Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the supreme propagator of Bhakti Yoga of Vaishnavism and one of the major poets of Bhakti period. He laid the foundation stone of the Gaudiya Sampradaya of Vaishnavas, gave birth to a new style of bhajan singing and emphasized the harmony of Hindu-Muslim unity in the days of political instability, taught to remove the spirit of caste-caste, high-low and Restored the extinct Vrindavan and spent the last part of his life there.

The Mahamantra Naam Sankirtan started by him has a very wide and positive effect even today in the western world. It is also said that if Gaurang had not been there, Vrindavan would have remained a myth till date. Vaishnav people consider him to be the incarnation of Sri Krishna's union with Radha Rani. Many texts have been written on Gauranga, the main of which is Sri Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami Virchit Chaitanya Charitamrita. Apart from this, there are Chaitanya Bhagavata by Sri Vrindavan Das Thakur and Chaitanya Mangal by Lochandas Thakur.

early life :

According to the Chaitanya Charitamrita, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in the year 1486 on Phalgun Shukla Purnima in a village called Navadvipa (Nadia) in West Bengal, which is now called Mayapur. He was born in the evening at the time of lunar eclipse in Leo ascendant. His father's name was Jagannath Mishra and mother's name was Shachi Devi. Nimai was endowed with prodigious talent since childhood. At the same time, he was very simple, beautiful and emotional. Everyone was astonished to see the pastimes performed by him. Shortly before the birth of Chaitanya, Subuddhi Raya was the ruler of Gaur. He had a Pathan servant named Hussain Khan.

King Subuddhirai gave him money to execute some royal work. Hussain Khan equalized that amount by eating and drinking. When King Subuddhirai came to know about this, he got Hussain Khan whipped on his back as a punishment. Hussain Khan got irritated. He conspired and removed King Subuddhirai. Now Hussain Khan Pathan was the king of Gaur and Subuddhirai was his prisoner. Hussain Khan's wife asked her husband to kill the king to avenge the old insult. But Hussain Khan did not do so. He was very cunning, he forced the king to eat food cooked and brought by the hands of a Muslim.

He knew that after this no Hindu would include Subuddhirai in their society. In this way, Hussain Khan became Hussain Shah, leaving Subuddhirai 'absolutely free' to spend the days full of humiliation. Nimai (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) was prodigious since childhood. At the same time, he was very simple, beautiful and emotional. Everyone was astonished to see the pastimes performed by him. He was married to Lakshmi Devi at the age of 15-16. In 1505, his wife died of snakebite. Due to the helplessness of running the dynasty, his second marriage took place with Vishnupriya, the daughter of Rajpandit Sanatan of Navadweep.

Eight daughters were born and died one after the other. Then a boy was born. By the grace of God he started growing up. He named him Vishwaroop. When Vishwa Roop turned ten years old, he had another brother. The happiness of the parents knew no bounds. He was not elated after getting another child in his old age. It is said that this child remained in the mother's womb for thirteen months. As soon as his horoscope was made, the astrologer had said that he would be a great man. This child later became Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The child was named Vishwambhar. His parents affectionately called him 'Nibhai'.

Those whose children die in their house, they keep such baser-feet names of their children. Its just matter of one day. To test the nature of the child, the father placed toys, money and the Bhagavad Gita in front of him. Said, "Son, pick up one of these things." The boy picked up the Bhagavad Gita. The father understood that in future this child would be a great devotee of God. Once Nimai was found playing with a black cobra.

A snake coiled around him was sitting around him and he was lovingly caressing her body. People were firmly convinced that no matter what happens, some great soul resides in the body of this child. In childhood, Nimai did not feel like reading and writing. He was the leader of the Devil Boys. In those days, there was a lot of difference between untouchability and high-low in the country. Vaishnavs and Brahmins used to eat food cooked by themselves or their family members.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had inspired the widows to come to Vrindavan and follow the path of devotion to the Lord. Vrindavan has been known as a shelter for widows for about 500 years. About 90 percent of the widows who come here from all over the country with the desire to spend their last breaths of life at the feet of Kanha are Bengalis. Mostly illiterate and Bengali speaking. The reason behind the Bengali widows' approach to Vrindavan is the belief that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the leading poet of the Bhakti period, was born in 1486 in the village of Navadvipa in West Bengal.

He came to Vrindavan in 1515 and spent the rest of his life in Vrindavan. It is said that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, seeing the pitiable condition and social scorn of the widows of Bengal, turned the rest of his life towards devotion to the Lord and only after that the tradition of his coming to Vrindavan started. Hare-Krishna, Hare-Krishna, Krishna-Krishna, Hare-Hare. Hare-Rama, Hare-Rama, Ram-Rama, Hare-Hare. This eighteen word (32 letter) kirtan is the gift of Mahamantra Nimai.

It was called Tarakabrahma Mahamantra, and was propagated for the salvation of souls in Kaliyuga.