Introduction to chapter 8

This chapter describes Śrī Nityānanda’s stay at the house of Śrīvāsa, Mālinī’s service to Nityānanda in the mood of vātsalya, Mahāprabhu’s test of Śrīvāsa’s love for Nityānanda, Śrīvāsa’s firm faith in Nityānanda, Mahāprabhu’s benediction on Śrīvāsa, Nityānanda’s performance of various childhood pastimes, mother Śacī’s dream, Mahāprabhu’s invitation to Nityānanda, Nityānanda’s lunch at the house of the Lord, mother Śacī’s vision of Their opulences, Gaura and Nitāi’s wonderful ecstatic mood, Mahāprabhu’s ride on the shoulders of a singer who sang the glories of Lord Śiva, the Lord’s resolution to perform congregational chanting at night, the Lord’s nightly saṅkīrtana pastimes at the house of Śrīvāsa, the atheists’ various envious statements, Mahāprabhu and His associates’ kīrtana behind closed doors, Mahāprabhu’s climbing on the throne of Lord Viṣṇu, and His eating in a wonderful mood.

When Mahāprabhu was engaged in enjoying various pastimes in Navadvīpa, Nityānanda Prabhu lived at the house of Śrīvāsa. Due to constantly remaining in the mood of a child, Nityānanda did not eat with His own hand, so Mālinī affectionately fed Him like her own son. In order to test Śrīvāsa, Mahāprabhu one day asked him why he allowed Avadhūta Nityānanda, whose caste and character were unknown, to live in his house; in order to protect the prestige of his family and caste, he should not allow Him to stay in his house. In answer to this, Śrīvāsa informed Mahāprabhu that one who has worshiped Mahāprabhu for even a day is certainly dear to him. Moreover, Nityānanda Prabhu is nondifferent from Mahāprabhu. Even if Nityānanda held a pot of wine and associated with prostitutes, or even if He destroyed Śrīvāsa’s caste, life, and wealth, still Śrīvāsa’s faith in Nityānanda would not be disturbed for even a moment. On seeing Śrīvāsa’s firm faith in Nityānanda, Mahāprabhu became greatly pleased and gave him the benediction that even if Lakṣmīdevī happened to beg at any time, Śrīvāsa would not face any poverty, and even the cats and dogs in the house of Śrīvāsa would have unflinching devotion in Mahāprabhu. Thereafter Mahāprabhu entrusted Śrīvāsa with the full responsibility of caring for Nityānanda and returned home.

Nityānanda Prabhu continued to wander throughout Nadia; sometimes He swam in the waters of the Ganges and sometimes He enjoyed unlimited bliss by floating in the current of the Ganges. Sometimes He would visit the houses of Murāri or Gaṅgādāsa, and sometimes He would go to the house of Mahāprabhu. Whenever mother Śacī saw Nityānanda, she showed Him great affection. When Nityānanda in the mood of a child tried to touch the lotus feet of mother Śacī, she immediately ran away.

One day mother Śacī had a wonderful dream. While narrating the subject matter of the dream to Mahāprabhu, she said that both Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda entered the temple of Viṣṇu as five-year-old boys. Then Nityānanda held Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu held Balarāma, and They began to quarrel with each other. In anger, Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa asked Gaura and Nityānanda to leave the temple room because They were unauthorized.

Nityānanda replied that in the previous Dvāpara-yuga, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma had full authority to perform all pastimes, but in the present Kali-yuga, They had no right whatsoever. Therefore Gaura and Nitāi alone were qualified to accept all the offerings. Both Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa then said that They would bind Gaura and Nitāi, confine Them to the temple room, and leave. In this way They went on quarreling and began to eat the foodstuffs that They snatched from each other. When Nityānanda Prabhu addressed Śacīmātā as “mother” and begged her for rice to mitigate His hunger, mother Śacī’s dream came to an end.

After Mahāprabhu heard the description of the dream from mother Śacī, He forbade her to disclose it to anyone. The Lord said that the Deities of her house were directly the Personality of Godhead and They eat half the foods offered to Them. He previously had some doubt whether Lakṣmīpriyā was eating that portion of the offering, but now that doubt was removed from His mind. Therefore Nityānanda should be invited and fed. Thereafter Mahāprabhu went to Nityānanda, and while inviting Him for lunch, the Lord forbade Him from manifesting any kind of restlessness. In answer to this, Nityānanda said that only a madman plays mischief and Mahāprabhu thinks that everyone is like Himself. While speaking in this way, They both arrived at the house of Mahāprabhu and sat down together with Their intimate associates headed by Gadādhara.

After Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu washed Their feet with the water offered by Īśāna, They both sat down together to eat Their meal. Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu appeared just like Śrī Rāmacandra and Lakṣmaṇa. When mother Śacī served Them food on three plates, They began to laugh. On seeing the characteristics of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in the bodies of Gaura and Nitāi, mother Śacī fell unconsciousness to the ground, whereupon Mahāprabhu helped her regain consciousness.

In order to perform various pastimes in Nadia, Mahāprabhu visited the houses of the devotees and manifested His different forms to the different devotees. One day, as a singer played his small drum and sang the glories of Lord Śiva, Mahāprabhu manifested the mood of Lord Śiva and climbed on the singer’s shoulders. Later, after regaining His external consciousness, the Lord got down from his shoulders and gave him sufficient alms. The singer was very pleased and returned home.

Thereafter Mahāprabhu called His associates and expressed His desire to perform saṅkīrtana every night. According to the Lord’s desire, the pastimes of saṅkīrtana began. On hearing the saṅkīrtana, the atheists began to criticize and spread rumors in various ways. When Mahāprabhu fell forcefully to the ground during the kīrtana, mother Śacī became worried and prayed to Kṛṣṇa, “Although Mahāprabhu does not feel any pain while falling forcefully to the ground, an affectionate mother cannot tolerate it. Therefore, may He not feel any pain.” Mahāprabhu realized the internal mood of His mother, so from that time on mother Śacī remained fully absorbed during the Lord’s saṅkīrtana pastimes and would not know anything. As a tumultuous kīrtana was begun in the courtyard of Śrīvāsa on the day of Śrī Hari-vāsara, Mahāprabhu began to manifest various transformations of ecstatic love. Since by the order of Mahāprabhu the door of Śrīvāsa’s house was locked from inside during the performance of saṅkīrtana, the atheists were unable to enter the house and began criticizing Mahāprabhu and His associates with various harsh statements. The devotees of Mahāprabhu ignored such statements and remained intoxicated in the pastimes of saṅkīrtana. Just as the long night of the rāsa-līlā pastimes appeared as a fraction of a second to the gopīs, the devotees who were intoxicated by Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana pastimes passed their nights absorbed in the same way.

One day after kīrtana Mahāprabhu took all the śālagrāma-śilās on His lap and sat on the throne of Lord Viṣṇu. He then manifested His glories to the devotees and began to eat the various foodstuffs offered by them. In this way, after the Lord ate foodstuffs sufficient to feed two hundred people, He again demanded more food. The devotees were unable to offer any more foodstuffs, so they simply offered Him some betel nuts. Thereafter Mahāprabhu requested Advaita Prabhu to ask for a benediction. In this way, after some time, the Lord fell unconscious to the ground. Later on He regained external consciousness and began to perform kīrtana. In this way, Mahāprabhu continued His ecstatic pastimes in Navadvīpa.