Taste (CC Antya-lila)

Expressions researched:
"taste" |"tasted" |"tasteful" |"tastefully" |"tastefulness" |"tasteless" |"taster" |"tastes"

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 2.118, Purport:

The senses and the sense objects are so intimately connected that the mind of even a great saintly person is attracted to a wooden doll if it is attractively shaped like a young woman. The sense objects, namely form, sound, smell, taste and touch, are always attractive for the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Since the senses and sense objects are naturally intimately related, sometimes even a person claiming control over his senses remains always subject to the control of sense objects. The senses are impossible to control unless purified and engaged in the service of the Lord. Thus even though a saintly person vows to control his senses, the senses are still sometimes perturbed by sense objects.

CC Antya 3.217, Translation:

Haridāsa Ṭhākura accepted food daily at the house of Advaita Ācārya. Meeting together, the two of them would taste the nectar of discourses on the subject matter of Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 3.251, Purport:

"In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage, one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes freed from all material attachments, attains steadiness in self-realization and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa." (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.4.15) If one is actually executing devotional service, then anarthas, the unwanted things associated with material enjoyment, will automatically disappear.

CC Antya 3.264, Translation:

The goddess of fortune and others, allured by love of Kṛṣṇa, also came down in the form of human beings and tasted the holy name of the Lord in love.

CC Antya 3.265, Translation:

What to speak of others, even Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, personally descends to taste the nectar of love of Godhead in the form of the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 4.49, Translation:

Both of you are expert in understanding the mellows of Lord Kṛṣṇa's devotional service. Therefore you should both continue relishing the taste for such activities and chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

CC Antya 5.9, Translation:

I see that you have acquired a taste for hearing talks regarding Kṛṣṇa. Therefore you are extremely fortunate. Not only you but anyone who has awakened such a taste is considered most fortunate.

CC Antya 5.10, Translation:

""A person who properly performs his regulative duties according to varṇa and āśrama but does not develop his dormant attachment for Kṛṣṇa or awaken his taste for hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa is certainly laboring fruitlessly.""

CC Antya 5.97, Purport:

“A mellow temporarily appearing transcendental but contradicting mellows previously stated and lacking some of a mellow's necessities is called rasābhāsa, an overlapping mellow, by advanced devotees who know how to taste transcendental mellows. Such mellows are called uparasa (submellows), anurasa (imitation transcendental mellows) and aparasa (opposing transcendental mellows). Thus the overlapping of transcendental mellows is described as being first grade, second grade or third grade. When the twelve mellows—such as neutrality, servitorship and friendship—are characterized by adverse sthāyi-bhāva, vibhāva and anubhāva ecstasies, they are known as uparasa, submellows. When the seven indirect transcendental mellows and the dried-up mellow of neutrality are produced by devotees and moods not directly related to Kṛṣṇa and devotional service in ecstatic love, they are described as anurasa, imitation mellows. If Kṛṣṇa and the enemies who harbor feelings of opposition toward Him are respectively the object and abodes of the mellow of laughter, the resulting feelings are called aparasa, opposing mellows. Experts in distinguishing one mellow from another sometimes accept some overlapping transcendental mellows (rasābhāsa) as rasas due to their being pleasurable and tasteful.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says, paraspara-vairayor yadi yogas tadā rasābhāsaḥ: "When two opposing transcendental mellows overlap, they produce rasābhāsa, or an overlapping of transcendental mellows."

CC Antya 6.110, Translation:

There were varieties of cakes, sweet rice and fine cooked rice that surpassed the taste of nectar. There were also varieties of vegetables.

CC Antya 6.225, Translation:

If a renunciant is eager for his tongue to taste different foods, his spiritual life will be lost, and he will be subservient to the tastes of his tongue.

CC Antya 6.324, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Of course, every day I eat varieties of prasādam, but I have never tasted such nice prasādam as that which Raghunātha is eating."

CC Antya 9.6, Translation:

During the day He chanted, danced and saw Lord Jagannātha in the temple. At night He tasted transcendental bliss in the company of Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara.

CC Antya 10.125-126, Translation:

The hard sweets made of coconut, mukuta nārikela, the sweetballs, the many kinds of sweet drinks and all the other preparations were at least a month old, but although they were old, they had not become tasteless or stale. Indeed, they had all stayed fresh. That is the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 10.130, Translation:

He tasted a little of everything they contained and praised it all for its flavor and aroma.

CC Antya 10.137, Translation:

They also offered phula-baḍī, liquid mung dhal and many vegetables, all cooked according to the Lord's taste.

CC Antya 10.158, Translation:

Thus I have described how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted invitations and how He accepted and tasted the prasādam offered by His devotees.

CC Antya 10.161, Translation:

Narrations of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's activities are just like nectar to hear. Indeed, they satisfy both the ears and mind. One who tastes the nectar of these activities is certainly very fortunate.

CC Antya 11.12, Translation:

In the daytime Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged in dancing and chanting and in seeing the temple of Lord Jagannātha. At night, in the company of His most confidential devotees, such as Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, He tasted the nectar of the transcendental mellows of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes.

CC Antya 11.20, Purport:

Mahā-prasādam is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, instead of eating mahā-prasādam, one should honor it. It is said here, karilā vandana, "he offered prayers." When taking mahā-prasādam, one should not consider the food ordinary preparations. Prasāda means favor. One should consider mahā-prasādam a favor of Kṛṣṇa. As stated by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, kṛṣṇa baḍa dayāmaya karibāre jihvā jaya svaprasāda-anna dilā bhāi. Kṛṣṇa is very kind. In this material world we are all very much attached to tasting various types of food. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa eats many nice varieties of food and offers the food back to the devotees, so that not only are one's demands for various tastes satisfied, but by eating prasādam one makes advancement in spiritual life. Therefore, we should never consider ordinary food on an equal level with mahā-prasādam.

CC Antya 12.130, Translation:

In great happiness, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then accepted the lunch. When He had tasted the vegetables, He again began to speak.

CC Antya 13.3, Translation:

In this way, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would taste various transcendental relationships of pure love in the company of Jagadānanda Paṇḍita.

CC Antya 13.76, Translation:

The hot chili-like taste burned the tongues of those who chewed the seeds. Thus the eating of pīlu fruits from Vṛndāvana became a pastime of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's.

CC Antya 13.107, Translation:

Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa was an expert cook. Whatever he prepared tasted just like nectar.

CC Antya 14.49, Translation:

The gopīs of Vrajabhūmi always taste the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's attributes, His beauty, His sweetness, His aroma, the sound of His flute and the touch of His body. My mind's five disciples, the senses of perception, gather the remnants of that nectar from the gopīs and bring them to the yogī of My mind. The senses maintain their lives by eating those remnants.

CC Antya 15.15, Translation:

“Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa's beauty, the sound of His words and the vibration of His flute, His touch, His fragrance and the taste of His lips are full of an indescribable sweetness. When all these features attract My five senses at once, My senses all ride together on the single horse of My mind but want to go in five different directions.

CC Antya 15.18, Translation:

My dear friend, if you say, "Just try to control Your senses," what shall I say? I cannot become angry at My senses. Is it their fault? Kṛṣṇa's beauty, sound, touch, fragrance and taste are by nature extremely attractive. These five features are attracting My senses, and each wants to drag My mind in a different direction. In this way the life of My mind is in great danger, just like a horse ridden in five directions at once. Thus I am also in danger of dying.

CC Antya 15.88, Translation:

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu had Svarūpa Dāmodara sing the same verse again and again. Each time he sang it, the Lord tasted it anew, and thus He danced again and again.

CC Antya 16 Summary:

The Sixteenth Chapter is summarized by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. When the Bengali devotees of the Lord returned to Jagannātha Purī, a gentleman named Kālidāsa, who was an uncle of Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, went with them to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Kālidāsa had tasted the remnants of food of all the Vaiṣṇavas in Bengal, even Jhaḍu Ṭhākura. Because of this, he received the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī.

When Kavi-karṇapūra was only seven years old, he was initiated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu into the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. He later became the greatest poet among the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas.

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu ate the remnants of food known as vallabha-bhoga, He described the glories of such remnants of the Lord's food and then fed all the devotees the prasādam. Thus they all tasted adharāmṛta, the nectar from the lips of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 16.1, Translation:

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who personally tasted the nectar of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa and then instructed His devotees how to taste it. Thus He enlightened them about ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa to initiate them into transcendental knowledge.

CC Antya 16.79, Translation:

Throughout the entire day and night, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly relished Kṛṣṇa's beauty, fragrance and taste as if He were touching Kṛṣṇa hand to hand.

CC Antya 16.90, Translation:

The servants of Lord Jagannātha first garlanded Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and then offered Him Lord Jagannātha's prasādam. The prasādam was so nice that its aroma alone, to say nothing of its taste, would drive the mind mad.

