Month: January 2018

Vasudeva Ghosh – Biography | Sripat Narpota, Tamluk

Post author By gaudiya
Post date January 9, 2018

Vasudeva ghosh - narpota samadhi

Heading south from Kolkata , the team from ‘The Gaudiya Treasures of Bengal’ reached the holy dham of Tamluk. The journey was quite comfortable as Tamluk is very well connected to kolkata via trains and buses.Within 2 hours we reached the tamluk station. Reaching the station, we boarded an autorickshaw that carried us to ‘Sri Mahaprabhu Mandira’. This place is also referred to as the sripat of Srila Vasudeva Ghosh. Srila Vasudeva, an intimate associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu ,had appeared 500 years ago,in order to assist Mahaprabhu manifest His heart melting pastimes. The temple is also sometimes referred to as ‘Narpota’ and we have discussed the reason for the same in this article below.The sacred land of Tamluk is an extremely significant portion of Gauda Mandala bhumi, wherein Sriman Mahaprabhu had halted on two separate occasions, while traveling to Puri. ‘Sri Mahaprabhu Mandira’ is the very place where Sri Gaurasundara had once halted at Tamluk and enchanted the three worlds with His ecstatic night sankirtana.It is the same place where Sri Jagadananda Pandita, the incarnation of Satyabhama devi, had once cooked prasadam from all the raw vegetables that Sriman Mahaprabhu had obtained by begging. After accepting sannyasa,Lord Caitanya had manifested His begging pastimes for the first time here at the fortunate town of Tamluk. ‘The Gaudiya Treasures of Bengal’ has covered the sannyasa initiation pastime of Lord Caitanya in a separate article entitled – ‘Sri Gauranga Bari (katwa) – Where Mahaprabhu accepted Sannyasa’. We consider ourselves exceedingly fortunate to have been able to visit Tamluk and We seek permission of Sri Caitanya and Srila Vasu Ghosh to pen a few lines in glorification of this exalted dham.

Katwa & Srikhanda

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepts sannyasa | Gauranga Bari temple, Katwa

Post author By gaudiya
Post date January 8, 2018

Gauranga Bari katwa gtb

It was here at Sri Gauranga Bari, that the supreme personality of Godhead, Sri Nimai pandita, was awarded with the sannyasa order of life by the eminent sannyasi ,Sri Keshava Bharati ,about 500 years ago, and was conferred with the new name ,Sri Krishna Caitanya. This is the same place where the beautiful hairs of Sri Nimai pandita were shaved off forever, by the barber named Madhu, who wept bitterly as did all the other devotees, who couldn’t tolerate the Lord of their lives relinquishing His beautiful curly hair .That hair ,decorated with malati flowers , which previously in Dvapara, had enchanted the gopis and forced them to abandon their homes,families and everything in their possession; that same hair which Lord Brahma, Shiva and Narada used to greatly glorify ,was now abandoned. The team from ‘The Gaudiya Treasures of Bengal’ considers itself supremely fortunate to have been able to arrive and take darsana here at Sri Gauranga bari, on the auspicious occasion of Sri Gaura purnima and participate wholeheartedly in the celebrations. We have covered the appearance pastime of Sri Gaurahari in a separate article entitled – ‘YogPeeth, Mayapur, Navadvipa – The birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’).

Lord Gaurasundara’s head shaving and sannyasa ceremony took place during the auspicious constellation of Makara Sankranti,in the month of Magh, here at Gauranga Bari,in Katwa. Instead of picking up his razor, the barber Madhu, sat hanging his head between his hands and cried profusely.Madhu could realize that Sri Nimai pandita was the Supreme Lord and he requested Him again and again to reconsider His decision of accepting the sannyasa order. We have covered in detail the pastimes of Madhu, the barber ,in a separate article entitled- ‘Sakhi Akhra and Madhai Tala ,Katwa’.

Birbhum Lord Nityananda

Ekachakra Dham – Birthplace of Lord Nityananda

Post author By gaudiya
Post date January 8, 2018

padmavati kunda ekachakra

Lord Nityananda, is the incarnation of Lord Balarama ,and He had appeared here at Sri Ekachakra Dham, to assist Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, manifest the most magnanimous pastimes. In the battle of Kurukshetra, Sri Krishna broke His pledge of not using any weapons,by picking up a wheel ,and charging towards Bhishma, who was then fighting valiantly against Arjuna. Bhishma was a great devotee of the Lord, and seeing the Lord charge at him, he threw away his weapons and fell down in surrenderance.He began singing Krishna’s glories, hearing which the Lord calmed down and threw away the wheel He had picked up.This wheel is said to have flown all the way from kurukshetra to land here at this small village in Bengal which came to be subsequently known as Ekachakra.’Eka’ means one and ‘Chakra’ translates to wheel in bengali.Lord Nityananda Prabhu’s subsequent appearance and His display of the most merciful pastimes here ,has identified this sacred land as the king of all pilgrimages.Sri Nityananda Prabhu is the manifestation of the Lord’s devotion (bhakta svarupa) and without His mercy, it is not possible for one to obtain the shelter of Lord Caitanya.

ekachakra dham gtb

Sri Nitai is our original Guru who helps us connect back with Krishna. The spiritual master ,by whose mercy we cross over this vast ocean of material existence, is actually the representative of Lord Nitai.Narottama Das Thakura sings ‘Nitai pada kamala, koti candra sushitala, je chayay jagata juray’.In other words, he reveals, that the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda is more soothing than a millions of moons, the shelter of which encapsulates the entire world.’The Gaudiya Treasures of Bengal’ considers itself utterly unqualified to narrate the qualities or pastimes of our Doyal (merciful) Nitai, and hence begs His permission so that He mercifully empowers us to do so. We consider our lives to be a success, being able to visit Sri Ekachakra dham and pray that she kindly accepts us as one of her dear servants.

Katwa & Srikhanda

Govinda Ghosh – Life and Pastimes | Radha Gopinatha temple, Agradwip

Post author By gaudiya
Post date January 8, 2018

agradwip govinda ghosh A few miles south of Katwa, on the bank of the holy Ganges, lies the beautiful town of Agradwip. The scenic beauty of this place is an absolute treat to the eyes. Our team from ‘The Gaudiya Treasures of Bengal’, took a boat ride from the ‘Agradwip ghat’ to cross over to the other side of the river,in order to reach the temple of our beloved Radha Gopinatha jiu. The blissful breeze of the holy river, the heart-rending shelter of the captivating tall trees and the melodious tunes of the chirping birds are a perfect setting for the devotees to surrender themselves to the calls of the divine, and forever escape into the realm of transcendence. Sri Radha Gopinatha jiu is the worshipable deity of Sri Govinda Ghosh, an eternal associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. For those who don’t know, Lord Caitanya, is none other than the Supreme personality of Godhead who had descended about 500 years ago, in the city of Navadvipa, to reclaim the fallen souls and inaugurate the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord (Please refer to the article – ‘YogPeeth, Mayapur, Navadvipa – The birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’).The three brothers, Sri Govinda Ghosh, Vasu Ghosh and Madhava Ghosh assisted the Lord in performing His heart melting pastimes. Lord Caitanya, or Gauranga, as He is sometimes referred to, is worshipped as ‘Maha Vadanyaya’, or the most munificent incarnation of the Supreme Lord.This is because He gives freely what no one else, or no other incarnation of the Lord has given before- the pure ecstatic love of Krishna.

namo maha-vadanyaya
krishna-prema-pradaya te
krishnaya krishna Caitanya
namne gaura-tvishe namah

O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.

About 20 kms west of Katwa, on the banks of the Ajay river,lies a village named ‘Kulai’.It was in this village that the three stalwart vaishnavas, Sri Govinda Ghosh,Sri Madhava Ghosh and Sri Vasu ghosh had mercifully appeared, and as a result of which this place had become sanctified and renowned all over the three worlds. These three brothers possessed a very melodious voice and their songs provided a lot of delight to Lord Gauranga and Nityananda who danced at their tunes (Govinda Madhava Vasudeva teen bhai , Ya sabara kirtane nache Caitanya Nitai ).

Glorifications of Sri Chaitanya Mayapur Nabadwip dham

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s birthplace – YogPeeth (Yogpith), Mayapur

Post author By gaudiya
Post date January 8, 2018

Yogpeeth mayapur Chaitanya Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead ,had mercifully appeared here at Yogpeeth (in Mayapur) about 500 years ago (in the year 1486 AD), to bless us with the most wonderful,deep and ecstatic pastimes of Gaura lila. The word ‘Yoga’ means ‘connection’ and the term ‘Yogpeeth’ represents the place where the Supreme Lord connects with or descends into this material world. The identity of Lord Caitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be verified in a number of Vedic scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam,Mahabharata, Garuda Purana,Nrsimha Purana, Padma purana,Bhavishya Purana, Narada Purana etc. We are quoting just two of such references below, for the pleasure of the devotees.

aham purno bhavisyami yuga sandhyau visesatah
mayapure navadvipe bhavisyami saci sutah
(Garuda Purana)

Translation – In the future, in first part of Kali yuga, I shall appear in my complete spiritual form at Mayapura, Navadvipa and become the son of Saci.

The mission of the Lord, along with a description of His golden complexion and how He descends along with His confidential associates in this age of Kali ,to inaugurate the Sankirtana Yajna is revealed in Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata purana) –

Krishna varnam tvishakrishnam sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah
(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32)

External reasons of Lord Caitanya’s appearance :

Lord Caitanya though, except for a few rare occasions, had never revealed His identity as the Supreme Lord.He forever remained absorbed in the mood of a devotee.There were several reasons for Lord Caitanya to appear in this world which have been revealed in detail by Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami in his nectarian composition, Sri Caitanya Caritamrta. He writes that Sri Krishna after enacting the sweet pastimes of Vrindavana, pondered over how He had not bestowed the science of unalloyed devotion unto the Supreme, for a long long time.The entire world worships Him in a mood of reverence, strictly following the rules and regulations ordained in the scriptures.However such a worship does not please Him very much ,as spontaneous loving attachment, which is the very essence of a relationship, is absent in such a worship.

Aishwarya jnanete saba jagat misrita
Aishwarya sithila preme nahi mora prita
(Caitanya Caritamrta, adi -3.16)