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Chaitanya Bhagavata

by Bhumipati Dāsa | 2008 | 1,349,850 words

The Chaitanya Bhagavata 1.2.25, English translation, including a commentary (Gaudiya-bhasya). This text is similair to the Caitanya-caritamrita and narrates the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, proclaimed to be the direct incarnation of Krishna (as Bhagavan) This is verse 25 of Adi-khanda chapter 2—“The Lord’s Appearance�.

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.2.25:

কৃষ্�-বর্ণ� ত্বিষাকৃষ্ণং সাঙ্গোপাঙ্গাস্ত্�-পার্ষদম্ যজ্ঞৈঃ সঙ্কীর্তন-প্রাযৈর্ যজন্তি হি সু-মেধস� � ২৫ �

कृष्�-वर्ण� त्विषाकृष्णं साङ्गोपाङ्गास्त्�-पार्षदम् यज्ञैः सङ्कीर्तन-प्रायैर् यजन्ति हि सु-मेधस� � २५ �

ṛṣṇ�-ṇa� ٱṣāṛṣṇ� ṅgDZṅgٰ-ṣa岹 ⲹñi� ṅkīٲԲ-ⲹ yajanti hi su-medhasa� || 25 ||

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah (25)

English translation:

(25) In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of ṛṣṇ�. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is ṛṣṇ� Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons, and confidential companions.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The word ٱṣ� refers to He whose color is not blackish; in other words, He whose luster is golden. Intelligent persons worship this Lord. “Your son ṛṣṇ� appears as an incarnation in every millennium. In the past, He assumed three different colors—white, red and yellow—and now He has appeared in a blackish color.� In these words spoken by Gargamuni to Nanda ѲᲹ in the Śī 岵ٲ (10.8.13) it is proved that apart from white, red, and black, the Lord also appears with a yellow or golden complexion. The word ī�, or “now,� in this verse indicates that the Lord has accepted a blackish color in His present incarnation. It is understood from this statement that the Lord appeared in ٱ貹-ܲ in a blackish complexion and that He had previously appeared in the Satya-yuga and հ-ܲ with white and red complexions. The word īٲ, or golden, is used in the past tense to confirm that the Lord had appeared with a golden complexion in previous Kali-yugas.

Lord Śrī ṛṣṇ� will be fully glorified in this book (Śī 岵ٲ), so in order to confirm that all incarnations are included in ṛṣṇ�, He was also known as the ܲ-. Whenever Lord ṛṣṇ� appears in ٱ貹-yuga, Lord Gaurasundara appears in the immediately following Kali-yuga. From this statement it is concluded that Śrī Gaurasundara is Himself Lord ṛṣṇ�, because there has never been an exception. The fact

that Śrī Gaurasundara is Himself Lord ṛṣṇ� is being disclosed by the author by his use of the following adjectives.

The word ṛṣṇ�-ṇa indicates one who possesses the two syllables and ṣṇ. In other words, He whose name, Śrī ṛṣṇ� Caitanyadeva, includes these two syllables, and ṣṇ (the Supreme Personality of Godhead). In his commentary on Śī 岵ٲ (3.3.3), Śrīdhara Svāmī has explained that of the words śⲹ� ṇeԲ, śⲹ� means “of Śrī or of ܰ쳾ṇ�,� and ṇeԲ refers to one who possesses the two equal syllables ru and 쳾ī. Such dual meanings are found in various places within the Śī 岵ٲ.

Alternatively, the word ṛṣṇ�-ṇa means “one who describes ṛṣṇ�.� In other words, He personally chants the holy names while remembering His own ecstatic spiritual pastimes, and He mercifully instructs everyone about His holy names.

Alternatively, although He is personally a-ṛṣṇ�, or golden, He is nevertheless ٱṣ�, or lustrous. In other words, He distributes the holy names of ṛṣṇ� to everyone by His sweet beauty; or in other words, everyone becomes ṛṣṇ� consciousness by seeing Him.

Alternatively, although Śrī ṛṣṇ� appears as Gaura, in the eyes of His devotees He is ٱṣ�, or of lustrous blackish complexion. In other words, He is seen by His devotees as Śrī Ś峾ܲԻ岹. Therefore Śrī Gaurasundara is Śrī ṛṣṇ� Himself, or, in other words, Śrī ṛṣṇ� has personally appeared as Śrī Gaurasundara. Therefore the conclusion is that Śrī Gaurasundara is Śrī ṛṣṇ� Himself.

The supremacy of Śrī Gaurasundara is established by the words ṅgDZṅgٰ-ṣa岹. In other words, the Lord appears with His ṅg, ܱṅg, astra, and ṣa岹—His limbs, decorations, weapons, and associates. (This term has been used in 첹-ⲹ, an appositional compound. According to Śrīla Vyāsadeva the ṅgs of the Lord are also called ܱṅgs, astras, and ṣa岹s.) Since the limbs of the Supreme Lord are most enchanting, they are known as decorations; since the limbs of the Supreme Lord are most powerful, they are known as weapons; and

since the limbs of the Supreme Lord always remain with the Lord, they are called associates of the Lord. Many great personalities have seen this form of the Lord. This is a well-known fact among the residents of West Bengal, Orissa, and Bangladesh. Another meaning of this phrase is that the Lord has appeared along with His most powerful devoted companions, like Śī Advaita Āⲹ, who are counted as ṅgs, ܱṅgs, and astras of the Lord.

By which processes do the devotees worship Śrī Gaurasundara? In answer to this, it is explained that people worship Him by sacrifice. The evidence of this fact is the statement of the demigods in the Śī 岵ٲ (5.19.24): na yatra yajñeśa-makhā mahotsavā�—“where there are no festivals of ṅkīٲԲ-ⲹñ to satisfy the Lord.� The use of the adjective ṅkīٲԲ-ⲹ is a confirmation of accepting this sacrifice as the means of attaining perfection. The word ṅkīٲԲ refers to a large gathering of people chanting the holy names of ṛṣṇ�. The process of ṅkīٲԲ-ⲹñ, or congregational glorification of Lord ṛṣṇ�, which is prominently displayed by devotees of the Lord, is thus concluded to be the process of attaining perfection.

In the վṣṇ-󲹲-峾 of the Ѳٲ (Բ-󲹰 149.92, 75) the following characteristics of the Lord (Śrī Gaura) are described: suṇa-ṇa�—He whose body is the color of gold; hema-ṅg�—He whose body is like molten gold; sutham—He whose body is most beautiful; candana-balai-yukta—He whose body was smeared with sandalwood; ԲԲ-ī-avinaya-kari—He who practices the renounced order of life; ś-guna-yukta—He who is equipoised; and śԳٲ�—He who is peaceful. Śrī 󲹳ܳ Bhaṭṭācārya, the crest jewel amongst learned scholars, also described this subject matter (the appearance of Gaura) in the following verse: “Let my consciousness, which is like a honeybee, take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has just now appeared as Śrī ṛṣṇ� Caitanya Ѳ to teach the ancient system of devotional service to Himself. This system had almost been lost due to the influence of time.� (ī

ҴDz峾ī’s Krama-sandarbha and Sarva-ṃv徱ī)

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