Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

The Moon was eclipsed on the 23rd Phalguna, 1407 Sakabda, with the English calendar showing 18th February, 1486. It was then that in Mayapur in the Town of Nadia, Sachi Devi the devoted wife of the pious Brahmin Jagannath Misra gave birth to the divine child, who was to storm the earth with Hari Namakirtan, the only succour to this Age of Kali. Jagannath Misra was the son of Madhukar Misra.
At the time of his birth people, as per religious injunction, were bathing in the Ganga crying out ‘Haribol!’. Sachi Devi’s father Pandit Nilambara Chakravarti was a renowned astrologer. He prophesied that this child would turn out to be a great personage. He, therefore, named him Visvambhara. His mother called him Nimai as he was born near the nimba tree. The women in the neighborhood called him Gaurhari as he was of golden complexion. Nimai had an elder brother Viswarupa. The infant always cried but stopped on hearing the sound of ‘Haribol!’ He had great attachment to the Divine Name even from birth. Thus the house of the One who had come to lead the people caught in the mire of world to the Lotus Feet of the Lord through the easy path of chanting the Mahamantra always reverberated with the sound of the Lord’s Divine Name.

Once, a Brahmin was a guest in the house of Nimai for a few days. He was a pious and devoted man. He cooked his own food after a long time of prayer and worship. As he sat with eyes closed offering the food to Lord Krishna little Nimai crawled up to the leaf and ate the food. The Brahmin on opening his eyes was aghast at what had happened. Jagannath Misra apologised to the guest and requested him to cook again and offer it to the Lord. But Nimai once again ate up the offering. The same happened the third time, too. But this time Nimai showed his true form as Krishna to the Brahmin guest who felt overwhelmed at the darshan of his chosen deity.

Nimai grew into a beautiful child and everyone in the neighborhood showered their affection on him. He was a naughty and mischievous little boy. When he turned five years old he was admitted into a Patasala. Here he quickly learnt the Bengali language. When he turned eight years of age he learnt from Gangadas Pandit. He quickly acquired knowledge in Sanskrit grammar. His father Jagannath Mistra was a highly learned scholar and the young Nimai began to study his father’s books. Thus he studied smriti and nyaya. When Nimai was ten years old, his brother Viswarupa left home to embrace ascetic life. Soon after this Jagannath Misra passed away. It was left to Nimai to console his mother who was drowned in grief over these two heart rendering incidents.

Nimai’s mother refused to permit Nimai to continue in the Veda patasala for fearing of losing him, too, after her elder son Viswarupa had left home to embrace sanyasa. Nimai walked about with blindfolded eyes. When questioned by his mother, he explained, “One who does not learn the Vedas is blind, indeed!” It was then that Sachi mata relented and permitted him to continue his studies.

