śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
11th Caitra, Saturday—1334
March 24, 1928]
The Search for Goodness
I say, “Why are you rushing? Hear what I am saying first, then if you must rush, then rush. I will not say anything but what is good for you. Calm yourself a bit and hear what I have to say. Deliberate the pros and cons and see for yourself; then say what you must say after that. What am I saying? Listen: You are working up the sweat of your brow to bring home an income of two paisa, so that your sons and daughters can eat happily for a few days. So what I’m telling you is to not waste your hard-earned money. The minions of Kali don the garb of saints and come to you, spinning various yarns, tempting you in various ways, and they cheat you, stealing your hard-earned money to enjoy themselves. That’s why what I’m telling you is to be a bit careful; don’t let your money go to waste. I’m telling you this because you are my bosom friend, but if you get upset at this, then you will only end up cheating yourself. If you want to give in charity to fulfill your dharma and karma, then give in charity to a deserving person. If you give in charity to an undeserving person, you will have to go to hell. Will you listen to what scripture has to say? Scripture has said that those who take money for giving mantra or for reciting Bhāgavatam are selling religion. They are not genuine. If you invite them to a funeral or some other ceremonial function, you will end up in hell. There is no escape once you fall into their clutches. Nothing actually dharmic will take place; rather, you will simply be implicated in sin. Later, if you really truly want to engage in dharma, then you must search for a good guru. When you lack something in your material life, you tell Bhagavān about it. If you are in trouble, you call out to Bhagavān. Likewise, if you really want to engage in dharma, then convey to Bhagavān that you want to find a good guru. Only Bhagavān will make everything good. Those who are always preoccupied with serving Bhagavān, who don’t know anything besides Bhagavān—only they are worthy of becoming guru. If you go to them, they will not ask you for money. Instead, they will say, “I have taken full responsibility for all your burdens. Go. Do hari-bhajana.” And if you say, “No, I want to be a family man and do hari-bhajana,” even then they will give you good instructions. You will see that if you approach a good guru, you will no longer be cheated, and the purport of scriptures will automatically arise within your heart. We’ll leave it at that for today.
An Oasis in the Desert
When, with a hopeless heart and broken courage, I was slowly wandering through the markets and bazars of Navadvīpa town with [copies of] Nadīyā Prakāśa, then I really was wondering, “What jewel am I going to find in thi s scorching desert? There is not even a ribbon of water here, no sign of leaves or blossoms. I don’t know why I have come to such a place. I feel like I’m going to end up losing my life due to thirst. Nevertheless, duty-bound, I must plod through this sandy Sahara, a place where no one can go and come back from with their life. In this kind of awful situation, walking on foot amid the scorching wind, I am crossing the ocean of sand. There are no friends, no comrades, just burning sand, and it’s just getting hotter. Like a drowning man delighted to see a boat in front of him, I was walking along in hopelessness, with the last of my life airs lingering at my lips, when suddenly it was like I could see a beautiful, clean lake surrounded by a charming forest full of so many beautiful flowers, vines, and bushes, and resounding with the sweet calls of cuckoo birds. This was not something that can be seen in dreams. It was beyond imagination. It was nothing other than the grace of God. I was walking through the markets of Navadvīpa, anguished at heart, my mind full of hopelessness, wandering around amid the burning sands of abusive words, feeling like I was going to die when suddenly I hear a few friends showering the soothing water of loving words. It was like they were putting magical life-reviving medicine into the mouth of someone gasping for breath, raising him from the brink of death. These people, who had never seen me, never heard my spiel, saw me and said, “Do not fear, do not fear. Keep going forward fearlessly and fixed on your goal, like Abhimanyu surrounded by the seven cowardly generals. But you won’t have to die like Abhimanyu. No one can stand up to your brilliance. You have not come to tussle. You have come to give love, to give the holy name, so everyone will be enchanted with a sixteen-year-old boy like you and bow their heads. They will subscribe forever. Go forth on the path of your mission. Do not falter. You will meet with great results.”
What was this from amidst antagonists? So much reassurance so suddenly. Such sweet words, such honor for the message of Bhaktisiddhānta, and so much genuine conviction. I had not seen anything like that anywhere. That’s why I’m saying, “It was an oasis in the desert.”
To the Mind
Mind, sometimes you want to be a Śākta, sometimes you want to be a Śiva-worshipper, sometimes you want to worship Gaṇeśa, other times you become totally preoccupied with worshipping Sūrya, and other times you want to wear tilaka and neckbeads and become a Vaiṣṇava. For once, just tell me straight what you actually want. What you want is wealth, women, and fame, because your belief is that those who have no shortage of money, women, and fame are very happy, but think again. What was Rāvaṇa lacking? Rāvaṇa had all the things you say are going to make you happy, but still he could not be happy. A mountain looks very beautiful from afar. You see the ingredients for enjoyment from afar and think there is so much happiness in them, but if you look closely, you will be able to understand that there is more sorrow in them than happiness. A moth sees the splendor of fire from afar and loses its life to it. If you see the glimmer of enjoyment from afar and go to consume it, you will have the same fate. Sometimes you understand there is no happiness in enjoyment and so sometimes you want to be a jñānī, sometimes you want to be a yogī; other times, you try to be an atheist; these too are mistakes. That is because the purpose of nirvāṇa is obliteration of the soul. If I cease to be, who will enjoy happiness? So I say, “Think first, then leap.” Listen, I am going to tell you a story; one you already know. There was once a fox who somehow or other fell into a well. Along came a goat, quite parched, looking for water. The goat saw there was a fox in the well. He thought the fox must have been as thirsty as him and therefore gone down into the well, so he asked the fox, “Brother, is there any water left for me to drink down there?” There was no water in the well, but the fox was very cunning, so he said, “Brother, there is a ton of fresh, cold water. I’ve had my fill; I can’t finish it.” As soon as the fox said this, the goat jumped into the well, and just about as quickly, the fox leapt up onto the goat’s back and jumped up out of the well. The goat started saying, “Hey! There’s no water down here. Why did you cheat me like that?” In response, the fox said, “See how long your beard is? If you had a quarter of that worth of brains, you would have stopped to think a moment before you jumped in.” Saying this, the fox left. Hence I said, “Think before you leap.” The words of Bhagavān and His devotees are not deceptive like that. If you listen to what They say, you will not have to leave your sons and daughters and go to the Himālayas. You will not have to endure the sun and rain and do austerities. You will not have to do yoga to control your senses. And what you are looking for, you will find, plus more joy than you were expecting. Do you even know what that is like? Engage your desires in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Channel your anger towards those who are inimical to Kṛṣṇa’s devotees, be greedy for hari-kathā and kīrtana in the association of sādhus. Know yourself to be the servant of Kṛṣṇa, and whatever is yours, know all of that to be ingredients for the service of Kṛṣṇa. Live an upstanding, moral life and earn money; use what you need to survive and devote the rest to distributing bhagavat-śāstras, preaching Bhagavān’s names, establishing deities, and other works for Bhagavān. Just once, hear what Bhagavān and His devotees have to say and you will not have to be cheated anymore.
“Paraṁ Dṛṣṭvā Nivarttate”
Unless we find something that is topmost—something that has no superior or no equal—there will be no end to our aspirations. Newer and newer desires appear in our minds constantly. When we see we are very poor, we think, “Oh, it would be nice if I had some money.” When we come into money, we think, “Oh, it wouldn’t be bad if I had some real estate.” Once we get some land, we start wanting a kingdom. Before long, we are not content with being the sovereign rulers of the Earth and her oceans. Yayāti Mahārāja also felt this sort of dissatisfaction and ultimately said, “Desires can never be satisfied by indulging them. If you pour ghee onto a fire, it will not go out; it will just burn more fiercely. In the same way, as long as we are covered by the functions of our gross bodies and minds in this state of forgetfulness of our true identity, all the ambition we have for the things we think we need in order to satisfy our senses simply increases exponentially, instead of gradually subsiding. Though none of us want unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and blisslessness, they become our constant companions. What is the reason for this? If there is something superlative, why can’t we find any trace of it? If we try to answer this question, we can see that our wanting is okay, but what to want, what will appease all our wants—that we do not know. The people we go to seeking the things we want also have no clue about what that topmost thing is, so they cannot tell us what it is. That is why our aspirations never abate. The mother of a boy who is eating dirt knows the wonderful taste of sweets, so she gives her son some sweet treat and dissuades her boy from whatever little taste he was deriving from eating dirt. From the moment we descend from our mother’s womb upon this Earth, we are nurtured and raised with certain examples, which lead to us being habituated to relishing certain