Life and Precepts

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of Nadia, just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd Falgoon 1407 Sakabda, answering to the 18th February 1486 of the Christian Era. The moon was eclipsed at the time of His birth, and the people of Nadia were then engaged, as is usual on such occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi with loud cheers of Haribol. His father, Jagannath Misra, was a poor Brahmin of the Vaidic order, and His mother, Sachi Devi, was a model good woman, both descended from Brahmin stocks originally residing in Sylhet. Mahaprabhu was a beautiful child and the ladies of the town came to see Him with presents. His mother's father, Pandit Nilambar Chakravarti, a renowned astrologer, foretold that the Child would be a great personage in time; and he, therefore, gave Him the name Vishwambhar. The ladies of the neighbourhood styled Him Gour Hari on account of His golden complexion, and His mother called Him Nimai on account of the Nim tree near which He was born. Beautiful as the Lad was, everyone heartily loved to see Him every day. As He grew up He became a whimsical and frolicsome Lad. After His fifth year, He was admitted into a school where He picked up Bengali in a very short time.    (More...)

Most of His contemporary biographers have mentioned certain anecdotes regarding Chaitanya which are simply records of His early miracles. It is said that when He was an infant in His mother's arms, He wept continually, and when the neighbouring ladies and His mother cried Haribol! He used to stop. Thus there was a continuation of the utterance of Haribol in the house, foreshowing the future mission of the Hero. It has also been stated that when His mother once gave Him sweetmeats to eat, He ate clay instead of the food. His mother asking for the reason, He stated that as every sweetmeat was nothing but clay transformed, He could eat clay as well. His mother, who was the consort of a pandit, explained that every article in a special state was adapted to a special use. Earth, while in the state of a jug, could be used as a water pot, but in the state of a brick such a use was not possible. Clay, therefore, in the form of sweetmeats was usable as food and not clay in its other states. The Lad was convinced and admitted His stupidity in eating clay, and agreed to avoid the mistake in future.    (More...)

In His eighth year, He was admitted into the tol of Gangadas Pandit in Ganganagar close by the village of Mayapur. In two years He became well read in Sanskrit Grammar and Rhetoric. His readings after that were of the nature of self-study in His own house, where He had found all-important books belonging to His father, who was a pandit himself. It appears that He read the Smriti in His own study and the Nyaya also, in competition with His friends who were then studying under the celebrated Pandit Raghunath Shiromani.    (More...)

Now, after the tenth year of His age, Chaitanya became a passable scholar in Grammar, Rhetoric, the Smriti and the Nyaya. It was after this that His elder brother Vishwarup left his house and accepted the asram (status) of a sanyasi (ascetic). Chaitanya, though a very young Boy, consoled His parents, saying that He would serve them with a view to please God. Just after that, His father left this world. His mother was exceedingly sorry, and Mahaprabhu, with His usually contented appearance, consoled his widowed mother.    (More...)

It was after this that some of the jealous and low-minded Brahmins of Kulia picked a quarrel with Mahaprabhu and collected a party to oppose Him. Nimai Pandit was naturally a soft-hearted Person, though strong in His principles. He declared that party feeling and sectarianism were the two great enemies of progress, and as long as He should continue to be an inhabitant of Nadia, belonging to a certain family, His mission would not meet with complete success. He then resolved to be a citizen of the world by cutting off His connection with a particular family, caste and creed; and, with this resolution, He embraced the position of a sanyasi at Kutwa, under the guidance of Keshab Bharati of that town, in the 24th year of His life. His mother and wife wept bitterly for His separation, but our Hero, though soft in heart, was a strong Person in principle. He left His little world in His house for the unlimited spiritual world of Krishna with Man in general.    (More...)

His biographers have given us a detail of the journey. He first went to Kurmakshetra, where He did a miracle by curing a leper named Vasudev. He met Ramananda Rai, the governor of Vidyanagar on the banks of the Godavari, and had a philosophical conversation with him on the subject of Prembhakti, loving devotion. He worked another miracle by touching (making them immediately disappear) the seven Tal trees, through which Ramchandra, the son of Dasarath, had shot His arrow and killed the great Bali Raj. He preached Vaishnavism and nam-samkirtan, chanting of the Holy Names of God, throughout the journey. At Rangakshetra He stayed for four months in the house of one Venkata Bhatta in order to spend the rainy season. There He converted the whole family of Venkata from Ramanuji Vaishnavism into Krishna bhakta, along with the son of Venkata, a boy of ten years named Gopal, who afterwards came to Vrindaban and became one of the six Gosvamins or Prophets serving under their leader Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle Probodhananda Saraswati, Gopal wrote several books on Vaishnavism.    (More...)