At the age of fourteen or fifteen Sachi Devi arranged Nimai’s marriage with Lakshmi Devi the daughter of Vallabhacharya of Nadia. By then Nimai had become one of the best scholars of Nadia which was a renowned seat of learning. He earned the name Nimai Pandit. He set up a school where he taught grammar. None dared to confront him in any literary discussion or debate. He was extraordinarily brilliant and surpassed even older students. He loved to challenge students from other schools. He was aggressive. He would pick up any sutra, explain it and request them to speak against it. When they could not do it, Nimai would himself find flaws in it. He could speak for and against any chosen topic. Digvijay Pandit Kesava Misra of Kashmir, a great scholar, visited Nadia to indulge in debates with the Pandits there. Afraid to confront him and face defeat in his hands the local scholars fled from Nadia. However, the young Nimai faced the Pandit and defeated him. Nimai Pandit thus became the best Pandit of that time.
Nimai undertook a tour of East Bengal. He taught Vaishnavism there. It was at this time that his young wife Lakshmi Devi passed away. After his return, at the insistence of his bereaved mother, he married Vishnupriya, the daughter of Raja Pandit Sanatana Misra. Nimai then went to Gaya where he met Iswara puri, a disciple of Madhavendra puri who belonged to Madhva sampradaya. He was initiated into Gopala Krishna Mantra by him and immediately his life transformed into one of spiritual ecstasy. The Nimai who returned home was a totally changed person. Gone were the boisterous days and aggressive spirit. He was ever immersed in the thought of his Beloved Lord Krishna. He was filled with ecstasy and was lost in trance. It became impossible for him to carry on with his school duties. He closed down his school. He began to perform Hari Namasankirtan. The pupils also joined him. He sang and danced in ecstasy. This attracted all around and they were all swept away in the current of devotion emanating from the divine Nimai. This marked the beginning of the Namasankirtan movement for which the Lord had incarnated in the form of Nimai. Nimai popularized the chanting of the Mahamantra ‘Hare Krishna hare Krishna Krishna Krishna hare hare! Hare Rama hare Rama Rama Rama hare hare!’
Once, Nimai, lost in the ecstasy of Krishna Bhakti walked into the sea! He lost consciousness. His unconscious body was caught in the net of the fishermen who were at sea fishing! They recognized him, brought him to the shore and pressed his stomach to bring out the water that he had swallowed in order to save him. Nimai regained consciousness, got up and walked away. But the fishermen who had been blessed with the touch of this divine being lost all consciousness of the world and began to sing Hari kirtan. The wives of these fishermen were bewildered. They questioned those who had gone with their husbands and got the reply, “Oh, yesterday the one who keeps singing Krishna! Krishna! was found drowned in the sea. These men saved him and since then have been singing Krishna! Krishna!”
At once these fisherwomen rushed to Nimai and said, “Sir! What have you done to our husbands? Ever since they touched you they are not aware of anything but keep crying out Krishna! Krishna! What shall we do? They refuse to go out into the sea to fish. How shall we run our household? We have many mouths to feed. Please help us.”
At once Nimai said to them, “Oh, is that so? Please get some food from the house of sinners and feed them. They will come out of this bhava.” Such was the power of the mere touch of Nimai whose divine body was soaked in Krishna’s Divine Name. It has been said that even wild animals lay tamed at the holy feet of one who was always drowned in the ecstasy of the divine Mahamantra.
Soon Nimai was joined by his close associates Nityananda, Gadadhar, Sri Advaita and Srivasa Pandit. The home of Srivasa Pandit became the regular meeting place for the conduct of Namakirtan. When Nimai went on the streets singing and dancing the Divine Name of the Lord thousands of people joined him. His mission was to uplift even the fallen jivas. Some group averse to Nimai’s growing influence on the people and inimical towards Namasankirtan lodged a complaint to the local Qazi that the ways of Nimai would bring doom upon the Town. The Qazi at once passed the law that anyone who performed Namasankirtan would be put behind bars. Srivasa Pandit became frightened but hesitated to go against the wishes of Nimai. He wondered how to inform Nimai about the Qazi’s order. One day as he made ready to perform worship of Lord Nrisimha he heard loud knocking at his door.
Nimai sat in his home reading Srimad Bhagavata. As he read the life of Prahlada and the appearance of Lord Nrisimha for the sake of His Bhakta, Nimai suddenly closed the Bhagavatam and in a trance and bhava of Lord Nrisimha walked out of the house towards Srivasa Pandit’s house. He banged at the doors. When Srivasa pandit opened the doors he was astonished to see Nimai but at once recognised the state in which he was. He welcomed him in and removing the deity from the seat, offered it to Nimai. Nimai sat on it and asked Srivasa, “Srivasa! How can you feel scared to perform Namakirtan?” Srivasa at once fell at the feet of Nimai. Nimai declared, “I have come to show the path of Namakirtan to the people of this Age. I shall request, beg, fall at each one’s feet, threaten and even beat so that the Mahamantra comes out of every lip. Do not be afraid. Perform Namakirtan.” Nimai then walked up to Srivasa’s grand daughter who was then a small baby in the cradle and touched her saying, “Narayani! Chant the Naama!” At once, clapping her tiny little hands, she sang the Mahamantra! That very night the Kazi had a dream in which he experienced a lion attacking him. When he woke up with a fright he found scratches on his chest as if a lion had indeed attacked him! He at once realised the folly of having responded to a false complaint and lifted his order banning the conduct of Namakirtan.
