110901 Adi Ch16 Dig Vijai Pandit.mp3 (58 minutes, 40.4 MB)

Adi-lila Ch 16: The Pastimes of the Lord in His Childhood and Youth

“This chapter fully describes Lord Chaitanya’s kaisora-lila, or the activities He performed just before attaining youth. During this time He studied deeply and was victorious over greatly learned scholars. During His kaisora-lila the Lord also sported in the water. He went to East Bengal to secure financial assistance, cultivate knowledge and introduce the sankirtana movement, and there He met Tapana Misra, whom He instructed about spiritual advancement and ordered to go to Varanasi. While Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was touring East Bengal, His wife, Lakshmidevi, was bitten by a serpent or by the serpent of separation, and thus she left this world. When the Lord returned home, He saw that His mother was overwhelmed with grief because of Lakshmidevi’s death. Therefore at her request He later married His second wife, Vishnupriya-devi.

This chapter also describes the Lord’s argument with Kesava Kasmiri, the celebrated scholar, and the Lord’s criticism of his prayer glorifying mother Ganges. In this prayer the Lord found five kinds of literary ornaments and five kinds of literary faults, thus defeating the pandit. Later the Kasmiri Pandit, who was known to have been victorious all over the country, submitted himself to the goddess of learning, and by her order he met Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on the morning of the next day and surrendered unto Him.”

(Summary of Adi-lila Chapter 16 from Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita by Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, translation and commentary by Srila Prabhupad)