09/01/1998 - 2110

Response to Ravindra's Letter about Srila Narayan Maharaj

USA (VNN) - Response to Ravindra Svarupa«s Letter on Srila Narayan Maharaj
by Giridhari dasa (BVNM)

Dear Ravindra Svarup Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances ! Sri Sri Guru-Gaurangau jayatah!

In your letter about my eternal spiritual master Srila B.V Narayan Maharaj you doubt Srila Maharajas position as a bonifide Vaisnava acarya. You try to substantiate your personal view with ad hominemarguments. I am happy that you opened your mind in that letter, as it fostered my faith towards Guru Maharaj and disclosed the prevailingkanistha-mentality among the present GBC. Mind, a kanistha can neverwholeheartedly honor the qualities of a Vaisnava, especially if he belongs to another math. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur stated in this regard (Caitanya Siksamrta 3.3.6):"Being under the control of kusamskar (bad samskar) one doesn«t take vaisnava-sanga from other sampradayas and thus one«s tendeny towards bhakti diminishes gradually. This is a dreadful dosa (vice)".Your Grace mentioned several historical incidents based on hearsay-evidences to substantiate your viewpoint. I wonder why you don«t consult written statements about Srila Narayan Maharaj by uttama-bhagavatas such as Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj or Srila Bhaktipramod Puri Maharaj.
In his letters Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj has always offered hisdandavat-pranamas to Srila Narayan Maharaj, though being senior.After having personally associated with Srila Narayan Maharaj for over 20 years, Srila Swami Prabhupad wrote:
"In all the Gaudiya Mathas, I think that you are the real guru-sevaka, so I always correspond with you and I always give my full love and affection to you. (May17th, 1967)".
In that very same letter Swami Maharaj mentioned that if anyone critizices Narayan Maharaj, it is like "a thunderbolt striking my head."
All these quotes are printed in "Srila Prabhupad«s letters from America to Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja", published byGaudiya Vedanta Publications.
Ravindra prabhu, why are you unnecessarily striking thunderbolts onyour spiritual master«s head. If you think that the statements of your beloved Prabhupad have become obsolete, then why don«t youconsult Srila Bhaktipramod Puri Maharaj, the eldest living Srila Sarasvati Prabhupad disciple and president of the Visva VaisnavaRaj Sabha, the greatest Vaisnava umbrella organization ? Srila PuriMaharaj, who knows Srila Narayan Maharaj for half a century, recently said:
"Srila Narayan Maharaj is a bonifide preacher in our line. We are happy that he is going to the West, and devotees should follow him. He is a rasika Vaisnava."
Why don«t you heed the opinion of uttama-bhagavatas ? Have you becomemore than Guru Maharaj ? How dare you say that Srila Narayan Maharajis not in the line of Srila Sarasvati Prabhupad ? Why do you compareSrila Narayan Maharaj with Kirtanananda?
Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj personally told Srila Narayan Maharaj totake care of his disciples. He was disgusted with the sectarian andnon-vaisnava attitude of the current GBC. I vividly remember howthe local ISKCON authorities and GBCs described Srila Gour GovindMaharaj as "being a deviator from Prabhupada«s line". In fact, Harikesha prabhu wrote a letter to the temple presidents of his zonenot to invite Srila Gour Govinda Maharaj during his last Europe tourin 1995. Co-GBC Rohini suta prabhu (yes, that Swiss ISKCON guruwho officially admitted having recommended an abortion to a femaledisciple three years ago), justified this sanction by proclaiming in a Sunday feast lecture in ISKCON Ljubljana, Slovenia: "We don«t needGour Govinda Swami !".
Gurudeva is now facing the same fate. Srila Sridhar Maharaj was alsoheavily critizised by the GBC. Harikesh Prabhu once said that to hisSwedish god-brother Atma-nivedana prabhu: "Srila Sridhar Maharaj islike sand in kitchri." Look at your god-brother«s situation now. He has turned into a sahajiya, claiming to be Krishna or "a transcendantal personality in Vrindavan lila." Worse, he has recentlyeven become inimical to his own diksa-guru. That is the result ofVaisnava-aparadh.
You say that Srila Narayan Maharaj is crooked as he said that he was"locked out" of the Houston temple. Badrinarayan prabhu confirmesthis "lie" saying that the temple president of Houston, Syamsundarprabhu, greeted Narayan Maharaj in the temple and eventually "sawhim off with prasadam and sweet words." According to the May/June1998 newsletter of Tamal Krishna Goswami, that very same Syamsundarprabhu gave a long disparaging speech on Srila Narayan Maharaj to theVaisnava community of Fiji.(Issue No 30, p.26)
Now tell me, who is crooked and hypocritical ? From the transcendental perspective it is a fact that Srila Narayan Maharaj was barred from entering the temple, as the authorities didn«t appreciate his visit to the temple.
Ravindra prabhu, you say that Srila Narayan Maharaj has no interestin preaching the gospel of the Bhagavad-Gita. Aren«t you aware of thefact that Srila Narayan Maharaj has recently translated and publishedthe Bhagavad-Gita into Hindi, which includes the sarartha-varsinicommentary by Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur ? Till now this bookis the lenghtiest Srila Narayan Maharaj has ever translated andcommented. He presented it to the lotus hands of Srila BhaktiprajnanKesava Maharaja«s vigraha on his appearance day in 1997. When Ipersonally asked Srila Narayan Maharaj (July 1997) which of hisbooks he«d like to have translated into German, he immediatelyreplied Bhagavad Gita, stressing the importance of this book.
You claim to see certain upasakhas (unwanted creepers) in Srila Narayan Maharajas personality, but forget to heed Srila SwamiMaharaja«s words in his purport (CC Madhya 19.159):
"A PURE DEVOTEE can distinguish between the bhakti-lata creeperand a mundane creeper."
I doubt that you are a pure devotee of Krishna having the adhikarto discredit senior acaryas. You don«t even have the adhikar toreprimand your godbrothers and -sisters, calling them foolish.
Srila Bhaktivedanta Vaman Maharaj, the president-acarya of theGaudiya Vedanta Samiti and Srila Narayan Maharaja«s seniorgodbrother and siksa-guru sent following congratulations to hisbeloved guru-bhai (March 1997):
"Sri Srimad Bhaktiprajnan Keshav Gosvami Maharaj, the most affectionate disciple of Srila Sarasvati Prabhupad, had founded theworld-reputed Sri Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti to preserve Sri CaitanyaMahaprabhu«s message of unflinching devotion. Knowing his innerdesire, You stepped forward to carry the responsibility of conveyingthe Gaudiya Vedanta expositions beyond the seas, ignoring the bondageof your old age. Such is your benevolence.
To preach the Gaura-Sarasvat-vani in its unchanged form in yourunyielding way has brought happiness to all of the followers of Sri Keshava."
It is inconceivable how you can equate Srila Narayan Maharaj to asahajiya. In fact, Srila Narayan Maharaj has a reputation for openlychallenging and chastising the sahajiyas in Vrindavan. Srila NarayanMaharaj even cautioned us going to babajis:
"All babajis are not sahajiyas, but I think almost all are in this category. Bhaktisiddhant Sarasvati Thakur has not recommendedthem because they will think bogus things in the name of bhakti andrasa." (Rays of the Harmonist, Vol. 1, No 1, p 34)
Ravindra prabhu, please clean your own house and heart instead ofblaspheming a suddha-bhakta. I conclude my short apologia with anexcerpt of a letter your Guru Maharaj wrote to my Guru Maharaj(Sept 28, 1966):
"Our relationship is certainly based on spontaneous love. That is whythere is no chance of us forgetting one another...From the first time I saw you I have been your constant well-wisher. At his first sight of me, Srila Prabhupad also saw me with such love."
Indeed, only an uttama-bhagavat can recognise an uttama-bhagavat.
Please forgive my offenses committed at your feet.

Vaisnava-dasanudas,

Giridhari das