Articles
Bamunpara | Festival in the Birth’s Place of Srila Govinda Maharaj
Sripad Bhakti Ranjan Madhusudan Maharaj
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sripad Bhakti Kamal Tyagi Maharaj
(Sri Bamunpara, India)
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Sripad Madhusudan Maharaj: India is very well known as a place of pilgrimage with so many pilgrimage sites. Some of them are very famous like in Haridwar, Rishikesh, et cetera. But for a disciple the most important place of pilgrimage is to come to the appearance place of his Guru. So we’ve come to Bamunpara—this very special place and we invite you also to come to witness and see that very place where Srila Govinda Maharaj appeared.
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This is where Gurudev or the house where Gurudev was born. And you see an example—this is made purely of mud and straw—these houses—and a little wood as support. It’s a little indication of the simple life that still takes place in the twenty first century but for us it is not just this simple living but it’s the high thinking which comes along with the holy places such as this.
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Sripad Tyagi Maharaj: So we are here in the appearance place of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj known as Bamunpara. We say Sripad Bamunpara Dham. And is described in the Upanishads—yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau. As we worship the Lord, so we worship the Guru. The Guru should be worshiped to the extent that the Lord is worshiped. So as the appearance place of Krishna, as the appearance place of Mahaprabhu is worshipped and persons come from ball over the world to visit those places and hear from the sadhus who live in those places, similarly we come to the birth place of our Gurudev and we hear from his dear devotees about his glories.
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Srila Acharya Maharaj: Krishna Himself came as a Guru. He is teaching us. Because... As Krishna one cannot recognize him. And those who could recognize they were great Vaishnavas. There were great Vaishnavas who could recognize Him. But we have no quality or qualification therefore we cannot see Guru, Krishna Himself came as a Guru. But scriptures, shastras, all the time telling that Krishna, Bhagavan Himself, appeared in the Guru form.
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[kirtan]
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Sripad Tyagi Maharaj: The whole notion of going to holy places or finding sources of purity... The whole promise of these things is that our heart may be transformed and we may become exclusively devoted to the Lord. That transformation of the heart is the purpose of the entire Vedic culture and the food to be gained from visiting any and all holy places. And if such a fruit is available in one holy place, there is no need to go to many. So if one can faithfully honour the birthplace of their Guru, they can obtain all spiritual perfection. So there is no need to spiritual tourist and odor so many places but to do any one spiritual activity with the pure heart and sincerity is sufficient to attain all perfection. So every year we come to this place a few miles away from Nabadwip Dham, a few miles from Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip, and we hold this festival and we gather together as a family to honour our beloved Gurudev. And by doing so we get the association of one another through the association of one another we feel the presence of Shrila Gurudev in our hearts. And with that feeling, with that inspiration we carry on for another year and by the grace of the Vaishnavas we find the strength to continue our practice. The divine nature of our Gurudev, the significance of the gifts that he has given us, the beauty of the wealthiest extending to us. Gradually it has revealed within our hearts.
Jay Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jaya!
Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jaya!
Captured by Gopa Kishor Das
Edited by Tradish Das