Occasionally, on the special Tithis, Vaishnavas give me the opportunity to have darsan of devotees and to remember the words of Guruvarga and scriptures. I am thankful to them. Life is very uncertain, any moment we may lose this opportunity. Nobody can say that he will survive for the next moment. Any moment we may leave this body. Therefore, it is foolishness to endeavor hard for getting temporary material benefits. If you do positive practices, negative impressions will automatically go. Just by saying, 'go! go!' they will not go. For instance, if you want to purge out water from that a tank full of water, you drop some heavy things like stones or bricks in it and by that water, light thing will come out automatically. Similarly, when you imbibe holy divine thoughts of the Supreme Lord and His devotees in your heart, non-eternal evil ideas will be removed automatically. There is no other way to remove them from your heart.

Today is the appearance day of the Lochan Das Thakur, who has written Chaitanya Mangal. By listening to Chaitanya Mangal conditioned souls will get the highest auspiciousness. The book written by Vrindavan Das Thakur on the pastimes of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was first named as Chaitanya Mangal which later became known as Chaitanya Bhagavat. Lochan Das Thakur gave an indication of this in the introductory portion of his book. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami also has mentioned in Chaitanya Charitamrita that Veda Vyasa Risi described Krishna-lila in Srimad Bhagavatam and Vrindavan Das Thakur who is non-different from Veda Vyasa Risi, described Gaur-lila in Chaitanya Bhagavat. Both the scriptures, Srimad Bhagavatam and Chaitanya Bhagavat, award the highest auspiciousness to the living beings.

By listening to the kirtans of Lochan Das Thakur the whole world is mesmerized. He appeared in the Radha clan (ancient Bengal) of the physician caste in Kogram of Burdwan district. He was a disciple of Narahari Sarakar Thakur who was one among the prominent associates of Mahaprabhu from Srikhanda. Lochan Das Thakur appeared on today’s holy Tithi accepting Sri Kamalakar Das as father and Srimati Sadanandee as his mother. His birth place Kogram is situated near the Ajaya River. The Ajaya River has special significance as Sri Radha Madhav deities of Sri Jaydeva Goswami manifested from that river.

People of Kogram were astonished to see Lochan Das Thakur’s extra-ordinary devotion towards Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from his childhood itself. He was an only child of his parents and was affectionate. Lochan Das Thakur was married at a very young age, according to the customs prevailing that time. Those days the boy or the girl who were to be married did not even know anything about each other before their marriage. And according to the customs, the girl will go back to her parental house after the marriage and would stay there until she is mature enough to take the household responsibilities. Nowadays such things do not happen but previously they used to bind the child in marital relations at very early age. No one can be relieved from such bondage of worldly entanglement unless Krishna sanctions it to be so and if Krishna wants to rescue someone from such bondage then nobody can obstruct it.

Narahari Sarakar Thakura was very affectionate to Lochan Das and Lochan Das Thakura enthusiastically took up residence with his Gurudev in Srikhanda and served him. Narahari Thakur taught him about kirtan and later ordered him to write Mahaprabhu’s sacred biography. Lochan Das Thakur took this order seriously and wrote the Chaitanya Mangal, the events of which are based on Murari Gupta’s Chaitanya-carita. He was the first to write Bengali poetry using vowel-marked meters as well as being one of Bengal’s earliest historical writers, which gives immense bliss to the listeners.

As the time approached when his wife was to join him, the girl’s parents began to worry because of Lochan Das Thakur’s indifference to material life. At that time Lochan Das Thakur was completely absorbed in the service of his Gurudev, Narahari Sarakar Thakur. The girl’s parents approached Narahari Thakur and told him of their disquiet. As a result, Narahari Thakur ordered Lochan Das to go to his in-laws’ house. He was not an ordinary guru, he sent him there but he had arranged everything in such a way that he would come back. He had planned everything in advance for him. When Lochan Das Thakur arrived in Amedpur, his in-law’s village, he was unable to remember where their house was, since it had been so long since he had visited it. He asked a young girl in the street for directions, addressing her as ‘ma’, or ‘mother'. When he arrived at his in-laws’ house, he came to know that the girl whom he had addressed as his mother was in fact his wife. From that day on, he always looked upon his wife as mother, worshiping Guru and Gauranga in an attitude of renunciation. He returned back as he could not stay in married life with her whom he addressed as ‘mother’.

Without the sanction of the Supreme Lord no one can leave the material world and nobody can keep anyone forcefully in Math. And on the contrary, if Supreme Lord desires to rescue somebody from the material bondage then nobody can obstruct it. Narahari Sarakar Thakur himself had sent Lochan Das Thakur to his in-laws’ place but at the same time he also made the arrangements so that he could come back. Lochan Das Thakur could have met any other person of that village but by the arrangement of his Gurudev, he encountered his wife there whom he addressed as ‘mother’. Narahari Sarakar Thakura is not an ordinary person. He is the associate of Supreme Lord.

Among Mahaprabhu’s associates from Srikhanda, Mukund Das, Madhava Das and Narahari Sarakar were the main. Raghunandan was the son of Mukund Das. Narahari Thakur, the younger brother of Mukund Das, is a confidant of Radharani (Madhumati) in Krishna Lila. Raghunanadan Thakur is Krishna's dear most sakha (friend) in Vraja-lila. Mahaprabhu ordered Mukund to give service of his family deity, Gopinath to Raghunandan, when he was in his early childhood. Mukund had a doubt that Raghunandan would be able to serve properly as he was a small child that time, but Mahaprabhu insisted on him giving the service, because He was aware of his devotional attributes.

If we worship the Lord in the mood of reverence, following rules and regulations mentioned in the scriptures then we will get the service of Lakshmi-Narayan and not Krishna. If we worship in madhurya-bhava (mood of sweetness) then only we would get Radha-Krishna. Krishna says,

aiśvarya-jñānete saba jagat miśrita
aiśvarya-śithila-preme nahi mora prīta
< (Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 4.17)

“Everyone wants to worship Me in My majestic aspects but I do not become attracted by such worship.”

Krishna does not get satisfied by someone who builds a big temple or a big gate. He does not like that mood of worship. He is subdued by pure love only. He says,

āmāre īśvara māne, āpanāke hīna
tāra preme vaśa āmi nā ha-i adhīna
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 4.18)

“One who regards Me as Supreme Lord and considers himself lower than Me, I do not get subdued by his love.”

They get service of Narayan. He also, says,

mora putra, mora sakhā, mora prāṇa-pati
ei-bhāve yei more kare śuddha-bhakti
āpanāke baḍa māne, āmāre sama-hīna
sei bhāve ha-i āmi tāhāra adhīna
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 4.21-22)

“Who out of intense love for Me says, ‘He is my son’, ‘He is my friend’ or ‘He is our beloved’ and cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior to him, I become subordinate to him.”

Mahaprabhu mercifully, has distributed such loving devotion in this Kali-yuga which was not made available in any other yuga. Mahaprabhu says,

yuga-dharma pravartāimu nāma-saṅkīrtana
cāri bhāva-bhakti diyā nācāmu bhuvana
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 3.19)

I shall personally inaugurate the religion of the age, nama-sankirtan (congregational chanting of the holy name). I shall make the world dance in ecstasy, realizing the four mellows of loving devotional service dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya.

He continues,

āpani karimu bhakta-bhāva aṅgīkāre
āpani ācari' bhakti śikhāimu sabāre
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 3.20)

I shall accept the role of a devotee, and I shall teach devotional service by practicing it Myself.

Even though Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, as He has taken the mood of Radharani, the mood of a devotee. The sahajiya sampraday (pseudo-sect) people try to be the enjoyer, not understanding the mood of Mahaprabhu. We should not deviate from the mood of service to the Lord. Mahaprabhu is, antar Krishna, bahir gaura—from within He is Krishna Himself and from outside He is Gaura. He accepted the role of a devotee to make us understand the real mood of a devotee. He Himself practiced devotion and taught it to others. Mahaprabhu says, āpane nā kaile dharma śikhāna nā yāya ei ta' siddhānta gītā-bhāgavate gāya—unless one practices devotion himself, he cannot teach it to others. This conclusion is indeed confirmed throughout the Gita and Bhagavatam. He further says yuga-dharma-pravartana haya aṁśa haite āmā vinā anye nāre vraja-prema dite—My plenary portions, Vishnu-tattva can establish the principles of religion for each age, but no one other than Me, Nandanandan Krishna, can bestow the Divine love and the kind of loving services performed by the residents of Vraja-dham.

We are in the seventh Manvantar, Vaivasvata Manvantar. In the Dvapara of 28th chatur-yuga of Vaivasvata Manvantar, Krishna Himself appears and in the following Kali-yuga, Krishna appears as Gauranga Mahaprabhu. In this special Kali-yuga, He Himself relishes the Divine love and distributes it to others. He says,

cira-kāla nāhi kari prema-bhakti dāna
bhakti vinā jagatera nāhi avasthāna
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 3.14)

For a long time I have not bestowed the unalloyed loving devotion to Me upon the inhabitants of the world without which the existence of the material world is useless.

We are entangled in this material world. We should have that attachment to Krishna, instead of that we are attached to the material world, because we want to take the position of Krishna as an enjoyer. Out of ignorance we want to enjoy our non-eternal relations but all our relations are with Krishna only. When we forget Him, we get entangled in the non-eternal material relations.

Mahaprabhu says,

tāhāte āpana bhakta-gaṇa kari’ saṅge
pṛthivīte avatari’ karimu nānā raṅge
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 3.28)

I shall appear on the earth in the company of My devotees and perform various pastimes like, delivering the fallen souls and relishing the topmost mellow, the madhurya-rasa; I will also experience the bliss in the mood of separation. That time I will distribute the Divine love to all, Brahmanas, Kashatriya, Vaishya and Sudra.

We cannot even think about the duration of one day of Brahma. Kali-yuga has the duration of 4,320,000 years. Dwapar-yuga is double of Kali-yuga, Treta-yuga is triple of Kali-yuga and Satya-yuga is four times of span of Kali-yuga. And 71 such Chatur-yuga is the life span of one Manu and 14 such Manu's life duration is one day of Brahma and also the same for Brahma's one night. This 28th Kali-yuga is not even half way through and if we do not try to utilize our birth in this precious Kali-yuga then we will not get this precious opportunity in the upcoming Kali-yuga. We will have to pass through 13 Manavantars (13 life of Manus) to get the same opportunity again. So birth in this Kali-yuga is a very precious opportunity for us in which Mahaprabhu Himself has appeared along with His associates. Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami writes, amar lekhan jena suker pathan—my writings are the words of the trained parrot. I am not writing it, Gauranga Mahaprabhu Himself has taken position in my heart and He is writing it.

Similarly, Lochan Das Thakur has written Chaitanya Mangal. He also wrote many kirtans about Nityanand Prabhu.

nitāi guṇa-maṇi āmār nitāi guṇa-maṇi
āniyā premer vanyā bhāsāilo avanī

“My Lord Nityanand, the jewel of all virtues, has brought the flood of ecstatic love of God that has drowned the entire world.”

premer vanyā loiyā nitāi āilā gauḍa-deśe
ḍubilo bhakata-gaṇa dīna hīna bhāse

Nityanand Prabhu has come to Gauda-desh (Bengal) and inundated all the devotees in the flood of Divine love. The fallen souls who do not have devotion to the Supreme Lord did not drown, however, but remained floating on that ecstatic ocean.

Lochan Das Thakur also has written,

akrodha paramānanda nityānanda rāya
abhimāna śūnya nitāi nagare beḍāya

The noble Lord Nityananda is never angry, for He is the personification of Supreme transcendental bliss. Devoid of any concept of false ego, Nitai wanders about the town.

Wherever there are non-eternal desires there arises anger.

dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ
saṅgas teṣūpajāyate
saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ
kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate
krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ
sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ.
smṛti-bhraṁśād buddhi-nāśo
buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 2.62-63)

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.

