sri sri guru gauranga jayatah!
Issue 29, Fortnightly Centennial Edition
Posted: 16 December 2022
In honour of the appearance day of
nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
and the disappearance day of
nitya-līlā-praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
You Are Not to Leave Before I Do
Appearing in English for the first time
Śrī Keśava Gosvāmī Gauḍīya Maṭha
Śaktigaḍa, P.O. Siliguri (Darjeeling)
15/9/82
śrī vaiṣṇava-caraṇe daṇḍavan-nati pūrvikeyam—
(Offering prostrated obeisance at the feet of the Vaiṣṇavas)
Pūjyapāda Mahārāja! In yesterday evening’s mail, I received the kind letter you posted from the Kolkata maṭha on 9/9/82. I returned here from Mathabhanga around 11 AM yesterday. On 8/9/82, I arrived in Siliguri from Bongaigaon, and having received two or three letters from Mathabhanga, I went there [the next day] on 9/9/82. The locals in Mathabhanga donated another plot of land and made an āśrama there, after the Mathabhanga preaching centre called “Śrī Gauḍīya Sevāśrama” was destroyed by flood. Gaurācāṅda was running that āśrama in his personal name, which is why we have not accepted [responsibility for] that place till today. Now he has left that āśrama, having sold most of its belongings, and gone to Vṛndāvana. The gentlefolk of that place repeatedly requested Śrī Vedānta Samiti to assume responsibility for the āśrama. I told them that they will have to cancel the previous deed documents that are in Gaurācāṅda’s name, and only when they make a new deed that accords with the rules of our Vedānta Samiti can we take this matter into consideration. They have agreed to this and made progress in creating the new deed. In this matter, I consider your approval essential.
My receiving the kind letter you wrote on 8/8/82 from Mathurā and addressed to Śrī Meghālaya Gauḍīya Maṭha was timely. From that, I came to learn the news of pūjanīya Śrīla [Bhakti Hṛdaya] Vana Mahārāja’s disappearance, descriptions of his samādhi ceremony and the virahotsava (separation festival). In that letter, I also obtained a chart* of your tour programme. Upon receiving your present letter dated 9/9/82, I understand that you received neither the telegram nor the letter I sent from Tangla [regarding Śrīmān Sundarānanda’s passing]. I had sent them to the Navadvīpa address.
___
*Whatever portions of the text are underlined were originally penned in English by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja.
Today, on Wednesday, 15/9/82, on the eleventh lunar day since Śrīmān Sundarānanda’s passing, the sannyāsī and brahmacārī sevakas of the maṭha organized vaiṣṇava-sevā in honour of remembrance of him. Almost two hundred and fifty devotees partook of prasāda on this occasion. During the evening assembly, five or six sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs gave talks on the glories of Vaiṣṇavas. Nikuñja-vihārī Brahmacārī read a special portion of your letter to the assembled audience. The Vaiṣṇavas are numb with grief by the absence of Śrīmān Sundarānanda, and their hearts are experiencing great pain. This much I have understood.
Upon receiving news that such a viśrambha eka-niṣṭha sevaka (exclusively devoted, intimate servant) as yourself is unwell, I am even more overcome with concern, alarm and distress. Are you enacting such sickness again and again just to test our composure? Once last year also you enacted such an illness. I do not know what Śrī Śrī Guru-Gaurāṅga Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārījī have written in our fortune, but I say there is no way you are allowed to leave before I do. If Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga do not fulfil our heartfelt prayers, I will consider myself utterly bereft of good fortune.
Please seek proper treatment. Take your medicine and a proper diet when you are supposed to, and rest. This is my special request to you. Wherever you can get good treatment, whichever doctor can help you return to full health, I will arrange for your treatment in that place. I understand that Śrī Banavārī Lālajī arranged for you to get good treatment from Dr. Sāreṅgī, and for that, I extend my special thanks to him. The Siṁhānīyā family are the kind of people that give even their lives in the service of the Sārasvata Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. The service they render in such a heartfelt manner and the love and affection they have for Vaiṣṇavas is incomparable. Śrī Gaura-Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārījī have accepted them into Their service in a very special way.
Gradually, the sugar level in your urine and blood should become nil [normal]. It is imperative that you follow the diet the doctor advises. At this time, your taking complete rest is what will really help this illness pass very quickly. It would be best for you to not move around too much and not strain your body at all. By delegating tasks to various sevakas and advising them, you will manage your duties with their help.
I have come to know that we received 980 bags of cement, and 220 more bags are coming. I understand that you are going to Navadvīpa with Vijaya Bābu. I also learned that pūjyapāda Trivikrama Mahārāja, Ācārya Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa-kṛpā Prabhu and others went to see you in Kolkata. From afar, I am trying to understand your suffering.
Mukunda has gone to Kolkata, and I learned that in the case there, the judgement was favourable. I do not understand at all why Gopī-kānta left Purī and is suddenly going to Mathurā. I read your letter to Acintya Gaura Prabhu and Tridaṇḍī Mahārāja. Though Tridaṇḍī Mahārāja is somewhat of another opinion, Acintya Prabhu has readied himself to go to you in Navadvīpa. He has resolved to stay in the Purī matḥa as per your order and advice. He will arrive in Navadvīpa with us. We will travel with the party this upcoming date of 24/9/82 via the NJP Passenger [train] and will arrive in Navadvīpa around daybreak. I will have to go to Kolkata for one or two days.
At present, my party consists of Kānāi, Govardhana, and Svarupānanda. Sannyāsī Mahārāja and Nikuñja come and stay with me from time to time. They too may arrive with me in Navadvīpa.
Please accept my countless daṇḍavat praṇati. When we meet in person, I will tell all and hear all. Iti—
praṇata dāsādhama—
(“a prostrated fallen servant”)
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Vāmana
Translated by the Rays of The Harmonist team
from Śrī Śrī Bhāgavata Pātrikā, Year-18, Issue 10-12
Śrīla Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja Centennial Special Edition- 2
