20210208 Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa of Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra Invites Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to His House (Part 2)

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on February 8th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma 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!

Compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book, entitled:

Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa of Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra Invites Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to His House Part-2

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.73

pītāmbara-śambhu darśana :— 
śveta-varāha dekhi, tāṅre namaskari’
pītāmbara-śiva-sthāne gelā gaurahari

Translation: At Vṛddhakola, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited the temple of Śveta-varāha, the white boar incarnation. After offering Him respects, the Lord visited the temple of Lord Śiva, wherein the deity is dressed with yellow garments.

Purport: The temple of the white boar incarnation is situated at Vṛddhakola, or Śrī Muṣṇam. The temple is made of stone and is located about one mile south of an oasis known as Balipīṭham. There is a Deity of the white boar incarnation, above whose head Śeṣa Nāga serves as an umbrella.

The temple of Lord Śiva mentioned here is situated in Pītāmbara, or Cidāmbaram, which lies twenty-six miles south of Cuddalore. The deity of Lord Śiva there is known as Ākāśaliṅga. The temple is situated on about thirty-nine acres of land, and all this land is surrounded by a wall and by a road that is about sixty feet wide.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya visited all the major temples along the way and every temple He chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and danced and offered prayers.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.124

tabe āra dina pathe calilā ṭhākura
krame krame uttarilā kāverīra tīra

Jayapatākā Swami: Then on another day, Lord Caitanya travelled and gradually He came to the bank of River Kāverī.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.74

śiyālī-bhairavī-rūpiṇī kātyāyanīra darśana :— 
śiyālī bhairavī devī kari’ darśana
kāverīra tīre āilā śacīra nandana

Translation: After visiting the temple of Śiyālī-bhairavī [a form of the goddess Durgā], Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the son of mother Śacī, went to the bank of the river Kāverī.

Purport: The temple of Śiyālī-bhairavī is located in the Tanjore district, about forty-eight miles northeast of Tanjore City. There is a very much celebrated temple of Lord Śiva there and also a very large lake. It is said that once a small boy who was a devotee of Lord Śiva came to that temple, and the goddess Durgā, known as Bhairavī, gave him her breast to suck. After visiting this temple, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the bank of the river Kāverī (Kolirana) via the district of Tiruchchirāpalli. The Kāverī is mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.40) as a very pious river.

Jayapatākā Swami: This is one of the sevn sacred rivers of India, Ganga, Yamunā , Sarasvatī etc., Kāverī is also mentioned.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.75

kāverī taṭe śambhu-darśana :— 
go-samāje śiva dekhi’ āilā vedāvana
mahādeva dekhi’ tāṅre karilā vandana

Translation: The Lord then visited a place known as Go-samāja, where He saw Lord Śiva’s temple. He then arrived at Vedāvana, where He saw another deity of Lord Śiva and offered him prayers.

Purport: Go-samāja is a place of pilgrimage for the devotees of Lord Śiva. It is very important and is located near Vedāvana.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Śiva is always situated around Viṣṇu temples as He is the protector of the holy dhāma and Lord Caitanya would offer Him appropriate prayers as greatest of all Vaiṣṇavas.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.76

prabhu kṛpāya śaivagaṇera vaiṣṇavatā :— 
amṛtaliṅga-śiva dekhi’ vandana karila
saba śivālaye śaiva ’vaiṣṇava’ ha-ila

Translation: Seeing the Śiva deity named Amṛta-liṅga, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu offered His obeisances. Thus He visited all the temples of Lord Śiva and converted the devotees of Lord Śiva into Vaiṣṇavas.

Jayapatākā Swami: We see that Lord Caitanya offered obeisances to Lord Śiva, We offer our obeisances to Viṣṇu-tattva on the left side, for guru straight ahead and for devas on the right side. Like this if we show respect to the devas, it is easier to convert the worshippers of the devas into Vaiṣṇavas.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.77

devasthāne viṣṇu-darśana o śrī-vaiṣṇavba’saṅge ālāpa :— 
deva-sthāne āsi’ kaila viṣṇu darśana
śrī-vaiṣṇavera saṅge tāhāṅ goṣṭhī anukṣaṇa

Translation: At Devasthāna, Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited the temple of Lord Viṣṇu, and there He talked with the Vaiṣṇavas in the disciplic succession of Rāmānujācārya. These Vaiṣṇavas are known as Śrī Vaiṣṇavas.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was establishing a favorable relationship with the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.78

kumbhakoṇame sarovara-darśana, śiva-kṣetre śiva-darśana 
kumbhakarṇa-kapāle dekhi’ sarovara
śiva-kṣetre śiva dekhe gaurāṅga-sundara

Translation: At Kumbhakarṇa-kapāla, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw a great lake and then the holy place named Śiva-kṣetra, where a temple of Lord Śiva is located.

Purport: Kumbhakarṇa is the name of the brother of Rāvaṇa. At the present moment the city of Kumbhakarṇa-kapāla is known as Kumbhakonam; it is situated twenty-four miles northeast of the city of Tanjore. There are twelve temples of Lord Śiva located at Kumbhakonam, as well as four Viṣṇu temples and one temple of Lord Brahmā. Śiva-kṣetra, within the city of Tanjore, is situated near a big lake known as Śiva-gaṅgā. At this place is a large temple of Lord Śiva known as Bṛhatīśvara-śiva-mandira.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in Tamilnadu, there are many devotees of Lord Śiva and many devotees of Lord Viṣṇu. Normally the relationship between Śiva devotees and Viṣṇu devotees is not so good. But Lord Caitanya would go to all the temples and thus He created a favourable relationship with all the devotees and Lord Śiva’s devotees became Vaiṣṇavas.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.125

kāverīra kūle dekhe śrī-raṅganātha
dekhiyā premāya nāce nijajana-sātha

Jayapatākā Swami: On the banks of the Kāverī river, He had darśana of Lord Śrī Raṅganātha. Seeing Lord Raṅganātha, Gaurahari danced in pure love with His own intimate devotees.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.79

pāpanāśane viṣṇu-darśanānte śrī-raṅgame gamana :— 
pāpa-nāśane viṣṇu kaila darśana
śrī-raṅga-kṣetre tabe karilā gamana

Translation: After visiting the holy place named Śiva-kṣetra, Caitanya Mahāprabhu arrived at Pāpanāśana and there saw the temple of Lord Viṣṇu. Then He finally reached Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra.

Purport: There are two holy places known as Pāpanāśana: one is located eight miles southwest of Kumbhakonam, and the other lies near the river Tāmraparṇī, in the district of Tirunelveli, twenty miles west of the city of Tirunelveli (Pālamakoṭā).

Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra (Śrī Raṅgam) is a very famous place. It lies in the district of Tiruchchirāpalli, about ten miles west of Kumbhakonam and near the city of Tiruchchirāpalli, on an island in the Kāverī River. The Śrī Raṅgam temple is the largest in India, and there are seven walls and seven roads surrounding it. The ancient names of these roads are the road of Dharma, the road of Rājamahendra, the road of Kulaśekhara, the road of Ālināḍana, the road of Tiruvikrama, the Tirubiḍi road of Māḍamāḍi-gāisa, and the road of Aḍa-iyāvala-indāna. The temple was founded before the reign of Dharmavarma, who reigned before Rājamahendra. Many celebrated kings like Kulaśekhara and Yāmunācārya (Ālabandāru) resided in the temple of Śrī Raṅgam. Yāmunācārya, Śrī Rāmānuja, Sudarśanācārya and others also supervised this temple.

The incarnation of the goddess of fortune known as Godādevī or Śrī Āṇḍāl was one of the twelve Ālvārs, liberated persons known as divya-sūris. She was married to the Deity of Lord Śrī Raṅganātha, and later she entered into the body of the Lord. An incarnation of Kārmuka named Tirumaṅga (also one of the Ālvārs) acquired some money by stealing and built the fourth boundary wall of Śrī Raṅgam. It is said that in the year 289 of the Age of Kali, the Ālvār of the name Toṇḍaraḍippaḍi was born. While engaged in devotional service he fell victim to a prostitute, and Śrī Raṅganātha, seeing His devotee so degraded, sent one of His servants with a golden plate to that prostitute. When the golden plate was discovered missing from the temple, there was a search, and it was found in the prostitute’s house. When the devotee saw Raṅganātha’s mercy upon this prostitute, his mistake was rectified. He then prepared the third boundary wall of the Raṅganātha temple and cultivated a tulasī garden there.

There was also a celebrated disciple of Rāmānujācārya’s known as Kūreśa. Śrī Rāmapillāi was the son of Kūreśa, and his son was Vāgvijaya Bhaṭṭa, whose son was Vedavyāsa Bhaṭṭa, or Śrī Sudarśanācārya. When Sudarśanācārya was an old man, the Muslims attacked the temple of Raṅganātha and killed about twelve hundred Śrī Vaiṣṇavas. At that time the Deity of Raṅganātha was transferred to the temple of Tirupati, in the kingdom of Vijaya-nagara. The governor of Gingee, Goppaṇārya, brought Śrī Raṅganātha from the temple of Tirupati to a place known as Siṁha-brahma, where the Lord was situated for three years. In the year 1293 Śaka (A.D. 1371) the Deity was reinstalled in the Raṅganātha temple. On the eastern wall of the Raṅganātha temple is an inscription written by Vedānta-deśika relating how Raṅganātha was returned to the temple.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Deity of Lord Raṅganātha was orinally worshipped by Śrī Rāma and then He was given to Vibhīṣaṇa but all the sages prayed that Śrī Raṅganātha should not leave India and not go to Srilanka. So then Lord Ganeśa took a form as brāhmaṇa boy and the devas gave the urge to pass water to Vibhīṣaṇa so he gave the deity to Lord Ganeśa as a child, then Lord Ganeśa said, “How long I should hold the Deity!?" Then Ganeśa told that, "I will put Him down, if you don’t come back on time!" And the issue was wherever the Deity was put down He will stay there, so the devas incharge of urination gave unlimited urine to Vibhīṣaṇa and Ganeśa called out for three times but the urine kept coming and He couldn’t go, then Lord Ganeśa put the deity down and ran back to his temple in Tiruchi,. Then Vibhīṣaṇa chased him and as he was entering the temple Vibhīṣaṇa struck him on the back of his head, and now still the deity has a lump on his head. That Tiruchchirappalli is in the main land near to Śrīraṅgam and Ganeśa deity is on the hill seeing the city.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.80

snānānte raṅganātha-darśana o nṛtya-gīta:— 
kāverīte snāna kari’ dekhi’ raṅganātha
stuti-praṇati kari’ mānilā kṛtārtha

Translation: After bathing in the river Kāverī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the temple of Raṅganātha and offered His ardent prayers and obeisances. Thus, He felt Himself successful.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.81

premāveśe kaila bahuta gāna nartana
dekhi’ camatkāra haila saba lokera mana

Translation: In the temple of Raṅganātha, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted and danced in ecstatic love of Godhead. Seeing His performance, everyone was struck with wonder.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.15.7

Translation: Thereafter, Śrī Jagadīśvara walked upon the earth, illuminating all directions. After crossing the holy Kāverī River, Prabhu joyously saw with reverence the great Deity of Viṣṇu named Śrī Raṅganātha and danced before Him in boundless delight.

