SRI KHOLAVECA SRIDHARA THAKURA/SRIDHARA PANDITA

1)

All glories to Sri Kholaveca Sridhara Thakura, who is full of compassion and
tenderness. His bananas and radishes were eaten by the Lord Himself, Sri Sri
Gauranga Raya.

Kholaveca Sridhara Thakura lived just on the border of Nadia (Mayapur). He
maintained himself by selling bananas, vegetables, banana leaves and cups.
Whatever little income he had, fifty percent went for worship of Mother
Ganges, and with the rest he somehow or other maintained himself. Towards the
end of night, during the early morning hours (brahma muhurta) he would loudly
chant Hari Nama. His atheistic hindu neighbours, devoid of devotion, couldn't
tolerate this, and they used to berate him with abusive language: "This
clumsy, boorish knave couldn't get enough rice to fill his belly, but it is we
who have to suffer, as he keeps us awake by his loud moaning in hunger." [C.B.
Madhya 9.148]

Sridhara, however, didn't bother with their ranting and raving. Rather, in
great happiness, he simply carried out his own business service. In the bazaar
at Bamonpukkur he had a store. He was extremely honest and asked a fair price
for his banana leaves and vegetables. He didn't like to haggle over the
prices, so he simply asked a fair price to begin with. Thus saving valuable
time and energy, he used it to remember the Holy Names. He didn't like to
waste time speaking so much. The customers would simply hand him the correct
price and take their goods in exchange. Whatever money he got from selling the
various parts of the banana plant, bananas and radishes, he would use half for
purchasing flowers and sweets for worship of Mother Ganges. Whatever remained
he used for maintaining his household.

Sometimes, as instructed by His mother, Lord Gaurasundara would come to the
bazaar to purchase bananas, radishes and spinach. He used to barter with
Sridhara all the while cutting jokes. Sridhara would sell his goods at a fixed
price, so Sri Gaurasundara would offer half that much. Then Sridhar would get
up and try to snatch away the vegetables from Sri Gaurasundara's hands. But He
wouldn't let go. Finally it would end up that the two of them would be pulling
the vegetables back and forth. Then many people would crowd around to see the
fun.

One day Mahaprabhu was haggling over the price of a banana flower with
Sridhara. When Sridhara tried to snatch back the banana flower, Mahaprabhu
chide, "Why do you behave like this, My dear brother Sridhara? Some think that
you are renunciant, but I know that you have so much hidden wealth. You are
trying to snatch these things out of My hand, but after so many days, you
still don't know who I am? I am the father of the Ganges whom you worship. I
am only telling you the truth." [C.B. Mad 9.173]

"Sridhara then cried "Visnu! Visnu!" and put his hands over his ears. Hearing
Nimai Pandita's seeming blasphemy, he thought that perhaps He had gone crazy.
But Sridhara then reflected upon Sri Gaurasundara's character very carefully.
"Gaurangasundara's form is beautiful enough to bewilder Cupid himself
(madanamohanarupa-gaurangasundara). The beautiful tilaka on His forehead
steals one's mind away. His dhoti looks very beautiful tied in three places,
and His hair is very wavy. Two things are very restless: His nature and His
eyes. The white brahman thread encircling His body looks so beautiful, as
though a subtle form of Ananta is residing on His body. His lips red from
chewing pan, He laughs and looks at Sridhara. And again He takes some bananas,
picking them up Himself." [C.B. Mad 9.169-172]

As they conversed, Sri Gaurasundara played with the bananas, setting them back
down on the ground and then, laughing, picking them up again. Sridhara then
said, "Please listen to me, Thakura! I am Your dog, so kindly forgive me. You
don't have to pay anything. Take it for free!"

Mahaprabhu replied, "You are very clever, Sridhara! By selling bananas you
have become quite wealthy."

Then Sridhara, as if to get rid of Him, asked, "My dear Thakura, are there no
other stores in this bazaar?"

"There are so many, but what is that to Me? You are My regular supplier! Why
should I give you up?"

"Yes, yes, dear Thakura, now I fall at Your feet. I am defeated by You. From
today, I will give You what You want. You can take things for free."

"But you'll just give Me old, rotten things!"

"Dear Thakura, why should I give you bad vegetables?"

"Then it's all right. Very well, that sounds good."

After disputing in this way for a while, Mahaprabhu went home. Sridhara sat
transfixed, gazing after Him. "Someday this boy will be a great liberated
soul. How sweetly He speaks and what wonderful expressions He makes! Though He
behaves with me in such a ticklish manner, still I feel no remorse in my mind.
He doesn't go to any other shop in the market but comes only to me. I am so
fortunate!"

Every day Sri Gaurasundara used to eat vegetable preparations of Sridhara's
banana stalks and banana flowers from his banana leaf plates and cups.

"The Lord eats what is offered by His devotees. He doesn't even look at what
may be offered by nondevotees even though there may be ten million varieties
of preparations." [C.B. 9.185] Every day, Sri Gaurasundara would go for walks
and wander throughout the town with His disciples. One day He came to
Sridhara's house. Sridhara knew the Lord very well, having seen Him so many
times in the marketplace. Though He did not cut jokes today, Gaurasundara
would not leave Sridhara's place. Sridhara offered Sri Gaurasundara a seat.
Sitting down, Sri Gaurahari told Sridhara, "All day you chant 'Hari, Hari'.
You worship Sri Sri Laksmi-Narayana as well. But how is it you are so poor?
You have so little to eat and your clothes are so meager!"

"But Thakura, though I may eat little I am not fasting, and as for my clothes,
whether they are few or many, still I wear something."

"My dear Sridhara, you may indeed be wearing some cloth, but I see that it is
patched in at least ten places. And though you live in a house, there is no
thatching on the roof. Just see, the people of Navadwipa worship Goddess Candi
and Durga. They get so much material happiness from this, isn't that so?"

"You have spoken correctly, dear Thakura. Still, everyone's days are passing
the same. The king lives in a jewelled palace and eats dainty foodstuffs and
wears the most excellent apparel. And the birds simply live in the treetops.
But tomorrow they will become equals, because everyone has to reap the results
of his own activities according to the will of the Lord." [C.B. Adi
12.189-190]

Then Mahaprabhu began to joke again. "Sridhara! I know you have so much
wealth, but you are simply hiding it! I am going to tell everyone! I see how
you cheat the people!"

"Thakura! You should go home now! I don't want to quarrel with You."

"Just one more thing, Sridhara. Whatever you want to give Me, please bring it
now. Unless you give me something, I cannot leave here"

"Look, Pandita! I am a poor man. By selling banana stalks and bananas, I am
not even able to feed myself properly. I just don't have anything suitable to
give You."

"All right, let your buried riches remain hidden. For now, just give Me some
banana stalks, bananas and banana flowers."

Sridhara thought to himself, "This brahmana youngster might be somewhat
touched in the head. If I answer back too much He might even beat me. And,
because He is the son of a brahmana, if He beats me, I won't be able to
retaliate. Then again, I can't afford to give vegetables and bananas away to
Him for free everyday. Yet again, because He is a brahmana and thus an
expansion of the Lord, whatever service I can render to Him is actually my
great fortune."

Then he spoke. "You don't have to pay me anything today, Thakura. Here, take
these bananas, banana stalks and banana flowers! But don't quarrel with me
anymore."

"If you give away nice things, my dear Sridhara, who can quarrel with you? But
give nice ones. Don't give a blind cow in charity to a brahmana!"

Thus having again enjoyed some joking words with Sridhara, Sri Gaurasundara,
along with His disciples, got ready to set out for His house. Just as He was
about to leave, he again asked Sridhara, "What do you think of Me? If you tell
Me truthfully, then I'll go."

