20220509 Lord Caitanya Dispatches the Two Generals Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī to Vṛndāvana to Preach the Bhakti Cult Part 1

Lord Caitanya Dispatches the Two Generals Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī to Vṛndāvana to Preach the Bhakti Cult  

Under the section: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya wanted to return to Jagannātha Purī after five days

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.178

pañca-bhaktera prabhuke anusaraṇa :—

rātre uṭhi’ prabhu yadi karilā gamana
pāche lāg la-ilā tabe bhakta pañca jana

Translation: After rising very early on the sixth day, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started to leave, and five devotees began to follow Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, although Lord Caitanya wanted to leave Benares to head back to Jagannātha Purī, five devotees followed Him.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.179

pañca-bhaktera nāma :—

tapana miśra, raghunātha, mahārāṣṭrīya brāhmaṇa
candraśekhara, kīrtanīyā-paramānanda,-pañca jana

Translation: These five devotees were Tapana Miśra, Raghunātha, the Maharashtriyan brāhmaṇa, Candraśekhara and Paramānanda Kīrtanīyā.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.180

sakalerai prabhura anugamane purī-gamane icchā thākileo prabhura tāṅhādigake vidāya-dāna :—

sabe cāhe prabhu-saṅge nīlācala yāite
sabāre vidāya dilā prabhu yatna-sahite

Translation: These five wanted to accompany Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Jagannātha Purī, but the Lord attentively bade them farewell.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was very kind and He very kindly bade farewell to these five devotees.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.181

ekākī jhārikhaṇḍapatha diyā purī yāite icchā :—

“yāṅra icchā, pāche āisa āmāre dekhite
ebe āmi ekā yāmu jhārikhaṇḍa-pathe”

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “If you want to see Me, you may come later, but for the time being I shall go alone through the Jhārikhaṇḍa forest.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Jhārikhaṇḍa is a forest inhabited by many violent beasts.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.160

prabhura kāśī-tyāga o śrī-sanātanake vṛndāvane preraṇa :—

loka nistāriyā prabhura calite haila mana
vṛndāvane pāṭhāilā śrī-sanātana

Translation: After thus delivering the people in general, the Lord desired to leave Vārāṇasī. After instructing Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, He sent him toward Vṛndāvana.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya had delivered all the people in Benares through Harināma-saṅkīrtana. He convinced the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs to study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and He told to Sanātana Gosvāmī to return to Vṛndāvana.

Purport: The actual purpose of Lord Caitanya’s stay at Vārāṇasī after coming back from Vṛndāvana was to meet Sanātana Gosvāmī and teach him. Sanātana Gosvāmī met Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu after the Lord’s return to Vārāṇasī, where the Lord taught him for two months about the intricacies of Vaiṣṇava philosophy and Vaiṣṇava activities. After completely instructing him, He sent him to Vṛndāvana to execute His orders. When Sanātana Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana, there were no temples. The city was lying vacant like an open field. Sanātana Gosvāmī sat down on the bank of the Yamunā, and after some time he gradually constructed the first temple; then other temples were constructed, and now the city is full of temples, numbering about five thousand.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī they stayed in Vṛndāvana to fulfill the order of Lord Caitanya on the instruction of Lord Caitanya, Sanātana Gosvāmī wrote the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta and he also constructed temples. Now Vṛndāvana is full of temples.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.161

rātri-divase lokera śuni’ kolāhala
vārāṇasī chāḍi’ prabhu āilā nīlācala

Translation: Because the city of Vārāṇasī was always full of tumultuous crowds, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after sending Sanātana to Vṛndāvana, returned to Jagannātha Purī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya avoiding all crowds and therefore He left Vārāṇasī and went back to Jagannātha Purī.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.162

ei līlā kahiba āge vistāra kariyā
saṅkṣepe kahilāṅ ihāṅ prasaṅga pāiyā

Translation: I have here given a brief account of these pastimes of Lord Caitanya, but later I shall describe them in an extensive way.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja described part of the pastimes in the Ādī-līlā and part in the Madhya-līlā. His attention was also to give more details.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.163

pañca-tattva-rūpe prabhura jagaduddhāra :—

ei pañca-tattva-rūpe śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya
kṛṣṇa-nāma-prema diyā viśva kailā dhanya

Translation: Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates of the Pañca-tattva distributed the holy name of the Lord to invoke love of Godhead throughout the universe, and thus the entire universe was thankful.

Purport: Here it is said that Lord Caitanya made the entire universe thankful to Him for propagating the saṅkīrtana movement with His associates. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has already sanctified the entire universe by His presence five hundred years ago, and therefore anyone who attempts to serve Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sincerely by following in His footsteps and following the instructions of the ācāryas will successfully be able to preach the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra all over the universe. There are some foolish critics who say that Europeans and Americans cannot be offered sannyāsa, but here we find that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to preach the saṅkīrtana movement all over the universe. For preaching work, sannyāsīs are essential. These critics think that only Indians or Hindus should be offered sannyāsa to preach, but their knowledge is practically nil. Without sannyāsīs, the preaching work will be impeded. Therefore, under the instruction of Lord Caitanya and with the blessings of His associates, there should be no discrimination in this matter, but people in all parts of the world should be trained to preach and given sannyāsa so that the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s saṅkīrtana movement will expand boundlessly. We do not care about the criticism of fools. We shall go on with our work and simply depend on the blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates, the Pañca-tattva.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these purports give the vision of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. With this vision he spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. I was thinking that, in Kali-yuga generally it is prohibited to take sannyāsa and most people recommended are gṛhasthas. So, the gṛhasthas need to also keep Kṛṣṇa in the center and the deity worship, offering of ārati, bhoga and reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-Gītā all these things purify the home bringing up the children to be Kṛṣṇa consciousness. These were things the gṛhasthas should do, to keep themselves in the transcendental platform also to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and to practice Bhagavad-Gītā in Nāmahaṭṭa and Bhakti-vṛkṣa, all these things one can be very effective in preaching in their neighborhood. Actually this part of Lord Caitanya’s visit to Benares is in the Ādī-līlā and the extended part is in the Madhya-līlā.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.164

svayaṃ evaṃ pracārakagaṇa-dvārā bhāratera sarvatra nāma-prema pracāra o lokoddhāra :—

mathurāte pāṭhāila rūpa-sanātana
dui senā-pati kaila bhakti pracāraṇa

Translation: Lord Caitanya dispatched the two generals Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī to Vṛndāvana to preach the bhakti cult.

Purport: When Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana, there was not a single temple, but by their preaching they were gradually able to construct various temples. Sanātana Gosvāmī constructed the Madana-mohana temple, and Rūpa Gosvāmī constructed the Govindajī temple. Similarly, their nephew Jīva Gosvāmī constructed the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple, Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī constructed the Rādhā-ramaṇa temple, Śrī Lokanātha Gosvāmī constructed the Gokulānanda temple and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī constructed the Śyāmasundara temple. In this way, many temples were gradually constructed. For preaching, construction of temples is also necessary. The Gosvāmīs not only engaged in writing books but also constructed temples because both are needed for preaching work. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted the cult of His saṅkīrtana movement to spread all over the world. Now that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has taken up this task of preaching the cult of Lord Caitanya, its members should not only construct temples in every town and village of the globe but also distribute the books that have already been written and further increase the number of books. Both distribution of books and construction of temples must continue side by side in parallel lines

Jayapatākā Swami: So, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he wanted to construct temples and distribute books. So, now there are about 800 temples around the world and not only Bhagavad-Gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are written in many different languages but also Nectar of devotion and many other small books, so Śrīla Prabhupāda want to see that his books be available in every language of the world.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.165

nityānanda-gosāñe pāṭhāilā gauḍa-deśe
teṅho bhakti pracārilā aśeṣa-viśeṣe

Translation: As Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were sent toward Mathurā, so Nityānanda Prabhu was sent to Bengal to preach extensively the cult of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Purport: The name of Lord Nityānanda is very famous in Bengal. Of course, anyone who knows Lord Nityānanda knows Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also, but there are some misguided devotees who stress the importance of Lord Nityānanda more than that of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is not good. Nor should Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu be stressed more than Lord Nityānanda. The author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, left his home because of his brother’s stressing the importance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu over that of Nityānanda Prabhu. Actually, one should offer respect to the Pañca-tattva without such foolish discrimination, not considering Nityānanda Prabhu to be greater, Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be greater or Advaita Prabhu to be greater. The respect should be offered equally: śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. All devotees of Lord Caitanya or Nityānanda are worshipable persons.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in our temple in Māyāpur we have the Pañca-tattva, we worship śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. So, here Rūpa and Sanātana are called as senāpati-bhaktas or generals. Lord Caitanya said that He would have His senāpati-bhakta that he would send to western countries after 500 years. AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he carried out this order of Lord Caitanya and went around the world for fourteen times so by his mercy Kṛṣṇa consciousness is now heard all over the world and we need the devotees to help spread this message of Lord Caitanya to every town and village. Haribol! The Indian Bureau had made the program for ‘nagarādī grāma yojana’ where having Kṛṣṇa consciousness in every town and village.

♫ Thus ends the Caitanya-līlā Class. ♫ Gaurāṇga!