Vṛddha Śiva Ghāṭa (Prauḍhā Māyā)
Information – The Simul tree is honored as the sacred site of Gauranga Ghat, a location identified by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur. On January 27, 2023, ISKCON Mayapur organized a Harinam Sankirtan procession with Siva Linga and Nitai Gaur Sundar deities. The procession started from the Radha Madhava courtyard and made its way to Vrddha Siva Ghat to seek the blessings of Lord Siva. Presently, the Siva Linga is residing in the ISKCON Pujari room, where it continues to receive Mahaprasad.
vṛddha — old men (CC Adi 7.25)
Vṛddha means “old men.” There are two kinds of old men: one is old by age, and another is old by knowledge. This Sanskrit word indicates that one can be older by the advancement of knowledge.
(SB 4.16.16 purport)
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.
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.
Six Meters from Vrddha Siva Ghat, see Gauranga’s own ghat. There Gaura hari in his childhood played in the water and pulled many pranks.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 5)
নবদ্বীপ ধাম মোরে অনুগ্রহ করি।
উদিত হউন হৃদে তবে আমি তরি।।
প্রৌঢ়মায়া কুলদেবী কৃপা অকপট।
ভরসা তরিতে মাত্র অবিদ্যা- সঙ্কট।।
বৃদ্ধশিব ক্ষেত্রপাল হউন সদয়।
চিদ্ধাম আমার চক্ষে হউন উদয়।।
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)
Materialistic persons cannot enter the dhāma, nor is there any material influence here. Māyā has eternally covered the dhāma with a film of dull matter. People who have no relationship with Kṛṣṇa Caitanya simply live on top of that covering, blind to the real truth. 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.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 18)
“When Sankarācārya came to this place, Gauracandra appeared to him in a dream and mercifully spoke to him in sweet words, ‘You are My servant. Following My orders, you are preaching effectively the Māyāvāda doctrine. But as Navadvipa-dhāma is very dear to Me, the Māyāvāda philosophy has no place here. On My behalf, Vṛddha Siva and Prauḍhā Māyā spread the imaginary impersonal interpretations of scriptures, but only to those people who envy the devotees of the Lord. In this way I cheat them. Since this Navadvīpa-dhāma is generally a place for My devotees, not for the envious, you should go somewhere else. Do not contaminate the inhabitants of Navadvipa.’
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 15)
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)
Long ago, a small river called Bāgdevi flowed through Antardvīpa and the eastern portion of Māyāpura, down to the Ganges. At that time, the temple of Prauḍhā Māyā was situated on the bank of the Bāgdevi. Students used to first take bath in the river, and after presenting their credentials in the Prauḍhā Māyā temple, they received their academic degrees. A little southeast of Śivadobā, the dry riverbed of the Bāgdevi can still be found.
(Viṣṇupriyā Palli Magazine Vol. 1)
Because of the confluence of Bāgdevi and the Ganges, many parts of Śrī Māyāpura were destroyed. At that time, the homeless learned brāhmaṇas of Māyāpura took Śrī Prauḍhā Māyā and Vṛddha Śiva across the Ganges to the village Kuliẏā, which is the present-day city of Navadvīpa.
In this village, there are no places of Mahāprabhu’s pastimes. However, this place is the forest of Vṛndāvana within Navadvīpa.
(Bhaktivinoda Vānī Vaibhāva, Chapter 33 -Cultural Heritage, 22 – Visnupriya Palli Magazine)
Hearing this, Nityānanda Prabhu answered with nectarlike words, “Listen, Jīva, when the Ganges covers this place, one corner of Māyāpur will remain intact. Many yavanas will take up residence there, yet the name will remain Māyāpur. About one thousand meters southwest of the remaining place, one will see a slightly raised area covered with vegetation. That will indicate Jagannātha Miśra’s house. Ten meters from there is the Vṛddha Śiva temple. From such measurement one will be able to discern everything. A pond called Śiva-śobā will be seen, indicating the previous bank of the Ganges. In this way, by the Lord’s wish, the devotees will reveal the lost places. Know this for certain. At the end of four hundred years, the task of recovering the lost tīrthas will begin.”
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 5)
Nityānanda Prabhu began speaking, “Listen to My words. Navadvīpa extends over sixteen krośas. Within the sixteen krośas of Navadvīpa, which are nondifferent from Vṛndāvana, there are nine islands, which form an eight-petaled lotus floating on the water. In the middle of the eight islands, or petals, lies Antardvīpa. And within Antardvīpa, lies the very central point, Māyāpur. The eternal pastimes of Lord Caitanya take place within Yogapīṭha and the circle of Māyāpur, the circumference of which measures three and a half miles and the diameter measures just over one mile. Because the Pañca-tattva are seated at the Yogapīṭha, it is the most glorious of all places.”
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 5)
