Re: Amalaki Ekadasi Feb-Mar

Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna! Today is Amalaki Ekadashi (fasting from all kinds of grain food) and also the Disappearance Day of Shripada Madhavendra Puri (full fasting till noon), the great personality who brought Radha Krishna Prema in the Brahma Madhva Sampradaya. Please read the glories of Amalaki Ekadashi above.

Shripada Madhavendra Puri

During Nityananda Prabhu's tour of all the holy places of India for the
purpose of purifying them, by the will of providence, he happened to meet
Madhavendra Puripada somewhere in western India. When Nityananda Prabhu saw
Madhavendra Puri Goswami he fainted away in a swoon of ecstatic love and His
transcendental body became completely still. Similarly, when Madhavendra
Puri gazed upon Nityananda Prabhu, he completely forgot himself and fainted
to the ground.
Sri Gaurcandra used to repeatedly remark that, in relishing the mellows of
love in devotion, there is no one to compare with Madhavendra Puri. When the
disciples of Madhavendra Puri, headed by Isvara Puri, saw their spiritual
master and the Prabhu fallen in a faint of ecstatic love, they began to cry.
Gradually, Nityananda Prabhu and Madhavendra got back their external
consciousness. When their eyes opened and they again got sight of one
another, they put their arms around each other's necks and cried tears of
joy. Then they began to roll in the sandy earth carried by the waves of
ecstatic love, while rending the sky with their loud roaring. As a river of
love began to flow from their eyes, Mother Earth considered herself to be
blessed in being flooded by that inundation. With the appearance of the
transformations brought by bhava, trembling, tears, and standing of the
hairs on end, it could be understood that their bodies had become a place of
pastimes for Caitanya Gosai.

Nityananda exclaimed, "Today I have received the fruit of all my travels to
the holy places. In seeing the feet of Madhavendra Puri, I have received the
treasure of love of God, and thus my life has become blessed."

Madhavendra Puri continued to embrace Nityananda Prabhu tightly to his
chest. He wanted to say something but his voice was choked up due to
experiencing intense emotions. Isvara Puri, Brahmananda Puri and the other
disciples of Sri Puripada present, became completely enamored by Nityananda
Prabhu. Some other pilgrims were present at that place but due to being
devoid of devotion, they couldn't understand what was going on and continued
to converse amongst themselves. The devotees felt some sorrow to see the
behaviour of those dullheaded brutes so they retreated into the forest to be
rid of their company. When they were alone together again, their distress
was destroyed and they continued to relish the mellows of Krsna-prema. In
this way Nityananda Prabhu and Madhavendra Puri spent some days together in
the happiness of Krsna-katha.

Madhavendra Puri's love of God was very uncommon. Simply upon seeing a dark
raincloud he would fall down unconscious. Day and night he imbibed the
spirituous liquor of Krsna-prema, and thus remained intoxicated, sometimes
laughing, sometimes crying, sometimes raising a tumultuous hue and cry.
Nityananda also behaved just like a madman, falling down on the ground, his
body agitated by waves of ecstasy. As lava belches forth from avolcano, loud
laughter erupted from his mouth while his whole body, as if in the throes of
a great earthquake, trembled violently.

Never before having seen such unprecedented displays of ecstatic emotions,
Madhavendra Puri's disciples continuously remained engaged in Hari-kirtana.
No one knew whether it was  day or night. Having become completely absorbed
in the mellows of Krsna-prema, the days were passing though it seemed to
them that not even a moment had elapsed yet.  Whatever was discussed
between Madhavendra and Nityananda is known only to them and Sri
Krsnacandra.  Who else is capable of understanding such  subject matter?
Madhavendra Puri was unable to give up Nityananda's company and so he
continued to roam about, keeping Nityananda with him.

Madhavendra Puri told his disciples, "Never before anywhere in  all my
travels to all the holy places, have I ever seen such  love as this.  I
could understand that the Supreme Lord is merciful to me when I got a friend
like Nityananda as my close companion.  Whenever one gets His association,
that place becomes the sum total of all holy places and non-different from
Vaikuntha itself.  Whoever simply hears about Him will definitely get the
association of Sri Krsnacandra.  And whoever bears even the slightest enmity
towards Him, though he may be a devotee, is not dear to Krsna."  In this
way, day and night, Madhavendra praised the attractive qualities of
Nityananda Prabhu.

Lord Nityananda respected Madhavendra Puri as his guru and always behaved
with him in that relationship. After travelling together for some days
finally Nityananda Prabhu set of in the direction of Setu Bandha while
Madhavendra Puri started for Sarayu. Having lost contact with the external
world neither of them was aware of his own body. In order to maintain body
and soul together, they thus remained in these transcendental states of
consciousness. If in external consciousness, they would cease to live. C.B.
Adi 9.158-192

At the time of his departure from this world, Madhavendra Puri was
completely absorbed in separation from Krsna and constantly repeated one
sloka. This verse is considered by Gaudiya Vaishnavas to be the essence of
expression of the mood of separation.

Among his associates and disciples were Sri Advaita Acarya, Sri Pundarika
Vidyanidhi, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Iswara Puri, Sri Paramananda Puri,
Sri Ranga Puri, Sri Ramacandra Puri, Sri Nrsimha Tirtha, Sri Raghupati
Upadhyaya, Sri Sukhananda Puri, among others.

"Madhavendra Puri's body is totally imbued with divine love, as are his
followers as well. He takes nothing other than the juice of the mellows of
love for Krsna as his foodstuffs. Thus his body has become the place of
pastimes of Sri Krsna." C.B.Adi 9.155

His worshippable Deity, Gopalji, is presently residing at Nathdwar in
Rajasthan, and is worshipped by the followers of Vallabhacarya.

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