Raghunatha Bhatta G – Harmonize apara and para dharmas

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. On the sacred occasion of the disappearance day of Shri Raghunand Das Goswami, we can look at how he exemplifies the balancing of para and aparadharma.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu demonstrated different lessons through different associates. So Raghunandan Das Goswami was born in a devotional family. Tappan Mishra was a very virtuous and learned brahmana.
And when Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Bangladesh, what was at that time Bengal, East Bengal, so he surrendered to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked him to go from Bengal to Kashi, to the hotbed of Mayavada, to the headquarters of Mayavada. Prabhupada called Varanasi as the Vrindavan of the Mayavadis, where all the Mayavadis congregate and populate.
So there he went and he lived there in a life of pure devotion. So maintain one’s devotion in such an inimical, devotionally inimical atmosphere is difficult. But not only did he maintain his devotion, but he raised, Tappan Mishra raised Raghunandan Das Goswami in the principles of pure devotion.
And when Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to meet him in Kashi, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told, he told Raghunandan Das Goswami faithfully serve him, massaging his feet, serving him food, and being a constant associate and constant servant for him whenever he was at his home. But along with that, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructed him that to serve his parents and to faithfully serve his parents because they were devotees, but to not marry. So this instruction became the life-shaping instruction.
So from there, from Varanasi, Raghunandan Das Goswami, Raghunand Bhatta Goswami, being incapable to bear separation, came to meet Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri. And from there, after serving him for several months, he went back again and he served his parents till the end of his life. And then after completing his duty towards his parents, he decided to devote himself completely to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s service.
He came to Puri, stayed with him for several months and Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sent him to join the other Goswamis. Raghunand Bhatta Goswami is in some ways the most mysterious and the least known of the Goswamis because he did not write any literature and he did not want often his name to be highlighted. So he, of course, attracted many, many people and those who became his followers, among them, one of his followers, Valdirajput, he built the magnificent Govindadev temple, which is even today, after 500 years, one of the most attractive, magnificent temples over there.
And he exemplified the principles of pure devotion by being completely absorbed in Krishna. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had told him to study Shri Madhya Bhagavatam and he became a devotional devotee. He was a passionately enchanting, captivating reciter of the Shri Madhya Bhagavatam.
In the most complex verses he could recite and he could recite, not just recite, but recite in captivating tunes and he was always interested only in glorifying the Lord and not hearing the blasphemy of any devotees. And Raghunatha Goswami exemplified complete renunciation in his later days as a Goswami. Before that, when he was Raghunatha, when he was a small child, he demonstrated the principle of balancing para and aparadhan.
And he balanced both by serving his parents and by serving Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and harmonizing the two. So the Goswamis are the primary among the disciples of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and through their lives we can learn how we can serve Chaitanya Mahaprabhu more and more. So when we have worldly responsibilities, we balance para and aparadhan.
And when we have the opportunity for single-minded focus and devotion, we grab that opportunity. And either way, just as the Ganga keeps flowing towards the ocean, we keep our heart flowing forever and ever towards the ocean. Not to merge, but to meet.
A meeting that never ends, a meeting that is ever fresh because every moment, a devotee, by remembering Krishna and longing for Krishna and serving Krishna is meeting Krishna and relishing the ecstasy of pure devotion thereof.