Srila-Sridhar-Maharaj-Delighted

Revelation is His Will

Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj’s describes Śrīla Śrīnivās Āchārya’s blessed fate.

When Śrīman Mahāprabhu was in Purī, Padmanābha Bhaṭṭāchārya went to see Him with his wife. Mahāprabhu told him that he would have a son who will be a very great devotee and his name will be Śrīnivās. Padmanābha Bhaṭṭāchārya returned home and soon Śrīnivās was born, a beautiful boy and natural scholar. Padmanābha Bhaṭṭāchārya passed away when Śrīnivās was very young. At that time, Śrīnivās automatically thought of Śrī Chaitanyadev and Nityānanda, and Their Pastimes surged within him.

When he was about fifteen years old, Śrīnivās came to see the birthplace of Śrī Chaitanyadev in Nabadwīp. He sat near the Lord’s house at a bathing ghāṭ on the Ganges. Viṣṇu Priyā Devī came there to bathe at that time and found this beautiful boy. She saw that he had some sort of likeness of Mahāprabhu, but that he was sitting there unsure of himself and his life. Viṣṇu Priyā Devī felt pity for the boy, took him to her home, and fed him.

Thereafter, Śrīnivās went to meet Mahāprabhu. He started for Purī, and when he had gone three-fourths of the way there, he heard that Śrī Chaitanyadev had left the world. What was he to do? He went ahead, and he met Gadādhar Paṇḍit there at the Toṭā Gopīnāth Temple. Gadādhar Paṇḍit embraced him and said, “I have been waiting for you, Śrīnivās. My Lord has ordered me to teach you Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. You will become an an unprecedented lecturer and explain Bhāgavatam to the whole of Bengal. My book, however, is half washed away by tears. You won’t be able to read it. You’ll need to get a fresh book. Go to Śrī Khaṇḍa, mention my name, secure a copy of Bhāgavatam, and return. Then I shall teach you.”

Śrīnivās Āchārya went back to Bengal, collected a copy of Bhāgavatam from Śrī Khaṇḍa, and again started for Purī. When he reached there, he heard that Gadādhar Paṇḍit had left. He was disappointed. He thought, “I am such a distressed soul. Wherever I go, the object of my search is removed just before I reach it. Mahāprabhu and Gadādhar Paṇḍit have given me hope, but who will teach me Bhāgavatam now? What an ill-fate I have.” What was he to do? He began to read Bhāgavatam, and, automatically, he found that everything was rushing to him. Gadādhar Paṇḍit’s will was there.