(6/9) Remembering Lord's Associates

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vasanta Panchami, Tarakeshwar,
10 February 2019, evening, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Today is also the appearance day of Sri Pundarik Vidyanidhi. He appeared in Chattagram (present-day Bangladesh), and Mahaprabhu always called him 'Father'. When Gadadhar Pandit came to meet with him and saw him eating paan, he did not like him. He thought, 'How can a sadhu take paan and spit around?' But Mahaprabhu knew who Pundarik Vidyanidhi was. He is Raja Vrisabhanu, Srimati Radharani's honourable father. We sing this kirtan every morning:

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু জীবে দয়া করি' ।
স্বপার্ষদ স্বীয় ধাম সহ অবতরি ॥

sri-krsna-chaitanya prabhu jive daya kari'
svaparsada sviya dhama saha avatari

'Being merciful to the souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descends with His associates and abode.'

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appears in Kali-yuga together with all His associates. All the associates who took part in Krishna's pastimes in Dvapar-yuga appeared later in Kali-yuga. Among them, Pundarik Vidyanidhi was Radharani's father, Raja Vrisabhanu. He became Sri Gadadhar Pandit's guru.

Today is also the disappearance day of Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur. He is part of Srila Narottam Das Thakur's guru-parampara. Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur wrote a commentary to Srimad Bhagavatam. There appeared an atibari sampadaya after Mahaprabhu who spread wrong conceptions, and Srila Visvanath Chakavarti Thakur confronted and refuted their misconceptions. I have told you many times that there are thirteen main apa-sampradayas (movements that preach wrong conceptions): aul, baul, kartabhaja, nera, darvesh, saki, sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta, jata-gosani, atibari, chudadhari, gauranga-nagari. Atibari said that only sannyasis and tyagis could preach about the Lord. This is a misconception. Householders can preach, too. Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur refuted their misconception.

At first, Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur lived in his family, he was married. In his later years, he told his wife to continue practising Krishna consciousness and left his family and went to Vrindavan.

বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ
শুনিয়াছি সাধুগুরুমুখে

vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana
suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe

'Singing the glories of the Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul – I heard this from the mouth of sadhus and my guru.'

(Acharya-vandana)

Always check the calendars, see whose appearance or disappearance days are mentioned there. There is also a book called Gaura-parsada Charitravali (Bengali, published by Gaudiya Math) – you can come to the temple and listen to it being read on those days.

This is how we must practise Krishna consciousness. We must serve the Lord, our guru and Vaishnavs. This is our life and soul. When you see appearance and disappearance days mentioned in the calendar, speak Hari-katha, glorify them. 'Singing the glories of the Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul – I heard this from the mouth of sadhus and my guru.' We must always chant the glories of Vaishnavs, gurus and sadhus. 'Yei sthane vaisnava nai, sei sthane yete nai – you must not go to any place where there are no Vaishnavs.' 'Yatha vaisnav, tatha tirtha – a holy place is wherever there is a Vaishnav present.' 'Vaisnava sangete mana anandita anuksana – in the association of Vaishnavs, my mind is always joyful.' Always remember that our main duty is to serve devotees of the Lord. I spoke about service to the devotees of the Lord yesterday, and I will speak about it some more today, too...

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Conquering the Conquerer
2) Two Phenomenal Personalities
3) Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's Pastimes
4) Mukunda's Faith
5) Sri Raghunandan Thakur
6) Remembering Lord's Associates
7) Devotees' Wealth
8) Do As You Please
9) Remember Great Souls