Shri Chaitanya-bhagavata
Madhya-khanda -
By
Vyasa Avatara Shrila Vrindavana dasa Thakura
Chapter Five: Lord Nityänanda's Vyäsa Püjä Ceremony and His Darçana of the Lord's Six-armed Form
TEXT 51
'advaita
acarya' bali' hatha haha ya'ra sei 'nada' lagi
mora ei avatara
"This
incarnation of Mine was induced by Nada, whom you all call Advaita Acarya.
TEXT 52
mohare
anila nada vaikuntha thakiya niscinte rahila
giya haridasa laiìa
"Nada has brought Me from Vaikuntha, but now He is
living free from all cares with
Haridasa.
TEXT 53
saìkirtana-arambhe
mohara avatara ghare ghare karimu
kirtana-paracara
"I
have descended to inaugurate the saìkirtana movement, by which I will preach the chanting of the holy names in
each and every house.
In the Saura Purana it is stated:
svarna
gaurah sudirghaìgas tri-srota-tira-sambhavah dayaluh kirtana-grahi bhavisyami kalau yuge
"In
the beginning of Kali-yuga I will appear in Navadvipa on the bank of the Ganges in an enchanting golden form with
arms that stretch to the knees, and out
of My causeless I will inaugurate the saìhirtana movement." It is also stated in the
Srimad Bhagavatam (11.5.32):
hrsna-varnam
tvisakrsnam saìgopaìgastra-parsadam yajìaih
saìhirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah
"In
the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who
constantly sings the names of Krsna.
Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates,
servants, weapons and confidential
companions."
TEXT 54-55
vidya-dhana-hula-jìana-tapasyara
made mora bhakta-sthane yara ache aparadhe
se adhama
sabare na dimu prema-yoga nagaìya prati
dimu brahmadira bhoga"
"I
will not award love of God to those fallen souls who have offended My devotees because they are proud of their
education, wealth, high birth,
knowledge, and austerities. Otherwise I will give everyone that
which persons like Lord Brahma
enjoy."
Persons
who are overwhelmed with pride due to education, wealth, high birth, scriptural knowledge, and austerities
naturally commit offenses to the
devotees of the Lord. Since they are offenders to the Vaisnavas, they are not eligible to attain love of
Krsna. I will distribute love of God
that is available to personalities like Lord Brahma to each and
every resident of Sri Mayapur-Navadvipa.
The demigods are more dear to the Lord
than the human beings. The mundane posts of the demigods are not their constitutional iden- tities. All
the demigods engage in worshiping the
Supreme Lord, and
their superiority and inferiority depends on
the extent of their love for the Supreme
Lord. The Sri-sampradaya originated from Laksmidevi, the Brahma-Madhva-sampradaya originated from the
four-headed Brahma, the
Visnusvami-sampradaya originated from Rudradeva, and the Nimbarka-sampradaya originated from the four
Kumaras. These demigods who are
sampradaya acaryas are not devotees of the Lord
simply on the merit of their posts. Their worship of the Lord has
been proved by their activities as
founding gurus of their respective
sampradayas. Although according to the vision of materialists they
are related to material enjoyment,
unadul- terated service of Hari is their
constitutional duty. In the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.8.26) it is stated:
janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir
edhamana-madah puman naivarhaty
abhidhatum vai tvam akiìcana-gocaram
"My
Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the
path of [material] progress, trying to
improve himself with respectable par- entage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot
approach You with sincere feeling."
In this statement of Queen Kunti it is understood that janma refers to the pride of high birth; aisvarya
refers to the pride of wealth; sruta
refers to the pride of knowledge, education, and austerity; and sri refers to the pride of education, wealth,
high birth, knowledge, and austerity.
Love and devotion are achieved through the chanting of the holy names of Hari. Therefore those with a
predominance of pride born of high
birth, wealth, knowledge, and beauty do not have a taste for taking shelter of the Supreme Lord by
chanting His names and, as a result, do
not obtain devotional service; whereas the materially exhausted Vaisnavas who are free from the
control of mundane pride have a natural
taste for chanting the names of Krsna. Proud persons' natu- ral tendency to commit offenses at the
feet of Vaisnavas is part of their
inherent charateristics. Love of God is the only enjoyment for personalities such as Lord Brahma.
TEXT 56
suniyaanande
bhase sarva-bhahta-gana hsanehe susthira
hailasri-sacinandana
On hearing the Lord's statement, all the
devotees floated in bliss. After a while
Sri Sacinandana became pacified.
TEXT 57
'ki
caìcalya karilaìa'—prabhu jijìasaya bhakta-saba
bale,—"hichu upadhika naya"
The Lord
then asked, "Have I been restless?" The devotees replied,
"Not particularly."
After
speaking in this way and considering the qualification of the audience, Sri Gaurahari asked them, "Did
you find any ar- rogance in My
speech?" The devotees replied, "In Your statements You did not
say anything unreasonable about gross
and subtle designations. Generally every
living entity is absorbed in temporary gross and subtle topics of this visible world. But Your words give
eternal knowledge and bliss; they are
the Absolute Truth without material designations."
TEXT 58
sabare
karena prabhu prema-aliìgana "aparadha mora na laiba sarva-ksana"
The Lord
lovingly embraced everyone and said, "Please do not ever be offended by My behavior."
TEXT 59
hase
sarva-bhakta-gana prabhura hathaya
nityananda-mahaprabhu gadagadi yaya
On hearing
the Lord's words, all the devotees smiled. Then Nityananda and Mahaprabhu rolled about on the ground.
TEXT 60
sambarana
nahe nityanandera avesa prema-rase
vihvala haila prabhu 'sesa'
TEXT 64
Nityananda,
who is nondifferent from Sesa, could not control His ecstatic mood and became overwhelmed in the
mellows of loving devotion.
That
Nityananda Prabhu whose plenary portion is the incarna- tion of Lord Visnu known as Sesa has been addressed
here as Sesa. Since the portion is
included in the whole, or since both the whole and portion are xisnu-tattxa, there has been no contradiction
in addressing Nityananda Prabhu as Sesa.
In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 5.124-125) it is stated: "He is thus called Lord Sesa, for He has
attained the ultimate end of servitude
to Krsna. He takes many forms for the service of Krsna, and thus He serves the Lord. That person of whom
Lord Ananta is a kala, or part of a
plenary part, is Lord Nityananda Prabhu. Who, therefore, can know the pastimes of Lord Nityananda?"
TEXT 61
ksane
hase, ksane kande, ksane digamhara balyabhave
purna haila saiya-kalexara
One moment
He laughed, one moment He cried, and the next moment He was naked. His entire body was filled with
the nature of a child.
TEXT 62
kothaya
thakila danda, kotha kamandulu kotha xa
xasana gela, nahi adi-mula
Where was
His danda, where was His waterpot, and where were His clothes? Nothing remained with Him.
TEXT 63
caìcala
haila nityananda mahadhira apane dhariya
prabhu kaìlena sthira
The most
grave Nityananda became restless, but the Lord personally pacified Him.
caitanyera vacana-aìkusa sabe mane nityananda-matta-simha ara nahi jane
The
maddened lionlike Nityananda was controlled by the iron rodlike words of Lord Caitanya. He did not
care for anything else.
The word
aìkusa refers to an iron rod for controlling maddened elephants. Since the iron rod in the form of
Sri Caitanyadeva's vacana, or words,
refines the madness and licentiousness of the
living entities. His words have been described herein as vacanaaìkusa.
TEXT 65
"sthira
hao, kali pujibare caha vyasa"
sthira karaiya prabhu gela nija-vasa
"Be
calm, tomorrow You must worship Vyasadeva." Speaking in this way, the Lord returned home. TEXT 66
bhakta-gana
calilena apanara ghare nityananda
rahilena srivasa-mandire
All the
devotees then returned to their own homes, while Nityananda remained in the house of Srivasa.
TEXT 67
katho
ratre nityananda huìkara kariya
nija-danda-kamandalu phelila bhaìgiya
In the dead of that night, Nityananda suddenly
roared loudly and broke His danda and
kamandalu.
The word
kamandalu refers to a waterpot used by both sannyasis and brahmacaris. The householders have
numerous pots in order to isolate purity
from impurity. The sannyasis, however, have only one pot, a kamandalu. They are compelled to use
this pot for all kinds of
TEXT 64
activities.
According to the scriptures, the sannyasis pot is an alabu, or pot made from an ash gourd. Since the
brahmacari's duty is to serve the
sannyasi, he must carry the kamandalu of his guru. The
upakurxanabrahmacaris, who marry after
completing their vow, reside in a particular
asrama in which they study under a grhastha teacher. A brahmacari is
supposed to carry the kamandalu of a parivrajaka-sannyasi. According
to the opinion of some persons, since
Sri Nityananda Svarupa lived as a
brahmacari with Sri Laksmipati
Tirtha, He had a hamandalu and a
brahmacari danda (made from either kadira, palasa, or bamboo). According to others, Sri Nityananda Prabhu
traveled as a brahmacari with Sri
Madhavendra Puripada. At present, the brahmacari disciples of
the Tirtha and Asrama sannyasis are known as Svarupa. The brahmacaì disciples of Sarasvati, Bharati, and
Puri sannyasis are known as Caitanya. The brahmacari name of Nityananda Prabhu was Svarupa. Since Svarupa is the brahmacari name of a Tirtha sannyasi's disciple, some people consider Him a follower of
Laksmipati Tirtha rather than a follower
of Madhavendra Puri. Generally the danda is of two kinds— ekadanda or tridanda (see Adi-khanda, Chapter
One, verse 157, and Adikhanda, Chapter
Two, verse 162).
Sri
Nityananda Prabhu manifested His arrogance by breaking His own danda and kamandalu prior to Vyasa-puja. One
who experien- ces transformations of
ecstatic love completely abandons the ingredients and external formalities of vaidhi-bhakti, or
regulative devotional service. But if
one creates disturbances by acting like an ecade paka1, then he cannot be identified as a rasika, or expert in
transcendental mellows.
TEXT 68
he bujhaye
isvarera caritra akhanda kene bhaìgilena
nija kamandalu-danda
Who can
understand the unlimited characteristics of the Supreme Lord? Why did He break His danda and hamandalu?
1. The
green jackfruit is called ecade. Sometimes this green jackfruit becomes prematurely paka, or ripe,
and then can neither be used as subji or
fruit In other words it is useless
Many people have different ideas about why Sri
Nityananda Prabhu broke His own danda
and kamandalu. But we have to con- sider the
degree of consistency between the imagination of ordinary people
and the real purpose of Nityananda
Prabhu. Some people say that there is no
need for rules and symbols in the worship of the Lord and that these are actually impediments on the path of raga, or
attachment. Others say that if an
unqualified person breaks the rules and symbols, considering them obstacles on the path of raga, he will
simply create disturbances. It is
stated:
sruti-smrti-puranadi-paìcaratra-vidhim
vina aihantihi harer bhaktir utpatayaiva
kalpate
"Devotional
service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upanisads, Puranas and
Narada-paìcaratra is simply an
unnecessary disturbance in society." Since the acceptance of brahmacari
symbols by an avadhuta paramahamsa like Sri Nityananda Prabhu from a sannyasi on the regulative platform will create
various speculations unfavorable to
devotional service. Lord Nityananda Prabhu,
who is beyond all rules and regulations of varnasrama, eliminated
those insignificant formalities. But
those who due to aborption in matter try to
imitate and expand their own glories by engaging in activities
beyond their qualification can never
achieve any auspiciousness by such acts. All
unqualified persons are not qualified. In the Srimad Bhagavatam
(10.33.30)
it is stated: naitat samacarej jatu
manasapi hy anisvarah vinasyaty acaran
maudhyad yatharudro 'bdhi-jam visam
"One
who is not a great controller should never imitate the behavior of ruling personalities, even mentally. If out
of foolishness an ordi- nary person does
imitate such behavior, he will simply destroy himself, just as a person who is not Rudra would destroy
himself if he tried to drink an ocean of
poison." One should be careful not to disregard this instruction. Elsewhere in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.14.21)
it is stated:
ho vetti
bhuman bhagavan paratman
yogesvarotir
bhavatas tri-lokyam kva va katham va
kati va kadeti vistarayan kridasi yoga-mayam
"O supreme great one! O Supreme
Personality of Godhead! O Super- soul, master of all mystic power! Your
pastimes are taking place continuously
in these three worlds, but who can estimate where, how and when You are employing Your spiritual
energy and per- forming these
innumerable pastimes? No one can understand the mystery of how Your spiritual energy acts."
TEXT 69
prabhate
uthiya dekhe ramai pandita bhaìga dandakamandalu dekhiya vismita
When Ramai
Pandita rose early the next morning, he was astonished on seeing the broken danda and kamandalu.
TEXT 70
panditera
sthane kahilena tata-ksane srivasa balena,—
"yao thakurera sthane"
He
immediately informed Srivasa Pandita, who told him, "Go and inform the Lord."
The phrase
thakurera sthane means "to Sri Gaurasundara."
TEXT 71
ramaira
mukhe suni' aila thakura bahya nahi,
nityananda hasena pracura
Being
informed by Ramai, the Lord came there and found Nityananda profusely laughing
TEXT 72
danda
lailena prabhu sri-haste tuliya calilena gaìgasnane nityananda laiìa
The Lord picked up the broken danda with His
own hands and went with Nityananda to
take bath in the Ganges.
TEXT 73
srivasadi
sabai calila gaìga-snane danda thuilena
prabhu gaìgaya apane
Accompanied
by the devotees headed by Srivasa, the Lord went to the Ganges and put the broken danda in the water.
Mahaprabhu
personally threw Nityananda Svarupa s danda into the Ganges.
TEXT 74
caìcala
sì-nityananda na mane vacana tabe eha-bara
prabhu haraye tarjana
The
restless Nityananda did not listen to anyone. That is why the Lord sometimes admonished Him.
TEXT 75
humbhira
dekhiya ta're dharibare yaya gadadhara
sìnivasa kare 'haya haya'
When
Nityananda saw a crocodile, He attempted to catch it. Gadadhara and Srinivasa exclaimed, "Alas,
alas!"
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