19811004 Pastimes of Kholaveca Śrīdhara

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī Mahārāja, with Spanish Translation on October 4th, 1981 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

nama om viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhūtale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-prādāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate
gopeśa gopikā-kāntarādhā-kānta namo ‘stu te

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāṅgi rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari
vṛṣabhānu-sute devī praṇamāmi hari-priye

(jaya) śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

jaya jaya śrī caitanya jaya nityānanda
jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura bhakta vrṇda

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam

Jayapatākā Swami: There was a request that we should discuss about a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Different devotees took birth to assist Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in different ways. Some of them were very wealthy; some of them were very poor. Some of them were very simple and some of them were very educated. Some of them were great kings and some of them were clerks. Different types of persons. But all of them were with great unique qualities. Because they had given their life and soul to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they were extraordinary in every respect. They had taken birth in these different forms in order to provide an example for the people who could relate with them. So tonight being a very joyful night at the end of our Ratha-yātrā festival, I was asked to say something which was also a very joyful pastime of the Lord.

So there was one devotee who was a very simple devotee, but who got the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In fact He got the highest benediction. No higher benediction is possible. You see, everything that a person could desire was at his fingertips. But however he simply wanted the essence. So this is the devotee called Kolāveca Śrīdhara. Kolāveca Śrīdhara made his business from selling banana products; productos# (devotees laugh). You know that banana, you have bananas in Mexico, I think. Plátanos? (laughter) So, what part of the banana cannot be used?

Devotees: The peel, the banana peel...

Jayapatākā Mahārāja: No the whole tree, of the whole tree.

Translator: Someone says the trunk. The roots.

Jayapatākā Mahārāja: So, one answer: trunk. Another answer?

Devotees: Roots.

? Devotee: I think it can all be used.

Jayapatākā Mahārāja: And it can all be used. Que es correcta!# (devotees laugh). Especially in India it can all be used. You know, first of all the banana tree grows, so many leaves are coming out. Then out comes the flower from the centre. And then in that flower, actually the flower petals open and there are so many small flowers, which become bananas. And then, after the bananas, you see, it forms from the rear of the flower, the rear of the flower, its purple, it comes out and then the bananas come and then gradually the flower becomes smaller and smaller. So they cut-off, when all the bananas have come, then only the flowers come which do not produce bananas. They come, so they cut-off the banana flower, it is called in Bengali the mocha and that is considered to be a great delicacy.

All those small flowers are taken and there is a little spatula that sticks out, and they are pulled out and chopped into little pieces and made into a vegetable. Of course, the banana, everyone knows what can be done. Then you have the leaves. The leaves are used for eating off, as plates. It describes in the Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa that there are many different types of auspicious plates. You see, lotus leaf is the most auspicious. Then auro, gold. Then banana. Then there are other type of brass and sliver-brass and earthen plates. So banana leaf is considered to be very first class for eating prasādam.

Prabhupāda would put, even on top of his marble plates, banana leaf. He’d like to take off the banana leaf. Whenever Ācāryadeva goes to Māyāpur, He always takes off banana leaves. Then the trunk of the tree, that is also made into bowls. They share with, in Manipur they make bowls. Also, banana trunk is very good food for elephants and cows. So if you ever have an elephant, then I told you yesterday, you should always have lot of plantain trees (devotees laugh). And the very centre of the trunk, there is also rare delicacy that is called the thor. It is very sweet – a thor, because the centre, that’s where the banana stalk came out of, so right down to the root, that centre is edible. It makes into a vegetable. ? When it is cut, it has to be cut very thin with a knife. They take off all the trunk and then they just leave the centre part, which is straight and smooth. And so when they cut that, then there is some sticky, gummy substance there. So the ladies, the ladies are expert in cutting. They just take with the finger and they go and *snap*, comes out (devotees laugh). So the root, that is also taken. That is replanted and that makes more banana trees. So, everything is useful.

