Haridasa Thakura and the Prostitute
She exposed part of her body to his view and sat down at his doorstep. She spoke to him in very sweet words, My dear Thakura, O great preacher, great devotee, you are so beautifully built and your youth is just beginning. What woman could control her mind after seeing you? I am so eager to be united with you. My mind is greedy for this.
After leaving his home Haridasa Thakura stayed for some time in the forest of Benapola. He constructed a cottage in the forest. Outside the cottage he planted a tulasi plant [a holy plant worshipped by devotees of Krishna] and he would chant the holy name of Krishna 300,000 times daily in front of tulasi. He chanted throughout the entire day and night. For his bodily maintenance he would go to a brahmana’s [priest’s] house and beg some food. He was so spiritually pure that all the neighbouring people worshipped him.
The ruler of that district was Ramacandra Khan, he was envious of devotees of Krishna and therefore a great atheist. Unable to tolerate the respect being offered to Haridasa Thakura he made plans to dishonour him.
He could not, however, find any fault in the character of Haridasa Thakura.
Finally he called all the local prostitutes together and said to them, “There is a devotee named Haridasa Thakura in the forest. All of you devise a way to deviate him from his religious vows.”
Out of all the prostitutes there was one very attractive young girl and she promised, “I shall attract the mind of Haridasa Thakura within three days.” Ramacandra Khan said, “Very good. I shall send my constable with you and when he sees you with Haridasa Thakura he will immediately arrest him and bring both of you to me.” The prostitute replied, “First let me have union with him once, then the second time I shall take your constable with me to arrest him.”
That night the prostitute, after dressing herself most attractively, went to the cottage of Haridasa Thakura with great pleasure. When she arrived she bowed down and offered prayers to the tulasi plant, then she went to the door of the cottage and offered obeisances [bowed down before] Haridasa Thakura.
She exposed part of her body to his view and sat down at his doorstep. She spoke to him in very sweet words, “My dear Thakura, O great preacher, great devotee, you are so beautifully built and your youth is just beginning. What woman could control her mind after seeing you? I am so eager to be united with you. My mind is greedy for this. If I don’t obtain you I shall die.”
Haridasa Thakura replied, “I shall accept you without fail but you will have to wait until I finish chanting Hare Krishna on my beads. Until I do please sit down here and listen to the chanting of the holy name. As soon as I am finished I shall fulfil your desire.”
Hearing this the prostitute remained sitting there while Haridasa Thakura chanted on his beads until the light of morning appeared. When she saw it was morning she stood up and left. She went to Ramacandra Khan and said, “Today Haridasa Thakura has promised to enjoy with me. Tomorrow certainly I shall have union with him.”
The next evening the prostitute returned to Haridasa Thakura’s cottage and he gave her many assurances. He said, “Last night you were disappointed. Please excuse my offence. I shall certainly accept you. Please sit down here and hear the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra until my regular chanting is finished. Then your desire will surely be fulfilled. After offering obeisances to the tulasi plant and Haridasa Thakura she sat down at the door. Hearing Haridasa Thakura chanting the Hare Krishna mantra she also chanted, “O my Lord Hari, O my Lord Hari”.
When the night came to an end the prostitute was restless. When Haridasa Thakura saw this he said, “I have made a vow to chant ten million names of Krishna this month. I have taken this vow but now the month is nearing it’s end. I thought today I would be able to finish. I tried my best to chant Hare Krishna all night but still I have not finished. Tomorrow I will surely finish and my vow will be fulfilled. Then it will be possible for me to enjoy with you in full freedom.”
Haridasa Thakura didn’t want to enjoy with the prostitute, he simply tricked her to give her the chance to hear the holy name while he chanted. Pure devotees chant Hare Krishna and simply by hearing this chanting from a purified transcendental person one becomes free of all sinful activities, no matter how sinful one may be.
The prostitute then returned to Ramacandra Khan and informed him of what had happened. The next night she went earlier, at the beginning of the evening, and stayed with Haridasa Thakura. After offering obeisances to the tulasi plant and Haridasa Thakura she sat on the doorstep. As she heard Haridasa Thakura’s chanting she also personally chanted “Hari, Hari.”
“Today it will be possible for me to finish my vow of chanting ten million names of Krishna this month,” Haridasa Thakura informed her. “Then I will satisfy all your desires.”
The morning came and Haridasa Thakura was still chanting but because of his association the prostitute’s mind had changed. She fell at his lotus feet and confessed Ramacandra Khan had sent her to him to pollute him. “Because I have taken the profession of a prostitute,” she said, “I have performed unlimited sinful acts. My lord, be merciful to me. Deliver my fallen soul.” Haridasa Thakura replied, “I know everything about the conspiracy of Ramacandra Khan. He is nothing but an ignorant fool. Therefore his activities do not make me feel unhappy. I would have left this place immediately when I understood he was planning this intrigue against me but because you came here I stayed here to deliver you.”
The prostitute replied, “Kindly act as my spiritual master. Instruct me in my duty so I can become free from material existence.” Haridasa Thakura said, “Immediately go home and distribute whatever property you have to the brahmanas. Then come back to this cottage and stay here forever in Krishna consciousness. Chant the Hare Krishna mantra continuously and serve the tulasi plant by watering her and offering prayers to her. In this way you will very soon achieve the shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna.” After giving the prostitute these instructions Haridasa Thakura stood up and left that place continuously chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.”
Soon after this the prostitute distributed whatever household possessions she had to the brahmanas in accordance with her spiritual masters order. She shaved her head clean and stayed within that cottage in the forest wearing only one cloth. Following in the footsteps of her spiritual master she began chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra 300,000 times daily. She chanted for the whole day and night. She worshipped the tulasi plant and instead of eating regularly she chewed whatever food she received as alms. If nothing was supplied she would fast. Thus by eating little and fasting she conquered her senses. As soon as she controlled her senses the symptoms of love of God appeared in her person. In this way the prostitute became a famous devotee. She became very advanced in spiritual life and many great devotees would visit her. When people saw her sublime character they were astonished. Everyone praised the influence of Haridasa Thakura and offered him obeisances.
It is said, phalena pariciyate: one is recognized by the result of his actions. There are many types of devotees, some of them are called gosvamis, some are prabhus and some are prabhupada. One is not recognized, however, simply by such a name. A spiritual master is recognized as an actual guru when it is seen that he has changed the character of his disciples. Haridasa Thakura actually changed the character of the professional prostitute. People greatly appreciated this and as a result they all glorified and offered obeisances to Haridasa Thakura.
(Based on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila, Ch. 3 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)
About the Author
HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founded the Hare Krishna Movement in 1966 in New York. In only 11 years he spread the movement all over the world. He wrote more than 80 books including Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Isopanisad. Prabhupada's books constitute a complete library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
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Sri Haridas Thakur appeared in this world in the village of keragachi (Buron), in the present district of Satkhira, which was previously a subdivision of Khulna, Bangladesh. By thisgreat fortune that land has been blessed, in that the chanting of the Holy Names of Hari-Nam Sankirtan, became revealed there. After remaining there for some time, he came to the banks of Ganga at Fulia, near Santipur. Advaita Acarya was overjoyed to get his association and roared very loudly. The two of them thus began to float in the waves of the mellows of pastimes of Sri Krsna-Govinda. post by
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I would like to receive lessons via email, because I care
Knowledge is very bom.gostaria that were published to the
about the family (devotee) …. really FATHER, MOTHER AND SON, and how
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Just subscribe to the Krishna Connect mailing list at https://krishna.org and I will send you lessons by email.
I figure I did fasting, chanting and meditation without actually loving God. It was mostly in ego so I was not always happy. I resented God for all the pain in my life.
Hare Krishna
Yes. It is quite common that people do fasting, chanting and meditation for some reason other than serving Krishna, and they do not become happy and do not become Krishna conscious.
Krishna consciousness is a very sublime thing and it is not available to everyone. It is only available by the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna. We can not become Krishna conscious unless we have the fortune of having a pure devotee of Krisha as our spiritual master and unless we actually surrender to him and serve him. There are so many who take to spiritual life but do not have a bona fide spiritual master or even if they do have a bona fide spiritual master they do not surrender to him. For these people Krishna consciousness is not possible no matter how much fasting, chanting and meditation they do.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you. Everywhere we are told that all faiths lead to God’s presence. And all stories of their prophets and gurus are handed down from centuries ago. In theory, with enough genuine commitment anyone can find God through any prescribed method. I’m cautious, not to be boxed, labelled and restricted of free expression of God within me, by faith systems or those who do not seek God. And as God is omnipresent, who am I (in my ego) to judge anyone as having close relationship or no ‘relationship’ with God (Krishna, Christ, Allah, etc). Is it possible that someone of no faith system could be a ‘saint’ ?
Hare Krishna Dave
No, it is not possible that one with no faith can be a saint.
You have to understand that we are incapable of discovering real spiritual knowledge by ourselves on the strength of our material intelligence and the information we can gather through our material senses. Spiritual knowledge is avan manasa gocara, beyond the ability of our material mind to conceive and beyond the power of our senses to perceive. So there is no way, by yourself without faith, that you can get any tangible spiritual knowledge.
It is possible through the study of the material energy to come to the conclusion that there is an all-pervasive spiritual energy which is the background and ultimate cause of this material manifestation. That is the impersonal concept of the Absolute. But that is really only discovering that there is nothing of substance in the material word and the real thing is spiritual, but you have no way of getting any actual details of what that spiritual thing is because the spiritual energy is, as I said, avan manasa gocara, beyond the ability of the mind to conceive and beyond the power of the senses to perceive.
So you need help. You need to find a bona fide spiritual master. And a bona fide spiritual mater is one who has perfect spiritual senses and who has seen Krishna and because he has seen Krishna he can describe Krishna to you. That is why for any person to advance spiritually any further than the impersonal all-pervading concept of the Supreme, it is essential for him to have a bona fide spiritual master and he gets the spiritual knowledge by surrendering to and serving his bona fide spiritual master.
So without having a bona fide spiritual master and having faith in him and surrendering to him and serving him no one can become a saint…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I LOVE HARI KRISHNA HARI KRISHNA
I LOVE Krishan