Appearance Day of Sri Nityananda Prabhu :
Lord Nityänanda has opened a market-place of the Holy name in Surabhé Kuïja. The news of its great results is that he is selling the pure Holy name in that market-place for the price of only one’s faith. Lord Nityänanda, the proprietor of the market, seeing all the devotees becoming attracted, is selling them the Holy name after bargaining with them. “Oh! Brother. If you want to buy the Holy name, then go with me. We must go to the presence of that great soul, Nityänanda. You will buy the name of Kåñëa. I will take my commission, and all of our desires will be fulfilled. Lord Nityänanda is greatly merciful. Taking only one’s faith, he gives the highest ecstasy. If Nitäi sees only once tears in the eyes while chanting the name of Gaura, then He gives all resources to that person. He gives the pure teachings of Kåñëa to everyone and does not care for one’s birth, wealth, knowledge, and strength. Now, giving up the illusory snare of Mäyä, either remain in household life or in the forest as a sannyäsé for no more troubles remain. There is no more fear of the age of Kali. The merciful Nityänanda gives the Holy name even to the caëòälas.” Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura calls out, “Except for the lotus feet of Lord Nityänanda, there is no other shelter.” In this beautiful song, Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura is describing the supreme mercy of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu. Lord Nityänanda Prabhu appeared in this world on this very day of trayodaçé çukla in the month of Mägh. He appeared in the most holy and sacred village of Ekacakrä, which is now in West Bengal, as the son of the great learned brähmaëa Häòäi Paëòita and Padmävaté Devé.
Narottama däsa Öhäkura has said:
brajendra-nandana jei, çacé-suta hoilo sei,
balaräma hoilo nitäi
That the son of Nanda Mahäräja, Lord Çré Kåñëa appeared as Lord Gauräìga Mahäprabhu and Çré Balarämaji appeared as Lord Nityänanda.
This morning, we spoke for several hours just touching a brief glimpse into the life of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu. Tonight, we would like to speak very briefly of the mercy of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, that mercy which gives hope, supreme hope, to even the most sinful, the most wretched, the most fallen. And in this age of Kali-yuga if we want to be realistic at all and humble ourselves to the truth, everyone falls into this category. Therefore, Lord Nityänanda appeared along with Çré Gaurasundaraa as the patita-pävana avatära.
parama koruëa, pahü dui jana
nitäi gauracandra
saba avatära-sära çiromaëi
kevala änanda-kanda
The mercy of these two brothers, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda is supreme, parama koruëa, ocean of mercy. Why? Because without any discrimination, they are giving pure love of God to everyone who will simply accept it. And as being explained by Çré Öhäkura Bhaktivinoda in previous ages in order to take to the path of self-realization and make proper spiritual advancement, we had to have so many qualifications, so many spiritual credentials, so much previous pious activity and tapasya, and even then after tens and thousands of years or many many births, you can approach the path of true bhakti.
bhaktyä mäm abhijänäti
yävän yaç cäsmi tattvataù
Kåñëa said it is only through bhakti that you can know me as I am. It is true in previous ages, one had to go through lifetimes of tapasya and regulative principals and pious activities and charity and spiritual actions to even come to the platform of rendering service to the Lord, but in this age of Kali-yuga, no one has any such qualifications. Therefore, the Lord has come in such a way in this age of Kali that the great saints and sages they worship the Kali-yuga as the greatest of all ages. Why?
mandäù sumanda-matayo
manda-bhägyä hy upadrutäù
Kali-yuga is the iron age, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, of degradation and irreligion. Why would the compassionate saintly persons only worship this age of Kali-yuga of all yugas?
kaler doña-nidhe räjann
asti hy eko mahän guëaù
kértanäd eva kåñëasya
mukta-saìgaù paraà vrajet
Because in this age of Kali-yuga even though it is an ocean of faults, there is one benediction that simply by chanting the Holy name of Kåñëa,
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
One can attain the supreme perfection of liberation. And who was it that has made this great benediction in the age of Kali-yuga possible?
parama koruëa, pahü dui jana
nitäi gauracandra
It was Lord Çré Nityänanda Prabhu and Çré Gauräìga Mahäprabhu. They came to distribute Hari-näma giving us the opportunity to achieve pure love of God, premä-bhakti, in this very life, and however sinful and degraded we may be, they don’t care. There is only one qualification necessary, simply to have faith to accept their mercy. That is all that is required.
Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda As Krsna and Balarama :
There is a beautiful story explaining how Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda as the avatäras of Kåñëa and Balaräma came to even supersede the mercy of all incarnations. The mother of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Çacédevé, one night, she had a dream, and the next morning, she explained this dream to her beloved son Viçvambhara or Lord Caitanya. She said, “A most astonishing and confusing dream I had last night. In this dream, I saw yourself, Oh! Gauräìga, Viçvambhara, and your beloved friend and brother Nityänanda. You were coming from our Deity room and in your hands was the Deity of Balaräma and in Nityänanda Prabhu’s hand was the Deity of Kåñëa, and Kåñëa and Balaräma were telling you, they were chastising you, where are you taking us, this is our temple, these are our sweetmeats and curds and offerings, this is our abode. If you don’t put us back, we will punish you. And Nityänanda Prabhu began to preach to Balaräma and Kåñëa. He said your days are gone. You are no longer cowherd boys. You have both appeared in this age of Kali-yuga as two brähmaëas and my Lord Gauräìga, he is now the supreme Deity and the worshipable one. And Balaräma and Kåñëa, they said if you don’t put us back on our alter, on our thrown, we will tie you up and we will beat you and punish you. And Nityänanda Prabhu replied that my Lord is Viçvambhara, Lord Caitanya, and I am not afraid of anyone. Your days are gone. At that time, the four brothers began to fight one another, and they were fighting over the sweetmeats that Çacédevé had cooked for them and they were grabbing from each others mouths and putting it in their mouths and then the other would grab from their mouth and put it in their mouth. In this way all of a sudden, Lord Nityänanda looked at Çacédevé and said Çacémätä, please bring me some food.” And then upon hearing Nityänanda’s voice, Çacémätä woke from her dream. She said this is the most bewildering experience, and when Viçvambhara, Lord Caitanya heard this, he said, “Mätäji, this is a very nice dream because this dream is increasing my faith in our household Deities of Kåñëa and Balaräma because oftentimes when Viñëupriyä, my beloved wife, would cook for Kåñëa and Balaräma, I would notice that half the offering would be gone when I would take the offering off the alter and I was thinking that Viñëupriyä was secretly eating it.” And Viñëupriyä was in the next room listening, and she began to smile. He said, “Now, I can understand that actually Kåñëa and Balaräma accept her offerings, know the sanctity of these Deities that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kåñëa with His divine brother are living within our home, accepting our offerings.” He said. “But mother, Nityänanda Prabhu did call you to cook prasäda, so I will now just go and get Nityänanda Prabhu for prasäda, and you can begin the preparations.” So Lord Caitanya went out and Çacémätä began to cook, and when he returned, he had Nityänanda Prabhu with him and he said, “Nityänanda Prabhu, please you are coming to my house and I have a respectable mother and a very respectable wife, please do not do anything crazy.” And Nityänanda Prabhu held his ears and said, “Viñëu, Viñëu what are you saying? I never do anything crazy. Why you say I do things crazy? I do everything very nicely, very appropriate.”
So they went to the house and then Nityänanda began to dance and everything like that. So Çacémätä sat them down. There was Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityänanda; Viñëupriyä was also there assisting. And she began to feed them nice prasäda with her own loving motherly hands, and she went in the next room to get more prasäda. She had a big plate of nice preparations, and when she came back in to her great surprise, she saw that Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda were not there, but she saw two 5-year-old children, one had a beautiful blackish complexion with lotus eyes, his hair was bedecked with a peacock feather and was holding a little flute, and the other had a beautiful complexion like a white spring cloud and was holding a plough, and these two little children, very joyfully, they were eating the food that Çacémätä had prepared for them. And when Çacémätä saw this, she became so ecstatic that she was paralyzed like a statue. She could not move and tears began to flood her eyes and then an ecstatic love she saw that Viñëupriyä had taken position of the hair on the little child’s chest, and in transcendental ecstasy, she fell to the ground unconscious and as she fell, the big tray of food fell with a big crash to the ground and scattered all over the floor. At that time, Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu who resumed his original form of Viçvambhara, he washed his hands and he helped his mother get up. He said, “Mother what happened, what did you see, what is the problem?” And Çacémätä, she just got up and she went into her room and she began to weep in divine ecstasy, crying and crying, seeing that her own children were non-different than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kåñëa and Balaräma.
Lord Caitanya’s Message to Sri Haridasa Thakura and Lord Nityananda Prabhu :
Lord Nityänanda Prabhu before coming to Navadvépa, he traveled to all the Holy places throughout India, and when he learned that Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu had begun the congregational chanting of the Holy name, it was then only that he came. Nityänanda Prabhu left home when he was 12 with one sannyäsé, and for approximately 20 years, he traveled to various Holy places and ultimately resided in Våndävana. And through all of those years, he did not preach. Why? Nityänanda Prabhu was the foremost, the purest, and the greatest devotee of Çré Caitanya. He was such an obedient servant that he would not preach the glories of the Lord without first receiving the blessings and the instructions of Lord Caitanya. So we described this morning the beautiful meeting of Nitäi-Gauracandra at the house of Nandanäcärya and then Caitanya Mahäprabhu performed the Vyäsa-püjä for Lord Nityänanda, and in the house of Çréväsa Öhäkura for the first time, the two Lords began to dance together, and as they danced so graceful, so beautiful, so utterly ecstatic that all the transformations of ecstatic love were appearing on their bodies, they would embrace and liberally soak each other with the tears of their love. But they were not satisfied simply to enjoy one another’s company, but they had appeared in this world to distribute the same love to everyone. So Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, he called upon Çré Haridäsa Öhäkura and Nityänanda Prabhu, and he them this order that you go to every house and whoever you meet on the streets with no exception, without considering a person’s cast, a person’s qualifications or disqualifications, you give everyone Kåñëa premä. You deliver everyone the same message:
bolo kåñëa, bhajo kåñëa, koro kåñëa-çikñä
aparädha-çünya ho’ye loho kåñëa-näm
kåñëa mätä, kåñëa pitä, kåñëa dhana-prän
You tell them that you chant the Holy name of Kåñëa, you worship Kåñëa, and you follow the teachings of Kåñëa. Kåñëa is the only wealth. Kåñëa is the only treasure. Kåñëa is the only goal of our life. Give up your offences and chant the Holy names. Kåñëa is your mother. Kåñëa is your father. Kåñëa is the wealth of our life. So Nityänanda Prabhu and Haridäsa Öhäkura, they took this instruction as their life and soul.
Expansions Of Lord Nityananda Prabhu :
Try to understand who is Nitäi. He is the original expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the spiritual world of Goloka, Kåñëa first expands Himself as Balaräma, and Balaräma performs all the functions to maintain the entire spiritual world. In fact, He expands Himself to be Goloka Våndävana, and He assumes the position of serving the Lord most intimately in the all the five primary rasas, and it is Nityänanda Prabhu who expands Himself to become the Lord of Vaikuëöha, Näräyaëa, and it is Nityänanda Prabhu who expands later to create this material existence, it is the partial expansion of the expansions of Çré Nityänanda Räma who becomes Mahä-Viñëu, Käraëodakaçäyé Viñëu, who lays in the Käraëa Ocean and whose escalation upon which innumerable universes come from his pores of body. This Mahä-Viñëu is so great, and then He personally expands, Nityänanda Prabhu expands, into Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu into each universe, and from the lotus flower from His navel, He gives birth to Lord Brahmä and empowers Him to create all species of life and all the various planets, and then it is the same Nityänanda Prabhu, Balaräma, who expands Himself again as Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu who appears as the Paramätmä, the super soul in everyone’s heart, the all-pervading witness of everything and everyone. Balarämaji, Nitäi is the source of all of these great incarnations. And another expansion of Nityänanda Prabhu is Ananta Çeña who holds the entire universes on the hoods of His head like a jewel, who is the support of all life. He is the supreme power. We know the story in Kåñëa Lélä how effortlessly He killed the greatest of the demons Pralambäsura, Dhenukäsura. Even Bhéma himself was absolutely scared to death when Balaräma became angry with him and had to call out for Kåñëa to save him. That same Lord Balaräma appeared in the form, the most wonderful, beautiful, and worshipable form, because in this form, He becomes so humble that rather than killing the demons, he is begging them, he is begging us to accept love of Kåñëa. Nityänanda Prabhu along with Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura, they would knock on every door, and they would pray with folded hands:
bolo kåñëa, bhajo kåñëa, koro kåñëa-çikñä
O men of faith! By the order of Lord Gauräìga, O brothers, I beg this one request: Chant “Kåñëa!”, serve Kåñëa, worship Kåñëa, learn about Kåñëa, chant the Holy name of Kåñëa without offence. Kåñëa is our mother, Kåñëa is our father, Kåñëa is the treasure of our life. And when people would see the beauty of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, they could not resist, they would all begin to chant the Holy names:
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
Sometimes due to a person’s impiety and offensive arrogant nature, they refuse to chant. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate power behind the whole universe, He would beg them with folded hands. He would fall at their feet. He would fall at the feet of the sinful and the atheistic and beg them kindly, chant the name of Kåñëa, worship Kåñëa, follow Kåñëa’s teaching, He is the treasure of our life. And if still they refuse, He would roll on the ground with tears flowing from His eyes in compassion, begging them, take the name of Gauräìga. Nityänanda knew that Rädhä and Kåñëa are very difficult to attain, but they have both appeared in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, who is He? He is Kåñëa with the mood of love of Çré Rädhäräëé and the beautiful golden complexion of Çrématé Rädhäräëé.
çré-kåñëa-caitanya rädhä-kåñëa nahe anya
That Rädhä and Kåñëa have become one in the form of Lord Gaurasundara, and although the conjugal love affairs of Rädhä and Kåñëa are impossible to understand for a conditioned soul, only a soul who is completely freed from all material desires can even fathom or approach the conjugal love affairs of Rädhä and Kåñëa and they are very easily misunderstood in this age of Kali-yuga. But Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, he was a perfect example, first as a grihastha and then as a sannyäsé. So Nityänanda Prabhu decided that if they simply accept Gauräìga, they will automatically attain Rädhä Kåñëa in Våndävana. So he would offer this prayer to whoever he would meet.
“bhaja gauräìga kaha gauräìga laha gauräìgera näme
ye jana gauräìga bhaje sei amära präëa re”
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
Worship Gauräìga, chant the name of Gauräìga, take the mercy of Gauräìga, and any of you who do this, you become my very life and soul. This was the appeal of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead rolling in the dust of His own parts and parcels, those who have rejected Him, those who have blasphemed Him, not with His cakrä or with His plough was He killing them, but He was falling at their feet and begging them to take love of God, premä-bhakti. There is no avatära who has ever manifested the extent of mercy of Nitäi-Gauracandra, and some of the people, they rejected Him. They would say due to His association with this Nimäi Paëòita, He has become mad, maybe He is working for a band of dacoits, and He is an underground informer coming to our houses checking out our homes, we should beat Him, we should kick Him away or perhaps maybe He is trying to get us to break the law and get us in trouble with the Muslim government, therefore we should have Him arrested and thrown into prison. In this way, they would threaten Him, but Nityänanda Prabhu and Haridäsa Öhäkura they would just go on with their preaching.
“bhaja gauräìga kaha gauräìga laha gauräìgera näme
ye jana gauräìga bhaje sei amära präëa re”
Curse Given To Jaya And Vijaya :
One day as Nitäi and Öhäkura Haridäsa were roaming through the streets of Navadvépa, they came upon a crowd of people and they were all watching the activities of two terrible, degraded, wretched drunkards. They were abusing each other as well as anyone they came in contact. In fact, everyone would run from them when they would come, and when there was no one else for them to harass or exploit or murder, they would start beating each other. They would start punching each other and beating each other and pulling each others hair and insulting each other and cursing each other and blaspheming each other until they would find somebody else to make miserable. They were gigantic, powerful beings as well, very powerful. In fact, it is explained that when the four Kumäras cursed Jaya and Vijaya to take birth three times as demons, first they came as Hiraëyäkña and Hiraëyakaçipu; we heard that story yesterday about how Lord Varähadeva killed the mighty asura Hiraëyäkña who defeated the entire universe. And then, Rävaëa and Kumbhakarëa, and Çiçupäla and Dantavakra. And after Kåñëa killed Çiçupäla and Dantavakra, Jaya and Vijaya were able to return to the spiritual world of Vaikuëöha, but when they heard that Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Nityänanda Prabhu had descended, they volunteered to come down and become demons again. This time, they were more atrocious and abominable than they ever appeared before. So Nityänanda Prabhu inquired from some of the people around, “Who are these two ghastly beings?” And they said, “These two personalities were born in a very high class religious brähmaëa family, one is named Mädhavänanda and the other is named Jagadänanda, and due to falling in bad association, they have become the most degraded sinful souls. They are always intoxicated with strong liquor and they are constantly abusing people, they rob peoples homes, they loot peoples property, they insult people, blaspheme people, beat people, they are the worst of all dacoits, addicted to intoxication and violence. There are no sins that these men do not commit.” Upon hearing this, Lord Nityänanda Prabhu turned to Haridäsa Öhäkura and he said, “Our Lord Gauräìga Mahäprabhu, he is disguising His supreme opulence and appearing to be an ordinary devotee, but if by His mercy these two most sinful and fallen souls in the entire creation if they become devotees, if they chant the name of Kåñëa,
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
then the whole world will know who Lord Gauräìga Mahäprabhu is.
“Gauräìga, Gauräìga”
The whole world will be the chanting the names of our Lord.
“Gauräìga Gauräìga”
Sinful Jagai And Madhai :
If we induce pious or ordinary people to chant the Holy names, that does not give much credit to our Lord, but I have taken birth, I have incarnated to glorify Gauräìga and what will glorify him greater than bestowing their mercy and then. He said, “At this time if people even step on the shadow of these two rogues, they go to the Ganges to take bath, but after they get the mercy of Gauräìga and chant the Holy names, people will consider seeing them non-different than bathing in the Ganges.”
“Gauräìga Gauräìga”
“Nitäi Nitäi”
So Nityänanda Prabhu began approaching them, and the people around, they said, “Don’t go near these two dacoits. They love to murder brähmaëas. Your life is in danger, stay away.” But despite all the warnings, Nityänanda Prabhu approached them, and he requested them, “Kindly chant the Holy names.”
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
bolo kåñëa, bhajo kåñëa, koro kåñëa-çikñä
I beg this one request, “Chant Kåñëa, serve Kåñëa, worship Kåñëa, learn about Kåñëa, he is the treasure and the wealth of our life, our mother and our father, our everything, take the name of Kåñëa, give up your sinful activities, your life will be perfect, accept love of God.” When Jagäi and Mädhäi heard this, they became furious. They looked at Him and said, “Who are you.?” He said my name is Nityänanda Avadhüta. Upon hearing this, they became so angry, “Beat them, kill them, you dare to instruct us.” They began to come to kill them. At that time, Nityänanda Prabhu and Haridäsa Öhäkura, very fast, they run away. And Jagäi and Mädhäi were chasing after them and the people around were saying, “We warned you, we warned you. Now you will die. You will never escape these two rouges.” And they began to run and Jagäi and Mädhäi were running very fast, but because they were so fat and they were so big, they could not run very fast. So Nityänanda Prabhu and Haridäsa were running, running for their lives. This is their lélä. And Nityänanda Prabhu said to Haridäsa that, “Previously those Muslim guards, they beat you in 22 market places with sticks, and because you begged for their forgiveness, they were delivered. So beg for their deliverance too. By your word, certainly Caitanya Mahäprabhu will be merciful to them. He cannot refuse you.” And Haridäsa said, “By your desire, they will be liberated.” He said but now he said, “It is because of you that we approached them, and now we are about to be killed.” And in this way, they were joking with one another, and they were running and running. Haridäsa Öhäkura said, “Because you are a drunkard, always intoxicated with love of God, that is why you like to associate with other drunkards.” So eventually Jagäi and Mädhäi became exhausted, and they just started running in circles in a totally drunken state, and Lord Nityänanda Prabhu and Haridäsa, they went to Çréväsa Öhäkura’s house. Every night, they would report their activities to Lord Gauräìga Mahäprabhu. And they explained to Him that we approached the two most sinful of all demons and we asked them to chant the Holy names of Kåñëa and they attacked us to kill us; we had to run away. And Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu said who are these two rascals they tried to kill my devotees? And Çréväsa Öhäkura and Gaìgädäsa Paëòita, they said, “We know them. They used to be great brähmaëas from a family, but they have become the black sheeps. They have been ex-communicated from their families and from the society, and now they are the biggest dacoits. No one comes near them out of fear.” And Caitanya Mahäprabhu said, “Because they have threatened my devotee, I will cut them to pieces.” And Lord Nityänanda Prabhu said, “My Lord, please hear my prayer. If you cut them to pieces, then I will not have any service. My service is to help you deliver the most fallen, and they are the most fallen. So please spare their lives and just leave it to me. I will induce them to chant the Holy names.” And when Lord Caitanya heard this, he said, “Because Lord Nityänanda Prabhu’s forgiveness and mercy is upon them, they are already delivered.” And then, they all began to have beautiful kértana, chanting the Holy names:
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
Mercy Of Lord Nityananda Prabhu On Jagai And Madhai :
Jagäi and Mädhäi, they were kind of like gypsies. They would just go everywhere and anywhere. They had no homes. They wanted to spread their atrocities in all directions. So soon after this, they camped out, their den of thieves and dacoits, they all stationed themselves right on the bank of the Ganges just close to Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Çréväsa Öhäkura’s house. And each night in the house of Çréväsa, there would be wonderful kértana where Mahäprabhu and all of the devotees were dancing in ecstatic love, sweetly chanting the Holy names:
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
With the sound of the beautiful mådaìga and the sweet karatälas and Jagäi and Mädhäi after hearing the kértana all night long, they were so drunk and so offensive, but in a mood of mockery, they began to dance to the sound of the kértana. In their big, fat, intoxicated styles, they were just making fun of the kértana by chanting:
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
And they were dancing. First of all, nobody would even go to the Ganges as long as they were there. People were so frightened of them, or if they did, they would go in large large groups to protect them. So one day Viçvambhara was walking and when these Jagäi and Mädhäi saw him from a distance and they told in a very very envious fashion, they said to Lord Caitanya, they said, “Please sing a kértana for us. We want to sing a beautiful kértana for goddess Caëòé to fulfill our material desires, and Lord Caitanya just walked away, wouldn’t even look at them. But Nityänanda Prabhu knew that they were there. So one day after out preaching the glories of the Holy name throughout Navadvépa, it was just getting toward evening, he began to walk back and he purposely walked right where Jagäi and Mädhäi were residing. And they were like always creating a terrible scene with crowds of people watching, and Nityänanda Prabhu approached them. They saw him again. Nityänanda Prabhu requested, “Kindly my dear brothers, chant the name of Kåñëa, worship Kåñëa, make Kåñëa the wealth of your life. It doesn’t matter what type of sins and offences you have committed, just take the mercy of the Holy name, and you will be my life and soul.” Hearing this, Mädhäi became so furious that he lifted a clay pot, and with all of his strength, he crashed it upon the beautiful head of Çré Nityänanda Prabhu. And with this crushing blow, which was enough to kill a hundred men, Nityänanda Prabhu’s head began to bleed and that blood flowed down his face and covered his clothes. And Nityänanda Prabhu looked at Mädhäi with great compassion. He said, “My dear brother, I do not mind that you have caused this great injury to me, but I mind it causes me great grief to see you suffering in this material illusion. Please take the name of Kåñëa.” And Mädhäi was so furious. He picked up another pot, and with a great roar, he was about to give another blow to Nityänanda Prabhu. At that time, Jagäi seeing the mercy, the compassion, and the love of this great soul, his heart melted, and he stopped his brother. He said, “No. How can you touch this man? He is a sannyasi. He is praying forgiveness for you for what you have done to him. Don’t you see what type of merciful person? Leave him.” At that time, the crowds went and informed Caitanya Mahäprabhu of the condition in which Nityänanda Prabhu was in, and he became ‑ Çréla Prabhupäda explains, “He became angry like fire, His eyes become red like hot coals, and He gathered together a large army of devotees, and they ran to the scene of that crime.” And when Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu saw Nityänanda Prabhu standing there covered with blood, He looked upon them like death personified and He raised his finger and He cried out, “Cakrä, cakrä.” And His most formidable weapon, the Sudarçana cakra appeared on His finger blazing like a thousand suns ready to sever the heads of these two demons. At that time, Jagäi and Mädhäi realized that they were finished. Nityänanda Prabhu so compassionate, so merciful, He held the hand of Lord Caitanya and pleaded with tears in His eyes, “My dear Lord, please do not hurt them.” He said, “This man Jagäi, when Mädhäi was about to hit me with the pot, he actually put his own body and risked his own life to protect me, but as he was trying to protect me, accidentally the pot fell from Mädhäi’s hand and hit me on the head, but please believe me Lord, although I am bleeding, I am not feeling any pain. It doesn’t hurt at all. There is no pain my Lord. Please forgive them.” At that time when Caitanya Mahäprabhu heard that Jagäi protected His devotee Nityänanda Prabhu, He left his cakra behind, and He embraced Jagäi. He embraced him. He said, “Because you have risked your life to defend my devotee, therefore I will give you the fulfillment of all your desires, any benediction, right here and at this moment, I will give you pure love of Kåñëa.” And Jagäi, he became enraptured with ecstatic love and he fell to the ground unconscious, and when he woke up, tears of love of God streaming from his eyes, he took the lotus feet of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu and pressed them upon his chest and he said, “My dear Lord, you are the most merciful. The same feet that are being longed for by Lakñmé, the goddess of fortune, the most sinful rascal demon like me, you are allowing me to hold them over my heart. This is your mercy.” Upon seeing Jagäi in the perfectional stage of love of God, Mädhäi, he fell at Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet and he said, “Please forgive me too because everything that I have done all these years, he has done too, all the sins, all the violence, all the cruelties, we did it together. So, you should give me love of God too. Please, I beg you. You have delivered even the greatest demons in your previous incarnations, will you not deliver me?” And Gauräìga Mahäprabhu Mahäprabhu replied with a very stern and angry voice, “No. You have offended my devotee Nityänanda Prabhu and his body is more dear to me than my own and his life is more dear to me than my own. Unless you fall at the feet of Nityänanda Prabhu and receive His blessings, you cannot be delivered ever.” At that time, Mädhäi fell at the feet of Lord Nityänanda and begged Him to forgive him, and Nityänanda Prabhu lifted him and embraced him, and he prayed to Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, “Please accept this Mädhäi as your servant.” Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu by the mercy of Lord Nityänanda accepted both of them, and He told them both that from this day on, you never again engage in any type of sinful activity and you always chant the Holy names:
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
Jagai And Madhai Becoming Pure Vaisnavas :
Upon seeing these two brothers completely purified of all their sins and becoming humble loving devotees of the Lord, everyone was struck with wonder, and then Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu told Jagäi and Mädhäi and his associates to come to His house. And they all together went to the house of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, and Lord Caitanya was sitting with Nityänanda Prabhu and Gadädhara Paëòita and Çré Advaita Äcärya and others. And he began to instruct Jagäi and Mädhäi that, “Now, you should know that you are my intimate servants. I have accepted your love.” And He told the devotees that, “You should know that now they are pure souls, and they should be accepted as our intimate associates and no one should ever think that there is any sin upon them for anything they have ever done in the past, and just to prove this to you, I will show you how I am going to accept all the sins of these terrible demons upon myself just to make them completely pure.” And at that time, all the terrible atrocious sins of Jagäi and Mädhäi entered the body of Lord Caitanya. All of their bad karma, and because of this, His body became black. And when the devotees saw the beautiful golden form of Çré Caitanya turn black due to the sins of Jagäi and Mädhäi, they were struck with wonder, and Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu he said, “What do I look like now?” And Çré Advaita Äcärya replied, “My Lord, You look like Kåñëa.” And everyone began to laugh, and Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu said, “I have assumed all the sins of Jagäi and Mädhäi. Now, where will it go?” He said, “You all perform kértana, and through the chanting of the Holy names of the Lord, all of the karma of Jagäi and Mädhäi will be relieved of My body. And where will it go? Wherever anyone offends my devotees, all of Jagäi and Mädhäi’s sins will go into their hearts. Now you have kértana.” And everyone began to chant:
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
And Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Lord Nityänanda Prabhu began to dance. How beautifully, wonderfully, how sweetly, they began to dance together. The most beautiful sight in all of creation, in all of history was the beautiful vision of Nitäi-Gauräìga dancing together to the sweet sound of the Holy name. At this time as the kértana was going on, Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s body was relieved of all the black sins of Jagäi and Mädhäi and became golden. Then the Lord took His devotees to the river Ganges and they began to take their baths along with Jagäi and Mädhäi, and so joyful that he had delivered such fallen souls, he began to play with His devotees and they all began to have splash fights with one another just like little children. After coming from the Ganges, Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu returned to His home and all other devotees also. The Demigods like Lord Brahmä and Lord Çiva, they were always watching the wonderful lélä of Lord Gauräìga Mahäprabhu and Nityänanda Prabhu. And when they saw the deliverance of these two most sinful demons, they were struck with wonder. They had never seen the Lord in any previous incarnation do this. Usually they would kill demons, but here they took these two scoundrels and they gave them love of Kåñëa and made them their intimate associates. They were all glorifying and celebrating the mercy of Lord Gauräìga, and all the Demigods began to chant the Holy names and dance.