"You are the son of a brahmana. An expansion of Visnu."

"Sridhara! I'm surprised you still don't know who I am! I am a cowherd boy!
The glories of your Mother Ganges are also due to Me."

"You don't even respect Mother Ganges! As people get older, they become
subdued and temperate, but at Your age You are getting more and more restless.
Now You had better go home. Don't fight with me anymore."

Hearing Sridhara's parting words, Sri Gaurasundara laughed and went home. For
as long as the Lord chooses not to reveal Himself, no one can recognize Him.

For a few more days, Sri Gaurasundara continued with His daily pastimes of
learning and education. But then He went to Gayadhama where His mood radically
changed. By the time He returned home He was completely intoxicated with love
for Krsna. He was now intensely absorbed in the moods of transcendence; the
courtyard of Srivasa Pandita's house was the principal place where these
manifestations of divine rapture blossomed forth with the outpouring of His
heart. It is not possible to describe the ecstatic transformations which
occured in His person. They gradually increased with the passage of day to
night and night to day.

One day, Mahaprabhu decided to reveal His true self, and sitting on the throne
of Lord Visnu within Srivasa Pandit's temple, He began to display His divine
potencies. At that time He called His devotees, one after another.

"Bring Sridhara here! Let him see My divine form. He has executed so many
penances and austerities and tolerated so much trouble in order to have My
darsana."

Though it was the middle of the night, as the devotees approached Sridhara's
house, they could hear him chanting the Holy Names. As they arrived, they
called out, "Sridhara! Sridhara!" But he was so much absorbed in loudly
chanting the Holy Names of Hari that at first he didn't hear them. After a
little while he became conscious of their presence and coming out of his house
he saw their shining faces in the moonlight. "What brings you here in the
middle of the night?"

"Sridhara! Hurry up! Mahaprabhu is calling you. He sent us to bring you!"

Simply hearing mention of Mahaprabhu, Sridhara fainted to the ground in a
swoon of ecstatic love." [C.B. Mad 9.154]

The devotees picked him up and brought him to see Mahaprabhu. Seeing His dear
devotee, Mahaprabhu called out, "Sridhara! Come here, come here! In order to
get a glimpse of Me, you have performed so much worship in so many births, and
in this life as well you have served Me so much. With great satisfaction have
I tasted your vegetables, bananas and banana flowers, eaten with rice from
your banana leaves. Sridhara, have you forgotten all this?! Sridhara! Just get
up and see My divine form. This form even the personified Vedas are not
qualified to see."

Sridhara very slowly got up and began to gaze at the divine form of the Lord.

Tamal Shyamal dekhe sei Vishwambhar Hate Mohan bansi dakkhine Balaram
Mahajyotirmoy sab dekhe vidyaman Kamala tambul dei hater upare catur mukh
pancamukh age stoti kore [C.B. Mad 9.190]

"He saw his Lord Visvambhara, but with a bluish bodily complexion, holding in
His hand the flute and accompanied by Balarama standing on His right.
Emanating from the Lord and His associates he saw an effulgence illuminating
the temple. The goddess of fortune was handing Him betel and pan leaves, while
Lord Brahma and Lord Siva continued to recite hymns."

Seeing his Lord Gaurasundara in His form of Syamasudara, Sridhara again fell
to the ground in a swoon of love of God. By His touch, Mahaprabhu brought him
back to consciousness and told him to offer hymns in praise of Himself.
Sridhara replied, "Thakura! I don't know anything."

"My dear Sridhara, whatever you say will be a hymn in praise of Me and I bless
you that the goddess of learning, Mother Sarasvati, be present on your
tongue."

Then Sridhara proclaimed, "Jaya jaya Mahaprabhu, jaya Visvambhara, (the
Maintainer of the universe). Jaya jaya Navadvipa Purandara (Who is full with
all beauty). Jaya jaya ananta brahmanda kotinatha (the Lord of tens of
millions of universes) Jaya jaya saci punyavati garbhajata (Who took birth
from the womb of the pious and chaste Saci). Jaya jaya Vedagopya jaya
dvijaraja (Who is hidden within the Vedas and is the Lord of the brahmanas).
Yuge yuge dharma pal kari nana saja (Who comes in varrious forms to uphold
religions during the different ages). [C.B. Mad 9.200-202]

In this way Sridhar offered prayers for almost an hour and a half. Being very
pleased, Mahaprabhu told him, "Now ask any benediction from Me."

"Thakura, I don't want any benediction. But if You want to bless me someway
then this is my request:

Se brahman kari nilo mor kholapat Se brahman hauk mor janma janma nath Se
brahman mor sange karilo kondol Mor prabhu hauk tar caran yugal [C.B. Mad
9/224]

"That brahmana who snatched away my banana leaves and cups, may He be my Lord
birth after birth. That brahmana Who would wrangle with me over the price of
my bananas, may His lotus feet always be my object of worship."

Having requested this blessing, Sridhara began to cry very loudly. Seeing his
tears of love, the devotees also began to cry.

Mahaprabhu replied, "You, Sridhara, are My servant birth after birth. I have
tested you in so many ways, but I am extremely pleased with your conduct. I
have become indebted to you by your service and love for Me."

Hearing these loving words from Mahaprabhu the devotees made the sky
reverberate with the sounds of "Hari! Hari!"

"Neither wealth, followers or scholarship do they desire. Who can understand
these servants of Sri Caitanya? What is the effect of learning, wealth,
beauty, fame and aristocratic birth, other than to simply increase one's false
ego and thus bring about on's end. What Sridhar gained, simply by selling
bananas and radishes, is unatainable by the richest of men in tens of millions
of ages." [C.B. Mad 9.283-235]

After performing various pastimes with His devotees in Nadia-nagara, the Lord
then desired to perform the pastime of accepting sannyasa in order to deliver
all the living entities. The day before His departure He passed in ecstatic
dancing and chanting of the Holy Names, and in the evening returned to His
house. The devotees accompanied Him there.

"Today how unprecedentedly beautiful Prabhu looks! Smiling so sweetly He is
presenting His flower garlands to His various devotees, who are floating in
oceans of bliss. Advaita Acarya is here, Srivasa Pandit and Sri Vakresvara
Pandit, and here comes Sridhara with a bottle gourd in his hand, to offer to
Mahaprabhu."

Taking the gourd in His hand Mahaprabhu began to laugh. He thought to Himself,
"How will I go to take sannyasa without first eating Sridhara's bottle gourd?
I can't refuse the offerings of My devotees."

He called His mother: "Ai! Sridhara has taken the trouble to bring this gourd!
Cook it and offer it to Krsna."

Just at that time another devotee brought some milk. So Saci Mata prepared
halavah from the gourd and milk and after offering to the Deity she brought it
before her son. While feeding His devotees He honoured the prasada Himself
also.

"Sridhara! How can I refuse what you have brought for Me? But tell Me if you
will honor My request."

"Thakura! Just say whatever it is. Why shouldn't I be able to keep Your
request?"

"Then please come here to My house every day so that I can see you."

After enjoying some joking words with His devotees He instructed them to
always engage in Sri Krsna sankirtana. Then He prepared to take rest. In the
dead of night He left to accept sannyasa. When He resided at Puri, Sridhara
used to come every year with the other Bengali devotees to see Him.

2)

In his past incarnation he was Kusumasava sakha of Vraja (GGD. 133). Other
references to him are listed as follows: Krsnacaitanyacaritam of Murari Gupta
4.17.8, CBh. 1.1.11, Caitanyamangala of Jayananda 23, CC. 1.10.65, Vaisnava
Vandana of Jiva Gosvami 108, Devakinandana 34, and Vrndavanadasa 36. He was
born in a brahmana family in Navadvipa and was of the twelve Gopalas.

Although Sridhara was extremely poor financially, he was abundantly rich with
the treasure of prema-bhakti. He earned his livelihood by selling bananas,
banana flowers, stems, and leaves. Out of his daily earning he spent half for
offering worship to the Ganges and half on his living. He was commonly known
as "Kholaveca Sridhara." He was an extremely honest man. He had a fixed price
for his commodities and never allowed any bargaining. Lord Gauranga often
enjoyed teasing Sridhara, hackling over the price of his goods, insisting that
he give him the goods for half price. Thus the goods were snatched back and
forth from Sridhara's and Lord Caitanya's hands. Finally, Sridhara would give
in and allow the Lord to take the goods for free.

The Lord was always pleased with Sridhara's behavior and He would use any
excuse to visit him. They would converse confidentially and joke with each
other. In this way several hours a day passed very happily. Sridhara offered
the Lord obeisances and a seat as soon as He arrived. Sridhara's calm and mild
personality stood in obvious contrast to Nimai's stormy character.

"Sridhara you are always chanting Lord Hari's name, so what is the reason for
your suffering? You are serving the husband and master of Sri Laksmi Devi, the
Goddess of Fortune, so why are you always in want of food and clothes?"

"I am not starving," replied Sridhara, "and as You can see, I have clothes on.
They are neither fine clothes nor the right size, but my body is covered."

"But Sridhara," argued the Lord, "the clothes are torn in several places and
I know you have neither straw nor rice in the house. Look around you. All the
citizens worship Goddess Candi (Mother Durga), the destroyer of all enemies,
and none of them suffer for want of food, shelter or clothing."

"You have made a good point," replied Sridhara, "but generally speaking,
everyone's life is almost the same. The king may live in a palace surrounded
by opulence and eat sumptuously while the birds live in the open or in
a simple nest in a tree top and gather their own humble food, but basically
everyone's approach to life is similar. By the Lord's design each of us must
meet the demands of duty and in doing so we behave more or less alike.
Personally I prefer to live the life I am leading now."

"I am sure you have immense wealth hidden somewhere," accused the Lord, "and
you are relishing opulent food in secret. Soon I will make it known to
everyone, and then we will see how you continue to cheat the people."

"Come to my house, dear learned brahmana," invited Sridhara, "and see for
Yourself. We should not start an argument here."

"I am not going to let you off so easily," said Nimai, "Tell Me what you are
going to feed Me?"

"I make a simple living selling leaf cups," replied Sridhara. "What can I
offer to give You from such an income, respected brahmana?"

"I am not going to touch Your hidden wealth now, that I will get later,"
assured Nimai. "But if you give Me banana root and some banana stalks right
now without taking money, then I will not fight with you any more."

Sridhara thought to himself, "He is a very aggressive brahmana. Someday He
might even beat me. But even if He does beat me, what can I do? I really
cannot afford to give Him whatever He wants free each day, but I see He has a
godly form; He is not an ordinary personality by any means. If He takes my
goods by force or by some other tricky means, then He is free to do so. I
think this is my good fortune, and in spite of my poverty I will continue to
give Him whatever He wants."

Having made his decision, Sridhara answered the Lord, "Dear brahmana, You do
not have to pay me anything at all. I will give You whatever You want with an
open and happy heart. Take Your bananas and other vegetables, take the leaf
cups that I have and please do not fight with me anymore."

"Yes that is a very satisfactory agreement," said Nimai. "There should be no
further fights, but please see to it that I get good quality bananas, banana
stalk and radish." Daily the Lord ate with Sridhara from his leaf cups,
relishing his bananas, banana stalks, radishes and Sridhara's cooking in
general. When a gourd grew on Sridhara's roof top, the Lord had it cooked into
a special preparation made with milk and hot spices.

