Mäyäpur Parikramä with Çréla Romapäda Swämé 2005 A Journal. Table of Contents

Transcription

1 Mäyäpur Parikramä with Çréla Romapäda Swämé 2005 A Journal Table of Contents Prayer...3 Introduction...4 Acknowledgement...6 Day 0: Friday, October 21, Day 1: Saturday, October 22, GBC Conference Room, 7:00 am...10 GBC Conference Room, 10:30 am...13 GBC Conference Room, 12:45 pm...14 GBC Conference Room, 4:00 pm...14 Day 2: Sunday, October 23, GBC Conference Room, 7:00 am...17 GBC Conference Room, 10:30 am...19 Çré Jagannätha temple...21 Samädhi of Chand Kazi...21 Caitanya-Gaudiya matha...22 Çré Çréväsa Angan (Çréväsa s House)...23 Yogapéöha...24 Day 3: Monday, October 24, Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja s Samädhi and Bhajan Kutir...27 Vishnupriya Devé s Temple...31 Dhämeshwara Çiva Temple...32 Surabhé Kunj...33 Svananda Sukhada Kunj Home of Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura...34 Nandanäcärya s House...36 Day 4: Tuesday, October 25, Hari Hara Kñetra...37 Suvarna Vihar

2 Nåsiàhapalli Temple...40 Hamsavahan Mahädev Mandir...42 Aamghat...43 GBC Conference Room, 6.00 pm...44 Day 5: Wednesday, October 26, Mämgächi...46 Home of Çré Vasudeva Dutta...46 Temple of Çré Våndävan Däsa Öhäkura...48 Vidyanagar...49 Champa Hati...52 Day 6: Thursday, October 27, Çré Ekacakrä Dhäm...55 Day 7: Friday, October 28, Ambikä-kälanä...65 Gauridäsa Pandit s House...65 Süryadäsa Sarakhela s House...67 Haridäsa Öhäkura s Bhajan Kutir and Samädhi...70 Shantipur...72 Day 8: Saturday, October 29, Yajigram...75 Çrékhanda...78 Katwa...83 Day 9: Sunday, October 30, Madan Gopäla Temple at Bela Pukhariya...86 Concluding Remarks at GBC Conference Room...87 Appendix...94 Çré Dhäm Mäyäpur

3 Prayer nama oà viñëu-pädäya kåñëa-preñöhäya bhü-tale çrémate çrila romapäda svämin iti nämine nama oà viñëu-pädäya kåñëa-preñöhäya bhü-tale çrémate bhaktivedänta-svämin iti nämine namas te särasvate deve gaura-väëé-pracäriëe nirviçeña-çünyavädi-päçcätya-deça-täriëe om ajïäna-timirändhasya jïänäïjana-çaläkayä cakñur unmélitaà yena tasmai çré-gurave namaù We pray at the lotus feet of Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja and Çréla Prabhupäda that we may be able to carry out this service of compiling the Yäträ Journal in the proper consciousness and for the pleasure of all Vaiñëavas. 3

4 Introduction Yäträs hold an extremely important part in the life of a devotee. There are sixty-four items listed in Nectar of Devotion as items of regulative devotional service, and out of these sixty-four, five are principal ones. sadhu-sanga, nama-kértan, bhagavata-sravana mathura-vasa, Çré-murtira sraddhaya sevana sakala-sädhana-çresṭḥa ei pañca aìga krṣṇạ-prema janmäya ei päìcera alpa saìga ["One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Çrémad-Bhagävatam, reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration. These five limbs of devotional service are the best of all. Even a slight performance of these five awakens love for Krṣṇạ."] (Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya ) This Mäyäpur Parikramä was the 5 th parikrama organized by His Holiness Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja. In the yäträ, we hoped to get an opportunity to immerse ourselves in these five important practices of devotional service, namely devotee association, chanting of holy names, hearing pastimes of the Lord and His associates, residing at holy Dhäm and observing the Deity worship. Some of us had tasted the nectar from our experiences in the previous yäträs. So with immense eagerness we looked forward to yet another spiritually uplifting yäträ. As soon as the first intimation of the yäträ came, we started preparing ourselvess. Preparation was not just in terms of booking tickets, planning for days off from work etc but actually it was about begging earnestly at the lotus feet of Guru, Gauräìga and other Vaishnavas (especially the Dhämvasis) to be granted access to the Dhäm. There are several inspirations for attending the yäträ. For some of us, devotional service during yäträs acts like a "Power Wash" where we get rid of the dirt that we have accumulated in our hearts. For some, it is an opportunity to associate with their spiritual master and spiritual teachers and get inspiration and instructions from them. For some, it is an opportunity to meet their spiritual peers from across the globe and share with one another their realizations and glorification of Çré guru and Çré Kåñëa. For some, it is an opportunity to visit the places of pastimes of the Lord and to beg mercy from Him and His eternal associates. For some others it is a time for self-reflection and contemplation. The next few months flew by in deep excitement that soon we would be in the "Real World". We also had some anxiety wondering if we will really be able to make to the most munificent Dhäm. But this anxiety increased our dependence on the Supreme Lord. Finally the day of the yäträ arrived and devotees from various corners of the world started reaching the Dhäm. As we were approaching Çré Dhäm Mäyäpur, we were mesmerized by the beautiful landscapes. We saw dense trees and acres of paddy fields on either side of the road. Landscapes were bedecked with ponds and chirping birds. What unfolded in the next nine days was the divine experience of our lifetime. We call it an experience as mere words cannot express it, photos cannot portray it or video cannot record it. But we, Anand Våndävana devé däsi, Anjum and Namit with the instruction and blessings of Çréla Romapäda Swämé are trying to make an effort to capture this experience. Each place that we visited had a different mood, very mysterious yet very sweet. Yäträ gives many opportunities to hear about the wonderful qualities of Çréla Romapäda Swämé and to deeply feel the love he has for each one of us. Even though we got to see just a small window of his wide spectrum of activities, still his constant association was the most satisfying part of the entire yäträ. In this journal we attempt to share some wonderful nectar about Çréla Romapäda Swämé, even though our understanding is very limited. For those who were present in the yäträ, this journal should serve as a memoir of the wonderful time we had. For rest it may serve as a glimpse to what it means to be in the Dhäm with the greatest of devotees. We would fail in our efforts, if the journal does not provide impetus to the readers to attend the forthcoming yäträs. 4

5 Let us get ready now to dive deeply in the léläs of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, to take the darçan of His Deity form and to collect dust from the places of His pastimes, guided by one of His dear and pure representative, Çréla Romapäda Swämé. 5

6 Acknowledgement "Knowledge is not perfect unless heard from an authority. One must hear from a bonafide spiritual master." -Çréla Prabhupäda The significance of a spiritual master has been emphasized in our scriptures time and again. The guidance of a bonafide spiritual master helps one to optimally utilize the gift of human life. Therefore, if one has a spiritual master one should consider oneself fortunate and act responsibly in serving him to the best of one s abilities. We are deeply indebted to Çréla Romapäda Swämé, not only for speaking to us about the glories of Lord Caitanya and His associates but also for giving us an opportunity to recollect and refresh all we experienced in Mäyäpur Yäträ 2005 by giving us the service of writing this yäträ journal. Meditating on Mahäräja's lectures while experiencing the various temples/pastime places of Lord Caitanya and His associates, combined with ecstatic kértans, delicious prasädam, wonderful devotee association, absorbing mangal äratis before the beautiful Rädhä-Mädhav Deities and serenity of the divine place produced an amazing experience which rejuvenated our spiritual senses. We express our deep sense of gratitude and Çäshtang dandvats to Mahäräja for providing us with this opportunity to purify us. We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Muräri Caitanya Prabhu, Jagadänanda Prabhu, Çacé Kumär Prabhu and Zubin Prabhu for capturing the ecstatic moments of yäträ with Çréla Romapäda Swämé in their cameras. Our thanks from the deepest core of our hearts to Nityänanda Prana Prabhu for providing us with innovative ideas to make this journal a representation of the nectar we experienced in Mäyäpur. We would like to express deep gratitude to Ayushi Mataji and Abhishek Prabhu for helping us in final editing of the document and Çréni Prabhu for making arrangement for the photographs. We are very thankful to Partha Prabhu for his technical help. We also referred to the book Gaudadesa written by Manjari devé däsi and to get some missing details. Last but not the least, our efforts will fail if we forget to thank Ashish Prabhu and organizers from Gaura Vani Club (GVC) who toiled hard for weeks together to make the best possible arrangement for all the visiting devotees. Our Kudos to all the GVC devotees for making it an unforgettable experience of our lives! May we too learn such dedication. We pay our humble obeisances to all the vaishnavas and to those people who are going to read this journal and earnestly request them to kindly bless us. We pray that every one of the readers may get an opportunity to participate in a future yäträ, if they so desire. We are sure that it will eternally change their lives! 6

7 Day 0: Friday, October 21, 2005 Prabhupäda said, "Bombay is my office, Våndävana is my home, and Mäyäpur is the place of my worship." So here we are in Prabhupäda s place of worship. This is the day before the start of the yäträ, as devotees are pouring into the Dhäm from different parts of the world. Here we have tried to give a brief overview of our first day at Mäyäpur. Çréla Prabhupäda s Samädhi Mandir Çréla Prabhupäda At 4:10 am devotees gather at His Divine Grace Çréla Prabhupäda s Samädhi Mandir. The shrine holds flowers that adorned Çréla Prabhupäda s body at the time of his passing away in Våndävana in Çréla Prabhupäda s disciples and grand disciples built this magnificent samädhi for his glorification. The design for the Samädhi was created by Çréla Surabhé Swämé, a professional Dutch architect who has also designed ISKCON s magnificent temples in Våndävana and Bombay. It took the devotees fifteen long years to complete the Samädhi. The voice of Guru ashtaka prayers resounded in this glorious samädhi mandir where Çréla Prabhupäda sits in a meditative mood encouraging all the devotees present there. Chandrodaya Temple Çré Çré Rädhä-Mädhav At 4:30 am the devotees gather at the main temple (Chandrodaya temple) eagerly waiting for the darçan of the most beautiful form of Rädhä Mädhav with añöa-sakhés and the most munificent Pancha Tattva. Hundreds of devotees were chanting on beads waiting for the first darçan of the day. In the midst of this chanting we heard the sound of the conch being blown and the sound of women ululating simultaneously. The curtain opened and we got our first ever darçan of Their Lordships. It was an electrifying experience being amidst the devotees as everybody gazed at the enchanting form of Çré Çré Rädhä-Mädhav. The eyes of the hundreds of devotees present were just fixed on the Lord. Even a non-devotee watching Their wonderful forms and 7

8 Their breathtaking smiling faces could get transformed into a devotee. Just one darçan of the Lordships was so powerful that all our worries looked insignificant and we stood spellbound in front of them. The añöa-sakhés were ready to serve the Lord with lot of paraphernalia like flowers and chamars in their hands. We sang and danced jubilantly on the guru-añöaka prayers samsara-davanala-lidha-loka. Then we had darçan of the most munificent Pancha Tattva Deities, who are ever ready to deliver all the fallen souls of Kali-yuga. Love of Godhead was just emanating from Them, melting our hearts. All the austerities we undertook to come to the Dhäm seemed trivial compared to the experience of feeling so wonderfully welcomed by the Lord and His associates. On the altar, Lord Caitanya is in the middle, with Lord Nityänanda on the left, and Çré Advaita on the extreme left. Çré Gadhädhara is on the right, and Çréväsa Pandit is on the extreme right. We were captivated by Their big beautiful eyes and radiating smiles. We were now in Their home, so we prayed at Their lotus feet to give us an entrance to the Dhäm. We participated in the kértan as the pujäré (His Holiness Bhakti Vikäs Mahäräja) did the artik of the Lordship with deep veneration. After singing Çré guru-añöaka, we all repeated the following prayers to the Lordships: My dear Lordships Çré Çré Rädhä-Mädhav, Çré Çré Pancha Tattva, Çré Çré Nåsiàha Dev, If you so desire, please empower us and bless us with purity and potency to fulfill the desire of our beolved founder äcärya His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedänta Swämé Çréla Prabhupäda to construct a magnificent temple for Your Lordship as desired by our previous äcäryas, so that we can be an instrument to spread Your glories in every town and village of the world. It was a simple but heart warming prayer.this reflected the heart of a devotee of the Lord. He does not want anything for himself, but wants the best for his worshippable Lord. We repeated the prayers in Bengali. Bengali is such a sweet language that some of us felt we would not mind learning the language just so that we could repeat the prayers in Bengali! His Holiness Bhakti Vikäs Mahäräja performing the artik of Çré Çré Pancha- Tattva Çré Çré Nåsiàhadev After that we gathered at Lord Nåsiàhadev s altar waiting to greet the most ferocious yet merciful form of the Lord. At 4:55 am, amidst great uproar, the gates of the Nåsiàhadev temple (Ugra Nrṣim ha) opened. The Lord s form was extremely ferocious. With His knees bent, He was just ready to pounce upon and devour all the obstacles in our devotional lives. His eyes seemed to pour forth torrents of living fire, killing the nescience that attacks the devotees. Ananta Shesha was hovering over the Lord. We recited the Çré Nrṣim ha Pranam mantra namas te narasimhaya. Then we participated in Tulasé-aarati. After the ärati, the guests were welcomed at Candrodaya temple and the devotees scattered around in different places for their japa.some devotees formed circles around Tulasé Mahäräëé, some circumambulated the Deities, some went to the courtyard outside the temple, while some others went to the garden and walked barefoot on the moist grass. Everybody immersed themselves in chanting. Activities started at the temple. Devotees started cleaning the courtyard, the bookshop opened and some new devotees sat in the corner of the main temple hall fingering their beads in an attempt to chant. 8

9 At daybreak, we got the first opportunity to see the campus in light. We remembered Çréla Prabhupäda s following words from the Bhaktivedänta purports to Çrémad Bhagävatam: In Våndävana there is a place where there was no temple, but a devotee desired, Let there be temple and sevä, devotional service. Therefore what was once an empty corner has now become a place of pilgrimage. Such are the desires of a devotee. And today we were seeing one such desire that had manifested in the form of this splendid temple and campus. The beautiful complex of the ISKCON temple is today a major tourist as well as religious attraction in West Bengal. While taking a walk, a devotee commented that not even a single rotten leaf could be found on any of the trees in that campus. On other days we would have to leave with the parikrama party, but today we just had to do our registration. Devotees started assembling in the Sankértan hall to do the registration for the yäträ. We were simply astounded to see how wonderfully the devotees had made the arrangements for the yäträ. There were 7 counters set, and we had to move from one counter to another to complete the registration process. We were welcomed by Ashish Prabhu and other buoyant devotees. Ashish Prabhu personally welcomed every one of us by putting chandana on our forehead. It was amazing to see the amount of efforts that these devotees had put in to make our stay as comfortable as possible. They had toiled day and night and taken care of the minutest of details; that was very apparent by what we saw. We got the food coupons, bus coupons, Vaishnava song book, detailed list of places of visit, contact numbers of devotees, water bottles and mahäprasäd of Çré Çré Rädhä-Mädhav. They had the foresight to collect the details of our departure date so that they can arrange for prasädam packets for our return journey. Bottles came with a handy bag to carry them and they had wide opening so that it would be convenient for us to refill. Finally we paid for the travel, food and stay and were all set to start the next day. We are extremely grateful for all their services and were deeply inspired by their mood. Some of the devotees commented that due to the efforts and foresight of the organizing group, we did not feel that we were there to take some austerities. We were just able to absorb ourselves in the deep nectar without worrying about anything. May Lord Gauräìga bestow His full blessings upon them for serving Çréla Romapäda Swämé and all the devotees with so much enthusiasm. 9

10 Day 1: Saturday, October 22, 2005 GBC Conference Room, 7:00 am After the mangal ärati we chanted our rounds. Just due to our presence in the Dhäm, we were able to chant better and were able to fix our mind on the Lordships. It was still drizzling, so we were aware that that day it may not be possible to go out and visit places. At 7:00 am we assembled at the GBC conference room on the 5 th floor of the Conch building for the orientation lecture. This is the room where on order of Çréla Prabhupäda, the GBC (Governing Body Commission) members from around the world come and discuss the future direction of ISKCON. So as Çréla Romapäda Swämé said this was the "Planning the future" room. This was a huge room, with ample natural light coming from windows on either side. It had two separate entrance doors on either side, one for matajis and another for Prabhus. Çréla Prabhupäda s picture was resting on an äsana. Mahäräja s Vyasäsana was neatly arranged at one end of the room and some chairs were there on the other end of the room. Although it was raining, still we got a good view of the entire premises standing outside the room. We could see mother Ganges and even the Yogapéöha while standing there. We felt lucky to be in the room where great devotees assemble and discuss how this mission of Caitanya Mahäprabhu could be spread to every town and village of the world. We sat on the floor (on mats) getting absorbed in the ecstatic kértan led by Ashish Prabhu. Two video cameras were in place to record the lectures. Microphones and speakers were neatly plugged along with the personal recording instruments of the various devotees. In midst of kértan Çréla Romapäda Swämé entered the hall, paid obeisances to Çréla Prabhupäda and sat on the Vyasäsana. Devotees offered him a beautiful garland of Jasmine and Roses, and we were ready to start. Theme of the yäträ: To seek blessings from the eternal associates of Lord Caitanya. They have manifested many wonderful pastimes. They have manifested Their blessings in those pastimes in order to purify the future generations. We were thrilled to see Mahäräja as he gave us a warm smile. Even though it was our great fortune that we were able to get his association in the Dhäm, he looked even more pleased and energetic than us to see all of us there. He commented looking at Muräri Caitanya Prabhu with the words, Even Muräri could make it!. Mahäräja started by saying Welcome to Çré Dhäm Mäyäpur Parikramä. Then he explained the significance of Çré Dhäm Mäyäpur saying, This is the place where ISKCON has its headquarters. This is the birth place of sankértan movement of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. The birthplace of Lord Caitanya is right down the street. This place is center of the nine islands of Navadvépa. Mahäräja started to elaborate on the theme of the yäträ by narrating the importance of praying in a humble mood: Before Çréla Prabhupäda came to America under the order of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura, he prayed very intently at Çré Çré Rädhä Dämodar temple. He prayed to Çréla Rüpa Goswämé that Çréla Rüpa Goswämé may bless him, so that the very awesome and challenging task given by Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura could be fulfilled. Çréla Rüpa Goswämé appeared to Çréla Prabhupäda in a dream and gave him his blessings. Çréla Prabhupäda also sought the blessings of Çré Advaita Äcärya for empowerment in bringing the message of pure devotion to the western world. So the theme of the yäträ is: Seeking blessings from eternal associates of Lord Caitanya. They have manifested many wonderful pastimes. They have manifested Their blessings in those pastimes in order to purify the future generations. Mahäräja emphasized, This is the reason why we are here. Why did Prabhupäda give the plan, vision, assignment to build this wonderful temple here? Is he fond of bricks and steel? He did this, so that persons 10

11 could come here as desired by our previous äcäryas and get the mercy of Lord Caitanya. They will be attracted to big temple, beautiful Deity worship, amazing kértan and huge prasädam hall. We have also come here for that purpose. To dive deeply into the lilä of Lord Caitanya, to hear kathä about Lord Caitanya, to take the dust of the holy Dhäm, to take darçan of Deities and to absorb our consciousness in Lord Caitanya's holy places. Çréla Romapäda Swämé wanted us to get the maximum benefit from the yäträ and so he mercifully guided us to be in a correct mood. He continued: We could get greatest benefit if we approach the Dhäm in the right mood as demonstrated by Çréla Prabhupäda. We should be very eager to receive the mercy of Lord Caitanya. We should not ask deliverance from birth and death or diminishing of karma or more happiness. Lord Caitanya came to give love of God. Love of Godhead is beyond the mind to imagine but is the hankering of the heart of every living being. We will get more out of most possible if we are in a prayerful mood. We should eagerly seek what Lord Caitanya wants to give us (i.e Kåñëa Prema). It is a great opportunity to visit the Dhäm, to hear the liläs and to offer prayers to various elevated personalities. It cleans/opens our hearts for receiving the transcendental gift of Kåñëa prema. Çréla Romapäda Swämé referred the following verse from Çréla Narottama däsa Öhäkura: gaurangera sangi-gane, nitya-siddha kori mane, se jay brajendra-suta-pas Anyone who has understood that the associates of Lord Caitanya are eternally liberated souls immediately becomes eligible to enter into the abode of Kåñëa --- the son of Nanda Mahäräja in Våndävana. Mahäräja said in a humble mood I will try my best to describe what our äcäryas have revealed to us about these places. I will try my best to transparently represent the correct mood. He requested us to keep our hearts eagerly open to receive the message that is coming to us in the disciplic succession from Lord Caitanya. He said At each place offer prayer to the person who resided there that their love for Lord Caitanya may awaken in our hearts too. We prayed to all the associates of Caitanya Mahäprabhu (including Çréla Romapäda Swämé); Please let a drop of their love for Caitanya Mahäprabhu enter our hearts. We knew that even a drop out of their vast ocean of love is enough to eternally transform our lives. After a brief break for the Hindi translation, Çréla Romapäda Swämé spoke about Antardvépa and the reason behind the appearance of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Antardvépa Antar means within (or inside) as in Antar-yami. It is the opposite of Bahir. At Antardvépa Lord Caitanya disclosed something very confidential to Lord Brahmä (antar portion of Antardvépa). Just as Kåñëa disclosed the meaning of Vedäs in the heart of Lord Brahmä, Lord Caitanya manifested before Lord Brahmä the confidential meaning of his identity. He said actually my identity is not just Kåñëa Himself, but Kåñëa combined with Rädhäräëé. Kåñëa Himself in Bhäva and Dhuty (mood and luster) of Rädhäräëé. Very few people have that understanding as it requires coming in contact with Lord Caitanya or those who have heard from Him in the disciplic succession. Through Lord Brahmä, in disciplic succession we have that understanding. Reason for the appearance of Lord Caitanya The circumstance of Lord Caitanya s appearance in Antardvépa are described in Caitanya-bhägavata by Våndävana däsa Öhäkura. Navadvépa during time of Caitanya Mahäprabhu was the seat of very high learning. High learning leads to high pride. The brähmaëas started using their knowledge for sense gratification and for material elevation. This degradation of brähmaëas pained the compassionate devotees of the Lord including Advaita Äcärya and Haridäsa Öhäkura. Advaita Äcärya thought, We are incapable of changing the hearts of these brähmaëas. Only if the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes, these people will change. I will petition Him with humble prayers. Advaita Äcärya came across one verse that said, The Supreme Lord becomes obliged to that devotee who with humility offers Him few Tulasé leaves and some water. The Lord becomes indebted and gives Himself to that devotee. So day and night Advaita Äcärya offered Ganges water and Tulasé leaves to the Lord and in loud voice called out for His descend. His crying was so pure and intense that it 11

12 penetrated through the coverings of the universe and entered the Vaikuntha realm. Kåñëa heard his prayers and descended as Lord Caitanya. Lord made his appearance in the month of Falgun during complete lunar eclipse when millions and millions of people gathered together at the bank of Ganges and chanted the holy name of the Lord. The Lord made his appearance in the month of Falgun during a complete lunar eclipse. Millions and millions of people gathered together at the bank of Ganges and chanted the holy names of the Lord Just to give us an idea of what it would have been when the Lord Gaurasundara made His appearance, Mahäräja inspired us to loudly chant the Mahämantra together and then told us to chant again with double the intensity. It became deafening as we all roared together, chanting with raised hands. By the wonderful narration of Mahäräja and vibrations of the Holy Name, we felt that we were transferred back in time when the Lord made His appearance. With their spiritual acumen, Advaita Äcärya and Haridäsa Öhäkura spontaneously knew that Caitanya Mahäprabhu had appeared and they were in ecstasy. Finding the actual location of the birthplace The exact place where Lord Caitanya appeared 500 years ago was lost after Mother Ganges changed her route. The exact birth place of Caitanya Mahäprabhu was later discovered by Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura. One night Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura had a divine vision of a rising tower in Navadvépa. He went to that place and found that in a particular tract of land only Tulasé plants would grow. Being in an influential position, he checked old maps and compared them with scriptural evidences. Some local brahmans also confirmed that, that was the place where Caitanya Mahäprabhu had appeared. For final and absolute confirmation he brought his Spiritual Master, Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja to the place. Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja being very old was brought in a basket. But as soon as they reached the area Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja jumped in ecstasy and with raised hands shouted Gaura Hari. Thus Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura was sure of his findings. Mahraja s face lit up as he narrated this pastime. We could see how much he enjoyed narrating these wonderful pastimes. We were inspired by the lesson that even though Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura was very superiorly qualified, he did not believe in logic or direct sense perception, but placed his complete trust on the descending knowledge or confirmation by Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. We learnt that we should also have a deep faith in the representatives of the Lord and fully submit ourselves to their merciful instructions. Mahäräja concluded, In Våndävana spiritual perfection can be achieved by offenseless devotional service. But in order to get Kåñëa prema in Mäyäpur we just have to chant in kértan with faith and eagerness. This was the end of the first session, and everyone was already swimming in the nectar. The lecture was translated in Hindi. Some devotees requested Mahäräja to arrange for a Telugu translation and quickly it was arranged. We all left for prasädam. It was still raining outside, so the organizing team arranged for umbrellas. We were just amazed at the proactive actions of the organizing team. The prasädam hall was under construction but still had ample place to seat 12

13 several devotees. We were served mouth watering prasädam and we ate to our heart s content. The prasädam was served in banana leaves and mud pots, thus saving this sacred place from the modern day plastic waste. As we went at the backside of the prasädam hall to discard the banana leaves, we saw several dogs eagerly eating the leftover prasädam. GBC Conference room, 10:30 am We again assembled at the GBC meeting room in the Conch building. Even though it was 10:30 am, it was quite dark due to the thick covering of clouds and continuous downpour. Ashish Prabhu led melodious kértan, singing ei-baro karuna koro vaisnava gosai. We could also meditate on some pictures of Navadvépa Dhäm that were projected from Mahäräja s laptop onto the wall behind. We saw Mahäräj a s intense eagerness to take us to these places. We were visiting these places via the medium of technology. Mahäräja started the second session of the day. The Lord reveals his identity to a chosen few Mahäräja questioned, How can we know if Caitanya Mahäprabhu is Supreme personality of Godhead? and answered it From so many scriptural references. He narrated the following childhood pastimes of Caitanya Mahäprabhu where His identity as Supreme personality of Godhead was disclosed. 1. A brähmaëa was offering bhoga to his shaligram shila and Nimäi as a small child repeatedly ate it before it was offered. And finally Nimäi disclosed to the brähmaëa that He is non different than the Lord. (CC Adi 14.37) 2. Once little Nimäi saw a snake in the courtyard and He crawled towards it. The snake seeing the Lord coiled like Ananta sesa around Nimäi. Little Nimäi eating brähmaëa s offering and later revealing His true identity. Little Nimäi with Ananta Sesa 3. The identity of Nimäi was also disclosed to Keshav Kashmiri. Keshav Kashmiri was benedicted with great oratorship by goddess Sarasvaté. He would engage in debates with great scholars, defeat them and take all their disciples. After reaching Navadvépa, he confronted Nimäi who was already well known as a great scholar in grammar. Nimäi asked Keshav Kashmiri to reveal his knowledge by quoting verses on Ganga devé. Keshav Kashmiri immediately composed 100 very beautiful verses praising mother Ganges. All the students were amazed at his erudition. Nimäi glorified him and asked him to find fault with the 46 th verse. Keshav Kashmiri was not able to recollect the verse and so Nimäi repeated it. Keshav Kashmiri told that there was no fault in the verse. Little Nimäi found a fault in an alankara in the verse. All the students of Nimäi cheered on the victory of Nimäi. Keshav Kashmiri left feeling puzzled. He had a boon that no one could defeat him. So he was surprised at his defeat. In the night Keshav Kashmiri had a dream where goddess Sarasvaté admonished him. She said, How can I support you in front of my master? Keshav Kashmiri understood the position of Lord Caitanya. He went to Lord Caitanya next morning and apologized for his pride. 13

14 Mahäräja told that we need äcäryas to understand the liläs of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. And we were sure that inspite of all the disqualifications that we have, we would still be able to appreciate the pastimes of Caitanya Mahäprabhu just because we were hearing that from the mouth of a pure devotee. GBC Conference Room, 12:45 pm Meeting with His Spiritual Master After the translation, Mahäräja narrated the pastimes of Caitanya Mahäprabhu s meeting with His spiritual master and His intimate, long, ecstatic kértans. Içvara Puré came to Navadvépa Dhäma on a pilgrimage, where he gave the service of correcting grammar of his writing to Nimäi Pandit. When Nimäi Pandit suggested a correction to Içvara Puré, Içvara Puré clarified that it was not a mistake. Nimäi Pandit easily accepted His defeat. He again met Içvara Puré on His way to Gaya and asked Içvara Puré to accept Him as his disciple. Içvara Puré was in a dilemma. How could he become the spiritual master of the Lord Himself? But at the same time how could he not follow the instruction of the Lord? Finally, he agreed. Nimäi Pandit told that He heard a mantra in His dream and disclosed it to Içvara Puré. Içvara Puré told that it was indeed a great mantra and initiated Nimäi Pandit with that. The news spread that Nimäi Pandit had become a devotee and everyone was in ecstasy. Now Caitanya Mahäprabhu began to relish long kértans along with the devotees like Çréväsa Öhäkura, Advaita Äcärya etc. On one Ekädaçé, the devotees decided to have a night long kértan. Everyone relished it so much, that for one full year they had kértan every night in the house of Çréväsa Öhäkura. Everyone present in the kértan would want to serve Caitanya Mahäprabhu in His devotional ecstasies. Devotees not present would hanker to be a part of the gathering. Pastimes at the house of Çréväsa Öhäkura Çréla Romapäda Swämé then narrated several of these wonderful pastimes that took place at Çréväsa Öhäkura s house. Mahäräja gestured to us how Advaita Äcärya would take the dust of the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahäprabhu when Caitanya Mahäprabhu lost His external consciousness in the kértan and would rub the dust on his entire body. We sat mesmerized as if the pastime was just happening in front of us. Here is one more of such a pastime: One night, the only son of Çréväsa Paëòita died. Not wanting the Lord s kértan to be disturbed, Çréväsa told his wife and other family members to stop crying else he would drown himself in Ganges. After some time the allknowing Lord stopped kértan and told Çréväsa Is something wrong? Why am I not enjoying the kértan? Çréväsa explained everything. Gauräìga Mahäprabhu was deeply touched by Çréväsa s devotion to Him. Çréla Romapäda Swämé concluded, Caitanya Mahäprabhu, in the form of Pancha Tattva, is distributing ecstasy and if we just chant His glories and dance in front of Him, we will automatically feel the ecstasy. Some of us who had the opportunity to attend the mangal ärati in the morning were nodding in confirmation and the remaining became eager to have the next darçan of the Lordship. After the lecture it was decided that if the rain stopped we would take the buses to the places we planned to visit, and if it didn t, we would again assemble in the GBC room post lunch. We went to Gada building and had our lunch. Even though the building was only 5 minutes away by walk, some vehicles were arranged so that devotees did not unnecessarily get drenched while going for prasädam. We had a delicious prasädam while having loving interactions with other devotees. The downpour continued and we again assembled at the GBC room. GBC Conference Room, 4:00 pm The kértan was led by His Grace Vedänta Caitanya Prabhu. This time we also had the association of His Grace Paìkajäìghri Prabhu. We had heard so much about the dedication of His Grace Paìkajäìghri Prabhu (and His Grace Jananiväsas Prabhu) that it was just enlivening to have their darçan in person. It was wonderful to meet a Dhämvasi, who had unfeignedly served the Deities at Mäyäpur Chandrodaya temple day after day for the last 30 years. Some devotees brought along with them their gifts for Rädhä-Mädhav. They planned to hand it over to Paìkajäìghri Prabhu after the class. 14

15 Mahäräja asked us, Are you dry? and we said Yes. He then asked, Are you happy? and we all asserted shouting Yes in great enthusiasm. Even though we were not able to visit the sites, still there was no discouragement. We were seeing those places with our ears, which is more important than seeing through our eyes. We were inspired to see Mahäräja s concern for us. Mahäräja adjusted the mike for Paìkajäìghri Prabhu to speak. We waited eagerly to hear the nectarean pastimes of the Lord in His Deity form as Paìkajäìghri Prabhu started to speak in his British accent: History of Jagannätha Deities Five hundred years ago, at the time of Lord Caitanya, there lived a very wonderful devotee named Jagadish Ganguli. Although old, he would visit Jagannätha Puré every year to have darçan of the beautiful Deities there. With time he lost his eye sight and became unfit for such long travel. One night, Lord Jagannätha appeared to him in a dream. The Lord told him that on the following day when he would go for his daily bath in the Ganges, a log would touch his head and his vision would be restored. The Lord instructed Jagadish to take that log to a nearby village and request a certain devotee carpenter (who was diseased with leprosy) to carve a Deity of Lord Jagannätha. Lord Jagannätha s words were quickly proven true. Finally the Deity was completed and to his amazement, the devotee-leper-carpenter was cured of his leprosy. A temple was established for the worship of the Deities. In due time the Deities of Lord Jagannätha, Subhadrä devé and Lord Balaräma were completely forgotten and over a time Their temple deteriorated and collapsed around Them. Some centuries later, a local villager heard a voice from a termite hill. Curious, he ventured closer and was amazed to hear a voice calling, Please, please give Me some water. Quickly he began digging, eager to search out. To his utter surprise he unearthed the beautiful transcendental trio: Lord Jagannätha, Subhadrä devé and Lord Baladeva! He was further astonished to see that although the Deities had been residing in the middle of a termite hill, Their wood was miraculously unharmed. This event happened about sixty years ago. Once again a temple was constructed and elaborate worship was established. The aging pujäré of Their Lordships began to worry as his health was deteriorating. He was fearful that history would repeat itself, and could not bear the thought of his beloved Lords being neglected and inconvenienced again. He decided to offer Their property to ISKCON. On the Gaura Purnima day of 1978 the most auspicious transaction took place and a beautiful new temple has since been constructed for Their Lordship s pleasure. Then Paìkajäìghri Prabhu told several spell bounding pastimes of the Lord as we sat completely absorbed in the nectar. Here are a few of them: Some Pastimes: A local jackfruit farmer was troubled by two boys who kept stealing his jackfruits. One day he got close enough to chase them but they escaped by jumping over a fence. A piece of their cloth was torn. The farmer brought the cloth to the temple and asked the pujäré if he knew of anyone who wore a cloth like that. He told that he saw a black kid and a white kid running away. The pujäré was most surprised as he recognized the cloth to be from one of Lord Jagannätha s outfits. He ran into the Deity room and found that Jagannätha Swämé s outfit had a piece of cloth missing of exactly the same fabric, size and shape. Lying near them were some Jackfruits. There was one worker who was involved in construction work at Jagannätha temple. Everyday he would steal a marble from the site. One day he brought a cart full of marbles back to the temple and confessed his stealing. He said that Lord Jagannätha came in his dream and said, Why are you stealing from My temple? I will destroy you for this. Once a sannyasi left his Govardhan Çila in the Jagannätha temple. Lord Jagannätha came in the dream of the Pujäré and told that they were always hungry as the Govardhan Çila finished all of Their prasädam. They said that the Çila would finish all the sweets even before the offering prayer was completed. Since then, a separate bhoga offering is made for the Govardhan Çila. 15

16 Some years ago, two friends went to the Jagannätha temple. One of them offered his friend some Jagannätha prasädam, which the other threw away. That same night Lord Balaräma appeared to him in a dream in a very angry mood. Balaräma was sitting on top of him and was hitting him across the face. Mother Subhadrä was also there. She was telling Balaräma "Beat him again! He refused the mahä-prasädam of our Brother. Kill him!" That person went to the temple early the next morning in a state of shock. He prayed to Lord Jagannätha for forgiveness and begged the devotees to give him some of Lord Jagannätha's mahä-prasädam. After narrating about 20 pastimes, Paìkajäìghri Prabhu said he had some 20 more but due to shortage of time he would stop. Then he narrated a couple of pastimes of Lord Nåsiàhadev at the Chandrodaya temple. Lord Nåsiàhadev s Pastimes: Once there was a mataji who used to do some service for Lord Nåsiàhadev. One day she received Lord s nails as a token for her wonderful service. That night she had a dream where Lord Nåsiàhadev pierced His nails in her heart and brought out a huge chunk of black material. He then said This is not love, but this is lust. And there is more inside. Next day Çréla Romapäda Swämé again recollected this pastime in the class, telling that he had been meditating on this pastime. He said What if the Lord pierces His nails in our heart? We have so much of yucky stuff inside our heart. As Paìkajäìghri Prabhu was narrating these enchanting pastimes we could hear loud thunder outside the room, caused by the lightning. Paìkajäìghri Prabhu told Mahäräja that the rain would stop tomorrow, as is always the case after a loud thunder. Everyone present in the room cheered with the thought of it and said Hari Bol in great enthusiasm. Çréla Romapäda Swämé immersed himself in listening to the narrations of Paìkajäìghri Prabhu. The two god brothers sat enjoying each other s association With this our first day of the yäträ was over. Many of us were meeting Mahäräja after one year and so having his darçan in the GBC room for the whole day came in as a rejuvenating treat. It was definitely our great fortune to get such wonderful association of Çréla Romapäda Swämé. Through his words we saw the places that people would not see, even after visiting them. It was heartwarming to see his genuine concern for us. His enthusiasm was contagious. We heard that the weather was very hot before it rained, so the rains were in a way making our stay at Dhäm cooler and more comfortable. The organizers had made such elaborate plans for the yäträ which seemed to be getting washed away in the rain. We had our plans but we were learning to surrender to Kåñëa s plans. 16

17 Day 2: Sunday, October 23, 2005 GBC Conference Room, 7:00 am We all again assembled in the GBC conference room at 7:00 am. As the surroundings were swamped in the rain water, little did we know that by the end of the day we would be swamped in spiritual ecstasy. The downpour of rain showed no sign of abating. What was dry land changed into a small puddle of water first, then into a small pool, then a pond and finally into what looked like a big lake The morning kértan was led by Ashish Prabhu. Mahäräja had already described about the glories of Antardvépa and Simantadvépa. Today he started to speak about Godrumadvépa. Godrumadvépa As Antardvépa represents the process of surrendering everything to the Supreme Lord and Simantadvépa represents the process of hearing about the Supreme Lord, similarly Godrumadvépa represents the process of chanting. Go means Cow and Dhruma means Banyan Tree. In Dwäpara yuga, Lord Indra heard from Brihaspati that in Kaliyuga, Lord Caitanya would make His appearance in Navadvépa. On the order of Brihaspati, Lord Indra came to Navadvépa to chant the holy names of the Lord. He also brought a Surabhé cow here. Indra liked to pray to Lord Vämana, but he found Lord Gauräìga more attractive. Pleased by Lord Indra s austerity, Lord Caitanya appeared and told the reason for His appearance in the next yuga. Lord Caitanya said, In the age of Kali I will come to distribute Kåñëa prema. I will do this by giving everyone the holy name of the Lord. Indra left, but the Surabhé cow remained below the Dhruma tree. Story of Markandeya Markandeya had the benediction from Çiva to live for seven kalpas. One kalpa is one day of Brahmä. After every day of Brahmä, a partial devastation takes place and the three planetary systems are submerged. While Markandeya was meditating at the end of one of the kalpas, the time of material dissolution came. At this time the entire universe was filled with water and the sage Markandeya got tossed by the waves. There was no land any where. Markandeya was submerged into the water and became unconscious. By the will of Providence, his body arrived at Navadvépa Dhäma. Navadvépa Dhäma is not a part of the material world and hence remained unaffected by the inundation. When Markandeya regained consciousness he was in the island of Godruma. He saw a large banyan tree with a Surabhé cow under the tree. Surabhé spoke to him, This is Navadvépa Dhäma. All the Vaikuntha planets and all the tirthas, rishis and demigods reside here. I am waiting here for the appearance of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Caitanya Mahäprabhu is so merciful that just by chanting His name with faith one can achieve all perfection in life and there is no more distress. Markandeya then started chanting the name of Gauräìga and began to worship Him. Hence Godruma is the place where kértan always prevails. Surabhé Kunj, which was the head quarter of Lord Nityänanda, is located on this island. Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura also lived here. Surabhé Kunja is non different from Surabhé Vana in Våndävana. 17

18 Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura s life Chronology of his life s events: 1887: While sitting on the roof of the Rani Dharmashala, Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura had a divine vision of the birthplace of Lord Caitanya 1889: He moved to Svananda Sukhad Kunja 1890: He Published Navadvépa Dhäma Mahatmya and four other books : He acquired land and built temple at the birthplace of Lord Caitanya Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura would give regular classes on Çrémad Bhägavatam. Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja came from Våndävana to listen to him. Many of the followers of Caitanya Mahäprabhu had by then deviated from the true teachings of the Lord. In total there were 13 different types of deviated groups. They were degrading the teachings of Lord Caitanya. As Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura was well educated, he successfully built a bridge between the knowledge of his educated peers and teachings of Lord Caitanya. People had several misconceptions towards the teachings of Caitanya Mahäprabhu but he brought back their lost faith. Versatility of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura: Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura was a gåhastha, having 10 children. Apart from that he had to manage the affairs of his responsible position as a District Magistrate. He started the concept of Nama Hatta (market place for Holy Names) and supervised some 200 Nama Hattas. He compiled 100 books. He wrote devotional songs so that they could be memorized easily by common people. He brought to light the authentic copies of Vedic literature and had them published. He simplified the teachings of Caitanya Mahäprabhu into 10 roots and called them the Däsa Moolah. He had the vision to send books to different universities across the world after publishing them. He was publishing a magazine called Sajjan Toshni. He also found out the places of the pastimes of Caitanya Mahäprabhu and established temples there. Çréla Romapäda Swämé continued: What a great äcärya he was! What a great family we are a part of! When this place was a jungle Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura envisioned that people from around the world will come here chanting Gaura Hari. He used all his material endowments in the service of Kåñëa. We should have great indebtedness to Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura. Çréla Prabhupäda once said that Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura did not make everyone Kåñëa Conscious because he wanted to leave something for us to do. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura gave us principles, teachings, holy name, opportunities, faith and now we have a lifetime to do this service. We must be eager to receive this gift by trying to make Kåñëa Consciousness available to others. Mahäräja concluded by saying: Association of devotees is always available. Sometimes it is non apparent, as the river may flow underground for a while and then re-appear. Devotees were there before Çréla Prabhupäda went to west, but he uncovered them. So in an honest and humble way we should try to create the opportunity for others to receive this gift of Kåñëa prema. After hearing about Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura we could understand the urgency of this message. Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura dedicated his life so that we could see some light and now it was our responsibility to help others see the light. Mahäräja immersed himself in reading, as the translation in other languages went on. Çréla Prabhupäda s picture frame sits on the äsana next to him 18

19 GBC Conference room, 10:30 am Madhyadvépa/ Jahnudvépa We finished our breakfast and assembled at the GBC conference room again as it was still raining. Mahäräja said that he had heard two different weather reports that day. One said that the rain would stop that day evening and the other said that the rain would continue till 31 st of October (the last day of our yäträ). Mahäräja commented that if the second report was true then we would have to leave much earlier as the rise in water of Ganges would cause flooding in the area. Hearing this, we understood the gravity of the situation. Mahäräja closed his eyes as if making a prayer to the Lord. Some devotees suggested that we could still go outside with our umbrellas, but that was not a good option as the roads to most of the places would be fully flooded and muddy, making then untraversable. Few devotees tried visiting some places on the first day but were unable to even step out of the car. That day even the car drivers were said to have refused to go out in rain. Mahäräja then started speaking about Madhyadvépa. This dvépa represents the remembering (smaranam) process amongst the 9 process of devotion. All the holy places manifest themselves in Mäyäpur Dhäm. In Madhyadvépa there is Naimisharanya, where Sukhdev Goswämé spoke Gaura Bhagvatam. Lord Çiva did not want to miss it but his carrier (Nandi) was slow. So he took a Hamsa Vahan and came here. More about this temple would be heard on day 4 when we would visit the place. This place also has Sapta Tila where the Sapta Rishis stayed and performed austerities. Caitanya Mahäprabhu along with the Pancha Tattva appeared in a beautiful form pleased by the saptarishis. Caitanya Mahäprabhu instructed them, Abandon your engagement in karma and jnana and engage in smaranam, discussing and hearing the pastimes of Kåñëa. Thus you will be able to see My form when I appear in Navadvépa. Brähmaëa - Puñhkar Puñhkar Dhäm also manifests here as Mahä Puñhkar. Here is the story that we heard from Çréla Romapäda Swämé In Satya-yuga, a brähmaëa named Divadäsa renounced his family life and went on pilgrimage. He had a strong desire to see Puñhkar tirtha, the topmost place of worship. When he arrived in Navadvépa, he was told by a brähmaëa in a dream that, if he stayed here he would gain a great treasure. So Divadäsa stayed here. Divadäsa grew old and had this unfulfilled desire to visit Puñhkar. So he started weeping. In a dream he again saw the same brähmaëa who this time identified himself as Puñhkar Räj. As Divadäsa was not able to visit Puñhkar, so Puñhkar Räj himself came to meet Divadäsa. He advised Divadäsa to bathe in the lake that had manifested in front of his hut. Puñhkar Räj explained that all térthas were already present in Navadvépa-dhäm. He declared, Taking bath just once in Mahä Puñhkar is equivalent to taking bath 100 times in the Puñhkar. Puñhkar Räj told that soon Lord Caitanya would make His appearance here. Then he turned and disappeared. Jahnudvépa (the island that represents the process of offering prayers) In Mahabharata, when Bhishma finished his studies under Brihaspati, he came here to meet his uncle Jahnu Muni. Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura describes seeing Bhishmadeva in Jahnudvépa in his Çré Navadvépa Bhavataranga. Bhishmadeva addressed Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, You are a new entry here. Welcome! When I was leaving body in front of Kåñëa in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, He blessed me and said Because previously you had darçan of Navadvépa, you have gained Gauräìga s mercy and now you have become an eternal resident of Navadvépa. Mahäräja then narrated some pastimes of Çréla Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja and Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. This will be discussed in detail on the 3 rd day of this Journal. Muräri Gupta Then Mahäräja shared with us several pastimes of Muräri Gupta. Muräri Gupta understood the mood of Caitanya Mahäprabhu and served Him accordingly. Here we will describe a few of his pastimes: 19

20 Once in the middle of kértan, Caitanya Mahäprabhu asked Muräri Gupta to recite the verses he had written in praise of Lord Räma. Muräri Gupta uttered the verses after some hesitation. Caitanya Mahäprabhu wrote Rämadäsa on the forehead of Muräri Gupta by tilaka and said You belong to Räma. Muräri is name of the Lord. Gupta means hidden in the heart. So Lord is hidden in the heart of Muräri Gupta. Muräri Gupta was aware that the Lord would end his Mäyäpur pastimes soon. Thinking he could not tolerate separation from the Lord, he purchased a knife and hid it in his house intending to use it that night to end his life. Being the Supersoul, Caitanya Mahäprabhu knew everything and immediately went to Muräri Gupta s house. Caitanya Mahäprabhu asked him softly, Muräri Gupta where is the knife?. Muräri tried to deny any information, but Caitanya Mahäprabhu entered the room and retrieved the knife. Lord Caitanya then spoke, Muräri how can you cheat me? If you go, who will be a partner in My pastimes? I beg you to promise to Me that you will never fall prey to such whims. Lord then took hand of Muräri Gupta and placed on his head and spoke, Please kill me instead. What is my life without you? Muräri threw himself at Caitanya Mahäprabhu s feet and held onto them. Caitanya Mahäprabhu embraced him while crying tears of love for His pure devotee. We were inspired to hear about the unflinching love of Muräri Gupta for Räma and his incredible humility. Çréla Romapäda Swämé told us that by hearing these wonderful pastimes, we can know how to purchase the love of Lord Kåñëa and how to bring intimacy with the Lord in our lives. Çréla Romapäda Swämé then went on to tell us about Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja and the places he established in Navadvépa. As Mahäräja was telling about these places, he would gesture and tell where these places were. He looked very keen to take all of us out and show these places. He continued: Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja Caitanya Gaudiya Matha was the headquarters of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja. He made an effort to bring the four sämpradäyas together. So in the temple at Gaudhiya matha there are Deities of the leaders of the four sämpradäyas in four corners. Gandharvika Giridhari is the presiding Deity there. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja is considered to be Simha guru who spoke strongly against non Kåñëa Conscious aspirations. Çréla Prabhupäda once commented that he was 80% more lenient than his Spiritual Master. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja did not complete his education as otherwise he would have been forced to get married after finishing it. He took a job at a library and read all the books available there. Due to his bramhäcärya purity he was able to remember everything he read. He took a vow of chanting 3 billion names of the Lord and chanted 192 rounds every day! (Equal to what Haridäsa Öhäkura would chant everyday). When it rained, he would hold an umbrella and chant underneath. Even though he was beyond Varnasrama dharma, he still took sannyasa for the benefit of others. He initiated 60,000 disciples and requested his followers to spread the message of love of Godhead. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura would walk back and forth and pose a question to himself on Kåñëa Consciousness and then would defeat it. On the order of Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja discovered several places of pastimes of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. He did this just by his spiritual acumen. We were able to breathe fresh air that was washed clean by the heavy rains. There was no dust in the air, and the surroundings looked enchanting. The atmosphere became surcharged with the anticipation of the experiences that lay ahead of us. We all rejoiced at the thought of visiting the places about which we had been hearing. 20

21 After the class we could see some cessation in the rain. Mahäräja indicated that if the rain stopped, then we would go out and visit the places that we had been talking about. We left for Gada building for lunch prasädam, praying intensely that we get a chance to visit these places. After the prasädam, the sky started to clear. We realized that it was the strong desire of Mahäräja to take us out to all these wonderful places and the Lord was fulfilling the desire of His pure devotee! Çré Jagannätha temple Parikramä banner Lord Jagannätha-Baladeva-Subhadrä The organizers quickly mobilized things and in no time we were ready to embark our buses. The parikrama party consisted of 3 buses and 4 vans (one for Mahäräja, one carrying organizers and two were comfy rides for people who had difficulty walking). The devotees boarded their respective vehicles in great excitement. As the bus started we all broke into kértan and left for the first place of the visit. After going a little distance on the Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Marga we took a right into a small narrow road. We saw several trees (mostly Mango and Jackfruit) on either side of the road. After traveling for some 2 kms we saw the temple of Lord Jagannätha. After hearing the several wonderful and mischievous pastimes of the Lord we were extremely blissful to have Their darçan. We reached there at the time of ärati. Jayant Prabhu led the kértan and the pujäré brought us some of the Mahaprasädam. Many of the devotees brought out their cameras and took photos of the Lord, but for most of us the mischievous face of the Lord got imprinted deep in our heart. We quickly finished the darçan and saw from a distance the shrine of Kolavechä Çrédhar. Mahäräja narrated some pastimes of Lord Caitanya with Kolovecha Çrédhar. Kolavechä was not of high birth or high wealth. He was so poor that Time magazine could have taken a photo of his as world s poorest person materially. Even then he used to offer 50% of his earning to Ganga. Våndävana däsa Öhäkura commented that Kolavechä Çrédhar had the wealth that no one had. Lord Caitanya would come to meet him everyday. Once Caitanya Mahäprabhu came to the house of Kolavechä Çrédhar and told that He was thirsty. He saw one of Çrédhar s few possessions, an old, broken, iron water pot. Caitanya Mahäprabhu picked it up and drank all the water from it. During the time of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, the house of Kolavechä Çrédhar could be found just by trailing the sound of the holy names coming from his hut. Some devotees once forcefully brought Kolavechä in front of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Caitanya Mahäprabhu asked him to ask for a benidiction. Kolavechä did not ask for anything in utter humility and just glorified Caitanya Mahäprabhu. When the Lord requested again and again, Kolavechä asked that he may get an opportunity to always serve Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Samädhi of Chand Kazi We moved on and traced back the path from where we came. On the way we stopped at the Samädhi of Chand Kazi. This was in the middle of a busy market place. Here we could see a big Banyan tree. Many local people were coming to 21

22 touch the Banyan tree and ask for some boon. Some children were selling incense sticks. On various branches of the tree people had tied a red cloth. Mahäräja gave a brief lecture on the significance of the place. This was the place where Chand Kazi was confronted by people who accompanied Caitanya Mahäprabhu. It was the first civil disobedience movement. Chand Kazi was so afraid that he hid below a bed. He showed marks of Lord Nåsiàhadev on his chest and gave the devotees permission to chant anywhere. The champak tree here represents Chand Kazi and the Neem tree represents Caitanya Mahäprabhu. It is over 500 yrs old and therefore witnessed the events of Chand Kazi s pastime with the Lord. Mahäräja showing a champak flower Chand Kazi confronted by devotees Caitanya-Gaudiya matha We again moved back towards the Chandrodaya temple and stopped at Caitanya-Gaudhiya Matha. On the four corners of the parikrama path of the main altar, we saw the Deities of the main äcäryas of the 4 bona fide sämpradäyas. They were Rämanujacarya (Çré sämpradäya), Nimbarkacarya (Kumära sämpradäya), Madhväcärya (Brahmä sämpradäya), and Vishnusvami (Rudra sämpradäya). Çré Çré Rädhä Gandharvika-Giridhari Deities of Kolavechä Çrédhar and Muräri Gupta Çréla Romapäda Swämé took help of Vrajanatha Prabhu to converse with the temple pujärés and got more information about the temple. We took parikrama of the Deities and sat in the large hall outside where Mahäräja spoke: This is the head quarters of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja. When the temple was constructed, it was very simple. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja went to Jaipur to get the Deities for the temple. One night the Deity maker got a dream in which his Deity said, A sadhu will visit you tomorrow. We want to be worshipped by him. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja also got a 22

23 similar dream where the Deity told that They wanted to receive worship from him. So the Deities were brought and installed here. We also see two smaller Rädhä-Kåñëa Deities on the right side of the altar. The smaller ones belonged to Kolavechä Çrédhar and the slightly bigger ones were worshipped by Muräri Gupta. As we came out, it was already dark. On the right after coming out of the temple is the Govardhana Hill. There were hundreds of Govardhana-shilas on it. It was little dark and so the devotees were not able to get a clear view of the place. Some devotees took out a flash light to get a better view. We walked carefully as the floor was a little slippery. We next moved to the Samädhi mandir of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja. We just remembered the morning class on Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja and felt deep veneration being there. We paid our obeisances to the Simha Guru. We begged that just as he had boldly cut the misconceptions of many people by his strong preaching, our misgivings may also similarly wither away by his mercy. Near to his samädhi was the samädhi mandir of Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja and we paid our obeisances to the great äcärya. Samädhi of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura Mahäräja Samädhi of Çréla Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja Çré Çréväsa Angan (Çréväsa s House) We again boarded our buses and reached Çréväsa Angan. As we entered the ornate main gate, we saw that on the right was a temple marking the location where Çréväsa Öhäkura s house had been located. On the left altar were Deities of Rädhä-Kåñëa and Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya had His arms raised in the air. The center altar depicted the mahäprakasha pastime of Caitanya Mahäprabhu where Lord Caitanya revealed Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the right altar, Lord Nityänanda and Lord Caitanya were leading all the devotees in the kértan that went to Chand Kazi s palace to protest his ban on sankértan. Our joy knew no bounds when we sat in the same courtyard where Caitanya Mahäprabhu with His associates would have ecstatic kértans. Çréla Romapäda Swämé explained the significance of this place: This is the place where the Supreme Lord inaugurated His Sankértan-lilä for the deliverance of the whole world. This place is rasa-sthali. As gopi s used to enjoy with Lord Kåñëa in the groves of Vraja, this was the place where associates of Caitanya Mahäprabhu enjoyed unrestricted loving exchanges with Caitanya Mahäprabhu. The location of Çréväsa Angan was lost for some years, but the information was clearly mentioned in Bhakti Ratnakar and Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura located this place. The Deities here are Rädhä-Madanhohan and Pancha Tattva with Lord Nåsiàhadev in front. This place is very conducive to inspiring kértans. As we left the place we begged the associates of Caitanya Mahäprabhu to give us a glimpse of Caitanya Mahäprabhu while He is rejoicing in the kértan at Çréväsa angan. 23

24 The Lord performs sankértan at Çréväsa Angan Çréla Romapäda Swämé prays at Advaita Bhavan Çré Advaita Bhavan Outside of the main temple at Çréväsa Angan we saw two small temples about 30 meters away. They are both within the same compound. The one on the left is Çré Advaita Bhavan that has Deity of Advaita Äcärya sitting at the feet of Lord Caitanya. Çréla Romapäda Swämé said: Though Advaita Äcärya lived in Shantipur, he kept this bhavan for his Mäyäpur visits. At this place great Vaishnavas such as Çréväsa Paëòita, Haridäsa Öhäkura, Candrasekhara and Muräri would come and hear Çré Advaita Äcärya speak about Kåñëa. Advaita Äcärya s loud calls that were full of compassion and love for the lost souls of this world, compelled the Lord to leave His spiritual abode and appear to liberate everyone in the whole universe! Çré Gadhädhara Angan The small temple to the right of Çré Advaita Bhavan is called Çré Gadhädhara Angan. In this temple are Deities of Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Gadhädhara. Lord s right hand is in the air and both Lord and Gadhädhara had mysterious smiles on Their faces. Gadädhar was an incarnation of Çrémati Rädhäräëé. Gaura-Gadädhar at Çré Gadhädhara Angan Mahäräja at Yogapéöha Yogapéöha Our next and final stop for the day was Yogapéöha. Just thinking about the place sent a shiver down the spine. We remembered how Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura located this place and imagined how Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé would have leaped in the air in ecstasy on discovery of this place. We entered the temple in a deep prayerful mood. This is the temple that Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura constructed by personally begging from door to door. On the right side just inside the main gate is a small temple where Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura is worshiped. We offered our obeisances to the great Äcärya by whose mercy we were able to come to the actual birthplace of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. 24

25 A few steps ahead on the left was the main temple which had about a 100 foot high tower. We sat in the big hall in front of the altar and listened to Çréla Romapäda Swämé: This is the place where Caitanya Mahäprabhu chose to appear! How special, sacred and unstinting this place must be. This is the place where the Lord walked with His lotus feet and performed His childhood pastimes. He came here to redirect persons back to Kåñëa. That time Ganges used to flow very near to this place. The Deities on the altar were installed by Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura. On the left altar are Çré Çré Rädhä-Mädhav and Lord Caitanya. On the central altar is Caitanya Mahäprabhu with Vishnupriya on left and Laxmipriya on right. There is a small black Deity that is approximately eight inches high. This is Adhoksaja Vishnu, the Deity worshiped by Jagannätha Misra, Lord Caitanya s father. The right altar has Pancha-Tattva and Lord Jagannätha. On the other side of the temple are two Çiva lingas. The smaller one on the left is Gopésvara Çiva, which is nondifferent from the Deity of Gopésvara Mahädev in Våndävana. If someone sincerely takes shelter of him, he admits that person to Lord Kåñëa s service. The larger one on the right is Kñetrapala-Çiva who is the protector of the Dhäm. He allows entry only to the qualified devotees. Then we moved a few steps to the right of the main altar and saw the Neem tree under which Lord Caitanya appeared. Next to the tree is a small mud hut that has the Deities of Jagannätha Misra and Çacémata holding young Nimäi on her lap. Directly behind the mud hut is a small temple with two Çiva-lingas. To the end of the property, are the Deities of Gaura-Gadhädhara and Lakshmi-Nåsiàhadev who were installed by Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura. Some of the devotees collected dust from this holy place and some of them took a leaf from the Neem tree as a souvenir. Prayer We left the place begging to Lord Caitanya, O Lord as you appeared to redirect even the most fallen persons to Kåñëa, similarly we are also lost and now have come to your house. Please direct us and make our lives successful by giving us the gift of Kåñëa Prema. Jagannätha Misra and Çacémata holding young Nimäi on her lap Neem tree under which Lord Caitanya appeared By the time we returned back, it was past 7:00pm. We realized that we visited these places after days of continuous rains but we didn t encounter even a trace of water. For almost two days we were in the GBC conference room and now in just 4 hours we covered so many places in Antardvépa. The visit to each place was of such an immense significance. Though we quickly moved from one place to other to keep the schedule, we did not feel any rush. These 25

