(9) Capital Defeat

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Lord Siva's Temple inauguration,
5 March 2019, evening, part 9
Translated from Bengali

When Nimai grew up and was seventeen years old, He met with Keshav Kasmiri Digvijayi Pandit.

[To some people crowding at the back] Please sit down. Everybody will get prasad at the end. It is evening now, so please do not leave without taking prasad. Today they need to cut a lot of vegetables – you can see them chopping cabbage with steel glasses. [To the devotees cutting the cabbage] Do not cut it too big! Chop it finely! I remember one time when we had a big festival at Gaura Purnima, I saw them take whole pumpkins and smash them down against the ground – the pumpkins broke into pieces and they put them like that into the kadai and cooked [His Divine Grace laughs].

So, although Nimai was only seventeen years old, a youth, He already had students to whom He was teaching Sanksrit grammar and speaking Hari-katha. At that time, there was one digvijayi pandit called Keshav Kasmiri. A 'digvijayi pandit' means 'one who has conquered (vijayi) all directions (dig)'. Keshav Kasmiri had conquered all the great scholars residing in Kashi, Kasmir and other places.

In those days, Nabadwip was considered the Oxford of India – everybody would come there to get education. But Nimai defeated whoever tried to excel at knowledge and education, so all the brahmans and gosais wanted to beat Him because they thought that He was too cunning.

So, having conquered all the scholars all over India, that digvijayi pandit Keshav Kasmiri arrived in Nabadwip. The smarta brahmans thought, 'We should just leave this place, but if this pandit can debate with Nimai and make Him lose, then He will know His place – it would be good!' Keshav Kasmiri arrived in Nabadwip with his great party – with elephants, horses and a band. Upon his arrival, he asked somebody, 'Who is the greatest scholar here?' He was told, 'The greatest scholar here is Nimai Pandit.' Keshav Kasmiri asked, 'Where is He? I want to talk to Him!' He was shown the way. At that time, Nimai was sitting on the bank of the Ganges (on the plain ground) and speaking about the Lord to a few of His students.

Nimai was always humbler than a blade of grass, so when He saw a digvijayi pandit arrive, He immediately got up and offered him the honourable seat of the speaker and He Himself sat below, among His students. Keshav Kasmiri's pride swelled even more. Then, the following conversation took place between them:

'O pandit', Nimai said, 'your name is renowned in all over India. Everybody knows who you are. As for Me, I do not know anything, I am a fool, but we are seated here, on the bank of the Ganges, could you please speak about the glories of the Ganges?'

Keshav Kasmiri was not only a great scholar – he was also a recipient of Mother Saraswati's boon. She blessed him, 'Nobody in this world will be able to defeat you.' So, he was absolutely undaunted. When Nimai asked him to speak about the glories of the Ganges, he stated speaking at the lightning speed – he must have spoken two hundred Sanskrit verses in one breath. Among all those verses, Mahaprabhu singled out one and asked the pandit, 'What is good and what is bad in this verse? Is there, perhaps, any defect? Could you please explain it?' Digvijayi Pandit was astonished, 'What is this? I spoke at a lightning speed, how could He remember that verse??'

'How did You remember this verse?' he asked Nimai.

'You are a recipient of Saraswati Devi's boon,' Nimai replied, cunningly, 'so you can remember everything by heart. And I have also got some boon from Devi, so having heard something one time, I can remember it.'

Digvijayi Pandit explained the meaning of that verse, but his explanation was full of mayavadi (impersonal) conception. We say that a lotus appears from a pond, but if you say that a pond appears from a lotus, how can that be true? Brahma receives his power from Krishna, but they say that everything merges into Brahma, that Brahma creates everything and once we merge back into him, then we do not have to be born again. This is the impersonal conception. Having heard all this explanation, Mahaprabhu asked the pandit humbly, 'Prabhu, please do not mind it, but can I say something?' When Mahaprabhu explained the verse, all the students who were present during that conversation and heard it understood that the explanation of the great renowned pandit was wrong. They started laughing, but Mahaprabhu chided them, 'Stop it! Stop it!' Digvijayi Pandit sat with his head lowered. He had lost. Then, Mahaprabhu told him sweetly, 'Please do not mind it. Do not take My offence. I should go now.'

When Digvijayi Pandit returned to the place where he was staying in Nabadwip, he did not eat anything. He felt very hurt because he had come to Nabadwip to conquer it, but, instead of conquering it, he ended up getting defeated by a seventeen-year-old boy! He prayed to Saraswati, 'O Devi, what offence have I made at your feet? You told me that nobody would be able to defeat me, but you let me lose to a seventeen-year-old boy today! What is this?...' He went to sleep, and when he was asleep, Saraswati Devi came to him in a dream and said, 'O Digvijayi Pandit, wake up! Do you know who you have lost to today? I told you that you would not be defeated by anybody in this world, and you have not been. He who you were defeated by today is my Master. He is the Master, the Father of the whole universe. You were not defeated by any man. You have got a boon from me and accumulated much knowledge, but today you were taught the highest lesson. Wake up tomorrow and come to beg forgiveness at His holy lotus feet.'

The next morning, Mahaprabhu went to the Ganges to take a bath after the mangal-arati. After that dream, Digvijayi Pandit woke up and ran after Mahaprabhu. He caught up with Nimai and fell at His feet, clasping them.

'O pandit! What on earth are you doing?!' Mahaprabhu exclaimed. 'You are a great digvijayi pandit, how can you touch My feet?! Please do not, it is an offence for Me to let you touch Me feet!'

'Mother has told me who You are,' Digvijayi Pandit replied. 'Please do not cheat me. I know who You are. Please forgive my offence.'

This is how Mahaprabhu bestowed His mercy upon Digvijayi Pandit. Such are the childhood and adolescence pastimes of Mahaprabhu. There are many other pastimes, it will take so much time to tell about everything...

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