Verse 2.5.67

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.5.67:

কথো রাত্রে নিত্যানন্দ হুঙ্কার করিযানিজ দণ্ড-কমণ্ডলু ফেলিলা ভাঙ্গিযা ॥ ৬৭ ॥

कथो रात्रे नित्यानन्द हुङ्कार करियानिज दण्ड-कमण्डलु फेलिला भाङ्गिया ॥ ६७ ॥

katho rātre nityānanda huṅkāra kariyānija daṇḍa-kamaṇḍalu phelilā bhāṅgiyā || 67 ||

katho ratre nityananda hunkara kariyanija danda-kamandalu phelila bhangiya (67)

English translation:

(67) In the dead of that night, Nityānanda suddenly roared loudly and broke His daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The word kamaṇḍalu refers to a waterpot used by both sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs. The householders have numerous pots to isolate purity from impurity. The sannyāsīs, however, have only one pot, a kamaṇḍalu. They are compelled to use this pot for all kinds of activities. According to the scriptures, the sannyāsīs’ pot is an alābu, or pot made from an ash gourd. Since the brahmacārīs duty is to serve the sannyāsī, he must carry the kamaṇḍalu of his guru. The upakurvāṇa-brahmacārīs, who marry after completing their vow, reside in a particular āśrama in which they study under a gṛhastha teacher. A brahmacārī is supposed to carry the kamaṇḍalu of a parivrājaka-sannyāsī. According to the opinion of some persons, since Śrī Nityānanda Svarūpa lived as a brahmacārī with Śrī Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, He had a kamaṇḍalu and a brahmacārī daṇḍa (made from either kadira, palāśa, or bamboo). According to others, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu traveled as a brahmacārī with Śrī Mādhavendra Purīpāda. At present, the brahmacārī disciples of the Tīrtha and Āśrama sannyāsīs are known as Svarūpa. The brahmacārī disciples of Sarasvatī, Bharati, and Purī sannyāsīs are known as Caitanya. The brahmacārī name of Nityānanda Prabhu was Svarūpa. Since Svarūpa is the brahmacārī

name of a Tīrtha sannyāsīs disciple, some people consider Him a follower of Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha rather than a follower of Mādhavendra Purī. Generally the daṇḍa is of two kinds—ekadaṇḍa or tridaṇḍa (see

Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter One, verse 157, and Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Two, verse 162).

Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu manifested His waywardness by breaking His own daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu prior to Vyāsa-pūjā. One who experiences transformations of ecstatic love completely abandons the ingredients and external formalities of vaidhī-bhakti, or regulative devotional service.

But if one creates disturbances by acting like an ecaḍe pākā1, then he cannot be identified as a rasika, or expert in transcendental mellows.