Misconception and Misbehaviour

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
6 April 2013, Sri Puri Dham

You are very fortunate to have come to Sri Puri Dham. If you get time, if you get an opportunity, come at the time of Ratha Yatra, the chariot festival. If you see Lord Jagannath on the chariot once, you do not have to take next birth—it is said in the scriptures that you will not get a bad birth.

Do you have any questions?

Question: Could you tell us who Brahmananda Bharati is?

Brahmananda Bharati was a sannyasi but he was a mayavadi sannyasi—he did not quite follow our conception. He always wore a tiger skin. (This is false renunciation—you can see in Vrindavan monkeys also go about naked; they are proud as if they were big sadhus but they always steal your spectacles. Last time they also took my spectacles at night. My car's window was almost closed, there was just a little gap, but they managed to take my spectacles from inside the car. Gurudev said also that all the monkeys in Vrindavan are actually fallen babajis.)

So, once all devotees gathered together and suddenly Brahmananda Bharati came to that assembly. Somebody said to Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, Prabhu! Brahmananda Bharati has come!" Brahmananda Bharati and Mahaprabhu had the same sannyas Guru, Keshav Bharati, so because Brahmananda Bharati belonged to the same group as Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu always gave honour to him. When one of the devotees told Mahaprabhu that Brahmananda Bharati had come, Mahaprabhu already knew it, but He asked, "Where is Brahmananda Bharati? Where is he? I cannot see him." He was sitting right there but because he was wearing only a tiger skin Mahaprabhu said He could not see him. Because Brahmananda Bharati was wearing a tiger skin, Mahaprabhu showed that He did not want to see him in that kind of dress. Even when the devotees pointed out at him, Mahaprabhu said, "This is not Brahmananda Bharati! Why would he wear a tiger skin? It cannot be him." Mahaprabhu made him shy, and after that time, having learnt the lesson, Brahmananda Bharati changed his clothes.

You might also have heard about Ramachandra Puri, Ishwar Puri's godbrother and Madhavendra Puri's disciple. He always criticised and made offence to sadhus and Vaishnavs, including even Mahaprabhu. Despite that, Mahaprabhu always gave honour to him because he belonged to his Guru-varga: Ishwar Puri (Ramachandra Puri's godbrother) was Mahaprabhu's Guru. Everybody said, "Prabhu, that man criticises You and everybody else. Why are You giving him so much honour?" Mahaprabhu did not listen to it and continued giving honour to him.

Once, Ramachandra Puri went to Gambhira, inside Mahaprabhu's house, and he saw many ants there. He asked Mahaprabhu, "O Prabhu, You are a new sannyasi, navin sannyasi, why are there ants in Your room? Perhaps, You are eating a lot of sweets?..." Hearing this, Mahaprabhu thought, "Oh, this man has been criticising Me behind My back and now he is doing it openly..."

Another time, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and his wife invited Mahaprabhu to their house, and Ramachandra Puri went there secretly: "I wonder what He is eating... Oh, there is so much prasadam there! And all the opulent prasadam!" He said to Mahaprabhu, "You have become a sannyasi, very nice—so now You can get all the nice opulent prasadam!" When Mahaprabhu heard it, He thought, "What can I do? This man is behaving like this..." He then told the devotees, "Do not invite Me again, and if you invite Me, make one-two items only, not more than that." All the devotees became very sad and prayed to Jagannath, "Prabhu, that man criticises everybody. Please remove him from Puri." Jagannath heard their prayers—because of his Vaishnav aparadh, Ramachandra Puri had to leave Puri...

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