Out of anger we become bewildered and can sometimes even attack our elders or even our master. After doing such acts we will surely feel repentance. But because of forgetting our real identity we imbibe different material desires. And if we encounter any hindrance in those desires becoming fulfilled then we get angry. Anger leads to delusion and out of ignorance of delusion we perform abominable acts. Therefore, devotion to Supreme Lord is not possible if we have anger in us.

Jagai-Madhai attacked Nityanand Prabhu and hit Him; blood is coming out from His forehead. Mahaprabhu exhibiting extreme anger towards them and called His Sudarshan-chakra to punish them. But that time Nityanand Prabhu prayed and pacified Him and made Him shower His mercy on both of them. Such is His mercy, akrodha paramānanda nityānanda rāya.

When we possess any false pride like, “I am a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Sudra”, or “I am a Brahmachari, Sanyasi etc.” then devotion is not possible. If we have such pride then we will not be able to perform Krishna’s Name. Who am I? I am the eternal servant of Krishna. Until the time we are fully surrendered, we cannot be in contact with Krishna. It is written in Srimad Bhagavatam,

na tathā hy-aghavān rājan
pūyeta tapa-ādibhiḥ
yathā kṛṣṇārpita-prāṇas
tat-puruṣa-niṣevayā
(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.16)

My dear King, if a sinful person engages in the service of a bonafide devotee of the Lord and thus learns how to dedicate his life unto the lotus feet of Krishna, he can be completely purified. One cannot be purified merely by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement I have previously described.

The purification one receives by surrender could not be obtained by undergoing austerity, penance, brahmacarya and the other methods of atonement. How can one become Krishna-arpit-pranah—one who has surrendered his life fully to Sri Krishna? The answer is, tat-purush nisevaya—by serving the devotee of the Lord who is fully surrendered to Him.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur also has written the same thing in his Kirtan on Sharanagati (surrender),

dainya, ātma-nivedana, goptṛtve varaṇa
‘avaśya rakṣībe kṛṣṇa’—viśvāsa, pālana

bhaki-anukūla-mātra kāryera svīkara
bhakti-pratikūla-bhāva varjanāńgikāra

The six limbs of sharanagati are humility, dedication of the self, acceptance of the Lord as one’s only maintainer, faith that Krishna will surely protect, execution of only those acts favorable to pure devotion, and renunciation of conduct adverse to pure devotion.

ṣaḍ-ańga śaraṇāgati hoibe jāhāra
tāhāra prārthanā śune śrī-nanda-kumāra

The youthful son of Nanda Maharaja, Sri Krishna, hears the prayers of anyone who takes refuge in Him by this six-fold practice.

None of the activities of a person who is not surrendered to the lotus feet of Supreme Lord and His devotees is devotion. How will one become surrendered? It will not happen merely by memorizing this. For example, a patient cannot get cured merely by memorizing the names of medicines prescribed by the doctor. He has to take the prescribed medicines to get cured. Similarly, surrender does not come by merely memorizing the six limbs of surrender mentioned above. One has to pray and serve vaishanavas to surrender. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur further writes,

rūpa-sanātana-pade dante tṛṇa kori’
bhakativinoda poḍe duhuń pada dhori’

kāńdiyā kāńdiyā bole āmi to’ adhama
śikhāye śaraṇāgati koro he uttama

Bhaktivinoda places a straw between his teeth, prostrates himself before the two Goswamis, Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana, and clasps their lotus feet with his hands. “I am certainly the lowest of men”, he tells them while weeping, “But please make me the best of men by teaching me the ways of sharanagati

So, we will receive sharanagati by our prayers at the lotus feet of Lochan Das Thakur for his mercy. He served his Gurudev (Narahari Sarakar Thakur) without any deceitfulness and attained his Gurudev’s full mercy. So he can give us mercy and can make us surrender.

We should remember vaishnavas on their appearance and disappearance day. We should pray for their grace and sing their glories. They can bestow on us surrender which is the natural propensity of their heart. Surrender is the foundation for achieving Divine love of Supreme Lord. We can get it by remembering and praying for their grace. And therefore we should pray for the mercy of Lochan Das Thakur.

Lochan Das Thakur wrote in Chaitanya Mangal the glories of his Gurudev, Narahari Sarakar Thakur elaborately. He did not write much about the glories of Nityanand Prabhu. His Gurudev told him that he incurred an offense at the lotus feet of Nityanand Prabhu by doing so. And therefore, to beg forgiveness from Nityanand Prabhu, Lochan Das Thakur sang His glories in the form of kirtans. He wrote, ‘nitāi guṇa-maṇi āmār nitāi guṇa-maṇi’, ‘akrodha paramānanda nityānanda rāya’, ‘parama karuṇa pahū dui jana nitāi gauracandra’ and many other kirtans in the glories of Nityanand Prabhu.

We sing akrodha paramānanda nityānanda rāya during Nagar-kirtan. There Lochan Das Thakur wrote,

adhama patita jīvera dvāre dvāre giyā
harināma mahā-mantra dena bilāiyā

Nityanand Prabhu personally going door to door in the residences of the most fallen and wretched souls, distributed the Holy Name, the Mahamantra.

jā’re dekhe tā’re kahe dante tṛṇa dhari’
‘āmāre kiniyā laha bhaja gaurahari’

He exclaims to whomever He sees while holding straw between His teeth, 'Please purchase Me by worshipping Gaurahari!'

eta bali’ nityānanda bhūme gaḍi’ jāya
sonāra parvata jena dhūlāte loṭāya

Saying thus, Nityananda Prabhu rolls about on the ground, appearing like a golden mountain tumbling in the dust.

hena avatāre jā’ra rati nā janmila
locana bale sei pāpī ela āra gela

Locana Das Thakura says, “Whoever has not got attachment for such an avatara, that sinful person simply comes and goes uselessly in the cycle of repeated birth and death.”

Such was the devotion of Lochan Das Thakur for Nityanand Prabhu. Raghunandan Thakur also was a great devotee from Shrikhand, the place of Lochan Das Thakur’s spiritual master. Devotees from Shrikhand used to visit Jagannath Puri every year with Narahari Sarakar Thakur. During Jagannath Rathayatra festival, they used to form the seventh kirtan group amongst Mahaprabhu's seven groups. Raghunandan was the son of Mukund Das. Amongst the three brothers, Mukund was the eldest; younger to him was Madhav and Narahari Sarakar was the youngest. Even though Narahari Sarakar was the youngest, he was the chief among the devotees of the Srikhanda. Raghunanadan Thakur is a friend of Krishna (sakha) in vraja-lila who came as the son of Mukund Das in Mahaprabhu's pastimes.

Now one day, Mukund had to go somewhere for work and he called his wife and told her to cook for Gopinath and give it to Raghunandan. He also called Raghunandan and told, “I want you to offer Gopinath something to eat.”

Raghunandan replied, “I do not know the Mantras.”

Mukund said, “You offer Him in whatever way you know. Lord accepts whatever is given to Him with love.”

Then he left for his work. Raghunandan's mother made everything ready and gave it to him. Raghunandan was just a child and in his simplicity, he said to Gopinath, “Eat! Eat! I am a small child, my father ordered me to offer this to You.” Saying like this, he started crying. We do not believe. He was not an ordinary child. He is one among Krishna's friends in vraja-dham who used to offer Him various things to eat. They have a very strong love for Krishna. They consider Krishna to be equal to them. (Devotees like) Mother Yashoda, who has parental affection for Krishna, considers Him as small child and herself superior to Him. Krishna says,

āpanāke baḍa māne, āmāre sama-hīna
sei bhāve ha-i āmi tāhāra adhīna
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 4.21-22)

“Who out of intense love for Me says, ‘He is my son’, ‘He is my friend’ or ‘He is our beloved’ and cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior to him, I become subordinate to him.” Considering Me inferior and herself superior, mother Yashoda, takes cares of Me as her small child, she controls Me by tying and beating Me, I become subdued by this kind of love.

Regarding His friends, Krishna says,

sakhā śuddha-sakhye kare, skandhe ārohaṇa
tumi kon baḍa loka, — tumi āmi sama
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 4.25)

My friends climb on My shoulders in pure friendship, saying, ‘What kind of big man are You? You and I are equal.’

They say, 'We want to pick fruits from the tree, You are our friend but You have little more power, so You stand down, we will climb on Your shoulder.'

They climb on the shoulder of Krishna; can anybody do that? They pick the fruit and taste it whether it is sweet or sour. If it is sweet then they give it to Him. Raghunandan is also among them. Externally he is a small child, but by his devotion and loving requests the Lord became subdued and ate everything whatever he has offered. Krishna is controlled by the love of His devotees.

When his mother asked him to bring prasad from the offering, he replied, “Gopinath ate everything and there is no remnant left.” She was astonished to hear this. Later, Mukund Das returned, he also asked the boy to bring him the prasad from the offering he made. The child answered, “Father, Gopinath ate everything and there is no remnant left.”

Mukund was so astonished at his child’s wondrous words that he asked him to make another offering. This time after he left the house, he returned and hid to watch what his son does. Raghunandan joyfully placed a laddu in Krishna’s hand and said in a commanding voice, “Eat! Eat!” When Krishna had eaten half of the laddu, Mukund Das came in the doorway. Mukund saw that Krishna did not take another bite and that the half-eaten laddu remained in His hand. This caused him to be filled with love. He then took his child on his lap, embraced him and drenched him in his tears. Mahaprabhu asked Mukund, “Are you Raghunandan’s father and he is your son? Or, is he your father and you are his son? Tell Me so that I can put My doubts to rest.” Mukund answered, “Raghunandan is my father and I am his son, rest assured. Whatever devotion we have, it came from him, therefore I see him as my father.” When he heard Mukund Das's answer, Mahaprabhu was thrilled and said, “He from whom we imbibe devotion should always be considered our senior.”

I offer innumerable prostrated obeisance to Raghunandan Thakur, not only to him, to his father Mukund Das, who also was not ordinary. When he was working with a Muslim king to maintain his livelihood, once he was engaged in some service to the King, he saw a peacock-feathered fan and became absorbed in ecstatic love and fainted. So people around asked him, what had happened? He replied, “I have disease like epilepsy.” Thus he hid his ecstatic emotions. So Mukund Das also was one among the main devotees of Mahaprabhu from Srikhanda. As Radhunandan was blessed by Narahari Sarakar Thakur, I pay my obeisance to him also. I pay my innumerable obeisances to the lotus feet of Lochan Das Thakur. I pray them so that I can surrender myself unto the Supreme Lord by their mercy. Whatever problems exist in this world, are for ones who are not surrendered. The Supreme Lord Himself is the protector and maintainer of the surrendered soul, there is no need to be worried. Bhaktivinoda Thakur writes in his hymn, atma-nivedana, tuwa pade kori’, hoinu parama sukhi, duhkha dure gelo, cinta na rohilo, caudike ananda dekhi—the person who fully surrenders himself to the holy feet of the Supreme Lord becomes extremely joyful. All his unhappiness will go away and he only can see joy in all directions. He further says, ashoka-abhaya, amrta-adhara, tomara carana-dwaya, tahate ekhona, vishrama labhiya, chadinu bhavera bhoya—I have become fully fearless as I have taken the shelter at Your lotus feet which are the source of bliss, fearlessness and nectar for the soul. If we are not blissful and fearless then we should understand that we have not taken the shelter yet.

Externally, we can say that we are surrendered, but if we have independent desires in our heart, then we are not surrendered actually. The means is justified by the end. By seeing the fruits we can say whether one is surrendered or not. Whether we are doing actual bhajan or not, is decided by the fruits we get. Whether we have taken shelter or not is also decided by the fruits. If one takes actual shelter then there will not be any fear. Krishna will protect you. But if we utter it externally only, not being surrendered from within, then how will we get His grace?