Sarvabhuoma Batacarya

"Why have you changed the original verse?" the Lord asked Bhaṭṭācārya. "The word is mukti, and you have changed it to bhakti."

Balarama had three wives and nine sons. The youngest son of his first wife was known as Madhusūdana Gosvami. He took the title Bhattacarya and accepted the path of the smarta or Mayavada philosophy. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura notes that the son of Gosvami Bhattacarya, Sri Radharamana Gosvami Bhattacarya, refused the title gosvami because it is generally meant for sannyasis, those who have taken the renounced order of life. One who is still in family life should not misuse the title gosvami. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura did not recognize the caste gosvamis because they were not in the line of the six Gosvamis in the renounced order who were direct disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu-namely, Srila Rūpa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Bhatta Raghunatha Gosvami, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that the grhasthasrama, or the status of family life, is a sort of concession for sense gratification. Therefore a grhastha should not falsely adopt the title gosvami. The ISKCON movement has never conferred the title gosvami upon a householder. Although all the sannyasis we have initiated in ISKCON are young, we have awarded them the titles of the renounced order of life, svami and gosvami, because they have completely dedicated their lives to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura mentions that not only do the householder caste gosvamis disrespect the title gosvami, but also, following the principles of the smarta Raghunandana, they exhibit great foolishness by burning a straw image of Advaita Acarya in a sraddha ceremony, thus acting as Raksasas and disrespecting the cause of Hari-bhakti-vilasa, which is the guide for Vaisnavas. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that sometimes these smarta caste gosvamis write books on Vaisnava philosophy or commentaries on the original scriptures, but a pure devotee should cautiously avoid reading them. (More...)

At the request of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then explained the atmarama verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam in eighteen different ways. When the Bhattacarya came to his senses, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu disclosed His real identity. The Bhattacarya then recited one hundred verses in praise of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and offered his obeisances. After this, Gopinatha Acarya and all the others, having seen the wonderful potencies of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, became very joyful. (More...)

The Lord then requested Bhattacharya to go and see Jagannath temple. Bhattacharya then started out for Jagannath temple, accompanied by Jagadananda and Damodar, two principal associates of Lord Chaitanya. He returned to his home after seeing Jagannath temple, and brought with him much nice Prasadam purchased from the temple. He sent all this Prasadam to Lord Chaitanya through his Brahmin servant, and also dispatched two verses written by him on palm tree leaves, and requested Jagadananda to do this favor and deliver them. All of them again came back to Lord Chaitanya and offered Him the Prasadam and the verses on the palm leaf. But before reaching the Lord, Mukunda Datta, who also undertook the delivery of the written palm leaf, had noted the verses down in his book. Lord Chaitanya read those verses and tore them into pieces, because He never liked to be praised by anyone. But his devotees had the verses written by Sarbabhouma Bhattacharya, from the notes of Mukunda Datta. (More...)

Sarbabhouma Bhattacharya was thus converted to become one of the important devotees of the Lord, and he had no other interest than to serve the Lord. His only concern was to think of Lord Chaitanya constantly, and this meditation and chanting became the main purpose of his life. One day Sarbabhouma Bhattacharya came before the Lord, and after offering his respects he began to read a verse from the Srimad Bhagwatam. This verse is stated in the Tenth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, in connection with Lord Brahma's prayer to the Lord. Sarbabhouma Bhattacharya wanted to change two letters in the last portion of the verse, where the word Muktipade occurs. Sarbabhouma Bhattacharya wanted to change it into Bhakti. The purport of the verse is: A person who devotes his mind, body and speech to the service of the Lord, even in the midst of miserable life due to past misdeeds, is assured of liberation. And Bhattacharya wanted to change the Mukti, to Bhakti-devotional service. (More...)

The Lord inquired from Bhattacharya, "Why have you changed the original verse? The word is Mukti, and why have you changed it into Bhakti?" Bhattacharya replied that Mukti is not so valuable as Bhakti; and therefore Mukti is a sort of punishment for the pure devotee. He had therefore changed the word from Mukti to Bhakti. He began to explain his realization of Bhakti, and said, "Any person who does not accept the transcendental Personality of Godhead and His transcendental Form cannot know the Absolute Truth. (More...)

Anyone who does not understand the transcendental nature of the Body of Krishna becomes His enemy and decries or fights with Him. And for such enemies of the Lord, the destination is to merge into the Brahman effulgence of the Lord. Such kind of Mukti or liberation is never befitting the devotees of the Lord. Although there are five kinds of liberation, as, (1) getting admission to the same planet in which the Lord resides, (2) being able to associate with the Lord, (3) having a transcendental body like the Lord, (4) having opulence like the Lord, and (5) merging into the existence of the Lord, a devotee is satisfied being engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, without any particular interest for any one of the above mentioned kinds of state of liberation. Specifically, a devotee is most averse to merging into the existence of the Lord, and becoming without any individual identity. A devotee considers oneness with the Lord as worse than hell, even though he may accept one of the other four kinds of liberation in consideration of being engaged in the service of the Lord. Of the two possibilities for merging in the Transcendence, namely, (1) becoming one with the Impersonal Brahman effulgence, and (2) becoming one with the Personality of Godhead, the latter is still more abominable to a devotee. The devotee has no other aspiration than to be always engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. On hearing this, Lord Chaitanya informed Bhattacharya that there is another purport of the word Mukti. Muktipada means directly the Personality of Godhead. That is to say, the Personality of Godhead has innumerable liberated souls engaged in His transcendental loving service, or He is the ultimate Resort for the ninth subject, called liberation. So, in either of the above mentioned import, Krishna becomes the ultimate Shelter. Sarvabhouma replied, "Inspite of such import, I prefer Bhakti to Mukti. Although according to You, there are two kinds of imports of the word Mukti, still, because this sound is equivocal, I shall prefer directly Bhakti to Mukti because by direct perception, Mukti refers to the context of becoming one with the Supreme. I therefore hate to utter the word Mukti, and I feel enthusiastic in uttering the word Bhakti." At this, Lord Chaitanya laughed very loudly, and embraced the Bhattacharya with great love. (More...)

That same afternoon, we head for a Cistercian monastery near the small town of Yarra Glen, forty miles northeast of Melbourne. Prabhupada usually wants me to drive him wherever we are. I guess he's trusted my driving since the early days, when we hurtled down the 101 in San Francisco together. Each time we were somewhere different, though, I'd have to sit behind the wheel in some new weird car and try to figure out where the turn signals were, usually hitting the windshield wipers instead. Today, I'm driving a medium-sized Australian Holden sedan, Prabhupada in the passenger seat, heading north in rush-hour traffic on the "wrong" side of the road and trying to follow directions uttered by Upananda from the back seat in his Aussie twang. Eventually the traffic clears, and when we at last turn right up a narrow, winding, gravel road, we find ourselves transported a thousand years into the past. The Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, better known as the Trappists, is an austere order of Catholic monks that traces its roots back to A.D. 1098 The Trappists lead a regulated life of contemplation, prayer, and congregational chanting, with an emphasis on manual labor and self-sufficiency. In 1954, a group of Irish monks moved onto a thousand-acre tract in the rolling hills near Melbourne and called it Tarrawarra Abbey. It's autumn now, harvest season on this side of the world, and as we motor up the mile-long drive lined with giant eucalyptus trees to the hilltop abbey, we're struck by the bountiful countryside around us: sheaves of wheat stacked in the fields, huge baskets of grapes piled at the ends of rows in the vineyards, cows grazing in belly-high grass. "What are those mountains in the distance, Upananda, behind the abbey?" "Those are the Victorian Alps, part of the Great Dividing Range - they're covered in snow in winter." The whole scene looks like an idyllic Romantic pastoral painting. We explain to Prabhupada what little we know about cloistered Christian monks, their place in Western history, and how in isolation they have preserved the strict principles of their faith, and Prabhupada says, "Yes, it is just like our New Vrindaban ashram." As we pull into the courtyard, the sense of returning to a distant time is augmented by the sight of thirty monks, black scapulars over white cassocks, gathered to greet us-one now coming forward to reverently place a garland of fresh-cut roses around Prabhupada's neck and then bow, head to the ground, like the pope has come to visit. Most of the monks bow with him, and we know this is going to be a special occasion. Father Daniel guides Prabhupada to an elaborate, elevated chair in the timber-paneled hall, and the brotherhood assembles before him on simple wooden chairs.

As usual, Prabhupada is amazing. He pitches his words perfectly, finding the common ground. He notes the historical aspects of both our faith and theirs, saying that religion is sanatana-dharma, the "eternal occupation," and that the origins of Krishna consciousness are "practically prehistoric," establishing his precedence in ancient authority. And like you ascetic Catholics, he says, we understand the importance of parampara, the generational handing down of pure religious principles, unchanged, through disciplic succession. We are in rare company. Prabhupada says, "Out of many millions of persons, one is interested to make his life successful. And out of millions of successful persons, one can very rarely understand what is God." And this is our strongest bond, he says: "Our definition of religion is to accept the orders of God. That's all. It doesn't matter what religion you are following. You may be Christian, I may be Hindu, another may be Muhammadan, but the test of religion is how one has developed his God consciousness."

The monks eat it up, seeing that our faith and practices are so similar to theirs, even down to the shaved heads and exotic robes. There is a feeling of instant brotherhood, cross-institutional familiarity. Prabhupada is the dynamic authority, delivering the gospel in a way they understand. These men are well versed in Latin, so Prabhupada's liberal use of Sanskrit only solidifies their conviction that he is for real. Forefinger and thumb of his left hand resting on thigh and curled in a circle, his right hand flows from one powerful gesture to another: two fingers pointing, this way, that way, then clutching the air, then forming his palm in a cup, always moving, in mudras of emphasis. Sometimes he scratches his neck or raises his glasses, closes his eyes tight, then opens them wide and looks into their hearts-and the monks are transfixed. After the lecture, Hanuman Swami opens the floor to ques-tions, and eight monks, some with lilting Irish brogues, stand to make profound queries, like, "How do we know God?" and

"When one becomes sinless, would he then experience the indwelling of God?" Prabhupada answers all questions to their complete satisfaction. We follow with kirtan, which quickly moves from the sub-lime to the boisterous as the monks push their chairs away and clap and dance with us, some laughing with glee despite them-selves, their innocent faces glistening with holy rapture. Ba-boom-BOOM! Kirtan ends, the monks bow down while Prabhupada recites Sanskrit prayers, then rise as one, somewhat stunned. (I'm thinking, "See, it's the same thing, but we have more fun!")

Father Daniel raises his arms, hushes everyone, and says, "We would like to thank Swami Prabhupada for his kindness and extreme gentleness in coming to us. We've listened with respect to the words of life divine, and they have warmed my heart, anyway, and given me hope for a family of human brothers to which we belong. I think we are closer to one another now, to the devotees of the temple. It's very beautiful coming here tonight, and I certainly feel that this little meeting, the human brothers under a common Father, is a particular inspiration for coming in contact with a God whom we're all reaching out for but who has many faces. Thank you very much." After the meeting we gather in the rectory around a long wooden table laden with fresh vegetarian food, a banquet right out of the Middle Ages, with heaps of grapes, platters of baked potatoes, and loaves of fresh-baked bread. I speak with the monk seated next to me, and he tells me there are about four thousand Cistercian monks and nuns living in 170 similar retreats world-wide. "Yeah, we call them ashrams," I say. "You'll find such places all over India."

He describes the monks' daily routine, which surprisingly is much like ours:

4 a.m.: Office of Vigils - reading from scripture 6 a.m.: Office of Lauds - Mass, taking the Eucharist, an hour of prayer, then silent breakfast
8 a.m.: Office of Terce, then work in the fields or buildings for three hours
11:15 a.m.: Office of Sext - followed by main daily meal, silent while someone reads aloud, nap
1:40 p.m.: Office of None followed by four hours of work
6 p.m.: Office of Vespers, then a light evening meal, conversation allowed
8 p.m.: Office of Compline, which is sung in unison in the dark-ness, including Psalm 91:

You set your love on me so I will save you; Protect you for you know my name. When you call I shall answer: "I am with you," I will save you in distress and give you glory.

