20230128 Reception of Advaita Ācārya by Lord Caitanya Part 2

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 28th,2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Reception of Advaita Ācārya by Lord Caitanya, Part 2
Under the section: Śrī Advaita Ācārya and other devotees’ arrival in Nīlācala

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.72

Jayapatākā Swami: After offering prostrate obeisances in this way, again and again, the two groups merged together and exchanged greetings.

So, upto know the two groups saw each other from a distance and offered obeisances and now they are coming together and personally greeting each other.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.73

ekhāne ye haila ānanda-daraśana
ucca hari-dhvani, ucca ānanda-krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: At that place the devotees met each other happily, there was loud chanting of the name of Hari, Haribol! and loud crying in blissful ecstasy.

So, the devotees were so happy to meet each other, they were crying blissfully in ecstasy and all you could hear was the loud chanting of Hari! Hari!. Hari Bol! Hari Bol!

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.74

ei milanānanda ekamātra vedavyāsa o anantadeva varṇane samartha—

manuṣye ki pāre ihā karite varṇana
sabe vedavyāsa, āra sahasra-vadana

Jayapatākā Swami: For a human being, it is not possible to explain or describe all of this; only Vedavyāsa and Ananta Śeṣa with His thousands of head were able to do this.

In other words the emotions and joy that was being experienced by each devotee at that moment is impossible for any human being to describe, because hundreds of devotees meeting each other in transcendental ecstasy is something completely out of this world.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.75

śrī-advaita o śrī-gaurasundarera paraspara prema-sambhāṣaṇa—

advaita dekhiyā prabhu lailena kole
siñcilena aṅga tāna premānanda-jale

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing Advaita Ācārya, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu embraced Him and He soaked His body with tears of ecstatic love.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.76

śloka paḍi’ advaita karena namaskāra
hailena advaita ānanda-avatāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Advaita Ācārya appeared to be the incarnation of transcendental bliss. As He recited verses, Advaita Ācārya, he offered His obeisances to the Lord.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.77

yata sajja ānichilā prabhu pūjibāre
saba dravya pāsarilā, kichu nāhi sphure

Jayapatākā Swami: Whatever items Advaita had brought to worship Lord Caitanya with, all those items were forgotten and nothing was manifested to worship the Lord.

Advaita Ācārya was so overwhelmed with loving ecstasy for Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that all the arrangements He had made to worship the Lord when He met Him, He forgot them. We cannot imagine what ecstasy He was in when He met Lord Caitanya.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.78

ānanda advaita-siṁha karena huṅkāra
“āniluṅāniluṅ” bali’ ḍāke bārabāra

Jayapatākā Swami: In great joy the lionlike Śrī Advaita loudly roared and repeatedly exclaimed, “I brought You! I brought You!” He said it again and again.

Actually Advaita Ācārya prayed for Lord Kṛṣṇa to descend from the spiritual world and this was admitted by Lord Caitanya many times, that by the roaring of Śrī Advaita He came dowṇ. So, Śrī Advaita siṁha is actually rejoicing how the Lord had come down on His request .

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.79

hena se haila ati ucca-hari-dhvani
lokāloka pūrṇa haila hena anumāni

Jayapatākā Swami: At that time, the extremely loud vibration of the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa extended to the Lokāloka mountains and thus filled the entire universe.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.80

vaiṣṇavera ki dāya, ajñāna yata jana
tāhārā o ’hari’ bale karaye krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: What to speak of the Vaiṣṇavas, even the foolish people who were watching on the side they began to chant Hari Bol! Hari Bol! and started to cry in ecstasy.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): There are two classes of people in this world—the Vaiṣṇavas and the fools. Those who are averse to the devotional service of Hari are fools, and those servants of Hari who are averse to material enjoyment are Vaiṣṇavas. Although every living entity is by nature a Vaiṣṇava, they are nevertheless divided into two classes— those who are inclined to the Supreme Lord and those who are averse to Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: So that is why this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to make the people who are averse to the Supreme Personality of Godhead to also become favorable and become Vaiṣṇavas. To chant harināma, eat Kṛṣṇa-prasāda and become happy . Happy not based on temporary sense gratification but happy based on spiritual awareness.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.81

sarvabhaktagoṣṭhīra parasparera kaṇṭhadeśadhāraṇapūrvaka ānanda-krandana—

sarva-bhakta-goṣṭhī anyo’nye galā dhari’
ānande rodana kare bale ’hari hari’

Jayapatākā Swami: All the devotees in the different groups embraced each other, holding them close and they cried in great joy by chanting Hari! Hari! Haribol! Haribol!

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.82

sakalera advaita-caraṇe namaskāra—

advaitere sabe karilena namaskāra
yāṅhāra nimitta śrī-caitanya-avatāra

Jayapatākā Swami: All the assembled devotees offered their obeisances to Advaita Prabhu, who was the cause of Śrī Caitanya’s descent.

Everyone appreciated Advaita Ācārya for His bringing Lord Caitanya from the spiritual world to this material world. As the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, He was desirous of inspiring everyone with pure Kṛṣṇa-prema. So even people like Jagai and Madhāi were purified by His advent.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.83

dui goṣṭhīra mahā-uccadhvani, mahā-saṅkīrtana o prema-vikāra—

mahā-ucca-dhvani mahā kari’ saṅkīrtana
dui goṣṭhī karite lāgilā tata-kṣaṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: The the two groups of devotees started to make loud chanting of the holy names of Hari Haribol! and they all engaged in great mahā-saṅkīrtana, the great congregational chanting of the holy names.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.84

kothā ke vā nāce ke vā kon dike gāya
ke vā kon dike paḍi’ gaḍāgaḍi’ yāya

Jayapatākā Swami: No one knew who was dancing where, who was singing where, and who was in what direction was falling to the ground and rolling.

In other words the situation was totally ecstatic, people dancing, people chanting, people rolling on the ground it was completely out of control. People were completely filled with spiritual bliss and no one was conscious of the material world.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.85

prabhu dekhi’ sabe hailā ānande vihvala
prabhu o nācena mājhe parama maṅgala

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing the Lord, everyone was overwhelmed with transcendental bliss, and Lord Caitanya He began dancing in the midst of everyone in a most transcendental and auspicious way.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.86

nityānanda o advaitera paraspara kolākoli o mahānṛtya—

nityānanda-advaite kariyā kolākoli
nāce dui matta-siṁha hai kutūhalī

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Nityānanda and Lord Advaita Ācārya, they began embracing each other and the two danced like two mad lions in transcendental bliss.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.87

prati vaiṣṇavake dhariyā dhariyā mahāprabhura nṛtya—

sarva-vaiṣṇavere prabhu dhari’ jane jane
āliṅgana karena parama-prīti-mane

Jayapatākā Swami: All the assembled Vaiṣṇavas were embraced by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one after another and embracing them with a consciousness of extreme affection.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.88

bhaktera galā dhariyā krandana—

bhakta-nātha, bhakta-vaśa, bhaktera jīvana
bhakta-galā dhari’ prabhu karena rodana

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, who is the Lord of the devotees, who is controlled by the love of devotees, and who is the life of the devotees, He embraced each devotee around their neck, and Lord Caitanya cried in ecstasy.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (8.3.28) it is stated:

“You are the protector of the surrendered souls, and You possess unlimited energy, but You are unapproachable by those who are unable to control their senses.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.9.19) it is stated:

“O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Kṛṣṇa in this pastime.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa, therefore He is ajītā, unconquerable but by the love of His devotees He can be conquered and that Lord Caitanya exhibited in this pastime as He showed extreme affection and love for all His devotees.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.89

jagannāthera prasāda-mālya-candanādi āgamana, mahāprabhu kartṛka sarvāgre advaita-gale mālyadāna—

jagannātha-devera ājñāya sei-kṣaṇa
sahasra sahasra mālā āila candana

Jayapatākā Swami: By the order of Lord Jagannātha, sandalwood pulp and thousands of flower garlands were brought there at that time. Lord Caitanya personally offered a garland around the neck of Advaita Ācārya.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): Lord Jagannātha, as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within the heart, ordered His Nīlācala servants to honor the visiting devotees by offering garlands to them. Those were bhagavad-ājñā-mālās, garlands signifying the Lord’s order.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Jagannātha as the caitya-guru knew that the devotees had arrived there and so He sent His prasāda garlands and sandalwood pulp to be offered to all His devotees.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.90

ājñā-mālā dekhi’ harṣe śrī-gaurāṅga-rāya
agre dilāśrī-advaita-siṁhera galāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing the garlands sent by Lord Jagannātha, Lord Gaurasundara rāya became very happy and first of all, garlanded Advaita-siṁha around his neck.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Reception of Advaita Ācārya by Lord Caitanya, Part 2
Under the section: Śrī Advaita Ācārya and other devotees’ arrival in Nīlācala

So, on this day of Advaita Saptami, how Adavita’s group and Lord Caitanya's group they met each other, how they cried and offered their obeisances and how they exchanged their transcendental mellows and how Lord Jagannātha sent them prasāda garlands and sandalwood pulp. How Advaita Ācārya was rejoicing that He had brought Lord Caitanya, So, normally it is very difficult to get Kṛṣṇa-prema. We read in the Bhagavad-gītā, that out of thousands one wants spiritual realization, and of the thousands, one gets it and out of thousands of liberated souls it is rare to find one pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya by His mercy made it very easy to understand Kṛṣṇa, very easy to develop love for Kṛṣṇa.