SRI PURI DHAM MAHATMYA-MUKTA-MALA

(24) Srila Jagadananda Pandit’s Love

During our parikrama of Sri Puri Dham, we also visit Srila Jagadananda Pandit’s bhajan-kutir. He is the author of a very beautiful holy book called Sri Sri Prema-vivarta. ‘Prema-vivarta’ means ‘transformations of love’ - what does ‘love’ mean? This is what he taught in this holy book.

The love that boys and girls in this age display is not love. It is lust. ‘Lust is darkness, love is pure light (kama andhakara, prema nirmala bhaskara).’ People fall in ‘love’, get married, and what happens after that? If it was love, how could a husband kill his wife and hang her body to make it look like suicide? Is that love? We see in the newspapers all the time that so many husbands kill their wives every day.

There is a saying in Bengali, ‘Even if you wash coal a hundred times, the dirt will not come off.’ It means that if your association is good, you will get a good result, and if your association is bad, you will get a bad result. Usually a magnet attracts iron, but if the iron is rusty, then the magnet will not attract it. We are also like that: because of our ignorance we always think about these bodies and become ‘rusty’, that is why Krishna does not attract us. But if we become pure, we can reach the holy feet of the Lord, and then we can understand clearly what is called pure love.

So, thinking about our fallen condition, Srila Jagadananda Pandit wrote the book Sri Sri Prema-Vivarta. There, he explains what is called love. Mahaprabhu appeared in this world and distributed that very love. You will never see anywhere the kind of love that Jagadananda Pandit had.

Jagadananda’a birthplace is near Sylhet. At a later time in his life, he moved to a village that is now called Jagadanandapur. It is very close to our Hapaniya temple. There is a big house in that place, like a house of a wealthy zamindar. Many years ago, the man who lived there came to Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and requested him earnestly to take charge of the place, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj said that he did not have manpower to take care of the place. In the end, the house and the land were given to one of the godbrothers of Srila Sridhar Maharaj. So, the service at Jagadananda Pandit’s house is continuing to this day.

Jagadananda Pandit stayed with Mahaprabhu from a very young age (from the age of seven or eight): although Mahaprabhu was older than him, they studied Sanskrit grammar together, at the same school.

Just like all boys often fight at school, Mahaprabhu and Jagadananda Pandit also fought sometimes. One day, they had a fight on the way to school. Jagadananda Pandit got angry and did not come home to his mother. Instead, he went to the bank of the Ganges and sat there, sulking quietly.

In the evening, his mother went out to look for him. She came to Sachi Mata and asked, ‘Mother Sachi, has my Jaga come here?’

‘No, why? He did not come here,’ Sachi Mata replied.

As soon as Nimai heard their conversation, He got up, excited, ‘Where is Jaga?’ He took a lantern (a small kerosine lamp) and went outside to look for him. He searched for Jagadananda everywhere and in the end saw him sitting on the bank of the Ganges. Mahaprabhu took him to His own home and told Sachi Mata, ‘Mother, please give us some prasad.’ After taking prasad, they went to bed and slept that night on the same bed. The next day, they went to school together, and after the classes finished, Jagadananda went back to his home.

When Mahaprabhu left Nabadwip and went to Sri Puri Dham, Jagadananda Pandit went with Him.

What was his mood? Whose incarnation was he actually? Satyabhama’s. If you go to Dvaraka, you will see that Rukmini, Satyabhama and all the other 108 queens who served Lord Krishna served Him with much opulence (aisvarya). In Vrindavan, gopis serve Radha-Krishna in the mood of sweetness (madhurya), and Mahaprabhu showed the pastimes of magnanimity (audarya). Magnanimity, sweetness and opulence — there are these three moods. So, Satyabhama came as Jagadananda Pandit in this Age of Kali and had an opportunity to serve Mahaprabhu.

You all know that if a man has two wives, the younger wife will usually have a more unruly nature. The husband usually allows her more and gives her more rights, so her zone of duties, in turn, increases, too. Is that not so? So, in Dvaraka, Satyabhama was always more bossy, and here, too, Jagadananda Pandit also was like that.

One day, Jagadananda Pandit told Govinda Prabhu in a little bossy way, ‘Govinda, massage the Lord’s feet every day. He dances twenty-fours a day and when He comes back at night, His feet are sore.’

‘All right,’ Govinda replied, humbly.

After a while, Jagadananda Pandit again came to Govinda and asked, ‘So, how is it going? Do you massage the Lord’s feet?’

‘Yes, Prabhu, I do.’

‘What do you use to massage His feet? Do you use any oil?’

‘Prabhu does not want all this. I just use some water and massage His feet like that, with my hands.’

Jagadananda Pandit became excited.

‘No, no! It will not do. I am going to Bengal, I will bring some oil from there.’

Govinda did not say anything: Jagadananda Pandit will do as he likes, so it is no use telling him anything.

Jagadananda Pandit went to Bengal and with his own hands prepared some very nice, fragrant oil. Then, he came back to Puri and gave that oil to Govinda. He told him, ’Look, Govinda, from today you must massage the Lord’s feet with this oil.’

In the evening Mahaprabhu came back to His room and asked Govinda, ‘Hey, there is so much smell in the room! What is it?’

Govinda explained, fearfully, ‘Prabhu, Jagadananda Prabhu has brought some fragrant oil. He says that it is not nice to massage Your feet without anything, so he gave me this oil and told me to rub it onto Your feet.’

Mahaprabhu got angry.

