Sriman Nityananda Prabhu came here with Srila Jiva Goswami, and when Sridhar Prabhu heard that Sri Nityananda Prabhu had come together with the devotees, he came out to welcome them, offering his obeisances and various worship to the Lord and the devotees. He said humbly, 'Prabhu, please be merciful to this low servant—please take rest at my house'.

'Sridhar', said Sri Nityananda Prabhu, 'you are so fortunate! The Lord has bestowed so much mercy on you. Yes, I will rest at your house today!'

Sridhar Prabhu was very happy to hear it. With much care he served Sri Nityananda Prabhu and all the devotees. He asked a brahman to cook something and then served prasad to everyone. After that, Sri Nityananda Prabhu lay down in the room of Sridhar Prabhu, and Sridhar Prabhu massaged the Lord's feet. Having taken some rest, everyone then continued Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama in the association of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu.

Why did Sriman Nityananda Prabhu say that Sridhar Pandit was a great recipient of Mahaprabhu's mercy? You must know who Sridhar Pandit was, and you must always remember and keep his mood in your heart.

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 prasad 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!) 'Besides, 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 Vaisnav, 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, 'Visnu! Visnu!' 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 would joke, '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
vaisnava 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 Vaisnav? 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...