Nitai pada-kamala - The Lotus Feet of Lord Nityananda
By Shrila Narottama dasa Thakura.

1. The lotus feet of sri Nityananda are as cool as millions of moons. The whole universe gets peace by the shade of those lotus feet. Without the mercy of sri Nityananda, nobody can get Radha and Krsna, the aim of human life. Therefore, catch hold of the two lotus feet of sri Nityananda Prabhu very tightly.

2. One who has not established a relationship with sri Nityananda is a two-legged animal. A great beast! His whole life is finished. He cannot be called a human being. He never utters the name of sri Nityananda. He is always immersed in enjoying material happiness and has forgotten sri Nitai. He may have acquired all material scholarship and learning, but what is the value of such education? This will never help.

3. They are so puffed up with their mundane education and scholarship. They are never humble at all. They have forgotten the lotus feet of sri Nitai because of their false ego and pride. They are completely under the clutches of Maya. They accept the untruth as truth. If sri Nityananda showers His mercy upon someone, he will get sri sri Radha Krsna in Vrajabhümi. So catch hold of the two lotus feet of Lord Nityananda very tightly.

4. The lotus feet of sri Nityananda are eternally true. And those followers or servants of those lotus feet of sri Nityananda are also eternal. Always aspire for the lotus feet of sri Nityananda. srila Narottama dasa thakura says, ”I am very distressed, and an unhappy person. I am drowning in this dreadful ocean of material existence. O sri Nityananda Prabhu, please make me very happy! Please keep me at Your lotus feet.”

I am singing news of the greatest joy! Nityananda Prabhu opened a marketplace of the holy Name at Surabhi-kunja.

boro mojar katha tay
shraddha-mulye shuddha-nama sei hatete bikay

Wonderful things are going on in that blissful market! Shri Nityananda Prabhu is selling the pure holy Name wholesale, merely for the price of one's faith.

jata bhakta-brinda basi'
adhikari dekhe' nama becche daro kasi'

Seeing the assembly of devotees eagerly waiting to purchase the Name, He first examines each one of them, testing their qualification; than He sells the Name by bargaining for His price accordingly.

jadi nama kinbe, bhai
amar sange calo, mahajaner kache jai

My dear brother! If you really want to buy this pure holy Name, then just come along with me, for I am now going to meet with this munificent soul.

tumi kinbe krishna-nama
dasturi loibo ami, purna ha'be kama

Thus, you will finally be able to acquire the pure holy Name. I will also take my due commission, and in this way all three of us will be satisfied.

boro doyal nityananda
shraddha-matra lo'ye den parama-ananda

Nityananda Prabhu is so extraordinarily merciful, that He bestows upon you, in exchange of your faith, the topmost divine bliss.

ek-bar dekhle cakshe jal
‘gaura' bole' nitai den sakala sambal

When Nitai sees a tear welling in someone's eye upon chanting the name of "Gaura!" He instantly gives His support to that person.

den shuddha krishna-siksha
jati, dhana, vidya, bala na kore apeksha

Despite one's caste, material wealth, education, or physical ability. He bestows that person the undiluted knowledge about Krishna.

amani chade maya-jal
grihe thako, bane thako, na thake janjal

Now, give up your delusion, if you are a householder or an renunciate, never mind, nothing will trouble you anymore.

ar naiko kalir bhoy
acandale den nama nitai doyamoy

You do not have to fear the influence of this age of Kali, than the most merciful Nityananda gives the holy Name to anyone and everyone even to the most degraded.

bhaktivinoda daki' koy
nitai-carana bina ar nahi ashroy

Bhaktivinoda loudly calls out and proclaims, “Besides of Nityananda’s feet there is no safer shelter!”

 

Avirbhava Appearance Day Lecture     

By AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada                
Bhuvaneshvara, February 2, 1977

Nityananda Prabhu is Baladeva - Baladeva-tattva:

vrajendra-nandana yei, saci-suta haila sei,
balarama haila nitai

"He who was formerly the son of Nanda Maharaja, has appeared as the son of Sacidevi." Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mother's name was Sacidevi. So Krishna is Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and Balarama is Nityananda Prabhu -  vrajendra-nandana yei, saci-suta haila sei,  balarama haila nitai

In the Vedic literature it is said, nayam atma bala-hinena labhyah; na bahuna shrutena –‘bala’ means strength. Sometimes some rascal philosophers, they take it that bala means bodily strength. They propagate this philosophy that "Unless you are bodily stout and strong, you cannot achieve spiritual salvation. You must be very strong and stout and eat meat and fight, and then you'll get next spiritual birth" No. This bala, this strength, is different in means spiritual strength.

