Mahaprabhu’s journey

At just 24, Nimai took sannyasa, the life of a wandering monk, from Keshava Bharati in Katwa. His long hair was shaved off, and He was given a new name: Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

Why leave home? Many people in Navadvip did not take a young householder seriously, and some had mocked Him. Everyone respects a sannyasi, so now they would listen to Him and be blessed.

It was very hard for His mother, Sachi, and His young wife, Vishnupriya. At His mother’s request He made Jagannatha Puri His home, so that she could always hear news of Him.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila 17 and Madhya-lila 3; Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda 28.

When Mahaprabhu first saw Lord Jagannatha in the great temple at Puri, He ran forward to embrace the Deity and fell unconscious with love.

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, the most respected scholar in Orissa, had Him carried to his home. He liked the young monk but thought He needed teaching, so for seven days he lectured on the Vedanta, while Mahaprabhu sat and listened in silence.

Then Mahaprabhu explained the same verses so clearly, as all about devotion to Krishna, that the great scholar’s pride melted away, and he became His devoted follower.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 6.

Soon after reaching Puri, Mahaprabhu set off to walk through South India, chanting as He went. People who met Him began to chant too, and they taught it to others in their villages.

On the bank of the Godavari River He met Ramananda Raya, a governor and a great devotee. For many nights they talked: Mahaprabhu asked the questions and Ramananda answered, step by step, from doing one’s duty all the way up to the highest love for Krishna, the love of Srimati Radharani.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 7–8.

In the rainy season, when monks stop travelling, Mahaprabhu stayed four months at Sri Rangam, the great temple of Lord Ranganatha on an island in the Kaveri River. He was the guest of a priest named Venkata Bhatta.

Venkata Bhatta worshipped Lakshmi-Narayana. With gentle humour, Mahaprabhu showed him why the cowherd Krishna of Vrindavan is the sweetest form of God.

Venkata Bhatta’s little son, Gopala Bhatta, served Mahaprabhu every day. He grew up to be one of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 9.

Near the very tip of India, at the Adi Keshava temple, Mahaprabhu found an old manuscript of one chapter of the Brahma-samhita: Lord Brahma’s prayers to Krishna. He was overjoyed and had it copied to take home.

Its verses describe Krishna’s eternal home and His beauty: playing His flute, a peacock feather in His hair, as dark and lovely as a rain cloud. Devotees still sing its prayer, “Govindam adi-purusham”, in temples every morning.

Further north, on the bank of the Krishna-venva River, He found another treasure, the Krishna-karnamrita poems, and brought both books back to Puri.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 9.

Back in Puri, Mahaprabhu longed to see Vrindavan. At last He set out with one companion, Balabhadra Bhattacharya, and chose the wild path through the Jharikhanda forest, far from the crowds.

The forest was full of tigers, elephants, bears and deer. Once a tiger lay in His path. Mahaprabhu touched it with His foot and said, “Chant Krishna!”, and the tiger got up, chanting and dancing.

Soon tigers and deer were walking together, embracing and chanting. Balabhadra could hardly believe his eyes.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 17.

In Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu was overwhelmed. Seeing the cows, the forests and the Yamuna, He danced and wept, and the deer and birds gathered round Him.

In those days many of Krishna’s holy places were lost under forest and farmland. At the village of Arit nobody knew where Radha Kunda was, so Mahaprabhu bathed in two small ponds in a rice field and declared them Radha Kunda and Shyama Kunda, the lakes most dear to Krishna.

Later He sent His followers, Rupa and Sanatana Goswami and others, to find the rest of the places, build temples and write books, so that Vrindavan would never be forgotten again.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 17–18.

On His way back, at Prayag, Mahaprabhu was met by Rupa, a high minister of the Bengal government who had given everything up to follow Him.

For ten days, at the Dashashwamedha Ghat, Mahaprabhu taught Rupa the science of devotion: who we really are, how devotion grows like a creeper when it is watered by hearing and chanting, and what pure love for Krishna is.

Then He sent Rupa to Vrindavan to write. Rupa Goswami’s Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu became the handbook of devotion; Srila Prabhupada later shared it in English as The Nectar of Devotion.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 19.

In Varanasi, Rupa’s elder brother Sanatana caught up with Mahaprabhu. He had escaped from prison, where the ruler of Bengal had locked him up for wanting to leave his post.

For two months Mahaprabhu taught him: that every living being is an eternal servant of Krishna, how the material and spiritual worlds work, and how to live a life of devotion. Then He sent Sanatana to Vrindavan too.

In Varanasi His kirtan also won over Prakashananda Sarasvati, the leader of thousands of monks, who had criticised Him for chanting and dancing.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 20–25.

Mahaprabhu spent His last eighteen years in Puri. Every summer, when Lord Jagannatha rode through the streets on His giant chariot, Mahaprabhu danced before it with seven kirtan groups, and each group felt He was dancing with them.

His dearest companions were with Him, among them Svarupa Damodara, Ramananda Raya, and Haridasa Thakura, who chanted three hundred thousand names of Krishna every day. More and more, Mahaprabhu felt Radharani’s longing for Krishna, day and night.

He had said that His name would one day be sung in every town and village on earth. About 450 years later, a monk in His line set out on a cargo ship to make it happen.

Retold from the Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 13 and Antya-lila; Chaitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda 4.