(3/7) Smooth Parikrama Day

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Two
18 March 2019, evening class, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Every year I see during our parikrama that when we come to some place, there are other parties there and we do not get a proper place (for example, in Yogapith or Chaitanya Math), but this time everything was quiet, so we could sit and talk briefly about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Dham parikrama, about Antardwip. When we came to the temple of Lord Jagannath, we could talk about Simantadwip, Rudradwip, about Vishnu Swami, about Bhagirath Maharaj and how Ganga was coming with him and then stopped here in Nabadwip to meditate on the Lord. Bhagirath Maharaj was bringing the Ganges to the ocean, but the Ganges stopped on the way because she understood that Mahaprabhu, the Lord Himself, would appear here, so she wanted to meditate and worship the Lord for a month to get the blessing of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Tomorrow our parikrama will go to Champakhatti, Samudragad (the place of King Samudrasen) and several other places. We will not have to walk all the way there – buses will take us up to about Hematpur, and at the end of the parikrama (in Mamgachi), the same buses will bring us back. Koladwip will be on the last day because I do not want to face some people (you know who they are). If we cross paths with them, they will make problems – they come when we are talking and disturb. We do not want that, and we cannot do like that also. Such behaviour is not Vaishnav etiquette. That is why I always keep distance from them.

[His Divine Grace switches back to Bengali.] We have hired one more bus for tomorrow, so five buses will come from Mayapur tomorrow. On the last day, we will go to Koladwip (the temples of Buroraj, Mahaprabhu's house, Praudha Maya and Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj) and come back by bus, too.

Crossing the Ganges, we went to Pujyapad Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj's Math and to ISKCON. We do not go to the main temple at ISKCON anymore because one year they stopped our kirtan; we only visit the puspa-samadhi-mandir of Srila Swami Maharaj. We go there because many foreign devotees have a relation with Srila Swami Maharaj, and also because Srila Swami Maharaj had a relation with Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. There is a little problem because sometimes people start fighting with the security guards. [His Divine Grace chuckles.] They have a big system at the temple. They have become very opulent, so they worry what if somebody brings a bomb inside. There have been some terrorist attacks (bomb blasts) there before... We also went today to the place where Gaura and Nityananda met for the first time. This year we also went to a new place, Madhai Ghat. Barakona Ghat is also nearby (the current of the Ganges has changed, but there used to be a ghat in that area); it is the place where Digvijayi Pandit was defeated.

Because Digvijayi Pandit had got a boon from Saraswati, he was very proud. Conquering Kashi scholars, he came from there all the way to Nabadwip. At that time, all smartavadis, sahajiyas and mayavadis were jealous of Nimai, so they thought, 'If this Keshav Kashmiri (Digvijayi Pandit) defeats Nimai, Nimai's pride will vanish. What is this? He is so young, but He is showing off so much erudition!' One day, Nimai was sitting with His students at Barakona Ghat and speaking Hari-katha (teaching them about the Lord and explaining some grammar). When Digvijayi Pandit appeared there, Nimai treated him with much respect and gave him a place to sit. Digvijayi Pandit sat down proudly and asked Nimai, 'What are You teaching?' Nimai replied, 'Nothing much, just some basic grammar.' They spoke a little in this way, and then Mahaprabhu asked Digvijayi Pandit, 'Prabhu, can you please describe some glories of the Ganga?' Digvijayi Pandit agreed and then spoke many slokas at a lightening speed. Picking one sloka from there, Mahaprabhu asked, 'Can you explain this sloka and tell us what is good and what is bad in it?' Digvijayi Pandit explained it from the mayavadi point of view. (Brahman comes from Krishna, but mayavadis say that God is impersonal.) After Digvijayi Pandit finished his explanation, Mahaprabhu asked him, 'Prabhu, can I explain it now?' When Digvijayi Pandit heard Mahaprabhu's explanation, he was bewildered. Mahaprabhu's students began to laugh, but Mahaprabhu stopped them, 'Quiet!' Then, Nimai took His leave. Later, Digvijayi Pandit prayed to Saraswati the whole night, 'O Devi! I have got a boon from you that nobody in this world will be able to defeat me, but how is it that I have been defeated today?' Saraswati Devi appeared to him that night and said, 'The person who has defeated you today is my Lord.' So, Digvijayi Pandit got to know who Mahaprabhu was, and the next day he came to Him and surrendered at His holy feet. This is how Mahaprabhu bestowed His mercy on Digvijayi Pandit. We went to Barakona Ghat today where that pastime took place.

We went to many places today, but there are more places that we did not get time to visit – for example, there are some ponds, Murari Gupta's house and Kalovecha Sridhar Prabhu's house. Mahaprabhu drank water from Sridhar Prabhu's glass with a hole, and after that He said, 'I feel very happy at heart'...

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Future Vision
2) Happiness amidst Sadness
3) Smooth Parikrama Day
4) Chad Kazi Purified
5) Meaning of Vaishnav-Seva
6) Sole Sustenance: Sravanam, Kirtanam and Smaranam
7) Sincerity vs. Excuses