One day the Lord asked, "Sridhara what do you think of Me? As soon as you tell
me that, I shall return to My house."

Sridhara replied, "You are a brahmana, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord
Vishnu."

"No, you do not know," said Nimai. "I belong to the community of cowherds and
milk men. You see Me as a young brahmana boy, but I consider Myself to be
simply a milk man."

Sridhara just smiled at the Lord's comment; he could not recognize his own
Lord and master, being deluded by the Lord's internal potency.

"Sridhara, I am going to reveal to you an esoteric truth. You see the river
Ganges? I am the source of the Ganga." "O Nimai Pandita! Have You no fear of
disrespecting Ganga devi like this?" asked the disturbed Sridhara. "People
usually become grave and serious as they grow older, but Your frivolity seems
to have doubled since Your childhood."

After staying with Sridhara for sometime, Nimai Pandita returned home.

Once Sridhara was walking along loudly singing Krishna's name and he began to
dance in ecstacy. When the other devotees saw this dear devotee of Lord
Caitanya dancing they came and surrounded him and began to sing. Sridhara was
overwhelmed with spiritual emotions and fell down rolling on the ground,
continuously chanting Krishna's name. When the non-devotees saw this they
ridiculed and laughed at him saying, "Just look at him! That poor fellow has
also become a Vaisnava. Although he cannot afford clothes nor does he have
money to eat, suddenly he is making a show of exhibiting ecstatic symptoms.
They all live by begging, yet now they have started an untimely festival." The
atheists continued to hurl insulting remarks at the devotees, but the pious
devotees went on chanting Krishna's name undaunted.

Once Lord Caitanya, while dancing in mad ecstacy, went to the small broken hut
where Sridhara lived. Sridhara had practically no possessions, only an old
dented metal pot stood outside his door. The pot had been repaired so many
times that even a thief would not think of stealing it. While the Lord was
dancing in front of Sridhara's house He saw that the metal pot was filled with
water. The Supreme Lord Visvambhara, wanting to teach the human society how
deeply He loved and cared for His devotees, picked up Sridhara's worn out
waterpot and proceeded to drink water from it with great pleasure. When
Sridhara saw what Visvambhara was doing he came running, shouting, "O death, I
am finished! I know You have come to my house to destroy me!" Thus speaking,
the saintly Sridhara fainted on the ground out of great spiritual
perturbation. Lord Visvambhara with utmost satisfaction said, "My whole being
has now become purified. Today finally I have attained devotion to the lotus
feet of Lord Krishna simply by drinking water from Sridhara's pot." Saying
this the Lord shed tears of divine ecstacy. Through this pastime the Lord
taught the world the extraordinary potency of the water which has been touched
by a pure devotee; immediately one is purified and thus attachment to the
lotus feet of Lord Krishna is manifest within the heart.

In the Padma Purana (Adikhanda 31/112) it is stated, "The wise devotee who is
desirous of purifying himself completely of all sinful reactions should
specifically approach a pure Vaisnava and beg from him his food remnants. If
this is not available then at least he should beg some of his water remnants,
or drink the water that has washed his feet."

The devotees began to cry with joy upon seeing the Supreme Lord manifest such
mercy and special affection towards His devotee. Nityananda, Gadadhara,
Advaita and Srivasa rolled on the ground and cried ecstatically. Haridasa,
Vakreswar, Candrasekhar, Jagadananda and numerous other close associates of
the Lord, were also unable to contain their spiritual emotions and called out
the sweet name of Krsna with tears in their eyes. Sridhara's house became the
blessed exhibition site for the highest form of ecstatic love of Godhead. The
whole universe exulted with the chanting of Krishna's holy name, and Lord
Gauracandra, seeing His mission accomplished, smiled benignly.

Just behold the glory of Sridhara's devotion, the Supreme Lord reciprocated by
bestowing His full mercy upon him. With great pleasure the Lord drank water
from Sridhara's base metal waterpot, although the pot was used for many
purposes and was full of repairs and dents. The Lord, however, did not drink
ordinary water when he drank from the pot; the potency of Sridhara's devotion
had transformed the water into divine ambrosia. Thus the Lord taught that
everything in relation to a pure devotee is transcendental.

The Supreme Lord, on the other hand, ignores the valuable gem-studded waterpot
of a materialist. He accepts any offering from His surrendered devotees,
irrespective of any rules and regulations for offering. If His devotee can
only offer some meager or ordinary food then the Lord forcibly takes it from
him, as was the case with Sudama Vipra. In many instances the Lord has shown
that He sells Himself to His devotees. When the Pandavas were banished to the
forest, Lord Krishna relished simple offerings of leafy vegetables from
Yudhisthira Maharaja. Lord Krishna manifests Himself to His devotees according
to the desire and mellow of the devotees, and He allows Himself to be sold or
purchased by His unalloyed devotees. All the scriptures have described this
wonderful quality of Lord Krishna, that He specially favors His pure devotees
and always personally protects them from all calamities.

It was difficult to understand the transformation that took place in the Lord
after He drank water from Sridhara's waterpot. All the devotees began to shed
tears of joy seeing the special mercy that the Supreme Lord showered upon His
pure devotee. Sridhara was struck with wonder and tears overflowed from his
eyes. Holding a straw between his teeth he knelt humbly before the Lord. He
called out the name of the Lord and said, "What have you done my Lord, what
water have You drunk?" But Lord Visvambhara's bliss could not be checked and
He danced in ecstacy surrounded by all His associates who sang and danced
along with Him. Nityananda Prabhu and Gadadhara Pandita were like two jewels
decorating the Lord on either side.

Kholaveca Sridhara's fortune was indeed so great that even Lord Siva and Lord
Brahma were moved and shed tears of joy and appreciation. The Supreme Lord
Caitanya is unattainable by wealth, fame or erudition, but is captivated by
unalloyed devotion. After the water drinking incident the Lord left Sridhara's
place and proceeded towards town.

At the time of the Lord's Mahaprakasa, He requested some of the devotees to
bring Sridhara before Him. The devotees rushed to carry out His order and half
way to Sridhara's house they heard him loudly chanting the holy name.
Following the sound they reached the house of Sridhara and informed him of the
Lord's order. Upon hearing the Lord's request, Sridhara fell unconscious. The
devotees joined hands and carried him to the presence of the Lord. Lord
Gauranga warmly welcomed him and said, "Sridhara you have performed immense
austerity to attain Me. In your previous births, as well as in this birth, you
have dedicated yourself entirely to My service. Every day I partake of food on
the banana leafs offered by you." Lord Gauranga continued, "Sridhara, look at
Me." Sridhara suddenly saw Lord Gauranga become Lord Krsna carrying His flute.
Balarama stood at His right side, while Laksmi devi offered Him betel-leaf.
Anantadeva sheltered the Lord with His hoods, while Caturmukha, Pancamukha,
Narada, Suka and Sanaka sang hymns. Surrounding them were charming young girls
who offered prayers with folded hands.

Sridhara was awe-struck and fell on the ground losing consciousness. Lord
Gauranga urged Sridhara to rise and offer prayers, which Sridhara submissively
did. The Lord then requested, "Sridhara, ask whatever boon you want. Today I
shall bestow you with asta-siddhi."

Sridhara, however, refused to ask for any material gain. Finally, at the
repeated request of the Lord, Sridhara said, "My Lord, since you are forcing
me to accept a boon, I request that the brahmana who used to snatch my banana
leaves may remain my worshipful Lord eternally." With arms raised Sridhara
burst into tears. The Lord then granted Sridhara's desire.

Sridhara used to participate in the street sankirtana led by Lord Gauranga.
Later, he regularly visited the Lord in Nilacala.

