20211009 The Maulāna of the Pāṭhāna Soldiers Surrenders

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 9th October 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 be continuing with the compilation of Caitanya-līlā book, todays chapter is entitled:

The Maulāna of the Pāṭhāna Soldiers Surrenders

Under the section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Visit to Śrī Vṛndāvana

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.185

pāṭhānagaṇera madhye ekajana ‘maulānā’:—

sei mleccha-madhye eka parama gambhīra
kāla vastra pare sei,—loke kahe ‘pīra’

Translation: Among the Muslims was a grave person who was wearing a black dress. People called him a saintly person.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, one of the Pāṭhāna was considered as the guru or the priest, therefore he was known as a ‘pīra’ or ‘maulānā’

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.186

prabhu-darśane tāhāra namrabhāva o nirviśeṣa brahma-sthāpana-ceṣṭā:—

citta ārdra haila tāṅra prabhure dekhiyā
‘nirviśeṣa-brahma’ sthāpe svaśāstra uṭhāñā

Translation: The heart of that saintly person softened upon seeing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He wanted to talk to Him and establish impersonal Brahman on the basis of his own scripture, the Koran.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, many followers of the Koran are impersonalists, they think Allah is impersonal. Lord Caitanya would refute that using the Koran.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.187

mochalema-śāstra-yukti dvārāi prabhura tanmata khaṇḍana:—

‘advaita-brahma-vāda’ sei karila sthāpana
tāra śāstra-yuktye tāre prabhu kailā khaṇḍana

Translation: When that person tried to establish the impersonal Brahman conception of the Absolute Truth on the basis of the Koran, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu refuted his argument.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya knew the Koran by-heart, so He is able to quote the stanzas from Koran.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.188

yei yei kahila, prabhu sakali khaṇḍila
uttara nā āise mukhe, mahā-stabdha haila

Translation: Whatever arguments he put forward, the Lord refuted them all. Finally the person became stunned and could not speak.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was expert in all scriptures and He could give arguments which stunned the ‘maulānā’

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.189

mochalema-śāstre prathame nirviśeṣatva-sthāpanānantara śeṣe saviśeṣa brahmerai saṁsthāpana:—

prabhu kahe,—tomāra śāstra sthāpe ‘nirviśeṣe’
tāhā khaṇḍi’ ’saviśeṣa’ sthāpiyāche śeṣe

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “The Koran certainly establishes impersonalism, but at the end it refutes that impersonalism and establishes the personal God.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was explaining how the Koran first established impersonalism but then in the end it established the personal form of God.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.190

korāṇe sarvaśeṣe saviśeṣa brahma kṛṣṇera paricaya:—

tomāra śāstre kahe śeṣe ‘eka-i īśvara’
‘sarvaiśvarya-pūrṇa teṅho—śyāma-kalevara

Translation: “The Koran accepts the fact that ultimately there is only one God. He is full of opulence, and His bodily complexion is blackish.

Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: The revealed scripture of the Muslims is the Koran. There is one Muslim sampradāya known as the Sufis. The Sufis accept impersonalism, believing in the oneness of the living entity with the Absolute Truth. Their supreme slogan is “analahak.” The Sufi sampradāya was certainly derived from Śaṅkarācārya’s impersonalists.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in the Koran it describes, there is only one God, in this regard His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda says since they believe in one God, they are also Vaiṣṇavas and they should be respected. Although it says here that Allah is blackish in color, it is interesting that we believe Kṛṣṇa is blackish in color.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.191

sac-cid-ānanda-deha, pūrṇa-brahma-svarūpa
‘sarvātmā’, ‘sarvajña’, nitya sarvādi-svarūpa

Translation: “According to the Koran, the Lord has a supreme, blissful, transcendental body. He is the Absolute Truth, the all-pervading, omniscient and eternal being. He is the origin of everything.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Koran says the same what the Brahmā-Saṁhitā says about Kṛṣṇa. īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.192

sṛṣṭi, sthiti, pralaya tāṅhā haite haya
sthūla-sūkṣma-jagatera teṅho samāśraya

Translation: “Creation, maintenance and dissolution come from Him. He is the original shelter of all gross and subtle cosmic manifestations.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, I asked a Muslim scholar to find out the particular parts of the Koran that says this, all the things that Lord Caitanya said, and he found that such verses are there in the Koran.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.193

sei bhagavānera prīti vā bhaktii saṁsāra vandhana mocanī o parama-puruṣārtha:—

sarva-śreṣṭha, sarvārādhya, kāraṇera kāraṇa
tāṅra bhaktye haya jīvera saṁsāra-tāraṇa

Translation: “The Lord is the Supreme Truth, worshipable by everyone. He is the cause of all causes. By engaging in His devotional service, the living entity is relieved from material existence.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we can see that actually bhakti-yoga fulfills the instructions of the Koran.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.194

tāṅra sevā vinā jīvera nā yāya ‘saṁsāra’
tāṅhāra caraṇe prīti—‘puruṣārtha-sāra’

Translation: “No conditioned soul can get out of material bondage without serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Love at His lotus feet is the ultimate goal of life.

Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: According to the Muslim scripture, without evādat, offering prayers at a mosque or elsewhere five times daily (namāz), one cannot be successful in life. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out that in the revealed scripture of the Muslims, love of Godhead is the ultimate goal. Karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga are certainly described in the Koran, but ultimately the Koran states that the ultimate goal is the offering of prayers to the Supreme Person (evādat).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here it is being established that love of Godhead is the ultimate goal of the Koran

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.195

bhagavatpremāra mahimā:—

mokṣādi ānanda yāra nahe eka ‘kaṇa’
pūrṇānanda-prāpti tāṅra caraṇa-sevana

Translation: “The happiness of liberation, whereby one merges into the Lord’s existence, cannot even be compared to a fragment of the transcendental bliss obtained by service unto the Lord’s lotus feet.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, serving the Lord's lotus feet is unlimited times more blissful than merging into the impersonal Brahman.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.196

korāṇe pūrve karma’, ‘jñāna’, ‘yoga’ baliyā śeṣe bhagavad-bhakti saṁsthāpita:—

‘karma’, ‘jñāna’, ‘yoga’ āge kariyā sthāpana
saba khaṇḍi’ sthāpe ‘īśvara’, ‘tāṅhāra sevana’

Translation: “In the Koran there are descriptions of fruitive activity, speculative knowledge, mystic power and union with the Supreme, but ultimately all this is refuted and the Lord’s personal feature established, along with His devotional service.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, karma, jñana and mokṣa are described in the Koran, and offering the prema, bhakti or devotion to the Supreme Lord is the goal of life.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.197

sādhāraṇataḥ mochalema-paṇḍitagaṇera korāṇera prakṛta tātparya-jñānā-bhāva; pūrvera karma o jñāna-vidhi apekṣā paravarttī bhakti-vidhi balavān:—

tomāra paṇḍita-sabāra nāhi śāstra-jñāna
pūrvāpara-vidhi-madhye ‘para’—balavān

Translation: “The scholars of the Koran are not very advanced in knowledge. Although there are many methods prescribed, they do not know that the ultimate conclusion should be considered the most powerful.

Jayapatākā Swami: Different methods are described one after another, but ultimate one should be accepted as the most conclusive.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.198

maulānāke uhāra yāthārthya-nirṇaye anurodha:—

nija-śāstra dekhi’ tumi vicāra kariyā
ki likhiyāche śeṣe kaha nirṇaya kariyā

Translation: “Seeing your own Koran and deliberating over what is written there, what is your conclusion?”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya is asking the Mullah what is his conclusion on the basis of the Koran.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.199

maulānāra prabhuvākyake ‘satya’-jñāne anumodana; mochalema paṇḍitagaṇera hṛddaurvalya-svīkāra:—

mleccha kahe,—yei kaha, sei ‘satya’ haya
śāstre likhiyāche, keha la-ite nā pāraya

Translation: The saintly Muslim replied, “All that You have said is true. This has certainly been written in the Koran, but our scholars can neither understand nor accept it.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, most of the scholars of the Koran take some of the preliminary topics, they may consider Allah as impersonal, but actually Lord Caitanya established that He is the Supreme Person. But the Mullah said that either they don’t understand it or they don’t accept it. But certainly, all of it is written in the Koran. So he admitted that Lord Caitanya was speaking the truth.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.200

tāṅhādera nirviśeṣatvei dṛḍha āsthā cinmaya saviśeṣatvera sevāya anāsthā:—

‘nirviśeṣa-gosāñi’ lañā karena vyākhyāna
‘sākāra-gosāñi’—sevya, kāro nāhi jñāna

Translation: “Usually they describe the Lord’s impersonal aspect, but they hardly know that the Lord’s personal feature is worshipable. They are undoubtedly lacking this knowledge.

Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: The saintly Muslim admitted that those who were supposedly conversant in the teachings of the Koran could not ultimately understand the essence of the Koran. Because of this, they accepted only the Lord’s impersonal feature. Generally they recite and explain this portion only. Although the transcendental body of the Lord is worshipable, most of them are unaware of this.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Mullah was admitting that the personal aspects in the Koran, the description that Allah as the Supreme worshipable Person are not described much by the knowers of the Koran.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.201

prabhuke ‘parameśvara’-jñāna o kṛpā-yācña:—

seita ’gosāñi’ tumi—sākṣāt ‘īśvara’
more kṛpā kara, muñi—ayogya pāmara

Translation: “Since You are that very same Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, please be merciful upon me. I am fallen and unfit.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Mullah is accepting that Lord Caitanya was non-different from Allah and he had given an esoteric explanation what the Koran actually states, so He is praying for Lord Caitanya’s mercy.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.202

maulānāra svayaṁ sādhana o sādhyavastu-mīmāṁsā-ceṣṭāya asāmarthya-jñāpana:—

aneka dekhinu muñi mleccha-śāstra haite
‘sādhya-sādhana-vastu’ nāri nirdhārite

Translation: “I have studied the Muslim scripture very extensively, but from it I cannot conclusively decide what the ultimate goal of life is or how I can approach it.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Mullah or ‘pīra’ he was expalinging that even after having read the Koran extensively, he was not clear what the ultimate goal of life was. This shows the importance of having a spiritual master to guide one on the adherence of the revealed scriptures.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.203

prabhu-darśane maulānāra jihvāya svataḥi kṛṣṇa-nāma-sphūrtti:—

jaḍābhimāna dūrībhūta:—

omā dekhi’ jihvā mora bale ‘kṛṣṇa-nāma’
‘āmi—baḍa jñānī’—ei gela abhimāna

Translation: “Now that I have seen You, my tongue is chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The false prestige I felt from being a learned scholar is now gone.”

Jayapatākā Swami: By simply seeing Lord Caitanya, one could be transferred to a Vaiṣṇava and immediately start to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa maha mantra

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.204

prabhuke praṇāma-pūrvaka sādhya-sādhana-jijñāsā:—

kṛpā kari’ bala more ‘sādhya-sādhane’
eta bali’ paḍe mahāprabhura caraṇe

Translation: Saying this, the saintly Muslim fell at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and requested Him to speak of life’s ultimate goal and the process by which it could be obtained.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the pīra realised that Lord Caitanya could actually reveal the real purpose of the Koran and he surrendered to Lord Caitanya and asked Him to teach him.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, The Maulāna of the Pāṭhāna Soldiers Surrenders 
Under the section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Visit to Śrī Vṛndāvana