Pastimes of Murari Gupta.

Sri Murari Gupta, a disciple of Sri Candrasekhara Acarya, possessed extraordinary humility. He had an intimate lifelong relationship with Lord Caitanya. Although senior in class, Murari would always lose in debates with Sri Nimai Pandit. During one heated argument they began pushing each other. The scuffle con­tinued into the Ganges. They stirred up so much mud that ladies couldn't fill their pots and brahmanas couldn't bathe properly.
At the nightly kirtans in Srivasa Angam Murari Gupta pleased Gaurahari with melodious chanting of the Bhagavata. He would also sing and dance expertly. Murari Gupta served Sri Caitanya in all His Nadia lilas.
Lord Caitanya once tested Murari Gupta's attachment to his worshipable Lord Ramacandra. Lord Gaurasundara preached to Murari about the supreme sweetness and position of Vrajendra-kumara (Krishna): "Murari, just worship Krishna and take shelter of Him. Nothing but His service can satisfy the mind." Although Murari Gupta became somewhat inclined toward Sri Krishna, the thought of losing Lord Ramacandra's association devastated him. That night he prayed to Lord Rama to take his life. He asked for this because he couldn't stop serving Rama, nor could he defy Sri Caitanya's request.
After crying all night Murari approached Lord Caitanya and said: "What should I do? I've sold my head to the lotus feet of Lord Ramacandra. But if I break Your order to worship Lord Sri Krishna, then what can I do?"
Smiling, Sri Gaura Raya replied, "All glories to Murari Gupta! You're so fixed in your worship that even My request couldn't turn your mind. This is exactly the type of love and affection the servitor must have for the lotus feet of the Lord. Even if the Lord wants separation, a devotee cannot abandon the shelter of His lotus feet. Just to test your firm faith in your Lord I repeatedly asked you to change your worship from Lord Rama to Lord Krishna."
Congratulating Murari Gupta, the Lord continued, "You are the incarnation of Hanuman, the eternal servant of Lord Rama. Therefore, why should you give up your worship of Lord Rama?"
At another time, Lord Caitanya showed His form as Lord Ramacandra with Janaki, Laksmana, and a host of monkeys recit­ing hymns and prayers. Seeing himself amongst those monkeys in his original form as Hanuman, Murari Gupta fainted. In Katva, when Lord Caitanya took sannyasa Murari stood by weeping like a child. And when Sriman Mahaprabhu moved to Jagannatha Puri, Murari and his wife would come every year to relish the Lord's company.
Since he was born in a dynasty of AyurVedic doctors Murari Gupta practiced medicine. But his practice was unique in that he cured his patient's physical ailments and also freed them from the disease of material existence. He wrote the first biography of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, an important Sanskrit work entitled Sri Caitanya Carita Mahakavya.

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"An expert physician by the name Murari Gupta could cure people of their disease of material existence. Along with so many other Vaisnavas, Advaita Acarya, Sen Sivananda, Jagannath Misra, Nilambar Cakravarti, he also appeared in Sylhet. [C. B. Adi 2.35]Srivas Pandit, Candrasekhara Acarya and Sri Murari Gupta Thakur were all from Srihatta. Murari Gupta came from there to live in Navadwip, near the home of Jagannath Misra. He was a few years older than Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Murari Gupta, Kamalakanta, Sri Krsnananda, etc. all used to study together with Nimai Pandit. Nimai used to like a debate in disputations on logical fallacy but none could defeat him; rather he could defeat all of them put together. Finally being exasperated by his uncanny sharpness of intelligence, Murari Gupta would resort to slinging mood, until finally they were all pushing one another back and forth as they came to the Ganges to take their bath.There arose such a hue and cry at the ghat that the ladies couldn't fill their water pots, the water having become so muddy. Neither the brahmanas could properly take their bath. In this way Sri Gaurasundara would play with His friends on the banks of the Ganges. [C. B. Adi 8]When they entered the school of Ganga Das Pandit, Nimai immediately became first in the class, having attained the highest marks. Then all of the other students were forced to accept defeat. Murari Gupta however would neither accept defeat, nor would he engage in local debate. Therefore Nimai became angry and told him; "You are a doctor; what is the use of you studying these subjects? Your business is to collect leaves & creepers to heal the sick. Grammatical science is very abstruse, you won't find anything in it to help you in dealing with mucus, bila and dyspepsia."Hearing this challenge, Murari was pricked, and became angry within, but he didn't exhibit his anger. He simply gazed peacefully at Nimai. Nimai's divine form was so enchanting and the touch of his lotus soft hands so pacifying that no one became agitated by his dealings. At that time, Nimai had just began his studies in grammar. Therefore Murari began to discuss rhetoric with Him, but he still could not defeat him. Completely astonished, he thought to himself, "Is it possible that such scholarship is found in ordinary mortals? He must be some kind of divine personage. Not one student in Navadwip has been able to defeat him in argument." In this way they used to sometimes argue together but they would go together in a friendly mood to take bath in mother Ganges.When Mahaprabhu returned from Gaya and began to manifest symptoms of ecstatic love, Murari Gupta became intensely devoted to Him. When he saw Mahaprabhu crying in ecstatic love at the house of Suklambar Pandit he became struck withwonder.Sri Murari Gupta used to worship Sri Sri Sita Ram. One day, Mahaprabhu suddenly arrived in Murari Gupta's house. Roaring in the mood of Varahadeva he picked up a water pot in His teeth, while Murari Gupta fell down on the floor to offer his dandavats, being dumbstruck with wonder at having seen this divine form. Then Mahaprabhu said; "Murari! Just sing some hymns in my praise." Then Murari recited some slokas at which Mahaprabhu became very happy and thus addressed him, "Murari! I am just speaking this truth to you. I am the essence of all scriptures. I have come to engage in Harinam sankirtan Myself, as well as to induce others also to chant My Holy Names. I cannot tolerate malice towards my devotee. If someone tries to harm my devotee, even if he is my son I will tear off his head. The proof of this is Narakasur." After telling Murari so many secret things about Himself, Mahaprabhu returned home.During the time when Mahaprabhu exhibited for 21 hours His transcendental existence as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He was calling His various devotees and bestowing various blessings to them. He next called Murari: "Murari! For so many days you couldn't recognize who I am? Just see My divine form." Then Murari saw Mahaprabhu as His most worshipable Deity, Lord Raghunatha, His body the colour of green grass. Sitting in the virasana, his legs folded beneath His body, and holding a great bow in His hand, Lakshman and Janaki were seated on each side of Him. In all directions the chiefs of the monkeys were reciting prayers and hymns. Then when he saw himself amongst those monkeys in his original form, he fainted straight away. Mahaprabhu called him: "Murari! Get up! Just see My divine form. Have you forgotten who set Ravana'sLanka on fire? It was you, Hanuman! Get up and gaze on the form of Laksmana, who is the very embodiment of your life. Offer your obeisances to that one for whose sadness you cried so much (Sita devi)."Hearing Mahaprabhu's voice Murari regained his consciousness and seeing that form again he offered his dandavats again while crying in ecstatic love. Seeing this divine display of the Lord's infinite mercy towards Murari, the devotees filled the sky with the sounds of "Hari! Hari!"One evening, Mahaprabhu & Nityananda Prabhu were sitting in the courtyard of Srivas Pandit when Murari Gupta arrived there. First he offered his obeisances to Mahaprabhu and then to Nityananda Prabhu.Mahaprabhu told him: "Murari! You have made a mistake. You offered your obeisances in the opposite order."Murari: "Prabhu! As you have inspired me, so I have done."Mahaprabhu: "All right. Go home now and later you will be able to understand everything."Murari Gupta went to his house and after having his meal, lay down to take rest. That night he saw a dream. In his dream he saw the chief of the Mahabhagavat; Lord Nityananda, his cloth tied up behind in the fashion of a wrestler, proceeding in front. Above his head was a great, many-headed serpent. In his hands were a plow and club. Nityananda Prabhu appeared just as Balaram. Following behind, with a peacock feather on his head, was Sri Visvambhar. [C. B. Mad. 20.14]Lord Nityananda is none other than Haladhar, the manifestation of Anantadeva, and the greatest devotee. Now Murari could understand who is greater.Mahaprabhu, smiling sweetly called him, "Murari! Now have you understood? If you breach proper conduct then how will it look?" Murari Gupta, in the depth of his dream began to call out "Nityananda! Nityananda!" with tears in his eyes. His wife then called out "Krsna! Krsna!" and woke him up. Murari Gupta could understand the greatness of Nityananda Prabhu's position now. It is he who reveals Lord Gauranga. Without his mercy one cannot get the mercy of Lord Caitanya.On another day, Murari Gupta came to Srivas's courtyard and saw Mahaprabhu seated very regally on a decorated sitting place, being served by his various devotees. Gadadhar was offering pan and betel nuts which Mahaprabhu was chewing very happily, while Narahari was fanning Him with a camara. Murari Gupta offered his obeisances and Prabhu offered him some of the remnants of the chewed betel. Murari placed the betel in his mouth and then wiped his hand on his head. Mahaprabhu told him: "Murari! My offal has touched your body!" Murari replied, "Today my entire body has become purified." The prasadam of the Lord is completely nonmaterial. His self, His name, His prasadam, all are not different. If anyone thinks that His prasadam has become offal, by being in contact with His mouth then this is a great aparadh. The mouths of ordinary human beings are considered unclean but this doesn't apply to the supremely pure Personality of Godhead.Having received the tambula (pan and betel) prasadam of Mahaprabhu, Murari became intoxicated with love of Godhead and arrived at his house in this condition. His devoted wife, seeing that her husband had returned home, spread an asana and having seated him, she brought a plate of prasadam and placed it before him. Murari, who was still in an ecstatic mood, was forming the rice in his hand into balls and saying "Eat! Eat!" He was then placing it on the ground. His wife could understand what was going on and thus she requested her husband, "Swamin! That is enough, don't give (Him) anymore, now you eat something."Thereafter Murari, still under the influence of ecstatic love, ate a little and then lay down to take rest. In the morning Mahaprabhu came to Murari's house and began to call him. Murari called out, "Krsna! Krsna!" and quickly got up from bed. Coming to the door he saw Caitanya Mahaprabhu and thus offered his obeisances and inquired what had brought the Lord to his house so early in the morning. Mahaprabhu replied; "Murari! You forgot already? Last night, all the while saying "Eat! Eat!" you fed Me so much rice with ghee. If you offer me, then how can I refuse? But eating rice with so much ghee I have gottenindigestion. Now give me some medicine." Hearing this, Murari felt very sorry, but Mahaprabhu immediately told him, "Murari! By eating your nice rice I got indigestion, the medicine for that is your water." [C. B. Mad. 20.69]Then seeing a lota of water which was sitting there, Mahaprabhu began to drink it up. Seeing this Murari exclaimed, "Prabhu! I am a fallen, low class person. The water in my house is not fit for You." (Generally at that time brahmanas would not accept water or foodstuffs from the houses of non-brahmanas).The Lord is known as bhakta-vatsala, who is very affectionate to His devotees. He accepts foodstuffs in the house of His devotee, and submissive to their love for Him, He is happy to remain in whatever condition they keep Him. Whatever they feed Him, He accepts very happily. Whatever they like, He likes. In this way the Lord enacted so many pastimes with His dear devotee, Hanuman (or Garuda, according to others' opinion).One day Murari Gupta began to reflect, "If I can leave my body in the Lord's presence then that will be very good." For this purpose he fashioned a large dagger and hid it in his house. But the supreme Lord Sri Caitanya, who is totally omniscient immediately came to his house and called, "Murari!, I have so many pastimes to complete in your company. If you go away then how will I go on? I know everything."Murari caught hold of the Lord's feet and began to cry. Thereafter Mahaprabhu consoled him and after explaining to him many things He returned to His own house. Murari Gupta was present with the Lord during all of his pastimes in Nadiya Nagar.Every year when the devotees would go to Puri, Murari Gupta would go along with his wife and they would take many preparations of foodstuffs to offer to the Lord."This was brought by Vasudeva Datta and this by Murari Gupta! This was brought by Buddhimanta Khan. Just see all these various preparations!" [C. C. Antya-lila].There has been a temple constructed by Gaudiya Math, in memory of Murari Gupta Thakur, near Ballal dighi in Sridham Mayapur.

Gauranga Takes Sannyasa (Katwa Pastimes)

Gauranga Takes Sannyasa On Makara Sankrantiby Mahanidhi SwamiIn 1510 a.d. on January 14, the auspicious day of Makara-sankranti, NimaiPandita left home and went to Katwa to take sannyasa, the renounced orderof life. Murari Gupta, an eternal associate of Lord Gauranga andeyewitness, explains why in his diary entitled Sri Caitanya-caritaMahakavya:"One day for some reason Lord Gauranga began to think, 'I cannot stay herein Navadvipa anymore. I must go to Vrndavana! Where are My Yamuna andforests of Vraja? Where is My Govardhana Hill, Bhandiravan and Bhadravan?Where is Nanda Maharaja and mother Yasoda? Where are My Sridama and Subala?Where are Radha, Lalita and the others?' Sometimes Gauranga would startrunning and ecstatically call out for His favorite cows, 'Dhavali!Shabali!' Other times He would sigh in anguish, 'When will I give up familylife and attain the lotus feet of Nandanandana?' Drowning in an ocean ofseparation, Lord Gauranga cried, 'Hari! Hari!' "By this time Sri Gauranga had liberated Jagai and Madhai, saved the Kazi,and inundated Navadvipa-dhama with the ambrosial waves of Kåñëa prema bypropagating His Sankirtana movement. While sitting peacefully at home oneday Visvambhara adopted the mood of the Vraja gopis, gopi bhava, andstarted chanting, "Gopi! Gopi! Gopi! Vrndavana!" A student visiting at thetime heard this and, not understanding Lord Visvambhara's internal mood,impudently tried to correct Him saying, "What are You doing? There is nopiety accrued by chanting this 'gopi! gopi!' But you will get great pietyby chanting the name of Kåñëa."Lord Gauranga became angry, picked up a stick and chased the student.The devotees restrained the Lord and tried to pacify Him. Meanwhile, thestudent met with his classmates and narrated the incident. The classmatessympathized with their fellow student saying, "Nimai Pandit can't get awaywith this. We are also brahmanas. We all studied together, so why shouldthis fellow now think He has become the 'big master.' If He tries to attackus again, then all together we will beat Him."As the Supersoul in everyone's heart, Gauranga understood the students'conversation and their aggressive angry mood. Gauranga revealed His heartto few of His intimate associates like Nityananda, Gadadhara and MukundaDatta: "I came to deliver the fallen souls from bondage, but now they wantto beat Me. I am producing the opposite result. Instead taking updevotional service, the people are blaspheming Me and thus will never besaved. They think I am just another Misra, a relative and family man likethemselves. Therefore, to show that I am not one of them, I will leavehome, shave My sikha and take sannyasa. Then if these rogues offerobeisances to Me, the reactions of their offenses will be nullified and Ican awaken bhakti in their hearts. By this process all the pasandis(faithless) in the world such as students, scientists, smartas andlogicians will be delivered."These words felt like thunderbolts crashing on their heads. They all feltunhappy and cried over their impending separation from the Lord of theirhearts. Nityananda said, "You ask My permission to take sannyasa, but whatcan I say? I have no power to forbid You. You are the completelyindependent Lord, so do whatever You must to save the world." Thinking howmuch mother Saci would suffer in Nimai's absence, Nityananda went away to asecluded place and wept continually. Overwhelmed with separation, Mukundafell to the ground unconscious.Then Visvambhara visited all the devotees to inform them of His plan toleave home, shave His sikha and take sannyasa. The painful news plungedeveryone in an ocean of grief. They thought, "Never again will we smell thesweet fragrance of His hair, anoint His beautiful hair with amla oil, orplace malati flowers in His curly locks. Anticipating their separation fromNimai Pandit, the devotees cried without stop while loudly chanting, "Hari!Hari!"Attempting to pacify His beloved devotees, Lord Gauranga embraced them alland said, "Fearing impending separation from Me, you are all sad andmiserable. I too am feeling totally overwhelmed in separation from Kåñëa. Iwill take the dress of a sannyasa and search everywhere for the Lord of Myheart. Do not be aggrieved, I will never leave you for a moment. I havedescended in two forms: Sankirtana and the bliss of Deity worship. Byworshiping My Deity and performing sankirtana in great joy you will alwayshave My association. I'll accept sannyasa to teach devotional service tothe world. Do not worry."Continuing Lord Gauranga said, "Listen, material existence is full ofdangers and material desires which burn the heart like poison. Greed,anger, lust, envy and false pride never spare anyone. Lodged in the heart,they rob a man's mind. All the beautiful things of the world make us forgetKrsna. Real life begins when one starts to serve Krsna. Please, all of youbless Me so that love of Kåñëa will appear in the core of My heart."You should always sing the glories of Kåñëa and see His beautiful face andlotus eyes. One who sees Kåñëa as His father, mother, friend, guru and onlyLord can easily worship the Lord. May your hearts be tied to Kåñëa's lotusfeet. As for Myself, I am burning alive without seeing Kåñëa in My heart. Iam drowning in the ocean of material existence."Then Gauranga breathed heavily and snapped His brahmin thread whileroaring, "Hari! Hari!" Visvambhara rolled on the ground covering His goldenbody with dust. Due to ecstatic love, Gauranga's body perspired profuselyand shivered. He jumped around crying out, "O Prananatha! Vrndavana!Radha!" Beating His chest with His fists, Gauranga wailed, "Hari! Hari!"Overwhelmed with sadness, Gauranga's astonished friends and associatesstood by helplessly wondering how to comfort the Lord in His anguish ofseparation from Kåñëa.When mother Saci heard the news of Gauranga's sannyasa she fell unconsciousand just wept and wept. Awaking, she ran madly here and there in Navadvipaasking everyone if the news was true. Meeting Nimai Pandit, she spoke sometear-soaked words in a faltering voice, "My dear son. Please don't leave mealone and go away. Your brother has left and your father has gone toVaikuntha. Only by seeing Your beautiful face can we stay alive."Nimai tried to comfort His mother by narrating the story of DhruvaMaharaja. He explained how Dhruva became a famous devotee by the mercy ofhis mother Suniti. After hearing the story mother Saci said, "You willleave home and shave Your hair. I will also cut off my hair and wear thered cloth of a sannyasi. In this way as a yogini I will go with You."Seeing Saci overcome with grief, Gauranga tried again to pacify her bytelling her some secrets. "Please mother be peaceful. In many births indifferent ages I appeared as your son as Vamana, Kapila, Rama and Krishna.In Kali-yuga, I have taken birth twice to begin the Sankirtan movement.Both times I am Your son. As the personified earth goddess you are themother of My Deity forms, and as the tongues of everyone you are the motherof My form as the holy names. In this way mother, in My heart I will neverleave you. And because of your pure love you will be able to see Mewhenever you want."Saci said, "You are the supremely independent Lord. It was my greatfortunate that I raised You. Now per Your sweet will, You may takesannyasa."A few days before Makara-sankranti, Gauranga informed Nityananda Prabhu,Candrasekhara Acarya, Gadadhara Pandit, Mukunda Datta, Sacimata andParamananda (some say Brahmananda or Jagadananda Pandit) that He would goto Katva and take sannyasa from Kesava Bharati. Other than these six, noneof the devotees in Navadvipa knew that Gauranga would leave home onMakara-sankranti. In Bengal the day before Makara-sankranti is celebratedas Laksmi-puja, worship Laksmi with great pomp and festivity. Knowing Hewould leave the next day to take sannyasa, Nimai inspired all the leadingdevotees to come see Him that evening. They brought flower garlands andsandalwood paste to offer to Gauranga.Lord Visvambhara graciously accepted the garlands. Then He placed them onthe necks of the devotees who gave them and urged them to, "Always thinkabout Kåñëa and chant His holy name. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna KrishnaKrishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. No otherreligious practice is required besides chanting this maha-mantra. If youhave any real attraction for Me, then always talk about Kåñëa and doeverything while chanting His holy name." Attaining Gauranga's mercy,everyone floated in an ocean of bliss and loudly chanted the names of Hariwhile returning home. No one had any idea that Gauranga was leaving homethe next morning to take sannyasa.The famous sabji walla Kholaveca Sridhara, with whom Nimai Pandit wouldalways playfully bicker over prices, arrived later in the evening gifting asquash to Gauranga. The Lord thought that He could not eat this since Hewas leaving in the morning. But out of love for His devotee, He decided toeat it that night. Another devotee arrived with an offering of milk, somother Saci prepared loki kheer for the pleasure of Lord Gauranga.Knowing that her beloved son would leave the next day, mother Saci criedall night while guarding the front door. Gadadhara and Haridasa weresleeping in the house too. At about three o'clock in the morning onMakara-sankranti, Nimai left Visnupriya sleeping in bed and left the house.Gadadhara stopped the Lord saying, "I will go with You." Gauranga replied,"I will go alone. That is My happiness."Seeing His mother sitting by the front door crying, Gauranga embraced Herand spoke some enlightening words: "Mother, you have always protected andnourished Me. You taught Me the scriptures and continually made Me happy.In a million lives I could never repay the love you gave Me moment aftermoment. I will forever be in debt to you." Stunned, Saci simply sat byshedding constant tears. Gauranga put the dust of mother Saci's feet on Hishead, circumambulated her and departed. Lord Gauranga left home to acceptsannyasa and thereby deliver all the conditioned souls.At dawn all the devotees rose, bathed, and came to pay obeisances toGauranga. They saw Saci collapsed by the door, stiff as a statue, tearsstreaming down her face. When Saci said, "The Lord left me," everyone fellunconscious on the ground. Holding each other's necks, they wept andlamented, "O Gopinatha! Why this night had to end? If we can't see Hismoon-like face, how will we live!" They beat their chests, rolled on theground and wet the earth with the deluge of their tears. Drowning in theocean separation, all the devotees cried out, "Hari! Hari!" All of Nadiajoined the anguished party of crying devotees upon hearing the news, "thejewel of the brahmanas has left Nadia to take sannyasa!"Lord Gauranga swam across the Ganga and in His wet clothes ran thetwenty-five miles to Katva where He met Nityananda, Gadadhara,Candrasekhara, Mukunda and Paramananda. He reached there by about nineo'clock. Gauranga petitioned Kesava Bharati, "Please give Me service toLord Krishna and nothing else!"At first Kesava Bharati refused to give sannyasa on the grounds that NimaiPandit was too young and handsome, and that He had left a widowed motherand a sonless wife who was a mere fourteen years old. Meanwhile, since itwas the auspicious day of Makara-sankranti many people had come to bathe inthe Ganga. A huge crowd gathered upon hearing that Nimai Pandit ofNavadvipa would take sannyasa. The crowd turned into an angry mob enragedover the proposed sannyasa of this young married man with a widowed mother.They threatened to destroy Kesava Bharati's asrama if He gave sannyasa toNimai Pandit.In a mood of ecstasy Gauranga began a kirtana, chanting Hare Krishna,roaring loudly and dancing in a circle. Millions of people rushed to thescene, and Gauranga bathed them all with His tears of prema. Women, men,the young and old all chanted "Hari! Hari!" Gauranga exhibited many sattvicbhavas like trembling, perspiring and falling unconscious. Witnessing this,all the onlookers wept continually.When Lord Gauranga returned to external consciousness, Kesava Bharati said,"Seeing Your ecstasy I realize You are the Supreme Personality of Godheadand the spiritual master of all the worlds. No one can become Yourspiritual master. But just to teach the world, You want me to act as Yourspiritual master." Gauranga passed the night absorbed in Hari katha.The next day Candrasekhara Acarya made all the arrangements for thesannyasa ceremony. Gauranga enchanted the eyes of everyone with His long,beautiful curly hair tied in a topknot and decorated with malati flowers.The devotees in Navadvipa had maintained their lives just by meditating onGauranga's wonderful hair. While crying and crying the barber said, "MyLord! How can I cut Your beautiful hair which satisfies the hearts ofeveryone. I am in shaking in fear of committing an offense, which I knowcan never be counteracted. I am just a simple barber from a low classfamily."Gauranga reassured the barber, "After today, you can give up this haircutting business. By the mercy of Krishna you will live a happy life and atthe end go back to Godhead." After shaving Lord Gauranga the barber becamea sweet maker.Nityananda Prabhu, the assembled women and the unseen demigods all brokedown crying at the tragedy of Gauranga's hair cutting ceremony. All theunlimited universes filled with weeping. By this pastime of karunya-rasa,the mellow of grief, Lord Gauranga melted the stones and trees. Feelingrestless, weeping and trembling Gauranga ordered Mukunda to sing. Then theLord started dancing wildly and roaring.Before receiving initiation Gauranga told Kesava Bharati, "Recently I had adream wherein a great personality whispered the sannyasa mantra in My ear.I will repeat it to you and you can tell Me if it is the same mantra youwill give."By this trick Gauranga made Kesava Bharati His disciple. Hearing thatmantra from Gauranga transformed Kesava Bharati's heart. He then repeatedthe mantra to Gauranga. As Gauranga accepted sannyasa His lotus eyes pouredstreams of tears, and the four directions resounded with kirtana. With Hisbright saffron robes, limbs anointed with sandalwood paste, waterpot anddanda Lord Gauranga looked more attractive than millions of Cupids.Kesava Bharati could not think of a suitable sannyasa name for Gauranga.Inspired by Sarasvati, he said, "You make the whole world chant the nameKrishna. By doing this You make the whole world come alive (caitanya) withkirtana. Therefore, Your name should be Sri Krishna Caitanya." Showers offlowers and shouts of "Jaya! Jaya! Hari! Hari!" filled the air. All theVaisnavas floated in bliss.Externally Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa to preach pure devotionalservice and distribute Krsna prema to the conditioned souls. In Navadvipathe smarta brahmanas, students, logicians and mundane scholars formed anopposition party against Nimai Pandit. Due to pride and ignorance theyoffended the Lord, considering Him to be a merely another grhasta Brahmanpandita and family man. To gain victory over the oppostion party SriCaitanya had to leave Navadvipa and take sannyasa. A similar situationoccurred in Krsna's pastimes where opposition came in the form of variousdemons sent by Kamsa like Putana, Agha, Bakasura and Keshi. To rout theopposition party and vanquish various demons Kåñëa had to leave Vrndavanaand go to Mathura and then ultimately Dvaraka.Internally Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa to experience Sri Radha'sunique prema and increase the love of His devotees. The pain of separationenhances the taste of meeting. True love is tested, purified andconcentrated in the blazing fires of separation. Before going to Mathura,Krsna only spent five years enjoying with the gopis in Vrndavana. (age sixto eleven). The gopis relished union with Krsna for only five years, butsustained their love in separation for 120 years! Just see theinconceivable depth of the Vraja gopis' pure love for Krsna.After five years of preaching and conquering different philosophers andreligionists Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu returned to Navadvipa. All the men,women and children ran madly to catch a glimpse of the Lord's lotus face.In separation from the Lord everyone's hearts had filled with divine love.They realized the identity of Mahaprabhu and the great treasure He came todeliver. They had now become sympathetic and supportive toward Him since Hehad left everything. The separation induced by Mahaprabhu's sannyasaenabled all His devotees and relatives to fully relish the ecstasy ofunion. The riverbanks of both union and separation are essential for theflow of prema to reach the ocean of transcendental ecstasy.Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa to teach us and attract us tobeautiful Vrndavana, the sweet home of pure devotional service. AlthoughMahaprabhu's sannyasa seemed cruel to His devotees and family members, itwas meant only to deliver the conditioned souls to the highest plane ofpure love. Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai!Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Pastimes of Sri Gadadhara dasa Thakura at Nabadwip.

Sri Gadadhara dasa Thakura used to live in Nabadwipa dhama, but after the disappearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he moved to Katwa. Finally he moved to a village called Endiyadaha-grama, where he made his ultimate residence. Gadadhara dasa Thakura had a disciple in Katwa named Yadunandana Cakravarti. Gadadhara dasa was one of the eternal associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. The Gaura-ganodesa-dipika mentions Gadadhara dasa as the extension of Srimati Radharani's beauty and luster. There it is written: “The gopi named Candrakanti, who was a vibhuti (expansion) of Sri Radha, appeared in Gaura-lila as Gadadhara dasa, a close associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.” Sri Gadadhara dasa was not one of the Gopalas who served Nityananda Prabhu in the mood of sakhya-rasa, friendship. Rather he was always merged in the mellow of madhurya-rasa.
Sripad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja writes as follows of Gadadhara dasa in his Caitanya-Caritamrta commentary: “About eight or ten miles from Calcutta on the banks of the Ganges is a village known as Endiyadaha-grama. Srila Gadadhara dasa was known as an inhabitant of this village...After the disappearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu Gadadhara dasa came from Nabadvipa to Katwa. Thereafter he came to Endiyadaha-grama and resided there. He is stated to be the luster of the body of Srimati Radharani, just as Srila Gadadhara Pandita is an incarnation of Srimati Radharani Herself. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is sometimes explained to be radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalita, or characterized by the emotions and bodily luster of Srimati Radharani. Gadadhara dasa is this dyuti or luster. He counts among the associates of both Srila Gaurahari and Nityananda Prabhu....Even though he was an associate of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, he was not among the cowherd boys but was situated in the transcendental mellow of conjugal love. He established a temple of Sri Gaurasundara in Katwa.
“In 1434 sakabda (1534 A.D.) when Lord Nityananda Prabhu was empowered by Lord Caitanya to preach the sankirtana movement in Bengal, Sri Gadadhara dasa was one of Lord Nityananda's chief assistants. He preached the sankirtana movement by requesting everyone to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra....When Srila Gadadhara dasa was preaching the cult of hari-kirtana, there was a magistrate who was very much against his sankirtana movement. Following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Gadhadhara dasa one night went to the house of the Kazi and requested him to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. The Kazi replied, “All right, I shall chant Hare Krsna tomorrow.” On hearing this, Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu began to dance, and he said, “Why tomorrow? You have already chanted the Hare Krsna mantra, so simply continue.”
“...Srila Gadadhara dasa is considered to be a united form of Candrakanti, who is the effulgence of Srimati Radharani, and Purnananda, who is an expansion of Lord Balarama's dear girlfriend. Thus Srila Gadadhara dasa was one of the associates of both Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. Once while Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was returning to Bengal from Jagannatha Puri with Nityananda Prabhu, he forgot himself and began talking very loudly as if he were a girl of Vrajabhumi selling yogurt, and Srila Nityananda Prabhu noted this. Another time, while absorbed int he ecstasy of the gopis, he carried a jug filled with Ganges water on his head as if he were selling milk. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in the house of Raghava Pandita while going to Vrndavana, Gadadhara dasa went to see Him, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so glad that He put His foot on his head. When Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was present in Endiyadaha he established a Balagopala murti for worship there. Sri Madhava Ghosh performed a drama known as Dana-khanda with the help of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Gadadhara dasa.
“The tomb of Gadadhara dasa Prabhu, which is in the village of Endiyadaha, was under the control of the Samyogi Vaisnavas and later under the direction of Siddha Bhagavan dasa Babaji of Kalna. Byhis order, Sri Madhus¨dana Mullik, one of hte members of the aristocratice Mullik family of the Narikeladanga in Calcutta, established a patavadi (monastery) there in the Bengali year 1256. He also arranged for the worship of a Deity named Sri Radhakanta. His son, Balaicanda Mullik, established Gaura-Nitai Deities there in the Bengali year 1312. Thus on the throne of the temple are both Gaura-Nityananda Deities and Radha-Krsna Deities.”
When Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent Nityananda Prabhu to Bengal to preach the nectar of the holy name, he sent Sri Rama dasa and Sri Gadadhara dasa with him. Once when he was carrying a waterpot on his head, Gadadhara dasa, in the mood of a gopi called out “Who will buy milk? Who will buy yogurt?” Saying this, he laughed at the joke.
The details of how Gadadhara dasa delivered the Kazi are as follows: One day, Gadadhara dasa went to the house of the Kazi, overwhelmed with krsna-prema, madly dancing and performing hari-sankirtana. When he arrived at the Kazi's door, he began loudly calling for the Kazi. The Kazi, enraged, went outside his house ready to chastise Gadadhara dasa for disturbing the peace. But when he beheld the beautiful form of Gadadhara dasa, who was the personification of Sri Radhika's divine luster, he was stunned. When Gadadhara dasa embraced the Kazi with great affection the Kazi said, “Thakura! Why have you come?”
Gadadhara dasa said, “I want to have a talk with you.
“What do you wish to talk about?”
“Gaura-Nityananda have appeared upon this earth to deliver humankind with divine love by distributing the sweet nectar of the holy name of Hari. Why don't you chant this sweet name of Hari?”
“Tomorrow I shall chant the name Hari.”
“Why chant the holy name tomorrow? I have come to deliver you with the holy name of Krsna. Now you have begun your life of auspiciousness by vibrating the holy name of Hari. From today on all your sins and miseries will disappear by the grace of the holy name if you simply continue this chanting—this is why I have come: to deliver you.”
Hearing the words of Gadadhara dasa, the Kazi was bewildered. At length, he smiled and again said, “Tomorrow I will chant the holy name of Hari.” Upon hearing the holy name of Hari issuing from the mouth of the Muslim Kazi, Gadadhara dasa at once became mad in the ecstasy of Krsna prema. At last he said, “Why tomorrow! Just now you have said the name ‘Hari.’ All your sins will now melt away and you will become supremely purified by the power of the holy name.”
Purified by the grace of Gadadhara dasa and the holy name of Krsna, the Kazi took shelter of the holy feet of Gadadhara dasa.
In this way, Gadadhara dasa delivered countless sinners, nonbelievers, and yavanas with the holy name of Krsna. He disappeared on the eight day of the full moon in the month of Kartika. All glories to Sri Gadadhara dasa Thakura Prabhu.

Pastimes at Ambika Kalna(Gauri Dasa Pandita)

In Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami has written:
tasya shri krishna chaitanya
sat premamara shakhinah
urdvhva-skandhavadhutendoh
shakharupan ganan numah
"Shri Nityananda Prabhu is the topmost branch of the indestructible tree of eternal love of Godhead, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I offer my respectful obeisances to all the sub-branches of that topmost branch." Gauridasa Pandit is one of the most important sub-branches of the Nityananda branch of the Chaitanya tree of bhakti. Of this particular sub-branch of Nityananda, Shri Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami has written: gauridasa pandit yara premoddanda-bhakti, krishna-prema dite, nite, dhare mahashakti. nityananda samarpila jati kula-panti, shri chaitanya-nityananda kari pranapati. "Gauridasa Pandita, the emblem of the most elevated devotional service in love of Godhead, had the greatest potency to receive and deliver such love. Making Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda the Lords of his life, Gauridas Pandit sacrificed everything for the service of Lord Nityananda, even the fellowship of his family."
Shri Gauridasa Pandit's father's name was Shri Kamsari Mishra. His mother's name was Shri Kamala Devi. He had five brothers: Damodara, Jagannatha, Suryadasa, Krishnadasa, and Nrishinga-Chaitanya. Previously, in Vrindvana, Gauridasa Pandit was Subala Shakha, one of the twelve most important cowherd-boy friends of Krishna who were known as the dvadasha-gopals.
In the Bardhaman district lies the town of Ambika-kalna, not far from the city of Shantipura. In Ambika-kalna lived Gauridasa Pandit. At present, in the house of Shri Gauridasa Pandit there is a temple where the deities of Gaura-Nityananda are installed. In that temple there is an ancient manuscript, which is said to be a copy of the Bhagavad-gita written in Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's own hand, although this is not accepted by some authorities. Hearsay has it that Shriman Mahaprabhu crossed the Ganges in a boat with an oar. Giving the oar to Gauridasa Pandita, Mahaprabhu is supposed to have said, "With this oar, you may help the fallen souls cross over the ocean of material existence." That oar is still found at the temple of Gauridasa Pandit.
Gauridasa Pandit had an elder brother named Suryadas Sarakhela. Suryadasa Sarakhela lived a few miles from Navadwipa in a place called Shaligram. At that time he accepted employment as a secretary in the Mohammedan government. He had two daughters: Shri Vasudha and Jahnava Devi. These two daughters later married Shri Nityananda Prabhu. Of Gauridasa Pandit's brothers, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami has written: "Suryadasa Sarakhela and his younger brother Krishnadasa Sarakhela both possessed firm faith in Nityananda Prabhu. They were a reservoir of love of Godhead. "
Regarding Gauridasa Pandita, Bhaktivedanta Swami translates the comments of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura i as follows: "It is said that Gauridasa Pandit was always patronized by King Krishnadasa, the son of Harihoda. Gauridasa Pandit lived in the village of Shaligrama, which is situated a few miles from the railway station Muragaccha, and later he came to reside in Ambika-kalana. It is stated in Gaura-ganodesha-dipika, verse 128, that formerly he was Subal, one of the cowherd boy friends of Krishna and Balarama in Vrindavana. Gauridas Pandit was the younger brotehr of Suryadasa Sarakhela, and with the permission of his elder brother he shifted his residence tot he bank of the Ganges, living there in the town known as Ambika-Kalna....The eldest son of Gauridasa Pandita was known as big Balrama, and the youngest was known as Raghunatha. The sons of Raghunatha were Mahesha Pandita and Govinda. Gauridasa Pandit's daughter was known as Annapurna." According to Bhaktivinoda Thakura, some of the descendants of Gauri Dasa Pandit are living today in the village of Shaligram.
Bhaktivedanta Swami gives the location of Ambika-kalna as follows: "The village Ambika-kalna, which is situated just across the River Ganges from Shantipura, is two miles east of the Kalakanorta railway station on the Eastern Railway." It may be noted that Ambika-Kalna may be visited by catching to train to Nabadwip--dham at Howrah station in Calcutta and getting off at Ambika-Kalna. Bhaktivedanta Swami writes: "In Ambika-Kalna there is a temple constructed by the Zamindar of Burdwan. In front of the temple there is a big tamarind tree, and it is said that Gauridasa Pandita and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met under this tree. The place where the tempole is situated is known as Ambika, and because it is in the area of Kalna, the village is known as Ambika-kalna. It is said that a copy of Bhagavad-gita written by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu still exists in this temple."
When Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, after performing different kinds of pastimes in Navadwipa, wanted to take sannyasa, at that time he went to bid goodbye to Gauridasa Pandita. At that time, Gauridasa Pandita felt great separation from Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
This is described in a song by a devotee named Krishna dasa:
thakura panditera bari, gora nache phiri phiri,
nityananda bole hari hari
kandi gaurdasa bole pori prabhur padatole
kabhu na charibe mora bari
amara vachana rakha ambika nagare thako
ei nivedana tuwa pai
yadi chari yabe tumi nischoya maribo ami
rahibo se nirakhiya kai
tomara ye duti bhai, thako mora ei thai
tabe sabara hoy paritran
punah nivedana kori na chariho gaurahari
tabe jani patita pavan
prabhu kahe gauridasa charaho emata asha
pratimurti seva kari dekha
tahate achaye ami, nischaya janiho tumi
satya mora ei vakya rakha
eta shuni gauridasa chari dirgha nihshvasa
phukari phukari punah kande
punah sei dui bhai prabhodha karoye tai
tabu hiya khira nahi vandhe
kahe dina krishnadasa, chaitanya carane asha
dui bhai rahilo tathaya
thakura panditer preme, vandi hoila dui jane
bhakata vatsala teni gaya
akula dekhiya tare, kahe gaura dhire dhire
amara thakilam tora thai
nischaya jani-i tumi, tomara ei ghare ami
rahilam ei dui bhai
eiteka pravodha diya dui prati murti loiya
aila pandita vidyaman
chari jana danrailo pandita vismaya bhelo
bhave ashru bahaye nayana
puna prabhu kahe tanre tora iccha hoy yare
sei dui rakha nija ghare
tomara pratita lagi tora thai khavo magi
satya satya janiha antare
shuniya pandita raja korila randhana kaja
chari jane bhojana karila
padma malya vastra diya tambuladi samarpiya
sarva ange chandana lepila
nnana mate paratita karyarya phirala chita
dehare rakhila nija ghare
panditera prema lagi dui bhai khaya magi
donhe gela nilachalapuri
pandita karaye seva yakhana ye iccha yeba
seimata karaye vilasa
heno prabhu gauridasa
tara pad kari asha
kahe dina hina krishnadasa
"Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, dancing, with Nityananda who was chanting, "Hari Hari" arrived at the house of Gauridasa Pandita to bid farewell. Weeping and weeping in separation, Gauridasa fell at the feet of the Lord and said, 'You must never leave my house! Please heed my words. Stay here in Ambika Kalna. This is my humble submission. If you leave me, I shall surely die. You must stay here. And I will always stay here and view your divine form. You are two brothers. Stay here at my place, and everyone will be delivered just by seeing you. Again I submit—don't leave, O Gaurahari: you are the savior of the fallen.'
"The Lord said, 'Gauridasa, allow me to fulfill your hope in this way: I shall give you an exact copy of Gaura and Nityananda, a murti that you may worship. By seeing this murti you can think of us. My murti is as good as I am. Know it for certain that my words are true.'
"Hearing this, Gauridasa, let out a deep breath and began sobbing and sobbing, wept and wept. Again, the two brothers tried to console him. Still, nothing they did could steady or pacify him. Thus sings the fallen Krishna dasa who aspires for the lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya, of how those two brothers stayed in Ambika Kalna. In ecstasy, Gauridasa Pandit begged the two brothers to stay, and because Chaitanya and Nityananda are bhakta-vatsala—always affectionate to his devotees—they were captured by Gauridasa Pandit. He imprisoned those two Lords in a temple of divine love from which they could not escape.
"Seeing the great anxiety of Gauridasa Pandita, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, with great gravity, 'We will stay here at your place. Know for certain that we two brothers will always stay here in your home.' Consoling him with these words, those two brothers manifest themselves in the form of two perfect deity forms.
"The four of them stood there: Gaura-Nityananda and the exact replicas of Gaura-Nityananda. Gauridas Pandit was stunned. Tears of divine love filled his eyes. Again the Lord told him, 'Your wish is fulfilled. These two will stay here in your home forever. You will always internally realize that in this way, at your home we shall eternally stay and beg to eat the offerings you cook.'
"Hearing this, Gauridasa the king of pandits, began to cook. When the preparations were ready, he offered everything before his four guests. After this he offered them garlands made of lotuses and fresh cloth, along with tambula and other fine things. Then he decorated their limbs with sandalwood pulp.
"After all these various things were realized, it was time for the two Lords to go. The two Lords left the two Lords standing at the home of Gauridasa Pandita and left for Jagannatha Puri. To the great satisfaction of Gauridasa Pandita, Gaura and Nityananda in their replica form stayed at his house and ate the rice he offered them. In this way, Gauridasa Pandit rendered service to his heart's delight and enjoyed the pastimes of Gaura and Nityananda. My only hope is to take shelter at the lotus feet of Gauridasa Pandita. Thus says the fallen Krishnadasa."
One day, just to increase the divine love of Gauridasa Pandita, the murtis of Shri Gaura-Nityananda decided to revive in Gauridasa Pandita the Vrindavana conception. At that time they smiled sweetly and said, "O Gauridasa! You were formerly Subal Shakha. Don't you remember? Together we used to have many pastimes on the banks of the Yamuna in Vrindavana. While acting in this way, Shri Gaura and Nitayananda caused Gauridasa to conceive of them in the forms of Krishna and Balarama. In this way, they appeared in the dress of cowherd boys, with a stick for driving cows in their hands. Krishna held a flute in his hands and a peacock feather in his hear. Their necks were decorated with garlands of forest flowers. Their lotus feet were ornamented with anklets. In this way, they brought Gauridasa into the mood of his previous conception. In this mood they revealed different pastimes to Gauridasa Pandit for some time. After this, it was the Lord's wish that Gauridasa be returned to external consciousness. At that time, Krishna and Balaram returned to the altar in their forms as Gaura and Nityananda.
Every day, Gauridasa Pandit used to prepare various wonderful edibles for the pleasure of his deities and offer it to Gaura and Nityananda. He was always engaged in serving them. He was so absorbed in service that he was completely unaware of the pleasures and pains of his own body. Gradually, he approached old age and became feeble and infirm. In this way, although it was difficult for him to do, he did not cease working hard to cook for his deities. One day, seeing his hard labor at cooking, Gaura and Nityananda externally appeared very angry, and refused to eat. At that time, Gauridasa Pandit embraced them affectionately, saying: "If you don't want to eat this, tell me what you would like me to cook. I'm ready to cook whatever will make you happy." Saying this, Gauridasa Pandita fell silent. Smiling, the Lord then said in great seriousness, "There is nothing wrong with your cooking. But there is no need, at your advanced age, to cook so many preparations. We can't tolerate seeing you go to such a great effort on our behalf. We would be happier if you would exert less effort and just do something simple."
Gauridasa Pandit said, "Eat what I have cooked today. In the future, I won't take such great steps. Everything will be kept simple. I will only cook a little shak and offer it on a fresh banana leaf." Hearing the words of the Pandit, the brothers, Gaura and Nityananda, smiled and laughed and ate everything on their plates.
Once Gauridasa Pandita wanted to decorate Gaura and Nityananda lavishly with beautiful ornaments. Knowing his mind, Gaura-Nityananda decorated themselves with ornaments and then got back up on their throne on the altar. When the pandit entered the temple, he was speechless with delight. He thought, "Where did they get these ornaments?" In this way, Gaura and Nityananda were involved in many different kinds of pastimes in the home of Gauridasa Pandita.
Shri Gauridas Pandit's dearmost disciple was Shri Hridaya Chaitanya. Once around the time of the appearance day of Shri Gauranga, Gauridasa went to the house of one of his disciples. At that time, he entrusted the service of Shri Gaura and Nityananda in the care of Hridaya Chaitanya. Hridaya Chaitanya, in great ecstasy, rendered service to those deities. The festival of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance day drew near. When only three days remained before the big festival that was to take place, Gauridas Pandita still had not returned. Hridaya Chaitanya became very worried. Acting on his own, he arranged to send a written message to the different devotees and disciples inviting them to the festival that would soon be held. Just at that time, Gauridasa Pandita arrived at his ashram. Hridaya Chaitanya told his guru about how he had sent out invitations of his own, worried that Gauridasa Pandit would not return in time to do so. Although Gauridasa Pandit was internally very happy, externally he showed himself to be very angry with Hridaya Chaitanya's acting independently.
Gauridasa scolded his disciple, saying, "In my presence you are acting independently, sending invitations here and there as you please and summoning my disciples at your will. This cannot go on. You cannot stay here."
Hearing this, Hridaya Chaitanya fell at the feet of his guru and offered his pranams. He went to stay under a tree on the banks of the Ganges. A short time later a rich merchant came by on a boat and gave a large donation to Hridaya Chaitanya, saying, "Give this to your guru, Gauridas Pandit." After he went to Gauridasa and gave him the donation, Hridaya Chaitanya was told by his guru to hold a big festival on the banks of the Ganges. Taking the order of his guru on his head, Hridaya Chaitanya began a big festival on the banks of the Ganges. Gradually all the Vaishnavas in the surrounding areas began to assemble there. Taking those great souls with him, Hridaya Chaitanya began a wonderful and superexcellent performance of dancing and chanting the holy name. In the midst of this kirtan Gaura and Nityananda Themselves appeared, singing and dancing. Hridaya Chaitanya saw it with his own eyes. In this way Gauridasa Pandita arranged for a great festival to be held. When the pujari back at the temple, Big Ganga Dasa Pandit, entered the temple he saw that Gaura and Nityananda were not on the simhasana, the deity throne on the altar. He went immediately to Gauridas Pandit to report this incident. The pujari could understand that to increase the prema of Hridaya Chaitanya, Gaura and Nityananda had gone off and joined the kirtan. Seeing the amazement of his pujari, Gauridasa Pandit smiled sweetly. Then, to stop the two brothers from getting away, he took a club in his hand and went off to the banks of the Ganges to the place where Gaura and Nityananda had joined in the great kirtan that was going on there. He soon arrived at the banks of the Ganges where the kirtan was going on. He could see the two brothers dancing in ecstasy. But when the two brothers, Gaura and Nityananda saw the angry mood of Gauridas Pandita, they became invisible.
Shri Gauridas Pandit could see that Gaura and Nityananda had entered into the temple of Hridaya Chaitanya's heart. Beholding this in great wonder and ecstasy, Gauridasa Pandit could not hold himself back—he began crying tears of ecstasy. He forgot his external show of anger at the two brothers, and holding his disicple Shri Hridaya Chaitanya Prabhu in his arms, he said, "You are truly fortunate. From today on your name will be will be "Hridaya Chaitanya:" one who has Shri Chaitanya within his heart. He drenched Hridaya Chaitanya Prabhu with the water of his tears.
In great humility and overwhelmed with Krishna-prema, Shri Hridaya Chaitanya fell at the feet of Shri Gauridasa Pandit. After this, Gauridasa took Hridaya Chaitanya back to his house where they danced and chanted in the courtyard in the ecstasy of sankirtan. The devotees filled the ten directions with the loud chanting of "Hari! Hari!" In this way the great festival of the appearance day of Shri Gauranga came to a close. After this, Shri Gauridasa Pandita blessed Shri Hridaya Chaitanya with the adhikara or qualifications for divine seva. On the Shukla Ekadashi in the month of Shravana, Shri Gauridasa Pandita passed away from this earth and entered into the eternal unmanifest pastimes of Shri Gauranga and Nityananda. His most important disciple was Hridaya Chaitanya, whose most important disciple was Shri Shyamananda prabhu. Shri Narahari Chakravarti Thakura records all the history of Gauri Das Pandit's life and extols his glories in the seventh taranga or wave of his book, Bhakti-Ratnakara.

