Lecture at Sri Nandan Acharya Bhavan by Sripad Bhakti Sudhir Goswami Maharaj:

"Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj was by birth Nityananda Prabhu vamsa. So generally, they are the enemies of Gaudiya Math and Srila Saraswati Thakur, being birth by birth Goswami. But in this case, because Goswami Maharaj accepted the lotus feet of Saraswati Thakur as the all in all, this lent a lot of prestige to his mission. So what we could say in the founding of this Math, as Sripad Janardan Maharaj mentioned, it's called Nandan Acharya Bhavan. It is the house of Nandan Acharya. We hear in the Chaitanya Bhagavat that Nityananda Prabhu had gone on pilgrimage anticipating where exactly were the first Pastimes of Nimai Pandit. So when He was in Vrindavan He found the place of Nanda Maharaj, the house where Krishna and Balaram played as children. This caused Nityananda Prabhu to go into deep ecstasy recalling His Pastimes with His dear little brother.

But He noticed, that every temple that He went to in Vrindavan, like we are going to the temples and we see the Deities of Radha and Krishna, Nityananda Prabhu was shocked because He couldn't find Krishna anywhere. Generally when you go to Vrindavan it's supposed to be saturated with Krishna, but Nityananda Prabhu is finding Vrindavan empty for some mysterious reason. He asked the people, "Where is Krishna?" and as Srila Guru Maharaj told us, Krishna consciousness is about the search for Sri Krishna.

Nityananda Prabhu is searching for Sri Krishna, "Where is Sri Krishna? I can't find Him in Vrindavan." When Saraswati Thakur went to Vrindavan He said: "I am so unfortunate I couldn't find a single Vaishnava." So all of the people told Nityananda Prabhu, "Krishna, it's true, He is not here, He is in Nabadwip."

"In Nabadwip?"

"Yes! He is in Nabadwip!" So then Nityananda Prabhu madly went to Nabadwip Dham searching for Sri Krishna. Around that time, Mahaprabhu was smiling mysteriously and asking His followers: "Any news on this, Nityananda Prabhu?" He sent a party to search for Him and no one could find Him.

Then Nimai Pandit said, "Follow me!" and He came here, to the Nandan Acharya Bhavan.

It was here, as you see in one of the dioramas depicting the first meeting of Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu, that Nityananda Prabhu, seeing the super-excellent beauty of Nimai Pandit, was a bit shocked and stunned because He is recalling how Krishna was previously. He is thinking: "Now my Lord has undergone some ecstatic transformation. He is showing a new form." That form was so compelling, that Nimai Pandit, as you see in the little diorama, gave the instruction to Mukunda Prabhu to begin signing one sloka from the Srimad Bhagavatam.

barhapidam nata-vara-vapuh karnayoh karnikaram
bibhrad vasah kanaka-kapisam vaijayantim cha malam
randhran venor adhara-sudhayapurayan gopa-vrndair
vrndaranyam sva-pada-ramanam pravisad gita-kirtih

He started singing about the beautiful vision in the eyes, the perspective of the Braja gopis as they watched Krishna and Balaram surrounded by the cowherd boys enter the forest of Vrindavan.

barhapidam nata-vara-vapuh karnayoh karnikaram

That Krishna is wearing a peacock feather on His head, there are flowers over His ears. He looks like a movie star. His movements are so enchanting.

bibhrad vasah kanaka-kapisam vaijayantim cha malam

He is wearing lightning coloured garments.

randhran venor adhara-sudhayapurayan gopa-vrndair

He is holding a flute to His lotus mouth and there is a stream of nectar that is flowing from Krishna's lotus lips and entering the flute, and then coming out of the flute and creating a shower of nectar in Vrindavan to the delight of all of the cowherd boys who are singing, dancing, and playing their flutes and horns and having a grand celebration. This is the vision in the eyes of the Braja gopis.

vrndaranyam sva-pada-ramanam pravisad gita-kirtih

Srila Guru Maharaj told us that, the earth is shivering in conjugal ecstasy due to the impression of the dancing lotus feet of Krishna.

