Barakona Ghat

Ten meters north of this lies one ghat that attracts the minds of town people. This exceedingly beautiful ghat is called Barakona Ghat. It was constructed on Krishna’s order by Visvakarma. At this ghat, you will see five Siva temple with five lingas and these four ghats make Mayapur very beautiful. Moreover, whoever takes bath here is relieved of all miseries.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 5)

The saṅkīrtana movement started by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is described in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, Twenty-third Chapter, beginning with verse 241, which states, “My dear Lord, let my mind be fixed at Your lotus feet.” Following Lord Caitanya’s chanting, all the devotees reproduced the same sound He chanted. In this way the Lord proceeded, leading the entire party on the strand roads by the bank of the Ganges. When the Lord came to His own ghāṭa, or bathing place, He danced more and more. Then He proceeded to Mādhāi’s ghāṭa. In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Lord, who was known as Viśvambhara, danced all over the banks of the Ganges. Then He proceeded to Bārakoṇā-ghāṭa, then Nāgariyā-ghāṭa, and, traveling through Gaṅgānagara, reached Simuliyā, a quarter at one end of the town. All these places surround Śrī Māyāpur. After reaching Simuliyā, the Lord proceeded toward the Kazi’s house, and in this way He reached the door of Chand Kazi.
(CC Adi 17.141)

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu walked through Rāḍha-deśa and gradually arrived at the Ganges. After bathing in the river, he crossed it and went to Kuliyā. Because He had promised His mother He would return to Navadvīpa, He went to Vārakoṇā-ghāṭa, a village near His house.
(CC Madhya 16.207 purport)

Then Lord Caitanya married Viṣṇupriyā, the goddess of fortune, and thereafter He conquered a champion of learning named Keśava Kāśmīrī.
PURPORT
…It is stated in the Bhakti-ratnākara that Keśava Kāśmīrī was a favorite devotee of mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning. By her grace he was an extremely influential scholar, and he was the greatest champion among all the scholars in the four corners of the country. Therefore he got the title dig-vijayī, which means “one who has conquered everyone in all directions.” He belonged to a very respectable brāhmaṇa family of Kashmir. Later, by the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he gave up the profession of winning championships and became a great devotee. He joined the Nimbārka-sampradāya, one of the Vaiṣṇava communities of the Vedic culture.
(CC Adi 16.25)

He was now so renowned that He was considered to be the best pandit in Nadia. Keshab Misra of Kashmere, who had called himself the Great Digvijayi, came to Nadia with a view to discuss with the pandits of that place. Afraid of the so-called conquering pandit, the tol professors of Nadia left their town on pretence of invitation, and Keshab met Mahaprabhu at the Barokonaghat in Mayapur and, after a very short discussion with Him, he got defeated by the Boy and mortification obliged him to decamp. Nimai Pandit was now the most important pandit of His times.
(Teachings of Lord Chaitanya Prologue)

“While saying this, They combined in one form as Gauranga. Nimbārka was astounded on seeing that form and exclaimed, Never have I seen or heard of such a remarkable form anywhere!’
“Mahaprabhu said, ‘Please keep this form secret now. Just preach krsna-bhakti and the pastimes of Radha and Krsna, for I am very happy in those pastimes. When I appear as Gauranga, I will enjoy educational pastimes. At that time, you will take birth in Kashmir and tour India as a champion scholar out to defeat all opponents. Your name will be Kesava Kasmiri, and you will be celebrated everywhere for your great learning.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 16)

Information – 2. Barkona Ghat : Where Mahaprabhu defeated Pandit Keshab Bhatta, a prodigious scholar of world-wide fame and victory who later on became a disciple of Mahaprabhu.
(THE HARMONIST AS IT IS VOL.2 (VOL. XXVI, June 1928 – May 1929), Page 187)

Though He did not say anything, the Lord thought, “How shall I defeat this Digvijayī? This brāhmaṇa has become most proud, because he thinks there is no one in the world to oppose him. If I defeat him in an assembly, it would be equal to death for him. Everyone would belittle him, they would plunder his belongings, and he would die in lamentation. “Therefore I will defeat him in a private place, so that his pride will be destroyed but he won’t be hurt.” While the Lord was thinking in this way, night fell and the Digvijayī arrived at that spot. It was a clear full moon night, and the Ganges looked most enchanting. As the Lord sat with His students, His attractive form was unmatched throughout innumerable universes.
(Sri Caitanya Bhagavata Ādi-khaṇḍa 13.53 – 13.60)

