Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Appearance Day

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of Nadia, just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd Phalguna 1407 Shakabda, corresponding to February 18th, 1486 of the Christian Era. The moon was eclipsed at the time of His birth, and the people of Nadia were then engaged, as usual on such occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi (Ganges River) with loud cheers of “Haribol!” His father, Jagannath Mishra, was a poor Brahmana (priest) of the Vedic order, and His mother Sachidevi was a woman of ideal character. Both descended from Brahmana families originally residing in Sylhet. Mahaprabhu was a beautiful child, and the ladies of the town came to present Him with gifts. 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 Vishvambhar. The ladies of the neighborhood called Him Gaurahari because of His golden complexion, and His mother called Him Nimai because there was a neem tree near the place where He was born. The boy was very beautiful and everyone loved to see Him every day. As He grew up He became a mischievous and frolicsome lad. After His fifth year He was admitted into a school where He mastered the Bengali language in a very short time.

Most of Lord Chaitanya’s contemporary biographers have mentioned certain anecdotes regarding Him, 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 neighboring ladies and His mother cried “Haribol,” He would stop. Thus there was a continuation of the utterance of “Haribol” in the house, foretelling the future mission of the Lord. It has also been stated that when His mother once gave Him sweets to eat, He ate clay instead of the food. When His mother asked for the reason, He stated that as every sweet was nothing but clay transformed, He could eat clay just as well. His mother, who was also the wife of a scholar, explained that every element in a particular 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 sweets was usable as food and not clay in its other states. The lad was convinced and admitted His foolishness in eating the clay and agreed to avoid the mistake in the future.

His Appearance

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared at Sridhama Mayapura, in the city of Navadvipa in Bengal, on the Phalguni Purnima evening in the year 1486 AD.
His father, Sri Jagannatha Mishra, a learned brahmana and His mother Srimati Sacidevi, a daughter of Srila Nilambara Cakravarti, a great learned scholar of Navadvipa.
Their youngest son, who was named Vishvambhara, later became known as Nimai Pandita and then, after accepting the renounced order of life, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
When Lord Chaitanya was born during the lunar eclipse, the country was roaring with the holy sound of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
The simultaneous occurrence of the Lord's appearance and the lunar eclipse indicated the distinctive mission of the Lord.

Pastimes Of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Early life of the Lord is most fascinatingly expressed by the author of Chaitanya-bhagavata(by Sri VrindavanaDasaThakura).
Teachings are more vividly explained in the Chaitanya-caritamrta (by Sri KrishnaDasaKavirajaGosvami).
He would at once stop crying as soon as the ladies surrounding Him chanted the holy names and clapped their hands.
So from His very childhood the Lord began to preach the importance of the holy name.
Childhood Pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu It starts at home – Hari Hari! The thieves’ got hijacked Resting on a Snake’s back.

Causeless Mercy on a pure Brahmana !

Once a very pious Brahmana, who was touring all over the country, traveling from one pilgrimage place to another, reached Navadvipa and became a guest in the house of Jagannatha Mishra.
He would not eat anything other than the remnants of food he had offered to Sri Gopala. Jagannatha Mishra gave him all ingredients for cooking, and the brahmana prepared his food.
When the Brahmana was offering the food to Lord Bala-gopala (Child Krishna) in meditation, Nimai (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) came before him and began to eat it, and because of this, the Brahmana thought the whole offering had been spoiled.
Therefore by the request of Jagannatha Mishra, he cooked for a second time, but when he was meditating the child again came before him and began to eat the food, spoiling the offering again.
By the request of Jagannatha Mishra, the Brahmana cooked for the third time, but this time the child had been locked within a room. But the Lord was pleased with his devotee and He wanted to satisfy his desire of accepting the bhoga, so Lord came before him and began to eat the food, by making everyone sleep.
The Brahmana became greatly agitated by this and thought that Lord Bala-gopala was not willing to accept his food and therefore he ordained to fast. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed him His real avatar.
Brahmana was greatly pleased, thankful, overwhelmed with the love of Krishna. He was thankful to the Lord, for he felt himself greatly fortunate. Then the Lord asked the Brahmana not to disclose the incident to anyone else.
The Brahmana ecstatically danced, sang, laughed, and made loud roaring sounds, “All glories to Lord Bala- gopala!”

Lord Chaitanya marries Lakshmipriya !

It was at the age of 14 -15 that Mahaprabhu was married to Lakshmi 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.

Nimai Pandit starts his own school … at the age of around 16

Navadvipa, the place where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived, was considered to be the center of education and culture. Students from all over the country came and stayed here as students. At the age of sixteen, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu started His own chatuspathi (village school conducted by a learned brahmana) in Navadvipa and He would simply explain Krishna, even in readings of grammar.

The Debate with Kashmiri Pandita

During this time a great Kashmir scholar named Keshava Kashmiri came to Navadvipa to hold discussions on the shastras.
The Kashmir pandita was a champion scholar, and he had travelled to all places of learning in India. Finally he came to Navadvipa to contest the learned panditas there.
The panditas of Navadvipa decided to match Nimai Pandita (Lord Chaitanya) with the Kashmir pandita, thinking that if Nimai Pandita were defeated, they would have another chance to debate with the scholar, for Nimai Pandita was only a boy. And if the Kashmir pandita were defeated, then they would even be more glorified because people would proclaim that a mere boy of Navadvipa had defeated a champion scholar who was famous throughout India.
It so happened that Nimai Pandita met Kesava Kasmiri while strolling on the banks of the Ganges.
The Lord requested him to compose a Sanskrit verse in praise of the Ganges, and the pandita within a short time composed a hundred shlokas, reciting the verses like a storm and showing the strength of his vast learning.
Nimai Pandita at once memorized all the slokas without an error. He quoted the sixty-fourth shloka and pointed out certain rhetorical and literary irregularities.
He particularly questioned the pandita's use of the word bhavani-bhartuh. He pointed out that the use of this word was redundant. Bhavani means the wife of Siva, and who else can be her bharta, or husband? He also pointed out several other discrepancies, and the Kashmir pandita was struck with wonder.
The Kashmir pandita was astonished that a mere student of grammar could point out the literary mistakes of an erudite scholar. Although this matter was ended prior to any public meeting, the news spread like wildfire all over Navadvipa. But finally Kesava Kasmiri was ordered in a dream by Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, to submit to the Lord, and thus the Kashmir pandita became a follower of the Lord.

Sankirtan moment of Mahaprabhu For the Pleasure of Lord Krishna

Shri Ishvara Puri, the most prominent disciple of Shri Madhavendra Puri, had firm faith in his guru. He spent most of his time residing at his guru’s ashrama in Gaya. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met him in the Vishnu Temple in Gaya, and accepted Vaishnava initiation from him.
Sri Chaitanya is a direct avatar of Sri Krishna Bhagavan in the mood of His greatest devotee and consort, Srimati Radharani.
Sri Chaitanya started the Nama Sankirtan movement and gave the world the divine and powerful Hare Krishna Maha Mantra that one must chant to become self realised and to attain the lotus feet of Sri Krishna.
This is the easiest way to reach Krishna in this age of Kali! The Holy Names of the Lord are:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Sanyasa Of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu !

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had a very high estimation of the affections of the damsels of Vrajabhumi (Vrindavana) for Krishna, and in appreciation of their unalloyed service to the Lord, once Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chanted the holy names of the gopis (cowherd girls) instead of the names of the Lord.
At this time some of His students came to see Him, and when they saw that the Lord was chanting the names of the gopis, they were astonished. Out of sheer foolishness they advised Him to chant the name of Krishna. The Lord chastised them and chased them away.
The students were almost the same age as the Lord, and thus they wrongly thought of the Lord as one of their peers. They held a meeting and resolved that they would attack the Lord if He dared to punish them again in such a manner. This incident provoked some malicious talks about the Lord on the part of the general public.
When the Lord became aware of this, He began to consider the various types of men found in society. He noted that especially the students, professors, fruitive workers, yogis, non-devotees, and different types of atheists were all opposed to the devotional service of the Lord.
However, people in general were inclined to offer respects to a sannyasi. So the Lord decided to accept the renounced order of life (sannyasa) and become an ideal sannyasi so that the general populace would show Him respect.
At that time, Keshava Bharati, a sannyasi of the Mayavadi school and resident of Katwa (in Bengal), visited His house. The Lord asked him to award Him the sannyasa order of life.
Thus at the end of His twenty-fourth year the Lord accepted the sannyasa order of life in the month of Magha.
After accepting this order He became a full-fledged preacher of the Bhagavata-dharma. Although He was doing the same preaching work in His householder life, when He experienced some obstacles to His preaching He sacrificed even the comfort of His home life for the sake of the fallen souls.
How the Māyāvāda philosophy was condemned by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His followers is described in Śrī Caitanya- caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, Second Chapter, verses 94 through 99, where Svarūpa-dāmodara Gosvāmī says that anyone who is eager to understand the Māyāvāda philosophy must be considered insane. This especially applies to a Vaiṣṇava who reads the Śārīraka-bhāṣya and considers himself to be one with God. The Māyāvādī philosophers have presented their arguments in such attractive, flowery language that hearing Māyāvāda philosophy may sometimes change the mind of even a mahā-bhāgavata, or very advanced devotee. An actual Vaiṣṇava cannot tolerate any philosophy that claims God and the living being to be one and the same.

kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei 'guru' haya

TRANSLATION : "Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra-regardless of what he is-he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa."

Six Goswamis

The six Goswamis are Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatan Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatt Goswami, Sri Gopal Bhatt Goswami, Sri Raghunath Das Goswami and Sri Jiva Goswami.

They were no ordinary conditioned souls but they are the incarnations of Sri Rupa Manjari, Sri Lavanga Manjari, Sri Rasa Manjari, Sri Guna Manjari (Ananga Manjari), Sri Rati (Tulsi) Manjari and Sri Vilasa Manjari, respectively who are eternal servitors of Shrimati Radharani in the spiritual world. About five hundred years ago, these six saints laid the philosophical foundation for the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya.

It was the six Goswamis who not only founded the holy city of Vrindavana but also firmly established the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu through their various writings. They propagated the doctrine and philosophy of Shri Chaitanya for the benefit of the whole world.

Lord Chaitanya and Chand Qazi – First Civil Disobedience Movement

Chand Qazi was the magistrate and opposed the Sankirtana movement of Lord Chaitanya. One day he broke the Mridangas while Sankirtana was going on. Lord Chaitanya got angry and took all his followers to the house of Chand Qazi. He had ordered each to bring a flaming torch and announced that they would together perform a gigantic nagar sankirtan throughout the city of old Navdweep.

Chand Qazi told Lord Chaitanya, “After going to Hindu’s house and forbidding congregational chanting, …in my dream, I saw a greatly fearful lion roaring very loudly. His body was human, and His face was like that of a lion. This lion jumped on me and with His sharp nails, He pierced my chest and laughed fiercely. Gnashing His teeth He told me, “I shall immediately bifurcate your chest just as you broke the mridanga drum. “

"I know that Narayana is the Supreme God of Hindus, and within my mind I feel that You are that same Narayana.”

Shikshashtakam Verse by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

The Shikshashtakam is a 16th-century Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu prayer of eight verses composed in the Sanskrit language. They are the only verses left personally written by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with the majority of his philosophy being codified by his primary disciples, known as the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan.

