On the morning of December 31st, 1936,
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarawati Thakur requested
Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaj to sing Sri Rupa
Manjari-pada by Srila Narottam Das Thakur.
Extract from Centenary Anthology (an article by Sripad B.P. Janardan Maharaj):
When Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarawati Thakur was
leaving this world, he called for Srila Guru
Maharaj. In a gathering of his disciples he
asked Srila Guru Maharaj to sing Sri Rupa Manjari-pada. Previously, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati
Thakur had examined Srila Guru Maharaj, and was
satisfied that he could represent the essential
line of Sri Gaurachandra, given by his true
representative and follower, Srila Rupa Goswami.
Now, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur gave
the charge of that line to Srila Guru Maharaj
in a way that many senior Godbrothers present
described as a "mystic transmission" of
responsibility.
Quote by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami
Maharaj:
When Prabhupad became ill, I attended his sickbed.
Just one day before his departure he called
for me, and he asked me to chant Sri Rupa
Manjari-pada. At that time I was not accustomed
to leading the kirttan. I was hesitating -- Sriyukta
Kunja Babu, later Sripad Bhakti Vilas Tirtha
Maharaj, asked one brahmachari Prabhu, "You go on singing." Then he began
singing but Prabhupad felt dissatisfaction. He
said, "I don't want to hear the tone or
sweet sound." Then that Brahmachari Prabhu stopped
and I had to sing Sri Rupa Manjari-pada.
And the others said, "Prabhupad has hereby
given you admission into the Rasa-seva section."
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Above. Today at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.
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Above. Sri Chaitanya Math, Mayapur, the principal of the sixty-four Gaudiya Maths established by Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and (right) his Samadhi Mandir nearby in the Math compound.
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Quote by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj:
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati
Goswami once again revealed to the world that which is
eternal and ever-fresh. Before his appearance, people
might have been chanting the Name of God, but how did
they chant it? In his time, he was the inaugurator of the
genuine chanting of Harinama.
prthivite yata katha dharmma-name chale
bhagavata kahe saga paripuna chhale
Totalitarian war against maya. What passes in this world
in the name of religion -- everything is false. You are jiva-soul.
Krishna is like the great sun, and you are like a sun-ray.
The sun-ray must always be 'attached' to the great sun. That is his nature. Krishna is like a big exalted magnet,
and you are like iron. Therefore, He is called Krishna, meaning
Krs-: to attract, and na: to give joy. He attracts us, and
gives us ecstasy (karsan venu-svanair Gopir Gopinatha-sriye 'stu nah).
This is Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's gift.
Quote by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:
Although outwardly he was like a lion, inwardly he was very, very sweet, yet it could be traced only in his internal sweetness. Outwardly, the way of love was worshipped by him with grandeur, and awe and reverence, but his object was the simple and beautiful, Divine Love of Vrindavan, and his temperament in establishing that in the world was just like a lion's. After his departure I described his life in a sloka. If he were living today, I think he would say that Sridhar Maharaj has imprisoned me in a cage of poetry.
nikhila bhuvana maya chhinna vichhinna kartri
vibudha bahula mrgya mukti mohanta datri
sithilita vidhi ragaradhya radhesa dhani
vilasatu hrdi nityam bhaktisiddhanta vani
"With his first step, he vigorously cut asunder the whole plane of exploitation, and with his second, he has put a stop to all the calculations of the different scholars with their different conceptions of salvation, liberated stages. With his third step, he has minimised the hardness and stiffness of the rules and regulations of calculative devotional service, by a touch of the Divine Love: crossing Vaikuntha, he has given us the worship of Radha and Govinda."
Calculation, the rules and regulations, awe, reverence, all these things are minimised, checked, slackened with the softness of Vrindavan within, and with the hardness of a devastator without, he created havoc in the materialistic world, fighting with one and all. Single-handedly fighting against the whole world, and cutting asunder everything -- that was his external attitude. And his second attitude was to put a stop to all scholarly researchers and doctorates of different departments, and to stop their boasting research; and third, to minimise, to slacken the grandeur of the worship of Narayan. He caused the domain of love to descend into this plane with the service of Radha-Govinda, establishing the flow of Divine Love from the heart as all-in-all. With that we come to serve our object of worship, and he represented the service of Radha-Govinda as the highest attainment. That was his history. The real existence of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad is in Bhaktisiddhanta-vani, his divine teachings. May that Bhaktisiddhanta-vani dance eternally within the core of your heart.
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Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip