CC Adi 17.17 – Nityananda-trayodasi—The Glories of Lord Nityananda

Host: Today we have the supreme privilege and honor to have with us a very special personality in our Western society, one of our pioneers and a very dedicated disciple of Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness Giriraj Swami, who joined our Krishna Consciousness Society in 1969 when he was still a student at the University in Boston. After graduating from there, he accepted formal initiation from Srila Prabhupada and received the name of Giriraj dasa. And became a leading member of the Boston Center. Soon after, he went to India with Srila Prabhupada to help him establish his mission in India.

In 1972, Srila Prabhupada appointed Giriraj Swami as president of the ISKCON Bombay and trustee of Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Since then, he has made many significant contributions to Srila Prabhupada’s mission, most notably focusing on all kinds of development projects of Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, Bombay. He was instrumental in the acquisition and development of the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in Govardhana and led the development of the Kirtan Ashram for women, the Bhaktivedanta Hospice, and the Vrindavan Institute of Palliative Care, all in Vrindavan. Through his efforts, Giriraj Maharaja has become renowned for the service he has accepted, his loyalty and dedication to Srila Prabhupada’s mission, his ability to raise funds, and cultivate important members of society, and his care for devotees all around the world.

In 1977, Giriraj Swami was awarded the renounced order of life and appointed president of the ISKCON Board of Trustees in India. In 1982, he was appointed to ISKCON Governing Body Commission and to oversee the society’s activities in Bombay, Mauritius, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. Giriraj Swami has also taught at the Vrindavan Institute of Higher Education and continues to lecture and give presentations at japa retreats and workshops all around the world. Presently, based in California, Giriraj Swami is now focusing on one of the personal instructions he received from Srila Prabhupada, and that is to write books. He is the author of Watering the Seed and Many Moons, and he is working on several publications, including a book about death and dying in Vedic tradition, his search for a spiritual master, and his early days in the Boston Temple. He traveled with Srila Prabhupada in India, and Srila Prabhupada’s momentous efforts in Bombay and Vaishnavas holy days. We would like to call His Grace Jayananda Prabhu from Mauritius to garland please.

Jayananda Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. So on behalf of His Holiness Bhakti Dhir Damodara Maharaja and all his disciples and well-wishers, please accept garland Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. I got it all the way in India.

Jayananda Prabhu: Thank you Maharaja.

Host: Thank you Maharaja. We humbly request you to start today’s session, and the topic is, The Qualities of Lord Nityananda. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So, I will begin by singing the maṅgalācaraṇa prayers and leading a  short kirtan, and then I will speak about the most merciful Lord Nityananda.

[maṅgalācaraṇa and kirtan]

Giriraj Swami: So now, my dear devotees, we shall speak about the merciful Lord Nityananda. We will be speaking about His qualities, but it is also not possible to discuss His qualities without discussing His pastimes also. And I will begin with some preliminary discussion of the Absolute Truth. According to the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the Absolute Truth is realized in three features. Preliminary is Brahman, the impersonal light that emanates from the transcendental form of the Lord. Next is Paramātmā, the localized Supersoul within the hearts of all living entities. And the last word in realization of the Absolute is Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna.

The jnanis who realize the impersonal Brahman experience only the sat, eternal aspect of the Absolute Truth. The yogis who realize the Paramātmā within the heart experience the eternal, sat, and cognizant cit features of the Absolute Truth. But only the devotees who realize Krishna, experience ānanda, bliss, which is the goal and ultimate nature of every living entity. When an interviewer once asked Srila Prabhupada, “What is the goal of life?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “The goal of life is to enjoy.” Now, the effort to enjoy materially through the mind and senses leads only to frustration and misery. But spiritually, one can enjoy in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And that pleasure, unlike the temporary so-called happiness of the material world, is eternal. And that eternal happiness can be realized through the mercy of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Nitya means eternal, and ānanda means bliss. So, if we come in touch with Lord Nityananda, we can realize the eternal bliss for which we are hankering. How do we become eligible for Lord Nityananda’s mercy? That we can learn from the descriptions of His qualities and pastimes in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, in the most authorized book, the biography about the teachings and activities of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda and Their associates. There are a number of verses that summarize the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda. But one is especially instructive from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Seventeen, “The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Youth,”

