Radhanth Swami speaking on “Nimai Pandita Charms The Inhabitants Of Navadvipa” 2012 yatra, Mayapur, Day 9

Radhanath-Swami

Radhanath-SwamiRadhanath Swami describes how the soul is eternal

By the unending compassion of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada we are together for another evening in Sri Mayapur Dham. Hari Bol!
Yesterday, we concluded our narration with Lord Chaitanya weeping upon the disappearance of his beloved father and devotee, Jagannath Mishra. Sometimes, people consider this, confusing. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Nimai is Krishna himself. Krishna spoke in Gita,

na jayate mriyate va kadacin
nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah

“The soul is unborn, eternal, primeval and never dies”

na hanyate hanyamane sarire

“By the end of this body it has absolutely no effect on the eternal existence of the eternal soul, the atma.”And Krishna explains that the wise men, laments neither for living nor for the dead. So Why Is Nimai Lamenting? And why is Sachi Mata, who is Yashoda Mai herself, one of the crest jewels of all Nitya Siddhas, the Supreme personification of Vatsalya Rasa from Goloka Vrindavana. Jagannath Mishra is Nand Maharaj, her eternal husband, they can never be separated! Why do they cry? This is one of the great and deep mystery of bhakti. And all the mysteries of bhakti, Could be to some extend be understood theoretically by our intelligence which is properly guided by the philosophy of Siddhant. But to actually understand it, within the heart, only possible by the grace of the Lord.

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
t
āṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartm
ānuvartante
manu
yāḥ pārtha sarvaśa

Krishna tells in Gita, as we surrender to Krishna, Krishna reveals Himself accordingly. And actually this applies to every aspect of life. How we see each other? How we see general people of this world, how we see material nature in all her variegatedness? How we see good times, bad times, how we see birth, old age, disease and death? It is according to how Krishna reveals himself.

The body is the sacred vehicle within this world by which it can be utilized to develop the love for Krishna and to serve Krishna with that love. – Radhanath Swami

And the relationships between devotees physically, emotionally, spiritually, they are all one. Love for a Vaishnava, it’s one of the intimate ways of showing our love for Krishna. Srila Prabhupada would sometimes quote the common saying in west, “Love me love my dog”
Because in the west people really love their dogs and if you disrespect the dog, it is even worse than disrespecting the person – Mad Bhakta…
Krishna tells that worship of the devotees is more pleasing to me than worship to me, because the devotee has given up his or her life, soul, everything for my service – Sadhunam Hrudayam…

 

Radhanath Swami explains loving reciprocation between Krishna and His devotees

Durvasa muni was a great yogi. He had perfected many of the siddhis. Nobody can ever match him. When he was born, it is described in the scriptures, whether we see him or not. But with all his powers, all his fame, he practically went nowhere with his disciples and he brought only few of his disciples with him, sixty thousand! That was his travelling party.

Gauranga prabhu was cooking for some four thousand, now. Imagine! Every day, sixty thousands, 365 days a year, and every time it’s different place, quite possible!

But he could not understand! The simple Grihasta Ambarish, he was a king, a great devotee and the knowledge, the power, the yoga perfection. He couldn’t understand how dear Ambarish was to Krishna!

When he made an offense and he went to Krishna for refuge. Vishnu told him ‘Because my devotee has given his or her life for me, because my devotee knows nothing but me, I know nothing but that devotee, that’s the reciprocation of love for Krishna, I was just thinking, like this today because there are so many lesson we could just learn. I got very bad cold this morning and so this morning, I was in a veranda and sat in the sun. The sun is radiating its heat upon me and, when you feel the sun, on you, when you actually like the sun on you, you don’t like the sun on you. You don’t get experience. But if you like the sun, the feeling of the sun on you, you are thinking the sun is just for me. But isn’t it amazing, everybody in India, everybody in Asia, in the Middle East, half of the world, every person can go out and have the same experience. The sun is mine, the sun is shining for me. It’s not that if somebody, I’m in the Gauranga Bhavān, if somebody in the lotus building says, “Why is the sun with Radhanath Swami? Why not me?” Doesn’t matter, whether you are young or old, rich or poor, whatever be your religion, or education, however many mangala aratis you went to, still when you go out into the sun, the sun is giving you the same benefits, same sunshine , the same vitamin D, as everybody else, actually it is very intimate. Krishna says in Gita that, “I’m the light of the sun and the moon.” Krishna surya,maya ho ya andhkar, Krishna is like the sun and Maya is like darkness.

 

Radhanath Swami explains how Krishna is the cause of all causes

And in Gayatri Mantra, we honor Krishna who is present, giving heat, light, life, and illumination to the whole creation, and that illumination is the energy, and that energy is Sri Radha giving to everyone. And the sun is just a temporary material manifestation in one tiny little universe. Krishna is “sarava karana karanam”

The Cause of all causes. He is the supreme source of all light. From him emanates the Brahma Jyoti, the brilliant spiritual light that pervades the entire existence, there is no limit. That is Krishna’s power to reciprocate with each and every one of us. There are unlimited living beings.
How many living beings are there in Navadvipa? Consider every insect, plant, tree, grass, animal, bird, microbe, bacteria, and germ! How many living beings are there in the bodies? We can’t even count those. What to speak of the entire earth or the universe, or the entire cosmic manifestation with unlimited universes, and with unlimited life in every universe! And that’s merely a fraction; Material existence is just a fraction of the Para Vyoma, the spiritual existence. There are unlimited living entities residing within the Brahmajyoti, and there are unlimited living entities in unlimited Vaikuntha planets and Krishna is personally with everyone.

He is the Paramatma in every living beings heart. And that Paramatma even though He is the same Paramatma in everyone’s heart, He is your Paramatma, He is my Paramatma. He is our special private Paramatma. It’s not that they have shifts. That One Paramatma is with you as long as you are within creation and he is personally yours. He knows your every desire. He knows your thought, every word, and every action, in the past, in present He is your friend, he is your well-wisher and He is your ultimate lover. The Upanishads describe the two birds on same tree. One bird is trying to find happiness by eating fruits. Sometimes the fruits are bitter and he suffers and sometimes the fruits are sweet and he finds a little happiness. But he wants more. He needs more. The other bird is just sitting. Just turn to me and you will be ever happy. That’s Krishna, as a Paramatma He is personally yours 24 hrs a day.

Now when a respectful person is next you, you usually don’t say I am going to sleep. We sleep. Most people sleep half their lives. But Paramatma never sleeps. He is awake, fully conscious with full love. Just waiting. That is Krishna. So within this world, the body is very sacred for Vaishnava because it’s the means by which we share our love for Krishna and with each other.

Jaganath Mishra is Nand Maharaj. He went back to Goloka, so for that it’s happiness. But for Sachi Mata and Nimai within this earthly Lila of theirs, the medium of the body by which they could share their love for Krishna, was no longer there and therefore such tears of separation, those tears in separation of a Vaishnava, they water the seed of our devotion. They bring us closer to Krishna. In that separation we keep a very dear and intimate relationship with the soul of that departed Vaishnava and with Krishna.

Narottam das Thakur sings this beautiful song, je anilo prema dhana, weeping in separation from those devotees who are no longer physically with us. Srila Prabhupada called it union in separation. At material level, when somebody is gone, they are gone. The tears for a dead person on a material platform are simply agony of the disillusion of relationship forever. But on a spiritual platform, because we are always connected to Krishna, those tears of separation are actually sweet, intimate union, in Krishna we are united forever.

In the very beginning days of our society, Srila Prabhupada would say, “if you are chanting Hare Krishna and I’m chanting Hare Krishna, we are always together!” So what is the love between Sachi Mata and Jagannath misra, between Nimai and his father? That love is being expressed in Vipralamba, in that separation and therefore when we hear it with the proper understanding and faith, how it intimately awakens our love for Krishna and for one another.

As we are saying, Sachi Mata lost her eight daughters, and her elder son, now she lost her husband. They didn’t have any wealth. Jagannath Mishra was a true Brahmin. Whatever was given to him, he used it. Whatever was for that day, he would use it to supply for his family in a very simple way and for the worship of Krishna and the rest he would give away in charity. It was really a day to day existence. That’s the way Brahmins lived. He didn’t have job. He used whatever came. He was great scholar. But in those days, Brahmins did not charge. They would teach out of goodness and whatever came.

So Sachi Mata really did not have any money. There was no Life Insurance policy. There was no will with an inheritance. She had this little boy who was about 8 yrs old. And nothing in the house! And now her husband is gone. But when, she understood that Nimai is all I have, when she saw Nimai, when she felt Nimai’s affection, she was the most blissful person in all of creation.

 

Radhanath Swami narrates enchanting pastimes of Nimai

One day, after some years had passed, Nimai was becoming the greatest of the teachers in all of Navadwip; Sachi Mata was considering Nimai’s marriage. But Nimai was just a child, just 16.

When he was a child and used to play in the river, there was one lady, her name is Laxmi Priya. A little girl, she was so devotional, she loved Krishna so much. And whenever Nimai would come, he was just a child too; she would just lovingly offer all the garlands, all the prayers and all the foodstuffs that she had brought for Krishna with complete faith. But there was nothing better, even though she didn’t know he was Krishna.

Some year later, Nimai happened to be coming from teaching of his students on the bank of Ganga and on his way home, He happened to see Laxmi Priya. Their glances touched each other for just a moment. But in that moment their eternal love was kindled, awakened. She is the expansion of Srimati Radharani. She is Laxmi Devi. They embraced each other at the very core of their hearts. He went home and she went home. They didn’t say a word to each other. They didn’t even look for more than a moment.

Meanwhile by the Lord own divine arrangement, one Brahmin named Vanmali, he was like the Navadwip Marriage Board, nobody said anything to him. He just got this inspiration. He went to Sachi Mata and said, there is a great pure Brahmin named Vallabhacharya, not the same Vallabhacharya of Pushti Marg. They are Bengali Vallabhacharya. He said, “He has such a Beautiful, chaste, loving devotional daughter. She would be just perfect for Nimai. And he was not just doing it as a job; he was doing it with such deep devotion. He really felt, he wanted to do something wonderful for these beautiful people and Sachi Mata said, “Nimai is young. He is only 16 and he is totally engrossed in his studies and his father has recently departed. It’s not the right time.”

Vanmali was broken hearted he left. He was crying, looking down and walking away and he happens to meet Nimai on the road.

Nimai said, “Tell me where you have been. How have you been? What is the news?”

And he said, “I just came from your house”

“Oh, why have you been to my house?”

“O, I made this proposal to your mother, but she rejected it.”

Nimai was totally silent he went home and when he saw Sachi Mata, she was so happy to see Him. She had this Prasad prepared for him, and it was her desire and her wish and her heart that she wished there was somebody, who could be there at home to serve and make him happy.

He said, “Mother, Vanmali Pandit came here?

She said, “Yes!”

He said, “What was wrong with his proposal?” and he walked away.

That’s all that had to be said, you see, in those days, people could be quite concise especially when they love each other. You could understand. So he went to his room and immediately, Sachi Mata was so happy. She ran and sent somebody to Vanmali Pandit and Vanmali Pandit came back, she said, “Yes immediately, let us arrange the marriage.”

Vanmali Pandit went to Vallabhacharya, and said, “The crest jewel of all Brahmins, the greatest of scholars, the most beautiful person in whole of Navadvip is the Son of Jaganath Mishra and Sachi Devi. His name is NimaiPandit is Vishwamber. You know him.”

He said, “Of course everybody knows him”

He said, “Sachi Mata has agreed to accept your daughter as his wife.”

“Oh! What a Good fortune!”

And soon there was beautiful marriage. There is a wonderful description of that marriage in Chaitanya Charitamrita. And at that point, Nimai and Laxmi Priya, they set the ideal example of how Grihasta should live. Sri krishna chaitanya radha krishna nahi anya, Lord Chaitanya is Radha & Krishna in one form, to spread Prema Bhakti through Prem Sankirtan.But he appeared in the role of his own devotee, and when he married Laxmi Devi, although they are the supreme enjoyers! When you go to rang ksetra, you see Rangnath, Rangnath means the Lord of Laxmi, Tirupati, Tiru is the name of Laxmi. He is the Lord of Laxmi, she is always on his chest. There is always Padmavati, an expansion of Laxmi . Radha Krishna, Laxmi Narayan, temples are innumerable. Siva parvati are their expansion so what to speak of this little planet? All over the universe, the Lord and his eternal concert are worshiped as the supreme enjoyers. We offer them Bhoga and then we receive their Prasad. They are the enjoyers and we are the enjoyed.

But here is that Laxmi Narayan taking the role of being enjoyed. Eager to serve! And they live such a simple way. Vrindavan das Thakur explains they were charitable. Whatever Nimai was given for his teaching, he never charged anything, but if people gave him, he would offer it to his mother, and his mother would not keep anything. After offering to his mother he distributed it, anybody whosoever needed anything that he had, he would just gave it. And if anybody would come to his house, he would treat it like Krishna has come. He was emphatic on this point that one of the prime dharma of Grihasta is to be generous. Not to be greedy. Not to be selfish! To be an instrument of Krishna’s compassion with whatever we have.

And Lord Chaitanya, he would sometimes, he would meet 20 sanyasis and he would say, “Come to my house for Prasad?

And they would say, “Yes! Nimai! Of course”

And he would send the message. “Sachi Mata, Laxmi Priya, in half hour twenty sanyasi will be coming for Prasad.”

Now two things are interesting in this arrangement. One is they never had anything in house. They would just get what they needed and they didn’t have money. And two is those who have experience, Sanyasi eat a lot.

I remember, I went to Himalayas and I was trying to become a yogi and being with Yogis. I was thinking that yogis, I was fasting eating just a carrot a day for so many days. And I was thinking this is the way the yogis lived because that was my conception according to books I was reading. Then After I did that for a month, I remember there was an Utsav. They called it Pangat, Sadhu Pangat where they invited the sadhus for Gurus Disappearance day. And there were hundreds of them. If you want to see a lot of Sadhus go to Pangat. Where they are serving a feast.

So many sadhus, some had matted hairs, some had shaved heads. They all had different types of tilak, they had different kinds of tridents and stands and dandas and sticks and drums and different kinds of pots to beg food, some of them very big. Some of them coconut shells. But I was thinking, Sadhus, hundreds of them sitting in a line. I thought they will all get a carrot. That’s what sadhus eat. They were coming with buckets of rice, buckets of sabjis and buckets of sweet rice and buckets of malpuas, Sadhus liked malpuas! And Buckets of dal, and buckets of halwa! And they were eating so much. Some of them looked like they were hundreds of years old. But they were eating the most. And 500 years ago, I think people had better appetites as Kaliyuga progresses.

So he would just send a message, “Twenty sanyasi coming in a half hour,” and Sachi Mata and Laxmi Priya were so happy, “O! We get to serve sanyasis! There is nothing in the house, we have no time, and we have no money, where are we going to get it.” They just knew something would happen. And just moments after the message come, someone would come to the house. Vrindavan Das Thakur, even says, he doesn’t know who they were, where they came from, someone just came to the house, and say I wanted to bring you some ingredients for… and that it was… and they cooked happily. And when all the sanyasis would come, Nimai would personally serve them all. And even just the common people of Navadvipa, if anyone just came to their house, they were there to provide. Because the tendency of this material world, is when we work we become attached and we want to accumulate more and more and more. Sarva loka maheshwaram! To be peaceful in life is to understand that Krishna is the enjoyer and the proprietor, and the dearest friend of everyone. And if Krishna is pleased, samsiddhir hari tosanam… so what an example he led! And he would just love to serve. Even though he was the most celebrated famous scholar in the high seat of all scholarship in the whole world. He loved to serve. And Lakshmi was always busy serving. She was worshiping Tulsi, worshiping the deities in the temple, she was cooking, just assisting in every possible way. And Sacimata was so happy to see them. How they were living together.

Meanwhile, as Nimai was teaching, at that time, and he had a very special purpose, which we are going to discuss at some length a little later. Nimai, he would speak about everything except Krishna. He was a grammar teacher, topmost grammar teacher. But he could speak from any scripture on any subject. And he would be was constantly, even the senior most Bhattacharyas, Mishras, Chakravartis, just anywhere that they would meet him, he would challenge them to a debate. And nobody could debate him. He would say ask me a question. They would ask him a question. And then he would say something. And he would say, try to defeat that. And they would try. And he would defeat. And they would say something. He would defeat. And after he would defeat, then he would defeat himself. Then he would defeat how he defeated himself. Then he would defeat.

 

Radhanath Swami highlights on how Nimai showed mercy on Murari Gupta

I’ll give you an example. Murari Gupta. He was much older than Nimai. He was also a student of Gangadas Pandit. And he was such a scholar. He was Hanuman. An ansha of Siva. When devotees would see Nimai, they would often run away, because devotees would love Nimai. They were absolutely in love with him. But they didn’t know he was Krishna. But devotees love to talk about Krishna. They don’t like to talk about mundane things. But Nimai would always get them involve an argument about mundane subjects. So they would just want to get away. But at the same time they never wanted to leave him. This was the dynamics of how Nimai would conquer their hearts, so incredible. So he met Murari Gupta and said, “Murari I have a question” And Murari said, “Why are you so arrogant? You are always challenging people and trying to defeat and conquer people in argument. Why are you like this?” And Nimai said, “You have not answered my question” And they would debate. Murari Gupta was really a scholar. They would go back and forth, and back and forth. And by Nimai’s own arrangement, neither one would be defeat one another nor did this go on for hours. And then Nimai touched Murari Gupta and with that touch, suddenly Murari Gupta’s love for Rama – he was a devotee of Rama – exploded uncontrollably. His hair was standing on end, his limbs were trembling, tears started pouring from his eyes, and he was in total ecstasy. Just because Nimai touched him. And he was thinking, “Who is this Nimai? Is He the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Is He my worshipable Lord? I don’t know. But I can’t give up his association. I love this boy”. And then he said, “Nimai, from this day on, I’ll be your student”. He is 20 years older. And one of the greatest scholars in the world.

There was a student of Murari Gupta’s age. He was Raghunath. He was a direct student of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. After Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya went to Jagannath Puri, he left his school in the trust of people like Raghunath and others. He took Sarvabhauma’s book that he wrote, his teachings, called cintamani, on the Nyaya philosophy, which expanded nyaya philosophy beyond anything that the world has ever seen. And Raghunath wrote a book on the basis of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s teachings. And according to the recent biographers, they say, to this day, even in the 20th and 21st centuries, this is still considered the authoritative, most popular book on the subject in all of Bengali. So he spent years writing this book. So much research, so much dedication. This was his life. The legacy that he was leaving for the world.

And one day, he was on a boat crossing the Ganga. And Nimai happened to be on the boat with him. And they were talking. And he asked Nimai what he was doing? And he said, Oh, I wrote a book on the nyaya philosophy. Nimai put a tremendous amount of energy in writing this book too. And when Raghunath heard that he didn’t say anything. His face sank. And Nimai could understand. Raghunath was thinking, if Nimai Pandit wrote a book on nyaya, nobody will ever read my book. His book will be the ultimate, there will be no need for anything else. So he felt really, really sad. Nimai smiled and said, “I want people to read your book.” And Nimai took his entire manuscript and in those days, manuscripts were not typed on laptop and computer. They were etched on plam leaves. Nimai took his book and threw it in the Ganga. This was his respect, his compassion. A simple question. Don’t you wish you still have that book written by Lord Caitanya? Say ‘Haribol’, if you would like to. But from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s perspective, for all time to come, for all people, a more valuable contribution than he gave to the world, than that incredible literary scholarship literature that he wrote, was the example of how he was to throw his own fame as a great scholar in the Ganga so that somebody else could get it.

 

Radhanath Swami speaks on Ishvar Puri, a great spiritual leader

One day, a sanyasi happened to travel into Navadvip. He just looked like a very common beggar. Because he was dressed in really, really simple, old sanyasi kind of clothes. And he was alone, he was just very unassuming, extremely simple, and he came right to Advaitacharya’s house here in Navadvip, near Srivasa Angan. And Advaitacharya was sitting and doing his puja. And he saw this sanyasi. And at first he was thinking, is he a mayavadi? Then he was thinking but he is so effulgent. Something very mysterious and mystical about this sanyasi. So Advaitacharya was gazing at him, trying to figure out who is this person. He is dressed like an impersonalistic beggar sanyasi, but he has a certain energy that is so deeply attractive. At that moment Mukunda Dutt, the favorite kirtan singer of all the devotees… it is described when Mukunda Dutt, great devotee brother of Vasudev Dutt, from Chatagram, when he would sing kirtan, the spiritual world would descend, devotees heart would melt, their love for Krishna became uncontrollable. All that there was the holy name of the Lord. He started to sing some beautiful verses from the Srimad-Bhagavatam. And as he was singing the glories of Krishna, the stranger sanyasi, he cried out the name of Krishna, tears poured like torrents, and he rolled in the ground. And Advaitacharya picked him up and put this sanyasi in his lap. And then he realized this was the great, the famous Isvara Puri, living in such a simple way. People understood who Isvara Puri was – one of the great disciples of Madhavendra Puri. When Madhavendra Puri was in his last days, Ishvara Puri for years, travelled with Madhavendra Puri, as his personal assistant. And during his last days, Madhavendra Puri… very similar to the stories we heard from my senior god brothers, on Prabhupada’s disappearance day, the way Srila Prabhupada was. He couldn’t walk or sit up, they had to help him with everything. And devotees were always around Prabhupada, either speaking Srimad-Bhagavatam, having him speak Bhagavatam, or having kirtan.

So Ishvar Puri was bathing the body of his guru. He was cleaning with his own hand, with a grateful heart, the urine and stool from the body of his guru. He considered what a privilege this is to render such a menial service. And please understand that Ishvar Puri was a powerful scholar, a great spiritual leader, who was qualified to have millions of disciples himself. But this is the way a Vaishnava is. A Vaishnava is not interested in being a jagad-guru. A Vaishnava is interested in being the servant of the servant of the servant, in whatever capacity Krishna wants us to serve. So with such love, such gratitude, he was serving his guru. And he was constantly speaking about Krishna to him, constantly chanting Krishna’s name. And Madhavendra Puri was so pleased with him. Just before he left this world, Madhavendra Puri turned to Ishvar Puripada and said, my child, may Krishna bless you with ecstatic love. This blessing poured from his heart with such affection. And that was Ishvar Puri’s qualification. Madhavendra Puri had disciples like Pundarik Vidyanidhi, Nityananda Prabhu, Advaitacharya, Paramandana puri, Brahmamanda puri, so many others. Lord Caitanya specifically choose Ishvar Puri later to be his guru.

But at this time, everybody knew who he was. Advaitacharya was his godbrother. Advaitacharya considered him his most exalted godbrother, because he rendered such a humble service. So the devotees celebrated with beautiful kirtan, the arrival of Ishvar Puri. And Gadahdara Pandit, who is about the same age as Lord Chaitanya. He was always a devotee_ humble, simple, and renounced. He would spend hours and hours a day learning from Ishvar Puri. And Ishvar Puri was staying in Gopinath Acharya’s house.

 

Radhanath Swami tells about Ishvar Puri meeting with Lord Chaitanya

One day Ishvar Puri was walking along the bank of Ganga and he met Nimai. Something happened in Ishvar Puri‘s heart. This boy is so spiritually beautiful. He said tell me, who are you? And he said, my name is Nimai Pandit. Oh, you are the famous Nimai Pandit. And Lord Chaitanya invited, please come to my house for Prasad. Sacimata, Laxmipriya cooked so nicely. And Nimai with his own hands, served this great sanyasi. And he asked Ishvar Puri, please tell us about Krishna. And for the rest of the day Ishvar Puri was speaking beautiful stories, about the philosophy, the teachings and the lila of Krishna. So each day he was reading from the book he was writing called Krishna Lilamrita. And Nimai would come about an hour each day, and talk to him. One day Ishvar Puri said to Nimai, that you are such a good scholar; will you correct the mistakes in my book? Nimai was very eager to correct everyone’s mistakes. And he could find a mistake anywhere, everywhere. And if he wanted to, he could write volumes of book on every little mistake. But when Ishvar Puri said this, Nimai said, you are a pure devotee of Krishna, everything you do is for the pleasure of Krishna. Because everything you do is for the service and the pleasure of Krishna, there cannot be any mistake in whatever you do. And if any materialistic person is so foolish to think that there is a mistake, just because on the material plane, it’s not the correct way of doing things, it’s a great offense, because it’s done with love for Krishna.

And we should understand this very carefully. When a devotee is sincerely serving Krishna, we may have to correct people if they are not doing things right, but we should always remember, if they are sincerely doing it for Krishna, on a deeper level, we have to honor and respect them. So he said, I cannot find a mistake in anything you do, because whatever you do is with love. And Ishvar Puri was so pleased to hear that Nimai was actually appreciating devotional service, something he didn’t verbally do with anyone else. He said, but still what you are saying for the devotional service is very good. But for the people in the general public, they will be able to understand and accept these teachings better, if edited properly. So Nimai came every day.

A few days later, Nimai said, there is one inconsistency that I see, in a particular word that you are using. Atmanepada. He said it should be a different word. Ishvar Puri said alright. And Nimai left and went home. And Ishvar Puri, he was a great scholar himself, He thought so carefully about it. When the next day, when Nimai came, Ishvara Puri said, “actually the word that I wrote was correct. There is no problem with it” First time in the history of his lila He personally accepted defeat and he was so happy.

