20241221 Commentary on Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura Manobiṣṭha To Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I would like to know whether we should continue with the reading. Or one day read what Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura told Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda before he left?

In 1914, just a few weeks before passing away, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had expressed his manobiṣṭha, his desire of his heart to Siddhānta Sarasvatī, instructing him to establish daiva-varṇāśrama, to preach śuddha-bhakti, develop Śrīdhāma Māyāpur and publish Vaiṣṇava writings.

Jayapatākā Swami: Of course, everybody seems to have a different idea about daiva-varṇāśrama. The sahajiyās, one group of sahajiyās like I explained in the morning, they say that either you are born a brāhmaṇa or you are born something else. If you are born anything else, you will never get purified. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he had defeated that with some quotes. That one may be, if they show the qualities of a Vaiṣṇava and he has showed the qualities of a brāhmaṇa, even if they are born in another caste, they should be considered the caste they are qualified for. So this is daivi-varṇāśrama, Śrīla Prabhupāda also wanted daivi-varṇāśrama. So everybody seemed to have a different view, what aspect did they mean of daivi-varṇāśrama. But not by birth for sure. Preach śuddha-bhakti, that is clear. Develop Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, that is clear. Publish Vaiṣṇava writings. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda had asked us to develop Śrīdhāma Māyāpur and we have been doing that. TOVP is a big step forward in that. Book distribution, and Śrīla Prabhupāda actually translated Gītā, Bhāgavata, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, etc. otherwise they are just publishing Vaiṣṇava writings in vernacular languages. Of course, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he had published some books, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, some are in English also.

Worldly people who are proud of their aristocratic birth, they cannot attain to actual aristocracy. Therefore, they attack pure Vaiṣṇavas claiming that they have taken birth in low class families because of their sins. Thus, they commit offences. The means to rectify the situation is to institute daiva-varṇāśrama-dharma.

Jayapatākā Swami: We should research what that actually means, it definitely doesn’t mean if you are born something, then you are stuck.

>>You have started to do that, know it to be real service to Vaiṣṇavas. Due to lack of śuddha-bhakti, siddhānta-pracāra, all manner of womanish bad theories, and instructions are being called devotional service by pseudo apa-sampradāyas such as sahajiyā and ativādī. Always crush this anti-devotional conceptions by bhakti-siddhānta-pracāra and proper ācara. Try to begin the parikramā of Śrīdhāma Māyāpur as soon as possible.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the parikramā was very dear to Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura had huge parikramā parties. I heard that he had parikramā party like ten thousand people. And that Keśava Mahārāja and some sannyāsīs rode on horses to keep everybody in line! Now we have walkie-talkies, mobile phones, at that time, horses.

>>Thereby everyone in the universe can receive kṛṣṇa-bhakti.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, how this parikramā reaches everybody in the universe, these great ācāryas, they had a vision!

>>Diligently endeavor to ensure that service to Śrī Māyāpur becomes permanently established and more resplendent each day.

Jayapatākā Swami: So this is what our previous ācāryas wanted, and Māyāpur dhāma development, as much as we can do, that is better.

>>Genuine service to Śrī Māyāpur is not nirjana-bhajana. But to establish a printing press, publish devotional books and establish a Nāma-haṭṭa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, at that time there was printing press. They used the old-fashioned press. We had an offset press. But then Bombay, they said they can print books in a bigger press. So now, all our books are centrally printed in Mumbai. So, of course they print the books, and we have to distribute them. I like the point of Nāma-haṭṭa. They started Nāma-haṭṭa preaching at the time of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, there were a few Nāma-haṭṭas which are still existing. So this Nāma-haṭṭa, now we have like, we have to get the exact number from the Nāma-haṭṭa department, we don’t have exact but we have like 720 in East Medinipur, 720 in West Medinipur, etc. So Nāma-haṭṭa was something that Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and the previous ācāryas were thinking about.

>>Do not for your own sake undertake nirjana-bhajana and thus impede preaching and service to Śrī Māyāpur.

Jayapatākā Swami:  It was a big fad at that time in 1914 was to imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura and do nirjana-bhajana. But by doing that the person who does that may get some benefit for themselves, but Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is saying they are impeding the preaching and the service to Śrīdhāma Māyāpur.

>>When I am no longer present, take care and serve your dear Śrī Māyāpur dhāma. This is my special instruction to you. People who are like animals can never attain devotion, never accept their advice. But do not let them know this, either directly or indirectly. I had a special desire to propagate the importance of such books as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Ṣaṭ-sandarbhas and Vedānta-darśana.

Jayapatākā Swami: In Vṛndāvana, Śrīla Prabhupāda translated up to the 10^th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But someone was endeavoring to translate the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha. Someone not so qualified. Śrīla Prabhupāda thought that easier Sanskrit is in Padma Purāṇa and Viṣṇu Purāṇa. But he said that the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha is such a complete work on our philosophy, that it can convince anyone. So he wanted that translated, but by some qualified person. I don’t know what the Vedānta-darśana is. Śrīla Prabhupāda just said that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was the natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he worked on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

>>Now you must assume the responsibility Śrī Māyāpur will prosper if you inaugurate an educational institute there. Never try to amass knowledge or money for your own sense gratification. They should be acquired only for Kṛṣṇa’s service. Never take bad association either for money or for any personal interest.

Jayapatākā Swami: So few weeks before his departure Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura told this to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. You can see how these things, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura applied. And in turn, that was instructed to Śrīla Prabhupāda and he was so much inspired that at his advanced age, he travelled all over the world and spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And so here in Māyāpur, he wanted to develop Māyāpur dhāma. He wanted to distribute his books, and he wanted to unite the Sārasvata family, all these things and more. So, we can see how these things are handed down in the paramparā. I am very inspired that my humble effort to establish Nāma-haṭṭa may have been pleasing to the previous ācāryas.

Any questions?

Question: Why Lord Caitanya’s movement was kind of reduced to nothing and then it had to be revived by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura?

Jayapatākā Swami: Like, what do you do if there is so much counterfeit money. You cannot tell, which is real money, which is paper! So, after Lord Caitanya gave the instructions of śuddha-bhakti, in the Kali-yuga all the prākṛta-sahajiyās, ativādīs, they created shortcut, bogus, counterfeit bhakti-yogas. Rather than purify your heart and practice devotional service, they put on a saree and wearing bangles! So, all these prākṛta-sahajiyās groups started. Lord Caitanya’s real thing was still there, but there were so many counterfeit, that it was difficult to recognize. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he established the real śuddha-bhakti of Lord Caitanya, and he requested his son Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda to take it up and preach it. So, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had some books in English sent all over the world to different universities. They had one copy on the Teachings of Lord Caitanya, something like that was sent to McGill University in Montreal. And it was there, when I was in Montreal, the book was there. But someone stole it! Śrīla Prabhupāda, He took the teachings of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and expanded it. He wanted a GBC, and he made that. He wanted books translated and he did that. He wanted the books distributed, he did that. He wanted temples all over the world, he did that. He established 108 temples. And he wanted to develop Māyāpur. And so I did as much as I could - and you all are helping me!

Kṛṣṇe matir astu!