On Tuesday 22nd December, Srila Maharaja flew into Perth Australia from Bali. At the airport a small number of local devotees were there to greet him with kirtan, including Banwari lal prabhu and Karuna mayi didi who drove him to their house afterwards where he was to stay while in Perth. They live some way out of Perth in the outskirts of the city, where it is close enough to the outback to see kangaroos and other wildlife sometimes.

After a footbathing ceremony and kirtan had been performed, Srila Maharaja spoke for a short time. He glorified Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja, and then went on to say that although the devotees in Bali, Singapore and Malaysia had been so inspired, the situation in Perth was more favourable because there would not be any need for translations. Srila Maharaja then told us that he was going to rest for the rest of the day, and begin giving classes the next day. Just as he was about to retire to his room one of the devotees said to him:

"O Srila Maharaja, today is the appearance of Srila Jiva Gosvami."

"O then I should come." Srila Maharaja replied.

"I must glorify him. So in evening time I will speak."

That evening, Srila Maharaja ordered Nabin Krsna prabhu to speak first, followed by Prema prayojana prabhu, after which he spoke himself.

Nabin Krsna prabhu (Srila Maharaja's senior brahmacari servant) spoke mostly about the writings of Srila Jiva Gosvami.

"If we want to know about Srila Jiva Gosvami, then we have to go through his literature. Amongst all of them his most valuable contributions are his Sat Sandarbhas. The same knowledge was also explained by Gopal bhatta gosvami but in a condensed form. These books are called Tattva sandarbha, Paramatma sandarbha, Bhagavat sandarbha, Krsna sandarbha, Bhakti sandarbha, and Priti sandarbha. The first four are about sambandha jnana, mula tattva, the fundamental principles of devotional service. In his Tattva sandarbha he explains about the ten kinds of pramanas or proofs. Amongst these pratyaksa (sense perception) aihitiyasa (history) and anuman (inference) are not valid because our senses are imperfect. He has given some examples to illustrate this. For example, if you have jaundice, then everything will appear yellow, and sugar will taste most bitter. Or, from a distance we may see some smoke rising, and from this we infer that there is a fire there. But when we draw close we see that what we thought was smoke is actually vapour rising from a lake. The evidence from history, aitihya is also imperfect. Sabda is the mula pramana. Sabda means the vedas the Srimad Bhagavatam etc. and comes from the spiritual hierarchy, guru parampara.

"Srila Jiva Gosvami also cut the false arguments of monism. According to Sankaracarya 'brahma satyam jagan mithya' God is true, but this material existence is false. Brahma is greatest in this universe. According to scripture we've seen:

na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate
na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate
parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate
svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca
(Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.8)

"No-one is equal to brahma (spirit). So Srila Jiva Gosvami makes the point that either this universe is inside brahma, or brahma is inside the universe. It must be one or the other. If the universe is inside brahma, and brahma is true, then it must follow that the universe is also true. On the other hand, if brahma is within the universe then according to Sankaracarya's logic since the universe is false then brahma must also be false. In this way Srila Jiva Gosvami defeated Sankaracarya's 'brahma satyam jagan mithya'. In his Bhakti sandarbha, Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that if we have no taste for the lila-katha of Krsna then we must suffer in two ways. For instance, if one has a cow which does not give any milk then this is one type of suffering, and the fact that one must feed and protect it is another. He also gives another example. If two parents have a dutiful son who does sraddha then they can be saved from hell. But if their son is disobedient to them instead, then they must also suffer in two ways. They have to nourish their useless son while they are alive, and go to hell when they die.

"Srila Jiva Gosvami has also explained guru tattva. Guru must be a realized soul, expert in all scriptures. He will be able to remove any doubt of his disciple immediately. If one's guru is a great scholar but is not realized, then he is compared to a cow which cannot give milk.

"In his Priti sandarbha he has stated:

visaye ye priti ebe achaye amara, se mata priti hauk carane tomara

"an ignorant person may be so attached to his body, but attachment cannot be given up. Rather it must be transfered to God instead.

"If a river is not properly protected and some pollution is allowed to enter it, then it will be spoilt. So similarly Srila Jiva Gosvami has protected both sides of the river of Gaudiya vaisnava siddhanta with his concrete arguments. His book Gopala campu is an example of this. In it he seems to be presenting svakiya vada as the highest goal of Rupanuga vaisnavas, but in fact he is the best preacher of parakiya. The reason that he wrote this book was because some neophyte devotees had the wrong conception of parakiya and it was necessary to pacify them. But in fact Srila Jiva Gosvami has given two explanations for two different classes. In the same book he has given an account of how Krsna was bound by Yasoda maiya, how he pulled down the two arjuna trees, how he refused to speak to Yasoda, and how He was ultimately reunited with her more closely than ever. At the same time, Srila Jiva Gosvami has also explained the siddhantas behind the different events of the story. If anyone wants to enter Krsna lila, then he must first know about siddhanta:

siddhanta baliya citte na kara alasa
iha ha-ite krsne lage sudrdha manasa

(A sincere student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions, considering them controversial, for such discussions strengthen the mind. Thus one's mind becomes attached to Sri Krsna. Adi 2.117)

"Srila Jiva Gosvami gave both siddhanta and sweet lilas."