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Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes- The nourishment for the soul- Part 9

The Lord was named Vishwambara- the maintainer of the universe, by his
maternal grandfather, who said, the baby would grow to spread love and
maintain the universe with His spiritual potency. Since he had a
brilliant golden complexion, the ladies of Nawadwip, lovingly called
him ‘Gauranga’- the one with golden complexion. His mother gave birth
to Him under a neem tree and since Neem is considered to have
medicinal properties, she affectionately called Him ‘Nimai’- in a hope
that the Neem properties would ward off diseases and bad effects on
the child. Many children of Jagannath Mishra and Sachi Devi had died
during child birth; so the parents hoped that neem would protect this
baby. Many men called the child as Jagannath suta- son of Jagannath
Mishra; others called Him as Sachinandan- darling son of mother Sachi
Devi; yet others preferred to address Him as Gaura Hari- golden Hari
or Krishna. He reminded everyone of Krishna and since he had a golden
complexion, the name Gaura Hari stuck. Like this, the Supreme Lord was
called by many beautiful names by the residents of Nawadwip.

In the joyful atmosphere of His appearance, the Lord began to perform
sweet, charming pastimes.

Even as a baby He’d induce all to chant Hare Krishna. His strategy: He
began to cry and people were sad to see this beautiful baby cry. They
would do anything to make Him happy. They were willing to give up
their lives a million times, every moment, to make him happy for one
second! That was the love He extracted from their hearts. Sometimes
they would bring milk, sweets, but He continued to cry. The only way
He could be pacified is when they came together and chanted Hare
Krishna, in unison. As soon as they would chant, the child would
smile, and the ladies of Nawadwip would see their hearts swell with
unfathomable joy, simply at the sight of baby Nimai smiling.

As per the tradition, during the first month after the child’s birth,
the mother, baby and a few ladies stayed at a maternity home, close to
their house. The women always chanted protective mantras for the
child. Meanwhile, the demig-gods were desperate to take darshan of the
child, and they tried various means to come inside the protected
house. Once, one of the gods disguised as a shadow, and that caused a
commotion at home. The ladies thought it was a ghost who was trying to
attack the child, and in their desperation to protect Nimai, they
shouted Narasimaha mantras for the baby’s protection. Some ladies
called an exorcist and they yelled, “Oh ghost, go away; don’t harm our
little Nimai”

The demi-gods simply laughed at the sweet, innocent love of the women
for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had invoked so much
paternal affection from their hearts.

To be continued…

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