(1/6) Do Not Overstep Your Limit

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, 15 December 2020, evening, part 1
Translated from Bengali

You will not find Srimati Radharani's Name mentioned anywhere in Srimad Bhagavatam. So, who would have known about Her glory if Gauranga Mahaprabhu had not come? If you get the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, who is non-different from Sri Gurupadpadma, you will get Radha-Krishna's mercy – then Gauranga will come to you. One time, somebody asked me, 'There is no mention of Radharani's Name in Bhagavatam. Why is it so?' Her worship is extremely high, and it is not to be discussed in front of everybody. But the people of our country say easily, 'Radhe, Radhe'. In Vrindavan, people give classes about Radharani. If you do that, then...

Devotee: ...this is sahajiya?

That is the straight way to put it. What it means is this:

ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ভ্রমিতে কোন ভাগ্যবান্ জীব ।
গুরু-কৃষ্ণ-প্রসাদে পায় ভক্তিলতা-বীজ ॥

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

'Having travelled throughout the universe, some fortunate souls receive the seed of the devotional creeper by the mercy of Sri Guru, who is non-different from Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.19.151)

You must water the seed for it to grow, but if you pour too much water, the seed will rot. So, those who think they have become too mature and therefore only speak about Radharani or take Her Name freely are pouring too much water on their seeds. When Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave class on Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, he did not discuss the last part that describes the last fourteen years of Gauranga Mahaprabhu's private pastimes, exhibiting Radharani's mood of separation from Krishna.

'Rasaraja mahabhava Chaitanya-svarupa': Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's original identity is a combined form of Radha (maha-bhava) and Krishna (rasa-raja). He only showed this form to Ray Ramananda during their meeting in Kovur, on the bank of the Godavari. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya had told Mahaprabhu, 'You are going to South India. I know one great devotee there who is just like You.' He had sent Mahaprabhu to meet Ray Ramananda. When Mahaprabhu later showed in His internal pastimes, He showed them in the company of two devotees, Svarup Damodar and Ray Ramananda. Govinda, Mahaprabhu's servant, was also there.

It is said that only three and a half devotees served Mahaprabhu: Svarup Damodar, Ray Ramananda, Sikhi Mahiti and his niece, Srimati Malini Devi. Not even Nityananda Prabhu or Rupa-Sanatana are among them, and only three persons were with Mahaprabhu in Gambhira. So, how can we dare enter there? That is why Srila Prabhupad said:

মাতল হরিজন কীর্ত্তন-রঙ্গে ।
পূজল রাগপথ গৌরব-ভঙ্গে ॥

matala hari-jana kirtana-range
pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

'From afar we shall worship the raga-patha, the path of spontaneous affectionate service, while we ourselves shall live within the Vedic guideline.'

Raga-patha (the line of spontaneous devotion) must stay in our hearts. Do we worship the Deities of Yugala-murti (Radha-Krishna)? We never show it, but sahajiyas keep Radha-Krishna's Deities on the street when they do Durga-puja or Kali-puja.

Somebody asked me once, 'Why are there no Deities of Gadadhar?' I told them, 'Everybody must serve according to their right.' Nobody from Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's circle worshipped Gaura-Gadadhar Deities. Only Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and Dvija Vaninath did it. There are very, very few Deities of Gaura-Gadadhar. Srila Prabhupad opened so many temples, but he did not install Gaura-Gadadhar Deities in any of those temples. You will only find Gaura-Gadadhar Deities installed by Dvija Vaninath (Mahaprabhu's associate) in Chapahati and by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur in his Svananda Sukhada Kunja at Svarupganj. Gadadhar is Srimati Radharani's incarnation. Krishna took Radharani's heart (bhava) and halo (kanti):

কৃষ্ণবর্ণং ত্বিষাঽকৃষ্ণং সাঙ্গোপাঙ্গাস্ত্রপার্ষদম্ ।
যজ্ঞৈঃ সঙ্কীর্ত্তনপ্রায়ৈর্যজন্তি হি সুমেধসঃ ॥

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair-yajanti hi su-medhasah

'Intelligent people engage in sankirtana-yajna (congregational chanting of the Holy Name) to worship the Lord on whose lips the Holy Name of Krishna dances, whose complexion is black but garbed in golden lustre, and who comes together with His associates and weapons.'

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.5.32)

Garbing Himself in the colour of Srimati Radharani, Krishna comes as Gauranga Mahaprabhu. You can ask then, 'If Krishna takes Radharani's heart and halo and comes as Gauranga, then how can Gadadhar be Radharani's incarnation?' Do people have nothing else except for heart and halo? So, Gadadhar in the incarnation of whatever was left of Radharani after Krishna took Her heart and halo. That is why Gadadhar always followed behind Mahaprabhu. In the end, Mahaprabhu gave him ksetra-sannyas and told him to stay in Puri, near Him.

One time, Gadadhar Pandit decided to test Mahaprabhu, 'I want to see how much He loves me. I will not invite Prabhu this time – I want to see if He comes Himself or not.' He cooked avona-sak, Mahaprabhu's favourite kind of spinach, and other items (banana flowers, stems, etc.), and then waited. Mahaprabhu would come every day to hear Gadadhar give class, and that day, He did not take Lord Jagannath's prasad but instead came to Gadadhar, saying, 'Oh, Gadadhar, so you were thinking not to invite Me and eat all this alone?' Gadadhar became shy to hear it. There are many pastimes that happened between them. One time, Gadadhar tried to go with Mahaprabhu, but when Mahaprabhu told him not to come, he said, 'I am not going with You! I am going to see Mother Sachi!' After that, when Mahaprabhu got into a boat and left, Gadadhar fainted. He tried to go with Mahaprabhu very hard. Mahaprabhu told him, 'Leaving your service is wrong. If you leave your service to Gopinath to travel with Me, you will go house to house with Me and eat nice things! You cannot leave your service, it will be an offence.' Do you know what Gadadhar Pandit said in reply? He said, 'Prabhu, if one gets the darshan of Your holy feet, it cannot even compare to millions of services to Gopinath.' Mahaprabhu had nothing to reply, He only said, 'Keep quiet!' He was defeated by Gadadhar's cleverness. This is what happened. Gadadhar always stayed with Mahaprabhu.

[His Divine Grace then chants 'Yadi Gaura na ha'ta...']

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Do Not Overstep Your Limit
2) Do You Ever Think of It?
3) Glories of Great Souls
4) Do Not Deflect
5) Preserving Purity
6) Appreciate Prasad-Seva