Gaya

By editor - 23.2 2018

In Vedic society, after the death of a relative, especially one’s father or mother, one must go to Gaya and there offer oblations to the lotus feet of Lord Visnu. Therefore hundreds and thousands of men gather in Gayadaily to offer such oblations, or sraddha. Following this principle, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu also went there to offer pinda to His dead father.

Glorification of Gaya Dham

Gaya dham is located in indian state of Bihar.

Narada Muni narration to Sanatkumar . (GAYA  Mahatmyam  – Agni Puran)

Brahmaji once while engaging in activities of creation created a personality named Gayasur.Gayasur went on to perform severe penance on the mountain Kolahal.Indra became afraid of losing his position.  So he along with all demigods approached Lord Brahma for help.Brahma unable to decide,sought the advice of Lord Shiva. Under the guidance of Lord Shiva – All demigods including Lord Brahma & Shiva went to Lord Vishnu for help.

Lord Vishnu being pleased with the prayers offered by demigods agreed to help them. He told all to go the place where Gayasur is performing Tapasya.Lord Vishnu then riding on the Garuda reached mountain Kolahal.Touching his Conchshell on Gayasur’s head ,Lord Vishnu requested him to ask for some boon.

Gaya asked for an unique boon that whoever touches him (No matter he belongs to any caste or race or whether he is qualified for or not) will get immediately purified & achieve liberation in this very life. Lord Vishnu granted him the boon & thus stopped him from doingfurther tapasya.

As Indra’s problem got solved, it was Yamaraj who was put in to problem due to this boon.

HOW is that? .From the day the boon was conferred, all living entities just by mere sight or mere touch of Gayasur were getting qualified for liberation. No matter who the person was , would get elevated to Vaikuntha. This happened on such a large scale that literally the Hellish planets became empty.

With this new kind of problem, Yamraj along with all Demigods approached Lord Vishnu again. Lord Vishnu arranged an unique plan to solve the issue ultimately .He instructed Lord Brahma to proceed with this new plan ahead.

As per the plan, Lord Brahma approached Gayasur. Gayasur became very happy at the sight of such an elevated personality Lord Brahma (His own father). Gayasura asked whether he could be of some help. Brahma informed that he is going to performed a big yajna & that he is looking for a purified place on earth todo this yajna. Unable to get such a place , Lord Brahma informed him that Gayasur‘s very body is purified by Lord Vishnu‘s boon & can be the best place for performing Yajna. Happy at this opportunity, Gayasur agreed for the proposal.

Gayasur lay down on the ground with his head facing east. A big yajna was performed on the huge body of Gayasur . On the completion of yajna , all demigods took ceremonial bath. Gayasur now decided to get up. As his body was shaking, as per the plan of the lord Vishnu, Yamraj placed a huge rock called as Dharma-sila on the body of Gayasur .When it was done, all the demigods placed their feet on the sila from all sides to make it stable. However the stone still kept shaking due to the power of Gayasur . Finally Lord Vishnu came & placed his 2 lotus feet on the Centre of the Dharma- sila & the stone got stabilized, Gayasur thus got stuck beneath the stone.

Lord Vishnu as Gadadhar had appeared there standing  holding his gada (mace) . Lord Vishnu then spoke to Gayasur to ask for more boons underneath from the stone.Gayasur asked from Lord Vishnu that Lord along with all demigods remain residing on this huge stone rock till the end of creation. He asked from Lord to name the place “GAYA” after him & that it becomes a famous holy place. He further asked that anyone  who bathes, offers pinda, offers charity will get benefited & purified immensely more than any other holy place. And that by taking Lord Vishnu’s darshan as Gadadhar , they will be further purified of all accumulated  sins. Anyone who performed pinda dan & sraddha for his forefather here, the deceased ancestor will be absolved from all his sins & will get placed in his next life in Brahma loka .

Further account explains  theorigin of Dharma Shila (Rock) kept on the Gayasur. She was the daughter of Yamaraj herself of the name ‘Dharma Vrata’. Later she got married to the great sageMarichi(son of Brahma). She became stone on account of being cursed by her own husband. Once, while she was serving her sleeping husband by pressing his legs, Lord Brahma (her father- in – law) appeared in the hermitage . She was unable to decide whom should she serve now- should she leave her sleeping husband & welcome father – in – law or should she continue her serving. At this point, using her intelligence, she decided to welcome Lord Brahma. Unable to see his wife near him pressing his legs, Marichi became very disturbed & cursed his wife to become a rock as she was stone hearted in not rendering proper service. Dharmavrata was unhappy hearing this curse , so she too cursed her husband that he will soon offend Lord Shiva & will be cursed by him. Later both repented at their mistakes. So then both husband &wife now started doing tapasya to overcome their mistake.

Dharmavrata’s intense tapasya became a topic of concern for all demigods. They all came to her. She asked them to nullify this curse. Demigods informed that curse given by great sages can never be nullify as each curse has a divine result in later part of life. Understanding this , Dharmavrata asked that as a stone she could become one of the most holy stones & that all the demigods may one day reside on her & people perform pious activities on her.   

It is well known through different vedic scriptures that  Lord Krishna, Lord Ram, Lord Nityananda, Lord Gauranga, Lord Balaram, Five pandavas, Bhisma, Bhaktivinod Thakur,etc,  visited and offered pinda daan here. On his preaching tour, Srila Bhaktisiddhant  saraswati  Thakur also went to Gaya.  Srila Saraswati Thakur opened a centre  here too.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Gaya

Story of Lord Gauranga’s taking Initiation from  Ishvara puri and performing sraddha at GAYA :-

Chaitanya Bhagavat Adi Khanda .Chapter seventeen: The Lord’s Travel to Gaya:

This chapter describes sri Gaurasundara’s visit to Gaya via Mandara and Punpun, His meeting with isvara Puri at Gaya, His bestowing mercy on isvara Puri on the pretext of accepting initiation, His manifestation of Himself, His attempts to go to Mathura while being maddened in separation from Krishna, His return home to Navadvipa-Mayapur after hearing a voice from the sky on the way, and the conclusion of the adi-khaeoa.

During the time when sri Gaurasundara was enjoying His pastimes in Navadvipa as the crest jewel of teachers, the philosophies of the atheists and the smartas were being quickly propagated. Even hearing the name of bhakti-yoga was rare. The sinful people went on unnecessarily criticizing the Vaineavas. Considering that the proper time had arrived to manifest Himself, sri Gaurasundara enacted the pastime of going to Gaya for performing worldly fruitive rituals in order to refute the atheistic and smarta philosophies as well as to bewilder averse persons. In order to bewilder the atheists, the Lord displayed the pastime of being attacked with fever on His way to Gaya. Thereafter, to exhibit His affection towards His servants and the potency of water that has washed the feet of qualified brahmaeas, He drank water that had washed the feet of a brahmaea and ended His pastime of having fever. On reaching Punpun, the Lord performed His pastime of worshiping the forefathers and then entered Gaya. He took bath at Brahma-kueoa and, after displaying the pastimes of duly respecting His father at that place, He came to Cakraveoa and manifested His pastime of seeing the lotus feet of Gadadhara, or Lord Vineu.

After hearing the glories of the lotus feet of Gadadhara from the resident brahmaeas, the Lord became decorated with pure ecstatic transformations and thus inaugurated His pastimes of manifesting loving devotional service. By providence, the Lord met isvara Puri there. sri Mahaprabhu revealed to sri isvara Puri that the perfection of visiting Gaya is to meet pure devotees like isvara Puri, that seeing Vaineavas is matchlessly greater than worshiping and offering oblations to the forefathers at Gaya, and that His purpose of traveling to Gaya was to permanently surrender at the lotus feet of a maha-bhagavata spiritual master. Without disturbing the foolish ill-motivated fruitive workers who are bewildered by the three modes of material nature, to teach them that until one receives initiation into Krishna mantras from a bona fide spiritual master he is eligible only for performing fruitive activities, and to simultaneously bewilder the atheists, sri Gaurasundara exhibited the pastimes of offering various oblations to the forefathers at Gaya according to worldly customs. Thereafter He returned to His room and began to personally cook. At that time sripada isvara Puri arrived there overwhelmed with love of Krishna. The Lord personally served all the foodstuffs that He cooked for Himself to sri isvara Puripada, and by directly serving His spiritual master, Puripada, with His own hands, He displayed the ideal example of serving the spiritual master. On another day, in a solitary place, Mahaprabhu offered obeisances to isvara Puri and requested him for mantra initiation. Then the Lord received the ten syllable mantra from His spiritual master and surrendered everything unto his lotus feet. In this way sri Gaura-Narayaea Prabhu, the spiritual master of the entire universe, instructed people who are desirous of love of God.

In order to reveal that only a person who has fully surrendered at the lotus feet of his spiritual master and is endowed with transcendental knowledge is qualified to achieve loving devotional service as a result of service to the spiritual master, Mahaprabhu, after receiving initiation from isvara Puripada, became overwhelmed with separation from Krishna, loudly cried out “Krishna! Krishna!” and thus exhibited His pastime of becoming most restless. “I will not enter into family life; rather, I will go to Mathura in search of Krishna, who has stolen My heart.” saying this, the Lord instructed His students who had accompanied Him to Gaya to return to Navadvipa. Being greatly overwhelmed by separation from Krishna, the Lord departed towards Mathura in the early morning without informing anyone, while addressing Krishna, “O dear Krishna, O dear child! Where will I go? Where will I meet Murali-vadana.” After walking a little distance, the Lord heard a voice from the sky saying that the time had not yet arrived for the Lord to visit Mathura. The Lord should distribute loving devotional service in Navadvipa for some time. Hearing this voice from the sky, Gaurasundara stopped His journey and returned to His residence at Gaya, where He took permission from sripada isvara Puri and then returned to sri Navadvipa with His students.

Chapter 18 – Sri Mahaprabhu starts the sankirtan movement.

The entire township of Navadvipa offered jubilant and loud welcome to the Lord who had just returned from Gaya-dhama. Friends and relatives rushed to meet the Lord. The Lord spoke sweetly to everyone and they were overjoyed to see Lord Visvambhara return. They all accompanied the Lord, many of them going in front of Him. They brought Him to His house, and He began narrating the experiences of his pilgrimage.

The Lord said, “By your blessings and good wishes, I could visit Gaya-dhama and return without any difficulties.” The Lord spoke very humbly, pleasing everyone. They were all very impressed by His gentility.

The senior members of the society touched the Lord’s head and blessed Him with a long life. Further well wishers chanted mantras for His protection as they touched different parts of His body. Putting their heads upon His breast, others invoked the mercy of Govinda, saying, “May Govinda bestow blissful peace upon You.”

Nobody could describe the joy sacimaoa experienced as she saw the return of her son. Upon seeing her Lord’s face, Vineupriya glowed with happiness and her cloud of loneliness dissipated. The joyous news spread to His in-laws house, touching them with jubilation.

The Vaineavas were especially happy and they ran to see the Lord. To everyone the Lord spoke very softly and humbly. Later, taking leave of them, He returned to His room. He took a handful of devotees inside to discuss the more confidential topics of His pilgrimage to Gaya.

The Lord said, “My dear friends, I want to describe to you the wonderful places that constantly reminded Me of Lord Krishna. As soon as I entered into Gaya, I heard the auspicious sounds of chanting, conch shells, and bells. Hundreds and hundreds of brahmaea priests were chanting from the Vedas. They glorified Lord Krishna and the place of pilgrimage where He had left the impression of His lotus feet.”

They said, “Welcome to the holy spot where the Lord washed his lotus feet. In previous ages, when Lord Krishna visited Gaya, He washed His transcendental lotus feet at this place. Mother Gaiga has become glorious and holy by the touch of the waters from the lotus feet of the Lord. Lord siva holds that water upon his head with the full realization that this is the water from the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Therefore, this place of pilgrimage has become one of the holiest and is known as, Padodaka-tirtha the pilgrimage place where the Lord left the waters of His lotus feet.”

As soon as the Lord repeated the name of Gaya-dhama and Padapadma-tirtha, His remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Vineu intensified and incessant streams of tears poured down from his eyes. He became extremely restless. Unable to control His spiritual emotions, He began crying out the name of Lord Krishna. so profuse were the tears of Krishna-prema, love of Godhead, that they could have watered an entire flower garden.

He sighed deeply, repeating Krishna’s name. His whole body was covered with horripilation. He could not control Himself anymore and shivered like an autumnal leaf. sriman Paeoita and other devotees present could not remain unaffected; they were astounded at seeing this wonderful manifestation of love of Krishna. Tears swelled up in the eyes the eyes of the Lord and flowed freely as if Mother Gaiga had found another source.

“What is this sight? ” they all thought in their minds. “We have never seen the Lord acting like this, this must be the great mercy of Lord Krishna that He has allowed us to see such spiritual emotions.” After a while, the Lord became still and external consciousness returned to Him. He began to speak again, “My dear friends! Please return to your homes today, but I want to see all of you tomorrow again and discuss very confidentially in a solitary place. I want to disclose the deep sadness in my heart. sriman, you come early to suklambara Brahmacari’s house with Murari and sadasiva.”

Everybody returned to their houses and the Lord became engrossed in His own world. The spirit of Krishna-prema had manifested in the body of the Lord and He had now lost all taste for anything mundane. sacimaoa could not understand the new transformation that had overcome her son, but she was happy just to have Him near. she saw her son crying out Krishna’s name and the tears of Krishna-prema, which flowed profusely from His eyes. The Lord cried out, “Where is my beloved Krishna, where is my beloved Krishna?” This deepened His mood of separation in love of Krishna.

All such activities of the Lord were incomprehensible to sacimaoa, so in great awe with folded hands she prayed for the shelter of Lord Govinda. The time was now dawning when Lord Caitanya was to reveal His real identity and the entire universe swayed with waves of joy. News quickly spread to all the Vaineava devotees that Lord Caitanya was constantly shedding tears of Krishna-prema and they all swiftly gathered at His house to see Him. The Lord acted very humbly towards them and spoke with everyone.

He requested of the Vaineavas, “Please come and meet Me in suklambara’s house tomorrow, I want to open My grief laden heart to all of you.”

sriman Paeoita was extremely happy when he saw this wonderful transformation in the Lord His extraordinary Krishna-prema. Early the next morning, sriman went as usual to pick flowers at srivasa’s house, where was there was a jasmine tree, which was like a kalpa-vakna, desire tree. Many, many flowers were picked from this tree; however, the tree would be never be devoid of flowers. It had an inexhaustible bloom of fresh flowers. Usually, all the devotees met there during morning to pick flowers and exchange words about Krishna and His wonderful pastimes. In this way, Gadadhara, Gopinatha, Ramai and srivasa would daily enjoy each other’s company in the morning.

As sriman Paeoita arrived, he was laughing with joy. Everyone greeted him saying, “Why are you so happy today?” sriman, happily smiling, said, “Certainly, there is be a reason.” The other flower picking devotees responded, “Then, why do you not say it?”

sriman Paeoita began, “Very well, you must hear the reason. something most wonderful and most impossible has happened! Nimai Paeoita has become a great Vaineava devotee. I heard that He had returned from Gaya, so I went in the evening to meet Him. He spoke with everyone with a humble and very detached air, not showing the slightest sign of arrogance or insolence.

“Then, He took the Vaineavas aside and began describing His pilgrimage and feeling for Lord Krishna. As soon as He mentioned the lotus feet of Lord Krishna and Padapadma-tirtha, His eyes flooded over with tears of Krishna-prema. His whole body was overwhelmed with ecstatic symptoms, shivering and horripilation. As He cried out Lord Krishna’s name, he fell to the ground unconscious. When He regained consciousness, He repeatedly called out Krishna’s name and again began crying in separation from the Lord a river of tears like Gaiga devi flowed from his eyes!

“After seeing such sublime love of Krishna, I am convinced that He is not an ordinary personality. After He became stilled and self-controlled, He told us that we should all come to meet Him in suklambara Brahmacari’s house today. I should bring sadasiva and Murari along with me and He would reveal the torment within His heart to us. Thus, I have told you the reason for my joy and this most auspicious news.” sriman’s words gave great pleasure to all the devotees, and they loudly repeated Lord Hari’s name. srivasa ohakura commented, “May Lord Krishna increase our congregation.”

The assembled devotees appreciated the mood of srivasa ohakura and happily, they discussed topics of Krishna consciousness. The joyous sounds that surrounded them were pleasing to the heart. The devotees blessed everyone saying, “May everyone be blessed by worshiping the lotus feet of Lord Krishna.” sriman Paeoita then left this Vaineava assembly and proceeded to suklambara Brahmacari’s house.

Gadadhara Paeoita, who had heard the discussions silently while everyone was picking flowers, also went towards the house of suklambara Brahmacari while the others went to perform their daily worship of the Lord. Gadadhara Paeoita thought, “Let me go and hear what He says about Krishna.” Thus, he reached suklambara’s house, entered, and hid himself inside. sadasiva, Murari, sriman, suklambara and other such highly advanced loving devotees had already assembled there.

Just then, Lord Visvambhara, the crest jewel of the brahmaeas, appeared in the assembly. They greeted each other happily, but the Lord was all the time engrossed within Himself. As soon as He was in the assembly of Vaineava devotees, He began reciting different slokas, which glorified the nature of bhakti, devotional service.

He said, “I had found my beloved Lord, but then He disappeared. In which direction did He go?” saying these words, He fell down completely paralysed. The Lord embraced the pillars of the house and began crying out, “Where is Krishna?” and then again fell down. The devotees became affected by the Lord’s intense mood of separation from His beloved Lord Krishna. He constantly repeated, “O Krishna, where is My Krishna?” The atmosphere intoxicated the devotees, it made them sway and stagger about the room.

Inside the room unseen by anyone, Gadadhara Paeoita fell down unconscious. The devotees lost all sense of direction and identity nobody knew where or who he was. They became overwhelmed with love of Krishna and all external consciousness disappeared from them. The whole spiritual scene amazed, Jahnavi devi, Mother Gaiga. After a while, consciousness returned to the Lord and He again repeated Lord Krishna’s name and began crying bitterly.

It was a wonderful scene everyone had lost themselves in an ocean of ecstatic bliss of love of Krishna. The Lord fell repeatedly and continuously lamented, “O my beloved Lord Krishna, where did You go?” In this ecstatic mood, the Lord fell many times to the ground unconsciousness, but no bruises or pain were visible on His transcendental body. Loud jubilant cries and weeping in love of Krishna reverberated through the entire house and suklambara’s house became surcharged with the ecstasy of Krishna-prema.

After some time, the Lord calmed Himself and sat down, but tears of ecstatic love flowed unrestrainedly from His eyes. He asked, “Who is inside the house?” suklambara Brahmacari replied, “Your beloved Gadadhara Paeoita.” Gadadhara Paeoita entered with his head down and his unchecked tears flowed profusely in torrents. This pleased the Lord beyond words. The Lord said, “Dear Gadadhara! You are most fortunate and pious because from your childhood, you have developed unflinching love for Krishna, but My life, so far, has been wasted in the useless pursuit of material knowledge. Then, finally, when I found the most precious object of love, He disappeared as a result of my previous impious and profane activities.”

saying this, the Lord Visvambhara again fell unconscious to the ground and the dust covered His entire body. Later, His external consciousness returned and then again, He fell unconscious, totally lost in ecstatic separation from His beloved Lord Krishna. It was certainly the invention of providence that the Lord was not hurt. It became impossible for the Lord to open His eyes because they were brimming with tears of love of Krishna. The only words He repeated were Krishna’s names.

He embraced everyone and, crying bitterly, asked, “Where is My beloved Krishna?”

“My dear brothers, please tell Me quickly.” The devotees were greatly moved to see His intense pain of separation from Krishna. They remained dumbfounded and lost for words.

The Lord said, “Please release Me from this grief, I only need the son of Nanda Maharaja, the Lord of the gopis. I need Lord Krishna.”

saying this He again fell down, His hair loose and mingling in the dust. The day passed unnoticed by anyone, and finally the Lord bade farewell to all the devotees.

After the Lord had departed, the devotees spoke openly, expressing their surprise. Each one had marvelled at the Lord, their external senses and body had become numb. The entire Vaineava community was overjoyed at the new turn of events.

The word spread quickly, and with great joy, all the devotees received it and spontaneously responded by chanting the Holy Name of Krishna. They could not restrain their amazement and made comments like, “He will reveal Krishna to everyone.” someone else said, “When Nimai Paeoita feels a little better, then He can easily break the heads of the atheists.”

Another commented, “I have no doubt that He will reveal to the world the most confidential pastimes of Lord Krishna.” Another commented, “Perhaps, because of His association with a pure devotee like isvara Puri, He saw the supreme Lord, Sri Krishna.” Endlessly, they tried to find a possible reason for the Lord’s transformation.

Yet, the devotees were very happy about Nimai Paeoita’s condition and they all blessed Him saying, “May He be blessed with the mercy of Lord Krishna. The devotees were truly very happy; they danced, sang, and cried tears of love with new life.

While the devotees were happily engaged in dancing and singing, the Lord became increasingly immersed in His mood of ecstatic separation. He went to the house of Gaigadasa Paeoita and offered His respects to the feet of His teacher who got up and affectionately embraced his student.

Gaigadasa Paeoita said, “What a glorious life! You have liberated both the families of Your mother and father. All Your students have been awaiting You anxiously; they have not opened their books since You left. Even if Lord Balarama had come in person and told them to read, they would have refused. You have returned to brighten everyone’s days, but go home now and tomorrow return to begin Your teaching. The Lord again offered His obeisances to His teacher before He left, and all the students surrounded the Lord like many stars surrounding the moon.

He went to the house of Mukunda saïjaya and sat at His usual teaching place in the courtyard of the Durga temple. The whole household of Mukunda saïjaya was overwhelmed with joy. The Lord embraced Purunottama saïjaya and drenched him with tears of love. The ladies, elevated with joy, made auspicious sounds and the whole house was reverberating with jubilant sounds. The Lord glanced mercifully at everyone and returned to His house.

He arrived home, sat at the doorstep of His Vineu temple, and affectionately dismissed his students. Now, whoever came and spoke with the Lord went away bewildered, unable to comprehend the change in the Lord’s mood. No trace of the previous arrogance and audacious display of learning remained in the Lord’s character. Everyone saw that He was completely detached and engrossed in deep meditation.

sacimaoa was completely at a loss. she could not understand her son anymore. she prayed constantly to Mother Gaiga and Lord Vineu for her son’s well being. she prayed, “O my Lord Krishnacandra, You have taken my husband. You have also taken my son. There is only Nimai who remains with me. O Krishna, I am helpless and alone, just grant me this one favour: Let my child Visvambhara remain in the house, healthy and whole.”

sacimaoa would bring Vineupriya and make her sit in front of the Lord, and the Lord would stare without noticing her. The Lord continuously recited slokas and kept lamenting and repeating, “Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna?” At times, when the Lord roared in ecstatic bliss, Vineupriya ran away in fear, while sacimaoa stood helpless and anxious. The ecstasy of love for Krishna kept the Lord from sleep, and His unbearable separation from Krishna made Him sit up the whole night through. Yet, as soon as He saw a materialistic person, He immediately went inside Himself and did not exhibit any of the ecstatic symptoms.

Early every morning, the Lord went for His bath in the Gaiga, and upon His return, He found the students awaiting Him. The Lord uttered only Krishna’s name and nothing else; the students could not understand their teacher’s mood. On the students’ request, the Lord sat down to teach. The students sat down and opened their books, taking the Lord’s name, ‘Hari’, as they were accustomed. The son of sacimaoa, Nimai Paeoita was greatly overjoyed at hearing His beloved Lord’s name. He again became absorbed, forgetting His external senses, and looked upon everyone with His merciful glance. Wholly absorbed in Krishna, the Lord began explaining to His students. He told His students that the essential lesson of everything was Lord Krishna, all aphorisms, commentaries, and dissertations, were actually describing the glories of the Holy Name.

The Lord said, “The only eternal truth is the Holy Name of Krishna, Krishna is the only worshipable Lord in all the scriptures. Krishna is the supreme Controller, Maintainer, and the Lord of the entire creation. Lord siva, Lord Brahma and every other deity are His servants. Whosoever tries to explain anything without describing the lotus feet of Lord Krishna is in illusion; his words are untrue and his birth is useless. The entire Vedanta, the agamas, and all other philosophical treatises point out that devotion to the lotus feet of Krishna is the ultimate and only goal.

 

“All the mundane scholars are mesmerized by the illusory potency of the Lord, totally lost because they cannot find shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna. Lord Krishna is an ocean of mercy. He is the life and soul of every living entity. He is the most dear to His surrendered souls and is the dear son of Mother Yasoda. A person may be well versed in all scriptures, but if he has no attraction and attachment for the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, then he follows the path of destruction and hell. On the other hand, if a wretched and abominable person chants Lord Krishna’s name, then even if he is most sinful, he reaches the supreme abode of Lord Krishna after leaving this material world. This is the verdict of all the scriptures and if anyone doubts this then he is the worst sufferer. If anyone tries to explain the scriptures without having taken shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, then such a degraded person can never know the true purport of the scriptures. He pretends to be a teacher of the scriptures, yet knows not the essence and message of the scriptures. He is like a washerman’s donkey carrying the load of all the scriptures. such a soul is truly unfortunate because, in spite of his education, he has forfeited the joy of Krishna consciousness.

“People in general are so foolish; instead of meditating upon the supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, they meditate on other personalities, not knowing that the one supreme Lord Krishna mercifully offered liberation even to the demoness Pütana, who had come to kill Him. What greater pleasure can they receive, other than that obtained by glorifying Lord Krishna did He not redeem even the most sinful demon, Aghasura? Just the Holy Name of supreme Lord, Krishna, alone can purify the entire universe. Even the highest living being of the universe, Lord Brahma, experiences misery in his life, yet he becomes overwhelmed with joy when he participates in the great saikirtana celebrations surrounding Lord Krishna. Nevertheless, these unfortunate fallen souls disregard this sublime nectar to sing, dance, and revel in inauspicious mundane festivities.

“Intoxicated by wealth, high birth, education and the like, they do not know the wonders of the Holy Name of Krishna, which liberated Ajamila just by being chanted once. My dear students and brothers, please hear me carefully for everything I say is very true, you should just worship the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna, the most precious treasure. Laknmi Devi always desires to serve these lotus feet. Lord siva has become a pure devotee just by taking shelter of them. These supreme lotus feet are the ultimate source of Mother Gaiga. so all of you, My dear brothers, please simply take shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet. Now I send out a challenge: Refute the explanations that I have just rendered!”

sri Visvambhara is the supreme Absolute Truth, the embodiment of transcendental sound vibration, so whatever He speaks is the Absolute Truth. The mesmerized students listened to the Lord’s words with undivided attention while the Lord spoke on as if in a trance, revealing the Absolute Truth. The Lord explained everything in the light of Krishna consciousness and established a clear connection of every word with the supreme Lord, Krishna. This was an astonishing feat even for the supreme Lord Himself. Lord Visvambhara soon became aware of His external words and coming out of His trance, He became shy, wondering if His students would think of Him as being mad or unbalanced. so to cover up, He said a few words. He asked the students, “How were My commentaries today?”

The students replied, “We could not understand anything. You have described Krishna as a purport to every word, who is there who can understand Your explanations?” Lord Visvambhara laughed and said, “Listen my dear brothers, pack your books and let’s go to the Gaiga for a bath.” The students put their books away and accompanied Lord Visvambhara down to the Gaiga. They were all happy to be in the water playing and joking. Lord Visvambhara, surrounded by all His students, looked like the glowing full moon rising out of the ocean. All those who saw the Lord frolicking in the waters were extremely pious and fortunate. Even Lord Brahma aspires to see the Lord like this, playing in the water. Everyone who had come to bathe kept looking longingly at the beautiful face of Lord Gauracandra. They said to each other, “How beautiful He is. His father and mother are really blessed.”

Mother Gaiga could not contain the joy she experienced by the Lord’s presence in her waters. Her waters swirled, sending out dancing waves of ecstasy. she was dancing with joy she wanted to serve those lotus feet that are even desired by Ananta sena and all the demigods. Therefore, her many thousands of waves washed the Lord’s lotus feet. Only the Vedas know the truth about all such transcendental activities of the Lord and His devotees. In the future, someone will come and reveal these wonderful pastimes of the Lord.

Finishing His bath, the Lord returned home and the students went back to their respective homes. He changed His clothes, washed His feet, and then offered water to the tulasi plant. He performed His daily worship of Lord Govinda and came to take His meal. sacimaoa brought His plate with tulasi maïjaris, rice and other preparations. The Lord offered the foodstuffs to Visvesvara and then the Lord of the entire universe began taking His meal. sacimaoa, the Mother of the Universe, sat in front of the Lord as He ate and the chaste Vineupriya remained in the next room unseen, looking at Her Lord.

sacimaoa asked, “My son, what book have You been reading today? And with whom did You have a debate?” The Lord replied, “Today, we read about the Holy Name of Krishna and the glories of His lotus feet, the abode of all excellencies. His name and transcendental qualities are eternal chanting and hearing the Lord’s names are also eternal. His surrendered servants and devotees are also eternal. That scripture is true and eternal, which explains the process of devotional service to the supreme Lord, Krishna. Otherwise, such a book cannot be called a scripture it is an atheistic and shallow book. The Vedic scriptures say, ‘That scripture which fails to establish the process of devotional service is to be rejected. Even if Lord Brahma himself was to come and speak from it, one should never such a recitation.’

“If the lowest of men in human society, the dog-eater, utters Krishna’s Holy Name, then, he is not the lowest of mankind. And, if a Brahmin born in a high family does not follow the principles of scripture and religion, then, he is not a Brahmin.” Lord Visvambhara spoke to His mother just like Lord Kapila had spoken to His mother, Devahüti.

“Dear mother, try to understand the wonderful influence of the process of devotional service to Lord Krishna. Try to develop in every respect, attachment to the supreme Lord. The devotees of Lord Krishna can never be destroyed. Fearful death himself is afraid of a servant of the Lord. The Lord’s devotees never experience the excruciating pains of life in the mother’s womb, birth, and subsequent death. All such sufferings are unknown to the devotee.

“Whoever refuses to worship the lotus feet of Krishna, who is the father of every living entity, is a great sinner, an enemy of his own father, and becomes a resident of hell, birth after birth. My dear mother, please listen attentively how frightfully a living entity suffers if he is not willing to serve the lotus feet of the Lord.

“Again and again, he is made to enter into the wombs of his mothers as a sinful creation. He is subjected to unbearable suffering in each womb. Everything the mother eats pains him. Whether it is spicy, salty or sour, he suffers, unable to do anything. He cannot protect himself against the many worms and bacteria that nibble his soft unprotected flesh. Unable to move, he must suffer all conditions inside the hot and sticky womb. If his fate allows, he lives through this nightmare. There are those who are extremely sinful and are condemned to die within the womb, repeatedly.

“After remaining seven months within the womb, the living entity begins to gradually understand his position. He remembers his previous promises and births, and begins to repent for his mistakes. He sighs and prays heedfully to Lord Krishna, ‘Oh Lord Krishna! Please save me! You are the life and soul of all the living entities.

“ ‘You are the only fit shelter for the living entities in distress. Due to my forgetfulness of You, Krishna, I have been captured by Your external energy. Oh Lord, You who are the Lord of all the energies, please relieve me by an easy death. I have wasted my life chasing after illusory and temporary happiness such as family, children, and wealth and neglected your priceless eternal lotus feet.

“ ‘The son whom I raised so lovingly with a life of sin, where is he now? Where is everything? What have all my activities brought me? Who will save me from this untold suffering? My Lord, You are my only friend in this distress. Now I realise that Your lotus feet are my only eternal shelter, O Lord Krishna! Please save me. I take the shelter of Your lotus feet. Oh foolish me, I have left such a merciful Lord as Yourself, who is like a touchstone supplying all desires, and have become mad after illusion in forgetfulness of You.

“ ‘For such a crime my present suffering condition is a proper punishment, but now, Oh Lord, please be merciful upon me. Grant me just this one favour, that I may never forget You and neglect Your lotus feet. Wherever I am, whether living or dying, may I always remember You. I do not want to remain in that place where there are no assemblies of Your devotees. I do not even want to enter Indraloka if they do not celebrate Your festivals.

“ ‘The srimad Bhagavatam states: “An intelligent person does not take interest in any place, even if it be the topmost planetary system, if the pure River Ganges of topics concerning the supreme Lord’s activities does not flow there, or if there are no devotees engaged in service upon the banks of such a river of piety, or if there are no festivals and, especially in this age, if there is no saikirtana-yajïa to satisfy the Lord.” Better, Oh Lord, to live cramped up perpetually in an airtight mother’s womb suffering constantly, if I can remember Your lotus feet. I never want to live in any place where I must forget Your lotus feet. O Lord, please be merciful and never put me in a place like that.

“ ‘so many millions of births, I have suffered in this abominable position, Oh Lord. These births were all due to my own sinful activity. Let me always remain in this precarious and suffering position if You will mercifully appear on the mirror of my memory, because You are the essence of all Vedic scriptures. Oh Lord, please offer me Your servitude and keep me eternally at Your lotus feet, just like a sold-out slave. If this time, You relieve me from this painful condition, then I want nothing other than Your lotus feet.’

“In this way the living entity suffers unbearable pain within the womb, yet he still loves this painful condition because he can still remember Lord Krishna. Praying to the Lord in this manner the devotee does not feel the pain anymore, and soon he comes out of the womb unwillingly.

“Oh mother, please listen carefully to the position of the conditioned living entity. As soon as he enters this world, he loses all his knowledge. sometimes, he is sleeping as though unconscious, sometimes crying and breathing deeply. Unable to express himself, he is drowned in an ocean of suffering.

“The living entities are eternal servants of Lord Krishna. If they turn away from the Lord then they suffer the punishment meted out by the illusory potency of the Lord. After some years, knowledge and intelligence blossom within him, and then if he worships Lord Krishna he is truly fortunate and pious. However, if, by the influence of bad association, he does not worship the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, then he falls down into the dark well of sin and suffering.

“The srimad Bhagavatam says, ‘If therefore, the living entity again associates with the path of unrighteousness, influenced by sensually-minded people engaged in the pursuit of sexual enjoyment and the gratification of the palate, he again goes to hell as before.’

“It is also said in the scriptures, ‘How can a person who does not worship the lotus feet of Lord Krishna have an undisturbed life and an peaceful death?’

“To live an tranquil life and die peacefully one must worship and remember Lord Krishna. Therefore, O mother, please associate with devotees and worship Lord Krishna. Within your mind always think of Lord Krishna and with your mouth always chant ‘Hari!’ Non-devotional activities are devoid of any good fruit and bring only calamity and suffering.” In this way, assuming the mood of Lord Kapila, Lord Caitanya taught His mother and upon hearing these words, sacidevi became very joyful.

Whether He was eating, sleeping, or awake, Lord Caitanya did not speak of anything but Lord Krishna. When the devotees heard the descriptions of these activities of the Lord, they discussed them amongst themselves, and contemplated them in their hearts. “Has Lord Krishna manifested in His body? Perhaps this is by the association of devotees, or perhaps by some previous process of purification?” Contemplating within their hearts in this way, the devotees experienced great happiness. By His manifestation in this world, Lord Visvambhara vanquished the suffering of His devotees and destroyed the materialistic atheists and offenders.

Now fully assuming the role of a Vaineava, Mahaprabhu Visvambhara always saw Lord Krishna present everywhere in the world. Without cessation, during both day and night, with His ears He heard only the name of Lord Krishna and with His mouth spoke only ‘Krishnacandra’. The Lord who was once absorbed in the taste of scholarship could not now relish anything other than Krishna.

Early ever morning, all His students would assemble for their studies. However, when He, who is the master of the three worlds, sat and began to lecture nothing but Krishna would appear upon His tongue.

The students asked, “What is the correct and perfect understanding of the alphabet?” The Lord replied, “Lord Narayaea is situated in all the letters of the alphabet.”

The students asked, “How were the letters of the alphabet perfected?” The Lord replied, “The merciful glance of Lord Krishna created the alphabet.” The students responded, “O Paeoita, please give the correct understanding.” The Lord said, “At every moment, one should remember Lord Krishna. I am describing the worship of Lord Krishna, which is the purpose of all the scriptures. In their beginning, middle, and end, the scriptures only teach the worship of Lord Krishna.”

Upon hearing the Lord’s explanation, the students began to laugh. One murmured, “The cause of this strange explanation is an imbalance of the life-airs. The students again asked, “From where did you get this idea?” The Lord replied, “This is the ultimate conclusion of scripture.”

The Lord said, “If you cannot now understand, then contemplate the matter and this afternoon I will explain in more detail. Each student should go to a secluded place and study his books. In the afternoon we will meet again.” Upon hearing the Lord’s words, the surprised students tied up their books and left.

All the students then went to Gaigadasa and related the words and explanations of the Lord. They said, “Nimai Paeoita now declares that all words of the scriptures refer to Lord Krishna alone. After returning home from Gaya, he talks only of Krishna and gives nothing else as an explanation. He continually chants the name of Lord Krishna, feeling great ecstasy. sometimes He laughs aloud, sometimes roars aloud, and sometimes His whole body breaks out into horripilation. In this way, different symptoms manifest within Him. When He sits down to teach, He connects the root of every single word to Krishna. All His purports and commentaries describe Krishna. This new transformation in Him seems to be so alien to us. Please, Oh Master, please tell us what should we do?”

Gaigadasa Paeoita, the jewel-like teacher of Navadvipa, smiled and after listening to the complaints of the students, told them, “Go home now and return this afternoon, I will instruct Nimai. I will see that He tutors all of you properly from now on. You may also come with Nimai; be here with your books this afternoon.

Later, that afternoon, the Lord visited Gaigadasa Paeoita and touched His master’s feet with respect. In turn, Gaigadasa Paeoita blessed Him saying, “May You become highly learned.” He then continued, “My dear Visvambhara, I must tell You something. You know that it is no small matter for a Brahmin to be able to teach. It is a question of good fortune.

“Your grandfather is none other that sri Nilambara Cakravarti, and Your father is sri Jagannatha Misra; both are great scholars. Neither of Your parent’s families is illiterate, and You, Yourself, are a very able scholar with an exceptional faculty to give commentary. Would You say that one achieves the path of devotion to the Lord by giving up his education and learning? In that case, are not Your parents devotees of the Lord? You should learn and study properly, for only through proper education and learning can one become a Vaineava Brahmin.

“How can an illiterate Brahmin develop the faculty for discriminating between good and bad, proper and improper? Knowing this You should chant Krishna’s name and continue Your education. Go, teach the scriptures in the proper way with the proper explanations, and do not try to misconstrue the meanings. It brings me tremendous anxiety.”

The Lord replied, “By your grace and the mercy of your lotus feet, there is no one in Navadvipa who can defeat Me in any argument? Who can refute My arguments, and then establish a new and original concept? I will go into the centre of town and teach publicly. I would like to see who has the courage to find the faults and mistakes in My commentaries.”

The teacher, Gaigadasa Paeoita, was very pleased when Visvambhara offered His obeisances to His master and left. Gaigadasa Paeoita is such a fortunate and an elevated personality that the disciple offering obeisances to his feet is none other than the Lord of sarasvati Devi, the Goddess of Learning. For what more can Gaigadasa Paeoita aspire? His disciple is the most worshipable Lord of the entire universe.

Lord Visvambhara walked down the street surrounded by His students like the shining full moon surrounded by so many stars against a velvet dark firmament.

Lord Visvambhara, whose lotus feet are eternally worshiped by Laknmi Devi within her heart, sat upon the bank of the River Gaiga. There, He began His explanations and commentaries, establishing, refuting, and then re-establishing different points.

The Lord said, “In Kali-yuga, the so-called scholar has no idea of conjugation, but receives the title of ‘Bhaooacarya’. One who has no knowledge of philosophy, he has the audacity to debate, but none of these scholars can ever challenge Me. Whatever I establish and whatever I refute, let Me see if there is anyone who can dispute that!” Like this, the Lord of the Universe, Visvambhara, boldly challenged everyone. Who is there that can take up that challenge?

The scholars who came to pay their respects to Mother Gaiga heard Lord Visvambhara’s bold words in fearful silence, their scholarly pride broken to pieces. Was there anyone in Navadvipa who could challenge Visvambhara in debate? The Lord continued to speak for four hours as if in a trance, explaining and giving commentaries. It was late in the evening, yet the Lord did not stop.

Then the Lord visited another gentleman’s house. A very pious brahmaea whose name was Ratnagarbha acarya, who was a close acquaintance of Lord Visvambhara’s father both had been born in the same village. He had three sons who were elevated devotees of the Lord, full of the spiritual mellows. They were like the bees, which gather nectarine pollen from the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Their names were Krishnananda, Jiva and Yadunatha Kavicandra. Ratnagarbha acarya was a great devotee of the Lord and was very fond of the srimad Bhagavatam. He was at that time reading from the Bhagavatam with great respect and affection.

He read, “The wives of the yajïa brahmaeas saw a beautiful young boy. His complexion was darkish. He wore a golden yellow cloth. He was nicely decorated with flower garlands around His neck a peacock feather slanted sideways out of His crown where precious stones and metals glistened brightly like stars. He was with His friends and with His left hand, He stood leaning against the shoulders of a dear friend. With his right hand, He twirled a beautiful lotus flower. His ears were decorated with earrings in the shape of lotus flowers. His cheeks carried decorative designs of sandalwood paste, and His sweet smile played on His lotus-like mouth.” spoken with great devotion, these words of the srimad Bhagavatam entered the ears of Lord Visvambhara. As soon as He heard these words, the devotion of the speaker affected the Lord and He fell down unconscious overcome with loving spiritual ecstasy.

All the students were amazed at the sight. After remaining in a trance for a while, the Lord regained His external consciousness. When He was able to speak, the Lord said to Ratnagarbha acarya, “Go on, Go on.” He rolled on the ground in ecstasy. The Lord continued to urge him on, saying, “Go on! Go on!” The brahmaea continued to read, and everyone floated on the nectarine ocean of love of Krishna. Unrestrained tears from the Lord’s eyes flooded the entire world. All the ecstatic symptoms like shivering, horripilation and crying manifested in the Lord’s person.

The brahmaea was extremely happy and he continued to read the slokas with great inspiration. The Lord was very satisfied with the brahmaea’s devotion, and He embraced him warmly. Upon being touched, Ratnagarbha acarya experienced immense bliss. He fell down and in tears of love held the Lord’s lotus feet. From that moment on, he became entrapped by love of Lord Caitanya.

He continuously read the slokas from srimad Bhagavatam, and the Lord responded roaring loudly, “Go on! Go on!” The people were completely amazed at this sight and they realized that something extraordinary was taking place. Then, Gadadhara Paeoita intervened and told the acarya, “Do not read any further.” Ratnagarbha stopped reading and they all sat down surrounding the Lord. When external consciousness returned to the Lord, He inquired, “Tell Me what happened? Did I act very restlessly?”

The students replied, “What ability do we have to be able to explain Your activities? All we know is that You are very fortunate.” The Lord’s friends and relatives discouraged them and said, “Do not praise Him like this.” The Lord now withdrew His emotions within Himself and accompanied all the students to the bank of the Gaiga. The Lord sprinkled some water upon His head, offered His obeisances to the Gaiga, and sat down upon her bank.

Nimai Paeoita, the son of sacimaoa, sat with all the students discussing topics about Krishna, just as Lord Krishna had sat with all the young damsels of Vandavana upon the banks of the Yamuna. He spent some time with the boys and then everyone returned to their respective homes. The Lord returned to His home and, after His meal, lay down to rest just as Maha Vineu lies down for yoga-nidra, mystic slumber. After a good night’s sleep, the students returned early in the morning with their books to see the Lord.

 

The Lord went for His daily ablutions to the Gaiga. Upon returning, He sat down with His students, and began explaining and commenting on the different aspects of grammar. However, all of His explanations and commentaries revolved around one subject only: Krishna, and the process of devotional service to the Lord.

The students inquired, “What is the definition of ‘dhatu’, verbal roots?”

The Lord replied, “They are the energy of Lord Krishna. My dear students I will now explain the aphorisms on verbal roots. Let me see who can refute my explanations!

“There have been many kings with beautiful bodies, decorated with golden ornaments, flower garlands, and sandalwood paste. People say that they are representatives of Laknmi, the Goddess of Fortune, and their words are the words of Yamaraja, the presiding demigod of religious principles. Let me explain to you what happens when ‘dhatu’, life, leaves their body.

“Where go the physical beauty, decorations, and power of these kings? some of their kingly bodies are turned into ashes and others are buried beneath the earth. Lord Krishna is present within everybody in the form of His energy, ‘dhatu’. Living entities are attracted to and love this life energy. In this way, they offer their devotion to Him. All other so-called scholars and teachers are very confused. They do not understand the real meaning of ‘dhatu’, verbal roots. so all of you now listen attentively.

“The kingly person, who was for so long worshiped and respected, becomes contaminated as soon as life leaves him; and if his body is touched, one must take a bath. The son who spent happy hours upon the lap of his father must touch fire to the dead father’s mouth and burn his body to ashes. Therefore, the definition of ‘dhatu’, essential substance, is the energy of Lord Krishna that is loved by everyone.

“Now I want to see if there is anyone capable of refuting this explanation. The essential energy of Krishna is pure, transcendental and worshipable; thus, one should develop unflinching faith and devotion to Lord Krishna. Just chant Krishna’s names, worship His lotus feet and hear only the names of Lord Krishna.

“spend all of Your time meditating upon the lotus feet of the Lord. Just take shelter of the lotus feet of the son of Nanda Maharaja, for if one simply worships the lotus feet with a little water, grass or leaf, then the Lord of Death can never approach. Just worship He who has by killing Aghasura, Bakasura, and Pütana given them liberation. Ajamila at the point of death cried out his son’s name Narayaea. Even after a sinful life, by worshiping the Lord’s lotus feet and remembering the Lord, he gave up attachment for his son and went to the spiritual sky, the Vaikueoha planets.

“simply take shelter of the supreme lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna. Lord siva and Laknmi Devi are always desirous of worshiping those lotus feet. In humility, Lord Ananta sena eternally glorifies the wonderful mercy of the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. As long as there is life within the body, and strength in the limbs and mind, take shelter of devotional service to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Krishna is your mother, Krishna is your father, and Krishna is your very life and soul. simply embrace His lotus feet and offer your mind, words, and body completely unto Him.”

Lord Visvambhara, who is the supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, explained the devotional mood of servitorship to Himself. He continued for hours, unaware that it was already past noon. With undivided attention, as if hypnotized, the students listened. No one wished to disturb or make contradictory remarks. One must understand that these students were not ordinary mortals. They were all servants of Lord Krishna. Otherwise, how could they be personally taught by the supreme, Lord Krishna? After a while, Lord Visvambhara came out from this trance and looked at everyone’s face feeling a little ashamed and shy, He asked, “How were My explanations upon verbal roots?”

The students replied, “You have revealed the truth to us, Your explanations upon the word meanings are impossible to be refuted or contradicted by anyone. All of your explanations are eternal truths. The references we use for our ordinary understanding may comply with the present day grammatical concepts of the so-called scholars, but we can now understand that these are not the proper meanings.”

The Lord said, “Can any of you explain how My disorder of the life-airs is influencing My mind? Instead of explaining the nature of verb roots, I do not know who or what I am talking about!”

The students replied, “You have always described the glories of the Holy Name of Krishna. All of Your commentaries, definitions and purports describe Lord Krishna and His transcendental potencies. Who can understand such esoteric subject matters? The transformations that we see come over You as soon as You hear the transcendental subject matters of Krishna-lila and Krishna’s Holy Name are so wonderful that we cannot think of You as an ordinary personality.”

The Lord inquired, “What sort of transformations have you seen in Me?”

The students replied, “They were marvellous, different emotions played upon You creating shivering and a great flow of tears. Your entire body was covered with horripilation. We have never seen anything like this before. Yesterday, we accompanied You to the bank of the Gaiga where You explained to us from our books. In one of the nearby houses, a brahmaea was reciting a sloka, and suddenly You fell down unconscious as if the life air had left Your body. We were bewildered and amazed. When You came out of Your trance, unrestricted tears poured from Your eyes in streams, like the flowing of the Gaiga. Finally, You began shivering so uncontrollably that even a thousand men could not have held You still. Horripilation covered You from head to toe, and You perspired profusely. You lay upon the ground as if a golden statue was in the dust. Everyone present marvelled at You. some said that You were the supreme Lord, Narayaea. Others suggested that You were srila Vyasadeva, sukadeva Gosvami, Narada Muni or even Prahlada Maharaja and that You were certainly equal to them in receiving the supreme Lord’s mercy. All of us got together and tightly held You down, and gradually Your external consciousness returned. You were unaware of what we have just described. We wish to tell You something more, please listen to us attentively.

“ For the last ten days, all of Your explanations upon word meanings and aphorisms have described the process of devotional service to Lord Krishna and the glories of the Holy Name of Krishna. Therefore, for the last ten days, we have not been able to follow the lessons in the books. We were a little fearful to tell You this. Your profound erudition can explain unlimited meanings for words. It is truly amazing no one can equal that feat.”

The Lord replied, “Ten days without studies! Was it not your duty to tell Me about this sooner?”

The students replied, “Your explanations were very correct Lord Krishna is certainly the Eternal Truth. This is the verdict of all the scriptures. Your explanations on the supreme Absolute Truth is absolute education, and is the essence of all scriptures, but we were unable to understand them due to our own faults and limited intelligence.”

These words greatly pleased the Lord. He gently blessed them and said, “My dear students, you have truly spoken the truth. My words are not meant for others. I always speak in this way because I am constantly seeing a little boy with a blackish-blue glowing complexion playing the flute. All I hear is the name of Krishna, and everywhere I behold the spiritual world of Goloka Vandavana. Therefore, I humbly apologise to all of you, for I shall not teach anymore. I give you complete freedom to go to anyone that you wish, and study under him. To tell you the truth, I cannot speak about anything other than Lord Krishna, His name and His pastimes; therefore, it will not be possible for Me to teach you anymore in this condition.”

Lord Visvambhara then tied His books together and handed them to the students with tears in His eyes. The students then spoke up, “We have also decided, following Your desire, to give up our studies. Once we have studied under You, how can we find another teacher with the ability to explain and teach the way You do?” The thought of separation from their teacher was too heavy a burden for the students to bear and they began to lament. They said, “Those explanations that we have heard from You, we want to treasure in our hearts, birth after birth, for our meditation. What is the use of studying further, and to whom would we go? All that we have learned from You is more than sufficient for us.”

Overcome with emotion, with folded hands, they prayed to the Lord and tied up their books. The students were now extremely happy and they jubilantly shouted Lord Hari’s name. Lord Visvambhara embraced His students and began to weep.

Everyone was drowned in waves of joy. Their voices choked with ecstatic bliss. The son of mother saci, sri Caitanya, then blessed them saying, “If I ever become a true servant of Sri Krishna, then may all your desires be fulfilled. All of you please take shelter of Lord Krishna and always chant Lord Krishna’s Holy Name. Try to hear Krishna’s name always and may Krishna become your most precious object, your very life and soul. Whatever you have studied so far, that is enough. There is no need to study any further. Now all of you get together and chant Lord Krishna’s name in one place. By Krishna’s mercy, may the purport of all the scriptures manifest within you. All of you are my dearmost friends, birth after birth.”

The words of the Lord were like nectar in the students’ ears and they became extremely happy. I offer my obeisances unto the feet of all such students who are so elevated and fortunate to become the direct disciples of the supreme Lord, sri Visvambhara. All of them are eternal servants of the supreme Lord Krishna. How could it be any other way Krishna Himself personally taught them.

One is freed from material bondage just by seeing that person who has seen these wonderful scholarly pastimes of the supreme Lord. What a miserable birth I have taken, that I was excluded from seeing such transcendental pastimes and sights of the Lord.

Oh Lord, I pray for Your mercy that these pastimes of You in the mood of a scholar may remain eternally within my heart. The Lord of Vaikueoha appeared in Nadia to teach in the mood of a scholar. The signs of His appearance are still visible now.

The transcendental pastimes of the Lord are eternal and unlimited, without beginning or end. The scriptures describe His eternal pastimes as unmanifest and manifest. The Lord was now beginning His pastime of the congregational chanting of the Holy Name, which is the ultimate of all learning and education.

Fearing separation, the Lord’s students became emotional and wept. The Lord was much moved and He spoke comforting words to them, “Now you can fulfil the purpose of your studies by chanting and singing the Holy Name of Krishna.”

The students inquired, “Oh Lord, we do not know how to perform this saikirtana. Kindly teach us?”

The Lord began singing, “haraye namau, Krishna yadavaya namau, gopala govinda rama sri-madhusüdana.” Lord Visvambhara then demonstrated to His students as He clapped His hands and led the students in a beautiful kirtana. sri Visvambhara is the Lord and propagator of the kirtana of the Holy Name of Krishna, and He now sang the Lord’s Holy Name surrounded by His students. He was in an ecstatic trance tasting the intoxicating nectar of His own name, rolling upon the ground oblivious to everything around Him. He repeated, “sing on! sing on!” and kept falling to the ground. The earth seemed to split open each time He crashed to the ground.

The residents of Navadvipa, hearing the great commotion coming from the Lord’s house, rushed to that spot. Also, when the neighbouring Vaineavas heard the loud kirtana, they quickly came to Lord Caitanya’s house. The Vaineavas saw the Lord’s ecstatic trance, and they marvelled deep within themselves. Feeling great happiness, they thought, “At long last, kirtana has made an appearance in Navadvipa. In the entire universe, where is there the practice and propagation of such a rare devotional service? such devotional ecstasy is the perfection of sight.

“This very same Visvambhara has been the epitome of arrogance, but now even Narada Muni and other great devotees can hardly achieve the devotional ecstasy that He spontaneously manifests. If such a degree of devotion is exhibited by such a once arrogant personality, we do not understand the will of Lord Krishna and what the future will bring.”

sometime later, Lord Visvambhara came out of His ecstatic trance, and simply repeated, “Krishna! Krishna! Krishna!” Although external consciousness had returned, the Lord spoke nothing about this mundane world. He just embraced all the Vaineavas and cried. Finding the Lord agitated by ecstatic emotions, the Vaineavas pacified the Lord. Feeling great joy, they then left the Lord’s house.

Affected by the Lord’s Krishna-prema, many of the Lord’s students took to the path of renunciation, cultivating detachment from material existence and attachment to the lotus feet of the supreme Lord, Sri Krishna.

Gloriously, sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had initiated the congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Sri Krishna as the essence of perfection. Manifesting Himself, the supreme Lord had commenced to freely and profusely distribute the nectar of His own Holy Name, thus washing away all of the sufferings of all the Vaishnava devotees.

Places to Visit in Gaya

1)      Phalgu River

2)      Vishnupad temple

3)      Gadadhar Temple

4)      Ram Gaya Sita Kund

5)      Akshay Vat

6)      Bodh Gaya

7)      Mangal Gauri Saktipeeth

8)      River Punpun.

 

1. Phalgu River:-

Flowing on the east side of Gaya , Phalgu river carries water only during monsoon. At other time , the river bed is externally dry. However if you scratch some mud you will find water . This means that water flows continuously below river bed. Being cursed by sita devi ,this river runs as  under water river below the bed.

2. Vishnupad Temple:-

Build with black stone lately in 1780, this age old temple is the most important place to visit in Gaya.Here in this temple you will find the holy foot prints of Lord Vishnu imprinted on stone slab(Story of the Gayasur).

Every day at night,this slab of holy footprints is covered by special Malaya Chandan (Sandal Wood) & beautifully decorated with flowers. Red sandal wood is used at the spot where Lord’s foot print carry the symbol of conch,disc,mace & lotus etc .Vishnu sahasranam is chanted with the offering of Tulasi leaf on the holy spot . This is one of very beautiful darshan to behold with ones eyes.

3. Gadadhar Vishnu temple:

Next to vishnupad temple just on the banks of Phalgu river is temple of Gadadhar Vishnu. The beautiful black deity is 4 armed form of lord- especially carrying gada(mace) to deliver devotes from evil forces.

4. Ram Gaya  and Sita Kunda:-

Exactly opposite to Vishnu pad temple but on the other banks of phalgu river is a small temple depicting the spot where sita devi performed pinda dana for her father-in-law. This lila is depicted in form of a beautiful deity of sita devi offering the pinda with sand balls of river phalguni(now phalgu) & hand of Dashrath appearing from the earth to accept it.

5. Akshay Vat:-

Located in the very compound of Vishnu pad temple is the famous Akshya vat which was blessed by sita devi to become immortal & never shred its leaves in any season.

6. Mangal Gouri Shakti Peeth:

 Located on a small hill on the south side of Gaya, is one of famous Sati  (Gouri) temple. As mentioned in puranas, Lord Shiva was performing dance of dissolution maddened at the death of his wife sati.To stop this ,Lord Vishnu had to cut the body of sati in to many pieces by his chakra to check Lord Shiva’s further Anger. As the pieces were cut, they fell at different locations and each of this location being turned in to a Shakti Peeth (Holyplace of worship of Gauri). At this place in Gaya, the breast of sati fell. This hill is also known by the name Bhasmakut. Situated close to this hill is Brahma kunda where Lord Gauranga took bath when he came to Gaya.

7. Buddha Gaya or Bodh Gaya:

Located 10 km from Vishnu pad temple, is another well-known holy place called Buddha Gaya. A beautiful huge temple with garden complex stands erect in memory of Gautam Buddha. Behind this temple is the Ancient Bodhi tree(Pipal tree) under which Prince Siddharth got his enlightenment & became Buddha. The current tree is an offshoot of the original Bodhi tree.Primarly a holy place for Buddhists follower’s, People from all over the world come here to offer their worship at the holy feet of Lord Buddha.

The whole town of Bodh Gaya is well planned & built with many Buddhist monasteries from different South East Asian countries. Nearby is a 30 feet statue of Gautam Buddha in a sitting pose made out of red sand stone.

8. River Punpun – 

The Punpun River is a tributary of the Ganges. It originates in Palamu district of Jharkhand and flows through Chatra, Aurangabad, Gaya and Patna districts of the Indian states of Jharkhand and Bihar.

The Punpun is a sacred river and it is the duty of the pilgrim to Gaya to shave his head on its banks and bathe in its waters on his way to the holy city. It is believed that Lord Vishnu in his fourth incarnation as Lord Vamana put his foot in second stride at confluence of Punpun and Ganga in Fatuha  while measuring entire universe in gift from the King Bali. To commemorate this event, a grand rural fair, known as Varuni Mela, is organised annually on the twelfth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada of Vikram calendar (Shukla Paksha Dwadashi of Bhadrapada or Bhado). Incidentally, the same day is celebrated as Onam in southern state of India, Kerala. The Keralite worships arrival of king Mahabali, while in Fatuha the incarnation of Lord as Vamana is celebrated .

 

Orginally This river was called as Adi Ganga. However later this river received this name Punpun on account of following incident.Once long long back on the banks of river Adi Ganga, there lived a prostitute of name Punpuniya. Once in the evening after taking her bath and returning home, she came across a place where Srimad Bhagavat was recited and discussed. Being attracted , she sat down there hearing this talk. At the end of discourse, the prostitute approached the speaker in mood of repentance and begged to give her some way by which she can be purified. The Speaker told her that Srimad bhagavatam has already purified her sins and the proof is her sincere desire to rectify.  She was told that for deliverance she should absorb herself in Krishna bhakti as intensely as she was absorbed in her prostitution. Leaving everything aside, Punpuniya performed severe tapasya to please Lord Vishnu. After many years , being pleased with her Lord Vishnu granted her boons. She prayed that her body was a medium and instrument of sin and that so many people committed sins by coming in contact with her, she wished that now her body becomes a medium of purification and that many many people for years to come in touch with her to get purified.  Lord Vishnu told her that this river Adi Ganga will become famous by your name and anybody who bathes in her or meditates or offers pinda daan will go to vaikuntha along with their forefathers.  Later in her life the prostitute left her body in the river and went to vaikuntha. Since then this river became famous as Pun pun river. Lord Gauranga came to this river on his visit.

This river is mentioned in the Vayu and the Padma Puranas in connection with Gaya Mahatmya also as  punah-punah (again and again).The word punah-punah in a spiritual sense means that sins are removed again and again by offering oblations to forefathers in the river. 

Story of Lord Ram Visiting Gaya

Lord Ram after being established as the king of Ayodhya was advised to performed sraddha for his father Dasharatha at the holy place of Gaya. Lord Rama accompanied by Sita and brother Laxman came to Gaya. As per the instructions of the sage who was going to perform sraddha, Lord Ram & Laxman went out to fetch the necessary ingredients. As auspicious time for the sraddha was passing by & Lord Ram- Laxman were nowhere in sight, The sage asked sita devi to do the pinda dana herself.  She was asked to make balls (instead of grains) of sand from the river phalguni (phalgu river).

Sita devi’s performance of the pinda daan bore fruits when Dashrath Maharaj’s hand appeared from underground to accept the offerings made by her. Later when Ram & laxman arrived with the ingredients, sita informed them of the entire story. Lord Ram wanted some proof for this incident. Seeing a cow standing nearby , sita devi asked her to give witness . She also  asked the river Phalguni & a Banyan tree to bear witness.

When cow & the river did not gave witness, sita devi became upset & cursed both of them cow was cursed to have her mouth always unclean due to continuous drool of saliva. And river was cursed to be waterless on its river bed. (River phalguni thus became phalgu which also means False River)

The banyan tree ,however, gave witness.  Sita Devi became pleased & offered it the blessings of becoming immortal & never shred its leaves throughout the year.This tree is today called as Akshay Vat.(immortal banyan)