Sri Ekachakra Dham Parikrama

Discourses by His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
7 February 2020, Sri Ekachakra Dham

Coming down early in the morning, His Divine Grace leads Sri Mangal Arati of Sri Sri Guru Gaura Nityananda Prabhu and stays with the devotees to chant morning kirtans and speak Hari-katha in glorification of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. At about 9 a.m., everyone assembles in the courtyard of the temple to start the much-awaited parikrama of Sri Ekachakra Dham.

[The first stop is Sri Janu Kunda: Nitai's childhood playground. There is a temple deep within the pond, with only the top of its dome currently visible. This is also a place where all holy places are present, so His Divine Grace offers worship and mantras in glorification of holy rivers, sprinkles some water on his head and then continues the parikrama.]

His Divine Grace instructs:

Starting our parikrama, we have first come to a place known as 'Hantukara'. Everyone should take some water from this pond on their heads. Do not touch the water with your feet—take it on your heads only. This is the place where Krishna and Balaram played. Wherever there is Krishna, Balaram is always there. Once, some village people noticed that a boy was playing with Nityananda Prabhu at the pond, but later, only Nityananda Prabhu came from that place—the other boy had disappeared. Many years later, Jahnava Devi went to the Yamuna River here in Ekachakra Dham to bring some water, and she found a deity of Bankaray Krishna. So, wherever there is Krishna, Balaram is always there; and wherever there is Balaram, Krishna is always there. Nityananda Prabhu is Lord Balaram, and He played here with Krishna. There was a temple here before, but it is so low that it impossible to recover it—somebody dug up to forty feet deep (about twelve meters) but still could not reach it.

The water of this Hantukara place is very pure: all holy places are present in it. Many people come here to bathe, but devotees do not do that. So, we will only take a few drops of its pure water on our heads. We are very fortunate that our temple is located next to Hantukara. The pond here is known as Janu Kunda: janu (জানু), or, hantu (হাঁটু), means a 'knee'. If you take some water from here, you can keep it for one, two, three, ten or more years, it will stay just like that. You can try and see it for yourself. You can take some water here and keep it at home. This water is purer than even the water of the Ganges. You can do puja and all other rites with this water.

If you take the water from this pond on your head, you will be placing all holy places on your head because all holy places are present within it. Vaishnavs only place some water on their heads—they do not come to dunk their sins into it. Actually, when Vaishnavs take the water of a holy river on their heads, the river becomes purified. But materialists (karmis) and knowledge-seekers (jnanis) pursue other interests and desire enjoyment, so they come to use the Lord—they tarnish the Name of the Lord (ভগবানের নাম ভাঙ্গিয়ে খায়). So, take the water on your heads and do not ask for anything. Just as the Ganges is always pure, so is Janu Kunda also always pure. Please take Janu Kunda's water on your heads, and the water here will be purified. Sadhus come to holy places to purify them, but those who come with other motives come there to contaminate the place. People come and wash their clothes here, they bathe here in their dirty clothes, but you cannot get the Lord like this. Bathing in a holy river or pond can remove your sins, but it is said in the scriptures that if you commit a sin, the Lord can still bestow His mercy on you, but if you commit offences, you cannot receive His mercy. So, when we come here, even if we commit some sin, the Lord can still give His mercy to us—He will purify us and bestow His mercy, but we must not make offences. We come here only to pay our obeisance and take some water and devotees' footdust on our heads.

Jay Janu Kunda ki jay

[At the Naripota tree underneath which the holy umbilical cord of Nityananda Prabhu is kept.]

Hari bol! Hari bol! Hare Krishna!

Say with me: "DOYAL NITAI! DOYAL NITAI!" This tree here is new—the old tree was ten thousand years, and it left its body. This is a place of Nityananda Prabhu's childhood pastimes. He would come here to play. Also, beneath this tree, Nityananda Prabhu's umbilical cord (naripota, নাড়ি পোতা: umbilical cord or placenta) is buried—after Padmavati Devi gave birth to Nityananda Prabhu, she kept it here. As Nityananda Prabhu would come here to play, the dust and soil of this place bear the imprints of His lotus feet—His footdust is scattered all over this place. If we can take this dust on our heads, we can become very fortunate. We must sing a kirtan in glorification of Nityananda Prabhu here. [His Divine Grace sings 'Nitai guna mani amara'.]

We are very fortunate to come to this place. This place is especially dear to us because the dust of Nityananda Prabhu's lotus feet is here, and we can take this foot dust and receive His mercy. At the same time, these are actually external things—the main thing is that we must always chant Nityananda Prabhu's glorification, chant Nityananda Prabhu's Holy Name and remember what Nityananda Prabhu said:

ভজ গৌরাঙ্গ, কহ গৌরাঙ্গ, লহ গৌরাঙ্গের নাম রে
যে জন গৌরাঙ্গ ভজে, সেই আমার প্রাণ রে

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gaurangera nama re
ye jana gauranga bhaje, sei amara prana re

"Worship Gauranga! Say Gauranga! Take Gauranga's Name! Those who worship Gauranga are My heart and soul!"

