Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts

03-02-2007, 02:43 PM

Dear Devotees,

Dandavat Pranams.

We are celebrating the most auspicious event of the appearance day of Lord
Caitanya deva in The Holydham of Mayapur with thousands of devotees from the
world over making this festival maybe the most organized and successful for
the last few years, The weather is cool and very comfortable for all,
basically because we have many devotees from Russia and Eastern Europe, it
is very ecstatic to have the association of great vaishanavas, gurus and
sanyasis giving nectarean lectures and leading ecstatic kirtans for the
benefit of the whole world. May Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Panca Tattva
Bhagavan, Sri Prahlada Narashimhadeva and Srila Prabhupada bestow their
mercy upon all of you and make this new Vaishnava year blissful and
auspicious in all means and increase in all of us the will of preaching the
glories of the holy name in every town and village.

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tmkd
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Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts.
by
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

"Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town
of Nadia just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd
Phalguna (1407 Sakadba), answering to the 18th of
February 1486 of the Christian Era. The moon was
eclipsed at the time of His birth, and the people of
Nadia were then engaged, as was usual on such
occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi with loud
cheers of Haribol. His father, Jagannatha Misra, a
poor 'brahmana' of the Vedic order, and His mother,
Saci-devi, a model good woman, both descended from
'brahmana' stock originally residing in Sylhet.
Mahaprabhu was a beautiful child, and the ladies of
the town came to see Him with presents. His mother's
father, Pandita Nilambara Cakravarti, a renowned
astrologer, foretold that the child would be a great
personage in time; and he, therefore, gave him the
name Visvambhara. The ladies of the neighbourhood
styled him Gaurahari on account of His golden
complexion, and His mother called Him Nimai on account
of the 'nimba' tree near which He was born. Beautiful
as the lad was, everyone heartily loved to see Him
every day. As He grew up He became a whimsical and
frolicsome lad. After His fifth year, He was admitted
into a pathasala where He picked up Bengali in a very
short time.

"Most of His contemporary biographers have mentioned
certain anecdotes regarding Caitanya which are simple
records of His early miracles. It is said that when He
was an infant in His mother's arms He wept
continually, and when the neighbouring ladies cried
'Haribol' He used to stop. Thus there was a
continuation of utterance of 'Haribol' in the house,
foreshewing the future mission of the hero. It has
also been stated that when His mother gave Him
sweetmeats to eat, He ate clay instead of the food.
His mother, asking for the reason, He stated that as
every sweetmeat was nothing but clay transformed, He
could eat clay as well. His mother, who was also the
consort of a 'pandita', explained that every article
in a special state was adapted to a special use.
Earth, while in the state of a jug, could be used as a
water pot, but in the state of a brick such a use was
not possible. Clay, therefore in the form of
sweetmeats was usable as food, but clay in its other
states was not. The lad was convinced and admitted His
stupidity in eating clay and agreed to avoid the
mistake in the future. Another miraculous act has been
related. It is said that a brahmana on pilgrimage
became a guest in His house, cooked food and read
grace with meditation upon Krsna. In the meantime the
lad came and ate up the cooked rice. The 'brahmana',
astonished at the lad's act, cooked again at the
request of Jagannatha Misra. The lad again ate up the
cooked rice while the 'brahmana' was offering the rice
to Krsna with meditation. The 'brahmana' was persuaded
to cook for the third time. This time all the inmates
of the house had fallen asleep, and so the lad showed
Himself as Krsna to the traveller and blessed him. The
'brahmana' was then lost in ecstasy at the appearance
of the object of his worship. It has also been stated
that two thieves stole away the lad from His father's
door with a view to purloin His jewels and gave Him
sweetmeats on the way. The lad exercised His illusory
energy and deceived the thieves back towards His own
house. The thieves, for fear of detection, left the
boy there and fled. Another miraculous act that has
been described is the lad's demanding and getting from
Hiranya and Jagadisa all the offerings they had
collected for worshiping Krsna on the day of Ekadasi.
When only four years of age He sat on rejected cooking
pots which were considered unholy by His mother. He
explained to His mother that there was no question of
holiness and unholiness as regards to earthen pots
thrown away after the cooking was over. These
anecdotes relate to His tender age up to the fifth
year.

