Mahaprabhu and His Mercy

ALL GLORIES TO ÇRÉ ÇRÉ GURU AND GAURANGA!
Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu
and
His Mercy
Edited by:
Shri Shrimad Bhakti Sarvasva
Nishkinchan Maharaj,
dear disciple of His Divine Grace Shrila
Bhakti Dayita Madhava Goswami Maharaj,
Founder – Acharya of All India Shri Chaitanya
Gaudiya Math (Regd.)
SREE CHAITANYA GAUÒIYA MAÖH

CHANDIGARH
First Edition: 2008 (English)
Editor: Shri Shrila Bhakti Sarvasva Nishkinchan Maharaj

Composer: Shrila Bhakti Vichar Vishnu Maharaj
Translator: Shri Anand Agrawal Ji
Printed in India by
Sree Chaitanya Gauòiya Maöh,
Sector 20B, Chandigarh – 160020
Ph.: +91.172.2708788
Website: www.sreecgmath.org & www.gokul.org.uk
Email. info@sreecgmath.org
Other books published by Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math in

english:
Sri Chaitanya: His Life and Associates
A Taste of Transcendence
Sages of Ancient India
Suddha Bhakti: The Pure Devotion
Daçavatära: The Ten Manifestation of Godhead
Hari Katha and Vaishnava Aparadha
Nectar of Hari Katha
The Holy life of Srila B.D. Madhava Goswami Maharaj
Sri Archana Paddhati: The Puja Book
Affectionately Yours
Sri Guru-Tattva
The Philosophy of Love
Contents
Editorial 1
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 3
The Mercy of Lord Chaitanya 37
Shri Shikshashtaka 61
Words of Supreme Lord 64

Blessings by Shrila Rupa Goswami…
anarpita-caréà cirät karuëayävatérëaù kalau

samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasäà sva-bhakti-çriyam
hariù puraöa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandépitaù
sadä hådaya-kandare sphuratu vaù çacé-nandanaù
“The elevated, effulgent taste of sacred rapture is the wealth

of devotional love; the Lord never gives it at any time; yet,
out of His mercy in this age of quarrel, to distribute this treasure
to the world, He has descended in His golden form. The son
of Sachi is like a lion; May He dwell in the cave of your heart
forever.”
—Shri Rüpa Gosvämi; Vidagdh Mädhav Näöaka
Benefits from hearing the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya
yebä nähi bujhe keha, çunite çunite seha,

ki adbhuta caitanya-carita
kåñëe upajibe préti, jänibe rasera réti,
çunilei baòa haya hita
Shrila Krishna Das Goswami says that even if you do not know
anything about spiritual matters, it does not matter. He is
begging you to please hear the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya. By
the continuous hearing of such pastimes, you will naturally
develop eternal love of Godhead, and you will be able to
secure the duty of service to the lotus feet of that most
melodious Radha-Krishna. This mellow is most transcendental
and it is the main objective of all living souls.
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Oà Viñëupäda 108
Çré Çrémad Bhakti Ballabha Tértha Goswämé Mahäräja
Nityalélä-pravista Oà Viñëupäda 108
Çré Çrémad Bhakti Dayita Mädhav Gosvämé Mahäräja
Nityalélä-pravista Oà Viñëupäda 108
Çré Çrémad Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura
Editorial
You all know that in this age of agony (kali-yuga), if one wants
to attain total bliss and absolute love for Godhead, there are
no other means other than the chanting of the Holy name of
Lord Shri Hari. This is the essence of all scriptures. Just think
about it! That rarest of rarest, Love for Godhead, for which
even Shri Brahma or Shri Shiva yearn, if somebody is
distributing that love of Godhead freely, and to such a degree
that it seems that people are drowning in the waves of ocean
of this love everywhere, then certainly one will not consider
such Giver to be an ordinary person.
You may find an end to an ocean, but the pastimes of Lord

Chaitanya are limitless. Shrila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami,
the composer of the voluminous work Shri Chaitanya
Charitamrita, says, “I have merely scratched the surface of
the ocean of Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, as I am not eligible for a
dip.” These are the feelings of such an elevated soul, so what
to say of people like us and our insignificant position.
Still, we are trying to do something. When we visit a market

place, we can observe that usually the shop owners have some
items on display, taken out of their large stocks which are
available inside the shop. We take a look at what is on display,
get attracted to it, and enter inside for shopping. Similarly,
what we are narrating here in this book, are a few selected
pastimes of Lord Chaitanya. After reading these pastimes, one
will eventually develop an interest in the pastimes of Lord
Chaitanya. When this happens, he will develop a desire to
read such scriptures as Shri Chaitanya Bhagavata (by Shrila
1
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His Mercy
Vrindavan Das Thakur), Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita (by
Shrila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami), etc. etc., and finally
achieve Love for Godhead, Shri Krishna.
Servant of servants of the Lord,

B.S. Nishkinchan
2
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
There was a time in India, when it was very difficult for a

gentle lady to save her self-respect and for a gentleman to
maintain his prestige and name, as the rulers of the nation
used to take undue advantage of their power and position.
The rulers used to snatch money, women, wealth, etc.,
whenever they felt like it, from anybody living in the particular
area they ruled. Muslims were invading India and it was chaos
everywhere. Followers of Bhagavata Dharma, Bhakti Dharma
and Sanatana Dharma were nowhere to be seen. All sort of
illicit acts were being performed at the places of worship.
Everybody was indulging in sense gratification. The followers
of Hinduism and Islam were at loggerheads. Elevated scholars
like Chaturvedi’s, Bhattacharya’s, Chakravarti’s were no longer
knower of the real purport of the Vedic scriptures. People used
to chant the names of demigods such as Chandi and others
throughout the night. This was the only religious act they knew.
If someone recited the names of Govinda, Pundarikaksha, etc.
while bathing, he was considered a pious soul. People at that
time were, however, not deprived of money. They would spend
a lot of money on the marriage of their children, marriage of
puppets and dolls, and even the marriage of pet animals, yet
they refrained from donating any money to devotees or for
the service of the Supreme Lord. Whether a scholar, elderly,
or child, none of them chanted the name of Lord Hari. All
were devoid of devotion to Lord Vishnu. Fools and sinners
would never perform any devotional service. Instead, they
would make fun of the saintly persons who would chant the
name of Lord Krishna in congregation, performing Sankirtan.
They used to make harsh comments on these devotees of
Supreme Lord. They would say: “Why are these people shouting
3
the name of Lord? In these four months of rainy season, Lord
takes rest and their screaming will disturb His sleep, thereby
annoying Him, and thus He will create havoc in the country.”
Some took up these activities as a means to earn livelihood,
and wanted to tear apart the homes of devotees and submerge
them in the Ganges. During the medieval period, i.e. around
11th century A.D., India entered a dark time when a lot of
adverse rites came into existence in the various religions. The
glories of Hinduism lay ashen. Untruthfulness and cheating
in the name of religion became common practices. The
concept of caste by birth and untouchability reached its peak.
‘Untouchables’ were openly denounced. People used to shun
lower castes. Lower castes were even barred from fetching water
from public wells, as well as from offering flowers unto the
temple deities. Muslim clerics placed more emphasis on
converting Hindus to Muslims, rather than properly following
their own religious system of daily prayers. Due to their
ignorance, they were foolishly engaged in executing these
conversions, and did so by any means necessary, whether fair
or unfair, simply to achieve their goal. Men were not known
for their humanity but for their adherence to the so-called
‘caste-system’.
However, everything has a limit. Excess of anything is always

bad, but when crime is in excess, it is even worse. Performance
of sinful activities always produces a bad reaction, the scriptures
confirm this. It is highly unlikely that the most merciful
Supersoul just watches while his dear ones (souls) burn in their
own misery. Upon hearing repeated calls and prayers of
devotees like Shri Advaita Acharya, and to rescue the ignorant
souls from the pangs of material miseries, Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu (most merciful Gaurasundar) appeared to
distribute that most precious treasure of His Own Abode
‘Goloka’, ‘Love of Godhead’, to all. He appeared at a very
auspicious time, on Phalguni Purnima (Full moon), during
evening of 18th February 1486 (1406 sakabda) at Shridham
4
Mahaprabhu
Mayapur (Nadia). Everything was auspicious at that time, and
what wonderful pastimes the Lord exhibited! At the time of
His appearance, almost everybody (whether theist or atheist)
was chanting in jubilation ‘Hari – bol’, ‘Hari - bol’. Some were
blowing conch-shell; some were taking dip in Ganges, as at
that time there was a Lunar Eclipse. Lord appeared as the son
of Mother Sachi Devi and Father Shri Jagannath Mishra.
Before the appearance of Lord Gaurasundar, eight daughters
appeared in their house one by one, but none of them
survived. After those girls, a son who was named Vishvarup,
appeared in their house. Since childhood He was expert at
everything, but was not attached to anything. One day He left
His house and renounced the material world. Nilambar
Chakravarti, the maternal grandfather of Lord Gaurasundar
was a renowned astrologer. When Lord Chaitanya appeared,
he predicted that this boy would be a great personality. He
further said that this boy will take care of the entire world for
a long time, thus He should be called ‘Vishvambhar’. The
consort of Shri Advaita Acharya, Shrimati Sita Devi named
Him ‘Nimai’, as He appeared under a Neem tree (a particular
tree which has a lot of qualities, amongst which are medicinal
qualities.) The child Vishvambhar was extremely beautiful and
had a golden complexion, thus ladies called Him Gaura,
Gauranga or Gaurasundar. In His later pastimes as a sannyasi
(renunciate), He was known as Shri Krishna Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu.
The wonderful method of preaching Krishna’s Name
After filling the hearts of Sachi Devi and Shri Jagannath

Mishra with transcendental pleasure by dint of His childhood
pastimes, Shri Lord Chaitanya grew from an infant to a young
child. The women in the neighbourhood were always attracted
to Him because of His charming beauty, and, therefore, they
always stayed close to Him.
5
Lord Chaitanya, the preacher of Yuga-dharma (Harinam –

Sankirtan) and Founder of the Sankirtan, preached the name
of Lord Hari, even as a child. Whenever he wept, nobody
could console Him, until people began chanting the name of
Lord Hari. Eventually everybody understood that if one would
chant the name of Lord Hari, Nimai would immediately begin
to smile, rather than crying. By this pastime, Nimai preached
that if one wishes to please Lord, he should chant the name of
Shri Hari.
Fasting is meant for us, not for the Lord
Whenever Nimai would cry, He would stop if somebody started

chanting the name of Lord Hari in His proximity. One day,
however, He did not stop crying, even though lot of women
from nearby houses gathered around Him and chanted loudly
the name of Lord Hari. After some time, He said, “if you wish
to please Me (make me stop crying), then please listen, today
is fasting for Ekadashi, Shri Jagadish Pandit and Shri Hiranya
Pandit are observing the fast. They are preparing a lot of dishes
to offer to Lord Vishnu. If you can bring those delicious dishes
6
Mahaprabhu
to Me, I shall be happy.” People almost turned a blind eye to
this. But word spread and Shri Jagadish and Shri Hiranya also
heard about it. They wondered how from so far away the boy
came to know about all the dishes they had prepared, and
how He came to know about Ekadashi. They thought that it
could be that Lord Gopal (Lord Krishna as child) had appeared
in the body of that boy, thus they brought all the dishes and
served them personally to Nimai. Lord Nimai was very pleased
to enjoy those variety of dishes. By this pastime the Lord taught
us that on the day of Ekadashi, one must prepare a variety of
dishes (as done by Shri Jagadish and Shri Hiranya) to offer to
the Lord. We observe this fast in order to please the Lord, but
for whom should The Absolute Godhead observe a fast? Fasting
is meant for us, not for the Lord.
Gaur-Gopal eats mud
As Nimai grew up, He began to walk independently, but He

also grew mischievous. One day, Sachi Devi gave Nimai a piece
of Sandesh (a type of sweet) to eat. Then she went to attend
her household duties. Nimai however, did not eat that sweet;
instead He started eating mud. When Sachi Devi saw, she came
running and forcefully opened the mouth of Nimai in order
to take out the mud, which He had eaten. This happened in
almost the same way as it had happened with Mother Yashoda.
This time however, Lord Krishna did not reveal the universe
to His mother, but He said, “Since sweets or earth are nothing
but variations of that same material element - earth, why do
we eat one and not the other? This body is made up of earth
and so are all the eatables which we consume to keep ourselves
healthy, so if I had consumed earth instead of sweets, what is
the problem? Mother Sachi was astonished when she heard
Nimai talk like this. She asked Him who had given Him that
knowledge. She told Him that the various transformations of
earth such as rice, dal, wheat etc. make us healthy, but that
earth if consumed as it is, makes us unhealthy and may harm
7
us. She further explained that an earthen pot, which is a form
of earth, can hold and store water, but same earth, in the form
of a lump will absorb all the water and then break. Then Nimai
smiled and said, “Mother! I have understood. I won’t eat earth
anymore, whenever I am hungry I will ask for your milk”.
Nimai takes rest on Lord Shesh

(the Lord in Serpent Form)
Yashoda-Nandan, Lord Krishna used to play in the courtyard

of Nand Maharaj and sometimes, crow came to snatch the
chapatti (wheat bread) from His hands (a pastime). Similarly,
one day Nimai was playing in the courtyard of Mother Sachi,
when suddenly a large black snake appeared in the courtyard
and laid there by spreading its body. Nimai ran towards it as
an unwitting child, with His anklets tinkling and a belt around
His stomach, and He laid down on the Snake. People were
scared when they saw the child laying on the Snake. Mother
Sachi and Shri Jagannath Mishra were overwhelmed with
worry and were praying for Lord Garuda to appear, Who is an
enemy of snakes, whereas child Nimai was playfully laughing
while on Snake. When the Snake, who was actually Lord
Ananta, saw that the devotees were worried, He left
immediately. Nimai ran after Him to catch Him, but fearful
people quickly picked up Nimai and blessed Him, and then
proceeded to chant some Vedic Hymns for Nimai’s safety.
The sound of anklets and footprints of Lord Vishnu
One day, Shri Jagannath Mishra asked his son Nimai to bring
him a book. Nimai was pleased and happily went to fetch the
book. At the same moment Mother Sachi and Shri Jagannath
Mishra heard melodious tinkling sound of anklets, coming out
of their house. Nimai ran outside to play after handing over
the book to His father. There was another strange incident.
When Lady Sachi and Shri Jagannath Mishra went inside the
8
Mahaprabhu
room, they saw that wherever Nimai had put His foot, there
were prints of flag, conch, and other signs of His divinity. They
were astonished to see all this, but being under the spell of
Yoga-Maya (the Lord’s internal potency), they did not take
these prints as of their son, but of the Lord. So they presumed
that the Footprints came from Lord Damodar’s Shaligram
(their household Deity) in their house. They thought, “maybe
Lord Shaligram is roaming about in our house.” The couple
was excited at the thought and they organized a bathing
ceremony and festival in the Lord’s honour.
The child Nimai and His eight-handed Form
One day, a wandering mendicant brahmin came to Shri

Jagannath Mishra’s house after having visited many holy places.
He used to worship Lord Gopal with the eight-syllable mantra
(hymn) and whatever he received, he always first offered to
the Deity before eating it himself. Seeing a brahmin at his
doorstep, Shri Mishra immediately got up and offered
obeisances. He washed the brahmin’s feet and offered him a
place to sit. Mother Sachi gave him a lot of items for cooking.
The brahmin then prepared different dishes to offer to his
Gopal. After he had finished cooking, he began to meditate
upon his Gopal to accept the offerings (food), but as soon as
he did so, child Nimai came crawling on his knees and began
eating the food offerings. Seeing this, brahmin yelled out.
When Jagannath Mishra saw what happened he was furious,
and he ran to punish Nimai, but the brahmin stopped him.
Shri Mishra apologised for Nimai’s mischief and humbly
requested the brahmin to prepare the offerings again. The
brahmin obliged and started again. Shri Jagannath Mishra
dropped Nimai at their neighbours’ house so that Nimai
wouldn’t be able to disturb the brahmin anymore. This time,
as soon as brahmin had offered his preparations to Gopal and
began chanting his eight-syllable hymn, Nimai appeared from
out of nowhere and again began eating the offerings. When
9
the brahmin saw he shouted ‘ruined’, ‘ruined’. Shri Jagannath
Mishra felt ashamed and he began to punish Nimai. Then the
brahmin explained to him, “Your child is not to be blamed;
He is too young to understand anything. On top of that,
providence may simply have it that there is not to be any food
for me today.” When Nimai’s elder brother Shri Vishvarup
requested the brahmin in His pleasant voice to prepare dishes
once again to offer to the Lord, the brahmin, who was
mesmerized by Vishvarup’s beauty and sweet voice, once again
cleaned the place and began cooking the offerings for third
time. By now, it was already late at night and everybody was
sound asleep. The brahmin was now cooking behind closed
doors and Shri Jagannath Mishra was keeping watch outside
the room as a safety measure. But he was also drowsy. After
some time, the brahmin again recited the Gopal hymn and
offered the cooked dishes to Gopal. Immediately Nimai
appeared and began eating the rice. The brahmin was about
to scream again, when Nimai cut him off by saying, “What a
strange devotee you are. First you summon Me by reciting the
hymn, and then when I come, you start screaming.” Then
Nimai exhibited His eight-handed form to the brahmin. The
brahmin fell unconscious by experiencing the opulence of the
Lord. The brahmin saw the small child Nimai assuming a
marvellous form, where He had eight hands (arms), holding
conch, disc, mace, lotus, holding His flute in two hands and
using two more hands to hold butter in one and eat that butter
with the other. Later, Mahaprabhu asked the brahmin not to
disclose this secret to anybody.
The two thieves who stole the biggest Thief
A poet once quoted about the stealing pastimes of Lord Krishna

in Vraja,
“He is the owner of millions of universes,
yet, He is a thief, a most crooked thief,
and He is master of all in stealing”
10
Mahaprabhu
This Thief of Vraja does not reveal Himself during His pastimes
in Navadvip. He is making others chant the name of Hari, on
the pretext of crying and sometimes secretly, He has personal
audience with His devotees. One day, this Thief was roaming
outside His house, wearing precious ornaments. Two thieves
saw Him and made a plan to steal the jewellery. They allured
Him with ‘Sandesh’ (a milk sweet) and then proceeded to carry
Him on their shoulders, far away from His house. The Lord
however, exhibited His potency, and the thieves forgot the
way to their home. After wandering for a long time, they
reached Shri Jagannath Mishra’s house, mistaking it for their
own house, and took Nimai off their shoulders. Then they
suddenly realized their error, and fearing to get caught they
quickly ran away. The neighbourhood women, who were
looking for Nimai for quite some time, at last found Him,
picked Him up and took Him inside His house.
11
Nimai’s education and mischief
Eventually, Shri Jagannath Mishra gave Shri Gaur-Gopal some

mud-chalk (‘Khadia’ –a lump of chalk) and organized the ear-
piercing ceremony (Karan-vedha Samskara) as well as the
ceremony of shaving the head (Mundana – Chura Samskara).
Teaching Nimai was comparable with trying to illuminate the
Sun with a lamp. Nimai could rewrite anything simply after
taking one glance at the text. In just two days He learnt the
whole formation of words and He began writing “Rama,
Krishna, Murari, Mukunda, Vanamali, etc. Everybody would
loose themselves in the sound of His melodious voice
whenever He would recite any vocabulary or the alphabet.
He used to go for a dip in Ganges along with His friends, but
the people there were tired of His mischief. He used to hide
the clothes of people, or when somebody was meditating while
standing in Ganges, He would pull his legs from underwater.
Sometimes, He poured sand on people coming out of the water
after a bath. When maidens went for any offerings to mother
Ganges, then child Nimai would ask them: “Why are you
offering prayers to Mother Ganges or Mother Durga?” He
would tell them that if they would offer prayers to Him instead
He would grant them all of their desires, and that Mother
Ganges and Durga Devi are His servants. “Even Lord Shiva is
my servant”, He would say. After telling them all this, Lord
Gaura-Hari in the form of a child would snatch the things
used for offering, such as sandalwood, flower garlands, etc.
and would proceed to wear those items. He used to snatch
sweets, rice, banana, etc. from them and then say, “I give you
this boon, that you will get a handsome, intelligent, young
and charming husband, a long life and seven sons.” The young
maidens externally displayed signs of anger towards Him, but
in their hearts they were satisfied. When, out of fear for Nimai,
some younger maiden ran away with offerings meant for a
demigod, He would address her in loud voice, “You will get an
old husband with many wives.” After hearing this, the maidens
12
Mahaprabhu
would offer everything to Nimai, taking Him to be a divine
being. In this way Lord Gaura-Hari exhibited His true identity
as Supreme Lord in a jesting way, but nobody could understand
it due to His bewildering potency Yoga-Maya.
Nimai sits on a pile of used pots and gives a sermon

like Dattatreya
Shri Jagannath Mishra and Mother Sachi were very morose

due to Shri Vishvarup’s acceptance of the renounced order of
life. To please them, Nimai began to study sincerely. Knowing
the unparalleled intelligence of Nimai, Shri Jagannath Mishra
was actually displeased by Nimai’s efforts, out of fear that once
Nimai would understand the essence of all scriptures, He would
learn that this world is full of miseries and might follow His
brother’s footsteps. Thus he asked Mother Sachi to stop sending
Nimai to school. Nimai was furious, and to express His anger,
He went and sat on a pile of used cooking pots and utensils in
protest. His friends quickly went to inform Mother Sachi. She
came in an instant and asked Nimai to come out of that place
and why He was sitting in such a dirty place. Then Nimai
remarked innocently, “Because I am not allowed to go to school,
I am illiterate and foolish. So how can I know what is pure
and what is impure?” Then Lord Nimai gave a lecture to
Mother Sachi, just like the Avatara of Vishnu called Datattreya.
Once mother Sachi saw that Nimai wasn’t going to come out,
she pulled Him out, bathed Him and asked Shri Mishra to
start sending Nimai to school again so that their dear Child
would not remain illiterate and foolish.
Nimai’s pastimes as a teacher
Very soon Nimai finished His studies and started exhibiting

His pastimes as a teacher. He used to teach thousands of
students at Navadvip. The logical arguments as explained by
13
Nimai Pandit were understood only by Shri Ganga das Pandit.
All others, students and teachers alike, were unable to refute
or answer His unparalleled intelligent arguments and questions.
Alongside His education, Nimai Pandit also preached moral
values to His students. Any student attending His lectures
without wearing Tilak on his forehead, would be ridiculed by
Him to such an extent, that the next day that student wouldn’t
dare repeating the mistake. Nimai Pandit quoted from the
Vedas, “A forehead without ‘Tilaka’ is like a graveyard or
crematorium.” Then He would send that student home for
the proper rituals for applying ‘Tilak’ on the forehead. One
day when Nimai was returning after teaching, He met Shrila
Ishvar Puri-pad. This was their first meeting and they were
mutually attracted towards each other. People were already
attracted to Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad, as He was exhibiting
wonderful symptoms of Love of Godhead. Nobody knew why,
but Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad asked Nimai a lot of questions, and
he was pleased to hear the correct answers. By Nimai’s request,
Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad visited Nimai’s house. Mother Sachi
served him sumptuous Krishna Prasadam.
When Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad was staying at Shri Gopinath

Acharya’s house in Navadvip, He asked Nimai one day that it
would be nice if He, since He was a learned scholar, could
have a look at one of his written works named “Shri Krishna
Lilamrita” and correct it where necessary. However, Nimai
has nothing but praises for a devotee of Lord. Therefore, He
very humbly replied, “if one looks for corrections in the
statements of a pure devotee, he is a great sinner. Thus, no
one can dare to correct the writings of a pure devotee like
Shrila Ishavar Puri-pad.”
A scholar learns about Gauranga in a dream
One fine evening, Nimai Pandit was sitting on the banks of

the Ganges with His students, just as the moon shines amongst
14
Mahaprabhu
the stars. During that time, a scholar by the name of Keshav
Kashmiri visited Navadvip. He was blessed by mother Saraswati
and had defeated all the scholars of various areas in debate,
and they gave him a certificate declaring him victorious. The
scholars of Navadvip, for the fear of being defeated, sent him
to the young Nimai Pandit, and so he approached Nimai
Pandit, full of pride. Nimai paid respect to him and politely
asked him to sit. During the course of their discussions, Nimai
asked him to write some poetry in glorifying river Ganges.
The scholar at that very instant composed and uttered one
hundred verses in praise of mother Ganges. After hearing the
poem, Lord Mahaprabhu quoted one out of those one hundred
verses and asked Keshav Kashmiri if any corrections were
required for that particular verse. The scholar was already very
surprised that this Pandit was able to recall the verse, and
answered proudly that the verse had no need for any
corrections, since he knew it to have all perfections. Then
Mahaprabhu pointed out five perfections and five corrections
of that particular verse. By stating the corrections, Lord
Mahaprabhu bestowed His mercy on the scholar and rescued
him from the threefold miseries of the world. The scholar was
15
ashamed to learn about the flaws in his work, and became
silent. After returning home, he prayed to the goddess
Saraswati, and with surrender he said, “Mother! Until this
day, by your blessings, I had not been defeated by anyone. But
today a young boy, a teacher of grammar to young children,
defeated me in debate.” At night, Saraswati appeared in his
dream and said, “You need not be sad. Nimai Pandit is not an
ordinary scholar. He is verily the omnipotent Lord Himself. I
am just His maidservant. You must immediately go and
surrender unto Him and pray for His mercy.”
Auspicious Marriage
When Vishvambhar turned 18 years of age, His mother

searched for a suitable match for Him. A resident of Navadvip,
a scholar by the name Shri Vallabhächarya, sent his wife to
Mother Sachi with the proposal of their only daughter
Shrimati Lakshmipriya as a suitable bride. Mother Sachi agreed
with pleasure. On the day of marriage, everywhere, not just in
the house of mother Sachi it looked as if goddess Lakshmi had
16
Mahaprabhu
descended across all of Navadvip. However, some time after
the marriage, when Nimai Pandit went on a trip to east Bengal
along with His students, on the banks of the river Padma, He
took a very long time to return to His wife. Shrimati
Laksmipriya could not bear the agony of separation from Her
Lord anymore, and departed from this material world. Mother
Sachi grieved a lot over this loss. Therefore, in order to please
His mother, Shri Gaurahari agreed to her proposal for marrying
Shrimati Vishnupriya, daughter of the scholar Shri Sanatan
Mishra, a devotee of Lord Vishnu and a pious man. There
were huge celebrations, and all the expenses were covered by
the fortunate Shri Buddhimanta Khan.
How can an astrologer predict anything about the

Omnipresent?
One day, a learned astrologer came to the house of Shri

Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu paid His respects to him and seated
him. Then the Lord asked him, “Who was I in my previous
birth? Please have a check and tell Me.” The astrologer did his
calculations and began meditating. In his meditation he saw a
marvellously effulgent deity, who is the shelter of infinite
Vaikuntha’s and universes, Who is the ultimate, the Supersoul
and no other than God Himself. The astrologer was left
spellbound when he saw that form of the Lord.
He was unable to speak for a while. The Lord then asked him
again, causing the astrologer to regain his senses, and he, thus
replied “In Your previous birth you were the Absolute Godhead
with all opulence, and the shelter of the whole world. The
form which you had in previous birth, is same as that of your
present appearance. Lord Nityanand is also one of your forms,
but one cannot judge that very easily.” The Lord laughed and
told Him, “You do not know anything. I was a cowherd boy in
my last birth. I appeared in the house of a cowherd man, and
17
I used to go to graze cows as their caretaker. With such good
deeds, I have now appeared in the house of a Brahmin.”
Then that astrologer said, “I saw this. But I was surprised to see
your opulence in that cowherd form. I see that form (Shri
Krishna) and this form (Shri Gauranga) as one and the same.
Sometimes, I do see some difference. This is all due to your
potency (Maya). Whosoever you may be, I offer my respectful
obeisances unto you.” Lord Mahaprabhu was pleased and He
bestowed His mercy upon him.
The Master of the universe accepts a spiritual master
In those days, most of the residents of Navadvip were atheists.

There were a few devotees but they faced a lot of criticism
from the atheists. Despite their criticism, those devotees worried
about their welfare, but they were apprehensive about
associating with them because of their atheism. Shri Gauranga
was apprehensive as well, looking at the apprehension of His
devotees. The Lord decided to reveal Himself. He took
permission from His mother and started for ‘Gaya’ along with
His students, on the pretext of offering oblations to His
departed father. On the way, He exhibited a pastime of fever,
to reveal the significance of water collected after washing a
Brahmin devotee’s feet. After reaching ‘Gaya’ He went to the
Punapuna river (Tirtha) and offered oblations to His father.
While offering oblations at Brahma-kunda, the priest narrated
the glories of the Lord. At that instant Mahaprabhu became
ecstatic. Tears began to flow from His eyes and He began
trembling out of extra-ordinary symptoms of love for Godhead.
From here, Lord Gauranga began to reveal the devotion for
Lord Krishna. Just as Lord Gauranga was exhibiting such
ecstatic emotions, Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad arrived. The Lord
offered him obeisances and Shrila Puri-pad embraced Him.
18
Mahaprabhu
Lord Mahaprabhu revealed the purpose of his Gaya visit by
telling Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad, “The moment I had an audience
with you, my journey became successful. One is rescued and
liberated, if one has offered oblations (after his death) to his
descendents, etc. at a holy place (Tirtha), but merely by your
audience, numerous forefathers are liberated. Thus there is
nothing as holy as you. You even purify the holy places, thus I
am surrendering my body unto you. Out of your causeless
mercy, please liberate me and shower me with the love for the
Lotus feet of Shri Krishna and enable me to taste His mellows.”
By this, Mahaprabhu is illustrating that associating with
devotees, is actually the foremost fruit of a visit to a holy place.
If someone is not fortunate to have an audience with the
spiritual master, he will not be able to understand the taste of
surrendering unto the spiritual master, nor the taste of serving
the Supreme Lord. Charity, meditation, taking a bath in holy
rivers, offering oblations to forefathers, standard prayers, etc.
are required until we develop a strong interest in topics relating
to Shri Krishna, which can be achieved by associating with
devotees.
After completing all the rituals for offering oblations to His

departed forefathers, Shri Nimai Pandit went back to His place
of stay and cooked some food. He then served that Prasadam
(foodstuff offered to Krishna) to Shri Ishvar Puri-pad and then
took him to a secluded place, where He requested mantra-
initiation (diksha) from him who was also thinking about this.
He initiated Nimai Pandit with pleasure. Then Shri Nimai
circumambulated Shri Puri-pad and prayed for granting Him
love for Godhead and His full surrender unto Him. Nimai
Pandit, the Spiritual Master of all, thus exhibited the pastimes
of accepting a spiritual master. By doing so, Lord Mahaprabhu
illustrated to the people of this world that no one is able to
obtain entrance into the abode of Lord Krishna, without
surrendering completely unto the lotus feet of a pure devotee.
19
One day, at a secluded place, when Lord Gauranga was
meditating on His worshipable mantra, He suddenly began
calling out loudly, “Hey Krishna! Where are you? Krishna re!
Baap re! Lord of my life, Hari! Where are you hiding after
stealing my heart?” Thus Nimai began to cry out of ecstasy.
Nimai Pandit, who is otherwise very calm, began to roll on
the ground and cried loudly. His accompanying students tried
to pacify Him, but Nimai said, “All of you go home, I am not
going to live any more. I have decided to go to Mathura, where
I will get my Lord Shri Krishna Chandra, Who is my life.”
After that He started running towards Mathura and calling
upon Krishna! Where is Krishna? After few moments, there
was a crackling sound from the sky and a voice said, “O greatest
among Brahmins! Please do not go to Mathura now. The time
has not yet come for you to renounce household life. For some
time You have to preach the Love of Godhead at the place of
your appearance.” Having lost Himself in divine rapture,
Mahaprabhu regained consciousness and returned to His place
of stay. He took permission from Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad and
then started for Navadvip along with His students.
The change in Gauranga Deva
After returning from ‘Gaya’, Shri Gauranga was completely

changed. He now always remained absorbed in the ecstatic
feelings of separation from Krishna. He would faint several
times a day while chanting, ‘O Krishna! Where are you?’ He
stopped teaching and reading. After the repeated requests of
His students, Shri Gauranga began teaching again, but He could
not utter anything other than ‘Krishna’. He would say that
there is nothing anywhere but Krishna’s name. While teaching
class He would even explain grammar in relation to Krishna.
Eventually, He asked His students to leave Him forever and
told them that they had studied and learnt together for so
many days, but from that moment onwards, all of them should
chant the Holy Name of Krishna only.
20
Mahaprabhu
The Sankirtan Movement of Shri Gauranga
Lord Gauranga descended for a reason – i.e. to preach the

‘Yuga-dharma’ (the particular process of worship to be adopted
for that specific age/period/time) of chanting the name of Lord
Hari, for the topmost benefit of the people of Kali-yuga (the
current age, also known as the iron age). The initial phase of
this Yuga-dharma started in Navadvip. As soon as it began, it
spread like wildfire. The epicenter of the Sankirtan movement
21
was the house of Shrivas Pandit. That is why Shrivas - Angan
(Shrivas’s house) is famous as ‘Sankirtan Rasasthali’ (place of
congregational chanting and dancing), until this very day.
Mahaprabhu exhibited all of His potencies amongst His many
devotees at this place. There He gave lectures, sang, danced
and exhibited various symptoms of love of Godhead. Since
He was performing the pastimes of a devotee, there were a
few problems, which were resolved accordingly.
Shri Nityanand Prabhu and Shri Haridas Thakur as

preachers of the Holy Name
Initially Mahaprabhu asked Shri Nityanand Prabhu and Shri

Haridas Thakur to go door to door, city to city, village to village
and ask people to chant Hare Krishna, to devote their lives to
Krishna, and accept the Name of Krishna in their daily lives.
He told them that nobody should be bereft of this love for
Godhead and they should report back to Mahaprabhu on the
proceedings and developments. One day they met two drunken
hoodlums named Jagai and Madhai. People said that there was
no sin in this world, of which these two had not been guilty of
committing. However, despite their excessive intoxication, they
had never committed an offence towards any devotee, nor
had they blasphemed any devotee of Lord. That is why most
munificent Lord Nityanand, though hit on the head by those
hoodlums, arranged for the mercy of Mahaprabhu to be
bestowed on those two. Later on, by the causeless mercy of
Lord Nityanand Prabhu and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,
they became pure devotees.
Liberation of muslim cleric Sirajuddin (Chand Kazi)
Hussein Shah reigned over Bengal between 1493 and 1519 AD.
During that time he invaded Orissa and his forces tortured
and killed many people. These activities disturbed his ministers,
22
Mahaprabhu
in particular Dabir Khasa and Sakar Mallika (They became
Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami after surrendering unto
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu). When Hussein Shah invaded
Orissa, he destroyed all the temples over there. In Bengal, the
governor of Navadvip, Cleric Sirajuddin (Chanda Kazi)
strongly objected to the ‘Sankirtan movement’ of Mahaprabhu.
He even broke the clay drum (Mridanga) of the devotees when
they were performing Sankirtan, and warned them that if they
would continue with such activities in his area, he would
arrange for a severe punishment for them.
When this news reached Mahaprabhu, He became furious.

He asked His devotees to perform Sankirtan with extra zeal
and vigour. He asked Lord Nityanand, Shri Advait Prabhu,
Shri Haridas Thakur and other devotees to join Him, and lead
a large procession of devotees chanting the name of Lord Hari.
The procession went across the Navadvip and finally reached
the house of the Kazi. The extraordinary glories of Sriman
Mahaprabhu impressed the Kazi and he vowed that nobody
from his dynasty or family would ever disturb the Sankirtan.
He further told that on the day he broke the drum (Mridanga),
that night in his dreams, a large fearful Deity with the body of
human but face of a lion, sat on his chest and by the clattering
of His teeth dared him to disturb Kirtan again and said, “You
broke the drum of Hari Kirtan today, so now I will break your
chest.” Then the cleric bared his chest to show the marks of a
lion’s paw. Incidentally, a flame had burnt the beard and
moustache of one of his soldiers who had gone out to stop the
devotees from performing Kirtan. When the cleric pleaded
for mercy, most merciful Lord Mahaprabhu pardoned him,
and asked him to chant the name of Lord Hari. Even today,
the descendants of that cleric at Shridham Mayapur
(Navadvip) participate in the circumambulation of the dham,
and chanting of the name of Lord Hari.
23
The Lord snatches from His devotees in order to eat
There was a devotee, a Brahmin by the name Shuklambar,

who lived in Navadvip. He would collect alms daily, come
home, offer them to Krishna and then enjoy the prasadam.
He was poor, but he was satisfied. He was always busy in
chanting and remembering the name of Lord Krishna.
Ordinary people recognized him as a beggar. Alas! Who can
point out a devotee of Lord Chaitanya without Lord
Chaitanya’s mercy? Once, when Mahaprabhu was in ecstatic
mood, Shuklambar came. He was carrying the bag on his
shoulders in which he had collected the alms. Observing
Shuklambar’s love for Godhead, Mahaprabhu was pleased and
He began to praise Shuklambar. Simultaneously Mahaprabhu
took handful of rice out of Shuklambar’s bag and began to eat
it. Shuklambar was ashamed to see Mahaprabhu eating such
poor quality rice. By such pastime Mahaprabhu illustrated that,
although Shuklambar was not aware of the process of ritualistic
offering to Lord Krishna, his rice offerings were still considered
the best, as Krishna is more fond of the pure love by which
something is offered, than He is by dry ritualistic prayers that
are performed correctly but without love.
Similarly there was another devotee of the Lord, Shridhar,

who was very poor. He used to live by selling banana leaves,
vegetables, etc. Mahaprabhu often visited his shop and always
snatched banana stem, etc. from him. Later on Mahaprabhu
revealed His true form to that devotee.
Mahaprabhu’s pastimes with Gopal Chapal
Shriman Mahaprabhu always stressed the significance of

the verse, “harer-nam harer-nam harer-nam eva-kevalam,
kalau nasty-eva nasty-eva nasty-eva gatir-anyatha”
(Brihadnaradiya Purana) to His intimate devotees. He
24
Mahaprabhu
would perform sankirtan with them every night throughout
the year, behind the closed doors of Shrivas Pandit’s house.
Many fools and atheists would denounce them. One day
their leader, a Brahmin by the name Gopal Chapal, came to
Shrivas Pandit’s house. He was angry with envy when he
found out that he could not enter the house. To bring ill
fame to Shrivas, he placed Javaphul (a type of flower), red
sandalwood powder, a bottle of liquor, etc. (these things are
used while offering prayers to Goddess Durga) secretly at the
main entrance door of Shrivas’s house. His intention was that
in the morning, the people passing by the house would see all
the items at Shrivas’s doorstep, and conclude that the chanting
by Lord Mahaprabhu and His associates is all false, and that
they all actually only offer prayers to Mother Durga. (Lord
Chaitanya’s associates were pure devotees of Lord Krishna,
this everybody knew) (If one desires to learn the difference
between offering prayers to Durga and offering prayers to
Krishna, one must refer to the 7th chapter of Shrimad Bhagavad
Gita, verse no. 20 and 23).
When Shrivas noticed all the items at his doorstep the next
morning, he wasn’t at all bothered by it. Instead, he began to
laugh and told people, ‘I am a devotee of shakti (Durga), and
here is the evidence.’ Gentlemen were not happy with such
a development. They knew this to be a deed of blasphemers.
They collectively removed all the items from there and
washed the place with cow dung. On the other hand, Gopal
Chapal had committed an offence against a pure devotee of
Lord, and as a result he became sick and had an attack of
leprosy. His body began to decay. He was scared and was in
pain. One day he approached Mahaprabhu on the banks of
Ganges and begged for His mercy. But that most merciful
Lord Mahaprabhu scolded him and said, “O sinner! You were
envious of my devotee, you tried to blaspheme him. I will
25
ensure that not only in this birth, but in many millions of
births, insects will feed upon you.” After accepting the
renounced order of Life, when Mahaprabhu came to a place
called ‘Aparadha Bhanjan Pata’ (the place of rescuing from
offences) from Nilachal, Gopal Chapal fell at the feet of
the Lord and begged for His mercy again. The Lord gave
him a clue. The clue was, ‘If you want to get rid of all pains,
approach Shrivas, against whom you had committed an
offence. By his blessings, you will be rescued.’
Dead boy speaks
One day Lord Mahaprabhu was performing sankirtan at

Shrivas – Angan, when Shrivas’s son died. Shrivas warned
the women against crying and said, “The Absolute personality
of Godhead is present here as a devotee and is ecstatically
performing Sankirtan. If your screams and cries disturb Him,
I will drown myself in Ganges.” The women got scared and
stopped crying. After some time, however, the omnipotent
Lord said, “Shrivas! I am not able to enjoy the dance, has
something adverse happened?” Then Shrivas disclosed to
Mahaprabhu that his son had just died, so the Lord said, ‘why
did you not tell me earlier?’ The Lord went to the body of the
boy and said, ‘Dear Son! Why did you leave Shrivas?’ The dead
boy suddenly woke up and said, “Who can dare to violate the
limits, prescribed by You? I lived the number of days prescribed
for me to enjoy this body. My days are over, so I am going to
accept another body. Who is whose son? Who is whose father?
Everyone is here to suffer or enjoy the fruits of their past deeds,
and so they suffer and/or enjoy those fruits and then leave.
My Lord! Please accept my obeisances unto you and your
associates.” Then the boy left his body again. Everyone present
was spellbound. The grief that had previously gripped everyone
had now disappeared completely. Mahaprabhu blessed Shrivas
and said, ‘Shrivas! Consider Me and Nityanand as your sons.’
26
Mahaprabhu
Shrivas was ecstatic and fell unto the feet of Lord, “O My
Lord Gauranga Dev! You are my father in all my births; You
are my mother, son and owner. I pray unto Your Lotus feet
that I shall always remain your devotee.”
The Lord performs a Vraja pastimes play at the house

of Shri Chandrashekhar Acharya
One day Lord Mahaprabhu expressed His desire to act in a

drama with the theme of the pastimes of Vraja. The task of
what the devotees should wear was left for Shri Buddhimanta
Khan to decide. All devotees dressed as per their roles. Lord
Mahaprabhu announced that He would dance in the dress of
Lakshmi, but that only one who has total control over his
senses should be allowed to see His dance. The devotees were
sad, when they heard this. Shri Advaita Prabhu as well as
Shrivas Pandit regarded themselves as non-elevated, and thus
they were considering themselves as non-eligible to see the
dance. Then Mahaprabhu smiled and told them, “There is no
problem. Let everybody see my dance. Today, everybody will
become a perfect Yogi (devotee) and nobody will be in illusion.”
All devotees along with their families, Mother Sachi, Shrimati

Visnupriya and others came to the house of Shri
Chandrashekhar Acharya to see the drama. Among the
participants, Shri Advaita Acharya took the role of
commentator, Haridas became guard, and Shrivas dressed up
as Shri Narad. Shrivas in the guise of Shri Narad said, ‘I went
to Vaikuntha (abode of Krishna) to have an audience with
Lord Krishna, but there was nobody at Vaikuntha. Then I
heard that Krishna has descended in Navadvip. Thus I came
to Navadvip to participate in the pastimes of the Lord.’ By
witnessing the part played by Shrivas, Mother Sachi became
so ecstatic that she fainted in her amazement. Shri
Mahaprabhu dressed up as Rukmini and got submerged in the
27
ecstatic moods of Rukmini (Princess of Vidarbha), when she
accepted Lord Krishna as her husband after hearing about
His features, qualities, courage, etc. from the visitors who had
come to her palace. She was afraid of marrying Shishupal,
thus she was morose and wept quietly, and simultaneously she
wrote a letter to Shri Krishna. When Mahaprabhu was
exhibiting that part, He began to cry like Rukmini as He
Himself was feeling exactly like Rukmini. His tears were falling
on the ground and He was writing with His finger. With a
voice full of ecstatic feeling of Love for Krishna, He began to
recite the verses of Rukmini’s letter. All devotees were jubilant
to see and hear such a wonderful pastime. Thus ended the
first part of the play.
In the second part, Gadadhar took the role of cowherd damsel

and danced in ecstasy as Rama. Then Mahaprabhu dressed as
His own internal potency – Radharani, and Nityanand Prabhu
dressed as an elderly women messenger, came to the stage.
Nobody, not even Mother Sachi could recognize Mahaprabhu
dressed as Radharani. Some saw Him as Lakshmi, some saw
Him as Sita, some saw Him as Mahamaya, etc. as per their own
feelings. By seeing Mahaprabhu dressed like this, even Lord
Nityanand fainted in ecstasy. Many devotees were not able to
control their emotions and began to cry. By seeing such
pastimes of the Lord, nobody could guess how quickly the night
had passed. All were sad to see the arrival of dawn, and wept.
Then Mahaprabhu, in the mood of the Supreme Divine
Mother, by dint of His mystic potency, breastfed milk to all
the devotees present. This pleased everybody.
After this pastime, a strong, divine effulgence emanated and

enveloped the house of Chandrashekhar Acharya. It
continuously radiated for seven days by dint of Lord
Chaitanya’s staying inside the house.
28
Mahaprabhu
Mahaprabhu reveals Himself according to the desire of

each individual
Just as hundred rupees is the sum total of one, two, ten, fifty,
etc. rupees, so similarly Lord Krishna has 64 qualities. When
He descended as Lord Chaitanya in this fortunate Kali-yuga,
He revealed Himself to His devotees in whichever form His
devotee wanted to see Him. Out of causeless mercy, Lord
Chaitanya revealed His various forms to a few, just like Shrivas
saw Him as Ishvar, Murari Gupta saw Him as Varaha as well as
in His four handed form, Lord Nityanand saw Him as six-
handed form, Shri Advaita Acharya saw His Virata form (the
form revealed at Kurukshetra), the scholar astrologer saw the
form of the Supreme Lord, Chand Kazi saw His Narasimha
form. He distributed love of Godhead even to animals such as
lions, bears, elephants, deer, and also to trees, plants etc., while
on the way through Jharikhanda in His later pastimes.
29
Mahaprabhu decides to renounce the world
Once, Lord Chaitanya was meditating on mellows of conjugal

love for Krishna and He was experiencing the feeling of
separation from Krishna which cowherd damsels of Vraja
experience. Absorbed in the mood of the cowherd damsels,
He was chanting ‘Gopi, Gopi’. Then a student with material
faith and knowledge arrived. He could not understand the
intense feelings of Mahaprabhu, and thus ridiculed Him and
told Him to chant ‘Krishna, Krishna’ instead of ‘Gopi, Gopi’.
Mahaprabhu, however, was absorbed in the mood of one of
the Gopis , so in those emotions, with a stick in His hand, He
ran after that boy in order to beat him, assuming him to be a
member of the rival group of Krishna’s gopis. That student
was scared and ran to his friends. There, he explained
everything to his fellow - students. Everybody was annoyed
and planned to attack Mahaprabhu. They were out of their
mind, since they had ridiculed Mahaprabhu. They lost their
knowledge. Out of pride, they continued to blaspheme Lord
Mahaprabhu. On the other side, the Omnipresent Lord,
indicated to His associates through a puzzle, that He would be
accepting the renounced order of life shortly. The Lord said,
30
Mahaprabhu
karilä pippli khaëòa kapha nivärite

ultiya aaro kapha badila dehete
(Chaitanya Bhagavata. Madhya 26/121)
(I prepared the medicine in order to cure the mucus, but this

has increased the mucus in the body)
By this, Lord Mahaprabhu meant that although He appeared

on this earth to liberate the people, in His current social
position the people were only committing more offences,
creating the opposite of the desired effect. Therefore, He
chose to renounce the worldly life, because by looking at a
renunciate sannyasi, they would have to pay Him the proper
respect which is due for a sannyasi, and thus becoming liberated
and rescued from offenses and sins. The Lord said, “Thereafter,
I will evoke the love for Godhead in their peaceful minds.
Then and thereafter, these rascals will be liberated; there is
no other means.”
Mahaprabhu acts on His decision
Mahaprabhu was at home after deciding to renounce the

worldly order of life, when Shri Keshav Bharati arrived in
Nadia. Shri Mahaprabhu went to pay respects to him and
invited him to His house. After serving Shri Keshav Bharati,
Mahaprabhu requested him as follows, “You are as potent as
the Lord in liberating these souls from this world. Therefore,
please bestow your mercy upon me so that I may also be
rescued.” Thus the Lord revealed His intentions of renouncing
the world to him.
Shri Keshav Bharati said, “You are the Supreme Lord, you are
omnipresent, whatever You will ask of me, I will honour that
request. I can not act independently.” Then Keshav Bharati
31
left for Katwa city, and later, Mahaprabhu also went to Katwa
in order to accept the renounced order of life. Shri Nityanand,
Shri Chandrashekhar and Shri Mukunda Datta, participated
and performed all the necessary ritualistic ceremonies for the
occasion.
Mahaprabhu is tricked
After exhibiting pastimes of household life for 24 years,

Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of life from Shri
Keshav Bharati at Katwa and immediately after, He was
desperate to go to Shri Vrindavan Dham. However, Lord
Nityanand, with the assistance of the cowherd boys and Shri
Chandrashekhar Acharya tricked Him, and directed Him
towards the house of Shri Advaita Acharya at Shantipur. Here
devotees and Lord shared many pastimes and there even
mother Sachi met the Lord in His dress as a sannyasi for the
first time. Mother Sachi requested the Lord to go and stay in
Puri Dham.
The liberation of the mayavadi Sarvabhaum
When Mahaprabhu saw the temple of Lord Jagannath from

distance, He ran towards the temple and as He had an audience
with Lord Jagannath, He was ecstatic. In His ecstasy He ran
towards Lord Jagannath to embrace Him, but fell unconscious
mid-way through, due to extreme ecstatic feelings. By the Lord’s
arrangement, a mayavadi named Sarvabhaum Bhattacharya
was also there. He was surprised to see the transcendental
symptoms upon the body of Lord Chaitanya, and thus,
arranged to carry Him to his house. After three spans (almost
9 hours), Lord Nityanand and the other devotees arrived. They
began ‘Sankirtan’, and then Mahaprabhu got up upon hearing
the Sankirtan of devotees. Sarvabhaum Bhattacharya, used
to justify his perception of the Lord as impersonal on the basis
32
Mahaprabhu
of Vedanta, and as a result, he had run out of any emotions
for Godhead. His heart had dried up from the false arguments
he upheld in debating others. On the pretext of hearing the
explanation of Vedanta from him, and after expanding on
Sarvabhaum’s lofty dissertion, something which Sarvabhaum
had thought to be impossible, Lord Mahaprabhu totally
changed his mindset and finally showed him His four handed
Narayan form, and also His own two–armed form as
Shyamasundar, holding flute in His hand. Sarvabhaum
immediately offered obeisances and with folded hands he
offered his prayers. By the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, his heart
became compassionate. He, who once considered liberation
from material life (Mukti) as the ultimate goal, now rejected it
completely. He now chanted Krishna’s name and relished the
taste of the Name.
Mahaprabhu visits southern India
After liberating Sarvabhaum, Mahaprabhu took up the plea

of meeting His brother Shri Vishvarup and travelled to
southern India in order to preach. Lord Nityanand and other
devotees requested a lot and finally sent Kala Krishna Das with
Him, to serve Him. On the way He bestowed His mercy upon
Kurma Brahmin as well as Vasudev, who was suffering from
leprosy. After that, on the banks of the Godavari river,
Mahaprabhu met the Governor of Orissa, Rai Ramanand.
Through His conversation with a pure devotee like Rai
Ramanand, Mahaprabhu preached the world about the Lord
and the ways to reach Him. Simultaneously, Mahaprabhu
revealed to Rai Ramanand His special form of ‘Mahabhav-
Rasaraj’ (Radha and Krishna as one). Apart from that, the
views of logicians and other atheists were rejected and refuted,
point-by-point. The philosophical foundation of Buddhism was
demolished (rejected). He bestowed mercy on Venkat Bhatta.
He rescued Shri Krishna Das from some Bhattathari
33
renunciates. In this way He returned to Nilachal after
bestowing His mercy on the devotees, and preaching to the
sinners, yogis, and offenders of southern India.
King Prataparudra serves as a sweeper
When Mahaprabhu finally returned from southern India,

devotees felt as if they had regained their consciousness. It
was just like a drought hit area that at last receives a much
needed spell of rain. Devotees gathered at Nilachal from all
sides. All were enjoying pastimes with Lord Mahaprabhu. The
ruler of Orissa, King Prataparudra (he reigned between 1497
AD – 1540 AD) was desperate to have an audience with Lord
Mahaprabhu, but Mahaprabhu did not agree to see him. As a
renunciate, Mahaprabhu avoided meeting women and rulers
in order to set a perfect example for others. Many devotees
such as Sarvabhaum and others, pleaded to Mahaprabhu on
behalf of the king, but still the Lord remained unrelenting.
When the king saw that he was bereft of Lord’s mercy, he, at
the time of Lord Jagannath’s chariot festival began sweeping
the road in front of the chariot. He could now see Lord
Chaitanya dancing in Sankirtan and saw He was simultaneously
present in all the seven different groups of His devotees. One
day, after dancing ecstatically Mahaprabhu was resting in a
garden known as ‘Balgandi’. Then, as per instructions of the
devotees who wanted to help him, King Prataparudra went
there alone and began reciting a verse from ‘Gopi Gita’,
mentioned in Shrimad Bhagavatam, while massaging the Lotus
Feet of the Lord. By hearing the verse, Mahaprabhu was
ecstatic and to honour the desire of His devotees, He embraced
the king and bestowed His mercy upon him.
Mahaprabhu plans to return to His abode
Once upon a time, Shri Jagadanand Pandit returned to Puri

after visiting Navadvip and Shantipur. Shri Advaita Prabhu
34
Mahaprabhu
sent a cryptic verse to Mahaprabhu through Jagadanand
Pandit, “
bäulake kahiha,——loka ha-ila bäula

bäulake kahiha,——häöe nä vikäya cäula
bäulake kahiha,——käye nähika äula
bäulake kahiha,——ihä kahiyäche bäula”
(Chaitanya Charitamrta, Antya, 19/20-21)
(The word baul is synonym of batul i.e. mad. The word aul is
synonym of akul or desperate)
This verse means, “Please tell the One who is mad in ecstatic
love of Godhead as a cowherd damsel, tell Him that people
are now also ecstatic in love for Godhead. There is no place
left where we can sell rice (love for Godhead) through our
shop of distributing love for Godhead. Tell Him that Aul
(Advaita Acharya) is not into materialistic worldly desires. Tell
that madman (Mahaprabhu), that this madman (Advaita
Acharya) has said like this. By this Shri Acharya meant that
the purpose of Mahaprabhu’s descent was served. Now, the
Lord may do whatever He himself desires.
Mahaprabhu laughed when He heard this puzzle and said,

‘Whatever Acharya desires’ and then He was silent. When
Shrila Svarup Goswami-pad asked Mahaprabhu for the
meaning of this puzzle, Mahaprabhu indicated by saying,
prabhu kahena,——‘äcärya haya püjaka prabala

ägama-çästrera vidhi-vidhäne kuçala
upäsanä lägi’ devera karena ävähana
püjä lägi’ kata käla karena nirodhana
püjä-nirvähaëa haile päche karena visarjana
tarajära nä jäni artha, kibä täìra mana
(Chaitanya Charitamrta, Antya 19/25-27)
35
“Advaita Äcärya is a great worshiper of the Lord and is very
expert in the regulative principles enjoined in the Vedic
literatures. He invites the Lord to come and be worshiped,
and to perform the worship He keeps the Deity for some time.
After the worship is completed, He sends the Deity somewhere
else. I do not know the meaning of this sonnet, nor do I know
what is in Advaita Prabhu’s mind.”
Shri Mahaprabhu indicated that Shri Advaita Acharya had

called upon Mahaprabhu again and again by offering prayers
with the water of the Ganges and Tulasi leaves, on the banks
of the Ganges. Thus Mahaprabhu descended to earth from
Goloka. He told Svarup Damodar, “After completing the
offering ceremony, the priest submerges the Deity in water, it
seems that Acharya is now looking to do the same.”
After reading this verse from Acharya, Mahaprabhu’s intensity

of feeling of separation from Krishna increased. In that
heightened feeling of separation, Mahaprabhu sometimes
rubbed His cheeks against the walls of Gambhira. Shri Svarup
Damodar and Shri Ramanand Rai used to pacify the Lord by
singing the glories of Krishna, etc. but Mahaprabhu’s feeling
of separation would not subside.
Lord Mahaprabhu exhibited His pastimes of household-life for

24 years; while out of the remaining 24 years (as a sannyasi),
He first exhibited pastimes of a renounced preacher, a sannyasi,
travelling across India for 6 years. For the remaining 18 years,
He exhibited pastimes of associating with devotees and residing
at Puri for 6 years, while for the last 12 years He exhibited
pastimes of tasting the mellows of love of Godhead in the
association of His personal associates and elevated pure
devotees of the Lord. After that He returned to His abode,
leaving devotees in mood of separation, in order to increase
their desire for Him and make them mad in the devotional
process of Godhead, Krishna.
36
The Mercy of Lord Chaitanya under any
circumstance
çré-kåñëa-caitanya-dayä karaha vicära

vicära karile citte päbe camatkära
The composer of Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Shrila Krishna

Das Kaviraj Goswami states in the above quoted verse that
just by thinking about the potency of Lord Chaitanya’s mercy,
his or her mind will be bewildered. He distributed Love for
Godhead in abundance and without any hesitation. His modus
operandi was such that no one has any words to explain His
magnanimity.
Just think about it! Is there any soul who did not receive His
mercy? Whether one was sinner, offender, pious, poorest
among poor, richest among rich, Brahmachari, begger, atheist
or devotee, lady or vamp, cobbler or barber, tailor or animal
killer, man or demigod, animal or bird, tree or plant, and
whether in mother’s womb, child, elderly or young; the Lord
blessed them all and bestowed His mercy upon everyone.
We will now discuss some of His pastimes in relation to the

examples given above.
Bestowing mercy to one in the mother’s womb
Once, a householder devotee of Lord Chaitanya, Shri

Sivanand Sen came to Nilachal for an audience with the Lord.
Mahaprabhu told him, “Sivanand! This time when you will
37
get a son, name him ‘Puri Das’.” At that time, the wife of
Sivanand Sen was not pregnant at all. Almost eight years later,
a son was born in the house of Sivanand Sen. As per the desire
of the Lord, Sivanand Sen named his son ‘Paramanand das’
(nickname – Puri Das). After the birth of his son, Sivanand
went to have an audience with Mahaprabhu in Puri, and he
placed his son at the lotus feet of the Lord. Mahaprabhu
cajoled the kid and called him ‘Puri Das’ and placed His big-
toe in the child’s mouth.
Later on, the same boy ‘Puri Das’ (Kavi Karëapür) grew up to
write works such as ‘Chaitanya Chandrodaya Nataka’, ‘Anand
Vrindavana Champu’, ‘Gaura-gannodesha Dipika’,
‘Krishnagannodesha Dipika’, ‘Keshavashtaka’, ‘Brihad-
gannodesha Dipika’, ‘Alankara Kaustubha’, ‘Chaitanya
Charitamrita Mahakavya’, ‘Krishnaika Kaumudi’, ‘Krishna
Chaitanya Sahasra-nama’, Arya-sataka, and a number of other
scriptures.
One day, when Shri Puri Das was seven years old, his father
Sivanand Sen took him to Mahaprabhu and tried to get him
to offer his obeisances unto the Lord. Mahaprabhu asked the
boy to speak out ‘Krishna, Krishna.’ Mahaprabhu tried a
number of times, but not even once did the boy utter Krishna’s
name. The boy’s father tried to have him say it as well, but to
no avail.
Then Mahaprabhu said, “I have made numerous human beings,

even trees and plants chant the name of Krishna, but I am
unable to make this boy utter ‘Krishna’ .” Then Svarup
Goswami smiled and said, “Dear Lord! You have granted him
Krishna’s mantra (hymn). Since he has received it from You,
he considers it his guru-mantra, therefore, he is not willing to
disclose this mantra to others. He is chanting in his mind.”
This was the Lord’s hidden mercy on that boy.
38
Mahaprabhu’s Mercy
Here is another incident of direct mercy:
The next day, when Sivanand Sen came to Mahaprabhu with

his son, the Lord said, “Puri! Read some verse.” Puri was only
seven years of age. He had not started taking any formal
education yet, but still by the Lord’s order he recited the
following verse:
çravasoù kuvalayam akñëor aïjanam uraso mahendra-

maëi-däma
våndävana-ramaëénäà maëòanam akhilaà harir jayati
(Chaitanya Charitamrta Antya 16/74)
“All glories to Lord Hari, Who is like a blue lotus (earrings) to

the ears, like eye-liner to the eyes and like a necklace made of
blue emeralds resting on the chests of the young cowherd
damsels of Shri Vrindavan.”
When Puri Das composed and recited this new verse everybody
was astonished, and they were pleased to learn that the special
mercy of Lord Chaitanya (which can make the impossible
possible), the mercy that is desired by Brahma and other
Demigods, had been bestowed on this boy since his childhood.
Narayani receives the Lord’s mercy during her

childhood
Narayani was niece of Shrivas Pandit, who is an intimate

associate of Lord Chaitanya. One day, Lord Mahaprabhu asked
Narayani to chant ‘Krishna’ – ‘Krishna’ and cry. Narayani was
only 4 years old at that time. But due to the causeless mercy of
Lord Chaitanya she became ecstatic by chanting Krishna’s
name and began crying. Eventually she fell unconscious. Tears
began to flow from her eyes, falling from her cheeks on the
39
floor. Later on, Mahaprabhu gave her betel nuts and its leaves
which were tasted by the Lord Himself.
Shrila Vrindavan Das Thakur, the composer of ‘Shri

Chaitanya Bhagavata’, which is an important scripture
depicting the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was
the only son of that same Narayani.
Also, Shri Mahaprabhu gave special blessings to devotees like

Shri Raghunath Bhatta, Shri Achyutanand, Shri Raghunandn
and Shri Gopal Bhatt due to their services unto Him during
their childhood.
Shri Raghunath Das Goswami – A youth is blessed
During youth, one generally has so much vigour for fulfilling

one’s desires that humans forget that they were given this
precious human life and golden chance by the mercy of the
Absolute. Man spends his youth in earning money so that he
or she is able to fulfil their desires and serve their family. The
most merciful Lord Chaitanya turned the tables for those youths
by dint of His Causeless Mercy. Shrila Raghunath Das Goswami
is a perfect example of this. When Lord Chaitanya bestowed
His mercy upon him, Shrila Raghunath Das became ecstatic.
His greed for Krishna grew so intense, that he broke all the
barriers and shackles (like watchmen, money, beautiful wife,
etc.) that were holding him back, and ran to Shri Gaura.
Raghunath’s devotion for the Lord and his moroseness towards

material life, makes him a perfect example for householders as
well as bachelors and renunciates. Shrila Raghunath Das
Goswami composed wonderful works, like Dana Carita
(Danakeli – Cintamani), Stavavali and Mukta Carita.
40
Ramanand Ray – blessed when he matured
During the days when the elder son of Shri Bhavanand Ray,
Shri Ramanand Ray, was Governor of Rajamahendri
(Southern Orissa) which was under the rule of King
Prataparudra, he one day met the all-attractive Shri
Mahaprabhu on the banks of Godavari. Riding a palanquin
while being accompanied by scholarly Brahmins and few
persons blowing on trumpets, Ramanand Ray was going for a
dip in Godavari when he saw Lord Mahaprabhu. He was at
once attracted to the Lord, at first glance. He was lost in the
beauty of Lord Chaitanya and offered his obeisances to this
unparalleled renunciate. The Lord immediately embraced him.
A current ran through the body of Ray. He requested
Mahaprabhu to stay for 5 to 7 days. The Lord agreed, and had
him express in detail the actual means and ends of human life,
as well as the glories of the Shri Radha’s love for the Absolute
God-head. Later on, Mahaprabhu, out of His causeless mercy,
revealed His Mahabhav-Rasaraja form (form in which Radha
and Krishna are together) to him, thereby showing Him His
actual identity.
By the order of the Lord, Ramanand Ray left all his kingly
duties behind and moved to Nilachal, near the Lord. When
the Lord would feel deep pangs of separation from Krishna,
Ramanand Ray along with Svarup Damodar would console
and satisfy Him by reciting the devotional songs and other
verses. Ray Ramanand is a pure devotee, scholar, and a devotee
with the taste of highest love of Godhead, etc. During the last
12 years of Mahaprabhu on earth, only he and Svarup
Damodar accompanied the Lord.
Apart from him, Lord Chaitanya blessed the Finance Minister

