Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
In 1486, the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifested the pastime of taking birth in Māyāpur Nadia, West Bengal, in the form of Lord Caitanya. Around the time of His birth, the social system of India was in turbulence. All the rulers were unnecessarily torturing the citizens, and the brāhmaṇas were misusing their position and mistreating others from other castes. During that period, Lord Caitanya appeared with the purpose of enlightening the world—to help people understand that we are all living entities coming from the Lord’s existence in the form of the soul, like tiny fire sparks. Therefore He wanted us to look beyond race, color, creed, and caste, and stop all types of discrimination against one another, especially giving up all the hate that we may hold for one another. He wanted us to understand that we should respect and see everyone as eternal servants of the Lord, and that the goal of life is to always fix our minds in the service of the Lord. He also taught that we should maintain our material duties with our parents, children, husband, wife, neighbors, and relatives without attachment. Alongside our material duties we should practice spirituality instead of fighting one another in the name of religion and false prestige. In order to practice spirituality in this Age of Kali, and to bring peace and harmony to society, He instructed us to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra:
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
He remained physically present on earth from 1486 to 1534. For the first twenty-four years, He performed His childhood pastimes and as a young man He lived as a householder. For the last twenty-four years of His manifest pastimes, He was in the renounced order (sannyāsa).
In 1534, He went back to His spiritual abode through the pastime of disappearing from this world simultaneously from three different locations. He merged into the body of the Lord Jagannātha deity in Jagannātha Purī; He entered into the deity of Toṭa Gopīnātha; and He disappeared from the vision of observers while walking into the Mahodadhi Ocean. These three occurrences miraculously took place in Jagannātha Purī. Just as the Lord enters this world by His own sweet will, in the same way He can also mysteriously disappear from this world.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was born as Kedarnātha Datta on the 2nd of September 1838, and belonged to a wealthy jamindar (landlord) family. In his early years he was exceptionally studious. In his university days he associated with the intellectuals of the Bengali Renaissance. He studied numerous philosophical systems of both the East and the West, and was also an accomplished poet. His career culminated in his post as District Magistrate, which was the highest post available to a native Indian under the rule of the British Raja. In his 29th year, he became a dedicated follower of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and very quickly established himself as a prominent and influential member of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava community. Always thinking of how to present Mahāprabhu’s teachings to a modern world, he authored over one hundred books. He laid the foundation for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism’s eventual global dissemination. He departed this world on the 23rd of June 1914, leaving his legacy in the hands of his son Śrīla Prabhupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.
Śrīla Prabhupāda was born as Bimala Prasāda Datta, on Friday, the 6th of February 1874, in the vicinity of Lord Jagannātha’s temple, in Orissa. From his childhood, he practiced devotion under the guidance of his parents: his father, Śrī Kedarnātha Datta (famously known as Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura) and mother, Bhāgavatī Devī. Bimala Prasāda took a vow to chant one billion holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra before undertaking the task of spreading the loving message of Lord Caitanya. In 1918, he took the renounced order (sannyāsa) and became Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. At that time he established his first preaching center, Śrī Caitanya Maṭha, in Māyāpur. In 1918, the scholarly Vaiṣṇava community gave him the devotional title Śrīla Prabhupāda. In a short period, many intellectual stalwarts joined his fledgling movement, many of whom also entered the renounced order to assist him in spreading the loving mission of Lord Caitanya. He eventually established sixty-four centers in India and abroad in the name of Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha. Śrīla Prabhupāda, the life and soul of the Gauḍīya Maṭha, physically passed away at the Bagh Bazaar, Kolkata, Gauḍīya Maṭha on January 1, 1937 at 5.30 A.M.
My spiritual master was born as Pramode Bhushan Chakrabarty on Wednesday, the 18th of October 1898, at Ganganandapur village, Jessor district, in present day Bangladesh. In his childhood Pramode Bhushan was inspired to practice devotion by his neighbor, Bhakti Ratna Ṭhākura, the godbrother of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. In 1915, he met with Bimala Prasāda. In 1919, he completed a bachelor’s degree in science at Kolkata University. In 1921, he joined Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission, and in 1923 he was formally initiated. He received the name Praṇavānanda Dāsa Brahmacārī, and assumed service in the publications department. In 1947, he received the renounced order from his godbrother, Śrīla Bhakti Gaurav Vaikhānasa Mahārāja, and received the name Bhakti Pramode Purī. In 1958, the ancient temple named Śrī Ananta Vāsudeva in Kālnā, Nadia, West Bengal was donated to him. From 1961 to 1994, he stayed with Śrīla Bhakti Dayitā Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, the founder of Śrī Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha. Eventually, in 1987, he established Śrī Gopīnātha Gauḍīya Maṭha in Māyāpur, Nadia. Unfortunately, while staying at Gopīnātha Gauḍīya Maṭha’s Jagannātha Purī branch, at 2:10 A.M. on Friday the 22nd of November 1999, he physically departed from this world.