Chapter Summary
The following summary of this chapter is given by Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura in his Amá¹›ta-pravÄha-bhÄá¹£ya. When ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« was imprisoned by Nawab Hussain Shah, he received news from RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« that ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu had gone to MathurÄ. SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« thereafter satisfied the superintendent of the jail by sweet solicitations and bribery. After giving the jailer seven thousand gold coins, SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« was released. He then crossed the Ganges and fled. One of his servants, ĪśÄna, followed him, carrying eight gold coins. SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« and his servant then spent the night in a small hotel on the way to Benares. The hotel owner knew that SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« and his servant had eight gold coins, and he decided to kill them and take the money. Making plans in this way, the hotel owner received them as honorable guests. SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ«, however, asked his servant how much money he had, and taking seven of the gold coins, SanÄtana offered them to the hotel owner. Thus the owner helped them cross the hilly tract and proceed toward VÄrÄṇasÄ«. On the way, SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« met his brother-in-law, ÅšrÄ«kÄnta, at HÄjipura, and ÅšrÄ«kÄnta helped him after he had heard about all SanÄtana’s troubles. Thus SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« finally arrived at VÄrÄṇasÄ« and stood before the door of CandraÅ›ekhara. Caitanya MahÄprabhu called him in and ordered him to change his dress so that he would look like a gentleman. For his garment, he used an old cloth of Tapana MiÅ›ra’s. Later, he exchanged his valuable blanket for a torn quilt. At this time Caitanya MahÄprabhu was very pleased with him, and thus ÅšrÄ« SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« received knowledge of the Absolute Truth from the Lord Himself.First they discussed the constitutional position of the living entities, and ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu explained to SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« how the living entity is one of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s energies. After this, the Lord explained the way of devotional service. While discussing the Absolute Truth, ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, the Lord analyzed Brahman, ParamÄtmÄ and BhagavÄn, as well as the expansions of the Lord called svayaá¹-rÅ«pa, tad-ekÄtma and ÄveÅ›a, which are divided into various branches known as vaibhava and prÄbhava. Thus the Lord described the many forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also described the incarnations of God within the material world, incarnations such as the puruá¹£a-avatÄras, manvantara-avatÄras, guṇa-avatÄras and Å›aktyÄveÅ›a-avatÄras. The Lord also discussed the divisions of Kṛṣṇa’s different ages, such as bÄlya and paugaṇá¸a, and the different pastimes of the different ages. He explained how Kṛṣṇa attained His permanent form when He reached youth. In this way ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu explained and described everything to SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ«.
