Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 9 Summary

A summary of Chapter Nine has been given as follows by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. In this chapter the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta has devised a figurative example by describing "the desire tree of bhakti." He considers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is known as Viśvambhara, to be the gardener of this tree because He is the main personality who has taken charge of it. As the supreme enjoyer, He enjoyed the fruits Himself and distributed them as well. The seed of the tree was first sown in Navadvīpa, the birth site of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then the tree was brought to Puruṣottama-kṣetra (Jagannātha Purī), and then to Vṛndāvana. The seed fructified first in Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī, and then in his disciple Śrī Īśvara Purī. It is figuratively described that both the tree itself and the trunk of the tree are Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Paramānanda Purī and eight other great sannyāsīs are like the spreading roots of the tree. From the main trunk there extend two special branches, Advaita Prabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, and from those branches grow other branches and twigs. The tree surrounds the entire world, and the fruits of the tree are to be distributed to everyone. In this way the tree of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu intoxicates the entire world. It should be noted that this is a figurative example meant to explain the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

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