Scriptures Revealing Lord Chaitanya’s Identity as Krishna

Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32) krishna-varnam tvishakrishnam sangopangastra-parshadam yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the holy name of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.
Garuda Purana Lord Chaitanya’s qualities and activities are described in the following names. The Supreme Lord says: aham purno bhavisyami yuga-sandhyau visesatah mayapure navadvipe bhavisyami saci-sutah In the first part of Kali-yuga, I will appear in my complete spiritual form in Mayapur, Navadweep and become the son of Shachi. It is also stated in this purana: kaleh prathama-sandhyayam laksmi-kanto bhavisyati daru-brahma-samipa-sthah sannyasi gaura-vigrahah In the first part of Kali-yuga, the Supreme Lord in the golden complexion will become the husband of Lakshmi. Then He will become a sannyasi and reside near Lord Jagannatha.
Narasimha Purana: satye daitya-kuladhi-nasa-samaye simhordhva-martyakrtis tretayam dasa-kandharam paribhavan rameti namakrtih gopalan paripalayan vraja-pure bharam haran dvapare gaurangah priya-kirtanah kali-yuge caitanya-nama-prabhuh The Supreme Lord who assumed the form of a half-man, half-lion in the Satya-yuga to cure a dreadful disease that had devastated the Daityas, and who appearing as Rama conquered the ten-headed Ravana in the Treta-yuga, and who removed the burden of the earth in the Dvapara-yuga and protected the cowherd men of Vraja-pura, will be the Lord by name Chaitanya in the Kali-yuga. He will have a golden form and He will take pleasure in chanting the Lord’s holy names.
Padma Purana The Supreme Personality of Godhead says: aham eva kalau vipra nityam pracchanna-vigrahah bhagavad-bhakta-rupena lokan raksami sarvada O brahmana, I will deliver all the worlds, concealing myself in the form of a devotee of the Lord in Kali-yuga. divija bhuvi jayadhvam jayadhvam bhakta-rupinah kalau sankirtanarambhe bhavisyami saci-sutah O demigods, please advent on the earth as devotees in Kali-yuga. To inaugurate sankirtana, I will incarnate as the son of Shachi.
Skanda Purana Golden-form-of-The-Supreme-Lord The Supreme Lord states: antah krsnah bahir gaurah sangopangastra-parsadah saci-garbhe samapnuyam maya-manusa-karma-krt Inwardly Krishna but outwardly of golden form, I will be accompanied by My associates, servants, weapons, and confidential companions. Taking My birth in the womb of Shachi, I will accept the role of a human being.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in PURI

Everyone was astonished by the dancing of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and even Lord Jagannātha became extremely happy to see Him.
When Caitanya Mahāprabhu danced and jumped high, eight wonderful transformations indicative of divine ecstasy were seen in His body.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s whole body flowed with perspiration and at the same time oozed blood.
Tears came forcefully from the eyes of the Lord, as if from a syringe, and all the people surrounding Him became wet. Everyone saw the complexion of His body change from white to pink.

Gambhira

Gambhira is located close to Siddha Bakula on Svargadvara Road. There is a small temple here with Deities of Radha-Kanta and Lalita and Vishaka. This house was once the residence of Kashi Mishra. Sri Sri Radha Kanta was worshipped by Kashi Mishra.

Sri Tota Gopinath Mandir

Sri Tota Gopinatha is exquisitely beautiful self-manifested Deity of Lord Sri Krishna, worshipped by Gadadhara Pandita.
unique Deity – only Krishna Deity in the world “sitting down” and playing His flute.
At 7am during darshana time, upon request, the pujari can show a small golden streak on Gopinatha’s right knee where Mahaprabhu entered the Lord.

The essence of His teachings is recorded in Chaitanya Manjusha as follows

Lord Sri Krsna, who appeared as the son of the King of Vraja (Nanda Maharaja), is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is worshipable by all.
Vrindavana-dhama is non-different from the Lord and hence is as worshipable as the Lord.
The highest form of transcendental worship of the Lord was exhibited by the damsels of Vrajabhumi.
Srimad-Bhagavata Purana is the spotless literature for understanding the Lord.
The ultimate goal of human life is to attain the stage of prema, or love of God!