Once on a full moon night the Lord was sitting on the bank of the Ganges with His many disciples and discussing literary topics.
(CC Adi 16.28)

Text 29: Coincidentally, Keśava Kāśmīrī Paṇḍita came there. While offering his prayers to mother Ganges, he met Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Text 30: The Lord received him with adoration, but because Keśava Kāśmīrī was very proud, he talked to the Lord very inconsiderately.
Text 31: “I understand that You are a teacher of grammar,” he said, “and that Your name is Nimāi Paṇḍita. People speak very highly of Your teaching of beginners’ grammar.
Text 32: “I understand that You teach Kalāpa-vyākaraṇa. I have heard that Your students are very expert in the word jugglery of this grammar.”
Text 33: The Lord said, “Yes, I am known as a teacher of grammar, but factually I cannot impress My students with grammatical knowledge, nor can they understand Me very well.
Text 34: “My dear sir, whereas you are a very learned scholar in all sorts of scriptures and are very much experienced in composing poetry, I am only a boy — a new student and nothing more.
Text 35: “Therefore I desire to hear your skill in composing poetry. We could hear this if you would mercifully describe the glory of mother Ganges.”
Text 36: When the brāhmaṇa, Keśava Kāśmīrī, heard this, he became still more puffed up, and within one hour he composed one hundred verses describing mother Ganges.
Text 37: The Lord praised him, saying, “Sir, there is no greater poet than you in the entire world.
Text 38: “Your poetry is so difficult that no one can understand it but you and mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning.
Text 39: “But if you explain the meaning of one verse, we can all hear it from your own mouth and thus be very happy.”
Text 40: The Digvijayī, Keśava Kāśmīrī, inquired which verse He wanted explained. The Lord then recited one of the one hundred verses Keśava Kāśmīrī had composed.
Text 41: “ ‘The greatness of mother Ganges always brilliantly exists. She is the most fortunate because she emanated from the lotus feet of Śrī Viṣṇu, the Personality of Godhead. She is a second goddess of fortune, and therefore she is always worshiped both by demigods and by humanity. endowed with all wonderful qualities, she flourishes on the head of Lord Śiva.’ ”
Text 42: When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked him to explain the meaning of this verse, the champion, very much astonished, inquired from Him as follows.
Text 43: “I recited all the verses like the blowing wind. How could You completely learn by heart even one among those verses?”
Text 44: The Lord replied, “By the grace of the Lord someone may become a great poet, and similarly by His grace someone else may become a great śruti-dhara who can memorize anything immediately.”
Text 45: Satisfied by the statement of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the brāhmaṇa [Keśava Kāśmīrī] explained the quoted verse. Then the Lord said, “Now kindly explain the special qualities and faults in the verse.”
Text 46: The brāhmaṇa replied, “There is not a tinge of fault in that verse. Rather, it has the good qualities of similes and alliteration.”
Text 47: The Lord said, “My dear sir, I may say something to you if you will not become angry. Can you explain the faults in this verse?
Text 48: “There is no doubt that your poetry is full of ingenuity, and certainly it has satisfied the Supreme Lord. Yet if we scrutinizingly consider it we can find both good qualities and faults.”
Text 49: The Lord concluded, “Now, therefore, let us carefully scrutinize this verse.”
Text 50: “You are an ordinary student of grammar. What do You know about literary embellishments? You cannot review this poetry because You do not know anything about it.”
Text 51: Taking a humble position, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “Because I am not on your level, I have asked you to teach Me by explaining the faults and good qualities in your poetry.
Text 52: “Certainly I have not studied the art of literary embellishments. But I have heard about it from higher circles, and thus I can review this verse and find in it many faults and many good qualities.”
Text 53: The poet said, “All right, let me see what good qualities and faults You have found.”
Text 54: “My dear sir, in this verse there are five faults and five literary ornaments. I shall state them one after another. Kindly hear Me and then give your judgment.
Text 55: “In this verse the fault of avimṛṣṭa-vidheyāṁśa occurs twice, and the faults of viruddha-mati, bhagna-krama and punar-ātta occur once each.
Text 56: “The glorification of the Ganges [mahattvaṁ gaṅgāyāḥ] is the principal unknown subject matter in this verse, and the known subject matter is indicated by the word ‘idam,’ which has been placed after the unknown.
