I
offer millions and millions of heartfelt dandavat
pranati, obeisances, unto the lotus feet of my spiritual
master, nitya-lila-pravista om visnupada Sri Srimad
Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, and unto my
siksa-guru, nitya-lila-pravista om visnupada Sri Srimad
Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja.
My
siksa-guru, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, forcibly
dragged me to the Western countries. It is only by his
mercy that I am going everywhere in the world. So many
are hearing from me, only due to him. He especially
ordered me, in his last days, to help his disciples and
devotees, because he knew they would become very weak. He
knew they would give up the mission and object of life
that was preached by him.
So
many have no faith in the present Iskcon, and so many are
quarrelling. Nowadays, the most dangerous element is the
rtviks. They think they are the real inheritors of Srila
Bhaktivedanta Swami's Maharaja's mission, but actually
they are against him. Besides them, there are presently
so many sahajiyas who preach that Srila Swami Maharaja,
Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sara
svati
Gosvami Thakura, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are not
in the guru-parampara. These sahajiyas are trying to cut
down the tree of bhakti.
Many
say that Srila Swami Maharaja was a follower of the rtvik
system, but this statement is quite false. Srila Swami
Maharaja accepted the guru-parampara, Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda prabhu, and the goal of life
as shown by Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja
Gosvami, the Gita and the Bhagavat. Since Srila Swami
Maharaja accepted these principles, how can anyone say he
accepted the rtvik system? Nowhere in Srimad Bhagavatam,
Gita, or any other scriptures is it stated that the rtvik
system has anything to do with the guru-parampara and
bhakti. It has no connection with bhakti at all. The
rtvik system is only employed for the performance of a
fire sacrifice, for the fulfillment of worldly desires
(karma-kanda). It is totally irrelevant to our bhakti, to
Srimad Bhagavatam, to the Gita, and to our guru
parampara. Srila Rupa Gosvami never mentioned anything
about the rtvik system in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu,
Ujjvala Nilamani, or in his other books. Srila Sanatana
Gosvami has written so many books, but he has never
discussed the rtviks. You should therefore be very
careful. Don't follow them.
Also,
don't follow the sahajiyas. We should be very careful to
avoid trying to become 'goopis' or to follow their ideas.
Rather, we should try to follow Saptama Gosvami (the
Seventh Gosvami), Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila
Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and Srila
Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja.
Nowadays there
are so many devotees who were personally following your
Prabhupada, and by that they came in contact with this
transcendental life. But now they are thinking that he
was not sarvajna, not all-knowing or omniscient. What was
he? Foolish? Ignorant? You know in His boyhood, that
Krsna performed so many pastimes in which he appeared
like a totally ignorant boy. But that does not mean He is
ignorant or that He is not omniscient. And, if He is
omniscient, why should His associates not be so? They
must be. Some say that if Prabhupada knew that so many
sannyasis and others would fall down, he would not have
accepted them and given them sannyasa, but this argument
is bogus.
It is
for this reason, to correct all these misunderstandings,
that Srila Swami Maharaja dragged me to the West to
preach. He sent me to teach the devotees that they should
not be weak, and they should not go to sahajiya bhabijis.
They should be very careful. For this purpose, to protect
devotees from being misled by the sahajiyas, I have
written a book called Prabandha Pancakam, Five Essential
Essays. Try to read it very carefully and with firm
faith, so that you can defeat all the arguments that
these persons are now giving.
Demons come from
time to time, and they try to establish that
Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-Gita are nonsense. They
say, "Krsna was a very lusty person." They think that the
Krsna of Mahabharata is somewhat better and more
authentic than Nanda-nandana, and Yasoda-nandana. They
especially say that Krsna's rasa dancing is very bogus.
They say, "Srimad-Bhagavatam is not a very authentic
book. It is like mythology, and recently written by
someone other than Vyasa." Such persons are like Ravana,
like Kamsa, Jarasandha, and others; and that is why my
siksa-guru, Srila Swami Maharaja, told me, "You must
come; otherwise the devotees will be weak and they will
not realize the truths of Krsna consciousness. It is for
this reason that I am coming and preaching in this old
age to fulfill the mission of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami
Maharaja, which is the mission of my
guru-varga.
So
try to be very strong. Read the books of your Prabhupada,
and also my books. My books will give you further
strength to defeat all the arguments against him. Don't
be weak.
Lady
devotees should also be very strong to preach this
mission, and at the same time they should try to maintain
their lives. They should be like Srila Swami Maharaja's
lady devotees, who, although very young girls, preached
his mission everywhere.
[Srila Maharaja
was presented the newly published Harmonist magazine and
then commented:] The magazine, Rays of the Harmonist, has
now come, and it is so good. It contains very, very good
essays and articles by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, paramapujyapada Srila
Sridhara Maharaja, Srila Swami Maharaja, my Gurudeva,
Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja, and so on. These
articles contain many important topics. Try, therefore,
to distribute this magazine. I request Rama-Vijaya prabhu
to organize the distribution. Devotees should read them,
and they should also distribute them.
I
have now been preaching for a long time, without taking
time for writing. I have been preaching in Western
countries and Russia
, and
in Jagannatha Puri and Vraja Mandala Parikramas, and
therefore I could not translate any books. I want to give
you the very best books, like Ujjvala Nilamani,
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Bramha-samhita, Bhajana- Rahasya
of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and so many others. I
require some time to do this. Srila Swami Maharaja used
to go to Hawaii to write, for so many months at a time,
day and night. It may be, therefore, that sometimes I
will not be able to come give the morning class. There
are so many qualified devotees here who can give class,
like Krsna Bhajana prabhu, Dhrstadyumna prabhu, Sripad
Asrama Maharaja, Rama Sraddha prabhu, Vrndavana Vilasini,
and so many others. I will surely come to give the
evening class, and sometimes I may come in the morning,
to inspire you - but I also would like some time to
write.
You
should make a schedule of who will speak when, and I may
also come for some minutes. Each evening I will be here
from 5.30 to 7 o'clock, just after kirtana, but I think it will be good
if I also write something. I will especially write when I
go to Hawaii, as Srila Swami Maharaja used to
write.