Attached below is a stern reminder of the importance of following the four regulative principals.
It is dated 12/6/94, dictated by Srila Govinda Maharaja and sent as a fax to the leaders of Brasil.
May it serve us well.
Krsne matir astu,
Swami B.K. Giri
3/11/24
Dear Justin ______,
Dandavats.
We received your book order #14522 (Search for Sri Krsna: Reality The Beautiful) with payment.
It will ship via USPS Priority Mail to the following address with phone #.
[Omitted]
We expect the books to ship tomorrow and you should receive them within three days henceforth.
Recently we celebrated Lord Nityananda’s appearance.
In 1987 I completed work on the book Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura on Lord Nityananda’s appearance day and printed it soon thereafter.
I had originally intended to publish a different work — The Bhagavat Speech — by the same author. When I asked Srila Sridhara Maharaja for his permission to do so he said ”The more important work is Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts” so I undertook the task of printing that instead. Your book order caused me to remember this. As a result I am including a copy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts in remembrance of Sri Nityananda Prabhu’s merciful dispensation of the teachings of his master Sri Krishna Chaitanya.
In this Kali Yuga there would be no ”Search for Sri Krishna” — either in the form of a book or otherwise — without the mercy of Lord Nityananda.… Read More...
2/27/24
Dear Darren,
You’ve asked me a few times about guru and at least once asked if I am a guru. I sidestepped the question a bit because my direct answer to such a question is not very relevant. Suppose, for example, I answered your question ”Yes, I am a guru.” So what? Would the answer mean you should accept me as your guru? No. That is a matter for you to decide, not me, nor anyone else.
The better question for you to ask is ”What is a guru?” That is a question I can easily answer. Then, after knowing what a guru is, you can search for a guru, when your knowledge is firm that you know what to look for and you feel an urgent need for the spiritual guidance that only a spiritual guru can give.
If you want to buy gold, you have to know what gold is. Only then will there be any profit in searching for it.
If someone offers to sell you gold and you ask him ”Is it really gold?”, of course he will say ”Yes.” whether it is or not. There is not much value in such a question and answer.… Read More...
Sri Nityananda’s Avirbhava
CC Ādi 1.35
mantra-guru āra yata śikṣā-guru-gaṇa
tāṅhāra caraṇa āge kariye vandana
Synonyms
mantra–guru — the initiating spiritual master; āra — and also; yata — as many (as there are); śikṣā–guru–gaṇa — all the instructing spiritual masters; tāṅhāra — of all of them; caraṇa — unto the lotus feet; āge — at first; kariye — I offer; vandana — respectful obeisances.
Translation
I first offer my respectful obeisances at the lotus feet of my initiating spiritual master and all my instructing spiritual masters.
In pursuance of the above formula—
I offer my humble obeisances to my initiating (nama and mantra) spiritual master His Divine Grace Thakura Bhaktivedanta Swami — a Shaktyavesa Avatar of Sri Nityananda Prabhu — who appeared in this world to dispel the darkness of ignorance, give relief to the sufferings of all jivas, enlighten and give spiritual joy to his devotees and help us realize the purport of this verse:
CC Ādi 1.2
vande śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nityānandau sahoditau
gauḍodaye puṣpavantau
citrau śan-dau tamo-nudau
Translation
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauḍa to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all.… Read More...
While recalling the glories of Srila Govinda Maharaja’s avirbhava (appearance) it seems appropriate to present the following digest of his life to our readers. Those familiar with it will feel renewed joy reading it again. For those to whom it is new it will inspire an interest to further explore “his life and precepts”. — Swami B.K. Giri
His Divine Servitor*
Om Visnupada Astottara-sata-Sri Srimad Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj made his Appearance in this world on 17th December, 1929, at Brahmanparha, District Burdwan, only about six miles from Sripat Hapaniya where his beloved Gurudev made his Advent, also situated in the Holy Area of Gauda-mandal. Revealing his Pastimes to the conditioned souls of this worldly plane, at the tender age of only seventeen years, Srila Govinda Maharaj manifest his coming to the Lotus Feet of his Gurudev Sri Srila Sridhar Maharaj in April 1947 on the Holy Appearance Day of Sri Nrsimhadev (Nrsimha-caturdasi).
If any of the dear readers of this short account may have, or have had, the opportunity of hearing directly from other stalwart veteran disciples of Srila Sridhar Maharaj (an opportunity the humble writer has fortunately had on many occasions), such as Sripad Bhakti Prasun Aranya Maharaj, Sripad Hari Charan Brahmachari Seva Ketan Prabhu, Sriyukta Krsnamayi Devi, Sriyukta Ramarani Devi, and Srila Guru Maharaj’s own revered brothers and disciples Sriyukta Satyendra Chandra Bhattacharya, Sriyukta Amarendranath Bhattacharya and others – any fortunate soul will be able to trace the unbroken line of continuous unalloyed Divine Affection that Srila Guru Maharaj bestowed upon Srila Govinda Maharaj, and continues to eternally bestow from his Holy Abode in the Nitya-lila (Eternal Divine Pastimes).… Read More...
