20210220 Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu Receives the Manuscript of Brahma-saṁhitā and Visits Śṛṅgeri-maṭha

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on February 20th, 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, chapter entitled:

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu Receives the Manuscript of Brahma-saṁhitā and Visits Śṛṅgeri-maṭha. 
Under the section Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu travel to the Holy Places in South India

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.234 

ādikeśava-mandire viṣṇu-darśane prabhura nṛtya-gīta o taddarśane sakalera camatkāra:— 
sei dina cali’ āilā payasvinī-tīre
snāna kari’ gelā ādi-keśava-mandire

Translation: That very night, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His assistant Kṛṣṇadāsa arrived at the bank of the Payasvinī River. They took their bath and then went to see the temple of Ādi-keśava.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.235

keśava dekhiyā preme āviṣṭa hailā
nati, stuti, nṛtya, gīta, bahuta karilā

Translation: When the Lord saw the Ādi-keśava temple, He was immediately overwhelmed with ecstasy. Offering various obeisances and prayers, He chanted and danced.

Jayapatākā Swami: I had the great good fortune to visit the Ādi-keśava deity. This temple is surrounded by large wall and the deity is like the Padmanābha deity in Trivandrum, but He is faced in the opposite way. They had not changed the cloth of the Deity, so we gave them a new cloth and they gave the old cloth as prasāda which I distributed to various devotees.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.236

prema dekhi’ loke haila mahā-camatkāra
sarva-loka kaila prabhura parama satkāra

Translation: All the people there were greatly astonished to see the ecstatic pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They all received the Lord very well.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.237

śuddha-bhakta-saṅge brahma-saṁhitāra 5-ma adhyāya prāpti:— 
mahā-bhakta-gaṇa-saha tāhāṅ goṣṭhī kaila
’brahma-saṁhitādhyāya’-puṅthi tāhāṅ pāila

Translation: In the temple of Ādi-keśava, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu discussed spiritual matters among highly advanced devotees. While there, He found a chapter of the Brahma-saṁhitā.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.238

grantha-darśane prabhura ānanda:— 
puṅthi pāñā prabhura haila ānanda apāra
kampāśru-sveda-stambha-pulaka vikāra

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was greatly happy to find a chapter of that scripture, and symptoms of ecstatic transformation — trembling, tears, perspiration, trance and jubilation — were manifest in His body.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since Lord Caitanya had visited this temple and found the fifth chapter of Brahmā-saṁhitā, it is appropriate that we put the Lotus footprint of Lord Caitanya here. We put one in the Padmanābha temple in Trivandrum, so we should put one here also.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.239-240

brahma-saṁhitāra māhātmya:— 

siddhānta-śāstra nāhi ’brahma-saṁhitā’ra sama
govinda-mahimā jñānera parama kāraṇa

alpākṣare kahe siddhānta apāra
sakala-vaiṣṇava-śāstra-madhye ati sāra

Translation: There is no scripture equal to the Brahma-saṁhitā as far as the final spiritual conclusion is concerned. Indeed, that scripture is the supreme revelation of the glories of Lord Govinda, for it reveals the topmost knowledge about Him. Since all conclusions are briefly presented in the Brahma-saṁhitā, it is essential among all the Vaiṣṇava literatures.

Purport: The Brahma-saṁhitā is a very important scripture. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu acquired the fifth chapter from the Ādi-keśava temple. In that fifth chapter, the philosophical conclusion of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (simultaneous oneness and difference) is presented. The chapter also presents methods of devotional service, the eighteen-syllable Vedic hymn, discourses on the soul, the Supersoul and fruitive activity, an explanation of Kāma-gāyatrī, kāma-bīja and the original Mahā-Viṣṇu, and a detailed description of the spiritual world, specifically Goloka Vṛndāvana. The Brahma-saṁhitā also explains the demigod Gaṇeśa, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the origin of the Gāyatrī mantra, the form of Govinda and His transcendental position and abode, the living entities, the highest goal, the goddess Durgā, the meaning of austerity, the five gross elements, love of Godhead, impersonal Brahman, the initiation of Lord Brahmā, and the vision of transcendental love enabling one to see the Lord. The steps of devotional service are also explained. The mind, yoga-nidrā, the goddess of fortune, devotional service in spontaneous ecstasy, incarnations beginning with Lord Rāmacandra, Deities, the conditioned soul and its duties, the truth about Lord Viṣṇu, prayers, Vedic hymns, Lord Śiva, the Vedic literature, personalism and impersonalism, good behavior, and many other subjects are also discussed. There is also a description of the sun and the universal form of the Lord. All these subjects are conclusively explained in a nutshell in the Brahma-saṁhitā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, from this explanation we can understand that the Brahmā-saṁhitā is a very important literature for all the Vaiṣṇavas.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.241

śrī-ananta padmanābha-darśana:— 
bahu yatne sei puṅthi nila lekhāiyā
‘ananta padmanābha’ āilā haraṣita hañā

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu copied the Brahma-saṁhitā, and then with great pleasure He went to a place known as Ananta Padmanābha.

Purport: Concerning Ananta Padmanābha, one should refer to Madhya-līlā, chapter one, text 9.115.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Trivandrum is also known as Thiruvanantapuram or AnantaPurī.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.242

duidina avasthāna, pare śrī-janārdana-darśana:— 
dina-dui padmanābhera kaila daraśana
ānande dekhite āilā śrī-janārdana

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu remained for two or three days at Ananta Padmanābha and visited the temple there. Then, in great ecstasy He went to see the temple of Śrī Janārdana.

Jayapatākā Swami: We are also getting some land near the Sri Janārdana temple.

Purport: The temple of Śrī Janārdana is situated twenty-six miles north of Trivandrum, near the Varkala railway station.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.243

payasvinī-tīre śaṅkara nārāyaṇa-darśana:— 
dina-dui tāhāṅ kari’ kīrtana-nartana
payasvinī āsiyā dekhe śaṅkara nārāyaṇa

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted and danced at Śrī Janārdana for two days. He then went to the bank of the Payasvinī River and visited the temple of Śaṅkara-nārāyaṇa.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.244

śṛṅgeri-maṭhe āgamana o pare matsya-tīrtha darśana:— 
śṛṅgeri-maṭhe āilā śaṅkarācārya-sthāne
matsya-tīrtha dekhi’ kaila tuṅgabhadrāya snāne

Translation: Then He saw the monastery known as Śṛṅgeri-maṭha, the abode of Ācārya Śaṅkara. He then visited Matsya-tīrtha, a place of pilgrimage, and took a bath in the river Tuṅgabhadrā.

Purport: The monastery known as Śṛṅgeri-maṭha is situated in the state of Karnataka, in the district of Chikmagalur. This monastery is located at the confluence of the rivers Tuṅga and Bhadrā, seven miles south of Harihara-pura. The real name of this place is Śṛṅga-giri or Śṛṅgavera-purī, and it is the headquarters of Śaṅkarācārya.

Śaṅkarācārya had four principal disciples, and he established four centers under their management. In North India at Badarikāśrama, the monastery named Jyotir-maṭha was established. At Puruṣottama, the Bhogavardhana or Govardhana monastery was established. In Dvārakā, the Sāradā monastery was established. And the fourth monastery, established in South India, is known as Śṛṅgeri-maṭha. In the Śṛṅgeri-maṭha, the sannyāsīs assume the designations Sarasvatī, Bhāratī and Purī. They are all ekadaṇḍi-sannyāsīs, distinguished from the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, who are known as tridaṇḍi-sannyāsīs. The Śṛṅgeri-maṭha is situated in South India, in a portion of the country comprising Āndhra, Draviḍa, Karṇāṭa and Kerala. The community is called Bhūrivāra, and the dynasty is called Bhūr-bhuvaḥ. The place is called Rāmeśvara, and the slogan is ahaṁ brahmāsmi. The Deity is Lord Varāha, and the energetic power is Kāmākṣī. The ācārya is Hastāmalaka, and the brahmacārī assistants of the sannyāsīs are known as Caitanya. The place of pilgrimage is called Tuṅgabhadrā, and the subject for Vedic study is the Yajur Veda.

The list of the disciplic succession from Śaṅkarācārya is available, and the names of the ācāryas and the dates of their accepting sannyāsa, according to the Śaka Era (or Śakābda), are as follows (for approximate Christian-era dates, add 78 years): Śaṅkarācārya, 622 Śaka; Sureśvarācārya, 630; Bodhanācārya, 680; Jñānadhanācārya, 768; Jñānottama-śivācārya, 827;Jñānagiri Ācārya, 871; etc Regarding Śaṅkarācārya, it is understood that he was born in the year 608 of the Śakābda Era, in the month of Vaiśākha, on the third day of the waxing moon, in a place in South India known as Kālāḍi. His father’s name was Śivaguru, and he lost his father at an early age. When Śaṅkarācārya was only eight years old, he completed his study of all scriptures and took sannyāsa from Govinda, who was residing on the banks of the Narmadā. After accepting sannyāsa, Śaṅkarācārya stayed with his spiritual master for some days. He then took his permission to go to Vārāṇasī, and from there he went to Badarikāśrama, where he stayed until his twelfth year. While there, he wrote a commentary on the Brahma-sūtra, as well as on ten Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad-gītā. He also wrote Sanat-sujātīya and a commentary on the Nṛsiṁha-tāpanī. Among his many disciples, his four chief disciples are Padmapāda, Sureśvara, Hastāmalaka and Troṭaka. After departing from Vārāṇasī, Śaṅkarācārya went to Prayāga, where he met a great learned scholar called Kumārila Bhaṭṭa. Śaṅkarācārya wanted to discuss the authority of the scriptures, but Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, being on his deathbed, sent him to his disciple Maṇḍana, in the city of Māhiṣmatī. It was there that Śaṅkarācārya defeated Maṇḍana Miśra in a discussion of the śāstras. Maṇḍana had a wife named Sarasvatī, or Ubhaya-bhāratī, who served as mediator between Śaṅkarācārya and her husband It is said that she wanted to discuss erotic principles and amorous love with Śaṅkarācārya, but Śaṅkarācārya had been a brahmacārī since birth and therefore had no experience in amorous love. He took a month’s leave from Ubhaya-bhāratī and, by his mystic power, entered the body of a king who had just died. In this way Śaṅkarācārya experienced the erotic principles. After attaining this experience, he wanted to discuss erotic principles with Ubhaya-bhāratī, but without hearing his discussion she blessed him and assured the continuous existence of the Śṛṅgeri-maṭha. She then took leave of material life. Afterwards, Maṇḍana Miśra took the order of sannyāsa from Śaṅkarācārya and became known as Sureśvara. Śaṅkarācārya defeated many scholars throughout India and converted them to his Māyāvāda philosophy. He left his material body at the age of thirty-three.

As far as Matsya-tīrtha is concerned, it was supposedly situated beside the ocean in the district of Malabar.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, it is understood that Lord Viṣṇu told Lord Śiva to appear as Śaṅkarācārya and bring the people back from Buddhism to Vedic. So he presented a Māyāvāda philosophy which is believing in the soul but the Absolute truth is impersonal. So this was easy for the Buddhist to accept since their philosophy was voidism, so this was impersonalism. So that way he brought back the Buddhists back to the Vedas. But the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas were defeating the Māyāvādī presentation like Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārkācārya and Viṣṇu swami ācāryas.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu Receives The Manuscript of Brahma-saṁhitā and Visits Śṛṅgeri-maṭha. 
Under the section Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu travel to the Holy Places in South India.

Haribol