Prólogo de Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
[Este relato apareció inicialmente en una obra breve de Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura titulada: «Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: Su vida y preceptos» (20 de agosto de 1896)].
Caitanya Mahāprabhu nació en la ciudad de Nadia, Māyāpur, durante el atardecer (una vez puesto el Sol) del día 23 del mes Phālguna, el año 1407 de la era Śakābda, fecha correspondiente al 18 de febrero de 1486 de la era cristiana. Su nacimiento coincidió con un eclipse de Luna; los habitantes de Nadia, como solía hacerse en tales ocasiones, estaban bañándose en el río Bhāgīrathī mientras proferían exclamaciones de ¡Haribol! en voz alta. Su padre, Jagannātha Miśra, un brāhmaṇa modesto de la orden védica, y Su madre, Śacī-devī, una mujer buena y ejemplar, descendían ambos de una familia brāhmaṇa procedente de Sylhet. Mahāprabhu fue un hermoso niño y las damas de la ciudad iban a verle y a llevarle regalos. El padre de Su madre, el Paṇḍita Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, un famoso astrólogo, predijo que el niño sería una gran personalidad con el paso del tiempo y, consecuentemente, Le llamó Viśvambhara. Las damas del vecindario Le pusieron el nombre de Gaurahari debido a Su piel dorada, y Su madre Le llamó Nimāi en recuerdo de un nimba (un tipo de árbol) cercano al lugar de Su nacimiento. Como era un niño muy hermoso, a todos les encantaba ir a verlo cada día. Según fue creciendo, Se convirtió en un niño antojadizo y travieso; al cumplir los cinco años de edad, fue admitido al pāṭhaśālā, donde en poco tiempo aprendió bengalí.
La mayoría de Sus biógrafos contemporáneos mencionan ciertas anécdotas referentes a Caitanya que no son más que sencillos relatos de Sus primeros milagros. Se dice que cuando era un bebé lloraba incesantemente en brazos de Su madre y, cuando las damas del vecindario gritaban Haribol, solía parar. En consecuencia, en la casa siempre se cantaba Haribol, presagiando la futura misión del héroe. También se relata que, en una ocasión, cuando Su madre Le dio unos dulces para que Se los comiera, Él Se puso a comer barro en vez de los alimentos. Cuando Su madre Le preguntó la razón de este comportamiento, respondió que como los dulces no era otra cosa que barro transformado, por qué no comer barro directamente. Su madre, como esposa de paṇḍita que era, Le explicó que cada cosa, en su particular estado, servía para un uso particular. Cuando el barro adoptaba el estado de jarrón podía utilizarse como recipiente para el agua, pero en su estado de ladrillo era imposible utilizarlo para lo mismo. Por lo tanto, el barro en su forma de dulce podía utilizarse como alimento, no así el barro en cualquier otro estado. El niño quedó convencido y admitió la estupidez de comer barro, mostrándose de acuerdo en no cometer otra vez el mismo error.
También se relata otro acto milagroso. Se dice que un brāhmaṇa que iba de peregrinaje fue invitado a Su casa; allí cocinó y oró dando gracias y meditando en Kṛṣṇa. Mientras el brāhmaṇa meditaba, el niño Se acercó y Se comió el arroz cocido. El brāhmaṇa, aunque sorprendido por el acto del niño, volvió a cocinar exhortado por Jagannātha Miśra. El niño volvió a comerse el arroz cocido mientras el brāhmaṇa se lo estaba ofreciendo a Kṛṣṇa en su meditación. Convencieron al brāhmaṇa de que volviera a cocinar por tercera vez. Esta vez todos los moradores de la casa estaban dormidos y el niño Se le apareció al viajero en la forma de Kṛṣṇa y lo bendijo. El brāhmaṇa se sumió en éxtasis al contemplar la aparición del objeto de su adoración.
También se ha dicho que dos ladrones raptaron al niño, mientras estaba a la puerta de casa de Su padre, con la idea de robarle las joyas y Le dieron dulces durante el camino. El niño hizo uso de Su energía ilusoria y confundió a los ladrones de modo que regresaron a Su propia casa. Los ladrones, temerosos de ser descubiertos, abandonaron al niño y huyeron.
Otro hecho milagroso que se ha descrito explica que el niño pidió y obtuvo de Hiraṇya y Jagadīśa todas las ofrendas que éstos habían reunido para adorar a Kṛṣṇa el día de ekādaśī. A los cuatro años de edad Se sentaba en medio de los restos de utensilios de cocina desechados que su madre consideraba profanos. Él le explicó a Su madre que no se podía hablar del carácter sagrado o profano de unos cacharros de arcilla desechados como inservibles. Esas anécdotas se refieren a Su temprana edad, hasta los cinco años.
Al cumplir ocho años, fue admitido en la ṭola de Gaṅgādāsa Paṇḍita, en Gaṅgānagara, cerca de la aldea de Māyāpur. En tan sólo dos años aprendió a la perfección la gramática sánscrita y la retórica. Sus siguientes lecturas las realizó por Su cuenta, en Su propia casa, donde había encontrado importantes libros que pertenecían a Su padre, que también era un paṇḍita. Parece ser que leyó el smṛti por Su cuenta, así como también la nyāya, compitiendo con Sus amigos, que por aquel entonces estaban estudiando a las órdenes del famoso paṇḍita Raghunātha Śiromaṇi.
Una vez cumplido el décimo aniversario, Caitanya Se convirtió en un aceptable erudito en gramática, retórica, el smṛti y nyāya. Fue después de esto que Su hermano mayor Viśvarūpa dejó la casa y se ordenó en el āśrama (estado) de sannyāsī (asceta). Caitanya, aunque todavía era muy joven, consoló a Sus padres, diciendo que Él les serviría con el ánimo de complacer a Dios. Poco tiempo después, Su padre partió de este mundo. Su madre se apenó muchísimo, y Mahāprabhu, con Su habitual talante optimista, consoló a Su madre viuda.
It was at the age of fourteen or fifteen that Mahāprabhu was married to Lakṣmīdevī, the daughter of Vallabhācārya, also of Nadia. He was at this age considered one of the best scholars of Nadia, the renowned seat of nyāya philosophy and Sanskrit learning. Not to speak of the smārta paṇḍitas, the naiyāyikas were all afraid of confronting Him in literary discussions. Being a married man, He went to eastern Bengal on the banks of the Padma for acquirement of wealth. There He displayed His learning and obtained a good sum of money.
It was at this time that He preached Vaiṣṇavism at intervals. After teaching him the principles of Vaiṣṇavism, He ordered Tapana Miśra to go and live in Benares. During His residence in eastern Bengal, His wife Lakṣmīdevī left this world from the effects of snakebite. On returning home, He found His mother in a mourning state. He consoled her with a lecture on the uncertainty of human affairs. It was at His mother’s request that He married Viṣṇupriyā, the daughter of Rāja Paṇḍita Sanātana Miśra. His comrades joined Him on His return from pravāsa, or sojourn.
He was now so renowned that He was considered to be the best paṇḍita in Nadia. Keśava Miśra of Kashmir, who had called himself the Great Digvijayī [world conqueror], came to Nadia with a view to debate the paṇḍitas of that place. Afraid of the so-called conquering paṇḍita, the tola professors of Nadia left their town on the pretense of invitation. Keśava met Mahāprabhu at the Barokona-ghāṭā in Māyāpur, and after a very short discussion with Him he got defeated by the boy, and mortification obliged him to decamp. Nimāi Paṇḍita was now the most important paṇḍita of the times.
It was at the age of sixteen or seventeen that He traveled to Gayā with a host of His students and there took His spiritual initiation from Īśvara Purī, a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī and a disciple of the renowned Mādhavendra Purī. Upon His return to Nadia, Nimāi Paṇḍita turned religious preacher, and His religious nature became so strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu, Śrīvāsa and others who had before the birth of Caitanya already accepted the Vaiṣṇava faith were astonished at the change in the young man. He was then no more a contending naiyāyika, a wrangling smārta and a criticizing rhetorician. He swooned at the name of Kṛṣṇa and behaved as an inspired man under the influence of His religious sentiment. It has been described by Murāri Gupta, an eyewitness, that He showed His heavenly powers in the house of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita in the presence of hundreds of His followers, who were mostly well-read scholars.
It was at this time that He opened a nocturnal school of kīrtana in the compound of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita with His sincere followers. There He preached, there He sang, there He danced, and there He expressed all sorts of religious feelings. Nityānanda Prabhu, who was then a preacher of Vaiṣṇavism and who had completed His travels all over India, joined Him at that time. In fact, a host of paṇḍita preachers of Vaiṣṇavism, all sincere at heart, came and joined Him from different parts of Bengal. Nadia now became the regular seat of a host of Vaiṣṇava ācāryas whose mission it was to spiritualize mankind with the highest influence of the Vaiṣṇava creed.
The first mandate that He issued to Prabhu Nityānanda and Haridāsa was this: “Go, friends, go through the streets of the town, meet every man at his door and ask him to sing the name of Hari with a holy life, and then come and report to Me every evening the result of your preaching.” Thus ordered, the two preachers went out and met Jagāi and Mādhāi, the two most abominable characters in Nadia. These two insulted the preachers on hearing Mahāprabhu’s mandate, but were soon converted by the influence of bhakti inculcated by their Lord.
The people of Nadia were now surprised. They said, “Nimāi Paṇḍita is not only a gigantic genius but is certainly a missionary from God Almighty.” From this time to His twenty-third year, Mahāprabhu preached His principles not only in Nadia but in all the important towns and villages around His city. In the houses of His followers He showed miracles, taught the esoteric principles of bhakti and sang His saṅkīrtana with other bhaktas. His followers in the town of Nadia commenced to sing the holy name of Hari in the streets and bazaars. This created a sensation and roused different feelings in different quarters. The bhaktas were highly pleased. The smārta brāhmaṇas became jealous of Nimāi Paṇḍita’s success and complained to Chand Kazi against the character of Caitanya, claiming it was un-Hindu. The Kazi came to Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita’s house and broke a mṛdaṅga (khola drum) there and declared that unless Nimāi Paṇḍita ceased to make noise about His queer religion he would be obliged to enforce Mohammedanism on Him and His followers.
This was brought to Mahāprabhu’s notice. He ordered the townspeople to appear in the evening, each with a torch in his hand. This they did, and Nimāi marched out with His saṅkīrtana divided into fourteen groups. On His arrival in the Kazi’s house, He held a long conversation with the Kazi and in the end communicated into his heart His Vaiṣṇava influence by touching his body. The Kazi then wept and admitted that he had felt a keen spiritual influence which had cleared up his doubts and produced in him a religious sentiment which gave him the highest ecstasy. The Kazi then joined the saṅkīrtana party. The world was astonished at the spiritual power of the Great Lord, and hundreds and hundreds of heretics converted and joined the banner of Viśvambhara after this affair.
It was after this that some of the jealous and low-minded brāhmaṇas of Kulia picked a quarrel with Mahāprabhu and collected a party to oppose Him. Nimāi Paṇḍita was naturally a soft-hearted person, though strong in His principles. He declared that party feelings and sectarianism were the two great enemies of progress, and He saw that as long as He should continue to be an inhabitant of Nadia belonging to a certain family, His mission would not meet with complete success. He then resolved to be a citizen of the world by cutting off His connection with His particular family, caste and creed, and with this resolution He embraced the position of a sannyāsī at Katwa under the guidance of Keśava Bhāratī of that town, in the twenty-fourth year of His life. His mother and wife wept bitterly for His separation, but our hero, though soft in heart, was a strong person in His principles. He left His little world in His house for the unlimited spiritual world of Kṛṣṇa with man in general.
After His sannyāsa, He was induced to visit the house of Advaita Prabhu in Śāntipura. Advaita managed to invite all Mahāprabhu’s friends and admirers from Nadia and brought Śacī-devī to see her son. Both pleasure and pain invaded her heart when she saw her son in the attire of a sannyāsī. As a sannyāsī, Kṛṣṇa Caitanya put on nothing but a kaupīna and a bahirvāsa (outer covering). His head was without hair, and His hands bore a daṇḍa (stick) and a kamaṇḍalu (hermit’s waterpot).
The holy son fell at the feet of His beloved mother and said, “Mother! This body is yours, and I must obey your orders. Permit Me to go to Vṛndāvana for My spiritual attainments.” The mother, in consultation with Advaita and others, asked her son to reside in Purī (the town of Jagannātha) so that she might obtain news of Him now and then. Mahāprabhu agreed to that proposition and in a few days left Śāntipura for Orissa.
His biographers have described the journey of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (that was the name He got after His sannyāsa) from Śāntipura to Purī in great detail. He traveled along the side of the Bhāgīrathī as far as Chatrabhoga, situated now in Thānā Mathurāpura, Diamond Harbor, Twenty-four Parganas. There He took a boat and went as far as Prayāga-ghāṭa, in the Midnapura District. Thence He walked through Balasore and Cuttack to Purī, seeing the temple of Bhūvaneśvara on His way. Upon His arrival at Purī He saw Jagannātha in the temple and resided with Sārvabhauma at the request of the latter.
Sārvabhauma was a gigantic paṇḍita of the day. His readings knew no bounds. He was the best naiyāyika of the times and was known as the most erudite scholar in the Vedānta philosophy of the school of Śaṅkarācārya. He was born in Nadia (Vidyānagara) and taught innumerable pupils in the nyāya philosophy in his tola there. He had left for Purī some time before the birth of Nimāi Paṇḍita. His brother-in-law Gopīnātha Miśra introduced our new sannyāsī to Sārvabhauma, who was astonished at His personal beauty and feared that it would be difficult for the young man to maintain sannyāsa-dharma during the long run of His life. Gopīnātha, who had known Mahāprabhu from Nadia, had a great reverence for Him and declared that the sannyāsī was not a common human being. On this point Gopīnātha and Sārvabhauma had a hot discussion. Sārvabhauma then requested Mahāprabhu to hear his recitation of the Vedānta-sūtras, to which the latter tacitly submitted.
Caitanya heard with silence what the great Sārvabhauma uttered with gravity for seven days, at the end of which the latter said, “Kṛṣṇa Caitanya! I think You do not understand the Vedānta, as You do not say anything after hearing my recitation and explanations.”
The reply of Caitanya was that He understood the sūtras very well but could not make out what Śaṅkarācārya meant by his commentaries.
Astonished at this, Sārvabhauma said, “How is it that You understand the meanings of the sūtras but do not understand the commentaries which explain the sūtras? All well! If You understand the sūtras, please let me have Your interpretations.”
Mahāprabhu thereupon explained all the sūtras in His own way, without touching the pantheistic commentary of Śaṅkara. The keen understanding of Sārvabhauma saw the truth, beauty and harmony of the arguments in the explanations given by Caitanya and obliged him to utter that it was the first time he had found one who could explain the Brahma-sūtras in such a simple manner. He also admitted that the commentaries of Śaṅkara never gave such natural explanations of the Vedānta-sūtras as those he had obtained from Mahāprabhu. Sārvabhauma then submitted himself as an advocate and follower. In a few days he turned out to be one of the best Vaiṣṇavas of the time. When reports of this came out, the whole of Orissa sang the praise of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, and hundreds and hundreds came to Him and became His followers. In the meantime Mahāprabhu thought of visiting southern India, and He started with one Kṛṣṇadāsa Brāhmaṇa for the journey.
His biographers have given us details of the journey. He first went to Kūrmakṣetra, where He did a miracle by curing a leper named Vāsudeva. He met Rāmānanda Rāya, the governor of Vidyānagara, on the banks of the Godāvarī and had a philosophical conversation with him on the subject of prema-bhakti. He worked another miracle by touching (making them immediately disappear) the seven tāla trees from behind which Rāmacandra, the son of Daśaratha, had shot His arrow and killed the great Vāli Rāja. Mahāprabhu preached Vaiṣṇavism and nāma-saṅkīrtana throughout His journey. At Raṅgakṣetra He stayed for four months in the house of one Veṅkata Bhaṭṭa in order to spend the rainy season. There He converted the whole family of Veṅkata from Rāmānuja Vaiṣṇavism to kṛṣṇa-bhakti, including the son of Veṅkata, a boy of ten years named Gopāla, who afterwards came to Vṛndāvana and became one of the Six Gosvāmīs, prophets serving under their leader Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, Gopāla wrote several books on Vaiṣṇavism.
Caitanya visited numerous places in southern India as far as Cape Comorin and returned to Purī in two years by Pāṇḍarapura on the Bhīmā. In this latter place He spiritualized one Tukārāma, who became from that time a religious preacher himself. This fact has been admitted in his ābhāṅgas, which have been collected in a volume by Mr. Satyendranāth Tagore of the Bombay Civil Service. During His journey He had discussions with the Buddhists, the Jains and the Māyāvādīs in several places and converted His opponents to Vaiṣṇavism.
Upon His return to Purī, Rāja Pratāparudra-deva and several paṇḍita brāhmaṇas joined the banner of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was now twenty-seven years of age. In His twenty-eighth year He went to Bengal as far as Gauḍa in Malda. There He picked up two great personages named Rūpa and Sanātana. Though descended from the lines of the Karṇātic brāhmaṇas, these two brothers had turned demi-Mohammedans by their continual contact with Hussain Shah, the then Emperor of Gauḍa. Their names had been changed by the Emperor into Dabira Khāsa and Sākara Mallika, and their master loved them heartily as they were both learned in Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit and were loyal servants of the state. The two gentlemen had found no way to come back as regular Hindus and had written to Mahāprabhu while He was at Purī, for spiritual help. Mahāprabhu had written in reply that He would come to them and extricate them out of their spiritual difficulties. Now that He had come to Gauḍa, both the brothers appeared before Him with their long-standing prayer. Mahāprabhu ordered them to go to Vṛndāvana and meet Him there.
Caitanya returned to Purī through Śāntipura, where He again met His dear mother. After a short stay at Purī He left for Vṛndāvana. This time He was accompanied by one Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya. He visited Vṛndāvana and came down to Prayāga (Allahabad), converting a large number of Mohammedans to Vaiṣṇavism by argument from the Koran. The descendants of those converts are still known as Pāṭhāna Vaiṣṇavas. Rūpa Gosvāmī met Him at Allahabad. Caitanya trained him up in spirituality in ten days and directed him to go to Vṛndāvana on two missions. His first mission was to write theological works scientifically explaining pure bhakti and prema. The second mission was to revive the places where Kṛṣṇacandra had at the end of Dvāpara-yuga exhibited His spiritual līlā for the benefit of the religious world. Rūpa Gosvāmī left Allahabad for Vṛndāvana, and Mahāprabhu came down to Benares. There He resided in the house of Candraśekhara and accepted His daily bhikṣā (meal) in the house of Tapana Miśra. Here it was that Sanātana Gosvāmī joined Him and took instruction for two months in spiritual matters. The biographers, especially Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, have given us details of Caitanya’s teachings to Rūpa and Sanātana. Kṛṣṇadāsa was not a contemporary writer, but he gathered his information from the Six Gosvāmīs themselves, the direct disciples of Mahāprabhu. Jīva Gosvāmī, who was a nephew of Sanātana and Rūpa and who has left us his invaluable work the Ṣaṭ-sandarbhas, has philosophized on the precepts of his great leader. We have gathered and summarized the precepts of Caitanya from the books of those great writers.
While at Benares, Caitanya had an interview with the learned sannyāsīs of that town in the house of a Maratha brāhmaṇa who had invited all the sannyāsīs for an entertainment. At this interview, Caitanya showed a miracle which attracted all the sannyāsīs to Him. Then ensued reciprocal conversations. The sannyāsīs were headed by their most learned leader, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. After a short controversy they submitted to Mahāprabhu and admitted that they had been misled by the commentaries of Śaṅkarācārya. It was impossible even for learned scholars to oppose Caitanya for a long time, as there was some spell in Him which touched their hearts and made them weep for their spiritual improvement. The sannyāsīs of Benares soon fell at the feet of Caitanya and asked for His grace (kṛpā). Caitanya then preached pure bhakti and instilled into their hearts a spiritual love for Kṛṣṇa, which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The whole population of Benares, on this wonderful conversion of the sannyāsīs, turned Vaiṣṇava, and they made a massive saṅkīrtana with their new Lord.
After sending Sanātana to Vṛndāvana, Mahāprabhu went to Purī again through the jungles with His comrade Balabhadra. Balabhadra reported that Mahāprabhu showed a good many miracles on His way to Purī, such as making tigers and elephants dance on hearing the name of Kṛṣṇa.
From this time, that is, from His thirty-first year, Mahāprabhu continually lived in Purī, in the house of Kāśī Miśra, until His disappearance in His forty-eighth year at the time of saṅkīrtana in the temple of Ṭoṭā-gopīnātha. During these eighteen years, His life was one of settled love and piety. He was surrounded by numerous followers, all of whom were of the highest order of the Vaiṣṇavas and who were distinguished from the common people by their purest character and learning, firm religious principles and spiritual love of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.
Svarūpa Dāmodara, who had been known by the name of Puruṣottamācārya while Mahāprabhu was in Nadia, joined Him from Benares and accepted service as His secretary. No production of any poet or philosopher could be laid before Mahāprabhu unless Svarūpa had passed it as pure and useful. Rāya Rāmānanda was His second mate. Both he and Svarūpa would sing while Mahāprabhu expressed His sentiment on a certain point of worship. Paramānanda Purī was His minister in matters of religion. There are hundreds of anecdotes described by His biographers which we do not think it meet here to reproduce. Mahāprabhu slept short. His sentiments carried Him far and wide in the firmament of spirituality every day and night, and all His admirers and followers watched Him throughout. He worshiped, communicated with His missionaries in Vṛndāvana, and conversed with those religious men who newly came to visit Him. He sang and danced, took no care of Himself and oft times lost Himself in religious beatitude. All who came to Him believed in Him as the all-beautiful God appearing in the nether world for the benefit of mankind. He loved His mother all along and sent her mahā-prasāda now and then with those who went to Nadia. He was most amiable in nature. Humility was personified in Him. His sweet appearance gave cheer to all who came in contact with Him. He appointed Prabhu Nityānanda as the missionary in charge of Bengal. He dispatched six disciples (Gosvāmīs) to Vṛndāvana to preach love in the upcountry. He punished all of His disciples who deviated from a holy life. This He markedly did in the case of Junior Haridāsa. He never lacked in giving proper instructions in life to those who solicited them. This was seen in His teachings to Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. His treatment of Haridāsa (senior) showed how He loved spiritual men and how He defied caste distinction in the cause of spiritual brotherhood.