At Sri Buroraj Siva's Temple

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Two
Koladwip, 24 March 2021, part 1
Translated from Bengali

[Arriving at Sri Buroraj Siva's temple, His Divine Grace takes his seat at the temple and speaks Hari-katha to the assembled devotees.]

Please listen carefully. Please listen to the glories of this holy place.

This island is famous as Kuliya Hill because it is situated on a mountain-like elevation on the bank of the Ganges. Scriptures describe this Kuliya Town as Koladwip.

If you walk a little further, there is Paramatala. We will go there to take the darshan of the house where Vishnupriya Devi served Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu took sannyas and left Nabadwip for Puri, but Vishnupriya Devi herself arranged for that Deity and serve the Deity after Mahaprabhu left. I will tell you later how she made that Deity.

In Satya-yuga, there lived a boy named Vasudev who every day worshipped Lord Varahadev. (At our temple in Koladwip, we also have a Deity of Varahadev. When Varahadev is not worshipped properly, much disturbance comes to the temple. I have also realised this. Srila Sridhar Maharaj told Gurudev that every day special sweet rice must be made for Varahadev, and if the worship of Varahadev is not done properly, then problems come to the temple.) As Vasudev worshipped the Lord, he always prayed, 'O Lord! Please allow me to have Your darsan — please make my life successful! Without having seen You, my life will pass in vain!'

You know that we are staying at Nrisingha Palli. When we sing the Dasavatar kirtan, we glorify ten incarnations of the Lord: Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Nrisimha (half-lion half-man), Vamana (dwarf brahman), Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. Nine of Them have already come, and Kalki will come in the future in this Kali-yuga.

[Much clamour]

If you talk in front of the Deities, it is a sin. Please close your mouth; otherwise, you can come here, and I will listen to you. I do not mind it.

One day, Lord Varahadev mercifully appeared before Vasudev in an enchanting miraculous form of a boar (kola). Adorned with various jewels, Varahadev was as tall as a mountain. As soon as Vasudev saw the Lord, he fell on the ground in a prostrate obeisance, overwhelmed with divine love. Pleased to see his devotion, the Lord then spoke: 'Vasudev, you are My devotee, and I am very pleased with your worship. There is no other holy place in the entire three worlds that could compare with this Nabadwip Dham. You are so fortune to live here. Because you are worshipping Me here in Nabadwip, when I appear in Kali-yuga as Gaura, you too will be born, and you will be able to see My sankirtan pastimes'. Saying this, Lord Varahadev disappeared.

Vasudev was overjoyed. After that incident, he engaged himself in sankirtan, always chanting the Holy Name of Gaura. Having got the darsan of Lord Varahadev, Vasudev called this place Koladwip. When Sriman Nityananda Prabhu came here with Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu, He said that this Koladwip is non-different from Giri-Govardhan. That is why this place is also known as Gupta Govardhan, or 'hidden' Govardhan.

Jay Sri Giri Govardhan ki jay!

If you do the parikrama of this Sri Nabadwip Dham, you automatically get the result of doing the parikrama of Govardhan. Many things took place on this island; we do not have time to tell about everything now, but there is one thing has to be said. You passed Devananda Gaudiya Math on the way, but does anyone know why this temple is called Devananda? This is Kuliya Hill, and this is the place where Devananda Pandit's offence to Srivas Pandit was forgiven.

Devananda Pandit was very good at reading Srimad Bhagavatam. One time, Srivas Pandit came to hear his lecture and, becoming overwhelmed with ecstacy, began to dance and chant—tears flowed from his eyes, and he began to roll on the ground. Devananda Pandit's disciples got annoyed: they grabbed Srivas Pandit and threw him out from the class. Devananda Pandit did not object—he did not say that what his disciples did was wrong. This is how Devananda Pandit committed an offence. After that, when Mahaprabhu came to Kuliya, Devananda Pandit asked for forgiveness of his offence, and Mahaprabhu told him, "You have made an offence to Srivas Pandit, so you must ask for forgiveness at Srivas Pandit's holy feet, then your offence will be removed." This place was named in his honour—this is Koladwip, this is aparadha-bhanjan-pat (all offences are removed in this place).

The place where we are sitting now is Lord Siva's temple. One time, Parvati Devi asked Sivji Maharaj, "Prabhu, whose worship is the highest? Whom must I worship?" Sivji Maharaj replied, "The worship of Vishnu is the highest worship." Hearing this, Parvati became upset. She said, "I am worshipping you, but you are saying that Vishnu's worship is the highest, then what must I do?" Sivji Maharaj explained, "Do not be sad:

আরাধনানাং সর্ব্বেষাং বিষ্ণোরারাধনং পরম্ ।
তস্মাৎ পরতরং দেবি তদীয়ানাং সমর্চ্চনম্ ॥

aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi tadiyanam samarchanam

"Of all types of worship, the worship of Lord Vishnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, a Vaishnav."

"Krishna's worship is great, but greater than His worship is the worship of His devotee." Krishna Himself says, "Those who say they worship Me are not My devotees, but those who say they worship My devotee are My devotees. I always stay in the hearts of My devotees. I do not know anything except My devotees, and My devotees also do not know anything except Me."

When Sivji Maharaj told this, Parvati became very satisfied. When we went to Vrindavan, I also told you about Gopeshwar Mahadev, how he appeared, how Chakleshwar Mahadev came to Govardhan, etc.

Anyhow, much has been said. We will go now to Paramatala, offer our obeisance to Prauddha Maya, and then go to Mahaprabhu's house. After we offer our obeisances there, chant some kirtan and speak Hari-katha, we will go to the samadhi mandir of Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. Finally, we will go to a field to take prasad and take the buses to return to the temple before noon.

Jay Sri Sada Siva Gangadharji ki jay
Sri Vriddha Siva ki jay
Jay Buro Siva ji jay
Harinam sankirtan ki jay
Nitai Gaura premanande Hari bol

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Download / listen to the full class
(4.5 Mb, 10 min | Bengali)