Blog

Glory to Shri Chaitanya, glory to Nityananda.
Glory to Advaita Candra and glory to all the devotees of Gaura.
Glory to Jahnava and glory to Vira Candra.
Glory to Harinama mantra of Kaliyuga.
Glory to Shrinivasa Acarya and glory to Ramacandra, a seed of love and a disciple of Acarya Prabhu.
Glory to kaviraja Thakura Govinda who has given joy to the people of seven islands.
Glory to the devoted listeners whom the writer requests to concentrate on Radha Krishna lila.

The writer is requesting the listeners to listen to the birth episode of Shrinivasa Acarya Thakura. Chaitanya had sent Nityananda to Gauda who had flooded Gauda with love and devotion. Mahaprabhu asked the Vaishnavas who had come from Gauda about news of the place. Some reported that there was no Harinama in Gauda, and however good or bad no one was spared there. Some reported that Acarya Gosvami (Advaita) had given up the doctrine of devotion and had been propagating the theory of salvation. This made Prabhu very angry and he began to feel the absence of Nityananda at this precious time. In the meantime Svarupa and Rama Raya came to meet Prabhu and he was very glad to see them. Prabhu told them with a delightful heart. "It is good that you have come. Gauda has become devoid of devotion. Advaita Acarya is the embodiment of God but he has discarded devotion and has been propagating the five types of salvation. I cannot understand the mind of Advaita. Now suggest something so that devotion can be saved. I cannot see anything hateful in the doctrine of salvation because Acarya is the only man who can inherit the right of doing this. I cannot believe the heresy. I think it is not true." At that moment a letter came from Nityananda which also carried the same news. Prabhu was afraid to read the letter. Prabhu wrote an answer to that letter and then went to the temple with his companions to have darshan of Jagannatha. First of all he became happy to see Garuda in the temple. At that very moment Sarva Bhauma came to visit Prabhu whose very appearance made Prabhu fall into a trance and in this trance Prabhu began to explain devotion in place of salvation. Bhattacarya taking Prabhu in his lap came out of the temple and took him to the house of Kasi Misra where Prabhu restored his senses. Prabhu gave the letter of Nityananda to Sarva Bhauma and ordered him to read it. The letter made Bhattacarya very angry and he told Prabhu, "Who is this ignorant person who is propagating the doctrine of salvation in place of devotion? We three will go there and have a debate with him and if he does not want to come then we will bring him by force." Hearing these words Prabhu was very happy and he wrote two letters, one to Advaita Acarya and the other to Nityananda. A vaishnava carried the letters to Gauda.
Bhattacarya said with folded hands, "I am an unfortunate person, devotion cannot be attained through argument. Devotion can give pleasure which the doctrine of salvation cannot give. I have spent a long time in fruitless argument with Gopinatha Acarya who was not an unfortunate person like me because he is the favorite devotee of You, my Lord. He knows the actual character of Prabhu. You, my Lord have favored me through Gopinatha and saved me from my blind faith in salvation and implanted the faith of devotion in me." After that they took their leave of Prabhu. But Prabhu could not stop thinking anxiously about the vicious effect of mankind being devotionless. How could he restore devotion on the earth? He wanted to send some of his love to Gauda. How could he send this to Nityananda? For people would not believe in vague things. The two brothers, Rupa and Sanatana had gone to Vrndavana to publish devotional books and they both had taken Prabhu's love for this purpose. Now he should create another person to bear his love. So Prabhu began to call upon the Earth by her name. The Earth deity appeared before Prabhu with folded hands and Prabhu told her, "O earth, listen to me carefully, you should bear a person full of love." She said, "O my Lord, let me manifest the love of you which you have deposited in me." Prabhu at once gave his permission to her with a delighted heart but he did not give any name for the person.
When Svarupa and Rama Raya came to Prabhu, the latter told them, "It is good that you have come, now let us see what can be done." Prabhu informed them about his conversation with the Earth. Then Prabhu became ecstatic in the utterance of love and began to cry taking the name of Nityananda. Prabhu became unconscious in ecstasy. After a long time Prabhu got back his senses as Svarupa began to chant Harinama in his ears. Prabhu then suggested that they should have a darshan of God Jagannatha when Sarva Bhauma came to meet him.
On seeing Sarva Bhauma Prabhu became very happy and told him, "Take a seat and listen to me. Advaita Acarya has begun to propagate the theory of salvation by giving up the theory of devotion so what should we do?" Sarva Bhauma was very sad to see the distressed Prabhu and he told Prabhu, "Advaita Acarya is God himself and the creator of this universe. He cannot talk like this. Who has said this to you? Bring him here before me." Prabhu said, "Advaita had become very disappointed as I had left Navadvipa. So he is doing this to frighten the people because he can do anything that is in his mind. I have full faith in Acarya and cannot violate his orders. Now suggest something that will save devotion with all its prime importance." Bhattacarya said, "O my Lord, you can suggest the right thing as you are all there is proof of it. It was my wrong fascination for the doctrine of Maya that was rectified by your grace. The Kaliyuga element is rotten. The kings who are all heretics have been dominating over people. Once Nityananda had curbed their powers by propagating harinama which is the best medicine and this Nityananda you have sent to Gauda. Now my Lord with Nityananda you are the right person to make an attempt to save devotion."
Prabhu said, "I have parted with Nityananda. Now what shall I do?" Bhattacarya said, "Who will give a suggestion? Only you can consult with Prabhu Jagannatha of Nilacala." Prabhu said, "This is a good idea, Bhatta, let us go to Lord Jagannatha." In the temple, Prabhu began to pray to Jagannath Deva. Suddenly the 14 yard long garland of Jaganntha fell to the ground and the priest handed it to Prabhu. Prabhu became very happy and returned to his house with a free mind to went to bed. Jagannatha Deva appeared to him in a dream with a face full of smiles that night. He said to Prabhu, "You are much superior to me in quality. A brahmin came to me and stayed here for a long time, he has no sons for which he has been crying to me. I became very much moved and granted him his boon. The brahmin is known as Chaitanya Dasa Acarya who is a very worthy man to possess love. You should deposit your love in him. Then the brahmin will have nothing to repent for. His wife Lakshmipriya is the daughter of Balarama and she is a devoted wife and of a sweet disposition."
At that very moment Mahaprabhu came back to his senses and began to cry in despair at the thought of Jagannath. Prabhu called on Kasi Misra and ordered him to bring Chaitanya dasa Acarya of Gauda because Jagannatha had told him about that person. Misra said, "My Lord, the brahmin was there for a long time but now he has gone to his country." Prabhu asked, "Do you know where he lives?" Misra said, "I will find out."
In the meantime Jagadananda came from Vrndavana. Prabhu asked him about the well being of Sanatana. He reported that everything was fine there. He had also visited Mahaprabhu's mother in Navadvipa and Advaita Acarya in Santipura. At the time of his leaving Acarya had said something mysterious to be conveyed to Prabhu. Prabhu said that he had not heard such a riddle and began to laugh. But from that time Prabhu became overwhelmed in the sorrow of separation from Krishna and the inevitable happened as to what Jagannatha had said to Him. He said, "Now do something to save love. Jagannatha has ordered me to meet Chaitanya dasa. Do search for him." Here the earth could not bear the burden of Prabhu's love any longer and the whole earth began to shake in an earthquake all day and night. The people began to say that this was not an earthquake that was shaking the country but it was Chaitanya who had done this. Formerly Chaitanya had deposited his love in the ocean which had flooded Nilacala. The ocean became helpless in keeping it and deposited it to the earth who in her turn could not keep it any longer and so began to shake the country. Some said that as the former had no issues and property too, why shoud they leave this country? Some said that only Shri Chaitanya could solve it. So they went to the house of Misra and began to shout in excitement. Prabhu with Svarupa and others came out of the room and his appearance made the people more excited. They told Prabhu, "Once you saved us from the flood. Now the earth is shaking, O Lord, please save us from this calamity. You are the only one who can save us, do something to help us to here instead of shifting elsewhere."
