Caitanya Mahāprabhu Liberated Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya- CCML| Rus-Split | 8.5.92 |Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

So today we'll tell you the story of the liberation of Sarvabrahma Bhattacharya. We'll tell you the whole thing in a nutshell because I want to finish the class by 8:15. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as we know, was the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who appeared in the role of a devotee. And after taking sannyāsa Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to Jagannātha Puri to have darshan of Lord Jagannātha. So Lord Jagannātha means Lord of the universe. So when Sir, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as I said, was playing the role of a devotee, so when he saw the form of Lord Jagannātha in the Jagannātha Puri temple, he just fainted unconscious. One thing is the other people in the Jagannātha Puri temple did not know that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Lord Himself. By the yoga-māyā potency of the Lord, everyone doesn't recognize the true identity of the Lord when He appears on the planet. So there resided in Jagannādhpuri a very powerful māyāvādī preacher whose name was Sarvaboma Bhattacharya. His house was near the Jagannādhpuri temple. So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was lying unconscious, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya came and he, with the help of the watchmen and few other people, lifted him and took Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his house. Even though Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was a māyāvādī, he had some understanding. He had a good understanding of spiritual life. So he could understand that this devotee has fainted because of some ecstatic symptoms. Due to development of love of God after he saw Lord Jagannātha. This is known as adirūda-bhāva. So Sarvabhaumana Bhattacharya knew that this Caitanya Mahāprabhu is manifesting adirūda-bhāva, ecstatic symptoms of ecstasy, and he should be taken care of properly. So Sarvabhaumana Bhattacharya was trying to determine if Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after he was brought to his house, he was still alive or not. So he started testing his heart, different parts of the body. Nothing was working. So he thought maybe Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is dead. Then he put a little bit of cotton next to the nose and he saw that the cotton was moving. In Ayurvedic process, they put the cotton in the nose and if the cotton is moving, then they know that the man is alive. And so he recognized that Lord Chaitanya was alive. He was unconscious, deeply unconscious, but alive. In the meantime, Nityānanda Prabhu with all his devotees came to the Jagannātha Puri temple looking for Lord Caitanya. And when they came to the Jagannātha Puri temple, they were told, "One sannyāsi came here and he became unconscious after seeing Lord Jagannātha." So Nityānanda Prabhu and everyone at first recognized, "This must be Caitanya Mahāprabhu." So they asked everyone, "Where is, where has this sannyāsi gone who became unconscious?" Everybody said, "Oh, he's been taken to the house of Caitanya Mahāprabhu." Sorry. He's been taken to the house of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. So they all went over there. So they all went. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya was in great anxiety. He had to bring Caitanya Mahāprabhu back to life. But Lord Nityānanda and the associates of Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew the process. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya did not know. So when Nityānanda, Mukunda, Datta and all came to Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya's house, They saw that Lord Caitanya was lying unconscious, so they all started doing kīrtana. And as soon as Lord Caitanya heard kīrtana, He came back to consciousness. He at once got up from His unconscious state and started chanting with the others and said, "Hari, Hari, Hari-bō, Hari-bō." Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya was very happy. Actually, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, as I told you, was a very powerful māyāvādī scholar. He had a brother-in-law called Gopinatha Ācārya. So Gopinatha Ācārya knew that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So many times he would have discussion with Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, but Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya would say, "No, no, no, He's not God." So he would not accept Caitanya Mahāprabhu's greatness. So then after Caitanya Mahāprabhu came back to consciousness, Sarvaprabhu Mahāprabhu told him, "Please take a shower." And after he took a shower, then he arranged for prasad to be brought from Lord Jagannātha's temple, and they all had mahāprasad of Lord Jagannātha. So Sarvaprabhu Mahāprabhu was in the grihastha-āśrama, and Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was a sannyāsi. So even though Sarvaprabhu Mahāprabhu did not agree with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, still out of etiquette he knew sannyāsī-āśrama is superior to grihastā-āśrama. So Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya came to Lord Caitanya and said, "Namo Narayana." Namo Narayana means I offer my respects to Narayana. And who is Narayana? You, you