SRI PURI DHAM MAHATMYA-MUKTA-MALA

(25) Srila Sanatan Goswami’s Association

Mahaprabhu told Srila Sanatan Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami to stay in Vrindavan. Realising that it meant that they could not see Mahaprabhu again, they felt very sad, so Mahaprabhu told them that they could come to Puri during the Ratha-yatra festival. So, they would come to Sri Puri Dham from time to time.

When Srila Sanatan Goswami travelled from Vrindavan to Sri Puri Dham, he would sometimes walk without eating anything and sometimes walk through jungles – because of his difficult journey, he developed very severe pruritus. His whole body oozed pus. It made him feel quite dejected because he thought, ‘My whole body is rotting. I will not be able to do any service with this body. It is better if I just die.’

He did not tell Mahaprabhu anything, but he told Srila Haridas Thakur (they stayed together in one room), ‘I have come to Sri Puri Dham to do some service, but it is rather the opposite – I cannot use this body for service anymore. Better I just throw this body under the chariot wheel and give it up altogether! If I can take the darshan of Lord Jagannath and leave my body seeing Prabhu’s holy face, it will be the most auspicious for me.’

A little later, Mahaprabhu came to Srila Haridas Thakur and suddenly told Srila Sanatan Goswami, ‘Sanatan, what do you think? Do you think this body belongs to you? It is not your property – your body is My personal wealth! You cannot destroy it.’

diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krsna tare kare atma-sama

‘Devotees submit their entire being when they take initiation. At this time, Krishna accepts them as His very own.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.192)

‘When you surrendered to Me and took initiation from Me, you gave everything to Me – and now you want to destroy My things?! Have you no shame? Moreover, one commits suicide only out of ignorance (it is tamo-dharma): do you think that you can come to Krishna by giving up your body? If it were true, I would give up My body a million times, but there is no other way to come to Krishna except through devotion. So, My final word to you is that this body is not yours – it is My body, so do not dare spoil it.’

Sanatan Goswami became shy. He said, ‘Prabhu, this body is all rotten… How will I serve with it?’

‘That is My matter. I will do a lot of service through your body. You will preach in Vrindavan and write so many holy books. I have kept My property with you, so you cannot abuse it!’

Then, Mahaprabhu turned to Srila Haridas Thakur and told him, ‘Haridas, keep an eye on him! Make sure he does not do any nonsense!’

Saying this, Mahaprabhu forcibly embraced Srila Sanatan Goswami. Actually, every day when Mahaprabhu met with Srila Sanatan Goswami, He embraced him, and Srila Sanatan Goswami objected to it many times. He told the Lord, ‘I am committing such a big offence! Prabhu, my whole body is rotten – if You touch it, it is an offence for me. I want to always stay afar, but You always come close and hug me.’ But Mahaprabhu did not listen to him – He would still come and hug him. And that time, when Mahaprabhu embraced him, suddenly Srila Sanatan Goswami’s body turned golden – all his skin disease was gone!

Mahaprabhu told him, ‘I touch you for My own spiritual benefit! By touching your body, I become pure. Actually, Krishna had sent you this disease to test Me – if I shied away, then I would be committing an offence.’

Another time, Mahaprabhu decided to test Srila Sanatan Goswami. He told Srila Sanatan Goswami to come to Yameswar Tota. (This is the place where the temple of Srila Gadadhar Pandit’s Deity of Tota Gopinath is; there is a garden, or a ‘tota’, next to it – that garden’s name is Yameswar Tota.) To come to Yameswar Tota, Srila Sanatan Goswami would have to pass by Lord Jagannath’s temple, but he never went anywhere close to it because Lord Jagannath’s servitors always walked about and Srila Sanatan Goswami never wanted them to anyhow accidentally touch him. He always considered himself very low and fallen.

So, he came to Yameswar Tota taking a detour through the shore of the ocean. He walked on the sandy beach, but as it was midday, the sand was as hot as blazing fire! As the result, Srila Sanatan Goswami got severe blisters on his feet. But he was so happy because the Lord had called him that he did not even notice those blisters.

When he finally came to Yameswar Tota, Mahaprabhu looked at him and asked, ‘Sanatan, which road did you take to come here?’

‘I came by the shore.’

‘How did you walk there? The sand is so hot! How did you tolerate it?’

‘I did not even notice anything – I did not even know that I had got blisters.’

‘Why did you not go through the road past Simha-dvara? The street is so cool there – if you had taken that road, you would not have had to suffer so much.’

‘I have no right to walk past Simha-dvara, Prabhu. If the Lord’s servitors accidentally touch me or even see me, I will be ruined. That is why I took a detour and came along the beach.’

Hearing this, Mahaprabhu was pleased and embraced Srila Sanatan Goswami.

Later, when Lord Jagannath’s chariot festival finished and the chariots returned to the temple a week later, Srila Sanatan Goswami told Srila Jagadananda Pandit, ‘It is time for me to leave… You are so fortunate that you can stay with the Lord all the time. But I am staying so far… The festival finished, and the return festival is over, too, so I must leave now…’

Jagadananda Pandit saw that Mahaprabhu always treated Srila Sanatan Goswami with much affection and he was a little jealous of him. So, when Srila Sanatan Goswami said that he had to leave, Jagadananda Pandit told him offhand, ‘Sure, the festival is over, so your time is up – why are you still here? Go now.’

Actually, he had no right to say this. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the master, and Jagadananda Pandit is a servitor, so he had no right to say such words. When he said that to Srila Sanatan Goswami, he transgressed the etiquette.

Then, Srila Sanatan Goswami went to Mahaprabhu and told him tearfully, ‘Prabhu, it is time for me to go back to Vrindavan. Jagadananda Pandit also told me that it is long due, so I have to leave…’

Hearing this, Mahaprabhu became very angry.

‘What?!’ He exclaimed, ‘Jaga, who was born only yesterday, has said this?! Call him at once!’

Then, Jagadananda Pandit came, and Mahaprabhu told him,

‘Do you even know who Sanatan Goswami is?? Even I respect him so much, and you told him to leave?! Even I learn a lot from Sanatan Goswami. He has left everything and is staying in Vrindavan tolerating so much austerity, and you are telling him, “Why are you still here?” Who gave you the right to say such things?!’

Hearing this, Jagadananda Pandit hung his head silently. Srila Sanatan Goswami also hung his head and began to cry. Does anybody cry when they hear another person getting scolded? Mahaprabhu chastised Jagadananda Pandit, but who started to cry? Sanatan Goswami.

Crying, Srila Sanatan Goswami said, ‘Prabhu, You have never scolded me. O Jagadananda, there is nobody as fortunate as you are! Prabhu is giving you sweet things, but He is giving me only bitter things. I have not been able to attain such great fortunate – Prabhu has never scolded me.’

We must always remember this. It is such great fortune to receive chastisement from your guru. It is not so easy to understand this. Very few can understand it.

This is how Srila Sanatan Goswami visited Sri Puri Dham and performed there many pastimes to teach us all.

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