Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 14.37

atithi-viprera anna khāila tina-bāra

pāche gupte sei vipre karila nistāra

SYNONYMS

atithi — guest; viprera — of a brāhmaṇa; anna — food; khāila — ate; tina-bāra — thrice; pāche — afterwards; gupte — in privacy; sei — that; vipre — unto the brāhmaṇa; karila — made; nistāra — deliverance.

TRANSLATION

On one occasion the Lord ate the food of a brāhmaṇa guest three times, and later, in confidence, the Lord delivered that brāhmaṇa from material engagement.

PURPORT

The story of the deliverance of this brāhmaṇa is as follows. A brāhmaṇa who was touring all over the country, traveling from one place of pilgrimage to another, reached Navadvīpa and became a guest in the house of Jagannātha Miśra. Jagannātha Miśra gave him all ingredients for cooking, and the brāhmaṇa prepared his food. When the brāhmaṇa was offering the food to Lord Viṣṇu in meditation, child Nimāi came before him and began to eat it, and because of this the brāhmaṇa thought the whole offering had been spoiled. Therefore by the request of Jagannātha Miśra he cooked for a second time, but when he was meditating the child again came before him and began to eat the food, again spoiling the offering. By the request of Jagannātha Miśra the brāhmaṇa cooked for a third time, but for a third time the Lord came before him and began to eat the food, although the child had been locked within a room and everyone was sleeping because it was late at night. Thus, thinking that on that day Lord Viṣṇu was not willing to accept his food and that he was therefore ordained to fast, the brāhmaṇa became greatly agitated and cried aloud, hāya hāya: "What has been done! What has been done!" When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the brāhmaṇa in that agitated state, He told him, "Formerly I was the son of mother Yaśodā. At that time also you became a guest in the house of Nanda Mahārāja, and I disturbed you in this way. I am very much pleased by your devotion. Therefore I am eating the food you have prepared." Understanding the favor offered to him by the Lord, the brāhmaṇa was greatly pleased, and he was overwhelmed with love of Kṛṣṇa. He was thankful to the Lord, for he felt himself greatly fortunate. Then the Lord asked the brāhmaṇa not to disclose the incident to anyone else. This pastime is very elaborately explained in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Three.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness