At Sri Madhai Ghat

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Two
18 March 2019, Sri Madhai Ghat

Continuing our parikrama, we have now come to Madhai ghat. We have never come to this place before, but because we crossed the Ganges earlier today we are able to come here. This is Madhai ghat here, and the place nearby is Barokona ghat. You have all heard that once a scholar named Keshav Kashmiri came here to defeat Mahaprabhu. He had got a boon from Saraswati, but in the end he himself surrendered to Mahaprabhu—Mahaprabhu gave him His mercy. It happened near this place here, at the Barokona ghat. Before, the Ganga used to flow here. As you know, Jagannath Misra and Sachi Mata's house was near the Ganges—if you go a little further, there will be Barokona ghat and then Yogapith. Our new temple land in Mayapur is also near.

So, we have now come to Madhai ghat, and we must chant one kirtan here. [His Divine Grace starts the kirtan with the devotees:]

We are suffering from so many diseases, and, seeing our sadness, Gauranga and Nitai have brought the Holy Name from Goloka Vrindavan.

Jagai and Madhai were great sinners, but through the Holy Name they were rescued and became pure devotees. It is necessary to chant the Holy Name for this—and it is necessary to chant Hare Krishna, not Pare Keshta. We mostly chant Pare Keshta, not Hare Krishna. How so? Unless you chant without offences, you will be chanting Pare Keshta. One time, a lady took initiation from a guru and the guru told her to chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra. That lady's husband was Hare Krishna Pal, so when she came home, the husband and the wife began fighting—the husband said, "Hey, you cannot be chanting my name! I am your husband!" The wife said, "What am I to do now? Gurudev told me to chant it." The husband said, "Go write to your Guru and ask him." (Before, there were no phones, so you had to write letters if you wanted to invite anyone for a festival or ask anything.) The wife replied, "When will the letter come? Gurudev told me to chant the name now." Then the husband told her, "What is the difference? Pare Keshta sounds the same as Hare Krishna, then chant Pare Keshta Pare Keshta Keshta Keshta Pare Pare!"

"Niraparadhe Nama laile paya prema-dhana (নিরপরাধে নাম লৈলে পায় প্রেমধন): if you chant the Holy Name without offences, you will get the wealth of divine love of Krishna." (Cc, 3.4.71)

aparadha-sunya haye laha krsna-nama
achirat tumi pabe krsna-prema-dhana

'Chant the Holy Name of Krishna without offence and you will quickly get the treasure of divine love to Krishna.'

It is necessary to chant without offences.

People say, "Oh, I have two daughters, but I need a son!" Then they get four-five children (all girls) and when a fifth comes they get tired and say, "Oh, no! No more!" What becomes of such people after this life? They become pigs next life and then they can have as many kids as they want. Such is the life that is controlled by endless mundane desires (asa-vasa, asara sesa nai). We roam throughout many species (pigs, dogs, etc.) following our desires...

If you have some material desire, throw ash at it! Leave all desires for enjoyment and liberation and chant the Holy Name. We do not want any liberation (sayujya, merging with Brahman; sarupya, having the same body as the Lord; salokya, residing at the same planet as the Lord; samipya, being an associate of the Lord; sarsti, having the same opulences as the Lord)—we put our foot over liberation and cross over her. "Na cheye-o namer guna...."—all these things actually come without any effort as a result of chanting the Holy Name. Sadhus do not do business—we see devotees build enormous temples worth of millions of rupees, how is it possible? They do not do business, they do not earn money, but those who chant the Holy Name automatically get all facilities. Yet look at us—we always want temporary things, we want this and that, we come to the Lord for the sake of money, a house, etc., we bribe Laksmi, Kali, Durga... "Tuchchha phaler prayasa chhede re"—give up striving for trifle things.

You must think what result the chanting of the Holy Name brings, at the same time, you must not think, "Oh, I will chant the Holy Name and get everything I want!" This is wrong. You must not chant the Holy Name hoping for something in return. What you get or not get, the Lord will see to it.

So, we have come today here to Madhai ghat, the place where Madhai got the mercy of Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. Madhai was a terrible drunkard, he did so much wrong, but he had one good quality—he could steal, he could kill, but he never made a Vaishnav aparadh (he never committed any offence to a Vaishnav). You will say, "But he beat Nityananda Prabhu! How could he not have committed an offence?" If Madhai had not hit Nityananda Prabhu, how would he have been rescued and how would Nityananda Prabhu's glories have been revealed then? If Madhai had not beaten Nityananda Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu's glories would be unknown to this world. Such are the pastimes of the Lord.

When somebody chastises you, that is for your own benefit, it is no loss for you. Those who trouble you are the ones at loss—they can swear you, they can chastise you. What did Prabhupad say also? If somebody says to you anything bad about you, you must tolerate it, but if somebody says to you anything bad about your Guru, then you cannot tolerate it—you do not have to beat anyone for this, but you must explain it to them and try to bring them to the right path. Anyhow, we must all remember that although Madhai did so much wrong, he never made any offence to a Vaishnav...

At Sri Madhai Ghat.

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