CC.Madhya 25.271
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Лагуна-Бич · 2005
Главы
Opening prayers and verse recitation
Jayataia Sri Chaitanya Jai Nityananda, Jadvaita Chandrajaya Gurvakta Vrinda, Jayvaita Chandrajaya Gurva Vrinda, Jaya Sri Chaitanya Jayanitananda, Jaitairi Sh Chaitanya Chandra, Jaidwaita Chandra Jai Gorbhakta Brinda, Jaya Veta Chandra Jai Gorabhakta Vrinda, Jaya Sri Chaitana Jai Nitananda Jay Dwight Chandrajay Gorbhakta Brinda, Jay Vait Chandra Jai Gorbata Vrinda So
I will read the twenty seventy uh two hundred and seventy-first verse of the twenty-fifth chapter of Sri Chaitanya Cheritamlitamadi Leela the res the residence of Paranasi become Vaishnavas Krishna Lila Amrit Sara Tara sata shaita dara dashadiki Bahia Ayte Chaitanya Lilahoi Saravara Akshoy Manahamsa charahatahate.
So the translation for this verse by Srila Prabhupada. The pastimes of Lord Krishna are the essence of all nectar. They flow in hundreds of rivulets and in all directions.
The pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are an eternal reservoir, and one is advised to let his mind swim like a swan on this transcendental lake.
The essence of spiritual knowledge is found in the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which are identical with the pastimes of Lord Krishna. This is the essence of knowledge.
If knowledge does not include the understanding of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna, it is simply superfluous.
By Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's grace, the nectar of Lord Sri Krishna's pastimes is flowing in different directions in hundreds and thousands of rivers.
One should not think that the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are different from Krishna's pastimes. It is said Sri Krishna Chaitanya Radha Krishna nahyanya.
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a combination of Radha and Krishna, and without understanding His pastimes one cannot understand Radha and Krishna. Srila Narotamadas Rupara Gunatapade Hai Bayakuti Kabe Haba When
shall I become very eager to study the books left by the six Goswamis? Then I shall be able to understand the conjugal pastimes of Radha and Krishna.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu directly empowered Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatana Goswami. Following in their footsteps, the other six Goswamis understood Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his mission.
One should understand Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Lord Sri Krishna from the Goswamis in the Parampara system. This Krishna consciousness movement is following as strictly as possible in the footsteps Goswamis.
Narottama dasa Thakura says, e choya gosani yara mui tara dasa. I am the servant of six Goswamis. The philosophy of Krishna consciousness is to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord.
Whoever wants to understand the difficult subject matter of Krishna Katha should accept the disciplic succession. If one is somehow or other able to understand Krishna, his life will be successful.
Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma. The perfect devotee is able to understand Krishna through the disciplic succession. And his entrance into the kingdom of God is thereby certainly opened.
When one understands Krishna, there is no difficulty in transcending oneself to transferring oneself to the spiritual kingdom. Śrīla
Prabhupādi Namaste Krishna-padāya Krishna-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale Śrīmate Bhaktivedānta-svāmiti nāmine Namaste Sarasvate deve Gaura-vāṇī- प्रचारिणे Nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe Vāñchā-kalpataru-bhyaḥ ca kṛpā-sindhuba eva ca Patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ
Krishna and Chaitanya pastime connection
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. Subject:
Kṛṣṇa-līlā amṛta-sāra, śata-śata-dhāra diśe-diśe vāhi’ yāha’ haite sei caitanya-līlā hoy sarovara khela’ mana-haṁsa-cāra tāhāta.
The pastimes of Lord Krishna are the essence of all nectar. They flow in hundreds of rivers and in all directions.
The pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are an eternal reservoir and one is advised to let his mind swing like a swan on this transcendental lake.
So Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to speak on the subject matter of how we can and should understand Lord Krishna and his pastimes
through Lord Caitanya. And this particular verse of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says, Kṛṣṇa-līlā amṛta-sāra. That Kṛṣṇa-līlā is the essence. Is the very essence of Amrit.
Because when one understands Krishna, one becomes eternal. Kṛṣṇa-līlā amṛta-sāra. If you want to take essence of eternality, this is Krishna Lila.
This is the way to transfer oneself from this mundane plane of existence which is temporary, which is miserable, which is full of inebrieties, to the eternal kingdom of God.
But there is one problem with this. And this problem is described here. Tara Tara Tara Shatha Shatudhar. These pastimes are like hundreds and hundreds of rivers.
And all these hundreds of rivers are flowing in different directions. Dashedike. Daśadiśā means ten directions. That all these pastimes are flowing all over the place.
And it's sometimes difficult to get them. It's sometimes difficult to understand. And later I will try to explain what it means. How difficult it is to understand pastimes of Krishna.
But Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says that all these rivers which are flowing from Lord Krishna's pastimes, all different pastimes of Lord Krishna, which are the essence of immortality, they all enter the lake of Lord Chaitanya Lila. The Lord Chaitanya Lila is the reservoir where all the rivers of Lord Krishna's Lila
enter and uh Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says here, then uh when you understand that this is this lake, Sarovar of Chaitanya a swan in this lake. a svan in this light.
So Śrīla Prabhupāda gave a brilliant purport to this verse where he goes back to Krishna's uh to Krishna's
Understanding Krishna through Bhagavad-gita
statement in Bhagavad-gītā.
Where Krishna says, janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā deham punar janma na... Once Śrīla Prabhupāda said that this verse of Bhagavad-gītā from the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Transcendental Knowledge, is the most important verse in the whole of Bhagavad-gītā. Because here Krishna gives a very simple way to get to the spiritual world.
He says, but before he says, he says, whoever knows or understands the nature of my birth and activities, he by living this body, uh by discarding this body can go to the spiritual world.
But he gives only one condition to this: he says, tattvataḥ. One should understand the nature of my birth and my activities, tattvataḥ, in truth.
And this condition is not a very simple condition. Because in the very next verse he says that there are some problems which we encounter uh when we try to understand Krishna.
He says in the next verse: vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā mad-man-mām upāsitāḥ. He says that uh there are rāga, bhaya and krodha deeply hidden within our heart. Rāga means attachment or materialism. And who is not attached?
Who is not a materialist? Deep down in the heart? Everyone. When we have the body, we have material desires. Material desires means material outlook of life, material understanding of life. And this is called rāga.
Rāga means attachment. We are all attached to this material world. We were driving through this beach in the ocean and Janaka Mahajan said you know who can understand Krishna in this beautiful place?
If you are in Moscow it's easy because it's it's gloomy, dark, it's horrible. You kind of have a very strong impetus to go somewhere else. If not to the spiritual world, at least to some sea beach.
But if you are here in this beautiful place, then you know the attachment is there. And ultimately, we as human beings we're attached to this surrounding, to this atmosphere of material existence.
And even though intellectually we know it's bad. Intellectually we know, uh, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi, that there is death, birth, uh, diseases, but we think it's okay, it's it's it's still okay. The sun is shining.
So the attachment is there, and therefore Krishna says that to understand mean truths is very difficult because there is attachment raga. Vīta-rāga-bhayā-krodhā—rāga, bhaya and krodha—and then there is fear.
Even when one uh kind of transcends raga, when one really is done with this material world, when one really completely frustrated with the material life, then another problem comes which is fear.
Fear of identifying, this is explained by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura while he's commenting this verse, he says that this fear which Krishna mentions is the fear of identifying spiritual existence with material existence.
You are so disgusted with this material world, you are so detached from this material world, then you become really fearful and you don't know anything about the spiritual world. And this fear comes.
And this fear is again an impediment to understand Krishna in a proper sense. And then vīta-rāga-bhayā-krodhā, then the krodha, anger comes.
And anger is this understanding that you're trying to understand spirit because Krishna is the essence of spirit. And it's not so easy to understand Krishna.
Sometimes we really have a misconception that Krishna is easy to understand. But Krishna is God. And how we can understand unlimited God without limited brain? Our brain is so small. Our capacity is so small.
You know, we cannot even understand little atom in this world. The scientists they're trying to understand how the atom works, they cannot do this.
And then when it comes to understand God, yes, we say, yes, of course, we understand God. You know. It's very difficult to understand God.
And therefore, Krishna specifically says that these three impediments are there within everyone's heart. Even if you overcome raga, attachment, then the bhaya is there, the buy means your fear to somehow rather approach spirit you you don't really know what is spirit what spirit is and you take the negative conception of spirit.
And then after that, uh krodha, you were trying to understand spirit. And only thing which you could understand about spirit is that you don't know anything about spirit. And you become very angry.
You say, "The hell with this?" You know, there is no spirit at all. There is no positive spiritual reality. You say it's just void. And you become a Buddhist.
And you sit somewhere and chant Oṃ maṇi-padme hūṃ and and uh you know imagine that you become completely void. You commit spiritual suicide and these problems are there and everyone encounters these problems.
And one has to under to overcome all these problems to reach this level of love of God.
Intellectual limits in realizing Krishna
Therefore, it's not so easy, it's not so easy as it may seem in the beginning. And sometimes of course by the mercy of the ācāryas we think that we know Krishna.
Śrīla Prabhupāda very mercifully came. And he said Krishna consciousness is very simple. Just chant and be happy. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare.
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma And he explained Krishna consciousness and philosophy of Krishna consciousness in very simple terms. And especially from the very beginning, he gave us uh Krishna,
Krishna book, the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is as it's said here, the essence of all knowledge.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, uh, he explains this verse, starts explaining this verse from saying that Krishna's pastimes is the essence of all knowledge, and ultimately all knowledge has to culminate in understanding Krishna.
And sometimes uh we do read Krishna book and we think it's it's very simple, you know. It's I understand everything. Yeah, right.
Krishna is unborn, he's Aja and he was born in the prison cell of Kaṃsa. Yeah, what's so difficult about it?
But it's not that easy because the understanding the real understanding of Krishna's pastimes has to be revealed to you. It's not an intellectual understanding.
Again, when we approach Krishna from the intellectual vantage point, this is wrong. Because intellectually we cannot understand Krishna.
Intellectually there is no way to understand Krishna because again Krishna is unlimited and we are limited. Our capacity is limited. Everything is limited.
The knowledge about Krishna, Tattvataha, in reality, in truth, has to descend upon us. And that's the difficulty here. Because when we try to understand Krishna intellectually, and this is a very gross mistake.
We are trying to really approach Krishna from the intellectual point of view. And of course, intellectually we understand Krishna is the greatest. Intellectually, we understand Krishna is God. And I want to be with Krishna.
I want to go to the pastimes of Krishna. Intellectually, I have been explaining this many, many times. That these sweet pastimes of Krishna is the highest conception of religion.
You know, but this is intellectual understanding. It's not enough to go to Krishna. It's not enough to associate with Krishna just having this intellectual understanding.
People very often they make this mistake when they are lucky and if they are lucky, they come to Krishna.
After going through so many different misconceptions which are passed on as a religion in this world, so many misconceptions are there. I will not name particular misconceptions, but there are so many.
Basically, nowhere this conception of Krishna is the sweetest one, as the most beautiful one, it's nowhere to be found. The very essence of God is sweetness.
But where in which religion this sweetness is being really revealed?
You know, and some religions they say that God is really, you know, He's a judge and He's condemning everyone to go to hell and you know, some chosen ones who happen to have some particular affiliation with a particular religious organization only with this particular one they will go to heaven.
Everyone else will go to hell. You know, who wants this God? You know? I would rather go to hell than to be with this God who is so cruel. But the very essence of God is sweetness. The very essence of God is beauty.
You know, this is the quality which every substance has a particular quality.
And if you deprive this substance of this quality, this substance loses its identity. So in case of God, if we understand it philosophically, this quality which is essential for him to be God is sweetness, his kindness, is love.
But where this kindness of God is being described in a more beautiful way than in Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. Nowhere. Nowhere. Even in other Vaishnava traditions, God is Nārāyaṇa.
And Nārāyaṇa is a very formal kind of, you know, God. I was in Srirangam. Srirangam is the seed, the headquarter of Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya. And there Nārāyaṇa is laying down on Ananta-śeṣa. And he's very magnificent.
He's a king there. They worship him with great awe and reverence. But then in the innermost chamber of the altar of sanctum sanctorum of this temple, there are pastimes of Krishna depicted on the walls.
So I asked the priest. How come he is the supreme? According to their conception, this is God. And Krishna is just some avatar.
So I asked how come if this is God, why did you depict all these pastimes of Krishna on the walls of his sanctum sanctorum. He said because it's very sweet pastimes and he likes to remember about these pastimes.
He's God. He has absolutely nothing to do. He is laying down on an Ananta-śeṣa. He has eternity in front of himself. And sometimes he remembers his pastimes and he becomes very blissful.
But only in Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition there is this conception that God is sweetness personified. That this is the highest understanding of God. This mādhurya-līlā of Krishna is highest understanding of God.
And very rare fortunate people they understand this. Very rare fortunate people they discard this awe and reverence,
Transitioning from material to spiritual sentiment
understanding of God, aiśvarya-jñāna, and they come to mādhurya understanding.
But the problem with this is when we approach Krishna from this point of view, it's only intellectual approach and by trying to enter into the intimate pastimes of God from the intellectual from the intellectual platform we are doomed to commit so many offenses.
Because really, from the intellectual plane, we cannot reach the pastimes of Krishna. We will only get Maya. We want to get Yoga Maya. And we think yes I I deserved yes
I know everything, I know five slokas from the Bhagavad- Gita and now I have to go to Krishna. Or whatever.
But the problem is this is that the realm of Krishna, the name of the spiritual world is called bhāva-jagat. Bhāva-jagat means bhāva means the spiritual sentiment, love. And here we are in jada jagat.
Jaḍa-jagat, the gross material world. We have gross body, gross mind. Everything which we have is gross.
And we want with this gross kind of conceptions and gross understanding and gross habits to reach to this Bhava Jagat where everything is so subtle.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so particular about this. Because when you go to this region of subtle emotions, it's so easy to hurt somebody.
You know, when you want to be intimate with God and we're all of this category, we want to be intimate with God but how we can be intimate with God with our gross conceptions even when we have uh human
relationship so to speak. It's so easy to hurt somebody. Because we're gross. Because we're so insensitive.
When we approach somebody, you know, and with our insensitive heart, with our gross uh kind of stone-like heart, when we approach somebody,
it's so easy, you know, we think we love him, but you know, very soon this person whom we think we love is crying because of us being too close to him. Because we're so gross. How can we reach this realm?
This most subtle realm of spiritual emotions, being so gross. We cannot do it just by jumping from the intellectual platform. It's absolutely not possible. Actually, it is explained very beautifully by our Acharyas.
Oh, it works. I didn't know that it works.
Five progressive levels of knowledge
It is explained that there are five levels of knowledge. Here, Śrīla Prabhupāda says that ultimately the knowledge of Krishna is the highest knowledge. But in this world, there are five levels of knowledge or five levels
of understanding.
And the first level of knowledge is called pratyakṣa. Something which you can directly experience with your gross material eyes. Experiential knowledge or empirical knowledge. And most of the people they stuck on this level on this platform of pratyaksha. They don't go any higher.
Then a little more higher than this level, which is called Paroksha, Paroksha-gyan. One is pratyaksha-gyan. And this is basically animalistic knowledge. Pratyaksha-gyan is the knowledge of your senses.
You know, you know the taste, you know the smell, you know the form, you know the touch. And if you are absorbed in this knowledge, you remain on the level of animal.
Then a little more higher than knowledge, which is called Paroksha-gyan. And Paroksha-gyan is the knowledge when you see through the eyes of others.
You're not anymore on this platform of gathering knowledge yourself through your own senses, but you're trying to gather the same knowledge through your mind. And it's much more efficient.
You read books, you do this, you do that, you know this is paroksha, uh, and through paroksha you open a completely new realm of knowledge because your senses are so frustratingly limited, you know, you cannot really know anything through your senses. Of very limited sphere of existence you can understand or experience through your senses.
But when you approach this paroksha-jnana, then your scope of knowledge widens immensely because you're not dependent on your own knowledge. You're dependent on the experiential knowledge of so many other people.
You read books and you know you have never been to China. But you know how China looks like. Uh even though you've never been there, you know what is Japan, you know what is Russia,
you know you've never been to Russia, luckily. But you have some understanding of what Russia is. And you can get so many other so much other knowledge of so much other information through this paroksha.
But then they say even higher knowledge, much higher knowledge, which is called Aparoksha-gyan. And this Aparoksha-gyan, or third level of knowledge, or third level of understanding,
is that after experiencing through the eyes of others, which is paroksha-gyan, you come to understanding there is the singular principle behind all the varieties of knowledge which is there.
And this understanding of singular principle, aparoksha means negative knowledge. Aparoksha betokens the negation, or it's the first level of transcendental knowledge.
You basically go out of the material sphere of knowledge and you understand that there is the highest knowledge, which is the unified principle of existence. And this is Aparoksha-gyan.
You know, people who are done with this material world, who are going to the higher sphere who want to understand spirit they have to go to this level or through this level of aparoxagyan when you understand that this knowledge of your uh sensual experience or your mental experience is ultimately useless.
If you want to go further you have to come to this platform where everything kind of comes to one one spot. You have to really negate all this material existence. And this is the level of aparokṣa-jñāna.
And then they say the next understanding of knowledge or the next stage of knowledge which has to come within your experience is called adhokṣaja. Adhokṣaja, something which you cannot really experience with your senses.
This transcendental knowledge of adhokṣaja plane is so much greater than whatever you experience in this world that you are completely overwhelmed with this.
And this is the knowledge of spiritual world in the realm of Vaikuṇṭha. The spiritual world which is full of varieties, which is full of majesty. And this plane has to descend on you.
But then the highest realm of knowledge, the highest understanding, the highest uh summit of knowledge, which everyone has to reach if he is really if
he really wants to reach the highest knowledge, is called aprākṛta. Aprākṛta knowledge, the knowledge of sweetness of the absolute. You know, you go from this relative realm into this transcendental
realm through this aparokṣa-jñāna. And then from aparokṣa-jñāna you go to Vaikuṇṭha to aiśvarya realm, the realm of majesty. And this is already very high achievement.
And this is the knowledge which you have to get through your senses basically. You have to really it has to reveal yours itself within your heart.
The unique nature of aprakrita knowledge
But then the most interesting thing is that the highest form of knowledge is called aprākṛta. And what is aprākṛta? Prakriti what? Prakriti means nature. Prakriti means material nature.
Prakriti means something which we experience. Why the highest form of knowledge is called aprākṛta? We have already left prākṛta level of existence, of prākṛta level of understanding far beyond ourselves.
And all of a sudden this highest form of knowledge is again called aprākṛta. And there is a very uh very deep reason for this.
Because this aprākṛta level of understanding which is the highest level of understanding is very much similar to our prākṛta level of understanding.
If we look in the descriptions of Kṛṣṇa in the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what does he do? He's just, you know, he's just a little boy. And he has mother. And when there is uh when there is uh uh rain
pouring rain and there is lightning Kṛṣṇa starts trembling and he runs to his mother and he says my dear mother I cannot sleep. Please take me.
And his mother puts him on her lap and starts, you know, petting him and says, Oh my dear boy, don't be so afraid. This is so temptingly similar to what we experience. And but this is Krishna. This is God.
And to really get to this realm, which is so temptingly similar with our experience, you really have to go through all these levels of understanding, through aparādhīs, through majestic realm of understanding Vaikuṇṭha, only then you can reach. And if you try to understand from our understanding, you're doomed to commit some offences.
Because again, this will be intellectual understanding, you know. Sometimes people or devotees, they become... This is called Prakriti Sahajiya. They say, yeah, I know Krishna. I love Krishna. I love Krishna is so nice.
Krishna is so cute. You know, especially ladies. Oh one lady devotees. She says, oh Krishna is so cute. Yes, right, right, right. But this is not so simple, you know.
And therefore, ācāryas warn us that even meditation on this level is prohibited for us.
Meditation on this simple level of Krishna's simple dealings, daily dealings, when Krishna goes and when he, you know, milks the cows. God. How can you understand this? Please think for a second.
Unlimited God who has all the potencies. Every morning he goes to his cowshed and he milks the cows. You know how you can understand this?
Surrender and guidance in Chaitanya pastimes
But you know, and understanding again, this understanding, it's very important, has to descend upon you.
When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu would describe these pastimes, when Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu would — actually, who is Lord Caitanya? Lord Caitanya is Krishna's ācārya-līlā. When Krishna comes as ācārya, he comes as Lord Caitanya. And when Lord Caitanya, you know, sometimes when devotees they tell this hari-kathā and they start describing all these līlās of Krishna, Somehow or other it it creates a very wrong impression.
It really creates... It looks like an anecdote, you know, like some some joke. You know, sometimes you listen about the highest pastimes of Krishna in the spiritual world and it looks like a cheap joke.
It sounds like a cheap joke. Because when people are try to explain it without the higher understanding of what it is, it really becomes a cheap joke. It's not really Krishna līlā.
It's at best shadow of Krishna līlā, reflection of Krishna līlā in our perverted mind. And we cannot really understand Krishna līlā without perverted mind. There's no way to understand Krishna līlā with perverted mind.
We will only understand uh you know and uh so many people try to do this and they ended up in doing all kinds of perversities all kind of perverted things in this world so there is a big difficulty there.
This realm has to descend upon you. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would describe this, you know, when he was in this state of trance samadhi when he
would see Krishna, when he would see Chaṭaka Parvat as Govardhana, he was in trance, he was in this realm, or when he jumped into ocean, thinking the ocean is Yamuna.
You know, he was in this jalakeli līlā krīḍā of Krishna. He was there in this realm. And when we try to do this, when we jump into ocean and say, oh yeah, this is Yamuna, yeah right. This is not Yamuna.
This is not even reflection of Yamuna. This is this is something really, you know, we don't understand what Yamuna is.
Because Yamuna, as uh Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda beautifully says, he says Yamuna is the river of pure consciousness, which is flowing in this realm of pure love. The river of pure consciousness flowing in this pure realm of pure love.
And we don't have access to this realm. We cannot access this realm by our own own endeavors. You cannot really storm the spiritual world. You know, sometimes people they have this conception, you know.
I'm a great devotee of the Lord because I have been chanting one round for two weeks and now Krishna has to open the gates of the spiritual world in front of me.
But in reality, when Krishna comes in his ācārya līlā, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he shows us how to get this highest kind of revelation.
Ultimately we have to be ultimately dependent on Krishna completely to reveal for us the spiritual world, the beauty of the spiritual world, the majesty of the spiritual world, and the sweetness of the spiritual world.
If we are just trying to do this with our own endeavors, we will just commit offenses and we'll end up, you know somewhere in hell you know with all our offenses towards Krishna so therefore
Sri Chaitanya comes and she Sri Chaitanya comes to show us the way how to get to this highest realm of existence.
Mother Saci's dream of Chaitanya
Actually, he is the real ācārya for this age and in Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata there is this beautiful pastime of Mother Śacī having a dream. Once, uh, Mother Śacī they had in their pūjā room deities of Krishna and Balaram.
And Mother Śacī was sleeping. And when she was sleeping, she saw two little boys. Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityānanda. In the form of two little boys. Of course, by that time they were already grown up.
And she saw in a dream that Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityānanda they ran into this pūjā room and they ran to the altar where Krishna and Balaram are standing. And Nityānanda was the first one.
And he said, Hey, you guys, go down. Your time is over. And Balaram started saying, No, no, no, no. This is my place. This is my Siṁhāsana. I have been standing here for long.
And Nityānanda says, Shut up. Your time is over. This is our time. Gaurāṅga wants to go there. And Gaurāṅga climbed over this, you know, uh, little altar and stood there.
And they, you know, they pushed away Krishna and Balaram. And Mother Shachi was completely bewildered. She woke up and she said to Lord Chaitanya, she said, Nimai, I saw a very strange dream.
You pushed down Lord Krishna and Nityānanda pushed down Lord Balaram. What does it mean?
And Lord Chaitanya said, Oh, this is just a dream, don't worry about this. But there is a deep meaning within this dream because we cannot really understand Krishna ourselves.
The understanding of Krishna is too difficult and therefore in this verse, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says that they are flowing in different directions.
But all these directions which they're flowing like rivers, all this Krishna līlā, is in another world, not in this world. But Lord Chaitanya comes and he collects all this nectar within the lake of his own līlā.
And when he comes in, in his Gaurāṅga līlā, through humility we can understand him. Actually, what he teaches us, he teaches us the signs of complete surrender.
Because when again when we try to understand him through uh our intellectual endeavors, this is offensive. The real understanding is through the qualities, through the qualities of surrender, through humility. Actually there is one very interesting pastime in this regard, uh which shows how we should progress or how we should go about to get to this highest realm of knowledge.
This is a pastime connected with King Prataparudra. King Prataparudra was away from Jagannātha Purī and Lord Chaitanya moved to Jagannātha Purī.
When Lord Chaitanya came to Jagannātha Purī King Prataparudra was somewhere in another state, you know, was in some kind of war affair.
And then after some time he came and he heard that there is a new completely amazing sannyāsī living in Jagannātha Purī.
Actually, when King Prataparudra for the first time saw saṅkīrtana, he couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't really believe the level of emotions which were there invested into this saṅkīrtana pastime of Lord Chaitanya.
So he wanted to see Lord Chaitanya. And his associates of King Prataparudra told him that he's not going to see you. He will not see you because you are a king. So if you want to see him, you hide in Lord Jagannath Temple.
And every morning Lord Chaitanya comes to see Lord Jagannātha to have the darśana of Lord Jagannātha.
And King Prataparudra he knows that this is a sannyāsī, he knows that he's a very elevated person, he knows that he's maybe even Krishna himself, he already heard this conception.
And then uh Lord Chaitanya comes and King Prataparudra hides uh behind the column and this temple and he sees Lord Chaitanya.
Lord Chaitanya he is trying to approach Lord Jagannātha, he's he's crying. From his eyes, the tears are flowing like rivers and
and he's you know and saliva is is drooling from his mouth and uh you know sometimes tears are coming like like the syringe you know when lord chaitanya would would cry the tears would not flow they would just they would just jump from his eyes.
And he is chanting and he is dancing. And sometimes he would fall on the floor of the temple and roll in the dust, and his whole body is covered with the dust.
And King Prataparudra being a very refined cultural person, he sees this scene of ecstasy of Lord Chaitanya and he cannot really understand anything about it. And he becomes little offensive within the heart.
He says, what what is this? You know, what what, what is this display? You know, he's he's dirty and he's you know and his saliva is drooling you know what is this and and he cannot really
he cannot really come close to Lord Chaitanya because he's offensive within his heart. So he goes back to his palace and he's bewildered. This is actually what Acharya say.
When you try to understand Krishna from the intellectual point of view, the result of it will be bewilderment. You will be bewilderment. You will be bewildered. You will be confused.
You know, and sometimes when we try to understand Krishna we are confused. We cannot really understand. Krishna is so tricky. You know, who is this, how is this God?
You know, I is he really God? -> You know, is he really God? And if he is God, why he's milking cows every morning. Why is he doing what he's doing? So many people don't understand that Krishna is God.
So many people even think even in India, you know, if you go to India, so many people think that Krishna is immoral. He's just a devotee.
He's just a lampata, you know, he's doing so many strange things and nobody can understand him. So when you come to this from the intellectual point of view, you commit offenses.
So uh when uh King Prataparodra goes back to his palace and he goes to his bed and he sleeps, he sees the dream. And then in dream he sees Lord Jagannath.
Lord Jagannath in his beautiful Simhasana dual step throne standing there and he sees Lord Jagannath he wants to approach Lord Jagannath
but then he notices that the tears are flowing from the big round eyes of Lord Jagannath. And the saliva is drooling from his mouth. And he is dirty and he is covered with dust.
You know, and he wants to touch his lot's feet. And Lord Jagannath says, don't touch me. Who you are to touch me? You are so clean. Your body is covered with camphor and I am so dirty. Don't touch me.
You will get contaminated.
And then at this very moment he sees instead of Lord Jadanav, Lord Chaitanya, again -> And then at this very moment he sees instead of Lord Jagannath, Lord Chaitanya, again covered with dust and covered with tears.
And then he understands, you know, I committed offense and again this is this is actually uh our mistake because when we tend to understand everything intellectually what our intellectual endeavors, you know, give us.
Ultimately intellectual endeavors make us what? If we're very intellectual. You know, I know it from my own experience. Tukaram Prabhu introduced me that you know I am PhD and this and that.
You know, when you are intellectual you become proud. The the you know, this is what uh Quinkunti -> The, you know, this is what Kuntī says. -> says: Jan Mai Shwari Sruta Sri Bira Dhamana Madapuman.
Kuntī says that if you have all these opulences, janmaiśvarya-śruta
śrīr, if you are very intellectual, if you are very beautiful, if you are very rich, or if you have a very high birth, if you're very high position, you know you become proud. And this pride is the main impediment for you to enter to the spiritual world.
So therefore the story goes when King Prataparudra realized his mistake he started begging all the associates of Lord Chaitanya please introduce me to him. Please give an interview, arrange an interview between me and him.
And everyone would say, no, it's not possible. And Lord Chaitanya says, forget it. I'm not going to meet this guy. He's so offensive. Because he's so proud. He's a big king.
He is so beautiful, he is so learned, he is so wealthy. I'm not going to meet with him. And this is exactly our situation. Because the Lord is not going to meet with us unless we are attached to all these things.
Unless we think that we are so wealthy, we are so proud, so learned, so beautiful, so this, so that this is all ridiculous so
and then what happens when Lord Chaitanya sees how King Prataparudra takes the broom and starts sweeping in front of Lord Jagannath. And sweeping and the sweeper is the lowest position in the Vedic society.
Because sweepers are considered to be untouchable. They're so dirty, you know. And King Prataparudra, despite being the king, he takes the broom and he sweeps in front of Lord Jagannath.
Then Lord Chaitanya becomes pleased and he arranges the meeting with him and King Prataparudra massages his legs, his feet.
Cultivating a taste for humble service
But this is the lesson for all of us because ultimately this is the way to achieve Krishna. The way to achieve Krishna is to take the lowest possible position in this world. The lowest possible.
The lowest possible position is Das. Is the you know servant.
I'm the servant and I'm not only the servant I have to be the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant and this is exactly the teaching of Lord Chaitanya.
Lord Chaitanya came and he came to us and he said, Everything which you did before is ridiculous.
You know, you're not the brāhmaṇas, we're not the sannyāsīs, we're not this, we're not that, we're not living in Laguna Beach. This is all ridiculous.
The essence of spiritual life is this understanding that I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant.
And uh what Lord Chaitanya gives, and this is the most amazing gift of Lord Chaitanya, he gives us the taste for being the servant. Because in this world nobody has the taste to be the servant.
In this world everyone has the taste to be the master. Everyone is really after this. Everyone really has a great taste for this, you know. I'm again speaking with full realization of my own experience.
We all want to be masters. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's amazing gift is that he gives us this amazing taste of being servants.
The taste of being dāsya, of being dāsa, of being humble servants of the servants of the servants.
For the first time within the millions and millions of lifetimes, we can appreciate this position of being servant of the servant of the servant because of the mercy of Lord Chaitanya.
In Caitanya-caritāmṛta, there is an amazing verse where it is said, Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he says, what happens in this world? He says, why all these fruitive workers, why all these people who are so attached to their families, why did they stop speaking about their wives and children he says this is amazing because usually the family people they always
speak about their children and their wives, how their wives are bad and how their children are good, or whatever. And he says, why did they stop speaking about this?
And then he says why all these pundits stop speaking about Shastras. He says, why yogis stop doing breathing exercises? Because this is what yogis do, they always breathe. You know, this and this. Why did it happen?
He said, because the moon of Lord Chaitanya has arisen. And because this moon has arisen within their hearts, they forgot all about their businesses.
They lost the taste for all these businesses, for all these petty things. And they only got the taste for the highest Kṛṣṇa prema. They forgot about everything else. And this is exactly the highest gift of Lord Chaitanya.
When Lord Chaitanya comes, he gives us the taste for the highest service and he gives us this amazing taste that you know I want to be the servant of the servant of the servant.
I want to be the servant of the servant of Krishna and I want to be humble. Despite all other problems which I have.
You know, usually we don't want to be humble, but sometimes when we have a clear mind and when we remember Lord Chaitanya and his beautiful pastimes, then this understanding comes within our heart.
I just want to be the lowest of the lower. I want to be really humble like a blade of grass. And in this state of mind, I want to chant the holy name of Krishna. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare.
And this understanding comes within our heart, and this understanding is so beautiful. Of course, it's just a shade of the real understanding, but it is very clearly said in our scriptures.
If we concentrate our mind in Lord Chaitanya's līlā, if we understand that ultimately we are the servants of this most beautiful manifestation of God, and this is the highest position within this world and within all the worlds which are there, to be the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Lord Chaitanya.
If this understanding comes within our heart, and sometimes the shade of this understanding comes within our heart, then immediately Krishna līlā descends upon us.
Immediately the access to Krishna's pastimes comes very easily towards us.
And, uh, again, Prabodhananda Saraswati, he, he says in this, in his Caitanya Chandramrita, Yata yata gora-padaravinde, what is it? Um I always forget this verse.
Anyway, he says that to the extent, uh, when, why, uh, when one uh having achieved this high position of devotion to Lord
Chaitanya, to the extent through his many, many life- times of, uh, pious activities, he achieves this position of the servant of Lord Chaitanya to the extent he becomes real servant.
To the same extent, the ocean of the service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī opens to him. It's a proportionate process, it's automatic process.
The access to Krishna līlā only comes to us through Caitanya līlā, through understanding Krishna, who is teaching us as, uh, as ācārya, how we should behave, how we should serve the highest reality. And when we do this, then the highest reality descends upon us.
All of a sudden, we see Krishna līlā within our heart. The highest sweetness of nectar comes within our heart, rushes within our heart, and we are there, we're running there in the meadows of Vṛndāvana.
So this is uh this is the real gift of Lord Chaitanya and this is what we all have to be ambitious about.
Our highest ambition should be to become the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Lord Chaitanya. To become more humble than the blade of grass.
And in this state of mind to chant the holy name. And this is the sweetest situation that is the most uh elevated position of spiritual existence and
uh therefore we can only approach Krishna through Lord Chaitanya because only Lord Chaitanya can really teach us how to become humble and can really give us the highest sweetness of being humble servant of the servant of the servant of the servant.
So this is the teaching and I'm sorry for for telling about this in such a uh I know in such a non-convincing way. But in any case this is this is the essence.
Tukaram Prabhu asked me to speak about this and I spoke what I could to the best level of my understanding of what it is.
And if we do this then the again the highest reality descends upon us uh in a very in a very quick way and there is no doubt about it and as Śrīla Prabhupāda says in the end of this poor quote we get the access to Krishna and his spiritual world.
Practicing internal humility in daily affairs
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare. So let's go to maybe there are some questions. Yes, Maharaj.
I was just wondering if there was some way you could give instruction to this fallen soul as to how he could turn on his abil have the ability to turn it on like a faucet, this humbleness,
because sometimes intertwined in the material world as I am, it's a sign of weakness to be so humble with the business world or people in the guṇas of passion.
What recommendation could Mahara please give to this fine individual so intertwined in the materialistic world well when by dealing with the materialistic people in the mode of passion we have to we cannot be humble and uh
the advice was given by Narada Muni to one of his disciples. Once Narada Muni happened to initiate a snake. Nārada Muni has all kinds of disciples because he can penetrate the heart of everyone.
So the cobra, very poisonous snake, became his disciple. And It underwent the change of the heart.
Be before it was a snake and it was always biting and hissing and this and that but then it became a humble vaiṣṇava. You know, and it started crawling very humbly and very soon
all the little children they found out that this snake is useless because it's always crawling and not biting and not hissing and not doing anything and they started throwing the stones and the life of this snake became hell and ultimately the snake crawled to Narada Muni and said, you know, I wanted to be happy and I saw
that to become a vaiṣṇava means to be happy but they're throwing stones in me. You know it hurts.
And Nārada Muni says, you know, you made one mistake. You should not bite them, but sometimes you should hiss. So hissing is allowed, it's bona fide.
So the idea here is that deepest in our heart we have to remain humble. We have to understand that our deepest internal identity is the the servant of servant of the servant.
But when we deal with all these naughty people, sometimes we have to be a little firm. But deep within the heart we still have to understand that I'm doing it just for the sake of, you know, we shouldn't identify ourselves. The point is that we should not identify ourselves with all these upadhis, with this, you know, I'm businessman, I'm this, I'm that.
You know. You know deep down within the heart we're just little tiny soul and we're totally helpless
and we need help from the higher realm and for that, you know, and this is the this is the most safest situation it's actually interesting.
And the Sanskrit word pratista for pride basically means literally means pratista means you're just standing there, you have a very strong or sure foundation in this world.
Pratista means you are, you know, you're established here because Pratista means establishment.
Pratista means like we have prana-pratistha. Prana-pratistha means we're installing prana within the deities. Pratista basically means you are firmly established here in this world, in the footing of this world.
But the path for spiritual life is to understand that this, you know, our position in the spiritual world is always is always shaky.
When we were driving here, we were looking around and such a beautiful town and you know trees and everything. And then again my associate very appropriately said. Just a little earthquake and it will all go down.
All this beauty and richness and everything. And uh ultimately there is always some earthquake in this material world.
So then humility basically means we're not trying to get us so much established here because ultimately there is no permanent place in this world.
Deep down in the heart, we know I'm a tiny little spirit soul, and my eternal place is there in the spiritual world. And yeah, I have to play the role here, you know, I'm this and that. This is okay. But this is my role.
Finding shelter in times of crisis
My real identity is a humble servant of the servant. Thank you, Maharaj.
I was thinking you know yesterday I was reading last night the Krishna book and Krishna was saying that when he favors the devotees he takes away everything from them.
But like you were saying earlier on, sometimes when you're giving up things that that that um that that fear can come in at that point because if you are established in the material world, things are going well but if all of a sudden you find there's financial difficulties health is bad a lot of things are wrong you can surrender more but it does seem like there is more fear in that stage than there is when things seem to be easier.
How can we reconcile this? Uh the fear comes when the s when the earth starts shaking. The fear will come, there's no doubt.
But then and when it really shakes hard and and you really call the Lord from depths of your heart, then immediately the peace comes to you.
Because when this understanding is there, when this experience is there, you really understand that Krishna is there and the experience of Krishna becomes real.
When we are in this world and everything is nice and the sun is shining and everything is nice, then we have some kind of theoretical understanding of God, but it's it's it's purely theoretical.
But when everything starts shaking and you become fearful and then you call the Lord, then the peacefulness comes within your heart. One devotee told me his own experience in this regard.
He became a devotee, a very new devotee, he started chanting Hare Krishna mantra. For some time he was chanting Hare Krishna mantra. But he had a very strong Shraddha. The point is again that to understand God you have to
have very strong faith, strong śraddhā. So he told me that once he was driving and it was winter. Winter time in Moscow, somewhere outside of Moscow. And there was a very bad road. The snow was falling and it was night.
Dark night. And all of a sudden he realized and he had a friend with him in the same car. And the friend was there and all of a sudden he saw that
first of all he understood that the brakes don't work, that the the car really cannot be controlled. And at the same time he saw huge truck coming in the opposite direction just for him, you know.
And the the truck is there and this is i it's it's just inevitable. All of a sudden everything started shaking.
And he was he's a wealthy man, he has some money, he has, you know, beautiful car, he has beautiful wife, everything. And all of a sudden he understood that's it. You know.
And uh in these situations, although it's it's just seconds or milliseconds, the time becomes very long. Subjectively it becomes long. And for him, he said, he started analyzing in this in this situation. The car is coming.
He said, no hope. Absolutely no hope. This huge truck is coming here. You know, his friend nearby, who was not a devotee, he he just fainted, you know. He said, ah and fainted. He was gone.
So but this devotee said, you know, Krishna is there. He had very strong faith in Krishna. He said, it cannot be like this, you know. He said, there's no way, you know. Krishna is there.
And he started in a very, in a very deep voice, he started chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Krishna Hare Rama Rama Rama Rama and all of a sudden he saw that the truck, you know the truck hit them, you know, and it didn't you know, it didn't hurt him at all.
The car was totally smashed. You know, I he found out that he was totally calm. He said the most amazing situation the most amazing experience of me in this situation that I was totally completely peaceful and happy.
I was chanting and I thought Krishna is God. What's wrong with this truck? He's God. So he said at this moment of my life, which I will never forget, I felt Krishna very, very strongly.
And because I felt him, I was totally calm and peaceful and happy. There was no fear at all.
He jumped out from the car, you know, when he saw this and he started, you know, crying and yelling and doing something and he said, cool down, cool down, everything is okay, you know.
Take us to the to the near city, you know. And the the his friend is you know is totally unconscious and he's he's totally calm and happy.
So uh when it really shakes hard then then then you also very sincerely with a lot of śraddhā hold for Krishna and Krishna comes in this very moment. This is and this is the experience.
I also remember coming back to my KGB, early days of my devotional career. You know, when KGB first came to me, I was doing my PhD at that time. I was a postgraduate student in the in the best university of Russia.
I was on my way up, my career was very bright, you know, but uh everything was fine and I started chanting, I was associating with devotees and all of a sudden, at one nice day,
I came to my laboratory and I saw my uh scientific guide who was a very, you know, he was a very courageous man. And I saw him, he was he was white like this paper. He was really white.
And he he showed to his office and he said, somebody is waiting for you there. And when I came to this office I saw a huge guy and he took his ID and he said I'm from KGB.
And at that walk at that time in Russia KGB meant the end of your life basically you know he came to me and he started threatening me he started doing this and that and he said if you are intelligent you are intelligent young man and we really trust your intelligence.
You please consider very deeply.
We only ask you to work for us a little bit, you have to just inform us what these guys are doing, you know, we know you you're their friend. You you go on associating with them. You just inform us every now and then.
Give us little report what all these devotees are doing.
And if you don't do this, you you please, you intelligent man, you will understand what it means, you know. There are some many prisons there and labor camps and you know you will have a nice cell there.
