SRI NABADWIP DHAM MAHATMYA-MUKTA-MALA

Ritudwip (archanam: Deity worship)

Birthplace of Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya

There is one more worshippable holy place situated within Sri Vidyanagar – the house and the birthplace of a great renowned personality, Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, whose glories you hear every year in Sri Puri Dham. Bhagavan Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad discovered and established this small temple here in March 1936. Owing to His Divine Grace, when we come here by the mercy of our Sri Gurupadpadma, we get an opportunity to happily remember the glory of Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.

When Brihaspati, the guru of demigods, heard that the Lord would appear in Kali-yuga as magnanimous Lord Gauranga and enjoy His knowledge-related pastimes, he left King Indradev’s assembly and took birth on earth together with his disciples to spend some time before the Lord’s appearance, trying with great effort to please Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

Coming to this world, the great guru of demigods Brihaspati became known as Vasudev Sarvabhauma. Because Vasudev Sarvabhauma established a school here in Vidyanagar, his name became Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.

One day he thought, ‘I have not lost my memory so far, but if I later become tangled in the net of knowledge, I will forget everything.’ So, he came up with a clever plan. He decided, ‘If I am really a servant of Gaura, then my Lord will definitely bring me to Him.’ Keeping all his disciples in Vidyanagar, he went to Nilachal, and not only that – when he came there, he started preaching mayavad scriptures supporting impersonalism.

Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu also did that once. From His childhood, Mahaprabhu Nimai Visvambhar always treated Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu with much respect – He always offered him obeisances, praised him, etc. Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu did not like it at all. So, one day he thought, ‘I will teach Him! I will see how clever He is!’ One day, he left Nabadwip for Shantipur and started preaching against devotion.

When Nimai heard the news, He became very angry. Thinking to punish Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu, He ran to Shantipur together with Nityananda Prabhu. When They arrived, Nimai charged Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu, ‘What are you doing, Advaita?! You have called Me with the Ganges water and Tulasi leaves, and now you are joking with Me like this?! What is wrong with you??’ Nimai started slapping Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu! When Sita Thakurani, Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu’s spouse, saw this, she began to cry, begging the Lord, ‘Nimai, what are You doing? Do not kill him! Do not kill him!’

Seeing the scene, Nityananda Prabhu, who was standing nearby, burst out laughing and did not say anything. However, Haridas Thakur, who was also there, was very surprised and could not understand anything. Then, Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu said, ‘Oh really! Now I have taught You a good lesson! You have lost, and I have won! You have come today to punish me! Where is all that honour You have been showing me all the time?’ Saying this, Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu then happily fed Mahaprabhu His favourite sak prasadam.

So, Sri Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya Prabhu also went away. He came to Nilachal and started preaching against devotion while all his disciples stayed here, in Sri Vidyanagar. Nimai Pandit had a lot of fun with them – He crushed everyone! Nobody could compete with Him. Sometimes, Nimai would come to Vidyanagar and ask such difficult questions that everyone (both students and professors!), not being able to argue with Him, would flee! This is how Mahaprabhu Visvambhar manifested His vidya-lila pastimes, establishing that all ignorance (avidya) flees in the face of knowledge (vidya).

When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He took the danda He had got from his sannyas-guru and set off to Puri together with a few devotees (Nityananda Prabhu, Mukunda and some others). As Nityananda Prabhu, who is non-different from Balaram, was walking, He thought, ‘Prabhu is carrying this danda – why must He carry Me?’

What did He do then? Sri Nityananda Prabhu took the danda, broke it into three pieces and threw those pieces into the Bhargi River. Mahaprabhu was overwhelmed with Krishna-prema and did not notice anything – He only kept walking. Only when they came to the Atharnala bridge near Puri, Mahaprabhu suddenly remembered about His danda. He asked, ‘Nityananda, give Me My danda!’

Nityananda Prabhu lied, ‘Oh, when You were doing kirtan, You became overwhelmed with divine ecstasy, so You fell over on the danda and broke it. Since the danda got broken into three pieces, I threw it into the Bhargi.’

Mahaprabhu got very angry, ‘Nitai, are You kidding Me? I have left everything and took only this one precious thing from Nabadwip, and what have You done? You have destroyed it! You know everything – You know why I have come to this world. I did not take anything with Me, only this danda – a simple stick! – it was My most precious possession in the whole wide world, but You have thrown even that away! Go! I will not go with you all. Either I will go first and you will go later, or you will go first and I will go later. What will you do? Decide quickly.’

Everyone reasoned, ‘If we go first, how will we know in which direction Prabhu goes? We will never find Him then. If Prabhu goes ahead of us, at least we will be able to see Him from behind.’ So, Nityananda Prabhu said, ‘Go first, we will go after You.’

As soon as Mahaprabhu heard it, He started to walk so fast that even though devotees ran behind Him they could not catch up with Him! In this way, walking like a mad elephant, Mahaprabhu stormed inside the temple of Lord Jagannath. In the temple of Lord Jagannath, there is a bamboo bar in front of the altar, and when Mahaprabhu ran into the temple, He stumbled onto the bar and fell on the ground. Foam started coming out of His mouth, and all He could say was, ‘Ja-ja-ga-ga, Ja-ja-ga-ga’ (He could not even pronounce the Name of Lord Jagannath). His whole appearance became quite horrible: He did not at all look like a man.

Seeing that some mad-looking man had run into the temple, the guards of the temple were going to beat Him, but by the influence of Mahaprabhu, they could not do that – seeing Mahaprabhu’s appearance, His effulgence and opulence, nobody dared raise their hand to Him. Instead, somebody went to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and reported, ‘Prabhu, please come to the temple. A very strange man has come! He keeps saying “Ja-ja-ga-ga” and foam is coming from His mouth! He is lying there unconscious.’ Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya went to the temple of Lord Jagannath and, seeing Mahaprabhu’s state, said, ‘Whoever He is, it does not matter – take Him to my house.’

In Sri Nilachal (Sri Puri Dham), Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was the manager of Lord Jagannath’s temple. He lived with his wife and brother-in-law, Gopinath Acharya. When Gopinath Acharya saw Mahaprabhu, he immediately recognised Him.

‘Do you not recognise Him?’ he turned to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and asked him.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You used to live in Vidyanagar, Nabadwip, did you not? How can you not recognise Him? He is Nilambar Chakravarti’s grandson, the son of Jagannath Misra! He appeared from Sachi Mata’s womb – He is the Father of the Universe, the Supreme Lord Himself! He has now taken sannyas from Kesav Bharati, and His name became Sri Krishna Chaitanya.’

‘No, no, I do not think that he is God,’ Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya replied.

‘You have no mercy, that is why you do not think so. I have mercy, so I am telling you He is the Lord Himself!’

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

‘Only those who have received at least a drop of the Lord’s mercy can understand the Lord.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 2.6.83)

If the Lord bestows His mercy on you, then you can know the Lord. It is also not so easy to know the guru – if the guru bestows his mercy on you, then you can know who the guru is. Without the mercy of the guru, you can never recognise him. That is why Gopinath Acharya said, ‘Because I have mercy, I can recognise who He is.’

Annoyed, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, ‘Whatever. Go now, take prasad. We will talk later.’

The next day, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya spoke to Gopinath Acharya again. ‘I like this sannyasi boy’s humble demeanour,’ he said. ‘I am thinking He has taken sannyas at such a young age, but will He be able to keep up the life of a sannyasi? I say, what if I properly teach Him Vedanta and the religion of renunciation? Then He will be able to become the most exalted sannyasi!’

Gopinath Acharya was quite upset to hear this. He replied, ‘Do you not know who He is? He is the Supreme Lord Himself. I have told you about it before. How can you try to teach Him?’

‘What are you trying to say? I see you know everything, but it is said in the scriptures that there is no incarnation of the Lord in Kali-yuga – that is why the Lord is called “Triyuga” (He who appears in three ages).’

‘You have read all scriptures, but have you not read Bhagavatam or Mahabharata? It is written there that there is an incarnation in Kali-yuga – there is no lila-avatar, but the Lord Himself comes as a yuga-avatar. You are such a great scholar, but because you do not have a trace of mercy, you cannot recognise the Lord even though He is right here in your house. I understand that it is actually not your fault – it is written in the scriptures that nobody can know the Lord through knowledge.’

‘Oh, so you think I have no mercy, and you have it? How can you prove it?’

‘I can recognise Him, and you cannot – this is the proof that I have mercy and you do not. I can give you a lot of proof from the scriptures, but because your heart is full of mayavadi conception, it is the same as trying to plant a seed in barren soil. When the Lord bestows His mercy on you, then you will be able to understand it.’

Losing patience, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, ‘Oh really? Go, take prasadam and bring Him to me. I will see myself what to do! You can teach me later!’ Following the order, Gopinath Acharya went to Mahaprabhu’s room and told Him that Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was calling Him. Mukunda Datta had heard what Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said and told about it to Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu dismissed it, ‘Do not mind him, he wishes Me well. He has made no offence.’

Then, Mahaprabhu came to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and asked humbly, ‘Prabhu, have you called Me?’

‘Yes, sit down. You have taken sannyas at a very young age – what have You studied? Have You studied the Vedas and Vedanta?’

‘Not much, I have studied some vyakaran —’

‘What is the use of vyakaran (primary grammar)! You have taken sannyas, but You have not even studied Vedanta!’

(‘Bhagavan nahi kahe mui bhagavan’: the Lord never says, ‘I am the Supreme Lord!’ He never discloses His identity to anyone; just as a genuine Vaishnav never says, ‘I have become a Vaishnav!’) Mahaprabhu replied with folded palms, ‘Prabhu, please be merciful to Me. I have given up My mother’s service and, becoming crazy, taken sannyas. Please bless Me so that I can maintain My sannyas.’

‘Yes,’ Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, ‘but You must study Vedanta! So be it, I will teach You Vedanta.’

After that, during seven days, Mahaprabhu listened to Vedanta from Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya – He would sit and listen silently like an obedient student. Seven days later, not being able to control himself any longer, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya asked Him, ‘What is it, new sannyasi? You have been listening to Vedanta, but can You understand anything or not? You are not asking any questions, then how am I to understand whether You have understood anything?’

