Part 1
The Life of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu
The Golden Avatar
In the teachings of Karabhājana Ṛṣi we find mention of the different incarnations for different ages (yugāvatāras). In Dvāpara-yuga, the yugāvatāra is mentioned as follows:
dvāpare bhagavān śyāmaḥ pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ
śrīvatsādibhir aṅkaiś cha lakṣaṇair upalakṣitaḥ
“In Dvāpara-yuga, Lord Kṛṣṇa appears with the color of a dark rain cloud, wearing lightning-colored garments. He is decorated with beautiful ornaments, His chest bears the mark of Śrīvatsa, and He carries His own weapons.”
After the description of the yugāvatāra of Dvāpara-yuga, Karabhājana Rṣi mentions the kali-yugāvatāra:
iti dvāpara urv-īśa stuvanti jagad-īśvaram
nānā-tantra-vidhānena kalāv api tathā sṛṇu
He says, “O King, up to Dvāpara-yuga, I have finished describing the incarnations for different ages who come to remind the people of the most appropriate duty for their age. They come and tell us, ‘If you do this, you will get the greatest benefit.’ O King, after the Dvāpara age is finished, the age of Kali comes. The incarnation for the age of Kali has been mentioned in many places in the scriptures, and now I am just going to explain that information to you.” (S.B. 11.5.31)
Then he says:
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣā ’kṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrttana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
In a suppressed way, this verse explains the advent of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. The ordinary meaning of kṛṣṇa-varṇam is “of a black color.” But tvisā ’kṛṣṇam means “His luster is not black.” “Accompanied by His associates, He is worshipped by the process of saṅkīrtan, the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and those of sharp intellect will perform this kind of worship.”
Jīva Goswāmī explains the meaning of this verse in his own parallel verse:
antaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ bahir gauraṁ darśitāṅgādi-vaibhavam
kalau saṅkīrttanādyaiḥ sma kṛṣṇa-caitanyam āśritāḥ
“I take shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is outwardly of a golden complexion, but is inwardly Kṛṣṇa Himself. In this age of Kali, He displays His expansions while performing congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. That He is blackish within means that internally He is Kṛṣṇa; that He is golden without means that He has accepted the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. In the age of Kali, that Golden Lord is seen accompanied by His expansions, associates, and intimate devotees performing saṅkīrtan.”
Someone may argue that the meaning of kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ is that His color is black and His luster is also black. But how is this possible? That would be redundant. The conjunction between the words tvisā and akṛṣṇam mean that His color is kṛṣṇa, black, but His luster is akṛṣṇa: not black. Then, someone might say, “Not black does not necessarily mean golden. Why should it mean golden?” The answer is found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Once Vasudeva sent the astrologer priest Garga Ṛṣi to Vṛndāvana to perform the name-giving ceremony for Kṛṣṇa. At that time, Garga Ṛṣi came to the house of Nanda Mahārāj and explained that Vasudeva had sent him. He said, “Your child is now a little grown up and the name-giving ceremony must be performed.” At that time, he spoke the following verse:
āsan varṇās trayo hy asya gṛhṇato ’nuyugaṁ tanūḥ
śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ
“In past incarnations, this boy has appeared with different complexions: white, red, and gold, according to the particular age in which He appeared. Now He has assumed this blackish color.”
He said, “Kṛṣṇa comes in a white color in Satya-yuga, red in Treta-yuga, and He also comes with a golden complexion. Now in this Dvāpara-yuga He has come in a black color.” So the reference to the golden color (pīta) is found here, because only that color has been left for this present age of Kali. There is another reference to this golden color in the Upanishads: yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇam: “Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Brahman, appears in a golden form.” Rukma-varṇam means golden. And here also, non-black means golden.
Kṛṣṇa wanted to come as the incarnation for this age of Kali, as well as to fulfill His promise in Vṛndāvana: “I shall chant the glory of the gopīs, especially of Rādhārāṇī. I shall chant Her name, Her glory, and roll in the dust of the earth!” But Rādhārāṇī said, “I won’t allow Your body to roll in the dust of this earth. I shall cover You with my luster.” Both the mood as well as the luster of Rādhārāṇī capture Kṛṣṇa when He comes here in Kali-yuga. And this does not occur in all Kali-yugas, but only in a special Kali-yuga.
In all the days of Brahmā, in every yuga, the yugāvatāra comes, but Kṛṣṇa appears only once in a day of Brahmā, or once every 4.3 billion years. At that time, the Original Personality of Godhead (svayaṁ bhagavān) appears along with His abodes, Vṛndāvana and Navadwīpa. And Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu do not come here alone, but They come with Their paraphernalia and suitable companions.
And in this age of Kali, He performs a double function: He preaches nām-saṅkīrtan, and more importantly, He assumes the mood of Rādhārāṇī to taste His own sweetness, rasa. He is rasa Himself. Kṛṣṇa thinks, “What is the intensity of the finest rasa in Me? I would like to taste that.” But only devotees can taste that, so He took the position of Rādhārāṇī to taste Himself as Kṛṣṇa, the central, final and perfect abode of rasa. Only Rādhārāṇī can taste the maximum rasa, so He has to take Her nature, Her mood and temperament to taste His own intrinsic ecstasy. For that reason He descended. His first duty was to spread nām-saṅkīrtan, and the secondary, internal, private duty was to perform svabha-jana-vibhajana, to taste His own intrinsic ecstasy in the mood of Rādhārāṇī. In Purī, with Rāmānanda Rāya, Svarūpa Dāmodara, and other intimate associates, He tasted that great ocean of union in separation continuously for twelve years. In His last twelve years, He passed His time only in the process of tasting that mellow.
That incarnation is generally worshipped by saṅkīrtan. Without saṅkīrtan, Gaurāṅga and His paraphernalia cannot be worshipped. He is the propounder of saṅkīrtan, He loves saṅkīrtan, and He gets satisfaction only by saṅkīrtan. Only those who have sufficient merit (sukṛtivān), will worship Him by this process. The common mob cannot join this campaign. Those who have good guidance internally, good fortune, can catch the very gist of truth and engage in this process of nama-saṅkīrtan.
A rubbish-brain cannot detect what is right or wrong, or how precious this is. He cannot understand or follow this higher line of thought. A man should be judged by his ideal, his aspiration for higher things. If the ideal is great, the man is great. What should be the highest ideal? Love. Love is the supreme thing. It is the most rare and precious thing. Divine love and beauty is the highest thing ever known to the world, and those who can catch this are really possessed of good intellect (su-medhasaḥ). And one who possesses this highest ideal should be considered a man of higher order. He alone can understand and practice saṅkīrtan. He alone can take to this path, this process of satisfying the Supreme Being by chanting the Holy Name of the Lord.
This is mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as well as in the Mahābharata and other Vedic scriptures. Karabhājana Ṝṣi, the last of the nine great yogis, has given us a clue to understand Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu as the special incarnation for the age. He has mentioned the incarnation for this age of Kali in a mystic way. We may think, why has this not been described very plainly? So many avatāras are clearly described, but when Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu as the incarnation for the age of Kali, it is discussed in a mystic way. The answer is found in the teachings of Prahlāda Mahārāj, who says, “O Lord, one of Your names is Triyuga, meaning one who incarnates in three ages—Satya, Tretā, and Dvāpara—but not in Kali. And why? Because the incarnation for the age of Kali is in disguise (chhannaḥ kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo ‘tha sa tvam).” Here we find the key to this mystic way of representing Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to the fortunate and intelligent circle (su-medhasaḥ), that ordinary people may not have any clue.
dhyeyaṁ sadā paribhava-ghnam abhīṣṭa-dohaṁ
tīrthāspadaṁ śiva-viriñchi-nutaṁ śaraṇyam
bhṛtyārti-haṁ praṇata-pāla bhavābdhi-potaṁ
vande mahā-puruṣa te charaṇāravindam
“O Mahāprabhu, Your lotus feet are the highest object of meditation, for they not only destroy the pain of material existence, but they bestow the greatest fulfillment to all souls who take shelter beneath them. Your lotus feet even purify all saintly persons and holy places. Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā aspire to take shelter beneath Your lotus feet. O Mahāprabhu, You give shelter to all who simply bow down before You. You relieve all the miseries of Your surrendered servants. In the grand ship of Your lotus feet, we can cross over this ocean of material miseries. O Mahāprabhu, I bow down before Your lotus feet.”
After mentioning the incarnation of Godhead for the age of Kali, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam suddenly begins this song in praise of that great yugāvatāra, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. With a grand voice the Bhāgavatam has come to sing the praise of that guide for Kali-yuga. This follows the verse which hints at the avatāra of Kali-yuga. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ means one who is always describing Kṛṣṇa, who always has on his lips the words “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa.” Another meaning of this expression is “One who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, but whose luster is not black.” If we look deeply, we shall find that hidden beneath His golden luster is the blackish body of Kṛṣṇa. With His own paraphernalia He has come to this plane, and service to Him is performed only by saṅkīrtan, divine sound in mass prayer. By that symptom we can recognize His divine position.
Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is a hidden incarnation; He comes in disguise. Such an avatāra is worshipped by the divinely intellectual. In this way, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam first describes that uncommon, extraordinary personality, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, in a mystic way and then proclaims His nobility and greatness.
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains, “That same personality who came as Rāmachandra and Kṛṣṇa has again appeared. He has come to direct you to the real fulfillment of life. He is drawing the sweetest nectar from above for the sake of everyone. Only meditate on Him and all your troubles will be finished. He is the agent purifying all the holy places of pilgrimage and saintly persons by His touch, by His saṅkīrtan, by His drawing the highest things down from the highest plane. And even Brahmā and Śiva, puzzled by His noble gift, will begin to praise Him. They will eagerly aspire to take shelter under His lotus feet in surrender. The pains of all who come to serve Him will be removed, and their inner necessities will be fulfilled. And He will take care of those who take shelter of Him; they will be given protection as well as everything they may need. In this world where mortality rules, where we are continually experiencing the undesirable changes of repeated birth and death, in this area where no one wants to live, a great ship will come for us and take us within and carry us away from this unpleasant position. Let us fall at the feet of that great personality who comes to give the highest nectar.”
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam continues:
tyaktvā su-dustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīṁ
dharmiṣṭha ārya-vachasā yad agād araṇyam
māyā-mṛgam dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad
vande mahā-puruṣa te charaṇāravindam
“O Supreme Lord, You gave up the goddess of fortune and Her great opulence, which is most difficult to abandon, and is sought after even by the gods. In order to perfectly establish the principles of religion, You left for the forest to honor the brāhmaṇa’s curse. To deliver the sinful souls who chase illusory pleasures, You search after them and award them Your devotional service. At the same time, You are engaged in search of Yourself, in search for Śrī Kṛṣṇa: reality the beautiful.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Chakravartī Ṭhākur has given his explanation that although it seems that this verse applies to Lord Rāmachandra, who left His kingdom and went with Sītādevī to the forest to discharge the duties designed by his father, this also applies to Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Viśvanātha Chakravartī Ṭhākur has drawn out the internal meaning of this verse and applied it in the case of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Tyaktvā su-dustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīṁ means He left imperial prosperity which is hard to abandon. Generally we find this in the case of Lord Rāmachandra, but Viśvanātha Chakravartī Ṭhākur says that surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīṁ means the valuable devotional company of Viṣṇupriyā-devī. That may not appear to be a materially big thing, but the dedication that Viṣṇupriyā has shown in Her heart for Śrīman Mahāprabhu is greater than any imperial standard. And He had to leave that behind. Such a standard of sacrifice and service is never found even among the great society of the gods. For the sake of the public welfare, He had to ignore the serving, loving attitude of Viṣṇupriyā.
This verse mentions the curse of a brāhmaṇa. That brāhmaṇa told Śrīman Mahāprabhu, “I want to participate in your nocturnal kīrtans in which You taste Kṛṣṇa-līlā, but the doors are closed.” When Śrīman Mahāprabhu used to perform kīrtan and taste the Vraja-līlā of Kṛṣṇa, he did so behind closed doors in deep night. But this brāhmaṇa thought himself a very qualified, religious person because he lived by only drinking milk and nothing else, so he said, “I must have entrance into that kīrtan. I do not eat anything but milk; why should I not be allowed?” Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “Milk drinking is no qualification for entering into Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” The brāhmaṇa said, “Then I curse You to lose your family life!” “All right,” Mahāprabhu said and accepted the curse. And later He took sannyāsa and chased after those who were misguided by Māyādevī in order to save them. At the same time, although He is Kṛṣṇa, He accepted the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. For these two reasons, He left his apparently worldly life: He acted for the welfare of the public and, after finishing that work, spent the next twelve years tasting the very inner aspiration of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and searching after His own inner sweetness. This was what He came to show to the world. In this mystic way, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has proclaimed the magnanimous appearance of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.
After Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa, He went to live in Jagannātha Purī. There, he converted the greatest scholar of the day, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya. After meeting Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, the great scholar Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya questioned his brother-in-law Gopīnātha Āchārya about the avatāra of the present age Kali-yuga. Gopīnātha had been living in Navadwīpa, and he was a follower of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. In his own way, Sārvabhauma began to praise Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu as a beautiful man and a great scholar.
“I have great attraction for Him,” he said, “But I don’t think it wise that at such a young age He has taken sannyāsa, the renounced order of life. He has such a long life ahead of Him; how will He be able to keep up the dignity of the life of a sannyāsī, a life of renunciation? I can’t sit by and do nothing. I like this boy very much. I shall have to help Him as a guardian, so that He may not lose His prestige by giving up sannyāsa, attracted by the fascination of worldly pleasures.”
Gopīnātha could not tolerate all this guardian like advice. He told Sārvabhauma, “This young man, who is very beautiful, charming, and scholarly, has attracted your attention, and you want to become His guardian to keep up the purity of His life. Do you think you will have to help Him? What do you mean by saying all these things? Don’t you know that He is really the incarnation of Godhead for this age? He is the avatāra for Kali-yuga; He inaugurated the yuga-dharma of nām-saṅkīrtan in Navadwīpa, and His appearance is mentioned in the scriptures.” Sārvabhauma replied, “No, no! You are not talking to an ordinary person. Don’t think that you can say whatever you like and I will accept it. I am a hard nut to crack. What are you saying? There is no kali-yuga-avatāra. One of the names of Viṣṇu mentioned in the Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma in the Mahābhārata is Triyuga, ‘The Lord who appears only in three ages.’ That means that the Lord has no incarnation in Kali-yuga except Kalki, who is a pastime incarnation and not the yugāvatāra, the incarnation for the age.” Gopīnātha replied, “You think yourself so learned, but although you have studied all the scriptures, and are so proud of your learning, the Mahābhārata and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are the main scriptures of the followers of eternal religious principles, and still you have no particular knowledge about that.”
At that time, Gopīnātha Āchārya quoted passages from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Mahābhārata (kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tvisā ‘kṛṣṇaṁ, suvarṇa-varṇa hemāṅgo). In this way, he pressed his point: “Here we find the direct avatāra for the age of Kali. He has appeared to spread nām-saṅkīrtan. He is not a man, but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa Himself.” Sārvabhauma said, “No, no. Go away. Mind your own business. Don’t think that you can instruct me.” And in this way they argued.
Later, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya told Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, “I would like to teach You Vedānta philosophy, so that You can keep up the standard of Your renunciation. I will teach You that this world is nothing, so that You never feel any charm to again enter into mundane life.” Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “Yes, you are my guardian. Whatever you say, I must do. I will come and learn Vedānta philosophy from you at whatever time is suitable for you.
Then Gopīnātha Āchārya told Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, “Sārvabhauma is saying this because he doesn’t know Your real identity.” Śrīman Mahāprabhu replied, “Why are you speaking against him? He is My guardian. He was My father’s classmate, so he has great affection for Me. It is out of affection that he poses himself as My guardian and looks after My welfare. I don’t find any fault in that.”
In a few days, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began to hear Vedānta from Sarvabhavana Bhaṭṭāchārya, and as Sārvabhauma would speak, He would remain silent like a good boy, as if He were hearing with a submissive attitude. But after he had been teaching Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu for seven days, Sārvabhauma had some doubt in his mind. He thought, “What is the matter” I am such a great scholar in Vedānta and logic, and I am trying my best with all my intelligence to put before Him the inner meaning of Vedānta, but I draw no response from Him. He is only quietly attending my discourse as if He is deaf and dumb. And I can’t say that He does not understand me, for He has a sharp intellect. I am sure of this, but still He gives no appreciation, no response whatsoever. He raises no question and gives no indication whether He understands or not—nothing of the kind. Then what am I doing?” He could not keep himself any longer. He put the question straight to the Lord: “For more than seven days I have been explaining the inner meaning of Vedānta to You. Many sannyāsīs come to me to learn about Vedānta, but You don’t have any question about my talk, my explanation? You maintain a strange and wonderful silence. What is the reason?
Then, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu revealed Himself. He said, “Sārvabhauma, what you explain is on the basis of Śaṅkara’s philosophy, but I heard that it was by the order of the Lord that Śaṅkarāchārya concealed the real purpose of Vedānta. Its author, Vyāsadeva, is a completely theistic person, and he has prepared this Vedānta, but what you say is all based on atheistic scholarship.”
Sārvabhauma was a very intelligent man. He realized, “In a very gentle way, He wants to tell me that what I am explaining is all bogus. I am laboring diligently to explain Vedānta to my utmost capacity for the last seven days, and now He shows His true colors and says that what I am explaining is all false. What is He saying?” Still, in a gentlemanly way, Sārvabhauma with some hesitation asked Śrīman Mahāprabhu, “You say that what I have been explaining for the last seven days is all unsubstantial and unreal. Then can You give the proper meaning? If this is all improper and false, then what is the real meaning of Vedānta?” Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu humbly replied, “If you order Me to explain Vedānta, I will try. The sūtras or codes of Vedānta are lustrous in themselves. They are self-evident. The proper reading of the sutras leads towards Parabrahman, Kṛṣṇa.” Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began with this introduction. He said that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the real explanation and commentary on Vedānta. It is mentioned in the Garuda Purāṇa:
artho ’yaṁ brahma-sūtrānāṁ bhāratārtha-vinirṇayaḥ
gāyatrī-bhāṣya-rūpo ’sau vedārtha-paribṛṁhitaḥ
“Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam represents the real purport of Vedānta-sūtra. And although it is very difficult to draw out the real purpose of the one-hundred-thousand-verse epic Mahābhārata, the great history of the world, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has come to give its real meaning. The mother of all Vedic knowledge is the Gāyatri mantra. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the gist of Gāyatri in a very full-fledged way. And the supplementary truths of the Vedas are also found within Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.” Therefore, Vedānta must be explained in the line of the truth which has been expressed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Only then can the real meaning be understood.
When Śrīman Mahāprabhu mentioned Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sārvabhauma, being a learned paṇḍita could not deny its validity. He said, “Yes, I also like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And I especially like this one very beautiful verse. At that time, Sārvabhauma, to regain lost prestige, began to explain the ātmārāma verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
ātmārāmāś cha munayo nirgranthā apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim ittham-bhūta guṇo hariḥ
“Even the liberated souls fully satisfied in the self are irresistibly attracted by the superexcellent qualities of Kṛṣṇa and surrender to Him with unalloyed devotion.”
Sārvabhauma explained this verse in nine different ways, while Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, as before, sat silently hearing. After he had finished his explanation, Sārvabhauma thought that he had regained his position to a certain extent. Still, as a courtesy, he asked Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, “Are You satisfied with this explanation? If You can give any more light to this verse, I will listen to that.” Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu told him, “If you order me, I may try.” Then He gave eighteen different types of explanations of that verse, leaving aside the nine already given by Sārvabhauma.
At that time, while listening to the explanation of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Sārvabhauma gradually saw that he was losing his position. His pride was finished. Astounded, he thought, “This youth, this young boy, is not an ordinary person. No ordinary intellect can refute my arguments. Leaving aside all of my attempts to explain this verse, He gave eighteen wonderful explanations of this particular verse. What is this? Such consistent, irresistible, devotional, and beautiful explanations are coming, superseding all those that with great energy and effort I explained. No human being can surpass my explanations. No human intellect can cross mine. This is a different sort of explanation. It is all-encompassing. But it is coming from this young boy? What is this?”
Gradually, he lost his faith in himself and became baffled. He recalled how Gopīnātha Āchārya had said that Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was not a human being and thought, “It is not possible for a human to explain things in this way—it is something supernatural”. Then Mystic Revelation. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu reveals Himself as Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya.
Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu revealed to Sārvabhauma His spiritual position as Nārāyāṇa and Kṛṣṇa combined. In a trance, Sārvabhauma saw all these things and fell at the Lord’s feet, and almost completely lost consciousness.
When he arose from his trance, he found that boy still sitting there like a student with great humility. Then Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu asked him, “May I go for today?” Sārvabhauma said, “Yes, you may go now.” The Lord went away, and Sārvabhauma remained there. After some time, he recovered, and began to think, “What have I seen? Four-handed Nārāyāṇa, then Kṛṣṇa playing the flute! I was not defeated by a man—that is my solace. Sārvabhauma became a changed man and composed two verses:
vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga-
śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ
śrī-kṛṣṇa-chaitanya-śarīra-dhārī
kṛpāmbudhir yas tam ahaṁ prapadye
“I surrender unto the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is an ocean of mercy. He is the Original Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and has descended to teach us the real meaning of knowledge, renunciation, and devotion to Him.”
kālān naṣṭaṁ bhakti-yogaṁ nijaṁ yaḥ
prāduṣkartuṁ kṛṣṇa-chaitanya-nāmā
āvirbhūtas tasya pādāravinde
gāḍham gāḍham līyatāṁ chitta-bhṛṅgaḥ
“Let the honeybee of my mind dive deep into the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself. He has appeared to revive the path of unalloyed devotion, which had almost become lost due to the influence of time.”
These two verses were composed by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya expressing that Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Lord Himself. The next day, early in the morning, Śrīman Mahāprabhu, with some prasādam from the Jagannātha temple, ran to Sārvabhauma while he was still in bed. He cried in a loud voice, “Sārvabhauma, how wonderful is this prasādam! It has a very extraordinary taste. Please take it. I have come for you with this prasādam.” Sārvabhauma arose from bed as Mahāprabhu offered him the prasādam, and he could not but accept it without cleansing his mouth. Ordinarily a brāhmaṇa paṇḍita, early in the morning, will first cleanse his mouth, bathe, offer different prayers, and only then take prasādam. But when Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu personally came and offered it to him with His own hand, what could Sārvabhauma do? He had to accept that prasādam. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu told him, “We have previously experienced the taste of so many things like ghee, rice, sweets, and spices. We all know what flavors they have, but this is wonderful. This has touched the lips of Kṛṣṇa Himself. It is extraordinarily wonderful and tasteful.”
Then, Sārvabhauma eagerly ate that prasādam and began uttering some mantras:
śuṣkaṁ paryuṣitaṁ vāpi nītam vā dura-deśataḥ
prāpti-mātreṇa bhoktavyaṁ nātra kāla-vichāraṇā
“One should take the mahā-prasāda of Śrī Kṛṣṇa as soon as one receives it, without consideration of time or place, even though it may be dried up, stale, or brought from a distant country.”
na deśa-niyamas tatra na kāla-niyamas tathā
prāptam annaṁ drutaṁ śiṣṭair bhoktavyaṁ harir abravīt
“The prasāda of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is to be taken by gentleman as soon as it is received, without hesitation. There are no regulative principles concerning time and place. This is the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
He took prasādam, and the Lord and servant embraced one another and began to dance in ecstasy. As they danced, the symptoms of ecstasy appeared in both of them. They perspired, trembled, and shed tears. Absorbed in ecstatic love, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “Today, I have conquered the whole world, for I have converted a scholar like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya. Now, he has so much faith in mahā-prasāda that without performing any Vedic rituals, he took the prasādam. My mission is successful!”
From that day on, Sarvabauma Bhaṭṭāchārya knew nothing but the lotus feet of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, and could only explain the scriptures with the conclusions of devotion. Seeing that Sārvabhauma had become a follower of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Gopīnātha Āchārya began to clap his hands and dance. He said, “Well, Sārvabhauma, what do you think now?” Sārvabhauma replied, “Gopīnātha, you are my real friend, for it is by your grace that I received the mercy of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.”
Although it is the duty of justice to seek qualifications, mercy has no such limits. Divine mercy does not care for any qualifications, but is always ready to compensate the weak and unfit. Only one thing is required: our sincere eagerness to receive mercy. In Chaitanya-caritāmṛta it is said:
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ
krīyatāṁ yadi kuto’pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate
“Pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa cannot be obtained by performing pious activities even for millions of births. It can be purchased only by paying one price: intense eagerness. Wherever it is available, one must purchase it immediately.” No qualifications from one’s previous life will help one to attain Kṛṣṇa consciousness; only eagerness and faith are important.