Hare Krishna dear devotees
Please accept my humble obeisances.
I've gone through many websites to know the scriptural references of Lord Caitanya's appearance.
No doubt, I got answers on many websites. But the only thing lacking was exact number of the verse.
Can anyone help me out to get the scriptural references with the particular numbers of the verses?
your servant
Replies
This is given in Tatva sandarbha with verse number as requested
Naradiya Purana (5.47) also foretells the Lord's appearance as a devotee: aham eva kalau vipra nityam pracchanna vigrah-ah bhagavad bhakta -rupen-a lokan raksami sarvada "The Lord said: 'Concealing My real identity, 0 vipra LMarkandeya Rsi], I appear in Kali-yuga in the garb of a devotee and always protect My devotees.'"
Sri Caitanya and Sri Nityananda are hidden incarnations of God in a form of devotees,therefore there is no need to search for scriptural reference. Their mission is to spread singing holy names all over the world in this age of Kali.
Trough the history many Gaudi vaishnavas tried to prove who They are based on scriptures, puting themselfs quickly on a thin ice in a front of sanskrit panditas, but because They are hidden incarnations, its not possible to prove that in this way.
Only by singing and shouting Their names in a association of advanced vaishnavas person can realy realize who They are.
Singing holy names of Sri Krishna and Sri Rama is not waking bhakti so intensively and quickly,
as singing the names of Gauranga and Nityananda.
Jaya Nitai!
The proofs of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are generally divided into 2 types. The first type of verses are those found in the scriptural editions today (like the krsna varnam tvisakrsnam verse from Bhagavatam 11.5.32). Other verses in this category include the names of Visnu Sahasranama, the description of Yuga Avatars in Bhagavatam etc. These verse are found in today's editions, so they have verse numbers.
The second type of verses are those quoted from in the commentaries of our Acharyas (the verses from various Puranas). These verses are not given references, because generally the verse numbers are not given when an Acharya quotes a verse in commentary. We see, that there are many verses that Sripad Madhavacharya, Srila Ramanuajcharya and even Srila Sankaracharya quote in their commentaries that can no longer be found in the current editions today, but still are deemed authentic because a great acharya has quoted them. Similarly when our Goswamis quote verses from Puranas that are not found in the current editions today, we trust that these verses are authentic because:
1) The character of our Goswamis is such that they would never lie.
2) Jiva Goswami studied all the schools of Vedic philosophy in Varanasi before coming to Vrndavana, so it is possible he had seen the original manuscripts of the verses which may have disappeared today. In fact, in his Sad-Sandarbhas, Jiva Goswami comments that all the verses that he is quoting in his commentary are verses whose original manuscripts he has seen with his own eyes (and hence they are authentic).
Even some of the major texts (like Chaitanya Upanisad) were only manifest after Lord Chaitanya disappeared (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur searched everywhere in South India until he found a copy in the house of a Brahmin). Anyway it is very easy to proof Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhhu's divinity simply using the verses found in Bhagavatam.
The most important verse is the krsna varnam verse, which clearly refers to the "golden avatar" of the Lord (tvisakrsnam). This is supported by the Bhagavatam which says that there are 4 Yuga Avatars, that have four bodily colors, Shukla (white), Rakta (red) Syama (Blackish-Blue) and Gaura (golden) (see SB 10.8.13 for reference). In Satya Yuga the Lord appeared in a White form, in Treta the Lord took as Red form as the Yagya Avatar, in Dwapar the Lord took the Syama Form (as Krsna), so in Kaliyuga, the Lord must take a Golden Form. This avatar must also establish Yuga Dharma, (therefore it cannot be Kalki or Buddha, who do not establish Nama Sankirtan). From this process of elimination, Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu's divinity can be proved using Bhagavatam.
Of course if further proof is needed, once can give the Puranic verses quoted by our Goswamis.
Another way we can prove the authencity of Lord Gauranga is by the huge amounts of evidence that His followers wrote. Every single acharya in our line (there are more than hundreds!) wrote that Lord Chaitanya was God Himself. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, who was initially a Mayavadi and very knowledgeable about the scriptures wrote many shlokas and astakamas (like Ujjvala Varana), to show that Lord Chaitanya was God. So there is also a load of historical evidence for this too!
Then there is also the archaeological evidence. If you go to Navadwip or Ekachakra you will find deities of Lord Gauranga Nitai that have been worshiped all the way from the time they were on earth! Furthermore these deities worshiped Lord Gaura Nitai as God. So that is another proof of their divinity.