54.The same person who was formerly known as Maharaja Vrisabhanu in the district of Vraja, appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as the great personality Pundarika Vidyanidhi.
55. When He was afflicted by the feelings of Radharani’s intense love in separation from Lord Krishna, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would address Pundarika Vidyanidhi using the word “father”.
56/57. Lord Caitanya was very pleased with Pundarika Vidyanidhi, and the He would address him by the name Premanidhi.
Because Pundarika Vidyanidhi was a direct disciple of Madhavendra Puri, the Lord would treat him with great respect, as if he were the Lord’s own spiritual master.
Maharaja Vrisabhanu also appeared as Sri Madhava Misra.
Ratnavati Devi, Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s wife, is considered by the learned devotees to be the incarnation of Kirtida Devi, the wife of Maharaja Vrsabhanu.
58.The original form of the Supreme Lord is considered not different from the Lord’s direct expansions.
For this reason it is considered that Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the son of Srimati Saci Devi, is non-different from His expansion Lord Vasudeva, the first member of the Catur-vyuha.
In the same way Visvarupa is considered non-different from the incarnation Lord Sankarsana, the second member of the Catur-vyuha.
59. Lord Nityananda Avadhuta is also said to be non-different from Lord Sankarsana.
That Sri Visvarupa is identical with Lord Sankarsana is described in the Sri Caitanya-candrodaya-nataka, where Kali says to Dharma the following words:
60. “Lord Caitanya’s elder brother Visvarupa is identical with the Personality of Godhead Lord Sankarsana.
Visvarupa never married, but accepted the order of parivrajakacarya sannyasa and left home.
It was the transcendental glory of Sri Visvarupa that caused Lord Caitanya to accept spiritual initiation from Isvara Puri.”
61. That Lord Nityananda is also non-differnent from Lord Sankarsana is described in the following statement of the Sri Caitanya-candrodayanataka:
” Nityananda Avadhuta is non-different from Sankarsana.”
62. When the eternal Personality of Godhead Visvarupa disappeared from home, He entered the body of Nityananda Avadhuta.
63. My father, Sivananda Sena, once said:
“Lord Nityananda Avadhuta is actually the Personality of Godhead Lord Balarama. Always staying among the devotees, He shines with the splendor of thousands of suns.”
Saying this, he began to dance.
64. Nityananda Prabhu incarnates as His plenary expansion Ananta Sesa.
As Lord Sesa He transforms His body to become the garments, bracelets, and other ornaments worn by Visnu and Krishna.
Expanding again as the pastime-potency, lila-sakti, Sesa is aware of all the details of Lord Krishna’s confidential pastimes.
65. Balarama’s two wives, Varuni Devi and Revati Devi, appeared during Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Vasudha Devi and Jahnavi Devi, the two dear wives of Nityananda, and the daughters of the great personality Sri Surya Dasa.
Their father, Surya Dasa, had previously been Maharaja Kakudmi.
His bodily luster made him as effulgent as the sun.
66. Some say that Vasudha Devi is the incarnation of Ananga Manjari, and others say that Jahnavi Devi is the incarnation of Ananga Manjari.
In truth, both opinions are correct.
They are both incarnations of Ananga Manjari.
67. The expansion of Sankarsana known as Ksirodakasayi Visnu appeared in Caitanya’s pastimes as Viracandra Prabhu.
Viracandra was non-different from Lord Caitanya Himself.
68. Viracandra also entered the bodies of the two brothers Nisatha and Ulmuka , who in this way were incarnations of Lord Visnu.
Minaketana Rama dasa and others were also incarnations of Lord Sankarsana in this way.
69. The Ganges River, who was born from the lotus feet of Visnu, appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Ganga Devi, the daughter of Lord Nityananda.
Her husband, Madhava, had formerly been Maharaja Santanu.
70. Pradyumna, the third member of the Caturvyuha, had formerly appeared in Vrajabhumi as a priya narma sakha of Radha Madhava, where he helped in Their transcendental pastimes.
That same Pradyumna appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Raghunananda Thakura, who was non-different from both Caitanya and Advaita.
71. Aniruddha, the fourth member of the Catur Vyuha, appeared in Mahaprabhu’s pastimes as Vakresvara Pandita.
Krishna personally entered Vakresvara’s body and caused Him to dance in ecstasy.
This ecstatic dancing of Vakresvara Pandita delightes Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
72. One day Vakresvara Pandita sweetly said to Sri Caitanya:
“O merciful Lord, please give me a thousand Gandharva singers to sing as I dance.”
73. A particle of Caitanya entered the body of Nakula Brahmacari.
In this way Nakula Brahmacari became a saktyavesa incarnation of the Lord.
74. In the same way, a particle of Lord Caitanya also entered the body of Pradyumna Misra.
Bhagavan Acarya Khanja is said to be a partial manifestation of Gauranga .
75. Brahma, the master of the universe, who is considered one of the members of the Navavyuha and who is the original teacher of the Vedas and Tantras, appeared in Sri Caitanya’s pastimes as Gopinatha Acarya.
76. Sadasiva, who formerly appeared as an avesa incarnation in Vrajabhumi, appeared in Caitanya’s pastimes as Advaita Gosvami, who is non-different from Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.
77. Assuming the form of a cowherd boy, Sadasiva danced with Krishna in Vrajabhumi.
This is confirmed by the following statement of the Siva Tantra, where Bhairava says:
78. “One day, during the great festival of lights in the month of Karttika, Krishna enthusiastically danced with Balarama and Their cowherd friends.
79. My dear Parvati, when Sadasiva, my spiritual master, saw this transcendental dancing, He yearned to become a cowherd boy and be able thus to dance with Krishna.
80. By Krishna’s mercy Sadasiva was able to appear in two forms.
In one form He remained as Sadasiva, and in the other form He appeared as a cowherd boy in Vraja.”
81. Lord Siva’s friend Kuvera, the king of the Guhyakas , appeared in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes as Kuvera Pandita, the father of Lord Advaita.
82. Formerly, on Mount Kailasa, where the Siddhas and Sadhyas reside, Kuvera, who is very dear to Lord Siva, chanted the transcendental mantra containing the names of Lord Siva.
83. Merciful Siva then said to Kuvera:
“Please ask for some benediction. It is My desire to give you some gift.”
Kuvera then asked for a benediction, saying,
“O my Lord, please become my son.”
84. Requested in this way, Sadasiva, the master of the demigods and the best of philanthropists, said to Kuvera:
“During my next birth in the material world I shall accept the position of being your son.”
85. In this way Kuvera attained a very difficult to attain benediction.
When the appropriate time arrived, by Sadasiva’s mercy, Kuvera became the father of Advaita Acarya.
86. The Supreme Lord’s yogamaya potency appeared in Caitanya’s pastimes as Sita Devi, the wife of Advaita Acarya.
87. Advaita’s son was Acyutananda, who was very dear to Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Acyutananda was the dear disciple of Pandita Gosvami .
This I have heard from the devotees.
88. Some say that Acyutananda was the incarnation of Kartikeya, and others learned in transcendental mellows say that he is the incarnation of Acyuta Gopi.
Both views are correct, for both Kartikeya and Acyuta Gopi were present in the body of Acyutananda.
Aside from this, some devotees say that Sri Krishna Misra was also the incarnation of Kartikeya.
89. The devotees Nandini and Jangali who were associates of Lord Caitanya had previously been Jaya and Vijaya in Krishna’s pastimes.
90. Intelligent Srivasa Pandita had previously been Narada Muni, the best of the sages.
Srivasa’s younger brother, Sriman Rama Pandita, had previously been Narada’s close friend Parvata Muni.
91. The devotee named Murari Gupta in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes had previously been Hanuman.
