(1/2) Vishnupriya Devi's Viraha-Bhajan

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, day four
20 March 2019, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Continuing our Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we have now come to the house of Sri Vishnupriya Devi's sevita-vigraha (the Deity that was served by her). Here, Sri Vishnupriya Devi served Mahaprabhu.

She told a deity-maker to make Mahaprabhu's Deity, but every time she came to check it, she was not satisfied – every time she would correct, 'No, my Lord was like this', 'No, my Lord was like this.' Finally, when she came one time, she saw that the Deity had been finally made right and she installed the Deity very nicely. She served this Deity from her childhood – when Mahaprabhu left to take sannyas, she was only fourteen years old.

Mahaprabhu left Nabadwip for Puri to relish the divine separation mood. Before His appearance as Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Krishna wondered, 'Why does Radharani cry so much taking My Name? What sort of happiness does Radharani feel when She is serving Me?' To taste this divine ecstasy, Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appears in this wold in Kali-yuga as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and later in His pastimes takes sannyas. First, He travelled to Gaya to perform the last rites for His father. There, He took initiation from Sri Ishwar Puri, and when He returned to Nabadwip, He started His sankitan pastimes. After that, He took sannyas from Sri Keshav Bharati. When He set off for Keshav Bharati's ashram, He crossed the Ganges and went towards Katwa through Jahan-nagar. (We went to Jahan-nagar yesterday.)

When Mahaprabhu left, Sri Vishnupriya Devi felt devastated with pain, 'My Lord has left me and gone away!' She cries so much that night... But then, feeling this divine separation, she gradually felt joy. She would weep and chant kirtan:

প্রভুর নূপুর বাজলি না রে
প্রভুর নূপুর বাজলি না রে
আমার প্রভুর যাওয়ার সময়
প্রভুর নূপুর বাজলি না রে

prabhura nupura bajali na re
prabhura nupura bajali na re
amara prabhura yaoyara samaya
prabhura nupura bajile na re

'My Lord's ankle bells are not tinkling anymore! My Lord's ankle bells are not tinkling anymore! Is it that time when My Lord is to leave? His ankle bells are not tinkling anymore...'

In the evening the day before Mahaprabhu left, one devotee brought a lau (bottle gourd), and Mahaprabhu asked His mother to make some lau-payesh (lau cooked in milk with sugar). Devotees could feel that Mahaprabhu would not stay, that He would leave soon. Vishnupriya Devi knew it before, too. I told you yesterday during the class that Lord Ramachandra told Sita Devi when they were here in Nabadwip, 'I will leave, and you will stay and serve Me.' So, Mahaprabhu went to Katwa and took sannyas. It was the first day of the magh month (poila magh). Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj made a rule at the temple that at this time, devotees took prasad only one time a day – the Deities would be offered bhoga, but then everything would be mixed with atop rice and distributed like that, one time a day. Feeling intense separation (the Lord has left Nabadwip!), Param Guru Maharaj did not come out of his room during this time. When Mahaprabhu left Nabadwip, even all the offenders and heretics who criticised Mahaprabhu were deeply affected...

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 5 Mb
Length: 10 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Vishnupriya Devi's Viraha-Bhajan
2) Learn to Be One-Pointed