Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the great apostle of love of God and the father of the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord, advented Himself at Sridhama Mayapura, a quarter in the city of Navadvipa in Bengal, on the Phalguni Purnima evening in the year 1407 Sakabda(corresponding to February 1486 by the Christian calendar).
His father, Sri Jagannatha Misra, a learned brahmana from the district of Sylhet, came to Navadvipa as a student because at that time Navadvipa was considered to be the center of education and culture. He domiciled on the banks of the Ganges after marrying Srimati Sacidevi, a daughter of Srila Nilambara Cakravarti, the great learned scholar of Navadvipa.
Jagannatha Misra had a number of daughters by his wife Srmati Sacidevi, and most of them expired at an early age. Two surviving sons, Sri Visvarupa and Visvambhara, became at last the object of their paternal affection. The tenth and youngest sone, who was named Visvambhara, later became to known as Nimai Pandit and then, after accepting the renounced order of life, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Lord Sro Caitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited His transcendental activities for forty-eight years and then disappeared in the year 1455 Sakabda at Puri.
For His first twenty-four years, He remained at Navadvipa as a student and householder. His first wife was Srimati Laksmipriya, who died at al early age when the Lord was away from home. When He returned from East Bengal He was requested by His mother to accept a second wife, and He agreed. his second wife was Srimati Visnupriya Devi, who bore the separation of the Lord throughtout her life because the Lord took the order of sannyasa at the age of twenty-four when Srimati Visnupriya was barely sixteen years old.
After taking sannyasa, the Lord made His headquarters at Jagannatha Puri due to the request of His mother, Srimati Sacidevi. The Lord remained for twenty-four years at Puri. For six years of this time He travelled continuously all over India (and especially throughtout southern India) preaching the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Lord Caitanya not only preached the Srimad-Bhagavatam but propagated the teaching of the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna is depicted as the Absolute Personality of Godhead, and His last teaching in that great book of transcendental knowledge instruct that one should give up all the modes of religious activities and accept Him(Lord Sri Krsna) as the only worshipable Lord.
The Lord then assured that all His devotees would be protected from all sorts of sinful acts and that for them there would be no cause for anxiety.
Unfortunately, despite Lord Sri Krsna's direct order and the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita, less intelligent people misunderstand Him to be nothing but a great historical personality, and thus they cannot accept Him as the original Personality of Godhead. Such men with a poor fund of knowledge are misled by many nondevotees. Thus the teaching of the Bhagavad were misinterpreted even by great scholars. After the disappearance of Lord Sri krsna there were hundreds of commentaries on the Bhagavad-Gita by many erudite scholars, and almost every one of them was motivated by self-interest.
Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the self same Lord Sri Krsna. This time, however, He appeared as a great devotee of the Lord in order to preach to the people in general, as well as to religionists and philosophers, about the transcendental position of Sri Krsna, the primeval Lord and the cause of all causes. The essence of His preaching is that Lord Sri Krsna, who appeared at Vrajabhumi(Vrindavana) as the son of the King of Vraja(Nanda Maharaja), is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is therefore worshipable by all.
Vrndavana-dhama is nondifferent from the Lord because the name, fame, form and place where the Lord manifests Himself are all identical with the Lord as absolute knowledge. Therefore Vrndavana-dhama is as worshipable as the Lord. The highest form of transcendental worship of the Lord was exhibited by the damsels of Vrajabhumi in the form of pure affection for the Lord, and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu recomends this process as the most excellent mode of worship. He accepts the Srimad-Bhagavatam Purana as the spotless literature for understanding the Lord, and He preached that the ultimate goal of life for all human beings is to attain the stage of prema or love of God.
Many devotees of Lord Caitanya like Srila Vrndavan-dasa Thakur, Sri Locanadasa Thakur, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraha Gosvami, Sri Kavikarnapura, Sri Prabodhananda Saravati, Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Dasa and in this latter age within two hundreds years, Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti, Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana, Sri Syamananda Gosvami, Sri Narottama-dasa Thakur, Sri Bhaktivinode Thakur and at last Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur(our spiritual master) and many other great and renowned scholars and devotees of the Lord, have prepared voluminous books and literatures on the life and precepts of the Lord.
Such literatures are all based on the sastras like the Vedas, Puranas, Upanisads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and other historries and authentic literatures approved by the recognized acharyas. They are unique in composition and unrivaled in presentation, and they are full of transcendental knowledge. Unfortunately the people of the world are still ignorant of them, but when these literatures, which are mostly in Sanskrit and Bengali, come to light the world and when they are presented before thinking people, then India's glory and the message of love will overflood this morbid world, which is vainl searching after peace and prosperity by various illusory methods not approved by the acharyas in the chain of disciplic succession.
The readers of this small description of the life and precepts of Lord Caitanya will profit much to go through the books of Srila Vrndavana-dasa Thakur (Sri Caitanya-bhagavata) and Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta). The early life of the Lord is most fascinatingly expressed by the author of Caitanya-bhagavata, and as far as the teaching are concerned, they are more vividly explained in the Caitanya-caritamrta. Now they are available to the English speaking public in our "Teachings Of Lord Caitanya".
The Lord's early life was recorded by one of His chief devotees and contemporaries, namely Srila Muraru Gupta, a medical practitioner of that time, and the latter part of the life of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was recorded by His private secretary Sri Damodara Gosvami or Srila Svarupa Damodara, who was practically a constant companion of the Lord at Puri. These two devotees recorded practically all the incidences of the Lord's activities, and later on all books dealing with the Lord, which are above mentioned, were composed on the basis of Karcas by Srila Damodara Gosvami and Murari Gupta.
So the Lord advented Himself on the Phalguni Purnima evening of 1407 sakabda, and it was by the will of the Lord that there was a lunar eclipse on that evening. During the hours of eclise it was the custom of the Hindu public to take bath in the Ganges or any other sacred river and chant the Vedic mantras for purification. When Lord Caitanya was born during the lunar eclipse, all India was roaring with the hold sound of "Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare".
These sixteen names of the Lord are mentioned in many Puranas and Upanishads, and they are described as the Taraka-Brahman-Nama of this age. It is recommended in the sastras that offenseless chanting of these holy names of the Lord can deliver a fallen soul from material bondage. There are innumerable names of the Lord both in India and outside, and all of them are equally good because all of them indicate the Supreme Personailty Of Godhead. But because these sixteen are especially recommended for this age, people should take advantage of them and follow the path of the great acharyas who attained success by practising the rules of the sastras(revealed scriptures).
The simultaneous occurence of the Lords' appearance and the lunar eclipse indicated the distinctive mission of the Lord. This mission was to preach the importance of chanting the holy names of the Lord in this age of Kali(quarrel). In this present age quarrels take place even over triflies, and therefore the sastras have recommended for this age a common platform for realization, namely chanting the holy names of the Lord.
People can hold meetings to glorify the Lord in their respective languages and with melodious songs, and if such performances are executed in an offenseless manner, it is certain that the participants will gradually attain spiritual perfection without having to undergo more rigorous methods.
At such meetings everyone, the learned and the foolish, the rich and the poor, the Hindus and the Muslims, the Englishman and the Indians, and the chandala(untouchables) and the brahmanas(Priests), can all hear the transcendental sounds and thus cleanse the dust of material association from the mirror of the heart.
To confirm the Lord's mission all the people of the world will accept the holy name of the Lord as the common platform for the universal religion of mankind.
In other words, the advent of the holy name took place along with the advent of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
When the Lord was on the lap of His mother, He would at once stop crying as soon as the ladies surrounding Him chanted the Holy names and clapped their hands. This peculiar incidence was observed by the neighbours with awe and veneration. Sometimes the young girls took pleasure in making the Lord cry and then stopping Him by chanting the holy name.
So from His very childhood the Lord began to preach the importance of the holy name. In His early age Lord Sri Caitanya was known as Nimai. This name was given by His beloved mother because the Lord took His birth beneath a nim tree in the courtyard of His paternal house.
When the Lord was offered solid food at the age of six months in the anna-prasana ceremony, the Lord indicated his futre activities. At this time it was customary to offer the child both coins and books in order to get some indication of the future tendencies of the child. The Lord was offered on one side coins and on the other the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Lord accepted the Bhagavatam instead of the coins.