A visit from Parents

As I have already related, Śrīla Gurudeva took charge of the Mathurā maṭha in 1954, two years after his sannyāsa in 1952. eventually, his parents Paṇḍita Baleśvaranātha Tiwari and Lakṣmīdevī came to know that he was in Mathurā, and they went there to see their son sometime in 1958. Tiwaripur was closer to Mathurā than to Navadvīpa, so it was more convenient to travel to Mathurā. When they arrived at Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha, Śrīla Gurudeva was sitting on a chair speaking hari-kathā to four or five brahmacārīs, who were seated on the floor around him, listening. When Śrīmatī Lakṣmī-devī saw her son, she began to weep bitterly, and in that emotional state, started beating her head against the floor.

Mahāprabhu, after taking sannyāsa, met his mother, Śacī-devī, at Śāntipura. Seeing His shaven head, His mother was heartbroken, but when Mahāprabhu asked her if He should give up the renounced order of life, Śacī-devī said, “No, You must remain a sannyāsī. Now, You have accepted the renounced order, and if You give it up, the whole society will criticise You, and the scriptures will choke my voice. I can tolerate separation from You, but I cannot tolerate Your bad reputation.”

Similarly, when mother Lakṣmī-devī saw her son, Śrīpāda Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, in the Mathurā maṭha, the pain she had had for years since he left home was accentuated. Still, deep within her heart, she appreciated the importance of spiritual life and the most exalted position of her son.

Śrīla Gurudeva got up from his chair, approached his parents, and offered praṇāma to them. “Mother,” he said, “why are you weeping so bitterly and beating your forehead?”

“Maybe it’s because I’ve taken the renounced order, and they have not seen me for so many years,” he thought. “It must be ten years or more since they have seen me. That must be why she’s weeping so much.”

He reassured his mother, “Mother, even though I have taken the renounced order, I am still your son, now and always. Don’t worry.”

Śrīla Gurudeva then gave an example to his mother. “O Mother, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the supreme Bhagavān, took the renounced order and yet, always respected His mother. Similarly, I will always be indebted to you and related to you. I took birth from you; I took your breast milk; you nourished me and protected me. Please don’t be sad. I am always your son.”

“I am not worried for myself,” Śrīmatī Lakṣmī-devī said, “I am worried for you.”

“Mother, why are you worried about me?”

“O Nārāyaṇa, you have spoiled your life, and now, just see, aren’t you spoiling the life of other boys? You ran away from me, and now you are teaching these boys, who are just teenagers. Have you pulled them out of their mother’s laps? I am weeping grievously for their mothers.”

A mother has deep affection for her son. Though the boys whom Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja was teaching were not the sons of his mother, still she wept for their mothers, as if she were an embodiment of those other mothers. After some time, he pacified her, and she became calm and quiet.

The time came for ārati, and after that, Śrīla Gurudeva invited his parents to come and take prasāda. His mother came without hesitation but Paṇḍita Baleśvaranātha said, “I will not take prasāda. There is no attention being given to caste and creed. There are so many castes mixed here. I don’t want to take prasāda in the company of some of the people here, nor do I want to be touched by them.”

Śrīla Gurudeva was disappointed by his father’s comment. Seeing that this perspective was not in line with guru, sādhu and śāstra, he replied, “O father, I am living here amongst these people. I am your son, and I am a Śāṇḍilya Gotrīya brāhmaṇa (the dynasty coming directly from Śāṇḍilya Ṛṣi). Some of these boys also come from brāhmaṇa families, and even those who are not brāhmaṇas by birth have had the sacred thread ceremony, and they also have their īṣṭa-deva. Furthermore, they are worshipping Kṛṣṇa every day, and they are chanting their gāyatrī-mantras. They are very strict followers of bhakti. How can you consider that they are inferior to caste brāhmaṇas?

Moreover, Svayam Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā:

चातुर्-वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं / गुण-कर्म-विभागशः
तस्य कर्त्तारम् अपि मां / विद्ध्य् अकर्त्तारम् अव्ययम्

cātur-varṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ / guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya karttāram api māṃ / viddhy akarttāram avyayam

Bhagavad-gītā (4.13) The four-fold system of varṇas (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra) was created by Me according to divisions of quality (guṇa) and work (karma). Although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer (akarttā), being unchangeable, and that I am not the direct instigator.

