Srimad-Bhakti-Saranga-Goswami

A Purifying Sun

In honour of the disappearance day of Srimad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj today, we are presenting the pranam mantra Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote for him. This man­tra was pub­lished on 11 March 1956 in Sri Gaudiya Darshan (Volume 1, Issue 8).

divyaṁ dīrgha-bhujāravinda-nayanaṁ sārasvataṁ sundaraṁ
tejo-dīpta-vapur budhaika-suhṛdaṁ karbūra-garvāpaham
pāṣāṇḍāsura-chaṇḍa-daṇḍa-dalanaṁ dambhādri-dambholikaṁ
vande vandya-kulābja-bhāskara-vibhuṁ sāraṅga-gosvāminam

I offer my obeisance unto the beautiful follower of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Srimad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj. He has a radiant form, long arms, and lotus eyes. He crushes the pride of the wicked and squashes the cruel oppression of the heretics and demons. He is like a thunderbolt on the mountain of hypocrisy. He is the sole friend of the intelligentsia and a shining sun above the lotus of the aristocracy.”

Srila Govinda Maharaj explained the meaning of the comparison of a Vaishnav to a sun above the lotus of their social class in a Bengali article he wrote about Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur. The following is a translated excerpt.

Srila Sanatan Goswami described Sri Das Goswami’s relationship with his family with the phrase, “Kāyastha-kulābja-bhāskaraḥ” (“the sun above the lotus of the secretarial class”).

The sun has a very small relationship with the lotus. The lotus is a soft flower born from water and the sun is a glowing orb of light that reveals the world. The characteristics of these two entities are not at all similar. Still, the sun, by emanating its rays and causing the lotus to grow and bloom, accepts a small relationship with it. This is the relationship Vaishnavs have with social classes. This example, however, can only be considered partially. In reality, the social class into which the Vaishnavs, the Lord’s associates, enter when they appear becomes purified.

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