In2-MeC

IBSA (ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Sadhana Asrama), Govardhana, India
5 February 2004

The Vyasa-puja of Sri Nityananda Prabhu
by Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura
(as found in Sri Caitanya Bhagavat)

All glories to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Caitanya, who is also praised by the name of Murari. He is the constantly glowing lamp of Navadvipa. He is like the fearless lion come to slay the elephant-like atheists. He has taken the knotted thread in order to exemplify the need of chanting a specific number of times the Lord's holy names, which are His own names. All glories to Lord Visvambhara, the Supreme Lord of all living entities. He is the Lord an master of Lord Nityananda and Gadadhara Pandita. All glories to the Lord, for He is subjugated by the love of pure devotees like Advaita Acarya Prabhu and others. O Lord, please engage the conditioned living entities in the eternal loving service of Lord Krsna and release them from the bondage of material existence.

In this manner all the devotees passed their time in great joy discussing topics of Krsna's pastimes with Lord Nityananda Prabhu. All the assembled Vaisnavas were very elevated souls and unalloyed devotees of the Lord. They became totally immersed in the nectar of Krsna consciousness. Lord Nityananda was extremely joyful and He kept looking around at the Vaisnavas. It was a scene of extreme ecstasy and tears of happiness cascaded down everyone's eyes.

Seeing this ecstasy, Lord Visvambhara spoke to Lord Nityananda Prabhu. "Listen My dear Nityananda Gosvami, where shall Your Vyasa-puja be performed. Tomorrow is a full moon and it is on this day that Srila Vyasadeva is worshiped, so You may choose anyone and make arrangements with him.

Nityananda Prabhu could understand Lord Visvambhara's mind so He took Srivasa Pandita by his hand and smilingly said, "Listen Visvambhara, I will have My Vyasa-puja in this brahmana's house.

Lord Visvambhara then spoke to Srivasa Pandita. "Now you have a heavy responsibiliity over your head. Srivasa replied, "No my Lord, this is no botheration. By Your grace everything is in this house. The paraphernalia required like clothes, grains, brahmin threads, ghee, etc. , are all available here. I have only to get the book which gives the procedures for performing a Vyasa-puja ceremony. And then tomorrow by my great fortune, I shall witness a Vyasa-puja. Lord Visvambhara was very pleased with Srivasa's reply and all the devotees were jubilant.

Lord Visvambhara said, "Listen Nityananda Gosai, let us all make preparations to go to Srivasa Pandita's house. Lord Nityananda very much appreciated Lord Visvambhara's words and immediately proceeded to Srivasa Pandita's house. The Lord and Nityananda Prabhu, accompanied by Their associates looked exactly like Krsna and Balarama of Gokula as They went about accompanied by Their friends.

As they entered Srivasa Pandita's house, the devotees felt a current of joy run through their bodies. The Lord ordered the door to be closed, allowing only friends and relatives to be inside. Then on the signal from Lord Visvambhara they began singing bhajanas and kirtanas and gradually the external world faded away into oblivion. The chanting was ecstatic and befitting the occassion of Vyasa-puja. The two Lords began to dance ecstatically. The bond of love and affection existed eternally between Lord Nityananda and Lord Visvambhara and now as They danced together each one was immersed in thoughts of the other. The devotees were experiencing extraordinary joy. Some began to roar loudly, some fell unconscious and others could not restrain the flow of joyful tears. The two Supreme Lords were experiencing all the symptoms of ecstasy like shivering, paling, horripilating, crying and falling unconscious Who can describe all the ecstatic symptoms that They manifested. The two Lords danced, lost in Their ecstasy and often They would embrace each other crying. In the mood of brotherly love They tried to catch each other's feet, but because both were warm and cunning, They could not succeed. They were overwhelmed in happiness and they rolled on the ground, forgetting Their Absolute Supreme positions. They world of phenomena was forgotten and Their clothes fell from Their bodies. They could not sit still and even though the Vaisnavas tried to hold Them down, they were unsuccessful. How is it possible for the Vaisnavas to hold on to the personality Who holds the entire universe?

The two Supreme Lords were lost in the nectar of chanting and dancing. Lord Gaurasundara kept repeating, "Chant, chant!", drenching His whole body with tears of happiness. The Lord, having found that personality whose association He always desired, His eternal brother Lord Nityananda, was floating on an ocean of eternal endless ecstasy. Lord Visvambhara's dancing was so enchanting. Sometimes he would touch His head with His feet. When Lord Nityananda Prabhu danced, it seemed there was an earthquake. Thus, the Supreme Lords danced in ecstasy. Who can describe that scene of great jubilation?

Lord Visvambhara then sat on the seat of Lord Visnu feeling in the mood of Lord Balarama. Like Lord Balarama, He was expressing madness and repeatedly cried out "Bring Me wine, bring Me wine. "

To Lord Nityananda Prabhu the Lord said, "Immediately bring Me a plough. At the Lord's request, Lord Nityananda stretched out His hands and Lord Gauracandra received it in His hand. Some saw the two Lords go through these motions empty handed while others saw Lord Nityananda give a plough to Lord Caitanya.

Only by the Lord's mercy can one understand His supreme position. Such confidential pastimes and topics of the Lord as displayed by Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda are known to a very limited few.

Receiving the plough from Lord Nityananda Prabhu, Lord Caitanya now began to ask for wine, acting agitated and mad. Most of the devotees could not understand this mood of Lord Caitanya. They looked at each other's faces in bewilderment wondering why the Lord was asking for wine. Trying to think logically they finally brought a pot of Ganges water to everyone and drank much of it Himself, thinking this to be real wine.

All around the devotees began to chant hymns about Lord Balarama, and Lord Visvambhara kept repeating "Nara," the name by which He would call Advaita Acarya Prabhu. The Lord continuously called out "Nara," and His head kept dropping as if drunk. They asked, "Lord, who is Nara?" The Lord replied, "On whose loud beckoning I am here. The personality you call Advaita Acarya Prabhu is Nara to Me. In My present incarnation Nara has brought Me down form the Vaikuntha planets, but He is enjoying peacefully with Haridas Thakura. In this incarnation I shall propagate congregational chanting of the holy name in every house. Those who are intoxicated with material knowledge, wealth, family, austerity, etc. are naturally offensive to My pure devotees. To such wretched and fallen people I will not give the gift of loving devotional service to the Supreme Lord, but to the residents of Navadvipa Mayapura I shall bestow that supreme gift of love of God which is most desirable even by Lord Brahma. " The devotees were overjoyed on hearing the Lord, and the Lord gradually became tranquil and still.

The Lord asked the devotees, "Were My speech and action uncontrolled?" The devotees replied, "No, nothing inconsistent. " The Lord entranced everyone with great love and affection and said, "Please always forgive My offensive nature. " All the devotees began to laugh. "Surely," they thought, "the Lord was joking. "

Unable to control His ecstasy, Nityananda Prabhu began to roll on the ground. Lord Nityananda was totally immersed in the nectar of love of Godhead. Sometimes He laughed, sometimes He cried. And sometimes He opened His clothes and stood naked being in the mood of a young boy, and His body manifested this mood. His stick fell in one direction and His water pot and clothes in another. That great and tranquil personality, Lord Nityananda, was now restless and uncontrollable. Lord Visvambhara had to hold Him still. Lord Caitanya's words acted on Lord Nityananda Prabhu just as a guard acts on a mad elephant. Lord Nityananda Prabhu became still. The Lord said, "Be calm and if You want, tomorrow You can have the Vyasa-puja. Then the Lord left from His home.

All the devotees returned to their respective homes, and Lord Nityananda remained in Srivasa Pandita's house. Later in the night, overcome with ecstasy, Lord Nityananda began roaring like a lion. He broke His stick and water pot. Who can fathom the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Who knew why Lord Nityananda broke His stick and water pot?

Early next morning, Ramai Pandita saw the broken stick and water pot. He was amazed and perplexed. He went quickly to Srivasa Pandita and reported the matter to him. Srivasa Pandita said, "Go to Lord Visvabhara. "

When Lord Caitanya heard from Ramai Pandita the activities of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, He immediately came to the house of Srivasa Pandita. There, He found Lord Nityananda in a trance and laughing constantly. Lord Visvambhara took the broken stick and led Lord Nityananda Prabhu to the Ganga. Srivasa Pandita and the other Vaisnavas accompanied Their Lordships to the Ganga for a bath, and there Lord Visvambhara threw the stick into the river. Lord Nityananda Prabhu, still in a trance was restless and did not heed anyone's advice so Caitanya Mahaprabhu loudly chastised Him, which pacified Him a little. A crocodile was swimming down the river and on seeing it, Lord Nityananda jumped in to catch it. Immediately Srivasa Pandita and Gadadhara Pandita ran toward midsteam. Only Lord Caitanya's words could hold Him still and bring Him back.

Lord Visvambhara cried out to Lord Nityananda, "Come immediately and let us proceed with the worship of Vyasadeva. Obeying Lord Visvambhara, He came out of the water and accompanied the Lord back to His house.

Soon after all the devotees assembled and began chanting the holy name of Lord Krsna. Srivasa Pandita was the preceptor for the rules of worship for the Vyasapuja, and by receiving instructions form Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he executed them. A continually sweet kirtan converted Srivasa Pandita's house into the spiritual world of Vaikuntha. Well versed in all scriptures, Srivasa Pandita performed the ceremony according to the strict injunctions of the scriptures. He gave Nityananda Prabhu a garland of fragrant flowers and said, Oh Nityananda Prabbhu, please take this garland and offer Your prayers and obeisances to Srila Vyasadeva. The scriptures instruct that Srila Vyasadeva should be garlanded when He is being worshiped, and if Srila Vyasadeva is satisfied then all our desires will be fulfilled. "

The more Srivasa Pandita spoke, the more Lord Nityananda continued repeating "Yes, yes. " But He did not pay any heed to his words. He held the garland and muttered something softly underneath His breath which nobody could hear and just looked all around.

Srivasa Pandita went to Lord Caitanya and reported this matter. "Your Sripada does not want to worship Srila Vyasadeva. The Lord immediately came to the presence of Lord Nityananda and said, "Nityananda, please listen to Me. Offer the garland to Srila Vyasadeva and worship Him. " Lord Nityananda saw that Caitanya was there and He immediately placed the garland on the Lord's head. The fragrant flower garland on the Lord's curly hair made a beautiful sight.

At that very moment Lord Caitanya revealed His six-handed form to Lord Nityanada Prabhu. The Lord held in His hands the conchshell, disc, mace, lotus and plough. Seeing this, Lord Nityananda Prabhu immediately went into ecstatic trance and fell unconscious. All the devotees became very afraid and started praying. "Protect Him Krsna, protect Him Krsna!" while Lord Caitanya clapped his hands loudly on His four arms and continued to roar loudly.

Lord Caitanya then bent down to lift Lord Nityananda up from the ground saying, "Nityananda please get up and steady Your mind. Listen to the chanting of the holy name. The reason You descended to this material world is to propagate the chanting of the holy name and now You have perfectly succeeded in this mission. What more do You want? You are the absolute propietor of the treasure house of love of Godhead and the embodiment of sublime devotional love. No one can receive love of God unless and until You distribute it. Therefore please get up and look around You. You are surrounded by Your own beloved associates. You may distribute it to anyone You want to. If anyone nurtures even the slightest dislike for You, then, although He may worship Me, I will never recognize him as dear to Me. "

Lord Caitany's words brought Him out of His trance and seeing the Lord's ecstasy. Lord Nityananda Prabhu is nondifferent from Lord Ananata Sesa, in whose heart Lord Gauracandra is an eternal resident. Without a doubt Lord Nityananda Prabhu is Lord Balarama. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Gauracandra, the source of all incarnations. Therefore, it is not surprizing that He should manifest His six-armed form. In His incarnation as Lord Ramacandra He offered oblations to His departed father. At that time His father, King Dasaratha, appeared in person to receive the oblations. If this can be considered to be wonderful, then the Lord's six-armed form is also wonderful. But all of this is natural for the Supreme Lord Krsna because His pastimes are extaordinary and supramundane.

Lord Nityananada Prabhu's natural propensity is to serve Lord Gaurasundara, and He is never distracted from this service even for a moment. Just like Laksmana served Lord Ramacandra constantly with His mind, body and heart, similarly, Lord Nityananda Prabhu constantly engages in Lord Gauracandra's loving devotional service. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Lord of every living entity. He is unlimited and the source of everything. Yet He enters the material realm and causes the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the material world. According to the verdict of the Vedas, He is the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Controller, yet He remains unaffected by the phenomena of material nature.

In spite of His supreme lordship over everything, Anantadeva, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, is eternally engaged in rendering loving devotional service to Lord Gauracandra. In every millenium, and in every incarnation, He accepts that His natural mood is to serve His Supreme Lord Krsna. As Laksmana, He became the younger brother of Lord Ramacandra and served Him constantly. He neglected eating, drinking, sleeping and other such activities to constantly serve the lotus feet of Lord Ramacandra, yet He felt unable to satisfy His intense desire to serve.

As Lord Balarama He was the elder brother of Lord Krsna, yet He could not forsake His attitude of serving the Lord deep within His self. He always referred to Krsna as Lord, and he was always in the mood of rendering loving devotional service to Lord Krsna. Such is the wonderful nature of Lord Nityananda Ananta Sesa. Only the most foolish rascals will see a difference between Lord Nityananda Prabhu and Lord Balarama. One who disrespects a devotee who is fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Visnu commits a great offense at the lotus feet of Lord Visnu Himself.

Sri Laxmidevi, the goddess of fortune, is so elevated that Lord Brahma and Lord Siva offer praise to her, yet she is naturally inclined to serve the lotus feet of Lord Visnu, Krsna. Lord Balarama, Sesa, is the omnipotent Supreme Personality of Godhead yet His natural inclination is to serve the Supreme Lord. Therefore, Lord Gauracandra feels most satisfied when He can describe the glories and wonderful devotional attitude of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. It is the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Gauracandra, to be subservient to the loving devotional attitude of His devotees. Therefore the Lord specifically likes to glorify His own surrendered devotees.

There is special significance to hearing the Supreme Lord glorify His own devotees. The Lord and His devotees like to glorify each other, and in this way increase their attachment for one another. I have faithfully presented that which has been propounded in the Vedic literatures and Puranas about the relationship between the Supreme Lord Visnu and His devotees.

Lord Nityananda has only one thought in His mind, "Lord Caitanya is My Lord in every respect, and I am His devoted servant. Whoever considers Me to be the servant of My Lord and master, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, becomes very dear to Me and receives My shelter. "

For the pleasure of Lord Nityananda I have described this pastime of His seeing the six-armed form of Lord Caitanya. Lord Nityananda always sees the transcendental pastimes of Lord Caitanya within His heart, and Lord Caitanya always exhibits His transcendental pastimes in Lord Nityananda's heart, yet still the Lord externally manifests His pastimes according to His incarnations. Although Lord Nityananda is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He always serves Lord Gauracandra. Who can understand such ecstatic topics?

The Vedas and Puranas have revealed these philosophical matters. The Vedic literature is actually a compilation of the wonderful activities of the Supreme Lord, and it is the foremost objective of the Vedic literature to propagate the pastimes of the Lord. However, it is not possible to comprehend these spiritual matters without engaging in pure devotional service of the Lord. There are only a few who, by the mercy of Lord Gauracandra, have realized the truth.

The Vaisnava devotees of the Lord are eternally pure and realized souls. Sometimes there are differences of opinions amongst them which might appear like an argument, but in fact it is an amazing relationship between devotees. Foolish rascals who do not understand this exchange, praise one Vaisnvava and denounce the other. Such mentality will lead to destruction of faith and knowledge. In the scriptures it says that when a foolish wretch worships the lotus feet of a brahmana and then strikes him on the head, he will be sure to go to hell. Similarly, when someone worships the Deity of Lord Visnu, but disrespects or disregards Lord Visnu residing in everyone's heart, he also goes to hell. What to speak of committing offense and violence to a Vaisnava devotee, if someone offends or tortures even an ordinary living entity, yet worships Lord Visnu, the Lord of every living entity, then all his worship is worthless and he suffers great pain. It is verified that to worship Lord Visnu on one hand, and be ignorant about Lord Visnu being the Supersoul in everyone's heart on the other, is like touching a brahmana's feet for blessings with one hand and beating him on the head with the other. Such foolish persons do not know what is most beneficial for themselves. To criticize a Vaisnava devotee is a thousand times more sinful than offending an ordinary living entity. The person who faithfully worships the Deities, but has no love and respect for the devotees, also does not possess any compassion for the ignorant and fallen conditioned souls. He accepts one incarnation of the Supreme Lord and worships Him, while he rejects another, Ramacandra, seeing a difference between them. He does not show any respect or devotion for Lord Balarama or Lord Siva. Such persons are described in the scriptures as the weakest devotees. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is stated that a person who has surrendered to a spiritual master and received initiation, who has left the association of nondevotees, and who worships the Deity of the Supreme Lord according to the Pancaratra injunctions, but who does not worship the devotees, due to lack of proper understanding of the different catagories of devotees, is known as a neophyte, or kanistha devotee, not a pure devotee. I have just briefly mentioned the sypmtoms of a neophyte devotee incidentally n the course of discussion.

