CC Antya 7 – Sri Gadadhara Pandita and Lord Chaitanya—Internal Moods and External Behavior

Giriraj Swami: So we will continue our discussion about Sri Gadadhara Pandita and his loving exchanges with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And then in honor of Srila Gaurakishora dasa Babaji Maharaja’s disappearance day we will also read and speak about him. So, now we will read from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, Chapter Seven, “Lord Caitanya Meets Vallabha Bhaṭṭa.”

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

All glories to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, all glories to Nityananda Prabhu, all glories to Advaita Chandra, and all glories to the devotees of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So this chapter, entitled “Lord Chaitanya Meets Vallabha Bhatta,” describes how Lord Chaitanya freed Vallabha Bhatta from his false pride, just as Lord Krishna through the govardhana-līlā relieved king Indra of his false pride. Vallabha Bhatta was born in a brahman family and was very learned, but he had the defect of pride and along with the pride came the personal ambition to be recognized as more learned, more intelligent than others, and this caused great disturbance in Vallabha Bhatta’s spiritual life. So, once Vallabha Bhatta came to the assembly of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s devotees and he wanted to read his commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which he considered to have surpassed the commentary of Sri Sridhra Swami who is considered the original commentator on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And he felt that in his commentary he had corrected some of the faults in Sridhara Swami’s commentary which was actually very presumptuous of him and offensive. Oh yes, there is another time Vallabha Bhatta came and he was trying to show how intelligent he was so he challenged Lord Chaitanya’s devotees saying that, “You are chanting the name of Krishna but actually a chaste wife does not utter the name of her husband, she usually would refer to him as Swami.” And so he challenged the devotees, “Why are you directly uttering Krishna’s name?” So,

TEXT 105

Advaita Ācārya responded, “In front of you is Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the personification of religious principles. You should ask Him, for He will give you the proper answer.”

TEXT 106

Hearing this, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “My dear Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, you do not know religious principles. Actually, the first duty of a chaste woman is to carry out the order of her husband.

TEXT 107

“The order of Kṛṣṇa is to chant His name incessantly. Therefore one who is chaste and adherent to the husband Kṛṣṇa must chant the Lord’s name, for she cannot deny the husband’s order.

TEXT 108

“Following this religious principle, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa always chants the holy name. As a result of this, he gets the fruit of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.”

TEXT 109

Hearing this, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was speechless. He returned home greatly unhappy and began to consider thus.

COMMENT

Now, from this response of Vallabha Bhatta we can understand that he is not a disciple, not in the proper mood of a disciple. Lord Chaitanya Himself showed the proper mood of a disciple when His spiritual master told Him that, “You are a fool and You should not read Vedanta but You should simply chant the holy name of Krishna.” He said, guru more mūrkha dekhi’ karila śāsana, “My spiritual master saw Me as a great fool and he chastised Me.” And Lord Chaitanya accepted that instruction and He followed that instruction. And Srila Prabhupada says that one should always consider oneself to be a fool before the spiritual master and be ready to be chastised by him.

So Vallabha Bhatta was chided by Lord Chaitanya who is the Supreme spiritual master but he didn’t take the instruction in a good way, he didn’t appreciate the mercy he was given, but he went home and he was very disturbed and miserable because he had some motive. A disciple, a pure devotee doesn’t have any ulterior motive. We sing every day, we make the instructions of the spiritual master one with our heart and do not desire anything else, āra nā kariha mane āśā, we have no other desire. So, Vallabha Bhatta was thinking:

TEXT 110–111

“Every day I am defeated in this assembly. If by chance I am one day victorious, that will be a great source of happiness for me, and all my shame will go away. But what means shall I adopt to establish my statements?”

TEXT 112

The next day when he came to the assembly of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he sat down after offering obeisances to the Lord and said something with great pride.

TEXT 113

“In my commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,” he said, “I have refuted the explanations of Śrīdhara Svāmī. I cannot accept his explanations.

TEXT 114

“Whatever Śrīdhara Svāmī reads he explains according to the circumstances. Therefore he is inconsistent in his explanations and cannot be accepted as an authority.”

TEXT 115.

prabhu hāsi’ kahe, — “svāmī nā māne yei jana

veśyāra bhitare tāre kariye gaṇana”

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya smilingly replied, “One who does not accept the svāmī [husband] as an authority I consider a prostitute.”

TEXT 116

After saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very grave. All the devotees present derived great satisfaction from hearing this statement.

TEXT 117

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu descended as an incarnation for the benefit of the entire world. Thus He knew the mind of Vallabha Bhaṭṭa very well.

TEXT 118

By various hints and refutations, Lord Caitanya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, corrected Vallabha Bhaṭṭa exactly as Kṛṣṇa had cut down the false pride of Indra.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Indra, the King of heaven, was very proud of his position. Therefore when the residents of Vṛndāvana decided not to perform the Indra-yajña but to perform the Govardhana-yajña in accordance with the instructions of Kṛṣṇa, Indra, because of his false pride, wanted to chastise the residents of Vṛndāvana. Thinking himself extremely powerful, Indra poured incessant rain upon Vṛndāvana, but Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately cut down his pride by lifting the Govardhana Hill as an umbrella to save the residents of Vṛndāvana. In this way Kṛṣṇa proved Indra’s power most insignificant in the presence of His own omnipotence.

COMMENT

Text 119. This is Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami speaking.

TEXT 119

An ignorant living being does not recognize his actual process. Because of ignorance and material pride, he sometimes considers profit a loss, but when his pride is cut down he can actually see his true benefit.

COMMENT

So being chastised by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or corrected by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Vallabha Bhatta received great benefit, profit. But because of his ignorance and false pride he took it as loss. But later one can realize that what one took to be a loss was actually a great gain when one is freed from false pride and ignorance.

TEXT 120

Returning home that night, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa thought, “Previously, at Prayāga, Lord Caitanya was very kind to me.

TEXT 121

“He accepted my invitation with His other devotees, and He was kind to me. Why has He now changed so much here at Jagannātha Purī?

TEXT 122

“Being very proud of my learning, I am thinking, ‘Let me become victorious.’ Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, however, is trying to purify me by nullifying this false pride, for a characteristic of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is that He acts for everyone’s welfare.

TEXT 123

“I am falsely proud, advertising myself as a learned scholar. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu insults me just to favor me by cutting down this false pride.

TEXT 124

“He is actually acting for my benefit, although I interpret His actions as insults. This is exactly like the incident in which Lord Kṛṣṇa cut down Indra, the great, puffed-up fool, to correct him.”

TEXT 125

Thinking in this way, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa approached Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu the next morning, and in great humility, offering many prayers, he sought shelter and surrendered at the lotus feet of the Lord.

TEXT 126

Vallabha Bhaṭṭa admitted, “I am a great fool, and indeed I have acted like a fool by trying to demonstrate to You my learning.

TEXT 127

“My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You have showed mercy to me in a way just befitting Your position by insulting me to cut down all my false pride.

TEXT 128

“I am an ignorant fool, for I interpret as an insult what is meant for my benefit. Just like King Indra, who out of ignorance tried to surpass Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord.

TEXT 129

“My dear Lord, You have cured the blindness of my false pride by smearing my eyes with the ointment of Your mercy. You have bestowed so much mercy upon me that my ignorance is now gone.

TEXT 130

“My dear Lord, I have committed offenses. Please excuse me. I seek shelter of You. Please be merciful unto me by placing Your lotus feet on my head.”

TEXT 131

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You are both a greatly learned scholar and a great devotee. Wherever there are two such attributes, there cannot be a mountain of false pride.

COMMENT

What are the two attributes?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:19:54].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, you saved the reputation of the group.

TEXT 131 (continued)

“You are both a greatly learned scholar and a great devotee. Wherever there are two such attributes, there cannot be a mountain of false pride.

TEXT 132

“You have dared criticize Śrīdhara Svāmī, and you have begun your own commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, not accepting his authority. That is your false pride.

TEXT 133

“Śrīdhara Svāmī is the spiritual master of the entire world because by his mercy we can understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I therefore accept him as a spiritual master.

TEXT 134

“Whatever you might write due to false pride, trying to surpass Śrīdhara Svāmī, would carry a contrary purport. Therefore no one would pay attention to it.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has many ṭīkās, or commentaries, following the paramparā system, but Śrīdhara Svāmī’s is first. The commentaries of all the other ācāryas follow his. The paramparā system does not allow one to deviate from the commentaries of the previous ācāryas. By depending upon the previous ācāryas, one can write beautiful commentaries. However, one cannot defy the previous ācāryas. The false pride that makes one think that he can write better than the previous ācāryas will make one’s comments faulty. At the present moment it has become fashionable for everyone to write in his own way, but such writing is never accepted by serious devotees. Because of false pride, every scholar and philosopher wants to exhibit his learning by interpreting the śāstras, especially the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in his own way. This system of commenting in one’s own way is fully condemned by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore He says, ‘artha-vyasta’ likhana sei.

COMMENT

‘artha-vyasta’ means opposite meaning, likhana sei say means such writing.

PURPORT (continued)

Commentaries written according to one’s own philosophical way are never accepted; no one will appreciate such commentaries on the revealed scriptures.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada, when he would translate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and dictate his purports would refer to a very big volume of commentaries of previous acharyas. I think there were eight or ten commentaries, but the first, as Srila Prabhupada says, is Sridhara Swami’s. Now, this incident of Lord Chaitanya’s indirectly or directly calling Vallabha Bhatta a prostitute caused some controversy in Bombay. Srila Prabhupada spoke on this incident and that lecture was printed in Back to Godhead magazine. And Vallabha Bhatta is now popularly known as Vallabha Acharya and he has many followers in the Pushtimarga, especially in Bombay. So, when this article appeared in Back to Godhead, some Vallabha Acharya’s followers approached Sumati Morarjee who had given Srila Prabhupada free passage on her Scindia Steam cargo carrier to America. And earlier she had also given him a donation to help him print his original Bhāgavatam. So they approached her and they said, “You have sent Swami to America and now he has come back and he is saying these things about our Vallabha Acharya so you should do something.” So she wrote a very strong letter to Srila Prabhupada, basically accusing him of being envious of Vallabha Acharya and for his own petty, egoistic reasons, he had called Vallabha Acharya a prostitute.

So Srila Prabhupada read the letter and considered it, and wrote a reply. And in the reply he quoted the entire incident, verbatim from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And he explained that actually Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Vallabha Acharya were friends and sometimes Vallabha Acharya would invite Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for prasāda and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would accept his invitation. And when Lord Chaitanya told him that one who does not accept the authority of one Swami is a prostitute he was smiling, that means that he was in a friendly mood, not an antagonistic mood. And then he said that, “On a point of law in the courtroom two lawyers may argue against each other very strongly but when they leave the courtroom they are friends and then they go out and have dinner together. So, you are very disturbed because you feel that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has insulted your spiritual master Vallabha Bhatta, but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was disturbed because He thought that Vallabha Bhatta had insulted His spiritual master, Sridhara Swami. So, if you are upset because your spiritual master was insulted, what is wrong if Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was upset when His spiritual master was insulted?” And then he came back to that example of the lawyers, “And so on a point of scripture we may differ but still we should remain friends.” And the letter completely pacified her. It was a very brilliant response.

So yes, here Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is saying that He accepts Sridhara Swami as His spiritual master. So then he tells Vallabha Bhatta:

TEXT 136

“Put forth your explanation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam following in the footsteps of Śrīdhara Svāmī. Giving up your false pride, worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.

TEXT 137

“Abandoning your offenses, chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, the holy names of the Lord. Then very soon you will achieve shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.”

TEXT 138

Vallabha Bhaṭṭa Ācārya requested Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “If You are actually pleased with me, please accept my invitation once again.”

TEXT 139

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who had descended to deliver the entire universe, accepted the invitation of Vallabha Bhaṭṭa just to give him happiness.

TEXT 140

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is always eager to see everyone in the material world happy. Therefore sometimes He chastises someone just to purify his heart.

TEXT 141

When Vallabha Bhaṭṭa invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates, the Lord was very pleased with him.

COMMENT

Now, there is an earlier incident which brings us to Gadadhara Pandita. So Vallabha Bhatta you can see he was mixed, he really had appreciation and affection for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but because of his false pride he was carried away. So now we will come back to when Vallabha Bhatta first came to Puri.

TEXT 72

On the day of the car festival, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began the congregational chanting. As He had done previously, He divided all the devotees into seven groups.

TEXT 73–74:

Seven devotees — Advaita, Nityānanda, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Vakreśvara, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, Rāghava Paṇḍita and Gadādhara Paṇḍita — formed seven groups and began dancing. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, chanting “Haribol!” wandered from one group to another.

TEXT 76

Seeing all this, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was completely astonished. He was overwhelmed by transcendental bliss and lost himself.

TEXT 78

Seeing the beauty of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the awakening of His ecstatic love, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa concluded, “Here is Lord Kṛṣṇa, without a doubt.”

TEXT 80

One day, after the festival was over, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa went to the abode of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and submitted a request at the lotus feet of the Lord.

TEXT 81

“I have written some commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,” he said. “Would Your Lordship kindly hear it?”

TEXT 82

The Lord replied, “I do not understand the meaning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Indeed, I am not a suitable person to hear its meaning.

COMMENT

So He could already detect that Vallabha Bhatta was pride and to counteract his pride He did two things: one is He presented Himself in a very humble way as an example and at the same time He refused to hear his commentary.

