Chapter Summary - Chaitanya-bhagavata - Adi-khanda Ch. 11
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Brief Summary:  Chapter 11 is pure nectar for the heart.  Twice while reading it I had to stop reading to make a little note in the margin to express my delight; it opens with Nitai Pandita a full-fledged, young scholar, the most formidable intellect in all of Nabadwip;  however, depending on "their eyes," the different segments of society perceived Nitai Pandita differently: 1) The materialistic fruitive workers who were attached to family and home saw Him as the Lord and experienced an inexplicable wonder. "How remarkable that every house He graces should always have prosperity," 2) The ladies saw Him as the most attractive cupid. 3) The scholars were convinced that Brhaspati, the most learned priest of the demigods, had taken birth on earth. 4) The atheists He struck fear as the God of death.  5) The Vaishnavas were seriously concerned about Gauranga and His behavior. "He is endowed with such sublime physical beauty," they sadly commented, "yet He shows no attraction for Lord Krishna. What will all His learning and erudition bring Him except years of wasted time."; Mukunda had become a respected scholar by such meetings with the Lord, and he would argue with the Lord, presenting pros and cons to establish his arguments. Of course the Supreme Lord recognized His devotees and enjoyed such exchanges.
Chaitanya also harassed Srivasa in the same manner whenever He saw him, so most of the Vaishnavas
tried to avoid meeting the Lord which simply wasted their time in useless sophistry and argument; One day when Nimai Pandita observed His beloved Mukunda sneaking off the main road to avoid meeting Him, Nimai Pandita made this prediction: Alright Mukunda, we will see how long you can avoid me," laughed the Lord. Let me catch you another day and you will see how much of a Vaishnava I am. I will become such a Vaishnava devotee that Siva and Lord Brahma will come and stand at My doorstep. So my brothers, now hear from Me carefully. I will become the most famous Vaishnava. Those who are running away at the sight of me now will also sing my glories; The author next writes about the offensive materialist of Nabadwip and their insults to the Vaishnava community, criticizing their devotional dancing, emotions, loudness... They are singing only with the hope of filling their bellies; Advaita Acarya's was the leader of the Nabadwip Vaishnavas and his house was their main headquarters;  {Now the suspense builds: Advaita Acarya Prabhu could hardly tolerate insults to the devotees and grew enraged like an incarnation of Lord Rudra, the destroyer of the material world. He roared furiously, "I shall destroy everyone! ...My dear brothers, please remain patient a little longer, then here in Nadia itself you shall see Krishna reveal His wonderful pastimes; The remainder of Chapter 11 covers the visit to Nabadwip of the giant of a Saint, Sri Isvara Chandra Puri - dressed as a ekadandi sannyasa, he was a magnanimous personality, always absorbed in tasting the nectar of love of Krishna.  He is the esteemed disciple of Madhavendra Puri.  Several episodes describe Nimai Pandita meeting with Sri Isvara Puri; In one of their interactions, Isvari Puri was triumphant in arguing with the Visvambhara.  The Lord was overjoyed that his servant and devotee was victorious over Him. That was the Lord's magnanimous nature through which He always increased the name frame and victory of his disciples;  Regarding a book that Isvara Puri had written and his asking Nimai Pandita to critique it, the Lord responded by saying: "These are descriptions of Lord Krishna by a pure devotee," replied Nimai. If anyone finds any mistake, then he is a sinful offender. The pure devotee never writes anything from his imagination, devoid of a scriptural basis. These writings are bonafide and always pleasing to Lord Krishna. When offering obeisances in the temple an ignorant person might make a grammatical mistake in addressing Lord Krishna while a learned scholar would address him using proper grammar. But the Supreme Lord Krishna accepts both their obeisances. The Supreme Lord is not impressed with mere learning, but He is supplicated by the inner mood of surrender of the living entities. Whoever looks for faults in your writings is actually at fault himself because Krishna is fully satisfied by the writing of this pure devotee. Whatever you have written is an expression of your love for Krishna. Who has the audacity to
find some discrepancy in it?"  Chapter concludes with nice blessing for the reader.

Most Memorable:

1. At Advaita Acarya's house the Vaishnavas described the insults they had received from the Nabadwip
community. Advaita Acarya Prabhu could hardly tolerate insults to the devotees and grew enraged like
an incarnation of Lord Rudra, the destroyer of the material world. He roared furiously, "I shall destroy
everyone! My Lord, the carrier of the Sudarsana disc will soon appear here in Nadia and then everyone
will see what He does. I shall report all these offenses to my Supreme Lord Krishna. Then only will
this slave Advaita be worthy to be called the servant of Krishna. My dear brothers, please remain
patient a little longer, then here in Nadia itself you shall see Krishna reveal His wonderful pastimes."

2. Sri Puripada would read Krishna Lilamrta which he had composed himself and then explain the different esoteric truths. Lord Chaitanya visited Isvara Puri every evening after teaching his students. Isvara Puri was always glad to see him. Although he did not know that Nimai was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his
love and affection for him flowed unrestrained. He spoke affectionately to the Lord, "I know you are a
great scholar. I have written a book about Lord Krishna. I want you to go through it and find the mistakes. This will please me very much."

"These are descriptions of Lord Krishna by a pure devotee," replied Nimai. If anyone finds any
mistake, then he is a sinful offender. The pure devotee never writes anything from his imagination,
devoid of a scriptural basis. These writings are bonafide and always pleasing to Lord Krishna. When
offering obeisances in the temple an ignorant person might make a grammatical mistake in addressing
Lord Krishna while a learned scholar would address him using proper grammar. But the Supreme Lord
Krishna accepts both their obeisances. The Supreme Lord is not impressed with mere learning, but He
is supplicated by the inner mood of surrender of the living entities. Whoever looks for faults in your
writings is actually at fault himself because Krishna is fully satisfied by the writing of this pure
devotee. Whatever you have written is an expression of your love for Krishna. Who has the audacity to
find some discrepancy in it?"

Isvara Chandra Puri felt ecstasy surge through his entire body with the explanation of Nimai Pandita.
Yet he affectionately persisted, "I know you are not critical but in my works there may be so many
types of errors. Please point them out to me." Such discussions between Sri Puri and Nimai Pandita
were a daily occurrence and everyone enjoyed such occasions together.

Quiz: (see answers below)

1.  What factor made Nimai Pandita the unquestioned leader among His friends.

A-  His beautiful features.  
B-  Because their teacher told them that Nimai deserved the utmost respect.
C-  Nimai Pandita had a library at His home that nobody could come close to matching.  Many of the book had once belonged to His father, grandfather, and great grandfather.
D-  On the strength of His superior intelligence and learning.

2.   In all of Nabadwip there was only one person capable is discussing with Nimai Pandita.  Who was this person?

A-  Mother Saci 
B-  The brahmana Gangadasa Pandita 
C-  His wive, Laksmi Devi
D-  Sri Banamali

3.  How did the materialistic, fruitive workers who were attached to family and home view Nimai Pandita?

A-  As a rebel rouser  
B-  Only as a smart student  
C-  As the famous troublemaker of Nabadwip that everyone knew so well.
D-  They saw Him as the Lord and experienced an inexplicable wonder. "How remarkable that every house He graces should always have prosperity," they exclaimed.

4.  How did the Vaishnava community view Nimai Pandita?

A-  As a great saint.  
B-  As the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
C-  The Vaishnavas were seriously concerned about Gauranga and His behavior. "He is endowed with
such sublime physical beauty," they sadly commented, "yet He shows no attraction for Lord Krishna.
What will all His learning and erudition bring Him except years of wasted time."
D-  They considered him an incarnation of Vyasadeva.

5.  What was Nabadwip famous for at this time?

A-   Best climate in India 
B-   The oldest temple in India was located there. 
C-   Enormous banana plantations
D-   A center for scholars, from all over India.

6.  Why was Sri Mukunda so loved by all the other Vaishnavas?

A-  Because of his beautiful singing he could melt anyone's heart.   
B-  Because only Mukunda could defeat Vishvambhara in debate  
C-  Because everyone recognized Mukunda as the greatest saint in all of Nabadwip.
D-  Because of the delicious prasadam he always gave out to the Vaishnavas.

7.  How did Sri Mukunda become a respected scholar?

A-  There was nobody in all of India who could defeat Mukunda's logic in debates.  
B-  By his famous poetry. 
C-  By becoming the best teacher in all of Nabadwip.
D-  By often engaging Nimai Pandita in debate.

8.  Why did Mukunda sneak away to avoid meeting Nimai Pandita on the road?

A-   Because he owned Nimai 2 talas of gold and did not have them.   
B-   To avoid Nimai's habit of constantly asking him to engage in mundane arguments.
C-   He was sick and did not want to infect the Lord.
D-   Because of his great shame at loosing a recent debate.

9.  In what manner did Sri Isvara Chandra (moonlike, very soothing)  Puri arrive in Nabadwip?

A-  As a lowly sannyasa.    
B-  On the back of a great elephant. 
C-  Carried on a palanquin
D-  Walked into town with hundreds of his disciples.

10.  How did Advaita Acharya know that Isvara Puri was an exalted devotee of the Lord?

A-  By his large number of disciples. 
B-  By Isvara Puri's efulgence.  
C-  By his unparalleled intelligence.
D-  By the many books he had written.

11.  How often would Nimai Pandita visit Isvara Puri

A-  daily in the evenings after teaching His students. 
B-  seldom  
C-  once every week
D-  Since Gopinatha Acarya's house (where Isvara Puri stayed as a guest) was so far away, Nimai only visited once a month.  Even then it required the use of a small boat to visit him.

12. Why did Nimai Pandita not want to render judgment regarding the book Isvara Puri had written and who had asked the Lord to critique it?

A-   "These writings are descriptions of Lord Krishna by a pure devotee," replied Nimai. "If anyone finds any
mistake, then he is a sinful offender." 
B-   Nimai was concerned with the social etiquette at the time that forbid such a thing on His part.  
C-   Because Isvara Puri was much older than himself, thus to do so would be offensive.
D-   Because Nitai Pandita wasn't knowledgeable enough on the subject and didn't want to be make a mistake.

13.  Why was the Lord overjoyed that his servant and devotee (Isvari Puri) was victorious over Him?

A-  Because Nimai Padita didn't want all the fame.  
B-  Because it showed the world that he was big enough to be wrong some of the time.
C-  Because He always increased the name, frame and victory of His disciples.
D-  By loosing to Isvari Puri proved that Nimai was even handed.

14.  Why did Isvara Chandra Puri have to leave Nabadwip?

A-  Since spring was right around the corner, he wanted to leave before the yearly rains.
B-  It was time to meet his guru, Sri Madhavendra Puri.  
C-  He was sick and needed special medicine that only grew in Vrndavana.
D-  He could never remain long in one place because the restlessness of ecstatic devotional love tugged at his heart.

Devotee Mentioned:  Gangadasa Pandita {No scholar in Nabadwip dared to find faults in His dissertations. Only the brahmana Gangadasa Pandita, a very pious and fortunate soul, was capable of discussing with the Lord.}; Sri Mukunda was especially loved by all the other Vaishnavas because he could melt anyone's heart
with his beautiful singing. Govinda {Nimai Pandita's servant}; Sri Isvara Chandra Puri (aka Sri Puripada); Gopinatha Acarya (Sri Isvara Puri stayed at Gopinatha Acarya's home for 7 months); Srivasa (as Nimai Pandita did with Sri Mukunda, the Lord often engaged Srivasa in materialistic debates;

Blessings:  Whoever is fortunate enough to attentively hear these wonderful narrations about Isvara Chandra Puri is immediately transported to the place where the lotus feet of Lord Krishna are ever offering shelter and mercy. 

Misc. Facts:  Nabadwip was the seat of learning in those days and students and scholars came there from all over. There were many pure Vaishnava devotees amongst them, especially from Chattograma, who had come to live near the bank of the Ganga. By the Lord's desire all those Vaishnava devotees had appeared in Nabadwip; Towards evening, the devotees would gather in Sri Acarya's house and when Mukunda would sing devotional songs to Lord Krishna; Mukunda had become a respected scholar by such meetings with the Lord, and he would argue with the Lord, presenting pros and cons to establish his arguments.

Words:

Chandra: moonlike, very soothing
 

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