Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of Nadia just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd Phalguna 1407 Sakabda, answering to the 18th of February, 1486, of the Christian Era. The moon was eclipsed at the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's birth, and the people of Nadia were then engaged, as was usual on such occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi [Ganges] with loud cheers of Haribol! His father, Jagannatha Misra, a poor brahmana of the Vedic order, and his mother, Saci-devi, a model good woman, both descended from brahmana stock originally residing in Sylhet. Mahaprabhu was a beautiful child, and the ladies of the town came to see him with presents. His mother’s father, Pandita Nilambara Cakravarti, a renowned astrologer, foretold that the child would be a great personage in time; and he, therefore, gave him the name Visvambhara. The ladies of the neighborhood styled him Gaurahari on account of his golden complexion, and his mother called him Nimai on account of the nimba tree near which he was born.
While other forms of the Lord descended with various paraphernalia to deal with the demoniac and irreligious influences of the time, Lord Sri Caitanya was equipped with the most powerful weapon against irreligion, the Maha Mantra. The chanting of the holy name of Lord Sri Krishna is the sublime and recommended process in this age for the deliverance of all souls from the clutches of maya (illusion) and irreligion
Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita 4:7 “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself.” In past ages Lord Krishna has appeared in various forms. Over 5000 years ago He appeared as Himself in His original form as Bhagavan, Sri Krishna. In this present age of Kali Yuga, He appears in His most merciful form as Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya is Lord Krishna’s devotional form and is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.29 “In this age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of sankirtana-yajna”, (chanting the Maha Mantra). Lord Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu is Lord Krishna’s most merciful form who comes under the guise of a devotee. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was setting the perfect example of the “pure devotee of God”, yet, He is God Himself! He is the devotional form of Lord Sri Krishna. The purpose of Lord Caitanya’s appearance was to spread the sankirtan movement of chanting the holy names of the Lord to every town and village worldwide as the main means of God realization for this present age of Kali Yuga. He encouraged His followers to write books on Vaishnava sastra and to defeat the present infection of mayavadi impersonalism that is present everywhere and establish within the hearts of all, the practice of bhakti (love and devotion) to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna.
Lord Caitanya is God Himself showing the way of how we can apply the message of Lord Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita to make our lives perfect and complete.
