20200919 Ācāryaratna's Breaking News of Nimāi Sannyāsa to the Devotees in Navadvīpa (Part 3)

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 19th 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, we are continuing Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya pastimes. Candraśekhara Ācārya has returned to Navadvīpa and had delivered the message of Lord Nityānanda and told them of Lord Caitanya’s taking sannyāsa.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.4.1: When Śrī Advaita, together with the other saintly brāhmaṇas, whose composure was shattered by relishing the sublime qualities of Hari, heard from Ācāryaratna the news of Gaura's renunciation of the world, they wept most pitiably with cries of anguish.

Jayapatākā Swami: To think that Lord Gaurahari will do the austerities by taking sannyāsa. Also, that they thought they might be deprived of His association. Therefore, for various reasons, they started to cry, weep very pitiably.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.33

candraśekhara-kartṛka navadvīpe prabhura vārtā-jñāpana—

tabe navadvīpe candraśekhara āilāsabā’
sthāne kahilena,—“prabhu vane gelā”

Jayapatākā Swami: When Candraśekhara Ācārya arrived in Navadvīpa dhāma, he told everyone, Lord Gaurāṅga has taken sannyāsa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.34

prabhura vārtā-śravaṇe navadvīpastha bhaktavṛndera avasthā—

śrī-candraśekhara-mukhe śuni' bhakta-gaṇa
ārta-nāda kari' sabe karena krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: When the assembled devotees heard the news from the mouth of Candraśekhara Ācārya, they all began to cry loudly. They were crying out of great separation of the Lord. Certainly, Lord Gaurāṅga, if He took sannyāsa, He cannot come back to Navadvīpa, to His house.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.35

koṭi mukha haile o se saba vilāpa
varṇite nā pāri se sabāra anutāpa

Jayapatākā Swami: If I had ten million mouths, I would not be able to describe everyone’s lamentation and everyone’s sorrow.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.36

advaita balaye,—“mora nā rahe jīvana”
vidare pāṣāṇa kāṣṭha śuni' se krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: Advaita Ācārya said, “I cannot remain alive”. On hearing His weeping, even stones and wood will melt.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.37

advaita śunibā-mātra hailā mūrcchita
prāṇa nāhi dehe, prabhu paḍilā bhūmit

Jayapatākā Swami: Advaita Prabhu, as soon as He heard this news, He fell unconscious. There was no sign of life in His body. Lord Advaita fell to the ground.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.38

śacīdevīśoke rahilena jaḍa haiyā
kṛtrima-putalī yena āche dāṇḍāiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Mother Śacī devī, in sorrow, she remained stunned. She stood there, immovable, like an artificial doll.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.39

bhakta-patnīāra yata pati-vratā-gaṇa
bhūmite paḍiyā sabe karena krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: The devotees’ chaste wives and all the married ladies, they fell to the ground as they were crying.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.40

advaita balaye,—“āra ki kārya jīvane
se-hena ṭhākura mora chāḍila yakhane

Jayapatākā Swami: Advaita Prabhu said, what is the use of My life? When such a Lord has left Me?

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.41

praviṣṭa haimu āji sarvathā gaṅgāya
dine loke dharibeka, calimu niśāya”

Jayapatākā Swami: Today I will enter and drown Myself in the holy Ganges. People will grab Me during the day and stop Me. So, I will go at night.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.42

ei mata virahe sakala bhakta-gaṇa
sabāra haila baḍa citta ucāṭana

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way, all the devotees were filled with mellows of separation, and everyone’s hearts were agitated with great feelings of separation.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.43

kona mate citte keha svāsthya nāhi pāya
deha eḍibāre sabe cāhena sadāya

Jayapatākā Swami: They could not find any means to pacify their consciousness. So, they constantly desired to give up their bodies.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.44

yadyapiha sabei parama mahādhīra
tabu keha kāhāre karite nāre sthira

Jayapatākā Swami: Although they were all greatly, most sober, however, no one of them was able to pacify any of the others.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.45

āśvasamayī ākāśa-vāṇī—
bhakta-gaṇa deha-tyāga bhāvilā niścaya
jāni sabā' prabodhi, ākāśa-vāṇī haya

Jayapatākā Swami: When all the assembled devotees had resolved to certainly give up their bodies, they heard solacing words from a voice in the sky.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.46

“duḥkha nā bhāviha advaitādi-bhakta-gaṇa!
sabe sukhe kara kṛṣṇacandra-ārādhana

Jayapatākā Swami: “O devotees headed by Advaita, do not feel saddened. You should all happily engage in the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇacandra.”

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.47

sei prabhu ei dina-dui-cāri vyāje
āsiyā miliba tomā'-sabāra mājhe

Jayapatākā Swami: “Lord Gaurāṅga in two or four days from now, will meet all of you, and be in the midst of you.”