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
Worshiping the mercy struck with wonder as they were all returning to their abodes after worshiping Lord Gauräìga Mahäprabhu, Yamaräja saw how Jagäi and Mädhäi had became pure Vaiñëavas, and he inquired from his assistant Citragupta that, “I have never seen such sinful persons become so purified. Please tell me according to our records, what was the extent of their sinful activities?” And Citragupta said, “There is no use even trying to calculate.” He said, “Our whole staff all day long is recording their sins. There is not a sinful type of bad karma that they haven’t done. They have murdered. They have raped. They have burned people’s houses. They have thieved, everything. They are always intoxicated.” He said, “Our record keepers trying to keep track of the sins of Jagäi and Mädhäi have become completely exhausted and exasperated. In fact, they are all ready to quit. They can’t keep up with them.” He said, “We don’t have filing cabinets for these two. We have bottomless pits, and they are constantly being filled up with the records of their sins.” He said, “But now, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu has liberated all of their sins in an instant and given them pure love of God. So now, we can take all these massive mountains of records of their sins, and we can just put them in the ocean.” This is the mercy of Lord Gauräìga. When Yamaräja heard this news of how absolutely abominable these two people were, Yamaräja he fell unconscious in ecstatic love and in his unconscious state, tears were flowing from his eyes. And meanwhile, this happened while he was on his chariot on his way to Navadvépa, and all of the other demigods, they were coming back, and they all saw Yamaräja’s chariot stopped and he was laying there unconscious, and they asked Citragupta, “What happened to Yamaräja?” And Citragupta began to explain the volumes and volumes of terrible atrocities of Jagäi and Mädhäi. And when they heard this, Brahmä and Çiva began to dance, praising the glories of Lord Gauräìga. And Indra, the king of heaven, he lost all of his pride and he began to dance like a mad man singing the glories of Lord Caitanya, and with his thousand eyes, he was just looking upon the beauty of Mahäprabhu and he began to offer prayers of thanks to Gautama Muni because what was supposed to be a curse of giving him these thousands eyes all over his body was a great benediction because with the thousands eyes, he could see the beauty of Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s golden form. And all of those eyes were crying in love as he fell to the ground. And Sürya and Cändra and Väyu, they all began to join the beautiful kértana of the demigods praising the glorious names of Lord Gauräìga.
“Gauräìga, Gauräìga”
And when Yamaräja came back to his senses and he saw all the other devatäs including Närada Muni, everyone, they were all chanting and dancing the glories of Gauräìga, Yamaräja became like a mad man. He was dancing and twirling around and falling to the ground and chanting the Holy names.
“Gauräìga Gauräìga”
Repentance Of Madhai :
And when everyone saw Yamaräja, who is supposed to be the superintendent of death, is like a child jumping and dancing and singing, everyone was in great ecstasy and joy. So Jagäi and Mädhäi became exalted, paramahaàsa Vaiñëavas, but still in their hearts, they were feeling so guilty especially Mädhäi, he could not sleep at night because although Lord Nityänanda Prabhu’s mercy gave him pure love of Kåñëa for no reason of his own, it was simply causeless mercy. He was thinking that I struck Him on the head and made Him bleed. Because of this, he had no peace of mind. Day and night, he would simply cry thinking of what he had done to Lord Nityänanda. And one day, Mädhäi approached Lord Nityänanda, as Nityänanda who was like a little child, he would just be roaming through the streets of Navadvépa sometimes dancing and always singing the Holy names, so care free, so completely free from any sense of false pride. So Mädhäi approached Him and fell at His feet, and he said that You are so merciful, You are so loving. Although You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the killer of so many demons after I smashed You on the head, You gave me love of God. Mädhäi offered beautiful beautiful prayers in praise of Lord Nityänanda. He said, “Please tell me how I can atone for the sin.” And Lord Nityänanda Prabhu embraced him, and when He embraced him, Mädhäi felt the ecstasy of His love. And Nityänanda Prabhu said, “Please, don’t take what you did seriously. You are like my child.” He said, “If a child hits the parent, it is not an offence. The parent simply accepts it as the childish behavior. It wasn’t you that hit me. It was your false ego, but that false ego has now gone.” Mädhäi felt assured that Nityänanda Prabhu had truly revealed His heart to him and forgiven him, but he said, “But still, my heart aches with pain to think of all the other people that I offended and tortured. You have forgiven me, but I don’t even know. When I committed sins, I was so intoxicated. I don’t even know who I insulted and offended. How will I possibly achieve their forgiveness?” And Nityänanda Prabhu told him, “You follow this one instruction. With your own hands, you build a bathing ghät on the bank of the river Ganges and let everyone have a very comfortable nice place to take bath in the river Ganges, and whoever comes, you bow down to them and you take the dust of their feet and you beg them to forgive you for any offences you may have committed knowingly or unknowingly and you serve them with great humility and devotion, and by doing so, you will also be pleasing mother Ganges who purifies all the worlds. By getting the blessings of the Vaiñëavas, you will be relieved of all offences.” So Mädhäi took this as his life and soul, and with the spade in his hand day and night, he would work on making this ghät at the Ganges. He would sleep there at night, and during the day, any person, whoever they may have been, when they would come to take bath, he would bow down with prostrated obeisances, take the dust from their feet, and with tears of repentance in his eyes, he would weep and he would beg them please forgive me for my offences. And everyone was so pleased and full of joy to see this. Jagäi and Mädhäi became brahmacärés, first-class pure brahmacärés. And everyday on the bank of the Ganges, they would chant a minimum of 200,000 names of Kåñëa everyday.
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
By the mercy of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, they became intimate associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This beautiful narration of Jagäi and Mädhäi and their deliverance is so auspicious that it is explained that anyone who hears it submissively and sincerely can be relieved of all sins and achieve the mercy of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu and Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. At that time by the grace of Nityänanda Prabhu, everyone all around was praising Lord Gauräìga that he has made the most sinful pure.
Our Prayer to The Lord :
patita-pävana-hetu tava avatära
mo sama patita prabhu nä päibe ära
Mahäprabhu and Nityänanda Prabhu, they are patita-pävana avatäras. They have come to deliver the most fallen. And what should our prayer be? That, “My dear Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, You have come to deliver the most fallen, You will find no one more fallen than me, so my claim is first. Please bestow Your mercy upon me.” This should be our prayer today. Our prayer should be that we can somehow or other be an instrument of the mercy of the devotees of Gaura-Nitäi. On the order of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Lord Nityänanda Prabhu traveled throughout all of Bengal without discrimination giving the mercy of the Holy name. Nityänanda Prabhu is the original spiritual master. He is non-different than Balaräma, the original servant and assistant of Lord Kåñëa’s Lélä. And all the true spiritual masters in disciplic succession are the representatives of the original spiritual master, Nityänanda, Balaräma. His divine grace Çréla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda was truly such an empowered instrument in the hands of Nityänanda Prabhu. He spread the glories of the Holy name throughout Bengal, but he empowered Çréla Prabhupäda, our Guru Mahäräja to spread the glories of the Holy name throughout the entire world. On behalf of Çré Nityänanda Prabhu, Çréla Prabhupäda went to all five continents of the world, to the places of the most sinful, the most degraded, the most abominable, the most intoxicated. And in the mood of Nityänanda Prabhu tolerating their offences, He humbly begged us all, “Chant the name of Kåñëa, worship Kåñëa, follow the devotional principles of Kåñëa consciousness. Kåñëa is our real true wealth and treasure. He is our life and soul.” And through this process, Nityänanda Prabhu through Çréla Prabhupäda’s divine grace converted tens and thousands, millions of Jagäi’s and Mädhäi’s into the devotees of the Lord, and we should be so grateful because everyone here tonight is amongst those numbers. By Çréla Prabhupäda’s divine grace, we are all here together to celebrate the mercy of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu by chanting the Holy names.
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare”
What Does Lord Nityananda Prabhu Want From Us?
He should know that when Nityänanda Prabhu was requesting people to chant Kåñëa-näma, sometimes they would offer Him food, sometimes they would offer him gifts. He said, “No. I don’t beg for anything, but one thing, that with faith you just accept the name of Kåñëa and chant His Holy names.” So tonight is His appearance day. In this material world, we know on a birthday, we want to give something to that person we love what they like. What does Lord Nityänanda Prabhu want from us? He wants us to joyfully come together and celebrate His appearance by loudly chanting the Holy names of Kåñëa, and he wants us to make a commitment and a dedication in our life to assist Him and His divine servants and spreading the glories of the Holy name to everyone. So at this time, we will celebrate the wonderful arati ceremony of Lord Gauräìga and Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, and by their mercy, we can receive the mercy of Çré Çré Rädhä Gopinath. So more than any other night of the year with all of this wonderful information in our hearts, let us make this the most sincere and ecstatic kértana. We are not doing it for our enjoyment. We are simply doing it to express our gratitude to Çréla Prabhupäda, to Nityänanda Prabhu, and to all the Vaiñëavas. Everyone let us have a wonderful kértana. The arati of Gaura-Nitäi, after which, there will be wonderful prasäda being served.
“Nitäi-Gaura Premanandi Haribol!”
Are most refreshingly cool like tens and millions of moons, the shade of His lotus feet relieve one of the scorching heat of material existence. By the mercy of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu, one can achieve the supreme love of Lord Caitanya, and thus enter into the beautiful pastimes of Çré Çré Rädhä Kåñëa in Våndävana. At this time on the auspicious celebration of Çré Nityänanda Trayodaçé, let us all very sincerely and humbly pray at the lotus feet of Lord Nityänanda Prabhu that we may truly dedicate our lives on the path of perfection by living purely, sincerely serving the Vaiñëavas, and humbly chanting the Holy names of Kåñëa. And let us pray that following in His footsteps and in the Holy footsteps of His servants, we can make the purpose of our living to assist the great souls in this merciful compassionate mission of distributing love of Kåñëa through the chanting of the Holy names. Let this be the gift that we offer at the lotus feet of Çré Nityänanda Prabhu, the offering of our very lives in the service of His beloved servants. Let us take a moment to humbly pray for this greatest of all borns.
