The very first thing that I observed when I was new to the Gaudiya Vaisnava ways was the personal aspect of worship. How the Lord has a special plate, a bed and is treated like a person. In the Srivaisnava worship, as a child I would observe how they would make pots of Naivedya/bhoga and take the steaming hot container and place it directly in front of the Lord. No spoon, no water, no plate even...The ways of worship taught by our Acharyas felt so sweet and natural in comparison. Though we have incorporated the pancaratrika method of worship, there is a certain sweetness present in our worship which is not present in any in any other tradition, in my observation. Over the years quite a few times I have felt reciprocration from our deities on small insignificant things, but significant enough for me to understand that " Yes these deities are really present." Why the Lord would choose to interact with such an insignificant soul like me is a question which completely overwhelms me at times.
So we were busy making 4000 Khajas for our Rathayatra festival early this month. It was a hot and humid day, the kids, not to be left at home came along. Amidst settling their fights and trying to focus on the quality of Prasadam we were making, we were tired at the end of the day. The next step involved packing the khajas in small ziploc packs, labeling them and getting them ready for distribution. Khaja being a favorite of all devotees, I was worried about how to get the devotees to pack all the khajas without their taking any for themselves. Eaten up khajas meant more Khajas to make and we were running out of time. Thinking it would be unfair to both the devotees making the Khajas and the devotees packing them, I got back home and made some Khajas for the devotees who would be packing the Khajas in the Bhakti Vriksha the next night. That way the ones made for distribution would remain untouched.. The next day Khajas were packed and the devotees packing had their share. It was then that one devotee handed me my box in which i had packed some shukto prasadam for her almost a month back. I opened the box and to my delight found Khajas from Jagannath Puri Dham in there.. The Lord had reciprocated by making sure that all the devotees had prasadam straight from the Dham. Such is the speciality of developing a relationship and interacting with the Lord. Was just wondering what the Brahmavadis must be thinking but checked myself saying " I better not get there."
So we were busy making 4000 Khajas for our Rathayatra festival early this month. It was a hot and humid day, the kids, not to be left at home came along. Amidst settling their fights and trying to focus on the quality of Prasadam we were making, we were tired at the end of the day. The next step involved packing the khajas in small ziploc packs, labeling them and getting them ready for distribution. Khaja being a favorite of all devotees, I was worried about how to get the devotees to pack all the khajas without their taking any for themselves. Eaten up khajas meant more Khajas to make and we were running out of time. Thinking it would be unfair to both the devotees making the Khajas and the devotees packing them, I got back home and made some Khajas for the devotees who would be packing the Khajas in the Bhakti Vriksha the next night. That way the ones made for distribution would remain untouched.. The next day Khajas were packed and the devotees packing had their share. It was then that one devotee handed me my box in which i had packed some shukto prasadam for her almost a month back. I opened the box and to my delight found Khajas from Jagannath Puri Dham in there.. The Lord had reciprocated by making sure that all the devotees had prasadam straight from the Dham. Such is the speciality of developing a relationship and interacting with the Lord. Was just wondering what the Brahmavadis must be thinking but checked myself saying " I better not get there."
Sri Swarup Damodar insisted that this very swetmeat be fed to the Giriraja Goverdhan Sila given to Sri Raghunath Das Goswami by Caitanya Mahaprabu.
TEXT 303
ei-mata kata dina karena pujanatabe svarupa-gosani tanre kahila vacana
TRANSLATIONAfter Raghunatha dasa had thus worshiped the govardhana-sila forsome time, Svarupa Damodara one day spoke to him as follows.
TEXT 304
"asta-kaudira khaja-sandesa kara samarpanasraddha kari' dile, sei amrtera sama
TRANSLATION"Offer the Govardhana stone eight kaudis worth of the first-classsweetmeats known as khaja and sandesa. If you offer them with faith andlove, they will be just like nectar."
TEXT 305
tabe asta-kaudira khaja kare samarpanasvarupa-ajnaya govinda taha kare samadhana
TRANSLATIONRaghunatha dasa then began offering the costly sweetmeats known askhaja, which Govinda, following the order of Svarupa Damodara, wouldsupply.
TEXT
306
raghunatha sei sila-mala yabe pailagosanira abhioraya ei bhavana karila
TRANSLATIONWhen Raghunatha dasa received from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu thestone and the garland of conchshells, he could understand the Lord'sintention. Thus he thought as follows.
TEXT 307
"sila diya gosani samarpila `govardhane'gunja-mala diya dila `radhika-carane,
TRANSLATION"By offering me the govardhana-sila, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has offered me a place near Govardhana Hill, and by offering me the garlandof conch shells, He has offered me shelter at the lotus feet of SrimatiRadharani."
Time and again I feel so blessed to be part of such a wonderful and sweet process given to us by our Acharyas and Srila Prabhupada and pray that I always serve the Lord and His devotees.
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