. Thus Guru Mahārāja exhibited to us the various stages of devotion while relishing them himself.
To have darśana and association of a vaikuṇṭha-priya (pure and dear devotee) of the Lord is sudurlabhā, extremely rare. It is our extraordinary fortune that such a great saint appeared amongst us and gave us his darśana. Alongside it is our great misfortune, or say my greatest misfortune, that in spite of residing near such a great sadhu, I was not able to associate with him. Śrī Nandanandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa's dear most associate from Vaikuṇṭha mercifully appeared before us and gave us his darśana, but it is my great misfortune that I did not associate with his divine qualities, teachings, and instructions and with his divine personality to a full enough extent, unable to fully grasp what had come here to give us. This is my greatest misfortune and regret. But Guru Mahārāja has been always eager and enthusiastic to inspire such unqualified disciples as myself to perform devotional practices.
—Śrī Bhakti Suhrid Paramadwaity Mahārāj
Apr 24, 2022
Translated from Hindi
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