Wherever Guru-pada-padma is, Be There With Him

[Hari-katha inspired by the Guru-varga] Satyavrata Muni, Sanatana Gosvami, Guru-pada-padma, and the Guruvarga kindly arrange a step-by-step process for the conditioned souls and sadhakas to progress, and understand Krsna lila. Krsna appears in this world, and performs human-like pastimes. This world is the abode of death. Whoever comes to this world must die. No one can stay here forever. No one has permanent citizenship in this world. Everyone comes as a foreigner, stays for some time, and then must leave. But, if you take the chance to study while you reside in this world, then you can choose where you will go. Svami Prabhupada said, “God gave you a nice form, but if you are acting like a dog, eating raw meat and dead bodies, then in your next life God will give you a dog body. If you like to eat raw vegetables, you will become a cow or a buffalo.” One can enter any species of life from the human form of life. God gives you the human form of life with great mercy. In this regard, Gurudeva would quote the following sloka:

labdhva sudurlabham idam bahu-sambhavante manusyam arthadam anityam apiha dhirah turnam yateta na pated anumrtyu yavan nihsreyasaya visayah khalu sarvatah syat

Srimad Bhagavatham, 11.9.29

In this world, everything is available. What do you choose? Which way do you want to go? The living entities are independent. They do not follow good instructions.

tarko ‘pratisthah srutayo vibhinna nasav rsir yasya matam na bhinnam dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah

Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.117

People who argue and quarrel about the truth should stop their squabbles and follow the mahajanas, the great personalities. Some of them are Svayambhu Brahma, Narada, and Sambhu. The followers of the twelve mahajanas are also mahajanas. The Gosvamis and the Guruvarga are mahajanas. If you follow the Guruvarga, you cannot be an independent doer. If you take training from them, you will progress. Therefore, Gurudeva opened the Seva Kunja service center in Vrndavana. Gurudeva established the Rupa Sanatana Gaudiya Matha and declared it to be a kunja where one can learn how to serve.

People come to perform sadhana with the goal of attaining siddhi. With this purpose in mind, they should completely follow Guru-pada-padma’s instructions and become trained. Then, you can realize where to go. By following your own speculation or collection what will happen?

If you enter a university and attend classes according to your own desire, will the university condone your behavior? No, they will not allow you to attend classes according to your own volition. You must attend the university classes if you want to remain a student there. Gurudeva says that we are all rupanugas. But, we follow mayavadis, smartas, and other sastras. This is not correct. Mahajana yena gatah sa panthah, follow what Gurudeva did. Cows are like mothers. Because a mother’s milk and a cow’s milk are similar, we can drink cow milk. We do not drink tiger milk, horse milk, or camel milk. This is not beneficial. We should not independently take instructions; we should follow what our Gurudeva has said. Srila Gurudeva manifested Damodar-lila for us, and he followed this Damodara vrata. If we follow Damodara vrata for at least a day during this month, or if we simply offer a ghee lamp once, and if we remember Guru-pada-padma and the vaisnavas, then we will be close to Gurudeva, and all inspiration will come in our heart. Gurudeva taught us this.

Try to follow his instructions. They are all present. Then, Gurudeva’s blessings will come, and help you. This will protect you.

Yesterday we heard the second verse, and today we will hear Gurudeva’s purport on the third verse. He translated Sanatana Gosvami’s purport, and then gave his own purport. So, we will read from that.

itidrk-sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam punah prematas tam satavrtti vande

Damodarastakam 3

Krsna relishes vatsalya-prema in this pastime. Damabandham is one lila; Krsna performs unlimited pastimes, ananta-lila. Lila-sakti gives gifts to all the bhaktas during this Damodara month. On the first day, there is rasa-lila. Krsna teaches madhurya-prema on that day. Then, with His janma-lila, and the following pastimes He performs as Yasoda’s baby, Krsna teaches us how we can make our heart a place where He can appear. Gurudeva says, “Your heart should only be for Krsna. Your heart is the property of Krsna. No one but Krsna gave you this heart.” The five elements are present in this world by the arrangement of Krsna. Who is present in these elements? Paramatma is present. If you have no love for Paramatma, and have no room for Him, then you will call many wicked personalities into your heart, and you will become arrested by them. Then, you will be bound by sattva, raja, and tama, or the modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance. Whoever comes to you have their concomitant qualities, and those qualities bind you.

If a dog stays for one day in one place, and another dog comes to that place the next day, the first dog will fight over that place, saying, “This is my place.” If we invite someone in our heart, and they stay there, then if we try to throw them out the next day, they will fight to remain in our heart.

How is ceto darpana marjanam possible? So much garbage is in your heart since millions of lives. People deliver this sky-bridge to you freely. People come and criticize or complain. People will call you on the phone, and then if you pick it up, they will speak so much garbage to you. How can we follow Mahaprabhu’s desire to cleanse our hearts through ceto darpana marjanam? There is only one method. We must offer our heart to Gurudeva. Srila Gurudeva told the story about a guru who had thousands of disciples. The guru said, “I will leave this world tomorrow, on the full moon day. I will not stay any longer in this world of death. I will give my post to one disciple, and then leave. I have one question. Whoever can answer it will get my position.” All the disciples were prepared. There were many big scholars, sannyasis, brahmacaris, vanaprasthis, and pandits. They all assembled before their guru. The guru said, “Has everyone come?” “Yes, what is the question?” the disciples asked in unison. “It is a small question,” Gurudeva said. “But, one person has not come.” “Who hasn’t come?” “There is a servant in the cowshed. He cooks in the kitchen, and cleans the bathrooms, and goes to the fields. He has not come.” The pandits said, “He is not intelligent. He is useless. Day and night he is only doing work. He does not know anything.” Then the guru said, “Call him. He is my disciple.” The disciple came, wearing a small and dirty cloth, and smelling of cow dung and urine. Gurudeva called him close. Everyone sitting at front was healthy and effulgent, and wearing nice cloth, perfume, gold chains, and straight tilaka. The sevaka came and offered prostrated obeisance to Gurudeva. At first, all the pandits did not want to give him room to step forward because of his bad smell; but on being chastised by their Gurudeva, they scooted back and let the sevaka sit close to Gurudeva. Then, the guru asked, “How can one clean his mind?” All the pandits said, “This is your question? This is very easy.” Gurudeva said, “Tomorrow, I will let you answer. Everyone should come tomorrow. But, will everyone answer or will the leaders of different groups answer?” “We will act according to your desire, Gurudeva”, they replied. The whole night, the disciples began to study. The pandits spent their entire night decorating themselves. They put on turbans with white feathers or chicken feathers, and they were prepared to be the successor acarya. They spent the whole night dressing up, and preparing to receive this post. In the morning, the guru came out to give darsana during the time of brahma muhurta. He sat on his asana. Some people fanned him, and some people gave him garlands. They were preparing for gurudeva to leave on the day of the full moon. Gurudeva sat there and all his disciples came and sat around him. Gurudeva asked, “How do you clean your mind? Yesterday, I asked you this question.” Different people said, “This is nothing, Gurudeva. It is very easy. You gave us mantra and harinama.” They described many instructions of sastra. Then, the guru asked his insignificant servant to answer. He replied, “Gurudeva, I don’t know anything. I came to you, and I offered myself to your lotus feet. You know how to clean my mind and heart. You can reject me, or accept me. I am your property, and you know how to manage your own property. I have already offered myself to you.” Then, Gurudeva gave his flower garland to this servant who used to clean the bathrooms and cook in the kitchen. He said, “I give this position of acarya to you. All the others are followers of their intelligence, their scholarship, and their logic. They take shelter of other people, but they don’t take shelter of me. They don’t possess my real property. My property is my heart, my love. You are surrendered to me, and whatever I want, you will do it. Your mind and heart are mine. Now, I will give you this position.” Everyone else was surprised. Gurudeva said, “No one else is my disciple.” My own Guru Maharaja told ten thousand times in front of everyone, “All these people are not my disciples. They are their own disciples.” Gurudeva would say in class,

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah

Bhagavad-gita 18.66

How many disciples have given up everything? Who has really taken shelter of guru? Who is a real disciple and follower of guru? He told me many times, “Why don’t you teach them on how to properly follow Gurudeva? This is your fault.” But, even if I request and beg them, they still don’t follow. They are pandits. They go to college and school. Gurudeva sent them to universities, and Sanskrit colleges. And they would go. Day and night, they would study there. But, they spent no time with Gurudeva. What is the symptom of being learned and qualified? One who possesses these qualities engages everything in guru-seva. And if you are a very qualified scholar, but go far away from Gurudeva, and forget Gurudeva; and instead, make relation with other things, and are attached to name and fame, then are you a true disciple of Gurudeva? The whole day, you don’t ask Gurudeva if he needs a glass of water. And you do not go to meet him because you are so busy. What is the meaning of this business? Gurudeva said, “One dog would run one kilometer away, and say that he has no time to stop, and then he would pass and run back. Why does he run? He is very busy for nothing.” Our lives should not be like that. We should live our lives being one-pointedly engaged in the service of Gurudeva. For so many years we stayed with Gurudeva. Then how have we lost Gurudeva and gone far away from his teachings? Why do we distance ourselves? In India, if the husband dies, the widowed lady would not go to another man. If she did, she would be called a prostitute. She would not think of anyone else than her husband. She would wear white cloth, and hide in her room. What did Visnupriya-devi do after Mahaprabhu took sannyasa? She never looked at anyone else’s face. She stayed in her room and did bhajana. When Mahaprabhu left Navadvipa, Mahaprabhu never met anyone. Mahaprabhu Himself instructed her to give mercy to Jiva Gosvami. Then, she put her lotus feet on his head. This is ananya sarana, one-pointed surrender. We must be like this to Sri Guru. Guru’s lotus-feet are our shelter. We do not know who acaryas and spiritual masters are. All we know is that Gurudeva is our life and soul, and we are his only. When we have surrendered like this, then Gurudeva will always take care of us. But, if we think that we are now qualified and bona fide and that we have understood everything and don’t need Gurudeva, then what is to become of us? A blind, dumb, and lame person came to me, and no one took care of him. But, I took care of him. Parents would always take care of their son, even if he is foolish, blind, dumb, or lame. But, if they have a son who is very intelligent and becomes a prime minister, then the ungrateful son would never think about his father. Gurudeva told the story of a village boy who became a magistrate. The mother daily told her husband, “Go and see your son.” The father said, “Now, he does not like us. He is magistrate.” She requested him again and again to go. Then, one day he went to the home of his son, and saw him in a meeting with his officers. The father was wearing a gamcha, a turban, and a stick, and his chest was naked. He sat down in a chair, and then the officers who were talking with the magistrate said, “Who is this person? Why has he come, and why is he sitting in this chair?” The magistrate said, “He is my house servant.” The father could not understand English, but later on he went to the gatekeeper and asked for the meaning of ‘house servant’. Then, the gatekeeper translated the term for him. The father said, “Yes, this is true.” Then, he took off his leather shoes, and went and beat his son in front of all the officers. He said, “Did you call me your house servant? I am not your house servant; I am your mother’s servant.” When the disciple becomes a very qualified acarya, he neglects Guru Maharaja. How do we become the prime ministers, or the founders? God would not be happy with us. We would go very far away from God and Guru. Guru and Govinda are there. Who teaches and brings us to Govinda? This is the function of Sri Guru. Gurudeva always tried, again and again, to help bring the jivas to Krsna. He would go everywhere to collect jivas and offer them to Krsna. He would teach and give power to people. He would give energy for them to progress. He is the one who cleans the heart. Ceto darpana marjanam is not an easy thing. After ceto darpana marjanam, he inspires them and gives instructions on how to progress in their devotion. He connects them to the power of svarupa-sakti. Now, we understand God, give lectures, and collect people. But, where does this strength come from? Where does this flow come from? If we disconnect ourselves from Gurudeva, we will not receive water, and we will wither. Doing bhajana means that at every moment, we are remembering Guru-pada-padma. Then, we will have no tension in life. Otherwise, after some time, everything will be lost because we will be disconnected, and we will have no relation with sakti. Gurudeva cleanses our hearts. He knows this process. He makes an asana for Guru, Param Guru, Paratpara Guru, Paramesthi Guru, and all the Guru parampara. He covers this area, and protects everyone. New born babies do not only get taken care of by their mothers; their sisters, aunts, and members of other families also take care of them. The baby then becomes very strong. But, when the baby is strong, it kicks out everyone. It will say, “I don’t need a mother. Get out!” Then what will happen? The strength will not last for a long time. A little later, when you are sick, who will take care of you? When you have energy, wealth and health, then many people want to share this. But, when you lose everything, no one will come. Guru-pada-padma has an eternal relation with God and his disciples. He would never leave them. If we don’t accept Guru, then this is our fault. But, once Gurudeva accepts one, he will never leave them. If someone meets with Gurudeva once, Gurudeva will not forget that person. I asked Gurudeva, “You have so many disciples. How do you know them all, and remember all their names and faces? You speak with all of them familiarly, and you remember what you told them before. How is this possible?” If someone once gave a fruit to Gurudeva, years later he would remember that. One person once made dal puri, chutney, and parata for Gurudeva. Then, Gurudeva would remember these preparations years later. Later on, when he would meet him, he said, “You once made me that chutney. Won’t you make it again? He would have such a sweet connection with devotees. They would cook and bring something. Gurudeva would say, “Don’t give it to me in front of everyone. Give it to me in a hidden way.” He developed this eternal relation with his followers. If we forget this connection, and go here and there, then what misfortune will come upon us? Where will we go? Be with Gurudeva. Don’t be without Gurudeva. Wherever you go, be with Guru-pada-padma. If you think that he is not physically present, then problems come. Gurudeva has many followers who have room for Gurudeva in their hearts. Where does the charge in a battery come from? It comes from a powerhouse. Whoever receives this power from Guru, has this power because he is connected. If the connection is cut, they will lose all their power. It will work for some time, and then the power will be depleted. Wherever Guru-pada-padma is, be there with him.