TEXT 17

tabe śacī dekhila, rāma-kṛṣṇa — dui bhāi
tabe nistārila prabhu jagāi-mādhāi

TRANSLATION

Thereafter mother Śacīdevī saw the brothers Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in Their manifestation of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda. Then the Lord delivered the two brothers Jagāi and Mādhāi.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

One night Śacīdevī dreamt that the Deities in her house, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, had taken the forms of Caitanya and Nityānanda and were fighting one another, as children do, to eat the naivedya, or offering to the Deities. The next day, by the will of Lord Caitanya, Śacīdevī invited Nityānanda to take prasādam at her house. Thus Viśvambhara (Lord Caitanya) and Nityānanda were eating together, and Śacīdevī realized that They were none other than Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Seeing this, she fainted.

COMMENT

The story is that Sacidevi had a dream and told her son Nimai, “Last night I had a wonderful dream, and in this dream You and Nityananda went into my Deity room, and You picked up the Deity of Balarama, and Nitai picked up the Deity of Krishna, and the Deities started to protest, ‘You can’t take Us from the altar. You can’t take Us out of the Deity room.’ And You and Nityananda replied, ‘Your days of stealing butter and playing pranks are over. Now You are appearing as brahmans to chant the holy names.’” Then They started to fight over Mother Saci’s offerings, and Krishna and Balarama said, “These are meant for Us. You can’t have these.” And Gaura and Nitai were saying, “But now You have appeared as Us so We can take them.”

Mother Saci asked Lord Chaitanya, “What do You think of this dream?” and Lord Chaitanya said, “This is a very wonderful dream, but don’t tell anyone about it.” Because He was concealing His identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He didn’t want anyone to know that He was Krishna and Nityananda was Balarama. Then Lord Chaitanya said, “I would go into the Deity room to have mahā-prasāda and see that half of it was gone.” His wife, Vishnu Priya, was listening to this, and He knew that she was listening, so He said, “When I would see that half of the offering was gone, I would suspect that it was Vishnu Priya who took the mahā-prasāda, but now I am seeing that these Deities are very mystical, and I am suspecting that They Themselves might be eating half of the remnants meant for Us.” He continued, “Anyway, I think tomorrow you should invite Nityananda for lunch.” So, she did, and as They were having lunch, she saw Them transform themselves into Krishna and Balarama, and she fainted.

So now we come back to Srila Prabhupada’s purport.

PURPORT (continued)

Jagāi and Mādhāi were two brothers born in Navadvīpa in a respectable brāhmaṇa family who later became addicted to all kinds of sinful activities. By the order of Lord Caitanya, both Nityānanda Prabhu and Haridāsa Ṭhākura used to preach the cult of Kṛṣṇa consciousness door to door. In the course of such preaching they found Jagāi and Mādhāi, two maddened drunken brothers, who, upon seeing them, began to chase them. On the next day, Mādhāi struck Nityānanda Prabhu on the head with a piece of earthen pot, thus drawing blood. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard of this, He immediately came to the spot, ready to punish both brothers, but when the all-merciful Lord Gaurāṅga saw Jagāi’s repentant behavior, He immediately embraced him. By seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face and embracing Him, both the sinful brothers were at once cleansed. Thus they received initiation into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra from the Lord and were delivered. 

COMMENT

Hare Krishna. So, this is a very important pastime of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, and it is worth considering in detail because it will give us an insight into the actual mission of Gaura-Nitai and through paramparā, disciplic succession, the mission of Srila Prabhupada, and consequently the mission of his followers. So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura to go into Navadvipa to approach whomever they met on the way and go door to door and approach people at home and request them to chant the name of Krishna, to worship Krishna, to accept Krishna as their life and soul, and the treasure of their wealth, and not to distinguish between who is qualified and who was not. Many people in Navadvipa were pious, and when Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura approached them, they accepted the request, and they all developed pure love for Krishna.

One day, as Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura were making their way around Navadvipa, they saw a large crowd of people watching a spectacle from a distance. When they approached, they saw the two drunken brothers, Jagai and Madhai. The town’s people explained they were born in a respectable brahman family, but in their youth, they fell into bad association and have engaged in all sorts of sinful, horrible activities. They drink wine, they murder people, they burn down people’s houses, they loot and rob and plunder them, they rape women, they eat cows’ flesh. There is not a sin they have not committed. They are extremely dangerous, and the whole of Navadvipa lives in fear of them.

Nityananda Prabhu thought So far we have been approaching pious folks, and they have taken up the order of Mahaprabhu and become pure lovers of Krishna, but no one really knows the glories of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy. If we can convert Jagai and Madhai, then everyone will know the magnitude of Mahaprabhu’s mercy. So, Nityananda Prabhu, accompanied by Haridasa, approached the drunken brothers and delivered the message: chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, follow Krishna’s instructions, glorify Krishna, and give up your sinful activities. The two were physically powerful, very powerful, and very arrogant, and they became enraged. “Who are these people to tell us to worship Krishna and give up our activities?” They decided to kill Haridasa and Nityananda and started to pursue them, shouting, “Kill them, kill them, kill them!” They were running after them, and Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura were running for their lives. While they were fleeing, Nityananda Prabhu said, “Haridasa, I think this is the end of both of us. This is it.” And Haridasa replied, “I think you are right.”

Then Nityananda said, “But you were caned in twenty-two marketplaces, and Krishna saved you. So why don’t you pray to Krishna now to save us?” And Haridasa said, “Yes, that is true. But at that time, I wasn’t associating with a madman like You. You went up to the two biggest demons on the planet and told them to chant Hare Krishna and give up their sinful activities. All the town’s people told us to stay away from them. They are very dangerous. But You didn’t listen.” Nityananda Prabhu defended Himself. “You are blaming Me, but actually I am not the one to blame. It is your master, Gauranga Mahaprabhu, who is responsible. Never in the history of the world has a brahman acted like Him, like a king ordering people to go out in the town and approach people, whether they are pious or sinful, and ask them to chant Hare Krishna. I was just following His order. So don’t blame me, blame Him.” And He added, “If we don’t obey His order, we are finished. And if we do obey His order, we are finished.” Like that, they were joking and laughing as they were fleeing for their lives with Jagai and Madhai in hot pursuit.

Eventually, Jagai and Madhai, though strong and powerful and angry, could not keep up. They were a little heavy and quite drunk. So eventually, they fell behind, and Nityananda and Haridasa ran to Mahaprabhu. The Lord had asked them to come to report to Him every evening after their preaching, and they told Him what had happened. When He asked, “Who are these Jagai and Madhai?” Ganga dasa Pandit and Srivasa Thakur explained, “They are most sinful. The whole of Navadvipa lives in terror because of them. They kill people, they rape women, they burn down people’s houses, they plunder their riches, they drink strong liquor, and they eat cow flesh.” Mahaprabhu said, “I will kill them. I will cut them to pieces.” But Nityananda Prabhu, in His extreme mercy, said, “No Lord, don’t do that. Don’t harm them. In Kali-yuga, our mission is not to kill the demons but to deliver them. And then, Kali-yuga, pretty much everyone will be like Jagai and Madhai. So don’t kill them. You give them to Me. I will take charge of them.” Chaitanya Mahaprabhu agreed, “All right, I put them in Your charge. And because You want to give them mercy, I predict that very soon, they will be delivered.”

While Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was speaking with Nityananda, Haridasa Thakura, who was sitting with Advaita Acharya, said, “You do not know how difficult it is to have a saṅkīrtana partner who is a madman. He is an avadhūta. He goes to people’s houses and steals their butter and yogurt.” If the householder came out and pursued them, Nityananda Prabhu, who was younger, would be gone, and they would catch Haridasa. Sometimes Nityananda would ride on people’s bulls and say, “I am Mahesh!” And sometimes He would milk the cows and drink all the milk. Sometimes He would approach small boys and say, “I am going to beat you!” and they would become frightened and run home to their parents, and their fathers would come out with sticks to protect their child. And Nityananda would escape, but they would catch Haridasa, and he would fall at their feet and plead, “Please, please, it is not what you think.” And sometimes Nityananda would go up to innocent young girls and say, “I want to marry you.” “But” Haridasa said [speaking to Advaita Acharya], “the worst was today. Everyone told us to stay away from these drunken demons, and He went right up to them and said, ‘Give up your sinful activities, surrender to Krishna, and chant Krishna’s name.’ They almost killed us! We barely escaped with our lives.” 

Advaita Acharya began to laugh in ecstasy but with a little anger and said, “Why are you surprised? It is the nature for drunkards to associate with other drunkards. Nityananda Prabhu is always intoxicated with kṛṣṇa-prema, prema-rasa, so it is natural for Him to want to associate with other drunkards. But you are a naiṣṭhika-brahmachari, sober and learned, so why are you associating with those three? You let them associate with each other. Why should you get involved with them?” Then He said, “I know the power of My Nityananda, and you will see within one or two days that these rogues will be chanting and dancing in kirtan with us.”

A day or two later, as Nityananda Prabhu was wandering around Navadvipa in His playful mood, He again came upon the two drunk brothers. And again He approached them and delivered the same message, and again Madhai was enraged, “Who is this person? We almost killed him the other day, and still he is coming back. Who does he think he is?” Then he asked, “Who are you? What is your name?” Nitai replied, “I am avadhūta.” (Avadhūta has many views all of you might know, means beyond the regulative principles.) And that was it. Madhai picked up a clay pot, and with all of his immense strength he smashed the head of Nityananda Prabhu and cut a big gash. Blood covered Nitai’s face and gradually His whole body. “I don’t mind that you struck Me,” He told Madhai, “but what really pains Me is how much you are suffering in ignorance. Please accept the mercy of Gauranga Mahaprabhu and you’ll be happy.” That infuriated Madhai even more, so he picked up another pot, wanting to kill Nitai—he was ready to smash Him but Jagai intervened and said, “Stop it! Can’t you see that this is a genuine saintly person, that He actually has love for you and feels compassion for you? He is trying to help you. What will you gain by killing such an innocent soul?”

Meanwhile, the news of Madhai’s attack reached Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and He rushed to the scene—as Prabhupada said, angry as fire—and immediately called for His Sudarsana chakra to kill them. The chakra came like the blazing sun, but Nityananda Prabhu intervened. “Lord, don’t kill them,” He beseeched Mahaprabhu. “I am going to,” Lord Chaitanya replied. “They have harmed My Nitai, and I am going to kill them.” Still, Nityananda said, “But Jagai saved Me. Madhai was wanting to kill Me, but Jagai stopped him; he saved My life.”

When Mahaprabhu heard that, His heart melted and the chakra immediately disappeared. He embraced Jagai and said, “You have saved My Nitai. You have saved My Nitai. I forgive you for all that you have done.” After embracing him, He manifested a four-armed form with the symbols of Vishnu—the club, disc, lotus, and conch—placed His lotus foot on the heart of Jagai and filled him with ecstatic love for Krishna. And Jagai was weeping in ecstasy. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu turned His attention back to Madhai. He was still angry and ready to kill him, but Madhai’s heart had also changed. The Caitanya-bhāgavata describes that the two of them, Jagai and Madhai, were so close they were like one soul in two bodies. So, by Jagai’s heart changing, Madhai’s heart also changed. And, of course, he didn’t want to be killed. He said, “You have given mercy to Jagai, but we are together; we have done everything together. Whenever we plundered someone’s house, we did it together. Whenever I burned down someone’s house, he was with me. Whenever I drank liquor, he was with me. Whenever I ate cows’ flesh, he was with me. We did everything together, so why are You giving him mercy and not me? You should give me mercy, too.” Mahaprabhu replied, “No, I will not give you mercy, because you have hurt My Nitai.” Madhai said, “We have read in scriptures that so many demons attacked You with weapons and You delivered them all. So You should deliver me too.” And Mahaprabhu replied, “No, I will not deliver you. Nityananda’s body is more dear to Me than My own. Those demons attacked My body and I delivered them, but you attacked Nitai’s body, which is more dear to Me. I will not forgive you.”

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was poised to kill Madhai, and Madhai pleaded for mercy. Then Mahaprabhu showed the way: “You beg for Nitai’s mercy. If He gives you mercy, then I will spare you.” So Madhai prayed to Nityananda Prabhu, and Mahaprabhu told Nitai, “If You actually forgive him, then You should embrace him.” And Nityananda, His whole body still covered with blood, picked up Madhai, who had prostrated himself, and embraced him. That is how merciful Nityananda Prabhu is. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “All right, I will spare you.” Nitai said, “Now I give him to You.” Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave Madhai prema-bhakti. This is inconceivable—He gave him something that Lord Brahma doesn’t have. He gave him something that great rishis and sages and devas are endeavoring to get. He gave it to Madhai and Jagai, and they were the most horrible, sinful reprobates.

