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WORLD  Comment on this story Brief Report Of Fifth World Tour BY SYAMARANI DASI  INDIA, Apr 6 (VNN) — A Brief Report Of The Fifth World Tour -- Dec 2000 - Feb 2001On this, his fifth world preaching tour since 1996, Paramapujyapada Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja visited Germany, Brazil, San Diego, Hawaii, New Zealand, four cities in Australia, Bali, and finally Singapore. Thousands of devotees around the world attended his international festivals, lecture programs and home darsanas, and at least five hundred were blessed with harinama or diksa initiations. As often takes place on these tours, staunch atheists, mayavadis, demigod worshippers, fallen devotees who had long since given up their devotional practices, children, youth, adults and the elderly, became sincere Vaisnavas or aspiring Vaisnavas. Their priorities of life, life's conceptions, and their sense of reality and proprietorship, were all dismantled by Srila Narayana Maharaja's powerful sastric presentations. These presentations were given strictly in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Gosvami, who themselves are the most expert dismantlers of unreality.
Srila Maharaja encouraged his followers everywhere to perform harinama samkirtan and book distribution in crowded streets, and to invite people to take advantage of the festival. Thus, the holy names of Krsna, as well as the transcendental knowledge in his books and the books of Srila Prabhupada, showered on the fortunate people. In all ways Srila Maharaja's tour was reminiscent of the preaching tours of Paramapujyapada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness. Previously, Srila Narayana Maharaja's audiences were mostly devotees, old and new, who had some connection with bhakti. They were without enthusiasm, however, due to a lack of sadhu-sanga. Every year since he began his world touring in 1996, Srila Maharaja would tell them that he had come to the West for three reasons - to take darsana and dust of the holy places where Srila Swami Maharaja had preached; to help the devotees who now felt neglected, to water the seeds of bhakti which Srila Swami Maharaja had planted in their hearts and which were now dried up due to a lack of pure harikatha and proper siddhanta; and to continue Srila Swami Maharaja's divine mission. Now, more and more, Srila Maharaja was meeting those who had no previous connections, and thus his preaching in certain places was very 'grass-roots.' In Bali he had to convince his audience that just because something flies or has four legs, it doesn't mean we have to eat them. An airplane flies and a bed has four legs, but it doesn't mean we have to eat them. The preaching tour began on December 2, 2000. Srila Maharaja spent the first six days in Germany, where he explained the deep meaning and glory of the Sri Guru, as revealed in all eight verses of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's, Sri Gurvastakam. Elaborating on the first verse he said: "Radha and Krsna are always playing together in the groves of beautiful Vrndavana, on the bank of Yamuna. The gopis, under the guidance of Sri Rupa and Rati Manjari, are very expert in arranging Their meetings. Without their help They cannot meet. All the gopis, including my Gurudeva, are very expert in arranging Their secret meetings. In his siddha-deha, internal form of a sakhi, he/she can cheat the husbands of the gopis. She is very expert at cheating others, like Candravali and others who are in the group opposed to Radharani. She can discover newer and newer ways to cheat them so that Radha and Krsna can meet. It is for this service that our Gurudeva is in the form of a gopi. He is most dear to Radha and Krsna and he has a special leaning towards Radhika. Therefore Krsna likes him so much. To that Gurudeva I am offering vandana. "You should know the symptoms of Gurudeva - how high he is. A worldly person, who has lust and is falling down moment by moment, who goes to cinemas, impersonalist colleges and universities, is not guru. Boycott them. If somehow you have accepted a guru like this, give up this false guru at once. Gurus like this have no trust in the holy name, and no trust in their guru's line." After Germany, Srila Maharaja and his party went to Brazil, San Diego, and Hawaii, and after that, on January 10th, he went to Auckland, New Zealand. There he stayed at the home of Sripad Kantilal Punja and his family. It was Kantilal Prabhu who had organized his preaching in Fiji in previous years. Each evening Srila Maharaja gave lectures in Hindi at the Bharatiya Mandira in Aukland. The Deities of this large mandira were Sri Radha-Krsna, Sri Laxmi- Narayana, Sri Sita-Rama-Hanuman-Laxmana, Siva and Parvati, Ganesa, and Durga. He patiently, thoroughly, and with detailed sastric evidence, encouraged his audience of about one hundred-fifty Indians to engage in one-pointed bhakti to Radha-Krsna. Night after night he gradually instilled in them that the void and impersonal conceptions of the Supreme are fallacious, the bodily conception of life is illusory, demigod worship keeps us in the endless chain of birth and death, and even worshipping Laxmi-Narayana does not bring us to the platform of spontaneous pure love. Only Krsna is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the cause of all causes and all that is. He is the master and all others are servants. We are His servants, as are the demigods and even Lord Narayana. Srila Maharaja told his audience about the sweet pastimes of Krsna as a child, especially the lila of His being bound by Mother Yasoda, and he finally established that even the love of Mother Yasoda, which is unlimitedly high, is not as complete as that of the gopis. He established gopi-prema as the goal of life. Everyone was pleased and impressed, and several received initiation into the Brahma-Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya to begin a new life. Others collected heaps of sukrtis and sanskaras, spiritual piety and impressions on the heart, for future success. Srila Maharaja left New Zealand on January 16th and went to Sydney, Australia, where he held one program, and, on January 18th, he arrived in Murwillumbah. This year the Murwillumbah festivals were held near the center of town, in the devotees' newly acquired temple, Sri Giriraja Gaudiya Matha. During the previous weeks the local devotees had been distributing invitation flyers and books throughout Murwillumbah and neighboring cities, and therefore many new people attended. These jiva souls had been wondering throughout the universes, collecting sukrtis and samskaras for many births - visiting temples and holy places, serving devotees, taking krsna-prasadam - and therefore they now had the opportunity to meet a bona fide representative and resident of the spiritual world, a sad-guru. So actually Krsna Himself had arranged the contact. In his evening classes, given at the Steiner School just a few blocks from the temple, over three hundred devotees and guests heard Srila Maharaja speak about the ultimate goal of life, vraja-prema or gopi-prema.. In the evenings his main sastric references were the tenth Canto Srimad Bahagavatam chapters, Venu-gita and Gopi-gita. In the mornings he spoke about the means to reach that goal, and at that time his main reference was Sri Upadesamrta. Srila Maharaja was training his followers in Vaisnava behavior and etiquette, as well as moral principles, without which no one can approach the goal. He told a story from the Puranas, of two brothers in ancient India whose names were Sanka and Likit. Sanka went to Gurukula at the age of five years, and returned home at twenty-five years. He did not marry. He lived alone in a bhajana kutira outside his village. He was a high class devotee and well established in the behavior and regulations of Vedic culture. One day, his younger brother was visiting his simple but charming sattvika garden, where there were many lovely flowers. The influence of this bhajana kutira and garden was such that one would become pure simply by being there, and all his bad memories would leave. Unable to check his greed, Likit picked a very fragrant flower and smelled it. However, due to the garden's purifying influence, the next morning he became very worried, thinking himself a thief. He had not asked his brother's permission to pick that flower. He approached Sanka, offered prostrated obeisances, and wept aloud. He said, "O brother, I did wrong. I'm a thief. Please punish me and purify me. I will then be qualified to be your brother." Sanka asked, "What did you do?" After hearing, Sanka put his hand on his shoulders and said, "That is nothing. I can excuse that. In fact, there is no need to excuse you." Likit then said, "By not excusing me I will not be purified." In ancient times the king would immediately cut off the thief's hands - unlike here in the West or in modern India. After Likit repeatedly begged Sanka, Sanka cut off both his hands. Although blood was flowing everywhere, Likit was now happy. He went home and began to do bhajana. When he visited Sanka later on, he again wanted to offer his prostrated obeisances, but he had no hands. Again he became upset. Sanka sprinkled water on him and his hands returned, and the two brothers heartily embraced. Srila Maharaja said that Lord Ramacandra and Maharaja Yudhisthira followed these principles, and therefore everyone in their kingdoms feared doing any wrong. Nowadays we don't fear any reaction. Sri Caitanya Mahaparbhu therefore ordered Srila Rupa Gosvami to write a book of Vaisnava rules and regulations - so devotees could purely chant and remember Krsna and not quarrel. Thus Sri Upadesamrta was written. During one morning's Upadesamrta class, Srila Maharaja told the history of a king named Ranjit Singh. The king and his generals were passing through a forest, and they took rest underneath a mango tree. Some young boys, desiring to eat the fruits of this tree, began throwing rocks to make mangoes fall. Unaware of the King's presence, one of the boys accidentally hit his eye with a rock. Blood flowed profusely, and he immediately became blind in that eye. Infuriated, the king's generals begged him for permission to cut the boys into pieces with their swords. The king refused and said, "Am I less than this tree? Although the boys are hurting the tree, it is not retaliating. Rather, it is showing mercy. It is responding by giving its fruits, flowers, and cooling shade. I should be no less magnanimous than this tree. Give these boys a portion of my kingdom." This is an example of ksantir, being peaceful in adverse situations. During the day, in between morning and evening programs, Srila Maharaja engaged himself in translating Sri Brahma Samhita, along with the purports of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, into Hindi. His two assistants, Sripada Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja and Sripada Pundarika dasa brahmacari, were daily working on editing. As was the case in all cities of Srila Narayana Maharaja's tour, every evening before class he held informal darsanas for devotees and guests. In one afternoon darsana a disciple asked, "When a pure devotee performs harinama sankirtana in the public streets, the whole universe is purified. But when we neophytes do it, our chanting is namaparadha. What's the benefit for the people at large? Is there any benefit at all?" Srila Maharaja replied that the potency is there, in the order of Sri Gurudeva. The disciple doesn't need his own perfect qualification. His qualification is that he is faithfully carrying out the order. People will benefit, the chanting will have its required effect on them, by that order. And, by that same order, the disciple will also benefit. After darsana, Srila Maharaja left for the Steiner School - to take part in the singing of Vaisnava bhajanas, to call on devotees to lead various kirtanas, and to give class. Then, as it happened practically every evening, just before class he called on his secretary, Sripada Brajanatha dasa Adhikari, to read the names of devotees who had been initiated in the morning, so that each new initiate could stand up and receive the blessings of the Vaisnavas. During his Venu-gita discussions Srila Maharaja glorified the gopis. The gopis are glorifying the various animate and inanimate residents of Vraja who allowed no obstacle to interfere with their service to Krsna, and they pray to take birth in the families of those residents. "Who are these gopis? They are none other then Krsna Himself. Krsna has come in two parts, Radha and Krsna, and the gopis are bodily manifestations of Radhika. These gopis have descended to this world to show something, so that we can learn from them. We should follow this high class of associates of Krsna. Be attached like these gopis. All other attachments should quickly go away. "You know the wife of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami - how beautiful she was! She was like Miss India - more beautiful than Miss India. Perhaps, if she would have competed for Miss Universe, she could have won that title. For Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, however, she was like dry wood. She could not attract him. Why? He had some attachment for Krsna. Sri Yadunandana Acarya, and especially Sri Svarupa Damodara, have given him this attachment. If a guru can give attachment to Krsna, he is actually guru. You should try to be attached to Krsna in this way, by the process shown by the gopis, following that process day and night." January 24th was a very auspicious day for the devotees. It was the divine appearance day of Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. When he arrived at 7am at the large pandal-like area in front of the temple, he noticed the large, decorated photos of the acaryas on the altar. Seeing his own photo also present, he requested that it be removed. He said that he had come there not to worship himself, but to worship the disciplic succession. That is the real meaning of Vyasa-puja. During the class he called on devotees to speak on the topic of guru-tattva, he also spoke on the subject, and then all the happy devotees performed guru-puja and gave offerings of puspanjali. That evening, following his regular discussion on Venu-gita, he gave another discourse on guru-tattva, in which he revealed the meaning of Vyasa and vyasa-puja. Within a circle there is a center, a circumference, and unlimited diameters going from one point in the circumference to another through that center. The center represents Krsna and everything about Him. The circumference represents the world, the universe, and all the universes. The diameter is called Vyasa. From the center that diameter is reaching out in all directions, and in the same way Sri Vyasadeva is preaching about Krsna throughout the world and all the universes. All bona fide gurus have full knowledge and realization of all Vedic literatures and are performing this same service of preaching, and they are all manifestations of Vyasa. He then explained that our Vyasa-puja worship procedures come from an ancient literature called Vyasa-puja-paddhati, which was discovered by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, edited by him to suit our Gaudiya sampradaya, and further revised by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. On his appearance day Sri Gurudeva and his disciples worship: 1) the guru-parampara, 2) the Panca-tattva, 3) Krsna and His catur-vyuha expansions, 4) Vyasa and his four direct disciples who were placed by him in charge of the four Vedas, 