Mukham karoti vaachaalam…
The Supreme Personality of Godhead who came as His own devotee along with His associates and expansions. So some brahmana wanted to play a joke on Nimai Pandit . The devotee was saying, oh You are preparing to take grihastha ashram? He doesn’t like people to tell Him a joke. So then He said, oh, who is it that is going to be married? And He pleaded that He did not know. So then the teacher took advantage and played as if he did not know and then he went on with the brahmana. He took the news to Sanatan Mishra, that oh, Nimai Pandit says that He does not know about the marriage. And then the brahmana left. Sanatan Pandit had made all the arrangements for giving his daughter in marriage, so he was shocked, what offense did I do? He started to think what he could have done wrong and he was lamenting that oh, Nimai Pandit, He really got me on this one! I had made all arrangements to give Vishnu Priya in marriage and now He is denying that He knows anything about it. So he was lamenting to his wife. I mean, he was so unhappy, he was thinking what offense did I do? And like this he was lamenting. So this was because Lord Caitanya was reciprocating. The brahmana had made some joke on Nimai Pandit and so Nimai Pandit reciprocated and made a joke on him. But he saw that Sanatan Pandit was feeling great pain and He did not want to cause pain to Sanatan Pandit, so He sent some brahmana to tell Sanatan Pandit not to worry. It was all a joke! So Sanatan Pandit got the message and he was very relieved. One of the neighbors of Lord Caitanya where He would give His Sanskrit class was Sanjay and he was a big tax collector in Navadvip. So he said, he would pay all the expenses for the wedding. His name was Buddhimanta Khan and pandit was Sanjay Mukunda. So then Sanjay said, what about us? We also want to spend for the wedding. He said, I want to have a special marriage. The marriage would be so opulent that Lord Caitanya will be like a prince. And the people would see his betrothal in marriage. The custom was that the marriage would be performed at the daughter’s house. So Buddhimanta Khan, he arranged a special wedding. He had Lord Caitanya taken in a palanquin and he had a very opulent procession. In the beginning there were tax collectors with shot guns which you know is unusual for a wedding! And one after another, he would have a procession. There would be brahmanas who would chant mantras. And also there would be clowns and magicians and musical bands and one after they would have an amazing procession.
(Shyam Madhusudhan prabhu then started to read the Bengali verses, one after another and guru maharaj spoke about them.)
So all the students of Nimai Pandit were very joyful and they would also be part of the procession.
So Buddhimanta Khan, wanted to bear all the expenses.
Whatever it would cost he was eager to pay.
Sanjay Mukunda expressed his desire to also contribute something.
In the brahmana wedding it is a bit simple but Buddhimanta Khan he wouldn’t do anything simple. He wanted to make it a very special occasion. So he expressed how he thought the others would not be able to contribute.
So the clowns, magicians, tax collectors, these are all unusual, and seeing Lord Caitanya, Nimai Pandit, all decorated for the wedding was like a princely wedding.
When people would see the wedding procession, they should think that this is a wedding. It should be opulent when they had the prasadam distribution. Buddhimanta Khan was told that people were taking multiple times. He said, give them five times the quantity so that they won’t think they have to come back for more. It was still more than what ordinary weddings would have. For the aadivas they gave out garlands of jewels and people became overwhelmed. They saw that the whole of Navadvip was flooded with love of Krishna and they lost all their shyness and reservations. They just wanted to participate in this auspicious ceremony.
When the auspicious lagna, astrological moment was there, everybody came at that time and participated in the aadivas ceremony. Nimai Pandit, his procession was winding in and out of the town and everybody was just elated to participate in Nimai Pandit’s wedding ceremony. He was in the palanquin going through the different by lanes and all the people were participating in Nimai Pandit’s procession. So that He would arrive at Sanatan Pandit’s house at the auspicious time of go dhuli.
{art of the procession was kartals and mridangas and devotees were carrying flags, patakas, chanting Vedic hymns. There was a very elevated consciousness.
So at the time of the aadivas they did the swasthi vachan. They invoked the auspiciousness of the forefathers and they simultaneously did the auspicious ceremonies and also the pomp of the procession. There were a lot of things going on, some mundane, some opulent, some brahmanas chanting mantras, the whole situation was very auspicious.
The marriage aadivas is that they have a special ceremony for the bride and bridegroom, that is held usually the day before. So at the auspicious time Sanatan Pandit, he performed the aadivas for his daughter.
So how do you like the Caitanya leela? (Haribol!)
For 24 years, Lord Caitanya acted as a grihastha and 24 years He acted as a renunciant. So this is a special ceremony as a grihastha and then later on He takes the renounced order. You see how He was observing the grihastha order and this pastime of the Lord as a grihastha is very interesting. He says that He wants to act as a grihastha. And so you can see Lord Caitanya acting in different activities. How He was feeding the hungry prasadam, how He was preaching. All Glories to Lord Caitanya!
16 May 2018
JRDD