PREACHING ACTIVITIES IN EAST PAKISTAN
After Srila Paramgurudeva took sannyas, just prior to Indian independence (1947) and afterward, he went on an extended preaching tour throughout India and East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh). Accompanying him were Mihir Prabhu, Sankarshan Prabhu, Krishna Keshava Brahmachari, Trailokya Prabhu, Mahendra Prabhu, Sri Brahma, Pyari Mohan Brahmachari, Yajneshwar Das Babaji Maharaj, and others. Some of the important places he visited in Dhaka and Mymensingh districts were Baliyati, Nawabganj, Kalakopa village, Jamurki, Pakulla, and Churain.
While in Jamurki-Pakulla in Mymensingh district, Srila Paramgurudeva gave a lecture in a pandal set up at the local high school. He often talked about this event later. More than a thousand people of both Hindu and Muslim faiths were present in the audience that gathered that day. Many students and teachers from the school also came. Several local policemen gave Srila Paramgurudeva a friendly warning that following the partition of India and Pakistan; the situation was tense for Hindus in the Muslim dominated country. He was told to be careful about what he said and did because the government was watching him. If complaints were made that something he said went against Pakistan’s interests, he could be jailed. After having received this warning and seeing the large numbers of police officers present in the crowd, Srila Paramgurudeva started to worry about the difficulties a devotee would have to face if put in prison, where contact with untouchable foodstuffs would be inevitable. Seeking to avoid any possibility of trouble, he requested the listeners to save their questions for the end of his discourse, at which time he would leave fifteen to twenty minutes to address them. He also said that he would entertain further inquiries on matters not related to his lecture in his quarters at another time. He requested that no one interrupt the lecture to ask questions, for it would disrupt the proceedings and cause a disturbance to the other listeners.
Despite this request, however, after Srila Paramgurudeva had been speaking for half an hour, a mullah stood up and asked, “What is the reasoning behind the Hindu custom of worshiping idols (but-parasti)?” Many of the people in the audience were irritated by the interruption and told him to hush up and Srila Paramgurudeva not to answer, but Srila Paramgurudeva welcomed the mullah’s question by praising it, saying that it was deserving of an answer from which everyone present could profit. Furthermore, by answering it he would not wander from the subject under discussion, but would rather enrich it.
He then proceeded to deal with the mullah’s question as follows. He said that before answering him, he wished to ask him a question: “Do you believe in God (khuda)?” The mullah said, “Of course I do.” Srila Paramgurudeva then asked, “Do you believe in Khuda’s omnipotence?” The mullah loudly declared, “Khuda is all-powerful!” Srila Paramgurudeva then laughed and said, “There you have your answer.”
Not realizing the implications of the word “omnipotent,” the mullah was at first confused by Srila Paramgurudeva’s answer. So Paramgurudeva started to clarify by asking, this time with the help of an example: “Is God powerful enough to take a Mymensingh elephant and to push him through the hole of the smallest needle without even harming a hair on his body?”
When the mullah remained silent, Srila Paramgurudeva continued, “Perhaps Maulvi Saheb does not know the extent of Khuda’s powers. The fact is that nothing is impossible for the omnipotent Lord. ‘Kartum akartum anyatha kartum yau samarthau sa eva ishvarau’. He can do whatever he wishes, not do something if he does not wish to do it, or undo or change whatever he has done. The Supreme Lord is all-powerful and nothing is beyond his abilities. The omnipotent Lord is not limited to the powers that we ascribe to him. That is not what is meant by omnipotence. The sarva-shaktiman is one who possesses all powers imaginable and unimaginable. Once we have accepted that the Supreme Lord is omnipotent, we cannot say, ‘He can do such and such, but not this or that. ‘So, in accordance with his wishes, the supremely powerful Lord can appear in any form he desires, at any time, with his full complement of powers. If you say that he cannot, then there is no point in claiming that he is all-powerful.
“Any figure that a man may create out of the five elements, or any entity that he imagines with his material mind—whether with form or formless—is all material. That is what we call a putul or an idol. There is no regulation in the sanatana-dharma for the worship of such idols. What is ordained, rather, is service to the Lord’s Deity form or Sri-vigraha. The Sri-vigraha is that form which the all-powerful Supreme Lord feels obliged to accept as a result of his devotee’s love for him. There is a gulf of difference between an idol and the Lord’s Deity form. Even though the Lord’s Deity form is purely spiritual, cid-ananda-maya, a materially conditioned soul is unable to recognize him, just as he would be unable to recognize the Lord if he appeared incarnate directly before him. One can only perceive the Lord’s divine form with the eyes of pure devotion. A vision of the Lord which has not been earned is not a true vision of the Lord.”