The difficulty of the present situation is that actually we are moving on account of spiritual strength, but they have no information of the spiritual strength. They are thinking of material strength only. That is expressed in this song by Narottama Dasa Thakur::

ahankare matta hoiya, nitai-pada pasariya,
asatyere satya kori mani

This is due to ahankara. Ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate (Bg. 3.27). Those who are vimudha, big rascals... The meaning of ‘mudha’ is rascal, and ‘vi’ means visesha, viseshanam, particularly (very big) - ahankara-vimudhatma. The same thing, which is spoken in the Bhagavad-gita, Narottama Dasa Thakur says the same thing in a plain Bengali language: ahankare matta haiya, nitai-pada... By the spell of maya - ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate… But foolish people think "We are independent. We can do whatever we like." This is called ahankara-vimudhatma. Under false pretext, false prestige, everyone is thinking "We are independent. We can find out the solution of the problems of life by material adjustment," so on and so on.

This is our material disease. Bewildered by maya, they do not understand that the real strength is spiritual strength. We see and hear every day about very strong man, very powerful  (influential) man, very good brain and very good scientists... But from where does this strength come from? The strength comes from the atma – the spiritual soul. As soon as the atma, or the soul, goes out of this body, however intelligent, strong, and so many things one may be, will be finish. That is the difference between dead man and the living man. A living man is very powerful, in very good position, everything. But as soon his body is death, lying down on the floor, and if you kick him on his face, he'll not protest. Where is that strength now? it left the body. On the spiritual strength, the body moves. Suppose you have got a very good car, Mercedes or Rolls Royce, but when there is no petrol, how the car will move? It is not possible. There is spirit, petrol spirit. Similarly, real strength is spiritual strength. That spiritual strength come from Balarama. Bala means strength. Therefore we have to take shelter of the lotus feet of Balarama, guru-tattva.

Balarama means guru-tattva. Balarama represents guru. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. If we want to understand Caitanya Mahaprabhu, if we want to understand Krishna, then we must take shelter of Balarama. Nayam atma bala-hinena labhyah. This bala-hinena labhyah, this Vedic injunction means, "Without the mercy of Balarama you cannot understand, you cannot realize your spiritual identification. So that Balarama comes as Nityananda Prabhu. Balarama haila nitai. Therefore we must take shelter of Balarama.

There is a song by Narottama Dasa Thakur - Nitai-pada-kamala, koti-candra-sushitala - If we take shelter of Nityananda Prabhu, then we get peace. Koti-candra-sushitala - Just like in daytime, especially in the summer season, we become very much exasperated. But at night, in the evening, as soon as there is moonshine, we become very much satisfied. All day's labor and fatigue is immediately moved. So nitai-pada-kamala, the shade of Nityananda Prabhu's lotus feet, is koti-candra-sushitala, as pleasing as one crore of moonshine. The light of one moon gives us so much pleasure. So if we want actually peace of mind, if we actually want to be free from this material fatigue, then we must take tshelter of Nityananda Prabhu.

Nityananda Prabhu is the strength, spiritual strength. Without spiritual strength you cannot approach Krishna. Nayam atma pravaca... Simply by talking nonsense... nayam atma pravacanena labhyah - if you are a good speaker, does not mean, that you are able to understand your real self. But the Upanishad verse says, “na medhaya - neither by good brain." You may think, that because you have got very good brain that you will understand Krishna. No, - nayam atma pravacanena labhyo na medhaya na bahuna shrutena. Or someone else may think, that he is a very good scholar with university degree, therefore I will understand. But this is also not possible.

