The Glories of Nityānanda | Śrīla B.R. Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Jaya Śrī Nityānanda Rāma!
Haribol dear devotees! Please accept my praṇāma.
Below are two excerpts from glorifications by Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja that I found on Śrī Caitanya Saraswat Maṭha's website, Śrī Gauḍīya Darśana, and Chapter Four of Śrī Guru and His Grace. I read them both out in case you'd like to listen to them.
Also, there is a beautiful kirtan that I just sent out on the Gauḍīya Kirtan mailing list about Nityānanda Prabhu's appearance pastime. You can view it by clicking the link below:
The Greatest Circumference
Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja describes Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu’s mercy
[Hear the article read out on Vine of Devotion's new podcast channel:]
Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu is there to consolidate the ground, the foundation. That will help us to make further progress. Speedy progress without a good foundation may invite reactions. Our foundation comes from Nityānanda Prabhu, Gurudeva. That the foundation will not go away is the primary necessity.
Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu’s mercy sometimes exceeds that of Śrī Caitanyadeva. Caitanyadeva sometimes cannot accept the fallen: if a bad precedent may be created by doing so, then He cannot accept them. So, He has to consider someone’s status and position, and other things. But Nityānanda Prabhu’s mercy does not care for any unfavorable circumstances. It is so lavish and blind. It does not differentiate between sinners of different degrees. It is all-embracing. And Mahāprabhu cannot dismiss Nityānanda Prabhu’s recommendation. This is the connection we are given to understand: Nityānanda Prabhu gave shelter even to those whom Mahāprabhu rejected, and gradually Mahāprabhu had to accept them. So, the magnitude and circumference of Nityānanda’s grace is the greatest. For us, the most fallen souls, that is our solace.
bhajo gaurāṅga kaho gaurāṅga laho gaurāṅger nāma
je-jana gaurāṅga bhaje se haya āmāra prāṇa
Nityānanda Prabhu’s duty is concentrated on bringing everyone to Gaurāṅga. He calls everyone to fall at the feet of Gaurāṅga. Nothing more is necessary. All else, the highest fortune, will be attained automatically. He simply calls out, collects souls, and throws them in the dust of Gaurāṅga’s feet. Nothing else is necessary, whoever they may be: a Muslim, a low-class person, or otherwise. Scholarship and so-called moral or material purity are not necessary.
If anyone, even if they are of the lowest type, gets connection with the feet of Gaurāṅga, then all their disqualifications may be removed in a second. Gaurāṅga is such a touchstone, and anything He converts does not become a middle-class jewel, it becomes a jewel of the highest class. He is such a touchstone.
Nityānanda used to roam along both sides of the Ganges calling out to one and all, “Come! Join the camp of Śrī Gaurāṅga!
bhajo gaurāṅga kaho gaurāṅga laho gaurāṅger nāma
je-jana gaurāṅga bhaje se haya āmāra prāṇa
“The life of My life is one who has come to take shelter under the direction of My Lord Gaurāṅga. O fallen souls, gather round and beg My Lord Gaurāṅga for His grace! Automatically you will find yourself in Vṛndāvana. All the undesirable things within you will be cleared in no time, and, unconsciously, your pristine inner self will emerge and find suddenly that it is in the midst of the desired soil, Vṛndāvana, which is filled with the most wonderful paraphernalia; you will find you are at home, back at home. Get a ticket here in Navadvīpa, and you will quickly reach your home.”
We will get everything by the most magnanimous heart of Nityānanda Prabhu.
heno nitāi bine bhāi, rādhā-kṛṣṇa pāite nāi
dṛḓha kori’ dharo nitāir pāya
Firmly catch the holy feet of Nityānanda. All else will come to you automatically. Gaurāṅga will come, and when Gaurāṅga comes, everything comes.
[View original article on Śrī Gauḍīya Darśana website]
The Original Guru
Excerpt from Chapter Four of Śrī Guru and His Grace
The original spiritual master is Nityānanda Prabhu. He is the general representation of guru. In the spiritual world, He is the guru-tattva principle in the four primary mellows of devotion, excluding the conjugal mellow. In madhura-rasa, Baladeva’s representation is Anaṅgā Mañjarī, the sister of Rādhārāṇī.
The position of Nityānanda is greater than that of Baladeva. Why? He is distributing prema, divine love. And what is prema? It is higher than all other achievements. If one can give divine love, then all others must be subordinate to him. If Kṛṣṇa is subordinate to Mahāprabhu, then, of course, Balarāma is subordinate to Nityānanda. They are similar, but when magnanimity is added, Balarāma becomes Nityānanda. That Balarāma who can distribute divine love, who can perform that higher function, has come here as Nityānanda. Our foundation must be solid and proper. Then the structure should be erected. Otherwise the whole thing will go down (heno nitāi bine bhāi, rādhā kṛṣṇa pāite nāi). We can get a solid foundation from Nityānanda Prabhu.
One day Nityānanda Prabhu came to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s house in Māyāpura. Mahāprabhu’s mother, Śacī Devī, and Viṣṇu Priyā Devī, His wife, were also there, as well as other devotees. Suddenly Nityānanda arrived, quite naked.
Mahāprabhu managed to give Him some cloth. And perhaps He was concerned that the devotees might have some misconception about Nityānanda Prabhu. So, to prevent this He asked Nityānanda Prabhu for His kaupīna, His loincloth. He tore it up and distributed it amongst the householders that were present, instructing them, “Keep a piece of His loincloth as a kavaca, an amulet, and tie that with a thread to your arm or wear it around your neck. Please keep it with you. Then you will be able to achieve sense control very soon.”
Nityānanda Prabhu has control of His senses to the extreme degree; He does not know anything of this world. His vairāgya, indifference to the world of mundane transaction, is of such a degree that He can appear naked amongst both male and female. So, the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu will construct a firm foundation for us. If there is a firm foundation, then we may build a great structure over it. If we have faith in Nityānanda, then that faith can bear any amount of weight. It won’t betray us.
So, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda has laid stress amongst the Westerners on devotion to Nityānanda. First, we must get His mercy. And then, afterwards, we can get the mercy of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu means Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa: śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya,rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya. First achieve the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu, and then Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, and then Śrī Rādhā-Govinda. In these three stages, we must raise ourselves up.
Devotee: How does one attain the mercy of Lord Nityānanda?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Gosvāmī Mahārāja: One who finds more inclination to serve Gaurāṅga and His dhāma, His transcendental land, and His servants can get the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu. Nityānanda is very much kind to one who has some special tendency towards gaura-līlā.
“Take the Name of Gaurāṅga”
Nityānanda Prabhu walked from door to door in Bengal, saying, “Take the name of Gaurāṅga! I’ll become your servant. You can purchase Me if you only take the name of Gaurāṅga. I’ll be sold to you without any price or condition.” That was His temperament. When Mahāprabhu was in Purī, He sent Nityānanda Prabhu to Bengal. At that time He said, “Without You I don’t find anyone who can spread the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, or devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, in Bengal. They are more engaged in the tantric method and smṛti. They make too much of these trifling things. They are puffed up, thinking that they have finished all knowledge. So, Bengal is a very hard field for preaching. Without You, no one will be able to awaken the masses. Separate Yourself from the higher castes and approach the masses with the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. You are the fittest person for this work.”
Nityānanda Prabhu went to Bengal, but without trying to preach the glories of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, Nityānanda began to preach the name of Gaurāṅga. Nityānanda Prabhu found that there is some danger of thinking that Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are very much akin to the mundane debauchery, lying, and stealing of a degraded soul. Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are of a highly confidential nature. It is very difficult for the masses to understand the purity of kṛṣṇa-līlā. The mass mind cannot accept kṛṣṇa-līlāas the highest attainment. So, Nityānanda Prabhu found it would be difficult to preach kṛṣṇa-līlā, but He found it would be easy to preach gaura-līlā, where Kṛṣṇa has come to distribute Himself to the public with so much capital in His mind. Gaurāṅga means a dynamo which wants to distribute Kṛṣṇa surcharged with the most magnanimous, intensified pity and kindness for the ordinary people, with the greatest affection even for the criminals. Nityānanda Prabhu wanted to bring them in connection with Gaurāṅga, for then kṛṣṇa-līlāwould automatically be within their fist. So, He began to preach about Gaurāṅga, not Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, as commanded by Mahāprabhu. So, Nityānanda Prabhu says, “Bhajo gaurāṅga kaho gaurāṅga, laho gaurāṅger nāma: worship Gaurāṅga, speak only of Gaurāṅga, and chant the name of Gaurāṅga.”
There is another instance of the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, and Gaurāṅga and Nityānanda, which is described in the Caitanya-bhāgavata. Śacī Devī had a dream that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were sitting on a throne, and Nityānanda was fighting with Balarāma, “Come down from the throne. It is no longer Dvāpara-yuga. The Age of Kali has come, and My master Gaurāṅga must occupy Your position on this throne. You come down!” Balarāma began giving some opposition. “No, no, why should We come down? We have been sitting on this throne for such a long time.” Nityānanda Prabhu began forcibly taking Him down, and Balarāma submitted slightly. Nityānanda Prabhu said, “My master Gaurāṅga wants to take the position now. The age for Him has come.” So Nityānanda is very partial to Gaurāṅga. He says, “Kṛṣṇa is far off. My Lord is Gaurāṅga.”
So, we must be very grateful to Nityānanda Prabhu, for He is our guru. And guru’s grace is so important that Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī says, “O, Rādhārāṇī, I want Your grace. Without You, I don’t want Kṛṣṇa separately. I never want Kṛṣṇa without You.” That should be the healthy attitude of a devotee. This has been explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his Gurvaṣṭakam:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi
dhyāyaṁ stuvaṁs tasya yaśas tri-sandhyaṁ
vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam
“I bow down to the lotus feet of śrī gurudeva. By his grace, we achieve the grace of Kṛṣṇa; without his grace, we are lost. Therefore, we should always meditate on śrī gurudeva, and pray for his mercy.”
This is the position of śrī guru, by whose grace we can get everything, we can get the grace of Kṛṣṇa, and without whose grace, we have no other prospect. So, in this way, we must have reverence for he who has given us our first connection with Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
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