Centennial Editions III

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Knowing that most worshipful Śrī Śrīla Gurudeva is gradually feeling more weakness filled me with concern and pain. All of you there, especially you, must take special care of him.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝You have asked about the glories of the month of Kārtika. In the month of Kārtika many pastimes of Kṛṣṇa took place: (a) On the very first day of Kārtika, that is, on [Śāradīya-]pūrṇma, mahā-rāsa took place in Vaṁśivaṭa in Vṛndāvana, and the supremacy of Śrīmatī Rādhikā was established. (b) In this Kārtika month, Mother Yaśodā bound Kṛṣṇa to a grinding mortar with the rope of her love. Prior to this, in any of His other manifestations, no one was able to bind Kṛṣṇa.... ❞

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝The ultimate fruit and success of everything in this world, or all assets  – that is, all studying, writing, reading of Veda, sacrifice, chanting, austerity, vaidhī-bhakti and rāgānuga-bhakti – is the attainment of service to the lotus feet of śrī guru, who is a non-different manifestation of  Bhagavān, Śrī Hari Himself. Or is the result of service to guru attachment to mundane knowledge and sense enjoyment? I think that attachment to material learning and the acquirement of wealth, women, prestige, and sense enjoyment can never be the result of guru-sevā.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Service to Hari, Guru and Vaiṣṇavas is not easy, as various types of obstacles and impediments arise from time to time to examine us. In the absence of such obstacles, what else would serve as the barometer of our progress and service attitude? Through this measuring stick alone, it can be understood how much progress one has made.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝My health is not good, so the doctor now wants me to get admitted into the hospital in Delhi. But after receiving the letter from Śrīpāda Trivikrama Mahārāja and Śrīpāda Hari Bābū, I have postponed that and have reserved a sleeper berth on the train travelling to Bengal on 28.01.69.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Even before receiving your letter, a thought arose in my heart similar to the thought that arose in yours, that due to lack of funds, there may be some insufficiency in service to Śrīla Gurudeva. For this reason, 4–5 days ago, I informed Paryaṭaka Mahārāja by letter that if in personal service to Śrīla Gurudeva or for any other purpose there is a need of money, then simply by his hint to me, I will send the money. I told him to not hesitate in any way.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝He [Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja] said that a person who has seen through his ears is fit to be relied upon. We can trust him. But seeing with one’s eyes? Duryodhana and Kaṁsa saw [Kṛṣṇa] with their eyes, but their perception was wrong. But whatever Śukadeva Gosvāmī and our Uddhavajī described was after they had seen through their ears and was correct. There cannot be any mistake or error in their perception.  Whatever we hear from eternally liberated mahāpuruṣas is right, and we should rely upon that. But seeing through one’s eyes has many flaws.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝I am concerned about you – how your life can be happy and peaceful and how it, can be like a lamp-post, an ideal, that rises somewhat above standard of the common masses. Then thousands and lakhs of people can accept you as a role model and gain inspiration in their lives. Your life shouldn’t just be about taking birth, passed in full of gratification and dying. May your life be like the greatly learned Gārgī, Maitrāyī, Arundhatī, Anusūyā and Mīrā, and you may be able to spread the rays of [transcendental] light in the world. ... ❞

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝You are blessed to have attained service to such a gurudeva. What instruction can I give you? Indeed, if you would explain to me matters regarding service to him – how he will be pleased – then someone like me, a low and worthless jīva who has been deprived of guru-sevā, may attain auspiciousness. You are most fortunate. Sincerely and one-pointedly continue to serve śrī gurudeva’s lotus feet.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝By the mercy of this mahāpuruṣa [Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja], in the time spanning the past twenty-six years, Kali has not yet been able to exert any influence over me. I offer my śraddhā-puṣpāñjali unto the lotus feet of this mahāpuruṣa.❞ ...

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Prema and genuine humility are synonyms; they are mutually complementary.  Therefore, as far as possible, do not, with your body, speech and mind respectively, perform any such activity, speak any such words, or produce any such thoughts and resolves by which your humility diminishes. Only when the genuine humility becomes steadfast can bhāgavata-prema manifest. This is the opinion of all great saintly personalities.❞ ..

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja

❝Yaśodānandana and Devakīnandana are one from the perspective of tattva, but from the perspective of rasa, each has a speciality (vaiśiṣṭya). Devakīnandana may not wear peacock feather or carry a vaṁśī and a stick (for cow grazing), and He may not be adorned in the attire and mood (abhimāna) of a gopa, but He can at least experience separation (viraha). Whenever topics of Vraja are discussed in Mathurā and Dvārakā, then, through the medium of those narrations, Yaśodānanadana Gopī-vallabha Kṛṣṇa appears within in Vāsudeva-Kṛṣṇa [Devakīnandana].... ❞