5) the four Kumaras and Visvaksena, 6) the four sampradaya acaryas and Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, and 7) the supremely worshipable Radha-Krsna, Gaura-Gadadhara, and Sri Guru. This is called Sapta-pancaka. Srila Narayana Maharaja left Murwillumbah on January 26th. On route to Perth he spent two days in Brisbane, where he gave three discourses to his audience of one hundred fifty. In Perth, the Sri Sri Radha-Vinoda-bihari Gaudiya Matha's temple president, Sripada Banwarilal dasa Adhikari, had been flooding the city for some time before Srila Maharaja's arrival with invitation flyers and newspaper ads. The result was that about fifty new guests attended his classes at the temple, located in the midst of the unique beauty of an Australian natural bush forest, and tasted the fruit of their previous lives' knowing or unknowing Krsna consious activities. These people had samskaras, impressions in their hearts, from previous births, but in this life they had not heard of Krsna. Their only 'spiritual' conceptions were hatha-yoga exercises and God being everything but a person. Now they heard from Srila Maharaja and his senior disciples about the soul beyond the body. They heard the strong, logical, Vedic evidence that God is a person, He has qualities and pastimes, and He has love and affection. Srila Maharaja asked them retorically, "If God is not a person, how can He be beautiful, how can He be merciful, how can He smile, and how can He embrace you?" The guests heard that there is no happiness in this world, that there is a spiritual world where there is endless happiness, there is a need for accepting a bona fide guru, and only by such acceptance could they become happy. Many of the guests returned for the remaining evenings' programs. Srila Maharaja left Perth on February 10th and flew to Singapore, where he stayed at the opulent home of Sripad Dau Dayal Gupta and his family. Sripad Guptaji's mother, quite popular and well loved in Vraja Mandala as a singer of the sweet pastimes of Radha-Krsna, was also present. Srila Maharaja requested her to sing bhajanas at all his programs, and he himself often explained them. On February 11th, along with about one hundred devotees, Srila Maharaja observed the holy appearance day of his own Gurudeva, the sannyasa-guru of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, that is, Nityalila Pravista Sri Srimad Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja. He said that whenever Srila Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja used to speak about his diksa-guru, Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakura, he often could not even complete the utterance of his entire name. As soon as he would say "Pra-", he would weep due to intense love. Having told the devotees that Sri Guru is none other than a manifestation of Sri Vyasadeva, Srila Maharaja spent most of the evening expressing indebtedness to Vyasadeva. He related the history of his divine birth, his dividing the Vedas into four, his writing of the Puranas, Mahabharata and ultimately Srimad Bhagavatam, and his dissemination of the Vedic literatures through the four Sampradaya acaryas. He related Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's taking the essence of all these literatures and revealing the sublime truths of acintya-bhedabheda through vaidhi-bhakti and then raganuga bhakti, and through this the revelation of His gift to all fortunate jivas - the unnata-ujjvala-rasa sva-bhakti sriyam, service to Srimati Radhika as maidservant. Srila Maharaja concluded his glorification by saying that to have this understanding of the Vedas by amnaya, that which has been accepted by disciplic succession, is the real observance of Vyasa-puja. Two days later all the devotees celebrated the appearance day of Jagad-guru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada. After calling on senior disciples to speak on his glories, Srila Maharaja explained that Srila Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada was the embodiment of all the words of his pranama mantra, and he explained those words elaborately - that is, bhakti-siddhanta, varsabhanavidevidayita, madhurojjvala premadya sri rupanuga bhakti da. Srila Parbhupada came to give the fallen conditioned souls the qualifications, not only for raganuga-bhakti, but for rupanuga-bhakti, the qualification to become the personal maidservant of Srimati Radharani. Srila Maharaja revealed that in the spiritual world he is Sri Nayana Manjari, a personification of Sri Radha's eyes' vision of Sri Krsna. On February 17th the preaching tour was completed. At that time Srila Narayana Maharaja and his associates returned to India, to Calcutta. There he prepared for the annual Navadwipa Dhama Parikrama, during which he would be leading over fifteen thousand devotee-pilgrims in visiting and worshipping Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His sacred places of pastimes. What can we say of this preaching tour? It would have been better if we had the time and pages in this publication to write a five hundred page book. This brief presentation cannot begin to explain it. Please excuse us. 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