Brahma (CC Madhya-lila)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
The most famous and formidable transcendental literature is the book named Gopāla-campū. In this book the eternal pastimes of the Lord are established, and the transcendental mellows enjoyed in Vṛndāvana are completely described.
In his Anubhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura gives the following information about the Gopāla-campū. The Gopāla-campū is divided into two parts. The first part is called the eastern wave, and the second part is called the northern wave. In the first part there are thirty-three supplications and in the second part thirty-seven supplications. In the first part, completed in 1510 Śakābda (A.D. 1588), the following subject matters are discussed: (1) Vṛndāvana and Goloka; (2) the killing of the Pūtanā demon, the gopīs' returning home under the instructions of mother Yaśodā, the bathing of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, snigdha-kaṇṭha and madhu-kaṇṭha; (3) the dream of mother Yaśodā; (4) the Janmāṣṭamī ceremony; (5) the meeting between Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva, and the killing of the Pūtanā demon; (6) the pastimes of awakening from bed, the deliverance of the demon Śakaṭa, and the name-giving ceremony; (7) the killing of the Tṛṇāvarta demon, Lord Kṛṣṇa's eating dirt, Lord Kṛṣṇa's childish naughtiness, and Lord Kṛṣṇa as a thief; (8) churning of the yogurt, Kṛṣṇa's drinking from the breast of mother Yaśodā, the breaking of the yogurt pot, Kṛṣṇa bound with ropes, the deliverance of the two brothers (Yamalārjuna) and the lamentation of mother Yaśodā; (9) entering Śrī Vṛndāvana; (10) the killing of Vatsāsura, Bakāsura and Vyomāsura; (11) the killing of Aghāsura and the bewilderment of Lord Brahmā; (12) the tending of the cows in the forest; (13) taking care of the cows and chastising the Kāliya serpent; (14) the killing of Gardabhāsura (the ass demon), and the praise of Kṛṣṇa; (15) the previous attraction of the gopīs; (16) the killing of Pralambāsura and the eating of the forest fire; (17) the gopīs' attempt to approach Kṛṣṇa; (18) the lifting of Govardhana Hill; (19) bathing Kṛṣṇa with milk; (20) the return of Nanda Mahārāja from the custody of Varuṇa and the vision of Goloka Vṛndāvana by the gopas; (21) the performance of the rituals in Kātyāyanī-vrata and the worship of the goddess Durgā; (22) the begging of food from the wives of the brāhmaṇas performing sacrifices; (23) the meeting of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs; (24) Kṛṣṇa's enjoying the company of the gopīs, the disappearance of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa from the scene, and the search for Them by the gopīs; (25) the reappearance of Kṛṣṇa; (26) the determination of the gopīs; (27) pastimes in the waters of the Yamunā; (28) the deliverance of Nanda Mahārāja from the clutches of the serpent; (29) various pastimes in solitary places; (30) the killing of Śaṅkhacūḍa and the Hori; (31) the killing of Ariṣṭāsura; (32) the killing of the Keśī demon; (33) the appearance of Śrī Nārada Muni and a description of the year in which the book was completed.
No one, not even Lord Brahmā, can ascertain or even taste a drop of this confidential ocean of ecstasy, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, out of His causeless mercy, has distributed this love of Godhead all over the world. Thus there cannot be any incarnation more munificent than Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There is no greater donor. Who can describe His transcendental qualities?
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "I will not be able to eat so much food, and it is not the duty of a sannyāsī to leave remnants."
According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.18.19):
- bahir jalāśayaṁ gatvā tatopaspṛśya vāg-yataḥ
- vibhajya pāvitaṁ śeṣaṁ bhuñjītāśeṣam āhṛtam
“Whatever edibles a sannyāsī gets from a householder's house he should take outside near some lake or river, and after offering the food to Viṣṇu, Brahmā and the sun (three divisions), he should eat the entire offering and not leave anything for others to eat.”
Lord Kṛṣṇa is established as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by statements from many authorized persons, such as Brahmā, Nārada, Vyāsadeva, Asita and Arjuna. Similarly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is also established as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by evidence from the same personalities.
Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the ultimate goal of knowledge (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15)), one who is not a pure devotee and who is not engaged in the service of the Lord cannot understand Him. Lord Brahmā therefore confirms this. Vedeṣu durlabham: “It is very difficult to understand the Supreme Lord simply through one's studies.” Adurlabham ātma-bhaktau: "However, it is very easy for the devotees to capture the Lord." The Lord is known as ajita (unconquerable). No one can conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the Lord consents to be conquered by His devotees. That is His nature. As stated in the Padma Purāṇa:
- ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ
- sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ
- (CC Madhya 17.136)
Being pleased by devotional activities, the Lord reveals Himself to His devotees. That is the way to understand Him.
The verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam quoted by Gopīnātha Ācārya was originally spoken by Lord Brahmā when he was defeated by Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Brahmā had stolen all the calves and cowherd boys in order to test Kṛṣṇa's power. Lord Brahmā admitted that his own extraordinary powers within the universe were not in the least comparable to the unlimited powers of Lord Kṛṣṇa. If Lord Brahmā can make a mistake in understanding Kṛṣṇa, what to speak of ordinary persons, who either misunderstand Kṛṣṇa or falsely present a so-called incarnation of Kṛṣṇa for their own sense gratification.
“"How greatly fortunate are Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men and all the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi! There is no limit to their fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend."
This quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.32) is spoken by Lord Brahmā.
He began to quote one of Lord Brahmā’s prayers from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but he changed two syllables at the end of the verse.
The Vedas are considered to have been spoken by the Supreme Lord. They were first realized by Brahmā, who is the first created being within the universe (tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye (SB 1.1.1)). Our process is to receive knowledge through the paramparā system, from Kṛṣṇa to Brahmā, to Nārada, Vyāsa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the six Gosvāmīs. By disciplic succession, Lord Brahmā was enlightened from within by the original person, Kṛṣṇa. Our knowledge is fully perfect due to being handed from master to disciple.
The brāhmaṇa then began to pray, “O my Lord, Your lotus feet are meditated upon by Lord Brahmā, and these very lotus feet have come into my home.
One can attain the stage of pure devotion simply by fully surrendering. This is next corroborated by Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.3), wherein Lord Brahmā, defeated by the potency of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, fully surrendered unto the Lord.
Rāmānanda Rāya continued, "Lord Brahmā said, "My dear Lord, those devotees who have thrown away the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth and have therefore abandoned discussing empiric philosophical truths should hear from self-realized devotees about Your holy name, form, pastimes and qualities. They should completely follow the principles of devotional service and remain free from illicit sex, gambling, intoxication and animal slaughter. Surrendering themselves fully with body, words and mind, they can live in any āśrama or social status. Indeed, You are conquered by such persons, although You are always unconquerable.""
""The favor mother Yaśodā obtained from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the bestower of liberation, was never obtained even by Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva, nor even by the goddess of fortune, who always remains on the chest of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu.""
Not a single particle of time is wasted. Within this material universe, the devotees worship that transcendental abode as Goloka Vṛndāvana. Lord Brahmā himself said, "Let me worship that spiritual land where Kṛṣṇa is present."
When one is advanced in spiritual understanding, he can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead with his spiritually purified senses and fulfill the desires of the Lord.
- man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
- mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo ’si me
"Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend." (BG 18.65)
In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.27–28) it is stated:
- atha veṇu-ninādasya trayī-mūrti-mayī gatiḥ
- phurantī praviveśāśu mukhābjāni svayambhuvaḥ
- gāyatrīṁ gāyatas tasmād adhigatya saroja-jaḥ
- saṁskṛtaś cādi-guruṇā dvijatām agamat tataḥ
- trayyā prabuddho ’tha vidhir vijñāta-tattva-sāgaraḥ
- tuṣṭāva veda-sāreṇa stotreṇānena keśavam
“Then Gāyatrī, mother of the Vedas, having been manifested by the divine sound of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's flute, entered the lotus mouth of Brahmā, the self-born, through his eight earholes. Thus the lotus-born Brahmā received the Gāyatrī mantra, which had sprung from the song of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's flute. In this way he attained twice-born status, having been initiated by the supreme, primal preceptor, Godhead Himself. Enlightened by the recollection of that Gāyatrī, which embodies the three Vedas, Brahmā became acquainted with the expanse of the ocean of truth. Then he worshiped Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the essence of all the Vedas, with a hymn.”
The vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute is the origin of the Vedic hymns. Lord Brahmā, who is seated on a lotus flower, heard the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute and was thereby initiated by the Gāyatrī mantra.
One may become famous as a brahma-jñānī, an impersonalist scholar, or one may become a materially opulent person. In either case, such reputations are inferior to the reputation of Kṛṣṇa's devotee. In the Garuḍa Purāṇa it is said:
- kalau bhāgavataṁ nāma durlabhaṁ naiva labhyate
- brahma-rudra-padotkṛṣṭaṁ guruṇā kathitaṁ mama
"In this Age of Kali, the fame of one who is known as a great devotee is very rare. However, such a position is superior to that of the great demigods like Brahmā and Mahādeva. This is the opinion of all spiritual masters."
In the Itihāsa-samuccaya, Nārada tells Puṇḍarīka:
- janmāntara-sahasreṣu yasya syād buddhir īdṛśī
- dāso ’haṁ vāsudevasya sarvāl lokān samuddharet
"After many, many births, when a person realizes that he is the eternal servant of Vāsudeva, he can deliver all the worlds."
In the Ādi Purāṇa, in a conversation between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, it is said, bhaktānām anugacchanti muktayaḥ śrutibhiḥ saha: "The most exalted position of liberation is given by Vedic knowledge. Everyone follows in the footsteps of the devotee." Similarly, in the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa it is further stated, adyāpi ca muni-śreṣṭhā brahmādyā api devatāḥ: "Until now, even the great demigods like Brahmā and Lord Śiva did not know the influence of a devotee."
There is also the following statement in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.13.4):
- śrutasya puṁsāṁ sucira-śramasya
- nanv añjasā sūribhir īḍito ’rthaḥ
- tat-tad-guṇānuśravaṇaṁ mukunda-
- pādāravindaṁ hṛdayeṣu yeṣām
"After much hard labor, a person highly learned in Vedic literature certainly becomes very famous. However, one who is always hearing and chanting the glories of the lotus feet of Mukunda within his heart is certainly superior."
In the Nārāyaṇa-vyūha-stava it is said:
- nāhaṁ brahmāpi bhūyāsaṁ tvad-bhakti-rahito hare
- tvayi bhaktas tu kīṭo ’pi bhūyāsaṁ janma-janmasu
"I do not aspire to take birth as a Brahmā if that Brahmā is not a devotee of the Lord. I shall be satisfied simply to take birth as an insect if I am given a chance to remain in the house of a devotee."
In the Bṛhad-vāmana Purāṇa, Lord Brahmā tells Bhṛgu:
- ṣaṣṭi-varṣa-sahasrāṇi mayā taptaṁ tapaḥ purā
- nanda-gopa-vraja-strīṇāṁ pāda-reṇūpalabdhaye
"I underwent meditation and austerities for sixty thousand years just to understand the dust of the lotus feet of the gopīs. Still, I could not understand it. To say nothing of me, even Lord Śiva, Lord Śeṣa and the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, could not understand it."
In the Ādi Purāṇa the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself says:
- na tathā me priyatamo brahmā rudraś ca pārthiva
- na ca lakṣmīr na cātmā ca yathā gopī-jano mama
"Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, the goddess of fortune and even My own self are not as dear to Me as the gopīs." Of all the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the topmost. Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī are the most exalted servitors of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Those who adhere to their service are known as rūpānuga devotees.
"You have manifested all these transcendental truths in my heart. This is exactly the way Nārāyaṇa educated Lord Brahmā."
The heart of Brahmā was enlightened by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is Vedic information given in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.18):
- yo brahmāṇaṁ vidadhāti pūrvaṁ
- yo vai vedāṁś ca prahiṇoti tasmai
- taṁ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśaṁ
- mumukṣur vai śaraṇam ahaṁ prapadye
“Because I desire liberation, let me surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who first enlightened Lord Brahmā in Vedic knowledge through Lord Brahmā’s heart. The Lord is the original source of all enlightenment and spiritual advancement.” In this connection one may also refer to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.30–35, 11.14.3, 12.4.40 and 12.13.19.
Rāmānanda Rāya continued, “The Supersoul within everyone's heart speaks not externally but from within. He instructs the devotees in all respects, and that is His way of instruction.”
Here Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya admits that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supersoul. It is the Supersoul that inspires the devotee; therefore He is the original source of the Gāyatrī mantra, which states, oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt. Savitā is the original source of all intelligence. That Savitā is Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.4.22):
- pracoditā yena purā sarasvatī
- vitanvatājasya satīṁ smṛtiṁ hṛdi
- sva-lakṣaṇā prādurabhūt kilāsyataḥ
- sa me ṛṣīṇām ṛṣabhaḥ prasīdatām
"May the Lord, who in the beginning of the creation amplified the potent knowledge of Brahmā from within his heart and inspired him with full knowledge of creation and His own self, and who appeared to be generated from the mouth of Brahmā, be pleased with me." This was spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī when he invoked the blessing of the Supreme Personality of Godhead before delivering Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
""O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.""
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura points out that the word "Tattvavādī" refers to the followers of Śrīla Madhvācārya. To distinguish his disciplic succession from the Māyāvādī followers of Śaṅkarācārya, Śrīla Madhvācārya named his party the Tattvavādīs. Impersonal monists are always attacked by these Tattvavādīs, who attempt to defeat their philosophy of impersonalism. Generally, they establish the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Actually the disciplic succession of Madhvācārya is known as the Brahmā Vaiṣṇava sect; that is the sect coming down from Lord Brahmā. Consequently the Tattvavādīs, or followers of Madhvācārya, do not accept the incident of Lord Brahmā’s illusion, which is recorded in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīla Madhvācārya has purposefully avoided commenting on that portion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in which brahma-mohana, the illusion of Lord Brahmā, is mentioned. Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī was one of the ācāryas in the Tattvavāda disciplic succession, and he established the ultimate goal of transcendentalism to be attainment of pure devotional service, love of Godhead.
The word pāṣaṇḍī refers to those who are opposed to pure devotional service. In particular, these are the Māyāvādīs, the impersonalists. A definition of pāṣaṇḍī is given in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (1.73), wherein it is stated:
- yas tu nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ
- samatvenaiva vīkṣeta sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam
- (CC Madhya 18.116)
A pāṣaṇḍī is one who thinks that the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, the Personality of Godhead, is on the same level with the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. A devotee never considers Lord Nārāyaṇa to be on the same platform with Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva.
From the Vedic literatures we understand that shortly after the creation Lord Brahmā was instructed in the Vedas. It is not that the Vedas were created by Brahmā, although Brahmā is the original person in the universe. If Brahmā did not create the Vedas but he is acknowledged as the first created being, wherefrom did Vedic knowledge come to Brahmā? Obviously the Vedas did not come from an ordinary person born in this material world. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye: (SB 1.1.1) after the creation, the Supreme Person imparted Vedic knowledge within the heart of Brahmā. There was no person in the beginning of the creation other than Brahmā, yet he did not compile the Vedas; therefore the conclusion is that the Vedas were not compiled by any created being.
| Page Title: | Brahma (CC Madhya-lila) |
| Compiler: | MadhuGopaldas |
| Created: | 20 of Sep, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=139, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 139 |