The stone struck Nityananda on the forehead,
The stone struck Nityananda on the forehead, which started bleeding. Nityananda quietly meditated on Govinda, Krishna.
Jagai was deeply shocked to see the blood dripping from Nityananda�s forehead and when Madhai once again raised his arms to strike Nityananda, Jagai caught his hands. He said, �Why did you do such a heartless brutish thing, what can you gain by striking this foreigner? This Avadhuta is innocent! Do not hit Him again! He is a renunciate hitting Him will not benefit you.�
People went running to Sri Caitanya and informed Him of the incident. The Lord immediately collected a large army of His disciples and arrived at the spot. Nityananda was still amidst the two, blood dripping all over His body, but He was smiling.
When Sri Caitanya saw blood on His beloved Nityananda, He went into a fit of wrath and cried out, �Chakra! Chakra!� calling for His most devastating weapon, the Sudarsana disc. The chakra immediately appeared, looming ominously before the very eyes of Jagai and Madhai.
The devotees became very fearful and Nityananda quickly went to Sri Caitanya begging Him, �When Madhai was about to hit Me, Jagai tried to check him, but accidentally I was hit and although You see blood on Me, I do not feel any pain. Please be calm My Lord I have no pain see, I beg of You to spare them and give them to Me.�
When the words about Jagai checking Madhai entered Sri Caitanya�s hearing, He became very pleased and He went up to Jagai and embraced him. He said to Jagai, �May Sri Krishna bless you, you have won Me over by protecting my Nityananda.
You can ask for anything you very much desire, I shall grant you the boon, and from today may you be firmly situated in a pure devotional life, experiencing krishna-prema.�
The Vaishnavas became joyous, appreciating Sri Caitanya�s blessings on Jagai with loud cries. When Jagai heard Caitanya�s blessing him with krishna-prema, he fell unconscious with ecstasy.
Lord Caitanya said, �Jagai, rise up and see, I have really blessed you with krishna-prema.� Jagai then saw Lord Caitanya in His fourhanded manifestation, holding the club, conch, disc and lotus. Jagai then placed Sri Caitanya�s lotus feet upon his chest. Jagai knew that the lotus feet now upon his chest sustained Lakshmi Devi�s life and so he caught them very tightly as his most treasured object. Being purified of his sins, he wept like a child. Sri Caitanya is always performing such wondrous pastimes.
The same quality of soul resides in both Jagai and Madhai, but one was purified of all his sins, and the other still a sinner. While Jagai was praying to Sri Caitanya, Madhai was already being transformed within. Overlooking the presence of Nityananda, Madhai quickly got up and threw himself like a stick before Lord Caitanya.
Catching hold of His lotus feet, he prayed, �Both of us were sinners, sinning together, in the same place at the same time. Why has Your mercy been shown to one and not the other, My Lord? Be merciful to me, I shall chant Your Holy Name, for there is no one else who can deliver a wretch like me.�
Sri Visvambhara replied, �I cannot deliver you, for you were responsible for shedding Nityananda�s blood.� Madhai replied, �You cannot say this My Lord. How can You act against Your own religion? In Your previous incarnation, did You not give liberation to those demons who were piercing Your body with arrows?�
The Lord replied, �Your offence is far greater than that of those demons, because you have hurt My most beloved associate, Nityananda. I reveal to you this truth: Nityananda�s body is more dear to Me than My very own.�
Madhai said, �Since You are already revealing this truth to me then tell me, how may I be saved? You are the Supreme healer of all diseases. I can be healed of my disease only by Your treatment. Please do not deny me anymore, O Lord of the Universe, Your real identity is already known. From whom can You hide it?�
Visvambhara said, �You have committed a grievous offence. Go and fall at Nityananda�s feet.� Madhai threw himself at Nityananda�s feet following Sri Caitanya�s instructions. Nityananda�s lotus feet are eternal treasures and once anyone holds on to them, they will never be forsaken. This fact is well understood by Revati Devi.�
Visvambhara said, �Listen dear Nityananda, he is at Your feet. You must show him mercy. As he was responsible for shedding Your blood, so only You can forgive him.�
Nityananda said, �What can I say or do My lord? Everything is a transformation of Your mercy. If I have acquired any piety due to devotional service to You, then let all My pious results be given to Madhai.
