Re: Nityananda replies to Sri Jiva. Very important conversation. Part 1

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!
Dandavats and obeissances.

Here is Nityananda's reply to Jiva Goswami's last question.

Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya
Parikrama-khanda
Chapter Eighteen

The Removal of Shrila Jiva Gosvami's Doubts and
His Journey to Vrindavana

All glories to Shri Gauranga, the son of Shaci! All glories to Nityananda, the son of Padmavati and life of Jahnava! All glories to Advaita Prabhu, the husband of Sita! All glories to Gadadhara! And all glories to the devotees headed by Shrivasa!

After hearing Shri Jiva's question, Nityananda Raya spoke this profound truth amongst the assembled devotees, "Listen, Jiva. Both Vrindavana and Navadvipa are the shelter of countless blissful devotees. Purified living entities who have crossed over the material nature live here as Krishna's associates. This dhama is an eternally pure spiritual abode, where material nature and time are conquered. In this abode, the land and time are eternally full of bliss and completely opposite to the material world. You should know that the houses, doors, rivers, streams, forests, and court-yards are all completely spiritual and intensely attractive.

"That blissful place, transcendental to material nature, rests on Krishna's inconceivable and supremely magnanimous sandhini energy. By that energy the dhama has descended here in Nadia, for Krishna's real desire is to deliver the living entities. Materialistic persons cannot enter the dhama, nor is there any material influence here.

Maya has eternally covered the dhama with a film of dull matter. People who have no relationship with Krishna Chaitanya simply live on top of that covering, blind to the real truth. Though one is thinking, `I am in Navadvipa,' Praudha Maya happily keeps  that person far away from the dhama. But if by some great fortune one receives the association of a devotee, that relationship, or sambandha, with Shri Chaitanya will be established.

"This topic of sambandha is a deep thing, O son of Vallabha, a treasure that the conditioned souls cannot easily understand. Even if one calls out the name of Shri Krishna Chaitanya with seeming affection, if that relationship is not established in his heart, he simply remains in the material realm. Such a person resides on top of the dhama's illusory covering and never attains pure bhakti. That person is the dharmadhvaji, or hypocritically devout, who is especially duplicitous, who has no humility and is full of pride, yet still thinks he is fully qualified.

"By the devotees' mercy, even such a person can give up his pride and perform devotional activities. One should think himself lower than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree. He should not desire respect for himself but should expertly offer respect to others. When one possesses these four qualities and sings the glories of Lord Krishna, his relationship with Shri Chaitanya manifests within his heart.

"Now, with Krishna there are five relationships: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. By first worshiping Gauranga in the mood of santa and dasya, the devotee attains Krishna's service in the other rasas. According to his relationship with the Lord, the devotee's eternally perfect mood spontaneously manifests in the course of his devotional service.

"Whoever makes a distinction between Gauranga and Krishna is contemptible and will never attain a relationship with Krishna. But, in the association of devotees, one who possesses the qualities beginning with humility will first worship Gauranga in dasya, or servitude, relationship. This dasya-rasa is the highest mood in the worship of Gauranga. It is in that mood that the devotees call Shri Gauranga `Mahaprabhu.'

"One who  is qualified in madhurya-rasa worships Gauranga in the form of Radha and Krishna. As Radha and Krishna have combined in one form as My Gauranga Raya, Their pastimes do not appear to be manifest in His form. When the worship of Gauranga in dasya-rasa reaches full maturity in the heart of the living entity, madhurya-rasa naturally develops in his heart. At that time one's worship of Gaurahari qualifies him to worship Radha and Krishna in Vrindavana. Gauranga then drowns the devotee in the nectar of Radha and Krishna's eternal pastimes, which the devotee enters as he attains Vrindavana.

"The materialist, who is blind to spiritual life, cannot see the deep relationship between Navadvipa and Vraja, which are simultaneously one and different. Know for certain that this same relationship exists between Gaura and Krishna, who are also simultaneously one and different. Gauranga, however, is worshiped in madhurya-rasa in the form of Radha and Krishna. O son of Vallabha, very soon, Rupa and Sanatana will teach you all these truths. Now the Lord Himself has given to you the right to enter Vrindavana. Jiva, do not delay any longer in going there!"

Saying this, the all-merciful Nityananda Prabhu put His feet upon Jiva's head and invested him with spiritual power. In ecstatic love of God, Jiva Gosvami remained unconscious for some time at Nityananda Prabhu's feet. He then began to roll on the ground there, in Shrivasa's courtyard, as ecstatic symptoms of love manifested in his body. Crying, he said, "How unfortunate I am that I did not see the Lord's pastimes in Navadvipa with my own eyes. Gaurahari performed His pastimes to free the souls bound in the material world, but I did not see those activities, so my days simply pass uselessly."

Nityananda, Gauranga, Hare Krishna
Jagannatha Gauranga dasa

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