https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZaHfYx-VOk
BY: Mahasana dasa
I really hate the ritviks
they’re such a nasty lot
they say that Prabhupada’s the guru and that I am not
I really hate the ritviks
from deep within my heart
they say that Prabhupada’s the guru and they should be shot
I really hate the ritviks
they fill me full of rage
why can’t they let me be the guru and just turn the page?
if Prabhupada’s the guru
and Prabhupada is gone
I’ll never be the guru even if I am reborn
I really hate the ritviks
they make me want to spit
they make me want to ring their necks and throw them in a pit
I wish I had some big boots
and they were little ants
I’d stomp on every one of them especially Krishnakant
I really hate the ritviks
it goes beyond compare
they’re always quoting Prabhupada like I could really care
it’s simple for the simple
and crooked for the dense
the ritviks are in maya ’cause they’re living in past tense
I really hate the ritviks
I hate them thru and thru
they’re worse than Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakasipu
they’re worse than Bible thumpers
you meet out in the street
they’re worse than how the temple smells when guests don’t wash their feet
Bhajahari das
Ha ! this person must really be pleasing his spiritual master with such an eloquent piece of poetry, shame he spelt his own name wrong. Surely it must be spelt as follows – Maha-ass-sana
Dear Bhajahari das,
Please forgive me. I did spell my name wrong. It is Mudha-sana, but some call me Mud for short.
Your servant, friend, and Godbrother,
Mahasana dasa
Right on! Let the poets laureate spit reams of this material; enough to bury the CIA- controlled usurpers Guru Poisoners’ Club (GPC). Obeisances. AGTSP !!
The glowing bottles (of arsenic) charm their eyes and draw their hearts embrace
The slaves of guruhatya can never rise from what we call disgrace.
Why then this childish game they play of CIA and thugs ?
Of Centralized authorities, of rubber stamps and drugs ?
It seems their minds are not their own, they really have no love.
They thrive on false authority, ignoring Godhead above.
Oh how they love the boot-blacked shoes as they come crushing down,
On lives on hopes on the little ones throughout the Iskon town.
The GBC gestapo sorely reigns and keeps their minions down.
Give up this farcical abuse and leave their insane game
Serve Prabhupada and know his love
Your life will be whole again.
Adapted from Srila Bhaktivinode
pamho agtACBSP First we need to be qualified then we can say something regarding the ritviks. All our lives almost gone by arguing about the history of iskcon. Therefore it is better to let SRILA PRABHUPADA speak: “So a spiritual master means one who knows Krsna. And as soon as one knows Krsna, he’s liberated. Therefore a spiritual master is liberated.”
Since Prabhupada is free from the bodily concept of life, let Prabhupada speak!
ys seva das haribol
Dear Tamoharadasa Prabhu,
Please accept my worthless obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Thanks for the appreciation. I printed out your poem and hung it on the wall in my office. It is very well written and perfectly true. It is the story of MISKCON. Everyone needs to read it and understand it.
The perverts and murderers that run MISKCON (and have run it for decades) have no love for Srila Prabhupada.
I think it is most important that everybody in the world knows that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned. The world needs to see that Srila Prabhupada is different from the people that claim they represent him. He was just the opposite and everyone must see it. It is our job to open their eyes with the torchlight of facts.
I was initiated in 1975 and was around for the zonal takeover. At first I was duped by the lies, then I left confused, and later on in life, when I finally realized that Srila Prabupada was murdered and the murderers took over ISKCON, I became a ritvik.
They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Sadly, MISKCON is perverting Srila Prabhupada’s teachings for their own profit. First they killed him, now they are twisting his words in his books and selling them as if these words are Srila Prabhupada’s words, but they are not. It is just more demon poison. Our swords must fight the poisoned swords (pens) of MISKCON, but we have Krsna on our side and Krsna is the truth, the Absolute truth.
The “GBC gestapo” are outright demons and “The slaves of guruhatya can never rise from what we call disgrace.” Therefore we have to outpreach them, tell everybody the truth, write feverishly, and “bury the CIA- controlled usurpers Guru Poisoners’ Club (GPC)” with “reams of this material.”
Your poem tells it all; it is great, it is a classic, and it is sad that we even have to write this stuff, but Krsna’s plan is unlimited, inconceivable, and we must become His instruments.
Right on, my Godbrother. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and all glories to you.
Your servant, friend, and Godbrother,
Mahasana dasa
Krsna! Haribol, dear Mahasana dasa prabhu,obeisances to you and to all the true followers of Srila Prabhupada.
LOLOLOL I love this poem.. great stuff..
The glowing bottles (of arsenic) charm their eyes and draw their hearts embrace
Lokanath Swami Videos
What’s hate anyway
Srila Prabhupada told us not to hate anybody,
since hate is love that failed to reach our sweet Lord
Let us not hate our brothers and sisters, not the isconiters,
not the narayanis and not at all the ritviks, our the Gaudias.
Even if we see them wrecked going in the dark by foolish leaders.
Better is to love anybody who loves krishna with all there strength.
As Sir George Harrison said in I Me Mine : ” The Lord loves the one
who loves the Lord. And the law says if you don’t give, then you don’t get loving. ”
To read more about George’s philosophie visit http://www.harigeorgeson.com
My personal tip for england is, wy not meet and talk together at the nice vegetarien restaurant Gokula in Watford, have a home made cake, and be friends again.
And see if there are ways and means to establish Srila Prabhupadas Iskcon also
in the western region, like we see it in Bangalore, thats a good example for us all.
And it would cure all pain and failure of the past, yust imagine a world without hate,
is a world with real love, as the Beatles said : All Together now – all you need is love !
Your brother in arms
Acchedya das
pamho agtACBSP yes i agree with acchedya prabhu because SRILA PRABHUPADA used to say that we can see how much we love HIM and GAURANGA how much we cooperate in helping HIM to spread the brhat mrdanga of the universal love.
Unfortunately this love is covered at the moment by lusty desire which spread around as bad gossip which is the opposite site of peace and love.
We got the chance now to do it, so it is better not to waste time through the ghostly gossip of the past that can’t save us at the time of death.
Bhaja govinda bhaja govinda bhaja govinda mudha mate all this anartha and prajalpa can’t save us only the love for HDG ACBSP can deliver us to the supreme destination therefore we should take this chance and abandon all the ghosts of the past
ys seva das haribol
Dear Lokanatha Swami et al ; Please accept my obeisances. AGTSP !
I have not heard from you for years, despite sending an email or two. You have placed an excerpt from my farcical but true poem and left your site address, but there is no contact there, either, just videos. I am left wondering what was your intent? I am leaving my site address; we are 100% devoted to Srila Prabhupada As He Is.
http://puredevoteeseva.ning.com/ Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON
Your generation always acted like they owned my generation. We were denied access to Srila Prabhupada, you prabhus seized control of his association even then, and in the long run, your dear buddies lied to us all when Prabhupada called us all to his side in Vrndavana to protect him from you demons, who then under CIA control, murdered his body out of extreme envy. Why did they hide from us that Prabhupada called us to Vrndavan, unless there was motivation? I will not rehash the story yet again, suffice it to say the scientific and anecdotal and recorded evidence is clear.
Until justice is done, peace is not possible, never. As one group of devotees recently said, there is a dead body hanging in the house of Iskcon. Any other group would have dragged the perpetrators out and thrown them into the dust outside the temple gates, or strung them up.
A good friend of mine, Iskcon sannyasi, says all the GPCs know Prabhupada was murdered for an absolute fact, but you are hiding it from your sycophantic cultish hordes of brianwashed dumbed down followers. They even have the unprecedented gall to BAN PRABHUPADA’s BOOKS !!! What do you say to that, Swamiji ? You approve this scheme??
Maharajah, I suspect that you are unaware of what is really going on. The Sinister Movement was specifially mentioned by Srila Prabhupada. Do you have ANY idea who that is, Maharajah? Many of us now do, years later. You should please set a good example, denounce this poisonous association with the ururpers; leave immediately their association. Even a pure Mahabhagavata such as Gour Govinda Swami has had his reputation ruined in part by association with these criminals. Until the crime of Guru hatya is resolved, all followers of the GPCs (Guru Poisoners Club) will share in the reactions to this horrendous murder of one of the greatest generals Vaisnavism has ever seen. One by one Lord Krishna drags them down, we are seeing it.
Acchedya; with respect prabhu, nice sounding thoughts, but far too late. Your philosophy is a little tinged with impersonalism; in that you are misquoting our philosophy, that we should forgive and forget ? No, a correction must be there. The best thing to do for a demon who will not surrender to Krishna is to convince them of their errors, go away if necessary, but if pushed and the situation is like that, we know the rest. Destroying demons is devotional service, not hate. If one fails to enact justice and resist the world-wide demoniac takeover, that is an act of cowardice and is abominable, but standing up to their abuses and striving to correct the grave problems to protect the innocents and the devotees is a devotional mood.
Tamoharadasa said: “Even a pure Mahabhagavata such as Gour Govinda Swami has had his reputation ruined in part by association with these criminals.”
