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Chapter Summary

Purport
A summary of the sixth chapter is given by ÅšrÄ«la Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura in his Amá¹›ta-pravÄha-bhÄá¹£ya as follows. When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu entered the temple of JagannÄtha, He immediately fainted. SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya then took Him to his home. Meanwhile, GopÄ«nÄtha Ä€cÄrya, the brother-in-law of SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, met Mukunda Datta and talked to him about Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s acceptance of sannyÄsa and His journey to JagannÄtha PurÄ«. After hearing about ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s fainting and His being carried to the house of SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, people crowded there to see the Lord. ÅšrÄ«la NityÄnanda Prabhu and other devotees then visited the JagannÄtha temple, and when they came back to the house of SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu returned to external consciousness. SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya received everyone and distributed mahÄ-prasÄdam with great care. The Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya then became acquainted with ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu and arranged accommodations at his aunt’s house. His brother-in-law, GopÄ«nÄtha Ä€cÄrya, established that Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu was Kṛṣṇa Himself, but SÄrvabhauma and his many disciples could not accept this. However, GopÄ«nÄtha Ä€cÄrya convinced SÄrvabhauma that no one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead without being favored by Him. He proved by Å›Ästric quotation, quotations from the revealed scriptures, that ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was Kṛṣṇa Himself in person. Still, SÄrvabhauma did not take these statements very seriously. Hearing all these arguments, Caitanya MahÄprabhu told His devotees that SÄrvabhauma was His spiritual master and that whatever he said out of affection was for everyone’s benefit.When SÄrvabhauma met ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, he asked Him to hear VedÄnta philosophy from him. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu accepted this proposal, and for seven days He continally heard SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya explain the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra. However, the Lord remained very silent. Because of His silence, the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya asked Him whether He was understanding the VedÄnta philosophy, and the Lord replied, “Sir, I can understand VedÄnta philosophy very clearly, but I cannot understand your explanations.†There was then a discussion between the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya and ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu concerning the authority of the Vedic scriptures, specifically the Upaniá¹£ads and VedÄnta-sÅ«tra. The Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya was an impersonalist, but ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu proved that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He proved that the conceptions of the MÄyÄvÄdÄ« philosophers concerning the impersonal Absolute Truth are incorrect.The Absolute Truth is neither impersonal nor without power. The greatest mistake made by the MÄyÄvÄdÄ« philosophers is in conceiving the Absolute Truth to be impersonal and without energy. In all the Vedas, the unlimited energies of the Absolute Truth have been accepted. It is also accepted that the Absolute Truth has His transcendental, blissful, eternal form. According to the Vedas, the Lord and the living entity are equal in quality but different quantitatively. The real philosophy of the Absolute Truth states that the Lord and His creation are inconceivably and simultaneously one and different. The conclusion is that the MÄyÄvÄdÄ« philosophers are actually atheists. There was much discussion on this issue between SÄrvabhauma and Caitanya MahÄprabhu, but despite all his endeavors, the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya was defeated in the end.At the request of SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu then explained the ÄtmÄrÄma verse of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam in eighteen different ways. When the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya came to his senses, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu disclosed His real identity. The Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya then recited one hundred verses in praise of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu and offered his obeisances. After this, GopÄ«nÄtha Ä€cÄrya and all the others, having seen the wonderful potencies of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu, became very joyful.One morning after this incident, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu received some prasÄdam from JagannÄtha and offered it to SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya. Without caring for formality, the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya immediately partook of the mahÄ-prasÄdam. On another day, when the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya asked ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu the best way to worship and meditate, the Lord advised him to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra. On another day, the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya wanted to change the reading of the tat te ’nukampÄm verse because he did not like the word mukti-pada. He wanted to substitute the word bhakti-pada. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu advised SÄrvabhauma not to change the reading of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, because mukti-pada indicated the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Having become a pure devotee, the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya said, “Because the meaning is hazy, I still prefer bhakti-pada.†At this, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu and the other inhabitants of JagannÄtha PurÄ« became very pleased. SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya thus became a pure Vaiṣṇava, and the other learned scholars there followed him.