Tag Archives: Kamalakanta Visvasa

Kamalakanta Visvasa receives mercy

This description is in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila, Chapter 12:

TEXT 28


'kamalakanta visvasa'-nama acarya-kinkara
acarya-vyavahara saba—-tanhara gocara


TRANSLATION

Advaita Acarya's very confidential servant named Kamalakanta Visvasa knew all the dealings of Advaita Acarya.

PURPORT

The name Kamalananda mentioned in the Adi-lila (10.149) and the name Kamalakanta mentioned in the Madhya-lila (10.94) both refer to the same man. Kamalakanta, a very confidential servant of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu born in a brahmana family, engaged in the service of Sri Advaita Acarya as His secretary. When Paramananda Puri went from Navadvipa to Jagannatha Puri, he took Kamalakanta Visvasa with him, and they both went to see Lord Caitanya at Jagannatha Puri. It is mentioned in the Madhya-lila (10.94) that one of the devotees of Lord Caitanya, the brahmana Kamalakanta, went with Paramananda Puri to Jagannatha Puri.


TEXT 29


nilacale tenho eka patrika likhiya
prataparudrera pasa dila pathaiya


TRANSLATION

When Kamalakanta Visvasa was in Jagannatha Puri, he sent a note through someone to Maharaja Prataparudra.


TEXT 30


sei patrira katha acarya nahi jane
kona pake sei patri aila prabhu-sthane


TRANSLATION

No one knew of that note, but somehow or other it reached the hands of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.


TEXT 31


se patrite lekha ache—-ei ta' likhana
isvaratve acaryere kariyache sthapana


TRANSLATION

That note established Advaita Acarya as an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.


TEXT 32


kintu tanra daive kichu ha-iyache rna
rna sodhibare cahi tanka sata-tina


TRANSLATION

But it also mentioned that Advaita Acarya had recently incurred a debt of about three hundred rupees that Kamalakanta Visvasa wanted to liquidate.


TEXT 33

patra padiya prabhura mane haila duhkha
bahire hasiya kichu bale candra-mukha


TRANSLATION

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu became unhappy upon reading the note, although His face still shone as brightly as the moon. Thus, smiling, He spoke as follows.


TEXT 34


acaryere sthapiyache kariya isvara
ithe dosa nahi, acarya—-daivata isvara


TRANSLATION

"He has established Advaita Acarya as an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is nothing wrong in this, for He is indeed the Lord Himself."


TEXT 35


isvarera dainya kari' kariyache bhiksa
ataeva danda kari' karaiba siksa


TRANSLATION

"But he has made the incarnation of Godhead a poverty-stricken beggar. Therefore I shall punish him for his correction."

PURPORT

To describe a man as an incarnation of God, or Narayana, and at the same time present him as poverty-stricken is contradictory, and it is the greatest offense. The Mayavadi philosophers, engaged in the missionary work of spoiling the Vedic culture by preaching that everyone is God, describe a poverty-stricken man as daridra-narayana, or "poor Narayana." Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu never accepted such foolish and unauthorized ideas. He strictly warned, mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa: "Anyone who follows the principles of Mayavada philosophy is certainly doomed." Such a fool needs to be reformed by punishment.

Although it is contradictory to say that the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His incarnation is poverty-stricken, we find in the revealed scriptures that when the Lord incarnated as Vamana, He begged some land from Maharaja Bali. Everyone knows, however, that Vamanadeva was not at all poverty-stricken. His begging from Maharaja Bali was a device to favor him. When Maharaja Bali actually gave the land, Vamanadeva exhibited His all-powerful position by covering the three worlds with three steps. One should not accept the so-called daridra-narayanas as incarnations because they are completely unable to show the opulence of the genuine incarnations of God.


TEXT 36


govindere ajna dila,—-"inha aji haite
bauliya visvase etha na dibe asite"


TRANSLATION

The Lord ordered Govinda, "From today on, do not allow that bauliya Kamalakanta Visvasa to come here."

PURPORT

The bauliyas, or baulas, are one of thirteen unauthorized sects that pass as followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord ordered Govinda, His personal assistant, not to allow Kamalakanta Visvasa to come in His presence because he had become a bauliya. Thus although the baula-sampradaya, aula-sampradaya and sahajiya-sampradaya, as well as the smartas, jata-gosanis, atibadis, cudadharis and gauranga-nagaris, claim to belong to the disciplic succession of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord actually rejected them.


TEXT 37


danda suni' 'visvasa' ha-ila parama duhkhita
suniya prabhura danda acarya harsita


TRANSLATION

When Kamalakanta Visvasa heard about this punishment by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he was very unhappy, but when Advaita Prabhu heard about it, He was greatly pleased.

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gita the Lord says, samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah: "I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all." (Bg. 9.29) The Supreme Personality of Godhead being equal to everyone, no one can be His enemy, nor can anyone be His friend. Since everyone is a part or son of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord cannot partially regard someone as a friend and someone as an enemy. Thus when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu punished Kamalakanta Visvasa by no longer allowing him to come in His presence, although the punishment was actually very hard on him, Sri Advaita Prabhu, understanding the inner meaning of such punishment, was happy because He appreciated that the Lord had actually favored Kamalakanta Visvasa. Therefore He was not at all unhappy. Devotees should always be happy with all the dealings of their master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee may be put into difficulty or opulence, but he should accept both as gifts of the Supreme personality of Godhead and jubilantly engage in the service of the Lord in all circumstances.


TEXT 38


visvasere kahe,—-tumi bada bhagyavan
tomare karila danda prabhu bhagavan


TRANSLATION

Seeing Kamalakanta Visvasa unhappy, Advaita Acarya Prabhu told him, "You are greatly fortunate to have been punished by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

PURPORT

This is an authoritative judgment by Sri Advaita Prabhu. He clearly advises that one should not be unhappy when reverses come upon him by the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee should always be happy to receive the fortune awarded him by the Supreme Lord, which seems pleasant or unpleasant according to one's judgment.


TEXT 39


purve mahaprabhu more karena sammana
duhkha pai' mane ami kailun anumana


TRANSLATION

"Formerly Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu always respected Me as His senior, but I did not like such respect. Therefore, My mind being afflicted by unhappiness, I made a plan."


TEXT 40

mukti—-srestha kari' kainu vasistha vyakhyana
kruddha hana prabhu more kaila apamana


TRANSLATION

"Thus I expounded the Yoga-vasistha, which considers liberation the ultimate goal of life. For this the Lord became angry at Me and treated Me with apparent disrespect."

PURPORT

There is a book of the name Yoga-vasistha that Mayavadis greatly favor because it is full of impersonal misunderstandings regarding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with no touch of Vaisnavism. Factually, all Vaisnavas should avoid such a book, but Advaita Acarya Prabhu, wanting punishment from the Lord, began to support the impersonal statements of the Yoga-vasistha. Thus Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu became extremely angry at Him and seemingly treated Him disrespectfully. 


TEXT 41

danda pana haila mora parama ananda
ye danda paila bhagyavan sri-mukunda


TRANSLATION

"When chastised by Lord Caitanya, I was very happy to receive a punishment similar to that awarded Sri Mukunda."

PURPORT

Sri Mukunda, a great friend and associate of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, used to visit many places where people were against the Vaisnava cult. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to know of this, He punished Mukunda, forbidding him to see Him again. Although Caitanya Mahaprabhu was soft like a flower, He was also strict like a thunderbolt, and everyone was afraid to allow Mukunda to come again into the presence of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Mukunda, therefore, being very sorry, asked his other friends whether he would one day be allowed to see Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When the devotees brought this inquiry to Lord Caitanya, the Lord replied, "Mukunda will get permission to see Me after many millions of years." When they gave this information to Mukunda, he danced with jubilation, and when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard that Mukunda was so patiently waiting to meet Him after millions of years, He immediately asked him to return. There is a statement about this punishment of Mukunda in the Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-lila, Tenth Chapter.


TEXT 42

ye danda paila sri-saci bhagyavati
se danda prasada anya loka pabe kati


TRANSLATION

"A similar punishment was awarded to mother Sacidevi. Who could be more fortunate than she to receive such punishment?"

PURPORT

Mother Sacidevi was similarly punished, as mentioned in the Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-lila, Chapter Twenty-two. Mother Sacidevi, apparently showing her feminine nature, accused Advaita Prabhu of encouraging her son to become a sannyasi. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, taking this accusation as an offense, asked Sacidevi to touch the lotus feet of Advaita Acarya to mitigate the offense she had supposedly committed.


TEXT 43

eta kahi' acarya tanre kariya asvasa
anandita ha-iya aila mahaprabhu-pasa


TRANSLATION

After pacifying Kamalakanta Visvasa in this way, Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu went to see Caitanya Mahaprabhu.


TEXT 44

prabhuke kahena—-tomara na bujhi e lila
ama haite prasada-patra karila kamala


TRANSLATION

Sri Advaita Acarya told Lord Caitanya, "l cannot understand Your transcendental pastimes. You have shown more favor to Kamalakanta than You generally show to Me.


TEXT 45

amareha kabhu yei na haya prasada
tomara carane ami ki kainu aparadha


TRANSLATION

"The favor You have shown Kamalakanta is so great that even to Me You have never shown such favor. What offense have I committed at Your lotus feet so as not to be shown such favor?"

PURPORT

This is a reference to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's former punishment of Advaita Acarya. When Advaita Acarya Prabhu was reading Yoga-vasistha, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu beat Him, but He never told Him not to come in His presence. But Kamalakanta was punished with the order never to come in the Lord's presence. Therefore Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu wanted to impress upon Caitanya Mahaprabhu that He had shown more favor to Kamalakanta Visvasa because He had prohibited Kamalakanta from seeing Him, whereas He had not done so to Advaita Acarya. Therefore the favor shown Kamalakanta Visvasa was greater than that shown Advaita Acarya.


TEXT 46

eta suni' mahaprabhu hasite lagila
bolaiya kamalakante prasanna ha-ila


TRANSLATION

Hearing this, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu laughed with satisfaction and immediately called Kamalakanta Visvasa.


TEXT 47


acarya kahe, ihake kene dile darasana
dui prakarete kare more vidambana

TRANSLATION

Advaita Acarya then said to Caitanya Mahaprabhu, "Why have You called back this man and allowed him to see You? He has cheated Me in two ways."


TEXT 48

suniya prabhura mana prasanna ha-ila
dunhara antara-katha dunhe se janila


TRANSLATION

When Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard this, His mind was satisfied. Only They could understand each other's minds.


TEXT 49

prabhu kahe—-bauliya, aiche kahe kara
acaryera lajja-dharma-hani se acara


TRANSLATION

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed Kamalakanta, "You are a bauliya, one who does not know things as they are. Why do you act in this way? Why do you invade the privacy of Advaita Acarya and damage His religious principles?

PURPORT

Kamalakanta Visvasa, out of his ignorance, asked the King of Jagannatha Puri, Maharaja Prataparudra, to liquidate the three-hundred-rupee debt of Advaita Acarya, but at the same time he established Advaita Acarya as an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is contradictory. An incarnation of the Supreme Godhead cannot be indebted to anyone in this material world. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is never satisfied by such a contradiction, which is technically called rasabhasa, or overlapping of one humor (rasa) with another. This is the same type of idea as the contradiction that Narayana is poverty-stricken (daridra-narayana).


TEXT 50

pratigraha kabhu na karibe raja-dhana
visayira anna khaile dusta haya mana


TRANSLATION

"Advaita Acarya, My spiritual master, should never accept charity from rich men or kings because if a spiritual master accepts money or grains from such materialists his mind becomes polluted."

PURPORT

It is very risky to accept money or food from materialistic persons, for such acceptance pollutes the mind of the charity's recipient. According to the Vedic system, one should give charity to sannyasis and brahmanas because one who thus gives charity becomes free from sinful activities. Formerly, therefore, brahmanas would not accept charity from a person unless he were very pious. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave this instruction for all spiritual masters. Materialistic persons who are not inclined to give up their sinful activities like illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating sometimes want to become our disciples, but, unlike professional spiritual masters who accept disciples regardless of their condition, Vaisnavas do not accept such cheap disciples. One must at least agree to abide by the rules and regulations for a disciple before a Vaisnava acarya can accept him. In fact, a Vaisnava should not even accept charity or food from persons who do not follow the rules and regulations of the Vaisnava principles.


TEXT 51

mana dusta ha-ile nahe krsnera smarana
krsna-smrti vinu haya nisphala jivana


TRANSLATION

"When one's mind is polluted, it is very difficult to remember Krsna; and when remembrance of Lord Krsna is hampered, one's life is unproductive."

PURPORT

A devotee should always be alert, keeping his mind in a sanguine state so that he can always remember Lord Sri Krsna. The sastras state, smartavyah satatam visnuh: in devotional life one should always remember Lord Visnu. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami also advised Maharaja Pariksit, smartavyo nityasah. In the Second Canto, First Chapter, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Gosvami advised Pariksit Maharaja:

 

tasmad bharata sarvatma
bhagavan isvaro harih
srotavyah kirtitavyas ca
smartavyas cecchatabhayam

"O descendant of King Bharata, one who desires to be free from all miseries must hear, glorify and also remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and the savior from all miseries." (Bhag. 2.1.5) This is the summary of all the activities of a Vaisnava, and the same instruction is repeated here (krsna-smrti vinu haya nisphala jivana). Srila Rupa Gosvami states in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, avyartha-kalatvam: A Vaisnava must be very alert not to waste even a second of his valuable lifetime. This is a symptom of a Vaisnava. But association with pounds-and-shillings men, or visayis, materialists who are simply interested in sense gratification, pollutes one's mind and hampers such continuous remembrance of Lord Krsna. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore advised, asat-sanga-tyaga—-ei vaisnava-acara: a Vaisnava should behave in such a way as to never associate with nondevotees or materialists (Cc. Madhya 22.87). One can avoid such association simply by always remembering Krsna within his heart. 


TEXT 52

loka-lajja haya, dharma-kirti haya hani
aiche karma na kariha kabhu iha jani'


TRANSLATION

"Thus one becomes unpopular in the eyes of the people in general, for this damages his religiosity and fame. A Vaisnava, especially one who acts as a spiritual master, must not act in such a way. One should always be conscious of this fact."


TEXT 53

ei siksa sabakare, sabe mane kaila
acarya-gosani mane ananda paila


TRANSLATION

When Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave this instruction to Kamalakanta, all present considered it to be meant for everyone. Thus Advaita Acarya was greatly pleased.


TEXT 54

acaryera abhipraya prabhu-matra bujhe
prabhura gambhira vakya acarya samujhe


TRANSLATION

Only Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu could understand the intentions of Advaita Acarya, and Advaita Acarya appreciated the grave instruction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.


TEXT 55

ei ta' prastave ache bahuta vicara
grantha-bahulya-bhaye nari likhibara


TRANSLATION

In this statement there are many confidential considerations. I do not write of them all, fearing an unnecessary increase in the volume of the book.

Kamalakanta Vishvasa

Kamalakanta Vishvasa

...Kamalakanta, a very confidential servant of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu born in a brahmana family, engaged in the service of Shri Advaita Acharya as His secretary. (In the image: Shrila Advaita Acharya).

   Kamalakanta Vishvasa was born in a brahmana family. He was a  very confidential servant of Advaita Acharya.
 
‘kamalakanta visvasa’-nama acarya-kinkara
acarya-vyavahara saba—tanhara gocara
(C.C. Adi 12.28)
   Advaita Acharya’s very confidential servant named Kamalakanta Vishvasa knew all the dealings of Advaita Acharya.
 
   Shrila Prabhupada writes in the purport: 
   The name Kamalananda mentioned in the Adi-lila (10.149) and the name Kamalakanta mentioned in the Madhya-lila (10.94) both refer to the same man. Kamalakanta, a very confidential servant of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu born in a brahmana family, engaged in the service of Shri Advaita Acharya as His secretary. When Paramananda Puri went from Navadwipa to Jagannatha Puri, he took Kamalakanta Vishvasa with him, and they both went to see Lord Chaitanya at Jagannatha Puri. It is mentioned in the Madhya-lila (10.94) that one of the Devotees of Lord Chaitanya, the brahmana Kamalakanta, went with Paramananda Puri to Jagannatha Puri.
 
singabhatta, kamabhatta, dantura sivananda
gaude purva bhrtya prabhura priya kamalananda
(C.C. Adi 10.149)
   Singabhatta was the thirty-first, Kamabhatta the thirty-second, Shivananda the thirty-third and Kamalananda the thirty-fourth. They all formerly served Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Bengal, but later these servants left Bengal to live with the Lord in Jagannatha Puri.
 
prabhura eka bhakta-’dvija kamalakanta’ nama
tanre laña nilacale karila prayana
(C.C. Madhya 10.94)
   There was a Devotee of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s named Dvija Kamalakanta, whom Paramananda Puri took with him to Jagannatha Puri.