All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga

Vakresvara Pandit in Sriman Mahaprabhu's Pastimes

In glorification of Vakresvara Pandit on his Appearance day.

References from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. Translation and purport by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad.



Adi-lila 6: The Glories of Sri Advaita Acharya
Texts 49–50

Srivasa, Haridasa, Ramadasa, Gadadhara, Murari, Mukunda, Chandrasekhara and Vakresvara are all glorious and are all learned scholars, but the sentiment of servitude to Lord Chaitanya makes them mad in ecstasy.

Adi-lila 10: The Trunk, Branches and Sub-branches of the Chaitanya Tree
Text 17-19

Vakresvara Pandita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Chaitanya's. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu personally sang while Vakresvara Pandita danced, and thus Vakresvara Pandita fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and spoke as follows.

“O Chandramukha! Please give me ten thousand Gandharvas. Let them sing as I dance, and then I will be greatly happy.”

Text 77

Devananda Pandita was a professional reciter of Srimad-Bhagavatam, but by the mercy of Vakresvara Pandita and the grace of the Lord he understood the devotional interpretation of the Bhagavatam.

Madhya-lila 1: The Later Pastimes of Lord‚ Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Text 252

Residing with the Lord at Jagannatha Puri were Pandita Gosani and other devotees, such as Vakresvara, Damodara, Sankara and Haridasa Thakura.

Madhya-lila 3: Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Stay at the House of Advaita Acharya
Texts 151-156

The Lord met all the devotees one after the other, and looking at everyone's face individually, He embraced them tightly.

Although the devotees were unhappy at not seeing the Lord's hair, they nonetheless derived great happiness from seeing His beauty.

Srivasa, Ramai, Vidyanidhi, Gadadhara, Gangadasa, Vakresvara, Murari, Suklambara, Buddhimanta Khan, Nandana, Sridhara, Vijaya, Vasudeva, Damodara, Mukunda, Sanjaya and all the others, however many I can mention — indeed, all the inhabitants of Nabadwip — arrived there, and the Lord met them with smiles and glances of mercy.

Everyone was chanting the Holy Names of Hari and dancing. In this way the domicile of Advaita Acharya was converted into Sri Vaikuntha Puri.

Madhya-lila 10: The Lord's Return to Jagannatha Puri
Texts 80-82

When Advaita Acharya Goswami heard of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's return, He became very pleased. In His great ecstasy of love, He made a rumbling sound and danced and chanted for a long time.

Also hearing this auspicious news, Haridasa Thakura became very pleased. So also did Vasudeva Datta, Murari Gupta and Sivananda Sena.

Acharyaratna, Vakresvara Pandita, Acharyanidhi and Gadadhara Pandita were all very pleased to hear this news.

Madhya-lila 11: The Beda-kirtana Pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Texts 213-217

The great Personality of Godhead, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, then took all of them to the temple of Jagannatha and began the congregational chanting of the Holy Name there.

After seeing the dhupa-arati of the Lord, they all began congregational chanting. Then the padicha, the superintendent of the temple, came and offered flower garlands and sandalwood pulp to everyone.

Four parties were then distributed in four directions to perform sankirtana, and in the middle of them the Lord Himself, known as the son of Mother Sachi, began to dance.

In the four groups there were eight mrdangas and thirty-two cymbals. All together they began to vibrate the transcendental sound, and everyone said, "Very good! Very good!"

When the tumultuous vibration of sankirtana resounded, all good fortune immediately awakened, and the sound penetrated the whole universe through the fourteen planetary systems.

Texts 226-230

After dancing for a long time, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became still and ordered four great personalities to begin to dance.

In one group Nityananda Prabhu began to dance, and in another group Advaita Acharya began to dance.

Vakresvara Pandita began to dance in another group, and in yet another group Srivasa Thakura began to dance.

While this dancing was going on, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu watched them and performed a miracle.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stood in the middle of the dancers, and all the dancers in all directions perceived that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was looking at them.

Wanting to see the dancing of the four great personalities, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited this miracle of seeing everyone simultaneously.

Everyone who saw Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu could understand that He was performing a miracle, but they did not know how it was that He could see on all four sides.

In His own Pastimes in Vrndavana, when Krishna used to eat on the bank of the Yamuna and sit in the center of His friends, every one of the cowherd boys would perceive that Krishna was looking at him. In the same way, when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu observed the dancing, everyone saw that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was facing him.

Antya-lila 7: The Meeting of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Vallabha Bhatta
Texts 49-53

"I have learned about the glories of the Lord's Holy Name from HaridasaThakura, and by his mercy I have understood these glories.

"Acharyaratna, Acharyanidhi, Gadadhara Pandita, Jagadananda, Damodara, Sankara, Vakresvara, Kasisvara, Mukunda, Vasudeva, Murari and many other devotees have descended in Bengal to preach to everyone the glories of the holy name of Krishna and the value of love for Him. I have learned from them the meaning of devotional service to Krishna."

Knowing that Vallabha Bhatta's heart was full of pride, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spoke these words, hinting at how one can learn about devotional service.

Antya-lila 11: The Passing of Haridasa Thakura
Texts 63-67

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu danced in front of the procession, and Vakresvara Pandita, along with the other devotees, chanted and danced behind Him.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu bathed the body of Haridasa Thakura in the sea and then declared, "From this day on, this sea has become a great pilgrimage site."

Everyone drank the water that had touched the lotus feet of Haridasa Thakura, and then they smeared remnants of Lord Jagannatha's sandalwood pulp over Haridasa Thakura's body.

After a hole was dug in the sand, the body of Haridasa Thakura was placed into it. Remnants from Lord Jagannatha, such as His silken ropes, sandalwood pulp, food and cloth, were placed on the body.

All around the body, the devotees performed congregational chanting, and Vakresvara Pandita danced in jubilation.

To read more, please see the these sections in the online Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita of Iskcon's BBT Vedabase.


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