This article of mine is inspired by Śrī Gaurasundara, the avatāra of supreme mercy. There is not a single fabricated sentence in it.

Offering innumerable daṇḍavats at the holy feet of the devotees of Śrī Gaura, I shall write about this true incident. On the 20th of Vaiśākha in the year 1321 of the Bengali calendar (3rd May, 1914), our most worshipable Prabhupāda Śrīmad Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura came from his residence at Bhakti Bhavan in Kolkata to Śrī Navadvīpa to his Śrī Svānanda Sukhada Kuñja in Godrumadvīpa. At that time we were residing in Śrī Māyāpura. After receiving news of Prabhu’s arrival, the next day, on the 21st of Vaiśākha, we went to Svānanda Sukhada Kuñja to have darśana of his divine feet. When we arrived at his divine feet, we saw that he was sleeping with his eyes closed. Upon hearing a sound, he inquired, “Who is it?” Upon recognising me, Prabhu sat up in the bed and with a heart brimming with joy, he said to me, “Recite the śloka that Śrī Hari Dāsa Ṭhākura danced to in ecstasy upon hearing it from Śrī Rūpa.” As per Prabhu’s instruction, I recited the śloka composed by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī:

tuṇḍe tāṇḍavinī ratiṁ vitanute tuṇḍāvalī-labdhaye
karṇa-kroḍa-kaḍambinī ghaṭayate karṇārbudebhyaḥ spṛhām
cetaḥ-prāṅgaṇa-saṅginī vijayate sarvendriyāṇāṁ kṛtiṁ
no jāne janitā kiyadbhir amṛtaiḥ kṛṣṇeti varṇa-dvayī

I do not know how much nectar is produced from the two syllables ‘kṛṣ-ṇa’. When it dances in my mouth, I desire many mouths. When it enters the holes of my ears, I desire millions of ears, and when it contacts the courtyard of my heart, it conquers all the activities of my senses. (Vidagdha-Mādhava 1.12)

I chanted this śloka. With bliss, Prabhu said, “The result of accepting śrī-nāma without offences is described in this śloka. The eradication of pāpa, the removal of disease, control of the senses etc. are accomplished even by a semblance of the Name. The sole result of pure kṛṣṇa-nāma is the awakening of kṛṣṇa-prema.”

Due to old age and physical disability, he could not walk. During this time, as he did not associate with those who were averse to the Lord, he remained constantly absorbed in solitude, absorbed in relishing kṛṣṇa-rasa. He used to tell us that, “I have to bother many people because of my physical condition. I will not disturb anyone from now on. I will simply cry aloud:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

O Nanda-nandana! I am Your eternal servant. Due to my own actions, I have fallen into the dangerous ocean of worldly existence. Please consider me to be a speck of dust situated at Your lotus feet. (Śikṣāṣṭaka 5)

In a barely audible voice, he recited the śloka of Śrīpāda Mādhavendra Purī, ayi dīna-dayādra-nātha he mathurā-nātha. Then Śrīmat Prabhupāda faintly chanted, “Ayi nanda-tanuja.” Śrī-nāma-kīrtana and the Vaiṣṇava conduct that he used to practice can no longer be seen.

He was born in a high-class dynasty. Both his paternal and maternal families were wealthy. He himself was a high-ranking government official. However, he considered all this earthly wealth and honour to be totally insignificant. He became an ideal person in this world by practicing the principles of the śloka, tṛṇād api sunīca and engaging in hari-bhajana at every moment. After retiring from government service, he spent the next twenty years in exclusive bhagavat-bhajana, without engaging in any other activities. We have observed with our own eyes that every night, from 10 PM until 3 AM, he engaged in śrī-nāma-kīrtana and in the antaraṅga-bhajana (internal worship) of Śrī Rādhā-Govinda. Every day, he would discuss Vaiṣṇava texts such as Śrīmad Bhāgavata and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. He diligently studied all the Vedic, Puranic, and Gosvāmī scriptures, publishing all these gems of literature and bestowing them upon the world. All those kings amongst books are the life and support of the travellers on the path of spirituality – they facilitate their true welfare and will continue to do so for eternity. How can a fallen and insignificant jīva as myself describe the Ṭhākura’s mystical mode of bhajana? Apart from this, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is accomplishing yet another task in the spiritual world, a task that only the intimate associate-devotees of Śrī Bhagavān can accomplish. Patita-pāvana-avatāra Śrī Gaurasundara, through His devotees, Śrī Sanātana and Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīs Prabhus, rediscovered all the lost holy places in Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma. After many years following the disappearance of Śrī Gaurasundara, almost all the sacred sites of His own Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma had become lost. Desiring to manifest all these holy places for the welfare of the jīvas, the most magnanimous Mahāprabhu performed this task through His associate, Śrīmad Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. By examining ancient śāstras and royal documents, and through his own perfect realisations, Prabhupāda has revealed Śrī Māyāpura-dhāma, the centre of which is the great Yogapīṭha of Śrī Jagannātha Miśra’s house, and Śrī Godruma etc, as the places of Sri Gaurasundara’s līlā once again. Those who have deliberated upon the bhakti-śāstra all know that Śrī Antardvīpa, and in all other directions, the other eight islands such as Śrī Godrumadvīpa etc, forming a sixteen-kilometre area, are collectively known as Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma. This is eternally famous and has been spoken by Bhagavān:

yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute lokas tad anuvartate

However a great man conducts himself, common men will follow. Accordingly, whatever standards he sets by his actions, others will follow in his footsteps.(Bhagavad-gītā 3.21)

Therefore, Bhagavān’s devotees are now visiting places like Śrī Māyāpura etc. and taking darśana of Śrī Gaura-dhāma, and by residing in that dhāma they are achieving supreme bliss. Near to that place in Śrī Māyāpura where Bhagavān’s temple and śrī-mūrti have manifested, paramahaṁsa-mahātmās such as Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī, Śrī Caitanya Dāsa Bābājī, Śrī Gaura-Kiśora Dāsa Bābājī etc, would come now and then and engage in bhajana, and they have loudly declared that this was the place where Śrī Bhagavān Gaurasundara advented. Śrī Chand Kazi’s samādhi and the ruins of the palace of Ballal stand as evidence of this. Hence, devotees who are nirapekṣa (without material motivations) have no doubt about Śrī-dhāma. Nevertheless, “an owl cannot perceive the rays of the sun” – similarly, Śrī Bhagavān’s dhāma will always remain invisible to the eyes of non-devotees who are immersed in the rasa of mundane sense-objects. Self-evident truth will always exist eternally. It’s natural for persons who are  motivated by mundane self-interest to forsake Bhagavān’s dhāma and develop affection elsewhere. No matter how hard they try, they cannot obscure that which is self-evident.

Śrīmatī Vidyullatā Devī

(Bangram)