Yearly, within the month of Phalguna (Feb-March), the delivery of Lord Chaitanya is widely known as Sri Gaura Purnima. Lord Chaitanya advented Himself in Navadipa, West Bengal within the 12 months 1407 of the Shaka Period on the Purnima (full moon) of the month of Phalguna comparable to 18th February 1486 AD. He exhibited His transcendental pastimes for forty-eight years and disappeared in A.D. 1534. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived in grihastha ashrama for 24 years and in sannyasa ashrama for the following twenty-four years. Throughout this time he unfold the love of Krishna by chanting the nectarian Hare Krishna Maha-mantra. He spent a majority of his sannyasa years at Jagannath Puri. For six years he was toured South India, Bengal and Vrindavan, spreading the holy title and the sankirtana motion.
Lord Chaitanya took delivery in the home of Jagannath Mishra and Shachimata on the full-moon night within the month of Phalguna, when there was a lunar eclipse and usually everybody was chanting “Hari! Hari!”. From His very delivery, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu induced individuals to chant the holy title of Hari. He would cease crying upon listening to the holy names of Krishna and Hari. His complexion was golden, so the women of the village began calling Him “Gaurahari” for He was golden in complexion (gaura) and swiftly responded to the chanting of the title ‘Hari’.
Earlier than the looks of Lord Chaitanya, the devotees of Navadvipa would collect on the home of Advaita Acharya, and get pleasure from speaking of Krishna, worshiping Him and at all times chanting His title. However Sri Advaita Acharya felt pained to see the individuals generally with out Krishna consciousness wantonly partaking in materials sense gratification. So, he prayed to Lord Krishna to descend on this earth to ship the fallen souls. Lord Krishna answered his prayers and appeared within the type of a devotee, as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, to show the frequent man devotional service. Advaita Acharya’s spouse, Sita Thakurani gave the title ‘Nimai’ to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as a result of He was born beneath a Neem tree. He got here to be generally known as ‘Nimai Pandita’ on account of His Vedic erudition.
Within the January of Shaka 1406 (A.D. 1485) Lord Krishna entered the our bodies of each Shachimata and Jagannatha Mishra. Shachimata seemed effulgent as if the Goddess of fortune had come to reside of their residence. Folks had been instantly very respectful of Jagannatha Mishra and spontaneously supplied him riches, clothes and paddy. Shaci Devi noticed sensible individuals from larger realms provide prayers from outer house and Jagannatha Mishra skilled the Lord’s religious abode enter his coronary heart and be transferred to Shachnmata’s. Lastly, after an prolonged thirteen-month being pregnant of Shachimata, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu selected to seem on the auspicious day of Phalguna Purnima in Shaka 1407 (A.D. 1486).
In His first childhood pastimes, Lord Chaitanya turned the other way up whereas mendacity on mattress, and thus He confirmed His mother and father the marks of Vishnu on His lotus ft, specifically the flag, thunderbolt, conch shell, disc and fish. His mother and father referred to as His grandfather, Nilambara Chakravarti, who predicted that youngster had all of the thirty two bodily signs of an ideal character and that He would powerfully preach the Vaishnava cult and ship residing beings in all of the three worlds.
As soon as Mom Shachi gave little Nimai some sweetmeats to eat. Returning a bit of later she noticed Him eat clay. When she admonished Him for consuming filth, He replied that she had given Him filth within the type of the sweetmeats so what was fallacious in consuming the clay straight. She replied that whereas filth within the type of a clay pot could possibly be used to fetch water, it might be ineffective to pour water on lump of clay. Equally though the sweets had been additionally reworked clay they had been solely edible in that kind and never as uncooked clay. On this means Lord Chaitanya at the same time as a toddler, uncovered the fallacies of the Mayavada philosophy that accepts no selection and revealed the acintya bheda abheda tattva that teaches the simultaneous oneness and distinction of all the things. The unique vitality is exhibited in varieties, Simply because the sunshine, the vitality emanating from the solar, acts as mild and warmth in selection. Whereas warmth will not be mild and lightweight will not be warmth, nonetheless they can’t be separated.
The Lord exhibited a number of pastimes for the pleasure of His devotees. In a single occasion, two thieves who wished to rob His ornaments took the Lord away from His residence. The Lord obtained on the shoulders of the thieves and by His illusory vitality induced them to wander again to Jagannath Mishra’s residence. The thieves dropped the kid and fled the scene in worry.
Little Nimai was very naughty and would steal eatables from the neighbourhood with different boys. That is harking back to the childhood pastimes of Lord Krishna. Whereas on the financial institution of the Ganga, He would discover younger women providing prayers to demigods with sandal paste and sweetmeats. He would apply the sandal paste on his personal physique and eat the sweetmeats with out their permission. He would inform them that He was the Supreme Lord and He blessed them to have good-looking husbands and plenty of offspring. Whereas inwardly happy they externally would rebuke Nimai. These pastimes by no means angered anybody, fairly happy every body. But, mom Shaci would continuously obtain complaints about Nimai’s behaviour that she would secretly relish.
When eight, He was admitted to a ‘tola’ or college run by Gangadasa Pandita in Ganganagar a village near Mayapur. He shone within the college and shortly learnt Sanskrit grammar and rhetoric. He additionally taught Himself within the Smriti and Nyaya shastras with the books in His father’s library. By the age of ten He was a scholar in Sanskrit, Smriti and Nyana. At the moment His brother Vishwarupa left residence to simply accept Sannyasa and shortly His father handed away. In His regular composed method He consoled His distraught mom.
On the younger age of 11 Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu started educating college students. He defeated every kind of students in discourses concerning the scriptures. Phrase of Lord Chaitanya’s mental prowess unfold and lots of of scholars got here to be taught below His course. He was generally known as ‘Nimai Pandit’ as a result of in addition to initiating individuals into Hari-nama He educated them in scriptural information.
On the age of 14 or15 He married Lakshmidevi. He was by then among the finest students within the district of Nadia which at the moment was a seat of studying in sanskrit and Nyaya philosophy.
Throughout this era Lord Chaitanya travelled to East Bengal and propagated the Sankirtana Motion there. Many lots of of scholars got here to be taught from Him attracted by His charismatic mental prowess. Since Lord Chaitanya spent appreciable time preaching in East Bengal, His spouse, Srimati Lakshmidevi was bitten by the serpent of separation from Him and died. On His mom’s request Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted a second spouse, Srimati Vishnupriya Devi, who bore the separation of the Lord all through her life as a result of He accepted Sannyasa on the age of twenty-four.
After getting back from East Bengal, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once more started educating. By the power of His studying, He conquered everybody, together with the champion scholar named Keshav Kashmiri, who created hundred poetic verses in only one hour to glorify Mom Ganges. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu very humbly however assertively identified gross faults and literary elaborations of just one verse of these hundred verses. That night time Keshava Kashmiri prayed to Mom Saraswathi and the Goddess of studying got here to Him and in his dream and revealed that Lord Chaitanaya was none apart from the Supreme Character of Godhead. Keshava Kashmiri surrendered to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s lotus ft and the Lord bestowed mercy upon him and reduce off his bondage to materials attachment.
As Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s reputation unfold throughout the area, some brahmanas grew to become envious and complained to Chand Kazi the Justice of the Peace of Nadia, who ordered the Lord’s devotees to cease chanting within the streets. The Kazi despatched constables, who disrupted the sankirtana and broke a few of the mridangas. When Gaurahari heard of this incident, He organized a procession of 100 thousand males with 1000’s of mridangas and karatals singing and dancing their strategy to the Kazi’s home. The Kazi was petrified by this exhibition of power and mood of the devotees. Lord Chaitanya nevertheless pacified the group and satisfied the Kazi, who declared that in future neither he nor any of his descendants would hinder the sankirtana motion.
Lord Chaitanya exhibited His causeless mercy in one other pastime involving two drunken brothers, Jagai and Madhai, who had been meat eaters, woman-hunters and dacoits. At some point Nityananda Prabhu noticed an enormous crowd across the two drunken brothers. With the intention to purify these fallen souls, he requested them to chant the holy title. However certainly one of them threw a chunk of earthen pot at him. When Chaitianya Mahaprabhu heard of this incident, he hurried to the spot in a fiery temper. He invoked His Sudarshan Chakra, to kill the sinners, however Nityananda Prabhu stopped Him and requested for mercy. This pacified the Lord and He pardoned the 2 brothers who fell at His ft and begged His forgiveness.
The individuals of Navadvipa had been lucky to witness Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy and His transcendental pastimes. The Lord exhibited His six-handed kind bearing a conch-shell, disc, membership, lotus flower, bow and flute to Nityananda Prabhu. Thereafter the Lord confirmed Him His four-armed kind, standing in a three-curved posture. With two fingers He performed upon a flute, and within the different two He carried a conchshell and disc. Lastly the Lord confirmed Nityananda Prabhu His two-armed type of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Maharaja Nanda, enjoying on His flute, His bluish physique wearing yellow clothes. These pastimes point out that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was none apart from Lord Krishna Himself, who appeared to ship the fallen souls of the darkish age of Kali.
