This article ‘Vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir’ was originally written by an unknown author under the editorship of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda and first published in the 8th volume of Dainika Nadīyā Prakāśa on 29th October 1933 under the title, ‘Rasa Yātrā.’ The article explains the dangers of hearing higher topics for the conditioned jīvas and how Śukadeva Gosvāmī has himself warned about this.
Within this manifest līlā of vipralambha, He veiled the dark-hued (śyāma-varṇa) form of His union-imbued (saṁbhoga-mayī) Krishna-mūrti with the golden radiance (campakābha) of Rādhikā. Thus, to the initial perception of the saṁbhoga-oriented observer, this “sannyāsī”-like Krishna appears as the embodiment of renounced enjoyment—a paradigm of relinquished union.
Based on and expanded from “Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Gosvāmī Prabhupāda” (Gaudīya 9.440-41), which was a list of sixty-five items authored by “Śrī-Caitanya-mathāśrita-sevaka-vṛnda” (the body of servants in the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Matha). It was compiled as it appears below by Śrīmad Bhakti Kusuma Śramana Mahārāja (formerly named Śrī Kṛṣṇa-kānti Brahmacārī), after the tirobhāva of Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura.
Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda said that—”To consider a nondevotee a devotee, and false bhakti as bhakti, is simply self-deception. Until one is fortunate enough to serve and respect devotees, he will continue to desire to fabricate that nondevotees are devotees. Can a crow become a peacock simply by wearing peacock feathers? Can a blue jackal become the king of animals? How long can cheating remain covered? The truth will certainly be revealed.”
True nirapekṣatā means refraining from supporting anyone out of self-interest. Often, we stand by those close to us even when they are at fault. By doing so, we unknowingly harm their spiritual welfare. Yet, we act in this manner out of selfish motives, driven by the hope of gaining some benefit from them.
O Divine Lord of Vraja, you who are the beloved life and soul of Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī (Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī), and who eternally reside in the transcendental temple of Your supreme pastimes, We, the most fallen and destitute souls, take shelter at Your lotus feet. Now that our beloved Gurudeva who is intimate servant of Rādhārāṇī (vṛṣabhānu-nandinī-dayitā) and a radiant embodiment of Your compassion, went (vraja) into the eternal embrace of his beloved divine couple (nija-nātha-mandiram), We pray that his mercy continues to flow upon us who is the shelter of the surrendered, I offer my deepest obeisances, time and again.
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhākura Prabhūpāda ( Translated for first time in English dated 17.12.2024 from Bhāgvata Patrikā Year 18_1972 -73 _issue_12, and Weekly Gaudīya Patrīka). Dedicated in the name of Gauḍīya Goṣṭhī Pati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī...
More than thirteen years have passed since the mahendra-kṣaṇa—the supreme moment—when the words of my śrī-gurupāda-padma first entered the cavities of my ears. From that very instant, I have been ceaselessly pondering the true essence of the word sevā. Sevā is the engagement of oneself solely in the satisfaction of the senses of the Supreme Transcendental Sovereign, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Adhokṣaja and Parātpara Para-Tattva. It is devoid of the slightest pretense, deceit, or disguise of self-sense gratification. The most piercing strike against the desire for self-indulgence, and simultaneously, the inspiration to embrace the free and fervent inclination to serve the senses of Kṛṣṇa—this potent(viryavati) and virile speech(vani)—I found in no so-called spiritual guides or preceptors.
In Sri Gaudiya Matha, the brahmacaris, sannyasis etc. are all bhiksus. I ask them to go out and beg. I alone have accepted the responsibility for this activity and in this work I will not bypass any house. Therefore I constantly send our men from door to door everywhere for bhiksa. For our preaching of the Holy Name of Krsna, for the sake of benefiting this world, we will approach everyone and accept something from them to use in Krsna’s service. Simply to collect money and convert it into stool and urine is the occupation of monkeys, not of the Gaudiya Matha. It is necessary to engage billions of Vaisnavas — such a service is assigned to me.
Sri Caitanyadeva gave the order to people throughout India, “Advise everyone, whomever you encounter: worship Krsna!” Thus He told them to make endeavours for God from whatever position they occupied, no matter where or when they lived or who they were.
Now, to carry out His commandment, there is no other course than to cultivate what we have learned at the lotus feet of our Sri Gurudeva. The only work for a worshipper of God is to see that His worship increases more and more. Our prayer should ever be that our attachment to Krsna may increase more and more. We do not want power and pelf. Nay, we do not even want cessation of further births.
Although for many years Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupad had assiduously accepted many austerities during Cātur-māsya, after founding Śrī Caitanya Maṭha and focusing on preaching he ceased doing so. He then followed only minor rules of Cātur-māsya: refraining from food forbidden for that period, eating only once a day, and shaving only on Viśvarūpa Mahotsava, which falls exactly in the middle of the four-month observance. He continued to execute Ūrja-vrata each year, residing in one place during Kārtika and practicing the directions given in Hari-bhaktivilāsa. Yet some of his disciples, mostly maṭha-vāsīs less active in outside preaching, continued to perform Cātur-māsya in all details.
The distinction between sat and a-sat is not merely subjective. One cannot become sat by simply wishing to be sat. The conditioned soul cannot get rid of his fetters of relative cognition by his own efforts. Mental speculation is bound to lead its victim into a blind lane. No amount of mental cogitation can produce real enlightenment or afford real relief from our blinding limitations. It will not do to call any condition good if it is to be found to be of no use to the soul. All impermanent relief is thus proved to be really illusory and, therefore, harmful in one way or another, in as much as it tends to perpetuate the delusion. This is the radical defect of so-called conventional morality. This defect cannot be removed by persisting in the old groove. It is necessary to find out a method of getting out of the vicious groove if any permanent and real relief is to be expected.
Anyone who out of deceitful purpose professes adherence to the Gauḍīya Maṭha, harbouring an intention to misuse the divine, transcendental knowledge of initiation, cannot possibly have any relation to the Gauḍīya Maṭha, and indeed he has none. The relation of these people to the reality of the Gauḍīya Maṭha is the same as that of a group of actors to the reality they are representing in a play. Gilt cannot replace gold, nor can the pretence of devotion shown by these deceivers ever be seen on the same level as true, pure devotion.
Many people think that the path of bhakti is covered with a soft bed of flowers. Blind faith, indiscipline, whimsical behavior, indiscrimination, sentimentalism, and emotional outbursts are all counted by them as being means of performing bhakti. But from śāstra and from the words of the ācāryas it is understood that, although the authorized path of bhakti is the only means of attaining the ultimate goal of life, it is full of thorns. Especially in this Age of Kali, the age of argumentation and quarrel, it is covered with millions of thorns.