| nityanandam aham naumi arvananda karam-param harinama pradam devam avdhuta si romanim |
awarder of the highest joy of all, the bestower of the Holy Name and the crest jewel of all
paramahamsa mendicants."
once chants the Name "Nityananda", they will become purified and I will immediately accept that person
as My Own." (Caitanya Mangala, Madhya-khanda, Chapter 6)
Lord Nityananda is the eternal associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Rarely is the Name Nimai (Caitanya Mahaprabhu) taken without that of Nitai (Lord Nityananda).
Mahaprabhu cannot be approached or understood without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, Who is the
cardinal guru of all the universes and serves as an intermediary between Mahaprabhu and His devotees.
He is the Lord's active principle in both creation and lila. He is the second body of the Lord, manifesting
as Balaram to Sri Krishna, Lakshman to Sri Ram and Nityananda Prabhu to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. All
other forms and expansions of the Lord emanate from this second body. Nityananda Prabhu is thus the
source of Sankarshan, all the Vishnu's, and Ananta Sesa. As Vishnu-tattva, He and Advaita Acarya are
worshipped in the same category as Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In the manifested earthly lila, Nityananda
Prabhu is senior to Caitanya Mahaprabhu by more than a decade. He is statuesque, like His Master,
with the whitish complexion of Lord Balarama. His garments resemble a cluster of blue lotus flowers
and His effulgence is said to surpass the grandeur of a rising moon at sunset. He has a deep melodious
voice, constant singing the glories of Sri Krishna and carries a red stick with benedictions for the
devotees, but feared by the demoniac. He has the carefree mood of a wild avadhuta, so absorbed is He
in the love of Godhead, and no one knows what He will do next.
Nityananda Prabhu was born in Ekacakra, a small village in present West Bengal, around the year 1474.
His birth site is commemorated by a temple named Garbhasva and is visited by throngs of pilgrims today.
His father, Hadai Ojha and mother Padmavati, were pious Brahmans originally from Mithila. Nityananda
Prabhu was born on the auspicious thirteenth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Maga. As a child,
Nitai (as Nityananda Prabhu was called), loved to enact the pastimes of Sri Krishna or Lord Rama. He
did this so authoritatively and with such rapture, that the entire village would be immersed in the love of
Godhead.
Nitai's favorite part was that of Lakshman, and He enacted it with so many apparently authentic scenes
not described in the Ramayana, that people would wonder if He was making it up or actually relishing
His own pastimes. The village of Ekacakra was completely absorbed in the love of little Nitai, where He
spend the first twelve years of his earthly life. In the thirteenth year, a travelling sannyasi, said to be the
famous Lakshmipati Tirtha, enchanted by Nitai"s devotion and service, requested Nitai from his parents,
as a travelling companion. His parents, bound by Vedic culture, could not refuse the request of a guest
and reluctantly parted with Nitai. However, devastated by the separation with Nitai, that Hadai Pandit
soon gave up his life.
Nitai traveled with Lakshmipati Tirtha for about twenty years, during which He visited all the holy
places in the country, reminiscent of the manner that Balarama traveled while the battle at Kurukshetra
raged on. Nitai is said to be later on initiated by Lakshmipati Tirtha. He also associated with another of
Lakshmipati Tirtha's famous disciple, Madhavendra Puri, who although his godbrother, was revered by
Nitai was as a spiritual master. Madhavendra Puri is famous for establishing the sweet truth of
Madhurya-rasa which later become an integral part of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Among the other disciples
of Madhavendra Puri is Advaita Acarya, and Isavara Puri (the spiritual master of Caitanya Mahaprabhu).
Nityananda Prabhu met Caitanya Mahaprabhu in 1506, when He was thirty-two years old and the Lord
twenty years. It is said that when Nityananda Prabhu reached the land of Nadia, He hid in the house of
Nandanacarya, to heighten the ecstasy of meeting through separation. Caitanya Mahaprabhu aware of the
arrival of His eternal associate dispatched Haridas Thakur and Srivas Pandit to search out Nitai, but they
failed. Finally unable to bear the separation any longer, Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself went directly to
Nityananda Prabhu and the ecstasy of the meeting was so transcendental that every one witnessing it were
awed by the sublime experience. A temple called Sri Gaura-Nityananda commemorates this meeting
place in Nadia.
Nityananda Prabhu in His role as the original spiritual master, was instrumental in spreading the yuga
dharma of sankritana all over the Gaudia desh (Bengal, Orrisa). His mercy knew no bounds, and people
fortunate to come in contact with Him were inundated with the love of Godhead. It was by His mercy that
Raghunatha dasa, one of the six Goswamis started the famous Danda Mahotsava festival of Panihatti, a
tradition that continues to this day, and was thus able to serve Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He extended His
mercy to even fallen souls like Jagai and Madhai, delivering them from the sinful lives and protecting
them from the wrath of even Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Indeed His mercy knew no bounds, and fortunate
were the people who tasted the nectar of His instructions.
When Nityananda Prabhu returned to Bengal at the request of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He decided to
abandon His avadhuta status and become a grahastha (householder). He married Jahnava devi and
Vasudha, the two daughters of Suryadasa Sarakhel, who the brother of Gauridasa Pandit (an intimate
associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the spiritual master of the famous Shyamananda Pandit).
Nityananda Prabhu had a son (Virchandara) and a daughter (Gangadevi) from Vasudha. Soon after
Vasudha passed away and Jahanva devi looked after the children. She later initiated Virchandra, and
also became an instructing spiritual master to the likes of Shyamananda Pandit, Shrivasa Pandit and
Narottama dasa Thakur. Jahnava devi is revered as a Vaishnavi and she established the pre-eminent
positon of women in the Vaishanava tradition.
Lord Nityananda wound up His earthly pastimes, by merging into the deity of Krishna, known as Bankim
Ray, not far from Ekacakra. Vaishnava acaryas emphatically state that people who try to understand
Caitanya Mahaprabhu without getting the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu will never succeed, and one must
pray very sincerely to Lord Nityananda Prabhu as the adi-guru (original spiritual master) to be delivered
to the Lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The presence of Nityananda Prabhu is always felt in the
presence of one's own guru, for the guru is considered to be the living manifestation of Nityananda
Prabhu's love and mercy, and his sakti (power) is what gives the disciple the ability to perform
devotional service and experience spiritual bliss.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta: Adi-lila
TEXT 61
radhadese janmila thakura nityananda
gangadasa pandita, gupta murari, mukunda
SYNONYMS
radha-dese—the place where there is no Ganges; janmila—took birth; thakura nityananda—Nityananda Prabhu; gangadasa pandita—of the name Gangadasa Pandita; gupta murari—of the name Murari Gupta; mukunda—of the name Mukunda.
TRANSLATION
In Radhadesa, the part of Bengal where the Ganges is not visible, Nityananda Prabhu, Gangadasa Pandita, Murari Gupta and Mukunda took birth.
PURPORT
Here radha-dese refers to the village of the name Ekacakra in the district of Birbhum, next to Burdwan. After the Burdwan railway station there is another branch line, which is called the Loop Line of the eastern railway, and there is a railway station of the name Mallarapura.
Eight miles east of this railway station Ekacakra Village is still situated. Ekacakra Village extends north and south for an area of about eight miles. Other villages, namely Viracandra-pura and Virabhadra-pura, are situated within the area of the village of Ekacakra. In honor of the holy name of Virabhadra Gosvami, these places are renowned as Viracandra-pura and Virabhadra-pura.
In the Bengali year 1331 (A.D. 1924) a thunderbolt struck the temple of Ekacakra-grama. Therefore the temple is now in a broken state. Before this, there were no such accidents in that quarter. Within the temple there is a Deity of Sri Krishna established by Sri Nityananda Prabhu. The name of the Deity is Bankima Raya or Banka Raya.
On the right side of Bankima Raya is a Deity of Jahnava, and on His left side is Srimati Radharani. The priests of the temple describe that Lord Nityananda Prabhu entered within the body of Bankima Raya and that the Deity of Jahnava-mata was therefore later placed on the right side of Bankima Raya.
Afterwards, many other Deities were installed within the temple. On another throne within the temple are Deities of Muralidhara and Radha-Madhava. On another throne are Deities of Manomohana, Vrindavana-candra and Gaura-Nitai. But Bankima Raya is the Deity originally installed by Nityananda Prabhu.
On the eastern side of the temple is a ghata known as Kadamba-khandi on the bank of the Yamuna, and it is said that the Deity of Bankima Raya was floating in the water and Lord Nityananda Prabhu picked Him up and then installed Him in the temple.
Thereafter, in a place known as Bhaddapura, in the village of Viracandra-pura, about half a mile west, in a place underneath a nima tree, Srimati Radharani was found. For this reason, the Radharani of Bankima Raya was known as Bhaddapurera Thakurani, the mistress of Bhaddapura. On another throne, on the right side of Bankima Raya, is a Deity of Yogamaya.
Now the temple and temple corridor rest on a high plinth, and on a concrete structure in front of the temple is a meeting hall. It is also said that on the northern side of the temple there was a Deity of Lord Siva named Bhandisvara and that the father of Nityananda Prabhu, Hadai Pandita, used to worship that Deity.
At present, however, the Bhandisvara Deity is missing, and in his place a Jagannatha Svami Deity has been installed. Lord Nityananda Prabhu did not factually construct any temples. The temple was constructed at the time of Virabhadra Prabhu. In the Bengali year 1298 (A.D. 1891), the temple being in a dilapidated condition, a brahmacari of the name Sivananda Svami repaired it.
In this temple there is an arrangement to offer foodstuffs to the Deity on the basis of seventeen seers of rice and necessary vegetables. The present priestly order of the temple belongs to the family of Gopijana-vallabhananda, one of the branches of Nityananda Prabhu.
There is a land settlement in the name of the temple, and income from this land finances the expenditures for the temple. There are three parties of priestly gosvamis who take charge of the temple management, one after another. A few steps onward from the temple is a place known as Visramatala, where it is said that Nityananda Prabhu in His childhood used to enjoy sporting with His boyfriends by enacting the rasa-lila and various other pastimes of Vrindavana.
Near the temple is a place named Amalitala, which is so named because of a big tamarind tree there. According to a party named the Nedadi-sampradaya, Virabhadra Prabhu, with the assistance of twelve hundred Nedas, dug a great lake of the name Svetaganga. Outside of the temple are tombs of the Gosvamis, and there is a small river known as the Maudesvara, which is called the water of Yamuna.
Within half a mile from this small river is the birthplace of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. It appears that there was a big meeting hall in front of the temple, but later it became dilapidated. It is now covered by banyan trees. Later on, a temple was constructed within which Gaura-Nityananda Deities are existing.
The temple was constructed by the late Prasannakumara Karapharma. A tablet was installed in his memory in the Bengali year 1323 (A.D. 1916), in the month of Vaisakha (April-May).
The place where Nityananda Prabhu appeared is called Garbhavasa. There is an allotment of about forty-three bighas (fourteen acres) of land to continue the worship in a temple there. The Maharaja of Dinajapura donated twenty bighas (6.5 acres) of land in this connection. It is said that near the place known as Garbhavasa, Hadai Pandita conducted a primary school.
The priests of this place, listed in a genealogical table, were as follows: (1) Sri Raghavacandra, (2) Jagadananda dasa, (3) Krishnadasa, (4) Nityananda dasa, (5) Ramadasa, (6) Vrajamohana dasa, (7) Kanai dasa, (8) Gauradasa, (9) Sivananda dasa and (10) Haridasa. Krishnadasa belonged to the Cidiya-kusja at Vrindavana.
The date of his disappearance is Krishna-janmastami. Cidiya-kusja is a place now managed by the gosvamis of Singara-ghata in Vrindavana. They are also known as belonging to the Nityananda family, most probably on the basis of their relationship with Krishnadasa.
Near Garbhavasa is a place called Bakulatala, where Sri Nityananda Prabhu and His boyfriends used to take part in sporting activities known as jhala-jhapeta.
There is a bakula tree there that is wonderful because all its branches and subbranches look like the hoods of serpents. It has been suggested that by the desire of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Anantadeva manifested Himself in that way.
The tree is very old. It is said that formerly it had two trunks, but later on, when the playmates of Nityananda Prabhu felt inconvenience in jumping from the branches of one trunk to those of the nother, Nityananda Prabhu, by His mercy, merged the two trunksinto one.
Another place nearby is named Hantugada. It is said that Lord Nityananda Prabhu brought all the holy places there. Therefore the people in the surrounding villages go there instead of to the Ganges to take bath. It is named Hantugada because Srila Nityananda Prabhu used to perform the dadhi-cida festival of distributing chipped rice with yogurt prasada there and He took the prasada kneeling down.
