About Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Biography, Proof of Incarnation
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the pioneer of the modern Hare Krishna movement, appeared in Mayapur, West Bengal over 500 years ago. Born on February 18, 1486, the divine incarnation of Radha-Krishna. He is Krishna Himself, who appeared to inaugurate the yuga-dharma – the Harinama Sankirtana (congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord).
- He never disclosed Himself as the incarnation of the Lord and exemplified the life of a perfect devotee, so that others can follow in His footsteps. However, this fact is corroborated in many authorized scriptures and also confirmed by great spiritual masters of our sampradaya.
- The descriptions of Lord Chaitanya in terms of His appearance, bodily features, characteristics and pastimes as found in the several works of His celebrated associates and great devotees completely conform to those predicted in the Vedic literatures.
- Here we present certain important verses from some of the well-known Vedic literatures to substantiate the identity of Lord Chaitanya as the Supreme Lord Krishna.
#1 Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32)
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the holy name of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.
krsna-varnam: This word denotes that Lord Chaitanya belongs to the category of Krishna or in other words He is Krishna Himself. krsna-varnam also means one who constantly chants the name of Lord Krishna.
tvisa akrsnam: His bodily complexion is not black. He appeared in golden-like yellow complexion.
sangopangastra-parsadam: Lord Chaitanya is always accompanied by His confidential associates like Lord Nityananda, Advaita Acharya, Sri Gadadhara Pandita, Srivasa Acharya, Haridasa Thakura, etc. In other incarnations, the Lord sometimes made use of His weapons to defeat or kill the demons, but in this age the Lord subdues the demonic mentality with His all-attractive figure of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who freely distributes Krishna-prema, pure love of Krishna. That is His weapon.
#2 Vishnu-sahasra-nama stotra from Mahabharata
Each of the 1000 names contained in the Vishnu-sahasra-nama stotra that is found in the Mahabharata, glorifies one or more aspects of the Supreme Lord’s transcendental forms, qualities, pastimes, etc.
The following names indicate the bodily features of Lord Chaitanya.
suvarna-varno hemango varangas candanangadi
suvarna-varna: He has a golden complexion.
hemanga: He has the appearance of molten gold.
varanga: He is exquisitely beautiful.
candanangadi: The Lord’s body is smeared with sandalwood pulp.
Lord Chaitanya’s qualities and activities are described in the following names.
sannyasa-krc chamah santo nistha-santi-parayanah
- sannyasa-krt: He accepts the renounced order of life. (Lord Chaitanya accepted sannyasa at the age of 24.)
- sama: He is fully sense-controlled or equipoised.
- santa: He is completely peaceful.
- nistha: He is rigidly fixed in the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krishna.
- santi-parayana: He is the highest abode of devotion and peace. He silences the impersonalist philosophers. (Lord Chaitanya defeated many eminent mayavadis in philosophical debates and converted them to Vaishnavism.)
