When this is established, in the sixteenth verse Kṛṣṇadāsa offers his obeisances to the functional Deity, Govinda. The Govinda Deity is called the functional Deity because He shows us how to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The Madana-mohana Deity simply establishes that "I am Your eternal servant." With Govinda, however, there is actual acceptance of service. 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 with Him, just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Kṛṣṇa comes His land also comes, Vṛndāvana is considered to exist beyond the material world.
Acceptance (CC and Other Books)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Preface and Introduction
CC Adi-lila
The expert spiritual master knows well how to engage his disciple's energy in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and thus he engages a devotee in a specific devotional service according to his special tendency. A devotee must have only one initiating spiritual master because in the scriptures acceptance of more than one is always forbidden. There is no limit, however, to the number of instructing spiritual masters one may accept. Generally a spiritual master who constantly instructs a disciple in spiritual science becomes his initiating spiritual master later on.
When Brahmā was first created, he could not apply his creative energy to arrange the cosmic situation. At first there was only sound, vibrating the word tapa, which indicates the acceptance of hardships for spiritual realization. Refraining from sensual enjoyment, one should voluntarily accept all sorts of difficulties for spiritual realization. This is called tapasya. An enjoyer of the senses can never realize God, godliness or the science of theistic knowledge. Thus when Brahmā, initiated by Śrī Kṛṣṇa by the sound vibration tapa, engaged himself in acts of austerity, by the pleasure of Viṣṇu he was able to visualize the transcendental world, Śrī Vaikuṇṭha, through transcendental realization. Modern science can communicate using material discoveries such as radio, television and computers, but the science invoked by the austerities of Śrī Brahmā, the original father of mankind, was still more subtle.
He is described as pūrṇa, or complete. In the feature of Lord Caitanya, the Lord is an ideal renouncer, just as Śrī Rāma was an ideal king. Lord Caitanya accepted the order of sannyāsa and exemplified exceedingly wonderful principles in His own life. No one can compare to Him in the order of sannyāsa. Although in Kali-yuga acceptance of the sannyāsa order is generally forbidden, Lord Caitanya accepted it because He is complete in renunciation. Others cannot imitate Him but can only follow in His footsteps as far as possible. Those who are unfit for this order of life are strictly forbidden by the injunctions of the śāstras to accept it. Lord Caitanya, however, is complete in renunciation as well as all other opulences. He is therefore the highest principle of the Absolute Truth.
During the time of Lord Caitanya, the influence of Śaṅkarācārya in society was very strong. People thought that one could accept sannyāsa only in the disciplic succession of Śaṅkarācārya. Lord Caitanya could have performed His missionary activities as a householder, but He found householder life an obstruction to His mission. Therefore He decided to accept the renounced order, sannyāsa. Since His acceptance of sannyāsa was also designed to attract public attention, Lord Caitanya, not wishing to disturb the social convention, took the renounced order of life from a sannyāsī in the disciplic succession of Śaṅkarācārya, although sannyāsa was also sanctioned in the Vaiṣṇava sampradāya.
His mission is to teach people how to dovetail themselves into engagements of transcendental loving service. He is Kṛṣṇa teaching His own service from the position of a devotee. The Lord's acceptance of the role of a devotee in the eternal form of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is another of the Lord's wonderful features. A conditioned soul cannot reach the absolute Personality of Godhead by his imperfect endeavor, and therefore it is wonderful that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in the form of Lord Gaurāṅga, has made it easy for everyone to approach Him.
Prior to the Lord's acceptance of the renounced order, Puruṣottama Bhaṭṭācārya, a resident of Navadvīpa, desired to enter the renounced order of life. Therefore he left home and went to Benares, where he accepted the position of brahmacarya from a Māyāvādī sannyāsī. When he became a brahmacārī, he was given the name Śrī Dāmodara Svarūpa. He left Benares shortly thereafter, without taking sannyāsa, and he came to Nīlācala, Jagannātha Purī, where Lord Caitanya was staying. He met Caitanya Mahāprabhu there and dedicated his life for the service of the Lord. He became Lord Caitanya's secretary and constant companion. He used to enhance the pleasure potency of the Lord by singing appropriate songs, which were very much appreciated. Svarūpa Dāmodara could understand the secret mission of Lord Caitanya, and it was by his grace only that all the devotees of Lord Caitanya could know the real purpose of the Lord.
They are full expansions, the flaw of generation remains. Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, being distinct individual persons, cannot be one. Therefore if They are accepted as absolute, full and equal, there would have to be many Personalities of Godhead. But there is no need to accept that there are many Personalities of Godhead, because acceptance of one omnipotent God is sufficient for all purposes. The acceptance of more than one God is contradictory to the conclusion that Lord Vāsudeva, the absolute Personality of Godhead, is one without a second. Even if we agree to accept that the quadruple forms of Godhead are all identical, we cannot avoid the incongruous flaw of noneternity. Unless we accept that there are some differences among the personalities, there is no meaning to the idea that Saṅkarṣaṇa is an expansion of Vāsudeva, Pradyumna is an expansion of Saṅkarṣaṇa, and Aniruddha is an expansion of Pradyumna.
The Padma Purāṇa specifically mentions that anyone who thinks the form of the Lord in the temple to be made of wood, stone or metal is certainly in a hellish condition. Impersonalists are against the worship of the Lord's form in the temple, and there is even a group of people who pass as Hindus but condemn such worship. Their so-called acceptance of the Vedas has no meaning, for all the ācāryas, even the impersonalist Śaṅkarācārya, have recommended the worship of the transcendental form of the Lord. Impersonalists like Śaṅkarācārya recommend the worship of five forms, known as pañcopāsanā, which include Lord Viṣṇu. Vaiṣṇavas, however, worship the forms of Lord Viṣṇu in His varied manifestations, such as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, Sītā-Rāma and Rukmiṇī-Kṛṣṇa. Māyāvādīs admit that worship of the Lord's form is required in the beginning, but they think that in the end everything is impersonal. Therefore, since they are ultimately against worship of the Lord's form, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has described them as offenders.
The Vedic injunctions state, tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā: one must approach a superior authority in humbleness (BG 4.34). One cannot challenge a superior authority, but with great submission one can submit his proposal for acceptance by the spiritual master or spiritual authorities. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is an ideal teacher by His personal behavior, and so also are all His disciples. Thus this brāhmaṇa, being purified in association with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, followed these principles in submitting his request to the higher authority. He fell down at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and then spoke as follows.
Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja comments in this connection, "One can become perfectly successful in the mission of his life if he acts exactly according to the words he hears from the mouth of his spiritual master." This acceptance of the words of the spiritual master is called śrauta-vākya, which indicates that the disciple must carry out the spiritual master's instructions without deviation. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks in this connection that a disciple must accept the words of his spiritual master as his life and soul. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu here confirms this by saying that since His spiritual master ordered Him only to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, He always chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra according to this direction ("kṛṣṇa-mantra" japa sadā,—ei mantra-sāra).
A mistake is the acceptance of an object to be different from what it is or the acceptance of false knowledge. For example, one may see a rope in the dark and think it to be a serpent, or one may see a glittering oyster shell and think it to be gold. These are mistakes. Similarly, an illusion is a misunderstanding that arises from inattention while hearing, and cheating is the transmission of such defective knowledge to others. Materialistic scientists and philosophers generally use such words as "maybe" and "perhaps" because they do not have actual knowledge of complete facts. Therefore their instructing others is an example of cheating. The final defect of the materialistic person is his inefficient senses.
In the Brahma-sūtra, Second Chapter, the first aphorism is as follows: tad-ananyatvam ārambhaṇa-śabdādibhyaḥ. Commenting on this sūtra in his Śārīraka-bhāṣya, Śaṅkarācārya has introduced the statement vācārambhaṇaṁ vikāro nāmadheyam from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.1.4) to try to prove that acceptance of the transformation of the energy of the Supreme Lord is faulty. He has tried to defy this transformation of energy in a misguided way, which will be explained later. Since his conception of God is impersonal, he does not believe that the entire cosmic manifestation is a transformation of the energies of the Lord, for as soon as one accepts the various energies of the Absolute Truth, one must immediately accept the Absolute Truth to be personal, not impersonal. A person can create many things by the transformation of his energy.
