The relationship between Gaura and Gadadhara

Gadādhar Dās and Gadādhar Paṇḍit

Any questions from anyone?
Question: Today is a disappearance day of Śrī Gadādhar Dās Goswāmī. So, that different from Gadādhar Dās Paṇḍit. Could you, please, tell us something about him?

Well we only know a little bit, that we’ve heard from Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. First in Chaitanya-charitāmṛta the first seventeen ślokas give what Guru Mahārāj calls “the still frame”, structure upon which Chaitanya-charitāmṛta is built. And one of the ślokas there is, Rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi Kṛṣṇa-svarūpam (Cc: Adi, 1.5). Saying that Kṛṣṇa is enveloped in the heart and halo of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī. So, it says, Rādhā-bhāva and Rādhā-dyuti. So, bhāva is taken as heart and the remainder, when Kṛṣṇa plunders the heart of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as given by Rūpa Goswāmī in Chaitanya-aṣṭaka:

apāraṁ kasyāpi praṇayi-jana-vṛndasya kutukī
rasa-stomaṁ hṛtvā madhuram upabhoktuṁ kam api yaḥ
ruchaṁ svām āvavre dyutim iha tadīyāṁ prakaṭayan
sa devaś chaitanyākṛtir atitarāṁ naḥ kṛpayatu
(Dvitiya Chaitanyāṣṭaka: 3)

When Kṛṣṇa wants to teach devotion He takes the form of Mahāprabhu

It says that Kṛṣṇa's surveying all the millions and billions of gopīs in the rāsa-līlā, one outshined all others. That was Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī. So, and this type of love that she alone possesses for Kṛṣṇa, what She alone is tasting, the type of ecstatic joy She experiences arouse the curiosity in Kṛṣṇa to take her position. So, it says, Rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ, enveloped by the heart and halo of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī, naumi Kṛṣṇa-svarūpam, that svarūp of Kṛṣṇa. Which is guru-rūpa-hariṁ gauraṁ Rādhā-ruchi-ruchāvṛtam (Prapanna-jivanāmṛtam: 1.3), given by Guru Mahārāj, the beginning of Śrī Prapanna-jivanāmṛtam, where he’s saying, “The guru-rūpa of Kṛṣṇa is Gaurāṅga, so, when Kṛṣṇa wants to teach devotion, he takes the form of Mahāprabhu. Rādhā-ruchi-ruchāvṛtam, and He is covered and enveloped again in heart, Rādhā-ruchi-ruchāvṛtam.

So, plundering the heart of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī, Rūpa Goswāmī says stealing, Guru Mahārāj says stealing, plundering. The remainder is taken to be Gadādhar Paṇḍit. Therefore some comparisons were given to Rukmiṇī. Because take away the heart of Rādhārāṇī means her bhāva. Bhāva-bhāva, particularly this sort of sweet resistance and sweet opposition that inflames the desires of Kṛṣṇa. Absent that mood, that spirit liken to Rukmiṇī.

[Once] Rukmiṇī was teased by Kṛṣṇa.  Kṛṣṇa told her, “I am not really fit to be your husband, there are so many others who are more qualified.” And He went on and on and on. And Kṛṣṇa can make a very convincing case. And Rukmiṇī’s not thinking that was funny or joke, or teasing. At the thought of losing Kṛṣṇa, becoming separated from Him, it said, “She fainted.” How? “Like a tree in a hurricane.” The way a hurricane throws a tree and it just becomes uprooted and slammed. That’s how she fainted and fell on the ground. She couldn’t tolerate that idea.

And, of course, Kṛṣṇa had to revive her. But in the parallel in Mahāprabhu’s Pastimes, sometimes Mahāprabhu is teasing Gadādhar Paṇḍit and pressing Him. And Gadādhar Paṇḍit is tolerating, and other devotees are saying, “Why do you take that from Mahāprabhu?” And he is likened unto Rukmiṇī. And this presents an ontological dilemma. Because we understand from the spiritual authorities that in Vṛndāvan heart reigns supreme. Like these talks are under the heading Beauty over Power, this thematically Guru Mahārāja’s. Beauty over Power, Mercy over Justice, Heart over Intellect.

In Vṛndāvan heart reigns supreme

So, in Vṛndāvan, heart is in the primary position, and intellect is in the secondary position. So, Vṛndāvaneśvari, Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī, She is in the primary position in Vṛndāvan. And what does that śloka say, ubhayor madhye rādhikā sarvathādhikā (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 4.3) bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ. It’s mentioned, of these two gopīs, Chandrāvalī and Rādhārāṇī, Rādhārāṇī holds the superior position. Because heart is in its primary position and intelligence is in the secondary position in Vṛndāvan. But when they expand outward to Dvārakā, a reversal takes place. So, that intellect is in the primary position and heart is in the secondary position. So, the primary Queen in Dvārakā is Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā is Rādhārāṇī, the primary queen Rukmiṇī is Chandrāvalī’s expansion from Vṛndāvan to Dvārakā and Rādhārāṇī is Satyabhāmā. And Satyabhāmā has the bhāva-bhāv, that Kṛṣṇa got a pārijāta flower from haven for Rukmiṇī, “I want a tree”. And other times she is not cooperating. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is controlled by the sentiments of His Devotees. Story of one hundred and eight blue lotus flowers.

When Guru Mahārāj said that. There was a science of rāsa and Rūpa Goswāmī perfectly delineated that in Bhakti-rāsāmṛta-sindhu. But anything and all things are possible in the Absolute and the Absolut’s devotees, who control the Absolute, if that’s possible and apparently it is. Śrī-Kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī cha sā (Brs: Pūrva, 1.12), The Absolute independent supreme reality, the original source of everything for whom, not a blade of grass moves without His will. The supreme omniscient, omnipotent Lord, personality of Godhead, Svayam Bhagavān can be controlled though love and devotion. So, sometimes the science is contradicted.

So, we’re told that previously in Rāmāyaṇa, in Rām-līlā, when Rām and Lakṣman were in a predicament, and Hanumān was out of his wits end and his ability to protect them, help them. Garuḍa was enlisted, and Garuḍa performed them flying colors and at the end, when it came time for some remuneration, 'dāsa' kari' vetana more deha prema-dhana, (Cc: Antya, 20.32) devotees were premic. Garuḍa is wondering to Rāmachandra, “My Lord, if you can show Your form of Kṛṣṇa.” Remember Kṛṣṇa is akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrtiḥ. Rām is also His avatār. It’s Kṛṣṇa playing in a particular way. And the inverse can be shown to a certain degree. He said, “But, Garuḍa, Hanumān will become disturbed.” So, we should be careful not to disturb the sentiments of other devotees. No matter how much we think we’re acquainted with reality.

So, Garuḍa said, “I will, with my wings”, and actually that's how he had saved them with his mighty wings, making the ocean submit. So he said, “With the same wings that I saved you I can save you in this situation too. Hanumān won’t be disturbed, I’ll make a theatre, you can show, he won’t see.” Garuḍa expands his wings, Ram shows his form of Kṛṣṇa. Garuḍa is very happy. Maybe through the wings, little bit Hanumān is seeing something. And it finishes and Hanumān says, “Garuḍa, someday I’ll exact my revenge."

So, we're told that once in Dvārakā. All the Pastimes of the Personality of Godhead are multidimensional. Kṛṣṇa expresses that He would like to get one hundred and eight blue lotus flowers. And Garuḍa is there, "Yes, my Lord. Consider it done." But these blue lotuses only grow in a particular place high, high in the mountains, divine mountains. So, Garuḍa is flying there to get those, and when he comes upon the pathway there is this old, old monkey, lying on the road. And we know it's a part of Vedic culture, never to cross over a living being, because of jīvātmā, Paramātmā. So, we don't even step over dog or an animal of any kind out of respect, jīvātmā, Paramātmā.

So, Garuḍa is coming and saying, "You, monkey, move." And he's like, "Oh, I am so tired and old, I can't move." "But I am Garuḍa, the messenger of Vishnu. And I have the special mission from Kṛṣṇa to get one hundred and eight blue lotus flowers so monkey, you leave this road and let me cross!" "Oh, go around, I am too much tired and too old." "Monkey, if you do not move, then I will blow you away with my wings." Remember, he made the ocean move, he can do such things. "As you wish, Prabhu." And Garuḍa [imitating sound of the wind]. And the same wings, that could scare the ocean into submission. We're told, not a hair moved on Hanumān's body. Wouldn't move one hair. And rather he reached up, grabbed Garuḍa and stuffed him under his armpit. "Hundred and eight blue lotus flowers."

Then Hanumān collects the hundred and eight blue lotus flowers, then returns to Dvārakā, where he is met by Sudarshan. "Monkey, see the sign, "No monkeys allowed!" This is not your place." "I have one hundred and eight blue lotus flowers for Lord Kṛṣṇa!" And Garuḍa is [murmuring]. And Sudarshan, "Monkey, I'm telling you, no monkeys allowed here!" And he start spinning, he's about to finish, and Hanumān raises his hand and Sudarshan becomes a ring on his finger and he precedes.

Hundred and eight blue lotus flowers, Garuḍa, Sudarshan. And Kṛṣṇa knowing everything, He is there with Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā and says, "Satyabhāmā, you'll become Sītā and I'll be Rām. That's will make Hanumān happy." And Satyabhāmā, "No, no." Rukmiṇī is alright, she agrees. So, Satyabhāmā hides under the bad, Rukmiṇī become Sītā, Kṛṣṇa becomes Rām. Hanumān comes in. "Rām, Rām, Sītā Rām, Jay Sītā-Rām. I knew all long my Lord Rām really is Kṛṣṇa." He presents the hundred and eight blue lotus flowers and the Lord is, "Hanumān, is there anything I can do for you? Any desire you have?" He said, "No, by Your grace everything is well, but I'm just wondering who is that, hiding under the bad?". [laughs]. So, Guru Mahārāj said, in this instance, Hanumān we take is in Dāsya-rāsa. He demonstrates his superiority, he checks Garuḍa, Sudarshan, and even the pride of the Queen Satyabhāmā.

So, that's bhāva, but kānti, rādhākānti, effulgence, we're told is Gadādhar Dās. So, the remainder of Rādhārāṇī, Gadādhar Paṇḍit, but the dyuti, or the jyoti, the effulgence is personified as Gadhadhar Dās. And what we know of Gadādhar Dās as recorded in Charitāmṛtam to show his level of beauty of conception and affectionate way of spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness and bringing others in connection with lotus feet of Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa. That he went to the Kazi, the Muslim governer. And he goes like, "How may I help you?" And Gadādhar Dās said, "I want you to chant Kṛṣṇa-nām." And he said, "Why should I chant Kṛṣṇa-nām? I am a Muslim." He said, "Hare Kṛṣṇa! Already you've taken!"

Like Kṛṣṇadās Bābājī Mahārāj. Always becoming happy, hearing the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, hearing of there is taking the name of Kṛṣṇa. So, that's what we hear of him. Not a lot, but that gives us a glimpse of the type of heart devotion personified in him.

Difference between lust and love

Any other question?

Question: Once, in the lecture you've mentioned this śloka,

Goswāmī Mahārāj:
ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā tāre bali ‘kāma’,
kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā dhare ‘prema’ nāma
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Ādi 4.165).

It's from Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, difference between lust and love. North Pole, South Pole.
Audience: And you've said, that here it says that prema and kāma are not two different things, they are one. Similar.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Like North Pole and South Pole. The North Pole and South Pole are very similar, aren't they? But they’re worlds apart. That's the point. So, the gopī's prema appears to be kāma, lust. But it's not like the lust of this world, that we call prema, love. But it appears to be similar. So, we say aprakṛta. Prakṛta means mundane. Aprakṛta means "like the mundane but not." So, and not only with regard to erotic concepts, but all of it. Whatever we have here, is a perverted reflections. It's a perverted reflection of friendship, a perverted reflection of parental love, a perverted reflection of conjugal love, a perverted reflection of paramour, a perverted reflection of neutrality, a perverted reflection of servitorship. But it's similar, but different. As North Pole and South Pole are similar, but diametrically opposed. Worlds apart. At the extremes, not a little different. Opposites. So, what is your question?

Question: I think, you've already answered, but in other place I found another śloka about love and lust, that they are like pitch darkness and bright light.

Yes, kāma—andha-tamaḥ, prema—nirmala bhāskara, (Cc: Ādi, 4.171). That's what I mean by North Pole, South Pole. Worlds apart. So, it's saying kāma—andhya-tamaḥ, means dense darkness. And Guru Mahārāj said, nirmala bhāskara means dense light. As darkness can be dense and thick, so can light.

What is eternal illumination?

And this light it's not like the light here. This artificial light or sunlight or any such thing. You have to reconceive light. In this way it's connected. Jyoti, We think [that it is] illumination. We know to become enlightened, illumined. That's another type of luminosity. Light, illumination is revelation. So, what is light in the conscious plane? I'm not talking about the objective light. We see the sunrise, how beautiful it is and it is. It's been compared to the lotus eyes of Viṣṇu. But Guru Mahārāj in his gāyatrī explanation, oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svah tat savitur varenyaṁ bhargo— this superficially appears talking about the sun, how the sun is illuminating the world, the sun reveals the world. When we're  especially in the Kṛṣṇa-pakṣa, means the dark moon. No visible moon, wait for the sunrise to reveal everything. But he's saying: bhūr bhuvaḥ svah, the whole world of experience, the lower, middle, higher planetary system. Means the world of experience, the objective world.

It appears on one level to be revealed by the sun, but actually it's ātmā, the soul, that reveals everything. Without the conscious observer it's meaningless. So, really, it's a position, occupied by the soul, ātmā and by extension, Paramātmā. So, there is the Paramātmā domain, world, that is vareṇyam, worshipable. And here, bhargo vai vṛsabhānujātma-vibhavai, Guru Mahārāj's saying, "And  the halo of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī is faith, and that which reveals Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa conception." We were talking about her bhāva and kānti, Her heart and halo. The halo is the outcome of Her heart. So, it's the heart of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī, that is actually illuminating Kṛṣṇa conception. And the service of Kṛṣṇa. And without that, it's all imagination, fictitious, wall-paper, air bhajan. Just a play.

So, heart to heart transaction. From whose heart to whom? What is in the heart, what is quality of that heart, what is being transferred? Not after, Hitchhiking the Universe was little curious about Divinity. Or Kṛṣṇa. Guru-rūpa hariṁ gauraṁ rādhā-ruchi-ruchāvṛtam, when Kṛṣṇa takes the Guru-rūpa, the form of Guru. Rādhā-ruchi, He becomes Gaurāṅga. It's Kṛṣṇa enveloped, under the influence of the heart and halo of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī. Then,

sva-bhaktebhyaḥ śuddhasṁ nija-bhajana-mudrām upadiśan
sa chaitanyaḥ kiṁ me punar api dṛśor yāsyati padam
(Stava-mālā: Prathama Śrī Chaitanyāṣṭaka, 1)

He is teaching what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because we take that Guru is the functioning principle of Divinity, revealing Himself, but when He wants to teach devotion, takes the position of Mahāprabhu, Has to be under the influence of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī. To give a full, proper conception of Kṛṣṇa. A devotional conception of Kṛṣṇa.

Rādhārāṇī and Her group they are looking for servitors.

yāṁ kām api vraja-kule vṛsabhānu-jāyāḥ
prekṣya sva-pakṣa-padavīm anurudhyamānām
(Śrī Lalitāṣṭakam: 7)

Lalitā Sakhī śloka. She is canvasing in Vṛnadāvan for her group. It's doesn't say she was canvasing in the material world, but that's also going on in the audarya Pastimes of Mahāprabhu, Svārup Dāmodar, Rāmānanda. But here it said, yāṁ kām api vraja-kule vṛsabhānu-jāyāḥ, she is canvasing in Vṛndāvan. Everyone in Vṛndāvan is of the highest quality of liberated souls. Yet she is canvasing them to join her group. And they're also submitting their names for consideration.

So, we hear in the case of Śyāmānanda. That when a matter was pressed to the extreme, then Rādhārāṇī met with Subal and said, "We are taking this one. This cowherd boy is being taken to become a member of our group." Impossible of impossible things, prema—nirmala bhāskara (Cc: Ādī, 4.171), prema is radiating from the heart of whom, Kṛṣṇa-prema. Premanidhi, Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāj, Mahāprabhu called him, Puṇḍarīk Vidyānidhi, Premanidhi. Said, "Now, when I've seen him, my life is perfect. I've seen Kṛṣṇa-prema personified. Kṛṣṇa, Mahāprabhu is astonished, by this type of devotion. And that Puṇḍarīk Vidyānidhi desciple, gave initiation to Gadādhar Paṇḍit. So, Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāj, Rādhārāṇī's divine father, Gaura-līlā is Puṇḍarīk Vidyānidhi initiates Gadādhar Paṇḍit. So, how exalted is the devotee, the position of devotion, and the greatest of devotees.

This is why Mahāprabhu descended into the world. Is to broadcast the glories of Rādhārāṇī. Everyone is already know so much about Kṛṣṇa. Or thinks they do. But he's come to broadcast the greatness of Śrī Rādhāra mahimā—her glories. Prema-rasa-sīmā, and what is the highest type of Kṛṣṇa-prema, that he wants to be known. Kṛṣṇa descends as Mahāprabhu to reveal that in a world. And to bring others in connection with that divine substance,

We know in this world, lust can make someone blind. Lose all sense of perspective, proportion. In some places they even have, when they are sentencing someone for a crime, if it's a crime of passion, they're just totally overwhelmed by lust, they're given by some consideration. In some instances it's reduced, that's the mundane. So, the Kṛṣṇa-prema of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī and Vraja-gopīs, the divine madness that she exhibits, particularly at the Uddhava-darshan, Bhramara-gītā. This was the tasting matter to Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu behind closed doors with Svarūp Dāmodar and Rāmānanda Ray for the last twelve years of His life, twenty-four hours a day, plunging the depths of Rādhā-bhāva. As Guru Mahārāj said, after He's finished His public service, bahiraṅga-saṅge kore nāma-saṅkīrttan, trough Nām-saṅkīrtan, His public service, then in His private life. The internal reason why He appeared which is the subject matter of Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛtam. Chaitanya-bhāgavatam was already there and revered, and rightfully so by all the Vaiṣṇavas. But they pleaded back to Kavirāj Goswāmī to present what was gifted to him from Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī, who received that fully from Svarūp Dāmodar, śrī-gaurānumataṁ svarūpa-viditaṁ, (Śrīmad Bhakti Vinoda-viraha Daśakam: 9) who all alone knows fully Mahāprabhu, and Mahāprabhu's ecstatic emotional interior.

Rūpa Goswāmī says, svarūpaṁ bibhrāṇo jagad-atulam, no-one compares to Svarūp Dāmodar. Why? Because Svarūp Dāmodar is Lalitā Sakhī in Vṛndāvan and when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is lost in the depth of separation from Kṛṣṇa in the anguish of separation to the point of divine madness and self-forgetfulness, self-oblivion, Svarūp Dāmodar, Lalitā Sakhī is by her side, assisting her at every step of the way. She is more acquainted in this sense of that position of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī than Rādhārāṇī Herself. Because Rādhārāṇī is lost in divine madness and somehow Svarūp Dāmodar, Lalitā Sakhī maintains composure. And assists by supplying certain ślokas, singing certain songs, variety of assistance. So, she is uniquely qualified to assist Mahāprabhu in Gaura-līlā. Svarūp Dāmodar and Gadādhar Paṇḍit, Rāmānanda. Nīlāmbhodhi-taṭe sadā sva-virahā-kṣepanvitaṁ bāndhavaṁ, and of course, Gadādhar Paṇḍit.

Gadādhar-praṇām of Śrīdhar Mahārāj. The wine of Bhāgavatam ślokas

Guru Mahārāj in Gadādhar Pranam, he's on the shore of that broad blue ocean, nīlāmbhodhi-taṭe sadā sva-virahā. Sva-virahā feeling separation from Himself, that's how it's expressed. Kṛṣṇa as Mahāprabhu feeling separation from Kṛṣṇa. The supreme positive in the mood of supreme negative, plunging the depths of separation. Sva-virahā-kṣepanvitaṁ bāndhavaṁ, in the company of His dearmost friend. Who is dearmost friend? Gadādhar Paṇḍit. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatī kathā madirayā sañjīvayan bhāti yaḥ, and what is Gadādhar Paṇḍit doing to relieve the anguish of separation in the heart of Mahāprabhu? Told the tenth stage of separation is death. So, Mahāprabhu is on the verge of death. Sañjīvayan, I told before this one aurvedic medicine, Prabhupad's kavirāj told me about that, Kṛṣṇananda Tarkatīrtha Kavirāj, so, this sañjīvayan will bring a dead person back to live. And, we mean by that the recently dead. Sañjīva, this rasāyan, this medicine, can bring someone on the verge of death back to life. Gadādhar Paṇḍit, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatī kathā madirayā, is taking Bhāgavat ślokas, and supplying them,  like an intoxicating substance (certain medicines are intoxicants) to bring relieve to the heart of Mahāprabhu. That's the Bhāgavatī kathā madirayā, madirayā means wine. So, it's like when someone's feelings [are] so destroyed, devastated, heart-broken. In the absence of their beloved another friend coming [and] supplying an intoxicating beverage, they can drink and get some relief. In this case, what is the intoxicating beverage? Bhāgavat ślokas, selecting Bhāgavat ślokas.

This is how perfect Śrīla Guru Mahārāj is. This is his introduction to his Bhāgavat śloka selections under the inspiration of the Bhāgavatārka-marīchī mālā of Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, that came due to the inspiration of Svarūp Dāmodar. Back to Svarūp Dāmodar, Mahāprabhura dvitīya kalevara (Cc: Madhya, 11.76), Mahāprabhu the second. That Svarūp Dāmodar told Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur to collect these thousand Bhāgavat sunrays, Bhāgavatārka-marīchī arka,

purāṇārko 'dhunoditaḥ
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.43)

Like an eighteen thousand rayed sun, collect a thousand of those rays. Guru Mahārāj was gonna further distil three-four hundred. But what would be the criterion for selection? That's all important. He's giving a hint in this śloka. As Gadādhar Paṇḍit selects these ślokas to relieve the anguish of separation from Mahāprabhu. When in some instances to augment certain sentiments. He's giving a hint at the selection criteria.

And saying those Bhāgavat ślokas are like or doing this, that tears are pouring from eyes of Gadādhar Paṇḍit like lotus flower offerings unto the pages of the Bhāgavatam where those ślokas are written. And once they are spoken and spoken in this particular way with this particular depth of meaning, the tears are falling unto the pages as if they are flower offerings and washing away the letters. The letters are washed of the pages. As if they were never to be spoken again or known in that way. Too sacred.

So, that when Śrīnivas Āchārya approached Gadādhar Paṇḍit for the divine direction, for Bhāgavat, to hear Bhāgavat, Gadādhar Paṇḍit said, "What I want to teach you my tears have washed away those ślokas. So, you need to go to Nabadwīp and get a fresh copy." Of course, Śrīnivas Āchārya goes to Nabadwīp, by the time he returns Gadādhar Paṇḍit has left the world. Why does Kṛṣṇa do that? Why does Kṛṣṇa do things like that? If not to take the heart to greater depth, to have us achieve a greater depth of heart, feeling devotion. The deep heart's core.

Gosvāmi-prabaro Gadādhara-vibhūr-bhūyāt mad-ekā-gatiḥ,  Guru Mahārāj says, "Let this to be an offering to that best of Goswāmīs, Gadādhar Paṇḍit Goswāmī." Gosvāmi-prabaro Gadādhara-vibhūr-bhūyāt mad-ekā-gatiḥ, that's the target of the offering of these prayers. So, what is the position of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, if he can express such things?

Fainting śloka

One day at the afternoon there is Guru Mahārāj on his chair, Gurudev's next to him and I came. Those were happy times. And I said to Gurudev, "When Achyutānanda asked Swāmī Mahārāj, what did Śrīdhar Mahārāj say to you, he said, 'If I told you, you would faint.' I want to know what are those things?" And Guru Mahārāj said, "What?" And then Gurudev started laughing, and told him on Bengali, "Goswāmī Mahārāj wants you to make him faint." And Guru Mahārāj [said], "Ācha." And they start talking, [about] what should they say, fainting śloka. Then Guru Mahārāj explains this Gadādhar-praṇām, and what I've said here is bākya-aparādh, an offence. Can't possibly represent how His Divine Grace expressed that at that time, but as he did that to me, I staggered away from where the two of them were, against the wall, with my head against the wall with my head against the wall, like dragging my head against the wall, losing consciousness of the world. And Guru Mahārāj and Gurudev, they are talking. I came back around fifteen minutes later. To make me faint, was like, "This little boy, send the boy away. Come back. Later."

Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī. So, I suggested to Guru Mahārāj and Gurudev [to translate] Bhakti Rakṣak [as] guardian of devotion. They say, "Yes, you can use." Sometimes I would say to Guru Mahārāj,

śrīdhara-svāmī-prasāde ‘bhāgavata’ jāni
jagad-guru śrīdhara-svāmī ‘guru’ kari’ māni
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Antya, 7.133) 

From Mahāprabhu to Vallabha Āchārya. By the mercy of Śrīdhar Swāmī—Śrīdhara Svāmī-prasāde, 'Bhāgavata' jāni—only we can know Bhāgavatam. Jagad-guru śrīdhara-svāmī ‘guru’ kari’ māni, therefore we consider him jagad guru. One who does not accept the Swāmī is a prostitute. Śrī dhara, dhara—Rādhā, this is the month still of Rādhārāṇī, of Guru Mahārāj. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Question: I want to ask one question. I don't know if it's appropriate. Every time when I hear about this Gambhīra period of Mahāprabhu [when] he was going deep separation mood [and] it always come after meeting somebody. Like Śrīnivas Āchārya he had the chance, he met Gadādhar Paṇḍit, but then he left, and he came back, and he wasn't there. So, the point of meeting was there.

How can we feel separation from Kṛṣṇa if we have never met Him?

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Yes, but there's something, that Rūpa Goswāmī describes and Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur elsewhere called pūrva-rāg, which is very interesting. [It is] what happens before meeting. So, as I've mentioned many times, Rukmiṇī [says], "Śrutvā guṇān bhuvana-sundara śṛṇvatāṁ te," (SB: 10.52.37) she hasn't met Kṛṣṇa yet, [but] by hearing about Him though she has. Some conception has come to her about the form of Kṛṣṇa, His qualities, everything. Her we take in a big way. We may say, "Oh, it's Rukmiṇī, she knew Him before." It's not like that, she had not met Him. The wives of the yajñic-brāhmāṇs, vipra-patnīs  hadn't met Kṛṣṇa, they'd only heard about Him from fruit sellers. And others in Vṛndāvan heard about Him, by hearing about Him, they got. See, you could have a general idea, but at the particular advanced stage of devotion by hearing they're getting a very precise conception of the form. So, it's mysterious, achintya-bhedābheda. Having not met, but through hearing they are meeting, but it's creating a hunger to meet. So, that's why we're advised to cultivate the culture separation. We'd say, "Well, if we haven't met, how can we culture separation?" By hearing. Mystery is that by hearing about Kṛṣṇa, some conception comes to you. Whether vague or more refined, or substantial. And gradually, some hunger develops. A cheap example would be that in this world babies are hungry before they've eaten, right? And then they are fed. So, this is a mysterious thing. "How can you have a hunger?" Well, you can, it can awaken in you by hearing about Kṛṣṇa. [It] can awaken a hunger in a sense of loss. So beautiful, and what's been lost to me. Now it's compelling. So, in this sense hunger precedes tasting. And a necessary component for taste is hunger. So, separation is a necessary component for relishing union.

So, I've mentioned a few days ago, even in mundane romantic love, someone will feel and express when they meet the love of their life, that, "I have always and only loved you." We will express those thinking in this world. You were apparently in love with others or this or that, but you say, "No, I have always and only love you." When that meeting is there, that connection is there, that feeling will automatically appear in the heart, that this is been forever. Unfortunately in this world, dot-dot-dot. But, we should not discount the sentiment, that really that's what we're looking for. We're looking for that person, who upon connecting with, you'll realize, this is my eternal connection. I've always and only been in love with this person. But we're thinking that is someone in this world, when actually it's the Absolute person. And only the Absolute person is capable of reciprocating that type of connection, amazingly, astonishingly with everyone. That one can reciprocate every atom of the heart's hankering of every living being simultaneously. That's the Absolute. And the Absolute can't be anything less than that. It's the Absolute personality of Godhead. And we, through ideal search criteria, indirectly or searching, it's an acknowledgement that we're searching for the Absolute. The ultimate beautiful Person, the ultimate loving person. The person, who's capable.

Prati aṅga lāge kā̐de prati aṅga mora, every atom of our soul is crying out for its correspondent, and it can only be found in the Absolute Personality of Godhead. And Sarawatī Ṭhākur reminds us, the Absolute Truth is not Kṛṣṇa alone. But it's Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. But we're duped into thinking, that by the direct approach we'll get the superior experience than serving his agent or agency. So, we have to be educated.

‘rasa-rāja’, ‘mahābhāva’—dui eka rūpa
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya, 8.282)
mahābhāva-svarūpiṇī [svarūpā śrī]-rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Ādi, 4.69)

She can extract, she is the predominated half of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's better half. She can extract the highest quality and highest quantity of rāsa from Kṛṣṇa. And, hlādinī-śakti puṣṭi kara, and nourish her servitors with that substance. And guru Mahārāj said, [that]  mahābhāva, which is beyond the constitutional capacity of a jīva-soul to experience, Rādhārāṇī out of gratitude to her servitors gives them a taste. [And] once you've had a taste of that, what to speak of all other taste. All other rāsas, become tasteless. That's our Guru-varga. Should we think they're light? Guru—heavier than the Himalayas. Gambhīra—deep, dive deep into reality.

Hare Kṛṣṇa