"In His eighth year, He was admitted into the tola of
Gangadasa Pandita in Ganganagara close by the village
of Mayapur. In two years He became well read in
Sanskrit grammar and rhetoric. His readings after that
were of the nature of self-study in His own house,
where He had found all-important books belonging to
His father, who was a 'pandita' himself. It appears
that He read the 'smrti' in His own study, and the
'nyaya' also, in competition with His friends, who
were then studying under the celebrated 'pandita'
Raghunatha Siromani.
"Now, after the tenth year of His age, Caitanya
became a passable scholar in grammar, rhetoric, the
'smrti' and the 'nyaya'. It was after this that his
elder brother Visvarupa left his house and accepted
the 'ashrama' (status) of a 'sannyasi' (ascetic).
Caitanya, though a very young boy, consoled His
parents, saying that He would serve them with a view
to please God. Just after that, His father left this
world. His mother was exceedingly sorry, and
Mahaprabhu, with His usual contented appearance,
consoled His widowed mother.
It was at the age of 14 or 15 that Mahaprabhu was
married to Laksmidevi, the daughter of Vallabhacarya,
also of Nadia. He was at this age considered one of
the best scholars of Nadia, then renowned seat of
'nyaya' philosophy and Sanskrit learning. Not to speak
of the 'smarta panditas', the 'Naiyayikas' were all
afraid of confronting Him in literary discussions.
Being a married man, He went to Eastern Bengal on the
banks of the Padma for acquirement of wealth. There He
displayed His learning and obtained a good sum of
money. It was at this time that He preached Vaisnavism
at intervals. After teaching him the principles of
Vaisnavism, He ordered Tapanamisra to go to and live
in Benares. During His residence in East Bengal, His
wife Laksmidevi left this world from the effects of
snake bite. On returning home, He found His mother in
a mourning state. He consoled her with a lecture on
the uncertainty of human affairs. It was at His
mother's request that He married Visnupriya, the
daughter of Raja Pandita Sanatana Misra. His comrades
joined Him on His return from pravasa or sojourn. He
was now so renowned that He was considered to be the
best pandita in Nadia. Kesava Misra of Kashmir, who
had called himself the Great Digvijayi, came to Nadia
with a view to discuss with the 'pandita' of that
place. Afraid of the so-called conquering pandita, the
tola professors of Nadia left their town on pretence
of invitation. Kesava met Mahaprabhu at the
Barokona-ghata in Mayapur, and after a very short
discussion with Him he was defeated by the boy, and
mortification obliged him to decamp. Nimai Pandita was
now the most important 'pandita' of His times.

"It was at the age of 16 or 17 that He travelled to
Gaya with a host of His students and there took His
spiritual initiation from Isvara Puri, a Vaisnava
'sannyasi' and a disciple of the renowned Madhavendra
Puri. Upon His return to Nadia, Nimai Pandita turned
religious preacher, and His religious nature became so
strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu, Srivasa and
others who had before the birth of Caitanya already
accepted the Vaisnava faith were astonished at the
change of the young man. He was then no more a
contending 'naiyayika', a wrangling 'smarta' and a
criticizing rhetorician. He swooned at the name of
Krsna and behaved as an inspired man under the
influence of His religious sentiment. It has been
described by Murari Gupta, an eye-witness, that He
showed His heavenly powers in the house of Srivasa
Pandita in the presence of hundreds of His followers,
who were mostly well-read scholars. It was at this
time that He opened a nocturnal school of 'kirtana' in
the compound of Srivasa Pandita with His sincere
followers. There He preached, there He sang, there He
danced, and there He expressed all sorts of religious
feelings. Nityananda Prabhu, who was then a preacher
of Vaisnavism and who had then completed His travels
all over India, joined Him at that time. In fact, a
host of 'pandita' preachers of Vaisnavism, all sincere
at heart, came and joined Him from different parts of
Bengal. Nadia now became the regular seat of a host of
Vaisnava 'acaryas' whose mission it was to
spiritualize mankind with the highest influence of the
Vaisnava creed.

"The first mandate that He issued to Prabhu
Nityananda and Haridasa was this: 'Go, friends, go
through the streets of the town, meet every man at his
door and ask him to sing the name of Hari with a holy
life, and you then come and report to Me every evening
the result of your preaching.' Thus ordered, the two
preachers went on and met Jagai and Madhai, two most
abominable characters. They insulted the preachers on
hearing Mahaprabhu's mandate, but were soon converted
by the influence of 'bhakti' (devotion) inculcated by
their Lord. The people of Nadia were now surprised.
They said, 'Nimai Pandita is not only a gigantic
genius, but He is certainly a missionary from God
Almighty.' From this time to His twenty-third year,
Mahaprabhu preached His principles not only in Nadia
but in all important towns and villages around His
city. In the houses of His followers He shewed
miracles, taught the esoteric principles of 'bhakti'
and sang His 'sankirtan' with other bhaktas. His
followers of the town of Nadia commenced to sing the
holy name of Hari in the streets and bazaars. This
created a sensation and roused different feelings in
different quarters. The 'bhaktas' were highly pleased.
The 'smarta brahmanas' became jealous of Nimai
Pandita's success and complained to Chand Kazi against
the character of Caitanya as un-Hindu. The Kazi came
to Srivasa Pandita's house and broke a 'mrdanga'
('khola' drum) there and declared that unless Nimai
Pandit ceased to make noise about His queer religion
he would be obliged to enforce Mohammedanism on Him
and His followers. This was brought to Mahaprabhu's
notice. He ordered the townspeople to appear in the
evening each with a torch in his hand. This they did,
and Nimai marched out with His 'sankirtan' divided in
14 groups, and on His arrival in the Kazi's house, He
held a long conversation with the Kazi and in the end
communicated into his heart His Vaisnava influence by
touching his body. The Kazi then wept and admitted
that he had felt a keen spiritual influence which had
cleared up his doubts and produced in him a religious
sentiment which gave him the highest ecstasy. The Kazi
then joined the sankirtan party. The world was
astonished at the spiritual power of the Great Lord,
and hundreds and hundreds of heretics converted and
joined the banner of Visvambhara after this affair.
"It was after this that some of the jealous and
low-minded 'brahmanas' of Kulia picked a quarrel with
Mahaprabhu and collected a party to oppose Him. Nimai
Pandita was naturally a soft-hearted person, though
strong in His principles. He declared that party
feelings and sectarianism were the two great enemies
of progress and that as long as He should continue to
be an inhabitant of Nadia belonging to a certain
family, His mission would not meet with complete
success. He then resolved to be a citizen of the world
by cutting His connection with His particular family,
caste and creed, and with this resolution He embraced
the position of a 'sannyasi' at Katwa, under the
guidance of Keshava Bharati of that town, on the 24th
year of His age. His mother and wife wept bitterly for
His separation, but our hero, though soft in heart,
was a strong person in principle. He left His little
world in His house for the unlimited spiritual world
of Krsna with man in general.

"After His 'sannyasa', He was induced to visit the
house of Advaita Prabhu in Santipura. Advaita managed
to invite all His friends and admirers from Nadia and
brought Sacidevi to see her son. Both pleasure and
pain invaded her heart when she saw her son in the
attire of a 'sannyasi'. As a 'sannyasi', Krsna
Caitanya put on nothing but a 'kaupina' (two pieces of
cloth, a loin cloth) and a 'bahirvasa' (outer
covering). His head was without hair, and His hands
bore a 'danda' (stick) and a 'kamandalu' (hermit's
water pot). The Holy Son fell at the feet of His
beloved mother and said, "Mother! This body is yours,
and I must obey your orders. Permit me to go to
Vrndavana for My spiritual attainments." The mother,
in consultation with Advaita and others, asked her son
to reside in Puri (the town of Jagannatha) so that she
might obtain His information now and then. Mahaprabhu
agreed to that proposition and in a few days left
Santipura for Orissa. His biographers have described
the journey of Krsna Caitanya (that was the name He
got after His 'sannyasa') from Santipura to Puri in
great detail. He travelled along the side of the
Bhagirathi as far as Chatrabhoga, situated now in
Thana Mathurapura, Diamond Harbour, 24 Parganas. There
He took a boat and went as far as Prayaga-ghata in the
Midnapura District. Thence He walked through Balasore
and Cuttack to Puri, seeing the temple of Bhuvanesvara
on His way. Upon His arrival at Puri He saw Jagannatha
in the temple and resided with Sarvabhauma at the
request of the latter. Sarvabhauma was a gigantic
'pandita' of the day. His readings knew no bounds. He
was the best 'naiyayika' of the times and was known as
the most erudite scholar in the Vedanta philosophy of
the school of Sankaracarya. He was born in Nadia
(Vidyanagara) and taught innumerable pupils in the
'nyaya' philosophy in his tola there. He had left for
Puri some time before the birth of Nimai Pandita. His
brother-in-law Gopinatha Misra introduced our new
sannyasi to Sarvabhauma, who was astonished at His
personal beauty and feared that it would be difficult
for the young man to maintain 'sannyasa-dharma' during
the long run of His life. Gopinatha, who had known
Mahaprabhu from Nadia, had a great reverence for Him
and declared that the 'sannyasi' was not a common
human being. On this point Gopinatha and Sarvabhauma
had a hot discussion. Sarvabhauma then requested
Mahaprabhu to hear his recitation of the
Vedanta-sutras, and the latter tacitly submitted.
Caitanya heard with silence what the great Sarvabhauma
uttered with gravity for seven days, at the end of
which the latter said, 'Krsna-Caitanya! I think You do
not understand the Vedanta, for You do not say
anything after hearing my recitation and
explanations.' The reply of Caitanya was that He
understood the sutras very well, but He could not make
out what Sankaracarya meant by his commentaries.
Astonished as this, Sarvabhauma said, 'How is it that
you understand the meanings of the 'sutras' and do not
understand the commentaries which explain the
'sutras'? All well! If You understand the 'sutras',
please let me have Your interpretations.' Mahaprabhu
thereon explained all the 'sutras' in His own way
without touching the pantheistic commentary of
Sankara. The keen understanding of Sarvabhauma saw the
truth, beauty and harmony of arguments in the
explanations given by Caitanya and obliged Him to
utter that it was the first time that he had found one
who could explain the Brahma-sutras in such a simple
manner. He admitted also that the commentaries of
Sankara never gave such natural explanations of the
Vedanta-sutras as he had obtained from Mahaprabhu. He
then submitted himself as an advocate and follower. In
a few days Sarvabhauma turned out to be one of the
best Vaisnavas of the time. When reports of this came
out, the whole of Orissa sang the praise of Krsna
Caitanya, and hundred and hundreds came to Him and
became His followers. In the meantime Mahaprabhu
thought of visiting Southern India, and He started
with one Krsnadasa Brahmana for the journey.

"His biographers have given us a detail of the
journey. He went first to Kurmaksetra, where He
performed a miracle by curing a leper named Vasudeva.
He met Ramananda Raya, the Governor of Vidyanagara, on
the banks of the Godavari and had a philosophical
conversation with him on the subject of
'prema-bhakti'. He worked another miracle by touching
(making them immediately disappear) the seven
'tala-trees' through which Ramacandra, the son of
Dasaratha, had shot His arrow and killed the great
Bali Raja. He preached Vaisnavism and
'nama-sankirtana' throughout the journey. At
Rangaksetra He stayed for four months in the house of
one Venkata Bhatta in order to spend the rainy season.
There He converted the whole family of Venkata from
Ramanuja Vaisnavism to Krsna-bhakti, along with the
son of Venkata, a boy of ten years named Gopala, who
afterwards came to Vrndavana and became one of the six
Goswamis or prophets serving under their leader Sri
Krsna Caitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle
Prabodhananda Sarasvati, Gopala wrote several books on
Vaisnavism.

"Sri Caitanya visited numerous places in Southern
India as far as Cape Comorin and returned to Puri in
two years by Pandepura on the Bhima. In this latter
place He spiritualized one Tukarama, who became from
that time a religious preacher himself. This fact has
been admitted in his 'adhangas', which have been
collected in a volume by Mr. Satyendra Nath Tagore of
the Bombay Civil Service. During His journey He had
several discussions with the Buddhists, the Jains and
the 'mayavadis' in several places and converted His
opponents to Vaisnavism.
"Upon His return to Puri, Raja Prataparudra-deva and
several 'pandita brahmanas' joined the banner of
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was now twenty-seven years of
age. In His twenty-eighth year He went to Bengal as
far as Gauda in Mald. There He picked up two great
personages named Rupa and Sanatana. Though descended
from the lines of Karnatic brahmanas, these two
brothers turned demi-Moslems by their continual
contact with Hussain Shah, the then Emperor of Gauda.
Their names had been changed by the Emperor into Dabir
Khas and Sakara Mallik, and their master loved them
heartily since they were both learned in Persian,
Arabic and Sanskrit and were loyal servants of the
state. The two gentlemen had found no way to come back
as regular Hindus and had written to Mahaprabhu for
spiritual help while He was at Puri. Mahaprabhu had
written in reply that He would come to them and
extricate them from their spiritual difficulties. Now
that He had come to Gauda, both the brothers appeared
before Him with their long-standing prayer. Mahaprabhu
ordered them to go to Vrndavana and meet Him there.