Nityananda and Haridas Thakur at the behest of Nimai walked through every street, knocked at every door and offered the Mahamantra. It was during this time that they came across the wicked Jagai and Madhai who, due to the mercy of Nityananda, were transformed into pious devotees of the Lord. They gave up their wicked ways and began to chant the Divine Name! Every street was flooded with Namasankirtan groups. Nimai, filled with renunciation, desired to leave home and embrace sanyasa. It was with great difficulty that he secured his mother’s permission. He promised to live closeby so that she could meet him whenever she wished. He recevied his sanyasa diksha from Kesava Bharati at Katwa when he was twenty-four years of age. His ascetic name was Krishna Chaitanya.
After embracing sanyasa one day Mahaprabhu entered the street where his mother and his wife Vishnupriya lived, singing and dancing the Divine Names of the Lord. A huge crowd accompanied him. When he came to the home of his mother he stopped for a moment. The grief stricken Vishnupriya, unable to control herself, came rushing out and fell at His feet. Mahaprabhu at once removed his holy feet from the Padukas (sandals) and moved away singing the Lord’s Divine Name. From thence onwards the Padukas of Mahaprabhu became the very life of the pious and devoted Vishnupriya.
After his sanyasa, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited the home of Advaitacharya in Santipur. Advaitacharya invited all the friends and devotees of Prabhu from Nadia and also brought his mother Sachi Devi to meet Prabhu. The mother’s heart bled seeing her beloved son in the robe of the ascetic. He wore a loin cloth and an outer covering, his head was shaven, his hands held a danda (stick) and the ascetic water pot. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu fell at his mother’s feet seeing her permission to visit Vrindavan. However, it was decided that he would live in Puri so that the mother would be able to receive news of her son. In Puri he visited the Jagannath Temple and had darshan of the deities there. He then lived in the house of Sarvabhauma at his request. Sarvabhauma was a highly renowned scholar and was highly learned in Vedanta. He was stunned by the divine beauty of Mahaprabhu; however, he nurtured doubts about Mahaprabhu’s vairagya. But very soon he was to realize the divine nature and deep renunciation of Mahaprabhu. At the request of Sarvabhauma Mahaprabhu heard the recitation of Vedanta sutras rendered by him and latter explained the Brahma-sutras in a very simple manner to the astounded Sarvabahuma. Sarvabhouma became a follower of Mahaprabhu. Hearing this, innumerable became followers of Mahaprabhu.
Mahaprabhu undertook a journey to South India. Krishnadas accompanied him on this journey. At Kurukshetra lived a man who had been once been wealthy but had been thrown out of home as he was afflicted with leprosy. He lived all alone incessantly chanting the Divine Name of the Lord. He yearned for the darshan of Mahaprabhu. His prayer reached the merciful Lord who had incarnated in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He visited Vasudeva and embraced him. The divine body of Mahaprabhu turned dark for an instant before regaining its lustre. And Vasudeva stood cured of his disease! All through his journey to the South Mahaprabhu advocated Namasankirtan as the path of this Age of Kali. At Srirangam he stayed in the home of Venkata Bhatta during the rainy season. His son Gopala later moved to Vrindavan and became one of the six Goswamis who served Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, their Master. The other five Goswamis were Rupa, Sanatana, Raghunatha Bhatta, Raghunatha dasa and Jiva Goswami.Visiting several holy places upto Kanyakumari Mahaprabhu returned to Puri after two years. On the return path he visited Pandarpur. All through his journey he spread the message of chanting the Mahamantra.
In Puri, the Suryavanshi Hindu king of Orissa, Gajapati Maharaja Raja Prataparudra Deva came under the influence of Mahaprabhu and became his follower. Mahaprabhu later visited Bengal and at Gauda he was met by Rupa and Sanatana who had been born as Brahmins but had taken to the ways of the Muslims. He ordered them to meet him at Vrindavan. Mahaprabhu met his mother Sachi Devi once again while passing through Santipur. He then moved to Vrindavan. Later at Allahabad Rupa Goswami met him and Mahaprabbhu imparted spiritual training to him for ten days. He then sent him to Vrindavan on a mission. Mahaprabhu went to Benares where he was met by Sanatana Goswami. Mahaprabhu trained him in spirituality.
Swaroop Damodar soon joined him and served Mahaprabhu as his closest attendant. Raya Ramananda was another close attendant. Mahaprabhu was very amiable and was humility personified. To everyone who sought him he offered refuge and solace. He sang and danced in divine ecstasy and was totally lost in it. However, he never forgot his mother and always sent her prasad frequently through anyone who visited Nadia. He strictly adhered to the rules of Sanyasa asrama and refused to forgive any slip. Junior Haridas, a monk, had to face his wrath in this context.
Mahaprabhu’s love went beyond caste and creed. This is seen in his love for Haridas, the Muslim, who incessantly chanted the Divine Name. On his death Mahaprabhu carrying his body, went from door to door, begging for the cost of his funeral!
In His incarnation as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu the Lord’s only weapon in subduing the effects of the wicked Kali and saving the desparate jivas was the Mahamantra.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived the last eighteen years of his life in Puri. He lived for most part in solitude but for occasional meetings with his close devotees. He shed his mortal coil in 1534, in his forty-eighth year. In spite of his erudition and being the best Scholar of his times Chaitanya Mahaprabhu composed only the ‘Shiksashtaka’ that speaks volumes about divine unadulterated love for Lord Sri Krishna and the glory of the Mahamantra.