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EDITORIAL February 2, 1999 VNN2950 Q&A About Tridandi Swami Bhakti Hridaya Vana Maharaj (Part 2) BY HRSIKESANANDA DAS  EDITORIAL, Feb 2 (VNN) — (see also Part 1)13. "At some time during the early fifties (?) Vana Maharaj took Babaji vesh and sought to become Mahanta of Radha Kunda, but was not accepted by the Babaji's because of his Gaudiya Math connections. After this he returned to saffron cloth. Do you know anything of this?" A13: I know that he was never initiated beyond Sannyas (he was Bhakti-siddhanta's 3rd sannyasi disciple at age 24), and a life-long sannyasi at that. His entire spiritual life is recorded by Vana Maharaj himself in a Bengali book named, Vaikunther Pathe. He himself is the best witness, wouldn't you say? 14. "According to Lalita Prasad Thakura, Vana Maharaj received the details of Bhaktivinoda's siddha pranali from him. I saw in a book published by Vana Maharaj that he indeed used Bhaktivinoda Thakura's siddha-pranali, identifying BSSP as Bhakti Vinode Thakura's disciple in this siddha-pranali line. Unfortunately I have since lost this little booklet which may have been intended only for his personal confidential disciples. Do you have this booklet?" A14: On the surface he always followed strictly our line as is. During every kirtana the devotees would start by singing all the Guru Vandana's exactly in order, always starting with BSSP (There was never any vandana for Srila Vana Maharaj during his life). But on the absolute platform his nitya-sambandha was revealed by Srila Vana Maharaj (Kunda Latika Manjari) as being directly under Kamala-Nayana Manjari (Srila Saraswati Prabhupada), Kamala-manjari (Bhakti Vinode Thakura) and Rupa/Rati under Srimati Lalita Sakhi. Because the spiritual name of Srila Saraswati Thakura is also known to be "Nayana Manjari" I understand the spiritual connection he makes with Srila Bhaktivinode who is eternally "Kamala Manjari." After all, on the absolute platform things are not black/white and limited like here within Maya. Srila Vana Maharaj got his own siddha-pranali (some say from Lalita Prasad) or realized the truth of it by the grace of Srila Saraswati Thakur in a vision while performing tapasya in the Himalayas. It is all given in his Bengali book Vaikunther Pathe (Vaikuntha Path Par in Hindi translation). I don't have the book now, but the most amazing devotee (next to Krishnadas Babaji Maharaj) was Gopesh Prabhu, and he is the Acarya after Vana Maharaj. His name is Gopananda Vana Maharaj, and he is the caretaker of Vana Maharaj's books and Vrindavan ashram located at "Bhajan Kutir" a short way down Madan Mohan Ghera toward Sri Madan Mohan Mandira. 15. "So, when we say Bon, we should be saying VANA? but because of Bengali pronunciation, he used Bon and not Van-----is it correct?" A15: Correct! According to universal Sanskrit transliteration his name is VANA Maharaj, as in Vrnda-vana. Vana (forest), one of the primary Sannyasa names established by Adi-Shankar-acarya. Others are GIRI, PARVAT, ARANYA, SARASWATI, SAGAR, etc. I heard that Srila Saraswati Thakura used these primary names (there were ten) for his first 10 Sannyasa disciples; then he added more from other sources. 16. "When Saraswati Thakura left the planet, for some time, Bon Maharaj had kept his distance from the mission because of his disappointment in England." A16: NOT SO! IT WAS BECAUSE OF HIS DISAPPOINTMENT AT HOW THE MISSION BROKE UP. He told me the complete inside story. The fighting was so bad that some of his Godbrothers put human stool on each other and even resorted to hand-to-hand violence and murder with knives and bricks. He said it was more than he could stand, so he left for the Himalayas to find his inner self. The truth is that Srila Vana Maharaj MADE THE ATTEMPT to fulfill the order of Sri Param-Gurudeva. At the time that Srila Vana Maharaj was in England in the early 30's it was during the British Raj and the Great Depression, and getting donations was impossible. And there was no counter-culture mood like in the mid-60's. As I was taught, the material result was not important, rather it is the "attempt" which is bhakti. Can you imagine how tough it must have been in the freezing cold & wet London for Vana Maharaj, who is Bengali born Brahmin. And he had to deal with puffed-up British during the Raj. And all this during the GREAT DEPRESSION. But still he tried and did open a center in London. But Vana Maharaj felt bad when his Godbrothers treated him like a failure, instead of praising his "attempt." ***IMPORTANT FACT: During the 1930's Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami, (then A.C. De) also had 'NO PREACHING SUCCESS' in the West. So the two period's (1930's and 1960's) cannot be compared. Factually during the spread of Srila Saraswati Prabhupada's Sri Gaudiya Math, Swami B.H. Vana Maharaj was one of the leading and most expert preachers giving thousands of lectures, organizing theistic exhibitions and opening Gaudiya Matha temples such as the center in Madras. During this same period ACBSP was always an outsider rarely associating with Sri Gaudiya Mission and he did virtually nothing to help our Param Gurudeva, Prabhupada (sorry if the truth hurts anyone---satyam eva jayate!). 17. "When BSST passed away, many of Bon Mj's god-brothers told that he had made offense to BSST but since BSST was not here anymore, he could not ask for forgiveness of his offense. The story goes, that several pundits got busy looking in the Shastra for quotations dealing with the manner of being forgiven if that person has left his body. They found a passage that read, "Then you must spend one month on a raft in the middle of the Ganga." Bon Maharaj did that. A17: That is the most GLORIOUS pastime I have ever heard! BTW: E. Schultz (Sadananda Maharaj) was initiated by Srimad Saraswati Prabhupada; but after his departure I heard that he took sannyasa from Srila Vana Maharaj. 18. "I met Vana Maharaj (I am glad to see you use this spelling, even though it will probably be impossible to correct the traditional way of doing it) in 1978, I guess. This was when he was made Acarya of the Caitanya Math. I was very impressed by his lectures, of which I heard two or three, and his effulgent appearance. Although Vana Maharaj did not have much longer to live at that time, he was definitely a cut above any other Gaudiya Math speaker that I had ever heard. Of course, Sridhar Maharaj was ailing, and he had a special charm that appealed to me, but as far as sheer professionalism and charisma were concerned, Vana Maharaj was singular. Unfortunately, I had no opportunity for further association. He showed some favor towards me because I spoke Bengali." A18: YES! He was a paramahamsa and siddha-purusha worshipped to this day by over 5,000 of his Bengali and Behari disciples. You are indeed fortunate to have been his kripa-patra. 19. "I think he (A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada) believed, or at least he let it be so thought, that Vana Maharaj had plagiarized his translation Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu (Nectar of Devotion), which is of course highly unlikely." A19: This is absolutely NOT true! It is a dirty LIE!!! When I arrived in Vraja to live with Vana Maharaj in Jan. 1968 his great translation of Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu was already published years before ACBSP even thought about it. In my personal opinion Srila Vana Maharaj's translation is much better and more clear than Srila Prabhupada's summary study. Just see the sinful attempt to re-write history, either by ACBSP or his lying disciples. Also, Vana Maharaj had such a bad experience of mlettchas when he was in the UK during the 1930's that he refused to translate the remainder of the book into English. He said the mlettchas were so polluted it would be a sin to reveal the higher portions to them in English. 20. "I think when speaking of Vana Maharaj, you might wish to mention Klaus Klostermaier whom you may well have met in Vrindavan. He has continued high respect for Vana Maharaj to this day and has done a great deal of work promoting Vaisnavism in the West, though he is not a practitioner. Iskcon keeps a close relationship with him as he gives good reviews to anything they publish and he often writes articles for their scholarly publications." A20: I remember. 21. "Certainly we (Iskcon devotees) were all suspicious of Vana Maharaj at that time. As you say, Prabhupada was more negative about him than any other of his Godbrothers." A21: With over 180 horrible quotes by Srila Prabhupada recorded in VedaBase, where he says that Vana (Bon) Maharaj is "not a human being, is a Mayavadi, is not a liberated person, never speaks about Krsna, is black like a Gorilla, ..." etc., it is hard for me to cope with so-called devotees who take that as the truth. Especially since I am an eye-witness (as is also Sri Radhanath Swami and your good self) and can say that just the complete opposite is the truth. Srila Prabhupada said that "we could not say (or think) such things" about his Godbrothers, and I know that Vana Maharaj came to visit HDG (along with Swami Vana's intimate friend Akincana Krsnadas Babaji Maharaj) shortly before HDG's disappearance and Swami Maharaj directly asked Vana Maharaj for his forgiveness for any offenses; and he was forgiven. But the legacy he left still haunts us, and causes Iskcon people great harm by their thinking Vana Maharaj and other Gaudiya Matha acaryas, past and present, are some kind of evil non-devotees. This collective offense caused Iskcon people to repeatedly act VERY offensively against Sri Gaudiya Math. Now even Srila B.V. Narayana Maharaj, who buried Srila Prabhupada for Iskcon, is not permitted to enter an ISKCON temple. The reason the GBC gave me was that he is "stealing our men"!!!---I say "whose men???" I joined to be Krsna's man, not this or that cult of "guru worshipers." 22. "I wanted to share a story with you, even though quite abbreviated and paraphrased, I think the gist will come through. This story was related to me by our Godbrother B. G. Narasingha Maharaj (Jagat Guru Swami). He was visiting Srila Vana Maharaja's Math in Vrndavana seeking some archival type photos of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. Unbeknownst to him, the [Vana] Maharaja was very ill and quite close to departing this world. When Vana Maharaja heard that a disciple of Swami Maharaja was there, he immediately called for him to be brought to the room. Narasingha Maharaja went (be grudgingly, as he told me, because of the old stigmas we had learned), and Vana Maharaja began to cry profusely and begged for forgiveness for causing any difficulties for our Prabhupada." 23. "We "Iskconers" had unfortunately developed a tendency to enjoy throwing about phrases like "envious black snake" and such. Even this is still going on today and recently I heard this statement quoted about B.V Tirtha Maharaja, who Srila Prabhupada said went back to Godhead." A23: Whatever Krsna consciousness and sacrifice I made in Vrajadham at the feet of Vana Maharaj (and his wonderful disciples) and Akincana Krsnadas, and many other of Prabhupada's Godbrothers and their disciples, THAT consciousness and life is what I hold as perfect and wonderful, and the memory of THAT system is what I cherish. Regarding ACBSP, I do not believe that I am finding fault. Rather I am 'finding fault with FINDING FAULT'. Ninda of satam ninda! When Sri Mukunda Goswami sent me many horrible-sounding quotes by ACBSP against genuine devotees, all his seniors, that was the last straw. Even though I know that Prabhupada's lila is aprakrita and that he received forgiveness from Srila Vana Maharaj, still the problem lives on in ISKCON. Mukunda Maharaj told me that "[he] didn't think like that," still he warned me about what I was up against in ISKCON with the devotees taking all this aprakrita lila as mundane and literal. When I first joined Srila Bhakti Hrdaya Vana Maharaj in Jan. '68, I was taught that all the Gaudiya Math acaryas (his Godbrothers) were equally great and I loved them and all of their disciples. It didn't matter what Matha. I went with Vana Maharaj and visited many of his Godbrothers including B.V. Tirtha Maharaj, Sridhar Maharaj, Madhava Maharaj, etc. I saw the love and respect they shared with Vana Maharaj. I saw with my own eyes Vana Maharaj and Sridhar Maharaj weeping as they embraced each other. And I saw all the disciples of Vana Maharaj mixing with those of Tirtha Maharaj, Madhava Maharaj, Ashram Maharaj, Sridhar Maharaj, etc., all respecting and loving each other like the best of family. All was pakka seva, bhajan, vairagya, vidya and humility. All was pure and polite Krsna consciousness. B U T...Then I met some ISKCON devotees who burst my blissful bubble. They informed me about material duality, that I was a traitor. Us/them. ISKCON v/s the evil Gaudiya Math. This offensive association finally led to me offending my own great well-wisher and honorable Diksa-Siksa Gurudeva, Srila Vana Maharaj and caused me to leave him to join forces with the so-called "good guys," viz., ISKCON. That was my spiritual downfall. I now look back and realize that my years in Sri Gaudiya Matha were real, bona fide Krsna Consciousness and that's what is missing in ISKCON. I believe that the downfall of ISKCON may be caused by this most offensive thinking and acting against BSSP's great disciples and our mother-faith, Sri Gaudiya Math. Iskcon has made Sri Gaudiya Sampradaya and Sri Hari-Nam the laughing stock of the entire world and "Hare Krishna" is now considered to be in the same category as the Moonies, Children of God and other lunatic personality cults. In Sri CC paramahansa Srila Kaviraj Goswami starts with these first two Sanskrit words: "Vande gurun"---obeisance's to all my Gurus. There will be our Hari Nam Guru who empowered us to chant the MahaMantra; there will be the Diksa Guru, who may not be the same manifestation of "Guru-tattva" as our Hari Nam Guru; there will also be many other Gurus in our lives who will be other manifestations of the one Guru-tattva; and there will be antaryami Guru who is Paramatma within our hearts. All these manifestations of Guru-tattva will be significant in our spiritual journey back to Godhead. A good example is Srila B.V. Narayan Maharaj who helped give Srila Prabhupada his sannyas and who buried HDG for us. Iskcon devotees don't know that much about Vaisnavism because Prabhupada DID NOT reveal everything and every detail before his departure. But there is not only one manifestation of Guru-tattva; CC begins with the words "Vande gurun," which clearly specifies more than one manifestation of Guru-tattva. Even HDG advised us to take help from his Godbrothers like Sripad Sridara Maharaj, and also Prabhupada's sannyas Godbrother, Srila Narayana Maharaj. Since 1968 I have been in awe of Narayana Maharaj's good qualities and vast learning. He was born a Gaudiya Vaisnava and initiated in the line of BSSP. He has never fallen down nor ever left his strict vows during his long and surrendered lifetime. It stands to reason that after so long he has realized his eternal form or svarupa. So why doubt him? Prabhupada never doubted him. But the terrible truth is that at present Srila Bhakti Vedanta Narayana Maharaj is not allowed to speak in any Iskcon (neophyte) center and he is roundly condemned as a heretic by the GBC. The reason given by the GBC is that "he is stealing OUR men!!!" Personally I am no body's nor any group's man; I belong to the vast circle of Gaudiya Vaisnavas who are all my Gurus, especially the pure personalities whom Krsna has kindly brought me in touch with. It is material nonsense when a spiritual group thinks they are loosing "their men." In my karmi business if another business man steals one of my expert staff members then I will become angry and say, "he has stolen my employee." But that is material life not spiritual life! Spiritual life means some how or other fixing up our minds on Krsna. And the goal is "svarupa siddhi" or self-realization, not material world domination. For Iskcon to be so materialistic is a sign of serious neophyte status. And for Iskcon to ban Narayana Maharaj is a sin and serious aparadha. Why not accept that HDG is still teaching us in another form through Narayana Maharaj and other advanced and potentially self-realized Vaisnava siksa-gurus? A while back some of the long-time Iskcon devotees approached Narayana Maharaj for advanced guidance; but Iskcon's GBC got paranoid that Narayan Maharaj will "steal our men." I say WHOSE MEN? Narayan Maharaj is doing the same as HDG by helping us progress on the Krsna-bhakti-marga. That is the goal, not some limited material group. But the Iskcon devotees turned against Narayana Maharaj, Prabhupada's own recommended siksa guru, just to "save their material skin" (a 1973 TKG quote to me) and protect their goal of cornering the world market in collection of money and followers. In other words they offended Sripad Narayan Maharaj just to protect their "material livelihood." I'm certain that HDG would want us to further our sadhana with the kind help of other great devotees like his dear friend Srila Narayana Maharaj who is truly an expert in all facets of Gaudiya Vaisnava life. Prabhupada would never condone this offense against a leading and very advanced Gaudiya Vaisnava who is his own close friend and Iskcon's ever-well wisher. And this is not just about Narayana Maharaj. We must respect and offer obeisance's to all Prabhupada's Godbrothers, past and present, as well as their disciples. We are all one family and the goal is not to build up some separatist personality cult on the material platform; the goal is to some how or other fix up our minds on Krsna by taking help from all the different manifestations of our own unique guru-tattva. Iskcon must broaden it's scope and embrace all the members of the Gaudiya Vaisnava family, especially in the line of Prabhupada Srila Sarasvati Thakura. Our goal is Krsna consciousness, not expanding Iskcon's material domination. As my father calls such persons: "material empire builders." OM TAT SAT!!! Read also Part 1 Respectfully Hrsikesananda das About the Author | Other Stories by this Author Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9902/ET02-2950.html
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