His Life
The object of this little book is to bring the holy life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His precepts to the notice of the educated and the religious people. Most of the books treating on these subjects have been printed in Bengali character. Hence, the life and precepts of Chaitanya have scarcely passed beyond the boundaries of Bengal. … Our educated brethren of Europe and America have taken, of late, to the study of the Sanskrit language, and it is our belief that this brochure will go to their hands in a very short time. … It makes a succinct mention of all the anecdotes of the life of Mahaprabhu as related in the famous book, the Chaitanya-charitamrta by Krishnadas Kaviraj. With a view to help our English-knowing readers in going through the book, we have here summarised in English the contents of the work.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of Nadia, just after sunset on the 23 Phalgun 1407 Sakabda, answering to the 18 February 1485 of the Christian Era. The moon was eclipsed at the time of His birth, and people were then engaged, as usual on such occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi with loud cheers of «Haribol”. His father Jagannath Misra was a poor brahman of the Vedic order, and His mother Sachi Devi was a model good woman, both descended from brahman stock originally residing in Sylhet. Mahaprabhu was a beautiful child, and the ladies of town came to see Him with presents. His mother’s father Pandit Nilambar Chakravarti, a renowned astrologer, foretold that the child would be a great personage in time, and he, therefore, gave Him the name Visvambhar. The ladies of the neighbourhood styled Him ‘Gaurahari’ on account of His golden complexion, and his mother called Him ‘Nimai’ on account of the 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 pathasala 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 and His mother cried, «Haribol”, He used to stop! Thus there was a continuation of the utterance of «Haribol” in the house, foreshowing the future mission of the hero. It has so 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 the consort of a pandit, explained that every article in a special state was adapted to 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 the sweetmeats was usable as food and not clay in its other states. The lad was convinced and admitted His stupidity in eating clay and agreed to avoid the mistake in future. Another miraculous act has been related. It is said that a brahman on pilgrimage became a guest in His house, cooked his food, and read his grace with meditation of Krishna. In the meantime, the lad came and ate up the cooked rice. The brahman, astonished at the lad’s act, cooked again at the request of Jagannath Misra. The lad again ate up the cooked rice while the brahman was offering the rice to Krishna with meditation. The brahman was persuaded to cook for the third time. This time the inmates of the house had fallen asleep and the lad showed Himself as Krishna to the traveller and blessed him. The brahman 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 has been described of the lad’s demanding and getting from Hiranya and Jagadis all the offering they had collected for worshipping Krishna 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 earthen pots thrown away after the cooking was over. These anecdotes relate to the tender age up to the fifth year.
In His eighth year, He was admitted into the tol of Ganga Das Pandit in Ganga Nagar 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 pandit 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 Pandit Raghunath Siromani.
Now after the tenth year of His age, Chaitanya became a passable scholar in grammar, rhetoric, smrti and the nyaya. It was after this that His elder brother Visvarup left His house and accepted the ashram (status) of a sannyasi (ascetic). 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 usually contented appearance consoled His widowed mother.
It was at the age of 14 or 15 that Mahaprabhu was married to Laksmi Devi, the daughter of Vallabha Acharya, also of Nadia. He was at this age considered as one of the best scholars of Nadia, the renowned seat of nyaya philosophy and Sanskrit learning. Not to speak of smarta pandits, the naiyayikas were all afraid of confronting Him in literary discussions. Being a married man, He went to Eastern Bengal on the bank 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 Tapan Misra to go and live in Benares. During His residence in East Bengal, His wife Laksmi Devi left this world from the effect 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 Visnu Priya, the daughter of Raj Pandit Sanatan Misra. His comrades joined Him on His return from pravas or sojourn. He was now so renowned that He was considered to be the best pandit of Nadia. Kesava Misra of Kashmir, who had called himself the great digvijayi, came to Nadia with a view to discuss with the pandits of that place. Afraid of the so-called conquering pandit, the tol professors of Nadia left their own town on pretense of invitation. Kesava Misra met Mahaprabhu at the Barakona Ghat in Mayapur, and after a very short discussion with Him he got defeated by the boy and mortification obliged him to decamp. Nimai Pandit was now the most important pandit 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 He took His spiritual initiation from Isvar Puri, a Vaisnava sannyasi and a disciple of the renowned Madhavendra Puri. Upon His return to Nadia, Nimai Pandit turned out a religious preacher, and His religious nature became so strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu, Srivas, and others, who had before the birth of Sri Chaitanya already accepted 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 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 showed His heavenly powers in the house of Srivas Pandit 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 kirtan in the compound of Srivas Pandit 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 by that time. In fact a host of pandit preachers of Vaisnavism, all sincere at heart, came and joined Him from different parts of Bengal. Nadia became now the regular seat of a host of Vaisnava Acharyas whose mission it was to spiritualise mankind with the highest influence of the Vaisnava creed.
The first mandate that He issued to Prabhu Nityananda and Haridas 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, the two most abominable characters. They insulted the preachers on hearing Mahaprabhu’s mandate but were soon converted by the influence of bhakti inculcated by their Lord. The people of Nadia were now surprised. They said, «Nimai Pandit is not only a gigantic genius, but He is certainly a missionary from God Almighty.” From this time to His 23rd 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 showed 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 brahmans became jealous of Nimai Pandit’s success and complained to Cha̐d Kazi against the character of Chaitanya as non-Hindu. The Kazi came to Srivas Pandit’s house and broke a mrdanga (khol) there and declared that unless Nimai Pandit would cease to make noise about His queer religion, he should be obliged to enforce Mohammedanism on Him and His followers. This was brought to Mahaprabhu’s notice. He ordered the town people to appear in the evening, each with the torch in their hands. 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 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 Visvambhar after this affair.
It was after this that some of the jealous and low-minded brahmans of Kuliya picked up a quarrel with Mahaprabhu and collected a party to oppose Him. Nimai Pandit was naturally a soft-hearted person though strong in His principles. He declared that party feeling and sectarianism were the two great enemies of progress, and 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 off His connection with a particular family, caste, and creed, and with this resolution He embraced the position of sannyasi at Katwa under the guidance of Kesava 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 sannyas He was induced to visit the house of Advaita Prabhu in Santipur. Advaita managed to invite all His friends and admirers from Nadia and brought Sachi Devi 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 up nothing but a kaupin and a bahirvas (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 order. Permit Me to go to Vrndavan for My spiritual attainments.” The mother in consultation with Advaita and others asked her son to reside in puri (town) of Jagannath so that she might obtain His information now and then. Mahaprabhu agreed to this proposition and in a few days left Santipur for Orissa. His biographers have described the journey of Krishna Chaitanya (that was the name He got after His sannyas) from Santipur to Puri in great detail. He travelled along the side of the Bhagirathi as far as Chhatrabhog situated now in Thana Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, 24 Parganas. There He took a boat and went as far as Prayag Ghat in the Midnapur District. Thence, He walked through Balasore and Cuttack to Puri, seeing the temple of Bhuvanesvar on His way. Upon His arrival at Puri He saw Jagannath in the Temple and put up with Sarvabhauma at the request of the latter. Sarvabhauma was a gigantic pandit of the day. His reading knew no bounds. He was the best naiyayika of the time and was known as the most erudite scholar in the Vedanta philosophy of the school of Sankar Acharya. He was born in Nadia (Vidya Nagar) and taught innumerable pupils in the nyaya philosophy in his tol there. He had left for Puri sometime before the birth of Nimai Pandit. His brother-in-law Gopinath 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 sannyas-dharma during the long run of His life. Gopinath, who had known Mahaprabhu from Nadia, had a great reverence for Him and gave out that the sannyasi was not a common human being. On this point Gopinath and Sarvabhauma had a hot discussion. Sarvabhauma then requested Mahaprabhu to hear his recitation of the Vedanta-sutras to which 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, «O Krishna Chaitanya! I think You do not understand the Vedanta as 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 Sankar Acharya meant by his commentaries. Astonished at this, Sarvabhauma said, «How is that You understand the meaning 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 Sankar. 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 found one who could explain the Brahma-sutras in such a simple manner. He admitted also that the commentaries of Sankar never gave such natural explanations of Vedanta-sutras as he had obtained from Mahaprabhu. He then submitted himself as advocate and follower. In a few days Sarvabhauma turned out as one of the best Vaisnavas of the time. Report ran out-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 Krishnadas brahman for the journey.
His biographers have given us a detail of the journey. He first went to Kurmaksetra where He did a miracle by curing a leper named Vasudev. He met Ramananda Ray, the governor of Vidya Nagar, 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 tal trees, through which Ramachandra, the son of Dasarath, had shot His arrow and killed the great Vali Raja! He preached Vaisnavism and Nam-sankirtan throughout His 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 Ramanujiya Vaisnavism to Krishna-bhakti along with the son of Venkata, a boy of ten years named Gopal, who afterwards came to Vrndavan and became one of the six goswamis or prophets serving under their leader Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle Prabodhananda Saraswati, Gopal wrote several books on Vaisnavism.
