20210812 Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Describes the Meeting with Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana at Rāmakeli

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 12th August 2021 in Śrīdhāma 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!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, todays chapter is entitled:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Describes the Meeting with Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana at Rāmakeli 
Under the Section: The Lord’s Attempt to Go to Vṛndāvana

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.252

jagannātha-darśana, sarvatra āgamana-saṁvāda-pracāra:— 
prabhu āsi’ jagannātha daraśana kaila
‘mahāprabhu āilā’—grāme kolāhala haila

Translation: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu arrived in Jagannātha Purī, He visited the temple of the Lord. News then spread all over the city that He had returned.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the residents of Jagannātha Purī were very much inspired by Lord Caitanya and as soon as they heard that He had returned the news spread like wildfire all over the city.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.253

bhaktagaṇera prabhu-sākṣātkāra:— 
ānandita bhakta-gaṇa āsiyā mililā
prema-āliṅgana prabhu sabāre karilā

Translation: All the devotees then came and met the Lord with great happiness. The Lord embraced each of them in great ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: how loving Lord Caitanya is, is beyond imagination, When He returned to Jagannātha Purī, He embraced all the devotees with great love. So He was very personal and very loving.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.254

kāśī-miśra, rāmānanda, pradyumna, sārvabhauma
vāṇīnātha, śikhi-ādi yata bhakta-gaṇa

Translation: Kāśī Miśra, Rāmānanda Rāya, Pradyumna, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Vāṇīnātha Rāya, Śikhi Māhiti and all the other devotees met Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, just like the cakora bird drinks water from the rainfalls and therefore it is always thinking about the rainclouds. Similarly, the devotees were always thinking about Lord Caitanya and when He returned, they were happy to meet Him.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.22: Śrīman Nityānanda Rāma and Paṇita Śrī Gadādhara were intoxicated by the nectarean love they felt for Gaurāṅga. Indeed, that love was the vital energy which sustained their life.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this loving devotion and emotion of Lord Nityānanda and Gadādhara Paṇḍita is completely transcendental and is not different from the love of the Vraja-vāsīs for Lord Kṛṣṇa. These devotees of Lord Caitanya had so much love for Lord Caitanya.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.23: Followed by them, Kṛṣṇa Caitanya went take darśana of Śrī Kṣīra-Corā Gopīnātha, who is the all-pervading player of the bamboo flute, the son of Nanda Mahārāja in person.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.24: Delighting in Gopīnātha in the mood of the gopīs, Gaura Hari embraced Him, and at that moment Gadādhara's heart grew happy as he saw Gaura and Kṛṣṇa as a single identity.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya is the combined form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and so when He embraced Gopīnātha, he was in the mood of Rādhārānī, so then Gaura and Kṛṣṇa became one.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.25: Since Śrī Gadādhara in his original form, is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Herself, he also eagerly drew Gopīnātha to his chest, and then left Him standing motionless.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.26: Gadādhara cooked for Gopīnātha. Then, with his hairs bristling out of ecstasy, he brought Gopīnātha’s remnants before Gaura Candra.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Gadādhara would cook nectarean bhoga for Lord Gopīnātha and then the prasāda of Gopīnātha would be offered to Lord Caitanya and in this way pastimes were in unity in diversity.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.27: As approved by Gaura, Gadādhara happily divided the prasāda of Gopīnātha into three portions. Śrīman Mahāprabhu ate first.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.28: Gadādhara fed the prasāda to Nityānanda with his own hand. Then being eager to taste rasa, Gadādhara also delighted in those rasa-imbued remnants.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, as Rādhārānī, She could not go before Balarāma, as Gadādhara he can go before Lord Nityānanda and thus Gadādhara could manage to feed Lord Nityanada with His own hands and he also took remnants from Lord Gopīnātha.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.18.29: While Nityānanda Rāma rested, Śrī Gaurāṅga became pleasantly seated in the company of Gadādhara, and out of spontaneous attraction that connoisseur of rasa eagerly heard from him of the rāsa-līlā.

Thus inebriated by mādhurya-rasa, Gaura solely delighted in the reservoir of all delight and the form of all rasa, Lord Gopīnātha.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the form of Lord Gopīnātha is considered the prayojana-vigraha, He is the summom bonum of the transcendental rasa, so Lord Caitanya heard the pastimes of Rādhā and Gopīnātha and became fully ecstatic in tasting these nectarean pastimes.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.255

sakalake pūrva vṛndāvana-yātrāra vighna varṇana :— 
gadādhara-paṇḍita āsi’ prabhure mililā
sabāra agrete prabhu kahite lāgilā

Translation: Gadādhara Paṇḍita also came and met the Lord. Then, before all the devotees, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to speak as follows.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.256

‘vṛndāvana yāba āmi gauḍa-deśa diyā
nija-mātāra, gaṅgāra caraṇa dekhiyā

Translation: It was My decision to go to Vṛndāvana through Bengal in order to see My mother and the river Ganges.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was explaining why He chose to go to Vṛndāvana via Bengal.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.257

eta mate kari’ kailuṅ gauḍere gamana
sahasreka saṅge haila nija-bhakta-gaṇa

Translation: Thus I went to Bengal, but thousands of devotees began to follow Me.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, wherever Lord Caitanya went, thousands of devotees assembled. They were so much attracted to Him, and Lord Nityānanda had been preaching in Bengal, so the saṅkīrtana movement has been expanded.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.258

lakṣa lakṣa loka āise kautuka dekhite
lokera saṅghaṭṭe patha nā pāri calite

Translation: Many hundreds of thousands of people came to see Me out of curiosity, and due to such a large crowd, I could not travel very freely on the road.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya is explaining why He came back to Jagannātha Purī without seeing or going to Vṛndāvana.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.259

yathā rahi, tathā ghara-prācīra haya cūrṇa
yathā netra paḍe tathā loka dekhi pūrṇa

Translation: Indeed, the crowd was so large that the house and the boundary walls of the house where I stayed were destroyed, and wherever I looked I could see only large crowds.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this was the situation in Lord Caitanya was, affected by.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.260

rāmakeli-grāme rūpa-sanātanera sahita milana o tāṅhādera paricaya-varṇana:— 
kaṣṭe-sṛṣṭye kari’ gelāṅa rāmakeli-grāma
āmāra ṭhāñi āilā ‘rūpa’ ‘sanātana’ nāma

Translation: With great difficulty I went to the town of Rāmakeli, where I met two brothers named Rūpa and Sanātana.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Dabhira Khāsa and Sākara Mallik who were ministers in Hussain Shah’s empire, who were initiated as Rūpa and Sanātana. They came to see Lord Caitanya and Lord Caitanya gave them specific instructions.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.261

dui bhāi—bhakta-rāja, kṛṣṇa-kṛpā-pātra
vyavahāre—rāja-mantrī haya rāja-pātra

Translation: These two brothers are great devotees and suitable recipients of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, but in their ordinary dealings they are government officials, ministers to the King.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here Lord Caitanya is explaining the position of Rūpa and Sanātana that one may be externally like an ordinary person but internally he would be fully dedicated to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Apart from the pure devotees and Kṛṣṇa, nobody can understand their actual position.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.262

vidyā-bhakti-buddhi-bale parama pravīṇa
tabu āpanāke māne tṛṇa haite hīna

Translation: Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana are very much experienced in education, devotional service, intelligence and strength, yet they think themselves inferior to straw in the street.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this humility of Rūpa and Sanātana touched the heart of Lord Caitanya, but they were actually very qualified materially, but they were very humble, so Lord Caitanya appreciated this.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.263-264

tāṅra dainya dekhi’ śuni’ pāṣāṇa vidare
āmi tuṣṭa hañā tabe kahiluṅ doṅhāre

rūpa-sanātanera prati prabhura upadeśa:— 
uttama hañā hīna kari’ mānaha āpanāre
acire karibe kṛṣṇa tomāra uddhāre”

Translation: Indeed, the humility of these two brothers could even melt stone. Because I was very pleased with their behavior, I told them, ‘Although you are both very much exalted, you consider yourselves inferior, and because of this, Kṛṣṇa will very soon deliver you.’

Purport: Such are the qualifications of a pure devotee. Materially one may be very opulent, experienced, influential and educated, but if one still thinks himself lower than straw in the street, one attracts the attention of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or Lord Kṛṣṇa. Although Mahārāja Pratāparudra was a king, he took up a broom to cleanse the road for Lord Jagannātha’s ratha (chariot). Because of this humble service, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very pleased with the King, and for that reason the Lord embraced him. According to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s instructions, a devotee should never be puffed up by material power. He should know that material power is the result of one’s past good activities (karma) and is consequently transient. At any moment all one’s material opulence can be finished; therefore a devotee is never proud of such opulence. He is always humble and meek, considering himself lower than a piece of straw. Because of this, the devotees are eligible to return home, back to Godhead.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, its evident that devotee should always take the humble position. So, we see great ācāryas they say that they are most fallen and therefore they need Lord Caitanya mercy. So since Lord Caitanya is the deliverer of the fallen, the secret for getting His mercy is to present oneself very humbly and as fallen.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.265-266

vidāyagrahaṇakāle sanātanera prabhuke satarkīkaraṇa:— 
eta kahi’ āmi yabe vidāya tāṅre dila
gamana-kāle sanātana ‘prahelī’ kahila

bahu vibhinna uddeśyaviśiṣṭa lokasaha vṛndāvana-darśanera anaucitya:— 
yāṅra saṅge haya ei loka lakṣa koṭi
vṛndāvana yāibāra ei nahe paripāṭī

Translation: After speaking to them in this way, I bade them farewell. As I was leaving, Sanātana told Me, It is not appropriate for one to be followed by a crowd of thousands when going to Vṛndāvana.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, going to Vṛndāvana to mediate on the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, having thousands of people following is a distraction. Thus, Sanātana Gosvāmī advised that He not go with these thousands of people.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.267

tatsattveo prabhura lokasaṅghasaha yātrā, pare sanātana-vākya vicāra-pūrvaka lokasaṅga-tyāga:— 
tabu āmi śuniluṅ mātra, nā kailuṅ avadhāna
prāte cali’ āilāṅa ’kānāira nāṭaśālā’-grāma

Translation: Although I heard this, I did not pay it any attention, and in the morning I went to the place named Kānāi Nāṭaśālā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kānāi Nāṭaśālā is a place Lord Caitanya saw Kṛṣṇa after taking initiation in Gāya, it is very close of Rāmakeli, on the other side of the river so Lord went there and from there He returned back, but that would be explained later.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Describes the Meeting with Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana at Rāmakeli 
Under the Section: The Lord’s Attempt to Go to Vṛndāvana