CC Antya 16.92, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu tasted a portion of the prasādam. Govinda took the rest and bound it in the end of his wrapper.

CC Antya 16.93, Translation:

To Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu the prasādam tasted millions upon millions of times better than nectar, and thus He was fully satisfied. The hair all over His body stood on end, and incessant tears flowed from His eyes.

CC Antya 16.94, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu considered, “Where has such a taste in this prasādam come from? Certainly it is due to its having been touched by the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's lips.”

CC Antya 16.107, Translation:

As they tasted the uncommon sweetness and fragrance of the prasādam, everyone's mind was struck with wonder.

CC Antya 16.108-109, Translation and Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “These ingredients, such as sugar, camphor, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, butter, spices and licorice, are all material. Everyone has tasted these material substances before.

The word prākṛta refers to things tasted for the sense gratification of the conditioned soul. Such things are limited by the material laws. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to make the point that material things have already been experienced by materially absorbed persons who are interested only in sense gratification.

CC Antya 16.110, Translation:

However,” the Lord continued, “in these ingredients there are extraordinary tastes and uncommon fragrances. Just taste them and see the difference in the experience.

CC Antya 16.111, Translation:

Apart from the taste, even the fragrance pleases the mind and makes one forget any other sweetness besides its own.

CC Antya 16.112, Purport:

Since everyone had previously tasted these ingredients, why had they become extraordinary and spiritually delicious? This was proof that food, prasādam, becomes uncommonly flavorful and delicious by touching Kṛṣṇa's lips.

CC Antya 16.113, Translation:

A fragrance and taste that are uncommon and greatly enchanting and that make one forget all other experiences are attributes of Kṛṣṇa's lips.

CC Antya 16.114, Translation:

This prasādam has been made available only as a result of many pious activities. Now taste it with great faith and devotion.”

CC Antya 16.115, Translation:

Loudly chanting the holy name of Hari, all of them tasted the prasādam. As they tasted it, their minds became mad in the ecstasy of love.

CC Antya 16.119, Translation:

"My dear friend, the all-surpassing nectar from the lips of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, can be obtained only after many, many pious activities. For the beautiful gopīs of Vṛndāvana, that nectar vanquishes the desire for all other tastes. Madana-mohana always chews pan that surpasses the nectar of heaven. He is certainly increasing the desires of My tongue."

CC Antya 16.121-122, Translation:

My dear lover,” Lord Caitanya said in the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, “let Me describe some of the characteristics of Your transcendental lips. They agitate the mind and body of everyone, they increase lusty desires for enjoyment, they destroy the burden of material happiness and lamentation, and they make one forget all material tastes. The whole world falls under their control. They vanquish shame, religion and patience, especially in women. Indeed, they inspire madness in the minds of all women. Your lips increase the greed of the tongue and thus attract it. Considering all this, We see that the activities of Your transcendental lips are always paradoxical.

CC Antya 16.123, Translation:

My dear Kṛṣṇa, since You are a male, it is not very extraordinary that the attraction of Your lips can disturb the minds of women. But I am ashamed to say that Your impudent lips sometimes attract even Your flute, which is also considered a male. It likes to drink the nectar of Your lips, and thus it also forgets all other tastes.

CC Antya 16.125, Translation:

That flute is a very cunning male who drinks again and again the taste of another male's lips. It advertises its qualities and says to the gopīs, "O gopīs, if you are so proud of being women, come forward and enjoy your property—the nectar of the lips of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

CC Antya 16.140, Translation:

My dear gopīs, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopīs, for whom that nectar is actually meant. The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body.’

CC Antya 17.39, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu spoke these words in a mood of anger as He floated on waves of ecstatic love. Merged in an ocean of anxiety, He recited a verse spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī expressing the same emotion. Then He personally explained the verse and thus tasted the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 17.45, Translation:

“One particle of that transcendental, blissful nectar is the life and soul of the ear, which is like a cakora bird that lives in hope of tasting that nectar. Sometimes, by good fortune, the bird can taste it, but at other times he unfortunately cannot and therefore almost dies of thirst.

CC Antya 18.16-17, Translation:

Kṛṣṇa Himself cannot fully understand the conditions, the mode of progress, the happiness and unhappiness, and the moods of ecstatic love of His devotees. He therefore accepts the role of a devotee to taste these emotions fully.

