rÄghava paṇá¸ita, iá¹…ha ÄcÄrya nandana
Å›rÄ«mÄn paṇá¸ita ei, Å›rÄ«kÄnta, nÄrÄyaṇa
rÄghava paṇá¸ita - RÄghava Paṇá¸ita; iá¹…ha - here; ÄcÄrya nandana - Ä€cÄrya Nandana; Å›rÄ«mÄn paṇá¸ita - ÅšrÄ«mÄn Paṇá¸ita; ei - this; Å›rÄ«kÄnta - ÅšrÄ«kÄnta; nÄrÄyaṇa - and also NÄrÄyaṇa.
“Here is RÄghava Paṇá¸ita, here is Nandana Ä€cÄrya, there is ÅšrÄ«mÄn Paṇá¸ita, and here are ÅšrÄ«kÄnta and NÄrÄyaṇa.â€
Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura, honoring the personal associates of Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, has sung as follows (PrÄrthanÄ 13):
gaurÄá¹…gera saá¹…gi-gaṇe nitya-siddha kari’ mÄne
se yÄya vrajendra-suta-pÄÅ›a
One who is intelligent understands that all the personal associates and devotees of Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu are ever liberated. This means that because they are always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, they do not belong to this material world. One who is engaged in the Lord’s devotional service twenty-four hours daily and never forgets the Lord is called nitya-siddha. ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« confirms this statement:
Ä«hÄ yasya harer dÄsye karmaá¹‡Ä manasÄ girÄ
nikhilÄsv apy avasthÄsu jÄ«van-muktaḥ sa ucyate
“A person acting in the service of Kṛṣṇa with body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities.†(Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu, 1.2.187)
A devotee is always thinking of how better to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and how to broadcast His name, fame and qualities throughout the world. One who is nitya-siddha has no business other than broadcasting the glories of the Lord all over the world according to his ability. Such people are already associates of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu. Therefore Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura says, nitya-siddha kari’ mÄne. One should not think that because ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was personally present five hundred years ago, only His associates were liberated. Rather, ÅšrÄ«la Narottama dÄsa ṬhÄkura says that anyone is a nitya-siddha if he acts on behalf of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu by spreading the glories of the holy name of the Lord. We should respect those devotees preaching the glories of the Lord as nitya-siddha and should not consider them conditioned.
mÄá¹ ca yo ’vyabhicÄreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇÄn samatÄ«tyaitÄn brahma-bhÅ«yÄya kalpate
(Bg. 14.26)
One who has transcended the material modes of nature is said to be on the Brahman platform. That is also the platform of nitya-siddha. The nitya-siddha not only stays on the Brahman platform but also works on that platform. Simply by accepting the associates of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu as nitya-siddha, one can very easily go back home, back to Godhead.
