Today is a super excellent auspicious day as it is the disappearance day of nitya-lila-pravishta om vishnupada ashtottara-shata Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja. We have already discussed the glories of our guru-varga, the entire day you have heard how our acharyas surrendered to the lotus feet of their gurus and served with their body, mind and speech.
vaiṣṇavera guṇa-gāna
karile jīvera trāṇa
Chaitanya-bhagavata
[Singing the glories of the Vaishnavas delivers the living entities.]
If you hear the glories of Guru and Vaishnavas, you will be protected from maya. Guru is Vaishnava and Vaishnava is Guru. However, Guru is referred to as the topmost of all Vaishnavas. So therefore, a Guru can be called a Vaishnava and a Vaishnava can be called a Guru. Perhaps a question will arise in your heart— who can be called a Vaishnava and who can be called a Guru? Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu very clearly explained:
kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya 8.128)
[Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a shūdra — regardless of what he is — he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Krishna.]
Definition of Guru
One is only called a guru, if he has realisation of Krishna— krishna-tattva-vettā. Furthermore, there are no considerations on whether he is a brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya or shudra. So, what is the meaning of kṛishna-tattva-vettā? One who knows of Krishna is called krishna-tattva-vettā— This is the simple understanding. However, what does it mean to actually know about Krishna? Jnana and vijnana — Jnana means knowledge and vijnana means transcendental realisation.
tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta
jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ
brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.21)
[Therefore, any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realised the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]
This verse clearly explains that if you have an inquisitive mood about Parabrahma Krishna, you must approach a bona fide person who has a vast knowledge of scripture, one who is completely detached from material sense gratifications and has realisations of Krishna. This is very simple. Shabda-brahma (the Word of God) and Para-brahma (God); and shabda-brahma can only be manifested by one who has realisation of the Lord, knowledge of the scriptures and also performs bhajana and sadhana.
Difference Between Diksha-guru and Shiksha-guru
In this way, “Guru is Vaishnava and Vaishnava is Guru”, there are no differences between them. For example, when you receive diksha-mantras from your Guru, he is your diksha-guru. Any other Vaishnava, from whom you are learning something from, is called a shiksha-guru. Our scriptures explain that you must give respect to all Vaishnavas and especially to your Guru. If you do not offer respect to Guru or Vaishnavas, or if you pay respect only to your Guru and offer no respect to Vaishnavas, it is called ardha-kukkuti. Аrdha-kukkuti refers to the half-chicken logic: there are two parts of a chicken. The front part is the mouth, which the chicken uses to eat, and the back part, is where a chicken lays her eggs.
Did you receive diksha-mantras from Srila Rupa Gosvamipada? No. Thus, what is your relationship with Sri Rupa Gosvami? Your relationship to him is as a Vaishnava. Simply put, if you received diksha from Rupa Gosvamipada, then you would say, “He is my Guru.”
Similarly, Jiva Gosvami took diksha from Sri Rupa Gosvami. Hence, Jiva Gosvami would say, “My diksha-guru is Rupa Gosvamipada, but Srila Sanatana Gosvami and others Gosvamis, to me, they are Vaishnavas.” This means you must respect both, Guru and Vaishnavas.
One must listen about the character of both Guru and Vaishnavas. ‘Vaishnava charitra, sarvada pavitra’— The character of a Vaishnava is always pure, and one must offer respect to him.
Glories of Srila Bhaktivedanta Trivikrama Maharaja
Srila Trivikrama Maharaja never accepted any disciples. However, Srila Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja, always told him, “All of my disciples are also your disciples.” Except, it was very difficult to take instructions from Trivikrama Maharaja, he was very heavy.
Who has taken the darshana of Srila Trivikrama Maharaja? (Devotee answers: “Only by photo.”) By photo you have also seen Rupa Gosvamipada and you have also taken darshana of Krishna. Nevertheless, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja’s nature was super excellent, he was always cutting down many arguments.
gurur brahma gurur vishnu guru devo maheshwaraha
guru sakshat parabrahma tasmai shri gurave namaha
Skanda Purana (Uttara-khanda, Guru-gita)
[Guru is the Creator (Brahma), Guru is the Preserver (Vishnu), Gurudeva is the Destroyer (Maheshwara). Guru is the absolute (singular) Lord himself, salutations to that Sri Guru].
In our Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti, you will find three devatas. The three devatas are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Shiva’s duty is destruction and in the same way, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja’s hari-katha and activities were centred on how to destroy all anarthas from the hearts of devotees. Most of the time he spoke on how to remove anarthas from our hearts.
Remover of Anarthas
He mostly explained, ‘jivera svarupa haya krishnera nitya dasa’ — all living entities are the eternal servants of Krishna. He showed us how to remove all kinds of anarthas, unwanted things, from our heart. Jivas possess all kinds of anarthas, amongst them, lust and anger are very important. For this reason, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja mostly gave katha on how to remove them from our heart.
Srimad-Bhagavatam describes how Sri Krishna performed His rasa-lila. Rasa-lila is also known as kama-vijaya lila, meaning — victory over lust. Try to understand the meaning of kama-vijaya lila. Only Bhagavan Krishna can conquer lust and for this reason, Krishna performs His rasa-lila with the gopis.
This is why our acharyas explain that Krishna’s rasa-lila is also called kama-vijaya lila. The victory over lust. If there is any lust remaining in your heart, then you cannot attain shuddha-bhakti, and this raises another question — how do you remove all the lust from your heart? This is not an easy question to answer.
The hearts of conditioned souls contain many kinds of anarthas and our acharyas explain that most anarthas or unwanted things can be removed step by step. However, lust is very difficult to remove. Lust is like a big stone which is not so easy to remove. For this reason, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja mostly gave katha on how one can remove lust from their heart. Still, many people do not know what the real meaning of lust is. Everyone is just thinking to themselves, “I am doing my best.” When anyone asks, “How are you?” They always reply, “I am doing my best.” This may be somewhat true and also not true. You must remove lust from your heart.
How will you remove lust from your heart? By regularly chanting the holy names. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam.” In this verse, ‘ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ’ means you have to clean your heart by regularly chanting the holy names. Without chanting holy names you will never remove lust from your heart. Harinama and nama-sankirtana — this is the process.
Actually, you cannot fully remove all anarthas from your heart, even by chanting the holy names. So, what else is required? Serving Guru and Vaishnavas, vaishnava-seva and guru-seva, this is the process. It is true, one must always chant the holy names. However, if your chanting of the holy names is mostly nama-aparadha, full potency will not be reached. Mostly, when you are chanting the holy names, it is nama-aparadha. Srila Bhakti Vijnana Bharati Gosvami Maharaja always explained in his hari-katha how one can chant pure holy names, as most are only chanting with offences.
kabhu nāmābhāsa haya, sadā nāma-aparādha
e saba jānibe bhāi kṛṣṇa-bhaktira bādha
Sri Sri Prema-vivarta (Chapter 7)
[Certainly there is only nama-aparadha in their association. Sometimes, by great fortune, there is nama-abhasa, but you should know that both nama-abhasa and nama-aparadha are obstacles for krishna-bhakti.]
Perhaps at times, a semblance of the holy name, nama-abhasa will come. So, how will you chant shuddha-harinama, pure holy names? Only through the association of shuddha-bhaktas. In Jaiva-dharma, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explained that if you chant the holy names with a pure devotee, shuddha-nama will manifest on your tongue. This is a very simple way to understand this concept.
Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja was very generous, externally, he appeared to be very heavy and would chastise very heavily when necessary. If you ever met with him and if he asked you a question, you would feel like running away. You would feel ashamed when you heard his question and especially his answer. However, internally Maharaja’s heart was very soft. Around 1992 or 1994, Gurudeva was very sick with a heart condition. That year during Kartika, Gurudeva could not give any classes. Many Western devotees had arrived, even a few Western ISKCON devotees came to listen to hari-katha. Unfortunately, due to health reasons, Gurudeva was unable to give any classes. Rather, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja gave most of the classes. And Maharaja spoke on Uddhava-sandesha and Bhramara-gita, both very high topics. In the beginning of his kathas he would open Bhramara-gita, yet, would only speak on one topic. Do you know what he would say? “Jivera ‘svarupa' haya, krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’.”
He would recite the same verse every day. Some devotees would courageously say, “Maharaja, you said you would give class on Bhramara-gita,” and he would reply, “Hey! This is Bhramara-gita. First, you must understand that you are the eternal servant of the Lord Krishna, ‘jivera ‘svarupa' haya, krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’.” Except, how does one realise they are the eternal servant of Krishna, krishna-dasa? Only when you realise this, will you understand how the gopis actually serve Krishna. If you do not know your own svarupa, meaning, your transcendental constitutional form, siddha-deha, how can you realise other truths?
You must first, know yourself. If you are blind— how can you see another person? When you are blind, you cannot see others. Is this true or not? What does this mean? You have to open your eyes. If anyone thinks, “I want to see someone,” yet, close their eyes, it becomes impossible. You must open your eyes, then you can see others. What is the meaning behind this? First, know who you are, know yourself. You must realise who you really are. This is a very important thing. If you do not know yourself, you will never know others.
If you want to know yourself, you must practice bhajana and sadhana. What is Guru’s duty? To teach you how to practice and to help you practice your bhajana and sadhana. However, you have to chant the holy names yourself. Guru simply cannot chant the holy names on your behalf, just as Guru cannot eat anything on your behalf too. You have to eat your own food, then you will be healthy. On the other hand, if you don't eat— how will you be healthy? What does this mean? You must chant the holy names yourselves.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Thus, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja mostly spoke on how we can realise the identity of our soul, atma-jnana. Srimad-Bhagavatam states, ‘athāto brahma jijñāsā’, the Vedanta-sutra also explains the same. Both concepts are present. Vedanta-darshana, the highest philosophy, explains, ‘athāto brahma jijñāsā’. Therefore, you must inquire about Brahma. Do you understand? This is ‘athāto brahma jijñāsā’. One must inquire about their soul. You must do these things. This is the process to realise yourself, atma jijñāsā. One must ask, “Who am I?” For this reason, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja most of the time would explain, ‘ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’.
Who am I?
When Sanatana Gosvami met with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he asked the question, “Ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya.” Who am I? Sanatana Gosvamipada already knew, “I am Lavanga Manjari, I am the eternal maidservant of Srimati Radhika.” However, for loka-shiksha, for the teaching of others, he asked Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu this question:
‘ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’
ihā nāhi jāni — ‘kemane hita haya’
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila, 20.102)
[Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited?]
Who am I? Why am I suffering the threefold miseries of maya? And how will I be freed from maya? Who are you? (Devotee answers: “Plastic bag.”) You are a plastic bag, a nice plastic bag. This is true. You have to understand these things; ‘Ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’. Why am I saying this? Because Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja also explained this in his katha— ‘ke āmi’, ‘kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya’ ihā nāhi jāni — ‘kemane hita haya’.
‘sādhya’-‘sādhana’-tattva puchite nā jāni
kṛpā kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ āpani
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila, 20.103)
[Actually I do not know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths.]
Sanatana Gosvami said, “I do now know anything about sadhana and sadhya. What is the process and what is the goal?” What is the process? Abhidheya, bhakti. Sadhana is called bhakti, the practice. What is sadhya? What is our goal? How to attain krishna-prema. Try to fully comprehend these things. Only then can one truly understand gopi-tattva. Most people only want to listen to gopi-katha, but not their own katha. You must know yourself. You must ask, “Who am I? Why have I come into this material world? Why am I suffering the threefold miseries of maya? How will I be freed from maya? What is the sadhana process, abhidheya-tattva and what is the sadhya, goal?” Since most people are conditioned souls, they are thinking, “Dharma, artha, kama, moksha— this is our sadhya.”
Karmis believe their goal is to attain sarva-sukha, the heavenly pleasure. They desire heavenly pleasures, karmis want these things. Jnanis desire to merge in Brahma and yogis hanker on attaining the Supersoul. So, karmis, jnanis and yogis all have different goals, but this is not our ultimate goal. Because all of us are the eternal servants of Krishna, ‘krishna nitya dasa’. Srimad-Bhagavatam gives evidence:
dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ
vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam
śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ
sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt
Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.2)
[Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva (in his maturity), is sufficient in itself for God realisation. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart].
Dharma, artha, kama and moksha are not our goals. What does dharma mean? Dharma means religion. Artha means economical development. Kama means enjoying material sense gratifications and moksha means liberation. And these four things are actually not our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is how to attain krishna-prema.
Thus, Srila Sanatana Gosvamipada asked these four questions to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Then, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, step-by-step explained all of these things:
jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’
[sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa, yaiche agni-jvālā-caya
svābhāvika kṛṣṇera tina-prakāra ‘śakti’ haya
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila, 20.108-109)
[It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Krishna because he is the marginal energy of Krishna and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Krishna has three varieties of energy.]
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also told the same things to Srila Rupa Gosvamipada:
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja
mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa
śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila, 19.151-152)
[According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service. When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of shravana and kirtana, the seed will begin to sprout.]
Wandering in the cycle of repeated birth and death, an extremely fortunate living entity takes shelter of the lotus feet of Guru. Thereafter, Guru will give the bhakti-lata bija, which is the seed of bhakti-lata (creeper of devotion), in the heart of his disciples, through mantras. What is the seed of bhakti-lata? Do you understand what bhakti-lata bija means? What is the seed of the creeper of bhakti? Krishna-seva-vasana. This is the answer. The desire to serve Krishna. Krishna-seva-vasana, this is the thing. Guru gives this seed of krishna-seva-vasana through the mantra. This is the process. You receive the seed, but you must water the seed. You receive the seed from Guru, this is true, you have received krishna-seva-vasana through the mantra from Guru, however, you have to water the soil.
Even while listening to hari-katha you can relish krishna-prema. When you hear of the gopis and how they serve Krishna, your heart becomes overjoyed. A sadhaka may still reside in this material world, but the prema is coming directly from Goloka Vrindavana. After some time you can realise these things. This is why you have to listen to hari-katha everyday. And for this reason, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja usually spoke on sadhana-tattva (knowledge for the practitioners) and on how to remove all of our anarthas.
One glory of Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja was he simultaneously removed all anarthas from your heart as you listened to his very sweet hari-katha. After hearing his kathas your heart will become very soft. Most of the time, he also explained how to develop guru-nishtha or guru-bhakti. If you have no guru-nishtha or no guru-bhakti, then you cannot develop your bhajana and sadhana by any method. Though there are many limbs of bhakti, the topmost limb is guru-bhakti or guru-nishtha.
guru-śuśrūṣayā bhaktyā
sarva-labdhārpaṇena ca
saṅgena sādhu-bhaktānām
īśvarārādhanena ca
śraddhayā tat-kathāyāṁ ca
kīrtanair guṇa-karmaṇām
tat-pādāmburuha-dhyānāt
tal-liṅgekṣārhaṇādibhiḥ
Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.7.30-31)
[One must accept the bona fide spiritual master and render service unto him with great devotion and faith. Whatever one has in one’s possession should be offered to the spiritual master, and in the association of saintly persons and devotees one should worship the Lord, hear the glories of the Lord with faith, glorify the transcendental qualities and activities of the Lord, always meditate on the Lord’s lotus feet, and worship the Deity of the Lord strictly according to the injunctions of the shastra (scriptures) and guru.]
How does one develop guru-nishtha or guru-bhakti? If one does not have guru-nishtha or guru-bhakti— how can one develop their bhajana and sadhana? Srila BV Narayana Gosvami Maharaja explained in his Nectar of Instruction, Upadeshamrita that guru-bhakti is the backbone of our bhajana and sadhana. And all of our acharyas explain the same conception in many different ways. Guru-nishtha is our backbone. If your backbone is not strong, you cannot properly sit down. Similarly, guru-nishtha or guru-bhakti is the backbone of our bhajana and sadhana, without it we cannot develop our practice. This is very important, especially on this very excellent and super auspicious day. While normally residing in our Mathura Gaudiya Matha, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja would always recall these topics in his katha. Especially prior to Kartika he would come to our Mathura Matha and give a very nice and sweet hari-katha, discussing krishna-katha and always remaining absorbed in krishna-nama.
I recall always observing him being absorbed in chanting the holy names— he would rise around one or two o’clock in the morning and commence chanting. When he would visit Mathura, he mostly stayed in my room, it was a small room, so I would stay outside the mandira. Have you ever seen my room in Mathura? Many sadhus would always stay there. Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja, sometimes Srila Janardana Gosvami Maharaja and many other sannyasis. Actually, my room can be called a maha-tirtha.
It is always important to hear the life history and contributions of an important figure such as Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja. When he left his home to join our Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti, he completely surrendered to the lotus feet of Srila Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Gosvami Maharaja, while still being married. Once, his wife came to the temple and said, “You have to return home. If you do not return home, I will commit suicide in front of you.” Then, Srila Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja quickly replied, “Okay, if you commit suicide in front of me, I will put kerosene all over your body and light a fire.”
Jaya Trivikrama Gosvami Maharaja ki jaya!
Jaya Vamana Gosvami Maharaja ki jaya!
Gaura Premanande! Hari Haribol!
Date: 10 November 2018 Location: Govardhana, India
Transcriber: Sanatana dasa (USA) Editor: Sanatana dasa (USA), Damodara dasa (UK) Integrity check: Divya-premamayi dasi (Slovakia) Proofreader: Chandrika dasi (UK) Photo: Navina-krishna dasa (Holland)
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