So, all that Nitai wanted came true. Later, back at Mahaprabhu’s house, the devotees had saṅkīrtana, and Mahaprabhu said that all of Nitai’s desires would come true. Nitai was thinking, If these two demons, the worst on the planet, could receive Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy, then My traveling everywhere and preaching will be successful. He thought, If I can convert these two demons to accept the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, then I can actually consider Myself a servant of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And if these two demons can chant and dance in ecstasy with the Vaishnavas, I can consider that My name, Nityananda, has value and is true.

There was a big festival of kirtan, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Don’t any of you think that Jagai and Madhai are sinful. I will accept all their sinful reactions. Just watch.” And as Gauranga, in His beautiful golden form, began to accept their sinful reactions, His body turned black. “What do You see? What do I look like?” He asked Advaita Acharya. “I see Shyamasundara,” Advaita replied. “Gaurasundara has become Shyamasundara.” Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked, “Now how will I get free from these sinful reactions? It will be through hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. So, all of you do hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and I will be relieved of these sinful reactions. But then where will the sinful reactions go? My dear devotees, please pay close attention to this answer. “So all of you do hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and I will be relieved of these sinful reactions. But then, where will the sinful reactions go? Into the hearts of those who blaspheme Vaishnavas, who criticize devotees.” So, my dear devotees, we should be very careful about blaspheming Vaishnavas.

So, they had ecstatic kirtan, and Mahaprabhu with His black form was dancing in ecstasy, and gradually the black went away; His form became lighter, and He resumed His original beautiful fair Gauranga golden hue.

Anyway, after that Jagai and Madhai, especially Madhai, were very repentant. And Nityananda Prabhu tried to pacify them and He gave them advice on how to become free from their lamentation. So, to conclude, I’ll quote one of my favorite statements by Srila Prabhupada. He said, “To approach Radha and Krishna, you need the mercy of Lord Caitanya. And, to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya, you need the mercy of Lord Nityananda. And, to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda, you have to approach people like Jagai and Madhai. So if we ever feel, Oh, I am too high. I am too holy. I cannot approach these people, we should think of that instruction and Srila Prabhupada’s own example and Nityananda Prabhu’s example and really pray and beg for mercy and compassion. As Srila Prabhupada’s guru maharaja told him, “That will be good for you and good for the people who hear you.”

So my dear devotees, it was a great honor and pleasure and privilege to be with all of you on this auspicious occasion to discuss the glorious qualities of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. And now, I believe, according to the schedule, we have some time for questions and answers - a little time for questions and answers.

Host: Yes, Maharaja? Thank you so much for this wonderful talk. If anyone has any questions, you can raise your virtual hand, please. And in the meanwhile, we already have one question in the chat box, which I will read out. Giriraj Maharaja, you can give an answer. It will be in the chat box as well. So, question one is, “In caitanya-līlā, we see that everybody is transformed so immediately, almost instantly, but when we see our current situation or ourselves, it seems to be very slow process, very very slow process. Why?”

Giriraj Swami: I am sorry, I missed the last part of the question.

Host: Yes, sorry, I’ll just repeat it. In caitanya-līlā, we see that everybody is transformed, so immediately almost instantly being transformed. But when we see our current situation or ourselves, it seems to be very slow progress. Why is the case?

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada gave one talk in Australia and a devotee in the audience asked him how long it takes to become Krishna conscious and Srila Prabhupada replied, “One moment, it can take one moment if you are ready.” So, yes, it is true. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu were extremely powerful and also extremely merciful. But even if we take Jagai-Madhai, it wasn’t really immediate. I mean, it took a few days before they were actually delivered and converted. But we should do the best we can and depend on the mercy of Gaura-Nitai and Srila Prabhupada and paramparā, and we should be patient. The Upadeśāmṛta, Nectar of Instruction, enumerates six items that are necessary for the successful execution of devotional service, beginning with utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt. utsāhān means enthusiasm, niścayād means confidence, and dhairyāt means patience.

So we need both enthusiasm and patience. Srila Prabhupada said enthusiasm without patience can lead to a desire to control, and patience without enthusiasm can lead to lethargy. I am just judging from the question, but it seems that you are enthusiastic, but you might not be patient enough. So be patient and you will be delivered by the grace of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Gaura-Nitai just like Jagai and Madhai.

Host: Haribol! Thank you so much for this wonderful answer Maharaja. Can we take one more question? Yes, so we have His Grace Jayananda Prabhu who has raised his virtual hand. We invite him to ask his question. Jayananda Prabhu, thank you.

Jayananda Prabhu: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Maharaja, you mentioned that when Jagai and Madhai were delivered, they were lamenting and repenting and then they were given advice how to get rid of that lamentation. So what was the advice?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a good question. I didn’t want to prolong the discussion too much, but it is important, so I will explain that. So, all the Vaishnavas accepted Jagai and Madhai, but especially Madhai felt guilty, because he had tried to kill Nityananda Prabhu, who was the cause of his deliverance; he was very sad. Nityananda Prabhu could see this and inquired, “You have been liberated, you have been given prema-bhakti—why are you so sad? Don’t be sad.” Madhai replied, “When I think that I tried to kill You, I feel terrible. I just can’t forgive myself.” Nityananda told him, “I accept you like My son. Sometimes a child will hit the parent, but the parent doesn’t take it seriously. I forgive you.” Madhai said, “But what about all the other people I wronged and caused pain to? I was so intoxicated; I don’t even know who they are. I don’t even know how to ask them to forgive me. I hurt so many.” And Nityananda Prabhu said, “You should make a ghata— a bathing ghata - a very beautiful ghata—with your own hand, and when people come to take bath, you prostrate yourself before them and ask them to forgive you. And serve whoever comes in any menial way. Being close to the Ganges, you will be purified.”

So, Madhai did that, and when people saw how humble he and his brother had become, their hearts melted and they gave them all affection and respect. But there were some people who were still angry, who had been so hurt by the brothers, by Madhai in particular, and seeing him in that humble position, they would take up a stone and throw it at his head. Madhai was now so meek, however, that he would pick up the stone and return it to them, saying, “I am so sinful. I have caused so much pain to others. Once is not enough; you should hit me again.” And even the people who were the most upset and angry had to forgive him and embrace him.

So, that is the mercy of Gaura-Nitai, and  all that Nityananda Prabhu wanted came to pass.

Jayananda Prabhu: Thank you Maharaja.

Host: Hare Krishna. Thank you so much, Maharaja. We are coming to the end of our session. We would really like to thank you for this wonderful talk and especially for example that you made on sinful reaction. And the key success in our spiritual life is to be patient and also to keep on being enthusiastic and being patient. And Maharaja, we seize the opportunity to express our sincere gratitude for your priceless contribution in our society. And we pray to people to be always following on your footstep. And thank you so much for being with us this evening. Thank you, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Thank you. If we are ending this session now, I suggest we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma., Well, you are going on to another speaker? Kamla Sundari wanted to ask a question. So if we have a little time, maybe we can take her question, and then we can offer Vaishnava praṇāma.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and your divine grace. Guru Maharaja, my question was about hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. And this process so simple that we have to just go on hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana to get Lord Nityananda’s mercy. But I wanted to know, like, when we go on hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana and how do we know that we are receiving this mercy? How do we know that we are actually pleasing the Lord?

Giriraj Swami: Well, when we go on hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, as with any chanting, we should try to hear the holy name. Of course, it is good that we go on hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, but we should also be attentive to the holy name while we are chanting on the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. And if we are attentive, if we absorb ourselves in the transcendental sound vibration of the holy names during the hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, then not only will Lord Nityananda be pleased, but we will be able to feel the reciprocation from Him and from the holy name and from Srila Prabhupada and the paramparā. So, yes, it is not automatic, but we are putting ourselves in a position where we can receive the Lord Nityananda’s mercy if we do it properly. Okay, Hare Krishna.

Host: Thank you so much Mataji. Thank you so much Maharaja. So what I wanted to say is that this is the first part of the program with you as our first main speaker. So, thank you. Maharaja, would you like to say few words?

HH Bhakti Dhir Damodara Maharaja: All obeisances to His Holiness Giriraj Maharaja. A beautiful, beautiful, nectarean explanation on Lord Nityananda, and it is shower for the soul, and we cannot thank you enough for this beautiful narration. Thank you very much for this beautiful narration.

Giriraj Swami: Well, thank you for your kind and encouraging words. It is a pleasure to serve you and your devotees always.

Host: Thank you, thank you, Maharaja. We are praying to have you again and again on our online events. Hare Krishna.