Vrndavana (other books, TLC)

Expressions researched:
"cowherd village" |"vrindaban" |"vrindavan" |"vrndavan" |"vrndavana" |"vrndavana's"

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Preface:

Lord Caitanya therefore teaches direct worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who appeared as the foster child of the King of Vraja. He also suggests that the place known as Vṛndāvana is as good as Lord Kṛṣṇa because there is no difference between the name, quality, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

As a sannyāsī, Kṛṣṇa Caitanya put on nothing but a kaupīna and a bahirvāsa (outer covering). His head was without hair, and his hands bore a daṇḍa (stick) and a kamaṇḍalu (hermit's water pot). The holy son fell at the feet of his beloved mother and said, "Mother! This body is yours, and I must obey your orders. Permit me to go to Vṛndāvana for my spiritual attainments."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

At Raṅgakṣetra he stayed for four months in the house of one Veṅkata Bhaṭṭa in order to spend the rainy season. There he converted the whole family of Veṅkata from Rāmānuja Vaiṣṇavism to Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, along with the son of Veṅkata, a boy of ten years named Gopāla, who afterwards came to Vṛndāvana and became one of the six Gosvāmīs or prophets serving under their leader Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, Gopāla wrote several books on Vaiṣṇavism.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

Mahāprabhu had written in reply that he would come to them and extricate them from their spiritual difficulties. Now that he had come to Gauḍa, both the brothers appeared before him with their long-standing prayer. Mahāprabhu ordered them to go to Vṛndāvana and meet him there.

Caitanya returned to Purī through Śāntipura, where he again met his dear mother. After a short stay at Purī he left for Vṛndāvana. This time he was accompanied by one Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya. He visited Vṛndāvana and came down to Prayāga (Allahabad), converting a large number of Mohammedans to Vaiṣṇavism by argument from the Koran. The descendants of those converts are still known as Pāṭhāna Vaiṣṇavas. Rūpa Gosvāmī met him at Allahabad. Caitanya trained him up in spirituality in ten days and directed him to go to Vṛndāvana on missions. His first mission was to write theological works explaining scientifically pure bhakti and premā. The second mission was to revive the places where Kṛṣṇacandra had in the end of Dvāpara-yuga exhibited His spiritual līlā (pastimes) for the benefit of the religious world. Rūpa Gosvāmī left Allahabad for Vṛndāvana, and Mahāprabhu came down to Benares.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

The sannyāsīs of Benares soon fell at the feet of Caitanya and asked for his grace (kṛpā). Caitanya then preached pure bhakti and instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Kṛṣṇa which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The whole population of Benares, on this wonderful conversion of the sannyāsīs, turned Vaiṣṇavas, and they made a master saṅkīrtana with their new Lord. After sending Sanātana to Vṛndāvana, Mahāprabhu went to Purī again through the jungles with his comrade Balabhadra. Balabhadra reported that Mahāprabhu had shown a good many miracles on his way to Purī, such as making tigers and elephants dance on hearing the name of Kṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

Mahāprabhu slept short. His sentiments carried him far and wide in the firmament of spirituality every day and night, and all his admirers and followers watched him throughout. He worshiped, communicated with his missionaries at Vṛndāvana, and conversed with those religious men who newly came to visit him. He sang and danced, took no care of himself and oft-times lost himself in religious beatitude. All who came to him believed in him as the all-beautiful God appearing in the nether world for the benefit of mankind. He loved his mother all along and sent her mahāprasāda now and then with those who went to Nadia. He was most amiable in nature. Humility was personified in him. His sweet appearance gave cheer to all who came in contact with him. He appointed Prabhu Nityānanda as the missionary in charge of Bengal. He dispatched six disciples (Gosvāmīs) to Vṛndāvana to preach love in the upcountry.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

However, Lord Caitanya's greatest gift was His teaching that Kṛṣṇa can be actually treated as one's lover. In this relationship the Lord is so much attached that He expresses His inability to reciprocate. Kṛṣṇa was so obliged to the gopīs, the cowherd girls of Vṛndāvana, that He felt unable to return their love.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

That Mahā-Viṣṇu who lies on the Causal Ocean is actually an expansion of Balarāma, who is Kṛṣṇa's first expansion, and, in the Vṛndāvana pastimes, is the brother of Kṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

The author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, was an inhabitant of Vṛndāvana and a great devotee. He had been living with his family in Katwa, a small town in the district of Burdwan in Bengal. His family also worshiped Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and once when there was some misunderstanding amongst his family about devotional service, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja was advised by Nityānanda Prabhu in a dream to leave home and go to Vṛndāvana. Although he was very old, he started out that very night and went to live in Vṛndāvana. While he was there, he met some of the Gosvāmīs, principal disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was requested to write Caitanya-caritāmṛta by the devotees of Vṛndāvana. Although he began this work at a very old age, by the grace of Lord Caitanya he finished it. Today it remains the most authoritative book on Caitanya's philosophy and life.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

When Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī was living in Vṛndāvana, there were not very many temples. At that time Madana-mohana, Govindajī and Gopīnātha were the three principal temples. As a resident of Vṛndāvana, he offered his respects to the Deities in these temples and requested God's favor: "My progress in spiritual life is very slow, so l'm asking Your help." In Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa first offers his obeisances to Madana-mohana vigraha, the Deity who can help us progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In the execution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, our first business is to know Kṛṣṇa and our relationship with Him. To know Kṛṣṇa is to know one's self, and to know one's self is to know one's relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Since this relationship can be learned by worshiping Madana-mohana vigraha, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī first establishes his relationship with Him.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

When this is established, Kṛṣṇadāsa begins to worship the functional Deity, Govinda. Govinda resides eternally in Vṛndāvana. In the spiritual world of Vṛndāvana the buildings are made of touchstone, the cows are known as surabhi cows, givers of abundant milk, and the trees are known as wish-fulfilling trees, for they yield whatever one desires. In Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa herds the surabhi cows, and He is worshiped by hundreds and thousands of gopīs, cowherd girls, who are all goddesses of fortune. When Kṛṣṇa descends to the material world, this same Vṛndāvana descends just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Kṛṣṇa comes, His land also comes, Vṛndāvana is not considered to exist in the material world. Therefore devotees take shelter of the Vṛndāvana in India, for it is considered to be a replica of the original Vṛndāvana. Although one may complain that no kalpa-vṛkṣa, wish-fulfilling trees, exist there, when the Gosvāmīs were there, the kalpa-vṛkṣa were present. It is not that one can simply go to such a tree and make demands; one must first become a devotee. The Gosvāmīs would live under a tree for one night only, and the trees would satisfy all their desires. For the common man this may all seem very wonderful, but as one makes progress in devotional service, all this can be realized.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

Vṛndāvana is actually experienced as it is by persons who have stopped trying to derive pleasure from material enjoyment. "When will my mind become cleansed of all hankering for material enjoyment so I will be able to see Vṛndāvana?" one great devotee asks. The more Kṛṣṇa conscious we become and the more we advance, the more everything is revealed as spiritual. Thus Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī considered Vṛndāvana in India to be as good as the Vṛndāvana in the spiritual sky, and in Caitanya-caritāmṛta he describes Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa as seated beneath a wish-fulfilling tree in Vṛndāvana on a throne decorated with valuable jewels. There Kṛṣṇa's dear friends, the cowherd boys and the gopīs, serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa by singing, dancing, offering betel nuts and refreshments and decorating Their Lordships with flowers. Even today in India people decorate thrones and recreate this scene during the month of July. Generally at that time people go to Vṛndāvana to offer their respects to the Deities there.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī maintains that the Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa Deities show us how to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The Madana-mohana Deities simply establish that "I am Your eternal servant." With Govinda, however, there is actual acceptance of service, and therefore He is called the functional Deity. The Gopīnātha Deity is Kṛṣṇa as master and proprietor of the gopīs. He attracted all the gopīs, or cowherd girls, by the sound of His flute, and when they came, He danced with them. These activities are all described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. These gopīs were childhood friends of Kṛṣṇa, and they were all married, for in India the girls are married by the age of twelve. The boys, however, are not married before eighteen so Kṛṣṇa, who was fifteen or sixteen at the time, was not married. Nonetheless He called these girls from their homes and invited them to dance with Him. That dance is called the rāsa-līlā dance, and it is the most elevated of all the Vṛndāvana pastimes. Kṛṣṇa is therefore called Gopīnātha because He is the beloved master of the gopīs.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

The causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is first appreciated when one comes in touch with a bona fide spiritual master who can bring the conditioned soul to the highest position of devotional life. Therefore Lord Caitanya said that by the mercy of the spiritual master one can achieve the causeless mercy of the Lord, and by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can attain the mercy of the bona fide spiritual master.

Thus by the mercy of the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa, one receives the seed of devotional service. He has only to sow the seed in the field of his heart, just as a gardener sows the seed of a valuable tree. After sowing this seed, one has to water it in the form of chanting and hearing the holy name of the Supreme Lord or by taking part in discussions about the science of devotional service in a society of pure devotees. When the plant of devotional service sprouts up from the seed of devotion, it begins to grow freely. When it is full grown, it surpasses the length and breadth of this universe and enters into the transcendental atmosphere, where everything is bathed in the effulgence of the brahmajyoti. The plant even penetrates this brahmajyoti and gradually enters the planet known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. There the plant takes shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. That is the ultimate goal of devotional service. After attaining this position, the plant produces fruit, which is known as the fruit of love of Godhead. However, it is necessary for the devotee, or transcendental gardener, to pour water on the plant daily by chanting and hearing. Unless one waters the plant by chanting and hearing, there is every chance that it will dry up.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

If one is not particularly careful, even by watering the plant of devotional service, unnecessary weeds will grow and hamper progress. The idea is that when one waters a garden, not only does the desired plant grow more rapidly, but the unwanted plants grow also. If the gardener does not see these impediments and take them out, they will overcome and choke the plant of devotion. If, however, one is careful to guard against the growth of unwanted plants, the plant of devotion grows luxuriantly and reaches the ultimate goal, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

Devotees in the third stage, the stage of friendship, are Śrīdāmā in Vṛndāvana and Bhīma and Arjuna in Dvārakā and on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. There are many others also. As far as those relating to Kṛṣṇa in paternal love, they include devotees like Yaśodā and Mahārāja Nanda—that is, Kṛṣṇa's mother, father, uncle and similar relatives. In conjugal love there are the damsels of Vraja, Vṛndāvana, and the queens and goddesses of fortune in Dvārakā. No one can count the vast number of devotees in this rasa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

Attachment to Kṛṣṇa can also be broken down into two categories. On one platform there is attachment with awe and veneration. This type of attachment might be characterized by a certain lack of freedom, and it is exhibited in Mathurā and in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. In these abodes of the Lord, the spirit of transcendental loving service is restricted. However, in Gokula Vṛndāvana, love is freely exchanged, and although the cowherd boys and damsels of Vṛndāvana know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they do not show awe and veneration because of the great intimacy of their relationship with Him.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa was playing jokes on Rukmiṇī, she feared that Kṛṣṇa might leave her and became so perturbed that she dropped the fan with which she was fanning Him and fainted, falling unconscious on the floor. As far as Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa's mother in Vṛndāvana, is concerned, it is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.8.45):

trayyā copaniṣadbhiś ca

sāṅkhya-yogaiś ca sātvataiḥ

upagīyamāna-māhātmyaṁ

hariṁ sāmanyatātmajam

The Personality of Godhead, who is worshiped by all the Vedas and Upaniṣads, as well as by the sāṅkhya system of philosophy and all authorized scriptures, was considered to be born in her womb. It is also stated (SB 10.9.12) that Mother Yaśodā bound the child Kṛṣṇa with a rope, as if He were an ordinary son born of her body. Similarly, there are other descriptions of Kṛṣṇa's being treated as an ordinary person (SB 10.18.24). Indeed, when He was defeated in games with His friends, the cowherd boys, Kṛṣṇa would carry them—notably Śrīdāmā—on His shoulders.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

Regarding the dealings of the gopīs with Sri Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, it is described (SB 10.30.36-40) that when Sri Kṛṣṇa took Śrīmatī Rādhikā alone from the rāsa dance, She thought that Kṛṣṇa had left all the other gopīs. Although they were all equally beautiful, He satisfied Her in this way, and She began to think proudly, "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa has left the beautiful gopīs, and He is satisfied with Me alone." In the forest, She told Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, I am unable to move anymore. Now if You like You can take Me wherever You desire." Kṛṣṇa replied, "Come lean against My shoulder," and as soon as He said this, He disappeared, whereupon Śrīmatī Rādhikā repined greatly.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

At this time Rūpa Gosvāmī received information that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was preparing to proceed to Vṛndāvana from Jagannātha Purī.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

In the meantime, Rūpa Gosvāmī, with his younger brother Śrī Vallabha, had started for Vṛndāvana to meet Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