Śrīla Gurudeva then quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

यस्य यल् लक्षणं प्रोक्तं / पुंसो वर्णाभिव्यञ्जकम्
यद् अन्यत्रापि दृश्येत / तत् तेनैव विनिर्दिशेत्

yasya yal lakṣaṇaṃ proktaṃ / puṃso varṇābhivyañjakam
yad anyatrāpi dṛśyeta / tat tenaiva vinirdiśet

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.11.35)

If someone shows the characteristic symptoms of being a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, although they may appear in a different class, then they should be most certainly accepted according to those symptoms, their qualifications, and actions; not by their birth.

Śrīla Gurudeva also related the pastime of the clash between the mahā-yogī brāhmaṇa Durvāsā Ṛṣi and Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, who was a kṣatriya.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja used to perform austerities on the day of ekādaśī, and on the following day (Dvādaśī), he would observe the breaking of his fast (pāraṇa). Pāraṇa must be observed within a specific time period, otherwise the result of performing the ekādaśī vow will be lost.

One Dvādaśī morning, the time to break his fast was quickly approaching. Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had already given charity, and was performing pūjā of Śrī Bhagavān, when the sage Durvāsā Ṛṣi unexpectedly arrived.

Mahārāja Ambarīṣa offered praṇāma to Durvāsā Ṛṣi. “I am very fortunate to have an exalted person like you as my guest on Dvādaśī,” he said to the ṛṣi. “Please honour prasāda here.”

“Thank you, I am happy to accept your courtesies,” said Durvāsā Ṛṣi, “but first I am going to Yamunā to bath; I will return shortly and honour prasāda here.”

The brāhmaṇa Durvāsā Ṛṣi deliberately delayed his bathing at the river Yamunā. In the meantime, the allotted time period for breaking the ekādaśī fast was coming to an end. “What am I to do?” thought Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. “If I do not break my fast in time, I will lose the results of my ekādaśī austerities, and I will also lose my bhakti. On the other hand, if I do not honour my brāhmaṇa guest, and if I myself eat before I serve him, he may curse me, and my whole dynasty will be finished. What to do?”

Mahārāja Ambarīṣa discussed the situation with well-informed and well-behaved brāhmaṇas who were advanced in the culture of bhakti, and finally decided: “It will be better if I complete the observance of my vow and maintain my ekādaśī pāraṇa by breaking my fast within this time period (muhūrta) of Dvādaśī, otherwise there will be a flaw in my observance of my vow.”

The scripture states that brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas who fast fully on ekādaśī, even from water, may break their fast the next day with a little water or the Lord’s bathing water (caraṇāmṛta). In other words, they should break their fast by drinking rather than by eating; this maintains their vow (vrata) properly. Accordingly, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja offered praṇāma to the deities and to all the Vaiṣṇavas and brāhmaṇas, and took a few drops of caraṇāmṛtam on his tongue. Drinking water may be accepted as eating, and also as not eating. Thus, he preserved his observance of ekādaśī by breaking his fast at the correct time, and at the same time, avoided dishonouring Durvāsā Ṛṣi, as he did not eat before feeding his guest.

After breaking his fast, Ambarīṣa Mahārāja meditated upon the Supreme Lord within his heart and waited for Durvāsā’s return. When Durvāsā Ṛṣi came back, he could understand by his mystic power that Ambarīṣa Mahārāja had drunk water without his permission.

“Oh! You are so desperate?” the ṛṣi said. “You are a kṣatriya, and I am very high class brāhmaṇa, and still you do not know that you should honour brāhmaṇas? You have committed an offense.

You have invited me to eat as your guest, but you yourself have eaten first. Alright then, I’ll teach you a good lesson because of your misconduct.”

Durvāsā Ṛṣi quickly pulled a matted lock from his head and threw it on the ground. At once, a fiery demon named Kṛtya manifested and started moving threateningly towards Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. The king remained calm. As the fiery demon drew near, the Lord’s disc, Sudarśana cakra, suddenly appeared to protect Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. Destroying the demon in an instant, the cakra turned around and headed toward Durvāsā Ṛṣi.

Greatly afflicted by the Sudarśana cakra’s blazing fire, Durvāsā Ṛṣi immediately fled to Satyaloka, and begged Lord Brahmā for help. Brahmā said, “I cannot give you shelter. If I give you shelter, I myself will be burned by the blazing Sudarśana cakra.” Concerned for his life, Durvāsā Ṛṣi then rushed to Śivaloka; but Lord Śiva told him, “Oh, beṭā, I cannot give you shelter from this Sudarśana cakra. I also cannot tolerate it. This cakra belongs to Śrī Bhagavān, so you will have to seek help in Nārāyaṇaloka.”

The desperate Durvāsā Ṛṣi hastened to Nārāyaṇaloka, with the burning cakra in hot pursuit. However, Lord Nārāyaṇa told Durvāsā, “I cannot help you. Let me explain. When you have a thorn in your foot, you cannot remove it from your head. You have to remove it from your foot.”

