Madhavendra Puripada

09 March 2017 - Madhavendra Puripada’s Tirobhava
Today is the disappearance day of the root of Raganuga-bhakti in this world, the eternal Vrajavasi Srila Madhavendra Puri.
Madhavendra Puripada accepted diksa from Laksmipati Tirtha from the Madhva, Tattva-vadi Sampradaya in South India. In South India only brahmanas are given sannyasa and normally people from Northern India are also not given sannyasa. They say that North Indians do not follow sastric regulations and are therefore restricted from sannyasa.
Madhavendra Puripada was not a Southerner or Northerner, but a Vrajavasi. He was above these rules and the rules of Laksmi-devi’s followers. His Lord was that Krsna who left all aisvarya (which is found in the South) and lived as a cowherd boy, eating the remnants of others, sleeping under trees, and stealing butter from the homes of the inhabitants of Vraja. He does not go to school, study sastra, chant mantras, or anything; nor do the Vrajavasis. The Vrajavasis do not ring bells and lock a plate of food in the room with Krsna for Him to eat alone. This is Laksmi’s business. Krsna likes to sit with His friends and eat on the bank of a river.
So Madhavendra Puri was a follower of vraja-bhakti. His diksa-guru also had deep respect for the Vrajavasis and he told Madhavendra Puri, “Serve the Vrajavasis; then Krsna will be happy. Worshiping him as Paramatma and Paramesvara will not please Him so much.”
Sri Madhvacarya’s Gopala Deity in Udupi holds a stick. This stick is actually His mother’s rod for churning yogurt. Yasoda was once churning yogurt lost in thinking of the pastimes of her baby Gopala. Hungry Gopala came to her, desiring to be fed, but because she was so absorbed in loving remembrance of Krsna, she did not notice Him even when He pulled on her sari. Gopala says, “I appreciate your love and seva, but I don’t like it if you become too busy to notice me.” So He caught the churning stick and she awoke from her trance. She then gave him milk from her breast. As she did this, however, she noticed that the milk cooking on the stove was overflowing. She immediately put Gopala aside and ran to save the milk. Krsna not yet satisfied but she quickly put Him down and ran to save the cow milk because she wished to make butter for Krsna, which she could not do with Her own milk.
Previously, Yasoda Mata had decided to make butter and milk sweets for Krsna Herself because many complaints had come to her stating that her child was going from house to house stealing butter. “My servants must be careless,” she thought, “so I will make everything with my own hands and that way I can be sure the taste is nice. Then Krsna will not look for tastier butter here and there.” Actually, Krsna goes from house to house because the Vrajavasis are waiting for Him there. He goes to accept their gifts and presentations. “If I don’t do this they will suffer,” He thinks. “I cannot tolerate the idea of letting them feel pain. I must go. In reality, I go not to give them My darsana but to have their darsana.” This is the love of the Ragatmika-Vrajavasis. Before leaving this world, Laksmipati Tirtha gave raganuga-seva-adhikara to Madhavendra Puri.
Madhavendra Puri later took sannyasa from a mayavadi. If one has some attachment for name, fame, or anything of this world then he cannot do bhajana or bhakti. Samyak-rupena nyasa. Sannyasa means to be accepted by Yogamaya. Madhavendra Puri took sannyasa—this means that he gave up everything and took shelter of Bhagavati Paurnamasi Yogamaya.
He went to Navadvipa-dhama and was the guest of Jagannatha Misra and Saci-devi. He discussed bhakti with them and with Nilambara Cakravarti and then went on to Santipura where Advaita Acarya greeted him. As soon as Advaita Acarya saw Madhavendra Puri he thought, “He is no mayavadi. He is a Vrajavasi!” He then revealed to him the troubles of his heart.
“I give lectures on the Gita and Bhagavatam,” Advaita Prabhu said, “but the jivas do not change. They want only Maha Maya-devi’s mercy. They want to stay in illusion. How can we help them?”
Madhavendra Puri replied, “The jivas have spread their love here and there. The seed of pure love cannot be sown in a desert. They have lost their love. There is only one way to help them now. We must give them spiritual taste and energy. There is a medicine. By taking just one drop of that medicine then they will receive spiritual energy.”
kaler doṣa-nidhe rājan
asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet
Dear King, Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, but there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by doing krsna-kirtana, one can become free from material life and be promoted to the transcendental abode.
“Nothing else is helpful. Only by nama-sankirtana will they change.”
So Advaita Prabhu started collecting people and doing sankirtana, but to his disappointment, they still did not change. He approached Madhavendra Puri again and asked for advice. “Why are they not changing?” he asked.
Madhavendra Puri replied, “In order for one’s eternal loving relationship with Bhagavan to be realized, they must do krsna-kirtan; this is a fact. But if one does not have seva-bhava then his chanting of Hari’s names will not be effective. The jiva must learn to direct his love to the Lord. It is not so difficult to serve Bhagavan:
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
Bhagavad-gita 9.26
If, with devotion, someone gives Me a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept that loving offering.
“So both seva and nama are necessary. Without doing service, one can chant for lifetimes uselessly. Also, one can do so much service but if he does not chant harinama that will not be seva but karma. Both are necessary.”
With renewed inspiration, Advaita Prabhu taught this, but no one wanted to follow him.
Disheartened, He again spoke with Madhavendra Puri. “I want to help the jivas of Kali-yuga,” He said. “I want them to recall their forgotten love for Bhagavan, but no one wants to follow.”
Then Madhavendra Puri quoted a verse from the Gautamiya Tantra. He said:
tulasī-dala-mātreṇa
jalasya culukena vā
vikrīṇīte svam ātmānaṁ
bhaktebhyo bhakta-vatsalaḥ
“The Supreme Lord, who is affectionate to His bhaktas, sells Himself to a devotee who offers Him merely a tulasī leaf and a palmful of water.”
“Just offer these two things to Bhagavan and He will be pleased. Then by His own sweet will, the jivas will be changed and will have their eternal love back. Start this now.
So Advaita Prabhu began to offer ganga-jala and Tulasi leaves to His Salagram. He prayed loudly with tears in His eyes—and we all know what happened after that.
Madhavendra Puri taught the anuraga-mayi-bhakti of Vraja. How can we give up everything and serve? This is impossible. But if the Vrajavasis accept you then anything is possible.
We have heard about Madhavendra Puri’s meeting with Nityananda Prabhu in South India, as he was traveling with many followers and disciples. He was old at that time and Nityananda Prabhu was young, but even seeing each other from a distance was enough to cause their bodies to display symptoms of sattvika-vikara. When they came close they embraced and cried uncontrollably. Madhavendra Puri’s disciples thought, “Who is this young boy? Gurudeva is always grave and never attracted to anyone. Why does he have so much affection for this person?”
No one understood their moods or language at that time. It is not possible to understand the Guru-varga without their desire and mercy.
Madhavendra Puri used to always sing:
ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha
he mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase
hṛdayaṁ tvad-aloka-kātaraṁ
dayita bhrāmyati kiṁ karomy aham
This verse can be found in Padyāvalī 334.
O Master, O You whose heart always melts because of Your compassion for the destitute! O Lord of Mathurā, when will I see You again? O beloved Lord of My life, because I am hankering so fervently to see You, My heart has become intensely restless. What shall I do now?
Who is speaking this prayer? This is spoken by none other then Srimati Radharani when Krsna is in Mathura and They are separated. “I am poor and destitute,” She says. “When, O Mathura-natha, will You give Me Your darsana? You are so kind. Kim karomy aham—What will I do? How can I live? Will I alone not have Your darsana?”
Madhavendra Puri always repeated this prayer. Isvara Puri, his disciple, served him devotedly as his body showed signs of being overwhelmed with spiritual emotion as he spoke this verse. The body is not strong enough to contain bhagavat-prema, so many symptoms, which can be mistaken for illness, appear on the body of a devotee such as Madhavendra Puri when he is deeply absorbed in meditation.
The foolish Ramacandra Puri said to Madhavendra Puri at this time, “You are now aged Gurudeva. Think of Brahma. You are about to leave your body. Remain sober and think of Brahma.” Thus he started instructing his own guru.
Madhavendra Puri came to ardha-bahya-dasa, half-external and half-internal consciousness. He said to Isvara Puri, “Get this person out of here. I never want to see his face.”
Unlike Ramacandra Puri, Isvara Puri silently and humbly served his Guru-pada-padma in all circumstances. Finally, Madhavendra Puri told him, “I now bless you that God Himself will accept you. You do not serve me, but the whole Guru-varga through me.” Internally, Madhavendra Puri was present in Vraja and he gave that adhikara to Isvara Puri. Indeed, the Lord did accept Him very soon after that. Mahaprabhu accepted him as His spiritual master.
Once, Isvara Puri was traveling as a parivrajak-sannyasi and came to Mahaprabhu’s home. He had written a book and asked Mahaprabhu, who was then the scholar Nimai Pandita, to correct any mistakes that may have been there. The name of the book was Sri Krsna Vijaya. But Mahaprabhu said, “Whatever a Vaisnava writes is sabda-brahma. There is no question of correcting such a work.”
Later, when Jagannatha Misra left this world and when Mahaprabhu went to Gaya for pinda-dana, He took diksa from Isvara Puri.
