20210318 Navadvīpa Maṇḍala Parikramā Day 2 Haṁsa-vāhana Address

All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! All glories to Navadvīpa-maṇḍala-parikramā!

In some previous age, Śukadeva Gosvāmī was giving a lecture on Gaura Bhāgavata. He was describing the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. When Lord Śiva heard of that, he wanted to attend it. He was very anxious. So, from Kailāsa, he got to Satya-loka. He felt that he was going too slow. He asked if he could borrow Lord Brahmā’s Haṁsa, since the swan was faster than his bull, Nandī. So, Brahmā gave him his swan. And then Lord Śiva arrived at the assembly of Śukadeva Gosvāmī and the sages. And when the sages saw the swan of Lord Brahmā, they thought that Brahmā had come. They all stood up. But then they were surprised to see Lord Śiva riding at the back of the swan. So, since that time, there has been a deity of Lord Śiva riding on the swan, that is why he is known as Haṁsa-vāhana. That Lord Śiva was taking Haṁsa as his carrier or vāhana. 

The Lord Śiva deity, as a stone, Haṁsa would be kept in the river Gomatī. But then a few years ago it was stolen. Because it is Kali-yuga, normally no one will steal the deity. So, since then, the police have said to keep the deity in the temple. So, when we go to Naimiṣāraṇya, we pass by the Haṁsa-vāhana temple. 

One time, we were going to the Haṁsa-vāhana temple. But all the Ganges water spilled out in the bouncing car. So, we wondered what to do! Then we drove to the Puṣkara-tīrtha, which was just a couple of kilometers away. We took the Puṣkara-tīrtha water, came back to the Haṁsa-vāhana. There was a long line of devotees, and the system was that you offer a drop of water on the Haṁsa-vāhana. And if Lord Śiva is fulfilling your desire, then the flower will puff up. And if he is not fulfilling, the flower will fall down. We were chanting and waiting to see Lord Śiva. The pūjārī came out and he said, "Stop chanting!" So, we started chanting very softly. Then Lord Śiva was not giving anyone blessings. And the pūjārī came to us and he said, “Chant! Chant!” We were chanting and ultimately the pūjārī said, “Come in!” And then we offered our water and things to Lord Śiva. We were chanting and so Lord Śiva, he made the flowers popped up. So, the pūjārī was very happy. Sometimes, we will also bring the Haṁsa-vāhana to Māyāpur, and people would have darśana of Haṁsa-vāhana. 

You are all very fortunate, to be here in the holy land of Navadvīpa dhāma, all the holy places are manifest here. And this place is non-different from Naimiṣāraṇya. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Haribol!