Tamal Krishna Goswami Vyasa-Puja

Giriraj Swami: So, this is an offering that I received by email from Her Grace Sarvakanti devi dasi, who was a disciple of Tamal Krishna Goswami from South Africa. She was eccentric, she still is, and it was very unlikely that Tamal Krishna Goswami would initiate her, because first of all, he only liked to initiate people on his own or in places that he regularly visited, and he never visited South Africa. And furthermore, he didn’t like people who were too eccentric, at least he didn’t want them to be too near him. But she was extremely persistent. He refused time and time again, and she would just persist. And because I spent time in South Africa, he would ask me to be in the room when he met her.

So, finally, it came to the point where he felt that it was hard to continue to refuse, and finally, he did agree to initiate her, but under certain conditions. And one of the conditions was that she would not live in the temple, and she would not ask to live in the temple. I think he foresaw, I mean, it had been somewhat true, historically, I think he foresaw that if she lived in the temple, it would be problematic. He didn’t want her to have to face those problems, and he probably didn’t want the temple then to face the problems, and he certainly didn’t want to face the problems either.

But anyway, she is an extremely loyal, and devoted, and dedicated disciple. And in the past when I read her offerings, and I haven’t read this one, but in the past when I read her offerings, I thought she is just completely absorbed in the mission of her spiritual master in preaching Krishna consciousness, even though not much of it gets fulfilled in reality because of her limitations. But her meditation is always on him, and how to serve him, and how to spread Krishna consciousness, and I thought that’s really what matters. Its external manifestation would be nice if she had the capability, but she doesn’t.

But still, even in spite of the fact that not much of her ambitions have materialized, she just never gives up her desire to serve and preach. I felt like she is liberated, that’s her only absorption, and it’s just due to circumstances that to whatever degree, it’s been manifested or not manifested in practical reality.

So, here is her offering.

Offering of Her Grace Sarvakanti devi dasi

“T—My dearest Srila Gurudeva, please accept my most humble obeisances at your lotus feet on this most auspicious occasion of your Vyasa-puja. My dearest Gurudeva, you are my only beloved Tamal tree, my only shelter. Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja, you are the embodiment of these four qualities mentioned by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ 

These are the qualities by which we can enter the spiritual world, which can be achieved by pleasing the spiritual master.

You showed me how to use my talents.

I remember you once told me, ‘Sarvakanti, you are a very talented girl. You save me so much heartache and inflicting heartache on others by our brainstorming sessions.’ You told me, ‘Do this Children Development Program, it’s the best.’ The years of artificial renunciation, bouts of fanaticism, and hypocrisy, before I was able to accept things about myself that were perhaps the best things I had.”

COMMENT

Oh, I see what she is doing. She is lettering each section with

T-A-M-A-L, but the first word of the first paragraph didn’t begin with T, but she put a T there. But now, the second one happens to be A – attachment.

Offering of Her Grace Sarvakanti devi dasi

“A—Attachment for the beauty of the maya complex is unparalleled in Mayapur dhāma, where you had to go out yourself to different parts of India to get wagon loads of stone chips, steel, sand, and cement. Even before obtaining the materials, you first had to get government sanction, which was not easy. It was difficult to get any wagons or trains since there was a shortage. Still, somehow or other, you managed to gather the materials and proudly sent Srila Prabhupada a photograph. These materials were so precious that you slept on top of the stone chips and steel at night to protect them from thieves.

M—Magnanimous. Srila Gurudeva, you gave wholeheartedly. It was not the number of people that served you, but the number of people you served. You gave, and you gave freely.

A—Adversity. You mentioned the value of a crisis. Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have remained dormant. Remember the story of the chicken farmer whose land was flooded initially every spring? Even though the floods caused him horrendous problems, he refused to move. When the waters would back up onto his land and flood his chicken coop, he would race to move his chicken coop to higher ground. Some years, hundreds of them drowned because he couldn’t move them out in time.

One year, after suffering heavy losses from a particularly bad flood, he came to the farmhouse, and in a voice filled with despair, told his wife, “I’ve had it, I can’t afford to buy another place, I can’t sell this one. I don’t know what to do.” His wife calmly replied, “Buy ducks.”

Srila Gurudeva, thank you for your creativity. Like father, like daughter. Creativity is a trait not always admired by those who don’t have it. They interpret creativity and inventiveness as stupidity or impracticality. If they see the creative person as salvageable, they will try to pull him back into the mainstream of thought. He will be told to stay busy, follow the rules, be practical, and not make a fool of himself. Traditional thinkers don’t realize that creative thinkers are the geniuses of the world, had it not been for someone’s inventiveness, they might not have jobs.

Walt Disney’s brother tells an amusing story about Walt’s budding genius as a fifth grader. The teacher assigned the students to color a flower garden. As she walked among the rows examining the students’ works, she stopped by young Walt’s desk, noting that his drawing was quite unusual. She remarked, “Walt, that’s not right. Flowers don’t have faces on them.” Confidently, he replied, “Mine do,” and continued his work. And they still do. The flowers at Disneyland in Disney World all have faces.”

COMMENT

Now, actually, Sarvakanti is very creative and innovative. I actually wish that her programs could come into reality, because they are very original and dynamic. But as she is hinting here, unless the leaders themselves are creative, they won’t appreciate it in others for something.

Offering of Her Grace Sarvakanti devi dasi

“L—Leadership. He reasons ill who says that Vaishnavas die. Vaishnavas die to live, and living spread the holy name around. Srila Gurudeva, you are knowledgeable in all fields. Imagine going back to university at your age, I admire you greatly.

Responsibilities—Thank you for giving me wisdom. You taught me to forget my rights, but remember my responsibilities.

Inconveniences—You taught me to forget my inconveniences, but remember my blessings.

Sannyasa—Srila Prabhupada awarded you sannyasa in 1971 in Jaipur with the initial concept that you would renounce all managerial responsibility and simply travel and preach. Srila Prabhupada always had a very special thing about your sannyasa preaching. In one of your big pandal lecture programs, five thousand people attended, including the Government of Gujarat. You enrolled eight members in about seven days. Srila Prabhupada was pleased to see photographs of these events, as well as the newspaper clippings.

Srila Prabhupada leaned back, satisfied, and said, “Now I can retire without any anxiety. You are preaching so nicely.” As you offered your obeisances, Prabhupada got up from behind his desk and embraced you, resting his head on your shoulder, and said, “Now, take this sannyasa mantra in your heart, go everywhere, and preach.”

Home—Back to Godhead. There is no scarcity on this earth. There is only opportunity, the opportunity to go home, back to Godhead.

Noble—You taught me how to be noble, thinking of everyone’s welfare. You taught me to forget my own accomplishments, but remember my debts to others. You taught me to forget my privileges, but remember my obligations. You taught me to be wise and empty myself into adventure. Yes, adventure into the battlefield against maya.

Ambition—You taught me to empty my days of search for security and fill them with a passion for service. You taught me to empty my hours of ambition for recognition and fill them with the aspiration for achievement. You taught me to empty my moments of the need for entertainment and fill them with the quest for creativity. Srila Gurudeva, you are the greatest saint and leader to walk this earth. You gave me so much. How can I ever repay you? Goswami, I must simply follow your instructions, Goswami Maharaja, the greatest giver.

Srila Gurudeva, on this auspicious occasion, I beg gurudeva tumi more doyā nā chāḍiho. Please, always keep me under your soothing shelter, the most auspicious Tamala tree.

On this auspicious day of your Vyasa-puja, I can only pray to Srimati Radharani, Lord Chaitanya, and Srila Prabhupada, that I can always serve my dear Gurudeva sincerely and with full love.

Your eternal, not so humble, daughter.

Sarvakanti devi dasi.”

COMMENT

Srila Gurudeva ki jaya! Sarvakanti devi dasi ki jaya!

Reading Sarvakanti Prabhu’s offering, made me appreciate Srila Gurudeva even more. Of course, her offering was filled with wisdom that she had gained from him and inspiration that she had got from him. But more than the specifics of the offering, I could see how he had really entered her heart, and that was something that he could do. He could enter people’s hearts. He could understand their hearts and give them the guidance that they needed, that was appropriate for them.

As one devotee said, just like all the gopīs in the rāsa-līlā, each one thought that Krishna was with her, and that Krishna favored her. Similarly, Tamal Krishna Goswami really did have the ability to understand people very deeply and to guide them very appropriately.

