Chaitanya Charitamrta | Antya Lila | Chapter 2 | Section 163

After meditating for two days, Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī told Śivānanda Sena, "I have already brought Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to the village known as Pāṇihāṭi. (54)

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After meditating for two days, Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī told Śivānanda Sena, “I have already brought Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to the village known as Pāṇihāṭi. (54) “Tomorrow at noon He will come to your home. Therefore please bring all kinds of cooking ingredients. I shall personally cook and offer Him food. (55) “In this way I shall bring Him here very soon. Be assured that I am telling you the truth. Do not be doubtful. (56) “Bring all the ingredients very soon, for I want to begin cooking immediately. Please do what I say.” (57) Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī said to Śivānanda, “Please bring whatever cooking ingredients I want.” Thus Śivānanda Sena immediately brought whatever he asked for. (58) Beginning early in the morning, Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī cooked many varieties of food, including vegetables, cakes, sweet rice and other preparations. (59)

After he finished cooking, he brought separate dishes for Jagannātha and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (60) He also separately offered dishes to Nṛsiṁhadeva, his worshipable Deity. Thus he divided all the food into three offerings. Then, outside the temple, he began to meditate upon the Lord. (61) In his meditation he saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu quickly come, sit down and eat all three offerings, leaving behind no remnants. (62) Pradyumna Brahmacārī was overwhelmed by transcendental ecstasy upon seeing Caitanya Mahāprabhu eating everything. Thus tears flowed from his eyes. Nevertheless, he expressed dismay, saying, “Alas, alas! My dear Lord, what are You doing? You are eating everyone’s food! (63) “My dear Lord, You are one with Jagannātha; therefore I have no objection to Your eating His offering. But why are You touching the offering for Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva? (64)

“I think that Nṛsiṁhadeva could not eat anything today, and therefore He is fasting. If the master fasts, how can the servant live?” (65) Although Nṛsiṁha Brahmacārī felt jubilation within his heart to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu eating everything, for the sake of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva he externally expressed disappointment. (66) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Therefore there is no difference between Him, Lord Jagannātha and Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. (67) Pradyumna Brahmacārī was deeply eager to understand this fact. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu revealed it to him by a practical demonstration. (68) After eating all the offerings, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started for Pāṇihāṭi. There, He was greatly satisfied to see the different varieties of vegetables prepared in the house of Rāghava. (69) Śivānanda said to Nṛsiṁhānanda, “Why are you expressing dismay?” Nṛsiṁhānanda replied, “Just see the behavior of your Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (70)

“He alone has eaten the offerings for all three Deities. Because of this, both Jagannātha and Nṛsiṁhadeva remain fasting.” (71) When Śivānanda Sena heard this statement, he was unsure whether Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī was speaking that way because of ecstatic love or because it was actually a fact. (72) When Śivānanda Sena was thus perplexed, Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī said to him, “Bring more food. Let me cook again for Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva.” (73) Then Śivānanda Sena again brought the ingredients with which to cook, and Pradyumna Brahmacārī again cooked and offered the food to Nṛsiṁhadeva. (74) The next year, Śivānanda went to Jagannātha Purī with all the other devotees to see the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (75) One day, in the presence of all the devotees, the Lord raised these topics concerning Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī and praised his transcendental qualities. (76)

The Lord said, “Last year in the month of Pauṣa, when Nṛsiṁhānanda gave Me varieties of sweetmeats and vegetables to eat, they were so good that I felt I had never before eaten such preparations.” (77) Hearing this, all the devotees were struck with wonder, and Śivānanda became confident that the incident was true. (78) In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to eat at the temple of Śacīmātā every day and also visit the house of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura when kīrtana was performed. (79) Similarly, He was always present when Nityānanda Prabhu danced, and He regularly appeared at the house of Rāghava. (80) Lord Gaurasundara is greatly influenced by the love of His devotees. Therefore wherever there is pure devotion to the Lord, the Lord Himself, subdued by such love, appears, and His devotees see Him. (81)

Influenced by the loving affairs of Śivānanda Sena, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came again and again. Therefore who can estimate the limits of his love? (82) Thus I have described the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Anyone who hears about these incidents can understand the transcendental opulence of the Lord. (83) At Jagannātha Purī, in the association of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, lived Bhagavān Ācārya, who was certainly a gentleman, a learned scholar and a great devotee. (84) He was fully absorbed in thoughts of fraternal relationships with God. He was an incarnation of a cowherd boy, and thus his dealings with Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī were very friendly. (85) He sought the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet with full surrender. Sometimes he would invite the Lord to dine at his home. (86) Bhagavān Ācārya prepared varieties of rice and vegetables at home and brought the Lord there alone to eat. (87)

Bhagavān Ācārya’s father, whose name was Śatānanda Khān, was an expert statesman, whereas Bhagavān Ācārya was not at all interested in the management of the state. Indeed, he was almost in the renounced order of life. (88) Bhagavān Ācārya’s brother, whose name was Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya, had studied Vedānta philosophy at Benares and had then returned to Bhagavān Ācārya’s home. (89) Bhagavān Ācārya took his brother to meet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but the Lord, knowing that Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya was a Māyāvādī philosopher, could not get much happiness from meeting him. (90) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu derives no happiness from meeting one who is not a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Thus because Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya was a Māyāvādī scholar, the Lord felt no jubilation in meeting him. Nevertheless, because Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya was related to Bhagavān Ācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu feigned pleasure in seeing him. (91)

Bhagavān Ācārya said to Svarūpa Dāmodara, “Gopāla, home, having concluded his study of Vedānta philosophy.” (92) Bhagavān Ācārya requested Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī to hear from Gopāla the commentary upon Vedānta. Svarūpa Dāmodara, however, somewhat angry because of love, spoke as follows. (93) “You have lost your intelligence in the association of Gopāla, and therefore you are eager to hear the Māyāvāda philosophy. (94) “When a Vaiṣṇava listens to the Śārīraka- bhāṣya, the Māyāvāda commentary upon the Vedānta- sūtra, he gives up the Kṛṣṇa conscious attitude that the Lord is the master and the living entity is His servant. Instead, he considers himself the Supreme Lord. (95) “The Māyāvāda philosophy presents such a jugglery of words that even a highly elevated devotee who has accepted Kṛṣṇa as his life and soul changes his decision when he reads the Māyāvāda commentary on the Vedānta- sūtra.” (96)

In spite of Svarūpa Dāmodara’s protest, Bhagavān Ācārya continued, “We are all fixed at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa with our hearts and souls. Therefore the Śārīraka- bhāṣya cannot change our minds.” (97) Svarūpa Dāmodara replied, “Nevertheless, when we hear the Māyāvāda philosophy, we hear that Brahman is knowledge and that the universe of māyā is false, but we gain no spiritual understanding. (98) “The Māyāvādī philosopher tries to establish that the living entity is only imaginary and that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is under the influence of māyā. Hearing this kind of commentary breaks the heart and life of a devotee.” (99) Thus Bhagavān Ācārya, greatly ashamed and fearful, remained silent. The next day, he asked Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya to return to his own district. (100) One day Bhagavān Ācārya invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to dine at his home. Thus he was preparing rice and various types of vegetables. (101)

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