Part 1: Srila Gurudeva, The Guru of Magicians
by Syamarani dasi
Devotees all over the world, who are not at Govardhana, are hearing reports about Srila Gurudeva’s present pastime that are stirring their hearts. That is also true for us 1,200 devotees in Govardhana, who are sitting in the temple room, which is in the building adjacent to his own quarters. For a few moments each day at the beginning of class, we watch him on the large screen on the temple wall. Most times, he is lying on his bed, sometimes he is ‘sitting’ (because they have made the bed more upright), sometimes he holds up his hand in blessing, or even waves.
Seeing through the eyes of scriptures, we understand that, like his Master Sri Krsna, sri guru is a master magician. It is not possible that an uttama-adhikari devotee, who is always experiencing the sublime ecstasies of anubhavas, sattvika-bhavas, and vyabhicari bhavas – the transcendental sentiments of the devotee’s meeting and separation from his Master and Mistress Sri Sri Radha and Krsna – can simultaneously feel mundane pain. Rather, he is a magician who operates on our hearts.
One evening of Srila Gurudeva’s 2004 Badger Harikatha Festival, just before he began this lecture, his magician-disciple, Tamala-krsna dasa (Dr T), performed a magic trick in front of the 600 devotees present. He pointed to his shirt, showing us that it had no long sleeves, and he held out his hands to show us that he had nothing between his fingers. He then took a $5 bill from Srila Gurudeva and returned to him a $100 bill.
Srila Gurudeva commented, “There is something special that I am giving. I can perform greater magic than that magician. I am Guru of so many magicians. That magician may be able to transfer $5 into $100, but I can transfer it into millions upon millions of dollars.
To help us understand this phenomenon, let us look at Srila Gurudeva’s hari-katha lecture of Jan 13, 2001, given in Auckland, New Zealand:
“In Dvaraka, when Lord Sri Krsna was ending His manifest pastimes in this world, He sat at the shore of the ocean. There, it appeared that a hunter shot Him in the foot, and it seemed that He died. Only fools think so.
“Listen to this story, and then tattva (established philosophical truths) will come to you. Once there was a king and queen. One day a family of magicians came to the palace to perform a magic show. The father, his wife, and their two young sons who were nine and ten years old, made a marvelous magic show. The king and queen and the whole audience were very pleased. The queen gave the wife of the magician a wonderful golden necklace as a token of her appreciation, but both her sons wanted it. They each said, “I'll take it, Mother. No, I'll take it, Mother." The boys began to fight over the necklace, pulling it back and forth. They were of equal strength, and neither could win. They finally became so furious that they simultaneously pulled their swords from their sheaths and cut off each other’s heads. Their mother was so grief-stricken that she took her sword and cut off her own head. Then, in total despair, not able to live under the circumstances, the father took his own sword and cut off his own head.
“You can imagine the horror of the king and queen and other spectators. The queen especially was feeling responsible, as she had given the necklace which caused the tragedy. The bodies and heads were taken away, and no one could stop thinking about the very sad affair. The next day, however, the queen received a letter from the father of the magicians. The letter stated, "Thank you very much for the gift that you gave us for our first magic show. Your necklace is with us and we are very happy. But we are waiting for our second gift. Where is the gift for our second show? Don't worry. We didn't die. Please come and see us." The astonished king and queen immediately went to the home of the magician family, where they were warmly welcomed, and they were very happy to see them all alive and well.
“There was another, even greater magician, named Visashekar, who preformed magic shows during the time of the British occupation of India. He was so famous that even the governor, the viceroy, and other chief government ministers would all come to see him.
“Once, in Calcutta, he called all the important government heads to come see his show at four pm. Being very punctual, they all came at exactly four o'clock and sat in the assembly. They waited for Visashekar, expecting him at any moment, for they were all very busy and important people who did not expect to be kept waiting. Five minutes passed, then fifteen, then half an hour. The men became very angry and said to each other, "Just wait until we get a hold of Visashekar. When he comes here we will punish that rascal for making us late for our important appointments." Finally, at five o'clock, a smiling Visashekar casually walked on stage. The men angrily began chastising him, "Why are you late? Why have you kept us waiting? Don't you know that we are very busy and important?" Visashekar nonchalantly said, "What is the matter?" They replied, "You told us to come at four o'clock, and we have been waiting for an hour!" Visashekar said, "I am afraid you are mistaken. Look at your watches. It is just now four o'clock.” When they looked, all their watches said four o’clock. They were amazed to realize the magic show they had just witnessed.
“If an ordinary magician can do such things, why not Krsna? He created Brahma and Siva. Surely He cannot die. He only made is appear that He died when the hunter shot Him. It was like a drama. Even Krsna's devotees cannot die. Bhisma is an example. He could only leave his body when he desired it.”
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