the living entity. In other words, in a nutshell, the māyāvādika philosophy is You are God, I am God, we are all God. And after death we will become one with the big God. So we are as good as God. So when Lord Caitanya was sitting, Sarvabhauman Bhattacarya came and offered his respects and said, "Namo Narayana." That means, "You, Narayana, I am offering you my respects." But Lord Caitanya replied by saying, "Krishne matir astu." Krishna matir astu means, Let our attention be drawn on Kṛṣṇa. In other words, Lord Caitanya is saying, "You are saying we are all Narayana, but no, Kṛṣṇa is matīrās too. Let our attention go towards Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord." In other words, explaining this whole thing in a simple language, it is as follows. Because many of you may not be very familiar with the difference between Mayāvādī philosophy and Vaiṣṇava philosophy, so I will explain it in a little simpler language. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was saying everybody is Narayana. Narayana is another name of Kṛṣṇa. So he was saying, "I am offering You respects because You are also God." But Lord Caitanya was being very diplomatic because after all Lord Caitanya was in the house of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. So Lord Caitanya did not at once say, "No, we are not all Narayana." But He in a nice way said, "Kṛṣṇe mātir astu." You are saying we are all Narayana? No. Let our attention go to Kṛṣṇa. In other words, he clearly identified there was only one Kṛṣṇa. So after then, Sarvabhauma Bhattacārya and Lord Caitanya started talking, and it was realized that Sarvabhauma Bhattacārya's father and Caitanya Mahāprabhu's father, grandfather, they knew each other. So even though Sarvabhauma Bhattacārya was grihastha and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was sannyāsi, Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a very young sannyāsi. He took sannyāsa at the age of 24. And Sarvapūma Bhattacārya was an elderly man. So though Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in the superior āśrama, but because Sarvapūma Bhattacārya was elderly in age, he was treating Caitanya Mahāprabhu like a young child. So, Caitanya Mahāprabhu— so Sarvapūma Bhattacārya told Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "Don't go and see Lord Jagannātha alone. I will take you with me so that you don't faint again." So Sarvapūma Bhattacārya was very pleased by Lord Caitanya's humility. He told his brother-in-law Gopinatha Ācārya, "This sannyāsi is very meek and humble and is very attractive. So my affection for him is going up. Please tell me in which sampradāya has he taken sannyāsa?" So Gopinatha Ācārya told him he had taken sannyāsa from the Baharati community. So Sarvabhauma said, "Oh, that is second-class sannyāsi." In other words, Sarvabhauma Bhattacārya wanted to give him sannyāsa. But Gopinathacarya told them, "The Lord Caitanya is God. He doesn't need all these external symptoms of taking sannyāsa, mendicant, with such one sampradāya or another." Sarvabhaumana Prabhupāda Ācārya said, "Lord Caitanya has taken sannyāsa at such a young age. How will He be able to keep the vows of sannyāsa?" Because the vows of sannyāsa are so strict. Therefore in the Vedic scripture that is recommended that sannyāsa should only be given in old age. So Sarvabhaumabhatacarya said, "If Lord Caitanya wants, I can give Him sannyāsa again. I'll give Him saffron cloth." So Gopinatha Ācārya and Mukunda Datta became very angry when they saw that Sarvabhaumabhatacarya was considering Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be just like an ordinary man. So there was a big dialogue. We don't have time to discuss it. There was a long dialogue between Gopinatha Ācārya and Sarvabhaumabhatacarya. Whereas Gopīnanda Ācārya was saying that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the incarnation of the Lord, and Sarvaprabhu Mahāprabhu Ācārya was rejecting the credibility of Caitanya Mahāprabhu as God. Sarvaprabhu Mahāprabhu Ācārya said another name for Lord Viṣṇu is tri-yoga. Tri-yoga means the Lord incarnates in three ages, but not in Kali-yuga. But tri-yoga doesn't mean that the Lord doesn't appear in Kali-yuga. What tri-yoga means The Lord personally appears in the three yugas Himself, but in Kali-yuga He appears in the role of a devotee. So anyway, Sarvabhumana Bhattacharya was completely convinced that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is a great person but not an incarnation. Gopināda Ācārya quoted from the Mahābhārata. Actually, in the Mahābhārata it is said— Do all of you know what is the Mahābhārata? So the Bhāgavad-gītā is part of the Mahābhārata. In the Mahābhārata it is said, the Lord will appear as one who is golden in complexion, whose entire body is very beautiful, and the sandalwood smeared all over his body, and who will take to the fourth order of life and be self-controlled. Fourth order of life means sannyāsa order. And he will be distinct from the māyāvādīs in that he will spread the samkṛtan movement. So Gopinanda Ācārya quoted this verse from the Mahābhārata saying how Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Actually, Gopināda Ācārya and Sarva-Bhūma-bhārācārya had a very intimate relationship. Sometimes Gopināda Ācārya would blaspheme Sarva-Bhūma, sometimes he would flatter him. So, and similarly Sarva-Bhūma-bhārācārya also would sometimes argue