Govindaji's mahaprasadam sponsored by prostitute not for the

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Cc Antya 6.276 Purport:

 

"Because of their ignorance, however, they cannot understand that since

their minds are materially polluted, neither the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, Lord Krsna, nor the Vaisnavas accept their offerings. If one

accepts money from such materialistic persons to offer food to the Deity and

Vaisnavas, a pure Vaisnava does not accept it."

 

{Comment: Even if Krsna may accept the offering from materialistic persons

sometimes but pure Vaisnavas should not accept it.}

 

Here is the most illustrative story from the life of Siddha Krsna Dasa Babji

who is considered by many to be the siksha guru of Jagannatha Dasa Babaji

through which we can clearly understand the above statement made by

Prabhupada in the Cc: (Some also consider Madhusudana Dasa Babaji as the

siksha guru of JDB.)

 

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Siddha Krsnadasa Babaji

 

He took the path indicated to him by his mother and left for Vrindavan at

the age of sixteen. After studying in the town of Vrindavan for two years,

he went to Jaipur with the intention of serving Govindaji. There he was

given authorization by the king of Jaipur to serve Govindaji and did so for

eight or nine years. During this time, he ate the rich food which was given

in offerings to Govindaji, but gradually discovered that even though he was

eating the holy remnants (prasad) of Govindaji, he was nevertheless

afflicted by strong sensual desires. This caused him to feel doubts. After

all, how could anyone experience such desires even while engaged in the

service of Govindaji and partaking of only his spiritual leftovers?

 

There was no one in Jaipur who could help clear the doubt from his mind. So

he went to Kamyavan to see Siddha Jayakrishna Das Baba whom he asked to

clarify the matter. Baba answered his question in the following manner:

 

"Listen, son. Take a green tree and cut it. Then put it in water. After a

few days, take it out of the water and then put it straight into a fire.

Will it burst into flame? The living soul has fallen into the ocean of

material existence where he has been since time without beginning. There it

has been soaking in the juices of material desire like the waterlogged tree.

If you suddenly take it and throw it into the fire of bhakti, the result

will be exactly the same as if you throw a waterlogged piece of wood into a

fire. If you want the flame of devotion to catch hold, you must first dry

the juice of sensual enjoyments out of it.

 

"Now you may ask, what is the relation between sensual enjoyment and

mahaprasad? Mahaprasad is not material, it is completely different from the

material sense objects, you will say. But have you forgotten what Mahaprabhu

said to Raghunath Das? Raghunath Das used to buy the mahaprasad of Jagannath

in Puri to give to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but Caitanya said, 'An invitation to

eat the food of a materialistic person is in the mode of passion.'(1) In

other words, to take the food offered by a materialistic person is like

inviting the mode of passion to come, even if that food comes in the form of

mahaprasad. On the other hand, when Mahaprabhu heard that Raghunath was

taking, washing and eating the prasad which had been thrown on the roadside

and was so rotten that even the animals would sniff and reject it, he

himself showed a desire to partake with him. He went to Raghunath and

grabbed a handful of this food from his hand and ate it up. He then said to

him, 'Every day I eat all kinds of prasad, but nowhere do I find such a

delicious flavour as this.'(2)

 

"Now listen to me. I will tell you about an incident that has a bearing on

this. This took place sometime after Rupa and Sanatan and the other Gosvamis

of Vrindavan had departed from this world. In Bengal, there was a certain

kirtan group that would dance and sing through the town as though mad with

love of God. A well-known prostitute was watching them from the rooftop of

her house and became so affected that she came down to where they were and

rolled about in the dust of the feet of the Vaishnavas who were singing. The

influence of the dust was such that she immediately felt a spirit of

renunciation pervade her mind. She fell at the feet of the leader of that

group of Vaishnavas and began to cry. The leader asked her, ''What do you

want?'' In answer to this, she said, ''I want you to take the thousands of

rupees worth of jewellery that I possess. Take all my worldly riches and use

them in the service of the Vaishnavas, and make me your disciple.''

 

The leader said, ''I accept your request. You are now my disciple. Now just

obey this order. Take all the money and jewellery that you have and take it

to Vrindavan and give it to Govindaji.'' The prostitute did as she was told

and took everything to Vrindavan, but when she revealed her desire to

Govindaji's priest, he said that he was not able to accept her offering

because of who and what she was. The prostitute was disheartened by this

refusal and for three days sat fasting on the banks of the Yamuna. Finally

Govindaji ordered his priest, ''Go to the banks of the Yamuna and bring the

prostitute here. Take all the wealth which she has offered, buy food and

make me a feast. Then let her dress me by her own hand.''

 

The priest did as he was told. The prostitute bathed and dressed the deity

herself.

 

The money she had given was used to prepare a variety of dishes which were

offered to Govindaji. Vaishnavas were then invited to take the prasad which

resulted of this offering. That very night, all the Vaishnavas who had eaten

this prasad at that invitation had nocturnal emissions. The following

morning, after discussing their experiences amongst themselves, they went to

Govindaji's priest and asked him about the prasad they had eaten. He told

them the whole story. The Vaishnavas were much saddened that they had eaten

the food which had resulted from a prostitute's illicit earnings. They all

went to their own cottages and for three days remained there without taking

food or drink. On the third day, at the end of the night, Govindaji appeared

to them in a dream and asked, ''Why are you so angry with me that you all

want to commit suicide?''

 

' ''If we don't commit suicide then what else should we do? You made us

leave our homes and families and gave us shelter at your feet for so long

now. Did you do it so that you could feed us the food of prostitutes and

destroy our principles?'' They asked in unison.

 

'Govindaji said, ''Since when did I tell you to eat the food of a

prostitute? I can eat anything, but unless I specifically sanction it, you

cannot .''

 

' ''So what are we supposed to do? If mahaprasad comes before us, are we to

reject it? That would be an offence!' they protested.

 

'Govindaji told them that in such a case, they should take only a tiny crumb

which would be sufficient to show respect for the holy food.'

 

Jayakrishna Das's words clarified the matter in Krishna Das's mind. He

decided that from that day onward he would cease to eat the royal dishes

which came as Govindaji's prasad. He left Jaipur and came to live in Doman

Ban near Nanda Gram, engaging in bhajan in a spirit of complete

renunciation. He would beg flour from the village and then mix bitter

margosa (neem) leaves into it. From this he would make a dough out of which

he sometimes cook thick rotis or sometimes would eat raw.

 

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Make's things very clear, doesn't it?

 

Your servant,

Nayana-rañjana d€sa