Guru Disciples Relationship is all Lord Krsna’s Arrangements.

08 07 2017 [28:06]

Occasion: Vyasa Puja class, online class for Durban devotees.
Pune

You are seeing me? Yes? And I am seeing the Lord. Radha Radhanatha ki jai! You are seeing me, I am seeing Radha Radhanatha. Are you there, also? Okay. Hari Hari. There is some reporting? I see many faces there and the temple that is out of this world. Is there a temple that is out of this world? Radha Radhanatha temple. Yes, that was my experience, out of this world experience in this temple.

So, today is not my birthday. This year it was on the fourth of this month and then I was born on the 5th July 1949. Today is what date? 8th.You are just few days behind me.

On the July 4th in Pandharpur and passed many years, I have been standing the Vyasa puja day in Pandharpur because the day I was born or I was given birth by the Lord Vitthala Panduranga that is also, that same day is the biggest day for Pandharpur or in Pandharpur. Millions of pilgrims come on the occasion of the Shayani Ekadasi and the Caturmasya, commencement of Caturmasya is on that day.

So, Lord was very kind to bring me into this world on that day, very big and auspicious day. I’ve been spending my days in Pandharpur, the Vyasa Puja day. This year was a little special, in the sense that Lord Nityananda appeared on my vyasa puja day. There’s a little suspense, probably a surprise. What does that mean Lord Nityananda appeared on my vyasa puja day?

Well the footprints, footprints of Lord Niyananda from Mayapur, they arrived on my vyasa puja day. They also have come to Durban last year or a few times. They did the TOVP Fund Raising. Maybe some of you have done contribution for the TOVP project in Mayapur. Jananivasa Prabhu, from Mayapur, he came with the padukas, Nityananda padukas to Pandharpur. So, I was feeling very thrilled to have the presence of the padukas, the footprints, the shoes of Lord Nityananda. The shoes or the padugas of Lord Nityananda are non – different from Nityananda Rama’s padukas. When Bharat had come, he wanted to bring Rama back to Ayodhya but Rama would not move an inch.

He said, “Okay, here are my padukas, here are my shoes.” Bharat keeps them on his head and he returned happily to Ayodhya, thinking, “Oh, this footprints this is my sweet Rama. Jai Sri Rama! Jai Sri Rama!” These footprints are Rama Himself.

So, like I mentioned, that became the highlight of the vyasa puja day in Pandharpur and I also felt like Nityananda came back to Pandharpur after 500 years. 500 years ago, Lord Nityananda was in Pandharpur as one of His travels. He came to Pandharpur and guess what happened to Him? He took initiation. Nityananda Prabhu’s diksha samaroha happened in Pandharpur. And the day before yesterday, I was in my birth place. I went where I was born, not far from Pandharpur there is two hours drive to a place called Aravade. Probably, you have heard that name by now and lots of devotees, 200 – 300 devotees also had been coming, visiting my birth place. Then, I have been to Kolahpur where Mahalakshmi is worshipped. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu also visited that money dham. This morning, I was there with the devotees of ISKCON in Kolahpur and right now, I am in Pune.

In three days, I have gone to three different places and I am here, not far from the exact location where aircraft from Vaikuntha had landed, some 350 years ago, and then the great sage, devotee, Tukaram had boarded that plane. Where I am sitting and talking to you, that place is just few miles from here. When there was no airports, no airplanes, no South African airways, no Garud Airlines, or no airlines. That time when an aircraft landed there and Tukaram boarded the plane and he took off and thousands witnessing. And, of course, for some days Tukaram has been chanting, “jai jai rama krsna Hari, jai jai rama krsna hari.”

So he was chanting,
hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

And that chanting was very special. While chanting, he was only crying and praying to the Lord, “Oh Lord, please, please, bring me back home! I want to see you! Bring me home, back to you!” This was his prayerful mood. Then Lord took note and responded appropriately by sending a Vaikuntha vimana to Dehu Dhama, not far from Pune and he sat on and went back home.

Vaikuntha Dhama ki, jai!
Goloka Dhama ki, jai!

Tukarama has reminded, he reminds all of us and inspires us also, to prepare to return to Lord’s abode, while it is not only Lord’s abode but that is also our abode. Your father land is what, South Africa? You think so your father land is South Africa. When you think of a father who gave you birth or a mother who gave you birth or gave birth to your body then you think, “Yes, this is my mother, this is my father. So, this is my father land, mother land.” But we are not this body. This is the very foundational teaching of Sri Krsna. You are spirit souls. You are devotees of Krsna. Is that good news? Yes, Bhaktivinoda Thakur says so,

ei jiva krsna dasa ei visvasa
karle ta ara duhkha nai [Gitavali]

If you realize e jiva, the soul is krsna dasa, servant of Krsna. By knowing this, a person becomes joyful.

ei jiva krsna dasa ei visvasa
karle ta ara duhkha nai

So, you are all spirit souls and the spirit souls’ father is Lord Sri Krsna. This Sri Krsna is yours and mine and everybody’s father, everybody’s mother. So, that Lord’s land is our father land. That Vaikuntha, that Goloka, that land is our father land, our mother land. Do not forget this. I thought I would just remind you.

You know, this disciples – guru relationship are the whole guru tattva and the whole guru business, guru arrangement. This is Lord’s arrangement. It’s not the guru’s idea of taking up that position or the gurus in this world have got together and there are some union and then they make some declaration and then they started making false propaganda, “guru is this, guru is that. Jai gurudev, gurudev.” I was just talking to the devotees in Pune that this guru tattva, guru concept, guru personality, is all God’s arrangements. Since the beginning of the creation, the gurus have existed. When the universe were just now created, or just have come into existence, there was a Brahma, the only and the first living entity. So, Lord became Brahma’s guru. God became, Himself, the guru. And that disciple, Brahma, later on became the guru. Then Brahma, Madhva, Gaudiya, parampara, sampradhayas come down from Brahma all the way – Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Gaura Kishore Das Babaji and Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki, jai!

So, there was no time when guru did not exist or guru did not play his role in the human society. This way, these two, guru and Gauranga, become two prominent personalities in our lives. Krsna is Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is Lord’s representative – spiritual master, guru – Krsna arranges that. This is Krsna’s arrangement so that those who have forgotten the Lord, who have forgotten who they are, to remind them, to enlighten them, to wake them up and shake them up and bring them back or pull them in the path back home. With that purpose in mind, Lord has made this arrangement.

So, behind all these arrangements, Caitanya Mahaprabhu is right behind this foundation of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness. Caitanya Mahaprabhu made Srila Prabhupada a big instrument,

nimitta-matram bhava savya-sacin

And Srila Prabhupada founded International Society for Krsna Consciousness. Although, Caitanya Mahaprabhu predicted that His name will spread to every town, every village, all over the planet, Srila Prabhupada has made that prediction come true. As a result, the holy name is right there, right in Durban, the holy name has reached. You have the holy name. When the spiritual master – disciples relationship is formulized and some kind of contract is signed, then the guru gives the disciple Krsna in the form of the holy name.

Svarupa Damodar Prabhu, last time I was here he said that some of my disciples are very special and they kind of like me or they love me. If he says it must be true. That makes me happy you all are sincere, serious souls. Last time, while I was in Durban, we went to the goshala, there also we had a get-together and I think many of you spoke on that occasion and I have a fond memories of what you had to say that day.
All right. So, I will leave you alone with your cake. I am still there. I am still on the jet lag from the last visit. I kind of lost my heart in Durban. So, I’ll have to come back to get my heart back.

Ok. Hare Krsna. Time to go.
Srila Prabhupada ki, jai!
Radha Radhanatha ki, jai!
All glories to the assembled devotees. Hare Krsna.