Religion of the Heart - Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

8Religion of the HeartThe supreme devotee of the LordOnce our Guru Mahåråj, O^ Vi!@upåda Ír(la Bhakti Rak!akÍr(dhar Dev-Goswåm( Mahåråj, was preaching in South Indiaand he was invited to speak at an assembly of pa@#its. When Ír(laGuru Mahåråj was seated the pa@#its asked him some questions.They were all expert in Sanskrit and vastly learned in all respects.They asked him who, in his opinion, was the supreme devotee ofthe Lord? They said they considered the chatu%san—the fourKumår sages, Sanak, Sanåtan, Sanandan, and Sanat Kumår—tobe the supreme devotees of the Lord.At first Ír(la Guru Mahåråj did not say anything, so the headpa@#it directly asked him, “Can you tell us, Sir, who you thinkthe best devotee of the Lord is?”Ír(la Guru Mahåråj said, “I can tell you but can you acceptwhat I say?”The head pa@#it replied, “Yes, if it is reasonable we can acceptit.”Then Guru Mahåråj said, “In our conception the chatu%sanare primary grade devotees.”The pa@#its were shocked to hear this. They asked GuruMahåråj who, in his opinion, was a higher-class devotee.Guru Mahåråj answered, “There is a ßloka in the Ír(mad-Bhågavatam that differs from your claim and since you have allread Ír(mad-Bhågavatam why do you say the four Kumåras arethe supreme devotees?”Then Guru Mahåråj quoted that ßloka:na tathå me priyatama, åtma-yonir na ßa&kara%na cha sa&kar!a@o na ßr(r, na eva åtmå cha yathå bhavån{Ír(mad-Bhågavatam, 11.14.15}Here Lord K~!@a says to Uddhava, “The chatu%san’s father, LordBrahmå, is their Guru; but he is not as dear to Me as you are.Even Ía&kar, Lord Íiva, who is the greatest Vai!@ava and who is