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: Since the devotees headed by Śrī Advaita were extremely unhappy due to Śrī Caitanyadeva's acceptance of sannyāsa, they resolved to give up their lives. At that time, they heard a voice from the sky telling them that Śrī Gaurasundara's enactment of the pastime of giving up the external dress of a devotee was only temporary. His pastime of accepting sannyāsa was for giving up the association of nondevotees.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.48

deha-tyāga keho kichu nā bhāviha mane
pūrvavat sabe viharibe prabhu-sane”

Jayapatākā Swami: “None of you should think about giving up your bodies. And for sure, you will enjoy pastimes with Lord Gaurāṅga again, like before.”

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.49

śuniyā ākāśa-vāṇī sarva-bhakta-gaṇa
deha-tyāga-prati sabe chāḍilena mana

Jayapatākā Swami: After hearing the voice from the sky, all the assembled devotees gave up the idea of giving up their bodies.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 1.50

kari’ avalambana prabhura guṇa-nāma
śacī veḍi' bhakta-gaṇa thāke avirāma

Jayapatākā Swami: Taking Lord Gaurāṅga’s transcendental qualities and holy name as their solace, the devotees constantly remained in the company of mother Śacī.

So, we see a slight difference in the versions of the Caitanya-bhāgavata and Caitanya-maṅgala. Both must be true. It is not clear what order, which came in. Advaita Prabhu had decided to take His life. All the devotees so decided, since they didn’t think that they could survive without the blissful association of Lord Caitanya. But then this ākaśa-vāṇī, this voice from the sky, came to advise them. Also, Lord Nityānanda told Candraśekhara that He would bring Lord Caitanya to the house of Lord Advaita in Śāntipur. It seems that this must have happened after.

Anyway, the devotees in Navadvīpa were definitely put through a great separation which is like, Advaita told mother Śacī, that just as Kauśalyā had to suffer separation from Lord Rāma, while He was in the forest for fourteen years, just as mother Yaśodā suffered separation from Kṛṣṇa when He went to Mathurā, like that mother Śacī is suffering separation when Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa.

Since Navadvīpa has been described by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Rādhārāṇī, as nondifferent from Vṛndāvana, therefore the devotees of Navadvīpa could have a very close association with Lord Caitanya, also when He left to take sannyāsa, they felt great separation.

Thus ends the chapter: Ācāryaratna’s Breaking News of Nimāi’s Sannyāsa.

Any questions?

Question, Kackuly Rānī: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! All glories to you! I am feeling very thankful listening to the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu for a long time from you Gurudeva. I was wondering, we did not listen to these pastimes from any of our ancestral fathers up to now, like Mahāprabhu taking the form of Varahādeva, Narasiṁhadeva, etc. At the same time, I feel very grateful and fortunate to listen from you, Gurudeva.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since, that is the thing I said, each transcendental book has some different angle or detail of each of the pastimes. Like the Caitanya-caritāmṛta gives details on the latter pastimes of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. The Caitanya-bhāgavata gives more details of the earlier pastimes. And Caitanya-maṅgala gives details before the Lord’s appearance and interspersed. Like that there are many different scriptures which give different details. We are trying to combine all these together as far as possible, so that devotees can enjoy the details of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes.

Question: Guru Mahārāja, what should we do if two senior or guiding devotees give different advice? – Aṣṭasakhī Guṇamayī devī dāsī

Jayapatākā Swami: Your dīkṣā-guru would be the top authority because he has to take the karma. Others like uncles, elder brother, they can give some advice. If that is contradictory, then your dīkṣā is like your father, and naturally father is more important in this kind of relationship.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Gurudeva! Please accept my respectful obeisances. Thank you for the wonderful class. Gurudeva, how can we get Lord Caitanya’s mercy like Nārāyaṇī or Keśava Bhāratī, or many other devotees in Caitanya-caritāmṛta? How can we also become an object of Lord Caitanya’s mercy? Sometimes, I feel my heart has not changed even a bit from the time I started practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I feel very discouraged, Gurudeva. How can we get the Lord’s mercy, so our heart transforms into the heart of a devotee? – Nandita Chawla.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda said that this was a gradual process. It seems that you are not yet initiated. So, the initiation is the spiritual birth, you are still in an unborn embryonic stage. If you want to achieve this consciousness of Kṛṣṇa, you go through the process totally. And that includes taking shelter, taking initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, and progressing in the path of devotional service. It is not that overnight necessarily we will achieve some blessing like Keśava Bhāratī.

Certainly, these are very special associates of the Lord. Just to be one of the millions of people in the saṅkīrtana would be a great blessing. It is stated that Murāri Gupta was Hanumān, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura was Nārada Muni, to be one of these devotees, is not a simple thing. Just to associate with the Lord to chant in His saṅkīrtana, it is not that necessarily we would have one of the lead roles like being the guru of Lord Caitanya like Keśava Bhāratī or Īśvara Purī, or mother Śacī. We cannot compare ourselves to these great associates of the Lord. But somehow, we can serve the Lord, assist Śrīla Prabhupāda in spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all around the world. Then we can be appreciated or accepted by Lord Caitanya. Alright!