10.60
asvadila e saba rasa sena sivananda
vistari’ kahiba age esaba ananda
SYNONYMS
asvadila—tasted; e—these; saba—all; rasa—mellows; sena sivananda—Sivananda Sena; vistari’-describing vividly; kahiba—I shall speak; age—later on; esaba—all this; ananda—transcendental bliss.
Srila Sivananda Sena experienced the three features saksat, avesa and avirbhava.
Later I shall vividly describe this transcendentally blissful subject.
PURPORT
Srila Sivananda Sena has been described by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Maharaja as follows: He was a resident of Kumarahatta, which is also known as Halisahara, and was a great devotee of the Lord.
About one and a half miles from Kumarahatta is another village, known as Kancadapada, in which there are Gaura-Gopala Deities installed by Sivananda Sena, who also established a temple of Krsnaraya that is still existing.
Sivananda Sena was the father of Paramananda Sena, who was also known as Puri dasa or Kavi-karnapura.
Paramananda Sena wrote in his Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (176) that two of the gopis of Vrndavana, whose former names were Vira and Duti, combined to become his father.
Srila Sivananda Sena guided all the devotees of Lord Caitanya who went from Bengal to Jagannatha Puri, and he personally bore all the expenses for their journey.
This is described in the Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Sixteen, verses 19 through 27.
Srila Sivananda Sena had three sons, named Caitanya dasa, Ramadasa and Paramananda.
This last son later became Kavi-karnapura, and he is the author of Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika.
His spiritual master was Srinatha Pandita, who was Sivananda Sena’s priest.
Due to Vasudeva Datta’s lavish spending, Sivananda Sena was engaged to supervise his expenditures.
Sri Sivananda Sena actually experienced Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s features of saksat, avesa and avirbhava.
He once picked up a dog while on his way to Jagannatha Puri, and it is described in the Antya-lila, First Chapter, that this dog later attained salvation by his association.
When Srila Raghunatha dasa, who later became Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, fled his paternal home to join Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, his father wrote a letter to Sivananda Sena to get information about him.
Sivananda Sena supplied him the details for which he asked, and later Raghunatha dasa Gosvami’s father sent some servants and money to Sivananda Sena to take care of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.
Once Sri Sivananda Sena invited Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu to his home and fed Him so sumptuously that the Lord felt indigestion and was somewhat sick.
This became known to Sivananda Sena’s son, who gave the Lord the kinds of food that would help His digestion, and thus Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very pleased.
This is described in the Antya-lila, Tenth Chapter, verses 142 through 151.
Once while going to Jagannatha Puri all the devotees had to stay underneath a tree, without the shelter of a house or even a shed, and Nityananda Prabhu became very angry, as if He were greatly disturbed by hunger.
Thus He cursed Sivananda’s sons to die.
Sivananda’s wife was very much aggrieved at this, and she began to cry.
She very seriously thought that since her sons had been cursed by Nityananda Prabhu, certainly they would die.
When Sivananda later returned and saw his wife crying, he said, “Why are you crying? Let us all die if Sri Nityananda Prabhu desires.” When Sivananda Sena returned and Srila Nityananda Prabhu saw him, the Lord kicked him severely, complaining that He was very hungry, and asked why he did not arrange for His food.
Such is the behavior of the Lord with His devotees.
Srila Nityananda Prabhu behaved like an ordinary hungry man, as if completely dependent on the arrangements of Sivananda Sena.
There was a nephew of Sivananda Sena’s named Srikanta who left the company in protest of Nityananda Prabhu’s curse and went directly to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Jagannatha Puri, where the Lord pacified him.
On that occasion, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu allowed His toe to be sucked by Puri dasa, who was then a child.
It is by the order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu that he could immediately compose Sanskrit verses.
During the misunderstanding with Sivananda’s family, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ordered His personal attendant Govinda to give them all the remnants of His food.
This is described in the Antya-lila, Chapter Twelve, verse 53.