In the Second Chapter of the Madhya-līlā, the author describes the pastimes the Lord performed during the last twelve years of His life. Thus he has also described some of the pastimes of the antya-līlā. Why he has done so is very difficult for an ordinary person to understand. The author expects that reading the pastimes of the Lord will gradually help a person awaken his dormant love of Kṛṣṇa. Actually this Caitanya-caritāmṛta was compiled by the author during very old age. Fearing he might not be able to finish the book, he has included a synopsis of the antya-līlā here in the Second Chapter. Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī has confirmed that the opinion of Svarūpa Dāmodara is authoritative in the matter of devotional service. Over and above this are the notes of Svarūpa Dāmodara, memorized by Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who also helped in the compilation of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. After the disappearance of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana. At that time the author, Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī, met Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, by whose mercy he also could memorize all the notes. In this way the author was able to complete this transcendental literature, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
Disappearance (CC)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
The foremost process of cheating is to desire to achieve liberation by merging into the Supreme, for this causes the permanent disappearance of loving service to Kṛṣṇa.
The foremost process of cheating is to desire to achieve liberation by merging into the Supreme, for this causes the permanent disappearance of loving service to Kṛṣṇa.
The total exhibition of these potencies is called viśuddha-sattva, and this platform of spiritual variegatedness is displayed even in the material world when the Lord appears here. The pastimes and manifestations of the Lord in the material world are therefore not at all material; they belong to the pure transcendental state. The Bhagavad-gītā confirms that anyone who understands the transcendental nature of the Lord's appearance, activities and disappearance becomes eligible for freedom from material bondage upon quitting the present material tabernacle. He can enter the spiritual kingdom to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and reciprocate the hlādinī potency in transactions between him and the Lord. In the mundane mode of goodness there are tinges of passion and ignorance. Therefore mundane goodness, being mixed, is called miśra-sattva. But the transcendental variegatedness of viśuddha-sattva is completely free from all mundane qualities. Viśuddha-sattva is therefore the proper atmosphere in which to experience the Personality of Godhead and His transcendental pastimes. Spiritual variegatedness is eternally independent of all material conditions and is nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, both being absolute. The Lord and His devotees simultaneously perceive the hlādinī potency directly by the power of the samvit potency.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave chewed pan, or betel nut, to Murāri Gupta. Once Śivānanda Sena offered food to Lord Caitanya that had been cooked with excessive ghee, and the next day the Lord became sick and went to Murāri Gupta for treatment. Lord Caitanya accepted some water from the waterpot of Murāri Gupta, and thus He was cured. The natural remedy for indigestion is to drink a little water, and since Murāri Gupta was a physician, he gave the Lord some drinking water and cured Him.
When Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in the house of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura in His Caturbhuja mūrti, Murāri Gupta became His carrier in the form of Garuḍa, and in these pastimes of ecstasy the Lord then got up on his back. It was the desire of Murāri Gupta to leave his body before the disappearance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but the Lord forbade him to do so. This is described in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Twenty. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu one day appeared in ecstasy as the Varāha mūrti, Murāri Gupta offered Him prayers. He was a great devotee of Lord Rāmacandra, and his staunch devotion is vividly described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Fifteenth Chapter, verses 137 through 157.
About eight or ten miles from Calcutta, on the banks of the Ganges, is a village known as Eṅḍiyādaha-grāma. Śrīla Gadādhara dāsa was known as an inhabitant of this village (eṅḍiyādaha-vāsī gadādhara dāsa). The Bhakti-ratnākara (Seventh Wave), informs us that after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Gadādhara dāsa went from Navadvīpa to Katwa. Thereafter he came to Eṅḍiyādaha and resided there. He is stated to be the luster of the body of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, just as Śrīla Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosvāmī is an incarnation of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Herself. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is sometimes explained to be rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalita, or characterized by the emotions and bodily luster of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Gadādhara dāsa is this dyuti, or luster. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (154) he is described to be an expansion of the potency of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. He counts among the associates of both Śrīla Gaurahari and Nityānanda Prabhu; as a devotee of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu he was one of the associates of Lord Kṛṣṇa in conjugal love, and as a devotee of Lord Nityānanda he is considered to have been one of the friends of Kṛṣṇa in pure devotional service. Even though he was an associate of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, he was not among the cowherd boys but was situated in the transcendental mellow of conjugal love. He established a temple of Śrī Gaurasundara in Katwa.
Sanātana Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana by the main road, and when he reached Mathurā he met Subuddhi Rāya. Then he returned to Jagannātha Purī through Jhārikhaṇḍa (Jharkhanda), the Madhya Pradesh jungle. At Jagannātha Purī he decided to give up his body by falling down beneath a wheel of the Jagannātha ratha, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu saved him. Then Sanātana Gosvāmī met Haridāsa Ṭhākura and heard about the disappearance of Anupama. Sanātana Gosvāmī later described the glories of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Sanātana observed the etiquette of Jagannātha's temple by going along the beach to visit Lord Caitanya, although it was extremely hot due to the sun. He requested Jagadānanda Paṇḍita to give him permission to return to Vṛndāvana. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu praised the character of Sanātana Gosvāmī, and He embraced Sanātana, accepting his body as spiritual. Sanātana Gosvāmī was ordered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to live at Jagannātha Purī for one year. When he returned to Vṛndāvana after that time, he again met Rūpa Gosvāmī, and both brothers remained in Vṛndāvana to execute the orders of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
The place where Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī formerly lived has now become a place of pilgrimage. It is generally known as Gupta Vṛndāvana, or hidden Vṛndāvana, and is situated about eight miles south of English Bazaar. There the following places are still visited: (1) the temple of the Śrī Madana-mohana Deity, (2) the Keli-kadamba tree, under which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu met Sanātana Gosvāmī at night and (3) Rūpasāgara, a large pond excavated by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī. A society named Rāmakeli-saṁskāra-samiti was established in 1924 to repair the temple and renovate the pond.
After the disappearance of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī in Vṛndāvana, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī became the ācārya of all the Vaiṣṇavas in Bengal, Orissa and the rest of the world, and it is he who used to guide them in their devotional service. In Vṛndāvana he established the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple, where, after retirement, we had the opportunity to live from 1962 until 1965, when we decided to come to the United States of America. When Jīva Gosvāmī was still present, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī compiled his famous Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Later, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī inspired Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Duḥkhī Kṛṣṇadāsa to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Bengal. Jīva Gosvāmī was informed that all the manuscripts that had been collected from Vṛndāvana and sent to Bengal for preaching purposes were plundered near Viṣṇupura, in Bengal, but later he received the information that the books had been recovered. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī awarded the designation Kavirāja to Rāmacandra Sena, a disciple of Śrīnivāsa Ācārya's, and to Rāmacandra's younger brother Govinda. While Jīva Gosvāmī was alive, Śrīmatī Jāhnavā-devī, the pleasure potency of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, went to Vṛndāvana with a few devotees. Jīva Gosvāmī was very kind to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, the Vaiṣṇavas from Bengal. Whoever went to Vṛndāvana he provided with a residence and prasādam. His disciple Kṛṣṇadāsa Adhikārī listed all the books of the Gosvāmīs in his diary.
He rendered confidential service to the Lord for sixteen years at Jagannātha Purī, and after the disappearance of both the Lord and Svarūpa Dāmodara, he left Jagannātha Purī and went to Vṛndāvana.
Jumping from the top of Govardhana Hill is a system of suicide especially performed by saintly persons. After the disappearance of Lord Caitanya and Svarūpa Dāmodara, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī keenly felt separation from these two exalted personalities and therefore decided to give up his life by jumping from Govardhana Hill in Vṛndāvana. Before doing so, however, he wanted to see the lotus feet of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī.
“Sundarānanda Prabhu was a naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī: he never married in his life. Therefore he had no direct descendants except his disciples, but the descendants of his family still reside in the village known as Maṅgalaḍihi in the district of Birbhum. In that same village is a temple of Balarāma, and the Deity there is regularly worshiped. The original Deity of Maheśapura, Rādhāvallabha, was taken by the Saidābād Gosvāmīs of Berhampur, and since the present Deities were installed, a zamindar family of Maheśapura has looked after Their worship. On the full-moon day of the month of Māgha (January-February), the anniversary of Sundarānanda's disappearance is regularly celebrated, and people from the neighboring areas gather together to observe this festival.”
“Parameśvarī Ṭhākura belonged, it is said, to a vaidya family. A descendant of his brother's is at present a worshiper in the temple. Some of their family members still reside in the district of Hugli, near the post office of Caṇḍītalā. The descendants of Parameśvarī Ṭhākura took many disciples from brāhmaṇa families, but as these descendants gradually took to the profession of physicians, persons from brāhmaṇa families ceased becoming their disciples. The family titles of Parameśvarī’s descendants are Adhikārī and Gupta. Unfortunately, his family members do not worship the Deity directly; they have engaged paid brāhmaṇas to worship the Deity. In the temple, Baladeva and Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopīnātha are together on the throne. It is supposed that the Deity of Baladeva was installed later because according to transcendental mellow, Baladeva, Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā cannot stay on the same throne. On the full-moon day of Vaiśākha (April—May), the disappearance festival of Parameśvarī Ṭhākura is observed in this temple.”
On the narrow railway from Burdwan to Katwa is a railway station about nine miles from Katwa known as Kaicara. One has to go about a mile northeast of this station to reach Śītala. The temple was a thatched house with walls made of dirt. Some time ago, the zamindars of Bājāravana Kābāśī, the Mulliks, constructed a big house for the purpose of a temple, but for the last sixty-five years the temple has been broken down and abandoned. The foundation of the old temple is still visible. There is a tulasī pillar near the temple, and every year during the month of Kārttika (October-November) the disappearance day of Dhanañjaya is observed. It is said that for some time Paṇḍita Dhanañjaya was in a saṅkīrtana party under the direction of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then he went to Vṛndāvana. Before going to Vṛndāvana, he lived for some time in a village named Sāṅcaḍāpāṅcaḍā, which is six miles south of the Memārī railway station. Sometimes this village is also known as "the place of Dhanañjaya" (Dhanañjayera Pāṭa). After some time, he left the responsibility for worship with a disciple and went back to Vṛndāvana. After returning from Vṛndāvana to Śītala-grāma, he established a Deity of Gaurasundara in the temple. The descendants of Paṇḍita Dhanañjaya still live in Śītala-grāma and look after the temple worship.”
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, "Kāliyā Kṛṣṇadāsa had his headquarters in a village named Ākāihāṭa, which is situated in the district of Burdwan within the jurisdiction of the post office and police station of Katwa. It is situated on the road to Navadvīpa. To reach Ākāihāṭa, one has to go from the Byāṇḍel junction station to the Katwa railway station and then go about two miles, or one has to get off at the Dāṅihāṭa station and from there go one mile. The village of Ākāihāṭa is very small. In the month of Caitra, on the day of Vāruṇī, there is a festival commemorating the disappearance day of Kālā Kṛṣṇadāsa."
The words daivera kāraṇa indicate that by dint of providence, or by God's will, the followers of Advaita Ācārya divided into two parties. Such disagreement among the disciples of one ācārya is also found among the members of the Gauḍīya Maṭha. In the beginning, during the presence of Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa Parivrājakācārya Aṣṭottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, all the disciples worked in agreement; but just after his disappearance, they disagreed. One party strictly followed the instructions of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, but another group created their own concoction about executing his desires. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, at the time of his departure, requested all his disciples to form a governing body and conduct missionary activities cooperatively. He did not instruct a particular man to become the next ācārya. But just after his passing away, his leading secretaries made plans, without authority, to occupy the post of ācārya, and they split into two factions over who the next ācārya would be. Consequently, both factions were asāra, or useless, because they had no authority, having disobeyed the order of the spiritual master. Despite the spiritual master's order to form a governing body and execute the missionary activities of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, the two unauthorized factions began litigation that is still going on after forty years with no decision.
After the disappearance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, some of the branches, for unfortunate reasons, deviated from His path.
The place where Nityānanda Prabhu appeared is called Garbhavāsa. There is an allotment of about forty-three bighās (fourteen acres) of land to continue the worship in a temple there. The Mahārāja of Dinājapura donated twenty bighās of land (about six and a half acres) in this connection. It is said that near the place known as Garbhavāsa, Hāḍāi Paṇḍita conducted a primary school. The priests of this place, listed in a genealogical table, were as follows: (1) Śrī Rāghavacandra, (2) Jagadānanda dāsa, (3) Kṛṣṇadāsa, (4) Nityānanda dāsa, (5) Rāmadāsa, (6) Vrajamohana dāsa, (7) Kānāi dāsa, (8) Gauradāsa, (9) Śivānanda dāsa and (10) Haridāsa. Kṛṣṇadāsa belonged to the Ciḍiyā-kuñja at Vṛndāvana. The date of his disappearance is Kṛṣṇa-janmāṣṭamī. Ciḍiyā-kuñja is a place now managed by the gosvāmīs of Śṛṅgāra-ghāṭa in Vṛndāvana. They are also known as belonging to the Nityānanda family, most probably on the basis of their relationship with Kṛṣṇadāsa.
Lord Caitanya knew about the disappearance of Lakṣmīdevī because He is the Supersoul Himself. Thus He returned home to solace His mother, Śacīdevī, who was greatly unhappy about the death of her daughter-in-law.
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Kṛṣṇa bound with ropes, the deliverance of the two brothers (Yamalārjuna) and the lamentation of mother Yaśodā; (9) entering Śrī Vṛndāvana; (10) the killing of Vatsāsura, Bakāsura and Vyomāsura; (11) the killing of Aghāsura and the bewilderment of Lord Brahmā; (12) the tending of the cows in the forest; (13) taking care of the cows and chastising the Kāliya serpent; (14) the killing of Gardabhāsura (the ass demon), and the praise of Kṛṣṇa; (15) the previous attraction of the gopīs; (16) the killing of Pralambāsura and the eating of the forest fire; (17) the gopīs' attempt to approach Kṛṣṇa; (18) the lifting of Govardhana Hill; (19) bathing Kṛṣṇa with milk; (20) the return of Nanda Mahārāja from the custody of Varuṇa and the vision of Goloka Vṛndāvana by the gopas; (21) the performance of the rituals in Kātyāyanī-vrata and the worship of the goddess Durgā; (22) the begging of food from the wives of the brāhmaṇas performing sacrifices; (23) the meeting of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs; (24) Kṛṣṇa's enjoying the company of the gopīs, the disappearance of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa from the scene, and the search for Them by the gopīs; (25) the reappearance of Kṛṣṇa; (26) the determination of the gopīs; (27) pastimes in the waters of the Yamunā; (28) the deliverance of Nanda Mahārāja from the clutches of the serpent; (29) various pastimes in solitary places; (30) the killing of Śaṅkhacūḍa and the Hori; (31) the killing of Ariṣṭāsura; (32) the killing of the Keśī demon; (33) the appearance of Śrī Nārada Muni and a description of the year in which the book was completed.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu warned all His followers not to become independent or impudent. Unfortunately, after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, many apa-sampradāyas (so-called followers) invented many ways not approved by the ācāryas. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has described them as the āula, bāula, kartābhajā, neḍā, daraveśa, sāni, sahajiyā, sakhībhekī, smārta, jāta-gosāñi, ativāḍī, cūḍādhārī and gaurāṅga-nāgarī.
The āula-sampradāya, bāula-sampradāya and others invented their own ways of understanding Lord Caitanya's philosophy, without following in the footsteps of the ācāryas. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself indicates herein that all such attempts would simply spoil the spirit of His cult.
It may be noted that these particular Deities of Rāma and Sītā have been worshiped from the time of King Ikṣvāku. Indeed, They were worshiped by the royal princes even before the appearance of Lord Rāmacandra. Later, during Lord Rāmacandra's presence, the Deities were worshiped by Lakṣmaṇa. It is said that just three months before his disappearance, Śrī Madhvācārya received these Deities and installed them in the Uḍupī temple. Since then the Deities have been worshiped by the Madhvācārya-sampradāya at that monastery. As far as the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas are concerned, beginning with Rāmānujācārya, they also worshiped Deities of Sītā-Rāma. Sītā-Rāma Deities are also being worshiped in Tirupati and other places. From the Śrī Rāmānuja-sampradāya there is another branch known as Rāmānandī or Rāmāt, and the followers of that branch also worship Deities of Sītā-Rāma very rigidly. The Rāmānuja-sampradāya Vaiṣṇavas prefer the worship of Lord Rāmacandra to that of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.
“‘"My dearmost Kṛṣṇa, You are worshiping Me and giving up the company of all the other gopīs, who wanted to enjoy themselves with You." Thinking like this, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī considered Herself Kṛṣṇa's most beloved gopī. She had become proud and had left the rāsa-līlā with Kṛṣṇa. In the deep forest She said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, I cannot walk any more. You can take Me wherever You like." When Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī petitioned Kṛṣṇa in this way, Kṛṣṇa said, "Just get up on My shoulders." As soon as Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī began to do so, He disappeared. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī then began to grieve over Her request and Kṛṣṇa's disappearance.’
Illusory stories opposed to the conclusions of Kṛṣṇa consciousness concern the destruction of the Yadu dynasty, Kṛṣṇa's disappearance, the story that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma arise from a black hair and a white hair of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and the story about the kidnapping of the queens. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanātana Gosvāmī the proper conclusions of these stories.
Due to envy, many asuras describe Kṛṣṇa to be like a black crow or an incarnation of a hair. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Sanātana Gosvāmī how to counteract all these asuric explanations of Kṛṣṇa. The word kāka means crow, and keśa means hair. The asuras describe Kṛṣṇa as an incarnation of a crow, an incarnation of a śūdra (a blackish tribe) and an incarnation of a hair, not knowing that the word keśa means ka-īśa and that ka means Lord Brahmā and īśa means Lord. Thus the word keśa indicates that Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of Lord Brahmā.
Some of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are mentioned in the Mahābhārata as mauṣala-līlā. These include the stories of the destruction of the Yadu dynasty, Kṛṣṇa's disappearance, His being pierced by a hunter's arrow, the story of Kṛṣṇa's being an incarnation of a piece of hair (keśa-avatāra) as well as mahiṣī-haraṇa, the kidnapping of Kṛṣṇa's queens. Actually these are not factual but are related for the bewilderment of the asuras, who want to prove that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary human being.
It is therefore concluded that one has to learn about Kṛṣṇa from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā, and one has to follow in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Those who do not follow Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu cannot understand the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
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The following summary of the Twentieth Chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed His nights tasting the meaning of the Śikṣāṣṭaka prayers in the company of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Rāmānanda Rāya. Sometimes He recited verses from Jayadeva Gosvāmī’s Gīta-govinda, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya's Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka or from Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura's Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In this way, He became absorbed in ecstatic emotions. For the twelve years Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu lived at Jagannātha Purī, He relished the taste of reciting such transcendental verses. Altogether the Lord was present in this mortal world for forty-eight years. After hinting about the Lord's disappearance, the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta gives a short description of the entire Antya-līlā and then ends his book.
The Eleventh Chapter describes the disappearance of Haridāsa Ṭhākura and how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, showed His affection for His devotees.
| Page Title: | Disappearance (CC) |
| Compiler: | Mayapur, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 21 of Sep, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=26, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 26 |