The glory of Nitai and Gauranga.

By Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj

When Srila Vrndavan Das Thakur composed Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, he began with this verse:

ajanu-lambita-bhujau kanakavadatau
sankirtanaika-pitarau kamalayataksau
visvambharau dvija-varau yuga-dharma-palau
vande jagat-priya-karau karunavatarau
(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat: Adi-khanda, 1.1)

Ajanu-lambita-bhujau kanakavadatau: Mahaprabhu’s form was very effulgent and had long arms.

pancha-dirghah pancha-suksmah sapta-raktah sad-unnatah
tri-hrasva-prthu-gambhiro dvatrimsal-laksano mahan
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 14.15)

[“There are thirty-two features of a great personnage: five large—the nose, arms, chin, eyes, and knees; five fine—the skin, fingertips, teeth, hair on the body, and hair on the head; seven reddish—the eyes, soles, palms, palate, nails, and upper and lower lips; six raised—the chest, shoulders, nails, nose, waist, and mouth; three small—the neck, thighs, and male organ; three broad—the waist, forehead, and chest; and three deep—the navel, voice, and existence.”]

These are the symptoms of a divine personnage, and when Mahaprabhu was born, Nilambar Chakravarti saw all these symptoms in Mahaprabhu’s body. Nilambar Chakravarti calculated His astrological chart at that moment and said, “He is not an ordinary man.” Nilambar Chakravarti understood that Mahaprabhu would take sannyas in the future, but He did not mention that. Rather, he said, “He will distribute the Name of the Lord all over the world, and through that, He will maintain the spiritual life of everyone. His divine gift will rescue all the conditioned souls. So, today I am giving His Name as Visvambhar.” ‘Visvambhar’ means He who will spiritually maintain everyone all over the world. This Name was in Mahaprabhu’s astrological chart.

Actually, Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu are both glorified in this verse. So Visvambharau means that They both gave full spiritual nourishment and divine knowledge to all the conditioned souls and brought them back to Their own abode, Goloka Vrndavan.

Kanakavadatau: They were both so beautiful looking. They were golden coloured and had tall figures, long arms, and lotus eyes. Kamalayataksau means that the eyes of both Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu looked like lotus petals.

Dvija-varau: They were both born in brahman families and dvija [‘twice-born’] through initiation.

Sankirtanaika-pitarau: They were the original fathers of sankirtan, and Yuga-dharma-palau: the maintainers of the dharma for the age. What is the dharma of the age? Sankirtan.

krte yad dhyayato visnum tretayam yajato makhaih
dvapare paricharyayam kalau tad dhari-kirtanat
(Srimad-Bhagavatam: 12.3.52)

In the Age of Satya, meditation on Narayan was the dharma, and the mahamantra was,

narayana-para veda narayana-paraksarah
narayana-para muktir narayana-para gatih

In the Age of Treta, the dharma was sacrifice, and the mantra was,

rama narayanananta mukunda madhusudana
krsna kesava kamsare hare vaikuntha vamana

In the age of Dvapar, the dharma was worship, and the mantra was,

hare murare madhu-kaitabhare
gopala govinda mukunda saure
yajnesa narayana krsna visno
virasrayam mam jagadisa raksa

In the Age of Kali, the dharma is sankirtan, and the mantra is,

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

One devotee wrote:

nahi yaga yoga tapa bhuta-suddhi nyasa japa
nahi purascharana vidhana
bhuvane vidita yasa kevala bhakata vasa
bhakata-vatsala bhagavan

Worship, sacrifice, meditation, austerities,  purificatory rites, invocations, mantra repetition, preparatory rites—none are as fruitful as Hari-kirtan.

kaler dosa-nidhe rajann asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta-bandhah param vrajet
(Srimad Bhagavatam: 12.3.51)

When the Age of Kali increases, there is so much sin, and the environment becomes very inauspicious. We see so many faults, sins, and inauspicious things in this Age of Kali. At this time, other religious and pious activities are not so effective. Only the transcendental vibration form of our Lord can work at this time. It descends, and fortunate souls can receive that mantram in their hearts. That mantra can be chanted or meditated on anywhere. There are no rules, regulations, or restrictions. It is not that we should chant it at one time and not at another; we should always chant the mantra. Through sankirtan of the Lord’s Name, we will very easily get liberation, and after liberation, we will get a service position in our Lord’s abode. It is only necessary to connect with Hari-nam-sankirtam. It is like an elevator, and it will take us up. It is not necessary to take the stairs. This mantra alone can rescue all the conditioned souls from this illusory environment .

Yuga-dharma-palau: Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu came and gave this consciousness to all the conditioned souls and rescued all the souls who were present during Their time in this world.

Vande jagat priya-karau karunavatarau: They both are always very merciful to the conditioned souls and always doing good for the conditioned souls.

This is the meanings of the pranam mantra for Nitai-Chaitanyadev. Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat started in this way, glorifying Nityananda Prabhu and Mahaprabhu.