Keśava Bhāratī
caitanya-gosāñira guru—keśava bhāratī
ei pitāra vākya śuni’ duḥkha pāila ati
jagad-gurute tumi kara aiche upadeśa
tomāra ei upadeśe naṣṭa ha-ila deśa
caudda bhuvanera guru—caitanya-gosāñi
tāṅra guru—anya, ei kona śāstre nāi
pañcama varṣera bālaka kahe siddhāntera sāra
śuniyā pāilā ācārya santoṣa apāra
When Acyutānanda heard from his father that Keśava Bhāratī was the spiritual master of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he was very unhappy. He told his father, “Your instruction that Keśava Bhāratī is the spiritual master of Caitanya Mahāprabhu will spoil the entire country. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the spiritual master of the fourteen worlds, but You say that someone else is His spiritual master. This is not supported by any revealed scripture. When Advaita Ācārya heard this statement from His five-year-old son Acyutānanda, He felt great satisfaction because of his conclusive judgment.
(CC Adi 12.14 – 12.17)
Paramānanda Purī, Keśava Bhāratī, Brahmānanda Purī and Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Viṣṇu Purī, Keśava Purī, Kṛṣṇānanda Purī, Śrī Nṛsiṁha Tīrtha and Sukhānanda Purī—these nine sannyāsī roots all sprouted from the trunk of the tree. Thus the tree stood steadfastly on the strength of these nine roots.
PURPORT
…Keśava Bhāratī: The Sarasvatī, Bhāratī and Purī sampradāyas belong to the Śṛṅgerī-maṭha in South India, and Śrī Keśava Bhāratī, who at that time was situated in a monastery in Katwa, belonged to the Bhāratī-sampradāya. According to some authoritative opinions, although Keśava Bhāratī belonged to the Śaṅkara-sampradāya, he had formerly been initiated by a Vaiṣṇava. He is said to have been a Vaiṣṇava on account of having been initiated by Mādhavendra Purī, for some say that he took sannyāsa from Mādhavendra Purī. The temple and Deity worship started by Keśava Bhāratī are still existing in the village known as Khāṭundi, which is under the postal jurisdiction of Kāndarā in the district of Burdwan. According to the managers of that maṭha, the priests are descendants of Keśava Bhāratī, and some say that the worshipers of the Deity are descendants of the sons of Keśava Bhāratī. In his householder life he had two sons, Niśāpati and Ūṣāpati, and a brāhmaṇa of the name Śrī Nakaḍicandra Vidyāratna, who was a member of the family of Niśāpati, was the priest in charge at the time that Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī visited this temple. According to some, the priests of the temple belong to the family of Keśava Bhāratī’s brother. Still another opinion is that they descend from Mādhava Bhāratī, who was another disciple of Keśava Bhāratī’s. Mādhava Bhāratī’s disciple Balabhadra, who also later became a sannyāsī of the Bhāratī-sampradāya, had two sons in his family life, named Madana and Gopāla. Madana, whose family’s surname was Bhāratī, lived in the village of Āuriyā, and Gopāla, whose family’s surname was Brahmacārī, lived in the village of Denduḍa. There are still many living descendants of both families.
In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (52), it is said:
- mathurāyāṁ yajña-sūtraṁ purā kṛṣṇāya yo muniḥ
- dadau sāndīpaniḥ so ’bhūd adya keśava-bhāratī
“Sāndīpani Muni, who formerly offered the sacred thread to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, later became Keśava Bhāratī.” It is he who offered sannyāsa to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There is another statement about Keśava Bhāratī from the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (117): iti kecit prabhāṣante ’krūraḥ keśava-bhāratī. “According to some authoritative opinions, Keśava Bhāratī is an incarnation of Akrūra.” Keśava Bhāratī offered the sannyāsa order to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the year 1432 śakābda (A.D. 1510) in Katwa. This is stated in the Vaiṣṇava-mañjuṣā, Part Two.
(CC Adi 9.13-15 purport)
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa from Keśava Bhāratī. This Keśava Bhāratī belonged to Śaṅkara-sampradāya. Therefore Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī also belonged to Śaṅkara-sampradāya. So he’s asking that, “I understand that Your name is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.”
Now, there are different kinds of names of brahmacārī also under the guidance of a sannyāsī. So the person who is under the guidance of Bhāratī, the brahmacārī’s name is Caitanya. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although He took sannyāsa, He did not change His brahmacārī name. That is also very significant. Because in the Māyāvādī sannyāsa, as soon as they take sannyāsa, they think that “I have become Nārāyaṇa.” So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although He was regularly a sannyāsī, He did not change His name of brahmacārī. That means brahmacārī is meant for serving the spiritual master, so He continued to be a servitor. That is the significance.
(670208 – Lecture CC Adi 07.69-75 – San Francisco)
The Lord offered him respectful obeisances and invited him to His house. After feeding him sumptuously, He submitted to him His petition. “Sir, you are directly Nārāyaṇa. Therefore please be merciful unto Me. Deliver Me from this material bondage.” Keśava Bhāratī replied to the Lord, “You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul. I must do whatever You cause me to do. I am not independent of You.” After saying this, Keśava Bhāratī, the spiritual master, went back to his village, Katwa. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went there and accepted the renounced order of life [sannyāsa].
(CC Adi 17.269 – 17.272)
At the end of His twenty-fourth year, at the end of the fortnight of the waxing moon, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left Navadvīpa and crossed the river Ganges at a place known as Nidayāra-ghāṭa. Then He reached Kaṇṭaka-nagara, or Kāṭoyā (Katwa), where He accepted ekadaṇḍa-sannyāsa according to the Śaṅkarite system. Since Keśava Bhāratī belonged to the Śaṅkarite sect, he could not initiate Caitanya Mahāprabhu into the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsa order, whose members carry the tridaṇḍa.
Candraśekhara Ācārya assisted in the routine ceremonial work of the Lord’s acceptance of sannyāsa. By the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, kīrtana was performed for the entire day, and at the end of the day the Lord shaved off His hair. On the next day He became a regular sannyāsī, with one rod (ekadaṇḍa). From that day on His name was Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Before that, He was known as Nimāi Paṇḍita. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in the sannyāsa order, traveled all over Rāḍha-deśa, the region where the Ganges River cannot be seen. Keśava Bhāratī accompanied Him for some distance.
(CC Adi 17.272 purport)