TEXT 82

The Lord replied, “I do not understand the meaning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Indeed, I am not a suitable person to hear its meaning.

TEXT 83

“I simply sit and try to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, and although I chant all day and night, I nevertheless cannot complete the chanting of My prescribed number of rounds.”

TEXT 84

Vallabha Bhaṭṭa said, “I have tried to describe elaborately the meaning of Kṛṣṇa’s holy name. Kindly hear the explanation.”

COMMENT

So now he is coming up with another exhibition of his learning, of his pride, his interpretation of the holy name.

TEXT 85

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “I do not accept many different meanings for the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. I know only that Lord Kṛṣṇa is Śyāmasundara and Yaśodānandana. That is all I know.

TEXT 86

tamāla-śyāmala-tviṣi

śrī-yaśodā-stanan-dhaye

kṛṣṇa-nāmno rūḍhir iti

sarva-śāstra-vinirṇayaḥ

TRANSLATION

“‘The only purport of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is that He is dark blue like a tamāla tree and is the son of mother Yaśodā. This is the conclusion of all the revealed scriptures.’

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

This is a verse from the Nāma-kaumudī.

TEXT 87

“I conclusively know these two names, Śyāmasundara and Yaśodānandana. I do not understand any other meanings, nor have I the capacity to understand them.”

TEXT 88

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is omniscient, therefore He could understand that Vallabha Bhatta’s explanation of Kṛṣṇa’s name and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam were useless. Therefore He did not care about them.

TEXT 89

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu rigidly declined to hear his explanations, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa went home feeling morose. His faith and devotion to the Lord changed.

COMMENT

When we were in Indore with Srila Prabhupada for the Gita-jayanti celebrations, many so-called learned gentlemen would come and meet Srila Prabhupada during his darshan hours and discuss with him. And Srila Prabhupada said that they come with their own opinions and they want to see if the guru agrees with their opinions and if he agrees with them then he is very good but if he doesn’t agree with them then they don’t like it. So Vallabha Bhatta, at this stage, he was not in the mood of a disciple, he did not accept the feelings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Now we come to the misgivings of love. Yes. So, what did Vallabha Bhatta do when Lord Chaitanya refused to hear him give his interpretation of the holy name or his explanation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:40:16].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, but then what did he do?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:40:22].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, he wanted Gadadhara Pandita. You wouldn’t know that answer unless you were familiar with this passage.

TEXT 90

Thereafter, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa went to the home of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. He kept coming and going, showing affection in various ways, and thus maintained a relationship with him.

TEXT 91

Because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not take Vallabha Bhaṭṭa very seriously, none of the people in Jagannātha Purī would hear any of his explanations.

COMMENT

Of course, if Mahaprabhu would refuse, why would anyone else hear? They all followed Mahaprabhu’s lead.

TEXT 92

Ashamed, insulted and unhappy, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa went to Gadādhara Paṇḍita.

TEXT 93

Approaching him with great humility, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa said, “I have taken shelter of you, my dear sir. Kindly be merciful to me and save my life.

TEXT 94

“Please hear my explanation of the meaning of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s name. In that way the mud of the shame that has come upon me will be washed off.”

TEXT 95

Thus Paṇḍita Gosāñi fell into a dilemma.

COMMENT

What was his dilemma?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:42:30].

Giriraj Swami: What did he do that made him feel like he was in a dilemma? Because he approached many other people to hear his explanations but they just refused. So what was particularly difficult about the situation with Gadadhara Pandita?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:43:16].

Giriraj Swami: Well, he was coming regularly and serving him and glorifying him, and then now he has approached him in this mood of complete humility and surrender. So that created a dilemma.

TEXT 95

Thus Paṇḍita Gosāñi fell into a dilemma. He was in such doubt that he could not decide alone what to do.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not take Vallabha Bhaṭṭa very seriously. Therefore Paṇḍita Gosāñi, or Gadādhara Gosāñi, fell into perplexity. What would be his position if he heard Vallabha Bhaṭṭa’s explanation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s name? Certainly Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would be displeased. Therefore Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosāñi could not make a decision.

TEXT 96

Although Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosāñi did not want to hear it, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa began to read his explanation with great force.

TEXT 97

Because Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was a learned brāhmaṇa, Gadādhara Paṇḍita did not forbid him. Thus he began to think of Lord Kṛṣṇa. “My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa,” he requested, “please protect me in this danger. I have taken shelter of You.

COMMENT

Sometimes someone might approach us to say something that we don’t want to hear and due to the circumstances we might not be able to avoid hearing it. Of course, there are techniques that one can learn to avoid hearing things that one doesn’t want to hear, but it may happen under certain circumstances that one can’t avoid hearing it. So at that stage one can internally take shelter of Lord Krishna, ‘pray to Lord Krishna to protect me from this danger.’

TEXT 98

“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is present in everyone’s heart, and He will certainly know my mind. Therefore I do not fear Him. His associates, however, are extremely critical.”

COMMENT

Now, this is very interesting because Gadadhara Pandita was not afraid of Lord Chaitanya because he knew that Lord Chaitanya would know his heart and understand that he was obliged to hear the explanation against his will. But Lord Chaitanya’s associates, of course, they are very attached to Lord Chaitanya and very concerned that Lord Chaitanya’s devotees should be faithful to Him and loyal to Him. So they could perceive it differently that Lord Chaitanya was neglecting Vallabha Bhatta and here Gadadhara Pandita is hearing his explanation. Is he more than Lord Chaitanya that he can hear his explanation which Lord Chaitanya refused to do.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exists in everyone’s heart. Therefore He would know the circumstances under which Paṇḍita Gosāñi agreed to hear Vallabha Bhaṭṭa’s explanations, and certainly He would not be angry. However, the Vaiṣṇavas who were always with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu might not understand Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s inner consciousness, and they might accuse him of having compromised with Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, despite his having been neglected by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosāñi was seriously thinking in this way.

TEXT 99

Although Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosāñi was not in the least at fault, some of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s devotees showed affectionate anger toward him.

TEXT 100

Every day, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa would come to the place of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to engage in unnecessary arguments with Advaita Ācārya and other great personalities, such as Svarūpa Dāmodara Goswami.

COMMENT

He still had his pride, I unfortunately read it out of sequence. But at this stage he still had his pride and when Gadadhara Pandita heard his explanations it just fueled his desire and his hope that he could be victorious in the assembly of Mahaprabhu’s associates.

TEXT 101

Whatever conclusions Vallabha Bhaṭṭa eagerly presented were refuted by personalities like Advaita Ācārya.

TEXT 102

Whenever Vallabha Bhaṭṭa entered the society of devotees, headed by Advaita Ācārya, he was just like a duck in a society of white swans.

TEXT 103

One day Vallabha Bhaṭṭa said to Advaita Ācārya, “Every living entity is female [prakṛti] and considers Kṛṣṇa her husband [pati].

TEXT 104

“It is the duty of a chaste wife, devoted to her husband, not to utter her husband’s name, but all of you chant the name of Kṛṣṇa. How can this be called a religious principle?”

COMMENT

So now the real test begins because you have all heard this. So, what did Advaita Acharya say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:50:56].

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

TEXT 105

“In front of you is Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the personification of religious principles. You should ask Him, for He will give you the proper answer.”

COMMENT

And then what did Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu say?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:51:20].

Giriraj Swami: That came later, but on this point.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:51:29].

Giriraj Swami: Getting closer. He said to Vallabha Bhatta, “You do not know religious principles. The first duty of the chaste wife is to follow the orders of the husband, and the Supreme husband Krishna has ordered us to chant His holy names constantly.”

I am getting warmed up here. I have a lot of layers of coverings but by this activity some of the layers of covering they are being removed. Okay, well, let us not be too extreme here. All right, then hearing this Vallabha Bhatta was speechless, he returned home greatly unhappy and began to consider, and then he had that realization that actually he was proud and Lord Chaitanya had dealt with him in this way to cut down his false pride just as He relieved Indra of his false pride.

Then Vallabha Bhatta invited Lord Chaitanya, “If you are actually pleased with me then please accept my invitation,” and Lord Chaitanya went. So everything is clear between Vallabha Bhatta and Lord Chaitanya, but what about Gadadhara Pandita and Lord Chaitanya? These are the misgivings of. . .?

TEXT 141

When Vallabha Bhaṭṭa invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates, the Lord was very pleased with him.

