Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Gadadhara Pandita’s Disappearance Day—The Marketplace of the Holy Name

Giriraj Swami: Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Gadadhara Pandita is one of the members of the Pancha-tattva.

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

pañca, tattva, atmakaṁ, kṛṣṇaṁ, bhakta, rūpa, svarū, pakam
bhaktākhyaṁ, bhakta, avatāraṁ, namāmi, bhakta, śaktikam

pañca, tattva, atmakaṁ, kṛṣṇaṁ

The Pancha-tattva is actually Krishna in five features. Pañca, tattva, atmakaṁ, kṛṣṇaṁ, bhakta, rūpa Lord Chaitanya is Krishna in the form of the devotee. bhakta, rūpa, svarū, pakam And Nityānanda Prabhu is the first expansion of Krishna, or Balarāma. bhakta, avatāraṁ Advaita Prabhu is the incarnation of Krishna in the form of devotee. And bhakta, Srīvās Thakura is bhakta, devotee, Nārada Muni. Bhakti śaktikam and Sri Gadadhara Pandita is the energy of devotional service for Srimati Radharani. So we will read about Sri Gadadhara Pandita.

Sri Gaura Hari had so much affection for Sri Gadadhara Pandita that he couldn’t be without Him for a moment. Gadadhara Pandita appeared a year after Lord Chaitanya. Gadāi and Nimai were inseparable as childhood playmates. Peaceful, renounced, serious, self-composed, fond of solitude, Gadadhara proved quite a contrast to his dear friend, Gaurārāya, who was fickle, unsteady, and whimsical. In Ganga dasa Pandita School, Nimai Pandita regularly teased Gadadhara by challenging Him with illogical questions. Sri Kavīkārṇapura states that in Vraja-līlā, Gadadhara Pandita is the daughter of King Vṛṣabhanu, Srimati Radharani.

“No one can describe the characteristics and ecstatic love of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Therefore another name for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Gadādhara-prāṇanātha, “the life and soul of Gadādhara Paṇḍita.” [Cc Antya 7.163]

One day while wandering along the bank of the Ganges, Gaurasundara entered a forest grove and sat in a meditative mood. Soon he became enraptured, remembering his Vrindavan pastimes. To enhance the Lord’s mood, Mukunda dasa began singing sweet songs in Purvarāga. Sri Gadadhara made a garland of fragrant forest flowers and lovingly placed it around the Lord’s neck. As Srimati Radharani used to dress Damodara in Vrindavan, similarly, Gadadhara Pandita would adorn the radiant form of Lord Chaitanya. Every day he would make sandalwood paste to rub on Lord Chaitanya’s transcendental body. Gadadhara Pandita also took the renounced order of life and went to Jagannatha Puri to be with Lord Chaitanya.

Accepting kṣetra-sannyāsa, a vow never to leave the dhāma, he served the deity of Tota-Gopinatha with full love and devotion. Regularly, Lord Chaitanya came to relish Gadadhara Pandita reading of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Lord Chaitanya concluded His manifest pastimes by entering the deity of Tota-Gopinatha. Although Gadadhara Pandita was barely forty-eight when the Lord departed, he quickly became old because of the intense separation he felt from Lord Chaitanya. He couldn’t stretch his arms to offer a garland to his deity. Understanding his servant’s difficulty, Sri Tota-Gopinatha sat down to facilitate Gadadhara loving service.

To this day, Sri Tota-Gopinatha is the only sitting deity of Lord Krishna. According to some authorities, a short time after Lord Chaitanya’s disappearance, Gadadhara Pandita joined his eternal pastimes by entering his beloved deity of Tota-Gopinatha, His dāntika-samādhi tooth samadhi, stands near the Vamsi Gopala temple in Vrindavan. There are several pastimes Lord Chaitanya and Gadadhara Pandita mentioned in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. In one pastime—Lord Chaitanya was to leave Jagannatha Puri to go to Vrindavan, and Gadadhara Pandita wanted to accompany Him. Lord Chaitanya however, asked Gadadhara Pandita to return to Jagannatha Puri because his vow of kṣetra-sannyāsa means that he took a vow to live in Jagannatha Puri and never leave. Gadadhara Pandita refused. He said, “Let my, kṣetra-sannyāsa, go to hell, but I want to accompany you.” Lord Chaitanya said that, “You have your service to Gopinatha and if you give up your service to Gopinatha and your vow of kṣetra-sannyāsa, I will be to blame.” But Gadadhara Pandita says, “By serving you I am serving Gopinatha millions of times. Besides I won’t come with you I will follow behind you. So no one will be able to blame you for breaking my kṣetra-sannyāsa or leaving my service to Gopinatha.

Anyway, Lord Chaitanya took his hand and told him to go back. So finally Gadadhara Pandita leaves. Lord Chaitanya left and Gadadhara Pandita fainted on the ground in separation from Lord Chaitanya. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya helped Gadadhara Pandita return to Jagannatha Puri. And both of them were in severe separation but they consoled each other by discussing Lord Chaitanya. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya told Gadadhara Pandita that although Lord Chaitanya was very attached to the association of Gadadhara Pandita, he was ready to sacrifice the association of Gadadhara Pandita in order to uphold his vows and he quoted a verse from Srimad-Bhāgavatam about Lord Krishna, how he even broke his own promise for the sake of upholding Grandfather Bhisma’s promise. There are many other pastimes of Lord Chaitanya with Gadadhara Pandit, especially one which involved Vallabha Bhatta. At the end, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami explains how dear Gadadhara Pandit was to Lord Chaitanya and how dear Lord Chaitanya was to Gadadhara Pandit. Therefore, one of Lord Chaitanya’s names was Lord Chaitanya, the life of Gadadhara Pandita.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura appeared in 1836 in a wealthy family in the Nadia district of West Bengal. He revealed that he is an eternal associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by his extraordinary preaching activities and prolific writing. Living as a mahā-bhāgavata Vaishnava, he stayed in the grihastha ashram until the last few years of his life. Then, he renounced everything and accepted babaji and entered samadhi totally absorbed in the loving service of Gaura-Gadadhara and Radha-Madhava. “He had a responsible government position as the district magistrate and high court judge, maintained a Krishna-conscious family, and wrote almost One hundred books on Krishna consciousness at the same time. He served the Supreme Lord in so many ways; that is the beauty of his life.

After a full day of government service, he would speak for hours, get up at midnight, and write until morning. That was his daily program.” Srila Prabhupada. We can learn many lessons from the life of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, especially how to use one’s time. Although Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a householder, he did so much service for the cause of the Lord. After returning home in the evening, he would take his supper, and by seven or eight o’clock, he would take rest. Then, he would get up at midnight and write books. He wrote about one hundred books. In addition, he took care of his family members and his government service. One incident took place when Bhaktivinoda Thakura was Magistrate in Jagannatha-Puri because there was a false incarnation of Lord Vishnu. who used to have a rasa dance with young ladies and girls at night. Some of the men at the time were so foolish that they would actually send their wives and daughters to have rasa-līlā with Sri Krishna. There were also some sane men who objected, so they wrote complaints to the British government, perhaps to the commissioner. The commissioner knew that Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a magistrate and also a Hindu, and that he would be the right one to deal with the complaints against the false incarnation.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura as a pure devotee could immediately understand that the so-called Vishnu was actually a bogus rascal. He went in plain clothes with several police constables, also in plain clothes, to the village where the incarnation was residing. He told the incarnation, “Why are you wasting your time in a small village? If you are an important personality, you should be in Jagannatha Puri, and there you will be able to see Lord Jagannatha every day and lead a happy life.” Immediately the yogi, who was actually a yogi with some mystic powers, replied, “Lord Jagannatha, A piece of wood? Why should I go to Jagannatha Puri to see some piece of wood?” Immediately, Bhaktivinoda Thakura could understand that the rascal was a pretender because he could not even understand that Lord Jagannatha is the Personality of Godhead; he just thought that He was a piece of wood.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura ordered the constables to arrest him, and they took him to Puri. Anyway, the yogi did have some mystic powers, and the constables and Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s entire family became afflicted with very high fever. In fact, they had such high fever that they thought they would die, and other people also thought they would die. Their friends advised Bhaktivinoda Thakura that they should release the yogi, as it was not worth losing their lives for him. But Bhaktivinoda Thakura said, “No, he must be punished at any cost. Even if I have to give up my life, still he must be punished.” On the day of the trial, the constables brought forth the yogi, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura, as the magistrate, was on the bench. The yogi had very long hair. Actually, yogis do have mystic powers in their hair, and if their hair is cut, they lose their powers. I’m sure you’ve seen photos of some. Even in the Bible, there is the story of Samson, who was a very strong man, but when his hair was cut, he lost his power. Bhaktivinoda Thakura ordered that his hair be cut, but all the constables were afraid because they knew that Bhaktivinoda Thakura and the others were struck with high fever, and they thought they might also be committing some great offense against Lord Vishnu and they would have to suffer some horrible reaction. Bhaktivinoda Thakura himself when they refused, so Bhaktivinoda Thakura himself cut the yogi’s hair. As he was cutting the yogi’s hair, sparks actually began to fly out. But still, he had so much faith in Lord Krishna and such strong determination that he cut his hair and sent Him to jail. Within six months, the yogi committed suicide and left a note admitting that actually he was not Lord Vishnu.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura pioneered and developed many programs that are very important to us in ISKCON. It is he who discovered the original birthplace of Lord Chaitanya. For many years after Lord Chaitanya disappeared, His actual birthplace was lost due to the changing course of the Ganges River and other factors. By getting old maps and physically exploring the various places in Navadvipa, he found the birthplace, which was just a mound of dirt with many tulasi plants growing from it. His spiritual master was Jagannatha dasa Babaji so he requested Him to come, Jagannatha dasa Babaji was more than one hundred years old. He lived to be almost 120 years old, and he was so old that his body was slack, and his eyelids had actually grown over his eyes. His disciples had to hold open his eyelids to see. They carried him in a basket, but when he came to the birth site, without anybody saying anything, he immediately jumped out of the basket and began to dance in ecstasy. So then Bhaktivinoda Thakura started to develop the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Bhaktivinoda Thakura established some temple there, and subsequently, his son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura further developed it.

Another important program that Bhaktivinoda Thakura expanded was nāma-haṭṭa. Originally, Nāma-haṭṭa was begun by Nityananda Prabhu in goju-divpa in Surabhi kunj. Later Bhaktivinoda Thakura establishes his home near Surabhi-kunj and he develops nāma-haṭṭa. Nāma of course means the holy name and haṭṭa means marketplace. So Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura develops the marketplace of the holy name. It is said that in a marketplace, there are so many shops, so many businessmen, and so many workers. Similarly, in the nāma-haṭṭa also, there were so many varieties. Just like in the marketplace, one has to pay money to get some merchandise. In the nāma-haṭṭa also, there is a price that one has to pay to get the holy name, and the price is sraddha or faith. According to one’s faith, one will get the proportionate revelation of the holy name. If one only has a little faith, he will get a nāma-ābhāsa, but if one has full faith, he will get śuddha-nāma.

In the marketplace, one can cheat by giving some false currency and getting the merchandise, but in the nāma-haṭṭa, nobody can cheat. Even if he makes a show of having faith and devotion, whatever genuine faith he has, he will get the proportionate revelation of the holy name. Just as in the commercial world, there are stockists, agents, and traveling salesmen, so in nāma-haṭṭa also some people who possess the holy name were said to have the holy name in stock and could give it to others. There were others who didn’t actually possess the holy name but they could bring customers to the stockists who would supply the holy name. There were also traveling salesmen who would go from village to village and town to town offering the holy name.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura kept for himself the most humble service, which was actually the most important, and that is that he was the sweeper of the marketplace. Sweeper means that if any contamination entered the marketplace, any material desires, any desires for fruitive work, any mental speculation, he would sweep it out. He would make sure that the marketplace was kept pure no jnana, karma, yoga anyway except pure devotional service. He would travel with his devotees throughout Bengal, at least, and they would have big hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, big Hare Krishna festivals and thousands and thousands of people would come. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and others would chant the holy name and speak about Krishna. The audience would melt in ecstasy, and he published a newspaper to broadcast the activities of nāma-haṭṭa events. And Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted that the teachings of Lord Chaitanya should be spread throughout the world. One of his books, Life and Precepts of Lord Chaitanya, was sent to the library of McGill University in Canada and actually other places throughout the world, other libraries. So Srila Prabhupada said he was the pioneer of the movement to benedict the whole world with Krishna consciousness.

So, these elements are very, very important to Srila Prabhupada, and they occupy a very prominent place in ISCKON. Of course, the preaching of Krishna consciousness throughout the world. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura predicted that the day will come when American, European, and African Vaishnavas will all get together with their Indian brothers and chant Hare Krishna. He actually predicted that one day a very great personality would come and fulfill Lord Chaitanya’s prediction and desire that the holy name would be sung in every town and village throughout the whole world. Of course, he was referring to Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Prabhupada guidance and supervision very much developed the nāma-haṭṭa program in Bengal and Orissa, following the same principles enunciated by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Now, nāma-haṭṭa has spread all over the world. In every country where ISKCON is actively preaching, there are nāma-haṭṭa centers. The beauty of nāma-haṭṭa is that anyone, even householders, they can take part. It is not that only a brahmachari or only a sannyasi can preach; even householders can preach. Most of the members of the nāma-haṭṭa are actually householders because as Srila Prabhupada said only very few people will be able to live in the temple. The temple is there to set the example of how people can practice Krishna consciousness at home. There is really nothing that the devotees do in the temple that people can’t do at home. The temple shows the example of how they can practice Krishna consciousness at home or make their homes into temples. Not everyone can accept the discipline of temple life because there is so much discipline in the ashram, and not everyone can follow the discipline. But it doesn’t mean they can’t be Krishna conscious. They can be at home and practice Krishna consciousness at home. Only very few people will actually be able to accept the discipline of the ashram and be fully surrendered.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura showed that even at home, one can practice Krishna consciousness and not only practice but preach. We are seeing that even householders or other devotees at home are able to distribute so many books also. And then finally, with Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s dream of a wonderful temple at Sri Mayapur dhāma, Bhaktivinoda Thakura had his house in Godruma Dvipa near the banks of the Jalangi. From his balcony, he used to chant his rounds, and from his balcony, he could see over the river to Mayapur. One day, he had a vision of a beautiful spiritual city coming up in Sri Mayapur dhāma, with a wonderful temple dedicated to the service of Lord Chaitanya. The original vision of the Mayapur city came from Nityananda Prabhu as well, and He described “adbhuta mandir” a wonderful temple. So Thakura Bhaktivinoda had a vision of the Mayapur city and the great temple. It was his desire that the temple and the city should rise.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura made the beginning some of his householder disciples built some cottages in Mayapur that was little beginning but actually Srila Prabhupada has taken the idea of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, taking the desire of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and making it one of the principal objectives in ISKCON. I remember one time Srila Prabhupada came from England to Calcutta, and he had just worked out the plans for the first building in Mayapur. He showed the plans to us and was very enthusiastic about the big temple. He said that if you all build this temple, then Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura will personally come and take you all back to Godhead. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is actually the pioneer of the movement to benedict the whole world with Krishna consciousness, and He saw that from Sri Mayapur, Krishna consciousness would expand and flood the whole world with love of Godhead.

Now, devotees in ISKCON are working very seriously to develop the Mayapur city and build a wonderful temple, and all of us have our part to play in it. Although Srila Prabhupada’s basic arrangement for ISKCON temples was that they should be Autonomous, and there should not be a centralized structure for the temples. However, he did arrange a centralized structure for the books, and some percentage of profit on each book sold goes to the BBT Bhaktivedanta book trust, and some percentage of that goes to Mayapur. So every time we distribute a book, we are making a contribution to the development of the Sri Mayapur project and temple. I will conclude by reading some words that Srila Prabhupada spoke about Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura talking on his appearance day.

So, our adoration and our worship to Bhaktivinoda Thakura today because he may bless us to make peaceful progress in Krishna consciousness. Acharya upasana, simply by the blessings of the acharyas, we can make very rapid progress. Yasya prasadat bhagavata prasada we sing every day by the mercy of the spiritual master, acharya, we immediately get the blessings of the Lord. Immediately, yasya prasadat; yasya means whose and prasadat means benediction. By the benediction of the spiritual master, yasya prasadat bhagavata prasada. If the spiritual master, acharya, is pleased, then you should know that Krishna is also pleased. This is not very difficult. Just like you are working in an office, if you are immediate officer or boss is pleased, that means the proprietor of the firm is also pleased, although you do not see him. This is a fact. Your immediate boss, if he is pleased, then the proprietor of the firm will also be pleased. So similarly, we in our spiritual line, our business is guru kṛṣṇa-kṛpā. We have to first receive the merciful benediction from the acharya, and then Krishna will be pleased, and he will also give His blessings.

There is a version in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Mad-bhakta pūjyā adhikaḥ Krishna says that if anyone worships me directly and if anyone worships me through the acharya, He is a better devotee who is coming to me through acharya Mad-bhakta pūjyā adhikaḥ. So our Vaishnavas philosophy process is to go through the acharya, servant of the servant of the servant. We should try to become servants of the servants. Gopī-bhartur pāda-kamalayor dāsa-dāsanudāsa. We should not approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly; that is not good. In the Vedic injunction also, it is said, yasya deve parā bhaktir, yathā deve tathā gurau, if one has got unflinching faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead yathā deve and similar faith in guru, all the imports of Vedic knowledge will automatically be revealed.

So this is our prayer to the Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, that he may bless us with peaceful advancement in Krishna consciousness. Hare Krishna Are there any questions or comments? We have the Vaishnava song book. We can sing this song of separation, Yes Krishna Chandra Prabhu.

Devotee 1: [Unintelligible 00:41:11]

Giriraj Swami: Well, quite a bit has been done. There are ashram rooms, there are householder quarters, there is gurukula, gaushala, printing press, dispensary, infirmary, guest houses, and of course there is Srila Prabhupada samadhi, which is a very big cultural center. And there is also the temple of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, and last year the, I mean last Gaura-Purnima the devotees installed Pancha-tattva, and work is going on for the big temple. It means when Srila Prabhupada was personally present in 1977, he laid the cornerstone for the big temple, and now the devotees have actually finalized the plan for it, and they are working towards it. Of course, they need a lot of funds, millions and millions of dollars, but they are making plans also.

Devotee 1: So how would the devotees come and live there? What is the plan? They have to, I mean, easy to project like where they can house will be built already, they will stay and pay something, or they have to buy their own sort of land?

Giriraj Swami: No, the Mayapur project has maintained the policy of owning all the land. They have not sold land to individuals or households, so either you can rent space or you can enter an agreement by which you can occupy a place for your lifetime or maybe even for two or three generations by paying an amount which is equal to the cost of the land and construction, but where you are not actually the owner, but you do have the right to live there for as long as you like. And I believe that if you want to vacate the place, the Mayapur project will reimburse you for the amount that you paid towards the place when they recover the next amount from the next occupant. So it is almost like owning it, but it doesn’t go in your name, but you can stay there for as long as you want, and in a sense, you can sell it and recover your money.

Devotee 1: Then we can outside in terms of stay, but foreign to stay in India, which is not so easy. So, what is being done for that? I mean, with the central government, is there some type of arrangement?

Giriraj Swami: Well, devotees generally can get a five-year visa without much difficulty, and I don’t know. Devotees do stay there; I don’t really know how they do it. You can always apply for citizenship if you want. Even HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja became an Indian citizen. You have to stay there for five years and be able to speak a local language. That’s what you got. No, it is not difficult to become an Indian citizen, but it may be difficult to give up being a Mauritian.

Devotee 1: Yes you are right guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: So now we will sing the song of separation before which we sing on disappearance days “Saparṣada Bhagavat Viraha Gānita Vilāpa" Lamentation due to separation from Lord and his associates’ prathana by Srila Narottama dasa Thakura