Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 10.135-136

pratāparudra rājā, āra oḍhra kṛṣṇānanda

paramānanda mahāpātra, oḍhra śivānanda

bhagavān ācārya, brahmānandākhya bhāratī

śrī-śikhi māhiti, āra murāri māhiti

SYNONYMS

pratāparudra rājā — King Pratāparudra of Orissa; āra — and; oḍhra kṛṣṇānanda — Kṛṣṇānanda, an Oriyā devotee; paramānanda mahāpātra — Paramānanda Mahāpātra; oḍhra śivānanda — the Oriyā Śivānanda; bhagavān ācārya — Bhagavān Ācārya; brahmānanda-ākhya bhāratī — the devotee of the name Brahmānanda Bhāratī; śrī-śikhi māhiti — Śrī Śikhi Māhiti; āra — and; murāri māhiti — Murāri Māhiti.

TRANSLATION

King Pratāparudra of Orissa, the Oriyā devotees Kṛṣṇānanda and Śivānanda, and Paramānanda Mahāpātra, Bhagavān Ācārya, Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Śikhi Māhiti and Murāri Māhiti constantly associated with Caitanya Mahāprabhu while He resided in Jagannātha Purī.

PURPORT

Pratāparudra Mahārāja, who belonged to the dynasty of the Gańgā kings and whose capital was in Cuttak, was the Emperor of Orissa and a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It was by the arrangement of Rāmānanda Rāya and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya that he was able to personally serve Lord Caitanya. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (118) it is said that King Indradyumna, who established the temple of Jagannātha thousands of years ago, later took birth again in his own family as Mahārāja Pratāparudra during the time of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Mahārāja Pratāparudra was as powerful as King Indra. The drama named Caitanya-candrodaya was written under his direction.

In the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Five, Paramānanda Mahāpātra is described as follows: "Paramānanda Mahāpātra was among the devotees who took birth in Orissa and accepted Caitanya Mahāprabhu as their only asset. In the ecstasy of conjugal love, he always thought of Caitanya Mahāprabhu." Bhagavān Ācārya, a very learned scholar, was formerly an inhabitant of Hālisahara, but he left everything to live with Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Jagannātha Purī. His relationship with Caitanya Mahāprabhu was friendly, like that of a cowherd boy. He was always friendly to Svarūpa Gosāñi, but he was staunchly devoted to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He sometimes invited Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his house.

Bhagavān Ācārya was very liberal and simple. His father, Śatānanda Khān, was completely materialistic, and his younger brother, Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya, was a staunch Māyāvādī philosopher who had studied very elaborately. When his brother came to Jagannātha Purī, Bhagavān Ācārya wanted to hear from him about Māyāvāda philosophy, but Svarūpa Dāmodara forbade him to do so, and there the matter stopped. Once a friend of Bhagavān Ācārya's from Bengal wanted to recite a drama that he had written that was against the principles of devotional service, and although Bhagavān Ācārya wanted to recite this drama before Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara, the Lord's secretary, did not allow him to do so. Later Svarūpa Dāmodara pointed out the drama's many mistakes and its disagreements with the conclusion of devotional service, and the author became aware of the faults in his writing and then surrendered to Svarūpa Dāmodara, begging his mercy. This is described in the Antya-līlā, Chapter Five, verses 91-158.

In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (189) it is said that Śikhi Māhiti was formerly an assistant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī named Rāgalekhā. His sister Mādhavī was also an assistant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and was named Kalākelī. Śikhi Māhiti, Mādhavī and their brother Murāri Māhiti were all unalloyed devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu who could not forget Him for a moment of their lives. There is a book in the Oriyā language called Caitanya-carita-mahākāvya, in which there are many narrations about Śikhi Māhiti. One narration concerns his seeing an ecstatic dream. Śikhi Māhiti always engaged in serving the Lord in his mind. One night, while he was rendering such service, he fell asleep, and while he was asleep his brother and sister came to awaken him. At that time he was in full ecstasy because he was having a wonderful dream that Lord Caitanya, while visiting the temple of Jagannātha, was entering and again coming out of the body of Jagannātha and looking at the Jagannātha Deity. Thus as soon as he awakened he embraced his brother and sister and informed them, "My dear brother and sister, I have had a wonderful dream that I shall now explain to you. The activities of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the son of Mother Śacī, are certainly most wonderful. I saw that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, while visiting the temple of Jagannātha, was entering the body of Jagannātha and again coming out of His body. I am still seeing the same dream. Do you think I have become deranged? I am still seeing the same dream! And the most wonderful thing is that as soon as I came near Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He embraced me with His long arms." As Śikhi Māhiti spoke to his brother and sister in this way, his voice faltered and there were tears in his eyes. Thus the brothers and sister went to the temple of Jagannātha, and there they saw Lord Caitanya in the Jagamohana kīrtana hall, looking at the beauty of the Śrī Jagannātha Deity just as in Śikhi Māhiti's dream. The Lord was so magnanimous that He immediately embraced Śikhi Māhiti, exclaiming, "You are the elder brother of Murāri!" Being thus embraced, Śikhi Māhiti felt ecstatic transcendental bliss. Thus he and his brother and sister always engaged in rendering service to the Lord. Murāri Māhiti, the younger brother of Śikhi Māhiti, is described in the Madhya-līlā, Chapter Ten, verse 44.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness