Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura, The saviour, The Destroyer
Question – MAHÄRÄJA JÉ, few Iskcon devotees happened to visit Präcéna Mäyäpura Dhäma last month and when they spoke with the saints over there, they came to know that, there were a lot of changes being made by Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura jé, and they were telling that they totally re-made… So MAHÄRÄJA JÉ, what all changes he made? If You can elaborate.
MAHÄRÄJA JÉ – Sampradäya means–
‘samyak pradäyate iti sampradäya’
Sampradäya means, the current Guru is giving exactly the same, which he got from his Guru, his Guru got from his Guru, and his Guru got from his Guru.
When one is giving the same teachings, same everything which he got from the Guru, and is bestowing, then the recipient is getting the right thing. And, that is the only definition of a bonafide Guru. He is giving exactly word to word same, 100% same, what his Guru has given to him. If one makes any changes then one is not in anugatya.
I want to put something in your notice. Who is the father of Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura jé? Bhakti Vinoda Öhäkura.
And who is the allegedly Guru of Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura jé?
Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé.
My question is– He must have seen his father any day in his life. If not every day of his life. If he was with his father in his home, then every day he must have seen his father putting on a certain tilaka, and if he took diksha from Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, he must have seen Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé also putting up a certain tilaka!
So, my question is, if he saw… Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura was living with his father, and he had a Guru in the form of Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja, so he must have heard the Païca Tattva Mantra from both of them! Like we chant Païca Tattva Mantra so lovingly, so obviously, Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura must have chanted Païca Tattva Mantra so lovingly and must have given to so many of his followers and disciples. And also, Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé must have chanted Païca Tattva Mantra lovingly and must have also given it to his followers.
They lived in the same house and Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura jé, and he met Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé also, and he must have heard the Païca Tattva Mantra. The simple question is– Is Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté doing the same Païca Tattva Mantra which Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura were doing or which Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé were doing and Jagannätha Däsa Bäbäjé was doing? He must have heard. It is not that he never heard the Païca Tattva Mantra in his home. He never heard the Païca Tattva Mantra from his Guru. He must have heard. The Païca Tattva Mantra done from centuries is, which Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé did, and Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura did, and Jagannätha Däsa Bäbäjé also did.
You know what the Païca Tattva Mantra was? We also do the same Païca Tattva Mantra. The Mantra is –
çré gauräìga nityänanda çré advaitacandra,
gadädhara çréväsädi, gaura bhakta vånda
This Païca Tattva Mantra was always done by Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, is still done by the followers of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, I know their grand disciples, Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura’s grand disciples.
And you can go to Samädhi of Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, you’ll see the same Païca Tattva Mantra being chanted there also and there is a original Samädhi of Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé also in Präcéna Mäyäpura. You can go there and see the same Païca Tattva Mantra is being chanted there also. And, I have heard from saints that this Païca Tattva Mantra was started somewhere by… I think, somewhere around Haridäsa Öhäkura jé.
So, the question is– are we supposed to chant the ancient Païca Tattva Mantra or some newly invented Païca Tattva Mantra?
It is not that Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura never heard from his father or his Guru, the Païca Tattva Mantra. But he chose to start a new Païca Tattva Mantra. He got dékñä from Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, then, he must have been given/told Païca Tattva Mantra also. Do you think there was any need to change the siddha Païca Tattva Mantra which all the siddhas have done in the last 500 years in Gauòéya Vaiñëava sampradäya? Is there any need to change that?
All of a sudden, he changed everything in Gauòéya Vaiñëava Sampradäya. He thought everything was wrong. He changed the Païca Tattva Mantra. How can the Païca Tattva Mantra also be wrong?
Okay, a person chanting Païca Tattva Mantra may not be a good person, okay. He may be a drunkard also. But Païca Tattva Mantra is from 500 years ago and is still going on. And which your father also chanted! Which your Guru did! You disregarded what your Guru did, you disregarded what your Siddha father did!
How could you do that?
Why did you do that?
And you are with your father from so many years, in his house. You must have seen your father doing Maìgala Äraté. What Maìgala Äraté did he did? What Pada-gänas he did? You must have heard him many times in your life.
And your Guru, Çréla Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, you must have heard, seen him do Maìgala Äraté, you must have heard the same Pada-gänas? Because Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, Jagannätha Däsa Bäbäjé, they did the same Padas. They did the Maìgala Äraté in the same way. We also do in the same way. But again, despite seeing how Maìgala Äraté was being done by your father, siddha father… despite seeing your Guru, Siddha Guru. Despite seeing that, you chose, you invented a new form of Maìgala Äraté, in which there is no Pada-gäna.
Iskcon, they don’t know any Pada-gäna of any Deities. Other than Iskcon & Gaudiya maöha, everywhere you see in Gauòéya Vaiñëava Sampradäya, whether it is Rädhä Kuëòa, Jagannätha Puré, Mäyäpura, Våndävana, anywhere you go and see, you will see everyone is doing the same Maìgala Äraté, which was being done by Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, Jagannätha Däsa Bäbäjé, or anyone. We all do the same Maìgala Äraté, except Gaudiya maöha & Iskcon, everyone does the same Maìgala Äraté. Despite knowing, despite hearing Maìgala Äraté form the father and Guru, again Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté chose another way.
And, one can claim that Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté didn’t really notice what Maìgala Äraté Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura was doing. One can claim that he never heard any Païca Tattva Mantra, from his father or Guru, one can claim that also.
But can you claim another thing that he ever saw the face of his father? His father used to put tilaka every day, (Dvädaça) tilaka. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura’s Tilaka was like this, he was from Nityänanda Parivära, he never saw his father put Tilaka? Or did he? He must have seen his father with Tilaka. This Tilaka! Yes!
And you know Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, he used to put a circular Tilaka, Advaita Parivära… He was from Advaita parivära. He used to put circular Tilaka. And how was the circular Tilaka? You can go to the Samädhi of Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé in Rädhä Kuëòa. You can see the picture of Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé, who is also from Advaita Parivära. Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé is from Advaita Parivära. Even if you are Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé, you have to be in some Parivära.
So, he is from Advaita parivära, he used to put a certain kind of tilaka and same tilaka Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé used to put. And the same….Guru always gives tilaka to the disciples. Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura must have got this Tilaka from Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé? Yes.
He must have seen Nityänanda Parivära tilaka of his father? Yes.
But he chose neither to put tilaka of Nityänanda Parivära or Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé parivära, and he chose to invent a new tilaka.
He invented the new Maìgala Äraté.
He invented a new, fake Païca Tattva Mantra.
Now this is another fake thing, called fake tilaka.
The tilaka that Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé puts, Raghunätha Däsa Gosvämé left his body around 500 years back. Same tilaka is being put on his Samädhi. And same tilaka he puts in Nitya Navadvépa, the Spiritual world Navadvépa.
So, the tilaka which a disciple gets in a parivära, in a family, Nityänanda family or Gadädhara family, that’s the eternal Tilaka. Your Siddha Guru from Advaita parivära, Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé gave you tilaka, and you chose not to put that also!
How can one be so offensive!
I mean, you are not putting the Tilaka given by your Guru! You are not putting Tilaka on your father. And rather you have invented… They all used to put black tilaka, you have invented yellow tilaka, that too with tulasi leaf. This is not eternal Tilaka in Nitya Navadvépa.
In the spiritual world, in Navadvépa Dhäma, Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté tilaka is not an eternal Tilaka, no one puts it. And the tilaka which we are putting, everyone in Nityänanda parivära puts that, the same tilaka. Millions of devotees in the spiritual world put the same tilaka, including Lord Nityänanda.
Question to Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura is– You are putting a yellow tilaka, what is the origin of your tilaka? Origin of our tilaka is Nityänanda, Lord Nityänanda.
Origin of Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé’s tilaka is Advaitäcärya. Origin of certain tilakas is Vakreçvara Paëòita, for some it is Narahari Sarkära. Some eternal Nitya Siddha Pärñada of the Lord. And all tilakas are 500 years old. No tilaka is recently invented.
Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura chose to invent a new Tilaka. Chose to invent a new Païca Tattva Mantra. And he chose to invent a new form of Maìgala Äraté.
And, he invented Guru Praëäma Mantra also! ‘namaù oà viñëupädäye’.
My simple question to you is– Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura jé, please tell us, what your Gurudeva, Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé, what praëäma mantra he always did? Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé had Guru, Nanda Kiçora Gosvämé. What Praëäma Mantra he did of Nanda Kiçora Gosvämé? You tell us the simple answer to this question. What Praëäma Mantra he did of his Guru? You had your father, Bhakti Vinoda Öhäkura. Yes.
You lived in the same house? Yes.
You must have heard the Praëäma Mantra which Bhakti Vinoda Öhäkura did of his Guru? Please tell us.
Jagannätha Däsa Bäbäjé.. you are putting in the Altar. What Praëäma Mantra he did of his Guru? Please tell us.
If you say, no they were Gosäé, so we didn’t do the praëäma Mantra of married Gurus. Okay.
Then you have so many married Gurus in your institution Iskcon, Kratu Prabhu and Saìkarñaëa Prabhu then why are they doing their praëäma Mantra? They are married. Saìkarñaëa Prabhu is married, Prithu Prabhu is married. You have Iskcon Gurus who are married. Their disciples do their praëäma mantra. Then you think what you know, Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé didn’t know?
Did Gaura Kiçora Däsa Bäbäjé ever do any praëäma mantra of his Guru?
Did Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé do the praëäma mantra of his Guru?
Forget everything about the direct disciple of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura… You do ‘namo bhakti Vinodaye’, direct disciple of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, Çréla Lalita Prasäda Öhäkura. I asked devotees from their lineage, the grand disciples of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura– Do you do any praëäma mantra of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura?
They said no! No one does the praëäma mantra of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura in their lineage, and you are doing, inventing something new… Why you did what you did, can you please tell us!
There is no praëäma mantra of any siddha Guru, no matter how siddha, how big he is, in the entire Gauòéya Vaiñëava lineage, or any other Sampradäya.
Why did you invent something new? Is this allegiance?