Text 57: “Because you have placed the known subject at the end and that which is unknown at the beginning, the composition is faulty, and the meaning of the words has become doubtful.
Text 58: “ ‘Without first mentioning what is known, one should not introduce the unknown, for that which has no solid basis can never be established anywhere.’
Text 59: “In the word ‘dvitīya-śrī-lakṣmī’ [‘a second all-opulent goddess of fortune’], the quality of being a second Lakṣmī is the unknown. In making this compound word, the meaning became secondary and the originally intended meaning was lost.
Text 60: “Because the word ‘dvitīya’ [‘second’] is the unknown, in its combination in this compound word the intended meaning of equality with Lakṣmī is lost.
Text 61: “Not only is there the fault avimṛṣṭa-vidheyāṁśa, but there is also another fault, which I shall point out to you. Kindly hear Me with great attention.
Text 62: “Here is another great fault. You have arranged the word ‘bhavānī-bhartṛ’ to your great satisfaction, but this betrays the fault of contradiction.
Text 63: “The word ‘bhavānī’ means ‘the wife of Lord Śiva.’ But when we mention her husband, one might conclude that she has another husband.
Text 64: “It is contradictory to hear that Lord Śiva’s wife has another husband. The use of such words in literature creates the fault called viruddha-mati-kṛt.
Text 65: “If someone says, ‘Place this charity in the hand of the husband of the wife of the brāhmaṇa,’ when we hear these contradictory words we immediately understand that the brāhmaṇa’s wife has another husband.
Text 66: “The statement by the word ‘vibhavati’ [‘flourishes’] is complete. Qualifying it with the adjective ‘adbhuta-guṇā’ [‘wonderful qualities’] creates the fault of redundancy.
Text 67: “There is extraordinary alliteration in three lines of the verse, but in one line there is no such alliteration. This is the fault of deviation.
Text 68: “Although there are five literary ornaments decorating this verse, the entire verse has been spoiled by these five most faulty presentations.
Text 69: “If there are ten literary ornaments in a verse but even one faulty expression, the entire verse is nullified.
Text 70: “One’s beautiful body may be decorated with jewels, but one spot of white leprosy makes the entire body abominable.
Text 71: “ ‘As one’s body, although well-decorated with ornaments, is made unfortunate by even one spot of white leprosy, so an entire poem is made useless by a fault, despite alliteration, similes and metaphors.’
Text 72: “Now hear the description of the five literary embellishments. There are two ornaments of sound and three ornaments of meaning.
Text 73: “There is a sound ornament of alliteration in three lines. And in the combination of the words ‘śrī’ and ‘lakṣmī’ there is the ornament of a tinge of redundancy.
Text 74: “In the arrangement of the first line the letter ‘ta’ occurs five times, and the arrangement of the third line repeats the letter ‘ra’ five times.
Text 75: “In the fourth line the letter ‘bha’ occurs four times. This arrangement of alliteration is a pleasing ornamental use of sounds.
Text 76: “Although the words ‘śrī’ and ‘lakṣmī’ convey the same meaning and are therefore almost redundant, they are nevertheless not redundant.
Text 77: “Describing Lakṣmī as possessed of śrī [opulence] offers a difference in meaning with a tinge of repetition. This is the second ornamental use of words.
Text 78: “The use of the words ‘lakṣmīr iva’ [‘like Lakṣmī’] manifests the ornament of meaning called upamā [analogy]. There is also the further ornament of meaning called virodhābhāsa, or a contradictory indication.
Text 79: “Everyone knows that lotus flowers grow in the water of the Ganges. But to say that the Ganges takes birth from a lotus flower seems extremely contradictory.
Text 80: “The existence of mother Ganges begins from the lotus feet of the Lord. Although this statement that water comes from a lotus flower is a contradiction, in connection with Lord Viṣṇu it is a great wonder.
Text 81: “In this birth of the Ganges by the inconceivable potency of the Lord, there is no contradiction although it appears contradictory.
Text 82: “ ‘Everyone knows that lotus flowers grow in the water but water never grows from a lotus. All such contradictions, however, are wonderfully possible in Kṛṣṇa: the great river Ganges has grown from His lotus feet.’
Text 83: “The real glory of mother Ganges is that she has grown from the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu. Such a hypothesis is another ornament, called anumāna.
Text 84: “I have simply discussed the five gross faults and five literary embellishments of this verse, but if we consider it in fine detail we will find unlimited faults.
