All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga

The Appearance of
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Page prepared for the devotee children by Parama Bhakti Dasi

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

"O Bharata, whenever there is a downfall of religion and an outbreak of irreligion, I personally come, like a being born in this world."

-Srimad Bhagavad-gita 4,7
 
To protect the devotees and to show everyone the way of love of God, Lord Sri Krishna decided to come to this world. He came in the form of a devotee, as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance place at Nabadwip, India

First He sent His eternal devotees to this world. They took birth in different places throughout Bengal, India. They would come together at the house of Sri Advaita Acharya.

Sri Advaita Acharya was known as the leader and master of the devotees. They would sing together, and Sri Advaita Acharya would read from the holy Scriptures such as Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. He loved to read those parts in the Scriptures that spoke of devotion and surrender to the Lord. Together the devotees would happily honour the Lord by chanting His Holy Names and speaking about Him. But whenever Sri Advaita Acharya would take a look around him, he would see that most people had forgotten about the Lord and because of that they had become very unhappy.

Being a great devotee of the Lord, Sri Advaita became very sad to see the unhappiness of others and he thought to himself: "Only if the Lord Himself will appear, to spread love of God, will it be possible to free all human beings."

Every day, with much love, he would pray to the Lord to descend, to come to this world. He would daily offer Ganges water and Tulasi leaves to the Lord . The Lord just couldn't resist the sincere and loving prayer of His beloved devotee, Sri Advaita.

Sri Advaita Acharya, whose love the Lord couldn't resist.

Shortly before the Lord appeared into this world many wonderful and mysterious things happened at the house of Jagannath Misra and his wife Sachi-Devi who became the parents of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lila of the Lord was already taking place.

Jagannath Misra said to Sachi-Devi: "I see such wonderful things happening before me. Your whole body is glowing; it is as if the Goddess of Fortune herself is staying in my house. Wherever I go people greet me and show me respect and, without even asking anything, they give me things, like clothes and rice."

Sachi-Mata said to her husband: "I too see wonderful things happening. Radiant beings appear in the sky and it is just as if they come here to pray." Then Jagannath Misra told his wife about a dream he had had: "I saw how the brilliant world of the Lord entered into my heart and was then transferred from mine into yours."

Full of joy they worshiped the Lord in His form as Salagram Sila together in their house.

In the year 1407 in the month of Phalguna, during an eclipse of the moon, Lord Sri Krishna in the form of Gaurahari, the Golden Lord, came into this world.

During this night all the devotees went to the holy River Ganges to bathe and sing loudly the Holy Names of the Lord. Sri Advaita Acharya started to dance automatically in Santipur and he took Haridas with him and they loudly sang and danced together.

There was great happiness in the air, everyone could feel it.

Some Brahmins came to the house of Jagannath Misra and when they saw the child, Who radiated like molten gold, they were so happy and they immediately blessed the child.

The wives of Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Lord Nrsimhadeva, Lord Indra and other demigods had come as well. They had dressed themselves as the wives of Brahmins and they came to the house to bring presents for the Lord. Jagannath Misra and Sachi-Devi were so very happy because in their house a child was born who would free all the three worlds.

 

Sri Jagannath Misra and Sachi-Mata with baby Nimai

The Lotus feet of the Lord

Sita Thakurani gives the Lord the name Nimai

It was Sita Thakurani, the wife of Sri Advaita Acharya, who gave the Lord the name Nimai. The Lord appeared under a neem tree. Neem is said to protect one from witches and sorcerers. Bad spirits cannot go near neem trees. So she gave Him the name 'Nimai' so that no harm would come to Him. Others would call Him 'Gaurahari,' Golden Lord, because He looked like molted gold.

One day, when Nimai was still very young He was lying on His little bed and His parents saw different signs on His feet.

They saw a flag, a thunderbolt, a conch and a fish. These signs are only to be found on the body of an Avatar (an incarnation of the Lord).

All the time His parents would see these special footprints on the floor. They just couldn't understand where they came from.

While they were talking about this, Nimai started to cry. So, quickly mother Sachi took Him on her lap and lovingly gave Him her breast to feed. Again, Jagannath Misra saw the signs on his sons feet, so he decided to ask the astrologer, Nilambarka Chakravarti, to come and explain the meaning of these signs.

Nilambarka Chakravarti smiled gently and said: "This child has all the bodily signs that belong to a very great soul. His palms and the soles of His feet show the signs of Lord Narayan. This child can free all the three worlds."

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jaya!

Sri Gaura-Purnima ki jaya!


Prepared by Parama Bhakti Dasi for Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math:
http://scsmath.com