20221213 Punishment by Lord Nityānanda Pleases Raghunātha Dāsa

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on December 13th,2022 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! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Punishment by Lord Nityānanda Pleases Raghunātha Dāsa

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.35

eibhāve vatsarānte punarāya palāyanodyoga:—

ei-mata raghunāthera vatsareka gela
dvitīya vatsare palāite mana kaila

Translation: In this way Raghunātha dāsa passed one year exactly like a first-class business manager, but the next year he again decided to leave home.

Jayapatākā Swami: Raghunatha dāsa wanted to be with Lord Caitanya. He couldn’t tolerate the separation of not being with Lord Caitanya, so he decided that somehow or other to go and see Lord Caitanya.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.36

rātrite palāyana, pathe dhṛta o gṛhe nīta:—

rātre uṭhi’ ekelā calilā palāñā
dūra haite pitā tāṅre ānila dhariyā

Translation: He got up alone one night and left, but his father caught him in a distant place and brought him back.

Jayapatākā Swami: Although Raghunatha dāsa was trying to flee, his father had a great force of soldiers and security, so somehow he found Raghunatha dāsa and brought him back.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.37

punaḥ punaḥ palāyana o dhṛta haiyā bandhanadaśā-prāpta :—

ei-mate bāre bāre palāya, dhari’ āne
tabe tāṅra mātā kahe tāṅra pitā sane

Translation: This became almost a daily affair. Raghunātha would run away from home, and his father would again bring him back. Then Raghunātha dāsa’s mother spoke to his father as follows.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.38

putrabandhanārtha patnīkarttṛka anuruddha haiyā govardhanadāsera ukti:—

“putra ‘bātula’ ha-ila, ihāya rākhaha bāndhiyā”
tāṅra pitā kahe tāre nirviṇṇa hañā

Translation: “Our son has become mad,” she said. “Just keep him by binding him with ropes.” His father, being very unhappy, replied to her as follows.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.39

“indra-sama aiśvarya, strī apsarā-sama
e saba bāndhite nārileka yāṅra mana

Translation: “Raghunātha dāsa, our son, has opulences like Indra, the heavenly king, and his wife is as beautiful as an angel. Yet all this could not tie down his mind.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.40

dehera janaka vā śaukrajanmadātā pitā jīvera prārabdhāprārabdha-karma-nāśaka nitya prabhu vā īśvara nahena:—

daḍira bandhane tāṅre rākhibā ke-mate?
janma-dātā pitā nāre ‘prārabdha’ khaṇḍāite

Translation: “How then could we keep this boy home by binding him with ropes? It is not possible even for one’s father to nullify the reactions of one’s past activities.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.41

caitanyāviṣṭa sevakai mukta vā aprākṛta:—

caitanya-candrera kṛpā hañāche iṅhāre
caitanya-candrera ‘bātula’ ke rākhite pāre?”

Translation: “Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has fully bestowed His mercy on him. Who can keep home such a madman of Caitanyacandra?”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Raghunatha dāsa became filled with kṛṣṇa-prema and he was eager to be with Lord Caitanya. Who can understand this transcendental desire to be with the Lord, when He was personally present on this earth? His father understood that this is something transcendental and anything he tried could not keep him down. So, the material things could not bind him because he wasn’t interested in material things, he was only interested in the association of Lord Caitanya.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.42

nityānandaprabhu pānihāṭīte āsile raghunāthera taccaraṇa-darśana:—

tabe raghunātha kichu vicārilā mane
nityānanda-gosāñira pāśa calilā āra dine

Translation: Then Raghunātha dāsa considered something in his mind, and the next day he went to Nityānanda Gosāñi.

Jayapatākā Swami: Normally, the spiritual master is considered a representative of Lord Nityānanda but Lord Nityānanda himself was present nearby. So Raghunatha dāsa thought, he would see Lord Nityānanda, by His mercy anything could be received.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.43

nityānandaprabhura saṅge bahu sevaka o kīrtanagānakārī:—

pānihāṭi-grāme pāilā prabhura daraśana
kīrtanīyā sevaka saṅge āra bahu-jana

Translation: In the village of Pānihāṭi, Raghunātha dāsa obtained an interview with Nityānanda Prabhu, who was accompanied by many kīrtana performers, servants and others.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Raghunatha dāsa he obtained the association of Nityānanda Prabhu, who was in Pānihāṭi which is not very far from Raghunatha dāsa’s house.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.44

gaṅgātaṭe vṛkṣamūle pīṭhopari prabhura evaṃ nimne saṅgigaṇera upaveśana:—

gaṅgā-tīre vṛkṣa-mūle piṇḍāra upare
vasiyāchena—yena koṭī sūryodaya kare

Translation: Sitting on a rock under a tree on the bank of the Ganges, Lord Nityānanda seemed as effulgent as hundreds of thousands of rising suns.

Jayapatākā Swami: This tree in Pānihāṭi is still there. The tree under which Lord Nityānanda was sitting and Śrīla Prabhupāda went there on two occasions. I had the good fortune of being with him. Our first śālagrāma-śilā in Māyāpur was got from Pānihāṭi and he gave some instructions to develop this place, and how to build a temple at Pānihāṭi-dhāma. He wanted boat service from Calcutta to Māyāpur, which would stop in Pānihāṭi to have breakfast.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.45

nityānanda-darśane raghunāthera vismaya o daṇḍavat-praṇāma:—

tale upare bahu-bhakta hañāche veṣṭita
dekhi’ prabhura prabhāva raghunātha—vismita

Translation: Many devotees sat on the ground surrounding Him. Seeing the influence of Nityānanda Prabhu, Raghunātha dāsa was astonished.

Jayapatākā Swami: There is a famous saying that, ‘balarāma hoilo nitāi’, Lord Caitanya is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya he is a combination of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa but Balarāma is Nitāi, so here the Supreme Personality of Godhead was seated with many associates around Him performing His pastimes, and when Raghunatha dāsa saw Him, he was astonished.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.46

daṇḍavat hañā sei paḍilā kata-dūre
sevaka kahe,—‘raghunātha daṇḍavat kare’

Translation: Raghunātha dāsa offered his obeisances by falling prostrate at a distant place, and the servant of Nityānanda Prabhu pointed out, “There is Raghunātha dāsa, offering You obeisances.”

Jayapatākā Swami: The prostrate obeisances are called daṇḍavat that means falling like stick.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.47

antaraṅga o nijajana-jñāne raghunāthake nityānandera kṛpā:—

śuni’ prabhu kahe,—“corā dili daraśana
āya, āya, āji tora karimu daṇḍana”

Translation: Hearing this, Lord Nityānanda Prabhu said, “You are a thief. Now you have come to see Me. Come here, come here. Today I shall punish you!”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya is the possession of Lord Nityānanda, if you want to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya you have to go through the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. So Raghunatha dāsa went directly to Lord Caitanya. So Lord Nityānanda was calling him a thief, he was trying to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya without the mercy of Prabhu Nityānanda, so He said "I will punish you today".

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.48

raghunāthera śire svīya pada-sthāpanapūrvaka kṛpā:—

prabhu bolāya, teṅho nikaṭe nā kare gamana
ākarṣiyā tāṅra māthe prabhu dharilā caraṇa

Translation: The Lord called him, but Raghunātha dāsa did not go near the Lord. Then the Lord forcibly caught him and placed His lotus feet upon Raghunātha dāsa’s head.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Nityānanda was calling Raghunatha dāsa, “Come here, I will punish you” So Raghunatha dāsa naturally he didn’t move. But Lord Nityānanda is very merciful and He is sometimes very funny. So He came over and put His lotus feet on the head of Raghunatha dāsa. So, we can understand that the punishment that Lord Nityānanda is giving is simply pure mercy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.49

nityānandera ahaitukī dayā:—

kautukī nityānanda sahaje dayāmaya
raghunāthe kahe kichu hañā sadaya

Translation: Lord Nityānanda was by nature very merciful and funny. Being merciful, He spoke to Raghunātha dāsa as follows.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.50

sva-gaṇera bhojana-sampādanārtha raghunāthake ādeśarūpa daṇḍapradāna; arthāt daṇḍa-mahotsava-līlādvārā arthaśālī bhogī viṣayīra nityānandagaṇa arthāt śuddha-bhaktera sevātei vittaśāṭhyarūpa anarthanāśa o nitya maṅgalodayarūpa śikṣā-pradāna:—

“nikaṭe nā āisa, corā, bhāga’ dūre dūre
āji lāg pāñāchi, daṇḍimu tomāre

Translation: “You are just like a thief, for instead of coming near, you stay away at a distant place. Now that I have captured you, I shall punish you.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this Pānihāṭi festival is known as Daṇḍa-Mahotsva or the Festival of Punishment. So, His giving Raghunatha dāsa this special punishment was actually His mercy to serve all the Vaiṣṇavas and to get their mercy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.51

dadhi, ciḍā bhakṣaṇa karāha mora gaṇe”
śuni’ ānandita haila raghunātha mane

Translation: “Make a festival and feed all My associates yogurt and chipped rice.” Hearing this, Raghunātha dāsa was greatly pleased.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Raghunatha dāsa was the heir to what would today be considered a billionaire. And we just heard that his father and uncle, their taxes alone, they were making 800,000 gold coins, one ounce of gold is 1700 $ if we calculate 800,000 of such gold coins. That was their yearly income just from the taxes not the other businesses. So, cīra yoghurt and fruits, these were not such a big thing for Raghunatha dāsa. He was very happy to have this opportunity to serve Lord Nityānanda and all the Vaiṣṇavas, so he was very happy to receive this punishment from Lord Nityānanda. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Punishment by Lord Nityānanda Pleases Raghunātha Dāsa Under the section: The Meeting of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī