Sri Caitanya-carita-maha-kavya By Srila Murari Gupta

Sri Caitanya-carita-maha-kavya

By Srila Murari Gupta

"When Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in the house of Srivasa Thakura in His Caturbhuja murit, Murari Gupta became His carrier in the form of Garuda, and in these pastimes of ecstasy the Lord then got up on his back. It was the desire of Murari Gupta to leave his body before the disappearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but the Lord forbade him to do so. Thus is described in the Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, Chapter Twenty.

There is another verse in the Caitanya caritamrta that gives hind of Murari Gupta's character: "Srila Murari Gupta never accepted charity from friends, nor did he accept money from anyone. He practiced as physician and maintained his family with his earnings."

In the purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada wrote" "It should be noted that a grhastha (householder) must not make his livelihood by begging from anyone. Every householder of the higher castes should engage himself in his own occupational duty as a Brahmana, ksatriya or vaisya, but he should not engage in the service of others, for this is the duty of sudra 

Since Murari Gupta was born in physician's family (vaidya-vamsa), he practiced as a physician, and with whatever income he earned he maintained his family. As stated in Srimad Bhagavatam, everyone should try to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the execution of his occupational duty. That is the perfection of life. This system is called daivi-varnasrama. Murari Gupta was an ideal grhastha, for he was a great devotee of Lord Ramacandra and Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By practicing as a physician he maintained his family and at the same time satisfied Lord Caitanya to the best of his ability. This is the ideal of householder life."