Nityananda Caritamrta

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Lord Nityänanda’s Pastimes of Accepting Lunch at the House of Gadädhara Paëòita
nätha in the divinely colored cloth and upon seeing His beauty,
Gadädhara floated in the ocean of bliss. He then began to arrange
for cooking by first picking spinach from the garden of
the Öoöä-gopénätha temple. Nobody plants this spinach. It grows
by itself.
Gadädhara collected some spinach to cook for Gopénätha.
He then picked the tender leaves of a tamarind tree and, after
making a paste with them, he mixed it with the boiled spinach
and added salt. The most fortunate Gadädhara thus cooked a
sour preparation and then brought it before Gopénätha to offer.
Just at that moment, Gauracandra arrived. Smiling while
chanting the mahä-mantra, Lord Gauracandra called out,
“Gadädhara! Gadädhara!” Gadädhara immediately appeared
and offered his obeisances to the Lord with awe and reverence.
The Lord smilingly said, “What is this, Gadädhara? Am I
not fit to be invited? Actually, I am not separate from both of
you. Even if you do not offer Me prasäda, I will eat it by force.
The ingredients supplied by Nityänanda, the remnants of Gopénätha,
and your cooking—I certainly deserve a share of it.”
While listening to these words of the Lord, both Nityänanda
and Gadädhara floated in the ocean of happiness. With
immense satisfaction, Gadädhara brought the prasäda of Gopénätha
and placed it before Gauracandra. The fragrance of the
rice filled the entire compound of the Öoöä-gopénätha Temple,
and the Lord repeatedly praised it.
“Divide the prasäda into three parts,” the Lord said. “Today
we will sit together and eat.”
Attracted by Nityänanda’s rice, Mahäprabhu sat down to
take His meal. Both Mahäprabhu and Nityänanda Prabhu sat
down to eat, facing each other. They happily glorified the rice
and the vegetables. The Lord said, “Just the fragrance of this
rice guarantees one’s attainment of devotion for Kåñëa. There is
no doubt about this.
“O Gadädhara, what wonderful cooking! I have never eaten
such a spinach preparation before. O Gadädhara, what an attractive
way you have of cooking. How did you make such a
preparation with tender tamarind leaves? I think you must cook
for the Lord in Vaikuëöha. Why are you hiding yourself?”
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