Śrīla Gurudeva’s Samādhi

Śrīla Gurudeva returned to Śrī Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha at around 11 a.m. and the devotees reverentially performed abhiśekha of his transcendental form with pañcāmṛta, Gaṅgā water, rose water, aguru, fragrant oils, and other substances. Tilaka was meticulously applied in twelve places on his resplendent limbs, and he was dressed in a new cloth. The samādhi-mantra was written on his chest by his personal sevaka Śrīpada Mādhava Mahārāja and Śrīpada Tirtha Mahārāja made svastika marks on his chest with sandalwood paste.

At that time, devotees arriving from various places had the good fortune to make arrangements for his large bhoga offering as well as a beautiful āratī to him and other ceremonies.

Śrīla Gurudeva entered samādhi in Koladvīpa next to his bhajana-kutīra at Śrī Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha. The followers and disciples of Śrīla Gurudeva who had arrived from India and abroad, as well as the sannyāsīs, brahmacārīs and residents of Śrī Dhāma Navadvīpa, Śrī Māyāpura and Godruma, were witness to all the ceremonies pertaining to samādhi. These were performed in accordance with Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s descriptions of how Śrīman Mahāprabhu placed Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura in samādhi. Śrīla Gurudeva was placed in samādhi adorned with Lord Jagannātha’s prasādī cloth, mahā-prasāda, dātuna (twig used as a toothbrush), garland and sandalwood paste. The devotees also offered him prasāda from Śrī Kṣīracorā Gopīnātha, along with prasādī cloth and other items from Śrī Govindadevajī in Jaipura.

With heartfelt faith, devotees who had arrived from all corners of India and abroad observed and directly participated in the samādhi ceremony. From the area surrounding the samādhi site, from balconies, from rooftops, and from all directions, they offered a shower of flower petals. Overwhelmed in the mood of deep separation, they sang Je ānilo prema-dhana and other such kīrtanas. Gradually, as the thousands of devotees present looked on, the samādhi was filled and covered with the dust of that most sacred holy place (dhāma-raja), and Vṛnda-devī (Tulasī) was placed on top.

In a tender expression of their love for Śrīla Gurudeva, the devotees covered the small samādhi mound with flowers, and offered ghee and oil lamps and an abundance of fragrant incense. They sang kīrtana and circumambulated Śrīla Gurudeva, they read the account in Śrī Caitanyacaritāmṛta of the departure of nāmācārya Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and they sat close to the samādhi, either in silence or softly chanting, as memories of Śrīla Gurudeva flooded their minds.

After the ceremony, the devotees respectfully honoured Śrīla Gurudeva’s mahā-prasādam. The next day, a temporary structure was erected on the site to serve as a temple. Currently, all bhoga offerings, āratī, pūjā-arcana etc., are daily being performed to Śrīla Gurudeva in his temporary samādhi in a regulated manner.

In this way, Śrīla Gurudeva completed his last journey, beginning from Govardhana in Śrī Vraja-maṇḍala to Purī-dhāma in Śrī Kṣetra-maṇḍala, finally arriving at Śrī Navadvīpa in Śrī Gauḍa-maṇḍala. Śrīla Gurudeva, the present-day Vaiṣṇava-sārvabhauma, the topmost Vaiṣṇava, of Śrī Vraja-maṇḍala, Śrī Kṣetra-maṇḍala and Śrī Gauḍa-maṇḍala, accepted samādhi for time eternal in Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma, which is non-different from Vraja. His samādhi and bhajana-kutīra at Śrī Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha are located at the rāsa-sthalī that is situated at the boundary of Śrī Kuliyā Hill, which is non-different than Śrī Girirāja Govardhana.

The Meaning of Samādhi

Many years ago, Śrīla Gurudeva himself explained the meaning of samādhi as follows: sama means ‘equal’ and dhi means ‘intelligence’. When a pure devotee departs from this world, attaining a svarūpa like that of the associates of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, he attains intelligence, beauty, qualities and so forth like theirs. The worshipful deity of our paramparā is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. When our ācāryas enter samādhi, they attain sama-dhi, meaning their intelligence becomes similar in mood to that of Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s other intimate associates, under whose guidance they perform direct service to the Divine Couple.