Antya-līlā | Chapter 2: The Chastisement of Junior Haridāsa |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 2 Summary
The purport of this chapter is explained by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya as follows. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, wanted to explain direct meetings with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, meetings with those empowered by Him, and His āvirbhāva appearance. Thus he described the glories of Nṛsiḿhānanda and other devotees. A devotee named Bhagavān Ācārya was exceptionally faithful to the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Nevertheless, his brother, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Ācārya, discoursed upon the commentary of impersonalism (Māyāvāda). Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, the secretary of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, forbid Bhagavān Ācārya to indulge in hearing that commentary. Later, when Junior Haridāsa, following the order of Bhagavān Ācārya, went to collect alms from Mādhavīdevī, he committed an offense by talking intimately with a woman although he was in the renounced order. Because of this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu rejected Junior Haridāsa, and despite all the requests of the Lord's stalwart devotees, the Lord did not accept him again. One year after this incident, Junior Haridāsa went to the confluence of the Ganges and Yamunā and committed suicide. In his spiritual body, however, he continued to sing devotional songs, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard them. When the Vaiṣṇavas of Bengal went to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, these incidents became known to Svarūpa Dāmodara and others.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness