Nityananda Caritamrta
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Lord Nityänanda’s Grand Bathing Ceremony at the House of Räghava Paëòita<br />
tees walked very fast, sometimes forgetting themselves so that<br />
they walked in the wrong direction. They often asked the local<br />
people: “Brothers, please tell us how to reach the shore of the<br />
Ganges.”<br />
“Alas! Alas! You are on the wrong path,” the people would<br />
reply. “You just wasted six hours of your journey.”<br />
Getting proper directions, they would return to the correct<br />
path. Later on, when they again asked for the right path, the<br />
people told them to take a twenty-mile detour to reach the correct<br />
path. All of them smilingly walked along the road. They<br />
hardly knew their own selves, and so what to speak of the roads.<br />
None of them felt the urges of the body, such as hunger, thirst,<br />
fear, or distress. They were completely merged in transcendental<br />
ecstasy. No one can describe the unlimited pastimes Nityänanda<br />
Prabhu performed on the way to Bengal.<br />
Nityänanda, the origin of Çré Ananta, finally reached the<br />
village of Pänihäöi by the shore of the Ganges. Nityänanda<br />
Prabhu and His associates then arrived at the house of Räghava<br />
Paëòita 21 at Pänihäöi. Räghava Paëòita was overjoyed to see Nityänanda<br />
Prabhu. Çré Makaradhvaja Kara 22 , who was a disciple of<br />
Räghava Paëòita, also became very pleased.<br />
21 Çré Räghava Paëòita was Dhaniñöhä-sakhé in his previous incarnation.<br />
Every year, Räghava Paëòita would go to Jagannätha Puré.<br />
His sister, Damayanté-devé, would prepare varieties of sweets for Lord<br />
Caitanya. Räghava Paëòita would take them in a basket to Jagannätha<br />
Puré for the Lord. This basket was well-known as räghavera<br />
jhäli, or the basket of Räghava. Çréman Mahäprabhu would eat these<br />
preparations throughout the year.<br />
22 Çré Makaradhvaja Kara was the famous dancer called Candramukha<br />
in vraja-lélä. He appeared in the village of Pänihäöi. He<br />
was a disciple of Räghava Paëòita who served him with his body and<br />
mind. He carried the basket of Räghava to Néläcala. His ancestral<br />
house stands on the eastern side of Cätu Bäbä’s garden within the<br />
Bhavänépura wood of Pänihäöi, by the side of the road that leads to<br />
the village Sukhacara.<br />
133<br />
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