So we must have spiritual strength. That source of spiritual strength is Balarama, Krishna's first manifestation, prakasha-vigraha. Krishna is manifesting Himself through Balarama. So we have to take shelter of Nityananda Prabhu.

nitai-pada-kamala, koti-candra-sushitala,
je chayay jagata juray

The whole world is suffering, but if you want peace, then you take the shelter of Nityananda Prabhu.

heno nitai bine bhai, radha-krishna paite nai
dhridha kori' dharo nitair pay

Our real aim of life is how to go back home back to Godhead and associate with Radha Krishna. In another song the same author says,

manushya-janama paiya, radha-krishna na bhajiya,
janiya shuniya bisa khainu

Unless you come to Radha-Krishna, you cannot get real pleasure. If you want to dance and get pleasure, don't dance independently. Dance with Krishna. Then you'll be happy. Just like here, in our temple, we are also eating, but we are eating the remnants of foodstuff left by Krishna. That is real pleasure. It is not that we have to stop eating. We are not dry philosophers - krishna bora doyamoy, koribare jihva joy, shva-prasad-anna dilo bhai. All over the world devotees eat Krishna prasadam…

Because we are under the shelter of Nityananda Prabhu, Balarama, we have no anxiety. That means material life means anxiety. You cannot avoid anxiety if you lead a material life. Then you will be anxious. That is Prahlada Maharaja's instruction. He was asked by his father, "My dear son, what is the best thing what you have learned from your teachers?" So he replied, "tat sadhu manye 'sura-varya dehinam sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat (SB 7.5.5).

The whole human society is suffering, at least suffering from one disease - anxiety. Ask anybody. Take one small ant and take the big elephant; take the President of United States or take one street beggar. Ask him, "Whether you are free from anxiety?" Nobody will say, "No." "I am full of anxiety." That's a fact. So why they are in anxiety? That Prahlada Maharaja had replied, sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat. Because we have taken asad-vastu, that will not exist... Everything, whatever you have got... Our, this body will not exist. And this is the main platform of our existence. In the material world, as long the body is there, you exist. So Prahlada Maharaja said, “the eal solution of problems of life is, to get out of this material condition. That is the best thing in my opinion." Sada samadvigna-dhiyam asad... That is Vedic injunction also. Asato ma sad gamaya: "Don't live in this asat, in this material condition." Sad gamaya: "Go to real existence." That real existence means spiritual life. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire (Bg. 2.20). So if we actually want life, blissful life, then we must get out of this material existence. That is Prahlada Maharaja's instruction. And if you remain in the material existence, you must suffer some anxiety. There is no excuse. So Prahlada Maharaja advises that hitvatma-ghatam griham andha-kupam vanam gato yad dharim ashrayeta (SB 7.5.5). Real problem is anxiety. And this anxiety will continue as long you existent in the material world. Therefore the real life is to get out of this material world. Hitvatma-ghatam. Atma-ghatam means killing the soul. This material civilization is killing the soul. They have no information of the soul. They do not know how to become peaceful, how to become blissful. They are trying to be peaceful, bahir-artha-maninah, by external material energy. They are thinking by constructing big, big buildings, just like in Bhuvaneshvara they are doing, and having good, very big, big roads and motorcars, that is advancement of civilization. No. That is not advancement ... That is increasing their anxiety. There is no solution of the anxiety. There is... Formerly that... I was speaking. There was no university. The university was in the cottage-Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva was writing Srimad-Bhagavatam and all the Puranas in a cottage. The university was there. Who can produce such literature as Vyasadeva has given? From any angle of vision, from literary point of view, from philosophical point of view -- everything, so perfect, every literature, Mahabharata, Puranas, and Vedanta. Veda-vyasa, he has given. So there was no need of university. It required clear brain. That was to be done by the brahminical qualifications, samo damo titiksha arjava, jnanam-vijnanam astikyam brahma-karma svabhava... Where is that education? This education, technical education, how you can very nicely hammer, this will not solve the problem. So if we want real solution of the problems, then our duty is first of all to take the shelter of nitai-pada-kamala. Then we'll be happy, and we'll get moonshine, and all our fatigueness will be subsided.

