The following is an excerpt from Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja’s book Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma and Other Prominent Holy Places of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas in Śrī Gauḍa-maṇḍala

 

Chand Kazi’s samādhi

This place is situated in Sīmantadvīpa on the boundary of Antardvīpa. Nearby was Maulānā Sirajuddīna Chand Kazi’s palace. Śacī-devī’s father, Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, used to reside in this village. Chand Kazi was a high official in the kingdom of Emperor Hussein Shah, Bengal’s chief ruler. At that time Chand Kazi was the administrator of Navadvīpa as well as its magistrate. Some considered him to be the spiritual master of the Emperor. He used to be a great opponent of Hindu religion and after breaking a mṛdaṅga during the devotee’s kīrtana in Śrīvāsa-aṅgana he passed a law against the performance of saṅkīrtana. That same evening, in defiance of that law, Śrīman Mahāprabhu gathered hundreds of thousands of people, almost all carrying burning torches. Performing kīrtana with mṛdaṅgas and karatālas they went to Chand Kazi’s residence. The terrified Chand Kazi hid, but somehow Mahāprabhu enticed him out, assuring him he had no need to fear. “According to village relationships you are My maternal uncle and I want your affection. Why are you hiding?”

Chand Kazi replied, “After breaking the mṛdaṅga, I returned home. That night while I slept, the form of Nṛsiṁha suddenly mounted my chest and scratched it with His nails. Trembling in rage He said, ‘Today I’m letting you go, but if in the future you ever again obstruct the saṅkīrtana movement, I will kill you. Always remember this.’ I started from my sleep in horror. Look, even now You can see His nail marks on my chest. I promise that from this day forth, I will never obstruct the saṅkīrtana movement; nor will anyone in my dynasty obstruct it. I will disown anyone who does so.”

Śrīman Mahāprabhu then inquired from the Kazi, “Please explain why are you engaged in cow killing. The cow, who gives milk to both Hindus and Muslims, is the mother of everyone.” The Kazi replied, “In our noble Koran there is no injunction to kill the cow. Those who do so are acting in opposition to the Koran.” After this incident, Chand Kazi became a devotee, and when he disappeared from this world, his samādhi was built at this place. Even today Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s Vaiṣṇava devotees reverentially circumambulate Chand Kazi’s samādhi.

At his samādhi a 500-year-old goloka-campaka tree stands as witness to this incident. The tree continues to blossom even though the upper part of the tree is hollow.

The following is an excerpt from a lecture by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja on August 2, 2002, published in Walking with a Saint – Morning Walks and Conversations 2009

“The water is polluted, the air is polluted, the ether is polluted, everything else is polluted, and all life forms are dying by pollution. So many poisons are floating in the water, and so many poisons are floating in the air, and therefore there is so very much anxiety.

“Intelligent persons are thinking about how to save the world from such pollution, but a day will come when the whole ocean will be polluted with poisons, all fish will thus be poisoned, and if anyone will eat fish or any food from the sea, he will die. In the name of saving agriculture, people spray poisons everywhere to kill insects, that poison comes into the grains, and thus all the grains are polluted. You eat those grains, you become mad, you are besieged by so many diseases, and then you die.

“If you are abusing anyone, criticizing anyone, or quarrelling with anyone, those sounds will evaporate in the air and travel throughout the universe. If you are speaking any nonsense, it will not ‘go in vain.’ It will travel throughout the entire world via the air.

“An example may be given of a big pond. If you take a stone and throw it into a pond, some waves will be created, and they will touch all ends of the pond. This universe is like a pond, and air is everywhere in the universe. When one chants “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare,” this will ‘evaporate’ and create so many waves of air, which will touch everywhere – up to the ends of the world – moving here and there and purifying the entire universe from all these pollutions.

“Kṛṣṇa is so powerful. He can create the whole universe in a second, and He can destroy it, and again he can create so many worlds. He has invested all His mercy, power, and opulence in His names, and that is why they are so powerful. His holy names very quickly travel throughout the universe with the help of airwaves, and the pollution is gone at once.

“You know that the trees, creepers, animals, and insects cannot speak. They cannot understand our language. Still, everyone – not only humans, but trees, creepers, and insects here and there in this universe – is touched by this powerful name, whether they know it or not. There is no question of whether or not they are aware; they will be touched. If knowingly or unknowingly you touch fire, it will burn you. Similarly, these names are very powerful. They will inject all and purify all, whether they are aware of what is happening or not.

“Here the trees are very fortunate, the grass is fortunate, and the persons are fortunate – whether they are coming to our classes or not. The trees, creepers, grass and all other entities are somehow attending our classes by hearing the sound.

“Similarly, although Muslims don’t utter the holy names Hari, Kṛṣṇa, or Rāma, the sound will somehow go and touch them, even if they are in Arabia or Iran. Even hogs, pigs, bears, and other creatures in jungles and forests, attacking persons and eating them, will also be liberated.

“Kīrtana is so powerful that if you are meditating on anything and we are doing kīrtana, you cannot continue to meditate. If you are doing kīrtana and someone else is not doing kīrtana, he is bound to do kīrtana in the mind. If you cannot meditate, then chant “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.” This will engage all your senses. You will forget where you are and what you are doing. If you chant louder and louder, all your senses will be controlled; there will be nothing to criticize and nothing to remember about your bad activities or anyone else’s. Otherwise, without this kīrtana, while meditating, all kinds of bogus things will come into your head. You are not able to check this by yourself, but by kīrtana it will be checked very easily.”

Excerpt from a lecture delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja, in Malaysia on December 5, 1998

Nowadays there is no saṅkīrtana, no big distributions, nothing. They are not even hearing hari-kathā. They are doing nothing. What will be the result of this? You will be sick and negative. You should try to do all these things. We should preach like at the time of Svāmījī (Śrīla Prabhupāda).

I have not heard that you are making any plan to be in nagara-saṅkīrtana, never. Why? What are you doing? Anyone will say, “Oh, I am writing.” What are you writing? There is no need for writing. If we are not preaching, then what is the use of travelling everywhere? We could have stayed in India and done our writing. So why did you come with me here? Why? Why did you come here? “Oh, I am translating.” What are you translating? What are you translating? You have come here to preach, so why are you not going here and there and meeting with ignorant people and trying to call them here and meet with them and discuss something? Why are you not giving them books and going on nagara-saṅkīrtana? Be energetic like this.

Otherwise, there is no need to be here. I will return to India and there I will do all these things. You should try to do all these things. Try to know the inner moods of Gurudeva and devotees. Not going on offering and offering for hours and hours. Kṛṣṇa will run away from there and the senior devotees will think, “Oh, they are wasting my time.” Understand? All of you should try to follow all these things and be very energetic. You should go and do nagara-saṅkīrtana. You should try to make a plan for this and try to follow all these things that I am saying internally. We have come to preach so our preaching should be there. We should think, “How can we help them?”

With pity and compassion, we should try to help others and serve Gurudeva. We are indebted to our Gurudeva because he caught hold of us from so many villages, being ignorant, and he gave us such a high class of thought. To please Gurudeva and to be merciful to all, we should try to help others. This is preaching. Don’t neglect all these things and try to know the inner mood of Gurudeva. I want that all should be enthusiastic in preaching here and there. Understand? Gaura Premānande!

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