Honorable Srivas Pandit

[Guest guest]

Dear devotees,

 

Please read this text. It contains a wonderful pastime of the Honorable Srivas Pandit.

 

Madhya Lila

Chapter 2

 

All the Vaisnava devotees touched the Lord and blessed Him. Then they revealed to Him the sorrows in their hearts, "Alas! In Navadvip all the scholars and teachers speak endlessly on various subjects, but when it comes to explaining the process of devotional service to Krishna, they remain silent. There are many great scholars, stalwarts of the renounced order, and ascetics living in Navadvip, yet not one of them is heard glorifying Lord Krishna. Instead of praising the Lord's pastimes and explaining the process of devotional service, they are always criticizing. A sinful audience hears their words and believes in them; thus they treat us worse than dirt or grass in the street. My Lord! Chanting of Krishna's name cannot be heard anywhere, so we are burning in the fire of distress. Lord Krishna is now pleased with us, therefore He has inspired You from within to take to the path of devotion. Now we know for certain that You will be the cause of annihilating the atheists. May You live forever chanting the holy name of Krishna, and may all the transcendental qualities of Krishna be revealed by You to the entire world."

 

The Lord accepted the blessings of His devotees with deep gratitude, for a Vaisnava's blessings can increase one's attachment to the lotus feet of Krishna.

 

The distressing plight and words of the devotees affected Lord Visvambhar, and He considered revealing Himself very soon. The Lord replied, "You are all beloved devotees of the Lord, whatever you say must certainly happen. My life is truly blessed by your encouraging words. I know that when you glorify the Supreme Lord Krishna and chant His holy name then there is no one who can stop you, not even death! What can a sinful atheist do to you? Just continue chanting the glories of Krishnachandra. The Supreme Lord cannot bear to see His devotees suffer, therefore Lord Krishna appears in different incarnations to protect His devotees. I see now that you will be the cause of Sri Krishnachandra's appearance in His next incarnation in Navadvip to convert this whole place into the spiritual planet of Vaikuntha. You will redeem this world from illusion. Please allow Me the favor that I may always be your humble servant."

 

Lord Visvambhar then touched the feet of all the Vaisnavas, and the devotees in return spontaneously blessed Him profusely. Finishing their bath in the Ganga, they dispersed and returned to their respective houses.

 

The Lord was feeling extremely joyful, but as He began to contemplate the words of the devotees and the suffering they were experiencing, He felt anger rising within Him and a desire to punish the atheistic society. He roared angrily, repeating, "I shall destroy them! I shall destroy them! I am Him, I am Him!" Conflicting emotions took hold of the Lord, sometimes He laughed, sometimes He cried, sometimes He fell unconscious, and sometimes He felt like beating and destroying. The Lord thus manifested His terrible mood of destroying the miscreants.

 

Mother Sachi could not understand her son; everything seemed very perplexing. She thought that some disease had attacked the Lord. Mother Sachi felt nothing but affection for her son, so she was deeply affected by this peculiar transformation in Him. She discussed it with everyone she met, "The Lord has already taken away my husband and my son, and all that I have left is this young boy. Now His actions perplex me, I do not know how to think of Him. Sometimes He laughs, sometimes He cries, and at other times He falls down unconscious. Often He speaks to Himself, and sometimes He yells out loud saying, 'Break the heads of those atheists!' Sometimes He runs to a tree and climbs into its branches, then suddenly with closed eyes He falls down to the ground. Sometimes His grinding teeth make a grating noise. Sometimes He claps His hands on His body, then falling down, He rolls on the ground, not saying a word."

 

The ordinary, ignorant people could not see the symptoms of love of Godhead in the Lord and thought it to be some disease, a sort of wind disorder. They suggested that He should remain bound up. Mother Sachi's description of the Lord's condition attracted many people to come and see Him. When the Lord saw the people He charged at them. These ignorant fools simply laughed and ran away, thinking that the Lord was suffering from some wind disorder.

 

Mother Sachi became flustered and ran after the people to pacify them. Some of the people told her, "He is definitely suffering from some wind disorder." While others said, "You are just an ignorant brahmana's wife, what is there to ask about this? It is apparent that He is suffering from some wind disorder. Give Him coconut water to drink and tie His feet in case He gets violent when madness overcomes Him." Some others suggested, "He is not to be cured with some simple medicine, you must give Him nothing less than 'siva ghee' to relieve Him from this attack of wind disorder. Apply the ghee on His head and then give Him a bath."

 

Sachi devi, the affectionate, kind, and noble minded mother of the entire universe, became fraught with apprehension. Feeling at a loss, she simply prayed to Lord Govinda, taking complete shelter in Him. She sent people to the house of Srivas and various other devotees, requesting them to come there.

 

One day Srivas Pandit came to visit the Lord, and Visvambhar immediately got up and greeted Him with respect. Upon seeing a pure devotee of the Lord, Visvambhar's ecstatic emotions increased. As Srivas Pandit was circumambulating tulasi devi, the Lord manifested ecstatic symptoms: crying, shaking, shivering, horripilating, and then falling down unconscious on the ground. After a while, when external consciousness returned to the Lord, He began crying profusely and shaking uncontrollably. To Srivas Pandit all these manifestations of the Lord were wonderful. He thought to himself, "These are the symptoms of the highest spiritual ecstasy of love of Godhead. Foolish persons misunderstand and think this is due to a wind disorder."

 

When the Lord could speak, He said to Srivas Pandit, "Oh, it is you Pandit! What do you make of My condition? Some people are suggesting that I should be kept bound up because I suffer from some terrible wind disease. What is your opinion?"

 

Smiling, Srivas Pandit replied, "Good wind, I also want to be attacked by the same wind that is causing this disorder in You. Actually, I see signs of great spiritual ecstasy of love of Godhead in You. You have been favored by Krishna's mercy."

 

The Lord was very happy to hear this from Srivas Pandit and He embraced him affectionately. He said, "Everyone is saying that this is a wind disorder, but now you have given Me great hope. For this I am grateful and forever indebted to you. If you had also said that I was suffering from some wind disorder then certainly I would have jumped into the Ganga."

 

Srivas replied, "Your love for the Supreme Lord Krishna has reached such ecstatic heights that it is even desirable by Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, and sages such as Saunaka. Let us all come together and glorify Krishna's holy name without caring about the criticisms of the atheists and sinners."

 

Srivas Pandit said to Mother Sachi, "Cast your sorrows away, your son does not suffer from wind disorder. I tell you positively that these symptoms are due to the highest love of Krishna. Even though you may see some wonderful and ecstatic pastimes of Lord Krishna, such activities and topics are far beyond the intellectual capacity of ignorant and materialistic non-devotees, so such subjects should not be discussed in their presence.

 

Srivas left the house of Lord Chaitanya and returned home, leaving behind a pacified and relieved Mother Sachi. However, she could not completely remove the despondency she felt within, for she was always afraid that her son would leave home at any moment.

 

Such were the wonderful activities of Lord Visvambhar. How could anyone understand these transcendental pastimes, unless the Lord Himself revealed them?