Hand-carved Gems

Excerpts from letters by
His Divine Grace
Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāj

Question: In summary I have the following questions:

1) What are your thoughts about maintaining the standard of behaviour acceptable to an initiated disciple, and about requesting disciples to chant a minimum of sixteen rounds as had been established by Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupād in the recent past?

2) What is the proper conception of the Gurudev’s order to serve with devotion in a family of devotees, ISKCON, designed by the Gurudev, Śrīla Prabhupād, for the perpetuation of the disciples’ service to the Lord?

3) If an institution, such as ISKCON, has discrepancies, should it not be maintained and given time to mature?

4) Should the devotees working now on your behalf try to lure settled but neophyte devotees away from ISKCON to your service, rather than be encouraged to serve Śrīla Prabhupād and his servants in spreading the glories of the Holy Name and in making spiritual advancement through the vehicle of ISKCON? And should such activities be encouraged by your workers or not?

5) Should the books presented by Śrīla Prabhupād be distributed by those in your service, even including those who would become your newly first initiated disciples? How else can we avoid minimising Śrīla Prabhupād’s importance to the strength of the sankīrtan movement than to read and distribute these books, even side by side with those published by the Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Please accept my humble daṇḍavat praṇāms in remembrance of our Divine Masters Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj Prabhupād.

Your questions are very clear and relevant, and now I am happy to answer them, but first it is necessary to make ourselves in a little neutral position in order to see the facts (even though some of the facts you have not directly asked for in your questions).

Actually, in Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s time there were many qualified disciples full with independent preaching capacity. I heard this from many sources, also that at any one time they were not unified. Śrīla Prabhupād Saraswatī Ṭhākur knew it very well; therefore, he did not name one particular person as his successor. However, in a special gathering of his disciples one day before his disappearance, he showed the hint of his desire through the hearing of the kīrtan Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī Pada from Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, and he instructed the devotees: “For the management of the missionary work, you are to make a Governing Body with twelve persons, and the secretary of that Governing Body must be the present secretary Kuñja Babu for as long as Kuñja Babu will live.”

He also gave some other instructions, but he did not directly appoint anyone as an Āchārya of the Gauḍīya Mission.

At that time Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was no doubt very exalted and an undefeatable preacher of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but his nature was to always keep himself in the background. Also he wanted to serve the Vaiṣṇavas very enthusiastically but he himself did not want to take any position of Guru or member of the Governing Body. Also through that nature and mood he never tried to come in the foreground of the Governing Body. He felt himself to be indebted to his few special godbrothers who helped him from the first time in his divine practicing life: Śrīpād Vāsudev Prabhu, Śrīpād Bhakti Sudhākar Prabhu (Professor N.K. Sānnyāl), Śrīpād A.V. Bhakti Sāraṅga Goswāmī, Śrīpād Keśav Mahārāj, Śrīpād Mādhav Mahārāj, etc.

Actually, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj himself did not make Vāsudev Prabhu an Āchārya. Also, he was not in a position to have any right to do so, but when it was declared by that special group of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s disciples that Vāsudev Prabhu be the Āchārya of the Gauḍīya Maṭh, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj agreed and immediately felt relief that the responsibility of being Āchārya did not come to him. Furthermore, when Śrīpād Keśav Mahārāj heavily proposed his name in the Governing Body, that also he cleverly avoided because actually Śrīla Guru Mahārāj did not want to be involved in the management. Only, he wanted to stay as a humble preacher and friend to all the Vaiṣṇavas. Earlier also, seeing the situation of his Mission, Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur fully depended upon Kṛṣṇa to select the future Āchārya of his Mission. Actually, this was the fact at that time.

I read a letter of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj where he apparently blamed Śrīla Guru Mahārāj for appointing Śrīpād Vāsudev Prabhu, but that was his own idea — and some of the devotees of the Gauḍīya Maṭh’s idea — and there is some truth also. But if Śrīla Guru Mahārāj had wanted to take a strong managerial decision, then Śrīpād Vāsudev Prabhu would not have been able to come out in the forefront easily. But Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was of disinterested nature and he did not want to get involved with the management. But later it came out in front of all the devotees that Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was the fittest person for the Āchāryaship, but by that time that thinking of the devotees was too late. When Vāsudev Prabhu and Sundarānanda Prabhu, Bhakti Sudhākar Prabhu and others tried to keep Vāsudev Prabhu’s ownership from the anti-group — and heavily tried to do so with violence — then Śrīla Guru Mahārāj wanted to keep aloof, and he unhappily left that Mission. After that he wanted to stay alone with his bhajan life. This is the fact, but when Śrīla Guru Mahārāj came out from the Gauḍīya Mission, at that time more than 50% of the prominent devotees also came out from that Mission. We heard this from his divine godbrothers as well as Śrīpād B.S. Siddhāntī Mahārāj.

It was the idea of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj and others, and thinking in this way about Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s position, Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj mentioned in his letter that if Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj had not stayed in favour of Vāsudev Prabhu, Vāsudev Prabhu would not have got that position. It was indirect support to Vāsudev Prabhu’s Āchāryaship.

Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj was a very respectfully intimate godbrother of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, and I consider he has the right to say as he did, but we will see it as only his expression of clarification for his disciples in order to make his mission perfect.

I have no doubt that Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj wanted to give the position of Āchāryaship to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. And when Śrīla Guru Mahārāj came out from that Gauḍīya Mission, he received his first preaching invitation from Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj in Kolkata as a measure of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s respect and friendship.

Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj wanted to start another mission headed by Śrīla Guru Mahārāj — many times we have seen it. We can mention that his last proposal was that he wanted to take Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj as the President of the “League of Devotees” in Jhansi.

Actually, neither of them were very much eager to take missionary Āchāryaship, but it later automatically came to them, and they served that chair whole-heartedly and they endeavoured to give full protection to that chair for the future preceptorial line.

I know that his letter was not criticism of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, but Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj expressed in that letter in the name of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj for only cautioning the devotees. We can consider this as a past picture of the Gauḍīya Mission, and Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj did not want a repetition of that picture.

My commentary is not as a disciple of them, it is simply impartial history. Actually, we have no right to involve in that historical matter. What you say in your letter is one hundred percent true: “We cannot fully know the arrangement of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but we do see practically that insincerity will be rewarded with fall-down. But, it is not the fault of the Gurudev, but rather the insincerity of the disciples that may lead to such discrepancies and problems.”

In the time of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu it was His desire that everyone will chant a minimum of one lakh (one hundred thousand) Hari-nām. Some devotees chanted in that way, but mostly they could not do so. Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur also instructed that to chant one lakh Hari-nām every day is very good, but that a minimum of sixteen rounds must be chanted. But when the Gauḍīya Mission expanded all over India and disciples also came from all parts of the country, it was his consideration that an absolute minimum of four rounds must be daily chanted by everybody.

Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj realised everything about the Western World and scrutinisingly seeing their nature of devotion he gave the direction, “Everybody must chant sixteen rounds every day.” However, everybody cannot follow that; therefore, they are breaking their promise to Gurudev.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj duly considered, and he expressed, “We must chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra with full concentration for a minimum of four rounds if it is not possible to chant sixteen rounds or more”, following his Gurudev’s minimum guide-line, and he gave much more importance to sevā — that means serving the Lord through the satisfaction of Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas.

Nām-sankīrtan is direct service to Hari-nām if it is perfectly done without offence. You know the śloka:

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

Śrī Hari-nām will reveal Himself through service to the Vaiṣṇavas, and Śrīla Prabhupād Saraswatī Ṭhākur gave more importance to such service to Guru-Vaiṣṇava. By his instruction to chant a minimum of four rounds, it is indicated that as much as possible by the servitors they are to chant unlimitedly. And everywhere Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said, “We need quality, not quantity.” Also in Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s Patrāvalī (Letters of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur) we can see in his letter to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj that he gave more importance to the service of Śrī Guru-Vaiṣṇava, and that through such service they achieve the qualification of quality in their chanting. But if anyone can increase the quantity while keeping the quality, that is very, very good.

We can also see from another angle. When Gurudev gives Hari-nām initiation, at that time the disciple promises, “Yes I shall chant such a specified number of rounds (whether four, sixteen, sixty-four, etc.)”, but to fail to keep their vow will go in the category of offence against Guru. In that way it is some relief to the devotees to have a minimum of just four rounds daily. On the whole all Their Divine Graces have the right to adjust their instruction according to the environment, the situation, and the capacity of the devotees. Anyhow, the vital point is that we are to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa as much as possible — without offence, with sincerity, and with love, and to serve Guru-Vaiṣṇava and their mahāprasādam whole-heartedly.

About the four directives, we are always mentioning them here in India, but on my recent world tour I sometimes did not mention them — I am thinking that everyone in the West is conscious about the four directives. Also, those who are coming to me, they are not coming to me directly, but they are coming through some Vaiṣṇavas. Those Vaiṣṇavas are recommending them; that is, I do not know anything about them but I am giving my service initiation to the recommended sincere seekers. (Actually, the directives are not four, but five, and those four directives are living automatically within the fifth. However, for the innocent newcomers we must advise that they follow the four directives no doubt.)

But here is also some vital point that we must not forget (even though it may not be for public mass-distribution): that is that the position of the real and exclusive devotee of Kṛṣṇa is above the rules, and such devotees can come from anywhere and everywhere. And from another angle, we can say that the mercy of the great Vaiṣṇavas can make anyone immediately into a good devotee. In this connection we can discuss the ślokas of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu… and, api chet sudurāchāro... Therefore, we must try to consider everything in a harmonising way; otherwise, we may be offenders.

yasmin śāstre-purāṇe vā hari-bhaktir na dṛṣyate
śrotavyam naiva tach chhāstraṁ yadi brahmā svayaṁ vadet

“Do not hear any scripture which does not glorify Kṛṣṇa-bhakti and Kṛṣṇa’s bhaktas. Even if Lord Brahma will sit in front of you and recite any other type of scripture, don’t listen!” It was for this purpose that Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj formed ISKCON. He wanted ISKCON to be a pure place of devotional association. Especially, we are to avoid Vaiṣṇava-aparādh.

Always there must be some imperfection in this world but if ISKCON remains at least 60% pure, then carefully the devotees can serve there. ‘Carefully’ means that devotees will be careful to keep good association and to avoid those who have any tendency to be offensive or disrespectful to the Vaiṣṇavas and Kṛṣṇa-bhakti.

About myself, I can say clearly that I have made a promise to my Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and at least I can say I am trying one hundred percent to practise and preach according to his wish.

When travelling to our destination, if we come across someone who is sick or injured and they beg assistance, naturally we will also try to give some assistance by way of relief-work.

When an ISKCON Āchārya does some activities that even the material people will not do, then how can we agree? And in which way can the sincere seeker be faithful to that Āchārya? Such seekers want no mundane things from ISKCON. They need the seeds of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and the association of good Vaiṣṇavas.

They need to have the seeds planted happily in the heart, and to get more and more inspiration to practise Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and they can inspire others also by their example as good ISKCON devotees. But we cannot ignore the fact that inside ISKCON many of the leaders have proceeded in a very mechanical and mundane way.

You are putting a very hard question for me to answer about the ISKCON Mission. In those earlier days when Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj established the now exalted ‘International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness’, his Mission was always receiving proper nourishment through his divine association. Perhaps everything was not going fully perfectly, but on the whole we can say that his Mission was the only hope for the Western world to happily practise Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is true that after his disappearance some disturbance came in his beloved ISKCON Mission, and it is a very usual thing. In every mission everywhere it must be expected that when the exalted sun is going to set, some illusory environment will try to influence over all that mission. I cannot say that in Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s time there was no influence of illusion, but by his divine power everything was immediately harmonised.

Everybody will try to make his mission perfect, and I think all the auspicious and great Āchāryas in this world tried to make their missions perfect and spent their whole energy for that. And I have no doubt they were all the well-wishers of all jīva-souls.

I think the ISKCON Mission is completely different from other missions: we can consider it as a God-gifted organisation for the super-benefit of the conditioned souls through His Divine Grace Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāj. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said, “Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj is a Śaktyāveś-avatār; otherwise, no man can make such a mission all over the world within five years.” In a very short time he widely gave the chance to receive the supreme goal of life: unalloyed devotion to Kṛṣṇa in the line of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.

In the time of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj whenever news would come from any corner of the world of the many persons chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra and practising pure devotional life, at that time I saw the face of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj to be greatly exalted, and he openly praised Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s divine activities and glories in front of everybody. I also saw his similar divine expression whenever Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj would come and report his missionary news to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. They were both very great, and their basic discussion was very high and harmonious about spreading real Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj himself selected a few leaders for maintaining and spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world for his Mission — that was called the “G.B.C.” — and he was proud of them. At that time my own feelings were non-different from ISKCON, and I was very happy to see the mood of the devotees. I did not get the chance to mix with everybody — it was also not possible — but I was surprised to see the depth of knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in those I saw. Actually, I received much nice impression and enthusiasm from them including Śrīpād Bhāvānanda Mahārāj, Śrīpād Tamal Kṛṣṇa Mahārāj, Śrīpād Achyutānanda Prabhu, etc. I still have many friends in the ISKCON society, and they have a very good mood. They are living within the preaching and practising life, and I highly respect them.

But you know that after the disappearance of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj many things have happened in that society. Not only that, but many of the great, great devotee personalities showed their very unfortunate form, and that was painful for their followers and many of the followers of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj, and it was very painful for myself also. Those confused persons eagerly sought secure shelter for their spiritual life, but they could no longer fully trust others in that society. At the same time they did not want to leave Kṛṣṇa consciousness because living in their hearts was the seed of Kṛṣṇa consciousness planted by Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj.

Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj often said, “I am ISKCON.” That means that all the property of Kṛṣṇa consciousness — the Society he formed — was living with him, and he could not tolerate that any disturbance will come to his preaching life, and he would try to remove such disturbances by any means. But after His Divine Grace’s disappearance, some wave of illusion in the form of ego immediately tried to spread bad influence. You know that many have been affected by that influence. By those infected persons’ power, many good souls were ousted, and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj tried to give them some hope and shelter in the form of relief work. At present I am trying to serve his divine chair to the best of my limited capacity.

Actually, Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj organised the ISKCON society so there can be practising of Kṛṣṇa consciousness under proper guardianship, and that is the only goal of life for all conditioned souls. This is not only the preaching of His Divine Grace, but it is also the preaching of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, His associates, and the preceptorial line after Him. No doubt it has manifest in the world at large, especially in the West, through Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj, but the many disciples of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur and our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj continued according to their own capacity to preach and practise Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We see everywhere that each do not have the identical preaching method and mood of Śrīman Mahāprabhu: tṛnād api sunīchena taror api sahiṣṇunā, amāninā mānadena… and they were not all free from Vaiṣṇava-aparādh. Therefore, many difficulties arise in every society, and even our society is not fully free from that.

We need to do good for ourselves and for others. We want to leave the ideal of mundanity and we must try to achieve the super-beneficial transcendental service-plane — which is really our life’s goal — through chanting the mahāmantra without offence in the association of devotees, and preaching. The chanting without offence is so very essential, and if that feeling does not come to us, we will not get the proper beneficial results. I feel that this is very important for us now.

I heard a phrase in English from Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, “The rank is but the guinea-stamp, man is the gold for that.” Actually, an institution or sampradāya is like the guinea-stamp, but the real value is to be found in the quality of the gold — wherever it is to be found — otherwise, only in its own particular country will the value certified by the guinea-stamp be given.

In another way we can say, svadeśe pūjyate rājā vidvān sarvatra pūjyate. Qualified persons have value everywhere, but if a King is not qualified, he will only receive honour in his own kingdom. We can also see many nicely designed uniforms displayed in shop-windows. But we need to proceed to our destination, and if we can understand whole-heartedly this importance, we cannot sit back and wait for that. If we can have both the man and the designed uniform, that will be very good for us.

I am always trying to harmonise with all environments and I never advise anyone to make any disturbance or offence to others. I want to try to make everyone my friend, and I want blessings from all our sister-concerns. And if unknowingly I may make any offence to them, I am always praying for their forgiveness. If I can proceed with this mood, I must remain free form Vaiṣṇava-aparādh.

Already everything has been given in the writings of the Goswāmīs, but the successive Āchāryas distributed that same treasure but according to the receiving capacity of the aspirants. This process is always going on, whether in the West or the East, and in this way lakhs of people have come. Even Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur did not give many things to us — because we are not qualified. Not only that, but Śrīman Mahāprabhu Himself did not give such things, because they are not for mass distribution. Therefore, the conclusion is that they gave everything about Kṛṣṇa consciousness no doubt, but not for everybody. Also, all are not qualified to receive that. Therefore, it is said:

antaraṅga laiyā kare rasa-āsvādana
bahiraṅga laiyā kare nāma-saṅkīrtana

I sometimes hear that disciples of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and myself, they are heavily preaching their conception akin to “throwing out the baby with the bath-water”, but that is not my preaching. My preaching is to be humble, tolerant, and to give honour to others, and that is the way of Mahāprabhu’s teachings also. It is my prayer to everyone to try to take to heart the teachings of all our predecessor Āchāryas for the real benefit and progress of everyone in a harmonious way. All have come for Kṛṣṇa consciousness and they have faith in that conception. To see them going away is very painful. I want to help them, and if anyone approaches me for help, it is my duty to try to help them according to my capacity.

In summary of the answers to your questions:

1) Concerning the standard that Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj established in the Western World for the behaviour of the devotees and the chanting of the mahāmantra, that standard must be beneficial for all. But the special consideration about chanting a minimum of four rounds is also agreeable to remind us of the mercy of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur as well as Śrīla Guru Mahārāj.

2) Śrīla Gurudev’s orders are the super-directives for the disciple, and without hesitation the disciple must follow that. ISKCON is a society for practising Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it was unquestionable in the time of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj, that is he said “I am ISKCON.” If after the disappearance of His Divine Grace that society can exist within that same conception of quality, then the devotees will unhesitatingly try to serve there if they will get the chance.

3) Maturity and progress in spiritual life have no limit, but in the starting stages there are certain directives.

4) Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī said,

kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ
krīyatāṁ yadi kuto ‘pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate

If anyone sincerely seeks with a full mood of hankering to search rāgānugā loving bhakti, we must encourage them, but we are not to disturb in any way the mission of others or the natural devotional environment.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said that we are to have sympathetic dealings with nature and not to cause any disturbance. But along the way of spiritual advancement, if we will see that anyone is in trouble and they need help, or that their vehicle needs repair or they want a lift to their destination, or in any way they are in a difficult position and need help for their relief, we will try to help them as affectionate friends. Actually, we all need spiritual progress within the line of Śrīman Mahāprabhu as well as the Rūpānuga sampradāya; therefore, we shall try to help each other in that line through our mood of service-energy, but we will never try to disturb others’ service activities or missions.

5) And in answer to your last question: When I claim that I was perhaps the first mass-distributor of Back to Godhead door to door from 7 Sitakanta Banerjee Lane, Kolkata, then where is any difficulty for us to distribute the books of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj if the B.B.T. will give chance to do that service? I can say that I think everyone headed by Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj would be very happy to see their books distributed side by side.

I may mention Your Grace as an example. You have approached me with thoughtful, sincere enquiry, and naturally I am trying to give proper reply and guide-lines according to my capacity, but my English is very insufficient. I cannot express fully my thought through the English language, and I think my answer will invite more questions. That is, everything is not sufficiently expressed, but only briefly I have expressed my heart.

In this way I cannot ignore all the sincere seekers and enquirers. But personally I consider Your Grace to be a qualified Vaiṣṇava and merciful to the fallen souls such as myself.

I hope this letter meets you in steady practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Again with my humble daṇḍavat praṇāms,

P. S. My time is very short. If you want to ask any more questions, please try to see me. At that time we can sit together and discuss.

Question: Recently, I came across the books of Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhar Mahārāj and I find them to be a great source of inspiration in my devotional life. However, some of my friends who are disciples of Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupād are discouraging me from reading these books and associating with your disciples. I am in a dilemma and asking your help.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: You have been a devotee for several years, but I do not know if you are aware of the intimate relation between Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj Prabhupād and our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. I was with Śrīla Guru Mahārāj personally for maybe 42 years and saw his relationship with all the different devotees. For about ten years of that time the Kolkata branch of Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh was in Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s own premises next to his house. He would regularly come for many hours of discussions with Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. Also at that time, by the instruction of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, I learned Bhagavad-gītā from Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj. Also up until Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s last days in this world he wanted Śrīla Guru Mahārāj to be the head of his ISKCON Mission. Actually, there are many things that the devotees do not know; therefore, some misunderstanding has sometimes come.

Anyhow, by the grace of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, the position of Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh is clear. It was always the wish of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj not to disturb others’ missions, but our mission is one of ‘relief work’ for the spiritual seekers. You are reading his books and associating with his devotees; that is, you can understand something of his exalted mood.

Question: You have much faith in my ability to manage, but I cannot see how it is possible to carry out your order, and I fear that if I continue, then the situation will get much worse. Please, Mahārāj, remove me from this position and appoint someone else and I will try to serve that devotee. If it is your desire that I continue, then I shall have to try again but I am deeply frustrated and feel hopeless.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: In our practitioner’s life, for the time being many disturbing things and also frustration must come, but with our deep service intention and faith, by the mercy of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj everything will be vanquished. Every morning in winter we shall not see the clear sun, as some days must be foggy, but we do not stop our duty because of that. Śrī Kṛṣṇa said in Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā:

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ‘nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

What is necessary is only our capacity to tolerate. And this is also one kind of test. If I think of my own life’s history, almost every day I have spent with anxiety in my service-life. But I am happy with that; that is, I am thinking that Kṛṣṇa is taking something from my energy for His divine service by making me worried. When a good boy after trying hard, fails his class exam, what does his father do? Does he oust him from the house or give him nourishment to give him more enthusiasm? We must remember this.

alabdhe vā vinaṣṭe vā bhakṣyāchchhādana-sādhane
aviklava-matir bhūtvā harim eva dhiyā smaret

Therefore, we must try with our double energy to fulfil the desire of our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj for the super-benefit of our spiritual lives.

Whatever is my duty is exclusively mine — I cannot give any share to anyone to make a massacre. If I know that only I can do the duty that has come to me, then I must do that. Those who can accept the challenge of service to Guru-Gaurāṅga, they can do many things even beyond their capacity, by the grace of Their Lordships. Therefore, don’t you worry.

I can remember one phrase in Bengali poetry that says that even if the whole world will leave their service with a crying mood, I will not run but I will try. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj many times recited this story of Rabindranath Tagore:

yadi tora ḍāka śune keu nā āse tabe esalā chalore

If nobody will come with you, you must proceed alone, without even a stick. It is necessary to be steady in your point of position of service. It is a very high thing, but for your attention I can say humbly, but beyond my jurisdiction, in remembrance of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj: “Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī cannot tolerate to give any other party Her divine, exclusive service share for Kṛṣṇa.” I think it is enough for your remembrance …

…We have got this very rare human body, intelligence, energy, and many qualifications for the service to Kṛṣṇa; therefore, we cannot allow ourselves to make a massacre of our service-mind in exchange for some part of the mundane.

Dear Prabhu, don’t you be worried for any illusory environment. You must think that Śrīla Guru Mahārāj is always with us, watching us, and taking care of us. It must be we will finally get a victorious service position by His divine mercy.

We are very fortunate; that, is we are enlightened by Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s and Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj’s divine service life. After Śrīman Mahāprabhu this kind of wave of devotion has not come out until the time of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Prabhupād. That wave has been blown all over the world by Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj in order to successfully smash the illusory environment, and now the whole world is chanting “Hare Kṛṣṇa”. By hook or by crook they established Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but if we think how much obstruction came in their lifetime, we must forget our own sorrow and difficulties. Śrīla Dās Goswāmī said that when you will be in a very much troubled position from your inner enemies — kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, mātsarya — you chant loudly the name of your protector: the Vaiṣṇavas. Pray to them for the protection of your spiritual divine life, and, if you are sincere, you must get help from them. Then I can only say, “Proceed, proceed, and proceed, and the foggy sky must timely leave your vision.”

Question: We have read in a book from another temple that union is higher than separation and we are having some problems understanding the explanations given there. In the past we have always read in books by Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj Prabhupād and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj that vipralambha, separation, is the highest mood in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. How are these statements compatible?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: My feeling is that even after one thousand births more, such persons as wrote that statement will never be able to understand what is vipralambha and what is contained there. Mahāprabhu stayed twelve years in Gambhīrā tasting the separation mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to Kṛṣṇa extremely, and that is the super-expression of Kṛṣṇa-prema. Such super-expression came out through vipralambha; otherwise, it is not possible to taste Kṛṣṇa-prema. We can get some idea of how deep it is, that Mahāprabhu took the Form of Rādhārāṇī’s bhāva and kanti, and that is not the mood of union, but of separation.

Everyone, including even a child goat, in this mundane world knows what union is; therefore, it is not necessary to teach anyone to enjoy: they already know, so it is not necessary to clarify that for anyone. But all the attentive energy is to be used for what? What is not known is the transcendental mood of separation. Why was such mood tasted by Mahāprabhu again and again? Mahāprabhu’s feeling always returned to the tasting of that vipralambha — the mood of separation from Kṛṣṇa. The subject matter of Mahāprabhu was to taste what deepest degree of feelings were felt by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

It is not possible to express by language the mood of separation that Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu tasted in Gambhīrā, but Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj tried to show something in Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, second chapter. Throughout the whole of Chaitanya-charitāmṛta the mood of separation is present. And why do we say that this is the supreme mood of the play of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Just what degree of bhāva is in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī that Kṛṣṇa appeared as Mahāprabhu in order to take Her mood and taste that? Who is the enjoyer? What is enjoyment? And, who is being enjoyed through the mood of suffering?

Everyone knows enjoyment, especially conditioned souls involved with sexual enjoyment, and thinking it gives the highest happiness within this mundane world, but he who can say that the highest super-painful mood of separation can give the supreme feelings — the only one who can say that is Śrīman Mahāprabhu.

One śloka expressed by Kavirāj Goswāmī about Mādhavendra Purī’s feeling of the mood of separation from Kṛṣṇa is:

ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha he
mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase
hṛdayaṁ tvad-aloka-kātaraṁ
dayita bhrāmyati kiṁ karomy aham

ei śloka kahiyāchhena rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī…

This śloka was extremely expressed by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and through Her super-mercy Śrīpād Mādhavendra Purī also tasted it at the last moment of his life. After that, only Śrīman Mahāprabhu, and no one else, is qualified to taste it fully — this is the opinion of Śrīla Kavirāj Goswāmī.

You try to consider the following: What is it that Kṛṣṇa cannot taste Himself? What was it that Kṛṣṇa wanted to taste, that He appeared in the Form of Mahāprabhu? Why did Kṛṣṇa take the mood and colour of Rādhārāṇī and what was His tasting matter? What did Kṛṣṇa taste in the Form of Mahāprabhu during His Pastimes here? What mood did Mahāprabhu show in Purī Dhām, especially in His Gambhīrā-līlā, and why did He faint to see Kṛṣṇa in Kurukṣetra in the Form of Jagannāth? Why did Chaṇḍī Dās write in one poem:

lakha lakha yuga hiye hiye rākhanu
tabu hiyā juḍana nā gela

(Meaning: Why did Rādhārāṇī say She couldn’t be satisfied by embracing Kṛṣṇa for millions of millions of years?) What mood is expressed here?

What mood of tasting is given by Śrī Kavirāj Goswāmī in expressing Mahāprabhu’s Antya-līlā in Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta second part, second chapter?

That which Rādhārāṇī tasted in separation of Kṛṣṇa when He did not return but sent Uddhava to see Vṛndāvan, Mahāprabhu tasted that Vramara-gītā in an intoxicated way continuously for twelve years like an extremely mad man. If such souls are foolish, then all the residents of Vṛndāvan, including the gopīs, are foolish. Why didn’t they get straight into a chariot, like a taxi, and go just half an hour to Mathurā instead of foolishly living in Vṛndāvan?

But if that author (of the book you mention) with his conception wants to taste the mood of union, he will immediately become pregnant, then what will be for him?

What was it that Rūpa Goswāmī expressed in a praising way about the mood of Kṛṣṇa-prema in separation when he said — pīḍābhir nava-kāla-kūta, etc. (Cc: 2.2.52) — the power of even a young cobra’s poison is defeated by the Kṛṣṇa-prema of separation?

Actually, I am not eager to give answer to this, but I am only remembering the mood of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj. I am extremely hating to give any answer to this question of childish mood of praising union. That is, everybody knows the position of union.

I know what is hell, and I have some experience about heaven, but I do not know what is the destination of one who wants to criticise the dearmost associates of Rādhārāṇī as well as Mahāprabhu Śrī Chaitanyadev. He has not even the smallest idea about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, especially about the twelve years of Mahāprabhu’s living in Gambhīrā and the mood of Rādhārāṇī tasted by Mahāprabhu, the non-different form of Kṛṣṇa. Can you say what kind of destination awaits such a person? If the residents of hell see such a person, they must be fearful of him and need to make a new hell for him.

We have taken refuge at the lotus feet of our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, and therefore Kṛṣṇa has been gracious to give us all protection from the concocted ideas of the foolish. If you read only Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s books and try to serve only in his line, you will be joyful and worry-free, and very quickly you will make progress on your transcendental homeward journey.

Question: I am running a purely vegetarian restaurant, but a devotee quoted you as saying that devotional service and business should not be mixed. He also implied that it isn’t proper to offer foodstuffs to Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga before serving it out. I have a little trouble to understand this. Please say something on this matter for us.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Regarding your question, I can say that everything depends on the mood of the devotee. The mahābhāgavat can see everything to be prasādam. But the scripture also says that to give mahāprasādam to those who have no faith is an aparādh. By way of example, Hari-nām can rescue everyone, but if you give it to someone who has no faith, then it is an offence; in a similar way we can make aparādh to mahāprasādam. But it all depends on the mood of those involved: if in a fully conscious way, it is made and offered, then distributed to those with faith — that is very good.

Mahāprasādam means mercy, and we are not to give that in exchange for money, but we can give it in exchange for faith. However, I am not criticising Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj; that is, I can harmonise it in another way: he wants to engage the whole world in the service of Kṛṣṇa, and he has the right to break and make the injunctions; that is, he is a Śaktyāveś-āvatār. We can adjust the mood of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj and the traditional rules in this way: where there is no other way to do service to Guru-Gaurāṅga, the devotees are doing business, being employed, distributing books, selling cookies, etc. Also running restaurants is one kind of business. So I can harmonise in this way, that after cooking you first offer a little of each preparation to Śrī Guru-Gaurāṅga, but not mix it back in with the remainder. Also, after taking for the maintenance of your family, you offer the profit money for the service of Śrī Guru-Vaiṣṇava, and in this way no reaction will come to you. That is, I say it all depends on the mood in which it is done. The main thing is that your existence must stand in the plane of service. If anyone with śraddhā wants that prasād, you can happily give it to him.

Question: In the purport of verses 5.24 and 25 of Śrī Brahma- saṁhitā it is stated that the Gopāl mantra has two aspects: 1) To fulfil the pure spiritual desires of pure devotees, culminating in Kṛṣṇa-prema, and 2) To also fulfil the mundane desires of the mixed devotees.

Considering myself a mixed devotee, I am asking you if I may chant this Gopāl mantra. I am already initiated into the gāyatrī mantra which contains the Gopāl mantra. May I chant this Gopāl mantra like japa-mala, or in my mind incessantly?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Regarding the Gopāl mantra, you can refer to this verse:

bhoga-mokṣa vāñchhā chhāḍi’ hari-nāma gāi re
nā cheye-o nāmera guṇe o saba phala pāi re

When we will chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra or meditate upon the Kṛṣṇa or Gopāl mantra without asking for anything except the transcendental service to Kṛṣṇa under guidance of Śrī Gurudev, that will be of real benefit for everybody, and what good things are needed for us will come automatically. But if any mundane desire will come and mix with that devotional mood, that must hamper the pure devotion.

Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī said:

anyābhilāṣitā śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

You can consult with that śloka and can understand what is what. It is in Śrī Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. Also Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur said:

bhoga-mokṣa vāñchhā chhādi’ hari-nāma gāi re
nā cheye-o nāmera guṇe o saba phala pāi re

You can chant the Gopāl mantra constantly; that is no problem, but in this age of Kali-yuga, Hari-nām is the mahāmantra and of all mantras is the best. Hari-nām is for everything, but the Gopāl mantra is for meditation.

Question: I have been told that jīva-souls who take birth in the mortal world but who later go back to Kṛṣṇa’s abode can also fall down again into the material world. Is this true? Also, I hear from some that the jīva originally came from the spiritual world, but others say our origin is the marginal position. Dear Gurudev, please help me understand this.

Also, please clarify as to whether I may visit other missions if I find their members to be respectful to my Śrīla Guru Mahārāj.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: If anyone from Vaikuṇṭha comes to the material worlds, it is generally only by the will of the Lord. It is, however, given in the scriptures that even a resident of Vaikuṇṭha can fall down if he commits Vaiṣṇava-aparādh, but that also can be seen to be by the will of the Lord as in the case of the gatekeepers, Jaya and Vijay.

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was many times approached with this question and he illustrated clearly that our origin is the marginal potency of the Lord, the taṭastha-śakti. If we become liberated from worldly bondage, as a matter of right we can enter the marginal plane, but only by grace can we enter the higher planes of Vaikuṇṭha, Vṛndāvan, etc.

In other societies there are no doubt many good and respectful souls whose association is good, but it is also true that some have the tendency to criticise our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj — and that is very harmful. To hear criticism of Śrī Gurudev is very bad and must be avoided because it strikes at the foundation of spiritual wealth: faith in Śrī Guru. From another angle, anyone running a mission certainly faces many problems to keep the unity, so we must always be careful to respect that. And if others may not want us to visit their Temple, we will humbly agree to their wish and still keep our respect for those devotees.

Ideally, we shall try to keep the association of those who are following our own track of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way various devotees are trying hard to make successful ashrams as places for our Maṭh’s devotees to associate happily.

Question: As you know, one devotee who was considered to be more senior has fallen away from your Mission here. Our question is how we can avoid similar misfortune befalling ourselves also?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: I am surprised to see the mood of that devotee: he has completely fallen down in the ocean of illusion, but you are all saved by the grace of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. We can understand that the cause for such fall-down is ego and offence to the Vaiṣṇavas. You all please try to avoid Vaiṣṇava-aparādh, and be careful from mundane ego.

I have seen in my short life many things: many up and down situations of the practitioner’s life. Big, big personalities up to Brahmaloka have received difficulty in their practising life due only to the cause of Vaiṣṇava-aparādh and egoism. Anyhow, our protector and saviour, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, is always bestowing his mercy to us, and we must cross over that dangerous situation.

Question: As per your wish we plan to translate and publish books of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. We need funds for this therefore, we first wish to translate and publish a popular book introducing Indian philosophy. We are asking your permission for this.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: For your own continuing practising life and proper, happy, safe progress, you must try to be devoted exclusively to your Guru for the satisfaction of the beloved Lord. In order to do that you need some certain line and track to happily proceed. Many things are good in this world, no doubt, but one with exclusive mood will always focus on his own track — that means the books of our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, his instructions, practising method, etc. — and we will follow that. But as a business for the purpose of maintenance, we can consider presenting the books of others, as long as it is not harmful and that it does not differ from the conception of our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, but we cannot sell ourselves in exchange for anything in the mundane world. In this regard we can remember Śrīla Prabhupād Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s advice that we must tolerantly try to serve Śrī Guru-Gaurāṅga despite whatever may come. Love or rupture or anything may come, but we are to proceed in our track — that is very important.

Question: I have an enquiry about the worship of the Devas. Also, Guruji, is it wise for us to conduct śraddhā ceremonies for the non-devotees who have passed away?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: One who is a follower of the exclusive devotional line of Kṛṣṇa consciousness as given by Śrīla Guru Mahārāj as followers of the Rūpānuga sampradāya, he will not feel any necessity to engage himself for the purpose of any other god or demigod. This is our clear line. As primary support for this Kṛṣṇa-sevā conception Śrīmad Bhāgavatam says, devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṛṇāṁ. This śloka supports that one has no other necessity than to engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service.

For one who is living as a gṛhastha, if he will feel some obligation about Vedic society rules for his departed ancestors, he has some allowance in this way: he can offer mahāprasādam, read from four or five holy scriptures in front of Vaiṣṇavas, offer sixteen kinds of gifts to the Vaiṣṇava-Gurus, hold a fire sacrifice as Vaiṣṇava-homa, congregationally chant the mahāmantra, and make special offerings to the Deities then offer that mahāprasādam for the satisfaction of the Vaiṣṇavas and afterwards offer that mahāprasādam to the departed soul for the spiritual benefit of that soul.

For the general people if they faithfully follow the Vedic culture, they may be encouraged to become Vaiṣṇavas.

Question: Should the gāyatrī mantra be received by hearing through the right or left ear? I understand there is evidence in the scripture that says spiritual topics should be received through the left ear, but recently I heard you mention that the mantra should be received through the right ear.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Regarding your question, I can say that generally the right ear is stronger than the left ear. It is true that King Purañjana heard through the right ear, the south pañchāla, that means the karma-kāṇḍa fruitive activities under guidance of the Vedas, and it is that plane that Purañjana entered. This is given in the śloka of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.25.50), but in that śloka another qualification is also given: that one can memorise very quickly, yāti śrutadharānvitaḥ, just by once hearing, one can immediately memorise. In addition, Madhva Āchārya, our sampradāya Guru, said that through karma-kāṇḍa the jīva-soul may get a super chance by the karma if by good fortune he gets the opportunity of the super-servitor’s as devotees’ service. The left ear is a little weaker and it is mentioned to be a symbol of jñāna-kāṇḍa. In jñāna-kāṇḍa there is virtually no chance to get any service to the Vaiṣṇava devotees due to base ego. The final result they receive is Nirviśeṣloka, but this position must be avoided. In jñāna-kāṇḍa the main base is ego.

Also in some places we find the left ear is mentioned, but Śrīla Guru Mahārāj instructed us to hear through the right ear; therefore, we are following that process.

Question: I am living so far away from the central Maṭh. How can I understand there is any value in whatever little service I can do from here?

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Here in Nabadwīp so many activities are going on, but all is for the satisfaction of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. Also you can think it, that in the capital city of a country there are many duties that cannot be done there in the capital. The provinces, the smaller towns, and the villages all have their part to play in serving the centre. They grow paddy, vegetables, etc., spin cotton, make fabrics and clothing, keep cows, and produce milk, butter, yoghurt, etc., as well as many other duties. In this way all over the world’s fortunate souls can engage in service to the central Mission of our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj in unlimited ways. This varied service-life to the Centre is the basis of the whole spiritual world of joyful activity.