(4/6) Arriving at Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's House

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Puri Dham Parikrama
10 July 2018, translated from Bengali, part 4

Hari bol!

Listen carefully. Where have we come? Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's house. I told you before who he was. He was the head, or chief, of the Jagannath Temple – he took care of it. But he was a mayavadi devotee (he believed in Brahma-jnana, the doctrine of impersonalism). He did not even believe in Mahaprabhu at first. He could not believe that He was the Lord Himself who had come to this world because he only saw a man of flesh and blood...

When Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He went to Sri Puri Dham entering through the Atharnala bridge. When we go to Alarnath by bus, I will show it to you. 'Atharnala' means 'eighteen gates' – this bridge has eighteen cavities, or gates. This bridge was built by king Indradyumna, who also built the temple of Lord Jagannath. King Indradyumna had eighteen sons.

You all do not have so many sons, but any of you do, then give me at least two of them for the Lord's service! [Devotees laugh.] Even if you have two sons, give me one of them for the Lord's service. At first, I was the only son in my family. Because I left to serve the temple, my father was very worried, 'Who will look after all the property?' So, the Lord gave him two more sons. I have never seen or met them to this day.

[His Divine Grace then continues speaking about Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, but he remarked on another occasion: 'King Indradyumna thought that if any of his sons were alive, they would fight and become the heirs of the temple, but he considered the temple to be the property of the devotees and did not want his sons to later claim any right over it and use it for their own purpose, so he killed all eighteen sons one by one. This is how the place got its name, Atharnala.']

Coming to Alarnath, Mahaprabhu asked Nityananda Prabhu, 'Nitai, where is My danda?' Sannyasis commonly carry a danda. You have seen this. Those who take sannyas must carry sannyas-danda for one year, and after that it is not necessary. My danda is in Kolkata. So, when Mahaprabhu asked Nityananda Prabhu where His danda had gone, Nityananda Prabhu told a lie! He said, 'Prabhu, You were dancing and chanting so much that You became overwhelmed with the eight-fold transcendental ecstasy. You fell down on Your danda, and it broken into three parts. I threw it into the Bhargi River.' Mahaprabhu became angry, 'Nitai, I have taken from Nabadwip only one small thing, a stick, that was dear to Me, but You have broken it?! I will not go with You! Either you all go first and I go after you, or I will go first.' The devotees who were with Mahaprabhu at that time (Gadadhar Pandit, Mukunda Datta, Chandrasekhara Acharya and one or two more devotees) thought, 'If we go first, then we will never know where Mahaprabhu goes. Let Mahaprabhu go first, and we will see from behind where He is going and follow Him.' But thinking about Jagannath, feeling extremely drawn to Jagannath, Gaura Hari began to walk so fast that the devotees could not catch up with Him even when they ran! Walking and walking very fast, Mahaprabhu finally rushed into the Jagannath Temple.

At the temple of Lord Jagannath, there are servitors who guard the Deities and do not allow anyone to come close. They usually stand next to a bar in front of the Deities. Seeing Mahaprabhu rushing in, they wanted to beat Him, but seeing Mahaprabhu's appearance (His radiance and opulence), nobody dared strike Him. The Lord possesses all opulences; not only that – all planets reside within Him. When Krishna yawned, Mother Yasoda saw all 330,000,000 demigods in His mouth! Mahaprabhu ran in with foam coming from His mouth, and all He could say was, 'Ja-ja-ga-ga, Ja-ja-ga-ga...' He could not pronounce Lord Jagannath's Name. Then, one man ran to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya to tell him the news and call him to the temple. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya came to the temple, saw Mahaprabhu and said, 'Whoever He is, let it be. Take Him to my house.' The temple is nearby, so the guards brought Mahaprabhu from the temple here, to the house of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.

His Divine Grace seated at the house of Sri Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Arriving at Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's House
2) Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's Conversion
3) Strongest Faith and Devotion