(6/6) Joining Lord's Pastimes

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeshwar area, evening programme
13 February 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

This happened more than 500 years ago. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Nimai) was only three and a half years old, a sannyasi came to His house and asked Sachi Mata (Nimai’s mother), ‘Mother, can you give me some alms?’ Sachi Mata replied, ‘Yes, I can, but you have come late (prasad is finished). Still, it is not good when somebody comes and leaves without taking anything. Please stay – you can cook and make an offering for the Deities, then you can take prasad.’ The brahman agreed and stayed to cook the noon offering.

When the brahman was going to offer the bhoga to the Deities, Nimai suddenly came and ate it from the plate. The brahman chased Him away, ‘Hey, You naughty boy! Go away, go!’ Hearing the brahman shout, Jagannath Misra, Nimai’s father, came and asked him, ‘What has happened?’

‘I was going to offer the bhoga to the Deities,’ the brahman explained, ‘but your son has come and eaten it!’

‘He has never done this before.’ Jagannath Misra was surprised. ‘Is this what He did today? Oh, please cook again. Do not worry, I will watch Him this time.’

The brahman cooked again. It was late afternoon, so he came to the Deities and prayed, ‘O Lord, please forgive me for this offence – Your noon bhoga has not been offered yet.’ He offered the bhoga again, and Nimai came again! His father was guarding the door, but anyhow Nimai still came again! ‘Oh You naughty boy! Again You?!’ Jagannath Misra heard the brahman shout again and came into the room, ‘What is it?’ The brahman said, ‘Look, He is here again! Where has He come from?!’

Jagannath Misra chased Nimai away, and Nimai ran to a neighbour’s house. He was trembling with fear for His father and told the lady at that house to lock the door (‘Father will beat Me!’).

Anyhow, the evening was coming, and the Deities had not been offered bhoga yet. Everybody was very upset. Then, Vishvarup, Nimai’s elder brother, came. He was surprised to see everyone disturbed.

‘Why is everyone so sad?’ he asked. ‘What has happened at home?’

‘Who is he?’ the brahman asked.

‘This is my elder son, Vishvarup,’ Jagannath Misra explained.

‘Oh, such a beautiful boy – he looks like Vishvarup (the Supreme Lord), and his name is also Vishvarup!’

Vishvarup asked again what had happened, and the brahman explained, ‘Your little brother is very naughty! I have tried to offer the bhoga twice already, but He keeps coming and taking the Deities’ offering!’

‘Oh, I see… I am His elder brother, He is afraid of me. Do not worry, I am at home now, I will see to it that He does not disturb you again,’ Vishvarup said.

So, the brahman cooked again. It was already evening by then. When he was going to bring the bhoga, he was scared that Nimai would come again because he had already cooked twice but had not been able to offer the bhoga. So, before taking the bhoga to the Deities again, the brahman looked around to see where Nimai was and make sure that He would not come. He saw Vishvarup sitting by the door and Nimai sleeping on His mother’s lap. Sachi Mata was also asleep. The brahman was pleased, ‘Very good! Now everything is peaceful! He will not come this time. He has not eaten the whole day, so He is sleeping now. Very good.’

Then, he went to offer the bhoga. He closed his eyes and started reciting the mantras, praying, ‘O Lord, I have made so much offence, I could not feed You at noon and in the afternoon. I am giving You this so late at night. Please forgive my offence.’ After he recited all the mantras and said all the prayers, he opened his eyes and saw that Nimai was there again – and He had again cleared the plate!

‘You again?!’ the brahman exclaimed.

Then Nimai finally spoke to him, ‘Listen, sadhu! Why do you keep chasing Me away? I have not eaten the whole day, and you keep calling Me and chasing Me away! I go away, but you again call Me and again chase Me out! What kind of spiritual regulation is that? Is that what sadhus do?’

‘Why would I call You?!’ the sadhu said, puzzled. ‘I was calling the Lord! Why would I call You?’

‘Oh, you have been calling the Lord, not Me?’ said Nimai. Then He showed His six-armed form to the brahman: ‘This is who I was in Satya-yuga; this is who I was in Dvapar-yuga; this is who I was in Treta-yuga; and in this Kali, I have come as Gauranga.’ Seeing the Lord’s forms, the brahman fell in obeisance at the Lord’s feet and quickly ran away from the house. After a while, everyone started looking for him, ‘What is this? This sadhu went to offer the bhoga, but where has he gone now?’ Vishvarup went out to search for him, but nobody could find him again. During that darshan of the Lord, the brahman told Nimai, ‘Whoever You are, I am offering my obeisance to You,’ and Nimai ordered him, ‘I have shown you My forms from all the yugas today, but do not tell anyone about it.’ That is why the brahman left from there.

There are so many pastimes like this. Even if we speak the whole day, there is no end of pastimes. If you come to Nabadwip, we will sit and talk about this all day long. There are many pastimes of Mahaprabhu. You must buy the book Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala and read it. You must study, you must keep the association of sadhus and practise Krishna consciousness. We were just singing this kirtan:

জীবন হইল শেষ, না ভজিলে হৃষীকেশ ।
ভক্তিবিনোদ-উপদেশ, একবার নামরসে মাত রে ॥

jivana haila sesa, na bhajile hrsikesa
bhaktivinod-upadesa, eka-bara nama-rase mata re

‘Your life has come to an end, but you have not served Lord Hrisikesh. Here is Bhaktivinod’s advice: let the nectar of the Holy Name take over you just once.’

(Sri Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

When the call comes, you will have to leave, but how will you leave? To cross the river, you must take a ferry, but how will you cross it if you have not earned the fare? You must acquire the fare, and one does not acquire it with any money or material wealth! One can acquire it only with devotion. You cannot get the Lord with money or material wealth. Do you understand it? You cannot get the Lord through any material activities, knowledge or esoteric practices. If you want to get the Lord, you must have devotion. How does devotion come? Devotion comes from the association of devotees. If you associate with devotees, you will have devotion. There are nine kinds of devotion: sravanam (listening about the Lord), kirtanam (chanting the Lord’s Name and glories), smaranam (remembering the Lord), archanam (worshipping the Lord’s Deity), vandanam (offering obeisances and prayers to the Lord), dasyam (serving the Lord as a servant), sakhyam (serving the Lord as a friend), atma-nivedanam (submitting yourself to the Lord), pada-sevanam (serving the Lord’s lotus feet). You must practise these kinds of devotion, then you will get the Lord.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

Call out to the Lord in this way…

[His Divine Grace then chants ‘Hari Haraye Nama Krsna’, recites Sri Jaya Dhvani and concludes the evening programme.]

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Length: 58 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Attachment to Sadhus
2) Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
3) Jivan Chakravarti's Pastime (1)
4) Jivan Chakravarti's Pastime (2)
5) Result of Service Mood
6) Joining Lord's Pastimes