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: A noble ideal. The conception of the ladies, the lady conception of the ego, that is of a very noble type. Sacrifice is very much there, negative aspect. And the man’s aspect that is aggressive. But they’re [ladies] not aggressor, they’re sacrifice personified, that gradually that came to me. And I learned to appreciate that Sītā, Draupadī, all these, and ultimately the gopīs. The gopī group, the sacrifice, self-forgetfulness, self-sacrifice, self-surrendering, that is in acme, in the highest conception the lady aspect. The lady aspect, the passive aspect, that holds the highest, that came gradually in my mind. So mādhurya rasa, that consorthood, the highest position of Rādhārāṇī. So sacrifice, affection, that is there. Aggressor, the males are aggressor, they’re responsible for all difficulty and trouble, not the ladies. That came gradually, developed from inside, and some respect for their clan came within me.
So in varṇāśrama generally strī-śūdra, the śūdra and the strī, they are set apart. They have no right in the high religious functions. They should participate from little far, not direct participation. Indirect participation of the śūdra and the lady. A brāhmaṇa lady also, she does not get any sacred thread.… Read More...
Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharvika Giridhari
When: Tuesday Nov. 14th, 2023 from 2PM – 5PM.
Dear devotees and friends: We humbly invite you to participate along with devotees from Sri Gaura Vinoda Saraswat Sanga New Jersey in the grand festival for Sri Govardhana-pūjā.
Please come and join with us for the auspicious celebration of Sri Govardhana-pūjā. Festivities to include kirtana, readings (From Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead), discourses and prasadam.
Please RSVP via our contact page.
For your satisfaction we offer this audio lecture of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s talk on Sri Govardhana-pūjā day November 14th 1966.
Excerpt from: Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
”The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, thus advised the cowherd men to stop the Indra-yajña and begin the Govardhana-pūjā in order to chastise Indra, who was very much puffed up at being the supreme controller of the heavenly planets. The honest and simple cowherd men, headed by Nanda Mahārāja, accepted Kṛṣṇa’s proposal and executed in detail everything He advised. They performed Govardhana worship and circumambulation of the hill. (Following the inauguration of Govardhana-pūjā, people in Vṛndāvana still dress nicely and assemble near Govardhana Hill to offer worship and circumambulate the hill, leading their cows all around.)… Read More...
8/30/23 (Last day of the first month of Chaturmasya)
Dear Sriman Saraswat Putra,
My dandavats to you.
[You wrote:]
any sri chaitanya saraswat man i told of the chatermasya discrepancy in the calendar said it will not matter .
What others told you may or may not have been correct. I don’t know the circumstances or the conversation. This characterization of yours “any sri chaitanya saraswat man” doesn’t help much in evaluating how closely one should, or need not, adhere to the observance of the four months of Chaturmasya.
The rule is that one should carefully observe the four Months of Chaturmasya (as stated in the quotation of Srila Swami Maharaja Prabhupada I sent you which had been posted on the scsmath.com website).
Are there exceptions? Almost always. Here’s an example.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja: So penance, cāturmāsya penance, that has got also some necessity in the beginning, because we are under at present, such a plane that we do not know without enjoyment. Always calculating what benefit we can derive from that, going to have a connection with anything, the second thing, how much benefit I may derive from it. It is natural. So just to check that, to check that natural irresistible attempt in our present position, some restraint is necessary.… Read More...
Date: 8/27/23
Dear Saraswat Putra,
Thank you for your comment — “as far as i know the calendar has never had any chatermas , ect, dates 1981 — 2023.” — which has helped me to notice at least one error in the latest calendar we produced. I will immediately try to see that all errors in our calendar referring to Chaturmasya are corrected before the beginning of the second month.
Your statement is not wrong, but I think I am correct to note the beginning and end dates of each month of Chaturmasya based on the following quotation (highlighting added) originally posted on the scsmath.com website and which may be found at: Chaturmasya.
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga
Chaturmasya
Here at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math the devotees begin Chaturmasya on purnima (the full moon day). The following is a section about Chaturmasya by Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in his edition of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, (Madhya-lila 4.169):
Verse:
At the end of summer Madhavendra Puri returned to Jagannatha Puri, where he remained with great pleasure during the whole period of Chaturmasya.
Purport:
The Chaturmasya period begins in the month of Asadha (June-July) from the day of Ekadasi called Sayana-ekadasi, in the fortnight of the waxing moon.… Read More...
It has come to my attention that a number of calendars circulated by those representing themselves as Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math have serious defects with respect to the dates of observance of Chaturmasya. This is a result of omitting the beginning and end dates for each of the individual months.
Thanks to the efforts of Sriman Gokulananda dasa (who produces our calendar) these dates are correctly noted in our calendar which is intended for use by those in or near our geographic area of Oaklyn, New Jersey, USA.
Those outside our area may want to use our calendar as a baseline by which accurate dates for each of the months of Chaturmasya may be calculated for one’s specific location.
While this may seem a small matter to some, our gurus attached considerable significance to producing accurate calendars. This was true for Srila Swami Maharaja Prabhupad, Srila Sridhara Maharaja and Srila Govinda Maharaja. I personally witnessed the distress of the latter two acharyas when they noted an incorrect calculation, notation, omission or other discrepancy. In the case of Srila Prabhupada I’ve heard and read about his displeasure in such instances.
Mistakes can be excused, but they should be corrected. We are now more than a month into the first extended month of Chaturmasya and I’ve seen no effort to correct the calendars referenced above.… Read More...