(12/13) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (4)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ekachakra Dham, 23 February 2021, part 12
Translated from Bengali

Another person who received Sri Nityananda Prabhu’s mercy was Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami said that there were only three persons in this world who knew Mahaprabhu, but Gurudev said that there was one more, the fourth, person. Who is it? Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami himself.

Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami stayed here, in Bengal, in a place called Jhamatpur Baharan. This is the place of his previous family (purva-ashram). Later, he went to Vrindavan and wrote Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. He wrote:

এই গ্রন্থ লেখায় মোরে ‘মদনমোহন’ ।
আমার লিখন যেন শুকের পঠন ॥

ei grantha lekhaya more ‘madana-mohana’
amara likhana yena sukera pathana

‘Sri Madan Mohan is writing this scripture through me. My writing is like the repetition of a parrot.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.78)

And in every single chapter, Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami wrote:

শ্রীরূপ-রঘুনাথ-পদে যার আশ ।
চৈতন্যচরিতামৃত কহে কৃষ্ণদাস ॥

sri-rupa-raghunatha-pade yara asa
chaitanya-charitamrta kahe krsna-dasa

‘Always aspiring after the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Raghunath, Krishna Das is narrating this Chaitanya-charitamrita (“nectar of Chaitanya’s character”).’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.1.110; repeated at the end of every chapter)

This Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami was also a recipient of Sri Nityananda Prabhu’s mercy.

At his house in Jhamatpur Baharan, there used to be asta-prahar kirtans (day-long kirtans) during which everyone mostly worshipped only Gauranga Mahaprabhu. One time, Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami’s brother brought a pujari brahman, Gunarnava Misra, to the house. This Gunarnava Misra offered worship to Mahaprabhu, but when Nityananda Prabhu’s great servitor Sri Ramadas Minaketan came there, Gunarnava Misra showed no affection – he did not even give him a place to sit. Ramadas Minaketan later spoke to Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami. He said, ‘My hair is standing on end! He is making such a big offence! He respects Gaura but has no respect for Nitai. This is a half-hen logic!’

Do you understand what half-hen logic is? At first, I did not understand it, so I asked Gurudev what it meant. You all know what a hen looks like. A hen eats with its upper portion, and eggs come out of its bottom portion. So, if you think, ‘I will keep the portion where eggs come from, and I will throw away the rest!’ will that work? It will not. This is what a half-hen logic is. In other words, you think, ‘I will worship Gaura, and I will not worship Nitai!’ It can never work like this. There is no Gaura without Nitai, and there is no Nitai without Gaura. We must worship both Gaura and Nitai. If you worship Gaura, you must worship Nitai, and if you worship Nitai, you must worship Gaura.

After that conversation with Sri Ramadas Minaketan, Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami was very upset and had a quarrel with his brother. At night, Nityananda Prabhu appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Listen, listen, Krishna Das! Stay no longer in Jhamatpur. Come to Vrindavan!’ The next morning, he woke up and went away leaving everything behind.

He was very old when he came to Vrindavan. His hands trembled, and he could not write. How was he to write about Mahaprabhu’s pastimes? Then, Madan Mohan’s garland fell from His neck and landed on Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami’s neck when he was paying his obeisance to the Deity. That is why he wrote:

এই গ্রন্থ লেখায় মোরে ‘মদনমোহন’ ।
আমার লিখন যেন শুকের পঠন ॥

ei grantha lekhaya more ‘madana-mohana’
amara likhana yena sukera pathana

‘Sri Madan Mohan is writing this scripture through me. My writing is like the repetition of a parrot.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.8.78)

The Deity told him, ‘You will only hold the pen!’

In those days, there were no pens. There were quills. I also wrote with a quill when I was small. I remember it used to always break. When I was given pencils, they too used to break. I even broke three tables, and sometimes had to study right on the ground. That is how much I studied…

So, this is how Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami received Sri Nityananda Prabhu’s mercy.

We have time to speak about one more pastime. What pastime is that? The pastime related to Sri Madhai. You all know about him. When we go for Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, we go to Madhai Ghat and talk about it. I have also written about this pastime in the book Sri Nabadwip Dham Mahatmya-mukta-mala. Nityananda Prabhu bestowed His mercy and gave a very beautiful service to Madhai. He said, ‘Many people come to take a bath in the Ganges and pass stool nearby. Make a ghat here and clean all the stool.’ He did that, and that ghat became known as Madhai Ghat. Madhai and Jagai kept that ghat clean. Although brahmans, they behaved like lowly persons: they became great Vaishnavs and cleaned devotees’ stool.

At first, Mahaprabhu rejected Madhai. He said, ‘I will not give him mercy! I will give mercy to Jagai because he has saved My dearmost friend and brother Nitai.’ Hearing this, Nitai begged Mahaprabhu, ‘Prabhu, I have never asked You for anything in My life, but today I want to ask You for something. Please give Me Madhai as alms. You are here in this world to rescue all fallen souls – is there anyone in this world more fallen than him? We must rescue Him!’ Then Mahaprabhu and Nitai bestowed Their mercy on Madhai.

[His Divine Grace joyfully sings the kirtan below, followed by ‘Jaya Radhe Jaya Krsna’ and ‘Hari Haraye Nama Krsna.’]

দয়াল-নিতাই চৈতন্য ব’লে নাচ্ রে আমার মন ।
(একবার) নাচ্ রে আমার মন, নাচ্ রে আমার মন ॥১॥
(এমন দয়াল তো নাই হে, মার খেয়ে প্রম দেয়)

dayal-nitai chaitanya ba’le nachre amar’ man’
(ek-bar) nachre amar’ man’, nachre amar’ man’ [1]
(emana dayala to nai he, mar’ kheye prem’ deya)

‘Dear mind, dance and chant, “O Merciful Nitai! O Chaitanya!” Dance, my mind! Dance! (There is nobody as merciful as Them! They give divine love for the Lord even to those who beat Them!)’

(ওরে) অপরাধ দূরে যাবে, পাবে প্রম ধন ।
(ও নামে অপরাধ-বিচার তো নাই হে)
(তখন) কৃষ্ণনামে রুচি হ’বে, ঘুচিবে বন্ধন ॥২॥
(কৃষ্ণনামে অনুরাগ তো হবে হে)

(ore) aparadha dure yabe, pabe prema dhan’
(o name aparadha-vichar’ to nai he)
(takhan) krsna-name ruchi ha’be, ghuchibe bandhan’ [2]
(krsna-name anurag’ to habe he)

‘(Lo!) Your offences will go away, and you will get transcendental love for the Lord! (There is no consideration of offences in chanting Their Names!) (Then,) you will get taste for Krishna’s Name and your bondage will be removed. (You must certainly get loving attachment to Krishna’s Name!)’

(তখন) অনায়াসে সফল হ’বে জীবের জীবন ।
(নৈলে জীবন তো মিছে হে)
(কৃষ্ণ-রতি বিনা জীবন তো মিছে হে)
(শেষে) বৃন্দাবনে রাধাশ্যামের পাবে দরশন ॥৩॥
(গৌর-কৃপা হ’লে হে)

(takhan) anayase saphal’ ha’be jivera jivan’
(naile jivan’ to michhe he)
(krsna-rati bina jivan’ to michhe he)
(sese) vrndavane radha-syamer’ pabe darasan’ [3]
(gaura-krpa ha’le he)

‘(Then,) your life will be easily successful! (Otherwise, life is useless – without attachment to Krishna, life is useless.) (In the end,) you will behold Sri Sri Radha-Shyam in Vrindavan (if you get Gaura’s mercy).’

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Language: English

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) This Is Not a Playground
2) Wrong Worries
3) Pure Identity
4) Worshipful Devotion
5) Meaning of Discipleship
6) Free Mercy, Exclusive Rights
7) Path of Devotion
8) Krishna Conscious Life
9) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (1)
10) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (2)
11) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (3)
12) Sri Nityananda Prabhu's Glory (4)
13) Clean Mood