In the same way Sri Purandara had previously been Angada and Govindananda had been Sugriva.
92. The devotee named Ramacandra Puri in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes had previously been Vibhisana .
93. Lord Caitanya Himself did not accept that Ramacandra Puri was the incarnation of Vibhisana, but the Lord himself said that Ramacandra Puri was the empowered incarnation of Radharani’s mother-in-law Jatila.
This Ramacandra Puri restricted Lord Caitanya in His acceptance of alms.
Ricika Muni’s son Brahma Mahatapah, and Prahlada Maharaja combined to appear as Haridasa Thakur in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes.
94/95. In the book Caitanya-carita, Murari Gupta explains that one morning Mahatapah gave an unwashed tulasi leaf to his father, who became so angry at him for this that he cursed him.
Because of this Mahatapah took birth in a yavana family as the great devotee Haridasa Thakura.
96/97. The eight mystic powers, beginning with anima-siddhi, which had formerly appeared in Vrindavana, took birth in Bengal during Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as the eight devotees Ananta, Sukhananda, Govinda, Raghunatha, Krishnananda, Kesava, Damodara, and Raghava.
All these devotees bore the title Puri after their names.
98-101. The nine Jayanteyas, who were fixed in celibacy and equal vision, and who spoke the Sri Bhagavata-samhita to Janaka Rsi, appeared on this earth as nine sannyasis, and continually performed pastimes with Lord Caitanya.
Their names were: Sri Nrsimhananda Tirtha, Sri Satyananda Bharati, Sri Nrsimha Tirtha, Sri Cidananda Tirtha, Sri Jagannatha Tirtha, Sri Vasudeva Tirtha, Sri Rama Tirtha, Sri Purusottama Tirtha, and Sri Garuda Avadhuta, who was also known as Sri Gopendra Asrama.
102/103 Kuvera’s famous nine treasures, which include his conch and lotus, took birth during Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as the nine sons of Nidhiratna Devi.
Their names were Srinidhi, Srigarbha, Kaviratna, Sudhanidhi, Vidyanidhi, Gunanidhi, the learned brahmana Ratnabahu, Sriman Acaryaratna, and Sri Ratnakara Pandita.
104. Before the assembled relatives and friends, Nilambara Cakravarti spoke the astrological prediction of Lord Caitanya’s future life.
For this reason it is said the Nilambara Cakravarti is the incarnation of Garga Muni.
105. Srimati Sacidevi’s father had formerly been the cowherd Sumukha, who was Yasoda Devi’s father.
Sacidevi’s mother had formerly been Pataladevi, the wife of Sumukha in Vrajabhumi .
106. Lord Caitanya’s associate Sri Devananda Pandita, who was very learned in the Puranas, had previously been Bhaguri Muni, the chief pandita in the court of Maharaja Nanda.
107. The four learned devotees in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes, named Kasinatha, Lokanatha, Srinatha, and Ramanatha, were incarnations of the four Kumaras.
Of this there is no doubt.
108. The names of these four devotees each end with the word ‘natha’, just as the names of the four Kumaras each end with the word ‘kumara’.
These four devotees became known as the ‘four Nathas’.
109. Vedavyasa appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Vrindavana das Thakura.
Lord Krishna’s cowherd friend Kusumapida also entered the body of Vrindavana das Thakura.
110. Sukadeva Gosvami, the son of Srila Vyasadeva, appeared during Sri Caitanya’s pastimes as the devotee named Vallabha Bhatta.
111. Jagannatha Acarya, who was also known as Gangadasa Pandita, was very dear to Caitanya.
In his previous life he had been Durvasa Muni, who delighted the gopis and was very dear to them.
112. The learned devotees know that Candrasekhara Acarya was an incarnation of the moon-god and Uddhava dasa was an empowered incarnation of the moon-god.
113. Lord Caitanya personally affirmed that Candrasekhara Acarya was an incarnation of the moon-god, and in the same way He expressly said that Visvesvara Acarya was an incarnation of the sun-god.