Mahaprabhu replied humbly, ‘Prabhu, when you read Vedanta, I can understand everything very nicely, but when you start explaining it, I cannot understand anything.’

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was taken aback. He thought, ‘What is this boy saying? I have been going out of my way trying so hard to teach Him properly for seven days, and He is saying that what I am saying is all nonsense!’ Then, he recited the ‘atmaramas cha munayo’ sloka, and Mahaprabhu asked him, ‘Prabhu, can you explain what fault is there and what merit is there in this sloka?’ Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya became angry, thinking to himself, ‘What “fault”!’ but still, he explained the sloka. He gave nine different explanations and then requested Mahaprabhu to speak. Mahaprabhu gave eighteen more explanations of the sloka, not even touching the nine explanations of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, crushing thus all his mayavadi conceptions and explaining this sloka in a new light according to the precepts of devotion.

Mayavadi conception means brahma-jnana: the followers of this school think everything is created by Brahma. We sing in the guru-parampara kirtan, ‘Krishna haite chatur-mukha hana Krishna-sevonmukha, Brahma haite Naradera mati. By Krishna’s association, Brahma became devoted to Krishna’s service; and by Brahma’s association, Narad Muni became a devotee.’ Brahma has got his power from Krishna, but mayavadis say that everything comes from Brahma. This is brahma-jnana. Rabindranath Tagor, Rama Krishna Mission, Sarada Asram, Bharat Seva Asram – they are all mayavadis, they do not believe in the doctrine of Krishna consciousness.

Hearing Mahaprabhu’s interpretation, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was flabbergasted – his eyes popped out, and his face became very red. Seething with anger, he thought, ‘Who have I been teaching Vedanta all these seven days! Who is He?!’ But even then he did not believe that Mahaprabhu was the Lord Himself.

Then, Mahaprabhu showed him His six-armed form. Suddenly, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya could no longer see Mahaprabhu: seeing the Lord’s six-armed form, he fell at His lotus feet, offering Him a sastanga dandavat. Only when he fell on the ground surrendering at Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet did he finally believe that it was the Lord Himself in front of him. Once that happened, Mahaprabhu immediately hid His six-armed form and appeared again as a sannyasi, looking like an ordinary man. However, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya did not get up. Mahaprabhu called him, ‘Sarvabhauma, get up! Now get up! It is over!’

He slowly got up. Turning around and looking all around him, he said, ‘What is this, Prabhu? What kind of form have I just seen? You were standing here holding a conch, a disc, a club and a lotus. And what do I see now?’ Hiding His intrinsic form, Mahaprabhu said, ‘You must have seen something wrong. You have got some love for Krishna, that is why you see all this conch, disc, etc.’

After that day, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya became a devotee of Mahaprabhu and a great Vaishnav. He left all mayavadi conceptions and started preaching the pure conception about the Lord. His initial plan was successful – the Lord had personally come and pulled him to Himself.

Hearing about the pastimes of Sri Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and the glory of Vidyanagar, Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu asked Sriman Nityananda Prabhu, ‘Prabhu, I have some doubt in my mind. The knowledge of sankhya (detailed teachings of the soul), tarka (debates, logical arguments), etc. is inauspicious. How can it exist in this eternal holy abode?’

Sriman Nityananda Prabhu replied, ‘Hari bol! Hari bol! Listen to what I will say, Jiva. Nothing inauspicious can exist in a holy abode. Arguments, knowledge, etc. have no power here. Here, everyone and everything is subservient to devotion. Bhakti Devi (the Goddess of Devotion) resides in this abode, and everyone else are her servants and maidservants. Nabadwip is the place of nine kinds of devotion; here, jnana (knowledge) and karma (fruitive pursuits) always serve devotion. If some jiva souls are averse to Krishna, scriptures give them wicked and wrong conceptions; but if some jiva souls are devotees of Lord Krishna, if their nature is gentle, then scriptures give them attachment to Lord Krishna. Praudha Maya lives here eternally serving Gauranga Mahaprabhu – she makes those who are averse to Vaishnavism and devoid of devotion blind and inflicts suffering on them.

‘All sins, all material activities are destroyed here – this is the place where Maya bestows knowledge. However, if somebody commits an offence to a Vaishnav, Maya removes them from here and leaves them to suffer in material bondage. Such sinners may live here, but they can never get transcendental love for Lord Krishna or the darshan of Gauranga Mahaprabhu – they only get the ignorance of knowledge. Therefore, knowledge is not inauspicious – it is ignorance, the shadow of knowledge, that is inauspicious.’

This is the story of Sri Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and this holy place. Coming to his birthplace, we pray at his lotus feet that by his mercy we may keep away from knowledge and can practise devotion in a pure way – so that we may have attraction and attachment to the service to our guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord.

Jay Sri Vidyanagar ki jay.
Sri Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya Prabhu ki jay.
Sri Ritudwip ki jay.
Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama ki jay.
Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

(At the house of Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya)

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