Harikatha Delivered on Shat-tila Ekadashi (Bangla)
Harikatha, Sreela Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
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At first I pay my innumerable prostrated obeisances to the lotus feet of my most worshipable Divine master, who is the redeemer of the fallen souls, the bestower of knowledge on the Absolute, the non-different manifestation of the Supreme Lord and the bestower of service of the Supreme Lord. I pray for his causeless mercy. I pay my prostrated obeisances to the lotus feet of the worshipable Vaishnavas and pray for their causeless mercy. I pay my due respects to all the devotees who are inclined to hear discourses on the Supreme Lord. May they all be pleased.
Today is Harivasar Tithi, which is very dear to the Lord. This Ekadashi falls in the month of Magh (Jan-Feb) in the dark fortnight (Krishna-pakshya) phase of the moon. Even if one observes the Vrata (vow) of Ekadashi by staying at home he will reap the fruits of his devotional practices many times compared to the other days. On top of that if one observes this Vrata by staying at Dham (abode of the Lord) then the results he will get from his spiritual practices will be incomparable to anything else. It will be million times more than when observed in other places. By Dhama one means places like Vrindavan Dham, Navadvip Dham etc. But even if one goes to Dham, he cannot do Dham-vas (stay there in real sense). One cannot enter Dham with this material body. The place where the glories of the pure devotees of the Lord are sung or where the devotees perform kirtan (singing) and smaran (remembrance) of the pastimes of the Lord and His associates is actually Dham (abode of the Lord). The place where the deities (vigrahas) are established by the pure-devotees of the Lord is Dhama. Even while staying in Kolkata externally Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupada used to say, “I do not stay in the place of Kali since my worshipable deity Radha Krishna and Gauranga Mahaprabhu stay in a transcendental place”. He used to consider Gaudiya Math as Dham since that transcendental residence of the Lord has descended as Gaudiya Math. It is not a part of this world.
Mathura Dham, Navadvip Dham etc are not parts of this world. The Lord and His personal Associates advent in those places and thus these places are transcendental. All these concepts are beyond the comprehension of the conditioned souls of this world.
Externally we may see the Math as a gross building made up of material elements, but since the deities established by the pure-devotee are personally residing there, that same building has become transcendental. The Names, Forms, Pastimes and the Abode of the Lord are all transcendental and non-different from each other. Basically, they are one and the same. So, if one observes the Ekadashi Vrata in such a place he will reap million times fruits than if observed in other places. So those who have this realization come to the Math on the day of Ekadashi even in midst of many troubles because they think that on other days the results of their spiritual practices will not be as much as on the day of Ekadashi. So, the people think that they will go to the Math positively on the day of Ekadashi which falls once in fifteen days with the desire to acquire the fruits of the penances performed for fifteen days in one single day. The basic principle of Economics is less time, less energy but more profit. But what am I doing by staying in the Math? I am not engaging myself to hear Harikatha everyday even while staying in the abode of the Lord. The people who come from outside may come to the Math once in fifteen days and hear Harikatha. But I am staying in the Math but still I too attend Harikatha once in fifteen days on the day of Ekadashi and want to reap the fruits of devotional activities performed for fifteen days on the day of Ekadashi. This is not correct. One should perform sravan-kirtan(hearing and singing the glories of the Lord) everyday. Anyways today is Shat-tila Ekadashi which is mentioned in our Panjika. We should think about it in brief. The glories of this Ekadashi are mentioned in two different ways. In one place Sri Pulastya Rishi is speaking about this Ekadashi to Dalbhya Rishi and in another place Sri Narada Muni speaking about it to Sri Krishna. Generally it is seen that only one person speaks about the glories of any Ekadashi and another person listen it. But here we see two persons speaking and two persons listening. In the first place Sri Dalbhya Muni is asking a question to Pulastya Rishi. What is that question? Sri Dalbhya Rishi said to Palastya Muni, "When the spirit soul comes in contact with the material energy, he immediately begins to perform sinful activities, such as stealing, killing, and illicit sex. He may even perform many other terrible deeds, such as killing a brahmin. Oh purest of personalities!, please tell me how these unfortunate souls may escape the punishment of being sent to hellish regions of creation.” In reply to his question Pulastya Muni said, “If one observes Shat-tila Ekadashi, he can get rescued from the results of the sinful activities. One should one-pointedly serve Purushottam(The Supreme Lord) on this Ekadashi with the sole target of satisfying Him. Along with the Lord, one should also worship the Brahmins who are very dear to the Lord. While praying to Lord Sri Krishna by chanting His holy name, he should promise to observe the Ekadashi fast. He should remain awake overnight and perform a fire sacrifice. Then the devotee should perform an Arati ceremony for the pleasure of the Lord - Who holds a conch, disk, club, and so on in His hands - offering Him sandalwood paste to His feet, incense, camphor, a bright ghee lamp, and delicious food preparations. Next the devotee should offer the 108 balls of cow dung, sesame seeds, and cotton wool into the sacred fire whilst chanting such holy names of the Lord as Purusha sukta, and other names. One should also donate a black-coloured cow. If one sows those sesame seeds and they sprout, he will reside in heaven for that many years as the number of sesame seeds that will come out from those sesame plants that were sown.”
