śrī-brahmovāca

naumīḍya te 'bhra-vapuṣe taḍid-ambarāya

guñjāvataḿsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhāya

vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-viṣāṇa-veṇu-

lakṣma-śriye mṛdu-pade paśupāńgajāya (SB 10.14.1)

Lord Brahma said, “You are the only worshippable Lord, the Supreme Personality of GodHead. And therefore, I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please you. O Son of the king of the cowherds, your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud. Your garment is brilliant like lightning. And the beauty of your face is enhanced by your gunja earrings and peacock feather on your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, you stand beautifully with a morsel of food in your hands.

Purport by His Divine Grace Sri A.C. BhaktiVedanta Swami
In the previous chapter Brahma, the creator of the universe, tried to bewilder the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, by stealing His cowherd boyfriends and calves. But by a slight exhibition of Krishna's own mystic potency, Brahma himself was completely bewildered, and now with great humility and devotion he offers his humble obeisances and prayers unto the Lord.

The word kavala in this verse refers to a morsel of rice mixed with yogurt that Krishna held in His left hand. According to Sanatana Gosvami, the Lord held a cowherding stick and a buffalo horn pressed under His left arm, and His flute was placed under His belt. Beautiful young Kṛṣṇa, decorated with multicolored forest minerals, exhibited opulences far greater than those of Vaikuṇṭha. Although Brahma had seen innumerable four-armed forms of the Lord, he now surrendered unto the lotus feet of the two-armed form of Kṛṣṇa, who appeared as the son of Nanda Maharaj. Brahma offered his prayers to that form.
Translation
Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your guñjā earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves, and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, You stand beautifully with a morsel of food in Your hand.

This beautiful pastime is truly an exchange of divine love between the supreme lord Shri Govinda and his very intimate pure devotee Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma is not subject to the bewilderments of modes of the material nature. He is transcendental. We have already in the Shrimad Bhagavatham second canto, “tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah”. It is described that the Supreme Personality of Godhead spoke all truths all knowledge into the heart of Brahma at the beginning of creation. It is described that he had the divine revelation of the Lord’s Supreme divinity while he was sitting on top of that lotus flower that sprouted from the navel of Garbhodaksayi Vishnu and also of course the most celebrated prayers of all prayers as those found in the Brahma Samhita where Lord Brahma was given a vision of Goloka Vrindavan and with a heart full of utter love and with the mind filled with the deepest most profound philosophical truths, he spoke these beautiful prayers, “Govindam Adi Purusham tamaham bhajami”. So how is it that this Brahma Mohan Lila can taken place? How was that such an exalted highly realized personality whom all the great Acaryas quote his prayers to substantiate the true position of Supreme Personality of GodHead. How was that he could fall into such an illusion? Of apparently to commit an offense to the Lord. It is all by the mystic power of Yoga Maya. This is all taking place by the sweet will of the Supreme Personality of GodHead Shri Krishna. All of creation, both material and spiritual, are like puppets in the hand of Krishna. Every living entity is like a dancing doll in the hands of Krishna. Those, who by their foolishness and unfortunateness, they want to try to enjoy apart from the loving service of the Lord, Krishna takes these personalities and makes them dancing dolls in the hands of Maya Devi or the material energy and the three modes of material nature are like the strings and Maya Devi is just manipulating the three modes of material nature. She just makes all conditioned souls dance to her dance. Utterly manipulated subjected and controlled. And in the spiritual level of consciousness, for those who utterly surrender their lives in the loving service of the Lord, they are also like dancing dolls in the hands of Shri Krishna. But the strings are not the three strings of the material nature or they are the strings of the loving will of God. Whatever God wills, Whatever is His desire, they immediately dance to that desire. They are in perfect harmony with the will of God. Whatever Krishna so desires, they dance accordingly. That is the reciprocation of pure love. But the reciprocation is so wonderful that factually in the material world, there is no reciprocation of love. You will never find Maya dancing in the hands of conditioned souls. The conditioned souls simply dance to the pullings of the strings of the three modes of material nature. But when surrenders to the will and dances to the will of God, Krishna becomes so much obliged to that love that He dances to the will of His devotee. Just like we find in Vrindavan, the Gopis, they would come to the house of Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda and they would begin to sing and clap their hands and they would tell Krishna, “Dance!” And he would dance exactly the way they wanted Him to dance and would clap His hands. In this way, everyone would laugh and the demigods could not understand the Supreme Absolute truth, the controller of all controllers of whom the great devatas in heaven are utterly afraid of and here these cowherd girls of Vraja, they are just ordering Krishna to dance to their singing and He dances. He becomes dancing doll, dancing doll in the hands of His devotees. So, this is the reciprocation of love of Braj Bhoomi. And here we find Lord Brahma, who had divine realization of Braj Bhoomi, but Krishna had many many purposes to fulfill by bewildering Lord Brahma. We have explained in previous classes, He wanted to show that even the greatest personality in all the universe is like an insignificant creature in comparison to the Supreme personality of GodHead. That, however great we are, if we become proud of our greatness, then we lose the mercy of the Lord. And the Lord has to do with us accordingly. But you must know that Krishna knows past, present and future. Krishna has a master plan which is not like our master plan. We may have a master plan that may be for the next one year or five years or ten years. But not too many people has a master plan that can be perfectly followed throughout their life. What to speak of future lives! But Krishna has a master plan that he has already worked out everything for the rest of eternity. And there is no flaw. And there is nothing like it happened to disturb that plan unless He so wants it to happen. But that disturbance is part of His plan.
vedāhaḿ samatītāni
vartamānāni cārjuna
bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni
māḿ tu veda na kaścana (BG 7.26)

Krishna knows everything past, present and future. And therefore, His plan is simply for the sake of enjoying divine lila with his associates. Simply to give love and receive love. So, Lord Shri Krishna, He bewildered Lord Brahma. And here Lord Brahma, he is beginning to offer his prayers and how much Krishna loves this Lord Brahma, you cannot understand. And how he so much indebted to Lord Brahma for just being so surrendered and willing to humble himself in this position just to show the world the truth about the glory of God and humble devotional service. And so Lord Brahma is here offering prayers and in his prayers, he is describing, “Just see my lamentable position. I am such a big controller. I have so much wealth. I have so much power. I have so much intelligence. I have the highest birth. We need not talk about high births this caste that caste, this is a high birth but Lord Brahma what type of high birth – he was above all castes. He was in the Narayan caste. He just came right from Krishna. He needn’t even a mother . Krishna was his mother, Krishna was his father. Krishna was all of his ancestors. He is just directly coming from Krishna. So he has highest birth, highest planet, highest wealth, highest prestige and read about the demons - How the demons can conquer Indra, they can conquer Vayu, they can conquer Varuna, they can conquer Surya, but Hiranyakashipu, Ravana, even the greatest demons they never even attempted to approach Lord Brahma, we never read! So, what a position, he has! absolute security! he lives for so many trillions of years. But he is considering that this is all, an unfortunate condition, because it is making him proud. And in pride, he did not recognize that he is the menial servant of the Supreme Lord and His devotees. Therefore in this pastime we find that Lord Brahma prays – this is revealed by many of the great Acaryas. That he prays, “My dear Lord, I just, I am so caught up with managing this universe. (Not clear) You know, Some times devotees especially you Grihastas you have businesses, you just get so caught up in managing your business (Laughter) It becomes such an intoxication Oh, to expand, to expand, to grow. Lord Brahma – his business is managing, expanding, propagating the whole universe. Really Big. So he was just thinking, I have all this wealth, all this power, all this responsibility that my Lord, now I realize that I am actually in Maya (Laughter). I am just caught up by all these things. Please grant me the benediction that I can take birth in a low family where I do not get any recognition, I don’t get any respect, I have no other responsibility than being the most menial, most humble servant of your devotees and constantly chanting your Holy Names. So the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna granted him this benediction. And He told him, “In my next incarnation, when I appear as Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, you Lord Brahma, will incarnate in the family of mlechchas and yavanas, in the family of sinful meat-eaters. You will be an untouchable outcaste by birth. But you will be my foremost devotee. You will be given the great honour of just chanting the Holy Names of the Lord day and night and spreading the glories of the chanting of the Holy name throughout the world. And you will be the personification of humility for the all world to follow - because you are my most beloved devotee, I am giving you this benediction. So this same Lord Brahma was so happy to hear this. And he incarnated in this world in the divine form of Srila Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur was born in a yavana family. And because of this, although he was just from his very very young age, he was spontaneously attracted to the chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
And he was so much just filled with love for all conditioned souls. In his position , he had no desire for anything other than pleasing the Lord by spreading the glories of the Holy Name to everyone and anyone. But you see, because, he was an outcaste, he was a Muslim by birth, and because he was coming from a very very poor family, when he tried to preach, it was very controversial, so controversial that people condemned him, people persecuted him who are envious but the innocent people they accepted him as their life and soul and they surrendered to him. It is described that at one time, there were so many difficulties he had to undergo. At one time, the muslims, they came before the high political officials and told them, you are muslim, we are muslim, do you see this muslim, he is born of us, he is ruining our religion. He is preaching to everyone about the chanting of this Hari Nam and even the Muslims are taking to the chanting of Hari Nam. They are chanting the names of Hindu Gods. He is spoiling the whole Islamic faith. He must be killed. And the so called protectors of Sanatan Dharma, the Brahmins – they were even more upset than the muslims. They were going to the high political officials and saying, “This rascal – he is ruining the Hindu faith. These mantras are only meant to be chanted by the Brahmins. And he is an untouchable. And he is not only chanting but he is teaching other people to chant without discrimination of who they are, what their caste is. He is polluting the names of God by his contaminated mouth. And he is spreading the glories of the Lord indiscriminately. And he is so popular that the masses are falling at his feet and accepting him and becoming pure devotees of God and in this way, he is putting us out of business. We charge for our pujas and rituals. We were getting great distinction and respect for doing that. Nobody wants us anymore. Haridas Thakur is just bewildering and deluding everybody. Therefore as the king, you must protect all religions, therefore, he must be killed. So the leaders, in all directions, they hated him for who he was and what he was doing. At one point of course, we know, he was sentenced to death. And he was beat with canes through twenty two market places severely brutally. Try to understand the glory of this pastime. Here is Lord Brahma, the most powerful, the most transcendental person in the entire universe who has I said, even Hiranyakashipu and Ravana when they subdued the whole universe could not touch him. That same Lord Brahma, who is the father and creator of everything that we see assumed the position of such humble devotee, that in the service of the Lord, he was willing to allow himself to be beaten, to be blasphemed, his heart being shot with the spears of blasphemous words, to be beaten bloody with canes and whips, to be utterly degraded in every regard. This is the love of a devotee for his lord. Lord Brahma was happier in this position being beaten, whipped and blasphemed. He was more blissful there than when he was living in the Brahmaloka with Saraswati and all the demigods gathering around and chanting God’s names. On an other occasion, Ramachandra Khan, a very wealthy man, he was so envious of this Haridas Thakur. “Who is this low outcaste? He has so many followers! He has so much respectability! People would do anything he says! Everyone is chanting the Holy Names!” He could not tolerate anyone being more popular than him. He was a big land-owner. He could not tolerate anyone being respected more than himself. Therefore he sent prostitutes to try to defame Haridas Thakur. So how can we imagine, Lord Brahma, such a position willingly take such a role. Because he was willing to take such a role, such a role of utter humility, he became so dear to the Lord. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu prayed, “Trinad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniya sada harih”, that one must be more humble than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree. Tolerant means to be forgiving. Humility means to not expect anything - to simply give all respects to others and to be more forgiving than a tree. To readily accept every type of respect to every other living being according to their position and expect zero for oneself. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Only in this way, you can chant the Holy Names constantly. And who did he empower to show the world how to chant the Holy Names constantly. It was Haridas Thakur. He had the special unique position of the Nam Acharya. Namacharya – one who by his example teaches the whole world how to properly chant the Holy Name. And what qualities did he exhibit in a supreme form - “Trinad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniya sada harih” Lord Brahma prayed, “I am too proud because of my position Krishna, let me just preach your glories in a humble position. So Krishna reciprocated and gave him the supreme most humble position in all of history where he had no other business, no other execution of any activity than chanting
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
And inducing the world to do the same. So Lord Brahmaji, in this form of Haridas Thakur, because of his great sacrifice, how dear and beloved he became to the Lord. And the most divine evidence of this love was revealed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on this very day of Ananta Chaturdasi. Today is one of the most holy and auspicious festivals in the Gaudiya Vaisnav tradition. It is the day of disappearance of Srila Haridas Thakur. And what to place on this day, is so near and dear to the hearts of all Vaisnavas that they subsist on the basis of remembering this wonderful pastime that took place. Because it is the pastime which reveals to the world the love of the Lord for his devotee who has surrendered everything in his loving service. This story takes place in Jagannath Puri. Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami explains in Sri Caitanya Caritamrita that one day Govinda, the personal servant of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went in great jubilation to deliver the remnants of Lord Jagannath’s food to Haridas Thakur. When Govinda came to Haridas, he saw that Haridas was lying on his back and very slowly chanting
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Govinda said, “Please raise and take your Mahaprasad and Haridas Thakur replied, “Today, I shall observe fasting. I have not finished chanting my regular number of rounds. How then can I eat? But you have brought Mahaprasad and how can I neglect it? Saying this he offered prayers to the Mahaprasad and he took a little portion and ate it. In this regard, Srila Prabhupad describes that Mahaprasad is non-different from Krishna and a proper devotee never eats Mahaprasad, such a devotee honours Mahaprasad. We should approach Prasad with joy and with reverence. It is factually non-different from Krishna Himself. It is Krishna’s mercy. Therefore, Haridas Thakur, he had made a very strict vow that he would chant 300,000 names of Krishna every day before eating, before honouring Prasad. But in his very very old age it was becoming extremely difficult for him to complete his vow. Therefore he would not eat, he would not honour Prasad. However Govinda had brought the Mahaprasad of Jagannath. But at the same time, he understood that, “how could I refuse from offering proper honour to Krishna when he appears in the most merciful form of Mahaprasad. So, in this way, he offered his obeisances to Prasad, he offered prayers to Prasad and out of respect and love, he took one small portion and he honored it. The next day, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Haridas Thakur’s place and he enquired from him, “Haridas, are you well?” and Haridas offered obeisances to the Lord and replied, “My body is alright but my mind and intelligence are not well. Caitanya Mahaprabhu enquired, “Can you ascertain what your disease is? And Haridas replied, “My disease is that I cannot complete my rounds”. Srila Prabhupad explains that every devotee should take a lesson by Haridas Thakur’s words. That our Guru Maharaj has given us a prescribed vow by which we must take to chant the Holy Names. Srila Prabhupad explains because foreigners and Indians are very much in so many practical dealings in this world, very difficult to chant all day. So minimum 16 rounds and a devotee should know very clearly that if one does not complete his 16 rounds of chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra that one is spiritually in a diseased condition and Canakya Pandit said, “There are three things that must be dealt with immediately - fire, death and disease” The longer you allow a disease to continue without acting - the worse and worse and worse it becomes and the more difficult it becomes to ever cure it. I know devotees who are even very very close associates of my Guru Maharaj and somehow or the other they got very much sidetracked by so many practical duties that they just neglected chanting 16 rounds every day. They were in a terrible diseased condition but they allowed that disease to ferment in their heart and later on it is practically impossible for them to chant 16 rounds. They just cant do it. They’ve just lost the mercy of the Lord by this offense. So, therefore, we should know that if we are not completing our rounds everyday, we are spiritually in a diseased condition and we should act to heal that disease immediately. In a other place, Srila Prabhupad explains that Maya is very strong and if one is not chanting his 16 rounds everyday, one is sure to fall prey to the bewilderment of Maya. So Haridas Thakur is the Nam-Acarya. He is teaching by his example. Of course, we cannot imitate him and chant 3 lakhs which is about 180 rounds before even taking a morsel of food or water but atleast according to the instructions of the Acaryas we can follow his footsteps. So Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied that “Now, you have become very old. You may reduce the number of rounds you do daily. Haridas, “You are already liberated. Therefore you need not follow the regulative principles very strictly. Your role in this incarnation is to deliver the people in general. And you have sufficiently preached the glories of the Holy Name in this world. Therefore, please reduce the number of fixed rounds that you chant of the Hare Krishna Mantra”. Here Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is explaining that unless one is on the spontaneous platform of pure love of God, one must follow the rules, regulations of Krishna consciousness. The regulative principles are absolutely important, essential for one who has not attained the state of spontaneous love. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is telling Sri Haridas, “Now you have attained the highest level of spontaneous love, there is no need for you to chant so much. That Haridas was an Acarya, he was teaching by his example. He was teaching how all of us should be. Therefore he was very strict. So Mahaprabhu told him, “Now you reduce the number of rounds. And Haridas replied, “My dear Lord, kindly hear my plea. I was born in an inferior family. And my body is most abominable. I always engage in low work. Therefore, I am the lowest, most condemned of men. I am unseeable and untouchable. But you have accepted me as your servant. This means that you have delivered me from hellish condition and raised me to the Vaikuntha platform. Haridas Thakur is exhibiting the qualities of a true devotee. True devotee sees that whatever value there is in my life is only by the causeless mercy of the Lord. Such a devotee considers himself before God to be the lowest, the most insignificant. “My dear Lord, you are fully independent. You are the Supreme Personality of GodHead. You act by your own free will. You cause the whole world to dance and act as you like. By your mercy, you have made me dance in many ways. For example, I was offered the Shada Patra that should have been offered to first class Brahmins. I ate from it even though I was born in a family of meat eaters. He is referring to the time when Sri Advaitacarya was performing the Shada Patra, Advaita was considered the foremost of all Brahmins and Vaisnavas. And the tradition is that the first remnants of Vishnu must be given to the most qualified of all Brahmins. And there was an assembly of all great great Brahmins there to attend the Shada patra, the Shraddha ceremony of Sri Advaita and to the great astonishment of everyone, he gave the remnants first to Haridas Thakur who is not even a Brahmin. He was not even within the caste system. But Advaita Acarya considered that because he was a pure Vaisnava, he is the most auspicious, the most pure and the most elevated of all personalities. And Haridas Thakur, he simply accepted it as the mercy of the Lord. I have one desire for a very long time, my Lord. I think that quite soon, you will bring close to your pastimes within this material world. I wish you not show me this closing chapter of your pastimes. Before that time comes, kindly let my body fall down in your presence. I wish to catch your Lotus-like feet upon my heart and see your moon like face. With my tongue, I shall chant your Holy name Sri Krishna Caitanya, that is my desire. Kindly let me give up my body in this way. O most merciful lord, if by your mercy, it is possible, kindly grant my desire. Let this low-born body fall down before you. You can make possible this perfection of all my desires. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My dear Haridas, Krishna is so merciful that he must execute whatever you want. But whatever happiness is mine is all due to your association. It is not fitting for you to go away and leave me aside. Catching the Lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Haridas said, “Do not create an illusion, although I am so fallen, you must certainly show me this mercy. My Lord, there are many respectable personalities, millions of devotees who are fit to sit on my head. They are all helpful in your pastimes. My Lord, if an insignificant insect like me dies, what is the loss? If an ant dies, where is the loss to this material world? My Lord, you are always affectionate to your devotees. I am just an imitation devotee. But nevertheless, I wish you fulfill my desire. That is my expectation. And then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he got up and left on his noon duties. After embracing Haridas Thakur, he went to take his bath in the sea. And the next morning, after visiting the Jagannath temple, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accompanied by all his other devotees came to see Haridas Thakur. When they came before Haridas Thakur, Haridas offered his obeisances to the Lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he offered his obeisances to the lotus feet of all of the Vaisnavas. Lord Caitanya enquired, “My dear Haridas, what is the news? Haridas Thakur replied, “My Lord whatever mercy you can bestow upon me” Upon hearing this Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately began great congregational chanting in the court yard. Vakreswar Pandit was the chief dancer. Headed by Swarup Damodar Goswami all the devotees of the Lord surrounded Haridas Thakur and began congregational chanting of the Holy Names
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
In front of all the great devotees like Ramanand Ray, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began to describe the holy attributes of Haridas Thakur. As he described the transcendental attributes of Sri Haridas Thakur, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu seemed to possess five mouths. The more he described, the more his great happiness increased. After hearing of the transcendental qualities of Haridas Thakur, all the devotees present were struck with wonder. They all offered their respectful obeisances to the lotus feet of Srila Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur made Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu sit down in front of him and then he fixed his eyes like two bumble bees on the lotus face of the Lord. He held the Lotus feet of Sri Caitanya on his heart and then took the dust of the feet of all the devotees present and put it on his head. He began to chant the Holy Name, “Sri Krishna Caitanya, Sri Krishna Caitanya, Sri Krishna Caitanya” as he drank the sweetness of the face of the Lord, tears constantly glided down from his eyes. While chanting the Holy Name of Sri Krishna Caitanya, he gave up his air of life and left his body. Seeing the wonderful death of Haridas Thakur by his own will, which was just like the great mystic yogis, everyone remembered the passing away of Bhisma. There was a tumultuous noise as they all chanted the Holy Name
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became overwhelmed with ecstatic love. The Lord raised the body of Haridas Thakur and placed it on His own lap. And then He began to dance in the courtyard carrying the body of Haridas in great ecstatic love. Because of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s ecstatic love, all the devotees were helpless. In an ecstatic love, they also began to dance and chant congregationally. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced and danced for sometime. And then Swarup Damodar Goswami informed Him of other rituals for the body of Thakur Haridas. He then took the body of Haridas Thakur and raised him on to a carrier that resembled an airship. And along with the congregational chanting of the Holy Name, they had a procession to take him to the sea. Lord Caitanya danced in front of that procession and Vakreswar Pandit along with all the other devotees chanted and danced behind Him. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally bathed the body of Haridas Thakur in the sea and then he declared on, “From this day on, this sea has become a great pilgrimage site. Everyone drank the water that had touched the lotus feet of Haridas Thakur and then they smeared remnants of Lord Jagannath’s sandalwood pulp over Haridas Thakur’s body. After a hole was dug in the sand, the body of Haridas Thakur was placed in it. Remnants of Lord Jagannath such as his silken robes, sandalwood pulp, food and cloth were placed on the body. All around the body, the devotees performed congregational chanting and Vakreswar Pandit danced in jubilation. With his own transcendental hands, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally covered the body of Haridas Thakur with sand chanting Hari Bol! Hari Bol! They covered the body of Haridas Thakur with sand and then constructed a platform on the site. The platform was protected all around by fences. That the most menial functions that are taking place in a funeral ceremony, the Lord is performing those functions with His own hands just to show the world the love that he has for his devotees. And we also see that the supreme most ritual that makes every ceremony auspicious is the congregational chanting of the Holy Names. Infact Srila Prabhupad told us that there are many many rituals many many samskaras
and many ways to perform them. But he said to perform them is nice. It is karmakanda but it is auspicious but he explained that in every ceremony whatever the occasion is, the supreme most invocation of auspiciousness in most transcendental and divine way of observing any occasion is to bring the Vaisnavas and have the congregational chanting of the Holy Names. Just like in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada had the Prana Prathistha of Krishna Balaram, Radha SyamaSundara and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai and he had Brahmins, very very learned and efficient Brahmins and they came and they performed one week 24 hours a day practically of various various Agnihotras, Homas, chanting of various Mantras observances of this innumerable ritualistic practices as prescribed in the Vedas and yet his devotees who didn’t know about any of these things, they were just in the back of the temple having the chanting of the Holy Names with mridanga and kartals. And Srila Prabhupada said, “For the sake of impressing the people in general and making them think that this is an authorized form of the Lord, we hired these Brahmins and had these rituals. But he said that the real installation was the devotees in the back having kirtan (laughter). So whether it be an installation, whether it be a birth ceremony, whether it be a wedding ceremony, whether it be a death ceremony, whether it be giving the child the first grains, whatever the ritual may be, is actually only one thing required we don’t have to know all of these very intricate rules and regulations. But if you just invite devotees to come and they are congregationally chanting the Holy Names, then you should know that it is supremely auspicious. That just by chanting Hare Krishna, everything is fulfilled; there is no need for anything else. But just to keep our minds busy, sometimes we do all these other things. And just to respect and live in harmony with certain social customs, we may accept but actually there is only need for the Holy Name of Krishna and the association of Vaisnavas. So after the Sankirtan, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu bathed in the sea with His devotees, swimming and playing in the water in great jubilation. Here it is Haridas Thakur who is the most beloved servant of the Lord and although he was obviously steeped in the agony of separation, it is described here that He was dancing and playing and swimming in jubilation. This is a very profound concept in Vaisnav tradition that only when beloved Godbrother, Godsister or our Gurudev or any other exalted Vaisnava leaves us, for ourselves , there is great agony. The agony is that how we live without the divine presence of such a great soul. But at the same time, the immense jubilation for that person, in our feelings toward that person we know that this person has gone back to enter the eternal lila of Krishna. Therefore we should celebrate and be joyful for him. After circumambulating the tomb of Haridas Thakur, the Supreme Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to the Simha Dwara gate of the Jagannath temple. The whole city chanted in congregation and a tumultuous sound vibrated all over the city. See Haridas Thakur, his life and soul was simply to induce people to chant the Holy Names. When we want to show our love for someone, we want to do something that we know will make that person happy. Just like even in our own life, if someone dear to us dies, we think, “What can I do now that I know that would really make this person happy?” So Caitanya Mahaprabhu knew that there is only one think that makes Haridas Thakur happy – if everyone chants the Holy Name. So just in the honour of Haridas, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu caused the entire city of Jagannath Puri to be chanting congregational and the sound was so tumultuous that it vibrated all over the city and all over the universe. This is how the Lord loves to please the desires of His selfless associate devotees of the Lord. Approaching the Simha Dwara, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spread His cloth and began to beg Prasad from all the shopkeepers there. He said that “I am begging Prasad for a festival honoring the passing away of Haridas Thakur. Please give me alms” Here we find that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in the honour and name of His devotee, He is becoming a beggar. Hearing this, all the shopkeepers immediately came forward with big baskets of Prasad which they jubilantly delivered to Lord Caitanya. However Swarup Damodar go stop them and the shopkeepers retuned to their shops and sat down with their baskets. Swarup Damodar sent Caitanya Mahaprabhu back to His residence and kept with him four Vaisnavas and four servant carriers. And then he said to the shopkeepers, “Just deliver four palmfuls of Prasad from each and every item that you have. And in this way, varieties of Prasad were collected and then packed up in different loads and carried on the heads of the four servants. Helping Swarup Damodar was Vaninatha Pattanayaka, Kasi Misra. Infact they had already invited the Lord, so they were sending large quantities of Prasad themselves. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu made all the devotees sit in rows and personally began to distribute the Prasad assisted by four other men. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was not accustomed to taking Prasad in small quantities. He therefore put on each plate what atleast five men could eat. Swarup Damodar Goswami requested Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, “Please sit down and watch. With these men to help me, I shall distribute the Prasad” Swarup Damodar, Jagadananda, Kasiswara and Sankara distributed the Prasad continuously. All the devotees they would not who sat down they would not take Prasad as long as the Lord had not eaten. On that day, however, Kasi Misra had extended an invitation to the Lord. Therefore Kasi Misra personally went there and delivered Prasad to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu with great attention and made Him eat. With Paramananda Puri and Brahmananda Bharati, who were His Guru’s Godbrothers, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had this etiquette. The Godbrothers of His Guru, he considered to be as good as His Guru. And therefore He would always offer them more respect. And it is shown here that He would not sit on a higher platform than His Guru’s Godbrothers nor would He eat before them. They sat down together and when he began to eat, served it to all the Vaisnavas. Everyone was filled up to the neck because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu kept telling the distributors, “Give them more, Give them more” After all the devotees finished accepting Prasad and had washed their hands and mouths, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu decorated each devotee with a flower garland and sandalwood pulp. Overwhelmed with ecstatic love, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu offered a benediction to all the devotees, which all the devotees heard with great satisfaction. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave this benediction: "Anyone who has seen the festival of Haridas Thakur’s passing away, anyone who has chanted and danced here, anyone who has offered sand on the body of Haridas Ṭhakur, and anyone who has joined this festival to partake of the Prasad will achieve the favor of Krishna very soon. There is such wonderful power in seeing Haridas Thakur. Being merciful upon me, Krishna gave me the association of Haridas Thakur. Being independent in His desires, He has now broken that association. When Haridas Thakur wanted to leave this material world, it was not within my power to detain him. Simply by his will, Haridas Thakur could give up his life and go away, exactly like Bhisma, who previously died simply by his own desire, as we have heard from the sastra. Haridas Ṭhakur was the crown jewel on the head of this world; without him, this world is now bereft of its valuable jewel. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then told everyone, "Say All glories to Haridas Ṭhakur!' and chant the holy name of Hari." Saying this, He personally began to dance. Everyone began to chant, “Haridas Thakur ki Jai! Haridas Thakur ki Jai! Haridas Thakur ki Jai!” who revealed the importance of chanting the holy name of the Lord!" Thereafter, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu bid farewell to all the devotees, and He Himself, with mixed feelings of happiness and distress, took rest. Krishnadas Kaviraj ends this chapter, “Thus I have spoken about the victorious passing away of Haridas Thakur. Anyone who hears this narration will certainly fix his mind firmly in devotional service to Krishna. From the incident of Haridas Ṭhakur's passing away and the great care Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took in commemorating it, one can understand just how affectionate the Lord is toward His devotees. Although He is the topmost of all sannyasis, He fully satisfied the desire of Haridas Thakur. At the last stage of Haridas Thakur’s life, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave him His company and allowed him to touch Him. Thereafter, He took the body of Ṭhakur Haridas on His lap and personally danced with it. Out of His causeless mercy He personally covered the body of Haridas Thakur with sand and personally begged alms from the shopkeepers. Then He conducted a great festival to celebrate the passing away of Haridas Thakur. Haridas Thakur was not only the topmost devotee of the Lord but also a great and learned scholar. It was his great fortune that he passed away before Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The life and characteristics of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are exactly like an ocean of nectar, one drop of which can please the mind and ear. Anyone who desires to cross over the ocean of nescience, please hear with great faith the life and characteristics of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

śrī-rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa
caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇadāsa
Praying at the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha, always desiring their mercy, I, Krishnadasa, narrate Sri Caitanya-Caritamrita