Chaitanya visited numerous places in Southern India as far as Cape Comorin and returned to Puri in two years by Panderpur on the Bhima. In this latter place He spiritualized one Tukaram, who became from that time a religious preacher himself. This fact has been admitted in his abhangas, which have been collected in a volume by Mr. Satyendra Nath Tagore of the Bombay Civil Service. During His journey He had discussions with the Buddhists, the Jains and the Mayavadis in several places, and converted His opponents to Vaishnavism, the worship of God as a Person.    (More...)

Svarup-Damodar, who had been known by the name of Purushottamacharya while Mahaprabhu was in Nadia, joined Him from Benares and accepted His service as His secretary. No production of any poet or philosopher could be laid before Mahaprabhu unless Svarup had passed it as pure and useful. Rai Ramananda was his second mate. Both he and Svarup sang while Mahaprabhu expressed His sentiment on a certain point of worship. Paramananda Puri was His minister in matters of religion. There are hundreds of anecdotes described by His biographers which we do not think it meet here to reproduce. Mahaprabhu slept short. His sentiments carried him farther and farther in the firmament of spirituality every day and night, and all His admirers and followers watched Him throughout. He worshipped, communicated with his missionaries at Vrindaban, and conversed with those religious men who newly came to visit Him. He sang and danced, took no care of Himself and oft-times lost Himself in religious beatitude. All who came to Him believed Him as the All-beautiful God appearing in the netherworld for the benefit of Mankind. He loved His mother all along, and sent her Mahaprasad, spiritual foods, now and then with those who went to Nadia. He was most amiable in nature. Humility was personified in Him. His sweet appearance gave cheer to all who came in contact with Him. He appointed Prabhu Nityananda as the missionary in charge of Bengal. He despatched six disciples, the Goswamis, to Vrindaban to preach love in the upcountry. He punished all of His disciples who deviated from a holy life. This He markedly did in the case of junior Haridas. He never lacked in giving proper instructions in life to those who solicited them. This will be seen in His teachings to Raghunath Das Goswami. His treatment of Haridas (senior) shows how He loved spiritual men, and how He defied caste distinction in the cause of spiritual brotherhood.    (More...)

Upon the Lord's return to Puri, King Prataparudra and several brahmanas joined the banner of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was now twenty-seven years of age. In His twenty-eighth year He went to Bengal as far as Gauda in Malda. There He picked up two great personages named Rupa and Sanatana. Though descended from the lines of brahmanas, these two brothers had become demi-Muslims by their continual contact with Hussain Shah, then the emperor of Gauda. Their names had been changed by the emperor into Dabir Khas and Sakara Mallik, and the Shah loved them heartily, for they were both learned in Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit and were loyal servants of the state. The two gentlemen had found no way to come back as regular Hindus and had written to Lord Caitanya for spiritual help while He was at Puri. Caitanya had written in reply that He would come to them and extricate them from their spiritual difficulties. Now that Caitanya had come to Gauda, both the brothers appeared before Him with their long-standing prayer. Caitanya ordered them to go to Vrndavana and meet Him there.    (More...)

While at Benares, Caitanya had an interview with the learned sannyasis of that town in the house of a brahmana who had invited them all. The sannyasis were headed by their most learned leader, Prakasananda Sarasvati. But after a short controversy, they submitted to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, admitting that they had been misled by the commentaries of Saṅkaracarya. It was impossible even for learned scholars to oppose Caitanya for long, for there was some spell in Him that touched their hearts and made them weep for their spiritual improvement. The sannyasis of Benares soon fell at the feet of Caitanya and asked for His grace. Caitanya then preached pure devotion and instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Krsna, which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The whole population of Benares became devotees after this wonderful conversion of the sannyasis and they performed a mass chanting of the holy names with their new Lord. After sending Sanatana to Vrndavana, Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Puri again through the jungles with His comrade Balabhadra, who reported that the Lord performed many miracles on the way, such as making tigers and elephants dance upon hearing the name of Krsna.    (More...)