Entering the Sacred Navdip Dham .

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Hare Krishna, Entering the Sacred Navdip Dham We are flying straight to Calcutta to be taken on a three hour taxi ride through the beautiful,

lush West Bengal countryside. There on the bank of the most sacred Ganges river is situated Sri Mayapur Dham, the place where Lord Sri Krishna manifested Himself a mere five centuries ago in February of 1486. vande sri-krsna-caitanya- nityanandau

sahoditau gaudodaye puspavantau citrau san-dau tamo-nudau ("I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Krishna Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all." Sri Caitanya Caritamrita

Adi Lila, Chapter 1, Verse 2 ) Visiting Mayapur Dham is the ideal opportunity to absorb ourselves in worshipping and meditating upon Lord Caitanya, begging His mercy that our hearts may become 100% pure and that by His blessings we may be able to powerfully and effectively spread Krishna-bhakti all over the world. We were now approaching Mayapur in the heart of the sacred place , Sri Navadvip Dham. Because Lord Caitanya appeared here it is the crest jewel of all holy places. Offenders are the object of punishment in other holy pilgrimage places, but in Nabadvip-dham they are purified. The example is the two brothers Jagai and Madhai, who committed great offenses yet sill received the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda. What to speak of other places, at Vrindavan the offenders are punished. But a person who has committed hundreds of offenses can easily receive the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and overcome those offenses in Navadvip-dham. For this reason the sages endlessly praise Sri Navadvipa-dham. Now it was time to worship Lord Caitanya and His most holy abode. I picked a bhajan (devotional song) by

Narottam Das Thakur that focused exclusively on Lord Caitanya and His associates and began singing it with intense feeling calling out for the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His eternal associates: sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu doya koro more toma bina ke doyalu jagat-samsare (My dear Lord Caitanya, please be merciful to me, because who can be more merciful than Your Lordship within these three worlds?) patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara mo sama patita prabhu na paibe ara (Your incarnation is just to reclaim the conditioned, fallen souls, but I assure You that You will not find a greater fallen soul than me. Therefore, my claim is first.) ha ha prabhu nityananda, premananda sukhi krpabalokana koro ami boro

duhkhi (My dear Lord Nityananda, You are always joyful in spiritual bliss. Since You always appear very happy, I have come to You because I am most unhappy. If You kindly put Your glance over me, then I may also become happy.) doya koro sita-pati adwaita gosai tava krpa-bale pai caitanya-nitai (My dear Advaita Prabhu, husband of Sita, You are so kind. Please be merciful to me. If You are kind to me, naturally Lord Caitanya and Nityananda will also be kind to me.) ha ha swarup, sanatana,

rupa, raghunatha bhatta-juga, sri-jiva ha prabhu lokanatha (O Svarupa Damodara, personal secretary of Lord Caitanya, O six Gosvamis; Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami! O Lokanatha Gosvami, my beloved spiritual master! Narottama dasa also prays for your mercy.) doya koro sri-acarya prabhu srinivasa ramacandra-sanga mage narottama-dasa (O Srinivasa Acarya, successor to the six Gosvamis! Please be merciful to me. Narottama dasa always desires the company of Ramacandra Cakravarti.) Finally we came to Yoga Pitha, the spot where Lord Caitanya appeared in 1486. As our taxi drove past it I mentally offered my obeisances. Then after a few more minutes we arrived at the ISKCON property, the home of the Mayapur Chandradoya Mandir. Srila Prabhupada described this most holy of all holy places in a lecture that he gave here in Mayapur on April 8, 1975, "So from the very beginning of our life, we should try to become Krishna conscious. Not try, but we must. It is not, what is called, optional. It is compulsory. If you want to make your life successful, then this is compulsory, from the very beginning to become Krishna conscious. "So especially in India, the atmosphere is very good. It is especially meant, within this universe, this plot of land known as Bharatavarsa, India, is the most sacred place within this universe. And of the whole land Bharatavarsa, in Bengal, it is very sacred. And the whole of Bengal, this Nadia is very sacred. And in the whole Nadia, this part is very sacred, Mayapur Chandradoya Temple. So by Krishna's grace, you have got this opportunity to live here. Take advantage, full advantage of this opportunity,

spiritually fortunate. This is the statement of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Not that I am manufacturing. We cannot manufacture anything, but we can repeat the words of our predecessors. Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in his Jaiva-Dharma, or in Caitanya-siksamrta, he has stated like that. In the Bharatavarsa, Bengal is the most important place, and in Bengal, the district Nadia is most important place, because Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. " By the grace of Srila Prabhupada I am able to be here in Mayapur-Navadvip. Just by coming here one becomes free from all offenses. Just by remembering this place one receives the benefit of traveling to all the holy places of entire universe. Sri Navadvip-dham ki jaya! All glories to Sri Navadvip-dham. Sankarshan das Adhikari