Category Archives: Sri Chaitanya

Celebrating 533rd Birthday of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

April 12, 2019Celebrations, Sri ChaitanyaShri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Birthday Celebrationmahendrajani

Celebrating 533^rd Birthday of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

On Thursday, March 21, 2019, all over the world, the devotees of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486 – 1534) celebrated his 533^rd birthday. He was a scholar, a poet, and a great teacher. He had learned all the scriptures and was well-versed in the six systems of philosophy, especially in the ‘Nyaya Shashtra’, generally known as the field of logic.

But, at one point he realized that all this book learning could not give him inner peace, satisfaction, and the fulfillment of the heart. He realized that for most people during his time, the path of devotion could uplift people towards spirituality and was most appropriate for focusing one’s mind on God. It was because of his love for God that he could embrace all with love and serve all unselfishly–irrespective of their cast, learning, and economic status. He taught his disciples to be moral, humble, to forbear, to chant the name of God, and to serve all beings.

On this occasion, I would like to remember the meeting of the famous Pundit Sarvabhauma and Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The following write-up is based on the book “Shri Shri Chaitanya Charitavali” written by Shri Prabhudatt Brahmachari.

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Pundit Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya:

Pundit Vasudev Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was a famous scholar who had mastered all the scriptures. The king of Oddisa, King Prataparudra, had appointed him to run his school in the city Puri, near the famous temple of Lord Jagannatha. The pundit met Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when the latter had come to the Jagannatha temple for the first time for darshana. He was attracted by the divinity manifesting through Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s face. Saurvabhauma went closer to him to know more about Shri Chaitanya. Upon seeing Lord Jagannatha for the first time, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became overcome with devotion and fell unconscious. People rushed to help him. The pundit too rushed to help the fallen sanyasi and asked people to carry Shri Chaitanya to his house. Pundit Sarvabhauma, his wife and his son respectfully served Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as a sanyasi. Finally, upon hearing a couple of close devotees chanting the name of God, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu regained consciousness.

When Pundit Sarvabhauma found out that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was from his hometown and that he knew the pundit’s father and relatives very closely, his love for Shri Chaitanya grew deeper. He started showing more respect for Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Since the pundit was older than Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he claimed that Shri Chaitanya was like his son and sought to guide him: “Do not go to the Lord Jagannatha temple alone. Also, a Sanyasi has to keep his mind occupied with spiritual practices. If you want, you can come to my school and listen to the study of the Vedanta Sutras.” Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu agreed. Pundit Sarvabhauma made arrangements for Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his close devotees to stay in Puri near his own house.

The next day, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to Pundit Sarvabhauma’s school where the pundit himself was reading Shri Shankaracharya’s commentary on the Vedanta Sutras, called Shariraka Mimansa Bhashya. Shri Chaitanya sat there and started listening to the Sutras and their interpretations. Pundit Sarvabhauma was enjoying reading the commentary, providing various supportive shlokas and interpretations. For seven days Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu quietly listened.

After the seventh day, Pundit Sarvabhauma questioned Shri Chaitanya, “You have been listening to the reading and the interpretations for seven days, and yet you haven’t said a word about whether you liked it or not.” Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu humbly replied saying that he was asked to listen to the Vedanta Sutras, so he was simply listening. Pundit Sarvabhaum smiled and said, “I have not asked you to listen to the Sutras like a statue. If you have any questions, you should have asked them. And if you have liked something, then please share it.” Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, “How can I understand such a deep subject, and how can I dare raise doubts in front of such a scholarly person like you?” Pundit Sarvabhauma said, “Please don’t be shy. Say what you have on your mind.”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, with a little hesitance, “I can understand the simple meaning of Bhagavan Vyas’s Vedanta Sutras, but the commentaries create some problems. It seems to me that in many places the respectable commentators try to twist the meaning of the words to bring out the meaning they want. Sometimes they force meaning in the Sutras which is not there.”

All the students around them were startled by this statement.

Pundit Sarvabhauma countered, “What are you talking about? Shruti’s main goal is to establish that the goal of life is to realize the Nirguna Nirakar Brahman (Formless Brahman devoid of any gunas). Shariraka Mimansa Bhashya exactly establishes the One Brahman (which is without the second) and is devoid of name and form.”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, “I have nothing against the description of the Nirguna Nirakar Brahman.” Then, giving a few examples SCM said, “Shruti talks about both: Saguna and Nirguna Brahman, Sakara and Nirakara Brahman, Brahman with and without form and Brahman with and without characteristics. But, commentators only emphasize the Nirguna Nirakar Brahman and ignore the Saguna Sakara Brahman. I do not like these one-sided interpretations. Both forms of Brahman are important. The interpretations to establish Nirguna Nirakar Brahman may be appealing to people who are head-oriented, those who are more logic-oriented and who enjoy being analytical. But, they do not appeal to those who are heart-oriented, who enjoy loving God and for whom feelings are more important than logic. ”

Pundit Sarvabhauma said, “The commentators do not create their own meanings. They try to bring out the meaning which Bhagavan Vyasa was trying to express.”

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Bhagavan Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, and Madhvacharya have interpreted the same Sutras differently. Each one has his own interpretation. They all are great teachers and are respectable. But, each one established his own philosophy from the same sutras. Now, how can we consider one interpretation correct over another? Each teacher interpreted the sutras according to the philosophy he wanted to establish.

Shri Chaitnaya Mahaprabhu continued, “Lord Vyasa wrote six scriptures, eighteen puranas, and the fifth Veda called the Mahabharata. Even after writing all these scriptures, he was not happy and had no peace of mind. He felt he did not do enough to help humanity. It was this feeling that propelled him to write the Shrimad Bhagavatam, which finally brought him the peace of mind he was seeking. Lord Vyasa writes in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (10.14.32), “Really the cowherd boys who lived in the Vrajadhama were very fortunate because their friend (Shri Krishna) was Blissful, Supreme Ideal, and the Eternal Brahman.” Can Lord Vyasa who wrote this ever insists that only the formless Brahman is real and all forms of God are imaginary and false?

Pundit Sarvabhauma sat quietly for a while and then finally responded, “Oh! Then Sri Shankaracharya’s all the reasoning and teachings are incorrect because in all his commentaries he had established the formless Brahman and said that the world with names and forms appears due to the ignorance and is not real. He asked everyone to realize that his/her true identity is nothing but Brahman.”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “The intellect is given by God. By establishing Advaita Vedanta Sri Shankaracharya had showed the highest state that can be reached through logical reasoning and reflection. But, let us look closely at Shri Shankaracharya’s heart. The very Shri Shankaracharya who said that the highest state is ‘I am Brahman,’ has also written the following shloka while sitting on the banks of the Ganga, his eyes filled with tears of love for God: “O God! In reality there may not be any difference between you and me. Nevertheless, My Lord, ‘I am yours’ but ‘You are not mine’. Even though there is no difference between the ocean and its wave, we can only say that ‘a wave belongs to the ocean’. We never say that, ‘the ocean belongs to its wave’.

Then, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu quoted another shloka from the Shrimad Bhagavatam (1.7.10), “ Those who have studied all the scriptures, from whose hearts the attachment and ego have been destroyed, and who silently enjoy the bliss of the Atman within, they also enjoy loving God for love’s sake. They do not want anything from God. They are naturally drawn to the virtues and form of God. Wise people, therefore, cannot help but love God.”

Pundit Sarvabhauma found an opportunity to show his knowledge of the scriptures. He gave nine different meanings of that shloka. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu praised Pundit’s erudite interpretations and told him that there are more than nine interpretations of the shloka. The pundit could not believe it. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave another additional nine interpretations of the shloka! With that, Pundit Sarvabhauma’s ego was completely crushed. He found that his knowledge and understanding of the scriptures were limited. He felt that he is in front of an Incarnation of God and he should seek Shri Chaitanya’s blessings and guidance. Pundit Sarvabhauma fell at the feet of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and said, “O Lord! Please forgive me. I am deeply engrossed in this world of delusion. O Govinda! O Damodara! O Madhava! I surrender to you. Please lift me up from this ocean of Samsara, the world of pairs of opposites.”

Then, Pundit Sarvabhauma asked the following three important questions to Sri Chaitnya Mahaprabhu. The answers to these questions are beneficial to all of us:

Pundit Sarvabhauma’s Three Questions:

Question 1:

Pundit Sarvabhauma: “O Lord What is the best way to develop one-pointed devotion for the lotus feet of God?”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: “One cannot give the same medicine and the same dosage to all patients who have the same disease. An expert doctor figures out the type of medicine and the dosage that suits each patient. The same principle applies to meals. There are three benefits of meals: (1) nourishment of the body (2) satisfaction to the mind and (3) removal of the hunger. But, for the nourishment of the body and removal hunger, the same food is not given to everyone. It is good that a person eats what suits him or her. In the scriptures, various paths have been described to realize God, but in the present time, there is no better and easier path than repeating God’s name.

Question 2:

Pundit Sarvabhauma: “O Lord! What is the way to repeat God’s name?”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: “There is no particular way to repeat God’s name. Whenever you have time, wherever you are, and whatever situation you are in, just repeat God’s name. Repeat God’s name in a fixed number, meditate on the form of God which you like, sing God’s glories through hymns, bhajans, and dhoons, and listen, reflect and discuss God’s life incidents and virtues with devotees. The point is to keep the body, mind, and the senses engaged in the thoughts of God.

Question 3:

Pundit Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya: “O Lord! How should we meditate on God?”

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: “First, make sure that your senses and your mind do not run around aimlessly in the world. While working in the world, keep the form of God in your mind and the name of God on your lips. Whenever your mind goes away from the form of God, look up and remember the loving form of God.

After the conversation, Pundit Sarvabhauma went home accompanied by Pundits Jagadananda and Damodara. He then prepared a few dishes to offer to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and sent them with the pundits along with two following shlokas that he, himself, had composed:

“I take refuge at the feet of the One, who is full of compassion, the ancient Purusha, who incarnated with the name of Shri Krishna Chaitanya to teach knowledge, renunciation and the path of devotion to all beings.

As a bee enjoys sipping honey of a flower and remains around the flower, may my mind deeply enjoy remaining immersed at the holy feet of Shri Krishna Chaitanya who has incarnated on earth to re-establish the path of devotion which was lost in time.”

Reflections: In the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna described four Yogas as four paths to realize God or to realize the Ultimate Reality. These four Yogas are Raja Yoga (the path of self-control and focusing the mind), Jnana Yoga (the path of reasoning and reflections), Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotion to God), and Karma Yoga (the path of unselfish actions). According to one’s mental chemistry, one has to follow one or more Yogas and combine them proportionally. Swami Vivekananda Wanted his disciples to practice all the four Yogas in which one can engage one’s head, heart, and hands to attain the goal.

(Thanks to Nisha Parikh for editing this post.)

Happy 528th Birthday to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1534)

March 14, 2014Celebrations, Sri Chaitanyamahendrajani

Not all people can reason. But all understand the language of love. Everyone knows the magic of love.

More than five hundred years ago, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu understood this fact and he touched the hearts of millions of people. His life and teachings filled the hearts of all with pure, unselfish, divine love. Even now if anyone reads his biography will experience the divine love for God and for all beings.

Vision of Sri Ramakrishna: In 1870, the Master (Sri Ramakrishna) went on a pilgrimage to Nadia, the birth-place of Sri Chaitanya. As the boat by which he travelled approached the sand-bank close to Nadia, Sri Ramakrishna had a vision of the “two brothers”, Sri Chaitanay and his companion Nityananda, “bright as molten gold” and with haloes, rushing to greet him with uplifted hands. “There they came! There they come!” he cried. They entered his body and he went into a deep trance. (From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)

DSC04106 (2) — Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda

Sri Chaitnya Mahaprabhu was born on the famous Holy Festival day. According to the Hindu moon calendar this year his birthday falls on Sunday, March 16, 2014.

The following Hindi biography of Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu, titled “Sri Sri Chaitanya Charitavali” written by Shri Prabhdutt Brahmachari is a good resource about his life and teaching. It is published by Gita Press, Gorukhpur, India.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life is very interesting. I will give a brief outline of his life. His father’s name was Pundit Jagannatha Mishra and mother’s name was Shri Shachi Devi. He was born in Navadwip (also known as Nadia), a city of Bengal. At that time, Navadwip was the center of knowledge. The schools of Navadwip produced many scholars of Sanskrit and various branches of philosophies based on the Hindu scriptures. His childhood name was Nimai. People say that he was born under a Neem Tree. That is why his name was Nimai. Because he was of fair complexion, he was also known as Gauranga. But, in his young age he was known as “Nimai Pundit.”

Nimai was a naughty boy. There were many interesting childhood pranks of Nimai including sitting on the garbage pile to tease his mom, eating food offered to God by an orthodox Brahmin, tying lose clothes of two people meditating on the bank of a river so their clothes come off when they get up and many others. Because his elder brother Vishwarupa renounced the world in order to realize God, Nimai’s parents did not want him to go to school. Somehow he convinced his parents to let him go to school. When Nimai was eleven years old, his father passed away.

Nimai started to learn from a famous Sanskrit Grammar school of Pundit Gangadas. Nimai mastered “Panchitika,” the famous book of Sanskrit grammar and wrote a commentary on this book. This commentary was so helpful that Nimai became famous among the scholars of Navadwip and outside.

Then, Nimai mastered the “Nyaya Philosophy,” which is logic. Many of the logic formulas of this philosophy are being taught in our universities’ logic classes today. There is an important event happened at this time which brought out the greatness of Nimai. His classmate Pundit Raghunath was a great scholar of logic and he was writing a book. Raghunath heard that Nimai is also writing a book on logic. One day he requested Nimai to read his manuscript to him. Both got on a boat and Nimai started reading his manuscript. Initially, Raghunath was making some sounds of acknowledgement that he was listening. But, after a while he was quiet. Nimai looked at him and found that Raghunath was profusely crying. Nimai asked the reason for his crying. Raghunath told him, “I was thinking that my book on logic will be famous one day. But, after listening to your manuscript, I am sure that no one will read my book.” Nimai laughed and said that it is a very trifle thing for which he should not be upset. He said that for his friend he can do anything. By saying this, Nimai simply tossed his manuscript into the river. Pundit Raghunath embraced Nimai saying that only Nimai can let go such name and fame. Thus, the world lost a great book on logic, but found a greater person who surpassed the logic.

Nimai married to Lakshmi Devi, the daughter of Pundit Vallabhacharya. After completing his studies, Nimai Pundit became a teacher. But, his naughty-nature remained same as a young student. After teaching he used to mix with his students and he used to make his students laugh with his funny talks and acts. With his playful nature he used to tease orthodox devotees and so-called pundits by intellectually exploring their weaknesses. At that time a scholar Pundit Ishwar Puri of Navadwip was writing a book “Shri Krishnalilamruta.” Pundit Ishwar Puri wanted Nimai Pundit to listen to this manuscript and suggest any correction or make comments. For several evenings Nimai Pundit heard this manuscript and both scholars had discussions on various topics of the manuscript. After listening to this book Nimai Pundit’s love for Lord Krishna overpowered his intellectual outlook.

Nimai Pundit with his students then went to places of pilgrimage in East Bengal. He met many notable scholars and inspired many people to chant name of God for spiritual development. During this time his wife Lakshmi Devi passed away. Nimai and his mother were very sad for this loss. Nimai focused his mind in teaching. At that time a famous scholar Pundit Keshav of Kashmir came to challenge all the scholars of Navadwip. He was on a mission to prove his superiority in his knowledge of scriptures, Sanskrit language, and poetry. He had defeated many scholars in other cities. However, young Nimai Pundit in a casual conversation found several mistakes in his recently wrote poem. The Pundit of Kashmir was amazed by Nimai Pundit’s depth of knowledge and intellectual sharpness. Pundit Keshav of Kashmir’s ego was completely destroyed. He gave up his mission of challenging scholars and devoted his mind to spiritual development.

Mother Shachi Devi was worried about Nimai. Considering mother’s wish, Nimai agreed to marry Vishnupriya, a daughter of the court Pundit Sanatam Mishra. After some time, an upsurge of renunciation arose and captured Nimai’s mind. He realized that life is very short, nothing is permanent in this world, and the purpose of life is to chant name of God and to make efforts for spiritual development. He started asking his students to do regular spiritual practice and build a good character.

A most important event in Nitai’s life was his pilgrimage to Gaya. After performing rituals for his father, he went to Gaya temple and in front of Lord Vishnu he had an ecstasy. At that time he met Pundit Ishwar Puri again. They both were happy to meet each other. Nimai sincerely requested him to give him initiation. Pundit Ishwar Puri gave initiation to Nimai and taught him a mantra “Gopijanavallabhaya namah.” Upon listening to the mantra Nimai’s mind was uplifted to Lord Shri Krishna, his heart was filled with love for him and he had a state of Samadhi.

After coming back from Gaya, Nimai’s life was completely changed. He asked his students to chant the name of Lord Krishna. He told them that the chanting of Lord Krishna’s name will remove their miseries, help them attain the eternal peace and happiness and make their lives blessed. He closed his school, collected sincere devotees of God and taught them how to chant name of Lord Krishna. He followed strict moral discipline and closely monitored his disciples to help them in their spiritual path. When he found that his close disciples were firmly established in their spiritual foundation and it was time to teach all people who are ready to learn to take name of God, he went out with his disciples to chant name of Lord Krishna in public. Rest of his life was spent in chanting name of Lord Shri Krishna, remaining in bliss of Krishna-Consciousness and inspiring people to do the same. At one point he completely renounced the world to devote his life fully for spiritual enlightenment of people. From Nimai Pundit, he became Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He transformed many lives for good. He touched the hearts of poor people, neglected people, kings, rulers and people of all walks of life.

DSC04103 (2) — Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu transformed the lives of robbers

As I mentioned before not all people can reason, but everyone understands the language of love. Sri Chaitanya Mahprabhu taught people to build a moral life, to love God, to enjoy chanting name of God, and to enjoy the bliss of God-Consciousness. He loved all unselfishly. Many cruel people were transformed into loving people by love of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. A wave of love of God (Lord Shri Krishna) came from his heart and flooded whole Bengal with that love. Later on this wave of love spread all over India and outside India in many countries inspiring people to chant the name of God.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wrote only one hymn called “Shikshashtakam,” eight verses to learn his guidance. One of them is a very famous verse which I will quote here:

Learn to be more humble than grass

Learn to be more forbearer than a tree

Do not seek respect or name and fame

Give respect to all, and

Always chant name of God.

Let us learn to develop love for God and love all unselfishly seeing God in them.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna we find often Sri Ramakrishna talk to the devotees about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life and love for Lord Krishna. The following are a few quotes from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:

“The Master (Sri Ramakrishna) sang, “And, for that love, the mighty yogis practice yoga from age to age. When love awakens, the Lord, like a magnet, draws to Him the soul.” Then he said, “Chaitanya used to shed tears of joy at the very mention of Krishna’s name. God alone is the substance; all else is illusory…”
“Master said, “You talk glibly about prema (love for God). But is it such a common place thing? There are two characteristics of prema. First, it makes one forget the world. So intense is one’s love for God that one becomes unconscious of outer things. Chaitanya had this ecstatic love;…Second, one has no feeling of ‘my-ness’ toward the body, which is so dear to man. One wholly gets rid of feeling that the body is the soul.”

“Master said, “Chaitanya experienced three states of mind. First, the conscious state, when his mind dwelt on the gross and subtle. Second, the semi-conscious state, when his mind entered the causal body and was absorbed in the bliss of divine intoxication. Third, the inmost state, when his mind was merged in the Great Cause…..While conscious of the outer world, Chaitanya sang the name of God; while in the state of partial consciousness, he dances with the devotees; and while in the inmost state of consciousness, he remained absorbed in Samadhi.”

“Sri Ramakrishna said, “The caste-system can be removed by means of one means only, and that is love of God. Lovers of God do not belong to any caste. The mind, body, and soul of a man become purified through divine love. Chaitanya and Nityananda scattered the name of Hari to everyone, including the pariah, and embraced them all. A Brahmin without this love is no longer a Brahmin. And a pariah with the love of God is no longer a pariah. Through bhakti (love of God) an untouchable becomes pure and elevated.”