sri sri guru gauranga jayatah!
Year 1, Issue 11, Amāvasyā
Speical Edition
Posted: 26 November 2019
Dedicated to and Inspired by
nitya-lila pravista om visnupada
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
Without Longing,
One Cannot Progress on the Path of Bhakti
Śrī Śrī Guru-Gauraṅgau Jayataḥ
Śrī Keśavajī Gauḍīya Maṭha
P.O. Mathurā (U.P.)
18 July, 1977
śrī śrī vaiṣṇava-caraṇe-daṇḍavat-nati-pūrvakeyam
Mā Umä, know that my affectionate blessings are with you. I came to know all your news upon timely receiving your letter, dated 8 July, 1977.
Pūjyapāda Śrautī Mahārāja [Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Bhūdeva Śrautī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura] stayed here [in the Mathurā Maṭha] for one month and left for Bengal just yesterday. Śrī puruṣottama-vrata was observed here in a nice way, for one month. Nevertheless, at Chuṅchurā, also, the way in which pūjyapāda Trivikrama Mahārāja made arrangements for observing puruṣottama-vrata with kīrtana and the recitation of Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatamṛtam and other devotional literature was indeed very nice, so there was no loss for you in any way.
To attain the opportunity to hear hari-kathā in sat-saṅga at home [in one’s own town], without having to make any exertion [to travel anywhere], is indeed the symptom of Bhagavān’s mercy. You are supremely fortunate, and therefore, you receive ample opportunity to hear hari-kathā in sat-saṅga everywhere. But you are not satisfied with that. There is a reason for this: without a heartrending longing, one cannot progress on the path of bhakti.
It is for this reason that the supremely merciful Bhagavān makes arrangements in such a way that a mood of longing and humility abounds in sādhaka-bhaktas. Also, Śrī Nārada Gosvāmī, who is fully conversant with bhakti-tattva, has sought the benediction from Bhagavān that whatever stage the devotee is in, be he a sādhaka or siddha, he never feels satiated by his performance of bhakti.
How is your mother, Gārgī dīdī and you at present? I will go to Navadvīpa after completing some services here, although it is still not decided when shall I go. I will decide that after I receive a letter [about this] from pūjyapāda Vāmana Mahārāja and Trivikrama Mahārāja.
It’s raining here and so the intensity of the heat has been dispelled. Others are all right. With steady faith (niṣṭhā) in performing śravaṇa and kīrtana of hari-kathā, you will continue to progress on the path of bhajana.
What else should I write? Tell me of your news from time to time. Thus I conclude,
Vaiṣṇava dāsānudāsa
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa
