Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

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This account originally appeared in a short work by

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura entitled, 'Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts.'(dated 20th August

1896.)" This was taken from "Prologue" to "Teachings

of Lord Caitanya"(A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

1974. pages xiii-xxii.) Who better could we find to

include here than the pure unalloyed devotee, and

foremost scholar in Vaisnava circles Srila

Bhaktivinoda Thakura to perform this task. He starts

his essay;

"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.)

 

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