20181107 Śrī Īśvara Purī's eating the grains cooked by Mahāprabhu

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book compilation class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 7, 2018, in Chennai, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Happy Diwali to everyone and we will continue with the compilation of the Śrī Caitanya Book.

Śrī Īśvara Purī Eating the Grains Cooked by Mahaprabhu

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.80

kiñcitkāla viśrāmānte prabhura randhane udayoga —

tabe mahāprabhu kata-kṣaṇe sustha haiyā
randhana karite prabhu vasilena giyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He for sometime rested and became healthy again. Then He sat down to perform the cooking for the Deities.

Srī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.81

randhana-sampādana-kāle purīpādera āgamana—

randhana sampūrṇa haila, henai samaya
āilena śrī-īśvara-purī mahāśaya

Jayapatākā Swami: So the cooking was completed. At that time came Śrī Īśvara Purī Mahāśaya. So he came just as the Lord finished cooking.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.82

kṛṣṇanāma-kīrtane premonmatta purīpāda—

prema-yoge kṛṣṇa-nāma balite balite
āilena prabhu-sthāne ḍhulite ḍhulite

Jayapatākā Swami: Īśvara Purī came completely absorbed in love of Kṛṣṇa. He was chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa again and again. And he came to the place of Lord Caitanya. And his head was moving from side to side.

In this way he was manifesting his ecstatic love, chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. While chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa Īśvara Purī paad was overwhelmed with the love of God and unable to control his balance as he came before Gaurāṅga. At that time the Lord was engaged in cooking. Lord Caitanya had His residence in Gaya, some guest facility and Īśvara Purī came to see Him.By seeing Lord Caitanya he was very happy. And when Lord Caitanya saw Īśvara Purī He also became ecstatic.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.83

tatkṣaṇāt randhanagṛha tyāgapūrvaka purīpādake gurujñāne prabhura abhyarthana, vandana o maryādā-pradarśana-līlā—

randhana eḍiyā prabhu parama-sambhrame
namaskari’ tāne vasāilena āsane

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Gaurāṅga seeing Īśvara Purīpāda, He felt that this is My spiritual master. So accordingly, He offered him all kinds of respect, welcoming, prayers and showing great respect and honor to Mādhavendra Purī through his representative Īśvara Purī. So leaving His cooking Lord Caitanya offered respect and appropriate seat to Īśvara Purī Mahārāja.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.84

prabhu-darśane premabhare purīpādera nija-āgamana-praśaṁsā —

hāsiyā balena purī,—“śunaha, paṇḍita!
bhālai samaye hailāṅa upanīta”

Jayapatākā Swami: Smiling, Īśvara Purī Mahārāja said as follows, “Listen, oh paṇḍita, I have come at the right time”.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.85

parama-dainyavinayabhare prabhu-kartṛka purīpādake nijābāse bhikṣā-grahaṇārtha prārthanā-jñāpana—

prabhu bale,—“yabe haila bhāgyera udaya
ei anna bhikṣā āji kara mahāśaya”

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord said “My good fortune has arisen. Please take this rice and other things today, oh Mahāśaya. It is My good fortune.” So Lord Caitanya was showing how one should receive guru or a saintly person. Īśvara Purī immediately left His Deity worship to greet the Lord.

I remember that Śrīla Prabhupāda was walking in North Calcutta on Vivekananda Road, he saw one house and said, I know this gentleman. So he came in and sat in the waiting room. And a servant came and Prabhupad told him I want to see your boss. Soon he disappeared and came back. He said that, “bābu pūjā karta hai. My master is performing worship of his Deity.” So wait till he finishes and then he will come. So Prabhupāda was saying that the etiquette is that when you are worshipping the Deity your guru or some saintly person comes there is no offense if you close the worship and receive the guest. Prabhupāda showed this by his personal example. So here Lord Caitanya is also doing the same. He left his cooking to greet Īśvara Purī Mahārāja.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.86

bhagavāna o bhaktera paraspara prema-saṁlāpa—

hāsiyā balena purī,—“tumi ki pāibe?”
prabhu bale,—“āmi anna rāndhibāṅa ebe”

Jayapataka Swami: Smilingly, Īśvara Purī said “what will You eat?”. The Lord replied, “I will again cook”.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.87

purī bale,—“ki-kārye karibe āra pāka?
ye anna āchaye, tāhā kara’ dui-bhāga

Jayapatākā Swami: So Īśvara Purī Mahārāja said, “What is the need for cooking again? Whatever foodstuff is there, divide it into two parts.”

Īśvara Purī was giving a suggestion, he will only eat one half, and the other half will go to Lord Caitanya.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.88

hāsiyā balena prabhu,—“yadi āmā’ cāo
ye anna haiyāche, tāhā tumi saba khāo

Jayapatākā Swami: Smiling Mahāprabhu Caitanyadeva said, “If you want to please Me, please eat whatever rice and foodstuff is there. You should take that and eat all.”

So Lord Caitanya offered everything to Īśvara Purī but Īśvara Purī Mahārāja thought divide into half and he would take half and you take the other half. But Lord Caitanya insisted you take all and I will cook again if it is short.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.89

tilārddheke āra anna rāndhibāṅa āmi
nā kara’ saṅkoca kichu, bhikṣā kara, tumi”

Jayapatākā Swami: I will cook again without a moment’s delay. I don’t have any hesitation or anxiety. You take this meal all to yourself.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.90

tabe prabhu āpanāra anna tāṅre diyā
āra anna rāndhite se gelā harṣa haiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Gaurāṅga gave His own meal to Īśvara Purī Mahārāja and He joyfully went to cook His meal.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.91

yerūpa prabhura purī-prīti, tadrapa purīrao prabhu-prīti —

hena kṛpā prabhura īśvara-purī-prati
purīr o nāhika kṛṣṇa-chāḍā anya-mati

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord gave such mercy to Īśvara Purī Mahārāja because He had great affection for Purī Mahārāja. Because Purī Mahārāja never deviated from the shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He did not have any other thought. Therefore, the Lord bestowed His mercy on Purī Mahārāja.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.92

bhagavānera svahaste bhakta-sevā-sampādana, prabhura pariveśana,purīra mahāprasāda-sammāna—

śrī-haste āpane prabhu kare pariveśana
parānanda-sukhe purī karena bhojana

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya with His own divine hands personally served Īśvara Purī Mahārāja. He distributed all the foodstuff. In complete transcendental happiness Īśvara Purī Mahārāja ate the prasāda.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.93

lokalacanera agocare mahālakṣmī-kartṛka gaura-nārāyaṇera naivedya-bhoga randhana—

sei-kṣaṇe ramā-devī ati-alakṣite
prabhura nimitta anna rāndhilā tvarite

Jayapatākā Swami: At that time Rāma devī the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī was invisible to others, but she prepared the meal cooking it quickly for Lord Caitanya. In this way she was serving Lord Caitanya. This means that Mahā-Lakṣmī the goddess of fortune remains out of sight of the living entities, Mahā-Lakṣmī, who is the dear most servant of Lord Nārāyaṇa, immediately cooked nectarean foodstuff for her beloved husband.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.94

svayaṁ ācaraṇa pradarśana dvārā prabhu kartṛka bighaśāsi-śiṣyera kartavya-vidhi-śikṣā-dāna—

tabe prabhu āge tāne bhikṣā karāiyā
āpane o bhojana karilā harṣa haiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Then Lord Gaurāṅga after He fed Īśvara Purī Mahārāja first, then He sat down to take His own meal which He happily ate Himself.

This is a blessing by Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata author Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura that if someone hears how Lord Caitanya took His meal with Īśvara Purī Mahārāja, then he will achieve the wealth of kṛṣṇa-prema, pure love for Lord Kṛṣṇa!

You see there are so many avatāras of the Lords, and each perform a different pastime. Some had very little interchange with His devotees, and some had more. Like Lord Rāma He had maybe thousands or millions of monkeys joining Him to fight with the ten headed Rāvaṇa who had kidnapped Lord Rāma’s wife. Others like Mahā Varāha, who were visible to the denizens of the celestial planets but He lifted the earth from the water of the garbhodaka ocean and He fought with Hiraṇyākṣa. And another time He shook his back and the water of the garbhodaka ocean fell on the sages who were watching and the devas but He did not have so much personal exchange with His devotees, But here we see that when the Lord came as Lord Caitanya, He had so much personal exchange with His devotees. That is why Locana dāsa Ṭhākura is saying Lord Caitanya is saba avatāra sāra śiromaṇi – He is the crown jewel of all the incarnations of Godhead. He gave a process which is simply joyful. Singing the mantra Hare Kṛṣṇa, dancing, feasting and associating with devotees and the Lord. So we are not so fortunate to be there but just to be able to hear about, to discuss it, to remember it, that itself is so purifying. We realize how the Supreme Personality of Godhead is indeed very personal, that He reciprocates with Īśvara Purī and he is always thinking of Him.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.95

bhakta-saha bhagavānera bhojanākhyāna-śravaṇe jīvera kṛṣṇa-prema-lābha —

īśvara-purīra saṅge prabhura bhojana
ihāra śravaṇe mile kṛṣṇa-prema-dhana

Jayapatākā Swami: That Kṛṣṇa is very dear to Īśvara Purī and Īśvara Purī was very dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. And anyone who hears this will get the wealth of pure love of Kṛṣṇa.

This is the end of this chapter of Lord Caitanya taking prasāda with Īśvara Purī Mahārāja. We will continue tomorrow with the Lord’s transcendental activities in Gayā. So we hope that all of you get this taste of the love of Kṛṣṇa. There is no higher benediction to be had. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Any questions?

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, If you are doing Gāyatrī and guru or senior Vaiṣṇavas come, it is said that one should stop and pay obeisances. So if this is true then do we start Gāyatrī again or continue from where we stopped?

—Prashant Tyagi

Jayapatākā Swami: If the spiritual master or someone senior like him comes then the devotee should offer his or her obeisances. So after offering obeisances you can continue your Gāyatrī and continue from where you were. And if you talk, stand up and break your mantra meditation, then you can start it over again.

So according to Vaiṣṇava calculation today is Diwali. So I will take pleasure to distribute some prasāda here. Hare Kṛṣṇa!