Nimāi begs for Jagadīśa’s offering
Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Mahāprabhu showed through his pastimes just how dear he considered Jagadīśa Paṇḍita to be. Śrīmān Mahāprabhu is the father of saṅkīrtana and even as a child he tricked everyone into chanting the Holy Names. Śacī and all the other neighbors would clap their hands and sing the names of the Lord in order to make him stop crying. One Ekādaśī day, however, Nimāi kept on crying despite Śacī-Mātā and Jagannāth Miśra’s chanting the Names in the usual way. His parents became confused and anxious, and in desperation asked him, “What do you want, child? What must we give you to make you to stop crying?” Nimāi answered, “Today, they have made a rice offering to Viṣṇu at Jagadīśa’s house. I want to eat some of that prasādam. Give me some of that prasādam and I will stop crying.”
Jagannāth Miśra was amazed to hear Nimāi say such things. How could he know that Jagadīśa Paṇḍita made a rice offering on Ekādaśī? Jagannāth Miśra immediately went to his neighbor’s house and was surprised to see that a large offering had indeed been made to their Viṣṇu deity. Jagannāth told Jagadīśa of Nimāi’s request, adding that he was worried that it would not be correct for him to eat rice on Ekādaśī day. But Gaurāṅga’s eternal associate Jagadīśa Paṇḍita knew that it was little Gopāl in the form of Nimāi who was hungry. Without any hesitation, he gave the entire offering to Jagannāth Miśra. As soon as Nimāi received the plate, he immediately stopped crying and joyfully started to eat.
Jagadīśa Paṇḍita and Hiraṇya are Chaitanya’s branches of the desire tree of devotion. The merciful Lord gave them his grace when he was a little boy. He ate the offerings to Viṣṇu at their house on the Ekādaśī day
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