View source for Caitanya-caritamrta is not intended for the novice, for it is the postgraduate study of spiritual knowledge

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[[Category:Caitanya-caritamrta|2]]
[[Category:Is Not|2]]
[[Category:Intend|2]]
[[Category:Postgraduate|2]]
[[Category:Study|2]]
[[Category:Spiritual Knowledge|2]]
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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Preface_and_Introduction" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Preface and Introduction"><h3>CC Preface and Introduction</h3>
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<div id="CCIntroduction_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Preface_and_Introduction" book="CC" index="5" link="CC Introduction" link_text="CC Introduction">
<div class="heading">Actually, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not intended for the novice, for it is the postgraduate study of spiritual knowledge.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Introduction|CC Introduction]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Actually, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not intended for the novice, for it is the postgraduate study of spiritual knowledge. Ideally, one begins with the Bhagavad-gītā and advances through Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Although all these great scriptures are on the same absolute level, for the sake of comparative study the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is considered to be on the highest platform. Every verse in it is perfectly composed.</p>
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<div id="CC_Adi-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Adi-lila"><h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAdi1Summary_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Adi-lila" book="CC" index="1" link="CC Adi 1 Summary" link_text="CC Adi 1 Summary">
<div class="heading">Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is a transcendental literature meant for the postgraduate study of one who has realized all the Vedic literatures such as the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra and their natural commentaries such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Adi 1 Summary|CC Adi 1 Summary]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not belong to the mundane plane of the three qualitative modes. He belongs to the transcendental plane beyond the reach of the imperfect sense perception of a living being. Even the most erudite mundane scholar cannot approach the transcendental plane unless he submits himself to transcendental sound with a receptive mood, for in that mood only can one realize the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. What will be described herein, therefore, has nothing to do with the experimental thoughts created by the speculative habits of inert minds. The subject matter of this book is not a mental concoction but a factual spiritual experience that one can realize only by accepting the line of disciplic succession described above. Any deviation from that line will bewilder the reader's understanding of the mystery of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, which is a transcendental literature meant for the postgraduate study of one who has realized all the Vedic literatures such as the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra and their natural commentaries such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā.</p>
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<div id="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" class="section" sec_index="3" parent="compilation" text="Other Books by Srila Prabhupada"><h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<div id="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Other_Books_by_Srila_Prabhupada" text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya"><h3>Teachings of Lord Caitanya</h3>
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<div id="TLCIntoduction_0" class="quote" parent="Teachings_of_Lord_Caitanya" book="OB" index="6" link="TLC Intoduction" link_text="Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction">
<div class="heading">Actually Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not intended for the novice, for it is the post-graduate study of spiritual knowledge.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:TLC Intoduction|Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Actually Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not intended for the novice, for it is the post-graduate study of spiritual knowledge. Ideally, one begins with  and advances through Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Although all these great scriptures are on the absolute level, for the sake of comparitive study Caitanya-caritāmṛta is considered to be on the highest platform. Every verse in it is perfectly composed. Indeed, Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda are compared to the sun and moon in that They dissipate the darkness of the material world. In this instance both the sun and moon have risen together, and it is proper to offer obeisances directly to Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda.</p>
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonBG132224MelbourneJune251974_0" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="372" link="Lecture on BG 13.22-24 -- Melbourne, June 25, 1974" link_text="Lecture on BG 13.22-24 -- Melbourne, June 25, 1974">
<div class="heading">When you become graduate in spiritual knowledge, then you can understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And when you have passed your Bachelor degree, when you are post-graduate, that study is Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 13.22-24 -- Melbourne, June 25, 1974|Lecture on BG 13.22-24 -- Melbourne, June 25, 1974]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So if we read the Vedic literature, and you get full knowledge, and the essence of Vedic literature is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And the Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. ABCD. This Bhagavad-gītā is the ABCD of knowledge. This is entrance examination, matriculation examination, school-leaving examination. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is graduate. When you become graduate in spiritual knowledge, then you can understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And when you have passed your Bachelor degree, when you are post-graduate, that study is Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta.</p>
<p>So we have got three different status of reading capacity. We have got already twenty books. So don't waste your time. Try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa and what is spiritual life by reading these books. Everything is explained there.</p>
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB1839MayapuraOctober191974_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="239" link="Lecture on SB 1.8.39 -- Mayapura, October 19, 1974" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.8.39 -- Mayapura, October 19, 1974">
<div class="heading">Caitanya-caritāmṛta author, such an exalted person, practically the most exalted personality in Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava... His Caitanya-caritāmṛta, there is no comparison. It is postgraduate study. So the author of the book, he's presenting himself, that "My position is lower than the worm in the stool."
