CC Antya 6 – Lord Chaitanya Meets Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami

Giriraj Swami: In other words, Lord Chaitanya’s movement is very liberal. It gives everyone a chance to become a devotee. Therefore, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is called maha-vadanya-avatara—the most munificent incarnation. And Srila Prabhupada said that just as Lord Chaitanya is very magnanimous, Lord Chaitanya’s representatives should also be very magnanimous. And Srila Prabhupada even mentioned the temple president, that the temple president as the representative of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, should be very magnanimous.

TEXT 2

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda
jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

TRANSLATION

All glories to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityānanda! All glories to Śrī Advaita Ācārya! And all glories to all the devotees of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu!

TEXT 3

ei mālīra — ei vṛkṣera akathya kathana
ebe śuna mukhya-śākhāra nāma-vivaraṇa

TRANSLATION

The description of Lord Caitanya as the gardener and the tree is inconceivable. Now hear with attention about the branches of this tree.

TEXT 4

caitanya-gosāñira yata pāriṣada-caya
guru-laghu-bhāva tāṅra nā haya niścaya

TRANSLATION

The associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were many, but none of them should be considered lower or higher. This cannot be ascertained.

TEXT 5

yata yata mahānta kailā tāṅ-sabāra gaṇana
keha karibāre nāre jyeṣṭha-laghu-krama

TRANSLATION

All the great personalities in the line of Lord Caitanya enumerated these devotees, but they could not distinguish between the greater and the lesser.

TEXT 6

ataeva tāṅ-sabāre kari’ namaskāra
nāma-mātra kari, doṣa nā labe āmāra

TRANSLATION

I offer my obeisances unto them as a token of respect. I request them not to consider my offenses.

COMMENT

So here, we see the humility of the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami offers respect to all the devotees of Sri Chaitanya, and he doesn’t discriminate that some are higher and some are lower, but he humbly offers respect to all, and he certainly does not consider himself to be higher. Also, in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami writes that he considers himself to be lower than the worm in stool. So, that is the mood of the pure devotee, he considers himself to be lower, and all others to be higher. And materialistic persons consider themselves to be higher and all others to be lower. Just the opposite.

TEXT 7

vande śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
premāmara-taroḥ priyān
śākhā-rūpān bhakta-gaṇān
kṛṣṇa-prema-phala-pradān

TRANSLATION

I offer my obeisances to all the dear devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the eternal tree of love of Godhead. I offer my respects to all the branches of the tree, the devotees of the Lord who distribute the fruit of love of Kṛṣṇa.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī sets the example of offering obeisances to all the preacher devotees of Lord Caitanya, without distinction as to higher and lower. Unfortunately, at present there are many foolish so-called devotees of Lord Caitanya who make such distinctions. For example, the title “Prabhupāda” is offered to a spiritual master, especially to a distinguished spiritual master such as Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhupāda or Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. When our disciples similarly wanted to address their spiritual master as Prabhupāda, some foolish people became envious. Not considering the propaganda work of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, simply because these disciples addressed their spiritual master as Prabhupāda they became so envious that they formed a faction along with other such envious persons just to minimize the value of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. To chastise such fools, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī very frankly says, keha karibāre nāre jyeṣṭha-laghu-krama. Anyone who is a bona fide preacher of the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu must be respectful to the real devotees of Lord Caitanya; one should not be envious, considering one preacher to be very great and another to be very lowly. This is a material distinction and has no place on the platform of spiritual activities.

COMMENT

So, the bona fide preachers respect the other devotees. This is the symptom of the devotee, that he offers respect to other devotees, and he is not envious thinking that one is high and another is low, but he offers respect to all. Especially persons who are initiated and are preaching the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu should be offered respectful obeisances.

PURPORT (continued)

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī therefore offers equal respect to all the preachers of the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who are compared to the branches of the tree. ISKCON is one of these branches, and it should therefore be respected by all sincere devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

COMMENT

So, as we can guess from Srila Prabhupada’s purport, there were devotees who were supposed to be followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who were envious of him and his ISKCON. And they tried to minimize the value of his service, the value of his spreading the Krishna consciousness all over the world. So here, Srila Prabhupada criticizes them with reference to Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami offered respect to all the devotees of Lord Chaitanya. But out of envy, they were not respectful to Srila Prabhupada and Prabhupada’s followers. So, they were not acting as bona fide preachers of Krishna consciousness, because bona fide preaches of Krishna consciousness would offer respect to all devotees.

And Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself instructed amāninā mānadena, that we should be prepared to offer respect to others and not expect any respect for ourselves. And even though Srila Prabhupada was not respected for his service, still, he continued. He was doing his service to please Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his spiritual master. So, even though certain other devotees did not appreciate him, he did not give up the effort. He kept up his efforts to preach in spite of the criticism of envious godbrothers. Now, we come to Text Eighteen. Before reading the specific verses, I thought we should read the general characteristics of the tree, and Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami’s appreciation and respect for all the branches of the tree. So, Text Eighteen.

TEXT 18

āpane mahāprabhu gāya yāṅra nṛtya-kāle
prabhura caraṇa dhari’ vakreśvara bale

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally sang while Vakreśvara Paṇḍita danced, and thus Vakreśvara Paṇḍita fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and spoke as follows.

TEXT 19

“daśa-sahasra gandharva more deha’ candramukha
tārā gāya, muñi nācoṅ — tabe mora sukha”

TRANSLATION

“O Candramukha! Please give me ten thousand Gandharvas. Let them sing as I dance, and then I will be greatly happy.”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Gandharvas, who are residents of Gandharvaloka, are celebrated as celestial singers. Whenever singing is needed in the celestial planets, the Gandharvas are invited to sing. The Gandharvas can sing continuously for days, and therefore Vakreśvara Paṇḍita wanted to dance as they sang.

COMMENT

So, we read in Text Seventeen that Vakresvara Pandita was continuously in ecstasy for seventy-two hours. He danced continuously for three days and three nights, but who can sing for seventy-two hours continuously? Therefore, Vakresvara Pandita requested Lord Chaitanya, “Please give me 10,000 Gandharvas to sing, because Gandharvas are residents of higher planets and they can sing for days together.” He wanted them to sing as he danced.

TEXT 20

prabhu bale — tumi mora pakṣa eka śākhā
ākāśe uḍitāma yadi pāṅ āra pākhā

TRANSLATION

Lord Caitanya replied, “I have only one wing like you, but if I had another, certainly I would fly in the sky!”

TEXT 21

paṇḍita jagadānanda prabhura prāṇa-rūpa
loke khyāta yeṅho satyabhāmāra svarūpa

TRANSLATION

Paṇḍita Jagadānanda, the sixth branch of the Caitanya tree, was celebrated as the life and soul of the Lord. He is known to have been an incarnation of Satyabhāmā [one of the chief queens of Lord Kṛṣṇa].

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

There are many dealings of Jagadānanda Paṇḍita with Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Most importantly, he was the Lord’s constant companion and especially took part in all the pastimes of the Lord in the houses of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita and Candraśekhara Ācārya.

COMMENT

So here, we see that Jagadananda Pandita, although he appeared in the man form in caitanya-līlā, he had a female form in kṛṣṇa-līlā. Actually, the soul is not male or female, the soul is transcendental to any bodily designation, but to assist the Lord in His pastimes, the devotees in their spiritual bodies have male-like forms or female-like forms. But they do not have male bodies or female bodies as we have in the material world. Therefore, liberated souls, for the sake of the service of the Lord, may have a male form in caitanya-līlā and a female form in kṛṣṇa-līlā. But the devotee is not actually male or female. The devotee is transcendental.

TEXT 22

prītye karite cāhe prabhura lālana-pālana
vairāgya-loka-bhaye prabhu nā māne kakhana

TRANSLATION

Jagadānanda Paṇḍita [as an incarnation of Satyabhāmā] always wanted to see to the comfort of Lord Caitanya, but since the Lord was a sannyāsī He did not accept the luxuries that Jagadānanda Paṇḍita offered.

TEXT 23

dui-jane khaṭmaṭi lāgāya kondala
tāṅra prītyera kathā āge kahiba sakala

TRANSLATION

They sometimes appeared to fight over trifles, but these quarrels were based on their affection, of which I shall speak later.

COMMENT

Yes, very often, Lord Chaitanya and Jagadananda Pandita would quarrel. Jagadananda Pandita would want Lord Chaitanya to accept his offerings for his comfort. But because Lord Chaitanya was playing the part of a strict sannyasi, He refused many of the offerings. Jagadananda Pandita became very upset. Once, Jagadananda Pandita presented some very costly oil to be massaged in the body of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as an austere sannyasi, did not want His body to be massaged with such costly oil. So, Lord Chaitanya told His servant to deliver the oil back to Jagadananda Pandita and request him to offer the oil to Lord Jagannatha. But Jagadananda Pandita became so upset that he took the oil and threw it on the ground. Then he refused to eat. For days, he would not eat.

And Lord Chaitanya also was very upset. So, just to induce Jagadananda Pandita to eat, Lord Chaitanya said that He will come and take prasāda cooked by Jagadananda Pandita. Jagadananda Pandita replied, “I am not in a fit state to cook for You, because I am so angry.” Lord Chaitanya replied, “The prasāda will become more tasty when you are angry.” Thus, Lord Chaitanya broke the fast of Jagadananda Pandita.

So, there were many such loving exchanges between Lord Chaitanya and Jagadananda Pandita. And Lord Chaitanya was always afraid to reject an offering from Jagadananda Pandita, because Jagadananda Pandita would always become so upset, but at the same time, Lord Chaitanya did not want to accept any comforts. So, there were constant tribulations in the relationship between Lord Chaitanya and Jagadananda Pandita. Ultimately, Jagadananda Pandita wrote one famous book called Prema-vivarta about his experiences with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and the very title Prema-vivarta means reversals in loving affairs.

TEXT 24

rāghava-paṇḍita — prabhura ādya-anucara
tāṅra eka śākhā mukhya — makaradhvaja kara

TRANSLATION

Rāghava Paṇḍita, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s original follower, is understood to have been the seventh branch. From him proceeded another subbranch, headed by Makaradhvaja Kara.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Kara was the surname of Makaradhvaja. At present this surname is generally found in the Kāyastha community. The Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (166) states:

dhaniṣṭhā bhakṣya-sāmagrīṁ kṛṣṇāyādād vraje ‘mitām
saiva sāmprataṁ gaurāṅga- priyo rāghava-paṇḍitaḥ

Rāghava Paṇḍita was formerly a confidential gopī in Vraja during the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, and his former name was Dhaniṣṭhā. This gopī, Dhaniṣṭhā, always engaged in preparing foods for Kṛṣṇa.

TEXT 25

tāṅhāra bhaginī damayantī prabhura priya dāsī
prabhura bhoga-sāmagrī ye kare vāra-māsi

TRANSLATION

Rāghava Paṇḍita’s sister Damayantī was the dear maidservant of the Lord. She always collected various ingredients with which to cook for Lord Caitanya.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, “In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (167) it is mentioned, guṇamālā vraje yāsīd damayantī tu tat-svasā: The gopī named Guṇamālā appeared as Rāghava Paṇḍita’s sister Damayantī. On the East Bengal railway line beginning from the Sealdah station in Calcutta, there is a station named Sodapura, which is not very far from Calcutta. Within one mile of this station, toward the western side of the Ganges, is a village known as Pānihāṭi, in which the residential quarters of Rāghava Paṇḍita still exist. On Rāghava Paṇḍita’s tomb is a creeper on a concrete platform. There is also a Madana-mohana Deity in a broken-down temple nearby. This temple is managed by a local zamindar of the name Śrī Śivacandra Rāya Caudhurī. Makaradhvaja Kara was also an inhabitant of Pānihāṭi.”

COMMENT

So, Srila Prabhupada has given directions on how to reach many of the holy places associated with the Lord’s associates. Why has he given such directions? So we can go visit the holy places associated with the Lord’s associates. So, this Kartik, His Holiness Radhanath Swami visited some of the holy places associated with the Lord’s pastimes in Bengal. So, I also had the good fortune to accompany him and about four hundred devotees for some days on the tour. And on the last day, we visited Panihati, which is just outside Calcutta. Panihati is also famous as the place where Nityananda Prabhu ordered Raghunatha dasa Gosvami to celebrate the Cida-dadhi festival, and just a short walk from the banyan tree on the banks of the Ganges, where Lord Nityananda and His associates sat, is the house of Raghava Pandita. And Caitanya-caritāmṛta mentions certain places where Lord Chaitanya eternally resides.

1. Lord Chaitanya is always present when there is kirtan at the house of Srivasa Thakura. 2. Lord Chaitanya is always present to accept the offering cooked by Saci-mata. 3. Lord Chaitanya is always present when Lord Nityananda dances. 4. Lord Chaitanya is always present when Raghava Pandita cooks. Raghava Pandita and his sister cook and offer the food to the Deities. Actually, the standard of worship of Raghava Pandita to his Deity, Madana-mohana, is considered to be the highest. And Lord Chaitanya was very pleased with Raghava Pandita’s worship. So, the house is still there, and the kitchen where Raghava Pandita and Damayanti cooked is also there. And the Madana-mohana Deity is also there.

TEXT 26

se saba sāmagrī yata jhālite bhariyā
rāghava la-iyā yā’na gupata kariyā

TRANSLATION

The foods Damayantī cooked for Lord Caitanya when He was at Purī were carried in bags by her brother Rāghava without the knowledge of others.

TEXT 27

vāra-māsa tāhā prabhu karena aṅgīkāra
‘rāghavera jhāli’ bali’ prasiddhi yāhāra

TRANSLATION

The Lord accepted these foods throughout the entire year. Those bags are still celebrated as rāghavera jhāli [“the bags of Rāghava Paṇḍita”].

TEXT 28

se-saba sāmagrī āge kariba vistāra
yāhāra śravaṇe bhaktera vahe aśrudhāra

TRANSLATION

I shall describe the contents of the bags of Rāghava Paṇḍita later in this book. Hearing this narration, devotees generally cry, and tears glide down from their eyes.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

A vivid description of these rāghavera jhāli is to be found in chapter ten of the Antya-līlā portion of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

COMMENT

So, the bags of Raghava Pandita are famous. And because so much love and devotion went into the preparation of the foodstuffs, devotees cry when they hear the description of Raghava Pandita’s bags. The devotees cry in ecstasy. And Damayanti was so considerate of Lord Chaitanya that she also made preparations to cure the Lord’s indigestion, because she expected that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu might upset His stomach.

Again, because Lord Chaitanya was playing the part of an austere sannyasi, devotees would come with various offerings for the Lord to taste, but the Lord would just tell His servants to keep the offerings in the corner, or keep the offerings in the closet. But the devotees who prepared the food would always ask the servant, “Did Lord Chaitanya take my preparation? Did Lord Chaitanya like my preparation?” And the servant was in a very awkward position, because he did not want to tell the devotees that Lord Chaitanya had not even tasted the preparation.

So finally, Lord Chaitanya’s servant appealed to Him, “So many devotees are cooking for You, and they are asking me if You honored the prasāda, and if You liked it, and in order to deal with them, I have to say so many things. So, please eat the food that they have brought.” So, Lord Chaitanya said, “There is so much food. A man cannot eat so much food in a whole year.” But the Lord’s servant replied, “You are not an ordinary person, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If You like, You can eat everything in one day.”

So, to show mercy to His devotees and His servant, Lord Chaitanya began to eat one after another all the preparation that had been accumulated for the whole year. Jagadananda Pandita also was a great cook. And many of Lord Chaitanya’s devotees were excellent cooks. But specifically, the bag of Raghava Pandita is famous. Therefore, it is said that Lord Chaitanya would eternally reside at the house of Raghava Pandita to eat the offerings, and that Srimati Radharani would personally cook in the kitchen of Raghava Pandita.

So, maybe someday, by the grace of Guru and Gauranga, you will all get the chance to visit some of these holy places associated with the devotees and pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:50:29].

Giriraj Swami: He is asking, “Jagadananda Pandita appeared as Jagadananda Pandita in caitanya-līlā, and as Satyabhama in kṛṣṇa-līlā. So, can we also serve both in caitanya-līlā and kṛṣṇa-līlā?” The answer is yes. If we have such intense love both for Lord Chaitanya and Lord Krishna, and the intense desire to serve both of Them, then we can serve both in the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and in the pastimes of Sri Krishna. One disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “How can we serve both in caitanya-līlā and in kṛṣṇa-līlā?” Srila Prabhupada replied that the potency of a liberated soul is inconceivable.

The author of Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā is Śrī Kavi Karṇapūra. And Kavi Karṇapūra was the son of Sivananda Sen. And in the book, he mentions that he got most of the information from Sivananda Sena. Now, how did Sivananda Sen know? Well, suppose we wanted to perform a drama of caitanya-līlā here. So, say for example, Paramdhama Prabhu would play Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and [Unintelligible 00:54:35] would play Nityananda Prabhu, and Mahalaxmi would play Saci-mata. So, they would dress and play the roles, but because we know them, we could recognize, “It’s actually Paramdhama who is playing Lord Chaitanya, that’s actually [Unintelligible 00:55:11] who is playing Lord Nityananda.” So, Sivananda Sena, as one of the Lord’s eternal associates, could recognize who the different personalities were playing the different roles of caitanya-līlā.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:55:51].

Giriraj Swami: Well, in the purport to the first [Unintelligible 00:56:03], Lord Chaitanya mentions the fact that sometimes dogs pass urine on Tulsi-devi. So, he is asking about the history of dogs passing urine on Tulasi-devi.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:24].

Giriraj Swami: So, you want to tell us?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:56:30].

Giriraj Swami: Okay, so you did not translate anything?

So, Devakinandana Prabhu says that in the purport to the first verse, Srila Prabhupada mentions the fact that sometimes dogs pass urine on Tulsi-devi. And Devakinandana Prabhu will tell us the history.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:57:26].

Giriraj Swami: Of course, Srila Prabhupada’s form, which we saw, is of a devotee of Lord Chaitanya. But we cannot say that he has the same form in Lord Chaitanya’s direct pastimes. Definitely, all of the followers of Lord Chaitanya in the line are in the form of devotees of Lord Chaitanya.

Any other questions?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:07:21].

Giriraj Swami: [Unintelligible 01:07:44] Prabhu asked that sometimes devotees refer to Lord Chaitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. So, does yogamāyā not cover them? The answer is that in kṛṣṇa-līlā, the devotees are covered more. Therefore, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But in caitanya-līlā, there is more awareness of Lord Chaitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, there is more reverence in Lord Chaitanya.

So now, devotees will take prasāda. So, we will say the prasāda prayer.