20220615 Evening Address: Pānihāṭi Mahotsava

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol! So today we observed the ciḍā-dadhi-mahotsava. And it is a festival that has been going on for more than 500 years. I am sorry that when I tasted the salty preparations, we had not put enough salt. So the ciḍā-dadhi became very dry. I had the yogurt if you all had. But for sure there is lot of bhakti in the preparations. Haribol!

So, Śrīla Prabhupāda went sometimes to Pānihāṭi. Our first śālagrāma-śilā in Māyāpur dhāma was from Pānihāṭi dhāma. When Lord Caitanya sent Lord Nityānanda back to Bengal to preach, the first place He stopped was Pānihāṭi dhāma. And Lord Nityānanda He was sitting under a banyan tree with many of His associates and many respectable sages. I told you this afternoon how He told Raghunātha dāsa that He was going to punish him. The punishment was that he would feed Lord Nityānanda and all His associates with flat rice, yogurt and condensed milk and fruits.

Raghunātha dāsa and his father got taxation of 12 million gold coins and paid tax of about 6 million. In those days you would buy a day of food for one paisa. One paisa! I have seen one paisa! Have you? One paisa is square. Now we cannot buy anything with one paisa. Then you could feed the whole family, the whole day! So, Raghunātha dāsa was a very rich boy. So feeding Lord Nityānanda and His associates was not a big problem. He sent his assistants out to buy yogurt, pots, fruits. They had big, like storage pots to mix the ciḍā-dadhi. They gave Lord Nityānanda multiple pots! They made a special sweet for Lord Caitanya who was in South India, maybe Bengaluru I don’t know. Anyway, He called him up. But no one could see Him but Lord Nityānanda and some very special devotees. Rāghava Paṇḍita came out and told Lord Nityānanda Your lunch is ready. I am a cowherd boy, I would like to eat in a picnic with my cowherd friends. So sit down have some ciḍā-dadhi we can have the other food later. And the word was out, “Mahotsava! Mahotsava! Prasāda!” Everybody came. Suddenly Lord Nityānanda’s associates increased. And whoever came was given two pots. One pot contained yogurt fruits, and one pot condensed milk and fruits. And the field filled up with people. Then the people went up to the shore of the Ganges. Then they were knee deep in the Ganges. They were standing in the water and eating the ciḍā. And Lord Nityānanda accepted everyone as His cowherd friends. And everybody was just saying “Haribol! Haribol!” If you want more, then they were saying “Haribol! Haribol!” And if they had enough, they would say “Haribol! Haribol!” All you could hear was just “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!” Lord Nityānanda He started walking through the crowds of devotees.

And Lord Caitanya walked with Him. But Lord Caitanya was invisible. Only Lord Nityānanda and a few others could see Him. And Lord Nityānanda would take some prasāda from a pot and put it in Lord Caitanya’s mouth. You know what was happening there, prasāda was disappearing. Lord Caitanya took some prasāda from another person’s pot and put it in Lord Nityānanda’s mouth. They could see the prasāda rise and disappear into Lord Nityānanda’s mouth. Nitāi Gaura Haribol! Lord Nityānanda and Lord Gaurāṅga were having vana-bhojana on the side of the Ganges. This way They enjoyed a picnic. Then some of the businessmen came with bullock carts filled with ghee, yogurt and some other things. Then Raghunātha dāsa bought all the stuff and gave them two pots and made them to sit down and eat. The festival is still going on today every year! No advertisement, no marketing! Everybody goes there, they know this is the day! People they take the pot of ciḍā-dadhi and give it to others.