As for My offences, please do not regard them. However Lord, leave aside Your deception and unconditionally shower Your mercy on Madhai.�
Visvambhara said, �Now that You have forgiven everything, why not also give Madhai Your transcendental embrace.� Receiving Visvambhara�s order, Nityananda firmly embraced Madhai. Madhai was immediately relieved of all sinful reactions and his body became surcharged with Nityananda�s spiritual powers.
Both Jagai and Madhai were now completely purified of all sins and they began to glorify their Lordships, Gaura Nitai.
Sri Caitanya said, �From now on do not commit anymore sinful activities.� Jagai and Madhai replied, �Never again, My Lord!� Sri Caitanya said again, �Both of you listen carefully, it is an absolute fact that I have delivered you from all your sinful reactions accumulated over many, many births. Now, if you do not engage further in any sinful activities, I take full responsibility for your sinful lives. I will take the remnants of your sins and my energy will manifest within your bodies.�
The Lord�s promise to the two was like sweet nectar in their ears and they fell down in a state of blissful trance upon hearing His words. All misconceptions and nescience dissipated from their minds and they felt exhilarated in these moments of great spiritual happiness. The Lord perceived this mood and instructed His men accordingly.
�Take these two men to My house and I will perform kirtana with them. I will give them today what is rarely accessible to even Lord Brahma. I will covert these two men to top class devotees who will become famous all over the world.
�Previously, many would cleanse themselves in the holy waters of the Ganga whenever they contacted Jagai and Madhai. However, I will change their opinion. From now on they will consider the association of Jagai and Madhai as good as the association of Ganga Devi herself. This was Nityananda�s desire and Nityananda�s desires and promises shall never go in vain.�
All the Vaishnavas escorted Jagai and Madhai into the inner recess of Sri Caitanya�s house. Allowing only the Vaishnavas inside, the Lord closed the doors.
Visvambhara sat down and Nityananda and Gadadhara sat on either side of Him. In front, facing Him, sat the exalted Advaita Acarya around whom sat the rest of the devotees.
They were, Pundarika Vidyanidhi, Haridasa Thakura, Garudai, Ramai, Srivasa, Gangadasa, Vakresvara Pandita, Candrasekhara and the many other associates of the Lord who all knew the real nature of His activities. They all sat in that assembly with Jagai and Madhai.
Jagai and Madhai were so swayed by the spiritual ecstasy generated in the kirtana and Vaishnava assembly that they began rolling on the ground manifesting the symptoms of ecstasy like horripilation, profusion of tears, shivering, etc.
Who is able to fathom the unlimited and nectarine pastimes of the Lord? He can convert two rogues into exalted devotees. They were previously atheists and sinners, but now they were like two renounced spiritualists. Whosoever has faith in these activities of the Lord will attain the lotus feet of Krishna. The worst degradation is certainly reserved for the non-believers.
Jagai and Madhai offered prayers in praise of the Lord. The Lord and the devotees heard them in great happiness. By the will of the Lord, Sarasvati Devi, the Goddess of Learning, appeared upon their tongues. Jagai and Madhai saw both Sri Caitanya and Sri Nityananda sitting in one place and they perceived Their actual individual spiritual identities. The prayers they offered were so potent that if one hears them one immediately develops loving attachment to Krishna.
They prayed, �All glory to Sri Visvambhara, the Lord of Lords. All glory to Sri Nityananda who is serving Sri Visvambhara in so many ways. All glory to Sri Caitanya who is the preceptor for the congregational chanting of the name of Lord Krishna. All glory to Sri Nityananda who carries out all of Sri Caitanya�s desires. All glory to the son of Jagannatha Misra. All glory to Sri Nityananda who has taken complete shelter of Sri Caitanya.
�All glory to Sacidevi�s son who is an ocean of mercy and all glory to Nityananda, the Lord�s constant companion. All glory to You, the Lord of my heart, who is born as the son of a regal scholar, and all glory to Nityananda who is the embodiment of compassion. All glories to the activities of Lord Caitanya and all glories to Lord Nityananda, the most exalted Vaishnava.
