Śrila Gurudeva The Supreme Treasure Volume Two

Śrila Gurudeva The Supreme Treasure Volume Two

I am presenting this book as an offering of devotion to our dearly beloved jagad-guru, om viļņupāda paramahamsa parivrājakācārya astottara-śata who has mercifully shown us an unadulterated life of utter dedication and loving service to his beloved Guru Maharaja, nitya-līlā-pravista om viļņupāda paramahamsa parivrājakācārya aștottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Kešava Gosvāmī Mahārāja.

This is an account of the most auspicious life, qualities and teachings of Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedanta Nārāyaņa Gosvāmī Mahārāja.

"Śrīla Nārāyaņa Gosvāmī Mahārāja is expert in describing krsņa-līlā. He is endowed with the qualities of magnanimity and sweetness, and he is the best of great souls. Because he is always relishing Krsna's sweetness, he is able to freely distribute that sweetness to others. I bow down and place my head at his lotus feet."

Because he loves to speak hari-katha and relishes the sweet transcendental name, form, qualities and pastimes of the Supreme Lord, he is the most qualified to eradicate from one's heart the most dangerous enemy in the path of bhakti, the deceitful entrapping fallacy of impersonalism.

Foreword

This book is about the extraordinary character and sublime teachings of our most revered holy master, om viļņupāda paramahamsa parivrājakācārya aștottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedanta Nārāyaņa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, affectionately known as our beloved Śrīla Gurudeva. It is Śrīla Gurudeva's extraordinary mercy that he has revealed a glimpse of the spiritual world and awakened within us a taste for the supremely sweet pastimes of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Krșņa.

Śrīpāda 'Vidyālankāra' Mādhava Mahārāja is not writing just another book about some charismatic individual who is accepted by the general public as a guru. Nowadays the name guru has become quite fashionable. In the modern world we have financial gurus, management gurus, fashion gurus and so on, and it seems that any common man can be accepted as guru as long as he shows some expertise in his field. The approach of many so-called gurus may be of great appeal to the masses by making them feel good about the prospects of their material aspirations and the anticipated temporary pleasures of the mind and senses. One may receive some temporary upliftment from these self-styled gurus, but in the end, their encouragement for us to continuously chase after material happiness produces only a mental image of a possible future, but no ultimate satisfaction. That is because the material enjoyment they offer always ends in misery. This material enjoyment is just like a big fire; no matter how beautiful it is to look at, if you touch it, it will inevitably burn you and you will suffer tremendously. Similarly, harmful activities will make us suffer in the material world. People who are overpowered by the illusory material māyā of Krsna feel happiness and suffering for many births under the influence of that illusory energy. Their happiness and sufferings are all the work of maya, meaning 'forgetfulness of Krsna'. There are many persons in this world who may appear or claim to be guru, but a bona fide guru follows Śrī Brahmā, the original guru and grandfather of the universe. Krsna consciousness was propounded by Śrī Brahma aeons ago when the creation was still in its infancy. Only a bona fide guru representing his guru and the Lord can give one the essential help to attain real freedom.

Guru is a Sanskrit word and its original and intended meanings are explained in the Vedic literatures. Gu means 'ignorance' and ru means 'dispeller', so a real guru is someone who is in a disciplic succession of gurus that dispells our ignorance. Those in a material conception of life will teach others that they can and will become happy here, thus increasing their ignorance and boosting their false ego of bodily identification. A real guru, on the other hand, gives eternal results by initiating us on the path that activates and reveals our true spiritual identity. He mercifully gives instructions, convincing us of the many perfect philosophical conclusions of bhakti. Serving him and submissively hearing from him frees us from the ignorance that has been ingrained within our hearts since time without beginning. It gradually but firmly establishes within us a deep love for Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Krsna, the divine Youthful Couple and the soul's function fully awakens. This is what a guru should give - our pristine intrinsic nature, our eternal dharma. That's what our Srila Gurudeva, the deliverer of the fallen, is giving to us.

Our eternal natural function, or dharma, is bhakti or devotional service. As one cannot separate heat from fire, so similarly, the service nature of the living entities cannot be taken away from them. We have to serve someone or something. We serve either Krsna or māyā. Unfortunately, during this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the insincerity and hypocrisy is so widespread that those who have a desire to follow religion are oftentimes misled; consequently they are disheartened to pursue religion with strong determination or conviction.

All religions propagated in the world are either steps leading to bhakti or else distortions of it. This being a fact, we should focus on our own cultivation of devotion and not worry or criticize what others are doing. We should be favourable towards the followers of other religions and have no animosity towards them. All of us advance according to the time that is ripe for us. Any religion should be respected according to its proportionate degree of purity.

In order to pursue our particular path with great devotion, we have to understand that there are mixed, polluted and imaginary concepts of bhakti that are falsely presented in the name of pure bhakti. There are different categories. One group may have a slight semblance of bhakti or a mixed devotion (mixed with fruitive action or speculative knowledge, etc.). These are gradations of bhakti but only unalloyed devotion (śuddha-bhakti) can give life's ultimate goal - the nectar of pure love (prema). Only that suddha-bhakti can bestow the highest results. Yet, on the path of bhakti, many try to give the impression that they are practicing pure bhakti, though in actuality they practice only a reflection or a shadow of devotion. It is important to know that whoever you follow, you will only be able to attain what they have, not more than that. Whatever level of consciousness one's guru attains, the followers can advance up to that level, not higher than that. That is why the gift of the higher part, the transcendental realm, can only be obtained by the exclusive mercy of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, the ācārya of ujjvala-rasa, and his intimate associates. The original form of Bhagavan descended in this age as Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu to deliver all the living entities. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, who is priya-svarūpa, the very embodiment of everything dear to Him, is His foremost disciple in establishing the deepest wishes of His heart. Those who completely come under the guidance and care of the genuine followers of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī will attain realization and advance through each successive stage of krsna-prema.

The realm of the Supreme Lord is naturally full of love and there is never any force. Here also, we are never forced to love, but this world is a place where the Supreme Lord examines us. Do we want only Him, or do we still want something of this world? The Lord will fulfill our desire, as much as we desire, not more than that. According to what we desire in life, we will get an appropriate guru or spiritual teacher. If we want transcendental vision, we can only get it by the special mercy of great devotees who see and perceive the Lord at all times and in all places. Only by their mercy will we excel in the examination, be able to recognize our true selves and begin to hanker for the only thing that will satisfy us - pure bhakti. One can only remember the Lord in all circumstances when the inclination to serve the Lord arises in one's heart by the sweet association and mercy of such a sādhu. Unless we have the opportunity to hear the pure nectar of their hari-kathā, we will always go back and absorb ourselves in sense gratification, even if we are inclined towards religious life. It is only by their merciful glance and the sharp words emanating from their lotus mouths that the hidden fantasies in the mind for gross and subtle sense gratification are finally eradicated from the heart forever.

If someone possesses only pretentious devotion (chala-bhakti), that is what their followers will get from them. Some, even in the name of bhakti, instruct others against the principles of bhakti and lead them on a path that is totally opposed to it. Therefore our previous ācāryas have clearly cautioned us to avoid mixed and polluted concepts of bhakti. Only then will our hearts be thoroughly cleansed, so that our activities can be most favourably executed for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Krsna.

Everyone is controlled by the desire for sense enjoyment, even when it comes to modern day religion. Most of the general public become attracted to follow certain religious teachings to get material boons from God in the form of economic development (artha) and sense gratification (kāma). They are misled to ask and search for material benedictions, rather than establishing their pure loving relationship with the Lord. Although their values are presented as the topmost and most relevant for God consciousness, they are in actuality a distortion of pure bhakti and the practitioner can only develop a little faith in God. Ultimately it is a deception and infinitely inferior to the flawless and completely pure suddha-bhakti. That is why we should always hear the perfect philosophical conclusions of bhakti (bhakti- siddhānta) from qualified persons. Unqualified persons with the four defects of human frailty are unable to properly teach anything transcendental that is worth hearing. We need to seek help from those who are free from these very serious defects that prevent us from getting even a glimpse of transcendence. Methods of learning under the operation of the four-fold defects are useless in our progress toward the Absolute, for they can never free us from those defects.

What Śrīla Gurudeva has come to give is not a lower step on the staircase of mixed bhakti, but the topmost level of pure love. Like the bhakti-rasācārya Srīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, he has come to fulfill the innermost heart's desire (mano 'bhista) of Kali-yuga pāvana āvatārī Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to give us the service to Śrīmati Rādhikā as Her confidential maidservant. If Śrīla Gurudeva had not come to make all these things accessible to us, we would have been grasping for straws, trying to understand these confidential pastimes with our mundane intellect, or we would have foolishly ignored these pastimes, because others had advised us that they were inappropriate and would compromise our spiritual lives. The person to teach us the proper understanding and method to approach the Lord's amorous relationships without offence is a bona fide representative of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, whose pure heart is immersed in these loving pastimes. Only someone like Śrīla Gurudeva, who is absorbed in the moods of these pastimes with Śrī Radha, can plant the seed of pure devotion and nurture it without impediments. These most confidential pastimes are not at all subject to Sanskrit scholarship or artistic creative imagination, but are only revealed to someone who has pleased the Divine Couple and Their devotees with unmotivated, pure, loving service. The supreme treasure that the most munificent Lord Śrī Gauranga Mahaprabhu came to give personally would have certainly been lost from our vision unless Śrīla Gurudeva had mercifully unveiled it. Śrīla Gurudeva came to give the incomparable gift that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and all our guru-varga came to give, namely the prema of unnatojjvala-rasa-sva-bhakti-śrīyam. Our material desires and pride would have kept us away if Śrīla Gurudeva had not come into our lives and qualified us with his potent hari-kathā. Without him, the pure desire to render unalloyed devotional service in the mood of the Vrajavasis would perhaps never enter our hearts.

Śrīla Gurudeva is a vastly learned scholar and author who has written and translated more than one hundred books in Hindi, that have been translated into many languages around the world, with over seventy titles in English. Even though he is ninety-one years old, he is still producing more transcendental literatures every year. These books are relished and appreciated by all those who are serious to study the deep Krsna conscious meanings of the rūpānuga ācāryas.

People are very much eager to learn more about this outstanding preacher of kevalā-bhakti, who has manifest with his pen such a vast array of Gaudiya literature and who has spread this knowledge throughout the whole world. This book helps us to know more intimately the person responsible for all of those books and gives us a chance to become more acquainted with the essential truths that he came to speak. It shows how he protected the siddhanta whenever it was needed and how he is the guardian of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. Here the readers will not only know about the greatness of Srila Gurudeva's accomplishments, but also his profound, internal purpose and moods. These things cannot be understood by outsiders, but Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja gives us a peek at the gravity and depth of his personality, which no other biographer - no matter how expert - can give.

Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja shows us in very simple language how Śrīla Gurudeva personally applies and demonstrates the instructions of his books in his own life, thereby instructing us how to ourselves act and advance in Krsna consciousness. Śrīla Gurudeva perfectly exemplifies the conclusion of the Lord that one should teach by example. In this book you will see how Śrī Guru perfectly represents the siddhānta that is the very substance of the entirety of the Vedas. With logic and discrimination, Śrīpada Mādhava Mahārāja has described the name, fame, devotional activities and transcendental moods of Śrīla Gurudeva and he has strung this together in such a beautiful way, to show the very essence of the Absolute Truth.

He proves how Śrīla Gurudeva has an 'eternal' relationship with Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Svāmī Mahārāja 'based on spontaneous love' and how he is considered by him to be 'the real guru-sevaka', the real servant of Śrī Guru. Unscrupulous persons try to defame him in an attempt to establish their own superiority, but their attempts simply increase his transcendental fame and reputation.

Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja has done an amazing service in the form of this biography. Not only is Śrīpāda Madhava Mahārāja Śrīla Gurudeva's personal servant; Śrīla Gurudeva himself has said on many occasions that he is his 'mother, father, minister, doctor, dietician, cook and bosom friend'. He personally heard from many of the contemporaries of Srila Gurudeva, but mostly he noted down these incidents from hearing directly from Śrila Gurudeva himself, whom he has served for more than thirty years. He was always by his side, attentively hearing his scriptural debates with opposing parties, his answers to diverse questions, and his personal dealings with all types of different personalities and situations. He gives intimate details of the transcendental qualities and characteristics of Śrīla Gurudeva and explains how they are similar to those of the Lord. He also shows how Śrīla Gurudeva changes people's hearts by delivering the pure transcendental name, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare and by always describing the power, qualities and mercy of the holy name. The holy name,

which is identical with the Lord, has the power to free us and associate us with those spiritual beauties of the highest possible standards of excellence.

Śrīpāda Mādhava Mahārāja gives a detailed account of how in nineteen fifty-two, at the young age of thirty-one, Śrīla Gurudeva took sannyāsa, the renounced order. At that time he taught and presented scriptural quotes which brought about the proper chanting of this mahā-mantra when it was being chanted in reverse sequence by almost everyone in the holy places of Krsna's pastimes in Vraja-mandala. Śrīla Gurudeva would enthusiastically go to the pastime places of the Lord over and over again and describe the Lord's transcendental līlas that took place there, greatly inspiring all the devotees who came for pilgrimage. He also explains how Śrīla Gurudeva is constantly chanting the mahā-mantra under any circumstance. His presentation will astound even a stone-hearted person.

That mercy you get from the rasika Vaisnava is perpetual. It goes on forever and will never stop. This is the supreme treasure. It is not something perishable, like all benedictions you receive from materialistic people. Spiritual greed (lobha) will increase when one associates with the rāgānuga-rasika Vaisnava, hears from him, or hears about him. When a person hears from his lotus lips about the supremely blissful, sweet pastimes of Śrī Krsna - and especially the Lord's madhurya pastimes with the vraja-gopīs - that genuine greed (lobha) enters the mind or the heart (citta-vrtti).

This book is about the person who is a supreme treasure for the world and who gives the supreme treasure of bhakti to the world. People are looking everywhere in the world for treasures, but they fail to realize that the supreme treasure is right there in their heart. Unfortunately, they do not see this and are running after a mirage. Only Śrī Guru can dissolve the mirage, remove the ignorance and give us entrance into the kingdom of supreme, everlasting happiness. We want happiness, but for the most part, it escapes us. Even if we find temporary happiness in some superficial pleasures, it is short-lived and misery comes and takes its place. It is useless even to enter some kind of pseudo-religious movement and externally break our bad habits, if there is no lasting transformation. The speculations of the pseudo-religionists show that they are still completely bewildered by their material existence.

We were also painfully wallowing in total forgetfulness of the Lord, but Śrīla Gurudeva, who is the friend of the destitute and lowly, has overlooked our disqualifications to give us that supreme treasure which is our real welfare.

Ultimately material life and sensual pleasure is a deception that entraps us, bewilders us, keeps us entangled and leaves us hurt. Due to all the suffering, we gain some power of discrimination and eventually we come to the point in our life ... where we are exhausted ... where we have had enough ... where we are truly crying out to the Lord.

When we are truly destitute and deep in our hearts, desperate to have a connection only with God, the Lord hears our sincere longing and warms our hearts by sending His pure devotee, who is our only friend and shelter in this world. Although such association is extremely rare, the Lord will reveal to us His own eternal personal associate, the bhakta-bhagavata. When we know how difficult that association is to attain, then we should sincerely pray for it without duplicity.

We cannot always get the association of living sadhus, so in the absence of the bhakta-bhagavata, the Lord's devotee, we can take the association of the other all-auspicious type of sadhu, the grantha-bhagavata, the śāstra. The sadhus, have with great endeavor meticulously written down the sastras for our benefit and we can receive their association there. When we take shelter of these two sadhus, the bhakta-bhagavata and the grantha-bhagavata, they will make us qualified so that we will never give up Vrajendra-nandana Śrī Krsna. When we always hear their hari-kathā laden with their potency, our intelligence will become firmly fixed in the proper philosophical conclusions.

Śrī Krsna is the fountainhead of all rasas (akhila-rasāmrta- mūrti) and we can offer Him our eternal loving service in the mood of deep friendship, maternal or fatherly love, or in amorous love. In the worship of other forms of the Lord, although we can completely surrender unto Him with unwavering faith and love which is fully satisfying, we are not able to offer such confidential service and unconditional love as His friends, parents or lovers.

Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Śrī Krsna Himself in the mood and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, descended to this world to give love of God. Having reflected on the living entity's difficult and unfortunate situation, Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Krsna personally appeared in Their combined form of Śriman Mahaprabhu, who is an ocean of compassion for the fallen souls. Śrīpāda Bhaktivedanta Mādhava Mahārāja in this book is showing how devotees all over the world are becoming happy and satisfied by hearing the pure message of Śrīman Mahaprabhu from Śrīla Gurudeva. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came some five hundred years ago to give us the topmost, all-auspicious spiritual knowledge and to show us how to practice it in pure love. He has now arranged to send His messenger Śrīla Gurudeva to us so that we can hear pure hari-kathā (topics in glorification of Lord Hari and His devotees) flowing constantly from his lotus mouth. If we have the extreme fortune to continually drink the ambrosial nectar that emanates from his lotus mouth and which flows from his pen, we shall never have to live again in misery, adverse to the Supreme Lord. While persons in this world are becoming more and more mad to enjoy their mundane senses, but are instead drowning in misery, searching for wealth, women and mundane reputation and fame, this book will help them to forget such fleeting happiness. Śrīla Gurudeva has never been in forgetfulness of the Lord and he can teach us how to live our life in such constant remembrance. He shows us how we can truly be happy by engaging in Krsna's service. There is immense happiness in serving Him and a very relishable love and affection that is not found in material relationships. There are oceans of love and affection in Krsna's transcendental abode.

Not only is Śrīla Gurudeva the supreme treasure; he is also giving us this invaluable treasure, namely the awakening and nurturing of our eternal loving personal relationship with the Divine Couple. He is not giving us a partially developed understanding, but is giving us the full and perfect philosophical conclusion (siddhānta) of the bona fide gurus (ācāryas) including Lord Caitanya Himself.

The book also talks about some controversial subjects, misunderstandings and slanderous statements. People are deceiving themselves if they do not properly respect a Vaisnava and it is an offence to the holy name to disrespect and blaspheme the saintly devotees whose characters are spotless. Śrīpāda Bhaktivedānta Mādhava Mahārāja addresses many mistaken viewpoints and misguided mentalities and gives the facts of many incidents that were previously presented giving the wrong impression of Śrīla Gurudeva. He does this to protect the immaculate reputation of our most illustrious Śrīla Gurudeva and the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradāya that he represents. He presents it not as a challenge, but to acquaint the innocent with the real facts and dispel their doubts and to warn them about the seriousness of offending Vaisnavas who are so very dear to the Lord.

A pure devotee has no hostile mentality, personal grudges or dissatisfaction with anyone. Thus anyone who takes initiation of the holy name must wholeheartedly reject any tendency to disregard or disrespect any Vaisnava. Śrī Guru is our greatest well-wisher and best friend. There is no one more merciful than him in this world, but those who are adverse to him cannot see it. A person develops his or her mentality and body in accordance with the activities that they have performed in their previous birth. The Lord is bestowing the fruits of their action, whatever they may be, to enjoy and engage in further acts. Those who are adverse to the Lord will be impelled to act by the external, illusory energy (maya) of the Lord, and those who are surrendered without duplicity will see all the virtues of the Vaisnava revealed in their true features. They will see the Vaisnava's extraordinary transcendental qualities and will not liken them to mundane qualities, whereas those who are impelled by maya and who commit offences, will not.

The example has been given of a palace made entirely of gems. Those whose hearts are pure will see its splendor, whereas an ant or someone with an offensive mentality will only try to find the hole. If we see how Śrīla Gurudeva is always serving Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Krsna Yugala and how he is exclusively surrendered to Them, that will attract us and arouse in us an affection for him. And those who are not gentle and well-behaved towards him, will still unfortunately not be able to recognize the transcendental Vaisnava, no matter how many virtues and material intelligence they may have developed by their karmas. They will not be able to judge his exclusive surrender to Their Lordships and will instead select a mundane personality.

Śrīla Gurudeva has brought with him the immaculate moods of the pure devotees and placed it right in the forefront of our consciousness. All we have to do is faithfully pay attention to him and we will benefit remarkably. He is not simply giving us an idea to ponder over like the armchair philosophers. Rather, he is showing us our exact spiritual identity and abode, and how to realize them. We should take advantage of this opportunity. This divine mercy comes only from a specially empowered personality who is overflowing with mercy from Lord Krsna and Śrīmati Rādhārāņī. No matter how low we jīvas have fallen, a powerful guru like Śrīla Gurudeva can bring us to the highest spiritual position by nourishing us and awakening our real nature and intrinsic mood of pure love of God.

We invite the sincere readers to deliberate on this book fully and relish the nature of Srila Gurudeva's suddha-bhakti, the ultimate goal of all scriptures. See for yourself how the nectar of the krsna-prema that he came to give manifests in his life and actions. We sincerely pray that Śrīla Gurudeva, who is the personification of mercy and forgiveness, may transmit his potency into the core of our hearts, so that we can render some pleasing service to fulfill his inner heart's longing to give prema-bhakti to the world. If we remain aloof from adverse association, hear from the lotus lips of pure devotees and read their devotional literatures, we will receive the highest, most sublime revelation of all, the supreme treasure, service to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Krsna Yugala.

I humbly beg your forgiveness for any mistakes,

This book is about the most auspicious life and teachings of Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Nārāyaņa Gosvāmī Mahārāja. It is with great pleasure that we finally present this long anticipated book about Śrīla Gurudeva who is a treasure house of the most ecstatic form of pure love of God. Those who are fortunate will take advantage of this book. This is more than an historical timeline of events, for this book wonderfully summarizes the entire Krsna conscious philosophy and siddhānta as practised by an unalloyed, pure devotee of the Lord.

Hearing about a pure devotee is very auspicious, as it eradicates all doubts, misconceptions, misunderstandings and confusions on the path of pure devotional service. Those who are seriously looking for happiness in Krsna consciousness must certainly give up all preconceived assumptions and transcend all sectarian designations, so that they can read this book with an open mind and get the real benefit of association with a fully realized Vaisnava.

Śrī guru is the personification of Krsna's mercy in this world. He comes to deliver the conditioned souls by enlightening them on the constitutional nature and eternal function of the soul. Gradually he reveals our eternal relationship and intimate service to the Lord. When we sincerely offer our life and soul to his lotus feet, our good fortune arises and in this way śrī guru opens the way to boundless peace and happiness for the conditioned soul.

Everyone tries to remove their suffering and increase their happiness. Some try to achieve this by hard labour and following moral principles, while others take drugs, have illicit relationships, steal and such in an attempt to improve the material conditions of their life. However, we see that all these attempts are baffled and happiness still remains elusive.

Whatever happiness we find in this world is meager and not everlasting. For example, one gains some pleasure by eating food, but if one keeps on eating, the same food that gives one pleasure will cause suffering. One does not want old age, diseases and death to come; yet they come. Any sane person will ponder over this problem and try to find a solution.

The scriptures tell us that we are not our bodies; rather we are souls, eternal parts and parcels of the supreme personality of Godhead, Śrī Krsna. The soul's eternal constitutional function (dharma) is eternal service and obedience to Krsna. When the soul forgets his true identity as an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord Śrī Krsna, and instead identifies himself with the body, he is subjected to the tyranny of the illusory potency of the Lord (māya) and his eternal constitutional function becomes perverted.

In an attempt to enjoy, the soul wanders in the material world taking one material body after another. However, all of his efforts to enjoy are obstructed by the external potency of the Lord. The material body is subjected to various types of suffering such as birth, old age, disease and death. The embodied living entity is always subject to the three types of miseries, namely, miseries caused by the mind, miseries caused by other living entities and miseries due to natural disturbances. However, the purpose of suffering is simply so that the living entities can realize that this suffering is unwanted and that this material world is not their home. The living entities can then strive for something everlasting or eternal.

The only way to achieve everlasting happiness is by performing devotional service to Śrī Krșņa. Śrī Krsna, who is infinitely merciful, sends his eternal associates to teach us this process, so a seeker of everlasting happiness must necessarily take shelter of such people and learn this process from them. Such a teacher who can give us this supreme treasure is called a guru.

Service to guru is the backbone of devotional absorption (bhajana). Whoever wants to enter into the realm of bhajana, must first dedicate his life to the service of a bona fide guru. Such a guru will never consider the disciple to be his own property. Rather, he will consider the disciple to belong to Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Divine Couple, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Krsna. The bona fide guru will transfer the disciple's attachment and dedication for himself (for guru) to Them. Altough he is an expansion

(avesa) of Śrī Krsna, He never considers himself to be Śrī Krsna; He always thinks that he is His eternal servant.

Our beloved Gurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Nārāyaņa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, is such a guru. Whoever reads this work will have a clear conception of the subject of Śrīla Gurudeva and his teachings.

This book will be like a lighthouse that guides those aspirants who want to progress in Krsna consciousness to reach spritual perfection.

Just as Śrīla Vyāsadeva got inspiration by hearing the life history of his Gurudeva, Śrī Nārada Rsi, one can get inspiration from hearing the biography of Śrīla Gurudeva. Without hearing about and serving śrī guru, no one can advance in Krsna Consciousness either now, or in the future.

The mercy of śrī guru and Vaisnavas is causeless, as it is independent of any material cause or piety. It is only by such causeless mercy that the jīva can obtain the merciful, sidelong glance of the eternally youthful couple of Vraja Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Krsna and join Them in Their eternal loving pastimes.

Therefore, without the mercy of real sadhus and śrī guru, pure spiritual desires for perfection will never awaken and fructify.

In describing the bona fide guru, it is never enough to just describe his external pastimes - what he was wearing, where, when, what foods he likes, etc. To properly glorify him, one must explain his teachings and his siddhānta. Unless one understands the teachings of the spiritual master, one cannot understand his mood, and if one does not understand his mood, one will not understand what his mission is all about. By understanding his mood, one can properly execute his mission. The mission of the bona fide guru is not independent of the previous ācāryas; it is the continuation of the mission that Śrīla Rūpa Gosvami established on behalf of Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī understood the inner mood of Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu and thus wrote many transcendental books on pure bhakti to establish His mission. Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give vraja-prema through nāma, the Hare Krsna mahā-mantra.

In the same way, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpada is giving the same vraja-prema through nāma. The same mood and objective is being carried out by the pure devotees in the Gaudiya Vaisnava line such as Śrīla Krsna dāsa

Kavirāja Gosvāmī, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Țhākura, Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūsana, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Țhākura, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Țhākura, Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Kešava Gosvāmī Mahārāja and Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Svāmī Mahārāja.

Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Nārāyaņa Gosvāmī Mahārāja is similarly continuing this powerful wave of pure bhakti - bhakti that is without a tinge of speculation, mundane jñāna or karma.

Śrī guru and his mission are thus never independent. The entire disciplic succession (guru-varga) is always with him. Śrī guru teaches lucidly and systematically all that he received from his spiritual master - the a, b, c, the x, y, z, and everything in between. Without securing his guiding grace, one will not be able to understand the deep meaning of his message.

People with ambitions other than to humbly serve śrī guru and Śrī Krsna are led astray by their own mind. Such unfortunate persons create enmity by finding faults in pure devotees and are unable to reconcile the apparent differences in the pure teachings of Vaisnavas. We should not hear from such persons who are the cause of their own misfortune. To understand the spiritual meaning of the pure devotee's words, one has to serve the pure devotee favourably and intimately and thus by the grace of śrī guru, everything will be revealed in the heart. We will then be able to appreciate and understand the uncompromised quality of the siddhānta of śrī guru.

There is no confusion as to what is pure bhakti but as long as our heart is torn with material desires we will not be single pointed in our desire to serve purely.

Unless we are ready and willing to accept pure bhakti in our heart, we will not be able to recognize or fully appreciate a pure devotee. Our intelligence will be polluted and we will lose this rare opportunity which has been made accessible to humanity by the most munificent Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu has clearly explained that the greatest opposition in the path of bhakti is the impersonal māyāvāda philosophy. This impersonalism comes in many forms and keeps us deeply entrenched in illusion, such as the hollow pride of empirical ignorance, which makes its way into the heart of immature devotees, who under such influence regard certain Vaisnavas as enemies.

All devotees of the Supreme Lord Śrī Krsna Caitanya should take shelter in His eternal spiritual community and unite to fight against such impersonalism and voidism.

Śrī Krsna alone is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is declared by all authorities and throughout the Vedas. Every living entity is His eternal servant. Our mind and senses are meant to be engaged in His service and only by such engagement will we be truly happy. This engagement is only given by a pure devotee. Śrī Krsna reveals Himself to His pure devotee. To the non-devotees, Krsna appears in His deluding feature. When the conditioned soul associates with the non-devotee, the Lord does not reveal Himself. Therefore the association of living pure devotees is most essential.

One's nature is determined and shaped by the company one keeps. Such association shapes one's character. The fruitive activities we performed in our past life and our past associations have moulded our nature in this current life.

By association with the living pure devotees and by understanding the Vaisnava books, under their guidance, our lower nature will be transformed into good character.

The example is described in the Vedic scripture of a clear quartz crystal. It assumes the colour of any object in its proximity. Similarly, a person will acquire the qualities of whomever they join company with. Therefore association with saintly persons (sadhu-sanga) is recommended throughout all revealed scriptures.

Śrīmad-Bhagavatam clearly affirms:

sango yaļ samsrter hetur asatsu vihito 'dhiyā sa eva sādhusu krto niņsangatvāya kalpate

By associating with worldly-minded materialists, a person is bound to undergo severe suffering in material existence. He will certainly have to bear the consequences of his association, even if he cannot distinguish between good and bad. By associating with saintly persons, however, a person attains complete freedom from worldly attachments (nihsangatva).

Besides earnestly engaging in good association (sadhu-sanga), it is also essential to give up unfavourable association, as recommended in Śrīmad Bhagavatam:

satyam śaucam dayā maunam buddhiķ śrīr hrīr yaśaļ ksamā śamo damo bhagaś ceti yat-sangād yāti sanksayam teșv ašānteșu mūdheșu khaņditātmasv asādbușu sangam na kuryāc chocyeșu yoșit-krīdā-mrgeșu ca

Worldly association destroys all of one's virtues like truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, gravity, intelligence, shyness, prosperity, reputation, forgiveness, control of the mind, control of the senses, good fortune and opulence. One should utterly reject the company of a person who is not a sadhu, considering such association to be extremely miserable, for such a wicked and restless fool is but a dancing dog in the hands of a woman and is thereby simply bent on annihilating himself.

This book describes the necessity of association of saintly persons (sadhu-sanga) and explains who is a bona fide guru, what are the rarely understood symptoms of a genuine sadhu and especially, how to attain the desired goal of life. The pastimes of Srila Gurudeva have been presented here so as to enable the devotees to associate with him.

When I joined the Gaudiya Matha, my revered diksā-guru Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja specifically put me under the loving care of Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Nārāyaņa Gosvāmī Mahārāja and ordered me to serve him. Consequently, I received the opportunity to associate closely with both of these divine personalities. They were Godbrothers, dear disciples of Parama-gurudeva Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Kesava Gosvāmī Mahārāja and the respect and intimacy they shared was unparalleled. For many years my dīkņā-guru, Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja was the ācārya and initiating guru of Śrī Gaudīya Vedānta Samiti.

At that time Śrila Gurudeva was not initiating disciples, but was always guiding and instructing devotees. He taught all of us in the matha by his personal example, always emphasizing the trņād-api sunīcena verse by Lord Caitanya, which states that one should be humbler than a blade of grass and more forbearing than a tree, and that one should offer respect to everyone without desiring respect from others. His unique quality was that he was always speaking hari-katha and telling us that in order to get Śrī Krsna's mercy, we should constantly pray for the mercy of His beloved Śrīmatī Rādhārāņī. In his bhajana he was never proud, but on the contrary was always tolerant, merciful and a well-wisher of all. If there were any issues or disagreements between any devotees, whichever way Śrīla Gurudeva decided to handle the matter was always fully backed by my dīksā-guru, Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja. Therefore, whatever Śrīla Gurudeva ordered was the mandate for everyone in the Samiti.

The Vedic scriptures and the writings of the Vaisnava acaryas direct the sincere seeker of the truth to the pure devotee of Krsna. By submissive hearing with an open mind to the transcendental sound appearing on the lips of a pure devotee, one learns about Krsna who is the Absolute Truth.

The conditioned soul cannot directly hear Śrī Krsna on his own strength. His words have to be heard from the lips of a pure devotee. If one does not seek help from the pure devotee, one will surely be deluded. Śrī Krsna appears in the heart of the pure devotee and only when the conditioned soul hears the holy name and pastimes of the Lord from the lips of such a sadhu can he perceive the Lord who is identical with His transcendental name, His divine form, qualities, activities and paraphernalia.

To properly understand the teachings of the great Vaisnavas, one requires a service attitude that is free from mundane desires, mundane knowledge and speculation. The divine message is not transmitted by scholars interested in displaying erudition and minor details of technical knowledge. One will only be in a position to receive the divine message - that same message that was received by the guru in parampara - when the guru is pleased.

One cannot approach the Lord without adhering to the method He has Himself prescribed. Śrī Krsna Himself created the guru-paramparā system in order to receive transcendental knowledge. Thus the living pure devotee is the perfect medium for the appearance of the Lord to the conditioned souls. Otherwise, the Lord will remain covered and the teachings of the great Vaisnavas will also be grossly misunderstood. This is the bona fide way to understand and attain Śrī Krsna that He Himself has given. There is no other way. Any other speculative and unauthorized methods to attain Krsna are simply manifestations of impersonalism.

Lord Siva once said to his consort Pārvatī:

"O Bhagavatī, among thousands upon thousands of persons desiring salvation, perhaps one exhibits the characteristics of a liberated soul. Among thousands upon thousands of such persons, maybe one actually achieves spiritual realisation and perfection. And among millions and millions of perfected and liberated souls, perhaps one, on the strength of his past virtuous activities (sukrti) and good association (sat-sanga), is devoted to Lord Narayana. Just see, the devotees of Lord Narayana are self-satisfied and therefore they are extremely rare. But look here. If the pure devotee who serves Lord Narayana in the mood of servitorship (dāsya-rasa) is so rare, how much more uncommon is he who serves Śrī Krsna in the mood of amorous love (madhurya-rasa)."

May this glorification of Śrīla Gurudeva, who is very dear to Śrīmati Rādhikā, bring great happiness to the hearts of all the Vaisnavas.