The Lord enters the heart of His parents
Jagannath Mishra and Saci devi are none other than Vasudev and Devaki;
Dasaratha and Kaushaliya; Kashyapa and Diti; Karadma muni and
Devahuti; Sutapa and Prsni- eternal parents of the Supreme Lord.
Similar to the incarnation of Krishna, Jagannath Mishra and Saci Devi
also saw each of their first eight children die at infancy- right at
the time of birth. They were sad and fervently prayed to the Lord that
if it was His desire, they could be blessed with a son. Soon after, by
the Supreme Lord’s mercy, a beautiful son was born to the couple.
This child was an expansion of Nityananda Balarama. Just like in the
incarnation of Krishna, Balarama first appeared in the womb of Devaki
to prepare the scene for his beloved Lord Krishna’s descent, here
also, Vishwarupa- the male child of Jagannath Mishra and Saci-
appeared to set the scene for Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s arrival.
Balarama is eternally a servant of Krishna; likewise, Nityananda is
the blissful servant of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Nityananda Balarama is
the original spiritual master and it’s the spiritual master’s loving
service to make all arrangements for the Lord to appear. Therefore
Nityananda’s own expansion, Vishwarupa, appeared as a child of Saci
Devi to set the divine scene for the Lord’s incarnation.
Vishwarupa was endowed with most beautiful, virtuous qualities. The
parents, in great joy expanded their worship of their Damodar
Shaligram shila. Srila Prabhupada explains this is the difference
between material and spiritual worship. A materialistic person may
also worship God when in distress but once he is relieved of his
agony, he forgets God and ceases the worship. However, a true devotee
would feel immensely grateful and increase his service to his beloved
Lord. Thus Saci Devi and Jagannath Mishra increased their devotional
service and soon an extraordinary, wonderful event would take place.
In the month of Magh, 1406 Saka era (according to Vedic calendar), the
Supreme Personality of Godhead entered into the heart of Jagananth
Mishra, who by this blessing had the amazing vision of the entire
spiritual world enter his heart. He then witnessed the same spiritual
abode enter from his heart into the heart of his wife Saci Devi, and
then the Supreme Lord and His abode was transferred to her womb. Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu thus didn’t appear like an ordinary child of this
world- ‘karmana daiva netrena’- by the past Karma reactions. We enter
into a particular semen due to our past actions and the father injects
the semen into the mother, and then the child develops. That’s how we
wander in the material world, directed by our Karma- the chain of
action and reactions.
But the Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared out of His own
sweet, independent will, in the hearts of Jagannath Mishra and Saci
Devi.
To be continued…
By Vraja Bihari Das
