Establishing Śrī Nīlācala Gauḍīya Maṭha • If one is not impartial, one cannot defend the principles of true religion • Different types of charity • Instructions from Bhāgavatam on building temples • Kṣīracorā Gopīnātha • Realizing Bhagavān’s mercy requires the strength of sādhana
śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
Śrī Nīlācala Gauḍīya Maṭha
Gourbatsahi, Swargadwar (Purī)
30/10/77
Snehāspadāsu—
Mā Umā! Trying to appease everyone’s mind leads to no task being successful. In all such matters, you need to have some of your own independence. Not everyone is ready to take responsibility, but every hero is very busy trying to “show cause” when it comes to the minutiae of the mission. Who is going to bear the costs? There is no arrangement for whose cooperative efforts will run the maṭha and mission, but the budget is fixed. Can there be any logicality to this? The real issue is that while no one is willing to take responsibility for running the maṭha and mission, they will not stop throwing their weight around. That is why I have been sitting silent in regard to the affairs of the Purī maṭha for four years. I have seen who has bravado and how much, and I have also seen how much of an actual sense of responsibility they have. This maṭha is not my personal asset, and I do not want permanent settlement here. Still, apparently, Śrī Nīlācala Gauḍīya Maṭha belongs to Vāmana Mahārāja. Once the work is finished here, the deities are installed, and the maṭha starts functioning, my responsibility is finished. I am not going to come here considering it my birthright and sit on the beach to enjoy the breeze of the Bay of Bengal or count the waves. It is only proper that the Samiti should have a preaching centre in this famous holy place. That is all I have endeavoured to achieve. I have no hope for personal profit, worship, or prestige in this, and I have no intention of advertising any sort of bravado.
I have not asked anyone for any sort of financial support for Śrī Nīlācala Gauḍīya Maṭha and nor will I ever do so in the future. Of their own accord, a few people have made some small contributions, which I have accepted. I think it proper to express gratitude to them, and so I will put nameplates up containing their names. It is not possible in accordance with government law to list the amount of money donated on the name-stones, so the names will be listed according to merit. Those who tossed Śrī Nīlācala Gauḍīya Maṭha to the wayside and sneakily, secretly syphoned funds to other maṭhas will certainly warrant a critical review in the future. If you take someone else’s things without saying anything, it is called stealing, and once you have taken those things without saying anything, even if you say something later, it is still considered theft. That is what the law says. If you commit a crime and confess to it later, it is still considered a crime. That cannot be proven to have been justified. A foregone conclusion suggests impropriety and indiscretion. Similarly, if confession and compulsion are used to conceal fault, I also consider that injustice and dishonesty. It is my firm belief that if there is any sort of partiality in the management and administration of the maṭha and mission, no one can ever be benefitted. Śrī Bhagavān will grace you with the intelligence to understand all these matters someday.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [10.22.35] says: “Prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā śreya ācaraṇaṁ sadā – service to Bhagavān is effected through one’s life energy, money, intelligence, and words.” As one acquires paramārtha (the supreme wealth) through wealth, which forever entails suffering, it becomes sublime through dedication or, in other words, through full surrender or the offering of one’s heart and soul. Man’s hard-earned money is dearer to him than his own life airs, which is why people trade any person or thing of this world to hold on to this artha, which is actually an anartha (non-wealth, or impediment), and brings only sorrow in the beginning, middle, and end. If someone can, with his or her intelligence, utilize that wealth for paramārtha, then that man or woman is truly intelligent. Selfless charity has no comparison. Generally, people give charity for the sake of mundane prestige. They retain some ulterior motive in giving said charity. Therefore, they do not reap the actual results. That is why, in the Gītā and Bhāgavata, three types of charity are mentioned – sāttvika, rājasika, and tāmasika.
“Mamārcā-sthāpane śraddhā svataḥ saṁhatya codyamaḥ, udyānopavanā-kṛīḍa-pura-mandira-karmāṇi.” In this (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.11.38) and subsequent verses, [Bhagavān states]: “You should serve My home by beholding, touching, worshipping, serving, praising, and bowing [to My śrī vigraha and My devotees] by performing kīrtana of My qualities, becoming attached to hearing about Me, meditating on Me, submitting all profits and achievements unto Me, accepting a position of servitude to Me, submitting one’s heart and soul, performing kīrtana of My birth and activities, observing fasts and sacred occasions, singing, playing instruments, dancing, participating in iṣṭa-goṣṭhī discussions and festivals in My temple and on annual holiday festivals, offering gifts, showing love and attachment for the establishment of My deity form, and endeavouring to build flower gardens, orchards, playgrounds, fields, cities or residential areas, and temples, either alone or with others and, like a servant, with genuine sincerity, cleaning the śrī mandira, reapplying cow dung, and irrigating and landscaping the grounds. Giving up all pride and arrogance, you should surrender all that you aspire for and all that you cherish unto Me. In this way, your offerings remain everlasting, and you attain the ultimate destination of Vaikuṇṭha.”
I am delighted to know you participated in the deity installation festival and niyama-sevā in Śrī Kṣetra. Only you can say whether or not Remuṇā’s Kṣīracorā Gopīnātha will give you His darśana. In any case, if you are exclusively devoted to Him, He can steal kṣīra for you too and feed it to you. Darśana is a general privilege. When you have this much eagerness, then I think He will surely give you darśana. When you are on your way back [from Purī] that will be possible.
Śrī Bhagavān is omniscient. He fulfils our innermost desires. His mercy is also causeless and unpredictable. The living entity cannot even begin to comprehend His mercy and favour; that is why He is durjñeya-tattva (a truth seldom known). If a person wishes to realize His mercy, he needs the strength of sādhana. This causeless compassion cannot be experienced as long as mundane egotism or perception remains. Only by a sincere inclination to serve does it become a matter of realization. Iti—
Forever your well-wisher,
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Vāmana
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