Transcendence in Action [granthraj]

Maharaj’s health has not been so good last few weeks. Even though he is constantly suffering he is still preaching in the mornings when he is fresh and talks to devotees briefly. We are not able to realize how he is so transcendental to the pains of old age. I was thinking that this illness has been occurring only recently but a few days back I saw the below note from one of our godbrothers H G Atma Prasad Krishna das who is currently serving Maharaj in Nasik along with another nice devotee H G Sevananda prabhu. Sevananda prabhu has been serving Maharaj very nicely for quite some time in Rajkot and Nasik for most part of this year and he related a very mind-boggling incident that happened some time early this year when he was serving Maharaj in Nasik. Below are the words of Atma prasad prabhu refering to Sevananda prabhu’s experience with Maharaj.

When Sevananda Prabhu was here in Nasik serving Maharaja earlier this year a very sudden change of events happened. Without any warning Maharaj started to get excruciating shots of pain that would run from his lower back down his right leg. Every 10 to 15 seconds this pain would shoot down his leg like an electric shock. The pain was so horrible that Maharaja’s leg would kick violently in the air and he would scream in agony. Again and again every 15 seconds for hours and hours Maharaja was getting slammed by a pain we could not imagine.

So where is the transcendence?

Sevananda Prabhu expressed very strongly that this went on for 40 continuous hours non-stop; no sleeping, no eating, no nothing. All the while this was happening Sevananda was pleading with Maharaja to see a doctor, but Maharaja refused. Instead he would simply tell Sevananda, "Sevananda, miseries that come will also go, we just have to tolerate." Here is transcendence..

In the Gita 2.14-15 Lord Krishna teaches that happiness and distress come and go like the seasons and one who is equal in both is fit for liberation. Maharaja showed us this.

maatraa-sparshaas tu kaunteya / sheetoshna sukha-duhkha daah
aagamaapaayino ‘nityaas / taams titikshasva bhaarata

"O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."

Later on (Gita 6.22) Lord Krishna said that an enlightened soul is so fixed in transcendence that he is not disturbed in the greatest difficulty. Maharaja showed us this.

yam labdhvaa caaparam laabham / manyate naadhikam tatah
yasmin sthito na duhkhena / gurunaapi vicaalyate

"Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty."

And in the 9.13 Lord Krishna teaches that the great souls are always taking shelter of the spiritual energy, not in material props. Maharaja showed us this too.

mahaatmaanas tu maam paartha / daivim prakrtim aashritaah
bhajanty ananya-manaso / jnaatvaa bhutaadim avyayam

"O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible."

Maharaja is continually teaching us the main tenants of the Gita, especially that spiritual life is not an artificial aloofness from the material world but a higher way of interacting with it. This can only develop in our own hearts if we regularly approach scriptures like Bhagavad-Gita with great humility and repeatedly attempt to absorb their messages. I will end with a partial translation of a verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 chapter 2 verse 49:

"A person who is not bewildered by the inevitable miseries of material existence, and who remains aloof from them simply by remembering the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is to be consideredBhagavat-pradhana, the foremost devotee of the Lord."

Thank you very much
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Kalacakra Krsna das

Moderator’s Note: Yesterday we heard from H G Vaishnava seva prabhu that Maharaj was not feeling well and is in a hospital in Nasik. Maharaj is insisting to the doctors that he would not take allopathy medicines and if at all he would take anything, it will be ayurvedic medicines. Krishna willing, Maharaj will leave the hospital in a day or two as soon as he gets better. We humbly request all the well-wishers and disciples of our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj all around the world to sincerely pray to the Supreme Lord to bring Maharaj’s health back to normal.

Disclaimer: This article was originally published in the Yahoo Groups granthraj – run by the disciples of H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj – by the devotee name mentioned above. The posting in this article, is original realizations of our Guru Maharaj and the devotee who wrote this. Any comments regarding this article would be passed on directly to the devotee. In this article, ‘Maharaj’ and ‘Gurudev’ implicitly refer to our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj.

Related posts:

1. Transcendence in Action – Part 8 [granthraj]
2. Transcendence in Action – Part 7 [granthraj]
3. Transcendence in Action – Part 6 [granthraj]
4. Transcendence in Action – Part 5 [granthraj]
5. Transcendence In Action – Part 4 [granthraj]
6. Transcendence in Action – Part 3 [granthraj]
7. Transcendence in Action – Part 2 [granthraj]