Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Disappearance Day

Fasting times

Half day fasting (till noon)

Temples to visit

1. Sri Caitanya Math, Mayapur, has the Samādhi and bhajan kutir of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.

2. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura spent his last days in Gaudiya Math, Bagh Bazaar, Kolkota.

Mood on the disappearance day of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura

We celebrate days of disappearance because we know that Paramhaṁsaḥ devotee is going on to preach Krishna consciousness elsewhere to enter in to the Nitya-līlā pastimes of the Lord. It’s an opportunity for us to take advantage of the teachings because great souls leave behind them the instructions and one has to, at the time of disappearance of ācārya, test one’s own will to advance in devotional service by embracing the instructions and following them carefully and crossing over the various obstacles which one will inevitably meet when one tries to go back to Godhead. There is no difference in person and instructions, and it gives a feeling of connection with these great ācāryas.

A characteristic of a pure Vaiṣṇava is para dukha dukhi. One who has become free from envy, is sorry to see other living entities suffer. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura suffered because of suffering of jīvas in material world. Therefore, he emphasized on going out and giving the holy name to others, and he also emphasized speaking Hari-kathā.

Lessons from life and teachings of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura

1. We should be merciful. Go out to meet people where they live. They might not come looking for us. They may not know to do that. Knowing the importance of hearing Kṛṣṇa kathā, it is important for devotees to go out and meet people and give them an opportunity to come in contact with Kṛṣṇa in the form of holy name, Bhagavad-gītā and prasādam. It was Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s spiritual ambition to see this go all over the world. Take all kinds of risk to go out in to the unknown and consistently present Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the betterment of others.

2. Be non-critical. Look inwardly and find one’s own faults. Make it your religion to find fault within myself. My own faults should be more than enough for me to focus on how to deal with them. Do not be anxious to find faults with others.

3. One should not try to see Kṛṣṇa, but one should work in such a way that Kṛṣṇa would want to see you. This is the definition of darśana.

4. Enlivened service is awakened when we follow the paramparā. We are being supported by the great ācāryas and guru paramparā, so that we can follow in their footsteps. This gives great encouragement.

5. We have to introspect and see how I am connected to Supreme Personality of Godhead and what’s blocking me. I am standing on one side of river and other side is pure bhakti. There is a river of impurities that’s dividing me from there. It is very important to work on oneself in order to cross that river of impurity.

Excerpt from Sri Bhaktisiddhant Vaibhav

written by Bhakti Vikas Swami

A Lecture at Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha, 12 July 1936

We jīvas are really poor, no doubt. We are poor jīvas, but not “poor Nārāyaṇas.” To identify Nārāyaṇa, the permanent possessor of all wealth, with a poor jīva is an absurdity. Our poverty should be diminished, and to that end wealth should be accumulated. Wealth of what kind? It is wealth of Kṛṣṇa-prema, causeless love for the Absolute Truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And for this we should pray to Him in the same way that a Vaiṣṇava mahājana prayed:

prema-dhana vinā vyartha daridra jīvana

‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana

Life without love is useless and poor, they say,

Appoint me in Thy service, O Lord, with love as my pay. (Cc 3.20.37)

Our prayer should be of this nature. As soon as we feel necessity for Kṛṣṇa-prema we naturally begin to dislike everything but Kṛṣṇa. In absence of this, other tendencies and considerations take firm hold of our mind, exhorting us to be great workers, forgetful of the main objective of the Pañcarātra.

Now what course should we adopt regarding our propaganda work in England? Mahāprabhu enjoins us to proclaim His name throughout the length and breadth of this world, from small hamlets to big cities. At present, gross worldly names are everywhere in vogue. Henceforth let the transcendental name be proclaimed all over the world.

We do not belittle the importance of the pāñcarātrika process, of having representatives in theistic institutions or establishing temples with deities, yet we are of the opinion that the duty of the better or higher class is propaganda work. Mahāprabhu's mano-'bhīṣṭa is that Vaikuṇṭha-nāma be proclaimed everywhere, and to that end many pamphlets need be printed. The rich are the so-called big men of the world and are running after fame, females, and prestige. They will not listen to our words even if we cry hoarse in their ears, so why waste time on them? Therefore we say that the line of our propaganda work should be to produce sufficient number of pamphlets, even at the cost of possibly suspending temple construction. This will show them the insignificance of discoveries of truths or discussions that have found expression in their philosophies or applied sciences, in contrast to the enormity and magnitude of the subject matter of our discussions. 

