21. Service in the Dhāma

21. Service in the Dhāma:

Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “We are simply following Lord Caitanya’s program, inviting everyone: ‘Come chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, dance, and take sumptuous Kṛṣṇa- prasāda!’ What is the difficulty?” Life in the Dhāma is based on these joyful activities. One can attain all spiritual perfection simply by immersing himself in these wonderfully blissful engagements.

“In honoring food enjoyed by Lord Gaurāṅga there are no restrictions concerning the time, the giver, and the recepient. By eating prasāda until one is filled up to the neck, devotion for Lord Gaurāṅga is born. There is no impiety in overeating what was enjoyed by Lord Gaurāṅga.” (Navadvipa Dhama Mahatmya)

“With Paramānanda Purī and Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sat down and accepted the prasāda. When He began to eat, so did all the Vaiṣhṇavas.

ākaṇṭha pūrāṅā sabāya karāilā bhojana

deha’ deha’ bali’ prabhu balena vacana

“Everyone was filled up to the neck because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu kept telling the distributors, ‘Give them more! Give them more!’” (Cc. Antya 11.88-89)

What does it mean to honor prasāda? “Mahā-prasāda means great blessing. The sādhu accepts mahā-prasāda not to appease hunger or gain physical and mental strength. He takes prasāda with the object of being enabled thereby to avoid the traps made for him during his sojourn into this world by sensuous temptations of all kinds including that of eating. By honoring mahā-prasāda he obtains the inclination for the spiritual service of the Lord.

“Honoring mahā-prasāda is different from eating, although to the uninitiated both appear identical. The external form appears to remain the same, but the real nature of activity is radically changed. The result is that mere eating strengthens one’s sensuous inclinations. Whereas, by honoring mahā-prasāda, gluttony and its attendant vices are radically cured.

“The śāstras, therefore, tell us to give up eating and honor mahā-prasāda. We can never be freed from the attraction of sensuous temptations until we give up eating altogether and learn how to honor mahā-prasāda. By honoring mahā-prasāda our sensuousness is diminished and ultimately disappears altogether. Then and only then are we enabled to understand the real meaning of the śāstras.” (Sri Caitanya's Teachings)

While living in Navadvīpa dhāma we should develop the saṅkalpa, mental resolve, to be totally absorbed in the service of Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga. Repeating and meditating upon the following prayer of Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī will purify one’s mentality and increase his devotional determination:

“I will not hear of, meditate on, or talk about anything else, nor will I go anywhere else. I will not take shelter of or worship anything else. While awake or dreaming I will not see anything else but the forest of Navadvīpa where Lord Gaurāṅga enjoyed pastimes while relishing the mellows of Śrīmatī Rādhikā.

“While living somewhere in Navadvīpa with a peaceful heart filled with ecstatic love for Lord Gauracandra, when will I remember the aṣṭa-kālīya Vraja-līlā of Yugal-Kiśora and render services to the Divine Couple? When will I see these blissful pastimes of Vṛndāvana wherever I gaze in Navadvīpa?” (Caitanya Sataka)

Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda says, “Go to Lord Caitanya’s Forest of Navadvīpa, read pastimes, and roll in the dust along the banks of the Ganges, which was touched by Gaurāṅga’s lotus feet. In this way, worship Lord Gauracandra who shines like a moon in the forest groves of Godruma.” (Godrumacandra-bhajanopadeśa)

“Sādhakas who attain perfection while worshiping only Lord Gaurāṅga without Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa will get a spiritual body to serve Lord Caitanya in His eternal abode of Śrī Navadvīpa Dhāma. Those who worship Kṛṣṇa without Lord Gaurāṅga will attain suitable spiritual bodies to eternally serve Lord Kṛṣṇa in Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma. However, worshipers of both Gaurāṅga and Kṛṣṇa will get two spiritual bodies to serve their Lords in Navadvīpa and Vṛndāvana.” (Jaiva Dharma)