The jīva, or living entity, is a spiritual spark who is part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unfortunately, he thinks the body to be the self, and that misunderstanding is called vivarta, or acceptance of untruth to be truth. The body is not the self, but animals and foolish people think that it is. Vivarta (illusion) does not, however, denote a change in the identity of the spirit soul; it is the misconception that the body is the self that is an illusion. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not change when His external energy, consisting of the eight gross and subtle material elements listed in the Bhagavad-gītā (bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ, etc. (BG 7.4)), acts and reacts in different phases.
The life of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very elaborately described in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has already informed us that in his Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta he has described whatever Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has not mentioned. This acceptance of Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī indicates his acceptance of the disciplic succession. A writer of transcendental literature never tries to surpass the previous ācāryas.
"My eyes, My mind, My religious activities and My acceptance of the sannyāsa order have now all become perfect because today Mādhavendra Purī is manifest before Me in the form of Paramānanda Purī." The Caitanya-bhāgavata further states:
- kathokṣaṇe anyo ’nye karena praṇāma
- paramānanda-purī caitanyera priya-dhāma
"Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exchanged respectful obeisances with Paramānanda Purī, who was very dear to Him." Paramānanda Purī established a small monastery behind the western side of the Jagannātha temple, where he had a well dug to supply water. The water, however, was bitter, and therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu prayed to Lord Jagannātha to allow Ganges water to come into the well to make it sweet.
In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (90), Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita (Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura) is described as an incarnation of Nārada Muni, and Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita, his younger brother, is said to be an incarnation of Parvata Muni, a great friend of Nārada's. Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita's wife, Mālinī, is celebrated as an incarnation of the nurse Ambikā, who fed Lord Kṛṣṇa with her breast milk, and as already noted, his niece Nārāyaṇī, the mother of Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa, the author of Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, was the sister of Ambikā in kṛṣṇa-līlā. We also understand from the description of Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata that after Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's acceptance of the sannyāsa order, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita left Navadvīpa, possibly because of feelings of separation, and domiciled at Kumārahaṭṭa.
Foolish Māyāvādīs say that worshiping demigods is as good as worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but that is not a fact. This philosophy misleads people to atheism. One who has no idea what God actually is thinks that any form he imagines or any rascal he accepts can be God. This acceptance of cheap gods or incarnations of God is actually atheism. It is to be concluded, therefore, that those who worship demigods or self-proclaimed incarnations of God are all atheists. They have lost their knowledge, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.20): kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ prapadyante ’nya-devatāḥ. "Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods." Unfortunately, those who do not cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness and do not properly understand the Vedic knowledge accept any rascal to be an incarnation of God, and they are of the opinion that one can become an incarnation simply by worshiping a demigod.
This is stated in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Twenty-six. The information of Lord Caitanya's accepting the renounced order was made known to Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Candraśekhara Ācārya and Mukunda Datta by Nityānanda Prabhu, and therefore all of them went to Katwa and arranged for kīrtana and all the paraphernalia for Lord Caitanya's acceptance of sannyāsa. After the Lord took sannyāsa, they all followed Him, especially Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Gadādhara Prabhu and Mukunda Datta, who followed Him all the way to Puruṣottama-kṣetra. In this connection one may refer to Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Two. In the place known as Jaleśvara, Nityānanda Prabhu broke the sannyāsa rod of Caitanya Mahāprabhu (CB madhya khaṇḍa 1.97). Mukunda Datta was also present at that time. He went every year from Bengal to see Lord Caitanya at Jagannātha Purī.
It is very risky to accept money or food from materialistic persons, for such acceptance pollutes the mind of the charity's recipient. According to the Vedic system, one should give charity to sannyāsīs and brāhmaṇas because one who thus gives charity becomes free from sinful activities. Formerly, therefore, brāhmaṇas would not accept charity from a person unless he were very pious. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave this instruction for all spiritual masters. Materialistic persons who are not inclined to give up their sinful activities like illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating sometimes want to become our disciples, but, unlike professional spiritual masters who accept disciples regardless of their condition, Vaiṣṇavas do not accept such cheap disciples.