Sure, it was the end of the world for me, really. The end of my career and everything and I I had some position in the society, I had some understanding of my future, of everything. But I I didn't want to work for the KGB.
And I I started shaking, you know, I for three hours he was talking to me. Then I then I came back and I I I thought, you know, how how to you know what what shall I do? And he said he made an appointment for me.
He said, come next day and tell us about your decision, what you're going to do, whether you will work for us or not. And then I decided, you know, I at that time I read that one should have sādhu sangha.
You know, this is the solution for all the problems. And there was not many sadhus around, but I knew one young girl that's the only devotee whom I knew in this in Moscow at that time.
So I called her and she was 19 years old. And I said, KGB came to me and they're threatening me this and that. And she said, So what? You're not this body, you're spirit soul, forget it, this is all nonsense.
And I thought for a second, I thought, that she's right, I'm not this body, I'm spirit soul. So next day I was very bold and very calm.
I came to this KGB headquarters and said, I'm not this body, I'm spirit soul, I'm not going to... They were so furious. They couldn't believe it.
But really it it does work when when when in this crisis, in the critical situation you approach Krishna, all of a sudden you become peaceful. It does work.
Philosophical basis of divine mercy
Marj, at the beginning of your lecture you mentioned that the essence of Krishna is sweetness. Mm-hmm. And I was just wondering if someone was to challenge that you know that God is all things or that God is many things and you're arbitrarily ascribing to him if his essence, his essential quality is sweetness.
How would you how would you substantiate that point? How would I substantiate this point? Because who is God? God is unlimited, right? By definition, God has to be unlimited. And we are limited, right?
So who is God in relationship to us? You know, if somebody is unlimited, well, let me think for a second. Uh, ultimately the essence of God, the sweetness of God means mercy.
And if God is unlimited, if somebody is unlimited, he has to be merciful. Because all our problems, all our deficiencies of all our all of all our vices are coming from us being limited, right? And he's unlimited.
So and unlimited means ultimately unlimited means, uh, merciful, merciful means sweet. Unlimited means that he's, uh, uh, you know, if if he is unlimited, he has to be merciful.
Because again, we are not giving definition of God as He is; we are giving a definition of God towards us. And we are small tiny living entities.
What is the essence of relationship of God, unlimited God, towards small, tiny living entities? It's mercy. Right? It has to be mercy.
You know, if you if you describe him in an abstract way, maybe you can say something else.
But ultimately you have to say that towards the small tiny living entities the most essential quality of the Lord which he has to manifest without losing his identity as an unlimited God is mercy.
this is one way to do this. Maybe there are some other ways to do this. But again, this is intellectual.
The reality is that we should not again try to only we have to be established intellectually, uh, in our philosophy, but uh the ultimate understanding is not coming from the intellectual understanding, it's coming from the service attitude which we have to develop being established on the intellectual plane.
There's a lot of stress, especially Prabhupāda put on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, reading it every day and studying it every day.
I was just wondering your opinion on our on on the role of the Bhagavatam in our lives and the role of Caitanya-caritāmṛta in our lives. question was there is a lot of stress on Srimad Bhagavatam in our lives. And what's my opinion?
What is the relative uh role of Sri Chaitanya Cheritamlita and Srimad Bhagavatam in our lives? Well, the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam is there in Sri Chaitanya Chitamrita. There is no doubt about it.
It is said I I I recently read Manacharya who said that
basically the essence of the whole Srimad Bhagavatam is there in three books which are re-written because again, and Sila Prabhupada explains this in this purpose that uh even to understand Shrimad Bhagavatam uh is very difficult.
Like Sanatana Gaswami, Rupa Gaswami specifically they came to understand to explain Shimad Bhagavatam in a systematic way. So many people study Shimad Bhagavatam and they cannot understand it because it's it's uh
first of all, it's written in Samadhi Bhasha.
In the beginning of Shimad Bhagavatam, in the first cant of Shimad Bhagavatam, seventh chapter, there is the description of Samadhi of yasadev and basically the whole Shimad Bhagavatam
is this uh revelation of Yasadev described in a very cryptical language. It's very cryptical. Shimad Bhagavatam is not an easy book to understand.
There are therefore there are so many explanations, there are so many understandings, and it's specifically said there that this the language of Shimad Bhagavatam is samadhi bash.
Samadhi Bash means the language of Samadhi. And the only one who is on the level of samadhi, whose mind is totally absorbed in spirit, can understand Shrimad Bhagavatam because otherwise it's just a different language.
Therefore, you know Shichita and this Acharya he goes
on to say that therefore Sanatana Gaswami came and Sanat Gaswamy gave Brihad Bhadamrita and Brihat Bhagavatamrita is nothing but Sri Mad Bhagavatam explained in a systematic way. The same Sri Mad Bhagavatam but explained in a very kind of logical and systematic way is Brihat Bhagavatam Ritham.
And Rupa Gaswami came and he explained the essence of rasa, which is the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam.
But then again, Krishna Daska Viraj Gaswami he explained in a even simpler way, the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri Chaitanya Cheritamlita.
In this particular Acharya, he used to say that there are three books which we have to understand to understand the essence of spiritual life.
That is Sri Chaitanya Cheritamlita Premabhakti Chandrik and Prathana of Naratam Das Takur. Two books of prayers written in a simple Bengal language.
And of course, Sri Chaitan Cheritamlita is also written in a simple language But at the same time, Sri Chaitanya Mahabrabhu himself he says that Srimad Bhagavatam is Amala Purana. And this is the highest Prahman.
And Jiva Gaswami explained the whole philosophy of Shrimad Bhagavatam.
And Sri Prabhupada he translated Srimad Bhagavatam and he stressed this nitya bhagavata sevaya. So uh basically we have to read these two books uh together simultaneously and to try to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the point of view of Caitanya Caritāmṛta.
Because without Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Caitanya līlā we will not be able to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But if we have Chaitanya in front of our eyes, if we really absorb our mind in Lord Chaitanya, then what comes
to us actually the kama, the selfish sensual desires they go away, they vanish from the heart.
And when the karma vanishes from the heart then then the understanding of Krishna, beautiful pastimes and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also becomes very clear to us. So it has to be together.