A Few Self-Written Ideals

A FEW SELF-WRITTEN IDEAL PRINCIPLES BY ŚRĪLA MAHĀRĀJA

Śrīpāda BV Siddhāntī Mahārāja: To all the devotees from all over the world who have taken shelter through harināma, dīkṣā or sannyāsa at the lotus feet of Śrīla Mahārāja which award fearlessness, or those are fixed in the śikṣā awarded by him, I am desirous of taking the dust from their feet upon my head and I am praying to attain the same wealth. Lastly, bowing my head, I beg for forgiveness in case there is any kind of lapse or error in my written offering, and I conclude my offering by mentioning a few self-written ideal principles of Śrīla Mahārāja:

1) In my whole life I never told anyone to accept harināma-dīkṣā from my Guru Mahārāja or any other Vaiṣṇava, rather I made everyone hear the glories of harināma and hari-kathā. My thinking was, ‘Why should I insist upon anyone accepting harināma, when upon the development of faith, that individual will himself say that I am desirous of accepting harināma.’

2) I never asked any devotee who came into my [close] association, whose shelter he had taken, which institution he belonged to or consequently how I could meet with him again. Because just by seeing someone adorned with the signs of a Gauḍīya devotee, I accepted him like our own [family].

3) I never went back on my words after having promised anyone, regardless of any amount of inconvenience or obstacles it caused.

4) In my whole life I was never frivolous with anyone — I never cut jokes with anyone and never tried to woo anyone.

5) What to speak of using something that belongs to someone else? I never even touched it.

6) I never left things to be done on a given day to the next day. I would manage my responsibilities in such a way that, even if for some reason I was not available the next morning, no one would be inconvenienced. Only by seeing my diary everything will be crystal clear.

7) I never compromised with anyone when it came to siddhānta, nor bowed before anyone.

8) I never gave anyone dishonest advice — I gave the best possible advice according to my understanding.

9) To all the devotees who approached me in a mood of surrender, I tried to bestow fearlessness upon them as per my capacity, and always tried to serve them to the best of my ability.

10) I never misplaced anything due to negligence and nothing in my custody was ever stolen.

11) In my life I never quarreled with anyone and I never retaliated despite a thousand abuses or if someone got angry with me.

12) Even in my dreams, I never disregarded the order of my Guru Mahārāja: that ‘whenever the opportunity for Vaiṣṇava sevā arises, never let it go, who knows if such an opportunity may even be available in future’.

13) I could never become a “yes man” in my life.

14) Without being asked, I never objected or offered my advice to anyone on something they were doing, were about to do, or did.

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The ‘Remembrance in Separation’ series, dedicated to Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, was composed by Śrīpād Bhakivedānta Siddhānti Mahārāja. It was first published in Sri Sri Bhagavata Patrika in Hindi in the year 2018. The series unfolded over three volumes (Year 14, Volume 9-10, 10-11, 11-12).

Now, we are presenting the English translation of this in the form of a series of articles released in www.vcvani.com.

Since it covers a brief sketch of Śrīla Mahārāja’s life and precepts from childhood to his final pastimes, this series will be unfolded from now until his tirobhava tithi.