Sambandha nahi jar, britha janma gelo tar. So if you have no connection with Nityananda Prabhu... Nityananda means always and ananda means pleasure. This is another meaning you can draw. So therefore, if you have no connection with Nityananda Prabhu... Se tar: "He's simply wasting time." Britha means useless. Uselessly, he's wasting time. Se pashu boro duracar. And Narottama Dasa Thakur has used a very strong word. "Anyone who has no connection with Nityananda Prabhu, he's a pashu"- an animal. How one animal can get happiness? That is not possible. The dog, from the childhood he's searching after food, searching after food. And cannot get food. Unless a dog has got a master, he's street dog and he's always unhappy. So better to become a dog of Nityananda Prabhu. Then we shall be happy. Instead of becoming dog of so many other people... Everyone is dog. Everyone is searching after to serve a master. But none of them are satisfied because they have false masters. If you take shelter by the real master, Nityananda Prabhu. Then you'll be happy.

Our Bhaktivinoda Thakur, he has sung therefore,

vaishnava thakur, tomara kukkur,
boliya janaha more

"My dear Vaishnava Thakur, kindly accept me as your dog. I am dog already, but I am maya's dog. I'm not Vaishnava's dog. So kindly accept me." If you become a Vaishnava's dog... chadiya vaishnava seva, nistar paiche keba. If you do not become a dog of a Vaishnava and Nityananda Prabhu... Nityananda is guru. So if you do not become a dog of Nityananda Prabhu, Vaishnava, or guru, there is no question of happiness. Se sambandha nahi yar, britha janma gelo... se pasu boro duracar. Nitai na bolilo mukhe, majila samsara-sukhe. He who has no connection with Nityananda Prabhu, and he does not say, "Jaya Nitai! Jaya Gaura!" And majilo samsara-sukhe, he thinks that this society, family, and... "Society, friendship and love, divinely bestowed upon man." These materialist persons, they say like that. That is called majilo samsara sukhe. In samsara there cannot be any sukha, but he's attracted by that. Majilo samsara sukhe. Vidya-kule ki koribe tar. What we'll do with university education or be born in big family… all this will not help. This is not possible. Vidya-kule ki karibe tar. Why they're accepting this false? Ahankare matta hoiya, nitai-pada pasariya, asatyere satya kori mani. On account of being misled by false prestige and false egotism, asatyere satya kori mani, we are accepting this body which is asat, which will not exist. That we have taken as reality. Ahankare matta hoiya, nitai pada pasariya. But if we take shelter of Nityananda Prabhu, then you get the enlightenment. Asatyere satya kori mani. Nitaiyer koruna habe, braje radha-krishna pabe, dharo nitai-carana du'khani.

Therefore Narottama Dasa Thakur advises that... Today is Nityananda Prabhu's avirbhava appearance day. Let us at least remember today nitai-pada-kamala. That is wanted. Nitai carana satya, tahara sevaka nitya. The reality is nitai-carana, and anyone who is servant of Nitai... So nitaiyer carana satya, tahara sevaka nitya. One who has become the dog of Nityananda Prabhu, he gets his eternal life. We are eternal, but under misconception of material identification, we are under the subjugation of maya. Bhutva bhutva praliyate (Bg. 8.19). Tatha dehantara... (Bg. 2.13) It is very botheration, but they do not know. I am going from one body to another transmigration. And there is no guarantee, what kind of body. They have no science, no knowledge about understanding tatha dehantara, the very first instruction of Bhagavad-gita. They are so rascals, and they are proud of their education, their universities. This is going on.

Nitai carana satya, tahara sevaka..., nitai-pada sada koro asa. Therefore we should always expect to be under the shelter of nitai-pada-kamala. Narottama boro dukhi. Narottama Dasa Thakur, he's Acarya. He is presenting himself... That is acarya. Means he is not duhkhi, but he's presenting himself as duhkhi. That is acarya. Acaryas, they are never duhkhi. But taking the common man's position, he says, narottama boro dukhi. Or, in other words, Narottama means the best of the human being. So here in this material world one may be the best of the human being, very exalted position, but everyone is dukhi, unhappy. Narottama boro dukhi, nitai more koro sukhi: "Only Nityananda can make me happy. Otherwise not possible." Rakho ranga-caranera pasa. So today is Nityananda Prabhu's appearance day. We shall always pray to Nityananda Prabhu, "Kindly keep me under your shelter so that... I am very duhki; I am very unhappy. Under the shelter of Your lotus feet I shall be happy." And that is real happiness.