(3/9) Acharyas' Arrival in Nabadwip

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nrisingha Palli, evening class
2 January 2021, part 3, translated from Bengali

…This is how Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was born in Sri Jagannath Puri, at a place called Narayan Chata. It used to be a simple house, and now there is Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Maharaj’s temple, Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur stayed there during the period of his government service in Puri, and it was there where he got his sixth son.

When his son, Srila Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad, was only six months old, there was a Ratha-yatra festival in Puri. When the chariots came to the house of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, they stopped and did not move. Then, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur brought out his little son, Srila Saraswati Thakur (his name was Bimala Prasad when he was born, in honour of Bimala Devi’s prasad, or mercy) and touched his head to the chariot. When they climbed atop the chariot, Jagannathdev’s garland tore and fell on Bimala Prasad’s neck! After that, the chariot started moving again to Gundicha. Seeing this, everybody could understand that this boy would be a great personality in the future.

Later, when Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur became a magistrate at Krishnanagar, he got a place in Svarupganj (Godrumdwip) and settled there. First, he stayed at Surabhi Kunja and later moved to his house at Svananada Sukhada Kunja, nearby, where he stayed with Bimala Prasad during his vanaprastha life. He left his wife and daughters and came to live in Godrumdwip only with his son. He taught him everything, including all scriptures and Sanskrit.

Although Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur taught Bimala Prasad himself, he did not give him initiation. On Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s order, Bimala Prasad went to take initiation from Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj.

Srila Babaji Maharaj had spent thirty years in Vrindavan, at Radha Kunda. Eventually, he got some inspiration from Srimati Radharani, ‘There is nothing left here in Vrindavan. All pastimes of Radha-Krishna are going on in Nabadwip, which is non-different from Vrindavan Dham and where all pastimes of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu took place. You must go to this Nabadwip Dham.’ Following this inspiration, Srila Babaji Maharaj came to Nabadwip.

I told you the other day that at some point in his life, Srila Babaji Maharaj stayed in a public toilet. People asked him, ‘Why are you staying here? Do you not find it difficult to live with the smell?’ Srila Babaji Maharaj replied, ‘This toilet smell can be tolerated, but what I cannot tolerate is the smell of materialists!’ What beads did Srila Babaji Maharaj chant on? Many worry, ‘Oh, what happens if my mala breaks?’ To this day, I still have the beads that I received from Gurudev’s hand, and I never looked at what mala Gurudev gave me – Gurudev gave it to me, and that is my mala. But now the disciples are such that they examine what mala they were given to see if there is anything wrong with it. How did Srila Babaji Maharaj chant the Holy Name? He found some cloth at the crematorium, tore off a strip and tied knots on it. He used that cloth-made mala to chant the Holy Name: ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.’

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Size: 27 Mb
Length: 55 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Advent of Srila Prabhupad
2) Rescuing Mahaprabhu's Line
3) Acharyas' Arrival in Nabadwip
4) Srila Prabhupad's Initiation
5) Illustrious and Loving Service
6) Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Kirtan
7) Advent of Gaura-Saraswati
8) Step Towards Lord, Not Maya
9) Be Kind to Yourself and Others