Srila Gurudeva (The Supreme Treasure)
by Swami Bhaktivedanta Madhava Maharaja | 2010 | 179,005 words
This page relates ‘Shri Kshira-cora Gopinatha’ of the book dealing with life and teachings of Srila Gurudeva, otherwise known as Shri Shrimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. Srila Gurudeva is a learned and scholar whose teachings primarily concern the spiritual beauties of Bhakti—devotional service and the qualities and pastimes of Shri Krishna.
Śrī Kṣīra-corā Gopīnātha
On his way to Purī, Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī stopped to rest in remunā, where the deity of Śrī Gopīnātha resides. Seeing the beauty of this exquisite deity, Śrī Mādhavendra Purī was completely overwhelmed. He chanted and danced in front of the deity, and then sat down and asked the pūjārī about the types of food that were offered to the deity.
Observing the superb arrangements at the temple, Mādhavendra Purī presumed, by practical deliberation, that only the best foodstuffs were offered. He thought, “I shall ask the brāhmaṇa what foodstuffs are offered to Gopīnātha so that we can make and offer similar dishes to Śrī Gopāla.”
When he was thus questioned, the brāhmaṇa described in detail, item by item, the kinds of foods that they offered to the Gopīnātha deity. At one point, he glorified the sweet rice that was offered to the deity.
“At nightfall, sweet rice that tastes just like nectar is regularly offered to the deity in twelve earthen pots. This sweet rice is named amṛta-keli and is renowned throughout the world as gopīnāthakṣīra. The taste of this nectar (amṛta) is unknown anywhere else in the world.”
As Mādhavendra Purī looked on, the evening offering of twelve pots of sweet rice was placed before the deity. Pleased to see such nice arrangements in the temple, Mādhavendra Purī thought, “I don’t want to ask, but if a small portion of that sweet rice is offered to me, I will taste it and prepare a similar dish to offer to my Lord Gopāla.” Then, realising that he had desired to taste the sweet rice while it was still being offered to the Lord, Mādhavendra Purī became very ashamed, thinking that it was an offense. He was simply engaged in remembering the Lord. As the offering proceedure was completed, the evening ārati ceremony began. Mādhavendra Purī stayed for the duration of the ārati ceremony, then paid obeisances to the deity, and left the temple without anyone’s knowledge.
Mādhavendra Purī was completely unattached and indifferent to material things, and he avoided begging. If he was offered some food without begging, he would eat, otherwise he would fast. A paramahaṃsa such as Mādhavendra Purī is satisfied in the unalloyed loving service of the Lord, therefore he was totally unattached and indifferent to material things. Material hunger and thirst could not impede his activities. Since he had desired to taste a little sweet rice which was being offered to the deity, he thought he had committed an offense. Therefore, he departed from the temple and went to the village marketplace, which was vacated in the evenings. There he sat down and began to chant the holy names.
Meanwhile, the temple pūjārī had laid the Gopīnātha deity to rest, and having finished his duties for the day, was also resting. The Gopīnātha deity came to speak to him in a dream, and He spoke as follows. “O pūjārī, please get up and open the temple. I have retained a pot of sweet rice for the sannyāsī that came today. This sweet rice is hidden under My clothing. You failed to see it because of My trick. The mendicant sannyāsī named Mādhavendra Purī is sitting in the empty marketplace. Find the pot of sweet rice and quickly take it to him.”
Waking from his dream, the pūjārī rose immediately, took bath, and entered the deity’s room. He found the pot of sweet rice under the cloth, as the deity had directed in the dream. He took it, wiped the area where it had been present, then hurriedly left the temple. Carrying the earthen pot of sweet rice, he went quickly to the village. Searching for Mādhavendra Purī, he called out his name as he passed the empty stalls. “He whose name is Mādhavendra Purī, please come and take this pot of sweet rice! Gopīnātha[1] has concealed and kept it for you! Come and claim it! Will the sannyāsī Mādhavendra Purī please come and claim this pot of sweet rice mahā-prasāda and enjoy it with great happiness? There is no one more fortunate than you in all the three worlds!”
Hearing the calls, Mādhavendra Purī came forward and identified himself to the pūjārī, who offered his daṇḍavat-praṇāmas and delivered the pot of sweet rice to him. The pūjārī then told Mādhavendra Purī all the details of the events that took place in regards to the sweet rice, and Mādhavendra Purī became saturated in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa, symptoms of ecstasy arising in his body.
The pūjārī was wonderstruck. Seeing his symptoms and loving mood, he then understood why Kṛṣṇa was compelled to give Mādhavendra Purī the sweet rice, and how Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement to hide and then send it to him was very fitting. He was convinced that the Lord was elated with Mādhavendra Purī. Offering obeisances again to Mādhavendra Purī, the pūjārī returned to the temple. In great ecstasy, Mādhavendra Purī partook of the sweet rice offered to him by Lord Kṛṣṇa. After relishing it to the last morsel, he washed the earthen pot, broke it to pieces, and then tightly wrapped all the small pieces in his loose outer cloth to keep them safely. From then on, each day he ate a piece of that earthen pot, and immediately after eating it he would be overwhelmed with ecstatic bliss.
Having broken the pot and tied the pieces in his cloth, Mādhavendra Purī at once decided to leave that area.