Srivasa Pandita’s birthplace, Sylhet, Bangladesh

Panca tattvatmakam krsnam bhakta-rupa-svarupakam
bhaktavataram bhaktakhyam namami bhakta saktikam

I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, who is non-different from His features as a devotee (Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu), devotional manifestation (Sri Nityananda Prabhu), devotional incarnation (Sri Advaita Acarya), devotional energy (Sri Gadadhara Pandita) and pure devotee (Sri Srivasa Pandita).

According to Sri Gaura Gannoddesha Dipika, Srivasa Pandita is none other than the incarnation of Narada Muni, who had appeared to assist Sri Caitanya, his beloved Lord, enact the heart melting pastimes of Navadvipa. We have covered the details of Srivasa Pandita’s life and pastimes in two of our previous articles entitled – ‘Srivasa Angan ,Mayapur ,Navadvipa – Part 1: where Lord Gaurahari eternally performs His ecstatic pastimes’ & ‘Srivasa Angan & Samadhi of Chand Kazi, Mayapur, Navadvipa – Part 2’. In this article, however, we shall primarily deal with his appearance and early pastimes in Sylhet, before he shifted to Navadvipa.Continue Reading…

Lord Chaitanya and His ecstatic dance | Gauranga’s dance enchants the whole world | Glories of Gauranga

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has manifested the most heart melting pastimes ever witnessed in human history. His mood, His demeanor, His pastimes struck a positive chord even with the most sinful atheists and was instrumental in transforming their hardened hearts. Thousands of men and women abandoned their homes ,raised their arms and joined Mahaprabhu in His ecstatic sankirtana (congregational chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Lord). All of them were surcharged with deep ecstatic feelings. Being completely devoid of external consciousness and surrendering themselves completely, they sang and danced along. Simply by catching a glimpse of His divine lotus feet, people would get infected with the disease of intense love for the Supreme. These men in turn would infect others. In this way, villages, towns and entire cities would become surcharged with the devotional mood of spontaneous loving service unto the Supreme Lord. An ocean of Love would flood the people with waves after waves of divine ecstasy. Observing Lord Gaurahari’s smiling demeanor ,people would completely forget their miseries.Only a fortunate person could possibly attain this most treasured fruit of pure love for God. The most merciful Lord Chaitanya, however distributed this sacred fruit to one and all without making any discrimination. Chaitanya Chandramrta , composed by Prabodhananda Sarasvati, hence exclaims :Continue Reading…

Dhaka Dakshin – Jagannatha Misra’s ancestral home in Sylhet (Bangladesh)

Sri Jagannatha Misra was born in ‘Dhaka Dakshin’, a small village situated in the northern Bangladesh district of Sylhet. His grandfather Sri Madhu Misra had four sons – Upendra, Kirtida,Rangada and Kirtivasa. Sri Jagannatha Misra was the fifth son of Upendra Misra and Kalavati devi. Sri Upendra and Kalavati devi had six other sons – Kamsari, Paramananda, Padmanabha, Sarveshvara, Janardana and Trailokyanath. According to Gaura Gannodesha Dipika, Sri Upendra Misra was the incarnation of Parjanya, Krishna’s grandfather, while Sri Jagannatha Misra was the combined incarnation of Nanda Maharaj, Vasudeva (the king of yadus) ,Dasaratha, and Kasyapa muni. After spending his childhood in Sylhet, Jagannatha Misra moved to Navadvipa to gain higher education under the tutelage of Nilambara Chakravarty, a renowned scholar of the day (refer – ‘Sri Nilambar Chakravarti’s residence ,Belpukur,Navadvipa (Simantadvipa)’). He subsequently settled in Navadvipa after marrying Nilambara Chakravarty’s daughter, Saci devi. Gaura Gannodesha Dipika states that Saci devi ,Jagannatha Misra’s wife, was the combined incarnation of the potencies of Devaki, Yashoda, Aditi and Kaushalya.Jagannatha Misra and Saci mata, were the supremely fortunate parents of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the deliverer of the three worlds. Sri Caitanya deva appeared from the womb of mother Saci, on the full moon night of Phalguna (Feb-March) in the year 1486 AD (refer – ‘YogPeeth, Mayapur, Navadvipa – The birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’). The identity of Lord Caitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead has been confirmed in several Vedic scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam,Mahabharata, Garuda Purana,Nrsimha Purana, Padma purana,Bhavishya Purana, Narada Purana etc. We are quoting just two of such references below, for the pleasure of the devotees.Continue Reading…