"Caitanya returned to Puri through Santipura, where
He again met His dear mother. After a short stay at
Puri He left for Vrndavana. This time He was
accompanied by one Balabhadra Bhattacarya. He visited
Vrndavana and came down to Prayag (Allahabad),
converting a large number of Mohammedans to Vaisnavism
by argument from the Koran. The descendant of those
converts are still known as Pathana Vaisnavas. Rupa
Goswami met Him in Allahabad. Caitanya trained him up
in spirituality in ten days and directed him to go to
Vrndavana on missions. His first mission was to write
theological works explaining scientifically pure
'bhakti' and 'prema'. The second mission was to revive
the places where Krsnacandra had in the end of
'Dvapara-yuga' exhibited His spiritual 'lila'
(pastimes) for the benefit of the religious world.
Rupa Goswami left Allahabad for Vrndavana, and
Mahaprabhu came down to Benares. There He resided in
the house of Candrasekhara and accepted His daily
'bhiksa' (meal) in the house of Tapana Misra. Here it
was that Sanatana Goswami joined him and took
instruction for two months in spiritual matters. The
biographers, especially Krsnadasa Kaviraja, have given
us details of Caitanya's teachings to Rupa and
Sanatana. Krsnadasa was not a contemporary writer, but
he gathered his information from the Goswamis
themselves, the direct disciples of Mahaprabhu. Jiva
Goswami, who was the nephew of Sanatana and Rupa and
who has left us his invaluable work of Sat-sandarbha,
has philosophized on the precept of his great leader.
We have gathered and summarised the precepts of
Caitanya from the books of those great writers.

"While at Benares, Caitanya had an interview with the
learned 'sannyasis' of that town in the house of a
Maratha 'brahmana' who had invited all the 'sannyasis'
for entertainment. At this interview, Caitanya shewed
a miracle which attracted all the 'sannyasis' to Him.
Then ensued reciprocal conversation. The 'sannyasis'
were headed by their most learned leader Prakasananda
Sarasvati. After a short controversy, they submitted
to Mahaprabhu and admitted that they had been misled
by the commentaries of Sankaracarya. It was impossible
even for learned scholars to oppose Caitanya for a
long time, for there was some spell in Him which
touched their hearts and made them weep for their
spiritual improvement. The 'sannyasis' of Benares soon
fell at the feet of Caitanya and asked for His grace
('krpa'). Caitanya then preached pure 'bhakti' and
instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Krsna
which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The
whole population of Benares, on this wonderful
conversion of the 'sannyasis', turned Vaisnavas, and
they made a master 'sankirtana' with their new Lord.
After sending Sanatana to Vrndavana, Mahaprabhu went
to Puri again through the jungles with His comrade
Balabhadra. Balabhadra reported that Mahaprabhu had
shown a good many miracles on His way to Puri, such as
making tigers and elephants dance on hearing the name
of Krsna.

"From this time, that is, from His 31st year,
Mahaprabhu continually lived in Puri the house of Kasi
Misra until His disappearance in His forty-eighth year
at the time of sankirtana in the temple of
Tota-gopinatha. During these 18 years, His life was
one of settled love and piety. He was surrounded by
numerous followers, all of whom were of the highest
order of Vaisnavas and who were distinguished from the
common people by their purest character and learning,
firm religious principles and spiritual love of
Radha-Krsna. Svarupa Damodara, who had been known by
the name of Purusottamacarya while Mahaprabhu was in
Nadia, joined Him from Benares and accepted service as
His secretary. No production of any poet or
philosopher could be laid before Mahaprabhu unless
Svarupa had passed it as pure and useful. Raya
Ramananda was His second mate. Both he and Svarupa
would sing while Mahaprabhu expressed His sentiments
on a certain point of worship. Paramananda Puri was
His minister in matters of religion. There are
hundreds of anecdotes described by His biographers
which we do not think it meet here to reproduce.
Mahaprabhu slept short. His sentiments carried Him far
and wide in the firmament of spirituality every day
and night, and all His admirers and followers watched
Him throughout. He worshipped, communicated with His
missionaries at Vrndavana, and conversed with those
religious men who newly came to visit Him. He sang and
danced, took no care of Himself and of-times lost
Himself in religious beatitude. All who came to Him
believed in Him as the all-beautiful God appearing in
the nether world for the benefit of mankind. He loved
His mother all along and sent her 'mahaprasada' now
and then with those who went to Nadia. He was most
amiable in nature. Humility was personified in Him.
His sweet appearance gave cheer to all who came in
contact with Him. He appointed Prabhu Nityananda as
the missionary in charge of Bengal. He dispatched six
disciples (Goswamis) to Vrndavana to preach love in
the upcountry. This he markedly did in the case of
Junior Haridasa. He never lacked in giving proper
instructions in life to those who solicited them. This
will be seen in His teachings to Raghunatha dasa
Goswami. His treatment to Haridasa (senior) will show
how He loved spiritual men and how He defied caste
distinction in spiritual brotherhood."(Thakura
Bhaktivinoda. 20th August 1896.) ------