Dharma was on the decline in the 15th century when people seemed to have become more engrossed with the grandiose celebrations than what they spiritually represented. Seeing the distress of the people lost in the throes of materialism, Sri Advaita Acharya began to pray to Lord Krishna in his Shaligram form, offering tulsi leaves and requesting for his divine intervention. After praying for over a year, his wish was granted when Sri Krishna once again incarnated on earth in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Nabadwip in modern-day Bengal on the full moon day of the month of Phalgun in 1486. Chaitanya Jayanti was celebrated on a grand scale yesterday.
This was a very special incarnation of Lord Krishna, where he chose to appear as his foremost devotee. Lord Chaitanya, born Vishvambhar Mishra, was a very special child, bright and beautiful, and his feet had divine markings like the thunderbolt and chariot. He displayed deep devotion towards Krishna from a very young age, engrossed in singing the names of the Lord. He was also a child prodigy, taking a very early interest in learning Sanskrit and gaining knowledge of the scriptures. In fact, it is said that he started his own school when only in his late teens, and he won a debate over a very learned scholar of the time. After he lost his father, he travelled to Gaya to perform the last rites, and it is here that he encountered his spiritual Guru, Ishvara Puri. This encounter had a very profound impact on him, something in him had shifted very deeply, and the people in Nabadwipa attested to how he was never the same after his return. He took Sanyas and departed on an extensive tour across the length and breadth of the country. He also visited Sri Krishna’s birthplace Vrindavan, where through his divine grace he rediscovered the most important temples associated with Lord Krishna’s pastimes including the Sapta Devalaya, which are visited by Vaishnavas on pilgrimage even today. He spent his last 24 years in Puri, where the most glorious temple of Lord Jagannath exists today, with its popular Rath Yatra drawn by hordes of people, which is where the word juggernaut comes from!
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, and his teachings were centred around Bhakti Yoga, which involved chanting and singing the names of the Lord. Crowds of people cutting across religious, caste, and class divides would attend his kirtans and go into rapturous ecstasy as they heard him sing. Lord Krishna is always accompanied by his brother Balrama, who appeared as Nityananda in this incarnation, and was a constant companion of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Together they were called Gaura - Nitai, and you have probably seen their beautiful idols in your last visit to an ISKCON temple. He popularised the Hare Krishna mahamantra, which is now heard in every corner of the globe from Juhu to the bylanes of Soho in London to California, where Steve Jobs famously survived on the prasadam meals, and even war-torn Ukraine, where the temples are doing God’s work of feeding hungry residents. Hare Krishna!
