Zitat von Vedanta am 11. März 2017, 19:49 Uhr

On tomorrow‘s Sunday is Gaura Purnima, the 531^st anniversary of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This is the actual New Year's day for us Gaudiya-Vaishnavas because Shri Chaitanya, as commonly known, was Krishna Himself, who played the role of Krishna‘s devotee, creating Sankirtan, the common singing of Krishna's names. According to our western calendar, He appeared in Bengal, India on February 18, 1486, only 4.588 years after the departure of Shri Krishna from this earth, which also marks the beginning of Kali-yuga (3.102 BC). In contrast to Shri Krishna, who remained 125 years on earth - yet always completely wrinkle-free, with an ever-fresh youthful appearance and magnificent hair - when He spoke Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, He was about 89 years young - the equally youthful pastimes of Shri Chaitanya laste for just 48 years. Phew, these were now quite some numbers 🙂 If you would like to enter the depths of historical and archeological evidence here, you may want to read the following article by mathematician and former NASA employee Dr. N.S. Rajaram:

Dr. N.S. Rajaram

Now back to the appearance of Shri Chaitanya. Why, after all, did Krishna return again as Chaitanya Avatar after such a short period of time?

First of all, the remark may be allowed that these frequent divine visits, of course, are posing a great deal of honor and immense joy for the earth, and are thus confirming each time her unique position among all planets - see also our forum article in the category Astronomy: "Earth, Center of the universe ".

The reasons for the appearance of Shri Chaitanya are at least as diverse and complex as the reasons for His previous appearance as Shri Krishna. Shri Vrindavan Dasa Thakur explains this in the Chaitanya Bhagavata, but is beforehand quoting Lord Brahma - architect of our universe - implies that the appearance of Shri Krishna and His Avatars is fundamentally inconceivable and inaccessible. No one can understand Shri Krishna‘s or Shri Chaitanya's appearance without being blessed by Him or His devotees. He then quotes from Bhagavad Gita:

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

O Bharata, whenever at all there occurs a decline of righteousness (dharma) and an uprising of unrighteousness, at that time I manifest Myself.

- Bhagavad Gita 4.7

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge

I manifest in every yuga for the protection of the virtuous, the eradication of the unvirtuous, and the establishment of dharma.

- Bhagavad Gita 4.8

But God is not impartial? How can He be cruel like that?

On this possible objection, Shridhara Svami answers as follows:

Do not suspect that Shri Bhagavan is cruel because He eradicates the unvirtuous. A mother‘s nourishment and chastisement are not symptoms of her cruelty but instead are both manifestations of her love and affection towards her children. Similarly, one should understand that whether He is killing the demons or protecting His devotees, both are the grace of Shri Bhagavan, Who is the maintainer of both, the virtuous and the unvirtuous.

Here is a small excerpt from the commentary by Shri Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakur, expanding Krishna‘s above statement:

The word dushkritam refers to demons like Ravana, Kamsa and Keshi, who are invincible to others, and who are causing great distress to My devotees.

At the time of Shri Chaitanya‘s advent, were the people not a virtuous?

According to Shri Vrindavana Das Thakur people did have a high degree of education - especially in Navadvipa in Bengal - and enjoyed prosperity in good health, yet unfortunately felt no inclination whatsoever towards devotion or service to God:

sakala samsara matta vyavahara-rase
krishna-puja krishna-bhakti karo nahi vase

The whole world was engaged in materialism, no one was interested in worshiping Krishna or serving Him.

- Chaitanya-bhagavata, Adi-khanda, 1.2.86

Therefore, the main mission of the "Golden Avatar" consisted of:

kali-yuge sarva-dharma hari sankirtana
saba prakashilena chaitanya-narayana

Shri Chaitanya inaugurated the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Shri Hari as the core religious practice in Kali-yuga.

- Chaitanya-bhagavata, Adi-khanda 1.2.26

In this context it is noteworthy that an indication of His later activity could already be seen in the lunar eclipse at the time of His birth. Because this is usually regarded as an ominous omen, as a protective measure, the devotees went to bathe in the holy Ganga, while calling out the holy names "Hari, Hari". The muslims as curious onlookers laughed, of course, and could not resist even open mockery, because the Hindi word "Hari" means "thief". As Vaishnavas we understand "Hari" as a name and also attribute of Krishna, the one Who takes away all evil.

Eventually, in spite of the eclipse, it was a full moon night and because the bodily hue of Shri Chaitanya is golden or gaura, our present day is called "Gaura Purnima", „The full moon at the appearance of the Golden Avatar."