Appearance & Disappearance
Have the Same Purpose
On the auspicious occasion of the holy appearance day of Om VishnuPad Paramahamsa Parivrajacharya AstoTaraSata 108 Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura we also celebrate the disappearance of Om VishnuPad Paramahamsa Parivrajacharya AstoTaraSata 108 Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja.
Compelled by Mercy
The Vaiṣṇavas’ appearance in this world and their disappearance from it are one and the same. Both their arrival in this world and departure from it signify their mercy. Compelled by mercy, they come to this world, and it is for mercy’s sake that they also leave it. All of the activities of Vaiṣṇavas are imbued with mercy. “Vaiṣṇava caritra sarvadā pavitra – the life and character of Vaiṣṇavas are pure in all respects.” Imparting divine bliss is the purpose of their lives.
The Vaiṣṇavas’ purpose for appearing in this world is not temporal. It has not even a shadow of impermanence. The Vaiṣṇavas are eternal and their practices are also eternal. Their appearance ensures the distinct speciality of their disappearance, and their disappearance increases the sweet charm of their advent.
The sweetness of their appearance and the magnanimity displayed in their disappearance manifest in this world the literature and chronicles of Vaiṣṇava saints. This literature is the blossoming of śabda-brahma (the divine word), where the filthy shadow of the ordinary word cannot penetrate.
(Excerpts from a speech given by Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja at Śrī Uddhāraṇa Gauḍīya Maṭha, Chuchura, on 5 December 1952 . Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja is the Sannyasa Guru of Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)
Śrī Guru’s Only Pleasure
As a humble offering to both Vaiṣṇava saints on this most auspicious day, Tattva Vicara Publications would like to present a booklet with an arrival talk by Śrīla Gour Govinda Swami Mahārāja at the Bhaktivedanta Manor in June, 1990, in UK. We beg for their mercy eternally. (To read the booklet click here)
