Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of
Nadia just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd Phalguna 1407
Shakabda, 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 an occasion, in bathing in the
Bhagirathi [River] with loud cheers of "Haribol."
His father, Jagannatha Mishra, a poor brahmana
of the Vedic order, and His mother, Sachi-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 Chakravarti, a renowned astrologer, foretold
that the child would be a great personage in time; and he therefore
gave Him the name Vishvambhara. The ladies of the neighbourhood styled
Him "Gaurahari" on account of His golden complexion, and His mother
called Him "Nima"i on account of the nimba (Neem) 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 pathashala
(grammar school) where He picked up Bengali in a very short time.
Most of His contemporary biographers have mentioned
certain anecdotes regarding Chaitanya 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 the
utterance of Haribol in the house, foreshewing the future mission of the hero. It has also been stated that
when His mother once 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 Krishna. 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
Mishra. The lad again ate up the cooked rice while the brahmana
was offering the rice to Krishna with meditation. The brahmana
was persuaded to cook for the third time. This time all the inmates of
the house had fallen asleep, and the lad shewed himself as Krishna 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 Jagadisha all the offerings they had collected for
worshipping
Krishna on the day of Ekadashi. 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
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
(school)
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
smriti in His own study, and the nyaya also,
in competition with His friends, who were then studying under the
celebrated Pandita Raghunatha Shiromani.
Now, after the tenth year of His age, Chaitanya became
a passable scholar in grammar, rhetoric, the smriti and
the nyaya. It was after this that His elder
brother Vishvarupa left his house and accepted the
ashrama (status) of a sannyasi (ascetic, renounced
monk). Chaitanya, 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.
Spiritual Transformation
It was at the age of 14 or 15 that Mahaprabhu was married to
Lakshmidevi, the daughter of Vallabhacharya, also of Nadia. He
was at this age considered one of the best scholars of Nadia, the
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 Vaishnavism at intervals. After
teaching him the principles of Vaishnavism, he ordered Tapanamishra to
go to and live in Benares. During His residence in East Bengal, His
wife Lakshmidevi left this world from the effects of snakebite. 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 Vishnupriya, the
daughter
of Raja Pandita Sanatana Mishra. His comrades joined Him on His return
from pravasa (sojourn). He was now so renowned that He was
considered to be the best pandita in Nadia. Keshava Mishra of
Kashmir, who had called himself the Great Digvijayi, came to
Nadia with a view to discuss with the panditas of that place.
Afraid
of the so-called conquering pandita, the tola
professors of Nadia left their town on pretence of invitation. Keshava
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
Ishvara Puri, a Vaishnava 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,
Shrivasa and others who had before the birth of Chaitanya already
accepted
the Vaishnava faith were astonished at the change of the young man. He
was
then no more a contending naiyayika, a wrangling smarta
and a criticising rhetorician. He swooned at the name of Krishna and
behaved as an inspired man under the influence of His religious
sentiment. It
has been described by Murari Gupta, an eyewitness, that He shewed His
heavenly powers in the house of Shrivasa 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
(congregational chanting and singing of the Holy Name)
in the compound of Shrivasa 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 Vaishnavism and who had then completed His travels all over India,
joined Him by that time. In fact, a host of pandita preachers
of Vaishnavism, all sincere at heart, came and joined Him from
different parts of Bengal. Nadia now became the regular seat of a host
of Vaishnava acharyas whose mission it
was to spiritualise mankind with the highest influence of the Vaishnava
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 sankirtana 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.
Departure from Family and Household Life
. . . 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 Krishna with man in general.
After His sannyasa, He was induced to visit the
house of Advaita Prabhu in Shantipura. Advaita managed to invite all
His
friends and admirers from Nadia and brought Sachidevi 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, Krishna Chaitanya
put on nothing but a kaupina (undergarment or loin cloth) and a
bahirvasa (outer covering). His head was without
hair, and His hands bore a danda (staff or stick traditionally
carried by sannyasis or renounced monks) 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 Vrindavana 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 Shantipura for Orissa. His biographers have described
the journey of Krishna Chaitanya
(that was the name He got after His sannyasa) from Shantipura
to Puri in great detail. He travelled along the side of the Bhagirathi
as far as Chatraboga, 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 Bhuvaneshvara on His way. Upon His arrival at Puri
He saw Jagannatha in the temple and resided with Sarvabhauma at the
request
of the latter.
Converts and Followers
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 Shankaracharya
. He was born in Nadia (Vidyanagara) and taught innumerable pupils in
the nyaya philosophy in his tola (school) there. He had left
for Puri some time before the birth of Nimai Pandita. His
brother-in-law Gopinatha Mishra 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. Chaitanya heard with silence what the
great Sarvabhauma uttered with gravity for seven days, at the end of
which the latter said, "Krishna Chaitanya! I think you do not
understand the Vedanta, for You do not say anything after
hearing my recitation and explanations." The reply of Chaitanya was
that He understood the sutras very well, but He could not make
out what Shankaracharya meant by his commentaries. Astonished at 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
Shankara. The keen
understanding of Sarvabhauma saw the truth, beauty and harmony of
arguments
in the explanations given by Chaitanya 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 Shankara 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 Vaishnavas of the time.
When reports of this came out, the whole of Orissa sang the praise of
Krishna Chaitanya, and
hundreds and hundreds came to Him and became His followers. In the
meantime, Mahaprabhu thought of visiting Southern India, and He started
with one Krishnadasa
Brahmana for the journey.
His biographers have given us a detail of the journey.
He
went first to Kurmakshetra, 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 (pure love of
Godhead). He worked another miracle by touching (making them
immediately disappear) the seven tala trees through which Ramachandra , the son of Dasharatha, had shot
His arrow and killed the great Bali Raja. He preached Vaishnavism and nama-sankirtana
throughout the journey. At Rangakshetra 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
Vaishnavism to Krishna-bhakti, along with the son of Venkata, a boy of
ten years
named Gopala, who afterwards came to Vrindavana and became one of the
six Goswamis or prophets serving under their
leader Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle
Prabodhananda Sarasvati, Gopala wrote several books on Vaishnavism.
Chaitanya 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 abhangas (diary notes), which have
been collected in a volume by Mr. Satyendra Nath Tagore of the Bombay
Civil Service. During His journey He had discussions with the
Buddhists,
the Jains and the Mayavadis in several places
and converted His opponents to Vaishnavism.
Upon His return to Puri, Raja Prataparudra-deva and
several pandita brahmanas joined the banner of Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu. He was now twenty-seven years of age. In His twenty-eighth
year he went to Bengal as far as Gauda in Malda. There He picked up
two great personages named Rupa and Sanatana . . . . 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 Vrindavana and meet Him there.
Chaitanya returned to Puri through Shantipura, where He
again met His dear mother. After a short stay at Puri, He left for
Vrindavana. This time He was accompanied by one Balabhadra
Bhattacharya. He visited Vrindavana and came down to Prayag
(Allahabad). . . . Rupa Goswami
met Him at Allahabad. Chaitanya trained him up in spirituality in ten
days and directed him to go to Vrindavana 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 Krishnachandra had in the end of Dwapara-yuga
exhibited His spiritual lila (pastimes) for the
benefit of the religious world. Rupa Gosvami left Allahabad for
Vrindavana, and Mahaprabhu came down to Benares. There He resided in
the house
of Chandrashekhara and accepted His daily bhiksha (meal) in the
house of Tapana Mishra. Here it was that Sanatana Gosvami joined Him
and took instruction for two months in spiritual matters. The
biographers,
especially Krishnadasa Kaviraja, have given us details of Chaitanya's
teachings to Rupa and Sanatana. Krishnadasa was not a contemporary
writer,
but he gathered his information from the Goswamis themselves, the
direct
disciples of Mahaprabhu. Jiva Gosvami, who was nephew of Sanatana and
Rupa
and who has left us his invaluable work the Sat-sandarbha,
has philosophized on the precepts of his great leader. We have gathered
and summarised the precepts of Chaitanya from the books of those great
writers.