But we should contemplate on the teachings of Mahaprabhu. One should not observe Ekadashi for getting relieved from his sins, or for going to Vaikuntha, Dwarka etc. He should observe it for going to Goloka Vrindavan. “Back to home, back to Godhead”. The vow should be performed with lots of faith. In the glories it is written that this Ekadashi should be observed by the above mentioned rules and regulations and if done properly it will yield all one’s desired objectives and remove all kinds of sins. Even Narada Rishi is asking Sri Krishna, “I want to know the name of the Ekadashi that occurs during the month of Magh (Jan-Feb) in the dark fortnight phase of the moon.” In reply Krishna told him, “The name of this Ekadashi is Shat-tila Ekadashi. “
Sesame-seeds should be used all over while observing this Ekadashi. The observer should bathe with Sesame-seeds and put it on his body. He should perform fire-sacrifice by means of Sesame-seeds. He should offer tarpan to his ancestors by means of mixture of water and sesame–seeds. One should donate as well as consume Sesame seeds. If one follows these above rules rigorously and observes this Ekadashi all his obstacles will be removed and all his desired objectives will be fulfilled. But a devotee will never hanker for any material object in exchange of his performing Ekadashi Vrata. I once met a person on the way while travelling to Shimla. He had faith in our philosophy and used to offer service. He used to write me letters and once he wrote, “You tell us that certain things like rice, grains and any eatable produced from grains like puffed-rice, chida, all sorts of pulses etc are forbidden for one to consume on the day of Ekadashi. Sesame seeds or Til also fall under the category of grains but in the glories of Shat-tila Ekadashi it is mentioned that one should consume Til. I cannot understand this.”
In reply I told him that this Vrata of Ekadashi is observed in two ways. One way is for those who are karma-kandis (followers of karma-kanda) and the other way is for those who are followers of pure devotion. In general, people tend to get attracted by activities which yield material benefits. They are not so interested to observe something which leads to Hari-Bhakti. They are interested in getting wealth, manpower, good progeny etc. In order to make such kind of people observe Ekadashi, such types of material benefits are mentioned in the scriptures. But such material benefits will make one get bounded to this material universe and so for this reason the pure devotees do not observe Ekadashi for obtaining material benedictions. If one remains in ignorance he will be always bereft of Bliss, Knowledge and Eternity. The sole aim of the Shuddha-Bhaktas in observing Ekadashi is to please the Supreme Lord Sri Hari. On the day of Ekadashi one should refrain from committing any kind of sinful activities and reside close to Supreme Lord Sri Hari. One should refrain from all sorts of enjoyments. Even enjoyments are of three types Sattvic (goodness), Rajasik and Tamasic (ignorance), since with enjoying spirit one can only come in contact with perishable objects. One should refrain from this mentality that he is the doer. The actual doer is Sri Bhagavan Himself. All the three modes of material nature namely modes of goodness, passion and ignorance are cause of bondage to this material world. They cannot give true welfare to a living being. So one should discard any sort of enjoying spirit. All sorts of activities are performed by a Doer. The Lord says in Gita that He is the doer Himself.
In our Sampradaya, we perform Ekadashi for attaining pure devotion to Him only and nothing else. Upa-vas means staying in the vicinity of the Lord. How can one stay close to the Lord. The abode of the Lord is transcendental. One can enter such a transcendental realm with a transcendental body and not with a material body.
dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa
sei-kāle kṛṣṇa tāre kare ātma-sama
shei deha kare tare cid-anandamoy
aprakrita dehe te krsna carana sevaySo, in the first line itself it is mentioned that one surrenders to the grace incarnate form of the Lord, namely the Shuddha Bhakta(pure devotee), at the time of diksha. But do we really have such sort of surrender (sharanagati)? Only when one surrenders absolutely tothe Lord, He will make him His own. If we try to see the sun ignoring the sunlight we will not succeed. Similarly, it is not possible to see the Lord ignoring His devotees. The Lord manifests Himself through a Sad-Guru who is a Shuddha Bhakta. So the first stage of devotion is Guru-padasray(taking shelter at the Lotus feet of a Bonafide Guru). Without this any sort of devotion is impossible.
I may think that I have surrendered to the Lord. Now the Lord is not going to speak to me. So I can move as per my desire. But if I surrender to the bonafide devotee of the Lord then I cannot do whatever I like. I have to move as per the desire of the devotee. In actuality the Supreme Lord bestows His service through a Shuddha Bhakta. Real expression of Sharanagati can be manifested only through a pure devotee of the Lord. The realization that “I belong to Krishna” will come only after serving a Shuddha Bhakta. No Bhakti can be manifested as long as the false ego that “I belong to this world” remains in the heart of a practioner.
In the Karma-kanda section of the Scriptures the benefits of observing this Ekadashi is mentioned.
Sri Krishna is narrating an incident to Narada Muni. In ancient times lived a Brahmini (female belonging to Brahmin caste). She used to observe Vratas and fasts very rigorously and thus became lean and thin. She gave charity to brahmanas and to young maidens, and even planned to give away her house in charity. She also used to feed the poor who were deprived of food. She used to worship the Lord very faithfully. In order to test her the Lord appeared in this world as a “Kapalik” (A tantric yogi who adorns himself with skulls of dead human beings and performs worship in the modes of ignorance). The Lord approached that old woman in the disguise of that kapalik. The woman asked him- “Who are you? Introduce yourself.” The Lord replied –“I have come to get some sacred alms from you”. The old lady angrily threw a dense lump of mud into My begging pot! Oh Narada Muni I simply turned around and went back to My personal abode, astonished at this fine brahmani's peculiar mixture of great magnanimity and stinginess. At last this austere lady reached heaven by dint of her penances and spiritual practices. The denizens of the heaven also came to learn about her after she reached there. The wives of the demigods came to visit her. In heaven she got a very fine house to reside but her new house was devoid of any wealth or food grains. The woman started wondering, what is the use of such futile rigorous penance if it could not give her any wealth. What use is that house to her if it is devoid of any wealth? She approached the Supreme Lord and said, “I have done so many penances, vratas and fasting. What are the fruits of all these if they cannot give me any wealth?” The Lord said, “You go back to your house. When the wives of the demigods come to see you out of curiosity do not open the door to them. Ask them to narrate you the glories of Shat-tila Ekadashi. Only after hearing the glories you should open the door to them.” The lady went back to her new house and as predicted by the Lord, the wives of the Demigods came to visit her after sometime and expressed their desire to see her. The lady told them that she would only open the door if they first narrate the glories of Shat-tila Ekadashi to her. As requested the wives of the demigods narrated the glories of Shat-tila Ekadashi after which the woman opened the door to them. The Demigoddesses also told her to observe this Ekadashi and told her the rules and regulations for observance. As told by the demigoddesses the woman successfully observed that Ekadashi and thus obtained a very beautiful spiritual form with a fine complexion. She also obtained all the wealth she cherished by the observance of this Ekadashi. Her new house became filled with gold and silver.”
Now, whatever material benefits by observing this Ekadashi are written in this book, are they the desired objectives of Gaudiya Math? The actual requirement behind observing this Ekadashi is Krishna Prema (Love for Supreme Lord).
prem dhan bina vyarth daridra jivan
das kari vetan more deho Prem dhan(This life is completely futile without the wealth of divine love for the Supreme Lord. Make me your servant and pay me with the payment of the wealth of such divine love)
We have already seen how one can do prayaschitta (atone for his bad deeds) by following this Ekadashi. The process of such atonement is also mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam. In the fifth canto of Srimad Bhgavatam the descriptions of severe types of hellish planets are given. In my childhood I have seen the pictures of such hells kept in our house. One such picture depicted a huge frying pan filled with boiling oil in it and messengers of death pushing living beings inside that frying pan to roast them alive. There were many such pictures each showing horrible reactions of every sinful activity committed by humans. Another picture depicted that a certain sinful activity committed by a living being leading to the messenger of death to cut his head into two halves by means of an axe. There is the description of another hellish planet called “Kumbhipak Narak” filled with snakes, insects, stools and all sorts of abominable objects. The living entities are being thrown down there, due to extreme degree of torture they are screaming there. All these depictions are no longer there now a days. In previous days due to these pictorial depictions and warnings given through them people used to get scared to commit sinful activities. But now-a-days due to absence of all these things people get the liberty to do anything that pleases them.
After hearing about these horrible descriptions of the hellish planets mentioned in the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam Parikshit Maharaj got astonished and told Sukadev Goswami,“I too committed an offence at the Lotus feet of Shamik Rishi by tying the dead body of a snake around his neck when he was engrossed in meditation. So, what about the atonement of the sins which are already committed? How can one get liberated from the reactions of these severe sinful activities he already had committed?”
In reply Sukadev Goswami said,“As long as the human being is alive he should positively atone for the particular sinful activity or activities he had committed. If he doesn’t do so, he will be bound to suffer the reactions as mentioned in the scriptures.” So one should definitely atone for the sin he committed in this life before his death.
Then Parikshit Maharaj said,
śrī-rājovāca
dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyāṁ yat pāpaṁ
jānann apy ātmano ’hitam
karoti bhūyo vivaśaḥ
prāyaścittam atho katham
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.09)A person may see that a thief has committed theft and thus been jailed for it. He may see this himself or he may hear it from someone. But even after seeing or hearing he may commit theft and get punished himself. So what is the use for such futile seeing or hearing if he cannot restrain himself from committing such activity?
kvacin nivartate ’bhadrāt
kvacic carati tat punaḥ
prāyaścittam atho ’pārthaṁ
manye kuṣjara-śaucavat
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.10)Similarly, one may have the experience of committing abominable activities and getting punished for that. He may even atone for such an act. But even after that he may not leave his propensity to do that same sinful act again and again get punished for that and do atonement again. So Parikshit Maharaj asked Sukadev Goswami that if such repeated atonement cannot change the heart of that sinful man then what is the use behind such futile atonement?
It may sometimes be seen that the human being may stop committing the sinful activity after performing proper prayaschitta (atonement) but in other places it is seen that he commits the same sinful activities repeatedly even after making atonements each time.
Srila Vishwanath Chakravarty Thakur mentioned in his commentary that even if someone relinquishes a sinful activity in his young age he may commit that sin in his old age due to the seed of the sin being not removed from his heart.
Parikshit Maharaj compared such atonements with the bathing of elephants. We see that an elephant goes to bath with his wives and children. But after bathing when he comes to the bank of the bathing pool he smears his body as well as the bodies of associates with mud. So what is the use behind such bathing? Similarly, if one undergoes atonement after committing a sinful activity and repeatedly commits the same sinful activity again and again then his performing such atonement is compared to the bathing of an elephant.
The modes of passion and ignorance make one commit sinful activities and the modes of goodness makes one commit punya (pious activities). So if one has this ego that he did atonement for a sinful activity he committed then that ego is a false ego. The modes of goodness that makes one atone the sinful activity he committed in the modes of passion or ignorance, are both futile since both modes are generated out of ignorance and one type of ignorance cannot remove another type of ignorance. The root of the sinful activity cannot be removed by performing such atonements.
Our body is composed of gross material elements and within this body there is another body comprised of mind, intelligence and ego which too is subtle and material and which hankers for form, taste, touch, smell etc. The soul remains within this subtle body. Those persons who have got the realization that the soul is their real-self, they will give the priority to the needs of their souls. Such knowledge of real-self can destroy the ignorance which is the seed behind committing sinful activities.
The cause of committing sin is the desire for committing sinful activities like (theft, robbery, abduction etc). Without desire for committing sin, there cannot be any sin. But those who are situated in their real-self lose such desire for committing sin. The fire of knowledge burns down the ignorance.
Now Sukadev Goswami is citing an example how conditioned souls can become established in their real-self.
nāśnataḥ pathyam evānnaṁ
vyādhayo ’bhibhavanti hi
evaṁ niyamakṛd rājan
śanaiḥ kṣemāya kalpate
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6. 1.12)If someone takes bad food he will fall ill. But if he takes good food which will act like a medicine on a regular basis then he will be cured. Similarly if a conditioned soul undergoes a regulated spiritual life then he too will develop the knowledge of the real self and overcome his tendency to commit sinful activities.
tapasā brahmacaryeṇa
śamena ca damena ca
tyāgena satya-śaucābhyāṁ
yamena niyamena vā
deha-vāg-buddhijaṁ dhīrā
dharmajṣāḥ śraddhayānvitāḥ
kṣipanty aghaṁ mahad api
veṇu-gulmam ivānalaḥ
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.13-14)One must regulate their senses. The brahmacharis must contain their veerya (semen). One must positively regulate the mind which is the controller of all the other sense organs. If the mind is controlled then all other sense organs will be controlled automatically. So one must learn to tame his mind. We are indebted to many people like our parents, the sages, the demigods etc. We are not born and brought up by means of only our efforts but by the combined efforts of all these above mentioned persons. So it is our duty to repay our debts back to them. If we are not able to do so then they will forcibly make us pay our debts to them.
The word ‘saucham’ is used here which means to discard pride. It doesn’t mean to wash hands and feet. One should not harbour any sort of malice for any living entity. In this way if one is able to regulate his senses then his sins will get destroyed exactly like a forest of bamboo trees which gets destroyed when it catches fire.
In this context, Maharaj Parikshit asked Shukadev Goswami the following question, “You mentioned that as and when a forest of bamboo trees get destroyed when the trees catch fire the sins of a sinful man get destroyed by performing atonement. But the roots of the bamboo trees remain under mud and if rain water falls on them they again sprout to fresh bamboo trees. So there is still a reason to worry because performing atonement cannot remove the root cause of committing sin completely. I want to know a path by means of which one can get permanent deliverance from the aptitude to commit sins.” Sukadev Goswami replied,
kecit kevalayā bhaktyā
vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ
aghaṁ dhunvanti kārtsnyena
nīhāram iva bhāskaraḥ
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.15)(If a person takes absolute shelter at the lotus feet of Supreme Lord Vasudev then that one pointed devotion to Him will uproot the weeds of sinful actions from him as the sun dissipates the dew drops that are collected over plants and flowers at night by its rays.)
Most people of this world are Karma-kandis (fruitive workers). Among thousands of them there may be one transcendentalist who is seeking for liberations. Among crores of such transcendentalists who had become successful in attaining liberation there may be one Devotee. All this is mentioned in Chaitanya Charitamrita. Shuddha Bhakti is extremely scarce. When one seeks quality he have to sacrifice quantity and vice versa. Among crores of such Krishna Bhaktas one can rarely find a devotee who is the performer of Kevala-Bhakti (whose only target is to satisfy Krishna and nothing else).
Now if one practices pure devotion to the Lord then all his sinful activities will be destroyed at their roots and also the aptitude for committing such activities will be destroyed completely. It is something like when the sun rises the dew drops that are collected over plants and flowers at night gets absorbed by the sun light. Similarly when pure devotion sprouts in the heart of a person, not only his aptitude for committing sins gets destroyed but also he gets superior taste of devotion. In such a state his mind will no longer get attracted by inferior things. This path is practical atonement.
Why do the living entities hanker for eternal things (sad-vastu)? Desire cannot originate in gross matter. It is the property of spirit (chinmay-vastu). The only reason behind this is the desire for obtaining eternal thing is present there within our soul. But this desire is enveloped by the illusory energy of the Lord and has become targeted towards this non-eternal body where the living being mistakes this non-eternal body to be their real selves. Being deluded by the illusory energy the living beings tend to move in that direction which is completely devoid of any sort of bliss. The Supreme Lord who is also called “Madan Mohan” is transcendental and is the object of All-Bliss. One can get all his desires fulfilled if he serves the Supreme Lord. When one gets attracted to this All-Attractive Supreme Lord also called Madan Mohan, he will lose his taste for material objects of this world.
Saubhari Rishi was a great ascetic who performed severe austerities for a long time by residing under water. But even he had a fall down from that position. Externally it seemed that his mind has become stable. But while residing in water he saw sexual activities between male and female fishes. By viewing such activities he too developed the desire to enjoy sex. So he stopped his penances and came out of the water. He then married fifty daughters of the King Mandhata. By means of the fruits of his austerities he made himself young and handsome. Although later he repented his actions.
Even Vishvamitra Rishi who was a very big yogi (performer of austerities) too had a fall down being lured by the heavenly denizen Menaka. As long as the taste of sweetness of the Supreme Lord is not realized completely the living beings will have the aptitude to get attracted by the false happiness of this world.
Maharaj Ambarish was the sole emperor of the world and had immense wealth but he engaged all his sense organs and the objects of those senses in the service of the Supreme Lord.
None of the objects of this world belong to us. Whose property are all these? Everything belongs to Supreme Lord. We are conditioned souls who are born to die one day. It is written in one Kirtan,
mutthi bandhe aaya jagat me
hath pasare jayega(We have come to this world with closed fist and we will leave one day with open hands.)
Not even a single object of this world will go with us after we die. For this reason,
prāyaścittāni cīrṇāni
nārāyaṇa-parāṅmukham
na niṣpunanti rājendra
surā-kumbham ivāpagāḥ
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.18)Just like a pot which contained alcohol can never get purified again by washing it repeatedly with water, a living entity can never become purified even by performing repeated atonements as long as he remains averse to the Supreme Lord Narayan.
One will get deliverance only if he can engage his mind for the service of the Supreme Lord. Ajamil was a Brahmin who used to worship the Lord very faithfully in his young age. But later he got corrupted by the association of a prostitute and committed many sinful activities. He had ten sons with that prostitute and due to his good tendencies of the past he named his youngest son as “Narayan”. He left his parents, wife etc. for this prostitute and did sins to satisfy her. He had very strong attachment to his younger son, Narayan. He used to give him full attention all throughout the day by remaining close to him. When the time of death arrives, three Yamadutas (messengers of death) arrive for everyone. Now we do not see them but they come at the time of death. Their forms are terrible with big teeth, fiery glowing eyes, straight red hairs etc. Merely seeing their horrible figures makes one leave body out of fear. The three Yamadutas are responsible for handling three types of sins namely sins committed by body, sins committed by mind and sins committed by words.
There was once a person called Skhitij who had personal experience of visiting the abode of Yamaraj. That person died and was taken by his family members to the crematorium for getting cremated. All his family members surrounded his dead body and were mourning when he sat up. The family members were shocked to see him coming back to life. They all got scared thinking that he had become a ghost. He calmed them down by telling them that he is alive and has not become a ghost. Later he told his family members that he had indeed died and was taken by the messengers of death and was dragged on a road which was filled with knife like stones which pierced him all over his body. When he pleaded the messengers of death not to drag him like this they insisted that they will take him like this only. Later he was brought to a place in hell where there is so much sufferings. He saw Yamaraj and got very much scared. Then Yamaraj told his assistants that they had mistakenly brought the wrong person to this place and someone else should have been brought instead. As soon as the messengers realized their mistake they released him and the person became alive and sat up in the crematorium ground. That person later went to Navadvip Dham and related the entire incident to Pujyapad Srila Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaj and asked him what it was. Srila Sridhar Maharaj told him, “You have seen Yamapuri (the abode of Yamaraj)”
The messengers of death come at the time of death. One should perform Hari-bhajan if one wants to get deliverance from them. There was another person who had seen these Yamdutas. That person was a devotee who belonged to Sarbhog, Assam. He was a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur. He used to give Vaishnav-seva at his home. But later due to association with his family members who were non-devotees he started consuming non-vegetarian food. He then fell ill and saw a horrible scene where he was seeing himself dragged by messengers of death. He was then brought to a place and saw that all the fishes and the birds that he had consumed had assumed horrible figures and rushing towards him making a peculiar sound like “pok pok” and coming to devour him. The yamadutas restrained those beings and told them, “Wait, let us bind him up firmly to this tree and then you all can come and eat him.” On hearing this he got frightened to the extreme and suddenly remembered that he once performed Vrindavan Parikrama with his Gurudeva Srila Prabhupad. He screamed out loudly, “Gurudev, Krishna Balaram, Krishna Balaram, Krishna Balaram.” And saw that all had vanished. He immediately told his family members, “Bring my chanting beads (Harinam mala) immediately. Though his family members started thinking that he had gone mad but still he paid no heed to their thoughts. He told them, “At the time of my most precarious moment you people didn’t come to save me. My Gurudeva had rescued me.” Later he constructed a nice room for our Gurudeva in Sarbhog Gaudiya Math and went to Vraja-mandal-parikrama every year from that time onwards reviving all his spiritual practices he left once. So is this person lying to us by making up this story?
Coming back to the incident of Ajamil, he got so much scared on seeing the Yamadutas on his deathbed that he immediately remembered his son “Narayan” and called out his name loudly “Narayan, Narayan, Narayan”. Though he was calling his son, it indirectly hinted the Supreme Lord Narayan and he did Sanketik Namabhas (glow of the Holy Name) indirectly. Even a glow of the Holy Names of Supreme Lord is like the sun which when arises in the early morning drives away all sorts of darkness. So even by Namabhas, Ajamil got rescued from the reactions of the sinful activities of crores of births. So the Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has Himself ordered to chant the Holy Names of the Lord in the company of devotees.
Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya
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