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All glories to Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga The Unforgettable Sweetness of the Dham Article by Jagamohini Devi Dasi of USAwriting from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip, 24 January 2005 |
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By the mercy of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga we are now here in the holy land of Sridham Nabadwip. Unfortunately, I have no eye to see the true Nabadwip, but fortunately, I am here under the care and shelter of the Vaisnavas. Following their devotional example I feel there is some safety and some sweet hope. In Sri Nabadwip, even the external cover has a luminous beauty. Thomas Merton once said, "There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity." Certainly this is true in Nabadwip Dham, the place of Sri Gaurahari's divine Pastimes.
If it is a clear morning, and if I time it just right, I am able to begin parikrama around Sri Govinda Kunda in time to see the saffron globe of the sun float into the sky from the dark horizon. For a few brief moments its golden light is framed by the doors of Sri Giriraj's Mandir. By this time the birds surrounding Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math are awake and singing happily in the kadamba tree and the long sweet day stretches before us in this Holy Abode. After the previous day's rainfall the monkeys are active and mischievous. Last night they broke several of the clay flower pots surrounding Sri Govinda Kunda.
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Each moment in Sri Nabadwip is so full and slow and drenched in sweetness. But my time here has gone too fast. Morning classes with Sripad Narayan Maharaj and Hari Charan Prabhu have discussed and reminded us about the fragility of this human form. Each passing year, month, day and second brings us closer to the end of this body. Sripad Tirtha Maharaj reminded us how Srila Guru Maharaj advised that we "be a miser with your time." Not to waste these allotted minutes this flicker of life. We cannot predict how many days we will have in this body or in this world, but somehow we have been graced with the opportunity of sadhu-sanga and sadhu-seva. Without these, we actually do not care for a long life. Srila Guru Maharaj said, "I am meant for my ideal. I have no time to waste, or to hesitate for anything. If every moment I move in every way with the ideal in my heart, I shall always make some progress towards it. If I can just stay in touch with my ideal, that will guide and inspire me. In any and every action, whatever I shall do or undo, eat, rest, etc., my ideal will be overhead. And that will gradually take me out of all these entanglements and enticements, and one day or other I shall be able to reach it." Now it is evening time in the Dham. Many guests have come to visit the beauty of Sri Govinda Kunda and attend arati. The blue of the sky has deepened and the moon and stars have risen to compete with the lights above the Mandirs. I am ending here because the sweet kirttans are now beginning in the nat-mandir. I am offering my heartfelt obeisance to all the steady servitors here at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip. Their constant service activities are surely the outward signs of their inner grace. I offer my obeisance to His Divine Grace Srila Govinda Maharaj and all the venerable Vaisnavas and I pray for your kind mercy.
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