Srila Gurudeva (The Supreme Treasure)
by Swami Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja | 2010 | 179,005 words
This page relates ‘Association with Shrila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja’ of the book dealing with life and teachings of Srila Gurudeva, otherwise known as Shri Shrimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. Srila Gurudeva is a learned and scholar whose teachings primarily concern the spiritual beauties of Bhakti—devotional service and the qualities and pastimes of Shri Krishna.
Association with Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja
Before his initiation, Śrī Gaura Nārāyaṇa had met with Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja several times. At that time, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja’s name was Śrī Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu. Abhaya Prabhu had great affection and deep śraddhā for his dear godbrother Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, whom he would visit regularly, both before and after the establishment of the Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti.
The Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti was established in 1942 in Bose Para Lane, Calcutta (Kolkata) by Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja (at that time, Sajjana-sevaka Brahmacārī) and Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja (at that time Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu) were its co-founders, and they performed inauguration ceremony. As Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja himself wrote in 1968 to Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Trivikrama Gosvāmī Mahārāja, in his native Bengali, “I have a very close connection with Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti. You yourself, and particularly Śrīla Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja, know well that I am one of the three persons who founded Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti”
A few days after Śrī Gaura Nārāyaṇa’s initiation on Gaura Pūrṇima in 1947, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja (at that time Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu) came to Navadvīpa-dhāma to see Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. Śrī Gaura Nārāyaṇa offered his daṇḍavat-praṇāma to Śrī Abhaya Prabhu, who heartily congratulated him, saying how very happy he was that Śrī Gaura Nārāyaṇa had received initiation from such a bona fide and exalted spiritual master, who was so very near and dear to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda. Śrī Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu then remarked to his godbrother Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja that it was a pleasure to see that he had initiated such a sincere, qualified non-Bengali disciple.
Many years later, remembering Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, Śrīla Gurudeva commented, “He was always so affectionate towards me. Whenever he would come to Navadvīpa, I used to take care of him, give him prasāda, and ask philosophical questions.” Together they would discuss philosophy at great length.
For many years, Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu had been involved in various pharmaceutical businesses. He had been the manager of Dr. Bose’s laboratory, the Bengal Chemical. After that, he managed another big laboratory in Lucknow, and then the Prayāga Pharmacy, a big medical shop based in Allahabad. When his business was at its peak, India’s former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and other relatives would come to purchase medicines from his shop. However, after some time Abhaya Caraṇa Prabhu encountered many difficulties and eventually lost his shop. He then started working as a medical representative and distributor.
As the years went by, he considered renouncing family life. By that time, Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu and Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja had known each other very well for many years. Śrīla Gurudeva was deeply touched to see this respected godbrother of his Guru Mahārāja going here and there distributing medicines. Śrīla Gurudeva approached him affectionately, “Why are you doing this? Your gurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, directly ordered you to preach in the Western countries. Why are you engaged in this way?”
At that time, Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu had rented a room in Mathurā. He hesitated to come to live in the maṭha, but Śrīla Gurudeva picked up his suitcase and with loving force brought him to Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha in Mathurā, where he would later request Abhaya Prabhu to take sannyāsa.
Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu resided there for some months writing his books and preaching to the devotees. When paramagurudeva Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja came to Mathurā from Navadvīpa, Śrīla Gurudeva told him confidentially, “Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu is your friend. He will obey you because you are his elder.”
Parama-gurudeva Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja was a sannyāsī, whereas Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu was a householder (gṛhastha). Parama-gurudeva gently urged him, “Bhaktivedānta Prabhu (Abhaya Prabhu), Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja and all the other boys strongly believe that you should take sannyāsa. I strongly support this idea as well. You should accept. Do not hesitate to take the renounced order. You are so qualified. You must take sannyāsa now. It will be very beneficial.”
At that time, Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu had repeated dreams in which Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarawati Prabhupāda instructed him to take sannyāsa, so he took it all as his Guru Mahārāja’s will and finally agreed.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja remembers, “My godbrother insisted, ‘Bhaktivedānta Prabhu…’ This title was given in my family life. It was offered to me by the Vaiṣṇava society. So he insisted. Actually it was not he who insisted to me. Practically my spiritual master insisted to me through him, saying, ‘You accept.’ Without accepting the renounced order of life, nobody can become a preacher, and he (Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda) wanted me to become a preacher. So he forced me through this godbrother who said, “You accept.”[1]
Another disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Śrīla Sanātana Prabhu, who at that time was 90 years old, also appealed to Abhaya Caraṇa Prabhu, “If you take sannyāsa, I’ll take sannyāsa too.”
So, in 1959, pūjyapāda Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Prabhu and Śrīla Sanātana Prabhu accepted sannyāsa from Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja in the auspicious temple of Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha in Mathurā. Abhaya Caraṇa Prabhu became Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja and Sanātana Prabhu became Bhaktivedānta Muni Mahārāja. Śrīla Gurudeva (who was himself already a sannyāsī) arranged the sannyāsa initiation ceremony, and did everything for its preparation. Śrīla Gurudeva was also the priest of the sannyāsa ceremony, reciting the yajña-mantras and carrying out the full proceedure. He prepared Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja’s daṇḍa and assisted him in all other ways. He also instructed Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja in the regulations of sannyāsa and in fine details, such as how to use dor-kaupīn; how to use the upper cloth (uttarīya) and lower cloth (bahirvāsa); what is the status and significance of tri-daṇḍa; and what is the duty of a tridaṇḍī sannyāsī.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja and Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja were dear godbrothers, and Śrīla Gurudeva served, respected and loved Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja like his own guru.
Śrīla Gurudeva fondly remembers, “My gurudeva then gave Abhaya Caraṇa Prabhu the sannyāsa-mantra. The sannyāsa name that he gave him is ‘Svāmī’. This is one of the bona fide sannyāsa names; it means ‘controller’ and ‘master.’ The title ‘Bhaktivedānta’ had already been awarded in Calcutta by some of his godbrothers, and ‘Mahārāja’ is a formal ending for those in the renounced order. This name ‘Svāmī’ was just fitting, because Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja became the controller of many, many jīvas’ hearts, due to his staunch faith in his gurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. This is why we affectionately call him ‘Svāmījī’, not in any common disrespectful way, but showing the greatest love and respect.”
When Parama-gurudeva, Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, started his society, Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti, he would not give sannyāsa without the title Bhaktivedānta. Today also, and in the future as well, this tradition will continue.
After taking sannyāsa, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja started writing more profusely in the english language and six years later he began to travel around the world. He preached powerfully everywhere and systematically established the Kṛṣṇa conciousness movement. He initiated more and more devotees, eventually having thousands of disciples in the West. The enthusiastic followers distributed hundreds of millions of his books and magazines. Śrīla Gurudeva said, “In just a few years he preached all over the world, and after that he finished his duty. Kṛṣṇa called him; he therefore left this world and joined the service of rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Conjugal.”
When Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja first heard in October, 1968 that Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja had disappeared from this world and entered nitya-līlā, he told his assembled American disciples in Seattle, Washington, “So I am feeling now very much obliged to my Godbrother, because he carried out the wish of my spiritual master and forced me to accept this sannyāsa order. This Godbrother, His Holiness Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, is no longer in this world. He has entered Kṛṣṇa’s abode... I did not want to accept this sannyāsa order but this Godbrother forced me and said, ‘You must.’… [He] did this favor for me because he was an ocean of mercy, krpāmbudhi. So we offer our obeisances to the Vaiṣṇavas, the representatives of the Lord, they are so kind. They bring the ocean of mercy for distribution to the suffering humanity. So I am offering my respectful obeisances unto His Holiness Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja.”
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja laid the foundation for preaching in the West and on July 14th, 1967, he wrote Śrīla Gurudeva saying, “the foundation has become good here.”
(In the following volumes there will be more about Śrīla Gurudeva´s association with Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja and how after his disappearance, many preachers came to the West, but among them all, Śrīla Gurudeva is the monarch.)