The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaj on September 5, 1981.

When He appeared in the prison house of Kamsa from Devaki with His four-armed form, and with His transcendental four hands with decorations and everything, He was already the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

When He was in the lap of Yashoda Mayi, His mother in Vrindavana, and when the witch Putana put poison on her breast and tried to murder Krsna and He sucked her breast, sucked her life air right out from her breast, then He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Krsna was lifting the whole Govardhana Mountain with one finger, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He was dancing with the Gopis, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He fought against Kuvalayapida and all these other demons in Mathura He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He married 16,108 queens, and He expanded Himself into 16,108 Krsna's entering into each palace simultaneously, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He spoke Bhagavad Gita, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He never had to become the Supreme Godhead, He always was. From beginning, all the way through, no end.

But some people, they understand something. Some they don’t have that disciplic succession, that understanding. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has revealed the most esoteric understanding, we cannot even begin to express to what depth He revealed about Krsna. To actually understand all the things that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu revealed one has to first become liberated, then one can fully understand. So, even a liberated person cannot understand what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is giving. He is giving what is far beyond liberation.

Yet, He has also presented the basic simple formula and truth, which even the most fallen, conditioned, unfortunate person can also understand and be completely liberated. So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He is very compassionate. We always address Krsna's energy first. Sita Ram, Radha Krsna, Lakshmi Narayana, because energy is very compassionate. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has taken the mood of the energy, so He is very compassionate. He is known as ‘Bhakata-vatsala Krsna’. Chaitanya is also Bhakata-vatsala . Very affectionate to His devotees. So Radharani, she appeared as the daughter of Vrishabhanu. This morning I asked who was Vrishabhanu in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's lila and offered a cookie reward if anyone could say. Everyone was stumped for a long time. Who is Vrishabhanu? Here everyone is stumped too!

So, Vrishabhanu, in a sense you can say was Krsna's father-in-law. Since he was the father of Radharani, who was Krsna's queen at Vrindavan, he also appeared in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's lila just like Radharani descends. All the devotees, they appear. Principal devotees also come and assist Krsna when He takes the role as a devotee. So Vrishabhanu came also and was one of the main branches of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's devotional tree. He came as Pundarikaa Vidyanidhi and one day, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He was crying that, He was crying out, “Vidyanidhi, Vidyanidhi, Vidyanidhi, Vidyanidhi, Oh Vidyanidhi, kuthai? Where is Vidyanidhi? Where is Vidyanidhi?” Everyone thought that he must be calling out on Krsna. Then someone realized He was calling out some devotee's name. He said, “Lord Chaitanya, who is this, which devotee's name you are calling?” and He said, “He is one very great devotee. Bring Vidyanidhi. I am hankering for his association. Because I am not getting his association, therefore I am feeling separation.” Even the Lord sometimes feels separation from devotee. Waiting. But the Lord is simultaneously atmarama.

Lord Chaitanya, being in the mood of devotee, has a very compassionate, tender heart. So Vidyanidhi, I think our … went to see his birthplace, he is born in the far distant corner of Bengal and you can’t get further away from Mayapur in Bengal. So it is said that he appeared there just to benedict the local people of that area, Chattagrama. Nobody could recognise that he was a pure devotee, except for very few expert people, because he lived there in a very posh manner. He appeared externally to be little bit materialistic but actually that was just an outward clothing and show. But he was always absorbed in meditation on Krsna. Always, without any break. Somehow or other, he had some facilities, material facilities, but he wasn’t attached to those things whatsoever. That in a moment he forgot about everything and just always absorbs in Krsna. In a moment he would forget about everything. Even with it, it wasn’t that he was absorbed, but somehow his associates always kept him provided in very posh nice situation materially.

General people thought that he was not really a devotee brahmana. In this way he avoided lot of botheration also from the people who come and pester devotees to get blessings and things. I was walking down a street in Silchar one day. Silchar used to be part of Sylhet; now it’s Assam in India. I had given a lecture the night before in the big Hindu temple in Bengali and some lady spotted me and right in the street she paid her full obeisance. So naturally I had to stop, she was right in front of me…, she grabbed my hand or something, I forget, or she just folded her hands in front of me and pleaded she wanted a blessing. I wondered what type of blessing she wanted. I told, “What type of blessing would you want?” And she said that her daughter had a bad stomach. She wanted a benediction that her daughter’s stomach will get cured. She knew I was a great sadhu; so she wanted the benediction.

Of course we always hope that people will realize that when one's stomach is cured then the next thing will be the head or something or the other, this body is always going to have trouble. So blessings from the vaishnavas taken just to cure some temporary little aches in the body in this way, it becomes a botheration.

But if you take the top-most benediction of pure bhakti, then all the material problems are finished in one clean sweep. Like that most people they are just interested in the immediate problem at hand, and then they forget about everything, about Krsna and sadhu, till the next difficulty comes. In India just before the final exams you will find that the Saraswati, the Goddess of learning, her puja expands about thousand times. Other times you won’t even see the puja of Saraswati, but at that time Saraswati is the topmost object of worship for all the students. They worship to get the special blessings to pass their exams. Just like when people are in distress, they go to the church, to the mosque and then they pray. Vaishnava, he is offering, the pure devotee vaishnavas, they offer something much more enduring. Every year, every exam they are going again to do the puja, but the devotees, they are offering the eternal solution, the eternal thing. So like that, people would bother.

If anyone is known as a sadhu, then everyone bothers him, “Please give blessings so that my son is healthy and my daughter is healthy,” and this and that. Those things you will automatically get if you have Krsna as shelter, then where is the danger? Krsna raakhe maare ke? If Krsna is protecting who will hit, who will strike? What danger can come? But they don’t see that, they don’t take that overall shelter. They just want the little bit gate pass from this difficulty. They don’t realize that again difficulty will come.

So devotees, they sometimes adopt different methods and means to just avoid these bothersome people. So somehow, in this way Pundarika Vidyanidhi, although he was a pure devotee always absorbed in Krsna, his eyes were practically filled with tears, that when he would speak it would just melt peoples’ hearts. So much that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself was eager to see him. Crying, chanting his name and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was crying. That was how dear Pundarika was to Him. Of course Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had affection to him because practically from previous lila he was His father or father-in-law, which is the same thing in India practically. In some ways father- in- law sometimes becomes more important in certain circumstances. In any case that affection is there, father-in-law is just like the father.

So, anyway, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He was feeling some great desire that Pundarika Vidyanidhi should come. How He feels that, we can’t understand. We just have to more or less accept that Lord Chaitanya, He feels and goes through various types of experiences which are beyond our ability to understand.

So one day Pundarika Vidyanidhi came to Navadvip Dham. He had a little house there, because he was a great scholar also. And all these scholars had to have one house in Navadvip at that time. If they were anyone, they had to have something in Navadvip because that was the street of all the scholars, of all the preeminent people.

So Mukunda was also from Chattagram. Mukunda, Vasudev Dutta, these were the two people who that knew actually Pundarika Vidyanidhi's position, that he was a pure devotee. Others they took it that well, he was dressed very nicely and decorated like a like a prince. Simply some materialist, may be something. They didn’t recognise he was a devotee. So no one had recognize that Pundarika had come. They remembered Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was looking for a Pundarika, but they didn’t know that this was the Pundarika or this was Pundarika, and when they saw him they didn’t even enquire as he didn’t appear to be a devotee very much. But Mukunda one day, he told Gadadhar that, “I have heard that a very great devotee has come. I would like to take you to meet him for this one reason that I want in return that you will always remember me that I am your servant. I am taking you to meet devotee because if someone meets a devotee naturally he will be ever grateful for that, to meet a great devotee. What greater gift can be given? So, I just want to give you something that you may always remember me that I am your servant. If you can just give me that boon that’s all I want.”

Devotee doesn’t want any material in exchange. If someone, if another Vaishnava, will accept some service and with that service if he is spiritually pleased, that’s enough for the devotee. So naturally Gadadhar, how can he refuse the great opportunity that he is going to be taken to see a devotee. So really he was always eager to meet such a very pure devotee as he was described. So they went to see Pundarika Vidyanidhi in the house.

