At Sri Chaitanya Math

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day One
Antardwip, 23 March 2021, part 11
Translated from Bengali

We have come to Sri Chaitanya Math, the first temple established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. When he was staying here (in a small bhajan kutir), he vowed to chant the Holy Name continuously during six years, six months and sixteen days (sata-koti Nama yajna). At this time, Srimati Radharani appeared in front of him, saying, "You are staying in the holy dham, you must preach the Holy Name in this world." Srila Prabhupad replied, "But I am alone, how will I preach?" Srimati Radharani assured him then, "You are not alone. Do not worry, I will send My associates to this world." After that, you can see that so many great personalities came to this world—Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad, Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Kunja Babu (Srila Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaj, who became the acharya of this Chaitanya Math later), Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Aloka Paramahamsa Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Hriday Bon Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Gaurava Vaikhanas Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Prakash Aranya Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vivek Bharati Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kumud Shanta Maharaj. Many of them also took sannyas from our Param Guru Maharaj Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj: first was Srila Bhakti Aloka Paramahamsa Maharaj, then Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Kamal Madhusudan Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Vichar Jajavar Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaj, Srila Bhakti Prajnan Keshav Maharaj. Although they were Srila Sridhar Maharaj's godbrothers, they took sannyas from him. There is a reason why.

In December 1936, Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur showed a pastime of illness. He did not declare any acharya, but he instructed devotees that they had to continue preaching about the Lord all together, jointly, and this is what they did—they continued to preach Krishna consciousness in this world. When Srimati Radharani appeared to Srila Prabhupad and told him to preach the Holy Name in this world and Srila Prabhupad asked, "How will I do that? I am alone!", Srimati Radharani told him that She would send Her associates to preach in this world and help Srila Prabhupad, and this is what happened—so many great scholars came in this world and preached Krishna consciousness widely. Srila Prabhupad himself did not stay in this world for a long time—he was present here for only sixty-four years. He preached Krishna consciousness in this world for sixty-four years only, but during this time, he established sixty-four temples of Sri Gaudiya Math all over India. There are several temples in Nabadwip, including Sri Suvarna Bihar Gaudiya Math, there is another temple also near Nrisingha Palli. There are many temples of Gaudiya Math all over India. In this way, Srimati Radharani sent Her associates who performed their pastimes with Her in Vrindavan, and they came as great acharyas to help Srila Prabhupad.

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 Bhakti Vinod 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, a spotless full moon.

When Srila Prabhupad was going to leave his body, he displayed a pastime of illness, and all disciples gathered around him at that time. They always stayed with Srila Prabhupad, dividing this service among themselves. They decided that each of them would stay with Srila Prabhupad for two hours, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj choose to stay on duty during the hardest time of the day, from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. (it was the hardest time because everybody sleeps at that time and it is necessary to wake up for the mangal arati). On 1 January 1937, early in the morning, after Srila Sridhar Maharaj left to take bath and get ready for the arati, Srila Prabhupad suddenly said, "I want to hear a kirtan from Sridhar Maharaj." Devotees asked, "What kirtan, Prabhupad?" Srila Prabhupad said, "Sri Rupa-manjari-pada, sei mora sampada." Then, Pranavananda Prabhu (later he became Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Goswami Maharaj), who could sing well, was asked to start singing. Suddenly, Srila Prabhupad exclaimed, "Stop it! Keep quiet! I do not want to hear tune—I want to hear the song. Let he whom I named sing it. I want to hear it from Sridhar Maharaj." At that time, Srila Sridhar Maharaj was in the bathroom, preparing for the mangal arati. A devotee came to him and said, "Maharaj, Prabhupad is calling you!" Srila Sridhar Maharaj became alert, "What has happened?" and quickly went to Srila Prabhupad. Srila Sridhar Maharaj was not a good singer, but Srila Prabhupad wanted to hear it from him. If you think about the meaning of that kirtan ('Sri Rupa-manjari-pada', composed by Srila Narottam Das Thakur), you will understand why. After Srila Prabhupad heard this kirtan, he left his body...

Srila Prabhupad instructed everyone that Gurudev's wealth is not temples, houses, great buildings, etc.—Gurudev's wealth is prema, love and affection. Srila Prabhupad explained that it is not necessary to be attached to buildings: he showed by his own example that he left everything like stool and urine and left this world to come to the Lord. After Srila Prabhupad, Devotees tried to make Srila Sridhar Maharaj the acharya, but he refused, "I am junior to everyone, there are many more senior devotees—who will listen to me?" In the end, Srila Sridhar Maharaj went away to Vrindavan—he stayed at Pavan Sarovar in Nanda Gram (Visakha's father, Pavan, built that pond—this is how that name appeared). When Srila Sridhar Maharaj was staying there, he heard an order from Srila Prabhupad, "Why are you staying alone here in Vrindavan? Who will save other jiva souls? Go back to Nabadwip!" Srila Sridhar Maharaj came back to Koladwip and made a small hut on the bank of the Ganges, in aparadh-bhanjan-pat. Later, many foreign and Indian devotees came to him, and great buildings appeared. Gurudev told me, "You are making such big buildings, there will be problems later..."

Anyhow, we have spoken about Srila Prabhupad here. This is his temple, Sri Chaitanya Math, and it is necessary to speak about him when we come here. I have also written everything nicely in the book (Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya Mukta-mala).

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