CC Antya 18.97, Translation and Purport:

Blue and red lotus flowers are unconscious objects, whereas cakravākas are conscious and alive. Nevertheless, in ecstatic love, the blue lotuses began to taste the cakravākas. This is a reversal of their natural behavior, but in Lord Kṛṣṇa's kingdom such reversals are a principle of His pastimes.

Generally the cakravāka bird tastes the lotus flower, but in Kṛṣṇa's pastimes the lotus, which is usually lifeless, tastes the cakravāka bird.

CC Antya 20 Summary:

The following summary of the Twentieth Chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed His nights tasting the meaning of the Śikṣāṣṭaka prayers in the company of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Rāmānanda Rāya. Sometimes He recited verses from Jayadeva Gosvāmī’s Gīta-govinda, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya's Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka or from Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura's Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In this way, He became absorbed in ecstatic emotions. For the twelve years Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu lived at Jagannātha Purī, He relished the taste of reciting such transcendental verses. Altogether the Lord was present in this mortal world for forty-eight years. After hinting about the Lord's disappearance, the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta gives a short description of the entire Antya-līlā and then ends his book.

CC Antya 20.4, Translation:

Day and night He tasted transcendental blissful songs and verses with two associates, namely Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Rāmānanda Rāya.

CC Antya 20.7, Translation:

Sometimes the Lord would be absorbed in a particular emotion and would stay awake all night reciting related verses and relishing their taste.

CC Antya 20.12, Translation:

"Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step."

CC Antya 20.14, Translation:

"The result of chanting is that one awakens his love for Kṛṣṇa and tastes transcendental bliss. Ultimately, one attains the association of Kṛṣṇa and engages in His devotional service, as if immersing himself in a great ocean of love."

CC Antya 20.28, Purport:

The prākṛta-sahajiyās sometimes criticize pure devotees by calling them philosophers, learned scholars, knowers of the truth, or minute observers, but not devotees. On the other hand, they depict themselves as the most advanced, transcendentally blissful devotees, deeply absorbed in devotional service and mad to taste transcendental mellows. They also describe themselves as the most advanced devotees in spontaneous love, as knowers of transcendental mellows, as the topmost devotees in conjugal love of Kṛṣṇa, and so on. Not actually knowing the transcendental nature of love of God, they accept their material emotions to be indicative of advancement. In this way they pollute the process of devotional service. To try to become writers of Vaiṣṇava literature, they introduce their material conceptions of life into pure devotional service. Because of their material conceptions, they advertise themselves as knowers of transcendental mellows, but they do not understand the transcendental nature of devotional service.

CC Antya 20.61, Translation:

These statements by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī show the symptoms of pure love for Kṛṣṇa tasted by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In that ecstatic love, His mind was unsteady. Transformations of transcendental love spread throughout His entire body, and He could not sustain His body and mind.

CC Antya 20.64, Translation:

The Lord had formerly composed these eight verses to teach people in general. Now He personally tasted the meaning of the verses, which are called the Śikṣāṣṭaka.

CC Antya 20.67-68, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu read the verses of Jayadeva's Gīta-govinda, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, of Rāmānanda Rāya's drama Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka, and of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura's Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, He was overwhelmed by the various ecstatic emotions of those verses. Thus He tasted their purports.

CC Antya 20.69, Translation:

For twelve years, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu remained in that state day and night. With His two friends He tasted the meaning of those verses, which consists of nothing but the transcendental bliss and mellows of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

CC Antya 20.76, Translation:

What I have described gives merely an indication, but by following this indication one may obtain a taste of all the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 20.102, Translation:

Now let me repeat all the pastimes of the Antya-līlā, for if I do so I shall taste the pastimes again.

CC Antya 20.117, Translation:

In the Tenth Chapter I have described how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu tasted the food given by His devotees, and I have also described the assortment in the bags of Rāghava Paṇḍita.

CC Antya 20.130, Translation:

Also in that chapter, the glories of mahā-prasādam are explained, and a verse is tasted describing the effect of nectar from the lips of Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 20.138, Translation:

The Twentieth Chapter tells how Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recited His own eight stanzas of instruction and tasted their meaning in ecstatic love.

CC Antya 20.139, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu composed those eight stanzas to instruct the devotees, but He also personally tasted their meaning.

CC Antya 20.154, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is filled with the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. It invokes all good fortune and destroys everything inauspicious. If one tastes the nectar of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta with faith and love, I become like a bumblebee tasting the honey of transcendental love from his lotus feet.