238 Teachings of Lord Chaitanya

show favor to Bhattacharya, and was glad to see his desire fulfilled by Lord
Chaitanya. In other words, a devotee of the Lord is more merciful than the
Lord Himself: When a devotee desires to show his mercy to a person, the
Lord accepts, and by His grace such a person becomes a devotee.

Lord Chaitanya pacified Bhattacharya and asked him to go home. Bhat-
tacharya again began to praise the Lord and said, “You have descended Your-
self to deliver all the fallen souls of this material world. That project is not
so difficult for You, but You have turned a stonehearted man like me, and that
is Your wonderful act. I am very expert at logical arguments and grammatical
explanations of the Vedic process. I am as hard as a lump of iron. But Your
influence and temperature is so strong that You could melt away even hard
iron like me.”

Lord Chaitanya then returned to His place and Bhattacharya, through
Gopinath Acharya, sent various kinds of Prasadam from Jagannath temple.
The next day, the Lord went to see the temple of Jagannath early in the morn-
ing, which is called Mongalarati. The priests in the temple brought Him a garland
from the deity and offered Him various kinds of Prasadam. The Lord was
very much pleased to receive them, and He at once went to the house of
Bhattacharya, taking the Prasadam and the flowers to present to Bhattacharya.
It was early in the morning, and Bhattacharya understood that the Lord had
come and was knocking on his door. He at once rose up from his bed and
began to say Krishna, Krishna!, which was heard by Lord Chaitanya. And at
once he came to the door and opened it and saw the Lord standing there.
He was so pleased to see the Lord early in the morning, and wanted to receive
Him with all care. He again offered Him a nice seat, and both of them sat
there and Lord Chaitanya offered him the Prasadam which He had received
in the temple of Jagannath. Bhattacharya was very glad to receive Prasadam
from the hand of Lord Chaitanya, and without taking his bath and without
performing his daily duties or washing his teeth he began immediately to
eat the Prasadam. Actually, he was now freed from all contamination of
material attachment; and he cited a verse from Padma Purana as he began to
eat the Prasadam.

In the Padma Purana it is stated that when Prasadam is brought or is received,
even if it has become very dry or it is even very old or brought from a dis-
tant place, as soon as it is received it must be eaten immediately, without
following any of the rules or duties of one’s daily activities. It is enjoined in
the Shastras that Prasadam should be immediately taken, and there is no
restriction of time and space—that is the order of the Supreme Personality
