(1) Blessed Navami-Tithi

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Hapaniya Dham, Vyasa Puja Mahotsav
22 October 2019, morning, part 1
Translated from Bengali

Now is the holy Damodar month, Kartik month. It is the most favourite month of Kirtika-nandini Srimati Radharani. Today is the navami-tithi, and yesterday was Bahulastami, the day when Radha Kunda appeared. Bahulastami is also called gopastami, or the gopis' day.

Yesterday also devotees took Mahaprabhu's shoes (paduka) and started their journey from Nabadwip to Mathura. 'Yei Gaura, sei Krishna. Gaura and Krishna are non-different from one another.' We have heard the news that Mahaprabhu's shoes were taken in a car to the airport in Kolkata, escorted by the police, yesterday. From there, they took a plane to Delhi, and from Delhi they will go to Mathura by another escorted car, the way a chief minister would travel. After some days, the shoes will be brought back to Nabadwip.

So, yesterday was gopastami, or bahulastami. It was a very auspicious day, the appearance day of Sri Radha Kunda. And today is Kartiki-navami. Today is the appearance day of Sri Virachandra Prabhu, a descendant of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's line. Sri Virachandra Prabhu is the son of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Vasudha Devi. Sri Jahnava Devi, the second spouse of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, did not have any children – later in her life, she went to Vrindavan. She stayed and served the Lord there, on the bank of Sri Radha Kunda. Those who have been to Vrindavan have seen her samadhi-mandir there. When we go to Sri Radha Kunda, we always come to offer our obeisances to her. Srila Raghunath Das Goswami's samadhi-mandir is also there.

In this month of Kartik, which is very dear to Sri Kirtika-nandini, our Gurupadpadma, Param Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the founder of this international Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Krishna-anusilana Sangha and Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Mission, chose the holy day of navami-tithi to made his advent in this world. The place where the Deities are installed here in Hapaniya is the room where he was born. My Guru Maharaj brought Param Guru Maharaj here and asked him, 'Which room were you born in? Can you show it?' And Param Guru Maharaj replied, 'Yes, my parents told me that it was this room.' At that time, all these rooms and buildings were not here, and in the olden days when the child was being delivered, they did not give birth in the house – they would go outside, in some outbuilding.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj's family spoke Sanskrit at home, not Bengali. There are still some family members living, but this culture is lost among them now. When Srila Sridhar Maharaj was only twelve years old, he would go to the place nearby (where the temple of Lord Siva is built now, but it was not there originally) and chant sankirtan.

[To some naughty local children] Why are you coming here to make mischief? Have your parents not taught you anything? There is a class going on, we are speaking Hari-katha, but you come and disturb. Sadhus come here to speak Hari-katha, but you come and get into mischief. This is not some Kali-puja or Durga-puja event. This is not a place for zigzag things! What do your parents teach you? If they taught you anything, they would tell you that when you see a sadhu, you should come and pay obeisance to them, you should be respectful. You can see this young boy sitting here with us – is he making any mischief? His mother has taught him how to behave: she has taught him to sit quietly and listen to Hari-katha. But you come and shout, run around, play. You are not taught anything. These things come from parents – if your parents bring you up well, then you will know these things. I know that you do not like what I am saying, but it is necessary to explain these things. Parents must teach their children. Otherwise, if you bring up a child as a cow, the child will become a cow; if you bring up a child as a goat, the child will become a goat; and if you bring up a child as a pig, the child will grow to become a pig – the child will live as a pig, eat as a pig and dress as a pig...

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