Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
nitāi-pada-kamala, koṭi-candra-suśītala
je chāyāy jagata jurāy
heno nitāi bine bhāi, rādhā-kṛṣṇa pāite nāi
dṛḍha kori' dharo nitāir pāy
"The lotus feet of Lord Nityananda are a shelter where one will get the soothing moonlight not only of one, but of millions of moons. If the world wants to have real peace, it should take shelter of Lord Nityananda. Unless one takes shelter under the shade of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, it will be very difficult for him to approach Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. If one actually wants to enter into the dancing party of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, he must firmly catch hold of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda."
Today is the most auspicious appearance day of Lord Nityananda. Lord Krishna has descended to this world 500 years ago in Bengal, India as Lord Caitanya. And His first expansion, Lord Balarama who played the role of being His brother, was present also at that time as Lord Nityananda. At that time these two brothers displayed the most inconceivably amazing pastimes to attract all of the fallen, conditioned souls of this world back to their original home in the wondrous spiritual sky. There is no incarnation more merciful than Lord Nityananda because it was by His mercy that the two sinful brothers, Jagai and Madhai were saved. This wonderful pastime is described as follows by Srila Prabhupada:
Once Nityananda Prabhu and Srila Haridasa Thakura were walking down a main road, and on the way they saw a roaring crowd assembled. Upon inquiring from passers-by, they understood that two brothers, named Jagai and Madhai, were creating a public disturbance in a drunken state. They also heard that these two brothers were born in a respectable brahmana family, but because of low association they had turned into debauchees of the worst type. They were not only drunkards but also meat-eaters, woman-hunters, dacoits and sinners of all description. Srila Nityananda Prabhu heard all of these stories and decided that these two fallen souls must be the first to be delivered. If they were delivered from their sinful life, then the good name of Lord Caitanya would be even still more glorified. Thinking in this way, Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa pushed their way through the crowd and asked the two brothers to chant the holy name of Lord Hari. The drunken brothers became enraged upon this request and attacked Nityananda Prabhu with filthy language. Both brothers chased them a considerable distance. In the evening the report of the preaching work was submitted to the Lord, and He was glad to learn that Nityananda and Haridasa had attempted to deliver such a stupid pair of fellows.
The next day Nityananda Prabhu went to see the brothers, and as soon as He approached them one of them threw a piece of earthen pot at Him. This struck Him on the forehead, and immediately blood began to flow. But Nityananda Prabhu was so kind that instead of protesting this heinous act, He said, "It does not matter that you have thrown this stone at Me. I still request you to chant the holy name of Lord Hari."
One of the brothers, Jagai, was astonished to see this behavior of Nityananda Prabhu, and he at once fell down at His feet and asked Him to pardon his sinful brother. When Madhai again attempted to hurt Nityananda Prabhu, Jagai stopped him and implored him to fall down at His feet. In the meantime the news of Nityananda's injury reached the Lord, who at once hurried to the spot in a fiery and angry mood. The Lord immediately invoked His Sudarsana cakra (the Lord's ultimate weapon, shaped like a wheel) to kill the sinners, but Nityananda Prabhu reminded Him of His mission. The mission of the Lord was to deliver the hopelessly fallen souls of Kali-yuga, and the brothers Jagai and Madhai were typical examples of these fallen souls. Ninety percent of the population of this age resembles these brothers, despite high birth and mundane respectability. According to the verdict of the revealed scriptures, the total population of the world in this age will be of the lowest sudra quality, or even lower. It should be noted that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu never acknowledged the stereotyped caste system by birthright; rather, He strictly followed the verdict of the sastras in the matter of one's svarupa, or real identity.
When the Lord was invoking His Sudarsana cakra and Srila Nityananda Prabhu was imploring Him to forgive the two brothers, both the brothers fell down at the lotus feet of the Lord and begged His pardon for their gross behavior. The Lord was also asked by Nityananda Prabhu to accept these repenting souls, and the Lord agreed to accept them on one condition, that they henceforward completely give up all their sinful activities and habits of debauchery, both the brothers agreed and promised to give up all their sinful habits, and the kind Lord accepted them and did not again refer to their past misdeeds.
So let us take advantage of this auspicious day and beg Lord Nityananda for His special mercy that we can be forever free from sinful activities and thus become spotlessly pure devotees of the Lord.
Can I think of the butcher as a wild animal, so that I don't feel agitation by his actions? Or is this disrespectful to think of humans like animals.
And also, how can I best serve you as your aspiring servant.
B.B.
The spiritual master's mission is to save the entire human civilization from the cycle of birth and death. So the best service you can do for me is to become perfect in Krishna consciousness and spread the wonderful teachings of Krishna consciousness as much as possible to the people of your town.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
je chāyāy jagata jurāy
heno nitāi bine bhāi, rādhā-kṛṣṇa pāite nāi
dṛḍha kori' dharo nitāir pāy
"The lotus feet of Lord Nityananda are a shelter where one will get the soothing moonlight not only of one, but of millions of moons. If the world wants to have real peace, it should take shelter of Lord Nityananda. Unless one takes shelter under the shade of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, it will be very difficult for him to approach Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. If one actually wants to enter into the dancing party of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, he must firmly catch hold of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda."