HH Gaura Govinda Swami stated in his book:
Thus Gaura Govinda Swami declares Srila Prabhupada’s entire tape ministry as useless but Srila Prabhupada completely destroys Gaura Govinda Swami’s bogus philosophy:
1) He states that transcendental sound is not dependent on “physical contact” of the Guru:
2) He proved this by initiating hundreds, if not thousands, of his disciples by tape (gayatri mantra ), e.g.:
Mahabhagavata is not the appropriate term used to describe a voted in diksa guru like HH Gaura Govinda Swami.
RELIGIO-INSTITUTIONAL PSYWAR by HH Aindra Maharajah Thakura
[Principles of psychological disempowerment]
1. Convince the enemy [us, the laity] that there is no war – so we see no cause for alarm.
2. Make us believe that they [the institutional power elite] are stronger than they really are, and make us believe that we [the grass roots contingency] are weaker than we really are.
3. Hide the truth – cover-up, distort, lie, confuse, falsify . . . divert, pervert, put down, and demonize the truth . . . to manipulate the history, present, and future of society.
4. Quell the resistance before it has a chance to raise its ugly head. Slander, scorn, and/or eliminate dissenters [the audacious few who break the code of silence] to demoralize further potential protests.
5. Intimidation – compel by unilateral communication of increasingly ever-constraining institutional law. Supplant multi-angular philosophical discussion with sophistical dogma.
The institutional power elites are small in number [potentially weak] but at present considerably organized and dominant – though not very popular. We, the unvoiced majority, are potentially powerful but presently misinformed, under-educated, apathetic, obsequious, disarrayed, and disorganized – too busy with our dumbed-down pursuit of our daily fare to think very deeply about anything.
The power elites, by exercising their political leverage, have quite a handle on the temporal institutional facilities [men, money, social and organizational infrastructure, media (spin control), etc.] They are parasitic in behavior, fat, corrupt, speculative, deceitful, increasingly sluggish, and paranoid. We the laity control very little of the institutional hardware. It will be very difficult for us to erect a power structure as they have to counter their political advantage within the context of “their” establishment. Yet those of us who are awake to the power elite’s misguided agenda to stealthily hijack, dysfunctionalize, and derail, from within, the Krishna consciousness movement by incremental trans-sectarian interfaith homogenization can and must assiduously acquaint ourselves and others with the true principles of sampradaya as per the gaudiya-siddhanta according to the statements of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the previous acaryas.
A CALL TO ARMS
1. Intelligently fight institutional maya with the most powerful weapon of the Holy Name.
2. Form local daily nama-sankirtana cells world-wide.
3.Regularly congregate for prolonged mass hari-nama-sankirtan demonstrations.
4. Start chanting a minimum of one lac of Holy Names daily..
5. Confront local, regional, and zonal institutional authorities and convince them to do the same – its either shape up or ship out.
6. Organize a grass roots signature campaign to express the general lack of confidence in the current institutional leadership.
7. Transition from the problem-think to the solution-think mind-set.
8. Be Krishna conscious in all circumstantial success or failure.
If we are not part of the solution – we’re part of the problem.
The solution is simple [for the simple]: Harer-namaiva-kevalam.
Take shelter of the Holy Name as your only business.
Nothing to lose – everything to gain.
– HH. Aindra maharajah
Jaya Prabhus, Hare Krsna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please accept my fallen obeisances. I’m temple president XYZ and I’ve made my pledge to the GBC, its them who gave me the presidency, so I want you all to read this and hear my plea:
I pledge my allegiance to the GBC
Despite their lack of purity
I see them as the powers that be
Because it is them who are paying me
All glories all glories to the GBC
So what if I’ve lost my integrity
To hell with Srila Prabhupada, it’s them who pay me
Thus I see them as most high and mighty
After all, Srila Prabhupada is dead
If need be, for my purposes, I’ll step on His head
I’ll throw away my bhakti after all that is said
What I really care about is my butter and bread
Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON movement, it had its great day
Filled with Srila Prabhupada’s white brightness, I’ve helped to make it grey
I’ve pushed out many sincere devotees into Maya Devi’s fray
I couldn’t care less about their dismay
All glories all glories to the GBC
A body filled with infidelity
To you who are filled with impudicity
I fully pledge myself to thee
Regarding Srila Prabhupada’s books, Jayadvaita’s editions are right
I ban the pre-1978 originals from my temple: I consider them a blight
If any devotee questions me, I will use my GBC endowed might
Considering Srila Prabhupada’s unchanged books anathema, I keep them out of everyone’s sight
(When I find a pre-1978 book, I confiscate and burn it at night)
My dear GBC, now agents of Kali
You’ve lost so much of your sanctity
You’ve ruined Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON, and are lying to me
Yet still I pledge myself to thee
Srila Prabhupada said *** “Don’t change the worship of the Deity”
He gave explicit instructions how to offer the aroti
Although the order was changed by the GBC
I don’t care because they pay my salary
I submit myself to the GBC
A body devoid of humility
They’ve given up their austerity,
intelligence, kindness, bhakti and simplicity
I don’t care about the devotees. They’re just a bunch of sheeple
My concern is to get money from all the rich people
After all, money is the honey
What do I care if my consciousness is funny? (off)
I pledge my allegiance to the GBC
So many of you filled with duplicity
I follow you wholeheartedly
I’ve given up my honesty
I don’t give a damn what the good devotees say
Let them go to their computers and type all day
Their time spent in internet discussions will keep them far away (at bay)
While I get my glory and GBC pay
I pledge myself to the GBC
With all their corruption and insanity
I know I’m part of the problems that be
I’ve sold away my liberty
I pledge allegiance to the GBC
I will follow you implicitly
I give you my soul to the topmost degree
You’ve killed Srila Prabhupada, and now you’re killing me
May we be safely situated under the shelter of Srila Prabhupada’s Lotus Feet, Those of our Guru Varga, the Vaisnavas, and Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.
Your servant,
B. Radha-Govinda
Hare Krsna
***From Srila Prabhupada’s Jan 4, 1973 letter to Dhruvanananda Prabhu:
“You are asking me so many concoctions and manufactured nonsense. Don’t bother my head in this way any more. From now on unless I order you do something change or in addition, go on with the usual standard way. You manufacture ideas and then I have to waste my time. I have given you everything already, there is no need for you to add anything or change anything. Why you are asking these things? Who has given you such freedom?…The greatest danger to our movement will come when we manufacture and create our own process for worshiping the deities.”
Good said Tamohara Maharaja. Keep strong in front of this fools. May Krishna bless you eternally.
Hare Krishna dear Prabhus
pamro, all glories to Srila Prabhupada
Thanks dear Seva das, i agree with your statement’s
and like what you said on the 27. of March, it made me write.
Yes Tamoharadas, i undestand your point verry well, sorry
maybe i am a little late, but better late than never.
The only thing, that comes to my mind, is that Srila Prabhupada
was facing the same problems with the Gaudia Matha,
and he was aware of all the madlike guru actors in the name
of selfapointed acaryaship that was going on all over the Gaudia Math.
But did he waste mutch time with criticism and did he wrangle with his
godbrother who he saw going down the guru-popstar-lane.?
No, he did not, he turnt round and did what he feld should be done,
he translated, wrote, printed and lived a humble varnaprastha lifestil
and spend no time to worry and care about the mad guru imposters.
He was there with Guru & Krishna and he lived the so called here and now,
not worrying what happend with his guru’s movement, he trusted Krishna,
and he know that he will sort things out, by his own ways and means.
And history has showed us, that Srila Prabhupada was right with his point
not to involve his energy to find fault in his wrongway godbrothers.
So, we also see nowadays how Krishna kiking one by one of the rocker,
all the big shoots, big famous sanyasis let down there knickers.!
Who will take’s them seriously anymore, they burnt out there good name,
what more you can lose, than your good name and your spiritual position,
thats the way Krishna acting against the offender, thats the way he is.!
Wy not learn from Srila Prabhupada’s example and peace down, and don’t
let the helter skelter of iskconia reach into our heart and hustle us with all
there mayaism, yes, i think it is better to yust let Srila Prabhupada speak,
and by the way, find for ourselfes something to do, that makes us happy,
and makes us lovely for others, since politics yust harden our feelings for
our sweet Lord, and we yust struggel and are unhappy while we look out for
a perfekt isckon, that never will be, organized religions allways have there faults.
Better find peace and happiness in living gentle yourself and follow as mutch
as you can the orders of the shastras and of Guru & Krishna.!
Ok now, have a happy bashing on me, for being sooo impersonal ore even
so uncritical and unrealistic, yes, but thats me, i am sorry for that.
your fallen godbrother
Acchedya das
Dear Sri Yamuna das,
Yes, I Pledge Allegiance is a great poem that B. Radha-Govinda Swami wrote. She is a brave follower of Srila Prabhupada. It is a shame that we have to write such stuff, but fighting the demons, who are against Srila Prabhupada as founder-acarya of ISKCON, has become our service to humanity. Those who are stepping on “His head” are both within and without “ISKCON”, and they need to be unmasked.
Your servant, friend, and Godbrother,
Mahasana dasa
He sent us Srila Prabhupada .
It is only possible to deliver a conditioned jiva from Maya,
By divine intervention of God.
To a realm that is higher;
Ecstatically deep and broad.
An ocean of liquid love!
In His mercy, to bring us there,
He sent us Srila Prabhupada.
Sri Krsna Caitanya desired to moisten the dried-up souls.
To acheive it,
He not only comes Himself,
But Nitai-Balarama empowered Srila Prabhupada,
To bountiful conceive it.
A world encircling garland of prema-nama-sankirtana!
All Glory to Lord Gaura Krsna! All Glory to Lord Sankarsana!
The envious conditioned souls actually have no direct access to the Lord.
But by His sweet will, just as the ambassador represents the king,
The Guru is the personal embodied mercy of Lord Gaura.
That person who would set the dove of his love of Krsna a-wing,
Can do so, by the expanded mercy of Srila Prabhupada!
You fortunate persons around the world,
Just hear the words of Srila Prabhupada!
His vibrations have the power to deliver you from all fears.
Just take, just try!
You will soon become freed from all false tears.
Amazed, you will say, “He did not lie!”
All Glories to Sri Jagad-guru, our Srila Prabhupada!
Like Sri Nityananda delivers the Jagais and Madais of their envious curse,
Who in turn help spread His mercy throughout the entire universe!
Who is the original nitya-siddha founder-acarya of the society to deliver us back to God?
Who gave us the sauce, chapter and verse?
It is only you, Our Eternal Master, Srila Prabhupada!
Prabhupada planted and maintains a mighty kalpavrksa tree of bhakti,
In fact, a world-wide forest of wish-fullfilling trees!
All the desires of the living entities are satisfied,
Our devotional service fixed.
Then Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also satisfied.
Let us nourish the roots with our leaves,
And offer dandavats like sticks.
All Glories to the Devotees of Srila Prabhupada!
Sri Krsna Bless the servants of the servants of Prabhupada!
Who chant and preach determinedly, despite obstacle or strife.
For this is true charity, true knowledge, true yoga, true religion.
By such service, the fallen find pure love and blissful spiritual reunion!
They reawaken the soul of their life.
Gurudeva leads us on to a place where Lord Gauranga dwells.
No ordinary prema that!
Our obeisances again and again!
The Lord’s hair shorn,
In a deep place by the Yamuna,
In the house of Kasi Misra,
Vipralambha and Sambhoga have a tug-of-war,
Causing Lord Caitanya’s tears to well,
His heart to bend,
His love to soar,
His hairs to stand on end !
His beautiful reddish eyes…!
His amazement never ends,
As He comprehends the heart of Radha,
His blissful blackish form deeply hid beneath Her yellow-golden glow…
How do even Western-born fools such as Tamoharadasa know?
Only By the Unequalled Mercy of Srila Prabhupada !
.
July 9 is quoting completely out of context, though the intent may originally have been good, ie ritivk? But their quotes, are clearly reactionary, more emotion than reason or reality, out of context cheating process. This person needs to actually do some reading, I suggest, or discuss with his disciples and godbrothers what is the reality, as they are talking trash and do not know the full story at all.
Have you spent any time with Gour Govinda Swami personally, or know his story? Do you know how he was attacked by the GBC , banned, ignored for years, and maybe poisoned by them also? Do you know he talked directly with Gopal Jiu, the family Deity for generations, including miraculous occurrances? Do you know that he told his disciple that Gopal told him he would not be returning to Orissa the fatal day when he left to Mayapura never to return? Do you know he memorized Gita and could quote and comment on Bhagavatam at a preschool age? Do you know he worshipped just as did young Srila Prabhupada, famliy deity, etc? Do you know his family is Orissan renowned devotees of Mahaprabhu for generations? Do you know he said that evil has entered the highest rungs of ISKCON? Do you know the GPCs banned him everywhere? Do you know he was born a pure devotee in a family of pure devotees? Do you know Srila Prabhupada gave him sannyasa right away and trusted him implicitly? Do you know he had a tape ministrey, so how can you make up some story out of context that he did not accept the program of Srila Prabhupada? That is an outright lie and a fabrication for political ends. Do you know he led millions in Orissa to Lord Caitanya? Do you know he is a great scholar and rasica siddha pure devotee? That for a period he was in madness of loving ecstasy and the Gauidya Math declared it is clearly advanced bhava? No? Did you persoanlly watch him cry every mangala aroti or hear him call out for Govinda in his sleep at night?? Then what DO you actually know? Or are you simply parroting political fanciful tales told by envious ignorant persons? This July 9 person is hiding, afraid to use their real name, and yet is here to criticize nitya-siddhas ? Shameful.
Tamoharadasa said:
9. April 2011 at 15:32
You have plenty to say but have failed to demonstrate howI have quoted out of context. Do so, demonstrating the correct context. Leave the mythology aside, deal with the facts.
(All emphasise added unless stated)
Somewhere, I have the whole conversation, not just the out of context quotes you supply. Those quotes are part of a whole conversation. I have been searching my regular files, and will surely post it once I recover it. Sorry for the delay, … HK, HK…
Still looking for thaty particular flow of conversation, but his captures the gist of it, from Madhavananda Prabhu Ji, editor of gopaliu.org in Bhubaneswara;
Dear Tamohara Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Below are a few thoughts you may find interesting.
Your servant,
Madhavananda Das
********************
Regarding personal association with Srila Prabhupada versus association with
him via his recorded words: I don’t think this is actually an issue for
anyone. If Srila Prabhupada were to personally come to our house, while we
were sitting in our room listening to his tape, would we refuse to go
downstairs and hear from him personally? “I’m associating with him via the
tape. It’s just as good.” Would we really feel that it is just as good? I
don’t think so.
Gour Govinda Maharaja has stated:
===============
“One has to hear. It is not that, “All right, tapes are there, I’ll hear the
recorded tapes.” sabda-brahma will never descend. […] You should be
greedy. Physical contact is required. You must hear directly, not just by
listening to tapes. Sabda-brahma will never descend through a tape. One must
hear from a physically present Sri Guru.” (HH Gour Govinda Swami, ‘Q&A’, The
Worship of Sri Guru, chapter 3)
===============
However, the above quote is just one side of Gour Govinda Maharaja’s
teachings. He always encouraged devotees to read and distribute Prabhupada’s
books, and to associate via listening to tapes. Many times he said things
such as:
===============
“We should associate with instructions and books and with our sincere
prayers we will reach Krishna.” (Home program in Paris 1987)
===============
He also taught that we can associate with Srila Prabhupada and our previous
acaryas through their books. As he said, in his transcribed lecture printed
in the book Pariprasna:
===============
“All sadhus speak through their books. Jiva Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Sanatan
Goswami, Bhaktivinode Thakur, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Srila Prabhupada
all say that they speak through books. This is not a new thing. This is our
vaishnava procedure.”
===============
Srila Prabhupada’s second canto purport and November 1975 letter bring in
another dimension to this topic:
===============
“The potency of transcendental sound is never minimised because the vibrator
is apparently absent.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.9.8, purport)
===============
===============
“You should have a fire sacrifice and the second initiates should hear
through the right ear the mantra on my recorded tape.” (Srila Prabhupada
Letter, November 13th, 1975)
===============
However, Srila Prabhupada sometimes said things from another angle. For
example:
===============
“We have to hear not from a telephone but from an authorized person, for it
is he who has real knowledge.” (Purport to Cc. adi 7.107)”Unless one is
svanubhavam, self-realized, [unless his] life is Bhagavat, he cannot preach
Bhagavat. That will not be effective. A gramophone will not help.” (Bhag.
Lecture Rome May 27th 1974)
===============
A devotee once pointed out to Gour Govinda Maharaja that Srila Prabhupada
often gave gayatri mantra by tape. Maharaja responded, “Yes, Srila
Prabhupada can do that. He is such a powerful person.” Maharaja then went on
to say, “However, you cannot imitate him. In Sajjana Toshani Magazine, Srila
Thakur Bhaktivinode has written, ‘The symptom of an apasampradaya is that
they take an extraordinary act of a great personality and make it into a
regular standard.'”
Certainly, Srila Prabhupada’s act of initiating devotees via recordings is a
very extraordinary act. The Skanda Purana and other Vedic literatures
describe that there are four levels of sabda-brahma. Like everything in
Krishna consciousness sabda-brahma is a detailed science which is very deep
and subtle. Acaryavan puruso veda — the vedic tradition dictates that one
cannot understand the Vedas without a guru. The tradition is that one must
hear directly the words spoken by the guru — guru mukha padma vakya. Srila
Prabhupada, as an empowered acarya, was able to do things that we cannot
understand or imitate.
Srila Prabhupada’s books are very powerful, and contain his personal
presence. Prabhupada said that anyone who simply touches his books will get
spiritual benefit. However, it is obvious that there will be a great
difference in what various people perceive, and receive, from those books
when they read them.
For example, we can give copies of “Srimad Bhagavatam” to a drunken man
lying in the streets of London; to a young college student engaged in
illicit activities; to a mundane professor of Sanskrit at Oxford; to a new
bhakta who has been staying at the Soho Street temple and strictly following
Srila Prabhupada’s program for a month or two — or to a surrendered
disciple who has heard from and served their guru, Srila Prabhupada.
Obviously, there will be a huge difference in each of the above readers’
perception and assimilation of the message in Prabhupada’s books. Sastra
should be approached via a personal relationship based on hearing, serving
and following.
The Bhagavatam is krsna-tulya bhagavata vibhu sarvasraya — a direct
incarnation of Krishna (Cc. madhya 24.318). Just as Krishna is only known by
pure devotion, so too is the Bhagavata. Bhaktya bhagavatam grahyam na
buddhya na ca tikaya — one can only understand the Bhagavad-gita and
Srimad-Bhagavatam by bhakti. One cannot understand them simply by
scholarship or “ca tikaya” by reading commentaries. (Cc. madhya 9.102)
As Krishna famously tells Arjuna in the Adi Purana: “Those who claim to be
My direct devotees are actually not My devotees. Those who are the devotees
of My devotees are factually My devotees.”Like the Bhagavatam, Srila
Prabhupada’s books are non-different from Krishna. They are also only known
completely by one who has pure love. To develop a relationship with Krishna
in his form as those books we have to go through a person. As Prabhupada
said many times:
===============
The Puranas are also parts of the Vedas. And histories like the Mahabharata
or Ramayana are also parts of the Vedas. The acarya or the gosvami must be
well acquainted with all these literatures. To hear and explain them is more
important than reading them. One can assimilate the knowledge of the
revealed scriptures only by hearing and explaining. Hearing is called
sravana, and explaining is called kirtana. The two processes of sravana and
kirtana are of primary importance to progressive spiritual life. Only one
who has properly grasped the transcendental knowledge from the right source
by submissive hearing can properly explain the subject. (Purport to Bhag.
1.1.6)
===============
===============
…if one wants to learn the meaning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, one must take lessons from a realized soul. One should not proudly think that one can understand the transcendental loving service of the Lord simply by reading books. One must become a servant of a vaisnava. As Narottama Das Thakur has confirmed, chadiya vaisnava-seva nistara peyeche keba: one cannot be in a transcendental position unless one very faithfully serves a pure vaisnava. One must accept a vaisnava guru (adau gurv-asrayam), and then by questions and answers one should gradually learn what pure devotional service to Krishna is. That is called the parampara system. (Purport to Cc. antya 7.53)
===============
===============
Indian lady: How does one contact the spiritual master? Through a book can you contact the spiritual master?
Prabhupada: No, you have to associate.
Syamasundar: “Can you associate through a book?” she asked.
Prabhupada: Yes, through books, and also personal. Because when you make a spiritual master you have got personal touch. Not that in the air you make a spiritual master. You make a spiritual master concrete. So as soon as you make a spiritual master, you should be inquisitive…. if you simply try to understand what is God by reading scriptures, you cannot achieve. You must approach a guru. Just like a medical book. It can be available in the market. If you purchase one medical book and study and you become doctor, that is not possible. You must hear the medical book from a medical man in the college, medical college. Then you will be qualified. And if you say, “Sir, I have read all the medical books. Recognize me as a medical practitioner,” no, that will not be. (Lecture on the Appearance day of Srila
Bhaktivinode Thakur, 23 Sept 1969, London)
===============
===============
Madhudvisa: One cannot become a medical practitioner by simply reading the books. He must study under a medical practitioner. So in the case of your books, is it possible to become a devotee without actually having personal association with you? Just by reading your books?
Prabhupada: No, it is not that you have to associate with the author. But one who knows, if you cannot understand you have to take lesson from him. Not necessarily that you have to contact with the author always.
Devotee: Just like the textbooks are not written by the teachers; they’re written by other professors.
Devotee: Usually you don’t even meet the author.Prabhupada: Simply one who
knows the subject matter, he can explain.
Madhudvisha: But can your, would your purports, would that serve as explanation besides…
Prabhupada: No, no, anyone who knows the subject matter, he will be able to explain. It is not necessary that the author is required to be present there. [break] …to study from a medical man, I never said you have to study from the author. Or one who understood the author’s purpose. Just like we are explaining Bhagavad-gita as it is. Not that one has to learn directlyfrom Krishna. One who has understood Krishna, from him. That is the
parampara system. (Morning Walk, 21 May 1975, Melbourne)
===============
===============
One cannot become a devotee by one’s personal endeavor. Just like some rascals say, “What is the use of accepting a guru?” Of course, they have got
very bad experience. Who is acarya? Acarya means one who has received Vedic knowledge through the parampara system. Evam parampara-praptam imam
rajarsayo viduh. He is acarya. An acarya cannot be manufactured or self-made. He must come in disciplic succession. One who is under the shelter of an acarya, he knows things. Krishna recommends that if you
actually want to have real knowledge then you must worship the acarya, acaryopasanam. This is the Vedic system. Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet. It is not that, “If I like I can go to a guru, and if I don’t
like I can study books at home and learn everything.” No, that is not possible. It is practical. Just like if you purchase a medical book, study at home, and then begin to practice, you will be called a quack. The government will not recognize you. You will not get the practitioner’s
registration. Unless you have passed through the medical college and had your medical examination you will not be accepted, even if you say, “I have
read all the books.” Similarly, someone may say, “I have read Bhagavad-gita a hundred times.” But if you ask him what is Krishna he cannot say because
he has not approached the acarya. This is the difficulty. He might have read Bhagavad-gita a thousand times but he will not understand a single word
because he has not approached.Therefore Vedic literature says, tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet. Abhigacchet. This word is used when the
sense is “you must”. It is the vidhilin form of the verb. “You must. There is no excuse. You cannot learn.” (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita in Mumbai on 5
October 1973)
===============
http://www.gopaljiu.org
from Tamoharadasa, http://puredevoteeseva.ning.com/, blogs section;
Further in this regards, Srila Gour Govinda Maharajah came from a rural Orissan Vaisnava kirtaniya community, and was clearly a nitya-siddha, if you examine all the symptoms, karmas, ecstatic states, etc. He espoused traditional concepts, that the diksa mantra cannot be transmitted properly except word-to-ear by Sri Guru, not by tape recorder. That was likely fully correct at the time, in that the iskcon gurus were not parmahamsas. Srila Prabhupada, however, is of a degree of superlative that is incalculable.
Like Lord Nityananada’s ministers, Srila Prabhupada is empowered. He is the Senapati Bhakta, the Great General, sent to do a monumental task. That task required mercy without limits, thus the Lord empowered him without limits, hence the use of tapes, airplanes, ritvk process, printing presses, female pujaris, etc etc. It is not Gour Govinda’s fault, that he speaks traditionally in some matters, because by comparison, Srila Prabhupada had expanded the mercy.
There will be these differences, in application of our philosophy, that is individual, and is the Sri Guru’s perogative. Even the Goswamis had varieties! Rather, it is the unfathomable greatness of mercy of Srila Prabhupada, Jagad-Gurudeva, that is emphasized by comparison ! Srila Prabhupada broke the vessel containing love of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, broke all the conventionalities in a new interpretation that better served Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission. And that is just a part of his glories.
From Caitanya Mangala, Circa 1500 A.D. by Srila Locana dasa Thakura Goswami, contemporary and Gaudiya Vaisnava historian/biographer of Sri Krsna Caitanya; courtesy B. Radha Govinda Swami (ACBSP);
Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu bol :
“yadi papi cadi dharma dure dese yaya mora senapati bhakta yaibe tathaya”
“If some sinful people escape ( His sankirtana movement ) and giving up religious principles go to far off countries, then My Senapati Bhakta ( Great General amongst the devotees ), will come at that time to give them Krsna consciousness.”
“The temple is a place not for eating and sleeping, but as a base from which we send out our soldiers to fight with maya.”(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 3/8/1973)
As you stated above, (10. April 2011 at 17:31)
If he “espoused” following Srila Prabhupada only rather than mixing in various “traditional concepts” there would be no argument.
Perfect response.
Mahasana, July whoever he is hasn’t answered even a single one of my questions, whereas I countered his cheap out-of -context political baloney in detail and even summarized for you. Are you just totally unfamiliar with debate, as you seem not to have read the evidence presented, as you have answered none of it, or are you determined to stick your head in the sand and hide, or repeat the same old lies without considering whether they are in fact true or not? That is not how reasoned debate normally goes. You must answer my responses to your inital statements, but instead you avoid, as you have no answers.
Now I have a have a question for you, Mr knows everything but knows actually nothing about GGS; In what way did Srila Gour Govinda Swami Thakura ever deviate in any way in what he did from what Srila Prabhupada instructed him ? Practical; how did he deviate in anything he did? Not your out of context lies, but his actual behaviors. Show proof, not just cheap opinions from a far distance the source being offenders who never got within a thousand miles of Gour Govinda Swami but who know all about him, with a poilitcal fanatic’s agenda?
This offensive mentality will be the death of you hard ritviks. I am prophesying to you all now, whoever it is you are with and represent will go down just like the other offenders in the GBC You are just the flip side 0f that same offensive illogical abusive liars’ coin. Many of the so-called hard ritivks are now the new revised deviators’ movements, just an anti-version of the GPC cultist sycophants.
