(4) Glorious Hapaniya

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Hapaniya Dham, Vyasa Puja Mahotsav
22 October 2019, morning, part 4
Translated from Bengali

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Visva-varenya Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay.
Jay saparikara Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Gandharva Govinda Sundarjiu ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Bhagavan Sri Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad ki jay.
Rupanuga-guru-varga ki jay.
Namacharya Haridas Thakur ki jay.
Jay Kartik-vrata, niyom-seva palankari-bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharajer avirabhav tithi-bara maha-mahotsav ki jay.
Jay tadiya avirbhav-pith Sri Hapaniya ki jay.
Hapaniya-basi samasta grama-basi, bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Samagata Gaura-bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Samagata sannyasi-vrinda, brahmachari-vrinda ki jay.
Jay Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay.
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Ashram Hapaniya ki jay.
Bhakta-prabara Prahlad Maharaj ki jay.
Suddha-bhaktir-vighna-vinasa-kari Bhagavan Nrisinghadev ki jay.
Sri Sada-Siva Gangadhar, Giriraj Govardhan ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

Devotee: Jay Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Parivrajaka-acharya-varya Astottara-sata-sri Sri Srimad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj ki jay. Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

By our great fortune we have come today to Sri Hapaniya Dham, the holy appearance place of our Param Guru Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. Do you know what the word 'hapaniya' mean? 'Pani' means 'water'. So, 'hapaniya' means 'sweet water'. The water here is very good. Even the water in green coconuts here is very different from coconuts from other places. Guru Maharaj told us about it, and when I tasted it, I could see it, too. The coconut water is very sweet here.

Param Guru Maharaj appeared in this village, and the temple was inaugurated by many stalwart Vaishnavs, including Pujyapad Jajavar Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Goswami Maharaj, Pujyapad Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj (he installed the Deities), Srila Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj.

We have seen the many written works of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, and we can see how beautiful they are. For example, he composed this kirtan in glorification of Srila Prabhupad:

সুজনার্ব্বুদরাধিতপাদযুগং
যুগধর্ম্মধুরন্ধর-পাত্রবরম্ ।
বরদাভয়দায়ক-পূজ্যপদং
প্রণমামি সদা প্রভুপাদপদম্ ॥

sujanarvuda-radhita-pada-yugam
yuga-dharma-dhurandhara-patra-varam
varadabhaya-dayaka-pujya-padam
pranamami sada prabhupada-padam

‘I am offering obeisance to Prabhupad (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur), whose holy lotus feet are worshipped by millions of pious souls, who is the establisher of the religion of the age (Krishna-sankirtan), who is the presiding divine successor (at the Visva-Vaishnava-Raja Sabha, the Universal Assembly of Vaishnavs), and who fulfils the desires of the dispellers of all fears – I offer obeisance at his holy lotus feet. I eternally offer obeisance to the radiance emanating from the toenails of my master.’

(‘Sri Sri Prabhupadapadma Stavakah’, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

He also composed this beautiful 'Sri Saraswat Arati' song that we sing every evening:

জয়রে জয়রে জয় গৌর-সরস্বতী ।
ভকতিবিনোদান্বয় করুণা মুরতি ॥

jayare jayare jaya gaura-sarasvati
bhakativinodanvaya karuna murati

‘Glory, glory to Sri Gaura–Saraswati, the holy embodiment of mercy in the line of Sri Bhaktivinod Thakur.’

প্রকাশিলে গৌরসেবা ভূবন মঙ্গল ।
ভখতিসিদ্ধান্ত শুদ্ধ প্রজ্ঞান উজ্জ্বল ॥

prakasile gaura-seva bhuvana mangala
bhakati-siddhanta suddha prajnana ujjvala

‘Revealing service to Sri Gaura, which spreads auspiciousness in this world, you presented devotional teachings (bhakti-siddhanta) that radiate self-effulgent pure transcendental knowledge.’

রাধা-শ্যাম একতনু দক্ষে গোরা রায় ।
বামে রাধা মধ্যে স্বয়ং শ্যাম-গোপ জয় ॥

radha-syama eka-tanu dakse gora raya
bame radha madhye svayam syama-gopa jaya

‘Sri Gora Ray, the combined form of Sri Sri Radha-Shyama, is standing on the right, Sri Radha is on the left, and in the middle is the cowherd boy Shyama Himself.’

(Sri Saraswat Arati, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

Another very beautiful kirtan that Param Guru Maharaj composed is dedicated to Sri Gaurahari:

জয় শচীনন্দন, সুর-মুনিবন্দন,
ভবভয়-খণ্ডন জয় হে ।
জয় হরিকীর্ত্তন, নর্ত্তনা বর্ত্তন,
কলিমল-কর্ত্তন জয় হে ॥

jaya sachi-nandana, sura-muni-vandana,
bhava-bhaya-khandana jaya he
jaya hari-kirtana, nartana vartana,
kali-mala-kartana jaya he

'All glory to Sachi’s son, who is worshipped by demigods and sages and who destroys all fear of material existence! Glory to Him! He inaugurated the dancing and chanting of the Lord’s Names and removed the contamination of Kali! Glory to Him!'

It is a very beautiful kirtan. He also wrote a poem in glorification of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur:

শ্রীগৌরানুমতং স্বরূপবিদিতং রূপাগ্রজেনাদৃতং
রূপাদ্যৈঃ পরিবেশিতং রঘুগণৈরাস্বাদিতং সেবিতম্ ।
জীবাদ্যৈরভিরক্ষিতং শুক-শিব-ব্রহ্মাদি-সম্মানিতং
শ্রীরাধাপদসেবনামৃতমহো তদ্দাতুমীশো ভবান্ ॥

sri-gauranumatam svarupa-viditam rupagrajenadrtam
rupadyaih parivesitam raghuganair asvaditam sevitam
jivadyair abhiraksitam suka-siva-brahmadi-sammanitam
sri-radha-pada-sevanamrtam aho tad datum iso bhavan

'O wonder of wonders! That which, on the order of Sri Gaurachandra, Sri Svarup Damodar knows the internal purpose of; which is adored by Sri Sanatan Goswami; which is distributed by the preceptors headed by Sri Rupa Goswami, who teach transcendental mellows; which is tasted and enhanced by Sri Raghunath Das Goswami and his followers; which is carefully protected by the votaries headed by Sri Jiva Prabhu; and which (from a respectful distance) is venerated by great personalities such as Sri Suka, Lord Siva, Indra (the chief of demigods) and Lord Brahma (the grandfather of all beings) – you are capable of giving us that treasure of the nectarine rapture of servitude to the holy feet of Sri Radha.'

('Srimad Bhaktivinod Viraha Dasakam', Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)

He also wrote the pranam-mantra of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur:

গুরুদং গ্রন্থদং গৌরধামদং নামদং মুদা ।
ভক্তিদং ভূরিদং বন্দে ভক্তিবিনোদকং সদা ॥

guru-dam grantha-dam gaura-dhama-dam nama-dam muda
bhakti-dam bhuri-dam vande bhaktivinodakam sada

'He is the giver of Sri Guru; he is the giver of scriptures; he is the giver of Gaura’s holy abode; he is the giver of the Name; he is the giver of pure devotion. He is the greatest donor. I forever offer my obeisance to this Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur.'

(Sri Laghu-chandrika-bhasya, 1.8)

We are very indebted to Param Guru Maharaj for his great gift.

[A group of devotees arrives] You are late. Those who came by train came two hours ago. Ask them – they came from Tarakeswar, too, and they were here by eight. It is half past ten now, then you can understand that it does not make sense to come here by car. You can take a train and come here easily. It is very convenient. Get off at the Patuli station and take a toto for ten rupees to reach here. If the price is more than that, you can share the toto with other devotees, it will be cheaper then. It takes just five–ten minutes. And if you come here by bus, it is only four bus stops from Nabadwip.

Anyhow, we have been chanting kirtans so far, and now we are speaking some Hari-katha. Have you got tired after chanting kirtans? Nobody chanted... These are niyom-seva kirtans. Niyom-seva means kirtan. But the problem is that although this is the month of special kirtan, no kirtan comes out of people's mouths. Other talks come out, but not kirtan. I did not even chant all kirtans – I cut it shorter; there are many more kirtans are left. Niyom-seva means that you must chant kirtan all day long. Do you think that you can observe niyom-seva just by not eating patol and eggplant? [His Divine Grace chuckles.]

Listen to Hari-katha attentively. I am speaking slowly so that you can understand everything well. Do not talk. Say with me:

হরে কৃষ্ণ হরে কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ হরে হরে ।
হরে রাম হরে রাম রাম রাম হরে হরে ॥

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

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