(6/7) Sadhus' Surrender

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Evening class, Sri Nrisingha Palli
3 November 2020, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Guru Maharaj said that in Kali-yuga, there are some people who put tilaks on, wear neckbeads and live as sadhus, but if you get to know them better, you can see that their actual behaviour is contrary to what a sadhu should be like. You must be honest in what you are doing. If you do something and cannot do it properly, you will not get a good result.

'I do not know what is good for me. I surrender to you. I will live in whichever way you guide me.' You must have this kind of attitude in any service that you do.

Sri Gauri Das Pandit had a disciple, Hriday Chaitanya, who did not know how to read or write, but he got his Gurudev's mercy. His Gurudev told him to make a garden near the house and plant some flowers in it. Hriday Chaitanya did that. He worked so hard that he had blisters on his head (he would carry a lot of water from the Ganges to water the garden). One day, Gauri Das Pandit wondered, 'Where is that Chaitanya Das?' He went to see how he was doing. When he came to the garden, Chaitanya Das offered his obeisance to his Gurudev, and Gauri Das Pandit saw that his head was full of sores. Chaitanya Das said it was nothing, but Gauri Das Pandit forcefully took him to a doctor. The doctor cleaned his sores and gave him some medicine. Even though he struggled so much, Chaitanya Das always continued doing his service and did not tell anyone about his problems. He had sores on his head, but he did not tell anyone about it. 'Tomara sevaya yata haya duhkha, seo ta' parama sukha (তোমার সেবায় যত হয় দুঃখ, সেও ত' পরম সুখ): Even whatever unhappiness I feel when serving You is a source of great happiness for me' (Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur). If any unhappiness comes during service, it is my greatest happiness. One must serve with unswerving effort.

শ্রীগৌরাঙ্গ-পারিষদ ঠাকুর ভক্তিবিনোদ
দীনহীন পতিতের বন্ধু ।
কলিতমঃ বিনাশিতে আনিলেন অবনীতে
তোমা' অকলঙ্ক পূর্ণ ইন্দু ॥

sri-gauranga-parisada thakura bhakti-vinoda
dina-hina patitera bandhu
kali-tamah vinasite anilena avanite
toma' akalanka purna indu

'Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is an associate of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and a friend of all low and fallen souls—to dispel all darkness of this dark age, he brought to this earth you [Srila Saraswati Thakur], a spotless full moon.'

কুলিয়াতে পাষণ্ডীরা অত্যাচার কৈল যা'রা
তা সবার দোষ ক্ষমা করি ।
জগতে কৈলে ঘোষণা 'তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা'
হন 'কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥'

kuliyate pasandira atyachara kaila ya'ra
ta sabara dosa ksama kari'
jagate kaile ghosana 'taroriva sahisnuna'
hana 'kirtaniyah sada harih'

'You [Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad] forgave all the atheists of Kuliya village, despite their bad behaviour. Loudly you proclaimed to one and all: one who is more tolerant than a tree can always chant the glories of Lord Hari.'

(Acharya-vandana)

We must be more tolerant than a tree.

Have you gone to Sridhar Angan this time during the parikrama? Mahaprabhu forcefully took Sridhar's thor and bananas.

Sridhar Pandit, or 'Kholavecha' Sridhar, was a very poor devotee. He lived on the northern outskirts of Sri Antardwip and used to make a living by selling spinach, bananas, plantain, thor (banana stems), roots, etc. — he would spend half of the money he earned to buy some fruit, sweets, etc. for the worship of Sri Ganga Devi and the other half on his household expenses. He lived his life in this way. Sriman Mahaprabhu Visvambhar would every day take prasadam on the banana leaves from Sridhar Prabhu's house.

When Sachi Mata sent Nimai from time to time to the market to get some bananas, roots, spinach, etc., Mahaprabhu would always come to Sridhar Prabhu's shop, and He would every day come and bargain with him: Sridhar Prabhu would tell one price, and Nimai would take some thor, bananas or roots in His hand and name another price. Sridhar Prabhu did not agree to bring the price down (he would say, 'Please forgive me, Thakur. I am Your dog, but I cannot give you a discount') and would try to take the vegetables out of Mahaprabhu's hand, but Mahaprabhu did not give it back. Both of them would start a sort of a tug of war. Sometimes, Nimai would pull so hard that, being unable to hold the slippery banana stem, Sridhar Prabhu would fall down on the ground! In this way, Mahaprabhu enjoyed playing and joking in the company of Sridhar Prabhu every day.

One day, Mahaprabhu came to Sridhar Prabhu's house and said, 'Sridhar, you are very clever. Your name, Kholavecha, has a very deep meaning.'

'Prabhu, stop mocking me', answered Sridhar Prabhu. 'Are there no other shops at the market besides mine? Why do You always behave like this with me?'

'There are other shops,' replied Nimai, 'but you are My supplier, so why should I leave you?' (Just see this! The Lord does not catch anyone so easily, but if He does catch someone, He will not leave them! The same happened to the demoness Putana. When Krishna bit her breast to drink her milk, Putana felt she was losing her life. She cried, 'Leave me! Let it go! Stop it! Not necessary to drink more!' When Krishna finally left her, having sucked out her life, she ran into a field and collapsed there. Then, because Putana's body was enormous, the Vraja basis chopped it into parts and burnt it part by part. As the body was burning, it emanated wonderful aroma. Everybody kept asking, 'What is this wonderful smell?' And somebody would say, 'Oh, they are burning the body of the demoness Putana.' Why did her burning body smell good? Because she had touched the Lord's body and her body had become transcendental. The Lord bestows His mercy even on those who come to kill Him.)

'Besides,' Mahaprabhu said, 'you buy so many things for Ganga-puja every day, then why would you not give anything to Me? You are worshipping Ganga, but trust Me, I am the father of this Ganga!'

Sridhar Prabhu was a very truthful and strict Vaishnav, so when he heard this 'nonsense' talk, he could not tolerate it. Hearing Mahaprabhu's words, Sridhar Prabhu put his fingers into his ears and said, 'Vishnu! Vishnu!' He understood that it was useless to argue with Nimai, so finally he would give up and give Him so many roots, vegetables, etc. Then, Nimai joked, 'Oh, why are you giving Me so much spinach, so many bananas and roots? Are they all rotten or what?'

Sridhar Prabhu said, 'No, no, no! Why will I give You rotten things? Take whatever You need from my shop!'

Mahaprabhu would always come to Sridhar Prabhu's house on various pretexts. One day, when He came to Sridhar Prabhu's house, Sridhar Prabhu offered obeisance to the Lord and gave Him a seat. That day, a wondrous conversation took place between them. Mahaprabhu said, 'Listen, Sridhar, you always say "Hari", "Hari" and worship Laksmi-Narayan, but you do not have good clothes, you do not eat well, you are so poor! What is the use of your worship?'

'Prabhu, I may be poor', replied Sridhar Prabhu, 'but I do not starve. Whether big or small, good or bad, but I do have things to wear.'

'Sure', continued Nimai, 'you say you have clothes, but I see your clothes are stitched and mended in a hundred places! Yes, you do have a house, but your house does not even have straw on the roof. In Nabadwip, those who worship Durga are all well-off. So, you would be better off if you worshipped Durga!'

'Yes, what You are saying is correct, but everyone's life goes the same way — whether one lives in a big house, eats opulent food, wears good clothes, everyone will finish in the same way: everyone will die. Everything happens by the will of the Lord, so whatever the Lord allots, that is sufficient. I am happy with that.'

Hearing Sridhar Prabhu's words, Nimai was extremely pleased. He said, 'Sridhar, you have such an immense wealth, but you are hiding it and enjoying with it yourself. You do not share it with anyone. You are cheating others!'

Sridhar Prabhu did not like to hear his own praise, so he said, 'Listen, go home now. You are talking like a madman, it is not necessary to tell all this nonsense to me! I do not want to fight with You.'

'You will not get rid of Me so easily! Tell Me, what are you going to give Me today?'

'Take whatever you want. You know what I sell, and You know the prices too.'

'Yes, but you have some hidden treasure. Let it be for now — in the future, you will give Me banana stems, bananas and banana flowers for free! If you agree, then I give you My word that I will not pester you again.'

Sridhar Prabhu got a little scared, thinking, 'If I say no to this brahman boy, He can beat me — what will I do then? I can neither refuse to give Him what He is asking for nor can I give Him everything for free. What do I do now?' In the end, he decided, 'If a brahman comes and asks me for something, what loss is it for me? I have to give what He is asking for, it is my fortune.' Then, Sridhar Prabhu said that Nimai could take anything He wanted, for free.

Another day, Nimai came to the house of Sridhar Prabhu and asked him for a glass of water. Getting shy, Sridhar Prabhu said that he did not have a proper glass (there was a hole in the only glass that he had). Bhavagrahi Bhagavan Sri Nimaisundar did not mind it — He drank water from the glass with a hole.

bhaktera padartha prabhu hena-mate khaya
koti haileo abhaktera ulati' na chaya

'The Lord eats anything and everything that His devotees offer to Him, but on the other hand, He does not want anything from non-devotees, even if they are millionaires.'

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.9.185)

Lord Krishna Himself says, 'I do not take anything from a non-devotee's hand. I take from those who serve Me — if someone gives Me something with devotion, that is sufficient for Me.' Krishna Himself ate banana skin from the hand of Vidura's wife, He ate flat rice from Sudama Vipra, but Krishna never took raj-bhog (very opulent preparations) from Duryodhan. The main thing is that whatever you give, you must give it whole-heartedly, with heart and soul. If you can serve with all your heart, mind, soul, that is sufficient. People can do so many external things, but it may or may not be service. When you do service, you must do it with your heart, mind, and soul. This is the main thing. We see the proof of these words in Sridhar Prabhu's example — he had nothing, he did not have any wealth, any riches, he had no money, no knowledge, he was not a scholar, he did not even have a proper house, but he had love in his heart, and this is what Mahaprabhu accepted from him so happily. He was a great servitor of Mahaprabhu.

ki karibe vidya, dhana, rupa, yasa, kule
ahankara badi' saba padaye nirmule
kala mula vechiya Sridhara paila yaha
koti-kalpe kotisvara na dekhiba taha
dekhi' murkha daridra sujanere hase
kumbhipake yaya sei nija-karma-dose
vaishnava chinite pare kahara sakati
achhaye sakala siddhi, dekhaye durgati

'What is the use of knowledge, wealth, beauty, fame and high birth? It only increases one's ego. Everything will finish and fall off fruitlessly. In millions of lifetimes, millionaires have never seen that which Sridhar, who was a mere seller of bananas and roots, had. If anyone sees this great soul as foolish and poor and laughs at him, they will go to a foul hell of burning oil as the result of their own actions. Who has the power to recognise a Vaishnav? Even if you have all kinds of perfections, you can still be unfortunate.'

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.9.234–235, 239–238)

One day, Nimai wanted to give a boon to Sridhar. He asked Sridhar Prabhu, 'Sridhar, what boon do you want to get? Tell Me.'

Sridhar Prabhu said with folded palms, 'Prabhu, I do not want any boon. If You must give me some boon, then this what I want —

ye brahmana kadi' nila mora khola-pata
ye brahmana hauka mora janma janma natha
ye brahmana mora sange karila kandala
mora prabhu hauka tanra charana-yugala

'May this brahman who has been taking away my banana leaves be my master life after life. May the lotus feet of this brahman with whom I have been quarrelling be my lords.'

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.9.225–226)

Saying this, Sridhar Prabhu raised his arms — he began to cry and loudly chant kirtan.

The day before Mahaprabhu took sannyas, all devotees assembled at the house of Sri Sachi Mata and Nimai Visvambhar. Everybody came there, and Sridhar Prabhu was also there — he brought a lau (calabash/bottle gourd) and gave it to Nimai. When Nimai took that lau, His heart melted. He said, 'Sridhar, I have been taking and stealing bananas, banana stems and flowers from you My whole life — and today, on this last night, you have brought a lau for Me! I cannot but accept it. You are My eternal servant, Sridhar. I have tested you in so many ways, but you have no ego. I am indebted to you for your service, devotion and pure love.' When somebody else brought some milk after a while, Mahaprabhu asked Sri Sachi Mata, 'Mother, please take this lau and make some sweet lau (lau boiled in milk with sugar).' Nimai took that sweet lau on that night...

After Mahaprabhu took sannyas, being unable to stay without the darsan of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Sridhar Prabhu would every year go together with other devotees to Puri to see the Lord.

In this world, people serve the Lord in three ways. Somebody worships the Lord because they are afraid. Somebody worships the Lord because they have some material desires (they always want something from the Lord, they are always attached to material things, material world). And somebody worships the Lord out of sense of duty, thinking, 'Oh, because we are eternal servants of the Lord and Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we must serve Krishna.' This is not right. You must serve your Guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord out of love, affection, out of attachment and love for their lotus feet — only then will it be real service.

Jay Sridhar Prabhu ki jay.
Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Worship Gauranga
2) Keep Your Fire Ablaze
3) Happiness Is Service
4) Make Kirtan Your All-In-All
5) Qualification for Kirtan
6) Sadhus' Surrender
7) You Must Want To Learn