114. Bhaskara Thakura was an incarnation of the demigod Visvakarma.
Vanamali Thakura was an incarnation of Sudama Brahmana, who was afflicted by great poverty and obtained great wealth from the Lord.
115. Jaya and Vijaya, the two doorkeepers of Vaikunthaloka, voluntarily appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as the two devotees Jagannatha and Madhava .
116. The two liberated souls Pundarikaksa and Kumuda, who are very famous in Vaikunthaloka, appeared in Bengal as the two devotees name Govinda and Garuda, who were both very dear to Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
117. Garuda Pandita was the incarnation of Garuda.
Gopinatha Simha was the incarnation of Akrura.
Some say that Kesava Bharati was the incarnation of Akrura.
118. Sri Paramananda Puri had formerly been Uddhava.
Maharaja Prataparudra, who was as powerful as Lord Indra, had formerly been Maharaja Indradyumna, who began the worship of Lord Jagannatha.
119. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya had formerly been Brhaspati, the foremost scholar in the heavenly planets.
120. The cowherd boy Arjuna who was a close friend of the Lord in Vrindavana, and the Pandava Arjuna, both joined to become Ramananda Raya, who was very dear to Lord Caitanya.
121. This exalted personality, Ramanda Raya, for many days described to Lord Caitanya the true nature of pure love for Sri Sri Radha-Krishna.
122-124 Some say that Ramananda Raya is the incarnation of Lalita Gopi, and others say that because Lord Caitanya directly told Ramananda Raya’s father, Bhavananda Raya, that he was the incarnation of Maharaja Pandu, Arjuna’s father, therefore Ramananda Raya must be the incarnation of Pandava Arjuna.
The most learned devotees say that Ramananda Raya is the incarnation of both the Pandava Arjuna, and a gopa named Arjuniya.
This explanation is also supported by the statements of the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda.
From all this we may conclude that Ramananda Raya is the incarnation of Lalita Gopi, Arjuniya Gopa, and Pandava Arjuna.
125. Now, as far as I am able, I shall describe the devotees who had previously appeared with the Lord in His Vraja pastimes.
126. The cowherd boy named Sridama appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Ramadasa Abhirama dasa, who carried a flute made of a bamboo stick with sixteen knots.
127. Krishna’s cowherd friend Sudama appeared in Caitanya’s pastimes as Sundara Thakura.
Krishna’s cowherd friend Vasudama appeared in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes as Dhananjaya Pandita.
128. Krishna’s dearest friend Subala appeared in Caitanya’s pastimes as Gauridasa Pandita.
The cowherd boy Mahabala appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Kamalakara Pippalai.
129. The devotee who had been the cowherd boy Subahu in Vrajabhumi appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Uddharana Datta.
Krishna’s cowherd friend Mahabahu appeared in Caitanya’s pastimes as Mahesa Pandita.
130. Lord Krishna’s cowherd friend Stoka Krishna appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Purusottama das.
131. Dama Gopa, who had been Lord Krishna’s cowherd friend in Vraja, appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Nagara Purusottama.
Nagara Purusottama was born in a family of physicians, and his father’s name was Sadasiva.
132. Lord Krishna’s cowherd friend Arjuna appeared as Paramesvara dasa in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes.
Lavanga, who had been Lord Krishna’s cowherd friend in Vrajabhumi, appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Kala Krishna dasa.
133. The cowherd boy named Kusumasava, who joked with Lord Krishna and made Him laugh in Vrajabhumi, appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as the learned brahmana named Kholaveca Sridhara.
134. The cowherd boy Prabala, who was a close friend of Lord Balarama in Vrajabhumi, appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Halayudha Thakura.
135. The cowherd boy Varuthapa who was close friend of Krishnacandra in Vrajabhumi, appeared as Rudra Pandita, who was very dear to Sri Caitanya.
Post view 412 times
Leave a Reply