20210409 Lord Caitanya And the Devotees Partake Their Lunch Prasāda And Glorify the Transformation of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya Part 1

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 9th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma 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!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Today we will Continue with our reading of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, today’s chapter entitled is:

Lord Caitanya And the Devotees Partake Their Lunch Prasāda And Glorify the Transformation of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.151

bhaktagaṇasaha prabhura snāna:—
tabe mahāprabhu kṣaṇeka viśrāma kariyā
snāna karibāre gelā bhakta-gaṇa lañā

Translation: After taking rest, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all the devotees departed to take their baths.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, remember they are just by the Bay of Bengal, so that they can take their sea bath very easily.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.152

snānānte nṛsiṃha-praṇāmapūrvaka udyāne giyā upaveśana:—
tīre uṭhi’ parena prabhu śuṣka vasana
nṛsiṁha-deve namaskari’ gelā upavana

Translation: After bathing, the Lord stood on the bank of the lake and put on dry garments. After offering obeisances to Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, whose temple was nearby, the Lord entered a garden.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, actually the Lord has just done the Guṇḍicā Mārjanā, so He wanted to take bath in the Indradyumna kuṇḍa and then see Lord Narasiṁhadeva which is next to the Guṇḍicā temple, between Guṇḍicā and Indradyumna Sarovar .

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.153

vāṇīnāthera prasāda-ānayana:—
udyāne vasilā prabhu bhakta-gaṇa lañā
tabe vāṇīnātha āilā mahā-prasāda lañā

Translation: In the garden, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sat down with the other devotees. Vāṇīnātha Rāya then came and brought all kinds of mahā-prasāda.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, remember that Vāṇīnātha Rāya was given the service of taking care of Lord Caitanya, he is one of the five sons of Bhavānanda Rāya.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.154-155

kāśīmiśra o tulasī-paḍichāra 500 mūrtira parimita prasāda-preraṇa –
kāśī-miśra, tulasī-paḍichā-dui jana
pañca-śata loka yata karaye bhojana
tata anna-piṭhā-pānā saba pāṭhāila
dekhi’ mahāprabhura mane santoṣa ha-ila

Translation: Kāśī Miśra and Tulasī, the superintendent of the temple, brought as much prasāda as five hundred men could eat. Seeing the large quantity of prasāda, which consisted of rice, cakes, sweet rice and a variety of vegetables, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very satisfied.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we recently visited the kitchens of Lord Jagannātha, the chappana-bhoga or the 56 items that are offered to the Lord were also shown. They cook in a fire that never goes off and that fire is a fire sacrifice. The clay pots that are used for cooking are directly used for the devotees.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.156

sagaṇaprabhura prasāda-sammānārtha upaveśana
purī-gosāñi, mahāprabhu, bhāratī brahmānanda
advaita-ācārya, āra prabhu-nityānanda

Translation: Among the devotees present with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were Paramānanda Purī, Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Advaita Ācārya and Nityānanda Prabhu.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.157

ācāryaratna, ācāryanidhi, śrīvāsa, gadādhara
śaṅkara, nandanācārya, āra rāghava, vakreśvara

Translation: Ācāryaratna, Ācāryanidhi, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Śaṅkara, Nandanācārya, Rāghava Paṇḍita and Vakreśvara were also present.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.158

prabhu-ājñā pāñā vaise āpane sārvabhauma
piṇḍāra upare prabhu vaise lañā bhakta-gaṇa

Translation: Receiving the permission of the Lord, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya sat down. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all His devotees sat on raised wooden seats.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.159

tāra tale, tāra tale kari’ anukrama
udyāna bhari’ vaise bhakta karite bhojana

Translation: In this way all the devotees sat down to take their lunch in consecutive lines, one beside the other.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.160

haridāsake prabhura āhavāna:—
’haridāsa’ bali’ prabhu ḍāke ghane ghana
dūre rahi’ haridāsa kare nivedana

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was repeatedly calling, “Haridāsa, Haridāsa,” and at that time Haridāsa, standing at a distance, spoke as follows.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.161

haridāsera svābhāvika dainya o śuddhabhakte maryādā-buddhi
bhakta-saṅge prabhu karuna prasāda aṅgīkāra
e-saṅge vasite yogya nahi muñi chāra

Translation: Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “Let Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu take His lunch with the devotees. Since I am abominable, I cannot sit down among you.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Haridāsa Ṭhākura or Lord Brahmā approached Lord Caitanya in Yoga-Pīṭha, he said that, now it is his second half of his life, dīvitīya-parārdha, he wants to learn to be humble so that he doesn’t commit any offense to Lord Kṛṣṇa and that he would like to be part of His pastimes, So Lord Caitanya said, “So be it tathasthaḥ, you will take birth in non-Hindu family and this will teach you to be humble. You will chant everyday three hundred thousand names of Kṛṣṇa and this will purify you and you will achieve pure love of Kṛṣṇa and you will be my associate in my Kaliyuga pastimes. Haridāsa ṭhākura was very humble and he was actually Lord Brahmā.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.162

sarvaśeṣe prasāda pāite icchā; prabhura sammati:—
pāche more prasāda govinda dibe bahirdvāre
mana jāni’ prabhu punaḥ nā balila tāṅre

Translation: “Govinda will give me prasāda later, outside the door.” Understanding his mind, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not call him again.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Haridāsa Ṭhākura would take the remnants of the prasāda from Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and that is the greatest benediction

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.163-164

svarūpādi sātajanera pariveśana o prasāda-sevanakāle haridhvani:—
svarūpa-gosāñi, jagadānanda, dāmodara
kāśīśvara, gopīnātha, vāṇīnātha, śaṅkara
pariveśana kare tāhāṅ ei sāta-jana
madhye madhye hari-dhvani kare bhakta-gaṇa

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, Jagadānanda, Dāmodara Paṇḍita, Kāśīśvara, Gopīnātha, Vāṇīnātha and Śaṅkara distributed prasāda, and the devotees chanted the holy names at intervals.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, if someone wanted more prasāda or if they had enough prasāda, they would chant the holy names. At intervals we hear the holy names being vibrated. Hari Bol! Hari Bol!

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.165

dvāpare kṛṣṇera pulina-bhojana-līlāra uddīpana:—
pulina-bhojana kṛṣṇa pūrve yaiche kaila
sei līlā mahāprabhura mane smṛti haila

Translation: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa had previously taken His lunch in the forest, and that very pastime was remembered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Kṛṣṇa would take His lunch with His cowherd boy friends in Vṛndāvana and that was remembered by Lord Caitanya. So, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda they would celebrate this vana-bhojana with His friends. This shows how the Lord was enjoying picnicking with His friends.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.166

prabhura dhairya o bhāva-samvaraṇa:—
yadyapi premāveśe prabhu hailā asthira
samaya bujhiyā prabhu hailā kichu dhīra

Translation: Just by remembering the pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was agitated by ecstatic love. But considering the time and circumstance, He remained somewhat patient.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, naturally Lord Caitanya became ecstatic remembering this pastime of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but somehow considering the situation He controlled His ecstasies.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.167

prabhura vairāgya-līlā:—
prabhu kahe,—more deha’ lāphrā-vyañjane
piṭhā-pānā, amṛta-guṭikā deha’ bhakta-gaṇe

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You can give Me the ordinary vegetable known as lāphrā-vyañjana, and you may deliver to all the devotees better preparations like cakes, sweet rice and amṛta-guṭikā.”

Purport: Lāphrā-vyañjana is a combination of several green vegetables all mixed together. It is often mixed with rice and delivered to poor men. Amṛta-guṭikā is a preparation of thick purī mixed with condensed milk. It is also known as amṛta-rasāvalī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was playing the part of a renunciant, so He was saying that to give him simple preparation, like lāphrā which is mixture of five vegetables. This is a very simple vegetable. He said give Me this simple vegetable and give the cake and rich sweets to the devotees.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 12.168

svarūpadvāre pratibhaktake manomata prasāda-dāna:—
sarvajña prabhu jānena yāṅre yei bhāya
tāṅre tāṅre sei deoyāya svarūpa-dvārāya

Translation: Since Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is omniscient, He knew what types of preparations each person liked. He therefore had Svarūpa Dāmodara deliver these preparations to each devotee to his full satisfaction.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we can understand from this that Lord Caitanya was overseeing the prasāda distribution and that He would tell Svarūpa Dāmodara what to serve each devotee. So in this way He would see that every devotee was fully satisfied and also we see that the devotees who were serving prasāda were very advanced devotees. So this is a great example for all of us, how serving the devotees is transcendental. So even the Lord Himself He would like to serve His devotees and His devotees were dedicated for serving the Lord. So this was a transcendental exchange of pure love.

So, this is end of today’s class, so we will continue from here tomorrow.