Srila Gurudeva (The Supreme Treasure)
by Swami Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja | 2010 | 179,005 words
This page relates ‘Receiving all Moods from Shri Guru’ 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.
Receiving all Moods from Śrī Guru
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: I will be discussing the topic of saṃskāras, so try to understand the meaning.
If one has no previous births’ saṃskāras but has somehow obtained greed by the causeless mercy of a qualified guru or Vaiṣṇava, this is called adhunika-kṛpa (kṛpa means ‘mercy’). Such a person receives dīkṣā from a rāgānuga Vaiṣṇava guru. Or, if he has received dīkṣā before developing greed, then he accepts a rāgānuga Vaiṣṇava as his śikṣā-guru. He may serve both his śikṣā-and dīkṣā-gurus with equal devotion. Or, in some cases he may serve the śikṣā-guru more closely than his anusthana-dīkṣā-guru (the guru who gives the initiation mantras according to pāñcarātrika-vidhi), as did Śrī Śyāmānanda Prabhu, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, and Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī.
Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī’s dīkṣā-guru was Yadunandana Ācarya, and afterwards Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu placed him in the hands of Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara. Later, when Raghunātha dāsa went to Vṛndāvana, he had the association of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī and especially Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Ultimately, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī prayed to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī for all the activities of service described in his Vilāpa-kusumāñjali.
Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī did not disclose the name of his dīkṣā-guru; perhaps because he did not receive his devotional thoughts from him. Rather he acknowledged Rūpa and Raghunātha, because he received all his moods from them.
At the end of each chapter of his Śrī Caitanyacaritāmṛta, he prayed:
श्री-रुप-रघुनाथ-पदे यार आश
चैतन्य चरितामृत कहे कृष्ण दासśrī-rupa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa
caitanya caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇa dāsaPraying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanyacaritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.”
Why does Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī pray to Rūpa Gosvāmī? Svarūpa Dāmodara is Lalitā-devī, and is therefore more qualified than Rūpa Gosvāmī, who is Rūpa Māñjarī. Yet, Raghunātha dāsa prays only to Rūpa Gosvāmī. Why? It is because he does not want to be a nāyikā (beloved heroine) of Kṛṣṇa like Lalitā and Viśākhā.
Śrīpāda Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja: He wants to be in māñjarī-bhāva.
Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja: Only māñjarī-bhāva.
Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja: He wants to follow Rūpa Māñjarī, because they are in the same category; the category of māñjarī.