Even when Srila Prabhupada, the world founder acharya of ISKCON, with such loving emotion in his heart, he would remember his first meeting with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur said you are an intelligent young man, you should take the message of Lord Chaitanya, and spread it all over the world in the English language. Srila Prabhupada was a very strong follower of Gandhi at the time. He was wearing Khadi. In those days, if you wore Khadi, it was a direct challenge against the entire British Empire. That means you are a follower of Gandhi. And you had to be brave to wear khadi, because you were standing against the entire established government. You were basically saying, through the way you looked, Britain get out. We don’t want you. You are cheaters and exploiters, out from here. They had all the military, and all the police they were running the government and all the schools. Strong statement! Even Gandhiji said, don’t take your degrees from your colleges because they are controlled by the British. Prabhupada wouldn’t take his degree. So Prabhupada said to his Gurudeva, how is it that people will take Lord Chaitanya’s mission seriously all over the world, if India is still a subjugated country. First, we must get independence. And Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur very strongly replied, that the only real problem in the world is the lack of Krishna consciousness, political parties always change. The truth is that we are eternal souls, we are part and parcel of Krishna, and we are eternal servants of Krishna. The real problems are _ birth, old age, disease, and death. And this is what Lord Chaitanya has come to teach us, liberation from bondage, ignorance and death. And Srila Prabhupada with bliss in his expression, he would say I was very happy to be defeated by my Guru Maharaj. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very happy to be defeated by Ishvar Puri. After some days, Ishvar Puri left Navadvip.

 

Radhanath Swami narrates beautiful pastimes of Nimai

And Nimai after he would teach his students; he would get up early in the morning, he would take his bath, he would worship Tulsi and worship his ShaligramShila at home, then he would go back to the Ganga and the house of Mukunda and Sanjay. He would have different places where he would teach his students. And he had thousands and thousands of student at a time because he was so popular. People were coming from all directions to study under great Nimai Pandit. Afterwards he would sometimes wander around Navadvip. And our scriptures tell us these beautiful sweet stories that by his yogamaya potency no one could understand that he is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But he would give them the ecstasies of love for Krishna just by their attachment to him. He would go to a garland maker, a little shop, and the garland maker would say, “What would you like? Have a seat in my store.” Nimai would say that, “Give me your best garland.” And the person would come out with the best garlands of the most fragrant flowers that took so long to prepare and he showed it to Nimai and Nimai said, “How much does it cost?” And the person would say, “You just take it and whatever you want to give for it.” And Nimai said, “I don’t have any money.” He said, “You just take it anyway. And if you like it if ever you get, money any other time, you can give it. And if you don’t, just enjoy the garland.” And he would give it unconditionally and Nimai would be very happy and he would walk away.

Then He would go to another little shop where the person was producing perfumed oils. And he would say, “Oh! Nimai, please come. Sit down. What can I do for you?” Nimai said, “Let Me see your best most expensive oils.” And he would bring the oils and Nimai would say, “How much is this?” And he would say, “You don’t have to pay anything. Let me put the oil on you.” Nimai said, “I don’t have any money.” He said, “That’s all right .I will give you this whole bottle of oil and while you are here, I will put the oil on you. I will rub it on your body and you go home and you put it on yourself and next few days, you take your baths. And if a whole day later after your 3 baths, if the oil is still fragrant on your body then you could come and give me whatever you like and otherwise juts enjoy and don’t give me anything.” This is the way he was charming their hearts. You see it is not that Nimai wanted to take anything from them. He is Laxminath, he is the husband of the Goddess of Fortune. He was giving them because how God does gives us love. The crest jewel of all treasures, Premadhan. He gives us the ecstasy of Prema Bhakti by giving us a chance to serve, because in that service that love awakens, in that service we appreciate, Krsna reveals himself.

He went to all seer Yogi Sage, who is famed throughout Navadvip that he worshipped Lord Gopal and by chanting Gopal Mantra he could go in trance and see what is your past life and tell you all your past life. So Nimai went to his house and the person saw him and thought, “How beautiful how wonderful how sweet this boy is?” And Nimai smiled and said, “Oh! Divine seer. Please tell me who I was in my past life?” So the person closed his eyes and started chanting his Gopal Mantra. It never failed. He chanted this Mantra so precisely and so well that anybody who came before him, he would have visions of their past lives. So as he was chanting that Gopal Mantra and Nimai was standing in front of his eyes which were closed. He saw this beautiful four armed form, holding a conch shell and a disc and a lotus flower and a club and he had a Kaustubha Mani on his chest. He had a beautiful complexion like a sapphire, like a monsoon cloud. And He was in a pitch dark prison cell. He saw Vasudeva and Devaki offering prayers to him. And then he saw this four armed form turn into a beautiful little two armed form and he saw this person Vasudeva pick him up and take him across the Yamuna. He was watching. This is all being enacted in his mind.

He took him and laid him on Yashoda Mayi’s bed. Then his mediation shifted and he saw this beautiful little boy, complexion like a Tamal tree, swathing hair like crow feathers around his beautiful face and he was eating butter, just eating butter, more and more butter. This was the Gopal that the devotee worshiped. And then that transformed and he was seeing the three-fold bending form of Gopinath, playing upon His flute, with a peacock feather adorning his head. And the divine seer was completely bewildered and confused. He was thinking, “What is happening? I am seeing my Lord Gopal, I am seeing all these things. But I have my service. My service is to tell this boy who He is. Gopal, you are giving me all this mercy, revealing yourself to me but who is this boy, who is this boy?” He went deeper and deeper into chanting this mantra and he saw Lord Rama with the complexion of Durva grass, holding a bow and next to Him was Sita, Laxman, and Hanuman. And then in the meditation he saw Varaha deva, this big giant boar with the Earth planet in its tusks. Then he saw Narsimha deva. He saw Narsimha deva, tearing apart Hiranyakashipu and then blissfully putting his hand on Prahlad’s head and giving Prahlad satisfaction. He was thinking, “My Lord, I just want to know, who this boy is. I don’t know why I am getting all these mystical experiences.”

He saw Matsya, a giant fish blissfully playing in the ocean of devastation. And then he saw Lord Balaram with his plough moving Yamuna from one place to another in Vrindavana. And in his meditation, there was Jagannath, Balaraam with Subhadra Devi in between them. At this point this Brahman was completely confused, completely disoriented and he was praying, He was intensely chanting this mantra, praying to Gopal, “I don’t know what I am seeing? I don’t know why I am seeing and getting all your darshans but who this boy is. I want to know who this boy is.” And as he is thinking like this in complete bewilderment Nimai said, “Please tell me, why you are not telling me? What do you see? What do you see? Who was I in my past life?” And he opened his eyes and his heart melted, he was speechless. He said, “My child, I need to do some research. You just go home and I will chant my Mantras, I will pray and I will meditate and come back this afternoon and tell you who you are.”

