Śrī Jīva Viraha Tithi (The Observance Day of Separation from Śrī Jīva)

(This talk on the disappearance day of Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu by Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, was transcribed and published in Śrī Gauḍīya Darśana, Volume 2, Issue 6, on December 11th 1956. Herein, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja narrates the glories of Śrī Jīva, and his unique position in our sampradāya)

(Transcribed by Śrīpāda Hari-caraṇa Brahmacārī Sevā-niketana, based on a lecture delivered on the 20th of Pauṣa (Dec/Jan) by Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja.)

Today is the disappearance of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu – the third day of the waxing moon. This day attracted my attention because of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mood at the time when he was enacting his pastime of illness. Due to the way that Śrīla Prabhupāda properly established the dignity of the sampradāya through deliberation on the conclusions of pure bhakti, all of us felt him to be an avatāra of Śrīla Gosvāmī Prabhu. Exactly one fortnight before this day, he departed. We had assumed that he might depart in connection with, or centred around, the day of Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī.

Just as there are gradations in specific rasas between heroes (nāyaka) and heroines (nāyakā) in this world, similarly, there is also variation among the perfected associates of Bhagavān. For example, someone may be predominantly of dāsya-rasa, someone predominantly of audārya-rasa, or someone predominantly of mādhurya-rasa. Moreover, there is also gradation between Bhagavān and His own associates. For example, Kṛṣṇa-candra is dhīra-lalita, Rāmacandra is dhīrodātta, Yudhiṣṭhira is dhīra-śānta, and Bhīma-sena is dhīroddhata.*** Such gradation is seen even in the characters of the ācāryas. For instance, one ācārya appears energetic, another gentle, and yet another manifests a strict disposition.

*****These are the four nāyaka-bheda (different types of hero) according to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava rasa-śāstra. Dhīra-lalita means calm, playful, and charming. Dhīrodātta is calm, noble, and magnanimous. Dhīra-śānta means calm, restrained, and peaceful. *Dhīroddhata **is *calm, yet forceful and impetuous.

Once, a digvijayī (a scholar who achieves academic victory everywhere), while travelling about with the aim of conquering all directions, came to Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana in Vṛndāvana. Despite their immense scholarship and intellectual prowess, Rūpa and Sanātana, due to their inherent humility, did not engage in any śāstrika debate with the digvijayī and instead simply wrote a jaya-patra (a written declaration of victory). Later, the digvijayī heard that one of their student/relatives was, like a worldly person, a great paṇḍita in all śāstras such as Sāṅkhyā and other philosophies. If one could not conquer him, no one else could be conquered. At that time, the digvijayī came before Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī for a śāstrika debate and said, “I have heard that your learning is widely renowned, therefore, either you debate with me on the śāstras, or else, like your gurus, give me a jaya-patra!”

Jīva Gosvāmī said, “Let me see the jaya-patra.” The scholar then handed over the jaya-patra into the hands of the Gosvāmī. The Gosvāmī immediately tore to pieces the jaya-patra of Rūpa-Sanātana’s victorious rival. He could not tolerate the audacity of challenging Śrī Rūpa-Sanātana. He saw that it was necessary to remove the offense of an offender at the feet of the transcendental glory of Śrī Rūpa-Sanātana, and even more so, it was necessary to utilise his own scholarship appropriately – by serving their great genius. Knowing that through this, both of them would attain true welfare, he tore up the jaya-patra. He told the digvijayī, “Due to your misfortune, you have been deprived, for you failed to recognise their greatness. I am their unworthy servant. You can understand something of how great and exalted they are if you engage in a discussion with me. Then you will then understand the meaning of tearing up the jaya-patra. Come! What is the necessity of delaying?”

The śāstrika debate began. In a very short time, the digvijayī’s delusion dissipated – he was defeated and sought forgiveness. Then Śrī Jīva Prabhu said, “If I had not defeated you and instead simply glorified them, you would not have understood their greatness. That is why I had to go this far. Now, if you truly desire your well-being, go there immediately and pray for forgiveness. You have shown great disrespect by failing to understand their liberality and magnanimity, etc.”

What was Śrīla Jīva Prabhu’s consideration? By way of an example, let us consider a situation where robbers have broken into a house. When the robbers demanded the keys from the owner of the house, the owner immediately handed them over. However, when the thieves went to the treasury, they saw that a guard was present there. The thieves said, “Open the door! See – the owner has given the key. We will go into the treasury.”

