20200915 Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu Enters the Forest After Accepting Sannyāsa

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 15th September 2020 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Introduction: So, Lord Caitanya, He is in Katwa and He took sannyāsa. So now it will go to the next stage. Name of this chapter is:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu Enters the Forest After Accepting Sannyāsa

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1. 1

avatīrṇau sa-kāruṇyau paricchinnau sad-īśvarau
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nityānandau dvau bhrātarau bhaje 

Translation: I worship the two brothers, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Śrī Nityananda, who have descended in this world as the supreme controllers. They have appeared in covered forms as the embodiments of mercy.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.2

namas trikāla-satyāya
jagannātha-sutāya ca
sa-bhṛtyāya sa-putrāya
sa-kalatrāya te namaḥ

Translation: O my Lord, You are eternally existing—in the past, present, and future—yet You are the son of Śrī Jagannātha Miśra. I offer my repeated obeisances unto You along with Your associates (Your devotee servants), Your sons (Your Gosvāmī disciples or the processes of devotional service, such as the congregational chanting of the holy name), and Your consorts (who, according to regulative principles, refer to Viṣṇupriyā, who is Bhū-śakti, Lakṣmīpriyā, who is Śrī-śakti, and Navadvīpa, which is Nīlā, Līlā, or Durgā, and, according to devotional principles, refer to the two Gadādharas, Narahari, Rāmānanda, Jagadānanda, and others).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda, are never alone. They have Their potencies, Their associates, who descended from the spiritual world with Them. So, these associates and energies of the Lord are being glorified in this verse.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1. 6

śeṣa-khaṇḍa-kathā bhāi, śuna eka-citte
nīlācale gauracandra āilā ye-mate

Jayapatākā Swami: Listen dear brothers, with full concentration, the topics of the Antya-khaṇḍa, where Lord Gauracandra went to Nīlācala, Jagannātha Purī, and describes how He got there.

Now in the Caitanya Bhāgavata, this going to Jagannātha Purī is considered the Antya-khaṇḍa. Whereas in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is considered the Madhya-khaṇḍa, and the Antya-khaṇḍa, when He returns back to Jagannātha Purī after His all India travels. So, we are combining all the different books, to tell you the full pastime of Lord Caitanya as we have received it.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.7

kariyā sannyāsa vaikuṇṭhera adhīśvara
se rātri āchilā prabhu kaṇṭaka-nagara

Jayapatākā Swami: After accepting sannyāsa, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, spent that evening in Katwa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.8

kāṭoyāya sannyāsa-grahaṇa līlāra avyavahita parei divyavirahonmāda-līlā-prakāśa; mukundake kīrtanārambhe ādeśa-pradāna—

karilena mātra prabhu sannyāsa-grahaṇa
mukundere ājñā haila karite kīrtana

Jayapatākā Swami: After Lord Gaurāṅga accepted sannyāsa, He immediately instructed Mukunda Datta to perform kīrtana.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: In the sannyāsa order of life there is no sanction for the performance of dancing, singing, or playing of musical instruments, but in the acceptance of sannyāsa in the form of renouncing bad association to worship the Lord these three activities are not prohibited; rather, they are accepted as means of serving the Supreme Lord. To check mundane kīrtana, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva ordered the kīrtana leader Mukunda to perform hari-kīrtana. 

Jayapatākā Swami: So, singing and dancing for mundane songs, is prohibited for the sannyāsī. But chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, playing on musical instruments, dancing in kīrtana, are not prohibited. They are considered as transcendental activities, part of the worship of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya wanted to keep a spiritual atmosphere, after taking sannyāsa. That means He was not following the path of the ekadaṇḍī-sannyāsīs. He was actually following the path of tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa, which means the Vaiṣṇava process of sannyāsa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.9

‘bola’ ‘bola’ bali’ prabhu ārambhilā nṛtya
catur-dige gāite lāgilā saba bhṛtya

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya started to dance, and He called out to everyone, “Chant! chant!” His servants surrounded Him and started to chant and began to sing.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.10

śvāsa, hāsa, sveda, kampa, pulaka, huṅkāra
nā jāni kateka haya ananta vikāra

Jayapatākā Swami: It is impossible to describe all the ecstatic symptoms of love, like heavy breathing, laughing, perspiring, trembling hairs standing on end, loud roaring, how much can I explain the unlimited transformations that occurred in the body of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya?

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Another reading of sveda is prema, and another reading of ananta (“unlimited”) is premera (“of love”).

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.11

koṭi-siṁha-prāya yena viśāla garjana
āchāḍa dekhite bhaya pāya sarva-jana

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’s loud roaring sounded like ten million lions. And everyone became frightened to see the Lord crashing to the ground and His activities.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.12

kon dige daṇḍa kamaṇḍalu vā pāḍilā
nija-preme vaikuṇṭhera pati matta hailā

Jayapatākā Swami: Which way His sannyāsa-daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu, water pot, fell, and they were lost, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha became maddened with His own love.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Being intoxicated with His own kṛṣṇa-prema, svayam-rūpa Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya displayed indifference towards the symbols of the renounced order of life such as the daṇḍa (staff) and kamaṇḍalu (waterpot).

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.13

bhagavān śrīgaurasundarera keśavabhāratīke āliṅgana—
nācite nācite prabhu gurure dhariyā
āliṅgana karilena baḍa tuṣṭa hañā

Jayapatākā Swami: While dancing, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya grabbed His spiritual master and embraced him, being greatly satisfied.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.14

prabhura āliṅgane bhāratīra prema—
pāiyā prabhura anugraha-āliṅgana
bhāratīra prema-bhakti haila takhana

Jayapatākā Swami: Receiving Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’s merciful, embrace, Keśava Bhāratī became filled with ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa at that time. This shows how Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy can give pure love of Kṛṣṇa. So, His guru, Keśava Bhāratī, by receiving the embrace of the Lord, his dormant love for Kṛṣṇa was awakened.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.15

pāka diyā daṇḍa-kamaṇḍalu dūre pheli’
sukṛti bhāratī nāce `hari hari' bali'

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Keśava Bhāratī, whirling and dancing, in ecstasy of kṛṣṇa-prema, threw his daṇḍa, staff and kamaṇḍalu, water pot far away. The fortunate Keśava Bhāratī danced and chanted Hari “Hari! Haribol!”

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Being intoxicated with kṛṣṇa-prema, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva embraced His sannyāsa-guru, Keśava Bhāratī, and since Keśava Bhāratī also became filled with loving devotion as a result, he threw his daṇḍa, kamaṇḍalu, and cloth far away. Keśava Bhāratī was not simply a Māyāvādī sannyāsī. When the devotees realized that he had become a devotee of Gaura, their happiness knew no bounds.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Keśava Bhāratī had become a devotee of Lord Caitanya. Actually, we see how Lord Caitanya gave him the mantra and then received back. So, by the association of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he awakened his natural love for Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.16

bāhya dūre gela bhāratīra prema-rase
gaḍāgaḍi yāya vastra nā samvare śeṣe

Jayapatākā Swami: So Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāja’s external consciousness went far away, out of the mellows of the transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa. He rolled on the ground and his cloth became disheveled. He was not conscious of his cloth, and it became disheveled.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): “The word samvare means “to control”.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.17

bhāratīre kṛpā haila prabhura dekhiyā
sarva-gaṇa `hari' bale ḍākiyāḍākiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing how Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya bestowed His mercy on Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāja, everyone began chanting the name of Hari. “Haribol!”

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: Another reading of sarva-gaṇa ‘hari’ bale ḍākiyā is nirantara (niravadhi) hari bole sabe ta’– “everyone continually chanted the name of Hari.”

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.18

santoṣe gurura saṅge prabhu kare nṛtya
dekhiyā parama sukhe gāya saba bhṛtya

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya was happily dancing with His guru, and all the servants saw this with great pleasure. 

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.19

cāri-vede dhyāne yāṅre dekhite duṣkara
tāṅra saṅge sākṣāte nācaye nyāsi-vara

Jayapatākā Swami: The best of the sannyāsīs, Keśava Bhāratī, danced with that personality whom, the four Vedas are difficult to see through meditation.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): In the Nārada-pañcarātra (1.1.7 and 1.12.51) it is stated:

stuvanti vedā yaṁśaśvat
nāntaṁ jānanti yasya vai
taṁ staumi paramānandaṁ
sānandaṁ nanda-nandanam

“Even after constantly offering prayers to the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Vedas cannot reach the end of His glories. Therefore, I offer my obeisances to Nanda's son, who is the personification of transcendental bliss.”

yadi vedā na jānanti
māhātmyaṁ paramātmanaḥna
jānima tasya guṇyaṁ
vedānusāriṇo vayam

“If the glories of the Supersoul are unknown even to the Vedas, then how can we, the followers of the Vedas, understand Your transcendental qualities?”

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.20

keśava-bhāratī-pade bahu namaskāra
ananta-brahmāṇḍa-nātha śiṣya-rūpe yāṅra

Jayapatākā Swami: I offer my repeated obeisances at the lotus feet of Keśava Bhāratī, who the Lord of the unlimited universes has accepted, being his disciple.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Another reading for bahu (“many”) is rahu (“let me offer”). In the Puruṣa-sūkta of the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.4) it is stated as follows:

oṁ etāvān asya mahimā ato jyāyaṁś ca puruṣaḥ
pādo 'sya viśvā bhūtāni tri-pādasyāmṛtaṁ dīvī

“The past, present, and future universes are manifestations of the Lord's powers, but the Lord Himself is much greater. All the living beings of the universe are but one-quarter portion, and the eternal nature in the spiritual sky exists in three-quarters portion.”

In the Nārada-pañcarātra (2.2.39 and 99) it is stated:

mahā-viṣṇoś ca lomnāṁ ca
vivareṣu pṛthak pṛthak
brahmāṇḍāni ca pratyekam
asaṅkhyāni ca nārada

“Innumerable universes emanate from the pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu's body. O Nārada, vast reservoirs of water issue from His bodily pores and enter each of those universes.”

sa eva ca mahā-viṣṇuḥ
kṛṣṇasya paramātmanaḥ
ṣoḍāśāṁśo bhagavataḥ
parasya prakṛteḥ paraḥ

“Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is beyond the material creation, is only the one-sixteenth portion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Soul.”

In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.35) it is stated as follows:

eko ‘py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ
yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ
aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-sthaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

“I worship the Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who, by one of His plenary portions, enters into the existence of every universe and every particle of the atoms and thus unlimitedly manifests His infinite energy all over the material creation.”

Keśava Bhāratī, whom Śrī Caitanyadeva made glorious by acting as his disciple a and accepting him as His spiritual master, was most fortunate.

Jayapatākā Swami: So here it is glorifying Lord Caitanya is the source of Māha-Viṣṇu, who is the source of all the universes. But He has come down as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He is dancing and doing the saṅkīrtana. And Keśava Bhāratī, who was His so called sannyāsa guru, he was also filled with ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.21

ei mata sarva-rātri gurura saṁhati
nṛtya karilena vaikuṇṭhera adhipati

Jayapatākā Swami: As the Supreme Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual world, spent the whole night in this way dancing with His guru.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.22

prabhura keśava bhāratīra nikaṭa vidāya-prārthanā, vipralambhe araṇye praveśechā, bhāratīra prabhura saṅge gamana—
prabhāta haile prabhu bāhya prakāśiyā
calilena guru-sthāne vidāya laiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: In the early morning, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, manifested His external consciousness. He went to see His spiritual master, for seeking permission to leave.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.23

“araṇye praviṣṭa muñi haimu sarvathā
prāṇa-nātha mora kṛṣṇacandra pāṅa yathā”

Jayapatākā Swami: I must enter the forest to search for the Lord of My life, My dear Lord Kṛṣṇacandra.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.24

guru bale,—“āmiha caliba tomā' saṅge
thākiba tomāra sāthe saṅkīrtana-raṅge”

Jayapatākā Swami: The guru replied, “I will go with You, I will stay with You, and relish the ecstasy of saṅkīrtana.” Saṅkīrtana could mean congregational chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, or the discussion of topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.025

kṛpā kari' prabhu saṅge lailena tāne
agre gura kariyā calilā prabhu vane

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya mercifully accepted taking His guru with Him. He kept the guru in front, and the Lord departed for the forest.

Thus Ends the Chapter, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Enters the Forest After Accepting Sannyāsa

Actually, in the Vedas, taking sannyāsa is prohibited, in this Age of Kali. It is explained that living in the forest is not recommended, living in the āśrama, worshipping the deity of the Lord, that was acceptable. So we are not the traditional sannyāsī. We are following the sannyāsa-āśrama in the path of Lord Caitanya. 

Any questions?

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. Srīla Prabhupāda never ever said for us to be vegan and to preach vegan. What does this mean Guru Mahārāja? It is a bit confusing for me about veganism. Please guide this fallen soul. 

—Your sheltered,
Kackuly Rani, Dāmodardeśa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda has said that taking cow milk develops the finer intelligence will be able to understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness. At the same time, we like to protect the cows. And so, where possible we try to eat milk from protected cows. The vegans, they say since the cows are mistreated, better not to take any milk. But Śrīla Prabhupāda knew that this difficulty was there. He thought it was important to offer the milk to Kṛṣṇa, and then we can take it. So, we only take milk as prasāda. Because this month we don’t take milk as part of our catur-māsya. First month no spinach, second month no dahī, third month no milk. In the fourth month, the non-vegetarians should become vegetarian, and the vegetarians, don’t take urad-dal. In South India since idli, dosa contain urad-dal it is a big austerity! 

♦

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, kindly accept my respectful obeisances. At the point when the thought of sense gratification comes, and tries to drag us away, how to trick the mind? 

– Sadānandinī Yogīnī devī dāsī

Jayapatākā Swami: We should make our goal in life to serve Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes the senses will give us pleasure, sometimes they will give suffering. So, we should not be very dependent on the senses, they are not reliable. That way, by keeping our mind on Kṛṣṇa, we can advance. Now, as long as we live in this material world, we will have senses. Sometimes the senses will experience pleasure, sometimes suffering. So, we should not be very much illusioned by this. This is not the real happiness we are searching for. Certain amount of pleasure is needed, to keep us balanced in this material world. But our goal should be to have the spiritual pleasure, like Lord Caitanya is having. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

♦

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. I am unable to remember Kṛṣṇa when I am doing my office work, as much as I can remember Kṛṣṇa when I am doing devotional activities. Kindly guide me how to remember Kṛṣṇa, even when doing office work.

—Your humble servant and aspiring disciple,
Śrīdhara.

Jayapatākā Swami: Just that when we do office work, we dedicate the work to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Certain percentage of the income, we may give to Kṛṣṇa. So even though we may not always be able to think about Kṛṣṇa while we are working, since the activity is offered to Kṛṣṇa, that will suffice. Alright!