Chapter 15 The Lord's Pauganda-lila

A synopsis of the Fifteenth Chapter is as follows. The Lord took lessons in grammar from Gangadasa Pandita and became very expert in commenting upon grammar. He forbade His mother to take grains on the Ekadasi day. He narrated a story that Visvarupa, after accepting the sannyasa order, invited Him in a dream to accept sannyasa also, but the Lord refused and was therefore sent back home. When Jagannatha Misra passed away, the Lord married the daughter of Vallabhacarya, whose name was Laksmi. All these events are summarized in this chapter.

TEXT 1

ku-manah su-manastvam hi
yati yasya padabjayoh
su-mano-'rpana-matrena
tam caitanya-prabhum bhaje

SYNONYMS

ku-manah--a person interested in activities of material sense enjoyment; su-manastvam--the position of a devotee without material desires; hi--certainly; yati--gets; yasya--whose; pada-abjayoh--at the lotus feet; su-manah--the flower of the name sumanas; arpana--offering; matrena--simply by doing so; tam--Him; caitanya-prabhum--Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; bhaje--I worship.

TRANSLATION

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya because simply by offering a sumanas flower at His lotus feet even the most ardent materialist becomes a devotee.

TEXT 2

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
jayadvaitacandra, jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

SYNONYMS

jaya jaya--all glories; sri-caitanya--Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; jaya--all glories; nityananda--Lord Nityananda Prabhu; jaya-advaitacandra--all glories to Advaita Acarya; jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda--all glories to the devotees of Lord Caitanya.

TRANSLATION

All glories to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityananda Prabhu! All glories to Advaita Acarya! And all glories to the devotees of Lord Caitanya!

TEXT 3

pauganda-lilara sutra kariye ganana
pauganda-vayase prabhura mukhya adhyayana

SYNONYMS

pauganda--of the age from five years to ten years; lilara--of the pastimes; sutra--synopsis; kariye--I do; ganana--enumerate; pauganda-vayase--in that age between five and ten years; prabhura--of the Lord; mukhya--chief; adhyayana--studying.

TRANSLATION

Let me now enumerate the activities of the Lord between the ages of five and ten. His chief occupation during this period was to engage Himself in study.

TEXT 4

pauganda-lila caitanya-
krsnasyati-suvistrta
vidyarambha-mukha pani-
grahananta mano-hara

SYNONYMS

pauganda-lila--the pastimes of the pauganda age; caitanya-krsnasya--of Lord Caitanya, who is Krsna Himself; ati-suvistrta--very much expanded; vidya-arambha--the beginning of education; mukha--chief business; pani-grahana--marriage; anta--at the end; manah-hara--very beautiful.

TRANSLATION

The pastimes of the Lord during His pauganda age were very extensive. His education was His chief occupation, and after that His very beautiful marriage took place.

TEXT 5

gangadasa pandita-sthane padena vyakarana
sravana-matre kanthe kaila sutra-vrtti-gana

SYNONYMS

gangadasa--of the name Gangadasa; pandita-sthane--at the place of the teacher; padena--studies; vyakarana--grammar; sravana-matre--simply by hearing; kanthe--between the neck and the heart; kaila--did; sutra-vrtti-gana--the aphorisms and their definitions.

TRANSLATION

When the Lord was studying grammar at the place of Gangadasa Pandita, He would immediately learn grammatical rules and definitions by heart simply by hearing them once.

PURPORT

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that the Lord was given lessons by a teacher named Visnu and another teacher named Sudarsana. Later on, when He was a little grown up, He was under the care of Gangadasa Pandita, who taught Him grammar of a higher standard. Anyone serious about studying the Sanskrit language should first learn grammar. It is said that simply to finish studying Sanskrit grammar takes at least twelve years, but once one learns the grammatical rules and regulations very nicely, all other scriptures or subject matters in Sanskrit are extremely easy to understand, for Sanskrit grammar is the gateway to education.

