Raghunandana Thakura

Raghunandana Thakura

The deity of baby Raghunandana on the lap of his mother at his birthplace, Sri Khanda. Courtesy of Sakhicharan dasa.

 Being called away on medical business, Mukunda Dasa once asked his young son, Raghunandana, to offer the raja bhoga to the family Deity of Gopinatha. Raghunandana prepared everything timely, carefully, and with great devotion. When he made the offering he remembered his father's order, "make sure the Deity eats." Ringing the bell the simple boy told the Gopinatha Deity, "Eat, eat!" Raghunandana began crying when he saw the untouched food remaining on the Deity's plate. He feared his father's anger for his inability to "make the Deity eat." Gopinatha couldn't resist the child's intense devotion. So the Lord ate everything on the plate, leaving no remnants.

   Upon returning, Mukunda asked for Gopinatha's Maha-Prasadam. Raghunandana said the Deity ate everything. Astonished, Mukunda told his son to make the offering again. From a hidden place Mukunda watched in total amazement as Raghunandana offered a laddhu to Gopinatha. But the Lord only took half a laddhu. Mukunda understood that the Deity only took half because He was still full from eating the lunch offering. Choked with divine emotion in appreciation of his pure Devotee son, Mukunda embraced Raghunandana.

  Later in Jagannatha Puri, Lord Gauranga lovingly asked Mukunda Dasa, "Who is the father and who is the son?"

   Mukunda replied, "Raghunandana is definitely my father. Because he has given me Krishna bhakti and showed me pure Krishna consciousness." In Krishna lila, Raghunandana is Kandar-pa-manjari or Pradyumna (of the Catur-vyuha). His samadhi is in the 64 Samadhis Area.