Importance of Sri Nabadwip Dham

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Morning class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
2 March 2020, part 3

We must understand clearly how important Sri Nabadwip Dham is. We are sitting now in Sri Godrumdwip, this place is also called Devapalli. 'Deva-palli' means a place (palli) where all demigods (deva) live. All the devata—devas, devis (demigods and demigoddesses)—do not get a chance to serve the Lord—they have so much aisvarya (opulence) in heaven that they forget the Lord; so, they also want to be born in a human body to serve the Lord, they wait, "When will I get a human body and serve the Lord?" That is why, demigods come in human bodies and they get a chance to chant the Holy Name, serve the Lord.

This Sri Nabadwip Dham is very important for us. Srimad Bhagavatam also tells this. We can read everything about Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama and this holy abode. Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu and Sriman Nityananda Prabhu preached here, did this Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama. After that, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur reestablished almost all places—so many places' location was not clear, there were no proper temples, etc. This was the situation in Champahati, for example.

We go to Champahati on the last day of the parikrama. There, Champakalata Devi picks flowers and makes garlands for Srimati Radharani. The Deity of Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhar in Champahati was established by Dvija Vaninath, an associate of Sriman Mahaprabhu, but eventually the Deities were neglected and stayed there in a very bad condition. Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur went to see that Deity and gave Sripad Nayanabhiram Prabhu (his disciple who later took sannyas and became Sripad Bhakti Vivek Bharati Maharaj) the service there—he started worshipping the Deities, making programmes, speaking Hari-katha, etc. In this way, Srila Prabhupad re-established many places in Sri Nabadwip Dham.

There Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhar were hidden before that. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also worshipped Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhar in Svarupganj. You can see that temple on first day of the parikrama. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad established proper puja, worship of Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhar in Champahati.

I remember Gurudev told me once a story. After Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, after Srila Narottam Das Thakur, there appeared so many aul, baul, karttabhaja, neda, daravesa, sani, sakhibheki, jata-goswami sampradayas who did many nonsense things in the name of Krishna consciousness. There was one very big scholar who thought that he knew everything, all sastras, etc. That man would come to the temple of Gaura Gadadhar in Champahati, but he did not like the conception that Sripad Bharati Maharaj (Sripad Nayanabhiram Prabhu) preached. He thought, "I am a great personality, I know everything! Nobody likes me, nobody give me respect, but I will show them!" So, one day, he put on an act—-he started chanting the glories of Srimati Radharani, Jayadev, Padmavati, etc. dancing, etc. and then suddenly fell down, pretending to be overcome by ecstasy, thinking everybody would see it and give him respect. But what happened instead? He had laid as if senseless for five-ten minutes, but nobody reacted, then a big ant came and bit his thigh. It was so painful that he could not tolerate it—he began scratching his thigh. Everybody saw it and said, "What is this man doing?" Later in his life, that man got so much austerity, and in the end, when he was about to die, he told Sripad Bharati Maharaj, "I have done such a big mistake. I had so much ego... I am going to die now, please forgive me." Sripad Bharati Maharaj forgave him...

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