sri sri guru gauranga jayatah!
Issue 16, Fortnightly Centennial Edition
Posted: 26 August 2022
In honour of the centennial appearance year of
nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
Dedicated to and Inspired by
nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
Studying the Scriptures
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
Appearing in English for the first time
For poets, novelists, and littérateurs, discussions on the nature of God constitute the utmost limit of their pursuits. If connoisseurs of literature and lovers of poetry do not accept the subject of God as the focus of their deliberations, theirs is a fruitless toil. Hence, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the king of sacred scriptures, says: “That discourse or literature, no matter how eloquent, which never extols the glories of Vāsudeva, sanctifier of universes, is likened by scholars to a place of pilgrimage for crows.” This is because saints who abound in Parabrahma, the Supreme Being, take no delight in such discourses. In the kingdom of mundane pleasures, conditioned souls read and promote books concerned with gross sensuality. Transcendental poets and littérateurs adept in bhagavad-rasadisplay only disinterest in this mundane poetry and literature, knowing it all to be but fleeting ventures averse to the service of Hari. On the other hand, utterances that extol Bhagavān’s glorious śrī nāma may not maintain perfect tune, beat, tempo, and metre at every progression, but those utterances destroy people’s sinful tendencies. That is all that saintly personalities hear, recite, and remember daily, thus reaping ultimate benefit for their souls. Utterances that do not describe Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes – the various topics bereft of Bhagavān’s glories that are propagated around the world – offer nothing for the scrutiny of any intelligent person.
11/11/1970 (Letter 5)
written to Śrīmatī Umā Dīdī
As long as the jīva fails to mold his life in correlation with the conclusions of scripture, he will always end up following the wrong path.
24/6/1975 (Letter 25)
If one follows the instructions and ordinances Śrī Bhagavān has installed in the scriptures to the best of one’s ability and fashions a life in accordance with them, then one’s attraction to Him increases.
26/6/1975 (Letter 26)
If you hear from the worshipful mouths of the Vaiṣṇavas, then you will readily understand whatever you do not understand in your reading. This is because their words and utterances retain a special potency. Scripture recommends seeking the company of the sādhus through their literatures only when one is bereft of direct sat-saṅga. Sādhu, guru, and Vaiṣṇavas carry Śrī Bhagavān in their hearts. The sādhus are Bhagavān’s heart, and Bhagavān is the sādhus’ heart. Therefore, Vaiṣṇavas are adepts and veritable encyclopedias of the essence of all Bhagavān’s instructions.
9/9/1975 (Letter 29)
Every person who is thirsty for bhajana has accepted the crest jewel of all evidence, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the sovereign scripture, as the greatest word of proof (śreṣṭha śabda-pramāṇa).
12/10/1988 (Letter 96)
Even if one cannot remember anything, studying scripture and discussing it is a vital duty.
12/10/1992 (Letter 113)
If there is difficulty in receiving teachings and instructions from sādhu and guruin person, scripture grants the provision of associating with sādhus in the form of sacred texts. The lives and words of exalted personalities are synonymous. Should the sādhaka and sādhikā study and discuss them, they reap the ultimate welfare for their souls.
21/9/1970 (Letter 2)
written to Śrīmatī Umā Dīdī
Excerpts from the upcoming book A True Servant, A True Master, a collection of letters from
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Translated by Rays of The Harmonist team
