Tag: Lord Chaitanya

Who is most merciful – Lord Rama or Lord Krishna or Lord Chaitanya?

Who is the most merciful Lord – Lord Rama or Lord Krishna or Lord Chaitanya. Scriptures tell us that they are one and the same. They are the Supreme Lord. They appear in different ages (yuga) to enact different pastimes. But their mission is same – to destroy the demons and to deliver the saintly people.

This is confirmed in Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna.

Bhagavad Gita 4.8

परित्राणाय साधुनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थानार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ ८ ॥

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

“To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.”

When we study their activities on our earthly planet, we find they exhibited great compassion towards all the living entities. In all the three incarnations they bestowed mercy upon all.

But are all the three equally merciful?  Or one of them is more merciful than other?  Difficult to answer.

Before you and I arrive at any conclusion let us reflect on the below conversations which the Lord had with Sita and Radharani.

Lord Rama’s promise to Sita

When Lord Rama was in the forest with mother Sita, he always carried bow and arrow. Using it he killed many demons. Animals and birds would run away in fear seeing bow and arrow. So, mother Sita was not happy.

Once she said, “Why do you carry your bow and arrow all the time? And why you have to kill the demons? Is there no other way to deliver them?”

Lord Rama said, “Well, in this pastime this is what I am supposed to do. I am a kshatriya and my dharma is to protect the innocents and kill the miscreants.”

Sita did not like the word “kill.” Rama understood her heart.

He said, “Ok. In my next incarnation as Lord Krishna in Vrindavan, I will not carry bow and arrow.”

Mother Sita looked at him with suspicious eyes. “If not bow and arrow then what will you carry.” 

Rama said, “Not just bow and arrow, I won’t carry any weapon.”

Sita was happy. Rama was relieved. Finally, he was able to please her.

Radharani says to Krishna, “You broke your promise”

When the Supreme Lord appeared as Lord Krishna then he killed the demoness Putana when he was only 7 days old. He was in his pram only. And one after the other he killed so many demons –  Trnavarta. Vatsasura, Bakasura, Aghasura and many more It is said that everyday kamsa would send a demon and Krishna would kill him/her.

Radharani was unhappy. Radharani and Sita are same. Radharani expands as Sita when Krishna expands as Rama.

Radha was upset. “You broke your promise, Krishna.”

“Which promise?” Krishna asked.

“As Rama you had said that you won’t kill demons.”

“Wait a minute. You had asked me to not carry bow and arrow. I had agreed. Later you said – no weapon. I agreed for that too. And as per my promise I am not carrying any weapon. Tell me with what weapon did I kill these miscreants. I killed Putana by drinking her poisonous milk. I killed all the demons with my hands and legs only. Since, I did not have any weapon, so I danced on the hoods of kaliya to remove all poison from his body. So much hard work I had to do because you took away all my weapons.“

Radha said, “When I said no weapons, it meant you won’t kill anyone. I never knew that you would use your hands and legs to kill them. It is word jugglery. I know these are extremely sinful beings but still I don’t like you killing them.”

“But you should have clarified with me then and there.”

Radharani understood no use in any further discussion.

Radharani – our eternal mother

Radharani is mother of all the living beings in the entire creation. She is Krishna’s eternal consort. A mother loves her child more than the father. She knew demons are so evil that they need to be punished but still she did not like them to be punished. She wanted Krishna to reform them without killing them. A mother’s heart cries when her child suffers. A child may be mischievous or a hardcore criminal, but a mother will bestow unconditional love upon him/her.  Radharani our eternal mother always wants good for us. Although our hearts are flooded with sinful desires and tendencies, but she still loves us.

Krishna says, “In Kaliyuga I will appear as Chaitanya.”

Now mother Radha wanted to know Krishna’s next move. With eyes full of compassion, she looked towards Krishna and asked, “So, what next. When are you going to appear again?”

“In Kaliyuga as Chaitanya”, Krishna said

Our eternal mother became very worried. “Kaliyuga means ocean of faults. A civilization based on quarrel and hypocrisy. Almost everyone commits sins and justifies it. What Krishna will do in Kaliyuga? Is he going to punish everyone? Let me ask his plan and make him promise that he won’t kill or punish anyone. He will forgive even the worst of the sinful person.”

But she was suspicious. Krishna will give his words. But again, he will find a loophole in the agreement and continue killing the miscreants. So, this time I will have to do something different. I will change his heart. For that I will enter his heart.

So, Radharani entered the heart of Lord Krishna. And that Krishna is called Lord Chaitanya.

The Supreme Lord with the heart of Srimati Radharani is Lord Chaitanya.

Lord Chaitanya kills the sin of the sinner with the holy names

As Lord Chaitanya he did not kill anyone.

As Rama and Krishna, the Supreme Lord established dharma by killing the miscreants. But as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu the Supreme Lord established dharma by propagating the chanting of the holy names of Krishna – the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.  This is the most potent and lethal weapon. The holy name does not kill the people, but it completely burns the sin of the sinner. And the sinner gets totally purified. This pleases Lord Chaitanya the most. Radharani becomes ecstatic.

In this age of Kaliyuga, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has made it so easy to attain perfection.  You and I have to just chant the holy names. And for chanting no qualification is required. Anyone can chant – men, women, children, Hindus, non- Hindus, Indians, non-Indians.

Chanting not only benefits us, but it benefits even the non-human beings like plants, trees, animals, birds etc. These lower species have almost no chance of deliverance but if they somehow hear the holy names then they also get purified.

Lord Chaitanya did not use any weapon to kill anyone. Only once he took his Sudarshan chakra to kill Jagai and Madhai because these two brothers had attacked Nityananda Prabhu. But Nityananda Prabhu immediately reminded him that in this incarnation he is not supposed to use any weapon and kill anyone. The Supreme Lord remembered his words. He got pacified, forgave the two brothers, and transformed their hearts.

Lord Chaitanya – the most merciful Lord

When Lord Chaitanya was present on earth, people were so demoniac. Vedic culture was almost forgotten. Muslims were eating cow flesh. Brahmanas were misinterpreting the scriptures.  He was completely justified to punish them.

But the Supreme Lord having a heart of Radharani, decided to kill the demons of the heart and not the demons. Lord Rama or Lord Krishna would have punished us for our sins and bad habits. But Lord Chaitanya is so tolerant. He has given us the medicine of the holy names which will help us to burn our sins and evil proclivities which is the root cause of all sufferings and evil tendencies.

Once our heart is free of all vices, we develop godly qualities. We become qualified to become Lord’s eternal associate in the spiritual world. So much mercy Lord Chaitanya is bestowing upon you and me.  

He is the most merciful Lord among the three incarnations.

Śrī Caitanya-Caritāmṛta Madhya 19.53

namo mahā-vadānyāya
kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

“O most munificent incarnation! You are Kṛṣṇa Himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and You are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.”

Kurma Purana tells Ravana did not kidnap original Sita

Ramadasa was in deep agony.  His eyes were filled with tears of sorrow. He was so absorbed in remembering Lord Rama, the Supreme Lord, and mother Sita, the mother of the entire universe, that he thought he too was living in the forest with them.

He even forgot that he had invited Lord Chaitanya to his humble home for lunch. Lord Chaitanya is none other than the Supreme Lord.  The Lord during his pastime as Lord Krishna had rejected Duryodhana’s invitation who had arranged an opulent feast. He instead went to the house of Vidura without any invitation and enjoyed eating simple preparation of spinach. 

The same Lord was now at the house of the brahmana for lunch. But Ramdas had not cooked till now.  Mahaprabhu was hungry, not angry. “Why haven’t you cooked?” asked the Supreme Lord.  

“The ingredients for cooking have still not arrived. Lakshman has gone inside the forest to collect vegetables, roots, fruits, and other essential items but has not returned yet. Once he is back, mother Sita will begin cooking.” Ramdas’s deep absorption in the pastime won the heart of Mahaprabhu.

Soon the brahmana realized his folly. Mahaprabhu was at his house at his invitation. It was already noon. Without further delay, he began preparation and served food to Lord Chaitanya. 

Chaitanya Charitrmrta Madhya, Chapter 9, Text 185 informs, “Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took His lunch at about three o’clock.”

But the brahmana did not eat anything. He fasted. Mahaprabhu inquired, “Why are you fasting? Why are you so unhappy?”

“Thinking that mother Sita has been touched by a nasty person, Ravana, I am feeling utterly miserable. My heart is burning in disgust. I should have died but I am so unfortunate that I am still alive.” Ramdas, the brahmana, was in tears while uttering these words.

Mahaprabhu was so surprised to hear the sorrowful words of the brahmana. He immediately replied, “Mother Sita’s body is spiritual and not material. So how can any materialist even touch her? Forget about touching, a person with material vision can’t even see her. Ravana did not kidnap mother Sita. The demon who lived in illusion kidnapped her illusory material form.”   

The authoritative words of Mahaprabhu relieved him of the pain and the Lord made sure Ramdasa had his lunch, although it was too late.

The saga of Lord Rama and mother Sita is popular all over the world, especially in India.

But millions of people are unaware of the fact that Ravana did not kidnap mother Sita, but he kidnapped an illusory material form who looked like Sita.

But the uninformed people question if that was the case then why Lord Rama asked Sita to prove her chastity?

It is true that all including the demigods headed by Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma were flabbergasted when they heard Lord Rama asking Sita to walk through the fire to prove her purity.

How can it be possible that Lord Rama did not know that Sita was never kidnapped?

He had crossed the gigantic ocean not to kill Ravana but to meet Sita. How can he distrust her now?  

Sitadevi was in tears.

Lakshman was devastated but was helpless.

As per the order of the eldest brother he assembled the woods and lit the fire.

Sita circumambulated Lord Rama, the Lord of the universe, and entered the fire.

The ocean stood still. The sky watched in disbelief. All beings of the land, of the water and of the sky including the demigods headed by Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma wanted to jump in that fire. Rama put his head down. He did not want anyone to see his tears.

Just like a piece of gold glitters more in the fire, similarly, Sita in the fire was so effulgent that her effulgence overshadowed the effulgent rays of the sun.

And from the fire appeared the god of the fire, Agni. He felt immensely blessed having been touched by the lotus feet of mother Sita.

He spoke to Rama, “Her mere presence purifies the three worlds. How can sin even touch her? She is supremely pure.”

Sita wearing red robes, a garland of celestial flowers and beautiful gems walked towards Lord Rama. She was desperate to meet him. And he who was hiding his emotions could no longer contain himself.

Rama declared boldly, “Sita is as inseparable from me as sun rays from the sun.”

It was not that Lord Rama wanted any certification from anyone to know Sita is pure.

But he who resides in the hearts of all knows the hearts of all. He knew people bereft of conscience may question Sita and bring their own downfall.

And how can he tolerate any infamy to Sita whom he loved more than his own life? He knew well that his act will be criticized for sure by the ignorants.

And he also knew that this act will ensure Sita attains all glories. Her virtues will be sung in all the directions for eternity.

He knew that the atheists, the agnostics, the ignorant, the cunning people who can stoop low to defame anything virtuous would also not even dare to question the purity of Sita. One of the foremost duties of the husband is to protect his wife in all situations and in all circumstances.

And he, the best amongst all, protected Sita, his eternal consort, by taking all the pains and giving her all the glory.

Who can better understand the heart of Rama than his father, Dasaratha?  

Dasaratha, the father in law of mother Sita, who was then residing in heaven with Indra, seated on a celestial chariot came down and spoke, “Do not think ill of your beloved husband. He put you in a moment of agony to declare to the entire world that you are extremely pure. For eternity your glories will be sung. Your virtue will overshadow the renown of all virtuous lady.”  Reference: Ramayana -> Part Three – War – Chapter 14 – Sita’s Ordeal, https://vedabase.io/en/library/rkd/3/14/

And in Kaliyuga Lord Rama appeared as Lord Chaitanya to establish this fact again that Sita was never kidnapped and her chastity was never tested.

Lord Chaitanya after meeting Ramadasa visited Ramesvara temple where he found Kurma Purana. 

In the Purana, it is mentioned that as soon as Ravana came to kidnap Sita, Sita immediately petitioned the fire – god, Agni. The fire god brought an illusory form of Sita and Ravana kidnapped the false Sita.

The original Sita went to the abode of the fire god.

And so, when Lord Ramachandra tested Sita then it was the false Sita who entered the fire. And at that very moment, Agni brought the original Sita before Lord Rama. 

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu immediately went to Ramadasa, the servant of Lord Rama, to deliver the script.

Ramadasa was so happy to get the original leaf manuscript of the Kurma Puraṇa.

His doubts were now cleared. He was now delivered from an unhappy condition.

With tears in his eyes he fell at the lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya and said, “Sir, you are Lord Ramacandra Himself and have come in the dress of a sannyasi to give me audience.” Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 9.214. 

Overwhelmed by the emotion he pleaded the Lord to accept food at his house again. This time he joyfully cooked the food and served a first-class dinner to the Lord.

Kolkata – the blessed city

The Himalayan musk deer teaches a very important lesson of life.  The musk is extremely expensive fetching more than 3 times its weight in gold.  The aroma of the musk is so alluring that when it catches the deer’s nose, he runs frantically in the forest day and night to find its source. Little did he realize that the source of the aroma lies within him. The musk is produced by the gland present in the stag’s navel.

Like the musk deer we also most of the times look outwards instead of inwards. We try to search happiness externally and not internally. The true treasure many a times is very near to us but unware of our surroundings we fail to appreciate it.

Scriptures teaches us that the true treasure is the love of the divine which is within us. The human life is meant to uncover and discover that treasure. On this holy land of India time and again many saintly personalities have appeared to distribute the treasure of divine love. The land where these great saintly persons appear becomes blessed.

The city of Kolkata is sacred because prominent Vaisvana saints Bhaktivinod Thakuara, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada laid the foundation of worldwide Krishna Conscious movement here and distributed the treasure of Krishna’s love all over the globe.

In the present secular world we mostly fail to give importance to spiritual personalities whose only business is to connect the forlorn souls to Krishna. Rather those who assist in gratifying our senses immediately occupies our heart and gain wide acceptability in the society.

So the media and the academia may many time ignore their massive contribution but if we try to study their life, their teachings and their conduct with an open mind then we would find that how these personalities selflessly strived hard to give us unadulterated love of Krishna.

Let us try to analyze the lives of these great saintly personalities who distributed the sublime teachings of the Vedas and how Kolkata occupied its prized position in shaping the future of the worldwide Krishna Conscious movement.

 

Reestablishing the mission of Lord Chaitanya

After few hundred years of Lord Chaitanya’s disappearance, His pure teachings were lost. Bhaktivinod Thakura aka Kedarnath Datta who appeared in the 19^th century revived the teaching’s of Lord Chaitanya, the writings of Goswamis and prominent acharyas in such a way that the modern secular world could understand it and appreciate it.

When the famous novelist Bankim Chandra wrote a book on Krishna, Krsnacarita, then he being influenced by western scholars had portrayed Krishna as an ordinary person having extraordinary qualities. But when the Thakura came to know about it then for four days without caring for food and sleep, he presented many arguments and logic from the scriptures to convince the famed novelist that Krishna is just not a mortal being but He is the Supreme being. Bankim Chandra incorporated many changes as suggested but when his book was published then the biased scholars criticized it because contrary to their views Krishna was not a mythical or an ordinary person in the book. It was a proof that Thakura was all alone fighting against the forces who wanted to belittle the scriptures. In fact Thakura’s deep scriptural understanding and purity was helping in re-establishing the pure teachings of Lord Chaitanya.

 

Kolkata becomes the center of the spiritual movement

In Kolkata, Bhaktivinod Thakura wanted to establish a preaching centre. He got a place at 181 Manikatal Street (presently Ramesh Dutt Street). It came to be known as Bhakti Bhavan. The price of the house was Rs 6000.  Many learned persons would assemble for meetings and discussions here and it was here where many books and articles were written.  In 1885, the Thakura opened a press in Bhakti Bhavan and named it Caitanya yantra (Caitanya Press). He started regularly publishing Sajjana – tosani magazine. He published books such as Gita with his commentaries, Sri Caitanya Siksamrta, Sanmodana – bhasyam – a Sanskrit commentary on Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s siksastakam and many more.  He founded Sri Visva Vaisnava Sabha in 1886 in Kolkata in which many educated people became its member.

 

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings reaches west

In 1896 he decided to reach out to the west with his book, Sri Gauranga – lila smarana stotram, which is based on the life and teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and contains 104 Sanskrit slokas. The book begins with 47 page introduction in English entitled – Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts. The introduction was especially meant for the English audience so that they can comprehend the meaning  of the Sanskrit slokas. The book found its place in many educational institutions of the world.  In fact several decades later one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples found it in McGill University in Montreal. In 1896 for the first time the teachings of Lord Chaitanya reached to the western world from Kolkata, it was also the same year when Srila Prabhupada was born in Kolkata who inundated the western world with Krishna Conscious message. Is it mere a coincidence or was Krishna’s plan?

For establishing the temple of Lord Chaitanya

To construct Lord Caitanya’s temple in Mayapur, Thakura began going from door to door in Kolkata. Anand Bazar Patrika wrote on December 6, 1894:  Babu Kedar Nath Dutt, the distinguished Deputy Magistrate, who has just retired from the service, is one of the most active members. Indeed, Babu Kedar Nath has been deputed by the committee to raise subscription in Kolkata and elsewhere and is determined to go from house to house, if necessary, and beg a rupee from each Hindu gentleman for the noble purpose….we hope, no Hindu gentleman, whose house may be honoured by the presence of such a devout bhakta as Babu Kedar Nath, will send him away without contributing his mite, however humble it may be, to the Gaur Vishnupriya Temple Fund.”

 

The mission continues

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura carried the legacy of his father, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakuras. Acknowledging the fact that Kolkata has been the cultural centre of India,  Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura too established his base in Kolkata.

He established Bhagawat Yantra (Bhagawat Press) in 1913 and Gaudiya Printing Works  in 1923 in Kolkata. He continued publishing many magazines and books including the magazine Sajjana Tosani which he renamed as The Harmonist.

He preached boldly and asked his disciples to not compromise with philosophy at any cost. When his disciples went to Dacca (present day Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh) then they faced huge opposition from the professional gurus. These fake gurus asked people to boycott the preachers and not give them any support – money, place to reside, food, and even water.  The disciples immediately sent a telegram to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati narrating their hardships and in reply he said, “If necessary, survive by drinking the water of the Buriganga, but do not stop distributing the teachings of Lord Caitanya.”

He established Sri Gaudiya Math in Kolkata at No.1 Ultadanga Junction road in 1920, it was later shifted to the marble temple in Baghbazar. The foundation of a new temple at Bag – bazar, Kolkata was laid in September, 1928. When it was finally inaugurated then it attracted large number of people.

On 12 October 1930 the Liberty reported:

On Sunday the 5^th October last the streets of North Kolkata were scenes of a record procession on the occasion of the new Gaudiya Matha constructed in Bag-bazar. Devotees from different provinces of India, viz, Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Madra, United Provinces, and the Punjab had been pouring into Kolkata for days before the ceremony.  The sri – vigrahas of the Gaudiya Matha, Sri Gaura – Vinoda – Ananda Ji, preceded and followed by congregational chant of the holy name….the procession was about two miles long, the whole city seemed to be in a tremor, and it was a sight for the gods to see.

The procession attracted humongous crowd and was so popular that a local theatre replayed film coverage of it for nine consecutive days.

Sowing the seed of worldwide Krishna Conscious movement

Kolkata is the place where Srila Prabhupada was born, he spent his childhood here under the love and care of his father and mother. His father always prayed and asked everyone to bless that his child, Abhay, becomes a devotee of Srimati Radharani. He studied here, got married here and worked here. And most importantly it was in Kolkata he met his spiritual master who planted the seed in his heart to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya. And it was from Kolkata on August 13, 1965 that Srila Prabhupada boarded the cargo ship M V Jaladutta to go to west to lay the foundation of worldwide Krishna conscious movement.

 

After successfully establishing ISKCON in the west and preaching to tens and thousands of people all over USA and Europe, Srila Prabhupada came to Kolkata to establish first temple of ISKCON in India at 3C Albert Road in 1971. Srila Prabhupada also inaugurated the Kolkata Rath Yatra in 1971.

 

Kolkata – the blessed city

People who are living in Kolkata are blessed because the beautiful city was chosen by great spiritual personalities to execute their mission. They have revealed to us the treasure of Krishna’s love. Kolkata is also the gateway to Mayapur and within and around Kolkata are many places where Lord Chaitanya, Lord Nityananda and many acharyas have performed many pastimes.

 

References:

• Seventh_Goswami
• A_Ray_of_Vishnu
• Sri_Bhaktisiddhanta_Vaibhava
• Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita

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