খোলাবেচা শ্রীধর প্রভুর প্রিযদাস যাঙ্হাসনে প্রভু করে নিত্য পরিহাস
खोलावेचा श्रीधर प्रभुर प्रियदास याङ्हासने प्रभु करे नित्य परिहास
kholā-vecā śrīdhara prabhura priyadāsa yāṅhā-sane prabhu kare nitya parihāsa
Synonyms
kholā-vecā—a person who sells the bark of banana trees; śrīdhara—Śrīdhara Prabhu; prabhura—of the Lord; priya-dāsa—very dear servant; yāṅha-sane—with whom; prabhu—the Lord; kare—does; nitya—daily; parihāsa—joking..
Translation
The twenty-ninth branch was Śrīdhara, a trader in banana tree bark. He was a very dear servant of the Lord. On many occasions, the Lord played jokes on him.
Purport
Śrīdhara was a poor brāhmaṇa who made a living by selling banana tree bark to be made into cups. Most probably he had a banana tree garden and collected the leaves, skin and pulp of the banana trees to sell daily in the market. He spent fifty percent of his income to worship the Ganges, and the balance he used for his subsistence. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started His civil disobedience movement in defiance of the Kāzī, Śrīdhara danced in jublilation. The Lord used to drink water from his water jug. Śrīdhara presented a squash to Śacīdevī to cook before Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa. Every year he went to see Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī. According to Kavikarṇapūra, Śrīdhara was a cowherd boy of Vṛndāvana whose name was Kusumāsava. In his Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, verse 133, it is stated:
kholāvecātayā khyātaḥ paṇḍitaḥ śrīdharo dvijaḥ
āsīd vraje hāsya-karo yo nāmnā kusumāsavaḥ
"The cowherd boy known as Kusumāsava in kṛṣṇa-līlā later became Kholāvecā Śrīdhara during Caitanya Mahāprabhu's līlā at Navadvīpa."