English
21st May 2019
596 today, we have almost reached our goal today. Keep chanting the holy name of the Lord regularly constantly and you will be with the Lord. Right here we will be with the Lord. The holy name is the Lord. Nada brahma- I am in Pandharpur dhama and it’s known for chanting. According to sastra and locally Pandharpur is called as Nada brahma.
Nada is vibration of the names of the Lord, nada – sura –tala indicate the name of Lord. Of course, we know Anna Para brahma, food that is offered to the Lord also becomes same as the Lord. Lord in Jagannath Puri is called as Anna brahma . At different holy places Lord is known by different features or aspects of His Personalities. Lord in Sri Rangam is known for its sleeping pastime, Suptam pastime.
bhuktam madhuram suptam madhuram
Bhuktam pastimes in Jagannath Puri. Likewise, Lord is known for Nada brahma in Pandharpur. Pandharpur is famous for Lord’s holy name. Lord’s bhajan and kirtan is constantly chanted here. Every ekadasi or one of the two Ekadasi sukla paksha fortnightly Pandharpur Vitthala devotees come walking towards Pandharpur. They don’t just walk they sing and walk towards the Lord.
Srila Prabhupada compares the sankirtana parties coming to Pandharpur in large numbers to Gaudiya vaisnava sankirtana party. As Gaudiya vaisnavas use mridanga and kartala, these are the main instruments of sankirtana parties also. They are always dancing in kirtan as Caitanya Mahaprabhu did. As soon as there is chanting there is dancing also.
Srila Prabhupada appreciates the mood of the singers the dancers. They are called as warkaris. Devotees sing the glories of Pandharpur while performing sankirtana on the way. Acaryas who have come to Pandharpur have written abhangas which are sang regularly in kirtan in every town and every village of Maharashtra .
Of course 500 years ago Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Pandharpur and Caitanya Caritamrita states He stayed here for 11 days. Lord does not just stay in any guest house but Lord was busy with two things chanting and dancing on the streets of Pandharpur. Also chanting and dancing right in front of Lord Pandhuranga, dancing in darsana mandap with ecstasy in front of Lord Pandharpur, this was one thing. He stayed another 7 days in association of Srirangapuri disciple of Madhavendra Puri they spent time in nityam bhagavata sevaya. So these were two things, He was busy with Harinama kirtan and Bhagavatam kirtanam.
So we have ISKCON here in Pandharpur we have Radha Pandhrinatha. We consider this dhama non different from Vrindavan. Others consider it as Bhu Vaikuntha or south Dwarka. But we consider it non different from Vrindavan. I have written a book of course we call it Bhuvaikuntha in its mahatmya, I have written that it's Vrindavan. There are many evidences that it’s nondifferent from Vrindavan. This book was original in Marathi, some 10 years ago. This book is in great demand. It's printed 7 times, 40000 copies have been distributed. By next festival here in July that's my birthday we will have this book in English. So devotees around the world could understand the glories of Pandharpur dhama.
In the ISKCON temple we have Radha Pandharinath and on the altar in the Vittala temple we have Rukmini and Radha Rani also. That’s a very clear indication that this dhama is not just Vaikuntha or Dwarka it's Vrindavan. Part of Pandharpur dhama there is Gopalpur, Krsna’s cow herding pastimes took place there. The foot prints of cows, calves, Krsna’s flute like that all these symbols reminds us of Vrindavan.
4 -5 days after ashadi ekadasi devotees go to Gopalpur and they have festival there called as Gopalkala meaning all cowherd boys sit in circle and have Bhajan. So, devotees in mood of cowherd boys also sit in circle remembering the Go-charan pastime and enjoy prasadam there called as Gopalkala.
There is also is a mountain nearby that's Govardhana. At the foot hill of this Govardhana hill, Yamuna also flows here and joins Chandrabhaga, there is confluence of Yamuna and Chandrabhaga.
I have described all this in my book. So, keep chanting. Pandharpur dhama also reminds of the glories of the holy name and saints here in Pandharpur. One such devotee was Tukaram Maharaja he was known for his abhangas, bhajans, kirtan. It is considered that Tukaram was initiated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he has spread the glories of the Lord by his chanting. He has written the glories of the Lord in his abhangas and were also sung by him.
Hare Krsna
