At Sri Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's Samadhi (3)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Two
Koladwip, 24 March 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

If you look at our guru-parampara photographs, you will see that the last photograph is that of Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj (we give 'jay' to him every day). Please listen to the description of his life.

বৈষ্ণবের গুণ-গান করিলে জীবের ত্রাণ
শুনিয়াছি সাধুগুরুমুখে

vaisnavera guna-gana karile jivera trana
suniyachhi sadhu-guru-mukhe

"Singing the glories of the Vaishnavs rescues and protects the jiva soul. I heard this from the mouth of sadhus and my Guru."

(Acharya Vandana)

We must glorify Vaishnavs—the more we glorify them, the purer our hearts will be. You can see that when we chant, some people's minds start wandering (they cannot concentrate on the kirtan)—they cannot give place to the Lord. You invite somebody to your house, but in the place where you want your guest to sit, you have sacks of rice, dal and potato. Where will your guest sit then? It is the same here: you say that you will keep the Lord in your heart, but if you have other things in your heart—kanak, kamini, pratistha (desire for money, women, and fame), kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, envy), rupa, rasa, gandha, sabda, sparsa (desire for enjoyment through eyes, tongue, nose, ears, and skin)—where will the Lord sit? If you have a fever, you do not feel like eating anything (you do not feel taste). In the same way, many do not feel any taste for the Holy Name. Why? Because they have some disease inside them. What diseases are they? It is not some bodily fever—these diseases are the fevers of kanak, kamini, pratistha, kama, krodha, lobha, and so on.

Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was a very strict Vaishnav. One time, a man who had a pomelo tree picked a pomelo and thought, "If I give it to this sadhu, then my tree will have more fruit." However, Srila Babaji Maharaj could understand this, and when the man came to him, he chased him away, saying, "Instead of chanting the Holy Name with offences, it is better if you come and water the eggplant tree of a sadhu." Many people chant the Holy Name on beads. Do you know how they chant?

One time, a lady came to the temple, just like you come for the parikrama and Gaura Purnima, and took initiation from her Gurudev. Gurudev gave her the Holy Name (the Hare Krishna maha-mantra) and told her to chant it loudly. After that, when she came home, she realised that her husband was Hare Krishna Kunwar and it was impossible for her to pronounce her husband's name [such is the culture in India]. In those days, there were no mobile phones, so she did not know how to get in touch with her Guru. She asked her husband, "What should I do now? Gurudev told to chant sixteen rounds of Ha——, but this is your name! I cannot chant your name!" The husband suggested, "Oh, then you can chant 'Pore Peshto Pore Peshto Peshto Peshto Pore Pore'!" This how we are too—we are just walking around with our mala. You will come to somebody and say, "Please do this service," but they say they are busy chanting on their beads. It is necessary to chant on the beads, but is there any need to show it to others? Chant, but do not do it in front of others. When we chant on our beads, we do it under some cloth—we do not walk around displaying our beads. "Apana bhajana-katha na kahibe yatha tatha (আপন ভজন-কথা, না কহিবে যথা তথা): Do not tell anyone and everyone about your own bhajan, service and practice." Is it necessary to show others how I practise? If I practise, I will get the result, it is not necessary to tell others about it.

This was also Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's mood. He was very strict. Sometimes, somebody gave him some pranami (donation)—he would buy some sweets with that money and feed them to the dham's cows and dogs. He would not take prasad without first feeding dogs. There are many pastimes in his life...

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