Who is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu?
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna in the mood of Shrimati Radha - the pure and exalted devotee of Krishna, who appeared in this Kali-yuga to inaugurate the yuga dharma for this age - Sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord -
"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare".
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared at Sridhama Mayapura, in the city of Navadvipa in Bengal, on the Phalguni Purnima evening in the year 1486 AD. His father, Sri Jagannatha Mishra, a learned brahmana from the district of Sylhet, came to Navadvipa as a student. He lived on the banks of the Ganges with his wife Shrimati Sachidevi, a daughter of Srila Nilambara Cakravarti, a great learned scholar of Navadvipa. Their youngest son, who was named Vishvambhara, later became known as Nimai Pandita and then, after accepting the renounced order of life, Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. During his early pastimes, He along with his eternal associates Lord Nityananda, Advaita, Gadadhar, Srivasa and others, spread the Yuga dharma – the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord.
His Mission - The Universal Religion
His 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 trifles, and therefore the shastras have recommended for this age a common platform for God realization, namely by 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 Englishmen and the Indians, and the chandalas and the brahmanas, 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.
