Narottam Das T – Pure devotion trumps caste

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. On the sacred occasion of the disappearance of Narottam Das Thakur, let us contemplate on his unique position within our sampradaya and his contribution.
Narottam Das Thakur is like the second generation leader of Gaudiya Vaishnavas. If you consider Mahaprabhu and his associates as the first generation, then the Goswamis, they were his disciples but more or less they were in the same generation. Although in their relationship they were very submissive and they acted as disciples but they were more or less in the same generation.
And the next generation, after a charismatic leader departs, the future of the movement depends on the next generation. And that next generation was the generation of Narottam Das Thakur, Shaman, Pandit and Srinivas Acharya. So among them, Narottam Das Thakur, he demonstrates the transcendental potency of pure devotion.
He was born in a fabulously wealthy family, relounced it all to go and take nisir from Lokmadas Goswami and was trained personally by Srinivas Goswami, the Shiksha disciple. And after becoming extraordinarily learned in the scriptures, he was already extraordinarily devoted and he became extraordinarily learned also. And normally devotees go to Vrindavan to reside in Vrindavan for the rest of their lives.
But then they were given the instruction on one gloriously fateful day, go back to where you have come and share the mercy that Lord Chaitanya has given. And that’s how these three illustrious came back from Vrindavan to their respective places. And Narottam Das Thakur was in Kheturi and that’s where the first Gaur Purnima festival, the first major festival of after celebrating Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance was celebrated.
And he used all the resources which were there because of his connection in the royal family. He was born in the royal family and his cousin was the king. And he used all those resources to make wonderful arrangements for the Vaishnavas.
And he demonstrated how a person who was not born in the Brahmin family. And normally the idea of the caste of Goswami is that only Brahmins can initiate. So Narottam Das Thakur was such a glorious devotee that his devotion outshone the whatever capacity others may have had.
And not only did he initiate others, but actually he initiated not only people from other castes, but even Brahmins, who other Brahmins were claiming monopoly on initiation. But there were other more sincere minded Brahmin seekers and these Brahmins, they said that actually if we want genuine devotion, we cannot go to these gurus who are claiming monopoly on initiation. They came into initiation from Narottam Das Thakur.
And by that initiation, through that initiation, what happened is that he became a controversially popular figure. And there were actually attempts to defame him, to disgrace him publicly. But when these happened, actually the opponents themselves were not only defeated, but were transformed.
And from that time onwards, not only was he so learned that he could defeat others, but even his disciples, even his disciples who belonged to lower caste, they became so learned that they also transformed him. So we see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu started a momentum over the generations. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not destabilize the existing social order even when it was not entirely in harmony with the Vedic devotional conclusions.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not insist that Haridas Thakur come into the Jananath temple. He was more of a reformer. But that reformation became a revolution over the centuries.
And Narottam Das Thakur was one person who broadened that river and he made everything else in the Vedic culture subordinate to the principle of pure devotion. So what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught, Narottam Das Thakur’s example demonstrated. Whatever be one’s Varna or one’s Ashrama, if one knows about Krishna, then one is a guru.
Narottam Das Thakur wrote extraordinarily potent poetry. And that poetry contains the principles of pure devotion in very melodious and very meaningful verses. And in this way, he actually attracted not only the intelligent Shia, but also the masses.
Through his scholarly presentation, he attracted Brahmins also to become disciples. But through his poetry, he attracted the common people. And he spiritualized all of Vrindavan.
Just by the end of the generation of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, of Narottam Das Thakur, actually all of Bengal had accepted Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as their deity. And that’s how Narottam Das Thakur extraordinarily expanded the resurgence of pure devotion that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had revived during his times. Narottam Das Thakur ki Jai Krishna.