At Sri Vidyanagar (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day Four
Ritudwip, 27 March 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

I will speak now about the holy place where we have come. Many people say wrong things—the local residents of Nabadwip do not know the truth. They think that Mahaprabhu learned knowledge (vidya) in Vidyanagar. This is not so. Mahaprabhu never studied in Vidyanagar. He studied in Ganganagar. What is the knowledge that resides and is taught here in Vidyanagar? There are many kinds of knowledge in this world, and the origin of all possible kinds of knowledge is present here. This is the place where all branches of knowledge appeared in this world.

Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was a great pandit who conquered all scholars. At this place, he had his house. He was expert in Vedas, Vedanta, all scriptures and knowledge, and he would worship the Deities following all the scriptures. The fact is that if you chant the Holy Name, you will get all result, but he followed the path of knowledge. I will tell you more about it when we go to Sri Sarvabhauma Gaudiya Math. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya left this place and went to Puri. When Mahaprabhu took sannyas and came to Puri, He first rushed into the temple of Lord Jagannath. He was so overwhelmed that He could not even pronounce the Name of the Lord—He would just repeat, "Ja-ja-ga-ga, Ja-ja-ga-ga." Seeing Mahaprabhu's state and forceful behaviour, the guards were at first going to beat Him, but when they saw Mahaprabhu showing the asta-sattvik-vikar (eight kinds of ecstasy), they could not touch Him. They called Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, who was the head of all pandas (temple priests). Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya did not know who Mahaprabhu was, but he told the guards to take Him to his house (Mahaprabhu had fallen unconscious by that time).

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya lived with his brother-in-law, Gopinath Acharya.

"Do you not recognise Him?" Gopinath Acharya asked Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya when he saw who had been brought to their house.

"Whom? That unconscious man?" Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya asked in reply.

"He is the son of Jagannath Misra and the grandson of Nilambhar Chakravarti! This is Nimai Visvambhar. He has taken sannyas from Keshav Bharati, and His name is now Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Can you not recognise Him? He is the Supreme Lord Himself!"

"Really?" Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said. "I do not think..."

"You do not have mercy, that is why you do not think so. I have some mercy, that is why I think so."

ঈশ্বরের কৃপা-লেশ হয় ত' যাহারে ।
সেই ত' ঈশ্বর-তত্ত্ব জানিবারে পারে ॥

isvarera krpa-lesa haya ta' yahare
sei ta' isvara-tattva janibare pare

"Only those who receive even a trace of the Lord's mercy, can understand the Lord."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 6.83)

When you get the mercy of Sri Guru, you will get the mercy of Gaura. How can you recognise your Guru? You can only recognise him by mercy.

When we go to Sarvabhauma Gaudiya Math, I will speak more about Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and the purport of the "Atmaramas cha munayo" sloka. Gurudev explained it very nicely, and I have heard it from him. In my life, I have asked only one question about scriptures (about this "Atmaramas cha munayo" sloka), and Gurudev explained it to me. Other than that, I never asked any questions. When I said to Gurudev I could not understand it, Gurudev explained that sloka to me.

[His Divine Grace shows the picture of the nine islands of Nabadwip.] This is Nabadwip—there is Antardwip in the centre, and there are eight petals around it. Nabadwip existed before and will exist eternally. Sriman Nityananda Prabhu told Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu that even at the time of universal dissolution, the eternal abode of Sri Nabadwip remains as a lotus and is never destroyed — at this time, all incarnations of the Lord and some fortunate souls stay here at Nabadwip Dham. On this island of Rtudwip, there exists a supremely pure place called Sri Vidyanagar. This is the place where the Supreme Lord, assuming the form of a fish, held all the Vedas, and all rsis, munis, and all knowledge (vidya) lived here, taking shelter of the Vedas — that is how this place got its name, Vidyanagar (lit. 'the town of knowledge').

One day, Brahma decided to again create the world; however, seeing the previous universe destroyed (during the universal annihilation), he felt extremely sad. Brahma thought, "I am creating one world after another, but then they are all destroyed." After the world is destroyed, Krishna tells Brahma to create the world again. For example, we live in Kali-yuga now—when this age finishes, Kalki Maharaj will come riding a horse and destroy everyone who is not chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. It is written in the scriptures that He will appear in a village called Shambal in Orisha (that is why His name is also Utkale Purushottam).

So, feeling sad that the world was going to be destroyed, Brahma prayed to the Lord, and, feeling compassion for Brahma, the Lord bestowed His mercy on him. When Brahma opened his mouth to pronounce his prayer, Saraswati Devi was born on his tongue, so when Brahma prayed, empowered by the potency of Saraswati Devi, he felt very happy. By the mercy of the Lord, it was arranged so that during the creation of the world, Maya stays on the bank of the Viraja River and pervades all directions, covering the entire material universe with her three modes. (There is Goloka Vrindavan on top, beyond Maya, and below the spiritual world, there is this material world—this earth, the planets of Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, heaven, hell, etc.) Then, the universe becomes manifest, and many rsis come to the world and try to reveal knowledge: they take shelter of Saraswati Devi and start studying knowledge in various places on earth, defeating ignorance. The place where these rsis reside exists eternally within this island of Sri Rtudwip. In this way, Valmiki studied poetry here, Dhanvantari studied ayurveda, Visvamitra studied archery, Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanat, Sananda and others studied Vedic mantras here. Even Mahadev learnt about tantras in this place. The four Vedas manifested from the holy mouth of Brahma here. Kapila Muni also lived here and composed his scriptures on logic and logical argument. Patanjali, Kanada Rsi and Jaimini composed their scriptures on yoga here. Even Vedavyas wrote here many of his scriptures (Puranas, etc.). Narad Muni also lived here when he composed his book Pancharatra. This is a very important place.

One day, when Upanisads were worshipping Gauranga Mahaprabhu in this charming place, they heard a divine message of Mahaprabhu in the sky. Mahaprabhu told them, 'Your hearts have become polluted by misconception, so You will not get Me in this form of sruti (orally transmitted scriptures) that you hold now. However, if you are born as My associates when I come to perform My pastimes in this world, you will get to see Me just by dancing and chanting My glories.' Hearing these words, Upanisads stayed here, waiting for this blessed Kali-yuga to come.

This is the glory of Sri Vidyanagar. This is the place where Sri Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya stayed with his brother Vidya Vachaspati. Actually, those who become proud of their knowledge and lineage ("I am a brahman!", "I was born in a higher caste!") often think that everybody must stay at their feet, but this mood has no place here. This is Mahaprabhu's place, and we must accept Mahaprabhu's teachings. If we follow Mahaprabhu's teachings, we will all sit on the floor (we will all take the lowest place). This is the rule.

যেই ভজে, সেই বড়, অভক্ত—হীন, ছার ।
কৃষ্ণভজনে নাহি জাতি-কুলাদি বিচার ॥

yei bhaje sei bada, abhakta—hina, chhara
krsna-bhajane nahi jati-kuladi-vichara

"Only a non-devotee can be considered as worthless and abominable: anyone who takes to devotional service is great—there is no consideration of class, caste, or any other status for those who have taken up service to Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 4.67)

কিবা বিপ্র, কিবা ন্যাসী, শূদ্র কেনে নয় ।
যেই কৃষ্ণতত্ত্ববেত্তা, সেই ‘গুরু’ হয় ॥

kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene naya
yei krsna-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya

"Whether one is a brahman, a sannyasi, or a sudra, regardless of what one is, one can become a spiritual master if they know the science of Krishna."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 8.128)

Anyhow, offering our obeisances at this place, we will now go to Sri Sarvabhauma Gaudiya Math. We will sit and speak there in front of the Lordships for some time.

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