domingo, 28 de agosto de 2011

Service to Guru by Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Gosvāmī Mahārāja

Service to Guru

His Divine Grace Oṁ Viṣṇupāda paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya aṣṭottara-śata  Śrī Śrīmad Gour Govinda Gosvāmī Mahārāja

I thank you one and all, because on this day you have given me an opportunity to offer pūjā to all the Gauḍīya-Guru-Varga. I request you, please don’t think it is only Guru-pūjā, then you will really observe Vyāsa-pūjā.

“Not For Me”

Whatever you offer as glorification of this fallen, most degraded soul, is not applicable to me. I don’t deserve it. I am a most unqualified, unworthy person.

In the language of Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī:

jagāi mādhāi haite muñi pāpiṣṭha
purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 5.205)

I am a worse sinner than Jagāi and Mādhāi and am even lower than the worms in the stool.

Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī is Paramahaṁsa-śiromaṇi, the crest-jewel of Paramahaṁsas. His humility is quite natural for a paramāḥ aṁsa.

Uttama hañā āpanāke māne tṛṇādhama
 (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Antya 20.22)

The symptom of an exalted person is that he thinks himself lower than the grass on the ground.

Kavirāja Gosvāmī is uttama, but he is:

Tṛṇād api sunīcena

He thinks himself lower than the straw in the street. However, I am not so exalted. I am really degraded and unqualified.

Purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha,
jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha

This is a real fact. I am worse than a worm in stool. I am more sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāi. So whatever you offer to me is not my due. I cannot accept it. If I accept it then I will be a great offender. I will go to hell. Don’t make me an offender. This is my request to you. In praising me, some exaggeration is there. In the language of Śrīman Mahāprabhu that is known as stuti-vāda, exaggeration. Excessive praise, excessive glorification, is nindā-bhāva, blasphemy. It is defamation, not real glorification. Don’t make me an offender. I am very weak. I cannot carry all these things, this heavy load. It is excessive for me. Please help me. I am in a dangerous position, a very dangerous position. Please help me. This is my request at the lotus feet of all of you. Please do good to me. If you do good to me, if you help me, then you will get the mercy of my Guru-pāda-padma, the mercy of all the previous Ācāryas, all the Gauḍīya-Guru-Ācārya-Varga. Thereby you will get the mercy of Gaurāṅga and the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. I don’t know Hari-kathā, but I have a great desire, a great inquisitiveness, to hear nectarean Hari-kathā. I have been put into such a dangerous position. I hardly get a chance to hear Hari-kathā, as I always have to speak. During these last two days I have had the opportunity to hear Hari-kathā, to hear Vaiṣṇava-kathā. Whatever you have spoken, whatever you have read, is all glorification of the Vaiṣṇavas for the pleasure of Gaurāṅga and Kṛṣṇa. It is not for me. But in my name, indicating me, you have said these things. Therefore I say, I am not that person. I don’t deserve it. So I offer all these things at the lotus feet of my Guru, and through him, to all other previous Gauḍīya-Gurus.

Nasty Place

This material world is a very dangerous platform:

padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.58)

At every step there is danger. Many evil works come to me, kukarma, vikarma, and sat-karma, sometimes putting me in a very dangerous situation, indirectly prompting me to become a duplicitous person. This material platform is such a nasty platform. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Gosvami Prabhupada said:

 “This material world is not at all a fit place for any gentleman to live.”

It is such a nasty place. But if you are intelligent and really wise you will not be influenced or attached to it. You should not be attracted to it. You should not be allured by the enchantment of Māyā. Develop attraction towards the lotus feet of all-beautiful Kṛṣṇa, towards His nectarean kathā, towards His nectarean sweet pastimes, towards His dear devotees. Then you will be protected. Otherwise this dreadful ocean of material existence is very dangerous. I am in such a dangerous condition. Therefore, this is my request and prayer to all of you: Please help me. Please do good to me. Then you will get the mercy of my Guru, of the previous Gurus, Ācāryas, of Mahāprabhu, as well as of Kṛṣṇa.

For Guru and Kṛṣṇa

In Gurvāṣṭakam we sing:

yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi
(Śrī Gurvāṣṭakam 8)

By the mercy of the spiritual master one is benedicted by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master one cannot make any advancement.

If someone is fortunate and gets the mercy of Guru-pāda-padma, then he very easily gets the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. If Guru is pleased, then Kṛṣṇa is pleased.

If Guru is displeased, then where is your existence?

You will have no existence at all. At any cost you should please guru. Kṛṣṇa has said:

nāham ijyā-prajātibhyāṁ
tapasopaśamena vā
tuṣyeyaṁ sarva-bhūtātmā
guru-śuśrūṣayā yathā
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.80.34)

I, the Soul of all beings, am not as satisfied by ritual worship, brahminical initiation, penances, or self-discipline, as I am by faithful service rendered to one’s spiritual master.

This was spoken by Kṛṣṇa to Sudāmā Vipra when Sudāmā came to visit Him in Dvārakā.

“I am not pleased with the person who very strictly follows the rules and regulations, the principles of dharma, or who strictly follows the principles of brahmacārī or gṛhastha life, vānaprastha, or yati-vrata, sannyāsa. But I am very pleased with that person who is always engaged, day and night, twenty-four hours, with a simple heart, not with a duplicitous heart, in the service of guru.
This is our teaching. All previous Gurus, Sadhus, Mahājanas, have taught us by observing this in their own lives. Śrīman Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, came as a devotee, sadhu, ācārya, to teach us practically by His own example.
Two Types of Service.

There are two types of service to guru, paricaryā-rūpa sevā and prasaṅga-rūpa sevā. To hear hari-kathā from the lips of Guru-Vaiṣṇava-Sādhu is prasaṅga-rūpa sevā. Hearing, śravaṇam, is a service, a sevā. It is a sevā that begins with the ear. By hearing Hari-kathā, kṛṣṇa-kathā, from Guru:

Sādhu-saṅge nija tattva abagata hana
(Prema-vivarta 6.17)

Then the jīva can understand:

“Who am I?”

“I am kṛṣṇa-dāsa, Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant. I am not a member of this material family. I am one of the members of Kṛṣṇa’s family.”

Sādhu-Guru is one of the members of Kṛṣṇa’s immediate family. The Guru’s family means Kṛṣṇa’s family.

“I belong to my Guru’s paribara, family. Therefore my duty is to serve the śrī-aṅga, the transcendental body of Guru.”

That is paricaryā-rūpa sevā. Of the two types of service, prasaṅga-rūpa sevā and paricaryā-rūpa sevā, paricaryā-rūpa sevā is superior.

Śrīman Mahāprabhu manifested paricaryā-rūpa sevā during His pastimes. Govinda was the personal servant of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. When Mahāprabhu was in Jagannātha Purī dhāma, He stayed in Kāśī Misra’s house in a small room known as Gambhīra. That place is now known as Rādhā Kanta Math. Govinda was Mahāprabhu’s personal servant. Govinda was the disciple of Īśvara Purī, which means that Govinda was the god-brother of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. However, Īśvara Purī ordered Govinda to go and serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Govinda was serving Mahāprabhu all day long.

Once, to practically teach us, Mahāprabhu manifested a very wonderful līlā. Daily, after His midday meal, Mahāprabhu would take some rest. At that time Govinda would massage His legs. Then when Mahāprabhu would fall asleep, Govinda would get up and take his meal. This was a daily activity.

Once after taking His prasāda, Mahāprabhu lay down at the threshold of the narrow doorway. Govinda’s sevā was to massage Mahāprabhu’s legs and help Him to sleep. Govinda requested:

“Please, just turn over so that I may go to the other side of the room and do my service.”

Mahāprabhu said:

“I am very tired, Govinda. I cannot turn over on My side. You do whatever you like. I cannot move. I am very tired.”

This is a very wonderful līlā. Govinda thought:

“What can I do?
Shall I neglect my service today? T
hen what is the use of this life?”

This sevā, paricaryā-rūpa sevā, is the best type of sevā.

Pure Intelligence

One who is a real sevaka, a real servant, is not a hypocrite. If one is outwardly posing as a servant but inside is something else, then he is a great hypocrite. If one thinks that by serving and flattering he will get some material gain, then this is great hypocrisy. A real sevaka is a servant who wants nothing for himself. One who is serving for the pleasure of guru gets the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

Kṛṣṇa has said in the tenth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā:

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
(Bhagavad-gītā 10.10)

To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.

He who is doing prīti-pūrvakam, bhajana with love, who is constantly attached to Kṛṣṇa, constantly engaged in the loving service of Guru, he gets the mercy. Kṛṣṇa gives him pure intelligence. Govinda got that intelligence. He spread his cloth over the transcendental body of Mahāprabhu, jumped over His body and went to the other side of the room to massage His legs. While he was massaging, Mahāprabhu fell asleep. Still, Govinda continued massaging.
After one hour Mahāprabhu got up and asked Govinda:

“Have you taken your food?”

“No.”

“Why have you not taken your food?”

“How can I take?
I am on this side of the room. How can I go to the other side?

“How did you come to this side?
Why didn’t you leave the same way you came?

“Why shall I go?

By coming to this side I think I committed some wrong. Still I had to do it because this is my sevā. I should not be prevented from doing my sevā. This service is for Your pleasure, not for my pleasure or happiness. I can do anything for Your pleasure.

Why shall I take food to fill my belly for my own happiness?

I cannot do that.”

This story is a practical example how paricaryā-rūpa sevā is a superior type of sevā to prasaṅga-rūpa sevā.

The Fruit of Love

Paricaryā-rūpa sevā is vapu-sevā, serving the body of Guru, and prasaṅga-rūpa sevā is vāṇi-sevā, serving the Guru’s instructions. Mahāprabhu has exhibited this. The chief result of Guru-sevā is developing love at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa:

Kṛṣṇa-prīti-vidhān

To give pleasure to Kṛṣṇa. All other marginal results are:

Ānuṣaṅgika-sevā

Automatically obtained by service. For example, the chief purpose of planting a mango tree is to get the juicy mango fruit. But ānuṣaṅgika, automatically, you also get very cool shade. The mango grows up, develops branches, and gives cool shade. Although shade was not the purpose of planting the mango tree, it is automatically received. Similarly, the chief result of:
Guru-sevā is kṛṣṇa-pāda-padme-prīti

To develop love at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. All other results are secondary or marginal fruits, taṭasthā-phala.

Eternal Servant

From time immemorial the baddha-jīva, the conditioned soul, having forgotten Kṛṣṇa, has fallen into this dreadful ocean of material existence and is suffering and drowning, caught in the net of Māyā. The number of conditioned souls is innumerable.

This bhūta-prakṛti, material nature, has three modes:

Sattva,

Rajas,

Tamas.

Goodness, passion and ignorance. In the material world everyone is caught up in the three modes of material nature and their variations. In one person sattva-guṇa is predominating, in someone else rajo-guṇa is predominating, in another tamo-guṇa is predominating, and in someone else there is a mixture of raja and tama. Then there are variations of these three modes. There are many types of vicitratā, variegatedness, coming from these three modes. There is deha-vicitratā, variegatedness in bodies; bhāva-vicitratā, variegatedness in mood; rūpa-vicitratā, variegatedness in form; svabhāva-vicitratā, variegatedness in the nature of a person or thing; sthāna-vicitratā, variegatedness in place or geographical conditions; and gati-vicitratā, variegatedness of movement.

The jīva has developed mamatva, I-ness:

“I am a man.”

“I am a woman.”

“I am a human being.”

“I am a demigod.”

“I am a king.”

“I am a brāhmaṇa.”

“I am a caṇḍāla, low-caste person.”

“I am hungry.”

“I am sick.”

“I am master.”

“I am husband.”

”I am wife.”

“I am father.”

“I am son.”

“I am daughter.”

“I am enemy.”

“I am friend.”

“I am pandit, learned.”

“I am mūrkha, foolish.”

“I am a wealthy person, dhanī.”

“I am poor, daridra.”

“I am sukhī, happy.”

“I am duḥkhī, distressed.”

“I am a hero.”

“I am weak.”

Etc., etc., etc. So many varieties of “I”s. Besides that, there is mine-ness:

“My home”,

“My wealth”,

“My body”,

“My son”,

“My daughter”,

“My wife”,

“My husband”,

“My father”,

“My mother”,

“My strength”,

“My bodily features”,

“My caste”,

“My knowledge”,

“My activity”,

“My material assets”,

“My property”,

“My followers”,

Etc.” So many types of I and mine:

janasya moho ’yam ahaṁ mameti.
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.8)

These varieties of I and mine are all saṁsāra, the material world. These conceptions of I and mine are not true in respect to the jīva. They are all material designations.

Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
(Caitanya-Caritāmṛta Madhya 20.108)

This is your real identity: you are an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.

The impersonalists say:

“Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā

Brahman is satya, truth; this jagat, this world, is false.”

But the Vaiṣṇavas say:

“No!

The world is not false. It is temporary. But whatever concept of I and mine is there, that is false.”

Mercy of Guru

We can only understand this by the mercy of Guru. If Guru is pleased by our service, he imparts tattva-jñāna. That is his mercy.

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
(Bhagavad-Gita 4.34)

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realised souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

This is the process.

Praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā

Completely surrender unto Guru-pāda-padma, the lotus feet of Guru, with simplicity, not with duplicity, not in a hypocritical way. Serve Guru, please him, give him pleasure through prasaṅga-rūpa sevā, and paricaryā-rūpa sevā. If he is pleased, then, tattva-jijñāsa, humbly inquire. Out of mercy he will impart tattva-jñāna. That is his mercy. Then you can understand:

“Who am I?”
“What shall I do?”

“I am kṛṣṇa-dāsa. I have to serve Kṛṣṇa.”

This durlabha-mānava-śarīra, this rarely achieved human life, is meant for serving Kṛṣṇa, to get the supreme paramārtha, the fifth puruṣārtha, the highest goal of life, kṛṣṇa-bhakti, and get Kṛṣṇa. This is only possible if the Guru is pleased and he bestows his causeless mercy. Otherwise there is no possibility.

On this day, on your behalf I offer a prayer to the lotus feet of my revered spiritual master as well as all previous ācāryas. Let them shower their causeless mercy on you. Make your life successful by obtaining the supreme perfection of the human birth: to get Kṛṣṇa and go back home, back to Godhead.




  • Rama Kānta Dāsa Nasty Place

    This material world is a very dangerous platform:

    padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām
    (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.58)

    At every step there is danger. Many evil works come to me, kukarma, vikarma, and sat-karma, sometimes putting me in a very dangerous situation, indirectly prompting me to become a duplicitous person. This material platform is such a nasty platform. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Gosvami Prabhupada said:

    “This material world is not at all a fit place for any gentleman to live.”

    It is such a nasty place. But if you are intelligent and really wise you will not be influenced or attached to it. You should not be attracted to it. You should not be allured by the enchantment of Māyā. Develop attraction towards the lotus feet of all-beautiful Kṛṣṇa, towards His nectarean kathā, towards His nectarean sweet pastimes, towards His dear devotees. Then you will be protected. Otherwise this dreadful ocean of material existence is very dangerous. I am in such a dangerous condition. Therefore, this is my request and prayer to all of you: Please help me. Please do good to me. Then you will get the mercy of my Guru, of the previous Gurus, Ācāryas, of Mahāprabhu, as well as of Kṛṣṇa.

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario