20230107 The News Of Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka To Be Put To Death Is Brought To Lord Caitanya

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 7th,2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

Translation: ...Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka from Mahārāja Pratāprarudra’s wrath.

The Lord taught Gopīnātha about piety, saying that one should not collect money by sinful means.

I meditate on Lord Gaurāṅga, who is the personification of auspiciousness, and who grants auspiciousness to His devotees. 

Jayapatākā Swami: So, todays section is on the deliverance of Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.1 

gaurabhaktera kṛpāya adhama viṣayagaṇerao kṛṣṇaprema-lābha 

Translation: The innumerable, glorious followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu brought a constant flood to the desert like hearts of the unfortunate with an inundation of ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: Normally the conditioned souls are afflicted by false identifications, seeing their body as their self. They are thinking that gratifying their senses is the goal of life.They have no love for the Lord. Lord Caitanya and His followers awakened their dormant love for Krsna, and thus inundated the whole world with love of Kṛṣṇa. 

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.2 

jaya jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya dayāmaya
jaya jaya nityānanda karuṇa-hṛdaya

Translation: All glories to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the most merciful incarnation! All glories to Lord Nityānanda, whose heart is always compassionate! 

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.3

jayādvaitācārya jaya jaya dayāmaya
jaya gaura-bhakta-gaṇa saba rasamaya

Translation: All glories to Advaita Ācārya, who is very merciful! All glories to the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who are always overwhelmed by transcendental bliss!

Jayapatākā Swami: Hari Bol!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.4

bhaktasaṅge prabhura nīlācala-līlā

ei-mata mahāprabhu bhakta-gaṇa-saṅge
nīlācale vāsa karena kṛṣṇa-prema-raṅge

Translation: Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu lived at Nīlācala [Jagannātha Purī] with His personal devotees, always merged in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.5

prabhura antare o bāhire kṛṣṇa-viraha-prema—

antare-bāhire kṛṣṇa-viraha-taraṅga
nānā-bhāve vyākula prabhura mana āra aṅga

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu always felt waves of separation from Kṛṣṇa, externally and internally.

His mind and body were agitated by various spiritual transformations.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu by being immersed in separation of Kṛṣṇa,

He manifested different symptoms of love for Kṛṣṇa, these are unique and special.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.6

divābhāge nartana, kīrtana o darśana, rātribhāge svarūpa o rāyasaha rasāsvādana —

dine nṛtya-kīrtana, jagannātha-daraśana
rātrye rāya-svarūpa-sane rasa-āsvādana

Translation: During the day He chanted, danced and saw Lord Jagannātha in the temple.

At night He tasted transcendental bliss in the company of Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this explains the daily activities of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. During the day He would engage in harināma saṅkīrtana, dancing and chanting and in the night, He would be absorbed in separation of Kṛṣṇa, in transcendental bliss, with His intimate associates.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.7

prabhu-darśaka-mātrerai uddhāra o kṛṣṇaprema-lābha

trijagatera loka āsi’ karena daraśana
yei dekhe, sei pāya kṛṣṇa-prema-dhana

Translation: People from the three worlds used to come visit Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Anyone who saw Him received the transcendental treasure of love for Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So much mercy was flowing, all the people who saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, received the causeless mercy of kṛṣṇa-prema-dhana.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.8

mānavaveśe ananta-brahmāṇḍavāsīra prabhu-darśana

manuṣyera veśe deva-gandharva-kinnara
sapta-pātālera yata daitya viṣadhara

Translation: The inhabitants of the seven higher planetary systems — including the demigods, the Gandharvas and the Kinnaras — and the inhabitants of the seven lower planetary systems [Pātālaloka], including the demons and serpentine living entities, all visited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the dress of human beings.

Jayapatākā Swami: By this vision of seeing Lord Caitanya, by the residents of the seven higher planetary and the residents of the seven lower planetary systems, we can see how the whole universe in this way was flooded with kṛṣṇa-prema.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.9

sapta-dvīpe nava-khaṇḍe vaise yata jana
nānā-veśe āsi’ kare prabhura daraśana

Translation: Dressed in different ways, people from the seven islands and nine khaṇḍas visited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: People from all over the bhūloka, bhūvara-loka even they came as human beings to see the Lord.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.10

vaiṣṇavagaṇera prabhu-darśana—

prahlāda, bali, vyāsa, śuka ādi muni-gaṇa
āsi’ prabhu dekhi’ preme haya acetana

Translation: Prahlāda Mahārāja, Bali Mahārāja, Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and other great sages came to visit Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Upon seeing Him, they became unconscious in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

Purport: According to the opinion of some historians, Prahlāda Mahārāja was born in Tretā-yuga in the city of Multan, in the state of Punjab. He was born of Hiraṇyakaśipu, a king of the dynasty of Kaśyapa. Prahlāda Mahārāja was a great devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, but his father was very much against Viṣṇu. Because the father and son thus differed in their consciousness, the demon father inflicted all kinds of bodily pain upon Prahlāda. When this torture became intolerable, the Supreme Lord appeared as Nṛsiṁhadeva and killed the great demon Hiraṇyakaśipu.

Bali Mahārāja was the grandson of Prahlāda Mahārāja. The son of Prahlāda Mahārāja was Virocana, and his son was known as Bali. Appearing as Vāmana and begging Bali Mahārāja for three feet of land, the Lord took possession of the entire three worlds. Thus Bali Mahārāja became a great devotee of Lord Vāmana. Bali Mahārāja had one hundred sons, of whom Mahārāja Bāṇa was the eldest and most famous.

Vyāsadeva was the son of the great sage Parāśara. Other names for him are Sātyavateya and Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Bādarāyaṇa Muni. As one of the authorities on the Vedas, he divided the original Veda, for convenience, into four divisions — Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva. He is the author of eighteen Purāṇas as well as the theosophical thesis Brahma-sūtra and its natural commentary, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He belongs to the Brahma-sampradāya and is a direct disciple of Nārada Muni.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī is the son of Vyāsadeva. He was a brahmacārī fully conscious of Brahman realization, but later he became a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He narrated Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to Mahārāja Parīkṣit.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these mahājanas mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam came in disguise to see Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when they saw Him they fainted in ecstasy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.11

gṛhābhyantarasthita prabhura darśanārtha bahirddeśe loka-kolāhala,

prabhura darśana-dāna, sakalakei kṛṣṇa-kathā-kīrtane ādeśa

bāhire phukāre loka, darśana nā pāñā
’kṛṣṇa kaha’ balena prabhu bāhire āsiyā

Translation: Being unable to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the populace outside His room would make a tumultuous sound.

Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would go outside and tell them, “Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, so many people came to Jagannātha Purī, they wanted to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They created a great noise wanting to see or have a glance of Lord, finally He came out and told them bolo Hare Kṛṣṇa, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.12

prabhu-darśane sakalera kṛṣṇa-prema

prabhura darśane saba loka preme bhāse
ei-mata yāya prabhura rātri-divase

Translation: All kinds of people would come to see the Lord, and upon seeing Him they would be overwhelmed with ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed His days and nights.

Jayapatākā Swami: For everyone who came to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, once they saw Him, awakened in their heart ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, and in this way simply by giving His darśana, Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu was distributing Kṛṣṇa-prema.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.13

prabhuke pratāparudraputrakarttṛka bhavānandaputra gopīnāthera hatyā-saṁvāda-jñāpana—

eka-dina loka āsi’ prabhure nivedila
gopīnāthere ‘baḍa jānā’ cāṅge caḍāila

Translation: One day people suddenly came to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and informed Him, “Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka, the son of Bhavānanda Rāya, has been condemned to death by the baḍa-jānā, the eldest son of the King, and has been raised on the cāṅga.

Purport: The cāṅga was a device for killing a condemned person. It consisted of a raised platform on which the condemned was made to stand. Underneath the platform, there were stationary upright swords. The condemned man would be pushed down onto the swords, and in this way he would die. For some reason, Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka had been condemned to death and had therefore been raised upon the cāṅga.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the brother of Rāmānanda Rāya was condemned to death, so they were telling Lord Caitanya, somehow or other to intervene.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.14

prabhura kṛpā binā rakṣā pāibāra upāyābhāva

tale khaḍga pāti’ tāre upare ḍāribe
prabhu rakṣā karena yabe, tabe nistāribe

Translation: “The baḍa-jānā has placed swords beneath the platform,” they said, “and will throw Gopīnātha upon them. O Lord, only if You protect him will he be saved.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.15

sevaka rakṣaṇārtha prabhukṛpā-yācña —

savaṁśe tomāra sevaka—bhavānanda-rāya
tāṅra putra—tomāra sevake rākhite yuyāya

Translation: “Bhavānanda Rāya and his entire family are your servants. Therefore it is quite fitting for You to save the son of Bhavānanda Rāya.”

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.16

prabhura praśnottare saṁvāda-dātāra gopīnāthera hatyā-vṛttānta varṇana—

prabhu kahe,—‘rājā kene karaye tāḍana?’
tabe sei loka kahe saba vivaraṇa

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu inquired, “Why is the King chastising him?” Thereupon the people described the entire incident.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.17

“gopīnātha-paṭṭanāyaka—rāmānanda-bhāi
sarva-kāla haya teṅha rāja-viṣayī

Translation: They said, “Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka, the brother of Rāmānanda Rāya, has always been a treasurer for the government.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.18

‘mālajāṭhyā-daṇḍapāṭe’ tāra adhikāra
sādhi’ pāḍi’ āni’ dravya dila rāja-dvāra

Translation: “He served in the place known as Mālajāṭhyā Daṇḍapāta, soliciting and collecting money there and depositing it in the government treasury.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.19

dui-lakṣa kāhana tāra ṭhāñi bākī ha-ila
dui-lakṣa kāhana kauḍi rājā ta’ māgila

Translation: “Once when he deposited the collection, however, a balance of 200,000 kāhanas of conchshells was due from him.

Therefore, the King demanded this sum.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.20

teṅha kahe,—“sthūla-dravya nāhi ye gaṇi’ diba
krame-krame veci’ kini’ dravya bhariba

Translation: “Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka replied, ‘There is no money I can immediately give you in cash. Please give me time. Gradually I shall purchase and sell my gross goods and, in this way, fill your treasury.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.21

ghoḍā daśa-bāra haya, laha’ mūlya kari’”
eta bali’ ghoḍā āne rāja-dvāre dhari’

Translation: There are ten to twelve good horses. Take them immediately for a proper price.’ After saying this, he brought all the horses to the door of the King.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.22

eka rāja-putra ghoḍāra mūlya bhāla jāne
tāre pāṭhāila rājā pātra-mitra sane

Translation: “One of the princes knew how to estimate the price of horses very well. Thus the King sent for him to come with his ministers and friends.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.23

sei rāja-putra mūlya kare ghāṭāñā
gopīnāthera krodha haila mūlya śuniyā

Translation: “The prince, however, purposely gave a reduced estimate for the value of the horses. When Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka heard the price quoted, he was very angry.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.24

sei rāja-putrera svabhāva,—grīvā phirāya
ūrdhva-mukhe bāra-bāra iti-uti cāya

Translation: “That prince had a personal idiosyncrasy of turning his neck and facing the sky, looking here and there again and again.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.25

tāre nindā kari’ kahe sagarva vacane
rājā kṛpā kare tāte bhaya nāhi māne

Translation: “Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka criticized the prince. He was unafraid of the prince because the King was very kind toward him.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.26

‘āmāra ghoḍā grīvā nā phirāya ūrdhve nāhi cāya
tāte ghoḍāra mūlya ghāṭi karite nā yuyāya’

Translation: “Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka said, ‘My horses never turn their necks or look upward. Therefore the price for them should not be reduced.’

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka was indirectly criticizing the prince and therefore now he is putting himself at a great risk.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.27

śuni’ rājaputra-mane krodha upajila
rājāra ṭhāñi yāi’ bahu lāgāni karila

Translation: “Hearing this criticism, the prince became very angry. Going before the King, he made some false allegations against Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Prince being criticized he retaliated by making false accusations against Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.28

“kauḍi nāhi dibe ei, beḍāya chadma kari’
ājñā deha yadi,—‘cāṅge caḍāñā la-i kauḍi’

Translation: ‘This Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka,’ he said, ’is unwilling to pay the money due. Instead, he is squandering it under some pretext. If you issue an order, I can put him on the cāṅga and thus realize the money.’

Jayapatākā Swami: By putting Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka on the cāṅga, so he will be threatened for death, if he didn’t pay what was due to the King.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.29

rājā bale,—“yei bhāla, sei kara yāya
ye upāye kauḍi pāi, kara se upāya”

Translation: “The King replied, ‘You can adopt whatever means you think best.

Any device by which you can somehow or other realize the money is all right.’

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 9.30

rāja-putra āsi’ tāre cāṅge caḍāila
khaḍaga-upare phelāite tale khaḍaga pātila

Translation: “Thus the prince went back, raised Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka onto the platform of the cāṅga and spread swords below upon which to throw him.”