20080103 Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Disappearance Address

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on the disappearance day festival of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura on 3^rd January 2008 in Sydney, Australia.

Jayapatākā Swami: He said that he was quite tall, and he was very amazing to look at because his arms would go down to his knees like Lord Caitanya. He had ājānu-lambita-bhujau, he had those long arms that almost touched his knees. It is said that he had three lines in his stomach, three lines in his neck. These are symptoms you find in descriptions of mahā-puruṣas. Normally ordinary people don’t have this type of neck with conchshell lines. So, he had both on his waist and his neck. Like this, he had all very astonishing characteristics. At the same time, he was able to mix with the common villagers and the children and win their hearts over. Actually, he got donations from the Mohammedan villagers to build his āśrama. It’s quite amazing because usually, we expect Hindu villagers to give for a temple.

But he was so well-liked by the Muslims there that they also gave him land. He got about 300 acres and donated to him. So, like this, he built the Śrīvāsa Āṅgan monument and also the Caitanya Maṭha. From the Caitanya Maṭha, then he was directing the preaching around India and the world. So, his temple began. He had sixty-four branches to the Gauḍīya Maṭha in a short span of time. So, Śrīlā Prabhupāda met him at ulṭā-dāṅgā in 1922, when he was twenty-six years old and he took initiation from him in 1933, 11 years later, so he was under his shelter for 11 years before he took initiation, when he was feeling that this was the right thing to do. So, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura went to Rādhā-kuṇḍa to chant and he chanted 300,000 names of Kṛṣṇa a day for the Cātur-māsa or the month of Kārtika and there he was preaching very dynamically.

At that time, he went, our Śrīlā Prabhupāda met with Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and he went to visit him there with his son. So, he went on a walk around Rādhā-kuṇḍa. At that time, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura told him that, “I built only temples. But some of the temples, there is fighting going on. Who gets what room? And who gets what facility? Who is in what position? So, now sometimes I think that better if I took all the marbles from the temple, sold it and printed books. So, if you ever get any money, please publish books. This will make me very happy.” So, these words were the inspiration for Śrīla Prabhupāda to translate the books into English and have them published all over the world.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, one time he was a very broad-minded person actually; he knew how to preach according to time, place and circumstance. He could be in Rādhā-kuṇḍa with the bābājīs doing tapasyas, also sometimes he had a lecture at a public program with the King of Tripura, so he was with the King then too. One time there was a festival in the temple at Bagh Bazaar, Northern Calcutta. So, there they had a festival Annakūṭa, which is Govardhana-pūjā. Do you think you have big Govardhana-pūjā here? They build a mountain of rice and things. So they built a very big mountain of rice with all decorations and worshipped it as a Govardhana that they were about to distribute the prasāda. But at that moment a dog came up, bit into the side of the mountain and then ran off. So, then they were all astonished. The dog is bit into it. So like it’s all what to do.

So, they went, and they asked Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, “What they should do?” He said, “Really, what happened?” They said, “The dog bit into the rice and ran away, it is really weird” and He said, “Really? Where? Show me that!” So, he went down, then they showed the mountain of rice and said, “Where did the dog bite?” They said, “Right here.” “Is this the place?” “Yes. See how it’s indented here? Somebody’s missing.” “That’s the right place?” “Yes.” “Okay.” Then he took the rice from that place, and he ate it. Mahā-prasāda kī jaya! And everybody took prasāda.

One time, there was a labor strike, and normally, none of the village workers would cut the rice in the field. And it was already ripe and hanging over. If they didn’t cut it would go bad. He said, “What to do? Where are these fields? Show me.” Went out. They showed him, “Where is the cutting instrument? Get one. I want to see. How does this work?” They brought him some instruments, took him out to the field and he saw all the fields there. All the brahmacārīs were there said, “Now what should we do?” He said if they had one of those cutting instruments. They said, “Yes”, they gave him. And he kneeled-down and, you know, started to cut the rice with his own hands. He said, “It’s Kṛṣṇa’s rice, it’s going to go bad.” They should cut it for Kṛṣṇa. And he started cutting. Then, all the disciples were embarrassed to hear the guru, that he was cutting. There are so many disciples, brahmacārīs. So they all started cutting and saved the rice.

He was the man of action when he would chant, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, he would walk back and forth many times. He would always not just sit down. He was very active. [Voice not clear] He was very active, always very dynamic. At the same time, he is known as Śrī Vārṣabhānavī Devī Dayīta Dāsa, that he is specially favored by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Actually, he is one of the mañjarīs who came down from the spiritual world. The assistant of the assistant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, just to help spread Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement. Sometimes, he would go into the Deity room, and he would just talk with the Deities, lock the door, take counsel directly. Kṛṣṇa would speak to him, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī would speak to him. That was how great he was.

The prediction in one of the Purāṇas is that there would be a great spiritual master who would appear in Jagannātha Purī and he would unite the four Vaiṣṇava disciplic successions. You see Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is the person by whose message eventually the four Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas would be united.

In 1936, when he was passing away. Before that, he had already established a Governing Body Commission and said, “You all work cooperatively together and spread the movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.” At that time, he wrote a letter to his disciples like a final order. He told them to expand their Navadvīpa parikramā that this would purify and liberate the whole world. That they should develop Māyāpur dhāma. Because Māyāpur dhāma was very dear to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and they should publish books and distribute them as much as possible.

That they should establish Nāma-haṭṭa preaching. Because by Nāma-haṭṭa preaching many householders will get the opportunity to preach. Then expand the Nāma-haṭṭa preaching. Because by Nāma-haṭṭa, then all the congregation will get an opportunity to serve the holy dhāma of Māyāpur. So, actually his mission was preaching, developing Māyāpur, book distribution, Nāma-haṭṭa, engaging everybody in the purpose of life and preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So, on this sacred day, Śrīlā Prabhupāda was giving a lecture. One time, he was explaining how the previous ācāryas had worked to develop Māyāpur. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura made the first building, that Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī took shelter there. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was developing the birthplace of Lord Caitanya and the Yogapīṭha temple and other places around the birthplace, the Navadvīpa dhāma. He said, “In my own humble way, I am trying to also fulfil their desires.” He said, “Actually, the secret of success is to please the previous ācāryas.” And Śrīlā Prabhupāda was explaining all these things. Then he broke down and started to cry; he was so moved. Then later, when he got this composure again. Then he said that, “The secret of success is to please the previous ācāryas.” If we can please Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Kṛṣṇa will be very pleased. We are very fortunate to come in this disciplic succession. We should remain very determined to try to do something to please Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda.

Hari Oṁ Tat Sat!

Any Questions?

We are eternally indebted to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura that he sent us his representative with the ambition that the whole world will one day become Kṛṣṇa conscious and sent Śrīlā Prabhupāda here.