Caitanya-Carita-Mahā-Kāvya 13.3

Translation: The merciful Lord arrived at Śrī-raṅgam, an elevated area surrounded by the Kāverī River. Seeing the deity there, he, endowed with a pleasing form, became very happy.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Deity of Śrī Raṅganātha has two hands and He is reclining and He is very beautiful Deity and Lord Caitanya was chanting and dancing in pure love and He was attracting all the people.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.82

raṅga-kṣetra-pravāsī vyeṅkaṭa-bhaṭṭera prabhuke nimantraṇa:— 
śrī-vaiṣṇava eka,—‘veṅkaṭa bhaṭṭa’ nāma
prabhure nimantraṇa kaila kariyā sammāna

Translation: A Vaiṣṇava known as Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa then invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home with great respect.

Purport: Śrī Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa was a Vaiṣṇava brāhmaṇa and an inhabitant of Śrī Raṅga-kṣetra. He belonged to the disciplic succession of Śrī Rāmānujācārya. Śrī Raṅga is one of the places of pilgrimage in the province of Tamil Nadu. The inhabitants of that province do not retain the name Veṅkaṭa. It is therefore supposed that Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa did not belong to that province, although he may have been residing there for a very long time. Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa was in a branch of the Rāmānuja-sampradāya known as Vaḍagalai. He had a brother in the Rāmānuja-sampradāya known as Śrīpāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. The son of Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa was later known in the Gauḍīya-sampradāya as Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, and he established the Rādhāramaṇa temple in Vṛndāvana. More information about him may be found in a book known as the Bhakti-ratnākara, by Narahari Cakravartī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa was the head priest of Raṅganātha temple and His son became one of the Six Gosvāmīs.

Murāri-Gupta-Kaḍaca 3.15.9

Translation: There was a highly advanced brāhmaṇa who was present in that temple. He observed that our Prabhu's beautiful golden body was of great stature. He saw that His eyes were filled with tears, and that His tongue constantly vibrated the sacred syllables "kṛṣ-ṇa." Considering these symptoms, he concluded that this person must be none other than Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the true friend of all people.

Murāri-Gupta-Kaḍaca 3.15.10

Translation: That king of learned scholars named Trimalla Bhaṭṭa deliberated, "Aho! What good fortune I have achieved today!" Then, it was delight, he clasped Gaura Prabhu's blessed feet in his hands and pleaded for His mercy:

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.126

tathāya trimalla bhaṭṭa ṭhākura dekhiyā
nirīkhaye śrīaṅga vismita haiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Tirumalla Bhaṭṭa saw Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, gazing at the transcendental form of the Lord, he was amazed!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.127

dehera kiraṇa-āra premāra ārambha
kadamba-keśara jini’ pulaka-kadamba

Jayapatākā Swami: The divine form of Lord Caitanya emanated rays and He manifested symptoms of love for Godhead. On His body, His hairs were standing on end like the filaments of the kadamba flower.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.128

sarvbaloka jini’ tanu yehena sumeru
prema-phala-phula phaliyāche kalpataru

Jayapatākā Swami: All the people who saw the Lord were overwhelmed to see His body like a golden Mount Sumeru filled Kṛṣṇa’s love with fruits and flowers, like a transcendental desire tree.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.129

hari hari bali’ ḍāke ati uccanāde
dekhiyā caudiga bhari’ saba loka kāṅde

Jayapatākā Swami: When Lord Caitanya loudly cried out "Hari, Hari!" seeing this everyone outside overwhelmed with spiritual emotion, started to cry.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.130

aichana dekhiyā se trimalla-bhaṭṭācārya
kautuke sakala kathā jānila āścarya

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing the transcendental form Trimalla Bhaṭṭācārya, curiously saw everything as wonderful

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.131

ei sei bhagavān-kabhu nahe āna
niścaya jānila ei sarvajana-prāṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: At that moment Tirumalla Bhaṭṭācārya became convinced that Lord Caitanya was none other than the Supreme Lord – the life and soul of everyone.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 1.132

eteka jāniyā se trimallabhaṭṭa rāya
āpana āśrame se prabhure lañā yāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Having thus understood that Trimalla Bhaṭṭa Rāya took Lord Caitanya to kindly visit his āśrama.