Pastimes of Lokanatha Goswami.

On this Most Auspicious occasion of the Disappearance of Srila Lokanatha Goswami, we decided to put some of his pastimes he visited Mayapur before he was sent to Vrindavan by Mahaprabhu. Please Relish.

In the village of Talakhori Gram in the Yashohara district, lived the mother and father of Shri Lokanatha Goswami. His father's name was Padmanabha and his mother's name was Shri Sitadevi. Shri Padmanabha Bhattacharya was a very dear follower of Shri Advaita Acharya. One day, Shri Lokanatha Goswami took his birth in the house of Shri Padmanabha and Shri Sita Devi. His younger brother's name was Shri Pragalabha Bhattacharya. The descendents of Pragalabha still live in Talakhori Gram.
From his early childhood, Shri Lokanatha was indifferent to family life. One day, giving up his mother and father, and leaving his home behind forever, he went to Mayapura in Nabadwipa to take darshan of the holy feet of Shri Gauranga. Shri Gaurangadeva embraced Lokanatha Goswami with great affection, and soon he ordered Lokanatha Goswami to quickly go to Vrindavana. But Lokanatha Goswami could understand by certain evidence that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would leave home and take sannyasa within two or three days. Therefore, he was in great anxiety.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu could understand the mind and heart of Lokanatha Goswami and consoled him, saying, "We shall be reunited in Vrindavana."
In this connection, Shrila Narahari Chakravarti has written in his Bhakti-Ratnakara: "While he was weeping and weeping, crying out his heart at the lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya, Lokanatha felt himself being caught up and embraced by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Later, as Lokanatha bid him farewell, the Lord gave him a confidential message which consoled him greatly. After this, he offered his soul at the lotus feet of Shriman Mahaprabhu, and after giving his pranamas to the all the devotees, he went on his way."
After this, Lokanatha never returned to home life. Rather, afflicted with deep separation from Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he began wandering from one holy place of pilgrimage to the next. Gradually, after visiting many holy places, he came to Vrindavana Dham.
In the meantime, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa and went to Jagannatha Puri. After staying in Puri for some time, the Lord had a mind to deliver the fallen souls, and so began his tour of South India. Hearing of the Lord's tour of South India, Shri Lokanatha also went to South India, in search of the Lord.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, after visiting many holy places of pilgrimage in South India and again returning to Jagannatha Puri for some time, finally came to Vrindavana. Hearing of this, Lokanatha Goswami quickly went to Vrindavan. Meanwhile, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had already left for Prayaga-dham. Arriving in Vrindavana and not seeing Mahaprabhu, Lokanatha was heartbroken. He resolved to set everything right by starting out the very next morning for Prayaga, to meet the Lord. That night the Lord came to him in a dream and consoled him, saying, "O Lokanatha, stay in Vrindvana. I have not broken my vow. I have already come to Vrindavana and live there in another form. In this way you shall always maintain my connection."
A few days later, Shrila Lokanatha Goswami chanced to meet the most dear followers of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: Shri Rupa, Shri Sanatana, Shri Gopala Bhatta, Shri Bhugarbha and others. The exchange of divine love between them was wonderful to behold! They were all of one mind, one heart. In the midst of the Goswamis, Shri Lokanatha was the oldest. He was fully absorbed in prema. In his mangalaracana to the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, Shri Sanatana Goswami offers his respects to Lokanatha Goswami as follows:
vrindavan priyan vande shri govinda padashritan
shrimad-kashishvaram lokanatam shri krishnadasakam
"I offer my obeisances unto Shri Kashishvara Pandit, Shri Lokanatha Goswami and Shri Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami who are very dear to Shri Govinda in Vrindavan, having taken shelter at his lotus feet."
Shri Lokanatha Goswami wandered throughout all twelve forests of Vrindavan in great ecstasy. In one of the forests there is a village named Umarao. There he stayed for some time on the banks of Kishori-kunda. He had a great desire to establish the worship of the deity and render service to Krishna in that way. Understanding Lokanath's aspiration to serve, Krishna Himself appeared before him and offered Lokanatha a vigraha, saying, "Worship this Deity here. This deity's name is Radha-vinoda. After giving him this beautiful deity, the Lord suddenly disappeared.
At this, Lokanatha Goswami became stricken with anxiety. Seeing him absorbed in worry, Radhavinoda smiled and said, "Why have you brought me here? I have come here personally just to satisfy your purpose. What do you want from me? I live in the forest here, near the village of Umarao. By this Kishori kunda you see before you, I make my residence. You must now give me something to eat. Quickly."
Lokanatha Goswami's joy knew no bounds. He floated in the waves of prema. After this he prepared an offering for the Lord to eat. After offering fine rice ona fresh banana leaf to the deity he experienced great ecstasy by offering his life at the lotus feet of the Lord. He was stunned by drinking in the nectarine beauty of the Lord. After this he offered a bed of flowers and made the Lord rest.
Shri Lokanatha Goswami made this place his home. The local villagers and cowherd men wanted to construct a bhajan kutir for him, but he refused to accept it. In order to protect the deity, he prepared a cloth bag which he would keep around his neck at all times. Shri Radhavinoda became like a jeweled necklace around the neck of Lokanatha Goswami. The cloth bag was his temple. This was Lokanatha Goswami's practice until the day he disappeared from this earth, and is an example of the strict vairagya he maintained. With great care he always stayed in the association of the Goswamis of Vrindavana.
It is very difficult to exhaustively describe the life and pastimes of Lokanatha Goswami who was very dear to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. When Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his dear followers beginning with Shri Rupa and Shri Sanatana disappeared, Shrila Lokanatha Goswami could not tolerate the separation. After this his only purpose in life was to establish the wishes of Shri Chaitanya Mahprabhu.
Shrila Lokanatha Goswami gave mantra diksha to Shri Narottama Dasa Thakura. There is no mention in the shastras that he accepted any other disciples. Narottam Thakura served him in secret by going in the dead of night to the place where Lokanatha would pass stool and urine and cleansing the area very carefully. Seeing Narottama's humility, Lokanatha accepted him.
Shrila Lokanatha Goswami, in his ripe old age, while performing his bhajan in Khadiravan in Khayara Gram, passed away and entered into the eternal unmanifest pastimes of the Lord. At that place is a kunda called Shri Yugala Kunda. On the banks of that kunda, Shrila Lokanatha Goswami entered into samadhi.
It is said that when Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami went to Lokanatha Goswami and asked his blessings to compile the Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Lokanatha Goswami gave his blessings, but prohibited Kaviraja Goswami from mentioning his name in the Chaitanya Charitamrita. For fear of violating the order of Lokanatha, Kaviraj Goswami has only briefly mentioned him in the Chaitanya Charitamrita. On the day of Krishnastami in the month of Shravana, he entered into the eternal pastimes of the Lord.
Shrila Narottama Dasa Thakura Mahashaya prays as follows at the lotus feet of his gurudeva:
ha ha prabhu lokanatha, rakha padadvandve
kripadrishthye chaha yadi haiya anande
manovancha siddhi habe hang purna trishna
hethaya chaitanya mile setha radhakrishna
tumi na karile daya ke kairbe ara
manera vasana purna kara eibara
ei tini samsare mora ara keho nai
kripa kari nija padatale deha thai
radhakrishna lilaguna gao ratri dine
narottama vancha purna nahe tuwa vine
"O Lokanatha, O gurudeva! If you are pleased with me, please keep me in the shelter of your lotus feet, and cast your merciful glance upon me. by your mercy I can find the perfection of inner fulfillment. And by your mercy I can someday meet Shri Chaitanya and Radha-Krishna. If you are not merciful to me, then what shall I do? Please, just once, fulfill my heart's desire. In the three worlds of birth and death no one is more in need of your mercy. Please give me your mercy and give me a place at your lotus feet. Day and night I sing the qualities and pastimes of Radha and Krishna. Still, the inner aspirations of Narottama for the service of Shri Shri Radha-Govinda and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can only be realized through your grace, O Lokanatha Goswami Prabhu. "

Pastimes of Lochan Das Thakura.

Shrila Lochan Das Thakura took his birth in a family of brahmans who lived in a village in the rada-desh, in Mahakumara, near Katwa, in the Burdhaman district of Bengal. When he was only a little boy, he enjoyed the good fortune of meeting the devotees of Shri Gauranga. His guru was Narahari Sarakara Thakura. In his Chaitanya Mangala, Shrila Lochana Dasa Thakura has written: "My hope of hopes is to be near the lotus feet of Shri Narahari Thakura, to serve and worship him with my very life. The cherished desire of the fallen Locana Dasa is to be allowed by the grace of Narahari to sing the glories of Shri Gauranga. My Lord is Shri Narahari Thakura, and I am his servant. Bowing and praying before him I beg him to allow me his service. This is my only aspiration."
Previously in Bengal the poets used to compose sacred songs and verses in different forms of classic rhymes and rythmic meters called Panchali. The Panchali style of composition was especially used for glorifying the Lord. Shrila Lochana Dasa Thakura used the Panchali form of verse-meter in composing his famous work, Shri Chaitanya Mangala. The Panchali form employs five different kinds of song-styles.
Shri Lochana Das's father's name was Shri Kamalakara Dasa. His mother's name was Shri Sadanandi. Lochan Dasa was his father's only son, and so was the darling of his parents. He spent the better part of his years staying at the house of his grandparents. and there began his studies and his education. At a very young age, Shri Lochana Dasa was married. From early childhood, Shri Lochana Dasa had great attachment for Shri Gauranga and at the same time great detachment from material enjoyment. In the prime of his youth he went to Shri Khanda where he found his gurudeva, Shri Narahari Sarakara Thakur, and took shelter at his lotus feet. He stayed there for some time, and there he was instructed in kirtan.
The principle source material that was drawn upon by Shri Lochan Dasa Thakura in composing his Chaitanya Mangala was a Sanskrit book by Murari Gupta called Shri Chaitanya Charitamritam. Lochan Dasa Thakura explains this in his Chaitanya Mangala as follows: "That very Murari Gupta who lived in Nadiya composed many Sanskrit verses about the life of Shri Gauranga, which he later arranged in the form of a book. Having heard these verses from Murari Gupta, Damodara Pandit taught them to me, and I memorized them with great delight. As these Sanskrit verses, and the conception of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu imparted to me through Damodara Pandita developed within my mind, it flowed forth from me in the form of these Panchali verses in Bengali, which I write in glorification of the life and pastimes of Shri Chaitanya." (C.M. Sutra-Khanda) In his preface to the Chaitanya Mangala, Shrila Lochana Dasa Thakura offers his prayers to Vrindavan dasa Thakura before proceeding with the narrative. He says, "I offer my prayers of submission to Vrindavana Dasa Thakura with all my heart. The sweet song of his Chaitanya Bhagavata has enchanted the whole world." (C.M. Sutra-Khanda)
Vrindavan Dasa Thakura's Chaitanya Bhagavata was originally called Chaitanya Mangala. It is said that Shrila Lochana Dasa Thakura and Shrila Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami gave it the name Chaitanya Bhagavata. Krishnadasa Kavriaja Goswami writes: "krishna lila bhagavate kahe vedadvyasa, chaitanya lilara vyasa—vrindavana dasa." Vedavyasa has described the pastimes of Krishna in his Bhagavata. The Vyasa of Chaitanya Lila is Vrindavan Dasa." From this comparison between Vedavyasa and Vrindavana Dasa, it has been concluded that Kaviraja Goswami is probably responsible for Vrindavan Dasa Thakur's work becoming known as the Bhagavata of Chaitanya Lila, or Chaitanya-Bhagavata.
There are many pastimes of Shri Chaitanya that have only been touched on briefly by Vrindvana Dasa Thakura. These are described in detail in the Chaitanya Mangala of Lochana Dasa Thakura.
The Chaitanya Mangala is divided into four parts: Sutra Khanda, Adi Khanda, Madhyama Khanda and Shesha Khanda. The Sutra Khanda has two chapters, Adi Khanda has seven chapters, the Madhyama Khanda twelve, and the Shesha Khanda three. The contents of the Adi Khanda are as follows.
The first chapter in the Sutra Khanda is called Mangalaracharanam, or auspicious invocation. It begins with a song of the glories of Shri Chaitanya and then praises the Vaishnavas who were personal associates of Shri Chaitanya. After this, Lochan Dasa Thakura offers respects to his gurudeva, Narahari Sarakara Thakura, and prays for his guru's mercy. He offers his obeisances at the lotus feet of the countless devotees and personal associates of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, known and unknown. Having prayed for the blessings of guru and vaishnavas, Lochan dasa explains that Murari Gupta had written a book in Sanskrit called the Chaitanya Charitamritam, and that since that book is no longer available, he is giving its essence in the form of Bengali verse called Panchali. He then briefly describes the subjects found in the Adi, Madhya, and Shesha Khandas.
The second chapter of the Sutra Khanda is called Grantharambha, for here the book actually begins. In this chapter Lochan Dasa relates how he heard from Damodara Pandita the story of Jaimini's Mahabharata recital, wherein he describes a conversation between Narada and Uddhava. In that conversation Narada explained the cause of Krishna's appearance in the golden form of Shri Gauranga.
One time Narada saw that with the coming of the age of Kali the living beings had fallen into great suffering. He began to worry about how they could be delivered and the principles of dharma restored. Thinking in this way, he decided that only Krishna's descent into this world would deliver the fallen souls and restore the principles of religion. Wanting to appeal to Krishna to descend as an avatara, he set out for Dwaraka dham. At that time, Krishna was staying in the palace of Shri Rukmini devi.
Just then, upon learning that Shri Krishna would soon appear on earth in a golden form, with the golden luster and devotional mood of Radharani, Rukminidevi became deeply troubled. Feeling separation from the Lord, she fell at the lotus feet of Krishna and began praising the qualities of Shri Radha—whose devotion was so glorious that Krishna wanted to honor her by assuming her luster and mood. At that time Narada entered the room. He explained to Krishna the reason for his trip—that he wanted Krishna to descend to the earth planet in order to deliver the fallen souls. At that time, Krishna revealed to him how in the future he would appear as the son of Sachidevi and Jagannatha Mishra in Nabadwipa dham: in a golden form with all his transcendental associates.
Having seen that golden form revealed, Narada was overwhelmed with ecstasy. Constantly thinking of this golden form and the Lord's plans to appear in Navadwipa dhama as Shri Gauranga, Narada the best of munis went to visit Naimisharanya, all the while singing the glories of the Lord. There, in answer to Uddhava's inquiries about the welfare of the living beings, he explained how in Kali-yuga—the best of all ages because of Shri Gauranga's advent—Krishna would appear in a golden form as Shri Gauranga and perform the kirtan of the holy name of Hari. Narada told Uddhava how the Lord would come to establish the Sankirtana of the holy name of Krishna as the yuga-dharma, the religious principle for the age of Kali. Narada explained the glories of kirtana.
Thereafter, Narada Muni related to Uddhava the discussion that had previously taken place when he had gone to Kailasa and visited Lord Shiva, the best of Vaishnavas. There, Narada and Parvati discussed the glories of Mahaprasada, having heard of the glroies of Mahaprasada from Narada, Parvati had performed 12 years of Lakshmi-seva. By her mercy, Parvait got some of Laksmidevi's own mahaprasada. and also gave shiva a small bit of that prasada. Not able to tolerate the dancing of Lord Shiva upon obtaining this Mahaprasada, the earth came before Parvati, begging her to give the Mahaprasada of the Vaishanvas to all the jivas. With this proposal, Parvati explained how the Gaura-avatara would come in kaliyuga and distribute Mahaprasada to all the fallen souls.
After this, Narada went to Brahma and discussed the Gaura-avatara with him. Brahma, the creator, at that time explained to him the essential subject of the Shrimad Bhagavatam, and showed him how the version of the Bhagavatam supported the gaura-avatara. After this, Narada began wandering here and there. As he went form place to place he became concerned about he sufferings of the jivas. As he was worrying about the living entities in this way, he came near Jagannatha Puri. There he heard a divine voice disccussing the avatara of Jagannatha. On the order of the divine voice he went to Puri. From there, the Lord ordered him to go to Goloka. First he came to Vaikuntha. After this, he arrived in Goloka, where he saw many pastimes of the Lord. There he saw the Lord in his golden form as Shri Gaura, and fainted in ecstasy. After this, he went all over the universe, informing all the gods of the news.
In Shwetadwipa he saw the supernatural pastimes of Balarama, the very figure of service. After this, all the demigods began taking birth on earth. As previously mentioned by Krishna in his conversation with Rukmini, the Lord, along with Satyabhama, Rukmini, and all his eternal associates from the spiritual world came with the luster and mood of Radharani in a golden form as Shri Gauranga. He came to spead the sankirtan of the holy name of Krishna. Balarama came as Nityananda, Shiva came as Advaita Prabhu, and other great souls descended as his other eternal associates like Murari, Mukunda, Shrivasa, Raya Ramananda, Ishvara Puri, and Madhavendra Puri. Lochan Dasa Thakur concludes the chapter by praising the glories of his guru, Shri Narahari Sarakara Thakura, and his nephew Raghunandana Thakura.
The first chapter of the Adi lila of Chaitanya Mangala describes the Janma-lila, or birth pastimes, of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The chapter first describes the advent of the Lord's eternal associates, who appeared in this world before Mahaprabhu Himself. Lochan Thakura describes the Lord as the remote and immediate cause of creation, the Parabrahman, Shri Narayana Himself. That Supreme Personality of Godhead descended within the womb of Sachidevi and advented Himself upon this earth. In this way, gradually Sachi's womb grew day by day, and her body assumed a supernatural effulgence. Seeing her wonderful bodily effulgence, everyone was astonished, and thought, "Surely a great personality is about to take birth from the womb of Shri Sachidevi." When her "pregnancy" was in its sixth month, one day Advaita Acharya Prabhu went to the house of Sachidevi and Jagannatha Mishra. Arriving there, he offered his obeisances to the child in the womb of Mother Sachi and then circumambulated her. Shacidevi and Jagannatha Mishra could not understand the cause of Advaita's unusal behavior. In this way, Brahma, Shiva, and the other gods came to offer their respects to that Supreme Personality of Godhead who had hidden himself within the womb of Sachidevi, knowing well that he would soon advent Himself in this world to deliver the lowest of men with the highest nectar of Krishna prema. Detecting their presence, Sachidevi felt great joy. When the heart of Sachidevi was full of mercy for the whole world, that is to say, when the most merciful Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had completely filled her heart, gradually the tenth month came. After this, taking advantage of an auspicious moment on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna, in the midst of Hari-sankirtana, Shri Guarachandra appeared like a golden moon from the ocean of the womb of Mother Sachi. In this way, the Lord appeared on earth, and the ten directions were jubilant. The gods and godesses, men and women, eager to see the moonlike face of the son of Sachi, hurried to the house of Jagannatha Mishra and Sachidevi. In this way, their home was transformed into Vaikuntha.
Jagannatha Mishra and all the residents of Nadiya who had turned out to see that divine child were all struck with wonder to see his beauty. He had a neck like a lion, arms like the trunks of elephants, and a broad chest. His lotus feet were marked with the auspicious symbols of Lord Vishnu: a flag, a thunderbolt, a rod for driving elephants. Seeing all these wonderful and superhuman manifestations of divinity in the child, the people there were all astonished. Everyone speculated about his supernatural origin, saying, "He is definitely not an ordinary human." For eight days, the newborn child and its mother were quarantined, as is traditional for childbirth in Bengal, and on the ninth day a great festival was held. At that time, all the neighbors were filled with great joy to see the boy, and their attraction for him increased.
The second chapter of the Adi Khanda describes the Lord's bala-lila childhood pastimes. Here, Lochan das Thakura describes how after six months, the grain-eating ceremony of Shri Gaurasundara was held, and after this the name-giving ceremony was performed. At the appearance of the Lord, the whole world was delighted. Since the Lord gave pleasure to the whole world, the brahmanas said his name should be Vishvambhara. Soon, Vishvambara began to walk, by holding onto Jagannatha Mishra's finger with his tiny hand. The different women in the village used to decorate him with different ornaments, and they would wonder at the beautiful effulgence that emanated from the child, which was as bright as millions of moons.The moon outside can brighten the darkness of night only slightly, but the moon of Shri Gaurachandra can eliminate all darkness, both within and without.
Shachidevi would sing to her son while threshing wheat, and at that time, all the demigods and offer prayers to her son. Seeing this, Sachidevi wa quite amazed. Sometimes she would see Gaurahari chanting the glories of Radha-Krishan with the gods and would become astonished and faint. When she heard ankle-bells ringing on the bare feet of her child, again she was bewildered. Sometimes she was afraid that ghosts were causing a disturbance, and sometimes she would look in the mouth of her child, and, beholding the universal form, become completely astonished.
In this way, gradually Gaurahari grew old enough to play outside, where he astounded his newfound childhood friends with his divine antics. His playmates were quite attached to him. Sachidevi would carry the baby Gaurahari in her arms and watch after him carefully as he ran about, to keep him from smashing everything as he played. Once, he explained to Mother Sachi the nature of things pure and impure, instructing her on the aprakrita nature of Krishna, who is master of everything. While sitting on a heap of broken clay pots soiled with leftovers, he instructed his mother on jnana. Seeing his mother bewildered, he brought her some coconut fruit. In this way, he performed many childhood pranks. He used to play with puppydogs. When Sachidevi chastised him for playing with a dog, and Gaurahari had to give up his pet, he cried tears of anger before Sachidevi. At that time, he bestowed a divine spiritual body upon that dog while performing Harikirtana. The dog went to Vaikuntha, and as Brahma, Shiva, and the other demigods saw the good fortune of the dog they were all amazed. Sachidevi was astonished at the activities of her son, who made her understand his Supreme Position as the Absolute Lord.
The fourth chapter of the Adi Lila of Chaitanya Mangala describes the Lord's pauganda, or boyhood lila. Having heard Murari Gupta reciting the yogashastras, the Lord mimicked his gestures and speech, making fun of him and then began to laugh uproariously. Thus Murari Gupta was enraged and chastised the Lord with words of anger. In return, the boy, intending to express his contempt for the conclusions of yogis went to Murari's afternoon lunch and urinated on Murari Gupta's plate. After this, he instructed Murari Gupta on the superiority of Krishna-bhakti. Finally, the author discusses Mahaprabhu's boyhood performance of sankirtana, and relates what he heard from Damodara Pandit of Murari Gupta's notes on the sannyasa of Vishvarupa, the Lord's older brother. He also relates the lamentation of Sachidevi and Jagannatha upon their son's taking sannyasa. He also recounts many other pastimes performed by the Lord as a boy. At that time the Lord's hair-cutting ceremony took place. And soon thereafter, the day of Hate-khare, or the first holding of chalk, came. On that day, to signify the beginning of a child's formal education begins, he is given a piece of chalk and a chalkboard, upon which he is to draw the letters of the alphabet. Upon beginning his studies, the Lord was overjoyed to meet many new classmates. On the day that his son's education began, Jagannatha Mishra was very pleased. That night, however, he had a dream in which a brahmana appeared to him and told him that his son Vishvambhara was Bhagavan Himself. Who can educate the Supreme Lord, or discipline him as a small boy? From this, Jagannatha Mishra could understand the supreme position of his child. When his dream broke, he was again overwhelmed with the sentiments of parental love and soon forgot the dream.
At a particular time, the sacred thread ceremony of the boy was performed. After this, there is a discussion of the four ages and the yuga-avatara. In Dvapara-yuga, the Supreme Lord Himself, Shri Krishna the son of Nanda in Vrindavana, makes his appearance on earth. In Kaliyuga, Shri Krishna, appearing with the luster and mood of Shri Radha, advents himself as Shri Gauranga. By performing Sankirtana, he establishes the religious principle for the age of Kali: hari-nama-sankirtana. In order to establish the yuga-dharma, he comes as a preacher. Maddened with Krishna-prema, he delivers all souls with the ecstasy of love of God, by moving here and there and distributing divine love. While in his grihastha-lila, he ordered his mother to refrain from eating grains on Ekadashi, in this way instructed everyone to follow this injunction.
Gradually, Jagannatha Mishra fell ill, and passed away, entering into the Lord's unmanifest pastimes. At that time, the Lord instructed Sachidevi on the fleeting nature of a man's short life within the material world. He also explained many other important principles of divine reality to her. With the passing of her husband, Sachidevi greatly lamented. Gaurahari Himself also lamented the passing of his father. After this time, he began paying close attention to his studies.
