In the Caitanya-bhāgavata this pastime is described as follows: The Lord, with His beautiful eyes, would cry, but He would stop immediately upon hearing the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. When the ladies, understanding the fun of the Lord, discovered that He would cry and then stop upon hearing the chanting of theHare Kṛṣṇa mantra, they all took it as a clue to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa as soon as the Lord cried. Thus it became a regular function.The Lord would cry, and the ladies would begin chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, clapping their hands. In this way all the ladies of the neighbouring houses would assemble in the home of Śacīmātā to join in the sańkīrtana movement twenty-four hours a day. As long as the ladies continued to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, the Lord would not cry but would very pleasingly smile upon them.One day while the Lord was enjoying His playful sports with the other little children, mother Śacī brought a dish filled with fused rice and sweetmeats and asked the child to sit down and eat them.But when she returned to her household duties, the child hid from His mother and began to eat dirt.Seeing this, mother Śacī hastily returned and exclaimed, "What is this! What is this!" She snatched the dirt from the hands of the Lord and inquired why He was eating it.Crying, the child inquired from His mother, "Why are you angry? You have already given Me dirt to eat. What is My fault?"Fused rice, sweetmeats and all other eatables are but transformations of dirt. This is dirt, that is dirt. Please consider. What is the difference between them?"This body is a transformation of dirt, and the eatables are also a transformation of dirt. Please reflect upon this. You are blaming Me without consideration. What can I say?"Astonished that the child was speaking Māyāvāda philosophy, mother Śacī replied, "Who has taught You this philosophical speculation that justifies eating dirt?"Replying to the Māyāvāda idea of the child philosopher, mother Śacī said, "My dear boy, if we eat earth transformed into grain, our body is nourished, and it becomes strong. But if we eat dirt in its crude state, the body becomes diseased instead of nourished, and thus it is destroyed."In a waterpot, which is a transformation of dirt, I can bring water very easily. But if I poured water on a lump of dirt, the lump would soak up the water, and my labor would be useless."The Lord replied to His mother, "Why did you conceal self-realization by not teaching Me this practical philosophy in the beginning?"Now that I can understand this philosophy, no more shall I eat dirt. Whenever I am hungry I shall suck your breast and drink your breast milk."After saying this, the Lord, smiling slightly, climbed on the lap of His mother and sucked her breast.Thus under various excuses the Lord exhibited His opulences as much as possible in His childhood, and later, after exhibiting such opulences, He hid Himself.On one occasion the Lord ate the food of a brāhmaṇa guest three times, and later, in confidence, the Lord delivered that brāhmaṇa from material engagement.The story of the deliverance of this brāhmaṇa is as follows. A brāhmaṇa who was touring all over the country, traveling from one place of pilgrimage to another, reached Navadvīpa and became a guest in the house of Jagannātha Miśra. Jagannātha Miśra gave him all ingredients for cooking, and the brāhmaṇa prepared his food.When the brāhmaṇa was offering the food to Lord Viṣṇu in meditation, child Nimāi came before him and began to eat it, and because of this the brāhmaṇa thought the whole offering had been spoiled. Therefore by the request of Jagannātha Miśra he cooked for a second time, but when he was meditating the child again came before him and began to eat the food, again spoiling the offering.By the request of Jagannātha Miśra the brāhmaṇa cooked for a third time, but for a third time the Lord came before him and began to eat the food, although the child had been locked within a room and everyone was sleeping because it was late at night. Thus, thinking that on that day Lord Viṣṇu was not willing to accept his food and that he was therefore ordained to fast, the brāhmaṇa became greatly agitated and cried aloud, hāya hāya: "What has been done! What has been done!"When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the brāhmaṇa in that agitated state, He told him, "Formerly I was the son of mother Yaśodā. At that time also you became a guest in the house of Nanda Mahārāja, and I disturbed you in this way. I am very much pleased by your devotion. Therefore I am eating the food you have prepared."Understanding the favor offered to him by the Lord, the brāhmaṇa was greatly pleased, and he was overwhelmed with love of Kṛṣṇa. He was thankful to the Lord, for he felt himself greatly fortunate. Then the Lord asked the brāhmaṇa not to disclose the incident to anyone else.In His childhood the Lord was taken away by two thieves outside His home. The Lord, however, got up on the shoulders of the thieves, and while they were thinking they were safely carrying the child to rob His ornaments, the Lord misled them, and thus instead of going to their own home the thieves came back to the home of Jagannātha Miśra.In His childhood the Lord was profusely decorated with gold ornaments. Once upon a time, when the Lord was playing outside His house, two thieves passing on the street saw the opportunity to rob Him. Therefore they took Him on their shoulders, pleasing Him by offering Him some sweetmeats. The thieves thought they would carry the child to the forest and then kill Him and take away the ornaments.The Lord, however, expanded His illusory energy upon the thieves, so much so that instead of carrying Him to the forest they came right back in front of His house. When they came before His house they became afraid because everyone from the house of Jagannātha Miśra and all the inhabitants of that quarter were busy searching for the child.Therefore the thieves, thinking it dangerous to remain, went away and left Him. The child was brought within the house and given to mother Śacī, who was in great anxiety, and she became satisfied.Pretending to be sick, the Lord asked some food from the house of Hiraṇya and Jagadīśa on the Ekādaśī day.Once on Ekādaśī in the house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita there were arrangements for preparing special prasādam for Lord Viṣṇu, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked His father to go there to ask for the viṣṇu-prasādam because He was feeling sick. The house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita was situated about two miles from the house of Jagannātha Miśra.Therefore when Jagannātha Miśra, on the request of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, came to ask Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya for the prasādam, they were a little astonished. How could the boy understand that special prasādam was being prepared for Lord Viṣṇu? They immediately concluded that Nimāi must have supernatural mystic power. Otherwise how could He understand that they were preparing special prasādam?Therefore they immediately sent the food to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu through His father, Jagannātha Miśra. Nimāi was feeling sick, but immediately after eating the viṣṇu-prasādam He was cured, and He also distributed the prasādam among His playmates.As usual for small children, He learned to play, and with His playmates He went to the houses of neighboring friends, stealing their eatables and eating them. Sometimes the children fought among themselves.All the children lodged complaints with Śacīmātā about the Lord's fighting with them and stealing from the neighbors' houses. Therefore sometimes she used to chastise or rebuke her son.Śacīmātā said, "Why do You steal others' things? Why do You beat the other children? And why do You go inside others' houses? What do You not have in Your own house?"Thus rebuked by His mother, he Lord would go in anger to a room and break all the pots within it.Then Śacīmātā would take her son on her lap and pacify Him, and the Lord would be very much ashamed, admitting His faults.
You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!
Replies