Shaligram Shila
Radhe Shyam Banka once came to Vrindavan carrying the Shaligram Shila which he worshipped; this priceless treasure had been given to him by Bhaiji. He had brought the Shila to Venu Vinod Kunj on 10.12.1980, exactly twelve years after having received it. He wanted to get the Shila worshipped by
the lotus hands of Shri Maharajji. The shila was honourably placed in the mandir. All associates of the parikar were eager to have darshan of Bhagwan Shaligram who had been gifted by Bhaiji. All of them beheld the black-coloured sacred Shaligram shila. Out of
curiosity Shriji too had darshan and picked up the shila in his hand, inspecting its special markings[2] from all sides.
“Where is its face?” this question got deeply entrenched in Shriji's heart.
Shri Bankaji got Shriji to his residence
after the evening arti. I am presenting the
divine experience which Shriji went through from 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock at night, in his own words:
Shriji's Mahabhava
Assuming the Mahabhava[3], the whole of Nabadwip[4] was being experienced by Shriji in serious spiritual consciousness.
'What is the delay in going to the banks of the Ganga?' He (Shriji) asked his curious pupils who had gathered.
Hordes of students are waiting at the entrance door of the house, waiting for Shri Nimayi Pandit as always[5].
Gaur Kishore Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
' Look! He, the delicate and agile Gaur Kishore, the golden-complexioned, One has come!'one of them exclaimed.
The
entire group of pupils was highly excited and he (Shri Maharajji) too was equally excited.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Amidst His Students
The pious sandy banks of
the Ganga became joyful on receiving the unusual mandali of students-Yes! The delicate and charming golden-complexioned One (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) was splendidly present in their midst.
He (Shri Maharajji) was not a newcomer, constantly connected; he had been amalgamated and integrated, as
well as naturally impelled by that divine realm. All the students were experienced, already known to Maharajji and of the same age. Of course, there was no scope to think of viewing the episode as something strange even in one's dreams!
At the shore of the blue ocean, the beautiful Gauranga was embellished in the form of a
fresh sanyasi.
Shri Mahaprabhu At Shri Jagannath Temple
Be it the blue ocean or blue sky, the whole of nature seemed inseparable, inspired and embraced by Gaur Kishore, the golden-complexioned Youth. Along with Him, he (Shriji) came to the temple (of Shri Jagannathji) from the shore. A full view of the Nilachal[7] resident (Mahaprabhu) was visible in front and He was very close.
Shila Marked by Mahaprabhu's Finger
Accompanying Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and seeing Him in this trance like state of religious rapture, he (Shriji) too was being directed towards this rapturous state. Turning around slightly, Shriji could see the mark of Mahaprabhu's finger on that shila which had been delighted because of having the good fortune of being marked by His finger. It was such an indescribable time that he (Shriji) arrived at the correct
conclusion along with
the students, that just as he used to come along with them for Mahaprabhu's
darshan, this mark had also been imprinted[8] on
some particular day.
The Radhakant Math
It was not known when he (Shriji) reached the courtyard of Shri Radhakant Math afterwards. Yes, the same Bengali Baba met him (Shriji), but he (Shriji)
was left alone. He had no inkling when he was separated from Mahaprabhu's company. When Shri Maharajji had gone to Puri the same Bengali Baba had been seen delivering a spiritual discourse to a Bengali woman in religious rapture. He met him all of a sudden and heartily embraced the newcomer (Shriji), recognising him. Holding his hand he
took him (Shriji) to the basement of Gambhira[9] Mandir.
The Gambhira Mandir
What can be said about what was happening there? It is only a matter of divine experience. He (Shriji) was experiencing it like every other day. In a state of religious rapture Shriman Mahaprabhu was dancing in a circle with captivating mudras.
Yes! Holding the hand of the newcomer (Shriji) He began dancing in joyous abandon! He (Shriji) too began dancing in elation and ecstasy, unaware of everything else. When they
both got separated from each other is not known.
He (Shriji) was becoming impatient to have darshan in Shri Radha Kant Mandir as he used when attracted by his (Shriji's) state of mind, Shri Shaligramji manifested in an extremely joyous beautiful svarupa of a fresh adolescent boy.
Shri Radha Kant, Gambhira Mandir in Puri
“Indeed, I am the One who is Radha Kant,”
He told Shriji.
Shaligramji Manifests as Young Krishna
The One who had always been embellished in his (Shriji) memory as Shri Shaligramji, had manifested before his eyes as a young adolescent boy and uttered His name with His own auspicious mouth.
“Feed me rice, kadhi[10],a thin phulka[11], tasmai[12],halwa[13] and some papad[14]. They are very much liked by me,”
as soon as he said these words Shaligramji assumed His former svarupa.
Then what! His (Shriji's) eyes opened in search of these foodstuffs. The intoxication of a lila or divine play was enveloping him. What could Shriji do except asking for arrangements of bhoga to be made, as had been demanded by Shaligramji.
Soon after, it came to be known that all this was the inexpressible effect of Shriji's beholding and touching Shaligramji for a short
while. This particular Shaligramji had been gifted by the lotus hands of the great, excellent divine devotee Shri Bhaiji who would always be steeped in the Mahabhava. Besides, the same Shaligramji had been devoutly worshipped on completing 12 years of being presented to Radhe Shyam Bankaji and on coming to Vrindavan.
At 4 o'clock in the morning when Ghanshyamji woke up he saw that Shriji was wiping his nose intermittently.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Mandali
Hearing this sound Ghanshyamji asked, “Maharajji! Are you weeping? Have you reached the mandali of Chaintanya?”
Shri Ghanshyamji
Ghanshyamji got up and saw that Shriji’s pillow was wet due to constant shedding of tears. Making everyone sit down immediately, Shriji narrated the incident. While talking of this occurrence his state became strange. The hair of his body stood on end due to ecstasy, he had tremors and the eight sattvik bhavas were awakened in his body. Moreover, he burst out crying a couple of times.
Kheer Bhoga
“Today, Shaligramji must be offered rice, kadhi and kheer as bhoga.” Shriji told Manoramaji when she came to do pranam.
“All right! What you wish will certainly be done!” Manoramaji responded.
Shri Hanuman Prasad Poddar
Shri Bankaji was asked to bring Shri Shaligramji and all the dishes were prepared as per Shriji’s orders and offered to Shaligramji. Everyone present took prasad [15]and found that it had an unusual flavour today and was so very delicious.The unusual glory of Shri Shaligramji who had been gifted by Shri Bhaiji( Hanuman Prasad Poddar) to Radha Shyam Banka was revealed in this manner.
[1] Shaligram: According to Hindu scriptures, the Tulsi plant was a woman
named Vrinda (Brinda). She was married to the demon-king Jalandhar. Due to her
piety and devotion to Vishnu, her husband became invincible. Even Lord Shiva,
could not defeat Jalandhar. So Shiva requested Vishnu to find a solution.
Vishnu disguised himself as Jalandhar and violated Vrinda. Her chastity
destroyed, Jalandhar was killed by Shiva. Vrinda cursed Vishnu to become black
in colour, saying that he would be separated from his wife. Thus, he was
transformed into the black Shaligram stone and in the Rama avatar, His wife
Sita was kidnapped by a demon-king and separated from Him. Vrinda then drowned
herself in the ocean. Eventually Jalandhar was killed by Shiva. Vishnu transferred her soul to a plant which
was called Tulsi. As per a blessing by
Vishnu to marry Vrinda in her next birth, Vishnu married Tulsi in the form of
Shaligram.
[2] Markings:The Shilas or ammonite
fossils are worshipped as
manifestations of Vishnu Himself,
identifiable from other stones
by special markings which
resemble Vishnu's paraphernalia such
as mace, conch, lotus
and disc or sudarshan
chakra
[3] Mahabhava: The
Supreme emotion or Mahabhava,
is the quintessence of
Prema. Radha is the
personification
of Mahabhava, .
[4] Nabadwip: means
9 islands' in Bengali
language . It is a
city and a municipality in
Nadia district of West
Bengal. And the
birth place of Shri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s many lilas .
[5] Nimayi Pandit:
The area was suffering
from a famine and
when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the divine one, descended
it poured!
The little one’s
grandfather named him ‘Nimayi’
(neem) as the bitter
taste of neem would
repel the God of
Death who had taken
away his elder siblings.
[6] Nilachal:The abode
of Hindu deity Jagannath
at Puri is known
asNilachal.The place is of high
religious significance in Hinduism and
is one of the
four Dhams. Religious teachers
like Shri Ramanuja Acharya,
Swami Vishnuswami visited Nilachal in
the Twelfth century and
established mathas. Shri Chaitanya
spent 18 years at
Nilachal
[8] Imprinted: A
large flat stone in
Shri Alalanathji near Puri, posited in
the courtyard of the manditr
has twenty-eight marks imprinted on
it which is said
to have melted by
the touch of Shriman
Manaprabhu's limbs due to
the anguish of His
separation from Lord Jagannath,
when He lay down
on the slab.
[9] Gambhira
Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu stayed in Kashi
Mishra’s house in
a very small room
called Gambhira. He continuously stayed in Gambhira
for the last twelve
year of His manifested
pastimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment