[world-vedic] NITAI, Personification of Mercy

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Appearance of Lord Nityananda Prabhu

Thu, 17 Feb 2000 16:21:16 -0800 (PST)

Hare Krishna !!

Thursday, February 17th is the appearance day of Lord

Nityananda.

Following is a brief biography of the personification

of most merciful,

spiritual potency of the Lord.

Lord Nityananda is the eternal associate of Caitanya

Mahaprabhu, the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rarely is the name

Nimai (Caitanya

Mahaprabhu) taken without that of Nitai (Lord

Nityananda). Mahaprabhu

cannot be approached or understood without the mercy

of Nityananda Prabhu,

who is the cardinal guru of all the universes and

serves as an

intermediary between Mahaprabhu and His devotees. He

is the Lord€s

active principle in both creation and lila. He is the

second body of the

Lord, manifesting as Balaram to Sri Krishna, Lakshman

to Sri Ram and

Nityananda Prabhu to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. All other

forms and expansions

of the Lord emanate from this second body. Nityananda

Prabhu is thus the

source of Sankarshan, all the Vishu's, and Ananta

Sesa. As Vishnu tattva

He and Advaita Acarya are worshipped in the same

category as Caitanya

Mahaprabhu.

In the manifested earthly lila, Nityananda Prabhu is

senior to Caitanya

Mahaprabhu by more than a decade. He is statuesque,

like His Master, with

the whitish complexion of Lord Balarama. His garments

resemble a cluster

of blue lotus flowers and His effulgence is said to

surpass the grandeur

of a rising moon at sunset. He has a deep melodious

voice, constant

singing the glories of Sri Krishna and carries a red

stick with

benedictions for the devotees, but feared by the

demoniac. He has the

carefree mood of a wild avadhuta, so absorbed is He in

the love of

Godhead, and no one knows what He will do next.

Nityananda Prabhu was born in Ekacakra, a small

village in present West

Bengal, around the year 1474. His birthsite is

commemorated by a temple

named Garbhasva and is visited by throngs of pilgrims

today. His father,

Hadai Ojha and mother Padmavati, were pious Brahmans

originally from

Mithila. Nityananda Prabhu was born on the auspicious

thirteenth day of

the bright fortnight of the month of Maga. As a child,

Nitai (as

Nityananda Prabhu was called), loved to enact the

pastimes of Sri Krishna

or Lord Rama. He did this so authoritatively and with

such rapture, that

the entire village would be immersed in the love of

Godhead.

Nitai's favorite part was that of Lakshman, and He

enacted it with so many

apparently authentic scenes not described in the

Ramayana, that people

would wonder if He was making it up or actually

relishing His own

pastimes. The village of Ekacakra was completely

absorbed in the love of

little Nitai, where He spend the first 12 years of his

earthly life. In

the 13th year, a travelling sannyasi, said to be the

famous Lakshmipati

Tirtha, enchanted by Nitai€s devotion and

service, requested Nitai

from his parents, as a travelling companion. His

parents, bound by Vedic

culture, could not refuse the request of a guest and

reluctantly parted

with Nitai. However, devastated by the separation with

Nitai, that Hadai

Pandit soon gave up his life.

Nitai traveled with Lakshmipati Tirtha for about 20

years, during which He

visited all the holy places in the country,

reminiscent of the manner that

Balarama traveled while the battle at Kurukshetra

raged on. Nitai is said

to be later on initiated by Lakshmipati Tirtha. He

also associated with

another of Lakshmipati Tirtha€s famous disciple,

Madhavendra Puri,

who although his godbrother, was revered by Nitai was

as a spiritual

master. Madhavendra Puri is famous for establishing

the sweet truth of

Madhurya-rasa which later become an integral part of

Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

Among the other disciples of Madhavendra Puri is

Advaita Acarya, and

Isavara Puri (the spiritual master of Caitanya

Mahaprabhu).

Nityananda Prabhu met Caitanya Mahaprabhu in 1506,

when He was 32 years

old and the Lord 20 years. It is said that when

Nityananda Prabhu reached

the land of Nadia, He hid in the house of

Nandanacarya, to heighten the

ecstasy of meeting through separation. Caitanya

Mahaprabhu aware of the

arrival of His eternal associate dispatched Haridas

Thakur and Srivas

Pandit to search out Nitai, but they failed. Finally

unable to bear the

separation any longer, Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself

went directly to

Nityananda Prabhu and the ecstasy of the meeting was

so transcendental

that every one witnessing it were awed by the sublime

experience. A temple

called Sri Gaura-Nityananda commemorates this meeting

place in Nadia.

Nityananda Prabhu in His role as the original

spiritual master, was

instrumental in spreading the yuga dharma of

sankritana all over the

Gaudia desh (Bengal, Orrisa). His mercy knew no

bounds, and people

fortunate to come in contact with Him were inundated

with the love of

Godhead. It was by His mercy that Raghunatha dasa, one

of the six Goswamis

started the famous Danda Mahotsava festival of

Panihatti, a tradition that

continues to this day, and was thus able to serve

Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He

extended His mercy to even fallen souls like Jagai and

Madhai, delivering

them from the sinful lives and protecting them from

the wrath of even

Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Indeed His mercy knew no bounds,

and fortunate were

the people who tasted the nectar of His instructions.

When Nityananda Prabhu returned to Bengal at the

request of Caitanya

Mahaprabhu, His decided to abandon His avadhuta status

and become a

grahastha (householder). He married Jahnava devi and

Vasudha, the two

daughters of Suryadasa Sarakhel, who the brother of

Gauridasa Pandit (an

intimate associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the

spiritual master of the

famous Shyamananda Pandit). Nityananda Prabhu had a

son (Virchandara) and

a daughter (Gangadevi) from Vasudha. Soon after

Vasudha passed away and

Jahanva devi looked after the children. She later

initiated Virchandra,

and also became an instructing spiritual master to the

likes of

Shyamananda Pandit, Shrivasa Pandit and Narottama dasa

Thakur. Jahnava

devi is revered as a Vaishnavi and she established the

pre-eminent positon

of women in the Vaishanava tradition.

Lord Nityananda wound up His earthly pastimes, by

merging into the deity

of Krishna, known as Bankim Ray, not far from

Ekacakra. Vaishanava acaryas

emphatically state that people who try to understand

Caitanya Mahaprabhu

without getting the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu will

never succeed. and one

must pray very sincerely to Lord Nityananda Prabhu as

the adi-guru

(original spiritual master) to be delivered to the

Lotus feet of Sri

Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The presence of Nityananada

Prabhu is always felt in

the presence of one's own guru, for the guru is

considered to be the

living manifestation of Nityananda Prabhu's love and

mercy, and his sakti

(power) is what gives the disciple the ability to

perform devotional

service and experience spiritual bliss.

Please Chant

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

.... and be Happy!

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