THE GUARDIAN OF DEVOTION (3)

THE ADVENT OF THE GOLDEN MOON

Sri-Gaura-purnima, 1988
Tridandi Swami Bhakti Ananda Sagara

rahugraste jada-sasadhare phalgune purnimayam
gaude sake manu-sata-mite sapta-varsadhike yah
mayapuryam samajani sacigarbha-sindhau pradose
tam chich-chhakti-prakatita-tanum misra-sunum smarami
visvambhara-prabhu-hari-dvija-gaurachandra-
nimbesa-nama-nichayah kramato babhuva
yasyarya-khanda-mukutopama gaudarasire
gauram smarami satatam kalipavanam tam
angikurvan-nija-sukhakaruh radhika-bhava-kantim
misra-vase sulalita-vapu-gaurovarno harir yah
palli-strinam sukham abhidadhat khelayamasa balye
vande’ ham tam kanaka-vapusam prangane ringamanam

(Smarana-mangala-stotram 1–3, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

“In the heart of my heart I remember that Divine Son of Sri Jagannatha Misra, whose form appeared by His own internal potency; He graciously arose from the ocean of Sri Sachidevi’s womb when the moon of this world was swallowed (eclipsed) by Rahu on the full-moon evening of the Phalguna month, 1407 Saka era. In the land of the righteous (India), He gradually (according to His various pastimes) came to be known as Visvambhar, Mahaprabhu, Gaurahari, Dvijaraja, Gaurachandra, Nimbesa (Nimai), etc. Perpetually do I remember that Sri Gaurachandra, the only saviour of this iron age of war, Kali-yuga. Thus, the Supreme Lord Hari, in order to embrace the heart and halo of Sri Ridhika and thus enable Him to savour the glorious felicity of His own Self, appeared in a golden form which was charming and beautiful in the extreme. In His childhood, He delighted the hearts of all the neighbourhood ladies as He enjoyed His playful pastimes. I bow down to that golden-bodied child who ‘crawled on all fours’ as a toddler in the courtyard of Sri Sachidevi’s house.”

The supreme ‘fatefully fortunate’ day of the appearance of the Golden Lord measures in Christian chronology as Sunday, 18th February, 1486. The shining full-moon of the world is said to have momentarily lowered his head in shame, his lustre having been ‘eclipsed’ by the Divine Golden Moon Sri Gaurachandra, although in general terms we may consider that a lunar eclipse was occurring. As is customary on such occasions, the devout multitudes of India took shelter in the numerous sacred rivers headed by the Ganges. While performing their holy ablutions, a tumultuous vibration resounded throughout earth and skies as they wholeheartedly exalted in the tidal wave of the holy name. Their piety manifest in this twilight revelry was no mere coincidence. In the ancient Vedic Scriptures and histories we find that the moon was born from the ocean. The ocean was at the time being churned by the combined efforts of the demigods and the demons who were bent on producing elixir. Now, as foretold by the same Vedas, Upanisads, Puranas, Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagavatam, etc., the Golden Moon, the Supreme Lord, origin of all incarnations and expansions—Godhead Himself—was to arise from the ocean in the form of the womb of Mother Sachi. He is the Moon that casts His cooling rays throughout the entire universe, radiating in all directions the nectarine grand congregational chanting of the holy name (Hari-nama-sankirtana), which divine mission He began (ostensibly) as a mere boy of sixteen years who clapped His hands in the courtyard of Srivas Pandit, in the company of His selected eternal associates. But this Mahaprabhu was not the general incarnation of the age, who, in a greenish hue appears millennium after millennium to distribute the ‘general’ chanting of the holy name.

In this particular case, the 28th millennium of Vaivasvata Manu, not the Supreme Personality of Godhead alone appeared, but He appeared replete with His Supreme Predominated Moiety, His Counterwhole Intrinsic personal potency of the absolute acme in ecstatic joy, thus substantiating His superb, charming golden form. Replete with all the bodily symptoms of a supramundane personage, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu rolled on the ground in madness like a gigantic mountain—a golden volcano exploding with divine lava—divine love which makes the heart of even the common worldlywise fettered soul burn in the pain of separation from his natural Lord.

In a beautiful song by Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur we find:

aradhye bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad dhama vrndavanam
ramya kachid upasano vrajavadhu-vargena ya kalpita
srimad-bhagavatam pramanam amalam prema pumartho mahan
sri-chaitanya-mahaprabhor matam idam tatradaro nah parah

“The object of worship is the Supreme Lord Vrajendranandana Sri Krishna and the holy abode Sri Vrindavan which is the expansion of His own body. The zenith of all worship is exemplified in the method by which the damsels of Vraja worshipped Krishna. The holy book Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless authority, and prema (supramundane love) is the supreme goal of mankind. All these truths constitute the Gospel of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Our highest reverence is for this perfect established conclusion (siddhanta) alone and no other.”

O blessed will be the day when this fallen soul may receive an incidental glance from that all-merciful Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

CONTENTS

Editorial
Declaration of the Spiritual Succession
(1) Complete Dedication
(2) Pure Devotion
(3) The Only Enjoyer
(4) The Wave of Love
(5) The Krishna Conception of Divinity
(6) Personal Knowledge
(7) Service to Guru
(8) Marching on to Glory
(9) An Experience on the Way
(10) Advent of Golden Moon
(11) Holy Talks of the Supreme Lord

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