Prauḍhā Māyā
O Navadvipa-dhāma, show favour on me and appear in my heart, so that I may be delivered. O Prauḍhā Māyā, protecting goddess, please be genuinely merciful, for you are the only hope to cross over the obstacles due to ignorance. Vṛddha Śiva, protector of the dhama, be compassionate on me, let the transcendental dhāma be revealed to my eyes.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 18)
kṛṣṇa—sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra
yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra
“Kṛṣṇa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of the external energy) will immediately vanish.
(CC Madhya 22.31)
There at the border of Mayapur, Jiva saw the Vrddha Siva Temple. Nityananda Prabhu said, he is the guardian of Mayapur. This is where the Praudha Maya Shakti, yogamaya (in charge of spiritual perception) is eternally situated.
When our Lord disappears, by His desire, the Ganges will swell. The Ganges water will almost cover Māyāpur for a hundred years, and then this water will again recede. For some time only the place will remain, devoid of houses. Then again, by the Lord’s desire, this place will become prominent, and people will live in Māyāpur as before. All these ghats on the bank of the Ganges will again be manifest and the devotees will built temples of the Lord. One exceedingly wonderful temple will appear from which Gauranga’s eternal service will preach everywhere. Praudha Maya and Vrddha Siva will again come and perform their duties of revealing the spiritual dham according to the Lord’s desire.
…One doubt has come into my heart. Please tell me where Śiva and his consort will go when the Ganges hides Māyāpur.”
Nityānanda said, “Listen to My words, Jīva. Please look at that land on the west side of the Ganges. That high sandy shoal is called Pāraḍāngā. A community of brāhmaṇas live there. North of that is the bank of the Ganges, which the wise know as Chinādāṅgā. At that place, a village will be established wherein Śiva and his energy will stay for some time.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 5)
Though one is thinking, I am in Navadvīpa,’ Prauḍhā Māyā happily keeps that person far away from the dhāma. But if by some great fortune one receives the association of a devotee, that relationship, or sambandha, with Śrī Caitanya will be established.
“This topic of sambandha is a deep thing, O son of Vallabha, a treasure that the conditioned souls cannot easily understand. Even if one calls out the name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya with seeming affection, if that relationship is not established in his heart, he simply remains in the material realm. Such a person resides on top of the dhama’s illusory covering and never attains pure bhakti.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 18)
“As the external energy of Lord Hari, you give difficulties to the conditioned souls. By your influence, you hide from them the brilliant sunlike Lord of Antardvipa. For that reason Yogapitha is known as Māyāpur, the city covered by Maya, and you are known as Praudhā Māyā. But when Gaurasundara goes to Pulina, then take shelter at Vamsi-vata and attend to the devotees.
“I am known as Vṛddha Siva. Following the Lord’s order, I delude the materialistic fools by means of various false scriptures. And through your power, I am able to enhance the pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Pramana-Khanda, Chapter 4)
To the southwest, the Ganges and Yamuna, considering their own good fortune, twist like a serpent as they flow. They come to serve Gaura, the jewel of the twice-born. Upon the Ganges’s banks are many ghātas, gardens, and temples of deities such as Praudha Maya and Vṛddha Siva.
(Sri Navadvipa Bhava-taranga)
Information – Vriddha Siva and his consort Praudha Maya are the eternal protectors of the holy dhama. Praudha Maya was originally worshiped on the eastern bank of the Ganga. When a good part of Mayapur was covered by the Ganga, some people crossed the Ganga and came to Kuliya (on the western side) and began to worship Praudha Maya at this place. Therefore it became known as Praudhama-tala (Porama Tala). Praudha Maya is Yoga-maya. She covers the holy dhama and does not allow non-devotees to enter. Even though certain people’s bodies are allowed to arrive in the dhama, they are unable to understand the glories of the dhama. When Lord Krishna appeared in Vraja, Yoga-maya also appeared with Him. In Vraja she is known as Paurnamasi and in Navadvipa she is Praudha Maya. She also resides in Simantadvipa in another form, as Parvati. Previously Praudha Maya and Vriddha Siva were worshiped in Mayapur between the ISKCON temple and Yoga-pitha. But because of the shifting of the Ganga, the residents of Kuliya (present-day Navadvipa town) moved them to the other side of the Ganga.