Quoting scriptures, Radhanath Swami Maharaj explains that when the Lord appears in the realm of this material world, He descends along with His eternal associates. The reason being neither the Lord nor His devotees can tolerate separation from each other.
To prepare for His descent, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent His associates like Nilambar Chakravarti Thakur, Pundarik Vidyanidhi, Advait Acarya, Haridas Thakur, Paramanand Puri, Ishwar Puri, Jagannath Misra, Sacidevi and many more. Jagannath Misra was married to Sacidevi (daughter of Nilambar Chakravarti Thakur) & they lived in Sri Mayapur dham. Radhanath Swami goes onto explain that Jagannath Misra and Sacidevi are constant companions of the Lord. So whenever the Lord appears in different incarnations, they accompany Him. In the Lord’s Vaman incarnation, Jagannath Misra & Sacidevi had descended as Kasyapa Muni & Aditi. Similarly they appeared as Dasarath & Kausalya (and gave birth to Sri Ram), Vasudev and Devaki (& gave birth to Sri Krishna) and also as Nanda Maharaj &Yasodamai (engaged in raising & loving Krishna in Gokul dham).
Jagannath Misra & Sacidevi had 8 daughters, but all of them died after their birth. So they were very much aggrieved at heart. So Jagannath Misra & Sacidevi began to worship Damodar Saligram Sila. Soon a child was born to them. This child was an expansion of Sri Balaramji & He was named Vishwaroop. He was a reservoir of all divine qualities & imparted great pleasure to His parents. Being blessed with such a wonderful baby boy, Jagannath Misra & Sacidevi increased their worship towards the Lord to show their gratitude. Later in the month of Magha, the Supreme Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu entered in the womb of Sacidevi through the mind of Jagannath Misra.
Radhanath Swami Maharaj elaborates on this & says that Sacidevi looked extremely effulgent when she was holding Lord Caitanya in her womb. Sometimes the demigods would come & offer prayers to her. Even after 10 months when the child was not born, they consulted Nilambar Chakravarti who was a great astrologer & father of Sacidevi. He told them that the child was divine & was waiting for an opportune time to appear. In the month of Falgun, when it was a total lunar eclipse, all the residents of Navadvipa dham, be they, atheist, theist, bhaktas or shaktas, assembled near the Ganges to take bath & they were loudly chanting the holy names of Lord Hari & Krishna.
“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”
The whole atmosphere was surcharged with divinity & all devotees of the Lord like Advait Acarya, Srivas Thakur & others were very blissful when they saw everyone engaged in chanting the holy names of Krishna & they prayed, may the eclipse continue forever. It was at this time that Lord Caitanya was born under a neem tree. When the Lord appeared, all the devotees felt elated at heart, but they could not fathom the reason why they were so happy. They did not know that the Supreme Lord, Krishna had already appeared as son of Sacidevi.
The guru of Radhanath Swami, Srila Prabhupada, explains in his literary classic, Krishna – The Supreme Personality of Godhead, that at the time of Sri Krishna’s birth, the planetary systems were automatically adjusted so that everything became auspicious. By material standards, an eclipse is not an auspicious time for the birth of a child. Similarly, when Lord Caitanya was born,although it was a total lunar eclipse, the whole atmosphere was auspicious. Everyone was engaged in chanting the holy names of Krishna and in all directions there was an atmosphere of peace & prosperity.
– Radhanath Swami