A self-conceited braggart can never successfully carry on propaganda work. How could it be possible for him? For the Absolute Truth never manifests to a vainglorious person who considers himself the only preacher of truth. Such a man can do no good for the world. Among such persons some will be fond of prohibited food as available at Kalighat, some will be malicious patriots engrossed in considerations of their own advantages as opposed to others’ interests, while others will be in the clutches of self-enjoying propensities or its opposite — tendencies toward renunciation with a view to have self-emolument or salvation—and the rest will make a pretense of bhakti. But none of them will have the least idea of the Supreme Absolute Truth divested of the slenderest trace of insincerity and maliciousness.

Oh, how deplorable it is that the propaganda of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, the glorious unique devotional teachings of India, is stopped here in the very land of its origin! And it is no less regrettable to see people suffering under the mistaken idea that mere ringing of bells in places of worship, mere formal observance of prescribed rites, touring holy places, ostentatiously reciting holy works like the Bhāgavatam for the sole purpose of earning a livelihood, or playing the role of preceptors merely by heredity right are sure signs of bhakti — such persons being quite ignorant of the true significance of proper worship, the true object of pilgrimage, the actual duties and exemplary ways of a preceptor, the true culture of theistic works like the Bhāgavatam, and the difference between real and false bhakti. It is painful to see people frittering away valuable time in no better work than mischievous ill conceived criticism of others’ conduct. They excel only in giving advice to others. No doubt their damned mind is responsible for that. So every morning on rising from bed they should make their wicked mind hear the following immortal song of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda:

bhaja re bhaja re āmāra mana ati manda

(bhaja) braja-vane rādhā-kṛṣṇa-caraṇāravinda

(bhaja) gaura-gadādharādvaita guru-nityānanda

(smara) śrīnivāsa haridāsa murāri mukunda

(smara) rūpa-sanātana-jīva-raghunātha-dvandva

(smara) rāghava-gopāla-bhaṭṭa-svarūpa-rāmānanda

(smara) goṣṭhi-saha karṇapūra sena śivānanda

(smara) rūpānuga sādhu-jana bhajana-ānanda

In this song the mind is first of all asked to hold bhajana of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Their joyful activity in the sacred bowers of Vraja. In comparative view the degrees of excellence of the five rasas from mādhurya to śānta, the state in which active service is wanting, are gradually lowering. A servitor in śānta-rasa is neither actively engaged in nor against bhajana; he will neither counter nor actively conduct it. Now bhajana, or bhakti, may be of different kinds. There is micchā-bhakti (false bhakti), as opposed to śuddha-bhakti (unalloyed bhakti), the former resorted to by adherents of karma, who are followers of smṛti. Ṭhākura Narottama dāsa warns us against such false bhakti:

karmī-jñānī micchā-bhakta na habe tāte anurakta

śuddha-bhajanete kara mana

Be not attached to karmīs, jñānīs, and devotees false,

Pure unalloyed bhajana do always endorse.

The cult of the self-styled social reformers or society-makers of the past or present age is quite different from the ideas and principles of bhaktas. At present, followers of the former are active in various movements relating to personal advantage and self-enjoyment. Those agitators who, leaving aside all considerations of bhakti, are busy in movements only for temporal advantages are harming themselves. Their failure to serve Kṛṣṇa, the emporium, or rather the emblem, of all endless immeasurable nectar of love, joy, and pleasure, bespeaks simply of their ignorance of the real state of affairs. Such apathy toward service to Kṛṣṇa gradually turns one into an upholder of nirviśeṣa-vāda. What could be more deplorable for mankind? So to counteract the aforesaid tendencies in us, each morning we should sing advice to our wicked mind to hold bhajana, but which is impossible if we are unmindful of the tṛṇād api sunīcena dictum.

