“Love Makes the Lord Come Out of Stone.” Srila B. S. Goswami Maharaj. October 18, 2019. Vrindavan Dham, India. The Samadhi of Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami

Sri Sat-goswami-astakam. — The magnetism of Krishna. — The sweet Absolute. — Being the devotee is better than being the Lord. — Gopal Bhatta Goswami: “madly extracting from the scriptures.” — “Hari-bhakti-vilasa”. — Saraswati Thakur: a Napoleonic, revolutionary approach in the religious battlefield. — The Goswamis of Radha-Raman temple accepted Saraswati Thakur therefore they are revered in Gaudiya-line. — Guaranteed Krishna-connection is through Radharani. — Prahlad’s love makes the Lord come out of stone. — The appearance of Radha-Raman Deity.

_English

Srila Bhakti Sudhir Goswami Maharaj

Love Makes the Lord Come Out of Stone

_{(October 18, 2019. Vrindavan Dham, India. The Samadhi of Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami)}

 

Goswami Maharaj:

…vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau

Śrīnivās Āchārja, we mentioned Narottam Ṭhākur and this triad, or to the Russian section, ‘a troika’ of Śrīnivās Āchārja, Narottam Ṭhākur and Śyāmānanda Prabhu. They’re entrusted with the wealth of the Rūpānuga line. But Śrīnivās Āchārja, you know, this Ṣaḍ-Goswāmy-aṣṭakam. These eight prayers, like,

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nānā-śāstra-vichāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau
lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau tri-bhuvane mānyau śaraṇyākarau
rādhā…

…gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola…

That’s another one, but anyway, they’re all good. He is outlining their specific qualities. We take it just, what we call śāstra-nipuṇ, means ‘being expert in the scriptures.’ And that doesn’t mean ‘knowing a lot’ or ‘being very smart or intelligent.’ We were talking before, what is that expertise? To extract the inner substance. Vedas are so voluminous, Vedas, Purāṇa, all these [scriptures]. How to know, to get the central conception from there, the gist of what is being expressed by the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, called the Paramahamsa-saṁhitā, or also the Āmala Purāṇa. What is pure Kṛṣṇa conception there, without any allusion to anything else. That’s why Nārada chastised Vyāsa, Vedavyāsa, who gave all of our scriptures. He’s saying, “What Prabhu inadvertently did?..” (Hare Kṛṣṇa, jai!) He said, “You’ve betrayed the cause.” What did he mean? He said, “Because you gave religion to the world.”

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Isn’t that a good thing? He’s saying, it should be, but the way people will take it, is that it’s a prescriptive that you can follow to have a successful material life. And that was not your intention, but that’s the way they will take it. So, it has to be you, who presents the pure, unadulterated, supreme, absolute truth, which is Kṛṣṇa conception. In the past times of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī and Brajā-gopīs, if they don’t understand that this sort of prospect is possible, with the Supreme Lord, they will think the only place you can exercise this tendency, which we’re hardwired for, is in the material world and mundane relationships. And God will remain in the sky, or on the Sistine Chapel, meaning inaccessible, or abstract, or non-beautiful. Kṛṣṇa’s navayovana,

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…ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ…

_{(Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.33)}

He’s the oldest person. So, should we portray Him with a beard? No, He’s navayovana. He’s the oldest person, but He looks always like a beautiful young boy, a teenage boy, with inconceivable, seductive charm, beauty, sweetness, the magnetism of beauty, charm and sweetness. Kṛṣṇa, akārṣan, drawing everyone to the center, to the central conception of the sweet Absolute. You can study Western philosophy until you’re blue in the face. Thank you. And you’ll never hear them say something like, the sweet Absolute. It’ll just be, the dry Absolute, the not-so-sweet Absolute, [unclear] Absolute. Not the sweet, beautiful Absolute. Kṛṣṇa, satyam śīvam sundaram, sundara-nanda, sac-cid-ānanda, [unclear] sundara-nanda, ananda-sundara, that Kṛṣṇa, so beautiful, so charming.

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That, and it’s that Kṛṣṇa, who, in the presence of His beloved, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, that He thinks, “I’m ecstasy personified, Rāsārāj Kṛṣṇa. But it appears to Me that what She’s experiencing is ten million times greater than what I’m experiencing. But I can only understand that theoretically. To understand it substantially, I would have to embrace Her position.”

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…hṛtvā madhuram upabhoktuṁ kam api yaḥ…

_{(Prathama Śrī Caitanya-aṣṭaka; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā: 4.52)}

Rūpa Goswāmī says in the Caitanya-aṣṭakaṁ, “So, He steals the heart of Rādhārāṇī, plundering the wealth of Her heart so that He can experience.” And what greater authority do we need than Kṛṣṇa Himself to tell us that being a devotee is better than being the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That’s inconceivable. The position of the devotee is more relishable. Take it from me. Who can say that with greater authority than Kṛṣṇa? So, He descends as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu…

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…rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ…

_{(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Ādi-līlā, 1.5)}

…enveloped in the heart and halo of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And He’s relishing, chanting, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa-nama. And singing and dancing, and eating the prasādam. Kṛṣṇa doesn’t eat prasādam. I’m sorry. Did you know that? Kṛṣṇa eats bhog. Right? After Kṛṣṇa takes the bhog, then it becomes prasādam. So, but as we see in Kīrchor Gopinath, that He wants to taste the Gopinath kheer, Mahāprabhu. We could say, “No, but as Gopinath, you already tasted it.” He’s saying, “No, no. I want to taste the prasād.” And only a devotee can relish prasād. That’s the little secret of that pastime. He’s saying, “I want to take prasādam the way devotee, the way Rādhārāṇī relishes the remnants of Kṛṣṇa. I want to have that experience.”

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So, Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī, he is expert in extracting this sort of Kṛṣṇa conception from the scriptures. And he’s from a… the highest-class Brahmin family in South India. And we may think, “Well, how is that relevant to us?” In the modern world, maybe not so much. But at the time, remember, Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī, they were considered, they were called kāyāstha. It means they’re Brahmins, but with some perceived social blemish. So, when they’re producing books and writing, the higher Brahmin section, they might not totally accept that what they’re saying is the highest or authentic and necessary for us to embrace. But if it comes from Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī, they have to accept it. They have to accept it. He has impeccable, unquestionable, Brahmanical credentials in his family line. Right? Who is else in there? Prabodhānanda uncle, and what’s the, Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, where Mahāprabhu stayed when He went to South India for three months.

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But Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī, we’re told, madly he’s extracting from the scriptures. Like, it’s so obvious to him what is encrypted or mysterious to others is so overwhelmingly obvious to Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī. He’s taking here, he’s developing, like he has a room stacked with ślokas, quotes, they’re everywhere. But he’s not structuring so much. So, Rūpa and Sanātana, they’re like, look at what Gopāl, he’s like, and here’s another one, here’s another one, here’s another one. So, they take it, structure it, present it, put chapters, you know, give it some compilation and structuring and it appears as the Hari Bhakti Vilas. But they realize, coming from, I mean, it seems inconceivable now, but from Sanātana Goswāmī and Jiva Goswāmī, there’s a certain section of society who won’t accept that. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

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This is the play of the sweet Absolute. So, why different devotees do different seva, different times. And sometimes have to use their position in the world or the external aspect of their self in service. But if we put Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī’s name on it, then everyone will have to accept that. And we see here, to this day, we’re at the samādhi, right? Of Gopāl Bhaṭṭa [Goswāmī]. And we will go and see his deity, Rādhā Rāmān Jī, who will mention that. But this, their line here, is famous for the purity and the perfectness of the type of deity worship that they do.

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And it’s very much appreciated by Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur. And when he came here with his revolutionary Gauḍīya Maṭh movement, not everyone, when he came dressed in Raktaveh, saffron, and the local people said, “No, no, in Caritāmṛtam, Sanātana Goswāmī and Jagadānanda Paṇḍit and the Madhusūdan Saraswatī [said].” Sanātana Goswāmī said, “Yes, you’re right. This red po... is not fit for a Vaiṣṇava.” So, we’re not wearing that. And why you are... But Guru Mahārāj gave a great answer for this. He said, that Saraswatī Ṭhākur said, “Kīrtan means a fight.” Beyond the obvious meanings, it means a fight. What does that mean? The Kṛṣṇa conception against the mayic misconception. That’s what kīrtan is. Making propaganda in favor of Kṛṣṇa. He said, so like a general field marshal, he’s surveying the battlefield and he sees. What? how the troops should move and where the weapons should be deployed.

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It’s a judgment that he makes serving the situation. And Guru Mahārāj gave the example, he said, Napoleon, when they were having the Austro-Hungarians war with the French, that the Austro-Hungarians, they’re winning. Then this young new general for the French comes and suddenly it changes. Now the French are winning, the other side is losing. The king calls in his generals and he said, “What’s the problem now?” And their response was, they said, “This new general on the French side, he doesn’t know how to fight properly.” So, they were like… “Wait, the reason we’re losing is because he doesn’t know how to fight properly.” “Yes.” “What do you mean?” “Well, we have a system. You always attack the weakest part and then you make an opening there and you proceed. But what he does is? He attacks the strongest part and takes that down. Then the whole thing topples.” So that was a revolutionary approach.

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So, Guru Mahārāj said, Saraswatī Ṭhākur, surveying the social, religious landscape of Indian time, realized to gain the respect of the people and we see to this day, they still have respect for the saffron dress. And Rāmānuja had made similar, there’s always some precedent before that. So, he introduced this dress and when he came here, he was dressed in saffron and he was flanked by his disciples, dressed like in black, like priests from Europe.

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And the people were like, “Oh, Lordy, Lordy,” you know. They just thought, this cannot be right, you know. So, they actually shuttered some of the temples. They wouldn’t allow him to enter. But the Rādhā Rāmān Goswāmīs, they recognized him as a śuddha Vaiṣṇav and embraced him and took him in and forever in Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭh, the Rādhā Rāmān Goswāmīs are revered and with love and affection because of their open embrace of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur and Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭh.

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So, and I knew Viśvambhar Goswāmī who was now, he would be like the grandfather, a great grandfather. He would always welcome me here, take care of me. He visited us at Guru Mahārāj’s temple in San Jose, slept in my bed. I asked Guru Mahārāj, can he give a talk? He said, “Yes.” He is the mayor of Vṛndāvan, you know. And he loved very much Śrīla Guru Mahārāj and our mission. So, they’ve always welcomed us and I just want to say this in conclusion.

So, Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī in his Paddhati, he says this beautiful verse:

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govinda-vallabhe rа̄dhe,
prа̄rthaye tvа̄m ahaṁ sadа̄…

Saying that, “You want to have a direct connection with Kṛṣṇa.” I say, “Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.” “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, he,” you know. Kṛṣṇa, we’re Kṛṣṇa-centric, Kṛṣṇa-loving people. And Kṛṣṇa is saying, “But let Me tell you something, you want to have a direct connection with Me? That’s not My department.” “Department?” “No, if you want a connection with Me…” Govinda-vallabha, who loves the most dear beloved of Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, you have to go to Her. Then your Kṛṣṇa connection is guaranteed. Otherwise, you know,

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śyāmaṁ tribhaṅga-lalitaṁ

Kṛṣṇa is not straight. He is tribhaṅga. You don’t know what to expect. But Rādhārāṇī: Kṛṣṇa is addicted to the love and affection that is in Her heart. And the expansion of that love and affection is Kṛṣṇa-prema. She is the lighthouse of Kṛṣṇa-prema. She is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And She extends Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others. “So, you think, if you want to really have a full, deep connection with Me, you have to go through Her”. That’s in a line of the poetry of Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī.

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rа̄dhe vṛndа̄vanа̄dhīśe karuṇа̄mṛta-vа̄hini…

It’s as if a current of karuṇ, of compassion and mercy is coming from the heart of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to benedict everyone. So, in two lines, very beautifully, he has expressed this Rādhā-dāsyaṁ.

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And just lastly, we’re told on the Nṛsiṁha-caturdaśī that what is that, you know, the, as Guru Mahārāj said, you know, Prahlād’s conception, the central conception of the Infinite can be detected everywhere. Triumph over Hiraṇyakaśipu. What is his conception? That as devotees, they’re seeing even in the finite, the Infinite, even seeing the Infinite, he’s seeing finite just the inverse. So Prahlād’s vision was verified, Hiraṇyakaśipu cancelled. So, Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī, he’s thinking, “Oh, Prahlād is such a great devotee.” And so, from his heart is so filled with Kṛṣṇa-prema and Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that the Lord came out of stone for him. What appeared to be stone, Nṛsiṁhadev came out, because of his love and affection for Prahlād.

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He’s saying, “But who am I? A stone-hearted man with no divine love or affection.” And that evening he goes to sleep feeling so despondent. And we know he has these twelve śālagrāms. And in the evening, he has this vision and the Lord’s saying, “Gopāl, Gopāl, wake up and check your śālagrāms.” And he goes to see them and they’re not twelve, but eleven. And one of them has manifest as the incomparably beautiful Śrī Rādhā Rāmān Jī, who you will see in a minute. The deity like this, but the most powerful deity. The size, it’s almost to underscore the power and beauty of this deity that he’s in this charming size. That’s all he is. You’ll see for yourself this and the most beautiful tribhaṅga form. So, reciprocating the love and affection in the heart of Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī.

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So, Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī Prabhu kī jai! Śrī Rādhā Rāmān Jī kī jai! Nitāi-Gaura premānande Haribol!

What time is it for that?

Madhusudan Mahārāj: Do we know the time of the opening of the deities?

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Anyway, let’s go there.

Madhusudan Mahārāj: Jai Śrīla Bhakti Sudhir Goswāmī Mahārāj kī jai! Jai Śrīla Bhakti Bimal Avadhut Mahārāj kī jai!

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Jai Śrīla Bhakti Nirmal Āchārja Mahārāj kī jai! Śrīla Bhakti Raṅjan Madhusudan Mahārāj kī jai!

_{Captured by Ananta Krishna Das
Edited by Tradish Das}