(2/2) Jagadananda Pandit's Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Puri Dham, Jagadananda Pandit's bhajan-kutir,
30 June 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

When Mahaprabhu took sannyas and came to Puri, Jagadananda Pandit came together with Him. Wherever Mahaprabhu went, Jagadananda Pandit stayed near Him and always thought about service to Mahaprabhu, always making sure that Mahaprabhu did not suffer from any inconvenience.

One time, Jagadananda Pandit told Govinda Prabhu (Mahaprabhu's servitor), 'O Govinda, Prabhu dances so much in kirtan every day – His feet must be hurting at the end of the day. Do you massage His feet in the evening?'

'Yes, I do,' Govinda Prabhu replied.

'What do you massage His feet with? Do you use any oil or something?'

'I do not use any oil. Prabhu does not even let me use water.'

'All right, let me see what I can do about it,' Jagadananda Pandit said.

Then, Jagadananda Pandit brought very fragrant sandalwood oil and told Govinda, 'Govinda, from tomorrow, massage Mahaprabhu nicely with this oil!'

When Mahaprabhu came back to His room in Gambhira that day, He asked Govinda, 'What is this smell? Where does it come from?'

'Prabhu,' Govinda said, fearfully, 'Jagadananda Pandit has brought some oil.'

'What is that oil for?'

'He told me to massage Your feet with it.'

Do you know what Mahaprabhu told in reply to that?

'Apparently, he wants to live a family life with Me again!' He referred to the previous pastimes in Dvapar-yuga (when Jagadananda Pandit was Satyabhama, Krishna's queen).

The next day, Jagadananda Pandit asked Govinda, 'O Govinda Prabhu, have you used the oil to massage Mahaprabhu?'

'How will I use that oil? Do you know what He said?...' Govinda told Jagadananda Pandit what Mahaprabhu had said.

'This is what He said?!' Getting excited, Jagadananda Pandit grabbed the pot of oil and smashed it on the floor. Then, he ran away to his room (here, where we are sitting now) and, locking the door, sat there. After a while, Mahaprabhu asked Govinda, 'Has Jagadananda Pandit opened his door? Has he eaten anything?' One day passed, two days passed, and when the third day passed, Mahaprabhu became worried, 'He has still not opened his door! Looks like I will have to go there Myself.'

'Jaga! Wake up, brother! You have not eaten anything for three days, and I also could not eat anything when I cannot eat what you have cooked. You cook so nicely, and if I do not eat what you cook, I can never feel full (my stomach never feels full).'

Hearing Mahaprabhu's words, Jagadananda Pandit felt shy and opened the door. He immediately went to the kitchen to cook something for Mahaprabhu, who stayed at his house, waiting. Jagadananda Pandit finished cooking, arranged a seat for Mahaprabhu and served Him prasad. Mahaprabhu told him, 'You must take prasad with Me! Come, sit down.'

'No, no, Prabhu! First You take, I will take later.'

Mahaprabhu thought, 'Oh really? Looks like his anger has still not gone. I have come to break his anger, but if I take prasad and go away, how do I know what he will do?' He started pressing Jagadananda Pandit to take prasad, 'No, no, you must eat, too! Eat, eat!'

'Prabhu, do not worry, I will take. I promise.'

'You will?'

'Yes, I will.'

Mahaprabhu took prasad and then said, 'Now you sit down and take prasad!'

'Prabhu, You do not have to sit and watch me. You can go rest now.'

'Are you sure you will eat?' Mahaprabhu asked.

'Yes, I will.'

So, Mahaprabhu went to His room to rest, but when He came to Gambhira, He immediately sent Govinda to check if Jagadananda Pandit had taken prasad or not. So, Govinda came to Jagadananda Pandit's house and saw from a hiding place that he was sitting and taking prasad. Jagadananda Pandit saw him and said, 'Oh! Mahaprabhu has sent you to check on me, has He not? I know you do not come here at this time! You must have come to see if I am taking prasad or not.'

You all know that Mahaprabhu would sleep on the floor, on some banana leaves. But in Dvapar-yuga, Krishna slept on a royal bed. As a sannyasi, Mahaprabhu did not use any cotton pillow or blanket. Do you know what Jagadananda Pandit did then? He was very clever. He dried some banana leaves and then took an uttariya (cloth worn on the upper body), stitched it up and filled it with the dry banana leaves to make a pillow and mattress. He worried, 'Prabhu is lying on the ground, His back must be hurting...' Mahaprabhu would not accept any pillow, but he used the pillow that Jagadananda Pandit had made for Him.

There are many more pastimes. I will tell you more when we return to our temple. Jagadananda Pandit composed Sri Prema-Vivarta. The book is thick, so it is a little costly, but it has come out very beautifully. I had told Sripad Tyagi Maharaj that if we had this book published from our Math, it would be good. Other Maths have this books (a small booklet, printed a little poorly), but I wanted to make it nicely. You can buy it at the temple. You can read what Jagadananda Pandit wrote. He famously wrote:

“গোরার আমি, গোরার আমি” মুখে বলিলে নাহি চলে ।

গোরার আচার, গোরার বিচার লইলে ফল ফলে ॥

"gorara ami, gorara ami" mukhe balile nahi chale
gorara achara, gorara vichara la-ile phala phale

'Just saying, "I am Gora's! I am Gora's!" does not do. Only when you follow Gora's practices and Gora's conception will you get the proper result.'

লোক দেখান গোরা ভজা তিলক মাত্র ধরি ।

গোপনেতে অত্যাচার গোরা ধরে চুরি ॥

loka dekhana gora bhaja tilaka matra dhari'
gopanete atyachara gora dhare churi

'You put on tilaks and show the whole world that you serve Gora, but secretly you do outrageous things. Gora will catch you, thief (hypocrite)!'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 8.6–7)

Jagadananda Pandit wrote about Mahaprabhu's teachings very nicely.

বৈষ্ণবে আদর কর প্রসাদাদি দিয়া ।

অর্থ নাই দৈন্যবাক্যে তোষ মিনতি করিয়া ॥

vaisnave adara kara prasadadi diya
artha nai dainya-vakye tosa minati kariya

'Honour Vaishnavs with prasad and other remnants. If you have no wealth, then submissively satisfy them with humble words.'

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 9.32)

He says that if you can, give prasad to Vaishnavs, and if you cannot, then show affection through sweet words (speak to Vaishnavs sweetly). If you do not have any prasad, you can say with folded palms, 'I do not have anything in the house, please forgive me.' You must never say, 'Hey, get out of here!' We must always be humble. Mahaprabhu's teachings are:

তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন তরোরিব সহিষ্ণুনা ।
অমানিনা মানদেন কীর্ত্তনীয়ঃ সদা হরিঃ ॥

trnad api sunichena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

'One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself, is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.6.239)

If you are to become a Vaishnav, these are the qualities you must have. Srila Prabhupad also said, 'Vaishnava haite mane chhila bara asa, kintu "trnad api sunichena" sloke parilena badha (বৈষ্ণব হইতে মনে ছিল বড় আশা, কিন্তু "তৃণাদপি সুনীচেন" শ্লোকে পড়িলেন বাধা). I had a great hope to become a Vaishnav, but here is the stumbling block – the sloka "Trnad api sunichena"...' In other words, 'I had a great hope to become a Vaishnav, but when I remembered that sloka "Trnad api sunichena," I lost all hope because I will not be able to become humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree and I will not be able to give honour to others. What hope is there for me? I will not be able to become a Vaishnav!' Only those who have these three qualities can become Vaishnavs. Always remember this.

We are going to Chatak Parvat now, and after that we will go to Tota Gopinath. Please do not take photographs at the Tota Gopinath temple.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Jagadananda Pandit's Nature
2) Jagadananda Pandit's Service