(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 7 May 2013, Simhachalam, Germany, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.6.41-42)
We went to Benapola, in Bangladesh, which is just on the border of India. It is actually very close to Mayapur. When we went to that place, in my mind I had prepared for a place dedicated to Haridasa Thakura – the place where he chanted three hundred thousand names – and I thought, “I will go there to chant Hare Krsna.” When we got there, there was not only a deity of Haridasa but there was also a deity of Lakshahira, the prostitute. A full-size deity of the prostitute.
Actually, seeing that deity sort of created more mediation on the prostitute than I had imagined beforehand. I started to think, “This is amazing because this prostitute is the emblem of lust.”
In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is described that the prostitute was told by Ramacandra Khan, “Go and seduce this young Haridasa. I will send my constable with you and when you are in union with him then I will arrest him.”
She said, “No, don’t send your constable. Let me first enjoy with him the one night and then the next day, you can send your constable.”
So, she had more than a professional interest in him. She had some personal interest in this beautiful young sadhu. So, one could say that she was the emblem of lust but by Haridasa’s association, she was uplifted so much that she was able to overcome that lust and also take up chanting three hundred thousand names everyday.
Therefore, I thought that when I go there, I am going to pray for the power to chant. But when I got there, I prayed to overcome lust actually. I realized that in this place, by the mercy of Haridasa, lust was overcome. If only I could get those blessings then it will be easy, much easier to chant all the time because it is lust that causes this restlessness. It is the desire to enjoy one’s own senses. That is the problem. In practise, let us satisfy the senses of Krsna as much as possible.
