(1/6) Damodar's Pastimes

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Evening class, Tarakeshwar, 7 November 2020, part 1
Translated from Bengali

মূকং করোতি বাচালং পঙ্গুং লঙ্ঘয়তে গিরিম্ ।
যৎকৃপা তমহং বন্দে শ্রীগুরুং দীনতারণম্ ॥

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

"The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill—all it takes is mercy from Gurudev."

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First, I am offering my full obeisance at the lotus feet of my Divine Master Om Vishnupad Jagad-guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy and aspiring to serve him; after that, I am offering my full obeisance to all the assembled guru-varga, all my godbrothers, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees and all the devotees. I am offering my obeisance at your holy feet and praying for your mercy to this lowly soul.

We have come here again after some time. I have heard that you have been doing parikramas every day because it is Kartik-vrata and Damodar-vrata now. It is very good. If anybody has a problem walking on the streets barefoot, you can wear shoes; it is not a problem. It is not an offence because you are doing a parikrama. It does not mean that you can wear shoes in the temple; but there is no problem with wearing shoes on the street to avoid problems with legs.

We are also chanting special kirtans during the Kartik month, you have heard it just now. In the morning, we also sing a big kirtan 'He deva bhavantam vande'.

Devotee: We sing it in the evening.

Oh, do you not sing it in the morning? Do you sing 'Nagare nagare Gora gaya'?

Devotee: Yes, we sing it during the parikrama.

During the parikrama? How? Do you walk and see the books? You can fall into a hole in the street like this!

মন্মানস-মধুকর মর্পয় নিজপদ-পঙ্কজ-মকরন্দে ॥
(হে) দেব ভবন্তং বন্দে ।

man-manasa-madhukaram arpaya nija-pada-pankaja-makarande
(he) deva bhavantam vande

O Lord, I offer my obeisance unto You. Please place the bee of my heart in the honey of Your lotus feet.

It is so beautiful. Just as bees fly from flower to flower collecting pollen and brining it all to one place, sadhus collect the nectar of the Lord's sweetness and keep it all together in one place, and we pray to hear this nectar from them.

There is another kirtan also:

নমামীশ্বরং সচ্চিদানন্দরূপং
লসৎ-কুণ্ডলং গোকুলে ভ্রাজমানং ।

namamisvaram sach-chid-ananda rupam
lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam

"To the Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings are swinging to and fro, who is beautifully shining in the divine realm of Gokula...."

Damodar means 'dam-yoga-udar': 'udar' means belly and 'dam' is a rope. In this month, Mother Yasoda tied Krishna to a mortar. That place is still there in Gokula, Vrindavan. When Krishna was tied to the mortar, He broke two trees. Do you remember who came out of those trees? Nalakuvar and Manigriv. Those two broken trees are also there. We were chanting about it in the kirtan just now, and I will tell you about it in detail, we have time.

Kuver's sons, Nalakuvar and Manigriv, were intoxicated with their wealth. One day, they were bathing in a river naked together with some girls, doing nonsense. At this time, Narad was passing by. Narad Muni cursed them, and as the result, the two brothers were born as trees: 'You have no shame! Trees stand naked without any shame, so you will be born as trees.' When the brothers heard about the curse, they were upset and begged Narad Muni forgiveness. They asked him, 'How will we be rescued?' Narad Muni explained that Sri Krishna would appear in Dvapar-yuga and rescue them.

Then, in Dvapar-yuga, one day, Mother Yasoda was making butter, curd and other things for Gopal, but Gopal did not want to understand it. He pestered His mother very much. He cried for His mother's milk, but Mother Yasoda told Him, 'Later, dear, wait. I am warming some milk now. I cannot leave the milk and go away, it will boil over and everything will be spoilt.' Gopal did not listen – He kept asking His mother for her milk. Mother Yasoda pushed Him aside. Then, Gopal got angry and went to the room where His mother kept milk, yoghurt, butter and other preparations. His friends came with Him. The boys climbed on top of each others' shoulders and fed all butter to monkeys! When Mother Yasoda came, she was taken aback, 'What is this?! I take so much trouble to make all this curd and butter for Him, but He has fed everything to monkeys! You have become very naughty, Gopal! I will tie You today!' Gopal thought, 'Mother, do you know who you are going to bind?' Mother Yasoda brought all the rope that she could find in the house – Gopal is a small baby, but no matter how much she tried to bind Him, she could not because the rope always turned out to be two fingers too short. She brought more rope, but still it was not enough! Mother Yasoda was very angry.

রুদন্তং মুহুর্নেত্রযুগ্মং মৃজন্তং
করাম্ভোজযুগ্মেন সাতঙ্কনেত্রম্ ।
মুহুঃশ্বাসকম্প-ত্রিরেখাঙ্ককণ্ঠ
স্থিত-গ্রৈব-দামোদরং ভক্তিবদ্ধম্ ॥

rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam
karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram
muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kantha-
sthita-graiva-damodaram bhakti-baddham

"[Seeing the whipping stick in His mother's hand,] He is crying and rubbing His eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes are filled with fear, and the necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with three lines like a conchshell, is shaking because of His quick breathing due to crying. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His mother's pure love, I offer my humble obeisances."

Gopal began to cry and shake out of fear. You know that it is usually very cold during the Kartik month, but Mother Yasoda tried to bind Gopal so hard that she began to sweat. Seeing this, Gopal thought, 'I should not give so much trouble to My mother. I will let her bind Me.' Then, Mother Yasoda bound Him to a mortar. You may have seen the mortars that they used for grinding spices and grains before – they would tie a cow to that mortar, and cows would go in circles, moving the mortar. Mother Yasoda was sure that Gopal would not be able to stir that mortar, so she could go and finish her chores. But Gopal, tied to the mortar, crawled and went to the street, showing everyone, 'Look, look! My mother has tied Me! Poor Me!' Then, leaving Nanda Maharaj's home, Gopal crawled to two twin Yamalarjuna trees. There was some gap between the two trees, and Gopal crawled right through that gap, but the mortar got stuck. Then, Gopal pulled on the mortar hard and the two trees fell down. There was no thunder in the sky, no lightening. Those trees had been there for thousands of years (nobody even knew how old there were), and suddenly they fell down with a tremendous thud. Hearing the noise, Nanda Maharaj ran there and picked Gopal up, 'Are You all right? Have You hurt Yourself?' Gopal was all right, and out of those two trees came two brothers, Nalakuvar and Manigriv.

কুবেরাত্মজৌ বদ্ধমুর্ত্ত্যৈব যদ্বৎ
ত্বয়া মোচিতৌ ভক্তিভাজৌ কৃতৌ চ ।
তথা প্রেমভক্তিং স্বকাং মে প্রযচ্ছ
ন মোক্ষে গ্রহো মেঽস্তি দামোদরেহ ॥

kuveratmajau baddha-murttyaiva yadvat
tvaya mochitau bhakti-bhajau krtau cha
tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayachchha
na mokse graho me 'sti damodareha

"O Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera (Manigriva and Nalakuvara) were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way, please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire for any kind of liberation."

'The two brothers Nalakuvar and Manigriv were so sinful, but they have got Your mercy. Yet I am much more sinful than them!' Who says this? Satyavrata Muni composed this song, Damodarastakam. He says, 'If Kuver's sons could get You, O Lord, then I aspire for that too.'

We must sing these things during the Damodar month. Always remember these things.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Damodar's Pastimes
2) Cannot Have Foot in Both Camps
3) Our Highest Treasure
4) Two Books for Preaching
5) Clear Message
6) Srila Prabhupad's Appeal