Radha Govinda Swami told me not to bother writing to you about Gour Govinda Swami, as you will never understand, and will simply be offensive and go to hell. She was right, I perhaps should not have presented such nectar before severe offenders. However, hopefully the actual Prabhupadanugas and readers will be able at last to see the situation as it is, and can see the poisononous lies coming from both many of the GPCs supporters, and many of the hard ritivks, both.
please visit us at http://puredevoteeseva.ning.com/, where we have been initiating Srila Prabhupada disciples, in service of all the Vaisnavas, since 2009.
Tamoharadasa said:
10. April 2011 at 17:31
Since Madhavananda agrees with me, in fact he uses the same quote that I used, verbatim. There is no need for you to look. Your point is void.
We all make mistakes, slip of the tongue but to then put that mistake into writing is not a very good sign. My point is that by putting in writing that “Sabda-brahma will never descend through a tape.” HH Gour Govinda Swami has failed to realize that he is criticizing Srila Prabhupada’s use of tape recordings.
It’s the sort of error we can expect from a GBC elected guru.
(all emphasise added)
All you did was reiterate the same lines without addressing even one of the countering points raised in my attached literature. I take you as ingenuous, and invite the readers to judge for themselves.
Among other points we raised; did you have any personal contact with him? He had a tape ministry of his own, so how could be be against tapes? Your out-of-context quote was put into context by Madhavananda; GGS said clearly that Srila Prabhupada’s mercy and use of these things was extraordinary. Srila Prabhupada also said that hearing from a pure devotee directly was of course desirable. Five Vaisnava sannyasis and brahmans, Prabhupada disciples, explained to you Gour Govinda’s status as Nittya siddha. You have addressed none of these points, among others. We’re done talking, whoever you are. Chant Hare Krishna, and panca tattva mantra.
Bhagavta Maharajah (acbssp); “After Srila Prabhupada’s departure there is a little known pastime, that will not remain so after this letter goes on your website, where Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj helped to reveal the unrivalled perfection of Srila Prabhupada’s masterful translation of Bhagavad Gita. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj was given the service by Srila Prabhupada of translating all of His books into the Orissan language.
Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj was a great scholar who could write and speak in five languages, Orissan, Hindi, Bengali, English, and Sanskrit. He got his degree in English from the University with a minor in Sanskrit. I lived with Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj in the same room for nearly 3 years. He translated Srila Prabhupadas Bhagavad Gita with the greatest love and devotion and attention for detail.
Because of His vast command of languages He was able to notice little details that others may have overlooked. One thing that was a cause of great transcendental concern for Him was the fact that when Srila Prabhupada translated a word from Sanskrit to English it would not be the same if Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj translated the Sanskrit word directly to Oriya.
In other words the English word that Srila Prbhupada used to explain the Sanskrit word had an entirely different meaning than the Oriya word that would normally be used as a translation of this same Sanskrit word. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj was concerned that in translating the literal English into Oriya that many Pandits and Scholars would c omplain that this was not an accurate translation.
Since Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj did not want to change one single word of His beloved Spiritual Master’s books but at the same time be able to defend the scholarships of His Guru Maharaj beyond the shadow of a doubt, He devised a plan for writing down all of the so called contradictions in a list until he completed the entire work.
Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj then went to a little village to see the now retired Sanskrit professor who had taught Him Sanskrit in college. This man was considered one of the foremost authorities on the Sanskrit Language in India having one of the largest personal libraries on the subject, including one of the best collections of Sanskrit to English Dictionaries.
Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj knew that this scholars grasp of Sanskrit to English translation would provide him with the evidence he needed to prove the authority of Srila Prabhupada’s work.
After about ten days Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj returned to the little mud hut that we lived in with the Sanskrit professor in tow. The Sanskrit professor introduced himself (I apologize but unfortunately I cannot remember his name) and began glorifying His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada’s masterful translation work.
The Professor told me that he started studying Sanskrit when he was five years old, now in his late 70′s he had been studying the language for over 70 years. He told me how on the first review of his dictionaries he could not find the translations that Srila Prbhupada had made from Sanskrit to English, but he said that Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj kept encouraging him to keep looking, assuring him that he would find the translation if he looked long and hard enough. The professor said he would have given up if it were not for Srila Gour Govinda Maharajs insistence that His Guru Maharaj had been accurate and that if he looked hard enough he would find it.
Then the professor told me that he found each and ever y translation that Srila Prbhupada had made. The professor told me that these translations that your Guru has made are the most obscure and brilliant explanations of these words from Sanskrit to English that he had ever seen. The professor admitted that with all of his education and training he could not have thought of these obscure and brilliant meanings that so perfectly expressed the inner truths of the mysteries of the Bhagavad Gita.
The professor then said having seen this translation work of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada he was convinced that Srila Prabhupada was the greatest Sanskrit scholar in the history of civilization and must have been directly enlightened by the Supreme Lord Krishna to accomplish this work.
There is so much to learn from this pastime. The first thing of course is that no one is qualified to edit one single word of Srila Prabhupada’s books period! Unless he is on the same level as His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and since it is pretty obvious Jayadvaita is not then he should leave the books alone!
Now some may say how do we know he is not and the answer to that is the second important lesson that we learn from this pastime. Unlike Jayadvaita who has changed the words of his Spiritual master’s books in order to meet with the approval of scholars and professors.
The pure devotional attitude of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj was to elevate the professor by engaging him in devotional service and then bring him up to a spiritual platform so that he could get the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Instead of acting like and editor and scholar Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj teaches us how to protect and defend the honor of the Spiritual Master through His Pure Devotional mood.
Jayadvaita’s erasing the words of our Divine Master Srila Prabhupada and replacing them with h is mental speculations reminds me of the story when the Mayavadi scratched out the name of Krishna in the book and replaced it with the word Brahman. Krishna eventually appears before him with scratches on His face the Mayavadi realizes his folly and surrenders to the Lord.
Srila Prabhupada’s books are his transcendental body how much longer are we going to sit back and let his books be abused. If Srila Prabhupada were here and some one was abusing him would we stand by idly and watch it happen! NO! Why do we continue to allow Jayadvaita to abuse our Spiritual Master’s books.
Can we not stand up in the pure Devotional mood of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj and defend the Honor of our Spiritual Master?
Let us all work together to restore Srila Prabhupada’s books to their pristine and uncontaminated glory..
Then let us distribute those books again and preach the pure devotional service of the Lord to the innocent masses yearning to be free of the shackles of maya. Let us enter the arena of the material world proclaiming the Glories of the Lord with the absolute conviction that we can only benefit everyone we meet with the highest good.
If any demoniac persons try to stop us then we should proudly proclaim like the Christians of old being attacked by the lions in the Roman coliseum that we are the servants of the Lord and our spiritual master and we are fearless.
Your most worthless servant
Bhagavat Das “
SRILA PRABHUPADA & SRILA GOUR GOVINDA
THE FIRST MIRACLE
By: Bhagavat Das Swami(ACBSP)
There are three miracles that Srila Prabhupada & Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja both executed while performing their pastimes in this world. Each one of these miracle pastimes took place in different countries and under different circumstances with different devotees; however the results were the same. In this first article in the series I will describe the first miracle they shared in common and then in two successive articles explain the other two.
In the old days at Juhu Beach, in what was then called Bombay, we had a great struggle against the materiel energy to secure the land and begin the temple project for Sri Sri Radha Rasa Bihari. One of Srila Prabhupada’s biggest supporters was a Punjabi gentleman named Mr. Shetty. He was a contractor and he and his family adored Srila Prabhupada. When the land was first secured in Juhu there was no housing available on it for Srila Prabhupada so he stayed at Mr. Shetty’s house in Juhu. Srila Prabhupada and his servants became one of the family and they were given all love, affection, respect, and facility. The first Structure built on the Juhu Property was a small temple building to house their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Rasa Bihari. The main structure was large enough to house the altar of the deities and some room on the side for their clothes. Directly behind the altar room was a small deity kitchen. In front of the altar room was a large open air carport on a foot high platform. That served as the Nat Mandir or dancing hall. There was a big struggle between a man who wanted to buy the land we had and Srila Prabhupada. It eventually became a court case and the night before the court case some thugs from the opposing party tried to perform a most heinous act. You see the reason Srila Prabhupada built the little temple first on the land was of course to house the deities, but also because the court cannot remove a temple structure from a property or the priests who maintain the deities in that temple. The thug’s job was to break down the temple the night before so that they could claim the property was vacant and have Srila Prabhupada and his disciples removed and take possession of the property.
As the large group of thug’s began dismantling the temple structure getting closer to the deities who were locked behind closed doors the little devotee pujari who stayed on the property ran to inform Srila Prabhupada at Mr. Shetty’s house. Mr. Shetty became enraged; he took his big sons and his guns with him and ran over to the temple to stop the thugs. As he arrived one of the ladies from the neighborhood who was devoted to Srila Prabhupada had placed herself between the thugs and the deities holding onto the deities and protecting them from the attempt by the thugs to remove them. Mr. Shetty shot some rounds in the air and the two bit thug’s ran in fear immediately. Then Mr. Shetty had one of his sons go with the truck and round up the construction workers who then came and worked the whole night to rebuild the temple while Mr. Shetty personally stood guard the entire night with his guns. Such was the dedication and devotion of Mr. Shetty to Srila Prabhupada. Although this is a small miracle in and of itself this is not the miracle that Srila Prabhupada performed it actually gets better. I tell this story so you can get an idea of why Srila Prabhupada would shower such mercy upon Mr. Shetty in the future.
