20201123 The Younger Brāhmaṇa Calls the Pañcāyat When the Promise is Not Kept by the Elderly Brāhmaṇa

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 the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, today’s chapter entitled is:

The Younger brāhmaṇa Calls the Pañcāyat When
the Promise is Not Kept by the Elderly brāhmaṇa

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.35

deśe āsi’ dui-jane gelā nija-ghare
kata dine baḍa-vipra cintita antare

Translation: After returning to Vidyānagara, each brāhmaṇa went to his respective home. After some time, the elderly brāhmaṇa became very anxious.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.36

tīrthe vipre vākya diluṅ,—kemate satya haya
strī, putra, jñāti, bandhu jānibe niścaya

Translation: He began to think, “I have given my word to a brāhmaṇa in a holy place, and what I promised will certainly come to pass. I must now disclose this to my wife, sons, other relatives and friends.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.37

eka-dina nija-loka ekatra karila
tā-sabāra āge saba vṛttānta kahila

Translation: Thus, one day the elderly brāhmaṇa called for a meeting of all his relatives and friends, and before them all he narrated what had taken place in front of Gopāla.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.38

śuni’ saba goṣṭhī tāra kare hāhā-kāra
‘aiche bāt mukhe tumi nā ānibe āra

Translation: When those who belonged to the family circle heard the narration of the old brāhmaṇa, they made exclamations showing their disappointment. They all requested that he not make such a proposal again.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.39

nīce kanyā dile kula yāibeka nāśa
śuniñā sakala loka karibe upahāsa’

Translation: They unanimously agreed, “If you offer your daughter to a degraded family, your aristocracy will be lost. When people hear of this, they will make jokes and laugh at you.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.40

vipra bale,—“tīrtha-vākya kemane kari āna
ye ha-uk, se ha-uka, āmi diba kanyā-dāna”

Translation: The elderly brāhmaṇa said, “How can I undo the promise I made in a holy place while on pilgrimage? Whatever may happen, I must give him my daughter in charity.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.41

jñāti loka kahe,—‘morā tomāke chāḍiba’
strī-putra kahe,—‘viṣa khāiyā mariba’

Translation: The relatives unanimously said, “If you give your daughter to that boy, we shall give up all connection with you.” Indeed, his wife and sons declared, “If such a thing happens, we shall take poison and die.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.42

vipra bale,—“sākṣī bolāñā karibeka nyāya
jiti’ kanyā labe, mora vyartha dharma haya”

Translation: The elderly brāhmaṇa said, “If I do not give my daughter to the young brāhmaṇa, he will call Śrī Gopālajī as a witness. Thus he will take my daughter by force, and in that case my religious principles will become meaningless.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.43

putra bale,—“pratimā sākṣī, seha dūra deśe
ke tomāra sākṣī dibe, cintā kara kise

Translation: His son replied, “The Deity may be a witness, but He is in a distant country. How can He come to bear witness against you? Why are you so anxious over this?

Jayapatākā Swami: So the elderly brāhmaṇa son was obviously an atheist and he didn’t believe in the power of the Deity; and they are only worried about material name and prestige. So to save their so called aristocracy they are willing to sacrifice all the elder brāhmaṇa religious principles. But he was sincere that he wanted to carry out what he promised before Lord Gopāla; but he was under such pressure from his family members, relatives, wife and sons, which the younger brāhmaṇa has foretold. But the elderly brāhmaṇa he made a promise before Gopāla and the younger brāhmaṇa said, “Gopal, You are the witness!” But the son of the elderly brāhmaṇa, he said, “Anyway Gopāla is in a distant place, He is only doll, what to worry!”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.44

nāhi kahi—nā kahio e mithyā-vacana
sabe kahibe—‘mora kichu nāhika smaraṇa’

Translation: “You do not have to flatly deny that you spoke such a thing. There is no need to make a false statement. Simply say that.” you do not remember what you said.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since the brāhmaṇa is supposed to always speak the truth so the son advising, “Don’t directly tell a lie, just say I don’t remembe

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.45

tumi yadi kaha,—‘āmi kichui nā jāni’
tabe āmi nyāya kari’ brāhmaṇere jini”

Translation: “If you simply say, ’I do not remember,’ I shall take care of the rest. By argument, I shall defeat the young brāhmaṇa.”

Purport: The son of the elderly brāhmaṇa was an atheist and a follower of the Raghunātha-smṛti. He was very expert in dealing with pounds-shillings-pence, but he was fool number one. Consequently, he did not believe in the spiritual position of the Deity, nor did he have any faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, as a typical idol worshiper, he considered the form of the Lord to be made of stone or wood. Thus he assured his father that the witness was only a stone Deity and was not capable of speaking. Besides that, he assured his father that the Deity was situated far away and consequently could not come to bear witness. In essence, he was saying, “Have no anxiety. You do not have to lie directly, but you should speak like a diplomat, like King Yudhiṣṭhira when he spoke to Droṇācārya — aśvatthāmā hata iti gajaḥ. Following this principle, simply say that you do not remember anything and are completely unaware of the statements given by the young brāhmaṇa. If you make the background like that, I shall know how to fill in the argument and defeat him by word jugglery. Thus I shall save you from having to give your daughter to him. In this way, our aristocracy will be saved. You have nothing to worry about.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda has conformed that son of the elderly brāhmaṇa was an atheist and he had no faith in Supreme Personality of Godhead and he thought that the Deity was simply an idol and that He could never come and bear witness, this was a challenge for Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.46

eta śuni’ viprera cintita haila mana
ekānta-bhāve cinte vipra gopāla-caraṇa

Translation: When the elderly brāhmaṇa heard this, his mind became very much agitated. Feeling helpless, he simply turned his attention to the lotus feet of Gopāla.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the elderly brāhmaṇa he actually wanted to fulfill his promise but his family members were all talking against him and threatening him. So, he was thinking of the lotus feet of Gopāla, how he could be saved from this predicament.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.47

‘mora dharma rakṣā pāya, nā mare nija-jana
dui rakṣā kara, gopāla, lainu śaraṇa’

Translation: The elderly brāhmaṇa prayed, “My dear Lord Gopāla, I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet, and therefore I request You to please protect my religious principles from disturbance and at the same time save my kinsmen from dying.”

Jayapatākā Swami: See how difficult is to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although He is independent, His devotees pray to Him He does feel obliged, He reciprocate to their devotion.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.48

ei-mata vipra citte cintite lāgila
āra dina laghu-vipra tāṅra ghare āila

Translation: The next day, the elderly brāhmaṇa was thinking deeply about this matter when the young brāhmaṇa came to his house.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.49

āsiñā parama-bhaktye namaskāra kari’
vinaya kariñā kahe kara dui yuḍi’

Translation: The young brāhmaṇa came to him and offered respectful obeisances. Then, very humbly folding his hands, he spoke as follows.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.50

‘tumi more kanyā dite karyācha aṅgīkāra
ebe kichu nāhi kaha, ki tomāra vicāra’

Translation: “You have promised to give your daughter in charity to me. Now you do not say anything. What is your conclusion?”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.51

eta śuni’ sei vipra rahe mauna dhari’
tāṅra putra mārite āila hāte ṭheṅgā kari’

Translation: After the young brāhmaṇa submitted this statement, the elderly brāhmaṇa remained silent. Taking this opportunity, his son immediately came out with a stick to strike the younger man.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.52

‘āre adhama! mora bhagnī cāha vivāhite
vāmana hañā cāṅda yena cāha ta’ dharite’

Translation: The son said, “Oh, you are most degraded! You want to marry my sister, just like a dwarf who wants to catch the moon!”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.53

ṭheñā dekhi’ sei vipra palāñā gela
āra dina grāmera loka ekatra karila

Translation: Seeing a stick in the hand of the son, the younger brāhmaṇa fled. The next day, however, he gathered together all the people of the village.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the younger brāhmaṇa wanted to help the elderly brāhmaṇa to preserve his religious principles. He made a promise before the Deity and if he doesn’t give that his religious principles will be lost. At the same time, the elderly brāhmaṇa, one hand he wants to preserve his promise and at the same time he wants to save his kinsmen from dying. since his wife and sons threatened will take poison if he gives away his daughter to that younger brāhmaṇa.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.54

saba loka baḍa-vipre ḍākiyā ānila
tabe sei laghu-vipra kahite lāgila

Translation: All the people of the village then called for the elderly brāhmaṇa and brought him to their meeting place. The young brāhmaṇa then began to speak before them as follows.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.55

‘iṅha more kanyā dite karyāche aṅgīkāra
ebe ye nā dena, pucha iṅhāra vyavahāra’

Translation: “This gentleman has promised to hand over his daughter to me, yet now he does not follow his promise. Please ask him about his behavior.”

Jayapatākā Swami: This is the situation would happen in the village at that time Vidyānagara was under the Orissa King and Lord Caitanya met Rāmānanda Rāya at Rajahmundry and he also started preaching in the place of Kūrmadeśa which is near to Vishakhapatnam. So like this, that’s why the deity was brought to the capital of the King of Orissa because eat that time Vidyānagara was under the King of Orissa. So, this is the pastimes that let up for the deity coming down to bare witness. We can see that Kṛṣṇa is very merciful to his devotees, that in order to save the elderly brāhmaṇa, who had promised before him and in order to prove the atheistic children of the elderly brāhmaṇa wrong, He agreed to walk for a hundred days. Actually, this may be very shocking for the pujārīs in Vṛndāvana, when they went to see the Deity; He is gone, He walked away.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, The Younger brāhmaṇa Calls the Pañcāyat When the Promise is Not Kept by the Elderly brāhmaṇa