Overview

The following talk was given by Śrīpāda B.K. Araṇya Mahārāja on October 4, 2024. In this talk, Mahārāja discusses the indispensable necessity of service and the spirit of sacrifice, and poses the question: “Are we willing to go to the gallows of destiny for our beliefs?"

During Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja’s Vyāsa-pūjā festival in 1982, he requested us to speak something in front of so many stalwart disciples of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. Guru Mahārāja was listening extremely attentively, and I was just thinking how much of a fool I was trying to glorify the heart of my hearts, but having insufficient words to express it. But what Guru Mahārāja was looking for was the feeling.

That was what Dāruka sent me the other day in relationship to the Upadeśāmṛta with Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja’s commentary – he expressed that feeling is all important. Vṛndāvana is all about feeling. It is all heart, and that heart’s loving sacrifice. There cannot be love without sacrifice, and one has to be willing to do whatever is necessary in the attempt to express such love. One must be willing to sacrifice even that which is seemingly most dear to us. There is no question of real love with any compromise from our side. In other words, Vṛndāvana means the absolute position of pure, unconditional love.

So here we’re being given that opportunity. And that opportunity is coming through the mercy of our guru–varga, who is represented by Nitāi. And Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja would say, “I have taken shelter here under the feet of Nitāi.” When he went to Ekacakra he wanted to take total shelter of Navadvīpa-dhāma, but he didn’t want to preach – he practically wanted to take up the life of a bābājī. So, he came before the Deity, and as he was offering his obeisances, an impression came within him, “You don’t go out and preach, but anybody who comes to you, you must preach to them.” Therefore, he took the middle path, and we are all a manifestation of the mercy that Nitāi inspired him with. We are the ones who have gained the benefit of that. Had he just taken to a secluded life, we would have never been able to share any of his deep realisations that he had in relationship to our siddhānta, the history of our sampradāya, what Mahāprabhu came to give, etc.

The spiritual master represents that food which is essential to our very existence — he is the nourisher, he is the giver of that food, and without that food, we cannot go on. And how do we get that food? Through service. First, there must be śravaṇam, hearing. We are hearing that which is coming through the medium of our guru-varga, via the Supreme Lord, and ultimately through Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, because She is the aspect of compassion. Without compassion, there is no question of guru.

Kṛṣṇa Himself comes as guru to disseminate that compassion and even He tries to experience that feeling which His most dear sevaka has for Him. He is sharing that sentiment. That is coming via the mahā-mantra, in connection with sevā. If we’re chanting, but we’re not doing service, then what is our chanting? The nature of the mahā-mantra is to engage us in service. “O Lord, please engage me in Your service. O Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, please engage me in the service of Your Supreme Lord.” This is our prayer, our ultimate aspiration.

But we have forgotten who we are. We are lost souls. We have amnesia, but our guru-varga is saying, “Wake up! Come on! You’re missing out on your greatest prospect!” I was telling one boy recently, “You’re denying yourself your real potentiality. Your potentiality is not to become a computer programmer, a photographer, or any of these things. It’s to wake up to the understanding of who you are and who is God. And what is your relationship with Him?” The more we take that in, the more we will feel inspired to tell others and share our realisations.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja says that Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura spoke about the Upadeśāmṛta at the saṅgama of Śyāma-kuṇḍa and Rādhā-kuṇḍa. First of all, vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ jihvā-vegam – establishing the foundation. We have our aspiration, but first we must make sure that our foundation is solid. We’re aspiring for that which is held in the hands of the highest devotees, but how are we going to get that if our foundation is not established? Ādau śraddhā – our śraddhā must be established firmly in sādhu. So if we don’t have firm faith in the sādhu, then how will we get to the guru? The sādhu is directing us to the guru.

Then the guru says, “Now do like this, do like that.” By following that, we become free of the things that are holding us back, the things that are covering us. We are our own worst enemy. We have so many material desires, but we’re not even conscious of some of those material desires. How do we become conscious of those desires? By hearing, by serving, by following the order of guru.

There will be challenges. We see in the mundane world how people are willing to sacrifice their very lives for a particular cause. We can take inspiration from that. They are so dedicated to their cause that they’re willing to sacrifice that which is very dear to them – their very life! We have the highest cause! Are we not willing to make that sacrifice? Are we not willing to go to the gallows of destiny? To hang for our ideals?

Don’t think that opposition won’t come – opposition will come! If we’re in the preaching field, and people speak something that is not correct, we must try to make an attempt to correct them in a particular way that they will accept it. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But at least we should not remain silent. Even sometimes people will say certain things against us, and we may be deserving of that. But we ourselves should be examining the faults within ourselves, rather than looking at the faults of others. We’re willing to take a few kicks. Should we think, “Oh, I’m getting kicked – I want to give this up!”? No. Love means, ‘I’ll get kicked, and kicked, and kicked, but still, for Your satisfaction, I’ll accept it. Whether You handle me roughly by Your embrace, whether You defame me, whether You curse me – whatever You do, it doesn’t matter as long as You give us shelter! That is all we want. We want Your shelter, which means the shelter of Your devotees.”

It’s a challenge – but are we up to that challenge? We have to be up to the challenge, because we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s unimaginable how we are here in Vṛndāvana, under Their shelter, but without a doubt, that is all Their blessings. The more we become convinced of that, the less we will deviate.

What risks did Śrīla Prabhupāda take? What risks did Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja take? What risks has our guru-varga taken to accept us? We are like jackals, tigers, dogs, rhinos and mad elephants. We were coming out of the jungle of material existence, and we have so many of those base sentiments within us. We have to fight those when they arise. When the mind suggests so many of these things, we have to cut out the mind. But how do we do that? By hearing, by constantly keeping in touch with the devotees, and by speaking to the devotees. In other words, by being open. That doesn’t mean being open to the whole world – we’ll not go out and talk to the street sweeper etc. You talk to the devotees who you have some confidence in, who are not going to give you wrong advice or betray you, or use that against you. But it takes time to build that type of confidence. That doesn’t happen overnight, and Kṛṣṇa will put us through many ordeals to test our resolve.

When you have a small number of devotees, you realise how valuable everybody is. But when you have big numbers, you lose that. When you have small numbers, you realise how everyone’s service is essential. If one person isn’t there to serve, then there’s a gap. You feel it.

Sometimes we take each other’s association for granted. We don’t realise what we have until we lose it. So, the point is – don’t lose it! I spent all those years ‘across the river’ so to say, until Narasiṅgha Mahārāja came and really rekindled things in me. It was there, but I didn’t have anybody to express it to freely. But Narasiṅgha Mahārāja was that person. Śrīla Prabhupāda and Guru Mahārāja sent him to rescue me out of that situation and allowed that which Guru Mahārāja and Śrīla Prabhupāda gave to have an opportunity to grow.

About the Author: Śrīla Bhakti Kiśora Āraṇya Mahārāja

Śrīla Bhakti Kiśora Aranya Mahārāja is a disciple of Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda and Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī. In the 1970s he served Śrīla Prabhupāda as one of the foremost book distributors in North America and in 1981 he met his śikṣā guru Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Deva Gosvāmī who he served under for many years. In the 1990s he permanently took up residence in Vṛndāvan and became an Indian citizen. He has re-established the Rupanuga Bhajan Ashram in Vṛndāvan in connection with the disciples of Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasiṅgha Mahārāja.