A rememberance to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as flashed on the f.b. on Jan.19,2011.

Bishwa Nath Singh

How many of us are aware that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is considered to be incarnation of Lord Krishna is also sometimes referred to by the names Gaura Nimai the reason being Gaura is referred In Sanskrit to one having golden complexion due to his light skin where as Nimai to one born underneath a Neem tree! He had lived on this worldly earth for forty only and had laid foundation for Shri Krishna consciousness and made sankrtan ( chanting ) of Hare Krishna very popular as a beckon light to the universe. Let us have glimpse of his life in brief!

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(Picture of Chaitaya Mahaprabhu)



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Bishwa Nath Singh Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born on February 18,1486 in Navadvipa in Bengal of India, on a full moon night during a lunar eclipse. It is typical for people to bathe in the Ganges during an eclipse and chant the Lord’s holy names for spirit...ual purification. So, everyone in the area was chanting the holy names when He was born. His parents, Jagannatha Misra and Sachidevi, gave Him the name of Vishvambhara, meaning the support of the universe, because astrologers had predicted His super human qualities and that He would deliver the people of the world. He was also nicknamed Nimai because He had been born under a Nima tree. During his childhood, he had exhibited extraordinary qualities, even having philosophical discussions with His mother. While growing, His brilliant intelligence began to become apparent. While still a child, He mastered Sanskrit and logic to the point of defeating local pundits, and established the truth of His spiritual and Vedic philosophy. He became so well known that many logicians of various religious and philosophical persuasions began to fear His presence and refused to debate with Him. Thus, Sri Caitanya established the authority of the Vaishnava tradition through the process of debate and logic. Then, when he went to Gaya at the age of fourteen or so on the pretext to perform ceremonies for the anniversary of His father’s death, He received Vaishnava initiation from Ishvara Puri. Thereafter, He lost all interest in debate and simply absorbed Himself in chanting and singing the names of Lord Krishna in devotional ecstasy. Upon returning to Navadvipa, He gathered a following with whom He would engage in congregational singing of the Lord’s holy names. Thus, He started the first sankirtana (congregational devotional singing) movement, and established the importance of chanting the names of God in this age as the most elevated of spiritual processes, and the prime means for liberation from material attachments. It was at the age of 24 when He shaved His head and took the order of sannyasa, the renounced stage of life, when He accepted the name of Krishna Caitanya from Keshava Bharati during the initiation. He then spent four years traveling through South India, and also visited Vrindavana and Varanasi. During this time he also gave special instructions to Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis, who then also spread the glories of the Divine Love for Radha and Krishna. They settled in Vrindavana where they spent their years in writing many books elaborating the instructions of Lord Caitanya and the glories of bhakti for Radha and Krishna. They also revealed the places where Radha and Krishna performed many varied pastimes in that land of Vrindavana, which have remained special spots where devotees can become absorbed in the bliss of love of Radha and Krishna. Chaitanya journeyed throughout the length and breadth of India for several years, chanting the divine Names of Krishna constantly. He spent the last twenty four years of his life in Puri in Orissa ,the great temple city of Jagannäth. The Suryavanshi Hindu emperor of Orissa, Gajapati Maharaja Prataparudra Dev, regarded the Lord as Krishna incarnattion and was an enthusiastic patron and devotee of Chaitanya's sankeertan party. It was during these years that Lord Chaitanya is believed by His followers to have sank deep into various Divine-Love samādhi and performed pastimes of divine ecstasy deep into Bhakti who was considered to be one of the incarnations of The Supreme Personality Of Godhead Krishna. He was also sometimes referred to by the names Gaura (Sanskrit for golden one) due to his light skin complexion and Nimai due to his being born underneath a Neem tree.In the 20th century the teachings of Chaitanya were brought to the West by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a representative of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura branch of Chaitanya's tradition. Bhaktivedanta Swami founded his movement known as The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to spread Chaitanya's teachings throughout the world Chaitanya's cultural legacy in Bengal and Orissa remains deep, with many residents performing daily worship to him as an avatar of Krishna. Some attribute to him a Renaissance in Bengal, different from the more well known 19th century Bengal Renaissance. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this world, He brought His dearest servitors with Him, personalities such as Lord Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Advaita Acharya, Sri Gadadhar Pandit, Srivas Thakur, and other exalted associates, and along with these devotees He spread the Yuga-dharma, or the practice most recommended for the attainment of pure love for Sri Sri Radha-Krishna. That process is Harinam Sankirtan, or the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord:” Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,,Hare Rama ,Hare Rama ,Rama Rama Hare Hare “.He had spent His remaining years in Jagannatha Puri. During this time He was absorbed in ecstatic devotion to Krishna in the loving mood of Radharani, in which He would lose all external consciousness. He freely distributed the divine nectar of this love for Krishna to everyone and anyone, day and night. Even His presence or mere touch could transform everyone that came near Him into the same devotional mood. He remained like this until He finally left our vision at the age of forty eight in 1534 AD.He was established by Vedic scripture as the most recent incarnation of God. The Lord always descends to establish the codes of religion. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (4.6-8) where Lord Krishna explains that although He is unborn and the Lord of all living beings, He still descends in His spiritual form in order to re-establish the proper religious principles and annihilate the miscreants whenever there is a decline of religion and a rise in irreligious activity.He had strongly opposed the impersonalist philosophy of Shankaracharya and established the principle of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva. This specified that the Supreme and the individual soul are inconceivably and simultaneously one and different. This means that the Supreme and the jiva souls are the same in quality, being eternally spiritual, but always separate individually. The jivas are small and subject to being influenced by the material energy, while the Supreme is infinite and always above and beyond the material manifestation. He had taught that the direct meaning of the Vedic Shastras is that the living entities are to engage in devotional service, bhakti, to the Supreme, Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Through this practice there can develop a level of communication between God and the individual by which God will lovingly reveal Himself to those who become qualified. In this understanding the theistic philosophy of Vaishnavism reached its climax. He had written only wrote eight verses, but His followers compiled extensive Sanskrit literature that documented His life and fully explained His teachings..He had taken Samadhi in 1534 A.D.Let us pay our humble obeisanc to His lotus feet and respectful homage to that great most adored saintly and godly figure!
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Vrunda Sakhi jai shree krushna.....hare krushna.....radhe radhe.


.Anil Kumar HARE KRISHNA....HARE KRISHNA


 Hare Krishna is going to comment on these lines..

O God..!!Keep us blessed..

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f.b.
Jan.19,2011.


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