Glories of Gambhīrā and Siddha Bakul

Glories of Gambhīrā and Siddha Bakul

Harikathā, Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tīrtha Goswāmī Mahārāj

In this harikathā, Śrīla Gurudev narrates the glories of Gambhīrā where Mahāprabhu performed the most intense pastimes of being fully absorbed in the divine mood of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. He also narrates the glories of Siddha Bakul where Haridās Ṭhākur, a personal associate of Mahāprabhu performed intense bhajan and from where he entered into nitya-līlā. While narrating a few important pastimes, Śrīla Gurudev strongly emphasizes the teachings Mahāprabhu and Haridās Ṭhākur gave us through their lives and how a sādhaka should spend his life with only one goal of satisfying the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

We came here at Haridās Ṭhākur’s samādhi after having darśan of Gambhīrā and Rādhākaṇṭha Maṭh. This area is under the garden of Gambhīrā, Kāśī Miśra’s house; it is not outside of it. King Pratāparudra’s father, King Puruṣottam Deva, went to fight and conquer South India and by defeating the King of Kanchi, he brought Rādhākaṇṭha and Sākṣī Gopāl here in Purī.

He also brought Bhaṇḍa Gaṇeś, a throne of jewels and many other things. He kept all that in the Jagannāth temple. The Rādhākaṇṭha vigraha was kept near to the pādpīṭh of Mahāprabhu. Though Kāśī Miśra was the family guru of King Pratāparudra, the King was serving him with a very strong faith like his spiritual master. The King used to serve him before starting his daily routine.

We have heard the name of Vāsudeva Sārvabhauma; he was incarnation of Bṛhaspati himself. He appeared in Nabadwīp Dhām. He was not an ordinary person. He had all the knowledge but he was enacting the pastimes of a Māyāvādī and he was engaged in preaching the thoughts of Māyāvādīs. When Mahāprabhu rescued him, he mentioned to the King Pratāparudra that Mahāprabhu is not an ordinary person, He is Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

The King said, “You are very learned person, you have knowledge of all the scriptures if you are saying that He is Lord Himself then it must be true. So, please make some arrangement so that I also could get His darśan and make my life successful.” Sārvabhauma replied, “Mahāprabhu would come back from His South India tour in a few days after rescuing the conditioned souls there. Where would He stay? A secluded, peaceful place should be arranged for Him near the temple.” In response to which the King suggested the house of Kāśī Miśra.

Then, Sārvabhauma went to Kāśī Miśra and informed him that the King is suggesting his house for Mahāprabhu’s stay. Kāśī Miśra became very pleased on hearing that and said that it would be his good fortune if Mahāprabhu would stay at his place. They made an arrangement for Mahāprabhu’s stay. Kāśī Miśra was worshipable for the King as he was like his guru, so when Kāśī Miśra expressed his desire to serve Rādhākaṇṭha vigraha then the vigraha was shifted from temple to his house, the place where they are now and from then onwards it is called Rādhākaṇṭha Maṭh.

Inside Rādhākaṇṭha Maṭh there is a small hut made up of clay, known as Gambhīrā, where Mahāprabhu, the tall figured personality, stayed. Govinda used to serve His transcendental body there. Svarūpa Dāmodar and Rāya Rāmānand used to serve Mahāprabhu by intensifying His mood of relishing the highest Divine Love of Rādhārāṇī.

One pastime took place that time from which we can learn something. If we become too attached to the rules and regulations then we will not have devotion. Following rules and regulations is good but not understanding their actual intentions, if we get too much attached to them then that will not help us in our devotion. Not following the rules will also harm our devotion. One pastime took place here. Every day after lunch prasādam, Govinda used to serve Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet until Mahāprabhu would go to sleep.

Everyday Mahāprabhu used to dance in ecstatic feelings and get tired. One day He was so tired and was sleeping in such a position that Govinda was not able to serve His feet in that position. Govinda requested Him to change His position so that he could serve Him. Mahāprabhu told him, “I am too tired, and will not move now”. So how could Govinda serve Him in that position? He thought, “It is my service and I have to do that.” Govinda took his upper cloth and covered Mahāprabhu’s transcendental body with it and crossed Him.

