Take Care of Deities

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata, speaking online to
devotees in Medellin (Colombia),
2 June 2019, part 2

One time, I remember, everybody was going to Vrindavan for the Kartik parikrama and the pujari who had been doing puja in Nabadwip for many years came to Gurudev and said he also wanted to go to Vrindavan for the parikrama. Gurudev asked him, "If you go to Vrindavan, who will take care of your son and daughter?" So, being a pujari is a very responsible service—the Deities are like their small son and daughter—how will They survive without Their mother? You must be careful with this service.

You know, the Deity of Jagannath is now in Puri, but that Jagannath Deity used to be served in His Narayan form by one very low caste devotee (sabar) named Visvavasu. The Deities wanted to go to Puri, but Visvavasu did not want to leave the Deity—he wanted to serve the Deities there. One day, the Deity (chaturbhuja Narayan) told him, "You always give Me the same kind of food, some roots, but I want to eat many good things, that is why I want to go to Puri and be served by King Indradyumna." In the meantime, when Indradyumna heard that the Deity was there in his kingdom, he arrested Visvavasu, but the Deity told the king, "You did not give respect to him! Since you have arrested My previous servitor and punished him, I will not come to you!" After that, Indradyumna asked Visvavasu to forgive his offence and finally the Deity came to Puri. Now you can see that Lord Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra are there. I do not want to explain more now because it is a very big story. I will tell about Jagannath some other day.

Anyhow, in Mahparahbu's time, the Deities of Mahaprabhu appeared in three places—Ambika Kalna, served by Gauri Das Pandit; in Nabadwip, served by Vishnupriya Devi; and Gaura Gadadhar in Champahatti, served by Dvija Vaninath. The Deities you have got are very special—They were installed by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, and Gurudev also saw those Deities. Now you are getting the service to these Deities, and I will be very happy if everybody helps to serve Them there.

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