Question: If we become conscious of Lord Caitanya the Lord is happy, but Raghunātha dāsa was thinking of Lord Caitanya, and Lord Caitanya asked him to go back to family life. Why is this?

Jayapatākā Swami: Despite being completely absorbed in Lord Caitanya because he was married and had a family. In my experience there was a devotee in Māyāpur, suddenly his wife left and he said ‘I will take sannyāsa,’ and took sannyāsa. But then after one week when I came back from preaching, he embraced me and was crying. ‘Nobody told me that being a sannyāsī is so difficult. I cannot forget my wife. And why did I take sannyāsa’ and he was beating his head! So in this way many people would say I will give up family, but Lord Caitanya would not agree. Then Lord Nityānanda’s representative is the guru. If the mercy of guru is there, then we get Lord Nityānanda’s mercy. Lord Caitanya said ‘whether you are in the forest or in the house chant the names of the Lord.’ It is not that Raghunātha das was unmarried and Lord Caitanya was asking him to get married. He was a gṛhastha so in this way he did not go through Lord Nityānanda. For different reasons, suddenly he wanted to give up family and there were many misunderstandings. So in this way, if one has family, one should make the family Kṛṣṇa conscious. Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Nitāi Gaurāṅga! Nitāi Gaurāṅga!
23-June-2021 Sridham Mayapur, India