(13/14) Shelter of Sri Guru's Mercy

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Uluberia, 11 January 2021, part 13
Translated from Bengali

Whenever we have some problem, we run to tell about it to gurudev: for example, our leg hurts, and we come to complain… But have you heard about Srila Gauri Das Pandit?

Srila Gauri Das Pandit had a disciple called Chaitanya Das (later, his name changed, and he became known as Hriday Chaitanya). Sri Gauri Das Pandit’s temple is in Kalna, and the Ganges is about one–two kilometres from there. One day, Sri Gauri Das Pandit told Chaitanya Das, ‘Listen, we need some flowers for the Deities. Can you plant some flowers?’ Chaitanya Das agreed. Materially, he was an absolutely ignorant man – he did not even know how to read or write; but anyhow, he made a flower garden.

His gurudev, Sri Gauri Das Pandit, went to travel and preach in different places soon after that (he was a disciple of Nityananda Prabhu, so his lifestyle was similar to that of Nityananda Prabhu), and when he returned to the temple after a while, he thought, ‘Let me see how the flower garden is.’ When he came to the garden, he was very surprised and pleased: although it was winter time, the garden was full of flowers! Sri Gauri Das Pandit called out to his disciple, ‘Where has Chaitanya Das gone?’ Then he saw him coming from the Ganges with a pot of water on his head. There were no pipe lines or tube wells in those days, so Chaitanya Das would bring water from the Ganges to water the garden. When he saw his gurudev standing there, he put down the clay pot with water and paid a full sastanga-dandavat to him. At this time, Sri Gauri Das Pandit noticed that Chaitanya Das had a large sore on his head, and it was so neglected that there were already insects in it! He exclaimed, ‘Chaitanya Das, what is this?! Have you not seen a doctor?’ Chaitanya Das said quickly, ‘No, no, everything is all right, nothing has happened.’ Sri Gauri Das Pandit did not let it go – he told him, ‘Come with me at once,’ and took him to an ayurvedic doctor who cleaned the sore well and applied some medicine. Such was Chaitanya Das.

Chaitanya Das did not know how to read or write, but Sri Gauri Das Pandit made him his successor acharya. All the other, ‘learned’, disciples of Sri Gauri Das Pandit opposed this decision and kicked Chaitanya Das out of the temple, so Chaitanya Das went to Vrindavan, where he spent the rest of his life chanting the Holy Name. One time, the Lord came to a big Delhi merchant (marwari) in a dream and said, ‘My devotee is sitting nearby, chanting My Name. Please go and help him.’ The merchant found Chaitanya Das and made a great temple for him. Now, there are many followers descending from Sri Chaitanya Das’s line. His godbrothers may have ousted him from the temple, but they could never oust him from the mercy of his gurudev. That is why we must always think that if we have our gurudev’s mercy, nobody can do anything to us.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj gave a very beautiful analogy in his book Sri Guru and His Grace. Suppose there is a lotus flower growing beautifully in a pond. As long as this lotus flower stays in the soil and water, it looks very beautiful and even the sun cannot harm it. However, once you pluck this lotus and keep it somewhere outside, it will dry up in the sun within just two hours (the sun will scorch and destroy it). This lotus flower is compared to us, the sun is compared to the Lord, and the soil and the water are compared to gurudev – for as long as we stay in the shelter of gurudev, even the Lord cannot do anything to us, but once we leave gurudev’s shelter, we will dry up through the influence of the Lord’s power.

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Length: 101 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) What Is Surrender?
2) Proper Recipient for Proper Taste
3) Highest Stance
4) Cry and Pray
5) Seeking Respite
6) Greatest Choice
7) Nityananda Prabhu's Mercy
8) Mahaprabhu's Mercy
9) His Things, For His Service
10) Faith Is Not Idle
11) Devotion or Display?
12) Example to Follow
13) Shelter of Sri Guru's Mercy
14) Service or Offence?