Devotees' Deities

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Siliguri, Deity installation anniversary
27 May 2017, translated from Bengali, part 8

So, this is how Deities manifest...

Sanatan Goswami himself installed Madan Mohan. Rupa Goswami himself installed Govinda. Haridas, the guru of Tansen, (it is not Chhota Haridas, not Haridas Thakur, it is another Haridas) installed Banki Bihari (you have heard the Name of this Vrindavan Deity). In Kalna, Gauri Das Pandit himself installed Gaura Nitai's Deities—when Gaura Nitai came to his house, by his desire They became Deities. At the place where Jayadev composed Gita Govinda ("Srita kamala..."), Dvijavaninath installed Gaura Gadadhar. And Vishnupriya Devi also herself installed Mahaprabhu's Deity. When the Deity was ready, she went there to see Him, but when she saw Him, she said, "No, my Prabhu was not like this." The Deity was adjusted, but when she saw the Deity next time, she again said, "No, my Prabhu's eyes were not like this," next time, "My Prabhu's toenails were not like this," next time, "My Prabhu's hands were not like this," and so on. A whole year passed in this way and she would come every day and say, "No, my Prabhu was not like this." This is how the Deity was finally made. Who made that Deity? Vishnupriya, she installed that Deity of Mahaprabhu.

Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur lived for sixty-four years and he established sixty-four temples during his lifetime, installing Deities there. Our Guru Maharaj also went to many places, many different countries and installed the Lord's Deities all over the world.

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

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

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 6.83)

"Only those who receive even a drop of the Lord's mercy, can understand the Lord, can know anything about the Lord." Without a drop of mercy of the Lord you cannot do anything.

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