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.8.39 -- Mayapura, October 19, 1974|Lecture on SB 1.8.39 -- Mayapura, October 19, 1974]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So Vaiṣṇava... Just like Caitanya-caritāmṛta kaṛacā, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, he says that,</p>
:jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha
:purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha
:([[Vanisource:CC Adi 5.205|CC Adi 5.205]])
<p>Caitanya-caritāmṛta author, such an exalted person, practically the most exalted personality in Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava... His Caitanya-caritāmṛta, there is no comparison. It is postgraduate study. So the author of the book, he's presenting himself, that "My position is lower than the worm in the stool." Purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha. And jagāi mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha. Jagāi-Mādhāi was the example of pāpī, sinful. Caitanya Mahāprabhu... Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings, pāpī-tāpī jata chilo hari-nāme uddhārilo, brajendra-nandana jei śacī-suta hailo sei balarāma hailo nitāi. "Two brothers who were formerly the sons of..., Vrajendra-nandana, the Mahārāja Nanda, his son, Kṛṣṇa, and Balarāma, so Balarāma has become Nitāi, and Kṛṣṇa has become Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu." But... Why they have become Nitāi, and Caitanya Mahā...? Now, pāpī-tāpī jata chilo: "Just to deliver all the sinful persons." So "Did He? Did They do actually so?" "Yes." "Then where is the evidence?" Tāra sākṣī jagāi and mādhāi: "Here is evidence. They delivered Jagāi and Mādhāi."</p>
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<div id="LectureonSB798MontrealJuly21968_1" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="796" link="Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Montreal, July 2, 1968" link_text="Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Montreal, July 2, 1968">
<div class="heading">One who has understood Bhāgavata, or he has made his relationship well established with Kṛṣṇa and is functioning in that relationship, then he is passed on the subject matter of Bhāgavata, and then you begin Caitanya-caritāmṛta. That is postgraduate study.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Montreal, July 2, 1968|Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Montreal, July 2, 1968]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">And to develop that Kṛṣṇa consciousness, just like when you have passed preliminary examination in the school, then you have to further enlightenment, further progress of advancement of education, you enter into the college, degree college, similarly, after finishing or understanding Bhagavad-gītā very nicely, if you are convinced about Kṛṣṇa, then study Bhagavad-gītā (Bhāgavatam), where the beginning is: namo bhagavate vaṣudeva. Vyāsadeva begins by surrendering himself to Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa. Bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya janmādy asya yataḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 1.1.1|SB 1.1.1]]). He is the origin of everything. Then Bhāgavata begins. And one who has understood Bhāgavata, or he has made his relationship well established with Kṛṣṇa and is functioning in that relationship, then he is passed on the subject matter of Bhāgavata, and then you begin Caitanya-caritāmṛta. That is postgraduate study. After getting your degree, as you try for your Ph.D. or M.A., similarly, Caitanya-caritāmṛta is like that, post-graduate study. And the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, he places himself that "I am lower than the worm in the stool." Just see how humble. This is the nature of Vaiṣṇava. That is not artificial. He says. Every Vaiṣṇava thinks himself as very insignificant. Actually, every one of us is very insignificant in comparison to the Supreme Lord. What we are? Nothing. But if we establish our loving relationship, which is already there, then we will become the greatest. By relationship with the greatest, we become the greatest.</p>
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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="3" parent="Lectures" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures"><h3>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonCCAdilila16MayapurMarch301975_0" class="quote" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta_Lectures" book="Lec" index="6" link="Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.6 -- Mayapur, March 30, 1975" link_text="Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.6 -- Mayapur, March 30, 1975">
<div class="heading">This hlādinī-śakti is being described in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the postgraduate study of highly elevated devotees. Ordinary devotees, they cannot understand.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.6 -- Mayapur, March 30, 1975|Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.6 -- Mayapur, March 30, 1975]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt: ([[Vanisource:SB 11.2.42|SB 11.2.42]]) "If you are actually advancing in devotional service, then the symptom will be that you'll have no more material hankerings." That is real. So if you actually hear about Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with Rādhārāṇī, then hṛd-roga-kāmān apahinoti, then our heart disease, lusty desires, will vanish. That is the result. I have repeatedly said. So if you become more lusty by seeing the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa with Rādhārāṇī or hearing, that means you are not fit. Stop it. Stop it. Don't be foolish. So in the spiritual platform, the everything are there, but they are different in quality. Just like iron is also metal and gold is also metal, but the quality is different; similarly, don't take that Kṛṣṇa's loving affairs with Rādhārāṇī is exactly like our loving affair with our girlfriend. No. It is not like that. One is gold, and one is iron. Don't minimize the value. Therefore Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has described that it is ahlādinī-śaktiḥ. Rādhā-kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī-śaktiḥ.</p>
<p>So this hlādinī-śakti is being described in Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the postgraduate study of highly elevated devotees. Ordinary devotees, they cannot understand. I have seen one professional reader. He was reading Caitanya-caritāmṛta, but he did not believe in it. Because he cannot understand. He cannot understand it. He plainly said, "These are only imaginary descriptions. There is no fact in it." I have seen it. So how one can understand this is fact unless one has understood what is spirit? Just like in your country, big, big professors, they do not believe in the spirit. They simply think of this body. So how they can understand about Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and Their pastimes, all spiritual affairs? First of all we must understand what is spirit and what is Kṛṣṇa and what is Rādhārāṇī, and then we try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī's loving affairs.</p>
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<div id="LectureonCCAdilila71MayapurMarch11974_1" class="quote" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta_Lectures" book="Lec" index="19" link="Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.1 -- Mayapur, March 1, 1974" link_text="Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.1 -- Mayapur, March 1, 1974">
<div class="heading">Ten volumes like this, that will complete Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the postgraduate study of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Bhagavad-gītā is the A-B-C-D to entrance, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the graduate study, and Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the postgraduate study of spiritual life.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.1 -- Mayapur, March 1, 1974|Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.1 -- Mayapur, March 1, 1974]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">This is the place of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, appearance site of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrīdhāma Māyāpur. So in this place this is the appropriate literature, Śrī-caitanya-caritāmṛta. We may try to discuss during these holy days. Last year some gentleman suggested, after seeing my all literatures, that "You kindly write a translation of Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta." He thought that this business I can do very nicely. So I took the initiation from this gentleman and began to write. Now it is almost complete. I am now translating Madhya-līlā, Twentieth chapter, the discussion, 'sanātana-śikṣā.' So it is estimated that ten volumes like this... (aside:) You think like that? Ten volumes like this, that will complete Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the postgraduate study of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Bhagavad-gītā is the A-B-C-D to entrance, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the graduate study, and Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the postgraduate study of spiritual life. My Guru Mahārāja, His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, whenever he got some time he used to read Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And he predicted that the whole world like to read Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and for this reason they'll learn Bengali. Therefore, following his footsteps, I have kept the Bengali character and tried to give the literary meaning of each word of the Bengali poem. This is, of course, Sanskrit. This book is full of Sanskrit verses. Some of them are composed by the author himself, Kavirāja Gosvāmī, and some of them are quoted from various literature, Vedic literature.</p>
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<div id="LectureonCCAdilila75MayapurMarch71974_2" class="quote" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta_Lectures" book="Lec" index="24" link="Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974" link_text="Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974">
<div class="heading">So these chapters of Caitanya-caritāmṛta are very... These are postgraduate study. You have to read it very carefully and as they are described.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974|Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.5 -- Mayapur, March 7, 1974]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So this acintya-bhedābheda-tattva... Pañca-tattva-eka-vastu, nāhi kichu bheda rasa āsvādite. Rasa āsvādite, the mellows, transcendental mellows. So these chapters of Caitanya-caritāmṛta are very... These are postgraduate study. You have to read it very carefully and as they are described. We have tried to describe them as far as possible for being understood by us, but we should be very careful.</p>
:śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
:śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
<p>(I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.)</p>
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<div id="LectureonCCMadhyalila20100108NewYorkNovember221966_3" class="quote" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta_Lectures" book="Lec" index="52" link="Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966" link_text="Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966">
<div class="heading">Arjuna did not place himself "What I am?" but here, because the instruction which is given in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is practically higher than Bhagavad-gītā—it is postgraduate study, higher than Bhagavad-gītā.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966|Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">So the first lesson, the inquiry of Śrī Caitanya, of Sanātana Gosvāmī, is that "What I am? What I am?" Arjuna did not place himself "What I am?" but here, because the instruction which is given in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is practically higher than Bhagavad-gītā—it is postgraduate study, higher than Bhagavad-gītā. In the Bhagavad-gītā the, Arjuna, he did not question "What I am?" He was perplexed with this bodily conception. Now here, Sanātana Gosvāmī he, he thinks that "I'm not..., I do not know what I am." So he's advanced than Arjuna. He accepts that "I do not know."</p>
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<div id="General_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Lectures" text="General Lectures"><h3>General Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureSeattleSeptember301968_0" class="quote" parent="General_Lectures" book="Lec" index="19" link="Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968" link_text="Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968">
<div class="heading">You pass your school examination, how to love God, by studying Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Then study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and... That is graduate study. And when you are still farther advanced, post-graduate, then study Teachings of Lord Caitanya.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968|Lecture -- Seattle, September 30, 1968]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is spotless description of understanding how to love God. There is no other description. From the beginning it is teaching how to love God. Those who have studied Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the first verse in the First Canto is janmādy asya yataḥ, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi ([[Vanisource:SB 1.1.1|SB 1.1.1]]). The beginning is that "I am offering my unalloyed devotion unto the Supreme, from whom everything has emanated." Janmādy asya yataḥ. So it is a... You know, it is a great description. So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If you want to learn how to love God, or Kṛṣṇa, then study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the preliminary study is Bhagavad-gītā. So study Bhagavad-gītā to understand the real nature or identification of God and yourself and your relationship, and then, when you are little conversant, when you are prepared, that "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is the only lovable object," then next book you take, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And you go on. Just like Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, is entrance. Just like students, they pass their school examination then enters into the college. So you pass your school examination, how to love God, by studying Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Then study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and... That is graduate study. And when you are still farther advanced, post-graduate, then study Teachings of Lord Caitanya.</p>
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<div id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="section" sec_index="5" parent="compilation" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2>
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<div id="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1974 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1974 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
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<div id="RoomConversationwithCatholicCardinalandSecretarytothePopeMay241974Rome_0" class="quote" parent="1974_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="84" link="Room Conversation with Catholic Cardinal and Secretary to the Pope -- May 24, 1974, Rome" link_text="Room Conversation with Catholic Cardinal and Secretary to the Pope -- May 24, 1974, Rome">
<div class="heading">Then, when one is passed of this knowledge, then he can be given the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which we have published like this, sixty volumes, all original verses from Bhāgavatam, and explained. This is graduate study. Then after this there is post-graduate study, this Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with Catholic Cardinal and Secretary to the Pope -- May 24, 1974, Rome|Room Conversation with Catholic Cardinal and Secretary to the Pope -- May 24, 1974, Rome]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: So this is sum and substance of our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and we have got many Vedic literatures about it, especially the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So we have published Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. The publisher is Messrs. MacMillan and Company, and we are selling. It has already gone fifth edition. And each edition they have published fifty-thousand copies and this is the preliminary study book, to understand God. And then, when one is passed of this knowledge, then he can be given the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which we have published like this, sixty volumes, all original verses from Bhāgavatam, and explained. Then... This is graduate study. Then after this there is post-graduate study, this Caitanya-caritāmṛta. This book is in twelve volumes, and other book, Bhāgavatam, is sixty volumes. There are many other corollaries, just like Science of Devotion. Have you got this book? No. Nectar of Devotion. So we have already published about two dozen books of this nature. So people are accepting, especially in the western countries. Recently we have received report. Some of the learned scholar professors, they have ordered all the books. They have introducing in their class. Yale University, Temple University. And they are enlisting my books in the bibliography, of Indian philosophy, and they are distributing to the learned circles. And last year we have sold four millions pieces of literature in the western countries. So we are encouraged.</p>
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<div id="1975_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="8" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1975 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1975 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
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<div id="RoomConversationwithProfessorOlivierOctober101975Durban_0" class="quote" parent="1975_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="210" link="Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban" link_text="Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban">
<div class="heading">Bhagavad-gītā is entrance, and then this is graduate. And Caitanya-caritāmṛta postgraduate.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban|Room Conversation with Professor Olivier -- October 10, 1975, Durban]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: And after studying Bhagavad-gītā thoroughly, then begins further, higher study-Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the same principles. Show.</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: The same format is used. There is color illustrations, introduction, and Sanskrit transliteration, word for word.</p>
<p>Prof. Olivier: Now, would this be... Would this be a... Where would this come in, a book like this, in the study course?</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: This is the postgraduate study of Bhagavad-gītā, yes. The Bhagavad-gītā teaches the general...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: No, Bhagavad-gītā is entrance, and then this is graduate. And Caitanya-caritāmṛta postgraduate.</p>
<p>Prof. Olivier: Our great problem is at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes. Well, there is the Nectar of Devotion and the Teachings of Lord Caitanya.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes.</p>
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<div id="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="9" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1976 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1976 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
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<div id="GardenConversationJune271976NewVrindaban_0" class="quote" parent="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="166" link="Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban" link_text="Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban">
<div class="heading">It does not mean that one who is not postgraduate, he cannot read other books. Spiritual life is not a stereotype like that. But one who is not postgraduate, it is little difficult for him to understand.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban|Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Kulaśekhara: Śrīla Prabhupāda, it says that the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the postgraduate study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Hmm, hear him. What does he say?</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the postgraduate study...</p>
<p>Devotees: Caitanya-caritāmṛta, postgraduate study.</p>
<p>Kulaśekhara: So if we're very attracted to reading Caitanya caritāmṛta now, but we haven't finished Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as yet, should we wait until we have studied Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam thoroughly?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: It does not mean that one who is not postgraduate, he cannot read other books. Spiritual life is not a stereotype like that. But one who is not postgraduate, it is little difficult for him to understand the statement of... Just like in the beginning of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is said, na caitanyāt kṛṣṇāj jagati para-tattvaṁ param iha, that there is no superior truth than Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So if you have not studied Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you'll not understand this statement. If you understand, "Yes, Caitanya is the supreme truth," then it is to be understood that you have graduated. And if you are not, then it will be difficult for you to understand.</p>
<p>Kulaśekhara: Then the more we understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the more we'll understand the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes, and if you understood Bhāgavatam thoroughly, then you can understand Caitanya-caritāmṛta. But if you have not understood Bhāgavatam, then you cannot understand Caitanya caritāmṛta.</p>
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<div id="1977_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="10" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1977 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1977 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
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<div id="RoomConversationwithMrMyerJuly21977Vrndavana_0" class="quote" parent="1977_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="212" link="Room Conversation with Mr. Myer -- July 2, 1977, Vrndavana" link_text="Room Conversation with Mr. Myer -- July 2, 1977, Vrndavana">
<div class="heading">Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of happy life and entrance, matriculation, and then Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, graduate, and then Caitanya-caritāmṛta, postgraduate. We are therefore presenting three books.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Room Conversation with Mr. Myer -- July 2, 1977, Vrndavana|Room Conversation with Mr. Myer -- July 2, 1977, Vrndavana]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Mr. Myer: But that is his doing. He wants every village like we have planned Hyderabad.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes.</p>
<p>Mr. Myer: He wants every village like that, to be...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That can be done very easily. It can be done very easily, provided government wants. And we can help. We have to follow simply the Bhagavad-gītā. That's all. They are reading Bhagavad-gītā, but they do not follow. They manufacture their own interpretation. That is the difficulty. Otherwise the Bhagavad-gītā is the preliminary study of happy life and entrance, matriculation, and then Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, graduate, and then Caitanya-caritāmṛta, postgraduate. We are therefore presenting three books. So if we follow, our life is successful. But you don't follow. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā ([[Vanisource:BG 7.14 (1972)|BG 7.14]]). Māyā is so strong that untruthful things, we take it as truthful.</p>
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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1976_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="11" parent="Correspondence" text="1976 Correspondence"><h3>1976 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoHrdayanandaVrindaban2November1976_0" class="quote" parent="1976_Correspondence" book="Let" index="617" link="Letter to Hrdayananda -- Vrindaban 2 November, 1976" link_text="Letter to Hrdayananda -- Vrindaban 2 November, 1976">
<div class="heading">You have written to say you want to start printing Caitanya Caritamrta. I think it is too difficult. It is better for the time being to simply continue with the Bhagavatam. Caitanya Caritamrta is the post-graduate study.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Hrdayananda -- Vrindaban 2 November, 1976|Letter to Hrdayananda -- Vrindaban 2 November, 1976]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated nil accompanied by two copies of the first edition of the Portuguese Bhagavad-gita. It is very nice.</p>
<p>You are doing very nicely. This enthusiasm is required. It is the basic principle in making advancement in Krsna's service. You have written to say you want to start printing Caitanya Caritamrta. I think it is too difficult. It is better for the time being to simply continue with the Bhagavatam. Caitanya Caritamrta is the post-graduate study.</p>
<p>You have written that chanting, dancing and book distribution are going on nicely. Prasadam distribution should also be introduced. This will make the program even more effective. I am glad to know that Pancadravida is doing so nicely. He is a very good assistant.</p>
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