Disappearance of Sri Sridhara Pandita -- Tuesday, June 5

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Tuesday, June 5 is the disappearance day of Sri Sridhara Pandita, also known

as Kholaveca.

 

In the Caitanya-bhagavata it is said:

kholaveca sevakera dekha bhagya-sima

brahma siva kande yara dekhiya mahima

dhane jane panditye krsna nahi pai

kevala bhaktira vasa caitanya-gosani

"Behold the great fortune of the devotee Kholaveca. Lord Brahma and Siva

shed tears upon seeing his greatness. One cannot attain Lord Krsna by any

amount of wealth, followers, or learning. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is

controlled only by pure devotion. "Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had a very

sincere devotee whose name was Kholaveca Sridhara and whose only business

was to sell pots made of the skin of banana trees. Whatever income he had,

he used fifty percent for the worship of mother Ganges, and with the other

fifty percent he provided for his necessities. On the whole, he was so very

poor that he lived in a cottage that had a broken roof with many holes in

it. He could not afford brass utensils, and therefore he drank water from an

iron pot. Nevertheless, he was a great devotee of Lord Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu. He is a typical example of how a poor man with no material

possessions can become a most exalted devotee of the Lord. The conclusion is

that one cannot attain shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Krsna or Sri

Caitanya Gosani through material opulence; that shelter is attainable only

by pure devotional service.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 5.19.7

 

 

Adi 10.67

TRANSLATION

The twenty-ninth branch was Sridhara, a trader in banana-tree bark. He was a

very dear servant of the Lord. On many occasions, the Lord played jokes on

him.

 

PURPORT

Sridhara was a poor brahmana who made a living by selling banana-tree bark

to be made into cups. Most probably he had a banana-tree garden and

collected the leaves, skin and pulp of the banana trees to sell daily in the

market. He spent fifty percent of his income to worship the Ganges, and the

balance he used for his subsistence. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu started

His civil disobedience movement in defiance of the Kazi, Sridhara danced in

jubilation. The Lord used to drink water from his water jug. Sridhara

presented a squash to Sacidevi to cook before Lord Caitanya took sannyasa.

Every year he went to see Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Jagannatha Puri.

According to Kavi-karnapura, Sridhara was a cowherd boy of Vrndavana whose

name was Kusumasava. In his Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (133) it is stated:

khola-vecataya khyatah panditah sridharo dvijah asid vraje hasya-karo yo

namna kusumasavah

"The cowherd boy known as Kusumasava in krsna-lila later became Kholaveca

Sridhara during Caitanya Mahaprabhu's lila at Navadvipa."

 

Adi 10.68

TRANSLATION

Every day Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu jokingly snatched fruits, flowers and

pulp from Sridhara and drank from his broken iron pot.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Adi 10.68

 

 

Kholaveca Sridhara was a very poor man, but when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

wanted to give him a benediction, he also prayed to the Lord to be allowed

to remain a servant of the servants of the Lord. The conclusion is that

being the servant of the servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is

the highest benediction one can desire.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Madhya 14.18

 

 

There was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya known as Kholaveca Sridhara, who

was a very poor man. He was doing a small business selling cups made from

the leaves of plantain trees, and his income was almost nothing. Still, he

was spending fifty percent of his small income on the worship of the Ganges,

and with the other fifty percent he was somehow living. Lord Caitanya once

revealed Himself to this confidential devotee, Kholaveca Sridhara, and

offered him any opulence he liked. But Sridhara informed the Lord that he

did not want any material opulence. He was quite happy in his present

position and wanted only to gain unflinching faith and devotion unto the

lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. That is the position of pure devotees. If they

can be engaged twenty-four hours each day in devotional service they do not

want anything else, not even the happiness of liberation or of becoming one

with the Supreme.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => NoD 1 - Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service -

>>> Happiness in Krsna Consciousness

 

 

Adi 17.70

TRANSLATION

Once Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to the house of Sridhara after kirtana

and drank water from his damaged iron pot. Then He bestowed His benediction

upon all the devotees according to their desires.

 

PURPORT

After the mass nagara-sankirtana in protest against the magistrate Chand

Kazi, the Kazi was converted to a devotee. Then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

returned with His sankirtana party to the house of Sridhara, and Chand Kazi

followed Him. All the devotees rested there for some time and drank water

from Sridhara's damaged iron pot. The Lord accepted the water because the

pot belonged to a devotee. Chand Kazi then returned home. The place where

they rested is still situated on the northeastern side of Mayapur, and it is

known as kirtana-visrama-sthana, "the resting place of the kirtana party."

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Adi 17.70

 

 

Prabhupada: But that is, that is Krsna's mercy. Yoga-ksemam vahamy aham.

Tesam satata-yuktanam [bg. 10.10]. Those who are engaged in Krsna's service,

they are never put into distress. Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah

pranasyati [bg. 9.31]. Krsna's devotee is never vanquished. Even they are

artificially put into distresses... Just like Pandavas, they were put into

distresses, artificially. Prahlada Maharaja was put into distresses by his

father even, but ultimately he came out victorious. So one..., we should not

be disturbed, even superficially we see that a devotee is in distress.

Devotee, real devotee, he does not take anything as distress. He takes

everything as Krsna's mercy. Tat te 'nukampam su-samiksamano [sB 10.14.8].

Otherwise that is not pure devotion. Actually devotee's never in distress.

People may see that he is in distress. Just like there is a very good

example. You are going to Mayapur, you'll find. His name was Sridhara,

Kolaveca Sridhara. His income was very poor. At night he would chant Hare

Krsna mantra very loudly: "Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna..." His neighboring

friends would say, "This man has no income, and because he is hungry now he

is chanting 'Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna.' He's hungry." So one day Caitanya

Mahaprabhu Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to take away his possession, flowers. He

was selling, making business, making some dona, dona. What is called dona?

Devotees: Cups.

Prabhupada: Cup, yes, that was his business. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu take

away some of his fruits and dona, as a friend. So one day Caitanya

Mahaprabhu said that "Sridhara, you take benediction from Me." So he said

"What benediction, Sir?Well, you are so poor that your house is not even

properly repaired. There are so many holes in the roof." He, "Still, I have

a nice house because it is better than the bird's nest. They have no roof.

(laughter) They have no roof, and they live on a tree. I have got a shelter.

What is the difficulty? There is no difficulty." In this way Caitanya

Mahaprabhu wanted to offer him so many thing, and he said that "No, I have

no trouble for this. If You want to benedict me, please give me pure

devotion on Your lotus feet." Bhakti. So that is pure devotion. That we

should hanker after, how to fix up our mind always in the service of the

Lord. That we are trying to teach, that's all.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6 -- Calcutta, February 23, 1972

 

 

Suppose you are a businessman and you are doing some business. Now, it does

not mean that because you are businessman, your perfection will be when you

become a man like Rockefeller or Ford. That is not perfection. Perfection is

that whether you are satisfying the Supreme Lord by your occupation. It

doesn't matter what you are doing or what is your income. You will be

surprised to know that Lord Caitanya had a very poor friend. In His

childhood He had a poor friend. His name was Sridhara. His income was daily,

in those days, five hundred years before, his income was, say, about five

cent daily. And not even that. Suppose five cent. So out of that five cent,

he would spend two half cent for ganga-puja, for worshiping mother Ganges.

And with the balance two half cent, he will maintain his family. So

similarly there are many instances. So it doesn't matter what is your

income, five cent or five hundred dollars. You must try to satisfy according

to your capacity, the Supreme Lord. That should be.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.13-14 -- San Francisco, March 23,

>>> 1967

 

 

Letter to: Dharma

--

Tokyo

22 April, 1972

72-04-22

Gainesville

My dear Dharma,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter

dated March 14, 1972 and I have noted the contents. Actually, Krishna does

not care for how much we give to Him, but He sees how much we are keeping

back for ourselves. There is the story of Kholaveca Sridhara, a devotee of

Lord Caitanya, who although he was a very poor man, gave half of his meager

income for worshiping Mother Ganges, and by so doing, he greatly pleased the

Lord. It is not so much important the quantity of books that we distribute,

but that we serve Krishna as best we can, and depend on Him for the results.

Transcendental competition is nice, but it should not come to the point of

making us lose our Krishna consciousness. […]

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Dharma -- Tokyo 22 April, 1972

 

 

Pradyumna: "There was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya known as Kholaveca

Sridhara, who was a very poor man. He was doing a small business selling

cups made from the leaves of plantain trees, and his income was almost

nothing. Still, he was spending fifty percent of his small income on the

worship of the Ganges, and with the other fifty percent he was somehow

living. Lord Caitanya once revealed Himself to this confidential devotee,

Kholaveca Sridhara, and offered any opulence that he liked..."

Prabhupada: Yes, Caitanya Mahaprabhu offered this Kholaveca Sridhara, wanted

to benedict him with any kinds of benediction he wanted. But he said, "I am

quite happy." Go on reading.

Pradyumna: "Sridhara informed the Lord that he did not want any material

opulence. He was quite happy in his present position and wanted only to gain

unflinching faith and devotion unto the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. That is

the position of the pure devotees. If they can be engaged twenty-four hours

each day in devotional service, they do not want anything else, not even the

happiness of liberation or of becoming one with the Supreme. In the

Narada-pancaratra it is also said that any person who has developed even a

small amount of devotional service doesn't care a fig for any kind of

happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense

gratification, or the five kinds of liberation."

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 10, 1972