Sankritana

After this incidence the Lord began to preach and propagate His Bhagavata-dharma, or sankirtana movement, more vigorously, and whoever stood against this propagation of the youga-dharma, or duty of the age, was properly punished by various types of chastisement. Two brahmana gentlemen named Chapala and Gopala, who also happened to be maternal uncles of the Lord, were inflicted with leprosy by way of chastisement, and later, when they were repentant, they were accepted by the Lord.

In the course of His preaching work, He used to send daily all His followers, including Srila Nityananda Prabhu and Thakur Haridasa, two chief whips of His party, from door to door to preach the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

All of Navadvipa was surcharged with His sankirtana movement, and His head-quarters were situated at the house of Srivasa Thakur and Sri Advaita Prabhu, two of His chief householder disciples. These two learned heads of the brahmana community were the most ardent supporters of Lord Caitanya's movement. Sri Advaita Prabhu was the chief cause for the advent of the Lord.

When Advaita Prabhu saw that the total human society was full of materialistic activities and devoid of devotional service, which alone could save mankind from the threefold miseries of material existence, he, out of his causeless compassion for the age-worn human society, prayed fervently for the incarnation of the Lord and continually worshiped the Lord with the water of the Ganges and the leaves of the holy tulasi tree. As far as preaching work in the sankirtana movement was concerned, everyone was expected to do his daily share according to the order of the Lord.

Once Nityananda Prabhu and Srila Haridasa Thakur were walking down a main road, and on the way they saw a roaring crowd assembled. Upon inquiring from passers-by, they understood that two brothers, named Jagai and Madhai, were creating a public disturbance in a drunken state. They also heard that these two brothers were born in a respectable brahmana family, but because of low association they had turned into debauches of the worst type. They were not only drunkards but also meat-eaters, woman-hunters, decoits and sinners of all description. Srila Nityananda Prabhu heard all of these stories and decided that these two fallen souls must be the first to be delivered. If they were delivered fro their sinful life, then the good name of Lord Caitanya would be even still more glorified.

Thinking in this way, Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa pushed their way through the crowd and asked the two brothers to chant the holy name of Lord Hari. The drunken brothers became enraged upon this request and attacked Nityanada Prabhu with filthy language. Both brothers chased them a considerable distance. In the evening the report of the preaching work was submitted to the Lord, and He was glad to learn that Nityananda and Haridasa had attempted to deliver such a stupid pair of fellows.

The next day Nityananda Prabhu went to see the brothers, and as soon as He approached them one of them threw a piece of earthen pot at him. This struch Him on the forehead, and immediately blood began to flow. But NityanandaPrabhu was so kind that instead of protesting this heinous act, He said, "It does not matter that you have thrown this stone at Me. I still request you to chant the holy name of Lord Hari."

One of the brothers, Jagai, was astonished to see this behavior of Nityananda Prabhu, and he at once fell down at His feet and asked Him to pardon his sinful brother. When Madhai again attempted to hurt Nityananda Prabhu, Jagai stopped him and implored him to fall down at His feet.

In the meantime the news of Nityananda's injury reached the Lord, who at once hurried to the spot in a fiery and angry mood. The Lord immediately invoked His sudarsana-cakra(the Lord's ultimate weapon, shaped like a wheel) to kill the sinners, but Nityananda Prabhu reminded Him of His mission. The mission of the Lord was to deliver the hopelessly fallen soul of Kali-yuga, and the brothers Jagai and Madhai were typical examples of these fallen souls.

Ninety percent of the population of this age resembles these brothers, despite high birth and mundane respectability. According to the verdict of the revealed scriptures, the total population of the world in this age will be of the lowest sudra quality, or even lower. It should be noted that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu never acknowledged the sterotyped caste system by birthright; rather, He strictly followed the verdict of the sastras in the matter of one's svarupa, or real identity.

When the Lord was invoking His Sudarsana-cakra and Srila Nityananda Prabhu was imploring Him to forgive the two brothers, both the brothers fell down at the lotus feet of the Lord and begged His pardon for their gross behavior. The Lord was also asked by Nityananda Prabhu to accept these repenting souls, and the Lord agreed to accept them on one condition, that they henceforward completely give up all their sinful activities and habits of debauchery. both the brothers agreed and promised to give up all their sinful habits, and the kind Lord accepted them and did not again refer to their past misdeads.

This is specific kindness of Lord Caitanya. In this age no one can say that he is free from sin. It is impossible for anyone to say this. But Lord Caitanya accepts all kind of sinful persons on the one condition that they promise not to indulge in sinful persons on the one condition that they promise not to indulge in sinful habits after being spiritually initiated by the bonafied spiritual master.

There are a number of instructive points to be observed in this incidence of the two brothers. In this Kali-yuga practically all people are of the quality of Jagai and Madhai. If they want to be relieved from the reactions of their misdeeds, they must take shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and after spiritual initiation thus refrain from those things which are prohibited in the sastras. The prohibitory rules are dealt with in the Lords' teachings to Srila Rupa Gosvami.

During His householder life, the Lord did not display many of the miracles which are generally expected from such personalities, but He did once perform a wonderful miracle in the house of Srinivasa Thakur while sankirtana was in full swing. He asked the devotees what they wanted to eat, and when He was informed that they wanted to eat mangoes, He asked for a seed of a mango, although this fruit was out of season. When the seed was brought to Him He sowed it in the yard of Srinivasa, and at once a creeper began to grow out of the seed.

Within no time this creeper became a full-grown mango tree heavy with moreripened fruits than the devotees could eat. The tree remained in Srinivasa's yard, and from then on the devotees used to take as many mangoes from the tree as they wanted.

The Lord had a very high estimation of the affections of the damsels of Vrajabhumi (Vrndavana) for Krsna, and in appreciation of their unalloyed service to the Lord, once Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu chanted the holy names of the gopis (cowherd girls) instead of the names of the Lord. At this time some of His students, who were also disciples, came to see Him, and when they saw that the Lord was chanting the names of the gopis and advised Him to chant the name of Krsna. The Lord, who was in ecstasy, was thus disturbed by these foolish students. He chastised them and chased them away.

The students were almost the same age as the Lord, and thus they wrongly thought of the Lord as one of their peers. They held a meeting and resolved that they would attack the Lord if He dared to punish them again in such a manner. This incidence provoked some malicious talks about the Lord on the part of the general public.

When the Lord became aware of this, He began to consider the various types of men which are found in society. He noted that especially the students, professors, furitive workers, yogis, nondevotees, and different types of atheists were all the fallen souls of this age, "He thought, "but if they commit offenses against Me, thinking Me to be an ordinary man, they will not benefit. if they are to begin their life of spiritual realization, they must some way or another offer obeisances unto Me." Thus the Lord decided to accept the renounced order of life (sannyasa) because people in general were inclined to offer respects to a sannyasi.

Five hundred years ago the condition of society was not as degraded as it is today. At that time people would show respects to a sannyasi, and the sannyais was rigid in following the rules and regulations of the renounced order of life. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was not very muh in favor of the renounced order of life in this age of Kali, but that was only for the reason that very few sannyasis in this age are able to observe the rules and regulations of sannyasa life. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu decided to accept the order and become an ideal sannyasi so that the general populace would show Him respect.

One is duty-bound to show respect to a sannyasi, for a sannyasi is considered to be the master of all varnas and asramas.

While He was contemplating accepting the sannyasa order, it so happened that Kesva Bharati, a sannyasi of the Mayavadi school and resident of Katwa (in Bengal) visited Navadvipa and was invited to dine with the Lord. When Kesava Bharati came to His house, the Lord asked him to award Him the sannyasa order of life. This was a matter of formality.

A sannyasa order is to be accepted from another sannyasi. Although the Lord was independent in all respects, still, to keep up the formalities of the sastras. He accepted the sannyasa order from Kesava Bharati, although Kesava Bharati was not in the Vaisnava sampradaya (school).