King Prataparudra's Fortune

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Caracas, Venezuela
24 September 2009

One day, a Western devotee asked Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, Param Guru Maharaj, "When Krishna Himself came, He rescued everybody, so if everybody is already rescued what did Mahaprabhu come to this world for?" Srila Sridhar Maharaj, Param Guru Maharaj, answered, "He came only for two men—one is Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, and the other one is Keshav Kashmiri." For example, Raja Prataparudra had already been rescued because he always served the devotee.

At first, to teach us all, Mahaprabhu did not want to meet with King Prataparudra because He showed He was a devotee of the Lord and if He met with the king, then everybody would think He always mixed with the kings and rich people. Later, however, He gave him so much mercy—when Mahaprabhu embraced him, He embraced him so tight (you know that Mahaprabhu is very strong) that the king could not get out.

It was the Ratha-yatra festival. When the chariot of Lord Jagannath stopped on the way, Mahaprabhu went to Ramananda Ray's garden and, tired, fell down there. Nityananda Prabhu had taught King Prataparudra what to do and told him to come to Mahaprabhu at that time. So, by both mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and the will of the Lord, the king came to Mahaprabhu and recited this sloka,

তব কথামৃতং তপ্তজীবনং
কবিভিরীড়িতং কল্মষাপহম্ ।
শ্রবণমঙ্গলং শ্রীমদাততং
ভুবি গৃণন্তি তে ভূরিদা জনাঃ ॥

tava kathamrtam tapta-jivanam
kavibhir iditam kalmasapaham
sravana-mangalam srimad-atatam
bhuvi grnanti te bhurida janah

"My Dear, bestowing the greatest fortune that is attained after so many births, exalted souls come to this world and live here by singing and spreading Your nectarean glories that are life and soul for those suffering in this material world being devoid of Your divine love; that are the gist of all poets' songs; that are the destroyer of all sins; that benefit anyone who hears them; and that possess universal attraction."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 14.13)

This is a sloka from Srimad Bhagavatam and it has a very nice meaning. It is said in this sloka: Who is the greatest distributor? Who is the biggest donor in this world? Those who always distribute Krishna-katha in this world are the biggest donors.

When Mahaprabhu heard this sloka, He hugged King Prataparudra and only kept saying, "Bhurida janah! Bhurida janah!" It means, "You are a great donor! A great donor!"

This is how Mahaprabhu gave His mercy to King Prataparudra...

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