Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gives a summary of the Twelfth Chapter in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. The Twelfth Chapter describes the followers of Advaita Prabhu, among whom the followers of Acyutānanda, the son of Advaita Ācārya, are understood to be the pure followers who received the cream of the philosophy Śrī Advaita Ācārya enunciated. Other so-called descendants and followers of Advaita Ācārya are not to be recognized. This chapter also includes narrations concerning the son of Advaita Ācārya named Gopāla Miśra and Advaita Ācārya's servant named Kamalākānta Viśvāsa. In his early life Gopāla fainted during the cleansing of the Guṇḍicā-mandira at Jagannātha Purī and thus became a recipient of the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The story of Kamalākānta Viśvāsa concerns his borrowing three hundred rupees from Pratāparudra Mahārāja to clear a debt of Advaita Ācārya's, for which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chastised him when He came to know of it. Kamalākānta Viśvāsa was then purified by the request of Śrī Advaita Ācārya. After describing the descendants of Advaita Ācārya, the chapter concludes by describing the followers of Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosvāmī.
Fainted (CC and other books)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Lord Kṛṣṇa's father, mother and household affairs are all displayed in the same viśuddha-sattva existence. A living entity situated in the status of pure goodness can understand the form, qualities and other features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa consciousness begins on the platform of pure goodness. Although there is a faint realization of Kṛṣṇa at first, Kṛṣṇa is actually realized as Vāsudeva, the absolute proprietor of omnipotence or the prime predominating Deity of all potencies. When the living entity is situated in viśuddha-sattva, transcendental to the three material modes of nature, he can perceive the form, quality and other features of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through his service attitude. The status of pure goodness is the platform of understanding, for the Supreme Lord is always in spiritual existence.
I fainted and fell to the ground, my dream broke, and when I regained consciousness I saw that morning had come.
While chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sometimes fainted and remained unconscious for many hours. He prays in His Śikṣāṣṭaka (7):
- yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam
- śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me
"O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from My eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence." This is the perfectional stage of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and eating the fruit of love of Godhead, as exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One should not artificially imitate this stage, but if one is serious and sincerely follows the regulative principles and chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the time will come when these symptoms will appear. Tears will fill his eyes, he will be unable to chant the mahā-mantra distinctly, and his heart will throb in ecstasy. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that one should not imitate this, but a devotee should long for the day to come when such symptoms of trance will automatically appear in his body.
While all of them danced, Gopāla, dancing and dancing, fainted and fell to the ground unconscious.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given a summary of this chapter in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya: "In the Fourteenth Chapter there is a description of how Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed His childhood pastimes—crawling, crying, eating dirt and giving intelligence to His mother, favoring a brāhmaṇa guest, riding on the shoulders of two thieves and misleading them to His own house, and, on the plea of being diseased, taking prasādam in the house of Hiraṇya and Jagadīśa on the Ekādaśī day. The chapter further describes how He displayed Himself as a naughty boy, how when His mother fainted He brought a coconut to her on His head, how He joked with girls of the same age on the banks of the Ganges, how He accepted worshipful paraphernalia from Śrīmatī Lakṣmīdevī, how He sat down in a garbage pit and instructed His mother in transcendental knowledge, how He left the pit on the order of His mother, and how He dealt with His father with full affection."
Once the child, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, chastised His mother with His soft hand, and His mother pretended to faint. Seeing this, the Lord began to cry.
Betel nuts are an intoxicant, and therefore the regulative principles prohibit eating them. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pastime of fainting after eating betel nuts is a solid instruction to all of us that one should not touch betel nuts, even those offered to Viṣṇu, just as one should not touch grains on the Ekādaśī day. Of course, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's fainting had a particular purpose. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He can do whatever He likes and eat whatever He wants, but we should not imitate His pastimes.
One night Śacīdevī dreamt that the Deities in her house, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, had taken the forms of Caitanya and Nityānanda and were fighting one another, as children do, to eat the naivedya, or offering to the Deities. The next day, by the will of Lord Caitanya, Śacīdevī invited Nityānanda to take prasādam at her house. Thus Viśvambhara (Lord Caitanya) and Nityānanda were eating together, and Śacīdevī realized that They were none other than Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Seeing this, she fainted.
CC Madhya-lila
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.
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went swiftly to embrace Lord Jagannātha, but when He entered the temple, He was so overwhelmed with love of Godhead that He fainted to the floor.
When Lord Nityānanda Prabhu nearly fainted, all the devotees caught Him and steadied Him. At that time, the priest of Lord Jagannātha brought a garland that had been offered to the Deity and offered it to Nityānanda Prabhu.
Saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu departed on His tour, and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya immediately fainted and fell to the ground.
Although Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya fainted, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not take notice of him. Rather, He left quickly. Who can understand the mind and intention of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu?
It was naturally expected that when Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya fainted and fell to the ground Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would have taken care of him and waited for him to regain consciousness, but He did not do so. Rather, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately started on His tour. It is therefore very difficult to understand the activities of a transcendental person. Sometimes they may seem rather odd, but a transcendental personality remains in his position, unaffected by material considerations.
After this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu washed the Guṇḍicā temple before the Ratha-yātrā took place. He then took His bath at Indradyumna Lake and partook of prasādam in the garden nearby. While Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu washed the temple of Guṇḍicā, a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava washed the lotus feet of the Lord and drank the water. This incident is very significant, for it awoke within the devotee ecstatic love. Then the son of Advaita Prabhu named Gopāla fainted during kīrtana, and when he did not come to his senses, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu favored him by awakening him. There was also some humorous talk between Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu during prasādam. Advaita Prabhu said that Nityānanda Prabhu was unknown to anyone and that it was not the duty of a householder brāhmaṇa to accept dinner with a person unknown in society. In answer to this humorous statement, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu replied that Advaita Ācārya was a monist and that one could not know how his mind could be turned by eating with such an impersonalist. The conversation of these two prabhus-Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu-carried a deep meaning that only an intelligent man can understand. After all the Vaiṣṇavas finished their luncheon, Svarūpa Dāmodara and others took their prasādam within the room. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took great pleasure when He saw the Jagannātha Deity after the period of the Deity's retirement. At that time Lord Caitanya was accompanied by all the devotees, and all of them were very pleased.
While dancing in ecstatic love, Śrī Gopāla fainted and fell to the ground unconscious.
When Śrī Gopāla fainted, Advaita Ācārya hastily took him upon His lap. Seeing that he was not breathing, He became very much agitated.
When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took His bath at Akrūra-ghāṭa, He submerged Himself in the water for a long time. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya decided to take Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Prayāga after visiting the holy place known as Soro-kṣetra. While stopping near a village on the way to Prayāga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu fainted in ecstatic love. Some Pāṭhāna soldiers who were passing through saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and falsely concluded that the Lord's associates, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and others, had killed the Lord with a poison named dhuturā and were taking His wealth. Thus the soldiers arrested them. However, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu regained His senses, His associates were released. He talked with a person who was supposed to be a holy man in the party. From the Koran, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu established devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. Thus the leader of the soldiers, named Vijulī Khān, surrendered to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he and his party became devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The same village today is known as the village of Pāṭhāna Vaiṣṇavas. After bathing in the Ganges at Soro, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu arrived at Prayāga, at the confluence of three rivers-the Ganges, Yamunā and Sarasvatī.
"'While Kṛṣṇa was joking with Rukmiṇī in Dvārakā, she was full of distress, fear and lamentation. She had also lost her intelligence. She dropped her hand bangles and the fan she was using to fan the Lord. Her hair became disarrayed, and she fainted and fell suddenly, appearing like a banana tree knocked down by high winds.'"
After embracing Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu got into a boat. Rūpa Gosvāmī fainted and fell down on the spot.
After saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu embraced them all and began to proceed on His way, and they all fainted and fell down.
CC Antya-lila
"Even a faint light from the holy name of the Lord can eradicate all the reactions of sinful life."
"Because of even the faintest rays of the effulgence of the Lord's holy name, one can attain liberation. We can see this in all the revealed scriptures. The evidence appears in the story of Ajāmila in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam."
This temple was later sold to someone else, and this party is now maintaining the sevā-pūjā of the temple. Near this temple and the tomb of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura constructed a small house called the Bhakti-kuṭī. In the Bengali year 1329 (A.D. 1922), the Puruṣottama-maṭha, a branch of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, was established there. In the Bhakti-ratnākara it is stated:
- śrīnivāsa śīghra samudrera kūle gelā
- haridāsa-ṭhākurera samādhi dekhilā
- bhūmite paḍiyā kailā praṇati vistara
- bhāgavata-gaṇa śrī-samādhi-sannidhāne
- śrīnivāse sthira kailā sasneha-vacane
- punaḥ śrīnivāsa śrī-samādhi praṇamiyā
- ye vilāpa kailā, tā śunile drave hiyā
"Śrīnivāsa Ṭhākura quickly ran to the seashore. When he saw the tomb of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he immediately fell down offering prayers and almost fainted. The devotees present there pacified him with very sweet and affectionate words, and Śrīnivāsa again offered his obeisances to the tomb. Hearing of the separation that Śrīnivāsa expressed in his lamentation at the tomb of Haridāsa Ṭhākura makes one's heart melt."
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa was playing jokes on Rukmiṇī, she feared that Kṛṣṇa might leave her and became so perturbed that she dropped the fan with which she was fanning Him and fainted, falling unconscious on the floor. As far as Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa's mother in Vṛndāvana, is concerned, it is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.8.45):
- trayyā copaniṣadbhiś ca
- sāṅkhya-yogaiś ca sātvataiḥ
- upagīyamāna-māhātmyaṁ
- hariṁ sāmanyatātmajam
The Personality of Godhead, who is worshiped by all the Vedas and Upaniṣads, as well as by the sāṅkhya system of philosophy and all authorized scriptures, was considered to be born in her womb. It is also stated (SB 10.9.12) that Mother Yaśodā bound the child Kṛṣṇa with a rope, as if He were an ordinary son born of her body. Similarly, there are other descriptions of Kṛṣṇa's being treated as an ordinary person (SB 10.18.24). Indeed, when He was defeated in games with His friends, the cowherd boys, Kṛṣṇa would carry them—notably Śrīdāmā—on His shoulders.
Upon seeing this unique feature of Lord Caitanya, Rāmānanda Rāya fainted and fell on the floor. Lord Caitanya then touched him, and he came to his senses. Rāmānanda Rāya was then surprised to see Lord Caitanya again in His mendicant dress. Lord Caitanya embraced and pacified him and informed him that he was the only one to have seen this form. "Because you have understood the purpose of My incarnation, you are privileged to have seen this particular feature of My personality," the Lord said. "My dear Rāmānanda, I am not a different person with a fair complexion known as Gaurapuruṣa. I am the selfsame Kṛṣṇa the son of Mahārāja Nanda, and due to contact with the body of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī I have now assumed this form. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī does not touch anyone but Kṛṣṇa; therefore She has influenced Me with Her complexion, mind and words. In this way I am just trying to understand the transcendental flavor of Her relationship with Kṛṣṇa."
Nectar of Devotion
Once the Bakāsura demon assumed the shape of a very big duck and opened his mouth in order to swallow Kṛṣṇa and all the cowherd boys. When Kṛṣṇa was entering into the demon's mouth, Balarāma and the other cowherd boys almost fainted and appeared as though they had no life. Even if devotees are illusioned by some ghastly scene or by any accidental occurrence, they never forget Kṛṣṇa. Even in the greatest danger they can remember Kṛṣṇa. This is the benefit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: even at the time of death, when all the functions of the body become dislocated, the devotee can remember Kṛṣṇa in his innermost consciousness, and this saves him from falling down into material existence. In this way Kṛṣṇa consciousness immediately takes one from the material platform to the spiritual world.
There is a proverb in Sanskrit which says, "Disappointment gives rise to the greatest satisfaction." In other words, when one's sentiment or ambition becomes too great and is not fulfilled until after seemingly hopeless tribulation, that is taken as the greatest satisfaction. Once the cowherd boys in Vṛndāvana were vainly searching after Kṛṣṇa for a long time, and for that reason their faces became blackened, and their complexions appeared faded. Just then they could hear on the hill a faint vibration from Kṛṣṇa's flute. Immediately all of them became very much gladdened. This is an instance of satisfaction in the midst of disappointment.
Easy Journey to Other Planets
The materialist's suggestion that beyond the material sky there is "some other form" which is beyond the boundary of visibility and which is strange and inconceivable is but a faint indication of the spiritual sky. However, the basic principle of spirit is much closer—for it functions within all living beings. When that spiritual principle is out of the material body, then the material body has no life. Within the body of a child, for instance, the spiritual principle is present, and therefore changes take place in the body and it develops. But if the spirit leaves the body, the development stops. This law is applicable to every material object. Matter transforms from one shape to another when it is in contact with spirit. Without spirit there is no transformation. The entire universe develops in that way. It emanates from the energy of the Transcendence because of the spiritual force which is His, and it develops into gigantic forms like the sun, moon, earth, etc.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
When mother Yaśodā arrived, she wanted to enter the river Yamunā, and being checked, she fainted. Her friends, who were equally aggrieved, were shedding tears like torrents of rain or waves of the river, but in order to bring mother Yaśodā to consciousness, they began to speak loudly about the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. Mother Yaśodā remained still, as if dead, because her consciousness was concentrated on the face of Kṛṣṇa. Nanda and all the other cowherd men, who had dedicated everything, including their lives, to Kṛṣṇa, were ready to enter the waters of the Yamunā, but Lord Balarāma checked them because He was in perfect knowledge that there was no danger.
When the gopīs heard that Akrūra had come to take Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma away to Mathurā, they became overwhelmed with anxiety. Some of them became so aggrieved that their faces turned black and they began to breathe warmly and had palpitations of the heart. They discovered that their hair and clothes immediately loosened. Hearing the news that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were leaving for Mathurā, others, who were engaged in household duties, stopped working, as if they had forgotten everything, like a person who is called forth to die and leave this world at once. Others immediately fainted due to separation from Kṛṣṇa. Remembering His attractive smile and His talks with them, the gopīs became overwhelmed with grief. They all remembered the characteristics of the Personality of Godhead, how He moved within the area of Vṛndāvana and how, with joking words, He attracted all their hearts. Thinking of Kṛṣṇa and of their imminent separation from Him, the gopīs assembled together with heavily beating hearts. They were completely absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa, and with tears falling from their eyes, they spoke as follows.
The mercantile men in the market worshiped Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma with great respect. When Kṛṣṇa was passing through the street, all the women in the surrounding houses came to see Him, and some of the younger ones almost fainted, being captivated by His beauty. Their hair and tight clothing loosened, and they forgot where they were standing.
To fight with Kṛṣṇa, Jarāsandha surrounded Him from all sides with great military strength. As the sun appears covered by cloudy air and dust, Kṛṣṇa, the supreme sun, was covered by the military strength of Jarāsandha. Kṛṣṇa's and Balarāma's chariots were marked with pictures of Garuḍa and palm trees, respectively. The women of Mathurā all stood on the tops of the houses, palaces and gates to see the wonderful fight, but when Kṛṣṇa's chariot was surrounded by Jarāsandha's military force and was no longer visible to them, they were so frightened that some of them fainted. Kṛṣṇa saw Himself overwhelmed by the military strength of Jarāsandha. His small army of soldiers was being harassed, so He immediately took up His bow, named Śārṅga.
Renunciation Through Wisdom
It is strongly recommended that one simply follow in the footsteps of spiritual stalwarts who act according to the scriptural injunctions and the spiritual guidelines given by saintly souls and guru. One should not raise too many doubts and questions. As the Lord states in the Bhagavad-gītā, tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā: (BG 4.34) "Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him." This process, which strictly follows the Vedas, will bring us to a realization of the inconceivable truth. Once we are on this path, many realizations dawn on us, and it is imperative that we pursue them in order to progress further. The faint illumination of knowledge that appears at first is certain to lead to full enlightenment, but we have to be patient. We must carefully avoid letting pride enter our hearts because of some initial perceptions of the inconceivable Absolute; rather, we must eagerly approach the guru, or the pure devotee, and ask how to proceed. We must reject the narrow and bigoted idea that there is nothing more to know. The most important point is to always fully depend on the mercy of the supreme spiritual master residing in the heart.
| Page Title: | Fainted (CC and other books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Labangalatika |
| Created: | 29 of Dec, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=24, OB=10, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 34 |