199403 Navadvīpa Maṇḍala Parikarmā - Vidyānagara

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā on March 1994 during the Navadvīpa Maṇḍala Parikramā at the location of Vidyānagara.

Jayapatākā Swami: When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was going to come, when Kṛṣṇa would come as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as it is explained in the Caitanya-maṅgala, that time he was instructed to tell all the devas, including Brahmā and others to get ready for the Lord’s appearance, and take their birth in Navadvīpa, Nadīyā and Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi and different parts where His pastimes would take place, like Utkala, Nīlācala, Śrī Kṣetra. So, Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas, he was very eager to teach Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He wanted to have that sevā, to be able to come ahead and serve the Lord as a teacher. So he appeared in this place known as Vidyānagara, which is famous for knowledge, ahead of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When the different devas appear, and take the human form, to a certain degree they become affected by whatever environment they were in. They become one of the players, and when they leave their bodies they may go back to their original position. So, it’s a sacrifice for them to come and take a human form. But to have the opportunity of being with the Lord, they won’t miss it. So, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, although he appeared here; because in those days Navadvīpa was so filled with karma-kāṇḍīs and jñāna-kāṇḍīs, with different karmīs and jñānīs, he somehow got affected by the impersonal philosophy and he became a Māyāvādī. And then he left Navadvīpa, forgetting his original purpose and went to Nīlācala, where he became a great guru and instructor for all the Māyāvādīs. Teaching the impersonal philosophy of Śaṅkarācārya. Now when Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa and went to Jagannātha Purī, then at that time He separated from His other followers, feigning anger at Nityānanda for having broken His daṇḍa into three parts. And He went alone to the Jagannātha Purī temple. And when he reached the Jagannātha Purī temple and was before Lord Jagannātha, He felt so much ecstasy that He fell in trance before the Deities. So, the other devotees pūjārīs there, they thought that He is mad man, or He is doing something offensive. They didn’t really know exactly what to make of it. They were surrounding and they were about to so something like drag Lord Caitanya out. But Sārvabhauma, seeing His unusual features—knowing the signs of physiology—he could understand that He had the lakṣaṇa (or He had the features) of a great soul. So then he went and personally asked to have Lord Caitanya bought to his house. So, they picked him up and bought to his house. At that time, Sārvabhauma tried to analyse Him, and he saw that he could feel no pulse and no heartbeat. But then when he put a cotton swab before His nose, he saw that there was very slight motion of the cotton fiber, which showed that he was still alive, but he was in a deep trance. So, this convinced Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya that He was a great soul, He was a mahā-puruṣa, and that He was in samādhi, in trance. But he considered that He was a devotee. Now his brother in law, Gopīnatha Ācārya, preached to him and tried to convince him that Lord Caitanya was actually Kṛṣṇa-avatāra. But Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was not accepting. So, Sārvabhauma, he asked Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he offered to teach Him the scriptures of Vedānta-sūtra. Lord Caitanya agreed, and for 7 days Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya taught Vedānta-sūtra to Caitanya Mahāprabhu, using the Śārīraka-bhāṣya of Śaṅkarācārya. So, actually Lord Caitanya knew that the original desire of Bṛhaspati for coming to this world was to teach Him. So, He allowed him to teach Him in Jagannātha Purī. Of course, at the end of the instruction, after 7 days He hadn’t said anything. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya asked Him that, “Did you understand? Why you’re not asking any question?” 

And Lord Caitanya said, “I perfectly understand the sūtras, but I don’t understand your explanations.” The sūtras are difficult to understand and the explanation is to simplify it. So when he said, “I can understand the sūtras but not your explanations”, it was a very covert way of saying that your explanation is faulty. So, then of course there was a lengthy discussion, and Lord Caitanya explained the direct Vaiṣṇava understanding, the Bhāgavata understanding of Vedānta-sūtra. And that time He also explained the ātmārāma verse and so many different ways. And this way Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he was also then convinced that actually this must be the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa that was predicted. Then he fell down and surrendered at the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Lord Caitanya revealed His Ṣaḍbhuja, or six handed form, to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. If you go to Jagannātha Purī, to the house of Sārvabhauma Bhattacharya, you can see the Ṣaḍbhuja Deity there, where Lord Caitanya revealed His form to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. So here is the birth place of Sārvabhauma. After that Sārvabhauma became one the very great lieutenants of Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Nīlācala. And being the top paṇḍita of the whole Purī, when he accepted Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it had a remarkable effect. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya would join into the kīrtanas singing, and dancing, and raising his hands in ecstasy, and this way people were amazed how this very dry, stuffy jñānī had become a bhakta and was dancing and chanting in ecstasy. Even one morning Lord Caitanya came before, just when Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was still seated in his bed, and He came, and He immediately offered and said, “Here is the maṅgala-ārati mahā-prasāda, some cashews offered to the Lord. Please accept the mahā-prasādam.” So, normally a smārta-brāhmaṇa, they will say, “Oh first I have to brush my teeth, I have to bathe. Then only I will take prasādam.” But the higher principle of bhakti is when we get mahā-prasādam, no matter what, you should accept it. So, immediately he accepted that prasādam and ate it, and then Lord Caitanya said, “You being a paṇḍita, how is it you didn’t first brush your teeth and do all those things?”

He said, “When I get the mahā-prasādam from You, then there is no rule or regulations. Mahā-prasāda can be accepted anytime.”

Lord Caitanya gave all His devotees this cashew and asked all of them, “How do you like this?”

They all said, “Very nice!”

So, just see, it is nothing but a nut. So many of us had some nut before, what’s special about it? But because this was tasted by the lips of Lord Jagannātha, Kṛṣṇa’s own mouth’s nectar has permeated this offering. Therefore, it has got an incomparable taste. Now all of them who were just relishing the transcendental mercy of Kṛṣṇa, and how His presence in prasāda was such a inspiration, and made a simple foodstuff into nectar.

We were doing kīrtana at Vidyānagara, that according to Navadvīpa Māhātmya and other authorities, actually Gaṅgādāsa’s ṭola was quite close to Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s house, somewhere behind Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, or in front. Some people thought that Lord Caitanya came here to study on a daily basis, but the other pramāṇa shows that He was going to school somewhere in Navadvīpa at the Gaṅgādāsa paṇḍita’s ṭola. But this Vidyānagara was a place where there were many paṇḍitas, and it was a place where a lot of knowledge was cultivated. And lord Caitanya would come here sometimes and discuss with those paṇḍitas, and meet with them. Not that He would daily come here for His studies. Some people think that. In fact, He defeated all the paṇḍitas here and made them into devotees. So, they became really Vidyānagara because they all became devotees of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Gaurāṅga! (Everybody chants)

Nityānanda! (Everybody chants)

Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya kī! (everybody says Jaya!)

Vidyānagara kī (everybody says Jaya!).