Chapter four describes the Lord's pastimes of youth and marriage. One day, after school, the Lord was walking home from his teacher's house and at that time he met Vanamali Acarya. As they talked, the Acharya made the Lord understand that he had just been to see his mother Sachidevi, where he had been making arrangements for the Lord's wedding. Sachidevi had rebuffed him, and unable to secure her permission for the match, Vanamali was a little unhappy. In this way, he was returning to his home, downcast. Shri Gaurahari returned home. Without intimating anything of his conversation with the matchmaker, the Lord informed her of his intentions to wed, saying that she should seek out Vanamali and make the necessary arrangements for the wedding of her son. She did so, and on the orders of Sachimata, Vanamali Acharya went to Vallabhacharya's house. There he informed Vallabhacarya of the Lord's intent to wed Vallabhacarya's daughter Lakshmidevi.
Having made all the arrangements for the wedding, Sachidevi informed all her friends and relatives of the auspicious event and invited them to the occasion. Everyone floated in the waves of the joyful ocean. In this way, Sachidevi made preparations for her son's wedding. All the residents of Nadia turned out to see the wedding. The relatives saw to it that all the old traditional Bengali wedding customs were followed. The Hindu ceremony of besmearing the bridegroom and bride with a paste of turmeric and then bathing them on the eve of the wedding was performed, as were many other rituals. The place where the wedding was to be performed was cleansed with sanctified water, and all the Vedic purificatory rites were observed. All this took place at the house of Vallabhacharya. At last, with great pomp and grandeur, in the midst of a great assembly of devotees, relatives and friends, the wedding of Shri Gaurahari and Lakshmidevi was performed in the house of Vallabhacarya. The Acharya himself performed the Vedic wedding ceremony. He offered his new son-in-law sanctified water and arghya to sweeten his lotus mouth. After this, he brought Lakshmidevi up on the wedding stage and presented her to Gaurahari. Finally, the scriptural sacrifice that is performed at weddings took place. After this, the brahmanas were fed sumptuous prasadam at the conclusion of the wedding, and Shri Lakshmidevi was escorted to her new home as the bride of Shri Gaurahari.
The Fifth Chapter of the Adi Khanda of Chaitanya Mangala describes more of the Lord's pastimes of youth, including his tour of Bengal. After some time the Lord journeyed down the banks of the Ganges, sanctifying that holy river even further by the touch of his lotus footsteps. In order to provide for his new family, the Lord set out for East Bengal, where he took up the occupation of teaching. In this way he gave his mercy to the residents of East Bengal who lived on the banks of the Padmavati river. When he returned to Bengal, he found that Lakshmidevi had been unable to tolerate the pain of his absence. She was bitten by the snake of separation and passed away into the unmanifest pastimes of the Lord. Sachidevi was heartbroken and was consoled in her lamentation by Gaurahari who glorified the sublime qualities of Lakshmidevi.
The Sixth Chapter of the Adi Khanda of Chaitanya Mangala describes the arrangements made by Sachidevi for the Lord's second wedding. Through Dvija-Kashishvara it was arranged that he was to be wed to the daughter of Sanatana Pandita, Vishnupriya devi. Here, the wedding of Vishnupriya and Gaurahari is elaborately described.
The seventh chapter of the Adi Khanda describes the Lord's journey to Gaya. Some time after the wedding of Gaurahari and Vishnupriyadevi, the Lord, having completed his education busied himself in his teaching work. One day, he left for Gaya to offer respects to his departed father. As he walked down the road, everywhere, the birds and animals who saw him were stunned with ecstasy upon beholding his lotus feet. After instructing a brahmana in Krishna-bhakti, the Lord allowed a brahmana to drink the water of his lotus feet. That brahmana immediately became free from all his bodily distress. At that time, the Lord also instructed how the mysteries of Krishna-bhajana cannot be understood simply on the basis of one's birth in a brahmana family. At last arriving in Gaya, the Lord performed worship of the devas and pitris, in order to do his duty regarding his departed father. While so engaged, he went to see the lotus feet of the Vishnu Deity. At that time, the Lord met that best of Vaishnavas, Shri Ishvara Puri. At that time, he prayed for the mercy of Ishvara Puri Prabhu, who, soon thereafter, initiated him in the Krishnamantra. With this, the Lord's transcendental ecstasy became manifest. After this, he went to take darshan of the lotus feet of Vishnu. Upon seeing the Lord's holy feet, Shri Gaurahari was overwhelmed with prema and exhibited his ecstasy by laughing, singing and dancing. Only a few days later, he returned home.
From this point the first chapter of the Madhya Khanda begins. Here, the author describes the Lord's pastimes as a teacher, and explains how he showed mercy to his students. Praising her good fortune, the Lord showed his grace to Sachimata. Soon after this he revealedsymptoms of mahaprema at the home of Suklambara Brahmacari. This was the first time that he publicly revealed his absorption in Krishna-prema, by showing the symptoms of great ecstasy, such as swooning, tears shooting from the eyes, hairs of the body standing on end, choking up of the voice, laughing madly, and so on. Performing sublime kirtan, Shri Gaurahari drowned everyone in the waves of bliss. In this way the Supreme Lord appeared as his own devotee in order to glorify the position of Bhakti.
After this, the Lord began his pastimes of preaching the glories of Shri Krishna prema, engaging many devotees in preaching. He began organizing all the devotees, beginning with Gadadhara, as well as many devotees from within and wihtout Bengal. One day the Lord went to the house of Shrivasa and his brothers. At that time, the devotees could hear the flute of Krishna. At that time the Lord became overwhelmed by the mood of Shrimati Radhika. In the madness of separation, he began laughing and crying. Sometimes he would fall completely silent and his mood became grave. In thiw ay he manifest differing divine moods. At that time, a divine voice siad, "O Vishvambhara! You are the Lord Himself. For the purpose of preaching Krishna-prema, you have descended within this world."
Later, at the house of Murari Gupta, the Lord would reveal his form as the Varaha avatara. At that time, Murari offered prayers before the Lord in great ecstasy, and the Lord told him to serve Krishna the son of Nanda, following in the footsteps of the residents of Vrindvana. Murari Gupta wanted to see the form of Shri Ramachandra. At that time the Lord instructed him on the glories of the holy name of Krishna. At last, the devatas headed by Lord Brahma appeared before the Lord, praying for Krishna-prema and attained Krishna-prema by the mercy of Shri Gauranga. After this, the kirtan-performer Suklambhara Brahmachari began chanting "Jai Radhe! Jai Govinda!" and attained the mercy of Shri Chaitanya. After this, Lochan dasa Thakura describes the glories of Shri Shri Gaura-Gadadhara.
In the second chapter of the Madhya Khanda, the author describes the beauty of Shri Gauranga's divine form. The Lord performed a miracle by planting a mango seed that immediately became a mango tree with fully ripened fruit for the satisfaction of the devotees. Whoever ate the fruit of that tree was delivered from the tree of material existence. The Lord instructed Mukunda Datta on the supremacy of Krishna bhakti, and how one should give up thinking of the body and mind and think only of the worshipable service of Krishna. The Lord gave his blessings to Murari Gupta. The Lord's pastimes of kirtana at the house of Shrivasa Thakura are described. When a foolish brahman remarked that the murti of Shri Krishna is a product of Maya, the Lord jumped in the Ganges with his clothes on, to purify himelf from the offender.
The third chapter of the Madhya-Khanda describes the glories of Shri Advaita. Here, the author describes the Lord's pastimes with Advaita, how he performed kirtan in the house of Advaita, and how they embraced in ecstasy. A brahman who tried to stop the kirtan of Mahaprabhu by attempting to frighten Shrivasa Pandita was bewildered by the Lord's mayic potency. Also described is how the Lord, in the house of Shrivasa, performed the worship known as Gada-puja, wherein the club of Vishnu is worshiped in order to invoke the Lord's power in smashing the atheists. This chapter also explains the visit paid by Advaita to Nabadwipa, how Advaita bowed before Shri Gauranga, and danced in ecstasy before him, realizing that his prayers for Krishna's descent had been fulfilled. When Shrivasa Thakura inquired into the glories of Advaita, Mahaprabhu described Advaita-tattva, and advised everyone to worship Shri Hari.
In the fourth chapter of the Madhyama Khanda, Shri Gaurahari explains the esoteric meaning of "Shrivasa." Murari Gupta's book, "Raghubhirashtaka" is discussed. The Lord writes "Ramdasa" on Murari's forehead. He reveals himself as Rama and orders Rama Pandita, the brother of Shrivasa Pandita to serve Shrivasa. The devotees are sent to search for Nityananda. The Lord meets Nityananda at the house of Nandana Acharya. The Lord explains the glories of Shri Nityananda and how it is that by Nityananda's mercy one may attain Krishna-prema. At that time, the Lord reveals his six-armed, four-armed, and two-armed forms to Nityananda.
The fifth chapter of the Madhya-Khanda reveals how, late at night, the Lord was weeping tears of ecstatic love for Krishna. He discussed his dream with Sachidevi. The story of how Nityananda Prabhu spent two days at the house of Advaita Acharya is recounted. Nityananda Prabhu's prema is described. The worship by Advaita of Mahaprabhu in the house of Shrivasa Pandita is described. The meeting of the Lord and Haridasa Thakura. The author also tells how Nityananda's kaupin was saved by Mahaprabhu, who later had the devotees wear it as a kavacha. Mahaprabhu's trance and the devotees' separation from the Lord is also described. The ecstasy of the devotees upon the Lord's reawakening is also described.
The sixth chapter of the Madhya-Khanda discusses the following subjects: How Gaurahari enjoyed pastimes of prema in the midst of the devotees; his meeting with Haridasa Thakura; His visit at the house of Advaita; his order to Advaita to preach Krishna-prema without any consideration of fitness and unfitness; His order to all the devotees to preach nama-prema and thus deliver everyone; the effects of nama-bhasa; How the Lord would wander through the streets of Nadiya performing Nama-kirtana; the story of the deliverance of Jagai and Madhai. After this, the author glorifies the mercy of Shri Nityananda and Shri Gauranga.
The seventh chapter of the Madhyama-Khanda describes the following subjects: How the Lord cast his merciful glance upon the son of an East Bengal brahmana named Vanamali; the brahmana, and, seeing the Shyamansundra form of the Lord, he offered many prayers to Shri Gauranga. After this, the Lord revealed his Nrishimha manifestation at the house of Shrivasa. He bestowed mercy upon a follower of Shiva. After a brahman lady touched his feet, he jumped into the Ganges. The Lord gave instructions regarding the worship of Shri Hari. His mercy towards Shrivasa is described as are Mukunda's prayers, the Lord's manifestation of His Godhood, and Shrivas Pandit's abhishek of Mahaprabhu. The author's glorification of the qualities of Shri Gauranga and his instructions on the worship of Shri Gauranga conclude the chapter.
The eighth chapter of the Madhyama Khanda describes the following subjects: How the envious brahmana who was stricken with leprosy prayed for forgiveness in order to become freed from the sin of Vaishnava aparadha and was delivered by the mercy of Shrivasa Thakura; how a brahmana was forbidden to enter the Lord's nocturnal kirtan and how the Lord danced in ecstasy when that brahmana then cursed the Lord never to enjoy the pleasures of samsara. How the Lord in the mood of Balarama demanded honey is described. The assembly of devotees at the house of Advaita is described. The visit of the devotees headed by Acharyaratna is recorded. How all of them saw the Lord's manifestation of Balarama and bathed in the Ganges is also described.
The ninth chapter of the Madhyama Khanda of Shri Chaitanya Mangala records the following subjects: the Lord's manifestation of Varaha; How the devotees headed by Advaita were ordered to preach and perform sankirtana; how the mood and qualities of the gopis was glorified in kirtan; how Shrivasa in the dress of Narada glorified Gadadhara Pandita; a discussion of the divine correlation between Shri Gadadhara and Shri Radhika; Thakur Haridas's visit; the ecstasy of Sankirtana; the Lord's mad manifestation of the mood of Vaikuntha opulence; How the Lord, in the dress of Lakshmidevi rendered service to the Lord in great ecstasy; How the Lord expressed the inner moods of the personality of Godhead.
The Tenth Chapter of the Madhyama-Khanda of Chaitanya Mangala describes the following: The Lord tells Shrivasa of the different religious principles for the different ages and how Sankirtan is the best religious principle in the age of Kali. In the mood of Shri Radha the Lord began asking "Where is Vrindavan? Where is Lalita?" in great anxiety. Murari Gupta consoled him, and they all performed kirtana. In a dream Sachidevi sees Gaurahari receive the sannyasa mantra from Keshava Bharati. The Lord's powerful separation from Krishna is described. Worried that the Lord will take sannyasa, the devotees are heartbroken. Mahaprabhu consoles the devotees.
The Eleventh Chapter of Madhyama Khanda describes the following: Upon hearing of the Lord's sannyasa, Sachidevi's lamentation; Her entreaty to Gaurahari to remain a grihastha; The Lord's advice to everyone to worship Krishna; His different attempts to console his mother and his revevlation of the divine form of Krishna to her.
The twelfth chaper of the madhyama khanda discusses the following subjects: The lamentation of Vishnupriyadevi; the Lord's sweet words of pacification to her and his instructions regarding divine reality, as well as his revelation of of his four-handed Narayana form; the visit by Shrivasa and Murari, the Lord's attempt to pacify them.
The thirteenth chapter describes the following: The Lord's attemtp to console the devotees, and his instructions on different truths; with the aim to take sannyasa, he swims across the Ganges and meets Keshava Bharati at Katwa; Sachimata and Vishnupriya faint; Nityananda Prabhu tries to pacify them; Headed by Chandrashekhara Acharya and Damodara Pandit, all the devotees follow Nityananda Prabhu to Katwa where the sannyasa is taking place. The Lord asks for the sannyasa mantra from Keshava Bharati; The Lord first gives the sannyasa mantra to Bharati and then hears it from him; the lamentation of all the devotees at the sannyasa of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu; The Lord's attempt to pacify them; the Lord's eagerness for Krishna-bhakti; the giving of the name Shri Krishna Chaitanya; At the conclusion of sannyasa the Lord's wandering half-mad in the Radadesha.
The fourteenth chapter describes how Chandrashekara returns from Katwa to Nadia bearing news to Sachimata and Vishnupriya; their lamentation; Nityananda Prabhu causes Mahaprabhu to detour to Shantipura; the Lord's vist there; Nityananda's conversation with Sachidevi; the devotees of Nadiya go to the house of Advaita in Shantipur to see the Lord; the Lord's reciprocation of affection with the residents of Nadiya, and their separation.
The fifteenth chapter describes the Lord's deliverance of all souls through the performance of nam-sankirtan, and how he bestowed upon all the jivas the supreme goal of life. After this his journey to Jagannatha Puri is described as well as the humility of Haridasa Thakura, the exodus of devotees who went to Puri to be with the Lord, His sweet words of consolation, how the Lord used to chant the shloka, "rama-raghava raksha mam," on his way to Puri, how Nityananda Prabhu broke his sannyasa danda, and how the Lord manifest his pastimes of anger with Nityananda after the breaking of his danda.
The sixteenth chapter of the Madhyama Khanda describes how on the way to Jagannatha Puri, the devotees bathed in a place called Brahma-kunda; how they went to Remuna and had dashan on the Lord there; how the Lord danced before the Gopal deity; how after bathing in the Vaitarani river they had darshan of Varaha-deva; how the Lord went to Yajapura; How the Lord took darshan of a Shiva-linga there; Then, from Brahma-kunda, he visited Nabhigaya and Shivanagara; how he received the darshan of Kshirodakshayi Vishnu; how in a grove of mangos he took up the question of Shiva Prasada and prayers to Shiva; after this, how he went from Kapoteshwara and bathed in the Bhargavi river; How the Lord fainted before the Jagannatha deities while having darshan there; his visit to the house of Sarvabhauma; How the Lord would go from the house of Sarvabhauma, take a position west of the Garuda Stambha, and see the deity of Lord Jagannatha; how Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and the Lord discussed Vedanta; How Sarvabhauma was converted; How the Lord revealed his six-armed form to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya.
From here, the Shesha Khanda begins. The first chapter of the Shesha Khanda describes: the Lord's kirtan pastimes in which Sarvabhauma took part; the Lord's tour of South India and his journey to Setubandha; his mercy on Vasudeva Vipra, the brahmana who had leprosy; the Lord's visit to Jiyada-Nrishimha and its ancient history; the Lord's meeting with Ramananda Raya on the banks of the Godavari; Ramananda's vision of Mahaprabhu's dual feature as Rasaraja and Mahabhava; the Lord's visit to Panchavati and Shri Rangam; How he bestowed mercy on Trimalla Bhatta; His four month stay in Shri Rangam during the period of Chatur Masya; his meeting with Paramananda Puri; the prayers by Paramananda Puri to Gaura Bhagvan.
The second chapter of the Shesh Khanda describes the following: How the Lord continued on his South Indian tour and delivered the seven trees that had been standing since the time of Lord Ram; How at Setubandha in great ecstasy, the Lord chanted the names of Rama, Lakshman, Sita, and Hanuman; how the Lord returned to Alalanatha by way of the Godavari; his return to Jagannatha Puri; His visit to Mathura; His meeting with Rupa and Sanatana; How with Balabhadra Bhattacharya, he wandered down the banks of the Yamuna and through the twelve forests of Vrindavana.
The third and final chapter of the Shesh Khanda of Chaitanya Mangala records how: the Lord returned to Jagannatha Puri; the Lord's trip to Gauda-desha; how he passed through in the Rada-desha; how he stopped in Kuliya; How everyone in Navadwip turned out to see the Lord; How they prayed for His mercy and he bestowed amnesty on all; How, to satisfy his mother's desire, he went to Nabadwipa and instructed her on of Krishna-bhajan; How the Lord went to Shantipura where he visited Shri Advaita; His kirtan there; How the Lord left Shantipura; His return to Jagannatha Puri; How he visited the deity of Jagannatha; how he performed kirtana day and night; How King Prataparudra attained the Lord's mercy; His revelation of the six-armed form to Prataparudra Raja; The Dravidian brahmana who come to visit the Lord, how he was fasting for seven days, and how he was delivered by the Lord's mercy.
In the Chaitanya Mangala, Lochan Dasa Thakura mentions the details of certain pastimes not revealed by Vrindvana Dasa Thakura. For example, Vrindavana Dasa Thakura does not record the conversation that took place between Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Vishnupriya Devi just before the Lord left to take sannyasa. But Lochan Das Thakura describes this as follows:
"Seeing Mahaprabhu's eagerness to take sannyasa, the moon-faced Vishnupirya-devi said, with her voice choked in emotion, " Tell me, O Prananatha, Lord of my life, and I shall take your order upon my head. Will you take sannyasa? I have heard this rumor being circulated among the people in general. Hearing this, my heart is broken. If it is true, I shall enter into fire. You are the treasure of my life. Your beautiful form is always everfresh and newly youthful. Will you give up everything and go away? If am deprived of your association, I might as well give up my life by drinking poison."
Hearing the pitiful words of lamentation spoken by Vishnupriya devi, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu smiled a little, and spoke as follows: "Listen, O you who are dear as life itself: Please don't be in any anxiety. There is no need to worry at all. What I am about to say is for your own benefit. Please hear me attentively, with your whole mind. Whatever you see in this world is all false; the only truth is Bhagavan and theVaishnavas, without that whatever you see is all illusion. Know this for a fact. Sons, wives, husbands, ladies, fathers, mothers, and everything else—all these relationships are illusory. They are temporary and transitional. In one lifetime we have one set of sons, wives, husbands, mothers and fathers, and in our next life this changes. Other than the lotus feet of Krishna, we have no real family. Everything else that we see as our family is an illusion of maya. What we see as man and woman is unreal. Beneath the surface all souls are spiritual energy; the relationship between men and women is an illusory connection of maya. Shri Krishna is the real husband of everyone; he is the master. Everything else is material, but unfortunately this is not understood by the people in general. The souls is embedded in a mixture of semen and blood from which it is born into a body composed of stool and urine. In this way the soul moves upon this earth in ignorance. From boyhood to youth to old age, we suffer different miseries, all the while mistaking the housing of this body as our real self. Absorbed in false ego, we make friends, maintain attachments, suffering abuse, and are gradually cheated by old age. Even hearing the truth, however, still our eyes are blind, and while our suffering in the material world brings us to tears, we never worship Govinda.
Fosaking Krishna's service, we maintain these bodies in the material world of birth and death, trapped in the bondage of maya. Mad with false ego we have forgotten our Lord, and so we insure our passage to hell. Your name is Vishnupriya, however. Fulfill the real purport of Vishnupriya, and do not lament for what is false. Remembering what I have said here, cast your worries at a distance, and always think of Krishna within your heart, day and night."
Having conveyed all these divine instructions to Vishnupriya devi, the Supreme Lord, Shri Gaurasundara revealed to her His four-armed form, thus making her understand his absolute position. At that time, he told Vishnupriya devi, "You see before you the Supreme Lord, cast your mayik lamentaion away." At this, Vishnupriya devi became joyful within. Her grief and pain vanished, and her heart became blissful upon suddenly seeing the Lord's four-armed form.
After hearing the instructions of the Lord and seeing his absolute form, Vishnupriya cast off her bewilderment, but her mentality of taking the Lord as her husband was intact. At that point, she fell at the feet of the Lord and said: "O Lord, please listen to my entreaty. Falling at your feet again and again, I implore you to accept my humble submission. I am certainly the lowest, having taken birth in this world of samsara; but you are my most dear Lord of life. This is my only wealth; without you I have nothing. Without your service, I will certainly go down." Saying this, Vishnupriya devi began loudly weeping, sobbing and sobbing again and again in ever-increasing frenzy of sorrow. Seeing the affliction of someone so dear, the Lord bestowed his merciful glance upon Vishnupriya devi, embracing her with his eyes and so giving her his mercy.
At that time, the Lord said, "Listen O Vishnupriya devi, and give close attention to my answer to your words. I shall go there and there, but wherever I go, I shall still remain at your place: This truth I have spoken with great determination."
Upon hearing the order of the Lord, Vishnupriya devi could understand that the Lord is supremely independent. At that time she said, "You must do what makes you happy. Let no one be an obstacle to your divine mission."
Addressing the Lord in this way, Vishnupriya tearfully averted her eyes from the Lord's glance and fell silent. Thus went the conversation between the Lord and Vishnupriya, which is painful to hear. This is reported by Lochan Dasa.
Lochan Dasa Thakura also sings the glories of Shri Gauranga and Nityananda in the following beautiful song:
parama karuna pahun dui jana
nitai gaurachandra
saba avatara, sara shiromani
kevala ananda kanda
bhaja bhaja bhai, chaitanya nitai
sudhrida visvasa kori
vishaya chariya se rase majiya
mukha bolo hari hari
dekho ore bhai, tribhuvane nai
emona doyala data
pashu-pakhi jhure, pashana vidore
shuni yar guna gantha
samsare majiya, rahile pariya
se pade nahilo asha
apana koroma, bhunjaye shamana,
kohoye locana dasa
This song was especially dear to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who translates it is follows:
"This is a song by Locan dasa Thakura. Locan dasa declares that the two Lords, Nitai-Gauracandra—Lord Nitai and Lord Chaitanya—are very merciful. They are the essence of all incarnations. The specific significance of these incarnations is that prosecuting their way of self-realization is simply joyful, for they introduced chanting and dancing. There are many incarnations, like Lord Rama and even Krishna, who taught Bahgavad-gita, which requires knowledge and understanding. But Lord Chaitanya introduced a process which is simply joyful—simply chant and dance. Therefore Lochan Das requests everyone: "My dear brother, I request that you just worship Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda with firm conviction and faith." Don't think that this chanting and dancing will not lead to the desired goal. It will. It is the assurance of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that one will get all perfection by this process. Therefore one must chant with firm faith and conviction.
But what is the process? If one wants to be Krishna conscious by this process, one has to give up his engagement in sense gratification. That is the only restriction. If one gives up sense gratification, it is sure that he will reach the desired goal. One simply has to chant "Hari Hari!" without any motive of sense gratification.
Lochan das says, "My dear brother, you just try and examine this. Within the three worlds there is no one like Lord Chaitanya or Lord Nityananda, because Their merciful qualities are so great that They make even birds and beasts cry, what to speak of human beings." Actually, when Lord Chaitanya passed through the forest known as Jharikhanda, the tigers, elephants, snakes, deer, and all other animals joined Him in chanting Hare Krishna. It is so nice that anyone can join. Even teh animals can join, what to speak of human beings. Of course, it is not possible for ordinary men to induce animals to chant, but if Chaitanya Mahaprabhu could inspire animals to chant, at least we can encourage human beings to adopt this path of Hare Krishna mantra chanting. It is so nice that even the most stonehearted man will be melted. It is so nice that even stone will melt.
But Lochan dasa Thakura regrets that he is entrapped by sense gratification. He addresses himself, "My dear mind, you are entrapped in this sense gratification process, and you have no attraction for chanting Hare Krishna. Since you have no attraction for the lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, what can I say? I can simply think of my misfortune. Yamaraja, the superintendent of death, is punishing me by not allowing me to be attracted by this movement."
Shri Lochan Dasa Thakura was born in Shakabda 1445 and disappeared in 1540.