Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya (CC Madhya 1 - 6)

Expressions researched:
"Bhattacarya" |"Bhattacarya's" |"Bhattacaryas" |"Sarvabhauma" |"Sarvabhaumas"

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.99, Translation:

After Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw Lord Jagannātha in the temple and fell down unconscious, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya took Him to his home. The Lord remained unconscious until the afternoon, when He finally regained His consciousness.

CC Madhya 1.101, Translation:

After this incident, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed His mercy upon Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya by showing him His original form as the Lord.

CC Madhya 1.102, Translation:

After bestowing mercy upon Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, the Lord started for southern India. When He came to Kūrma-kṣetra, He delivered a person named Vāsudeva.

CC Madhya 1.124, Translation:

When the devotees from Bengal arrived at Jagannātha Purī, both Nityānanda Prabhu and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya greatly endeavored to take Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu back to Jagannātha Purī.

CC Madhya 1.137, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was invited to dine at the house of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. While He was eating sumptuously, the son-in-law of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya (the husband of his daughter Ṣāṭhī) criticized Him. Because of this, Ṣāṭhī’s mother cursed him by praying that Ṣāṭhī would become a widow. In other words, she cursed her son-in-law to die.

CC Madhya 1.141, Translation:

Everyone met Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya on his way to Vārāṇasī.

CC Madhya 1.150, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu reached Vidyānagara, Bengal, on the way to Vṛndāvana, He stopped at the house of Vidyā-vācaspati, who was the brother of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu suddenly arrived at his house, great crowds of people gathered.

CC Madhya 1.236, Translation:

The two persons who accompanied Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Jagannātha Purī (Nīlācala) were Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and Dāmodara Paṇḍita.

CC Madhya 1.238, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left Jagannātha Purī for Vṛndāvana, only Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya was with Him. Thus He traveled on the path through Jhārikhaṇḍa and arrived in Benares (Vārāṇasī) with great delight.

CC Madhya 1.240, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited all twelve places of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, He became very much agitated because of ecstasy. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya somehow or other got Him out of Mathurā.

CC Madhya 4.3-4, Translation:

The Lord went to Jagannātha Purī and visited Lord Jagannātha's temple. He also met with Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. All these pastimes have been very elaborately explained by Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura in his book Caitanya-bhāgavata.

CC Madhya 6 Summary:

A summary of the Sixth Chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya as follows. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the temple of Jagannātha, He immediately fainted. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya then took Him to his home. Meanwhile, Gopīnātha Ācārya, the brother-in-law of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, met Mukunda Datta and talked to him about Caitanya Mahāprabhu's acceptance of sannyāsa and His journey to Jagannātha Purī. After hearing about Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's fainting and His being carried to the house of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, people crowded there to see the Lord. Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu and other devotees then visited the Jagannātha temple, and when they came back to the house of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu returned to external consciousness. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya received everyone and distributed mahā-prasādam with great care. The Bhaṭṭācārya then became acquainted with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and arranged accommodations at his aunt's house. His brother-in-law, Gopīnātha Ācārya, established that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was Kṛṣṇa Himself, but Sārvabhauma and his many disciples could not accept this. However, Gopīnātha Ācārya convinced Sārvabhauma that no one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead without being favored by Him. He proved by śāstric quotation, quotations from the revealed scriptures, that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was Kṛṣṇa Himself in person. Still, Sārvabhauma did not take these statements very seriously. Hearing all these arguments, Caitanya Mahāprabhu told His devotees that Sārvabhauma was His spiritual master and that whatever he said out of affection was for everyone's benefit.

CC Madhya 6 Summary:

When Sārvabhauma met Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he asked Him to hear Vedānta philosophy from him. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted this proposal, and for seven days He continally heard Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya explain the Vedānta-sūtra. However, the Lord remained very silent. Because of His silence, the Bhaṭṭācārya asked Him whether He was understanding the Vedānta philosophy, and the Lord replied, "Sir, I can understand Vedānta philosophy very clearly, but I cannot understand your explanations." There was then a discussion between the Bhaṭṭācārya and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu concerning the authority of the Vedic scriptures, specifically the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra. The Bhaṭṭācārya was an impersonalist, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu proved that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He proved that the conceptions of the Māyāvādī philosophers concerning the impersonal Absolute Truth are incorrect.

CC Madhya 6 Summary:

The real philosophy of the Absolute Truth states that the Lord and His creation are inconceivably and simultaneously one and different. The conclusion is that the Māyāvādī philosophers are actually atheists. There was much discussion on this issue between Sārvabhauma and Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but despite all his endeavors, the Bhaṭṭācārya was defeated in the end.

CC Madhya 6 Summary:

At the request of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then explained the ātmārāma verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in eighteen different ways. When the Bhaṭṭācārya came to his senses, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu disclosed His real identity. The Bhaṭṭācārya then recited one hundred verses in praise of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and offered his obeisances. After this, Gopīnātha Ācārya and all the others, having seen the wonderful potencies of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, became very joyful.

CC Madhya 6 Summary:

One morning after this incident, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu received some prasādam from Jagannātha and offered it to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. Without caring for formality, the Bhaṭṭācārya immediately partook of the mahā-prasādam. On another day, when the Bhaṭṭācārya asked Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu the best way to worship and meditate, the Lord advised him to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. On another day, the Bhaṭṭācārya wanted to change the reading of the tat te ’nukampām (SB 10.14.8) verse because he did not like the word mukti-pada. He wanted to substitute the word bhakti-pada. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Sārvabhauma not to change the reading of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, because mukti-pada indicated the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Having become a pure devotee, the Bhaṭṭācārya said, "Because the meaning is hazy, I still prefer bhakti-pada." At this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the other inhabitants of Jagannātha Purī became very pleased. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya thus became a pure Vaiṣṇava, and the other learned scholars there followed him.

CC Madhya 6.1, Translation:

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Gauracandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who converted the hardhearted Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, the reservoir of all bad logic, into a great devotee.

CC Madhya 6.5, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu fell down, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya happened to see Him. When the watchman threatened to beat the Lord, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya immediately forbade him.

CC Madhya 6.6, Translation:

Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was very surprised to see the personal beauty of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as well as the transcendental transformations wrought on His body due to love of Godhead.

CC Madhya 6.7, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu remained unconscious for a long time. Meanwhile, the time for offering prasādam to Lord Jagannātha came, and the Bhaṭṭācārya tried to think of a remedy.

CC Madhya 6.8, Translation:

While Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was unconscious, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, with the help of the watchman and some disciples, carried Him to his home and laid Him down in a very sanctified room.

CC Madhya 6.8, Purport:

At that time, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya lived on the southern side of the Jagannātha Temple. His home was practically on the beach and was known as Mārkaṇḍeya-sarastaṭa. At present it is used as the monastery of Gaṅgāmātā.

CC Madhya 6.9, Translation:

Examining the body of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Sārvabhauma saw that His abdomen was not moving and that He was not breathing. Seeing His condition, the Bhaṭṭācārya became very anxious.

CC Madhya 6.10, Translation:

The Bhaṭṭācārya then took a fine cotton swab and put it before the Lord's nostrils. When he saw the cotton move very slightly, he became hopeful.

CC Madhya 6.12, Translation:

Upon seeing the sign of sūddīpta-sāttvika, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya could immediately understand the transcendental ecstatic transformation in the body of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Such a sign takes place only in the bodies of eternally liberated devotees.