SRI PURI DHAM MAHATMYA-MUKTA-MALA

(11) A Lesson for Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya

Following Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s order, Gopinath Acharya went to Mahaprabhu’s room and told Him that Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was calling Him. Mukunda Datta heard what Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya had 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!’)

So, 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 agreed, ‘but You must study Vedanta! So be it, I will teach it to You.’

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 Ashram, Bharat Seva Ashram – they are all mayavadis, they do not believe in the doctrine of Krishna consciousness.

Mayavadis say, ‘Everything is created by Brahma. There is no life after death.’ They do not even believe in the reincarnation of the soul. We must not even see such people’s faces! They say that Krishna has no form – Krishna gave us two hands, two eyes, two ears, and we say that Krishna Himself has no form. Suppose I come to you and say, ‘Prabhu, can I borrow ten thousand rupees from you? I have no money.’ You give me money, and after some time I will go about telling everybody, ‘Oh, that man has no money!’ Is that sane? So, the Lord also gave us hands, legs, a nose, ears – He gave us everything, He created this whole world (Brahma creates everything by the will of Lord Krishna), but we say that Krishna has no form, that Krishna is formless. It is an offence! We must not listen to such things, we must not say such things, and if somebody says this, we must not even see their face! The Lord Himself says,

krsnera yateka khela, sarvottama nara-lila,
nara-vapur tahara svarupa
gopa-vesa, venu-kara, nava-kisora, natabara,
nara-lilara haya anurupa
krsnera madhura rupa, suna, sanatana,
ye rupera eka kana, dubaya ye tribhuvana
sarva prani kare akarsana

‘Of all pastimes of Krishna, His highest pastimes are those of human form, when He plays just like a human being. In those human pastimes, He is dressed as a youthful cowherd boy, holds a flute and dances like nobody else. O Sanatan, just hear about the sweetness of Krishna’s form – the whole three worlds become submerged by just a speck of it, and all living beings feel drawn to Him.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.21.101–102)

‘Among all My pastimes, I love My human pastimes (as Krishna in Vrindavan) the most.’

So, 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.

vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga-
siksartham ekah purusah puranah
sri-krsna-chaitanya-sarira-dhari
krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye

‘This original eternal Personality came to teach renunciation, knowledge and the path of devotion to Himself – I forever surrender to this ocean of mercy.’

(Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya)

Depiction of the divine six-armed form of the Lord, at the house of Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.

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