When Mahaprabhu next saw Advaita Acarya, He found that aprakrta-prema-bhakti had arisen within Him. More than once, Mahaprabhu met someone with special bhagavat-prema and He would ask them, “Where did you get this prema?”
They would say, “From my Guru Srila Madhavendra Puripada.”
In his later years, Madhavendra Puri went to Vraja. He was chanting harinama at the foot of Govardhana, when Gopala came to him and asked, “What kind of sannyasi are you? A sannyasi normally begs from the houses of the Vrajavasis. Are you so proud that you will not beg from us?” This is Gopala’s nature. He teases everyone. Madhavendra Puri did not mind the teasing. The boy left a pot of milk in front of him and said, “Drink this milk. I’m going now but I’ll need the pot back later.”
When the sound of Gopala’s voice—that sabda-brahma—entered Madhavendra Puri’s ears, his heart was filled with bliss, and when he drank the milk he drowned in a sea of ecstasy. Later that day, he took some rest and saw Gopala in his dream.
Gopala said:
bahu-dina tomāra patha kari nirīkṣaṇa
kabe āsi’ mādhava āmā karibe sevana
Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 4.39
“I have been observing you for many days and have been wondering, ‘When will Mādhavendra Purī come here and serve Me?’
Gopala said, “Everyone has rasa, but not everyone has madhura rasa. I don’t want to accept the seva of anyone but the gopis. Those other people threw Me in a ditch and buried Me. As soon as a problem came, they ran away from me. They are all selfish.”
Priests who feared the attack of the Muslims had buried the Deity of Gopal near Sankarsana Kunda. Gopal was waiting for Madhavendra Puri there alone for a long time.
Madhavendra Puri then discovered Gopal and established Him there at Govardhana. Wealthy people from Mathura and other cities came and arranged a huge feast for Gopala’s pleasure. Many people came to attend that festival and had the fortune of having darsana of Gopala and Madhavendra Puri—the eternal Vrajavasi.
After, Gopala said to Madhavendra Puri, “I did not eat for so long. Now you have given Me many nice things to eat. I am so happy, but I have a request. My body is burning and I desire that you bring malaya-candana from Puri and apply a paste of that on My body. The gopis cool My body by this process.”
At this time, Madhavendra Puri was extremely old, but he did not hesitate at all to take up the long journey to Puri by foot for the service of Gopala.
When Madhavendra Puri arrived in Puri, the king of Orissa gladly gave him the candana as well as servants to help him carry it. On the way back to Vrndavana, Madhavendra Puri stopped at the temple of Gopinatha in Remuna. The ksira offered to Gopinatha there was special and Madhavendra Puri silently desired to honor some of that prasadam so that he could understand how to make it for Gopala. But the pujari did not give him any. Because of this, Gopinatha had to steal a pot of ksira for His dear devotee.
The pujari had already locked Gopinatha’s room and went to sleep. Gopinatha appeared to the pujari in his dream and said, “Hey! Get up! I have hidden some ksira behind my cloth. Take it and give it to my dear bhakta Madhavendra Puri, who is spending the night in the abandoned marketplace.”
How fortunate that pujari was. He had darsana of Gopinatha in His dream and now he was being sent to have darsana of the bhakta.
Madhavendra Puri was given the ksira. It had a most divine fragrance and taste. Madhavendra Puri left that place to avoid the attention that would come. Many people, having heard that Gopinatha Himself kept ksira aside for him, would flock to that marketplace the next morning. Madhavendra Puri took the ksira and left. He had so much respect for prasada that he did not just eat the ksira but he tied the broken up pieces of the clay pot that contained it in the corner of his upper garment and daily ate a small piece of that.
Then Gopinatha—who was now known as Ksira-cora Gopinatha—told Madhavendra Puri, “I am Gopinatha but there are no gopis here. Stay here with Me.” Also Gopala came in Madhavendra Puri’s dream and told Him to apply the candana on the body of Ksira-cora Gopinatha, for there was no difference between the two of them.
From that time, Madhavendra Puri stayed in Remuna and served Gopinatha. He offered very nice bhoga and there was always beautiful kirtan. Then finally, today, after Ekadasi, Madhavendra Puri thought that he would now go back to Vraja, but Gopinatha said, “No. Now come with me to eternal Vraja.” Then he lovingly took His sevaka to the spiritual world.
Madhavendra Puri’s samadhi can be visited there in Remuna.
How was Madhavendra Puri’s ecstasy! How great was the prema that he distributed! He was a real sannyasi. He is the giver of aprakrta-rasa which itself destroys the taste for jada-rasa. His parampara is running now. This is no mayavadi-parampara. Bhakti’s flow is now everywhere.
Practice bhakti at the Guru-varga’s feet, then one day it will be real. Right now our bhakti, sadhana, renunciation, and so on—this is a game or a drama. One day, however, it will surely be real.