20220315 Evening darśana: Talk on Śāntipur Pastimes

The following is an evening darśana talk about Śāntipura pastimes given by HH Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on March 15th, 2022

Mādhavendra Purī went to Remuṇā and saw the offering and he thought I would like to offer bhoga like this. And when he came, he saw the Deity was not there. He thought what have I done? I lusted over prasāda. But actually, he was in pure bhakti. That night, another story, the Deity of Gopīnātha woke up the pūjārī and said that I have hidden one pot of condensed milk. And then the pūjārī took a bath and he saw sure enough behind the cloth there was a pot of condensed milk. Then he went to the marketplace and said, “Who is Mādhavendra Purī?” Mādhavendra Purī was chanting japa and he was feeling bad. He said, “I am Mādhavendra Purī.” The pūjārī said, “You are the luckiest person in the whole world! For you, Gopīnātha stole the kṣīra.” Haribol! That time onwards He was known as Kṣīra-cora Gopīnātha.

Madhavendra Purī, he took that kṣīra but he knew that the word would spread out and all the people would come and touch his feet and all that, so he left. He went to Jagannātha Purī. And there he asked the king for some sandalwood to cover His [Śrī] Nāthajī Deity. Sandalwood was very expensive, and he was going back to Bengal, Banaras, Prayag, lots of details described in Caitanya-bhāgavata. Lord Caitanya went through toll collectors. He would walk through as a sannyāsī, all the others were stopped, they were told, pay up! You have to pay a toll. And they arrested him, we are with him. That is the toll collectors, what to speak of the Mohammadans and various thieves and things. But he was determined he would take the sandalwood back. But he had a dream in Remuṇā when the Deity in the form of Govardhana appeared to him and said that, “The form of Gopīnātha is non-different from Me. If you massage the sandalwood on Me, Gopīnātha will also receive it.”

Today we distributed prasāda to about 40 to 50 thousand people in Śāntipur. Because when Lord Caitanya came back from Vṛndāvana, He visited Śāntipura again and then it happened to be on the day of Govinda Dvādaśī, and it is the disappearance day of Mādhavendra Purī. And Advaita Gosāñi, He arranged a huge feast. They counted the bhoga in cottages. So 10 cottages this thing, 10 of that. So Lord Caitanya said that Advaita Gosāñi is not an ordinary person. No ordinary person can make such a wonderful arrangement. He said anyone on this tithi, at this place takes prasāda, he will get govinda-bhakti! So, the previous sevaite Śānti Sakha Goswami, he showed me a letter from Śrīla Prabhupāda and he said that ISKCON should do this festival. And where else Lord Caitanya has said that just by taking the prasāda, you will get love for Kṛṣṇa! Haribol! So, anyway, since then we have been doing this. And all the devotees come and help distribute. Some devotees cook the khicuri, chutney, different preps. So today is a special day. Mādhavendra Purī kī jaya! I thought I would mention. That song that Locana dāsa Ṭhākura had sung was sung by Śrīla Prabhupāda in New Pānihāṭi dhāma, Atlanta. There they have Nitāi Gaura Deities in the center. Usually, Nitāi Gaura are in the right or left, but here They are in the center of the altar. He said, “You people are very fortunate because Nitāi Gaura are here!” Haribol! It is a wonderful song parama karuṇa! Thank you!