While at Benares, Chaitanya 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, Chaitanya shewed a miracle which
attracted all the sannyasis to him. Then ensued reciprocal
conversation. The sannyasis were headed by their most learned
leader Prakashananda Sarasvati. After a short controversy, they
submitted to Mahaprabhu and admitted that they had been misled by the
commentaries of Shankaracharya. It was impossible even for learned
scholars to oppose Chaitanya 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 Chaitanya and asked for His grace
( kripa ). Chaitanya then preached pure bhakti and
instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Krishna which obliged
them
to give up sectarian feelings. The whole population of Benares, on this
wonderful conversion of the sannyasis, turned Vaishnavas, and
they
made a master sankirtana with their new Lord. After
sending Sanatana to Vrindavana, 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 Krishna.
The Final Years
From this time, that is, from His 31st year, Mahaprabhu
continually lived in Puri in the house of Kashi Mishra 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 Vaishnavas and who were
distinguished
from the common people by their purest character and learning, firm
religious
principles and spiritual love of Radha-Krishna. Svarupa Damodara, who
had been known by the name of Purushottamacharya 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
Vrindavana,
and conversed with those religious men who newly came to visit Him. He
sang and danced, took no care of Himself and oft-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 maha-prasada
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 Vrindavana to preach love in the upcountry.
He punished all of his disciples who deviated from a holy life. 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 Gosvami. His treatment to
Haridasa
(senior) will show how He loved spiritual men and how He defied caste
distinction in spiritual brotherhood.
Glossary
Acharya --(lit. one who teaches by
example) spiritual master. Ashrama--social
order; status. Bhakta--one who
practices bhakti-yoga, or devotion to Krishna. Bhakti--devotion to
God. Brahmana--the
intelligent class of men, according to the system of social and
spiritual orders. Dwapara-yuga--the
previous age, at the end of which the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krishna, appeared as Himself (5,000 years ago). Ekadashi--eleventh
day of the new moon and full moon phases, when no grains should be
eaten (fasting from grains). Goswami--(go=senses;
svami=master) title of a sannyasi, who is
supposed to have conquered the urges of the five senses and mind. Haribol--exclamation,
meaning "Chant the name of Lord Hari (Krishna)!" Jagannatha--"Lord
of the Universe," the famous deity of Krishna, Balarama and Their
sister Subhadra, residing in Jagannatha Puri,
Orissa, India. Kirtana--singing
and chanting of the holy names of Krishna. Mayavadi--those
who follow the school of Mayavada, or the teaching that God has no form
and is impersonal. Maha -prasada--food
which has been offered to Krishna (in this case, offered to the deity
Jagannatha). Naiyayikas--those
who follow the nyaya school. Nama-sankirtana--chanting
of the holy names of Krishna. Nyaya--a system of
philosophy which examines metaphysical and physical realities according
to the descending process, using
facts and arguments to deduce conclusions; syllogistic approach
comprised of five elements: assertion, reason for inference, evidence,
argument leading up to summary, conclusion. Pandita--one who
is educated in Vedic knowledge; learned brahmana. Ramachandra--Lord
Rama, who appeared millions of years ago, together with His consort
Sita Devi and Lakshman (hero of the Ramayana ). Ramanuja Vaishnavism--devotion
to Lord Vishnu, as taught by Ramanuja Acharya. Shankaracharya--incarnation
of Lord Shiva who interpreted the Vedic literatures to say that God is
without form and features, essentially impersonal. Sankirtana--congregational
chanting of the holy names of Krishna. Sannyasa-dharma--the
strict rules and regulations of renounced life. Smarta panditas--those
who follow the smriti-shastra, strictly observing
brahminical regulations and rituals. Smriti--scriptures
compiled by man under transcendental revelation and instruction by God. Vaishnavism--devotion
to Lord Vishnu. Vrindavana--the
place (in Mathura district, U.P., India) where Krishna performed his
childhood pastimes 5,000 years ago.