Devotees Vaishnavas: Ärî Kholâvecâ Ärîdhara Ùhâkura

jueves, 17 de junio de 2010

Ärî Kholâvecâ Ärîdhara Ùhâkura - Ärîdhara Paòàita

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Ärî Kholâvecâ Ärîdhara Ùhâkura/Ärîdhara Paòàita

All glories to Ärî Kholâvecâ Ärîdhara Ùhâkura, who is full of compassion and tenderness. His bananas and radishes were eaten by the Lord Himself, Ärî Ärî Gauranga Raya.

Kholâvecâ Ärîdhara Ùhâkura lived just on the border of Nadia (Mayapur). He maintained himself by selling bananas, vegetables, banana leaves and cups. Whatever little income he had, fifty percent went for worship of Mother Ganges, and with the rest he somehow or other maintained himself. Towards the end of night, during the early morning hours (brahma muhurta) he would loudly chant Hari Nama. His atheistic hindu neighbours, devoid of devotion, couldn't tolerate this, and they used to berate him with abusive language: "This clumsy, boorish knave couldn't get enough rice to fill his belly, but it is we who have to suffer, as he keeps us awake by his loud moaning in hunger." (C.B. Madhya 9.148)

Ärîdhara, however, didn't bother with their ranting and raving. Rather, in great happiness, he simply carried out his own business service. In the bazaar at Bamonpukkur he had a store. He was extremely honest and asked a fair price for his banana leaves and vegetables. He didn't like to haggle over the prices, so he simply asked a fair price to begin with. Thus saving valuable time and energy, he used it to remember the Holy Names. He didn't like to waste time speaking so much. The customers would simply hand him the correct price and take their goods in exchange. Whatever money he got from selling the various parts of the banana plant, bananas and radishes, he would use half for purchasing flowers and sweets for worship of Mother Ganges. Whatever remained he used for maintaining his household.

Sometimes, as instructed by His mother, Lord Gaurasundara would come to the bazaar to purchase bananas, radishes and spinach. He used to barter with Ärîdhara all the while cutting jokes. Ärîdhara would sell his goods at a fixed price, so Ärî Gaurasundara would offer half that much. Then Ärîdhar would get up and try to snatch away the vegetables from Ärî Gaurasundara's hands. But He wouldn't let go. Finally it would end up that the two of them would be pulling the vegetables back and forth. Then many people would crowd around to see the fun.

One day Mahaprabhu was haggling over the price of a banana flower with Ärîdhara. When Ärîdhara tried to snatch back the banana flower, Mahaprabhu chide, "Why do you behave like this, My dear brother Ärîdhara? Some think that you are renunciant, but I know that you have so much hidden wealth. You are trying to snatch these things out of My hand, but after so many days, you still don't know who I am? I am the father of the Ganges whom you worship. I am only telling you the truth." (C.B. Mad 9.173)

"Ärîdhara then cried "Visnu! Visnu!" and put his hands over his ears. Hearing Nimai Paòàita's seeming blasphemy, he thought that perhaps He had gone crazy. But Ärîdhara then reflected upon Ärî Gaurasundara's character very carefully. "Gaurangasundara's form is beautiful enough to bewilder Cupid himself (madanamohanarupa-gaurangasundara). The beautiful tilaka on His forehead steals one's mind away. His dhoti looks very beautiful tied in three places, and His hair is very wavy. Two things are very restless: His nature and His eyes. The white brahman thread encircling His body looks so beautiful, as though a subtle form of Ananta is residing on His body. His lips red from chewing pan, He laughs and looks at Ärîdhara. And again He takes some bananas, picking them up Himself." (C.B. Mad 9.169-172)

As they conversed, Ärî Gaurasundara played with the bananas, setting them back down on the ground and then, laughing, picking them up again. Ärîdhara then said, "Please listen to me, Ùhâkura! I am Your dog, so kindly forgive me. You don't have to pay anything. Take it for free!"

Mahaprabhu replied, "You are very clever, Ärîdhara! By selling bananas you have become quite wealthy."

Then Ärîdhara, as if to get rid of Him, asked, "My dear Ùhâkura, are there no other stores in this bazaar?"

"There are so many, but what is that to Me? You are My regular supplier! Why should I give you up?"

"Yes, yes, dear Ùhâkura, now I fall at Your feet. I am defeated by You. From today, I will give You what You want. You can take things for free."

"But you'll just give Me old, rotten things!"

"Dear Ùhâkura, why should I give you bad vegetables?"

"Then it's all right. Very well, that sounds good."

After disputing in this way for a while, Mahaprabhu went home. Ärîdhara sat transfixed, gazing after Him. "Someday this boy will be a great liberated soul. How sweetly He speaks and what wonderful expressions He makes! Though He behaves with me in such a ticklish manner, still I feel no remorse in my mind. He doesn't go to any other shop in the market but comes only to me. I am so fortunate!"

Every day Ärî Gaurasundara used to eat vegetable preparations of Ärîdhara's banana stalks and banana flowers from his banana leaf plates and cups.

"The Lord eats what is offered by His devotees. He doesn't even look at what may be offered by nondevotees even though there may be ten million varieties of preparations." (C.B. 9.185) Every day, Ärî Gaurasundara would go for walks and wander throughout the town with His disciples. One day He came to Ärîdhara's house. Ärîdhara knew the Lord very well, having seen Him so many times in the marketplace. Though He did not cut jokes today, Gaurasundara would not leave Ärîdhara's place. Ärîdhara offered Ärî Gaurasundara a seat. Sitting down, Ärî Gaurahari told Ärîdhara, "All day you chant 'Hari, Hari'. You worship Ärî Ärî Laksmi-Narayana as well. But how is it you are so poor? You have so little to eat and your clothes are so meager!"

"But Ùhâkura, though I may eat little I am not fasting, and as for my clothes, whether they are few or many, still I wear something."

"My dear Ärîdhara, you may indeed be wearing some cloth, but I see that it is patched in at least ten places. And though you live in a house, there is no thatching on the roof. Just see, the people of Navadwipa worship Goddess Candi and Durga. They get so much material happiness from this, isn't that so?"

"You have spoken correctly, dear Ùhâkura. Still, everyone's days are passing the same. The king lives in a jewelled palace and eats dainty foodstuffs and wears the most excellent apparel. And the birds simply live in the treetops. But tomorrow they will become equals, because everyone has to reap the results of his own activities according to the will of the Lord." (C.B. Adi 12.189-190)

Then Mahaprabhu began to joke again. "Ärîdhara! I know you have so much wealth, but you are simply hiding it! I am going to tell everyone! I see how you cheat the people!"

"Ùhâkura! You should go home now! I don't want to quarrel with You."

"Just one more thing, Ärîdhara. Whatever you want to give Me, please bring it now. Unless you give me something, I cannot leave here"

"Look, Paòàita! I am a poor man. By selling banana stalks and bananas, I am not even able to feed myself properly. I just don't have anything suitable to give You."

"All right, let your buried riches remain hidden. For now, just give Me some banana stalks, bananas and banana flowers."

Ärîdhara thought to himself, "This brahmana youngster might be somewhat touched in the head. If I answer back too much He might even beat me. And, because He is the son of a brahmana, if He beats me, I won't be able to retaliate. Then again, I can't afford to give vegetables and bananas away to Him for free everyday. Yet again, because He is a brahmana and thus an expansion of the Lord, whatever service I can render to Him is actually my great fortune."

Then he spoke. "You don't have to pay me anything today, Ùhâkura. Here, take these bananas, banana stalks and banana flowers! But don't quarrel with me anymore."

"If you give away nice things, my dear Ärîdhara, who can quarrel with you? But give nice ones. Don't give a blind cow in charity to a brahmana!"

Thus having again enjoyed some joking words with Ärîdhara, Ärî Gaurasundara, along with His disciples, got ready to set out for His house. Just as He was about to leave, he again asked Ärîdhara, "What do you think of Me? If you tell Me truthfully, then I'll go."

"You are the son of a brahmana. An expansion of Visnu."

"Ärîdhara! I'm surprised you still don't know who I am! I am a cowherd boy! The glories of your Mother Ganges are also due to Me."

"You don't even respect Mother Ganges! As people get older, they become subdued and temperate, but at Your age You are getting more and more restless. Now You had better go home. Don't fight with me anymore."

Hearing Ärîdhara's parting words, Ärî Gaurasundara laughed and went home. For as long as the Lord chooses not to reveal Himself, no one can recognize Him.

For a few more days, Ärî Gaurasundara continued with His daily pastimes of learning and education. But then He went to Gayadhama where His mood radically changed. By the time He returned home He was completely intoxicated with love for Krsna. He was now intensely absorbed in the moods of transcendence; the courtyard of Ärîvasa Paòàita's house was the principal place where these manifestations of divine rapture blossomed forth with the outpouring of His heart. It is not possible to describe the ecstatic transformations which occured in His person. They gradually increased with the passage of day to night and night to day.

One day, Mahaprabhu decided to reveal His true self, and sitting on the throne of Lord Visnu within Ärîvasa Paòàit's temple, He began to display His divine potencies. At that time He called His devotees, one after another.

"Bring Ärîdhara here! Let him see My divine form. He has executed so many penances and austerities and tolerated so much trouble in order to have My darsana."

Though it was the middle of the night, as the devotees approached Ärîdhara's house, they could hear him chanting the Holy Names. As they arrived, they called out, "Ärîdhara! Ärîdhara!" But he was so much absorbed in loudly chanting the Holy Names of Hari that at first he didn't hear them. After a little while he became conscious of their presence and coming out of his house he saw their shining faces in the moonlight. "What brings you here in the middle of the night?"

"Ärîdhara! Hurry up! Mahaprabhu is calling you. He sent us to bring you!"

Simply hearing mention of Mahaprabhu, Ärîdhara fainted to the ground in a swoon of ecstatic love." (C.B. Mad 9.154)

The devotees picked him up and brought him to see Mahaprabhu. Seeing His dear devotee, Mahaprabhu called out, "Ärîdhara! Come here, come here! In order to get a glimpse of Me, you have performed so much worship in so many births, and in this life as well you have served Me so much. With great satisfaction have I tasted your vegetables, bananas and banana flowers, eaten with rice from your banana leaves. Ärîdhara, have you forgotten all this?! Ärîdhara! Just get up and see My divine form. This form even the personified Vedas are not qualified to see."

Ärîdhara very slowly got up and began to gaze at the divine form of the Lord.

Tamal Shyamal dekhe sei Vishwambhar Hate Mohan bansi dakkhine Balaram

Mahajyotirmoy sab dekhe vidyaman Kamala tambul dei hater upare catur mukh

pancamukh age stoti kore (C.B. Mad 9.190)

"He saw his Lord Visvambhara, but with a bluish bodily complexion, holding in His hand the flute and accompanied by Balarama standing on His right. Emanating from the Lord and His associates he saw an effulgence illuminating the temple. The goddess of fortune was handing Him betel and pan leaves, while Lord Brahma and Lord Siva continued to recite hymns."

Seeing his Lord Gaurasundara in His form of Syamasudara, Ärîdhara again fell to the ground in a swoon of love of God. By His touch, Mahaprabhu brought him back to consciousness and told him to offer hymns in praise of Himself. Ärîdhara replied, "Ùhâkura! I don't know anything."

"My dear Ärîdhara, whatever you say will be a hymn in praise of Me and I bless you that the goddess of learning, Mother Sarasvati, be present on your tongue."

Then Ärîdhara proclaimed, "Jaya jaya Mahaprabhu, jaya Visvambhara, (the Maintainer of the universe). Jaya jaya Navadvipa Purandara (Who is full with all beauty). Jaya jaya ananta brahmanda kotinatha (the Lord of tens of millions of universes) Jaya jaya saci punyavati garbhajata (Who took birth from the womb of the pious and chaste Saci). Jaya jaya Vedagopya jaya dvijaraja (Who is hidden within the Vedas and is the Lord of the brahmanas). Yuge yuge dharma pal kari nana saja (Who comes in varrious forms to uphold religions during the different ages). (C.B. Mad 9.200-202)

In this way Ärîdhar offered prayers for almost an hour and a half. Being very pleased, Mahaprabhu told him, "Now ask any benediction from Me."

"Ùhâkura, I don't want any benediction. But if You want to bless me someway then this is my request:

Se brahman kari nilo mor kholapat Se brahman hauk mor janma janma nath Se

brahman mor sange karilo kondol Mor prabhu hauk tar caran yugal (C.B. Mad

9/224)

"That brahmana who snatched away my banana leaves and cups, may He be my Lord birth after birth. That brahmana Who would wrangle with me over the price of my bananas, may His lotus feet always be my object of worship."

Having requested this blessing, Ärîdhara began to cry very loudly. Seeing his tears of love, the devotees also began to cry.

Mahaprabhu replied, "You, Ärîdhara, are My servant birth after birth. I have tested you in so many ways, but I am extremely pleased with your conduct. I have become indebted to you by your service and love for Me."

Hearing these loving words from Mahaprabhu the devotees made the sky reverberate with the sounds of "Hari! Hari!"

"Neither wealth, followers or scholarship do they desire. Who can understand these servants of Ärî Caitanya? What is the effect of learning, wealth, beauty, fame and aristocratic birth, other than to simply increase one's false ego and thus bring about on's end. What Ärîdhar gained, simply by selling bananas and radishes, is unatainable by the richest of men in tens of millions of ages." (C.B. Mad 9.283-235)

After performing various pastimes with His devotees in Nadia-nagara, the Lord then desired to perform the pastime of accepting sannyasa in order to deliver all the living entities. The day before His departure He passed in ecstatic dancing and chanting of the Holy Names, and in the evening returned to His house. The devotees accompanied Him there.

"Today how unprecedentedly beautiful Prabhu looks! Smiling so sweetly He is presenting His flower garlands to His various devotees, who are floating in oceans of bliss. Advaita Acarya is here, Ärîvasa Paòàit and Ärî Vakresvara Paòàit, and here comes Ärîdhara with a bottle gourd in his hand, to offer to Mahaprabhu."

Taking the gourd in His hand Mahaprabhu began to laugh. He thought to Himself, "How will I go to take sannyasa without first eating Ärîdhara's bottle gourd? I can't refuse the offerings of My devotees."

He called His mother: "Ai! Ärîdhara has taken the trouble to bring this gourd! Cook it and offer it to Krsna."

Just at that time another devotee brought some milk. So Saci Mata prepared halavah from the gourd and milk and after offering to the Deity she brought it before her son. While feeding His devotees He honoured the prasada Himself also.

"Ärîdhara! How can I refuse what you have brought for Me? But tell Me if you will honor My request."

"Ùhâkura! Just say whatever it is. Why shouldn't I be able to keep Your request?"

"Then please come here to My house every day so that I can see you."

After enjoying some joking words with His devotees He instructed them to always engage in Ärî Krsna sankirtana. Then He prepared to take rest. In the dead of night He left to accept sannyasa. When He resided at Puri, Ärîdhara used to come every year with the other Bengali devotees to see Him.

In his past incarnation he was Kusumasava sakha of Vraja (GGD. 133). Other references to him are listed as follows: Krsnacaitanyacaritam of Murari Gupta 4.17.8, CBh. 1.1.11, Caitanyamangala of Jayananda 23, CC. 1.10.65, Vaisnava Vandana of Jiva Gosvâmî 108, Devakinandana 34, and Vrndavanadasa 36. He was born in a brahmana family in Navadvipa and was of the twelve Gopalas.

Although Ärîdhara was extremely poor financially, he was abundantly rich with the treasure of prema-bhakti. He earned his livelihood by selling bananas, banana flowers, stems, and leaves. Out of his daily earning he spent half for offering worship to the Ganges and half on his living. He was commonly known as "Kholâvecâ Ärîdhara." He was an extremely honest man. He had a fixed price for his commodities and never allowed any bargaining. Lord Gauranga often enjoyed teasing Ärîdhara, hackling over the price of his goods, insisting that he give him the goods for half price. Thus the goods were snatched back and forth from Ärîdhara's and Lord Caitanya's hands. Finally, Ärîdhara would give in and allow the Lord to take the goods for free.

The Lord was always pleased with Ärîdhara's behavior and He would use any excuse to visit him. They would converse confidentially and joke with each other. In this way several hours a day passed very happily. Ärîdhara offered the Lord obeisances and a seat as soon as He arrived. Ärîdhara's calm and mild personality stood in obvious contrast to Nimai's stormy character.

"Ärîdhara you are always chanting Lord Hari's name, so what is the reason for your suffering? You are serving the husband and master of Ärî Laksmi Devi, the Goddess of Fortune, so why are you always in want of food and clothes?"

"I am not starving," replied Ärîdhara, "and as You can see, I have clothes on. They are neither fine clothes nor the right size, but my body is covered."

"But Ärîdhara," argued the Lord, "the clothes are torn in several places and I know you have neither straw nor rice in the house. Look around you. All the citizens worship Goddess Candi (Mother Durga), the destroyer of all enemies, and none of them suffer for want of food, shelter or clothing."

"You have made a good point," replied Ärîdhara, "but generally speaking, everyone's life is almost the same. The king may live in a palace surrounded by opulence and eat sumptuously while the birds live in the open or in a simple nest in a tree top and gather their own humble food, but basically everyone's approach to life is similar. By the Lord's design each of us must meet the demands of duty and in doing so we behave more or less alike. Personally I prefer to live the life I am leading now."

"I am sure you have immense wealth hidden somewhere," accused the Lord, "and you are relishing opulent food in secret. Soon I will make it known to everyone, and then we will see how you continue to cheat the people."

"Come to my house, dear learned brahmana," invited Ärîdhara, "and see for Yourself. We should not start an argument here."

"I am not going to let you off so easily," said Nimai, "Tell Me what you are going to feed Me?"

"I make a simple living selling leaf cups," replied Ärîdhara. "What can I offer to give You from such an income, respected brahmana?"

"I am not going to touch Your hidden wealth now, that I will get later," assured Nimai. "But if you give Me banana root and some banana stalks right now without taking money, then I will not fight with you any more."

Ärîdhara thought to himself, "He is a very aggressive brahmana. Someday He might even beat me. But even if He does beat me, what can I do? I really cannot afford to give Him whatever He wants free each day, but I see He has a godly form; He is not an ordinary personality by any means. If He takes my goods by force or by some other tricky means, then He is free to do so. I think this is my good fortune, and in spite of my poverty I will continue to give Him whatever He wants."

Having made his decision, Ärîdhara answered the Lord, "Dear brahmana, You do not have to pay me anything at all. I will give You whatever You want with an open and happy heart. Take Your bananas and other vegetables, take the leaf cups that I have and please do not fight with me anymore."

"Yes that is a very satisfactory agreement," said Nimai. "There should be no further fights, but please see to it that I get good quality bananas, banana stalk and radish." Daily the Lord ate with Ärîdhara from his leaf cups, relishing his bananas, banana stalks, radishes and Ärîdhara's cooking in general. When a gourd grew on Ärîdhara's roof top, the Lord had it cooked into a special preparation made with milk and hot spices.

One day the Lord asked, "Ärîdhara what do you think of Me? As soon as you tell me that, I shall return to My house."

Ärîdhara replied, "You are a brahmana, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord Vishnu."

"No, you do not know," said Nimai. "I belong to the community of cowherds and milk men. You see Me as a young brahmana boy, but I consider Myself to be simply a milk man."

Ärîdhara just smiled at the Lord's comment; he could not recognize his own Lord and master, being deluded by the Lord's internal potency.

"Ärîdhara, I am going to reveal to you an esoteric truth. You see the river Ganges? I am the source of the Ganga." "O Nimai Paòàita! Have You no fear of disrespecting Ganga devi like this?" asked the disturbed Ärîdhara. "People usually become grave and serious as they grow older, but Your frivolity seems to have doubled since Your childhood."

After staying with Ärîdhara for sometime, Nimai Paòàita returned home.

Once Ärîdhara was walking along loudly singing Krishna's name and he began to dance in ecstacy. When the other devotees saw this dear devotee of Lord Caitanya dancing they came and surrounded him and began to sing. Ärîdhara was overwhelmed with spiritual emotions and fell down rolling on the ground, continuously chanting Krishna's name. When the non-devotees saw this they ridiculed and laughed at him saying, "Just look at him! That poor fellow has also become a Vaisnava. Although he cannot afford clothes nor does he have money to eat, suddenly he is making a show of exhibiting ecstatic symptoms. They all live by begging, yet now they have started an untimely festival." The atheists continued to hurl insulting remarks at the devotees, but the pious devotees went on chanting Krishna's name undaunted.

Once Lord Caitanya, while dancing in mad ecstacy, went to the small broken hut where Ärîdhara lived. Ärîdhara had practically no possessions, only an old dented metal pot stood outside his door. The pot had been repaired so many times that even a thief would not think of stealing it. While the Lord was dancing in front of Ärîdhara's house He saw that the metal pot was filled with water. The Supreme Lord Visvambhara, wanting to teach the human society how deeply He loved and cared for His devotees, picked up Ärîdhara's worn out waterpot and proceeded to drink water from it with great pleasure. When Ärîdhara saw what Visvambhara was doing he came running, shouting, "O death, I am finished! I know You have come to my house to destroy me!" Thus speaking, the saintly Ärîdhara fainted on the ground out of great spiritual perturbation. Lord Visvambhara with utmost satisfaction said, "My whole being has now become purified. Today finally I have attained devotion to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna simply by drinking water from Ärîdhara's pot." Saying this the Lord shed tears of divine ecstacy. Through this pastime the Lord taught the world the extraordinary potency of the water which has been touched by a pure devotee; immediately one is purified and thus attachment to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna is manifest within the heart.

In the Padma Purana (Adikhanda 31/112) it is stated, "The wise devotee who is desirous of purifying himself completely of all sinful reactions should specifically approach a pure Vaisnava and beg from him his food remnants. If this is not available then at least he should beg some of his water remnants, or drink the water that has washed his feet."

The devotees began to cry with joy upon seeing the Supreme Lord manifest such mercy and special affection towards His devotee. Nityânanda, Gadadhara, Advaita and Ärîvasa rolled on the ground and cried ecstatically. Haridasa, Vakreswar, Candrasekhar, Jagadananda and numerous other close associates of the Lord, were also unable to contain their spiritual emotions and called out the sweet name of Krsna with tears in their eyes. Ärîdhara's house became the blessed exhibition site for the highest form of ecstatic love of Godhead. The whole universe exulted with the chanting of Krishna's holy name, and Lord Gauracandra, seeing His mission accomplished, smiled benignly.

Just behold the glory of Ärîdhara's devotion, the Supreme Lord reciprocated by bestowing His full mercy upon him. With great pleasure the Lord drank water from Ärîdhara's base metal waterpot, although the pot was used for many purposes and was full of repairs and dents. The Lord, however, did not drink ordinary water when he drank from the pot; the potency of Ärîdhara's devotion had transformed the water into divine ambrosia. Thus the Lord taught that everything in relation to a pure devotee is transcendental.

The Supreme Lord, on the other hand, ignores the valuable gem-studded waterpot of a materialist. He accepts any offering from His surrendered devotees, irrespective of any rules and regulations for offering. If His devotee can only offer some meager or ordinary food then the Lord forcibly takes it from him, as was the case with Sudama Vipra. In many instances the Lord has shown that He sells Himself to His devotees. When the Pandavas were banished to the forest, Lord Krishna relished simple offerings of leafy vegetables from Yudhisthira Maharaja. Lord Krishna manifests Himself to His devotees according to the desire and mellow of the devotees, and He allows Himself to be sold or purchased by His unalloyed devotees. All the scriptures have described this wonderful quality of Lord Krishna, that He specially favors His pure devotees and always personally protects them from all calamities.

It was difficult to understand the transformation that took place in the Lord after He drank water from Ärîdhara's waterpot. All the devotees began to shed tears of joy seeing the special mercy that the Supreme Lord showered upon His pure devotee. Ärîdhara was struck with wonder and tears overflowed from his eyes. Holding a straw between his teeth he knelt humbly before the Lord. He called out the name of the Lord and said, "What have you done my Lord, what water have You drunk?" But Lord Visvambhara's bliss could not be checked and He danced in ecstacy surrounded by all His associates who sang and danced along with Him. Nityânanda Prabhu and Gadadhara Paòàita were like two jewels decorating the Lord on either side.

Kholâvecâ Ärîdhara's fortune was indeed so great that even Lord Siva and Lord Brahma were moved and shed tears of joy and appreciation. The Supreme Lord Caitanya is unattainable by wealth, fame or erudition, but is captivated by unalloyed devotion. After the water drinking incident the Lord left Ärîdhara's place and proceeded towards town.

At the time of the Lord's Mahaprakasa, He requested some of the devotees to bring Ärîdhara before Him. The devotees rushed to carry out His order and half way to Ärîdhara's house they heard him loudly chanting the holy name. Following the sound they reached the house of Ärîdhara and informed him of the Lord's order. Upon hearing the Lord's request, Ärîdhara fell unconscious. The devotees joined hands and carried him to the presence of the Lord. Lord Gauranga warmly welcomed him and said, "Ärîdhara you have performed immense austerity to attain Me. In your previous births, as well as in this birth, you have dedicated yourself entirely to My service. Every day I partake of food on the banana leafs offered by you." Lord Gauranga continued, "Ärîdhara, look at Me." Ärîdhara suddenly saw Lord Gauranga become Lord Krsna carrying His flute. Balarama stood at His right side, while Laksmi devi offered Him betel-leaf. Anantadeva sheltered the Lord with His hoods, while Caturmukha, Pancamukha, Narada, Suka and Sanaka sang hymns. Surrounding them were charming young girls who offered prayers with folded hands.

Ärîdhara was awe-struck and fell on the ground losing consciousness. Lord Gauranga urged Ärîdhara to rise and offer prayers, which Ärîdhara submissively did. The Lord then requested, "Ärîdhara, ask whatever boon you want. Today I shall bestow you with asta-siddhi."

Ärîdhara, however, refused to ask for any material gain. Finally, at the repeated request of the Lord, Ärîdhara said, "My Lord, since you are forcing me to accept a boon, I request that the brahmana who used to snatch my banana leaves may remain my worshipful Lord eternally." With arms raised Ärîdhara burst into tears. The Lord then granted Ärîdhara's desire.

Ärîdhara used to participate in the street sankirtana led by Lord Gauranga. Later, he regularly visited the Lord in Nilacala.

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