A sanctified lake in this place is always full of water throughout the year. A great fair is held there during Gosthastami, and there is another big fair on the birthday of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika it is described that Halayudha, Baladeva, Visvarupa and Sankarsana appeared as Nityananda Avadhuta
Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 13: The Advent of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu : Adi 13.61 : PURPORT
tabe nityananda-svarupera agamana
prabhuke miliya paila sad-bhuja-darsana
SYNONYMS
tabe—thereafter; nityananda-svarupera—of the Personality of Godhead Nityananda; agamana—appearance; prabhuke—Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; miliya—meeting; paila—obtained; sat-bhuja-darsana—a vision of the six-armed Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
TRANSLATION
After this function at the house of Srivasa Thakura, Nityananda Prabhu appeared, and when He met with Lord Caitanya He got the opportunity to see Him in His six-armed form.
PURPORT
The form of Sad-bhuja, the six-armed Lord Gaurasundara, is a representation of three incarnations. The form of Sri Ramacandra is symbolized by a bow and arrow, the form of Lord Sri Krishna is symbolized by a stick and flute like those generally held by a cowherd boy, and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is symbolized by a sannyasa-danda and kamandalu, or waterpot.
Srila Nityananda Prabhu was born in the village of Ekacakra in the district of Birbhum as the son of Padmavati and Hadai Pandita. In His childhood He played like Balarama. When He was growing up, a sannyasi came to the house of Hadai Pandita, begging to have the pandita’s son as his brahmacari assistant.
Hadai Pandita immediately agreed and delivered his son to him, although the separation was greatly shocking, so much so that Hadai lost his life after the separation. Nityananda Prabhu traveled on many pilgrimages with the sannyasi.
It is said that for many days He lived at Mathura with him, and at that time He heard about Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes in Navadvipa.
Therefore He came down to Bengal to see the Lord. When Lord Nityananda came to Navadvipa, He was a guest at the house of Nandana Acarya. Understanding that Nityananda Prabhu had arrived, Lord Caitanya sent His devotees to Him, and thus there was a meeting between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu.
Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 17: The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Youth : Adi 17.12 : PURPORT
sri-krsna-caitanya ara prabhu nityananda
yanhara prakase sarva jagat ananda
The appearance of Sri Krishna Caitanya and Prabhu Nityananda has surcharged the world with happiness
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Unrevised Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 1: The Spiritual Masters : Adi 1.87
ei candra surya dui parama sadaya
jagatera bhagye gaude karila udaya
These two, the sun and moon, are very kind to the people of the world. Thus for the good fortune of all, They have appeared on the horizon of Bengal
The celebrated ancient capital of the Sena dynasty, which was known as Gaudadesa or Gauda, was situated in what is now the modern district of Maldah. Later this capital was transferred to the ninth or central island on the western side of the Ganges at Navadvipa, which is now known as Mayapur and was then called Gaudapura.
Lord Caitanya appeared there, and Lord Nityananda came there and joined Him from the district of Birbhum. They appeared on the horizon of Gaudadesa to spread the science of Krishna consciousness, and it is predicted that as the sun and moon gradually move west, the movement They began five hundred years ago will come to the Western civilizations by Their mercy.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu drive away the five kinds of ignorance of the conditioned souls. In the Mahabharata, Udyoga-parva, Forty-third Chapter, these five kinds of ignorance are described.
They are (1) accepting the body to be the self, (2) making material sense gratification one’s standard of enjoyment, (3) being anxious due to material identification, (4) lamenting and (5) thinking that there is anything beyond the Absolute Truth.
The teachings of Lord Caitanya eradicate these five kinds of ignorance. Whatever one sees or otherwise experiences one should know to be simply an exhibition of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s energy. Everything is a manifestation of Krishna.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 1: The Spiritual Masters : Adi 1.102 :
advaita, nityananda–caitanyera dui anga
angera avayava-gana kahiye upanga
Sri Advaita Prabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu are both plenary portions of Lord Caitanya. Thus They are the limbs [angas] of His body. The parts of these two limbs are called the upanga
Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 3: The External Reasons for Lord Caitanya’s Appearance : Adi 3.72
jaya jaya nityananda-caranaravinda
yanha haite painu sri-radha-govinda
All glory, all glory to the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, by whose mercy I have attained Sri Radha-Govinda
Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, who is famous for his poetic composition known as Prarthana, has lamented in one of his prayers, “When will Lord Nityananda be merciful upon me so that I will forget all material desires?”
Srila Narottama dasa Thakura confirms that unless one is freed from material desires to satisfy the needs of the body and senses, one cannot understand the transcendental abode of Lord Krishna, Vrindavana. He also confirms that one cannot understand the loving affairs of Radha and Krishna without going through the direction of the six Gosvamis.
In another verse Narottama dasa Thakura has stated that without the causeless mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, one cannot enter into the affairs of Radha and Krishna.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta – 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 5: The Glories of Lord Nityananda Balarama : Adi 5.204
Excerpts from Chapter 11 of Sri Sri Bhakti-ratnakara
by Sri Narahari Cakravarti Thakur
Sri Nityananda's Family
In Ekchakra lived a pious brahmin who was famous because of his title `Ojha'. He was a wealthy man but had affection for his Yajamanas on whose behalf he performed his worship. His wife was a lady of sweet disposition but she was unhappy because she had no child although she was able to bear children. Each of her children died at the time of birth.
At last she got a son who was born at a very auspicious moment. The Ojha felt both happy and sad simultaneously and dedicated his only son to the mercy of Paravati Sankara. He and his wife analysed the fate of their son and out of dissatisfaction they named him Haro. But others in the village kept different sweet names for the child and would often visit the Ojha's house to see the nice child. Day by day the child grew into a beautiful boy.
Ojha performed the ceremony which celebrates the time that a Hindu child can take rice for the first time and other social ceremonies as the child grew and grew. When it was time for the boy to get married his father selected a girl for him from a nearby village. Padmavati was the name of the bride and she was equal to the bridegroom in every way. A few days after the marriage Ojha and his wife disappeared from the world. Haro was overwhelmed by the absence of his parents and he spent a deal of money performing the funeral rites for his parents. Haro Ojha gradually became a respected scholar in all Sastras and eventually got the title Harai Pandita. He was a devout Vaisnava and a scholar in Visnu Bhakti tattva. His wife was also a devoted Vaisnavi and the villagers came to respect the couple for their sincere worship of Lord Visnu.
Lord Nityananda's Lotus Feet
The Birth of Nityananda Prabhu
Harai Pandita was very happy when he heard that his wife Parvati was pregnant. She gave birth to a beautiful child on a auspicious day and the religious minded ladies of the village came to see the child and bless him. Each gave a different opinion of the child. One woman questioned whether the child was actually a boy or a doll made of golden butter. Another woman commented that she had never seen a child who could cool both the eyes and the heart. Everyday a crowd gathered at the house of Harai Ojha and for the well being of his son Harai Ojha would distribute money to needy people and perform other types of charitable activities. Harai Ojha's son grew like the waxing moon and remained the center of pleasure for his parents. His mother loved him so much that she never put him down from her lap. At the time of his name giving ceremony someone suggested the name Rama and someone else suggested the name Nityananda for the child. When he was old enough to crawl on the ground people spontaneously called him Nitai and wanted to hold him on their laps. People were enchanted by his sweet smile and his tiny teeth, which looked like drops of milk. Nityananda became the centre of life for the people of Ekchakra.
The old man continued to tell his story to Jahnava Isvari and her associates. He said that one day he felt disturbed for some reason so he went to the house of Harai simply to see Nitai. When he took the child in his lap, all his miseries seemed to vanish. Harai Pandita's affection for his son was boundless and he would never go anywhere far from the child. Once he went to the house of a Yajamana but returned immediately to his home to check on Nityananda. His mother used to smear the dust of haridya on his body to brighten his complexion but the haridya seemed dull next to Nityananda's own golden color. She smeared scented oil on his head to cool it but his body was cooler and sweeter than the oil itself. After giving him a bath his mother would dry him with a soft piece of cloth. Then she would dress him in silk and advise him to play in the house. But Nityananda could smilingly ask her who he should play with, for he had no friends.
Nityananda Prabhu's Vraja Lila and Other Avatara Lilas
From that time on many boys would come to Nityananda's house to play with him. Nityananda was a very gentle child. Gradually he grew to the age of ten and with his friends he would play only those sports which Lord Krsna had played with his friends. He would choose a particular type of sport and then teach his friends. Sometimes, for example, he would want to re-enact a pastime from the birth of Krsna. They would create the prison where Krsna was born and act out each of the events related to Krsna going to Gokula to live with Nanda. He also enacted other pastimes like birthday of Krsna in Nanda's house, various incidents which proved the love of mother Yosoda for Krsna, the killing of Putina, the breaking of the cradle, the killing of Trinavata etc. Sometimes he chose to act out the pastime where mother Yasoda tied Krsna to a mortar and later Krsna uprooted the Yamalarjuna trees. During each pastime Nityananda would dress in different types of clothes and play just like Krsna had played in Gokula. He would assign the roars of Baka and Aga to his different boyfriends and then as Krsna he would mockingly kill them. He would build a snake-shaped structure and put it in the water so that they could re-enact the pastime of Kaliya danana. Just like Krsna, Nityananda would sometimes kill Dhanuka or Pralambra while playing in the grazing grounds.
