sri sri guru gauranga jayatah!
Year 4, Issue 3, Amāvasyā Special Edition
Posted: 1 April 2021
Dedicated to and Inspired by
nitya-lila pravista om visnupada
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
Enter Into the Message of the Gosvāmīs
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
Appearing in English for the first time
Śrī Śrī Guru-Gauraṅgau Jayataḥ
Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha
P.O. Mathurā (U.P.)
11 September, 1977
Mā Umā, accept my affectionate blessings. I received your letter dated 23 August, 1977 timely and became happy to know that by the mercy of Śrīla Gurudeva, you all are well.
To perform hari-bhajana is the greatest fortune of a jīva. Those who perform hari-bhajana are worthy of the topmost praise in this world. Not only uttama- and madhyama-bhaktas, even the kaniṣṭha-bhaktas are also worthy of praise. By praising them all, one attains hari-bhakti. Praising them is indeed praising Bhagavan, bhakta and bhakti.
You have now come to the third volume of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛtam in your study of it. You must study this grantha with full focus. Through the medium of various stories, this book explains all the highly, exalted siddhāntas of the Vaisnava realm in a simplified manner.
Within your mind, you should always reside in Vraja or Śrī Dhāma Navadvīpa. In other words, you should always think about those places. Try to enter into the message of the Gosvāmīs. By performing harināma and hearing hari-kathā with prīti (affection), all perfection is attained. This is the opinion of the scriptures.
Here [in the Mathurā maṭha] Śrī Śrī Janmāṣṭamī has been celebrated on a grand scale. There was a huge crowd in the maṭha for three days. Hundreds and thousands of pilgrims from the town as well as from other places visited the maṭha for darśana. For three days, there was a festival of saṅkīrtana, a recitation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, discourses, and an exhibition of photographs and dioramas of the birth pastimes of the Lord. There was a special excitement [among those visiting the maṭha] to view the exhibition. Śrīpāda Padmanābha Mahārāja, Śrīpāda Paramādvaitī Mahārāja, Śrīpāda Araṇya Mahārāja, Śrīpāda Tridaṇḍi Mahārāja and I gave discourses. In essence, the preaching took place in a special manner. By manifesting Their unprecedented beauty and sweetness, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārī attracted everyone.
Convey my daṇḍavat-praṇāmas to pūjyapāda Trivikrama Mahārāja. Convey my due obesaiances or blessings to all other Vaisnavas there. How is your mother, sister, Nirupama Dīdī and others? Send news of your well-being. I have not heard any news about pūjyapāda Vāmana Mahārāja. Thus I conclude.
Your ever well-wisher
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa
Translated by the Rays of The Harmonist team