It is sometimes said that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu disapproved of the acceptance of the sannyāsa order in this Kali-yuga because in the śāstra it is said:
- aśvamedhaṁ gavālambhaṁ sannyāsaṁ pala-paitṛkam
- devareṇa sutotpattiṁ kalau pañca vivarjayet
- (CC Adi 17.164)
“In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyāsa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man's begetting children in his brother's wife.” (Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa, Kṛṣṇa-janma-khaṇḍa 185.180)
Māyāvādī sannyāsīs have become so degraded that there is a section of them who eat everything, just like hogs and dogs. It is such degraded sannyāsa that is prohibited in this age. Actually, Śrīla Śaṅkarācārya's principles for the acceptance of sannyāsa were very strict, but later the so-called Māyāvādī sannyāsīs became degraded because of their false philosophy, which propounds that by accepting sannyāsa one becomes Nārāyaṇa. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu rejected that kind of sannyāsa. But the acceptance of sannyāsa is one of the items of the varṇāśrama-dharma. How then can it be rejected?
"(The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:) "My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga (the mystic yoga system to control the senses), nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through austerities, charity or acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.""
“"In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyāsa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man"s begetting children in his brother's wife.’
Since Keśava Bhāratī belonged to the Śaṅkarite sect, he could not initiate Caitanya Mahāprabhu into the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsa order, whose members carry the tridaṇḍa.
Candraśekhara Ācārya assisted in the routine ceremonial work of the Lord's acceptance of sannyāsa. By the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, kīrtana was performed for the entire day, and at the end of the day the Lord shaved off His hair. On the next day He became a regular sannyāsī, with one rod (ekadaṇḍa). From that day on, His name was Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Before that, He was known as Nimāi Paṇḍita. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in the sannyāsa order, traveled all over Rāḍhadeśa, the region where the Ganges River cannot be seen. Keśava Bhāratī accompanied Him for some distance.
CC Madhya-lila
There is a discussion of the differences between the mahā-bhāgavata and the ordinary devotee, the symptoms of philosophical speculation, the symptoms of self-worship, or ahaṅgrahopāsanā, the symptoms of devotional service, the symptoms of imaginary perfection, the acceptance of regulative principles, service to the spiritual master, the mahā-bhāgavata (liberated devotee) and service to him, service to Vaiṣṇavas in general, the principles of hearing, chanting, remembering and serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offenses in worship, offensive effects, prayers, engaging oneself as an eternal servant of the Lord, making friendships with the Lord and surrendering everything for His pleasure. There is also a discussion of rāgānugā-bhakti (spontaneous love of Godhead), of the specific purpose of becoming a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and a comparative study of other perfectional stages.
Clearly these statements are a real account of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's acceptance of the renounced order of life. His acceptance of this renounced order is not at all comparable to the acceptance of sannyāsa by Māyāvādīs. After accepting sannyāsa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to reach Vṛndāvana. He was unlike the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, who desire to merge into the existence of the Absolute. For a Vaiṣṇava, acceptance of sannyāsa means getting relief from all material activities and completely devoting oneself to the transcendental loving service of the Lord. This is confirmed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī (Brs. 1.2.255): anāsaktasya viṣayān yathārham upayuñjataḥ/ nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate.
After three days, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to the house of Advaita Ācārya at Śāntipura and accepted alms there. This was His first acceptance of alms. At night He performed congregational chanting there.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew very well that His acceptance of sannyāsa was a thunderbolt for His mother. He therefore called for His mother and the devotees from Māyāpur, and by the arrangement of Śrī Advaita Ācārya, He met them for the last time after His acceptance of sannyāsa. His mother was overwhelmed with grief when she saw that He was clean-shaven. There was no longer any beautiful hair on His head. Mother Śacī was pacified by all the devotees, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked her to cook for Him because He was very hungry, not having taken anything for three days. His mother immediately agreed, and forgetting everything else, she cooked for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu during all the days she was at the house of Śrī Advaita Prabhu.
There was no longer any beautiful hair on His head. Mother Śacī was pacified by all the devotees, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked her to cook for Him because He was very hungry, not having taken anything for three days. His mother immediately agreed, and forgetting everything else, she cooked for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu during all the days she was at the house of Śrī Advaita Prabhu. Then, after a few days, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu requested His mother's permission to go to Jagannātha Purī. At His mother's request, He made Jagannātha Purī His headquarters after His acceptance of sannyāsa. Thus everything was adjusted, and with His mother's permission Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu proceeded toward Jagannātha Purī.
Unfortunately, because of being associated with the Muslim governmental service, their customs and behavior resembled those of the Muslims. Therefore they presented themselves as nīca-jāti. The word jāti means birth. According to śāstra, there are three kinds of birth. The first birth is from the womb of the mother, the second birth is the acceptance of the reformatory method, and the third birth is acceptance by the spiritual master (initiation). One becomes abominable by adopting an abominable profession or by associating with people who are naturally abominable. Rūpa and Sanātana, as Dabira Khāsa and Sākara Mallika, associated with Muslims, who were naturally opposed to brahminical culture and cow protection. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Seventh Canto) it is stated that every person belongs to a certain classification. A person is identifiable by the special symptoms mentioned in the śāstras.
In connection with this verse, which is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.23.57), Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that of the sixty-four items required for rendering devotional service, acceptance of the symbolic marks of sannyāsa is a regulative principle. If one accepts the sannyāsa order, his main business is to devote his life completely to the service of Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa. If one does not completely devote his mind and body to the service of the Lord, he does not actually become a sannyāsī. It is not simply a matter of changing dress. In Bhagavad-gītā (6.1) it is also stated, anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ/ sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca: one who works devotedly for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa is a sannyāsī. The dress is not sannyāsa, but the attitude of service to Kṛṣṇa is.
It is said that from this Mādhavācārya the sampradāya known in western India as the Vallabhācārya sampradāya has begun. Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, who is known as a smṛty-ācārya in the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava-sampradāya, later accepted the tridaṇḍa-sannyāsa order from Tridaṇḍipāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. Although acceptance of tridaṇḍa-sannyāsa is not distinctly mentioned in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava literature, the first verse of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Upadeśāmṛta advocates that one should accept the tridaṇḍa-sannyāsa order by controlling the six forces:
Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu considered Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's acceptance of sannyāsa to be useless. He therefore relieved the Lord of the trouble of carrying the staff. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu expressed anger because He wanted to teach all other sannyāsīs that they should not give up the staff before attaining the platform of paramahaṁsa. Seeing that the regulative principles could be slackened by such action, Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to carry the staff personally. However, Nityānanda broke it. For this reason Caitanya Mahāprabhu displayed a little anger. It is said in the Bhagavad-gītā (3.21), yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ: Whatever great people do, others follow.
When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the temple of Jagannātha, He immediately fainted. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya then took Him to his home. Meanwhile, Gopīnātha Ācārya, the brother-in-law of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, met Mukunda Datta and talked to him about Caitanya Mahāprabhu's acceptance of sannyāsa and His journey to Jagannātha Purī. After hearing about Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's fainting and His being carried to the house of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, people crowded there to see the Lord. Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu and other devotees then visited the Jagannātha temple, and when they came back to the house of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu returned to external consciousness. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya received everyone and distributed mahā-prasādam with great care.
No one can properly describe Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's affection for His devotees. He always tolerated all kinds of personal unhappiness resulting from His acceptance of the renounced order of life.
There are regulative principles governing the renounced order. One has to perform eight kinds of śrāddha. One must offer oblations to one's forefathers and perform the sacrifice of virajā-homa. Then one must cut off the tuft of hair called a śikhā and also give up the sacred thread. These are preliminary processes in the acceptance of sannyāsa, and Svarūpa Dāmodara accepted all these. However, Puruṣottama Ācārya did not accept the saffron color, a sannyāsī name or a daṇḍa, and for this reason he retained his brahmacārī name. Actually Puruṣottama Ācārya did not accept the sannyāsa order formally, but he renounced worldly life. He did not want to be disturbed by the formality of the sannyāsa order. He simply wanted to worship Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa without disturbance; therefore with heart and soul he took up the renounced order but not the formalities accompanying it. Renunciation means not doing anything but serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
This is verse 21 from the Stotra-ratna, composed by Ālabandāru Yāmunācārya. One's relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead may be reestablished even after one has fallen into the ocean of nescience, which is the ocean of material existence involving the repetition of birth, death, old age and disease, all arising out of the acceptance of the material body. There are 8,400,000 species of material life, but in the human body one attains a chance to get release from the repetition of birth and death. When one becomes the Lord's devotee, he is rescued from this dangerous ocean of birth and death. The Lord is always prepared to shower His mercy upon fallen souls struggling against miserable material conditions. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
This is simply mental speculation. Even though Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He placed Himself in the position of a gopī. He also accepted the King's son directly as the son of Mahārāja Nanda, Vrajendra-nandana Hari. This is perfect vision according to the direction of the Vedic culture, as confirmed in Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18). Such acceptance of the Absolute Truth according to Vaiṣṇava philosophy is explained in both the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.2.3) and the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.23) in the following words:
Since they could not get one day each, two or three devotees combined to extend an invitation. These are the pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's acceptance of invitations.
