At Sri Surabhi Kunja

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Three
Sri Godrumdwip, 26 March 2021, part 2
Translated from Bengali

[His Divine Grace chants 'A Broker's Song' ('Bara sukhera khabara gai'), which has been sung by Srila Bhakti Vedanta Avadhut Maharaj, the head servitor at Sri Surabhi Kunja Temple, every year.]

[To Srila B.V. Avadhut Maharaj, who is approaching the platform on which His Divine Grace is seated together with some devotees] Come, Maharaj, come. I have sung your kirtan today! I tried—I have chanted it for the first time today. [His Divine Grace chuckles.]

Continuing our parikrama, we have now come to Sri Surabhi Kunja in Godrumdwip. Among the nine islands of Nabadwip, Godrumdwip is the abode of kirtan. Simantadwip is the abode of sravanam, Godrumdwip is kirtanam, Madhyadwip is smaranam, Koladwip is pada-sevanam, Ritudwip is archanam, Jahnudwip is vandanam, Modadrumdwip is dasyam, Rudradwip is sakhyam, and Antardwip is atma-nivedanam.

On the first day, you went to Antardwip, Simantadwip, Rudradwip. After that, we went to Koladwip, and today we have come to Godrumdwip, and we will also go to Madhyamdwip (Sri Hari-Hara Ksetra).

At this place, having received by the mercy of Surabhi Cow an order to engage in the worship of Gaura, Markandeya Muni took shelter in pure devotion. In Krishna-lila, Markandeya Muni was Lord Indradev. Actually, 'go' means 'a cow' and 'drum' [pronounced as 'droom'] means 'a tree'—because there used to be an asvattha (banyan) tree and the heavenly cow Surabhi lived under it, this place is called Godrum. Try to remember and keep all that is spoken in your heart.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur built this Surabhi Kunja house in 1888, and it was from here that he started Sri Nama-hatta. Originally, Nama-hatta (the market of the Holy Name) was established by Sriman Nityananda Prabhu, but gradually, this market became lost as so much misconception sprang up (aul, baul, kartabhaja, neda, darvesh, sakhibekhi, jata gosai and so on). So, later, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur came and again established Sri Nama-hatta in Surabhi Kunja, in 1888. You have come today to this eternally pure place. Establishing Sri Nama-hatta at this place, Nityananda Prabhu started preaching here on Mahaprabhu's order. Later, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur came here and revealed the glory of this place.

Those of you who went with me to Vrindavan know about the pastime of Govardhan-dhari Gopal (Krishna who lifts Govardhan Hill). In Dvapar-yuga, not being able to recognise the Lord, Indradev committed an offence at the holy feet of Lord Krishna. What offence was it? Every year, the residents of Vraja usually made an offering to Lord Indra to get regular rains (if it rains regularly, then grass grows well, cows eat well, the crops are good, etc.). One year, however, Lord Krishna said, 'We must worship Giriraj Govardhan now! We will not worship Indra any more! If we worship Giriraj Govardhan, we will get everything!' Then, Nanda Maharaj, together with all the Vraja-basis, stopped their worship of Indradev and started worshipping Giriraj Govardhan.

Indradev became angry that the residents of Vraja had worshipped Govardhan, so he sent torrential rains onto Vrindavan. All the Vraja-basis became scared, 'Indradev has become angry! O Lord, please protect us!' but Krishna assured them, 'There is nothing to be afraid of! Giriraj Govardhan will protect us.' Then, Lord Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill and during seven days sheltered all Vraja-basis underneath it. Because Sri Krishna showed Himself as a cowherd boy, they all forgot that Krishna was the Supreme Lord. Then, seven days later, Indradev stopped the rain, thinking, 'These Vraja-basis must be all scared — now they will again start worshipping me!' However, when the rain stopped and all the water dried up, Vraja-basi returned to their homes and were amazed to see that all their things at home where just like that — there was no damage or loss. They were very happy, 'Now we will worship Giriraj Govardhan every year! We will not worship Indra any more.'

Meanwhile, Indradev began to doubt, 'These Vraja-basis did not become scared, and there was no damage to their houses — they behave like nothing has happened.' Then, he came to meet with the heavenly cow Surabhi, the mother of all cows. He asked her, 'Mother, tell me who is this Krishna? Is He an ordinary cowherd boy? He is saying they must stop my worship and worship Govardhan instead, and after worshipping Govardhan, their happiness only increased!' Surabhi said, 'Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and He has protected everyone. You have made a mistake: not being able to recognise Him, You mistook Him for an ordinary boy. Go to Him and beg Him for forgiveness.' Indradev agreed, but then he said, 'I am scared to go alone. Please come with me.'

In this way, Indradev came to Lord Sri Krishna together with Surabhi Cow. Arriving at Govardhan Hill, Indradev pleased the Lord with his offering of prayers, praise and abhisek (auspicious bathing). Feeling satisfied with Indra, Sri Krishna then cleared his offences.

Then, Indradev returned to heaven, but some days later, he felt scared again. He came again to Surabhi and said, 'Mother Surabhi, I again feel scared...'

'King, listen to what I will tell you', said Surabhi. 'Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will appear in Nabadwip Dham in Kali-yuga, and He will grant all offenders the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, liberating them thus from all offences: He will bless them with devotion and transcendental love to Krishna.'

'Mother Surabhi', asked Indradev, 'I could not recognise Krishna, so when Gauranga Mahaprabhu comes, what if I again cannot understand His pastimes or recognise Him too? I will then again commit offences. Mother, please do me a favour. Take me now to this Nabadwip Dham. I will worship Gauranga and receive His darsan.'

So, Indradev came here, to the place where we are sitting now, in Dvapar-yuga with Surabhi Cow. There used to be a banyan tree here before: Surabhi and Indradev sat under that tree and started worshipping Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Some time later, Mahaprabhu granted them His darsan: receiving the Lord's darsan, Indradev felt extremely happy in his heart. After that, Indra left for heaven, but Surabhi Cow stayed here. This is how this place got its name, Sri Surbhi Kunja (the grove of Mother Surabhi).

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur said that this Godrumdwip is non-different from Nanda-gram in Vrindavan. The island of Godrumdwip stretches from here all the way to Nrisingha Palli, and the expanse of the banyan tree that grew here was eight kilometres.

One time, there was a great flood in the world. A sage named Markandeya Muni had received a boon of seven kalpas [seven days of Lord Brahma, each day consisting of four yugas, finishing with the universal annihilation] from Lord Siva, which meant that he did not die when there was the universal flood at the end of each kalpa. One day, at the time of one of such floods, Markandeya Muni was floating in the water and somehow came to Nabadwip Dham (the glory of Nabadwip Dham is such that this holy abode is never flooded). So, when Markandeya Muni came here, he saw Surabhi Cow. He came to her and asked, 'Mother, I have been starving for a very long time. Please let me drink some milk and regain my strength.' Merciful Surabhi fed Markandeya Rsi with her milk and helped him recover.

Regaining his strength, Markandeya Rsi offered prayers to Surabhi Cow and asked her, 'Mother Surabhi, why are you sitting here? Do you not stay in heaven?'

Surabhi Cow replied, 'I am worshipping My Lord here, that is why I am here.'

'You are so fortunate! Why have I only got this boon of seven kalpas? I do not understand anything. Getting this boon, I only feel unhappy. What should I do now?'

'Stay here and worship Gaura!' replied Surabhi.

'What will I get if I worship Gaura?'

'If you worship Gaura, Mahaprabhu will grant His darsan to you: you can get transcendental power (devotion to Lord Krishna); there will be no unhappiness in your life. There is no criteria in worshipping Gaura: whoever chants the Name of Gaura, all their material bondage, attachment and desire for liberation will be destroyed.'

Overcome with devotion, Markandeya Rsi then started chanting the Name of Gauranga Mahaprabhu: as he chanted the Holy Name, he felt he had got back his life.

After that, Mahaprabhu appeared in this world, and when He left for Sri Puri Dham, He sent Nityananda Prabhu here for preaching. Coming to Nabadwip Dham, Nityananda Prabhu stayed here for three months and opened here a marketplace of the Holy Name (Nama-hatta). After Nityananda Prabhu left, three hundred years later, the preaching of Vaisnavism had eventually stopped. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur came here for the first time in 1888 and again started to manifest that Nama-hatta. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote this prayer glorifying Godrum:

sura-sarida upakanthe godrume gaura diyechhe
vasati surabhi-kunje bhakti-purvam vinoda
yugala-charane seva sakya-labhiya aso
vraja-rasa-rasikaya padapadma asraya atra

'As I have pleased Bhakti Devi, Gaura has given me a dwelling at Surabhi Kunja standing on the bank of the Ganges, on the outskirts of Godrum. Aspiring to enter the service of the Divine Couple as a friend, I have taken here the shelter of the holy lotus feet of the expert devotees revelling in the ecstatic devotional mellows of Vraja Dham.'

Staying here, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur composed many scriptures: Jaiva Dharma, Saranagati, Chaitanya-chartamrta's Amrta-Pravaha Bhasya and many other books. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur preached from Surabhi Kunja, and it is by his mercy that we are able to do this Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama today.

Jay Sri Nabadwip Dham ki jay!
Jay Srila Bhakti Vedanta Avadhut Maharaj ki jay.
Samagata Gaura-bhakta-vrinda ki jay.
Chaitanya Saraswat Math ki jay.
Bhakta-raj Prahlad Maharaj ki jay.
Bhagavan Sri Nrisinghadev ki 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 audio
(8.9 Mb, 19 min | Bengali)