(6/9) Annakut Mahotsav

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
20 November 2020, noon, part 6
Translated from Bengali

Do you know who made an annakut mahotsav in Kali-yuga? Sri Madhavendra Puripad, who is the root guru of our sampradaya. He also worshipped Govardhan and Govardhan-dhari Gopal. If you read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, you will find this pastime narrated there very beautifully. At first, Madhavendra Puri lived in Bengal, in the district of Bardhaman, after that he lived in Puri for some time. When he was in Puri, Gopinath stole kheer for him. From Puri, Madhavendra Puri eventually went to Vrindavan. He is the root of our sampradaya. You know that trees have roots, and if you cut the root, then the tree will not live even if you pour water on top of it. The root is the main things. So, in our sampradaya, Madhavendra Puripad is the root, and we must always remember him. His disciple is Ishwar Puri, and Ishwar Puri's disciple is Mahaprabhu. That is why we worship Madhavendra Puri. We sometimes go to his samadhi-mandir, it is near the temple of Kseer-chor Gopinath.

When Madhavendra Puripad came to Vrindavan, he stayed on the bank of Govinda Kunda and chanted the Holy Name all day long. I have told you about it many times.

Do you know what Mahaprabhu said? He said,

বৃন্দাবনে গিয়া না থাকিয়া চির কাল ।
গোবর্দ্ধনে উঠিয়া না দেখিয়া গোপাল ॥

vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala
govardhane uthiya na dekhiya gopala

'When you go to Vrindavan, do not stay there for a long time and do not climb the Govardhan Hill to see Gopal.'

Mahaprabhu told not to climb on top of Govardhan, that is why Gaudiya Vaishnavs never climb Govardhan. Those who do not understand anything climb on top and sit there, taking selfies... Gaudiya Vaishnavs do not climb there, and neither did Mahaprabhu Himself. Because Mahaprabhu also did not go there, Gopal personally came down from the top of Govardhan on the pretext of ostensible fear of mlechhas but actually to give His darshan to Mahaprabhu. And Gopal lives there, at the foothill of Govardhan, to this day.

বৃন্দাবনে গিয়া না থাকিয়া চির কাল ।
গোবর্দ্ধনে উঠিয়া না দেখিয়া গোপাল ॥

vrndavane giya na thakiya chira kala
govardhane uthiya na dekhiya gopala

'When you go to Vrindavan, do not stay there for a long time and do not climb the Govardhan Hill to see Gopal.'

Following the order of Mahaprabhu, we do not stay in Vrindavan long – unless you have some service, if you stay in Vrindavan, your spiritual life will be destroyed. Mahaprabhu also prohibited to climb on top Govardhan to see Gopal.

When Madhavendra Puri decided to go Vrindavan, he did not want to take anybody with him because he thought, 'If I take many people with me, there will be disturbance and I will not be able to think about the Lord. I would rather go alone. So, one day, he was sitting and chanting the Holy Name under a banyan tree on the bank of Sri Govinda Kunda, near Govardhan. It was evening, when the afternoon heat had abated. Suddenly, a young boy came up to him with a pot of milk and said, 'Madhav! I know you have been fasting the whole day. Here, drink this milk!'

'Who are You?' Madhavendra Puri asked the boy.

'I live in this village. I herd the cows.'

'How did You know I have not eaten the whole day?'

'Nobody in this village stays without food. We give food to everyone, both those who ask for food and those do not ask for anything.'

Madhavendra Puri was ayachita-vritti, which means that he did not beg—if he got something, he would eat it, and if he did not anything, then he would not eat anything. The boy had heard about it and decided to bring some milk for Madhavendra Puri.

'All right, I will talk to you later,' said the boy. 'I must go now. I will come later to take the pot. Drink the milk by the time'

When Madhavendra Puri drank the milk, he was astonished, 'This is nectar! I have drunk milk many times in Bengal, but this is nectar! I have never drunk any milk like that!' As he drank it, he became overwhelmed with divine love for the Lord. Then, Madhavendra Puri thought, 'When will the boy come? I will ask Him where He lives and who His parents are...' The night came. He kept sitting and waiting. It was almost dawn time, and it had become quite cold. In the end, he felt tired and dozed off. Gopal came to him in a dream, took him by the hand and showed him a place in the jungle, 'Look, this is where I live. You asked Me who I was. I was installed by Vajranabha, Krishna's great-grandson. Fearing Muslim mlechhas who were breaking temples, My pujari brought Me here and left. Since that time, I have been living here, but the place has turned into a jungle. I suffer from the scorching sun and rains. I keep thinking, "When will Madhav come? When will he serve Me?"'

In the morning, Madhavendra Puri woke up and called all the villagers to come with him. Everybody thought he was crazy, 'What is this crazy sadhu saying? He is talking like a madman.' Then, some elderly people said, 'Let us see where he wants us to go.' Everyone went to cut the jungle, and in the end, clearing their way through thick trees and plants, they have found a Deity. It was Govardhan-dhari Gopal.

Having found Gopal, Madhavendra Puri told all the ladies to bring water in pots and with that water, he cleaned Govardhan-dhari Gopal nicely. Gopal had not eaten for a very long time, so that day, Madhavendra Puri arranged a grand offering of annakut (a mountain of rice) and many various preparations.

When Nanda Maharaj made an offering to Govardhan, all the Vraja gopas and gopis offered so many things, but Govardhan ate everything and kept saying, 'I am not full yet! I want more! Bring more! Bring more!' The Vraja-basis said, 'We will go home and bring more for You, please wait,' but Govardhan stopped them, 'You do not need to go home. I will extend My arms and take Myself.' Then, Govardhan extended His arms and took food from all houses.

This is the glory of Giraraj. And we observed the festival of Govardhan-puja a few days ago. Every year, we go to Govardhan at this time, but we could not go this year, so I speak about it here. Those who have managed to go there offered puja (worship) to Govardhan, but we did it from here.

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Length: 64 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Result of Great Fortune
2) Beyond the Walls of Your Ego
3) Hanker and Try
4) Govardhan's Arrangement
5) Krishna, Stealer of Pride
6) Annakut Mahotsav
7) Who Are You? Where Are You?
8) Enter Service Plane
9) Taking the Holy Name