First year I went there with a truck filled with stuff and the police said don’t go, the whole road is filled with people. So we were wondering what to do? What to do? Then the rain cloud came over and it was pouring rain. All the people went off the road. We loaded our back with ciḍā-dadhi and yogurt and started to run and we got to the Ganges and we saw the banyan tree where Lord Nityānanda was offering ciḍā-dadhi to the sages. Rain stopped and people went back on the road. We had half the truck emptied here. Then we went back to the truck. Then the rain came again. Everyone went off the road. Then the rest of the stuff we took on our backs and went back there. Then by a boat we had Nitāi Gaura come there, and as soon as they saw Nitāi Gaura, one singer he started to sing. “Nitāi-gaura pānihāṭi eseche eseche! Nitāi Gaurāṅga have come to Pānihāṭi dhāma!” Nitāi gaurāṅga pānihāṭi esche eseche! Nitāi gaurāṅga pānihāṭi āye hain! So because of the rain the ground got muddy and people started rolling on the ground. People were like totally ecstatic totally intoxicated with transcendental bliss. And we sent one devotee to distribute the prasāda. All the people jumped over him and got the prasāda. He disappeared. He was swallowed up by the crowd. Then he crawled out from their legs! Then we said this is not the way to distribute prasāda. Then someone took a pot of ciḍā-dadhi and went on top of a tree. Like birds, people were saying give me! Give me! Now we are more organized we have a queue system. We feed 50,000 people. I am very happy you all observed this festival. Lord Nityānanda would observe this festival with great enthusiasm. And one can feel the presence of Nitāi Gaura, the six Gosvāmīs, while doing the festival. So, thank you all very much for participating.

I saw in England they have a special, on top of the pots they put some amazing toppings. They had the Bhagavad-gītā printed around. And Kṛṣṇa riding the chariot of Arjuna. They had some amazing toppings. Of course, the artwork was exceptional! I don’t know, the first two pots were auctioned for 10 lakh rupees and 6 lakhs. I think that is a world record! They said they were giving me salty, but they gave me sweet! My blood sugar went up. Anyway, so Lord Nitāi Gaura, Their pastimes are innumerable. And by their mercy so many people were able to participate. So thank you for inviting me. Haribol! Any questions?

Question: Rasamayī devī dāsī: Thank you Guru Mahārāja for a wonderful festival. Today 21 years’ dream was fulfilled. Thank you very much!

Jayapatākā Swami: She arranged all the ingredients, pots, very nicely, thank you!

Rasamayī devī dāsī: Sorry Guru Mahārāja, this was the first time we did such a festival and…

Rasamayī devī dāsī: We gave you a little bit from all preps and you sent one person and said you had not tasted from the ST (Salty Traditional) and SI (Salty Italian) pots, we were shocked how you could relate to that? We had auctioned off all the pots including these. But only these two pots were not touched, and the others were taken away. When this person came and said you wanted to have from these two specific pots, we were amazed. How did you know that these two pots we did not give him to taste? That is why I asked this question.

Jayapatākā Swami: You see every pot I had particular ingredients. SI was an Italian pot. Italian salty. Normally I put chunks of paneer and mozzarella grated and other ingredients. But the cook he had the mozzarella cheese chopped up, I wanted to see how that prep turned out. Normally I pray to Rādhārāṇī, because whatever She cooks it becomes nectar! We did not have Rādhārāṇī here! (Rasamayī devī dāsī: We had Guru Mahārāja here) I depend on Rādhā Kṛṣṇa! (Caitanya Avatārī dāsa: We depend on you Gurudeva!) The other ST pot. It is North Indian salty. Andhra Pradesh is famous for red chilies. It was in a rush so we did not have seasoning. So the Bengali ST is supposed to have green chilies. Normally they are hot. Andhra Pradesh is very hot. But today it was not so hot. I should have been told all this privately, but she asked me publicly. (Rasamayī devī dāsī: Many people were there when this happened and so I asked this question Guru Mahārāja, please forgive me.) I don’t mind! Śrīla Prabhupāda he was very absorbed in his service. So I try to follow in his footsteps. So sometimes I cooked ciḍā-dadhi. And so that is why I know specially what each pot contains. I did not have the KD – kṣīra. I will take one teaspoon. So, please keep Kṛṣṇa in the center and when you cook for Kṛṣṇa but your heart in the cooking.

We were reading in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam how Kṛṣṇa is the real husband. Men in this world are subjected to karma. Even they take you to hospital, they care for you what can they do ultimately? Kṛṣṇa He can do anything and everything. Even the husband is sick, the wife cries she wants to help but she cannot do much. So we all should take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Jagannātha Svāmī He is our Master He is our Protector. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, na me bhakta praṇaśyati. My devotee will never perish. Haribol! Anyway, thank you very much!