Srila Narottam Das Thakur's Separation

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj,
Srila Narottam Das Thakur's disappearance day
Sri Nabadwip Dham, 4 November 2012, part 3

I am telling about Narottam Das Thakur.

You know, actually, how much desire Narottam Das Thakur had to come to the lotus feet of Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu! Before he went to Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu, he took permission from Ramachandra Kaviraj. You know that both Ramachandra Kaviraj and Narottam Das Thakur came from Bangladesh/Bengal—when they were young boys, they would think, "How will we rescue others? How will they become devotees?"

Narottam Das Thakur was akumar brahmachari—he never got married. His father was a rich king named Krishnananda Datta, his elder brother's name was Purusottama Datta. Narottam Das Thakur was born in the month of Magha (January/February), it was in the winter season. Receiving the order of Jahnavi Mata, he arranged a festival Bangladesh celebrating Mahaprabhu's appearance. He started it there. Mahaprabhu actually went to Bangladesh, and went to the place where he lived, but at that time Narottam had not been born yet.

How did he leave his body? It was unbelievable. It happened on the panchami (fifth) day of the Kartik month, that is today, a very nice day. Thakur Mahasay always sang, "Gaura Nityananda! Nitai Gaura Hari bol! Nitai Gaura hari bol!" Even when he was in Vrindavan, Narottam Das Thakur always practised Gaura Nitai's songs and preached about them exclusively. Then, one day, he was chanting and the devotees could see that he was saying, "I want to go, I want to go. I want to leave my body." He said this in front of everybody. He asked the devotees, "Please bring some Ganges water for me and put it on my whole body. And I want to hear some song..." Then, everybody began to chant and he slowly, slowly lay down and in this way passed away... He said he wanted to go and he left.

In his lifetime, many kings, Narasingha, Sri Rupa Narayan and many others, came to surrender at Narottam Das Thakur's lotus feet. He gave the main conception to us in a very nice way, spreading Nama sankirtan. He wrote in his Prema-bhakti-chandrika,

জয় সনাতন রূপ, প্রেমভক্তিরসকূপ
যুগল-উজ্জ্বলরস তনু ।
যাহার প্রসাদে লোক, পাশরিল দুঃখশোক,
প্রকট কলপতরু জনু ॥

jaya sanatana rupa prema-bhakti-rasa-kupa
jugala-ujjwala-rasa tanu
yahara prasade loka, pasarila duhkha-soka
prakata kalapataru jana

"Glory to Sanatan and Rupa, two wells of mellows of devotional love, personifying the highest mellows towards the Divine Couple. By their mercy, a wish-fulfilling tree has manifest that relieves the unhappiness and grief of all people."

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika)

He also wrote the song, "Ye anila prema dhana karuna prachura..." In that song, he sang, "Where will I will go? Where am I to go to get Rupa Sanatan?" It is a viraha giti (song of separation). He felt so much separation from these Vaishnavs, he sang about it. We also sing it on every disappearance day of Vaishnavs.

যে আনিল প্রেমধন করুণা প্রচুর ।
হেন প্রভু কোথা গেলা আচার্য্য ঠাকুর ॥

ye anila prema-dhana karuna prachura
hena prabhu kotha gela acharya thakura

"Where has Advaita Acharya, the Lord who mercifully brought the wealth of divine love to this world, gone?"

কাঁহা মোর স্বরূপ-রূপ' কাঁহা সনাতন ।
কাঁহা দাস রঘুনাথ পতিতপাবন ॥

kaha mora svarupa rupa kaha sanatana
kaha dasa raghunatha patita-pavana

"Where are my Svarup, Rupa, and Sanatan? Where is my Raghunath Das? Where are the saviours of the fallen souls?"

"Where is Sanatan Goswami? Where is Raghunath Das Goswami? Where is Rupa Goswami? Where is Ramachandra Kaviraj? I will break my head against a stone, because I do not know where I can get them!" He felt that kind of separation. When Narottam Das Thakur left his body, the devotees sang this song.

জয় রূপ সনাতন, দেহ মোরে এই ধন,
সে রতন মোর গলে হারা ।

jaya rupa sanatana deha more ei dhana
se ratana mora gale hara

"Glory to Rupa and Sanatan! You have given me this treasure [love to the Divine Couple] and I wear these jewels on my neck."

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur, Sri Sri Prema-bhakti-chandrika)

"Where are Rupa and Sanatan? Please give me that kind of property! Where have they gone?!"

হা হা কৃষ্ণ ! বলি বলি, বেড়াঙ আনন্দ করি,
মনে মোর নহে যেন দূজা ।
জীবনে মরণে গতি, রাধাকৃষ্ণ প্রাণপতি,
দুঁহার পিরীতি রস-সুখে ।

ha ha krishna! bali bali vedana ananda kari
mane mora nahe yena duja
jivane marane gati radha-krsna prana-pati
dunhara piriti rasa-sukhe

"Chanting constantly, 'O Krishna! O Krishna!' I roam around in great joy without any other thoughts. Radha and Krishna are the masters of my life, They are my goal of life whether I am dead or alive."

যগুল চরণ-সেবা, এই ধন মোরে দিবা,
যুগলেতে মনের পিরীতি

yugala charana-seva, ei dhana more diba
yugalete manera piriti

"Please grant me the wealth of service to the lotus feet of the Divine Couple, may my mind and heart feel love to Them."

শ্রীসংকীর্ত্তন, বিষয় রসে উনমত,
ধর্ম্মাধর্ম্ম নাহি মান ।
যোগ দানব্রত, আদি ভয়ে ভাজত,
রোয়ত করম গেয়ান ॥

sri-sankirtana, visaya rase unamata,
dharma-adharma nahi mana
yoga dana-vrata, adi bhaye bhajata,
royata karama geyana

"Intoxicated by the ecstasy of Sri Sankirtan, he [Narottam Das Thakur] did not distinguish between right and wrong. Yoga, charity, vows, etc. all parched in fear and karma (fruitive works) and jnana (knowledge) wept."

(Sri Govinda Das)

If you practise properly, if you practise Krishna consciousness, then all kinds of bad elements—all kinds of yoga, dana, dhyan (yoga, charity, meditation)—will be removed from you heart. Everything undesirable will be removed from your heart...

দীন দীন জনে, দেয়ল ভকতি ধনে,
বঞ্চিত গোবিন্দদাস ।

dina hina jane, deyala bhakati dhane
vanchita govinda dasa

"He gave the treasure of devotion to all poor and bereft people, and this Govinda Das is utterly deprived."

(Sri Govinda Das)

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