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sakshad-dharitvena samasta-shastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam
"In the revealed scriptures it is declared that the spiritual master
should be worshiped like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this
injunction is obeyed by pure devotees of the Lord. The spiritual master
is the most confidential servant of the Lord. Thus let us offer our
respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master."
Gentlemen, on
behalf of the members of the Bombay branch of the
Gaudiya Matha, let me welcome you all because you
have so kindly joined us tonight in our congregational offerings of
homage to the lotus feet of the world teacher, Acharyadeva,
who is the founder of this Gaudiya Mission and is the
president—Acharya of Sri Sri
Vishva-vaishnava Raja-sabha—I mean my
eternal divine master, Paramahamsa
Parivrajakacharya Sri Srimad
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami
Maharaja.
Sixty-two
years ago, on this auspicious day, the Acharyadeva
made his appearance by the call of Thakura Bhaktivinoda at
Sri-kshetra Jagannatha-dhama at
Puri.
Gentlemen,
the offering of such an homage as has been arranged this
evening to the Acharyadeva is not a sectarian concern, for
when we speak of the fundamental principle of gurudeva, or acharyadeva,
we speak of something that is of
universal
application. There does not arise any question of discriminating my guru
from yours or anyone else's. There is only one guru,
who appears
in an infinity of forms to teach you, me, and all others.
The guru, or acharyadeva, as we learn from the bona
fide
scriptures, delivers the message of the absolute world, the
transcendental abode of the Absolute Personality, where everything
nondifferentially serves the Absolute Truth. We have heard so many
times: mahajano yena gatah sa panthah [Chaitanya-charitamrita
Madhya 17.186] ("Traverse the trail which your previous acharya
has passed"), but we have hardly tried to
understand
the real purport of this shloka [text]. If we scrutinizingly
study this
proposition, we understand that the mahajana [great soul] is
one, and the royal
road to the transcendental world is also one. In the Mundaka
Upanishad (1.2.12) it is said:
tad-vijnartham
sa gurum
evabhigacchet
samit-panih shrotriyam
brahma-nistham
"In order to
learn the transcendental science, one must approach the
bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession, who is fixed in the
Absolute Truth."
Thus it has
been enjoined herewith that in order to receive that
transcendental knowledge, one must approach the guru.
Therefore, if the
Absolute Truth is one, about which we think there is no difference of
opinion, the guru also cannot be two. The Acharyadeva for whom
we have assembled tonight to offer our humble homage is not the guru
of
a sectarian institution or one out of many differing exponents of the
truth. On the contrary, he is the Jagad-guru, or the guru
of all of us;
the only difference is that some obey him wholeheartedly, while others
do not obey him directly.
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam
(11.17.27) it is said:
acharyam
mam
vijaniyan
navamanyeta karhichit
na
martya-buddhyasuyeta
sarva-devamayo guruh
"One should
understand the spiritual master to be as good as I am,"
said the Blessed Lord. "Nobody should be jealous of the spiritual
master or think of him as an ordinary man, because the spiritual master
is the sum total of all demigods." That is, the acharya has
been identified with God Himself. He has nothing to do with the affairs
of this mundane world. He does not descend here to meddle with the
affairs of temporary necessities, but to deliver the fallen,
conditioned souls—the souls, or entities, who have come here to the
material world with a motive of enjoyment by the mind and the five
organs of sense perception. He appears before us to reveal the light of
the Vedas and to bestow upon us the blessings of full-fledged freedom,
after which we should hanker at every step of our life's journey.
The
transcendental knowledge of the Vedas was first uttered
by God to
Brahma, the creator of this particular universe. From Brahma
the knowledge descended to Narada, from Narada to
Vyasadeva, from Vyasadeva to Madhva, and in this process of
disciplic succession the transcendental knowledge was transmitted by
one disciple to another till it reached Lord Gauranga,
Sri Krishna Chaitanya, who posed as the
disciple and successor of Sri Ishvara
Puri. The present Acharyadeva is the tenth disciplic
representative from Sri Rupa Gosvami,
the original representative of Lord Chaitanya who preached this
transcendental tradition in its fullness. The knowledge that we receive
from our Gurudeva is not different from that imparted by God Himself
and the succession of the acharyas in the preceptorial line of
Brahma. We adore this auspicious day as Sri
Vyasa-puja-tithi, because the Acharya is the
living representative of Vyasadeva, the divine compiler of the Vedas,
the Puranas, the Bhagavad-gita,
the Mahabharata, and the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
One who
interprets the divine sound, or shabda-brahma, by his
imperfect sense perception cannot be a real spiritual guru,
because, in
the absence of proper disciplinary training under the bona fide acharya,
the interpreter is sure to differ from
Vyasadeva
(as the Mayavadis do). Srila
Vyasadeva is the prime authority of Vedic revelation, and
therefore such an irrelevant interpreter cannot be accepted as the guru,
or acharya, howsoever equipped he may
be with all the
acquirements of material knowledge. As it is said in the Padma
Purana:
sampradaya-vihina
ye
mantras te
nishphala matah
"Unless you
are initiated by a bona fide spiritual master in the
disciplic succession, the mantra that you might have received
is
without any effect."
On the other
hand, one who has received the transcendental knowledge by
aural reception from the bona fide preceptor in the disciplic chain,
and who has sincere regard for the real acharya, must needs be
enlightened with the revealed knowledge of the Vedas. But
this
knowledge is permanently sealed to the cognitive approach of the
empiricists. As it is said in the Shvetashvatara
Upanishad (6.23):
yasya
deve para bhaktir
yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite
kathita hy arthah
prakashante
mahatmanah [Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.23]
"Only unto
those great souls who simultaneously have implicit faith in
both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic
knowledge automatically revealed."
Gentlemen,
our knowledge is so poor, our senses are so imperfect, and
our sources are so limited that it is not possible for us to have even
the slightest knowledge of the absolute region without surrendering
ourselves at the lotus feet of Sri Vyasadeva or his
bona fide representative. Every moment we are being deceived by the
knowledge of our direct perception. It is all the creation or
concoction of the mind, which is always deceiving, changing, and
flickering. We cannot know anything of the transcendental region by our
limited, perverted method of observation and experiment. But all of us
can lend our eager ears for the aural reception of the transcendental
sound transmitted from that region to this through the unadulterated
medium of Sri Gurudeva or Sri
Vyasadeva. Therefore, gentlemen, we should surrender ourselves
today at the feet of the representative of Sri
Vyasadeva for the elimination of all our differences bred by our
unsubmissive attitude. It is accordingly said in Sri Gita
(4.34):
tad
viddhi pranipatena
pariprashnena
sevaya
upadekshyanti te
jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darshinah
"Just
approach the wise and bona fide spiritual master. Surrender unto
him first and try to understand him by inquiries and service. Such a
wise spiritual master will enlighten you with transcendental knowledge,
for he has already known the Absolute Truth."
To receive
the transcendental knowledge we must completely surrender
ourselves to the real acharya in a spirit of ardent inquiry
and service. Actual performance of service to the Absolute under the
guidance of the acharya is the only vehicle by which we can
assimilate the transcendental knowledge. Today's meeting for offering
our humble services and homage to the feet of the Acharyadeva
will enable us to be favored with the capacity for assimilating the
transcendental knowledge so kindly transmitted by him to all persons,
without distinction.
Gentlemen, we
are all more or less proud of our past Indian
civilization, but we actually do not know the real nature of that
civilization. We cannot be proud of our past material civilization,
which is now a thousand times greater than in days gone by. It is said
that we are passing through the age of darkness, the Kali-yuga. What is
this darkness? The darkness cannot be due to backwardness in material
knowledge, because we now have more of it than formerly. If not we
ourselves, our neighbors, at any rate, have plenty of it. Therefore, we
must conclude that the darkness of the present age is not due to a lack
of material advancement, but that we have lost the clue to our
spiritual advancement, which is the prime necessity of human life and
the criterion of the highest type of human civilization. Throwing of
bombs from airplanes is no advancement of civilization from the
primitive, uncivilized practice of dropping big stones on the heads of
enemies from the tops of hills. Improvement of the art of killing our
neighbors by means of machine guns and poisonous gases is certainly no
advancement from primitive barbarism, which prided itself on its art of
killing by bows and arrows. Nor does the development of a sense of
pampered selfishness prove anything more than intellectual animalism.
True human civilization is very different from all these states, and
therefore in the Katha Upanishad (1.3.14) there is the
emphatic call:
uttisthata
jagrata
prapya varan
nibodhata
kshurasya dhara nisita
duratyaya
durgam pathas tat kavayo vadanti
"Please wake
up and try to understand the boon that you now have in
this human form of life. The path of spiritual realization is very
difficult; it is sharp like a razor's edge. That is the opinion of
learned transcendental scholars."
Thus, while
others were yet in the womb of historical oblivion, the
sages of India had developed a different kind of civilization, which
enabled them to know themselves. They had discovered that we are not at
all material entities, but that we are all spiritual, permanent, and
indestructible servants of the Absolute. But because we have, against
our better judgment, chosen to completely identify ourselves with this
present material existence, our sufferings have multiplied according to
the inexorable law of birth and death, with its consequent diseases and
anxieties. These sufferings cannot be really mitigated by any provision
of material happiness, because matter and spirit are completely
different elements. It is just as if you took an aquatic animal out of
water and put it on the land, supplying all manner of happiness
possible on land. The deadly sufferings of the animal are not capable
of being relieved at all until it is taken out of its foreign
environment. Spirit and matter are completely contradictory things. All
of us are spiritual entities. We cannot have perfect happiness, which
is our birthright, however much we may meddle with the affairs of
mundane things. Perfect happiness can be ours only when we are restored
to our natural state of spiritual existence. This is the distinctive
message of our ancient Indian civilization, this is the message of the Gita,
this is the message of the Vedas
and the Puranas, and this is the message of all the
real acharyas, including our present Acharyadeva, in the
line of Lord Chaitanya.
Gentlemen,
although it is imperfectly that we have been enabled by his
grace to understand the sublime messages of our Acharyadeva,
Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa
Parivrajakacharya Sri Srimad
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami
Maharaja, we must admit that we have realized definitely that
the divine message from his holy lips is the congenial thing for
suffering humanity. All of us should hear him patiently. If we listen
to the transcendental sound without unnecessary opposition, he will
surely have mercy upon us. The Acharya's Message is to take us
back to our original home, back to God. Let me repeat, therefore, that
we should hear him patiently, follow him in the measure of our
conviction, and bow down at his lotus feet for releasing us from our
present causeless unwillingness for serving the Absolute and all souls.
From the Gita
we learn that even after the destruction of
the body, the atma, or the soul, is not destroyed; he is
always the same, always new and fresh. Fire cannot burn him, water
cannot dissolve him, the air cannot dry him up, and the sword cannot
kill him. He is everlasting and eternal, and this is also confirmed in
the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.84.13):
yasyatma-buddhih
kunape
tri-dhatuke
sva-dhih kalatradishu bhauma
ijya-dhih
yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na
karhichij
janeshv abhijneshu sa eva go-kharah
"Anyone who
accepts this bodily bag of three elements [bile, mucus, and
air] as his self, who has an affinity for an intimate relationship with
his wife and children, who considers his land worshipable, who takes
bath in the waters of the holy places of pilgrimage but never takes
advantage of those persons who are in actual knowledge—he is no better
than an ass or a cow."
Unfortunately,
in these days we have all been turned foolish by
neglecting our real comfort and identifying the material cage with
ourselves. We have concentrated all our energies for the meaningless
upkeep of the material cage for its own sake, completely neglecting the
captive soul within. The cage is meant for the undoing of the bird; the
bird is not meant for the welfare of the cage. Let us, therefore,
deeply ponder this. All our activities are now turned toward the upkeep
of the cage, and the most we do is try to give some food to the mind by
art and literature. But we do not know that this mind is also material
in a more subtle form. This is stated in the Gita (7.4):
bhumir
apo 'nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir
eva cha
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna
prakritir asthadha
"Earth, fire,
water, air, sky, intelligence, mind, and ego are all My
separated energies."
We have
scarcely tried to give any food to the soul, which is distinct
from the body and mind; therefore we are all committing suicide in the
proper sense of the term. The message of the Äcäryadeva is to
give us a warning to halt such wrong activities. Let us therefore bow
down at his lotus feet for the unalloyed mercy and kindness he has
bestowed upon us.
Gentlemen, do
not for a moment think that my Gurudeva wants to put a
complete brake on the modern civilization—an impossible feat. But let
us learn from him the art of making the best use of a bad bargain, and
let us understand the importance of this human life, which is fit for
the highest development of true consciousness. The best use of this
rare human life should not be neglected. As it is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam
(11.9.29):
labdhva
sudurlabham idam
bahu-sambhavante
manushyam arthadam anityam apiha
dhirah
turnam yateta na pated anu
mrityu yavan
nihshreyasaya
vishayah khalu sarvatah syat
"This human
form of life is obtained after many, many births, and
although it is not permanent, it can offer the highest benefits.
Therefore a sober and intelligent man should immediately try to fulfill
his mission and attain the highest profit in life before another death
occurs. He should avoid sense gratification, which is available in all
circumstances."
Let us not
misuse this human life in the vain pursuit of material
enjoyment, or, in other words, for the sake of only eating, sleeping,
fearing, and sensuous activities. The Acharyadeva's message is
conveyed by the words of Sri Rupa
Gosvami (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.255-256):
anasaktasya
vishayan
yatharham upayunjatah
nirbandhah krishna-sambandhe
yuktam vairagyam uchyate
prapanchikataya buddhya
hari=sambandhi-vastunah
mumukshubhih parityago
vairagyam phalgu kathyate
"One is said
to be situated in the fully renounced order of life if he
lives in accordance with Krishna consciousness. He
should be without attachment for sense gratification and should accept
only what is necessary for the upkeep of the body. On the other hand,
one who renounces things that could be used in the service of
Krishna, under the pretext that such things are
material, does not practice complete renunciation.
The purport
of these shlokas can only be realized by fully
developing the rational portion of our life, not the animal portion.
Sitting at the feet of the Acharyadeva, let us try to
understand from this transcendental source of knowledge what we are,
what is this universe, what is God, and what is our relationship with
Him. The message of Lord Chaitanya is the message for the living
entities and the message of the living world. Lord Chaitanya did not
bother Himself for the upliftment of this dead world, which is suitably
named Martyaloka, the world where everything is destined to die. He
appeared before us four hundred fifty years ago to tell us something of
the transcendental universe, where everything is permanent and
everything is for the service of the Absolute. But recently Lord
Chaitanya has been misrepresented by some unscrupulous persons, and the
highest philosophy of the Lord has been misinterpreted to be the cult
of the lowest type of society. We are glad to announce tonight that our
Acharyadeva, with his usual kindness, saved us from this
horrible type of degradation, and therefore we bow down at his lotus
feet with all humility.
Gentlemen, it
has been a mania of the cultured (or uncultured) society
of the present day to accredit the Personality of Godhead with merely
impersonal features and to stultify Him by claiming that He has no
senses, no form, no activity, no head, no legs, and no enjoyment. This
has also been the pleasure of the modern scholars due to their sheer
lack of proper guidance and true introspection in the spiritual realm.
All these empiricists think alike: all the enjoyable things should be
monopolized by the human society, or by a particular class only, and
the impersonal God should be a mere order-supplier for their whimsical
feats. We are happy that we have been relieved of this horrible type of
malady by the mercy of His Divine Grace Paramahamsa
Parivrajakacharya Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Gosvami Maharaja. He is our eye-opener, our
eternal father, our eternal preceptor, and our eternal guide. Let us
therefore bow down at his lotus feet on this auspicious day.
Gentlemen,
although we are like ignorant children in the knowledge of
the Transcendence, still His Divine Grace, my Gurudeva, has kindled a
small fire within us to dissipate the invincible darkness of empirical
knowledge. We are now so much on the safe side that no amount of
philosophical argument by the empiric schools of thought can deviate us
an inch from the position of our eternal dependence on the lotus feet
of His Divine Grace. Furthermore, we are prepared to challenge the most
erudite scholars of the Mayavada school and prove that
the Personality of Godhead and His transcendental sports in Goloka
alone constitute the sublime information of the Vedas.
There are
explicit indications of this in the Chandogya Upanishad
(8.13.1):
shyamach
chavalam prapadye
shavalach chyamam prapadye
"For
receiving the mercy of Krishna, I surrender unto
His energy (Radha), and for receiving the mercy of His
energy, I surrender unto Krishna." Also in the Rig
Veda (1.22.20):
tad
vishnoh paramam padam sada
pashyanti surayah diviva chakshur atatam
vishnor yat paramam padam
"The lotus
feet of Lord Vishnu are the supreme objective of all the demigods.
These lotus feet of the Lord are as enlightening as the sun in the
sky."
The plain
truth so vividly explained in the Gita, which is
the central lesson of the Vedas, is not understood or
even suspected by
the most powerful scholars of the empiric schools. Herein lies the
secret of Sri Vyasa-puja. When we meditate
on the transcendental pastimes of the Absolute Godhead, we are proud to
feel that we are His eternal servitors, and we become jubilant and
dance with joy. All glory to my divine master, for it is he who has out
of his unceasing flow of mercy stirred up within us such a movement of
eternal existence. Let us bow down at his lotus feet.
Gentlemen,
had he not appeared before us to deliver us from the
thralldom of this gross worldly delusion, surely we should have
remained for lives and ages in the darkness of helpless captivity. Had
he not appeared before us, we would not have been able to understand
the eternal truth of the sublime teaching of Lord Caitanya. Had he not
appeared before us, we could not have been able to know the
significance of the first shloka of the Brahma-samhita:
ishvarah
paramah krishnah
sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam [Brahma-samhita
5.1]
"Krishna, who
is known as Govinda, is the Supreme
Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin
of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all
causes."
Personally, I
have no hope for any direct service for the coming crores
of births of the sojourn of my life, but I am confident that some day
or other I shall be delivered from this mire of delusion in which I am
at present so deeply sunk. Therefore let me with all my earnestness
pray at the lotus feet of my divine master to allow me to suffer the
lot for which I am destined due to my past misdoings, but to let me
have this power of recollection: that I am nothing but a tiny servant
of the Almighty Absolute Godhead, realized through the unflinching
mercy of my divine master. Let me therefore bow down at his lotus feet
with all the humility at my command.