things. We are not aware that there is anything better than the things we have liked, are liking or will like according to the different perceptions we have in childhood, youth, middle-age, and old age. Moreover, no one is satisfied with all the things we are preoccupied with enjoying. The people who are showing us the road ahead are dissatisfied and falling into the jaws of time. They are making arrangements for us too as they go along. So are we just going to end up being dissatisfied birth after birth? The cycle of birth and death won’t end if we leave our bodies in a state of dissatisfaction, will it? In answer to that, the sādhus and śāstra state: “Why should you remain dissatisifed? Reap the thing of truth that you seek and become satisfied. Don’t think that you are trapped under the impressions coming down to you from your ancestors and so the path to elevation is somehow shut. It is just Māyā who wants to trap you with these impressions and keep you in her clutches. Do not delay any longer. Go and take shelter at the feet of a bona fide guru, someone who has peronally relished the supreme object, the taste of which will satisfy you forever. Take shelter of a guru who can lead you to that supreme object. Only he will fulfill your ambitions. That supreme object can only be kṛṣṇa-bhakti. If the people in this world whom you call your own and whose example you wish to adopt do not want kṛṣṇa-bhakti, then it is not as if you too must be deprived of kṛṣṇa-bhakti and remain dissatisfied. The previous mahājanas, the great personalities of the past, are cognizant of the nature of the soul and are most intimately connected to you and all the people you call your own in this world. Theirs is the śrauta-panthā, the path of hearing. If you take to that path and relish the supreme object yourself, then you will become satisfied. Then you will be able to give that to everyone else as well. If you develop a taste for the supreme object, you will no longer have any inclination to enjoy inferior objects. “Pūrva itihāsa bhulibe sakala, sevā-sukha peye mane – You will forget all your past history through the joy of service.”
Therefore, there is no longer any point in us expressing greed for the kind of joy that is initially pleasant but ultimately saddening and that deprives us of attaining eternal bliss. All this time, whatever was meant to happen has happened. Therefore, it is imperative that we attain a state of purity through repentance and adopt the path of the greats who have gone before us. If we follow the path of those who are slaves to their minds, thinking they are our friends and relatives, then we will have to perish in the infinite ocean of miseries. To think a bogus guru is a real guru is the cause of all difficulties and impediments. Intelligent people do not allow themselves to be compelled by bad habits or impressions and invoke their own misfortune for no reason. Human birth is very rare. Bhagavān did not send us here in human form to spend it just any which way. If we squander this God-given opportunity, will we ever attain this opportunity again? That is why it is essential that everyone takes shelter at the feet of a bona fide guru and becomes engaged in seeking the supreme object. Once they achieve that supreme object, they will no longer retain desires for anything else. If we gain the association of saintly persons, then wicked people cannot spread their influence to us anymore. If we obtain the eyes of knowledge, ignorance can no longer come and cover our eyes. Mundane bliss will not be able to come and make us forget the flavor of eternal bliss.
How Much More Shall I See?
The place I know as Koladvīpa, or Kuliyā—how many times have I come and gone from here? There is Mahāprabhu’s home here, Śrīvāsa Aṅgana, Sonāra Gaurāṅga, Sītānātha’s home, Pañca Tattva, Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Śyāma-kuṇḍa, Giri Govardhana, the place of Jagāi and Mādhāi’s deliverance, and Samāja Bāḍī, etc. Sometimes I gave donations in these places, sometimes I was a brāhmaṇa guest there, sometimes I dressed up as a bābājī, sometimes I was referred to as a resident of Navadvīpa, sometimes I dressed up as an expensive Satua [?]. I enacted the drama of having darśana in so many ways. But I did not have any darśana at all.
Then one day, I overheard a bitter debate between Satyacaraṇa and Kuliyā resident Prabhu Śrī Kali-vāgīśa Gosāi about Śrī Māyāpura, which made me think there was surely some profound mystery at the bottom of it all. I listened to their debate for a while with a steady mind, then the next day, I arrived in Śrī Māyāpura in the company of Satyacaraṇa. As I came to the banks of Śrī Gaura-kuṇḍa, I heard a young girl say, “This is Mahāprabhu’s home.” When I entered the bāḍī [temple/home], I was greeted warmly and respectfully by the devotees there who described all the deities there at length. Having had all the darśanas, I was very satisfied and delighted beyond expectation. I could not hold myself back from saying, “How fortunate I was to have overheard Satyacaraṇa’s dispute! That led me to have darśana of Mahāprabhu’s home via the directions of a little girl.” Not only that, but the devotees gave me Mahāprabhu’s caraṇāmṛta and some of the bālya-bhoga prasāda. They took me around to all the sights in Śrī Māyāpura and very affectionately requested me to stay for midday prasāda as well.
Meanwhile, a suvarṇa-vaṇika from Āhirī-ṭolā in Calcutta accompanied by two widows, his wife, and other family members, arrived at Mahāprabhu’s bāḍī. The devotees were similarly attentive in guiding them to have darśana of the deities, etc. This family was also invited to have prasāda. When I asked who they were, they told me, “We have, with great effort, obtained a place in the bāḍī of the renowned, well-connected, and high-class Pāṭhaka Gosvāmī Mahāśaya of Kuliyā. We are relieved to have hopes of staying up until Daśama Dola [Gaura Pūrṇimā].” I asked, “Are you disciples of that bāḍī?” They replied, “No, but gosāi has a very good relationship with us; he often holds discourses in our home and brings in a lot of money.” I heard from them that the widowed wife of this gosāi’s brother cooks for him. Many of his disciples have shops in the city and pay his monthly expenses to earn a place in his bāḍī and take prasāda there. Anyways, this family took prasāda that day with me at Mahāprabhu’s bāḍī and afterwards asked for some cow dung to cleanse the spot we had eaten. At this, one of the devotees said there was no need for cow dung to cleanse the area where one has taken prasāda. At this, those pilgrims exclaimed all at once, “What did he say? We have seen that in the gosāi’s home, we cannot function without cow dung. Even where we walk, the mā gosāi will not leave it without spreading cow dung and sweeping it seven times.” I couldn’t stay quiet any longer and suddenly blurted out, “Sounds like they have more honor for animal excrement and sweeping. Does your gosāi despise you so much, more than even dung, that he won’t let you walk around without cleansing the area with cow dung? But of course, you’re sonār bene [gold merchants], so they can’t accept even water from your hands, but is the prasāda you arrange to be cooked at the gosāi’s house also unacceptable to them?” The widows then spoke up and said, “Not only the prasāda, the gosāi’s deities and guru-mantra are also basically considered defunct. The deity, the deity’s prasāda, and the deity’s mantra also have no value. We have been disciples of the gosāis for fourteen generations? Till now, none of our bodies is considered pure. They can’t take water from our hands. Our mantras therefore must not have developed any power. All we hear is that we could make them lose their jāta [caste]. They are (jāti) gosāis, aren’t they? They are mostly concerned with their caste.” I said, “Then it seems to me that they are not Vaiṣṇavas. I have heard that if you judge a Vaiṣṇava by his caste, you go to hell.” Then the two men of the family responded that if these gosāis became actual Vaiṣṇavas, they could not run their guru business. “They are Vāmana Gosāis [Brahmin priests]. They have all kinds of disciples: oilmakers, florists, washermen, barbers, prostitutes.” Hearing this, one of the devotees there at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s bāḍī explained many subtle points of tattva about guru, disciples, prasāda, Viṣṇu, and the Vaiṣṇavas, which helped our minds solve these riddles. (Due to lack of space, I have not been able to include all of what he related.) Hearing all this, the men said, “Oh, those are very broad and elevated ideas. Who are we to fathom all this?” Now I spoke up, “Well, in that case, your gosāis are of a much lower status than you.” Just as I was saying this, one Sena-gupta Mahāśaya of the zamindar caste from Śrīrāmapura in the Murshidabad district arrived with some fruit. He, his wife, and their widowed sister-in-law joined our conversation. Immediately, the widow spoke up and said, “Oh baba! The other day, when I took prasāda here during the festival and went back to Kuliyā, everyone told me to eat cow dung, because I had lost my caste from eating mahāprasāda with untouchables.” Hearing this, I said to her, “Mother, what’s wrong with that? They were telling the truth. Because, well, you honoured mahāprasāda in Śrī Māyāpura and then went back and saw the faces of those non-devotees. Seems like eating cow dung would have been the appropriate repentance for that.”
