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Panihati Chida-Dahi Festival and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami

By Sacinandana Swami

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is one of the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavana. The Six Gosvamis of Vrindavana represent a class of highly perfected personalities, who threw away all prospects of the most attractive pleasures like pebbles in the street. By hearing about their lives and teachings, a seeker gets insight into the possibilities awaiting him if he simply continues sincerely on this path. They have painstakingly constructed aesthetically pleasing temples for the pleasure of the Lord and the spiritual upliftment of mankind. Raghunatha dasa was the son of an extremely wealthy zamindar, Govardhana Majumadara. His family’s fabulous opulence and wealth equalled that Indra, the king of heaven. From childhood, he was uninterested in material enjoyment. When he was very small, he was blessed with the association of Srila Haridasa Thakura. He was so much influenced by Haridasa Thakura that he had no attachment for any of the materialistic things. This posed a big problem for his parents because they wanted him to take over everything. He met Lord Caitanya for the first time when Lord came to Santipura after accepting His sannyasa. By the mercy of Advaita Acarya he got chance to partake remnants of Lord and render service to Him. After returning home, Raghunatha dasa became mad with ecstatic love. Raghunatha dasa used to run away from home again and again to go to Jagannatha Puri, but his father kept binding him and bringing him back. He employed 11 people to incessantly keep Raghunatha dasa under control. When Lord Caitanya again came to Santipura to the way to Vrindavana, Raghunatha dasa again met Lord Caitanya. He had offered to dedicate his life at the Lord’s lotus feet. However Lord instructed him not to become a show-bottle renunciate. Lord said, “Within your heart you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Krishna will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of maya. You may see Me at Nilacala, Jagannatha Puri, when I return after visiting Vrindavana. By that time you can think of some trick to escape. What kind of means you will have to use at that time will be revealed by Krishna. If one has Krishna’s mercy, no one can check him.”

For one year he gave up all craziness and external pseudo renunciation and engaged in his household duties without attachment. Meantime, a Muslim official became envious of Hiranya dasa, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami’s uncle, and induced some big official court minister to have him arrested. By the intelligence of Raghunatha dasa the misunderstanding was mitigated. Then Raghunatha dasa went to Panihati, and following the order of Nityananda Prabhu, he observed a festival (cida-dadhi-mahotsava) by distributing chipped rice mixed with yogurt. The day after the festival, Nityananda Prabhu gave Raghunatha dasa the blessing that he would very soon attain the shelter of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. After this incident, Raghunatha dasa, with the help of his priest, whose name was Yadunandana Acarya, got out of his house by trickery and thus ran away. Not touching the general path, he secretly went to Jagannatha Puri. After 12 days, hardly eating or drinking anything for all these days, he arrived in Jagannatha Puri at the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Raghunatha dasa met Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord said, “The mercy of Lord Krishna is stronger than anything else. Therefore the Lord has delivered you from the ditch of materialistic life, which is like a hole into which people pass stool. My dear Raghunatha dasa, your father and his elder brother are just like worms in stool in the ditch of material enjoyment, for the great disease of the poison of material enjoyment is what they consider happiness. Although your father and uncle are charitable to brahmanas and greatly help them, they are nevertheless not pure Vaisnavas. However, they are almost like Vaisnavas. Those who are attached to materialistic life and are blind to spiritual life must act in such a way that they are bound to repeated birth and death by the actions and reactions of their activities. By His own free will, Lord Krishna has delivered you from such a condemned materialistic life. Therefore the glories of Lord Krishna’s causeless mercy cannot be expressed.” Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu entrusted Raghunatha dasa to Svarupa Damodara Gosvami. For 5 days Raghunatha dasa Gosvami took prasadam at the temple, but later he would stand at the Simha-dvara gate and eat only whatever he could gather by alms. When Raghunatha’s father received news of this, he sent some men and money, but Raghunatha dasa refused to accept the money. Thereafter, he used to eat rejected food that he had collected and washed. This renounced life greatly pleased both Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took by force some of the same food, thus blessing Raghunatha dasa for his renunciation. Pleased by the renunciation of Raghunatha dasa, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu bestowed His mercy and gifted him with His own Govardhana sila and gunja-mala that Lord got from Vrindavana. Raghunatha dasa lived in Jagannatha Puri as personal associate of Lord Caitanya for 16 years.

When Lord Caitanya disappeared from this world, in the pangs of separation, he decided to go to the holy land of Vrindavana and commit suicide by jumping from the highest peak of Govardhana Hill. When he reached Vrindavana, he met Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami. Upon seeing them, he felt a revival in his heart, and he lived in there association. He was given residence on the banks of Sri Radhakunda. There he was constantly immersed in the ecstasy of love and devotion to Lord Gauranga and Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. He would bow down to the Supreme Personality of Godhead a minimum of 1000 times every day. One time, as the tiger was drinking water from Shyamakunda, Lord Krishna appeared with a stick in His hand to protect Raghunatha dasa Gosvami when he was immersed in his bhajan. Next time Sanatana Gosvami saw Srimati Radharani appear and with the veil of Her sari She was shading Raghunatha dasa Gosvami’s head when he was immersed in the chanting of the holy names on a very hot summer day. At Govardhana he discovered the “Tongue of Govardhana”. Sri Radhakunda and Sri Shyamakunda was also renovated with his instructs.

Srila Prabhupada told that Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was so austere that he would just have a little buttermilk every day sometimes every few days. Even while honouring that little buttermilk, he would feel ashamed of himself and think, “If one has love and devotion, to Lord Krishna, that love is so satisfying that one should not be concerned with maintaining this physical body.” He is the prayojana acarya - teaching by his writings and his example the highest principles of love in separation as an associate of Srimati Radharani.

Panihati Chida-dahi Mahotsav, also known as the Chipped Rice Festival, is a yearly celebration of the pastimes of Srila Raghnnatha dasa Gosvami and Lord Nityananda Prabhu. This astonishing pastime took place on the banks of the Ganges at Panihati, which is about 1 hour drive from Kolkata airport. (Ask for ‘Panihati Boat Ghat’, Sodepur.) Lord Caitanya and His associates enjoyed many transcendental pastimes here. Chida-Dahi Mahotsav remembers how Lord mercifully reciprocated with His devotees by arranging, through Nityananda Prabhu and Raghunatha dasa, to provide an ecstatic feast of yogurt and chipped rice, along with various other nectar foodstuffs.

At Panihati, Raghunatha dasa obtained interview with Nityananda Prabhu. Sitting on a rock, Lord Nityananda seemed as effulgent as hundreds of thousands of rising suns. Many devotees sat on the ground surrounding Him. Seeing the influence of Nityananda Prabhu, Raghunatha dasa was astonished. He offered his obeisances by falling prostrate at a distant place, and the servant of Nityananda Prabhu pointed out, “There is Raghunatha dasa, offering You obeisances.” Hearing this, Lord Nityananda Prabhu said, “You are a thief. Now you have come to see Me. Come here, come here. Today I shall punish you!” The Lord called him, but he did not go near the Lord. Then the Lord forcibly caught him and placed His lotus feet upon his head. Lord Nityananda was by nature very merciful and funny. Being merciful, He spoke to Raghunatha dasa as follows. “You are just like a thief, for instead of coming near, you stay away at a distant place. Now that I have captured you, I shall punish you. Make a festival and feed all My associates yogurt and chipped rice.” Hearing this, Raghunatha dasa was greatly pleased. He immediately sent his own men to the village to purchase all kinds of eatables and bring them back. He brought chipped rice, yogurt, milk, sugar, bananas and other eatables and placed them all around. As soon as everyone heard that a festival was going to be held, all began to arrive. Thus there were innumerable people. Seeing the crowd increasing, Raghunatha dasa arranged to get more eatables from other villages. He also brought 200-400 large, round earthen pots. He also obtained 5-7 especially large earthen pots, and in these pots a brahmana began soaking chipped rice for the satisfaction of Lord Nityananda. In one place, chipped rice was soaked in hot milk in each of the large pots. Then half the rice was mixed with yogurt, sugar and bananas. The other half was mixed with condensed milk and a special type of banana known as canpa-kala. Then sugar, clarified butter and camphor were added. After Nityananda Prabhu had changed His cloth for a new one and sat on a raised platform, the brahmana brought before Him the 7 huge pots. Everyone was offered two earthen pots. No one could count how many people there were. Some of the brahmanas, not having gotten a place on the platform, went to the bank of the Ganges with their two earthen pots and soaked their chipped rice there. Others, who could not get a place even on the bank of the Ganges, got down into the water and began eating their two kinds of chipped rice. When chipped rice had been served to everyone, Lord Nityananda, in meditation, brought Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu arrived, Lord Nityananda Prabhu stood up. They then saw how the others were enjoying the chipped rice with yogurt and condensed milk. From each and every pot, Lord Nityananda took one morsel of chipped rice and pushed it into the mouth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as a joke. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, also smiling, took a morsel of food, pushed it into the mouth of Nityananda and laughed as He made Lord Nityananda eat it. In this way Lord Nityananda was walking through all the groups of eaters, and all the Vaisnavas standing there were seeing the fun. No one could understand what Nityananda Prabhu was doing as He walked about. Some, however, who were very fortunate, could see that Lord Caitanya was also present. Then Nityananda Prabhu smiled and sat down. On His right side He kept four pots of chipped rice that had not been made from boiled paddy. Lord Nityananda offered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu a place and had Him sit down. Then together the two brothers began eating chipped rice. Seeing Lord Caitanya eating with Him, Lord Nityananda became very happy and exhibited varieties of ecstatic love. Lord Nityananda Prabhu ordered, “All of you eat, chanting the holy name of Hari.” Immediately the holy names “Hari, Hari” resounded, filling the entire universe. When all the Vaisnavas were chanting the holy names “Hari, Hari” and eating, they remembered how Krishna and Balarama ate with Their companions the cowherd boys on the bank of the Yamuna. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu are extremely merciful and liberal. It was Raghunatha dasa’s good fortune that They accepted all these dealings. Who can understand the influence and mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu? He is so powerful that He induced Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to come eat chipped rice on the bank of the Ganges. After Lord Nityananda Prabhu finished eating, He washed His hands and mouth and gave Raghunatha dasa the food remaining in the four pots. With His own hands Lord Nityananda distributed to all the devotees whatever flower garlands, sandalwood pulp and betel nuts remained. After receiving the remnants of food left by Lord Nityananda, Raghunatha dasa, who was greatly happy, ate some and distributed the rest among his own associates. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Antya-lila, chapter 6.35-100)

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