The Story of Madhavendra Puri
Chaitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila Chapter 4, the story of Madhavendra Puri’s devotional service.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s first visit to Remuna after Sanyasa.
Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami describes here that Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, after He had taken sanyas, He went to the home of Advaita Acharya – Shantipur. And there it was decided that rather than going to Vrindavan, He would go to Nilachal or Jaggannath Puri. So He took four of His associates and they began to travel.
On the way – immersed in ecstatic love Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was performing wonderful Kirtans and they were stopping at many holy places. And they came to a very important holy place, which is in Orissa; it is near the village of Balasur and it is called Remuna. It was at Remuna that the very famous and celebrated deity of Gopinath was residing within a temple. So they visited; and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw the beautiful form of Sri Gopinathji and He offered His prostrated obeisance’s at the lotus feet. And just when He offered His obeisance’s, a helmet of flowers fell from Gopinath’s head and fell upon the head of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And this incident transformed Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s heart into such a grateful state of love that He began beautiful kirtan, dancing in transcendental ecstasy. And all the pujaris and all the village people gathered around; never had they seen such beauty, such grace and such transformations of divine love.
They spent the night there. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was very anxious to receive the famous form of Mahaprasad that is served there. Everyday, they offer Gopinath twelve earthen pots of sweet rice. So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to taste that.
So while they were waiting, he narrated to His devotees a story that He had heard from His spiritual master Isvara Puri about Sri Madhavendra Puri’s devotional service.
Glories of Govinda Kunda
Madhavendra Puri at one time travelled to Vrindavan. And he came upon a hill known as Govardhan. When he saw the Govardhan hill which is non different than the body of Sri Krishna, he was maddened in transcendental love. Sometimes he stood up, sometimes he fell down; and he was crying tears from the heart. Madhavendra Puri’s position is so special and his love was unique in this world. Although Madhavendra Puri appeared and took initiation within the Madhavacharya Sampradaya, the understanding of the conjugal love affairs of Radha and Krishna and the awakening of this conjugal rasa within one’s own heart had never appeared within this sampradaya, until Sri Madhavendra Puri revealed it to the world.
So after circumambulating the Govardhan Hill, Madhavendra Puri went to Govind kund. That is the place where Indra after seeking shelter of Sri Krishna, he had sent the Samvartaka clouds due to being humiliated by the Lord – his pride smashed – in order to destroy all of Braja. But Krishna effortlessly lifted the Govardhan hill with the little finger of his left hand and called all the cows and all the braja basis under the hill; where they very safely and peacefully remained for seven days while the thunder and the rains were pouring down. And at last Indra seeing that this small seven year old child was none other than the Supreme Absolute Truth – the all mighty and all powerful Godhead – he came down and begged His forgiveness. And in Govind kund, Indra performed the abhishek ceremony for Lord Sri Krishna.
Madhavendra Puri’s first Dharshan of Gopal
Madhavendra Puri sat to take his bath at Govind Kund.
After taking his bath he sat beneath the tree to take his rest and while he was sitting beneath that tree an unknown cowherd boy came with a pot of milk and placed it before Madhavendra Puri. So this cowherd boy with a smile addressed Sri Madhavendra Puri. He said,
please drink this milk I’ve brought. Why don’t you beg some food to eat? What kind of meditation are you undergoing?
When Madhavendra Puri saw that boy he became very satisfied. Hearing his sweet words he forgot all hunger and thirst. Madhavendra Puri said,
“Who are you? Where do you reside? And how did you know that I was fasting?”
The boy replied,
“Sir I’m a cowherd boy and I reside in this village. In my village no one fasts. In this village a person can beg from other people and thus eat. Some people drink only milk; but if a person does not ask anyone for food, I supply him all his eatables. The women who come here to take water saw you and they supplied me with this milk and sent me to you. I must go very soon to milk the cows but I shall return and take back this pot of milk from you.”
Saying this, the boy left and he could no longer be seen. And after drinking the milk Madhavendra Puri washed the pot and put it aside. And he looked towards the path but the boy never returned.
Gopala appears in Madhavendra Puri’s Dream
Then Madhavendra Puri sat under the tree and began to chant
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
And at the end of the night he dosed a little and his external activity stopped. And in a dream Madhavendra Puri saw the same boy. The boy came to him holding his hand and took him into the jungle. And then the boy showed Madhavendra Puri the bush and said,
“I reside in this bush. And because of this, I suffer very much from severe cold, rain, showers, wind and scorching heat. Please bring the people of the village and get them to take me out of this bush. Tell them to take me out of this bush then have them situate me nicely on top of a hill. Please construct a temple on the hill and install me in that temple. After this wash me with large quantities of cold water so that my body may be cleansed. For many days I’ve been observing you and I’ve been wondering, when will Madhavendra Puri come to serve me? I have accepted your service due to your ecstatic love for me. Thus I shall appear and by my audience all fallen souls will be delivered. My name is Gopal. I’m the lifter of Govardhan Hill. I was installed by Vajra and here I’m the authority. When the Mohammedans attacked, the priests who were serving me hid me in the bush in the jungle then he ran away out of fear of attack. Since the priest went away, I’ve been staying here in this bush. And it’s very good that you’ve come here. Now just remove me with care.”
After saying this, the boy disappeared. Then Madhavendra Puri woke up and began to consider his dream. He began to lament.
“I saw Lord Krishna directly but I could not recognize Him.”
Thus he fell down to the ground in ecstatic love. Madhavendra Puri cried for sometime but then he fixed his mind on executing the order of Gopal. Thus he became tranquil.
So Madhavendra Puri fixed his mind on executing the order of Gopal. And after taking his morning bath, he entered the village and assembled all the people. And he spoke to them, he told them that the proprietor of this village, Govardhana Dhari is lying in the bushes. Let us go and rescue him from that place. He told them that the bushes are very dense and they should bring choppers and spades to clear the way.
After hearing this, with great pleasure, all the villagers followed Madhavendra Puri. They cut through the jungle to make a path. And when they saw the deity covered with dirt and grass they were all struck with wondering pleasure. After they cleansed the body of Gopal, they realized that this deity is very heavy. And no one person could move him. So some of the stronger men came to carry Him to the top of the hill. And a big stone was made for a throne. And another stone was put behind for support.
Installation Ceremony of Gopal deity
Then the Brahmans gathered, according to Gopal’s instruction, nine hundred pots of cool water from Govinda Kunda was brought and as they were collecting these pots, there was beautiful kirtans, musical instruments, and the singing of women and thus the festival of the installation took place. Some sang and some danced. All the milk, yogurt and ghee from the entire village were brought to the festival. Various foods and sweetmeats and other kinds of presentation were brought there. They brought large quantities of Tulsi leaves, flowers, and various kinds of garlands.
And then Madhavendra Puri personally began the abhishek ceremony. First they dispelled all inauspiciousness by the chanting of mantras. Then the deity was massaged, with a large quantity of oil, so that His body becomes shiny. After the first bathing, they bathed Him with the Panchagavya. Panchagavya means cow dung, cow urine, ghee, yogurt and milk. Then they bathed Him with panchamrit – which is made of the five kinds of nectar including ghee, yogurt, milk, honey and sugar. And they bathed him with over one hundred pots of water – scented or with fine oils as well as with ghee. This is called the Maha-Snan.
After the Maha-Snan was finished they again massaged Gopal’s body with scented oil. Then again the last bathing ceremony was performed with scented water kept in a conch shell. After the deity was cleansed, He was dressed nicely with new garments and sandalwood pulp, Tulsi garlands and other fragrant flower garlands were placed upon the body of the deity. After the bathing ceremony was finished, incense and lamps were burned and all kinds of food were offered before the deity. These food included yogurt and milk and many sweetmeats as they received. As soon as the people of the village understood that the deity was to be installed, they brought the entire stock of all their foods – all rice, all dal, all vegetables and they prepared preparations that covered the entire surface of the top of the Govardhan Hill.
Annakuta Ceremony for Gopala
They made big big mountains of rice and around the mountain of rice there were all the chapattis, the rotis and all other varieties of vegetables, sweetmeats and everything. Pots of yogurt, milk, butter milk, sikharanis, sweetrice, cream and solid cream were placed along side the vegetables. And in this way the Annakoot ceremony was performed by Sri Madhavendra Puri. And he personally offered everything to Gopal. Then they offered him scented water for drinking and they were in the consciousness that Gopal had been hungry for many days.
Gorgeous Worship of Gopala
It is explained that one village after another came each and every day to beg Madhavendra Puri to allot them one day to also perform the Annakuta ceremony. And thus day after day after day, the same ceremony which we just described was performed again and again and again – of the cooking of wonderful bhoga for the pleasure of Gopal. And Madhavendra Puri, it describes, he did not eat anything through the day but at night after laying down the deity to rest he took a milk preparation. And the next morning again another village came. And each village would come with their entire storehouse of all grains to sacrifice it all for the pleasure of Gopal. The ideal place to execute Krishna Consciousness, Kaviraj Gosvami says is Braja bhumi or Vrindavan, where the people are naturally inclined to love Krishna and Krishna is naturally inclined to love them. And throng of people were coming to see Gopal. And people were coming and bringing beautiful jewels, beautiful garments.
Some people from Mathura, they were more wealthy people; they were bringing all sorts of articles for puja. Countless presentations of gold, silver, scented articles and eatables started to come. And one very rich kshatriya – of the royal order constructed a temple. Someone made cooking utensils, someone constructed boundary walls. Each and every family in Braj bhumi contributed one cow to Gopal. And in this way thousands of cows became property of Gopal. Eventually two Brahmins from Bengal appeared. They were in the renounced order of life. And Madhavendra Puri was very pleased with them. They became very dear to him. So he initiated them and he entrusted the charge of the temple to them.
Test of Surrender
In this way the worship of Gopal was very gorgeously performed.
One day Madhavendra Puri, after two years, while he was resting, he had another dream. And in this dream Gopal appeared to him again. And He said that my bodily temperature still has not decreased. Please bring sandalwood from the Malaya province and smear the pulp over my body to cool me. Bring sandalwood pulp from Jagannath Puri. Kindly go quickly; since no one else can do it – you must!
Pastime of Ksira Cora Gopinatha
So after having this dream, Madhavendra Puri became very glad due to ecstatic love of Godhead. And in order to execute the command of the Lord, he started east towards Bengal. Before leaving, he made all the arrangements for regular deity worship and engaged different people in different duties. Then taking up the order of Gopal, he started for Bengal. When Madhavendra Puri arrived in Santipura, he stayed at the house of Sri Advaita Acharya.
And it was there that Sri Advaita Acharya, he being so pleased to see the manifestations of Madhavendra Puri’s pure love, he begged Madhavendra Puri for initiation.
And after initiating him, Madhavendra Puri started for South India. Going into South India, he came to the village of Remuna where Gopinath is situated. And upon seeing the beauty of the deity Madhavendra Puri was overwhelmed. In the courtyard of the temple where the general people had the darshan of the Lord, Madhavendra Puri in great love began to sing and dance in the glorification of Sri Gopinath.
Then he sat down and asked from the brahman,
“What kind of food was offered to the deity?”
Madhavendra Puri had such a service attitude…he was not coming to simply enjoy the beautiful darshan of Gopinath. He was coming with the idea, how can I better serve Gopal? Gopinath and Gopal are the same. He was always thinking of serving his Gopal in every situation. He was taking every opportunity as an opportunity to serve Gopal.
But then he was thinking, “How offensive I am, well Thakurji, Sri Krishna is eating the food and I’m thinking of eating that same food. So he felt very guilty and very bad. And just at that time, the bell rang and the aarti began and after aarti Madhavendra Puri offered his prostrated obeisances and left without saying anything to anyone.
Then he went to a secluded village and a vacant market place within the village, and he simply sat feeling the guilt of his…he was thinking han I’m wanting to eat what is meant for Krishna.
He went to the marketplace to purify himself by chanting
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare.
As he was there, the pujari after finishing his duties, he put Gopinath to rest and then he also took rest. But in a dream he saw Gopinath appeared to him and he spoke,
“Please get up and open the door of the temple. I have kept one pot of sweet rice for the sanyasi Madhavendra Puri. This pot of sweet rice is just behind my cloth curtain. You did not see it because of my tricks. A sanyasi named Madhavendra Puri is sitting in the vacant marketplace. Please take this pot of sweet rice from behind me and deliver it to him.”
Awaking from the dream, the pujari immediately rose from his bed and took his bath and went into the temple. There he found behind the curtain, behind the deity was hidden one pot of kheer. He was struck with wonder.
Then he went out of the temple and closed the door as he went to the village with the pot of sweet rice and he started calling out in every stall and every corner.
“May he whose name is Madhavendra Puri please come and take this pot. Gopinath has stolen this pot for you. May the sanyasi whose name is Madhavendra Puri please come and take this pot of sweet rice and enjoy the prasad with great happiness. You are the most fortunate person within these three worlds.”
Hearing the invitation Madhavendra Puri came out and identified himself and the priest knowing what sort of glorious person this is that Gopinath has stolen the kheer just for him. He performed this very wonderful pastime. He offered his prostrated obeisance’s to Madhavendra Puri and then related the story of the dream and what he had found. And Madhavendra Puri with great humility, he became absorbed in ecstatic love for Krishna. He could understand that Krishna was so merciful so kind upon him. And when the priest saw the humility and devotion of Madhavendra Puri, he understood why Gopinath has done this for such a great personality.
Then Madhavendra Puri upon taking leave from the brahman priest, he ate the sweet rice offered to him by Krishna in great ecstatic love. And after this he washed the pot and broke it into pieces and bound them in his cloth to take with him. And each day it is said Madhavendra Puri would eat one piece of that earthen pot. And after eating it, he would immediately be overwhelmed with ecstasy.
He would think the lord has given me a pot of sweet rice and when people would hear of this tomorrow there would be great crowds. So out of humility, he did not want to become famous. He did not want to become very well known as a special Paramhamsa Vaishnava. He wanted to simply remain in a very ordinary position – secretly worshipping Krishna in his heart. So thinking like this Madhavendra Puri offered obeisance’s to Gopinath on that very spot and left Remuna.
A Pure Devotee’s Fame – Jagannatha Puri
And walking and walking he finally reached Jagannath Puri. And when he approached Jaggannath Puri he was overwhelmed with great ecstasy of love of God. He sometimes stood up and sometimes fell to the ground. Sometimes he laughed, danced and sang. In this way he enjoyed transcendental bliss by seeing the Jagannath deity. When Madhavendra Puri came to Jaggannath Puri all the people around were aware of his reputation. In fact everywhere he went on the way to Jaggannath Puri, every town and every village before he arrived, his reputation was already understood by everyone and they all greeted him and celebrated him. He did not like this. So he was always going from one place to another. It is explained by Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami that even though one may not like it reputation is ordained by providence. Indeed ones transcendental reputation is known throughout the entire world. Being afraid of his reputation Madhavendra Puri fled from Remuna. But the reputation brought by love of Godhead is so sublime that it goes along with the devotee as if following him.
Madhavendra Puri wanted to leave Jaggannath Puri because the people were honoring him as such a great devotee. However, this threatened his service.
Obstacles in the Service of Lord are greatly Welcomed
Madhavendra Puri told the servants of Lord Jagannath and all the great devotees there the story of the appearance of Gopal. And he told about the dream. So they made wonderful arrangements to assist him by collecting sandalwood. And in great pleasure they endeavored to collect it. And those who were acquainted with government officers met with them and begged for camphor and sandalwood which they collected.
One Brahman and one servant were given to Madhavendra Puri just to carry the sandalwood. And he was also given the necessary travelling expenses to get passed the toll collectors.
So Madhavendra Puri was supplied with the release papers and then he had to go. And in this way he started for Vrindavan with the burden of sandalwood.
And after some days he again reached Remuna and he went to the Gopinath temple. This is also very dangerous. He had one brahmana and one servant. There were thieves, dacoits, rogues who can rob him kill him but he was fearless.
So when Madhavendra Puri reached the temple of Gopinath he offered his respectful obeisance’s many times at the lotus feet of the Lord. And in the ecstasy of love, he began to dance and sing without cessation. And when the pujari again saw Madhavendra Puri he offered his respects and he gave him sweet rice prasadm and made him eat. Madhavendra Puri was so humble; he would have to make him eat.
Madhavendra Puri took rest that night but toward the end of the night he had another dream. Madhavendra Puri dreamed that Gopal came before him again and said,
“O Madhavendra Puri, I have already received all the sandalwood and camphor. Now just grind all the sandalwood together with the camphor and then smear the pulp on the body of Gopinath daily until it is finished. There’s no difference between My body and Gopinath’s body. They are one and the same. Therefore if you smear the sandalwood on the body of Gopinath, you’ll naturally also smear it on My body. Thus the temperature of My body will be reduced. You should not hesitate to act according to my order. Believing in me, just do as it is needed”.
After giving these instructions, Gopal disappeared.
Then Madhavendra Puri awoke and immediately called for the servants of Gopinath and told them that
“Smear the body of Gopinath with this camphor and sandalwood that I’ve brought for Gopal in Vrindavan. Do this regularly every day. If the sandalwood pulp is smeared over the body of Gopinath then Gopal will be cooled. After all the Supreme personality of Godhead is completely independent and his order is all powerful.
The servants of Gopinath were very pleased to hear this. Because it was the summer season, it was very hot. So Madhavendra Puri gave his two assistants to regularly grind the sandalwood and two other people would help. That was their service to just grind the sandalwood and present to Gopinath.
In this way every day Gopinath’s body was completely covered with the sandalwood pulp. And Madhavendra Puri stayed there until the entire stock was finished.
And at the end of the summer Madhavendra Puri returned to Jagannath Puri where he remained with great pleasure during the whole period of catur masya.
Today that same temple of Gopinath is still present in Remuna.
Unparalleled Devotion of Sri Madhavendra Puri
So Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was personally praising the glories of his guru Madhavendra Puri by narrating the wonderful story describing the characteristics of his love for Krishna. And of course Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is non-different than that Gopal and Gopinath, took the greatest pleasure and relished describing the glories of His devotee.
Then Lord Chaitanya asked Nityananda Prabhu to judge whether there was anyone within the world that is as fortunate as Madhavendra Puri. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said,
“Madhavendra Puri was so fortunate that Krishna personally appeared before him in the plea of delivering milk, three times the Lord gave orders to Madhavendra Puri in dreams. Being obliged because of the loving affairs of Madhavendra Puri, Lord Krishna himself appeared as Gopal and accepting his service he liberated the whole world. On account of Madhavendra Puri, Lord Gopinath stole the sweet rice and thus he became known as kheer chora Gopinath. To this day this is the name of the temple, kheer chora Gopinath – which means the thief who stole the sweet rice. Madhavendra Puri smeared the sandalwood pulp over the body of Gopinath and in this way he was over powered by the love of Godhead. In the provinces of India governed, this is Mahaprabhu speaking, in the provinces of India governed by the Mohammedans, there was much inconvenience of travelling with sandalwood and camphor. And because of this Gopal knew that Madhavendra Puri could get in very much trouble. So therefore the Lord was so merciful and attached to His devotee that He told him to simply offer all of this to Gopinath.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu placed the standard of Madhavendra Puri’s intense love before Nityananda Prabhu for judgment. All his loving activities are uncommon Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said. Indeed, one is struck with wonder to hear his activities. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu continued, Sri Madhavendra Puri used to remain alone. He was completely renounced and always very silent. He was uninterested in everything material. And for fear of talking about mundane things, he always lived without a companion.
Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu read the famous verse of Madhavendra Puri. That verse is just like the moon. It has spread illumination all over the world. By continuous loving, the aroma of Malaya sandalwood increases. Similarly, by considering this verse, its importance increases. As the kastuba mani is considered the most precious of all valuable stones, this verse is similarly considered the best of all mellow poems. Actually this verse was spoken by Srimati Radharani herself. And by her mercy only was it manifest in the words of Madhavendra Puri. Only Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has tasted the poetry of this verse. No forth person is capable of understanding it. Prabhupada explains that only Srimati Radharani, Madhavendra Puri and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are capable of understanding the purport of this verse. It is the essence of maha bhava. Madhavendra Puri recited this verse again and again and at the end of his material existence, he chanted this verse. Thus uttering this verse he attained the ultimate goal of life. With this verse Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was tasting the ecstasy of love as follows:
ayi dina-dayardra natha he
mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham
“O My Lord! O most merciful master! O master of Mathura! When shall I see You again? Because of My not seeing You, My agitated heart has become unsteady. O most beloved one, what shall I do now?”
CC Madhya 4.197
This verse was chanted by Srimati Radharani just after Krishna left Vrindavan for Mathura, in the intensity of the pangs of the ecstatic feelings of separation. Srimati Radharani expressed how Krishna can be loved in this mood of separation.
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