So this was the business of Śrīdhara. He was a banana-leaf, thor, flower-centre sales man, you see. But everybody grew bananas in Navadvīpa. In every house. So it wasn’t a very rare commodity. So there was a very low profit margin (devotees laugh). So he used to have ripped cloth. In his house, he used to have holes in the roof. And He would, by force, be eating lots of banana products (laughter). But He was a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Whatever profit He would make, He would spend 50% on worshipping the Mother Ganges. Because the Ganges is touched by the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore it has become sacred.

So Kolāveca Śrīdhara, He would make His banana cups, banana leaves and everything, put in a basket and take the basket to the market place and there He would sit and wait for His customers. Those of you who have seen the markets in India, can imagine what it was like. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the golden incarnation of Kṛṣṇa; in His student days, He would go shopping for His mother Śacī. And those days no one knew that He was Kṛṣṇa, you see. Because He was keeping it hidden. Only a rare few souls, they knew that. But Lord Caitanya, He wouldn’t look right, He wouldn’t look left. He would go straight for Kolāveca Śrīdhara. Because he was His devotee, He would say, “How much? Do you have some bananas today?” “I have everyday only these products, here they are, take Your pick.” “How much is this?” “Fixed price, no profit.” (devotees laugh) And He would tell… but He was actually truthful. He would tell the exact market price.

Lord Caitanya would say “Oh! You are trying to make so much profit.” (devotees laugh)

“No, no, I am not! This is a reasonable price.”

“I know you are buying these banana products very cheap prices, selling for big profit.” (devotees laugh). You see. “You tell me how much you want for this. Tell Me the real price!” Then He would pick up one bunch of bananas.

“Yes, I told You the correct price.”

“Oh! You are hoarding so much money!” and Lord Caitanya would walk-off with the bananas. Without paying! (devotees laugh).

Kolāveca Śrīdhara would grab them back. “Listen, if You don’t like the price You check the other market people. If they give You better price then You can take it. If I don’t make any profit, how can I worship the mother Ganges. I have to, 50% of my income goes to worshipping Ganges.”

Then Lord Caitanya would say, “You think I want to take it for free? I am willing to pay the correct price. But don’t you know who I am? I am the father of your mother Ganges!”

“Oh Viṣṇu, Viṣṇu, Viṣṇu, Viṣṇu, Viṣṇu! What an offence!” (devotees laugh). “The father of Mother Ganges is Kṛṣṇa, then how can a living entity be so rash to call Himself God!”

So then Lord Caitanya, “All right, are you going to give Me some bananas or not? Give Me the correct price.”

So then Śrīdhara, His heart was already melted, He did not know what happened. Every time He came in touch with this Brāhmaṇa Boy, His heart was just melted. “At least I am fortunate that this beautiful brāhmaṇa is coming to me.”

Lord Caitanya said, “You took away the bananas from Me! You know what this means...? To take away from a brāhmaṇa? “All right, you take it for half price.” (devotees laugh)

Lord Caitanya would pay the conch shells, not even give a penny, give less than a penny and then take all his products (laughter). All that He needed, He would take. So this was going on for a long time. And Kolāveca Śrīdhara, He would always be thinking of Lord Caitanya. “Who is this Person, why am I so attracted to Him?” And everyday, he would take whatever money he made, 50%, he’d buy his food and clothing and other 50% he’d buy incense and different things and offer pūjā to the Ganges. So then, the whole night he would go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, late into the night. And his neighbors, they’d become irritated, “Why he is singing into the night!?” (devotees laugh) Then some other… you see there are so many critical demoniac type people. “Oh! He is so hungry, he can’t sleep, so he is howling into the night.” (devotees laugh). ? Then, so one of them came the next day and said, “Listen, Kolāveca Śrīdhara, let me give you some good advice. We hate to see a good boy like you struggling in the world. I would like to advise you to worship demigods and everything, but I know you won’t accept that. Let me give you some good advice. You are spending 50% of your money for worshipping the Ganges. So... but your condition is very poor.”

“No! No!” he said, “I am not poor.”

“No, but your dhoti has got holes in it.” (devotees laugh)

“No, my body is covered, I am not naked.”

“But your house has got holes in it. The rain comes in.”

“It keeps out most of the rain. (devotees laugh) No difficulty.” (devotees again laugh)

“Listen! Just let me give you some good advice. Just stop worshipping the Ganges for one year. Build up your capital. You see, when you get lots of money, you can do a big pūjā for the Ganges. With capital, you can get four-five people running with bananas here and there and you can do a big, mass production (laughter). In this way, then after one year you will be a big capitalist and then you can do so much pūjā and anything you like, no problem. Just stop this pūjā for one year and then you will be really a success.”

Kolāveca would say, “No, there is no way I can stop the pūjā.”

“Well, just spend 25% on the pūjā.”

“50%, otherwise if I stop what is the guarantee I can start later? If Kṛṣṇa wants to make me rich, then He will make me rich. There is no guarantee that even if I stop the pūjā that I will be able to become rich. Because if I stop the pūjā, there is a danger that I may lose or forget Kṛṣṇa. So I am not going to reduce in any way my devotional service.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare,
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare''

And He went on chanting. 

“Fool! Fool! Tonto #!” (laughter)

Translator: *español* 

Śrīla Gurudeva: Hey! Editorial!! (devotees laugh)

So this was the character of Kolāveca Śrīdhara. So at that time, the pastime I told you this morning about Advaita Gosāñī happened. Like that Lord Caitanya He was in the mood as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As you know Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa, but He is in mood as a devotee. Sometimes He would also manifest His original mood as Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So when He was in that mood, He called, He told him, “Now you go, bring Kolāveca Śrīdhara.” And the devotees ran out from Śrīvāsa Āṅgana house and ran down to Kolāveca Śrīdhara’s house 2 km away or 1 km away. They told, “Kolāveca Śrīdhara! Lord Caitanya, Lord Gaurāṅga is calling you now!”. As soon as he heard Gaurāṅga's name, he fell unconscious.

Maybe we should continue tomorrow, everyone looks tired. 

Devotees: No!

? Lord Caitanya said to bring… Any other devotees you see, you also can bring him along. ? Lord Caitanya said to bring other devotees with him. The devotees, had picked up Kolāveca Śrīdhara and carried him over to Lord Caitanya. He again become conscious and he ran with him to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Nobody, none of Lord Caitanya's devotees, not one, they didn’t know the actual quantity of fortune that Kolāveca Śrīdhara had.

They saw Him in a market selling bananas, they knew He was a devotee, but they did not know that how deep a connection there was between him and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But when he was brought before Caitanya Mahāprabhu... Oh! What a thing! He fell down before Lord Caitanya and offered prostrated obeisances with full devotion. Then Lord Caitanya called, “Śrīdhara! So many times I told you that I was the father of the Ganges, but you doubted My words. Now see!” Then He showed His six-armed form, He showed His form as Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And Kolāveca Śrīdhara was overwhelmed and just crying and paying his obeisances again and again and again and again. Lord Caitanya said, “Look here, here is your worshipable object, here is Mother Ganges.” And Mother Ganges personified came before Kolāveca Śrīdhara. “All your desires, you see, all your desires today I will satisfy. Kolāveca Śrīdhara! I am going to give you the eight-fold perfections of mystic yoga. Today you will get the aṣṭa-siddhi. Now take it, take these eight mystic yoga powers.”

You know what the eight yogic powers are? Aṇimā, mahimā, laghimā, prāpti, īśitā, vaśitā... You can become smaller than an atom, greater than a mountain, fly anywhere in the universe, take anything from anywhere and just bring it, do anything within nature or out of nature; immediately you can create a house or a whole planet even. So He is offering... Lord Caitanya is offering, “Immediately you take these mystic powers!”

He said, “No my Lord! I don’t have any desire for these mystic powers.”

“No, no. Take the mystic powers. Also take liberation! Freedom from birth and death.” Kolāveca Śrīdhara, he wasn’t agreeing.

