365bet

Srila Gurudeva (The Supreme Treasure)

by Swami Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja | 2010 | 179,005 words

This page relates ‘Glory of Gaudiya Guru-parampara� of the book dealing with life and teachings of Srila Gurudeva, otherwise known as Shri Shrimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. Srila Gurudeva is a learned and scholar whose teachings primarily concern the spiritual beauties of Bhakti—devotional service and the qualities and pastimes of Shri Krishna.

The Glory of Gauḍīya Guru-貹貹

The first and general understanding of Śrī ṛṣṇa tattva is that the ī or soul is the eternal servant of Lord Śrī ṛṣṇa, jīvera �ū貹� hāya-kṛṣṇera nitya- (Caitanya-峾ṛt, Madhya-ī, 20.108).

When attachment and desire to serve Śrī becomes more powerful than attachment to Śrī ṛṣṇa, then śⲹ (the Lord’s majestic opulence) becomes covered.

The majestic śⲹ mood of great awe and reverence is not manifest in the maidservants of Śrīmatī 󾱰.

Śī Bhaktivinode Ṭhܰ explains in his Bhajana-rahasya, 5.10:

राधा-पा� वीणा कभ� कृष्� नह� मिले

rādhā-pāda vīṇ� kabhu kṛṣṇa nahi mile

Without taking shelter of the lotus feet of , one can never meet ṛṣṇa.

राधिका दासी� कृष्� सर्व-वेदे बोले

rādhikā dāsīra kṛṣṇa sarva-vede bole

The Vedic scriptures declare that ṛṣṇa is the property of the ñᲹī, the maidservants of Śrī .

The glorious position of Śrī is revealed by Śī ṛṣṇa ҴDz峾ī:

জগত্-মোহন কৃষ্�, তাঞ্হা� মোহিনী

jagat-mohana kṛṣṇa, tāñhāra mohinī

Caitanya Caritamṛta, Ādi-ī 4.95

That very Śrī ṛṣṇa, who attracts the entire universe with His beauty, qualities, pastimes, nature, opulence, sweetness, and other aspects, is Himself attracted and rendered helpless by the unpararalled and unsurpassed love of Vṛṣabhānu-nandini Śrīmatī 󾱰.

গোবিন্দানন্দিন� রাধা, গোবিন্�-মোহিনী
গোবিন্�-সর্বস্�, সর্ব-কান্তা-শিরোমণ�

govindānandini rādhā, govinda-mohinī
govinda-sarvasva, sarva-kāntā-śiromaṇi

Caitanya-峾ṛt, Ādi-ī 4.82

Śrī is the one who gives pleasure to Govinda. The world is enchanted by Govinda but Govinda Himself is enchanted by Śrī . Śrī is everything for Govinda and She is the crest jewel of all His beautiful consorts.

The pleasure-giving potency of Śrī ṛṣṇa’s internal energy is called the 徱ī-śپ. The purest and most complete manifestation of the 徱ī-śپ is displayed by the Vraja DZī, among whom Śrī is the topmost crest jewel.

The essence of this pleasure giving potency or hlādinī is love of God, prema. The essence of prema or love of God is called . The ultimate manifestation of is mahā屹. The embodiment of that exalted mahā屹 is Śrīmatī 󾱰 as is stated in Caitanya-峾ṛt [Ādi-ī 4.69], mahā屹-ū貹 śrī rādhā ṭhākurānī.

Of all the loving devotees and eternal intimate associates of Śrī ṛṣṇa, Śrī ’s transcendental loving service to Her beloved Śrī ṛṣṇa is the highest.

Therefore to become a maidservant, a 쾱ṅkī of Śrī is the topmost cherished goal of all the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas in the line of Śī ū貹 ҴDz峾ī. This is the speciality and glory of our line, -ⲹṇa-쾱԰첹 kuru (Śrī -ʰٳ󲹲 2).

Śī Bhaktivedānta ⲹṇa ҴDz峾ī ѲᲹ reveals -Śrī Kīśorī’s maidservants (kinkaris) are always devoted to Her service. The word kainkarya expresses a mood of being ardent to serve and it means kim karomi, “What may I do? What service can I do?�

This mood of pure -ⲹ is called ñᲹī-屹. Sva-priyacaraṇa-kinkarim kuru, please make me a 쾱ṅkī at the lotus feet of Śrī Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī birth after birth.

