Defining Disciples' Destiny

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Mahadvadasi
Noon class, 25 March 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

You can see the example of Sri Madhavendra Puri—he wanted to stay alone and practise Krishna consciousness on his own without so many people around him. Yet we know that Madhavendra Puri has some disciples, among them was Sri Ishwar Puri and Sri Ramachandra Puri. Both were his disciples, both took the mantra from him, but what has become of Ramachandra Puri and what has become of Ishwar Puri? You can judge just now.

Both Ramachandra Puri and Ishwar Puri took the mantra from Sri Madhavendra Puri, but Ramachandra Puri became very proud on account of that. Therefore, it is said that there are three kinds of devotees—guru-tyagi (those who renounce their guru), guru-bhogi (those who use and enjoy with their guru), and guru-sevi (those who serve their guru). When you make offences, this is what can happen to you. Ramachandra Puri made an offence to the holy lotus feet of his Guru, Sri Madhavendra Puri, after that his offence spread to Vaishnavs, and finally to the Lord; he ended up being ousted from Sri Jagannath Puri Dham and nobody ever heard about him after that—he lost his existence.

When Sri Madhavendra Puri was perturbed by the separation from Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani, Ramachandra Puri started teaching his guru. There is a popular mantra that says, "Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Maheswar. Guru is the creator, Guru is the maintainer, Guru is the destroyer." So, Ramachandra Puri was saying, "You are Brahma himself, why are you crying?!" He started teaching all this mayavad and nirvises-brahma conception to his guru. Sri Madhavendra Puri was enraged and cried, "Get out of here, you sinner! I am suffering as it is, and he comes to add some more suffering!" Because Ramachandra Puri dared teach his guru, he became a guru-tyagi—he left his guru and he ended up in hell. He went to Mahaprabhu but he started finding faults with Mahaprabhu. When Mahaprabhu was taking prasad, he started criticising Him. Because of him, Mahaprabhu gave up eating. He said, "Yes, he is right, I am satisfying My senses." Hearing this, all the devotees prayed to Lord Jagannath, "O Jagannathdev, please remove this person from Jagannath Puri." And Lord Jagannath did that.

On the other hand, Sri Ishwar Puri, another disciple of Sri Madhavendra Puri, became a great devotee. You all know the pastime related to his birthplace called Chaitanya-doba (it is situated near Halisahar). Mahaprabhu went there with all the devotees and took dust from that place thinking, "I am taking dust from the holy birthplace of my Lord." After Mahaprabhu and all the devotees took some dust from that place, there appeared a pond. This pond is still there, it is called Chaitanya-doba.

Today is the disappearance of this Madhavendra Puri. There is no difference between the appearance and disappearance of a Vaishnav. In this external world, we have birth and death, but Vaishnavs are neither born, nor do they die. On account of their devotion and devotional practice, they can exceed the lifetime allotted to them by the Lord. They worship the Lord so much that through their devotion, by the blessing and mercy of the Lord they can exceed their allotted lifetime.

I was reading today in the Bhagavatam that every jiva soul's life duration is allotted by the Lord, but when a jiva soul truly worships the Lord, the Lord extends their lifetime—their service is still needed, and the Lord keeps them alive for longer...

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