In the meantime the priest of the temple brought the praadam of Jagannatha and reported to Prabhu. "O my Lord, I have become helpless in doing service to Jagannatha because as soon as I tried to touch him, his whole body began to tremble, so service to Jagannatha has been totally stopped." Prabhu called on the Earth and ordered her to take control of herself. The priest then requested Prabhu to do service to Jagannatha Deva with his own hands. Prabhu pacified the priest and all of them went to their own houses but Prabhu kept on thinking about Chaitanya dasa. He again called the Earth and asked her about Chaitanya dasa. The earth replied that there were many Chaitanya dasas, whom was she to search for? Prabhu told here everything that he knew about the brahmin. On the third day the Earth came back with the information that Chaitanya dasa used to live in Cakandi village and he was a very religious minded brahmin. Now he had been performing some rituals for the birth of a son. Prabhu became happy and ordered the Earth, "Listen to me carefully, you go and deposit this love in Lakshmipriya to the fullest quantity." The Earth at once obeyed the order of Prabhu who here in Nilacala was very much relieved and began kirtana and dancing in the courtyard of the temple of Lord Jagannatha. Prabhu stood before Jagannath with folded hands and began to cry uttering the name of a certain Shrinivasa. Jagannatha being very delighted began to laugh and sent love for Chaitanya dasa. On seeing the smile of Jagannatha, Prabhu also began to laugh. Being ordered by Jagannatha Prabhu sent his love to Chaitanya dasa the result of which was a son named Shrinivasa who would perform many pastimes in his life. Formerly Rupa and Sanatana had gone to Vrndavana to propagate and publish devotional books on Radha Krishna lila. Later the charge would be handed over to Shrinivasa. After bowing to Jagannatha, Prabhu returned to his house and called on Kasi Misra. Svarupa and Ramananda came to consult with Prabhu and they suggested that he send a letter to Nityananda in Gauda because he had been anxiously waiting for it. Prabhu accepted this suggestion gladly and wrote a letter with his own hand writing to Nityananda and advised him to perform Harinama Sankirtana in every house and also to discard Mayavada and propagate Bhaktivada. He also ordered Nityananda to flood the universe in Harinama Sankirtana. Prabhu informed Nityananda that there was a village named Cakandi near the river Ganges where lived a brahmin named Chaitanya dasa. He would get a son named Shrinivasa who would be the embodiment of love and a great Vaishnava.
While Prabhu had been spending his days with a free mind, a letter from Sanatana reached him in which Sanatana had written that Gopala Bhatta had come to Vrndavana to stay. Prabhu was so glad with the news that he told it to all his devotees. Prabhu said that he wanted to send some gifts to Vrndavana but, "I am a poor penniless sannyasi. I have nothing substantial except my dora and asana but they are very powerful in their importance as they belong to me. I'll send them to Bhatta." Prabhu wrote a letter to Sanatana in which he advised Rupa to carry on writing the lila shastras. Rupa would be glad to know that Gauda would produce a jewel-like person named Shrinivasa who would be born in a brahmin family. He would manifest the Radha Krishna lila in Gauda. Prabhu wrote, "after my disappeaance Shrinivasa will go to Vrndavana. Hand over your books to Shrinivasa then. I'll send Nityananda to Gauda with Ramadasa, Gadadhara and Sundarananda. Chaitanya dasa has been praying now in Nilacala for a son and he has got the favor of Jagannath Deva. I am now living with Svarupa and Rama Raya in a lonely kunja in Nilacala. I am sending a vaishnava to you with asana and dora. Ramananda has given him the money to be spent on the way."
When the Vaishnava reached Vrndavana, Rupa and Sanatana both were sitting in a lonely place. Receiving the letter of Mahaprabhu, the two brothers became so delighted that they could not control their emotions. When they got the dora and asana, they simply became unconscious in ecstasy. They began to cry by pulling the dora around their necks. They fell on the ground by crying out the name of Gaurahari. They began to lament saying, "Can we see the face of Prabhu Gaurachandra again? Our hearts are aching in pain for not hearing his sweet words." They rolled on the ground crying loudly and by holding the asana to their bosoms they could smell the scent of Prabhu. In the meantime Bhugarva and Lokenath came to that place. They also fell on the ground in misery.
Now, O listeners, listen to the apathetic nature of Lokenath. Lokenath used to remain in seclusion without anybody. He used to remain in deep meditation by closing his eyes and sometimes he used to cry and sometimes laugh in a trance. He was the most favorite devotee of Mahaprabhu. Rupa and Sanatana used to respect him to a great extent. Once there would come Narottama to be his disciple who would manifest love on the earth in the proper sense of the term. Narottama would come from Gaderahat and he was the son of Krishnananda Raya. As Rupa Sanatana belonged to one self so also Shrinivasa and Narottama. Gauranga had named him as Narottama. I shall discuss about him later, now I will discuss the mental condition of Rupa and Sanatana. Observing the miserable condition of Sanatana, Rupa told him, "If you behave like this no one will survive, you are the genuine embodiment of Prabhu. Do not be so perturbed." In this way Rupa somewhat consoled Sanatana but since then Sanatana used to remain very restless fearing the separation of Shri Gauranga. Both of them controlled each other. Then Rupa and Sanatana with the asana and dora went to Bhatta. They read the letter to Bhatta who at once became unconscious. Shri Rupa and Sanatana pacified him and Sanatana started telling Bhatta, "Listen to me Bhatta, you can sit on this asana while you are talking about Krishna or Prabhu. There is no sin in it but how can I sit on my Prabhu's asana? Prabhu has ordered me and how can I disobey it?" So Bhatta put the dora around his neck and sat on the asana. Everyone was very happy and returned to their own places.
That night Sanatana saw in a dream that Shri Gaura Candra was talking to him while holding his shoulder, "Shrinivasa, a brahmin boy, will manifest my love in Gauda. He will come here after the end of my sports. Look after him in Vrndavana. There will be no problem in seeing me whether I shall be on this earth or not. If you have enough grace of Chaitanya, you can see me in everyone."
Bhatta said, "Prabhu will send an illustrious devotee, shall I be able to see him with my own eyes?" Rupa said, "I am giving labor being empowered by Prabhu and my labor will be fully successful if that gifted devotee comes in my life time. I want to hand over these books to him with my own hands. I shall make him a great scholar by myself."
They all became very happy to think that in future all types of people will be delivered from damnation. Since then it became the daily custom of Gopala Bhatta to wear the dora on his neck at the time of his meditation. One day he declared before all that he had seen in his dream Shrinivasa in his mother's womb in the house of Chaitanya dasa. He will propagate the Radha Krishna nama as soon as he will take his birth and deliver all classes of mankind. Sanatana and others also saw the same dream. Now they became anxious as to the actual meaning of the dream and began to think about Mahaprabhu. They began to wait for Shrinivasa eagerly. Svarupa in Nilacala used to spend his days in a perturbed mind as he had been visualising so many bad omens in his dreams.
One day Svarupa requested Prabhu privately to tell him something about the qualities of Shrinivasa. After hearing everything about Shrinivasa Svarupa became very satisfied and wrote a letter to Sanatana. Chaitanya dasa in his own house is performing seven rituals on the bank of the Ganges. In his dream he knows that his son would be of a bright (Gaura) golden complexion and and his name would be Shrinivasa who would manifest his divine love for Prabhu. Prabhu put his hand on the head of Lakshmipriya in her dream and told her to be happy as she was going to have a wonderful son. The touch of Prabhu had made her sink in ecstasy and when she came to her senses she began to cry and her body became full of divine symptoms. Lakshmipriya told Acarya, "Be careful, a superman has come inside me. Due to his coming, there will be no poverty in our family. Do not go elsewhere and leave me to do harinama sankirtana all the time." Acarya said, "How can I sleep for I have no money to manage my family?" Lakshmipriya said, "We have enormous wealth now, all our poverty is over. Formerly we suffered alot due to the tyranny of the Muslim king. Now he has gone. Our zamindar had evacuated this village during that time. Now he has come back to our village. Formerly people used to utter the manes of Durga and Siva, now they utter Radha Krishna." There was a wicked brahmin who said something wrong to the zamindar which made the zamindar announce that people should utter Siva and Durga otherwise all their properties would be taken away. A drummer man was arranged by Durga dasa to announce on his dhola the name of Durga Siva, but the drum spontaneously started to say Radha Krishna and continued to say the same thing over and over again which made all the young boys and girls to dance uttering Radha Krishna. All the people became mad in Radha Krishna nama. The drummer also became ecstatic in love for Radha Krishna. All the dancers went to the house of Chaitanya dasa who became very nervous on seeing the zamindar. He quickly welcomed him and offered him a seat. He could not think as to what to do for the zamindar. He politely requested Durga dasa to take his bath and after that Chaitanya dasa offered him various items of food. Durga dasa became astonished to see such varieties of food arranged by a poor man like Chaitanya dasa. After completing his eating Raya went to sleep in the house of Chaitanya dasa. All night he could hear the sound of khola and kartalas. He woke from his sleep but could not hear it anymore as he fell unconscious to the ground. Lakshmipriya told her husband, "See carefully, two bright complexioned boys are dancing in the sankirtana. Both of them put their feet on my head and ordered me to remain carefully for ten months. After that they will again dance in my courtyard." Durga dasa sitting on his bed heard and saw everything. Being ecstatic in love, he began to cry loudly and fell to the ground. Acarya tried to pacify him by taking him in his lap. After being pacified, Raya told Acarya, "I do not know what I have heard. When I got back my senses I could see nothing." Acarya said, "The two have shown their characters in dreams." Raya said, "Why are you trying to fool me? Please explain to me for my pleasure." Acarya said, "Raya, you are a good soul, why are you becoming so restless?" Raya said, "It is not a dream. I have seen them with my own eyes. O Providence has deprieved me from seeing them. O Acarya, I know that my own God has entered into my body. I know it is the saying of the scriptures that he who discards his own God, will go to hell."
Acarya said, "Raya, you are a genius." Raya said, "I have heard from hearsay that God has incarnated Himself as Gaura in Navadvipa and that is the God which has entered into my heart. That God has taken the place of my own worshipped deity and is the God who has danced in your courtyard. I have seen two bright complexioned deities in my dream. Now please tell me what am I to do?" Acarya said, "You are my king and I am your subject." Raya said,"I have told you everything. Now I am very much eager to take Radha Krishna name." After that Raya went to his house and decided to search for the right guru. When he could understand who would be his guru, he told Acarya, "It is unbelievable that he has so much power even living in his mother's womb. I bow to that powerful superman, Shrinivasa, who even living in his mother's womb has flooded the universe in Radha Krishna nama. Even Mahaprabhu could not be so successful in making people inclined towards Krishna nama in Navadvipa which Shrinivasa from his mother's womb has done in Cakandi. Even the heretics have taken Krishna nama. Prabhu is so favorable to Shrinivasa. I have not seen such an incarnation in any period. Now, O people, worship the two brothers, Chaitanya and Nitai, only because there is none so merciful like them."
Here Lakshmipriya and Acarya had been spending their days in extreme happiness. All the villagers used to give the necessary things to run the family of Acarya and in this way all his poverty was gone. Gradually the auspicious moment of giving birth to a child came near and on the day of the full moon of the month of Vaisakha (April/May) Lakshmipriya gave birth to a male child. Acarya entered the room and saw the moonlike face of his son with a delighted heart. The brahmin began to recite from the Vedas. The deities blessed him from the sky and the women made auspicious sounds with their tongues. Children and aged began to dance together in joy. The cows with their calves began to make jovial sounds. The villagers brought gifts for the child. Durga dasa Raya with many musical instruments came in a procession to the house of Chaitanya dasa. All of them began to dance merrily in the courtyard of the house. Acarya distributed gifts to the brahmins. No sound except Radha Krishna nama could be heard there. At the end of the day Raya returned to his house happily. For the well being of his son Chaitanya dasa donated gifts to all.
Being faithful to the feet of Shri Jahnava and Viracandra, Nityananda dasa narrates Prem Vilasa.