Sri Caitanya-caritamrita Adi-lila 7.9-10
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Лондон · 2022
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Kirtan and introductory mantras
Chayai Sri Chaitanya Jayanitananda, Jaya Jaitanya Jaya Nitananda, Jayadvaita Chandra Jaya Gorba Bhakta Brinda, Jayadvaita Chandrajaya Gurya Bhakta Vrindha. Jaya Sri Chaitana Jainityananda, Jay Sri Chaitanya Nitannanda, Jaydvaita Chandrajaya Gorba Bhakta Vrinda, Jayatvaitachanda Bhakt, Jaja Sri Chaitanya, Jainitananda, Jaya Sri Chaitanya Jaja Nitananda, Jaywaita Chandrajaya Guru Bhakta Brinda, Jareva Chandrajaya Guru Bhakta Brinda,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hariama Hari Rama Rama Rama Hare You showed it towards number six? Number nine.
Say Krishna Vatirna Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Sekrana Vatina Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Separikaragan Sange Savadhanya, Sekama, Sange Sabhana, Sekrishna Vatirna, Shri Krishna Chaitana, Sekatina Sri Krishna Sparikaragana Sangishabadanya, Sparikaradana Sandya Sabadana,
Sekrishna Krishna That very Lord Krishna Avatirna has advented Sri Krishna Chaitanya Sri Krishna Chaitanya in the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Say those parikaragand associates Sange with him Sabha Sabha All Danya Danya Glorious Translation. The selfsame Lord Krishna has advented himself as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with all his eternal associates who
also equally glorious text number ten Ekaleshwaratatva Chaitanya Ishwara Ekale Ishwaratva Chaitanya Ishwara Bhakta Bhava Maya Tanra Suddha Kalevara, Bhakta Bhava Maya Dana Sudha Kalivara, Translation
Sriit Chaanya Mahaprabhu, who is the supreme controller, the one personality of Godhead, has ecstatically become a devotee.
Yet his body is transcendental And not materially tinged, purported by his Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda.
There are different tattvas or truth including Isha Tattva, Jivatva and Shakti Tattva. Isha Tattva refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, who is the Supreme living force.
In the Kathu Upanishad it is said, nitya nityananam chetanas chetananam, the supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Eternal and the Supreme Living Force.
The living entities are also eternal and are also living forces, but they are very minute in quantity. Whereas the Supreme Lord is the Supreme Living Force and the Supreme Eternal.
The Supreme Eternal never accepts body of a temporary material nature, whereas the living entity who are parts and parcel of the Supreme, eternal, are prone to do so.
Thus, according to the Vedic mantras, the Supreme Lord is the Supreme Master of innumerable living entities. The Mayavad philosophers, however, try to equate the minute living entities with the supreme living entity.
Because they recognize no distinction between them. Their philosophy is called Advaita Vada or monism. Factually, however, there is a distinction.
This verse is especially meant to impart to the Mayavad philosopher, the understanding that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Controller.
The Supreme Controller, the personality of Godhead is Krishna himself, but as transcendental pastime, he has accepted the form of a devotee, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead come, Krishna comes to this planet, exactly like a human being, some rascals consider him to be one of the ordinary humans.
One who thinks in that mistaken way is described as mudha or foolish. Therefore, one should not foolishly consider Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be an ordinary human being.
He has accepted the ecstasy of a devotee, but he is the supreme personality of Godhead.
Since the time of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, there have been many imitation incarnations of Krishna who cannot understand that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Krishna himself and not an ordinary human being.
Less intelligent men create their own gods by advertising a human being as God.
This is their mistake, therefore, here the words tandra śuddha kalevara warn that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's body is not material but purely spiritual.
One should not therefore accept Caitanya Mahāprabhu as an ordinary devotee, although he has assumed the form of a devotee, yet one must certainly know that although Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the supreme personality of Godhead, because he accepted the ecstasy of a devotee, one should not misunderstand his pastimes and place him in exactly the same position as Krishna.
It is for this reason only that when Śrī Krishna Caitanya Mahāprabhu was addressed as Krishna or Vishnu, he blocked his ears, not wanting to hear himself addressed as the supreme personality of Godhead.
There is a class of devotees called Gaurāṅga Nāgarī who stage play of Krishna's pastimes using a vigraha or form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This is a mistake that is technically called rasa bhasa. While Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is trying to enjoy as a devotee, one should not disturb him by addressing him as the supreme personality of Godhead.
Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda sabhā-dhanya.
The self-same Lord Krishna advented himself as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with all his eternal associates who are also equally glorious. ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya yāre yaichā nācāya, se ta' nāeca nitya.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is the Supreme Controller is one personality of Godhead, has ecstatically become a devotee, yet his body is transcendental and not materially tinged.
namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṇāya caitanya-nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ namo brahmṇya-devāya go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca jagaddhitāya kṛṣṇāya gōvindāya namo namaḥ vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaḥ ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ vānchā-kalpatarubhyaḥ ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara
śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare
nāma-cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ śrī-rūpa-sāsanāgraja-rupam tasya-grājam urupurīm mādurim ghoṣṭavati rādhā-kuṇḍa-girivarama hau rādhikā-mādhava-sam prāptoya sya pratīte kṛpayā śrī-gurum taṁ nato 'smi śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta vṛnda.
Understanding God in five features
yāntaḥ praviṣya mama vācam imāṁ prasuptāṁ saṁjīvayaty akhila-śakti-dharaḥ svadhāmnā anyantaṁ hasta-caraṇa-śravaṇa-tvag-ādīn prāṇān namo bhagavate puruṣāya tubhyam śvāsastu viśvasya ca kāla-prasidatāṁ dyantu bhūtāni śivaṁ mitu dyā manasca bhadrāṁbajarata ugdukṣa aveṣītamati rabyaduki hare krishna. Krishna.
So we're reading the seventh chapter of uh the Ādi-līlā of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Lord Chaitanya in five features which summarizes the introduction to Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
Initially, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, who is writing this monumental work about the philosophy and the life of Lord Chaitanya introduced Sri Caitanya-caritāmṛta with 14 verses which comply or which is the maṅgalācaraṇa for the whole work.
And then he elaborately explained all the verses which compose this maṅgalācaraṇa. So he's now explaining the last verse of this maṅgalācaraṇa, Panchatva Makam Krishna, Bhakta Rupa Swarupa Kam Bhakta Vatara Bhakta Kyamam Nami Bhakti Shaktikam which explains that the complete conception of God includes five features.
We all know that God is one, and you know this is a very peculiar aspect of our philosophy. We say that God is one, but when we come to the altar, we see at least two. Sometimes three, sometimes four, sometimes five.
So yeah, God is one. But sometimes this one personality or this one tattva, this one truth, presents himself in two as Rādhā and Krishna.
Sometimes this one personality presents himself as three, as Jagannath, Subhadramai and Baladev. And sometimes he's five and sometimes he's you know ten and sometimes he's many more.
So there is no problem for God, it's a problem for our little mind to conceive how one can become two, three, four, five, and so many others. Remaining one. That's the main difficulty.
You know, for us it would not be difficult to say that there are five gods. Okay, fine, you know, here they are. śrī-rādhā-govindas ki jaya, jagannātha-baladeva-subhadrā-mayī kī jaya. e ki jes. So beautiful.
So if it was said very clearly in clear terms, God is five. Okay, fine. For our mind, you know, mind needs something very definite. You know, if we say that God is five, okay, fine. Let's do it.
But you know, sometimes he is one, sometimes he is two, sometimes he is three. That's very confusing.
And therefore, Krishna Daska Viraj Goswami in the very beginning of Chaitanya Chaitamrita takes great pain to describe the different features how this Panchattva comprises the complete understanding of God.
God is one, but for us it's very important to understand that this one entity has variety inside which does not disturb his oneness. He remains one. He will always remain one.
We are proudly saying that we are a monotheistic tradition within Hinduism, but you know it's very difficult to explain to ordinary people how we are monotheistic because uh again uh people uh uh especially in the Western world who are rational so to speak who are proud to be uh rational uh they
You know, please make up your mind, you know. If he is one, then he should be one. So this this oneness and difference is inconceivable from the logical point of view. And therefore, we should really try to relinquish
our rational way of thinking and accept that you know this is just one God in different features.
And the different features of God actually are meant to give us more complete understanding so that we can relate to God in a more proper way.
God is a person, and therefore, the highest purpose of our spiritual practice or the highest achievement of our human life is to learn how to relate to him.
And unless we understand him clearly, it will be very difficult to relate to him. You know, if God is one, you know, this is the difficulty which, for example, Christian
tradition has because God is one, but because this one is very undefined.
It's not really clear who he is, how he looks like, you know, whether he has birth, uh whether his beard is already white because he's so old or you know all these kind of problems.
So and it's it's very difficult to relate to him in a proper way.
Accepting the ecstasy of a devotee
So this minute understanding that God is one is necessary for us to learn how to relate to him in his different features.
Like here in this chapter, it is explained that there is Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, but he comes in this world in this bhakta bhāva-maya, in this mood of bhakta.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda very beautifully translates it that he comes here, he has ecstatically become a devotee. bhakta-bhāva-maya, bhakta-bhāva. He accepts this bhakta-bhāva or the mood of a devotee,
but we all know that the word bhāva means the mood, but the word bhāva usually Śrīla Prabhupāda also translates as an ecstasy. It's not just mood, you know. We have different moods.
Sometimes I'm a little sulky, sometimes I'm angry, sometimes I'm glad.
You know, but when God manifests some bhāva, it's very overwhelming. When he is angry, his mood takes the form or shape of Nṛsiṁhadeva. And you know, it's not our little tiny anger. You know, it's it's a huge anger. He's totally overwhelmed by this mood.
And when the Lord Himself takes this bar for the mood or ecstasy of a devotee, he comes as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and he is unmistakenly different than, for example, Krishna. Because the mood is different.
And the mood of Krishna is so strong that the mood completely changes his form. When we take different moods, our form also slightly changes. When we become angry, we become slightly reddish.
Eyes kind of, you know, bulge out a little bit, you know, and the the the mouth curls, you know. But you know it's it's uh nothing special. Not so different.
But when the Lord accepts a certain mood or certain bhāva, his form changes completely and you cannot recognize him. So much so that Lakshmidevi couldn't recognize her lord when he accepted the form of Nrisimhadev.
She said, I've never seen him in this form. You know, I kind of have a you know intuition that's him, but you know, I'm really afraid to come close to him.
So the idea here is that when the Lord becomes a devotee, he becomes completely different. He changes his form, his shape and everything completely, and he comes as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
But nevertheless, he is still the same Lord. And therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda translates this word bhava as ecstasy. He comes ecstatically as a devotee.
You know, his bhāva is so strong that by this bhāva or ecstasy, he is inundating or overflooding the whole world with his mood of love of God. And that's his main mission and that's basically the whole
idea of this chapter of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta to explain that God Himself comes in this particular mood of a devotee with a particular purpose to inundate the whole world with the same mood.
You know, and uh that's that's the the
essence of this seventh chapter of Ādi-līlā to explain how the powerful mood of love of Godhead is so powerful that it overflows the heart of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and is spread around in a form of Krishna consciousness movement.
So that's the glory of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Uh basically, Srila Prabhupada in his purport he is uh giving us uh a very important hints how because you know for Mayyavadis everyone is God. No problem. For them there is no problem.
How many gods is there? You know, that's not a problem because ultimately everyone is God and everyone is one. You know, you all gods. Congratulations. Merry Christmas. Be happy because we're all gods.
And therefore for them it's kind of easy. But Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, he says, he's teaching us the truths or the science of Ishwara.
By calling Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu īśvara-tattva, he says that there is a certain category which should not be mistaken with other categories which are also there, like jīva-tattva or śakti-tattva.
There are varieties and we should be very scientific while approaching God and not become very cheap in uh you know calling everyone God. You know, namo nārāyaṇa, namo nārāyaṇa, namo nārāyaṇī. You know.
So everyone is God, no problem. But But no, there is a certain tattva.
Demonstrating divinity to Srivasa Thakura
And before calling somebody God, you have to first understand this tattva very clearly.
You know, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was called God, uh, it was not like, uh, Śrīla Prabhupāda sometimes would say, not like by popular vote. He was called God by people who knew Vedic signs,
who knew this tattva, who were unmistakably correct in their judgment. And even they were not in a hurry to call him God. Even they were very careful in their scrutiny to understand whether he is God or not.
He was first, of course, he was called or the first instance when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu revealed his divinity in a proper sense was when he came to
Śrivāsa Ṭhākura and when he gave the proof of how we should understand that he is God. And it's a very interesting proof.
Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, this particular episode from Caitanya-bhāgavata, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura was very afraid because Navadvīpa that time was full of rumors by envious materialists living there that you
know they will kill the soldiers, Muslim soldiers. And this Muslim soldiers will devastate the whole Navadvīp, and you know the brāhmaṇas, envious brāhmaṇas in Navadvīpa would talk between each other
that you know we shouldn't wait when the Muslims come
that you know we shouldn't wait when the Muslims come here to wipe out the whole Navadvīpa town. Rather we should take all these nonsense devotees who are disturbing everyone.
Everyone is sleeping, you know, it's uh seven o'clock in the morning and they are chanting so loudly: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.
So let's take them and give them to custody to these Muslims.
And Śrīvās Ṭhākura was the main troublemaker because he allows Caitanya Mahāprabhu to do this nonsense kīrtans the whole night, you know, and he disturbs our peaceful sleep.
So there was a lot of you know a lot of disturbances going on in the whole Navadvip. And Śrīvās Ṭhākura at one point became very fearful, very scared. You know, we know as devotees, we know we should
not be fearful, but nevertheless, even though we know that we are not supposed to be fearful, we're still very fearful because this world is full of dangers.
So Śrīvās Ṭhākura at one point he was so fearful of these rumors and everything. uh and uh you know his neighbors were so angry they wanted to push down his whole house into Ganga.
You know, you can imagine how strong his house was then, you know, it could be pushed down into Ganga. So anyway. So he went into his um temple room and started praying
to Nrsiṁhadeva, please protect me, please protect me. Please protect me. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, being the Lord Himself, heard his prayers and felt his fear. And he thought, you know, what's going on?
My devotee is so fearful. Let me save him from this anxiety. And he came in front of his temple room and started knocking at the door because it was locked from inside and
say, Śrīvās, open the door. The one whom you're praying is in front of you. This is me. And then you know Śrīvās opened the door trembling and
you know Caitanya Prabhu overwhelmed by His bhāva mood. Because sometimes although normally he came in the mood of a devotee, sometimes he would be overwhelmed with rarely in his early past times, he would show his real nature. And in this particular instance, to pacify a devotee, he came uh to his uh temple room, sat down on the altar, you know, which was quite unusual, you know, imagine somebody comes and sits on the altar,
you know, and starts saying, I am Him, I am Him, I am Him. And then he gave a proof, which was the point while I started telling this story. He said, you know, if you don't believe that I am God, I will prove
to you, and not only to, I will prove to this Nawab Hussein Shah, if he dares to take me to his custody, to his court, how I will prove it to him?
First of all, you know, understanding that I'm God, you know, He will come down and He will bow down to me.
But even if he does not do this, you know, Caitanya Mahāprabhu being very, you know, very generous and you know broad-minded. He said, you know, he has some independence.
Even if he doesn't do this, you know, then I will challenge him. This Nawab Hussain Shah. Nawab Hussain Shah.
I will ask him: you bring all your priests, all your mullahs, and you bring all your soldiers, and you bring your elephants and you bring your horses, and you ask your mullahs,
your priests, can they make all these soldiers and all these elephants and all these horses cry out of love of God? And they will start chanting their Muslim prayers and nothing will happen.
And then I will raise my hand and I will say, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare Hare.
And all of a sudden everyone will be just rolling in the earth out of ecstasy. And he said, that's how I will prove to him that I'm God.
So you know the interesting point, and then of course Chaitanya Mahaprabhu demonstrated his ability of doing so by calling a small niece, Śrīvāsa Thakur, Nārāyaṇī, and by making her completely being ecstatic out of love of God.
So the idea here is that even though Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Lord Himself, He is the īśvaratva, He comes in a certain mood and in this mood his miracle, his mission, his potency manifest in making everyone else as a devotee.
The Lord Himself, when He becomes a devotee, He becomes such a devotee that He is capable of turning the whole world into bhaktas. Which is not an easy thing.
Transforming people into dedicated devotees
Which is not so easy, you know. And that's that's the science of God, you know, if somebody somebody claims to be God in this age of Kali, he should prove it by turning everyone into his devotees.
And of course, these sannyasi Mayavadis or whatever Mayavadis are there, they turn some foolish people into their followers, no problem. You know, sometimes thousands of them, thousands of people become devotees.
But their devotion is very cheap. You know, their devotion is is really not so deep because ultimately they become devotees just by sentimental blind belief. Yes, they come, they sometimes fill up the stadiums.
Once Srila Prabhupada was preaching, there was one Guru Maharaji, you know, some Bal Krishna, you know, he was a 16-year-old boy, and all of a sudden he claimed to be God. You know, and you know he created a sensation.
He had thousands of people. And once Prabhupada called his disciples and said,
you know, can you prove how you can prove that somebody somebody's claim that he is God is right or wrong how somebody should prove himself to be God if he's claiming that he is God and you know or uh
Yeah anyway there were different suggestions. Uh oh no, he asked his devotees how you prove that somebody is not God uh if he's claiming that he is god. How you prove that he's not God?
So and there were different suggestions and ultimately and Prabhupada didn't like uh this suggestion but ultimately one little uh lady devotee, she said, you know, the best proof to prove that somebody is not God is to throw some piece of cake into him, like they did with Of cake, and he was, you know, this goddess, you know, humiliated in front of everyone, you know, trying to wipe out the pieces of cake.
So this Guru Maharaji god, you know, he he got in trouble because his own brother sued him, sued him in a court and he was put in prison because of the sue of his brother. Anyway, so much for these claims.
But the point which I am trying to make, and which actually Krishna Das Kharaji Goswami is making here is that the proof that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is God, is his power, his potency to turn people into devotees, but not cheap devotees, the devotees who dedicate their whole life into the service of God. And that's not cheap.
To become a cheap follower of some cheap avatar uh i is not a problem, you know. There were so many of them, they can give you some, you know, some ashes, you know, they produce some little miracle and you become overwhelmed.
You know, I'm uh we were um some time ago we were traveling uh to India and uh for pilgrimage.
And you know all the time when we would go to this pilgrimage in India, approximately half of the plane was filled with the with the followers of one famous avatar at that time.
And you could compare the devotees with the followers of this avatar being politically correct, I will not call him by name. But you could visibly see the difference.
You know, devotees, I mean I have to be fair, sometimes they don't know how to behave in public. There's no doubt about it. But but still, you could see that there is a dedication in them.
They're really, you know, dedicated to this spiritual life wholeheartedly. No that to follow four regulative principles it's not a cheap thing. You know you have to really uh dedicate yourself.
Uh i you know, if in Kali Yuga you follow four regulative principles, it's basically you become a saint of the highest caliber. You know, because who who follows the four regulative principles?
Who can abstain from illicit sex, from you know, from intoxications, from meat eating, because it's so widespread in Kali Yuga.
And you can see by following this discipline, which is not easy, you know, because the whole world is full of you these sinful activities, you can feel that there is something different in devotees.
They become bright-faced and they become really different than the rest of people. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is doing this to this very moment.
You know, all these famous avatars for coming and going, you know, and as as soon they're gone to God knows where. They don't know where they're going. But as soon as they are gone, nobody remembers about them.
Who remembers now about this Guru Maharaj? You know, only Hare Krishna devotees remember about him, how he was, you know, how the cake was thrown. Nobody else. He was so big at one point. You know what kind of God he is.
If uh his power is his Shakti is not enough to be remembered after after he is gone. Yeah, some cheap miracles, some charismatic, some charisma is there, no problem.
But to do what Caitanya Mahāprabhu did is not an easy thing. You know the experience which Caitanya Mahāprabhu would give to his devotees were out of this world. And this experience itself was the proof.
And the experience which we still 500 years later or more than 500 years later uh can uh can have by following the footsteps of Caitanya Mahāprabhu it's still going on you
know, nobody would become a devotee if he would not feel the difference.
You know, by following the practice which Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave, by reading about him, by imbibing his mood, his mood of preaching, and by trying to follow his footsteps, we definitely experience something which is not ordinary.
And that's uh that cannot be mistaken so easily, you know, because uh you know where uh you know to dedicate the whole life of course I I don't say that uh you know that uh it's a completely foolproof past that
you know sometimes people get cheated because of various reasons they come uh to Hare Krishna movement and uh they become disappointed after some time.
But nevertheless, so many people and they get something very substantial in their life. Their life changes completely totally.
Conversion of Mayavadis in Varanasi
And that's the proof that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is God.
And he came in this particular chapter of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he is converting Māyāvādī sannyāsīs who are not nowadays sannyasis, who are very philosophical Māyāvādīs sannyāsīs, he turns them into devotees.
And to this day, it's very interesting because if you go to Benaris, to Varanasi, where this particular episode took place.
To this day, every meeting of Māyāvādī sannyāsī in Benaris starts with loud kīrtana, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
To this day, even they remember that Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited Varanasi and converted the god ancestors into devotees.
To this day they chant this Hare Krishna mantra because the impression which they got from this one meeting with Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so deep.
You know, that was the main proof when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was preaching in India whoever would meet him, whoever would see him, see the beauty of his ecstasies, the beauty of his you know his mood, the beauty, his personal beauty, he would be completely convinced that he is God.
And Caitanya Mahāprabhu, while he was preaching, even while he was preaching to Mayavadis, of course, he did give some logical proofs, he gave the different conception of Vedānta-sūtra, which is described here in this chapter. But their initial doubt, or not really doubt, but their initial impression from Caitanya Mahāprabhu was when he was just sitting very humbly in a very low position at the place where all the shoes were. And all of a sudden he started manifesting his effulgence. And his effulgence was so great that everyone was impressed.
If you ask any uh sannyāsī, any Mayavadi who you know who claims to be God to manifest his little brahmā-jyoti, you know, little bit, they will have hard time to do it.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he he was emanating such a strong light. So they were impressed.
And you know of course Caitanya Mahāprabhu not always was emanating light because he came for people to impress them with love of God, not with this effulgence. But because he came to sannyāsī Mayavadis, who worship God as the light, so he manifested his light.
Okay, if you want to worship me as the light, you know, here you here I am, you know, this is the light. If you want, it is there, it's available, readily available. But his real purpose is to give love.
And the love he manifested was so overwhelming that everyone could feel it. You know, like sometimes Śrīla Prabhupāda, he would also manifest his ecstasy as a devotee. And I remember once
Bhakti-caru Swami was explaining how he was present when Śrīla Prabhupāda sitting on vyāsāsana started chanting Jaya Madhava and he became completely overwhelmed with love of God.
And tears started streaming from his eyes. And you know, Bhakti-caru Swami says that everyone felt such a strong feeling at that time, just by being in his presence. Everyone's hair stood on end and the voice choked.
Because love of God is such an experience that when somebody experiences it very strongly it's it's being spread around. Other devotees, other people who are present also can feel it.
And in case of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it is explained in Antya-līlā of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Lilo of Si Chaitanya Cheritamlita.
You know, so many people would come to Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Jagannātha Purī waiting for him. And he was there sitting in his room doing his bhajan and chanting Hare Krishna and you know being absorbed in the inner mood.
But you know, sometimes he would come out. And the whole crowd was waiting for him there.
And he would just, you know, he would just raise his hands and he would say, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Rama, Hari, Rāma, Rāma, Rāmāya. And everyone would be swayed completely.
Everyone would be completely, you know, they what, when I do this, you know, well nobody feels anything. So it's the same Hare Krishna mantra. But the experience is not the same.
Because the depth of experience with Caitanya Mahāprabhu would give to anyone who met with him was so great and that was his mission.
And therefore Śrīla Prabhupāda says that God Himself ecstatically became a bhakta. And he came to this world to inundate the whole world and specifically
his special mission was to inundate those people who were trying to avoid love of God, in particular impersonalists, sannyasis, mayavadis. And because now is Christmas marathon, we're trying to do the same.
Śrīila Prabhupāda came to this West, which he said is infested with this nirviśeṣa śūnyavāda. And these people are trying to avoid love
of God, which Caitanya Mahāprabhu brought to this world. But the devotees are chasing after them and trying to give them some ecstasy in a form of book. And the most amazing thing is that sometimes people not not every
time but oftentimes people take these books which as Śrīla Prabhupāda himself says are my ecstasies and just by reading these books, uh, they completely changed their life. They completely change their attitude towards the world and uh completely change everything i i in existence.
And that's the proof that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is God. And that's the proof that Śrīla Prabhupāda is his empowered representative who came with a very special mission.
And if we want to be accepted to the spiritual reality. If we want to be admitted or to have an access to this spiritual reality, we have to just follow their footsteps.
It's it's not easy, it's not cheap. It requires dedication. It requires real, very clear understanding the science of God which is presented in Srila Prabhupada's books, but it's possible.
And that's the glory of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and his movement. His movement is still turning Mayavadis like us. We are not philosophical Mayavadis. We don't know anything about uh philosophy
of Mayavad, but we are psychological Mayavadis. By our psychological setup, we are complete impersonalists. You know, Mayavadis and Yasis in India much more personal than just ordinary people in the West.
They might not be philosophically Māyāvādīs, but in their dealings they are completely impersonal. So this impersonalism is deeply rooted within our heart.
And therefore it's not easy to become a devotee, but even our feeble attempt to become devotee is glorious. And that's the proof that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is God.
And that's the proof of this verse where it is said that Bhakta Bhava Maitandra Suddha Kalevar. He came with this very special spiritual body which was completely pure. Why it was pure?
Because it was filled with very pure ecstasy of devotion to God. I guess I should finish it. Thank you very much, Hare Krishna. Okay.
Addressing doubts on Lord Chaitanya's divinity
Maybe there is some questions. Thank you for lecture the answer about that. I still has uh yeah I still have a doubt in my heart about this.
I'm telling you frankly and uh yeah I know that uh lots of uh Christians consider Christ as a God and after one thousand five hundred years Muhammad came and wrote that he's not a God, he's just a prophet.
And we know that Christ can make so many miracles
and all these things and could you please I I I I I I really open my heart that I feel that Krishna is God, but Lord Caitanya is for he appeared to be devotee of the god, you know? And um yeah so okay that's
a tough one You
You know, that's why Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, he wrote the whole Caitanya-caritāmṛta where he explains this theology. Śrīla Prabhupāda says, definitely Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is a devotee of God. That's his prime svabhāva. That's his nature.
His coming as a devotee of God, and he didn't even want to be disturbed in this mood when somebody would call him you know God. But the power, you know,
there's no doubt about it, Jesus Christ is an empowered representative of God. And he is empowered to turn people uh you know, to really convert people into you know, give them some experience, give them uh faith in God.
There's no doubt about it. But the specialty of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, of this particular, let's let's be impartial. Let's say he is a saint, he is a devotee, he's you know special personality.
But what distinguishes him from so many other great saints, and they were you, know, there's plenty of great saints in the West and in India still to this day people perform different miracles, this and that.
But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was not really into performing miracles as such. His main miracle was to show the extent to which love of God can reach, to show the depths of spiritual experience.
You know, there is no doubt that any saintly person has some spiritual experience.
And the external proof of their spiritual experience, of their interaction with the spiritual realm, of existence is the miracles which they show.
You know why in every tradition all the miracles of their founders are so you know famous and so cherished because this
is the real proof that they are in contact, in direct contact with some transcendental realm and they get their power directly from this transcendental realm.
But you know, in comparison with all these miracles and all these stories and everything else.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's specialty is that he's not showing, uh, he's not showing That he is just in contact with transcendental reality. Like there was one very famous Ramdas,
he's a follower of Lord Caitanya. He would also, you know, sometimes would revive dead people. There were a couple of Of two, three or even more occasions when dead people would be resurrected by these Ramdas.
So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu didn't really show this kind of things except for one occasion when Srivas Pandit's son was temporarily resurrected from his swoon or from his death.
But his idea, he came as a devotee to show what the real devotion is and which extent it can reach. And nobody else showed this.
Nobody else, when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu his body would become elongated due to the ecstasy, you know, uh really elongated and you know increased and in in in form. Or when his body uh on the contrary became like a tortoise and his limbs would be taken inside.
All these amazing things which his immediate devotees were witnessing and which are described here in Sri Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
You know as devotees we may feel some ecstasies, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is showing something which is totally completely transcendental and not even possible in this material body.
So again the proof of his Godhood is in the love he himself experienced and showed, and in the love which his immediate associates were experiencing just by the way of associating with him, and in the way it was spreading after his coming away.
You know because you know 400 years, 500 years after Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left this body, people reached the highest stages of spiritual development just by you know following his footsteps.
And you know it's one thing to be converted into some religious faith and that's good that's that's very powerful. Another thing is to obtain the depths of spiritual ecstasies. So that's that's a different thing.
You know, and um and we can see that uh kirtans which we have, you know, mm-of course there are different kirtans, sometimes they're uh they're just ordinary kirtans but sometimes they reach such a depths of you know of emotions uh and that uh that's the proof that the movement which Chaitanya Mahaprabhu brought with him is still there and very much is running on his spiritual energy.
Do I understand it correctly that only God Himself can give can give premā? Yeah. Only God Himself can give premā, yes. So that's why much time is good? Yeah. Yeah. Very simple. Thank you. He didn't like to be disturbed.
Yeah. Yeah.
And it was stated in the present time that that we should we shouldn't we shouldn't disturb Śrīla Prabhupāda both by calling him God. So is this statement is is it for us or is this overall kind of statement about the things that he was telling previously in the commentary?
Uh Obviously my lecture was the complete disturbance for him then.
No, we should understand him philosophically, but at the same time uh being his followers and his devotees, we should appreciate how he is God by appreciating his mood as a devotee.
So, yes, he is definitely God mm and at least that's our strong belief, but uh we should uh appreciate how he is God and what he how he manifested his Godhood by by manifesting his very strong and uh profound devotion to God.
So that's that's what it means Okay, Śrīla Prabhupāda ki jaya! Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu ki jaya! Śrī Rādhā-Govinda ki jaya! Śrī Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā-māī ki jaya!