Pranam Mantra of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Namo maha vadanyaya Krishna Prema pradayate|
Krishnaya Krishna Chaitanya naamne Gaura tvise namah||
Divine Appearance of Nimai:
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he appeared on the Phalguni full moon day in the 1407 Shaka era during the lunar eclipse. His father Sri Jagannatha Mishra was a Brahmin scholar and his mother was Sachi Devi. During the lunar eclipse, people were bathing in Ganga. Everyone was chanting Harinama. Brahmins were reciting Vedic hymns. The entire atmosphere became divine. At such an auspicious moment, Lord Sri Chaitanya appeared. Jagannath Mishra had several daughters from Srimati Sachidevi, but they died at a very young age. Only two extinct sons Viswarupa and Vishvambhara were growing up with their love and affection. Vishvambhara, the tenth and the youngest child, was later known as Nimai. Because He was born under a neem tree in their backyard. So his honorable mother
Affectionately gave him the name “Nimai”.
Preaching Harinama from the infancy:
With the descent of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Mahamantra also appeared in the world. In childhood when He started crying, the neighboring neighboring women used to surround Him clap, and chant Harinama. As a result, His crying would stop immediately. Sometimes young
girls would make Him cry and stop His crying by chanting Harinama. During the taste test in Anna Prasanna at the age of six months, baby Nimai embraced Srimad Bhagavatam. Everyone was amazed to see this kind of attitude in this little child. In this way, Sri Chaitanya preached Harinama since childhood.
Nimai’s childhood Pastime:
Nimai was very active and agile as a boy. But all of His pastimes were related to Hari Nama.
He showered His mercy to many people amidst His childlike attitude. He manifested many mysterious pastimes during this period. When he started crawling, one day a snake appeared. Nimai started playing with the snake. One day two thieves carried Him to a secluded place to steal His jewellery. But under the influence of Maya, they took the wrong route. Finally, they left Him at Jagannath Mishra’s house. Nimai was very amused by riding on the thief’s shoulder.
Once a pilgrim Brahmin came to the house of Jagannath Misra. When he offered bhoga (foodstuffs) to his Ishtadeva (worshipable Deity), Nimai came there and started eating the offerings. The same thing happened three times. When the Brahmin offered bhoga for the fourth time, child Nimai again accepted his offered bhoga. Brahmin was sad. Suddenly Nimai revealed His divine form before him. In this way, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu manifested His childhood pastimes. When He was only sixteen years old, He opened a Chatushpathi (a school for Brāhmaṇas in which the four Vedas are taught) and started teaching. Even while teaching grammar in this Chatushpathi, He explained all the formulas of grammar in terms of Krishna’s names.
Once a scholar named Keshava Kashmiri came to Nabadwip for debate. He had a benediction from the goddess Saraswati that no scholar would be able to argue before him. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard the glories of the Ganga sung by that scholar and said, “You are an extraordinary poet. Please explain what you have described already. Otherwise, nobody can understand it.” After listening to these beautiful words of Mahaprabhu, Keshava Kashmiri began to explain. But as soon as he started, Mahaprabhu detected errors in the beginning, middle, and end, Because He memorized all the verses of the scholar after hearing them once. He pointed out various errors of words and rhetoric in the sixty-fourth verse. The scholar was very surprised and wondered how a grammar student could find the mistake of a famous scholar like him! He had a special boon from the goddess Saraswati. So he thought: – “Surely I have committed an offense to the goddess.” That night goddess Saraswati appeared in his dream and told him, “O Brahmin, the one Whom you are defeated by today is the Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead. I am a constant servant at His lotus feet. Therefore I am ashamed to appear before Him. That you are defeated by him is not your defeat, but your victory.”
The next morning as soon as he woke up, he came to Mahaprabhu and offered his respectful o obeisances. Mahaprabhu embraced him. The victorious scholar surrendered to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu advised him:-
“‘digvijaya kariba’,—vidyāra kārya nahe
īśvare bhajile, sei vidyā ‘satya’ kahe”
Translation: Conquering the world is not the proper use of knowledge, the proper use of knowledge is to worship the Supreme Lord.
“sei se vidyāra phala jāniha niścaya ‘kṛṣṇa-pāda-padme yadi citta-vitta raya’”
Translation: Know without doubt that the goal of knowledge is to fix one’s mind on Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.
By saying this Mahaprabhu instructed him to dedicate himself to the lotus feet of Krishna.
