[Nectar] Prabhupada Nectar

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BY ANANDA SVARUPA DASA

 

My dear Srila Prabhupada, I was in prison within the prison of

Devi-Dhama, yet you effortlessly came in and freed me. Because you

saved my life, from that day on my life belongs to you .

 

As a river flows to the sea, my natural desire to see you overcame all

material obstacles and brought me to Vrindavana, to your lotus feet.

You welcomed me and encouraged me to stay and "preach to the

Indians."

 

Owing one's life to someone is a momentous, overwhelming experience.

Each new breath one takes, each new day that dawns simply increases

one's indebtedness to one's saviour. As one cannot repay God for

His gifts, so much more His cherished servant. Indeed, the very notion

of repayment is risible. Still, knowing how Krsna's fame is founded

upon transmuting the impossible into the possible, I prayed to Him for

guidance and He inspired me to go to Gauda-desa.

 

Because you appeared there, I conclusively decided that I would love

everything about it. And indeed I did. I loved the language, the script

and the way all Bengalis had a soft spot for Mahaprabhu. Truly, scratch

a Bengali and you find a vaisnava. I loved the vibrant green and gold

countryside, the Ganga, the pukurs (ponds). I loved the food: Govinda

bhog is the best kept secret in the rice universe! And the fruit! My

goodness! Mountains of lychees in the spring, bigger mountains of juicy

Fuzly mangoes, big as rugby-balls, in the summer, and pots of heady

tal-ras in the winter - drink it before noon or you'll get

intoxicated!

 

I was fortunate to travel there before TV, satellite communications and

rampant materialisitic propaganda. In my time entertainment meant

yatras - stage plays based on the Mahabharata and Ramayana and

performances of akhanda kirtans.

 

I simply could not get enough of Bengal; I travelled to every nook and

corner, bathed in all the ghats and pukurs, took the dust of every holy

place and distributed your Gitar Gan in every town and village. Yet,

despite this kaleidoscope of beauty I kept returning to the places

directly associated with you, my master.

 

Baro Bazaar - where you appeared. The Suvarna Vanik community's

Sona Durga temple across the street from your house where, above the

main Devi shrine, I discovered a small, intimate temple of

Krsna-Balarama. There, the old Oriya pujari would tell me, "Before

going to 'merika your Guru Maharaj would come here daily at noon and

play the harmonium and sing for Kisna".

 

Ultadanga Road - the tree-shaded roof of the house where you first

met your master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. In the corner

a tiny, tiny room where this prince of aristocratic devotees performed

his bhajan. How can I describe such blissful experiences? Such

undeserved nectar? Far from beginning a scheme of repayment, I was

sucked deeper and deeper in your debt! And it does not end - to this

very day it increases.

 

Discovering first hand your background as an aristocratic vaisnava

gentleman did not answer my inner questions. After all, I knew what it

took to save me, and I knew it was beyond the power of a first class

Bengali vaisnava gentleman. Way, way beyond.

 

Then, in the month of Magha 1977 I was told to take a sankirtan party

to Adi Saptagram on the western bank of the Ganga, near the birthplace

of Raghunatha Das Gosvami. This is the main temple of the Suvarna Vanik

community and its presiding deity is Sri Sadbhuja Caitanya with the two

hands of Lord Ramacandra holding the bow and arrow, the two hands of

Krsna holding the flute and the two hands of Caitanya Mahaprabhu

holding the danda and the kamandalu (water pot). This deity had

manifested due to the intense bhakti of Uddharana Datta Thakur, one of

the twelve gopalas (cowherd boys) who descended from Gokula with Lord

Nityananda Prabhu.

 

The day I came there was the festival of Uddharana Datta Thakur and all

the gentlemen and ladies of the Suvarna Vanik community were there.

Some years before, on your first return from America, they had honored

you at this temple on the same day. At that time you requested your

disciples to send a sankirtan party every year.

 

Talks were given glorifying your achievements, kirtan was held and

sumptuous prasadam was honoured. As I looked around at the elegant

gentlemen, the Mulliks and the Des', in their starched dhotis of a

hundred fine folds, and at the ladies, cooking puspanna rice and richly

decorated with costly jewellery and gold-laced saris, I marvelled at

their aristocracy, devotion and consummate class. I remembered your

description of them, how they had so much gold, they actually owned

Calcutta - sold it to the British in fact - how you described them

as fallen demigods. How proud they were of you, how blessed they felt

that you had appeared in their community.

 

Over the years I returned to Saptagram many times with my sankirtan

party and the pujaris told me wonderful stories. Uddharana Datta

Thakura and Raghunatha Das Gosvami belonged to your community, the

Suvarna Vanik Kayasthas, and were immensely rich, influential and

aristocratic vaisnavas. Uddharana Datta Thakur was especially dear to

Lord Nityananda Prabhu.

 

One day, Lord Nityananda came there to take prasad. As He sat in the

courtyard of the temple, surrounded by His associates, a delegation of

local Brahmanas appeared. They asked the Lord, "You belong to a first

class Brahmana caste, why are you accepting prasad from a member of the

Kayastha (lower) order? You should take prasadam with us brahmanas."

 

As this conversation was going on, Uddharana Datta Thakur came out of

the kitchen where he was personally cooking for the Lord. He held a

swizzle stick (used to churn dahl) in his hand. Without saying a word,

Lord Nityananda took the stick from His devotee's hand and pushed

into the ground in front of the brahmana delegation. Before their

astonished eyes the stick began to sprout twigs and buds and

immediately grew into a large Madhavi-lata tree, its blooming and

fragrant white flowers cascading on all sides. The brahmanas were

dumbfounded and in complete silence got up and left. That Madhavi tree

is still there, giving its shade and in the evenings the sweetest

flowers I have ever experienced.

 

Behind the temple is a very large pukur and one day, as I came out of

the water after bathing, the pujari said, "Now you have achieved the

lotus feet of Lord Nityananda." I replied, "What do you mean?" He

then related the story how once, when Lord Nityananda bathed there, He

lost one of His silver ankle bracelets. Uddharana Datta Thakur engaged

hundreds of his servants and had the huge pukur dredged - totally

emptied of water - but the ankle bracelet was never found. Thus,

anyone who bathes there is at once directly purified by Lord Nityananda

Prabhu, on the principle of His paraphernalia being non-different from

Himself.

 

Srila Prabhupada, I wanted to share these stories depicting your

exalted background. Out of humility you never directly told us but Lord

Nityananda, the original spiritual master, wanted the whole world to

know of your auspicious lineage. The Lord takes immense pleasure in

glorifying His devotees as you took immense pleasure in glorifying Him.

 

(for more information see Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya lila, 11.41)

 

 

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