View source for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally took lessons from Sri Ramananda Raya and also sent Pradyumna Misra, an exalted brahmana, to take lessons from him

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[[Category:Caitanya Personally|2]]
[[Category:Caitanya's Taking|2]]
[[Category:Lessons|2]]
[[Category:Caitanya and Ramananda Raya|2]]
[[Category:Caitanya's Sending|2]]
[[Category:Caitanya and Pradyumna Misra|2]]
[[Category:Exalted Brahmanas‎|2]]
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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAdi10131_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1383" link="CC Adi 10.131" link_text="CC Adi 10.131">
<div class="heading">Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Pradyumna Miśra to take instruction from Rāmānanda Rāya.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 10.131|CC Adi 10.131, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Pradyumna Miśra, an inhabitant of Orissa, was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Pradyumna Miśra was born of a brāhmaṇa family and Rāmānanda Rāya of a non-brāhmaṇa family, yet Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Pradyumna Miśra to take instruction from Rāmānanda Rāya. This incident is described in the Antya-līlā, Chapter Five.</p>
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<div id="CCAdi10134_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1386" link="CC Adi 10.134" link_text="CC Adi 10.134">
<div class="heading">Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was one of the three and a half personalities with whom Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu discussed the most confidential topics of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Pradyumna Miśra to learn the science of Kṛṣṇa from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 10.134|CC Adi 10.134, Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="purport text"><p style="display: inline;">Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu considered Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī to be equal in their renunciation, for although Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was a gṛhastha engaged in government service and Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī was in the renounced order of complete detachment from material activities, they were both servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who kept Kṛṣṇa in the center of all their activities. Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was one of the three and a half personalities with whom Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu discussed the most confidential topics of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Pradyumna Miśra to learn the science of Kṛṣṇa from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya. As Subala always assisted Kṛṣṇa in His dealings with Rādhārāṇī in kṛṣṇa-līlā, so Rāmānanda Rāya assisted Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was the author of the Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka.</p>
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<div id="CC_Madhya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Madhya-lila"><h3>CC Madhya-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCMadhya1264_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Madhya-lila" book="CC" index="262" link="CC Madhya 1.264" link_text="CC Madhya 1.264">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Madhya 1.264|CC Madhya 1.264, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">After explaining the transcendental qualities of Rāmānanda Rāya, the Lord sent Pradyumna Miśra to his residence, and Pradyumna Miśra learned kṛṣṇa-kathā from him.</p>
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<div id="CC_Antya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="3" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Antya-lila"><h3>CC Antya-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAntya5Summary_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="897" link="CC Antya 5 Summary" link_text="CC Antya 5 Summary">
<div class="heading">Pradyumna Miśra, a resident of Śrīhaṭṭa, came to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to hear from Him about Lord Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes. The Lord, however, sent him to Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5 Summary|CC Antya 5 Summary]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">The following summary of the Fifth Chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. Pradyumna Miśra, a resident of Śrīhaṭṭa, came to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to hear from Him about Lord Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes. The Lord, however, sent him to Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya. Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya was training the deva-dāsī dancing girls in the temple, and when Pradyumna Miśra heard about this, he returned to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The Lord, however, elaborately described the character of Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya. Then Pradyumna Miśra went to see Rāmānanda Rāya again to hear about the transcendental truth from him.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya511_1" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="908" link="CC Antya 5.11" link_text="CC Antya 5.11">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5.11|CC Antya 5.11, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Pradyumna Miśra, being thus advised by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, went to the home of Rāmānanda Rāya. There the servant of Rāmānanda Rāya gave him a proper place to sit down.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya571_2" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="965" link="CC Antya 5.71" link_text="CC Antya 5.71">
<div class="heading">When Rāmānanda Rāya spoke to Pradyumna Miśra, Pradyumna Miśra could understand that Rāmānanda Rāya was not an ordinary human being.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5.71|CC Antya 5.71, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">“I cannot properly describe the discourses of Rāmānanda Rāya, for he is not an ordinary human being. He is fully absorbed in the devotional service of the Lord.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>One is forbidden to accept the guru, or spiritual master, as an ordinary human being (guruṣu nara-matiḥ). When Rāmānanda Rāya spoke to Pradyumna Miśra, Pradyumna Miśra could understand that Rāmānanda Rāya was not an ordinary human being. A spiritually advanced person who is authorized to act as the spiritual master speaks as the Supreme Personality of Godhead dictates from within. Thus it is not he that is personally speaking. In other words, when a pure devotee or spiritual master speaks, what he says should be accepted as having been directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the paramparā system.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya579_3" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="973" link="CC Antya 5.79" link_text="CC Antya 5.79">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5.79|CC Antya 5.79, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">I have described but a fraction of the transcendental attributes of Rāmānanda Rāya, as revealed when he instructed Pradyumna Miśra.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya581_4" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="975" link="CC Antya 5.81" link_text="CC Antya 5.81">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5.81|CC Antya 5.81, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">To demonstrate the transcendental attributes of Rāmānanda Rāya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sent Pradyumna Miśra to hear discourses about Kṛṣṇa from him.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya584_5" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="978" link="CC Antya 5.84" link_text="CC Antya 5.84">
<div class="heading">Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was a gṛhastha belonging to the śūdra class, yet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu arranged for him to be the master who taught Pradyumna Miśra, a highly qualified brāhmaṇa born in a brāhmaṇa family. Even Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, although belonging to the renounced order, took instruction from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5.84|CC Antya 5.84, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">To vanquish the false pride of so-called renunciants and learned scholars, He spreads real religious principles, even through a śūdra, or lowborn, fourth-class man.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>When a man is greatly learned in the Vedānta-sūtras, he is known as a paṇḍita, or learned scholar. Generally this qualification is attributed to brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs. Sannyāsa, the renounced order of life, is the topmost position for a brāhmaṇa, a member of the highest of the four varṇas (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra). According to public opinion, a person born in a brāhmaṇa family, duly reformed by the purificatory processes and properly initiated by a spiritual master, is an authority on Vedic literature. When such a person is offered the sannyāsa order, he comes to occupy the topmost position. The brāhmaṇa is supposed to be the spiritual master of the other three varṇas, namely kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra, and the sannyāsī is supposed to be the spiritual master even of the exalted brāhmaṇas.</p>
<p>Generally brāhmaṇas and sannyāsīs are very proud of their spiritual positions. Therefore, to cut down their false pride, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu preached Kṛṣṇa consciousness through Rāmānanda Rāya, who was neither a member of the renounced order nor a born brāhmaṇa. Indeed, Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was a gṛhastha belonging to the śūdra class, yet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu arranged for him to be the master who taught Pradyumna Miśra, a highly qualified brāhmaṇa born in a brāhmaṇa family. Even Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, although belonging to the renounced order, took instruction from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya. In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His opulence through Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya. That is the special significance of this incident.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya585_6" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="979" link="CC Antya 5.85" link_text="CC Antya 5.85">
<div class="heading">Any person who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa and who is fully qualified in spiritual life can become jagad-guru. Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally took lessons from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and also sent Pradyumna Miśra, an exalted brāhmaṇa, to take lessons from him.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5.85|CC Antya 5.85, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu preached about devotional service, ecstatic love and the Absolute Truth by making Rāmānanda Rāya, a gṛhastha born in a low family, the speaker. Then Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, the exalted brāhmaṇa-sannyāsī, and Pradyumna Miśra, the purified brāhmaṇa, both became the hearers of Rāmānanda Rāya.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya that sannyāsīs in the line of Śaṅkarācārya always think that they have performed all the duties of brāhmaṇas and that, furthermore, having understood the essence of the Vedānta-sūtra and become sannyāsīs, they are the natural spiritual masters of all society. Similarly, persons born in brāhmaṇa families think that because they execute the ritualistic ceremonies recommended in the Vedas and follow the principles of smṛti, they alone can become spiritual masters of society. These highly exalted brāhmaṇas think that unless one is born in a brāhmaṇa family, one cannot become a spiritual master and teach the Absolute Truth. To cut down the pride of these birthright brāhmaṇas and Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu proved that a person like Rāmānanda Rāya, although born in a śūdra family and situated in the gṛhastha-āśrama, can become the spiritual master of such exalted personalities as Himself and Pradyumna Miśra. This is the principle of the Vaiṣṇava cult, as evinced in the teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. A person who knows what is spiritual and what is material and who is firmly fixed in the spiritual position can be jagad-guru, the spiritual master of the entire world. One cannot become jagad-guru simply by advertising oneself as jagad-guru without knowing the essential principles for becoming jagad-guru. Even people who never see what a jagad-guru is and never talk with other people become puffed-up sannyāsīs and declare themselves jagad-gurus. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not like this. Any person who knows the science of Kṛṣṇa and who is fully qualified in spiritual life can become jagad-guru. Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally took lessons from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and also sent Pradyumna Miśra, an exalted brāhmaṇa, to take lessons from him.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya5159_7" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="1051" link="CC Antya 5.159" link_text="CC Antya 5.159">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 5.159|CC Antya 5.159, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">I have thus described the narration concerning Pradyumna Miśra and how, following the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he listened to discourses about Kṛṣṇa spoken by Rāmānanda Rāya.</p>
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<div id="CCAntya20110_8" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="3152" link="CC Antya 20.110" link_text="CC Antya 20.110">
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 20.110|CC Antya 20.110, Translation]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">The Fifth Chapter ([[Vanisource:CC Antya 5|CC Antya 5]]) tells how the Lord showed His favor to Pradyumna Miśra and made him hear topics of Kṛṣṇa from Rāmānanda Rāya.</p>
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