Glories Of Srila Kolavecha Sridhar (Part 2)

Radhanath Swami

Lord Caitanya challenged Sridhar. He said, “Do you know who I am?” Sridhar said, “you are a Brahmin. Brahmin is a worship able representative of the Lord on Earth.” He said, “no. I am a cowherd boy.” He was speaking the truth. But due to Yogamaya potency, Sridhar could not understand. He just started laughing. He said, “cowherd boy!” Laughing. And then the lord said, “you worship the river Ganga.” “Yes!” “Give me your bananas and banana leaves for free”. “Why?” “Because the Ganga is emanating from me. The river Ganges is my devotee.” And Kolavecha Sridhar just held his ears. He said, “Vishnu, Vishnu! How could you say this? How could you declare this of yourself? Generally, as people get older, people become less restless. But with everyday, you are becoming more restless.” In this way, every single day, Nimai Pundit would debate with Kolavecha Sridhar on the price of banana leaves. And everyday he would take them, practically for nothing. In fact, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, every meal practically, he would only eat of the banana leaves of Kolavecha Sridhar. And from time to time, on the grass roof of Sridhar’s little one space house, a pumpkin squash would grow. And he would always offer that to Nimai ad how Nimai ecstatically enjoy that simple fruit that was offered by his devotee.