with him and so on. So the devotees Sarva-Bhūma-bhārācārya, Śrī Mukunda datta and Gopināda Ācārya went to Caitanya Mahāprabhu and said, "We are in great pain." "That the Sarvabhaumana Bhattacharya is not accepting Your Supreme position and he talks of You like an ordinary person." But Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Don't worry. Sarvabhaumana Bhattacharya has great affection for Me and he has done great service to Me." So next day Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Sarvabhaumana Bhattacharya went to Lord Jagannātha's temple again. Sarvabhaumana Bhattacharya wanted to give Caitanya Mahāprabhu a lecture on the Vedānta-sūtra. So he made Caitanya Mahāprabhu sit down. And then he told him, "Do you know the Vedānta? A sannyāsi's business is to study the Vedānta. So do you know the Vedānta?" Chaitanya Mahāprabhu very humbly said, "No, I don't know the Vedānta." "So you must hear the Vedānta, and you must hear it from a superior person." In other words, Sarvapramana Bhattacārya was clearly establishing that he is superior to Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. So for 7 days continuously, day and night, Sarvapramana Bhattacārya spoke his commentary on the Vedānta to Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, and Chaitanya Mahāprabhu did not even say one word. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was surprised. 7 days he is hearing day and night and not one question or one word from Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, "Are you understanding what I am saying? You haven't said one word. Has anything gone into your head or you are not understanding anything?" Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "I am just a fool. I can't understand a Vedānta." Because you have ordered me to hear the Vedānta, I am hearing, but I can't understand it. I don't have the capacity to understand. So Sarvabhauma Vādačarī said, I can understand that you are not understanding, but if you are not understanding, at least ask some questions. What type of sannyāsī are you? You are not even asking any questions. You are not making any comments. I don't understand what is in your mind. You are not saying anything. Say something. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to speak. He said, "I can understand the meaning of every sutra in the Vedānta, but you have covered the meaning of the sutra just like the cloud covers the sun." Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "You are not explaining the real meaning of the Vedānta. You are covering the meaning to suit your own convenience." He said that Vedānta-sutra contains a summary of all the Upaniṣads. So the conclusion of the Vedānta has to be the same as the conclusion of the Upaniṣads, which is what? That Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out how Sarvabhauman Bhattacharya is completely misled, is giving his own meaning of the Vedānta. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, if you don't accept the Vedic teachings the way the Vedic teachings are spoken, then the power, the potency will be lost. He said that whatever is in the Vedas is true and it must be accepted without interpretation. And he gave the example of the conch shell and the cow dung. The conch shell and the cow dung are coming from the cow. From the animals, but materially it may be considered impure, but actually it is pure. Just like in every page of the Bhāgavad-gītā it is written, Śrī Bhāgavān Nuvāca, the Supreme Lord speaks. But when the māyāvādīs translate the Bhāgavad-gītā, they say there is no such thing as God with a personality. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out to Sarvabhaumān Bhattacharya that he has completely misrepresented the Vedānta, and hence He is unhappy with him. So then Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to explain the philosophy of the Vedānta. And then Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Okay." Now here is the incident. Sarvaprabhu Mahāprabhu was surprised to hear Caitanya Mahāprabhu's great knowledge. So Sarvaprabhu Mahāprabhu told Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "Please take this Ātmāraṁ verse of the Bhāgavatam and explain its meaning." The Ātmāraṁ verse is in the 7th chapter of the 1st canto. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "No, first you explain." Caitanya Mahāprabhu— So Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya explained it in 8 different ways. Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained it in 18 different ways. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "The Lord is like a touchstone. The touchstone, even after touching iron, produces volumes of gold, but it doesn't lose its identity." So when Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya heard Caitanya Mahāprabhu's explanation of the Ātmāram verse, He realized that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is none else but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He fell at His feet and he composed in few minutes 100 verses in glorification of Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the Supreme Lord. Sarvabhūma Bhattacārya was such a great scholar, in few minutes he could compose 100 verses. And then Lord Caitanya showed him His four-handed form. And then He showed him His form of Kṛṣṇa. And then He came back as a devotee, Lord Caitanya. So everybody was very happy when they saw. Gopinatha Ācārya, Mukunda Datta were very happy when they saw that Sarvabhauma Bhattacārya has been converted. It was just like Sarvapati Caitanya Mahāprabhu converted Sarvabhauma Bhattacārya to personalism. He also converted thousands of other sannyasis to personalism. And He also converted the Muslim ruler to be a devotee of the Lord and made him vegetarian. So Prabhupāda did the same thing. He went all over the world and converted the māyāvādīs and the gross materialists to personalism. And as descendants of Prabhupāda's sampradāya, we have to work to fulfill the order of Prabhupāda. Just like 500 years ago, Lord Caitanya said, "Kṛṣṇa consciousness will spread to every town and village of the world." But then He left it up to Prabhupāda to make that prediction come true. So similarly, Prabhupada also planted the seed in every corner of the world, and he left it up to all of us to take it to every corner of the world. So Prabhupada said when he was first sent to America, he said, you American boys and girls are the flower of the country and the future hope of our movement. So we all have to take Lord Caitanya's message to every town and village. Of course, Moscow is so big, you can have thousands of villages inside this one big city. So we have a great mission ahead of us. To meditate on this pastime of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu will empower you to do the impossible. In the Bhāgavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says, "I preserve what My devotee has and I make up what they lack." So if you make the effort, Kṛṣṇa will reciprocate. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Okay, I'll take questions only for 5 minutes. Well, you're lucky if you can survive one day's fasting. You can try fasting for more than one day, we may have to call the ambulance. Well, I already explained that in a lecture, that even though he was a Mayavadi, he was still an advanced devotee. It's not that mayavadi, they're not advanced devotees. He lives forever by the Divine, and the follower lives with him. Prabhupāda said disciples should always act thinking his spiritual master is right next to me. These things, I know it. Okay, you may know it in theory, but you have to put it into practice. We all know sense gratification is bad, we know it is poison, still we drink poison. So just knowing is not enough. You have to, you have to beat your brain every— you have to hit your head every day with your shoe 100 times to You keep the mind in control. If you chant every day, hear the Bhāgavatam every day, associate with devotees every day, do service every day, then you are remembering that Kṛṣṇa is God and you are not the enjoyer but you are the servant. Okay? Hare Kṛṣṇa. Okay, pass to any one of us. Okay, okay, I have to hurry up now. Devotees have to go on a marathon, so you can ask your question. Only a few nights' wash water. So, okay, I hope that all of you will go out on the Sankirtan marathon. If you cannot be a big general in the army, at least be a small ordinary soldier in the army. The full-time generals are busy distributing and dropping hundreds of bombs. At least you devotees can drop small bombs. That is something at least. So our guideline is Every devotee should go out, whether you are pujari, cook, anything, and distribute at least. If not, at least distribute for half an hour or one hour every day. Drops of water make the ocean. If all of you even do a little book distribution, slowly there will be flood of love of God. So I'll give the class again now tomorrow evening and Sunday evening. But tomorrow evening at 5:30, some big scientists are coming. So, give a lecture to the scientists upstairs and then class in the temple after arthi opening up. And then on Sunday also in the evening. Sunday in the evening, I'll give 5:30, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pastimes and more. And after arthi, Gītā. Okay? So please go out and do book distribution and I'll get your scores from you tomorrow evening. Kṛṣṇa Kṛmā Prabhu says there is a big problem. You want to know what the problem is, or you don't want to know? Yes. You want to know what the problem is? Tatvāikrama? Yes. We don't have enough devotees for our Prasāda for Life program. And if you don't have enough devotees for Prasāda for Life, even your devotees will not get prasāda tomorrow. Sirs, you remember day before yesterday, Mr. Goswami, I told you how now we are starting in Moscow the Prasāda for Life program. Starting from Monday, we are starting this prasāda distribution program, giving prasāda to hungry people. So we need some devotees who will work for, make a commitment to work for 2 months. Very high salary. Payment in currency, not in rubles. Spiritual currency. You'll get mercy of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. So, how many devotees want to volunteer for this? Higher, higher. Make sure you show your faces and hand to Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa. All hands look the same, but the faces are different. So Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, you should see their face and hand both. So your devotees will work for 2 months on this Food for Life program. Then no mataji is volunteering? No matajis wanted to help at this program? There are so many matajis. Any matajis who can volunteer for this? Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Lama Lama, I am a—