Commentary on the second verse of Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta.

vande sri-krsna-chaitanya-nityanandau sahoditau
gaudodaye puspavantau chitrau san-dau tamo-nudau
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 1.2)

“I bow to the givers of the highest auspiciousness, the dispellers of the darkness of ignorance, Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Nityananda, who appeared simultaneously in the eastern land of Nabadwip in the land of Gauda like an astonishing sun and moon.”

dvitiya slokete kari visesa vandana
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 1.83)

In this verse, the author has offered obeisance to Sri Krishna Chaitanya in a special way. Here, in the cited verse of reference, he states that he will offer obeisance only to Chaitanya but he then offers obeisance to both Chaitanya and Nityananda. The purport of this is as follows:

dui bhai eka-tanu—samana-prakasa
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 5.175)

[“The two brothers are one body—They are equal manifestations.”]

abhinna chaitanya se thakura avadhauta
(Sri Chaitanya-mangala: Sutra-khanda)

[“Nityananda Prabhu is nondifferent from Sri Chaitanya.”]

According to these references, Gaura and Nitai are nondifferent; to establish this principle, or, to convey that his Guru Nityananda is nondifferent from Chaitanya—that the two are one—the author offers obeisance to Them both. Thus, in effect, he has offered obeisance only to Chaitanya. Nadiya-udaya-giri (Cc: Adi, 13.98): in this reference, Gaura and Nitai, like the sun and the moon, have arisen simultaneously in the eastern land of Nabadwip, that is, when Sri Nityananda met Sri Gauranga in Sri Nabadwip after visiting many holy places, They appeared together in one place (Nabadwip); They did not, however, take birth at the same time, as the times of Their births are not the same.

To negate that Chaitanya and Nityananda have actual births, the author has said that They have arisen like the sun and the moon, that is, as the material sun and moon, which rise at the appropriate time each day, have a continuous form and no birth or death, so Chaitanya and Nityananda, who similarly appear once in a day of Brahma, have eternal forms and no birth or death. As the sun and moon set at the appropriate time and rise the next day at the appropriate time, so too do Chaitanya and Nityananda disappear at the appropriate time and again appear in the next day of Brahma.

brahmara eka dine tiho eka-bara
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 3.6)

[“Once in a day of Brahma, He …”]

eta bhavi’ kali-kale prathama sandhyaya
avatirna haila krsna apani nadiyaya
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 3.29)

[“Krishna personally descends at Nadia during the first phase of the Age of Kali.”]

One with whom a comparison is made becomes greater. Thus, it is not that the material moon and sun are greater than Gaura and Nitai. Rather, Chaitanya and Nityananda are ten millions times more lustrous that the material sun and moon.

koti-surya-chandra jini’ dohara nija-dhama
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 2.85)

[“Their lustres surpass that of ten million suns and moons.”]

We must, therefore, interpret the meaning of the verse to be that They are not comparable to the sun and moon in this way. There is another reason for mentioning the sun and moon.

kalav api tatha srnu
(Srmad Bhagavatam: 11.5.31)

[“(People also worship the Lord) in the Age of Kali. Please now hear about this.”]

satya-treta-dvapara-kali-yugera ganana
sukla-rakta-krsna-pita—krame chari varna
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 20.229–330)

[“There are four ages: Satya, Treta, Dvapar, and Kali, and (the Lord appears in each of them in) four colours: white, red, black, and yellow.”]

prati-yuge karena krsna yuga-avatara
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 20.229–330)

[“Krishna appears as the Avatar for the age in every age.”]

kali-yuge yuga-dharma—namera prachara
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 3.40)

[“The dharma of the age in the Age of Kali is glorification of the Name.”]

According to these and other references, Chaitanya descends as the Avatar of the age in every Age of Kali. But:

yuga-manvantare dhari’ nana avatara
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 5.113)

[“In every age and the reign of every Manu, He descends in various forms.”]

According to this reference, other Avatars of Chaitanya in others Ages of Kali are partial Avatars of Ksirodasayi Visnu; They are not complete manifestations.

krsnas tu bhagavan svayam
(Srimad Bhagavatam: 1.3.28)

[“Krishna is the Lord Himself.”]

na chaitanyat krsnaj jagati para-tattvam param iha
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 1.3)

[“There is no higher truth in this world than Sri Krishna Chaitanya.”]

purna bhagavan krsna vrajendra-kumara
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 3.5)

[“Krishna, the son of the King of Vraja, is the Supreme Lord.”]

astavimsa chatur-yuge dvaparera sese
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 3.10)

[“At the end of the Age of Dvapar in the twenty-eighth Divya-yuga, …”]

eta bhavi’ kali-kale prathama sandhyaya
avatirna haila krsna apani nadiyaya
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 3.29)

[“Krishna personally descended at Nadia during the first phase of the Age of Kali.”]

According to these and other references, the sun and the moon Sri Chaitanya and Nityananda appeared in full form during the current, the twenty-eighth, Age of Kali of Vaivasvata Manu.

The sun and moon never appear in the eastern land at the same time, but the sun and the moon Chaitanya and Nityananda appeared at the same time in the eastern land of Nabadwip. Their manifestation, therefore, is wonderful. It is also wonderful that the material sun and moon cannot dispel darkness from objects within a cave but the supramundane sun and moon Chaitanya and Nityananda dispel the darkness of ignorance from the cave of the heart of the soul.

By this, it is also shown that even though a comparison with the sun and moon has been made, the superiority of Chaitanya and Nityananda over them has remained intact.

As the sun and moon appear, dispel darkness, and reveal all objects, so Chaitanya and Nityananda dispel the darkness of ignorance within the heart and reveal the object of the highest auspiciousness—love for Sri Krishna, that is, because the soul’s eternal nature of being a servant of Krishna is covered by the darkness of ignorance, the soul’s eternal love for Him is also covered, but Chaitanya and Nityananda dispel this form of darkness and reveal that eternally existent love within the heart.

jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya-dasa
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 20.108)

[“The soul is by nature an eternal servant of Krishna.”]

nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi suddha-chitte karaye udaya
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 22.104)

[“Love for Krishna is eternally existent; it is never something attained. Hearing, chanting, and so on cause it to arise within the pure heart.”]

When full light does not shine, objects are not fully manifest. Similarly, if the Supreme Lords Chaitanya and Nityananda had not appeared, then full divine love—the divine love of Vraja—would never appear in the heart.

“Krishna Chaitanya and Nityananda are like the sun and the moon.” In this regard, who is like the sun and who is like the moon? The conclusion is as follows: if the line is taken in order—Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Nityananda, sun, and then moon—then Krishna Chaitanya is like the sun and Nityananda is like the moon. Alternately, according to scriptures on astrology, if the glowing disc of the sun is reflected off of a body of water, it appears in the form of the moon. In this case, Nityananda is a manifest form of Chaitanya, and thus Krishna Chaitanya is like the sun, and Nityananda is like the moon. Or, because They are equally effective at dispelling the darkness of ignorance, giving divine love, and performing other activities, and because They are nondifferent from one another, They both are like the sun and the moon, that is, Krishna Chaitanya is like the sun and Nityananda is like the moon, or Krishna Chaitanya is like the moon and Nityananda is like the sun.