Then Lord Nārāyaṇa said to Durvāsā Ṛṣi:

अहं भक्त-पराधीनो / ह्य् अस्वतन्त्र इव द्विज
साधुभिर् ग्रस्त-हृदयो / भक्तैर् भक्त-जन-प्रियः

ahaṃ bhakta-parādhīno / hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo / bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (9.4.63)

I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me.

Lord Nārāyaṇa smiled and told the ṛṣi that he must take shelter of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja and ask for forgiveness. His offence would then, and only then, be nullified and the Sudarśana cakra would go away.

After recounting this instructive pastime, Śrīla Gurudeva then said to Paṇḍita Baleśvaranātha, “Father, please consider these things carefully. At one time, in kṛṣṇa-līlā, the brāhmaṇas declined to feed Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Later, they realized their lack of devotion, and thus it has been said:

दृष्ट्वा स्त्रीणां भगवति / कृष्णे भक्तिम् अलौकिकीम्
आत्मानं च तया हीनम् / अनुतप्ता व्यगर्हयन्

dṛṣṭvā strīṇāṃ bhagavati / kṛṣṇe bhaktim alaukikīm
ātmānaṃ ca tayā hīnam / anutaptā vyagarhayan

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.23.39)

Observing their wives’ pure transcendental devotion for Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and understanding that they themselves were devoid of such devotion; the brāhmaṇas lamented and condemned themselves.”

Śrīla Gurudeva cited many other quotations and related other pastimes from the scriptures to emphasize the superiority of Vaiṣṇavas over the brāhmaṇas.

One of the quotations was from Skanda Purāṇa:

महा-प्रसादे गोविन्दे नाम-ब्रह्मणि वैष्णवे
स्वल्प-पुण्य-वतां राजन् विश्वासो नैव जायते

mahā-prasāde govinde nāma-brahmaṇi vaiṣṇave
svalpa-puṇya-vatāṃ rājan viśvāso naiva jāyate

Skanda Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa

Persons who do not possess sufficient pious credits can never develop faith in mahā-prasāda, in Śrī Govinda, in the holy name of the Lord, or in the Vaiṣṇavas.

Śrīla Gurudeva told his father, “unfortunately due to insufficient pious credits, you have insufficient faith in the Vaiṣṇavas, and as a result, how can you be qualified to have prasāda with them?”

He continued, “Lord Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna in Ādi Purāṇa, ‘O Kaunteya, dear son of Kuntī-devī, Arjuna, you should only worship the Vaiṣṇavas. Don’t worship the demigods. In the material world, even in the heavenly planets, the abode of the demigods, no one is as worshipable as the Vaiṣṇavas. So, worship only the Vaiṣṇavas.’

“Nevertheless, you are indicating that these Vaiṣṇavas are from a caste inferior to you. If this is truly the way you feel, you can take prasāda elsewhere. If you don’t have respect for these devotees, I don’t want to arrange for your prasāda here. Of course, I respect you insofar as you are my father, but if you lack respect for these Vaiṣṇavas, I will request that you not take here. You can go anywhere else and make your own arrangement.”

Śrīla Gurudeva did not want his father to consider a Vaiṣṇava in terms of his source of birth. One should not think, “This one is an American Vaiṣṇava; that one is an Indian Vaiṣṇava. This one is a black Vaiṣṇava; that one is a white Vaiṣṇava. This one is a śūdra Vaiṣṇava; that one is a brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava.” No, a Vaiṣṇava is a Vaiṣṇava; he is not only a brāhmaṇa, but the best of the brāhmaṇa servants of God. Vaiṣṇavas are beyond caste and creed. Those who are in the viśuddha line of Śrīla Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda and who perform transcendental sevā (bhakti) should be offered all respect, no matter in which family they took birth. Śrī Bhagavān says: “bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyāh–I can be obtained only by bhakti” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.21).

When they fully surrender themselves, the bhaktas are above the three qualities of nature (goodness, passion and ignorance) and attain a transcendental nature.

প্রভু কহে–বৈষ্ণব দেহ ‘প্রাকৃত’ কভু নয
‘অপ্রাকৃত’ দেহ ভক্তের ‘চিদ্ আনন্দ ময

prabhu kahe–vaiṣṇava deha ‘prākṛta’ kabhu naya
‘aprākṛta’ deha bhaktera ‘cid ānanda maya

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “The body of a bhakta is never material. It is considered to be transcendental, full of spiritual bliss.”

After hearing all these evidences and truths from Śrīla Gurudeva, his father gave up his previous ideas and just took prasāda with all the devotees.