Glory of Sri Madhyadwip

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Three
Evening class, 26 March 2021, part 5
Translated from Bengali

I would like to tell you about Sri Madhyadwip. It is an island of smaranam (remembrance of the Lord). Entering Sri Madhyadwip, Sriman Nityananda Prabhu told Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu, "This is a village called Majhdia," and then He told him about the glory of this place:

Some time in Satya-yuga, there were seven sages who prayed here to Lord Brahma to attain the divine love of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Then, one day Lord Brahma became very pleased with the prayers of the sages, so he came to them and said, "You must all go to Nabadwip. If you chant the glories of Gaura there, you will easily get Gaura-prema." Attaining the mercy of a holy place, one attains saintly association; after that, practising Krishna consciousness in the saintly association, one attains the supreme benefit. This is the greatest happiness and fulfilment in life. Those who become attracted and attached to Sri Nabadwip Dham get the right to reside in Vraja. Without the mercy of Sri Nabadwip Dham, it is impossible to live in Vrindavan. (Many may stay in Vrindavan, but instead of actually living in Vrindavan they only pretend that they live there.) Hearing Lord Brahma's advice, the sages went to Nabadwip Dham and began to dance and worship and glorify Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

The sages engaged themselves in severe austerities and earnestly prayed for the darshan of Sri Gaura Hari. Giving up all food and sleep, they only chanted the Holy Name of Gaura. One day, Gaura gave them His darshan to bestow mercy on these sages. He came to them in a dream (it all happened in Satya-yuga), and when the sages saw Him, they were astonished. They said, "O Lord, we surrender at Your holy lotus feet! Please bestow upon us devotion to Yourself." Hearing their prayer, merciful Gaura Hari spoke, "Listen, dear sages, give up all other desires, all knowledge, karma, etc. and always speak Krishna-katha. Do not tell anyone for now what I have just shown you. I will come to this Nabadwip Dham very soon, then My pastimes will become manifest, and you too will be able to see those pastimes. For now, go to Sri Kumar Hatta and practise Krishna consciousness at a ghat there." Saying this, Gaura Hari disappeared. The sages then followed Mahaprabhu's order and started to practise Krishna consciousness at Sri Kumar Hatta.

Here, in Madhyadwip you can see seven hills. This is the place of residence of those seven sages. This is where they sat and attained Gaura Hari. Having told about this pastime, Sriman Nityananda Prabhu showed Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu a few other places...

It is said that a supremely pure river called Gomati flows here, and also Naimisaranya forest is present on this island. In old times, Saunaka and many other sages heard about the glories of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu from the holy lotus mouth of Sri Suta Goswami. One day, leaving his carrier bull Nandi, Sivji Maharaj took Brahma's swan and came here to hear about the glories of Sriman Mahaprabhu. All the devotees surrounded Sivji Maharaj and, as they danced and chanted kirtan, they showered a rain of flowers upon him. That is why that place became known as Hamsavahan ('riding a swan').

Sriman Nityananda Prabhu also told Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu about one more place here at Sri Madhyadwip. There is a holy place situated within Sri Brahmapura on this island, it is called Puskara Tirtha, and a very secret pastime took place here.

In Satya-yuga, there was a brahman named Divdas. He left his home and set out to visit all the holy places. One day, he came to a holy place called Puskara Tirtha and felt very attracted to it. Later, as he continued travelling around the holy places, he came here to Sri Nabadwip Dham. Here, he heard a divine message saying, "O brahman, you have come to this eternal holy abode. You should stay here." Following the order of the Lord, Divdas made a small hut and settled at that place. However, eventually his mind became disturbed because he always kept remembering Puskara Tirtha. Being unable to travel, he felt very sad. He cried and thought, "Will I never be able to see my dear Puskara Tirtha?" Lord Puskaranath took pity on Devdas and appeared before him disguised as a brahman. The Lord said to Devdas, "Devdas, do not cry, do you see this pond here, in front of you? Take bath in it and you will see Puskara Tirtha in its water." Hearing the words of the brahman, Devdas quickly went to bathe in the lake. He got transcendental eyes and could see Puskara Tirtha in front of him.

Seeing his dear Puskara Tirtha, Devdas said to the Deity of Puskaranath, "O Lord, You have taken so much trouble for me! You had to come here from so far!" Lord Puskaranath replied, "Devdas, you are so fortunate! I have not come from far. Actually, I eternally reside here at Sri Nabadwip Dham. This Sri Nabadwip Dham is where all holy places are present, and I live here eternally too. Fools and unintelligent people want to leave Nabadwip Dham and stay elsewhere, they glorify other places, but there is no other place that can compare to this beautiful Nabadwip Dham. You can see Kuruksetra, Brahmavarta, Saraswati River, Drishdvati River here. I will tell you one secret. Very soon there will be a great joy in this Nabadwip Dham because Gaurasundar will appear here and distribute transcendental love in all four directions. The Lord will roam this Nabadwip Dham and perform sankirtan with His devotees. The whole would will be then flooded with transcendental love, but those who are interested in debates and logic will not be able to get this love. Even if they practise Krishna consciousness for millions and millions of years, unfortunate souls will not get any attachment or attraction to the Holy Name; but all unwanted elements leave those who practise Gauranga consciousness—such souls very quickly attain residence in Sri Vrindavan Dham. Devdas, stay here, you must definitely get the darshan of Gauranga Mahaprabhu's associates."

Saying this, Puskarnath disappeared, and after a while Devdas heard a divine message saying, "O brahman! This Kali-yuga is such a special time! You will be born here in Kali-yuga and, swimming in the divine love, you will chant the glories of Sri Gaura!"

Walking and speaking about all this, Sriman Nityananda Prabhu also showed Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu Uchchahatta (Kuruksetra) saying, "All demigods came here. Whatever holy places there are within Kuruksetra and Brahmavarta, they are all present here in Nabadwip. All holy places are serving Nabadwip Dham. If you spend only one night here, it is the same as spending one hundred years in Kuruksetra. When all the demigods came to live here, they established a marketplace where they would come to speak about Gauranga Mahaprabhu."

Jay Sri Madhyadwip ki jay!

All this is also written in poetry form (in Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya, written by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur), but if we read it, far not everyone will understand it, that is why I have printed it in prose. If you read it, it will be good. Everybody must read this book (Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala).

I see that there are fewer people today—are they all sleeping? The Lord has now mercifully given us all a place to stay, so what is the problem? We can stay here and hear and speak about the glories of Lord Nrisinghadev every day. So many devotees come here every day. All the temples never came to our old temple in Nabadwip, but everybody comes here because all temples' parikrama parties come here. This place is crowded every day.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Sarvasva tomara charane sampiya' and 'Hari Haraye Nama Krsna,' and, reciting the final 'Jaya Dhvani,' concludes the evening class.]

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