Seeing the six-handed form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda was totally overwhelmed. Whoever hears this wonderful pastime of Lord Nityananda is immediately released from material bondage. When Lord Nityananda came out of His ecstatic trance, He began to cry profusely, tears flowing form His eyes like rivers. Lord Caitanya then said to everyone, "Vyasa-puja worship has been completed, now begin kirtan. "

The devotees were jubilant when they received Lord Caitanya's orders and immediately began to loudly chant Lord Krsna's transcendental names. The brothers, Lord Nityananda and Lord Caitanya dance like two mad men, having severed all contact with this phenomenal world. The Vyasa-puja was celebrated with great joy and singing, and the Vaisnavas became even more inspired and jubilant. Some danced, some sang, while others rolled on the ground, catching each other's feet.

Lord Caitanya's mother, Sacimata, everyone's worshipable mother, sat alone and watched the transcendental merry making. Each time she saw Lord Nityananda and Lord Visvambhara she thought to herself, "Both of Them are my sons. "

The celebration of the Vyasa-puja was very ecstatic. It is only possible for Lord Sesa Himself to fully describe it. I am able to give only indications about the wonderful activities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I know that one advances spiritually if one glorifies the Supreme Lord Krsna in any manner.

The day passed into night, and the devotees went on celebrating the Vyasa-puja, dancing with Lord Visvambhara. The Vaisnavas were mad with ecstatic joy, and they wept crying out, "Oh Krsna! Oh Krsna!" In this way the Lord propagated the process of loving devotional service to Himself.

After the kirtana the Lord sat down with all His devotees. He spoke to Srivasa Pandita saying, "Quickly bring the Vyasa-puja offerings. " Srivasa Pandita arranged for all the prasadam to be brought in, and Lord Visvambhara Himself distributed the prasadam to all the devotees. The devotees were in bliss to be personally served by the Supreme Lord Gauracandra. The Lord called everyone from inside the house and gave them prasadam with His own hands. Receiving prasadam directly from the Lord is extremely fortunate for great personalities like Brahma; but now, even the servants and maidservants of the house were receiving that great spiritual treasure. Who can describe the glories of Srivasa Pandita, in whose house such spiritual activities occurred? Thus, the Supreme Lord performed wonderful pastimes in Navadvipa, but not everyone was aware of them.

Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya and Lord Nityananda are my life and soul. I, Vrndavana Dasa, humbly offer this song at Their lotus feet.

Nitai Guna Mani
Nitai, The Jewel of All Good Qualities
by Lochan das Thakur (from his Chaitanya Mangala)

nitai guna-mani amar nitai guna-mani
aniya premer vanya bhasailo avani

1) My Lord Nityananda, the jewel of all good qualities, my Lord Nityananda, the jewel of all good qualities, has brought the flood of ecstatic love of God that drowned the entire world.

premer vanya loiya nitai aila gauda-dese
dubiolo bhakata-gana dina hina bhase

2) Bringing this overwhelming deluge of prema when He returned to Bengal from Jagannatha Puri on Lord Chaitanya�s order, Nitai has inundated the assembly of devotees. The fallen non-devotees did not drown, however, but remained floating on that ecstatic ocean.

dina hina patita pamara nahi bache
brahmar durlabha prema sabakare jace

3) Lord Nityananda freely offered this exalted prema, which is difficult for Lord Brahma to attain, even to the fallen and wretched souls who were not desirous of receiving it.

abaddha karuna-sindhu nitai katiya muhan
ghare ghare bule prema-amiyar ban

4) The ocean of mercy had formerly been sealed tightly, but Nitai cut a channel in its boundary to allow the great flooding waves of nectarean prema to splash from house to house.

locan bole more nitai jeba na bhajilo
janiya suniya sei atma-ghati hoilo

5) Locana Dasa says, "Whoever has not worshipped my Nitai or taken advantage of this excellent opportunity offered by Him, knowingly commits suicide. "

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