�All glory to the Supreme Lord, Sri Caitanya, who holds the conch, disc, mace, and lotus. All glory to Lord Nityananda, who is non-different from Lord Caitanya and is glorious as the, �Avadhuta.�
�All glory to Lord Gauracandra, the life and soul of Advaita Acarya. All glory to Lord Nityananda, who in His expansion as Ananta Sesha is glorifying the Lord with His thousands of mouths.
�All glory to Lord Caitanya, Gadadhara Pandita�s life force and the master of Murari, He is the source of all joy to Haridasa Thakura and Vasudeva.
�O Lord! You have in all Your previous incarnations delivered innumerable sinful persons. These acts are supremely wonderful and the whole world sings hymns praising these pastimes. In fact, by delivering two sinful wretches like us, the glories of Your previous activities are somewhat reduced, after all we are insignificant.
�The story of Ajamila�s deliverance is glorious, we seem puny and small next to that. This we say not in useless praise, but with full conviction. Ajamila was the right candidate for Your mercy. The Vedas declare that even a killer of millions of brahmanas can attain liberation immediately upon chanting Your Holy Name. It is not at all surprising that Ajamila attained liberation by chanting Your name because such is the transcendental potency of Your Holy Name.
�You have incarnated especially to expound the highest truth of the Vedas. The authority of the Vedas would be undermined if sinners like us were not delivered. We were inimical towards You and we even struck Your beloved Nityananda, yet You delivered us. One can easily judge the unimaginable difference between Your magnanimous act and our heinous low performance.
�As soon as Ajamila uttered, �Narayana� four messengers of the Lord appeared before him. As for us, when we saw You we immediately drew blood from Your forehead for which we were able to see Your expansion, the expansion of your expansion, Your weapon for this incarnation (the Holy Name) and Your eternal associates. You had all along kept these wonderful truths a secret, but now these unlimited Supreme Excellencies have been exposed.
�Now, by Your grace, the essence of the Vedas has been clarified and so Ananta Sesha may openly and freely sing Your truth. Now the hidden storehouse of Your transcendental qualities has been opened. The best example of this is Your causeless mercy in saving us.
�Demons like Kamsa, were cruel to You, yet You gave them liberation after killing them. You have so many aspects, which are most confidential and none of the kings and warriors could discover even the smallest amount of them when they fought with You at the Svayamvara of Rukmini Devi. Although they could see You face to face, they all met with doom.
�Previously, devotees would clean themselves in the holy waters of the Ganga if perchance they even stepped on our shadows. However, now they are touching and mingling with us. O Lord, in every respect, Your activities are supra-mundane, and there is no way to deceive anyone anymore about Your transcendental nature, everyone is now well aware of this.
�When Gajendra, the king of the elephants, prayed to You, You appreciated his faith and surrender. Therefore, You relieved him of his distressful condition and gave liberation to him.
�Similarly, it was not by accident that You delivered Putana, the witch, and all the other demons like Aghasura, Bakasura, etc. Upon leaving their bodies, they were immediately transported to transcendence. Who can understand Your activities unless they approach the subject through the knowledge of the Vedas?
�The way You have delivered these two most wretched, fallen souls was witnessed by the entire creation. All the wretched sinners You have delivered so far had some kind of qualification, but we both had not a single qualification. Yet, You have causelessly delivered us because of Your unlimitedly merciful nature.�
�Jagai and Madhai finished their prayers with tears of joy streaking down their glowing faces, such is the transcendental potency of the Lord. The assembled Vaishnavas were astounded having seen everything that had just happened in their very presence, and they clasped their hands in great reverence before the Lord, offering Him their prayers.
�The choice words that were just spoken by these two drunkards in praising You were possible only by Your causeless mercy. Who can understand the nature of Your inconceivable potencies? You give Your mercy by Your own sweet will.�
The Lord replied, �These two are not to be considered as drunks or rogues any more, from now on they are My servitors. All of you kindly pray for them that they may never leave My devotional service. Whatever offences they may have committed against any of you, please forgive them and bless them.�
Hearing Lord Caitanya�s words, Jagai and Madhai threw themselves down at the feet of all the Vaishnava devotees and catching their feet begged for mercy. The devotees were moved by their humility and blessed them, thus Jagai and Madhai became free from all desires to commit further sinful activities.
Lord Caitanya said, �Rise, rise, O Jagai and Madhai. You have nothing to worry about anymore now that you are My servitors. Your prayers were all true and are well appreciated. Such mercy and miracles that you have now witnessed and experienced is impossible in your present bodies, but is now made possible only by the mercy of Lord Nityananda.
This is an absolute fact. All you Vaishnavas present here please witness that I am taking upon Myself all the sinful actions of these two souls.�
To make everyone understand that He was accepting the sinful actions of Jagai and Madhai, Lord Caitanya�s body became blackish in complexion. The Lord inquired, �Why do you all look at Me in this manner? How do I look?� Advaita Acarya replied, �You look like Lord Krishna.�
Lord Caitanya began to laugh at Advaita Acarya�s words and all the Vaishnavas became ecstatic and expressed their joy with jubilant sounds.
Lord Caitanya said, �Begin kirtana, then this black shroud of sin will lift from My body and enter the bodies of those who criticize the devotees of the Lord.� The devotees were happy to hear these words and they began a loud kirtana.
Visvambhara and Nityananda began to dance and the Vaishnavas encircled them in joyful abandonment, singing their praise. Advaita Acarya also began to dance, Lord Caitanya had advented on his request and the world was saved because of Him alone.
Everyone joined in the ecstatic singing and dancing keeping time with their clapping of hands. In their joy, they forgot their awe and reverence for the Lord and nobody knows the countless times they bumped into the Lord while dancing.
Mother Saci sat in the inner chambers with her daughter-in-law, Vishnupriya, and seeing everything, felt herself carried away by waves of ecstasy. Everyone was drowned in the flood of happiness of krishna-prema, Sri Krishna. Even Lakshmi Devi is very careful about touching the Lord�s body, but now even the two former drunkards were freely mingling, dancing and touching the Lord.
Lord Caitanya delivered these two, while He pushed the faultfinders and offenders of the Vaishnavas down to the worst well. One never advances in spiritual life by finding faults in other Vaishnavas. In fact, only sinful reactions are increased so certainly give up all your faultfinding.
After dancing, the Lord sat down and all the Vaishnavas sat around Him. The Vaishnavas were covered in thick layers of dust, yet they were clean and glowing.
The Lord again looked like His original beautiful golden self and smiling He said,
�Do not consider these two persons as being sinners any longer since I, Myself, have burnt up their sins. My energy has entered them and I make them act, speak, walk, eat and when I withdraw My energy, they will leave their bodies behind. The conditioned living entity, being unable to bear much pain, calls out for help upon experiencing a little suffering, but even after the body has been burnt to ashes the soul wants to continue his association with the body.
�The conditioned living entity, under the influence of his false ego, begins to accredit himself for all his activities and becomes proud. This is very dangerous. All the activities so far carried out by these two were under the spell of false ego, but now I have stopped all that. From now on, they should be counted amongst you as Vaishnavas without discrimination.
�All of you please listen attentively. Anyone who gives these two brothers anything to eat with respect and devotion is, in fact, offering to Lord Krishna the most relishable honey. Even a leaf offered with love to them is nectar to Krishna.
�If anyone ridicules these two in any way, they will be destroyed because of their offensive attitude.� The Vaishnavas were pleased to have Jagai and Madhai join their fold and offered them obeisances.
The Lord said, �Let us all go to the waters of the Bhagirathi Ganga!� As they came to the river, they all jumped inside. Constant chanting of Krishna�s Holy Name had made the devotees young in spirit and now they played in the Jahnavi, Ganga�s waters, like little children. Even the sober older devotees were acting like the restless youths. This is truth by the influence of devotional service to Lord Krishna.
Just before this was the festivity of kirtana, and now they were all submerged in the festival of water sports with the Lord. All the barriers of awe and reverence were lowered between the Lord and His devotees and they played with each other as equals. The Lord splashed water on the devotees, but no one could counter the Lord�s attacks. In all the water fights between the Lord and the devotees, the Lord was always the winner and the devotees fled His ferocious attacks after only a few minutes of feeble resistance.
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