Text 85: “You have achieved poetic imagination and ingenuity by the grace of your worshipable demigod. But poetry not well reviewed is certainly subject to criticism.
Text 86: “Poetic skill used with due consideration is very pure, and with metaphors and analogies it is dazzling.”
Text 87: After hearing the explanation of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the champion poet was struck with wonder. His cleverness stunned, he could not say anything.
Text 88: He wanted to say something, but no reply would come from his mouth. He then began to consider this puzzle within his mind.
Text 89: “This mere boy has blocked my intelligence. I can therefore understand that mother Sarasvatī has become angry with me.
Text 90: “The wonderful explanation the boy has given could not have been possible for a human being. Therefore mother Sarasvatī must have spoken personally through His mouth.”
Text 91: Thinking thus, the paṇḍita said, “My dear Nimāi Paṇḍita, please hear me. Hearing Your explanation, I am simply struck with wonder.
Text 92: “I am surprised. You are not a literary student and do not have long experience in studying the śāstras. How have You been able to explain all these critical points?”
Text 93: Hearing this and understanding the paṇḍita’s heart, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied in a humorous way.
Text 94: “My dear sir, I do not know what is good composition and what is bad. But whatever I have spoken must be understood to have been spoken by mother Sarasvatī.”
Text 95: When he heard this judgment from Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the paṇḍita sorrowfully wondered why mother Sarasvatī wanted to defeat him through a small boy.
Text 96: “I shall offer prayers and meditation to the goddess of learning,” the champion concluded, “and ask her why she has insulted me so greatly through this boy.”
Text 97: Sarasvatī had in fact induced the champion to compose his verse in an impure way. Furthermore, when it was discussed she covered his intelligence, and thus the Lord’s intelligence was triumphant.
Text 98: When the poetic champion was thus defeated, all the Lord’s disciples sitting there began to laugh loudly. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked them not to do so, and He addressed the poet as follows.
Text 99: “You are the most learned scholar and the topmost of all great poets, for otherwise how could such fine poetry come from your mouth?
Text 100: “Your poetic skill is like the constant flow of the waters of the Ganges. I find no one in the world who can compete with you.
Text 101: “Even in the poetic compositions of such great poets as Bhavabhūti, Jayadeva and Kālidāsa there are many examples of faults.
Text 102: “Such mistakes should be considered negligible. One should see only how such poets have displayed their poetic power.
Text 103: “I am not even fit to be your disciple. Therefore kindly do not take seriously whatever childish impudence I have shown.
Text 104: “Please go back home, and tomorrow we may meet again so that I may hear discourses on the śāstras from your mouth.”
Text 105: In this way both the poet and Caitanya Mahāprabhu went back to their homes, and at night the poet worshiped mother Sarasvatī.
Text 106: In a dream the goddess informed him of the Lord’s position, and the poetic champion could understand that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.
Text 107: The next morning the poet came to Lord Caitanya and surrendered unto His lotus feet. The Lord bestowed His mercy upon him and cut off all his bondage to material attachment.
Text 108: The poetic champion was certainly most fortunate. His life was successful by dint of his vast learning and erudite scholarship, and thus he attained the shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Text 109: Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has described all these incidents elaborately. I have only presented the specific incidents he has not described.
Text 110: The nectarean drops of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes can satisfy the senses of everyone who hears them.
Text 111: Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

(CC Adi 16.28 – 16.111)

Prabhupāda: So he began to pray, and Mother Sarasvatī informed her (him) that, “He is God, my husband. So you speak means I speak. So how can I defeat my husband? That is not . . .”…
So then he further did not attempt to talk with Him. He went away, and the Mother Sarasvatī advised him that, “You surrender unto Him. That will be your nice role.” Yes. So later on, he became a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, Keśava Kāśmīrī.
(690514 – Conversation with Allen Ginsberg – Columbus)