Gauranga-Prachar-Mahima

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Gauranga-Prachar-Mahima

Preface to the book 'Our Eternal Home Navadvipa'

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna, the origin of the

spiritual and material creation and the source of innumerable

incarnations-like Rama, Nrsimha, Visnu, Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, and

so on-out of His supreme causeless mercy personally appeared 516 years ago

(on February 18, 1486) in the Nadia district of West Bengal, as the

transcendental son of Sri Jagannatha Misra and Srimati Sacidevi. With His

complete potencies as Lord Sri Krsna, along with His own transcendental

abode of Sri Navadvipa, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu descended specifically for

the deliverance of the fallen souls of this most degraded age of Kali. It is

described in Srimad-Bhagavatam that in Satya-yuga the Lord appears with a

white complexion, in Treta-yuga His complexion is red, and and in

Dvapara-yuga His complexion is black (krsna). And in Kali-yuga He appears

with a yellow complexion, the color of molten gold. Thus Lord Caitanya

Mahaprabhu is also known as Gaurasundara ("golden moon") and the Golden

Avatara. Lord Balarama, the Lord's elder brother appeared as Lord Sri

Nityananda Prabhu.

But the conditioned souls of Kali-yuga are so unfortunate,

ill-fated, and covered by the illusory energy that very few of them have

even heard about the incarnation of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, what to speak

of His transcendental abode Navadvipa. Even among the handful of people who

know about Him, most consider Him simply a great saint, prophet, or seer. In

the words of Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura:

 

cinite na pare keha prabhu apanara, ya' sabara lagiya haila avatara.

 

"Even among those for the deliverance of whom Lord Caitanya personally

descended, very few recognize Him as their own worshipable Lord."

Because Lord Caitanya has appeared to deliver all the

movable and immovable living entities in this age of Kali, which lasts

432,000 years, how can the people even hope to be delivered unless they have

tangible information about His incarnation and abode? This is our question

to all the intelligent people of this world: What could be a greater

misfortune than the present situation, in which the general populace has not

even the slightest bit of information about the incarnation of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead in Kali-yuga, as Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in

Navadvipa (130 km north of Calcutta, India)? Thus, due to this most hapless

condition of humanity-arising from a lack of knowledge and understanding of

the philosophical truths regarding the actual position, pastimes, and abode

of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who

specifically descended to rescue the most sinful living entities from the

fearful cycle of birth and death-the entire human society is suffering

greatly and is on a suicidal course. This ever-increasingly miserable

situation of human society during this age of Kali can at once be

permanently eradicated simply by the widescale acceptance of Lord Sri Krsna

Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Sri Navadvipa

as the topmost holy place during this age of Kali. Acceptance of Lord

Caitanya Mahaprabhu as Lord Krsna Himself, our supreme father and the cause

of all causes, and His abode as our supreme destination, is not to be done

on the basis of blind faith, but by accepting the authority of our mother,

the Vedas.

This compilation of verses from the Vedas, Upanisads,

Puranas, Samhitas, Tantras, Yamalas, Upa-puranas, Yoga-vasistha,

Navadvipa-sataka, other bhakti-smrti-sastras, and the like, clearly

establishes that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's abode of Navadvipa is the

topmost holy place in Kali-yuga. Hence this book fills a great need, by

illuminating the mass of people as to the real philosophical truth about Sri

Navadvipa, the eternal abode of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which

unfortunately has thus far remained unknown, for the simple reason that it

is the most confidential part of the Vedas.

The Lord is sometimes known as Triyugi, "He who appears

openly in three yugas (namely Satya, Treta, and Dvapara)." But He also

appears in Kali-yuga in a covered incarnation, in the form of His own

devotee, as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this incarnation the Lord personally

teaches by His own example how to worship Himself, Krsna. Thus He becomes

His own devotee to practically demonstrate the process of devotional service

for our benefit. But according to His desire, this incarnation along with

His abode have been described in theVedas only in a very concealed and

confidential manner, so as not to obstruct His mission during His presence

on this planet. Had people openly known then that He was God during His

time, He would not have been able to freely perform His pastimes as His own

devotee, and thus teach us bhakti-yoga by His own example.

Though the dhama is always transcendentally situated, it appears

geographically about 130 km north of Calcutta (West Bengal, India), next to

the River Ganges. Across the Ganges from Navadvipa city on the eastern side

is Mayapura. Historically Navadvipa was the capital of Bengal in the

eleventh and twelfth centuries. Before Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance

this place was known as Nadia, and after the Lord's advent it became known

as Navadvipa. Over a million pilgrims visit Navadvipa every year.

 

It is also stated in the Urdhvamnaya Tantra:

 

dhanye kalau sampraviste, gaura-lila manorama;

prakata bhavita hy etat, vyaktam tada bhavisyati.

 

"The advent of the Age of Kali is most auspicious because in the near future

the philosophical truths and beautiful pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu

and His abode will be most openly and widely established and broadcasted."

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself predicted that His holy names will spread

all over the world in the Caitanya-bhagavata (Antya 4.126):

 

prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama;

sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama.

 

"My Name will be broadcasted and glorified in all various towns, villages,

cities, countries and continents of the world."

 

These Names are Gauranga, Gaura, Gaurahari, Sri Krsna Caitanya, Nimai, Sri

Nityananda or Nitai etc. alongwith the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and the names

of Lord Krsna.

 

It is also predicted by Srila Nityananda Prabhu in Sri

Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya that:

 

adbhuta mandira ei haibe prakasa;

gaurangera nitya-seva haibe vikasa.

 

"Very soon, a most wonderful and superexcellent temple will manifest in Sri

Mayapura, Navadvipa-dhama. From this temple, the eternal service to Lord

Gauranga will spread and expand throughout the world ."

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakura in Samalocana, Sajjana Tosani 4/3:

 

sri caitanya-lila sakala bhasaya likhita haoya prayojaniya.

 

"It it very urgently required to translate and publish the books about the

pastimes and abode of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu into all the languages of

the world.

 

ati alpa dinera madhyei mahaprabhu sarva desa

vyapi haiya eka matra upasya-tattva haitechen.

 

"This is so urgently necessary because in a very short time, Lord Caitanya

Mahaprabhu will become the sole object of worship or the Supreme

Worshippable Lord in all the villages, towns, and cities of the world. If

these books about His pastimes are available in various languages, people

can read and hear them regularly and thus constantly increase and nourish

their faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu."

 

Thus from the above quotes it is clear that this very

important book fulfills the desire of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.

Compilation of the verses contained herein was possible by revelation of the

relevant scriptures, by the causeless mercy and desire of none other than

the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead Lord Sri Nityananda Balarama,

and by His great devotees Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta

Sarasvati Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada. Thus we hope that readers will

take the subject matter of this book very seriously, and read it repeatedly,

to fully understand the position of Sri Navadvipa-dhama and thus take full

shelter of the dhama. On the other hand, if in spite of reading such

overwhelming scriptural evidence about Sri Navadvipa-dhama, a most

unfortunate person remains averse to the process of surrender unto the

dhama, and does not develop faith in Navadvipa, then such a person is doomed

to perpetually revolve throughout 8.4 million species of life in the cycle

of birth and death. And according to Thakura Bhaktivinoda, "There is no good

reason for such a person to continue living, not even in this present human

form of life."

After Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu returned to His

transcendental abode, His eternal associates the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana,

fully knowing His mind, on the basis of the Vedic literatures emphatically

established Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His

Navadvipa-dhama as the ultimate destination. Indeed it is the duty of every

living entity in Kali-yuga, if he desires his real self-interest, to accept

this ultimate conclusion and thus worship Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's abode

of Navadvipa with full faith through the congregational chanting of Hare

Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare

Hare; and the holy names of Lord Gauranga and Lord Nityananda.

The publication of this book is thus a humble contribution

towards the fulfillment of the above prediction from the Urdhvamnaya Tantra

and all previous acaryas. The publication of this book will hasten the

advent of the already overdue Golden Age (next 10,000 years in Kali-yuga),

as predicted in the Vedic literatures like the Brahma-vaivarta Purana.

Once having understood the philosophical truth about the

actual position of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Navadvipa-dhama, readers

of this book will naturally become eager to hear about the glorious

Navadvipa pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu

(the original spiritual master), in order to increasingly enrich their

understanding of the Lord and thus attain eternal residence in His eternal

spiritual abode of Navadvipa at the end of their life. To fulfill this

demand, we are trying to publish in as many languages as possible a highly

affordable edition of Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, the most authorized and

accessible biography for the common man on Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, written

in A.D. 1538 by Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura, none other than the

incarnation of Vyasadeva.

 

Navadvipa-vasa-abhilasi o Navadvipa-vasi dasanudasa,

Tridandi Bhikshu Bhaktiratna Sadhu.