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Srivasa Thakura - Pastimes - Part III
From Sri Panca Tattva, the Five features of God
By Satyaraja dasa
Submitted by Manoj
The devotees learned much truth from their association at Srivasa Angan, and on one occasion this educational experience came from the death of Srivasa's son. This pastime is mentioned only briefly in the Caitanya-caritamria but is described in more detail in the Caitanya-bhagavata. Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives more detail still and has expanded the elements of this lila and its philosophical implications by composing thirteen songs, totaling ninety-one verses. He calls his elaboration on this pastime Soka-satana ("The Dispelling of Grief"), and we will summarize his work as follows.
In the evening twilight, within the privacy of Srivasa Pandita's courtyard, Lord Caitanya engaged in Hari-kirtana, with the most advanced devotees in Navadvipa. Becoming madly intoxicated with ecstatic love, the assembled devotees completely forgot themselves and incessantly began to dance and chant wildly, completely surrounding the Panca Tattva. At this time, within the inner chamber of Srivasa's house, one of Srivasa's sons suddenly died without any apparent cause. Due to the shock of losing the boy, Malini and the neighboring women began to lament and cry like madwomen. The cacophony of this loud crying upset the kirtana, which was good, for the devotees had great love for Srivasa's children.
Entering the inner chamber, Srivasa began to pacify the women by giving them spiritual instructions that were as sweet as nectar. He said, "Look here, respected ladies, you all lament uselessly - what kind of unhappiness can possibly exist when one has ecstatic love for Krsna? Whoever has Krsna for his eternal Son never has to lament for anything. But if one becomes attached to temporary sons or daughters of the material world, then everything is lost - and pain is inevitable. Look, you have all come into this world for the purpose of worshiping Krsna, so now you should all become situated again in that eternal absolute truth. As long as you are in this body, you should cultivate love for Lord Krsna, knowing Him to be your real wealth, real friend and your very life and soul. All the attendants of this body, namely, brothers, friends, husbands and sons should be accepted as being only temporary relatives. They will all die in due course. Whoever wants to hold on to husbands or sons will in fact not be able to keep them, for all these bodily alliances are impermanent."
"Even if your son is sitting in your very lap," Srivasa continued, "you still cannot protect him, for when the consequences of his bad fruitive reactions take effect, then his present world is finished, and he will remain in your lap no longer. Being involved in the happiness and distress of temporary material relationships, many other living entities are now being degraded into lower species of life, falling into illusion and far away from Krsna's lotus feet. Therefore you should immediately give up your useless lamentation and just become absorbed in the bliss of the Lord's holy names."
"Why are you exclaiming, 'my son, my son!' in great sadness? Krsna has simply taken His own devotee to suit His own happiness. Do you not believe in God? Krsna is causing all things to take place according to His own sweet will. We do not see the whole picture, and it is foolishly speculative to think that we do. Therefore, giving up all of your lamentation, just listen to the ecstatic chanting of Krsna's holy name which is going on now out in the courtyard. From this you will get the topmost transcendental bliss, and all of your wishes will be fulfilled."
Srivasa continued, "All of you should now consider the real fate of the boy, and you should immediately give up any bewilderment and grief that may be in your disturbed hearts. My son has given up his body while hearing the singing of the Lord's holy names coming from this kirtana out in the courtyard. Therefore he certainly has died while absorbed in love for Lord Hari. Should any of us be so fortunate as to get an auspicious death such as this, then we would certainly be able to cross over the ocean of material existence."
Hearing the words of Srivasa Pandita, the assembled female Vaisnavis gave up their lamentation for the dead boy. Covering up the body, they again fixed their minds on the transcendental form and name of Lord Hari. Then, realizing his preaching was successful, Srivasa went out into the courtyard and, filled with joy, resumed dancing with Lord Caitanya and loudly sang the glories of Krsna.
The boy had expired only one-and-a-half hours after dark, but out in the courtyard no one knew about it due to the loud power of the kirtana. Then for nine hours there was continuous chanting of the auspicious holy names. Thus the entire night had elapsed in this ecstatic singing.
Then the kirtana finally stopped, and Lord Caitanya said, "Why am I feeling some sadness here? I perceive that something inauspicious has happened in this house today which has deprived Me of bliss." At this point, the devotees related to the Lord the story of Srivasa's son. Hearing this news, Mahaprabhu loudly exclaimed, "Oh no! What has happened? What has happened? Now the core of My heart has been pierced with unbearable pain. Why didn't you inform Me of this calamity when it first happened?"
Hearing these words of the Lord, Srivasa Pandita began rolling on the ground, crying out, "Please hear me, Oh Lord! I am unable to tolerate anything that interrupts the ecstatic mellows of Your kirtana! Only one of my sons has died, oh Lord, and that has not really upset me - even if all of my sons were to die, I would still get more than enough happiness simply by seeing You! I would certainly die on the spot if I were to interrupt Your dancing, oh Lord! That is why I did not inform You of this bad news, for I was dreading the calamity of disturbing Your ecstasy. My Lord, if You will kindly grant us permission now, then we shall take the boy's body away and perform the proper funeral rites."