Just like Krsna he would play in the pasturing grounds, occasionally killing a demon like Risasura or rescuing Braja by lifting Govardhana. Sometimes they enacted the pastime of stealing the dresses of the Gopis and other times they pretended to kill kamsa. But when they staged the drama of Krsna leaving Vraja where the Gopis lamented pitifully, Nityananda also cried in hopeless despair. He also enacted the various pastimes that Krsna had performed in Mathura.
Sometimes Nityananda taught his boyfriends the pastimes of Sri Ramacandra. For his drama he arranged everything as an exact replica of the places and incidents which had been described by Valmika in his book the Ramayana.
In the mood of Krsna Nityananda also played the role of Vamana, the incarnation of Visnu who tricked King Vali. He also played the role of Nrsimha and mockingly killed Hiranyakasipur. Whatever pastimes Lord Krsna had performed to please his devotees were also performed by the son of Padmavati as he played with his village friends.
The boys of Ekchakra liked to be with Nityananda and could not leave him for a second. The parents of Ekchakra never forbid their children to associate with Nityananda; rather, they would decorate them with ornaments and encourage to take part in Nityananda's transcendental play.
At the time for taking the sacred thread, Nityananda was just stepping into his adolescent period and the village people were enchanted by his beauty. In his boyhood he became a scholar in all Sastras and Vyakanas and when he was twelve years old he looked like a boy of fifteen. Because of this Harai Pandita anxiously sought out a wife for Nitai. The brahmin gentlemen of Ekchakra agreed to the idea and someone took the initiative to select a bride from a good brahmin family. Unfortunately, none of them could know the future.
Lord Nityananda's Lotus Hands
Nityananda Prabhu Leaves Home
One day a traveling Gosvami came as a guest to the house of Harai Pandita. Harai Pandita offered him alms and they passed the night together discussing Lord Krsna. At the time of parting, the sannyasi requested Harai Pandtia to give him Nityananda and Harai Pandita was obliged to give him, thinking that there must be some divine plan behind the request.
When the sannyasi left with Nityananda Harari Pandita fell on the ground unconscious and his wife dropped just like a dead body. Even the villagers of Ekchakra became half-dead when they heard the news. The friends of Nityananda fell on the ground and the entire village was lifeless in grief. People assembled at the house of Harai Ojha and tried to revive the Pandita and his wife. But regaining their consciousness, the parents of Nityananda simply cried and called out the name of Nityananda. Their profuse tears could have melted the hard stones.
The younger brother of Nitai also lamented, wanting to know why the sannyasi had not also taken him. One brahmin anxiously asked the crowd which direction the sannyasi had taken. He would catch up with them and fall at the feet of the sannyasi, begging him to release Nimai. After all, the boy the did not know how to cook or other household duties. The brahmin would offer the sannyasi his own son who knew how to perform all types of service, and then he would bring Nityananda back. People searched in all directions for the sannyasi but he was not to be found. The astrologers of Ekchakra met in a solitary place and discussed the prophecy of the astrologer who had predicted that Balarama would take his birth in Ekchakra. They realized too late that the prophecy had been fulfilled when Nityananda took birth in the house of Harai Pandita.
"At the time of Nityananda's birth all misfortunes vanished," said one man. "There have been no famines, the people are happy and there is adequate rainfall."
"Now I understand why flowers were showered from heaven at the time of Nitai's birth," said another man.
"Only a God could possess such divine beauty," said another.
"I have never seen the type of sports which Nitai used to enact with his friends," said one gentleman. "Once I saw Nitai in the role of a sannyasi. He wore a saffron colored dhoti and held a dhanda in one hand with a kamdalu in the other. The children were all wearing Vaisnava clothes and danced joyfully with Nitai in the center. Now Nityananda has made the play in reality."
"Oh, I am an ignorant person, lamented another villager. "How could I know that Rukmini Kumara and Nityananda were the same person."
"We have no ability to understand the wish of the Lord," consoled another man. "The arrival of the sannyasi was only a pretext under which the Lord would leave home. Just as Balarama had visited all the holy places on foot, so also Nityananda would go on pilgrimage."
"But this is not proper behavior," criticised another person. "Nityananda should not have gone while his parents were still living." Then the poor man broke down and cried loudly while calling out the name of Nityananda.
Comments