Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
In the age of Kali, the age of hypocrisy and falsehood, many cheaters try to pass themselves off as avataras of the Supreme Lord Himself, with the purpose of obtaining easy honors, profit, worship and distinction. These pretenders may have some material power, but these are not sufficient to make one the Supreme Lord. Many people are easily misled into believing them because they do not have sufficient knowledge of the scriptural injuctions.
The situation is further complicated by the impersonalist view of the nature of God; some people say that each of us is actually God, only we have forgotten our supreme nature and identity, and therefore we are suffering in this material world. Once we regain this awareness, we will find ourselves as Narayana Himself. This, however, cannot be true, because the Supreme Lord can be only one; His avataras are clearly described in the scriptures and cannot be created independently by any individual, no matter what material power he can develop. It is a duty of the sacred assembly of the devotees to clarify the positions of unauthorized teachers and false avataras, to protect innocent persons from falling into the serious danger of worshiping offenders by mistaking them for mahabhagavatas. Recently we have seen some deviations in this regard in our Vaishnava family, specifically concerning one Jagatbandhu, so-called avatara born in 1870 in Bengal and writer of the Trikala, about whom we will discuss in the next article with greater details.
However, the Lord has arranged a very easy way to keep us out of troubles in this regard; as in Kali yuga cheating is rampant and it is very difficult for foolish and ignorant people to distinguish a real avatar from a fraud, the vedic Scriptures teach that in this age even real incarnations of Godhead are not proclaiming themselves as God (precisely to discourage this kind of cheating) but His devotees -- and preach the absolute supremacy of the Lord and teach everyone how to worship Him only. This is the testing bench of any religious master, from any spiritual movement.
Sometimes a real avatara can show extraordinary pastimes, and exhibit divine powers, but such a divine personality will never try to confuse and lead astray innocent people by confused and symbolic statements. People of Kali yuga should listen only to those masters who sincerely, humbly and consistently preach the yuga dharma by introducing themselves simply as servants of the Supreme Lord. The teachings of these authorized and bona fide representatives of the Lord are always clear and simple, consistent with the scriptures and the acharyas, and have the power to elevate their students to the platform of love, compassion and understanding.
The human race goes through a continuous cycle of four ages (yugas), and in this process the physical and mental strength of human beings constantly decrease, human society becomes less and less favourable to spiritual progress and the environment becomes more and more prone to draught, famine and scarcity. Thus the vedic Scriptures recommend for each different age the most suitable practices to worship the Lord.
It is said that in Satya yuga the prescribed method for religious practice was meditation, in Treta yuga it was the celebration of sacrifices (yajna), in Dvapara yuga it was worship in the temple, while the religious practice recommended for the degraded and confused people of Kali yuga is simply the chanting of the Holy Names of God, His qualities, His pastimes and everything which is connected to Him (sankirtana yajna).
This method (yuga dharma) is both easy and powerful, furthermore it does not require following rigid rules and regulations, and can be executed by anyone in any situation. It is not required to change one's religious position, dress or social position. People of all ages, social classes, cultural levels and intelligence can engage joyfully in this transcendental method, by reciting or chanting the Names, the forms, the qualities and the pastimes of the Lord that seem most attractive to them. This is the special blessing of the most munificent incarnation, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in 1486 a.D. in Mayapur, (district of Nadia), West Bengal. He was the son of Jagannath Mishra and Srimati Saci Devi; as He was born under a neem tree, in His childhood He received the nickname of Nimai. Nimai showed extraordinary pastimes since His early childhood. The astrologer who calculated His birth chart declared that this boy had appeared in different ages with different bodily colours and that in His last incarnation He had been a blackish cowherd boy. Anyway, during all His life Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu never directly presented Himself as an avatar of Krishna; whenever people would recognize Him as God Himself, He would cover His ears and loudly chant the name of Krishna.
Many instances show His extraordinary character and pastimes: these anecdotes are fully reported in three famous Bengali biographies of Lord Chaitanya: Sri Chaitanya Bhagavata, Sri Chaitanya Mangala and Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. We invite our readers to study these books to learn more about the life and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sri Chaitanya left His home at the age of 24 and travelled extensively all over India, preaching the sublime message of love for the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and His Sankirtana. Finally He remained in Sri Jagannath Puri Dhama for the last 18 years of His life, completely immersed in the transcendental loving ecstasy, speaking and listening about Lord Krishna only.
His teachings are summarized in the famous Sikshastaka verses and in the many books written by His direct disciples and their disciples. In particular, the six Goswamis of Vrindavan (Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Raghunath Das Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami) wrote many important texts of Vaishnava philosophy and practice, like Bhakti-rasamrita sindhu (The ocean of the Nectar of Devotion), Upadeshamrita (The Nectar of Instruction), the six Sandarbhas, etc., which are presently available in different languages.
kale prathamasandhyayam
gaurangakhyam mahitale
bhagirathi tate ramye
bharishyami sanatana
"At the beginning of Kali yug I will appear on the bank of River Ganges, accepting the name of Gauranga and spreading happiness on all the inhabitants of the Earth." (Padma Purana)
kale prathama sandhyayam
lakshmi kanthav bhavisyati
daru brahma samipasthah
sannyasi gaura vigraha
"At the beginning of Kali yug the Supreme Lord, the consort of the Goddess of Fortune, will appear with a golden complexion. After accepting the renounced order He will reside at Jagannath Puri." (Brahma Purana)
kalina dayamananam
mudarya tanu bhrtami
janma prathama sandhyayan
karisyami dvijatisu
"In the age of Kali I will descend to show mercy to all living beings, by appearing in a brahmana family." (Kurma Purana)
karishyati kale sandhyam
bhagavan bhuta bhavanah
dvijatinam kule janma
santanam purushottamah
"In the age of Kali the Supreme and merciful Lord, the eternal Supreme Person who protects all living entities, will appear in a brahmana family." (Devi Purana)
dvija bhuvi jayadhvam bhaktirupinah
kalau sankirtanarambhe bhavishyami saci sutah
"In the age of Kali I will descend in the form of a devotee brahmana, the son of Saci Devi, to initiate the Sankirtana Movement." (Shiva Purana)
kali ghora tamasacanam
sarvam acara paricitan
saci garbhe sambhuya
taraisyami narada
"O Narada! I will appear from the womb of Saci Devi in order to deliver all the living entities bound by ignorance, who neglect all rules and live like animals." (Vamana Purana)
antah krishna bahir gaurah
sangopangastra parsadah
saci garbho samapyuyam
maya manusha karmakrit
"The Supreme Lord will appear as the child of Saci Devi. Internally He will be Krishna, but externally He will assume a golden complexion. He will be accompanied by His potencies in the form of His companions and He will manifest transcendental pastimes." (Skanda Purana)
krishna-varna tvisakrishnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah
"The Lord will appear in a golden form (not blackish) to preach the glories of the maha-mantra (the Name of Krishna); He will be accompanied by His potencies and weapons in the form of companions. Those who have good intelligence will worship Him with the execution of the Sankirtana-yajna." (Bhagavata Purana)
suvarno varno hemango
varanga chandanangadih
sannyasa krit samah santo
nistha santih parayanah
"The devotees of the Lord, who are perfectly peaceful, worship that form of the Lord who is very tolerant and peaceful; in this form the Lord accepts the order of sannyasa and has a complexion similar to molten gold emanating a transcendental perfume." (Mahabharata)
satye daitya kula dinasha samaye sprujankah kesari
tretayugam dasaskantaram
paribharan ramabhai nama krithita
gopalam paripalayan vraja pure
bharam haran dvapare
gaurangah priya kirtanah kaliyuge
chaitanya nama harim
"That same Supreme Lord who appeared in Satya yuga as Narasimhadev with effulgent nails to destroy the demons, who appeared in Treta yuga as Sri Ramachandra the son of King Dasarath, and in Dvapara yuga as Krishna to alleviate the burden of the land of Vrindavan and give pleasure to the cowherd boys and girls, will again appear in Kali yuga with the names of Chaitanya and Gauranga to inaugurate the Sankirtana, the chanting of the divine holy names." (Narasimha Purana)
The situation is further complicated by the impersonalist view of the nature of God; some people say that each of us is actually God, only we have forgotten our supreme nature and identity, and therefore we are suffering in this material world. Once we regain this awareness, we will find ourselves as Narayana Himself. This, however, cannot be true, because the Supreme Lord can be only one; His avataras are clearly described in the scriptures and cannot be created independently by any individual, no matter what material power he can develop. It is a duty of the sacred assembly of the devotees to clarify the positions of unauthorized teachers and false avataras, to protect innocent persons from falling into the serious danger of worshiping offenders by mistaking them for mahabhagavatas. Recently we have seen some deviations in this regard in our Vaishnava family, specifically concerning one Jagatbandhu, so-called avatara born in 1870 in Bengal and writer of the Trikala, about whom we will discuss in the next article with greater details.
However, the Lord has arranged a very easy way to keep us out of troubles in this regard; as in Kali yuga cheating is rampant and it is very difficult for foolish and ignorant people to distinguish a real avatar from a fraud, the vedic Scriptures teach that in this age even real incarnations of Godhead are not proclaiming themselves as God (precisely to discourage this kind of cheating) but His devotees -- and preach the absolute supremacy of the Lord and teach everyone how to worship Him only. This is the testing bench of any religious master, from any spiritual movement.
Sometimes a real avatara can show extraordinary pastimes, and exhibit divine powers, but such a divine personality will never try to confuse and lead astray innocent people by confused and symbolic statements. People of Kali yuga should listen only to those masters who sincerely, humbly and consistently preach the yuga dharma by introducing themselves simply as servants of the Supreme Lord. The teachings of these authorized and bona fide representatives of the Lord are always clear and simple, consistent with the scriptures and the acharyas, and have the power to elevate their students to the platform of love, compassion and understanding.
The human race goes through a continuous cycle of four ages (yugas), and in this process the physical and mental strength of human beings constantly decrease, human society becomes less and less favourable to spiritual progress and the environment becomes more and more prone to draught, famine and scarcity. Thus the vedic Scriptures recommend for each different age the most suitable practices to worship the Lord.
It is said that in Satya yuga the prescribed method for religious practice was meditation, in Treta yuga it was the celebration of sacrifices (yajna), in Dvapara yuga it was worship in the temple, while the religious practice recommended for the degraded and confused people of Kali yuga is simply the chanting of the Holy Names of God, His qualities, His pastimes and everything which is connected to Him (sankirtana yajna).
This method (yuga dharma) is both easy and powerful, furthermore it does not require following rigid rules and regulations, and can be executed by anyone in any situation. It is not required to change one's religious position, dress or social position. People of all ages, social classes, cultural levels and intelligence can engage joyfully in this transcendental method, by reciting or chanting the Names, the forms, the qualities and the pastimes of the Lord that seem most attractive to them. This is the special blessing of the most munificent incarnation, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in 1486 a.D. in Mayapur, (district of Nadia), West Bengal. He was the son of Jagannath Mishra and Srimati Saci Devi; as He was born under a neem tree, in His childhood He received the nickname of Nimai. Nimai showed extraordinary pastimes since His early childhood. The astrologer who calculated His birth chart declared that this boy had appeared in different ages with different bodily colours and that in His last incarnation He had been a blackish cowherd boy. Anyway, during all His life Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu never directly presented Himself as an avatar of Krishna; whenever people would recognize Him as God Himself, He would cover His ears and loudly chant the name of Krishna.
Many instances show His extraordinary character and pastimes: these anecdotes are fully reported in three famous Bengali biographies of Lord Chaitanya: Sri Chaitanya Bhagavata, Sri Chaitanya Mangala and Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita. We invite our readers to study these books to learn more about the life and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sri Chaitanya left His home at the age of 24 and travelled extensively all over India, preaching the sublime message of love for the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and His Sankirtana. Finally He remained in Sri Jagannath Puri Dhama for the last 18 years of His life, completely immersed in the transcendental loving ecstasy, speaking and listening about Lord Krishna only.
His teachings are summarized in the famous Sikshastaka verses and in the many books written by His direct disciples and their disciples. In particular, the six Goswamis of Vrindavan (Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Jiva Goswami, Raghunath Das Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami) wrote many important texts of Vaishnava philosophy and practice, like Bhakti-rasamrita sindhu (The ocean of the Nectar of Devotion), Upadeshamrita (The Nectar of Instruction), the six Sandarbhas, etc., which are presently available in different languages.
kale prathamasandhyayam
gaurangakhyam mahitale
bhagirathi tate ramye
bharishyami sanatana
"At the beginning of Kali yug I will appear on the bank of River Ganges, accepting the name of Gauranga and spreading happiness on all the inhabitants of the Earth." (Padma Purana)
kale prathama sandhyayam
lakshmi kanthav bhavisyati
daru brahma samipasthah
sannyasi gaura vigraha
"At the beginning of Kali yug the Supreme Lord, the consort of the Goddess of Fortune, will appear with a golden complexion. After accepting the renounced order He will reside at Jagannath Puri." (Brahma Purana)
kalina dayamananam
mudarya tanu bhrtami
janma prathama sandhyayan
karisyami dvijatisu
"In the age of Kali I will descend to show mercy to all living beings, by appearing in a brahmana family." (Kurma Purana)
karishyati kale sandhyam
bhagavan bhuta bhavanah
dvijatinam kule janma
santanam purushottamah
"In the age of Kali the Supreme and merciful Lord, the eternal Supreme Person who protects all living entities, will appear in a brahmana family." (Devi Purana)
dvija bhuvi jayadhvam bhaktirupinah
kalau sankirtanarambhe bhavishyami saci sutah
"In the age of Kali I will descend in the form of a devotee brahmana, the son of Saci Devi, to initiate the Sankirtana Movement." (Shiva Purana)
kali ghora tamasacanam
sarvam acara paricitan
saci garbhe sambhuya
taraisyami narada
"O Narada! I will appear from the womb of Saci Devi in order to deliver all the living entities bound by ignorance, who neglect all rules and live like animals." (Vamana Purana)
antah krishna bahir gaurah
sangopangastra parsadah
saci garbho samapyuyam
maya manusha karmakrit
"The Supreme Lord will appear as the child of Saci Devi. Internally He will be Krishna, but externally He will assume a golden complexion. He will be accompanied by His potencies in the form of His companions and He will manifest transcendental pastimes." (Skanda Purana)
krishna-varna tvisakrishnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah
"The Lord will appear in a golden form (not blackish) to preach the glories of the maha-mantra (the Name of Krishna); He will be accompanied by His potencies and weapons in the form of companions. Those who have good intelligence will worship Him with the execution of the Sankirtana-yajna." (Bhagavata Purana)
suvarno varno hemango
varanga chandanangadih
sannyasa krit samah santo
nistha santih parayanah
"The devotees of the Lord, who are perfectly peaceful, worship that form of the Lord who is very tolerant and peaceful; in this form the Lord accepts the order of sannyasa and has a complexion similar to molten gold emanating a transcendental perfume." (Mahabharata)
satye daitya kula dinasha samaye sprujankah kesari
tretayugam dasaskantaram
paribharan ramabhai nama krithita
gopalam paripalayan vraja pure
bharam haran dvapare
gaurangah priya kirtanah kaliyuge
chaitanya nama harim
"That same Supreme Lord who appeared in Satya yuga as Narasimhadev with effulgent nails to destroy the demons, who appeared in Treta yuga as Sri Ramachandra the son of King Dasarath, and in Dvapara yuga as Krishna to alleviate the burden of the land of Vrindavan and give pleasure to the cowherd boys and girls, will again appear in Kali yuga with the names of Chaitanya and Gauranga to inaugurate the Sankirtana, the chanting of the divine holy names." (Narasimha Purana)
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