20201007 Advaita Ācārya Feeds Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda and All the Devotees (Part 1)

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 7th, 2020 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Introduction: Today we are continuing with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book.

Today's topic is: Advaita Ācārya Feeds Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda and All the Devotees (Part 1)

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.278

bhaktagaṇasaha snāna-bhojanādi-līlā—

sabāre laiyā prabhu gaṅgā-snāne gelājāh 
navīte bahu-vidha jala-krīḍā kailā

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga, He took all the devotees with Him and went to perform His Ganges bath. In the Ganges they were engaged in many types of water sports.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.279

sabāra sahita āilena kari' snāna 
tulasīre pradakṣiṇa kari' jala-dāna

Jayapatākā Swami: After taking His bath, Lord Caitanya came with all His devotees then He circumambulated the tulasī plant and watered her.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.280

viṣṇu-gṛhe pradakṣiṇa, namaskāra kari' 
sabā' lai' bhojane vasilā gaurahari

Jayapatākā Swami: He circumambulated the temple of Lord Viṣṇu and offered His obeisances. Gaurahari took everyone and sat down to eat prasāda, lunch with all the devotees.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: In every brāhmaṇa's house and in every Vaiṣṇava's house there was a Viṣṇu temple in which śālagrāma-śilās were worshiped. The temple for demigods in the house of a non-Vaiṣṇava is called caṇḍī-maṇḍapa, and the temple for the Supreme Lord in the house of a brāhmaṇa devotee of Viṣṇu is called viṣṇu-gṛha or tulasī-maṇḍapa.

Jayapatākā Swami: The brāhmaṇa vaiṣṇavas would traditionally have a temple for Viṣṇu tattva. May be Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa or Jagannātha, Balarāma and Subhadrā or Nitāi Gaura or Adhokṣaja Viṣṇu or Laḍḍu Gopāla or some form of Viṣṇu and śālagrāma-śilās. Advaita had such temple and that was circumambulated by Lord Caitanya and then He offered His obeisances to the Viṣṇu Deity.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.4.22

Then the Lord, who is the enjoyer of the fruits of sacrifice, who takes pleasure in satisfying His devotees' dearly cherished desires, enjoyed amongst them the four kinds of foods presented by the great Advaita Ācārya.

Caitanya-Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 14.88

advaita-ācārya-gosāñi bhakta sucatura 
tāhāra āśrame bhikṣā karilā ṭhākura

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Advaita Acārya Gosāñi was a very expert and wise devotee. At His house, gṛhastha-āśrama Lord Caitanya accepted prasāda. He took it in the of alms.

Caitanya-Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 14.89

āra saba jana–yāra yei anurūpa 
bhojana karilā sabe ānanda kautuka

Jayapatākā Swami: Everyone else as per their position, they all joyfully accepted their meal very blissfully.

Caitanya-Carita-Mahā-Kāvya 11.70

He then ate the delicious food offered by Advaita. On next day in the morning He spoke to the devotees in joy. “With great desire to see the Lord’s lotus feet, I will go to Purī. You should remain here and perform constant kīrtana.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Caitanya accepted the proposal of Mother Śacī and wanted to see the lotus feet of Lord Jagannātha in Jagannātha Purī and He told all the devotees to perform kṛṣṇa-kīrtana and remain in Nadia.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.41

sītā-ṭhākurāṇīra randhana o svayaṃ ācāryera bhoga-nivedana :–

prathame pāka kariyāchena ācāryāṇī 
viṣṇu-samarpaṇa kaila ācārya āpani

Translation: All the eatables were first cooked by the wife of Advaita Ācārya. Then Śrīla Advaita Ācārya personally offered everything to Lord Viṣṇu.

Purport By Śrīla Prabhupāda: This is the ideal householder’s life. The husband and wife live together, and the husband works very hard to secure paraphernalia for worshiping Lord Viṣṇu. The wife at home cooks a variety of foods for Lord Viṣṇu, and the husband offers it to the Deity. After that, ārati is performed, and the prasādam is distributed amongst family members and guests. According to the Vedic principles, there must always be a guest in a householder’s house. In my childhood I have actually seen my father receive not less than four guests every day, and in those days my father’s income was not very great. Nonetheless, there was no difficulty in offering prasādam to at least four guests every day. According to Vedic principles, a householder, before taking lunch, should go outside and shout very loudly to see if there is anyone without food. In this way he invites people to take prasādam. If someone comes, the householder offers him prasādam, and if there is not much left, he should offer his own portion to the guest. If no one responds to his call, the householder can accept his own lunch. Thus the householder’s life is also a kind of austerity. Because of this, the householder’s life is called the gṛhastha-āśrama. Although a person may live with his wife and children happily in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he also observes the regulative principles followed in any temple. If there is no Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the householder’s abode is called a gṛha-medhī’s house. Householders in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are actually gṛhasthas— that is, those living in the āśrama with their families and children. Śrī Advaita Prabhu was an ideal gṛhastha, and His house was the ideal gṛhastha-āśrama.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is the standard we should follow all over the world. I am very happy to see in my house visit via zoom most of the gṛhastha’s and having very nice Deity worship. They are following this standard.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.42

dui prabhu o kṛṣṇa,—

tinajanera janya tina pātre naivedya-sajjā o

tina ṭhāñi bhoga bāḍāila sama kari’ 
kṛṣṇera bhoga bāḍāila dhātu-pātropari

Translation: All the prepared food was divided into three equal parts. One part was arranged on a metal plate for offering to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Purport By Śrīla Prabhupāda: The word bāḍāila, meaning “increased,” is very significant in this verse. It is a sophisticated word used by the gṛhasthas in Bengal. Whenever food is prepared and we take away a portion, the food is actually decreased. But here it is the system to say bāḍāila, or “increased.” If food is prepared for Kṛṣṇa and offered to Him and the Vaiṣṇavas, the stock is increased, never decreased.

Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: We don’t say eat prasāda, we say I take prasāda. So here they don’t say decreased rather increased.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.43

naivedya varṇana—

battiśā-āṭhiyā-kalāra āṅgaṭiyā pāte 
dui ṭhāñi bhoga bāḍāila bhāla mate

Translation: Of the three divisions, one was arranged on a metal plate, and the other two were arranged on plantain leaves. These leaves were not bifurcated, and they were taken from a banana tree that held at least thirty-two bunches of bananas. The two plates were filled very nicely with the kinds of food described below.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.44

madhye pīta-ghṛta-sikta śāly-annera stūpa 
cāri-dike vyañjana-ḍoṅgā, āra mudga-sūpa

Translation: The cooked rice was a stack of very fine grains nicely cooked, and in the middle was yellow clarified butter from the milk of cows. Surrounding the stack of rice were pots made of the skins of banana trees, and in these pots were varieties of vegetables and mung-dāl.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.45

sārdraka, vāstuka-śāka vividha prakāra 
paṭola, kuṣmāṇḍa-baḍi, mānakacu āra

Translation: Among the cooked vegetables were paṭolas, squash, mānakacu and a salad made with pieces of ginger and various types of spinach.

Jayapatākā Swami: Here the author is describing a typical Bengali feast.

Haribol!

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.46

ca-i-marica-sukhta diyā saba phala-mūle 
amṛta-nindaka pañca-vidha tikta-jhāle

Translation: There was śūkta, bitter melon mixed with all kinds of vegetables, defying the taste of nectar. There were five types of bitter and pungent śūktas.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śūkta is usually a bitter sabji but here bitter and pungent, pungent meaning spicy with chilli and ginger.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.47

komala nimba-patra saha bhājā vārtākī 
paṭola-phula-baḍi-bhājā, kuṣmāṇḍa-mānacāki

Translation: Amongst the various vegetables were newly grown leaves of nimba trees fried with eggplant. The fruit known as paṭola was fried with phulabaḍi, a kind of dāl preparation first mashed and then dried in the sun. There was also a preparation known as kuṣmāṇḍa-mānacāki.

Jayapatākā Swami: They would make mashed dāl make like one inch or little less special vaḍis dried mini cakes, vaḍis.

Purport By Śrīla Prabhupāda: We request our editors of cook books to add all these nice preparations described by the experienced author Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Prabhupāda wanted our cooks to learn how to make these preparations and offer to the deities.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.48

nārikela-śasya, chānā, śarkarā madhura 
mocā-ghaṇṭa, dugdha-kuṣmāṇḍa, sakala pracura

Translation: The preparation made with coconut pulp mixed with curd and rock candy was very sweet. There was a curry made of banana flowers and squash boiled in milk, all in great quantity.

Jayapatākā Swami: These are very opulent preparations. One time when we were visiting our farm in Ecuador, I tried to cook the banana flowers. I didn’t know the process. Actually, there is whole process, actually you have to boil and drain off the water. I didn’t know that I cooked it and gave it to the devotees. It was very bitter. Each preparation requires some expertise for cooking.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.49

madhurāmla-baḍā, amlādi pāṅca-chaya 
sakala vyañjana kaila loke yata haya

Translation: There were small cakes in sweet and sour sauce and five or six kinds of sour preparations. All the vegetables were so made that everyone present could take prasādam.

Jayapatākā Swami: Not only was He feeding Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda but all the devotees present.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.50

mudga-baḍā, kalā-baḍā, māṣa-baḍā, miṣṭa 
kṣīra-pulī, nārikela, yata piṭhā iṣṭa

Translation: There were soft cakes made with mung-dāl, soft cakes made with ripe bananas, and soft cakes made with urad-dāl. There were various kinds of sweetmeats, condensed milk mixed with rice cakes, a coconut preparation and every kind of cake desirable.

Jayapatākā Swami: Now we are getting into the sweet preparations. In Bengal we start with bitter we go to the pungent and have sour and end with the sweet.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.51

battiśā-āṭhiyā kalāra ḍoṅgā baḍa baḍa 
cale hāle nāhi,—ḍoṅgā ati baḍa daḍa

Translation: All the vegetables were served in pots made of banana leaves taken from trees producing at least thirty-two bunches of bananas. These pots were very strong and big and did not tilt or totter.

Jayapatākā Swami: In other words, great care was made in making all these preparations and serving them. Even the banana leaf bows were made with great care and attention.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.52

pañcāśa pañcāśa ḍoṅgā vyañjane pūriñā 
tina bhogera āśe pāśe rākhila dhariñā

Translation: All around the three eating places were a hundred pots filled with various kinds of vegetables.

Jayapatākā Swami: We remember how Advaita Ācārya told Lord Caitanya, “we will give a simple prasāda suitable for sannyāsīs,” Very simple very simple. Nobody can imagine a hundred different vegetables what to speak of other preparations.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.53

saghṛta-pāyasa nava-mṛt-kuṇḍikā bhariñā 
tina pātre ghanāvarta-dugdha rākheta dhariñā

Translation: Along with the various vegetables was sweet rice mixed with ghee. This was kept in new earthen pots. Earthen pots filled with highly condensed milk were placed in three places.

Jayapatākā Swami: You see sweet rice is very tasty when is cold, they didn’t have refrigerator those days. By keeping the sweet rice in earthen pots so it naturally cools the sweet rice down.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.54

dugdha-ciḍā-kalā āra dugdha-laklakī 
yateka karila’ tāhā kahite nā śaki

Translation: Besides the other preparations, there were chipped rice made with milk and mixed with bananas, and also white squash boiled in milk. Indeed, it is not possible to describe all the preparations that were made.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since Advaita is Māha-Viṣṇu and Sadā śiva and since Sītā devī is Māha Lakṣmī he had prepared very opulent bhoga to be offered to the Lord. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja tried to describes it but he said that there were so many preparations it is not possible to describe everything .

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 3.55

dui pāśe dharila saba mṛt-kuṇḍikā bhari’ 
cāṅpākalā-dadhi-sandeśa kahite nā pāri

Translation: In two places there were earthen pots filled with another preparation made with yogurt, sandeśa [a sweetmeat made with yogurt] and banana. I am unable to describe it all.

Jayapatākā Swami: Sandeśa is made from the natural cheese of the milk. The cows were all protected and there were no slaughter houses at that time. The cows were happy people were happy and everyone was happy. So this is a great example for gṛhasthas to follow.