(2/8) Mercy Is the Master Key

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Radhastami, evening, Siliguri
6 September 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

You are present at the temple of Chaitanya Saraswat Math that was established by our Sri Gurupadpadma here in Siliguri, and we have got an opportunity today to listen about the Lord, about the glories of Srimati Radharani and Sri Gurupadpadma. I have been telling you past few days about how we can come to the Lord. If you want to know the guru, it is impossible to do it without his mercy. Similarly, if you want to know Radharani, you must first have Her mercy.

As you know, after Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He first wanted to go to Vrindavan, but when He came to Shantipur, He changed His mind and went to Puri instead. Arriving at the temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri, He fell unconscious under the influence of ecstatic transformations (asta-sattvik vikara). Foam was coming from His mouth, and He could not even pronounce Lord Jagannath's Name – all He could say was 'Ja-ja-ga-ga, Ja-ja-ga-ga.' The temple priests were first going to beat Him, but seeing His state, nobody dared raise their hand on Him. In the end, they carried Mahaprabhu to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's house.

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya used to live in Nabadwip, but he could not recognise Mahaprabhu. He moved to Puri and had been staying there for a long time by the time Mahaprabhu reached it. He was a great scholar, a great expert in all kinds of knowledge, but despite possessing so much knowledge, he could not recognise that the Lord Himself had appeared in his own village. When Mahaprabhu was brought to his house in Puri, Gopinath Acharya, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's brother-in-law, spoke to him.

'Can you not recognise Him? He is actually related to you. He is the son of Jagannath Misra and the grandson of Nilambar Chakravarti. His Name was Nimai, and after He took sannyas from Keshav Bharati, His Name became Sri Krishna Chaitanya. He is the guru of the whole universe, He is the Lord Himself!'

'Oh, but I do not think that He is God.'

'You have no mercy, that is why you think so. I have mercy, so I know that He is God.'

Such was Gopinath Acharya's reply to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. Later, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya spoke to Mahaprabhu.

'Why did You take sannyas leaving Your mother and family?' Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya asked.

'Oh, I do not know. I have become crazy,' Mahaprabhu replied.

'Have You at least studied Vedanta?'

'I do not know so much – I was a teacher of primary grammar.'

'How did You take sannyas without even having studied anything? You must first study Vedanta!'

'All right, can You teach it to Me?'

So, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya started teaching Mahaprabhu Vedanta. When he read the verses from the book and explained them, Mahaprabhu sat quietly and only listened. Seven days passed like this. In the end, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya got annoyed and asked Him,

'O new sannyasi! I have been teaching Vedanta to You for seven days, but You are not saying anything. How can I understand if You even understand anything? Neither are You asking any questions. Will You say anything?'

'Prabhu, when you are reading Vedanta, I can understand it clearly, but when you start explaining it from the point of view of your mayavadi conception, I cannot understand anything! For example, if you do not mind it, please explain the meaning of the "Atma-ramas cha munayo" verse.'

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya explained the meaning of the verse in nine different ways, and after that Mahaprabhu gave eighteen more interpretations not touching upon the nine interpretations given by Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.

'Disaster!' Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya thought to himself. 'Who have I been teaching all this time?!'

His eyes bulged and his face became very red. Still, even then he did not believe that Mahaprabhu was God Himself. Finally, Mahaprabhu revealed to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya His six-armed golden form (Sada-bhuj Gauranga rupa), holding a conch, a disc, a club and a lotus, and showing the forms He assumed in Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga and Dvapar-yuga. Seeing this miraculous form, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya fell in a prostrate obeisance and fainted.

'Get up! Get up! Why are you lying still? Get up!' Mahaprabhu called out to him.

'Prabhu, what have I just seen? Who are You?!'

'Oh, you must be seeing things,' Mahaprabhu replied, brushing it off.

This is how Mahaprabhu bestowed His mercy upon Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. So, if you are to know the guru, you must first have his mercy. It is impossible to understand the nature of the guru or even recognise the guru with any mundane vision or conception.

— : • : —

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Size: 34 Mb
Length: 70 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Auspicious Life – Auspicious Deeds
2) Mercy Is the Master Key
3) Soul's Estrangement
4) Guru's Potent Proximity
5) Guru Is All-In-All
6) 'Jay Gurudev!'
7) Great Things Come from Great Mercy
8) Where Will You Run?