19810615 Darśana: Transcendental Festivals of the Gauḍīya Sampradāya

The following is a Pānihāṭi festival lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 15th 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Jayapatākā Swami: Today of course is a very auspicious day. For the first time in about three four years that I was made president of Pānihāṭi for the cira-dahi festival there. I hope that they're observing it this year as we did in the previous years, because it was always a popular festival but had gone down to about 20,000… 15,000 people when we started coming three four years ago. After Prabhupāda went there twice and said he wanted to have a center there, then we started to go every year with Nitāi-Gaura. And now that festival has come up to nearly about 200,000 people and we distribute about 50,000 people some cira and dahi, means chipped rice and yogurt.

This of course originally began with Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī who was a gṛhastha, who wanted to leave his family and join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And he knew that he was supposed to approach Nityānanda first. But when Caitanya Mahāprabhu came by there, he approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when he asked Caitanya Mahāprabhu for permission to join his movement and leave his house, then Lord Caitanya told him that story, that you can be Kṛṣṇa conscious even within your house. You should be just like the woman who has another lover than her husband. Who very carefully does the housework so she cannot be detected. You should so carefully do your material work but your heart, your attachment should always be to Kṛṣṇa. And this way, you should perform your devotional service in separation. Very carefully also doing your material duties.

So of course, Raghunātha Dāsa, he followed those instructions but he was also a little bit shattered that he was not able to join the movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly. And when he heard that Nityānanda Prabhu was in Pānihāṭi with his associates, he took the advantage of approaching him. And he knew he had made offense trying to directly jump over Nityānanda and go to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One cannot jump over the Guru and go to Gaurāṅga. But by mercy of the spiritual master, one can approach Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, one is brought to spiritual master. And by the mercy of spiritual master, one is brought to Kṛṣṇa. If someone tries to jump over his spiritual master then certainly he will be a failure in achieving success.

So Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, he was feeling that he had offended Nityānanda Prabhu, in his heart. And he came and he offered his obeisances, prostate, fell out just like a stick to Lord Nityānanda from a distance. And Nityānanda said, “Oh! He has tried to directly approach Caitanya Mahāprabhu. For this you must take the daṇḍa, the punishment!” So Raghunātha Dāsa said, “Whatever punishment you give Lord.” and Prabhu Nityānanda said “Yes, your punishment is you have to provide prasāda. Cira-dahi, fruits, for all these associates and all the devotees. He was the son of a rich landlord. There was no problem. What type of punishment? It was the greatest ecstasy, that he could serve all the Vaiṣṇavas.

So he was very happy to do so. And he gathered, of course, you know this from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta already, how he gathered all the products from the villagers. He purchased yogurt, purchased the chipped rice and purchased khoi. Khoi means… it's amazing how many products they make from rice. Khoi is popped rice. Regular puffed rice that you find india, muri. What they call? Puffed rice, which is very smooth and crunchy, has to have salt in it. So that can't be used with milk products, direct with milk, because milk and salt don't mix. But khoi doesn't have any salt. And when it is fried, when it is made, it pops like a popcorn, only it's a popped rice. So it becomes very big and it's very soft. So if you put it in milk, it soaks up the milk in its own way. It's very fluffy type. So that's very nice with condensed milk. So he bought big, huge amounts of khoi, chipped rice, yogurt, condensed milk and different types of fruit. Khoi. Khoi is when Prabhupāda says that famous story, “Urai khoi, govindāya namo.” You know that?

It is one of these Gopāla Bhār stories. Great court gesture of the Mahārāja Kṛṣṇacandra. He was carrying a basket of this popped rice, which is very light. Lighter than muri. Muri already is so light that one bushel of muri, 40 kilos of muri takes a huge bag. But khoi is one and a half times more expanded than muri. So it's very light. You can have like a big bowl like this, and you put the milk in it and it'll just all shrink down to about this much. It's very deceiving. You think you have a lot. When you add a little milk, it just comes down back to the original rice size. So he was carrying a whole basket of this popped rice. All of a sudden, a big wind came along and blew all the popped rice into the air. And before it hit the ground, he said, “What to do!?” He said, “Urai khoi –oh, popped rice that has gone in the air. I offer you to Govinda!” (laughter) Because before… when it hits the ground, it's unalterable, so it's still in the air, so he offered it. So Prabhupāda would use that. The thing is already wasted. It's going to be wasted. Then he offers it to Govinda. Before, he wouldn’t offer it.

? Just like when the brahmacārī is ready to probably leave the movement and they say, well call up the other temple. “I'm going to give you a good man.” (laughter) Just like “urai khoi, govindāya namo” (laughter) He’s already out the door… “All right, I'm giving you a donation.”, you know. (laughter) Prabhupāda, many times in India, he would use that when someone would come in and donate something. But it was actually already Kṛṣṇa's to begin with.

So this khoi was filled with pots of condensed milk, the cira with yogurt. And of course, that was distributed to all the people. You know from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, even the people who sold the yogurt and sold the milk, they also came and the also partake in the feast. And literally hundreds of thousands of people, just thousands and thousands of people were packed up there, taking this prasāda, even standing knee deep in water and taking from these pots. And while Lord Nityānanda and his associates were on a raised seat and Lord Caitanya had also a place there for Him and suddenly Lord Caitanya became visible to Nityānanda and they were dancing through the people taking and Nityānanda was putting the prasāda in Lord Caitanya's mouth. Lord Caitanya was putting the prasāda and Nityānanda is taking from the pots of the devotees and the general devotees that were there. In this way they're having so many transcendental pastimes.

So this is known as the daṇḍa-mahotsava, or the punishment festival of Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī. So today in Bengal, Pānihāṭi is famous not only for this daṇḍa-mahotsava-tala or the place of this punishment festival, but also that is the house of Rāghava Paṇḍita. Rāghava Paṇḍita, you know because his wife used to send Rāghava-jhali to Lord Caitanya in Puri and he would take the whole year those condiments. But also Lord Caitanya, he is always residing there in Rāghava Paṇḍita's house. So we're trying to get this property. Prabhupāda said it was very important if we can get. One of the five places that Lord Caitanya always exists is Nityānanda, whenever he's dancing, where Gadādhara Prabhu is making his tamarind chutney, and in Rāghava Paṇḍita's house, he's always there.

So every year at this time for two, three days there's a big festival where all the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas from all different sampradāyas, they all come there and they chant in kīrtana and they sometimes roll in the dust of other Vaiṣṇavas feet and they have so many festivities. So there was a small festival about 10-15 thousand when we came, it started to grow and grow. So they have a place there, a marble raised seat exactly under the same tree. Just on the bank of the Ganges. So the first year that we came there, I remember we took Nitāi-Gaura and that was actually the second year. So it was already very big. We took Nitāi-Gaura to the place where originally Lord Caitanya-Nityānanda sat.

So what happened was there was already a brāhmaṇa there who had set up a few little pictures of Lord Caitanya. People were bringing up their little clay pots with cira and dahi – yogurt (dahi means yogurt and cira means chipped rice) and giving him ten paise on having their bhoga offered to the little picture. So we kind of put the brāhmaṇa’s pictures off on one side and put Nitāi-Gaura down before he knew what was happening. You know he got a little upset but we told him, “Don't worry. ? We'll give you a pot of cira and dahi.” (laughter) And he stood up on the side there. But somehow or another we got Nitāi-Gaura through it. And when Nitāi-Gaura came through the crowd, there was this one kīrtana group which they were singing from Habra. You know Habra. And the one singer, he was just singing Caitanya, Pañca-tattva mantra. Suddenly when he saw Nitāi-Gaura coming.

He said

nitāi-gaura eseche, nitāi gaura eseche
nitāi-gaura eseche 

prema-dhana dīte, prema-dhana dīte
prema-dhana dite

And he made up this whole little song. “Nitāi-Gaura has come to Pānihāṭi, to flood us in love of God.” And he started singing this whole little ballad spontaneously. And as soon as he said that, it started pouring rain! (laughter) Started pouring rain. And then he started singing, “thunders! raining! from the sky!” He started singing the song ‘nitāi-gaura brought the rain of mercy’ and he started singing ‘prema-vṛṣti eseche, nitāi-gaura kṛpā te’ And he started singing this whole little song.

So that was very good because the people that had all the cira and yogurt and everything, they had got stuck about a quarter mile up the road. There was no way they could get through the crowd. Somehow the people moved aside. It's a very narrow ten-foot road. And just wall to wall people. There was no way that these devotees who are carrying these huge loads of puffed and popped and all types of rice products, and there was no way they could get through. Suddenly as soon as that rain hit, everybody ran to the sides of the building. (Something falls and laughter ensues) Dangerous. padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (ŚB. 10.14.58) They don't make them like they used to. So when the people, they suddenly walked off this middle of the road, and stood by the side of the building, just to get out of the rain, and the devotees ran, with the cira, with the puffed rice. And somehow they got just to Nitāi-Gaura, just behind them. Then the rain stopped and boom! All the people back on the road. Then they walked back to the lorry to get to the big woks, these big tubs and all the other… took about two trips but then again they couldn't get through the crowd. Again (rain effect) it rained and the people split and they ran through. It was a ten minute rain. They got all the ingredients over to Nitāi-Gaura. Then there was no water there. So what to use? Jaya Gaṅgā māi kī…!!

Devotees: Jaya!

Mother Ganges! Dipped in the… it was downstream that time, the current. So they dipped in, took the ganges water, washed off the cira. And so we wanted to make 108 malcha-bhogas. This malcha-bhoga is a special treat which has come from that festival but it's been developed into a very wonderful thing. Malcha-bhoga means that 108 clay pots with this cira-dahi. So this is… sometimes they have this… they offer bhoga to all the mahantas of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the associates. And during these different occasions the people like malcha, this type of clay pot and cira-yogurt, chipped rice yogurt. So what we did is we used the topmost recipe that we knew for making this type of malcha-bhoga offering for Nitāi-Gaura.

By first taking the yogurt and the cira, soaking the cira and then mixing it, and then putting in this khoi on the one side, and then that makes the basic standard with sugar and gur within it. And then you take on top of that and you put some sweet yogurt. Then you put some cheese, chānā, curdled curds. They call it chānā, curdled milk, just the cheese part of it with rock candy on it, and then this rock candy with a little bit of black pepper. Then white, very crispy, fried, white puri, rasgulla, gulab-jamun, sandeśa, khīra. It all goes on top. Its so big, like this (gesture)! On the whole top, it's made this arrangement. mango slices, cīnī-cāpā-kola – type of banana, which is called a butter banana. Very sweet, 16% or 18% sugar. Sweetest banana in the world. Then the type of astringent blackberry called kālo-jām. That means black gem berry. And also gulab jam, roseberries – special type of berry that has a scent and taste just like a rose. Then jackfruit, fresh jackfruit, this is the season. And then līchu, lychee nuts. Then some tuberose. Rose also we put on just one side of it there. Then we take a little aguru and sprinkle aguru over. Then you take the big elaichi, the big cardamom, and take that in some Ganges water and mix it and then you take it and sprinkle it over. Then you see if you left off any sweets. Maybe some sārapuriyā or other type of sweets and fill out the gap. And then of course, Vṛndā-devī, tulasī, must be in everyone. So then the tulasī is placed.

So this way we had 108 such pots. And so he had the devotees had cloth and they stood on the top of this marble thing on all sides and they held the cloth up so no one could see. Of course, the people were a little bit… but they're more or less pretty respectful. And so we started putting the 108 pots and there was no room. The brāhmaṇa had to stand off on the side. Frankly, it filled up. The whole thing was filled with these. And so we covered with new cloth over the offering that no flies would land on it. And then, with a big bell, blowing the conch, then you do one of those really those big offerings like…. (imitating) (laughter) You know, I mean, the people get into it. Offered it. And then after the offering is over, then we took off the clothes over the offering. And then, we had the people holding the cloth around it take it away and blow the conch.

And all the people see the 108 malchas and … HARI BOL, HARI BOL, NITĀI GAURA! Just jumps up and down in ecstasy. And then you have this ārati and everyone is chanting with the ārati. Literally, tens and thousands of people in that area. Theres more beyond that. The whole place is packed and everyone is chanting and watching the ārati. When finally the ārati is over, then what to do? Then its time to distribute the prasāda.

First we take out a few for the pūjārīs and other people (laughter). Saṅkīrtana devotees. And then the first brave devotee who's going to distribute the prasāda, he says, “All right.” He takes one pot and you see him go into the mass of people and suddenly you see this like…. an unlimited number of hands. It looks like you know… Bāṇāsura has thousand hands, but there are more than thousand hands and they're all going for this pot. And then you see the devotee disappear. (laughter) And you see suddenly that the pot broken up in little pieces and that everyone… and then the devotee after about five minutes, crawls out from under the people. So we did it. We had to make another type of system. (laughter) So then what we did is we had the devotees stand on a higher portion, like on the wall or something, and the people would lift their hands up and give it like that. And once in a while, the devotee would slip and lean over too far and then again he would be crawled out of the… (laughter). And the people, they go wild just to get this much prasāda. It wasn't that they're starving and all that, they wanted prasāda. They knew this is very sacred and everyone wanted to get just this much prasāda. And practically what they would do to get it was unbelievable. They would go to no end to get this much prasāda, from that special mahā-prasāda offering. So we gave that brāhmaṇa, we moved off. We gave him one pot. He said, “I got a brother also.” (laughter)

Then after those pots, we had to shift the operation a little bit off one side, and then we had the big woks. And meanwhile, they're mixing more of the cira-dahi, and the people… even after the cira, the chipped rice and the yogurt was finished, we simply had the dry cira with water. That they’re also taking! Prasāda! Even just the same cira, with not even a salt or anything in it, still they're… anything to get little of that prasāda. After everything is finished, and there’s like one bag of cira left. People say, “Prasāda, prasāda! Ekṭu dāo, ekṭu dāo prasāda. Give me a little prasāda please!” So then we mixed up even the plain cira and got a little couple of kilos of gur together, shoved it in there and then gave. Everyone really eager for this prasādam. And actually there were so many people that actually the people were waist deep in the water. The bathing ghāṭa and everything, they're completely packed with people. And you could actually see! Practically the pastime was being relived by Caitanya Mahāprabhū's mercy.

The last year we went there, we brought the boat, with Nitāi-Gaura on the boat. Because we already had experience. We can't depend every year the rain is going to come just on time. (laughter) That was a rainfall, a windfall or something. So last year we brought the boat and we had a track that led right out from the boat right to the back of this special sitting place. But the brāhmaṇas, they were already ready for it. They didn't want to give up their vantage point. But we made a compromise that just for the 108 offering for 1 hour, you have to give us the place. And we had built a special pandal where we're distributing the prasāda to the public from there. We wouldn't distribute from here but we'll just offer it here, and then take Nitāi-Gaura over to our pandal which we constructed. So then we took the boat with a Hare Kṛṣṇa flag and we took a big circle around in the Ganges and all the people were chanting from the side, “Hari Bol! Jai Nitāi-Gaura!”, while the boat made a big round with a kīrtana party on it. And it was a similar distribution, kīrtana.

That year when it was raining, you'd see some of the people, they're chanting and they're completely soaking wet. But they still continued chanting. So many groups, some people, just five people would come in a group, some 20, some would just come out singly to see and to participate. Some would join into our group and start chanting. It was very wonderful to see all the different Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. But as always, after we started making the big hit, a few of the bogus gurus came. And then last year what we did is… there was a pandal one side made by one of these bogus gurus and when we offered the prasādam, everybody stomped over his pandal to see the offering of the prasādam and tore his pandal. I think I had to run away. (laughter)

So up to now we've been able to keep, maintain the upper hand in the Pānihāṭi fest. I hope that this year… So actually these festivals are nothing new. These festivals… we're reading how… The festival, even after Lord Caitanya disappeared, that the festivals were held on Gaura Pūrṇimā, 450 years ago. And of course, remember the time that Śrīla Prabhupāda, he went to Pānihāṭi, he saw the building there and he said that this building is too broken to be maintained. We should take a picture of it, exact all-angle picture, and tear it down and build the exact replica of Rāghava Paṇḍita’s house because there's banyan trees and everything. The roots had grown right into the wall and breaking it down. Part of the whole roof was being held up by the roots. It's not a very secure situation, because any time it could fall on your head. So he was saying to take exact photograph.

But they were supposed to give that. When they didn't give it to us when they had promised to give it and they didn't give it because there was a change into a communist government. But now we're overcoming those difficulties that were first put up. But at that time when the change in the communist government, people had stopped it from coming to us. Then the sacred mālatī tree. There's a mālatī which Lord Nityānanda had planted. It had grown out of the body of Rāghava Paṇḍita, mālatī-latā. And that tree — just last year when they refused to give the place to us… the last year — died. It was growing since 500 years. So I use that to preach to people that this is due to all your offenses. You're not doing your regular saṅkīrtana. So a lot of these places, of course, that was a very great relic. The tree is still there, but the mālatī-latā which was growing over the samādhi of Rāghava Paṇḍita, I believe. It’s Rāghava Paṇḍita’s samādhi, but now that has left the world. So a lot of devotees are very upset. The original deities of Rāghava Paṇḍita are still there. The Rādhā-Madanagopāla, I believe. Or Rādhā-Madanamohana deities are there. I believe those are his deities.

And Prabhupāda went there and had like a little picnic. And at that time he suggested that there can be a boat service from Calcutta to Pānihāṭi to Māyāpur. People go by boat and have a nice scenic ride. Rather than go by the dangerous route on the road, very comfortably go by the river. So we're investigating also to see whether that will be for the festival. Maybe the devotees will be convenient to go out by boat sometime. We're checking that out. This summer we're going to take a boat up to Māyāpur and see how long it takes. Bhavānanda Mahārāja said that it was a very scenic view. He went on the boat one time. It's very beautiful. When I went around that one tour, it was very beautiful. There's so many temples on the side of the Ganges.

So Pānihāṭi is just near. About 10 miles north of that is Khordaha. You know Khordaha? Śrīpāṭa Khordaha. Khordaha is the home after Nityānanda prabhu married Jahnavā Devī and Vasudhā. In śālagrāma. Then He went to Navadvīpa. From Navadvīpa He went to Ambikā Kalna. From Ambikā Kalna, He went to Ādisaptagrāma, the house of Uddhāraṇa Ṭhākura. Uddhāraṇa Dutta Ṭhākura. And from there he went to Khordaha. In Khordaha he made his house. And so the house of Nityānanda Prabhu is still visited by devotees. And just like Śāntipura was the holy place for Advaita.

Like that, Khordaha was holy to Nityānanda Prabhu. And they had built a temple there over the samādhi of the umbilical cords of Vīrabhadra Prabhu and Gaṅgādevī, the son and daughter of Nityānanda. And thousands of devotees come there and offer their obeisances to their temple of their umbilical cord. Which may sound strange, but it's not when you consider that Vīrabhadra Prabhu is Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu avatāra and that His umbilical cord is not material. And that Vasudhā, His mother, was Mahā Lakṣmī, was Varuṇī. Lord Balarāma's consort. So anything that is coming from these transcendental personalities is also transcendental. So they have left part of their transcendental form that is sacred and worshipable. Everything in connection with the Lord is transcendental. Just like the Lord is transcendental. We say,

mahāprasāde govinde nāma-brahmaṇi vaiṣṇave 
svalpa-puṇyavatāṁ rājan viśvāso naiva jāyate 

Repeating these sacred words of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Because the Lord is transcendental, His mahāprasāda, Govinda-nāma – His Holy Name, the brāhmaṇas, the Vaiṣṇava devotees. Someone has faith in the Lord and the things connected with Him and their transcendence is of no small piety. But it's greatly fortunate. Lord Caitanya says sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. He's coming not alone, but with His associates, His assistants, His eternal paraphernalia and weapons and intimate associates. So just as we respect mahā-prasāda because it's offered to Kṛṣṇa, we don't criticize mahā-prasāda. Because we know that once Kṛṣṇa has touched it, it's become transcendental. Just like Lord Caitanya, when He came from the maṅgala-ārati darśana and they gave Him that cashew nut prasāda in Jagannātha Puri, and He tasted and he was just filled with love for Kṛṣṇa. And He's saying that… how wonderful! “How many cashew nuts we had in our life. But this cashew nut, which was tasted by Kṛṣṇa, by Jagannātha, how wonderful, how superb. This is nothing ordinary.” And He was giving a taste to this devotee and that devotee and this devotee, and they're tasting. Because this has got the nectar from Kṛṣṇa's lips, therefore it has this inconceivable ocean of transcendental bliss within. So mahā-prasādam of course, is sacred. So everything connected.

In Katwa. Where Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted sannyāsa, they have the samādhi-mandir to His hair. It was where He cut His hair off. You know how when they cut His hair off, the people were crying. They're pounding, they're screaming, “NO NO! Not Lord Caitanya’s hair! Not His transcendental hair!!” They couldn't see that Caitanya Mahāprabhu would be taking this austerity. He is himself the Lord. He's the supreme enjoyer. Why should He do any austerity? An ordinary living entity does austerity to become free from karma, to become liberated, to become situated in transcendence and to achieve love for God. But Kṛṣṇa Himself, there's no need for Him to do any type of austerity. He's Ekarasa. He's always on the same transcendental platform. Ekarasa. He's always in the same mellow of transcendence.

He never comes under the illusion or need for any type of purification, like an ordinary human being or even demigod may need. So people were shocked and they were crushed and they were thrown into agony to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s hair being cut. So with great faith, they gathered up every hair and with great devotion, they placed it there in a samādhi. And His hair is also being worshipped. That temple for His hair, since that time. Because His hair is also transcendental, it's not material. So just like you said, devotees have little things around their neck with little remnants in it. Anything in connection with Kṛṣṇa becomes transcendental.

So there in Khordaha, there is this temple for Nityānanda, beautiful deity of Vīrabhadra. Such a beautiful deity, Vīrabhadra. Vīrabhadra is known as abhinna-kalavera, or having a non-different body from Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Nityānanda’s son Vīrabhadra, he had a non-different body from Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Of course, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is Viṣṇu tattva, non-different from Kṛṣṇa. So Vīrabhadra, He was non-different from Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was very merciful, very great preacher.

There's a story how they were having a festival in commemoration of the disappearance of one great devotee, Narahari. You know ♫ ‘kiba narahari-ādi kori cāmara dhulāya’ ♫ Narahari, he would daily fan Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Especially that mahā-prakāśa-ārati, he was there. When he left, all the Vaiṣṇavas were thrown into separation. He was practically the last devotee who was of that stature. Lord Caitanya's intimate associate to still be present. And when he left and returned to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it was a great separation for all the devotees. So at that time they held one festival and Vīrabhadra came there as did many other of the remaining devotees like Acyutānanda’s brothers, the sons of Advaita Gosāñī and Raghunanda Ṭhākura, Yadunandana Ṭhākura, the Śrīkhaṇḍavāsīs, and from Kuṇḍagrāma or even the pig herders chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So many of these devotees, they all came. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya was there. Rāmacandra Kavirāja. I believe Narottama Ṭhākura at that time had to go to Vṛndāvana for a visit. I'm not sure. I don't think he was able to come at that particular festival. But everyone else was there.

So Vīrabhadra, he started to dance to the kīrtana. And his dancing, of course being Nityānanda’s son, Nityānanda’s dancing was such that Lord Caitanya had to be there. So Vīrabhadra also had wonderful dancing. More beautiful than what the Gandharvas can conceive of. He was dancing before the deity of Caitanya Mahāprabhu there to the kīrtana. And there was one blind man who wanted to see the kīrtana. And he was he wanted to know what was going on. So he kept saying, “What is happening?? What is Vīrabhadra doing now?” They said, “Now he's dancing in this way. And he described how he was dancing with his lotus eyes. How he was in this way dancing. And now he's leaping and he's jumping.”

“And now what's Vīrabhadra Prabhu doing?”

Suddenly he could see! “Haribol! Haribol!!”, and his eyesight… there before his very blind eyes was the beautiful vision of Vīrabhadra. He could see! And of course, all the devotees were very ecstatic to see the blind person. Just by chanting Vīrabhadra’s name and desiring to serve him through seeing his transcendental pastimes, he was given sight. And that kīrtana of course went on and on deep into the night. Finally, in the dead of night, you see that kīrtana was at the full crescendo. But the people, the devotees started to get deep into a separation. Kothāya Gauracandra. Where is Gauracandra? Kothāya Nityānanda. Where is Nityānanda? Where will we get their association? Where will we get those transcendental qualities? Where is Advaita? Where is Gadādhara? Where can we get their association? Where is Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita? Where is Gadādhara Dāsa? Where is Murāri? Where is Candraśekhara? Where is Svarūpa, Rūpa, Sanātana? Where is Narahari? And then in this way, everyone they became so overwhelmed in separation. Feeling how unworthy they were. We should understand this separation is not ordinary. Like what kārmīs see.... lamentation as some type of misery. But this is a deep intimate mood of love and appreciation.

So they were absorbed in this separation. And just to show you how, this. Is completely directed by Yoga-māyā and by Kṛṣṇa's transcendental energy. You see, when they got down to what was practically the tip of separation. The most intense separation, they were practically just virtually rivers of tears were flowing. Everyone was weeping and they could hardly chant anymore. They're just saying their names and breaking up. They're choking up and crying and holding on to each other and just remembering all these qualities and passing out unconscious. And some would get up and then they'd go on chanting these different separation songs and falling unconscious and crying.

And in this state where it looked like they were also going to leave their body practically in separation, suddenly, by Kṛṣṇa's mercy, everyone felt the mood of sambhoga. From viraha – separation came the mood of union. And suddenly everyone became ecstatic! Jubilation! And they started embracing each other and jumping up and down and the whole kīrtana mood changed, just in a second. The whole current of transcendental rasa had shifted. And in that ocean of rasa, the current was now coming in a different direction by Kṛṣṇa's mercy and everyone, they were filled with a feeling just as if Lord Caitanya and the associates were present and they were filled with some transcendental joy. In the deepest separation, suddenly they became jubilant in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And the kīrtana went… and in this way, before they knew it, it was time for maṅgala-ārati. So then they attended the maṅgala-ārati and went and took their bath. And the next day of course, they had some prasāda. Like this they were having their festival, and Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, he would sometimes give the Bhāgavatam class. Vīrabhadra would dance. Like this, they're having so many festivals.

And of course, you probably heard about that big festival in Kheturi. That's the festival which is really… maybe there's not time to tell you about that tonight. (laughter) That is the really… mahā-festival. What happened was, when Narottama came back from Vṛndāvana; and he was a prince in his previous life. He's a devotee right from birth, but practically he was the son of a brother of the king. He was a prince. But he never accepted that. He became a devotee of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Devotee: This is what… after Mahāprabhu...?

This is after! This is after Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu left. Like 50 years after he left. Second generation. And I described before how Śrīṇivāsa Ācārya, Narottama and Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita were in Vṛndāvana together and how they received training from… they had different gurus also. You know that Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura's spiritual master was Lokanātha Gosvāmī. And Śrīṇivāsa Ācārya's spiritual master was, his dīkṣā-guru was Gopāla Bhatta Gosvāmī. But he took training, śikṣā from Jīva Gosvāmī. And actually Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita, who was known as Duḥkhī Kṛṣṇadāsa, was initiated by Hṛdayānanda, the disciple of Gauridāsa Paṇḍita, who was Subala in kṛṣṇa-līlā. Intimate friend of Nitāi and Gaura. But Hṛdayānanda sent him to Jīva Gosvāmi with a note to please train him up in the Vaiṣṇava philosophy very properly (because Jīva Gosvāmi was the greatest paṇḍita) and then send him back for preaching here after he is thoroughly trained up.

So they were all together, Narottama, Śyāmānanda and Śrīnivāsa Ācārya in Vṛndāvana, when of course, then Govindajī – the deity ordered Śrīṇivāsa, you have to take back all the books to Bengal. And all the… Rūpa Gosvāmī and others came in dream and they also ordered. Jīva Gosvāmī… So then they brought the books to Bengal. That's a whole other story. And up to that point they were together. And then Narottama went one way and preached in the eastern Bengal, eastern northern side. Śrīṇivāsa stayed and preached around Burdwan, Bankura districts of Bengal. And Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita went to Orissa where he delivered Rasikānanda. Śrīṇivāsa delivered Rāmacandra Kavirāja and Narottama, he delivered so many others. In this way they were preaching. But then they would all come together on certain occasions for these big festivals like the one that they had in Śrīkhaṇḍa for Narahari.

