Another side of Bhaktivinoda Thakur 5: Learning Siddha Krishnadas Baba's Gutika

Not more than two months after I received diksha and siddha-pranali from Lalita Prasad Thakur in 1980, he left this world, entering Radha Krishna's nitya-lila. But Prabhu's departure stirred a greater desire in me for the bhajana-shiksha that I desperately needed. This lured me to Radha Kund the same year.

When the Toofan Express pulled into the Mathura station, late as usual, I was contemplating how to reach my destination. It was late afternoon and I was alone. So I started praying to Radharani for guidance. Whenever I enter Vrindavan, it always seems that something mystical happens, and this time was no different. Stepping down from the train onto the platform, I saw a Vaishnava friend from Nabadwip named Jadunath Saha who was getting off the same train a couple of bogies away. Upon seeing me, he came running over. Since we were both alone and in the same predicament, we decided to team up.

"Come with me," he said, "I shall introduce you to a great sadhu."

We got on the bus to Govardhan and arrived there just before dark. Jadunath then took me through the town along roads he obviously knew well and led me to a remote location somewhere beside Govardhan hill where we saw a hut and some vairagi Vaishnavas surrounding it. They appeared to be waiting for darshan of the person inside. Coming closer, Jadunath said, "This is the bhajan sthali of Tinkori Goswami Maharaj, who is presently the most advanced bhajananandi Vaishnava in Braja Mandal."

After standing there for a while, one of the babajis ushered us inside. I was surprised to see the sadhu inside was wearing only a kaupin. Still I could definitely feel the shakti emanating from him. I fell to the ground to offer my pranams. Upon getting up, I uttered the first words that came to my mind: "Baba, please give me your kripa ashirvad so that I can become Radha's dasi."

On hearing my prayer, I noticed that a smile came to his face. His eyes were moist and twinkling as he put his hand on my head and said, "Tathāstu. (May it be so!)"

I immediately experienced a current of bliss that made my hairs stand on end.

Coming outside, I asked Jadunath, "Please tell me something about this sadhu. He seems to have some divine power."

Jadunath laughed and said, "You can't imagine how many big, big seths (rich businessmen) come begging for his blessings. They throw wads of money at him and he never touches it. He simply tells them to go and do Vaishnava seva."

"That sounds unusual," I commented. "Nowadays there don't seem to be many vairagi Vaishnavas turning down money, especially when it comes so easily."

"But Tin Kori Baba's vesha guru, Siddha Manohar Das Babaji of Govinda Kund was even more advanced." Jadunath went on. "Many say that he daily chanted seven lakhs of nama japa."

"That's humanly impossible," I objected.

"For you or for me, maybe so," Jadunath replied. "But for a siddha purusha who is solely devoted to nama bhajan, why should this be impossible? In his biography we can read about numerous supernatural events that happened in his life."

That night Jadunath and I took shelter at Tinkori Baba's ashram near Manasi Ganga. Because my stomach was upset I had to fast. So when I headed for Radha Kund the next morning alone, I started feeling hungry. While walking along the parikrama path, I saw a Vrajavasi sadhu sitting under a pilu tree, and he was calling to me. At first I thought he was a beggar. But as I came closer, he asked, "tum thora prasad khaega, baba? (Would you like something to eat?)"

Since I was hungry I couldn't resist the invitation and sat down near him. Then out of nowhere appeared a Brajavasi girl carrying a thala with roti, sabji and buttermilk. While partaking of the meal, I was surprised at the prasad's extraordinary flavor. It appeared to be divine. Then I remembered the girl who brought it. I didn't get to see her very closely, but as I recall she reminded me of a Braja gopi. Then a story came to mind: That Radha and Krishna have personally pledged to feed anyone who goes hungry in Braja. This thought awakened a wonderful feeling in me, and tears came to my eyes.

Upon arriving at Radha Kund I had a lead to follow: one of my god-brothers had previously been taking bhajana-shiksha from Madan Mohan Das Babaji of Ghana Madhava Ghera. So after asking around how to get there, I became joyful upon finding his bhajan kutir in an ideal secluded location. Entering the courtyard, I knocked on the door and climbed up some wooden steps to the second floor. What a great place to do bhajan, I thought. There was a wonderful bird's eye view of Shyama Kund. Upon seeing Madan Mohan Baba sitting there doing japa, I offered my pranams and our first discussion began.

Let me introduce this mahatma to our readers. Among Vraja raga marga sadhakas, Madan Mohan Das Babaji Maharaj was a kind of specialist, whom I would call a naishthika lila smarananandi Vaishnava. When I met him in 1980 he was editing a rare book entitled śrī śrī Gaura Govinda's Aṣṭakāla Līlā Smaraṇa Guṭikā. The book had not been printed yet. Over the previous 2½ centuries it had been handed down in the form of handwritten copies made by the raganuga sadhakas who wished to learn its contents from their guru. The word guṭikā means a medicinal pill that contains some essential ingredients for curing a sick person. Yet, similarly, this special book will not only cure our material disease, it can bring the greatest spiritual fortune. Because the sadhaka and sadhikas who daily practise the Guṭikā lila smarana method will, at the time of attaining siddhi, reach the highest realm in the spiritual world, Goloka Nabadwip and Goloka Vrindavan Dham to receive a male siddha kishora svarupa for serving Sri Gaurasundar, and a female manjari svarupa for serving Sri Sri Radha Krishna.

Now how did the Guṭikā advent? That is an amazing story. In ancient times in Vraja, siddha mahatmas were not as scarce as they are today. There were also greater numbers of bhajananandi Vaishnavas who daily performed ashtakala lila smarana. They would meditate on Radha Krishna's lilas that are described in Govinda-līlāmṛta and Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta. Though because shastras containing Sri Gaurasundar's ashtakala lila narrations in Goloka Nabadwip were not available, many anuragi Vaishnavas felt that something was missing. That is when Srimati Radharani personally appeared before Siddha Krishnadas Babaji of Manasi Ganga, and ordered him to compile the Guṭikā. It is by her merciful blessings that this amazing lila smarana paddhati has become the most popular among the Vraja Vaishnavas.

When Madan Mohan Baba saw my eagerness to learn the Guṭikā, he became merciful. He took me to Sri Sri Gadadhar Chaitanya mandir [Gadadhar Chaitanya mandir is ancient. Its construction and seva puja was arranged by a rani disciple of Ganga Mata Goswamini, one of Gadadhar Pandit's disciples at Puri.] and arranged daily prasad and a bhajan kutir for me there. I would then go to learn from him in the morning and in the evening. Though before niyam seva begins, Siddha Krishnadas Baba's viraha mahotsava takes place at Manasi Ganga. That year Madan Mohan took me there and it was a very memorable experience. During Siddha Baba's sucaka kirtan [***] one of the Babajis went into bhava. First he started levitating, lala came to his mouth, a number of sattvika bhavas erupted in his body and he fell unconscious. No doubt those emotions were genuine because in seeing them something very wonderful awakened in me.

On another occasion I got his darshan again. That was when I was walking near Pani Ghat while doing a pancha krosi Vrindavan parikrama. I heard someone swiftly coming from behind me. And as I looked back, there he was! His face and body seemed to be deeply transported in some divine state of transcendental emotion. I saw him just for a second as he shot past me like an arrow. When he disappeared into the distance, I had to sit down there to regain my composure. This experience confirmed to me that the bhakti process is real, and that it culminates in bhava and prema.

Before we begin analyzing the Guṭikā's contents, let me tell a little more about some of the sadhus who blessed me during those days at Radha Kund. Though it is sad and remarkable that such Vaishnava sanga is no longer available. There was a Manipuri babaji named Gopal Das who helped me a lot. Like Madan Mohan he was quite old and eccentric. He had a jovial way of speaking. Whenever I visited him, he would go on and on discussing the Guṭikā's contents and while doing so he would pull out one after another many different maps and diagrams that he personally made to illustrate his edition. He had carefully analysed many different handwritten copies before he came out with the Guṭikā's first printed version. I noticed that Ananta Das Pandit would regularly consult him and Madan Mohan Das Baba before he came out with another printed edition some years later.

These three mahatmas would do the parikrama of the Kundas every afternoon together to discuss the Guṭikā. Ananta Das Baba would give one of his evening paths in Radharaman Ghera and made a special asana for Gopal Das Baba because he revered him as a shiksha guru. I also to quite often follow them and overhear their conversations about the Guṭikā.
Another sadhu I will never forget was Jayakrishna Das Baba of Govinda Kund. He was quite old and on Madan Mohan Das Baba's recommendation I often went for his darshan. But the last time I visited his kutir near Siddha Manohar Das Babaji's ashram he was so deeply absorbed in smaran that I just sat there to silently chant japa. Then after a while, and seemingly coming out of nowhere, he began relating the lila he was steeped in. It appeared that he was speaking from a trance and this gave me the feeling that he was really seeing the lila and taking part in it as a Braja gopi! But after that I never saw him again because when I came to his door the next time a local Vaishnava informed me that he had left for the nitya-lila.

I shouldn't forget to mention Ananta Das Pandit's path, which has always been {for nearly four decades) a great contribution to the Radha Kund samaj and a source of inspiration to all of those who have been fortunate enough to hear him speak. Through this medium he has done a lot to further the trend of manjari bhava sadhana. Though I found his earlier discourse, at the time he was compiling his Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi commentary the most memorable.