In Caitanya-caritamrta [Adi, 10.114, comm.], Referring to the words of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Srila Prabhupada writes: “Vaninatha Vipra lived in Changpahati, a village in the Burdwan area, near Navadvipa. This village is assigned to Purvasthali Police Station and Samudragada Post Office. The temple here was very neglected, but in 1921 (according to the Bengal calendar) it was restored by the efforts of Sri Paramananda Brahmachari [one of the students of Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura], who reorganized the seva-puja (worship in the temple) and gave the temple under leadership of Sri Caitanya Math in Sri Mayapur. Now in this temple they worship the Deities of Sri Gaura-Gadadhara in strict accordance with the principles of the scriptures. Changpahati Village is located three kilometers from Samudragarh and the Navadvipa Railway Station of the Eastern Railway. ”
Temple in Champahati
This place is located in the southwest of Coladvipa. Bhaktivinoda Thakur says this place is tantamount to the Khandiravan forest in Vraja, where Lord Krishna and Balarama have shown many wonderful pastimes.
Once upon a time here Champaka flowers grew in abundance, from which the gopis of Champakalata make garlands and offer Radha and Krishna.
In Kali-yuga, local vaisyas opened a market here, where they sold collected flowers to villagers. Therefore, this place began to be called Champakahatta (Champahati) - "the market of champaka flowers."
Once there flowed a river called Manashi Ganga, which separated Coladvipa from Ritudvipa. Now she is not visible.
Here in Satya Yuga, in the champaka groves, there lived an old brahmin who worshiped the Deities of Sri Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, offering them beautiful flowers. Satisfied with his worship, the Lord appeared to him in the form of Gaurasundara. He told the brahmana about His future incarnation and promised that the brahman himself would take part in His pastimes.
This great devotee, who in his eternal spiritual form is Kamalaka-sakhi, later appeared as Dvija Vaninatha Vipra, the younger brother of Gadadhara Pandita.
ISKCON attached a small room to the temple where pilgrims can stay for the night.
Gaura Gadadhara in Champahati (Navadvipa) Gadadhara Pandita was one of the few to whom Lord Caitanya said that he was going to take sannyasa. Shortly before that, he and Lord Caitanya had come here, and Vaninatha Misra gladly accepted them, offering prasadam and providing all possible comforts. When he realized that the Lord would soon accept sannyasa and that Gadadhara would leave with Him, he knelt down and asked Sri Caitanya not to leave. He cried and said:
- Without seeing you, I will die.
Lord Caitanya and Gadadhara Pandita, in response to the ardent requests of Vaninatha, showed him great wooden Deities. The Lord said:
- Whenever you worship them, you will see us. We will personally accept your offerings. We will never leave you. In the form of Sri Sri Gaura-Gadadhara, We will forever remain here in Champahati.
Since then, these Deities have been standing here. It is known that Lord Nityananda and Jiva Goswami came here during the first Navadvipa-mandala-parikrama and received Their darshan. They spent the night in Vaninatha's house, and then went on. The brother of Gadadhara Pandita himself joined the parikrama and accompanied them for some time.
Some time after the earthly games of Gauranga came to an end, this temple became desolate. Subsequently, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur bought this land and built the Gaudiya Math temple here, in which he resumed worship of Gaura-Gadadhara, asking one young disciple to take care of Them - Nayanananda Brahmachari. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said that he should serve them for the rest of his life, and therefore never marry. Deities should become for him his very life and soul.
This devoted disciple served Gaura-Gadadhara for seventy-five years. Having grown old, he received initiation in babaji, and after some time left this world. Until the end of his days, he remained a humble, hospitable Vaisnava, always eager to serve devotees and listen to krsna-katha.
Jayadeva Goswami
Srila Prabhupada writes: “Jayadeva was born during the reign of the Bengal king Maharaja Lakshmana Sena, in the 11th or 12th century of the Shak era. His father's name was Bhojadeva, and his mother was Vamadevi. Jayadeva lived for many years in Navadvip, which at that time was the capital of Bengal. The place of his birth is the village of Kindubilva in the Birbhum district ”(Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi, 13.42, comm.).
One day, Jayadeva and her wife Padmavati came to Navadvipa, where they built a small hut on the bank of Ballal dighi (not far from the current Mayapur-chandroday-mandira). Here Jayadeva wrote his poem “Dasha-avatar-stotra”, which once fell into the hands of the king. The king read the poem with great pleasure and asked who its author was. His minister, Govardhan Acharya, told Lakshmana Sena about the great poet, and when asked by the king where he lives, Govardhan answered that Jayadeva was staying in Navadvipa. Hearing this, the king changed into the clothes of a Vaisnava and, without revealing himself, appeared at night in the house of Jayadeva. He entered and expressed his respect to the poet, and then sat down. Jayadeva understood who was in front of him. Soon the king revealed himself and invited the poet to his palace - a court pundit. But he did not agree.
- "I'd better leave your kingdom," he answered. - Communication with materialists is unfavorable. I will move to the other side of the Ganges and from there I will leave for Jaganatha Puri.
- "Listen to me, O lord," the king prayed, "never leave Navadvipa!" Your words are true, but my desire must also come true. O lord, be kind, do what you have in mind, but so that I will be pleased. On the other side of the Ganges is a beautiful Champahati grove. Stay there for a few years. I will not come to you when it pleases, but only by your will.
