The Disappearance of Shrila Haridasa Thakura - Sept 20, 2002

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The Disappearance of Shrila Haridasa Thakura - Sept 20, 2002

>From Cc Antya-lila

 

One day, Govinda went in great jubilation to deliver the remnants of Lord

Jagannatha’s food to Haridasa Thakura. However, upon his arrival, Govinda

saw that Haridasa Thakura was lying down on his back and chanting his rounds

very slowly. Govinda said, “Please rise and take your maha-prasada.”

Haridasa Thakura replied, “Today I shall observe fasting for I have not yet

finished my prescribed number of rounds. How then can I eat? On the other

hand, you have brought me maha-prasada. How can I neglect it?”

After saying this, Haridasa Thakura offered prayers to the maha-prasada and

ate a little portion.

 

The next day, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went and inquired, “My dear

Haridasa, are you well?

 

Haridasa Thakura offered his obeisances unto the Lord and replied, “My body

is all right, but my mind and intelligence are not well.”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked, “Can you ascertain what your disease is?”

Haridasa Thakura replied, “My disease is that I cannot complete my

prescribed number of rounds.”

 

The Lord said, “Now that you have become old, you may reduce the number of

rounds that you chant every day. You are already liberated, and thus there

is no need for you to follow the regulative principles very strictly. Your

role in this incarnation is to deliver the people in general, and you have

done this sufficiently by preaching the glories of the holy name in this

world. Therefore, please reduce the fixed number of times that you chant the

Hare Krishna maha-mantra.”

 

Haridasa Thakura replied, “My Lord, kindly hear my real plea. I was born in

a low family, and thus my body is most abominable. I always engage in low

work, and thus I am the lowest and most condemned of men. I am unseeable and

untouchable, and yet You have accepted me as Your servant. This means that

You have rescued me from a hellish condition of life and elevated me to the

Vaikuntha platform.”

 

“My dear Lord, You are the fully independent Supreme Personality of Godhead,

and thus You act by Your own free will, causing the whole world to move as

You like. By Your mercy, You have made me dance in various ways. For

example, I was offered the sraddha-patra and ate from it, even though I was

born in a family of meat-eaters.”

 

“My dear Lord, I have had one desire for a very long time because I think

that quite soon You will bring to a close Your pastimes within this material

world. I wish that You do not show me the closing chapter of Your pastimes.

Therefore, before that time comes, kindly let my body fall down in Your

presence. I wish to place Your lotuslike feet upon my heart and see Your

moonlike face. With my tongue I shall chant Your holy name, ‘Shri Krishna

Chaitanya’, and in this way I wish to give up my body. Let this lowborn body

fall down before You, for You can make possible this perfection of all my

desires.”

 

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My dear Haridasa, Krishna is so merciful

that He must execute whatever you want. However, you should know that

whatever happiness is Mine is simply due to your association. It is

therefore not fitting for you to go away, and thus leave Me aside.”

While catching hold of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet, Haridasa

Thakura replied, “My dear Lord, do not create an illusion! Although I am so

fallen, You must certainly show me this mercy.”

 

“My Lord, there are millions of respectable devotees who are fit to sit on

my head. They are actually helpful in Your pastimes. In comparison, if an

insignificant insect like me dies, then what is the loss? My Lord, You are

always affectionate toward Your devotees. I am just an imitation devotee,

but nevertheless, I wish that You fulfill my desire. This is my

expectation.”

 

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu assured Haridasa Thakura that He would return the

following day, after visiting Lord Jagannatha. Since it was time to perform

His noontime duties, the Lord got up. After embracing Haridasa Thakura, He

went to bathe in the sea.

 

The next morning, after visiting the temple, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

hastily came to see Haridasa Thakura, taking all of His devotees with Him.

When the Lord arrived, Haridasa Thakura offered his obeisances unto Him as

well as unto all the Vaishnavas.Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inquired, “My dear

Haridasa, what is the news?” Haridasa Thakura replied, “My dear Lord,

whatever mercy You can bestow upon me.”

 

Hearing this, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu immediately began a resounding

sankirtana performance in the courtyard, and Vakreshvara Pandita was

appointed the chief dancer. Headed by Svarupa Damodara, all of the devotees

surrounded Haridasa Thakura, while ecstatically chanting the holy name of

the Lord.

 

In front of all His leading associates, such as Ramananda Raya and

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu began describing the

transcendental qualities of Haridasa Thakura and as He did so, it appeared

as if He possessed five mouths. Indeed, the more the Lord described

Haridasa’s attributes, the more His great happiness increased. After hearing

about these transcendental qualities from Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, all of

the devotees present were highly astonished. With great reverence, they

offered obeisances unto the lotus feet of Haridasa Thakura.

Haridasa Thakura had Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sit down in front of him and

he fixed his eyes, like bumblebees, upon the lotus face of the Lord. He then

took the lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and placed them upon his

heart, and made the dust from the feet of all the devotees the ornament on

his head.

 

Haridasa Thakura began chanting, “Shri Krishna Chaitanya”, again and again,

and while drinking the sweetness of the Lord’s moon-like face, tears

constantly glided down from his eyes. It was while chanting the holy name,

“Shri Krishna Chaitanya”, that Haridasa Thakura gave up his air of life and

left his material body.

 

After witnessing the wonderful death of Haridasa Thakura by his own will,

which was just like that of a great mystic yogi, everyone remembered the

passing away of Bhisma. The devotees’ chanting of the holy names, “Hari” and

“Krishna” was tumultuous as Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu picked up Haridasa

Thakura’s body and placed it upon His lap. Then, while holding Haridasa

Thakura’s body in His arms, the Lord began dancing in the courtyard with

great ecstatic love. Because of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s overwhelming

ecstasy, all the devotees completely lost themselves as they chanted and

danced, being swept away by the waves of transcendental love.

 

After the Lord had danced for some time, Svarupa Damodara reminded Him of

the other rituals that needed to be performed for the body of Haridasa

Thakura. Haridasa Thakura’s body was then raised onto a carrier, which

resembled an airplane, and carried in procession to the sea, accompanied by

the sankirtana of the devotees. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu danced in front of

the carrier, and the other devotees chanted and danced behind.

Upon reaching the sea, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu bathed Haridasa Thakura’s

body and then declared, “From today onward, this sea has become a great

place of pilgrimage.”

 

Everyone drank the water that had touched the lotus feet of Haridasa Thakura

and they smeared the remnants of Lord Jagannatha’s sandalwood paste over his

body. A hole was dug in the sand, and finally, the body of Haridasa Thakura

was lowered into it, along with remnants from Lord Jagannatha, such as silk

ropes, sandalwood paste, food, and cloth.

 

As the devotees continued chanting and Vakreshvara Pandita danced in

jubilation, these articles were placed upon Haridasa Thakura’s body. Then,

with His own transcendental hands, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu covered

Haridasa Thakura’s body with sand while chanting “Hari bol! Hari bol!”

After the body of Haridasa Thakura was completely covered with sand, a

platform was constructed. Then, a fence was built around it for protection.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the devotees danced and chanted all around the

platform, and because of their tumultuous roar, the entire universe became

filled with the vibration.

 

When kirtana was finished, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu bathed in the sea,

along with the devotees, and while doing so they all swam and played in

great jubilation. Then, after circumambulating the samadhi of Haridasa

Thakura, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu proceeded toward the Simha-dvara.

Gradually, all the residents of Jagannatha Puri joined in the procession,

and the combined sound of the kirtana could be heard throughout the entire

town.

 

At the Simha-dvara, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spread His cloth and began to

ask for prasada from all the shopkeepers. The Lord told them, “I am begging

prasada so that a great festival can be held honoring the passing away of

Haridasa Thakura. Please give Me alms.”

 

All of the shopkeepers immediately came forward with big baskets of prasada

and jubilantly delivered them to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Svarupa Damodara

stopped them, however, and so the shopkeepers returned to their stalls and

sat down along with their baskets. Svarupa Damodara then sent the Lord to

His residence, and kept with him four devotees and four servant carriers. He

then told the shopkeepers, “Give me just four handfulls of prasada, from

each and every item.”

 

In this way, varieties of prasada were collected, and after being packed up

they were carried on the heads of the four servants to the residence of Shri

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Besides whatever Svarupa Damodara brought, Vaninatha

Raya and Kashi Mishra sent large quantities of prasada.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made all of the devotees sit down in rows while He

personally began distributing the prasada along with four other men. The

Lord was not accustomed to taking prasada in small quantities, and so He put

on each plate enough for at least five men.

Svarupa Damodara requested the Lord, “Please sit down and watch. With these

men to assist me, I shall take charge of distributing the prasada.”

Thereafter, Svarupa Damodara, Jagadananda, Kashishvara, and Shankara began

distributing the prasada, but all of the devotee would not begin as long as

the Lord had not started eating.

 

Since Kashi Mishra had invited Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for lunch that day,

he personally went and served the Lord, making him eat with great attention.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sat along with Paramananda Puri and Brahmananda

Bharati, and when He began to eat, so did all the devotees. Because Shri

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu kept telling the distributors, “Give them more! Give

them more!” everyone became filled up to the neck.

When the devotees finished eating, they washed their hands and mouths, and

then Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu personally decorated each of them with a

flower garland and sandalwood paste.

 

Being overwhelmed with ecstatic love, the Lord offered the following

benediction, which the devotees heard with great satisfaction. “Anyone who

has seen the festival honoring the passing away of Haridasa Thakura, anyone

who has chanted and danced here, anyone who offered sand onto the body of

Haridasa Thakura, and anyone who came to take prasada will achieve the favor

of Lord Krishna very soon. There is such wonderful potency just in seeing

Haridasa Thakura.”

 

“Being merciful upon Me, Krishna gave Me Haridasa Thakura’s association, but

now, being independent in His desires, the Lord has broken that association.

When Haridasa Thakura desired to leave this material world, it was not

within My power to detain him. Simply by his will, Haridasa Thakura gave up

his life and went away, exactly like Bhisma had previously done. Haridasa

Thakura was the crown jewel on the head of this world. Thus, without him,

this world is now bereft of its valuable ornament.”

 

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told everyone, “Chant, ‘Jaya jaya Haridasa!’ Chant

the holy name of the Lord, Hari!” and while saying this, He personally began

to dance. In response, all of the devotees chanted, “All glories to Haridasa

Thakura, who revealed the importance of chanting the holy name of the Lord!”

Finally, after some time, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu bade farewell to all the

devotees. Then, with mixed feelings of happiness and distress, He went to

rest. From the incident of Haridasa Thakura’s passing away and the great

care in which Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu commemorated it, one can understand

just how affectionate the Lord is to His devotees.