“O best of the brāhmaṇas, even without initiation, preliminary purification or acceptance of the renounced order, one can attain perfection in devotional service simply by chanting the Lord's holy name.”
In other words, the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is so powerful that it does not depend on official initiation, but if one is initiated and engages in pañcarātra-vidhi (Deity worship), his Kṛṣṇa consciousness will awaken very soon, and his identification with the material world will be vanquished. The more one is freed from material identification, the more one can realize that the spirit soul is qualitatively as good as the Supreme Soul.
"I offer my obeisances unto Amogha Paṇḍita, who was accepted by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. As a result of this acceptance, he was always merged in ecstatic love, and he manifested ecstatic symptoms such as choking of the voice and standing of the hairs on his body."
“(The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:) ‘My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga (the mystic yoga system to control the senses), nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through austerities, charity or acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me.
“"The six divisions of surrender are the acceptance of those things favorable to devotional service, the rejection of unfavorable things, the conviction that Kṛṣṇa will give protection, the acceptance of the Lord as one"s guardian or master, full self-surrender, and humility.
“I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known; indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”
The ultimate goal of studying all Vedic literature is the acceptance of Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is propagating the philosophical conclusion of Śrīla Vyāsadeva and following other great ācāryas like Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Nimbārka and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself.
“(The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:) "My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga (the mystic yoga system to control the senses), nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through austerities, charity or acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me."
In the Third Chapter I have described the Lord's acceptance of the renounced order and how He enjoyed His pastimes at the house of Advaita Ācārya.
CC Antya-lila
“(The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, said:) "My dear Uddhava, neither through aṣṭāṅga-yoga (the mystic yoga system for controlling the senses), nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the Vedas, nor through austerities, charity or acceptance of sannyāsa can one satisfy Me as much as by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me."
It is the duty of a sannyāsī, a person in the renounced order, to be always equipoised, and that is also the duty of a learned man and a Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava, a sannyāsī or a learned person has no conception of the material world; in other words, he has no conception of anything materially important. He has no desire to use sandalwood pulp for sense gratification, nor does sense gratification make him hate mud. Acceptance or rejection of material things is not the concern of a sannyāsī, a Vaiṣṇava or a learned person. An advanced devotee has no desire to enjoy or reject anything. His only duty is to accept whatever is favorable for the advancement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A Vaiṣṇava should be indifferent to material enjoyment and renunciation and should always hanker for the spiritual life of rendering service to the Lord.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
When this is established, in the sixteenth verse Kṛṣṇadāsa offers his obeisances to the functional Deity, Govinda. The Govinda Deity is called the functional Deity because He shows us how to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The Madana-mohana Deity simply establishes that "I am Your eternal servant." With Govinda, however, there is actual acceptance of service. 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 with Him, just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Kṛṣṇa comes His land also comes, Vṛndāvana is considered to exist beyond the material world.
They have falsely accepted the nonspiritual as the spiritual, and as a result they have forgotten the eternal spiritual form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as well as His name, qualities and entourage. They consider the transcendental pastimes, name, form and qualities of the Supreme to be products of material nature. Because of their acceptance and rejection of material pleasure and misery, the Māyāvādī philosophers are eternally subjected to material misery.
Nectar of Devotion
That was the position of the two brothers, Dabira Khāsa and Sākara Mallika. They belonged to the highly situated Sārasvata brāhmaṇa community, but they were ostracized due to their acceptance of ministerial posts in the government of Hussain Shah. It is the grace of Lord Caitanya that He accepted these two exalted personalities as His disciples and raised them to the position of gosvāmīs, the highest position of brahminical culture. Similarly, Lord Caitanya accepted Haridāsa Ṭhākura as His disciple, although Haridāsa happened to be born of a Muhammadan family, and Lord Caitanya later on made him the ācārya of the chanting of the holy name of the Lord: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
A bona fide spiritual master, under the guidance of authorities, can turn anyone to the Vaiṣṇava cult so that naturally he may come to the topmost position of a brāhmaṇa.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī warns, however, that if a person is properly initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, he should not think that simply by the acceptance of such initiation his business is then finished. One still has to follow the rules and regulations very carefully. If after accepting the spiritual master and being initiated one does not follow the rules and regulations of devotional service, then he is again fallen. One must be very vigilant to remember that he is the part and parcel of the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa, and that it is his duty as part and parcel to give service to the whole, or Kṛṣṇa. If we do not render service to Kṛṣṇa then again we fall down. In other words, simply becoming initiated does not elevate one to the position of a high-class brāhmaṇa. One also has to discharge the duties and follow the regulative principles very rigidly.
Exactly how one follows the instructions of his spiritual master is considered a detail. For example, if one is following the instruction of his spiritual master and that instruction is different from the instructions of another spiritual master, this is called detailed information. But the basic principle of acceptance of a spiritual master is good everywhere, although the details may be different. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī does not wish to enter into details here, but wants to place before us only the principles.
This does not mean, however, that we should give up the principles of discharging devotional service or neglect abiding by the rules and regulations prescribed therein. In the neophyte stage of devotion one must follow all the principles, regulated by the authority of the spiritual master. The acceptance and rejection of things should always be in pursuance of the devotional principles; not that one can independently manufacture some idea of what should be accepted or rejected. The spiritual master as the visible manifestation of Kṛṣṇa is necessary, therefore, to direct the devotee on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Nectar of Instruction
"In the neophyte stage one should always engage in hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā. This is called śravaṇa-daśā, the stage of hearing. By constantly hearing the transcendental holy name of Kṛṣṇa and hearing of His transcendental form, qualities and pastimes, one can attain to the stage of acceptance called varaṇa-daśā. When one attains this stage, he becomes attached to the hearing of kṛṣṇa-kathā. When one is able to chant in ecstasy, he attains the stage of smaraṇāvasthā, the stage of remembering. Recollection, absorption, meditation, constant remembrance and trance are the five items of progressive kṛṣṇa-smaraṇa. At first, remembrance of Kṛṣṇa may be interrupted at intervals, but later remembrance proceeds uninterrupted. When remembrance is uninterrupted, it becomes concentrated and is called meditation. When meditation expands and becomes constant, it is called anusmṛti. By uninterrupted and unceasing anusmṛti one enters the stage of samādhi, or spiritual trance.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
The idea is not to encourage one to eat meat but to allow one who insists on eating meat to eat it under certain restricted conditions. Therefore, worship of the demigods is not worship of the Absolute Truth, but by worshiping the demigods one gradually comes to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead in an indirect way. This indirect acceptance is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as avidhi. Avidhi means "not bona fide." Since demigod worship is not bona fide, the impersonalists stress concentration on the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. King Parīkṣit's question was, Which is the ultimate target of Vedic knowledge—this concentration on the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth or concentration on the personal feature? After all, both the impersonal and the personal feature of the Supreme Lord are beyond our material conception. The impersonal feature of the Absolute, the Brahman effulgence, is but the rays of the personal body of Kṛṣṇa.
The limbs of a material body can perform only a particular function; for example, the hands can hold but cannot see or hear. But because the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is made of ānanda-cinmaya-rasa and is thus sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), He can enjoy anything and do everything with any of His limbs. Acceptance of the spiritual body of the Lord as material is dictated by the tendency to equate the Supreme Personality of Godhead with the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul has a material body. Therefore, if God also has a material body, then the impersonalistic theory that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities are one and the same can be very easily propagated.
Because of its different conditions of existence, the cosmic manifestation has no fixed position.” Those who advocate acceptance of this material world as false are generally known by the maxim brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. They put forward the argument that everything in the material world is prepared from matter. For example, there are many things made of clay, such as earthen pots, dishes and bowls. After their annihilation, these things may be transformed into many other material objects, but in all cases their existence as clay continues. An earthen water jug, after being broken, may be transformed into a bowl or dish, but either as a dish, bowl or water jug, the earth itself continues to exist. Therefore, the forms of a water jug, bowl or dish are false, but their existence as earth is real. This is the impersonalists' version.
Renunciation Through Wisdom
Anger causes frustration, as in the story of the unsuccessful fox and the "sour grapes." The living entity is then forced to pretend to be a renouncer. But at the bottom of such renunciation burns the great flame of greed and the desire for enjoyment. This is only another stage of material desire. Therefore, unless one transcends this stage of acceptance and rejection of physical pleasures and becomes situated on the platform of the eternal self, one cannot understand the sublime message of the Lord. And without this understanding, one will continue to cultivate the demoniac mentality.
They tirelessly dedicate their lives, energy, words, intelligence, body, society—everything—in the service of the Lord.
The great endeavor the mahātmā undertakes to execute devotional service is more intense than the ordinary man's voluntary acceptance of excessive pains and troubles to maintain his family and home. The struggle for maintaining family and relatives is illusion, or māyā. Hence it is truly distressing. By contrast, the difficulties one accepts in serving the Supreme Lord are transcendental, and therefore they are a source of sublime bliss. Moreover, a person who serves the Supreme Lord automatically serves his family. But the opposite is not true: serving the family is not equivalent to serving the Lord. All mahātmās agree on this point. Not only does the person who serves the Supreme Lord serve his relatives, but he also serves the entire world of moving and nonmoving living beings.
The six divisions of surrender are the acceptance of those things favorable to devotional service, the rejection of unfavorable things, the conviction that Kṛṣṇa will give protection, the acceptance of the Lord as one's guardian or master, full surrender, and humility.
The relationship between the Supreme Lord and His surrendered devotee is very intimate. Everything about the devotee is known to the Lord. The devotee has no separate interest that would involve him in speculative knowledge, fruitive activities, sense pleasures, lamentation, meditation, and so on. He simply engages full-time in serving the Supreme Lord. His consciousness becomes purified of all contamination, and the fire of conditioned life is put out. Duality and illusion is eradicated from his heart, his devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa becomes single-minded, and He throws himself at the Lord's lotus feet, feeling like a sold-out animal. At this stage the Supreme Lord Himself imparts all spiritual knowledge, or buddhi-yoga, to the devotee so that he can attain Him:
Light of the Bhagavata
Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and the members of the other sects that have convincing faith in the authority of God must not sit idly now and silently watch the rapid growth of a godless civilization. There is the supreme will of God, and no nation or society can live in peace and prosperity without acceptance of this vital truth.
The warning is already there, and responsible leaders of religious sects must meet together and form a common platform of a league of devotees of the Lord. There is no need for self-realized souls to live in a secluded place. Perfect self-realized souls, engaged in the service of the Lord, are unafraid of māyā, just as law-abiding citizens of a state never fear the police. Such fearless devotees of God always speak scientifically about the existence of God, even at the risk of death.
Sri Isopanisad
Then the vaiśyas, the mercantile group. These natural classifications are found everywhere. This is the Vedic principle, and we accept it. Vedic principles are accepted as axiomatic truth, for there cannot be any mistake. That is acceptance. For instance, in India cow dung is accepted as pure, and yet cow dung is the stool of an animal. In one place you'll find the Vedic injunction that if you touch stool, you have to take a bath immediately. But in another place it is said that the stool of a cow is pure. If you smear cow dung in an impure place, that place becomes pure. With our ordinary sense we can argue, "This is contradictory." Actually, it is contradictory from the ordinary point of view, but it is not false. It is fact. In Calcutta, a very prominent scientist and doctor analyzed cow dung and found that it contains all antiseptic properties.
Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)
One who avoids such association and simply engages in mental speculation or so-called meditation cannot be raised to the perfectional platform. But one who associates with pure devotees or an elevated devotional society goes to the next stage—bhajana-kriyā, or acceptance of the regulative principles of worshiping the Supreme Lord. One who associates with a pure devotee of the Lord naturally accepts that person as his spiritual master, and when the neophyte devotee accepts a pure devotee as his spiritual master, the duty of the spiritual master is to train the neophyte in the principles of regulated devotional service, or vaidhi-bhakti. At this stage the devotee's service is based on his capacity to serve the Lord. The expert spiritual master engages his followers in work that will gradually develop their consciousness of service to the Lord.
| Page Title: | Acceptance (CC and Other Books) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 23 of May, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=49, OB=16, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 65 |