(9/9) Shower of Nityananda Prabhu's Mercy

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, morning class before parikrama
17 February 2019, part 9
Translated from Bengali

There was also another brahman who frowned upon Nityananda Prabhu's attire and behaviour. Nityananda Prabhu would sometimes wear earrings, bangles, clothes of different colours (He did not wear black, but He sometimes wore white, sometimes blue, sometimes other colours); He would go here and there, visiting different houses – He would go to random places, speak Hari-katha and eat there. He is avadhut. On the one hand, 'avadhut' means that he can remove dirt from fallen souls' hearts – He can cleanse fallen souls' hearts and rescue them. On the other hand, it can also mean one who does not give importance to the rules and regulations established in the world – in other words, one who is beyond all rules and regulations is also called 'avadhut'. Rules and regulations are not for Him (for example, He can eat rice on ekadasi). Although Nityananda Prabhu could be like that, nobody must criticise Him for this. Still, there was one brahman who criticised Him. One day, that brahman came to complain to Mahaprabhu about Nityananda Prabhu. At that time, Mahaprabhu explained to him Nityananda Prabhu's glory very nicely (I have written about in Sri Nityananda Mahimamrita). In the end, Mahaprabhu told that brahman, 'Go back to Nabadwip and tell all Bengalis about this!'

মদিরা যবনী যাদি নিত্যানন্দ ধরে ।
তথাপি ব্রহ্মার বন্দ্য কহিল তোমারে ॥

madira yavani yadi nityananda dhare
tathapi brahmara vandya kahila tomare

'Even if Nityananda Prabhu comes drunk with a Muslim lady by His side, He is always worshippable for Lord Brahma.'

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 3.6.123)

Mahaprabhu told him, 'Even if Nityananda grabs and brings a drunk Muslim girl along, Lord Brahma will still offer his obeisance to Him and worship Him. I have told this to you, brahman, so beware! If somebody ever says anything about Nitai behind His back, they will have no relief in this world – there is nobody in this world who can save them! Go and be careful, and tell everyone what you have heard from Me.' The brahman became very happy, and when he went back to Bengal, he told everyone, 'Listen! You all do not know who Nityananda is! He is beyond all rules and customs!' For example, when we fast on ekadasi, we offer full bhog (including rice and all other preparations) to the Lord – there is no ekadasi fasting for the Deities, for the Lord. Mahaprabhu came to this world to preach by His own example, that is why He fasted on ekadasi and followed all rules, but when we offer bhog to His Deity, we do not offer only anukalpa preparations (that are allowed to be taken on ekadasi), no, we offer rice and everything else. You must remember this. Ekadasi is for us, the Lord does not fast on ekadasi. Do not turn the Lord into your servant instead of serving the Lord. So, do not say, 'I want this', 'I want that' when you serve the Lord.

Who else is there who was rescued by Nityananda Prabhu? Jagai and Madhai. You all know about them. We cannot but mention them, too. The gist of their pastime is that when Madhai struck Nityananda Prabhu's head with a piece of clay and blood fell from His head, Mahaprabhu was informed about it. Furious, Mahaprabhu ran to the place, calling His chakra, 'Chakra! Chakra! Chakra!' But Nityananda Prabhu stopped Mahaprabhu, saying, 'Prabhu, stop Your chakra. You have promised that You would not take up weapons in this Age of Kali – You said that instead of sticks and swords, You would take up drums and karatals. You came in this age as a devotee to give divine love to the lowest of the lowly souls, so why are You taking up weapons now? It is no use getting so angry. Cool down and think about it.'

'These Jagai and Madhai are extremely obnoxious!' Mahaprabhu argued/

'No, Prabhu,' Nityananda Prabhu replied. 'When Madhai hit Me, Jagai saved Me – he told him not to beat Me, he stopped him.' Hearing this, Mahaprabhu at once embraced Jagai.

Nityananda Prabhu asked Him, 'Is it enough to only hug Jagai? What about Madhai? What will become of him?'

'No! I will not accept Madhai! He has hit You!' Mahaprabhu replied, still angry.

'Prabhu, I am asking You for some alms today. Please give Madhai to Me. Please give him mercy.'

Then Madhai fell at Nityananda Prabhu's holy feet, and Nityananda Prabhu told him to go and fall at Mahaprabhu's holy feet. Rescuing Jagai and Madhai in this way, Nityananda Prabhu engaged them in service. He told them. 'People come to bathe in the Ganges, so you two will take good care of them. See if anybody has any difficulty, and if anybody tries to trick or cheat brahmans, you must protect them.' Nityananda Prabhu gave this kind of service to them.

There are many more glories about Nityananda Prabhu. You can see the fields around the temple here. When Hadai Pandit hired some workers to cultivate it, Mother Padmavati cooked at home and sent Nitai with a bucket of panta bhat (পান্তা ভাত; cooked rice, soaked and fermented in water) for the workers. Hadai Pandit loved taking panta bhat with begun pora (বেগুন পোড়া; fire-roasted eggplant). Begun pora is Nityananda Prabhu's and Hadai Pandit's favourite. You put eggplant into the oven with burning fire and roast it inside it. It is very nice! They would take it with muri (puffed rice) or panta bhat. So, Mother Padmavati sent Nitai with a bucket full of soaked rice for ten–twelve workers. But after a while, the workers came to Hadai Pandit and complained, 'We have not got any food! We will not work like that! We are leaving!' When Mother Padmavati heard about it, she was surprised, 'What is going on? Where did the food go? Hey Nitai! Have I not sent You with the food today? Where is it?' Then, Nityananda Prabhu replied, 'Mother, I got very hungry, so I ate everything.' Mother Padmavati was taken aback, 'My God! He alone ate twelve men's share! This is extraordinary!'

So many pastimes happened. One time, some thieves tried to rob the house. They tried three days, four days, five days, seven days, ten days, but they could not enter it. Some day, there was a downpour; some day, there were so many snakes and scorpions; some day, they came and saw an army of soldiers guarding the house! They could not enter. On the last day, the ringleader of the thieves became blind. He came to rob the house, but he himself ended up becoming blind. After that, he fell at Nityananda Prabhu's feet and prayed to Him. Nityananda Prabhu said, 'Open your eyes now, your blindness is removed.' The man opened his eyes, and he could see again. Although he was a Muslim thief, he prayed to Nityananda Prabhu, 'I want to serve You. What can I do?' Nityananda Prabhu ordered him, 'Go and rescue all thieves from this area – rescue whoever comes to rob. Tell them that they must not rob and bring them to the right path.'

This is how shower of Nityananda Prabhu's mercy began in this world. And this is how we have eventually been able to get His mercy as well.

Anyhow, much has been said. What time is it now? [Devotees: Half past eight.] Oh, not a word more then! We are leaving with the parikrama at nine o'clock, so please take prasad quickly, do not delay.

Jay Sriman Nityananda Prabhu ki jay.

[His Divine Grace chants 'Hari Haraye Nama Krsna' and the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, recites Sri Jaya Dhvani and concludes thus the morning class.]

There are two new books, Sri Nityananda Mahimamrita and Upadesh, Volume 3. Take these books with you, Sri Nityananda Mahimamrita is written in simple language, and Upadesh 3 is a little hard language. Our Math's calendars have also come out. If you are not coming at Gaura Purnima, please take the calendars with you now. Our festival continues tomorrow – we will give everyone prasad tomorrow, too. Today is not the last day of our festival. Our festival will continue up to tomorrow evening. We will be giving prasad to everyone during two days. Please stay.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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Size: 44.4 Mb
Length: 87 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Approaching Nityananda
2) Ardent Appeal
3) How to Attain Mercy
4) Nityananda Prabhu's Campaign
5) Varahadev's Appearance
6) Vishnu, Krishna and Nitai
7) Raghunath's Release
8) Flow of Nityananda Prabhu's Mercy
9) Shower of Nityananda Prabhu's Mercy