A New Temple on the Birth-site of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya
(The Harmonist Vol. 21 March 31, 1935)

Birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu 

A great shrine, externally one of the biggest in Bengal, was opened to worship on the 20th of March by His Highness Maharaja Vira Vikrama Kisora Deva Varman Manikya Bahadura of the Tripura State, at Sridham Mayapura (old Nabadwip), on the birth-site of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna-Caitanya.

The Temple is 125 feet high. Its donor is a merchant of Calcutta, Sriyukta Sakhi-carana Raya Bhakti-vijaya, a devoted servant of Sridhama Mayapura.

Lord Caitanya is the teacher of the religion of transcendental love of Sri Krsna. He was born at Sridhama Mayapura in I486 A.D. For a long time for causes that are yet to be explored, Sridhama Mayapura as well as the actual site of birth of the Lord were supposed to have been washed away by the Bhagirathi. We owe the discovery of the forgotten places to Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji and Thakura Bhaktivinoda. The detailed story of the search and discovery of the Site of the Appearance of the All-Love can be read in a Bengali Book, Citre Navadvipa. It is not our purpose to go into the narrative at this place.

We have also accordingly discussed the spiritual conception of the transcendental plane of the Appearance of the Divinity as well as the historical evidence on which the identification of Sridhama Mayapura and the site of birth has been based, in the back-numbers of this Journal.

We have all along observed that a great difficulty is sure to be felt by those who are not susceptible to the spiritual argument in being asked to regard the glorification of any particular locality for the accident of the birth of a personage however great. The actual teaching of Sri Krsna Caitanya is separated by such persons from any sentimental reverence for the place of His nativity. It is also likely for them to experience a short of irrelevancy in this Journal bothering itself so much about the identification of the exact site of birth of Sri Krsna Caitanya. Such matters, might appear to be capable of being left to the antiquarians and as not very material to the purpose of propagating the teaching of the Supreme Lord, the object of the Journal.

We have, however, endeavored to show that the above mode of thinking is itself based upon a narrow and untenable view of the nature of the Absolute, the Subject-matter of the Teaching of the Supreme Lord and of this Journal. There is an esoteric aspect of the Birth-site of the Supreme Lord which is all-important even for the universal spiritual purpose. The Absolute is not an abstract conception of the poor muddling brain of a mortal. This is liable to be forgot by those who do not care about the spiritual issue itself but bestow all their attention on its misrepresentations by the so-called philosophical method which is utterly and palpably inadequate for the purpose.

The Absolute is the Real Entity and not the attenuated zero of the empiric philosophers who is without any function or living relationship with humanity. If all the initiative and activity in this world, is to be monopolized by those who cannot pass the line of puzzling ignorance, there is no room for the quest of the Absolute. It is only when the relative methods are found to be not only insufficient but positively injurious and false that there can be any serious necessity for seeking for the knowledge of the Active Absolute and not of a superfluous nonentity miscalled the truth, who is not to interfere at all with our wicked and foolish schemes of life.

Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to man to be able to know something that is definite in regard to the objective Absolute instead of affecting [to remain content with a disappointing mode of existence by setting up a false theory of the Absolute to serve as an apology for our own inevitable foolishnesses.

Why should it be considered a narrow sectarian move to postulate definitive existence for the All-Existence? Why should non-existence be supposed to possess all these definite conditions for existence which are to be denied to the real existence? This disingenuousness and demonstrative malice against the living Source of all true and false existence form the alpha and the omega of the creed of impersonalism that has always possessed such a sinister attraction for sophisticated humanity. The dogma of impersonalism should not be allowed to block the way of the fruitful enquiry regarding the Truth. To seek for some definite foothold on the plane of the truth should be recognised as the immediate and imperative duty of all who are not willing to be in league with the forces of sectarian misrepresentations in the name of religion and thereby drawing upon themselves an impending universal destruction by the criminal and foolish indulgence of accumulated malice.

The discovery of the birth-site of the Supreme Lord is an event which offers the definite starting-point of the truly scientific endeavour for obtaining a foothold in the plane of concrete transcendence. The building of the shrine on the birth-site is a further step in the progressive invoked descent of the all-love to the plane of internecine strife and gilded untruth.