Excellence (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"excel" |"excelled" |"excellence" |"excelling" |"excels"

Notes from the compiler: The quote from Nectar of Devotion 33 is actually from Nectar of Devotion 48

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Foreword:

While composing his important work, Vṛndāvana dāsa, fearing that it would become too voluminous, avoided elaborately describing many of the events of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's life, particularly the later ones. Anxious to hear of these later pastimes, the devotees in Vṛndāvana requested Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, whom they respected as a great saint and scholar, to compose a book narrating these episodes in detail. Upon this request, and with the permission and blessings of the Madana-mohana Deity of Vṛndāvana, he began compiling Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, which, due to its literary excellence and philosophical thoroughness, is today universally regarded as the foremost work on the life and profound teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Introduction:

The supreme living force is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is also the supreme entity. There are innumerable living entities, and all of them are individuals. This is very easy to understand: We are all individual in our thoughts and desires, and the Supreme Lord is also an individual person. He is different, though, in that He is the leader, the one whom no one can excel. Among the minute living entities, one being can excel another in one capacity or another. Like each of these living entities, the Lord is an individual, but He is different in that He is the supreme individual.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.87, Purport:

The name "Rādhā" is derived from the root word ārādhana, which means "worship." The personality who excels all in worshiping Kṛṣṇa may therefore be called Rādhikā, the greatest servitor.

CC Adi 7.111, Purport:

The Absolute Truth is ultimately understood as Bhagavān, partially understood as Paramātmā and vaguely understood as the impersonal Brahman. Bhagavān, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is opulent in all excellence; no one can be equal to or greater than Him.

CC Adi 7.112, Purport:

In the Aitareya Upaniṣad (1.1.1–2) it is said, sa aikṣata—"He glanced over the material creation"—and sa imāl lokān asṛjata—"He created this entire material world." Thus many verses can be quoted from the Upaniṣads and Vedas which prove that the Supreme Godhead is not impersonal. In the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.13) it is also said, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān: "He is the supreme eternally conscious person, who maintains all other living entities." From all these Vedic references one can understand that the Absolute Truth is a person and that no one can equal or excel Him.

CC Adi 13.39, Purport:

A person who is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness always feels separation from Kṛṣṇa because such a feeling of separation excels the feeling of meeting Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 4.114, Translation:

From the excellence of the arrangements, Mādhavendra Purī understood by deduction that only the best food was offered.

CC Madhya 16.65, Purport:

In the case of Jagāi and Mādhāi, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so angry that He would have immediately killed them, but Nityānanda Prabhu was so kind that He not only saved them from death but elevated them to the transcendental position. Thus what was not possible for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was carried out by Nityānanda Prabhu. Similarly, if one is true to Gaura-Nitāi's service in the disciplic succession, he can even excel Nityānanda Prabhu's service.

CC Madhya 23.53, Translation:

“There are five transcendental mellows—neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parental affection and conjugal love, which is also known as the mellow of sweetness. Conjugal love excels all the others.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

The supreme living force is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is also the supreme entity. There are innumerable living entities, and all of them are individual. This is very easy to understand: We are all individual in thought and desires, and the Supreme Lord is also an individual person. He is different, though, in that He is the leader, the one whom no one can excel. Amongst the created living entities, one being can excel another in one capacity or another. The Lord is an individual, just as the living entities are individual, but He is different in that He is the supreme individual.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 15:

The Lord is the greatest in all opulences. No one can excel Him in wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 21:

Besides these sixty transcendental qualities, Kṛṣṇa has four more, which are not manifest even in the Nārāyaṇa form of Godhead, what to speak of the demigods or living entities. They are as follows. (61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes). (62) He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead. (63) He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute. (64) He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivaled anywhere in the creation.

Nectar of Devotion 29:

Another message was once sent to Kṛṣṇa informing Him that after He had killed Kaṁsa, one of Kaṁsa's demon friends had gone insane. This demon was foaming at the mouth, waving his arms and rolling on the ground. This demoniac demonstration is in relationship with Kṛṣṇa in a ghastly humor. This mellow or flavor is one of the indirect relationships with Kṛṣṇa. The first five kinds of relationships are called direct, and the other seven are called indirect. Some way or other, the demon must have had some relationship with Kṛṣṇa, because these symptoms developed when he heard that Kṛṣṇa had already killed Kaṁsa. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī remarks that there is also transcendental excellence in this kind of symptom.

Nectar of Devotion 33:

Dāna-vīra, or chivalry in giving charity, may be divided into two parts: munificence and renunciation. A person who can sacrifice everything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa is called munificent. When a person desires to make a sacrifice because of seeing Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is called the impetus of the munificent activity. When Kṛṣṇa appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja, in clear consciousness Nanda Mahārāja desired all auspiciousness for his son and thus began to give valuable cows in charity to all the brāhmaṇas. The brāhmaṇas were so satisfied by this charitable action that they were obliged to say that the charity of Nanda Mahārāja had excelled the charity of such past kings as Mahārāja Pṛthu and Nṛga.

Nectar of Devotion 35:

When Lord Kṛṣṇa, along with His elder brother Balarāma and sister Subhadrā, came to Kurukṣetra in a chariot on the occasion of a solar eclipse, many mystic yogīs also came. When these mystic yogīs saw Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, they exclaimed that now that they had seen the excellent bodily effulgence of the Lord, they had almost forgotten the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization. In this connection one of the mystics approached Kṛṣṇa and said, "My dear Lord, You are always full with transcendental bliss, excelling all other spiritual positions. And so, simply by seeing You from a distant place, I have come to the conclusion that there is no need of my being situated in the transcendental bliss of impersonal Brahman."

Nectar of Devotion 44:

The impetuses of conjugal love are Kṛṣṇa and His very dear consorts, such as Rādhārāṇī and Her immediate associates. Lord Kṛṣṇa has no rival; no one is equal to Him, and no one is greater than Him. His beauty is also without any rival, and because He excels all others in the pastimes of conjugal love, He is the original object of all conjugal love.

Nectar of Instruction

Nectar of Instruction 10, Purport:

No one can excel the devotional service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book Introduction:

His name is Govinda, the Primeval Lord, and He is the cause of all causes. There the Lord plays His flute, His eyes are like lotus petals, and the color of His body is like that of a beautiful cloud. On His head is a peacock feather. He is so attractive that He excels thousands of Cupids. Lord Kṛṣṇa gives only a little hint in the Gītā of His personal abode, which is the supermost planet in the spiritual kingdom.

Krsna Book 32:

The gopīs particularly showed pure devotional service toward Kṛṣṇa, so much so that Kṛṣṇa Himself remained indebted to them. Lord Caitanya thus said that the devotional service manifested by the gopīs in Vṛndāvana excelled all other methods of approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krsna Book 60:

You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead; no one can excel You, nor can anyone come up to an equal level with You. The perfect social system is that in which You remain in the center, being served as the Supreme, and all others engage as Your servitors. In such a perfectly constructed society, everyone can remain eternally happy and blissful.

Krsna Book 90:

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has concluded the Ninetieth Chapter of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by pointing out five particular excellences of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The first excellence is that before Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance in the Yadu family, the river Ganges was known as the purest of all things; even impure things could be purified simply by touching the water of the Ganges. This superexcellent power of the Ganges water was due to its having emanated from the toe of Lord Viṣṇu. But when Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Viṣṇu, appeared in the family of the Yadu dynasty, He traveled personally throughout the kingdom of the Yadus, and by His intimate association with the Yadu dynasty, the whole family not only became very famous but also became more effective in purifying others than the water of the Ganges.

Krsna Book 90:

The next excellence of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance was that although He apparently gave protection to the devotees and annihilated the demons, both the devotees and the demons achieved the same result. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the bestower of five kinds of liberation, of which sāyujya-mukti, or the liberation of becoming one with the Supreme, was given to demons like Kaṁsa, whereas the gopīs were given the chance to associate with Him personally. The gopīs kept their individuality to enjoy the company of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but Kaṁsa was accepted into His impersonal brahmajyoti. In other words, both the demons and the gopīs were spiritually liberated, but because the demons were enemies and the gopīs were friends, the demons were killed and the gopīs protected.

Krsna Book 90:

The third excellence of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance was that the goddess of fortune, who is worshiped by demigods like Lord Brahmā, Indra and Candra, remained always engaged in the service of the Lord, even though the Lord gave more preference to the gopīs. Lakṣmījī, the goddess of fortune, tried her best to be on an equal level with the gopīs, but she was not successful. Nevertheless, she remained faithful to Kṛṣṇa, although she generally does not remain in one place even if worshiped by demigods like Lord Brahmā.

Krsna Book 90:

The fourth excellence of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance concerns the glories of His name. It is stated in the Vedic literature that by chanting the different names of Lord Viṣṇu a thousand times, one may be bestowed with the same benefits as by thrice chanting the holy name of Lord Rāma. And by chanting the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa only once, one receives the same benefit. In other words, of all the holy names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, including Viṣṇu and Rāma, the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is the most powerful. The Vedic literature therefore specifically stresses the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Lord Caitanya introduced this chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa in this age, thus making liberation much more easily obtainable than in other ages. In other words, Lord Kṛṣṇa is more excellent than His incarnations, although all of them are equally the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krsna Book 90:

The fifth excellence of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance is that He established the most excellent of all religious principles by His one statement in the Bhagavad-gītā that simply by surrendering unto Him one can discharge all the principles of religious rites. In the Vedic literature there are twenty kinds of religious principles mentioned, and each of them is described in different śāstras. But Lord Kṛṣṇa is so kind to the fallen conditioned souls of this age that He personally appeared and asked everyone to give up all kinds of religious rites and simply surrender unto Him. It is said that this Age of Kali is three-fourths devoid of religious principles. Hardly one fourth of the principles of religion are still observed in this age. But by the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, not only has this void of Kali-yuga been completely filled, but the religious process has been made so easy that simply by rendering transcendental loving service unto Lord Kṛṣṇa by chanting His holy names, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, one can achieve the highest result of religion, namely, being transferred to the highest planet within the spiritual world, Goloka Vṛndāvana. Considering all this, one can immediately appreciate the benefit of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance on the earth and understand that His giving relief to the people of the world by His appearance was not at all extraordinary.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 4, Translation:

Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence.