The ‘Vrndavana Express’ and the ‘Navadvipa Special’
Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj
Devotee:
In Brhat-Bhagavatamrta, Sanatana Gosvami shows the travels of Gopa Kumara as he is going through different stages of realization. But is that necessary for everyone?
Srila Sridhara Maharaja:
Not everyone. Of course, you will have to pass through those stages unconsciously – Viraja, Brahmaloka, Sivaloka, Vaikuntha – but there is no stopping at any station. You will quickly go towards the destination. You may go anywhere unconsciously, passing through various stages to reach there. Very quickly you can pass unknowingly and unconsciously. If there is any special attraction to any stage, one may have to stop. But if our guide is strong enough he will tell us, “No, no! No stopping here! Come! No charm is here. What you see here is already known and that is only a distraction – no bhakti. Come!”
Devotee: There is one train here called the ‘Vrndavana Express Train.’
Srila Sridhara Maharaja: An express train also stops at the main stations. But there is a special train – there is also the ‘Navadvipa Special’ and that is considered to be above Vrndavana and we are there. For appreciation, the realization is necessary. Why is it so? Why is Vrndavana superior to every stage of life and why is Navadvipa also considered as such?
We are poor, we have got no money, but with the least capital, we can get into Navadvipa, which is in Vrndavana. It is difficult to understand. The highest power of the Positive and Negative combined is giving something. Rasaraja-mahabhava dui eka-rupa – it is the Sweetness and the Taster of the sweetness in its highest degree and they have combined to distribute Themselves. If you can give up all religious prejudices and concentrate upon the naked truth, that rasa and sympathy towards Him, then you shall be able to understand how both combine together – both the parties – Giver and Taker. The greatest Giver and the greatest Receiver – both combine to distribute Themselves to the ordinary people. That is on the unlimited subject to the qualified circle, and here, ordinary mass can have entrance and in no time they may be given a ticket to that high, high position.
The achievement of Krsna’s service may also be found with the Nimbarkas, Vallabhas and others. But their conception of Krsna is also different from the conception of Mahaprabhu in some respects. The Gaudiya Vaisnava school has understood the real position of Krsna. If we can approach Krsna through Mahaprabhu, we will achieve the highest and fullest attainment – not a partial attainment of Krsna. We have to clearly understand for ourselves what is the difference between the Krsna-conception of the Gaudiya Vaisnava school as opposed to Nimbarka and other conceptions of Krsna.
We have to give more stress towards Radharani – that is the peculiarity of the Gaudiya Vaisnava school. There may be sweets, but with the absence of a tongue, their taste is nothing to me. Without a tongue, there is no meaning to sweetness. Without ears, there is no meaning to music.
One who tries to contact Krsna independent of Radharani will be the loser. In the service of Radharani, we get the highest quality of Krsna realization because so much high sweetness and so much intense realization of Krsna is not possible anywhere else, and that quality I can have if I participate in Her line. The highest quality can only be drawn from that rasa, that ecstasy, by Her alone, and that type of quality I can expect to have in Her line. So much so that one who can understand the taste of that quality, then any other current becomes quite tasteless, to them. The rasa may come through other channels, but that will be tasteless to the tongue that has tasted that rasa coming through Radharani. That is radha-dasya, kainkarya.
When I came first to Navadvipa, some explanation was called for from me from one professor – “Why have you joined that nasty sampradaya of Caitanyadeva? Now all the outcastes of society they have been accommodated there. Their status is very low in the society, and you have entered that camp?”
I replied that, “Reading the Bhagavad-gita and the Bhagavatam, I have clearly understood that varnasrama-dharma culminates in Vaisnava dharma and this conception of Sri Caitanyadeva’s Vaisnavism is of the highest. In Gita and Bhagavatam we can find it clearly. What Caitanyadeva gave, that is the highest thing.”
“No, no! We can’t –
– I shall show! The shastra says that.”
So I published Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu here and I sent it to that gentleman.
Actually, this place, Navadvipa, is very anti-Vaisnavite. The mrdanga was broken here several times when the sankirtana party was led through this place. Krsnananda Agamavagisa was a contemporary of Mahaprabhu in Navadvipa. He was a great tantrika, and created the concept of rasa for Siva, Kali, Durga – no Radha-Krsna. The rasa of Vrndavana is famous, but the Sakta section introduced siva-sakti-rasa here in this invulnerable place.
Once, our Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura) was delivering a lecture here in Paramatala and he was attacked by one gentleman who threw a book at him. Later, when I came here, I had a festival and that very same gentleman, who was the chairman of Navadvipa town at that time and an orthodox Smarta, approached me and said, “I am dying, I want some prasadamfrom Prabhupada because I committed some offense by throwing a book at him.”
Our godbrother, Sakhi-carana Babu, had a house in Navadvipa and he knew the history of this town from long ago. He told, “That man who committed such an offense against Prabhupada is now so repentant and desperate? He is desirous of having the prasadam of Prabhupada?” With much earnestness he took that prasadam to him.
Sakhi Babu also remarked that, “Prabhupada preached the doctrine of Mahaprabhu throughout India and abroad, but this Navadvipa town – that was kept for you. You have preached in this area.”
The area of Tegharipara in Navadvipa gave the greatest opposition to Vaisnavism. From the time of Mahaprabhu, Krsnananda Agamavagisa and his party were preaching against Mahaprabhu’s movement. Now that is dissolved. I continued for one month preaching Bhagavatam in this area. Many people came with so many questions and I tried to answer them and they could not defeat me.
Our Krsnamayi also comes from a most respectable family from Tegharipara. Satish Prabhu is also there. He once told, “When I went to Campahati to Mayapura through Tegharipara, my heart was always shaking that some big vessel would be thrown on my head. I was apprehending every moment that some attack was coming. But now I go through the area with my breast full of pride. With a proud gesture I move through the town. Tegharipara is not an enemy now, but it is subdued and they are having a friendly attitude towards us.”
So this Navadvipa was very anti-Vaisnava and the caste-gosvamis were suppressed by the Sakta and Smarta sections here in Bengal. Somehow their section was oppressed by the society in general, but the preaching of the Gaudiya Matha raised their standard. By the preaching of the Gaudiya Matha, their dignity increased and it was understood that those who preach about Sri Caitanyadeva, their position is unique. This was preached by Gaudiya Matha. Otherwise the caste-gosvamis were living in a cave. Now they can stand with their heads erect due to the preaching of the Gaudiya Matha, that Mahaprabhu gave the highest thing. All others are false or they are of a lower rank.
Once, when I went to deliver a lecture here, one of the leaders of the anti-party openly confessed, “First we could not understand Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhu. We commented against him in endless ways and tried to subdue him. But now it is clear that we did wrong and what he did was right. He took sannyasa and we commented that, rakta-vastra vaisnavera podite na yuyaya (‘red cloth is not fitting for a Vaisnava to wear’). Why he has taken that red cloth? The Gosvamis already discarded it. He preached in a European style and we wondered why he is not of the style of the old Indian rsis? But he showed us why he indulged in the European style and doing so, he took the flag of Mahaprabhu to the whole of Europe and America. And he gave the sacred thread to those who are real devotees of Krsna. He also proved that brahmanas are by qualification (guna-karma vibhagasa) not by birth. By occupation and mental nature one becomes a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra. So we criticized him severely, but now we understand that you are right and we were wrong.”
The flag of Mahaprabhu is now fluttering in the so-called civilized world that has captured everyone. The civilization of Europe has a charm to the Indians, so if Guru Maharaja couldn’t conquer the European people, then the Indian conversion would not stand. That European style of life, which is coming here and capturing everything, should be attacked. We must break its pride, then we will be able to preach the doctrine of Mahaprabhu all through the world.
Rabindranath Tagore and others tried to mix Indian and European thought together – “Ours is good, theirs is also good. Give up the non-important portions and combine the important ones.” But our Guru Maharaja said that everything that Mahaprabhu has given should be taken wholesale and all other concepts must be attacked and finished! “What Mahaprabhu has given is perfect and no addition is necessary to that. It is coming from the eternal, absolute quarter, and no addition, no reformation is necessary there.”
That was our Guru Maharaja’s point. So we must accept that in-toto. It is coming from Goloka, the highest quarter of existence. It does not need any addition or dilution. That is full in itself and perfect.
Gaura-hari! Gaura-hari! Gaura-hari!
