(7/8) Beautiful Pastimes (3)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, noon programme, 30 January 2020, part 7
Translated from Bengali

It is also the appearance day of Sri Pundarik Vidyanidhi. You all know who he was.

[Somebody is talking in the background] Do you have any desire? Is there any eagerness? Are you making any effort to come to this line? What is the point of sadhus' coming? They come because if you hear about the Lord, the Lord becomes pleased. But you do your puja, offer some flowers, ring the bell, offer bhog, and you think that it is all there is to it. You do not think how you can please the Lord. If you hear about the Lord and His devotees, it can bring you great benefit:

বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ
শুনিয়াছি সাধুগুরুমুখে

vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana
suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe

"Singing the glories of the Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul—I heard this from the mouth of sadhus and my Guru."

(Acharya Vandana)

Pundarik Vidyanidhi is a great Vaishnav, just like Srila Raghunath Das Goswami was. In his later years, Srila Raghunath Das Goswami lived in Vrindavan in the association of Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami. Having got their association, he became a very great Vaishnav and devotee. I read yesterday that Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that there is one devotee of Krishna out of a thousand Vaishnavs. He also said: "Vaishnava haite mane chhila bara asa, kintu 'trnad api sunichena' sloke parilena badha (বৈষ্ণব হইতে মনে ছিল বড় আশা, কিন্তু ‘তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন’ শ্লোকে পড়িলেন বাধা)—I had a great hope to become a Vaishnav, but here is the stumbling block—the sloka 'Trnad api sunichena...'" We cannot be humbler than a blade of grass, we cannot be more tolerant than a tree, we cannot give honour to others. We cannot give up our ego, we cannot give up lust, anger. We cannot stop discussing and criticising others. We always criticise and blaspheme others. We always criticise and find faults in Vaishnavs. In the end, whatever service you do, all result will go out through holes. If you keep milk in a pot with holes, all milk will fall out. In the same way, if you think or talk about what others are doing, all result of your practice will fall through your 'holes'. This is the result of speaking bad about Vaishnavs.

I started talking about Pundarik Vidyanidhi. He was a great Vaishnav although it was not possible to detect it based on his external behaviour. After Gadadhar Pandit heard Mahaprabhu glorify Pundarik Vidyanidhi, he took shelter at his lotus feet. Who is Gadadhar Pandit? Our Param Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj wrote in Gaudiya Darshan that Gadadhar Pandit is the highest and closest among all associates of Mahaprabhu. We hear that the conversation of Raya Ramananda and Mahaprabhu concerning Srimati Radharani was very confidential, but what Mahaprabhu discussed with Gadadhar Pandit is even higher than that. Why is Gadadhar Pandit's position so unique? We know that in this Age of Kali, Mahaprabhu comes as a combined form of Radha and Krishna. Krishna takes the heart (mood) and halo (colour) of Radhika and appears as Gauranga. Remember this, these are very high things. So, when Krishna takes Radharani's heart and halo, is there nothing left of Radharani? There is also flesh and bones (of the transcendental body). So, the rest, what was left over after Krishna had taken Her heart and halo, was taken by (incarnated as) Gadadhar. So, Gadadhar is the incarnation of Radharani in the Age of Kali. Pundarik Vidyanidhi was his guru. When Gadadhar is Radharani's incarnation, you can understand how high Her guru's position is!

Externally, he looked like a big zamindar—he ate paan and wore luxurious clothes, but who could see who he was inside? Those who can see it can understand who he is, can understand what a great Vaishnav he is. We must always remember this. If we do not remember these things, we will not attain anything in this world. So, always remember these pastimes.

— : • : —

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Repeated Prayer, Repeated Plight
2) Watch What You Wish For
3) Lord's Mercy
4) Pure Ego
5) Beautiful Pastimes (1)
6) Beautiful Pastimes (2)
7) Beautiful Pastimes (3)
8) Take Service Serious