Followed by a final hymn, "Salve Regina":

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! Our life, our sweetness, and our hope ... O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

One of the monks points to a picture of Mother Mary hanging on the wall and says with reverence, "She is the object of our love." I say, "Yeah, she looks like Krishna's mother, Yasoda." After eating, Prabhupada is led to a room to meet Dom Kevin O'Farrell, the old abbot of the monastery, who had come here from Ireland in 1959. They appear to be about the same age, but Prabhupada is actually twenty-three years older and, compared to the abbot, he seems like a you (More...)

It was in August also that we began taking prasadam (food offered to Krsna) at noon in Srila Prabhupada's room in the back apartment. Kirtanananda was beginning to cook at this time under the personal instructions of Srila Prabhupada. He was the first cook, and in the beginning Stradisa assisted him and then Achyutananda (though no one at this time was formally initiated). Later Srila Prabhupada told me that at the time he was wondering whether American boys would like prasadam. He would laugh at this because prasadam turned out to be one of the most successful parts of our program. At first, all of the prasadam was put on one plate, which was Srila Prabhupada's. It consisted of only dahl (split pea), some rice and curry, and chapatis (unleavened bread). About twelve of us, all male, would sit along the wall of his apartment and wait while Srila Prabhupada personally took the food off the plate and distributed it individually, reciting, "sarira avidya-jala jaḍendriya tahe kala" etc. We would recite each word after him and pass the plates around. He translated this prayer for us in this way: "This material body is a lump of ignorance, and the senses are networks of paths to death. We are fallen into the ocean of material sense enjoyment. Of all the senses, the tongue is the most voracious and uncontrollable. It is very difficult to conquer over the tongue in this world, but Krsna is very kind to us. He has sent us very nice prasadam to conquer the tongue. Now let us take that prasadam to our full satisfaction and glorify His Lordship Radha and Krsna and in love call for Lord Caitanya and Nityananda to help us." At first, each of us would only take one chapati each, and when Srila Prabhupada asked if we would like more, we would say, "Oh no! That is enough. That is sufficient." Later he often laughed at our initial reluctance to take more. It was Stradisa, a very tall thin boy, who started eating more and more chapatis due to Srila Prabhupada's insistence. He finally averaged ten a meal. Then gradually our appetites also picked up, and as more people started coming to eat in Srila Prabhupada's back apartment, we began taking our noon prasadam downstairs in the temple while Srila Prabhupada ate alone upstairs. It was a wonderful sight, though, to see the spiritual master and all his disciples-around a dozen young men, all very young, no one over thirty-sitting on the bare floor at noon eating. We might have been in New York, but it didn't seem like it. Both Kirtanananda and I were reminded of Calcutta. I liked Srila Prabhupada's food much better than the Calcutta fare, however, and though I didn't eat very much, I felt full and satisfied. (More...)

In his preaching, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was especially keen to confront and defeat what is known as Mayavada or impersonalist philosophy. This is the mission of Lord Caitanya, who converted the most powerful Mayavadi impersonalists of His time, such as Prakasananda Sarasvati, who had 60,000 followers, and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, who conducted an important school for training Mayavadi teachers. Mayavadis are impersonalists who maintain that God is under the influence of maya (illusion). According to them, His attributes, such as His name, form and activities, are all materially contaminated. On the other hand, the Vaisnavas, the personalist devotees of the Lord, correctly accept the transcendental nature of the Lord and everything connected with Him. Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita that His birth and activities are all transcendental (janma karma ca me divyam). The Mayavadis, however, stress the impersonal aspect of the Lord, ultimately concluding that He is nothing. This, of course, is an atheistic idea. Unlike the Buddhists, who arrive at the same conclusion but do not accept any Vedic authority, the Mayavadis try to argue their point from the Vedic scriptures. Therefore Lord Caitanya has forbidden all devotees to read Vedic commentaries by Mayavadis. Bhagavad-gita says, avajananti mam mūḍhaḥ: those who deride the Lord because of His humanlike form are all fools and rascals. Bhaktisiddhanta met and defeated all such wrangling Mayavadis so ferociously chat he became known as simha-guru, or "the lion guru." Thus, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati is the personification of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings (gauravani-sri-mūrti) because he refused to tolerate any statement that was against the doctrine of devotional service as enunciated by Lord Caitanya's chief disciple, Rūpa Gosvami (rūpanuga-virud-dhapa siddhanta-dhvanta-harine). (More...)

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