20230224 Pastimes of the Associates of Lord Nityānanda on the Way to Gauḍa-deśa

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on february 24th,2023 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:

Pastimes of the Associates of Lord Nityānanda on the way to Gauḍa-deśa
Under the section: The Pastimes of Nityānanda

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.230

sagaṇa-nityānandera gauḍadeśa yātrā—

ājñā pāi’ nityānanda-candra tata-kṣaṇe
calilena gauḍa-deśe lai’ nija-gaṇe

Jayapatākā Swami: Having received the Lord Caitanya’s order, Lord Nityānanda Candra immediately left for Bengal, with His personal associates.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.231-233

rāmadāsa-gadādhara dāsa mahāśaya
raghunātha-vaidya-ojhā-bhakti-rasa-maya

kṛṣṇadāsa paṇḍita, parameśvarī dāsa
purandara-paṇḍitera parama ullāsa

nityānanda-svarūpera yata āpta-gaṇa
nityānanda saṅge sabe karilā gamana

Jayapatākā Swami: Nityānanda Svarūpa was accompanied by His intimate associates such as Rāmadāsa, Gadādhara dāsa Mahāśaya, Raghunātha Vaidya, who was filled with the mellows of devotional service, Kṛṣṇadāsa Paṇḍita, Parameśvarī dāsa, and the most jubilant Purandara Paṇḍita.

So, here some of the intimate associates of Lord Nityānanda are mentioned. Lord Nityānanda wanted some devotees, to help him to preach in Bengal, these are the devotees who were given to Him, His intimate associates.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.234

nityānanda-pārṣadagaṇera pathe bhāvāveśa—

pathe calitei nityānanda mahāśaya
sarva-pāriṣada āge kailā prema-maya

Jayapatākā Swami: As they proceeded on their journey, Lord Nityānanda mahāśaya, he gave His blessings to all His associates. He proceeded ahead and He made them filled with ecstasy of pure for Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.235

sabāra haila ātma-vismṛti atyanta
kāra dehe kata bhāva nāhi tāra anta

Jayapatākā Swami: They all forgot themselves in transcendental ecstasy and in each body there were different transcendental emotions, the symptoms of which had no end .

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.236

nityasiddha vraja-jana rāmadāsera dehe aprākṛta gopālabhāva-prakāśa—

prathamei vaiṣṇavāgragaṇya rāmadāsa
tāna dehe hailena gopāla-prakāśa

Jayapatākā Swami: The first seniormost Vaiṣṇava Rāmadāsa was the first to manifest the transcendental mood of a cowherd boy.

Actually Rāmā dāsa was non-different from Śrīdhāma who was one of the original cowherd friends of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, it was quite natural that he manifest the mood of a cowherd boy

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.237

madhya-pathe rāmadāsa tribhaṅga haiyā
āchilā prahara-tina bāhya pāsariyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Somewhere in the middle of the way Rāmadāsa stood in the threefold-bending form for nine hours and he forgot the external world. He was totally absorbed in the ecstasy of remembering Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is famous for having a threefold bending form.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.238

nityasiddha abhinna vraja-jana gadādharadāsera aprākṛta rādhikābhāva-prakaṭana—

hailā rādhikā-bhāva—gadādhara dāse
‘dadhi ke kinibe?’ bale aṭṭa aṭṭa hāse

Jayapatākā Swami: Gadādhara dāsa became absorbed in the mood of Rādhārāṇī. “Who will buy yogurt?” He said and loudly laughed.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Being absorbed in the mood of a gopī, Śrī Gadādhara dāsa began to laugh loudly and ask, “Who will buy yogurt?” Foolish people without understanding the true meaning of the word bhāva end up becoming sakhībhekīs [Sakhībhekīs are those who think of Kṛṣṇa as an object of sense gratification and dress their material male body up to look like one of Kṛṣṇa's girlfriends.], thinking that it refers to the external dress and ornaments. This type of degradation of the living entities resulting from external knowledge is an impediment to the devotional service of the Supreme Lord.

Jayapatākā Swami: In Navadvīpa town there are many of these Sakhībhekīs, men who dress like ladies, wear sarees and bangles and when they turn around they have a beard. So, actually the gopīs in Vṛndāvana, they wanted to please Kṛṣṇa and they had no personal desire for sense gratification.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.239

śrī-raghunātha-vaidyera revatī-bhāva—

raghunātha-vaidya-upādhyāya mahāmati
hailena mūrtimatī ye-hena revatī

Jayapatākā Swami: The most magnanimous Raghunātha Vaidya Upādhyāya became fully absorbed in the mood of Revatī devī, the consort of Balarāma.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): Śrīmad Raghunātha Vaidya displayed the mood of Revatī and began acting accordingly. Those who discuss Jīva Gosvāmīs Durgama-saṅgamanī commentary [on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu] know that sādhakas, who are preparing for perfection, and siddhas, who are already perfect, never consider themselves equal to the āśraya-vigraha. But in the vision of others, they are seen as bhagavad-āśraya-vigraha, or directly related to the Supreme Lord. Exhibition of sentiments befitting the viṣaya-vigraha (the Supreme Lord) like Śrī Rāmadāsa assuming a threefold-bending form in the mood of a cowherd boy often misguide foolish people. That is why the author has used the adjective, vaiṣṇavāgragaṇya—“the topmost Vaiṣṇava,” to describe Śrī Rāmadāsa and did not create misconceptions by describing him as “Viṣṇu.”

Jayapatākā Swami: The devotees were meditating on the Lord but they never considered themselves to be the Lord. So each of the devotees was meditating on the Lord, so that was simply their focus on devotional service. They did not think they were the eternal associates of the Lord.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.240

kṛṣṇadāsa o parameśvarī-dāsera gopāla-bhāva—

kṛṣṇadāsa parameśvarī-dāsa dui-jana
gopāla-bhāve ‘hai hai’ kare anukṣaṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: The two persons Kṛṣṇadāsa and Parameśvarī dāsa became absorbed in the mood of cowherd boys and raised a loud sound in the mood of cowherd boys, saying hai! hai!

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Both Parameśvarī dāsa and Kṛṣṇadāsa were servants of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. Therefore it should be understood that the gopāla-bhāva mentioned herein refers to the mood found in the twelve cowherd boys of Vraja and not as found in Gopāla Kṛṣṇa. Bhāva refers to the internal mood, not to the external appearance. Therefore no one should accept the activities of foolish people like the sakhībhekīs and gopāla-bhekīs as limbs of devotional service. Moreover, no one should fall into illusion by accepting the activities of the spiritual master as ordinary mortal activities.

Jayapatākā Swami: These associates of Lord Nityānanda became absorbed in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa and His associates, and they were manifesting those transcendental moods. At no time they considered that they have become Kṛṣṇa, rather these are expressions of love for Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.241

purandara paṇḍitera aṅgada-bhāva—

purandara-paṇḍita gāchete giyā caḍe
‘muñire aṅgada’ bali’ lampha diyā paḍe

Jayapatākā Swami: Purandara Paṇḍita would climb a tree and jump off the tree, loudly declaring, “I am Aṅgada.”

Aṅgada is one of the monkey in the army of Lord Rāmachandra who attacked Rāvaṇa in Srilanka.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.242

nityānanda-kṛpāya sakalera pūrva vraja-svabhāva-uddīpana o vāhyalopa—

ei mata nityānanda—śrī-ananta-dhāma
sabāre dilena bhāva parama-uddāma

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, the origin of Śrī Anantadeva, He bestowed on the different devotees’, transcendental sentiments.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.243

daṇḍe patha cale sabe krośa dui cāri
yāyena dakṣiṇa-vāme āpanā pāsari’

Jayapatākā Swami: Within a thirty minutes they would cover four to eight miles, they didn’t know whether they were going left or right. They forgot the path, the route to Bengal is more or less straight, they will be going off the road and then they realize they are going the wrong route, turn around, so they would take about 45 days to take the path to Bengal, normally it actually takes 15 to 20 days.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.244

gaṅgātīrera patha jijñāsā—

kata-kṣaṇe patha jijñāsena loka-sthāne
“bala bhāi, gaṅgā-tīre yāiba kemane”

Jayapatākā Swami: After some time, they would ask people for the way to go, “tell me brother, through which way can we reach the Ganges shore?”

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.245

pathabhrama; sakalei jaḍe udāsīna—

loka bale,—“hāya hāya patha pāsari
lādui-praharera patha phiriyā āilā”

Jayapatākā Swami: Those people would reply, “hai! Hai! You have missed the path, you are six hours away from the proper path. “hai! Hai!

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.246

loka-vākye phiriya yāyena yathā patha
punaḥ patha chāḍiyā yāyena sei mata

Jayapatākā Swami: After hearing peoples' words, they turned around and went the other way to return to the right path, but again they crossed over the path and they went in the wrong direction as before.

They were in such ecstasy that they did not really notice the path.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.247

punaḥ patha jijñāsā karaye loka-sthāne
loka bale,—“patha rahe daśa krośa vāme”

Jayapatākā Swami: There they would ask some people, who would say, “The proper path is twenty miles to the left.”

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.248

punaḥ hāsi’ sabei calena patha yathā
nija-deha nā jānena, pathera kā kathā

Jayapatākā Swami: Then they laughed and they again went back to the proper path, they were not conscious of their own bodies, what to speak of the road!

They were in such ecstasy that they were absorbed in Kṛṣṇa-prema, they repeatedly crossed over the proper road.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.249

sakalei dehadharma vismṛta o parānandasukhe magna—

yata deha-dharma—kṣudhā tṛṣṇā bhaya duḥkha
kāhāro nāhika—pāi parānanda-sukha

Jayapatākā Swami: All the bodily urges like hunger, thirst, fear, or distress, sadness, no one had any, for they were all relishing transcendental happiness.

Just imagine the leader of the Parikramā party goes here and there forgets the path!

All these associates were not feeling any hunger, thirst, distress and depression they were just in transcendental ecstasy.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 5.250

nityānandera līlā ekamātra anantadevera adhigamya—

pathe yata līlā karilena nityānanda
ke varṇibe—ke vā jāne—sakali ananta

Jayapatākā Swami: On the path all the pastimes were done by Lord Nityānanda––– Who can describe?–– Who even knows?–– All these can only be explained by Anantadeva.

So, Lord Nityānanda and His associates were totally playing out the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and they were in complete ecstasy.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Pastimes of the Associates of Lord Nityānanda on the Way to Gauḍa-deśa
Under the section: The Pastimes of Nityānanda

Haribol!