(4/6) Mahaprabhu's Hospitality

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Hooghly district,
25 February 2019, noon, part 4
Translated from Bengali

Are you sleepy? When it is cold, you will feel sleepy. It is nice to have some khichri and fried papads on a rainy day – it is very nice to have that in the evening and have a good sleep after that. But today is Monday, a working day – how can you sleep in? It is not a Sunday [His Divine Grace chuckles]. If a cyclone (rain) comes on a Saturday, it stays for seven days; if it comes on a Tuesday, it stays for three days; and if it comes on any other day, it goes away after one day. That is the rule...

[A devotee comes with garlands] What is it? Oh, garlands. Later, later. Give them at the end. Do you know what Mahaprabhu did? He would say, 'First give them prasad, then (before they leave) put on a garland for them.' That was the rule in Mahaprabhu's time. First, Mahaprabhu gave prasad, then He would offer chandan, garlands, etc. His rule was different from what is done now. Gurudev also told to do like that. He told us that when devotees come, we must first give them some prasad and make sure they have a place to sit. If you read Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, you will find this etiquette described there. After all devotees took prasad, Mahaprabhu would offer them chandan and garlands. This is what Mahaprabhu did.

When devotees arrived in Puri, Mahaprabhu would always ask Nityananda Prabhu, 'Has everybody got a place to stay?' And local people in Puri would say, 'Oh, when these Bengalis come, they only come to eat! They come and sit down to eat at once! They do not even take a bath in the ocean first, do not even come to see Lord Jagannath – they go straight to Mahaprabhu, and Mahaprabhu tells them to eat at once!' Mahaprabhu knew the devotees had come from so far, so He would make sure that they had something to eat first. But when He heard what people said, He told the devotees, 'Oh, they are right. You arrive and instead of coming to see Lord Jagannath and taking a bath in the ocean first, you first come to see Me. What is this?' And all the devotees replied, 'Prabhu, when we get Your darshan, we automatically get the darshan of Lord Jagannath.' They replied like that. They loved Mahaprabhu very much.

So, Mahaprabhu would always make sure that the devotees had got a place to stay and something to eat. Our Gurudev was also like that. He always asked me if the devotees had got a room and if they had taken prasad. 'First give them prasad. They have come from so far – they may not even have got a place to eat on the way...'

This is how devotees arrived in Puri. And when they were leaving, Mahaprabhu would tell them, 'Pratyabda asibe Gundicha dekhite (প্রত্যব্দ আসিবে সবে গুণ্ডিচ দেখিতে). You must come every year to see Gundicha.' He could not say, 'Oh, come every year to see Me,' so He would say, 'Come every year to see Gundicha.'

If you serve devotees, you automatically serve the Lord. It is impossible to serve the Lord without serving His devotees – the Lord will not accept such service. When Sudama came to see Krishna, Krishna (the Supreme Lord) personally washed and massaged his feet and told others also, 'My great friend has come! You must all massage his feet, too. He has come from so far – his sore feet are covered with blisters!' This is how Supreme Lord Sri Krishna served His own devotee. Gauranga Mahaprabhu also personally went begging for His devotee Haridas Thakur and distributed prasad to everybody. He would also say, 'Give Me laphra (a very simple dish of five kinds of mixed vegetables), and give sherbet and cakes to all the devotees.' Mahaprabhu liked laphra (লাফড়া/লাবড়া) very much. It is five vegetables cooked together: taro root (কচুর গোড়া), datar (ডাটার, drumsticks), pumpkin (কুমড়ো), potato (আলু), and red stems (লাল ডাটা). Some people also add banana stems (থোর). Mahaprabhu liked this preparation very much, and all Gaudiya Maths make it everywhere. You have also heard that Mahaprabhu would also often eat banana stems and banana flowers from Sridhar Prabhu's house.

ভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু লুটিপুটি খায়
অভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু উলটি নাহি চায়

bhaktera jinisa prabhu lutiputi khaya
abhaktera jinisa prabhu ulti nahi chaya

'The Lord eats anything and everything when a devotee offers it, but the Lord does not want to take anything from a non-devotee.'

(Based on Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.9.185)

Non-devotees cannot even give anything to the Lord – they always want to get something from the Lord in return; they cannot do service. Even if a non-devotee arranges for a most opulent meal, the Lord will not come there to eat it, but He always eats at the houses of His devotees, and He eats whatever they give Him.

পত্রং পুষ্পং ফলং তোয়ং যো মে ভক্ত্যা প্রযচ্ছতি ।
তদহং ভক্ত্যুপহৃতমশ্নামি প্রযতাত্মনঃ ॥

patram puspam phalam toyam, yo me bhaktya prayachchhati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam, asnami prayatatmanah

'If one offers Me with devotion a leaf, flower, fruit or water, I affectionately accept that offering of the clean hearted devotee.'

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 9.26)

Whatever you have, you can serve the Lord with that, and the Lord affectionately accepts it. He is very merciful. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did that also, many of His devotees also did that.

We must always accept what Mahaprabhu taught.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 25 Mb
Length: 51 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Joining Prabhupad's Mission
2) Starting Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
3) Forgotten Bond
4) Mahaprabhu's Hospitality
5) Kirtan Mood
6) Keep and Protect Relationship