(2/9) Madhavendra Puri Meets Gopal

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
19 March 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

One time, when Srila Madhavendra Puripad was sitting on the bank of Govinda Kunda, a boy came to him in the evening.

'Madhav,' He said, 'I have brought some milk for you. Drink it!'

'How did You know I was hungry?' Srila Madhavendra Puri asked.

'Nobody in this village stays hungry. In this village, we feed everyone, no matter whether they ask for it or not. Some ladies came to fetch water, and they told Me that a sadhu was sitting here and he had nothing to eat. So, they asked Me to bring you some milk.'

'But where are You from? Where is Your house? What do You do?'

'I am a cowherd, I roam everywhere grazing cows. Anyway, I will talk to you later, I must go now.'

When Srila Madhavendra Puri drank that milk, he became overwhelmed with divine love for the Lord. Gradually, he regained his senses and wondered, 'The boy must have forgotten to come for the pot, but where do I find Him?' He stayed on the bank of Govinda Kunda and waited for the boy to come back. Then, night came, and he eventually fell asleep (he was tired after having walked all the way to Vrindavan). He went to Vrindavan on foot! Just like Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, who also walked to Puri. So, Srila Madhavendra Puri fell asleep. It gets very cold in Vrindavan at night, so it is hard to actually lie down – they would usually sit and lean against a tree and sleep like that. Gopal gave His darshan to Srila Madhavendra Puri in a dream.

'Madhav,' He said, 'you asked Me where I stayed. Come with Me, I will show you.'

Then, Gopal took Srila Madhavendra Puri to the jungle and showed him the place. Suddenly, his dream broke. He lamented, 'How unfortunate! Gopal (Supreme Lord Krishna) has personally come to me, but I could not recognise Him!' In the morning, he gathered some local villagers and went to look for the place he had seen in his dream. When they found the place, he told everyone, 'Look, here is the Deity of your village.'

When Muslim people were breaking temples, the pujari of Govardhan-dhari Gopal, who was installed by Krishna's great-grandson Vajranabha, hid the Deity in the jungle. The Deity was very neglected, but this is Lord Krishna Himself (saksat Vrajendra-nandan) – a Deity is not a wooden or a stone doll.

So, when Srila Madhavendra Puri found the Deity, he took Him out, cleaned Him and arranged a great annakut mahotsav (a festival of a mountain of rice)...

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Size: 29.4 Mb
Length: 58 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Main Guru of Our Line
2) Madhavendra Puri Meets Gopal
3) Answering the Call
4) Remembering Chapahati
5) Modadrumdwip's Ardent Brahman
6) Esoteric Glory of Modadrumdwip
7) Madhavendra Puri's Pastimes in Odisha
8) Be Unwandering and Unwavering
9) Build Good Habits