Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 20 Summary

The following summary of this chapter is given by Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya. When Srila Sanatana Gosvami was imprisoned by Nawab Hussain Shah, he received news from Rupa Gosvami that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had gone to Mathura. Sanatana Gosvami thereafter satisfied the superintendent of the jail by sweet solicitations and bribery. After giving the jailer seven thousand gold coins, Sanatana Gosvami was released. He then crossed the Ganges and fled. One of his servants, Isana, followed him, carrying eight gold coins. Sanatana Gosvami and his servant then spent the night in a small hotel on the way to Benares. The hotel owner knew that Sanatana Gosvami 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. Sanatana Gosvami, however, asked his servant how much money he had, and taking seven of the gold coins, Sanatana offered them to the hotel owner. Thus the owner helped them cross the hilly tract and proceed toward Varanasi. On the way, Sanatana Gosvami met his brother-in-law, Srikanta, at Hajipura, and Srikanta helped him after he had heard about all Sanatana's troubles. Thus Sanatana Gosvami finally arrived at Varanasi and stood before the door of Candrasekhara. Caitanya Mahaprabhu 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 Misra's. Later, he exchanged his valuable blanket for a torn quilt. At this time Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very pleased with him, and thus Sri Sanatana Gosvami received knowledge of the Absolute Truth from the Lord Himself.

First they discussed the constitutional position of the living entities, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained to Sanatana Gosvami how the living entity is one of Lord Krsna's energies. After this, the Lord explained the way of devotional service. While discussing the Absolute Truth, Sri Krsna, the Lord analyzed Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, as well as the expansions of the Lord called svayam-rupa, tad-ekatma and avesa, which are divided into various branches known as vaibhava and prabhava. 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 purusa-avataras, manvantara-avataras, guna-avataras and saktyavesa-avataras. The Lord also discussed the divisions of Krsna's different ages, such as balya and pauganda, and the different pastimes of the different ages. He explained how Krsna attained His permanent form when He reached youth. In this way Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained and described everything to Sanatana Gosvami.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness