SRI PURI DHAM MAHATMYA-MUKTA-MALA

(3) Mahaprabhu’s Intention and
Beginning of His Journey to Puri

mukam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim
yat krpa tam aham vande sri-gurum dina-taranam

‘The dumb can speak, the lame can climb a hill – all it takes is mercy from gurudev.’

(Bhavartha Dipika)

First of all, I am offering my full obeisance at the reddish soles of the holy lotus feet of Om Vishnupad Jagad-Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj, begging him for his causeless mercy. After that, I am offering my obeisance to all guru-varga, to all my godbrothers and godsisters, to all the listeners, to all the motherly lady devotees, to all devotees. I am offering obeisances at your holy feet, praying to you all for your mercy to this lowly soul.

The Lord descends in this Age of Kali for two reasons: one is external, and the other one is internal. His external duty is that He comes to give something, but what will He give? He distributed the Hare Krishna maha-mantra to all the souls of this world, establishing thus the religion of the present age. As for His internal reason, it is the following:

sri-radhayah pranaya-mahima kidrso vanayaiva-
svadyo yenadbhuta-madhurima kidrso va madiyah
saukhyam chasya mad-anubhavatah kidrsam veti lobhat
tad-bhavadhyah samajani sachigarbha-sindhau harinduh

‘“What is the glory of Sri Radha’s love? What extraordinary sweetness does She see in Me? What happiness does She feel when She is moved by Me?” – yearning to taste these three sentiments, the moon Krishnachandra arose from the ocean of Mother Sachi’s womb.’

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.1.6)

‘What is the glory of Srimati Radharani’s love? Why does She cry chanting My Name? What sort of happiness does She feel when She serves Me?’ – to taste and relish these three divine sentiments, Supreme Lord Sri Krishna took Radharani’s heart and halo and came in this Age of Kali.

In this way, wishing to understand Srimati Radharani’s love and mood, Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya left Sri Nabadwip Dham and went to Sri Puri Dham. There He stayed in Gambhira, near Lord Jagannathdev, and relished His separation pastimes for eighteen years. ‘Separation pastimes’ (viraha-lila, or vipralambha-lila) means that Mahaprabhu took shelter in Gambhira to taste and relish the divine separation, deep pain and transcendental loving sentiments that Radharani felt when Krishna left Vrindavan.

When Nimai Visvambhar took shelter at His guru Sri Ishwar Puri’s holy feet, He started showing the divine mood of Sri Radhika and became overwhelmed with the burning desire to distribute divine love for Lord Krishna to one and all. However, common people could not understand it. Everybody said that Nimai had gone mad. At that time, He decided, ‘I am struggling and trying so hard to rescue these unfortunate conditioned souls, but I see that they are only committing more sins. They are criticising Me and even thinking of punishing Me. What have I come here for? How will I save them? Oh, I shall take sannyas! Otherwise, seeing Me as an ordinary householder, they will only go to hell. I must take sannyas, then they will listen to Me.’ Having made the decision to take sannyas, Nimai informed Nityananda Prabhu and a few other devotees, ‘This year, in the month of Magh, I will take sannyas.’ When He came to Katwa that day, Nityananda Prabhu and a few other devotees were there with Him.

After taking sannyas in Katwa, Mahaprabhu decided to go to Vrindavan. All the residents of Nabadwip – even those who criticised, abused and envied Mahaprabhu – found out that Mahaprabhu had left Nabadwip, and they began to cry. Everybody could see at that time that Nabadwip had become engulfed in darkness.

Leaving Katwa, Mahaprabhu began to run like a maddened lion in the direction of Vrindavan. One time, to spend the night, He took shelter of some brahman’s house. All the devotees were with Him at that time, but the next morning, when the sun had barely risen and everybody was still asleep, Mahaprabhu ran away. Everybody woke up for the mangal-arati and saw that Mahaprabhu was not in the room. They began to look for the Lord everywhere, but only at night, when everything around had become quiet, they suddenly heard the sounds of Mahaprabhu crying. They followed the cries and came to a field – there they found the Lord.

Mahaprabhu was walking in a zigzag way: sometimes He went to the east, sometimes to the west. The devotees did not know where He was going – they just kept walking behind Him. Whenever Mahaprabhu suddenly turned to the east, they would get happy, thinking that Mahaprabhu was coming back to Nabadwip. Understanding the devotees’ minds, Nityananda Prabhu realised, ‘Mahaprabhu may never return to His birthplace, let it be so, but I should try to at least keep Him within Gauda-mandal.’ In the end, Nityananda Prabhu took Mahaprabhu to Sri Advaita Prabhu’s house: his house was near Nabadwip, so all the devotees could come there to have the Lord’s darshan. Anyhow, Nityananda Prabhu was successful: instead of Mahaprabhu going to Vrindavan, He brought Him to Shantipur.

An ancient painting depicting Mahaprabhu taking sannyas from Keshav Bharati.

Mahaprabhu on the way.

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