Panihati

By His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj,
3 November 2010, Sri Nabadwip Dham

Today is Mahaprabhu's Subha Vijay in Panihati. We have been to Panihati for chira-dadhi mahotsav, it is the place where Srila Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu received mercy of Sri Nityananda Prabhu—having got His mercy, he got service to Mahaprabhu.

Actually, Panihati is not so far from Dum Dum Park, and it is a very nice place, on the bank of the Ganges...

Our Param Guru Maharaj's appearance day is on the same day as Virachandra Prabhu's appearance. Virachandra Prabhu is the son of Nityananda Prabhu; he was born in a village that is called now Virachandrapur. If we can get mercy of Virachandra Prabhu, we will get mercy of Nityananda Prabhu...

So, today is Subha Vijay—today Mahaprabhu went to Panihati. The house of Raghav Pandit and his sister Damayanti is in that same place. Raghav Pandit and Damayanti would prepare food during the whole year to take it later to Puri for Mahaprabhu. They would make so many preparations! The devotees at Raghav Bhavan still make many preparations for Mahaprabhu during the whole year—they still keep this tradition. When I went to Panihati for chira-dahi mahotsav, they showed me how they kept the preparations and they said that at the Ratha Yatra time something they would send and something they would take to Puri themselves.

That is one of the bhaktanga (one of the practices of devotion)—whatever property, whatever things you have that are dear to you, you must give it to your Gurudev, to Bhagavan.

One day Nityananda Prabhu came to Panihati with all His associates. When He saw Das Goswami Prabhu, He said, "Ai, chora, ai! Come here, thief, come here! Today I will give you your punishment." What punishment did He give? Nityananda Prabhu said, "You have to feed everybody here!" Das Goswami Prabhu replied to Nityananda Prabhu, "That is no punishment! What kind of punishment is this?" To get a chance to do Vaishnav seva is so fortunate! How many people get that kind of 'punishment'? Only a very fortunate soul can get the chance to do that kind of Vaishnav seva. And Das Goswami Prabhu made a festival there—chira-dadhi mahotsav (চিড়া-দধি মহোৎসব, lit. festival of chipped rice and yoghurt).

Panihati is a small place, but so many people, millions and millions of people, come there, and one year I went there too with a few Western devotees. We made a pandal there the day before the festival and brought chira, flat rice. That chira is mixed with water and distributed. It is a one day festival—we went there in the morning and came back the same day. It is easy to get there from Dum Dum Park.

Panihati festival is a preaching place—just take the books and give chira prasadam to the devotees. Very nice. When we went there, I had bought 200 kg flat rice and three-five people distributed it in small portions to everyone. Within half an hour it was finished, and we were shy there was no more prasad. Everyone was asking for more.

The tree where Nityananda Prabhu and His associates were sitting is still there, right on the bank of the Ganges. There, Das Goswami Prabhu got mercy—he bowed to Nityananda Prabhu, and Nityananda Prabhu kept His feet on Das Goswami's head. This is how Nityananda Prabhu gave His mercy to him.

This is how Das Goswami Prabhu got the chance to serve Mahaprabhu and Svarup Damodar. He mostly served Svarup Damodar because Mahaprabhu gave him to Svarup Damodar. Later, when they disappeared, Das Goswami Prabhu went to Radha Kunda and stayed there. His samadhi, his bhajan kutir are still there, and every year when go on Govardhan parikrama we sit there...

Everyone wants to get mercy of the Lord, but not everybody gets it. It depends on one's sukriti, and we are lacking it—if there is no sukriti, we cannot get service to the Lord. People come for this festival from so far, but we, the Bengalis, stay at home, with visaya (বিষয়)...

বিষয়ে যে প্রীতি এবে আছয়ে আমার ।
সেই মত প্রীতি হউক চরণে তোমার ॥

visaye ye priti ebe achhaye amara
sei-mata priti hauk charane tomara

Gitavali, 4.5, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

We have affection for the material things, for the wife, etc., but that kind of affection must come for the lotus feet of the Lord. If that affection does not come, there is nothing...

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