A True Servant—A True Master
by Swami Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja | 2021 | 174,865 words
This page relates ‘Guru-Padapadma’s omniscience,...� of book�"A True Servant, A True Master" which offers a collection of 128 handwritten letters by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Vamana Gosvami Maharaja—a revered figure in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. This book showcases the profound spiritual insights and practical guidance on executing devotional service and addresses both Sadhakas (male practitioners) and Sadhikas (female practitioners) with equal respect.
Go directly to: Footnotes.
Letter 93 - Guru-Pādapadma’s omniscience,...
Guru-岹貹峾’s omniscience � Śrī ṣṭamī is more glorious than Śrī Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī � Kamala ѲñᲹī’s prayers to serve Śrī � Śrī guru’s position as an intimate associate of Śrī is what makes him guru
श्री श्री गुरु-गौराङ्गौ जयतः
śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayata�
Śrī Vinoda-bihārī Gauḍīya Ѳṻ, 28 Haldar Bagan Lane, Kolkata�4 4/10/1987
Ա貹�
Mā—�! � I am well as usual. Understanding that you are passing your days in mental turmoil due to not having the 岹śԲ of guru and ղṣṇ for many a day, the omniscient Lord in the heart (Գٲ峾ī) has made arrangements. If you feel that by this you have gained some mental peace, then I will consider my efforts worthwhile. Gaining the opportunity to directly serve śrī guru and ղṣṇ does not occur due to some meagre fortune but as the fruit of many lifetimes of accumulated ܰṛt.
I am delighted to know that daily you are practising and reciting �ҴDZīٳ, Mama Nivedana Śuno� and other songs of the ᲹԲ. Why Śrī ṣṭamī is more merciful than Śrī ṛṣṇa-ᲹԳṣṭī is something you can only experience yourself. The glories of both have been revealed by the male and female parrot couple. In their dialogue, the superiority of Śrīmatī ’s glories over those of Śrī Madana-mohana Śrī ṛṣṇa has been broadcast.
Śrī rāṇ� is Sevārāṇ� (Queen of Service) and,
युगल-प्रेमे� गुरु
yugala-premera guru[1]
“T guru of prema for the Divine Couple�.
The worthiness and qualification to attain the service of Śrī ṛṣṇa is only obtained by being in the guidance of the ī and ñᲹī who are under Śrī rāṇī’s guidance.
It is to attain this mood alone that ‘Śrī Kamala ѲñᲹī ī�, as a poet, has conveyed:
छोडत पुरुषाभिमा�,
किङ्करी हैलु आज� का�;
वर�-विपिने सख�-सा�,
सेवन करिब� राधाना�Choḍata puruṣābhimāna,
kiṅkarī hailu āji kāna;
varaja-vipine sakhi-sātha,
sevana karibo rādhānātha[2]“O Բ, having abandoned male ego, today I have become a maidservant. In the forests of Vraja, in the company of the ī, I will render service, O Lord of .�
आम� तो स्वानन्द-सुखद-वासी,
राधिका माधव-चर�-दासी;
दुहा� मिलन आनन्� कर�,
दुहा� वियोगे दुःखेत� मर�Āmi to svānanda-sukhada-vāsī,
rādhikā mādhava-ṇa-dāsī;
duhāra milana ānanda kari,
duhāra viyoge duḥkhete mari[3]“I am a resident of Svānanda-sukhada-ñᲹ, a maidservant of -’s feet. I delight in Their meeting and perish in the sorrow of Their separation.�
राधा-पद विना कभ� कृष्� नाहि मिले,
राधा� दासी� कृष्� सर्व-वेदे बोले-pada vinā kabhu kṛṣṇa nāhi mile,
rādhāra dāsīra kṛṣṇa sarva-vede bole[4]“Without the feet of , ṛṣṇa can never be found. All the Vedas say ṛṣṇa belongs to the maidservants of .�
आत�-रहित सुरज नाहि जानि, राधा-विरहित माधव नाहि मानि;
केवल माधव पूजय� सो अज्ञानी, राधा-अनाद� कर-� अभिमानी;
ब्रह्म� शि� नारद श्रुति नारायणी, राधिका पद-रज पूजय� मानिĀtapa-rahita suraja nāhi jāni, rādhā-virahita mādhava nāhi māni;
kevala mādhava pūjaye so ajñānī, rādhā-anādara kara-i abhimānī;
brahmā śiva nārada śruti nārāyaṇ�, rādhikā pada-raja pūjaye māni[5]“Without light, I cannot know the Sun. I do not accept isolated from . He who worships only is ignorant. Only an egotistical person disregards . , Ś, Nārāda, the personified Vedas, and Nārāyāṇ� [ṣmī]–all worship ’s footdust.�
संसारे आसिय�, प्रकृत� भजिय�, पुरुषाभिमाने मर�;
कृष्� दयाम�, प्रपञ्चे उद�, हैला आमार लागिSaṃsāre āsiyā, prakṛti bhajiyā, puruṣābhimāne mari;
kṛṣṇa dayāmaya, prapañce udaya, hailā āmāra lāgi[6]“Entering material existence and worshipping material nature, I perish under the influence of male ego. But ṛṣṇa is merciful and has arisen in this realm of five elements for my sake.�
Without Śrī rāṇī’s guidance, service to Śrī ṛṣṇa is not attained. It is only because She considers guru and ղṣṇ Her nija-jana (own people) that they attain the defining characteristics of guru and ղṣṇ. Śrī guru-pādapadma is the personification of Śrī ṛṣṇa’s mercy. Therefore, he too is merciful, compassionate. The 첹 and attain realization of all this in the perfected stage.
You all please accept my affectionate blessings. Iti�
Your eternal well-wisher,
Śrī Bhaktivedānta 峾Բ
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
Śṇāgپ, Choḍata Puruṣābhimāna (1�2) by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhܰ
[3]:
Śṇāgپ, Āmi To Svānanda-sukhada-vāsī (1�2) by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhܰ