20241225 Question and Answer Session

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Hari oṁ tat sat

 Jayapatākā Swami: Maybe some questions?

Question: We hear in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes when He was trying to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, sometimes He was debating and using logic, but later when He spread the saṅkīrtana movement, He was not debating. Could you please explain this?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see He started out as Nimāi Paṇḍita. And He would defeat other students in logic. But when He went to Gaya, He got initiated by Īśvara Purī and then He was absorbed in natural bhakti. When He came back, He called everybody, we have five hundred, there were one or two brahmacārīs - one brahmacārī, Śuklāmbhara Brahmacārī. There He glorified Gadādhara, He said, since birth You have been a devotee, and I have wasted My life. I was a paṇḍita! So now, I see that bhakti is the most important thing! So Lord Caitanya, He established Himself first as the greatest logician and then He met Keśava Kāśmīrī and He memorized all the ślokas that Keśava Kāśmīrī said. He referred to the 57^th or 59^th verse, and asked what are the guṇas, the good qualities, what are the mistakes. So Keśava Kāśmīrī said there are no mistakes! Then Lord Caitanya pointed out six or eight mistakes. At first, He pointed out the good qualities and then He pointed out the bad qualities. So Keśava Kāśmīrī prayed to Sarasvatī, the Goddess of learning as to… “Why did you allow this boy to defeat me?” She told him, “I cannot defend you against Him, He is my husband.” Her husband was Viṣṇu. So, Kṛṣṇa in His līlā as Gaurāṅga, He spent some years as Nimāi Paṇḍita and when He came back from Gayā, He was a devotee. That is His līlā.