20210330 Lord Caitanya Distributes and Accepts Prasāda

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on March 30th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Krishna! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book, today’s chapter entitled as:

Lord Caitanya Distributes and Accepts Prasāda

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.197

prabhara samudrasnānānte advaitādira samudrasnāna:—
samudra-snāna kari’ prabhu āilā nija sthāne
advaitādi gelā sindhu karibāre snāne

Translation: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu returned to His residence after taking a bath in the sea, all the devotees, headed by Advaita Prabhu, went to bathe in the sea.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.198

mandira-cūḍā-darśanānte sakalera prasāda-sammāna:—
āsi’ jagannāthera kaila cūḍā daraśana
prabhura āvāse āilā karite bhojana

Translation: After bathing in the sea, Advaita Prabhu and all the other devotees returned, and on their return they saw the top of the Jagannātha temple. They then went to the residence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to take their luncheon.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, they exactly follow the instructions of Lord Caitanya, they went to their residences, took bath in the sea and bowed down to the cakra, on the top of the temple of Lord Jagannātha, and then they are coming to the residence of Lord Caitanya to take prasāda.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.199

sakalera upaveśana o prabhura pariveśanārambha:—
sabāre vasāilā prabhu yogya krama kari’
śrī-haste pariveśana kaila gaurahari

Translation: One after the other, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu made all the devotees sit in their proper places. He then began to distribute prasāda with His own transcendental hand.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, according to their seniority they were seated in appropriate placeṣ Lord Caitanya personally distributed prasāda.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.200

śrīhaste pracura pariveśana:—
alpa anna nāhi āise dite prabhura hate
dui-tinera anna dena eka eka pāte

Translation: All the devotees were served prasāda on plantain leaves, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu distributed on each leaf a quantity suitable for two or three men to eat, for His hand could not distribute less than that.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this shows how they use biodegradable plates. Missing When Lord Caitanya was serving prasāda, He had very large hands. Naturally the prasāda that He served out was two- or three-men’s quantity.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.201

prabhura bhojana binā sakalei prasāda-sammāne virata:—
prabhu nā khāile keha nā kare bhojana
ūrdhva-haste vasi’ rahe sarva bhakta-gaṇa

Translation: All the devotees kept their hands raised over the prasāda distributed to them, for they did not want to eat without seeing the Lord eat first.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda in third canto of the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam talks about maryādā-laṅghana, since they all accepted Lord Caitanya as superior, they did not want to eat without Him eating first.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.202

dāmodara-svarūpera nitāisaha prabhuke bhojanārtha prārthanā o svayaṁ bhaktagaṇake pariveśanāṅgīkāra:—
svarūpa-gosāñi prabhuke kaila nivedana
tumi nā vasile keha nā kare bhojana

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī then informed Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “Unless You sit and take prasāda, no one will accept it.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.203

ācārya āsiyāchena bhikṣāra prasādānna lañā
purī, bhāratī āchena tomāra apekṣā kariyā

Translation: “Gopīnātha Ācārya has invited all the sannyāsīs who remain with You to come and take prasāda.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.204

tomā-saṅge rahe yata sannyāsīra gaṇa
gopīnāthācārya tāṅre kariyāche nimantraṇa

Translation: “Gopīnātha Ācārya has already come, bringing sufficient remnants of food to distribute to all the sannyāsīs, and sannyāsīs like Paramānanda Purī and Brahmānanda Bhāratī are waiting for You.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.205

nityānanda lañā bhikṣā karite vaisa tumi
vaiṣṇavera pariveśana karitechi āmi

Translation: “You may sit down and accept the luncheon with Nityānanda Prabhu, and I shall distribute the prasāda to all the Vaiṣṇavas.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.206

prabhura pariveśana-nivṛtti, govinda-dvāre haridāsake prasāda-preraṇa:—
tabe prabhu prasādānna govinda-hāte dilā
yatna kari’ haridāsa-ṭhākure pāṭhāilā

Translation: After this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu carefully delivered some prasāda into the hands of Govinda to be given to Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, since Haridāsa Ṭhākura said that he did not want to go into the temple, as he did not want to contaminate any of the servants of Lord Jagannātha. So, Lord Caitanya said that He would send Him prasāda every day. So, He personally took care of His devotees by giving the prasāda in the hands of Govinda dāsa.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.207

sannyāsi-gaṇasaha prabhura prasāda-sammāna ācāryera pariveśana:—
āpane vasilā saba sannyāsīre lañā
pariveśana kare ācārya haraṣita hañā

Translation: Then Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally sat down to accept lunch with the other sannyāsīs, and Gopīnātha Ācārya began to distribute the prasāda with great pleasure.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we think that giving all these details is not necessary. But actually the pastimes of the Lord are transcendental and remembering the activities of the Lord give us His direct association because the pastimes, qualities, name and anything connected with the Lord is all transcendental. So, by remembering His pastimes we are also associating with the Lord.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.208

gopīnāthācārya, śrī-svarūpa o jagadānanda-karttṛka pariveśana:—
svarūpa gosāñi, dāmodara, jagadānanda
vaiṣṇavere pariveśe tina jane—ānanda

Translation: Then Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, Dāmodara Paṇḍita and Jagadānanda all began to distribute prasāda to the devotees with great pleasure.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, serving the devotees gave them great pleasure and in material world people want to be served. But in spiritual life people get pleasure by serving.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.209

prasāda-sammānakāle haridhvani:—
nānā piṭhā-pānā khāya ākaṇṭha pūriyā
madhye madhye ’hari’ kahe ānandita hañā

Translation: They ate all kinds of cakes and sweet rice, filling themselves up to their throats, and at intervals they vibrated the holy name of the Lord in great jubilation.

Purport: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda It is the practice of Vaiṣṇavas while taking prasāda to chant the holy name of Lord Hari at intervals and also sing various songs, such as śarīra avidyā-jāla. Those who are honoring prasāda, accepting the remnants of food offered to the Deity, must always remember that prasāda is not ordinary food. Prasāda is transcendental. We are therefore reminded:

mahā-prasāde govinde
nāma-brahmaṇi vaiṣṇave
sv-alpa-puṇya-vatāṁ rājan
viśvāso naiva jāyate

Those who are not pious cannot understand the value of mahā-prasāda or the holy name of the Lord. Both prasāda and the Lord’s name are on the Brahman platform, or spiritual platform. One should never consider prasāda to be like ordinary hotel cooking. Nor should one touch any kind of food not offered to the Deity. Every Vaiṣṇava strictly follows this principle and does not accept any food that is not prasāda. One should take prasāda with great faith and should chant the holy name of the Lord and worship the Deity in the temple, always remembering that the Deity, mahā-prasāda and the holy name do not belong to the mundane platform. By worshiping the Deity, eating prasāda and chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can always remain on the spiritual platform (brahma-bhūyāya kalpate).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the way it is described that they ate fully prasāda and they had akhaṇda-bhojanam, taking prasāda upto the neck.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.210

sakalera ācamana:—
bhojana samāpta haila, kaila ācamana
sabāre parāila prabhu mālya-candana

Translation: After everyone had finished his lunch and washed his mouth and hands, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally decorated everyone with flower garlands and sandalwood pulp.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see the relationships between the Lord and His devotees. The devotees naturally offer all respects to the Lord, and the Lord, He likes to reciprocate with His devotees, so He is offering them garlands and sandalwood pulp. So sandalwood pulp is put on the forehead and the garlands are worn around the neck.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.211

sakalera nijagṛhe gamana o sandhyāya prabhusaha punarmilana:—
viśrāma karite sabe nija vāsā gelā
sandhyā-kāle āsi’ punaḥ prabhuke mililā

Translation: After thus accepting prasāda, they all went to take rest at their respective residences, and in the evening they again came to meet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 11.211

rāmānandera āgamana o vaiṣṇava-gaṇasaha milana:—
hena-kāle rāmānanda āilā prabhu-sthāne
prabhu milāila tāṅre saba vaiṣṇava-gaṇe

Translation: At this time Rāmānanda Rāya also came to meet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and the Lord took the opportunity to introduce him to all the Vaiṣṇavas.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Rāmānanda Rāya who has retired from His active service as a Governor came to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So, Lord Caitanya took the opportunity to introduce Rāmānanda Rāya to all the Vaiṣṇavas. We see that the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so personal and He was naturally taking care of His devotees. Haribol!!

Thus, ends the chapter entitled, Lord Caitanya Distributes and Accepts Prasāda.