Generally, in the scriptures it is written that crossing even the shadow of someone’s body is an offense but here he crossed the body of the Lord, the Supreme, and went to the other side to serve Him. Mahāprabhu went into a deep sleep and when He woke up it was three o’clock in the afternoon. He saw Govinda and asked him, “What happened, did you not go for your lunch?”

He replied, “How can I go?”

“Just like you came, you can go the same way” Mahāprabhu replied.

Govinda told, “I crossed your transcendental body to serve You and now for serving my belly, how can I cross You?”

This is the teaching. He broke the rules to serve Mahāprabhu.

I am in the temple serving the deities and suddenly Gurujī comes and calls out my name. At that time if I think that I cannot go without completing the deity worship and if, not seeing me around, Gurujī goes back then that will be considered as an offense. I have to immediately come out and serve him first. First Guru-pūjā and then by his order Gaurāṅga-pūjā and then the worship of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.

By being too much attached to the rules, if you ignore Guru then that would be considered as an offense. When he calls, immediately, you have to open the door of the temple and when he will see you are serving the deities he himself will tell you to continue it. He will not stop you, but your first duty is to go to him immediately when he calls and offer obeisances to him and take permission from him to serve the deities. Mahāprabhu gave us this important teaching through Govinda.

He also gave an important teaching through Jagadānand Paṇḍit. A sannyāsī should not use any oil to massage his body and should never sleep on the bed. Jagadānand Paṇḍit was an incarnation of Satyabhāmā and he has got the ego of her in him. Satyabhāmā always used to have loving quarrels with Lord Kṛṣṇa. Incarnation of Satyabhāmā, Jagadānand Paṇḍit brought a body-cooling-oil having an aromatic fragrance from Gauḍa-deś for massaging Mahāprabhu’s transcendental body.

He gave it to Svarūpa Dāmodar and asked him to massage Mahāprabhu’s head with the oil so that it will cool Him down and He would feel relaxed. Svarūpa Dāmodar went to Mahāprabhu with that oil but Mahāprabhu told, “I am a sannyāsī and a sannyāsī is not supposed to use any oil, especially fragrant oil. Do you want to make Me a dārī-sannyāsī (A sannyāsī having association with a woman)? No, I will not use it.” Then Jagadānand Paṇḍit himself went to Mahāprabhu and told, “I brought this oil from so far with so much effort so please use it.”

Mahāprabhu replied, “Then give it in the service of Jagannāth”. Mahāprabhu is the Lord Himself but performing the pastimes of a sannyāsī to give us an important teaching. (Gurujī suddenly tells about himself) “Oh! I remembered now, I should stop sleeping on the bed. Devotees forced me to sleep on the bed and to sit on chair while having prasādam. Everything is changed now.” Here, Mahāprabhu is giving us an important teaching, being our worshipable Lord, how He spent His life in a small hut, how He ignored His bodily comforts.

Even our Prabhupād has also told, “Make your way through this impermanent, transitory life in whatever way you can, keeping the goal of worshiping the Lord foremost in the mind and with the only objective of satisfying the senses of the one, non-dual supreme truth. We would live very comfortably, we would eat nicely, this type of thinking is not good. We should spend our life in the way they have taught us. Saintly persons spend their life in that way only. Do not pay more attention on bodily comforts.

Don’t abandon the goal of serving the Supreme Lord, even in the face of hundreds of dangers, insults, or persecutions. Never leave Haribhajan or hearing and singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa, it is everything for us. These are the final instructions of Prabhupād to his disciples. Mahāprabhu also gave these instructions by following them Himself. When Jagadānand Paṇḍit saw Mahāprabhu sleeping on earth, using a saffron colored cloth he made a nice bed and a pillow for Him. Mahāprabhu scolded him saying, “What are you giving Me, do you want to make Me an enjoyer?”

Then Svarūpa Dāmodar made a thin mattress (godāḍī) from banana tree leaves. Mahāprabhu told, “This is okay.” Mahāprabhu spent eighteen years in Gambhīrā. Six years He spent in traveling. Another six years, He spent in Purī in which He used to converse with devotees, while the last twelve years He spent completely in solitude, He used to converse only with Svarūpa Dāmodar and Rāya Rāmānand.

Haridās Ṭhākur got a place named ‘Bālīśāhī’ to stay in which one hut and one ‘Toṭā’, a garden, were there. The place of Mahāprabhu we have seen, is not such a big place then how thousands and thousands persons came there and had darśan of Mahāprabhu? Even two hundred to three hundred persons cannot sit there how can thousands and thousands? It is said that the Lord, in a small child form, stayed on one leaf of a Banyan tree with the full brahmāṇḍa in Him, then why cannot Kāśī Miśra’s bhavan accommodate lakhs of persons?

Mahāprabhu can do it, we cannot. At that place many devotees came from Gauḍa-deś and Mahāprabhu is giving them garlands, sandal wood etc. Then He inquired about Haridās Ṭhākur, “Where is Haridās?” One person went outside to see him. He saw Haridās Ṭhākur was offering obeisance to Mahāprabhu from a far distance. He told, “Come, Mahāprabhu is calling you.”

Haridās Ṭhākur replied, “No, I am so lowly a person. I am not allowed to enter into Jagannāth temple and Kāśī Miśra is a Brāhmaṇa, so I should not enter in his house also. That place would become impure. So I should not go there, I offer my praṇāms from here.”

When that person informed about this conversation to Mahāprabhu, He went there. When He came to know from Haridās Ṭhākur that he wanted to stay in a secluded place, then he asked Kāśī Miśra for such a place in a garden of his house. Kāśī Miśra replied, “Everything belongs to You only. Whatever You want to do, You can do.” Then Mahāprabhu went to Haridās Ṭhākur, Haridās immediately fell down in His lotus feet.

Mahāprabhu offered him a place near to Him in the garden of Kāśī Miśra but out of humbleness Haridās did not accept it. Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātan Gosvāmī also did not stay there considering themselves the servants of a Muslim King and so impure. Such humbleness, we cannot even imagine! Haridās Ṭhākur is Brahmā himself. Then finally Mahāprabhu gave him this place (Siddha Bakul) to stay.

An Arjuna tree stick is given as a tooth brush to Lord Jagannāth in the morning. One day, by mistake or by some Divine arrangement one Bakul tree stick got mixed with Arjuna tree sticks and were offered to Lord Jagannāth. The offered sticks then used to get distributed to special persons. That day Mahāprabhu got the Bakul tree stick as a prasādam of Jagannāth. Mahāprabhu took that stick and came to meet Haridās Ṭhākur at Siddha Bakul. Then He sowed that stick there and immediately it manifested as a big tree.

We call it a ‘Bakul tree’. Haridās Ṭhākur used to chant three lakhs Holy Names daily beneath this tree and Mahāprabhu Himself used to come here to give him His darśan. After having a bath in the ocean, Mahāprabhu used to go to Haridās Ṭhākur, Rūpa and Sanātan Gosvāmī to give them His darśan. So Haridās Ṭhākur performed Bhajan here. As time passed this tree became very big and beautiful. Later when Haridās Ṭhākur disappeared, Jagannāth Dās who came in his lineage took care of this tree.

Once, temple management persons came to cut this tree, they were planning to carve a chariot from it. They thought this is a very big and beautiful tree, only one tree is enough to make the chariots. But the persons taking care of this tree did not allow them to cut it. They told them, “Here Haridās Ṭhākur performed Haribhajan, it is Siddha Bakul, it will not be good to cut it.”

But the persons from temple management did not accept their request. They said, “We are the owner and we will do whatever we want.” So they finally decided a date to cut the Siddha Bakul. When the date came and those persons came and they saw that the whole tree was dried from the inside. They were astonished, “Just a few days ago we saw nice, big tree and now what happened to it?” They ran away from there.

Many people tie some clothes and keep them hanging there to fulfill their material desires, which is not good. We should not tie such things to it.

Haridās Ṭhākur performed bhajan here and Mahāprabhu gave him darśan at the time of his disappearance, He danced here and from here He took Haridās Ṭhākur to his samādhi place.