TEXT 142

Jagadānanda Paṇḍita’s pure ecstatic love for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very deep. It can be compared to the love of Satyabhāmā, who always quarreled with Lord Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

And I mentioned that he wrote a book called Prema Vivarta, which is like reversals in loving affairs. See, he had so many conflicts, loving conflicts with Lord Chaitanya because he was like Satyabhama, and in Dvaraka Satyabhama was in the contrary mood like [Unintelligible 00:55:07] bhāva, and Rukmini was in the submissive mood, dakṣiṇā bhāva. So that was their relationship. Just to give one example, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived extremely austerely. He would just lie down on a thin mat and Jagadananda Pandita always wanted to give the Lord facilities, he didn’t want Him to suffer so much, and accept so many austerities. So once he brought Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu some costly oil to put on His body and Lord Chaitanya said, “I cannot accept this, I am a sannyasi. If I were to pamper Myself with luxurious oils I would be a laughingstock. Better you give the oil to Lord Jagannatha.” And Jagadananda Pandita became so upset he smashed that costly oil on the floor and went away. And then he refused to speak to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he wouldn’t see Him, he wouldn’t invite Him, he wouldn’t speak to Him. And of course, this was beating on the heart of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So, one day Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He went to Jagadananda Pandita and said, “I want you to cook for me.” And internally, Jagadananda Pandita was happy, he said, “I can’t cook for you, I am in an angry mood, I am mad at you.” And Chaitanya was like, “I want you to cook for Me.” So he cooked and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu relished the devotion because it was all devotion, all the different moods were different manifestations of ecstatic love. And then he said, “Oh, Jagadananda Pandita, your cooking has improved with your anger.” So, he had so many of these loving pastimes with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that were filled with different sorts of misgivings.

TEXT 143

Jagadānanda Paṇḍita was accustomed to provoking loving quarrels with the Lord. There was always some disagreement between them.

TEXT 144

Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s pure ecstatic love for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was also very deep. It was like that of Rukmiṇīdevī, who was always especially submissive to Kṛṣṇa.

TEXT 145

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sometimes desired to see Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s affectionate anger, but because of knowledge of the Lord’s opulences, his anger was never invoked.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Joking with Rukmiṇīdevī in Dvārakā, Kṛṣṇa once advised her to accept another husband because He found himself unfit for her.

COMMENT

Does anyone know this incident from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Kṛṣṇa book?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:28].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, well, that is what we just read. And then what?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:40].

Giriraj Swami: How?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:45].

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

PURPORT (continued)

Rukmiṇīdevī, however, unable to understand His joking words, took them very seriously and immediately fell to the ground in fear of separation from Him.

COMMENT

So, Krishna wanted to see Rukmini’s anger and so in a joking way He said, “I am not fit to be your husband, you are a princess,” and He began to glorify all of her good qualities and then explain why He was unqualified. That He is not even a pure kshatriya, nobody even really knows what His caste is. Sometimes He is a cowherd boy, sometimes He is a prince. And He was just presenting Himself as totally unfit for her. And there is actually a lesson in this. Srila Prabhupada explains that generally a marriage is good when the two parties are of similar nature, similar education, similar culture, similar qualification. But anyway, Krishna said this to make her angry, He wanted to see her become angry, but she took it so seriously that apprehending separation from Krishna she just fell to the ground unconscious.

PURPORT (continued)

In the pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita was always in disagreement with the Lord like Satyabhāmā, whereas Gadādhara Paṇḍita was always awed by the Lord’s opulence and was therefore submissive to the Lord under all circumstances.

COMMENT

So he is like Rukmini.

TEXT 146

For this purpose Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sometimes showed His apparent anger. Hearing of this anger inspired great fear in the heart of Gadādhara Paṇḍita.

TEXT 147

Previously, in kṛṣṇa-līlā, when Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted to joke with Rukmiṇīdevī, she took His words seriously, and fear awoke within her mind.

COMMENT

So this is the relationship, Gadadhara Pandita was in that mood of submission whereas Jagadananda Pandita was in the mood of quarreling, challenging, fighting.

All right, now listen to this; Text 148. Now, is anyone here familiar with Vallabha Acharya and his sampradāya with a pushtimarga? Who do they generally worship?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:03:27].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, all right.

TEXT 148

Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was accustomed to worshiping the Lord as child Kṛṣṇa. Therefore he had been initiated into the Bāla-gopāla mantra and was thus worshiping the Lord.

TEXT 149

In the association of Gadādhara Paṇḍita, his mind was converted, and he dedicated his mind to worshiping Kiśora-gopāla, Kṛṣṇa as a youth.

TEXT 150

Vallabha Bhaṭṭa wanted to be initiated by Gadādhara Paṇḍita, but Gadādhara Paṇḍita refused, saying, “The work of acting as a spiritual master is not possible for me.

TEXT 151

“I am completely dependent. My Lord is Gauracandra, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. I cannot do anything independently, without His order.

COMMENT

This is also a very important point which I was just hearing the last two days in Srila Prabhupada’s lectures on Caitanya-caritāmṛta. When Lord Chaitanya empowered Sanatana Gosvami, and Prabhupada was saying that you cannot just act as a spiritual master on your own accord, you have to be authorized by the previous acharya. So here is Gadadhara Pandita, he is saying: “I cannot do anything independently, without His order.”

TEXT 152

“My dear Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, your coming to me is not appreciated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore He sometimes speaks to chastise me.”

TEXT 153–154

Some days passed, and when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, finally pleased with Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, accepted his invitation, the Lord sent Svarūpa Dāmodara, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita and Govinda to call for Gadādhara Paṇḍita.

COMMENT

So he was a great strategist also, sort of like Tamal Krishna Goswami. So He thought, “It may not be so easy to get Gadadhara Pandita to come because he might be upset because I have been criticizing him for his association with Vallabha Bhatta.” So it is a combination, he just wanted to make sure that he came, and also was a show of affection and respect; that is quite a group that he sent. Who did he send?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:06:47].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, you got it, the collective intelligence and memory of the group got it. The Lord sent Svarupa Damodara, Jagadananda Pandita and Govinda to call for Gadadhara Pandita.

TEXT 155

On the way, Svarūpa Dāmodara said to Gadādhara Paṇḍita, “Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to test you. Therefore He neglected you.

TEXT 156

“Why did you not retaliate by reproaching Him? Why did you fearfully tolerate His criticism?”

TEXT 157

Gadādhara Paṇḍita replied, “Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is completely independent. He is the topmost omniscient personality. It would not look well for me to talk to Him as if His equal.

COMMENT

So he was very aware of Lord Chaitanya’s opulence, of His position as the omniscient Lord, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he didn’t want to speak as His equal, he felt it would not be proper.

TEXT 158

“I can tolerate whatever He says, bearing it upon my head. He will automatically be merciful to me after considering my faults and attributes.”

TEXT 159

After saying this, Gadādhara Paṇḍita went to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and fell down crying at the lotus feet of the Lord.

TEXT 160

Smiling slightly, the Lord embraced him and spoke sweet words so that others would also hear.

TEXT 161

“I wanted to agitate you,” the Lord said, “but you did not become agitated. Indeed, you could not say anything angry. Instead, you tolerated everything.

TEXT 162

“Your mind was not disturbed by My tricks. Rather, you stayed fixed in your simplicity. In this way you have purchased Me.”

Giriraj Swami: And Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami says:

TEXT 163

No one can describe the characteristics and ecstatic love of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Therefore another name for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Gadādhara-prāṇanātha, “the life and soul of Gadādhara Paṇḍita.”

TEXT 164

No one can say how merciful the Lord is to Gadādhara Paṇḍita, but people know the Lord as Gadāira Gaurāṅga, “the Lord Gaurāṅga of Gadādhara Paṇḍita.”

COMMENT

There is such an intimate, powerful love, that Gadadhara Pandita, Lord Chaitanya was known as the life and soul of Gadadhara Pandita, He was everything to Gadadhara Pandita. But He was also known as the Gaura of Gadadhara Pandita, the property of Gadadhara Pandita which He Himself said, “You have purchased Me by your love.”

TEXT 165

No one can understand the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They are like the Ganges, for hundreds and thousands of branches flow from even one of His activities.

TEXT 166

Gadādhara Paṇḍita is celebrated all over the world for his gentle behavior, his brahminical attributes and his steady love for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

TEXT 167

The Lord purified Vallabha Bhaṭṭa by cleansing him of the mud of false pride. By such activities the Lord also instructed others.

COMMENT

Now, here we are coming to a very important point and also a subtle point which highlights the similarity between Lord Chaitanya’s dealings with Vallabha Bhatta and His dealings with Gadadhara Pandita. Can anyone consider what was the similarity? It is a very subtle point.

TEXT 168

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was actually always merciful in His heart, but He was sometimes externally negligent of His devotees. We should not be preoccupied with His external feature, however, for if we do so we shall be vanquished.

COMMENT

This is a very important point about judging devotees which Damodara Pandita mentioned in his homage to Srila Prabhupada on his disappearance day. That externally the Lord may appear to be neglecting a devotee but we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions about the devotee because internally the Lord is always affectionate to all of His devotees and He may be dealing with the devotees in a particular way for the benefit of the devotee, to purify the devotee, or to show the devotee’s wonderful qualities. And if we judge externally, we can misjudge the devotee or misjudge the Lord’s attitude towards the devotee and fall down.

TEXT 168

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was actually always merciful in His heart, but He was sometimes externally negligent of His devotees. We should not be preoccupied with His external feature, however, for if we do so we shall be vanquished.

TEXT 169

The pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are very deep. Who can understand them? Only one who has firm, deep devotion to His lotus feet.

TEXT 170

Another day, Gadādhara Paṇḍita invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to dinner. The Lord took prasādam at his home with His personal associates.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments that Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu acted as a very merciful well-wisher toward Vallabha Bhaṭṭa by externally neglecting him in many ways to purify him of his false pride in being a learned scholar. The Lord neglected Gadādhara Paṇḍita for a few days because of his associating with Vallabha Bhaṭṭa. Actually the Lord was not at all displeased with Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Indeed, because Gadādhara Paṇḍita is the personal potency of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there is no chance of the Lord’s being dissatisfied with him. However, a person who is too attracted to externals cannot understand the deep meaning of these dealings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If one therefore becomes disrespectful to Gadādhara Paṇḍita, he will surely be vanquished.

TEXT 171

There Vallabha Bhaṭṭa. . .

COMMENT

So what does there mean? Yes.

Devotee: What just happened.

Giriraj Swami: What just happened. Gadadhara Pandita invited Lord Chaitanya for prasāda.

TEXT 171

There Vallabha Bhaṭṭa took permission from Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and his desire to be initiated by Gadādhara Paṇḍita was thus fulfilled.

TEXT 172

I have thus explained the Lord’s meeting with Vallabha Bhaṭṭa. By hearing of this incident. . .

COMMENT

Okay, now what do you get?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:17:15].

Giriraj Swami: That is probably right, I just didn’t hear it.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:17:23].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that was the previous one.

TEXT 172

I have thus explained the Lord’s meeting with Vallabha Bhaṭṭa. By hearing of this incident, one can achieve the treasure of love for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

TEXT 173

śrī-rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa

caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇadāsa

TRANSLATION

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports to Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, seventh chapter, describing the meeting of Vallabha Bhaṭṭa with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

COMMENT

So are there any comments or questions? Yes, Sanatana Govinda Prabhu.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:18:36].

Giriraj Swami: Yes, he began by worshipping Bala Gopal, but by the association of Gadadhara Pandita, Vallabha Bhatta’s minds changed, and instead of worshipping Bala Gopal, he wanted to worship Kaisur Gopal, Krishna as a youth, and therefore he wanted to be initiated into the mantra for worshipping Kaisur Gopal instead of Bala Gopal.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:19:34] worship Radha and Krishna together.

Giriraj Swami: Well, it is Krishna but in a different mood as I mentioned the other day quoting from Caitanya-caritāmṛta or Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, that in His Kumara age Krishna made vātsalya-rasa successful. In His paugaṇḍa age He made sākhya-rasa. And in His Kishor age He made mādhurya-rasa successful. So the whole idea of worshipping Kishor Krishna is mādhurya-rasa, which is Radha-Krishna. And Bala Gopal, the whole idea is vātsalya-rasa.

Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:20:59].

Giriraj Swami: Well yes, it is true. Generally we say Gaura-Nitai. So what is the point? I am seeing it the other way, you are saying you usually say Radha before Krishna, Radha-Kalachandji. So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is in the mood of Radha, but of course that mood doesn’t really go well with Nityananda Prabhu because He is Balarama. But I guess you could say that, a bit of speculation here, that Lord Chaitanya is like Krishna and Lord Nityananda is Balarama, so you say Krishna-Balarama. So Gaura-Nitai is just like Krishna and Balarama.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:22:54].

Giriraj Swami: Well, in terms of their external behavior, Srila Prabhupada was very independent. He came to America all alone, he began the movement all alone, he did everything. And he really had no one external to consult but he was always consulting his spiritual master within his heart. But to do that you have to be of a certain level of purity. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says, who knows the verse?

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ

bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ

yena mām upayānti te

[Unintelligible 01:24:39], that those who are constantly devoted, [Unintelligible 01:24:52 satatam, those who are constantly devoted, prīti-pūrvakam [Unintelligible 01:24:56], and worship Me with love, I give them the understanding by which they can come to Me and I situated within their hearts destroy the darkness of ignorance with the torchlight of knowledge. So, at a certain stage one can get dictation from the Lord within the heart, from the spiritual master within the heart. He is not independent but he is able to consult the Lord within the heart or the spiritual master within the heart. Whereas ordinary people, materialistic people, they consult their minds, there is a big difference between your mind, a conditioned soul’s mind and the [Unintelligible 01:26:04] chaita guru.

Any other questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:26:19].

Giriraj Swami: By following the instructions; guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya, ār nā koriho mane āśā, make the instructions of the spiritual master, one with your heart, and do not desire anything else.