‘What does he think? Must I become a dari sannyasi [a tantric renunciate who keeps women for sense gratification]? I will rub this oil on My body, and when I walk down the street, people will get the smell from My body and say, “This man keeps a lady in His room! He has become a dari sannyasi!”’

Govinda began to shiver seeing Mahaprabhu so angry. Actually, Mahaprabhu was so angry that He even brought up Dvapar-yuga.

‘Perhaps, Jaga wants to have a marriage life with Me again!’

(In Dvapar-yuga, Satyabhama was Krishna’s wife, so she served Him in many ways – and in Kali-yuga, Krishna became Gauranga, and Satyabhama became Jagadananda.)

The next day Jagadananda Pandit came to Gambhira and asked Govinda, ‘Hey, Govinda, did you use the oil yesterday?’

What could Govinda say? He told him honestly, ‘I tried, but Prabhu got very angry,’ and he told him everything that Mahaprabhu had said. Jagadananda was so angry, he was beside himself, ‘Such big words?! How could He!’

Then, Mahaprabhu came and said, ‘Listen, take this oil away. Bring it to Lord Jagannath’s temple, then you will get some benefit. It will be good. You took so much trouble to bring it. If you bring it to the temple, then your energy will not be wasted.’

Then, without saying a word, Jagadananda Pandit grabbed the pot of oil, smashed it against the floor and stormed out in fury. He went back to his house and locked the door. He stayed inside without opening the door to anyone – not just one or two days, he had stayed there for three days without eating anything.

Every day, Mahaprabhu asked Govinda, ‘Any news? Has Jagadananda come out? Has he opened the door? Go and check again.’

Govinda went there again and again, and every time he came back and said, ‘No, Prabhu. The door is still locked. He is not opening it. He has not taken any prasad either.’

Mahaprabhu is antaryami – He knows everything. After three days, He personally went to Jagadananda Pandit’ house and banged on his door.

‘Jaga! Brother, it is Me! You have locked yourself inside and have already stayed there for three days without eating anything. I have also been fasting all this time.’

Just look at it! How clever He is! Mahaprabhu ate Lord Jagannath’s prasad every day, but for the sake of His devotee He told a lie!

He said, ‘Please open the door! Unless you cook for Me, My stomach will never be full. I will starve, too!’

When Jagadananda heard Mahaprabhu’s words, how could he keep the door closed? He opened the door and offered his obeisance to Mahaprabhu. Then, quietly, without saying a word, he went to the kitchen to cook. Mahaprabhu also did not say anything. He wanted to see what Jagadananda Pandit would do. So, Jagadananda Pandit cooked something, offered bhoga quickly and kept a seat and a plate for Mahaprabhu.

‘Sit and take prasad,’ he said.

Mahaprabhu did not come to take prasad – He came to sort out Jagadananda Pandit’s anger, so He told him, ‘No, we must take prasad together.’

‘No, no, no,’ Jagadananda Pandit objected. ‘You must be so hungry – first You take, I will eat later. I have only one plate.’

‘What if I leave and you again close the door and stay without eating?’

‘No, Prabhu, believe me. I have cooked this for You. Take prasad, and I will eat later.’

‘Are you sure? Are you sure that you are telling the truth?’

‘Yes, yes, yes. Now take prasad.’

In the end, Mahaprabhu agreed. After He took prasad, He said, ‘Oh, your angry cooking is so sweet! Anyway, I have taken prasad, so I am going now. But you must take prasad now, too!’

‘All right, do not worry. Go and take some rest. I am going to take prasad now.’

Mahaprabhu went to rest in His room, but He was still not convinced. He worried, ‘Has he taken prasad or not?’ He called Govinda and told him, ‘Govinda, go to Jagadananda Pandit’s house and check if he is taking prasad or not.’ Govinda came to Jagadananda Pandit’s house. When he peeped secretly from a corner, he saw Jagadananda Pandit sitting and taking prasad. Suddenly, Jagadananda Pandit saw him. He said, ‘Oh, it is you? At this odd time? Do you want to say something to me? Oh, you must have come to see if I am taking prasad or not, is it not? Has the Lord sent you to check on me?’

This is how Mahaprabhu changed Jagadananda Pandit’s mood. There are many more pastimes like that. Jagadananda Pandit stayed with Mahaprabhu and served Him his whole life.

Jagadananda Pandit knew who Mahaprabhu was (that He was Lord Krishna Himself). In Dvaraka, he served Krishna by fanning Him with a peacock fan, with yak-tail whisks, by giving Him nice pillows, but where does the Lord sleep now, in Kali-yuga? On the ground. After Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He slept on the ground on top of some dry banana leaves. Jagadananda Pandit could not tolerate this. What did he do? He found a fine cloth, stuffed it with some silk cotton and made it into a blanket and a pillow case for the Lord. Then, he gave them to Govinda, saying, ‘Govinda, here, use this for the Lord.’

Govinda took the blanket and the pillow, but when Mahaprabhu saw them in His room, He became angry and rejected them, ‘Go and bring Me a nice bed also! I am a sannyasi, I should sleep on the ground.’ When Jagadananda Pandit heard it, he was very sad and complained to Svarup Damodar. Then, Svarup Damodar had an idea: he collected some banana leaves, dried them and tore them into small pieces; then, he took his uttaria and made it into a blanket and a pillow case, stuffed with the torn dry banana leaves. After that, he came to Mahaprabhu and said, ‘Here, take it. It is dry banana leaves, so You can take it.’ Mahaprabhu could not say anything to this.

Such was Jagadananda Pandit’s service mood, and such was his love.

Entrance to Srila Jagadananda Pandit's bhajan-kutir.

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