The Pastimes of Śrīla Gurudeva: Meeting His Divine Master
Śrīla Gurudeva left his home in Tiwārīpura before dawn and was due to arrive in Navadvīpa, Bengal, late at night. He had not informed Śrīla Bhakti Prajnāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja [otherwise known as Ācārya Kesarī or Ācāryadeva] of his arrival. God’s eternal associates have an unbreakable heart-to-heart relation, and hence it became apparent to Ācārya Kesarī that his beloved disciple would arrive soon. At eleven p.m. he called Sajjana-sevaka Brahmacārī, “O Sajjana, go to the railway station. Nārāyaṇa Tiwārī is coming. He is a tall police officer with a large mustache and is wearing a white suit. Take a lantern and bring him to the temple.”
“Yes, Guru Mahārāja,” Sajjana-sevaka said.
Sajjana-sevaka went to the station and waited for the train to arrive. When it reached the station, he called out through the big crowd of people, “Tiwārījī! Who is Tiwārījī?”
Trains were fairly new in those days and did not run so often. Many villagers traveled on the trains out of curiosity and thus there was a large crowd disembarking. The only light at the station came from square kerosene lamps burning at intervals. Carrying only a few possessions in an attache case, Śrīla Gurudeva disembarked and went to the office to ask the authorities how to find Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha. Navadvīpa was full of temples and he could go in circles before finding the right one in the dark.
Sajjana-sevaka walked up and down the station platform calling, “Tiwārījī! Who is Tiwārījī? Tiwārījī!”
Hearing his name, Śrīla Gurudeva came out of the station office and noticed Sajjana-sevaka. “I am Tiwārījī. How do you know my name?” he asked. Sajjana-sevaka looked at Śrīla Gurudeva with wonder. He was tall, with a golden complexion, beautiful blue eyes, a large mustache, and was wearing a spotless white suit. “My Guru Mahārāja sent me to bring you to our temple,” Sajjana-sevaka explained.
“Who is your Guru Mahārāja?”
“Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja.”
Gurudeva was amazed. “How did he know I was coming? I sent no letter announcing my arrival.”
“Guru Mahārāja knows past, present, and future. He told me you were coming and to bring you to the temple, since Navadvīpa is a large town and it is late.”
Holding forth a lantern, Sajjana-sevaka then led Śrīla Gurudeva to Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha. Ācārya Kesarī had stayed awake and was pacing outside his room, waiting to meet Nārāyaṇa Tiwārī.
Upon arriving, Śrīla Gurudeva prostrated himself before Ācārya Kesarī, who lifted him up and embraced him. Ācārya Kesarī was tall, endowed with a grave temperament, and his body was golden and soft like butter. Śrīla Gurudeva was also strong and grave, but upon seeing each other, their hearts melted with affection and both began weeping, as if they were meeting their dearest relative after thousands of years.
The relationship between a pure guru and pure disciple is like this. The soul reincarnates from one physical body to another and, although the relationship between kinfolk is temporary, the connection between Śrī Guru and his disciple is eternal. Those attached to worldly relations cannot overcome the material nature and become connected to the spiritual potency; hence, they cannot comprehend the love and affection between transcendental personalities and the suffering they feel in each other’s absence.
Ācārya Kesarī was niṣkiṇcana-akiṇcana, without any material desires or possessions, and hence the āśrama situation was modest and simple. Only a few rooms were in the temple at the time: the Deity room, store room, Ācārya Kesarī’s room, and a room for the senior disciples of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda who resided in the temple. The brahmacārī disciples of Ācārya Kesarī, such as Sajjana-sevaka Brahmacārī and Rādhānātha Prabhu, humbly stayed on the veranda.
Ācārya Kesarī took Śrīla Gurudeva to his room and gave him a seat, mahā–prasāda, and a place to sleep next to his bed. They then spoke for some time before resting. Growing up in Bihar, Gurudeva had met with many sādhus and inquired from them about spiritual truths; yet he was never fully satisfied with those he met. He searched to find a pure devotee, but always found something to be desired. However, when he met Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, he was immediately attracted by the power of his devotion, and naturally surrendered his heart to him. Early the next morning, Gurudeva woke and offered obeisance to Ācārya Kesarī, who smiled and said, “You have arrived in the holy abode of Navadvīpa, the place of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes. To attain the mercy of the dhāma (holy abode of the Lord), you must worship and offer respects to Gaṅgā-devī. Let us go there together.” Along the way, Ācārya Kesarī described the glories of the Gaṅgā as she flowed through Navadvīpa-dhāma.
Gaṅgā-devī is hallowed water flowing from the venerated footbath of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu. She descended to the Earthly realm from the heavenly abode by the appeals of King Bhagīratha, who begged for her to come deliver his forefathers. In order to decelerate the force of her current, and prevent her waters from shattering the Earth, she descended through the matted locks of Lord Śiva at Gaṅgotrī in Uttara-khand, from where her waters still spring. As she flows through India, she circumambulates the nine islands in Gauḍa-maṇḍala, known as Navadvīpa-dhāma, with no desire to reach the ocean.
King Bhagīratha petitioned her, “Please come to the ocean.”
“I shall not leave Navadvīpa,” she said. “These nine islands are the abodes of my dear friends, the embodiments of Bhakti-devī: Śrīmatī Rādhārānī and Her eight sakhīs (girlfriends).”
Varuṇa-deva, the personification of the ocean, then came and requested her, “The Ocean will not be purified of contaminations unless you flow there. I need your mercy. If you do not come, I shall come to Navadvīpa to meet with you.”
When Gaṅgā-devī resisted leaving Navadvīpa, the ocean swelled and flooded the land, drawing close to Navadvīpa. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and the prominent demigods came and requested Gaṅgā-devī to mercifully bestow a portion of her sacred water to the ocean. She knew that soon Caitanya Mahāprabhu would descend with His associates and perform pastimes in Navadvīpa-dhāma. Her cherished hope was that Mahāprabhu would play in her waters just as Kṛṣṇa had done in the waters of her sister, Yamunā.
Lord Viṣṇu said, “You may stay here and send only a portion of yourself to the ocean. That water will have collected the mercy and foot dust of the Vraja-devīs and will purify the sins that have accumulated in the sea.” Gaṅgā-devī agreed to give a portion of her water and the ocean receded.
Upon reaching the banks of the Gaṅgā at Manipura-ghāṭa, where Mahāprabhu sometimes bathed, Ācārya Kesarī and Gurudeva worshiped Gaṅgā-devī with incense, a ghee lamp, and flowers, and respectfully bathed in her sacred water.
Śrīla Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja said, “All desires impeding devotion will be cleansed from the heart of one who worships and bathes in the Gaṅgā here at Navadvīpa while praying for her mercy. Moreover, that person will develop a close relation with the dhāma.”
[𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒂 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒗 𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 “𝑺𝒓𝒊 𝑮𝒖𝒓𝒖 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒂“]