The great poet immediately agreed:
- Although you are very rich and rule a prosperous kingdom, you are devoted to Krsna and not attached to the material world. I called you a materialist to test you, but you humbly endured it. So I know that you are a devotee of Krsna. I will stay for a while in Champahati, and you will be able to come there secretly, forgetting about your royal greatness.
The happy king ordered his ministers to build a hut in Champahati for Jayadeva. Jayadeva settled there and began to worship Krsna following the raga-marga process. Every day Padmavati brought him armfuls of champaka flowers, and Jayadeva offered them to Krishna.
In the Gita-Govinda, Jayadeva Gosvami mentions the names of friends who were advisers to Lakshmana Sena and probably visited him here. These were Sri Umapatidhar, Govardhan Acharya, and Kavi Kshamapati.
Krishna comes to the house of Jayadeva
Jayadeva worked here on the Gita Govinda. Once he began to describe how Radharani was angry with Krishna and could not calm down, although Krishna used all possible means for this. Jayadeva wanted to write how the Lord resorted to the last resort - He wanted to touch the feet of Radharani with his head. Adding to this place, Jayadeva Gosvami felt a great excitement. He was afraid that the Lord would not find this phrase offensive. After all, this is not mentioned in the sastras, and even such an act contradicts generally accepted etiquette.
Jayadeva put the manuscript aside and told his wife that he was going to take bath in the Ganges. But soon, for some reason, he returned and asked Padmavati to give his feather and scrolls. He wrote a few lines, dined, and left again.
Soon after, he returned again. His hair had not yet dried from the water of the Ganges. He asked Padmavati to give him lunch, which greatly embarrassed her. She asked why he had gone to the Ganges twice in such a short time, and now demands lunch, although he had just eaten. Jayadeva at first did not understand what had happened, but, looking at the scroll, he saw that the verse that had caused him such doubt was written by someone! The handwriting was his own, and the words were the same that he wanted, but could not write down.
Jayadeva was shocked. He fell to the ground and in indescribable delight began to ride on it, glorifying the amazing qualities of his faithful wife. He said that Padmavati was given the opportunity to personally attend dinner to Krishna Himself, who took the form of Jayadeva and completed an unfinished verse.
Darshan of Lord Caitanya Once, Lord Gauracandra appeared to Jayadeva. His body was the color of champak and shone with the splendor of molten gold. He had curly hair, a garland of flowers fell from his neck, his hands reached to his knees, and the radiance from Him filled the whole room. Seeing Gauranga, Jayadeva lost consciousness, tears streaming down his eyes. Padmavati also fell to the ground without feeling.
The Lord raised the spouses and spoke sweetly:
- Both of you are My exalted devotees, therefore I wanted to give you the opportunity to see Me. Soon I will descend to Nadia, becoming the son of Saci. I will generously give out prema and the holy name. In twenty-four years, I will accept sannyasa and go to Nilachalu. There I will constantly enjoy your poem, The Gita-Govinda, because it is very dear to Me. As soon as you leave this world, you will immediately return to Navadvipa-dhama. Now go to Nilachalu. There you will find love for God by worshiping Lord Jaganath.
Having said that, Gauranga disappeared. In separation from him, the couple again lost consciousness. Recovering, they wept bitterly.
Soon after, Jayadeva and Padmavati went to Nilachalu. On the way, they kept looking back, casting their last glances at Navadvipa.
They walked along the road, looking endlessly at Navadvipa, which shone like an eight-petalled lotus. Tears did not dry for an instant on their cheeks. A few days later they came to Nilachalu, where they received the darshan of Lord Jaganatha.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and Srila Prabhupada in Champahatti
(from the memoirs of Nayanananda Brahmachari)
In the last year of his life, Gurudeva [Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur] organized and conducted Gaura-Mandala-parikrama. Thousands and thousands of pilgrims have gathered in our Temple in Champahati. Around this place in all directions is a whole tent city. On the last evening, he [Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur] gave the righteous [lecture]. That afternoon, one of our godbrothers, Bhakti Sharanga Goswami Maharaj, returned from London. He arrived by ship and immediately headed to Navadvipa. He tried to preach in the West, but did not succeed in this matter. Guru Maharaj spoke of his ardent desire to spread the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Western countries. He recalled that Bhaktivinoda Thakur also spoke about this, who had no doubt that this would happen. This was the last request of his mother, Srimati Bhagavati devi, before she left this world. And he really wanted to use the “living blood” of the Gaudiya Math in preaching to the inhabitants of the West. But these attempts, for the most part, have failed.
At this point in his lecture, I noticed how something mysterious happened. Guru Maharaja looked around at the huge crowd of devotees gathered in front of him - he looked especially closely at the sannyasis and the brahmacari in bright saffron robes. But then he looked in the other direction, to where I stood to his left. He gazed steadily at someone, and a long silence hung in the air. I turned around and clearly saw that the person with whom he exchanged glances was Abhay Charanaravinda Prabhu. They look at each other in a strange way, I thought. Then Guru Maharaja again looked in front of him and said: “But I predict. I predict that the next of my students who crosses the ocean - this will not happen soon, I will not find it - this devotee will bring the whole world with him. ” I recall this incident and think that Srila A.Ch. Bhaktivedanta Swami did everything exactly as he said.
Translated from dhama.dayalnitay.ru