Shri Krishna Chaitanya Charita

Mahakavya
e Transcendental Characteristics of Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
By Hanuman Avatara Paramhansa Shrila Murari Gupta Thakura.

Th

Translated by His Holiness Bhaktivedanta Bhagavata Swami

Summary Outline of Shri Krishna Chaitanya Charita Mahakavya By Shrila Murari Gupta
(1513 A.D.)
A Sanskrit Maha-kavya, written in the style of the Puranas, with the flow of topics being
conveyed in the form of a conversation between Shrila Murari Gupta and Shrila Damodara
Pandita. Its verses total 1,927, and it is divided into 4 sections (Prakramas), and
subdivided into 78 cantos (Sargas). This book is also known as Murari's kadacha, or
personal notebook, and many other biographers such as Shrila Lochana dasa, Shrila Kavi
Karnapura and others have used it as the original source of information regarding key in
events of Lord Gauranga's life; thus they were able to elaborate on the Lord's pastimes in
their own way. Also worth mentioning here is the notebook of Shrila Svarupa Damodara
Gosvami; many of the Lord's biographers have also used it while composing their own
versions; but unfortunately, Shrila Svarupa's book is not available today.
(Note: sometimes Shrila Murari's book is known as Shri Chaitanya-charitamrta also)

Section 1 (16 Cantos)

Description of the reason for composing this book (the order of Shrivasa).
The necessity of Lord Gauranga's descent to Earth along with His disciples.
The Lord's auspicious birth.
Description of His parents and their lineage (His father is described as belonging to the
Vatsya-gotra).

Pundit Jagannath Misra, alias Purandar Misra, a pious Brahmin of the Vaidik sub-caste, had
migrated from Sylhet and settled at Nadia or Nabadwip, a city of learned men in the
Nabadwip district of West Bengal, situated on the river Ganges, seventy-five miles north
of Calcutta. Jagannath Misra's wife was Sachi Devi, daughter of the scholar Nilamber
Chakravarti. She also was a pious lady. A son was born to Jagannath Misra and Sachi on the
night of the full moon, on 4th February, 1486 A.D., at Nabadwip.
http://www.dlshq.org/saints/gauranga.htm

Gouranga studied logic at the school of Vasudev Sarvabhauma, a reputed professor of

Nyaya.
Gauranga mastered all branches of Sanskrit learning such as grammar, logic, literature,
rhetoric, philosophy and theology. He developed marvellous talents. He was a genius. He
himself started a Tol or place of learning. He was then sixteen years old and he was the
youngest professor to be in charge of a Tol.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of Nadia just after sunset on the
evening of the 23rd Phalguna (1407 Century), 18th of February 1486 of the Christian Era.
The moon was eclipsed at the time of His birth, and the people of Nadia were then
engaged, as was usual on such occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi with loud cheers of
Haribol. His father, Jagannatha Misra, a poor brahmana of the Vedic order, and His
mother, Sachi Devi, a model good woman, both descended from brahmana stock originally
residing in Sylhet.
http://www.srikrishnachaitanya.org/SriKrishnaChaitanyaMahaprabhuLifeHistory/

Traditionally, Bengali brahmins are divided into the following categories:

Rdhi from Radh (region south-west of the Ganges)

Varendra, from Vrendra region (North-East) or Pura. Vrendra originally meant

rain-maker magicians.[9]
Vaidika (migrants, originally experts of Vedic knowledge)

Paschatya Vaidika (Vedic brahmins from west ofBengal)

Dakshinatya Vaidika (Vedic brahmins from south of Bengal)

Madhya Sreni (brahmins of the midland country)

Shakdvipi/ Grahavipra (migrant brahmins of Shakdvipa in Central Asia)

The Brahmin castes may be broadly divided into two regional groups: PanchaGauda Brahmins from Northern India and considered to be North of Vindhya mountains
and Pancha-Dravida Brahmins from South of Vindhya mountains as per the shloka.
However, this sloka is from Rajatarangini of Kalhana, which was composed only in the 11th
century CE.

,
||

 ,
||[11]
Translation: Karnataka (Kannada), Telugu (Andhra), Dravida (Tamil and Kerala),
Maharashtra and Gujarat are Five Southern (Panch Dravida). Saraswata,Kanyakubja,
Gauda, Utkala (Orissa), Maithili are Five Northern (Pancha Gauda). This classification
occurs in Rajatarangini of Kalhana and earlier in some inscriptions

[12]

Pancha Gauda Brahmins

Panch Gaur (the five classes of Northern India): (1) Saryupareen Brahmins, (2)Kanyakubja
Brahmins, (3) Maithil Brahmins, (4) Saraswat Brahmins and (5)Utkala Brahmins. In
addition, for the purpose of giving an account of Northern Brahmins each of the provinces
must be considered separately, such as Uttar
Pradesh, Ayodhya (Oudh), Kashmir, Nepal, Uttarakhand, Himachal,Kurukshetra, Rajputana,
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gandhara, Punjab, Bengal,Orissa, Bihar, North Western Provinces
and Pakistan, Sindh, Central India, and Tirhut, among others. They originate from south of
the (now-extinct) Sarasvati River.

The Utkala Brahmins are of three classes

Shrauta/Vaidika (Danua)(:/
/ )(/ / )

Sevayata/Purohita Brahmin or Sarua(:/)( /)

Halua Brahmin.(: )( )

Again there are sub-classes in these three classes:

1.Shrotriya Brahmins:The Brahmins following Shrauta tradition, have right to read and
teach Vedas and hence are known as Vedic Brahmins or Namaskaraniya. They do Yajna,
Yaajana, Adhyayana, Adhyapana, Daana, Pratigraha. They are also known as Kulina, Vaidika,
Danua etc. They give more importance to Veda, daily upasana and agnihotra. Only These
group of brahmins have right to conduct Yaagas and teach Vedas along with Daana,
Pratigraha.

Sub classes:

a)Kalinga Shrauta Brahmins:The Brahmins who have come from undivided regions of
previous Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Cuttack, Puri and Ganjam. They follow the samanta panjika
or SriJagannath panjika. They stay south of Brahmani River, hence their name.They marry
among themselves or to there relatives.Others brahmins avoid to marry
them.They generally do Bhikhya(Begging) to maintain there livelyhood.

b)Jajpuria Shrauta Brahmins:the sub-class which has come from Jajpur and north Orissa
area. They follow Sri Viraja panjika. They stay north of Brahmani River. First settled in
areas aroundBaitarani River.

These above two sub-classes are eligible to perform Shrauta rites, they abstain from
doing temple services and they seldom intermarry with other brahmins.

2.Sevayata Brahmins or Saruaa:They are also known as Sevaka, Sarua, Purohita or

Pushpalaka Brahmins, they follow the Karmakanda and sometimes act as priests for social
as well for some temple functions. They give more importance to temple worship, and
priesthood. They dont have right to organise Yaaga, or take Daana(alms). They can read
Veda and teach it. Some of them follow Agama also. The Sevayata(Ashrauta) section of
Brahmins are divided into three sub-classes as follows:

a)Devalaka(Deyulia)Brahmins: Surnames Badapanda, Pujapanda etc. Their chief occupation

is the service of the temple Gods and Goddesses. Many of them expertise in
VedicKarmakanda(rites for marriage, upanayan etc) as well as Agama(temple worship).
Most of the Daitapati sevayatas of Jagannath Temple, Puri and Lingaraj Temple belong to
this sub class. Most of the temple in Orissa have this sub class of Brahmins as chief
priests..They marry among themselves or to there relatives.Others brahmins avoid to
marrythem.They generally do Bhikhya(Begging) to maintain there livelyhood.

b)Paniyari(Panda)Brahmins: Surnames majorly Panda. They also form the priestly section,
for some rites and some do temple services. some of them are cooks in temples and even in
private houses , and travel all around India for pilgrims to visit the temples of Jagannth.
Some of them are engaged in business and trade of Agricultural products. They have high
percentage of population among all OriyaBrahmins.They populate very fast and
spreadeverywhere.They have right to bhikhya and dana.

c)Aranyaka(Jhadua)Brahmins:Also known as Panchadesi and Jhadua.They constitute good

population of brahmins in odisha.They are migrants of north india and calcutta.

3.Halua Brahmins:These are similar to Bhumihar in north India and Niyogis of Andhra
Pradesh. They are also known as Balaramgotri or Mahasthana Brahmins. History says,
These are the village leaders, administrators of brahmin ancestry so they were included
themselves as a brahmin but they have not the brahmin characteristics. Generally with
surname Thakur,Naik,Grampradhan,Choudhury,Sahu,Samantray,Sabat, Dalbehera.
Once they enjoyed same status as above brahmins but later they accepted vocational jobs
for livelihood and gave up their sacred duty of Shrauta and Smriti. These are engaged in
agriculture or agriculture related business. Some of them are allowed to do Shraadh and
associate in temples and religious functions. They are never allowed for any Vedic rites
or Yajna. Most of them are business- oriented, also do cultivation of lands granted

during Eastern Ganga dynasty but have entirely lost their sacerdital rites and living in and
around South Orissa. For the purchase of the land many of them migrated to other
country. There is also a significant migrant population of Haluas in Mauritius, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and others.

Russel noted one exceptional feature at Jaganntha Temple of Puri : All castes now eat
the rice cooked at the temple of Jagannath together without defilement, and friendships
are cemented by eating of little of this rice together as sacred bond..[6]

Shakha of Utkala Brahmins

The vaidika shakha may vary family to family in all of the above Shrotriyas and Sevayatas.
Majority of them follow Kaanva Shakha of Shukla Yajurveda or Kauthuma shakha
of Samaveda.

Whereas Brahmins belonging Shakala shakha of Rigveda and Paippalada shakha

of Atharvaveda are less. It is thought that Rigveda Brahmins exist due to Govardhana
matha of Adi Shankara.

The Paippalada Shakha of Atharvaveda in Orissa should be noted for its existence till now,
although by few scholars. They trace their origin from Narmada basin, supposed that they

migrated during Eastern Ganga Dynasty. Many Brahmins having surname Upadhyaya and
Acharya have Paippalada shaakha as their family Shakha.

The sutra of different shakha people are

Rigveda:Ashwalayana Shrauta and Grihya Sutra(Shakal Shakha)

Shukla Yajurveda:Katyayana Shrauta and Paraskara Grihya(Kaanva Shakha)

Samaveda:Drahyayana Shrauta and Gobhilya grihya (Kauthuma Shakha)

Atharvaveda: Vaitana Shrauta and Kaushika grihya(Paippalada Shakha)

the Utkala or Oriya Brahmin Surnames are Acharya, chaulia, Dikshit (Dixit), Debta or
Devata, Dash or Dash sharma, Mishra, Dhar, Sharma, Chaturvedi, Nath, Kar, Tripathy,
Bhatt-Mishra, Nanda,Guru, Rajguru, Rayguru, Mahapatra, Bishi, Patra, Panigrahi

According to Pundit Narayana Shiromani,(late 18th century) the gotra decides the
surname.
He mentions that Gautama gotra have surname DharaSharma,
Bharadwaja gotra have KaraSharma,
Kashyapa gotra people should keep Nanda or AnandaSharma,

Atreya gotra people should keep RathSharma,

Kaushika and Vatsa gotra have DashShrama.
These above gotra Brahmins are considered as topmost among Utkal Brahmins. Rest all
are Sharma or Devasharmas.

UTKAL BRAHMIN IN BENGAL During the reign of Gajapati empire the Utkal Brahmins
were migrated to Bankura Purulia, Midnapore, & Hoogly districts of West Bengal as
representative of the Gajapati King under leadership of Nakurtanga and Sripati
Mahapatra, since then those areas were under the monarch of Orissa. Their surnames are
Singhababu, Singhamahapatra or Sinhamahapatra, Mahanty, Pathak, Panda, Pati, Patra,
Padhi, Kar, Das, Dandapath Satapathi, Sannigrahi Hota, Mishra, Goswami Praharaj, Pyne,
Tewary, Pani, Nayek, Layek,Tripathi etc.

Please read this in conjunction with my post of Bengali Brahmins.

https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/tag/bengali-brahmins/

The Utkala Brahmins are of two classes 1) Shrotriya (vaidika) and 2) Sevaka (doing
accessory rites) Brahmin. Again, there are many sub-classes in these two classes.

1) Shrotriyas are mainly adherents of Vedas, especially:

a) Shakalya shakha of Rigveda b) Kanva shakha of Shukla Yajurveda c) Ranayana/Kauthuma

shakha of Samavedad) Paippalada shakha of Atharvaveda

2) Sevakas generally belong to brahmins doing accessory rites like cooking in temples,
helping in procession of temple deity. They generally follow any of the Veda of their choice
for family rites but they cannot perform Vedic sacrifices.

Brahmin priests / [[Acharya were engaged in attaining the highest spiritual knowledge
(brahmavidya) of Brahman and adhered to different branches (shakhas) of the Vedas. The
Brahmin priest is responsible for religious rituals in temples and homes of Hindus and is a
person authorized after rigorous training in vedas and sacred]] rituals, and as a liaison
between humans and the God. In general, as familyvocations and businesses are inherited,
priesthood used to be inherited among Brahmin priestly families, as it requires years of
practice of vedas from childhood after proper introduction to student life through a
religious initiation called upanayana at the age of about five.

Individuals from the Brahmin castes/tribes have taken on many professions such as
priests, ascetics and scholars to warriors and business people, according to the 12thcentury poet Kalhana, in Rajatarangini.[1]

According to Valmiki, a hunter and Sanskrit poet, in Ramayana history, the

Brahmin sage Parashurama is an Avatar (divine incarnate representation) of Vishnu, who
takes up arms against kings to deliver justice. Parashurama is portrayed as a powerful
warrior who defeated the Haiheya kshatriyas twenty one times, was an expert
in martial arts and the use of weapons, and trained others to fight without weapons.[2]

Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, son of a Brahmin sage Parashara and a fisher woman Satyavathi,
in hisMahabharata, describes several warriors belonging to Brahmin castes/tribes, such
as Dronacharya,Kripacharya, Parashurama etc., who were professors in the schools of
martial arts and the art of war.

http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Brahmin

VAIDIKAS
These are of two types:

Dkityas, coming from Orissa & Andhra originally but now part and parcel of
Bengali brahmins.
Pschtyas, coming from western and northern India originally but now part of
Bengali brahmins.
These were experts of Vaidika knowledge who were invited to Bengal in different ages,
later than the original five brahmins from which Rdhi brahmins originated.

http://www.worldlibrary.org/articles/bengali_brahmin

A learned brahmana named Upendra Misra, who resided in the district of Sri hatta, was
the father of Jagannatha Misra, who came to Navadvipa to study under the direction of
Nilambara Cakravarti and then settled there after marrying Nilambara Cakravarti's
daughter, Sacidevi.
http://vaishnava-news-network.org/editorials/ET9903/ET02-3217.html

Jagannath Mishra was born in the village of South Dhaka in Sylhet (Sylhet). His
grandfather, Madhu Mishra, had four sons: Upendra, Rangada, Kirtida, and Kirtivasa. His
father and mother, Upendra Mishra and Kalavati, had seven sons: Kamsari, Paramananda,
Padmanabha, Sarveshvara, Jagannath Mishra, Janardana and Trailokyanath. (Prema-vilasa,
24). According to the Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika, Upendra was Krishna's grandfather, the
cowherd Parjanya, while Jagannath was Nanda Maharaj in Krishna's Vraja pastimes (Gauraganoddesha-dipika 37). Nanda or Jagannath were, in Krishna's various appearances,
Kashyapa, Dasharath, Sutapa and Vasudeva. The king of Vraja has become Chaitanya's
father, Jagannath; the queen of Vraja is his mother Sachi. The son of Nanda is Chaitanya
Gosai, and Baladeva is his brother Nityananda.
(Chaitanya-caritamrita 1.17.294-295).
In the Chaitanya-caritamrita, it is also stated that Jagannath Mishra was also known by his
title Purandara, which is an epithet of Indra. His wife's name was Sachidevi. Sachi's
father was Nilambara Cakravarti.
( Chaitanya-caritamrita Adi, 13.59-60)
http://www.radha.name/news/general-news/the-festival-of-jagannath-mishra
Chaitanya's forefathers
According to Jayanandas Chaitanya mangala, the forefathers of Chaitanya had migrated
from Jajpur in Orissa to Sri Hatta (Sylhet) in Bangladesh during the period of king
Kapilendra Deva (1431-1470). Kapilendra had been a senior minister (previously known as
Kapilesvara Rauta) in the court of king Bhanudeva IV of the Ganga dynasty, who died
without children in 1435, and who later came to be known as "the madman". However, it is
possible that the allegations about the mental sanity of Bhanudeva had been created by
Kapilendra's supporters, and that he had forcibly taken the power while Bhanudeva was
away on a military expedition. It seems that Chaitanya's forefather had expressed
disapproval for the manner in which he had ascended the throne, and he preferred to move
away to avoid Kapilendra Devas displeasure. However, the family retained their spiritual
attachment to the Deity of Jagannatha, so much that Chaitanyas father was called
Jagannatha Mishra.
Jagannatha Mishra (also known as Purandara), son of Upendra Mishra and father of
Chaitanya, had moved from Sri Hatta (present Sylhet in Bangladesh) to Navadvipa as a
student because at that time Navadvipa was still a famous center of education and culture,
philosophy and religion. It had been for about five centuries, so much that British
historians called it the "Oxford of Bengal", even though in later times it was so completely

devastated that at the times of the British rajya there were only a few very small villages
among rice fields and jungles.
After the Gaudiya Vaishnava reform with the foundation of the Gaudiya Matha at the end
of the 19th century, a few temples and ashramas were built and pilgrims started to pour
in, especially from Calcutta. The flow increased after Iskcon started to build its world
headquarters there, in the locality known as Mayapur, near the birth place of Chaitanya
(called the Yoga Pitha), in the vicinity of the present town of Navadvipa (on the opposite
side of the Ganges).
Navadvipa, in the district of Nadia, is 130 km north of Calcutta, on the bank of the Ganges
River. The name means "nine islands" and refers to the localities knowns as Antardvip,
Simantadvip, Rudradvip, Madhyadvip, Godrumdvip, Ritudvip, Jahnudvip, Modadrumdvip, and
Koladvip. More elaboration on Navadvipa and Mayapur will be given later in our book.
Navadvipa had been the capital of the Sena empire, that from 1159 to 1206 expanded to
include the entire Bengal (east and west) as well as Assam, Bihar and Orissa. Although the
region had lost much of its wealth, power and safety, there were still many scholars living
there.
In his Chaitanya bhagavata, Vrindavana Das clearly states that the people of those times
were mostly materialistic, even those who belonged to aristocratic brahmin families and
bore the prestigious titles of Bhattacharya, Chakravarti and Mishra (which later became
mere surnames).
He says that people did not care for dharma or bhakti any more, but only engaged in dry
debate, ritualistic pride, casteism, marriage show off, and arranging festivals for their
relatives. They performed elaborate worship arrangements for the Deity worship but
treated them merely as dolls, believing they owned and controlled the Deities and were
entitled to use them for their personal pleasure and materialistic benefit. The prevalent
religious tradition was the Shakta Tantric cult, but it had already fallen to a degraded
level, as the worship to the Mother Goddess had become mostly a pretext for drinking
alcoholic beverages, eating fish and meat, and trying to cause troubles to people perceived
as "enemies".
The entire region had already fallen into the hands of the Muslims, who allowed the Hindus
to continue with their religious practices only on condition that such practices

There was a small community of vaishnavas in the region, but its members kept mostly to
themselves. The most famous leader of that community was Advaita Acharya, of brahmin
ancestry, who had settled in Shantipura. Distressed and anxious about the condition of
society and the difficulty of spiritual progress in such a degraded environment, Advaita
engaged in austerities and worshiped Vishnu with fervid prayers, offering pure water from
the Ganga river and leaves of tulasi, the plant sacred to Vishnu. In Bhagavad gita (4.7)
Krishna declares that God manifests personally whenever dharma (the ethical principles of
the universal religion) declines and adharma (the degradation of such ethical principles)
increases. So Advaita prayed Vishnu to appear quickly and save the genuine Vedic
knowledge, as he had done so many times in the past.
Several other future companions of Chaitanya took birth before him - Nityananda, Srivasa,
Haridasa, Isvara Chandra Puri, Paramananda Puri and so on. Chaitanya's hagiographers
present the picture of his advent in a manner quite similar to the advent of Krishna and his
companions over 4000 years earlier, described in the Bhagavata purana and other
fundamental texts of Vedic knowledge.
In this first volume we will discuss only briefly about Chaitanya's companions, supplying
the information that is essential to understand their influence and role in Chaitanya's life
and mission; in another volume we will elaborate more about them and their own followers.
Here we will just say that according to Chaitanya charitamrita, these elder companions
specifically appeared to prepare the appearance of Chaitanya. Especially Advaita Acharya:
while observing the sorry state of the Hindu society of his times, he was crying out for
Krishna to appear for his mission of protecting the good people, annihilating the evil doers,
and establishing the genuine principles of ethics and religion.
Advaita saw the degradation of Hinduism and the persecution of the good people, and was
so angry he wanted to cut the evil doers' heads off. But in Kali yuga the solution to the
problem is not about killing the evil doers, because they are simply too many and the bad
influences in society will continue anyway. The problem must be solved at the root, with a
solution that will turn evil doers into good people, by helping them to understand and apply
the genuine principles of dharma. This is the reason why a divine Personality manifests in
this world, and so Advaita worshiped and offered tulasi leaves and flowers and Ganges
water, crying and praying God to descend and purify the world. According to Chaitanya's
hagiographers and followers, Chaitanya's birth was the answer to those prayers.
Chaitanya's father Jagannatha Mishra settled on the bank of the Ganges at Mayapur after
marrying Saci Devi, the daughter of a great scholar in Navadvipa, Nilambara Chakravarti,

and he had very close friendship with other dakshinatya (southern) Vaidic brahmanas such
as Advaita Acharya, Srivasa Pandita, Chandrashekhara Acharya etc.

The Life of Krishna Chaitanya

first volume of the series:
The Life and Teachings of Krishna Chaitanya
by Parama Karuna Devi published by
Jagannatha Vallabha Vedic Research Center (second edition)

http://jagannathavallabha.com/pdf_engl/Tthe-Life-of-Krishna-Chaitanya-8x10.pdf

We have mentioned that in Ramakeli, Chaitanya first met Rupa and Sanatana, who lived
there and had been engaged in the Muslim government. The two brothers were from an
ostracized brahmin family, descending from a Sarasvata brahmin from Karnataka, named
Sarvajna, who belonged to the Bharadvaja gotra and was learned in Yajur Veda. This
scholarly brahmin, honored with the title of jagat guru, had taken the position of King in
Karnataka. His son, Aniruddha, occupied the throne after him and was also very learned; he
had two sons - Harihara and Rupesvara. While Rupesvara was scholarly inclined, his brother
Harihara became proficient in politics and the use of weapons; at their father's death the
kingdom was supposed to be shared between them, but Harihara took his brother's land
and sent him to exile. From Paurastya desa, where Rupesvara had settled, his descendant
Padmanabha (Sanatana's great grandfather) migrated to Nava Hatta on the Ganges and
had 18 daughters and 5 sons, of whom the youngest was Mukunda, the grandfather of
Sanatana, Rupa and Anupama.
Mukunda became the private secretary to the Sultan of Bengal, Jalaluddin Fateh Shah.
Mukunda's son Kumaradeva moved to Jessore, and on his death his family moved to
Sakurma, near the capital of Gauda (Bengal), where his sons continued their studies, and
finally they moved to the capital, Ramakeli.

Sanatana (Santosha) was the eldest brother, born in 1488, next was Rupa (Amara) and
then Anupama (Srivallabha), who became the father of Jiva. Sanatana and his brothers
studied nyaya and Vedanta from Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and his brother Madhusudana
Vidya Vachaspati, from whom Sanatana took the traditional upavita diksha. On the death
of his father, Santosha (Sanatana) was forced to take up the position of treasurer (sakara
mallik) for the new Sultan, Alauddin Hussein Shah, while his brother Amara (Rupa) became
the private secretary (dabir i khas) to the Sultan. The two brothers had also studied
Persian and Arabic besides Sanskrit, and thanks to their intelligence and talent, they had
made a career in the government as chief secretary to the Sultan and State revenue
minister. However, they had a sincere desire to pursue vaishnavism and they had
expressed their longing in letters they had sent to Chaitanya in Puri. Chaitanya had replied,
instructing them to read Bhagavatam and to meet him during his journey to Vrindavana.

Another episode in Chaitanya mangala describes how Chaitanya and his companions met a
shakta sadhu who invited them to their matha for a drink. Chaitanya simply laughed and
proceeded on his way.
Although not particularly important for the mission of Krishna Chaitanya, this small
episode shows that in Chaitanya's times there was a large presence of shakta tantrics not
only in Bengal but in Orissa as well, and that their tradition had become so degraded that
consumption of alcohol was considered a normal occurrence even outside the engagement in
ritual worship. This demonstrates the point that the offering of alcohol in the tantric
rituals is not required by the Deity but actually constitutes an opportunity of purification
for all those people who do not want to give up the bad habit of drinking alcohol. The
amused reaction offered by Chaitanya to the proposal of the drunkard sadhu is also a good
example for his followers, who should avoid the trap of self-righteousness and indignation
for the lifestyle chosen by others for their personal lives. Too often, those who feel
outraged about the private life of other people are just demonstrating their own
insecurity at personal level.

Although he was born in a brahmin family and over 70% of his companions were from
brahmin families, Chaitanya regarded brahmins and non-brahmins as equals, and supported
the spiritual qualifications of non-brahmins such as Ramananda. So great was Chaitanyas
influence in the area of Puri, that in the end even brahmins who settled near Puri took up
the name Dasa - a humble name, meaning "servant", usually attributed to sudras.

Unfortunately, after the disappearance of Chaitanya the bad tendencies of casteism

prevailed again both in Bengal and in Puri, and today in Orissa the caste brahmins who
inherited the family name of Dasa from their ancestors pointedly insist that the name
must be written as "Dash" and not as "Das", because "Dash is a brahmin name, and Das is a
low caste name". If by any chance you overlook this apparently stupid distinction, they
become very offended and you may even get an enemy who will hate you for the rest of
your life.
And of course the definition of Hindu in Puri still means "high caste Hindu", i.e. brahmin.
Not only the foreign born devotees are barred from the ordinary public access to the
Jagannatha temple for the normal darshana, but the same injustice is meted out to the
Indian devotees who happen to have been born in a "low caste" Hindu family. This open
violation of Chaitanya's teachings in regard to the fight against casteist prejudice has
become prevalent not only in the conservative society in Puri, but even among Chaitanya's
official followers and representatives, especially the descendants of Advaita Acharya and
the descendants of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami (one of the six Gosvamis of Vrindavana, who
installed the Radha Ramana Deities there), who still at present maintain that birth
qualification is the fundamental principle in the process of initiation and devotional service.
At present the Deity of Radha Ramana is one of the most popular among the Sarasvata
Gaudiya Vaishnavas, with a great number of images circulating on the Internet, thanks to
the considerable public relations work done by Padmanabha Gosvami, seminal descendant
and only initiating guru of the lineage of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. His son Chandana Gosvami
has inherited the position and is presented as the official next initiating guru and
vaishnava acharya in his seminal line. According to the conclusions they follow in their
disciplic lineage, only the seminal descendants in their family can be qualified to become
gurus and give initiation, and only persons born in traditional brahmin families can be
qualified to be initiated; all others can only be followers and pay money to them to perform
yajnas and ritual ceremonies for their religious and spiritual advancement. These heavily
casteist conclusions are unfortunately shared by all the other "caste gosvamis" that were
heavily criticized by the founders of the Sarasvata Gaudiya Vaishnava reform Bhaktivinoda, Bhaktisiddhanta and Bhaktisiddhanta.
Chaitanya demonstrated that by actually cleaning the temple of the Lord - the house
where he is called to reside - our body, mind and heart are cleansed, too. Nobody is
genetically impure: purity and impurity must be ascertained from guna and karma (qualities
and actions) in human beings. Vedic scriptures (Svetasvatara Upanishad II.5) say that all
human beings, without any distinction, are amritasya putra, "children of the Immortal", as

