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