má¹›ta-putra-mukhe kaila jñÄnera kathana
Äpane dui bhÄi hailÄ Å›rÄ«vÄsa-nandana
má¹›ta-putra - of the dead son; mukhe - in the mouth; kaila - did; jñÄnera - of knowledge; kathana - conversation; Äpane - personally; dui - the two; bhÄi - brothers; hailÄ - became; Å›rÄ«vÄsa-nandana - sons of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura.
ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu caused the dead son to speak about knowledge, and then the two brothers personally became the sons of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura.
This incident is described as follows by ÅšrÄ«la Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura in his Amá¹›ta-pravÄha-bhÄá¹£ya. One night while ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was dancing with His devotees at the house of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura, one of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura’s sons, who was suffering from some disease, died. ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura was so patient, however, that he did not allow anyone to express sorrow by crying, for he did not want the kÄ«rtana going on at his house to be disturbed. Thus kÄ«rtana continued without a sound of lamentation. But when the kÄ«rtana was over, Caitanya MahÄprabhu, who could understand the incident, declared, “There must have been some calamity in this house.†When He was then informed about the death of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura’s son, He expressed His regret, saying, “Why was this news not given to Me before?†He went to the place where the son was lying dead and asked him, “My dear boy, why are you leaving the house of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura?†The dead son immediately replied, “I was living in this house as long as I was destined to live here. Now that the time is over, I am going elsewhere, according to Your direction. I am Your eternal servant, a dependent living being. I must act only according to Your desire. Beyond Your desire, I cannot do anything. I have no such power.†Hearing these words of the dead son, all the members of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura’s family received transcendental knowledge. Thus there was no cause for lamentation. This transcendental knowledge is described in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (2.13): tathÄ dehÄntara-prÄptir dhÄ«ras tatra na muhyati. When someone dies, he accepts another body; therefore sober persons do not lament. After the discourse between the dead boy and ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, funeral ceremonies were performed, and Lord Caitanya assured ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura, “You have lost one son, but NityÄnanda Prabhu and I are your eternal sons. We shall never be able to give up your company.†This is an instance of a transcendental relationship with Kṛṣṇa. We have eternal transcendental relationships with Kṛṣṇa as His servants, friends, fathers, sons or conjugal lovers. When the same relationships are pervertedly reflected in this material world, we have relationships as the sons, fathers, friends, lovers, masters or servants of others, but all these relationships are subject to termination within a definite period. If we revive our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, however, by the grace of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu our eternal relationship will never break to cause our lamentation.
