Kalidasa
KALIDASA
A kayastha by caste, Kalidasa was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya. He
was an uncle of Raghunatha dasa and a resident of Sankhanagar in Saptagrama.
In his past incarnation he was Malli, the daughter of Pulinda.
Kalidasa chanted Hare Krsna incessantly. Even when playing a game of
chess or dice, he would chant. He ate the remnants of food left by all
Vaisnavas regardless of their caste or creed. One day Kalidasa went to the
house of the great devotee Jhadu Thakura, who belonged to the bhunimali caste.
Kalidasa paid his obeisances to Jhadu Thakura and offered him some mangoes,
then offered respects to his wife. Feeling embarrassed, Jhadu Thakura
immediately fell prostrate at the feet of Kalidasa saying, “I belong to a low
caste.” Kalidasa took leave of Jhadu Thakura and then hid near Thakura’s
home. After offering the mangoes to Krsnacandra, Jhadu Thakura took some
himself and gave the rest to his wife, who ate them and threw the remnants
into a ditch outside the house where all the refuse was thrown. Kalidasa then
picked up those remnants. He licked the banana bark, mango seeds and skins
and was overwhelmed with ecstatic love (CC. 3.16.29-37)
When Kalidasa visited Jagannatha Puri, Lord Caitanya bestowed great mercy
upon him as noted below:
“Lord Caitanya had been regularly visiting the temple of Jagannatha
everyday, when entering the temple He would wash His feet in a ditch on the
northern side of the Simha-Dvara behind the door. There are twenty two steps
leading to the temple and at the bottom of those steps there is the said
ditch. Lord Caitanya had ordered His personal servant Govinda that one should
not take the water that had washed His feet. Accordingly, no living being
could take that water.
One day, as Lord Caitanya was washing His feet in the ditch, Kalidasa
extended his palm to take the water. Kalidasa drank one palm-full, and then a
second and a third. Then the Lord forbade him to drink more, saying, ‘Do not
act in this way anymore. I have fulfilled your desire as far as possible.’
Lord Caitanya is the most exalted omniscient Supreme personality of
Godhead, and therefore he knew that Kalidasa, in the core of his heart, had
full faith in the Vaisnavas. Because of this quality, Lord Caitanya satisfied
him with mercy which was unattainable to anyone else.” (CC 3.16.40-49)
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