(3) King Prataparudra's Mercy

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Puri Dham parikrama, 3 July 2019, part 3
Translated from Bengali

...When Mahaprabhu saw him arrive [at the bank of the Godavari] with his party, He thought, 'This must be that Ramananda Ray!' Then, they sat down together and talked. In the end, when Mahaprabhu started to reveal His internal opulence, Ramananda Ray thought, 'What kind of sannyasi do I see in front of me?' He fell in obeisance at Mahaprabhu's feet. Ramananda Ray is an incarnation of Visakha. He was born in a little lower caste.

[Distracted by somebody] Hey, sit down and sit quietly! Do not be so restless and fickle during Hari-katha. Always be self-controlled (dhira) and possessed (sthira). You must read what Vaishnavs' qualities are – there are twenty-four qualities of a Vaishnav. Always be steady, self-controlled. When we chant kirtan, how many people can walk along with me? Many get too mentally restless, so after that they say, 'Oh, my legs are paining!'

So, we have now come to the place where Sri Ramananda Ray stayed in Sri Puri Dham. After his meeting with Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu told him, 'When I come to stay in Puri, you must come there, too.' So, Ramananda Ray came here with Mahaprabhu. He worked for the king, so he came to the king and said, 'Prabhu, can I go to serve Mahaprabhu?' The king encouraged him, 'Yes, of course! Go and serve the Lord! You do not have to work here – stay with Mahaprabhu the whole time. You do not have to retire from your post – I will continue paying you your full salary!' In this way, Ramananda Ray left his work and came to stay with Mahaprabhu. He was always there with Mahaprabhu in Gambhira.

They always talked about Krishna. Svarup Damodar and Ramananda Ray were Mahaprabhu's wealth. He was always absorbed into separation pastimes

শ্রীস্বরূপ-রায়-সঙ্গ-গাম্ভিরান্ত্য-লীলনং
দ্বাদশাব্দ-বহ্নিগর্ভ-বিপ্রলম্ভ-শীলনম্ ।
রাধিকাধিরূঢ়-ভাব-কান্তি-কৃষ্ণ-কুঞ্জরং
প্রম-ধাম-দেবমেব নৌমি গৌর-সুন্দরম্ ॥

sri-svarupa-raya-sanga-gambhirantya-lilanam
dvadasabda-vahni-garbha-vipralambha-silanam
radhikadhirudha-bhava-kanti-krsna-kunjaram
prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

'In the company of His two intimate associates, Sri Svarup Damodar and Sri Ray Ramananda, He manifests the acme of His deepest, heart-rending pastimes; during those very long twelve years, He speaks in divine madness, vomiting the fire of unbearable separation from Lord Sri Krishna (externally, it produces an agony of swallowed poison; but, internally, it brings much joy); He is none other than Govinda, who, coming under complete influence of Sri Radha’s deep devotional mood and adorned with Sri Radhika’s beautiful holy complexion, resembles a magnificent intoxicated elephant – I am singing in praise of this beautiful Lord Sri Gauranga-sundar, a worshippable Deity of divine love.'

(Sri Sri Prema-Dhama Deva Stotram, 54)

This is how Ramananda Ray came to stay with Mahaprabhu. In the meantime, Raja Prataparudra himself had gone as if crazy because he had a very strong desire to meet Mahaprabhu. He tried again and again, but Mahaprabhu would not allow him to see Him. When all the devotees came to Puri, King Prataparudra took care of everything – he arranged accommodation and prasad for everybody – but Mahaprabhu was still against meeting him. He said, 'I will not meet with a king. What will people learn seeing Me meet with a king? They will think that I come to people for money.' Even if I only went to rich people, you would think too, 'They give Maharaj a lot of money, that is why Maharaj goes there.' Despite that, you can see that I cannot even speak English so much during the parikrama, but they still come and give thirty, forty or even a hundred thousand rupees. If they did not give that money, how would we be able to arrange such big festivals? Is it possible to do it with just two thousand rupees? They do a lot of service with their money. That is why I have to speak in English sometimes, I have to give them time, too. So, Mahaprabhu said, 'I will not meet with a king! No matter how much service he does, he is still a king. I will not meet him.' King Prataparudra thought, 'What is the use of all this kingdom, queen and opulent life? Better I wear rings in my ears and, becoming a yogi, go away to stay in a jungle.' He did not want to have anything to do with his kingdom!

Sri Svarup Damodar, Sri Ray Ramananda, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, everybody tried to persuade Mahaprabhu, 'Prabhu, please try to understand him.' In the end, Mahaprabhu got angry and said, 'If you again speak about him, I will go away!' Everybody kept quiet.

Then, one day, King Prataparudra told one of Mahaprabhu's associates, 'When will I be able to meet the Lord? You are so fortunate that you can stay so close to Mahaprabhu! If He does not want to meet me, can I at least have a piece of His cloth to worship?' The devotees gave him a piece of Mahaprabhu's clothes (an uttariya, perhaps), and the king started to worship it. Then, another day, the devotees told the king, 'O king, think about it – your son is not a king...' They also suggested it to Mahaprabhu, 'Prabhu, Prataparudra is the king, but his son is not a king – would You meet with him?' Mahaprabhu did not agree, 'He is a prince, he is the king's son! Well, all right – bring him here. But I have a condition – he must come as a Vaishnav, wearing tilaks, neckbeads, Vaishnav clothes, etc.' (Do you see? You must not wear pants, shorts, etc. Do not dress as kings. Mahaprabhu wanted to see that boy dressed as a Vaishnav.) So, Mahaprabhu gave His mercy to the king's son. When the boy came back home after meeting with Mahaprabhu, King Prataparudra embraced him, 'My boy! You have got Mahaprabhu's mercy! Please give me some of that mercy, too!'

One day, on the eve of the Ratha-yatra festival, Nityananda Prabhu came up with a plan. He is very clever and He knows Mahaprabhu very well. So, He found a way to manage this situation. He came to King Prataparudra and told him, 'During the festival, Mahaprabhu will be dancing and singing in front of the chariots. At some point, He will come to Balagandi Udyan to take some rest in the garden. He will be overcome with asta-sattvik vikar, so He will not be conscious of anything around Him. At this time, you must come to Him dressed as a simple Vaishnav – come and massage His feet. And you must recite this verse:

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, 2.14.13)

'Who is the greatest donor (bhurida) in this world? Those who distribute Hari-katha in this world.' So, King Prataparudra did as Nityananda Prabhu had told him. He massaged Mahaprabhu's feet and recited this verse. As soon as Mahaprabhu heard this verse, He got up and embraced the king, exclaiming, 'Bhurida! Bhurida!' This is how King Prataparudra got Mahaprabhu's mercy. At that time, Mahaprabhu was not conscious that it was a king.

Why did King Prataparudra get Mahaprabhu's mercy that day? Because he had swept the road! He did such a small service! He thought, 'All the devotees will go down the road,' so he swept the road for them. He assumed the role of a lowly street sweeper. He served the devotees of the Lord. As the result of that service, he got mercy.

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