Good Hope in The Infinite

Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj emphasises the power of faith over calculation.

Student: Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur was an expert astrologer. He would calculate certain things and then present them to Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, but if Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur would say something that was contrary to his calculations, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur would follow Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur’s instructions.

Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj: Yes. Our Guru Mahārāj had śraddhā [faith], and śraddhā is more than calculative truth. Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur followed the calculations of PM Bagchi’s pañjikā [almanac]. As an astrologer, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur helped to show that viśuddha-siddhānta calculations may be true in the material sense, but still he did not observe them because Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur accepted PM Bagchi. Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur followed the calculations of PM Bagchi for Ekādaśī, Janmāṣṭamī, and all other things. Śraddhā is more true.




Yudhiṣṭhir Mahārāj also says,

tarko ’pratiṣṭha rutayo vibhinn
nsv ṛṣir yasya mata na bhinnam
dharmasya tattva nihita guhyāṁ
mahjano yena gata sa panthāḥ
(Mahbhrata: Vana-parva, 313.117)



svayaṁ samuttīrya sudustaraṁ dyuman
bhavārṇavaṁ bhīmam adabhra-sauhṛdāḥ
bhavat-padāmbhoruha-nāvam atra te
nidhāya yātāḥ sad-anugraho bhavān
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.2.31)

I am in midst of a horrible ocean with so many waves, sharks, whales and other things—a ocean filled with danger. The sādhus’ footsteps are my only hope. We are to depend on that. Their footprints are like lighthouses along the infinite ocean guiding us to the goal.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa


Faith. Śraddhāmayo ‘yaṁ loka: hope in the infinite—Vaikuṇṭha. Vaikuṇṭha means infinite, and śraddhā means good faith. Vasco da Gama made his turn at the Cape of Good Hope. Śraddhā means to be surcharged with good hope in the infinite. Vaikuṇṭha is infinite, and if we wish to draw the attention of the infinite to us, the only way is śraddhā. By śraddhā, we can attract the infinite. Nothing else can. And when śraddhā gets a definite form through bhāva, it becomes prema, love divine.

Columbus set his ship afloat the ocean and gradually, somehow, came to America. He reached land. So, good hope. After crossing Vaikuṇṭha, we may find the spiritual cosmos, and there śraddhā is our light in the darkness. Only śraddhā can guide when we are a traveller in the infinite: “I have heard that this is the way to that place.” That will keep our heart enlivened. Śraddhā: hope.

‘śraddhā’ śabde viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha niśchaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 22.62)

[“Śraddhā means firm, confident faith that everything is attained serving Kṛṣṇa.”]

No risk, no gain. Greatest risk, greatest gain.

sarva-dharmn parityajya mm eka araa vraja
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.66 )

[Kṛṣṇa says:] “I am everywhere; there is no room to be afraid at all. Only to come to that plane where I am your friend: I am everywhere, I am all-in-all, and you are My own.”

This is our only fare for the journey.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Gauraharibol Gauraharibol

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