Hindi

English

Date: 4 February 2026 Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj Topic: Glories Of Panihati Dham HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj: Today I’m at Sri Panihati Dham. This body is a sitting place. BG. 18.61: īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā Translation: The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy. Like that a place or dham is also a sitting place. So, we have sat in this body and came to Panihati Dham. Aasan is also a sitting place. Aasan is part of the Astanga Yoga. The stages are: Yama (restraints), Niyama (observances), Asana (posture), Pranayama (breath control), Pratyahara (sense withdrawal), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (enlightenment). I am very fortunate to be here. You are all fortunate to reside here. This is your aasan or residing place. Chaitanya Bhagavat predicts in the Antya part that this Panihati dham will flourish in the future and preaching will increase regarding its glories. Today, a few of people know about panihati dham. Like in Maharashtra not many know Mayapur. In 1976, when we were doing padayatra from Vrindavan to Mayapur, people would ask where are you going? We would say Mayapur. They would think you are a sanyasi what will you do in maya - pur- abode of maya? They didn't know what Mayapur was. Now people know and similarly this Panihati Dham will become famous. Lord Chaitanya predicted, CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126: pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma sarvatra pracāra hoibe mora nāma Translation: The desire of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is that all over the world everyone, in every village and every town, know of Him and His saṅkīrtana movement. When Mahaprabhu came to Alarnath many devotees followed him and there was an ecstatic kirtan. Lord Nityananda was also there. He predicted that like this kirtan will spread to every town and village. When the holy name will reach every corner of this earth, then people from there will come know about Mayapur and Panihati Dham. In Panihati, Nityananda prabhu did such kirtan with his associates, no one had ever seen that. In the end part of Mahaprabhu’s lila, he asked Nityananda prabhu to go to Bengal and preach. As he would go deeper to understand the love of Radha Rani. So, in the association of Radha Rani, there is no need for Balaram. when one spends time with one’s wife, the older brother doesn't stay there. So, Mahaprabhu sent Nitai to Bengal. NItai is Aadi guru, the foremost Spiritual Master. He had to preach the Holy Name. nadiya-godrume nityananda mahajana patiyache nama-hatta jibera karana Translation: In Nadiya's Godruma the great soul Lord Nityananda has opened a marketplace to sell the holy name to the conditioned souls. This preaching he has started from Panihati. He was so engrossed in kirtan he would forget the way some times. There was a team of 12 Gopalas in the intrigue. In the team was Sri Gadadhar, the personification of Radharani's effulgence not Gadadhar pandit who is Radha Rani herself. Kirtan should be Akhanda- nonstop. We do so many things and break the flow. But when Nitai did kirtan here, day and night non-stop. They were dancing on trees from branch to branch. Some even took tree trunks and made it into a flute and played it. So amazing was the kirtan pastimes here-extraordinary. These glories will be sung for ever. Then there is the Danda Mahotsava festival, where Nitai chastises Raghunath Das Goswami, who was a Grihastha, then to organize the Cida Dahi Festival. You all have received the mercy of Nitai that is why you are here. Lord Nityananda spent three months in Panihati performing transcendental pastimes with His associates. Mahaprabhu stays in 4 places eternally: Saci mata’s house, Srivas Anagan, Raghav’s kitchen and Nitai’s kirtan. Lord Nitai asked Raghunath to feed everyone Cida Dahi. Lord Nityananda Prabhu said, "You are a thief. Now you have come to see Me. Come here, come here. Today I shall punish you," the Lord called him, but Raghunatha Das did not go near the Lord. Then the Lord forcibly caught him and placed His lotus feet upon Raghunatha Dasa's head. "Make a festival and feed all My associates’ yogurt and chipped rice." Hearing this, Raghunatha Dasa was greatly pleased. Raghunatha Dasa brought chipped rice, yogurt, milk. sweetmeats, sugar, bananas and ether eatables and placed them all around. As soon as they heard that a festival was going to be held, all kinds of brahmanas and other gentlemen began to arrive. Thus, there were innumerable people. Seeing the crowd increasing, Raghunatha Dasa arranged to get more eatables from other villages. He also brought two to four hundred large, round pots. He also obtained five or seven especially large earthen pots, and in these pots a brahmana began soaking chipped rice for the satisfaction of Lard Nityananda. Hearing about the festival, all kinds of learned scholars, brahmanas and priests went there, Lord Nityananda Prabhu honoured them and made them sit on the raised platform with Him. Everyone was offered two earthen pots. In one was put chipped rice with condensed milk and in the ether chipped rice with yogurt. All the other People sat in groups around the platform. No one could count how many people there were. Each and every one of them was supplied two earthen pots, one of chipped rice soaked in yogurt and the other of chipped rice soaked in condensed milk. Some of the brahmanas, not having gotten a place on the platform, went to the bank of the Ganges with their two earthen pots and soaked their chipped rice there. Others, who could not get a place even on the bank of the Ganges, got down into the water and began eating their two kinds of chipped rice. Thus, some sat on the platform, some at the base of the platform, and some on the bank of the Ganges, and they were all supplied two pots each by the twenty men who distributed the food. When chipped rice had been served to everyone, Lord Nityananda Prabhu, in meditation, brought Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu arrived, Lord Nityananda Prabhu stood up. They then saw how the others were enjoying the chipped rice with yogurt and condensed milk. From each and every pot, Lord Nityananda Prabhu took one morsel of chipped rice and pushed it into the mouth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as a joke. In this way Lord Nityananda was walking through all the groups of eaters, and all the Vaishnavas standing there were seeing the fun. No one could understand what Nityananda Prabhu was doing as He walked about. Some, however, who were very fortunate, could see that Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was also present. Then Nityananda Prabhu smiled and sat down. On His right side He kept four pots of chipped rice that had not been made from boiled paddy. Lord Nityananda offered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu a place and had Him sit dawn. Then together the two brothers began eating chipped rice. Seeing Cord Caitanya Mahaprabhu eating with Him, Lord Nityananda Prabhu became very happy and exhibited varieties of ecstatic love. Lord Nityananda Prabhu ordered, "All of you eat, chanting the holy name of Hari. Immediately the holy names "Hari! Hari!" resounded, filling the entire universe. When all the Vaishnavas were chanting the holy names "Hari! Hari!" and eating, they remembered how Krsna and Balarama ate with their companions, the cowherd boys, on the bank of the Yamuna. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu are extremely merciful and liberal. It was Raghunatha Dasa's good fortune that They accepted all these dealings. Who can understand the influence and mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu? He is so powerful that He induced Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to come eat chipped rice on the bank of the Ganges. All the confidential devotees who were Cowherd boys, headed by Sri Ramadas, were absorbed in ecstatic love. They thought the bank of the Ganges to be the bank of the Yamuna. This place became Vrindavan and Ganga became Yamuna. Raghav pandita and his sister Damayanti cooks in their kitchen and Mahaprabhu comes to eat there. Raghavera Jhloi is famous as he would pack a lot of foodstuffs and take it to puri and Govinda the servant of Mahaprabhu would give everyday a little bit of the prasad to Mahaprabhu. This was lovingly cooked here in Panihati by Raghav pandit, his sister and even Radharani so who can glorify Panihati Dham? This place is outskirts of Kolkata. Kolkata is also a Dham as, it is the birth place of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada came here twice in 1977. He was in the Kumbhamela and HH Bhakti Charu Swami was also there. He met Srila Prabhupada in Prayaga and 16 Jan Srila Prabhupada came to Kolkata and on 17th he came to Panihati Dham. Hare Krishna!

Russian