Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Lord Chaitanya, or Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as he is lovingly and lingeringly called by his devotees, was a Hindu personage much akin to Jesus Christ of Christianity. Both were prophets who understood the limitations of their times and both were steeped in the scriptures of their respective religions yet neither ever wrote anything down formally. Instead, they used simple, uncomplicated words to preach their innate wisdom to the masses who adored them for their uncomplicated sermons. There is ample evidence that both performed innumerable miracles. Both preached absolute love for all beings. Both were also persecuted by the priestly classes of their respective times because both believed in personal devotion and good deeds as means to salvation in contrast to the prevailing customs of those times that advocated extensive, complicated and costly rituals that could only be performed by a priest. In the end, both died as a result of that persecution and both remain ingrained in the collective memory of the world as great teachers who continue to guide not only by the sermons that they left behind but also by the personal examples of their lives which are numerously preserved in chronicles and other holy scriptures of Hinduism and Christianity. Lord Jesus professed that he was the Son of God while Lord Chaitanya professed that he was a devotee of Lord Krishna, whom he adoringly called Hari and who was the 8th avatar of Vishnu.

Lord Chaitanya (1486-1533 AD) was born at a time when Hinduism, especially in the Eastern parts of India, was passing through a crisis of identity. The Islamic invaders who had come from the North and Central Asia had conquered large parts of Northern India and had firmly established their rule there. Thus, the upper strata of Indian society, the rulers and the upper echelons, were all Islamic while the lower masses were mostly Hindu. The Islamic rulers practiced a harsh form of religious persecution that made it more attractive to convert to Islam than to remain a Hindu. The masses, who were mostly Hindu, were without guidance. Though the Brahmins, the Hindu priestly class, retained their religion they were too immersed in their own exploitative practices that further aggravated the conditions of the common people. Often, with active support of their Islamic rulers who wanted to sustain their dominion over the people, the Brahmins utilized their religion to exploit the gullible common people and push them down even deeper in the misery they already were in.

Lord Chaitanya, after his education was over and he became aware of these injustices, took up the cause of Hinduism and began to provide proper guidance to the people. They began to look up to him for succor. His simple interpretations of the Hindu scriptures and his easy way of worshipping God, much less complicated and expensive than what the greedy Brahmins advocated, attracted innumerable devotees to his cause. Though the same hostile conditions prevailed the people now had someone they could look up to in times of extreme hardship. Though he could often provide no material support, for which they still had to rely on the Islamic rulers, he nevertheless could morally sustain them in their difficult position. This was the extreme criticality of Lord Chaitanya's birth. He gave a vital fillip to Hinduism that enabled the religion, at least in the Eastern parts of India, to weather the hostility of the foreign invaders and continue in good form to the present age.

Lord Chaitanya was born of Pandit Jagannath Misra (faqther) and Sachi Devi (mother) in 1486 AD at a small village called Nawadwip in what today is the State of West Bengal in Eastern India. He was named Viswambar. The intense love his parents felt for him had a sad reason. He was their tenth child. All their previous nine children had either died or had left them. The first eight were girls who were born so weak that they did not survive many days after their birth. Their ninth child, a boy they had lovingly named Viswarup (Beauty of the World), grew up to be an endearing youth who became adept at the scriptures and other holy matters, as was fitting of the son of a pandit or 'learned man' in Hinduism. Nevertheless, the holy wisdom of Viswarup, the elder borther of Lord Chaitanya, did not stand in good stead for his parents, as such wisdom later would not in the case of Lord Chaitanya himself. Viswarup pained his parents when he ran away the day they told him they were arranging a marriage for him. He did not feel that he was ready to enter the common worldly life of a domesticated husband. Instead, he felt that he was more suited to an ascetic life that would allow him to serve his God more devoutly. His parents could do nothing to stop him but they were intensely disappointed. Viswarup was never found nor heard of again.

Against this dismal backdrop Viswambar, the future Lord Chaitanya, was born, a child so fair that all who visited the Pandit's house began calling him Gauranga - 'Gaur' for 'Fair' and 'Anga' for 'Body', or rather in total "The one with the fair body". The village people in the Bengal of that time were intensely superstitious and they began calling the baby boy Nemai after the bitter Neem tree. This was to ward off evil from one so fair and good. It was also because Nemai became the only living child his parents his parents were left with and the village people feared that he too would go away from them if he were not especially cared for. Nemai remains a popular name for Lord Chaitanya in the Bengal of today, especially among the rural people who continue to revere him as an avatar of Vishnu.

Gauranga, as he was most commonly called, soon became a master of all branches of Hindu knowledge - grammar, logic, literature, philosophy, theology and rhetoric. In those days scholars had to prove their erudition by winning over other competitors in debates that were being continuously arranged at the homes of various pandits. Even at an early age, well within his teens, Gauranga became so adept at these dialectic matches that pandits came from far and wide to contend with him. They all lost and this won him as many admirers as staunch enemies. In those days, such a person as he so well-versed in all the branches of the Hindu scriptures was considered a demigod in his own right. This is so because, in Hinduism, all scriptures are believed to emanate from Brahma Himself and anyone who has mastered them totally becomes akin to God Himself. Nevertheless, despite the extreme reverence the common people as well as some of the more knowledgeable pandits held him in, Gauranga constantly professed that all he wanted was to be totally devoted to his God - Krishna. In the true tradition of Hinduism he wanted his Bhakti (devotion) to be entirely motiveless - devoid of any personal interest, even of the desire to be considered to be the most devout. Even this last would be self-interest for it would seem that he craved his God so that he may be considered devout. This is the path the highest manner of devotee of God is capable of taking.

While still living with his parents Gauranga opened a 'Tol' - a school pandits set up in their homes to tutor boys from the village of those days. Though Gauranga was a competent teacher and beloved of his pupils his mind was not with him in this pursuit. Gauranga was a very humane person who, as he later actively professed all over India, believed that only love towards all beings can be considered love for God.

Gauranga's father, Pandit Jagganath Misra, died at around this time and his mother somehow persuaded him to marry a village maid - one Lakshmi, daughter of a local pandit. Gauranga's heart was not in the marriage and he continued in his quest for his God. He went about the village and its surroundings intent on spreading the name of Krishna, the God he revered as his own. Unfortunately, soon after, his first wife passed away, prey to snake bite. After an appropriate length of time had passed from this sad demise, he was again aligned in marriage to another maid of the village - Vishnupriya (the beloved of Vishnu). He did resist this marriage but his mother and well-wishers were too eager to ensure that he remain married and a future issue became imminent so that a ray of hope emerged out of the darkness that seemed the family's future at that time. His mother had already had one child running away to become an ascetic at the name of marriage. So Gauranga was unable to totally desist from the second nuptials because he did not want to inflict what would be extreme pain upon his remaining parent and his well-wishers. Vishnupriya was not only beautiful but also a devout wife who adored her husband. But this would be to no avail! Gauranga was too involved in his search for the right direction to his God to pay any attention to his loving wife. Instead, he advised her to the ways of God and devotion to Him alone. At this time Gauranga was still not fixed in his path to his God though he understood from the scriptures the future direction he must ultimately take. Thus, he strove not to let his beautiful wife get too near him.

In 1509 AD, despite tears and cajoling against it of both his mother and Vishnupriya, Gauranga set out on a long and perilous journey to the heartland of Hindu India. He visited the holy cities of Gaya, Brindaban and Varanasi. At Gaya, he met Ishvar Puri, who was a devotee of Madhavacharya - a great proponent of Lord Krishna. He somehow managed to coax the holy man into accepting him as a disciple. Ishvar Puri taught Gauranga true humility that is so essential to acquire a true love of God. Even his great pride of learning vanished and he became free of all desires other than to achieve his God. At Brindaban he met up with Nityananda, another pious person who was then looking for someone he could follow in his own quest for God. Since the Godheads of both the men was Lord Krishna and since Nityananda immediately understood that Gauranga was no ordinary man they teamed up. Gauranga began to be accompanied by Nityananda, whom he lovingly called Nitai, for the rest of his pilgrimage. Thereafter, having finished their pilgrimage, they returned to Nawadwip where Gauranga introduced Nitai to his mother, wife, friends and relatives.

Gauranga was not to rest at this. He restlessly went about Nawadwip, constantly accompanied by Nitai and other devouts, incessantly chanting the name of Lord Krishna and singing songs in praise of Him. His preachings that God could be achieved without complex rituals threatened the livelihoods of the priests there who constantly reviled him and threatened him. Even the hostility of the local agents of the Sultan of Gaur, who controlled Nawadwip at that time, did not deter Gauranga from going about singing in praise of his God. By then he had given up both studying and teaching the scriptures. Common people revered him even more then before and considered him an avatar of Vishnu Himself. This further aggravated the priests' angst. At last, Gauranga could no longer stand the restrictions of a life that he miserably considered domesticated, with a wife and a family This was though he had no child of Vishnupriya.

Finally, at the age of 24, Gauranga got himself initiated to 'Sanyash' - asceticism - by Pandit Keshava Bharati of Nawadwip. His father was already dead but his mother and wife wept bitterly at this decision, for it implied that he must leave them forever to serve his God anywhere it was necessary. He took the name Krishna Chaitanya and decided to renounce worldly life. Chaitanya means the 'Awakened One'. In essence it means 'One who has become aware of Lord Krishna in all His full glory'. He left home and roamed the streets and countryside around Nawadwip for a few days, constantly accompanied by Nityananda and a band of faithful followers, singing songs in praise of his Lord.

In effect, Lord Chaitanya never really sang songs. Rather, he and his followers danced and constantly chanted the name of Lord Krishna, specifically 'Hare Krishna', in many variations. This mode of devotion is known popularly as 'Kirtan' and is specifically still practiced by his followers who believe that if kirtan can be performed diligently enough salvation or, as the Hindus call it, 'Moksha' can be achieved. Ultimately Lord Chaitanya left Nawadwip for Puri, a coastal town in Eastern India in which the Lord Jagannath Temple is located. Lord Jagannath is one of the manifestations of Lord Krishna and Lord Chaitanya found peace there worshipping at the feet of the Lord. He was amply supported in this by the then king of Puri who constantly shielded the holy man from the venom of the priests of the temple. The priests were envious of the attention Lord Chaitanya got both from the king and from the common people who adored him for his simplicity of manner and his easy rendition of the difficult scriptures.

Soon after, Lord Chaitanya passed away in the year 1533 AD. It was the demise of a great teacher who never really formally preached anything. Instead he lived a life that was exemplary in its simplicity, purity and humility. His obvious love of all beings, even of the priests and Islamic rulers who constantly opposed him, inspired the people to look more brightly upon a world which somehow seemed full only of difficulties.

Lord Chaitanya's teachings are actively followed and taught by many Hindu subsects in India and abroad. The Gaurio Math, an order of monks and nuns centered in the Indian State of West Bengal, spreads Lord Chaitanya's preaching all over Eastern India. It maintains maths (monasteries) where kirtans are regularly held in praise of the Lord - Krishna - according to the precepts of Sri Chaitanya. It also uses these maths as centers for social work such as flood relief efforts and for distribution of food, clothes and other essentials to the needy.

Another salient institution that practices Hinduism according to the precepts of Sri Chaitanya is the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) that is headquartered at Mayapur, very near Nawadwip. The great temple at Mayapur together with relics from Sri Chaitanya's life that still prevails at Nawadwip is visited daily by thousands of devotees both from India and abroad.

Lod Chaitanya is almost deified and regarded as a God in his own right by his followers. He is regarded as an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu who had been sent down to Earth to save it from the iniquities of the time. In effect, as historically ascertained by many, he saved Hinduism from decline and reinforced its goodwill to such an extent that the effect prevails to the present age. His simplistic manner of worship and his entirely unheeding attitude towards class, sect or race has enabled his followers to successfully spread his preaching all over the world thus gathering for his manner of Hinduism a truly global affiliation.

Bibliography:
Sivananda, Sri Swami, Lord Gauranga, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Last Updated: August, 2005. Accessed on 22nd January, 2008, at: http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/saints/gauranga.htm#birth

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Undated. Accessed on 22nd January, 2008, at: http://caitanya.krishna.org/Articles/2000/06/00016.html