flikar

Friday, December 28, 2012

Neither poetry nor imagination (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)



Excerpt from Subjective Evolution of Consciousness 
— The Play of the Sweet Absolute 

Questions & Answers with Srila Sridhar Maharaj

Srila Sridhar Maharaj:
We should understand that we are living in the plane of misconception. The whole thing is false. It is all a part of illusion. Within the world of illusion, some thing may have its place, but when we deal with the real truth, however, we will conclude that everything here is like a dream. This whole world is like a dream, a misconception. Any part of this world will therefore also be misconception. What is real, what is truth, will become apparent when a thing is judged in connection with the real world. The association of saints who have a genuine connection with spiritual reality promotes this transaction.

What is real and what is unreal? Whatever has a connection with the real self, with the soul, is real. Soul is consciousness in the world of pure consciousness. Whatever is connected with the mind in the mental world of false ego, is all false. A part of the false is also false, extremely false. But it has got its negative utility.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Approaching the Spiritual Master (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)


Excerpt from Sri Guru and His Grace



We must be careful to get proper direction. That direction has been given by Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita (4:34):

                                       tad viddhi pranipatena
                                       pariprasnena sevaya
                                      upadeksyanti te jnanam
                                      jnaninas tattva darsinah

"To understand transcendental knowledge, you must approach a self-realized soul, accept him as your spiritual master, and take initiation from him. Inquire submissively and render service unto him. Selfrealized souls can impart knowledge unto you, for they have seen the truth."

Here, Krsna has given us the standard by which we can understand what is what, from a bona fide source. The standard to measure truth or untruth must come not from a vitiated, vulnerable plane, but from a real plane. And to realize that, we must have these three qualifications: pranipat, pariprasna, and seva. Pranipat means we must surrender to this knowledge, for it is not an ordinary class of knowledge, which as a subject we can make our object; it is supersubjective. We may be the subjects in this mundane world, but we will have to become objects to be handled by the superknowledge of that plane.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Service — Samadhi* — Lila**

When you engage yourself, under the guidance of your spiritual master
in transcendental welfare work, and you do so without a selfish motive 
but rather as a service real, without any hidden agenda, 
then this becomes samadhi.
— Srila B A Paramadvaiti Maharaj, today


* Samadhi Ecstatic state of consciousness in which the mind becomes completely still, one-pointed or concentrated, and the consciousness of the experiencing subject becomes one with the experienced object.
 
** Lila — Divine pastime
 

Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Play of God (Swami B. V. Tripurari)

Excerpt from 
Aesthetic Vedanta: The Sacred Path of Passionate Love


By Swami B. V. Tripurari

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Absolute Harmony: J S Bach's Air and Srila Sridhar Maharaj from the veranda


I don't remember what came first: if JS Bach's "Air" reminded me of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's "Absolute Harmony" or the other way around. But in either case, here is Bach's "Air", a piece of music that most people would think of as the epitome of harmony, but which is actually full of dissonances, all the time. And below, an excerpt from Srila Sridhar Maharaj's "Absolute Harmony", where there is talk of how even discord is harmonized in the Absolute.

In this clip the disharmonies can be visually seen in graphics. Every time the white rectangles touch, that is disharmony – friction, two notes of two incompatible movements meeting and creating dissonance. But you won't really notice, because as listener you are following the greater movement of the piece, and you will anticipate the greater harmony that the piece itself is both promising and delivering, and in that way harmonize the discord. At 2:47 and 4:19 the dissonances are extra pronounced (and can be given more stress by the conductor than in this version).


*


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Paramatma (Excerpts from Bhagavad Gita)






The Supersoul


The Supreme Lord, by His plenary portion as Paramatma [Supersoul / Superconsciousness / Superself / Mighty I AM Presence], is present in everyone's heart. Therefore, making distinctions between species and by social points of view is meaningless, being differences of the body.

The Lord is equally kind to everyone because He treats every living being as a friend yet maintains Himself as Paramatma regardless of the circumstances of the living entities. The Lord as Paramatma is present in the outcaste and in the brahmana.

