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WORLD  Comment on this story Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja In New Zealand SUBMITTED BY SYAMARANI DASI NEW ZEALAND / FIJI, Feb 24 (VNN) — January 30-February 8, 2002 Devotee members of the Punja family, one of the most prestigious and influential families in the independent Republic of Fiji, were the organizers of Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja's visits to both Auckland, New Zealand, and Lautaka, Fiji. In Auckland, from January 29th to February 3rd, Srila Maharaja stayed at the home of Kantibai Punja and his good wife Jayabhen,
On the last two nights he told many pastimes of Krsna in his childhood and of Mother Yasoda binding him - not with all the ropes in all the neighboring homes of the gopis, but merely with the rope of her hair. Her endeavor was so great, and Krsna's mercy was so great, that by the combination of the two, her endeavor and His mercy, she was able to bind the unlimited Godhead. Srila Maharaja explained that the Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy is like that. It is a combination of the Cat Philosophy and the Monkey Philosophy. The cat is held in the mouth of his mother, without any effort on his part, and the baby monkey has to hold on to his mother for dear life as she jumps from one tree to another. That perfect Gaudiya philosophy says that if a person has fallen into a dark well, another person may throw down a rope for him, but the person in the well has to grab onto it. In his first lecture, Srila Maharaja revealed something so secret that it remained a secret to most of hearers even after the class. It was so confidential and deep that even the most senior devotees traveling around the world with him and assisting him in all ways in his preaching tour could not identify it when tested by him the next day. Guessing and guessing, no one could get the correct answer. He then gave the answer: He had said that Krsna apparently came to this world for many reasons. He came to deliver the pious and destroy evil elements. He also came to fulfill Lord Rama's promise to the sages of Dhandakaranya forest who had been performing austerities for many thousands of births, and who, when they saw the beauty and charm of Rama, wanted to marry him. Rama told them that He would be able to fulfill their desires in His future appearance as Krsna. When Vamandeva incarnated and appeared before Bali Maharaja, He was seen by his daughter. She immediately became attracted and desired to have him as a son. Later, when she saw how He bound up and humiliated her father, she wanted to kill him. Krsna therefore also came to fulfill her desire, and she came as Putana Witch in Krsna lila. In this way, Srila Maharaja had explained various reasons for Krsna's descent - but they were all subsidiary to His main reason. Krsna's main reason for coming was that He wanted to display His madhurya pastimes, like rasa-lila, only for those fortunate living entities with the svarupa and samskaras, impressions in their hearts, for madhura-rasa or srngara rasa. He came to give them a greed to serve in the footsteps of the gopis, to serve Radha-Krsna Conjugal with an inclination to serve Srimati Radhika. [This is also stated in Srila Rupa Gosvami's Ujjvala Nilamani, which Srila Maharaja is presently translating.] Krsna came for the same reason that Caitanya Mahaprabhu later came; to give greed for manjari-bhava. One evening, on his way to the Mandira, Srila Maharaja went to the home of Krsna Rama Rao and his family, for a house program. First he gave a short talk on the verse beginning, "Etan nirvidyamananam." He explained that constant chanting of the holy name of Krsna, following the footprints of the authorities in guru-parampara, is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge. He then questioned some of the teenage girls present, to see if they knew the meaning of uttama-bhakti. When they could not answer to his satisfaction, he requested that a class be given to them so that they would thoroughly know that verse and its meaning - and then he would test them. The next day, when they recited the verse along with him, he said they should also elaborately learn the stages of bhakti, like nistha, ruci, asakti and so on. He said this would help them become good preachers, so that they could also preach around the world. Srila Maharaja did not give any formal darsanas or classes in the mornings, due to his most essential service to the sampradaya of translating Ujjvala Nilamani. Sometimes, however, when he returned home after his morning walk, he would speak a few words with those devotees who were present. On one morning, a disciple inquired, "For the last few years you have been giving classes during Ratha-yatra time, on its deep meanings. In that connection, each year you speak about Krsna meeting the gopis at Kuruksetra. One year you said that the gopis told Krsna, 'We're dying without You.' Then, the next year you said they said, 'You're dying without us, and that's why we came to Kuruksetra.' How do we reconcile these two apparently contradictory statements?" Srila Maharaja replied, "When the gopis said they came for Krsna's benefit, that was be by mood, and not by words. The other statement was by word, and their real mood was concealed. If someone goes to a friend's house, that friend, the host, if he has real love for his guest, will not say outwardly, 'Knowing what you like to eat, I have shopped and cooked especially for you.' That will look like he wants appreciation from the guest, and because of the material motive, the love of the host, if he had any, will diminish. If the host actually has love for his friend, he will say, 'Oh, I didn't prepare anything for you. It's a coincidence that these are your favorite foods. I bought these things for myself' (or 'for my Thakurji.') Then the guest will not feel shy or embarrassed, and at the same time he will feel naturally more obliged. That is pure love, and the love of both will increase. Similarly, the gopis know that Krsna is too shy to admit His inability to live without them, and He is too shy to admit that He needed to hear from them about their love for Him." In New Zealand, Srila Maharaja initiated whole families, and whole joint families, turning grandparents, parents, and sons and daughters into god-brothers and god-sisters. Then, after his visit to New Zealand, he went to Fiji, the 'Little India' Islands in the Pacific. Aside from the modern and opulent homes and industries, the luxuriant tropical scenery, with its palm trees, banana trees, jackfruit trees, mango trees, and the like, remind devotees of what Navadvipa might have appeared like five hundred years before. The day after his arrival in Fiji, Srila Maharaja was greeted at the Fiji Gaudiya Matha. Several of his preacher-disciples, that is, senior diksa disciples of Srila Prabhupada and his own senior disciples, had come to be with him from various parts of the world. They were among the welcoming party, and he gave some advice to them. He requested them not to speak too high, and not to speak too dry. Each morning he visited the homes of his grhastha disciples. Before delivering his informal discourses there, the hosts and guests sang authentic Bengali, Hindi, and Sanskrit bhajanas glorifying and praying for the mercy of guru, guru-parampara, suddha-vaisnavas, Gaura Nitai and Their associates, and finally to Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and Their associates. Then, after his talks, there was another short kirtana and distribution of Fiji-Indian maha-prasadam. Just befitting the Vedic tradition regarding the proper honor offered to a pure Vaisnava who comes to one's home, when Srila Maharaja visited the home of Sripad Yogesh Punja and his family, the hosts performed a foot-bathing ceremony and, along with all the guests, they offered puspanjali and guru-puja. Then, during his Hindi darsana, desiring to protect his disciples and followers from the influence of the very prevalent and dangerous mayavada philosophy, Srila Maharaja gave many examples to discredit the mayavadis' misunderstanding of undifferentiated oneness. Gleaning from the authorized parampara conclusion of 'unity in diversity and diversity in unity,' he proved that everything is not all one. He said that even the word one has three letters: o-n-e, and in Hindi, the word ek (one) has two letters. He said that even one line is not one because it is composed of thousands of separate dots. He said that if we honor everyone as God, we will also have to offer pranama to the tiger, and at that time he may eat us. He told of the time a mayavadi came to see him at his Sri Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha in Mathura, India, and that mayavadi was proclaiming to be God. Srila Maharaja had said to that mayavadi, "Oh, I am so honored that God Himself has come here. I want to worship you." He had then ordered one of his brahmacaris to bring a small burning log from the kitchen. As the brahmacari was preparing that log, Srila Maharaja told the man, "I want to worship you, but first I will make sure you are actually God. Krsna swallowed a forest fire. We will now place a burning piece of wood in your mouth, and you should pass the test. We are eager to worship you." That man immediately ran away as fast as he was able to, and he never came back. Each evening, Srila Maharaja spoke on the subject of sanatana-dharma at the popular Sri Visnu Temple in the middle of the town of Lautaka, a town famous for its sugarcane exports. In that mandira he changed the hearts of the residents, along with their conceptions of what is as sweet as sugar and what is poison. About 300 eager Fiji residents, from poor villagers to the most wealthy, heard his five-day discourse as he shed the much-needed light of sanatana-dharma. Srila Maharaja humbly requested those who needed to hear that they should give up meat, fish, eggs and liquor. Then, after discussing the teachings of Bhagavad-gita which establish the soul's distinction from the mortal shell of the body and the soul's eternal relationship with Krsna, he began to explain the meaning of pure bhakti to Bhagavan as the sole function of that eternal soul. Srila Maharaja wanted that his audience become aware of the different grades of pure devotional service and different grades of pure devotees, so that they would be able to honor and follow each appropriately - in order to understand the highest process and ultimately achieve the highest goal. He therefore spoke for a couple of days on that vital topic, elaborately explaining about the five types of devotees. A summary of his explanation is as follows: The first is the jnani-bhakta, who is fully aware that his Istadeva, worshipable Deity, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He doesn't think that Krsna ever gets hungry, thirsty, or tired, and therefore he doesn't think that He requires service. A devotee in that category, the example being Prahlada Maharaja, is therefore comparatively less in his service mood. Prahlada Maharaja will glorify Lord Nrsimhadeva and preach to his classmates about the benefits of hearing and chanting about Him, but he cannot render any personal service due to his knowledge of the Lord's unlimited opulence. Bhismadeva is another example. Although he served Krsna during the Battle of Kuruksetra by arranging for the victory of His devotees, He could not render any personal service for Him. Higher than the jnani-bhakta is the suddha-bhakta, and the example of a devotee in this category is Maharaja Ambarisa. The King engaged his mind and all his senses in the services of the Deity, and he would rather have been cursed to go to hell than to give up his devotional practices. Even when the fire demoness created by Durvasa Muni was running towards him to kill him, still he did not give up his dependence and surrender to Bhagavan's will. Still, his service mood was limited due to a sense of the Lord's