Then the Lord inquired: "How did you get free from your custody? I understand that you were arrested." Sanātana then narrated the whole story of his release. "I have seen your two brothers," the Lord then informed him, "and I have advised them to proceed toward Vṛndāvana."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 5:

Lord Caitanya then described the different features of Kṛṣṇa and requested that Sanātana Gosvāmī listen attentively. He then informed him that Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is the Absolute Supreme Truth, the cause of all causes and the origin of all emanations and incarnations. Yet in Vraja, or Goloka Vṛndāvana, He is just like a young boy and is the son of Nanda Mahārāja. His form, however, is eternal, full of bliss, and full of knowledge absolute. He is both the shelter of everything and the proprietor as well.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 5:

Caitanya Mahāprabhu also gives evidence from Brahma-saṁhitā of the transcendental properties of Lord Kṛṣṇa's body:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ

anādir ādir govindaḥ

sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

"Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes." (Bs. 5.1). In this way, Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives evidence that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, full in all six opulences. It is Śrī Kṛṣṇa whose abode, known as Goloka Vṛndāvana, is the highest planetary system in the spiritual sky.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 5:

Lord Caitanya further points out that the Paramātmā, the all-pervading feature situated in everyone's body, is but a partial manifestation or expansion of Kṛṣṇa, but because Kṛṣṇa is the soul of all souls, He is called Paramātmā, the Supreme Self. In this regard, Caitanya quoted another verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam concerning the talks between Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī. While hearing of the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquired from his spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, as to why the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were so much attached to Kṛṣṇa. To this question Śukadeva Gosvāmī answered:

kṛṣṇam enam avehi tvam

ātmānam akhilātmanām

jagaddhitāya so 'py atra

dehīvābhāti māyayā

"Kṛṣṇa should be known as the soul of all souls, for He is the soul of all individual souls and the soul of the localized Paramātmā as well. At Vṛndāvana He was acting just like a human being to attract people and to show that He is not formless." (SB 10.14.55)

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 6:

The personal form of Kṛṣṇa can be divided into two: svayam-rūpa and svayam-prakāśa. As far as His svayam-rūpa (or pastime form) is concerned, it is in that form that He remains always in Vṛndāvana with the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 6:

In the two-handed form, as the cowherd son of Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa fully exhibits His opulence, form, beauty, wealth, attractiveness and pastimes. Indeed, in some of the Vaiṣṇava literatures it is found that sometimes, in His form as Vāsudeva, He becomes attracted to the form of Govinda in Vṛndāvana. Thus as Vāsudeva He sometimes desires to enjoy as the cowherd boy Govinda does, although the Govinda form and the Vāsudeva form are one and the same.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 6:

As far as the Vāsudeva form is concerned, the three expansions manifested from Him are Keśava, Nārāyaṇa and Mādhava. The three forms of Saṅkarṣaṇa are known as Govinda, Viṣṇu and Śrī Madhusūdana. (It should be noted, however, that this Govinda form is not the same Govinda form that is manifested in Vṛndāvana as the son of Nanda Mahārāja.) Similarly, Pradyumna is also divided into three forms known as Trivikrama, Vāmana and Śrīdhara; and the three forms of Aniruddha are known as Hṛṣīkeśa, Padmanābha and Dāmodara.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 7:

According to the Hayaśīrṣa-pañcarātra, there are sixteen forms, and these forms are named differently according to the situations of the disc and mace. The conclusion is that the Supreme Original Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. He is called līlā-puruṣottama, and He resides principally in Vṛndāvana as the son of Nanda. It is also learned from the Hayaśīrṣa-pañcarātra that there are nine forms protecting each of the two Purīs known as the Mathurā Purī and the Dvārakā Purī: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha protect one, and Nārāyaṇa, Nṛsiṁha, Hayagrīva, Varāha and Brahmā—protect the other. These are different manifestations of the prakāśa and vilāsa forms of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 8:

His abode is the supreme planet known as Goloka Vṛndāvana, and by His will, this Goloka Vṛndāvana is manifested in this universe and in other universes as well. Thus the Lord is always in His supreme abode, Goloka Vṛndāvana, and by His supreme will His activities there are also manifested in innumerable universes. When He appears, He appears in those particular places, and in every manifestation His six opulences are displayed.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

In each and every one of these Vaikuṇṭha planets an expansion of Kṛṣṇa has His eternal abode, and Kṛṣṇa Himself has His original, eternal abode called Kṛṣṇaloka or Goloka Vṛndāvana.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

In this universe even the largest planet lies in one corner of outer space. Although the sun is thousands of times larger than the earth, it still lies in one corner of outer space. Similarly, each of the infinite planets, although unlimited in length and breadth, lies in a corner of the spiritual sky known as the brahmajyoti. In the Brahma-saṁhitā this brahmajyoti is described as niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtam, or undivided and unlimited and without a trace of the material modes of nature. All the Vaikuṇṭha planets are like petals of a lotus flower, and the principal part of that lotus, called Kṛṣṇaloka or Goloka Vṛndāvana, is the center of all the Vaikuṇṭhas.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

When Lord Kṛṣṇa was within this universe, Brahmā played a trick on Him in order to confirm that the cowherd boy in Vṛndāvana was actually Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

Lord Caitanya further explained that not only Kṛṣṇaloka but even Vṛndāvana, Lord Kṛṣṇa's abode on this planet, cannot be estimated as far as potency is concerned. From one point of view, Vṛndāvana is estimated to be thirty-two square miles in area, yet in one part of this Vṛndāvana all the Vaikuṇṭhas exist. The area of the present Vṛndāvana miles in area, and Vṛndāvana City is estimated to be about sixteen krośas, or thirty-two miles. How it is all the Vaikuṇṭhas exist there is beyond material calculation. Thus Caitanya Mahāprabhu proclaimed the potencies and opulences of Kṛṣṇa to be unlimited. Whatever He told Sanātana Gosvāmī was only partial, but by such a partial presentation one can try to imagine the whole.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

From revealed scriptures it is understood that Kṛṣṇa lives in three transcendental places. The most confidential residence of Kṛṣṇa is Goloka Vṛndāvana. It is there that He stays with His father, mother and friends, exhibits His transcendental relationships and bestows His mercy amongst His eternal entourage. There yogamāyā acts as His maidservant in the rāsa-līlā dance. The residents of Vrajabhūmi think, "The Lord is glorified by particles of His transcendental mercy and affection, and we, the residents of Vṛndāvana, have not the slightest anxiety due to His merciful existence." As stated in Brahma-saṁhitā (5.43), all the Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky (known as Viṣṇuloka) are situated in the planet known as Kṛṣṇaloka, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

Although He has innumerable pastimes, the most important is that of Kṛṣṇa in human form frolicking in Vṛndāvana, dancing with the gopīs, playing with the Pāṇḍavas on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and playing in Mathurā and Dvārakā. Of His important pastimes in human form, the most important are those pastimes in which He appears as a cowherd boy, a newly grown youth who plays a flute. It is to be understood that a mere partial manifestation of His pastimes in Goloka, Mathurā and Dvārāvatī, or Dvārakā, can overflood the whole universe with love of Godhead. Every living entity can be attracted by the beautiful qualities of Kṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

Kṛṣṇa freely moves amongst His friends as a cowherd boy in Vṛndāvana, and when He plays His flute, all living creatures, mobile and immobile, become overwhelmed with ecstasy. They quiver, and tears flow from their eyes. Of Kṛṣṇa's various opulences, His conjugal love is the summit. He is the master of all riches, all strength, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation, and out of these, His perfect beauty is His conjugal attraction. The form of Kṛṣṇa, the conjugal beauty, is eternally existent in Kṛṣṇa alone, whereas His other opulences are present in His Nārāyaṇa form.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

"What great penance and austerities the damsels of Vṛndāvana must have undergone, for they are able to drink the nectar of Kṛṣṇa, who is all beauty, all strength, all riches, all fame and whose bodily luster is the center of all beauty."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

The attitude of the gopīs is like a mirror upon which the reflection of Kṛṣṇa's beauty develops at every moment. Both Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs increase their transcendental beauty at every moment, and there is always transcendental competition between them. No one can appreciate the beauty of Kṛṣṇa by properly discharging his occupational duty, or by austerities, mystic yoga, cultivation of knowledge or by prayers. Only those who are on the transcendental platform of love of God, who out of love engage in devotional service, can appreciate the transcendental beauty of Kṛṣṇa. Such beauty is the essence of all opulences and is only appreciated in Goloka Vṛndāvana and nowhere else. In the form of Nārāyaṇa the beauties of mercy, fame, etc., are all established by Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa's gentleness and magnanimity do not exist in Nārāyaṇa. They are found only in Kṛṣṇa.