TEXT 6

alpa-kale haila panji-tikate pravina
cira-kalera paduya jine ha-iya navina

SYNONYMS

alpa-kale--within a very short time; haila--became; panji-tikate--in the commentary on grammar named Panji-tika; pravina--very expert; cira-kalera--all older; paduya--students; jine--conquers; ha-iya--being; navina--their junior.

TRANSLATION

He soon became so expert in commenting on the Panji-tika that He could win victory over all the other students, although He was a neophyte.

PURPORT

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says there was a commentary on grammar named Panji-tika that was later explained very lucidly by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

TEXT 7

adhyayana-lila prabhura dasa-vrndavana
'caitanya-mangale' kaila vistari varnana

SYNONYMS

adhyayana-lila--pastimes of studying; prabhura--of the Lord; dasa-vrndavana--Vrndavana dasa Thakura; caitanya-mangale--in his book Caitanya-mangala; kaila--has done; vistari--elaborately; varnana--explanation.

TRANSLATION

In his book Caitanya-mangala [which later became Caitanya-bhagavata], Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura very elaborately described the Lord's pastimes of study.

PURPORT

The Caitanya-bhagavata, Adi-lila, chapters Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten, are a good reference for the studious pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

TEXT 8

eka dina matara pade kariya pranama
prabhu kahe,----mata, more deha eka dana

SYNONYMS

eka dina--one day; matara--of the mother; pade--on the feet; kariya--doing; pranama--obeisances; prabhu--the Lord; kahe--said; mata--My dear mother; more--unto Me; deha--give; eka--one; dana--gift.

TRANSLATION

One day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu fell down at the feet of His mother and requested her to give Him one thing in charity.

TEXT 9

mata bale,----tai diba, ya tumi magibe
prabhu kahe,----ekadasite anna na khaibe

SYNONYMS

mata bale--His mother said; tai diba--I shall give that; ya--whatever; tumi--You; magibe--should ask me; prabhu kahe--the Lord said; ekadasite--on the Ekadasi day; anna--grains; na--don't; khaibe--eat.

TRANSLATION

His mother replied, "My dear son, I will give You whatever You ask." Then the Lord said, "My dear mother, please do not eat grains on the Ekadasi day."

PURPORT

From the very beginning of His childhood life Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the system of observing a fast on the Ekadasi day. In the Bhakti-sandarbha, by Srila Jiva Gosvami, there is a quotation from the Skanda Purana admonishing that a person who eats grains on Ekadasi becomes a murderer of his mother, father, brother and spiritual master, and even if he is elevated to a Vaikuntha planet, he falls down. On Ekadasi, everything is cooked for Visnu, including regular grains and dahi, but it is enjoined that a Vaisnava should not even take visnu-prasada on Ekadasi. It is said that a Vaisnava does not accept anything eatable that is not offered to Lord Visnu, but on Ekadasi a Vaisnava should not touch even maha-prasada offered to Visnu, although such prasada may be kept for being eaten the next day. It is strictly forbidden for one to accept any kind of grain on Ekadasi, even if it is offered to Lord Visnu.

TEXT 10

saci kahe,----na khaiba, bhala-i kahila
sei haite ekadasi karite lagila

SYNONYMS

saci kahe--mother Saci said; na khaiba--I shall not take; bhala-i kahila--You have said very nicely; sei haite--from that day; ekadasi--Ekadasi day; karite lagila--began to observe.

TRANSLATION

Mother Saci said, "You have spoken very nicely. I shall not eat grains on Ekadasi." From that day, she began to observe fasting on Ekadasi.

PURPORT

It is a prejudice amongst smarta-brahmanas that a widow must observe fasting on Ekadasi but a woman who has her husband should not. It appears that before the request of Lord Caitanya Sacimata was not observing Ekadasi because of her being sa-dhava, which means that her husband was living. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, introduced the system that a woman, even if not a widow, must observe the Ekadasi day and must not touch any kind of grains, even those offered to the Deity of Visnu.

TEXT 11

tabe misra visvarupera dekhiya yauvana
kanya cahi' vivaha dite karilena mana

SYNONYMS

tabe--thereafter; misra--Jagannatha Misra; visvarupera--of Visvarupa, his elder son; dekhiya--seeing; yauvana--youthfulness; kanya cahi'--wanting to find a girl; vivaha--marriage; dite--to give; karilena--made up; mana--his mind.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, seeing that Visvarupa was a grown-up youth, Jagannatha Misra wanted to find a girl and arrange a marriage ceremony for Him.

TEXT 12

visvarupa suni' ghara chadi palaila
sannyasa kariya tirtha karibare gela

SYNONYMS

visvarupa--of the name Visvarupa; suni'--hearing this; ghara--home; chadi--giving up; palaila--went away; sannyasa--the renounced order; kariya--accepting; tirtha--the holy places; karibare--for touring; gela--went away.

TRANSLATION

Hearing of this, Visvarupa immediately left home and went away to accept sannyasa and travel from one place of pilgrimage to another.

TEXT 13

suni, saci-misrera duhkhi haila mana
tabe prabhu mata-pitara kaila asvasana

SYNONYMS

suni'--hearing this; saci--of mother Saci; misrera--and of Jagannatha Misra; duhkhi--very unhappy; haila--became; mana--minds; tabe--at that time; prabhu--Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; mata-pitara--of the parents; kaila--did; asvasana--pacification.

TRANSLATION

When Sacimata and Jagannatha Misra heard of the departure of their elder son, Visvarupa, they were very unhappy, but Lord Caitanya tried to console them.

TEXT 14

bhala haila,----visvarupa sannyasa karila
pitr-kula, matr-kula,----dui uddharila

SYNONYMS

bhala haila--it is very good; visvarupa--of the name Visvarupa; sannyasa--the renounced order of life; karila--has accepted; pitr-kula--father's family; matr-kula--mother's family; dui--both of them; uddharila--delivered.

TRANSLATION

"My dear mother and father," the Lord said, "it is very good that Visvarupa has accepted the sannyasa order, for thus He has delivered both His father's family and His mother's family."

PURPORT

It is sometimes said that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not approve of the acceptance of the sannyasa order in this Kali-yuga because in the sastra it is said:

asvamedham gavalambham
sannyasam pala-paitrkam
devarena sutotpattim
kalau panca vivarjayet

"In this Kali-yuga the performance of the asvamedha-yajna or gomedha-yajna, sacrifices in which a horse or cow is offered, should be avoided, as should the acceptance of sannyasa, the renounced order of life." (Brahma-vaivarta Purana, Krsna-janma-khanda 185.180)

Nevertheless we see that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself accepted sannyasa and approved of the sannyasa of His elder brother, Visvarupa. It is clearly said here, bhala haila,----visvarupa sannyasa karila pitr-kula, matr-kula,----dui uddharila. Therefore, should it be thought that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu made statements that are contradictory? No, actually He did not. It is recommended that one accept sannyasa to dedicate his life for the service of the Lord, and everyone must take that kind of sannyasa, for by accepting such sannyasa one renders the best service to both his paternal and maternal families. But one should not accept the sannyasa order of the Mayavada school, which has practically no meaning. We find many Mayavadi sannyasis simply loitering in the street thinking themselves Brahman or Narayana and spending all day and night begging so they can fill their hungry bellies. Mayavadi sannyasis have become so degraded that there is a section of them who eat everything, just like hogs and dogs. It is such degraded sannyasa that is prohibited in this age. Actually, Srila Sankaracarya's principles for the acceptance of sannyasa were very strict, but later the so-called Mayavadi sannyasis became degraded because of their false philosophy, which propounds that by accepting sannyasa one becomes Narayana. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected that kind of sannyasa. But the acceptance of sannyasa is one of the items of the varnasrama-dharma. How then can it be rejected?

TEXT 15

ami ta' kariba toma' dunhara sevana
suniya santusta haila pita-matara mana

SYNONYMS

ami ta'--I; kariba--shall do; toma--for you; dunhara--both; sevana--service; suniya--after hearing; santusta--pleased; haila--became; pita-matara mana--the parents' minds.

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu assured His parents that He would serve them, and thus the minds of His father and mother were satisfied.

TEXT 16

eka-dina naivedya-tambula khaiya
bhumite padila prabhu acetana hana