All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru-Gaurāṅga
Śrī Śrīla Shyām Dās Bābā Mahārāja
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahaṁsa Jagad-guru said that – “Just as the power of an arrow is calculated by the prowess of an archer, similarly the power and effect of one’s Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī preaching depends upon how much devotional strength he possesses. Therefore there is a gulf of difference between the preaching of so called ordinary devotees and the preaching of a powerful authentic devotee. Powerful devotees are referred to as “the living source.” Those who can experience such persons in their own lives are certainly fortunate.” – From Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Upadeśāmṛta
When King Janaka arranged the svayaṁvara-sabhā for Sītā-devī then countless kings and heroes assembled. Everyone was confident about his own strength. Everyone thought, “Surely I can lift & break the bow.” But one after another failed. The bow could not be moved even slightly. Only when Lord Rāmacandra came forward by the order of Śrī Viśvāmitra Muni, that impossible task was possible for Śrī Rāmacandra. Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta-vāṇī is very much like that bow. Many wish to carry it. Many wish to speak it. Many wish to become teachers of others. But who can actually bear its weight?
The teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda are not ordinary teachings. They are thunderbolts directed against false ego, hypocrisy, imitation, mundane religiosity, and the desire for personal prestige. That is why our previous ācāryas never approved a preacher without proper ācaraṇa. Nowadays we find many speakers, but very few who follow what they preach. Many who externally worship Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, but how many are actually prepared to follow him in true sense? Everyone feel like lion in their respective Helem, but who likes his renunciation? Who likes his uncompromising neutrality? Who likes his complete indifferent mood towards lābha-pūjā-pratiṣṭhā? It is easy to glorify the lion but it is much more difficult to walk in his footsteps. Sometimes we think that because we can repeat the words of the ācāryas we have understood them. But our understanding can never be measured by our memory. Understanding is measured by transformation.
Gauḍa vāṇī is an unlimited treasure-house. Within it are jewels & jewels. One may spend entire lifetime to search out but never can reach the endpoint. Those material jewels can decorate a body made of blood and flesh which will become the food of dogs and jackals. But the jewels in the form of guru-vāṇī can give eternal life.
Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura repeatedly wrote about genuine preaching which can arise from realization (anubhava) developed out of sincere bhajana. Preaching without proper ācaraṇa is nothing else than hypocrisy. A preacher who is completely devoid of proper ācaraṇa only can create some problem in the society, and nothing else.
Śrīla Bhakti Pramode Purī Gosvāmī Mahārāja used to say that—“Offenses are incurred by ignoring the instructions of those great sādhu-guru-vaiṣṇavas. Simply by giving instructions to others having no background of ācaraṇa can only increase the false ego of the preacher. In fact nobody can cheat guru-vaiṣṇava-Bhagavān.
The desire of Lord Gaurahari is that the task of preaching should go side by side with one’s personal character and example.
pratyaha kara tina-lakṣa nāma-saṅkīrtana
sabāra āge kara nāmera mahimā kathana
āpane ācāre keha, nā kare pracāra
pracāra kareṇa keha, nā karena ācāra
‘ācāra’, ‘pracāra’—nāmere karaha ‘dui’ kārya
tumi—sarva-guru, tumi jagatera ārya (Cc. Antya 4.101–103)
“You are the great ācāraṇa-śīla personality who is doing three lakhs of Harināma-saṅkīrtana daily infallible way, in front of everyone you are always trying your best to glorify Śrī Harināma. Someone can follow pure strict ācāraṇa in his own bhajana life but not going for preaching, yet some other can go for preaching without the backing of perfect ācāra-ācaraṇa. You are following both ācāra & pracāra—both simultaneously without any compromise, so you are Jagad Guru and your divine position is above all.”
Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s famous declaration:
āpani karinu bhakta-bhāva aṅgīkāre
āpani ācari’ bhakti śikhāinu sabāre
āpane nā kaile dharma śikhāna nā yāya
ei ta’ siddhānta gītā-bhāgavate gāya (Cc. Ādi 3.20–21)
“Just I can play the role of a devotee with absolute practicing mood, and only then I can teach to others about what is called devotional service. Unless one practices devotional service himself, he cannot teach it to others. This conclusion is indeed confirmed throughout the Gītā and Bhāgavatam.”
Therefore, not everyone can carry the bow and arrows of Bhaktisiddhānta-vāṇī. First of all one must possess guru-bala and only after that one can go for preaching in true sense. Even Lord Rāmacandra who is the Supreme Lord Himself always used to show perfect anugatya of Viśvāmitra Muni. We know from Śāstra that “Guru-kṛpā hi kevalam”. Only according to the degree of submission one can achieve guru-kṛpā. Only then can one safely handle this most exclusive devotional power of (Bhakti-śakti) — Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī.
At present we can discover that all over the world many so called devotees are feeling busy to go for preaching to destroy the whole world whiteout having the perfect backing of ācaraṇa. The original Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī and the shadow of the original Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī both are not the same. Those false preachers always like to preach the shadow of that original Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī to protect their dirty self-interest and even they are always ready to hide the Absolute Truth.
To make a mentally concocted new style of the representation of Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī is not at all authentic, on the contrary this can be treated as a great offence unto the lotus feet of Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī-sevā.
Apparently it seems that Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī-sevā preaching increasing, but at the same time we must be very careful about the authenticity of those preaching. When all those absolute Vaiṣṇava ācaraṇas can be seen in applied form in our life then and only then we can go for preaching and not before that. That is the reason for why Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura expressed his great concern almost 160 years back about the false preaching of Bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī (gifted by Śrīmān Mahāprabhu Himself) what is going on at present.
Especially nowadays, it is very easy to share countless quotations, lectures, and vāṇī-vaibhava of our Gauḍīya Guruvarga, but unfortunately the irony is that we are less interested to follow the track of śrauta-vāṇī. In true sense nobody interested to follow the exact track shown by The Prabhupāda in the whole Gauḍīya devotional field.
Where is the genuine demand inside our heart to give absolute honour to those great elevated Gauḍīya sādhus, those who are always trying to project the Absolute Truth intact way and where is our absolute effort to go in the preaching field to represent The Prabhupāda in toto?
Gaura Hari Hari Bol