Ten Days in Shantipur

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 17 January 2021, part 4

...When Mahaprabhu came to Shantipur and the news about it spread everywhere, so many devotees started coming there—so many boats, full of people, came to Shantipur to see Mahaprabhu...

They came and saw Mahaprabhu in His sannyas clothes, with His head shaven... You know how extremely beautiful His hair was—the barber (named Madhu Sila) cried shaving Him. Usually, when shaving, the barber must use some water to wet the hair, but Madhu Sila did not need any water as he cried so much that the tears from his eyes made Mahaprabhu's hair wet. Everybody was actually afraid to shave Mahaprabhu, but Madhu Sila has a great sukriti (fortune), so he was able to shave Mahaprabhu for His sannyas.

Mahaprabhu came to Shantipur, and everybody who came there cried to see Mahaprabhu—Mukunda, Nityananda Prabhu and many other devotees danced and chanted the whole day and night. So many things happened there... Anyhow, Mahaprabhu very happily took prasadam—Sita Devi, Advaita Prabhu's sakti, prepared thirty-two items for Mahaprabhu. Later, Sachi Mata came there too and she sadly asked Mahaprabhu through Srivas Pandit, "I know He will not stay in Nabadwip, in His birthplace, I know He will leave because He has taken sannyas. Now I cannot cook for Him... Can I cook for Him now, here?"

This is very sad and painful—Mahaprabhu left taking sannyas, and Sachi Mata and Vishnupriya Devi got so much pain in their hearts. You can see that when Mahaprabhu came to Shantipur, Sachi Mata could at least come to see Him, but Vishnupriya Devi did not do that—she controlled herself. She did not even go to see Mahaprabhu in His sannyas garb, sannyas life. She did not want to see that. She stayed at home and cried in her bedroom all the time—she continuously shed tears.

So, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took prasadam at Sri Advaita Prabhu's house, He was very happy because He had not taken any proper prasadam for three days. After taking sannyas, He took prasadam at Srivas Acharya's house at noon, and after that He did not take anything until He reached Advaita Prabhu's house in Shantipur. When Sachi Devi came there a few days later, she asked Srivas to ask Mahaprabhu for permission to cook for Him, and Mahaprabhu said, "Yes, if My mother wants permission from Me, she can cook. I am still her son, and I will always be her son, there is no doubt about it. Even though I have become crazy and taken sannyas, it does not change anything—I am still her son. Therefore, for as long as I am here, she can cook for Me."

Mahaprabhu stayed in Shantipur during ten days—first, three days, then two more days, then again five days more. Sachi Mata cooked for Him there. Feeling sympathy for His mother, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said to Srivas Pandit, "Srivas, I have chosen two places, Vrindavan and Puri; please ask My mother where I shall stay." Sachi Mata thought, "Vrindavan is so far from here, but Nabadwip devotees always go to Puri to see Jagannath at Ratha-yatra every year, then I will always get some news about Him. If He stays in Puri, it will be better. First Visvarup left me, and now Nimai too—I do not know how many more days I will be alive in this world with so much pain in my heart... Anyhow, if He stays in Puri, it will be good for me." Mahaprabhu accepted His mother's word and soon started off for Puri along with Nityananda Prabhu, Mukunda, and a few other devotees.

On the way to Sri Puri Dham, Mahaprabhu visited many places because Nityananda Prabhu had been there before and knew them—Nityananda Prabhu had travelled all over India with a sannyasi (many say it was Madhavendra Puripad).

This is how the pastime of Mahaprabhu's sannyas took place...

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