20201125 The Younger Brāhmaṇa Convinces Gopāla to Give His Witness.

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 as,

The Younger Brāhmaṇa Convinces Gopāla to Give His Witness.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.77

tabe baḍa-vipra kahe, “ei satya kathā
gopāla yadi sākṣī dena, āpane āsi’ ethā

Translation: Taking this opportunity, the elderly brāhmaṇa immediately confirmed that this was really true. He said, “If Gopāla personally comes here to serve as a witness, I shall surely give my daughter to the young brāhmaṇa.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.77

tabe kanyā diba āmi, jāniha niścaya”
tāṅra putra kahe,—’ei bhāla bāta haya’

Translation: The elderly brāhmaṇa’s son immediately confirmed this, saying, “Yes, this is a very nice settlement.”

Purport: As the Supersoul within the heart of all living entities, Kṛṣṇa knows everyone’s desire, everyone’s request and everyone’s prayer. Although all these may be contradictory, the Lord has to create a situation in which everyone will be pleased. This is an instance of a marriage negotiation between an elderly brāhmaṇa and a youthful one. The elderly brāhmaṇa was certainly willing to give his daughter in charity to the young brāhmaṇa, but his son and relatives became impediments to this transaction. The elderly brāhmaṇa considered how to get out of this situation and still offer his daughter to the young brāhmaṇa. His son, an atheist and a very cunning fellow, was thinking of how to stop the marriage. The father and son were thinking in a contradictory way, yet Kṛṣṇa created a situation wherein they agreed. They both agreed that if the Gopāla Deity would come and serve as a witness, the daughter would be given to the young brāhmaṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the son of the elder brāhmaṇa, being atheist, he thought the deity can never come. The elderly brāhmaṇa wanted to give his daughter, he was praying that, “Gopāla save him, please be merciful on me so that I can fulfill my promise and my family members wont die.” So that everyone agreed although they had different points of vision.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.79

baḍa-viprera mane,—’kṛṣṇa baḍa dayāvān
avaśya mora vākya teṅho karibe pramāṇa’

Translation: The elderly brāhmaṇa thought, “Since Lord Kṛṣṇa is very merciful, He will certainly come to prove my statement.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the elder brāhmaṇa has such faith in Kṛṣṇa that although He was thousands of miles away, he had no doubt that He could come and bear witness, because He is very merciful.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.80

putrera mane,—’pratimā nā āsibe sākṣī dite’
ei buddhye dui-jana ha-ilā sammate

Translation: The atheistic son thought, “It is not possible for Gopāla to come and bear witness.” Thinking thus, the father and son agreed.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.81

choṭa-vipra bale,—’patra karaha likhana
punaḥ yena nāhi cale e-saba vacana’

Translation: The young brāhmaṇa took this opportunity to speak: “Please write this down on paper in black and white so that you may not again change your word of honor.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the younger brāhmaṇa, he was very efficient and that he wanted it to be in writing. It’s a good example that we should also get things in writing and if there is a possibility of people backing out later.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.82

tabe saba loka meli’ patra ta’ likhila
duṅhāra sammati lañā madhyastha rākhila

Translation: All the assembled people got this statement down in black and white and, taking the signatures of agreement from both of them, served as the mediators.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.83

tabe choṭa-vipra kahe,—śuna, sarva-jana
ei vipra—satya-vākya, dharma-parāyaṇa

Translation: The young brāhmaṇa then said, “Will all you gentlemen present please hear me? This elderly brāhmaṇa is certainly truthful and is following religious principles.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.84

sva-vākya chāḍite iṅhāra nāhi kabhu mana
svajana-mṛtyu-bhaye kahe asatya-vacana

Translation: “He had no desire to break his promise, but fearing that his kinsmen would commit suicide, he deviated from the truth.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, The younger brāhmaṇa he understood the reality, he is very, very intelligent.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.85

iṅhāra puṇye kṛṣṇe āni’ sākṣī bolāiba
tabe ei viprera satya-pratijñā rākhiba

Translation: “By the piety of the elderly brāhmaṇa, I shall call the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a witness. Thus, I shall keep his truthful promise intact.”

Jayapatākā Swami: This is very interesting how the deity of Kṛṣṇa is expected to walk thousands of miles to bear witness and this is reenforce of the faith of the devotees all over the world.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.86

eta śuni’ nāstika loka upahāsa kare
keha bale, īśvara—dayālu, āsiteha pāre

Translation: Hearing the emphatic statement of the younger brāhmaṇa, some atheists in the meeting began to cut jokes. However, someone else said, “After all, the Lord is merciful, and if He likes, He can come.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.87

tabe sei choṭa-vipra gelā vṛndāvana
daṇḍavat kari’ kahe saba vivaraṇa

Translation: After the meeting, the young brāhmaṇa started for Vṛndāvana. Upon arriving there, he first offered his respectful obeisances to the Deity and then narrated everything in full detail.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.88

“brahmaṇya-deva tumi baḍa dayā-māyā
dui viprera dharma rākha hañā sadaya

Translation: He said, “My Lord, You are the protector of brahminical culture, and You are also very merciful. Therefore, kindly show Your great mercy by protecting the religious principles of us two brāhmaṇas.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we offer prayers to Kṛṣṇa, namo brahmaṇya-devāya go, the protector of the brāhmaṇas and the cows and his devotees, the devas. So, although Kṛṣṇa says He descends in order to protect His devotees and annihilates the miscreants, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām and in this way He will protecting the dharma of the brāhmaṇas and He will be destroying the faithlessness of the atheist.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.89

kanyā pāba,—mora mane ihā nāhi sukha
brāhmaṇera pratijñā yāya—ei baḍa duḥkha

Translation: “My dear Lord, I am not thinking to become happy by getting the daughter as a bride. I am simply thinking that the brāhmaṇa has broken his promise, and that is giving me great pain.”

Purport: It was not at all the intention of the young brāhmaṇa to get the daughter of the elderly brāhmaṇa in marriage and thus enjoy material happiness and sense gratification. It was not for that reason that the young brāhmaṇa went to Vṛndāvana to ask the Supreme Personality of Godhead to act as a witness. His only concern was that because the elderly brāhmaṇa had promised something, if Gopāla did not bear witness to that transaction, then the older brāhmaṇa would incur a spiritual blemish. Therefore, the young brāhmaṇa wanted protection and help from the Deity. The young brāhmaṇa was thus a pure Vaiṣṇava, and he had no desire for sense gratification. He wanted only to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the older brāhmaṇa, who was also a Vaiṣṇava and very much devoted to the Lord.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord is the protector of His devotees and He promised the devotees that they will never perish, he told Arjuna thus to announce, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati, “My devotees will never perish.” So, the younger brāhmaṇa understood that the Lord was all merciful.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.90

eta jāni’ tumi sākṣī deha, dayā-māyā
jāni’ sākṣī nāhi deya, tāra pāpa haya

Translation: The young brāhmaṇa continued, “My dear Sir, You are very merciful and You know everything. Therefore, kindly be a witness in this case. A person who knows things as they are and still does not bear witness becomes involved in sinful activities.”

Purport: The dealings between a devotee and the Lord are very simple. The young brāhmaṇa said to the Lord, “You know everything, but if You do not bear witness, You will be involved in sinful activities.” There is no possibility, however, of the Lord’s being involved in sinful activities. A pure devotee, even though he knows everything of the Supreme Lord, can speak with the Lord exactly as if He were a common man. Although the dealings between the Lord and His devotee are always very simple and open, there is formality. All these things happen because of the connection between the Lord and the devotee.

Jayapatākā Swami: Because the devotee has great love and affection for the Lord sometimes, he may speak to the Lord like an ordinary person and the Lord appreciates this.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.91

kṛṣṇa kahe,—vipra, tumi yāha sva-bhavane
sabhā kari’ more tumi kariha smaraṇe

Translation: Lord Kṛṣṇa replied, “My dear brāhmaṇa, go back to your home and call a meeting of all the men. In that meeting, just try to remember Me.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.92

āvirbhāva hañā āmi tāhāṅ sākṣī diba
tabe dui viprera satya pratijñā rākhiba

Translation: “I shall certainly appear there, and at that time I shall protect the honor of both you brāhmaṇas by bearing witness to the promise.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.93

vipra bale,—”yadi hao caturbhuja-mūrti
tabu tomāra vākye kāru nā habe pratīti

Translation: The young brāhmaṇa replied, “My dear sir, even if You appear there as a four-handed Viṣṇu Deity, still, none of those people will believe in Your words.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.94

ei mūrti giyā yadi ei śrī-vadane
sākṣī deha yadi—tabe sarva-loka śune”

Translation: “Only if You go there in this form of Gopāla and speak the words from Your beautiful face will Your testimony be heard by all the people.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Such a request for Kṛṣṇa, the younger brāhmaṇa had great faith in the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, so he could appeal like this.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.95

kṛṣṇa kahe,—“pratimā cale, kothāha nā śuni”
vipra bale,—”pratimā hañā kaha kene vāṇī

Translation: Lord Kṛṣṇa said, “I’ve never heard of a Deity’s walking from one place to another.” The brāhmaṇa replied, “That is true, but how is it that You are speaking to me, although You are a Deity?

Jayapatākā Swami: The younger brāhmaṇa had such a relationship with Kṛṣṇa that the deity is talking to him. So he said, “since you are talking to me, why can’t you walk!”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.96

pratimā naha tumi—sākṣāt vrajendra-nandana
vipra lāgi’ kara tumi akārya-karaṇa”

Translation: “My dear Lord, You are not a statue; You are directly the son of Mahārāja Nanda. Now, for the sake of the old brāhmaṇa, You can do something You have never done before.”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.97

hāsiñā gopāla kahe,—”śunaha, brāhmaṇa
tomāra pāche pāche āmi kariba gamana

Translation: Śrī Gopālajī then smiled and said, “My dear brāhmaṇa, just listen to Me. I shall walk behind you, and in this way I shall go with you.”

Purport: The conversation between Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the brāhmaṇa is proof that the Lord in His arcā-mūrti, or form made of material elements, is not material, for those elements, although separated from the Lord, are also a part of the Lord’s energy, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Because the elements are the Lord’s own energy and because there is no difference between the energy and the energetic, the Lord can appear through any element. Just as the sun can act through the sunshine and thus distribute its heat and light, so Kṛṣṇa, by His inconceivable power, can appear in His original spiritual form in any material element, including stone, wood, paint, gold, silver and jewels, because the material elements are all His energy. The śāstras warn, arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīḥ... nārakī saḥ: one should never think of the arcā-mūrti, the Deity within the temple, as stone, wood or any other material element. Because of his advanced devotional position, the younger brāhmaṇa knew that although the Deity of Gopāla appeared to be stone, He was not stone. He was the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Vrajendra-nandana Himself. As such, the Deity could act exactly as the Lord does in His original form as Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa was talking to the young brāhmaṇa just to test his knowledge about the arcā-vigraha. In other words, those who have understood the science of Kṛṣṇa —Kṛṣṇa’s name, form, qualities and so forth —can also talk with the Deity. To an ordinary person, however, the Deity will appear to be made of stone, wood or some other material. In the higher sense, since all material elements ultimately emanate from the supreme spiritual entity, nothing is really material. Being omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, Kṛṣṇa can deal with His devotee in any form without difficulty. By the mercy of the Lord, the devotee knows perfectly well about the Lord’s dealings. Indeed, he can talk face to face with the Lord.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, there are many pastimes where the Lord in His Deity form is reciprocating with His devotees so the atheist, they think that the followers of Vedas worship idols. But here is that the Lord, He is involved, he is actually present as the worshipable Deity, He is invoked therefore the younger brāhmaṇa he was talking to the Deity as a real person because Kṛṣṇa is present as a real person so the common people doesn’t have great faith so the Lord reciprocates accordingly since the younger brāhmaṇa had such faith in the Lord, the Lord reciprocated with him.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.98

ulaṭiyā āmā tumi nā kariha daraśane
āmāke dekhile, āmi rahiba sei sthāne

Translation: The Lord continued, “Do not try to see Me by turning around. As soon as you see Me, I shall remain stationary in that very place.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.99

nūpurera dhvani-mātra āmāra śunibā
sei śabde āmāra gamana pratīti karibā

Translation: “You will know that I am walking behind you by the sound of My ankle bells.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 5.100

eka-sera anna rāndhi’ kariha samarpaṇa
tāhā khāñā tomāra saṅge kariba gamana 

Translation: “Cook one kilo of rice daily and offer it. I shall eat that rice and follow behind you.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So He gave a process by which he will follow behind the brāhmaṇa and he told the younger brāhmaṇa to offer him one ‘sera’ of rice everyday which is about 900gm almost a kilo. In this way the Lord will take the rice and the brāhmaṇa can take His prasāda.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, “The Younger Brāhmaṇa Convinces Gopāla to Give His Witness”