Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Anich
(also transliterated Caitanya, IAST ) (Bengali ) (1486
- 1534), was a monk and social reformer of eastern India in the
16th century (present-day Bangladesh
and states of West Bengal
, Bihar
, Jharkhand
and Orissa
of India
). Sri
Krishna Chaitanya was a notable proponent for the Vaishnava school
of
Bhakti yoga (meaning loving devotion
to
Krishna/
God) based on
the philosophy of the
Bhagavata
Purana and
Bhagavad Gita.
Specifically he worshipped the forms of
Radha
and
Krishna and popularised the chanting of
the
Hare Krishna maha mantra and have composed
Siksastakam in
Sanskrit.
His line of followers, known as
Gaudiya Vaishnavas, revere him as an
avatar of Krishna in the mood of
Radharani who was prophesised to appear in the
later verses of the Bhagavata Purana.
He was also sometimes referred to by the names
Gaura (
Sanskrit for
golden one) due to his light skin complexion, and
Nimai due to his being born underneath a
Neem tree. There are numerous biographies available
from the time giving details of Chaitanya's life, the most
prominent ones being the
Chaitanya Charitamrita of
Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami and the
earlier
Chaitanya Bhagavata of
Vrindavana Dasa Thakura (both
originally written in the
Bengali
language but now widely available in English and other
languages) and the
Chaitanya
Mangala, written by Lochana Dasa Thakura.
Chaitanya's life
According to the biography, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Nimäi appeared
on the full moon night of February 18 1486 at the time of a lunar
eclipse.
His parents named him 'Visvambhar' - He was
the second son of Jagannath Mishra and his wife Sachi Devi who
lived in the town of Navadwip
in Nadia
, West
Bengal. Chaitanya's ancestry is a contentious issue
between the people of Orissa and West Bengal with Shree Chaitanya
having family roots in Jajpur
, Orissa, from where
his grandfather, Madhukar Mishra had emigrated to nearby
Bengal.
In his youth, Chaitanya Mahäprabhu was primarily known as an
erudite scholar,
whose learning and skills in
argumentation in His locality were second to
none. A number of stories also exist telling of Chaitanya's
apparent attraction to the
chanting and
singing of Krishna's names from a very young
age, but largely this was perceived as being secondary to his
interest in acquiring knowledge and studying
Sanskrit.
When traveling to Gaya
to perform
the shraddha ceremony for His
departed father Chaitanya met his guru, the
ascetic Ishvara Puri, from whom he
received initiation with the Gopala Krishna
mantra. This meeting was to mark a significant change in
Mahäprabhu's outlook and upon his return to Bengal the local
Vaishnavas, headed by
Advaita
Ächärya, were stunned at his external sudden 'change of heart'
(from 'scholar' to 'devotee') and soon Chaitanya became the eminent
leader of their Vaishnava group within Nadiya.
After
leaving Bengal and receiving entrance into the sannyasa order by Keshava
Bharati, Chaitanya journeyed throughout the length and breadth
of India for several
years, chanting the divine Names of Krishna constantly.
He spent
the last 24 years of His life in Puri
, Orissa, the great
temple city of Jagannäth. The
Suryavanshi Hindu emperor of Orissa, Gajapati Maharaja Prataparudra
Dev, regarded the Lord as Krishna incarnattion and was an
enthusiastic patron and devotee of Chaitanya's
sankeertan party. It was during these years that
Lord Chaitanya is believed by His followers to have sank deep into
various Divine-Love
samādhi) and
performed pastimes of
divine ecstasy (
bhakti). He
is considered by some to be one of the incarnations of The Supreme
Personality Of Godhead Krishna.
Identity
According to beliefs of orthodox followers Caitanya Mahaprabhu
united in Himself three aspects: ecstatic devotee of Krishna,
inspired teacher of the love of Krishna, and Krishna Himself in
inseparable union with
Radha. According to the
hagiographies of 16th c. authors He has exhibited His
Universal Form identical to that of
Krishna on a number of occasions, notably to
Advaita Ācārya and
Nityānanda Prabhu.
Teachings
He has left one written record in Sanskrit called
Siksastaka.
Chaitanya's epistemological, theological and ontological teachings
are summarized as ten roots or maxims
dasa mula:
1. The statements of amnaya (scripture) are the chief proof. By
these statements the following nine topics are taught.
2. Krishna is the Supreme Absolute Truth.
3. Krishna is endowed with all energies.
4. Krishna is the ocean of
rasa
5. The jivas (individual souls) are all separated parts of the
Lord.
6. In bound state the jivas are under the influence of matter, due
to their tatastha nature.
7. In the liberated state the jivas are free from the influence of
matter, due to their tatastha nature.
8. The jivas and the material world are both different from and
identical to the Lord.
9. Pure devotion is the practice of the jivas.
10. Pure love of Krishna is the goal.
The Supreme Lord Gaurachandra (Chaitanya) has taught these ten
principles to the jivas.
Chaitanya's tradition
Despite having been
initiated in the
Madhvacharya tradition and taking
sannyasa from
Shankara's tradition,
Chaitanya's philosophy is sometimes regarded as a tradition of his
own within the
Vaishnava framework -
having some marked differences with the practices and the
theology of other followers of Madhvacharya.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is not known to have written anything himself
except for a series of verses known as the
Siksastaka, or "eight verses of
instruction", which he had spoken, and were recorded by one of his
close colleagues. The eight verses created by Mahaprabhu are
considered to contain the complete philosophy of Gaudiya
Vaishnavism in condensed form. Chaitanya requested a select few
among his followers (who later came to be known as the
Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan) to
systematically present the theology of bhakti he had taught to them
in their own writings. The six saints and theologians were
Rupa Goswami,
Sanatana Goswami,
Gopala Bhatta Goswami,
Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami,
Raghunatha dasa Goswami and
Jiva Goswami, a nephew of brothers Rupa
and Sanatana. These individuals were responsible for systematizing
Gaudiya Vaishnava theology.
Narottama Dasa Thakur, Srinivasa
Acarya and Syamananda Pandit were among the stalwarts of the second
generation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Having studied under Jiva
Goswami, they were instrumental in propagating the teachings of the
Goswamis throughout Bengal, Orissa and other regions of Eastern
India. Many among their associates, such as Ramacandra Kaviraja and
Ganga Narayan Chakravarti, were also eminent teachers in their own
right.
The festival of Kheturi, presided over by Jahnava Thakurani, the
wife of
Nityananda Prabhu, was the first
time the leaders of the various branches of Chaitanya's followers
assembled together. Through such festivals, members of the loosely
organized tradition became acquainted with other branches along
with their respective theological and practical nuances. Around
these times, the disciples and descendants of
Nityananda and
Advaita
Acharya, headed by Virabhadra and Krishna Mishra respectively,
started their family lineages (vamsa) to maintain the tradition.
The vamsa descending from Nityananda through his son Virabhadra
forms the most prominent branch of the modern Gaudiya tradition,
though descendants of Advaita, along with the descendants of many
other associates of Chaitanya, maintain their following especially
in the rural areas of Bengal. Gopala Guru Goswami, a young
associate of Chaitanya and a follower of Vakresvara Pandit, founded
another branch based in Orissa. The writings of Gopala, along with
those of his disciple Dhyanacandra Goswami, have had a substantial
influence on the methods of internal worship in the
tradition.
From the very beginning of Chaitanya's
bhakti movement in Bengal,
Haridasa Thakur and others
Muslim or
Hindu by birth were
the participants. This openness received a boost from
Bhaktivinoda Thakura's broad-minded
vision in the late 19th century and was institutionalized by
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
in his
Gaudiya Matha in the 20th
century. In the 20th century the teachings of Chaitanya were
brought to the West by
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, a representative of
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura branch of Chaitanya's tradition. Bhaktivedanta Swami
founded his movement known as
The
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to
spread Chaitanya's teachings throughout the world.
Saraswata gurus and
acharyas, members of the Goswami lineages and several other Hindu
sects which revere Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, including devotees from
the major Vaishnava holy places in Mathura
District, West Bengal and Orissa, also established
temples dedicated to Krishna and Chaitanya outside India in the
closing decades of the 20th century. In the 21st century
Vaishnava bhakti is now also being studied through the academic
medium of
Krishnology in a number of
academic institutions
Cultural legacy
In
addition to his deep influences on Hinduism, Chaitanya's cultural legacy in Bengal
and Orissa remains
deep, with many residents performing daily worship to him as an
avatar of Krishna. Some attribute to him a Renaissance in
Bengal, different from the more well known 19th century
Bengal Renaissance. Salimullah Khan, a
noted linguist, maintains,
"Sixteenth century is the time of
Chaitanya Dev, and it is the beginning of Modernism in Bengal.
The concept of 'humanity' that came into fruition is
contemporaneous with that of Europe".
See also
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