By the causeless mercy of the maidservants of Vraja, and by the causeless mercy of Śrī Guru, that ñᲹī 屹 ū貹, the mood of a ñᲹī, is revealed in the heart of a sober 󲹰첹.

These topics should be understood soberly by a śṣy (servant of Śrī Guru) who fully controls their senses.

In the practice of 岵Գܲ bhakti, the ܰⲹ feature of the Lord covers His śⲹ feature. The 󲹰첹 tastes the unlimited sweetness of Śrī ṛṣṇa’s name, form, qualities and pastimes. In this way, the 󲹰첹 realizes Śrī Guru as a confidential associate of Śrī 󾱰.

In ī-󲹰پ, a disciple’s relationship with Śrī Guru is dominated by awe and reverence; he understands Śrī Guru is ṣād-hari, non-different from Śrī 󲹲.

साक्षाद्-धरित्वेन समस्�-शास्त्रैर्
उक्तस् तथ� भाव्यत एव सद्भिऋ

ṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair
uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhi�

Śrī Gurvṣṭkam 7

Śī վśٳ 䲹ī Ṭhܰ writes that all the scriptures and all the saints proclaim Śrī Guru to be ṣād-hari, one who is endowed with the potency of Śrī Hari and is His direct representative. Many of the same qualities of the Lord automatically reside in Śrī Guru. This understanding of Śrī Guru is in ī-󲹰پ.

किन्तु प्रभोर� यह� प्रि� एव तस्य
वन्द� गुरोह् श्री चरणारविन्द

kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh śrī caraṇāravinda

Śrī Gurvṣṭkam 7

Śī վśٳ 䲹ī Ṭhܰ further reveals that Śrī Guru is very dear to the Lord because he is a very confidential servitor of the Lord. Śrī Guru is thus simultaneously different and non-different from Śrī Hari, acintya-岹-ś-vigraha.

Such a personality is therefore most worshipable and I offer prayers unto his lotus feet.

Understanding Śrī Guru as a very dear and confidential servitor is a manifestation of 岵Գܲ-bhakti.

Following in the line of Śrī Caitanya Ѳ and Śī ū貹 ҴDz峾ī, a 岵Գܲ bhakta’s realization of Śrī Guru is as mukunda-ṣṭ, the nearest and dearest of Śrī ṛṣṇa. His relationship with Śrī Guru will be marked by intimate service and friendship.

Śī 鲹ܲٳ ҴDz峾ī reveals in his Manah Śṣ� verse 2:

� धर्म� नाधर्म� श्रुति-गण-निरुक्तं कि� कुरु
व्रज� राधा-कृष्�-प्रचुर-परिचर्याम् इह तन�
शची-सूनु� नन्दीश्वर-पत�-सुतत्व� गुरु-वर�
मुकुन्�-प्रेष्ठत्व� स्मर परम् अजस्रं नन� मनह्

na dharma� nādharma� śruti-gaṇa-nirukta� kila kuru
vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pracura-paricaryām iha tanu
śacī-sūnu� nandīśvara-pati-sutatve guru-vara�
mukunda-ṣṭtve smara param ajasra� nanu manah

O my dear mind! Please do not perform either the dharma or adharma mentioned in the śܳپ or Vedas. Rather, you should render profuse loving service to Śrī Śrī -kṛṣṇa-Yugala here in Vraja, for the śܳپ have ascertained Them to be the highest principle of supreme worship and the Supreme Absolute Truth. Always meditate on Śacīnandana Śrī Caitanya Ѳ, richly endowed with the complexion and sentiments of Śrīmatī 󾱰, as non-different from Śrī Nandanandana and always remember Śī Gurudeva as most dear to Śrī Mukunda.

Śrī Guru is mukunda ṣṭ, the nearest and dearest of Śrī ṛṣṇa. Mukunda means that personality who refutes the happiness of mukti (impersonal liberation) and gives ԲԻ岹 to His dear devotee. It also means Mu, jubilant; mukha-貹峾� ṇḍ, whose face is like a ṇḍ or lotus flower.

The -bhakti 󲹰첹 sees his guru, not as ṣād-hari, but as an intimate friend of the Lord. The highest limit of friendship with Śrī ṛṣṇa is manifest in the mood of the maidservants of Śrīmatī 󾱰.

In ṛh-bhakti-tattva-, it is said,

राधा-सन्मुख-संसक्तिं सखी-सङ्ग-निवासिनीम्
ताम् अह� सततं वन्द� गुरु-रूपा� परां सछेम�

rādhā-sanmukha-saṃsakti� ī-saṅga-nivāsinīm
tām aha� satata� vande guru-rūpā� parā� sachem

I forever worship my guru, who in his form as an exalted ī, is happily immersed in the company of Śrīmatī 󾱰 and the other īs.

