20201120 Prelude to the Narration of Sākṣi-gopāla by Nityānanda Prabhu

 

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: Today we are continuing with compilation Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, today’s chapter entitled is:

 

Prelude to the Narration of Sākṣi-gopāla by Nityānanda Prabhu

 

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.1

padbhyāṁ calan yah pratimā-svarūpo

brahmaṇya-devo hi śatāha-gamyam

deśam yayau vipra-krte ’dbhutehaṁ

taṁ sākṣi-gopālam ahaṁ nato ’smi

 

Jayapatākā Swami: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of God [brahmaṇya-deva], who appeared as Sākṣi-gopāla to benefit a brāhmaṇa. For one hundred days He traveled through the country, walking on His own legs. Thus, His activities are wonderful.

 

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 11.79

Gaurāṅga then came to the town called Kaṭaka and to the deity famous in the world as Śāksī-gopīnātha. The people saw Gaurāṅga and the Deity as non-different in their prowess and so on, the only difference being the golden and black complexions.

 

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.5

kaṭake sākṣi-gopāla-darśana:—

kaṭake āilā sākṣi-gopāla dekhite

gopāla-saundarya dekhi’ hailā ānandite

Translation: Afterwards, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the town of Kaṭaka to see the temple of the witness Gopāla. When He saw the Deity of Gopāla, Lord Caitanya was very much pleased by His beauty.

 

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 2.301

kaṭaka-nagare—

hena-mate mahānande śrī-gaurasundara
āilena kata dine kaṭaka-nagara

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way Lord Śrī Gaurasundara traveled in great bliss or in great ecstasy. After somedays He arrived at the city of Cuttack.

 

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 2.302

mahānadīte snāna-līlā—

bhāgyavatī-mahānadī jale kari' snāna

āilena prabhu sākṣi-gopālera sthāna

 

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya and His associates took bath in the sacred and highly fortunate Mahānadī River, then Lord Caitanya, He came to the temple of Sākṣi-gopāla.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Cuttack is situated between the Mahānadī River and Kāṭjuḍī and is (was) the capital of Orissa. A branch of Śrī Caitanya Maṭha, named Śrī Sac-cid-ānanda Maṭha, has been established in this city. The Deity of Śrī Gaurasundara and Śrī Vinoda-Ramaṇa Jīu are regularly worshiped within the temple. From this temple various devotional scriptures and spiritual magazines are published in Oriya language.

(Note: So, this is by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, it may not be necessary to publish that.)

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.50 [Gaṅgā]: He again went by the jungle-path, and then, to see the Sākṣi-Gopāla He went to the capital-city known as Cuttack (That time the Deity was in Cuttack. Then He went to Purī and then taken to Satyavādī village which is the presently known as Sākṣi-Gopāla).

Jayapatākā Swami: Apparently previously Sākṣi-Gopāla was in the Cuttack city and at that time Cuttack city was the capital of Orissa and at the present time it is the city of Bhubaneswar, which is the capital and the Deity of Sākṣi-Gopāla is now situated in a small village.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.51 [Ratnākara]: One should have darśana of Sākṣi-Gopāla’s. He is of a Deity-form, but in truth He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Deity is known as arca-avatāra, he comes down in the form of Deity so that He can be seen by the conditioned soul. But this Deity walked for hundred days from Vṛndāvana and so normally we think that the stone Deity He can’t walk but here the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Deity form He walked. So, this shows that Deity is not ideal He is actually the incarnation of Godhead.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.52: Accepting the role of a witness for a certain brāhmaṇa, and the bells on His delicate lotus feet tinkling as He walked, Lord Gopāla slowly followed that brāhmaṇa. When they came to the country of Mahendra-deśa, the brāhmaṇa turned his neck to see the Lord, who promptly changed Himself into a stone deity and stayed there itself. Lord Caitanya eagerly went to that place.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the deity had promised to follow the brāhmaṇa, He said that the brāhmaṇa could hear His ankle bells and he would know that He was following but when he reached his destination, he looked around to see whether the Deity is there and the Supreme Personality of Godhead turned back into His Deity form, so that’s how He is now.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.53: After a long time, King Gajapati Puruṣottamadeva brought the Deity to his own capital (Cuttack).

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.54 [Gaṅgā]: This is so.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.55 [Ratnākara]: Then? Then?

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.56 [Gaṅgā]: Then while looking at Sākṣi-Gopāla, there was a moment when Lord Caitanya thought as if Sākṣi-Gopāla had come from His heart and was now standing before Him as Deity, and again He Himself had entered there.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Caitanya was having this special experience since He Himself is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He is in the walking form

 

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 2.303

sākṣi-gopāla-sthāne—

dekhi' sākṣi-gopālera lāvaṇya mohana

ānanda karena prabhu huṅkāra garjana

Jayapatākā Swami: When He saw the beauty and attractiveness of Sākṣi-Gopāla, Lord Caitanya was overwhelmed in ecstasy and He shouted loudly. Haribol!

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The Mahānadī River flows on the northern side of Cuttack. The Deity of Sākṣi-gopāla was in Cuttack during the time of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. This Deity was later transferred to a village named Sākṣi-gopāla. After the disappearance of Śrī Mahāprabhu this Deity of Sākṣi-gopāla was first brought to the temple of Jagannātha and later installed in a separate village. This Deity has a large, four-armed form. The old story of Sākṣi-gopāla is described in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Five.

 

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 2.304

`prabhu', bali' namaskāra karena stavana

adbhuta karena prema-ānanda-krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord Caitanya cried out, “Oh! Prabhu! Oh Master!” and He offered His obeisances and prayers. Lord Caitanya wonderfully started to cry in ecstatic love.

 

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Sākṣi-gopāla was previously situated in Cuttack on the bank of the Mahānadī River. When Sākṣi-gopāla was first brought from South India, He stayed for some time in Cuttack and then stayed for some time in the Jagannātha temple in Puruṣottama. After some loving quarrel took place there, the King of Orissa established the village of Satyavādī six miles from Puruṣottama and kept Sākṣi-gopāla there. At present Śrī Sākṣi-gopāla is being worshiped in a full-fledged temple. For a description of Sākṣi-gopāla, one should read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Five.

 

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.6

premāveśe nṛtya-gīta kaila kata-kṣaṇa

āviṣṭa hañā kaila gopāla stavana

Translation: While there, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged in chanting and dancing for some time, and being overwhelmed, He offered many prayers to Gopāla.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.57: Then He then recited this verse (In Sanskrit) :

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.58: “The splendid reddish toes its petals, kuṅkuma from the passionate gopīs’ breasts its pollen, awareness of Him its sweet honey, the toenails are the garland of saffron splendor of its jewels, and the shanks are its stalk, may the lotus feet of the enemy of Pūtanā (Sākṣi-Gopāla) protect us all.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So this is one of the prayer offered by Lord Caitanya.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.59 [Ratnākara]: Then? Then?

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.60 [Gaṅgā]: Then everyone saw the Deity like that.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.61 [Ratnākara]: How was that?

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.62 [Gaṅgā]: (In Sanskrit) Everyone saw as if: Although Sākṣi-Gopāla was absorbed in playing the flute, He had for a moment lowered the flute from His lips and with increased pure faith and love in Caitanya began to speak to Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: We can see that the Sākṣi-Gopāla deity began to speak to Lord Caitanya.

 

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 2.305

yāra mantre sakala mūrtite vaise prāṇa

sei prabhu—śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanyacandra nāma

Jayapatākā Swami: Life is invoked in the Deity forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by chanting the holy mantras. That Lord has now appeared as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyacandra.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The system of invoking life in the Deity form of the Supreme Lord by chanting the mahā-mantra given by Śrī Gaura is practiced in the Śrī Gauḍīya-sampradāya. Without chanting the Lord's holy names, the concept that the arcā-vigraha is made of stone does not disappear. The rules and regulations for worship that Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva prescribed according to the concepts of the kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ verse consist of lively and proper worship of the Lord's Deity, based simply on chanting the mahā-mantra. Wherever the Lord's service is performed without the physical involvement of the worshiper or wherever the worship is performed as a matter of formality, such worship and such deities are devoid of life. Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra preached by Śrī Gaurasundara is the topmost lively form of worship for a worshiper.

Jayapatākā Swami: So many people ask that Dvāpara-yuga has given deity worship and why we are doing it now, but in this purport Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he reveals that actually we follow Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and that we chant the mahā-mantra in front of the deity and that brings life into the deity. When we don’t chant there is no life.

 

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 2.306

loka-śikṣaka-śrī-gaurahari—

tathāpiha niravadhi kare dāsya-līlā

avatāra haile haya ei mata khelā

Jayapatākā Swami: Yet and therefore as a devotee incarnation He always relished enacting the pastimes as a servitor of the Lord, as his incarnation or avatāra at this particular pastime.

 

Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka 6.63 [Ratnākara]: Then? Then?

 

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.7

nityānandamukhe prabhura sākṣi-gopāla-vṛttānta-śravaṇa :—

sei rātri tāhāṅ rahi’ bhakta-gaṇa-saṅge

gopālera pūrva-kathā śune bahu raṅge

Translation: That night Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed in the temple of Gopāla, and along with all the devotees, He heard the narration of the witness Gopāla with great pleasure.

 

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.8

pūrve tīrtha-bhramaṇopalakṣe nitāira śravaṇa-suyoga :—

nityānanda-gosāñi yabe tīrtha bhramilā

sākṣi-gopāla dekhibāre kaṭaka āilā

Translation: Previously, when Nityānanda Prabhu had toured all over India to see different places of pilgrimage, He also had come to see Sākṣi-gopāla at Kaṭaka.

 

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.9

sākṣi-gopālera kathā śuni, loka-mukhe

sei kathā kahena, prabhu śune mahā-sukhe

Translation: At that time, Nityānanda Prabhu had heard the story of Sākṣi-gopāla from the townspeople. He now recited this again, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard the narration with great pleasure.

Purport: The Sākṣi-gopāla temple is situated between the Khurdā Road railway station and the Jagannātha Purī station. The Deity is not presently situated in Kaṭaka, but when Nityānanda Prabhu traveled there, the Deity was present. Kaṭaka is a town in Orissa situated on the Mahānadī River. When Sākṣi-gopāla was brought from Vidyānagara in southern India, He stayed for some time at Kaṭaka. Thereafter, He was situated for some time in the Jagannātha temple. It seems that in the temple of Jagannātha there was some disagreement between Jagannātha and Sākṣi-gopāla, a disagreement called prema-kalaha, a quarrel of love. In order to settle this love quarrel, the king of Orissa constructed a village about eleven miles from Jagannātha Purī. The village was called Satyavādī, and Gopāla was stationed there. Thereafter, a new temple was constructed. Now there is a Sākṣi-gopāla station, and people go to Satyavādī to see the witness Gopāla.

Jayapatākā Swami: We had a similar disagreement between Jagannātha deity and Govardhana-śīla, since there is some disagreement between Deities, these are called prema-kalaha – loving disputes. So, the Deity of Jagannātha in Sāradaṅga, Sīmantadvīpa in Navadvīpa-dhāma complained that ever since the Deity of Govardhana-śila was put in the temple since He is a mountain, he would eat all the prasāda and the Deity of Jagannātha was starving. They came to me and said please solve this problem, apparently there was some disagreement between Lord Jagannātha and Sākṣi-Gopāla so the King of Orrisa He has to solve that problem. So that’s how Sākṣi-Gopāla got a new temple. When I went in 1971 to see the Ratha yātrā in Orissa and at that time I could enter into the temple of Sākṣi-Gopāla apparently now they don’t let foreigners, that time there was no restriction, very beautiful deity.

Thus, ends the chapter entitled Prelude to the Narration of Sākṣi-gopāla by Nityānanda Prabhu

We can see how these Deities are actually personalities, the Supreme Personality in different forms and they have their līlā-vaicitra, the different pastimes, variegated pastimes.

 

Sākṣi-Gopāla ki jaya!