Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.2

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

jaya jaya mahāprabhu śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya tāṅhāra caraṅāśrita sei baḍa dhanya [Cc Ādi 7.2]

[break] [02:22]

Translation: "Let me offer glorification to the Supreme Lord, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One who has taken shelter of His lotus feet is the most glorified person."

Prabhupāda:

jaya jaya mahāprabhu śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya tāṅhāra caraṅāśrita sei baḍa dhanya [Cc Ādi 7.2]

Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya is Śrī Kṛṣṅa. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī dictated this verse:

namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṅa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṅāya kṛṣṅa-caitanya- nāmne... [Cc Madhya 19.53]

[O most munificent incarnation! You are Kṛṣṅa Himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī, and You are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṅa. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.]

He's Kṛṣṅa Himself. In this Kali-yuga, Kṛṣṅa's direct identification, incarnation, is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is also confirmed in all the Vedic literature—Mahābhārata, Purāṅa, Upaniṣad—and the essence of all Vedic literature is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There is also Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He's accepted as the Supreme Lord.

kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam yajñair saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ [SB 11.5.32]

[In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṅa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṅa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.]

This is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that in the Kali-yuga the incarnation of Kṛṣṅa is, by His bodily complexion, akṛṣṅa. Akṛṣṅa means "not kṛṣṅa." The "not kṛṣṅa" means there are many other colors. So in the śāstra it is said that Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in the four yugas in four different colors: śukla raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṅataṁ gataḥ [SB 10.8.13].

When Kṛṣṅa was born, Gargamuni, the family priest... It is the system among the Vedic culturalists that as soon as a child is born, immediately his horoscope is made and his past, future is calculated. Janma-jñasthi[?]. So that function, on account of poverty and many other causes, nobody practically practices. But this is also one of the saṁskāra. Before birth there is saṁskāra, garbhādhāna saṁskāra. While the child is within the womb, there is saṁskāra. In this way, a human body is purified by different kinds of saṁskāras, or purificatory methods. Daśabhidasaṁskāra. Saṁskārād bhaved dvija. Janmanā jāyate śūdraḥ. If in... Anyone is born by father and mother... Even cats and dogs, they have got father and mother. Any life you get, there is father and mother. Therefore in the Prema-vivarta there is a śloka:

janame janame sabe pitā-mātā pāya kṛṣṅa guru nahi mile bhaja hari ei [Prema-vivarta]

In any birth, you'll get father, mother. That is not a very difficult thing. Without father and mother there is no birth. So to get father and mother is usual; it is not very difficult. But, kṛṣṅa guru nahi mile bhaja hari ei: in every birth, you cannot get Kṛṣṅa or you cannot get bona fide spiritual master. Kṛṣṅa guru nahi mile bhaja hari ei. Guru-kṛṣṅa kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc Madhya 19.151].

[According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṅa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.]

These are the statements of Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Those who have read Caitanya-caritāmṛta, they know it. So, perfection of human life is possible by the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṅa. And that mercy can be achieved in the human form of life, not in the life of cats and dogs. Therefore it is said, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is acting both as guru and Kṛṣṅa—combination of guru and Kṛṣṅa.

So, Kavirāja Gosvāmī, the author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he first offered his obeisances to Lord Caitanya in the first verse, agaty-eka-gatiṁ natvā [Cc Ādi 7.1]. After offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord, who is the only hope for the hopeless, now he's again offering, jaya jaya mahāprabhu śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya. Prabhu and mahāprabhu. Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu—any Vaiṣṅava is addressed as prabhu—but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is mahāprabhu, the topmost prabhu, the master prabhu. All others are servant prabhu. Just like, it is very easy to understand: if you are working in an office, your immediate boss, you consider him as your master, but he's not the master. The master of the office is the managing director, manager of the proprietor. But still, those who are working under him, sub-prabhus, they are also called prabhu. So all Vaiṣṅava should be addressed as prabhu; that is the etiquette. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu is mahāprabhu. As soon as you utter the name of Śrī Caitanya, the mahāprabhu... Because He's the greatest master. That will be explained in the few next verse,

ekale īśvara kṛṣṅa āra saba bhṛtya yāre yaiche nācāya, se taiche kare nṛtya [Cc Ādi 5.142]

[Lord Kṛṣṅa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.]

We are simply dancing in this material world. We are trying to be master of the material world. Everyone is trying. Everyone wants to exploit the resources of the material nature. He wants to become master. That is the struggle for existence. I am trying to become master, you are trying to become master, so there is clash, there is collision. I am challenging you, "Why you should become master?" He's challenging why I should be master. This is going on. This is material world. But if we accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, if we accept this principle that none of us is a prabhu, everyone is a servant... Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṅa dāsa [Cc Madhya 20.108-109]. If we accept this principle, that we are eternal servant, we are not master—master is Kṛṣṅa or Kṛṣṅa Caitanya, Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu—then our problems are solved.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he has sung a song, jīv kṛṣṅa dāsa ei viśvās korle to ār duḥkha nāi. This is the solution. Everyone is thinking to become the master, prabhu. Prabhu you can become. That is not, I mean to say, extraordinary. Some way or other we are prabhus. Suppose I am a family man; I am managing my family, my wife, my children, my servants, my subordinates, so I may be prabhu. In that sense I am a small prabhu. Similarly, everyone is prabhu, he has got some subordinates. But there is the supreme prabhu, the prabhu of all prabhus. So mahāprabhu is Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya. He's Kṛṣṅa. As it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

Īśvara means ruler or controller. So all of us more or less a little controller or ruler, but not the absolute ruler. The absolute ruler is Kṛṣṅa. Similarly, the absolute prabhu, master, is Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

So, tāṅhāra caraṅāśrita: The prabhu... Everyone is prabhu—that's all right—but if that prabhu takes shelter of the lotus feet of the mahāprabhu, sei baḍa dhanya, he becomes glorified. Not to remain satisfied becoming a prabhu of your wife, children, family, country, or this or that, but you should try to become the servant of Mahāprabhu. Tāṅhāra caraṅāśrita [Cc Ādi 7.2]. He's glorified because he receives... To become under the lotus feet of Śrī. If you take shelter of the supreme prabhu, Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then your life is successful. Sei baḍa dhanya. He is glorified. To become servant of God or Mahāprabhu is very prestigious. It is not very easy thing to become servant of Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu or servant of Kṛṣṅa. So if anyone agrees to become the servant of the supreme prabhu, master, then his life is successful. Sei baḍa dhanya. He is glorified.

The Vaiṣṅava, their principle is to become..., to come to the platform of eternal servitude. That is the philosophy of Vaiṣṅava philosophy: not to become the master but to become servant of the master. This is perfect philosophy. Gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ [Cc Madhya 13.80].

[I am not a brāhmaṅa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a vaiśya or a śūdra. Nor am I a brahmacārī, a householder, a vānaprastha or a sannyāsī. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the maintainer of the gopīs. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance.’]

So long in the material conception of life we... The brāhmaṅa is thinking the master of the kṣatriya or the vaiśya or the śūdra; a sannyāsī is thinking the master of vānaprastha, gṛhastha, brahmacārī. Similarly, in gṛhastha also, the chief man in the household life, he is thinking master. So everyone, kṣatriya king, he's thinking he's master. So, you are master to some extent, but if you accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or Śrī Kṛṣṅa as your master, then your life is successful. This is the secret of success.

That is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṅāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam [SB 1.2.13]

[O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.]

Just like Arjuna was fighting, kṣatriya. His business was to fight. Why he was fighting the Battle of Kurukṣetra? To become master of the kingdom. But he remained eternally servant of Kṛṣṅa. This is success. Don't be satisfied simply I become master of your material position. At the same time, you try to become the servant of the Supreme; then you are successful. Relative. Our mastership is relative. Under certain condition we become master, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is master without any condition. Namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṅa prema pradāya te [Cc Madhya 19.53].

Because He's master, He can distribute kṛṣṅa prema very easily. Otherwise, kṛṣṅa prema... Not only kṛṣṅa prema; one cannot understand what is Kṛṣṅa.

manuṣyāṅāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yayati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ [Bg 7.3]

[Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.]

Out of many millions of persons, one may try to make his life successful, and out of many such person who has become successful, to understand the constitutional position of his life, one may understand—one may understand; there is no surety—Kṛṣṅa.

So to understand Kṛṣṅa is very, very difficult job.

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54]

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

To understand Kṛṣṅa and to understand the service of Kṛṣṅa is very exalted post. Brahma-bhūtaḥ. One has to become brahma-bhūtaḥ, completely liberated. Then he can understand how to render service to Kṛṣṅa, mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām. So, so difficult subject matter is given very easily by Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī offered his first prayer to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:

namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṅa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṅāya kṛṣṅa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ [Cc Madhya 19.53]

Such a difficult subject matter: Kṛṣṅa. "You are not only giving Kṛṣṅa, but You are giving kṛṣṅa-prema, love of Kṛṣṅa." You can meet somebody, some exalted person, you can see, but to become an intimate relationship with such exalted person in love, that is not very easy thing. I can meet the president or some exalted person, but to become in love with him in intimacy, that is not easy job. But Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu distributed this Kṛṣṅa love immediately, anyone. That is Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu's, I mean to say, contribution to the human society. If you simply become under the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then love of Kṛṣṅa is very easily achieved.

