HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE!
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE!
As soon as we take up the Mahamantra for chanting we cannot but remember the great avatara purusha –Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu!
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived for 48 years only. He spent the first 12 years of his life playing pranks just as Krishna had done in his childhood. For the next 12 years of his life he shut himself up in a room with a few friends and performed Nama sankirtan (chanting the Lord's Names and praises). The next 12 years he visited various holy places. It was during these wanderings that he visited Srirangam in the south. And the last 12 years of his life was spent in solitude inside a cave at Puri.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's disciples Sanatana Goswami and Roop Goswami were busy authoring books. They found no peace till they converted the gushing thoughts into words. It is only through such disciples of Mahaprabhu do we learn the life history of this great avatar.
Mahaprabhu's disciple Nityananda was deeply concerned about the way the world was moving. People were living with false values. There were no genuine Masters to guide them and the innocent and ignorant people were being caught in the net of quack Gurus. His Master, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, had shut himself up in a room with a small circle of close friends and was doing Nama sankirtan. Nityananda desired to bring to the Master’s notice the need for guiding the ignorant who were being led astray with false values. He wished that his Guru would come out of closed doors and take a look at the world. But how can one advise the Guru? How can one instruct the Guru to do this or that? After much thinking he decided to carry out this work slyly.
One day, Nityananda informed Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that a sadhu had invited them for lunch. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the invitation and went to the sadhu’s place along with Nityananada. When they reached the place he found a board bearing the name of the sadhu and the ashram. They went in and were received warmly by the sadhu of the ashram. A personal attendant of the sadhu began to serve them food. Nityananda began to eat happily. He did not seem to be the least concerned about their host or the surroundings.
The sadhu asked them, "What would you like to have? Ganga teerth or Anand (Ganga water or Bliss)?"
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu could not understand the words of the sadhu. He turned to Nityananda and said, "Nitai, I understand the term 'Ganga teerth' but what does he mean by 'Anand'?"
Nityananda said, "Oh, here in this place 'Anand' refers to the company of women. And by 'Ganga teerth' he does not mean the holy Ganga water but wine!”
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was aghast. "What!" he cried out. And taking hold of Nityananda’s hand he rushed out. He ran away from that place as quickly as his legs would carry him. He stopped after he had gone a safe distance away. He was panting heavily and was seething with anger.
Calming him down, Nityananda next led him to his (Mahaprabhu's) disciple Advaitacharya's home. Advaitacharya welcomed them with great joy and offered them a seat. Nityananda said to him, "Our Gurudev is hungry. Please offer him some food." At once Advaitacharya said to him, "Oh, I have not yet performed my daily rites. I have to complete it and then cook food. It will take some time."
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu jumped up from his seat and taking hold of Nityananda's hand walked out of Advaitacharya's home.
The clever Nityananda had driven home the message! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu realized what Nityananda was trying to convey to him. First, he had showed him how the world was being fooled by quack Gurus who claimed to show the path of spirituality. Secondly, in the name of following scriptural injunctions men failed to recognize its end purpose. Advaitacharya was so deeply drowned in the performance of daily rites prescribed by the scriptures that he asked his atithi – his Guru, who is God himself in human form – to wait for hours for offering him food!
!!! Will continue (The Atithi shall visit next week…) !!!
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HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE!
As soon as we take up the Mahamantra for chanting we cannot but remember the great avatara purusha –Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu!
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived for 48 years only. He spent the first 12 years of his life playing pranks just as Krishna had done in his childhood. For the next 12 years of his life he shut himself up in a room with a few friends and performed Nama sankirtan (chanting the Lord's Names and praises). The next 12 years he visited various holy places. It was during these wanderings that he visited Srirangam in the south. And the last 12 years of his life was spent in solitude inside a cave at Puri.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's disciples Sanatana Goswami and Roop Goswami were busy authoring books. They found no peace till they converted the gushing thoughts into words. It is only through such disciples of Mahaprabhu do we learn the life history of this great avatar.
Mahaprabhu's disciple Nityananda was deeply concerned about the way the world was moving. People were living with false values. There were no genuine Masters to guide them and the innocent and ignorant people were being caught in the net of quack Gurus. His Master, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, had shut himself up in a room with a small circle of close friends and was doing Nama sankirtan. Nityananda desired to bring to the Master’s notice the need for guiding the ignorant who were being led astray with false values. He wished that his Guru would come out of closed doors and take a look at the world. But how can one advise the Guru? How can one instruct the Guru to do this or that? After much thinking he decided to carry out this work slyly.
One day, Nityananda informed Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that a sadhu had invited them for lunch. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the invitation and went to the sadhu’s place along with Nityananada. When they reached the place he found a board bearing the name of the sadhu and the ashram. They went in and were received warmly by the sadhu of the ashram. A personal attendant of the sadhu began to serve them food. Nityananda began to eat happily. He did not seem to be the least concerned about their host or the surroundings.
The sadhu asked them, "What would you like to have? Ganga teerth or Anand (Ganga water or Bliss)?"
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu could not understand the words of the sadhu. He turned to Nityananda and said, "Nitai, I understand the term 'Ganga teerth' but what does he mean by 'Anand'?"
Nityananda said, "Oh, here in this place 'Anand' refers to the company of women. And by 'Ganga teerth' he does not mean the holy Ganga water but wine!”
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was aghast. "What!" he cried out. And taking hold of Nityananda’s hand he rushed out. He ran away from that place as quickly as his legs would carry him. He stopped after he had gone a safe distance away. He was panting heavily and was seething with anger.
Calming him down, Nityananda next led him to his (Mahaprabhu's) disciple Advaitacharya's home. Advaitacharya welcomed them with great joy and offered them a seat. Nityananda said to him, "Our Gurudev is hungry. Please offer him some food." At once Advaitacharya said to him, "Oh, I have not yet performed my daily rites. I have to complete it and then cook food. It will take some time."
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu jumped up from his seat and taking hold of Nityananda's hand walked out of Advaitacharya's home.
The clever Nityananda had driven home the message! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu realized what Nityananda was trying to convey to him. First, he had showed him how the world was being fooled by quack Gurus who claimed to show the path of spirituality. Secondly, in the name of following scriptural injunctions men failed to recognize its end purpose. Advaitacharya was so deeply drowned in the performance of daily rites prescribed by the scriptures that he asked his atithi – his Guru, who is God himself in human form – to wait for hours for offering him food!
!!! Will continue (The Atithi shall visit next week…) !!!
--------------------------
May I humbly ask: from which authentic biographies of Lord Sri Chaitanya have these informations been taken? They dont appear in SriChaitanyabhagabat or SriChaitanyacharitamruta so far as my knowlede goes.
ReplyDeleteNamaskar