Sri Vakreshvara Pandita
Srila Prabhupada explains the Glories of Sri Vakreshvara Pandita
srivasa, haridasa, ramadasa, gadadhara
murari, mukunda, candrasekhara, vakresvara
e-saba pandita-loka parama-mahattva
caitanyera dasye sabaya karaye unmatta
SYNONYMS
srivasa—Srivasa Thakura; haridasa—Haridasa Thakura; ramadasa—Ramadasa; gadadhara—Gadadhara; murari—Murari; mukunda—Mukunda; candrasekhara—Chandrasekhara; vakresvara—Vakreshvara; e-saba—all of them; pandita-loka—very learned scholars; parama-mahattva—very much glorified; caitanyera—of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu; dasye—the servitude; sabaya—all of them; karaye unmatta—makes mad.
TRANSLATION
Srivasa, Haridasa, Ramadasa, Gadadhara, Murari, Mukunda, Chandrasekhara and Vakreshvara are all glorious and are all learned scholars, but the sentiment of servitude to Lord Chaitanya makes them mad in ecstasy.
- Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Glories of Sri Advaita Acharya : Adi 6.49-50
vakresvara pandita--
prabhura bada priya bhrtya
eka-bhave cabbisa prahara yanra nrtya
SYNONYMS
vakresvara pandita—of the name Vakreshvara Pandita; prabhura—of the Lord; bada—very; priya—dear; bhrtya—servant; eka-bhave—continuously in the same ecstasy; cabbisa—twenty-four; prahara—a duration of time comprising three hours; yanra—whose; nrtya—dancing.
TRANSLATION
Vakreshvara Pandita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Chaitanya's. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours.
PURPORT
In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, verse 71, it is stated that Vakreshvara Pandita was an incarnation of Aniruddha, one of the quadruple expansions of Vishnu (Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Aniruddha and Pradyumna). He could dance wonderfully for seventy-two continuous hours. When Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu played in dramatic performances in the house of Srivasa Pandita, Vakreshvara Pandita was one of the chief dancers, and he danced continuously for that length of time. Sri Govinda dasa, an Oriya devotee of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, has described the life of Vakreshvara Pandita in his book Gaura-krsnodaya. There are many disciples of Vakreshvara Pandita in Orissa, and they are known as Gaudiya Vaishnavas although they are Oriyas. Among these disciples are Sri Gopalaguru and his disciple Sri Dhyanachandra Gosvami
- Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Chaitanya Tree : Adi 10.17
apane mahaprabhu gaya yanra nrtya-kale
prabhura carana dhari' vakreshvara bale
SYNONYMS
apane—personally; mahaprabhu—Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu; gaya—sang; yanra—whose; nrtya-kale—at the time of dancing; prabhura—of the Lord; carana—lotus feet; dhari'-embracing; vakreshvara—Vakreshvara Pandita; bale—said.
TRANSLATION
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu personally sang while Vakreshvara Pandita danced, and thus Vakreshvara Pandita fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and spoke as follows.
- Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Trunk, Branches and Sub branches of the Chaitanya Tree : Adi 10.18
"dasa-sahasra gandharva more deha' candramukha
tara gaya, muni nacon--tabe mora sukha"
SYNONYMS
dasa-sahasra—ten thousand; gandharva—residents of Gandharvaloka; more—unto me; deha'-please deliver; candra-mukha—O moon-faced one; tara gaya—let them sing; muni nacon—let me dance; tabe—then; mora—my; sukha—happiness.
TRANSLATION
"O Chandramukha! Please give me ten thousand Gandharvas. Let them sing as I dance, and then I will be greatly happy."
PURPORT
The Gandharvas, who are residents of Gandharvaloka, are celebrated as celestial singers. Whenever singing is needed in the celestial planets, the Gandharvas are invited to sing. The Gandharvas can sing continuously for days, and therefore Vakreshvara Pandita wanted to dance as they sang.
- Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Chaitanya Tree : Adi 10.19
bhagavati devananda vakresvara-krpate
bhagavatera bhakti-artha paila prabhu haite
SYNONYMS
bhagavati devananda—Devananda, who used to recite Srimad-Bhagavatam; vakresvara-krpate—by the mercy of Vakreshvara; bhagavatera—of Srimad-Bhagavatam; bhakti-artha—the bhakti interpretation; paila—got; prabhu haite—from the Lord.
TRANSLATION
Devananda Pandita was a professional reciter of Srimad-Bhagavatam, but by the mercy of Vakreshvara Pandita and the grace of the Lord he understood the devotional interpretation of the Bhagavatam.
PURPORT
In the Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-lila, Chapter Twenty-one, it is stated that Devananda Pandita and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's father, Visarada, lived in the same village. Devananda Pandita was a professional reciter of Srimad-Bhagavatam, but Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not like his interpretation of it. In the present town of Navadvipa, which was formerly known as Kuliya, Lord Chaitanya showed such mercy to him that he gave up the Mayavadi interpretation of Srimad-Bhagavatam and learned how to explain Srimad-Bhagavatam in terms of bhakti.