Therefore it is said: tāṅhāra caraṅāśrita, sei baḍa dhanya. He's glorified because he receives... To become under the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu means you have got Kṛṣṅa. You have already got. That is the verdict of the śāstra and Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Because Kṛṣṅa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, does not give anything else. Simply directly gives you Kṛṣṅa and His love. And to award this greatest benediction to the human society, He took sannyāsa at the age of twenty-four years only, in this land of Māyāpur, Navadvīpa. It is very glorified place. It is not ordinary place. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, gauḍa maṅḍala bhūmi, yeba jane cintāmaṅi tara hoy vrajabhūme vāsa. Anyone who understands gauḍa maṅḍala bhūmi in Bengal—this Navadvīpa, Navadvīpa-candra, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu—if anyone understands the spiritual value of this land, he lives in Vrajabhūmi, in Vṛndāvana. There is no difference between Vṛndāvana and this Gaura-maṅḍala-bhūmi. That is the verdict of the śāstra. Gauḍa-maṅḍala-bhūmi yena jane cintāmaṅi tara hoy vrajabhūme vāsa [Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura].

So read Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's Prārthanā, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's Prārthanā. They are very, very valuable for advancement of spiritual understanding, especially Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's Prārthanā. So, by reading them, by understanding them, we can understand Kṛṣṅa very easily. Otherwise, it is very, very difficult to understand Kṛṣṅa. Big, big scholars, big, big sannyāsīs, they cannot understand Kṛṣṅa. They understand Kṛṣṅa that Kṛṣṅa is like us—a very great man, politician, historical person—or sometimes thinks of Kṛṣṅa as a debauch because He was in association with the gopīs or He married sixteen thousand wives.

So we shall be misled to understand Kṛṣṅa if we try to do so by our own knowledge. We have to accept Kṛṣṅa through Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises everyone:

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He is Kṛṣṅa Himself. Kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum... [Bg 9.11].

[Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.]

Because He came as a human being, people have misunderstood Him, that He's a human being. He's not human being. He's the master of the human being. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham [Bg 4.7]. Kṛṣṅa comes, very kindly—because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa—when we are in distressed condition on account of violating the laws of religion. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati. Glāni means deviation from the path of religion. And what is religion? Religion: dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṅītam [SB 6.3.19].

[Real religious principles are enacted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although fully situated in the mode of goodness, even the great ṛṣis who occupy the topmost planets cannot ascertain the real religious principles, nor can the demigods or the leaders of Siddhaloka, to say nothing of the asuras, ordinary human beings, Vidyādharas and Cāraṅas.]

Religion means the laws of God. That is religion. Simple definition. Laws, the words, the rules and regulation given by the Lord, that is called religion. Just like I have several times explained, the laws, the rules and regulations given by the state is called law. You cannot manufacture law. Similarly, you cannot manufacture dharma. Nowadays, in this Kali-yuga, all the rascals, they are manufacturing religion. But who cares for that religion, or what will be the benefit of such religion? There'll be no benefit. It is simply...

[break] ...that "I am Kṛṣṅa." Never said. Rather, when He was in Vṛndāvana, some of the devotees eulogized Him that "You are Kṛṣṅa," He immediately blocked His ear: "No, no. Don't say like that." That is the indication that to claim to become God or Kṛṣṅa is the highest type of rascaldom. That is rascaldom. Those who are these Māyāvādīs who are claiming that "Everyone is God. I am God, you are God," they are all rascals. Therefore I have said in connection, with reference to that boy-god..., you know, I do not wish to repeat. We do not accept such cheap God. No. We accept Kṛṣṅa. And we accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as God because śāstra says, the ācārya says; therefore we follow the footsteps of the ācāryas. Rūpa Gosvāmī says, kṛṣṅāya kṛṣṅa-caitanya-nāmne: "Sir, You have now come... You are Kṛṣṅa. You have come under the name of Kṛṣṅa Caitanya. You are so magnanimous that You are distributing..." Be... Without becoming Kṛṣṅa, how one can distribute Kṛṣṅa? Without one becoming millionaires, how he can distribute millions of dollars?

So it is the business of Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu... He's so magnanimous that He is distributing Kṛṣṅa. So take shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have come from distant place, you have spent much money, thousands of money to come here. Take advantage of this journey and chant śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. Then you'll get Kṛṣṅa. Then you'll get, surely. This land, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's birth site. So anyone who takes shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṅa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he is dhanya, he is glorified.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. Haribol. [end]