Letter to Son (Appearance of Sri Mayapur)

Letter to Son (Appearance of Śrī Māyāpura)
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda’s letter to Lalitā Prasāda, written 1896

“During the Christmas break I took a train to Navadvīpa with my wife. Arriving there and seeing the land in all four directions the hair on my body stood on end. Upon crossing the Gaṅgā, I went to Rani Dharmasala and I made arrangements to cook for Śrīman Mahāprabhu. Having taken darśana of the Lord with difficulty I honored prasāda at around 1 o’clock. After 45 days [of dieting], I took grains, jackfruit dahl, banana-flour sabjī, and soup etc., which were like nectar. Since my very birth I had not eaten such nectarine food. Even Bimala ate everything on his plate, and with great devotion.

“We had to go to the house at Kṛṣṇanagara before evening and thus, buying some cooking pots and utensils, and quickly crossing [the river], we took the train to Kṛṣṇanagara. The next day I went to Baḍo Gosvāmī’s house in Śāntipura, took prasāda, and before evening returned home. At that time I was beginning to become strong.

Every Saturday, I went to Navadvīpa to search out the places of the līlā of the Lord, but I did not find many and I was very unhappy. At the present time the people of Navadvīpa only pay heed to their stomach etc. They do not make even a little effort in relation to the places of the līlā of the Lord. One night, Kamala and a clerk and I went up on the roof in order to look around.

“It was 10 o’clock, and was very dark and cloudy. Across the Gaṅgā, in a northerly direction, I saw a large building flooded with light. I asked Kamala (if he saw it) and he said he had. I asked the clerk and he said, “I did not see anything.” Because of that I was utterly amazed. In the morning I looked carefully at the place [where I saw the building] from the roof of the Rani Dharmasala, and I observed that there was one Tāla tree in that location.

When I asked others about this place they said that this distant place was known as Ballāldīghi and that the remains of the fort etc. of Lakṣmaṇa Sena were close by. That Monday I returned to Kṛṣṇanagara and the following Saturday I went back to Ballāldīghi. I saw that wonderful phenomenon in that place again at night, and the next day I went to see the area on foot.

Upon inquiring of the elderly people of that place, I was informed that this was the birthplace of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. I gradually saw everything (in the area) and ascertained where all the small villages mentioned in the Caitanya-bhāgavata and in Narahari Ṭhākura’s Bhakti-ratnākara and Parikramā Paddhati were.

“While staying in Kṛṣṇanagara I wrote Śrī Navadvīpa-Dhāma Māhātmya and sent it to Calcutta to be printed. I explained all these matters to Dvārik Bābu, an engineer from Kṛṣṇanagara, and through the strength of his intellect understood everything. He made a map of the area around Navadvīpa for me. That also was printed in a reduced form in Dhāma Māhātmya. While I travelled around Navadvīpa-dhāma and wrote Navadvīpa-dhāma Māhātmya I saw that there was very little opportunity to do more.”