I had never thought that for the celebration of the appearance day of our Param Gurudev (Prabhupad), for his Vyasa Puja, we would come to Ludhiana, Punjab. Everything happens by the Divine arrangements of the Supreme Lord. Usually, we do not come to Punjab during this time. Everything happens by the desire of the Supreme Lord. Without His will even a leaf of a tree cannot move. We had planned to stay in Sarbhog, Assam for our Param Gurudev’s appearance day, the place where he has established Sri Gandharvika Giridhari deities.

Srila Prabhupad appeared in Jagannath Dham, Purushottam Dham. Our Gurudev procured his birthplace. We cannot even imagine how difficult it was to procure that place. No one was ready to endeavor to procure that place. Even ISKCON ran away from there. There were so many tenants who occupied that place since more than forty years. It was very difficult to draw them away from that place. Then many of the God-brothers of Guruji came to him and requested him to take that task in his hand. Our Guruji had a special characteristic, whatever he speaks, he would do that. He always considered himself to be the servant of Vaishnavas and lived his full life to fulfill their desires. He did not even want to go hospital when he was enacting the pastimes of illness. Many dignitaries from Kolkata advised him to install a pacemaker in his heart, so we requested him to be admitted in hospital. He said, “I do not want to get admitted in hospital but as you are desiring so I will get admitted.”

So, throughout his life, he acted to fulfill the desires of the Vaishnavas. I have Bengali accent so you have to listen very attentively. If you do not pay proper attention then you might not understand. So Srila Gurudev took responsibility to vacate that place and take custody of it. His health was not good at that time but as he decided to do this seva, he did not care for it. There were so many challenges involved in acquiring that place that it was almost impossible to make it happen.

I requested Guruji, “No one is worried about acquiring that place. Your health is not good. So I request you to not take such a hard work. There are no proper arrangements here for your stay also.” Gurudev did not talk anything on that topic, rather, he told me to write an application to Sri Sadashiva Tripathi, the Chief Minister of Orissa at that time. Gurudev told, “He will also meet the commissioner of endowments.” All the arrangements were made to meet the Chief Minister and commissioner of endowments. I was there with him. I will not speak this in detail. Many big personalities like Rangnath Mishra, the Chief Justice of Supreme Court and Gangadhar Mahapatro, education minister and many others came in the full support of Guruji. Would such personalities come in support of any ordinary person like me? But, being attracted by Gurudev’s exalted personality, they came behind him. Our Guruji’s personality is such that whoever sees him, immediately becomes attracted. After Srila Gurudev procured that place, the advocate of the opposite party said, “I cannot imagine, how did you do this? The tenants occupied the place for more than forty years, even by the eviction order from court, it was impossible to take charge of that place.” As Gurudev had decided to do so, Lord Jagannath and his Gurudev Srila Prabhupad, came to his support and made the impossible task possible.

We got the place and all the tenants went away and later a big temple was established there. It has become an international place now because people from all over the world visit it. It is in our Gurudev’s character that whichever task he takes in his hand, he would complete it.

We have not seen his Gurudev (Prabhupad). People used to understand Srila Gurudev to be the son of Param Gurudev because of his resemblance with Srila Prabhupad. Our Param Gurudev was ajanulambit bahu—whose arms extend down to the knees with gaurkanti—golden yellow complexion. He had a very tall attractive figure. Our Gurudev had exact resemblance to him. Whoever had darshan of him, they know about him. Param Gurudev and Gurudev are not ordinary persons even by their external appearance.

I never thought that for the celebration of appearance day and Vyasa Puja of our Param Gurudev, we would come to Ludhiana and even in Ludhiana we would come to Krishna temple in Model Town. Our Gurudev used to come Ludhiana since 1972 and continued to come till 1978. That time the program used to be at Sanatan Dharma temple in old town. Mangat Rayji used to give all the expenditures for the program. We stayed at his house. Sri Narendra Kapoor, Narhari Dasadhikari the father of Sri Rakesh Kapoor, Radhamadhav Dasadhikar brought our Guruji here for the first time. Later also we used to come every year. Today on this special Tithi, our coming here in Krishna temple is by the desire of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Gurudev had set his holy feet here continuously for seven years. It may be the desire of our Gurudev that the appearance day of his Gurudev gets celebrated here, so he made such arrangements and brought us here on the pretext of my treatment.

I do not have the eligibility to sing glories of Parama Gurudev, only his personal associate can sing his glories. He was not an ordinary person. He is a personal associate of Supreme Lord. He appeared 500 years after the appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Who preached the loving devotion to Supreme Lord Sri Krishna throughout the world. Mahaprabhu manifested Radha-kunda, Shyam-kunda and other pastimes places of RadhaKrishna making His associates, Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami as the medium. He distributed the Divine Love to all, wherever He went and to whoever He came in contact with irrespective of cast, creed and religion. Not only to human beings, He distributed the Divine Love even to the animals like lions, leopards, elephants, deer and others, while going to Vrindavan through the jungle of Jharkhand. While going through the path of jungle, He was calling out Supreme Lord Sri Krishna in intense mood of separation,

krishna krishna krishna krishna
krishna krishna rakshman
krishna krishna krishna krishna
krishna krishna pahimam
rama raghava rama raghava
rama raghava rakshamam
krishna keshav krishna keshav
krishna keshav pahimam

He was crying in separation mood. The animals there also started calling out, “Krishna! Krishna!” Can an ordinary person make the animals utter Supreme Lord’s Name? Ferocious animals like leopards, lions, tigers etc., they are walking together with deer and kissing each other, is such a thing possible? Yes, it is because the eternal nature of the soul was manifested. They have realized that, “I am not a tiger”, “I am not a deer”, “I am of the Supreme Lord”, “We are related with each other through Supreme Lord.”

Because of Mahaprabhu’s bringing the flood of Divine Love, many Muslims and Mallecha also became His great devotees. But after the disappearance of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Six Goswamis, Srinivas Acharya, Narottam Das Thakura and Shyamananda Prabhu and His other personal associates, a dark age descended on the world of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Even the people of Bengal, Nadiya, Nabdwip where Mahaprabhu descended, they also did not understand the gravity of the teachings of the doctrine of pure devotion propagated by Mahaprabhu. People of Bengal did not understand the doctrine of universal, all-embracing, all-accommodating Divine Love. Why did that happen? We should deeply think about that. Was there no scholar that time? Was there no Bhagavatam that time? Or the books of Six Goswamis, Chaitanya Charitamrit or Chaintanya Bhagavat? Everything was there, but no one could understand the doctrine of pure devotion. And because of that numerous pseudo-sects or apasampradayas cropped up. They claimed that they also preach the message of Mahaprabhu but they are practicing and spreading the opposite of His real teachings. Wearing the cloths of Babaji, they associate with woman and try to imitate the intimate loving pastimes of RadhaKrishna. Though they themselves pose as learned scholars, they are characterless, they do not understand the actual teachings of Mahaprabhu. By seeing the behavior of these anti-devotional ideological people, the residence of Bengal misunderstood the teachings of Mahaprabhu and lost their faith. The general class of people thought the behavior and followings of the pseudo-sect people were the teachings of Mahaprabhu.

Totaram Das Babaji Maharaj named thirteen such pseudo-sects and prohibited everyone from associating with them,

āul, bāul, kartābhajā, neṛā, daraveśa, sain
sahajiyā, sakhībhekī, smārta, jāta-gosāṣi
atibāṛī, cuṛādhārī, gaurānga-nāgarī
totā kahe ei teror saṅga nāhi kari

Do not associate with people who are from those thirteen apasampradayas.

Mahaprabhu knew that nobody has understood and in future nobody will understand the real implication of His teachings by reading them from books, as conditioned souls have a misconception of self, and different worldly motives. He then decided to send someone amongst His associates to rescue the fallen souls and sent Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur to this world. Accepting him, Srila Saraswati Thakur appeared in this world in Purushottam Dham. He is a follower of Rupa Goswami. He is Nayanmani Manjari in Krishna-lila. Mahaprabhu sent them, He told them, “You have to go to propagate My message otherwise worldly people will not understand the real implication of the scriptures.” By the order of Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur appeared in Ula-gram (village) of Virnagar Dham in Nadiya district.

And by accepting Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Bhagavati devi as parents, our Param Gurudev, Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur appeared in Purushottam Dham at the place where Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math was established. Previously, that place was known as ‘Narayan Chhata Math’. We used to offer the obeisance there but that time it was not a clean place because of dirty gutters passing through there.

When our Param Gurudev appeared, everyone was amazed to see that natural marks of sacred thread around his transcendental body. Six months after the appearance of the child, it was time for the Rathayatra festival. Ratha travels from Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple on Grand Road. That year, by Lord Jagannath’s desire, the Chariots of Balaram and Shubhdra went ahead but Lord Jagannath’s chariot stopped in front of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s house and simply would not move forward. Lord Jagannath Deva stayed motionless in front of the Narayan Chhata there for three whole days. Under Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s direction, a kirtan festival was held in front of the Deity for the entire three-day period. On the third day, the six-month old baby came before Lord Jagannath in the arms of his mother, he grabbed Jagannath Deva’s feet and took the garland from around the Deity’s neck. And then only the chariot started moving ahead. These pastimes are beyond our understanding. It is written in Padma Puran ‘hy utkale purushottamat—pure devotion will get propagated to the whole world from Purushottam Dham. Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur appeared in Purushottam Dham and thus pure devotion was spread throughout the whole world from Purushottam Dham. He is the fountain-head of all the Maths, Chaitanya Math, Chaitanya Gaudiya Matha, Iskcon etc.

In 1881, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura started construction of Bhakti Bhavan in Kolkata’s Ram Bagan district. During the digging of the building’s foundations, a deity of Kurmadeva was found. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura taught his seven-year-old son the rules for worshiping a deity and gave the Mantra to worship Kurmadeva. He also gave him instructions to regularly wear Tilak and to follow other Vaishnava etiquettes. While Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was living in Serampore, he came back one day from a visit to Puri with a garland of Tulasi leave’s beads. He gave it to Prabhupad, and initiated him in the chanting of the Holy Name and the Nrsimha Mantra.

When Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur shifted his residence to Godrumdvipa in Nabdvipa Dham, Nadiya district, Prabhupad also came along with him. Prabhupad in his eternal form is Nayanmani Manjari who is serving the Lord under the guidance of Kamal Manjari.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote more than hundred books in Bengali, Sanskrit and English. Srila Thakura then visited Kuliya, where the modern city of Nabdvipa stands. He went on the roof of his place of stay, to take a view of the Dham’s beauty. At about ten o’clock at night, when the thick clouds darkened the sky, he saw an illuminated building on the other side of the river. He was astonished to see it. On inquiry the next day, they learnt that the light was coming from a place known as Ballal Dighi. Going later to Ballal Dighi, they learnt from the elderly residents of the village that this was Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s birthplace. Intrigued, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura began to research old maps and documents and was able to establish conclusively that it was Mayapur, Mahaprabhu’s birthplace. When Jagannath Das Babaji visited that place and danced in ecstasy, it was fully confirmed that it is Mahaprabhu’s birthplace. Then a big temple, Yoga Pith was built there.

That time, a Paramahamsa Vaishnava, Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj used to stay in Nabdvipa. He saw all the residents of Nabdvipa with transcendental eyes, considering them to be divine beings. He thus accepted madhukari from them, cooking everything in a rejected clay bowl. It is said that sometimes he would subsist on nothing but Ganges water and mud. Sometimes he would go for long periods without eating, chanting the Holy Names constantly. Srila Babaji Maharaj used to live beneath a broken boat continuously engaged in chanting with utmost renunciation. He set the standard for those in the renounced order who live the life of solitary worship, remaining completely independent of others. Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj would often go to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s place in Godrumdwipa, Svananda Sukhada Kunja, where he would listen to his readings of Srimad Bhagavatam and discuss Vaishnava theology.

In 1898 AD, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Thakura got the first darsan of Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj. Saraswati Thakura was enchanted and overcame with ecstasy by Babaji Maharaj’s heartfelt emotional kirtan, ‘kothāy go premamayi rādhe rādhe rādhe rādhe go, jaya rādhe rādhe’. Babaji Maharaj wrote that kirtan in the separation mood of Radharani. Prabhupad expressed his desire to take initiation from him. But Babaji Maharaja was an anchorite who had sworn not to take any disciples. He wanted to perform devotion in solitude without accepting any disciple. When someone accepts disciples, he has to think about the ultimate welfare of them. So he refused him by telling, “I do not give Mantra to anyone.” Many dignitaries used to come to have his darsan. Babaji Maharaj would never allow any materialistic persons to touch his feet. If they did so, he would make a show of anger, saying, “You will be doomed!” Most people were thus afraid to attempt it.

In winter season also, on the bank of Ganges, with only one lower cloth, he used to remain constantly engaged in chanting. Once a person came and gave him a quilt to protect himself from severe cold but when later he came again to see whether Babaji Maharaj used it or not, he saw it had been hung on the boat. With surprise, he asked Babaji Maharaj about it. In reply Babaji Maharaj told, “By just having the sight of the quilt, cold will run away.” He was such a personality. Even sitting in Nabdvip Dham he could understand what is going on in Vrindavan.

Prabhupad approached him many a times to take initiation from him but in spite of his repeated prayers, Babaji Maharaj was not ready to give Mantra to him. Babaji Maharaj told him, “I will ask permission from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and if he agrees then only I shall give you Mantra.” After a few days when Prabhupad asked him again he said, “Oh! I forgot to ask.”

If we would have been there in Prabhupad’s position, we would have thought, “Oh! There are so many Gurus. I do not need a Guru like him. I will approach someone else.” A person like me would have become annoyed at such a situation. But our Prabhupad did not leave him.

He came back again after some days and asked Babaji Maharaj again, “Did you ask Mahaprabhu?”

Babaji Maharaj replied, “Yes. I asked Him.”

“What did He say?”

“Mahaprabhu told not to give Mantra to a proud person like you.”

After listening to Babaji Maharaj’s words Prabhupad’s face became pale and dark. Seeing Prabhupad’s unflinching conviction, Babaji Maharaj, who never allowed anyone to take his foot dust and if anyone tries to do so he who used to curse him saying, “Everything of yours will be destroyed”, took his foot-dust and smeared it all over the body of Prabhupad! He then told Prabhupad, “You are the only person who is competent to preach the message of Divine Love throughout the world.” He gave him Mantra and the power that was required to preach the doctrine of pure devotion. And with that power, Srila Prabhupad shook the whole world.

Thus, he was endowed with transcendental powers. He performed sacrifice of chanting hundred crores of Holy Names which he completed in nine years. He observed chaturmasya-vrat in Mayapur Dham. He did go-grass (eating like a cow without using his hands by serving the Prasadam on the floor) for these four months. He was an extraordinarily effulgent personality.

After he completed the sacrifice of chanting hundred crores of Holy Names, one night, he had a svapna-samadhi (dream-like vision) in which he saw all the members of the Pancha Tattva being led by Mahaprabhu in sankirtan, dancing and approaching toward the birthplace at the Yoga Pith in Mayapur, from the eastern side of its Natya-mandira. They were followed by the Six Goswamis and by Vaishnava Sarvabhauma Jagannath Das Babaji, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj and other guruvarga members of the disciplic succession, all appearing in effulgent, divine forms. They ordered him to preach the doctrines of pure devotion to everyone, throughout the world.

pṛthivīte āche jata nagarādi-grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(Sri Chaitanya Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

“Mahaprabhu said, 'In every town and village of the earth, the chanting of My name will be propagated.”

Prabhupad said, “I do not have personnel, I do not have money for such a huge task, how is it possible for me to spread this message?”

They consoled Prabhupad, saying, “Why are you worrying? Get the task of preaching pure devotion underway. Preach Mahaprabhu’s message everywhere: spread service to Gaura-dhama (Mahaprabhu’s Abode), Gaura-nama (His Name), and Gaura-kama (His Desire or Work). All of us are at the ready to support you at every turn. We will help you at every moment in your efforts to preach pure devotional service. Countless people, unlimited wealth and extraordinary scholarship are all waiting for you to call for them. Whenever you need anything at all, it will come to you to be engaged in the service of the preaching mission. Simply go forward to preach the message of love of God, giving it your total effort. No worldly force will be able to disrupt this effort. We are with you always.”

From that day onward, he displayed an unbounded enthusiasm for the worldwide preaching of Mahaprabhu’s message. He first established Sri Chaitanya Math in Mayapur, then he went to Kolkata and stayed in a rental house at Ultadanga from where he had started his preaching activities. Srila Saraswati Prabhupad expanded his energy by transmitting his powers to his disciples and preached the message of pure devotion throughout the world.

At Ultadanga Road Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Goswami Thakur used to deliver sermons on Srimad Bhagavatam which is the quintessence of all Scriptures. Many people used to come to listen him. There, he spoke on one verse from 11th Canto for one full month.

labdhvā su-durlabham
idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte
mānuṣyam artha-dam
anityam apīha dhīraḥ
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu-mṛtyu yāvan
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.09.29)

“This human form of life is obtained after many, many births, and although it is not permanent, it can offer the highest benefits. Therefore a sober and intelligent man should immediately try to attain the highest benefit in life before another death occurs. One should avoid sense gratification, which is available in all circumstances.”

Even after commenting on this verse for one month, he was not satisfied and wanted to speak more about it! I heard from our Gurudev, when Srila Prabhupad was explaining this verse, one day, two students of Scottish Arts College, Kolkata, who were going back home after attending their college, out of curiosity, came there. They got attracted to the divine form of Srila Prabhupad whose body was radiating a divine effulgence. They never saw such a personality in their life. Holding books in their hand, they sat down in the back and started listening to him attentively. Srila Prabhupad was telling, “The human birth is not only rare (durlabh), but extremely rare (sudurlabh).” He was explaining, “turnam yateta—one should start bhajan immediately, at the very moment, without any delay. Don’t spoil your time, a moment’s time should not be spent without serving Krishna. Any moment we may lose this human birth and there is no certainty that we shall again get this human birth. So, turnam yateta—immediately we should start bhajan. This human birth is very rare. After passing through 84 lakhs different species, a conditioned soul may get the birth as a human. In 84 lakh species, there are 900,000 kinds of aquatics, 2,000,000 kinds of trees and plants, 1,100,000 kinds of insects and reptiles, 1,000,000 kinds of birds, 3,000,000 kinds of four-legged beasts, and 400,000 kinds of human species. So human birth is rarest of the rare. Arthadam —in human life you can achieve the ultimate objective i.e. the Complete Reality. Until you achieve Complete Reality your wants will not be satisfied. Complete Reality is the Supreme Lord. We can achieve that Supreme Lord in human life. By attaining Him nothing remains to be attained.

yasmin prāpte sarvam idam prāptam bhavati
yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati
tad eva brahma.
(Mundaka Upanisad 1.3)

Anityam—however this human life will not stay for long. Any moment it can go. Any moment we may lose this opportunity. Therefore, turnam yatet—IMMEDIATELY, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, without a moment’s delay we should start bhajan.” While speaking this Srila Prabhupad was looking at those students who came to attend the discourse. The students were surprised by this and began to wonder, “Why is he looking at us and speaking? We are not his disciples. Why is he looking at us while speaking?” They got scared and asked Prabhupad, “Swamiji, won’t you allow us to go back to our homes?” Srila Prabhupad said, “No, I will not allow you to go back to your houses.” The boys started to think, “Oh! What a problem. We have invited troubles by coming here. ” Now they thought, “How we can get ourselves free from this place? We have to go back to our house.”

They started to think how they could escape from him (Prabhupad) and said, “If our houses catch fire, won’t we go and extinguish the fire?”

Prabhupad said, “Let your houses burn. Even if your houses burn out, what have you people got to do with it?”

The students began to think, “What type of Saint is he?” Then they said, “If we do not extinguish the fire which caught our houses, then all the neighboring houses will burn out too.”

“Let the whole world burn, what do you lose? You are brahma bhuta—from the Lord; you are jagat bhuta—not of this world i.e. you are conscious entity, not matter. Consciousness begets matter and not vice versa. Body is not considered as a person, the soul is considered as a person, by the presence of which I have my existence. I am anu-saccidananda, so I do not want to die. Death is inevitable but still no one wants to die. Everyone wants to gain knowledge; everyone wants to get bliss. As I am anu-saccidananda,, I have desire for purna sat (Complete Existence), purna cit (Complete Knowledge), purna ananda (Compete Bliss). Being enveloped by the illusionary potency of the Supreme Lord, one considers himself a body. Now while returning home you may die. Even while walking in the streets you may die. Therefore, now when you have understood this, you should start bhajan immediately.” These boys could never go home back, they stayed in the Math for rest of their life.

This was the type of preaching activities done by Srila Prabhupad. We cannot even imagine what he did. We are ourselves so weak in our Bhajan. What will we preach to others? He was the personified energy of the Supreme Lord. Even if someone talked to him, they will be effected by his words. One of our elder God-brothers, namely Ashram Maharaj, who was previously called Krishna Prasad Prabhu, got the opportunity to talk with Srila Prabhupad. Once when Srila Prabhupad went for preaching in Assam, Krishna Prasad Prabhu who was at that time 10-12 years old, met him. Krishna Prasad Prabhu, who was then called Kamala Kanta Gosai, in his household life belonged to a family of Brahmins. One day when Srila Prabhupad was going to some place by traveling in a cart drawn by oxen, Kamala Kanta met him. Srila Prabhupad was sat on the cart, facing in the opposite direction. Srila Prabhupad asked him, “Who are you? What is your name? Where do you stay?” All these questions asked by Srila Prabhupad to Kamala Kanta are not Harikatha (discourses on the Supreme Lord). He simply saw Prabhupad who was talking to him. And simply by exchanging normal words with Srila Prabhupad, the material life of Kamala Kanta was destroyed.

After Srila Prabhupad left that place, Krishna Prasad Prabhu lost all his attachments to family life. After the departure of Srila Prabhupad, he took shelter at the lotus feet of our Gurudev. Later he became the in-charge of Mayapur Math. After Sannyas he came to be known as Ashram Maharaj. Srila Giri Maharaj, Srila Ashram Maharaj and myself took Sannyas at the same time. So, in this manner the grace incarnate form of the Supreme Lord can bestow his grace only by means of speaking to someone. Just as the rays of the Sun fall in both clean and dirty places, similarly the grace of the Supreme Lord comes on all living entities. Whoever comes in front of the grace-incarnate-form of the Lord (shuddha-bhakta), gets his grace and feels a sense of vibration. Only by this feeling of vibration, one can understand that something has happened to him. So Kamala Kanta Gosai also changed by merely exchanging words with Srila Prabhupad who is a personal associate of the Supreme Lord.

After seeing our Gurudev, he left family life. Though Srila Prabhupad left, he got the grace of our Gurudev.

So on today’s Tithi, we should perform Vyasa Puja of Srila Prabhupad who was a powerful personal associate of the Lord. What is the meaning of Vyasa Puja? There is a special injunction in the scriptures that one should perform worship of one’s Gurudev on his advent. We perform worship of Srila Vedavyas Muni, who is the spiritual master for all of us, in the month of Asadha, on the occasion of Guru-purnima. This worship is called ‘Vyasa Puja’ which is performed by all sorts of people belonging to different schools of thoughts namely the karmis (fruitive workers), jnanis (aspirants for liberation), yogis (performers of yoga for attaining eight-fold mystic perfections), the worshipers of various demigods etc. Even those who utter, “aham brahmashmi—“I am Brahman myself” also perform Guru Puja.

Sripad Shankaracharya has said-“adwaitam triso….adwaitam Gurunas..” It means, “ I am the Lord myself for all the three worlds, but I am not non-different with my Gurudev.” Shankaracharya had himself said that one should serve his Gurudev. Shankaracharya had to work very hard to remove nastikyavad—disbelief in the existence of the Supreme Lord preached by the Buddhists. He rejected nirvana and re-established the foundation of the Vedas by preaching brahma-nirvana. In this way he re-established the foundation of Sanatan Dharma once again. He personally worshiped the Supreme Lord, bhaja govindam, bhaja govindam, bhaja govindam, mudha mate—“Oh ignorant people, you should definitely worship Govinda. He destroyed all the false philosophies regarding nastikyavad and re-establishing the Vedic religion. One can get the service of the Supreme Lord only by serving his Gurudev. If one thinks oneself to be Guru, then whom shall he render service? Should I serve myself? It is a wrong concept.”

Srila Prabhupad had performed worship of his Gurudev on his appearance day. By seeing his conduct all his disciples all over the world started performing his worship on his advent. Now, a question may arise, “Why should one perform Guru Puja?”

If we go to the eleventh Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam we will find Nimi-Nava-Yogendra samvad (conversation between King Nimi and the nine Yogendras). These nine Yogendras were the youngest among all the sons of Rishabhadeva. These nine Yogendras arrived at the place of sacrifice of the King of Videha namely Nimi.

King Nimi worshiped them after their arrival and told them, “On seeing you all, it seems that you people are the personal associates of the Supreme Lord Madhusudana Himself.”

Nimi Maharaj continued, “Though I have not invited you all, but still you all have come.” (Guruji having light conversation, “This Nava-Yogendra samvad is a long topic. If I start it now then all of you will not have the time to have Prasadam. So I will not start reading it now” (laughter from audience). “So I will read quickly and in brief.”)

There is a verse which says,

durlabho mānuṣo deho
dehināṁ kṣaṇa-bhaṅguraḥ
tatrāpi durlabhaṁ manye
vaikuṇṭha-priya-darśanam
(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.29)

“The human birth is very rare but more than it, the audience (darshan) of a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord is rare.” So Maharaj Nimi told the Nava-Yogendras, “I have got the darshan of you all, such fortune is extremely rare. I have got a question for you all,

yathaitām aiśvarīṁ māyāṁ
dustarām akṛtātmabhiḥ
taranty añjaḥ sthūla-dhiyo
maharṣa idam ucyatām
(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.17)

“O Saints! I am a dullard having attachment to this body and to persons related to this body. I have no control over senses. It is impossible for me to rescue myself from the clutches of the deluding external potency of the Lord having three primal qualities of sattva, rajah and tamah, i.e., preserving, creating and destroying qualities. Birth, existence and death are caused by the deluding force of the Lord's external potency. We suffer at the time of birth and death as well as during existence. As long as we live in this world, we suffer threefold afflictions—(i) affliction caused by physical ailments and mental sufferings such as grief due to the separation from near and dear ones; (ii) affliction caused by other living beings; (iii) affliction caused by demigods, i.e., natural calamities—earthquakes, inundation, famine, epidemics, drought, deluge, etc. Kindly show me the simple path to get deliverance from the forest fire of worldly affliction.” Prabuddha Muni, one of the nine saints, replied,

karmāṇy ārabhamāṇānāṁ
duḥkha-hatyai sukhāya ca
paśyet pāka-viparyāsaṁ
mithunī-cāriṇāṁ nṛṇām
(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.18)

“A man starts a profession or business, weds or does not wed with the sole purpose of removing affliction and getting happiness. When he finds that he is unable to remove affliction and get happiness by his own effort, he marries and becomes two to try jointly to remove affliction and get happiness. Even then when he is unsuccessful he begets children and increases the number of family members, to try with joint efforts to attain the objective. But, O Videha Raj Nimi! Behold! The result is just the reverse, neither he can remove affliction nor he can get happiness.”

When Srila Prabhupad was in Sri Mayapur at the time of the British regime, all the queens of the kings of Jaipur and Tripura would come to see this holy city. One of the queens of Jaipur wanted to speak privately with Prabhupad, who then requested all persons to leave. "Swamiji," she said, "I am most unfortunate! Although I am married, I am not permitted any connection with my husband or my family. I am kept in a restricted place and cannot go anywhere. For one year I have been so dissatisfied. I want to commit suicide, but suicide is a great sin. I am so unfortunate that even the beggar or a pauper is happier than I! Please bless me that I should never be born in a royal family again!" Gurudev was astounded!

So, the conclusion is that it is not necessary that one will become happy if he possesses wealth. Both rich persons as well as poor persons are not happy. Those who are married are not happy and those who are not married like myself are also not happy. I used to think that those who are married are happy.

It is said, ‘Dilli ka laddu jo khaya vo pastaya, jo nahi khaya vo bhi pastaya’, “Those who have eaten laddu, a kind of sweet, manufactured in Delhi have repented, and those who have not eaten also regretted.” Those who are married tell me, “Swamiji, I have done a big mistake.” Our condition is like a person who is deluded to mistake a bear for a blanket. By mistaking a bear for a blanket, we catch hold of it and then the bear will also catch us in return. By our own efforts we will not be able to free ourselves from the bear. Only a personal associate of the Supreme Lord will be able to free us from the grip of the bear. In this way this material life is like a bear. If we enter into its captivity, we will no longer be able to come out of it.

Once a person came to our Kolkata Math. He was about fifty years old. He came and told me, “I have renounced family life. I want to stay in this Math and perform bhajan.”

I told him, “It seems that you have married. You have a wife and children.” He replied in affirmation. I told him, “Then how will you stay here by leaving all of them?”

“You people have left your family lives and are performing bhajan by staying in the Math. Won’t you allow me to do the same?”

“Yes, I have no problem. But your family members will not allow you to stay here and perform bhajan.”

“Let them come.”

“Okay, stay here and do bhajan.”

After a few days his wife started searching for him throughout Kolkata. And while searching, she came to our Math and at that time I was stepping down the stairs with that person.

She saw him and asked him, “You have come here?”

“I have come here for performing bhajan. I have done many mistakes. Now I do not want to go back to material life any more. I want to perform bhajan.”

She shouted, “You did not remember this when you married me? Now, you are putting all responsibilities on me and enjoying here!! Just come with me.” She forcibly took him away.

So, it is not so easy to get out once one gets entangled in this material life. So we get deluded to think that we will become happy if we get a beautiful wife, a son, a daughter etc. etc.

The Nava Yogendras said, “Hey Videha Raj Nimi, by such activities neither can anyone remove his unhappiness nor can one attain bliss.” The only way to attain bliss is to take absolute shelter of a Guru who is both well-versed in scriptures and has got practical realization of Divinity.

If a person is diseased can he cure himself? No, he has to go to an expert doctor for treatment. There are so many doctors who are specialized in various fields of medical science. We go to them for treatment of our worldly diseases. Similarly, for treatment of the disease of worldly maladies, namely cycles of births, deaths and three-fold afflictions, one should approach an expert spiritual doctor who will only be a real saint, a personal representative of the Lord. It is not so easy to get such a Sad-Guru, a bona fide Guru. When you will seek qualities you will have to sacrifice quantity and vice versa.

Mahadeva has said to Parvati Devi,

bahavaḥ guravo santi
śiṣya-vittāpahārakaḥ
durlabhaḥ sadgururdevi
śiṣya-saṁtāpa-hārakam
(Padma Puran)

“There are so many Gurus who are eager to snatch money from their disciples. But one can rarely get a bona fide Guru who can snatch the afflictions of his disciples.”

So, it is said in the scriptures that one can achieve the Supreme Lord (Param Purush) only after surrendering at the lotus feet of the Acharya (bona fide representative of the Lord). One cannot achieve Him by means of his own efforts. It is not so easy to cross over this ocean of material world. One can cross over this material world only by getting the grace of a bona fide Guru after surrendering at his lotus feet. Even in Gita, Sri Krishna has mentioned that one should surrender to tattva-darshi , a bona fide representative of the Lord who has practical knowledge about the Lord.

So, Guru Puja (worship of one’s Gurudev) means one has to act as per the desire of his Gurudev.

Some Divine sayings of Srila Prabhupad, “Wherever there is Harikatha, all the Holy places reside there.” The significance of this above saying is, wherever the pure devotees of the Lord, who have sacrificed their lives for Him, are speaking about the Lord only for His satisfaction, all the holy places reside there.

Another saying, “Without criticizing the faults of others, one should try to rectify oneself.” We have the tendency to see faults in others. But such acts are futile. Both good and bad qualities will be present in human beings. For this reason try to find good qualities in others and faults in yourself. Only then will there be rectification. For this reason, instead of trying to find faults in others, one should endeavor only to rectify his own nature. One can only teach others by means of his own example. For this reason one should try to correct oneself and only then others may learn from him.

Another saying, “Other than those who are performing Hari-bhajan all are ignorant and are atma-ghati—destroyer of their self.” So, the one who has left worshiping the Supreme Lord is an ignorant being and is committing suicide. All of us have originated from the Lord, we are within Him, by Him and so we should remain for Him. The one who does not remain for the Supreme Lord, he has committed suicide. So if one really wants to do Guru Puja, he has to follow his instructions. It will not be sufficient to pay only floral tributes without following his instructions. Here only a few instructions are given, but there is a book which contains all his instructions. One should go through them and follow those instructions. One can get deliverance from the bondage of Maya only by listening to Harikatha, discourses on the Supreme Lord, from the lotus lips of Gurudev. A professional speaker who speaks Harikatha for getting money has the goal of earning money. One will not get any benefit by hearing Harikatha from such a speaker. Maya will immediately leave a person if he hears Harikatha from a real saint whose life is only dedicated to the Supreme Lord. For this reason one should hear Harikatha from such a person. We give excuses like drowsiness while hearing Harikatha. So, should one only sleep instead of attending Harikatha? No, this is not correct. If one keeps on speaking about Hari and leaves his body, then he will go to Hari after leaving his body.

Even if one faces hundreds of troubles, hundreds of oppressions from others, he should not stop his bhajan. When one tries to make an instrument (Katari) out of iron, he has to first heat it to make it red-hot. After that one has to beat it continuously with a hammer. After that there are some other processes like twisting etc that are to be done on that iron to shape it and make it to the desired instrument. Similarly when one has to go back to the Supreme Lord, the Lord will make him go through tribulations and abuses from people all over the world. After getting such repeated tribulations when one will develop the qualities of tolerance and forgiveness, the Lord will say, “Now you are qualified to enter My abode.” For this reason, even if one gets hundreds of abuses, hundreds of troubles and hundreds of tribulations and oppressions one should never leave Hari-bhajan.

Vancha-kalpataru…