Chapter Summary - Chaitanya-bhagavata - Adi-khanda Ch. 7
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Brief Summary:  Chapter 7 transitions from Nimai rebellious years to the opening of a new page in His life of a young scholar.  The author explains this new era more fully in chaper 8.  This chapter, while leading there, instead concentrates on things that occurred just before Nimai's official period of studies.  While still touching briefly on Nimai's mischievous behavior, the first part of Chapter 7 is dedicated to Nimai's brother, Sri Visvarupa and His sadness and departure as a sannyasi. "Because of the inherent characteristics of the supersoul, Lord Krishna is able to attract the affection of the Gopis. This fact is applicable only to the devotees for a non-devotee can never feel affection for the Lord. Lord Krishna resided within the heart of Kamsa and other demons, so why were they envious and inimical towards Him? The reason was that these demons had committed grievous offenses in their previous lives. Everyone agrees that the sweetness of sugar is easily discernible; only a diseased person will find its taste bitter. The tongue is diseased; it is not the fault of the sugar. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Chaitanya is the sweetest of all."  The last part of this chapter addresses Nimai schooling and how He overcame Hid father's grief-filled logic of keeping Nimai away from study, all together.  This brought about a final spat of misbehavior and finally triumph so that He could once and for all begin his student life in all earnest and put rest forever His pastimes of tormenting the citizens of Nadia.
 

Most Memorable: 

1.  One day when Mother Saci had completed her cooking she told Sri Visvambhara to bring His elder brother home to eat. Bearing that instruction, Lord Visvambhara ran to Sri Advaita Acarya's residence to retrieve His brother. At the Acarya's house He saw the assembly of Vaishnavas discussing the most auspicious topics of Krishna lila.

Sri Gaurasundara, who is Lord Krishna Himself, felt satisfied to hear the devotees glorify Him, and He captivated them with His glances. Every line of the Lord's transcendental form seemed to defy the extremities of delicate beauty; the radiance of millions upon millions of moons lost their luster when compared to the effulgence of even one of the Lord's finger nails.

Bare-chested and covered with dust, Visvambhara smiled and addressed His elder brother. "Brother, come to eat. Mother is calling you." He caught hold of Visvarupa's dhoti and together they walked home. Sri Visvambhara's enchanting beauty held the devotees in a trance. They stared at Him in wonder, unable to move. The devotees entered into meditation, experiencing the ecstasy of love of Godhead. Even the discussions on Krishna could not be continued.

2.  Sri Visvarupa's disappearance left the hearts of Mother Saci and Sri Misra in intense grief. With the other family members and friends, the parents wailed in lamentation. Sri Visvambhara was unable to bear the separation of His brother and He fell unconscious. I am unable to depict the scene of intense grief and lamentation which struck the house of Sri Misra. 

Quiz: 

1. Though His mother tried to correct Him with sweet advice and in the presence of good instruction, How did Nimai respond to the pleas of His Loving Parents?

A.  He said he was sorry and would never behave poorly again.
B.  He went to the forest to meditatate.
C.  He created twice as much mischief.
D.  He prayed to His family Deity for forgiveness.

2. Although the Lord feared no one, there was one person who Nimai humbled Himself before, who was that?

A.  The chief of police.
B.  The family Salagram Sila
C.  When he would meet is teacher.
D.  In the presence of His elder brother Visvarupa, He became soft and humble.

3.  How is Visvarupa described in the Chaitanya-bhagavata?

A.  He was Narada Muni who had taken his birth in Nadia just to be with his beloved Lord.
B.  He was actually Lord Brahma.
C.  He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
D.  He was a very pious Brahmin who achieved greatness by studying the Bhagavada-gita.

4.  What was Visvarupa's favorite pastime?

A.  He love to swim.
B.  Visvarupa was always found in the association of pure Vaishnava devotees discussing topics about Krishna, engaging in Krishna's service or worshipping the Lord in devotion.
C.  He loved to debate amongst all the scholars that lived in Nadia.
D.  He would take long walks and meditate on the Supersoul.

5. How would the materialistic people of Nadia treat the Vaishnavas when they saw them?

A.  They would taunt them with words.
B.  They would always pay them great respect.
C.  The custom was to fold their hands and bow down before theses Saintly personalities.
D.  They would always engage them in debates

6.  What would Visvarupa do each day?

A.  Go to the forest and meditate.
B.  Go to school where He was a teacher.
C.  Stay home with His wife.
D.  Each day at dawn, after a bath in the Ganga, Sri Visvarupa would visit the house of Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu.

7. What is the most definitive statement by Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura regarding the identity of Sri Visvarupa?

A.  That in a previous birth he was Hanuman.
B.  When Lord Krishna played with his friends in the forests and hills of Vrndavana, Sri Visvarupa was one of the Lords cowherd boyfriends.
C.  Sri Visvarupa is the non-different, direct expansion of Lord Nityananda, the original Sankarsana.
D.  Sri Visvarupa is none other than the great wandering Saint Narada Muni, thus explaining why Visvarupa was unable to stay in one place for long.

8.  The Vaishnava community was devastated by sudden disappearance of Sri Visvarupa, their life and soul.  What did Advaita Acharya tell them to do?

A.  "Go and happily sing Lord Krishna's Holy Name."
B.  "Those of you who cannot tolerate the abuse of the atheists should go to the forest and follow Visvarupa.  Those who are able to remain must go the the Gunga and after bathing call upon Lord Krishna to protect Visvarupa as he wanders to the Holy places of pilgrimage."
C.  "Go to Jugannatha Misra and Mother Saci and console them as their hearts are broken."
D.  "Since Visvarupa has chosen the most glorious path, let us celebrate with an enormous feast in his honor."

9.  Following the departure of His beloved brother, how did Nimai react?

A.  He became wild with grief and his restless way increased even more.  Nobody could now check how the Lord tormented the people of Nadia.
B.  He would not speak to anyone for an entire month.
C.  After much grief, Nimai set off in search of His brother, searching all the forest caves and mountains.
D. Lord Visvambhara minimized His restless and mischievous behavior. Nimai stayed by the side of His mother and father to mitigate their grief in separation from Visvarupa.

10.  Instead of being happy upon hearing about the unparalleled intelligence of his son, Nimai, Jugannatha Misra felt intense anxiety.  What was the reason for his grief?

A.  Jugannatha Misra was unhappy because he could not find a suitable wife for Nimai because there were no girls in all of Nadia who would be able to understand his intelligent son.
B.  He felt that Nimai would reach the same conclusion about the material world as did Visvarupa and follow in His footsteps and also leave.
C.  Jugannath Misra was sad because he could see that those who possess extraordinary intelligence are never happy and thus his son was destined to be miserable.
D.  Jugannath Misra knew that there was always someone more intelligent in life and thus Nimai would surely one day meet his match and have to surrender to another, even having to pay and monthly tithe to that person for the remainer of Nimai's life, thus burdening him with a tax upon His shoulders that would forever keep his son poor.

11. How did Jagannatha Misra decide to resolve his grief? 

A.  To send Nimai to a special school located in  South India where the girls there are renowned for their intelligence, thus Nimai would surely find happiness.
B.  To only allow Nimai to study classical Indian dance, in this way with His mind off deeper subjects of life, surely Nimai would remain a householder and stay in Nadia forever.
C.  He forbid his son to study, thus thinking that if he kept Nimai ignorant He would just become a simple brahmin and stay at home.
D.  Jagannatha Misra decided to place Nimai in a school for Ayurvedic Medicine where the long hours of complicated study would keep Nimai's attention off of leaving home.

12.  With idle time on His hands now that Nimai was no longer in school, one day He and His friends spotted a banana plantation full of delicious bananas and decided to raid it one night.  The hid under a blanket to escape all blame.  What did the owner of the plantation think was destroying his crop?

A.  A bull
B.  A mad elephant
C.  A tiger
D.  A cow

13.  Sometimes Nimai and His friends tied the neighbor's doors from the outside so that they could not leave the house to use the outdoor lavatory.  Day and night the Lord of Vaikuntha and His friends performed endless pranks. How was this segment of Nimai's childhood pastimes finally put to rest?

A.  As He became older in time, Nimai simply outgrew His mischievous ways.
B.  Jagannatha Misra finally made good on his threats to beat the Supreme Lord and this put an end to His misbehavior.
C.  Nimai finally felt sorry for all the trouble He was causing His parents.
D.  The Lord sat atop a pile of contaminated cooking pots.

14.  Even though Mother Saci's neighbors pointed out that whatever Lord Krishna desires will always come to true, still they presented a good argument for Nimai to return to schooling.  What did they say?

A.  Since, unlike most children who do not desire to study, and because Nimai genuinely wanted to learn, Jagannatha Misra and Mother Saci should be very pleased and realize how fortunate they were and encourage Nimai to study, rather than keeping him away from his schooling.
B.  If Nimai was kept ignorant of the ways of the world, He would never be able to support a proper wife.
C.  Only by becoming educated would Nimai ever hope to find a suitable wife to match his extraordinary intelligence.  Smart girls would not be interested in an uneducated man.
D. If Nimai didn't continue studying, how would he learn the Vedic Mantras necessary in the life of any Brahmin.  Without schooling Nimai would be relegated to the chores of a sudra. 

Lord Chaitanya aka:  The Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Narayana; Navadvipa-candra (the moon of Navadvipa); Sri Sacinandana Chaitanya (is the supersoul within everyone's heart); Sri Gaurasundara; Lord GauraChandra

Advaita Acharya:   aka: Advaita Mahasaya

Blessings:  Whoever hears the pastime of Sri Visvarupa accepting the sannyasa order of life is freed from the noose of karma and attains devotional service to Lord Krishna; Devotional service to Lord Krishna is perfected by sincerely hearing this story: sitting on the pile of contaminated pots.

Misc. Facts:  Nimai's brother: Sri Visvarupa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was the treasure house of all divine qualities and a renunciate from His very birth. Visvarupa explained that the essence of all scriptures was the path of devotional service to the Supreme Lord. No one has ever had the power to refute His explanations. He was totally absorbed in Lord Krishna and by engaging His hearing, speech, mind and all other senses in the service of the Lord, He grew disinterested in anything else; Sri Visvarupa in particular felt great anguish over the absence of kirtana of the name of His beloved Krishna Chandra; Each day at dawn, after a bath in the Ganga, Sri Visvarupa would visit the house of Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu; The materialistic person is unable to comprehend the Lord's transcendental activities of attracting and alluring the hearts of His devotees; a non-devotee can never feel affection for the Lord; Everyone agrees that the sweetness of sugar is easily discernible; only a diseased person will find its taste bitter. The tongue is diseased; it is not the fault of the sugar; Sri Visvarupa took the renounced order of sannyasa with the name Sri Sankararanya; If any member in the family takes the sannyasa order of life, then innumerable generations become eligible to live in the transcendental abode of Vaikuntha; Sri Visvarupa  is the non-different, direct expansion of Lord Nityananda, the original Sankarsana; From the day Sri Visvarupa left the house to become a sannyasi, Lord Visvambhara minimized His restless and mischievous behavior; After studying any aphorism once, (a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”) Nimai mastered it so well that when questioned on it, He bettered everyone else; {After Visvarupa took sannyasi and left home, Lord Caitanya's father forbid him to continue his studies in fear that He, too, once he reached an understanding of the Holy Scriptures - just as Visvarupa, Nimai would also leave home.  So Jugganatha Misra wanted to keep Nimai ignorant of the Scriptures and have him stay at home for good.  This pushed Nimai back into his restless ways and dressed as a bull under a blanket, with friends He raided a banana grove}; While sitting on contaminated pots outside his house, Nimai spoke the non-dual absolute truth in the mood of His previous incarnation Lord Dattatreya; Misra Mahasaya is another name that Jagannatha Misra was called by the author;

Words:
mirthful: joyous; gay; jolly
reprobate: morrally depraved, bad
aphorism: a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely



 

 Answers:  1-C;  2-D;  3-C;  4-B;  5-A;  6-D;  7-C;  8-A;  9-D;  10-B;  11-C;  12-A;  13-D;  14-A