In remembrance of the

transcendental life and teachings

of rla Bhakti Pramoda
Pur Gosvm Mahrja
by r rmad Bhaktivednta
Nryaa Gosvm Mahrja,
A glorification written for the
auspicious occasion of his
112th Vysa-pj celebration,
11th October 2010
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Photo used with permission, courtesy of r Gopntha Gauya Maha.

His Appear ance and His Taking Shelter of

r Guru

Most worshipful nitya-ll-pravia rla bhakti Pramoda

Pur Gosvm Mahrja appeared in the village of
Gangnandapura, in the district of yaohara in present
day bangladesh. his childhood name was r Pramoda
bhaa Cakravrt. in his youth he had the good fortune
to listen to recitations of the sacred literatures written by
rla bhaktivinoda hkura. in 1915, on the auspicious
day of utthn-ekda, Paramahasa rla Gaura Kiora
Dsa bbj Mahrja entered nitya-ll. On that most
auspicious day, r Pramoda bhaa had the fortune
of taking his first darana of his eternally worshipful
gurudeva, r rmad bhakti Siddhnta Sarasvat Gosvm
hkura, rla Prabhupda. thereafter, in 1923, on the
auspicious day of r Ka Janmam, r Pramoda
bhaa completely surrendered unto the lotus feet
of rla Prabhupda and accepted both harinma and
mantra-dk (initiation) from him. he was given the
name r Praavnanda brahmacr.
Serving The Innermost Desire of rla
Pr abhupdas Heart

rla Prabhupda entrusted r Praavnanda brahmacr

with the responsibility of two extremely important
services: mdaga (krtana) and bhad-mdaga (book
publication). under the guidance of rla Prabhupda,
r Praavnanda brahmacr used to lead krtana at

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many events. and at times, his krtana performances

would even be aired on the radio. Many times when rla
Prabhupda heard him sing gopintha! mama nivedana
suno, he would experience deep pangs of separation and
wanted r Praavnanda brahmacr to sing the song
again and again.
rla Prabhupda bhakti Siddhnta Sarasvat hkura
rested the responsibility of serving the bhad-mdaga
upon rla Mahrja (rla bhakti Pramoda Pur Gosvm
Mahrja). For many years rla Mahrja offered
his services as the editor of the daily spiritual journal
Dainika Nadiy-Praka, carrying out the orders of rla
Prabhupda with steadfast dedication. Many articles
of his were also published in the weekly periodical,
Gauya. recognizing his genius for preaching r
Caitanyas message, rla Prabhupda awarded him the
titles upadeaka (instructor) and pratna-vidylakara
(exquisitely decorated with all ancient scriptural
wisdom).
Even after the disappearance of rla Prabhupda,
rla Mahrja served as the editor of the then monthly
periodical Gauya, which was published directly from
r Caitanya Maha (in Mypura), and for nearly forty
years after that he remained the editor of the periodical
r Caitanya-vi, which was published from r Caitanya
Gauya Maha (in Kolkata).
along with his service to the mdaga and the bhadmdaga, he also had the fortune of directly serving
rla Prabhupdas transcendental body when rla
Prabhupda exhibited the pastime of being ill.

His Service After the Disappear ance of

rla Pr abhupda

For almost seven years after the disappearance of

rla Prabhupda, rla Mahrja rendered service by
accepting the responsibility of head pjr in the temple
at r yoga-pha in rdhma Mypura. but a number
of years after that, when some disturbances arose in r
Caitanya Maha by the will of providence, rla Mahrja,
seeing no other alternative, left r Caitanya Maha with
a heavy heart. My beloved gurupdapadma, rla bhakti
Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja, established r
Gauya Vednta Samiti, and rla Mahrja stayed with
him for some time. it was then that i had his darana for
the first time and was fortunate enough to render some
service to him.
His Acceptance of Sannysa

after the disappearance of rla Prabhupda, r

Praavnanda brahmacr accepted sannysa from his
Godbrother rmad bhakti Gaurava Vaikhnasa Mahrja
on the most auspicious day of r Gaura-prim, in
1947, at r Gaura Gaddhara Maha, in the village of r
Campakahatta, r navadvpa. upon accepting sannysa,
he received the name r bhakti Pramoda Pur Mahrja.

unconditionally bowed his head to. For instance, although

rla bhakti Gaurava Vaikhnasa Mahrja was his
junior Godbrother, he still accepted him as his sannysaguru. and even though rla bhakti Dayita Mdhava
Gosvm Mahrja took shelter of rla Prabhupdas
lotus feet much later than rla Mahrja, he nevertheless
devoted almost thirty-five years of his life to fulfilling
the innermost desires of rla bhakti Dayita Mdhava
Gosvm Mahrja by editing books and magazines for
him and by contributing articles to the magazines.
rla bhakti rakaka rdhara Gosvm Mahrja
was first drawn to the lotus feet of rla Prabhupda
on account of regularly hearing hari-kath in Kolkata
from the divine lips of this same great personality, rla
Mahrja. yet, when the intimate associates of rla
Prabhupda accepted rla bhakti rakaka rdhara
Gosvm Mahrja as a highly exalted devotee, rla
Mahrja did not even slightly hesitate in also accepting
him as his ik-guru. and even though it was rla
Mahrja in fact, along with rla bhakti hdaya Vana
Gosvm Mahrja, who first brought rla bhakti
Kumuda Santa Gosvm Mahrja from his home to
the maha during his childhood, later, rla Mahrja
personally used to inspire so many devotees to take
shelter of rla bhakti Kumuda Santa Gosvm Mahrja.
it is impossible to find so much magnanimity in an
ordinary person.

A Life Full of nugatya

rla Mahrja was truly the embodiment of tdapi

suncena. he would always speak hari-kath with
perfect impartiality, keeping his eyes closed. he would
profusely glorify the r bhgavata-parampar and r
harinma. rla Mahrja lived an exemplary life, full of
nugatya (being under guidance). From the beginning of
his devotional life and for many, many years after that,
rla Mahrja demonstrated the ideal of living and
practising devotional life while remaining completely
under the guidance of his very qualified Godbrothers.
Even after establishing r Gopntha Gauya Maha
some time around 1990, he used to say, i am not
the crya or governor of this maha; rather i am an
insignificant servant. indeed rla Prabhupda and his
associates are the crya and governors of this maha.
nowadays, most people practising devotional life find
it quite difficult to genuinely accept as their superiors
those who are on the same platform as they are or even
those who are more advanced. however, it was seen in
the exemplary life of rla Mahrja that whoever he saw
as the object of rla Prabhupdas mercy, in whomever
he saw an intense desire to serve rla Prabhupda, he

Entering Into the Eternal Pastimes of

the Divine Couple

During the last days of his manifest pastimes (prakaall), he lived in vipralambha ketra, r Jaganntha Pur1.
it was there that by the orders of his var (the empress
of Vraja, rmat rdhik), to enhance the beauty of her
service, rla Mahrja entered into the eternal pastimes
of the Divine Couple on the eve of the autumnal rsaprim of r r rdh-Gopntha on the 21st of
november, 1999.2 On the autumnal rsa-prim of
Krtika, in the courtyard of r r Gopntha Gauya
Maha in iodyna (the garden of his var), which is
very close to r rsa-maala or in other words, rvsa
agana in rdhma Mypura, which is non-different
from r rsa-maala in Vraja he entered into the
permanent state of complete absorption in his eternal
service (samadh).
1 the place where r Caitanya Mahprabhu relished the
moods of rmat rdhik in separation from r Ka.
2 his divine body was transported from Jaganntha Pur to
rdhma Mypura.

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His Relationship With My Gurupdapadma

Most revered rla Mahrja had a very intimate

transcendental relationship with my beloved gurudeva,
nitya-ll-pravia r rmad bhakti Prajna Keava
Gosvm Mahrja. in 1990, for the occasion of my rla
gurudevas disappearance day, rla Mahrja penned his
humble expression of separation, which was published in
r Gauya Patrik (year 41, issue 4). therein he wrote,
Due to receiving divine guidance in the shelter of your
feet and due to being affectionately blessed by both 3
of you, in the initial days of his maha life this fallen
younger Godbrother of yours had the good fortune
of serving the lotus feet of the most worshipful rla
Prabhupda for three years. it was then that both of you
made your unqualified, fallen brother full of intense
enthusiasm to serve, by completely opening to him the
unlimited storehouse of your affection. at that time,
i had thought that i would spend my whole life in
rdhma Mypura, serving our most worshipful rla
Prabhupda, while constantly protected and guided
solely by your divine affection for me.

From these words, it is clear that rla Mahrja spent

the first three years of his devotional life in rdhma
Mypura, and that he had deep nih in my worshipful
gurudeva. because of that, he wrote elsewhere that rpd
Vinoda-bihar brahmacr was not just one of the exalted,
renounced disciples of rla Prabhupda living in the maha,
rather, he was the greatest of them all.4
rla Mahrja has also expressed in his article entitled
a humble Submission My Life Story:

It was then that both

of you made your

unqualified, fallen brother
full of intense enthusiasm
to serve, by completely
opening to him the
unlimited storehouse of
your affection.

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rla Prabhupda used to address all of his disciples

with pa, the respectful form of you. but when he spoke
to Paramnanda Prabhu, Vinoda-bihar brahmacr,
narahari Sev-vigraha Prabhu and Vaiava Dsa
bbj, he used the extremely intimate form, t. it is
certainly true that Vinoda-bihar Prabhu and narahari
Prabhu were the life and soul of the Mypura rama
(r Caitanya Maha). their pleasing, lovable conduct
would fill the hearts of the devotees with bliss, and that
is why they were objects of rla Prabhupdas boundless
affection. i think that throughout my entire life i have
never received such guileless affection from anyone as i
have received from these two Godbrothers.
3 the two Godbrothers mentioned here are r rmad bhakti
Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja who was known as
rpda Vinoda-bihar brahmacr at the time and r
narahari Sev-vigraha Prabhu.
4 From an article published in r Bhgavat Patrik (year 41,
issue 12)

Accepting Rpnugatya, Following in the

Footsteps of rla Pr abhupda

under the guidance of rla Prabhupda and his internal

associates, and in their association, the path that rla
bhakti Pramoda Pur Gosvm Mahrja traversed to
achieve perfection in following the footsteps of rla rpa
Gosvm (rpnugatya) he who fulfilled the innermost
desire of rman Mahprabhus heart is truly evident
in the internal emotions he has expressed through his
writings.
For example, in the preface to the edition of r
Caitanya-caritmta published by r Caitanya Gauya
Maha, rla Mahrja has explicitly stated:
in r Rya Rmnanda Savda, the love
experienced by rmat rdhik is recognized as
the crest-jewel of perfection (sdhya-iromai). but
when r rya rmnanda further explained about
prema-vilsa-vivrta the aspect of love in which
the experience of actual meeting occurs even at the
time of separation, by virtue of adhiruha-bhva5
rman Mahprabhu accepted that form of love as the
highest limit of perfection. Subservience (nugatya)
to the sakhs is the only way to achieve the sdhyavastu, the ultimate objective of life.

nijendriya-sukha-vch nhi gopikra

ke sukha dite kare sagama-vihra
sei gop-bhvmte yra lobha haya
veda-dharma-tyaji se ke bhajaya
rgnuga-mrge tre bhaje yei jana
sei-jana pya vraje vrajendra-nandana
r Caitanya-caritmta (Madhya-ll 8.217, 219220)

there is no desire for personal enjoyment in

the heart of any gop. they meet with Ka
and joyfully play with him only to give him
happiness.
Whoever develops greed for the ambrosia of
love of God tasted by these gops abandons the
religious duties prescribed in the Vedas in order
to render perfect loving service to r Ka.
and he who worships r Ka on the path
of spontaneous love (rgnuga-mrga) attains
Vrajendra-nandana in Vraja.
5 Adhiruha-bhva is the final limit of mahbhva, which
is the very essence of Kas pleasure-giving potency.
Adhiruha-bhva is characterized by the feeling that each
moment is like a day of brahm when one is separated from
Ka, and that a day of brahm is like a moment when one
is meeting with him.

therefore, one cannot earn the qualification to

perform vraja-bhajana (perfected internal service in
the mood of the residents of Vraja) if there is even a
trace of desire for the pleasure of gratifying ones own
senses. it is a fact that, vidhi-bhaktye vraja-bhva
pite nhi sakti devotion governed by the regulative
principles (vaidhi-bhakti) has no power to grant vrajabhakti (r Caitanya-caritmta, di-ll 3.15). and
since rga-bhakti is so difficult to attain, it has been
explained that, nma-sakrtanakalau parama
upya in this age of Kali, nma-sakrtana (chanting
of the holy names) is the ultimate limb of bhakti
(r Caitanya-caritmta, Antya-ll 20.8). When
someone is able to chant harinma without offences,
then harinma alone mercifully bestows upon him
the qualification to enter into rga-bhajana. Merely
displaying that one has acquired the qualification to
perform rga-bhajana without taking complete shelter
of the holy name is nothing more than impertinence.
it never leads to favourable results.

rla Mahrja has also stated in an article entitled

r r rdham6 published in r Caitanya V,
With such a vast depth of emotion, rla rpa
Gosvm, rla Santana Gosvm, rla raghuntha
dsa Gosvm and other Gosvms have lovingly sung
the glories of rmat rdhr. r Prabodhnanda
Sarasvatpda has relished the nectar of her glories
in such an unprecedented and astonishing way
in his r Rdh-rasa-sudh-nidhi. and the way
r rla bhaktivinoda hkura has composed
Sva-niyamaka and other prayers gloriously
demonstrates his intense longing to attain r rdhdsyam, the role of a maidservant of r rdh.
this same mood is also found in the writings of the
most worshipful r rla bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat
Gosvm Prabhupda. it is found in his Anubhya
commentary on r Caitanya-caritmta and in his
Anuvtti on r rpa Gosvms r Upademta. it is
found in his poetic translations of r Bhramara-gt,
r Mahi-gt and the ten states of divyonmda that
r rpa Gosvm described in r Ujjvala-nlamai.
and it is found in the magalcaraa, or auspicious
invocation, of his Prrthan-rasa-vivti commentary
on rla narottama hkura Mahayas Prrthan
and in the magalcaraa of his Gauya-bhsya
commentary on r Caitanya-bhgavata. the goal of
our constant endeavour is to imbibe these wonderful
expressions of yearning for r rdh-dsyam.
6 Published in English in rays of the harmonist, no.14,
Krttika, 2004.

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the day when my most revered spiritual master,

rla Prabhupda, first met his spiritual master, o
viupda r rla Gaura-kiora Prabhu, he saw
him walking towards r Svnanda-sukhada-kuja.
his appearance was that of an avadhta7 and he
was singing one particular song over and over. rla
Prabhupda wrote that song down with his own
hand and kept it with him, regarding it as the dearmost treasure of his bhajana. as the servants of the
servants of rla Prabhupda, our sole objective is
to seek out that secret treasure. the Six Gosvms
have demonstrated the ideal of weeping in profound
anxiety as they wandered throughout Vraja, crying
h rdhe! h rdhe! in performing bhajana, our
sole asset is our unpretentious cries to attain the
undisguised mercy of the embodiment of mercy
herself, rmat rdhr. there is no other means
to attain this treasure of devotion than by the
causeless mercy of r gurudeva. the song of devotion
that rla bbj Mahrja used to sing goes like this:

kothya go premamay, rdhe rdhe

rdhe rdhe go, jaya rdhe rdhe
Only when i sincerely offer my life and soul to attain
this extremely valuable treasure, feeling true anxiety
and deep yearning for it, shall i understand that rla
Gurudeva has genuinely accepted me. Oh, when will
such good fortune arise for me! the number of days
of my life is almost exhausted!

So many examples such as these can be given, but for

now, to prevent this offering from becoming too lengthy,
i have only presented these two.
The Causeless Mercy My rla Gurudeva
and Other Disciples of rla Pr abhupda
Bestowed Upon Me

in 1954 my most worshipful spiritual master, nitya-ll

pravia r rmad bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm
Mahrja, established r Keavaj Gauya Maha in
Mathur and entrusted me with the complete responsibility
of caring for the maha, from that time on. because of this
causeless mercy from rla Gurudeva, i had the great
fortune of serving and associating with most of rla
Prabhupdas intimate disciples. Whenever they would
come to Vraja, they would unfailingly visit r Keavaj
Gauya Maha, since the only inter-city bus and railway
stations in Vraja are both located in Mathur. rla bhakti
Pramoda Pur Gosvm Mahrja also came and stayed in
7 Monier Williams Sanskrit dictionary defines an avadhta as one

who has shaken off from himself worldly feeling and obligation.

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Mathur Maha many times. Moreover, on many occasions

like r navadvpa-dhma Parikram, various special
festivals, deity installations and so on, i received the
association of rla Mahrja. in this way, i had the great
fortune to hear about the precious treasure of bhajana that
i mentioned before, directly from the lips of the associates
of rla Prabhupda, and to store the glory of this precious
treasure in the core of my heart by virtue of rendering
service to them and receiving their mercy.
to prevent this extremely rare treasure of rupnugabhajana from disappearing from this world with the
passage of time, and to prevent the conditioned souls
from being deprived of it forever, wherever i travel in
my service of preaching, i provide aspiring devotees
clear insights, in line with the current of thought of our
rpnuga guru-varga; insights about r guru and r guruparampar; about the message of r rpa-raguntha
and the teachings of r Caitanya-caritmta; about
the profound purpose of r Caitanya Mahprabhus
advent and the speciality of his contributions to the
world; about the glory of r harinma-sakrtana; about
chanting without making offences; and insights into
the glories of vraja-bhakti, the transcendental love of
r rdh and Ka, and the sdhya (ultimate goal)
and sdhana (process) of devotional service. in truth,
my rla gurudeva along with rla bhakti Pramoda
Pur Gosvm Mahrja and the other associates of
rla Prabhupda are the inspirational source of every
insight i have. i am simply an insignificant servant of
my beloved gurudeva, nitya-ll pravia o viupda r
rmad bhakti Prajna Keava Gosvm Mahrja and
of the other intimate followers of rla bhaktisiddhnta
Sarasvat hkura Prabhupda, totally dependent upon
the spiritual inheritance they have left for me. besides
this, i do not have any independent existence or identity.
On the auspicious occasion of the appearance day
of rla bhakti Pramoda Pur Gosvm Mahrja, i offer
my daavat pramas unto the lotus feet of my rla
gurudeva, nitya-ll pravia r rmad bhakti Prajna
Keava Gosvm Mahrja and unto the lotus feet of rla
Mahrja, and i beg for their causeless mercy so that by
following in their footsteps i may attain the qualification
to engage in fulfilling the innermost desire of their hearts
(manobha-sev) that is, to practice and preach that
most precious treasure of bhajana, more and more.
Praying for a particle of the mercy of
r hari, Guru and Vaiavas,
r bhaktivednta nryaa
(Originally written in hindi)
translated from r r Bhgavat Patrik, year 7, issues 89