Every year, Srila Shivananda Sena led the devotees of Bengal on the long walk to Jagannatha Puri, arranging their lodging and paying every toll along the way. One year, delayed at a tax post while the rest of the party went ahead, he could not arrange a residence in time, and Nityananda Prabhu — hungry, and displeased at the disorder — kicked him in anger before Shivananda even arrived. It is one of the best-known moments in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita's account of that pilgrimage. What is less often told is what it did to a boy standing nearby who loved Shivananda Sena very much: his nephew Shrikanta.
An Uncle Kicked, A Nephew Offended #
Shivananda Sena himself took the kick as the highest mercy — he touched Nityananda Prabhu's feet, arranged a milkman's house as the Lord's residence within moments, and later told Nityananda directly that being chastised by Him was the fulfillment of his whole life (Antya 12.24-30). But "Shivananda Sena's nephew, Shrikanta, the son of his sister, felt offended, and he commented on the matter when his uncle was absent" (Antya 12.34). What he said, to whoever was near him, was blunt: "My uncle is well known as one of the associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but Lord Nityananda Prabhu asserts His superiority by kicking him" (Antya 12.35).
It is a very human line — a young man unable yet to see chastisement as intimacy, reading only insult where his uncle read grace. Chaitanya-charitamrita does not soften it or apologize for him. It simply records that "after saying this, Shrikanta, who was only a boy, left the group and traveled on alone to the residence of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu" (Antya 12.36) — walking ahead of the whole pilgrim party, by himself, rather than staying with people whose devotion he had just quietly judged.
Arriving Still In His Traveling Clothes #
When Shrikanta reached the Lord's residence at Puri, he was still dressed for the road — wearing the shirt and coat (petangi) travelers wore, garments forbidden near the Deity or in an offering of obeisances. Govinda, the Lord's personal attendant, caught this immediately: "My dear Shrikanta, first take off these garments" (Antya 12.37). Before Shrikanta could respond, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu intervened on his behalf: "Don't bother him. Let Shrikanta do whatever he likes, for he has come here in a distressed state of mind" (Antya 12.38). It is a small but telling instance of the Lord's own character — noticing a boy's inward state before anyone had told him anything was wrong, and choosing gentleness over correctness in that moment.
Naming Everyone, Except One Thing #
Once Shrikanta had settled, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu "inquired from Shrikanta about all the Vaishnavas, and the boy informed the Lord about them, naming them one after another" (Antya 12.39) — an ordinary, even pleasant exchange, a boy giving the Lord news of home. But it was the Lord's earlier remark, "he has come here in a distressed state of mind," that stayed with Shrikanta: "when Shrikanta Sena heard the Lord say 'He is distressed,' he could understand that the Lord is omniscient" (Antya 12.40). Having grasped that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu already knew everything without being told, Shrikanta made a choice of his own: "As he described the Vaishnavas, therefore, he did not mention Lord Nityananda's kicking Shivananda Sena" (Antya 12.41).
That single omission is the real turning point of the episode. The same boy who had walked away from the party in protest, unable to see anything but injury in what Nityananda Prabhu had done, arrived at Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's feet and chose silence about the very thing that had upset him — not because he was told to, but because being in the Lord's presence, and understanding that presence to be all-knowing, made the complaint feel small. Soon after, the rest of the devotees, Shivananda Sena among them, arrived and were received by the Lord in turn, and the pilgrimage went on as it always had — the incident absorbed rather than resolved, in the way many small frictions inside a loving family are.
Read Alongside #
The kirtan role Shrikanta held before this episode — singing in Ratha-yatra's parties under Mukunda Datta, with Haridasa Thakura dancing before him — is told in A Nephew's Place In The Kirtan Party.