(2/14) Parikrama Outline

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class,
16 February 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

As you know, we will have a programme in the morning, and after that we will go for the parikrama. First we will go to Jahnu Kunda; it is right behind the temple. Remember these things. You must grasp them and keep them in your hearts. You must not listen to Hari-katha with your mind – you must listen to it with your hearts. It must get through your ears to your hearts, and when you later speak about these things, they should come out of your hearts to your mouths, then it will be sravan and kirtan.

We will go to Jahnu Kunda and take some water on our heads. You can also take some of its water to your houses – the water from all holy places (Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, etc.) exist within this Jahnu Kunda. In Vrindavan, Radha Kunda contains the water from all holy places; in Puri, it is Bindu Sarovar – all holy places reside within it. So, when you come to Jahnu Kunda tomorrow, place its water on your heads. It is a playground of Krishna and Balaram. Here in Ekachakra, Krishna is known as Bakarai (Bankarai). Wherever there is Balaram, there is Krishna, and Nityananda Prabhu is Balaram Himself, so wherever there is Nityananda Prabhu, there is Krishna. They played here sitting on their knees (hantu-mure, হাঁটুমুড়ে), so the place became known as Hatugada (Hantugada) or Jahnu Kunda. Deep in the water of the pond, there is a temple – it is very deep in the water, so nobody can find it. They have tried excavating the ground and even having taken out a lot of soil, they still could not find the temple because it is very deep in the ground – only its dome is visible.

We will also go to the bank of the Yamuna in Kadam-khandi. When Jahnava and Vasudha came to bring some water, she found a Deity of Krishna floating in the Yamuna. They installed the Deity and worshipped Him. The Deity is now kept in Bakarai – there is a Deity of Bakarai Krishna together with Jahnava and Vasuddha.

Near our temple is the appearance place of Nityananda Prabhu – they have build a big compound wall and gate at the place now. It is the place of Nityananda Prabhu's childhood pastimes, where He lived and played. There is also the place called Naripota. When women give birth to a child, there is some umbilical cord (nari-pota, নাড়ি পোঁতা) that comes out and that is usually buried. When Padmavati Devi gave birth to Nitai, the umbilical cord was buried at that place. It is a very pure place; it is a playground of Nityananda Prabhu. We will offer our obeisances there and then go to Pandav-tala.

When Pandavs were hiding, they visited many places all over India, and when they came to Bengal, they stayed here. Why did they choose this place in Dvapar-yuga? Because they knew that Balaram would come here again. So, Yudhisthir, Bhima, Arjuna Nakul and Sahadev stayed here together with their mother, Kunti Devi, and their wife, Draupadi. They stayed at the house of a brahman. (I have seen some bricks of that original house. I do not know if they still have those bricks preserved there or not.) Also, Vyasadev, the renowned composer through whom the Lord created all main scriptures (Srimad Bhagavatam and others), also stayed there, at Pandav-tala.

About twenty kilometres to the south-west of Ekachakra, there is also a place called Kotasur. You can find the story of Bokraksasi (Bokasur) in Mahabharata. This demon would go house to house and kill everybody, but he would eat only one of the killed men. One day, all the villages came together and made a decision how to save their village. They called the demon and said, 'You go to each and every house and kill everybody, but you need only one person for your food. So, we decided that we will send one man to you every day ourselves.' From then on, they had to send one person from a different house to the demon each day. When Pandavas came to that village after a while and were staying at the brahman's house, they saw one day the brahman, his wife and their son crying over something. They asked what had happened, but the family did not want them to know. Kunti Devi told them, 'Tell us what has happened. We have come and taken shelter at your house. If you have any problem, you must let us know.' The brahman replied, 'No, no! You are guests, we cannot tell this to you.' Anyhow, Kunti Devi insisted, and the brahman explained, 'There is a demon living near this village. We have to send food for him, and it is our turn to go tomorrow...' The brahman's son said, 'I will go,' but the brahman said, 'No, you will stay at home, I will go,' and then the wife said, 'No, you two will stay here, I will go.' None of them wanted to let the other person go. The next day, Bokraksasi was waiting for his food. Kunti Devi told everything to Bhima, and Bhima said, 'What demon is there? I will kill him!' So, it was settled that Bhima would go to Bokraksasi to fight. A big cart full of fruit and various foods was arranged, and Bhima set off for the demon's house. On the way, he got a little late. Bokraksasi thought, 'Why are they not coming? Where is my food?' Then, he saw Bhima approaching, he was surprised, 'They usually come shivering, but this one is walking at leisure, swinging side to side. And what is this? He is walking and eating my food!!' Bokraksasi was livid! When Bhima finally arrived, he asked him, 'Why are you late?!' Bhima said, 'Oh, my parents were crying a lot, so I left a little late.' Then, the fight started and Bhima killed the demon, saving all the villagers. We will go to Pandav-tala tomorrow.

One more place we will go to is Ekachaklesvar Sivji Maharaj's temple. Lord Siva resides in every holy place. There is Bhuteswar in Puri, Gopeshwar in Vrindavan, Chakleswar at Govardhan, Nandiswar in Nanda-gram, Ksetrapal Siva in Nabadwip (along with Buro Siva in Nabadwip Town and Gangadhar Sada-Siva at our temple in Kolerdanga). Sivji Maharaj is the protector of the holy dham. If you are to come to a holy place, you must always ask his permission. Nityananda Prabhu's father, Sri Hadai Pandit, worshipped Lord Siva at the temple of Ekachaklesvar Sivji Maharaj here in Ekachara. We will see this place tomorrow and pay our obeisances there.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Students' Chastity
2) Parikrama Outline
3) We Cannot Ignore Nityananda Prabhu
4) Reaching Out to Nityananda Prabhu
5) Dasya-Abhiman
6) Be Sincere and Serious
7) Worship Nitai!
8) Illusion of Devotion
9) Vaishnavs' Qualities
10) Who Are You Serving?
11) Learn to Appreciate Service
12) Lesson for Householder Devotees
13) Covering Up Prejudices
14) Devotion to Devotion