Nimai smiled. In this way everyday Nimai was wandering and conquering the heart of everyone with these very simple loving exchanges.

patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati

Krsna tells in Gita that if you just offer me even a flower, fruit, a leaf or little water with devotion I accept it. So Nimai was giving everyone the opportunity for highest devotional service. Even though they didn’t know it they were getting all the benefits and more. Meanwhile Nimai was such a devotee, all the scholars of Navadvip honored him as the greatest, even though he was only a teenager. But the devotees, they irresistibly felt so sorry for Him. They would approach him and say, “Nimai, why are you wasting your life, scholarship without devotion to Krsna is useless. At the time of death, you lose all your credibility, fame, and scholarship. The only thing we have is our love for Krsna, use your great scholarship for the love of Krsna.” The devotees would gather together daily and pray, “We love this Nimai so much but we don’t want to be near Him because He is always challenging us.” They would pray Krsna and they would do Kirtan together for the special purpose praying, “Krsna, make Nimai a devotee. If he becomes a devotee he can make the whole world Bhakta’s.”

 

Radhanath Swami narrates the story of Nimai crushing false pride of Keshav Kashmiri

Meanwhile one day, the Digvijay Pandit came to Navadvip. One of the very important stories in this narration. He was a scholar. When he entered the city Nimai was sitting on the banks of the Ganga with his students. And they told him today Digvijay Keshav Kashmiri has entered Navadvip. Nimai said, “Oh yes. Tell Me.” And they started telling him, “He is famous throughout the world as the favorite most devotee of the Goddess of Learning, Saraswati. It is said that every time he speaks, Saraswati appears on his tongue to speak wisdom, knowledge that cannot be defeated. He is so proud that he has travelled around the entire India to every place of learning, to every holy place. He has challenged every scholar, he has defeated them all and he has a Jaya Patra. Once he humiliates you, he defeats you, you will have to sign, I have been defeated and I surrender to Keshav Kashmiri. And now he has come to Navadvip. And do you want to know how he has come. He has elephants marching in front of him. He has highly decorated beautiful horses in front of him. He rides on an ornamented palanquin. He has musicians playing beautiful ragas and he has Brahmans chanting Mantras for him. This is his entourage wherever he goes and now he is in Navadvip. All the scholars in Navadvip are in total anxiety because who can defeat Goddess Saraswati. He is going to challenge them. They have no hope of defending themselves and when they are defeated, Navadvip will lose all its credibility. All of the scholars of Navadvip will have no importance anymore. You see all the scholars of Navadvip, they were so popular because they were in Navadvip. But this place and everyone in it will lose all of its reputation when he defeats us. And nobody wanted to go near him. The greatest of the scholars were literally hiding because they didn’t want to be the one to be humiliated.”

So the students were telling this to Nimai and Nimai smiled. He said, “Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead doesn’t tolerate false pride. A great personality is like a tree. When a tree has many, many fruits on it or when a person has many good qualities, they are always bowing down low to everyone. But a person who is standing very straight means that they don’t have any good qualities. Look at Banasura, Ravana, Nahusha, so many people had such power, such wealth, and so many followers but because they had false pride, ultimately they were crushed. Similarly, this person Krsna will crush his false pride into fine powder. The students listened and then Nimai was thinking in his own heart, “How to defeat him without humiliating him. Because this man is so proud that if I defeat him in public, he would be so disgraced that he will die. He will not be able to live. It would be worse than death to him. I must defeat him; I must crush his pride without hurting him or humiliating him.” And as Nimai was meditating on this, everything started orchestrating.

It turned the evening and the full moon started rising above the Ganga. Nimai had brought his students. He usually would have about a thousand students with Him sitting on the bank of the Ganga. Nimai was sitting on the Virasan. He was speaking to his students about the rules of Grammar. DigvijayPandit just happened to walk by and he saw this large group of young students and he saw their enthusiasm and their affection for the teacher. He came closer and he saw Nimai who is beautiful, so sweet, and so elegant in every way. Now the DigvijayPandit was the favorite most worshipper of Saraswati. And Saraswati gave him a benediction; she came before his eyes one day when he was chanting her mantra. I will give you the benediction that you want, “You will conquer everybody in the world in debate. No one will be able to challenge you.”

He was so confident. He had no fear of anyone. But here is this teenage boy. First his heart was charmed and then he felt afraid. This was something much disoriented, never happened to him. He came closer into the group of students. Nimai saw him and smiled and said, “Please have a seat Sir.” And Nimai praised him. He said, “Oh! You are the great Digvijay Keshav Kashmiri. We have heard so many things about you. Everyone in Navadvip is talking about you. We welcome you into our assembly. We are so fortunate, you came to meet us.” Then they talked about a few things. And then Nimai said with great respect, “Since you are here and you are the greatest of all devotees of Saraswati, the highest scholar of the world. Please compose a prayer in the praise of Mother Ganga.” Keshav Kashmiri began to speak. It was unbelievable. He spoke like the wind; beautiful ornamented poetry, original, never heard before. He was just making it on the spot. It was pouring out of his mouth like Mother Ganga herself, praising Mother Ganga. It went on and on and on and all the students had never heard anything like this. There was total silence in utter amazement. It was beyond human. How could anyone compose right on the spot such beautiful poetry? He spoke for 3 consecutive hours without a single second break between any two words. Finally after 3 hours of his poem he composed, he stopped. And all the students were, “Unbelievable! Amazing! Incredible! This person is not human.”

And Nimai smiled and said, “Thank you very much. It was so nice. Your poetry is so advanced that nobody can understand anything that is being said.” This is how he would defeat people. He would speak such high philosophy, such high poetry with such high words that people couldn’t even understand what it meant. He said, “This is the greatness of your poetry.” Nimai in His own way, little sarcastically said, “Your poetry is so great, so exalted nobody can understand what you are saying. Can you explain it to us?” So he said, “Yes.” As soon as he started explaining Nimai just cut. He said, “I have found in your explanation that there is a mistake in the beginning, middle and end. Can you explain the good points of your poetry and about the mistakes and why you made them?” Nobody had ever said that Keshav Kashmiri made a mistake. It’s like a direct insult to Goddess Saraswati to say that Keshav Kashmiri made a mistake. And here is the person who has the wisdom to counter any argument and destroy any opposition. And Keshav Kashmiri went blank.

He couldn’t think of anything to say. And then somehow or the other he started saying something to defend himself. He took the mistakes that Lord Chaitanya pointed out but he was just kind of bumbling like any ordinary confused person. And everything he said Lord Chaitanya very sweetly, very nicely defeated. And then he just stood there completely silent. Not a single thought would come to his mind. He was totally defeated. Now the children around him started smiling and laughing. Nimai stopped them because He didn’t want him to be humiliated. And then Nimai said, “It is understandable that you have difficulty answering my questions because after all, three hours you just composed that poem, you must be very tired. Now go home, take rest, study your books, come back tomorrow and I will have more questions for you.” He just shook his head and went home where he was staying. He felt totally betrayed.

He was thinking Goddess Saraswati personally stood before me and promised me that, “Nobody would ever defeat me. I was defeated. I defeated the greatest scholars of Nyaya, Sankhya, Mimamsa, Vaisheshika, Vedanta; all the different systems and today… how is this possible? I have gone to Gaya, Mithila, Kashi, Sri Rangam Kanchipuram, and Mathura, I have been to every place in India and defeated all the greatest, senior-most, mature scholars and today I was defeated by a young boy who is just a Grammar teacher for other young boys. Have I committed some aparadha to Goddess Saraswati, why she has betrayed me? In this way, he started chanting his Mantra desperately to get the answer, how did this happen? He went totally blank. Then he fell asleep. During Brahma Muhurta Goddess Saraswati appeared to him, not in a dream but in a vision. She said that, “When I gave you that promise that you would never be defeated, I was always with you. Every time you opened your mouth, I was always on your tongue. But this boy, Nimai Pandit, he is Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Supreme Cause of all Causes. I am an expansion of Laxmi Devi and Laxmi Devi worships the feet of Nimai. I am only His insignificant servant of the servants of His maidservants. Before him I have no power to stand. Ananta Shesha, who with his mouth speaks all the Vedas, He becomes silent before the Lord. Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, all the Devatas, they become silent when they come before the Lord. You should understand this that the true benediction that I gave you was fulfilled today because the purpose of all knowledge is not to be a conquering champion. The purpose of all knowledge is to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead and today you saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

“This is my blessing to you. Now go to him immediately and surrender your life. But don’t tell anyone except Him what I’ve told you.” Then she disappeared. And right after she disappeared he woke up and the sun was rising and he immediately ran to Nimai’s house and came to Nimai’s door and was offering his dandavat obeisances. And Nimai said, “What are you doing?” And he explained, “I understand that you are the Supreme Lord. I was so proud, I was trying to defeat you. I surrender my heart to you. Please instruct me., the Goddess Saraswati herself told me this.”

And Nimai told him, “The goal of all knowledge is to surrender to the Supreme Lord. Now give up all your arrogance and give up all your attachment to fame, prestige and all this wealth you are trying to enjoy but can’t enjoy anything.” Then he said, “I give you three instructions – renounce your false pride, worship Krishna and be merciful to all living beings.”

Digvijay Pandit then offered obeisances and wept tears and when he got up Nimai embraced him and with that embraced he blessed him with the ultimate perfection of life. And without saying anything to anyone, without even putting his shoes back on, he left Navadvip, alone. He left all his gold, silver, elephants and thousands of followers, bands, Brahmins, palanquins and just wandered the world always remembering Krishna and never forgetting Krishna, absorbed in chanting the holy names.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare.
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

He was happy. After he left and the news spread all over Navadvipa that Nimai pandit totally defeated Digvijay. Another important thing that Digvijay told Nimai at the moment of surrender, he said “You totally crushed my false pride without hurting me. You totally defeated me without humiliating me. Only the Supreme Personality of Godhead could do that.”

And Vrindavan Das Thakur and Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami explain, this is how he defeated all the great scholars of Navadvip and anywhere. He would make them happy to be defeated, because he did it with such respect, with such affection and with such grace. He brought everyone happiness. His purpose was based on love for them. Like we heard stories of Srila Prabhupada, sometime he was so kind, so generous and so encouraging to his followers. And sometime to teach a lesson he was very strong. Sometimes soft like a rose and on occasions like a thunderbolt. He would chastise, but his chastisement would not break them, it would nourish them because they knew it was coming from such sweet intimate love and compassion. We understood so clearly that more than anyone else in creation he loves us and cares about us. If chastisement is coming from that place, on the mental point it may hurt but in heart it makes us very happy, because we feel that love. If someone is arrogant, envious and conquers us that way or chastises us it simply hurts. But Nimai could crush the pride of Keshav Kashmiri or everyone into the finest powder and their hearts would be happy, because he did with such deep love, care and compassion. And to the degree we are really connected to Krishna, we strive to be vaishnavas in that spirit.

No pride, no envy, no greed, no prestige, no desire to be on top of anyone, but simply a loving servant, that is a Vaishnava. – Radhanath Swami

 

Radhanath Swami explains “The teacher is the humblest servant”

Soon after this Nimai told his mother and wife Lakshmi priya, “I am going to Bangladesh”. In those days it was called East Bengal. Nimai went with a group of His students. When they arrived the people of East Bengal were so happy. Nimai saw the Padmavati River, beautiful Wide River with wonderful forest on either side or the water was so crystal clear and the waves were swirling almost dancing. Nimai was thrilled to see the Padmavati River and took His bath. And from that day on Padmavati river became non different from Ganga, because Nimai and His friends performed Lila in that river. The news spread so fast like a wild fire that the great Nimai pandit of Navadvipa has come to East Bengal. Because in those days and even today East Bengal it was a very poor place materially. People had very little funds, very simple. Thousands and thousands of people were coming to Nimai begging, “Please teach us.” And Nimai came just to teach them. They said, “All the students of East Bengal are saving whatever little they have so that they could someday come to Navadvipa to study under the great Nimai pandit. That’s the goal of everyone here. But it is so hard for us to go, but you are so kind you have come here”. And He taught every single person who had approached him free of charge, there were thousands of people at each of his classes. They were so grateful.

This is a very, very important principle. Knowledge can be transmitted in a very effective way when the students are deeply grateful for what they are receiving. And very hungry to receive it and the teacher deeply, genuinely cares for the students. Where ever we find Krishna and Arjuna in the Gita, Pariksit and Sukadeva in Bhagavatam, Maitreya Rshi and Uddhava. Where ever there is the transmission of transcendental knowledge, we find this very, very special combination – the student is eager to hear and deeply grateful and the teacher genuinely cares.

Srila Prabhupada said, “To be a good teacher first you have to be a good student”.

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

That means to be submissive, to be eager to serve, to be deeply grateful and humble, and thirsty to receive that knowledge in that spirit then we gradually become qualified to be teachers, when we deeply and genuinely care to enlighten people’s hearts, to serve them. In bhakti the teacher is the humblest servant.

It is explained in our scriptures that Lord Caitanya was only teaching them grammar, He was not teaching them Bhakti. But every single one of his students in due course of time by the association of Lord Caitanya, after he established the sankirtan movement, every one of them in the East Bengal became total pure faithful servants of Krishna constantly chanting the holy name

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare.
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

They loved Him, they surrendered to Him. And when he came back to Navadvip later, they heard about the Sankirtan movement that was their life and soul. What usually takes an average of 12 years to master the subjects He was teaching them, every one of His students mastered them in less than two months. That’s the kind of teacher He was. It wasn’t like a forged degree. If you have a degree from Nimai pandit it was more exalted, more prestigious and honored than even if you studied under some one for more than hundred years.

All these people were coming and going and coming and going and Nimai was just giving and giving. And then it was time for Him to return to Navadvip. He announced that He’ll be leaving. So many of His students they were so grateful. Even though they were very poor people, the best things they had in their house they were giving to him. They were bringing gold, silver, jewels, pots and silk, whatever they had, they just wanted to give it all to Nimai. And Nimai wasn’t there to earn anything He was just there to give. Ultimately he was there to give love of God, because every one of his students got it in due course of time. He accepted it all for their benefit. It was the greatest pleasure of their hearts that would accept their offering. And for their satisfaction and for their purification he accepted. When he went home he didn’t keep any of it.

 

Radhanath Swami describes meeting between Nimai and Tapan Mishra

Meanwhile there was a particular Brahmana, very learned and very serious. His name was Tapan Mishra. He was going deeper, deeper into studying scriptures, he was going from scholar to scholar, from yogi to yogi, from guru to guru asking the same question. “What is the true goal of life and how to achieve it?” And despite all his studies and all of his meetings he never felt that he got a satisfactory answer. He was so hungry and thirsty for truth that he yearned, he prayed, he cried for his answers to be revealed. He had no material attachments. He just wanted to know what the goal of life is really and how to get there. He prayed and prayed. And on the night before Nimai was going to leave East Bengal he had a dream. In this dream a divine personality appeared to him and said, “Go to Nimai pandit. He is the Supreme personality of godhead. He will tell you what the goal of life is and how to achieve it. But don’t tell anyone that I said this.”

Next day as Nimai was about to leave he was surrounded by so many people offering their hearts to Him. In Bhakti Srila Prabhupada explained Krishna does not accept the thing that you offer He accept the purpose with which it is offered. These people were offering with love, therefore Nimai was accepting with love. All of a sudden Tapan Mishra comes and prostrates at the feet of Nimai. He stands up with folded palms and said, “I have read so many scriptures and I have met so many people and my whole life I’ve been searching. Please tell me what the goal of life is and how to achieve it. I believe only you can give the answer.” Everybody was watching and listening. Now during Nimai’s teaching to His students, he was just giving only what they were asking. But because Tapan Mishra was so sincere, Nimai pandit spoke the highest truths.

One of the first times in His Lila He really revealed such direct teachings as this. He said, “The goal of life is to know Krishna, to worship Krishna with pure unalloyed devotion. Everything in this world is temporary except that. At the time of death all your knowledge and all your wealth will leave you. But in this valuable human form of life we have a chance to awaken that divine love that is in our hearts. And how to attain that pure unalloyed selfless love for Krishna? How to attain that pure desire to serve Krishna with devotion? Krishna appears in this world to teach us.

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

Krishna appears again and again to reestablish the principles of religion, to give pleasure to the hearts of His devotees and to annihilate the miscreants. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said Krishna has appeared, the supreme personality of godhead has descend into this world in a white complexion, in a red complexion, in a black complexion and in a golden complexion. These are Yuga avataras, each teaching a system that is most effective for self-realization in that particular age. He quoted form Srimad-Bhagavatam what one could attain through deep unwavering mediation in satya Yuga, in treta Yuga through spotless performance of sacrifices, in dvapar yuga through absolute accurate pure worship of the Deity we can achieve the same perfection of pure love of Krishna in age of kali through the chanting of the holy names.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare, Hare.
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare

And the Lord himself cited the Brhad Naradiya purana

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

In this age of kali, there is no other way to attain the ultimate highest perfection than chanting the names of Hari. Lord Caitanya said the goal of life and the process of achieving it is one, to be among other devotees and together to chant the Krishna’s holy names.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare, Hare.
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare

And now I will tech you the Mahamantra. In Lord Caitanya’s biography this is the first time Lord Caitanya specifically teaches the Mahamantra. He said to Tapan Mishra repeat after me,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare, Hare.
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare

This 16 word 32 syllable mantra is called the Mahamantra. It is the most powerful effective medicine in this age of kali. This is called the Mahamantra because there are many mantras but all mantras are included in the Mahamantra and the Mahamantra is beyond. He told constantly chant these names, worship Krishna, be the servant of the servant. And then He told him that if you are chanting this Mahamantra we could never be separated.

Tapan Mishra bowed down and cried in ecstasy and said, “I want to go with you to Navadvip. I have nothing left in my life. I want to go with you.” He was a Grihasthas. Lord Chaitanya told him, “You should go to Varanasi and I will meet you there.”

Now this is serious surrender. He already understood that Nimai is Krishna, he had surrendered to him and developed love to him and getting instructions from him. He knew Nimai was going to establish the sankirtan movement in Navadvip, he wanted to be there. He knew Advaita, Haridas, Srivasa and all these great devotees were there. And in Varanasi there were no devotees. But Nimai said, “You go there and I will come later. I will meet you and I will explain more to you then”. And ultimately this is love, not to do what we want, but the will of the Lord. As the bible says, “Let thy will be done”.

Tapan Mishra went to Varanasi and there he had a son who was the great Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, one of the six Goswami.
As Nimai was leaving, Tapan Mishra said, “I want to speak to you privately just for a moment.” They stepped aside and Tapan Mishra said, “This is the dream I had”. And Nimai said “It was a good dream and a true dream but don’t tell anyone”. And Nimai returned to where we are sitting today to Sri Mayapur dham, after two months of separation. We will continue tomorrow.

Thank you very much.