Writings

Om, the supreme combination of letters denotes the Supreme Entities Sri Radha Krishna and indicates the acme of spiritual tendency inherent in all jiva souls.

Srila Prabhupada Lila-Smarana-Mangala-Stotram composed by Swami B.G. Narasingha Maharaja

"A brahmana must be perfectly religious. He must be truthful, and he must be able to control his senses. He must execute severe austerities, and he must be detached, humble and tolerant. He must not envy anyone, and he must be expert in performing sacrifices and giving whatever he has in charity. He must be fixed in devotional service and expert in the knowledge of the Vedas. These are the twelve qualifications for a brahmana."

To a neophyte disciple there may appear to be contradictions between guru, sadhu, and sastra but such contradictions are only apparent not real. Seeing an apparent contradiction between guru, sadhu, and sastra a neophyte devotee sometimes rejects either the guru, the sadhu, orthe sastra.

We cannot describe the life of Srila Puri Goswami Maharaja without emphasizing his contribution to the spiritual movement in which he was so integrally involved. The depth of his accomplishments cannot be fathomed outside the context of Sri Gaudiya Math. With his fellow godbrothers, he shared an indomitable faith in the service of his Guru and the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

In the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya, the gayatri which the guru (bona fide spiritual master) gives to the sadhaka (devotee) at the time of diksa (initiation) is that of the Vedic diksa (upanayana) and also that of the Vaisnava pancaratrika-diksa.

Once Srila (Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura) Prabhupada was viewing the Deities of Sri-Sri Guru Gauranga-Gandharvika-Giridhari at the Sri Caitanya Math, standing on the front porch of the temple. The door of that temple is not very wide and Srila Prabhupada did not have his glasses on.

So, the one message that I would like to give you today is: What service are you doing to please Srila Prabhupada? What will you do to show your love, your gratitude? You have gotten so much, it is such a great thing that we have, so let us do something.

There was a disciple of our Guru Maharaja in 1976, I believe his name was Ananta Dasa Sastri. He used to travel with Srila Prabhupada in India and he was in the Sanskrit department assisting Srila Prabhupada in translation work. That year he compiled five slokas which describe much of Srila Prabhupada's divine character and his divine mission also. Prabhupada very much liked these five slokas. We used to sing them every morning before Guru Puja by his vyasasana, so some of you may remember them.

The purpose of this presentation is to provide devotees with pertinent quotes from sastra, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and other prominent acaryas so that one may be more properly informed on the issue of the "Origin of the Jiva." These quotes are organized in a logical way in support of the eleven points that follow. It is not meant to be a complete presentation in itself, but rather to provoke further contemplation, investigation and penetrating thought.

The gurudeva is mentioned in the sastra with an example. The sisya is like a lotus, and the gurudeva like the water around, just as in a pond or in a lake, gurudevas position is like water and Krsna is like the sun. As long as the lotus is floating on the water, the sun will give life to the lotus but if the water vanishes that very sun will burn the lotus.

In May 1977 His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada felt that his days in this material world were almost at an end. He traveled to Vrndavana and asked that his leading disciples come and join him. Specifically, he called for the members of the Governing Body Commission, who manage the worldwide preaching activities of Iskcon. Within a few days they gathered, in fear of the imminent departure of His Divine Grace. At that time many last affairs of His Divine Grace were put in order. He wrote his last will, entrusting everything to Iskcon, and assigned his disciples as trustees of the various Iskcon properties in India and around the world.