mandirera cakra dekhi' kariha praṇÄma
ei á¹­hÄñi tomÄra Äsibe prasÄdÄnna

 mandirera - of the temple of JagannÄtha; cakra - the wheel on the top; dekhi' - seeing; kariha praṇÄma - offer your obeisances; ei á¹­hÄñi - in this place; tomÄra - your; Äsibe - will come; prasÄda-anna - remnants of food offered to JagannÄtha.


Text

“Remain here peacefully and look at the cakra on the top of the temple and offer obeisances. As far as your prasÄdam is concerned, I shall arrange to have that sent here.â€

Purport

Since he was born in a Muslim family, ÅšrÄ«la HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura could not enter the temple of JagannÄtha due to temple restrictions. Nonetheless, he was recognized by ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu as NÄmÄcÄrya HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura. HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura, however, considered himself unfit to enter the JagannÄtha temple. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu could have personally taken HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura into the JagannÄtha temple if He wished, but the Lord did not like to disturb a popular custom. Consequently the Lord asked His servant simply to look at the Viṣṇu wheel on top of the temple and offer obeisances (namaskÄra). This means that if one is not allowed to enter the temple, or if he thinks himself unfit to enter the temple, he can look at the wheel from outside the temple, and that is as good as seeing the Deity within.

ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu promised to come daily to see ÅšrÄ«la HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura, and this indicates that ÅšrÄ«la HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura was so advanced in spiritual life that, although considered unfit to enter the temple, he was being personally visited by the Lord every day. Nor was there any need for his going outside his residence to collect food. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu assured HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura that the remnants of His food would be sent there. As the Lord states in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.22), yoga-ká¹£emaá¹ vahÄmy aham: “I arrange all life’s necessities for My devotees.â€

A reference is made here for those who are very anxious to imitate the behavior of ṬhÄkura HaridÄsa in an unnatural way. One must receive the order of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu or His representative before adopting such a way of life. The duty of a pure devotee or a servant of the Lord is to carry out the order of the Lord. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu asked NityÄnanda Prabhu to go to Bengal and preach, and He asked the GosvÄmÄ«s, RÅ«pa and SanÄtana, to go to Vá¹›ndÄvana and excavate the lost places of pilgrimage. In this case the Lord asked HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura to remain there at JagannÄtha PurÄ« and constantly chant the holy names of the Lord. Thus ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu gave different persons different orders, and consequently one should not try to imitate the behavior of HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura without being ordered by ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu or His representative. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura condemns such imitations in this way:

duṣṭa mana! tumi kisera vaiṣṇava?
pratiṣṭhÄra tare, nirjanera ghare,
tava hari-nÄma kevala kaitava

“My dear mind, you are trying to imitate HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in a secluded place, but you are not worth being called a Vaiṣṇava because what you want is cheap popularity and not the actual qualifications of HaridÄsa ṬhÄkura. If you try to imitate him you will fall down, for your neophyte position will cause you to think of women and money. Thus you will fall into the clutches of mÄyÄ, and your so-called chanting in a secluded place will bring about your downfall.â€