The Giver Of Madhurya-Bhakti

Srila Narayana Maharaja gave a discourse on his appearance day – Singapore, February 13, 2001

“This is the appearance day of Jagad-Guru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and therefore we should discuss his glories.

“Namah om visnupadaya krsna-presthaya bhutale, srimate bhaktisiddhanta-sarasvatiti-namine. In this pranama mantra it is stated: bhaktisiddhanta sarasvati. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has given birth to the murtiman-vigraha of bhakti-siddhanta, the personification of the doctrines of bhakti. In Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura there is all the knowledge that Krsna gave to Brahma, Brahma gave to Narada, Narada gave to Vyasa, and thus, by disciplic succession, came through the rupanuga Vaisnavas down to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja.

All the philosophical truths, of the Vedas, Upanisads, and all other scriptures, were embodied in Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakura. If any person came to argue philosophy with him, that person was at once defeated and was bound to accept all his teachings.

“Namah om visnupadaya krsna-presthaya bhutale. He was very near and dear to Krsna – very near and dear – in that male form. But who is he really? In the second sloka of his pranama mantra it is stated: sri varsabhanavi-devi-dayitaya. He is really the eternal maidservant of Srimati Radhika. He is so very dear to Radhika in his form as Nayana-manjari. As Mahaprabhu’s associate he is Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, and as the associate of Radha-Krsna Conjugal he is Nayana-manjari. What is the meaning of the name Nayana-manjari? As one’s eyes are very dear to one, Nayana-manjari, who is the personification of the eyes of Srimati Radhika, is so near and dear to Her. She is always serving Srimati Radhika.

“Thus, Srila Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has two forms. One form is as Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associate, not only in this world but also in Goloka Vrndavana, in Svetadvipa. And, in Vrndavana also, as Nayana-manjari she serves Srimati Radhika. You have seen in Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami’s Vilapa-kusumanjali how the manjaris serve Radha-Krsna Conjugal. Nayana-manjari serves Them in those same ways.

“Krpabhdaye. He is not called an ocean of mercy only because he gave us harinama. He gave so much more. He brought Goloka Vrndavana. He brought the love and affection of the gopis to this world. If he had not brought all these things, we would never have heard of them. He is therefore an ocean of mercy.

“Krsna sambandha-vijnana dayine prabhave namah. In this world we have a relationship with our father and mother and our immediate family. We think, ‘She is my mother, he is my father, and he is my brother.’ But we are not satisfied with that. We want to be a husband or wife, girlfriend or boyfriend. But still we are not satisfied.

“From where have these relationships come? They come from Goloka Vrndavana. There is actually only one relationship – with Krsna. He is not a father there. He is like a friend, like a baby, or like a beloved. In the constitutional form of our soul, there is a relationship with Krsna. We have now forgotten this due to Maya, but we have a relationship. All the relationships of these bodies are false and temporary. They remain only for some days, but the relationship in our constitutional form is eternal.

“We want love. We want something. We first loved our mother, then our father, then our brothers, then other relatives, and then our neighbors. But we were never satisfied. Then we collected wives or husbands, and when we were not satisfied, we got divorced and changed the old ones for new ones. But still we were not satisfied. You cannot be satisfied. No one can ever be satisfied. When you meet with Krsna and serve Him, then you will be satisfied. This is a transcendental relationship, and this relationship is given by Guru. Prabhupada gave this, and this relationship will be forever. It was for this end that he gave the mantra ‘klim krsnaya govindaya.’

“Madhuryojjvala premadya sri rupanuga bhaktida. He explained all these truths. He actually came only to give this madhuryojjvala-prema, this gopi-prema, which Srila Rupa Gosvami has written about in his books and which Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to this world only to give. ‘Krsna is our beloved’ – he came to give this and nothing else.

“Srila Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada has written in his articles: ‘I came only to give this, but my whole time was spent in cutting jungles.’ Pujyapada Srila Swami Maharaja also did this in Western countries. He came to this world to give love and affection for Krsna, but to whom could he give it? He was preaching to unqualified people, and therefore he wanted to make a platform for this love, by cutting the jungles of atheist and mayavada misconceptions. He thus fertilized the field by plowing and cutting jungles, and most of his time went in this. He could not preach as he wanted, but he stored so many deep truths about gopi-prema in his books.

“Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also did this. In Radha kunda, in his last days, he said that if anyone is only cutting jungles, cutting the arguments of mayavadis and so on, and not accepting the mood of the gopis as taught by Rupa Gosvami, not worshiping Radha-Krsna Conjugal, not following the line of Rupa Gosvami, then even their chanting will not be sufficient to help them. After some time they will become weak and give up all devotional practices. Then they will become nirvisesavadis and mayavadis, as so many are now becoming.

“Sri rupanuga bhaktida. Srila Prabhupada descended to this world, and all our disciplic acaryas also came, only for preaching this rupanuga Vaisnavism. But they had so little time.

“From the beginning, therefore, I was very alert to avoid cutting jungles – because our guru-varga had already cut them down. I considered that I must do something affirmative. I therefore accepted this and I preached it from the beginning. Now, however, coming to the Western countries I began to think, ‘To whom shall I tell this?’ Now I also have to cut down some jungles. When I am in Vrndavana or Navadvipa, however, I mainly speak about the high class of sweet pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Radha and Krsna.

“So Srila Prabhupada was like an ocean of madhuryojjvala-prema. He wanted to distribute it, and he distributed it. If he did not, then from where have we collected these things? All glories to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada. All glories to all his associates. All glories to Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. All glories to all the assembled devotees.”