Hope of the Hopeless

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, last evening class
18 February 2019, part 2

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami wanted and tried to go to Mahaprabhu so many times—not only one time, he tried many times, but he did not get His mercy, neither could he get free from the attachment to his family—he wanted to leave maya, he wanted to leave the illusory environment, but he could not.

When he came to Nityananda Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu told him, "Come, chora, come." 'Chora' means 'a thief.' So, He said, "Come here, thief. I will give you punishment today!" Why did Nityananda Prabhu call him a thief?" It means that Raghunath Das Goswami wanted to stealthily go to Mahaprabhu, but without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, it is impossible to get the mercy of Mahaprabhu. But finally Raghunath Das Goswami got it. How did he get it?

One day, Raghav Pandit invited Nityananda Prabhu to his house in Panihati, a small town on the bank of the Ganges. When Nityananda Prabhu came there, He first sat with the devotees under a banyan tree on the bank of the Ganges. In the meantime, Raghunath Das Goswami, whose father's house was near Panihati, heard that Nityananda Prabhu had come. He asked his father for the permission to go and see Nityananda Prabhu. He said, "Father, Nityananda Prabhu has come to Panihati, it is close by, not far. Can I go there?" His father did not really believe his son because he had tried to run away to Mahaprabhu many time before that. So, Raghunath Das Goswami's father allowed him to go but he sent many security guards with him so that he could not run away from the family. He protected his son so much.

Mahaprabhu also told Raghunath Das Goswami, "Go home, do not go crazy. One day you can get relief from your family life attachment." Raghunath Das Goswami asked Mahaprabhu, "Prabhu, but how will I come? There are so many guards, so many problems..." but Mahaprabhu said, "That is Krishna's matter. Surrender properly and Krishna will see to it. If there is any problem, He can manage and solve it."

So, when Raghunath Das Goswami came to Nityananda Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu told him, "Ai chora, ai—come here, thief. I will give you punishment."

Raghunath Das Goswami asked, "What is my punishment, Prabhu?"

"You must get flat rice, yoghurt, sweets, jackfruit, mango, etc. and feed all the devotees here."

"It is not punishment! I want to do some service to the Vaishnavs, to Your servitors and anugata-jan (those who serve You under Your guidance)."

Raghunath Das Goswami was very happy and he happily fed all the Vaishnavs. (You know that we go to Pahinati every year to celebrate this festival.) After that, Raghunath Das Goswami came to Nityananda Prabhu, offered his obeisance at the Lord's feet and Nityananda Prabhu put His legs on his head, He was very pleased with Raghunath Das Goswami, and Raghunath Das Goswami was also very happy. Then, Nityananda Prabhu said, "Now you can go to Mahaprabhu." All his bondage was gone—he went to Puri and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted him. Mahaprabhu engaged Raghunath Das Goswami in the service to Damodar Pandit, and he became known as Svaruper Raghu.

Then we can understand how kind Nityananda Prabhu is to the very fallen souls. We are fallen souls, we do not know so much about the culture, we do not know so much about the rules and regulations, we do not know so many mantras, we do not do so many things, we do not do anything properly, but we have Nityananda Prabhu—we have hope that if we fully surrender to Nityananda Prabhu, then everything will be revealed.

When you chant the Name of Krishna, it can be offensive chanting, but if you chant Gaura Nitai's Names, there is no offence.

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