Intolerable

His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj,
26 December 2010

মর্যাদা-লঙ্ঘন প্রভু সহিতে না পারে, maryada-langhana Prabhu sahite na pare. Mahaprabhu cannot tolerate disrespect of senior, bona fide Vaishnavs.

Once Jagadananda Pandit advised Sanatan Goswami to go to Vrindavan, but when Mahaprabhu heard it, He said to him, "Sanatan is My Guru. You were born only yesterday, and now you are teaching Sanatan Goswami?! It is not right."

Mahaprabhu chastised Jagadananda Pandit very much, and Sanatan Goswami became shy to see how much affection Mahaprabhu was giving to Jagadananda Pandit, "Prabhu, You are giving sweet to him, but You are not giving sweet to me." Now, in this age of Kali, it is not like at that time. If you chastise some brahmachari, he will at once say, "I do not need such a Guru. There are so many other Gurus, I must leave this Guru and go to another one." But Sanatan Goswami was crying that he was not chastised.

You heard also about Srikantha, the nephew of Sivananda Sen.

When Nityananda Prabhu and all the devotees were going to Puri from Nabadwip, there was a dog who followed them. When they had to cross a river, the boat man did not want to allow the dog into the boat (he considered it inauspicious to take a dog in a boat). Sivananda Sen negotiated with the boatman, "I will pay you 10 times the fare," and they immediately allowed to take the dog—suddenly the 'inauspiciousness' was gone. That dog reached Mahaprabhu in Gambhira long before the devotees. Do you understand? How will you recognise a Vaishnav? Just imagine it—devotees had not reached yet but the dog was already with Mahaprabhu. Sivananda Sen was searching, "Where has the dog gone? Where has the dog gone?" He fasted that day, "I will not eat today, and everybody has to fast this night." He was anxious about the dog, but when the devotees finally came to Mahaprabhu, they saw that very dog eating a coconut that Mahaprabhu had given to it.

Also, on the way at that time there was some tax to be paid. Nityananda Prabhu was walking at the front with the devotees, and Sivananda Sen was behind, managing all the devotees. The tax collector asked Nityananda Prabhu, who was at the head of the procession, for the tax, but Nityananda Prabhu replied, "The leader is behind, he will pay." So many people went through saying the same, "Our leader is behind." There was a big line, and Sivananda Sen was managing everyone, helping them pass the place.

In the meantime, Nityananda Prabhu became very hungry. He was sitting under a tree, and waiting, waiting, one hour passed, two hours passed, but Sivananda still was not coming. "Where is Siva? Where has he gone? These householder people are misers! How is it possible to deal with them?" In this way, Nityananda Prabhu began swearing. Angry that Sivananda was so late, Nityananda Prabhu gave a curse that his two sons would die. What is the meaning of that curse? When Sivananda Sen's wife heard this, she began to cry.

In the meantime, Sivananda Sen finished bargaining with the tax collector and ran to Nityananda Prabhu. Understanding that Nityananda Prabhu was angry, he paid full obeisance to Him saying, "Prabhu, everything is my fault," and Nityananda Prabhu kicked him. Hearing about the curse, he said, "If you get mercy from Nityananda Prabhu and your child will die, that is good! That is a great mercy." Sivananda began dancing! Sivananda Sen was dancing, "I have got mercy today!"

While Sivananda Sen was dancing for joy, his nephew, Srikantha, became angry, "My uncle is an honourable person, a great personality. He brought so many devotees, and so many devotees give honour to him, but Nityananda Prabhu is giving so much dishonour to him. What kind of sadhu is He?!" Srikantha went to Mahaprabhu to complain. Mahaprabhu had already understood what had happened there and asked Srikantha, "Do you wish to say something?" But Srikantha could not say anything. When he saw Mahaprabhu, he could not complain—he forgot everything.

He thought that people would see Nityananda Prabhu giving so much disrespect to a big sadhu, then they would criticise Him, but those who have some pure devotion, who have a deep devotional mood, can easily understand why Nityananda Prabhu had kicked Sivananda Sen. It is a very important matter. If you understand it, then you can understand how merciful Nityananda Prabhu is.

Mahaprabhu Himself gave a certificate to Nityananda Prabhu, "If Nityananda Prabhu brings a drunkard Muslim lady along—if He pulls and catches her, He has no fault. Moreover, seeing this, even Lord Brahma will come and give dandavat to Him."

It is said in the scriptures that if somebody does some sinful work unknowingly, Krishna does not ask for his prayaschitta, atonement—prayaschitta is not necessary. Bhagavan, Lord Himself always rescues His servitors. Through chanting, through service, everything can be removed, but practice is necessary. Practice, strongest faith, and full surrender (sadanga saranagati, six-fold surrender) are necessary:

ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yahara
tahara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"Sri Krishna hears the prayers of those who surrender in this six-fold way."

It is explained very nicely.

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