Lord Chaitanya’s momentous victory in Puri – Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya Chp 6

Transcript

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Lord Chaitanya transforming the heart of Lord Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya After After transforming his head Normally we use the word Transformation for the heart Not so much for the head But his head was changed In the sense that He was intellectually redirected From The path of impersonalism Towards the path of personal devotion And this is This pastime Has both External as well as internal Significance External significance in the sense that It marks The The first And the most dramatic Among The Intellectual Victories of Lord Chaitanya That Prior to this He has defeated He has established himself as the Topmost scholar in Navadvip By debating and outclassing All the scholars there And then When none of the local scholars were ready to Face Keshav Kashmiri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu faced him And Outclassed him too So those are definitely Extraordinary exhibitions of Scholarship by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu But at that time he was Nimai Pandit And he had himself Not started Hmm Hmm Exhibiting his devotion directly And he did not Have His own movement So we don’t see Hmm Keshav Kashmiri Literally Becoming a follower of Lord Chaitanya Yes He became transformed He From a dry scholar He became a devotee Which is itself A very significant transformation But He did not get Transformed in the sense of Becoming a follower of Lord Chaitanya And We could say that there are Three main intellectual victories That characterised Lord Chaitanya’s Life The victory over Keshav Kashmiri, the victory over Sarovar Bhattacharya And the victory over Prakashanan Saraswati In Kashi Which will be described in the Later half of this Madhya Leela And among these three All three of them are very Important in their own way But relatively speaking Among these three the most Consequential In terms of the person Becoming a constant Internal associate of Lord Chaitanya That is That happens in the case of Sarovar Primarily So we see that Sarovar Bhattacharya Gives up He not only gives up The impersonal conceptions But also accepts the Personal devotional Conception And not only does he accepts that intellectually And That sort of acceptance Is done by Prakashanan Saraswati As well as by his followers But We see that Sarovar was much further When Prakashanan Saraswati Does not leave His associates And Does not leave Kashi and Come to Puri to be An associate of Lord Chaitanya But Sarovar is in Puri And Chaitanya Maharaj Was residing in Puri So he becomes An intimate Associate of Lord Chaitanya And we see that He is a prominent character In all of the Lord’s subsequent pastimes So this is Very significant because The Lord Gets in the form of Sarovar A A Very prominent Respectable and scholarly Advocate And we will see that it is through Sarubhama that Hmm That Lord Chaitanya’s glory Reaches Pratap Rudra And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu eventually spreads his influence And conquers the heart of Pratap Rudra also So while at one level We understand That Lord Chaitanya is the supreme Lord and he has a plan And by his plan everything is happening But at the same time At another level We can for our edification Learn How such plans are unfolding And How they Demonstrate the principles of bhakti For us Or if they demonstrate Especially the principles By which We can learn Insights in outreach So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Starting Victory In Jagannath Puri It lays the foundation For his Making Jagannath Puri his base Which He will be making For the second 24 years of his life Out of those 24 years Of course 6 years he will be travelling But while he travels It’s undoubted that That he has already made Puri his base And Puri becomes a devotional stronghold Thereby As Kuberavid So till now Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Although he was initially Known as an intellectual genius But Many had thought Especially that When he started chanting the names of Krishna And he closed his grammar School That he had He had lost his intelligence because of his Devotion and thus he had Become As some people might say Bawla Bawla means Mad So in fact Madness Is a word that is Frequently used In Chaitanya To describe Lord Chaitanya As well as to describe sometimes his associates also So now this Madness Normally when we think of someone as mad We think of madness As characterised by Lacking intelligence But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu demonstrates Madness Which is not Due to Shortage of intelligence But which is due to Madness which is the Culmination of intelligence The perfection of intelligence Normally we think is to Become free from all intoxication Whether it is the intoxication caused by alcohol Or whether it is Intoxication caused by the bodily conception of life The intoxication Caused by lust or whatever But Lord Chaitanya demonstrates That the perfection of life Is to actually Attain freedom From The bodily From all worldly Intoxication that is true But beyond that there is another Transcendental aspect to the Intoxication and that is To become spiritually intoxicated So Some people may think that All this chanting And dancing business indicate that These people don’t have much brain But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu demonstrates Right at the onset of his pastimes How That same person who is dancing Wildly in ecstasy Who faints at the sight Of Jananath That same person has Also the highest intelligence So His very first foray Into the Broader world outside Navadvip Is marked by a dramatic Astonishing success Its like A tennis player Comes into the pro league And His first match Is pitted against the world number one And nobody expects A person Who is just breaking into the international Pro level Sports to even be a match For the Champion For the world number one But suppose the world number one Is Thoroughly defeated By the By the This new New player That itself would be sensational news And Many people will be excited Oh this is the beginning of a new sports rivalry That here is this young player Is he a one time fluke Or can he That he defeated the world number one Or is he going to repeat that So people will think If that person can really repeat that Performance Then it will be the beginning of a Great rivalry Exciting rivalry But imagine that this world Number one who gets not only defeated By the Person Who is just coming new But even after Being defeated This world champion decides Oh this new person Is such a great player That leave alone Treating him as my rival I accept him As my mentor And I become his student Such will never happen in the competitive World of Tennis But just imagine if it would happen What kind of sensation would it be And what kind of statement it would give About the Convey about the calibre About this new person Who is broken into the International scene So that’s something like What happened with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Not only did he Defeat Saru Bhamma But Saru Bhamma eventually became His student His follower, his admirer His devotee And this was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu the sanyasi Just coming out from Puri Yes he had become very famous in Puri Among the devotees And among others also But when he comes to Puri he is Not known And we see The entry Saru Bhamma sees him Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes ahead because of some Differences with his associates They are behind and he rushes ahead in his enthusiasm Enters Jagannath temple Falls unconscious on seeing Jagannath The guards think that this person is just a Upstart creating a show And disrupting the order of the temple So they pick him up to Put him outside And Saru Bhamma By divine providence Is just there at that time And he notices and he says Oh this person is exhibiting Extraordinary symptoms of ecstasy Don’t throw him out just like that Let him come with me to my home Let him, bring him to my home And thus The person who is the biggest Scholarly influence In In Navadvip In Puri, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Meets him on his very first day And he doesn’t recognise Because he doesn’t know Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at that time And then There is Gopinath Acharya Who is a relative of Lord Who is from Navadvip Who is a relative of Saru Bhamma And who knows about the glory of Lord Chaitanya He comes there And then introductions are made And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Takes an endearingly Humble position Sometimes When there is a competition Often there is the idea that Both competitors Should brag about their prowess I am this great I am that great And yes, Kshatriyas do have that System of values Where Kshatriyas become more excited for fighting By talking about Their own accomplishments And that’s fine but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Is not demonstrating Kshatriya values He is demonstrating Transcendental Bhakti values And he Takes the position of a Very humble Student And he tells Saru Bhamma That I have come here Actually to be blessed By you Now that I have met you that’s my blessing That’s a blessing for me I have come here To get you in your Association So Navadvip There are multiple things Which attracts Saru Bhamma To Lord Chaitanya And soften his heart towards them So among those things The first is that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is so attractive Second is that He is so humble Third is that He is from the same town Same place Navadvip As is Lord Chaitanya Saru Bhamma and Chaitanya Both are from the same places And the fourth is that He feels connected He feels that I knew So he was related to Nilambar Chakravarti Who was the grandfather of Lord Chaitanya And he has heard about Jagannath Mishra So he feels A paternal sort of Sense of responsibility and affection For Lord Chaitanya And Whichever way we can enter a person’s heart If we are trying to do outreach It’s not just a matter of convincing the enemy It’s a matter of also Entering the heart And whichever way we can Enter the heart of a person It’s good And after all once that bond of affection is established Then that refinement of Conceptions and all that can follow So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Acts very much like a subordinate To Saru Bhamma Taking a humble position And then In between The associates of Lord Chaitanya Are not very pleased by This attitude of Saru Bhamma And his Students, his disciples So Saru Bhamma Out of his paternal affection Desires that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu be reinitiated In a higher sampradaya But But But Gopinathacharya says that he is himself God He doesn’t need any sampradaya at all He doesn’t like this idea But Saru Bhamma’s Students ask There is an inconclusive debate over there Where is it said in the Scriptures that God descends in Kaliyuga And that the Supreme God descends in Kaliyuga Where is it said? And he is 3 yugis And then Gopinathacharya quotes Vishnu Savasya Ramayana He quotes the Channavatar verse From the 7th Canto of the Bhagavatam But the debate Is inconclusive and finally Saru Bhamma says that Actually one needs mercy To understand The position of the Lord And then Gopinathacharya says we are just relatives And friends discussing, don’t take it so seriously But he says that What is the proof that you have got mercy And I haven’t got mercy So He says He replies that The fact that the Lord is staying in your house When it’s arranged that Saru Bhamma Gets rid of him He helps God Chaitanya come back to consciousness He hosts him for some time and then arranges For his accommodation In one of his acquaintances houses Which he has secluded And So Gopinathacharya says The fact that the Supreme Lord is staying in your house And still you are not organising That itself indicates that you have not got mercy Is what Gopinathacharya says And that sort of Debate ends over there inconclusively And then as per plan Saru Bhamma starts instructing Lord Chaitanya and Vedanta In the temple of Jagannath And Lord Chaitanya Just hears him Without speaking anything, without asking anything Without showing any emotion Saru Bhamma with a great sense of Beautifulness coming from his Parental sort of rasa He says that okay Go on speaking for Seven days and finally With some Vibhuti, he says Are you understanding or you are not understanding And then He replies that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replies that actually The words of the scripture Are like the sun And your explanations Are like the cloud Obscuring that And then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is So this could have been taken as Insult by Saru Bhamma But Saru Bhamma also exhibits Remarkable Composure And he says If you think that this explanation is not correct Then you give an explanation And then there is an intricate Philosophical discussion Where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu puts many pramanas To show how the Ultimate reality Talked about in Vedic literature is personal And that person is Krishna And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Completes his philosophical exposition With a spiritual revelation Where he reveals himself To be Krishna To Saru Bhamma Saru Bhamma faints And he comes back to consciousness He is overwhelmed Still he offers profuse Prayers to Lord Chaitanya And He that time becomes Transformed But past time goes on to further depict And demonstrate How parabhezu Is his transformation In multiple ways Saru Bhamma Krishna as Kairaja Goswami Demonstrates this So lets focus on some of them First is How He has so much faith In Prasad So he desires That Let there be Let there be Prasad That Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes from After taking darshan of Jagannath Actually it is a morning soon After their fateful meeting Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Comes thus So at that time Saru Bhamma has just woken up And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu offers Prasad to Saru Bhamma Saru Bhamma has not taken bath till now He has not done His Sandhya And still he immediately takes Prasad And that is quite amazing And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is also amazed And then he says How is this Then Saru Bhamma quotes the verse stating that That Prasad is so glorious The fortune Of getting Prasad Is so rare and so precious That the moment one gets Prasad One should take it And then And he hears this Chaitanya Mahaprabhu feels as if I have conquered Vaikuntha now He says that my descent has become successful I have attained One over the three boys Indeed I have won Vaikuntha Now Generally In personal ways Focus on the principle of Principle of Rules Rules Rules have to be strictly followed Because for them The ultimate reality is not personal And therefore The ultimate reality cannot offer mercy So the ultimate principle The ultimate driver Of spiritual growth Is not mercy But it is one’s own Viveka Buddhi And the Viveka Buddhi is exhibited By in terms of following Rules very strictly So here When Sarvabhauma agrees To take Prasad Without following any rules And regulations Normally a person Takes food without Without washing teeth Without bathing It’s considered often A sign of laziness Or A sign of uncleanness Hmm Of course some people may take Bed time tea and things like that Not bed time Bedside tea And things like that But in general It’s neither cultured nor hygienic To take food without Doing it proper Without cleaning oneself properly So Now a book Which is very elevated and refined Which is talking about Deep spiritual principles Like as in Chaitanya’s Kamrut That will not glorify That kind of Uncleanness So then Lord Chaitanya sees that Sarvabhauma has developed So much faith In the potency of Prasad That he is Ready to Put aside Adherence to rules and regulations And does Just for the sake of receiving mercy And that is Something which Immensely pleases Lord Chaitanya Because therein they say that He sees that Sarvabhauma’s transformation Is for real His Is not just a Intellectual Submission But it’s not just a submission of the head But it’s a Redirection of the heart And He has indeed Developed phenomenal faith In the process of bhakti And the principle of mercy Which is the active force Of the process of bhakti Now If we look at Such statements further We will This principle further rather When the Lord comes to this world His purpose is not just to Increase the number of followers But it’s actually Ultimately He wants to Take souls back to Krishna And going back to Krishna requires Going to Krishna Requires The development of faith Within the heart It requires very much An inner redirection And that inner redirection When that happens And that happens to a substantial degree As is demonstrated in the case of Sarvabhauma Then that Is Something which is wonderful And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is so Delighted by that That he Agrees to That he feels as if His whole mission of life Has become successful So we as devotees May take the lesson that whenever we get Prasad we should eat it But that is not the lesson of the past time The lesson of the past time is That We should not give rules More importance than mercy Then that we will fall under the Error of Niyamagraha if we do that Rather Knowing that Mercy is the ultimate principle In Bhakti We should always give importance To the principle of mercy And follow the rules Not thinking that Our strictness in following rules Is what is going to lead to our spiritual advancement But that The strictness in which we follow rules Demonstrates The Sincerity and sublimity The sublimity Of our devotion It demonstrates The The sincerity and sublimity Of devotion Is what is demonstrated Through We follow rules and regulations Because We want to attract the mercy Of the Lord not because we think that The following Of rules and regulations will demonstrate to the world How strict devotees we are Or that it will Demonstrate How We are Or it will bring In and of itself it will bring advancement to us Advancement comes by The mercy of the Lord and we follow rules and regulations To attract the mercy of the Lord Another incident which demonstrates The depth and thoroughness Of the transformation of Sarvabhauma Is his attempt To To Change the verse That Sarvabhauma tries to change The bhukti padhe to bhakti padhe And by so doing He Tries to show how Actually He feels that the word bhakti Brings Causes revulsion That the very word bhakti He says it causes revulsion in my heart It makes me feel As if Bhukti causes revulsion in my heart Because it makes me feel as if Bhukti is going to devour me Bhukti is going to deprive me Of the nectar of devotion And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explains how Bhukti padhe is Not referring to impersonal bhukti It refers To the Lord who is the Bestower and shelterer of bhukti In that way He Enables the Facilitation Of Transcendental devotion That Bhukti padhe The Lord is so great That even those who want mukti They get mukti by the grace of the Lord Not by any independent means And that way The mukti padhe Rather being A competitor to bhakti Is a further enhancer Of the glory of bhakti And of the glory of The object of bhakti that is Bhagawan Now Towards the end of this pastime Sarabha maha He composes Wherein he Composes famous verses Which glorify Lord Chaitanya And as he starts using His formidable erudition In the cause of devotion And Krishna’s Kailash Goswami Excludes his wonder at how Such a person Was so transformed And from the devotional perspective This demonstrates The potency The sublime supreme potency Of the Lord As the As the Of Lord Chaitanya as the divine supreme person Such a miraculous transformation Would not have been possible For any Lesser being Like what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Demonstrated In the way he transforms Sarvabhauma It would have been very difficult For anyone else to do that And thus this whole pastime Demonstrates the Extraordinary potency Of Sarvabhauma in Attracting people And in transforming people So Now We conclude herein This pastime By again underscoring that this is the first And most dramatic Victory that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has Right at the outset of his preaching career If we use today’s language And It Therein He demonstrates not just The humility and the erudition That bring about the transformation But he also Demonstrates that It’s not just a superficial Or merely intellectual conversion But it’s an emotional Redirection It’s a transplantation of Deep faith In the principles of bhakti That Lord Chaitanya Engenders And such is His divine glory So by hearing about How Lord Chaitanya transforms people By hearing about how Sarvabhauma develops Extraordinary faith We too can practise bhakti Wholeheartedly Beseech the mercy of the Lord And hope to gain Deep faith Thank you