Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 05.05.2017 evening, Rila Mountain)

I hope during our meeting all of us could experience the awareness of the inner self in a significant way – in relationship with the Supreme Divine Couple, and also with each other. But how to start a function? Just to rush and jump into the middle of it? Or maybe something else is necessary? I think something else is necessary – to invoke the blessings; so that not only our efforts are manifested, but a divine higher protection is invited. Therefore this is very proper and very useful to pray for the blessings of the previous teachers, acharyas, prophets – all the divine personalities. And especially those who teach us about prema – divine love. Whenever you meet a spiritual master, you have to pay attention. But when you meet somebody who is telling you about divine love, you have to pay extra attention.

Shri Gurvashtakam[1] – how many hundreds and millions of times we have heard and chanted this beautiful song? It’s glorifying a very special tattva, this is the guru-tattva, a heavy tattva. But is it only the tattva included in these verses? I think the tattva is glorified, but our heart throbs when we think of our masters. Why?

The first verse will tell why we are excited about this. The song starts with a very serious and bitter expression – samsara. This is not a movie, this is not a fashion shop, this is not a kind of perfume – this is the bitter suffering on this planet Earth. Then why we are excited about that? Because somebody will extinguish this fire. Life is an exchange of energy. It’s a relatively short distance that we cover during one lifetime – starting from the cradle and ending in the coffin. From one wooden box to another wooden box – this is life, right. This is called samsara. But somebody should stop, should finish this journey; a divine guidance can show us the way out from this dark forest of material life. Therefore we are very much ready to offer our respects to such a guide.

But what is the engagement of such a guide. The second verse will tell us something about it. How is it going? “Chanting the holy name, dancing in ecstasy, singing, and playing musical instruments, the spiritual master is always gladdened by the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu”.

So what is the engagement of such a guide? He is dancing all the time. It’s very difficult to follow the steps of this choreography. But what is the source of this dance? This is the divine rapture. And as this is a mystic experience, actually the master dances when we see that he is sitting. When we think that he is very morose, he perceives the highest type of ecstasy. Or when he is chopping wood, he plays a musical instrument. So, therefore because he can show us this shift of reality, we offer our respects to him.

What about the third verse?

(to be continued)

[1]a bhajan composed by Shri Vishvanath Chakravarti