Chapter Five: The Land of Spiritual Gems
More from within Śrī Vṛndāvan Dhām
Many devotees are coming to our Maṭh from every corner of the world, and we are living together. Everyone who comes does not know Bengali, English, or Hindi, but they are always very submissive and trying to serve, and they are serving. In which way is this possible? It can only happen by the causeless mercy of Śrī Guru.
Śrīla Guru Mahārāj spread his consciousness, the conception which is coming through the line of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī, and you are getting the chance to engage in that line of service. All of you cannot speak even English, but you are doing service. It is sometimes a miracle for me to see. Only the mood of affection and the mood of service can help us, and you have that. It is your property, and to serve you — that is my property. In this way, no problem comes between us.
We are always trying to serve the will and mood of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj; that is, why we have come here. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj lastly told me, “In the future, do not try to make many maṭhs. Managing a maṭh is very difficult, and all of your time will be taken for that management. So only make a maṭh in Purī Dhām, and if possible, you can try to organise a devotees’ bhajan ashram in Vṛndāvan Dhām.” That was his desire. And now it is established: Purī, Vṛndāvan, and Nabadwīp Dhām. With all the devotees I am trying to satisfy Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s will and desire.
I know, believe, and have faith in Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, and that by his causeless mercy we can and must establish here a devotees’ bhajan ashram. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj did not say a maṭh, but he said, “bhajan ashram”.
Whoever comes to Vṛndāvan must try to do some sevā. Bhajan means sevā, service. Here we are not doing business. When the mood of service to Vṛndāvan, to Guru, and Vaiṣṇava comes and when the mood of service to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa comes to us, then we shall try to stay in Vṛndāvan. Who has this mood, he can stay in Vṛndāvan, and for that type of devotee we must make a bhajan ashram here.
Sometimes a few devotees have some intention to stay in Vṛndāvan, but they are staying in Vṛndāvan like a bee on the outside of a bottle of honey. What are they doing? One devotee came to see me recently, he now lives here in Vṛndāvan, but what is he doing? He purchased a cow and he maintains his family. He is doing the same as he was in Bengal. His mood is good because he considers Vṛndāvan to be a very auspicious place, but his conception of Vṛndāvan is very small.
Vṛndāvan is infinitely great and it is inconceivable by our intelligence. We only see the mundane cover and we are not getting admission within the transcendental world of Śrī Vṛndāvan Dhām. We need admission, and it is our hope that one day we shall get that real vision.
mātala hari-jana kīrtana-raṅge
pūjala rāga-patha gaurava-bhaṅge
Taking this śloka as our example, we shall worship Vṛndāvan from afar. One who reads Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā can know something about Vṛndāvan Dhām. Actually, Vṛndāvan Dhām is:
goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale cha tasya
devi maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu
(“First there is Devī Dhām, then Maheś Dhām, and above Maheś Dhām is Hari Dhām; and above all is His own home, Goloka.”)
And:
śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ kalpa-taravo
drumā bhūmiś chintāmaṇi-gaṇa-mayi toyam amṛtam
kathā gānaṁ nāṭyaṁ gamanam api vaṁśī priya-sakhī
chid-ānandaṁ jyotiḥ param api tad āsvādyam api cha
sa yatra kṣīrābdhiḥ sravati surabhīyaś cha sumahān
nimeṣārdhākhyo vā vrajati na hi yatrāpi samayaḥ
bhaje śvetadvīpaṁ tam aham iha golokam iti yaṁ
vidantas te santaḥ kṣiti-virala-chārāḥ katipaye
(“That place where the Divine Goddesses of Fortune are the Beloved,
and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Male, is the only Lover;
all the trees are Divine wish-fulfilling trees,
the soil is made of Transcendental Gems
and the water is nectar;
where every word is a song,
every movement is dancing,
the flute is the dearmost companion,
sunlight and moonlight are Divine Ecstasy,
and all that be is Divine, and enjoyable;
where a great ocean of milk eternally flows
from the udders of billions of Surabhī cows
and the Divine time is eternally present,
never suffering the estrangement of past and future
for even a split second …
that Supreme Transcendental Abode of Śvetadwīp
do I adore.
Practically no one in this world knows that place
but for only a few pure devotees —
and they know it as Goloka.”)
That is the explanation of Vṛndāvan, actual Vṛndāvan. Also in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.29), Lord Brahmā says:
chintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(“Surrounded by millions of wish-fulfilling trees,
in abodes made of multitudes of wish-yielding gems,
He who tends the ever-yielding cows
and who is perpetually served with great affection
by hundreds of thousands of Lakṣmīs —
the Primeval Lord, Govinda, do I worship.”)
In Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā is given a very nice explanation about Vṛndāvan Dhām, Goloka Dhām. Chintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrkṣa. If we look at the houses in Vṛndāvan, we cannot at present see that they are made of chintāmaṇi, but actually they are transcendental and actual Vṛndāvan is all made of chintāmaṇi. Prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrkṣa. Sadmasu means all the houses, and kalpa-vrkṣa means wish-fulfilling trees. If you want a fruit such as a mango from a neem tree, the neem tree will give you a mango; that is kalpa-vrkṣa. But what we see with our present vision is not that!
We think it is a very auspicious place, no doubt, and that it exists above this mundane world, but with our mundane knowledge we cannot feel it. We glorify that auspicious place, and therefore sometimes some light may come to us. We think it to be better than other places, no doubt, but we do not see the real Vṛndāvan. But we need that real Vṛndāvan and we need to have admission there.
chintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
In this connection, I can remember an answer given by Pishima, Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s sister. Pishima had much regard and affection for Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, and he also liked her like his disciple. She was a very strict lady and a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, so everyone respected her, and her opinion was held in very high regard.
One day some curious sannyāsīs asked her, “In which way is Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh, Nabadwīp, running? Are they eating nicely or are they not getting food?”
Pishima gave her reply, “Oh that Maṭh is very glorious; you cannot guess it. Lakṣmī Devī herself looks after the grounds and veranda of Rādhā-Govindasundar! This is the actual position of Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh there.”
When Śrīla Guru Mahārāj heard this he said, “Oh, in a very protective way Pishima has expressed it! If she would have said, ‘Lakṣmī Devī herself looks after the grounds of Śrīdhar Mahārāj’s Maṭh’, I must fall into the ocean of offence, but she said, ‘She is looking after Rādhā-Govinda’s grounds’, and that is good. We can honour that; we can honour her opinion.”
Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ. This is the mood of our transcendental body: we are always ready, ever ready for service to Kṛṣṇa, and waiting for the order of our Divine Master.
Our transcendental body is very nicely decorated with marks of tilak as twelve temples of Kṛṣṇa and good tulasī-mālā on our neck. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra is on our chest. With that body we are to serve Kṛṣṇa under the guidance of our Divine Master. This is our dhyān, our meditation, and we want that. We are practising in a mundane way, but by the mercy of our Gurudev, and through our devotion, we must get it. That only, is our hope, and this has been shown by Śrīla Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī and Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī.
Already I told you Śrīla Dās Goswāmī’s super-śloka, āśā-bharair-amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ kathañchit. Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī gave another śloka that is also very high. He said:
virachaya mayi daṇḍaṁ dīna-bandho dayāṁ vā
gatir iha na bhavattaḥ kāchid anyā mamāsti
nipatatu śata-koṭir nirbharaṁ vā navāmbhas
tad api kila payodaḥ stūyate chātakena
“He Dīnabandhu, He Kṛṣṇa, I am fully surrendered unto Your lotus feet. I do not want anything without Your mercy — that is my life’s position. I shall not praise others and I do not desire anything from any other channel. Only I desire the mercy of Your Divine Grace.” In this way, Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī also explained the heart of a devotee.
Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī composed many books. For us, the conditioned souls, he gave many things. Anyhow, our activity must go for the service to Guru, Vaiṣṇava, and Bhagavān, and one day we must attain that transcendental vision. Through such vision we will be able to see everything: Kṛṣṇa Dhām, Vraja Dhām,Vṛndāvan Dhām. We will get the mercy of the Vraja-vāsīs there, and of Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātan, Śrī Raghunāth, and the other Goswāmīs. Through their mercy we must get service to Their Lordships Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇachandra and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. This is our only hope, and the only goal of our life.