The eternal service of Śrīmān Sundarānanda Prabhu • Like Bhagavān, the bhaktas are controlled by love • The true servant conquers the heart of his master with love • The servant is honoured and cherished • Awareness of one’s true relationship with another enables an eternal connection with them • Glorifying the sacrifice of motherhood to mediate between a mother and daughter
śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
Śrī Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha
Tegharipara, Navadvīpa (Nadia)
1/12/1982
Snehāspadāsu—
Mā Umā! I promptly received your affectionate letter dated 2/10/82. I gather that my previous letter gave you mental anguish and disturbed you. I was worried about that when I was writing that letter full of such sad news. But if I had not informed you of this pressing news, I would have been biding my days in extreme unease. In revealing that to you, I have tried to lighten my heart somewhat. You are a loving mother, which is why I have sought solace from you. I have somewhat found that solace in this present affectionate letter of yours.
Mother! Though you were delighted to see your son that day, it broke your heart to see his face downcast in the pain of loss. Surely this is very natural for such a loving mother as you. How the servant has brought the master under his control by his service, wherefore the master is overwhelmed and agitated in separation from the servant. Coming to know that you could perceive this too has made me indebted to you. While you adored Śrīmān Sundarānanda and he was the object of your special affection, you have also expressed the utmost regard for him, which is telling of your natural benevolence. What good fortune resulting from service Śrīmān has attained, to be like a shadow, rendering service that is deeply rooted in love, guarding and taking care of the object of his service, maintaining that connection for all time, even today, in both visible and invisible ways, through his absorption in service? This is something you have tangible realization of. Your firm conviction is that he has donned a form appropriate for his service and is present with his master. May this conviction of yours be efficacious and become a reality. Although today you all cannot see him in person, his is a fortune exclusively yearned for by genuine, intimate sevakas and sevikās of guru. Of this, there is no doubt.
You described an incident from Śrī Bhagavān’s pastimes in Dvārakā as an example. As Śrī Bhagavān’s conduct does not entail mundane predilections, His weeping is not a material affair like the wailing of a conditioned soul caught in the grip of illusion. Nothing that is related to Bhagavān, who is beyond the senses, can be measured by the material senses, as that would be but an attempt at exerting material control. “Vaiṣṇavera kriyā mudrā vijñe nā bujhaya[1] – learned men cannot fathom the gestures and activities of the Vaiṣṇavas.” The same applies to śrī guru. This statement is so true and, being the word of scripture, is full of pertinent import. Although, like Śrī Bhagavān, the bhaktas are completely independent, they become dependent by service. In other words, they adore their servants. The servant makes his master his own through intimate, loving service, and the master, out of loving mercy, also makes the servant his. This relationship between master and servitor, or the object of service and the servant, is eternal, as it is this sambandha-jñāna that perfectly establishes both in the eternal inner darśana.
Śrī guru-pādapadma is the all-in-all of those who have taken shelter of him, the life of their lives. He who expresses the pinnacle of service in all forms and manners is truly a viśrambha (intimate) or snigdha (loving) sevaka. He who can give his master so much love through service that he conquers the heart of his master is deemed a true sevaka. “Gurur sevaka haya mānya apanāra – the servant of one’s guru is venerable to oneself.” This is applicable to all types of sevakas, whether kaniṣṭha (neophyte) or viśrambha (intimate), though considerations of varying qualifications in regard to sādhana-bhajana are surely to be taken into account. Some are recipients of affection from certain people, whereas others are objects of service.
The servant, being “parama ādaraṇīya jīvana-svarūpa – supremely adored and dearer than one’s life” is cherished and venerated, for he is the recipient of love and affection. There is no room for misunderstanding in such a dynamic, and so the notion of aparādha cannot even interfere. Dedicated service, simplicity, amiability, and other such heart-winning behaviours enchant absolutely everyone. These are the special qualities of the sevaka. The love-besmeared and laughing faces of those who are beloved, as well as their loving words, which permeate their sweet dealings, conquer each and everyone’s heart, while the opposite sort of temperament, that of anguish, sorrow, and grief, impairs people’s hearts.
Too often, the living entities’ mental goals and ambitions find no refuge and fade into the material creation, but if they find a genuine connection, their ambitions meet with a response. If both parties are cognizant of their true relationship, then it is possible to maintain the connection between them. Only then does milana (meeting) and viraha (separation) really become a matter of experience.
A daughter has feelings like attachment, tolerance, anger, and jealousy. For her loving mother, affection, hopes, compassion, tenderness, possessiveness, love, fondness, blessings, pride, and ego are natural. The daughter needs and seeks love, and the mother is the giver of that love, keen on her daughter’s well-being and showering her with blessings. So, if you consider each other’s natural disposition, it is possible to achieve reconciliation. Another thing to consider is that these dispositions are a matter of inner realization and experience; they are spontaneous and in accord with the living entities’ souls. No one must decide who has what adhikāra (right, authority). That is something realized spontaneously in the heart. For the doting mother, pride and ego are natural. A mother can never give up on her dependents, and the fact that she held them in her womb speaks of her endurance. Why would someone who has accepted sorrow and pain as her duty lose her patience? To label her an undiscerning mother would be a denial of truth and would amount to being ungrateful. To forgive such a foolish child is a mother’s natural compulsion and characteristic of her love.
A mother and son can have a lot of discussion and questions and answers. It can also take a long time to test the relationship. But everything depends on the loving mother’s compassion. Kindness, proper direction, and instruction are also certainly necessary. If the mother blesses her child with her heart and soul, the son will never become conceited. If we make it our life’s vow to yearn for the service of śrī guru and Vaiṣṇavas with the natural and simple propensity of our hearts, then we can never meet with peril and misfortune. This I firmly believe. Who is going to bless whom? A qualified person can bless only a wretched, destitute, unworthy person. [One who is not wretched does not need blessing.] So, if the mother is capable of blessing the love-hungry son, then the son must be helpless and unworthy. Who is fallen and destitute? Who is going to test whom and cast judgement in this regard? Do not turn your back on your son. This is a special request of you. You will surely have to change the tone you wrote your letter in, otherwise your son will be dissatisfied. If you keep recognizing your love for your son, you will surely be able to fulfil my request and order. We will discuss in person who is whose refuge. Please accept my loving salutations. If you are displeased, I will forget about writing you and meeting with you in person. What more can I say? Iti—
Praying for the mercy of the loving Vaiṣṇavas,
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Vāmana
[1] Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 23.39)
Comments