Chaitanya visited numerous places in Southern India as far as Cape Comorin and returned to Puri in two years by Pandharpur on the Bhima. In this latter place He spiritualized one Tuka Ram who became from that time a religious preacher himself. This fact has been admitted in his abhangas 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 Vaisnavism.
Upon His return to Puri, Raja Prataparudradev and several pandit brahmans joined the banners of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He was twenty-seven years of age. In His 28th year He went to Bengal as far as Gauda in Malda. There He picked up two great personages Rupa and Sanatan. Though descended from the lines of the Karnatik brahmans, these two brothers turned out Mussulmans by their continual contact with Hussain Shah, the then Emperor of Gauda. Their names had been changed by the Emperor into Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallik, and their master loved them heartily as 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 while He was in Puri for spiritual help. Mahaprabhu had written in reply that He would come to them and extricate them out of 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 Vrndavan and meet Him there.
Chaitanya returned to Puri through Santipur where He again met His dear mother. After a short stay at Puri, He left for Vrndavan. This time He was accompanied by one Balabhadra Bhattacharya. He came down to Prayag (Allahabad) converting large number of Mohammedans into Vaisnavism by argument from the Koran. The descendants of those converts are still known as Pathan Vaisnavas. Rupa Goswami met Him at Allahabad. Chaitanya trained him up in spirituality in ten days and directed him to go to Vrndavan on two 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 Dvapar-yuga exhibited His spiritual lila for the benefit of the religious world. Rupa Goswami left Allahabad for Vrndavan, and Mahaprabhu came down to Benares. There He put up in the house of Chandrasekhar and accepted His daily bhiksa (meal) in the house of Tapan Misra. Here it was that Sanatan Goswami joined Him and took instruction for two months in spiritual matters. The biographers, especially Sri Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, have given us details of Chaitanya’s teachings to Rupa and Sanatan. Krishnadas was not a contemporary writer, but then he gathered his informations from the Goswamis themselves, the direct disciples of Mahaprabhu. Jiva Goswami, who was the nephew of Sanatan 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 Mahaprabhu 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 brahman who had invited all the sannyasis for an entertainment. At this interview, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed a miracle which attracted all the sannyasis to Him. Then ensued reciprocal conversation. The sannyasis were headed by their most learned leader Prakasananda Saraswati. After a short controversy they submitted to Mahaprabhu and admitted that they had been misled by the commentaries of Sankar Acharya. It was impossible even for the learned scholars to oppose Chaitanya for a long time as 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 (krpa). Chaitanya then preached pure bhakti and instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Krishna which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The whole of Benares, on this wonderful conversion of the sannyasis, turned out Vaisnavas, and they made a monster sankirtan with their new Lord. After sending Sanatan to Vrndavan, Mahaprabhu went to Puri again by 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.
From this time, that is, from His 31st year, Mahaprabhu continually lived in Puri in the hose of Kasi Misra until His disappearance in His forty-eighth year at the time of sankirtan in the temple of Tota Gopinath. During these 18 years, His life was one of settled love and piety. He was surrounded by numerous followers, all of whom were the highest order of the Vaisnavas and distinguished from the common people by their character and learning, firm religious principles, and spiritual love in Radha-Krishna. Svarup Damodar, who had been known by the name of Purusottam Acharya while Mahaprabhu was in Nadia, joined Him from Benares and accepted His service as His secretary. No production of any poet or philosopher could be laid before Mahaprabhu unless Svarup Damodar had passed it as pure and useful. Ramananda Ray was his second mate. Both he and Svarup sang while Mahaprabhu expressed His sentiment 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 far 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 Vrndavan, and conversed with those religious men who newly came to visit Him. He sang and danced, took no care of Himself, and off-times lost Himself in religious beatitude. All who came to Him believed Him as the all-beautiful God appeared in the netherworld for the benefit of mankind. He loved His mother all along and sent her mahaprasad now and then with those who went to Nadia. He was most amiable in nature. Humility was personified in Him. His sweet appearance gave cheers 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 Vrndavan to preach love in the up-country. He punished all of His disciples who deviated from a holy life. This He markedly did in the case of junior Haridas. He never lacked in giving proper instructions in life to those who solicited them. This will be seen in His teachings to Raghunath Das Goswami. His treatment to Haridas (senior) will show how He loved spiritual men and how He defied caste distinction in case of spiritual brotherhood.