আমারে কিনিয়া লহ ভজ গৌরহরি ॥

amare kiniya laha bhaja gaura hari

"I will be sold to you, please accept, serve Gaurahari!"

(Sriman Nityananda Prabhu)

Nityananda Prabhu says, "You can buy Me if you worship Gauranga Mahaprabhu!" Do you think it is possible to buy Nityananda Prabhu? Nityananda Prabhu says, "Yes! I can be purchased! How? Chant the Holy Name of Gauranga Mahaprabhu." Nityananda Prabhu is the master of the entire world, so how is it possible to buy Him? But it is possible! If you wish to 'buy' Him, you must chant the Holy Name of Gauranga!

Jay Gurudev!
Jay Nityananda Prabhu ki jay
Jay Hadai Pandit Ojha, Padmavati Mayi ki jay!

Come, let us now go to Sri Pandav-tala.

(Sri Pancha Pandav-tala in 2008)

During the Kuruksetra war, Krishna drove Arjuna's chariot, and when He hurled a wheel during that battle, it fell here. This is how this place became known as 'Ekachakra' (eka-chakra: 'one wheel').

We have now come to Sri Pandav-tala. When I came here for the first time, in 2004, there was no temple—there was only a 'garden' temple (there were some trees and a small place of worship amidst the trees). Originally, there used to be a house of a brahman at this place. This brahman gave shelter to the five Pandava brothers (Pancha Pandavas)—Yudhisthir, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakul and Sahadev—and their mother, Kunti Devi. They spent here many days during their incognito exile—nobody could recognise them in this remote village. Moreover, Vyasadev, who composed Srimad Bhagavatam, also visited this place.

The Pandavas knew that in the future Lord Nityananda Prabhu would appear in this Ekachakra Dham, and they actually saved this village. For some time, this village had been harassed by a demon called Bakasur (lit. 'glutton'). This demon would go house to house and kill everybody—if there were five people at some house, he would kill all five people but eat only one of them (the others were 'wasted'). One day, the villagers held a meeting to discuss this situation, and after that meeting, they told the demon, "You come here and destroy all our families. We have thought about it and decided that you do not have to take the trouble of coming here from so far—stay wherever you live, and we will send fruit and vegetables to you. If you need a human, we will send you one person every day." The demon agreed, and all families started taking turns: today, somebody from this house was sent; tomorrow, somebody from another house, and so on. They started feeding the demon in this way.

One day, it was the turn of this brahman's house here, where we have just offered our obeisances. Everybody at the house was very sad—the brahman and his wife had only one son, and they also had guests in their house (the five Pandava brothers and Kunti Devi). Their son told his mother, the brahman's wife, "Mother, do not worry, none of you must go. I will go." The father said, "No, no, you will not go. I am old, but you are young. You must stay, I will go." Then, the mother said, "No, no, you will not go. I will go." They began to argue over who will go to the demon. Kunti Devi heard them quarrel and asked, "What has happened? Why are you so upset? What is the matter? Tell me." The brahman said, "You are our guests, we cannot tell you. Guests are Lord Narayan, so we cannot trouble you." But Kunti Devi insisted, "Tell me. My sons, especially Bhima, are great warriors. Tell me what has happened. Perhaps, we can solve your problem." Then, the brahman told Kunti Devi what had happened and that it was their turn that day to send somebody to the demon. Kunti Devi said, "Do not worry, I will talk to Bhima." She spoke to Bhima, and Bhima became excited, "Where is that demon? I will fight with him!"

The villagers brought a cart loaded with fruit and vegetables, and Bhima set off to the demon's place. By and by, it got late, and as Bhima walked next to the cart laden with food, he felt very hungry and started eating—by the time he came to the demon, he had eaten half of the food in the cart! The demon was also very hungry, so when Bhima arrived, he was very angry, "Why are you late?! What is the matter? Every day they come at the same time, but you are late today!" Bhima said, "Well, I got hungry and stopped to eat." The demon was enraged, "What?! How dare you! Everybody comes here shivering, but you come late and you are saying you have eaten my food!" Bhima was nonchalant—when devotees rely on the Lord, they have nothing to worry about. Whatever happens, no matter what it is, they always take everything with a smile: "Yes, give me more suffering! Give me more problems! Let more austerity come!" This is the mood of surrendered souls. Bhima was surrendered to the Lord, so he walked to the demon at leisure, eating bananas on his way. So, Bhima fought with the demon and killed him. This is how the residents of this village were rescued. There is a place nearby called Kotasur—the pastime of the fight happened there.

When I came here in 2004, there were many trees, it was like a jungle, and nobody could come here. I remember I sat on the ground here and chanted some kirtan... There was no temple here at that time, and there were fields all around. We came after Gurudev's festival, in the Paush month (January–February), by bus, but because the place was a jungle surrounded by fields, we left the bus a little far and walked through the fields to this place to chant kirtan. That brahman's lineage no longer exists—all members were rescued and left this world. It is not possible to find any of those devotees who are surrendered to the Lord...

Yesterday, somebody mentioned Jivan Chakravarti to me—his lineage finished too. All his family members became rescued and went to the Lord. They do not stay in this world... Those who have no intelligence, who have no education or spiritual knowledge continue their lineages generation after generation, remaining to suffer in this world. Genuine devotees of the Lord always reside in Goloka Vrindavan, in the eternal abode. You must always remember this. So, there are no descendants of that brahman who lived here. Also, Jahnava Devi and Nityananda Prabhu had a son, Virachandra Prabhu, and he also had a son and further descendants, but can you find anyone from that lineage now? You cannot. None of them are here now. Jivan Chakravarti also came in touch with the Lord, and none of his family can now be found in this world. You will not find any devotees of the Lord here—they always reside in the eternal abode of Goloka, together with the Lord...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.
Jay Pandav-tala ki jay.
Jay Yudhisthir, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakul, Sahadev ki jay.
Jay Kunti Mayi ki jay.
Jay Vyasadev ki jay.
Harinam sankirtan ki jay.
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol.

(Sri Pancha Pandav-tala in 2020: a few rather big temples have been built in-between the trees.)

(The grand gate of the holy appearance place of Sri Nityananda Prabhu.)

(The Deity of Doyal Nitai inside the temple compound.)

"Continuing our parikrama, we have come to the holy appearance place of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. In this house, Nityananda Prabhu appeared in this world. This is the house of Hadai-Padmavati. There used be a thatched house before, but now a good house has been built. This here is the sasthi tala, and over there is Nitai Kunda. Take some water from this pond; do not touch it with your feet."

(Sri Nitai Kunda.)

(Sri Kadam Khandi, the place where Jahnava Devi found the Deities of Sri Bankaray Krishna. There is the Yamuna river flowing behind the temple.)

After the Kuruksetra war finished, Krishna told Kunti Devi, "Auntie, your sons have got the kingdom. You are all right now, so there is no need for Me to stay here. I am leaving now for Dvaraka." Krishna was being very clever, but Kunti Devi replied, "Prabhu, even if we get a kingdom, unless You are here, everything is void. If You are here, we have everything—we do not need any kingdom, heaven or even the entire universe. I only wish You stayed with us, Prabhu." Then, Krishna said, "Pishima" (Krishna called her Pishima, 'auntie'; just think about it—Krishna does not call everyone this name), "No matter where I am, I am always with you, and wherever your sons go, I will always protect them. Do not worry." This is what Lord Krishna told her.

Anyhow, we have come to the place where Bankaray Krishna's Deity was discovered. When Jahnava Devi came here to take some water, she found a Deity of Krishna who had disappeared after coming to play with Balaram, as I have told you earlier. This is not some doll—a Deity is the Lord Himself (vigraha tumi nao, saksad Vrajendra-nandan). A Deity is not a wooden or stone idol. That Deity is now worshipped at another temple, with Jahnava and Vasuddha standing on His both sides as witnesses of the Deity's discovery. We will go to that temple last.

From here, we will now go to Ekachakleshwar Sivji Maharaj's temple and Sri Jagannathdev's temple. Hadai Pandit thought, "I have never been to Puri Dham. I am old now, I must go there to get the darshan of Lord Jagannath." Then, Nityananda Prabhu appeared to him and said, "My worshippable father (Pita Thakur), you do not have to take the trouble of going to Puri. I will bring Jagannath here." This is how Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra appeared here. They had a very small temple before, but it has been expanded. We will go there to pay our obeisance to Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Lady Subhadra.

(The Deities worshipped at Sri Kadam Khandi.)

(Sri Ekachakleshwar Sivji Maharaj, the Siva-linga that was worshipped by Sri Hadai Pandit.)

(Lord Jagannathdev's Temple and Deities.)

The final stop is at the temple of Sri Sri Bankimdev (Bankaray). The Deity here is the Deity discovered by Jahnava Mayi in the Yamuna (at Kadam Khandi).

(Sri Bankaray's Deity with Jahnava and Vasuddha standing on both sides.)

Return to the temple and more Hari-katha, followed by the noon arati and grand prasad distribution:

Download or listen to the recording of the entire parikrama, including kirtan and Hari-katha (Bengali): Sri Ekachakra Dham Parikrama (47 Mb, 92 min | 7 February 2020).

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