(4/7) Power of Pure Name

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 30 December 2019, noon, part 4
Translated from Bengali

[After chanting kirtans, His Divine Grace resumes the class.]

I remember one very nice pastime when Mahaprabhu rescued a demigod's son.

One time in Satya-yuga, when the great sage Durvasa Muni was lying down in a forest, a demigod boy came up to him and playfully cut his sikha off (he had a long dreadlock sikha). Durvasa Muni became very angry and cursed the boy to be born as a crocodile during four ages and live as a baby crocodile in water. The boy realised what a big mistake he had committed, so he begged Durvasa Muni, 'Prabhu, please forgive me, I have made a big offence.' Durvasa Muni replied, 'Forgiving you is one thing, but I have already uttered the curse, so I cannot take my word back. You will have to be born as a crocodile's child. But there is good news. When Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appears as His Holy Name in Kali-yuga (kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara; কলিকালে নামরূপ কৃষ্ণ-অবতার – Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.17.22), He will come to chant the Holy Name at whatever place where you will be staying at that time. You will be rescued by His chanting.'

So, the demigod boy was born as a crocodile and lived in Nabadwip, in the village of Majhdia on the Madhyadwip island. Satya-yuga passed, Treta-yuga passed, Dvapar-yuga passed. Finally, Kali-yuga came. Then, one day Mahaprabhu Nimai Visvambhar was walking from Mayapur and chanting kirtan. When He came to that village Majhdia, He met a man called Bhima Ghosh. His name 'Ghosh' indicates that he was a cowherd and lived by herding cows. His mother would always affectionately call Nimai's Mother, Sachi Mata, 'Mother'. On that account, Bhima was like a nephew to Nimai. When Bhima saw Mahaprabhu coming, he quickly called Him, 'Uncle, please come this way! Mother has been waiting for You to come for so long. She has made much curd, butter and other tasty preparations, but You were not coming. Please come.'

Then, Mahaprabhu and all the devotees who were with Him went to Bhima Ghosh's house. He gave Mahaprabhu a seat and washed His feet. In the meantime, Bhima's mother came and asked Nimai,

'Brother, how is Mother doing? Is everything all right?'

'Yes,' Nimai replied, 'she is all right.'

'Good. Please come and sit down, I will bring some prasad for you all.'

Then, everybody sat on the ground and took prasad (curd, butter, condensed milk, and other dairy). After taking prasad, Mahaprabhu told all the devotees, 'Let us go and chant some kirtan over there, by the lake!'

'By the lake?!' Bhima asked, suddenly scared. 'There is a crocodile living in the lake. We never go there, and even cows do not go there to drink water. As soon as they see the crocodile, they start crying out of fear.'

'It is not a problem. It is just a crocodile, what is there to be afraid of? Let us go!'

Nimai went to the lake shore and started chanting kirtan and dancing. Hearing Him chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the baby crocodile came out of the water and, assuming a human form, fell at Mahaprabhu's feet.

'Where have you come from? What were you doing in the lake's water?' Mahaprabhu asked the boy.

'I was not always a crocodile. I used to be a demigod's child before, but because Durvasa Muni cursed me to become a crocodile, I ended up like that. But after hearing You chant, I have again returned my previous form.'

So, one can get the supreme benefit just by hearing the Holy Name.

There is also another pastime I heard about from the holy mouths of gurus and Vaishnavs. When we do Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, on the last day we go to a place called Mamgachi. In that place, there is a temple and bhajan-kutir of Saranga Thakur and Saranga Murari. Originally, it was the house of Saranga Thakur, but later it became known as Saranga Murari's place. This is how it happened.

In the olden days, when many villages were built in the jungles, there were many snakes living there. Even now, when it comes to the rainy season, you can still see many snakes around. Whenever somebody gets bitten by a snake, they rush the person to hospital, but sometimes you can see that villagers take the bitten person to a healer (ojha). So, one time, a boy was bitten by a snake, but the healer could not save him. The boy's parents put his body one a raft and set it floating down the Ganges.

In the meantime, Saranga Thakur was living in his house, serving his Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath. He had grown so old that he could no longer serve his Deities properly. (Those Deities are still there at the temple.) One day, he prayed to Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath, 'O Lord! Please send somebody to me to continue Your service. I have become too old and cannot serve properly anymore.' He prayed ardently in this way, and the Lord heard his prayer. When Saranga Thakur went to bed that day, the Lord came to him in a dream and said, 'I am sending a boy to you. Give him initiation and make him your disciple. Tomorrow when you wake up and go to the Ganges to bath, give initiation to whoever you see first.' Saranga Thakur went to bath in the Ganges every day (not everybody has this kind of fortune; most people do not do it, especially when it is cold). That day, he woke up and went to the Ganges, too. When he came to the river, he saw a banana-tree raft: decorated with flowers, with incense burning on top of it, it drifted to the bank. Then, Saranga Thakur saw a dead boy lying on the raft – his name 'Murari' was written on the raft. Following the instruction of the Lord that he had received at night, Saranga Thakur chanted 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.' Suddenly, the boy opened his eyes. He looked at his guru and, getting up, bowed in obeisance to him. Then, both of them bathed in the Ganges and went to the temple. Since that time, Murari started living with Saranga Thakur.

Soon after that, Murari's father, who lived in another village nearby, received the news that his son was alive. He came to Saranga Thakur's temple with other villages to take the boy back, but when Murari saw his father, he told him, 'I am not your Murari. You threw me away into the Ganges, so I am Saranga's Murari now. I belong to my gurudev.'

When Saranga Thakur left, Saranga Murari continued the service at the temple. It is a very beautiful place where Mahaprabhu's associates lived...

This is the result of chanting the Holy Name, but it must be the genuine, pure Holy Name...

— : • : —

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Length: 36 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Listen to Great Souls
2) Strive and Thrive
3) Immerse Yourself in Kirtan
4) Power of Pure Name
5) Control Your Heart
6) Primary Stumbling Block
7) Apply and Comply