Śrī Śrīmad

Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja

Recalls His Early Years

Also
Separation and meeting
N
Excerpts from his Lectures
Impressions of Bhakti (First Edition)
First printing – 2011 (5000 copies)
Second printing – 2014 (5000 copies)
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Acknowledgements
Impressions of Bhakti
Translation: Rādhikā dāsī • Editing: (alphabetically) Brajanāth dāsa, Dāmodara
dāsa (Canada), Śrīpād Mādhava Mahārāja, Sudevī dāsī (Malaysia), Śyāmarāṇī
dāsī, Vaijayantī-mālā dāsī • Reader feedback and diacritics: Vasantī dāsī, Govinda
dāsa • Proofreading: Jānakī dāsī, Sulatā dāsī • Layout & Design: Sukhdeep Sran,
Jānakī dāsī • Cover Design: Vikash Thakur • Title: Mañjarī dāsī • Soundfiles: Jagat-
mohinī dāsī, Karuna-mayī dāsī • Photos, courtesy: Subala-sakhā dāsa, Vasantī dāsī
Separation and Meeting
Transcription of sound file: Śānti dāsī • Editing, diacritics, proofreading: Amala-
kṛṣṇa dāsa, Vaijayantī-mālā dāsī
www.mygvp.com
The printing of Impressions of Bhakti is financed by an endowment fund
established by Raghuvir dāsa and Vrajeśa dāsa (Vancouver).

Cataloging in Publication Data--DK

Courtesy: D.K.Agencies (P) Ltd. <[email protected]>
Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa, 1921-
Impressions of Bhakti: Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa
Gosvāmī Mahārāja recalls his early years ; also Separation
and meeting, excerpts from his lectures / [translation,
Rādhikā Dāsī].
p. cm.
Includes verses in Sanskrit (roman)
Translated from Hindi
ISBN 9781935428367
1. Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa, 1921- 2. Vaishnavites--India-
-Biography. I Radhika Dasi. II Title.
DDC 294.5512092 23
 Foreword
Śrīla Gurudeva, nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta
Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, is an eternal associate of Śrī Śrī
Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We read in śāstra
that such associates are tri-kāla-jña and sarva-jña, meaning that
in the past, present, and future, nothing in the Lord’s material or
spiritual creation remains unknown to them. We read in Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam (1.5.6, purport by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī
Mahārāja Prabhupāda): “A person who is cent-percent engaged
in the service of the Lord is the emblem of all knowledge. Such
a devotee of the Lord in full perfection of devotional service is
also perfect by the qualification of the Personality of Godhead.
As such, the eightfold perfections of mystic power (aṣṭa-siddhis)
constitute very little in his godly opulence.”
By their own life’s example, such pure devotees reveal the
stages acquired in the gradual development of pure devotion
to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. They teach us what to do, and what not to do, in
order to advance in bhakti. They also teach us the importance
of acquiring sukṛti, spiritual credits accrued by knowingly or
unknowingly engaging in acts of devotion, and saṁskāras,
impressions on the heart attained from the sukṛti of this and
previous lives.
We can understand the divine nature of Śrīla Gurudeva’s
pastimes from the words of his own guru mahārāja, nitya-līlā-
praviṣṭa Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
(quoted from Rays of The Harmonist, No. 23, 2011): “The
eternal form of the ācāryadeva is composed of knowledge

• 1•
and bliss and remains constitutionally unchangeable, just
like a dramatic performer who appears to go through various
transformations during his performance but remains the same
unaltered person. On the stage of this world, the ācāryadeva
merely acts out birth, death, and so forth, all of which we can
perceive using our knowledge-acquiring senses.”
Śrīla Gurudeva enacted his divine disappearance pastime
on December 29, 2010, thus throwing the world of devotees
and spiritual aspirants into an ocean of separation mood and
desire for meeting. In his honor, a hari-kathā festival was held in
New Braja, Badger, California in June of 2011, and Impressions
of Bhakti was prepared for distribution at the festival, to honor
his transcendental pastimes in this world.
Impressions of Bhakti is comprised of a transcription
of Śrīla Gurudeva’s dictation on February 23, 2003 in Olpe,
Germany, on the topic of his own life history. He spoke in Hindi,
and his talk was later translated from a cassette recording by
Rādhikā dāsī of Russia. The booklet also includes excerpts
from his lectures on the subject of meeting śrī guru through
the mood of separation.
We desire the qualification to glorify his causeless mercy
everywhere. To this end, we find inspiration in the cogent words
of our most worshipable Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta
Sarasvatī Ṭhākura (spoken on the divine disappearance day of his
guru maharaja, mahā-bhāgavat Śrīla Gaura Kiśora dāsa Bābājī
Mahārāja), which exemplify the exalted mood of a real disciple:

In order to speak all the teachings that have somehow

entered through the pathways of my ears by the mercy of

• 2•
 the lotus feet of my gurudeva, may I possess millions upon
millions of tongues, millions upon millions of heads, and
millions upon millions of years to live. Then I will sing about
his unparalleled compassion with millions and millions of
tongues and millions and millions of heads for millions and
millions of years. Only then will I have truly performed
guru-pūjā.
(quoted from Rays of The Harmonist, No. 23, 2011)

Your aspiring servants,

The editors

* Footnotes that are not otherwise referenced are written by the editors.

• 3•
 Śrī Śrīmad
Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
 Impressions of Bhakti
I was born in 1921 on the Amāvasyā (dark-moon) night
in the month of Māgha (January–February). This is what my
parents told me. My father’s name was Paṇḍita Bāleśvarnāth
Tivārī and my mother’s name was Śrīmatī Lakṣmī-devī. They
were both devotees of the Śrī sampradāya, initiated according
to all rules and regulations, and both were expert in devotional
music. My father was also expert in wrestling, singing, and all
types of social affairs. He was humble, well-bred, and most
importantly, highly religious and conversant with Vaiṣṇava
principles.
At the time of my birth, my family’s guru (kula-guru) gave
me the name Śrīman Nārāyaṇa Tivārī in accordance with the
sign of the zodiac. From my birth I was very simple-hearted
and innocent. My mother told me, “You would not cry; you
would remain seated wherever you were placed. For that
reason everyone called you Bholānātha (a name of Lord Śiva
meaning ‘god of the innocents’).”
As my parents were very religious, I was also religious,
even from my early childhood. To possess bhakti is not merely
a result of practice for one birth, but many births. Throughout
my childhood I was always chanting, “Rāma, Rāma, Rāma,
Rāma, Rāma, Rāma.” Thus my fortune must have been the
result of impressions in my heart (saṁskāras) due to taking
good association and being of religious temperament in my
previous births.

• 5•
 As a child I used to attend religious festivals with my
father and hear classes on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Rāmāyaṇa,
Mahābhārata, and other scriptures. In the evenings, when
my father had finished his family duties, he would sometimes
personally recite Tulsi dāsa’s Rāmāyaṇa to me, and sometimes
Mahābhārata – from beginning to end. At that time many
village people would also come and listen to him with faith.
My impressions were such that even in my childhood I
would cry for hours whenever I read the Rāmāyaṇa of Tulsi
dāsa, and whenever I stopped crying, I would start reading
again. I became especially immersed in emotion upon reading
about Rāmacandra’s exile, His abandoning Sītā, and Sītā’s
entering Pātāla. I became so immersed that I used to see the
battle between Rāma and Rāvaṇa in my dreams, and I would
also see Hanumānjī performing his various services. In one
dream, at 4 o’clock in the morning, I saw Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa,
Sītā, and Hanumān descending from an airplane right before
my eyes, their divine effulgence radiating everywhere. But
then, when I went to touch their feet, they disappeared. At that
time I became so blissful.
Throughout my school years, I ranked first or second in my
class in academics. In sports, especially in high school, I won
first place awards in the one mile and five mile races, and in long
jump, high jump, cycling races, and boating. No one dared enlist
his name for a long race unless he planned to compete for second
place, because everyone knew, “Nārāyaṇa will come first.” I also
participated in musical programs and debates in Sankrit.
Once, when I was sixteen or seventeen, my kula-guru gave
a series of classes on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in our Tivārīpura

• 6•
village. As a great Sanskrit scholar, he would recite every śloka in
a melodious voice and then explain its meaning to the crowd of
pious listeners that had gathered from the neighboring villages.
On those occasions, I had the opportunity to render personal
service to him – decorating the lecture hall, preparing his seat,
placing the Bhāgavatam on his lectern, and then listening to his
lectures very attentively. My father also contributed greatly to
these programs, by organizing the daily ārati of the Bhāgavatam
and then distributing prasāda at the end of each program.
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam classes were completed after one
month, at which time a magnificent yajña was held, followed
by a grand feast of the Lord’s mahā-prasāda. My kula-guru
showed me much affection for my services, and he left a
great impression on my life. In this way I became increasingly
immersed in the moods of devotion and gradually acquired a
taste for kṛṣṇa-bhakti.
The Mahaviri Jhaṇḍa Festival (in honor of Hanumānjī)
once took place on the banks of the Gaṅgā near my village, in
Ahalyāvalī – the area where Śrī Rāmacandrajī had liberated
Ahalyā from Gautama Ṛṣi’s curse, where Viśvāmitra’s residence
was situated, where Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa killed the demoness
Tāḍakā, and where Rāma shot His arrows at Mārīca and Subahu
in order to protect Viśvāmitra’s yajña. It was a great festival,
at which many thousands of people gathered. Various games
and wrestling matches were played, which were attended by
numerous good sportsmen, and my father also participated as
he had versatile talents.
It was at this festival that I heard and saw, for the first
time in my life, a nagara-saṅkīrtana with thousands of people

• 7•
dancing and singing, “hare rāma hare rāma, rāma rāma hare
hare / hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare.” That
nagara-saṅkīrtana had a great impact upon me.
When I was in class nine of high school, I received a book
that was entitled The Life History and Precepts of Nimbārka
Vaiṣṇavācārya as a prize for winning a Sanskrit debate. As I
read about the ācārya’s perfect Vaiṣṇava demeanor, his deeds,
his attachment for harināma, and his rigorous sādhana, I now
began to acquire real taste for kṛṣṇa-nāma. It was from this
book that I learned that all the Lord’s potencies are present in
harināma.
I liked history very much, and I used to get top marks
in that subject. In one of the history books, I once read a
brief description of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When I saw
His picture, with His long wavy hair, and when I read about
His absorption in kīrtana, I was very deeply impressed and
influenced.
I was betrothed at the age of sixteen or seventeen, while I
was still studying in high school. However, according to Indian
custom a wife joins her husband only after the official marriage
ceremony, when they are mature. Thus, when I became twenty-
one or twenty-two years old, a marriage festival was held for
me, and at that time my wife came to live with me. But very
soon after that, I left.
[An aside] You can write a little bit regarding the time and
place of the marriage, but do not elaborate. [See endnote]
After high school, because I was good at sports, without
any effort I was able to get a position in the police department.
The police station was located in the Dumka district of Bihar,

• 8•
at Shahad Gañja, on the banks of the Gaṅgā. All the officers
there were happy with me, including the chief superintendent,
who was a very religious Bengali.
About three years after I began my employment at the
police station, the chief superintendent was visited by a
party of about ten devotees from Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti
in Navadvīpa. Among them were prapūjyā-caraṇa Śrī Śrīmad
Narottamānanda Brahmacārījī, Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti-kuśala
Nṛsiṁha Mahārāja, and Śrī Rādhānātha dāsa (who later
became pūjyāpāda Bhaktivedānta Trivikrama Mahārāja).
The speaker, pūjyāpāda Narottamānanda Brahmacārījī,
narrated the life history and glorified the character of Śrī
Prahlāda Mahārāja in the superintendent’s house for seven
days. Although at that time I did not know Bengali very well,
I would sit through the lectures, and in reciprocation with my
faith pūjyāpāda Śrī Narottamānanda Brahmacārījī became
very affectionate towards me. After each lecture, he would
leave aside all food and drink to sit with me and speak hari-
kathā in English throughout the night.
[Śrīla Gurudeva’s servant, Śrīpād Mādhava Mahārāja adds,
“Pūjyāpāda Narottamānanda Brahmacārī did not know Hindi
and Śrīla Gurudeva did not know Bengali, so they spoke in
English.”]
Pūjyāpāda Narottamānanda Brahmacārī was a very
learned person, and he was especially a learned scholar in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. After listening to his hari-kathā for those
seven days and receiving his affection, I became completely
renounced at heart. I wanted to leave my government position
and go with the devotee party, but I could not get permission

• 9•
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
as a brahmacārī in his guru mahārāja’s maṭha
because of the chief superintendent’s and everyone else’s
affection for me. They would not let me go.
The superintendent asked me, “Why do you want to go?
You will soon be promoted.” I immediately thought of an
excuse to leave, and replied, “This is true, but I want to start
my own business, so there will be no loss in my going.”
When I also told him that in the future I want to do kṛṣṇa-
bhajana, he asked, “Do your parents agree to this?” I replied,
with the understanding that Gurujī and the Vaiṣṇavas were
my actual parents, “Yes, they do.” I then resigned and left that
place, but I did not go home. I went directly from there to Śrī
Dhāma Navadvīpa to meet my gurujī 1.
I arrived at the Navadvīpa-dhāma railway station at twelve
midnight, and wondered, “How will I be able to find the āśrama
in Navadvīpa? I don’t even know the address. Who can I ask at
this late hour?”
I didn’t know how Gurujī knew I would be coming that day,
but he knew and Narottamānanda Brahmacārījī also knew; so
they had sent pūjyāpāda Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja, lantern
in hand and accompanied by another brahmacārī, to find me.
The sight of the two of them approaching made me very happy.
Together with them I arrived at the maṭha easily, where I saw
Narottamānanda Brahmacārījī, my gurujī, and many other
Vaiṣṇavas. That day was the eve of Navadvīpa-dhāma parikramā.
The person in charge of the maṭha at that time was
Śrī Narahari Ṭhākurajī, a god-brother of my gurujī and an
extremely dear disciple of his gurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta
1 Śrīla Gurudeva had heard about his guru mahārāja from pūjyāpāda
Narottamānanda Brahmacārī and had corresponded with him by mail.

• 11 •
Sarasvatī Prabhupāda. Because Śrī Narahari Ṭhākurajī took
care of everyone in the maṭha, especially the children, he
was affectionately called ‘mother of the maṭha.’ He would
chant harināma throughout the day and night, binding his
śikhā to a ceiling beam at night so that he would not fall
asleep while chanting. Wherever he would go during the day,
he continuously chanted harināma. I was a recipient of his
abundant love and affection.
Without anyone’s instruction or awareness, I began
sweeping the floors in the maṭha, cleaning the cooking pots,
and performing a variety of other services. Shortly after
Navadvīpa-dhāma parikramā was completed, I received both
harināma and dīkṣā initiations.
Gurujī soon became satisfied with my sevā and saw my
taste for hari-kathā, and thus he began to keep me with him
and engage me in his personal service. I then started to cook
for him and wash his clothes, and I listened to his hari-kathā.
That I had previously been a police officer was a distant
memory. Everything from the past was left behind.
In 1945, just before the beginning of Kārtika parikramā in
Vaidyanātha-dhāma2, I went with my gurujī to the Chinchura
Gauḍīya Maṭha, where I continued listening to his hari-kathā
and doing sevā. It was there that I met prapūjyā-caraṇa Śrīla
Bhakti Pramoda Purī Mahārāja, and where gurujī engaged
me in personal service to Mahārāja. I began rendering him
so many services, such as cooking and giving him water for
drinking and bathing.
2 A holy place famous for Lord Śiva’s Jyotir-liṅga Temple in Deogarh (the
abode of the gods), in Jhārikhaṇḍa, Bihar.

• 12 •
 One of my daily services was to accompany him to the
nearby Gaṅgā where he would bathe, and I would bring my
loṭa, my last remaining possession from my previous āśrama.
One day, while he and I were in the Gaṅgā, the current took my
loṭa. As it floated away I considered, “This is good. Now my last
material attachment has gone.”
In the following year, I again accompanied Gurujī to the
Vaidyanātha-dhāma parikramā. Later, after the parikramā was
completed, Gurujī continued to travel and preach. During that
preaching tour, Anaṅga-mohana Brahmacārī, who was living
and travelling with Gurujī and who would also sing kīrtana for
him, fell severely ill with tuberculosis. I was appointed to serve
him, at which time I would bring him medicines from a long
distance and even clean his body after he passed stool. I took
care of him in every respect.
One day, as he sat right next to Gurujī, he began vomiting
blood. I went with Gurujī to bring him to a famous homeopathic
doctor in Calcutta, and on the doctor’s advice we stayed nearby
at Siddhavāḍī. When that and other treatments did not work,
Gurujī admitted him to a tuberculosis hospital.
Sometime later, I was at a railway station where I met a
cousin from our village who was working as a guard there. When
he saw me sitting on the train, he boarded it and embraced
me. With great happiness he said, “It’s been so long since you
left, and you have not sent us a single message. Where are you
residing these days?” I told him my address. I was so simple-
hearted that I told him.
Upon leaving me he immediately sent a telegram to my
family, soon after which my mother, father, brother, friends,

• 13 •
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, second from
the left, with the sannyāsa daṇḍa. Center: his guru mahārāja,
Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
wife, and many important people of the village – a crowd
of ten or fifteen – arrived at the maṭha. Then, as my mother
wept loudly, they all made a concerted effort to convince me
to return to them. Although I was ill at that time, I told them,
“Don’t worry. I will come with you.”
I offered praṇāma to Gurujī and went with them to the
village. Upon my arrival, my mother and all other relatives
performed pūjā to Bhagavān in great jubilation, while a band of
musicians played on their instruments. Prasāda was distributed,
and people from all parts of the village – now extremely happy –
came to see me.
The next day, my father invited several prominent scholars,
as well as the heads of our village and nearby villages, who were
wealthy, highly respected, educated, and knowledgeable. He
organized a large meeting, attended by a great number of people,
including my school friends who came to see me with curiosity.
They all tried very hard to convince me to live at home and
continue to follow religious principles there. Many of them
cited examples from the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa.
Some said that Prahlāda Mahārāja was a gṛhasta and that the
Pāṇḍavas, also, performed bhajana-sādhana while living as
gṛhastas. All present made the following recommendation to
me: “Perform bhajana at home, as they all did.”
“But there is no sādhu-saṅga here,” I replied. “And therefore
there is no one to instruct me in such a way that my sādhana-
bhajana on the path of bhakti can increase. This is unacceptable
to me. I cannot live without sādhu-saṅga.”
Some others retorted, “Then follow brahmacarya, and at
the same time remain at home. Be religious, and at the same

• 15 •
time become powerful like your paternal grandfather. Oh,
your grandfather was so strong that he would remove bullock
carts from the mud. He would untie the bulls and free the carts
with his bare hands. When two big buffaloes would fight with
the aim to taking each other’s lives, he would take a stick in
his hand, strike one buffalo on one side and the other on the
other side, and cause them both to run in different directions.
Become like your grandfather.”
I replied, “The elephant is also strong. But what is the use
of strength without bhakti? I do not want to become strong
like that. I want to become strong in bhakti.
“Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.9.29) states that without bhakti
life is useless:

labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte

mānuṣyam arthadam anityam apīha dhīraḥ
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anu mṛtyu yāvan
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt

“The human form of life is attained only after numerous

births of transmigrating through the millions of species.
Although this human body is impermanent, it offers the
highest benefit. Therefore, until the body lays down and
dies another time, if a man is intelligent he will whole-
heartedly and immediately endeavor to fulfill his mission
of life and achieve his greatest welfare. He must avoid sense
gratification, which is available even in the animal species.”

Then, my seventy-five year old paternal uncle, who was

the head of one of the other villages, a very important man,

• 16 •
and a great scholar, asked me, “All right then, since you have
become a sādhu, can you tell me what is viśiṣṭādvaita-vāda?”
I replied that in order to understand viśiṣṭādvaita-
vāda (specialized non-dualism), one must first know about
kevalādvaita-vāda (monism) and śuddhādvaita-vāda (purified
dualism); not only that, but one must also know about acintya-
bhedābheda-tattva (inconceivable difference and oneness).
Then, one by one, I began to define kevalādvaita-vāda and all
the other theories (vādas). I told my uncle that kevalādvaita-
vāda, the teaching of Śaṅkarācārya, is the worship of nirākāra,
nirviśeṣa, nirañjana, nirguṇa brahman, the Absolute Truth
devoid of form, speciality, qualities, and designations. According
to Śrī Rāmānujapāda’s theory of viśiṣṭādvaita, the jīva and
the material cosmos are specialties of brahman; although all
the energies of the Lord are one, each keeps its individuality
(vaiśiṣṭya). Madhvācārya’s conception is called śuddhādvaita-
vāda and it stresses on the five eternal differences: the
difference between jīva (the eternal living entity) and God,
between jīva and jīva, between God and matter, between matter
and matter, and between matter and jīva. Then, Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu’s acintya-bhedābheda-tattva states that the one
Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in many
forms, and in this way all diversities are in Him and He is in all
diversities although He is different from all of them. Thus, by
the transformation of His inconceivable potencies, everything is
simultaneously one with and different from Him.
I explained that all the other philosophies are vādas,
meaning theories, but the acintya-bhedābheda philosophy,
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s conception, is tattva, a truth. It

• 17 •
combines the ideas of all the other conceptions, and it is marked
by the predominance of pure bhakti. I told my uncle and all
those present that acintya-bhedābheda is our conception, the
conception of our gurujī.
Hearing my explanation, my uncle rose from his seat,
embraced me, and said, “You have found a real guru. You have
attained sādhu-saṅga. Your renunciation is real and your
knowledge of tattva, the established philosophical reality, is
complete. From now on, I will not say a word to discourage

N
you.” The meeting ended in this way, and all the people left.

That’s enough for today; later I will tell more. There is no

need to elaborate on any events other than those about my life
in the line of bhakti. Write about me as I have written about my
gurujī. You can follow that example, describing my preaching.
You can also discuss how, after coming to the maṭha, I went on
so many pilgrimages throughout India. I have written about
these in my gurujī’s life history. You only need the dates, the
years, the what, and the where. I went to Badrinātha, Dvārakā,
and South India two or three times.

ENDNOTE
Śrīla Gurudeva was speaking to Prema-prayojana dāsa, whom he had
requested to write his biography. Since that time he has requested other
disciples to write it. For example, in a video filmed on November 25, 2003
in Cebu, Philippines, he told his disciple Jayanta dāsa from San Diego,
“Write just what I have told. Thousands of classes have been recorded;
everything is on record. Afterwards [after my disappearance], you should
do as I have done for my gurudeva.”

• 18 •
 Separation and Meeting
Attachment Intensifies Through Separation
Śrīla Gurudeva displayed his disappearance pastime on
December 29, 2010 for the purpose of extending his causeless
mercy. The following is an excerpt of his relevant lecture that
was first published in Rays of The Harmonist, No. 15, 2005:
Out of compassion, the Supreme Lord in the form of śrī
guru expands his manifest pastime. In the same way, śrī
guru enacts the pastime of disappearing from this world
to enter his eternal pastimes. His sole purpose in doing so
is to stimulate the full service and full possessiveness of his
dependents. Those fortunate enough to have taken shelter
of a rūpānuga-guru during his manifest presence experience
a constant increase in their attachment to serving him. And
after his disappearance, their attachment to him continues to
increase many times over. Consequently, the fire of separation
from him intensifies day by day; by this alone one’s bhajana
remains ever-fresh.

The Height of Intense Separation

The following is an excerpt from Śrīla Gurudeva’s discussion on
Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī’s Vilāpa-kusumāñjali (Text 7),
first published in the same Rays of The Harmonist:
There are two kinds of bhajana. The first is performed by
chanting and remembering pastimes of separation (vipralambha-
līlā) and the second is performed by remembering pastimes
• 19 •
of meeting (sambhoga-līlā). Although the gopīs and Vrajavāsīs
always prefer meeting with Kṛṣṇa over separation from Him, He
plays with them by making them enjoy vipralambha-rasa.
The sādhaka should cultivate the mood of separation from
Kṛṣṇa by thinking, “I am not seeing Kṛṣṇa, nor am I seeing
Śrīmatī Rādhikā, nor Vraja. I am not realizing anything and I am
unable to serve my gurudeva.”
Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī showed us how to feel
separation from Kṛṣṇa, and especially from Śrīmatī Rādhikā. A
sādhaka should be immersed in such feelings. Śrīla Raghunātha
dāsa Gosvāmī also lamented in separation from his śikṣā-
gurus, “I am so unfortunate! First Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
departed from this world, leaving me behind. I then lived in
the constant association of Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara, but he also
left this world. Next I caught hold of Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s
lotus feet, but he also departed. From then on I experienced
that every place and every dust particle of Jagannātha Purī
reminded me of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara,
Gadādhara Paṇḍita and their associates; and therefore I left
Purī to come to Vṛndāvana.”
In Vraja, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī performed bhajana
at Rādhā-kuṇḍa under the guidance of Śrīla Rūpa and Śrīla
Sanātana Gosvāmīs. When Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī entered his
unmanifest pastimes, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī lamented
as follows in separation from him:

śūnyāyate mahā-goṣṭaṁ / girīndro ’jagarāyate

vyāghra-tuṇḍāyate kuṇḍaṁ / jīvatu rahitasya me
Śrī Prārthanāśraya-caturdaśaka (11)

• 20 •
 Now that I am without that person who sustains my life,
the land of Vraja seems empty and desolate, Govardhana
Hill appears like a great python, and Rādhā-kuṇḍa appears
like the gaping mouth of a tigress.

Who Can Realize Separation from Guru?

Although our gurudeva has also entered his unmanifest,
eternal pastimes, we happily remain in this world. On the
occasion of special days, like his appearance or disappearance
day, we might remember him, but often we are involved in
arranging the festival in his honor, and there is very little chance
to contemplate our separation from him. A tear may come to
our eye as we speak something about him; but it may not come.
If the festival is very elaborate, there is much to manage, such
as the abhiṣeka, guru-pūjā, and distribution of mahā-prasāda to
the Vaiṣṇavas. Consequently, there is less chance of us finding
time to think about him and weep. For the most part, we arrange
these festivals for the benefit of the general people who have no
intimate connection with him, but on that day we should ensure
that a feeling of separation from him enters our own heart. This
is called bhajana.
Special persons, who have realize their immense obligation
and indebtedness to gurudeva for all they have received from him,
and who have rendered profuse service to him with viśrambha-
bhāva (spontaneous intimacy) will feel separation from him, and
weep. Such devotees will not think, “I am so lowly and my gurudeva
is so elevated.” One with such awe and reverence cannot weep.
Śāstra states, “viśrambhena guror sevā – the sevaka performs
such intimate service to gurudeva that gurudeva is always

• 21 •
pleased with him.” The guru will not see him as his servant or
disciple for a single moment, but instead he will see him as his
own heart. Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda (a disciple of Śrīla Mādhavendra
Purī) and Govinda (a disciple of Śrī Īśvara Purī) were servants
of this caliber. Although such a relationship with śrī guru is
rare, it is absolutely necessary for rāgānuga-bhakti. In its
absence, we are unable to weep like Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa
Gosvāmī.

Gradations of Separation
A devotee will experience different degrees of separation
from gurudeva, according to his level of bhakti. When we
contemplate the mercy he showed us and his superiority to
us, we feel a certain type of sentiment. But when we recall our
intimate relationship with him and his immense love for us,
we will weep for him incessantly.
Nanda Bābā weeps in separation from Kṛṣṇa, but Yaśodā
Mā can weep more than Nanda Bābā can. The gopīs, however,
can even weep considerably more than Yaśodā. This is because
they have a more intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa. We should
have such an intimate relationship with our gurudeva, Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
Śrīmatī Rādhikā, Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, and all
such personalities. It is then that we will be able to weep for
their mercy. Without that intimate service relationship with our
gurudeva, there is no possibility of us imagining our relationship
with Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī or Śrīmatī Rādhikā and Kṛṣṇa.
Our advancement is solely dependent on the intensity
of our service to our gurudeva. It is the platform on which all
other relationships and experiences develop. If we can weep for

• 22 •
gurudeva, we will be able to weep for Śrīmatī Rādhikā; and if
we cannot weep for him, we will not be able to weep for Her.
Whatever we have learned we have learned from our gurudeva,
and we should weep for him from the core of our heart.

How to Lament
How shall we weep? Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given
instructions in the sixth verse of Śrī Śikṣāṣṭakam:

nayanaṁ galad-aśru dhārayā

vadanaṁ gadgada-ruddhayā girā
pulakair nicitaṁ vapuḥ kadā
tava nāma-grahaṇe bhaviṣyati

O Lord, when will tears flow from my eyes, my voice falter,

and all the hairs on my body stand erect as I chant Your
holy names?

“When will I feel so much lamentation that I weep

while chanting the names of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā-Govinda, or
Vṛndāvaneśvarī?” Weeping like this is our dharma, the essence
of our religious principles. One day, by the mercy of those who
sincerely feel this mood of separation, and by the grace of our
gurudeva and our guru-paramparā, we will have realization of
this fact. This is our real prayer, and while praying, our mood
should be “tava nāma-grahaṇe bhaviṣyati – when will I weep
while chanting harināma and remembering and hearing Your
pastimes?” Those who are most fortunate can lament and
weep for these moods and thereby experience them.

• 23 •
Remembering Śrī Guru
While softly uttering harināma, chanting harināma, praying
to harināma, or simply while remembering harināma, we want
to experience a mood of separation. If we are not yet doing this,
we will have to gradually develop this mood in our practice of
sādhana-bhakti. By reading about the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu and His associates, their moods of separation will
enter our hearts and someday we will also experience them.
Realization is the result of remembering śrī gurudeva; therefore
we desire to always remember him. If we do not understand the
mercy of gurudeva, we will not understand anything.

Our Ultimate Goal

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
writes that meeting and separation eternally stand side by side.
Only that person who has some realization of vipralambha
(separation) can relish and serve sambhoga-līlā (the meeting
of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa). One who has not tasted vipralambha
cannot relish sambhoga-līlā. The main objective, or the
ultimate goal, of our sādhana-bhajana is to attain realization of
the mood of separation. Once achieved, all else can be realized.

• 24 •
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