Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pulled the chariot from the Jagannatha Temple

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pulled the chariot from the Jagannatha Temple

During a solar eclipse, people go to Kuruksetra to bathe and perform other rituals. In the scriptures, you will find descriptions of the immense glories of this practice. During the time of Lord Krishna’s pastimes on Earth, there was a solar eclipse where Lord Krishna came from Dvaraka to Kuruksetra with all His personal associates. At that time, Sri Krishna was the King, Emperor and Sole Proprietor of Dvaraka. All His subjects, consorts and personal associates were very eager to go to Kuruksetra during the solar eclipse so they could bathe, perform sandhya and other rituals. If they could perform these sacrifices with the brahmanas, they could get immense fruits. To fulfill this desire of His subjects, Sri Krishna said, “All right, we shall go.” So, all the numerous subjects, consorts and personal associates came to Kuruksetra. Sri Krishna intentionally invited everyone except the Vrajavasis-the devotees of Vraja.

Sri Narada Gosvami was very shocked by this. He approached Sri Krishna , saying, “The Vrajavasis love You so much. They are experiencing extreme separation grief by not seeing You. You are inviting everyone in the whole world but You are not inviting the Vrajavasis? What offense are they guilty of? Have they committed an offense by loving You? I cannot tolerate this!” Then Sri Krishna said, “They are our own people. No one has to send invitations to one’s own. Parents do not invite their children, and vice versa. They are our own. Outside people are invited. How can I invite the Vrajavasis? You are right, I intentionally did not invite them because they are saturated with love for Me. They have no interest in performing sacrifices to obtain mundane benefits. If they come, the results of all these ritual practices will be destroyed. For this reason, I have not invited them.”

Although not invited, the Vrajavasis came to learn that Sri Krishna was coming to Kuruksetra. The Vrajavasis thought, “Kuruksetra is much closer to Vraja-mandala than Dvaraka is. We should avail ourselves of this rare opportunity to see Sri Krishna ! We can have darsana of Sri Krishna ! We should not miss this chance!”

But they could not venture to go there. Why? They thought, ” Sri Krishna has become the Emperor. His standard is very high, and we are merely cowherd men and women. We are poor people. Perhaps Sri Krishna has forgotten us. If we go there, He will not recognize us. Someone of such a high position will not come to see ordinary people like us. Previously He was a cowherd boy in our Vraja-dhama, but now He has become King. But we are extremely grief-stricken. We cannot tolerate this separation.”

Thinking like this, the Vrajavasis reasoned, “A man might forget everything else, but he will never forget his parents, even if they live far away. If Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda go there, then Sri Krishna will bow down to them and make obeisances.” So they went to Nanda Maharaja, saying, ” Sri Krishna is coming to Kuruksetra! We are too grief-stricken with separation grief. We have not seen Him for such a long time, but we do not have the courage to go there. We do not know if Sri Krishna will give us the opportunity to see Him, as His present standard of living is so high. But, if His parents go there, then Sri Krishna will come to them as their son and offer obeisances.”

Then Nanda Maharaja and Sri Yasoda said, “No, no. This is not correct. He has not come here for such a long time! He has so many consorts and servants serving Him there. He is so wealthy now. His wives are also wealthy. We are only cowherd men and women. We have nothing. After so long, how can we go? If we go there, will He come to see us? If we go to Kuruksetra and are deprived of seeing Sri Krishna , we shall die!”

When Sri Krishna , the Emperor of Dvaraka, entered Kuruksetra, so many cavalry units, elephants, horses, etc. accompanied Him. Only those who had permission were allowed to go to speak with Him. He was surrounded by servants. There were four gatekeepers, one in each direction. The King’s parents, Vasudeva and Devaki were also there. The brahmanas had gone to start the sacrifices. So, no one was permitted to disturb the King.

Nanda Maharaja, Yasoda Devi and all the cowherd boys and other friends of Sri Krishna approached where He was. Nobody acknowledged them. Armed forces, cavalry and elephants surrounded Sri Krishna .

Nanda Maharaja approached one of the guards. “I have come to see my beloved son,” he said.

“Who is your beloved son?” a guard asked him.

” Sri Krishna .”

“How is that? You are a poor person. He is the King! His parents are already here-Vasudeva and Devaki. We do not believe you! From where have you come? Why are you claiming that He is your son? We do not believe you!”

Nanda Maharaja cried, “I shall die!”

The guard said, “I am doing my work as per the order of the King. If I do anything against His orders, I shall be dismissed. Do you have a permit?”

“No.”

“Then I cannot let you in,” the guard replied.

Then all the cowherd boys, carrying their small cow prods, cried, “My friend! My bosom friend! Kanhaiya!”

“What? He is the King! His friends are like this? You are paupers! I do not believe you!”

Then the gopis cried, “We are the consorts of Sri Krishna !”

“What? The consorts are already here. Satyabhama, Rukmini and all the other queens are here! From where have you come? Show me some permit from the King or His Prime Minister!”

Then, Yasoda Devi said, “I told you that, if I go to Kuruksetra and I am deprived of seeing Krishna, I shall die! I have nothing left. My life is finished!” She cried loudly, “Gopala!” and fell unconscious.

At that time, Sri Krishna was with the brahmanas, who requested Him to start the sacrifice. Sri Krishna removed all His royal garments and became a small, naked boy, crying, “Mother! O Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” He cried and cried and cried and ran to sit on the lap of Yasoda Devi. Now, without Sri Krishna ‘s presence, all the ritual sacrifices were destroyed. By hearing one single call from Yasoda Devi, Krsna could not remain there.

Then Sri Krishna met the gopis and the others. The gopis attracted Krsna. They said, “We are not very happy seeing You here. There are so many cavalrymen, elephants and chariots-we should go to Vrndavana. There, it is sweet. All this is Your majestic aspect. So, please allow us the opportunity to see You in better circumstances by coming with us to Vrndavana. Please do not remain here! “He Gopinatha! He Gopinatha! Vrndavane calo! He Gopinatha!”

In that mood of the gopis, saturated with gopi-bhava, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pulled the chariot from the Jagannatha Temple (Kuruksetra) toward Gundica (Vrndavana). During the chariot festival, Sri Krishna , Sri Baladeva and Sri Subhadra make the trip in three chariots.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pulled the chariot from the Jagannatha Temple
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pulled the chariot from the Jagannatha Temple

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BABY NIMAI STEALS GOPAL’S OFFERINGS

Lord Chaitanya and His Associates

This is the childhood pastime of Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

On another day, a Brahmin pilgrim passed through Navadwip (West Bengal, India) with Bala Gopal, his deity of the baby Krishna. Sri Chaitanya Maparabhu was called Nimai, when He was a child. His father Sri Jagannath Mishra offered the Brahmin a place to perform his puja as well as food to cook for an offering. When the pilgrim had finished cooking, he sat down to offer the bhoga to his deity. But as soon as he started meditation on his mantra, baby Nimai came and began eating the offering. The Brahmin saw this and started to shout in distress. Sri Jagannath Mishra was extremely disturbed by the incident and the Brahmin had to intercede to stop him from giving the child a spanking.

Although the Brahmin did not want to cook again, Sri Jagannath begged him to do so. Before he recommenced preparing the offering.

Sri Jagannath took baby Nimai to a neighbor’s house so that He would not do any more mischief. Once again,when the Brahmin sat down to meditate on his Bala Gopal mantra to make his offering, Sri Gaura Gopal appeared out of nowhere and started to enjoy the food-stuffs.

The Brahmin again began to shout in frustration, “Everything’s ruined. Everything’s ruined!” For a second time Sri Jagannath was devastated and once again was about to punish the child, only to be stopped by his guest. The Brahmin said,“He’s only a child and doesn’t understand anything. It’s not His fault. It seems that it is not my destiny to eat today.”

This time, baby Nimai’s older brother Sri Vishvarupa begged the Brahmin to try a third time, and so finally, on his insistence, he began to cook again. This time it was quite late at night and Nimai was fast asleep in His room so no one suspected any trouble.

Even so, the Brahmin waited until the entire household had gone to bed before making his offering; but once again, contrary to all expectation, Sri Gaura Gopal came to consume it. This time, however, He gave the Brahmin a vision of an extraordinary eight-armed form. In four of these hands, He held the conch, discus, mace and lotus flower of Sri Narayana; but in the palm of another hand, He held a lump of butter from which He was taking morsels with another.The last two hands were engaged in playing a flute. When the pilgrim Brahmin saw this wonderful vision, he fainted away completely.

When he came to consciousness, Nimai told him not to reveal this pastime to anyone. He told him, “You have been My servant for many, many births. This very same pastime also took place at Sri Nanda’s house in Gokula.”

The Brahmin decided to stop his travels and remain forever in Navadwip to be close to his Lord. Every evening after finishing his daily activities he would return to Nimai’s house to behold his worshipable lord.

When Sri Mahaprabhu brought back the dead boy to life

Lord Chaitanya and His Associates

Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would always perform Sri Harinam Sankirtan in the house of one of His devotee, Srila Srivas Pandit.

One day, Sri Srivas’s only son died while sankirtana was being performed in his house. Sri Srivas was afraid that the sounds of mourning from the women’s quarters would disturb Sri Mahaprabhu while He was engaged in singing the Holy Names. So he went directly into the house and tried to quiet the women by explaining spiritual truths to them. When they still didn’t stop their loud lamentations, he threatened to throw himself into the river and drown if they did not stop making noise. This had the desired result.

Later on that night, however, the kirtan came to a stop and Sri Mahaprabhu said, “Something doesn’t seem right. Has some tragedy taken place in the pandit’s house?” Sri Srivas answered, “How can anything be wrong, when I have Your smiling face in my home?”

“However, some of the other devotees said, “Prabhu, Srivas’ only son died in the evening about an hour after sunset.”

Mahaprabhu asked, “Why did no one say anything before now?”

The devotees answered, “Lord, Srivas told us not to, because he was afraid that it would interfere with Your pleasure in Sri Harinam kirtana.”

Sri Mahaprabhu said, “How could I ever abandon devotees who love Me to this extent!”. After this, He went inside and sat down beside the child’s dead body and brought him back to consciousness. He asked, “Child! Why do you want to leave the house of such a great devotee as Srivas?”

The dead child answered, “The few days that I was to spend in Sri Srivas’s house are over, and now I am following Your wishes in going elsewhere. I am a living being without any independence; I cannot go against Your wishes. Please be merciful to me that I never forget Your lotus feet, wherever I go.”

When Srivas’ family members heard the child speak such wisdom, they immediately forgot their distress and stopped mourning.

Sri Mahaprabhu said to Sri Srivas Pandit, “From this day on, Nityananda and I will be your sons. We will never leave you.”