Srila Uddharan Dutt Thakur is one of the principal associates of Lord Nityananda. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta ādi 11.41, Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami describes him as the eleventh amongst the dvādaśa-gopālas, the twelve principal cowherd boyfriends of Krishna in Vrindavan.
Both Srila Kavi Karnapur in his Gauragaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (129) and Srila Viswanath Chakravarti Thakur in his Gaura-gaṇa-svarūpa-tattva-dandrikā (89) describe him as the vrajavāsī cowherd boy Subahu who descended with Balaram Nityananda Prabhu.
Uddharan Dutt appeared in 1481 in the town of Saptagram, about fifty kilometers north of Kolkata in what is today the Chinsurah district of West Bengal. His birth name was Dibakara Dutt. His father was Srikar Dutt, while his mother’s name was Bhadravati. His wife’s name was Mahamaya. They had a son named Srinivas Dutt Thakur. According to Srila Vrindavan Das Thakur in hisCaitanya-bhāgavata (antya 5.449-461), Nityananda Prabhu visited Saptagram and delivered many persons there. And according to the local tradition in Saptagram it was during that visit that after taking a bath at Triveni, Nitai sat under a tree and, intoxicated with divine love, began to loudly chant the names of Krishna. The sweet sound of that chanting charmed the heart of the son of Srikar Dutt, who came running there. Recognizing Nityananda Prabhu as his eternal master, the young boy fell at his lotus feet and began weeping. Nityananda then embraced the boy, initiated him, and gave him the name Uddharan, meaning “one who delivers”, an appropriate name for this great preacher who delivered so many persons.
Born in a family of gold merchants, Uddharan Dutt was wealthy materially. However, he was not a miser but was very merciful and generous with his money. When a terrible famine struck Saptagram, many persons were dying from starvation. At that time Uddharan made a
base on ten acres of land, and built large warehouses containing huge amounts of rice, dahl and vegetables. Using this he then began a massive food distribution program to help the suffering poor. He also had a nearby jungle area leveled to make a place for the many homes he built to house the homeless. It is said that the Eastern Railway station at Adi Saptagram is built on the spot where he conducted his food relief program.
According to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna (the encyclopedia of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism) and the local tradition in Saptagram, an amazing event took place during the visit of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda was taking part in daily ecstatic kīrtanas in which all of the residents of Saptagram, regardless of caste or creed, joyfully took part. However, there was a group of envious Bhattacharya Brahmins who could not tolerate the loud kīrtanas. With a desire to defeat and humiliate Lord Nityananda, they came to the home of Uddharan Datt, where Nitai was staying. There they challenged Nityananda by saying that the path of jñānawas superior to the path of bhakti. Nityananda Prabhu refused to debate with them and instead invited the angry Brahmins to take lunch with him. However, when the Brahmins heard that the cooking was being done by Uddharan Dutt they refused to accept the prasādam as they considered it unfit, being cooked by Uddharan, who externally belonged to an inferior merchant caste.
Lord Nityananda cited to them various evidences from śāstra supporting the fact that the prasādam of Krishna was always pure and can be accepted regardless of by whom it is cooked. The Brahmins finally became pacified and sat down. However, whenthey saw Uddharan Dutt serving out the prasādam it was too much for them. Again, they refused to accept what they considered to be food that was contaminated by the touch of a low-class person.
Desiring to purify the Brahmins and glorify his dear devotee Uddharan Dutt, Nityananda Prabhu requested Uddharan to give him the wooden spoon that he had cooked with. Nitai then pushed the stick into the ground and the stick miraculously grew into a fragrant Madhavi bush.
Seeing this amazing event, everyone was stunned. The Brahmins just sat speechless, staring at the bush. Finally, as a group they got up and ran over to the Madhavi creeper, offering prostrated obeisances to the plant. They then began weeping and rolling on the ground while loudly calling out, “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!”
Next, they turned to Uddharan Dutt and Lord Nityananda. After falling at their feet, they begged forgiveness from them and asked Uddharan Dutt to bless them by giving them prasādam.
When he was twenty-six years old, Uddharan Datt’s wife passed away. At that time, he gave up his wealth and family and began to wander and preach everywhere as a servant of Lord Nityananda.
In his purport to Caitanya-caritāmṛta (ādi 11.41), Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has described that the family of his birth comes in the line of the suvarṇa-vaṇik mercantile community of Saptagram. In that same purport he also describes some of the deities and places connected with Srila Uddharan Dutt Thakur:
In Saptagram there is still a temple with a six-armed deity of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that was personally worshiped by Srila Uddharan Dutt Thakur. On the right side of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a deity of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, and on the left side is Gadadhar Prabhu. There are also a Radha-Govinda mūrti and a śālagrāma-śilā, and below the throne is a picture of Sri Uddharan Dutt Thakur. In front of the temple there is now a big hall, and in front of the hall is a mādhavī-latā plant. The temple is in a very shady, cool, and nicely situated location. When we returned from America in 1967, the executive committee members of this temple invited us to visit it, and thus we had the opportunity to visit this temple with some American students.
Formerly, in our childhood, we visited this temple with our parents because all the members of the suvarṇa- vaṇik community enthusiastically take interest in this temple of Uddharan Dutt Thakur.
The Madhavi creeper planted directly by the hand of Lord Nityananda from the wooden spoon of Uddharan Dutt still stands today at Saptagram in front of the samādhi of Sri Uddharan Dutt. As one writer comments, “The tree bends down and showers its beautiful flowers as an offering to this great vaiṣṇava saint.” — MD
Bibliography
— https://www.thegaudiyatreasuresofbengal.com/2018/01/10/sri- uddharana-datta-thakura-sripat-adisaptagram-thakurbari/
— Haridas Das. Śri Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇava-abhidhāna. Haribol Kutir. Nabadwip. 501 Gaurabda. Bengali.
— Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. English translation and commentary by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Los Angeles. 1975.
— Vrindavan Das Thakur. Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata with the Gauḍīya Bhāsya commentary of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Sri Gaudiya Math. Bagbazar, Calcutta. 1984. Bengali.
Post view 471 times
Leave a Reply