CC daily 210 – 7.54-58 – The Lord adjusts his plans to accomodate his devotees

Thank you. Prabhu Tandrel Nayan, Jagannath Mandir Gela, Darshan Kari Thakur, Pashu Agya Pangila, Pujari Prabhu Rer Mala Prasad Ani Dila, Agya Mala Paiyan, Harshe Namaskar Kari, Anand Dakshine Deshe, Chale Gaur Hari.
So, here, Lord Chaitanya, at the request of Sarvabhauma, decides to stay for five more days. We see a similar dynamic in the Bhagavatam, when Krishna is about to depart, having done his part gallantly in protecting the Pandavas. Thereafter, he decides to move onwards back to Dwarka.
And things are all set to go. The Lord has practically ascended His chariot. And at that time, Kunti Maharani offers her prayers.
And in her sublime selfless devotion, she initially has the desire that the Lord stay back. And she also says that, Oh, are you going to leave us now, now when so many kings have become our enemies? But then, feeling that the Dwarkavasis will feel separation from Him, she gives in, she doesn’t make that specific request. And she says, My dear Lord, wherever you go, let my heart go with you.
Let my heart forever flow towards you. And that is what that desire. And then after that, Yudhishthira Maharaj requests, Please stay for a few more days.
And then the Lord senses that, that Yudhishthira is in great distress. And because of being in great distress, the Lord decides to stay. Krishna decides that, I am needed here.
Yudhishthira’s distress is because he feels that he is responsible for the colossal massacre that has happened during the Kurukshetra war. Then Krishna himself pacifies Yudhishthira. After that, Krishna takes them to Bhishma, Pandavas.
And Bhishma pacifies and instructs. And then, after that, that’s the 9th chapter in the 1st canto, Kunti’s prayer is the 8th canto, 8th chapter. So Krishna is about to depart, actually from the 7th chapter itself.
In the 7th chapter, Krishna is about to depart at that time. He is preparing to depart, but when Uttara is attacked, then Krishna rescues Uttara, and he simultaneously goes with Arjuna to capture and punish Ashwathama. And after Ashwathama is dealt with, then Krishna actually gets into the action of being about to depart.
But then, when Yudhishthira Maharaj requests him to stay on, then he stays on, and then he is there with Bhishma at his last moment, and then after that, he departs in the 10th chapter. 10th chapter is his departure, wherein it is said that the Kuru ladies offer various prayers to him, very deep philosophical prayers. So, just as Krishna agrees to delay his departure there in Kurukshetra, there in Indraprastha, in the Pandava kingdom, similarly, he also agrees to delay his departure in this case, Lord Chaitanya, at the request of Sarvabhauma, he says, yes, I’ll stay for a few more days, and he stays.
So, different devotees, based on their different dispositions, will make different requests. The associates make the request that please let one of us accompany you. If not all of us, then at least one of us, or at least let someone accompany you.
Sarvabhauma requests, please stay on for a few days, and then he offers prasad, serves the Lord to the best of his heart’s capacity, and then, after that, Chaitanya agrahe. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does agraha. Agraha is insistence.
So, when Sarvabhauma insists, Lord Chaitanya insists that now I have to go. Then, agya dhida. Then Sarvabhauma agrees, and then, when everything seems to have been set clearly for his trip, thereafter, he decides to go and take permission of Jagannath, and he goes to the temple, and Sarvabhauma also accompanies him, and then, again, he offers his obeisances to Jagannath, seeks prayers, seeks permission, offers prayers.
At that time, the pujari comes and mala dhida, and gives the mercy of Jagannath in the form of garland. Lord Chaitanya is delighted. He is very happy, and he states that, he decides that he will stay on.
Now that he has got the blessings of the Lord, now he will move on. So, here we see the Lord demonstrates through His example, how we need to take pleasure, take blessings, take permissions, when we are about to embark on something important. Lord Chaitanya is the Supreme Lord Himself, but He is here telling that, He is here demonstrating in His role as a devotee, how we should act as devotees.
So, He states that, He shows by His action that, whatever we are going to do, we need to take blessings. We need to take blessings of… Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does not have His spiritual master here, and He doesn’t even have… In one sense, He is a sanyasi, and He is the leader of the community, of devotees that are there around Him. But even in His position as a leader, He does not impose His authority, but He takes blessings from the devotees, and then He takes blessings from the Lord.
Such is the intimate and affectionate reciprocation that is happening, demonstrating and teaching for us, how we need to conduct ourselves in our bhakti.