and Prime Minister of king of Bengal (Hussein Shah), Shri
41
Rupa and Shri Sanatan respectively, when they passed their
youth.
Sarvabhaum Bhattacharya – blessed during old age
Shriman Nityanand Prabhu broke Mahaprabhu’s symbol of

the renounced order of life, the danda, or stick, and threw it
into the Bhargi River. By this pastime, the Lord taught the
world that for the Lord and his purest devotees there is no
need to follow all the rules and regulations, as prescribed in
scriptures for advancing in spiritual life. One day, Mahaprabhu
felt deep desire to obtain an audience with Lord Jagannath, so
He ran towards the temple, leaving all the devotees behind.
This pastime was performed because the Lord wanted to bestow
His mercy on Sarvabhaum Bhattacharya. Mahaprabhu was
ecstatic as soon as He saw Lord Jagannath in the temple. His
ecstasy grew and He fell unconscious. The symptoms of
transcendental love appeared on His body. When Sarvabhaum
saw this, he understood that Mahaprabhu wasn’t an ordinary
man, so he arranged to bring Mahaprabhu to his house.
When Sarvabhaum learnt that this renunciate’s maternal

grandfather (Shri Nilambar Chakravarti) was a friend of his
father, he became very affectionate, just like a relative and
was curiously attracted towards the Lord’s youth. He thus told
Gopinath Acharya, “He is very young. The mind of a young
one is always volatile. I shall explain Vedanta to Him, which
will enable Him to shun the world forever. This will protect
His renounced order’.
Gopinath could not tolerate this sort of talk. He scolded

Sarvabhaum and tried to explain him about the actual position
of Mahaprabhu. He said, ‘Bhattacharya! You are unaware of
His glories. He is extreme in all the symptoms of being
Omnipotent, i.e. He has all the symptoms of God. And He is
the Absolute Personality of Godhead.’
42
But Sarvabhaum’s mind was already occupied with negative
thoughts, therefore, the words of Gopinath Acharya did not
convince him (Lord and His pastimes descends only in the
heart of a surrendered soul).
When they were debating, most merciful Lord Chaitanya

Mahaprabhu in order to bestow His mercy on Sarvabhaum,
interrupted them and said to Sarvabhaum, “You are a spiritual
master of the world and are well-wisher of everybody. I took
the renounced order early in life, I do not know what is good
and what is bad, so please have mercy on me. I will do whatever
you say.” Then Sarvabhaum proceeded to preach Vedanta to
Mahaprabhu for one week. Sarvabhaum observed that this
young man was listening intently but wondered whether He
was able to understand anything he said, as during the whole
week Mahaprabhu neither said ‘yes’ nor said ‘no’. On the eighth
day, he said, “You heard about Vedanta for seven days, and
did not utter a single word. You kept quiet throughout. Did
you understand anything?” Mahaprabhu replied, “I am fool
and illiterate. You asked me to listen, so I am listening. So far
learning is concerned, whatever you said on Vedanta I have
understood, but your interpretation was very confusing. It
seems your illustrations have hidden the actual meaning of
the Vedanta’s verses, and this make me restless.” Sarvabhaum
became furious from this answer and began debating, but All-
knowledge Lord Mahaprabhu defeated him by dint of proof,
verses and logic on the basis of the Vedic scriptures.
Later on, when Sarvabhaum expressed his desire to hear the

explanation of ‘ätmärämäç ca’ (Çrimad Bhagavatam 1.7.10), a
verse of Shrimad Bhagavatam, Mahaprabhu requested him to
explain it first. As he was a scholar, he gave nine different
meanings of the particular verse. When Mahaprabhu, without
embracing any word uttered by Sarvabhaum, explained that
verse in another eighteen ways, Sarvabhaum could remember
the words of Gopinath Acharya that, Mahaprabhu is none
43
other than Krishna. He felt ashamed that he tried to establish
himself in front of Lord, and he began to cry. He fell unto the
lotus feet of the Lord and surrendered unto Him by accepting
himself (Sarvabhaum) as an offender and a sinner.
Mahaprabhu desired to bestow His special mercy upon him.
Thus, Mahaprabhu revealed His four-handed form of Narayan
to him, and then Mahaprabhu revealed His Shyamasundar
form holding the flute in His hands, to him. In this way,
Mahaprabhu bestowed His mercy on the scholar of Puri
kingdom and atheist debater. That is why, Shrila Krishna Das
Kaviraj Goswami offers his prayers unto Lord Mahaprabhu as
follows:
naumi taà gauracandraà yaù
kutarka-karkaçäçayam
särvabhaumaà sarva-bhümä
bhakti-bhümänam äcarat
(Chaitanya Charitamrta Madhya 6.1)
“Due to regular debating, Sarvabhaum, who had forgotten the

original truth and had lost his sense of compassion, was blessed
with devotion by the mercy of the omnipresent Gaurachandra.
I offer my respectful obeisance’s unto that Gaurachandra.”
Shri Shridhar: blessing unto poor
Shridhar was a poor Brahmin. His sole means of earning his

livelihood was through the sale of vegetables. He used to sell
the vegetables and banana tree against his purchase of the
same. Whatever he earned throughout the day, after selling
those, 50% of the income he offered to mother Ganges and
50% he used for his living. He was a truthful man. Thus
whatever selling price he used to say once, he never budged
from that price. People knew about his honesty, and used to
purchase vegetables from him.
44
Shridhar used to loudly chant the name of Lord Hari
throughout the night. Most merciful Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu used to purchase flowers from banana trees, stem
of banana tree, banana, etc. from the shop of Shridhar daily.
However, Lord used to quarrel daily with him for few moments
citing some reason or other. On certain occasion, finding no
reason to quarrel, Lord would pick up a vegetable, pay 50% of
the amount and begin moving. Then Shridhar would stand
up and snatch the vegetable from the hands of Lord. Thus
the quarrel, snatching and leg pulling between the two went
on and on.
The Lord would remark, “Why Shridhar? I wonder. You have

lots of money, so why do you snatch those bananas from my
hand? You earn money from me and then offer nice things to
mother Ganges, so what harm it will do to you, if you would
give me some discount? Listen, You offer your obeisances to
the Ganges, but I am the father of the Ganges.” Shridhar would
place his hands on his ears and would say, ‘Sir, if you do not
wish to pay, it is alright but do not say like this.”
Mahaprabhu always used the leaf of banana tree (bought from

Shridhar) as a plate for eating food. The Lord would always
consume green leafy vegetables bought from his shop along
with rice. This is an old saying of Lord, ‘He snatches the things
of His devotees for own consumption, but never looks at
delicious offerings of wicked or non-devotees.’
One day, Shri Mahaprabhu told Shridhar, ‘Shridhar! Please

have a look at My Form. I am pleased with your service and
endeavour; thus If you wish I can award you all eight mystical
powers (siddhis).’ The exalted personality Shridhar looked
straight at Him and saw the Lord as Shyamasundar, with pale
blue skin colour and flute in hand. Lord Balaram was on His
right side, Chaturmukha – Panchamukha (Brahma – Shiva)
and other demigods were offering prayers unto the Lord. On
45
the back of the Lord a huge umbrella was formed by the hoods
of serpents. Sanak, Narad and Shukadev were offering prayers
with folded hands unto the Lord. By seeing all this Shridhar
became ecstatic and he lost external consciousness due to
ecstasy.
Suklambar Brahmachari – blessing a beggar
Already covered in this book under the heading “The Lord

snatches from His devotees in order to eat.”
King Prataparudra – blessing a rich man
(King Prataparudra had tried a number of times to obtain the

mercy of Lord Mahaprabhu. Though he was a king, he swept
the roads in front of Lord Jagannath’s chariot and sprinkled
sandalwood water on the path).
During Lord Jagannath’s chariot festival (Jagannath Ratha

Yatra), Mahaprabhu manifested Himself in seven forms and
danced in all the seven groups of His devotees, which were
performing Sankirtan in front of the chariot. After dancing,
Mahaprabhu was taking rest at a garden called ‘Balgandi’, where
He was absorbed in ecstatic feelings. As per the instructions of
devotees, King Prataparudra, dressed as a devotee approached
Him there and began massaging His lotus feet. Simultaneously,
he recited verse of the ‘Gopi-Gita’ from Shrimad Bhagavatam.
Mahaprabhu, upon listening to the verse was filled with
emotions and immediately embraced the king. Keeping in mind
the King’s interest in serving the pure devotees, the Lord did
not consider him a materialist but a devotee, and blessed him.
46
Blessing a pure soul – a Brahmin which drank only
milk
Once, a Brahmin learned that Mahaprabhu performed

Sankirtan throughout the night at the house of Shrivas. He
developed a keen desire to see that Sankirtan and dance. He
was a bachelor and since childhood he had taken up the vow
of penance by which he would take only milk and fruits to
sustain his life. He had never committed any sin throughout
his whole life. He pleaded Shrivas to allow him a place in his
house, so that he (Brahmin) would be able to see the Sankirtan
and dance. Keeping in mind his penance, bachelorhood, sinless
life, etc. Shrivas relented and agreed, but asked him to stay
hidden.
That day, Mahaprabhu began Sankirtan with His devotees,

but after some time He complained, “I am not experiencing
the pleasure and excitement I normally feel, it seems as though
some outside person is present.” Shrivas replied, “None of the
sinners have come here. Only a sinless young bachelor, who
has eaten only fruits and milk throughout his life, such a
Brahmin has come with the desire in his mind to listen to
your Sankirtan and watch your dance.” Mahaprabhu was
furious. He immediately asked that Brahmin to leave.
The Brahmin was ashamed and out of fear he left Shrivas’s

house. But he was not angry, instead he was wandering in his
mind, “Today is my lucky day. I got punished for the offense I
committed, I was able to see Vaikuntha with my naked eyes
today.”
Like others, the Brahmin did not say any bad word about
Mahaprabhu or His devotees. Because of that, Mahaprabhu
blessed him soon after. He did so by calling upon that bachelor
Brahmin and by placing His Lotus Feet on his head and by
blessing him.
47
Jagai and Madhai – blessing rascals
Already covered in this book under heading “Shri

Nityanand Prabhu and Shri Haridas Thakur as preachers of
the Holy Name.”
Gopinath - blessing a culprit
Once, some people approached Mahaprabhu and told him,

“Lord! The son of King Prataparudra is going to make
Gopinath (elder brother of Shri Ramanand Ray and son of
Shri Bhavanand) climb atop a platform and then they will
push him over a sword in order to kill him. Should you wish
so, his life could be spared. Shri Bhavanand along with his
family is serving you, thus that son of his is among your
servants. Therefore, you must protect him”. Lord Mahaprabhu
asked, “Why does the king want him dead?” Then, the people
started explaining.
They said, “O Lord! Gopinath Pattanayak is the brother of

Ray Ramanand. He collects the tax from people on behalf of
the king and hands that money over to the king. The king
earned 2 lac (1 lac = 100.000) kahana (1 kahana = 6 new coins).
When the king asked for his money, Gopinath stated that he
did not have any money with him to give to him immediately,
so he begged to give him time so that in due time he would be
able to sell his property and return the money. Gopinath then
asked the king to buy some 10 to 12 horses from him that he
had in his possession. Then Gopinath brought those horses to
the doorsteps of the king’s residence and tied them. The son
of the king was expert in estimating the value of horses.
Therefore, the king sent his son, along with an official to
determine the cost of horses. The prince, however, purposely
fixed a very low price, which Gopinath did not like.
48
The prince had a habit of moving his neck and looking above
again and again, and therefore, Gopinath told the prince
mockingly, “My horses neither move their neck nor look up
again and again, thus their price should not be so low.” The
prince stood there, furious after listening to the ridicule, thus
he blasphemed Gopinath by making false allegations about
Gopinath to the king. He told the king, “This Gopinath is not
willing to pay us a single penny, and he will run away in
disguise.” King Prataparudra answered, “Do whatever you see
fit.” By this he meant, adopt any means to get back the money
from him. Instead, the prince made him climb on a platform
and is now planning to push him in a hole filled with swords.
(Lord! now may you please save him).”
After listening to every word, Mahaprabhu expressed His

unhappiness and said, “If Gopinath is not ready to return the
money of the king, then the king is not guilty. He collected
tax in the name of king, spent money upon himself, and without
fearing the king, spent money on prostitutes and dancers (is
this the way to act on behalf of king?). One can only work for
a kingdom if he does not eye the wealth of kingdom. He
collected the wealth for kingdom and spent it for himself.”
While this was being said by Mahaprabhu, some men came
running to Him and said, “Lord! Gopinath is already on top
of the platform. Now soldiers have arrested Vaninath (the
brother of Gopinath) and his family.” Shri Mahaprabhu said,
“Listen! The king will definitely take his share of money. I am
in the renounced order of life, so what can I do about this?”
When the devotees of the Lord, like Shri Svarup and others
requested the Lord, “Lord! the whole family of Ramanand Ray
is in your service. Now that they are in danger, You should
not shun them at this difficult time.” Mahaprabhu then angrily
replied, “Then you want to order me to go to the king. Do you
all desire that I should go and beg from the king? The worth
of a Brahmin or renunciate begging for alms is only 5 ganda
49
(=10 kaudi = 6 new coins), so who will give them 2 lac kahana,
even if they beg for them?”
Suddenly a few more people came running and said, “Lord!

Soldiers are going on top to push Gopinath from the platform
unto the sword-filled hole.” Then all devotees prayed
Mahaprabhu for his rescue. Mahaprabhu said, “I am a beggar
in the renounced order of life. I can’t help. Therefore, if you
all wish to save him then you all must go and pray unto the
lotus feet of Lord Jagannath. Lord Jagannath is the Absolute
Personality of Godhead, He has all mystic powers, He can do
everything, He can undo the done and vice-versa.” The instant
Mahaprabhu said this, at some other place, the minister of the
king, Harichandan said to king Prataparudra, “My dear king!
Gopinath Pattanayak is your servant. Getting a servant killed
is not good. You are supposed to collect lots of money from
him, what purpose will it serve if you get him killed? We will
lose our money. Better buy his horses for an appropriate price
and rest of the money he will pay slowly and steadily; why kill
him uselessly?” King remarked in surprise, “I was not aware
that he was being killed. We only need the money from him.
Harichandan! Immediately go and plan out something so that
we get our money and he lives.”
When Harichandan approached the prince with the message

from the king, Gopinath was immediately brought down from
the platform. Shri Harichandan asked Shri Gopinath, “The
money that you owe to the king, how do you plan to return
it?” Shri Gopinath said, “Please buy my horses for an
appropriate price, the remaining sum I will pay back gradually
in instalments. The prince was trying to kill me without giving
it a second thought, what can I say about that?” After hearing
Gopinath’s explanation, Shri Harichandan bought all the
horses for an appropriate price and fixed the duration of time
within which Gopinath was to return the money, and then
sent him home.
50
Here, the Lord asked the people, “When soldiers arrested
Vaninath, what was he doing?” The people told Mahaprabhu,
“He was chanting on his fingers without fear, ‘Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare’. When he counted hundred, he drew
a line on his body.” The Lord was pleased to hear this. Who
can understand the ways and means of the Lord’s mercy? (the
Lord expressed an outward disinterest for Gopinath, but out
of His causeless mercy, internally He motivated Harichandan
and sent him to the King, thereby arranging for the release of
Gopinath. Simultaneously the Lord arranged to exhibit the
genuineness and dedication for the devotional process of
Vaninath.
Blessing the sick – Amogh
After the chariot festival of Lord Jagannath and before leaving

for Vrindavan, upon sincere requests by Shri Sarvabhaum
Bhattacharya, Lord Mahaprabhu agreed to have food at his
house for five days. During one of those days, when the wife
of Shri Sarvabhaum served Mahaprabhu different varieties
of food, Sarvabhaum’s son-in-law saw all those plates and
ridiculed Mahaprabhu. Shri Sarvabhaum could not tolerate
that Mahaprabhu was insulted, so he picked up a stick and
ran after his son-in-law (Amogh) to hit him. Amogh ran away.
The wife of Sarvabhaum cursed him to death. Although he
was the husband of their daughter they decided never to come
face to face with him again, since he dared to ridicule
Mahaprabhu. The couple apologized for the incident to the
Lord and sent Him to His place of stay.
That same night, cholera struck Amogh (as he had offended

the Lord) and by morning he was on his deathbed. When
Gopinath Acharya told Mahaprabhu about ailing condition
of Amogh, most merciful Lord immediately went to him. Lord
51
placed His hand on Amogh’s chest and said, “Amogh, why
you have arranged for envy to stay in your heart, where Lord
should be staying?” By placing His hand on the chest of
Amogh, Mahaprabhu granted him the right to chant the holy
name of Hari. By hearing the sweet words of Mahaprabhu,
and by receiving His touch, Amogh got up and began chanting
‘Krishna – Krishna’ and danced. Mahaprabhu laughed with
pleasure by observing the result of the mercy He had bestowed
upon Amogh, who was by then exhibiting various signs of
transcendental love for Godhead in his body. Amogh got better
again and became a devotee.
Blessing the sick – Vasudev Vipra
When Mahaprabhu was travelling across southern India, He

came to Kurma Kshetra. There lived a Brahmin by the name
Vasudev. He was suffering from leprosy and had insects feeding
on his body due to leprosy. Whenever some insect would fall
from his body, he would pick it up and place it back on his
body. He received the news about the arrival of Mahaprabhu
at night time. He thus went to have an audience with the Lord
Who was staying at the house of Kurma Brahmin, but when
he reached that place he learnt that Lord had already left. He
fell unconscious out of extreme grief.
When he regained consciousness, he began to cry. Suddenly
the Lord appeared before him and embraced him. By the mere
touch of the Lord, all of his grief and disease disappeared, and
his body turned handsome. Vasudev was surprised and joyful
after receiving the special mercy of that most munificent Lord.
Blessing at the time of death – Shri Haridas Thakur
Shri Haridas Thakura is among the foremost devotees of

Mahaprabhu. He was totally dedicated to chanting the name
of Hari. His dedication became known when he refused to
52
stop chanting the name of Lord Hari, after a Muslim cleric
ordered him to stop. Due to his refusal, that cleric ordered
him to be beaten by a hunter, till death. (Since Haridas Thakur
was a Muslim, by birth).
When the soldiers were hitting him along with the hunter,
they repeatedly told him, “We will leave you alone, and the
cleric will pardon you if you will stop chanting Krishna’s name.
To that he replied (and we should follow this):
khaëòa khaëòa hai deha yäya yadi präëa

tabu ämi vadane nä chäòi hari-näma
(Chaitanya Bhagavat, Adi, 16.94)
“Even if my body is dissected and I shall die as a result of that,

still I will never stop chanting the name of Hari.”
Once, Shri Govinda (personal servant of Lord Mahaprabhu)

went to deliver Mahaprasad to Shri Haridas, as per daily
routine. Upon arriving he saw that Haridas Thakur was lying
down and was chanting slowly. Govinda asked him to get up
and take Mahaprasada. Shri Haridas replied, “Govinda! Today
I will observe fast, otherwise I won’t be able to complete my
daily number of chanting rounds, thus I can’t take prasad. But
since you have brought Mahaprasad, I also can’t ignore this.”
Then Haridas Thakur got up, paid his obeisances to
Mahaprasad and took a bit of prasad.
The next day, Lord Mahaprabhu came to Shri Haridas’s place

and asked for his well-being. Shri Haridas said, “My body is
healthy but my intelligence and mind are not.” So the Lord
asked, “What disease has made your mind and intelligence
unhealthy?” He replied, “I am unable to complete my designated
rounds of chanting, this is my disease.” Lord said, “Haridas!
Now that you have grown old, reduce your rounds of chanting.
Yours is a transcendental body, why are you practicing such
53
penance? You have descended to deliver the people and you
have already preached the holy name of the Lord and the
glories of His holy Name, so now you should chant less rounds
of japa.” Haridas said, “My Lord! Please listen to my request.”
Shri Haridas said, ‘O most merciful one! I was born as a low

caste, thus my body is not respectable. I am a lowly, sinner and
my intelligence is always indulging in various fruitive activities.
I am an untouchable. Looking at my face is a sin. My Lord!
Please have mercy upon me and accept me. You have rescued
me from hell (Raurava – a type of hell) and elevated me to
Vaikuntha (the abode of Vishnu). You are the independent
Lord and so are your desires. Whatever way You want, people
dance as per your desires. I have danced as per your wishes.
Though I am low caste, a Muslim, I have accepted the food of
the oblation ceremony of a Brahmin. My Lord, there has been
a desire in my mind for many days now. I know that You are
going to return to your abode soon. My Lord! Please do not
let me see You return to Your Abode, I wish to leave before
You leave this world. I wish to die while Your lotus feet lay
upon my heart, while I am looking at your beautiful face and
while I am chanting your name ‘Shri Krishna Chaitanya’, this
is my only desire. My wish will only be fulfilled if out of Your
mercy, You will accept my prayers. I want to leave this wretched
body in Your presence. O My Lord! this is my only desire and
its fulfilment is in Your Hands.’
Shri Mahaprabhu replied, “Haridas! Whatever you desire,

merciful Lord Krishna will fulfil that. But you want to take
away My peace and leave Me here, this is not correct.” Shri
Haridas fell unto the lotus feet of Lord and said, “O Lord!
Please fulfil this desire of mine. Lord, if my insectile lowly soul
will leave Your pastimes, it is not going to bring any harm to
the pleasure of Your pastimes. If an ant dies, what harm does
it bring to earth? O my Lord! You grant boons to Your devotees
and I am just a shadow of a devotee (I am not your devotee, I
54
have only a glimpse of your devotion in me), Thus my Lord!
Please fulfil my desire. Now it is a bit late, so please proceed to
Your place of stay for other pastimes. Please grant me Your
audience tomorrow, while returning from Lord Jagannath
temple.” The Lord embraced Shri Haridas and went towards
the sea for a dip. The next day, the Lord along with His
devotees went to have an audience with Lord Jagannath and
then quickly went to meet Shri Haridas. He stood there in
front of him. Shri Haridas offered his respects to Lord and
other devotees. Shri Mahaprabhu asked him, “Prabhu! How
are you?”. He replied, ‘All Your mercy’. Then Mahaprabhu
began Maha-Sankirtana in the courtyard. Shri Vakreshvar
began dancing and Shri Svarup Goswami and other devotees
began to perform Sankirtan and dance around Shri Haridas.
The Lord glorified Shri Haridas to Shri Ramanand Ray and
Shri Sarvabhaum Bhattacharya.
While glorifying Shri Haridas, Lord was speaking so quickly

and so much that one imagined Him speaking with five mouths
simultaneously. The Lord’s pleasure was increasing as he went
on glorifying His devotee. Upon hearing the glories of Shri
Haridas, Shri Ramanand and other devotees were amazed,
and they immediately offered prayers unto his feet. Then, Shri
Haridas made Mahaprabhu sit in front of him and he fixed
his gaze at the lotus face of Lord. He held and placed the feet
of Lord unto his heart. He took dust from the feet of all
devotees and placed it on his own head. He was chanting ‘Shri
Krishna Chaitanya’ continuously and with his gaze fixed on
the Lotus Face of Lord, tears were flowing from his eyes. Then
he took his last breath by uttering the name of ‘Shri Krishna
Chaitanya’.
By observing his passing like a great yogi, everybody

remembered passing of Shri Bhishma Pitamaha
(Mahabharata). Everywhere raised the sounds of Hare Krishna
– Hare Krishna. Shri Mahaprabhu was flowing in ecstasy. He
55
lifted the body of Shri Haridas and began dancing in the
courtyard. Experiencing Mahaprabhu’s ecstasy, all devotees
joined Him in dancing and chanting. After some time,
Mahaprabhu took the body of Shri Haridas towards the sea.
After arriving there, they arranged for the bathing of Shri

Haridas’s transcendental body in the sea. Shri Mahaprabhu
said, “From this day on, this sea has become a holy place (tirtha)
for a bath.” All devotees drank the water collected after
washing the feet of Shri Haridas. Items such as cloth,
sandalwood paste and stick, cloth-strips (Patta-dori), which
had been offered to Lord Jagannath, were placed on the body
of Shri Haridas. Then his body was rested after digging a hole
in the nearby sand. All devotees gathered for Sankirtan and
Shri Vakreshvar Pandit danced. Shri Mahaprabhu recited
‘Hari-bol, Hari-bol’ and sprinkled sand particles on the body
of Shri Haridas with His hand. He was the first to do this.
Then all devotees sprinkled the sand and prepared a dome on
his Samadhi (place of final resting). A wall was erected around
the Samadhi. Mahaprabhu danced and performed Sankirtan
while circumambulating the Samadhi. The tumultuous sound
of ‘Hari’ rose to skies. Then Mahaprabhu along with His
devotees performed some playful pastimes in sea.
Mercy on the pet dog of a devotee
When Lord Mahaprabhu returned to Nilachal from Shri

Vrindavan, Shri Svarup Damodar Goswami spread the news
of the Lord’s return across the whole of Gauda Desh (Bengal).
Mother Sachi and other devotees of Gauda were pleased to
learn about the Lord’s arrival, thus, residents of Kulina,
residents of Shrikhanda and other devotees all together started
for Nilachal. On the way, there were various road-tax collection
centers; Shri Sivanand Sen took care of all. He also arranged
for food and lodging for all devotee travellers. Along with
devotees, a dog was also travelling. Shri Sivanand Sen fed it
56
as well, and also took care of it. On the way, while crossing a
river, a sailor (resident of Orissa) refused to allow the dog on
his boat. Shri Sivanand Sen turned morose after hearing this.
He paid 800 kaudi (kaudi was local currency at that time) to
the sailor and arranged for the dog to ride the boat across the
river.
By providence Sivanand stayed with the tax collector. The

servant forgot to feed the dog. Sivanand arrived by night at
the camp and inquired from his servant whether he had given
food to the dog. The servant stated that they forgot to do so.
Sivanand was unhappy to hear that. He sent 10 people in
search of that dog. They could not locate the dog and soon
they were tired of searching. Sivanand did not take dinner
that night and slept. All the devotees were surprised and
wondered where the dog had gone off to.
After some time, everybody forgot about the dog and moved
forward enthusiastically to meet Mahaprabhu, and finally met
Him in Nilachal. There, Mahaprabhu took all of the devotees
for an audience with Lord Jagannath and then sat together to
relish the Prasadam. Then the Lord sent everybody to his or
her place of stay. Next morning, when all devotees came to
Mahaprabhu, they saw the same dog (which was lost on the
way), sitting at some distance from the Lord. The Lord was
feeding him coconut Prasadam and was smiling.
Simultaneously He was saying ‘Say Shri Krishna – Rama – Hari’
to the dog. That dog was eating coconut Prasadam and was
uttering ‘Krishna – Krishna’. Everybody was astonished to see
this.
When Shri Sivanand saw that dog, he offered his obeisances

to him and asked for forgiveness for his offence of neglecting
him. Next day, that fortunate dog left the world in front of all,
after having an audience with Lord, and while chanting
Krishna – Krishna.
57
Mahaprabhu blesses carnivorous animals, such as tigers
Most munificent Lord Mahaprabhu was travelling across the

Jharikhanda, while going to Vrindavan. He was feeling ecstatic
and chanting the name of Lord Krishna while walking through
the forest. The female deers after listening to His sweet voice
began walking beside Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu put His hand
on their backs. Suddenly 4 to 5 tigers arrived. They also began
walking beside Mahaprabhu.
When Mahaprabhu asked them to chant ‘Krishna – Krishna’,

they began dancing together and started chanting ‘Krishna –
Krishna’. They embraced each other and even kissed each
other. Mahaprabhu laughed when He saw this. This mood
spread across the forest and soon all herbivorous, carnivorous
and omnivorous animals were ecstatic and chanting the name
of Krishna. The Lord moved ahead, leaving them in that
blissful state.
Lord Mahaprabhu distributed Love of Godhead to all, even

to trees, plants and animals. All were intoxicated with the
Love for Godhead. In Navadvip, the Lord took care of weavers
(who create cloth by hand), cowherd boys, sellers of conch
shells, gardeners, sellers of betel leaf, astrologers and even
drunkards, beggars, gamblers, bigamists, thieves, and dacoits.
None were deprived of Love of Godhead.
Now, how can we count the number of Lord Mahaprabhu’s

blessing pastimes? Moreover, who are we to explain the extent
of His mercy? Even if we cut all the trees of all the forests,
make pencils of each tree that was cut down, and having all
the water of all seas converted into ink, and having all souls
handed over a pencil, and having all of them in all universes
keep on writing for an unlimited amount of time, even then
we won’t be able to write about even a drop of the unlimited
glories of Mahaprabhu’s mercy.
58
You know why? There are innumerable Avataras (descents)
of the Lord, so what makes the glories of Mahaprabhu so
special? In all other Avataras, the Lord exhibited pastimes based
on a certain cause and condition. What to say of Avataras,
even Lord Krishna Himself could not relish the taste of Love
of Godhead during His pastimes on earth, as the methodology
to taste that Love for Godhead was known only to Shrimati
Radharani. But as Mahaprabhu, the key to that methodology
came in the hands of Shri Krishna. So, Lord Krishna, as
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tasted the nectar of Love for Godhead
and side-by-side distributed the same to all.
59
Shri Shikshashtaka
(Composed by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu)
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, being the Supreme Lord

Himself, is the best scholar. He did not compose any
independent scripture, rather He taught us to follow the
teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam. However, in order to explain
the glories of the chanting of Harinam, the qualification for
chanting Harinam as well as the gradual progression in the
path of devotion and its confidential achievements, He
preached the Shikshastaka. So He gave the following eight
verses to teach us:
1st verse of Shri Shikshashtaka

ceto-darpaëa-märjanaà
bhava-mahä-dävägni-nirväpaëaà
çreyaù-kairava-candrikä-vitaraëaà
vidyä-vadhü-jévanam
änandämbudhi-vardhanaà
prati-padaà pürëämåtäsvädanaà
sarvätma-snapanaà
paraà vijayate Çré-kåñëa-saìkértanam
“Let chanting of the Holy Name Shri Krishna, completely,

loudly in the company of devotees and without tenfold offences,
which can bestow seven principal attainments— viz. cleansing
of the mirror of the mind, extinguishing of the forest fire of
birth, death and threefold afflictions, bestowing eternal
soothing benefit like moonlight, life of spiritual learning i.e.
awakening of the real self, increasing of the ocean of bliss,
bestowing at every step sweet taste of complete transcendental
60
Shri Shikshastaka
ambrosia, holy immersion of body-mind-real self— be
supremely glorified.”
2nd verse of Shri Shikshashtaka

nämnäm akäri bahudhä nija-sarva-çaktis
taträrpitä niyamitaù smaraëe na kälaù
etädåçi tava kåpä bhagavan mamäpi
durdaivam édåçam ihäjani nänurägaù
“O Supreme Lord! Your Holy Name bestows all kinds of eternal

welfare to the conditioned souls. You have unlimited names
such as Krishna, Govinda and Gopénäth. You have bestowed
all powers to Your Holy Names. There are no restriction of
time, space— rules and regulations, for utterance and
remembrance of the Holy Names. O Lord! You are so merciful
to the conditioned souls i.e. out of compassion you have made
easy for the conditioned souls to remember and chant Holy
Names, but due to my tenfold offences and my greatest
misfortune I have got no liking for Holy Name.”
3rd Verse of Shri Shikshashtaka

tåëäd api sunécena taror iva sahiñëunä
amäninä mänadena kértanéyaù sadä hariù
“The aspirant who is more humbler than a blade of grass,

more forbearing than tree and who is completely devoid of
desire for getting respect from others but giving due respect
to all is eligible for doing Hari-kértan always.”
4th Verse of Shri Shikshashtaka

na dhanaà na janaà na sundaréà
kavitäà vä jagad-éça kämaye
mama janmani janmanéçvare
bhavatäd bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
61
“O Supreme Lord! I have no desire to attain wealth, manpower
or erudition (desire for deceitful Trivarga— worldly piety,
money and lust or even to merge oneself with the Impersonal
Formless Brahma, i.e. ‘Mukti’— salvation, which is more
deceitful). My only prayer is to get causeless one-pointed
devotion to You.”

ayi nanda-tanuja kiìkaraà
patitaà mäà viñame bhavämbudhau
kåpayä tava päda-paìkaja-
sthita-dhülé-sadåçaà vicintaya
“O Nandanandan (Shri Krishna, son of Nand Maharaj), in

spite of my being your eternal servant, due to predicament of
my own deeds, I am drowned in the terrible ocean of births
and deaths. Out of compassion kindly think of me as dust
particle of your Lotus Feet.”

nayanaà galad-açru-dhärayä
vadanaà gadgada-ruddhayä girä
pulakair nicitaà vapuù kadä
tava näma-grahaëe bhaviñyati
“O Supreme Lord Shri Krishna! When will tears flow from

my eyes like waves? When will my voice be choked up (will not
be able to utter the complete Holy Name, words will be
incoherent— not understandable to ordinary persons) and
when will the whole body be horripilated (saturated with
thrilling sensation) while chanting Your Holy name?”.
62
Shri Shikshastaka

yugäyitaà nimeñeëa cakñuñä prävåñäyitam
çünyäyitaà jagat sarvaà govinda-viraheëa me
“O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering even

a moment as an epoch. Tears are flowing from my eyes like
torrents of rain, and the whole world is appearing void to me.”

äçliñya vä päda-ratäà pinañöu mäm
adarçanän marma-hatäà karotu vä
yathä tathä vä vidadhätu lampaöo
mat-präna-näthas tu sa eva näparaù
“Shri Krishna can crush this maidservant, devoted to His Lotus

Feet, either by firmly embracing me or by mortifying me
anywhere and everywhere by His profligate behaviour with
any of His beloved gopés, yet He remains my dearest beloved
and nobody else.”
63
Words of Supreme Lord
bhavishyami ca caitanyah kalau sankirtanagame

harinama pradanena lokannistara yamayahama
(Brahmayamale)
Shri Krishna Himself says, “I will descend as Shri Chaitanya,

at the time of advent of period of Sankirtan in Kaliyuga. I will
distribute the name of Hari and liberate all souls in this
descent.”
Lord Shiva tells Parvati devi
svarna ditirama asritya navadvipe dvijalaye

sampradatu bhaktiyogam lokasyanugrahaya ca
ya eva bhagavana krishno radhika prana vallabha
shrishtyadau sa jagannatho gaura asin maheshvari
(Ananta Sanhitayama)
“Hey Maheshvari! In the beginning of creation, the Lord who

was known as Jagannath, and who in Dwapar-yuga appeared
as Lord Krishna Chandra – lover of Shrimati Radhika, that
same Lord shall appear as Gauranga in the house of an exalted
Brahmin, in Navadvip Dham on the banks of the river Ganges,
in order to distribute Love for Godhead and for the benefit of
the world.”
treta me rama-lakhana the, dvapara me the krishna – balai,

kaliyuga me ab nama huya hai – prema avtari gaura nitai.
(Hindi Kirtana)
“He was Lord Rama-Lakshaman in Treta-yuga. In Dwapar-

yuga, They appeared as Krishna-Balarama. In the Kali-yuga,
They have taken the name of Gaura-Nityanand, the bestowers
of the Love of Godhead.”
64

Mahaprabhu and His Mercy

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ALL GLORIES TO ÇRÉ ÇRÉ GURU AND GAURANGA!

SREE CHAITANYA GAUÒIYA MAÖH

Editor: Shri Shrila Bhakti Sarvasva Nishkinchan Maharaj

Other books published by Shri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math in

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 3

The Mercy of Lord Chaitanya 37

Words of Supreme Lord 64

anarpita-caréà cirät karuëayävatérëaù kalau

“The elevated, effulgent taste of sacred rapture is the wealth

Benefits from hearing the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya

yebä nähi bujhe keha, çunite çunite seha,

You may find an end to an ocean, but the pastimes of Lord

Still, we are trying to do something. When we visit a market

Servant of servants of the Lord,

There was a time in India, when it was very difficult for a

However, everything has a limit. Excess of anything is always

The wonderful method of preaching Krishna’s Name

After filling the hearts of Sachi Devi and Shri Jagannath

Lord Chaitanya, the preacher of Yuga-dharma (Harinam –

Fasting is meant for us, not for the Lord

Whenever Nimai would cry, He would stop if somebody started

Gaur-Gopal eats mud

As Nimai grew up, He began to walk independently, but He

Nimai takes rest on Lord Shesh

Yashoda-Nandan, Lord Krishna used to play in the courtyard

The sound of anklets and footprints of Lord Vishnu

The child Nimai and His eight-handed Form

One day, a wandering mendicant brahmin came to Shri

The two thieves who stole the biggest Thief

A poet once quoted about the stealing pastimes of Lord Krishna

Eventually, Shri Jagannath Mishra gave Shri Gaur-Gopal some

Nimai sits on a pile of used pots and gives a sermon

Shri Jagannath Mishra and Mother Sachi were very morose

Nimai’s pastimes as a teacher

Very soon Nimai finished His studies and started exhibiting

When Shrila Ishvar Puri-pad was staying at Shri Gopinath

A scholar learns about Gauranga in a dream

One fine evening, Nimai Pandit was sitting on the banks of

When Vishvambhar turned 18 years of age, His mother

How can an astrologer predict anything about the

One day, a learned astrologer came to the house of Shri

The Master of the universe accepts a spiritual master

In those days, most of the residents of Navadvip were atheists.

After completing all the rituals for offering oblations to His

The change in Gauranga Deva

After returning from ‘Gaya’, Shri Gauranga was completely

Lord Gauranga descended for a reason – i.e. to preach the

Shri Nityanand Prabhu and Shri Haridas Thakur as

Initially Mahaprabhu asked Shri Nityanand Prabhu and Shri

Liberation of muslim cleric Sirajuddin (Chand Kazi)

When this news reached Mahaprabhu, He became furious.

There was a devotee, a Brahmin by the name Shuklambar,

Similarly there was another devotee of the Lord, Shridhar,

Mahaprabhu’s pastimes with Gopal Chapal

Shriman Mahaprabhu always stressed the significance of

Dead boy speaks

One day Lord Mahaprabhu was performing sankirtan at

The Lord performs a Vraja pastimes play at the house

One day Lord Mahaprabhu expressed His desire to act in a