It is described here that Gurudeva is a priya-ī, maidservant of Śrīmatī 󾱰.

Śī 鲹ܲٳ ҴDz峾ī previously described Śrī Guru as mukunda ṣṭ, as most dear to ṛṣṇa. ṛṣṇa has unlimited relationships with the հᲹī such as with Raktrak and Patrak who are servants of Nanda Bābā, in -rasa; with Subhal and Madhumaṅgal in sakhya-rasa, with Nanda and ۲śǻ in ٲⲹ- and with the īs in ܰⲹrasa such as , վś, Campakalata and so on. Amongst them all, Śrīmatī 󾱰 is most near and dear to ṛṣṇa. Of all the DZī in Vraja who have madhura (loving service and devotion in the conjugal mood), Śrīmatī 󾱰’s madhura-rasa is of the highest limit.

Śrī 󾱰 has five types of īs or dear friends. Among them, the prāṇa īs and nitya īs are very near and dear to Śrīmatī 󾱰. These dear friends are called �ñᲹī�.

The position of the ñᲹī or young friends of Śrīmatī 󾱰 is given in Śrī Caitainya Caritāmṛta:

রাধা� স্বরূপ—কৃষ্ণ-প্রে�-কল্পলত�
সখী-গণ হয তা� পল্ল�-পুষ্�-পাতা

rādhāra ū貹—ṛṣṇa-𳾲-kalpalatā
ī-gaṇa haya tāra pallava-puṣpa-pātā

Caitanya-峾ṛt Madhya-ī 8.209

By nature Śrī is like a creeper of ṛṣṇa-𳾲 and the īs (ñᲹī) are the leaves, flowers and twigs of that creeper. When the nectar of ṛṣṇa’s pastimes is sprinkled on that creeper, the leaves, flowers and twigs experience a happines millions times greater than if they were to be directly sprinkled with this nectar. The ñᲹī have much greater affection towards 󾱰 than towards ṛṣṇa (屹-ullāsa rati, tat-tad 屹 峾ī); thus they are known as -sneha-adhika, and because Śrīmatī 󾱰 loves them so much, they are also very near and dear to ṛṣṇa.

yat-쾱ṅkīṣu bahuśah khalu kāku-ṇ�,
Ծٲⲹ� parasya puruṣasya śikhaṇḍa-mauleh

श्री राधा-रस-सुधा-निधि �

Śrī -rasa-sudhā-nidhi 8

Śī Prabhodhānanda ī, another great rasika 峦ⲹ in our line, has mercifully revealed in the above verse, how Śrī ṛṣṇa, the Supreme Enjoyer who wears a peacock feather in His hair, who is the source of all incarnations, falls at the feet of Śrī 󾱰’s young maidservants, the ñᲹī, begging them to allow Him to meet with Śrī 󾱰.

Thus Śrī Guru is celebrated as mukunda ṣṭ, one very dear to Mukunda (ṛṣṇa), by Śī 鲹ܲٳ ҴDz峾ī.

The realization that Śrī Guru is a maidservant of Śrīmatī 󾱰 is essential for the 岵Գܲ 󲹰첹. Under the guidance of his guru-ī or guru-ñᲹī, at the appropriate time, Śrī Guru reveals that ñᲹī屹 in the heart of his qualified disciple. The 󲹰첹 thus remembers the ṣṭ- or eight-fold daily pastimes of and ṛṣṇa, meditating on his Gurudeva as a ñᲹī serving in those pastimes under the affectionate guidance of Śī ū貹 Māñjarī.

There is no room for mental speculation, imagination or fantasy in this factual bona fide process of 岵-mārga.

When the 󲹰첹 achieves qualification, the manifest guru will accordingly instruct him on his service to the Divine Couple in his spiritual body.

The 岵Գܲ 󲹰첹 while remaining in this world meditates internally on the service given to him by Śrī Gurudeva; as Śī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhܰ prayed in his īٲ :

barane tadit, basa taravali, ñᲹī
sade bara barsa, bayasa satata
, svananda-sukhada-

My color will be lightning, my garments a host of stars, my name Kamalā Māñjarī, my age eternally twelve and a half years, my home Svānanda-sukhada.

Śī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhܰ is revealing his own siddha ū貹 as Kamalā Māñjarī and her eternal service, which is, among other services, to supply camphor and betel nuts to the Divine Couple. In the same way, meditating on his eternal form and service, the 󲹰첹 will receive the mercy of ۴Dz ٱī and one day enters into the eternal pastimes of the Divine Couple. In due course of time, these will be revealed in the pure heart of the disciple, by the causeless mercy of Śrī Guru.

Śrī Guru is manifest here with us in this world and simultaneously in the spiritual realm is serving Śrī Caitanya Ѳ and the Divine Couple Śrī Śrī -kṛṣṇa. One may question how can Śrī Guru be present in this world and also be serving in the spiritual world? All this is possible by the execution of the inconceivable potency and mercy of Śrī Gaurāṅga Ѳ, the unified form of the Divine Couple. Śī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhܰ explains in his Jaiva Dharma that when a soul is performing 󲹲Բ in the line of Śrī Caitanya Ѳ in this exceptionally fortunate ī-yuga, at the time of achieving perfection, that soul will attain two ū貹s, that is two eternal forms -one will be eternally present in the pastimes of Ѳ and one will serve in the nitya-ī of the Divine Couple Śrī Śrī -kṛṣṇa. In the same way, Śī Gurudeva can be present in the material world in one ū貹 and simultaneously be serving in the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Ѳ and Śrī Śrī -ṛṣṇa conjugal.

When the 󲹰첹 of 岵Գܲ bhakti is absorbed in his internal meditation, a state of or trance is attained. In his internal spiritual body, he enters into the eternal pastimes of the spiritual realm while still situated in his manifest form in the material world. This is the speciality of one totally immersed in 岵Գܲ bhakti. This cannot be achieved by one who is still a prisoner of his material mind and senses. If a homeless person who is sleeping on a torn mattress, dreams that he is the president of a country, does that make him the president? No, as this is just a dream of a conditioned soul. One should be very careful not to think and mistake the meditation or spiritual trance of a fully liberated devotee, who is not under the influence of the material modes of nature, to be an illusion, a dream or an imagination. By the mercy of Śrī Guru, the qualified devotee meditates on his eternal, spiritual form situated in a grove or ñᲹ in Vraja and serves the Divine Couple under the guidance of his guru-ī. This topmost reality is not a wishful fantasy, a dream or an illusion in the realm of the mundane world. Pure, spontaneous devotional service is eternal and transcendental in nature. The pure spiritual desires of the 󲹰첹 become an eternal reality by the mercy of Śrī Guru and Śrī Guru-貹貹.

Śī Bhaktivedānta ⲹṇa ҴDz峾ī ѲᲹ explains that Śrī Guru is like a desire-tree. By his causeless mercy, Śrī Guru causes the spiritual ū貹 or identity of the disciple to appear within the disciple’s heart. Having full faith in Śrī Guru’s words, the 󲹰첹 whole-heartedly performs bhajana (devotional service) with firm Ծṣṭ (steadiness), and by the mercy of the 徱ī-śپ (the spiritual pleasure potency), he fully realizes his ultimate ū貹 or identity. The 󲹰첹 then intently engages in the service of his most cherished Śrī ṛṣṇa, the skillful enjoyer of pastimes. Śrī Guru will instruct everything necessary to the cent-percent surrendered disciple, truly rewarding him spiritually, far beyond any expectations.

By his unalloyed sincere service to his Gurudeva, the devotee can understand how Śrī Guru is simultaneously serving both in this world and in the spiritual world. He therefore assists Śrī Guru at all times. This uninterrupted selfless service or assistance to his Gurudeva is the natural cause of the auspicious manifestation of his spiritual ū貹 or form.

In the practice of 岵Գܲ bhakti the conception that Śrī Guru is ṛṣṇa ū貹 and ū貹, the direct manifestation of ṛṣṇa, will be covered.

The 󲹰첹 will continuously serve Śrī and ṛṣṇa in the groves, the ñᲹs of ṛn屹Բ under the guidance of his Gurudeva who is Mukunda ṣṭ, the dear maidservant of 󾱰.

This conception is the essence and highest understanding of Śrī Guru Tattva and Śrī Guru-sevaka.

Let's grow together!

I humbly request your help to keep doing what I do best: provide the world with unbiased sources, definitions and images. Your donation direclty influences the quality and quantity of knowledge, wisdom and spiritual insight the world is exposed to.

Let's make the world a better place together!

Like what you read? Help to become even better: