English
Date: 27 February 2024
Speaker: HH Nav Yogendra Swami Maharaj
Topic: Srila Bhakti Siddhant Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupada 150th Appearance day
HH Nav Yogendra Swami Maharaj:
Welcome and thank you all. Today is the 27th and the 29th is the appearance day of our grandfather Spiritual Master and Spiritual Master of Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur appeared on 6 February 1874, at the house of Bhakti Vinod Thakur in Sri Kshetra. In his childhood itself, he quickly became a scholar of the Vedas. He had memorized the Bhagavad Gita and enjoyed his father's philosophical works. Due to
his extensive knowledge, he became famous as the walking encyclopedia of knowledge. He preached against casteism and philosophical deviation with Gaudiya Vaishnavism. There is no casteism in Kaliyuga. Krishna has said in Geeta.
BG 4.13:
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ
guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ
tasya kartāram api māṁ
viddhy akartāram avyayam
Translation:
According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable. If someone is born in a Brahmin family, he does not become a Brahmin, he becomes a Brahmin by his qualities and actions. He pacified the disturbance created by people who became Brahmins from such caste. He published the teachings of all four Vaishnav sects and tried to merge them. He was named Singh Guru because of his bold speech on Vaishnav principles. It also takes courage to speak the truth. To avoid facing Singh Guru, the Mayavadis used to run away from him.
Apart from being a courageous preacher, he was adorned with all divine qualities and was full of love for Krishna. He established 64 Gaudiya Mathas in India. He also established centers in Burma, England and Germany. Despite the fierce resistance of the greedy Goswami class, he revealed the wealth of Navdeep, the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in Sri Dham Mayapur, published by his father. He built a beautiful temple there. He had printing press located in Madras, Calcutta and Krishna Nagar, which are called Brihad Mridanga. He used to publish a small number of magazines and newspapers to propagate the message of Gauranga Mahaprabhu.
When he was questioned why he was publishing a daily newspaper named Nadiya Prakashan. So, his answer was that if an insignificant town can publish five newspapers, then why can't we publish one newspaper everyday about the continuous, ever-new, transcendental activities of the Supreme Lord in the infinite Goloka Vrindavan Dham. In addition to his father's writings, he published many authentic scriptures, including Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Bhagavata, Chaitanya Mangal, Prem Bhakti Chandrika, and his favorite book was Chaitanya Charitamrita. He predicted that foreigners would learn the Bengali language after tasting the nectar of Chaitanya Charitamrita written by Sri Krishna Das Kaviraj.
He made new changes to increase the preaching. Throughout India he directed the pastimes of Shri Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, organized deities and other religious exhibitions free of charge. With the help of modern craftsmanship, he also demonstrated moving
puppets. Wherever Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes took place, he got the footprints of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inscribed on the marble. Going against tradition, he ordered his monks to wear tailored kurtas and overcoats, and to travel by car. He ordered to propagate the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu across the sea.
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur made great efforts to spread the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu throughout the world. He gave the same order to his son also. He sent many devotees to preach abroad, but they were not successful. Prabhupada had a godbrother, Mr. Malik, who used to listen to the teachings of Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura and asked Prabhupada to go there. They took Prabhupada to the center at Ultadanga. When Prabhupada heard him, Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur recognized him at the very first meeting. In the very first meeting in 1922, he said that you are an educated young man, why don't you propagate Krishna consciousness in English speaking countries. Srila Prabhupada followed the orders of his Spiritual master. He took initiation and spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. The revolutionary teachings and ideas of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura were the classical principles of renunciation propounded by Srila Rupa Goswami. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura, being an eternally liberated soul, knew how to use Maya in the service of Krishna. Following the footsteps of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, he propagated Divine Varnashrama to provide social harmony and contentment. Supporting the teachings of Srila
Rupa Goswami and Raghunath Das Goswami, he preached the knowledge of devotion and enlightened thousands of people on how to attain the pure love of Sri Sri Gandharvika Giridhari.
Apart from the miraculous success of his preaching work in India, his greatest contribution is that of his disciple AC Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada, to whom he gave direction and inspired to spread Krishna Consciousness across the world. When Prabhupada was asked to
draw a picture of his Spiritual Master, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura, he said what can I say, he is a resident of Vaikuntha. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur is serving the lord as Nayan Manjari in the daily leela of Radha Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan. His floral
samadhi is in Radha Kund and Radha Damodar temple.
Let me narrate to you some incidents from the life of Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. When he was a child, he ate the mangoes kept in the house. His father Bhakti Vinod Thakur said that these mangoes were kept to offer to God. He was still a child but he felt so bad that he ate the mango without offering it to God. For this reason, he did not eat mangoes throughout his life. He was a celibate by birth. They were so learned that there was no comparison to them.
When he appeared in Jagannath Puri, his father Bhakti Vinod Thakur was the manager of the Jagannath temple. When the Yatra of Lord Jagannath took place, the chariot automatically stopped in front of the house of Bhakti Vinod Thakur. Bhakti Vinod Thakur's wife took her son
and placed him in front of the original deities of Lord Jagannath. Then, the garland of Jagannath fell on his son. Thus, he received the blessings of Lord. He did many things. He built 64 Gaudiya Mathas across India where devotion is taught according to our sect. Our Gaudiya sect is special. Four sects are authentic: Brahma Sampradaya, Sri Sampradaya, Kumar Sampradaya and Rudra Sampradaya. These are four authentic sects by following which a living being can attain devotion. But this Brahma Madhva Gaudiya sect is special. Its specialty is that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chose this sect. Lord appeared in this sect. He taught how the soul would be saved.
CC Antya 7.11:
kali-kālera dharma — kṛṣṇa-nāma-saṅkīrtana
kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana
Translation:
The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Unless empowered by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot propagate the saṅkīrtana movement. Naren Malik used to go to listen to the sermons of Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur. He asked his friend Abhay to accompany him. Abhay means fearless. Malik told Abhay that there is a saint here who gives very good sermons. He took them by force. Abhay Charan listened to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur very attentively. Both of them had recognized each other.
In the very first meeting in 1922, Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur told Abhay Charan that you are an educated young man, why don't you preach the nectar of Krishna consciousness in English language. Srila Prabhupada started engaged in this work from 1922 onwards. He wrote many divine books which are changing the lives of people today after reading them. Why did our Acharya ask us to preach in English speaking countries? Because the British have greatly influenced all of us. The British ruled here for 200 years. We are forgetting our culture and the English language is creeping into us. English is the gateway to hell. Prabhupada said that the British had caused great damage to our culture. Muslims also ruled us for 800 years. They used to convert people into Muslims by biting them. They have also damaged our culture. But the British have caused more damage. Saw the greatness of Prabhupada that he engaged those English people in devotion. People who had never even heard the name of God are engaged in devotion today. We have 15 to 20 temples in England. All this propaganda has been done by our Spiritual Master. Our grandfather SpiritualMaster had given him this instruction in 1922.
We should learn from the lives of saints. He has a hymn. This hymn is very long but I will recite only a few lines for you.
Vaishnava Song, duṣṭa mana! tumi kisera vaiṣṇava:
(1)
duṣṭa mana! tumi kisera vaiṣṇava?
pratiṣṭhāra tare, nirjanera ghare,
tava ‘ari nāma" kevala ‘kaitava"
(2)
jaḍera pratiṣṭhā, śukarer viṣṭhā,
jāna nā ki tāhā ‘māyāra vaibhava"
kanaka-kāminī, divasa-yāminī
bhāviyā ki kāja, anitya se saba
(3)
tomāra kanaka, bhogera janaka,
kanakera dvāre sevaha ‘mādhava"
kaminīra kāma, nahe tava dhāma
tāhāra--mālika kevala ‘yādava"
Translation:
1) O wicked mind! What kind of Vaisnava do you think you are? Your pretentious show of chanting Lord Hari's holy name in a solitary place is only for the sake of attaining the false prestige of a worldly reputation -- it is nothing but pure hypocrisy.
2) Such materialistic prestige is as disgusting as the stool of a hog. Do you not know that it is only a mere illusion cast by the potency of Maya? What is the value of contemplating day and night your plans for enjoying wealth and women? All these things are only temporary.
3) When you claim wealth as your own, it creates in you ever-increasing desires for material enjoyment. Your riches should be used for serving Madhava, the Lord of all wealth. Neither is it your proper place to indulge in lust for women, whose only true proprietor is Lord Yadava.
There is a lot of lesson for us in this hymn. We show people that we are doing very good devotional practices. This pretence is hypocrisy. Devotees should not pretend to be devotional. This is just pure hypocrisy. When we take Holyname, we should do it for our own welfare, not to show it to people. Such materialistic pride is as disgusting as pig’s feces. To be proud like this means that Maya is trapping us. Pigs eat feces and their feces are even more disgusting. We don't want respect. If someone is more interested in honour and respect than attaining Lord, then he cannot attain Lord.
What is the importance of thinking and meditating on the plans made for wealth and enjoyment of women? We think about this day and night. These are obstacles in the path of attaining Lord. There is no benefit from this. All these things are only temporary. The soul is permanent and devotion is also permanent. Devotion to Lord never perishes. The soul is imperishable and devotion to Lord is also imperishable. We often fall into the trap of honour and wealth and everything gets destroyed. When we claim our rights over wealth, then this wealth motivates us to enjoy material pleasures. Many of our desires arise. Lord has also said in Geeta:
BG 5.29:
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
Translation:
A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. We are neither the owner nor the enjoyer. The feeling of enjoyment within us is the cause of bondage and the door to hell. Only by progressing in the path of devotion, the desires for material enjoyment end. There are many divine teachings in this divine hymn.
Great Vaishnavas come only for the salvation of other people. Vaishnavas feel sad seeing others sad. Just like our Spiritual Master, Sri Prabhupada, similarly his Spiritual Master is Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada, he too used to get sad seeing others sad. How
much effort he has made to alleviate our suffering. He has opened Gaudiya Math centres. He has published many books and delivered those books to the people. We have to take care that we do not become egoistic. Don't be egoistic. An egoistic creature goes mad. We have
to avoid ego and bring humility. Humility comes from chanting Lord with a humble attitude.
By the grace of Vaishnavas, humility will develop within us.
Hare Krishna!
