Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj’s poem describing the descending grace of Śrī Guru and Śrī Gaurāṅga.
Om Aṣṭottara-śata-śrī Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakāchārya-varya
Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Viṣṇupādera
Ṣaṭ-ṣaṣṭitama Śubha-prakaṭa-vāsare
Śrī Guru-praśasti
Praise for Śrī Guru
on the 66th anniversary of the appearance day of
Om Aṣṭottara-śata-śrī Paramahaṁsa Parivrājāchārya-varya
Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Viṣṇupād
by
Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj
Published in the pen name of Śrī Kṛṣṇamayī Devī
in Śrī Gauḍīya Darśan, Volume 6, Issue 3,
on Thursday 13 October 1960.
veda-tantra-purāṇādi-śāstra mahājana
yei avichintya-rasa kare anveṣaṇa
sei rasa mūrtimāna govinda-sundara
gītā-bhāgavatādite vyakta charāchara [1]
The embodiment of the inconceivable rasa that the great souls and the scriptures—the Vedas, Tantras, Purāṇas, and so on—search for, Śrī Govindasundar, has been revealed in the world by Śrī Gītā, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and other scriptures.
sei rasa-rāja mūrti ātma-vitaraṇe
nija nitya-śakti dvāre vyakta āsvādane
śrī-rādhā-govinda-rūpe tāhāte prakāśa
prema-bhakti dvāre labhya apūrva vilāsa [2]
This embodiment of the highest rasa is manifest by His own eternal energy to distribute and taste Himself. When He is manifest in the form of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, His unprecendented Pastimes are attained by loving devotion.
sei avichintya veda-gopya mahārasa
āpanāre luṭāite kariyā mānasa
śrī-rādhā-govinda du̐he eka-mūrti dhari’
śrī-gaura-sundara-rūpe apūrva mādhurī [3]
When They desire to personally distribute the inconceivable supreme rasa, which is hidden by the Vedas, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda assume one form and become unprecedentedly beautiful as Śrī Gaurasundar.
ei navadvīpa jñāna-pīṭha mahādhāma
jñāna-śirobhāge śobhe kṛṣṇa-prema-nāma
ānande unmāda kara kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana
ei saba saṅge mahāprabhura āgamana [4]
Nabadwīp, the seat of knowledge, is the supreme abode. There, Kṛṣṇa’s Name and divine love for Kṛṣṇa shine atop the head of knowledge, and, mad with joy, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda chant the Name of Kṛṣṇa. All of this came with the appearance of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.
āpana parama prema-sudhāra bhāṇḍāra
ujāriyā āsvādaya kariyā huṅkāra
hā̐se kā̐de nāche gāya unmāda prāya
vilāiyā prema-dhana chāridike dhāya [5]
Roaring, Śrīman Mahāprabhu empties the storehouse of the nectar of His own supreme divine love and relishes it. As though mad, He laughs, cries, dances, sings, and runs in all directions distributing the wealth of divine love.
āchāṇḍāle dilā dāna devera durlabha
paśu-pakṣī tṛṇa gulme se prema-sulabha
abhāgā vañchita hala hena avatāre
ahetuka dayā-sindhu sahibāre nāre [6]
He gives outcasts a gift that is difficult for the gods to attain. He makes divine love easily attainable to even animals, birds, grass, and shrubs. The unfortunate were deceived during His descent, but He, as an ocean of unconditional mercy, cannot tolerate this.
dike dike kāle kāle āpana vaibhava
vistāriyā vitarichhe kṛṣṇa-premāsava
adyāpio sei līlā kare gorā-rāya
bhāgyavāna jana luṭe se pada-dhulāya [7]
So, from place to place and time to time, He sends His personal expansions and distributes the liquer of divine love for Kṛṣṇa. Still today, Śrī Gorā Rāya performs such Pastimes, and fortunate souls roll in the dust of His feet.
guru-rūpe gaura-kṛṣṇa śraddhāñjana-mākhā
hṛdaya-nayane māyā bhedi’ dena dekhā
nitya līlāmaya-mūrti rasera vilāsa
śuddha-sattve premamaya chetane prakāśa [8]
In the form of Śrī Guru, Gaura Kṛṣṇa pierces through the illusory environment and reveals Himself to eyes and hearts that are anointed with the collyrium of faith. His eternal, playful form and His Pastimes of tasting rasa manifest within pure hearts—within consciousness that is filled with divine love.
“yathā deve tathā gurau”, “guru-devatātmā”
“gurv-ātma-daivata” śāstra, anye “nāyamātmā”
kṛṣṇa guru e vijñāne avamati hale
divye martya-buddhi nīcha-asuyāra phale [9]
The scriptures say: “As you serve the Lord, so you should serve Śrī Guru (Śu: 6.23)”, “Śrī Guru is your Lord and beloved (SB: 11.2.37)” Śrī Guru is your beloved and Lord (SB: 11.3.22)”, and “The Supreme Soul is not attained by reasoning, intelligence, or extensive learning; He is attained by one whom He chooses; He reveals His form only to them (Ku: 1.2.23)”. If we disregard this conception of Kṛṣṇa and Guru, then, as a result of pettiness and envy, we think the divine (Śrī Guru) to be mortal.
“guru kṛṣṇa-rūpa hana śāstrera pramāṇe
guru-rūpe kṛṣṇa kṛpā kare bhakta-jane”
sad-guru lakṣaṇe yei tattva vibhūṣita
tattvābhinna sei deha kṛṣṇa-vikrīḍita [10]
“The scriptures confirm that Guru is a form of Kṛṣṇa. In the form of Guru, Kṛṣṇa bestows His mercy upon the devotees (Cc: Ādi, 1.45).” One who is in truth decorated with the characteristics of a genuine Guru is nondifferent from the Truth, and Kṛṣṇa performs Pastimes in their body.
bāhya dṛṣṭye sad-gurura viṣaya grahaṇa
kṛṣṇārthe cheṣṭita chitte kṛṣṇe nivedana
goloka bhūloka guru setura svarūpa
nīcha-jane uttolana-mūrti aparūpa [11]
According to external vision, a genuine Guru engages in material affairs, but at heart Śrī Guru acts only for Kṛṣṇa’s sake and offers everything to Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Guru is the bridge from the earth to the Lord’s abode. He is the miraculous embodiment of the deliverance of the fallen souls.
brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona sukṛti sampade
āmā āni’ dila kona gaura-jana pade
gaura-kṛṣṇa-gāthā śuni’ juḍāila prāṇa
se gāthā-tātparye chitta hala āguyāna [12]
While wandering throughout the universe, some good fortune brought me to the feet of a devotee of Śrī Gaura. Hearing the glories of Gaura Kṛṣṇa from them soothed my heart, and my heart was moved by the purport of those glories.
roge bhoge śoke tāpe jaḍa-jaḍa mana
achintya śrī-kṛṣṇa-līlāya pela āsvādana
guru-kṛpā-bale āgusari dhīre dhīre
bahu bādhā māyādevī hāne mora śire [13]
Although it was worn and torn by disease, suffering, lamentation, and misery, my heart got a taste of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s inconceivable Pastimes. Now, I progress gradually by Śrī Guru’s mercy, but Māyā Devī hurls many obstacles at my head.
āpāta darśane tāhā baḍa‑i duḥsaha
prasārita dṛṣṭye kintu maṅgala vigraha
māyāra bandhana saba kramaśaḥ ṭuṭila
ekānta śrī-kṛṣṇa-sevāra suyoga karila [14]
At first sight, these obstacles are extremely difficult to bear, but from an expanded angle of vision, they are forms of good fortune. Gradually, all of Māyā’s snares break apart, and ultimately they give me opportunities to serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
ye guru-kṛpāya nava jīvana sandhana
svataḥ-siddha ātma-jñāne praphullita prāṇa
patita-pāvana-pada-gaurāṅga-bharasā
śrī-rādhā-govinda-līlā-sudhā-lābha-āśā [15]
The Guru by whose mercy new life is attained, by whose mercy the heart blooms with self-manifest knowledge of the self, by whose mercy faith in the feet of the saviour of the fallen, Śrī Gaurāṅga, is attained, by whose mercy the hope of tasting the nectar of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda’s Pastimes is attained …
ye guru-kṛpāya ati kāṅgāla adhama
brahmādi durlabha labhe kṛṣṇa-prema-dhana
se guru-charaṇa-sparśa pāila avanī
kārtikī navamī dine sādhu-mukhe śuni [16]
The Guru by whose mercy very poor and fallen souls attain the wealth of divine love for Kṛṣṇa, which is difficult to attain even for Brahmā and the other gods—I hear from the mouths of the sādhus that the earth received the touch of this Guru’s feet on the ninth day of the month of Kārtik.
aṣṭa-daśa-śata sapta-daśa śakābdāte
saurāśvine śani-bāra ṣaḍ-viṁśa dinete
gauṇachāndra dāmodara kṛṣṇa-navamīte
puṣyā-yoge madhya-rātre udaya mahīte [17]
In 1817 of the Śaka era, on Saturday the 26th day of the solar month of Ashvin, the ninth day of the dark fortnight in the lunar month of Dāmodar calculated from the first day of the waning moon, in the middle of the night during conjunction with the Puṣyā star, he appeared on the earth (on 12 October 1895).
sei śubha-varṣa māsa pakṣa tithi bāra
rajanī nakṣatra kṣaṇa vandi bāra bāra
āji ei śubha-dine mahājana mate
sei-kṣaṇa avatīrṇa hala avanīte [18]
I offer my obeisance to this auspicious year, month, fortnight, lunar day, solar day, night, star, and moment again and again. According to the conception of the great souls, this moment occurred on the earth today, on this auspicious day.
bahu bhāgyavāna mili’ ei śubha-kṣaṇe
pūjichhe pavitra chitte śrī-guru-charaṇe
tā̐dera paśchāte thāki’ pūji ai pada
jīvane maraṇe hoka e mora sampada [19]
Gathering at this auspicious moment, many fortunate souls are worshipping the feet of Śrī Guru with pure hearts. Remaining behind them, I also worship his feet. In life and in death, let his feet be my wealth.
ai divya dīrgha deha divya avayava
divya-jñāna-dīpta netra divya anubhava
divya bhāṣā divya-bhāva divya-jyotirmaya
divya-dayāmaya-mūrti chitte nitya raya [20]
His lofty divine form, his divine limbs, his eyes illumined with divine knowledge, his divine perception, his divine language, his divine mood, his divine lustre, and his merciful divine figure remain in my heart forever.
gambhīra pratibhāmaya sarala udāra
jaḍa-jñāna-giri-vajra divya dīkṣādhāra
svajane suśīla snigdha, durjane durjaya
guru-gaurānuga mūrti sadā chitte raya [21]
Grave, brilliant, sincere, and magnanimous, a thunderbolt atop the mountain of mundane knowledge, a conduit for divine revelation, cordial and affectionate to the good and unconquerable by the bad, Śrī Guru’s form as the follower of Śrī Gaura always remains in my heart.
gauḍīya-āchārya-goṣṭhī-gaurava-bhājana
gauḍīya-siddhānta-maṇi kaṇṭha-vibhūṣaṇa
sarva daraśana-tattva yā̐hāra vichāre
avichintya-bhedābheda sāmañjasya dhare [22]
He is revered in the assembly of Gauḍīya Āchāryas, and the jewel-like precepts given by the Gauḍīya school are the bright ornaments around his neck. In his conception are the truths within all worldviews, and he harmonises everything with the axiom of inconceivable difference and nondifference.
gaura-sarasvatī-sphūrta siddhāntera khani
āviṣkṛta yā̐ra vākye artha chintāmaṇi
eka-tattva varṇanete nitya-nava-bhāva
susaṅgati, sāmañjasya, e saba prabhāva [23]
He is a mine of the precepts revealed by Śrī Gaura, and the wish-fulfilling jewels of the meanings of these precepts are discovered by his words. He feels ever-new joy in describing the Absolute, and his strengths are adjustment and harmony.
sakala satīrtha-varga sabe eka-mate
śrī-guru-siddhānta-dhārā dekhena yā̐hāte
tulasī-mālikā haste śrī-nāma-grahaṇa
dekhi’ yā̐ra tā̐hādera ‘prabhu’ uddīpana [24]
Unanimously, all his godbrothers see within him revelation of the precepts taught by their Guru. Seeing him chant the Holy Name with tulasī beads in his hand, they are reminded of Śrīla Prabhupād (Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur).
“śrī-nātha jānakī-nātha yadyapi abheda
tathāpi sarvasva mora rāmachandra-pada”
ei hanumat vākya mastakete dhari’
jīvane maraṇe chāi ai pada-tari [25]
“Although Rāmachandra is nondifferent from Nārāyaṇ, the feet of Rāmachandra are everything to me.” Holding this statement of Hanumān on my head, in life and in death, I desire to be in the boat of his feet.
“rādhā-bhajane yadi mati nāhi bhela
kṛṣṇa-bhajane tava akāraṇe gela”
mahājana śikṣā śire kariyā dhāraṇa
śrī-guru-charaṇa-sevā-rata rahu mana [26]
“If you do not aspire to serve Rādhā, then your service to Kṛṣṇa goes for nothing.” Holding this teaching of the great souls on my head, I pray, “May my heart always remain engaged in the service of the feet of Śrī Guru.”
References
yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
(Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad: 6.23)
“The meaning of the scriptures is revealed to the great soul who has pure devotion to the Lord, and so also to Śrī Guru.”
bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād
īśād apetasya viparyayo ’smṛtiḥ
tan-māyayāto budha ābhajet taṁ
bhaktyaikayeṣaṁ guru-devatātmā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.37)
“Those who turn away from the Lord, forget their true self by the influence of the Lord’s illusion, consider themself to be the opposite of their true self, and become intent upon selfish enjoyment become stricken with fear. Therefore, the wise should serve the Lord with unalloyed devotion, considering Śrī Guru to be their Lord and beloved.”
tatra bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣed gurv-ātma-daivataḥ
amāyayānuvṛttyā yais tuṣyed ātmātma-do hariḥ
(SB: 11.3.22)
“Considering Śrī Guru to be one’s beloved and Lord, one should sincerely and submissively learn from him the dharma by which Śrī Hari, He who gives Himself (to His devotee), is satisfied.”
nāyamātmā pravachanena labhyo
na medhayā na bahunā śrutena
yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ
tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām
(Kaṭha-upaniṣad: 1.2.23)
“The Supreme Soul is not attained by reasoning, intelligence, or extensive learning. He is attained by one whom He chooses. He reveals His form to them.”
śrīnāthe jānakīnāthe chābhedaḥ paramātmani
tathāpi mama sarvasvaṁ rāmaḥ kamala-lochanaḥ
(Prema-bhakti-chandrikā: 29)
“Nārāyaṇ, Rāmāchandra, and the Paramātmā are all nondifferent. Still, lotus-eyed Rāma is everything to me.”
rādhā-bhajane yadi mati nāhi bhela
kṛṣṇa-bhajane tava akāraṇe gela
(Gītāvalī: Rādhāṣṭakam, 8.1)
“If you do not aspire to serve Rādhā, then your service to Kṛṣṇa goes for nothing.”