Question: Once in Krishna Consciousness or devotional service, do we have to offer food and water to forefathers periodically? If not, then why did Caitanya Mahaprabhu go to Gaya for sraddha ceremony? In one purport, Srila Prabhupada says that if offerings to forefathers are stopped, generations of family members remain in hell. Is this true for devotees also?
Answer by Romapada Swami: When one seriously takes up practice of Krishna consciousness under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, then by dint of one’s service to the Supreme Lord, all of their other obligations are automatically fulfilled. And automatically their forefathers are greatly benefited and liberated (Please refer Bg. 1.41 purport).
The pastimes of Lord Caitanya and their inner meanings are very mysterious, as the author of Caitanya Caritamrita, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraj Gosvami himself describes. However, one of the external reasons why Lord Caitanya went to Gaya is as follows. At that time Lord Caitanya had not yet manifested His sankirtana pastimes and His ecstatic mood of pure devotion. He was playing the part of a learned brahmana and pandita, and in that role He meticulously carried out all the prescribed duties of a householder brahmana, in order to set an ideal example for householders.
One of the internal reasons of His journey to Gaya, on the pretext of performing sraddha ceremony, was to actually meet His spiritual master Isvara Puri. It was in Gaya that Mahaprabhu first revealed His ecstatic devotion when He saw the lotus footprints of Lord Vishnu and then upon meeting His spiritual master, He was completely transformed. By this pastime, He also taught that however learned or qualified one may be, one can attain pure devotion only by contacting and taking shelter of a pure devotee.
