(4/6) Jivan Chakravarti's Pastime (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, evening programme
13 February 2021, part 4
Translated from Bengali

Do you know who Sanatan Goswami is? He is part of our guru-varga. Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami take the highest position in our line. They lived in Ramkeli, Malda district, and used to serve as ministers in the Muslim government of the emperor Hussein Shah, who ruled the area at that time. One of them was the treasurer, and the other one was the administrator in the government. Rupa Goswami’s former name was Dabir Khas, and Sanatan Goswami’s former name was Sarkar Mallik. In Dvapar-yuga, they were the gopis Sri Rupa Manjari and Sri Lavanga Manjari in Vrindavan, and in Kali-yuga they became associates of Mahaprabhu. After they met with Mahaprabhu, they gave up their minister jobs. When Sanatan Goswami told the emperor, ‘Give my job to somebody else, I will not work anymore,’ the emperor actually put Sanatan Goswami in prison, prohibiting him to leave. But after some time, when the emperor went to Odisha, Sanatan Goswami bribed the guard and escaped from prison. In the end, both Sanatan and Rupa stayed in Vrindavan. We always say:

জয় রূপ সনাতন ভট্ট রঘুনাথ ।
শ্রীজীব গোপালভট্ট দাস রঘুনাথ ॥

jaya rupa sanatana bhatta raghunatha
sri-jiva gopala-bhatta dasa raghunatha

‘All glory to Sri Rupa, Sanatan, Raghunath Bhatta, Sri Jiva, Gopal Bhatta and Raghunath Das!’

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur)

These six goswamis are part of our guru-parampara, and all of them stayed in Vrindavan…

So, Siva Thakur told Jivan Chakravarti to go to this Sanatan Goswami. In those days, there were no trains, so it took Jivan Chakravarti a long time to walk to Vrindavan. When he arrived, he asked somebody, ‘Where does Sanatan Goswami stay?’ and was told that Sanatan Goswami was staying on the Dvadasatila Hill. He went to Dvadasatila. Seeing some poor man there, he asked him, ‘Excuse me, can you tell me where Sanatan Goswami stays?’

‘I am Sanatan Goswami,’ the man answered.

‘Oh… It is you?’ Jivan Chakravarti said, puzzled at the appearance of Sanatan Goswami.

‘Why? Is there any problem?’ Sanatan Goswami asked, also a little puzzled. ‘Who has sent you to me?’

‘Lord Siva has sent me to you,’ Jivan Chakravarti replied.

‘Lord Siva?? But why?’

‘To get wealth.’

‘Where will I get wealth?’ Sanatan Goswami asked. ‘I drink water from a clay pot and eat from a clay plate. Where would I get wealth?’

(Sanatan Goswami’s lifestyle was such that he would take two rotis a day – he would collect them as alms or sometimes make rotis anyhow himself, burning them in fire, and offer them to the Lord.)

Jivan Chakravarti was puzzled. He thought, ‘I am also thinking where this man will have wealth from. I have at least some dishes at home, but he has nothing.’ So, he said to Sanatan Goswami, ‘Sorry, I am leaving then.’

‘All right’, said Sanatan Goswami, but then he suddenly remembered something. He called out to Jivan Chakravarti, ‘Hey, wait! Wait! Come back, listen, listen!’

Jivan Chakravarti came back.

‘Have you called me?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I have remembered! One day, when I went to bath in the Yamuna, I found a touchstone. I threw it somewhere in the sand when I found it. Go to the bank of the Yamuna, you can try to find it. You will get a lot of money with its help.’

Do you know what a touchstone is? If you take a piece of iron and touch this stone to it, the iron will turn into gold.

So, Jivan Chakravarti went to the Yamuna and started looking for the touchstone, but he did not find it. He came back to Sanatan Goswami, and Sanatan Goswami said, ‘All right, let us go look for it together.’ In the end, Sanatan Goswami found the touchstone and gave it to Jivan Chakravarti. Jivan Chakravarti had an amulet (tabiz) on his arm, and when he touched the touchstone to it, the amulet became golden. He took the stone and went away, but on the way he thought, ‘This sadhu found a touchstone, but he threw it away into the sand. How can that be so? He must have something more than this!’ (When you have something very valuable, you can easily throw less valuable things away.) So, Jivan Chakravarti again came back to Sanatan Goswami.

‘What is it?’ Sanatan Goswami asked. ‘You have got your touchstone, you can go home now. What has happened?’

‘Nothing, I just thought of something… I am bowing at your holy feet and begging you for a drop of that sort of wealth having got which you do not see any value in a jewel [ye dhane haiya dhani manire mana na mani tahari khanika magi ami natasire (যে ধনে হইয়া ধনী মণিরে মান না মণি তাহারি খানিক মাগি আমি নতশিরে); Rabindranath Tagore].’

‘Oh, you want that wealth? Do you want it, Jivan? Then throw away this “wealth” that you have in your hand.’

Jivan Chakravarti threw the touchstone into the Yamuna. Have you heard the name of Shah Jahan, who built Taj Mahal? He found that touchstone later. Many people tried to find it, but they were not destined to, so they searched for it to no avail. However, when Shah Jahan dropped his ship’s chain into the water nearby, it turned into gold – this is how he found the stone.

So, what happened to Jivan after that?

Sanatan Goswami said, ‘Stretch out your hand and take this mala. Chant the Holy Name on it.’

You will think, ‘How did his daughter get married?’ She did, and she got a good husband. The Lord arranged everything. Jivan Chakravarti did not have to go back to his house – the Lord arranged everything. When the Lord arranges everything, you do not have to do anything.

You must remember these things.

— : • : —

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Length: 58 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Attachment to Sadhus
2) Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
3) Jivan Chakravarti's Pastime (1)
4) Jivan Chakravarti's Pastime (2)
5) Result of Service Mood
6) Joining Lord's Pastimes