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Shyamdas with H.H. Shri Prathameshji in Vermont 1989<br />
OCEAN OF<br />
GRACE<br />
From the Introduction to the book<br />
Ocean of Grace: The Teachings of<br />
H.H. Shri Prathameshji<br />
<strong>SHYAMDAS</strong><br />
had the extreme pleasure of<br />
I living with His Holiness Goswami<br />
Prathameshji, a direct descendant of<br />
úrà Vallabhacharya and the head of the<br />
first seat of the Vallabh Sampradaya,<br />
for eighteen years. Although his<br />
physical form disappeared from<br />
this world in 1990, Prathameshji’s<br />
devotional teachings remain with us.<br />
His knowledge was vast. He was a<br />
pundit of Äyurveda, Vedánta, as well<br />
as the úràmad Bhágavatam. He was<br />
a master of Sanskrit, Urdu, Gujarati,<br />
and Brajabhasha languages and an<br />
accomplished classical musician.<br />
Prathameshji masterfully played<br />
the tabla and pakhavaja drums,<br />
harmonium, sitar, flute, and even<br />
sarangi, but most of all, it is the way<br />
he sang Dhrupada-Dhamar devotional<br />
kirtan songs that still resonates<br />
throughout my being. He was a<br />
master of “Lila kirtan.” His life and<br />
songs emerged from the eternal realm<br />
and somehow manifested here in this<br />
26 Special Issue • Shyamdas ~ In Memoriam<br />
world. His being was full of Lilamood.<br />
As he once told me, “To sing<br />
of the Lilas of Hari is the fastest flight<br />
to God.”<br />
On the evening of His Holiness’ birth<br />
in 1930, the outline of úrà Käüóa’s lotus<br />
footprints appeared, in red powder, on<br />
the floor of his father’s temple courtyard<br />
in Jatipura. His father, Goswami<br />
Dwarkeshji Maharaja, commented at<br />
that time, “He will certainly be a very<br />
powerful lineage holder.” By the time<br />
His Holiness was fifteen, he was already<br />
an accomplished pundit, speaker, and<br />
musician. I had the fortune of meeting<br />
him in his home in Jatipura, near<br />
Vrindavan, when he was forty-three<br />
years old. I was nineteen.<br />
His Holiness gave me many teachings<br />
and amazing explanations of his lineage,<br />
the blessed Path of Grace. Whenever<br />
he spoke, the meaning of the words<br />
filled my heart. My greatest pleasure<br />
was to be around him. Some years later,<br />
having noticed that His Holiness kept<br />
many accomplished scholars, musicians,<br />
Ayurvedic doctors, and artists around<br />
him, I asked him, “Why do you keep<br />
me around?”<br />
He answered, “Your position here is<br />
to simply hang out and shoot the breeze<br />
with me!” I felt very blessed to be given<br />
that appointment. After living with<br />
Goswami Prathameshji for several years<br />
and reflecting upon his empowerments,<br />
I came to understand that the most<br />
important thing is not how much you<br />
know, but how to apply your wisdom<br />
to devotion.<br />
A conversation between<br />
His Holiness and Shyamdas<br />
Shyamdas When does mánasà sevá<br />
(constant, natural mental absorption<br />
into the Lord) occur: in the state of love,<br />
attachment, or addiction to the Lord?<br />
HH It can appear anywhere. It is free of<br />
all restrictions.<br />
SD What is the difference between the<br />
yogi’s samádhi, the perfect meditative<br />
absorption, and the bhakta’s mánasà sevá?<br />
HH There is a difference. The yogi takes<br />
samádhi for his own benefit, while the<br />
bhakta enters the state of mánasà sevá for<br />
the Lord’s pleasure. The yogi forgets himself,<br />
while the bhakta remembers himself.<br />
Since the Primal Being has created<br />
everything, why waste time making<br />
distinctions? He is all three forms:<br />
ádhideva (Divine Person), ádhyátmika<br />
(formless spiritual force), and ádhibhâta<br />
(the manifested world).<br />
One who has not seen the Divine Person<br />
will deny that He exists, while those who<br />
have seen Him will confirm His reality. úrà<br />
Käüóa is both the first person’s concept of<br />
non-existence as well as the other person’s<br />
devotional realization, but the former, the<br />
pure formless Brahman, is not the goal of<br />
devotional practice.<br />
SD When Sanatan Goswami insulted<br />
the formless abode, the goal of the<br />
impersonalist, by saying that it was not<br />
worthy of attainment, úrà Vallabhacharya<br />
corrected him. He told Sanatan Goswami<br />
that he should not insult the formless,<br />
because it is one of the forms of the Lord.<br />
Sanatan Goswami’s guru, úrà Chaitanya,<br />
agreed with úrà Vallabhacharya and<br />
reprimanded his disciple.<br />
HH But we are able to give loving insults<br />
to Sákára, the Supreme with form during<br />
the festival of Holi, so what is wrong with<br />
insulting the formless? [Laughter]<br />
SD That is all on a divinely inspired level,<br />
but what about on the philosophical<br />
level?<br />
HH On the level of non-dual,
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