(to be continued)
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya
[Post-sannyāsa pastimes]
(See previously published article entitled
“Śrī Māyāpura Pūrṇa-candrodaya”)
Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa during the bright fortnight of the month of Māgha and took up residence in Nīlācala during the month of Phālguna. During the month of Phālguna, He beheld the Dola-yātrā festival and, in the month of Caitra, delivered Sārvabhauma. Then in the month of Vaiśākhā, He left to tour South India. When Mahāprabhu proposed that He would set off alone to wander South India, Nityānanda Prabhu petitioned Him fervently to take a simple brāhmaṇa individual named Kṛṣṇadāsa with Him. Sārvabhauma gave Mahāprabhu four sets of kaupīna [loincloth] and bahirvāsa [outer cloth] and requested that He meet with Rāmānanda Rāya on the banks of the Godāvarī. Nityānanda Prabhu and several others went as far as Ālālanātha with Mahāprabhu. There, He left the group behind and allowed only the brāhmaṇa Kṛṣṇadāsa to accompany Him as He made His way, absorbed in ecstacy and loudly chanting, “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” Everyone who heard the holy name of Hari issuing from Mahāprabhu’s sacred lips also began chanting nāma. Mahāprabhu infused those who surrendered to Him with spiritual potency and thereby made all the inhabitants of South India into Vaiṣṇavas. The glory of Prabhu’s mercy manifested more in South India than in Navadvīpa. In this way, Mahāprabhu arrived at Kūrma-sthāna and accepted the worship of a brāhmaṇa there who was named Kūrma, blessing him and ordering him to preach the name of Kṛṣṇa. He instructed everyone to become ācārya, or in other words, to practice the chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s names and spread the word of Kṛṣṇa. A brāhmaṇa named Vāsudeva, who was afflicted with oozing leprosy sores came to Kūrma’s home and Mahāprabhu delivered him both from the leprosy and the disease of material existence, establishing him as an ācārya as well. Upon delivering Vāsudeva, the Lord earned the name “Vāsudevāmṛta-prada – He who grants immortality to Vāsudeva”.
Mahāprabhu then made His way to Jiyaḍa-Nṛsiṁha, where He had darśana of the deity, and then in Vidyānagara, on the banks of the Godāvarī, He saw Rāya Rāmānanda, who had come to take bath there. Rāmānanda Prabhu requested the Lord to stay for a few days in the village there and exchange hari-kathā, so Mahāprabhu stayed in the home of a Vedic brāhmaṇa. In the evening, Rāmānanda Rāya came to Mahāprabhu in simple attire and offered his prostrated obeisance. Mahāprabhu then asked him to recite verses that described the ultimate goal of life. Rāmānanda Rāya first mentioned varṇāśrama-dharma as being the dharma for pious people in general, then he mentioned ‘karmārpaṇa [offering the fruits of one’s activities]’, then the performance of action without any attachment, then ‘jñāna-miśra-bhakti [devotion mixed with knowledge]’, and finally recited several verses discussing ‘jñāna-śunya śuddha-bhakti [pure devotion devoid of erudition]’. This last item Mahāprabhu accepted as the sādhya-vastu, or goal of spiritual practice. Then He asked Prabhu Śrī Rāmānanda to describe more elevated levels of advancement, so Rāya first described ‘śuddhā kṛṣṇa-rati-rūpā prema-bhakti [pure loving devotion that manifests as deep attachment to Kṛṣṇa]’, then he described ‘dāsya-prema [a servant’s divine love]’, then ‘sakhya-prema [a friend’s divine love]’, then ‘vātsalya-prema [parental divine love]’, and (finally) described ‘kānta-bhāva-gata prema [divine love stemming from romantic feelings]’ as the essence of all spiritual attainments. Rāya also explained in various ways exactly how kānta-prema is the essence of all spiritual attainments. When the Lord did not accept this as the pinnacle of spiritual attainments, then Rāya described Śrī Rādhika’s prema. After that, Rāya described Kṛṣṇa’s svarūpa [nature], Rādhā’s svarūpa, the svarūpa of rasa-tattva, and prema-tattva. After that, prompted by Mahāprabhu’s inquiry, Rāmānanda Rāya recited a song he had written about prema-vilāsa-vivarta [“the bewildering play of divine love”] which consists of adhirūḍha-bhāva [one the highest levels of mahā-bhāva] and stems from deep pangs of separation. Ultimately, what was described was following the guidance of the Vraja-sakhīs as a means to obtain the supreme goal of divine loving service to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. After a variety of discussions about Kṛṣṇa that occurred every night for several days, Mahāprabhu revealed His Śyāma and Gaura forms (Rasa-rāja and Mahābhāva) to Rāya, who fainted in ecstacy at the sight. After some days, Mahāprabhu carried on with His tour of South India, leaving Rāmānanda with the order to relinquish his employment in the king’s service and go to Puruṣottama.
Mahāprabhu thus left Vidyānagara and gradually made His way through Gautamī Gaṅgā, Mallikārjuna, Ahobala-Nṛsiṁha, Siddhavaṭā, Skandha-kṣetra, Trimaṭha, Vṛddha-kāśī, Bauddha-sthāna, Tripati, Trimalla, Pānā-Nṛsiṁha, Śiva Kāñcī, Viṣṇu Kāñcī, Trikālahastī, Vṛddha-kola, Śiyālī-bhairavī, the banks of the Kāverī, Kumbhakarṇakapāla, and from there arrived in Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra. By the Lord’s mercy, the karmīs, the jñānīs, the worshippers of Rāma, the Tattvavādīs, the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas, and others all developed attachment to the worship of Kṛṣṇa. At Bauddha-sthāna, Mahāprabhu refuted all the fallacious arguments of the Buddhist preceptor there. The Buddhist preceptor then conspired to present the Lord with a plate of foul, inedible items when suddenly a huge bird snatched the whole plate and dropped it on the Buddhist leader’s head, cutting his head so badly that he fell unconscious. Seeing the state of their teacher, the Buddhists took refuge of Mahāprabhu and became Vaiṣṇavas along with their teacher by performing kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana on Mahāprabhu’s order. The Buddhist teacher offered prayers to Mahāprabhu, seeing Him as Kṛṣṇa. Mahāprabhu then enlightened the Śaivas to their true constitution as Vaiṣṇavas. While staying in Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra during the four months of Cāturmāsya at the home of the Rāmānujīya Vaiṣṇava Vyeṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, He converted the whole of Vyeṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa’s family from Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa worshippers to devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Tirumalaya Bhaṭṭa, Vyeṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, and Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī—these three brothers took shelter of Mahāprabhu’s feet and became immersed in the rasa of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Vyeṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa’s brother, Śrī Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, was a tridaṇḍī-sannyāsī. He was the uncle and teacher of Vyeṅkaṭa’s son, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa. When Mahāprabhu was living in Vyeṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa’s house, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa had the fortune of seeing and serving Mahāprabhu. From Śrī Raṅgam, Mahāprabhu went to Ṛṣabha Mountain and met with Śrī Paramānanda Purī. Purī Gosvāmī then departed to Puruṣottama and Mahāprabhu headed towards Setubandha. In Dakṣiṇa-mathurā, seeing the sorrow of one brāhmaṇa devotee of Lord Rāma, Mahāprabhu consoled him, saying, “The transcendental Goddess of Vaikuṇṭha, Sītā-devī, is beyond the sight and touch of the demon Rāvaṇa.” Then, in Rāmeśvara, He found proof of His statement in a verse from the Kūrma Purāṇa and brought it back to the brāhmaṇa to show him. In the Malabar region, the Lord’s companion, the simplehearted Kṛṣṇadāsa, fell into the clutches of the Bhaṭṭathārīs and Mahāprabhu rescued him. Through this pastime, Mahāprabhu demonstrated what result the living entity reaps by the misuse of his independence and taught that if the living entity becomes distracted from Kṛṣṇa’s service for even a moment, it is inevitable that he will fall prey to the influence of Māyā. On the banks of the Payasvinī, Mahāprabhu acquired the fifth chapter of the Vaiṣṇava text of Brahma-saṁhitā. From there, the Lord went to Śrṅgerī Maṭha and Uḍupī. When the Madhvaite Tattvavādī ācārya there spoke of karma-jñāna-miśra-bhakti, Mahāprabhu did not accept. Ultimately, that Madhvaite ācārya was defeated in debate by Mahāprabhu and came to realize Mahāprabhu’s glory. In Pāṇḍarapura, Mahāprabhu heard from Śrī Raṅga Purī of the disappearance of Śrī Śaṅkarāraṇya, His older brother, Viśvarūpa. From [a temple on] the banks of the Kṛṣṇa Veṇvā, He acquired the text of Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. Returning to Vidyānaga, He met again with Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda and returned to Purī via Ālālanātha.
(to be continued)
Astounding News
One afternoon, an individual with a noticeable overbite who introduced himself as the employee of a hitavādī [philanthropic] organization and a young bābājī in full attire came to see Śrīyukta Māṇikalāla Cakravartī Bhakti-cakora on Rāma-kamala Sena Lane and revealed that they had gotten his address from Śrīyukta Dhīrānanda Kavyanidhi and thus come to see him. The purpose of their visit was to spout various allegations in contradiction of Vaiṣṇava Sārvabhauma Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī and spin several tales to mislead people into believing that the birthplace of Gaurāṅga Siṁha in Kākuḍa Māṭha is the birthplace of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. These people have now gone on a rampaging dance of various efforts to reject the site revealed by the world-revered Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja. These two have jeopardized themselves by trying to coerce and deceive the grandson of the dearly departed, highly revered Rāmasevaka Caṭṭopadhyāya Bhakti-bhūṣaṇa Mahāśaya, who gave his life and soul to the service of Śrī Gaura-Viṣṇupriyā and Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and who would literally clutch these deities to his chest while serving them here at Rāma-kamala Sena Lane. The simplehearted Bhakti-cakora Mahāśaya could understand their ignoble intentions and humbly said, “Even an ignorant person would not engage in such indiscretion.” He told them that an educated, civilized son [of such an illustrious family] could not go outside the limits of decency and do all that they had asked of him by way of proposal. Moreover, he expressed that he found their questions, which were rooted in very mundane conspiracy theories, very disturbing and he was not at all inclined to open up his chest and lend support to this sort of petty pursuit. The salary-consuming employee of a vulgar utilitarian periodical has overstepped his qualifications and, in the course of publishing a letter addressed to the so-called “Dādā Bābājī” in the hitavādī magazine in what is supposed to be some sort of astounding revelation of conspiracy, committed a grave offense to the general manager mahāśaya of the Śrīdhāma Pracāriṇī Sabhā. Cakravartī Mahāśaya reported that this buck-toothed, cane-wielding individual has overstepped all limits of proper, gentlemanly decency. Mahāśaya has communicated to us all the details of the various discussions that transpired. We will discuss all those topics and the matter of their behaviour another time.
Nānā Kathā
Padmā Breaking Her Banks
From the steamer station of Tarpasha up to Bhawal, the villages of Lauhajang, Dhankunia, Brahmangaon, Sanihati and Bhawal itself are in grave danger if the Padmā breaks its banks. It is predicted that this year the condition of the river is such that these villages could be washed away without a trace and adjoining villages destroyed too.
The one branch of the Padmā that runs along the southern regions of Taratia, Lauhajang, Dhankunia, Brahmangaon, Sanihati, and Bhawal is where the steamers to Candpur, Goyaland, and Narayanaganj run. It seems the heavy steamer traffic in these areas has broadened and deepened the Padmā’s flow there, strengthening its current, and now the aforementioned villages sit in its path of destruction. To the south of the branch that runs along the southern regions of Lauhjang, Brahmangaon, Sanihati and Bhawal, there is a huge floodplain and to the south of that is the actual Padmā river. If the steamers used the actual Padmā river as their route and moved the current Tarpasha station three to four miles east, setting up a station near Bahar Bazar instead, and if they dumped brick or stone at the mouth of the Padmā branch near Bhawal where it has gotten very deep and wide, this could reduce the strength of that branch’s current and divert it back to the actual Padmā. This could save Taratia, Lauhjang, Dhankunia, Brahmangaon, Sanihati, Bhawal, and other villages.
We hope that the steamers will take action quickly having seen the ghastly sight at Bikrampur.
If citizens do not pay attention to this, the main port of Bikrampur and the homes of many people in Lauhjang, Dhankunia and other famed villages as well as the home of the renowned zamindar of Lauhjang, Pāla Chaudhurī Bābu, will soon be destroyed by the Padmā. The ancient glory of Bikrampur, the Taratia maṭha, disappeared into the depths of Padmā last Āśvina. There is no counting how many hundreds of heritage sites like this have disappeared into the fathomless depths of the Padmā.
We hope that the government will also look into this matter properly.
—Dainika Basumati
Śrīyukta Gāndhī Mahāśaya has not been able to decide anything about going overseas. He has said he has suspended his plans in case some task arises that would demand his presence.
Last week, on the rail line between Sara and Sirajganj, in a place called Kāliyā Haripur, an elderly person was hit by a moving train and died. The corpse was sent to the hospital.
As of last Wednesday, the ministerial crisis of Bengal has somewhat subsided. At a conference of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, in a vote of non-confidence in Minister Sir Prabhāsacandra Mitra and Nawab Muśāratha Hossein, the proposal has been rejected as Sir Prabhāsacandra Mitra received 62 votes in favour and 65 against and Nawab Muśāratha Hossein received 60 in favour and 66 against. Mymensingh’s Maharajah of Muktagacha, Śaśīkānta Ācārya Chaudhurī, has supported the side of the Swaraj Party. The Swaraj Party has shown him immense honour.
An eleven-year-old boy named Devanandan Ojha was acting out Rāma-līlā in Śivapura. A Westerner was so enchanted by his acting—or perhaps there was another reason—that he enticed the boy with sweets and brought him to Calcutta by taxi where he locked the boy in a home in Saint James’ Square. The police have rescued the boy.
Members of the Simon Commission have been greeted by the Government of Punjab and the Rājanya Party. They will travel from Delhi to Bombay on March 30. From there, they will return to their country on March 31.
A passenger ship named Humayun will leave the Port of Calcutta this upcoming 12th of April with Haj pilgrims. Pilgrims can obtain information from the Protector of Pilgrim’s office in Lalbazar.
Customs Duties Department Inspector Śrīyukta G. N. Kara has found several hundred taka worth of opium in a parcel in the General Post Office. As the parcel does not seem to have an owner, the administration of the customs department has been informed.
A government notice has been posted banning the operation of any ox-drawn carriage in Calcutta between 12 and 3 in the afternoon during the months of April, May, and June.
A Westerner named Pourne got drunk with his woman and fell down a flight of stairs, landing unconscious at the bottom. Both husband and wife are currently in hospital. Such is the fate of drunkards.
Last Monday, in Alipur, Hasanabad, a gruesome murder occurred. A man named Maṅgal-gāji had taken some documents pertaining to a lawsuit and shown them to a lawyer. Some thug then murdered him on his way back from the lawyer’s office. When he was late returning from the lawyer, his family members went out looking for him and found Maṅgala-gāji’s bloodied corpse covered with wounds.
Again in Alipur, last Tuesday, next to the Jayanagara field, when a sandeśa seller named Haricaraṇa did not come home from the market on time, his family informed police, who found his corpse not far from the market. Investigation is ongoing.
This past March 20, in the afternoon, 8 people were working atop the petrol tank of the Bombay Indovarma Petroleum Company. Suddenly, the petrol exploded throwing all 8 of them here and there and killing them all.
During the last riot between Hindus and Muslims that transpired in Nagpur, 5 Muslims were killed. 9 Hindus have been charged with burning their homes. Session Judge Mr. Staples has ordered 8 of the accused to life imprisonment in the Andamans, despite the jury’s pleas apparently.
A dead body has been found in one of the branches of the Śivapur Botanical Garden. Police investigation is going on.
A dacoity occurred recently at the home of Śrīyuta Govinda Candra Sarkāra in Elaṁjānī, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ullāpāḍā station. Approximately 700 taka worth of cash and jewelry has been looted. One person has been grievously injured. Investigation is ongoing.
The principal of Scottish Church College has sought apologies/explanations for students’ absences on March 20. The explanation students have provided is: “Sir, when you ordered a good student like Śrīyukta Śacīndra Nātha Mitra to be expelled, we wrote to you asking you to tell us what complaint had been lodged against him. You did not even lift an eyebrow at anything we said. In this kind of situation, what else can we do in protest of such selfish behaviour aside from not attending school? Until we obtain some respectual resolution in regard to the plight of Śacīndra Mitra, it will not be possible for us to attend the college.”
All the students who are stipend holders study free or partially free at the college. They too were supposed to have held a meeting at Cornwallis Square yesterday. Reports are that several professors or others are going around saying that almost a hundred students have written in, begging forgiveness, but this is not the actual case.
There is ongoing unrest at City College as well. Last Thursday evening, a meeting was held at the University Institute and attended by the students’ guardians and members of the general public.
On March 20, Captain Bhac arrived in Kanpur from Delhi via aeroplane. There was talk of him going to Calcutta from Kanpur on March 21.
As a result of several German engineers being held in jail in Russia, permissions that had been given to several Russian engineers to oversee the construction of Rennis [?] have been revoked.