opulence. Srila Maharaja then gave the example of the premi-bhakta, Hanuman, who is only slightly, if ever, aware of Ramacandra's Godhood. Therefore, in great awe and reverence he can render service to his Istadeva 24 hours a day. Without serving Rama, Hanuman cannot live for a moment. He once saw Mother Sita putting kunkuma on the part of her hair, as is the Vedic custom for married women. When he asked her why she did so, she said it was to give her husband longevity. Then, as soon as he was out of her view, Hanuman put kunkum all over his body, head to toe. He came into the assembly of Rama, and everyone laughed to see him, including Bhagavan Ramacandra. When Rama asked him why he put kunkum all over himself, Hanuman replied that if a bit of it on the part of Sita could increase Rama's longevity, what to speak of a great deal of it all over one's body. Rama would live for so long. Despite this wonderful mood, however, his service is also limited, because of his reverential attitude. If he were to go to Vrndavana and see Mother Yasoda twisting naughty Krsna's ear, or if he were to see the cowherd boys riding on Krsna's shoulders, he would think these associates to be offensive to his master. Higher than Hanuman is the premapara-bhakta, like the Pandavas and Arjuna, for example. Arjuna sometimes slept on the same bed as Krsna in Dvaraka, with Arjuna's feet embraced by Krsna to Krsna's chest, and Krsna's feet embraced by Arjuna to Arjuna's chest. Subhadra and Draupadi would fan from Krsna's side, Rukmini and Satyabhama from Arjuna's side, and the transcendental sounds, "Krsna, Krsna" would flow from each and every pore hole of Arjuna's body. Arjuna is so glorious. Still, there was a limit to his service mood, because when Krsna showed him His Universal Form on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, Arjuna apologized for his previous informal behavior. Higher than the premapara-bhakta, then, is the prematura-bhakta, who has overwhelming love for Krsna. The best example of a devotee in this category is Sri Uddhava. No one in Mathura or Dvaraka was capable to understand the suffering of Krsna in separation for the Vrajabasis, and especially His suffering in separation for Srimati Radhika. Only Uddhavaji was capable to at least be trained for becoming qualified to hear about it. Only he, out of all the Mathuravasis, was qualified to be sent by Krsna to Vrndavana, to learn the meaning of the two syllables 'pre' and 'ma' - prema. He went to Vraja and met the gopis there, desiring to be admitted in their school; the same school of prema in which Krsna was enrolled when He had lived in Vraja. But Uddhava failed the entrance exam. In essence, the gopis' entrance exam question was: "There are two kinds of love; selfish and selfless. Selfish love is like a business, and it breaks as soon as the person gets what he wants. The love between Krsna and us was without any motive, so why did it break? Why did Krsna leave?" Uddhava could not answer, thereby failing the test, and his application for admittance was rejected. He had to return to Mathura, empty-handed. Srila Maharaja thus concluded his series of lectures by revealing to his audience the highest category of bhakti. His audience was now also at the brink of separation from their new friend, who would soon become the life and soul of many of them. He told them that the goal of life is to become a follower of the servants of the gopis, and especially the servant of the highest of the gopis. He reiterated his earlier message to those aspiring devotees of Fiji; that they should remain far from vices like meat eating, fish eating, and the drinking of liquor. Knowing that they cannot take even one of the hairs on their heads with them at the time of death, they should be free from sense gratification and material attachment. Finally, he assured them that, if Krsna desires, he will return to Fiji in the coming year. About 50 devotees received harinama and brahminical initiations there in Fiji, and a traditional Vedic fire yajna was performed by Pujyapada Bhaktivedanta Asrama Maharaja and Sripad Pundarika dasa brahmacari. The yajna took place in the courtyard of the house of the Jagannatha Punja and his family, where Srila Maharaja resided during his stay in Fiji. There are five Punja brothers, one sister, and their families, and there is an interesting history about how they were instrumental in bringing Krsna consciousness to Fiji. In 1974, when Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja was en-route from Sydney to Hawaii, Vasudeva Punja met him in the transit lounge in Fiji and invited him to preach there. Prabhupada accepted the invitation, and went there in 1975 and again in 1976. The land on which Prabhupada's Krsna-Kaliya temple was built, was donated by the Punjas, and they also contributed and collected the funds to build it. The cornerstone was personally laid by Prabhupada in 1976, the temple was completed in 1977, and Jagannatha Punja was temple president there for 20 years. Prabhupada used to stay at the newly built home of Jagannatha Punja, who drove him to his morning walks and evening programs. During a darsana at his home, one of the devotees told Prabhupada that Jagannatha dasa and his wife were not chanting. While they looked up at Prabhupada with fear and guilt, Prabhupada looked at them with full compassion and said in Hindi, "Sab tiik ho jayega. Everything will be all right." Then, about twenty-three years later, they met Paramapujyapada Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja and invited him to Fiji. Two of the brothers had already accepted Vaisnava initiation from Srila Prabhupada, and the rest of the family, along with their families, accepted it from Srila Maharaja, Prabhupada's intimate friend, siksa-disciple, and spiritual successor. As Prabhupada had promised, everything became all right. Related VNN Stories Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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