(2/6) Starting Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
25 February 2019, noon, part 2
Translated from Bengali

One day, Srila Prabhupad asked Srila Sridhar Maharaj, 'Will you come to Mayapur?' Srila Sridhar Maharaj agreed, 'Yes, I will.' He went to Mayapur and took Harinam initiation from Srila Prabhupad. He took shelter at Srila Prabhupad's feet.

When Srila Prabhupad heard Srila Sridhar Maharaj's preaching and read his Sanskrit writing, he liked it very much. He understood that Srila Sridhar Maharaj was not an ordinary man, that he was a great Vaishnav. Six years later (in 1930), when Srila Sridhar Maharaj took sannyas, Srila Prabhupad gave him the name 'Bhakti Raksak' (guardian or devotion) and 'Sridhar' (the renowned commentator of Srimad Bhagavatam).

Later, after Srila Prabhupad's disappearance in 1937, Srila Sridhar Maharaj became dejected and left for Vrindavan. There, he stayed at Pavan Sarovar. When we do Vrindavan parikrama, we always visit this place. Pavan is the name of Visakha's father: he excavated the land and created that pond. Srila Sridhar Maharaj stayed there, at Srila Sanatan Goswami's bhajan kutir. He would often visit Kadam Khandi, where he composed verses there and revealed his internal thoughts. But Srila Prabhupad did not keep him there for a long time. Although Srila Prabhupad had already left at that time, one day Srila Sridhar Maharaj could understand that Srila Prabhupad was calling him, 'Sridhar Maharaj, what are you doing there in Vrindavan? Why are you feeling so dejected? Why do you only think about yourself? I have left my men in this world – what will become of them? Have you ever thought about them?' Hearing this divine message from Srila Prabhupad, Srila Sridhar Maharaj left Vrindavan without a second of delay. He came to Nabadwip. Many of his godbrothers then came to him.

In 1940, Vinod Bihari Prabhu took sannyas from Srila Sridhar Maharaj and decided to buy a land and make Srila Sridhar Maharaj the acharya of the temple, 'You are my sannyas-guru, so you must be the leader.' Srila Sridhar Maharaj agreed and stayed at Srila Keshav Maharaj's temple. But everybody began to come to hear Srila Sridhar Maharaj's lectures. Srila Keshav Maharaj was clever. He thought, 'I have made this temple, spending a lot of money to buy the land and construct the temple, but everybody is coming to hear Srila Sridhar Maharaj,' so he told everybody that it was not necessary to come to the class. He said, 'There are many books in the library, everybody can borrow the books and read them on their own.' Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not like it because sadhus always engage in giving lectures and chanting kirtans (this is not something that can be eliminated from a temple's programme). So, he told Srila Keshav Maharaj, 'You made me the president of the temple, but if nobody wants to listen to me here, then I do not want to stay here. I would rather leave.' So, he left.

He came to Kolerganj. Satish Prabhu (Nayananda Das Babaji) gave him a piece of land, and Srila Prabhupad's disciple Sakhi Charan Ray Bhakti Vijay (Sakhi Babu), a householder devotee, gave him ten rupees per month. This is how Srila Sridhar Maharaj established Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

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Length: 51 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Joining Prabhupad's Mission
2) Starting Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
3) Forgotten Bond
4) Mahaprabhu's Hospitality
5) Kirtan Mood
6) Keep and Protect Relationship