The guard said, “Where is the key?”

The thief gave the key. The guard then took the key and said, “Defeat me first, then you may enter the treasury.”

Thereafter, after defeating everyone in a fierce battle, the treasury guard protected the owner’s honour and the wealth.

We see a similar manifestation of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī’s great service to the sampradāya everywhere. We have witnessed this single-minded endeavour to serve his guru-varga and their *sampradāya *in the conduct of Śrīla Prabhupāda. By discussing nyāya, sāṅkhya, pātañjala and other philosophical systems, Śrīla Jīva Prabhu endeavoured to make the world realise in their hearts the excellence of bhakti to Bhagavān. Just as an Englishman has to be taught and made to understand through the English language, and a Chinese person through the Chinese language, in the same way he mastered the teachings of each respective philosophical school and endeavoured to make his own intended object understood. Even today, the circle of distinguished scholars is captivated by witnessing the remarkable results of Śrī Jīva’s mastery of all the śāstras.

The main aspects of the pastimes of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu that readily catch our attention are the preservation of the proper consdieration of śrī-kṛṣṇa-prema-bhakti imbued with jñāna, vijñāna and virāga (knowledge, realisation, and renunciation). By dissecting the arguments of those who were proud of their mundane learning, he firmly established in the world the conception of* śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhakti* through works such as the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha.*

Moreover, in order that from the very beginning of education everyone may be guided on the path of pure bhakti without being led astray, and so that every moment of a student’s learning may be spent solely in the chanting of the names of Bhagavān, he composed the Śrī Hari-nāmāmṛta Vyākaraṇa. He also brought about a revolution in the world of grammar. His style and all his endeavours were like that of a prince. To satisfy and obey his guru-varga, *he would pass his days and nights living beneath trees; but the sublime mental disposition he displayed in his service to Sri Radha-Govinda is extremely rare in this world. Through his character, the servitorship of a niṣkiñcana Vaiṣṇava who is amānī-mānada (neither seeking honour for himself nor denying honour for others) has been established in the world of jīvas as the very embodiment of supreme dignity.

By accepting the position of a servant to that crest-jewel amongst the family of paramahaṁsas, Śrīla Gaura Kiśora Bābājī Mahārāja, and by demonstrating the concept of neti neti,* our Śrī Guru-pāda-padma revealed to the world the position of becoming a niṣkiñcana devotee of Bhagavān. It is seen that Śrī Bābājī Mahārāja said, “When I die, let me be dragged along the street with a rope tied to my feet, because I have not done any hari-bhajana.” In this way, considering himself lowly and unworthy, he rebukes himself, saying, “I am an atheist of hypocritical character. I deserve punishment!”

*** **Neti neti (‘not this, not that’) is an expression found in the Upaniṣads negating all things that are of a temporary nature in this world. In this context, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja uses the expression to show how Sarasvatī Ṭhākura examined all the various philosophies of this world under the ‘microscope’ of the Rūpānuga siddhānta.

In the words of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, we see that He has stated:

kāṅthā karaṅgiyā mora kāṅgāla bhakta-gaṇa

My destitute devotees only have a quilt and a water pot. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.183).

The heart of a devotee of Bhagavān is always burning with anguish – “Alas! Alas! I could not perform hari-bhajana, I could not serve Hari. Everyone is engaged in kṛṣṇa-bhajana, but I am unable to do so.”

*vañcito’smi vañcito’smi vañcito’smi na saṁśayaḥ

viśvaṁ gaura-rase magnaṁ sparśo ’pi mama nābhavat*

Undoubtedly, I am deceived, I am deceived, I am deceived! The entire world is inundated with gaura-rasa, but it has not touched me at all! (Caitanya-candrāmṛta 46)

“Alas! Alas! My birth has gone in vain. Everyone in the world is worshipping Hari; I alone have been deprived.” Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī would drink just one leaf-cup of buttermilk and, day and night, would lament, crying, “O Rādhe! O Kṛṣṇa!” and would condemn himself, saying:

*ātmānañ ced vijānīyāt paraṁ jñāna-dhutāśayaḥ

kim arthaṁ kasya vā hetor dehaṁ puṣṇāti lampaṭaḥ*

If a person purified by knowledge can understand that the ātmā is greater than the physical body, then for what reason and for whom does that sense-enjoyer maintain the body? (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.15.40)

“With your mouth you claim, ‘I am consciousness; I have no old age, no disease.’ If that were truly your actual experience, then why is bodily self-identification so strong in you? For what reason do you take so much care of simply nourishing the body?” In this way, the mahā-bhāgavata constantly chastises himself without mercy. Śrī Mādhavendra Purīpāda, who refrained from begging, even condemned his own desire to taste the prasāda of Śrī Gopīnātha in Remuṇā – “Alas! This attempt to taste the prasāda, under the pretext of serving Gopāla, is only for the satisfaction of my own tongue.” We find evidence of how this kind of condemnation of one’s own pleasure in striving to increase Kṛṣṇa’s happiness, deeply moves Bhagavān in His own statement found in the śloka, na pāraye’haṁ.*

******na pāraye’haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ

sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṁ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ

yā mābhajan durjaya-geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ

saṁvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā***

**

Your association with Me is faultless. Although you have served Me, cutting the indomitable bonds of household life, I cannot repay you for this even if I obtained the lifetime of the Devas. May your own virtue be your compensation. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.32.22)

Śrī Rūpa-Sanātana were such embodied forms of Mahāprabhu’s verse *tṛṇād api sunīcena *that Mahāprabhu Himself said, tava dainye phāṭe mora hiyā (‘Your humility breaks My heart’ – Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 1.208). With tears in His eyes, the Lord said, “I can no longer bear this! Sanātana, curb your humility.” Here, the servant is surpassing his master; he gave a hundred times more than what the Lord expected, and went on surpassing all limits.

Again, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, by his character, astonishes everyone by opening the door of the second chamber. He is saying, “So that no one may commit any offence at the feet of the supremely glorious, transcendental nature of my guru-varga, and so that the greatness of my guru-varga may become known to all people, I myself must be the first to raise my head.”

Right here is the foundation of ācārya-abhimāna (the temperament of an ācārya) as described in the* Bhāgavatam*. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī possessed profound scholarship, noble refinement, brilliance, and was adorned with all excellent qualities. From childhood, he lived a very long life as a brahmācarī. Even if the inexhaustible treasure-house of ambrosial knowledge that he unlocked and distributed throughout the world, was plundered for eternity, it would continue to grow, ever-renewing itself.

In relation to him, Ṭhākura Śrīla Bhaktivinoda has said:

*śrī-jīva gosvāmī kabe siddhānta-salile

nivāibena tarkānala citta yāhe jvale*

When will Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī extinguish the fire of argumentation that scorches my heart with the water of his philosophical conclusions? (Kalyāṇa Kalpataru 3.4.6)

Argument, or doubt, is like a malignant disease. It burns like fire. Instead of giving peace, it increases unrest. However, through the mercy of Śrī Jīva, we can attain peace. He raised and refuted arguments a thousand times more complex than what we understand about argumentation in his Ṣaṭ Sandarbhas. Even today, the scholarly community extols him as the source of profound erudition and genius. After a long life filled with great dignity, perfectly serving the sampradāya and fulfilling the desires of his guru-varga, Śrī Jīva Prabhu sanctified this very day and departed from the world.

On this day, we beg for his special mercy. He is the guardian at the door of spontaneous devotion (rāga-bhakti). We pray that, out of His mercy, he may open the door to rāga-mārga (the path of spontaneous bhakti) revealed by his Śrī Guru-pāda-padma, and grant us the qualification to enter, thus blessing us. By neglecting Him, the tragic downfall of the prākṛta-sahajiyā community is truly heart-breaking. He is the protector of everything we hold dear – this is our conviction.

*yaḥ sāṅkhya-paṅkena kutarka-pāṁśunā

vivarta-gartena ca lupta-dīdhitim

śuddhaṁ vyadhād vāk-sudhayā maheśvaraṁ

kṛṣṇaṁ sa jīvaḥ prabhur astu me gatiḥ*

With his nectarean words, Śrī Jīva revealed Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, whose effulgence had been concealed by the mud of sāṅkhya, the dust of nyāya, and the pit of māyāvāda. May he be my refuge. (Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary on* Tattva Sandarbha *1.4)

(Translated by Swami Bhaktivijñāna Giri)