Today is the most auspicious appearance day of Lord Nityananda. Lord Krishna has descended to this world 500 years ago in Bengal, India as Lord Caitanya. And His first expansion, Lord Balarama who played the role of being His brother, was present also at that time as Lord Nityananda. At that time these two brothers displayed the most inconceivably amazing pastimes to attract all of the fallen, conditioned souls of this world back to their original home in the wondrous spiritual sky. There is no incarnation more merciful than Lord Nityananda because it was by His mercy that the two sinful brothers, Jagai and Madhai were saved. This wonderful pastime is described as follows by Srila Prabhupada:
Once Nityananda Prabhu and Srila Haridasa Thakura were walking down a main road, and on the way they saw a roaring crowd assembled. Upon inquiring from passers-by, they understood that two brothers, named Jagai and Madhai, were creating a public disturbance in a drunken state. They also heard that these two brothers were born in a respectable brahmana family, but because of low association they had turned into debauchees of the worst type. They were not only drunkards but also meat-eaters, woman-hunters, dacoits and sinners of all description. Srila Nityananda Prabhu heard all of these stories and decided that these two fallen souls must be the first to be delivered. If they were delivered from their sinful life, then the good name of Lord Caitanya would be even still more glorified. Thinking in this way, Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa pushed their way through the crowd and asked the two brothers to chant the holy name of Lord Hari. The drunken brothers became enraged upon this request and attacked Nityananda Prabhu with filthy language. Both brothers chased them a considerable distance. In the evening the report of the preaching work was submitted to the Lord, and He was glad to learn that Nityananda and Haridasa had attempted to deliver such a stupid pair of fellows.
The next day Nityananda Prabhu went to see the brothers, and as soon as He approached them one of them threw a piece of earthen pot at Him. This struck Him on the forehead, and immediately blood began to flow. But Nityananda Prabhu was so kind that instead of protesting this heinous act, He said, "It does not matter that you have thrown this stone at Me. I still request you to chant the holy name of Lord Hari."
One of the brothers, Jagai, was astonished to see this behavior of Nityananda Prabhu, and he at once fell down at His feet and asked Him to pardon his sinful brother. When Madhai again attempted to hurt Nityananda Prabhu, Jagai stopped him and implored him to fall down at His feet. In the meantime the news of Nityananda's injury reached the Lord, who at once hurried to the spot in a fiery and angry mood. The Lord immediately invoked His Sudarsana cakra (the Lord's ultimate weapon, shaped like a wheel) to kill the sinners, but Nityananda Prabhu reminded Him of His mission. The mission of the Lord was to deliver the hopelessly fallen souls of Kali-yuga, and the brothers Jagai and Madhai were typical examples of these fallen souls. Ninety percent of the population of this age resembles these brothers, despite high birth and mundane respectability. According to the verdict of the revealed scriptures, the total population of the world in this age will be of the lowest sudra quality, or even lower. It should be noted that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu never acknowledged the stereotyped caste system by birthright; rather, He strictly followed the verdict of the sastras in the matter of one's svarupa, or real identity.
When the Lord was invoking His Sudarsana cakra and Srila Nityananda Prabhu was imploring Him to forgive the two brothers, both the brothers fell down at the lotus feet of the Lord and begged His pardon for their gross behavior. The Lord was also asked by Nityananda Prabhu to accept these repenting souls, and the Lord agreed to accept them on one condition, that they henceforward completely give up all their sinful activities and habits of debauchery, both the brothers agreed and promised to give up all their sinful habits, and the kind Lord accepted them and did not again refer to their past misdeeds.
So let us take advantage of this auspicious day and beg Lord Nityananda for His special mercy that we can be forever free from sinful activities and thus become spotlessly pure devotees of the Lord.
Answers According to the Vedic Version
Question: How Can I Best Serve You?
I find it very easy to have compassion and loving feelings towards other devotees and the animal kingdom, and I would like to feel this same way for the butcher who chops and kills animals and the drunkards etc, but I find this difficult.Can I think of the butcher as a wild animal, so that I don't feel agitation by his actions? Or is this disrespectful to think of humans like animals.
And also, how can I best serve you as your aspiring servant.
B.B.
Answer: Become Perfect and Spread these Teachings.
To consider the grossly sinful people to be like animals or even lower than animals is correct according to the vision of the revealed scriptures. However, if we consider that the only thing which separates us from being in the same category as them is the mercy we have received from Krishna's pure devotees, we can try to develop feelings of compassion for them. Distributing Srila Prabhupada's books of transcendental wisdom is a wonderful service because when distributing these literatures we can approach everyone and give them the opportunity to get the mercy of Krishna and his pure devotees. Recently a devotee entered a slaughterhouse and sold a stack of Krishna conscious books to the slaughterhouse manager. So there is no question of who is qualified to receive Krishna's mercy and who is not. Everyone is a potential recipient of the mercy of Krishna.The spiritual master's mission is to save the entire human civilization from the cycle of birth and death. So the best service you can do for me is to become perfect in Krishna consciousness and spread the wonderful teachings of Krishna consciousness as much as possible to the people of your town.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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