Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.98–99

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting, etc.]

tabe sanātana prabhura caraṅe dhariyā dainya vinati kare dante tṛṅa lañā nīca jāti, nīca-saṅgī, patita adhama kuviṣaya-kūpe paḍi' goṅāinu janama [Cc Madhya-līlā 20.98-99]

[03:17]

Translation: "Putting a straw in his mouth and bowing down, Sanātana Gosvāmī clasped the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and humbly spoke as follows. Sanātana Gosvāmī said, 'I was born in a low family, and my associates are all low-class men. I myself am fallen and am the lowest of men. Indeed, I have passed my whole life fallen in the well of sinful materialism.' "

Prabhupāda:

tabe sanātana prabhura caraṅe dhariyā dainya vinati kare dante tṛṅa lañā nīca jāti, nīca-saṅgī, patita adhama kuviṣaya-kūpe paḍi' goṅāinu janama [Cc Madhya-līlā 20.98-99]

This is Bengali language. [child talking] [aside:] Children must stop talking. Sanātana Gosvāmī approaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was minister in the government of Nawab Hussain Shah, the then Pathan government in Bengal. So since he met Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he decided to retire from political life and join this movement. So there is a long history. When he wanted to resign, the Nawab become very angry, because Nawab was depending on him for the ruling of the kingdom. He was free, but when Sanātana Gosvāmī proposed to retire, he became very much disturbed. A long history. So anyway, he escaped from the government service, and with great difficulty he approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He was at Vārāṅasi, Benares.

So now, he's ācārya, Sanātana Gosvāmī, he's ācārya. Ācāryaṁ vijānīyān, māṁ vijānīyāt [Cc Ādi 1.46]. Ācāryopāsanam. This is the recommendation of Vedic knowledge: one should worship the ācārya. So Sanātana Gosvāmī was made ācārya. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was made ācārya. Ācārya means one who knows the meaning of śāstra, personally behaves according to the śāstra, and teaches his disciple accordingly. He is called ācārya. So Sanātana Gosvāmī is teaching us by his personal behavior how to approach guru. That he's teaching. Tabe sanātana prabhura caraṅe dhariyā. To approach guru, the first business is surrender. That is everywhere in the Vedic literature. That is the process.

tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet samit-pāṅiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12]

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

In the Bhagavad-gītā also, Kṛṣṅa says,

tad viddhi praṅipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg 4.34]

[Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.]

First of all guru means tattva-darśī, one who knows the Absolute Truth. He is guru. Absolute Truth is Kṛṣṅa. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya [Bg 7.7].

[O conqueror of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.]

All previous ācāryas, modern ācāryas, they accept Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In India there are, at the present moment... Within one thousand years, all the ācāryas who advented—Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka, even Śaṅkarācārya—all accepted Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So here Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He's also Kṛṣṅa. Śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṅa nahe anya [Śrī Guru-paramparā 6].

[Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is none other than the combined form of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa.]

He has appeared as devotee. He appeared first of all as the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṅa, and He instructed Bhagavad-gītā to the fallen souls and He asserted His Lordship, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. But puffed-up, so-called learned scholars and men of position, they declined, "Why should I surrender to Kṛṣṅa?" Therefore Kṛṣṅa Himself as devotee of Kṛṣṅa appeared. That is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṅa Himself, but He's teaching how to approach Kṛṣṅa. And His disciples, they are also teaching the same philosophy. There is no difference between Kṛṣṅa's philosophy and Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy. It is not that we can manufacture some philosophy. That is nonsense. Philosophy is one; religion is one. Everyone has to follow. There is no second alternative. That is the preaching about... Mām ekam, not that "Whatever you like, you can do." No, that is not. Mām ekam—simply Kṛṣṅa. There are some missionaries, they say that you can manufacture in your..., your own way of worship, and whatever you accept, that is all right. These bogus things are not accepted by the ācāryas. Mām ekam, Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

If you want to understand what is Bhagavān, that is Kṛṣṅa.

Bhagavān... Religion means to understand Bhagavān. The other day we were consulting dictionary? Religion means the process by which we can understand the supreme controller. There is a supreme controller, as in every department, in every state, every affair, every business, every institution there is a controller. That you have got experience, practical. Without controller, nothing can be properly discharged. Controller is required. So the śāstra says that controller, or ruler, is the same, and the Sanskrit synonym is īśvara. Īśvara means controller, or ruler. So there are different kinds of controllers according to time, sphere. Just like in your country, the president is the controller. In other country somebody is controller. So there are many hundreds and thousands of planets within this universe, and each and every planet there is a controller. The sun planet, there is a controller. His name is Vivasvān. That we find. Similarly, the moon planet there is a controller. Every planet there is controller. And above all of them there is another supreme controller of the universe, the Brahmā, and there are many millions of brahmāṅḍas, or universes.

So there are controllers. But so far Kṛṣṅa is concerned, He is described in the śāstras, 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.]

There are controllers, but the supreme controller is Kṛṣṅa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ. Īśvaraḥ means controller. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1]. His form... He has form. Bhagavān means with form. We see the form here, vigrahaḥ. Vigrahaḥ means form. But His form is different from our. He's sac-cid-ānanda. His form is eternal. Our this form is not eternal. We have to give it up. We have to accept another form according to our karma. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg 2.13].

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

But Kṛṣṅa hasn't got to do that. He is in His original form. He has got many forms, expansions, but His original form is Kṛṣṅa, with two hands and flutes.

veṅuṁ kvaṅantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣam tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.30]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.]

Kṛṣṅa's symbolic representation is He is always playing on flute. And barhāvataṁsa: with a peacock feather. These are described in the Vedic literature. It is not that we worship Kṛṣṅa as imaginary form of God. No. As the Māyāvādīs, they say that you can imagine any form of God, no, that is not the fact. God has His original form, real form, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1]. Anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṅa-kāraṅam.

[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.]

So if we understand, if we want to understand Kṛṣṅa, are interested... Because Kṛṣṅa cannot be understood very easily. It is not possible.

manuṣyāṅāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin vetti māṁ 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.]

Kṛṣṅa says, "Out of many millions of persons, one is interested how to become siddha." Siddha means liberated, one who is not entangled with this material atmosphere. He is called siddha. So out of many millions of people, one may be interested how to become free from this material entanglement. And yatatām api siddhānām [Bg 7.3], and out of many such siddhas, one may understand Kṛṣṅa. Kaścid vetti māṁ tattvataḥ. So it is not so easy to understand Kṛṣṅa, but when Kṛṣṅa comes personally as a devotee and shows us the ways and means how to approach Kṛṣṅa, then it becomes easier. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

So if we follow the methods, the method prescribed by Kṛṣṅa is very easy, but still, because we misunderstand Kṛṣṅa... Therefore, if we go through the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then we can easily understand Kṛṣṅa. That is recognized by Rūpa Gosvāmī, the younger brother of Sanātana Gosvāmī. Two of them were ministers. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has described,

namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṅa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṅāya kṛṣṅa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ [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 said, "Caitanya Mahāprabhu, You are Kṛṣṅa. Now, this time, You have appeared as Kṛṣṅa Caitanya in order to give everyone Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa made some condition, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66], but here now, as devotee of Kṛṣṅa, You are distributing Kṛṣṅa without any condition. Therefore mahā-vadānyāya: You are the most munificent incarnation." So somehow or other, Sanātana Gosvāmī, he became attracted to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He resigned his ministerial post, and he has come to surrender to Caitanya Mahāprabhu while he was at Benares. Therefore it is said, tabe sanātana prabhura caraṅe dhariyā [Cc Madhya 20.98].

So when we approach guru, our first condition is that we must be humble and surrender. Praṅipāta. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṅa-nipāta. Then sevā, to serve the spiritual master; yasya prasādād, to gain his favor. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo. This is the process. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu... Sanātana Gosvāmī's teaching how to approach guru, so, very humbly... Dante tṛṅa lañā [Cc Madhya 20.98]. In India the system is that to..., symbolic representation of humbleness is to take one piece of grass in the mouth. Then it is to be understood that he is coming very submissively. Now this system is not current, but formerly it was. So Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī also said like that, dante nidhāya tṛṅakaṁ padayor nipatya kṛtvā cāhaṁ kāku-śatam ahaṁ bravīmi [Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛta 8.90].

[Taking a straw between my teeth and falling at your feet a hundred times, I humbly submit, "O great personality, please give up all mundane knowledge that you have learned and just submit yourself at the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu."]

He was a devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he also taught us how to preach Kṛṣṅa consciousness, becoming very humble, humbler... Caitanya Mahāprabhu has also instructed us,

tṛṅād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṅunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ [Cc Ādi 17.31]

[One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.]

This time, Kali-yuga, is very, very fallen. People are very, very much fallen. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo [SB 1.1.10].

[O learned one, in this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.]

Practically cent per cent of the population at the present moment, they're manda. Manda. Manda means of no value, or very bad, manda, or very slow. There are several meanings of manda. So in this age all the people, they are manda. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo. And because they are generally very bad, everyone has got a process of spiritual realization. First of all they are not interested, manda. Our real value of life, human being, means spiritual understanding. This is... This human life is meant for spiritual understanding. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. Absolute Truth. That is the only business. But on account of being manda, we have invented so many other occupational duties. That is... According to... That is a fact. Not according to Vaiṣṅava philosophy, but that is a fact. We may improve the standard of living condition. So living condition, that is bodily concept of life. I am sitting in this comfortable siṁhāsana. That's all. I can sit down also on the floor. It does not make much difference. According to time, circumstances...

So life... So we are combination of spirit and matter. This body is matter, and the moving force which is moving this body, that is spirit soul. So we are manda. We are so dull that the highest learned man and the so-called scientist and philosopher, they cannot understand this distinction. They think this body is everything. But that is not the fact. Body is not everything. The moving power of the body is the spirit soul. We are repeatedly trying to convince people this simple truth, but they are so dull-headed they cannot understand. Yes. So they have been described as animals. The śāstra, they say, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13].

[One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.]

One who is in this bodily concept... [break] Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṅape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ: "This is my country, bhauma. I am born in America or I am born in India, so it is my country." How long you'll remain American? How long you'll remain Indian? They do not know. But they are mad after this conception of life, bodily conception of life. Bhauma ijya-dhīḥ. Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicit. People in every community, religious community, there is tīrtha. People want holy place. So they go, they take bath. Just like in India they go to Haridwar or Vṛndāvana or Prayāg, take bath in the Ganges or Yamunā. Similarly, Christians, they go to take bath in the river Jordan. So everyone has got. Yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile. Na tad janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]. This kind of life is go-kharaḥ. Go means cows, and kharaḥ means ass. Without understanding the value of life, na tad-janeṣv abhijñeṣu, without associating with abhijñaḥ, learned spiritual master, if he passes his life with this understanding, then he is no better than the cows and asses. This is the verdict.

So therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī, he is very learned man in that time. Because it was Muhammadan time, he used to learn very nicely Arabic and Parsi, Persian language. Just like during British period we had to learn English, similarly, the state language was somewhere Arabic and somewhere Parsi. Sometimes, they are called mixed—that is called Urdu. So he was learned scholar, and he was also born of very nice brāhmaṅa family, Sanātana Gosvāmī, sārasvata brāhmaṅa. So born brāhmaṅa family, well-educated, minister, everything, but he presents himself,

nīca jāti, nīca-saṅgī, patita adhama, kuviṣaya-kūpe paḍi' goṅāinu janama [Cc Madhya 20.99]