They went in. Mukunda bowed down, Gadadhar bowed down, He introduced “This is Gadadhar; he has been a lifelong brahmachari.” There he saw Pundarika. He was expecting him to be bare foot, you know very austere, may be just sitting there in a kaupin or something. But instead he was sitting on big silken mattress, thick round cushion pillows around all silk of high quality, first class taste. And he was wearing very expensive clothing. Someone was at that time fixing up his hair which was long. Everyone wore long hair in those days. But it had highly scented oil and it appeared he might be even taking paan, betel, which was over in a side of the room. He had very expensive lamps, solid brass. On the side there was the cushion he was sitting, on the side there was also very nice brass bed with also very expensive cushions on it.

So Gadadhar didn’t know what to say. He just took it all in. And he was thinking, actually started to think in his mind because Mukunda was speaking like that but a little doubt came in his mind maybe he is not exactly pure devotee. Might just be materialistic devotee. Prakrita bhaktha. He was naturally being frightened as he was a naishtiki brahmachari, completely pakka celibate brahmachari, right from his childhood, very austere. If he sees this very opulent situation, it’s natural for him to have a few doubts. In this way he was taking it all in, but in his mind a little bit of consideration of doubt started to peep in. Who is Mukunda taking me to see anyway?

Mukunda was one of the topmost singers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's party. He could pick up on Gadadhara's mood. So then he knew how to bring out the best in Pundarika Vidyanidhi. So then he said, “I would just like to quote something from the Bhagavatam, so that we can discuss little about Krsna.” So then he started to sing in Sanskrit and in verse the particular shlokas from the Bhagavatam and the explanation, how when Krsna was simply a child on the lap of Yashoda, Putana came. She is relative of Keshi demon, came with the poison on her breast to kill Krsna. Because she offered her breast milk to Krsna, then Krsna inspite of her being so envious, wanting to kill Him, He looked at her like a mother. May be He took her life but at the same time He gave her liberation. Krsna was approached in such a hateful mood yet because even if it was covered by so much enviousness, because little bit of, at least the form as a mother was there, so Krsna accepted that good part and forgot about the bad part and elevated her to the position of His own mother in the spiritual sky.

So there are some very nice shlokas describing this merciful nature of Krsna. And when Mukunda started singing this point, bringing out the exceptional quality of Krsna's mercy that how if anyone comes forward with little bit of devotion, how he completely forgets all the bad points and gives the mercy to that devotee just on taking consideration of the good part. So when Pundarika Vidyanidhi heard that, he couldn’t control himself. He couldn’t control, he just started getting, first thing he was unconscious and he started beating his head that ‘I am so sinful unto Krsna. Krsna has delivered all the sinful people you see, but due to my offences that I alone, I’m being left here. I am being kept away from there. Why wasn’t I present during all those pastimes?’ Of course he was, but he didn’t remember. ‘Why wasn’t I present in all those pastimes?’

In this way he was overcome. Immediately the different types of bhavas started to manifest. He tore his clothing, the pillows flew here, the lamps fell over, and completely he was beyond and was thrown into the ocean of separation. Just hearing about Krsna, he couldn’t control it. It was just immediate. As soon as the glories of Krsna came, he lost all consciousness of his surroundings. Gadadhar, he can’t even explain this. It was so obvious that he was completely unaware. As soon as he focused on Krsna he became completely unaware of whatever was going around to the extent that they had to practically put out the fire that was caused from the lamp falling over. Ten people tried to hold him down and they couldn’t hold him down. He wanted to just run to see Krsna.

So finally he somehow came to the external. Gadadhar said, “What an offence I did! Here is a mahabhagavat. As soon as he heard about Krsna, he was absorbed in ecstasy and I was thinking he is a materialistic person. So I committed a great offence.” So he told Mukunda that “I don’t know, I have to admit that what a wonderful devotee this Pundarika Vidyanidhi is because by his cry everyone, immediately everyone, when they heard his voice, everyone’s heart was shattered, was put into ecstasy. It melted everyone. It is obvious that he is a very great devotee, but I have committed such an offence that I was thinking that, well, seeing the surroundings, that maybe he was little materialistic. How to get out of this offence?”

So Mukunda said, “The Guru always forgives the disciple when the disciple makes an offence. That is the nature of guru to always forgive the disciple. Spiritual master doesn’t take any offence by the disciple.” So Gadadhar said, “May be I should take, I think I should take initiation from him? Like this I would be forgiven for my offence.” Mukunda was pleased and he was discussing with Pundarika. Then he mentioned that “He saw you and was feeling a little bit from the external that you were materialistic. Therefore for this offence he is thinking that the only way to get forgiven is that he should accept initiation from you. He is a first class Vaishnava, this Gadadhar, you should take him, and you should give him your shelter.” Pundarika Vidyanidhi said that, “To get a disciple like that, one could do tapasya for four million years and not get a disciple like Gadadhar.” Gadadhar was actually Radharani. He said “Well, later on we will see.”

Then Gadadhar went back and when Vishwambhar, Lord Chaitanya heard that Pundarika had come, He became very ecstatic. He said, “Where is that Pundarika? Call him immediately.” After a little while, Pundarika came. He wanted to pay his obeisance to Lord Chaitanya, but he couldn’t pay his obeisance. As soon as he saw Lord Chaitanya, he fainted. Then Lord Chaitanya, He went and picked up Pundarikaa. Picking up Pundarika, Pundarika he again just called Lord Chaitanya, “Krsna is everyone’s father. He has lifted up everyone. Only I, due to my being so offensive, I am being left here and I am suffering without His association.” He started to cry like that and then everyone was crying to hear his devotion. Then being held by Lord Chaitanya, then again he fell unconscious. Lord Chaitanya started to praise his quality, what a great devotee he was, that “He has come especially to assist Me to deliver Bhakti to all of you. You take him with you and you have him chant sankirtan and expand the preaching.” Then when Pundarika became conscious, then he asked Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that, “This Gadadhar says that he committed some offence in his mind. So he wants to take initiation from me because a spiritual master always forgives the disciple. Whatever You say. You are The Lord.” Lord Chaitanya laughed and said, “Very good, it’s very good if Gadadhar takes initiation”. Then immediately on the spot they had initiation ceremony and Gadadhar was initiated by Pundarika Vidyanidhi.

Very hard to understand Krsna's pastimes. Comparatively Ramachandra's pastimes are easier, but even His pastimes are very difficult to understand. Compared to that the pastimes of other avatars like Vaamana and Narasimha, they are relatively easier. But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes are the most difficult to understand. Because He is Krsna, but He is in the mood of devotee. His other devotees coming from the previous lilas are different, but they are also coming as devotees, in different moods, in particular roles based on their positions. That situation is so complex; it is very difficult to understand. It’s like Ramachandra He is feeling separation from Sita. How can the Supreme Personality feel separation from devotee? That is the esoteric quality of the Lord... He is transcendental to everything, yet He can have some special emotion with His devotee. Then Krsna, His are even more intense. One can’t even begin to describe some of the different separation and things that Krsna feels sometimes.

Krsna wants to understand what is the mentality of the devotees because He is absorbed in their own relation with Him as the ashraya or the shelter. And if He wants to understand their mood then He takes on their mood completely, He takes the form of His devotee and that is called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And if you don’t understand there is no use of trying to understand with intellect. Go on chanting, serving and then one day it will just come up like a little light bulb and you will be able to understand. Because it is not something which materially makes any sense. It doesn’t make any sense. It does not have anything to do with any material logic or anything else. But on another higher transcendental level, there is a type of logic to it. It does make sense. But if someone has the ability to understand that, that is his fortune. And if you don’t have the ability to understand it, and there is someone going on explaining it day after day, doesn’t mean it’s going to become any clearer. You understand? What can I say? For me it is very clear, but I can understand that for somebody it may not be very clear. Beyond that can I explain anymore? Devotee : (Question inaudible)

He is saying that when you suffer Krsna is suffering? Is it that? When we suffer He is not suffering, because He is Atmarama, He is always transcendentally situated. Does that mean He is not the Paramatma because He is not suffering when we suffer? He knows that we are suffering, but He is not suffering. He is not experiencing. We hit our toe and we think I’m the body, we are attached and we yell “ouch.” Does that mean that at the same time He is suffering? It is said that they are two birds on a tree. One is trying to enjoy and suffering the fruits and the other one is aloof. So where is the relation? So why would Krsna want to experience being a conditional soul and suffering. Who would want to be that foolish to do that? So He doesn’t become a conditioned soul.

Krsna, in the spiritual world, He has a relationship with His intimate devotees and is described by the six Goswamis that in these relationships Krsna has a particular mood which is His own mood, and the devotees, they have another mood. Krsna is accepting their service and they are giving their service. So we have to understand that there is particular mood. Just like husband and wife in different moods, it’s not just the same. What husband knows what the wife is thinking? There is always a certain degree of mystery between them as to what is the exact mental and psychological and so on of the other person. So you can take it that this material world is the perverted reflection of the spiritual sky.

In the spiritual sky Krsna creates energy. His supreme most energy is so complex because it is non-different from Him. They are completely one and then they become two. So just as Krsna is the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, She is the Supreme Absolute Energy. So they go on exchanging their different mellows and their different pastimes which is known as prema, pure love. So sometimes Krsna becomes so enthralled with His pastimes, that He is only seeing it from one side. He’d like to experience it from the other side. This is said to be the most secret, confidential understanding. So it's not expected that people very much understand it. If you cannot understand the description, then I will recommend you read the Chaitanya Charitamrita, where it describes these things in detail. I don’t know if that made it any easier for you. One should be careful while answering the question, how you frame the question, it doesn’t appear like a challenging question!

Devotee: Particularly we spoke last night about how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu revealed who He actually was to Advaita Gosai. I was wondering where this is actually coming from, the Chaitanya Charitamrita or some other source.

Jayapataka Maharaj: It is briefly mentioned in the Chaitanya Charitamrita and the full description is in the Chaitanya Bhagavat.

Devotee: Published?

Prabhupada asked it to be translated but the people that were translating it later said that they weren’t qualified enough. So he said it is one of the books that should be translated. It was translated by Bhakthi Siddhanta Thakur, purports written. I am sure that within next five or ten years, it will be translated.

Devotee : (Question inaudible)

Jayapataka Maharaj: Between the Chaitanya Bhagavat and Chaitanya Charitamrita? Well, the Chaitanya Bhagavat covers Lord Chaitanya’s early time pastimes upto Jagannath Puri in great detail. That’s why the Chaitanya Charitamrita skims over the early life and then goes from the point when He took sannyas, after that in great detail. The difference is that the Chaitanya Charitamrita expositions on the philosophy and teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, especially on those dealing with the very esoteric, difficult subject matter are so precise and perfect, that it is the most transparent exposition of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes and teachings and historically is perfect.

Chaitanya Bhagavat, according to some scholars, the explanations skim over a very esoteric subject matter in just a short time, where it may actually go over the reader's head. So therefore there are very extensive purports given by Bhakti Siddhanta. You will notice that in the Chaitanya Charitamrita very few purports are necessary, because he took the time for giving his own purports in the actual text by giving lot of Sanskrit just so that the readers would see the definite development of all the topics. Otherwise from the text of Chaitanya Charitamrita, he declares Vrindavandas Thakur as the Vyasadeva of Chaitanya Lila. The Chaitanya Bhagavat, next to the Chaitanya Charitamrita, it is the most authorized book on Lord Chaitanya. It deals quite a bit with Nityananda's pastimes and others like Chand kazi's. All those pastimes are all mentioned in the Chaitanya Bhagavat.

Devotee : (Question inaudible)

Jayapataka Maharaj: In Bengali... I don’t know in English how it will turn out to be. In Bengali, Chaitanya Charitamrita is this thick, it has 17 volumes. So that Chaitanya Bhagavat is going to have this thickness.

Devotee : (Question inaudible)

Jayapataka Maharaj: He joined them in Navadvip. He was in Mathura, and came down to Navadvip and joined Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Devotee : (Question inaudible)

Jayapataka Maharaj: No. Lord Chaitanya was under 20. Very soon after Chaitanya started to preach Bhakti, then Lord Nityanada came and joined Him.

Devotee : (Question inaudible)

Jayapataka Maharaj: Brother means they are called as brothers, just like Lord Chaitanya called Pundarika Vidyanidhi as father. Because in Krsna lila he was father. So Balaram, He called Him brother. He was born in Ekachakra village, by Hadai Oja and Padmavathi was His mother. Lord Chaitanya was born in Mayapur, 250 kms difference. Lord Nityananda appeared before Lord Chaitanya. Because He is Balaram, therefore they are brothers.

Transcription by Prema Vinodhini Devi dasi