You Must Weep For Krishna

[Paramhamsa Vani]

Sree Sree Guru Gaurangau Jayatah!

The great Vaisnava saint, Vamsi dasa Babaji Maharaj, was no ordinary sadhu. Outwardly, he had his advent in what is now known as Bangladesh, in Majidpur Village, Maimansingh district, near Jamalpur. But later, he came to Navadvipa-dhama, accepted the babaji order and performed his bhajan under a tree. The order of sannyasa is given for preaching, but a babaji will perform bhajan in a holy, secluded place. A babaji will not go outside for pracara (preaching). Many people would come to Babaji Maharaj and offer to build him a cottage, but he chose to remain always beneath a banyan tree. He would not move from there. He was surcharged with krishna-prema. He was a very tall figure. He never shaved, but remained like a madman. Many people would offer him various things, but he would pay them no attention. Whatever he might receive, he would distribute to others. He was an anchorite. Nobody could understand his behavior. He had only two big cloth bags—he had no temple. In one cloth bag was Gaura-Nitai and, in the other, Radha-Krishna. Sometimes, he would take the Deities out and perform puja. So, is his bhakti less because he had just small Deities, and ours greater because we have a big temple? Gaura-Nityananda were most satisfied by his service. Our Parampujyapada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur used to bow down to him from a distance. He prohibited his disciples from visiting Babaji Maharaj. His disciples asked, "Shall we not have darshana of the sadhus?" But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur replied, "You will not be able to understand his behavior and you will commit offenses. He is not within this world, but is moving in the transcendental realm. If I commit an offense, it will be anti-devotional. For this reason, I am bowing down to him from a distance. Only a suddha bhakta can understand his wonderful behavior. An ordinary novice of bhajan will be unable to understand, so you should not go there. Babaji Maharaj is always surcharged with krishna-prema!"

There was a person from Navadvipa-dhama who used to come to Babaji Maharaj. One day, he thought, "I have the desire to obtain the Supreme Lord. How can I get Bhagavan?" He was only murmuring, speaking to himself, so Babaji Maharaj did not reply. This person came back repeatedly to see Babaji Maharaj. Finally, one day, he approached Maharaj directly. "What do you want?" Babaji Maharaj asked him. "I want to see Bhagavan," the man said. Babaji Maharaj replied with only one word: "Weep!" We might supply so much scriptural evidence to try to explain, in so many ways, how to obtain the Supreme Lord, but what did Vamsi das Babaji Maharaj say? "Weep for Him!" If you can weep for Him, then you can get Him. If there is want for Him, then He will come. We are uttering His Names, but we do not want Him. So, we are uttering the Names of Krsna—"hare krishna, hare krishna, krishna krishna, hare hare, hare rama, hare rama, rama rama, hare hare"—and Krishna appears before us. He says to us, "Come along!" We say to Him, "No, I cannot go now. Right now I require a million dollars to save my business. I have my children. I have just bought a building. I cannot go now." "So, why have you called Me?" Krishna asks. "I have called you to give me a million dollars," we reply. "Remove my difficulties. I do not have time to go now." From where are we uttering the Name? Not from the heart! We are chanting, "Hare Krishna" but, if Krishna were to come, we would be unable to go with Him.

---Jagad-guru His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj