Caitanya as a Sannyasin - Gaura-nagari views

I reciprocate in the way that my devotees worship Me .
(Bhagavad-gita4.11)

In Sri-Sri-Rasa-raja-Gauranga - svabhava by Visvambhara dasa Baba he said:

bhagavaner ei vakya jadi satya hay
taha haile nagarira gora ras pay

If this promise (Bhagava-gita 4.11) of Sri Bhagavan is true , then the nagaris will attain their desired Gaura rasa.

But for Narahari Sarkara , he has already succeeded , because even when viewing Gauranga as a saffron-clad sannyasi with shaven head , he directly sees Him as the nagari mohana rasa raja .

Thus he exclaims:

How amazing sakhi ! Look , just at this lampata guru flouting a sannyasi's garb ! While secretly fleeing His country Goloka , His pitambara attire turned saffron by the kunkuma smears left from the [I]gopis'[/I] breasts and His Radhanuraga turned His eyes red . But after enjoying the rasa , He stole the gopis' golden kanti to become Gaura ! So I'll bet that the intoxicating touch left by their sweet embraces is making Him horripilate !
Naraharis' Sacinandanastaka , verse 1.

Prabhodananda Sarasvai presents the dhyana for Sri Gauranga's nagara rupa as follows:

Sri Gaura nagara is dancing to the ecstatic tune of His own joy in His own names and peforming His pleasure pastime (krida) . A silken dhoti hangs from His waist , His wrists are adorned with bangles, a necklace rests over His chest, earrings dangle from His ears , and wrapped around His topknot is an elegant mallika garland .
(Caitanya candrodaya , verse 132)

In other words,as Gadadhara Prana Prabhuji explains , on the seashore in Puri , Sri Prabhodananda spots his nagara cora hidden within Sri Krsna Caitanya's sannyasi dress just as Narahari Sarkara did.Who else will see it ? Anyone who considers this special form their prana ,as it were.For it is with them that Gauranga performs krida (pleasure pastimes) as mentioned in the verse. And because Sri Prabhodananda has been fortunate enough to relish the madhurya of Gauranagara's prema , he chides Him as a kapata sannyasi , a phony renunciate ,as follows:

Aha!My prostrated pranamas go to that kapata sannyasi , Sriman Gaurahari, for his beautiful , tear-drenched eyes defeat the elegance of millions of the newly formed rain clouds.Yet while freely distributing His ujjvala prema to all , He laughs at the opulence of millions of Vaikunthas. Aho, His gorgeous bhuvana mohana rupa carries the madhuri of millions of amrta samudras.

In other words , for the devotees like Prabhodananda Sarasvatipada or Narahari Sarkar, Sriman Mahaprabhu's sannyasa is simply a pretense.It should be noted, however,that such statements are not meant to deny the many other forms of prema rasa that He also enjoys.

with respect,

thank you- I like to see Him like that...

Thanks so much for the attention Jiva. However, I am still not clear on this issue. What is the need to go to Gaura nagara bhava to answer the original question, and does it really answer the question? Mahaprabhu's sanyasa is a sham, but is the Mahaprabhu in Puri svayam bhagavan or is he an expansion of svyam bhagavan like Krishna in Mathura? If he is an expansion, why is it that in this expansion he tastes what he came to taste rather than tasting it in his original form in Navadwip? My guess is that it has something to do with his simultaneously teaching/giving Vraja bhakti to others. Need more help please.

It doesn't really answer the question, Snehadika, nor would most Gaudiyas subscribe to what was said, either. Jiva, I appreciate your posting this, but I trust you understand in topics like this it would be more befitting to answer in the traditional rUpAnuga-way, since I believe that is what Snehadika was after.

That being said, I'll get back to this in an hour or two.

concerning the song, anuraag...

Bravissimi, Meera!

Radhe! Radhe!

I am sorry if I was not clear.

In my understanding,it doesn't matter where Gauranga is , but how you see Him .

Some devoteees , like Gaura-paramya-vadis, see Him as Svayam Bhagavan , Suprime Personality of Godhead.So ,in Cc Adi 2 , Krsnadasa Kaviraja addresses Gauranga as the paratattva sima :

ataeva caitanya gosai para-tattva-sima / tare ksirodasayi kahi ki tara mahima
'' Therefore Caitanya Gosai is the paratattva-sima , and even Ksirodakasayi Visnu praises his glories . What more can be said ? ''

Elsewhere he also states :

na caitanyat krsnaj jagati paratattvam param iha
''There is no higher feature of Sri Krsna's divinity that that found in Sri Caitanya . ''

Others see Him like Nagara , amorous hero,even if He wears saffron cloth of a sannyasi (see my post above)

Regarding '' traditional rupanuga way '' ...In the first sloka of his Radha-Gadadhara-dasakam ,Sri Rupa said :

vrndavanesvari radha prema-bhakti-pradayini
kalau sri-gaura-dayitah sri-gadadhara-panditah
sarva-panditya-sarakhyam prema-ratna-vibhusanam
madhavatmaja vande'gram vande radha-gadadharam

In the Kaliyuga , Sri Vrndavanesvari Radha , the bestower of prema bhakti , appears as Gauranga's confidante Sri Gadadhara Pandita . And He is the foremost amongst the panditas owing to the prema ratna which ornaments Him .

We can discuss what is this special prema ratna which Sri Rupa refers to but the overall mood that we can imbibe from this sloka is that Sri Rupa desires to follow in Gadadhara Pandita's footsteps.

As Gadadhara Prana Prabhuji said , just as we can folow in Sri Rupa Manjari's footsteps to attain Radha Govinda's seva in Vraja , why couldn't we follow in Sri Rupa Gosvamin's footsteps to attain Gadadhara Gauranga's yugala seva as well ? In padas* of Locana dasa we can see that he affirms that even the Six Gosvamins follow in Gadadhara's footsteps to perform Sri Gauranga's Rasaraja aspect.

Anyway , if it's not for someone's taste - I apologize .


With respect,
------ --------- ----------

* raganuga marge je bhajite sadha kare pandita gosaira sisyagana anusare e sabara anuga vina vraja-prapti nai ataeva tara sakha vrajera gosai

'' One worshiping on the raganuga marga should follow in the footsteps of Sri Gadadhara Pandita and His disciples , lest Vraja be unattainable . Therefore , even the Six Gosvamins of Vraja represent branches of Gadadhara's worship .''

Jiva, as a student of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition I am certain that you acknowledge that most of the tradition has not adopted the ways and views of the Gaura-nagaris, with all due respect to them.

Considering this, I would really appreciate if you kept Gaura-nagara related posts in separate threads, not in threads where the traditional rUpAnuga-understanding is being sought. I trust our posters will indicate if they wish to have a perspective other than the classical rUpAnuga-view. As Snehadika has already indicated, (s?)he was not looking for a Gaura-nagara perspective.

Henceforth, I would appreciate if we could keep the two separate. I have therefore split the posts in this thread away from the original Puri-thread.

As you wish , but this is not good .

with respect,

If you would say a reason why it is not good, it would be helpful. You would give a positive answer on the two questions I asked, right?

I would also be interested to hear why you object to keeping these two separate. This is a discussion in itself that warrants discussion. Of course it is related to the question of Puri/Nabadwip lilas. And that makes it seem as though this material would be relevant on the other thread.

As I recall, for the Nagaras, Nabadwip = Vrindavan and Puri = Dvaraka. Keshava Bharati = Akrura, etc., Vishnupriya and Ma Sachi's separation, etc., are the climactic points of the lila. This is reflected in much of the pre-Goswami literature about Mahaprabhu.

For Rupanugas, since the revelation of Mahaprabhu's internal purpose came in Puri, that is the more significant of the two lila sthanas.

The nitya lila solution pointed out by Madhava seems a good synthesis of the two. But that seems to be Gadadhar Pranji's solution as well.

Sorry I haven't been following this thread closely, so if I am not on topic, please forgive me.

so'yaM mahA-rasikaH karma-rasApluto rasa-hIna-jaladhau nimajjito bhakti-rasa-vaJcito'sti. kintu yA snehAdhikA sAnyA kAcit rasikA syAt, na tv aham.

bhavatyAs tu yadi mayy adhikaH sneho'sti, tarhi mad-upari kRpA-rasaM varSayitvA sukhayatu rasayatu ceti sa-kAku-prArthanA.

In his new book, Gadadhara Prana Prabhu explains that Gauranga’s teaching method is a matter which invokes discussion. Prabhu never revealed his inner thoughts to his bhaktas . He would never lecture on the tenets of dharma. Rather, though his deep emotions (bhava-avesa) the devotees could directly perceive and relish rasa by witnessing Prabhu’s direct experiences. Similarly, when Prabhu’s focus turned to the fallen jivas outside of Nadiya, except for telling Nityananda, he never revealed his mind’s intention to preach dharma or to go saving anyone. Instead he would say: “I shall go to Vrndavana to take Sri Krsna’s darsana.”

As we know, Gauranga said, “Wherever the bhaktas perform sankirtana you shall see me dancing in your midst.”

and also, ki kaje sannyase mora prema nija dhana

”What is the use of my taking sannyasa, for my actual wealth is prema.”