26 brief moments at each place were very satisfying. This was because we had already seen these places in the classes of Çréla Romapäda Swämé. We were able to make a connection with these places and got an opportunity to offer prayers at the lotus feet of all the associates of the Lord. It was a unique experience and we sincerely prayed to the Lord that we may get a chance to visit more places of His pastimes. We looked forward for the remaining 7 days of the yäträ with renewed enthusiasm. 26

27 Day 3: Monday, October 24, 2005 Koladvépa Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja s Samädhi and Bhajan Kutir Our first boat ride to Navadvépa Çréla Prabhupäda and Mahäräja riding on a rickshaw We arrived at the town of Navadvépa on a boat. This was our first boat ride of the yäträ, and devotees were enjoying the ride, while singing kértan on top of their voices and splashing water on each other. Some devotees took this opportunity to wash their beads in the holy Ganges. We saw several monkeys jumping on the trees as we got down from the boat. For our transportation from there the organizers had arranged several cycle rickshaws. This was first experience for some devotees to ride on a rickshaw and they took photographs while sitting on them. We went by rickshaw to our first destination the Bhajan Kutir and Samädhi of Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. Some of the streets were so narrow that we wondered if our rickshaw would get stuck on entering! Ornate railings and balconies of many old buildings jut out onto the street. When we arrived at the Samädhi mandir, we left our shoes in the rickshaws. We went inside and offered respects at the Samädhi of Bäbäjé Mahäräja. Some old Bäbäjés were also present there. Just a small wall separated this place from the river Ganga. In a little courtyard in the back, was the tree under which Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja did his japa. He had darçan of Lord Kåñëa here. Devotees during Boat Ride 27

28 Çréla Romapäda Mahäräja spoke at length, on the glories of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja holds a very important position in our disciplic succession. His picture is present on every altar within our Kåñëa conscious temples and homes. When we recite prayers in ISKCON, his pranam mantra is the first. This is the very sacred place of his bhajan and samädhi. He was given the title Sarvabhauma which means the foremost among learned personalities. He was also known as Siddha Baba, as he was understood by everybody as a perfected soul. His diksha Guru was Jagadananda Goswämé and he received Bäbäjé initiation from Madhusüdana däsa Bäbäjé. He was born in the year 1750 in an aristocratic family. Çréla Romapäda Swämé immersed in narrating the pastimes of Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. In 1880, Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura met him in Våndävan. That was the first meeting of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura with Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja, when the latter was 130 years old. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura heard from the Bäbäjés in Våndävan that the principal äcärya there was Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. This was the first time that Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura got the association of his spiritual master. Later, in utter humility, Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja felt himself unqualified to live in Våndävan. So he asked his servant, Bihari lal to take him to Navadvépa Dhäm. Bihari lal carried his master in a basket upon his head and after a long journey brought him to Burdhwan in Bengal. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura heard of his coming and he went to Burdhwan to take his association. For 11 days they continuously engaged in Japa, kértan and reading from Çrémad Bhagävatam. Later Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura constructed a bhajan kutir for Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja in Koladvépa (or Kuliyä), and he made his residence here. Very quickly the renown of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja spread and many people came to take his blessings. While here, Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja also came to associate with him. Together they would go to the nearby Surabhé Kunj to hear from Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura speak from Çrémad Bhagävatam. Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja pointed out that we could get an idea of the spiritual stature of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura from this fact that 2 completely renounced Bäbäjés would hear transcendental topics from him, although he was a grihastha with 10 children!! In the middle of Mahäräja s lecture, a local Bäbäjé (renounced mendicant and saintly person) came there. He had long matted hair and was wearing an old white cloth around his waist. He bowed down to Çréla Romapäda Swämé and Çréla Romapäda Swämé in return paid obeisances to him. We did not know this Bäbäjé, but it did not seem to matter. Çréla Romapäda Swämé was showing us by His personal example, the standard of Vaisnava consciousness and etiquette. 28

29 Deities of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja Bhajan kutir of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. He sat under this tree while doing japa. He had darshan of Lord Kåñëa at this place. The Bhajana and austerities of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja: Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja was an extremely austere personality and had an astounding vigor for chanting of the Holy Name. This relish for the Holy Name was the source of his gyana and vairagya. He had great faith in the Holy Name. He would sometimes chant non-stop for 3 days without eating or sleeping. At the end of the third day he would break his fast with flat rice and yogurt. He would everyday offer 1000 obeisances to the Salagaram Sila that he worshipped. He did that till the end of his life. He would say that the best time for chanting was between 3 am and 7 am, and from sunset to 11pm. He would not leave any remnants, and so he would sometimes eat the banana peel along with the banana offered to him. During the 4 months of the caturmasya, Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja followed severe austerity. During the first month he would chant all day and take 4 bananas in the evening. During the second month, he would eat everyday only as many guavas as would fit in the palm of his hand. During the third month, he would drink only buttermilk accompanied with non-stop chanting of the Holy Name. During the fourth month, he would eat only the flowers from banana trees. During the whole time, all day he would continuously chant the Holy Name. From this we can understand that there was something that was sustaining him besides material things namely his transcendental connection with Kåñëa in the form of His Holy Name. Our scriptures give indication that to increase our devotion we can observe austerities on sacred days. Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja gave great importance to this principle. In the area, there is a large tree with a vista of Ganga and Navadvépa. In that place Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja had darçan of Kåñëa. Till the end of his life he chanted under this tree. (See picture) Some Pastimes: One time Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja was being carried in a basket by his servant Bihari lal. On the way a wealthy merchant saw him and donated one rupee. Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja took that one rupee and after traveling some distance asked his servant to turn back. They came back and found the same merchant who had donated the one rupee. Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja gave back the one rupee to the merchant and said this one rupee that you have given me is too heavy for me to carry. You definitely have some capacity to carry such heavy load as you are carrying so many rupees. So its better this rupee stays with you. I am giving it back to you as it s too heavy for me. One time Bihari lal found that there were 200 rupees in the donation box at Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja s bhajan kutir. He asked his master what he should do with the money. Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja asked him to buy rasagullas with the entire sum and distribute them to all the dogs and cows in Navadvépa. Bihari lal was astonished and he asked why he did not want them to be distributed to the other sadhus. Bäbäjé Mahäräja replied that the sadhus who made a show of spirituality but were not spiritual internally were worse than the 29

30 dogs. So it was better to feed the dogs. Another time a female dog had given birth to puppies near the ashram of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. Bihari lal would try to shoo them away but Bäbäjé Mahäräja would call them and invite them to eat off his own plate. He treated even the animals in the Holy Dhäm with love and respect, and in great humility he considered himself lower than all. One time Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja was visited by a wealthy landlord. The landlord asked Bäbäjé Mahäräja if he could kindly inspire him in his devotion by showing him a miracle. Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja said that he did not have any capacity to perform miracles and started hitting the ground with a stick. Seeing this the landlord thought that Bäbäjé Mahäräja was very angry with him. On enquiring Bäbäjé Mahäräja said that a goat had entered the Samädhi of Kåñëadas Kaviräja Goswämé in Rädhä Kund at Våndävan and was eating the Tulasé, so he was shooing the goat away. The landlord returned home and sent a telegram to a person in Rädhä Kund, and this incident was confirmed. The man was astonished and realized that Bäbäjé Mahäräja was no ordinary person. Prayer and Meditation: Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja has great significance in our disciplic succession. He gave the conclusions of the truths of the Vedas and Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura presented them in a written format. He gave the greatest contemporary inspiration to Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura by his deep faith and practice. He was a manifestation of the principle of dedicating one s life to the chanting of the Holy Name with absorption- to the stage of spiritual perfection. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu came to give that opportunity to one and all. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura also attained spiritual perfection by chanting of the Holy Name. That inspiration came largely from Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. He also demonstrated on numerous occasions that a true devotee depends entirely on Kåñëa for his material and spiritual maintenance. We can pray to develop similar faith that Kåñëa is our only maintainer and protector. He exhibited a very deep stage of realization facilitated by renunciation. This consciousness can be cultivated by voluntary acceptance of austerities and by continuously engaging in the service of the Holy Name. This is a very sacred place of inspiration. We can offer prayers that the absorption in the holy name may also enter our hearts. We can pray that our faith in the Holy Name may also increase by his kind compassion upon us. After the lecture, we had prasädam sitting in the sunbathed courtyard of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja s Samädhi Mandir. Koladvépa the island of forgiveness Çréla Romapäda Swämé described to us that this island of Koladvépa is especially known for its feature of forgiveness. He shared 3 pastimes that Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu performed on this very island, which involved his forgiving numerous offenders. Çréla Romapäda Swämé narrated in detail the wonderful lilä of Mahäprabhu forgiving 3 personalities Devananda Pandit, Gopäla Chapal and Gopäla Chakravarthy. Please refer to Caitanya-bhägavata for details regarding these pastimes. We are describing one pastime in brief here: Gopäla Chakravarthy offended Haridäsa Öhäkura. When Haridäsa Öhäkura was traveling to Navadvépa, on his way he stopped at Saptagram, the village of Raghunath däsa Goswämé. At that time, Raghunätha däsa Goswämé s father and uncle Hiranya and Govardhan Majumdar were the wealthiest and most influential people in that area. Since they were Vaishnavas, they would regularly invite saintly people to their house and have discourses on devotional topics. When Haridäsa Öhäkura visited, they invited several scholars and brähmaëas from their area to have a spiritual discussion. Haridäsa Öhäkura was known to be the most qualified person to speak on the Holy Name of the Lord, as everybody knew he chanted 300,000 names of the Lord everyday. On that occasion, one brähmaëa said, The holy name of the Lord is so powerful that anyone who chants is liberated from material existence. All previous karma is destroyed. Haridäsa Öhäkura objected and said that even a dim reflection of the Holy Name could do that. The real glory of the Holy Name is that it can give one the highest spiritual perfection there is Love of God. One of the brähmaëas in the assembly objected strongly. He was Gopäla Chakravarthy, an assistant in tax collecting in the area. He spoke out angrily at Haridäsa Öhäkura and said that he was speaking nonsense and was going against the opinion of the learned assembly which is based on scriptures. Haridäsa Öhäkura said that what he mentioned was also very much from the scriptures. Gopäla Chakravarthy shouted in rage that if it was not found in the scriptures, then he would cut off Haridäsa 30

31 Öhäkura s nose. Haridäsa Öhäkura confidently replied that if he was proved to be wrong he would cut off his own nose. In course of time Haridäsa Öhäkura presented arguments from the scriptures in such a way that Gopäla Chakravarthy was thoroughly defeated. Gopäla Chakravarthy contracted a serious disease for his offence. When Gauräìga Mahäprabhu came to Koladvépa or Kuliyä, Gopäla Chakravarthy also came there and confessed his sins and asked for forgiveness. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu at once forgave Gopäla Chakravarthy because of his sincere and repentant heart. Lord Caitanya instructed him to chant the Holy Name of Kåñëa constantly and in that way to purify his existence. Caitanya-bhägavata describes hundreds and hundreds of devotees that were forgiven by Mahäprabhu in Koladvépa. All kinds of sinful and fallen people came to see Lord Caitanya and Lord Caitanya very liberally forgave them all in this very island. Prayer and Meditation: Lord Caitanya mercifully demonstrated in His liläs that this island is a place where forgiveness is manifest. We can pray for forgiveness from the innumerable mistakes and sins we have committed, and we can hope to be forgiven as this island has that special potency. We can also pray to the Lord to increase our capacity to forgive others, thereby making our hearts softer and more fitting to receive the Holy Name. Then Çréla Romapäda Swämé narrated many glorious pastimes of Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. Due to limited space, we are unable to present the entire text of that lecture here. We are sharing here some nice instructions that Çréla Romapäda Swämé presented in summary from the life of Çréla Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. Çréla Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja was the personification of renunciation. He was very fixed in the principle of spreading Kåñëa Consciousness. He instructed Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura to spread this message of Lord Caitanya everywhere. With that instruction and empowerment, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté spread the message of Lord Caitanya in every corner of India. It is also significant that as renounced as Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja was, he accepted Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura as his spiritual master. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura lived in Surabhé Kunj with his wife and 10 children, and Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja often went there to hear from him. He would spend so much time with Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura that Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura built a bhajan kutir for him in his home. This shows that our Kåñëa Consciousness movement is not ashram specific. The real position of Kåñëa Consciousness is to be fixed in devotion, regardless of one s ashram. One s path of elevation is determined by how much shelter one takes of elevated äcäryas. Coming here to Navadvépa, we are receiving an opportunity to receive the gift that Lord Caitanya wants to give us that of Kåñëa Prema. We are getting lot of inspiration and purification by being in the holy Dhäm and experiencing the places of pure devotees like Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. They are eternal associates of the Lord. Vishnupriya Devé s Temple We got on our respective rickshaws and quickly reached our next destination the temple of Vishnupriya devé, Lord Caitanya s eternal consort. We had wonderful kértan there and Çréla Romapäda Swämé remarked that this was the special feature of this place; whenever devotees go there, they have wonderful kértan. Many devotees started to jump and dance. After the kértan, Çréla Romapäda Swämé narrated the glories of the place. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu was married twice. His first wife Lakñmépriyä ended her earthly pastimes soon after marriage and so the Lord agreed to marry again on the request of His mother. Mother Çacé would see Vishnupriya everyday when she went to take a bath near the Ganges. Vishnupriya devé would pay obeisances to Mother Çacé with great respect and offer words of greeting to her. Mother Çacé was very pleased with the chastity, beauty and humility of Vishnupriya and felt that she would make the perfect wife for her son Nimäi. So arrangements were made and a grand wedding took place. When Lord Caitanya took sannyasa, Vishnupriya was only 16 years old. Her life and soul was Lord Caitanya, and service to her husband was the only purpose of her life. Yet when she heard from her Lord that He would be taking sannyasa she exhibited highest devotion by saying whatever it is that will please You my Lord, I will serve You in that capacity. Internally she was devastated but too choked up to say anything more. After that Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu left. He arranged for 31

32 her to worship and serve His Deity form. So from that time onwards till she turned 96 (a period of 80 years), Vishnupriya served the Deity of Mahäprabhu like she would serve His very self. She imposed severe austerity on herself to the extent that her body was emaciated. For every round of mahämantra that she would chant, she would set aside a grain of rice. At the end of the day, she would eat only as many grains of rice as she collected that way. Çrénivas Äcärya once came on pilgrimage to Navadvépa and visited Vishnupriya. He was shocked to find her in an emaciated condition. She shared many confidential and intimate glories of Lord Caitanya with him. After Vishnupriya s departure, Ishan (the personal servant in their home) brought the Deity to this side of the Ganges and since then the Deity has been worshipped here in Kuliyä. Vishnupriya devé s Deity of Mahäprabhu Lord Caitanya s sandals Çréla Romapäda Swämé said that this Deity is a very merciful Deity. We also took darçan of a pair of wooden shoes of Lord Caitanya that He left for Vishnupriya. The shoes were kept in a silver case and the pujäré mercifully touched those on our forehead. Prayer: Vishnupriya devé was the personification of selfless love. Taking inspiration from Her life and Her demonstration of unparalleled devotion to Lord Caitanya, we can pray that a drop of such love may kindly enter our hearts. We can pray for Her kind mercy upon us so that we may render service wholeheartedly to Guru and Gauräìga and be able to sacrifice our personal interest towards the uninterrupted service of the Supreme Lord. Dhämeshwara Çiva Temple We arrived at our next destination the temple of Dhämeshwara Mahädev. The temple was located right in the middle of a crowded bazaar, and our rickshaws dropped us outside this bazaar. This market consisted of a crisscross of narrow footpaths with crowded small shops on either side. Most of these shops had roofs that were touching one another, in such a way that the whole place was shaded. Many of these shops had bare bulbs hanging in the front for light. Making our way through these shops, we could hear the shopkeepers shouting to sell their wares. The atmosphere was full of the sounds and sights of a busy street side market. There were many kinds of attractive items that were being sold in these shops from devotional paraphernalia to women s decorating items to groceries. But Çréla Romapäda Swämé had earlier made an announcement not to begin shopping but to stay close together, as there was every possibility of getting lost in this labyrinth of shops, people, and criss-crossing lanes. We followed Mahäräja s instruction and kept walking. After only a few steps we came to the temple of Praudha Maya. We paid our respects there and walked a few more steps to the Dhämeshwara temple. From outside we could see the really old 32

33 shikhara of the temple. A tree seemed to grow right through this temple. The roots of the tree were everywhere, in the walls, dome and the floor of this small ancient temple. The temple was very very ancient! The entrance to the temple was very narrow and the devotees made their way in and out in a single line. Inside it was dark and cool, and looking upwards we could see all the way to the top of the huge shikhara. The Çiva Linga itself was very huge. We offered our respects to Lord Çiva. Temple of Praudha Maya situated inside a tree trunk. The deity of Dhämeshwara Çiva Prayer: Çréla Romapäda Swämé had earlier mentioned that Lord Çiva performs the dual service of protecting the Dhäm from miscreants and revealing the Dhäm to the devotees. Hence we prayed to Lord Çiva for his mercy so that we may be able to get a deeper realization and experience of the Holy Dhäm. An ancient temple: Close-up view of the dome of the Dameshwar Mahädev Temple. The roots and branches of the banyan tree have completely engulfed the temple both within and without. Godrumadvépa Surabhé Kunj We returned back to temple, had our lunch and then took a boat to go to the next place. After a long relaxing boat ride, we arrived at Surabhé Kunj in Godrumadvépa. It was dusk when we got there. Our group was spread out in 3 boats. We realized that one boat had not yet arrived. Çréla Romapäda Swämé was very concerned and enquired aloud about the whereabouts of that boat and how many devotees were on it etc. He asked some devotees to do kértan as he did not want to start the class till all the devotees were present. We realized how personally concerned he was for each and every devotee in our group. And how thoughtful he was! After some time we saw the devotees coming. Then Mahäräja 33

34 started speaking about the significance of the place. Surabhé Kunj, as the name signifies, is the garden where the sacred cow Surabhé once resided. As we entered the gate, we saw a house on one side facing which was an orchard of many different trees. We saw mango, coconut and banana trees amongst many other trees there. Çréla Romapäda Swämé told us that when Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura first came to Navadvépa, he lived right here. We had kathä for a short while and then some devotees got the opportunity to ask questions from Çréla Romapäda Swämé. Devotees at Surabhé Kunj Deities at Surabhé Kunj Svananda Sukhada Kunj Home of Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura Later we went to see Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura s house called Svananda Sukhada Kunj which was about 10 minutes walk from Surabhé Kunj. It was dark by then and there were no street lights. Some devotees had torch lights. But the rest of us just walked close to one another, trying to trace our steps behind whoever was in front. Very soon we reached a lighted part of the street and on our right was the house of Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura. We first took darçan of the Samädhi mandir where a life size Deity of Çré Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura is worshipped. From the inspiration we were receiving from the discourses of Çréla Romapäda Swämé, we prayed intently at the Samädhi of the great Vaisnava Öhäkura. We then circumambulated the Samädhi. On our left side was the Samädhi of one of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura s personal servant called Kåñëa däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. On the right side is the Bhajan kutir of Çréla Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. We reflected what a sacred place we were in! Çréla Romapäda Swämé had told us earlier that in this house Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura had lived and preached for many years. This house was the place where many ecstatic pastimes were performed. 3 powerful äcäryas resided and performed bhajan here ÇrélaBhaktivinoda Öhäkura, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura and Çréla Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja. What a sacred place it is for all our Gaudiya Vaisnavas! At this place, Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura organized 100 nama hattas and wrote numerous Vaishnava Bhajans that we sing today in ISKCON. At this place, Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura wrote the book The Life and Precepts of Lord Caitanya and sent it to acclaimed universities worldwide. In this very house, Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura had the vision of the adbhuta mandir from the balcony. The pastime of Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja confirming the birthplace of Lord Caitanya also happened when Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura was living here. At this very sacred place, Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja and Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräja would hear Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura speak on Çrémad Bhagävatam. This place contained the divine dust from the presence of such transcendental äcäryas! This was indeed a place of pilgrimage and many great Vaisnava äcäryas have been coming here to take darçan. Although it was the end of a long day, we felt extremely rejuvenated and enthusiastic in Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura s place. We were feeling extremely grateful and fortunate, as though we had discovered a treasure. By the mercy of Çréla Romapäda Swämé, we were able to appreciate the glories of this place. Through his discourses, he was giving us an opportunity to see the transcendental richness of the place. We also got to go inside the house and have darçan of the rooms of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura and Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté. The simple yet elegant wooden cots and tables and chairs were still being preserved. We also got to see the tiny room attached to Çréla 34

35 Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura s bedroom, in which he would shut himself and chant japa. In the bedroom there was also a fan that Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura designed. Here we were getting to see very intimate and personal objects that the äcäryas used. Outside was a huge balcony in which Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura got the vision of the adbhuta mandir. In that balcony, Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté was known to pace up and down and construct arguments to crush the Mayavadi thought. View of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura s house from the front, with the balcony on the first floor. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura had the vision of the adbhuta mandir while he stood on this balcony. View of the wooden cot that Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté used while he lived here as a young man. We quickly came out, as there were so many other devotees waiting to see the rooms. Our excited chatter disturbed the Bengali kathä that was going on outside and some devotees reminded us to stay quiet. As we were leaving, we saw that many devotees were buying beads from a beads man. This was the same beads man we had seen at several places before and he seemed to be getting good business from our group. Later Vajranäth Prabhu announced that this beads man was actually following us everywhere even though we forbade him from doing so. He told us not to make any purchases from him as he was selling things at a much higher cost than usual. We walked back in total darkness towards our boat. The boat ride in the dark was very memorable. The Ganga flowed dark and deep. It was pitch dark except for the lights from houses on either bank that made distorted long reflections in the water. We wondered how the boatman knew where he was going, or if there was a boat in front. But we laughed at our own doubts and fears knowing that these boatmen were experts who have been doing this for years. Some of the devotees in the other boats focused their torch lights to tell us where they were. But we were in no rush to get to the bank. Sitting under the beautiful star lit clear sky, we reflected on how fortunate we were to be there. The cool night air on the Ganges felt so refreshing on our faces and bodies. Everybody in the boat seemed to be quite enjoying some deep meditations along with the beauty of the Ganges and Mäyäpur. We were the richest and the most fortunate group in the whole world. What an ecstatic and adventurous time we were having in the transcendental realm of Mäyäpur! We felt like transcendental treasure hunters that were coming home after discovering rich transcendental treasures. Then in the shore skyline, we saw at a distance the white dome of Çréla Prabhupäda s Samädhi mandir. We knew we were not far from home. Very soon we reached the ghat. 35

36 Antardvépa Nandanäcärya s House This was our last stop for the day. The house of Nandanäcärya is located just a few steps away from our Chandrodaya mandir gate. When we went in we could hear loud kértan accompanied with huge kartals and many mridangas. Some of the devotees joined the kértan. The Deities were beautiful and dressed in a grand fashion. This was one of the mathas established by Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté. Çréla Prabhupäda would stay here when he would visit Navadvépa before he set out to the West. There were many colorful murals all along the ceiling, depicting the pastimes of Kåñëa and Gauräìga Mahäprabhu. Çréla Romapäda Swämé described the pastimes that happened here. The most significant pastime is that Lord Nityänanda hid at Nandanäcärya s house when he first came to Navadvépa. This was the place where Lord Caitanya met Lord Nityänanda for the first time. We were glad to be at the place of such spiritual significance. We then returned back to the Chandrodaya temple, meditating on the great day we had. The grand altar in Nandanäcärya s temple. A close up of one of the colorful murals on the walls of the temple. 36

37 Day 4: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 Hari Hara Kñetra Hari-Hara Deity with Vishnu on left and Siva on right Temple with two domes (Chakra and Trident) After attending Mangal Artik and chanting a few rounds, we boarded our buses for Hari Hara Kñetra at 7:00 am. We saw many green coconut and banyan trees on both sides of the road. We disembarked from our buses and walked though a beautiful grove of trees. We came to a large open ground covered with lush green grass. To one side of this ground was a small temple. The temple had two domes, one with sign of trident and other with a sign of chakra, indicating the presence of both Lord Viñëu and Lord Çiva inside. This temple was renovated in 1999 by Bhaktivedänta Charity Trust. The temple was painted in contrasting colors; the walls were green, the floor was red and the columns that were painted pink. His Grace Vedänta Caitanya Prabhu led an ecstatic kértan, hearing which we felt spiritually uplifted and many devotees began to dance to the resounding kértan. The audio/visual team came and we saw microphones, cameras and recorders being set up in no time. Some local children also gathered on the side. The Sun was shining brilliantly. Remembering how it was raining on the first two days, we felt great fortune in the warmth of the smiling sun. Çréla Romapäda Swämé remarked that he had not seen a Deity like this before. He narrated story of the Deities. Many years ago, the Deities were stolen by dacoits and were left in a forest. A Jackal would regularly go from temple to the particular area of the forest where the Deities were hidden. Local people became curious seeing the jackal near the temple every day. One day they decided to follow the jackal into the forest and found the Deities. Then Çréla Romapäda Swämé narrated the significance of that place. A brief summary of his narration is as follows: Käçiraj (king of Käçi) had a friend named Paundraka who thought that he was the original God. But he was effortlessly and piteously killed by Kåñëa. Then Paundraka s son, Sudaksina, performed various austerities to please Lord Çiva to get a benediction so that he could kill Kåñëa. But eventually Sudaksina was also killed by Kåñëa and the whole city of Käçi was destroyed. Lord Çiva had no place to stay and therefore he came and took shelter at this place in Navadvépa dhäm. Hence this place is also known as Mahakäçi. Çréla Romapäda Swämé explained that this story emphasized the following principles: 1) Those who harm the devotees get harmed themselves. 2) Worshipping Lord Çiva has a vedic purpose. Lord Çiva mercifully fulfills the material desires of the worshipper. But this material benediction only causes more entanglement, distraction and destruction to the worshipper in his current and subsequent lives. One should not therefore, in the human form of life, invest consciousness in lower desires and one should not approach Lord Çiva with such material desires. 37

38 The Deities here are of Hari and Hara. Hari is Lord Viñëu and Hara is Lord Çiva. Right side of Lord Viñëu is Lakshmi, the Goddess of fortune and left side of Lord Çiva is Parvati in whitish complexion. There is Vådha Çiva, a Çiva linga having little moustache that looks a little old. On the lower right side is the Deity of Sitala devé Goddess of chicken pox. Villagers worship her to protect their children. There are footprints of Gadhädhara Viñëu (Lord Viñëu holding Gada). HariHara Deity emphasizes the non difference aspect of Lord Kåñëa and Lord Çiva. Lord Çiva is an expansion of Sankarshan and is the head of a sämpradäya. But his mood and function are different from Lord Viñëu. The mood of Lord Çiva is to serve Lord Viñëu. Function of Lord Çiva on the material side is to fulfill the desires of worshipers, to bewilder those who are averse to Supreme personality of Godhead and to destroy the universe. On the devotional side, Lord Çiva gives pure devotion to devotees of the Lord, especially in this place of HariHara Kñetra. Here he is happily engaged in bhajan and wants to give it to others also. Of all the Vaiñìavas he is the Commander in Chief Vaiñëavänäm yathä çaàbhuù. Those who worship Lord Çiva separately and independent of Lord Kåñëa, like Ravana and Banasura for their enjoyment are ultimately destroyed. When people approach Lord Çiva with their material wish-list, he wants to give them devotional service unto Lord Kåñëa, which they do not desire. Another special service of Lord Çiva is of Kñetra pal guardian of the dhäm. In Våndävana, Deities of Lord Çiva are found in four corners of the dhäm. Prayer We prayed to the very merciful Lord Çiva who is very dear to Lord Kåñëa, to also bestow on us the qualities of a Vaiñìava and somehow make us dear to our spiritual master and Kåñëa. We spread out in groups to different parts of the place to have breakfast prasädam. We were very relaxed and did not bother much about the time. We slowly honored prasädam while conversing with the other devotees. We saw a playful exchange between Çréla Romapäda Swämé and Muräri Caitanya Prabhu. Muräri Caitanya Prabhu was trying to capture Mahäräj in his video, while Çréla Romapäda Swämé pretended as if he wanted to run away from him (photo enclosed). The devotees were completely in ecstasy as they watched this exchange. There are people who undergo tough austerities to get a hint of transcendental bliss, but here we are in association of Mahäräj and the entire realm of bliss is easily accessible to us. Suvarna Vihar Our buses lost their way and it took us a long time to reach Suvarna Vihar, which was apparently only a short distance from HariHara Kñetra. Çréla Romapäda Swämé had reached much earlier and he was anxiously waiting for all of us. Devotees who reached earlier with him, told us that several times he himself came out of the temple to see if we had arrived. He also sent various devotees to find out what had happened. After going back and forth to find the correct route, our buses finally brought us to Suvarna Vihar. We saw that the area around the temple was a little elevated and we later found out the reason why. We came to know that the ruins of a palace from Satya Yuga were 38

39 underneath the temple. As soon as we sat inside the temple, kértan began. It was so uplifting that we felt impelled to stand up and dance. The temple belonged to Gaudiya math and it had a life size Deity of Lord Caitanya along with Deities of Kåñëa and Çrémati Rädhäräëé. Deities of Lord Caitanya, Çrémati Rädhäräëé, and Çré Kåñëa Transcendental relics from Satyuga No sooner had Mahäräja started the class that the pujäré requested us to stand for artik. Mahäräja honored the request and we stood up again. At the time of artik, we felt fortunate to sing and dance for the Deities of Çré Çré Rädhä Mädhav. Ashish Prabhu led a wonderful kértan. All of us were in the front and Çréla Romapäda Swämé was trying to have darçan of the Deities all the way from back. We all got charged up for the upcoming lecture. As we were running a little late, Mahäräj requested us to give undivided attention to the lecture so that we may quickly move on to the next place. Çréla Romapäda Swämé spoke as follows: Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura knew the significance of this place and asked his disciples to acquire the land. Lord Caitanya used to come here on ecstasy express of nagar sankértan. When Lord Nityänanda was taking Jiva Goswämé on the tour, He described to him the following pastime: At this place, Lord Caitanya disclosed Himself to a king named Suvarna Sen in Satya Yuga. Even though the king was getting old, he had greed for wealth. Once Närada Muni visited the King and uplifted him from material to spiritual consciousness. Närada Muni said, What is the use of all this wealth? Why are you wasting so much energy in acquiring wealth? What is so great in temporary family relationships? One cannot find uninterrupted happiness in all these things, rather there is uninterrupted misery. My dear king, unmixed happiness exists in a realm that is accessible only in the rare human form of life. It is not attainable through fruitive work, rituals, knowledge and Vedic practices but only by unmotivated devotional service to Lord Kåñëa. Kåñëa is like sun, and where there is sun there is no darkness or shadow. All we have to do is to turn our attention to Kåñëa. This path of devotion is possible if one is extremely fortunate to get association of pure devotees. In association of devotees, one starts to perform practical devotional service, which cleanses unwanted things from our heart. One develops a strong faith, which gives taste and attachment to the devotional service, then, ecstatic jubilation arises in the heart, culminating in love of God. My dear king, there are 9 processes of devotional service and any one has the potency to deliver one to the stage of perfection. Närada Muni continued, Now I will disclose to you some very confidential information. The Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear here. He will have a golden complexion, long arms reaching upto His knees, beautiful eyes stretched till ears and He will inspire everyone to chant Holy Names of Lord in ecstasy. Närada Muni started calling out Gauräìga! Gauräìga! in great bliss and induced the king also to become deeply absorbed in the Holy Names. That night the king dreamt of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Caitanya Mahäprabhu told that when He appears in Kali Yuga the king would become one of His associates, named Buddimanta Khan. 39

40 Listening to this Jiva Goswämé fell to ground unconscious, weeping and thinking that he was unable to assist Caitanya Mahäprabhu in His pastimes. When Jiva Goswämé was weeping this way, suddenly the sound of Mrdanga and Kartals was heard approaching from a distance. When they looked in the direction of the sound, Lord Nityänanda and Jiva Goswämé saw Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Gadadhar Paìòit dancing and leading a sankértan party. This happened very near to this place. Çréla Romapäda Swämé helped us to understand the potency of all the äcäryas in our disciplic succession. Çréla Bhakisiddhanta Sarasvaté Öhäkura knew the significance of this place. Other äcäryas like Jagannätha Däsa Bäbäjé Mahäräj had direct communion with the Lord. Similarly when land in the middle of a jungle was to be acquired for Juhu temple, there were obstacles and more obstacles. It was only Çréla Prabhupäda who could envision a grand temple in what now is downtown Bombay. The same thing happened with the other big temple projects like the Kåñëa Balaräma temple in Våndävana, Bhuvneshwara Temple etc. Çréla Prabhupäda had the power to see that that land which was then in the middle of nowhere, would one day be the heart of the city. We can also access this gift of direct communion with the Lord that our äcäryas had, if we open our hearts and offenselessly chant the holy names. We are fortunate to have lot of resources and opportunities now parikramas, hearing from saintly persons, residing in Dhäms, presence of beautiful Deities, scriptures, teachers and protection from all sides. Närada Muni s instructions are also for us to follow, so that we can rise above our material attachments and situate ourselves in spiritual conception. Çréla Romapäda Swämé mentioned that the remains of the king s palace in Satya Yuga were still present outside the temple. After the lecture we went and looked at these transcendental relics from many millions of years ago. The most striking aspect of the place was a large grove of Tulasé plants growing in the courtyard in big decorative pots. Çréla Romapäda Swämé mentioned that we had experienced nice kértan in Suvarna Vihar, and similarly the next place we were visiting was also very conducive for kértans. Some devotees mentioned that in the previous Mäyäpur Yäträ there had been many ecstatic kértans and Mahäräj had also participated. So we desired that Mahäräj may kindly lead us in dancing and chanting this year also. With eager hearts we boarded the buses to our next destination. Nåsiàhapalli Temple Çréla Romapäda Swämé absorbed in the kértan Lake where Lord Nåsiàhadev washed His hands Who knew that Kåñëa would fulfill the desire of devotees (to have kértan with Çréla Romapäda Swämé) so soon and at this very place? The kértan, led by Ashish Prabhu was the best we had experienced till then. Çréla Romapäda Swämé danced and chanted, enthusing all of us also to do the same. While dancing and chanting, Mahäräj held hands of a few devotees and pulled them along with his un-matched enthusiasm. His gestures left a strong loving impression in their hearts and minds. Çréla Romapäda Swämé danced from one end of the temple to the other in the midst of this exhilarating kértan. We remembered what Mahäräj had said earlier; that Navadvépa dhäm and especially this place 40

41 had a special quality of giving everybody the taste for dancing and chanting. We wanted to have more and more kértan but it was time for the lecture. Çréla Romapäda Swämé spoke as follows: We are at a very sacred place. Caitanya Mahäprabhu would come here everyday while performing nagar sankértan and would dance for hours, just like we chanted and danced. This is a very old, self manifested Deity of Lord Nåsiàhadev. This Deity was buried underground for many years. On lap of Lord Nåsiàhadev is Hiryanakashipu and the Deity s right foot is on top of Prahläda Mahäräj. Lord Nåsiàhadev came here to wash His hands after killing Hiranyakashipu. He then went back to His eternal abode leaving His Deity form to be worshipped by His devotees. The worship of the Deity gradually got neglected and the Deity was lost for many years. Then it was noticed that a cow delivered all her milk in a particular location here everyday. The owner followed the cow once to investigate who was stealing her milk. When he saw that the cow was strangely delivering her milk into the ground at a particular place, he notified others. The place was dug, Lord Nåsiàhadev was retrieved and the worship was resumed. Prayer and Meditation: The obstacles in our path of spiritual advancement are actually our own offenses. These obstacles are distractions and agitations caused from our previous misdeeds. These can be removed only through descending mercy. We should pray to the Lord that the impurities and offenses may be kindly removed from our heart so that the full fruit of love of Godhead can be achieved. The taste will not come if we hold on to our material conceptions. We should have eagerness, gratitude and greed in our heart to get what Caitanya Mahäprabhu came to give. We should strongly feel that I want that loving relationship with Kåñëa. At Koladvépa, Vasudeva had strong desire to see the form of Varahadev and the Lord showed His form. Suwarna Sen was able to see Lord in his dream because of the descending mercy through Närada Muni. Lord Nåsiàhadev Deity Branch intertwines like intestine Before Çréla Prabhupäda left for America, he prayed to Rüpa Goswämé. In the middle of the night he would weep near Çréla Rüpa Goswämé s samädhi, and would pray to get the strength to carry out the order of his spiritual master. He prayed to Advaita Äcärya in Shantipur for his mercy. Within the instruction is the power to execute it. Çréla Prabhupäda was very eager and felt himself completely dependent on others, so that very wonderful service can manifest. By medium of service, we realize our relationship with Kåñëa. Books written by Çréla Prabhupäda are his realizations and are genuine, so they have an impact on people s lives. Çréla Prabhupäda got these realizations by being eager to perform service and by being fully dependent on those who depend on Kåñëa. We all have some or the other service to perform and we should do it in the mood of the servant of the servant of the servant. While chanting Holy Names, we should do it from our heart. We must pray that our 41

42 heart gets cleansed of impurities so that our service to spiritual master and Kåñëa can be executed without interruption and according to His divine plan. Çréla Romapäda Swämé s words instilled a deep prayerful mood in us. We were experiencing a very contrasting mood now compared to the mood that prevailed when we first came here. When we reached here, we participated in the ecstatic kértan, jumping up and down, with arms raised. And now we were on our knees, praying with folded hands and eyes closed, while meditating deeply on the words of Çréla Romapäda Swämé. We begged Lord Nåsiàhadev to cleanse us from the core of our hearts, so that we can serve the Lord of our life and His representatives uncompromisingly, uninterruptedly, fully fixed and determined. We then had a detailed look at the Deity. We were now able to discern the details in the Deity especially the presence of the forms of Hiranyakashipu and Prahläda Mahäräj as Çréla Romapäda Swämé had described in the lecture. Hamsavahan Mahädev Mandir We boarded the buses to reach our next destination The Hamsavahan Mahädev Mandir. From outside, the temple looked like a thatched hut. It had a narrow entrance and only one person could pass through it at a time. Inside we saw a unique Deity of Lord Çiva. The Deity shows Lord Çiva sitting on a swan carrier (hamsa vahan). Later Mahäräj told us that this Deity would become very hot with intense desire to see Lord Caitanya. So a special arrangement was made to keep it cool. There was a pot hanging on top of the Deity from which water continuously drips onto the Deity. Initially the Deity was kept under water and brought out just 3 days in a year. But now the Deity is kept always inside the temple. Kértan and the presence of the devotees attracted lot of local children and ladies. 15 small children stood just behind Çréla Romapäda Swam. Mahäräja in turn gave them a hearty smile. Çréla Romapäda Swämé indicated to them to participate in chanting and dancing and at one point He personally got up and danced with them. The children s faces lit up in excitement. After the kértan, Mahäräja narrated the significance of the presiding Deity of the place. Outside the Hamsavahan Mahädev temple Çréla Romapäda Mahäräja engaging the children in sankértan. When Lord Çiva heard that Sukhdev Goswämé would be conducting a Gauräìga Bhagvat class, he desired to reach this place immediately from his abode. His eagerness far surpassed the speed of the bull, hence he called for Hamsa(swan) and came flying here. 42

43 The Deity shows Lord Çiva sitting on a swan carrier (hamsa vahan). This Deity becomes very hot with the intense desire to see Lord Caitanya. So a special arrangement has been made to keep it cool. The next place, Aamghat is wonderful to perform kértan. Infact the whole of Navadvépa dhäm is filled with attraction to perform and participate in kértan. Imagine, the kértans here were led by Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Caitanya Himself, with so many devotees, so many more kartäls, mådaìgäs and gongs. Sometimes, just by a glance of Lord Caitanya, children became so ecstatic that in madness they uprooted the trees and danced with the trees. Such was the potency and madness induced by Him in the kértans. We did not spend much time here and eagerly went to the next place in anticipation of another ecstatic kértan. Aamghat Aamghat Devotees dancing enthusiastically in the kértan at Aamghat This place was situated in the island Godrumadvépa, very near to the place called Surabhé Kunj that we had visited the day before. We entered a large open ground with many big mango trees. It was very cool and pleasant place. We all stood around Çréla Romapäda Swämé and heard his narration. The main points from his narration are as follows: 43

44 Once Caitanya Mahäprabhu found that the devotees in his sankértan party were hungry. He took the seed of a mango and planted it here. A tree laden with mango fruits grew out of the seed instantly. The mango fruit of this tree had no seed and no skin, but just pure juicy pulp. Devotees collected the mangoes from this tree and offered them to Kåñëa. They then picked one for themselves and passed the rest to others. These mangoes tasted like pure nectar. Devotees were satisfied with just one mango for the whole day. They would come here everyday, pluck one and eat. After one year, the mango tree disappeared mystically. Vajranäth Prabhu added that if we wanted to taste these mangoes now, we would have to go to the spiritual world, as they are not available anywhere in this world. Shortly thereafter, Çréla Romapäda Swämé left the place and went back to the temple. But we continued to feel his presence in the association of the other devotees. Ashish Prabhu and others started a jubilant kértan. Prabhujis and matajis formed separate circles and danced in great happiness and spiritual abandon. Many local villagers, ladies and children also participated in it. We jumped high, singing loudly Jaya Çréla Prabhupäda and Jaya Gurudeva We then returned back to the temple and looked forward to Çréla Romapäda Swämé s class in the GBC room at 6.00 pm. GBC Conference Room, 6.00 pm When we reached the GBC room, we realized that there was no electricity. It was pitch dark inside the room, so we waited outside in the balcony where there was some natural moonlight. We were lost in our own thoughts, when we came to know that Çréla Romapäda Swämé was already inside the room. When we went inside, some devotees arranged for torch lights. We understood that Mahäräj did not want to wait anymore for the electricity to come on; he wanted to start the reading from Caitanya-bhägavat right away. As there was no microphone, he motioned to all the audience to sit closer to him so that we could hear his voice. He then began to read, focusing a flash light onto the page he was reading. We were wonderstruck by Mahäräj s intense eagerness to read from Caitanya-bhägavat. It was a great arrangement by Lord Gauräìga so that we were able to sit so close to Çréla Romapäda Swämé. All we could see was the bright face of Mahäräj, holding Caitanya-bhägavat in one hand, and torchlight in the other hand that shed light on the book, and nectarean words flowing from his lotus mouth. This kind of ambience made everything very unique and special. We could observe the intense absorption of Mahäräj in the narration of Våndävana Däsa Öhäkura. The electricity went on and off a couple of times, but Mahäräj s reading continued uninterrupted. It was as if he was relishing these pastimes on a totally different level, such that the external disturbances of this world could not interrupt his absorption. Finally, when the electricity came on for good, Mahäräj s class continued for some more time. He appreciated Våndävana däsa Öhäkura immensely. He said: Çréla Kåñëadäsa Kaviräja Goswämé chose to write about those portions that Våndävana däsa Öhäkura did not write about. It was as if Çréla Kåñëadäsa Kaviräja Goswämé was chewing the remnants of Våndävana däsa Öhäkura. Våndävana däsa Öhäkura s style of writing churns transcendental emotions and does not bother to stimulate logic/reason to convince people. He was on the platform of spontaneous service and spontaneous glorification of Lord and His associates. The ambience, absorption of Çréla Romapäda Swämé and the nectarean descriptions from Caitanya-bhägavat deeply enthused us to hear more and more. But then Mahäräj decided to take a Question/Answer session. Many devotees asked very pertinent questions and Çréla Romapäda Swämé answered them very patiently, clearly and in detail. Two questions and their answers are briefly described below. Question 1: How to overcome ones pride and anarthas? Answer: One should always be on guard as the anarthas are waiting to plunder us. The more subtle the anarthas are, the more difficult it is to remove them. Spiritual advancement is possible due to mercy of Kåñëa only. The idea, ability, strength and result of the little endeavor we make in our spiritual lives are all because of the descending mercy. All the credit goes to the descending mercy and to those who represent Kåñëa. What we can do is, to shift ourselves into another identification of who we are. We should know that I am not the creator and I am not the doer, but I am a tiny spec wanting mercy and my position is of serving. In Gaudiya Sampradaya, there is tremendous emphasis on calling out and depending upon the mercy of those who are merciful and trying to serve honestly, enthusiastically, earnestly as we can. 44

45 Question 2: What is meant by opening our hearts? Answer: Opening our hearts means to receive the mercy and give it to others as well. It means to turn our attention away from rubbish things pride, position, recognition, and all other subtle contaminations and just focus on Kåñëa. Another meaning is to develop nice relations ships not only with Kåñëa but with His devotees also. Eagerly seek association of advanced devotees, develop friendly relationships with equals and assist less advanced devotees. We can open our heart in relation to the chanting of the Holy Names. We should leave aside all other types of chanting and allow Kåñëa to come into one s consciousness and meet Him through the sound of the Holy Names. The GBC room was on the top floor of the conch building and we could clearly hear various artiks being offered in the temple. When it was time for Dämodar artik, Çréla Romapäda Swämé announced that if any of us wanted to leave for the artik, we could do so. We noticed how Mahäräj was so sensitive, open and how he allowed for everyone s desires and free will. He also mentioned that if one really tuned in with each of the places we visited, we would be able to sense a distinct mood and ambience in every place. We remembered how we had ecstatic kértans at each place we went and heard strong instructions at HariHara Kñetra, Suvarna Vihar, Nåsiàhapalli, Hamsavahan, Aamghat and in the GBC Room. We absorbed ourselves in how the descending mercy was flowing into our lives through a gracious and pure representative, Çréla Romapäda Swämé. We could understand that our presence in the dhäm, beholding Çré Çré Panchatatva, Çré Çré Rädhä Mädhav and Çré Nåsiàhadev, visiting places of pastimes, hearing Caitanya Mahäprabhu s liläs, offering prayers, enjoying sumptuous prasädam, association, kértans, various services, darçan of Mahäräj and hearing his sound vibrations all these things came packed in this special gift called Çré Dhäm Mäyäpur Yäträ by Çréla Romapäda Swämé, wrapped fully by his mercy and tied with a beautiful ribbon of his love. It became very clear that mercy was available to us abundantly through this yäträ, and we just had to receive it with open hearts. 45

46 Day 5: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 In the morning we walked towards Goswämé Ghat to board our boats to Mämgächi. Traveling in boat has its own charm. We helped each other to board one of the three boats. As these boats started their engine, kértan spontaneously started in each of the boats. We were under the wide-open sky, exposed to soothing greenery and the Ganges water. Some of us noticed how the weeds came together and went apart with the current of the water. We also observed how the Ganges water was flowing in one direction, fully focused and unimpeded by any obstacles on the way. We prayed to her that our devotion towards Çré Guru and Çré Gauräìga may also similarly be resolute in purpose and fixed in intelligence. (Vyavasayatmika buddir ekeha kuru-nandana BG 2.41) We meditated on how Çréla Romapäda Swämé exemplified this verse and felt confident that by following his footsteps we could also attain such focused devotion. Some devotees had asked questions to Çréla Romapäda Swämé the previous day during Question/Answer session. Today morning he wrote answers in the slips and passed it on to the respective devotees. We found his diligent attention to every need of the devotees quite amazing! Mämgächi Boat ride to Mämgächi Walking through green dense forest From the distance we could appreciate the green dense forest. But as we landed, we were spellbound by the peace and splendor of the place. The whole area was shaded by huge banyan trees, whose wide branches formed natural archways over the mud roads. After a refreshing walk through these magnificent surroundings, we reached a small temple. At the entrance there was a Deity of Garuda, with big yellow wings spread out. The sun by now had become very strong but when Mahäräj started to speak, we easily got carried away into the pastime and forgot rest of the things. Home of Çré Vasudeva Dutta Çréla Romapäda Swämé appreciated this place a lot. When I visited this place in 1974, there was no construction here of bricks and there was no shed to sit under. But there was a very beautiful natural shade from numerous trees that covered this place. One can only imagine how much more beautiful this place might have been at the time of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura and Caitanya Mahäprabhu. It would have been fully covered by green trees so thick that one could not even see the sky. It is such a charm just walking through this forest. Çréla Romapäda Swämé pointed to a Bakul tree. The Bakul leaves have a small pointed tail. When Caitanya Mahäprabhu saw that this tree was dying, He embraced it and fresh beautiful leaves appeared on it. Since then it is called Siddha Bakul tree. It is worshipable, as it achieved perfection. This tree was residence of Säraìga Öhäkura, an unalloyed devotee of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Caitanya Mahäprabhu also had tremendous affection for him and visited him everyday by crossing this thick jungle. Caitanya Mahäprabhu requested him to preach 46

47 the Holy Names and accept disciples. Säraìga Öhäkura accepted this as Caitanya Mahäprabhu's order and promised that he would initiate the first person he met the next day. Next day while bathing in Ganga, he was hit by a dead body of a young man. Säraìga Öhäkura chanted Hare Kåñëa Mahamantra in his ear that brought him back to life. Säraìga Öhäkura initiated him and gave him the name Muräri. Muräri was so empowered that he would slap a sleeping tiger or call a python to chant Hare Kåñëa and they would do so. We got another glimpse of the potency of the Holy Name just by hearing this pastime. By chanting the Hare Kåñëa Mahamantra even a dead body can come back to life! So surely, if we chanted with more faith, we would be able to see marvelous results in our lives too. Altar Photo Tree that Lord Caitanya embraced On the altar there are the following three sets of Rädhä Kåñëa Deities: (1) Rädhä Gopénath Deities, that were personally worshipped by Säraìga Öhäkura. (2) Rädhä Govinda Deities, that were worshipped by Çivananda Sen and (3) Rädhä Madan Gopäla Deities, that were worshipped by Vasudeva Dutta. This is one of the 64 Gaudiya Math that Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura established. The Bhaktivedänta Charity Trust contributed to restore it to its present condition. An ISKCON devotee mataji made singhasan for the Deities here. Another devotee gifted the Deities of Jagannätha Baladeva and Subhadrä Deities to the Pujäré, who is from Orrisa. We ate the rasagullas that the Pujäré had prepared. They tasted very delicious and just melted in our mouths! We learnt from his example, how to welcome devotees with warmth and love. 47

48 Çréla Romapäda Swämé appreciated the devotion of the pujäré. The pujäré in this temple has been here since he was 8 years old. Now he is 80 years old. We could just imagine if we have to be at one place for such a long time doing just one service! Even though we came here unannounced, still he prepared some prasädam for us. The sacredness of the area was also evident from the fact that there were numerous Tulasé plants growing beautifully and jubilantly in the shade of the Bakul tree. There was a Gobar Gas plant running in the yard and it s gas was used for cooking. Temple of Çré Våndävan Däsa Öhäkura We then left this temple and walked for a little distance till we came to an area covered with trees. We learnt that these acres of land once belonged to Vasudeva Dutta. The next place, house of Våndävana Däsa Öhäkura was only few steps away. By listening to Caitanya Bhagvat, we had developed a deep regard for Våndävana Däsa Öhäkura and we entered his house with great reverence. Since it had a wide courtyard, we took our breakfast prasädam there. While Mahäräj s plate was being set up, he was reading from his notes and a book. He exemplified how we should not waste any moment and be always engaged in Lord s service. We all were already gladdened by the beauty and potency of this place, and our joy escalated further when Çréla Romapäda Swämé asked us jovially, Is everyone happy? Aren t you glad that you came here? He then said, I m glad that you all came here. His small gestures like these delighted us. We felt eager to hear from him, as soon he would be narrating the glories of Çré Våndävana däsa Öhäkura. Çréla Romapäda Swämé narrated: In Treta yuga, Lord Rämachandra and Sitadevé came here during Their exile. Lord Rämachandra said to Sitadevé, this place is dearer to Me than Ayodhya. I will incarnate as Lord Caitanya and will perform joyful pastimes of nama-sankértan and offer Kåñëa Prema to one and all. At the age of 24 I will take sanyasa, giving much pain to my associates. I would do this out of my special mercy towards them. I will let them experience vipralambha bhava (separation), which increases ecstasy and happiness of sambhoga (union) unlimitedly. Anticipation and happiness of meeting together is basis of separation. An associate of Caitanya Mahäprabhu named Savananda was a devotee of Lord Räma (like Muräri Gupta) and by divine arrangement he had darçan of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, where He disclosed Himself as Lord Räma. Çréla Narottama Däsa Öhäkura said, If a person can just accept in one's heart that the associates of Caitanya Mahäprabhu are eternally liberated souls, who exhibit various moods just to enhance the pastimes of Caitanya Mahäprabhu and to give us instructive lessons, then one s life will become perfect. Life of Våndävana däsa Öhäkura Due to enviousness towards the sankértan movement, the local people once spread a rumor that the King was sending his troupes to destroy all the houses in the area as the King was disturbed by the devotees doing sankértan. Çréväsa Öhäkura, who was the leader of the sankértan movement in that area was in deep anxiety for the devotees of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Caitanya Mahäprabhu came to Çréväsa Öhäkura in the ecstatic mood of a cow herd boy and said, I am He, I am He. Çréväsa, take the paraphernalia and worship Me. Why are you worried? I will personally go to the king and challenge him to induce others to chant. And when I induce even the lions/tigers to chant ecstatically, he will come to know of My power. To build your faith, bring Näräyaëé and I will induce ecstatic chanting in her. Çréväsa Öhäkura brought Näräyaëé to Mahäprabhu. Caitanya Mahäprabhu gave His mercy and Näräyaëé started rolling on the ground, leaping in the air and crying, completely mad in ecstasy while chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. Seeing this, Çréväsa Öhäkura became convinced of Caitanya Mahäprabhu's potency and identity and hence became fearless. Näräyaëé came here when she was pregnant with Våndävana däsa Öhäkura. Her husband had died. Many exalted associates of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu lived in this same area, so from his childhood Våndävana däsa Öhäkura heard extensively about the Lord from them. He developed deep devotion and affection for Caitanya Mahäprabhu and decided to take initiation from Him. But before he could reach the proper age for initiation Caitanya Mahäprabhu had disappeared from this world. Then Lord Nityänanda consoled his aching heart and later became his spiritual master. Våndävana däsa Öhäkura wrote Caitanya Mangala, which later was renamed as Caitanya Bhagwat. 48

49 Entrance to the house of Våndävana däsa Öhäkura Deities at the house of Våndävana däsa Öhäkura On the altar are the Deities of Çré Gaura and Çré Gadadhar. The Gadädhar Deity was installed by Puré Mahäräj. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura brought the Deity of Lord Caitanya on an elephant. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura knew how to do things in a style. He took the order of Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura of re-establishing temples, as his life and soul and fully cried out for the mercy of the previous äcäryas. One should similarly take the order of one s spiritual master as ones very life and fully depend on the descending mercy. While Çréla Romapäda Swämé mentioned this we could appreciate how his life perfectly exemplified this principle. He had taken the order and mission of His spiritual master as his life and soul. He is a perfect äcärya and in a very personal way instructs all of us. Our next place was Vidyanagar, Lord Caitanya's School. We felt great joy in traveling through this beautiful forest and appreciated its beauty more and more. It seemed to be completely cut off from the mundane world. Vidyanagar We boarded buses and arrived at the next place, Vidyanagar. Vidya means knowledge or learning, and nagar means city. So Vidyanagar means the city/place of learning. Much before the advent of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, the scriptures reveal that the Matsya incarnation of the Lord saved the Vedas and brought them here to this very place. We saw that Çréla Romapäda Swämé had already reached the place ahead of us and was absorbed in writing something in his notebook. Some of us could notice his unique way of writing. Like the pastime of the Govardhan Hill provided opportunity for the residents of Våndävana to have uninterrupted darçan of Kåñëa for 7 whole days, the yäträ similarly seemed like an opportunity for us to get everyday association of Çréla Romapäda Swämé. Çréla Romapäda Swämé narrated as follows: This place is in Ritudvépa. Ritu means season. Although there are 6 seasons, in this part of Navadvépa dhäm there is always a prominence of spring. Just as in Kåñëa Lila, Kåñëa used to go to meet Gopés after lunch and enjoy their company, similarly Caitanya Mahäprabhu would come here to perform nagar sankértan with the devotees and enjoy unlimited happiness. In this Vidyanagar Gaudiya Matha, the presiding Deities are those of Gaura-Nitäi. They are life size Deities made of Neem. They were worshipped by Vidyavachaspati. 49

50 Deities at Vidyanagar Mahäräja taking notes. The narration had just started when someone mentioned that the darçan of Sarvabhauma Bhattäcärya temple (another temple that was situated close-by) would close soon. So we got up, and rushed to this temple, taking the small path on the right side of the Matha. We walked through this small village and in a few minutes arrived at the temple/house of Sarvabhauma Bhattäcärya. We paid our obeisances to the Rädhä Kåñëa Deities there. A spontaneous kértan was started by Ashish Prabhu and all the devotees joined in, dancing for the pleasure of the Deities. We then retuned back to the Matha and sat in the blazing sun to hear from Çréla Romapäda Swämé. He narrated first about the extremely compassionate and charitable heart of Vasudeva Dutta. Çréla Romapäda Swämé spoke Vasudeva Dutta was very charitable and would give all his earnings in charity. He fully understood the merciful mood of Lord Caitanya. He desired that the sinful reactions of all the fallen souls be transferred to him so that they could be delivered. Saintly persons give their lives for others, but the mood of Vasudeva Dutta was very intense. Just because of the desire of such compassionate devotees, the Lord delivers and protects all his devotees from sinful reactions. Lord Caitanya was captured by Vasudeva Dutta s selflessness. Caitanya Mahäprabhu spoke so unlimitedly of his glories, that it seemed as if He was glorifying Vasudeva Dutta with thousands of mouths. Caitanya Mahäprabhu announced again and again, I have been purchased by Vasudeva Dutta and I am his property now. I am his, and he can sell Me in the market place at any cost. A similar example is of our founder äcärya, Çréla Prabhupäda. He was at a very sacred place of Rädhä Dämodara temple, near Rüpa Goswämé's kutir. Yet he left Våndävana, immensely risking his health and position as a sanyasi, just to fulfill instructions of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura and extend Kåñëa Consciousness to others. Kåñëa gives protection, mercy and realization of Himself to those who selflessly serve for the benefit of others. Prayer and Meditation: We do not have as much compassion as Vasudeva Dutta, and we should not imitate also. We have no qualification of ourselves to give Caitanya Mahäprabhu s mercy to others. But we can pray that somehow by the mercy of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Lord Nityänanda and Vasudeva Dutta we may become instruments in Their hands to relieve Their anxiety for the suffering souls. Let us pray that one drop of Their mercy and compassion may enter our heart, then another drop and then another, till our heart is filled with that same love and compassion that Çré Vasudeva Dutta exhibited. We should also imbibe the mood of selflessness and keep serving others. It takes a compassionate heart to receive and then give Lord Caitanya's gift to the people of this world. 50

51 Sarvabhauma Sarasvat Math Deities at the Math We went to house of Sarvabhauma Bhattäcärya and his brother Vidyavachaspati. Sarvabhauma Bhattäcärya was an incarnation of Brhaspaty, the priest of demigods. All the 64 types of learning manifested from here. Thousands of scholars came here to study. Caitanya Mahäprabhu would come here and defeat everyone in logic. Teachers became so scared of Him that they would run away if they saw Caitanya Mahäprabhu coming. Many years after Caitanya Mahäprabhu took sanyasa, He once came to Navadvépa dhäm. There are wonderful details of the emotions of the residents of Navadvépa dhäm when they heard about Caitanya Mahäprabhu s arrival. Caitanya Mahäprabhu came to Vidyavachaspati house secretly and told him not to tell anyone of His presence in Navadvépa dhäm as He would like to be in a quiet place. But somehow the word had already spread through the nine islands of Navadvépa like wild fire. All the residents were mad in intense eagerness to see the Lord of their lives. All the people came to bank of Ganges at once, and all of them were trying to board one boat to cross the river at the same time. The boat sank and they tried boarding another one in the same way. All at one time and in one boat! That boat also sank. All the boats sank one by one. Then all of them jumped into Ganges at once. The scene was that hardly any water could be seen as Ganges was covered with heads of thousands of people. In order to swim across the Ganges, some of them held clay pots upside down to their chest and few others held banana trunk to float. As they reached the other side of the river, the fields started filling with the residents madly enthusiastic to see Caitanya Mahäprabhu. All the residents, including offenders, non devotees, people whom Caitanya Mahäprabhu defeated/teased, devotees, everyone came to see Caitanya Mahäprabhu in great eagerness. But Caitanya Mahäprabhu was hiding inside Vidyavachaspati s house. Hundreds of people climbed up on the trees, sat at the end of the branches to take Caitanya Mahäprabhu's darçan and amazingly the branches did not break. They were calling the Lord to give His darçan just for a moment, but Caitanya Mahäprabhu chose to stay indoors. People then started to threaten Vidyavachaspati, that if he did not allow darçan of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, they would break his house. Caitanya Mahäprabhu finally came out with raised hands for a moment and then disappeared from their sight and from the house. People then accused Vidyavachaspati of hiding the Lord. But Caitanya Mahäprabhu had actually left. Vidyavachaspati revealed that Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu had gone to Kuliyä. People started screaming, Kuliyä!! Kuliyä!! Lets go to Kuliyä!! They ran across the fields and the same scene happened while crossing the Ganges. Meanwhile Caitanya Mahäprabhu had made His way to Madhudäsa s house and told him to keep His visit secret. Vidyavachaspati had also left for Kuliyä and somehow he reached earlier than all the people. Vidyavachaspati pleaded to the Lord, They are accusing me of being a cheater, and being a brähmaëa, I cannot take this. Please be merciful upon me and upon all others who have come to get your darçan. Caitanya Mahäprabhu mercifully came out with His arms raised (just like the Deity of Caitanya Mahäprabhu on the Pancha Tattva altar). With great joy, He encouraged everyone to chant. Çréla Romapäda Swämé pointed to a bent, curved tree. This tree is said to have been created by Caitanya Mahäprabhu to give shade to his students here. He had stuck a pencil in the ground and within one moment one beautiful tree came 51

52 out. It is said that these trees do not belong to any known species. For Caitanya Mahäprabhu such miracles were nothing. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He performs these liläs for His transcendental pleasure and for attracting us to remember Him and speak about Him. This tree was created by Caitanya Mahäprabhu to give shade to his students here. He stuck a pencil in the ground and within one moment one beautiful tree came out. It is said that this tree does not belong to any known species. This lilä of Caitanya Mahäprabhu coming here after taking sanyasa instilled great eagerness in people to have His darçan. It was similar to Gopés eagerness to have darçan of Kåñëa. Also, just like Gopés were not happy to see Kåñëa dressed in royal attire, similarly the people here were not happy to see Caitanya Mahäprabhu's shaven head and sanyasa robes. As the Gopés desired to see Kåñëa in His simple cowherd boy form, the residents of Navadvépa desired to see Caitanya Mahäprabhu as their Nimäi. So the happiness that they felt by seeing Him was actually mixed. Devotees who absorb themselves in these transcendental pastimes also experience these transcendental emotions. The narration was so powerful that we felt like we actually experienced the whole lilä ourselves. We prayed that we could also receive a drop of such an intense greed to have darçan of the Lord, as the residents of Navadvépa exhibited in this pastime. The next place was Champa Hati, market of Champak flowers. Champa Hati We learnt that this place got its name because in the earlier days, it was filled with lot of fragrant champak flowers. The flowers would be sold in the market place and hence it got the name Hati. This is the place where Jayadeva Goswämé resided and finished writing Geeta Govinda. The temple here had life size Deities of Çré Gaura Gadadhar. The temple walls were filled with pictures of the pastimes of Kåñëa and Balaräma. Çréla Romapäda Swämé narrated about the life of Jayadeva Goswämé as follows: Jayadeva Goswämé was born in an aristocratic family and was residing in Jagannätha Puré as a mendicant, fully devoted to Lord Kåñëa. A brähmaëa had a dream that his daughter, Padmavaté should be married to Jayadeva Goswämé. Jayadeva Goswämé also had a dream to accept Padmavaté as his wife. So they got married. Together, while they were on pilgrimage, they became very attracted to Navadvépa. They finally settled in Bharadwaj tila (near Caitanya Mahäprabhu's birth place) and Jayadeva Goswämé started composing Geeta Govinda as an offering to the Lord. A great king, Lakshman sen, got very attracted to Jayadeva Goswämé's Geeta Govinda. In order to come before Jayadeva Goswämé, he removed all his royal attire (like King Prataparudra), and wore simple petty cloth. He pleaded Jayadeva Goswämé to come and bless his kingdom with his association. Jayadeva Goswämé refused. He said, I do not wish to associate with any King. And now I have to leave this place immediately. Jayadeva Goswämé was testing the intensity of the King s desire. The king was devastated and begged saying, I will not disturb and 52

53 bother you again, kindly continue to live here. However as Jayadeva Goswämé was a brähmaëa, he had to fulfill what he had said earlier and hence decided to leave. The king humbly offered a place for him to stay here, at Champa Hati. Jayadeva Goswämé agreed and came here. Temple at Champa Hati Çré Çré Gaura-Gadädhar Once Jayadeva Goswämé was writing the pastime of Rädhäräëé s maan lilä. Once Rädhäräëé was angry with Kåñëa. Kåñëa tried to pacify Rädhäräëé in every possible way but could not appease Her. Finally Kåñëa placed His crown on Her feet. Jayadeva Goswämé thought, How can I write this about my worshipable Lord. In a disturbed state of mind he left to take bath. Meanwhile Kåñëa Himself came to finish the verse and confirmed that He would gladly place His crown at Rädhäräëé s feet. Padmavaté witnessed all this. Jayadeva Goswämé glorified her good fortune as she could have darçan of the Lord. Jayadeva Goswämé was regretting his own misfortune. He was once worshipping his Deities, Rädhä Mädhava when Caitanya Mahäprabhu manifested out of that Deity and instructed him to go to Jagannätha Puré to teach the message of Geeta Govinda. Caitanya Mahäprabhu made His appearance to Jayadeva Goswämé much before He actually appeared here. Jayadeva Goswämé went to Jagannätha Puré and started reciting Geeta Govinda at an eggplant field. Lord Jagannätha was so enchanted by his devotional recitation that He left the altar to hear Geeta Govinda. When Lord Jagannätha came back, a portion of his dhoti was missing. The pujäré saw it and asked Lord Jagannätha ji where He had gone. Lord Jagannätha told a priest that He went to hear Geeta Govinda. Since then priests at Jagannätha Puré recites Geeta Govinda for Jagannätha ji at Maìgala and Sandhya artik. Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Rädhä Mädhav also enjoyed hearing Geeta Govinda. One interesting pastime happened right here. A great devotee of the Lord named Samudra Sen had an intense desire to see Kåñëa. At that time, Bhima Sen was visiting this area to challenge the local king and make him accept the supremacy of Mahäräj Yudhisthir. Samudra Sen thought, If I fight with Bhima Sen who is a great devotee of the Lord and put him in great danger, then surely the Lord will come to protect him. This way I will get the darçan of my beloved Lord Kåñëa. Samudra Sen fought with Bhima Sen in great devotion to see the Lord. Bhima Sen was defeated badly and seeing this Lord Kåñëa appeared as desired by Samudra Sen. Lord Kåñëa was visible only to Samudra Sen. After seeing the Lord, Samudra Sen immediately dropped his weapons. Bhima Sen was astonished with the sudden change of events. Once Çrédhar Mahäräj came here and did an impromptu fund raising in order to renovate the temple and make new outfits for the Deities. Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura was told by Kåñëa Himself to reestablish the places of Caitanya Mahäprabhu s pastimes. This instruction was passed on to Çréla Prabhupäda and to us. 53

54 A Beautiful Scenery in Mayapur For the benefit of the world, everyone should come to this dhäm to get inspiration and feel this as the real home. When I landed in Mäyäpur this time and met Jananiväsas Prabhu, he said Welcome back home, Mahäräj. Caitanya Mahäprabhu has spent his first 24 years here. The Supreme personality of Godhead, Caitanya Mahäprabhu had come to all these places that we are visiting. We are very fortunate to be present here. Rest of the people who live here may not have the same appreciation. But we have come all the way from so many different and far off places just to spend time here. This is because of descending mercy and compassion of our founder äcärya, Çréla Prabhupäda. Otherwise we would not have known all these places. We are very fortunate. We should offer the same fortune to others in a simple and humble way, so that they can derive a great benefit in the same way. The pujäré desired to recite Geeta Govinda in our presence. Çréla Romapäda Swämé kindly accepted the request and we all relished hearing Geeta Govinda from him. We also felt very fortunate to hear what is very dear to Lord Jagannätha. Thank you Çréla Romapäda Swämé for making us so fortunate! We absorbed ourselves in the pastimes and blessings of Champa Hati and all other places we visited. On the way back, we shared with one another what we felt was most inspiring in our visit to that place. We pray that the beauty and the potency of this place may leave a strong imprint on our hearts, for eternity. 54

55 Day 6: Thursday, October 27, 2005 It was a very special day because we were going to Çré Ekacakrä dhäm, the residence of Çré Nityänandaram, the original spiritual master. This is said to be the most merciful of all merciful places. Being led by the representative of the most merciful Lord Nityänanda, Çréla Romapäda Swämé, we felt extremely fortunate and blessed. The previous evening Çréla Romapäda Swämé had mentioned to us repeatedly to be on time as we had to travel a long distance. The journey was estimated to take 5 hours from the Mäyäpur Chandrodaya mandir. Çréla Romapäda Swämé was at the departure spot 5 minutes earlier than us to make sure that we leave on time. Some of us were late due to one reason or the other. Many devotees were running hither and thither to gather everyone. Çréla Romapäda Swämé personally came to the devotees who were still standing outside and very patiently told them to board their buses immediately. We left the temple premises at 5.15 am. Devotees coming to Ekacakrä for first time listened to the glories of Ekacakrä from those who had previously visited. We stopped midway at a hotel for half-an-hour to freshen up, and honor prasädam. The elderly devotees took some rest. We felt very inspired by the foresight, expert thoughtfulness and service attitude of the organizers. Çré Ekacakrä Dhäm Ekacakrä is located about 165 km northwest of Mäyäpur. The beautiful landscapes on the way gave us a glimpse of the beautiful place we were about to see. On both sides of the road we saw endless rice plantations. As we reached Ekacakrä, we observed that the roads became narrower and were covered with husk. We entered into a very small village that was uncontaminated by any modern commercial life. Ekacakrä seemed to be just like how it might have been 500 or more years ago. The Entrance arch to Ekacakrä Dhäm Rare photo of Lord Nityänandaram s Deity at Ekacakrä Dhäm (Garbhavas) We paid our obeisances to the dhäm as we entered through an arch bearing the title Nityänanda s birth place ; we felt like we were entering a spiritual kingdom of our most loving spiritual forefather. We gathered at Çré Nityänanda Seva Mandir, an ISKCON temple in Çré Ekacakrä dhäm. The plan was to visit the places nearby and then come back to the ISKCON temple for kathä and prasädam. 55

56 Gaura-Nitäi in ISKCON at Ekacakrä Dhäm The ISKCON temple campus at Ekacakrä Dhäm As we were passing by this small village, we observed that there were about 10 cows and calves in each house and the walls were patched with cow dung to keep the interiors cool. After this cow-dung dries out, it is burnt and used as fuel for cooking. We observed how much Çréla Romapäda Swämé loved the cows. He fed husk to some of the cows, patted a few others and imitated their moaning. We walked to the birth-place temple of Lord Nityänanda, also called Garbhavasa. The entrance gate was closed for a long time. Çréla Romapäda Swämé was standing patiently, absolutely unaffected by the scorching heat, maintaining his eagerness to go inside. Mahäräj s presence empowered us to be tolerant and patient and induced His Grace Rati Prabhu to lead a wonderful kértan. Some devotees then took a sheet of cloth and held it over other devotees. Lord Nityänanda was increasing our longing to see Him. Photography and kértans were not allowed inside. Later on Çréla Romapäda Swämé kindly sent us a copy of photo of the Deities there. The temple was a small white structure, covered by long wide branches of big banyan trees. On one side was Lord Nityänanda s kund. In this kunda, the utensils and clothes of Nityänanda Prabhu would have been washed, and we felt fortunate to be there. The little white temple next to Nitäi Kund is the exact spot where Lord Nityänanda was born. We felt immensely favored to be able to behold the Deity and be physically present at His birthplace. In the center of the main altar of the temple is a Deity of Lord Nityänanda. To His left is Lord Caitanya. On Nityänanda s right is Advaita Äcärya. Mahäräja feeding a Cow ISKCON Goshala in Ekacakrä Dhäm 56

57 Samadhi of the umbilical chord of Lord Nityänanda Place where the Pandavas stayed with mother Kunti From there we moved to the Samädhi of the umbilical cord of Lord Nityänanda. By astrological calculation, it was ascertained that little Nitäi was no ordinary child and hence this Samädhi was made. There we were amazed to see two trees intertwined with each other. Later Vajranäth Prabhu told that they were Kåñëa and Balaräma. Around 100 meters from there we saw a group of Keli-Kadamba trees. The Pandava s lived here with their mother when they were exiled to the forest. One the way we saw very beautiful Deities of Gaura Nitäi and Jagannätha Baladeva Subhadrä in a shop and got attracted to take Them with us. After visiting all the places of pastimes, we returned to the ISKCON temple and went to the open terrace on the top floor. There was a nice tent to provide shade and a red carpet below. From the top, we got a magnificent view of the greenery and beauty of Ekacakrä dhäm. We were surrounded by green rice fields, about mud huts and simple dwellings of the local residents and the domes of various temples. The landscape was dotted by cream-colored cows and calves, and a few other animals. His Grace Vedänta Caitanya Prabhuji led an enthralling kértan, singing the bhajan Nitäi pada kamala. Microphones, cameras and recorders were all set up and it was time to hear marvelous pastimes of Lord Nityänanda from the lotus mouth of Çréla Romapäda Swämé. Beautiful Deities of Gaura Nitäi and Jagannätha Baladeva Subhadrä, sold in a shop Çréla Romapäda Swämé spoke - By the great mercy of the most merciful Lord Nityänanda, we are here at Ekacakrä Dhäm. This is the most sacred place of Lord Nityänanda s pastimes and appearance. This whole area is Ekacakrä-gräma. There are unlimited pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Nityänanda, and it is impossible for even Lord 57

58 Ananta to describe them adequately with thousands of mouths. We will try to describe a few of the wonderful pastimes Lord Nityänanda performed here. Bankim Raya temple Deities worshipped by Häòäi Paìòit First, we went to visit Bankim Raya temple. Lord Nityänanda found a very large Deity of Kåñëa called Bankim Raya, while He was taking bath in Yamunä. He worshipped this Deity later. On Bankim Räya s right side is a Deity of Jähnavä an expansion of Revati, and on His left side is Çrématé Rädhäräëé. On another throne within the temple are the Deities of Muralédhara and Rädhä-Mädhava. The place was not well lit but on special request the Pujäré brought light-blue Deity of Muralidhar that was given by a sannyasi to Padmavaté when Lord Nityänanda was leaving Ekacakrä forever. The line of descendants from the son of Virabhadra (son of Jähnavämätä and Lord Nityänanda) are worshipping the Deities. Muneshwara Mahädev temple Birthplace of Lord Nityänanda Then we took darçan of the form of Lord Çiva as Muneshwara Mahädev, and Jagannätha Baladeva Subhadrä Deities that were worshipped by Häòäi Paìòit, father of Lord Nityänanda. Then we walked back, crossed the main road and went to Garbhavas the Yogapith or birth place of Lord Nityänanda. There were Deities of Lord Nityänanda, Advaita Äcärya and Lord Caitanya. In another altar, there was one of the three deities of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu worshipped by Narahari Sarkar. The other two Deities of Narahari Sarkar are at Çrékhanda and at Katwä. The actual place of Garbhavasa looked much different than it does now. Yamunä also appeared here, as Kadmba kandi, to enhance the childhood pastimes of Lord Nityänanda. This area was once thick with Kadamba trees. Lord Nityänanda and his friends would enact Kåñëa liläs here all day long. We also had darçan of the Çadbhuja form of Lord Caitanya. 58

59 Kadamba Kandi Deities at Kadamba Kandi (Çadbhuja form of Lord Caitanya) s Right across from the temple is a very old tree vishram tal, the place where a sanyasi along with Lord Nityänanda rested. It is called mala tala, because Häòäi Pandit would place his mala on a tree here. Going down the road is Chandan Sarowar. Padmavaté would smear sandalwood paste on Nitäi s body to reduce the body heat and in the evening she would bathe Him in this sarowar. Gradually the sarowar became chandan colored. Going down further off to the right is a grove of trees that has ruins of an old house. The Pandavas resided here for some time. Further down on the left is Indra kund and a samädhi of Lord Nityänanda s umbilical cord. By astrological calculations people could understand the divinity of Nitäichand and they made samädhi of His umbilical cord. Little further there was a tree bending over a kund called Jahnu kund. Once Jahnu rsi wanted to take bath in sacred waters of the Himalayas, when Lord Nityänanda indicated, There is no need to go so far, I will bring the sacred waters here. That is how this kund was formed. Chandan Sarovar View of Ekacakrä Dhäm from the top When Lord Nityänanda left this earth having completed His pastimes, Jähnavä-mätä (the consort of Lord Nityänanda) was accepted as the chief äcärya by all the Vaiñìavas including Çrénivas Äcärya, Narottama däsa Öhäkura and the six Goswämés. Jähnavä-mätä was in the same mood as Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. But she always exhibited her position as the Supreme mother of all living entities rather than that of an äcärya. She was 59

60 very compassionate on the fallen souls. Once she came here with a large entourage of perfected souls like Narottama däsa Öhäkura, Virabhadra, Ramchandra Kaviräja and many others to pay respects to the place where Lord Nityänanda took birth and performed His childhood pastimes. As her entourage was coming down the road, they saw from a distance a very old brähmaëa. He was leaning on his cane and walking very slowly on the shaded path of pipali trees. They felt overwhelmed with emotion in his presence and offered their respects to his feet. They asked: Are we soon to reach Ekacakrä? Old brähmaëa replied, This is Ekacakrä, you have reached here. They asked, Where are the people, buildings and bustling activities of Ekacakrä dhäm? The brähmaëa looked at the ground, shook his head and very emotionally said, Everyone is gone! She asked, Would you be so kind to give us description of Ekacakrä? The brähmaëa said, Very well. Let s go and sit under a tree. Then he began describing. The history of Ekacakrä is very old and we do not know when it began. Even before Lord Nityänanda descended here, this was a great place. The Pandavas and Queen Kunti came here 5000 years ago after escaping from the fire in the house of lac and stayed here in hiding as simple brähmaëas. For centuries this place of Ekacakrä was a flourishing center for many brähmaëas as it was the seat of high learning and the place where all the four varnas were represented in complete harmony. Indeed this was a very nice place for Lord Nityänanda to appear. When astrological charts of Lord Nityänanda were shown to many astrologers, they all agreed that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has appeared in Ekacakrä. But there was a sad component also, which they did not reveal. Once there was a brähmaëa named Ojha (a title for one who is very learned and expert in describing the glories of the Personality of Godhead). He worshipped Murashwar Mahädev Deities. He had a number of children, but all of them died soon after taking birth. In course of time, a son was born whom he named Haro. From the time of birth, Haro showed symptoms of being a great devotee. He was naturally attracted to Deity worship, became an expert in reciting shlokas etc. He came to be known as Häòäi Paìòit. He was married to Padmavaté. As he himself was an astrologer, he calculated that a great son would be born of him but that the son would die in a tragic way. Häòäi Paëòita and Padmavaté were most respected brähmaëas in whole Ekacakrä for their learning and qualities. Häòäi Paìòit was gentle, mild, kind, and compassionate. He always gave happiness to others just by his presence. He was the delight of Ekacakrä. It was around 1474 AD (12 years before Lord Caitanya appeared) that a son was born in Garbhavas under shower of flowers from celestial beings, and everyone understood that this was a great personality. Two names were given to the child - Nityänanda and Ram (so Nityänandaram). Häòäi Paëòita and Padmavaté gave Him a nick name, Nitäi. After His birth, everyone noticed auspiciousness around them. Rainfall and seasons were regular, diseases disappeared, harvest was bountiful and all the signs of good fortune manifested in Ekacakrä. He was the center of attraction for the hearts of the people of Ekacakrä and their attention was focused on Nitäi. Nitäi even as a child naturally showed His attraction for the Personality of Godhead. He was fixed in pastimes of Kåñëa in Våndävana. With his boy friends from neighborhood, they would enact the pastimes of Kåñëa all day long. These pastimes are very nicely described in Caitanya Bhagvat. Childhood pastimes of Lord Nityänanda and His friends Lord Nityänanda s childhood activities included playfully enacting with his friends, pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nitäi was the author, the director, the choreographer, the costume designer and thus the complete incharge of these dramas. Once they went to one of the kunds as if they were offering prayers to Viñëu on the shore of the milk ocean. One boy became Garbhodakshayi Viñëu and said, Soon I will make appearance. Tell the demigods to descend. To enact the appearance of Kåñëa, one boy with 4 arms appeared in darkness to Vasudeva and Devaké and then a small child was taken on head across the kund. Ananta sesa was made with branches of the trees and in this way the whole lilä was enacted. They would enact the killing of various demons. One boy became Aghasura. He opened his arms as Aghasura opened his mouth. Another boy (Kåñëa) walked in it and killed the demon. In another pastime, they shook Tala trees. Lord Nityänanda whirled one small boy around and thus enacted the killing of Dhenukasura. Then they went to store-rooms of the residents and stole butter. The subduing of the Käliya took place at Indra kund. Children fell to ground dead and with glance of Lord Nityänanda they would come back to life. Lord Nityänanda tied Kadamba tree branches, climbed the tree and then jumped on the branches He had tied. Nitäi also enacted the pastimes of Vamana. He took two steps through a small imitation 60

61 universe and place His third foot on Bali Mahäräj. In Lord Nåsiàhadev s pastimes, Lord Nityänanda took the role of Lord Nåsiàhadev and a little boy was made Prahläda Mahäräj. He loved Lord Räma s liläs too. Very beautifully, they enacted the big battle between Lakshmana and Indrajeet, where Lakshmana (Lord Nityänanda) was hit by the Shakti-shila weapon and fell to the ground posing lifeless. There was no sign of breathing. All children started crying and all the villagers gathered. Everyone panicked and wailed. One boy playing the role of Hanuman remembered that he was supposed to bring a herb from a mountain. He went across a lake, had a big fight with a demon and brought back a small mountain. As soon as the herb was placed near His nose, Lord Nityänanda opened His lotus eyes. These liläs were not just children s play but everyone experienced the same transcendental emotions. Imagine yourselves playing with Nitäi. The life of Ekacakrä was the little Nitäi and the boys would play with Him all day long. They did not care for eating and the mothers too did not care for feeding them as the boys were extremely joyful. They did not want to leave Nitäi s side even for a moment. The residents of Ekacakrä also were experiencing transcendental ecstasy of Kåñëa lilä through Lord Nityänanda and their children. They too felt the same emotions as the Vrajaväsés. The residents of Ekacakrä were very surprised how Nitäi knew all these pastimes, which they had not recited before. Lord Nityänanda once replied, Don t you know? These are My pastimes!! By Yogamäyä potency they were not able to understand what He was saying. Padmavaté loved Nitäi extremely and would not let Him out of her sight. Häòäi Paìòit would take Nitäi to the marketplace to buy Him various things. He would take Him to the fields to show the growing of various crops. The whole of Ekacakrä was completely absorbed in Lord Nityänanda. During the narrations, Mahäräja would take us deeply into the pastimes by his gestures and facial expressions. He would demonstrate grave and jovial emotions in the lilä by altering the tone of his voice in a variety of ways. He would gesture with his arms, hands and fingers to indicate a point. This way he totally involved himself and us in the mood of the dhäm and the pastimes. Then, a very saddening event took place for the residents of Ekacakrä. One day a sanyasi came to Ekacakrä and went to Häòäi Paëòita. Häòäi Paëòita was very happy to receive the sanyasi. He offered him water, bath, prasädam and discussed Kåñëa Katha all night long with intense happiness. In the morning when sanyasi asked for permission to leave, Häòäi Paëòita asked if he could be of any service or if could give him anything. The sanyasi said, I am getting old now and it is becoming difficult for me to move around to make practical arrangements as I visit places of pilgrimage. I would like your son to assist me. Häòäi Paëòita was devastated but he had already given his word. A respectable personality under all circumstances keep his word. Häòäi Paëòita cried and begged and pleaded, He is very young, just 12 yrs old and does not know practically to do anything. He is our only son. We are dependent on Him for each and every thing. Can we make another arrangement for you? The sannyasi replied, No, I want your son. Padmavaté was devastated when she heard this proposal. She personally went to plead her heart, Take my life but don t take Nitäi away. I have lost so many children and He is the only child remaining. Please do not take Him. You are a sanyasi, you are 61

62 independent, renounced and detached, but we are householders, and all we have is our son. She was weeping so piteously that it could easily break the heart of any sanyasi. The sanyasi smiled and pulled out his Muralidhar Deity and said, Whenever you wish to see your son, you will see your son in this Deity. Padmavaté looked at the Deity and she saw her son. In a moment the sanyasi was gone with Nitäi. Her heart completely broke and her life became aimless. She started crying aloud and everyone came to inquire what had happened. Somehow calming herself she said piteously, Nitäi has gone from Ekacakrä. He left with a sanyasi. Everyone wailed aloud, No. Let us stop them. You look this way, you look that way. We must find him and stop him. He can take my son instead. What does Nitäi know? My son is older and he does things. It is better that he take my son but leave Nitäi. But, they could not find the sanyasi. The whole of Ekacakrä was literally ruined. Häòäi Paëòita and Padmavaté could not speak, eat and sleep. Day and night, they simply wept incessant tears. They became mad and delirious. In this state of madness Häòäi Paëòita would call, Nitäi, lets go to the market and I will buy you something. Nitäi, its time to milk the cows, please come. It is time for your food. Nitäi Nitäi Nitäi! And he would start crying again. After some time Häòäi Paëòita and Padmavaté just gave up their lives. All the residents of Ekacakrä also could not tolerate to remain in the place where they had seen their beloved Nitäi perform His heart capturing pastimes. One by one they left this place, and it became like a ghost town, from the flourishing and warm place that it was once. Gradually it has deteriorated into nothing, which we see now. Lord Nityänanda appeared for a greater purpose---to deliver love of God as the servant of His eternal master Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Lord Nityänanda was the elder brother but His mood was that of service towards Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Had He stayed here in Ekacakrä, this greater purpose would not have been accomplished. He created this lilä on the strength of the brähmaëaical principles of His father especially the principle of always keeping one s word. There are similar examples in our scriptures: Lord Kapiladev left his mother Devahuti, Kardama Muni left Devahuti for higher purpose, Sukhdev Goswämé left Vedavyasa in order to travel and speak Çrémad Bhägavatam to Mahäräja Parikshit, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu went away from Çacé Mata, Viñëu Priya, Kolavechä Çrédhar, Çréväsa Öhäkura, Advaita Äcärya, Shukla brahmacari and all the loving devotees He was tightly bound with just to spread His message far and wide etc. After spending 12 years at Ekacakrä, Lord Nityänanda left on a pilgrimage to different parts of India with that sanyasi. This way He traveled for 20 years. At Pandrapur He met Lakshmipati Tirtha who became His spiritual master. Lord Balaräma appeared in Lakshmipati Tirtha s dream and said, Very soon you will meet a mendicant brähmaëa, wearing blue turban and garments and I would like you to initiate Him with this mantra. This way Lord Balaräma initiated him with a mantra. Next day these two perfectly realized souls, Lakshmipati Tirtha and Lord Nityänanda met and enjoyed each others transcendental association. Lord Nityänanda prostrated Himself before Lakshmipati Tirtha and requested Lakshmipati Tirtha for initiation. Lakshmipati Tirtha understood and initiated Him with the mantra he heard in his dream. Lord Balaräma again appeared in Lakshmipati Tirtha s dream, and then disappeared and Lord Nityänanda appeared wearing the same garland and ornaments. Lakshmipati Tirtha understood that on the order of the Lord, he has accepted the Lord Himself as his disciple. Lord Nityänanda continued His travel and came to the town of Mädhavendra Puré (a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha). Mädhavendra Puré would recite a verse again and again, and delve deeper and deeper into its meaning. He would constantly cry in a mood similar to the mood of separation of the Gopés from Kåñëa. One of his disciples criticized him for this. Mädhavendra Puré told him, I do not want to see your face again. Another disciple of Mädhavendra Puré, Ishwara Puré, just remained in the mood of being a humble servant of his spiritual master. Mädhavendra Puré blessed him that he too be filled with this mood of ecstatic love. When Lord Nityänanda and Mädhavendra Puré met, it was an explosion of spontaneous ecstatic love. Mädhavendra Puré said about Lord Nityänanda, One will not find anyone comparable to His intensity, both in quantity and quality of love of God. Just by seeing Him one can be filled with ecstatic of love of God. He is very merciful as He freely distributes love of God to everyone. Lord Nityänanda spent considerable time in Våndävana, and lived at Vishrama ghat in Çréngara vat. He roamed in the 12 forests of Våndävana like a transcendental mad man. Although a grown man, He would behave like a small cowherd boy. He would go to places of the pastimes of Kåñëa and would cry aloud and roll on the ground. 62

63 All the while He was waiting for Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu to begin His sankértan pastimes so that He could then go to Navadvépa dhäm. Soon the breaking of the drum pastime took place, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu met Chand Kazi and public chanting of Holy Name started. At the age of 32, Lord Nityänanda met Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu at the home of Nandanäcärya. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu ordered Lord Nityänanda and Haridäsa Öhäkura to induce others to chant the Holy Name. He became a mad man on receiving this order. After a while, Haridäsa Öhäkura transcendentally complained to Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Why did you send me with a mad man? He is an avadhuta. He dives into a pond filled with crocodiles, slap them and order them to chant Hare Kåñëa. The brähmaëa then told Jähnavä-mätä, Everyone abandoned this place except for a few people like me. We continue to live here, hoping against hope that one day Lord Nityänanda will return. I move from place to place where Lord Nityänanda performed His pastimes, and recall His wonderful liläs and loving exchanges with His devotees. The brähmaëa s voice became choked with emotions. He continued, I can take birth in Ekacakrä again and again so that I take darçan of my Lord and my master, Lord Nityänanda He fell to the ground, moistening it with his tears. Jähnavä-mätä and her party also became overwhelmed with the same emotion. Everyone was silent until the brähmaëa regained his composure and said, Let me take you to the house of Häòäi Paëòita. Very slowly he walked down the path, turned into the courtyard and gestured with his cane and described, This is the house of Häòäi Paëòita. Due to neglect over all these years, it has become completely deteriorated. The whole house is in ruins. He looked at them and he looked at the house and tried to speak something further but he lost his control. His emotions just overwhelmed him and he turned around and walked out slowly from the house. Respecting the mood of the brähmaëa, the party did not interfere. Jähnavämätä s purpose to come to the house of Lord Nityänanda had been fulfilled. She went in through the broken door and was choked up with emotions. She thought about Häòäi Paëòita and Padmavaté, and regretted that she never got a chance to meet her mother-in-law and father-in-law. She sat in one corner and in course of time went off to sleep. In a dream, she saw transcendental exchanges between Padmavaté, Häòäi Paëòita and Lord Nityänanda in His youth. When the dream broke and she woke up, she had two opposite emotions a great joy to see them and a great disappointment that she did not have their personal association and service. Again she fell asleep and saw Lord Nityänanda and His sister Vasudhä, in regal attire of a king and a queen. They were smiling, talking and emanating transcendental happiness. Jähnavä-mätä woke up and told that it was time to leave. As they were walking out, they saw one drunkard in a wild stupor. Others were cautioned but Jähnavä-mätä spoke to him very kindly and softly, and preached to him. The drunkard was moved by her compassion. He fell at her lotus feet, promised to take up chanting of the Holy Name and rectify his condition. Mädhavendra Puré glorified Lord Nityänanda by saying, Only if one associates with Lord Nityänanda, the most merciful personality, will one become free from all sinful reactions and be elevated to the position of carrying love and attraction for Kåñëa. Such a person will possess devotional service to Kåñëa eternally. We are trying to associate and honor Lord Nityänanda by coming here to the places of His pastimes and His birth. We can very sincerely offer our prayers in this most merciful of all the sacred places, that Lord Nityänanda kindly give us access to Lord Caitanya, who in turn gives us access to Kåñëa in Våndävana. We can pray for the mercy of Lord Nityänanda to come into our lives. By this we can assist Him in His service to spread Kåñëa Consciousness to all others. With loud chanting of Çré Nityänandaram ki jai, Çré Ekacakrä dhäm ki jai, Çré Çré Gaura Nitäi ki jai, Gaur premanandae, hari hari bol, the kathä ended. We observed that even after 5 hours of journey Çréla Romapäda Swämé grew fresher and fresher as he described more and more about Lord Nityänanda. He totally embodied the mood of the pastimes which came out in his animated narration. We all felt carried away in the same mood. Listening to the splendid pastimes of Lord Nityänanda had made a deep impression on us. One devotee remarked that the lecture was not philosophical but fun-filled and very mellifluous. A devotee felt that the peace and tranquility of Ekacakrä had a calming effect on the inner dialogue of one s mind. It seemed like time had no meaning in Ekacakrä. As the whole experiencing of being in Ekacakrä was filling our hearts, we were invited for yet another unforgettable experience prasädam! By the mercy of Lord Nityänanda, we were 63

64 served very sumptuous prasädam prepared by the devotees there. Before leaving, we once again took darçan of the Deities at Çré Nityänanda Seva mandir. Although it was now time for us to go back, hardly any one of us wanted to leave. Out of nowhere, so many children gathered around various devotees and asked if they could give them some pens, fruits, etc. They were very satisfied and joyful on receiving something. The organizing team left Ekacakrä very late as they had to wind up so many things before leaving. But they took the opportunity to participate in an enchanting kértan led by His Grace Ashish Prabhu for 1 ½ hours. It is said that our love for Kåñëa is churned when we hear the pastimes of the Lord. We realized some part of this principle, when on our arrival back in the temple, we found ourselves gazing at the Deity of Lord Nityänanda (and the Pancha Tattva) with more love. From a material perspective, we spent 5 hours going and 5 hours coming back from Ekacakrä but from a spiritual perspective, it had been such an exceptional day! And nobody could ascertain the transcendental value of the moments we spent in Ekacakrä in the association of Vaiñìavas. 64

65 Day 7: Friday, October 28, 2005 Ambikä-kälanä Our journey to Ambikä-kälanä was partly by road and then partly by boat. The buses brought us to the edge of the river, from where we were to take a boat to get to the other side of Ganges. We tasted the flavor of Ambikä-kälanä in the boat itself. All the boats leading to Ambikä-kälanä were quickly filling with people, cycle rickshaws, 2 wheeler motor vehicles etc. Our organizers urged us to get onto one of these boats. We sat in the boat alongside the local residents of the Dhäm. Many of the devotees just stood in the boats as there was no place to sit. Most of these boats were equipped with crude diesel engines that emitted much noise and a black smoke. But we were not bothered by it. The wide cool expanse of the Ganges all around, was a feast to the eyes and gave us a feeling of deep inner serenity. As we got off the boats at Ambikä-kälanä, we saw that this was a large town. It was bustling with automobiles and people from all walks of life. Our parikrama party walked for a while on concrete road carefully avoiding the small two wheelers and rickshaws. Many elderly devotees decided to hire rickshaws for commute. This small town seemed to have all the blessings and the problems of a modern day town in India, struggling to adapt to modern mechanistic life. Yet we were going there to discover an ageless eternal treasure, in the form of the transcendental places that it was home to. Ambikä-kälanä had been the home to 3 exalted and intimate associates of Lord Caitanya Gauridäsa Pandit, Süryadäsa Sarakhela and Nakul Bramachari. And Lord Caitanya visited Ambikä-kälanä many times, coming exactly this very route, first on a boat and then by walk through these very streets to visit His dear associates. This thought made us realize that this place is so sacred and transcendental, and eternal. We prayed that we may be in the proper consciousness so that we can enter deeper into the transcendental nature of this Holy place. Lord Caitanya went to Ambikä-kälanä regularly in order to meet Gauridäsa Pandit and the other devotees who lived there. Our parikrama party took the same routeto Ambikäkälanä that Lord Caitanya must have taken many times. Gauridäsa Pandit s House The cooing of pigeons greeted us as we entered Gauridäsa Pandit s house. We entered an open courtyard with a large pillared hall in the middle. In front of this hall was the separate structure of the main temple. The actual floor of the temple is several feet high from the ground, such that if one stood in front of the temple, the lotus feet of the Deities in the altar would be at one s eye level. 5 big rooms opened to the front, in which 5 different sets of Deities resided. The doors of these 5 altars were kept mostly closed and were opened only intermittently by the pujäré. We learnt the reason for this a little later from Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja. The Deities in the middle temple room were Gaura Nitäi, Gauridäsa Pandit s personal Deities. The sheer size of the Deities left us all in amazement. They were larger than life. They had large eyes. They seemed to be smiling in joy and amusement, and their hands were outstretched. Many of the devotees stood for a long time before the altar, so that when the curtains opened briefly, they could catch a glimpse of Their enchanting forms. To our left, the next sets of Deities were that of Jagannätha Baladeva and Subhadrä. The last room to our extreme left contained the Deities of Sita, Ram, Laxman and Hanuman. 65

66 The pujäré also showed us an oar that Lord Caitanya had personally used once to row the boat, when He came here. The pujäré personally took Çréla Romapäda Swämé and some devotees up onto the temple platform and showed them the oar from up close. It was in a glass case. Along with it was a personal copy of Lord Caitanya s Bhagavad-Gita wrapped in a red cloth. As we went close, we saw some script written in Bengali, said to be written by the Lord Himself. We then heard the story of Gauridäsa Pandit s amazing Deities (picture in next page) from Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja, including the detail of how they manifested in Ambikä-kälanä. For the residents of Navadvépa, it was great pain to see Lord Caitanya take sannyasa, as that meant they may never see Him again. Lord Caitanya disclosed His plan to take sannyasa to only 5 of His most confidential devotees. Gauridäsa Pandit was one of them. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu came by to the same ghat we came to today, and then came here to see His very confidential devotee, Gauridäsa Pandit. Please consider how dear and intimate was their relationship. There is an oar that Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu personally used to row His boat. On coming to this house, Lord Caitanya told Gauridäsa Pandit I want you to know that I am taking sannyasa. Please give Me your blessings. Gauridäsa Pandit was thunderstruck. He broke down and began to cry. He said How can You leave me? You are my life and soul. There is nothing in my life but You. How can You do this? Why don t You just kill me now instead of being so cruel to me! Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu was very moved by Gauridäsa Pandit s love and devotion. He manifested the Gaura Nitäi Deities that we now see on the altar. He then told Gauridäsa Pandit, When you feel separation from Me, you can worship these Deities. Understand that these Deities are nondifferent from Me. This was the first time that the Deity form of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda appeared. Gauridäsa Pandit replied, A Deity form of You and You are not the same. If indeed the Deities are non-different from You, then They may go and You kindly stay. Lord Caitanya said, Very well. Then Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda took the position of the Deities and the Deities started walking out. Seeing this, Gauridäsa Pandit stopped the Deities and said, No No. Please don t leave. Hearing this, the Deities returned and Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda started leaving. Gauridäsa Pandit could not bear the thought of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda leaving. So, he stopped Them and pleaded not to leave. Hearing this Their Lordships again returned to the position of the Deities and the Deities started walking out. This way, the pastime continued again and again, and finally Gauridäsa Pandit realized that these Deities were non-different from the Lord. Gauridäsa Pandit worshipped these Deities like he was personally worshipping the Lord. Prayer and Meditation Sometimes we may also have doubts Did the Deities really get off the altar and walk by Themselves? etc. This lilä is to help us understand that those doubts should be thrown away. We are hearing these liläs from the eternal associates of the Lord. Kåñëadäsa Kaviräja Goswämé is a great scholar, and is accepted by Våndävan däsa Öhäkura as Veda Vyasa himself. Will he write something that s not true? How does one go from doubting to not doubting? The answer: by descending mercy. Like coming to the place where these pastimes took place. The potency is there. The mercy is there. We have to open our hearts to descending mercy. We have to be eager to receive that mercy. Just as Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu was so merciful upon all these devotees, somehow pray that He may bestow a drop of that mercy upon us too; so that in our hearts too the same sincerity and eagerness may awaken. The conviction that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is non-different from His Deity form, may enter into our hearts as well. We cannot imitate great personalities, but according to our capacity we can have faith in them. Whatever service the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives us, we must render that service with eagerness so that we may receive descending mercy. The place of Ambikä-kälanä itself is so simple, but the lilä is so high. Then Çréla Romapäda Swämé remarked that amongst all the Gaura Nitäi Deities, these Deities were very very special. He asked us to take a picture in our hearts. 66

67 Mahäräja s words uplifted our thoughts greatly. By the power of his words, we felt humble and eager for the mercy. We prayed as he instructed us to pray, and holding onto his instructions we set out for our next destination in Ambikäkälanä. Gaura Nitäi Deities Süryadäsa at the House of Süryadäsa Sarakhela s Süryadäsa Sarakhela s House The courtyard of the home of Süryadäsa Sarakhela. The huge Tulasé plant grows right in front of the temple hall. Deities of Süryadäsa Sarakhela and his two exalted daughters Jähnavä devé and Vasudhä devé Situated very close to Gauridäsa Pandit s temple, is another most sacred place the house of Süryadäsa Sarakhela. Süryadäsa Sarakhela is the father of Jähnavä devé and Vasudhä devé, the eternal consorts of Lord Nityänanda. This place is where Jähnavä devé and Vasudhä devé lived with their parents. This is also the place where the wedding ceremony of Lord Nityänanda with His two eternal consorts took place. We took a dirt path alongside the house of Gauridäsa Pandit and in a few steps we were at the doorway that opened into the courtyard of Süryadäsa Sarakhela s home. Although the place was old and had many old dilapidated structures in it, still it was clear that this must have been a majestic house some 500 years ago. The large spacious 67

68 courtyard was a treasure house of eternal transcendental pastimes. Right in the middle of this courtyard was a beautiful Tulasé bush growing in a huge ornate Tulasé pot that was fixed to the ground. In one side of this courtyard was another large Tulasé grove that had numerous green and purple Tulasé plants. Tulasé seemed to be everywhere here, almost growing wild!! We thought about how difficult it was to grow Tulasé in America, and how happily and naturally she was manifesting here the place where the Supreme Lord eternally resides. We took darçan of the Deities in the temple. There were Deities of Süryadäsa Sarakhela and alongside were 2 Deities of Jähnavä devé and Vasudhä devé. Photography was permitted here so many of the devotees eagerly took pictures. The structure of the temple and the pillared hall facing the front of the temple were identical to that of Gauridäsa Pandit s home. After taking darçan, we noticed that Mahäräja and a few other devotees were walking into another small doorway in the courtyard. We enthusiastically followed behind, and saw that this door opened into another huge courtyard, with a large circular raised dais in the middle. This fenced stage like platform had a tree in the middle. We found that this was the very place where the grand wedding ceremony of Lord Nityänanda and Jähnavä devé took place. The tree is the descendant of the very tree under which the wedding was performed. The hollow trunk of the original tree was also there. The imprints of Nityänanda Ram s lotus feet were also present in a small structure on this dais. We considered ourselves very fortunate to get such close darçan of these transcendental remains. There were no manmade structures hindering our access to these transcendental objects as they were being kept and worshipped in the open and the devotees could freely access them. We reflected that this is indeed the nature of Lord Nityänanda s mercy so freely accessible even to the most unqualified. Lord Nityänanda s place of pastime in Süryadäsa Sarakhela s home had the same mood- even though we were most unqualified, we got to take the dust directly from the feet of Lord Nityänanda and many devotees touched their heads to this most sacred tree trunk. Feeling greatly enlivened, we made our way to the pillared hall and listened to Çréla Romapäda Swämé s words as he described the pastimes of the place. The transcendental tree under which the marriage of Lord Nityänanda and Jähnavä devé took place. The imprint of the lotus feet of Lord Nityänanda. Mahäräja narrated the pastimes of the marriage of Lord Nityänanda with Jähnavä devé and Vasudhä devé. One time, Lord Caitanya told Lord Nityänanda, Nityänanda, I want You to get married. Lord Nityänanda was thunderstruck and could not understand why Lord Caitanya was saying that. He replied to Mahäprabhu as follows: You are encouraging Rüpa, Sanätana, Raghunätha däsa Goswämé and all of Your followers towards renunciation. But for Me, You are advocating marriage and opulence! Why are You doing like this? Is this a punishment?. On being questioned like this, Lord Caitanya replied with a smile, No! I just like to see You like this in the mood of a cowherd boy. 68

69 So in accordance with the desire of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityänanda came to Ambikä-kälanä. He sat under a large banyan tree, and smiling omnisciently said, Süryadäsa Sarakhela has one daughter and I would like to marry her. When Süryadäsa Sarakhela heard this proposal, he understood the position of Lord Nityänanda as his supremely worshipable master. At the same time he was concerned that since Nityänanda was such an avadhuta, how He would take care of a wife. In the meanwhile Jähnavä devé heard the discussion. Merely on hearing the name Nityänanda she swooned in ecstasy. Soon she developed high fever that continued to rise so much that it became life threatening. Gauridäsa Pandit said that this was the reaction to the offence against Lord Nityänanda. Süryadäsa Sarakhela fell at the lotus feet of Lord Nityänanda and asked for forgiveness. He promised the hand of his daughter in marriage to Lord Nityänanda. As soon as Lord Nityänanda came to the house of Süryadäsa Sarakhela, the fragrance from the body of Lord Nityänanda entered the nostrils of Jähnavä devé and she immediately came to consciousness. Her fever broke. When Vasudhä, the younger sister of Çré Jähnavä devé was serving prasädam to Lord Nityänanda, her saree slipped from her head. She felt helpless as her two hands were holding the prasädam plate, and yet she wanted to cover her head with her saree. Then Lord Nityänanda manifested extra pair of arms and she covered her head with them. Then Lord Nityänanda spoke to Süryadäsa Sarakhela as follows: I would like the hand of your younger daughter as dowry. Süryadäsa Sarakhela happily agreed. A grand wedding ceremony was performed and wonderful prasädam was served to the devotees. Later Lord Nityänanda, Vasudhä and Jähnavä devé resided in Kandaha. In course of time 2 children were born to them Virabhadra Goswämé and Ganga devé. Jähnavä devé is considered to be both Revati and Ananga Manjari (younger sister of Çrémati Rädhäräëé) in Kåñëa Lila. She became a principal äcärya amongst all the Gaudiya Vaishnavas. She gave instructions to leading äcäryas of the time including Çré Rüpa and Çré Sanätana Goswämé. Then Mahäräja described the pastime of Jähnavä devé finding the Deity of Çrémati Rädhäräëé. In course of her travels, Jähnavä Mata once went to Jagannätha Puré. There in the temple she saw a Deity of Durga being worshipped. But she felt that the Deity was actually Çrémati Rädhäräëé. That night she had a dream in which the Deity appeared to her and said, actually I am not Durga. I am Rädhä. I want to be by the side of My Govindaji. The same night the pujäré also had the dream in which the Deity appeared to him and said, Entrust Me to Jähnavä devé and let her take me to the side of my Govindaji to be worshipped. The Deity was then taken by Çré Jähnavä devé and placed by the side of Govindaji, the Deity of Çréla Rüpa Goswämé which is now in Jaipur. Similarly, once when Jähnavä Mata visited Våndävan, all the saintly people there were offering respects to her. She went to see the Deity of Rädhä Gopénath and felt in her heart that the Deity of Çrémati Rädhäräëé was too small. That night the Deity appeared to her in a dream and said actually, you are right! Would you do that service of making a bigger Deity of Rädhä to be placed by the side of Gopénath? So in Khandaha a beautiful big Deity was made and was ceremoniously put on a boat with lot of festivity. The boat made its way up the Ganges and down the Yamunä to Mathurä, from where it was taken to Våndävan and installed by the side of Çré Gopénath. Such was the exalted and confidential nature of Çré Jähnavä and her pastimes, and she was born right here in the house of Süryadäsa Sarakhela. Then Mahäräja also narrated the pastime of Nakula Bramachari, who also resided in Ambikä-kälanä. From here we went on a long walk till we came to a huge tree. There is a wonderful pastime connected with this tree. It is as follows: Gauridäsa Pandit had a very advanced disciple called Caitanya däsa. After the disappearance of Lord Caitanya, Caitanya däsa planned to have a grand Gaura Purnima celebration on the appearance day of the Lord. For this purpose, Caitanya däsa made elaborate arrangements to worship the Deities of Gauridäsa Pandit. When Gauridäsa Pandit heard this, he became furious and chastised his disciple saying how could you make all these arrangements without discussing with me?. Caitanya däsa, being a very obedient disciple, honored the instruction of his spiritual master and made arrangements to have the festival in another place. That place is under this very tree. The festival was so fantastic that the Deities of Gauridäsa Pandit left the altar and started 69

70 walking towards this tree, to join the kértan of the devotees there. On seeing this Gauridäsa Pandit started chasing them with a stick. The Deities ran even faster and coming to this tree, went to Caitanya däsa and entered his heart. Since Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda hid in the heart of Caitanya däsa, he came to be called as Hridoy Caitanya (hridoy means heart). Hridoy Caitanya later became the Spiritual master of Dukhi Kåñëadäsa or Shyamananda, another exalted Vaisnava äcärya. The huge tree under which Caitanya däsa conducted a large Gaura Purnima festival. The kértan at this festival was so ecstatic that Gauridäsa Pandit s Deities came here and hid inside the heart of Caitanya däsa, thereby giving him the name Hridoy Caitanya. This tree is a grand witness to that ecstatic pastime. Prayer Remembering this amusing pastime enacted by the Lord, we all circumambulated this huge tree and offered our obeisances. Meditating that this quite and majestic tree is a living witness to the wonderful ecstatic festival of Hridoy Caitanya däsa, we offered prayers. We prayed that pure devotion may also awaken in our hearts so that it is a fitting place for the Supreme Lord to enter. We then walked along to the ghat to get on the boats taking us to our next destination. Haridäsa Öhäkura s Bhajan Kutir and Samädhi Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura s Samädhi at Pulia. The Deity of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura. 70

71 From Ambikä-kälanä we went long distance first by boat and then by road to Pulia. Along the way we could see many huts with handlooms. These thatched huts had low roofs (just high enough for a person to sit in them) and were built exclusively as workstations for handloomers. Through the small windows we could see many colorful threads and beautiful rich patterns being woven skillfully. Some of the sarees were hung outside along the roads, and looked very colorful and attractive. On the way we also saw many mosques in which Muslims of that area were offering prayers. Finally our buses stopped outside a large grassy open field. We walked across this field and followed the rest of the disciples in a dry sandy path till we reached another large open area. In the middle of this field was a small structure, the Samädhi and bhajan kutir of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura. Inside was a Deity of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura doing japa on beads. We all reverentially paid obeisances at this most scared of all sacred places the site of the Bhajan of our Namäcärya. We sat around Çréla Romapäda Swämé eager to hear the pastimes of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura. Mahäräja narrated many powerful pastimes. We are presenting a few here. Haridäsa Öhäkura s journey to Pulia After the Brahmä-vimohana Lila, Lord Brahmä felt very repentant. He came to Antardvépa and performed long periods of austerities. Lord Caitanya appeared before him and gave him the benediction that when He appeared in Kali Yuga, Brahmä would also be a part of His pastimes. Brahmä prayed to be put in a situation such that he would never become proud again. Lord Caitanya granted that benediction. So Lord Brahmä appeared as Haridäsa Öhäkura, the äcärya for the chanting of the Holy Name. He was born in a Muslim family in Bangladesh and right from childhood showed great attraction for the chanting of the holy names of Lord Hari. After some time, Haridäsa Öhäkura left his home and came to a place called Benapol (also in Bangladesh). Here he lived a secluded life by the side of a Tulasé plant and chanted all day long. The local people recognized Haridäsa Öhäkura as a saintly personality and began to offer him respects. This invited the jealousy of Ramchandra Khan, the local ruling personality. That s when he sent the best prostitute to defame Haridäsa Öhäkura. That whole pastime took place in Benapol. (Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja narrated this pastime in detail). From Benapol, Haridäsa Öhäkura came here to Navadvépa. On the way he stopped at Saptagram, the house of Raghunätha däsa Goswämé. (Mahäräja narrated in detail the pastime that took place in Saptagram between Haridäsa Öhäkura and Gopäla Chakravarthy. This pastime has already been described in Day 3 of this journal). After coming to Navadvépa, Haridäsa Öhäkura began to live in a cave along the bank of the Ganga at this place. A local elderly woman told us that even 50 years ago, the Ganga used to flow right by here. So its not difficult to imagine that 500 years ago, the Ganga was much closer and the famous cave in which Haridäsa Öhäkura lived was right here. Pastime When Haridäsa Öhäkura lived in the cave, his reputation as a saintly personality spread far and wide. Many people came to see him and take his guidance. This greatly disturbed the local kazi. He thought, how can a person born in a Muslim family, advocate the chanting of the Holy Name of Kåñëa? So Haridäsa Öhäkura was arrested and brought before the Kazi. The Kazi asked Haridäsa Öhäkura please answer one question. You were born in a Muslim family. Then why have you abandoned your religion and taken up the worship of a Hindu God s name?. Haridäsa Öhäkura said my conviction is that there is one Supreme God who is very merciful and loving. Then the magistrate who arrested Haridäsa Öhäkura told him to worship that one God as its mentioned in Muslim scriptures and to give up the chanting of the Holy Name. Haridäsa Öhäkura replied with firm conviction, The chanting of the Holy Name is my life and soul. If you decide to punish me, you can cut my body into little pieces, but I will not stop the chanting of the Holy Name. On the advice of the magistrate, the Kazi ordered that Haridäsa be beaten in 22 market places. This was also done to show the people the severe punishment for chanting of the Holy name thereby preventing them from taking up the practice themselves. After beating Haridäsa Öhäkura in 22 market places, the guards were amazed to see that Haridäsa Öhäkura was still chanting and was not dead. They pleaded with him to die as otherwise, the Kazi would kill them. To show kindness upon them, Haridäsa Öhäkura entered Samädhi. The guards thinking that he was dead threw him into the river. But after a few days, Haridäsa Öhäkura awoke from Samädhi and came back to another village. When the Kazi heard that Haridäsa Öhäkura was alive and unhurt, he 71

72 accepted that Haridäsa Öhäkura was indeed a great saintly personality. Some people asked Haridäsa Öhäkura as to why the Lord allowed such a saintly person to be treated so harshly. Haridäsa Öhäkura replied, When I was before the Kazi, I heard blasphemy against the Holy Name. That was a great offence and my punishment was a reaction to that. It is only by the mercy of the Supreme Lord that I got such a mild punishment. Such was the humility of Haridäsa Öhäkura. Hearing about Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura from Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja His back. Haridäsa Öhäkura fell to the ground unconscious. During the mahäprakash lilä, Lord Caitanya disclosed the following to Haridäsa Öhäkura, In Puliya, when I heard you chanting so sincerely I came from Swetadvépa to destroy with My Sudarshan, the people who were hurting you. But you were praying from the core of your heart that they be forgiven. Because of the power and the purity of your prayers, I stopped. But I could not bear to see you beaten. So I took all those blows on my own body, so that you may not feel the pain. Haridäsa Öhäkura, please believe Me!. Saying so, Mahäprabhu lifted the cloth of His upper body and showed the marks of the blows on Prayer: Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja explained that the realm of devotional service is overseen by the internal potency of the Lord. This internal potency is made accessible through the chanting of the Holy Name. However degraded one s prior condition maybe, by contacting the chanting of the Holy Name, one is uplifted to the topmost condition in spiritual life. Haridäsa Öhäkura took complete shelter of the Holy Name in complete humility. One can t chant the Holy Name unless one is more humble than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and ready to give all respects unto others expecting none in return. We can pray at the lotus feet of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura that a drop of that humility may also enter our hearts and as a result we also may be able to take even more strong shelter of the Holy Name. Namäcärya Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura ki jaya! Shantipur From Haridäsa Öhäkura s samädhi, we went on bus to Shantipur, the home of Çré Advaita Äcärya. It was close to evening and since it was Ekädaçé many of the devotees had eaten only fruits since morning. When we came to Shantipur, we walked through a beautiful mango orchard. The whole place was so peaceful, quite and serene. Inside the temple complex, we took darçan of the Deities in the temple. The main Deity is that of Advaita Äcärya. At the foot of this Deity are a row of shalagaram silas. The sila on the far left is Näräyaëé sila the very sila that Advaita Äcärya worshipped near Yogapith to invoke Lord Caitanya s advent. After taking darçan, we went to a beautiful open area with trees in the courtyard, and as we sat in rows, the devotees served us sumptuous Ekädaçé prasädam. There was kheer, khichdi, Ekädaçé puris, sabjis, French fries, rasagullas etc. The devotees had a most sumptuous feast, and the enthusiastic servers of prasädam urged us to take more. The children played happily in this courtyard, and the adults conversed leisurely while honoring prasädam. It had been a wonderful day and the devotees discussed the transcendental experiences of the day, in each others association. The trees overhead gave a cooling shade. After prasädam, we went to the temple hall and joined in kértan. Ashish Prabhu led wonderful kértan singing the bhajan nava gauravaram, in a soft melodious tone. He sang the kértan with such absorption that all of us also got carried away in the song and sang loudly, clapping in rhythm to the bhajan. As we 72

73 sang, we meditated on the beautiful words of this kértan composed by Sarvabhauma Bhattäcärya in glorification of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. As the kértan increased, more and more devotees and even some local residents of Shantipur joined in the rhythmic clapping and singing. We all felt greatly enlivened and rejuvenated after this ecstatic kértan by Ashish Prabhu. To reach the house of Advaita Äcärya we walked through a beautiful and enchanting mango orchard. The Deity of Çré Advaita Äcärya at Shantipur Mahäräja made a few announcements before he began his lecture. He said that he had personally purchased a book called Dhäm Sevamrita and he would like to give it as a personal gift to each family participating in the yäträ. Mahäräja said that this book would help us to appreciate the holy Dhäm better. We thanked Mahäräja for such a thoughtful and personal gift. Then Mahäräja began narrating about Advaita Äcärya as follows: This is the home of Advaita Äcärya. He is non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and like Lord Caitanya is in the Vishnu-Tattva category. He is a manifestation of Mahavishnu and is the official cause and the seed of each material universe. He is also described as a manifestation of Sada Çiva. He is called Advaita because He is non-different from the Supreme Lord. He is called Äcärya because he teaches by example the conclusions of scriptures. He is also known by the name Kamalaksha, Natha Mangala, and Äcärya. He was born in Çréhatta to Kuvera Pandit and Nabha devé in a wealthy aristocratic Brahmin family. Right from childhood He had natural attraction for Kåñëa. One time the son of the King of Çréhatta complained to Advaita Äcärya s father and said, Your Son will not pay obeisances to Durga. Advaita Äcärya said that there would be serious consequences if He did that. But when they persisted, Advaita Äcärya paid obeisances to Durga and the Deity of Durga devé split into two. Everyone was amazed. Durga devé could not bear the thought of her Master paying obeisances to her and so she left. After this incident, Kamalaksha told his father to move to Shantipur. Advaita Äcärya knew that Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu would appear soon, so He convinced His father to move closer to where Lord Caitanya would reside. One of the foremost things we know about Advaita Äcärya is that He called Mahäprabhu to appear in Navadvépa. Thereafter Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda came here many times to Shantipur, and They would accept prasädam at the eating place right here. They would then hold many confidential discussions about the spreading of the Sankértan movement. Hence this place is a very powerful place of empowerment for sincere souls desiring to spread Kåñëa Consciousness. This is the very place where the plan for world Sankértan movement was plotted and begun. The significance of this place can be gauged form the fact that our very own founder Äcärya, Çréla Prabhupäda came here on the day that he was to set sail for America. Of all places that he could have visited, on that very crucial last day, Çréla Prabhupäda chose to come here to Shantipur, the home of Advaita Äcärya. He came here to take the blessings of Advaita Äcärya for establishing a worldwide movement. Hence this place is especially sacred to the followers of Çréla Prabhupäda. 73