When Nityananda Prabhu heard this description, entranced looking at Nimai Pandit, He fainted in ecstasy. When He awoke He was in the lap and arms of Nimai Pandit. So Srila Guru Maharaj said, here the bhav of the servitor is defeated.

Generally, which Saraswati Thakur says, devotion is to be detected when the devotee defeats the Lord. But here, is a very mysterious thing. There is an exceptional case where the devotee has been defeated by the Lord. Nityananda Prabhu awakes, He is normally in the position of couch. He is always Krishna's couch as Ananta Sesh, but here He wakes up and finds Himself in the lap of Nimai Pandit. He is a little non-plussed and beside Himself, but He has been defeated by His merciful Lord and then they join together, and of course the rest is history.

Jaya Srila Aprakrta Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj ki jaya!

Let me just tell one more thing about Goswami Maharaj:
Once, pictures of Bhaktivinod Thakur and Srila Saraswati Thakur were going to be placed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and someone objected to this saying that you can't put any picture in any book and thought that this was some sort of offense to the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Goswami Maharaj was very respected in spiritual society. So taking advantage of his position as the Nityananda Prabhu vamsa, he told that man, "You consider me as a worshipable descendent of Nityananda Prabhu?"

And that man said, "Yes, yes, Gosañi."

And Goswami Maharaj informed him, "I have sold my head to the lotus feet of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur."

He continued: "Guru is to be seen as Radharani's delegation. And our Gurudev, and his Guru, if their picture will be in the Bhagavatam, which is the holy body of Krishna, Krishna will be pleased anywhere we put that picture. You understand me?"

And the guy said, "Yes Gosañi, Yes Gosañi I have committed a big offense."

This gives you some inclination as to the style of his heavy preaching in the line of Srila Saraswati Thakur, establishing the dignity of our Guru-varga.

You see here also, mentioned on the back of his Samadhi: Sir John Anderson, who was the Governor of Bengal. There is a famous picture of Srila Saraswati Thakur and Sir John Anderson, and Srila Saraswati Thakur is wearing a garland and John Anderson is wearing a garland, but Srila Goswami Maharaj is without a garland. So Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj told Goswami Maharaj once: "Maharaj, why don't you have a garland in this picture?"

Goswami Maharaj answered by saying, "All of the respectable personalities, they have garlands. What is the necessity that I shall have a garland?"

Srila Gurudev then said: "I think I know the reason why you don't have a garland."

Goswami Maharaj replied: "What do you know?"

He said: "I can understand that the man who was responsible for supplying the garland, he was late so you took your garland and you offered it to Sir John Anderson."

Then Goswami Maharaj said: "Oh, now you are crossing Visvannath Chakravarti!" because Visvannath Chakravarti is always giving confidential details that are not obvious. He is extracting the inner meaning of things, so Sripad Goswami Maharaj detected that in Srila Gurudev and gave Srila Govinda Maharaj this high compliment.

Another thing we have to say that is almost inconceivable, Srila Goswami Maharaj would invite Srila Sridhar Maharaj to his Vyasa-puja, and Guru Maharaj would come. All of the pranami, all of the offerings, all of the money that was given to Goswami Maharaj and all of the gifts and everything, he would give all of it to Srila Guru Maharaj. We can't believe such Vaishnava behaviour.

The one year that Srila Guru Maharaj couldn't come, when Goswami Maharaj was asked how was his Vyasa-puja that year, he said: "This year it wasn't good at all because Srila Guru Maharaj didn't come." Within a few months Goswami Maharaj left the world.

Another fact is that every year, when they would have the meeting of the Visva Vaishnava Raja Sabha, Guru Maharaj would be elected the president of the assembly and he would defer to Goswami Maharaj. He would give the chair to him. Srila Guru Maharaj would be elected and then he would install Goswami Maharaj. So this is the affectionate loving behaviour of the disciples of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad.

Jaya Aprakrta Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj ki jaya!
Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jaya!
Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jaya!
Sri Gaudiya Sangha ki jaya!
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jaya!
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Bhakta Vrinda ki jaya!
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama ki jaya!
Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari bol!