The Exclusive Line of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur

by His Holiness
Śrīpād Bhakti Pāvan Janārdan Mahārāj
Formerly printed in the form of a
centenary Śrī Vyāsa Pūjā offering

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s conclusions embody the full siddhānta of the line of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī, and his beautiful poetic style shines with the most sublime ujjvala-rasa revealed by Śrī Gaurāṅga to His true followers.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu has glorified the Brahma–Mādhva–Gauḍīya sampradāya. As an effulgent locket adorns a necklace, so Mahāprabhu appeared in the sampradāya began by Lord Brahmā: Kṛṣṇa haite chaturmukha. There are of course four sampradāyas: one was begun by Brahmā, one by the Kumāras, one by Lakṣmī, and one by Lord Śiva. Their preceptorial lines are continuing, and their followers present the conclusions of such stalwarts in their respective sampradāyas as Rāmānuja, Madhva Āchārya, Viṣṇu Swāmī, and Nimbārka Āchārya.

Still, in the words of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj:

e-rūpa ārati brahmā-śambhu-agochara
gaura-bhakta-kṛpā-pātra mātra siddhi-sāra

“The divine worship of Mahāprabhu is beyond the vision of even Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva. Only by receiving the mercy of a devotee of Lord Gaurāṅga can one attain such perfection.” Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in the Brahma–Mādhva–Gauḍīya sampradāya, but what He came to give is beyond the vision of the preceptor of the sampradāya, Lord Brahmā himself. It is also beyond the purview of Lord Śiva. Both are mahājans, and recognised devotees, still they are unable to participate in the exclusive devotion given by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and known to His internal devotees such as Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. Rather, they ever pray to have bestowed upon them the mercy of Mahāprabhu’s true followers so they may continue the progressive development of their devotion.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is actually situated in His own internal sampradāya, although apparently appearing within the Brahma–Mādhva–Gauḍīya sampradāya. Mādhavendra purī-vara, śiṣya-vara śrī-īśvara. Who preceded Mahāprabhu and showed the deep mahābhāva mood of separation of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was Śrī Mādhavendra Purī. In the Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj progressively describes the deep mood of Śrīla Mādhavendra Purīpād expressed in the verse:

ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha he
mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase

“O my Lord, O most merciful master, O master of Mathurā, When shall I see You again?” There it is noted that, “Actually, this verse was spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Herself, and by Her mercy only was it manifest in the words of Mādhavendra Purī. Only Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu has tasted the poetry of this verse. No fourth person is capable of understanding it.”

Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī’s effulgence of Kṛṣṇa-prema showed, in the original sprout form, the glory of Mahāprabhu’s sampradāya. Although he was formally situated in the Brahma–Mādhva–Gauḍīya sampradāya, prior to his appearance there was no one in that line who displayed the deep love of Godhead, the mood of Kṛṣṇa-prema of Mādhavendra Purī. His disciple was the most fortunate Śrī Īśvar Purī, who was accepted as the preceptor of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.

When Mahāprabhu visited the place of the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā and was dancing before the Deity of Śrī Keśava, an elderly brāhmaṇ began to also dance in ecstatic love, Kṛṣṇa-prema, along with the Lord. Later, Mahāprabhu asked that brāhmaṇ where he had acquired such love. The elderly brāhmaṇ replied that he had a connection with Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī, who had visited his house and accepted him as a disciple. He also told Mahāprabhu Himself:

kintu tomāra prema dekhi’ mane anumāni
mādhavendra-purīra ‘sambandha’ dhara, jāni
kṛṣṇa-premā tāhā̐, yāhā̐ tā̐hāra ‘sambandha’
tā̐hā vinā ei premāra kāhā̐ nāhi gandha

“Upon seeing Your ecstatic love, I can just imagine that You must have some relationship with Mādhavendra Purī. This is my understanding. This kind of ecstatic love can be experienced only by one who has a relationship with Mādhavendra Purī. Without him, even a scent of such transcendental ecstatic love is impossible.” Without a connection with Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, such love of Godhead is not possible.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has always said that we are not worshippers of form, but of substance. There is a qualitative presence that is expressed in the Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta. We are not interested in mere general expressions like the Guru-paramparā, but we are interested in the living line of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu’s sampradāya which is manifest in the hearts of the most qualified representatives of the Lord. Just as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is much more than the Yuga-avatār, being the most sublime combination of Rasa-rāj, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, with Mahābhāva, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, similarly, there are personalities who embody the presence of Śrī Mādhavendra Purī.

In more recent times, that most divine presence again revealed itself in the person of Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj composed his beautiful Śrīmad Bhakti Vinod Viraha Daśakam during the time when Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur was personally present in this world. There, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj reveals:

śrī-gaurānumataṁ svarūpa-viditaṁ rūpāgrajenādṛtaṁ
rūpādyaiḥ pariveśitaṁ raghu-gaṇair āsvāditaṁ sevitam
jīvādyair abhirakṣitaṁ śuka-śiva-brahmādi-sammānitaṁ
śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum īśo bhavān

“That which is the gracious gift of Śrī Gaurachandra, the deep, internal purport of which is known by Śrī Svarūp Dāmodar, that which is adored by Śrī Sanātan Goswāmī, and distributed by the Rasa-tattva Āchāryas headed by Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī; that which is tasted and enriched by Śrī Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī and followers, and tenderly protected by Śrī Jīva Goswāmī and his associates; and that which is venerated from afar by the great personalities like Mahādev, lord of the gods, and Brahmā, grandfather of the world—O wonder of wonders, that ecstatic nectar of the exclusive service of the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā—you hold the perfect position to mercifully give even that to us.”

When Śrīla Guru Mahārāj began to present his composition glorifying Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur before Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, at first Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur listened in a very scrutinising way to the initial verses. But as Śrīla Guru Mahārāj continued in his presentation, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur became immensely pleased and appreciative, and commented that he was confident and satisfied that at least one of his followers was qualified to continue and properly represent his siddhānta and the essence of Mahāprabhu’s line.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has eternally glorified the quality of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur in his many beautiful compositions such as Śrī Śrī Prabhupāda-padma Stavakaḥ, which to this day is sung in Temples all over the world by the followers of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Prabhupād. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has given us this beautiful praṇām verse in glorification of his spiritual master which Śrīla Guru Mahārāj himself has explained:

nikhila-bhuvana-māyā-chhinna-vichchhinna-kartrī
vibudha-bahula-mṛgyā-mukti-mohānta-dātrī
śithilita-vidhi-rāgārādhya-rādheśa-dhānī
vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti siddhānta-vāṇī

“With his first step, he vigorously cut asunder the whole plane of exploitation, and with his second, he has put a stop to all the calculations of the different scholars with their different conceptions of salvation, or liberated stages. With his third step, he has minimised the hardness and stiffness of the rules and regulations of calculative devotional service, by the touch of divine love: crossing Vaikuṇṭha, he has given us the worship of Rādhā and Govinda.

“Calculation, the rules and regulations, awe, reverence, all these things are minimised, checked, slackened with the softness of Vṛndāvan within, and with the hardness of a devastator without, he created havoc in the materialistic world, fighting with one and all. Single-handedly fighting against the whole world and cutting asunder everything—that was his external attitude. And his second attitude was to put a stop to all scholarly researchers and doctorates of different departments, and to stop their boasting research; and third, to minimise, to slacken, the grandeur of the worship of Nārāyaṇ. He caused the domain of love to descend into this plane with love from the heart as all-in-all. With that we come to serve our object of worship, and he represented the service of Rādhā-Govinda as the highest attainment. That was his history. The real existence of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur Prabhupād is in Śrī Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī, his divine teachings. May that Śrī Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī dance eternally within the core of your heart.”

When Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur was leaving this world, he called for Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. In a gathering of his disciples, he asked Śrīla Guru Mahārāj to sing Śrī Rūpa-mañjarī-pada. Previously, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur had examined Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and was satisfied that he could represent the essential line of Śrī Gaurachandra, given by His true representative and follower, Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī. Now, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur gave the charge of that line to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj in a way that many senior godbrothers present described as a ‘mystic transmission’ of responsibility.

After Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Prabhupād departed from this world, his disciples sought out the association of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. It was not any formality which attracted them, any formal delegation of responsibility assigned to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. It was more intrinsic: they found in Śrīla Guru Mahārāj that effulgent Kṛṣṇa-prema which accompanies the highest realisations of the Rūpānuga line. It was this divine presence that attracted them, that made them ardently desire his association.

Their attraction for the association of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was not because of his rank or seniority; he was not the most senior Vaiṣṇava present. At that time, there were other godbrothers of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, disciples of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, that were senior in the mission to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, but they themselves came to associate with him. Prominent devotees accepted sannyās from him and saw him as their sannyās-guru. Leading disciples of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur felt inspired by Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and looked towards him for his approval and inspiration in their own endeavours to preach and present the philosophy of their spiritual master.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has always presented the highest realisations of the Gauḍīya–Vaiṣṇava line, the true teachings of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī. During the time that Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur was present, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was a prominent preacher. After Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur left this world, many came to Nabadwīp to associate with Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. When we look to personalities like Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī or Śrīla Sanātan Goswāmī, we do not count the number of disciples they had or how many Temples they established. Their contribution is never to be judged in such a superficial and neophyte manner. Actually, all preaching and inspiration is derived from them alone, and the substance that they came to give is nondifferent from Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and the internal reasons for His descent.

Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj gave so much to those who actually can appreciate the real sampradāya of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and the line of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī. Without any appreciation for him, it will not be possible for devotees today to ever know what are the essential teachings of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu or ever aspire to know what is Kṛṣṇa-prema, love of Godhead.

For the last forty-two years of his life, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was always in the association of his disciple and personal friend Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, his confidant and chosen successor. So intimately were Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj related that one could consider their two personalities as one combined existence. For instance, if it be true that Śrīla Guru Mahārāj for reasons of his health, and to ultimately ‘percolate’ his high realisations, remained in his Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh in Nabadwīp, he ultimately counted on the presence of Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj, who he imbued with an indomitable spirit to go out and give his own high realisations to the whole world. We are ever seeing the magnanimous and benevolent nature of Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj, and we consider it to be synonymous with Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s desire to give the essential teachings of Mahāprabhu to the ever-expanding Gauḍīya–Vaiṣṇava world, who so much need them.

Although superficially it may seem that Śrīla Guru Mahārāj remained apart in his Maṭh, actually it was not so. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj depended on Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj to assist him in his mission, was himself inspired by Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj to share his beautiful realisations with the world, and ultimately entrusted everything to the hands of his beloved disciple: his teachings, his Deities, his realisations, his Maṭh, his mission, his life, love, and inspiration.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj saw in Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj the qualities of one who could continue his mission and fully represent his deep realisations. Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj is most qualified to give the essential conclusions of Mahāprabhu’s teachings and the conclusions of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and the Āchāryas who represent the line of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj dedicated so many years to prepare Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj for this great responsibility and considered that by seating Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj in his own chair that his endeavour was now complete. Those who supposedly follow Śrīla Guru Mahārāj but cannot appreciate and honour his desire do him a great disservice. When Vallabha Bhaṭṭa said he could not accept the authority of Śrīdhar Swāmī (who had previously commented on the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam), Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu concluded:

svāmī nā māne yei jana
veśyāra bhitare tāre kariye gaṇana

“A woman who does not follow her swāmī [husband] is no better than a prostitute.”

I offer my daṇḍavat-praṇāms at the lotus feet of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj, and their eternal associates and followers. They are all capable of flooding this entire universe with that Kṛṣṇa-prema that Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and His pārṣad devotees came to give. They are each an ocean of mercy and are the only shelter for the fallen souls. I pray that they will not leave me behind. My prayer is that they will ever keep me near to them.