(1/2) Haridas Thakur's Purity

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Puri Dham, Srila Haridas Thakur's samadhi,
30 June 2019, part 1
Translated from Bengali

You know that we will go for the parikrama tomorrow. We will visit Siddha Bakul, Srila Haridas Thakur's bhajan-kutir. I have told you today also that Mahaprabhu would come to Siddha Bakul every day to see Haridas Thakur. First, when Mahaprabhu had taken sannyas, He decided, following His mother's wish, to stay in Puri. When He came to Puri, He told Kashi Misra and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, 'Prabhu, please keep one more place for Me here.' Mahaprabhu did not tell at that time who He wanted one more place for, but He knew that Haridas Thakur would come – He had told him before, 'Haridas, you must stay with Me during the last time.'

So, when Haridas Thakur came to Puri, he stayed in Siddha Bakul, a small place near Gambhira. Every day, he would chant 300,000 Holy Names, and until he finished chanting the Holy Name, he would not touch any food or even drink any water. Every morning, after taking darshan of Lord Jagannath, Mahaprabhu would come to see and talk to Haridas Thakur and then go to bath in the ocean.

Haridas Thakur would take Mahaprabhu's prasad every day. Mahaprabhu took prasad of Lord Jagannath (it would be brought to Him every day), and after that Mahaprabhu's servant Govinda would bring the remnants of Mahaprabhu's prasad to Haridas Thakur. Also, when Haridas Thakur chanted the Holy Name, he would do it loudly. Why? When you chant the Holy Name to yourself, the result is one, and when you chant with arms upraised or silently (in your mind) or loudly, the result is another. Haridas Thakur would chant loudly for all those living entities (trees, plants, insects, beasts, birds, etc.) who could not speak or hear anything.

One evening, when Govinda came to Haridas Thakur with the remnants of Mahaprabhu's prasad, he saw that Haridas Thakur could barely speak – he was lying down and chanting the Holy Name softly. Seeing Govinda, he said, 'Aji langhimu (আজই লঙ্ঘিমু). Today, I will have to break the rule...' What was the rule? Every day, he would first chant 300,000 Holy Names and then only take prasad, but that day, he had not completed chanting Holy Names... He thought, 'On the one hand, how can I take prasad without completing my vow? On the other hand, how can I reject the prasad that Mahaprabhu has sent?' He decided, 'All right, I will finish chanting after taking prasad,' and he took a pinch of prasad and put it in his mouth. Then, he told Govinda, 'You may go now.'

Govinda came back to Mahaprabhu and told him the news, 'I saw today that Haridas's state is not good at all...' Mahaprabhu came to see Haridas Thakur in the morning.

'Haridas! What is the news? How are you? What has happened? What disease have you got?' Mahaprabhu asked him.

What did Haridas Thakur reply? He did not say that he had a fever, a cold, a cough or a diarrhoea. Instead, he said, 'Asustha nay mora sarira, asustha haya mora mana (অসুস্থ নয় মোর শরীর, অসুস্থ হয় মোর মন). It is not my body that is sick, Prabhu; it is my mind that is sick...'

It is our minds that are sick, not our bodies. If you think in your mind, 'Yes, I can do it!' then you will be able to do it, but if you are absent-minded (if you have no strength of mind), then you cannot do anything. So, it is not our bodies that are sick – our minds are sick. This is what Srila Haridas Thakur explained to Mahaprabhu.

— : • : —

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Haridas Thakur's Purity
2) Haridas Thakur's Desire