Vrindavan das thakur says in chaitanya bhagavat that if the vedas took ten million forms and if each of those forms had ten million mouths and tongues, they would not, all together, be able to calculate the good fortune of Jagannath Mishra and Sachi mata who were most fortunate because they experienced the wonderful childhood pastimes of Nimai.
Once Sachi mata gave Nimai some fused rice and then she went about her daily duties. Nimai put down the rice and began to eat dirt. When Sachi mata saw her son’s face and hands covered with dirt, she exclaimed with concern, “oh Nimai, what are you doing? I have given you nice prasad and so many sweets. Why do you eat dirt instead?” Nimai replied, “oh mother, why do you say like this? There is no difference between dirt and sweetmeats. They are both transformations of earth. Everything is ultimately one- ekam!”
Sachi mata got disturbed hearing this. She said, “my child, from where have you heard this mayavad philosophy of everything is one. This is the bogus theory of illusion. This is the most impractical philosophy. Yes, sweetmeats maybe coming from the same place as earth. But if you eat earth, you’ll fall sick and if you eat these nice foodstuff that I give you, you’ll have excellent health. Likewise if you take earth and transform it into a pot, you can carry water in that pot. However, if you pour water into earth, it will simply cause a mess of wet mud.” In this way, mother Sachi taught the principles of achintya bheda abheda philosophy to her little son Nimai – the truth that the lord later established through his principal followers, the six goswamis of vrindavan, and taught it to the whole world. According to this doctrine, everything- the material energy, the lord, and all living entities, are all simultaneously one with and different from the lord and his energies. Here Sachi mata taught the practical understanding of this truth to her son. Thus, a simple housewife, mother Sachi completely defeated the shankara philosophy. Little Nimai was overjoyed and told his mother, “this is so nice and why didn’t you teach this philosophy earlier? From today I won’t eat dirt and will take your milk only.” He then jumped on his mother’s lap and accepted her loving embrace.
To be continued…