Hearing this from Srivasa. Pandita, the actual father of the boy, Mahaprabhu broke doun and began to weep piteously. The Lord then managed to compose Himself, thinking, "How could I possibly abandon such loving servitors and go elsewhere by taking sannyasa? If I were to do so, rny heart would certainly split." Then the Lord ordered the household members to bring the boy's body out into the courtyard, and they immediately complied.
Mahaprabhu addressed the boy's dead body, "Please tell Me, dear boy, whatever prompted you to leave here so suddenly, thus giving up the association of your loving father?" After the Lord spoke to the boy in this way, to everyone's surprise, the soul miraculously manifested again in the dead body, and the boy began to offer prayers to the Lord.
Srivasa's son said, 'My dear Lord, You are without a doubt the Supreme Absolute Truth, unlimited and without competition. Since You are the source of all energy, You can accomplish anything You please. Life and death belong to You, and You control everything by Your multifarious potencies. Neglecting Your lotus feet, I have now become completely ruined. As soon as I chose to be independent of Your Lordship, my mind became interested in maya's allurements. Thus I have given up my inherent spiritual nature. Falling down due to the dazzling bewilderment of fruitive gain, I have been captured by illusion within this mundane world. Now as a result I am being forcibly tossed about on the revolving wheel of fruitive actions and reactions. According to this fate, I have been brought into Srivasa's home to appear as his son by taking birth in the womb of his wife Malini. But again, according to my predestined fate, I must now leave this place; I cannot remain here any longer, even if I wanted to. Your desire is most powerful, dear Lord, whereas my desire is most feeble, for I am simply an insignificant, fallen soul. Wherever You send me next, oh Lord, I must certainly go to become someone's son or husband or father or daughter. However, I know that all these material relationships do not possess even one speck of eternal truth, for only You are the eternal friend and guardian of all souls."
Srivasa's son continued: "I have no idea what kind of pious credit I must have earned to be born as the son of a great devotee like Srivasa Pandita and that within the holy abode of Navadvipa. Thus I myself am amazed that I have had the great fortune of actually being able to see and touch Your lotus feet, oh Lord. If it is Your desire that I should take another birth, oh Lord, I humbly request Your Lordship to kindly allow me to be always situated in the transcendental loving service of Your divine lotus feet."
Saying this, the boy fell silent. All the devotees witnessing the incident could not believe their eyes and ears. Srivasa Pandita's whole family gave up their lamentation and were overwhelmed with great happiness.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu then began to speak with very sweet words: "My dear Srivasa, you are actually My eternal servant- Indeed, I am staying in this world only due to your affection for Me. You are never subject to the bondage of Mayadevi, the proprietress of this prison-like material world. All the people in Navadvipa are witness to this fact. You have dedicated unto Me all of your wealth, your followers, your body, family and household paraphernalia, and thus you have become most joyful by being so nicely situated in My eternal service. Nityananda Prabhu and I are helplessly bound to your pure love for Us. We know that you enjoy great happiness by considering Us to be your very own sons. We are truly your eternal Sons, for We see that you are not materially attached to any of your temporary sons, although you clearly love them very much, for they are subject to the material conditions of creation and destruction. Because of your pure devotion I am eternally indebted to you. And because of your saintly character you are also quite deserving of My indebtedness."
Since Mahaprabhu showed such affection for Srivasa, the devotees present began to dance ecstatically while repeatedly shouting, 'Jaya Sri Caitanya! Jaya Nityananda!" Then the four brothers of the dead boy came over and fell down at Lord Caitanya's lotus feet, weeping and wailing with ecstatic love. They began rolling on the ground, overflowing with pure love while humbly petitioning the Lord as follows.
They said, "Oh Lord of our lives! If calamities like this would happen every day, then that would only increase our deep loving attachment to Your lotus feet! This calamity of losing our brother is actually our great fortune, for on this day we are remembering Your Lordship. If, on some other day, we are bereft of Your remembrance, then that day is actually the real calamity for souls such as we."
Lord Caitanya, Who is so affectionate to His own devotees, then took the dead boy and, along with all the devotees, began to chant the holy names. In a parade of song and dance, they all arrived on the bank of the Ganges, and there they performed the funeral rites using water from that holy river. When Mahaprabhu personally put the boy's body into the river, the Ganges personified picked up the body and held it. Bringing the dead boy out of the water, she touched Mahaprabhu's lotus feet. Still holding the body, she began to tremble in ecstatic love for the Lord. In this way, Srivasa's son was given a glorious burial, and the devotees continued to dance in ecstasy There is no end to the glories of Srivasa Pandita, for devotee who are totally surrendered to the Lord's mission continue to exist, and where they are, so too is the Panca Tattva.
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