So when Narottama came back, it was his desire that I want to have a festival on Gaura Pūrṇimā, on the birthday of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and have a big abhiṣeka for the Lord, and invite all the Vaiṣṇavas to be present in that day. So he personally went to see Śrīṇivāsa, who was also going to see him, because he wanted to have his association. The Vaiṣṇavas, they always… although they preach, they always want to associate with other senior preachers to get that association and inspiration of exchanging transcendental mellows and discussing the preaching program and so on and so forth. So when they met together, actually before they met, one brāhmaṇa came and told Śrīṇivāsa. At this time, Śrīṇivāsa was in the village of Baludi, I believe. Just very near to Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura's house, for his preaching field. He came… he was coming there. But the day before he came, a brāhmaṇa came and told that Narottama Ṭhākura is coming. And he said, “Well, what's the news? What has Narottama Ṭhākura been doing?) Well, he said, “He's been preaching.”

There was one devotee, big businessman, big farmer, had a big silo of grain. But a snake, cobra, big cobra went in that silo. So no one would go near it. So Narottama Ṭhākura had a dream that this was Kṛṣṇa's plan and that he should go there. And so Narottama Ṭhākura went to that place and he said, “Where's your silo?” He said, “Well, there's my silo, but don’t go near there. There's a cobra, there's a snake.

(Jaya Nitāi-Gaura kī…! Devotees: Jaya! Jaya Śrī Śrī Rukmiṇī-Dvārakādhīśa kī…! Devotees: Jaya! Jaya Jagannātha Subhadrā Balarāma kī…! Devotees: Jaya!)

So Narottama, he insisted. And he went over and opened the door. And when he opened the door, the snake called out and turned into a… actually Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared there for a moment, before everyone's eyes, and then disappeared. And so that place they built a temple to Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu and he took the whole silo of rice. “You can take it.” And he built a temple with it. And he had a big prasādam distribution. (aside: no problem?) So like that.

Then Narottama Ṭhākura came and he asked… when they met, of course, Śrīṇivāsa Ācārya went out to the edge of the town when he heard he was coming and met him. And they embraced and then paid obeisances. And then he asked, what are the news from Narottama? He said, “Well, I went to Vṛndāvana and came back.” And he took Śrīṇivāsa aside and he said. “It's my deep desire. I have six deities. I want to have abhiṣeka on Gaura Pūrṇimā and have a big festival of all the Vaiṣṇavas. And I want you to perform the abhiṣeka. Tell how we can get… you've done one festival already, how we can get all the Vaiṣṇavas to come. This is my keen desire.” So Śrīṇivāsa says, “Well, when it's your desire, of course that means Caitanya Mahāprabhu certainly wants this done. I'll be glad to do whatever I can.”

And so that night everyone went to sleep. And Śrīṇivāsa is thinking that all the devotees are in such separation. Caitanya Mahāprabhu had left the world. Practically… they could hardly… they were coming to these festivals at that time but it was very difficult. Because not only did they have to walk a long distance and many of them were old, but they were in such separation that it took a special mercy to get them to come. And he is thinking how (he was very humble person) would he be able to get them? Only with Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy that it could happen. Like this he was thinking and he dozed off. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared to him in a dream and told him that, “Immediately send out the invitations! This is my desire to have this festival! You send out the invitations. Do not worry, it will be successful.”, and disappeared. So then Śrīṇivāsa, the first thing in the morning, he got ten messengers, wrote the letters out. Those days it was just [unclear]. They had to walk to Orissa to give the personal letter to Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita, “Please come.” Walk one month and give the letter. And they had to walk back to the festival. It wasn't just book… “Hey, give me 150 seats on the 747.” (laughter) But of course, with Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy, everything is possible. So he sent off the different messengers. One to Śāntipura, one to Navadvīpa, one to Khordaha to Jahnavā Devī. Like this, to different places, to the topmost Vaiṣṇavas that were present.

So when Jahnavā Devī received the letter, she thought… she's of course in woman form and she's thinking, “Whether I should go?” She's a widow at that time. “Whether I should go?” And then Lord Caitanya appeared to her in a dream and also told her that, “You should go. Śrīṇivāsa and Narottama, they are my dear devotees. It is my desire to have this festival. And you bring with you all the Vaiṣṇavas.” So Jahnavā, when she declared that she's going to go to Kheturi, then Minaketana Rāmadāsa… remember Minaketana Rāmadāsa? He would just carry the flute and touch people, and they'd break out in ecstatic symptoms. (laughter) Minaketana Rāmadāsa, Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura and Govinda Kavirāja and so many… Kṛṣṇa Kavi Dāsa all these different devotees. Practically they left from there about 50 to 100, with also some female attendants for Jahnavā Devī. They would call her Jahnavā Īśvarī, because she was the… she was the goddess of fortune, she was the internal potency, she wasn't jīva-tattva. So she went. Uddhāraṇa Ṭhākura – picked him up on the way. Went up to Gauridāsa Paṇḍita temple and offered prasādam to Nitāi-Gaura deities there. Took Hṛdayānanda, Hṛdaya Caitanya Dāsa. And this way they're going. The party was building up, padayātrā, into like thousands. And finally they went out to Navadvīpa.

Śrīvāsa had already disappeared. Śrīvāsa and Śrīṇivāsa Ācārya, they’re two different… pañca-tattva Śrīvāsa had gone back with Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But his brothers, Śrīpati and Śrīnidhi, they were there. So they were also… they stayed there for a couple days and then whatever devotees were there, there’s Īśāna, Śrīpati, Śrīnidhi, they all joined the party. They all went up to Kheturi. It was like the mahā… from there they went to Katwa where Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa. Then they took Raghunandana Ṭhākura, Jhaḍu Ṭhākura Ācārya, those other devotees. In this way, the party was growing and growing until finally, as they are approaching Kheturi. And on the way, all the villages they went to; the people, they just lined up with offerings and kīrtanas to see. That all these great devotees, where do you get a chance to see these devotees and how fortunate!

And the village Kheturi, where they were going to, which was… the king who was sponsoring the whole thing, the uncle of Narottama, he put out his full treasury for this festival. That whatever it cost, we're going to spend it for the prasādam and house and everything for the devotees. So those villages, they were mad, thinking, “Any day the Īśvarī Jahnavā Devī is coming, all the devotees are coming! Because of Narottama, our whole town got so much mercy from Kṛṣṇa, from Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Just because he has come, so much opportunity. That whole town completely forgot about anything else. Probably the whole town was simply Kṛṣṇa conscious. All they could think about was the Vaiṣṇavas that were coming, the festivals that were going to happen and the kīrtanas that were going on. Everyone, they were completely absorbed in the festivities and the preaching programs and the preparations and cleaning the streets and decorating the houses, all for the welcome of the devotees. And as they were coming, each village, they all came out and offered garlands and paid obeisances and did so many… washed the feet of the great associates of Caitanya Mahāprabhu that were coming, and each village as they went, they're purifying the whole countryside in this way.

And then finally they reached to the opposite side of the Padmā river where… Kheturi is on the opposite side of the Padmā, which is a branch coming off from the Ganges. Where the Ganges splits into the Padmā and Bhagīrathī. So, there the king had already had boats ready for them and took them right across, arranged their houses, gave them place to stay, first bathed their feet, gave them a place to stay. Just everything was arranged perfectly for their convenience. And then immediately there's nonstop kīrtana and lectures and different programs were there. And everyone was thinking of the day when the big abhiṣeka would happen, the Gaura Pūrṇimā. So the day of the Gaura Pūrṇimā, everyone took their bath in the Ganges early in the morning or in the Padmā, came there to the… and Jahnavā Devī, she gave the command, the order to Śrīnivāsa, that you do the abhiṣeka. Narottama was there helping him. And they did the big bathing with so many things… sacred water and installed the deities up on the siṁhāsana. And all of the devotees are chanting in kīrtana and watching. And after this beautiful abhiṣeka was being performed, then they asked what was next… for the next order. So she said that distribute the garlands, the mahāprasāda garlands in abhiṣeka to all the associates. So they distribute all those flower garlands to the associates that were present, you know… like Acyutānanda. He came from Śāntipura and met them in… Acyutānanda himself, the number one son and his two brothers, they came and met them, the whole party with Jāhnavā Devī in Navadvīpa and the company. So he was there. So they gave him and others their garlands. And then after that Jāhnavā personally sent two associates and they garlanded Narottama and Śrīṇivāsa. And then the order was given that you start the ārati.

So then Śrīṇivāsa did the ārati for the deities, Gaurāṅga deities and Rādhā-Vallabha, different deities were there. And as the ārati was going on, Kṛṣṇa, from his transcendental form, started to spread his actual bodily aroma. Kṛṣṇa's bodily aroma, which excites the devotees with transcendental love beyond any limit. He spread that aroma from his form, from the deity. And the devotees were smelling the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa. And they became mad in that kīrtana. And they're jumping up and down and they became mad in love for Kṛṣṇa. Because of Kṛṣṇa's, you see… transcendental presence through these, just letting them smell his transcendental bodily aroma which is transcendental, completely. They became mad in love for Kṛṣṇa, completely ecstatic. And after that ārati was over, then Acyutānanda, he told Narottama that you begin the kīrtana. Narottama was the kīrtana-ṭhākura. The actual kīrtana-ṭhākura… he is Narottama Ṭhākura.

So Narottama had his trained mṛdanga players, and describes that before… like the warm up, the mṛdanga players, they did so many beats. It was like a 5-10 minutes warm up with the mṛdangas first, where they were all playing so many mṛdangas in unison, exactly. And dancing. If you ever see them, they still do it in Bengal. And they said they were going on their knees. They were jumping up, dancing, spinning around. Bring a complete and then bringing it up. And then he started the kīrtana. (laughter) How do you… how do you explain I mean… you get a… (laughter) right? So even today you can see, three or four at unison. They know how to do it more or less. But you can imagine Narottama’s private trained khol players. So they were just described, as the way that they played in unison exactly and such complicated beats. And then brought it up to crescendo.

And then he started the kīrtana. So first he started a kīrtana glorifying how Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the combined Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and it's in the mood of Rādhāraṇī. And then in this way, he was chanting different pastimes. And the devotees were all participating in the kīrtana responsibly. And then he got into the mahā-mantra kīrtana, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. And everyone, all those associates, they were all dancing, kīrtana… and mahā-harināma. Everyone was there. And actually the temple, the kīrtana hall where they were bathing the deities was very small. But they said it seemed like there were unlimited people. I mean, we say like packed like… but I don’t want to say that because it's like… not a Vaiṣṇava thing. But I don't know what you say. Probably what you would say? Packed like a New York… no, what's more than that? Like the Japanese subway. Something completely unlimited.

People were fitting in this small area to see the abhiṣeka. So this time the kīrtana was going on after the abhiṣeka, when it was over. All these associates were dancing in that place. And other people, they were all outside and they were also chanting. And they're all jumping on each other, trying to look over and see all these great devotees dancing and chanting in kīrtana. And Narottama and Acyutānanda started dancing. And Jāhnavā, she was off one side. And different devotees, they were all dancing and chanting in kīrtana. And they were feeling deep separation at one point from Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So intense separation for Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

And suddenly, suddenly…! The most transcendental, inconceivable mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu happened. What is inconceivable. Which has made that place eternal in the history of the Vaiṣṇava culture is…. Caitanya Mahāprabhu himself… with Nityānanda, with Advaita, with Gadādhāra, with Śrīvāsa, with Narahari, with Rūpa Gosvāmī, Svarūpa Dāmondara, Rāmananda-rāya! All the associates who had disappeared, they all appeared right there in person! And they participated, jumped up in the kīrtana. All the devotees, they paid their… “No! Kīrtana!” and they all had a huge kīrtana. The devotees who had disappeared from the world already, with Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, and all the second and third and fourth generation devotees who were still present altogether. They were all chanting in saṅkīrtana. And it was the most ecstatic saṅkīrtana, who can imagine! Nityānanda was embracing his associates and they were all reunited again. Acyutānanda was dancing with Advaita Gosāñī. Every devotee's desire was completely satisfied. And the people outside, they were completely… how fortunate they were. They hadn't… even being born after Caitanya Mahāprabhu had left, they were able to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu present before their very eyes at this sacred place.

And this way the kīrtana went on and on like a day of Brahmā. The kīrtana just kept going on. And all these devotees and the Lord himself, prakaṭa, aprakaṭa, everyone was present there. And suddenly at one point, Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all the devotees who were aprakaṭas, who were actually… already their līlās were elsewhere, disappeared. “Kothāya Gauracandra?? Kothāya Nityānanda, Kothāya Advaita, Kothāya Gadādhāra!? Kothāya?? –Where is Caitanya Mahāprabhu? Where is Nityānanda? Where is Advaita? Where is Gadādhāra? Where is Śrīvāsa? Where is Svarūpa Dāmodara? Rāmānanda Rāya? Rūpa-Sanātana? Where are they now??” And the devotees were thrown into, again, the abyss of separation. Pulling their hair, falling unconscious, rolling on the ground, beating their… Caitanya Mahāprabhu was here. And now he disappeared again. So Jahnavā Devī, she said again, “Do not lament. This is the Lord's inconceivable mercy. Go on chanting.” And so then they had a tremendous virohe (separation) kīrtana which practically melted the rocks and everyone chanted.

So then they took their bath again. And after seeing maṅgala-ārati… and Jāhnava Devī, that day after Gaura Pūrṇimā, personally prepared the prasādam, the bhoga for Lord Caitanya and the deities. Personally prepared and offered, with greatest love and devotion. And then she personally had first all the associates and the mahantas like Rāmacandra Kavirāja and others, they had them all sit down. And she personally supervised everyone getting this prasādam. And the devotees, of course to get prasādam... just like when some great… when Rādhāraṇī or Jāhnavā Devī or someone prepares prasādam, of course, that prasādam is very special. Like when Prabhupāda would prepare prasādam, that was very special. So Jāhnavā, she personally prepared this prasādam, offered and all these great devotees inside, they were served this prasāda. Prepared the bhoga, offered and then served.

So after they took, then the distribution of prasāda went on and on and on! And literally, just hundreds of thousands of people kept coming and coming. And everyone was fed with prasādam, long into the night. The day after the Gaura Pūrṇimā, a big prasādam distribution. Everyone who came… and everyone, the whole… you see, they would go and bow down in that place where Lord Caitanya had appeared and where all the devotees had danced and just take the dust. That how fortunate, Caitanya Mahāprabhu himself. And that was the place that Narottama would always chant. Lord Caitanya himself and his associates had appeared there. So like this, there were so many festivals they had. We can also hope.

We hear at one time Prabhupāda was commenting how he saw Lord Caitanya Nityānanda dancing amongst the Ratha-yātrā in 1971 or something like that in San Francisco. I heard a story about that. And of course, how wonderful it would be to be reunited even with those like Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Gaurakiśora, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Jagannātha Dāsa Bābājī, Baladeva Vidyābhuṣaṇa and other great associates and ācāryas. Anything is possible, nothing is impossible. Of course such great devotees were there. They deserved it. We don't deserve anything but being kicked for our rascaldom. But considering the inconceivable mercy of Lord Nityānanda, we can always hope for different types of transcendental mercy. Because They can do anything. They're independent, Īśvara. Independent controller. They're not subject to doing according to anyone else's calculations. They're independent. They can do as they see fit, as They like. So if Caitanya Mahāprabhu wants to appear, or if He wants to have any devotees appear… of course He is present. But who is able to see? Like Pānihāṭi, not everyone could see. Only a few could see Lord Caitanya. But here everyone was able to see. Even after he disappeared for a long time from Pānihāṭi, He was still present. But He was in Puri. Here he'd already left the world. And all those associates had left. But they all appeared, of course. Of course, Jesus Christ, he just came back alone. But when Lord Caitanya came back, he came back with everybody and of course that's not the only time.

In several occasions, even different yugas, devotees when they worship Caitanya Mahāprabhu, just like Rāmanujācārya, when he went to Navadvīpa, he also saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally. But he wanted to stay there and preach bhakti cult. But Lord Caitanya told him that he should continue preaching dāsya-rasa. That he would help him in his pastimes and come and meet him at that time. Like that, each of the four ācāryas, they also had pastimes for Lord Caitanya. Rudra-sampradāya began in Navadvīpa-dhāma. Viṣṇuswami met Lord Śiva in Navadvīpa only. And Nimbārka met the four Kumāras in Belpukur, where we have just rebuilt the temple of the deity of Śacī Mātā. And at Belpukur, that's where the four Kumāras gave their mercy to Nimbārka Gosvāmi. And he started the Nimbārka, the Kumāra Sampradāya Vaiṣṇavism. And he also worshipped… Caitanya Mahāprabhu was there. And Lord Caitanya told him to simply preach Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa worship.

So we can discuss more of these things future date. We can hope for the special mercy. That's what we should do. Rather than hoping that we'll be happy in this material world, which is simply a waste of time, we should hope that by sincerely engaging in the saṅkīrtana movement, that this will be pleasing to our spiritual master and this will bring us in actual presence of the Lord. The Lord, He appeared in the middle of a big saṅkīrtana-yajña, the big festival. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he advised that by submerging oneself into the saṅkīrtana movement, one can relish the highest appreciation, highest realization of pure love for Kṛṣṇa. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

♦  ♦  ♦  ♦

Verified by: Bhakta A. (JPS Archives Team)
Śrī Māyāpur, India