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Story Of Chaitanya Deva Forgetting His Human Identity

Chaitanya Deva, the greatest of all bhaktas and jnanis, forgot entirely that he was a human being. He identified himself so entirely with Bhagavan that when he entered a temple and the people were worshipping Bhagavan Sri Krishna, he seated himself on Bhagavan Krishna’s throne and received the worship and offering intended for Bhagavan Krishna. And a light emanated from his body lighting up the temple, and the people were awestruck and accepted him as a divine Incarnation.

This is the wonderful blessing of pure all-absorbing love: to lose one’s personality, the consciousness of the little self, in the object of adoration. The devotee is transformed into the Deity, who is no other than his own divine Self.

Some Facts About Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

  1. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533) was a 15th century Vedic spiritual leader, who is considered an avatar of Bhagavan Krishna by his followers.
  2. He exhibited the highest level of devotion to Bhagavan Sri Krishna and is known for his role in spreading Vaishnavism in Bengal.
  3. He is the pioneer of the modern Hare Krishna movement.
  4. Chaitanya proclaimed that to achieve Krishna, Vedic knowledge was not required; what was needed was pure love for God.
  5. He promoted devotion to Bhagavan Sri Krishna by constantly chanting his name. That appealed to the ordinary devotees as it did not call for much learning.
  6. He was also called Gauranga because of his fair skin, and Vishvambhara, promoted the sankirtan (chanting) movement in praise of Krishna in Bengal.
  7. He was also called Nimai as he was born in a hut under a neem (margosa) tree at Mayapur, in Navadvipa (Nadia).
  8. In sankirtan, the climax is called mahadbhava (highest feeling), the devotee loses consciousness of his surroundings while chanting Hari’s name; he laughs and weeps like a mad man. Chaitanya was sometimes considered mad because of the zeal with which he chanted Krishna’s name. This spiritual ecstasy is considered the ultimate in bhakti.