(4/10) 'I Am My Gurudev's'

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Midnapore, 24 April 2019, evening, part 4
Translated from Bengali

There was also another boy. When we do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama during four days, we visit the nine islands where each of the nine kinds of devotion reside correspondingly: sravanam (Simantadwip), kirtanam (Godrumdwip), smaranam (Madhyadwip), pada-sevanam (Koladwip), archanam (Rtudwip), vandanam (Jahnudwip), dasyam (Modadrumdwip), sakhyam (Rudradwip), atma-nivedanam (Antardwip). On the last day of the parikrama, after we visit Ritudwip and come from Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's house to the house of Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur in Modadrumdwip, we make a brief stop at the temple of Sri Saranga Murari.

The story happened many years ago. There was a brahman, Saranga Thakur, who served the Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath. Eventually, he became very, very old. One day, he came to the Deities and told them with tears in his eyes, 'Dear Lordships, please send somebody. I have become very old, I cannot do Your service and worship properly anymore. Please arrange for somebody to come and take over Your service, then I will be able to leave with a peaceful heart.' That night, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Saranga, you must take one person as your disciple.'

'Who will I make my disciple?' Saranga Thakur asked in the dream.

'After the mangal-arati you go to bath in the Ganges every day, so in the morning when you go there, give initiation to whoever you see first. That person will become your disciple and continue the worship here,' the Lord replied.

So, the next morning, Saranga Thakur went to the Ganges to take bath. He did not see anybody on the way, but when he came into the Ganges to take bath, he suddenly saw a raft floating towards him from afar. He saw that the raft was decorated very elaborately, and when it finally floated up to him, he saw there was a boy of about ten years old lying on it. (This boy happened to have been bitten by a snake and died, so his parents had set his body floating down the Ganges on the raft.) Saranga Thakur remembered the Lord's words that he was to give initiation to whoever he met first, so he recited the Hare Krishna maha-mantra into the boy's ear: 'Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.' The glory of the Holy Name is so great! 'Niraparadhe nama laile paya prema-dhana (নিরপরাধে নাম লৈলে পায় প্রেমধন). If you chant the Holy Name without offence, you will get the wealth of divine love' (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.71). So, when Saranga Thakur spoke the mantra into the boy's ear, the boy suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

'Where am I? This is not my home... I cannot see my mother...' the boy wondered.

'What is your name?' Saranga Thakur asked him.

'My name is Murari.'

'Actually, you died...'

'Oh!'

'But you are out of danger now. Come with me.'

Murari went with Saranga Thakur to his temple and started living there. He learned how to worship the Deities and started doing the puja. After a while, his parents got the news that their son had survived and was living in such-and-such village. They came to Saranga Thakur's house and told the boy, 'Come with us, dear. Come home! Can you not recognise us?'

'No, I do not know who you are,' the boy replied.

'You are our son! But you died...'

'Yes, I died, and my gurudev has saved me. So, I am not your Murari. I am my gurudev's Murari. My guru's name is Saranga Thakur, so I am Saranga's Murari now.'

That is how Saranga Murari came to worship the Lord at the temple of Sri Saranga Thakur in Modadrumdwip. So, the Lord makes arrangements for a servitor to do His service.

— : • : —

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

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 37 Mb
Length: 77 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Prodigal's Favourite, Miser's Pensioner
2) Material Diseases
3) Master's Property
4) 'I Am My Gurudev's'
5) Disciple Lives in Guru's Shelter
6) Day for Service, Life for Service
7) Foundation of Knowledge
8) Pitfalls and Benefits
9) Temple Life
10) Keep Well