Thus we learn that Prabhu’s taking sannyasa was external, only for the purpose of jiva-uddhara, saving the fallen people. This activity, however, is executed by Visnu, the yuga avatara, found within Gauranga. Yet Sri Gauranga, as Svayam Bhagavan, has a different focus. That is prema rasa asvadhana, tasting and sharing the exchanges of love between himself and his bhaktas . In his previous statements Gauranga underlines a very sweet aspect in his lila, an aspect which will not only solace his Navadvipa bhaktas, but us too. He is promising that after he will leave them, they will still be able to see him amongst them .This siddhanta , that svayam bhagavan Sri Gauranga never leaves Navadvipa, will be discuss in more detail in the new book by Gadadhara Prana Prabhu...

with respect,

Let's continue this separate thread from ''Lord Caitanya's Radha Bhava in Puri ''-thread with a rare contribution of Sri Madhavi devi , one of Mahaprabhu's most intimate associates and the sister of Sikhi Mahiti . She wrote in her following pada on Gauranga at Nilacala's Holi festival :

anande nacata sange bhakata gaura kisora ray
phagu ujhali kare phela-pheli nilacala puri majh
suniya nagari , premete aguri , dhaiya calila bate
heriya gaura parila phapare , vadana cahiya take
du bahu tuliya beray naciya bhakata ganer sanga
nilacala vasi mana abhilasi kautuke dekhaya ranga
baje karatala bole bhali bhala ara naje tahe khol
madhavi dasi manete ullasa sada bale hari bol

Like a king , Gaurakisora ecstatically dances with the bhaktas . They are throwing coloured powders and drenching each other with dyed water while wandering through Nilacala Puri . Hearing the excitement , prema overwhelmes the nagaris . So while running to view Gaura , their hearts palpitate , yet they cannot remove their eyes from Him . Meanwhile , Gaura rises His two arms to dance round and round as all of the Nilacala vasis enjoy watching His fascinating sports in parama ananda . The karatalas and mrdangas play on and the people cheer , ''Wonderful, wonderful ! '' Thus Madhavi dasi ecstatically shouts , ''Haribol ! ''

Gadadhara prana Prabhuji, in his ''Sri Sri Rasaraja Gauranga'', quotes another pada by Govinda dasa which reveals more about Sriman Mahaprabhu's Holi pastimes at Puri . This selection appears also in the book ''Padamrta-samudra'' , which is a vast treasury of Vaisnava padavali collected and commented upon by Srinivasa Acarya's grandson , Sri Radhamohana Thakura.

Nilacala kanakacale gora
govinda phagu ranga bhela bhora
deva-kumari nari gana sane
pulake kadamba karambita anga
phagu khelata gaura tanu
prema sudha sindhu murati janu
phagu aruna tanu arunahi cira
banka nayane jhara aruna hi nira
kanthe hi lohita arunima mala
aruna bhakata-gana gaa rasala
kata kata bhava vitharala anga
nayana dulayata prema taranga
heri gadadhara lahu lahu hasa
so nahi samughala govinda dasa

At Nilacala Puri , the golden mountain Gora becomes overwhelmed in the bhavas of Govinda's Holi festival . While re-enacting this pastime with Lord Jagannatha's devadasis , His body erupts with goosebumps the size of kadamba flowers ! The kumari devadasis throw red powder over Gora's limbs . O, His body forms a nectar ocean of prema . Thus everyone's body and clothes become red , as red tears stream from their sidelong glances . The flower garlands around everyone's necks turn red and so do bhaktas as they sweetly sing . All sorts of ecstatic symptoms surge from Gauranga's body , and Gadadhara looks on with a tender smile , Govinda dasa says : I cannot understand why .

with respect,

Thanks for the sweet Holi songs, Goracanda dasji.

Let us relish another account of Mahaprabhu's nagarali activities after taking sannyasa described by Acyutananda , the leading son of Advaita Acarya ( under Sri Advaita Acarya's guidance and ecouragement , Acyutananda becomes disciple of Gadadhara Pandita in order to ideally worship Sri Caitanya in madhura rasa ) . His prayer runs as follows :

ksitau luthad gaura-kalevarabhyam
sada mahaprema-vilasa-kavyam
samudra-tire nata-nagarabhyam
namo'stu me gaura-gadadharabhyam

Aho ! Two golden-complexioned forms are ecstatically rolling on the seashore sands at Puri while enjoying maha prema vilasa lila . I thus offer my obeisances unto the feet of these two dancing nagaras , Sri Gaura and Sri Gadadhara .

In our discussion of Sri Caitanya as a sannyasin and his activities in Puri , let's consider another very important event.

Srila Gadadhara's followers relish Gauranga's sambhoga rasa during his sankirtana pastimes - just as the Vraja gopis enjoy Kesna's sambhoga vilasa during the rasa-lila . In Vrndavana's rasa , Krsna expands in as many forms as are required to reciprocate with each gopi . Similary , as Gadadhara prana Prabhu said , during Maha sankirtana rasa in Navadvipa , Gauranga expands to be with each bhakta . Yet , herein the Lord's rasa exchanges secretly take place with each bhakta's exquisitely beautiful Nadia nagari svarupa .

In Caitanya-caritamrta , Madhya-lila , chapter 13, we can read about Gauranga's expanding during sankirtana at Ratha-yatra .Verses 60-68 describes his dancing performance there .

As mentioned in those veres , the Lords vilasa (sporting activities) during such pastimes can only be detected by His associates , or by the advanced bhaktas having special divine realization ( anubhava ) .
However , the word vilasa also means rati keli . Hence , when Kaviraja Gosvamin equates Gauranga's affairs with Krsna's lila affairs in the Srimad Bhagavatam , the realized Vaisnavas can understand to what type of vilasa he is referring .

The Srikhanda-vasis' sankirtana party at the Rathayatra which led by Srila Narahari is especially noteworthy . Their dancing performance took place behind Sri Jagannatha's cart owing to the most confidential nature of their rasa exchange . The following verse from Srila Rupa's Stavamala will help to explain :

aparam kasyapi pranayi-jana-vrndasya kutuki
rasa-stomam hrtva madhuram upabhoktum kam api yah
rucim svam avavre dyutim iha tadiyam prakatayam
sa devas caitanyakrtir atitaram nah krpayatu

May Sri Caitanyadeva bestow His limitless mercy upon us . In sporting curiosity , He enjoys plundering the indescribable wealth of madhura prema from His loving bhaktas . Thus His syamala bodily hue becomes covered by their golden effulgence .

If we carefully read Nayananda Misra's ( Gadadhara's Pandita's nephew and one of His foremost disciples) padavali , we will notice that as Rupa uses the word kautuka , so does Nayananda .

kirtana majhe kirtana nataraja
kirtana kautuka saba nagarali saja
galaya dolaya mala amdhukara gana
kalpale candana vanda bhuru phula-bana
dekha bhai ati aparupa
ei visvambhara nace krsnera svarupa
antare parama-rasa krsna se apane
bahira radhara rupa nirupaA sona
prakrti purusa sukha rase rase eka
premavatara ei dekha parateka
prema laksmi kole kaila gadadhara
premanande nityananda prana sahodara
nayananda kahe prema nigurha vicara
amiya putali jena amiya akara

Kautuka means amusement , sporting gest , or curiosity .

Thus in a mood of amused interest , the kirtana nataraja Gauranga watches all his associates take up their nagari roles during kirtana . And flower malas fall away from everyone's chests as the allured bees swarm around them . Everyone's forehead is decorated with moon-like candana decorations and their arching brows resemble flower bows . In other words , just as Cupid releases his flower arrows to subjugate living couples , the Nadiya nagaris pelt Gauranga with the flower like glances shot from their arching eyebrows ! O just see how beautifully Visvambhara dances in the mood of Krsna . For indeed he is prema rasika Krsna within , but in outside His form takes on Radharanis' golden efulgnce . Look ! In this prema avatara , the rasa enjoyment of the male and of the female is equal . Previously ,Krsna admitted that Radharani's standard of plesure far exceeded His own . Thus He appears as Gaura to settle the score , for this time He enjoys an equal pleasure with His consorts . Gauranga embraces prema laksmi Gadadhara , and His dear brother Nityananda looks on in premananda . Thus Nayananda says : '' This divine love is very confidential ( and difficult to discern ) like many ambrosial female-dolls with a male form of ambrosia '' .

with respect,

Could you, when available, fill in the references for the verses cited? For example, the one attributed to Acyutananda.

You've got to love Gadadhar Pran's natural and spontaneous affection for Gadadhara and Gauranga. Even if the specific bhava is not in our own mood, you have to admire the sheer ebullience of it.

Bhakti can be inspiring even if we don't share the object. For instance, Radha can still take inspiration from the love of the cowherd boys, Mother Yashoda and even the good fortune of the flute.

Let us thank Mahaprabhu for Gadadhar Pran. He has brought Achyutananada, Nayanananda, Narahari, Murari, Shivananda Sen and Vasu Ghosh back to life after they had almost suffocated from neglect. One day it will be asked who brought them to the West, and the answer will be Gadadhar Pran Das.

Here is the answer of Gadadhara prana Prabhu on the question posted at this thread

Gauranga’s svarupa is Rasaraja (Krsna) and Mahabhava (Radha) combined. It just worked out conveniently that he relish his Radha bhava more in the end. However , in Navadvipa lila in Goloka, his Radha Bhava and his Rasaraja aspects , both come out completely , simultaneously .

with respect,