(3/12) Who Will Understand?

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vaishnav-seva programme in Begampur (Hooghly),
Early February 2019, part 3
Translated from Bengali

You know that when the founder of ISKCON, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj, whom everybody calls 'Prabhupad', used to stay at Ultadanga Road in Kolkata, our Gurupadpadma, together with Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, lived at his house. When Srila Swami Maharaj later had problems with his family, the only person who supported him was Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Srila Swami Maharaj wanted to take sannyas from him, but Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj said, 'You are my senior godbrother. I have stayed in your house and slept with you in one bed – if I take you out of your family and give you sannyas, your wife will curse me. Here is what you should do instead. I have given sannyas to Pujyapad Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj (he is the president of Devananda Gaudiya Math), so you can take the mantra from him.' So, Srila Swami Maharaj took sannyas from Srila Keshav Maharaj.

After 1937, when Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur left, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was very upset, so he left for Vrindavan. He stayed near Srila Sanatan Goswami's bhajan-kutir on the bank of Pavan Sarovar. Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj, who composed the first edition of our Sri Gaudiya Gitanjali, stayed at that place, too. Then, he heard a divine message from Srimati Radharani and Srila Prabhupad, saying, 'I have kept you here to preach about Rupa-Raghunath. What are you doing here, staying on your own?' There was one more story that happened before that.

You know Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur manifested his final pastimes at Bagh Bazar Gaudiya Math, Kolkata. During his last days, when it became clear that he was going to leave, Srila Prabhupad told the devotees who were around him, 'I want to hear the kirtan "Sri Rupa Manjari-pada" from Sridhar Maharaj.' Srila Sridhar Maharaj was not present in the room at that time, so another person started singing instead of him. Srila Prabhupad cried, 'I do not want to hear the tune! I want to hear the kirtan.' Everybody became quiet and waited for Srila Sridhar Maharaj to come. After Srila Prabhupad heard that kirtan from Srila Sridhar Maharaj's holy mouth, he left his body...

Our Gurupadpadma came to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj later, in 1947. Earlier on, leaving Vrindavan on Srila Prabhupad's order, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came to Nabadwip and established Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in a thatched hut on the bank of the Ganges in 1941. When our Gurupadpadma took Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's shelter, he was only seventeen years old, but he helped Srila Sridhar Maharaj a lot and did much service.

When Srila Swami Maharaj was going to open the Mayapur ISKCON temple in 1973, he invited Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj to the inauguration ceremony. Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came there together with our Gurupadpadma and Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj. Coming there, Srila Sridhar Maharaj said, 'Maharaj, we can see that you have brought so many foreign devotees, it is very good. But you are going to inaugurate a temple – where is the yajna and all the paraphernalia?' Srila Swami Maharaj replied, 'Maharaj, what need is there for it? When such a great Vaishnav like yourself has come here, my temple is already inaugurated.' Srila Sridhar Maharaj chuckled sweetly when he heard his reply. Later, when Srila Swami Maharaj requested him to speak during the class, Srila Sridhar Maharaj asked our Gurupadpadma (although he was wearing while clothes at that time, he always called him Govinda Maharaj), 'Govinda Maharaj, I am not feeling well today, please speak some Hari-katha instead of me.' During his speech, our Gurupadpadma recited this sloka:

কম্প্রতি কথয়িতুমীশে সম্প্রতি কো বা প্রতীতিমায়াতু ।
গোপতি-তনয়াকুঞ্জে গোপবধূটী-বিঢং ব্রহ্ম ॥

kam prati kathayitum ise samprati ko va pratitim ayatu
go-pati-tanaya-kunje gopa-vadhuti-vidam brahma

'To whom can I speak? Who will believe me when I say that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is hunting gopis in the bushes by the banks of the Yamuna? In this way the Lord demonstrates His pastimes.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.98)

Everybody was astonished to hear it. The meaning of what Sri Gurupadpadma said is this: 'There is this cowherd boy who roams the banks of the Yamuna, herding cows and playing His flute, who all the married milkmaids run after, hankering and dying for His company! Who in this world is capable of understanding this? Similarly, who could have said that the Abhay Babu of Kolkata would travel and preach Mahaprabhu's message all over the world? Whom will I tell it and who will understand it?' When Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj understood Gurudev's words, he exclaimed, 'Gaura Hari bol! Gaura Hari bol!'

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Size: 54 Mb
Length: 109 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Your Sreyo Must Become Your Preyo
2) Joy in Sadness
3) Who Will Understand?
4) Vaishnavs' Dignity
5) Read and Absorb
6) Sincere Self-Realisation
7) Mahaprabhu's Conception
8) Gist of Spiritual Life
9) Prison of Misconception
10) Learn and Live the Ideal
11) Service Alertness
12) Be Attached and Detached