tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nishtham
To obtain the knowledge about the Supreme Lord (knowledge that includes spontaneous loving service), a sincere aspirant desirous of eternal welfare should approach a bona fide Guru, expert in the conclusions of all the Vedas and steady in pure doctrines of devotion to Krishna, with offerings (gifts or honoraria) and surrender unto him with mind, body and speech.Acharyavan purushoveda – Only to a person who had taken initiation from an acharya and performs devotional service to him will realize the Supreme Lord.guru krishna-rupa han sastrera pramane
guru-rupe krishna kripa karena bhakta-gane
siksa-guruke ta’ jani krishnera svarupa
antaryami, bhakta-srestha,——ei dui rupa
(Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adilila, 1.45, 47)According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is nondifferent from Krishna. Lord Krishna in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees. One should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of Krishna. Lord Krishna manifests Himself as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord.guravo bahavah santi sishya vittapaharakah
durlabhah sadgururdevi sishya santapa harakah
Oh Devi! There are many gurus who steal the wealth of the disciples but a bona fide guru who steals the miseries of the disciples is very rare.kali-kale nama-rupe krishna-avatara
nama haite haya sarva-jagat-nistara
nama vinu kali-kale nahi ara dharma
sarva-mantra-sara nama, ei sastra-marma
In this Age of Kali, the holy name is the incarnation of Lord Krishna. In this Age of Kali there is no religious principle other than the chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all Vedic hymns. This is the purport of all scriptures.
SRI SANATAN GOSWAMItai dusta man nirjana bhajana
pracaricha chale kuyogi-vaibhav
prabhu sanatane parama yatane
sikña dila yaha, cinta sei sab
So, wicked mind, you have deceptively been preaching nirjana-bhajana, the practice of bhajan in a lonely life, which is nothing more than a display, like that of a misleading yoga practitioner interested in the mystic powers. Study the teachings of the Lord to Sanatan very carefully and meditate upon them.
The holy life of Sree Sanatan Goswami comprising such brilliant teachings described in “Sree Chaitanya and Associates” needs to be followed whole-heartedly.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur thus instructs us all to give great attention to the Lord’s teachings to Sanatan, or those teachings which he gave to the world through Sanatan Goswami.
Lavanga Manjari, who was previously very dear to Rupa Manjari, has become the worshipable Sanatan, who is non-different from Gaura himself. The jewel amongst sages, Sanatan Kumara, has also entered into him to fulfill a certain mission.ramananda dvare kandarper darpa-nas
damodar dvare nirapeksha parakash
haridas-dvare sahishnuta janayila
sanatan rupa dvare dainya prakasila
Through Ramananda [the Lord] destroyed Cupid’s pride; through Svarupa Damodar he demonstrated detachment. Through Hari Das Thakur, he demonstrated forbearance and through Rupa and Sanatan Goswami, he taught humility.sanatana kripay payinu bhaktir siddhanta
sri rupa kripay payinu bhati rasa pranta(Chaitanya Charitamrita)Through Sanatan’s mercy, I learned the points of devotional doctrine, while through Rupa’s mercy, I learned about the divine devotional sentiments.
When Rupa and Sanatan met the Lord, they spoke to Him with extreme humility:jagai-madhai haite koti koti guna
adhama patita papi ami dui jana
mleccha-jati, mleccha-sevi, kari mleccha-karma
go-brahmaëa-drohi-sange amara sangama
mora karma, mora hate-galaya bandhiya
ku-visaya-viñöha-garte diyache phelaiya
ama uddharite bali nahi tri-bhuvane
patita-pavana tumi——sabe toma vine
“We two are millions of times more degraded, fallen and sinful than Jagai and Madhai. We are of wicked birth because we are the servants of Muslims and our activities are exactly like those of the Muslims. We constantly associate with people who are inimical toward the cows and Brahmins. Due to our abominable activities we are now bound by the neck and hands and have been thrown into the ditch filled with the excrement of evil sense enjoyment. No one within the three worlds is sufficiently powerful to deliver us. You are the only savior of the fallen souls; therefore there is no one but You.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.1.196-199)
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has written the following comment: “Mahaprabhu showed his mercy to Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallik by giving them the spiritual names of Rupa and Sanatan, respectively.”
Mahaprabhu continued on as far as Kanair Natasala, but as he considered the wisdom of Sanatan’s advice, he decided to turn back, first going to Shantipur and then to Puri.gana saha sanatana rupe kripa kari
ramakeli haite yatra kaila gaurahari
After Gaurhari and His entourage had given their mercy to Rupa and Sanatan, they left Ramakeli village.
Hussein Shah used to treat Sanatan Goswami as his younger brother and had great affection for him. But later the Shah became suspicious of Sanatan and had him put in prison. In an attempt to be relieved from jail Sanatan tried all the means to attract the favor of the jailkeeper. When the jail keeper still refused to let him go, Sanatan offered him a bribe of 5,000 rupees. At this, the jailkeeper’s resolve began to waver, but he was still afraid of being caught by the Badshah. Finally Sanatan had the grocer bring 7,000 rupees of the money which Rupa had left in his safekeeping and placed it directly in front of him. When he saw the money before him, the jailor became greedy and capitulated. He cut Sanatan’s chains and helped him to cross the Ganges.
In general, we consider flattery, asking return for a favor, putting temptation before someone, telling someone to lie, and bribery all to be unethical acts. Sanatan, however, used all the means at his disposal to escape bondage so that he could join the Lord and engage in his service. To achieve an auspicious end, any means may be permissible.
Sanatan had been prime minister, yet he escaped from jail with practically not a penny to his name. He did not take the main highway, but travelled as quickly as possible through fields and villages until he reached Patara Mountain, which is part of the Raj Mahal Hills in the Choöa Nagpur area in the state of Bihar. He did not know how to get across this mountain, and so requested the aid of a landowner who was also a robber chieftain. Accompanying Sanatan was a longtime personal servant named Isana. Through the help of a palmist, the landowner was able to know that Isana had eight gold coins in his possession, so he welcomed Sanatan into his home and treated him with great hospitality.
Sanatan was sufficiently experienced from his years in politics to become suspicious of the warm treatment he was getting from his host, and so he asked Isana whether he was carrying anything of value. Isana answered that he had seven gold coins, keeping his other coin a secret from him. Sanatan said, “Why have you brought this ruination upon us?” After gently chastising his servant in this way, he took the coins from him and gave them to his host, asking him to help him get across the mountain.
The landowner then revealed to Sanatan that he had known all along about the eight gold coins and that it had been his intention to murder them both that night somewhere on the mountain in order to take the money. He was very pleased that Sanatan had given him the gold and was even ready to return it to him, but Sanatan refused. He was intelligent enough to understand the adage: avyvasthita-cittasya prasado’pi bhayankaraù, “even the kindness of an undependable person is dangerous.”dhurtasya vacane kvastha kvacit satyam kvacin mrisa |
kvacid raudram kvacid vristiù sravaëasya ghano yatha ||
How can one have faith in the words of a rascal? He sometimes tells the truth and sometimes falsehoods. Just as with the clouds of Shravan--sometimes there is sunshine and sometimes rain.
After they had crossed the mountain, Sanatan told Isana to take the remaining gold coin and return home. Isana had shown by his attachment to this gold coin that he was not yet ready to accept a life of renunciation, that he was too dependent on material conditions. When unqualified people take the renounced orders, then these orders themselves become contaminated. This is the lesson that Sanatan gave through his servant Isana.
After bidding good bye to Isana, Sanatan continued on his way until he arrived at Hajipur on the northern bank of the Ganges near Patna. Sanatan’s brother-in-law, Srikanta, made his home there. Though Srikanta invited him to stay there for a few days to recuperate from the voyage, Sanatan declined his invitation because of his desire to see the Lord. Srikanta gave him a valuable blanket of Bhutanese wool.
Sanatan then continued on to Benares where he was overjoyed to learn that Mahaprabhu was staying at the house of the physician, Chandrasekhara. Sanatan did not go straight into Chandrasekhara’s house but waited on his front porch. The Lord, the indweller of all souls, knew of his devotee’s arrival and sent Chandrasekhara to the door to invite him in. As soon as Sanatan entered, Mahaprabhu immediately rushed to embrace him. The meeting of the Lord with his devotee affected them both so intensely that they were overcome by the transformations of ecstatic love. In his affection for Sanatan, the Lord started to brush off the dust accumulated on his body from his travels, but this caused Sanatan to feel uncomfortable. He told the Lord not to touch him, but the Lord answered,prabhu kahe,——“toma sparsi atma pavitrite
bhakti-bale para tumi brahmanda sodhite
toma dekhi, toma sparsi, gai tomara gun
sarvendriya-phala,——ei sastra-nirupan
“I touch you in order to purify myself. Your devotional force is so great that you can purify the entire universe. I look at you, I touch you and I sing your glories. By so doing, all my senses attain their most perfect use.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.20.56,60)
Another legend told about Sanatan is the following. Once there was a very poor devotee of Shiva, whose name, according to the Bhaktamala and Gauòiya Vaisnava Abhidhana, was Sri Jivana Chakravarti. Originally from the village of Manakara in Burdwan district in Bengal, he had spent many years worshiping Shiva in Benares, praying to him for wealth. One night Shiva appeared to him in a dream and told him to go to Sanatan in Vrindavan, for he was in possession of a great wealth which he would share with him.
The poor Brahmin immediately set off for Vrindavan where he found Sanatan deep in meditation. However, when he saw the Goswami, thin and dressed in a dirty loincloth, he began to doubt that he could give him the desired riches. Even so, he told Sanatan about the dream. Sanatan answered saying that he lived by begging a few crumbs from a number of different houses, how could he possibly give him the riches he desired?
The poor Brahmin was disappointed and turned away, thinking that perhaps the message Shiva had given him in the dream had just been an illusion. Meanwhile, Sanatan pondered why Shiva had sent the Brahmin to him. As he ruminated, he remembered a touchstone that was lying in a pile of rubbish and had long since been covered in dust. As soon as he remembered the existence of this valuable jewel, he sent someone to fetch the Brahmin and told him to take the jewel from the rubbish heap. When the Brahmin saw the touchstone, he was overjoyed and thought, now there will be no one as rich as I in the entire world! After walking some distance away, however, he began to wonder why Sanatan had completely forgotten about such a valuable possession. Indeed, if he cared so little for the touchstone, he must have something even more valuable. Perhaps he had been cheated! He wanted to know what riches Sanatan possessed that he cared so little for the touchstone.
The Brahmin quickly went back to Sanatan and expressed his doubts, asking him if he had anything more valuable in his possession. Then Sanatan told him that there was no greater wealth than love for Krishna and that material goods were insignificant and simply a cause of greater distress. The Brahmin then bowed his head and prayed to Sanatan to please give him the wealth which made him consider even a touchstone insignificant. Sanatan was moved by his prayer and mercifully bestowed upon him the riches of Krishna-prema.
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