Dispatching Sri Damodar Pandit

By His Divine Grace
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham
1 June 2013, part 5

Mahaprabhu Himself knows devotees—who is a 10% devotee, who is a 20% devotee, who is a 50% devotee, who is a real devotee—He knows all of His associates.

Mahaprabhu knew also that Damodar Pandit was very honest, and once He wanted to know, "If I do something a little wrong, who will tell Me about it? I want to see it."

There was one little boy who often came to Mahaprabhu. When the boy came to His room, Mahaprabhu would give him some affection, sweets, prasad, etc. Damodar Pandit did not like it—he always chastised the boy, "Hey, why you are coming?", "Why are you coming to Mahaprabhu?", "Why are you coming here?" The boy was afraid of Damodar Pandit and started to come to Mahaprabhu secretly. He also often complained to Mahaprabhu, "Oh, that old man, Damodar Pandit, is always chastising me, he always says, 'Why are you coming here?'..."

Mahaprabhu understood why Damodar Pandit did it—because that boy had a widowed mother. She was a pretty lady and had no husband, that is why if people saw that the boy came to Mahaprabhu (a sannyasi), they will say bad things about Mahaprabhu, and it would be a big problem for the devotees. Mahaprabhu understood it.

One day, Damodar Pandit could not tolerate it any longer and told directly to Mahaprabhu's face, "Prabhu, You are a sannyasi, and Your behaviour must be correct. I know You are right, I know You are giving affection to the boy, and he is a good boy, but You know that his mother is a widow and she is a pretty woman. His mother does not come, but people will say bad things—they will make an offence and go to hell. For this reason I am telling You that You must behave properly..."

It is a lesson for us. We must think both ways: if people say something and go to hell as a result of it, we must not behave in such a way that will cause this.

So, Damodar Pandit said, "Prabhu, You cannot allow this to happen. Please do not allow this boy to come."

As Damodar Pandit was speaking, Mahaprabhu thought, "What is this? I am a sannyasi, and Damodar Pandit is a brahmachari—why is he teaching Me? But actually he is right—sometimes even a brahmachari can teach a sannyasi. If a sannyasi does wrong, a brahmachari can chastise him." In the end, Mahaprabhu decided, "Yes, Damodar Pandit is the perfect person: I can send him with some prasad and presentation to My mother. Who else can I believe?"

What does "Who else can I believe?" mean? Gurudev said that at that time Sachi Mata was old, but in her house there was a young lady—Vishnupriya. So, Mahaprabhu sent Damodar Pandit thinking, "I can send Damodar Pandit, then people will not be able to say anything bad about Vishnupriya."

That is why Mahaprabhu gave some prasad to Damodar Pandit and sent him to stay in Sachi Mata's house in Mayapur...

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay! Nitai-Gaura premanande Hari Hari bol.

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