Formerly, when Devananda was expounding the Mayavadi interpretation, Srivasa Thakura was once present in his meeting, and when he began to cry, Devananda's students drove him away. Some days later, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu passed that way, and when He met Devananda He chastised him severely because of his Mayavada interpretation of Srimad-Bhagavatam. At that time Devananda had little faith in Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as an incarnation of Lord Krishna, but one night some time later Vakreshvara Pandita was a guest in his house, and when he explained the science of Krishna, Devananda was convinced about the identity of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus he was induced to explain Srimad-Bhagavatam according to the Vaishnava understanding In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, verse 106, it is described that he was formerly Bhaguri Muni, who was the sabha-pandita who recited Vedic literature in the house of Nanda Maharaja.
- Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Chaitanya Tree : Adi 10.77
The three brothers Govinda, Madhava and Vasudeva Ghosa all belonged to a kayastha family. Govinda established the Gopinatha temple in Agradvipa, where he resided. Madhava Ghosa was expert in performing kirtana. No one within this world could compete with him. He was known as the singer of Vrindavana and was very dear to Sri Nityananda Prabhu. It is said that when the three brothers performed sankirtana, immediately Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda would dance in ecstasy. According to the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (188), the three brothers were formerly Kalavati, Rasollasa and Gunatunga, who recited the songs composed by Sri Visakha-gopi. The three brothers were among one of the seven parties that performed kirtana when Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu attended the Ratha-yatra festival at Jagannatha Puri. Vakreshvara Pandita was the chief dancer in their party. This is vividly described in the Madhya-lila, Chapter Thirteen, verses 42 and 43.
- Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Chaitanya Tree : Adi 10.115
kasi-misra, pradyumna-misra, raya bhavananda
yanhara milane prabhu paila ananda
SYNONYMS
kasi-misra—of the name Kasi Misra; pradyumna-misra—of the name Pradyumna Misra; raya bhavananda—of the name Bhavananda Raya; yanhara —of whom; milane—meeting; prabhu—the Lord; paila—got; ananda—great pleasure.
TRANSLATION
In the list of devotees at Jagannatha Puri [which begins with Paramananda Puri, Svarupa Damodara, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Gopinatha Acharya], Kasi Misra was the fifth, Pradyumna Misra the sixth and Bhavananda Raya the seventh. Lord Chaitanya took great pleasure in meeting with them.
PURPORT
In Jagannatha Puri Lord Chaitanya lived at the house of Kasi Misra, who was the priest of the king. Later this house was inherited by Vakreshvara Pandita and then by his disciple Gopalaguru Gosvami, who established there a Deity of Radhakanta. The Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (193) states that Kasi Misra was formerly Kubja in Mathura. Pradyumna Misra, an inhabitant of Orissa, was a great devotee of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Pradyumna Misra was born of a brahmana family and Ramananda Raya of a non-brahmana family, yet Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu advised Pradyumna Misra to take instruction from Ramananda Raya. This incident is described in the Antya-lila, Chapter Five.
Bhavananda Raya was the father of Sri Ramananda Raya. His residence was in Alalanatha (Brahmagiri), which is about twelve miles west of Jagannatha Puri. By caste he belonged to the karana community of Orissa, whose members were sometimes known as kayasthas and sometimes as sudras, but he was the governor of Madras under the control of King Prataparudra of Jagannatha Puri.
- Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Chaitanya Tree : Adi 10.131
chakravarti sivananda sada vrajavasi
mahasakha-madhye tenho sudrdha visvasi
SYNONYMS
Chakravarti sivananda—of the name Sivananda Chakravarti; sada—always; vraja-vasi—resident of Vrindavana; maha-sakha-madhye—amongst the great branches; tenho—he is; sudrdha visvasi—possessing firm faith.
TRANSLATION
Sivananda Chakravarti, the thirty-third branch, who always lived in Vrindavana with firm conviction, is considered an important branch of Gadadhara Pandita.
PURPORT
The Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, verse 183, mentions that Sivananda Chakravarti was formerly Lavanga-manjari. The Sakha-nirnaya, written by Yadunandana dasa, also names other branches of Gadadhara Pandita, as follows: (1) Madhava Acharya, (2) Gopala dasa, (3) Hridayananda, (4) Vallabha Bhatta (the Vallabha-sampradaya, or Pustimarga-sampradaya, is very famous), (5) Madhu Pandita (this famous devotee lived near Khadadaha in the village known as Sanibona-grama, about two miles east of the Khadadaha station, and constructed the temple of Gopinathaji in Vrindavana), (6) Achyutananda, (7) Chandrasekhara, (8) Vakreshvara Pandita, (9) Damodara, (10) Bhagavan Acharya, (11) Ananta Acharyavarya, (12) Krishnadasa, (13) Paramananda Bhattacharya, (14) Bhavananda Gosvami, (15) Chaitanya dasa, (16) Lokanatha Bhatta (this devotee, who lived in the village of Talakhadi in the district of Yasohara and constructed the temple of Radhavinoda, was the spiritual master of Narottama dasa Thakura and a great friend of Bhugarbha Gosvami), (17) Govinda Acharya, (18) Akrura, Thakura (19) Sanketa Acharya, (20) Pratapaditya, (21) Kamalakanta Acharya, (22) Yadava Acharya and (23) Narayana Padihari (a resident of Jagannatha Puri).
- Chaitanya-charitamrita - The Expansions of Advaita Acharya and Gadadhara Pandita : Adi 12.88 :