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, “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.
This is a section of the book “Vrindavana Lila”.
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