Fast forward a few years to the construction of the big temple on the Juhu property. Of course none other than Mr. Shetty himself is the contractor and he has put his entire life and soul into this project for Srila Prabhupada. As the days go on and the work goes on Mr. Shetty is becoming increasingly weaker and unable to walk and be mobile in general while experiencing a lot of pain. Mr. Shetty finally relents and goes to the doctor only to find out that he has terminal bone cancer. The leading specialist on this condition is a Muslim doctor who resides in Bombay. They try to implement a regimen of treatment but it is futile and Mr. Shetty is now practically paralyzed and immobile. He asks his son to please ask Srila Prabhupada to come and visit him as he cannot get out of bed. Srila Prabhupada goes to the house of Mr. Shetty and in a tearful voice Mr. Shetty explains how he is unable to work any longer and finish the project for Srila Prabhupada and that his son will have to try and finish the work. Mr. Shetty begs Srila Prabhupada for his mercy so that when he departs this world he will go to Krsna. Srila Prabhupada stands up and takes off his garland and places it personally around the neck of Mr. Shetty and says I will pray to Krsna for you. Mr. Shetty is happy that Lord Sri Krsna’s personal emissary has interceded on his behalf and that he will most certainly go Back to Godhead. However, the intercession that Srila Prabhupada prayed for was not a ticket to the spiritual world for Mr. Shetty but for his continued service. The next morning Mr. Shetty rises from sleep and feels healthier than he has in his whole life. Throwing away the crutches he hops out of bed and wants to go to work. He is convinced to go to the doctor who runs some tests and finds that his entire body is cancer free. Mr. Shetty returns to work after profusely thanking Srila Prabhupada for his mercy, now for the icing on the cake. After a day or so the Muslim Doctor who treated Mr. Shetty shows up at the temple to see Srila Prabhupada. Upon entering the room he lies down on the floor and offers his full prostrated obeisance’s at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada. When he gets up he says to Srila Prabhupada “I am a Muslim, we do not believe in bowing to anyone or anything except Allah. But I know how sick that man was only a true saint a real man of God could have cured him, you my dear sir are a true saint, therefore I bow to you.” Thus the glories of Srila Prabhupada are sung by one and all.
Now like father like son, the story of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja’s disciple. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja had one disciple, a doctor, who was very devoted to him. This man had become a Doctor because both his Grandfather and his Father died around fifty years of age from Typhoid. He devoted his life to curing disease and to finding a cure for typhoid. As destiny would have it when this Doctor was around fifty he got typhoid and became very ill. The Doctor tried every remedy and method that he had developed and even used successfully on others but to no avail on himself. After extensive testing the Doctor finally resigned himself to the fact that his case was hopeless and that the disease was going to kill him. Realizing that death was imminent he had his driver take him to see Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja. The Doctor explained his hopeless condition to Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja and begged him that since he was going to die he wanted the mercy of his guru. He asked if he could wash his Gurus feet and drink the carinamrta and in this way be blessed and go Back to Godhead when he died. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja agreed to the request and allowed the disciple to bathe his feet and drink the carinamrta. The man then got in the car and had his driver take him home to die. The next morning the Doctor woke up completely recovered and full of health. Returning to Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja with tears in his eyes he thanks his Guru Maharaja profusely for the mercy he bestowed upon him now the icing on the cake, Déjà vu all over again, the driver of the doctor’s car was, that’s right, a Muslim. He went to Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja and bowed at his lotus feet and still goes to the temple to this day believing that the power of God is there.
The serendipitous similarities between these two miracle pastimes of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja are amazing to say the least. Both had sincere disciples who became terminally ill and resigning themselves to their fate asked their Gurudeva for the blessing of going Back to Godhead. Both of them received the opportunity to remain in this world and serve their Guru and both of them had a Muslim involved in their lives who became followers of the respective Gurus. They say that good fruit does not fall far from the tree. These miracle pastimes prove that old adage to be perfectly true. Tomorrow we hear how the rains came, miracle number 2 in the pastimes of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja.
THE RAINS CAME
THE SECOND MIRACLE
By Bhagavat Das Swami(ACBSP)
This pastime of Srila Prabhupada is related by Guru Das in his book about Srila Prabhupada “By His Example” on page 249 in the section titled Krishna’s Mercy. I am reproducing it exactly as it appears in the book.
“Late at night, when everyone else was asleep, was a nice time to be with Prabhupada. He was usually in a very mellow mood, so if I wanted to have his precious darshan I would sometimes stand outside his door and make slight noises so he would come out to see what the noise was and invite me in. We were staying in the new quarters in Mayapur, in the first of the four, large residence buildings. The sky was overcast; I was yearning for Prabhupada’s association, so I went near his rooms and made walking and chanting sounds. No servants were around, so Prabhupada came out himself saying, “Who is that?” He saw me chanting, smiled, and came all the way out of his quarters.
Srila Prabhupada walked up and down the balcony with me, Then turned towards the fields and walked to the balcony railing. He looked out and said “The farmers beg Krishna for rainwater.” He paused briefly, “All right, take it!” As Prabhupada swept his hand down as if dispensing rain, a lightning bolt crashed; suddenly the sky opened and rain came down furiously.
“Take it,” he said quietly, and walked into his rooms.
This pastime of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja was related to me by Raghava Pandit Prabhu who was in Spain when it happened. Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja was visiting the ISKCON Temple in Spain during what was considered one of the worst droughts in history in that area. No rain had fallen in over a year and every Church, Temple, and Mosque had held prayer vigils with their congregants in order to beseech the Lord for rain. The ISKCON Temple also performed Sankirtan in the hopes that by following the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and performing the Yajna for this age, then as Lord Sri Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita rain produce grain and rains are produced by Yajna. Unfortunately the ISKCON devotees did not have much success either.
Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja did not know about the drought when he came. When he arrived with his party they were told to be very careful with how much water they used and that they should buy their own drinking water. So when he inquired they told about the situation as described above. When he was told about it he responded by asking if the devotees had done Kirtan. They informed him that they had. He said if all of you have strong faith in Krsna and do Kirtan for this purpose with such faith then it will rain. Of course there is a vast difference between one who chants Nama Aparadha and Nam Abhasa and one who chants Shuddha Nam. Shuddha nam is not lip deep it is heart deep coming directly from the heart of the pure devotee. Shuddha Nama carries the aroma of the saffron particles from the Lotus Feet of the Lord with in the heart of the pure devotee. Some of the devotees who did not recognize the transcendental position of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja thought that their Nama Aparadha and Nam Abhasa Kirtan was as good as his Kirtan.
These devotees did not recognize that Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja was displaying his Vaishnava compassion for the suffering jivas who needed rain the way Srila Prabhupada had done. Although Srila Gaur Govinda Maharaja was trying to help the devotees to have strong faith and share the glory with them some of the devotees thought that this was some kind of false ego trip on Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja’s part. Therefore some of the devotees left the temple room during his Kirtan. Their cynicism was soon removed after Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja began one of his brimming with ecstasy kirtans and very soon clouds began to appear in the vast clear blue sky. As the clouds gathered the sky became dark and overcast. Gradually as Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja continued with his powerful kirtan of Shudda Nama the rains began to pour and pour and the drought was officially over.
Some devotees who read these stories may try to make foolish distinctions between these two activities. Someone may say well the sky was already overcast when Srila Prabhupada said “take it” so the chances of rain when the sky is already overcast is 90% or more but to bring clouds and rain to a cloudless sky is really a miracle. However, a devotee who is properly educated in the scriptures never makes such foolish distinctions. Such a mature devotee understands the teachings of Srila Prabhupada in the Caitanya Caritamrta:
“The first manifestation described is the spiritual master, who appears in two plenary parts called the initiating spiritual master and instructing spiritual master. They are identical because both of them are phenomenal manifestations of the Supreme Truth.” CC Adi 1 Introduction.
“The initiating and instructing spiritual masters are equal and identical manifestations of Krsna, although they have different dealings. Their function is to guide the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead.” CC Adi 1.34 Purport
“There is no difference between the shelter-giving Supreme Lord and the initiating and instructing spiritual masters. If one foolishly discriminates between them, he commits an offense in the discharge of devotional service.” CC Adi 1.47 Purport
Sarva Deva Maya Guru: The guru is the sum total of all the Demigods. The activities of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja in these pastimes provide us with concrete proof of this statement. All sincere and mature devotees should celebrate the pastimes of the pure devotees and offer respect and glorify them lest one run the risk of Vaishnava aparadha
Tamoharadasa v. ;
I had the greatest respect for Gour Govinda Swami right away. One could see his transcendental spirit. He was non- assuming, joyful, glowing, self controlled, simple, personable, pure, unfetterred by illusion. He was always friendly, though sometimes his scholarly side would be more apparent, such as when giving Sunday class, or by dint of the simple fact that he worked so hard on translating Srila Prabhupada’s books into English for many hours each day. He would work in total absorbtion for hours, days, and hardly say so much as a single word.
GGS looked rather to me like a slightly heavier version of a Gour Nitai deity, if you can picture. Smooth ageless appearance; was he ancient or a small child? His brown skin shone from natural health, and his maha size tilak was very sadhu-like. He had almost no possessions, as did none of us there. He did not even have a mosquito net, nor a desk, nor a chair. He sat on the floor, on a small straw mat, before a steel trunk , in which he kept his books away from the ants. His lota sat on the floor behind him, and here was also the home of a fat bullfrog or possibly a toad. Every evening, the creature would hop out in search of his daily meal. Then, around about sunrise, before day got hot, he was again in his shady corner, sleeping peacefully behind Maharajah’s lota. .
A mole used to come visit me during the night. I don’t know why he never bothered Maharajaha or Bhagavata Prabhu, but this little creature would burrow beneath my sleeping bag in cold weather, sometimes waking me up. It was startling, believe me, to feel something suddenly wriggling you awake! It could be a snake or anything! One day, I saw him during the daylight hours, and picked up a broom to smack him one, and he ran around the wall perimeter and out his hole, and he didn’t come back again after that. The ants ate anything within a matter of time. Books included. In mosquito season , monsoon times, hoards of mosquitos would humm like death personified in gray clouds, but in a lacsadaisical lazy manner, would take ages to bother to land on you, so unlike our aggressive man-eating Canadian versions. They could carry malaria or filaria, though. GG said not to eat after five in India, and chew a nim leaf or three every day, and one would not get sick. Soon enough, the next season would come, and the singing pests were much reduced. Bhubaneswara has 6 seasons.
The routine was very simple. We were all resting by nine or ten, then up promptly at about 3AM. Maharajah was generally up a half hour before us all. Rounds were great, and we could often see the stars and the moon at the brahma muhurta hours, then watch the sun rise and chant gayatri facing north as the chariot of Aruna broke free of the night’s darkness, pulling Soorya brightly through the horizon’s palms.
For Mangala arotika, there was Lagudi Prabhu, a renounced Yugoslavian brahmacari devotee, with a very friendly and avadhuta-like county-raised character. He was austere and jolly, and distributed books single-handedly each day by doing kirtana and by sitting and chanting and talking, with a blanket decorated by books, in front of various business and government buldings. He would do kirtana almost daily in the market, soliciting donations of the day’s vegetables. Although we had a million plus rupees in the bank, as it turned out, we spent very little. We would call Lagudi; Lagudi Baba. He didn’t care for that, and joked, but it very much suited him, actually. Every one in town knew him as Lagudi baba. He was the pujari of our small altar, which held Gour Nitai; beautiful long-armed sweetly smiling merciful golden small-medium sized Deities. Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva Maharajah, and Subhadra devi were there, with Their colorful nicely chaddared smiling forms.
Vaisnava dasa prabhu was there, usually playing mrdanga, unless Dikpati Prabhu arrived to play. Vaisnava dasa was an Ooriya lad, who had been faithfuly serving GGS, and refused to take initiation form anyone else, though Maharajah was not giving yet at that period. He was always engaged in services, and although he knew hardly a word of English, I tried to teach him some, and he showed me some Oriya, also. He was a very good natured and serious Vaisnava, both at the same time. Everyone there was good natured, happy, and yet serious all at once, actually. I suppose we were much like Gour Govinda, come to think about it now. It was the simplest and happiest period of my life. Vaisnava dasa and I shared the cooking. He years later took sannyasa from another camp at a still young age, and I saw him again in 1997, some fifteen years later, but cannot recall his sannyasa name. There was some hard feeling which had arisen between he and the Iskcon gurus of that time. I will not attempt to elaborate here, and do not know the details.
Bhagavata, now Maharajah by sannyasa initiation of HH Narayana Maharajah Swami, and preaching world-wide, is a well known devotee by all . I belieive he is fom New York or Boston or some larger US city? We frankly did not discuss our material pasts at all. Somewhat on the physically heavy side, and sometimes using a cane, he always had a friendly and jolly attitude. He also knew the Gita backwards and sideways, as we say in my native country, meaning he knew it very well, indeed, and could recite every sloka. He was always an engaging preacher, and very renounced. He treated me like a younger brother. He was often going to Calcutta to meet Jayapataka et al, or otherwise went to Puri or Vrndavana or Delhi or Bombay also, sometimes to further the preaching, take darsana, do temple business, and arrange passports etc. The local police used to hastle him over passport issues.
Nila madhava prabhu joined us later. He came from the town of Nilamadhava, where we once held a program, and he shaved up beside the Mahanadi river with GGS there. He also spoke limited English, though a little more than Vaisnava dasa. A strongly built farming lad, he was intelligent and simple hearted and happy. He usually served with Vaisnava dasa, and very much appreciated the door to door sankirtana party which I initiated there after a while. We were good friends. He also refused any initiations other than those given by GGS. He later married and had a son, and is associated with the ISKCON Puri gurukula. I saw him last in 1997.
Urukrama Prabhu and two or three travelling sankirtana men from England, and five or so nice Indian devotee inmates of Iskcon Bhadraka temple were sometimes visiting, but mostly away. There was also a nice householder couple preaching strongly in Cuttack, about 50 kilometers down the road. That was the Oriya yatra.
Many local Vaisnava grhastas also would visit our little ashrama, and helped in countless ways. They would sit patiently for as much as two hours as Maharajah gave the Sunday lecture. I could follow the slokas, and otherwise, his preaching style was abosorbing. He made his points strongly, sometimes saying in English, ” So, Krsna says this thing in the Bhagavada Gita ! ” and tapping the sastra heavily. There was no doubt in any of our minds that what Sri Krsna says in the Gita is certainly true and must be followed ! We knew we were mostly animal-like fools. Towards the end, he would start to tie up his sastras in a protective cloth cover, but this process was done in increments, with ten minutes extra lecture thrown in between this fold and that tie! It was a mesmerizing ritual ! Then we all, about 50 people, sat in rows, and took simple prasad together, on banana leaf plates.
Sanat and Sooji Kumara usually attended managala arotika. They were lovely little Vaisnava children from across National Hwy 5 ,which runs directly in front of our land. He was about ten-ish, and she only about four years old, but bright faced and cute as a Baby Gopal deity. Between the two of them, they had maybe a total heigth of five 1/2 feet! Sanat regularly banged the gong, nicely, and was very enthusiastic for devotional service and kirtana. He spoke quickly and was clearly an intelligent young lad.
Maharajah generally led kirtana. Same tune pretty much always. I loved it. The kirtan is much like Bengali style of course. Very Very Iskcon. Just between you and I, almost invariably he would have tears in his eyes before the kirtana ended.
Oriya devotees pronounce Krishna as Krooshna. And amrita as amroot, etc. So I often exaggerated the sound just to make Vaisnava dasa laugh. He found my imitations of Oriya dialect quite hilarious. This was another daily function at mangala arotika. We chanted Bahma sutra also, and believe me, it has one or two “roo’s’ in it! We were thinking ahead, alright, here it comes, … amroota ! (Snicker snicker), Krooshna , etc.
Maharajah just ignored we idiots.
Afterwards, we would wrap our chaddars and wander about the land, or sit and chant japa. Maharajah alwasy chanted his gayatri before arotik. In later years, I now find that chanting 16 rounds before the morning program starts , or twelve anyway, puts one in the absorbed trance state necesasary for me to get the most from the morning program. As well, Gour Govinda Swami used to drink a glass of water before going to bed. He said that this would wake us up early, so that we could get up and chant our rounds. On that sleeping topic, often we heard him call out, “Govinda!” in his sleep late at night.
GGS did not give classes to the Western devotees at that time. He actually considerd us his gurus, and although he was a true renounced scholarly Vaisnava sannyasi and paramahamsa, he treated us as his superiors in this regards, which caused us no end of thought on that matter. In fact, by a prolonged program of persuasion, we eventually managed to get Maharajah to accept the fact that he should preach in English to the Western Godbrothers, as well. But usually, especially at the Bhubanewara ashrama, he did not.
He woudn’t even sit on a cushion to give Sunday class. I had to have a special pillow, with nice flowers on it, sewn in town, without telling him, of course. He refused to sit on it. I insisted, saying that it was for preaching. We had spent some money, and it was for the sake of the audience that they will show some respect for the Vaisnava teacher and the sampradaya more, therefore he must accept it for the sake of preaching. On this grounds, he second Sunday accepted it to facilitate the sankirtana. Otherwise, no way he would accept even this simple honor, until by force of our love and sense of duty, we made him do it, by his grace. Of course, in our own minds, this was out and out respect and worship of Sri Guru.
Maharajah was definitely the diamond under the hay stack. We who lived with him and the devotees of the Bengal and Orissa temples knew of his advanced status. Others in Iskcon thought him just some simple country Vaisnava gentleman, but didn’t know his name even. When we went to Mayapura for Gour Purnima, they didn’t even schedule him to give a single class! So I sat in the room with him and chanted a lot, mostly not going to the classes, either. This arrangement changed after I left the country, but for three Gour Purnimas in a row, that was the pattern. GGS was atually qualified to take disciples from all over the world. He was qualified spiritually to lead us after Srila Prabhupada had left. He was the most advanced and realized of all the devotees of Iskcon, to our best knowledge, but he was neglected by them at the time.
At 2:31am on November 28, 2009,
Jose G. Alfageme Roblas, Prahlad dasa maharajah said…
1. My godbrother Ananta Prabhu ( nowdays serving with Narayana Maharaja’s Camp) was, for a while, the limousine driver of my Gurudev Srila Gour Govinda Maharajah, in Orissa. He told two stories;
He and GGS were travelling on a preaching tour in a remote rural tribal area of Orissa. One day they were crossing a densely forested region. The area was completely uninhabitated, neither houses nor a single human being could be found here. It was deserted like this for many kilometers in all directions.
All of a sudden, they discovered a kirtana party of Vaisnavas, playing and singing in the
middle of the otherwise quite deserted forest tack! There were no houses, nor vehicles, nor was it evident where this kirtana party had come from, or why they happened to be there. Very much surprised, Ananta couldn’t help but stop the car, and look on in amazement. This particular car had darkly tinted window glasses, such that from outside, it was quite impossible to see anyone inside. But still, these joyful Vaisnavas went directly to the rear left door of the car, where Gurudev was actually sitting, as if they new perfectly well that he was there, were expecting him, and were there just to honor him.
Maharajah opened the door to see the devotees. Very happily and with the utmost respect, they placed a garland on Gour Govinda Swami’s´s shoulders, and appreciatively touched his lotus feet. The whole thing incident lasted only a few minutes, and then the mysterious “Vaisnavas” dissappeared ! Ananta Prabhu and Gurudeva soon resumed their trip, eventually arriving safely at their destination.
In this particular area of Orissa, there never was a single Vaisnava ! None lived in the region at all. My Gurdeva asked Ananta not to refer the incident to anybody. He was convinced that they were residents from the heavenly planets!
2. The second pastime took place in similar conditions. But this time, they were traveling in a scorching hot desert area. That particular day was very hot, even for the desert. High in the sky, the sun was hitting like anything, beating down with ferocity on the head of anyone foolish or brave enough to be caught there. Both driver and Gurudeva were suffering much from the terrible adverse climatic conditions. Still out of duty, they continued on.
Then, as if out of nowhere, one cloud appeared. It located just over the car, and soon started pouring down the rain ! The heavy downpour fell only and exactly over the car, and no other place, neither the road, not the surrounding fields. Ananta couldn´t believe his eyes! It seemed a miracle of relief from Sri Krsna Himself ! He had never seen such a thing there, and was sure that Krsna had arranged it just to save them from the hammer-like killing heat that day.
At beggining of above essay; He was of course translating Srila Prabhupada’s books into Oriya, not English. My conditioned soul’s error.
B. Radha Govinda Swami; Regarding Tamohara prabhu’s present email:
My personal understanding is that Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj was/is a pure (uttama adhikari) devotee, whose realizations were millions of lightyears far beyond those of a conditioned peon like me. The GBC hated him, and gave him problems.
From Sampradaya Sun;
See the Difference
BY: APRAKRITA DASA
Oct 24, 2010 — MONTREAL, ONTARIO, CANADA (SUN) —
HH Gour Govinda Swami, ‘Q&A’, The Worship of Sri Guru, Chapter 3:
“One has to hear. It is not that, “All right, tapes are there, I’ll hear the recorded tapes.” sabda-brahma will never descend. […] You should be greedy. Physical contact is required. You must hear directly, not just by listening to tapes. Sabda-brahma will never descend through a tape. One must hear from a physically present Sri Guru.”
Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 13th, 1975:
“The potency of transcendental sound is never minimised because the vibrator is apparently absent.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.9.8, purport] “You should have a fire sacrifice and the second initiates should hear through the right ear the mantra on my recorded tape.”
HH. B. Radha Govinda Swami;
He Reasons Ill….
Regarding Aprakita prabhu’s submission:
From Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya lila 22.53-55 (Verse 53 is from SB 7.5.32): “‘Unless human society accepts the dust of the lotus feet of great mahatmas – devotees who have nothing to do with material possessions – mankind cannot turn its attention to the lotus feet of Krsna. Those lotus feet vanquish all the unwanted, miserable conditions of material life.’ The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success. ‘The value of a moment’s association with a devotee of the Lord cannot be compared even to the attainment of the heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which is for those who are meant for death’.” (Verse 55 is from SB 1.18.13)
I’m sure if we were to ask devotees which they would choose – to be in a room with Srila Prabhupada present whether Srila Prabhupada was either speaking or not speaking, as opposed to being in a room (either alone, or together with other devotees) to hear a tape of Srila Prabhupada’s speaking – all of the devotees would choose the first. (Just on the side, I would much have preferred to have my Guru Maharaj, His Divine Grace, Srila Prabhupada, personally give me the Gayatri Mantra; allowing me to sit close to Him, His showing me with His Own very Lotus Fingers, how to count, and with His Lotus Mouth, speaking the words directly to me, possibly even allowing me to ask Him a, or some questions, either with relation to the Gayatri Mantra, or some other question(s). (I would much have preferred this, then hearing the Gayatri Mantra from a tape, my TP showing me how to count on my fingers.) What an opportunity, to be able to be in the physical presence to hear the pure devotee speak, and to be able to see His transcendental activities. (Devotees know how they would even “swoon” to see a hand gesture of His Divine Grace.)
How many of us have heard from other devotees their recitation of Srila Prabhupada’s lila, which, (I believe) for so many more (if not all) of us has more impact (is more “closer to home”) than hearing the pastimes of Srimad Bhagavatam. The pure devotee is explained to be the person Bhagavat – the living Bhagavatam, the pure representative of the spiritual world; the pure representative of Krsna Himself. This applies to all pure devotees.
Although so many of us have not had personal association with Srila Prabhupada, in terms of being in His manifest “physical” presence, and have had Srila Prabhupada’s association through His books and tapes, the presence of Srila Prabhupada and other pure devotees is manifested through Their love. It is this love which pierces and cuts through the layers of Maya, enters into and affects our hearts, thus enabling the change of heart. It is not simply a matter of spoken or written words, but the (pure spiritually-based – descending from Goloka Vrndavan -loving) consciousness behind those words which affects our hearts. Thus the potency of those words is due to the love emanating from the pure devotee who has spoken/written such words.
Every word and gesture of Srila Prabhupada had such a deep effect on the hearts of those who were aspiring with hopes to become devotees. Srila Prabhupada Himself said that the vapuh was there so that we would accept the vani. At the same time, we all have at least some understanding of the value of the vapuh.
I’m fully convinced that Srila Gaur Govinda Maharaj was a pure devotee, who had proper and complete understanding of the value of both vapuh and vani, and the impact of both; thus, his speaking what he said, which you quoted. At times various devotees (even some of the ISKCON gurus, GBCs and sannyasis), quote something Srila Prabhupada said, such devotees adding on, “Srila Prabhupada was wrong.”
When I hear something Srila Prabhupada said/wrote, at which my mind poses a question, I simply accept the understanding that what was expressed by Srila Prabhupada was “beyond my perview,” that I’m simply just not understanding properly because I have not reached that level of intelligence and/or realization to be able to understand.
Srila Prabhupada gave the example, “When the Guru tells the disciple the rope is a snake, the disciple sees it as a snake, and immediately the Guru tells the disciple that the snake is a rope, the disciple sees it as a rope.” (This is not to say that we are to be blind (and stupid) foolowers, but rather that in accepting a bona fide Guru, we are accepting and acknowledging both His position and ours.)
Srila Gaur Govinda Maharaj certainly knew what he was saying when he said what you quoted, “One has to hear. It is not that, “All right, tapes are there, I’ll hear the recorded tapes. sabda-brahma will never descend. […] You should be greedy. Physical contact is required. You must hear directly, not just by listening to tapes. Sabda-brahma will never descend through a tape. One must hear from a physically present Sri Guru.”
How many of us cry over our misfortune that we did not receive any, or more of Srila prabhupada’s vapuh, and still cry for the fact that Srila Prabhupada is not still with us through His vapuh?, (some of us also crying for the fact that there were other pure devotees with whom we were not able to have their vapuh).
Certainly we know Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur’s verse, “He reasons ill that Vaisnavas die while living still in sound. The Vaisnava dies to live, and living, spreads the Holy Name around,” yet even the pure devotees cry in separation from those pure devotees with whom they have have such personal association. At one point Srila Raghunath das Goswami, after the departure of Svarup Damodar (who left after Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s departure), was going to jump from Giriraj Govardhana in separation, yet Sanatan and Rupa Goswamis convinced him to not do so. Thus, we can have at least some understanding of the value of the vapuh of such pure personalities who have come to bestow their mercy upon us.
Your servant,
B. Radha Govinda Swami