74 House of Advaita Äcärya The Salagram Sila that Advaita Äcärya worshipped near Yogapith to invoke Lord Caitanya s advent When Lord Caitanya left to take Sannyasa in Katwa, many of the residents of Navadvépa were intentionally not informed by Lord Caitanya as He knew that they would be devastated. The residents of Navadvépa had a practice that every morning after finishing their morning duties, they would go to have darçan of Lord Caitanya. On one such day, when Advaita Äcärya and other devotees came to the house of Çacé devé, they were shocked to see her looking devastated. On enquiring where Mahäprabhu was she told them, Nimäi has left to take Sannyasa. Now I have nothing to live for. You all are Brahmanas. You may take this house and whatever possessions are there in it. Nimäi has left. She wept in utter despair at the separation from her beloved son Nimäi. Hearing this Advaita Äcärya was completely devastated. He said what is the use of this life now? I will go take my life by drowning in the Ganges. Saying so, Çré Advaita Äcärya began to walk towards the Ganga and many devotees followed Him intending to do the same. Then a voice was heard from the sky that said, Very soon Lord Gauräìga Mahäprabhu will be seen by you all!. Hearing this the devotees recovered. Then Mahäräja narrated the pastime of how Lord Nityänanda and Chandrasekhar Äcärya brought Mahäprabhu to Shantipur on boat by trickery. There was a big sankértan festival, and Mother Çacé cooked for all the devotees day after day. After this incident Lord Caitanya again visited Shantipur with Lord Nityänanda in a later pastime. Every year, on the disappearance day of Çré Mädhavendra Puré, a grand khichdi festival takes place here in Advaita Äcärya s house. This festival was begun by Advaita Äcärya Himself, in order to observe the disappearance day of His Spiritual Master Çrépada Mädhavendra Puré. Lord Caitanya once came here and was very amazed by the standard of Deity worship of Advaita Äcärya. He declared anyone who comes here and serves or takes prasädam will get love of God. To this day, on the disappearance day of Mädhavendra Puré, there is a huge festival. Rows and rows of people get served khichdi. Meditation and Prayer: Çréla Romapäda Swämé gave us a wonderful meditation to take with us from this visit to Shantipur, the home of Advaita Äcärya. He said that when we attend mangal ärti and see the pujäré offering different articles of worship to the Pancha Tattva, we can meditate on the pastimes and wonderful exchanges of love between them. We prayed to Advaita Äcärya that he may kindly empower us with a drop of His mercy, so that we may become instruments in the service of Çréla Prabhupäda, and assist him in spreading the sankértan mission. After the narration, devotees took one more darçan of the Deity. It had become dark now. In the background we could hear ärtis going on elsewhere and local women ululating. The atmosphere was very sacred and auspicious. We made our way through the mango orchard, back to our buses. 74

75 Day 8: Saturday, October 29, 2005 Yajigram The Deities at Yajigram. Deity of Çréniväsa Äcärya Our first stop was Yajigram, the place where Çrénivasa Äcärya resided and preached, along with Narottama däsa Öhäkura and Rämachandra Kaviräja. We thought of the famous bhajan of Narottama däsa Öhäkura in which he wrote: doya koro Çré Äcärya, Prabhu Çrénivasa Rämachandra sanga mage Narottama däsa These three personalities had spent many days in this very place, enjoying each other s association and friendship. The temple was tucked away behind a small hillock, and there was a pond right in front of it. We took darçan of the Deities in the temple. We then went into the temple hall but saw that it had been just washed clean with water and the floor was still wet. Many devotees waited for it to dry, while others eager to join the kértan, sat on it anyways. Çréla Romapäda Swämé described in great detail about the life and pastimes of Çrénivasa Äcärya. We are presenting some part of his discourse below: Birth, childhood and marriage: Çrénivasa Äcärya was born of a mother and father who were extremely devoted to Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. His father s name was Gangadhar Bhattäcärya and his mother s name was Lakñmépriyä. They lived in Chakhandi gram which was quite some distance from Navadvépa. Even at some distance, Gangadhar Bhattäcärya knew of the sankértan pastimes of Lord Caitanya. Desiring very much to get Mahäprabhu s personal association, Gangadhar one day set out for Navadvépa. On the way, he reached Katwa where he saw hundreds and thousands of persons gathered and learnt that Lord Caitanya was personally present there. However, instead of seeing a mood of festivity he saw a mood of terrible devastation. He found out that the event was the sannyasa initiation of Lord Caitanya. Bhakti Ratnakar describes that he made his way through the crowds and came in visible proximity of the Lord Himself. There is detail emotional description of the head shaving ceremony. The barber of choice was Madhu, and he was very unwilling to cut Mahäprabhu s hair. The hair of Lord Caitanya was splendid just like His golden feature unique, divine, and transcendental. It was unthinkable to see Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu without His hair. The Lord instructed Madhu again and again to cut His hair, and Madhu fell to the ground weeping. As Madhu was weeping, the hundreds and thousands of people gathered there were also in great turmoil. Finally with great agony and unwillingness Madhu shaved Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu s hair leaving only a shikha. Then Keshava Bharati gave Lord Caitanya His Sannyas name - Çré Kåñëa Caitanya. 75

76 Gangadhar had witnessed all this personally. He was in such a devastated state that he went away in madness, incessantly repeating the names Çré Kåñëa Caitanya. People thought he had gone crazy. They stopped calling him Gangadhar and instead began to call him Caitanya däsa. For a long time, Gangadhar and his wife decided that they would not have children but would simply serve the mission of Lord Caitanya. But then one day, a desire arose in both of them to beget a son. They went to Jagannätha Puré to take the blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. As they were approaching the simhadwara gate, Lord Caitanya saw them and recognized them. He instructed them by saying, go into the temple and offer obeisances to Lord Jagannätha. All your desires will be fulfilled. After coming back to Gambhira Lord Caitanya told Govinda, His personal servant that, one devotee couple has come to Jagannätha Puré. Very soon they will have a son. He will be golden in complexion and his name will be Çrénivas. Just as I have empowered Rüpa and Sanätana, this son born to them will distribute that knowledge all over the land. After some time, a son was born to Gangadhar and Lakñmépriyä. Balaräma Äcärya, the father of Lakñmépriyä did the horoscope and predicted that the boy would be a mahäbhagavata and his scholarship would be most amazing. In childhood, Çrénivas Äcärya would continuously hear the glories of Lord Caitanya from his ecstatic devotee father Gangadhar. The appetite of Çrénivas to hear the pastimes of Lord Caitanya could never be satisfied, and the appetite of Gangadhar to describe them could also never be satisfied. This way they relished each others association by continuously speaking and hearing about the glories of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. But Gangadhar däsa died when Çrénivas was still very young. Çrénivas cried and fasted for days, mourning the death of his father. Lakñmépriyä then made arrangements for her family to shift to Yajigram, the place of Çrénivas s maternal grandfather Balaräma Äcärya. The villagers in Yajigram were very happy to have such a wonderful child in their midst. His education was then carefully arranged and Çrénivas excelled at all scriptural studies. Day by day, the seed of devotion also grew within him and he developed an intense desire to see Lord Caitanya. His mother asked him to take permission from Narahari Sarkar first. So Çrénivas, who was only a boy of 14 years at that time, went to Çrékhanda and took blessings and guidance from Narahari Sarkar and Mukunda Sarkar. (Çréla Romapäda Swämé then described in great detail the journey of Çrénivas that took him to many places and many wonderful devotees). Çrénivas Äcärya found shelter at the lotus feet of Çréla Jiva Goswämé in Våndävan. In course of time Narottama däsa Öhäkura and Shyamananda Pandit also took shelter of Jiva Goswämé in Våndävan. The three of them were taken on an extensive Vraja Mandala parikrama by Raghava Pandit. After they saw the different places of Kåñëa s pastimes revealed by the six Goswämés, they went back to Jiva Goswämé and were thoroughly trained by him. The Goswämés all wrote wonderful literature. Jiva Goswämé had the vision that the chanting of the Holy Name supported by scriptures should go throughout the land. So he instructed his three primary students by saying, I now want you to leave Våndävan. Take these literatures on a bullock cart and distribute the Holy Name far and wide. Bhakti Ratnakar describes how the three Vaisnavas performed this service with great kértan and festivities. Then an important incident happened. They reached the kingdom of Birhambhir that was ruled by a King who was actually a dacoit. He built his treasury by robbing people. This King had an expert astrologer who told him, there is a group coming from the West and they are carrying with them a treasure of unconquerable value. The King became very greedy and sent dacoits to loot this treasure. When the dacoits saw the three devotees just doing kértan together, they could not understand the purpose of the King. They could not see any treasure. But then they saw the bullock cart and stole it. With great enthusiasm the King watched as the dacoits opened the boxes in the bullock cart. They were surprised and disappointed to find only books in them. Then one day this dacoit King had a dream. He saw a person with a beautiful golden complexion who said to him, My dear King, what you have done is very wrong! But everything will be adjusted in course of time. You are my eternal associate. Very soon we will be together. Meanwhile it was decided that Çrénivas Äcärya alone would stay back to find the whereabouts of the lost books, and the other two would leave. Çrénivas remained in Vishnupur in a brähmaëa s house. This brähmaëa, Kåñëadäsa Vallabh and his whole family understood the exalted nature of Çrénivas Äcärya, and took initiation from him in one day. Kåñëadäsa Vallabh informed the King that a very wonderful devotee was living in his house. The King invited him to recite Çrémad Bhägavatam. Çrénivas Äcärya went in a palanquin and recited 76

77 Çrémad Bhägavatam in a very wonderful voice. By the end of the recital the King was completely transformed and along with everybody else that was present, continued dancing and chanting. The King fell at the feet of Çrénivas Äcärya and took him to the place where the books were kept. On rediscovering the books again, Çrénivas Äcärya fell flat to the ground and offered obeisances. He then brought the books in the bullock cart back here to Yajigram. The book distribution commenced shortly thereafter. The banyan tree under which Çrénivas Äcärya regularly spoke Çrémad Bhägavatam. Narottama däsa Öhäkura would accompany him on many such occasions. Another painting at the temple Initiating Rämachandra Kaviräja While Çrénivasa Äcärya lived in Yajigram, Narottama däsa Öhäkura often came to spend time with him. One morning, Çrénivasa Äcärya was conducting Çrémad Bhägavatam class under a tree, and Narottama däsa Öhäkura was by his side (the banyan tree is still there and its photo is enclosed for the reader). A wedding party just happened to pass by right where they were sitting. The wedding party was that of Rämachandra Sen, the Son of Chiranjeeva Sen. Chiranjeeva Sen was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya and lived with his family in Çrékhanda in the association of Narahari Sarkar and Mukunda Sarkar. However in course of time, Chiranjeeva Sen passed away and his wife took her two sons to her father s village. While there, the sons lost the devotional training they had been getting from their father. Their maternal grandfather was a materialistic person and a Shakti worshipper. So Rämachandra Sen had become totally deviated. Now he was getting married. But Çrénivasa Äcärya knew Rämachandra Sen and also the great devotion of his father Chiranjeeva Sen. Out of compassion and love he decided to instruct Rämachandra Sen. So just as the palanquin carrying Rämachandra Sen passed by him, Çrénivasa Äcärya said in a loud voice, just see this man! He has taken all the resources that Kåñëa gave him, and is using them in the service of Maya. These words spoken by Çrénivasa Äcärya with purity and compassion stayed in the mind of Rämachandra Sen. The very next day, he came with his newly wedded wife and fell at the feet of Çrénivasa Äcärya, begging for his guidance and regretting his past life. Çrénivasa Äcärya then described to him the process of devotional service. Very soon Rämachandra Sen, his wife and his brother, all took initiation from Çrénivasa Äcärya. Rämachandra Sen became Rämachandra Kaviräja and his brother was named Govinda däsa Kaviräja. They are two very prominent disciples of Çrénivasa Äcärya. Rämachandra Kaviräja developed a deep loving relationship 77

78 with Narottama däsa Öhäkura. Çrénivasa Äcärya, Narottama däsa Öhäkura and Rämachandra Kaviräja were of one mind and one mood. Together they spread the Kåñëa Consciousness movement far and wide. (Çréla Romapäda Swämé Mahäräja indicated that there are 2 beautiful old paintings in the temple, that depict these pastimes). While Çrénivasa Äcärya resided in Yajigram, many devotees took initiation from him. He opened a Goswämé Literature School here in Yajigram to distribute the literature written by the six Goswämés of Våndävan. The pond that was used as a large container for Dal, during the festival organized by Virabhadra Goswämé in Yajigram. As Çrénivas Äcärya and Narottama däsa Öhäkura sat under the banyan tree, the wedding procession of Rämachandra Sen passed by them. A pond of dal! Çrénivas Äcärya had three daughters, and the most senior amongst them was Hemalatha Öhäkurani. She was very spiritually qualified and in course of time initiated many devotees into Kåñëa Consciousness just like Jähnavä mata. One time, Virabhadra the son of Jähnavä devé wanted to have a big festival in Yajigram. Hemalatha Öhäkurani offered to cook for all of them. So she cooked for 1200 devotees. They had big kértan and then grand prasädam was served right where we took prasädam. (Çréla Romapäda Swämé indicated to the shaded area left of the temple, where earlier we took breakfast prasädam). There is a kund next to this temple (photo enclosed) which was used as a container for dal. Leaves were put on the bottom of this kund and it was filled up with dal. We all looked at amazement at this kund. It was so big and must have held such a large quantity of dal. That gave us an indication of how big that festival might have been, and how much prasädam was cooked! Prayer and Meditation: One receives great fortune in one s life through the descending mercy of association with great personalities. Çrénivasa Äcärya was understood before he was born to be such a great personality. He himself most eagerly sought out the association of great Vaisnavas. Çrénivasa Äcärya received the direct mercy of Lord Caitanya and His eternal associates. The mercy was great absorption in the chanting of the Holy Name and vigorous distribution of the transcendental literatures. One needs great amount of mercy and wonderful association to be able to do this. We can pray to Çrénivasa Äcärya that just as he was directly empowered by Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, he may also similarly bestow us with a drop of his kind mercy, so that we can be instruments in spreading this Kåñëa Consciousness movement. Çrékhanda From Yajigram, we went to Çrékhanda, the home of Narahari Sarkar. It was also the home to his younger brother Mukunda Sarkar and Mukunda Sarkar s son Raghunandana. Later, Chiranjeeva, the father of Rämachandra Kaviräja also came to live here. The bus ride was one of the most scenic ever, with lush green paddy fields on both side and 78

79 beautiful trees dotting the landscape. We came to a simple quaint village, and our buses parked near a huge banyan tree. We got off our buses and started to follow the procession of devotees into the village of Çrékhanda. Çrékhanda as a place felt very different from all the other places in Navadvépa. It had its own magic charm, a unique flavor that is so hard to catch in words - elusive yet powerful. Çrékhanda as a place felt very different from all the other places in Navadvépa. It had its own magical charm, a unique flavor that is so hard to catch in words - elusive yet powerful. We found the streets mostly empty. There were some ruins of what must have been grand residential houses and courtyards many hundreds of years ago. Now they were all empty and desolate. There were also many simple mud huts and one or two modern houses of cement along the way. But generally we felt like we were stepping into the past, into something very wonderful. But when we came to the temples, all life seemed to burst forth. We saw many families with children running around, and the pujärés doing ärati, offering bhoga etc. Vaishnava life was very much part of the present in Çrékhanda. In this way, the past and present seemed to seamlessly flow through one another in Çrékhanda giving it a feeling of timelessness. Çréla Romapäda Swämé mentioned that whatever Vaishnavism is there in Çrékhanda, it is because of Narahari Sarkar. We followed Çréla Romapäda Swämé as He took us to three temples one after another. In each temple, He would briefly explain about the Deities. The three temples had Rädhä Kåñëa Deities that were personally worshipped by Narahari Sarkar. Narahari Sarkar worshipped the Deities of Çré Rädhä Govinda. Madhu Pushkarini The pond of Honey Rädhä Govinda Temple 79

80 The first temple was the temple of Çré Rädhä Govinda. Behind this temple is a beautiful pond called Madhu Pushkarini or the pond of honey. Madhu means honey in Sanskrit. Çréla Romapäda Swämé explained how this pond got its name. Once Lord Nityänanda came to Çrékhanda with His associates and requested Narahari Sarkar for honey. In Kåñëa s lilä, Narahari Sarkar is a sakhi called Madhumati. So Narahari Sarkar got buckets of water from this pond and offered them to Lord Nityänanda. The water transformed into honey and Lord Nityänanda became intoxicated in ecstatic love by drinking it. He shouted more madhu, more madhu. Then Narahari Sarkar arranged for more and more buckets of honey to be brought from this pond, and all the devotees became greatly intoxicated in transcendental ecstasy by drinking it. We felt very fortunate that we were standing at the very spot where Lord Nityänanda and His associates performed this wonderful pastime! We felt even more fortunate that we could still see and touch the waters of this transcendental pond! We all sprinkled water from this pond on our heads. As some devotees were trying to wade into the pond, they were warned by the devotees there not to put their feet in the sacred waters. Rädhä Madan Mohan Temple On the altar were the beautiful Deities of Çré Rädhä Madan Mohan. In this temple, we also saw the samädhi of Narahari Sarkar. Behind the Samädhi, was a room, which had the original wooden cot used by Narahari Sarkar. We offered our respectful obeisances at the Samädhi. Many devotees offered long prayers at the Samädhi, praying for the mercy of Narahari Sarkar. We did not want to tarry too long here, lest we lose the rest of our group members. So we kept walking till we reached the third and final temple in Çrékhanda, where we would also be hearing from Çréla Romapäda Swämé. The altar at the Rädhä Gopénath temple in Çrékhanda. The Mahäprabhu Deity is one of the three Mahäprabhu Deities that Narahari Sarkar personally established and worshipped. Çré Çré Rädhä Madan Mohan. Rädhä Gopénath Temple Many of us already knew the pastime of the Deity of Kåñëa personally coming to accept bhoga from the little Raghunandana. This was the very place that the pastime happened, and the very same Deity of Gopénath was still being worshipped. We were eager to see the Deity. On the altar also was a small Deity of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Çréla Romapäda Swämé explained that Çréla Narahari Sarkar was the forerunner in the first wave of the worship of Lord Caitanya s Deity. He installed and worshipped 3 Mahäprabhu Deities of 3 different sizes. The biggest of those Deities was being worshipped in Katwa, the medium one was being worshipped in Ekacakrä and the smallest one was here on this altar. 80

81 After darçan we joined Çréla Romapäda Swämé in the temple hall. Mahäräja was leading a soft melodious kértan and we all joined enthusiastically, immersing ourselves in the Holy Name. Some devotees had not yet arrived and Mahäräja was patiently waiting for them. After leading kértan personally for a while, he asked his disciple Jagadananda däsa to take over and He immersed Himself in reading. Then Mahäräja gave a wonderful class, mainly describing the glories of Raghunandana Öhäkura. We were all eager to get a close darçan of this famous Deity of Çré Gopénath, once worshipped by Raghunandana Öhäkura. When little Raghunandana offered bhoga to this Deity, Gopénath personally came and accepted it. Narahari Sarkar was a great shelter to Çrénivasa Äcärya and many other Vaishnavas of his time. He lived in Çrékhanda along with his brother Mukunda and Mukunda s son Raghunandana. These three gave life to everybody in Çrékhanda. Caitanya Caritamrita mentions a pastime that brings to light the exalted nature of Mukunda Sarkar. Mukunda Sarkar was a doctor, and once he was summoned by the King who was suffering from a disease. When Mukunda was treating the King, the King began to feel hot and so his servants began to fan him with peacock feathers. When Mukunda Sarkar saw the peacock feathers, in his heart he was reminded of Kåñëa and immediately fell to the ground unconscious in transcendental ecstasy. The King was very worried. When Mukunda came back to external consciousness he reassured the King by saying Oh! Don t worry. I have a disease called epilepsy. This happens to me. The King however knew the real reason the intense devotion of Mukunda däsa towards Lord Kåñëa. The most well known of all the pastimes that took place amongst Lord Caitanya s devotees, is the story of Raghunandana s Deity worship. One time Mukunda Sarkar was leaving town and instructed his little son Raghunandana to do the Deity worship. He explained to him how he should offer bhoga to the Deity. When the time for morning offering came, little Raghunandana took bhoga that his mother had prepared and brought the offering before the Deity of Çré Gopénath. He rang the bell and called out to Gopénath to come take the offering. When he saw that Gopénath did not come, he called out even louder saying, Gopénath, please come and take this offering. He called out with such purity of heart and love that Gopénath personally came and ate all the bhoga. When the mother came, she was shocked to see that there was no food in the offering plate. She thought that her son must have eaten it himself. When Mukunda learnt of this, he chastised his son. But Raghunandana persisted in saying that Gopénath Himself had eaten the offering. The following day Raghunandana was again asked to make the offering, and this time Mukunda Sarkar hid in the temple room to see what was really happening. Raghunandana again called out to Gopénath to come and accept the offering, and to Mukunda Sarkar s great astonishment and joy, Gopénath appeared there and personally accepted the offering. From this, it was understood that Raghunandana was exceedingly pure in devotion. Later he became Raghunandana Öhäkura. In Caitanya Caritamrta we find another wonderful pastime involving these three devotees. Once in Jagannätha Puré, Lord Caitanya called all the devotees of Çrékhanda. He asked Mukunda Sarkar, Mukunda, between you 81

82 and your son, which one is the father and which one is the son? Mukunda said my son inspired me to be a devotee, so he is my father and I am his son. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu approved this statement very much. He gave 3 different instructions to 3 of them. He instructed Mukunda Sarkar to return back to Çrékhanda and earn both spiritual and material wealth. He instructed Raghunandana to simply engage in Deity worship and He told Narahari Sarkar to remain in Jagannätha Puré. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu was indicating that there are 3 primary aspects of Vaishnava function, namely: 1. Creation of wealth needed to support the sankértana mission 2. Deity worship 3. Preaching We also see the name of Abhiram Öhäkura mentioned in connection with Çrékhanda. AbhiramÖhäkura was another great devotee of the time and in his mood, he was transcendentally mad like Lord Nityänanda. It was also said that when Abhiram Öhäkura paid obeisances before a Deity that was not being properly worshipped, the Deity would break into pieces. Similarly, children who were not eternal associates of Lord Caitanya would die upon seeing Abhiram Öhäkura. This was the reputation of the purity of Abhiram Öhäkura. Once Abhiram Öhäkura heard of Raghunandana and his wonderful Deity worship and desired to come see him. But knowing the reputation of Abhiram Öhäkura, Narahari Sarkar was not too eager to receive him. But when young Raghunandana heard that Abhiram Öhäkura was coming, he ran to meet him on the way. When the two saw each other, they paid obeisances to one another and jumped up in great ecstasy. This proved that Raghunandana was an eternal associate of the Lord Caitanya. Throughout his life, Raghunandana Öhäkura was known as the äcärya for Deity worship. After the departure of his uncle Narahari Sarkar, Raghunandana would regularly visit the Samädhi and hold a grand festival on his appearance day. On one such festival, Raghunandana Öhäkura went into Narahari Sarkar s Samädhi and offered prasädam. It is said that Narahari Sarkar personally came and accepted the offering. The next year the same thing happened again. Who can understand the purity and love of Raghunandana Öhäkura! Raghunandana again called out to Gopénath to come and accept the offering, and to Mukunda Sarkar s great astonishment and joy, Gopénath appeared there and personally accepted the offering Çréla Romapäda Swämé. Prayer and Meditation: Çréla Romapäda Swämé ended the narration with a beautiful meditation. These 3 personalities, namely, Narahari Sarkar, Mukunda Sarkar and Raghunandana Öhäkura came to assist Lord Caitanya to spread Kåñëa Consciousness all over the world. We can pray at Their lotus feet that they may kindly extend some of that inspiration, mercy and purity into us; so that when we go back to our respective places, we may also be able to assist in spreading the mission of Lord Caitanya there. We can also pray that the purity and faith of Raghunandana Öhäkura for Deity worship may enter our hearts so that we may engage in the service of Deity with more sincerity. And we can pray at the lotus feet of Mukunda Sarkar that our hearts may become pure enough to receive love and devotion for Kåñëa. 82

83 We all felt so enlivened on hearing these powerful and sublime instructions of Çréla Romapäda Swämé. He was teaching us what our mood and absorption should be in these places. He wanted us to get the full mercy of visiting these holy places, and hence was instructing us so patiently in how to pray and what to pray for. We repeated the prayer in our hearts and felt our heart softening. After the class, we made our way back to Yajigram. Even in the bus we continued to think about what we had heard and seen in Çrékhanda. We felt we were so much richer by visiting this amazing place in the association of Çréla Romapäda Swämé. After hearing from him, we understood that even the route to Çrékhanda from Yajigram was very sacred as many exalted personalities had traveled on it (Çrénivas Äcärya, Abhiram Öhäkura, Lord Nityänanda and His associates etc). Our fortune seemed endless that today we were traveling in the same path. We felt immense gratitude to Çréla Romapäda Swämé for this transcendental tour! Katwa After lunch at Yajigram, we proceeded to Katwa. It was late in the evening by the time we left Yajigram and so we reached Katwa at dusk. Katwa seemed like a big city with many businesses and much traffic. The largest of the three Mahäprabhu Deities that Narahari Sarkar personally worshipped. The tree under which the head shaving ceremony of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu took place (when He took sannyas). The ancient temple complex at Katwa was a huge open courtyard with a large main temple and pillared hall in the middle. There were different structures in the other parts of this courtyard. As soon as we entered, to our right were two small structures. One structure was the Samädhi of Gadadhar däsa, an associate of Lord Nityänanda who resided in Katwa after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya. Another structure was the Samädhi of the hair of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Later on Çréla Romapäda Swämé mentioned that the hair of Lord Caitanya was kept in a glass box till recent times, such that it was visible to everybody. But many people began to request for that hair, and so for safety reasons the hair was finally placed in Samädhi. After taking darçan here, we were led to a huge banyan tree on our left side. This tree was the very tree under which the hair cutting ceremony of the Lord took place. Five hundred years ago this was a huge tree, and over the years many branches have been cut down. We offered obeisances to this most sacred tree and the area it was covering. Lord Caitanya had placed His own lotus footprints here, not to speak of the lotus feet of the thousands of exalted Vaisnavas who were assembled there at that time. We then went into another part of the courtyard where the samädhi of the barber, Madhu (who shaved Lord Caitanya s hair for the ceremony) was placed. On his samädhi were the lotus foot imprints of Lord Caitanya and Keshava Bharati. Behind this Samädhi was the samädhi of Keshava Bharati, the sannyas Guru of Lord Caitanya. Although it was the end of a long day, the 83

84 devotees felt very excited and offered long prayers at each of these places. We then proceeded to the main temple, and took darçan of the Deities. The biggest Deity of Mahäprabhu installed and worshipped by Narahari Sarkar was also on this altar. Then we joined the rest of the group. Çréla Romapäda Swämé was leading a rousing kértan and many devotees were dancing to the fast rhythm. The powerful voice of Çréla Romapäda Swämé loudly calling out the Holy Names reverberated in the whole atmosphere. Everyone was completely immersed in this powerful and ecstatic kértan. Those who were not dancing were clapping wildly with their eyes closed and loudly shouting the Holy Names. We were wishing this kértan would never end. Çréla Romapäda Swämé Himself seemed completely immersed in deep and powerful transcendental emotion that Katwa seemed to carry. His kértan became more and more intense and by His mercy we also felt deep absorption in the Holy Name in way we never felt before. In the end, we felt thoroughly purified and surcharged in every cell of our being. The vibration of the kértan lingered on in our bodies for a long time. After that Çréla Romapäda Swämé gave a short class. We have tried to re-produce some parts of His lecture below: (Most of this lecture was given at Çrékhanda itself, and was concluded in Katwa). Painting depicting the barber Madhu devastated after he shaved the head of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Lord Caitanya is seen taking sannyas initiation from Keshava Bharati. Devotees in different moods of separation, as Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu proceeded to take sannyas. First Çréla Romapäda Swämé described in great detail the pastime of Lord Caitanya taking Sannyas, and the feelings of separation experienced by the devotees around this incident. Mahäräja specifically described Lord Caitanya s exchanges with Kolavechära Çrédhar, Vishnupriya and Mother Çacé just before He left home. Çréla Romapäda Swämé also narrated the glories of Gadadhar däsa whose Samädhi is also in the same compound. We are presenting parts of this lecture below: Gadadhar däsa was part of Lord Nityänanda s sankértan party, which wandered throughout Bengal and distributed Lord Caitanya s message. He is an incarnation of the luster of Çrémati Rädhäräëé and also the Gopé by the name Chandrakanti. While going in sankértan, Gadadhar däsa would sometimes go mad in ecstasy and forgetting himself would put a pot on his head and call out, would anyone like to buy Yogurt?. Not only Gadadhar däsa, but all the devotees in Lord Nityänanda s sankértan party were transcendentally mad. In this 84

85 spiritually intoxicated condition they would have kértan that would last for days. They would completely forget eating, sleeping or even drinking water. Once Gadadhar däsa heard about a particular nasty Kazi who was very cruel and inimical to the devotees. Gadadhar däsa thought to himself let me give him the Holy Name and the mercy of Lord Caitanya. In this ecstatic intoxicated state, Gadadhar däsa walked right into the home of this Kazi in the middle of night and started to roll on the ground. When the Kazi woke up and saw the scene, something moved in his heart. Instead of calling his guards and arresting Gadadhar, the Kazi inquired from him excuse me! What brings you to my house? Gadadhar däsa replied I have come to give you the Holy Name that gives ecstasy of love of God. Very gently the Kazi said tomorrow I will take Kåñëa s name. Gadadhar däsa immediately jumped in ecstasy and said, You have just chanted Kåñëa s name. All your suffering and sinful reactions will now end. The Kazi was very moved and from that day he became a faithful adherent of the practice of the chanting of the Holy Names. Prayer and Meditation: In Brihad Bhagävatamrta we read about how devastating it is for the devotees to speak about the higher moods of love for Kåñëa. Similarly this pastime of the Lord taking sannyasa in Katwa was a moment of great transcendental separation for all the residents of Navadvépa. It was like Kåñëa going to Mathurä. The Nimäi Pandit they knew as a teacher, husband, and friend was now a Sannyasi. For the hundreds and thousands of devotees who knew him in a different mood, the Lords taking sannyas marked a drastic change in lilä. Through this lilä, the Lord was demonstrating the principle of sacrificing one s own interest, family, wealth and happiness for the welfare of others. He was taking sannyas so that more people would take up the gift that He wanted to give, namely love of God, in a proper mood of awe and reverence. This way He taught us by example that we also should be ready to take up austerities to bring others to the path of Kåñëa Consciousness. Sannyas is not ashram specific, but consciousness specific. It s a state of one s internal consciousness. So everyone, even a householder, can be a perfect sannyasi if he/she dedicates one s life for the service of Kåñëa. Infact it s a great service to show others how one can lead one s life in the proper way in grihastha ashram. Everything we do in life is meant for that purpose. Lord Caitanya was teaching that by precept and example. Çréla Romapäda Mahäräja concluded by urging all of us to pray that we may also enter into the spirit of selfless service and sacrifice, in order to assist Lord Caitanya in His sacred mission of rescuing all the fallen souls. We thought about how Çréla Romapäda Mahäräja s life is a demonstration of this very principle. We were fortunate to be visiting Katwa with such a pure and transparent representative of Lord Caitanya s mercy. Çréla Romapäda Mahäräja was assisting Lord Caitanya in His mission by his selfless and endless service and we were the fortunate souls that were rescued by him. Although it was the end of a long day, we felt fully energized after the visit to Katwa. There was intense joy in our hearts that we had such a wonderful experience. At the same time there was sadness, as we realized that the paikrama was almost coming to an end. It was clear that none of the devotees wanted to leave Katwa. Even after arriving at the buses, our kértan party continued loud wild kértan. All the traffic on the road came to a standstill. The onlookers and the passerby looked at us with amazement and understanding. We continued the kértan with reckless abandon, and if not for the bus drivers who were getting anxious about the long drive back home, we could have gone on all night! It was a most unforgettable day in a most unforgettable place. 85

86 Day 9: Thursday, October 30, 2005 This was the final day of the yäträ, and everyone was experiencing sadness in the anticipation of separation from the Dhäm, Çréla Romapäda Swämé, the Deities and the devotees. For some of us this would be our last day of attending mangala artik. After taking heartfelt darçan of the exquisite Deities of Their Lordships at the temple, we boarded our busses for the Madan Gopäla Temple at Bela Pukhariya. The temple is in Rudradvépa, island of Lord Çiva. This island represents sakhyam, or the process of rendering devotional service to the Lord in friendship. We had our breakfast at the Madan Gopäla temple itself, then came back to Çré Chandrodaya Mandir and heard concluding messages from His Holiness Romapäda Swämé, His Holiness Bhakti Vikäs Swämé and His Grace Jananiväsas Prabhu in the GBC Room. After we had lunch prasädam, His Grace Vajranäth Prabhu took us on a tour of the ISKCON Mäyäpur campus. Madan Gopäla Temple at Bela Pukhariya Madan Gopäla Temple at Bela Pukhariya Devotees sitting outside the small temple as the translation in Hindi goes on. It was a small and modest temple and was situated in the center of a large open grassy field. It was still early morning, so we could feel the morning dew covering the grass on our bare feet. As we felt the soothing dew on our feet, we chanted the Holy Name in kértan. This was one of the cherishable experiences of our lives. The pujäré at the temple was an initiated disciple of His Holiness Jayapataka Swämé. Later on, Mahäräj told us that although this temple is not formally with ISKCON, it is dependent on charity and donation from ISKCON for its maintenance. Çréla Romapäda Swämé led a very soft kértan that seemed to soothe our hearts that was unhappy in the anticipation of the end of yäträ. He then gave a brief lecture. Çréla Romapäda Swämé spoke - Long time ago some brähmaëa devotees of Lord Çiva worshipped him by offering Bel leaves. Lord Çiva was pleased and blessed them with devotional service to Lord Kåñëa. Therefore this place is called Bilvapaksha or Belpukura or Bela Pukhariya. This place is non different from Belvan in Våndävana. Çré Madan Gopäla Deity here is about 1200 years old and was worshipped by Nilambhar Cakravarty, father of Çacé Mata. Three of the four Vaiñìava sämpradäyas took inspiration from Caitanya Mahäprabhu here in Rudradvép. When Lord Çiva and 11 rudras heard that Caitanya Mahäprabhu was going to take His birth in Mäyäpur, they came here chanting Gauräìga s glories ecstatically and dancing blissfully. Once ViñëuSwämé, an äcärya of Rudra sämpradäya came here with his disciples and engaged in chanting of the Holy Names. Because of this, Lord Çiva 86

87 (Rudra) became very pleased with him and personally appeared before him. He gave him the benediction that he would be the head of a sämpradäya that would teach devotional service. VisnuSwämé remained here and worshipped Gaurachandra. Caitanya Mahäprabhu was also pleased with him and appeared in his dream. He said, By Rudra s mercy you have become My devotee. The time of My appearance on earth will come soon. At that time you will appear as Çré Vallabha Äcärya. You will meet Me in Jagannätha Puré and Våndävana. Çréla Romapäda Swämé explained to us an interesting fact about the location of our Mäyäpur temple. He said: Çré Çré Rädhä Mädhav Deities and the lotus building are in Rudradvépa whereas Çré Çré Pancha Tattva Deities are in Antardvépa. A tributary used to flow right below and in between the two altars. When I came to Çré Dhäm Mäyäpur first time in 1974, only lotus building and boundary wall were there. We had make-shift arrangements for sleeping and bathing. There was no proper drinking water and no mosquito screens. There were lot of mosquitoes and it was western devotees blood feast for them. Devotees would take bath under a hand pump and water would collect there. So as the person steps out of bath, he steps in the muddy water and become muddy again just after the bath. As Çréla Romapäda Swämé explained these situations, some of us felt extremely grateful and regretful at the same time. Çréla Prabhupäda and his disciples have made so many sacrifices to make the gift of Caitanya Mahäprabhu readily, palatably and easily accessible to us. We have lot of facilities but yet we fail to grab the opportunity to receive the gift of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. We get engrossed in material life and comforts instead of remaining focused on the path of Kåñëa Consciousness. With these thoughts we boarded the bus and when we reached the temple gate, we tried to picture the bhajan kutir as it would have been during the time of Çréla Prabhupäda. Also from what we heard, the temple campus at that time was only a construction site! Even with our limited intelligence we could understand the humungous effort that must have been needed to build the temple and other buildings. We felt very grateful towards all those devotees who contributed towards the manifestation of this grandeur temple. As we entered the conference room, we remembered the first day of the yäträ. We were inside this room for almost the whole day and saw the temple getting washed by the rains. We waited to hear concluding remarks of Çréla Romapäda Swämé, Çréla Bhakti Vikäs Mahäräja and His Grace Jananiväsas Prabhu. Concluding Remarks at GBC Conference Room Çréla Romapäda Swämé said: This is our yäträ wrap up, the grand finale. We have been together during this yäträ here in Navadvépa dhäm, Ekacakrä, Katwä, Yajigram and so forth. It is very important for the devotees to meditate on what we can carry back from Navadvépa Dhäm and especially how we can apply/imbibe that in our lives in a practical way. Çréla Romapäda Swämé read concluding chapter from Caitanya-bhägavat in which Lord Caitanya has glorified and revealed true identity of His associates. By hearing narrations of Lord and His devotees, one will surely attain Kåñëa. Science of Vaishnavism is difficult to understand. What is characteristic of a pure Vaiñìava was revealed when Brghu Muni performed a test to find the most superior Personality amongst Brahmä, Viñëu and Çiva. When he kicked the chest of Viñëu, Viñëu said, I am sorry my chest is hard, I may have hurt you. Brghu Muni fell at Kåñëa s feet with tears in his eyes. Lord Kåñëa is source of Brahmä and Çiva and Lord Caitanya is the same as Kåñëa. Was there no other way for Brghu Muni to test the Lord than by kicking him? It was Lord s mercy on Brghu Muni that he was allowed to do so. Lord Kåñëa wanted to broadcast the glories to devotional service through this pastime. Lord Brahmä and Lord Çiva behaved in their way to increase the glories of devotional service to Kåñëa. Devotees like to sing the glories of Kåñëa and Kåñëa in return increases the glories of His devotees. So devotees are very special and dear to Kåñëa. If one criticizes an exalted Vaiñìava one can never be delivered. Only by the mercy of Kåñëa, one can understand a great Vaiñìava. Association with Vaiñìavas is vital but if taken as ordinary one can be destroyed. The solution is that one should always glorify devotees and behave humbly with all. Thinking oneself as a fool, one should surrender to Kåñëa and carefully listen to the words of advanced devotees. Then Kåñëa will impart transcendental intelligence by which one is completely delivered. Whoever listens to activities of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda, will be easily freed from the material bondage. 87

88 We heard the glories of incomparable Vaiñìavas and of the Lord Himself. We read that by receiving just one glance of Lord Nityänanda, people would uproot the trees. It is very easy to think it as an exaggeration. But Supreme Personality of Godhead has inconceivable potencies that can empower devotees to achieve inconceivable purposes. The most inconceivable thing is to transform an ordinary person into a transcendental person. Çréla Prabhupäda has done such miracles of transformation. Freewill of the living entity is one thing that even the Supreme Lord does not interfere with. The task to redirect it to the choice of love of God is possible only by spiritual influence and compassion. Chand Kazi came to stage of a great devotee due to mercy of Lord Caitanya. Mission of Caitanya Mahäprabhu is to bring love of God into lives of people through His associates. What I am taking from this yäträ is that we have a very sacred opportunity and responsibility at the same time, to hear these wonderful narrations and accept the mercy of Caitanya Mahäprabhu with great faith. We should be very eager to receive Kåñëa and give Him to others with the same eagerness. One should engage in various devotional services like coming on pilgrimage, rising early, attending Mangal artik, worshipping the Deities, chanting the Holy Names, hearing and discussing scriptures together, relishing the glories of the Lord in association of devotees, eagerness for the relationship with Kåñëa and giving the mercy to others. If one thinks that devotional service is something ordinary, we will not receive the gift of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. By this descending mercy we should rise above material frailties and uplift our own selves and others. We have to be eager to receive the descending mercy, to get on to the transcendental platform and deepen our intimacy with Kåñëa. Çréla Prabhupäda wanted that the devotees who are in preaching field should come to Mäyäpur once a year, chant and hear together, become purified and gather strength to go out in the preaching world. For us also, the next step is to share this merciful message with others. Today we have His Holiness Bhakti Vikäs Swämé with us. He is a very vigorous preacher of Kåñëa Consciousness throughout the whole world, very dedicatedly follows Çréla Prabhupäda and constantly writes a number of books. He is writing a wonderful biography of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura. Lecture by His Holiness Bhakti Vikäs Swämé His Holiness Bhakti Vikäs Swämé thanked Çréla Romapäda Swämé and recalled that they had met 6 weeks ago in St. Louis, USA. He commented that St Louis was so far from the real world and here they were meeting again in the spiritual world. Çréla Bhakti Vikäs Mahäräja made us delve deeper by asking us if we were able to appreciate the fact that that place was the spiritual world? And if everyone in the Dhäm appreciated it? He answered, No. The following is a brief summary of his lecture: There are so many people residing in the dhäm whose main interest is eating, sleeping, mating and defending. For example, rickshawalas outside the gate are only interested in money and not in hearing about Caitanya Mahäprabhu. They are very fortunate to be living in the dhäm, and we are apparently less fortunate because we are coming here for a limited time. But we are more fortunate than them because we are able to appreciate the dhäm more. We could have taken a guidebook to visit Navadvépa dhäm, hired a taxi, read from Caitanya 88

89 Bhagvat, all by our selves. Do you think we would have got the same experience? No! The vital ingredient is Sadhu sanga. One cannot enter the dhäm by oneself. One cannot jump in and out of the dhäm. The real entry in the dhäm is when taken by the resident of the dhäm. Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura elaborately explained that a resident of the dhäm is not one whose visible body is present there. But an actual resident is one who is present there through the proper consciousness that comes through submissive hearing and service. Devotees found the words of Çréla Bhakti Vikäs Mahäräja very enlightening, and it seemed like on the last day of the yäträ, we understood the value of the presence of Çréla Romapäda Swämé with us. Çréla Romapäda Swämé s words, his consciousness, his purity, his mercy, his steps have lovingly allowed us entry into this mystical dhäm. Çréla Bhakti Vikäs Mahäräja continued: Everything we do creates an impression in our mind. There are good impressions and bad impressions. When we visit the Dhäm, we obtain spiritual impressions in our mind that erase our materialistic impressions. These spiritual impressions remind us that there is a real life, a real world Kåñëa, His devotees, His service, constant chanting of the holy names. The artificial material world of computer, mass communication, and politics is led by hardheaded materialists. But devotees are soft hearted and know what the real world is. In the present time, the basic amenities to meet the needs of food, clothing and shelter are not as good as they were before. After green revolution, the rotis that we eat are from artificial seeds etc. People wear mass produced clothes. In the heat of India, they wear polyester and telecotton clothes instead of wearing nice cool khadi and then they look for Air Conditioner. Çréla Prabhupäda wanted that we develop rural communities to give example of how to live simply, hear and chant about Kåñëa in association of devotees. In villages in India, still that simplicity is there but in city people do not have much idea about it. Village mood is more conducive to Kåñëa Consciousness. Modern way of life is based on consumerism and advertisement. They advertise kama, that in turn creates krodha, and then lobha. Kåñëa says these are three gates to hell and modern society is promoting it. Lot of people want to go to Los Angeles and San Diego in Southern California, thinking that these are progressed and developed places. But the people there are all leading a miserable life, full of anxiety, without any actual love between people. Most of them are dependent on the antidepressant medicine prosac. God easily provides food, clothing and shelter but people unnecessarily go through so many difficulties to get these. What do we take back from the Dhäm and how to practically apply this in our lives? All the dhäms are merciful but particularly Çré Mäyäpur dhäm is more merciful, because it is the residence of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Caitanya Mahäprabhu said, I am not in Vaikuntha, I am not in the house of yogis but I am where my devotees are chanting my glories. The greatest gift we can take from here is the inspiration to share Kåñëa Consciousness with others. It looks impossible to preach in this hard headed materialist world, especially if there is no association. On the other hand, Dhäm is very conducive for spiritual life, particularly if there is association. But even if we are away from dhäm we can have association of the Lord if we preach and speak about Kåñëa. This way we will not be affected by the onslaughts of the material life. Even in US, in the whirlpool of materialism, preaching and devotees are wonderful. We can save people from succumbing to the pressures of material life by preaching and giving them higher taste. Caitanya Mahäprabhu has ordered to each one of us: yäre dekha, täre kaha kåñëa -upadeça ämära äjïäya guru haïä tära ei deça Pray to Pancha Tattva so that we may carry the dhäm with us by preaching Kåñëa Consciousness on Their order. We should keep association of the devotees, remain strong and bring more devotees next time. Çréla Bhakti Vikäs Mahäräja then revealed the glories of Jananiväsas Prabhu to us. Jananiväsas Prabhu is an exceptional dhäm vasi and apart from his obvious spiritual qualities, one remarkable thing is he has not left this place for 33 years. He is full of mercy of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Offer him obeisances, beg for his mercy and aspire to become a dhäm vasi. 89

90 Çréla Romapäda Swämé said: Jananiväsas Prabhu came here in 1972, 33 years ago. He intermittently goes to Våndävana and Rädhänath Mahäräj stole him away to Bombay, otherwise he is just here. Think about it, just doing one service in one place for 33 years. That s not how people live today. At Çrékhanada, we heard how Raghunandan Öhäkura perfected Deity worship. Similarly, Jananiväsas Prabhu is the authority on Deity Worship in our society. We are fortunate to have him here with us and hear from him. We visited so many places in Navadvépa dhäm, came to know the history of those places, who the Deities were, by whom were they worshipped and the pastimes of the Lord and His devotees there. And here is this mysterious temple, emanating love and mercy to one and all. We awaited this opportunity to hear from the one who has participated and seen this temple and the Deities manifest themselves. We did not know what all to gather when Jananiväsas Prabhu was speaking, as everything about him was so unique and transcendental. His expressions, his humility, his narration of the pastimes, his experiences, his dearness to the Deities, and his surrender all captured our hearts. Many of us stopped taking notes and just listened to the narration of the unfolding of the temple and the Deities in Çrédhäm Mäyäpur. Çréla Romapäda Swämé relishing the association of his God- brother Jananiväsas Prabhu enlightening us Lecture by His Grace Jananiväsas Prabhu History of ISKCON Mäyäpur: The first 3 acres of this land were acquired in 1970 and were in Rudravép. Inauguration was done at first GP festival in Mäyäpur in Çréla Prabhupäda himself went in 20 ft deep hole and placed Ananta dev and there were about 70 devotees from all over the place, mostly from America. When we acquired new land, Çréla Prabhupäda laid down the foundation again at a different place during Gaura Purnima festival in In Garga Samhita it is predicted that a magnificent temple would be situated 1 mile north of Mäyäpur and would be in Antardvépa. The new temple as designed is in Antardvépa and exactly one mile north of Mäyäpur. It is described in Navadvépa dhäm Mahatmaya that Ganges will cover the place of pastimes for a long time but after 400 years the dhäm would manifest again and its glories would spread far and wide. As we know that Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura started discovering and reestablishing these places around the same time and today the glories to Navadvépa dhäm are known in every corner of the world. In 1973 there was only the bhajan kutir. Later Lotus building was constructed, then Cakra building - the longest building in the West Bengal. Gradually other buildings came up and now we have plans to construct Vedic Planetorium. Çréla Prabhupäda said, Vedic Planetorium should depict the entire universe and one should be able to experience different lives in different planets as they finally reach Goloka. Such a temple will create a deep impact on the whole world and will become the model for many future cities. This temple as envisioned by Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura is already there and we simply have to play the role of putting bricks together. This 90

91 temple will manifest when Lord Caitanya desires, but we have to make the preparations. The vedic city should be connected by rail, road, water and air. Prasädam should be distributed to poor children and no one should be hungry in 10 miles radius of the temple. Devotees were worried from where the money would come. Çréla Prabhupäda said, Mädhava means master of goddess of Laxmi, so if you serve Rädhä-Mädhav nicely, money will come. So now we have facilities of land, finances and other resources that are needed to build the temple. History of the Deities: In 1969 Çréla Prabhupäda received 3 sets of Deities from a life member in Våndävana. One set of small Deities was traveling with Çréla Prabhupäda. When the Deities reached Calcutta, Çréla Prabhupäda said that they should stay there. Then for the first festival in the temple here, we brought the Deities from Calcutta. After the festival as we were packing the Deities, Çréla Prabhupäda instructed us that the Deities should now stay in Mäyäpur, temporarily at the Bhajan Kutir till we build them a big temple. Çré Çré Rädhä Mädhav were once taken to Hyderabad for one pandal program, and when Çréla Prabhupäda noticed them, he reprimanded us not to take Çré Çré Rädhä Mädhav out of Mäyäpur. Çréla Prabhupäda instructed us to get big Rädhä Mädhav Deities similar to small Rädhä Mädhava Deities. Çréla Prabhupäda specified, Kåñëa Deity should be black and 5feet 10inces tall, Rädhärani s Deity should be white and 5feet 8 inches tall and should be accompanied by the Deities of the ashta-sakhis. There should be an altar for Pancha Tattva, who should be made of metal and each one should be 7 feet tall. In 1977, one life member Ragapati came to Calcutta temple to contribute towards getting the Deities. He said that the previous night Çréla Prabhupäda had appeared in his dream and had spoken to him saying, My disciples are facing difficulties to get the Deities. Since you have facilities you help them. We went to Jaipur and gave the specifications to the craftsmen. The craftsman later told us that, These Deities are very special. While I was chiseling them, there was a constant beautiful ringing sound coming out of their forms, which I have never heard before. Once Birla family saw these deities in Jaipur and asked for the Deities, but the craftsmen declined their request. Birlas then tried to bribe him but the craftsman said, Neither can I give you these nor can I make another set like this. When he was polishing Mädhava, he saw a white mark on His body and on polishing Mädhava further; he said that the form of a sacred thread and tilak were revealed on the Deity s body. Jayadeva Goswämé in his songs has indicated that a spiritual city with a temple of jewels and with presiding Deities as Çré Çré Rädhä Mädhav would manifest here. So we can understand that the Deities did not get created in Jaipur but it is a divine arrangement of the Lord to manifest Himself through His perfect instrument, Çréla Prabhupäda. Lord Nåsiàhadev Deity: Once our temple was attacked by dacoits. Initially the craftsmen did not agree to carve Ugra Nåsiàhadev Deity as in Lord s angry mood even Lakshmi cannot approach Him. Once a person worshipped Ugra Nåsiàhadev and his whole dynasty was finished by His anger. But then the craftsmen had a dream where his spiritual master permitted him to do so. Because the Deity was for Mäyäpur that is presided by Caitanya Mahäprabhu, the most magnanimous and merciful form of the Lord, and Lord Nåsiàhadev will leave His anger and take the mood of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. A French devotee was pujäré and I used to watch him doing everything for the Deities. A pujäré is with the Deities almost 24 hours a day - he wakes up Kåñëa, bathes Him, dresses Him, worships Him, offers Him bhoga and puts Him to rest. I thought what a wonderful way of becoming Kåñëa conscious. As my love for this service grew, by Kåñëa s arrangement the pujäré left Mäyäpur and I became the new pujäré. Prayer and Meditation: What is the importance of visiting the dhäm and what we can take back from here?: Jananiväsas Prabhu said that upon entering the dhäm one should roll in the dust, leave one s false ego behind and enter the dhäm in the mood of servant of servant of servant of Lord Caitanya. The audarya (mercy giving) aspect of the Lord is prominent here as compared to the madhurya aspect in Våndävana. When Kåñëa became intoxicated in love, He started giving the same to others freely. Kåñëa Himself came as Caitanya Mahäprabhu in the mood of His dear most devotee, Çrémati Rädhäräëé. All the associates of the Caitanya Mahäprabhu, this dhäm, the dust, the water, the birds, everything has the mood of giving the mercy to others. Mäyäpur is transcendental abode of the Lord and has descended from the spiritual world. This is one place where you see sunrise and sunset and still not be in maya. We should not enjoy the dhäm but serve the dhäm. If we have dhäm consciousness i.e. to give mercy to others, the dhäm will reveal and manifest its splendor in our hearts even if we are physically far away from Navadvépa dhäm. The descent of Lord as Pancha Tattva to spread His Holy Names is the only thing that can smash the 91

92 pangs of Kali yuga. One should be fully convinced of this fact and deeply understand that the only thing any person needs is the message of Pancha Tattva. Since we have something that they need, it is our duty as a follower of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, to have a heartfelt desire to give it to others and in this way serve Navadvépa dhäm. We felt very enlightened after knowing the history of this mystical and merciful abode of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. The message of Jananiväsas Prabhu churned our desires and gave us deep perspective of how we can be present in the dhäm even though we may not be physically present there. We prayed that we become instruments of our äcäryas, and with deep conviction and compassion carry this abode with us and joyfully share it with others. Sad mood prevailed when we saw devotees leaving for their respective places. At the last moment, devotees were exchanging their numbers, messages, things to be sent from India to US and vice-versa. We all left for Prasädam Hall for our last day s prasädam. The prasädam was very opulent. At 3.30 Vrajanath Prabhuji took us on a tour of ISKCON Mäyäpur campus. While some of us were contemplating on taking rest for a few days, Çréla Romapäda Swämé left to his next place of preaching at 4.00 pm. He was setting an example of how one should serve one s spiritual master in an uninterrupted and loving way. We were a group of 10 devotees led by Vrajanath Prabhuji. It was difficult for us to adjust to the fact of going on tour without Mahäräj. First we went to Çréla Prabhupäda s rooms. We came to know that Çréla Prabhupäda used to drink coconut water at 4.00 pm and till date devotees offer him coconut water here. We understood that Çréla Prabhupäda cannot be non-existent from here and when we entered his room, we could feel his presence even more strongly. We were grateful to receive that special coconut water remnants of Çréla Prabhupäda. As we were looking around the room, Vrajanath Prabhu constantly engaged our ears in transcendental nectar of Çréla Prabhupäda s liläs. We could also see the grand Vyasa Puja book that was offered to Çréla Prabhupäda that year. We had darçan of a very beautiful Deity of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. He had very fine features and beautiful hair. The array of books that Çréla Prabhupäda used and printed were displayed on multiple bookshelves. His magnanimous form that was present there in the posture of writing tirelessly under light of a study lamp, churned our hearts to read Çréla Prabhupäda s books very seriously and regularly. We felt like spending an entire day in his quarters but due to time limitations we moved to the next place, Goshala. As we walked through the sacred streets of the campus, we also saw the setting sun and remembered what Jananiväsas Prabhu told to us. As we reached Goshala, we saw a big board portraying how all demigods reside in various parts of the body of cow. There was a small store on the side, which was selling medicines made from the cow urine. Initially the Goshala was on the ground floor but now 2 more floors were constructed in order to protect the cows from floods. There were 194 cows of many breeds. All the sweets offered to Çré Çré Rädhä Mädhav are made from the milk of these cows. There was a gobar gas plant that supplies gas to cook the feed for the cows. Next place we went to was Çréla Prabhupäda s pushpa samädhi. Its construction started in 1980 and was officially opened in It is huge dome shaped building. On the inner walls of the dome there is an exquisite artwork of colorful chips depicting demigods showering flowers on Çréla Prabhupäda. The walls around are painted with Çréla Prabhupäda s activities of preaching, translating books, Deity worship, gurukul etc. There is an opening in the ceiling from where flowers could be dropped. So every year at Çréla Prabhupäda s appearance day flowers are actually showered from the top and it appears that demigods are showering flowers from the sky. We went to the upper floor where the dioramas of Çréla Prabhupäda s activities run all around the inner circumference of the temple. Vrajanath Prabhu explained each diorama very nicely. When we saw how Çréla Prabhupäda was lying and giving his final lessons in this world, Vrajanath Prabhu reminded us how Bhismadev was lying on bed of arrows and gave instructions on how to leave ones body. For us the message is to practice Kåñëa Consciousness seriously so that at the end of our lives, we too are able to successfully leave our body as taught by Çréla Prabhupäda. Later some of us paid a visit to the samädhis of Çréla Tamal Kåñëa Goswämé Mahäräj, Çréla Çrédhar Swämé Mahäräj and Çréla Gaur Govinda Swämé Mahäräj and prayed to them for their mercy. Conclusion With this we ended our final day of the yäträ in Mäyäpur. We had mixed feelings. We felt very glad that we could stay back and take tour of our Mäyäpur campus but the feeling of going away from here and Mahäräj still made our hearts heavy. We felt as though our minds and our hearts have been sanctified by words of Çréla Romapäda Swämé and we desired to cultivate Kåñëa Consciousness with more seriousness, eagerness and faith. We have no words to express our gratitude towards Çréla Romapäda Swämé whose payers have made us fortunate to experience this holy Dhäm, and 92

93 whose words enlightened us on incomparable devotees of the Lord and greatly empowered äcäryas. The message of the yäträ is to be eager to receive the gift of Caitanya Mahäprabhu, give the same to others and be fully dependent on the disciplic succession with deep love and devotion. 93

94 Appendix Çré Dhäm Mäyäpur Çré Mäyäpur Dhäm is situated 60 miles to the north of Kolkata (in the state of West Bengal, India) in an area known as Navadvépa. Navadvépa consists of nine (nava) islands (dvépa), which form an eight-petalled lotus that floats on the waters of the Ganges. The center of this lotus is the ninth island called Antardvépa. Each one of these island represents one of the nine processes of devotional service. The nine divisions are: 1) Antardvépa, Çré Mäyäpur (surrendering everything); 2) Simantadvépa (hearing); 3) Godrumadvépa (chanting); 4) Madhyadvépa (remembering); 5) Koladvépa (serving the lotus feet); 6) Ritudvépa (worshipping); 7) Jahnudvépa (praying); 8) Modadrumadvépa (being a servant); and 9) Rudradvépa (being a friend). The circumference of the center of the flower, Antardvépa (Mäyäpur), is 3.5 miles, and the circumference of the eight flower petals of Navadvépa is 35 miles. Mäyäpur is situated where the sacred Ganges meets the Jalangi River. The center point, situated within Navadvépa, is Yoga Pitha, the sacred place where Lord Caitanya appeared in This is the place where Lord Caitanya performed several pastimes with His eternal associates. As Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu is non-different from Lord Kåñëa, so it is understood that Mäyäpur Dhäma is nondifferent from Våndävana. This is the place where several of our previous äcäryas, including Çréla Jagannätha däsa Bäbäjé, Çréla Bhakti Vinoda Öhäkura, Çréla Gaurakiçora däsa Bäbäjé, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura and Çréla Prabhupäda performed their worship. The vision of Çré Mäyäpur as a place of pilgrimage received its foundation from Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura. Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura continued development of this place, but its rapid growth was due to the efforts of Çréla Prabhupäda. Çréla Prabhupäda regarded Çré Mäyäpur as the epicenter of a global spiritual renaissance, one that would enable humanity to return to a more God-centered way of life. Here is the world headquarters of ISKCON. To a casual observer, Mäyäpur may seem a remote and unlikely place to establish world headquarters for the ISKCON society. As the birthplace of Çré Caitanya, however, it is central to the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy. However remote from the centers of commerce, industry, and politics it may be, from the spiritual point of view, it is the very center of the world. The 600-acre compound has accommodation for 3,000 pilgrims in guest houses, and includes a large temple, Çréla Prabhupäda s Puspa Samädhi, the rooms where Çréla Prabhupäda lived, a hut where Çréla Prabhupäda stayed, a gurukula school, a goshala (dairy), and beautiful gardens. 94