20210513 Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Describes the Pure Devotional Service Rendered to Kṛṣṇa By Rāghava Paṇḍita

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 13th,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!

Continuation of the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book, Today's chapter is entitled as:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Describes the Pure Devotional Service Rendered to Kṛṣṇa By Rāghava Paṇḍita
Under the Section: The Lord Accepts Prasādam at the House of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.68

premavaśa prabhura rāghava-paṇḍitera śuddha-kṛṣṇa-sevā-praceṣṭā varṇana:—

rāghava paṇḍite kahena vacana sarasa
‘tomāra śuddha preme āmi ha-i’ tomāra vaśa’

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu next spoke some relishable words to Rāghava Paṇḍita. He said, “I am obliged to you due to your pure love for Me.”

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.69

iṅhāra kṛṣṇa-sevāra kathā śuna, sarva-jana
parama-pavitra sevā ati sarvottama

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then informed everyone, “Just hear about the pure devotional service rendered to Kṛṣṇa by Rāghava Paṇḍita. Indeed, Rāghava Paṇḍita’s service is supremely pure and highly accomplished.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed glorifying His devotees and in this way He would teach the others what is the standard of pure devotional service.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.70

rāghavera prabhuke apūrva nārikela-bhoga-pradāna-vaiśiṣṭya–

āra dravya rahu—śuna nārikelera kathā
pāṅca gaṇḍā kari’ nārikela vikāya tathā

Translation: “Apart from other commodities, just hear about his offering of coconuts. A coconut is sold at the rate of five gaṇḍās each.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.71

vāṭite kata śata vṛkṣe lakṣa lakṣa phala
tathāpi śunena yathā miṣṭa nārikela

Translation: “Although he already has hundreds of trees and millions of fruits, he is still very eager to hear about the place where sweet coconuts are available.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.72

eka eka phalera mūlya diyā cāri-cāri paṇa
daśa-krośa haite ānāya kariyā yatana

Translation: “He collects coconuts with great endeavor from a place twenty miles away, and he pays four paṇas each for them.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.73

prati-dina pāṅca-sāta phala cholāñā
suśītala karite rākhe jale ḍubāiñā

Translation: “Every day five to seven coconuts are clipped and put into water to keep cool.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, normally people, if they had hundreds of coconuts trees and millions of fruits, they would just pluck some coconut from the trees. But he wanted to offer the best to Lord Kṛṣṇa. When he heard that another coconut tree had sweeter fruit even if it is twenty miles away, he would go there just to give Kṛṣṇa the best possible offering. That was the high standard of Rāghava Paṇḍita's devotional service.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.74

bhogera samaya punaḥ chuli’ saṁskari’
kṛṣṇe samarpaṇa kare mukha chidra kari’

Translation: “At the time of offering bhoga, the coconuts are again clipped and cleansed. After holes are made in them at the top, they are offered to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.75

kṛṣṇa sei nārikela-jala pāna kari’
kabhu śūnya phala rākhena, kabhu jala bhari’

Translation: “Lord Kṛṣṇa drinks the juice from these coconuts, and sometimes the coconuts are left drained of juice. At other times the coconuts remain filled with juice.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇa is taking these offerings, sometimes He drinks all the coconut water and sometimes He drinks and leaves it. We should never think that Kṛṣṇa doesn’t know what we are offering Him as bhoga and He relishes the devotion of the devotee. Because Rāghava Paṇḍita, he tried his best to offer the very best to Lord Kṛṣṇa naturally Kṛṣṇa appreciated His offering.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.76

jala-śūnya phala dekhi’ paṇḍita—haraṣita
phala bhāṅgi’ śasye kare sat-pātra pūrita

Translation: “When Rāghava Paṇḍita sees that the juice has been drunk from the coconuts, he is very pleased. He then breaks the coconuts, takes out the pulp and puts it on another plate.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.77:

śasya samarpaṇa kari’ bāhire dheyāna
śasya khāñā kṛṣṇa kare śūnya bhājana

Translation: “After offering the pulp, he meditates outside the temple door. In the meantime, Lord Kṛṣṇa, having eaten the pulp, leaves the plate empty.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we might offer the dāba or tender coconut to Kṛṣṇa and then eat the pulp. But Raghava Paṇḍita He would offer the pulp also to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Kṛṣṇa reciprocated the love of His devotee by eating the pulp and leaving the plate empty.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.78:

kabhu śasya khāñā punaḥ pātra bhare śāṁse
śraddhā bāḍe paṇḍitera, prema-sindhu bhāse

Translation: “Sometimes, after eating the pulp, Kṛṣṇa fills the plate again with new pulp. In this way, the faith of Rāghava Paṇḍita increases, and he floats in an ocean of love.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇa was reciprocating the love of Rāghava Paṇḍita, sometime he also gave new pulp in the plate, so this pastime is between the deity of Kṛṣṇa and Rāghava Paṇḍita, and Rāghava Paṇḍita was floating in an ocean of love.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.79

eka divasera ghaṭanā varṇana

eka dina phala daśa saṁskāra kariyā
bhoga lāgāite sevaka āila lañā

Translation: “One day it so happened that about ten coconuts were properly clipped and brought by a servant to offer to the Deity.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.80

avasara nāhi haya, vilamba ha-ila
phala-pātra-hāte sevaka dvāre ta’ rahila

Translation: “When the coconuts were brought, there was little time to offer them because it was already late. The servant, holding the container of coconuts, remained standing at the door.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.81

dvārera upara bhite teṅho hāta dila
sei hāte phala chuṅila, paṇḍita dekhila

Translation: “Rāghava Paṇḍita then saw that the servant touched the ceiling above the door and then touched the coconuts with the same hand.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.82

paṇḍita kahe,—dvāre loka kare gatāyāte
tāra pada-dhūli uḍi’ lāge upara bhite

Translation: “Rāghava Paṇḍita then said, ‘People are always coming and going through that door. The dust from their feet blows up and touches the ceiling.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.83

sei bhite hāta diyā phala paraśilā
kṛṣṇa-yogya nahe, phala apavitra hailā

Translation: “‘After touching the ceiling above the door, you have touched the coconuts. Now they are no longer fit to be offered to Kṛṣṇa because they are contaminated.’

Purport Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that Rāghava Paṇḍita was not simply a crazy fellow suffering from some cleansing mania. He did not belong to the mundane world. In lower consciousness, accepting something to be spiritual when it is actually material is called bhauma ijya-dhīḥ. Rāghava Paṇḍita was an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, and everything he saw was related to the service of the Lord. He was always absorbed in the transcendental thought of how he could always serve Kṛṣṇa with everything. Sometimes neophytes, devotees on the lower platform, try to imitate Rāghava Paṇḍita on the platform of material purity and impurity. Such imitation will not help anyone. As explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya-līlā 4.174), On the transcendental platform there is no higher or lower, pure or impure. On the material platform, distinction is made between good and bad, but on the spiritual platform everything is of the same quality.

“In the material world, conceptions of good and bad are all mental speculations. Therefore, saying ’This is good and that is bad’ is all a mistake.” (Cc. Antya 4.176)

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.84:

jagate rāghavera apūrva pavitra kṛṣṇa-sevā

eta bali’ phala phele prācīra laṅghiyā
aiche pavitra prema-sevā jagat jiniyā

Translation: “Such is the service of Rāghava Paṇḍita. He did not accept the coconuts but threw them over the wall. His service is purely based on unalloyed love, and it conquers the whole world.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Rāghava Paṇḍita, he wanted to offer the best to Lord Kṛṣṇa and with his high standard, he conquered the heart of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.85

tabe āra nārikela saṁskāra karāila
parama pavitra kari’ bhoga lāgāila

Translation: “Thereafter, Rāghava Paṇḍita had other coconuts gathered, cleansed and clipped, and with great attention he offered them to the Deity to eat.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.86

ei-mata kalā, āmra, nāraṅga, kāṅṭhāla
yāhā yāhā dūra-grāme śuniyāche bhāla

Translation: “In this way, from distant villages he collects excellent bananas, mangoes, oranges, jackfruits and whatever other first-class fruits he has heard about.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.87

bahu-mūlya diyā āni’ kariyā yatana
pavitra saṁskāra kari’ kare nivedana

Translation: “All these fruits are collected from distant places and bought at a high price. After trimming them with great care and purity, Rāghava Paṇḍita offers them to the Deity.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, although Rāghava Paṇḍita had many trees, if he heard that another fruit is available of a higher quality, he would collect that fruit even by paying more price and offer that to the deity.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.88

ei mata vyañjanera śāka, mūla, phala
ei mata ciḍā, huḍuma, sandeśa sakala

Translation: “Thus with great care and attention Rāghava Paṇḍita prepares spinach, other vegetables, radishes, fruits, chipped rice, powdered rice and sweetmeats.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.89

ei-mata piṭhā-pānā, kṣīra-odana
parama pavitra, āra kare sarvottama

Translation: “He prepares cakes, sweet rice, condensed milk and everything else with great attention, and the cooking conditions are purified so that the food is first class and delicious.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.90

kāśamdi, ācāra ādi aneka prakāra
gandha, vastra, alaṅkāra, sarva dravya-sāra

Translation: “Rāghava Paṇḍita also offers all kinds of pickles, such as kāśamdi. He offers various scents, garments, ornaments and the best of everything.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.91

ei-mata premera sevā kare anupama
yāhā dekhi’ sarva-lokera juḍāya nayana

Translation: “Thus Rāghava Paṇḍita serves the Lord in an incomparable way. Everyone is very much satisfied just to see him.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, actually this is the standard of serving the deity in arcana. So, we learn from Rāghava Paṇḍita how to offer first class service to the deity. In ISKCON Atlanta, which was named by Śrīla Prabhupāda as New Pānihāṭi dhāma, they can try to make these special preparations which are made by Rāghava Paṇḍita and offer to the deities of Gaura-Nitāi Gaura-Nitāi and Rādhā Madan-mohana.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.92

prabhura sakala bhaktake yathāyogya abhinandana:—

eta bali’ rāghavere kaila āliṅgane
ei-mata sammānila sarva bhakta-gaṇe

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then mercifully embraced Rāghava Paṇḍita. The Lord also offered all the other devotees a farewell with similar respect.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we can see that Lord Caitanya would appreciate all the good qualities of other devotees in devotional service and embrace them. So, like this all the devotees were filled with love for Lord Caitanya and Lord Caitanya expressed his affection for all the devotees.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Describes the Pure Devotional Service Rendered to Kṛṣṇa By Rāghava Paṇḍita.
Under the Section: The Lord Accepts Prasādam at the House of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya.

Haribol!