Lord Nityananda's Childhood

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Lord Nityananda's Childhood

by Satyaraja dasa

 

 

Curiously there is no authoritative biography of Nityananda Prabhu;

and while Rupa, Jiva, and Raghunatha do not even mention him once in

their collective writings, Sanatana Gosvami refers to him only

briefly in the invocation of his Vaisnava-tosani. Nonetheless, the

world is fortunate that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's biographers have

devoted large sections of their work to Nityananda's life, which can

be pieced together from this massive literature, and also from later

medieval Vaisnava texts, such as Bhakti-ratna- kara and Prema-vilasa.

Nityananda Prabhu was born in the village of Ekcakra, also called

Ekacakra, in the country of Rahr (Radhadesa), some eight miles east

of where today stands the Mallarpura station of the E.I. Railway

(within the modern Birbhum District of West Bengal). His birthsite is

commemorated by a small temple named Garbhavasa and is visited by

throngs of pilgrims to this day.

 

Although no authorized account of His birth is extant, it is said

that He was born in or near the year 1474 and that His father's name

was Hadai Ojha. Hadai was a well known pandita, having descended from

a good brahmana family whose origins were in Mithila; and his wife's

name was Padmavati. Their only son, Nityananda, was born on the

auspicious thirteenth day of the bright fortnight of the month of

Magh. This auspicious day was made even more auspicious by Nityananda

Prabhu's birth.

 

As a child, Nitai, as He was called, had a close circle of friends,

and together they used to imitate the pastimes of Visnu and His

associates. Once, they dressed themselves as demigods and petitioned

the Lord to alleviate the burdened Earth of Kali-yuga. Nityananda

Prabhu and a playmate who was dressed as the ailing Earth, along with

the other children, took their game to the Ganges, where they

addressed Lord Visnu. At that time, one of the children hid behind a

rock and spoke in a grave voice, "I will soon be born in Mathura to

lighten the oppression of the Earth." The boys enjoyed themselves, as

children do, while becoming completely absorbed in Krsna lila.

 

On another occasion, Nitai and His friends gathered in an

imitation "village" to celebrate the marriage of Vasudeva and Devaki,

the parents of Krsna. The following day, they made their playhouse

into the prison of Kamsa and enacted the entire story of Krsna's

birth. Once, while acting out this episode, Nitai transformed the

area into a cowherd settlement and took "Krsna" there, deceiving

Kamsa by substituting Yogamaya for Krsna within the prison.

 

Performing these intricately-woven stories on a daily basis, the

children became quite close and came to love Nitai as their natural

leader and friend. He was the most imaginative among them, and they

all laughed and shared joyful exchanges when He would dress them like

demons.

 

When they staged the Putana story, for example, they would engage in

uproarious laughter when one of their friends pretended to suck the

demoness's breasts like baby Krsna. Sometimes Nitai would construct

demons out of toys, naming them Bakasura, Aghasura, Vatsasura, and so

on and would go through the motions of battling with them and finally

killing them.

 

His friends were so entertained by His play-acting that they would

come back day after day just to see Him do it again and again.

 

Once in a while, His friends would take the roles of the elephant

Kuvalayapida or the wrestlers Canura and Mustika. Nitai would fight

with them, knock them down, and drag them off by the hair. By the end

of the day, their stomachs would ache from laughter, and they would

tell their parents about the great fun enjoyed with Nitai in play-

acting.

 

Sometimes Nitai would bring His friends to the local milkman and have

them watch Him steal butter and yogurt, as Krsna did in His Vraja

lila. The milkman, of course, did not complain. In fact, he was an

accomplice, setting aside excess dairy for Nitai and His friends,

expecting them to show up.

 

All the adults of Ekacakra adored Nitai. They were fascinated by this

unique little boy, and they loved Him as their own. Seeing His total

absorption in Krsna and the avataras of Visnu, they suspected that He

might be some sort of Incarnation Himself.

 

He was relentless, day after day enacting a different pastime, and

did it so skillfully that His neighbors wondered, "How is it that He

is so talented? How does He know the stories so well? No one has

explained all these details to Him."

 

One day He imitated Krsna's pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill, with

all aspects of the story acted out perfectly. On another, He

constructed a replica of Vrndavana, performing many parts of Krsna's

Vraja-lila with marked realism, and on still another, He pretended to

steal the clothes of the gopis and visit the wives of the brahmanas

engaged in sacrifice.

 

On one occasion, one of the boys dressed as Akrura and took Krsna and

Balarama away from Vrndavana on the order of Kamsa. Nitai cried in

grief, feeling the separation of the gopis. Tears of love flowed from

His eyes.

 

His acting was so authentic that it made all who watched question

whether He was merely acting or in some way experiencing the part He

played. This was true whether He was playing Krsna, Balarama, or even

Vamana, or other Incarnations of the Lord.

 

"Nitai, where have you learned all this?" one of the neighborhood

ladies asked. Nityananda enjoyed her question. "They are My own

divine pastimes," He said, "and I am allowing you to see them." The

townspeople laughed, shaking their heads. They did not know what to

make of Him.

 

(From Sri Panca Tattva: The Five Features of God, by Steven J. Rosen.

Copyright Brhat Mrdanga Press/Folk Books, Brooklyn NY 1994. Reprinted

with permission.)