Painting of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
commissioned by King Prataprudra Deb of Odisha (Circa 1520).
A shroud of mystery surrounds the death and disappearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (several texts concur the date being 29th June, 1533. He was just 48. Neither his mortal remains nor any marked grave was ever found. Several conflicting hagiographic references to Sri Chaitanya’s Death/Disappearance exist.
- According to ‘Chaitanya Charitamrita’ by Kaviraj Krishna Das, Sri Chaitanya walked into the sea in a state of divine ecstasy and subsequently drowned.
2. In ‘Chaitanya Mangal’ Jayananda says Sri Chaitanya injured his foot during Ratha Yatra Festival and succumbed to it by septicemia at Tota Gopinath temple.
আষাড় বঞ্চিত রথ বিজয়া নাচিতে।
ইটাল বাজিল বাম পাএ আচম্বিতে।।
চরণে বেদনা বড় ষষ্ঠির দিবসে ।।
সেই লক্ষ্যে টোটায় শয়ন অবশেষে……
3. In ‘Chaitanya Bhagavat’ by Vrindavan Das Sri Chaitanya escaped from Puri in the guise of a Sanyasi (monk) never to be seen again.
4. In ‘Chaitanya Mangal’ by Lochan Das Sri Chaitanya merged with Lord Jagannath idol
5. According to ‘Sri Chaitanya Gourango Chadka’ by Vaishnava Das Sri Chaitanya was buried at Tota Gopinath, his dead body was discovered behind ‘Gadura Stambha’ at Lord Jagannath Temple.
এমন্ প্রভু যে অন্তলীলা বাণি।
কহিলে বৈষ্ণবদাস প্রতক্ষ যাহা জানি।।
রাত্র দশ দন্ডে চন্দন বিজয় যখন হল।
তখন পড়িলা প্রভুর অঙ্গ স্তম্ভ পছ আড়ে।
কান্দিল বৈষ্ণবগণ কুহাতো কুহাড়ে।।
6. In ‘Chaitanya Bhagavat’ Ishwar Das states “While smearing chandan paste on Lord Jagannath Sri Chaitanya merged with it. Later his body was carried and floated on the Prachi river, some 40 miles from Puri.”
7. According to ‘Sri Chaitanya Chadka’ by Govinda Das, during the evening invocation of Lord Jagannath at Jagannath temple suddenly a bright light emanated from ‘Gadura Stambha’ and merged with the Lord Jagannath idol. Sri Chaitanya was never seen again.”
1 . From above a few details will help. How Chaitanya once in a state of ecstasy plunged into the at Puri believing it to be river Jamuna. His disciples and close associates began searching frantically along the beach but to no avail. Then a fisherman appeared
দেখে এক জালিয়া আইসে কান্ধে জাল করি ।
হাসে কাঁদে নাচে গায় বলে হরি হরি ।
-চই . চ . অন্ত. ১৮ পরি .
The fisherman said ” I threw the fishing net in the water and when I was pulling it in it felt very heavy, thought it might be a big fish so I was pulling it very slowly and carefully. When it was pulled in, to my surprise instead of a fish it was a human corpse. I was terrified. When I was removing the net from the dead body I accidentally touched it, what can I say, he is so big, about 5 to 7 ‘hands’ (old Indian way of measure one hand, i.e.. from elbow to middle finger tip would be about 16 inches) in length. All flesh and bones have loosened, the skin was slack, He was almost dead!” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates rushed to the spot where He lay unconscious. They found Him wet all over and covered with sand. They changed His wet loin cloth, cleaned Him of sand and laid him dry. Then they started singing, there was no response. Then they sang near his ear, and it went on for hours. Suddenly, Mahaprabhu sat up and roared his slack body was taut again……So even if He walked into the sea He was eventually rescued and revived.
2. If Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had died at Tota Gopinath temple surely his close associates and disciples would have buried him there and erect a suitable monument in his memory. Nothing has been found at Tota Gopinath temple.
3. This assertion seems ridiculous. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lion of a man would have never abandoned his flock and slink away like a coward incognito.
4. The merging with Lord Jagannath is physically impossible.
5. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s body lying behind ‘Gadura Stambha’ at Jagannath temple is plausible after SUDEP( see below). But no marked grave has ever been discovered at Tota Gopinath temple.
6. Here too, the merging with the idol of Lord Jagannath is a physically impossible act.
7. The light stuff is bit too much and the same merging story repeated here also.
Conspiracy Theories:
It all began probably with the ‘Chaitanya and His Age’ (Ramtanu Lahiri Fellowship Lectures for the year 1919 and 1921) by Raibahadur Dinesh Chandra Sen, BA, DLitt., published by The University of Calcutta, 1922. On page 264 the author makes a ‘reasonable guess’ that “Chaitanya was in the Jagannath temple when he suffered from high fever. When the priests apprehended his end to be near they shut the gate against all visitors. This they did to take time to burying him within the temple. If he left the world at 4 p.m. the doors we know were kept closed till 11 p.m. – this time was taken for burying him and repairing the floor after burial. The priests at 11 p.m. opened the gates and gave out that Chaitanya was incorporated with the image of Jagannath. So according to one account he passed away at 11 p.m. But the better informed people knew that he had passed away at 4 p.m., when the door was closed…….They buried him somewhere under the floor of the temple and would not allow any outsider to enter it until the place was thoroughly repaired and no trace left after his burial as I have already stated. This is the only rational explanation that may be advanced for explaining their conduct in shutting the temple gate.”
This ‘reasonable guess’ and ‘the only rational explanation’ did lure a lot of authors later to investigate it further but all came out with the same ‘reasonable guess’ and ‘circumstantial evidence’. All these authors were probably fascinated by the mystery of it all and then went to interpret it in their own unsubstantiated way.
“They buried him somewhere under the floor of the temple and would not allow any outsider to enter it until the place was thoroughly repaired and no trace left after his burial.”
This is totally preposterous and casts homicidal aspersions on the temple priests without any evidence whatsoever. Five hundred years ago with the then prevalent strong superstitions and orthodoxy, they could never think of murdering a Brahmin and perpetuate a curse on themselves. It was a taboo. Moreover, executing such a heinous crime and wrapping it up with the burial bit within the precincts of the holiest temple in India, was unthinkable and the very notion is absurd without any credibility or an iota of evidence whatsoever.
A Fact mostly ignored:
An extract including the picture, from Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 18, (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, published by Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust 1975, New York, Los Angeles, London, Bombay).
Titled: Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s visit to Sri Vrindavan.
“While walking, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, understanding that the others were fatigued, took them all beneath a tree and sat down. There were many cows grazing near that tree, and the Lord was very pleased to see them.
আচম্বিতে এক গোপ বংশি বাজাইল
শুনি’ মহাপ্রভুর মহা প্রেমাবেশ হৈল। ১৬১
আচেতন হঞা প্রভূ ভূমিতে পড়িলা
মুখে ফেনপড়ে, নাসায় শ্বাস রুদ্ধ হৈলা। ১৬২
Suddenly a cowherd boy blew on his flute, and immediately the Lord was struck with ecstatic love. Filled with ecstatic love, the Lord fell unconscious to the ground. He foamed about the mouth, and His breathing stopped. While the Lord was unconscious, ten cavalry soldiers belonging to the Mohammedan Paṭhan military order rode up and dismounted. Seeing the Lord unconscious, the soldiers thought, “This sannyasi must have possessed a large quantity of gold. “These four rogues here must have taken away that sannyasin’s riches after killing Him by making Him take the poison dhutura. “Thinking this, the Paṭhan soldiers arrested the four persons and decided to kill them. Because of this, the two Bengalis began to tremble.
The devotee Krishnadas, who belonged to the Rajput race, was very fearless. The Sanoḍiya Brahman was also fearless, and he spoke very bravely. The Brahman said, “You Paṭhan soldiers are all under the protection of your king. Let us go to your commander and get his decision. “This sannyasi is my spiritual master, and I am from Mathura. I am a Brahmana, and I know many people who are in the service of the Mohammedan king.
এই ষতি ব্যধিতে কভু হয় মুর্ছিত।
অভহি চেতন পাইবে, হইবে সম্বিত ।। ১৭০।।
“This sannyasi sometimes falls unconscious due to the influence of a disease. Please sit down here, and you will see that He will very soon regain consciousness and His normal condition. “Sit down here for a while and keep us all under arrest. When the sannyasi regains his senses, you can question Him. Then, if you like, you can kill us all.” The Paṭhan soldiers said, “You are all rogues. Two of you belong to the district of Mathura, and the other two, who are trembling, belong to Bengal.”
Rajput Krishna Das said, “I have my home here, and I also have about two hundred Turkish soldiers and about one hundred cannons. “If I call loudly, they will come immediately to kill you and plunder your horses and saddles. “The Bengali pilgrims are not rogues. You are rogues, for you want to kill the pilgrims and plunder them.” Upon hearing this challenge, the Paṭhan soldiers became hesitant. Then suddenly Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu regained consciousness. Coming to His senses, the Lord very loudly began chanting the holy name, “Hari! Hari!” The Lord raised His arms upward and began to dance in ecstatic love. When the Lord shouted very loudly in ecstatic love, it appeared to the Mohammedan soldiers that their hearts were struck by thunderbolts.
Seized by fear, all the Paṭhan soldiers immediately released the four persons. Thus Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not see His personal associates arrested. At that time, Balabhadra Bhattacharya went to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and made Him sit down. Seeing the Mohammedan soldiers, the Lord regained His normal senses. All the Mohammedan soldiers then came before the Lord, worshiped His lotus feet and said, “Here are four rogues. “These rogues have made You take dhutura. Having made You mad, they have taken all Your possessions.”
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “These are not rogues. They are My associates. Being a sannyasi beggar, I do not possess anything.
মৄগী-ব্যাধিতে আমি কভু হই অচেতন।
এই চারি দয়া করি’ করেন পালন ।। ১৮৪
“Due to epilepsy, I sometimes fall unconscious. Out of their mercy, these four men maintain Me.”
Now lets examine the italicized( mine) sentences form above:
- Suddenly a cowherd boy blew on his flute, and immediately the Lord was struck with ecstatic love. Filled with ecstatic love, the Lord fell unconscious to the ground. He foamed in the mouth and His breathing stopped.
- This sannyasi sometimes falls unconscious due to the influence of a disease.
- Due to epilepsy, I sometimes fall unconscious.
So it is indisputably clear that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu suffered from epilepsy and had frequent seizures and its consequences. ( Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa suffered from throat cancer and succumbed to it, human body is susceptible to diseases). Nothing very unusual here.
A Clinical Analysis of Epilepsy and divine experiences:
Revered in some cultures but persecuted by most others, epilepsy patients have, throughout history, been linked with the divine, demonic, and supernatural. Clinical observations during the past 150 years support an association between religious experiences during (ictal), after (postictal), and in between (interictal) seizures. In addition, epileptic seizures may increase, alter, or decrease religious experience especially in a small group of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Literature surveys have revealed that between .4% and 3.1% of partial epilepsy patients had ictal religious experiences…..The limbic system is also often suggested as the critical site of religious experience due to the association with temporal lobe epilepsy and the emotional nature of the experiences. Neocortical areas also may be involved, suggested by the presence of visual and auditory hallucinations, complex ideation during many religious experiences, and the large expanse of temporal neocortex. In contrast to the role of the temporal lobe in evoking religious experiences, alterations in frontal functions may contribute to increased religious interests as a personality trait. The two main forms of religious experience, the ongoing belief pattern and set of convictions (the religion of the everyday man) versus the ecstatic religious experience, may be predominantly localized to the frontal and temporal regions, respectively, of the right hemisphere. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18171635) .
SUDEP
Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) is a terrible tragedy, often made worse by the unexplained nature of the loss. Although the exact cause of SUDEP is not known, researchers are making great strides to understand what may contribute to sudden death in people with epilepsy. It is most likely that SUDEP occurs for different reasons in different people. Often, but not always, there is evidence of a seizure, particularly a generalized tonic-clonic seizure (GTCS), occurring prior to death. Studies examining the causes of SUDEP have focused on three main areas:
- Electrical shutdown of the brain (CES)
- Changes in heart function
- Changes in breathing
(http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/impact/mortality/sudep/how-sudep-occurs)
What if ?
একদিন গোরা জগন্নাথে নিরখিয়া।
শ্রীমন্দিরে প্রবেশিলা হা-নাথ বলিয়া।।
প্রবেশ মাত্রেতে দ্বার স্বয়ং রুদ্ধ হৈল।
ভক্তগন মনে বহু আশঙ্কা জন্মিল।।
কিছুক্ষন পরে স্বয়ং কপাট খুলিল।
গৌরাঙ্গ প্রকট সভে আনুমান কৈলা।
শ্রীঅদ্বৈত প্রকাশ। ২১ অধ্যায়।
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu enters the temple on 29th June, 1533 at about 4pm in the late afternoon. The temple door closes leaving his associates outside. Inside it is very crowded and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu takes his stand alongside the ‘Gadura Stambha’ but he probably could not resist to touch the idol of Lord Jagannath once again (as he had done on his first visit twenty four years ago and had fainted). And again, in a great religious ecstasy he faints and in all probability never regains consciousness (SUDEP). None inside the temple are prepared for such a catastrophe and are puzzled and alarmed. It could have a terrible consequence for the temple priests as accusing fingers could be raised against them, moreover, King Pratarudradeb a great devotee of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, would sternly react to even such a false rumour.
In spite of enmity against Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Odisha, there were a few among the temple priests who were greatly influenced by Him. They along with other priests must have thought out a plan to get out the grave situation they were in. A plan that would be both convincing and religiously satisfying. A simple and brilliant story. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has merged with Lord Jagannath and being incarnate of Lord Krishna there are no mortal remains.
But in reality what truly could have happened to his mortal remains ?
- In ‘Chaitanya Bhagavat’ Ishwar Das says his remains were set afloat the Prachi river, some 32 kilometers away from Puri, near present day Chandrabhaga beach. This is a possibility.
- According to ‘Sri Chaitanya Gourango Chadka’ by Vaishnava Das Sri Chaitanya was buried at Tota Gopinath. This too is a possibility. The grave is definitely unmarked otherwise someone would have found it.
Now why Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s body was of such importance that it had to be hidden ? It may be assumed that the people who were behind realized that it was better to establish once for all that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was no ordinary mortal he was Lord Krishna incarnate, hence he could not have a normal human death. It served two purposes, one, the sudden death inside the temple could not be revealed as that would prove He was a mere mortal instead a story of His merging with Lord Jagannath would be a spectacular and miraculous proof of His divinity. Second, whatever grouse certain section of people had about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu without any mortal remains effectively negates the possibility of any future flare up of the controversy, with people rallying round the burial place.
Pictures:
These pictures were taken at ‘Tota Gopinath’ temple, Puri, 2016. Top left: is the main entrance gate, top right: entrance to the main temple. Bottom: picture shows Mahaprabhu’s used items including ‘khol’ wrapped in a red cloth. The cage below has the shawl especially made by Sochi Mata for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
to be continued…
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 