place and brought him back. This began to happen almost daily!

Raghunatha
das would escape fron1 his home, and his father would bring him back.
Raghunatha das's mother spoke to his father, "Our son has gone crazy.
Just keep him here by tying him up with ropes."
His father said, "Our son is as rich as Lord Indra. His wife is as
beautiful as an angel. If even that won't keep him at home, what good will
ropes do? He has received Lord Chaitanya's mercy. Who can keep home
such a madman of Lord Chaitanya's?"

The Chipped Rice Festival

The next day Raghunatha das went to see Lord Nityananda.
Raghllnatha das was very humble and stayed a distance away and offered his
obeisances. The Lord caught hold of him and placed His feet on Raghunatha
das' head and cried, "You thiefl Instead of coming near me, you stay away at
a distant place. Now that I have captured you, I shall punish you. Make a
festival and feed all of my friends yogurt and chipped rice."
Raghunatha das certainly didn't think of this as punishment! He was
very happy and sent his men to buy all kinds of food right away. Chipped
rice, yogurt, milk, sweets, sugar, bananas and many other tasty things were
brought.
People heard that a festival was going to be held, and many more
brahmans and other men began to arrive. Raghllnatha das saw the crowd
getting bigger and bigger, so he had to get more food from other villages. He
also brought three hundred large, round pots. Seven other huge pots were
used to soak the chipped rice. Raghunatha das was happily going to all this
trouble just to please his beloved Lord Nityananda.
In one place, chipped rice was soaked in hot milk in each of the large
pots. Then half the rice was mixed with yogurt, sugar and bananas. The
other half was mixed with condensed milk and bananas. Then sugar, ghee
and camphor were added.
Lord Nityananda sat down with his associates. There were so many
people that no one could count them all. Everyone was offered two clay pots.
One had the chipped rice with yogurt in it and the other contained the chipped
rice with condensed milk. Lord Nityananda was sitting on a large platform,
but there was not enough room for everyone. Some went to the bank of the
Ganges and had their chipped rice there. Others, who could not ev.en get .a
place on the river's bank, got down into the water and began eatmg theIr
chipped rice.

29
 -==---"""-- -===-=..---- Lo =---
When the chipped rice had been
served to everyone, Lord Nityananda,
in meditation, brought Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu there. Lord Nityananda
stood up, and together with Lord
Chaitanya, They saw how the others
were enjoying the chipped rice with
yogurt and condensed milk. Then Lord
Nityananda took a piece of chipped
rice from each and every pot and
pushed it into Lord Chaitanya' s mouth
as a joke. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
did the same, making Lord Nityananda '"-.- ---
eat more also.
In this way, They walked through the groups of people and all the
devotees watched the fun. Not everyone could understand what Lord
Nityananda was doing, since they could not see Lord Chaitanya. But some
could see that Lord Chaitanya was there, too.
Both brothers sat down and kept eating. Lord Nityananda called, "All
of you eat, chanting the holy names of Harl." Immediately everyone began
chanting loudly.
When the shopkeepers of many other villages heard about the festival,
they came to sell chipped rice, yogurt, sweets and bananas. Raghunatha das
bought all they could bring. He paid them and then later fed them the very
same food.
When Lord Nityananda had fInished, He gave His remnants to
Raghunatha das and the other devotees. Raghunatha das very happily ate the
chipped rice. He felt so lucky that he was able to arrange a festival that Lord
Nityananda had enjoyed so much.
This pastime of the chipped rice and yogurt festival is still celebrated in
temples around the world today. Devotees gather together to hear the story
and then prepare many wonderful varieties of chipped rice. As we celebrate
this festival, we should remember Raghunatha das, who began the tradition.

Raghunatlla Das Finallv Joins Lord Chaitanya

Very soon after this, Raghunatha das went to see Lord Nityananda
agam.
He said to the Lord, "I am the lowest of men, a great sinner. Even so, I
want to obtain the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I have tried my best

30