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WORLD April 12, 1999 VNN3581 See Related VNN Stories Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja Visits Murwillimbah (5) BY SRIDAM SAKHA DASA  AUSTRALIA, Apr 12 (VNN) — Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja Visits Murwillimbah, Part 5Monday, January 04, 1999 On Monday morning, Srila Maharaja went to the newly built house of Devendranath prabhu and his wife Meena didi. While there he told a story about a female disciple of Ramanuja who was willing to sacrifice even her chastity to her husband in order to be able to afford to host their guru and his accompanying party. However, when the time came for her to give her body in payment to the wealthy man who had provided all the money she had needed, she at first offered him some of the remnants of Srila Ramanujacarya. Upon taking them, the man's heart was miraculously purified, and he repented his wickedness at the lotus feet of Srila Ramanujacarya, becoming his disciple. Having finished the story, Srila Maharaja said that if you want to satisfy a mother you should give some sweets to her children. Similarly, if you want to serve guru, then you should start by serving all of his disciples. Conversely, if we think that we can serve him alone he will not be pleased. There is a process. Srila Maharaja also explained that Ramanuja is an incarnation of Laksmana, and that the meaning of the name Ramanuja is 'the younger brother of Rama'. After he had spoken, Meena didi served him and the rest of us with sweets, parathas and another kind of savoury preparation. Srila Maharaja ate the parathas with relish, saying: "Oh very tasteful. I used to eat in my boyhood." Referring to Srila Maharaja's brahmacari servant, one of Srila Maharaja's disciples suggested mischievously: "Now that Nabin is not here you can eat all you want." "Yes," said Srila Maharaja "That's why I left him behind." The next day, Monday, January 4th was Srila Maharaja's last day in Murwillumbah. After the evening class, he urged the large crowd of devotees to maintain their spiritual momentum by continuing to meet and hear and chant together after his departure. "I want that you should keep this light burning so that I may come again." He said. Since the time we had been in Perth, a number of devotees had been working feverishly literally day and night to complete a book which Srila Maharaja had ordered should be produced. Entitled "The True Conception of Guru Tattva" the book consists of three main sections. The first part is an extract from a soon to be released translation of Srila Maharaja's biography of his guru Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaja. In the extract, the insidious and erroneous ideology of certain prominent babaji lines which believe the bhagavat parampara (as delineated by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta sarasvati Thakura) to be false is systematically defeated. The second section, also written by Srila Maharaja explains the real meaning of ritvik according to sastra. It lucidly illustrates how the current application of the term for the supposed continuation of a vaisnava parampara as forwarded today by deluded persons is an utter misuse. Lastly, the paper by Sri Bhakti Vidagdha Bhagavat Maharaja entitled "Taking Srila Prabhupada Straight" is included. It is a refutation of the publicly posted paper of the same name by ISKCON GBC Ravindra Svarupa, and exposes its blasphemous accusations against Srila Maharaja to be false and groundless. Against all the odds, Urukrama prabhu, Sadbhuja prabhu and Gaurangi didi had managed to complete the book, which had been presented to Srila Maharaja a couple of days before. The book had already quickly sold out. Srila Maharaja now thanked them very much for their service, as well as expressing his gratitude to all the devotees who had worked so hard to make the programmes possible. In particular he thanked Braja vallabha prabhu and family, as well as Devananda prabhu, Tapana misra prabhu, Paramananda prabhu, Surati didi and her daughters. These devotees had done all of the cooking. On Tuesday January 5th, Srila Maharaja, his touring party, and most of his disciples from Murwillumbah travelled to Brisbane where he stayed for a couple of days before departing for Fiji. During the time we were in Murwillumbah and Brisbane, Srila Maharaja initiated fifty-two harinama disciples and gave diksa to thirteen devotees. --end-- All of the tours completed to date are archived at the following site: http://www.igvp.com/tours If you would like to read more material on or by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, then please contact the following websites: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/2469 http://www.angelfire.com/ar/goloka/index.html http://www.angelfire.com/va/vaishnavism/news.html http://hgsoft.com/ agrahya/ http://www.igvp.com See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story | Contact VNN regarding this Story
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