they are heirs to spiritual realization. Both the Rig Veda (5-60-5) and Yajur Veda (16.15)
state that all human beings are members of the same family, and they are all entitled to
equal respect and opportunities. This means that they should be evaluated on the basis of
their actual guna and karma (qualities and activities) as very clearly stated in Bhagavad
gita (4.13), and not by the guna and karma of their ancestors or even present family
members. A son of a brahmana becomes a brahmana only through samskara and vidya
(purification rituals and acquisition of knowledge) and remains as such only through guna
and karma (developing the required qualities and performing the required duties and
activities)..
The idea of untouchability is applicable only to those people who choose to maintain dirty
habits and refuse to cleanse themselves; the contact with these people is certainly
forbidden, because it is always possible to become infected and contaminated, not only at
physical level but also at a mental level. Contaminated people are those those who do not
bathe regularly and do not have hygienic habits, who eat non-vegetarian items such as
meat, fish and eggs, drink liquors, and have sex promiscuously with degraded random
partners or with unclean prostitutes, or - even worse - entertain perverted lusty thoughts
that lead to disrespect and mistreatment against innocent people.
In those times, though, the situation was not as serious as today, because a worthy
individual could easily be reformed through the required purification rituals (suddhi and
prayascitta) and be accepted into a higher varna on the authority of a guru, a brahmana or
a king. The system became compromised already during the Muslim invasions, because the
invaders killed practically all the genuinely qualified brahmanas who could oppose their
government, and destroyed many texts and temples, while they allowed or even encouraged
those practices and beliefs that could weaken Hindu society.
After the British introduced the official census of the population, though, the original
system was practically destroyed by the government's involvement, as the British did not
accept the original mobility of the varnas but considered the castes as racial or ethnic
communities that are strictly hereditary. To convince Hindu Indians to accept this
perspective, they introduced the concept of aryan race, by which the highest castes of
Hinduism were to be considered more pure from the racial point of view. A corollary of
this ideological distortion can be observed in the obsession for bleaching one's skin and
make it whiter.

Also, we need to know that most brahmin sevakas of the Jagannatha temple normally eat
fish, eggs and other stuff they actually call "garbage"; they believe that taking a
perfunctory rinsing bath and changing their upavita (sacred thread) before actually
touching the Deity is sufficient to make them perfectly pure.

There is some disagreement about Chaitanya's movements here among his biographies Chaitanya bhagavata, Chaitanya mangala, Chaitanya chandrodaya nataka and Chaitanya
charita kavya. So it is not very clear whether Chaitanya went to the house of Advaita
Acharya before entering Navadvipa, or when exactly he went to the house of Sri Vidya
Vachaspati, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's brother. Some sources say that from the house
of Advaita Acharya in Shantipura, Chaitanya went to Ramakeli where he met Rupa and
Sanatana, then known as Dabir Khas and Sakara Mallik. Then he went to Kanai Natasala,
and returned to Shantipura for 10 days.

Raghunatha Dasa was the son of Govardhana Majumdara, an extremely rich land owner
from a kayastha (non-brahmin) family - together with his elder brother Hiranya, they had
an annual income of over 1 million rupees (in times when one rupee was a serious amount of
money). The Majumdaras lived in Saptagrama, a very wealthy settlement of gold merchants
(suvarna vanik) and their family priest, Balarama Acharya, was a friend of Haridasa.
However, they had very good relationships with the brahmanas of the region - most of
whom depended on their financial support - including Advaita Acharya, Nilambara
Chakravarti (maternal grandfather of Chaitanya) and Jagannatha Mishra (father of
Chaitanya). Raghunatha Dasa was interested only in spiritual life, and he used to run away
from home to go to Jagannatha Puri, but his father would have him tracked and taken back
home under the surveillance of 5 guards, day and night.
Chaitanya had reached Bengal traveling through Radha desha, followed by Nityananda,
Chandrasekhara and Mukunda. Here the various versions merge, and if we want to maintain
the sense of sequence, there will inevitably be some repetitions.
Nityananda told Chandrasekhara to go to the house of Advaita and tell him to prepare a
boat and receive Chaitanya, then go to Navadvipa and inform Saci and all the devotees.

Then Nityananda took Chaitanya to the bank of the Ganges, telling him it was the Yamuna
in Vrindavana. When Advaita arrived, he told Chaitanya that actually in that spot the
eastern side of the river was Ganges, while the western side was Yamuna as that is their
position when the two river meet at Prayaga. On that occasion Advaita invited Chaitanya to
his house at Shantipura for lunch, saying that the meal would be very simple - just a little
rice, some vyanjana and some sak - but instead he arranged a large festival. The large
stack of top quality rice was generously seasoned with clarified butter, and it was
accompanied by 100 containers filled with various preparations - mung dal, various types of
sak (spinach), patola, green pumpkin, manakachu, 5 types of sukta, karela, aubergines, small
nuggets made of dried dal paste, banana flower khari, pumpkin cooked in milk, sweet
coconut pulp mixed with yogurt, rabri, sweet rice pudding, sandesha, and condensed milk.
There were also various types of pancakes made with ripe bananas and urad dal, and
several earthen pots filled with cooled scented rose water. Chaitanya and Nityananda
attended the arati ceremony and appreciated the prasadam very much. Chaitanya said, "I
will always be obliged to someone who can offer Krishna such nice food."
It was on this occasion that Chaitanya said that he would always accept food from
laskhesvaras. It seems there was some perplexity among the devotees and brahmins about
the meaning of the reference, as lakshesvara ("owner of hundreds of thousands") is usually
applied to the calculation of a person's monetary wealth. Chaitanya explained that he was
referring to those people who chanted lakhs of Gods Names, that are the true treasure of
human life.

According to this version (in Chaitanya bhagavata), on the next morning Advaita brought
Mother Saci in a palanquin, accompanied by many devotees - Srivasa, Ramai, Vidyanidhi,
Gadadhara, Gangadasa, Vakresvara, Murari, Suklambara, Buddhimanta Khan, Nandana,
Sridhara, Vijaya, Vasudeva, Damodara, Mukunda, Sanjaya and the other residents of
Navadvipa. Chaitanya offered pradakshina and dandavat pranama to his mother, while
Advaita recited prayers to Devaki. Filled with ecstasy, Saci insisted to cook for her son
and prepared 20 types of sak (Nimais favorite vegetable), plus a variety of other
vegetables cooked in many different ways, and other innumerable dishes. Chaitanya happily
ate the food, describing the spiritual qualities of the various types of sag such as achyuta,
patala, bastuka, kala etc. Relaxing after the feast, Chaitanya asked Murari Gupta to glorify
Ramachandra (by reading the 8 verses in glorification of Ramachandra that he had written)
and he blessed him. From that time, Murari Gupta has been considered by the Gaudiya
Vaishnavas as a manifestation of Hanuman. Chaitanya remained in the house of Advaita for

ten days, and every day there was a great sankirtana festival. Advaitas young son
Acyutananda had a great attachment to Chaitanya and once he even scolded his father
because he had apparently disrespected him.

Chaitanya got terribly angry. "I am not concerned about the offenses that someone may
make against me, but I cannot tolerate the offenses against my devotees. I am a friend
for all the living entities in the universe, but I am very displeased when someone becomes
envious of good persons and sincere devotees, who are always in my heart. You have
brought this disgrace on yourself by attacking and slandering Srivasa, and you will have to
pay the full price for it."
After sending away the leper, Chaitanya went to the house of Srivasa and in front of all
the devotees presented his case. "That leper will have to suffer for many lifetimes
because of his offenses, but although his body is melting away, I do not feel any
compassion for him. I told him that he cannot be saved, but if you want to be
compassionate to him, I think he can be delivered by you."
Laughing, Srivasa replied, "I have no power or position. You are the savior of all, but you
are glorifying me. I forgive that man's offenses: may he become free from his disease."
The leper was lying on the bank of the Ganga. At that very moment he saw his body
becoming free from disease and healthy again. He ran to Srivasa's shouse, crying out in
gratitude, and glorifying Chaitanya, who had delivered him from the blindness of ignorance.
Chaitanya went out to meet him, and when the brahmin prostrated himself in front of him,
he picked him up and embraced him. The man was overwhelmed by love for Krishna and
started to sing, dance and roll on the ground, shouting, "Gauranga is the friend of
everyone".
While Chaitanya was in Srivasa's house, he elaborated on the results of the Sankirtana
yajna. Srivasa asked, "It is said that in Kali yuga one can obtain the best results by
engaging in Harinama Sankirtana. Why is it?"
"In Satya yuga, the dharma or religious practice for that age was dhyana - meditation and
yoga. In Treta yuga it was the ritual celebration of yajnas such as fire sacrifice, etc. In
Dvapara yuga, it was archana - the worship of the Deity. In Kali yuga people have a lot of
difficulties engaging in these practices - in fact, it is said that nobody is really able to
perform them properly. For this reason, God appears in the form of his Name, and is

properly worshiped through the Harinama Sankirtana. This is a very easy method that can
be applied even by totally unqualified persons, and easily offers all perfections. Whatever
results were achieved in previous yugas with great efforts, can be obtained comfortably in
Kali yuga."

As usual, Chaitanya sang and danced in ecstasy in the temple in front of the Deity, and the
people were fascinated by the blissful kirtana of Chaitanya, especially the pujaka and an
elderly sanodiya brahmana who was present at the temple at that time. After the kirtana,
Chaitanya talked with the brahmana, who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri and had been
present at the installation of the Gopala Deity at Govardhana, and reassured him that he
did not have any social prejudice, so he did not care about his lower status in the
community compared to the other sub-castes of brahmins. In those times the sanodiya
brahmins worked as priests for the vaisya (suvarna vanik, or gold merchants and bankers)
community of kalavaras and sanvadas, who do not follow the Vedic rules strictly and often
consume wine and similar stuff. However, Madhavendra Puri had been in his house and
accepted his food while visiting Mathura, so Chaitanya was very happy to take lunch from
him as well.
In his Chaitanya mangala, Lochana Dasa reveals that this brahmana's name was
Krishnadasa, and says that he had already noticed Chaitanya while he was approaching the
city. In his intense feelings for Krishna, Chaitanya had cried out the name of Akrura
(Krishna's uncle, who had taken him from Vrindavana to Mathura on the order of Kamsa)
and then collapsed to the ground, lost to external consciousness for 3 days. So in this
version of the story, the sanodiya brahmana Krishnadasa accompanied Chaitanya in his visit
to Mathura and Vrindavana from the very start.

During the Bhoi dynasty, Orissa fell under the domination of Muslims, inaugurating one of
the most painful periods of its history, especially because of the raids by Kalapahada, a
Muslim convert (previously from a brahmin family) who served under the Bengali sultan
Sulaiman Kararani.
Kalapahada became the terror of the entire region: he destroyed almost all the temples
and Deities, looting and desecrating also the Jagannatha temple and abducting and
destroying the Deities, even if they had been hidden by the scared sevakas. The new
Deities were again desecrated and destroyed several times and returned to Puri only in

1713 with the permission of the sultan, but the king of Puri was converted forcibly to islam
before being allowed to continue to work as temple superintendent.
Things slightly improved when Orissa was annexed by the Maratha empire, but the
situation must not have been so bright if we consider that the temple sevakas and
brahmins of Puri wrote an official letter to the British army on 16 September 1803,
requesting them to occupy Puri and take over the control of the temple and the sacred
city. The letter, written with golden ink, read, "the sacred will of the idol having been first
ascertained through the medium of the officiating priest... that the Brahmans at the holy
temple consulted and applied to Jaggernaut to inform them what power now was to have
this temple under its protection; and that he has given a decided answer that the English
Government was in future to be his guardian."
The Temple priests were so happy that they expressed most unequivocal proof of their
confidence in the British Government. The British troops reached Puri to settle there,
while the Marathas hurried out of the city. The British relieved the local government and
the temple from the heavy Maratha taxes and in fact the British administration itself paid
the difference in the budget: in 1803 the temple income was 31,884 rupees, while the
expenditures were 65,950 rupees. The British also improved the roads and funded the
temple with annual grants. However, Christians both in England and in India gradually took
offense at the British government supporting the Jagannatha temple and pressurized the
British government to dissociate itself from idol worship.
Biographies of Chaitanya
All biographies were composed from the diaries (kadacha) of Svarupa Damodara (who was
the closest associate of Chaitanya during the last part of his life) and Murari Gupta (a
medical doctor who had been a close associate of Chaitanya since his childhood). Also, a
good amount of material, especially about the last period of his life, is found in the diaries
of Raghunatha Dasa. Murari Gupta arranged his diaries in a Sanskrit work with the title
Gauranga charita, also called Krishna Chaitanya Charitamrita.
About ten years after the disappearance of Chaitanya, Nityananda requested Vrindavana
Dasa to write a biography in Bengali (Chaitanya Bhagavata). About sixty years later,
Krishnadasa Kaviraja wrote the deeply philosophical and theological Chaitanya
charitamrita, elaborating in the popular Bengali language on the divinity of Chaitanya and
his associates.

Other Gaudiya biographies of the period are Lochana Dasas Chaitanya Mangala,
Kavikarnapuras Sanskrit Krishna Chaitanyacharitamritam Mahakavya and Chaitanya
chandrodaya Natakam and Jayanandas Chaitanya Mangala. Vishvanatha Chakravarti also
collected poems about Chaitanya written by several devotees, especially Chaitanyas
associates in Navadvipa. Several other biographies were composed in the subsequent
period. Some of these pushed Chaitanyas identity with Krishna to the level of the idea of
describing rasa lila with the women of Nadia, thus giving some kind of ideological basis for
the perspective of the Gauranga nagaris, the Sahajiyas, and other similar groups.
The Oriya followers/ associates of Chaitanya also wrote some biographies, such as Shunya
Sangita by Acyutananda Dasa, Jagannatha Charitamrita by Divakara Dasa, and Chaitanya
Bhagavata by Ishvara Dasa. Madhava Pattanayaka also wrote another work on Chaitanya,
entitled Vaishnava lilamrita and composed only 2 years after Chaitanya's disappearance.
Most of the information presented in this book is sourced from Chaitanya Charitamrita
and Chaitanya Bhagavata.

The Sarasvata Gaudiya movement: After Chaitanya's disappearance, The seminal

sampradayas, The independent babajis, Prakrita sahajism, Bhaktivinoda, Bhaktisiddhanta,
The Gaudiya matha and its branches, Bhaktivedanta, After Bhaktivedanta's disappearance,
Gaudiya vaishnavism versus Hinduism, Gaudiya vaishnavism versus abrahamic ideologies,
The unification of Chaitanya's followers, The unification of dharmic ideologies.
In the next volume, discussing the Teachings of Krishna Chaitanya, we will examine the
various traditions that sprouted from his legacy, and we will compare their evolution with
the development of the various branches of the followers of Buddha Sakyamuni. We will
also elaborate how Chaitanya's mission was revived during the brief British colonial period
in India, and transplanted in the rest of the world by the "Indian spiritual ambassadors" of
the Gaudiya Matha.
The context of Krishna Chaitanya's mission: A brief history of India, A brief history of
Navadvipa and Bengal, A brief history of Orissa, The culture of Orissa, Jayadeva and the
Devadasis, Festivals and worship in Jagannatha Puri, The Bhakti movement in medieval
India, The disciplic lineage of Chaitanya, Madhavendra Puri, Madhva Acharya, The four
vaishnava sampradayas, Adi Shankara, The mayavadi war, Buddhism.

The companions of Krishna Chaitanya: The pancha tattva, Nityananda and the Jahnava
parivara, Advaita and the caste Gosvamis, Srivasa, Gadadhara, Haridasa, The six Gosvamis,
Rupa, Sanatana, Jiva, Raghunatha Dasa, Raghunatha Bhatta, Gopala Bhatta, The
descendents of Gopala Bhatta, The Chaitanya tree, The five saints of Orissa, The women
around Chaitanya.
The teachings of Krishna Chaitanya: The Siksha astakam, The maha mantra Hare Krishna,
What is mantra japa, How to chant the mantra, The ten offenses to be avoided, The
difference between mantra and maha mantra, Evidence from traditional scriptures,
Quotes from other sources, Other versions of the maha mantra, Kirtanas and bhajanas,.
Traditional songs from Bengal, Other important teachings, The observance of Ekadasi.
* Krishna Chaitanya's favorite readings: The story of Prahlada (from Bhagavata purana),
The prayers of Prahlada, The story of Dhruva, Gita Govinda by Jayadeva, Jagannatha
astakam by Adi Shankara, Krishna karnamrita by Bilvamangala, The poems of Chandidasa,
The poems of Vidyapati, Brahma samhita, Jagannatha vallabha nataka by Ramananda Raya,
The commentaries by Sridhara Svami.

Prataparudradeva, the Last Great Suryavamsi King of Orissa (A.D. 1497 to A.D ...
By Dipti Ray

Chaitanya And His Age, Part 14

BY: SUN STAFF

Dec 02, 2012 CANADA (SUN) A serial presentation of the book by Dinesh
Chandra Sen, Calcutta (1922).
CHAPTER III
Ancestry, Birth and Childhood

Chaitanya's father Jagannatha Misra removed from Dakha Daksin, a village in the district
of Sylhet (Jaypur of the same district according to Jayananda) and settled at Nadia, when
he was about 25 years old. This must have taken place at about 1460 A.D. [1] We have
references in many works to his marriage at Nadia with Sachi Devi the accomplished
daughter of Nilambara Chakrabarti. He had, therefore, settled at Nadia prior to his
marriage.
Nilambara Chakrabarti himself was originally a Brahmin of Sylhet. It appears that he and
Jasrannatha Misra came down and settled at Nadia about the same time. The chief object
of these people of Eastern countries for coming to Nadia was of course the completion of
their education; for Nadia was one of the greatest seats of learning in India during this
period. Says Brindabana Das, "There is no end of scholars in this town. Hundreds of
professors and students bathe in the Ganges every day. The enthusiasm for learning is so
great that even a boy will come forward to match his lance with veteran professors." [2]
We all know that the school of logic founded there by Basudeva Sarbahbaum and latterly
developed and richly contributed to by Raghunatha Siromani attracted pupils to this
academic centre from all parts of India. In jurisprudence, the word of Raghunandana who
wrote his famous Astavingsati Tatva about this time has become the one law for all people
of Bengal.
Jasrannatha Misra and Nilambara Chakrabarti as also many other scholars of Sylhet were
no doubt attracted to Nadia as students for receiving academic laurels from this reputed
field of learning. The reason of their finally settling at Nadia was, however, different.
Says Jayananda referring to this point : "There were famine and drought of a terrible
kind in many parts of the district of Sylhet at this time. The political condition of the
country had grown very unsafe; robbery and theft had become the order of the day.
People fled to different countries at this juncture.
Nilambara Chakrabarti and Jagannatha Misra left their native villages and settled at Nadia
at this time; for, in the district of Sylhet no good and honest man could stay for a
moment." [3]

Jagannatha Misra's ancestor Madhukara Misra, a Vaidic Brahmin of Batsayana Gotra, was
originally an inhabitant of Jajpur in Orissa. Jayananda tells us that he too had left his
native city, for Raja Bhramarabara, the king or Orissa, had made it impossible for honest
Brahmin folk to live at Jajpur by his capricious administration. Madhukara Misra left his
native country about the year 1440.
I have appended a table showing the pedigree of Chaitanya in my work Chaitanya and His
Companions (p. 218). This pedigree was collected from some standard works of the
Vaishnavas. Jayananda also gives a pedigree in which he says that Janardana was the
grandfather of Chaitanya; but the former was his uncle. In all standard works we find
Upendra Misra to be Chaitanya's grand-father. There could be possibly no mistake about
the name of Jagannatha Misra's father in such well-known Vaishnava biographies as
Chaitanya Bhagavata and Chaitanya Charitamrita. In respect of the pedigree it is always
safe to trust the version supplied by the orthodox community; for they were more in touch
with the relations of the leaders of their sect than lay men. So the pedigree found in
Jayananda's book cannot be relied upon.
Jagannatha Misra was junior by some years to Advaita Acharyya who was born in 1434 A.D.
We find the Misra bowing down before Advaita as a younger Brahmin does to another
older than himself. Chaitanya was the last of the 8 issues (9, according to Jayananda) that
Jagannatha Misra had by Sachi Devi. Taking Jagannatha to be 48 years old (Advaita was at
the time 52) at the time of Chaitanya's birth, we may approximately accept the year 1435
as the date of Jagannatha Misra's birth. We are quite confident that the date is not very
far from the actual year.
It is stated by all authorities that Jagannatha Misra was a scholar of some renown at
Nadia. He had obtained the title of Purandara for his learning. But he was a poor man. He
once said to his wife, "Just see, though I am a scholar I have no money." When Jagannatha
neglected his duties as professor owing to his great emotional sentiments and love for
God, his old teacher Gangadas reproached him in this way: [4] "it is not proper that you
should neglect these duties. Just remember your father Jagannatha Misra and your grandfather (on mother's side) Nilambara Chakrabarti. They were all learned men. Born of this
illustrious family, why should you behave in such an unbecoming manner? If for seeking
God, learning is to be eschewed, were not your father and grand-father learned and
religious at the same time?" Murari's Chaitanya Charita' and Kavikarnapura's Chaitanya
Chandrodaya also refer to the great learning of Jagannatha Misra.
But a more positive information is at hand. A copy of the Adiparva of the Sanskrit
Mahabharata written in Jagannatha Misra's own hand bearing his signature and the date
of copying, is in the possession of Mahamahopadhyaya Ajitanatha Nayaratna of Nadia. The
date is Saka 1390 (1468 A.D.) or 17 years before the birth of Chaitanya. The handwriting
is beautiful and bold and looks like a thing of yesterday; the ink is bright and its lustre has

not diminished after 450 years. The copy is free from errors, and this is a thing not too
often found in the copies of Sanskrit works.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] Mr. Underwood in an article in the Calcutta Review says that Sachi Devi was 67 years
old in 1486, when Chaitanya was born. For not giving us any reference as to his authority
and for some anomalies which it involves we cannot accept this statement of Sachi Devi's
age to be true.
[2] Chaitanya Bhagavata, Adi Kanda
[3] Chaitanya Mangala bv Jayananda
[4] Chaitanya Bhagavata, Adi

[Editor's Note: We present the manuscript for its historical interest. The author's
representation of historical events is not necessarily accurate, and should be taken as fact
only insofar as it is corroborated by authorized sastra and the purports of our
Sampradaya Acaryas. There is a great deal of interesting information presented in the
book, much of it helpful in pursuing research on Sri Chaitanya's pastimes.]
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/12-12/editorials9418.htm

Bhakta Kavi Gopla Krishna

By Phakramohana Dsa

Chaitanya's ancestry is a contentious issue between the people of Odisha and West Bengal
with Shree Chaitanya having family roots in Jajpur, Odisha, from where his grandfather,
Madhukar Mishra had emigrated to nearby Bengal.
http://spiritualism.co.in/30/chaitanyas-life/
Jajpur also known as Jajapur is a town in Jajpur district in the state of Odisha. It is
generally known as Biraja Khetra, which translates to the place sacred to Goddess Biraja.
It is surrounded by the Baitarani River in a semi-circle with a canal at the other end. It
was the capital city of Odisha during the rule of Kesari dynasty. The capital was later
shifted to the city of Cuttack. Presently it is the headquarters of Jajpur district in the
state of Odisha.

Jajpur is 100 km from Cuttack and is to the southern side of the Baitarani River and is an
historical place of pilgrimage. As per the Mahabharata, formerly great sages performed
penances at this place. Thereby this place came to be known as Yajapura, meaning the
place where sacrifices are performed. Jajpura was also one of the capital cities of King
Yayati and that Yajapura has come from the name Yayati-nagara. This place was visited by
Lord Chaitanya on His way to Vrindavana.
There are many temples of demigods and incarnations here. There is a Deity of Lord
Varahanatha here visited by many pilgrims since centuries. This Varaha temple houses a
small shrine which has the footprints of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This was constructed by
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, the spiritual master of ISKCON FounderAcharya Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
The local inhabitants also worship Varahi, Vaishnavi and Indrani, as well as many similar
forms of Devi. There are also many Deities of Lord Shiva. Jajpura is also called Nabhi-gaya
or Viraja-ksetra. Legend has it that when Lord Vishnu slayed Gayasura by performing a
yajna upon his heart, Gayasuras feet were at Pada-Gaya (Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh), his
navel at Nabhi-Gaya (Jajpura) and head at Shiro-Gaya (Gaya, Bihar).
The distance from Jajpura to Puri is 160 km. There are many direct trains and it takes
around 3 hours to reach this place.

https://www.iskconbangalore.org/blog/jajpur-yajapura/

Throughout Bengal, Nadia is celebrated as the seat of Hindu learning and orthodoxy. Its
fame rests upon its being an ancient seat of learning, which has exercised influence upon
the politics, morals and manners of the Bengalees. It is yet noted as the centre of the
great school of Hindu Logic. There, the far-famed Sree Chaitanya or the Lord Gouranga
was born. There is a popular belief that his father came from Sylhet and settled at

Nawadwip. According to certain writers, however, his ancestors were residents of

Chandpur in Orissa. Early in the reign of the Orissa monarch [Page 4] Kapilendra Deva,
1434 to 1470, Madhukar Misra, a Vaidic Brahmin, had emigrated from Jajpur to Jeypore in
Sylhet. His grandson, Jagannath Misra, settled at Nawadwip, to complete his educational
career. There he married in 1470 a beautiful and accomplished girl named Sachi Devi, the
daughter of Nilambar Chakravarti, a great Pundit. After the death of eight daughters in
their infancy, they had a son named Biswarupa in 1480. On the full-moon night of the
month of Palgun in March, 1486, on the occasion of the Holi Festival, when there was an
eclipse of the moon, their tenth child was born, celebrated afterwards as the great Sree
Krishna Chaitanya. He was named Biswambara, but affectionately called Nimai, because he
was born in a shed under a Nim tree.
http://hpb.narod.ru/SreeChaitanyaHWBM.html

Adyar Pamphlets No. 163

SREE CHAITANYA :
OR
THE LORD GOURANGA AND HIS MESSAGE OF DEVOTION
by Dr. H. W. B. MORENO
published in July 1932
by The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Chennai [Madras], 600 020 , India
Reprinted by kind permission of the author from the Humanist for April, 1932

Anil and his 25-member team had undertaken a bullock cart journey they called
"Jagannath Sadak Sagada Yatra' in 2011 to highlight the road's historical importance.

In the past, the road meandered from old Calcutta to Puri touching areas like Midnapore,
Jaleswar, Balasore, Nilagiri, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Chhatia, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Pipli.

Rediscovering pilgrims' path to Lord Jagannath

Niroj Ranjan Misra | TNN | Mar 13, 2015, 12.37 AM IST