He has understood that the so-called bodily conception that "I am rich man," "I am very learned man," "I am brāhmaṅa" or "I am American," these are useless understanding. One who understands like that, he is... Sanātana Gosvāmī—he's a nīca jāti, the bodily conception of life nīca jāti. Nīca jāti, nīca-saṅgī. Why the bodily concept of life? Because the association is bad. At the present moment we do not get any education or good association to understand our real identity. That is the difficulty. Therefore he says, nīca saṅgī, patita adhama. Adhama means lowest of the mankind; patita means fallen. If one does not understand his real interest, he is called fallen.

So what is our real interest? By evolutionary process, after going through so many forms of life, jalajā nava-lakṣāṅi sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati kṛmayo rudra-saṅkhyakāḥ [Padma Purāṅa], in this way, eight million forms of life, and we have got this human form of life now. So this life especially meant for athāto brahma jijñāsā. Simply to understand our spiritual identity, the Absolute Truth, that is the only business. But we are... We have got the intelligence more than the cats and dogs. They cannot inquire about the spiritual identity. And if we keep ourself in darkness, without understanding our spiritual identity, then we are no better than the dogs and cats. Therefore he said, nīca jāti: "I have no information about these things." Nīca jāti. Just like dogs, it is a class. So nīca. Of course, in your country dog is very pet. Now we are learning also, India, how to keep a dog and become aristocratic. [laughter] So now there is big, big dog show in New Delhi. But actually in India, although dog was not neglected—in a neighborhood, if there is a dog, people will give him food—but not allow to enter into the house. He'll be not allowed. A dog is also trained up. They'll come to your door and sit down and move his tail: "Give me some food." And people will give. But he's not allowed to enter. The dog or caṅḍālas are not allowed.

So there is distinction, caste distinction, according to spiritual advancement. The brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, these are higher class or lower class according to the spiritual understanding. But one who is elevated in spiritual understanding, he is brāhmaṅa. Brahmā jānātīti brāhmaṅaḥ. Brāhmaṅa does not mean simply... Of course, in this age brāhmaṅa means vipratve sūtram eva hi [SB 12.2.3].

[Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one's expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṅa just by his wearing a thread.]

That is also predicted, that if you get one sūtra, one thread, one paisa worth, and get it on your body, then you become a brāhmaṅa. No, that is not. Brāhmaṅa is a qualification.

satya śamo damas titikṣa kṣantir ārjavam jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam [Bg 18.42]

[Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brāhmaṅas work.]

So these things are being lost; therefore in the Kali-yuga practically everyone is a śūdra. Patita-adhama, adhama. Narādhamāḥ. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [Bg 7.15].

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

Because people at the present moment are very, very low grade, nīca jāti, nīca-saṅgī, fallen and narādhamāḥ... The same thing is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ. Those who are narādhamāḥ, lowest of the mankind and very, very sinful, duṣkṛtina, mūḍhāḥ and rascal, they do not surrender to Kṛṣṅa.

So to surrender to Kṛṣṅa requires little qualification, and that qualification Sanātana Gosvāmī wanted. Therefore he has approached Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We can follow his footsprints. He is also... He is an ācārya. But it is essential, essential. Don't be assured that you are very highly elevated person. Without Kṛṣṅa consciousness, everyone—this is a challenge—everyone is lowborn. Everyone is nīca, badly associated, fallen and the lowest of the mankind, because he's missing the chance of understanding Kṛṣṅa in this human form life, and nobody knows what he's going to be next life. So it it a very risky civilization without any understanding of Kṛṣṅa. Be careful. Those who have taken to Kṛṣṅa consciousness, execute the Kṛṣṅa consciousness business very cautiously so that we may not fall down. There is risk of falldown, but if we stick to Kṛṣṅa's lotus feet—mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti [Bg 7.14]—then there is no fear.

[This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.]

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya. [end]