“Kolāveca! Come on, you take the mystic powers today!I am giving you! Now tell me what you want?”

Kolāveca Śrīdhara said, “My Lord!” And with deeply sentimental, deeply emotional heart, he spoke. “Let that Lord, that young brāhmaṇa Boy who used to come and take banana products from me, that young brāhmaṇa, who with His restless eyes, used to joke with me; that brāhmaṇa who is always chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa; let that brāhmaṇa be the Lord of my life, life after life after life after life.That is my only desire. Wherever He goes, let me simply provide Him all His requirements of vegetables and bananas. Let me simply be His servant life after life, there is nothing more I want.”

Lord Caitanya said, “Listen! There is a kingdom waiting for you with so many servants, with so many ministers, everything. You are the king of that kingdom.”

Kolāveca fell at the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and said, “All I want is the service of Your lotus feet, nothing more.”

Then Lord Caitanya said, “Today, Kolāveca Śrīdhara, today I am giving you, not even Brahmā and Indra could not get. Today I am giving you your heart’s desire. Today I am giving you pure eternal devotional service unto Me. I am giving you pure kṛṣṇa-prema, pure bhakti.” All the devotees who were present, they exploded “Hari Bol! Hari Bol! Hari Bol! Hari Bol!” Everyone started crying and the demigods were throwing flowers at the great mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The great fortune of Kolāveca Śrīdhara! He had got what even the demigods could not get. He got pure devotional service which is so rarely given by the Lord. By pure devotional service, the Lord… He becomes eternally connected with His servant. Because of pure devotional service, Mother Yaśoda could tie Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa became the chariot driver for Arjuna and the gate keeper for Bali Mahārāja. He took the wounds of the whipping of Haridāsa on His own back. You see, by pure devotional service, The Lord - He becomes eternally connected with His devotee.

Liberation, mystic powers, material opulence they wait like servants with folded hands at the devotees who have pure devotional service, “What service sir? What service sir?” But the devotee is so busy serving Kṛṣṇa that he doesn’t have any time for them. Kolāveca Śrīdhara, humble banana salesman, simple vegetable peddler in the market, he had received the highest benediction imaginable... unimaginable! Beyond all imagination. All the devotees, their kīrtana exploded, and they were crying and just overwhelmed by the great show of devotional opulence.

So, does not matter who one is, if one is dedicated to the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Somehow or other serving His devotees, then one is guaranteed to get the perfection of life. Sometimes even the Lord offers all the opulence. And once if the devotee, He can take all the types of material or spiritual opulence. But the pure devotee who has developed love for Gaurāṅga, He simply wants to maintain that love. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives Himself. What can be a greater attainment? What can be a greater achievement? You can get from a rich man some of his possessions. What is more important, the possession or the possessor? When you have Kṛṣṇa, you have everything. The devotees, they simply want Kṛṣṇa, they don’t want any of the external or partial manifestations.

Nitāi-Gaura premānande…!

Devotees: Hari Hari Bol! 

So,

‘śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra
vicāra karile citte pābe camatkāra
(Cc. Ādī 8.15) 

Meditate on the great mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and you will become filled with astonishment and wonder. Where will you find such mercy anywhere else?! Such wonderful relations?! Such causeless mercy?!

(jaya) śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Therefore we chant these holy names to get the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And we follow His instructions to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra also, to get His mercy.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare 

Lord Caitanya had rich devotees, poor devotees. And He showed that the poor devotee didn’t have to become rich to become liberated, to become fully blessed by Him. Simply he had to keep his devotional service going strong. Similarly, those who were the rich devotees, He didn’t also ask them to give up their wealth, but to use it for expanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But they would maintain their same standard of living. But the real thing that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always seeing was their consciousness. Was their consciousness fully attached to His lotus feet or not? Therefore, we should train our mind to simply grab on the lotus feet of Nitāi-Gaura.

Muchas Gracias! #(thank you very much)

Devotee: Śrīla Ācāryapāda kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

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