Having the opportunity to attend his appearance and disappearance festivals in Dallas, I’ve had the chance to hear many of his disciples and others speak about their interactions with him, and he really enjoyed being with them, and being with people. I saw it myself at one of his Vyasa-pujas in Houston. He would invite the godbrothers to take prasāda with him before the ceremony, and he would interact with them, and many of them came from different backgrounds. There were two very good friends of each other. They were black Americans, Urjasvat Prabhu and Vrakeshwar Pandit Prabhu, and they had a very different angle on things, on ISKCON. They were into kirtan.

That was another thing about Tamal Krishna Goswami, he was into every aspect of Krishna consciousness. He was into kirtan, he was into japa, he was into teaching, he was into preaching, he was into managing, he was into making new devotees, he was into encouraging existing devotees, and he was even into developing relationships with people who would never really become devotees, at least not in the traditional sense, if not in the present life.

And he really liked driving with these two black devotees. And as I mentioned, they were into kirtan and into playing mridanga, and some of the white kirtan leaders, in their estimation, were sort of puffed up when they would lead. And once, Srila Prabhupada really smashed one of them when he was leading guru-puja for Srila Prabhupada, and they had such a laugh, thinking about the way Prabhupada smashed him and he said, “He is singing like a rākṣasa.” And then he had someone else to lead instead of him. And Goswami Maharaja was really enjoying with them, genuinely enjoying with them.

And then, once, he organized a major party to tour Fiji with him, because he really wanted to make ISKCON strong there, to resist the attacks from outside. So, he gathered together a large group with lots of godbrothers, and they really had a good time together. Of course, the Fijian Matajis were expert cooks, so that was part of it, taking prasāda together. And then they would go to the beach, swim at the beach, but at the same time, Srila Gurudeva was very focused on his mission there.

So, at one stage, some of the godbrothers, I’m not sure what it was, they went to the beach without him, or they would get ice cream without him, something, because the devotees there had a restaurant and they also manufactured many flavors of ice cream. Anyway, whatever it was, when Gurudeva found out, he was very upset that they were leaving him out, and he told them.

And after he left also, of course, the main outpouring was from the devotees, and the first programs in the temple were with devotees. But then, maybe a few days later, there was a program with other people whom he had touched, who were not devotees. People from interfaith and people from academia, and he touched their lives very deeply, very deeply. Even here, he had a relationship with one of the professors, Barbara Holdridge, and she considers her meetings with him to be very significant in her life. And he could just relate to different people, but not in a contrived way, not in an artificial way, but he could really be on the same wavelength that they were on, and really think of them in their time of need or want.

And one of the things that struck her was that when George Harrison left his body, Tamal Krishna Goswami was the one that phoned and informed her. She mentioned it a few times, because she had spent some time at the Monterich ashram in the Himalayas, so he knew that it would be significant to her when he phoned her.

And then, when he left, she phoned me, and I’d only heard just a little bit before she phoned. But while I was speaking with her, I just felt his presence manifest in a very vivid way. So, very early, he made it clear that he was still present, and that he was active, and that we could continue our reciprocation with him, even in separation.

Anyway, I’ve just met many people like that. Once, I was walking at White Rock Lake in Dallas, and this man, he was quite nicely dressed, he had nice features, he looked nice, and he kept sort of looking at me and smiling, but I was walking faster than he was, so I passed him. And then, and a little later, I had to tie my shoelace, so I had to stop, and then he caught up with me, and he was looking very nicely, smiling. Then he passed me, but then in the meantime, I tied my shoelace and then I walked faster and I caught up to him, and I looked at him.

I don’t exactly remember how we began, but I began a conversation with him. And it turns out that he was in the department of Religious Studies at SMU, and then he knew Tamal Krishna Goswami, and I don’t think he even taught a course that Tamal Krishna Goswami had taken, but he had a very distinct impression of him, very good impression of him. He’d been to Kalachandji’s, most of the people that I meet at White Rock Lake who know about ISKCON, know about it from the restaurant from Kalachandji’s. But yeah, he just really genuinely liked people.

I remember we had one talk when he was staying at Kuvera Prabhu’s house in Houston, and he was talking about how nice some of the people in the academy were, very attractive, intelligent, articulate, and he really liked them, some of them, just very enthusiastic.

So, I’ve spoken about him in the past, of course, and I’ve focused on other aspects. Of course, first and foremost is his surrender and complete dedication to Srila Prabhupada and the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and all the aspects of Krishna consciousness. You think of the five most potent forms of devotional service, and he was very deep in all of them. Sādhu-saṅga, associating with devotees, nāma-kīrtana, chanting the holy name, saṅkīrtana, bhāgavata-śravaṇa, hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, studying the scriptures, srīmurtaya sevana, serving the Deity with faith, and mathurā-vāsa, residing in Mathura, Vrindavan, Navadvipa, Mayapur.

But this is another aspect, that he really liked people. He liked devotees, but he also liked people, and because he liked them, they liked him, and he was able to touch them. In those first days after he left, I met other people. One lady, I think she was a psychologist or something from Boston. Somehow, she had some association with him that made a deep impression on her, so she came. And I guess in a way, it reminds me of Jayananda Prabhu, because he made so many friends, people from all walks of life, all levels of society, they really liked him. But Tamal Krishna Goswami was so intelligent and so capable, so expert, that his range really was very great; the breadth, the height, and depth. So, I think that’s something that we can all learn from him.

Of course, in the beginning, we have to be careful about association, because if we associate too much with non-devotees, because we ourselves are just trying to become devotees, so if we associate with non-devotees too much, we can be affected by them. And we are already weak and we can become weaker, and we are already sort of enamored by the material energy, and then if we become enamored of their so-called good qualities, then we become even more distracted.

But it’s wonderful to have the example of such a devotee who was so mature and so fixed in Krishna consciousness that he could see the good qualities in others, whoever they were, see the spark and fan it, and really just have a good time with people.

But of course, we begin with our more immediate family, then extended family, but eventually, it’ll be nice to have that ability to see the good in others, see the Krishna consciousness in others, even those who aren’t exactly devotees, and to interact with them, and encourage them, and increase their appreciation for Krishna consciousness, mainly just by their appreciating their friend who happens to be a Krishna conscious person. I mean, from their point of view, of course. From our point of view, Krishna consciousness was inseparable from him, and everything he did was filled with Krishna consciousness, but it manifested in a very friendly and caring way of interacting with all sorts of people.

One other thing he said, I thought I’ll just end with this, it was to someone who again, by our standards, wasn’t a devotee. And the person had taken initiation from a guru in India, and the guru isn’t someone that we would consider to be a Vaishnava. But the person was always very busy working, and the person wanted to have results, she didn’t want to just see her guru empty-handed, she wanted to have some results to show him, and it just kept going on and on like that.

So, Tamal Krishna Goswami told her, “No, it’s very important that you see him. Even if you don’t have anything to bring him, or show him, still, you should see him, because you don’t know how long he’ll be here.” And that really struck me, because we might not. . . I mean, it’s a little subtle point, but I think, in general, most devotees in ISKCON would not consider the guru to be bona fide, although I’m not sure about that, but he saw that from her perspective, he was her guru, and she was his disciple, and he wanted her to have his association while he was still on the planet.

And I think that shows how deep his faith is in the principle of guru niṣṭhā. I mean, he exemplified it to the highest degree in relation to Srila Prabhupada, but if someone really understands the principle of guru niṣṭhā, he or she will see how it relates to others, who have even other gurus, even if their gurus aren’t even in our direct paramparā. Of course, there are conditions. They shouldn’t be offensive, they shouldn’t be envious of Vaishnavas, and other conditions. And I think because she saw that he encouraged her in her relationship with her guru she had taken initiation from, naturally, she had more faith in him and trusted him more.

I mean, I was going to say I wish I could go on and on. I also wish I could remember what I could go on and on about, but in Dallas, for his disappearance day, it’s planned for one day. As usual, I gave the morning class, and then I think just a few godbrothers gave offerings before noon, and then there was the ārati and the feast, and then in the evening, devotees gathered and shared remembrances and realizations, and I just felt there was so much more that they wanted to say, there was so much more I wanted to hear. So, we ended up having five days. I would speak about service and separation from the spiritual master, and they would tell stories, and I was just astonished both by the range and depth of his relationships, and by the depth of his Krishna consciousness.

I mean, now we are starting to have japa retreats and japa workshops, but it wasn’t actually in the remembrances. But in a class that I gave, one disciple mentioned some of the instructions he’d given about japa. He was so far ahead of his time. I mean, he was saying things then that the facilitators of the japa workshops and retreats are just starting to codify and say now, and more that they haven’t even come to yet! So, I don’t know what to say; it’s inconceivable, incomprehensible.

And so much devotion and dedication to Srila Prabhupada. Whenever he would go out of his quarters in Dallas, he would always circumambulate the temple before he got in his car, and I think he would always go in front of the Prabhupada Deity there to do his Gayatri. I think the temple president has been there for some years now, he asked him what is the best thing that he could do to help him to perform his duties as temple president in the best way, and Tamal Krishna Goswami told him either to dress the Prabhupada Deity or wake up the Prabhupada Deity and put the Deity dress. Do you know exactly?

Devotee: To take care of the Prabhupada Deity.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, to take care of the Prabhupada Deity. And when Srila Prabhupada was alive, one of his teeth fell out, and Tamal Krishna Goswami got possession of the tooth, and he put it in a gold setting and he wore it around his neck.

So once, I think His Holiness Indradyumna Swami was eyeing that tooth, because Indradyumna Swami has a way of getting deities and other precious artifacts related to the Lord and the devotees. And he was eyeing that tooth, and he was making a serious move to get it, and Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “Forget it.” He said, “I’m taking this with me to the grave.” And then he said, “Because when I’m put in the earth, I’m going to have that with me, and even people who don’t want to offer obeisances to me, they are going to have to offer obeisances to Prabhupada’s tooth,” which is true, the tooth is worshipable.

In Sri Lanka, in Kandy’s, the biggest Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka, which is a major center of Buddhism, the biggest temple is called the Temple of the Tooth. And they don’t worship Deities exactly the way we do, but the main worshipable object is Lord Buddha’s tooth, and every year, they have a major festival, like Ratha-yatra, where they take the tooth out in procession on an elephant and they decorate the elephant, and they have bands, and chant, and dance.

So yes, he would always have Prabhupada’s tooth with him. And although he put it sort of in an ironic way, “They will have to offer obeisances to me,” but I think he was thinking, “When they offer obeisances to me, they’ll also be offering obeisances to the tooth, they’ll get the benefit of offering obeisances to the tooth.”

So, we miss him. Certainly, we miss his personal care and guidance. He was such a person he could give advice on every level, for just a whole range of things. It’s available, but he was like a one-stop shop, you could get everything from him. Now, without him, it’s all there, it’s all available, but you have to work a little harder to get something here or something there. It’s all there, but you have to work a little harder to get it. But he is present, he is very active.

This morning, I had some pain in my wrist joint, it was really bothering me. I don’t know, this was really bothering me. And yesterday, in the mood of Tamal Krishna Goswami, I phoned people who were attached to him, whom I felt he would have wanted me to phone and encourage. And so today, I had some more that I was going to phone, because I didn’t have time to phone everyone yesterday. And because of this pain in my wrist, I wasn’t in the mood. But anyway, I thought, Okay, I am ready.

So, I looked at the list and then somehow, I was drawn to a person who I wouldn’t have thought would have been at the top of the list. It was the right thing, we had a long talk, and she was saying how she. . . And I hadn’t even remembered it, I wasn’t even thinking of her connection with Tamal Krishna Goswami. I just phoned her because she was on the list for some other reason. And when we were speaking, she brought it up. Well, I mentioned that it was his Vyasa-puja, and she said, “Yes, we have to talk about him.”

The last time also she said she wanted to talk about him, it was such a big thing that he left, and she was saying how she really didn’t get to meet him for the last few years, and although she did speak with him on the phone, and she was saying how she thought he was preparing her, because if she had the same amount of association with him that she did earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to bear a separation, she wouldn’t have been able to keep herself together. And so, we were talking. She did want to know more about his last years and his last days. And then, at a certain point in the discussion, that pain in my wrist let up. I mean, I knew it was there for a reason, and she was a godsister.

Again, it depends on your perception. From one point of view, she is one of the very excellent devotees in ISKCON, from another point of view, some people might think she is not really a good example of an ISKCON devotee, but he just really saw the good in everyone, saw the essence of everyone, and encouraged them.

Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Nitai-Gaura premānande Haribol!