The only object of our bhajana is the holy feet of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa roaming about freely in the forest of Vraja. What should be our line of conduct in performing bhajana? Mahāprabhu's advice to Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī in this connection was:

grāmya-kathā nā śunibe, grāmya-vārtā nā kahibe

bhāla nā khāibe āra bhāla nā paribe

amānī mānada hañā kṛṣṇa-nāma sadā la'be vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-sevā mānase karibe

Have no worldly talk, nor pay heed to it;

Wear not good clothes, nor rich food do eat;

Humbly take always kṛṣṇa-nāma on your tongue;

Within the mind serve Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa all day long. (Cc 3.6.236–37)

In these verses the first two recommendations are in the negative, the remaining in the affirmative. By “Vraja-sevā,” Mahāprabhu meant service to Kṛṣṇa by one who has a transcendental body and whose self-realization is complete. People ignorant of this generally turn into mental speculators and cannot rightly understand the teachings of the Gauḍīya Maṭha. This wicked mind, which is never to be trusted, should be broom-sticked every morning with such caveats as “Be not anxious to find fault with others or to proclaim thyself as a true, sincere, bona fide bhakta, which certainly you are not.” In this connection the advice of a Vaiṣṇava mahājana is:

karmī-jñānī micchā-bhakta na habe tāte anurakta

śuddha-bhajanete kara mana

vraja-janera yei mata tāhe habe anugata

ei se parama tattva-dhana

Be not attached to karmīs, jñānīs, and bhaktas false.

Pure unalloyed bhajana do always endorse.

Follow principles that Vraja folk adopt—

Valued truths to be kept aloft.

The mind is always working erroneously in looking upon this thing or that as either good or bad. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta states:

‘dvaite’ bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba—‘manodharma’

‘ei bhāla, ei manda’—ei saba ‘bhrama’

In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore to say “This is good” or “That is bad” is a mistake. (Cc 3.4.176)

People are usually overly busy in mental speculation. They should relieve themselves of this and try to ascertain their actual benefit. There is an adage, para-carcākera gati nāhi kona kāle: “A man habituated to criticize others’ conduct will never prosper.” Let others do whatever they like; I have no concern with them. I should find fault with my own damned mind and think like the Vaiṣṇava mahājana who sang:

āmāra jīvana, sadā pāpe rata,

nāhiko puṇyera leśa

para-sukhe duḥkhī, sadā mithya-bhāṣī,

para-duḥkha sukha-karo

Ever acting viciously,

Not a trace of virtue in me.

Sorry at others’ pleasures, always speaking falsities,

And merry at others’ sorrows and adversities. (Śaraṇāgati)

We should always remember this song and engage our mind ceaselessly in Hari-bhajana. We should not run about attacking others with a dissuading policy. Such conduct behooves only deceitful persons, not preachers.

The ways of karmīs and jñānīs will direct us into immense difficulties by side-tracking our attention to contemplate shadowy transient phenomena instead of the only cause or true origin, the sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, the ever-existing joyful conscious entity Kṛṣṇa, of whom everything visible in this world is a mere silhouette. The gross archaeologist is busy ascertaining the material ingredients of idols that may be of stone, wood or other material, some persons are iconographers or iconoclasts, and others are busy discerning the amount of filth or impurities accumulated in a particular soil. Yet they never care to discover or measure the impurities of their own mind. They never attempt to weed out undesirable elements of their consciousness, though such an endeavor is of paramount importance for their own self-interest.

Now whose bhajana are we to perform? Whom are we to worship? Usually we want to worship mammon with an aim to satisfy our own personal greed. Or sometimes we desire to secure the exalted position of president of America. But we never consider the necessity of worshiping the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa skipping merrily in the forest of Vraja, without which there is no other way to secure permanent benefit.

There are some who want to worship Kṛṣṇa not of Vṛndāvana but of Dvārakā, where He is served majestically by thousands of queens, while others are willing to respectfully serve only with the help of their upper limbs Lord Vaikuṇṭhanātha, who is possessed of all wealth and magnificence. Yet Śrī Caitanya-deva asks, “Should any service be done not with the help of all the limbs, from head to foot, including the inferior, lower limbs?” One will find no difficulty to properly answer this if he introspects, “If these lower limbs have no use at all or do not exist in the transcendental world, of which this gross world is a mere shadow, then why do they exist?” In fact, to use these limbs in serving the Absolute Lord is their proper adjustment. Want of this understanding will lead us to woeful ways of karma and jñāna.

Tad-vanam upāsitavyam: “The forest of Vraja alone is to be served and worshiped.” To this end, we should always associate with the followers and devotees of Śrī Caitanya. Association with those who take the historic or speculative side of Kṛṣṇa will spoil everything. Now what does Śrī Caitanya say? He says that His name will be proclaimed everywhere, all over the world, from small hamlets to big cities. Mahāprabhu desires that all people of the world know Kṛṣṇa-kathā, details or discussions about Kṛṣṇa as prevailing in Vṛndāvana. Notwithstanding their proficiency in various fields of activity, they should feel the necessity for Rādhā- Govinda-bhajana.

The twelve vanas included within Vṛndāvana are places of Kṛṣṇa-bhajana in twelve separate rasas, of which five are primary and seven secondary. Vana-bihārī Kṛṣṇa, playful Kṛṣṇa who scampers in the forest of Vraja and is the very form, emblem, or avatar of all rasa, is alone to be served and worshiped, not any other thing like earth, water, or mud. Yet in so doing we should beware of the ways of mental speculators who for the sake of enjoying the world pose as Kṛṣṇa, for such persons are liable to quarrel among themselves for their own share of enjoyment and ultimately fall into the lowest depth of degradation. To avoid this calamity, Kṛṣṇa should be worshiped as Vana-bihārī, Kṛṣṇa in the land of His own free and joyful

movement.

Now to turn to the third line of the previous song: (bhaja) gaura-gadādharādvaita gurunityānanda. Śrī Gadādhara has taught us the proper way to serve Kṛṣṇa by his own example of serving Mahāprabhu. Rāya Rāmānanda and Dāmodara Svarūpa set the same example. Mahāprabhu Himself demonstrated the true function of a servitor. Though He is the real master to be served, He played the role of a servitor to show us how a servitor should perform his duty. Again, Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu is also a servitor of Mahāprabhu. The same Absolute Lord is Kṛṣṇa in His enjoying activity and Śrī Gaurasundara in His serving capacity, and Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu is His transcendental consort. A parallel example is if a man scratches his body with his own hand while another person simultaneously scratches him; in this analogy Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu is the additional party. To be more explicit, Mahāprabhu serves His own self, Kṛṣṇa, while Śrī Gadādhara serves Mahāprabhu.

Now to turn to Advaita Prabhu. He acted as an ācārya or preceptor, and so Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī says:

advaitaṁ hariṇādvaitād ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt

bhaktāvatāram īśaṁ tam advaitācāryam āśraye

Because He is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord Hari, He is called Advaita, and

because He propagates the cult of devotion He is called Ācārya. He is the Lord and the

avatar of the Lord's devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him. (Cc 1.1.13)

So-called ācāryas of the present day are not removers of their disciples’ afflictions and miseries, but removers of their properties. Yet what sort of ācārya was Advaita Prabhu? From His own version in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we find that He declares Himself a servant of a servant of Śrī Caitanya. Servitude is the predominating feature of bhakti, and the ācārya Advaita Prabhu sings glory to it by declaring Himself a servant of Mahāprabhu. This serving tendency is predominant in the other four rasas also. Advaita Prabhu's special characteristic is His identifying His own revered self as servitor to Mahāprabhu despite being in a venerable position like a father. Such humble serving attitude is never found in the character of today's hypothetical ācāryas whose only object in life is to live happily by acting as guru.

The next advice in the aforesaid song is to serve Guru Nityānanda. We are to follow Their ideal only. We should not offer ourselves to be guided by these ignorant debauched fools fond of eating goats’ flesh. Such persons can never act as gurus, themselves having fallen to the lowest depth of degradation.

The next advice is (smara) śrīnivāsa haridāsa murāri mukunda, “Remember Śrīnivāsa, Haridāsa, Murāri, and Mukunda,” who were Nityānanda Prabhu's assistants and Mahāprabhu's associates in His earthly activities in Navadvīpa. They were asked by Mahāprabhu to go from door to door and bless everyone with harināma:

prati ghare ghare giyā koro ei bhikṣā

bolo ‘kṛṣṇa’, bhaja kṛṣṇa, koro kṛṣṇa-śikṣā

ihā bai ār nā bolibā, bolāibā

dina-avasāne āsi’ āmāre kahibā

Go from door to door and beg their favor

To say “Kṛṣṇa,” serve Kṛṣṇa, and learn His air.

Say not and make not others say anything more.

And at sunset, with news come back to my door. (Cb 2.13.9–10)

Then we find the instruction: (smara) rūpa-sanātana-jīva-raghunātha-dvandva. Here we are told to remember the gosvāmīs Rūpa, Sanātana, Jīva, Raghunātha dāsa, and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa. We are to follow them. Bhajana is impossible without following Rūpa Gosvāmī in particular.

[At this point Raja K.C. Deb Rāya of Bansberia entered, offering due obeisances to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī's holy lotus feet. In course of discussion he remarked that it was God's mercy to have inspired him to visit the Maṭha on the very day of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī's arrival, to which Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī responded:]

[Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:] Yes, Bhagavān is always lending us a helping hand, so we should stretch out our hands to catch hold. We should wait for His favor, and when it comes we should avail of it. Then it will be alright.

[Raja Rāya:] But your blessings, the holy dust of your lotus feet, are above all. Today is a glorious day. Today Bhagavān has kindly supplied food for my soul.

[Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:] Yes, the soul no doubt requires nourishment. The function of the limited soul toward the Universal Soul is called bhakti, and that is the only thing needed. Yet unfortunately, people do not understand it. In bhakti alone all will meet; nowhere else is union possible. Everything should be used in Bhagavān's service. Only such use is the proper adjustment of things. All will be well if our acquired knowledge is used in His service, making coincidence of circumstances possible, in absence of which there will be only chaos.

[Raja Rāya:] The news about you in the newspaper at once made you appear in my mind.

[Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī:] Yes, such association of ideas takes place when one is serving śrī-vigraha. Without this, one is likely to be overtaken by nirviśeṣa confabulation of the Absolute Truth as without form, figure, attributes, or activities. We should have full association with the Absolute Truth. But unfortunately, at present we are detached from that, with the result that we are bringing miseries and troubles upon ourselves by seeking finite things with hands outstretched to grasp only limited objects, all of which are far from being the undivided whole, the Absolute Truth. Such phenomenon will not cease until we take shelter under the holy feet of Bhagavān, who is undivided and infinite. Śrī-vigraha is certainly the direct manifestation of the Absolute Truth, Bhagavān.

[Raja Rāya:] But schemas regarding the true identity of Bhagavān differ in various sects and communities, some persons opining that He is unmanifest, while others think He is manifest.

[Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī:] Yes, but those are merely different perspectives of mental speculation. To accept one idea now and reject it the next moment is useless and to be avoided. We should relieve ourselves of this and try to directly approach Bhagavān, akhila-rasāmṛtamūrti (the very form of the nectar of consummate rasa). Yet we should not forget that He is transcendental and thus not measurable or perceptible to our gross senses. Efforts to measure Him will give rise to varied skeptic views. Therefore Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu and Brahmasaṁhitā state:

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ

sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

The Name, who is identical with Kṛṣṇa, is not perceptible to gross senses, but manifests Himself, i.e., is articulated, of His own accord on the tongue of those eager to serve Him.

(Brs 1.2.234)

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti

yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

I worship that original Lord Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa, who is possessed of inconceivable form and attributes, perceptible only to transcendental eyes smeared and invigorated with the salve of loving service known as bhakti. (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.38) [Page 1628-1632]

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The Gauḍīya literature will be translated into all the languages of the world by the agents of the divine mercy at the appointed time. There will also no doubt spring up a mighty host of pseudo-exponents and an immense body of spurious Gauḍīya literature, as has been the case in the past. This is to be expected by all really thoughtful persons. But nothing can have the least power of depriving a person of the mercy of the real agents of divine mercy except one's deliberate refusal to avail of the same when it will be offered at his very door in a perfectly recognizable form. 

As soon as a single person will have conceived the sincere desire of undertaking the promulgation of the tidings of the Gauḍīya literature to the peoples of this world, he is thereby enrolled among the agents of divine mercy with power to forward the fulfilment of this expressed wish of the Supreme Lord. The Gauḍīya literature will not long remain confined to the Bengali-speaking people. It will in a short time expand and display its full brilliancy through the medium of all the languages, including those of birds, beasts, and the vegetable tribes. [Page 363]