Nimai’s Wedding pastime:
Mahaprabhu spent His early 24 years in childhood and household pastimes in Nabadwipa. He married Lakshmipriya Devi with prompt and grandeur. But when Mahaprabhu went to Srihatta in East Bengal to His ancestral home, young Lakshmipriya Devi passed away. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu returned from East Bengal, He agreed to marry for a second time at the request of His mother. His second wife was Srimati Vishnupriya Devi. She spent her whole life in separation from Mahaprabhu. Because When Mahaprabhu took sannyasa, Vishnupriya Devi was only sixteen years old.
Accepting Sannyasa Order :
Once some students criticized Mahaprabhu, for not understanding His divine nature. Then he considered the state of different kinds kind of people. He thought: – “The principal aim of my appearance is to deliver the fallen souls from this material world. But if they consider me to be an ordinary person, they will commit offenses and will never be freed from the material world.” Then Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took Sannyasa in the month of Magha when he was only 24 years old. He formally took Sannyasa from Keshava Bharati. He was accompanied by Nityananda Prabhu, Chandrasekhara Acharya, and Mukunda Datnta. They assisted and sociated Him during His sannyasa rites.
Journey to Nilachal Dham:
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited many important places on His way to Nilachal Dham. He visited the temple of Kshirchora Gopinatha at Remuna. Mahaprabhu relished the story of Gopinath Jiji’s stilling theft of milk for Madhavendra Puri. After visiting the temple of KhirachoraKshirchora Gopinath JiGopinathji at Remuna in the Baleshwara district of Orissa, Mahaprabhu again journeyed towards Puri. On the way, he visited the Sakshigopala temple. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu listened to Saksigopala’s story with great joy. The deity was later established near Jagannath Puri and the place was named Sakshigopala after the name of the deity. After spending one night there there one night, Mahaprabhu left again for Nilachala. On the way Nityananda Prabhu broke Mahaprabhu’sthe sannyasa-stick. Mahaprabhu showed anger towards his companions. He left their company and went alone to Puri.
Sri Jagannath Darshan & DeliveranceDeliverence of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya:
Entering the temple of Jagannathdev in Puri, He lost His external consciousness in ecstasy. The Pandas (priests) of the temple could not understand this unnatural expression of Mahaprabhu. A great scholar named Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was present there. He realized that this kind of fainting out of ecstasy after seeing the Lord’s deity is not common. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was a scholar in the court of King Prataparudra. He was attracted by the bodily complexion of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Soon he realized that this kind of ecstatic natural samadhi state is possible in a very advanced level of Bhakti. Taking Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to his house, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya checked His body thoroughly according to the scriptures. He saw the special symptoms in different parts of Mahaprabhu’s body. Soon He realized that
He was not an ordinary person. It had already come to light that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s maternal grandfather Sri Nilambara Chakraborty was a classmate of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s father. On that account, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya felt paternal affection towards this young monk. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya belonged to the Sankara sect and had many followers. Therefore, he wanted this young ascetic to learn about Vedanta philosophy from him So that He could be established in the Advaita path and continue monasticism properly. For this, Sarvabhauma began to make him listen to Vedanta. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also acted as a foolish student before Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and pretended to hear his explanation. After listening for seven days in this way, He explained to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya that the true meaning of Vedanta is the practice of pure devotion to Lord Krishna. After a long discussion on Vedanta, He revealed his six-handed form before Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and delivered him.
Journey to South India:
Mahaprabhu then traveled to South India. Whomever He met on the way, He made him a devotee of Krishna. All those devotees also inspired many others to practice Bhagavad-Bhakti. Then Mahaprabhu arrived on the banks of Godavari. There He was met by the Governor of Madras and the representative of King Prataparudra, Srila Ramananda Raya. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu traveled all over South India and discovered two very important ancient scriptures from there. They are ‘Brahma-Samhita’ and ‘Krishna-Karnamrta’. These two books are invaluable resources for devotees. Then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu returned to Jagannath Puri.
Journey to Sridham Vrindavan:
Shortly after this, Mahaprabhu left Puri again to visit Vrindavan and nearby pilgrimages of North India. When He was passing through the forests of Jharkhand of central India, all the wild animals danced with Him and chanted the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. By this He proved that even the animals of the forest can coexist peacefully through the Sankirtan movement, so what to speak about the civilisedcivilized man! No man can refuse to join the Sankirtan movement. This sSankirtana movement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is not limited by caste, religion, or country. Here is direct proof that He allowed even the animals of the forest were welcome to join in this great movement.
Disappearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:
Mahaprabhu spent 48 years in this material world. Then in 1455 Shaka, He concluded His pastimes in this material world by entering Tota Gopinath’s body in Jagannath Puri.