The soul and the Supersoul within the body are of the same spiritual quality. The equality in quality does not, however, make them equal in quantity. The individual soul is present only in that particular body whereas the Supersoul is present in each and every body. The similar characteristics of the soul and the Supersoul are that they are both conscious, eternal and blissful. The difference is that the individual soul is conscious within the jurisdiction of the body, whereas the Supersoul is conscious of all bodies. 

The Supersoul is present in all bodies without distinction.

 Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad Gita, 5:18, purport





Friday, December 7, 2012

Played by God (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)


Excerpts from The Loving Search for the Lost Servant 

Srila Sridhar Maharaj

(Headings, linebreaks, notes by Sd)





Monday, December 3, 2012

Hare Krishna Top 10 (5)

5.
Jedi Mind Tricks feat. El Eloh:
“Books of Blood: The Coming of Tan” (1997)




Conscious hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks chanting (the second half of) the Hare Krishna Mantra: “Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” (2:13). And after some well-informed truth-telling to The Children of Lie, the lyrics end: “Praise to His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada” (3:34).



Srila Prabhupada, the man who took Krishna Consciousness to the West

Friday, November 30, 2012

Hare Krishna Top 10 (6)

6.
Pretenders:
“Boots of Chinese Plastic” (2008)



Spiritually conscious, cool Chrissie Hynde delivering Right Knowledge in rock'n'roll 4-lines-format:

“Hare Krishna, Hare Rama too / Govinda I am still in love with You / I see You in the birds and in the trees / That's why they call me Krishna Mayi” (0:46). 
Flash appearances of Krishna in the video at 1:03, 2:09 and 2:18.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Bhakti begins there (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)






Bhagavad gita 7.19:

          bahunam janmanam ante
          jnanavan mam prapadyate
          vasudevah sarvam iti
          sa mahatma su-durlabhah

After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.

So, bahunam janmanam ante… After many births, when the jnanis, those of the impersonal school, come to understand that the Prime Cause of the consciousness of their quest is a personal one, then they come to conceive of Vasudeva [Krishna as the Source-of-All-That-Is and the All-pervading Spirit/Consciousness/Light/Love].

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Love (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)



Thanks to the Berlin temple for this one.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Nimai — The Hidden Avatar


Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (or as a child Nimai, born under a neem tree), "The Hidden Avatar", is Krishna Himself – The Absolute, Source, The Supreme Spirit/Consciousness, The Spiritual Sun, OM, Prime Cause, Adi, The Mighty I AM, Svayam Bhagavan, Svayam Brahman, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, God incarnating "secretly" in the form of a devotee of Himself, for the double purpose of experiencing His devotees' ecstatic love for Him, and to show the conditioned souls in forgetfulness how to be a devotee, to liberate them and retrieve them into the fold of the divine play of the Sentient Absolute.

Nimai — The Hidden Avatar 


Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, or Nimai (born under a neem tree), "The Hidden Avatar", is Krishna Himself — The Supreme Personality of Godhead, The Supreme Spirit/Consciousness/Light, The Absolute, Source, OM, The Spiritual Sun, Prime Cause, Adi, I AM, God incarnating "secretly", in the form of a devotee of Himself, for the double purpose of experiencing His devotees' ecstatic love for Him, and to show the conditioned souls in forgetfulness how to be a devotee. "Do like this. It's beautiful."


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Service to The Absolute (Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj)


Western philosophers corroborate that the criterion of the Absolute is 'for Itself and by Itself'. Indian saints say 'He' instead of 'It', so therefore, the Absolute is 'for Himself and by Himself'.

Nobody can know Him by adopting a challenging mood. He is unchallengeable self-effulgent Truth. He can be realized only by His own grace, and grace descends only to a completely surrendered soul.

The Lord has infinite manifestations in which He reveals Himself. In the eternal abode, the Lord's associates serve Him in different relationships [passive adoration, servant, friend, parent, lover]. Therefore, He manifests in various forms, so as to facilitate the individual soul's desire to serve Him in a form suitable to their taste.


(Dasavatara - Ten manifestations of Godhead, by Swami Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj)




Sunday, November 11, 2012

So the real current is His pastimes (Srila Sridhar Maharaj)

Excerpt from Home Comfort 

“...and we can enter into His service, the highest position, 
and thereby see the affection, love, harmony, and beauty 
that exist there”

Please listen attentively to what I shall explain. In a scientific way I shall try to explain the subject to you, in general, independently of all religious conceptions. 

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Srila Sridhar Maharaj (biography, links, blog archive)




Biography
(On Srila Sridhar Maharaj's appearance day 2012)
  
By Sevananda das

Today is the appearance day of one of the greatest Vaishnavas of recent time, the sannyasa guru of our guru Srila B.A. Paramadvaiti Maharaj, and a big favourite in Nimaihuset: Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. 

Srila Prabhupada himself maintained the highest respect and confidence in Srila Sridhar Maharaj (at one time he wanted him for president of ISKCON but Srila Sridhar Maharaj declined), and there is a famous quote by Srila Prabhupada to one of his disciples, recommending them to take direction from Srila Sridhar Maharaj after his departure from this world: I consider Srila Sridhar Maharaj to be my siksa guru, so what to speak of the benefit that you can have by his association. He sang the glories of Srila Sridhar Maharaj by saying Jaya Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Maharaj ki jay! – a glorification that is only ever offered to one's guru.

*

His Divine Grace Sri Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the founder of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math,* was born in India in 1895, in a respected Brahmana family of the Bhattacarya order, at Hapaniya in West Bengal, the very lands where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited His divine pastimes on earth.

The pastimes of his youth were spent in learning, and he naturally excelled in every subject that he took up. From his childhood, his tendency was towards the culture of faith in God and the study of the Vedas, like the Upanisads, and other scriptures. He received the sacred thread according to his family tradition when fourteen years old, and his affinity for the divine world kept on increasing. In his early years he was especially attracted to Lord Rama, but later, when he came in contact with the doctrine of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he began to read Bhagavad-Gita and developed an attraction for Lord Krishna.

After completing his primary and secondary education, Srila Sridhar Maharaj entered Krishnanath College in Berhampore, Bengal. After four years of study, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy.  This period is also where his initial conversion to Chaitanya Vaishnavism took place, described as a big turn in his life. In his own words:


When I was a student of the fourth year in Krishnanatha college, I came into the connection of a younger boy. One day when we two were going on a morning walk, he referred to his father with the expression “that gentleman”.  I took exception to that.

“Why do you use this expression for your father?”

“He is a gentleman, and in this life I came to him and he has protected me for some time, and in the next life I shall go to some other place; in this way we are moving hither and thither, coming to some gentleman and from there to another gentleman…

That point hit me very hard. “Yes, it is true. We are in the midst of father, mother, brother, or, as he said, ‘that gentleman’. What real connection have I with them, or they with me? We are all almost like strangers!” Thinking and thinking on this point the whole world became as vacant. I felt a furious atmosphere, with no shelter to take anywhere. A chaotic position, and no position of stability. “Wherefrom am I coming, where to go, how long am I to stay here — this is a point in the infinite. I am an uncertain point in the whole of the infinite.” A great shock came to me in this way.

And that was the great turn in my life. The worldly achievement has no value.

At that time, my friend gave me some literature on Mahaprabhu’s life and teachings, and I devoured it like nectar. I found some position there — it is not that I am nowhere. Here is the support — the basis, the foundation; I found here the sustenance, hope and shelter I needed.


For some time Srila Sridhar Maharaj was searching for a sadhu from whom he could take initiation, but could not find anyone to his liking, until he met his eternal guide and preceptor Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura (1874-1937), the founder of the Sri Gaudiya Math. In 1926, Srila Sridhar Maharaj joined the Sri Gaudiya Math and became his initiated disciple. In 1930 he accepted the holy order of sannyasa. His Spiritual Master Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura saw in Srila Sridhar Maharaj a faithful, reliable and unrelenting preacher of the pure precepts of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with the ability to perfectly protect it from misrepresentation and misconception, and gave him the name Bhakti Raksak, which means Guardian of Devotion”. He also gave him the Tridandi-Sannyasa title of Sridhar, echoing the great Vaishnava preceptor Srila Jiva Goswami, who in his Sanskrit writings referred to Sri Sridhar Swami, the renowned commentator of Srimad Bhagavatam, as bhakti eka raksaka (Supreme Guardian of Devotion). Thus, he became Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Maharaj. 

As a prominent preacher in the Sri Gaudiya Math mission, he travelled extensively throughout India and preached fluently in Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, and English, spreading the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on many levels in universities, public seminars, and sankirtan festivals.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj was recognized for his vast understanding and realization of the scriptures, and thus his guru also awarded him the title sastra-nipuna, meaning one who is very expert or intelligent in understanding the meaning of sastras (scriptures).

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura also expressed high appreciation of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Sanskrit composition Sri Bhaktivinoda Viraha Dasakam, glorifying Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and considered it an omen of assurance that the grand ideals and dignity of the Sri Gaudiya Sampradaya would be perfectly upheld and preached by such a learned and sensitive devotee as Srila Sridhar Maharaj. After reading it he remarked, “Now I am satisfied that after I leave, there will be at least one man who can represent my conclusions.” As a testimony to this fact, just prior to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura’s departure from this mortal world, he had Srila Sridhar Maharaj sing, in his presence, the holy and by the whole Gaudiya Vaishnava community most venerated prayer Sri Rupa Manjari Pada.

Not only was Srila Sridhar Maharaj recognized by his guru for his advancement in Krishna consciousness, but he was also recognized by many of his affectionate godbrothers for his seniority. Many of them, such as A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaj, Bhakti Promoda Puri Goswami Maharaj and others, considered him to be their siksa guru.

After the passing of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura in 1936, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's godbrothers, associates and the public naturally revered him as the senior-most representative of the Sri Gaudiya Sampradaya, although Srila Sridhar Maharaj himself was more inclined to anonymity as a humble Vaishnava. Nonetheless, by the call of divine duty and divine inspiration, he established his own temple, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, on the banks of the sacred Ganges in Navadvip Dham, the holy land of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Having deeply assimilated the teachings of Sri Chaitanya, Srila Sridhar Maharaj began composing original texts. His first work, Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamrita (Life-nectar of the Surrendered Souls), was a comprehensive scriptural study of saranagati, divine surrender, which has become a standard text-book for devotees everywhere.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj composed numerous songs, prayers, and commentaries in Bengali and Sanskrit. Among these important works are his commentaries on Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Saranagati, Bengali translations of Bhagavad-Gita and Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, and his own original Sanskrit poem summarizing Chaitanya lila, Prema-dhama-deva-stotram. His works are hailed as gems of pure Vaishnavism by scholars, philosophers, and devotees worldwide. An outstanding contribution to the Rupanuga Gaudiya Sampradaya is his commentary on the Gayatri-mantra, Gayatri-nigudhartha, following the philosophy of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Often thought even more amazing was his special ability to represent his thoughts in the international language of English. Upon reaching his eighties, not only Indians, but persons from America, Europe, and the world over, became attracted by Srila Sridhar Maharaj's teachings and personality. At this advanced age, in his fully matured stage of realization, Srila Sridhar Maharaj spoke extensively before the devotees who had come from around the world to hear the teachings of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura and the great predecessor acharyas from him. These discourses and talks were recorded on audio and videotape, and a vast library has been compiled by his many disciples and affectionate followers and admirers. From such recordings many exquisite English books have been published, such as Search for Sri Krishna – Reality the BeautifulSri Guru and His GraceThe Golden Volcano of Divine LoveLoving Search for the Lost Servant, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's unique commentary and interpretation of Bhagavad-GitaThe Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute, and many more. More publications are also anticipated.

During the last days of his manifest pastimes, Srila Sridhar Maharaj remained always absorbed in deep moods of devotional separation and hankering for the divine service of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda.

On August 12th, 1988, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj departed from this world to enter the eternal pastimes of the Supreme Lord. A divine temple, The Temple of Union in Separation”, was erected at his holy shrine at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Navadvip. Srila Sridhar Maharaj selected his most intimate and senior sannyasi disciple, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj, as his successor, blessing him with the position of Acharya-President of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and its affiliated branches worldwide.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj was known as a pure saint of the most simple living habits. He was respected and loved for his saintly simplicity, and his affectionate nature and dealings. He was revered by his godbrothers, disciples, other devotees, and the general public, and was unanimously venerated for his formidable encyclopedic command of the revealed scriptures, and his unique and unprecedented style of casting newer and newer light upon the most internal philosophical and revelatory purports of pure Sri Gaudiya Vaishnava Siddhanta.

As acharya, Srila Sridhar Maharaj is an erudite philosopher and a sensitive poet; both deep-diving and high-flying, yet practical and down to earth. Speaking and writing, he is very soft and low-voiced, yet intense, concentrated and exacting. His main teaching is surrender, unconditional, often expressed in radical phrasings (in spiritual consciousness language) such as “Die to live” and “Divine slavery”. Main focus is on beauty, with topics like “Search for Sri Krishna – Reality the Beautiful”,Beauty is the Autocrat”, and Slave to the Beauty.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj on the basis of his angle of vision:

My nature is non-interfering, from the beginning. So much so that I am called an ease-lover. I am not aggressive in a preaching mood, but only to know. The knowing aspect, the listening aspect, the aspect of inquisitiveness, predominates within me: to find new light from the scripture, from the words heard from my Guru Mahārāj. Every day, I can see, I can feel, new colour. Everything is infinite. Every word, every letter, is of infinite characteristic. I am internally busy with that in my last days.

My expressions (...) present an ontological conception based on pure chit-vilās [spiritual play]. That is, whatever I see, whatever I have in view, must cross the level of Brahmaloka [Brahmajyoti/Brahman realization/Turiya/"Enlightenment"/Transcendence]. I see things to be not of this world, but of the other world, as chit-vilās-lakṣaṇ [expressions of spiritual play]. The smallest things that we mention here are placed above renunciation and liberation. They are not of that side. Rather, they are śuddha-sattva, viśuddha-sattva [the quality of pure existence/pure consciousness]. They are not related to liberation or emancipation, or to sattva-guṇa [the highest material quality]. They are viśuddha-sattva, nirguṇa, chit-vilās [pure, nonmaterial, spiritual play]. Every word, every syllable that I express and give out is from the plane of viśuddha-sattva. That is the special characteristic of my sayings. [–] They are ever-new. They are not a stereotyped thing. Whenever I approach, whenever I give an explanation of a particular verse, every time some new thing will come — not any mere repetition but something coming with some touch of the Infinite. Whatever I say must have some touch with conception of the Infinite. That is their peculiarity, and they are to increase faith. Faith, śraddhā, the basis, the foundation, always that will be more consolidated by my sayings. 


*

* Note: Paramadvaiti Swami's Vrinda Mission, which Nimaihuset belongs to, is a stand-alone part of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. It was formed (like Tripurari Swami's Sri Chaitanya Sangha, Narasingha Swami's Sri Narasingha Chaitanya Ashram, and a few others) under the umbrella of what Srila Sridhar Maharaj named "the Maha Mandala" of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. The (SCSM) Maha Mandala was a confederation of independent preaching missions established by disciples of Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Following Srila Prabhupada's instruction, they had accepted Srila Sridhar Maharaj as their siksa guru after Srila Prabhupada's departure from this world. With Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s encouragement and blessings, Paramadaviti Swami started initiating disciples in South America (thus also following Srila Prabhupada's personal instruction to him, to preach in South America), and that was the start of Vrinda Mission. Srila Sridhar Maharaj donated the Ista-devas of Vrinda Mission (Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Vrajesvara) to Varsana, Colombia (the heart of Vrinda), where there is also a sacred spot with his footprints.  



Sources:
Sri Chaitanya: His Life & Associates, Swami B. B. Tirtha (2001)
Sato Vrtteh, Swami B. AParamadvaiti (2005)
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library




__________________________________________


__________________________________________
Nimaihuset blog archive

Love (Quote)

My inner guide (Quote)

Gurumaharaj yesterday, singing in Radha Kunda on the Radha Kunda Appearance Day

Singing better and better for each day...


Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaj (Biography, links, blog archive)



Biography
(On Srila Sridhar Maharaj's appearance day 2012)
  
By Sevananda das

Today is the appearance day of one of the great Vaishnavas of recent time, the sannyasa guru of our guru Srila B.A. Paramadvaiti Maharaj, and a big favourite in Nimaihuset: Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. 

Srila Prabhupada himself maintained the highest respect and confidence in Srila Sridhar Maharaj (at one time he wanted him for president of ISKCON but Srila Sridhar Maharaj declined), and there is a famous quote by Srila Prabhupada to one of his disciples, recommending him to take direction from Srila Sridhar Maharaj after his departure from this world: I consider Srila Sridhar Maharaj to be my siksa guru, so what to speak of the benefit that you can have by his association. He sang the glories of Srila Sridhar Maharaj by saying Jaya Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Maharaj ki jay! – a glorification that is only ever offered to one's guru.

*

His Divine Grace Sri Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the founder of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math*, was born in India in 1895, in a respected Brahmana family of the Bhattacarya order, at Hapaniya in West Bengal, the very lands where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited His divine pastimes on earth.

The pastimes of his youth were spent in learning, and he naturally excelled in every subject that he took up. From his childhood, his tendency was towards the culture of faith in God and the study of the Vedas, like the Upanisads, and other scriptures. He received the sacred thread according to his family tradition when fourteen years old, and his affinity for the divine world kept on increasing. In his early years he was especially attracted to Lord Rama, but later, when he came in contact with the doctrine of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he began to read Bhagavad-Gita and developed an attraction for Lord Krishna.

After completing his primary and secondary education, Srila Sridhar Maharaj entered Krishnanath College in Berhampore, Bengal. After four years of study, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy.  This period is also where his initial conversion to Chaitanya Vaishnavism took place, described as a big turn in his life. In his own words:


When I was a student of the fourth year in Krishnanatha college, I came into the connection of a younger boy. One day when we two were going on a morning walk, he referred to his father with the expression “that gentleman”.  I took exception to that.

“Why do you use this expression for your father?”

“He is a gentleman, and in this life I came to him and he has protected me for some time, and in the next life I shall go to some other place; in this way we are moving hither and thither, coming to some gentleman and from there to another gentleman…

That point hit me very hard. “Yes, it is true. We are in the midst of father, mother, brother, or, as he said, ‘that gentleman’. What real connection have I with them, or they with me? We are all almost like strangers!” Thinking and thinking on this point the whole world became as vacant. I felt a furious atmosphere, with no shelter to take anywhere. A chaotic position, and no position of stability. “Wherefrom am I coming, where to go, how long am I to stay here — this is a point in the infinite. I am an uncertain point in the whole of the infinite.” A great shock came to me in this way.

And that was the great turn in my life. The worldly achievement has no value.

At that time, my friend gave me some literature on Mahaprabhu’s life and teachings, and I devoured it like nectar. I found some position there — it is not that I am nowhere. Here is the support — the basis, the foundation; I found here the sustenance, hope and shelter I needed.


For some time Srila Sridhar Maharaj was searching for a sadhu from whom he could take initiation, but could not find anyone to his liking, until he met his eternal guide and preceptor Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura (1874-1937), the founder of the Sri Gaudiya Math. In 1926, Srila Sridhar Maharaj joined the Sri Gaudiya Math and became his initiated disciple. In 1930 he accepted the holy order of sannyasa. His Spiritual Master Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura saw in Srila Sridhar Maharaj a faithful, reliable and unrelenting preacher of the pure precepts of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with the ability to perfectly protect it from misrepresentation and misconception, and gave him the name Bhakti Raksak, which means Guardian of Devotion”. He also gave him the Tridandi-Sannyasa title of Sridhar, echoing the great Vaishnava preceptor Srila Jiva Goswami, who in his Sanskrit writings referred to Sri Sridhar Swami, the renowned commentator of Srimad Bhagavatam, as bhakti eka raksaka (Supreme Guardian of Devotion). Thus, he became Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Maharaj. 

As a prominent preacher in the Sri Gaudiya Math mission, he travelled extensively throughout India and preached fluently in Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, and English, spreading the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on many levels in universities, public seminars, and sankirtan festivals.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj was recognized for his vast understanding and realization of the scriptures, and thus his guru also awarded him the title sastra-nipuna, meaning one who is very expert or intelligent in understanding the meaning of sastras (scriptures).

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura also expressed high appreciation of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Sanskrit composition Sri Bhaktivinoda Viraha Dasakam, glorifying Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and considered it an omen of assurance that the grand ideals and dignity of the Sri Gaudiya Sampradaya would be perfectly upheld and preached by such a learned and sensitive devotee as Srila Sridhar Maharaj. After reading it he remarked, “Now I am satisfied that after I leave, there will be at least one man who can represent my conclusions.” As a testimony to this fact, just prior to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura’s departure from this mortal world, he had Srila Sridhar Maharaj sing, in his presence, the holy and by the whole Gaudiya Vaishnava community most venerated prayer Sri Rupa Manjari Pada.

Not only was Srila Sridhar Maharaj recognized by his guru for his advancement in Krishna consciousness, but he was also recognized by many of his affectionate godbrothers for his seniority. Many of them, such as A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaj, Bhakti Promoda Puri Goswami Maharaj and others, considered him to be their siksa guru.

After the passing of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura in 1936, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's godbrothers, associates and the public naturally revered him as the senior-most representative of the Sri Gaudiya Sampradaya, although Srila Sridhar Maharaj himself was more inclined to anonymity as a humble Vaishnava. Nonetheless, by the call of divine duty and divine inspiration, he established his own temple, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, on the banks of the sacred Ganges in Navadvip Dham, the holy land of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Having deeply assimilated the teachings of Sri Chaitanya, Srila Sridhar Maharaj began composing original texts. His first work, Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamrita (Life-nectar of the Surrendered Souls), was a comprehensive scriptural study of saranagati, divine surrender, which has become a standard text-book for devotees everywhere.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj composed numerous songs, prayers, and commentaries in Bengali and Sanskrit. Among these important works are his commentaries on Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Saranagati, Bengali translations of Bhagavad-Gita and Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, and his own original Sanskrit poem summarizing Chaitanya lila, Prema-dhama-deva-stotram. His works are hailed as gems of pure Vaishnavism by scholars, philosophers, and devotees worldwide. An outstanding contribution to the Rupanuga Gaudiya Sampradaya is his commentary on the Gayatri-mantra, Gayatri-nigudhartha, following the philosophy of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Often thought even more amazing was his special ability to represent his thoughts in the international language of English. Upon reaching his eighties, not only Indians, but persons from America, Europe, and the world over, became attracted by Srila Sridhar Maharaj's teachings and personality. At this advanced age, in his fully matured stage of realization, Srila Sridhar Maharaj spoke extensively before the devotees who had come from around the world to hear the teachings of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura and the great predecessor acharyas from him. These discourses and talks were recorded on audio and videotape, and a vast library has been compiled by his many disciples and affectionate followers and admirers. From such recordings many exquisite English books have been published, such as Search for Sri Krishna – Reality the BeautifulSri Guru and His GraceThe Golden Volcano of Divine LoveLoving Search for the Lost Servant, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's unique commentary and interpretation of Bhagavad-GitaThe Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute, and many more. More publications are also anticipated.

During the last days of his manifest pastimes, Srila Sridhar Maharaj remained always absorbed in deep moods of devotional separation and hankering for the divine service of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda.

On August 12th, 1988, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj departed from this world to enter the eternal pastimes of the Supreme Lord. A divine temple, The Temple of Union in Separation”, was erected at his holy shrine at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Navadvip. Srila Sridhar Maharaj selected his most intimate and senior sannyasi disciple, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj, as his successor, blessing him with the position of Acharya-President of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and its affiliated branches worldwide.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj was known as a pure saint of the most simple living habits. He was respected and loved for his saintly simplicity, and his affectionate nature and dealings. He was revered by his godbrothers, disciples, other devotees, and the general public, and was unanimously venerated for his formidable encyclopedic command of the revealed scriptures, and his unique and unprecedented style of casting newer and newer light upon the most internal philosophical and revelatory purports of pure Sri Gaudiya Vaishnava Siddhanta.

As acharya, Srila Sridhar Maharaj is an erudite philosopher and a sensitive poet; both deep-diving and high-flying, yet practical and down to earth. Speaking and writing, he is very soft and low-voiced, yet intense, concentrated and exacting. His main teaching is surrender, unconditional, often expressed in radical phrasings (in spiritual consciousness language) such as “Die to live” and “Divine slavery”. Main focus is on beauty, with topics like “Search for Sri Krishna – Reality the Beautiful”,Beauty is the Autocrat”, and Slave to the Beauty.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj on the basis of his angle of vision:

My nature is non-interfering, from the beginning. So much so that I am called an ease-lover. I am not aggressive in a preaching mood, but only to know. The knowing aspect, the listening aspect, the aspect of inquisitiveness, predominates within me: to find new light from the scripture, from the words heard from my Guru Mahārāj. Every day, I can see, I can feel, new colour. Everything is infinite. Every word, every letter, is of infinite characteristic. I am internally busy with that in my last days.

My expressions (...) present an ontological conception based on pure chit-vilās [spiritual play]. That is, whatever I see, whatever I have in view, must cross the level of Brahmaloka [the highest material dimension]. I see things to be not of this world, but of the other world, as chit-vilās-lakṣaṇ [expressions of spiritual play]. The smallest things that we mention here are placed above renunciation and liberation. They are not of that side. Rather, they are śuddha-sattva, viśuddha-sattva [the quality of pure existence]. They are not related to liberation or emancipation, or to sattva-guṇa [the highest material quality]. They are viśuddha-sattva, nirguṇa, chit-vilās [pure, nonmaterial, spiritual play]. Every word, every syllable that I express and give out is from the plane of viśuddha-sattva. That is the special characteristic of my sayings. [–] They are ever-new. They are not a stereotyped thing. Whenever I approach, whenever I give an explanation of a particular verse, every time some new thing will come — not any mere repetition but something coming with some touch of the Infinite. Whatever I say must have some touch with conception of the Infinite. That is their peculiarity, and they are to increase faith. Faith, śraddhā, the basis, the foundation, always that will be more consolidated by my sayings. 



*

* Note: Paramadvaiti Swami's Vrinda Mission, which Nimaihuset belongs to, is a stand-alone part of  Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. It was formed (like Tripurari Swami's Sri Chaitanya Sangha, Narasingha Swami's Sri Narasingha Chaitanya Ashram, and a few others) under the umbrella of what Srila Sridhar Maharaj named "the Maha Mandala" of his Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. The (SCSM) Maha Mandala was a confederation of independent preaching missions established by disciples of Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada who (following Srila Prabhupada's instruction) had accepted Srila Sridhara Maharaja as their siksa guru after Srila Prabhupada's departure from this world. With Srila Sridhar Maharaj’s encouragement and blessings, Paramadaviti Swami started initiating disciples in South America (thus following his instruction too, to preach in South America), and that was the start of Vrinda Mission. Srila Sridhar Maharaj donated and personally delivered the Ista-devas of Vrinda Mission, Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Vrajesvara, to Varsana, Colombia (the heart of Vrinda), where there is also a sacred spot with his footprints in the ground. 








__________________________________________


__________________________________________
Nimaihuset blog archive
Love (Quote)
My inner guide (Quote)