The Teachings of Srila Saraswati Thakur

Special significance of Govardhan

Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur, Guru Mahārāj quotes in Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, saying,

vṛndāvana haite śreṣṭha govarddhana-śaila
giridhārī-gāndharvvikā yathā krīḍā kaila
(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam)

That, śreṣṭha means the best, superior to the Vṛndāvan Pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are the Pastimes that take place in Govardhan. This is his divine vision and it is the divine vision of our Guru-varga. It is the conception that he is infusing in his followers, the special significance of Govardhan. In his final days he expressed his heart’s aspiration, according to sentiments of Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī, nija-nikaṭa-nivāsaṁ dehi govardhana! tvam (Śrī Govardhana-vasa Prarthanā Daśakam).

Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī is a prayojana-tattva āchārya, but he is praying for the shelter of Govardhan to get a position there. Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur also expresses this. And Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupād, he also in his final days to the astonishment and horror of his followers said that he wanted to go on Govardhan in a bullet cart, when his health was so fragile, but he was expressing his inner aspiration.

So, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj mentioned that in one place, where a building was being constructed, Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur indicated, that his residence would be on the ground floor. And they were wondering: on the first floor above, who can stay there? They said, “If you’re staying on this level, then who will stay above you?” He said, “Oh, that is for our Guru-varga, they’ll stay in the higher position and one step below, one step removed, we’ll render service from there.”

Motto of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur

So, often Śrīla Guru Mahārāj would say, that the motto if Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur was encapsulated in this expression,

Which he composed at the time of the inauguration of the Gauḍīya Maṭh flagship centre in Bagbazar, for they were living previously in a hired house, rented and the new Temple was opened, and in the procession was the Deities preceded and his Deities, various names, but one particularly, Gāndharvikā Giridhārījīu, and in that Maṭh. First of all that Mahāprabhu says,

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra prachāra haibe mora nāma
(Chaitanya-bhāgavatam: Antya, 4.126)

Sometimes it’s told predicted, saying this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will spread in every town and village in the world. So, sometimes those who were perceiving the intensity of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur to promote Kṛṣṇa consciousness everywhere were asking him, “So, is it your idea to make Kṛṣṇa Temple in every town and village in the world?” And he said, “No, that is not my idea. My idea is to make everyone’s heart a Temple of Kṛṣṇa. To establish a Temple for Guru, Gaurāṅga, Rādhā-Govinda in the heart of every living being, that is my idea.”

So, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj mentioned that when he came in connection with Gauḍīya Maṭh was not that he was attracted by the architecture of the Temples or some sort of grandeur, or organisational skills or any such thing. But what he was attracted to was the dignity of the conception, as given by Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur. And he has expressed that in various writings, the ślokas Guru Mahārāj composed in praise of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, such as,

nikhila-bhuvana-māyā-chhinna-vichchhinna-kartrī
vibudha-bahula-mṛgyā-mukti-mohānta-dātrī
śithilita-vidhi-rāgārādhya-rādheśa-dhānī
vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī
(Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj)

Sometimes in summary, well, first of all in this poem, he said, “When I wrote this, I think I imprisoned Guru Mahārāj in a cage of poetry, like when they capture the royal Bengal tiger. He said, “In a cage of poetry he has been captured.” And there it alludes to his intensity, that sometimes Guru Mahārāj said, “He had the sweetness of Vṛndāvan within.” Because Vṛndāvan is known as mādhurya, the land of sweetness. “The sweetness of Vṛndāvan within, but it could only be detected within, externally he was in the position of the devastator.” And he said in this śloka, chhinna-vichchhinna-kartrī, dropping atom bomb, conceptual atom bombs on a karmīs, jñānīs, all of different types of misconceptions. So, when we presented Search for Sri Kṛṣṇa to Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and this picture was there, and with a caption, “He declared totalitarian war against all other conceptions, including theistic conceptions.” And I was afraid that maybe although Guru Mahārāj had said that, maybe it wasn’t appropriate to put that as a caption, it’s a little unusual, a little bold, not your typical caption for picture. “He declared totalitarian war against misconceptions, including all of the religion.” But Guru Mahārāj’s reaction was: he began to beam and smile and he said, “If you didn’t put anything else, if you only put this, he’d be fully represented there.”

So, he said, “The sweetness of Vṛndāvan within, it could only be detected within.” He didn’t make an external show of spiritual achievement, an ostentatious show of inner development and achievement, rather he was always concealing that. But when one man came and spoke of the beauty of Lakṣmī Devī, quoting so many ślokas in his presence, this internal conflict in his heart, there was a clash of sentiments within, that he wanted to express something about the beauty of Śrīmatī Rādhāraṇī, but that can’t be expressed in this world. Like the jāmbūnada-hema (Cc: Madhya, 2.43), the gold that flows in the river of heaven. But at the same time, he’s torn internally, and the man’s going on, praising Lakṣmī Devi to the point where the internal conflict, clash of emotions was so great, that Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur fainted, in ecstasy, he fainted and fell on the floor, but he would not violate his principle of pūjala rāga-pātha gaurava-bhaṅge. To keep the rāga-mārg, the path of spontaneous devotion, that higher love of Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa, Vraja-gopīs, keep it above, don’t bring it down into this plane, where it will become contaminated, it will become an offensive imitation of the original.

What is viṣaya? Vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti principle: why give up something if it can be used in the service of Kṛṣṇa?

So, mātala sādhu-jana viṣaya raṅge, this viṣaya raṅge, Gurudev knowing how Bengalis might interpret it, asked Guru Mahraj, “Can we put kīrtana raṅge?” But the reason Saraswatī Ṭhākur chose those words, what he was saying was, “In service to that higher plane we will take all the things of this world and use them, offer them to the lotus feet of Guru, Gaurāṅga, Rādhā-Govinda. Which is the line, it is the Rūpānuga line of Rūpa Goswāmī,

anāsaktasya viṣayān
yathārham upayuñjataḥ
nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe
yuktaṁ vairāgyam uchyate
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.255)

Says, what is real renunciation, not just giving up everything. Why give up something if it can be used in the service of Kṛṣṇa? Guru Mahārāj said, “Even a beautiful girl can be used in the service of Kṛṣṇa.” Not like as the māyāvādīs are saying, “No, she is an illusion. There is nothing there.” No, Vaiṣṇavas say, she is also meant for the service of Kṛṣṇa, everyone and everything, every man, woman and child, everything, the dog in the street, the birds on the trees, the flowers on the trees, the vegetables, the fruit, everything can be used in the service of Kṛṣṇa, and once it’s achieved that position it’s taken upon the head as worshipable. Or, he said also, viṣaya raṅge means like “bate”. We may use something as a bate to bring someone in connection with Kṛṣṇa conception.

When he told Guru Mahārāj about preaching in London, he wanted preaching to happen in the Western countries and sometimes devotees say, “Well, people don’t like to come to the Temple, because there you can’t smoke, drink, eat meat.” And he said, “Oh, we can arrange,” they use the word ‘hotel’ in India means a ‘restaurant’, so he said, “We can arrange a restaurant nearby to address their needs.” When the governor of Bengal, John Anderson, comes, they arranged his tobacco, his meat, his this, and that. So, when Guru Mahārāj heard these things, he was so shocked, he said, “I think the end result will be contamination in our Āśram, not it will bring them, the end result could be the opposite.” And he said, Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s words were like lightning striking his heart and he [Saraswatī Ṭhākur] said, “Oh, you don’t know, I decided this ten thousand years ago.” It’s not just some whimsical idea of the week. That’s not what vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti means, he told, “And you have to have vaikuṇṭha-vṛtti.” Vaikuṇṭha means unlimited or in this sense, he means generous liberal view on how to connect others with Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So, sometimes Guru Mahārāj would say about Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur that, “Our Guru Mahārāj’s conceptions were mostly revolutionary.” So, this required a lot of flexibility from his disciples. Because there is a tendency, when we come in connection with Kṛṣṇa consciousness after a while we think we know what it is. This is actually something we have to deal with, recognize and be vigilant about. We will think, “Oh, I know what it is, I’ve been in connection and then, filling the blank, for this many years or this much time, I know what Kṛṣṇa consciousness is.” But to those who actually know, muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ, (SB: 1.1.1) we’re told [that] Kṛṣṇa conception can bewilder even the Gods, so, what does Brahmā say?

jānanta eva jānantu
kiṁ bahūktyā na me prabho
manaso vapuṣo vācho
vaibhavaṁ tava go-charaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.38)

He said, “Others may say, that they know what Kṛṣṇa is,” Brahmā-Madhava-Gauḍīya-sampradāya, Brahmā—the head, Guru, is saying, “but I don’t have so much to say on this subject. He is beyond my body, mind, words, intellect to understand.” So, then some people will say, “Then don’t say anything, you’re admitting, you can’t properly describe God, you can’t properly describe Divinity, so, then, be quiet. Don’t say anything about it.” It sounds like it makes sense up to a point, but if Kṛṣṇa wants to reveal Himself to make Himself known, then He can use someone’s body, mind, words, intellect to do so: kāya, mana, vākya. So, the devotees are offering themselves in that sevā.

And Saraswatī Ṭhākur when they were building that flagship Gauḍīya Maṭh, he expressed his desire to his disciples, the equivalent will be, does people know what the penny’s are? Or copecks, do they still have them? They do? Okay. So, he’s saying, “I want a hundred thousand pieces, that’s not even rupees.” But that’s what he said. But then one man, disciple of his, he gave like three million dollars. Everybody was happy, and they said, “Oh, Prabhupād, you only asked for this much, but Jagabandhu Prabhu has given three million dollars! We can now make a Temple, so your wish is fulfilled!” And Saraswatī Ṭhākur said, “No. That’s good, that Jagabandhu Prabhu has given this, but my desire hasn’t been fulfilled yet. Because I wanted a hundred thousand people would get sukṛti, I wanted a hundred thousand people to give a little something and get the mercy of Guru, Gaurāṅga, Rādhā, Govinda.” How beautiful was his concept, Guru Mahārāj said, “He is more affectionate than a father”, janakādhika-vatsala-snigdha-padaṁ praṇamāmi sadā prabhupāda-padam (Śrī Śrī Prabhupāda-padma Stavakaḥ: 8), that sort of affection. Not some superficial touching, feeling show of affection. But deep in his heart he wanted to take people, what sometimes [is] described as a boat of the lotus feet of Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu. He saw they’re being devoured by māyāvādī, impersonalists, philosophers, philosophy that is denying the Personality of the Godhead and the possibility of the loving relationship with Him. He came to give this, he came to distribute the wealth of Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur. In this śloka,

Saraswatī Ṭhākur came to distribute the wealth of Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur

dharmaś-charma-gato ’jñataiva satatā yogaś cha bhogātmako
(Śrīmad Bhakti Vinoda-viraha Daśakam: 4)

Where Guru Mahārāj describing what happen in Bengal, how gradually the sampradāya was off track and lost, and Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur restored it. Sometimes, Śrīla Gurudev would say very beautifully, “Saraswatī Ṭhākur was attracted by the wealth of the melted heart of Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur.” Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur’s Kṛṣṇa conception is so beautiful and enchanting that Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur could not resist that, so we’re told,

guru-daṁ grantha-daṁ gaura-dhāma-daṁ nāma-daṁ mudā
bhakti-daṁ bhūri-daṁ vande bhakti-vinodakaṁ sadā
(Śrī Laghu-chandrikā-bhāṣya: 1.8)

Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur gave us all of the books, he revealed Mahāprabhu’s birthplace, Nabadwīp Dhām Mahatmya, gave Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, Rādhā-dāsyam, all these things, but one more thing was needed. So, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur brought all this wealth into this world. As Guru Mahārāj said, “When we consider the magnitude of his contribution, we can understand that was not something that he achieved, but rather he descended to distribute something.” This was not accumulated wealth from his lifetime. He descended from the highest plane to distribute this. He brought the wealth here, then he needed an agent of distribution.

So, Gurudev’s saying very beautifully, Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s attracted by the beauty of Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur’s Kṛṣṇa conception, he appears in his family. And once Gurudev said, as [like] Bhakti Vinod invited Jagannāth Dās Bābājī Mahārāj to verify a birth place of Mahāprabhu, [Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur] was invited to verify the divine appearance [place] of his divine child, Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur, who [is as] Guru Mahārāj writes in his poetry how he [appeared in] Nīlāchal. Sometimes Jagannāth Purī is called Nīlāchal, the blue mountain, there is the blue ocean, nīlāmbhodhi-taṭe sadā sva-virahā. So, he appeared there and it’s told, predicted in Purāṇic literature, that the merciful distribution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness will come out of Purī. So, sometimes that means a reference to Jagannāth, and it is. But if you see where Saraswatī Ṭhākur was born, if he was born any near it would have been like in the altar of the Temple. Here is the Jagannāth Purī Temple and he appears right here. And it’s very mystical.

And we’re told what happened, the Jagannāth Festival comes and the Deities are in procession and his mother comes out with the baby to present the baby to the Jagannāth Deity and the big garland falls down from the Deity for the child. So, everyone knows: this is divine child. And from Purī all the grace will come. He appeared there and Guru Mahārāj told, “And he leaves the world on the Nabadwīp side.” So it’s just like Mahāprabhu, He appears in Nabadwīp and goes to Purī, Saraswatī Ṭhākur takes that from Purī and to Nabadwīp and distributes all over the world. And Guru Mahārāj told when [Saraswatī Ṭhākur] was telling his first followers, capturing one or two man, he [was] speaking with such a great intensity, pounding the table and saying things they could not understand, but what they could understand [is what] Sakhi Babu told, “He was trying to forcibly make us taste some nectarean substance—that we could understand, but the full range, full comprehension of what he’s saying we could not understand.” Guru Mahārāj says in his poetry,

atikomala-kāñchana-dīrgha-tanuṁ
tanu-nindita-hema-mṛṇāla-madam
madanārvvuda-vandita-chandra-padaṁ
praṇamāmi sadā prabhupāda-padam
(Śrī Śrī Prabhupāda-padma Stavakaḥ: 3)

When he’d get so excited in speaking about Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu and Śrīmatī Rādhāraṇī his face would flush pink, and look pink white, pink, white like a lotus flower. And Guru Mahārāj is telling that, atikomala-kāñchana-dīrgha-tanuṁ, that how soft and beautiful his divine from was, and other Cupids would swoon to see his beauty. Guru Mahārāj can see all these things, madanārvuda-vandita-chandra-padaṁ praṇamāmi sadā prabhupāda-padam. Yati-rāja-gaṇaiḥ parisevya-padaṁ praṇamāmi sadā prabhupāda-padam.

The personification of Hari-kīrtan. The voice of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur

Yati-rāja, the king of the sannyāsīs, gauḍīya-goṣṭhī-patiḥ—the Emperor Āchārya of all the Gauḍīyas, Śrī-Jīva-tejastatiḥ—with the valour and intensity of approach of Śrīla Jiva Goswāmī in protecting the sampradāya, would not tolerate any apa-siddhānta, his name was Bhakti Siddhānta, he personifies bhakti-siddhānta, like bhakti-siddhānta-sindhu mentioned in the Chaitanya-charitāmṛta of Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī. One by one he converted men into his followers, and turned them into empowered agents for distribution. So, he was meeting with lawyer once for some Gauḍīya Maṭh business. Because he is kṛpayā Hari-kīrttana mūrtti-dharaṁ, he is the personification of Hari-kīrtan, always talking about Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu and then it’s supposed to be business, but he is preaching to that man. So, that man said, “Are you trying to convert me?” And Saraswatī Ṭhākur said, “Yes. Actually, if you give five minutes of your attention to this, it would happen automatically and you will realize, really it’s not conversion, you’re just becoming awakened to the innate wealth within you, that is gifted by the grace of Guru and Vaisnav. But you can’t give five minutes.”

As successful as the Gauḍīya Maṭh was in India, he wanted Kṛṣṇa consciousness [to be] taken to the West. To England, to America, particularly English speaking countries and then through that to the rest of the world. And he infused this preaching spirit within his followers. As Guru Mahārāj records in the last line of that śloka, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī, he’s saying, may his vāṇī. And this is Guru Mahārāj’s genius too, his name was Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī. What is Saraswatī famous for? Singing. What does singing mean in this context? Kīrtan. What is kīrtan mean? Preaching. What’s another word for this? Vāṇī. So, Guru Mahārāj pulls out the word vāṇī, Bhakti Siddhānta Vāṇī, may his divine instructions, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ, play in my heart eternally. So that we consider doing anything as Guru Mahārāj did, he considered retiring and doing nirjan-bhajan, and going into seclusion, but the play of Bhakti Siddhānta Vāṇī upon his heart told him, “No, you have to preach, extend Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others,” [and it also] played in the heart of Śrīla Swāmī Mahārāj Prabhupād, and all of his disciples and grand-disciples and others—this inner compulsion to extend Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others. Why? As Guru Mahraj said, because it is not our property to possess, you can’t take this as your own, it was graciously extended to us with the tacit understanding that out of gratitude you will extend it to others. That’s the voice of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, that’s in the heart of all his disciples and subsequent grand-disciples and followers, that whatever we have, as Gurudev would say, “If I have five rupees, then I’ll start a five rupee business.” Meaning, who will say, “Oh, I am fully imbued with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, now I can say something.” No, to whatever degree some of the wealth of our Guru-varga has by their grace descended into our hearts, we try extend that to others. What we have appreciated. So, the best preaching is very often what that individual devotee has appreciated and they are sharing that in a very natural way with someone else.

So, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj had this great depth of vision to see deeply the identity of Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur and he’s recorded that in his poetry in different places. But sometimes when we’re praising him for what he’s saying, he would say, “Really what you’re doing is you’re praising the wealth of my Guru Mahārāj. These are all his gifts, these conceptions.” Guru Mahārāj was developing them and extending them to others, but they are all attributed to His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur.

So, this is his tirobhāva, the Disappearance Day. Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur wrote in his poetry,

”He reasons ill who tells that Vaiṣṇavas die,
When thou art living still in sound!
The Vaiṣṇavas die to live, and living try
To spread the Holy Name around!”

So, we say in his absence by the power of his order and his continued grace upon the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement thrives and spread all over the world and continuing to spread. Really, he is the agent in the background of all this distribution: Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, Saraswatī Ṭhākur, Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāj Prabhupād, Guru Mahraj, Gurudev. Like that. But at this time when he left the world, it was actually on January, 1st. Sometimes lunar and solar are one, so this is that day, January, 1st of 1937, when 1936 became 1937. And at the auspicious time, where Guru Mahārāj mentions this in his prayers of separation, it’s the time when Gāndharvikā-Giridhārī, divine couple, awaken in the morning, Rādhāraṇī was looking for him and feeling separation from him and the necessity of his association, some sevā only he can do. So, she called him up at that time into the upper world, so, he disappeared, became unmanifested in this plane and manifest in that plane. That’s how we understand that.