All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Saranga Murari’s Sripat:
So we hope that you had a nice rest last night, that is our camp site for last two years. How do you like it? Lots of trees and pukurs.
So you’ve entered into the Saranga Murari’s Sripat and there the deity of Vasudeva Dutta is also present. There are two routes. If you go by the back route, you can see the ruins of the temple of Vasudeva Dutta and then you go to the house of Vrindavan das Thakura. That’s in Modadrumadvipa.
Modadrumadvipa means trees, like Godrumadvipa means cows and trees. Beacaue there was a big banyan tree in Treta Yuga and there Lord Rama went with Sita and Laksman. So He was smiling. Now Sita noticed , “Why you are smiling?” Then He said, “Well in Kali Yuga I will appear in a Golden form and I will be known as Gauranga!” “Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga” In this pastime, I banish you to the forest and in Kali Yuga I will banish myself to the forest as a reciprocation.” But Sita was not happy either way. So the pastimes of Lord Rama, Krishna and Lord Gauranga are connected. There is a form of Lord Caitanya ‘Sad-bhuj’, six arms of Lord Chaitanya. Two arms of Lord Ramachandra, two arms of Krishna playing flute two arms of Lord Caitanya having a Danda and Kamandalu.
In that Ashram, there is a large tree. That tree is also from the time of Lord Caitanya. Actually, if you see it closely, you will see that it’s empty but somehow the shell is growing. There is some leela connected with the tree.The devotees of Lord Caitanya have great respect for that tree.
You heard about Murari Thakura. How he would preach, riding on the back of a tiger. He would go to a village, riding on a tiger and people would see him on a tiger, 8-10 feet long and he would ask people to chant Hare Krishna! Ha ha ha ha! So who would not chant?! He was so dynamic! He had already died but was brought back to life by Saranga Thakura. Sometimes he would chant under the water, No disturbance! So this is a very special place. It’s at the border of Jahnu dvipa and Modadrumadvipa. Next stop would be completely in Modrudumadvip.
So be careful. I remember, some years ago, one devotee jumped into a man made lake and beneath the surface, there was a stairway. So he hit his head on the stairway and we had to take him in an ambulance to the hospital. So be careful. Don’t jump into any lake with head first. See what’s under the water first.
So there are many holy places, one of them is Vrindavan das Thakur’s birth place and the other is Arka tila.The Banyan tree that I was taking about, you cannot find it now. There is also Vaikunthapur, we don’t know where it is. There is Mahatpur, where pandavas came. We know where that is. And then there is the camp site at Pratap Nagar. So we hope you all have a very transcendental journey in Janudwip and Modrudumadvip.
Don’t forget to chant, “Gauranga!” ” Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! ”
(Transcribed by Rasa Priya Gopika Devi Dasi)