Audience (CC and Other Books)

Expressions researched:
"audience" |"audience's" |"audiences"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.117, Purport:

The revealed scriptures mention nine means of attaining devotional service, of which the first and foremost is hearing from authority. The seed of devotion cannot sprout unless watered by the process of hearing and chanting. One should submissively receive the transcendental messages from spiritually advanced sources and chant the very same messages for one's own benefit as well as the benefit of one's audience.

CC Adi 7.105, Translation and Purport:

"Dear Sir, by Your influence our minds are greatly satisfied, and we believe that Your words will never be unreasonable. Therefore You may speak on the Vedānta-sūtra."

In this verse the words tomāra prabhāve ("Your influence") are very important. Unless one is spiritually advanced he cannot influence an audience. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, śuddha-bhakata-caraṇa-reṇu, bhajana-anukūla. "Unless one associates with a pure devotee, he cannot be influenced to understand devotional service." These Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were fortunate enough to meet the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of a devotee, and certainly they were greatly influenced by the Lord.

CC Adi 17.24, Purport:

Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement stresses the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra only, whereas those who do not know the secret of success for this Age of Kali unnecessarily indulge in the cultivation of knowledge, the practice of mystic yoga or the performance of fruitive activities or useless austerities. They are simply wasting their time and misleading their followers. When we point this out very plainly to an audience, members of opposing groups become angry at us. But according to the injunctions of the śāstras, we cannot make compromises with these so-called jñānīs, yogīs, karmīs and tapasvīs. When they say they are as good as we are, we must say that only we are good and that they are not good. This is not our obstinacy; it is the injunction of the śāstras. We must not deviate from the injunctions of the śāstras.

CC Adi 17.88, Purport:

On principle, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu would distribute prasādam at the end of kīrtana performances. Similarly, the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement must distribute some prasādam to the audience after performing kīrtana.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.275, Translation:

When the Lord heard the humble petition made by the people, His heart softened. Being very merciful, He immediately came out and gave audience to all of them.

CC Madhya 2.59, Translation:

"All these inauspicious days and nights are not passing, for I have not met You. It is difficult to know how to pass all this time. But You are the friend of the helpless and an ocean of mercy. Kindly give Me Your audience, for I am in a precarious position."

CC Madhya 2.71, Translation:

"Taking My words as defamation, Lord Kṛṣṇa has left Me. I know that He is gone, but kindly hear My prayers in praise: "You are the satisfaction of My eyes. You are My wealth and My life. Alas, please give Me your audience once again.""

CC Madhya 3.144, Translation:

Mother Śacī continued, "After accepting the renounced order, Viśvarūpa never again gave me audience. If You do like Him, that will certainly be the death of me."

CC Madhya 4.40, Translation:

“I have accepted your service due to your ecstatic love for Me. Thus I shall appear, and by My audience all fallen souls will be delivered."

CC Madhya 4.133, Purport:

Although Kṛṣṇa is the purest of the pure, mundane people, thinking of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes that appear immoral, themselves become polluted. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore never publicly discussed Kṛṣṇa's dealings with the gopīs. He used to discuss these dealings only with three confidential friends. He never discussed rāsa-līlā publicly, as the professional reciters do, although they do not understand Kṛṣṇa or the nature of the audience. However, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu encouraged the public chanting of the holy name on a huge scale for as many hours as possible.

CC Madhya 7.88, Translation:

After lunch, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu made them open the door. In this way everyone received His audience with great pleasure.

CC Madhya 9.214, Translation:

After receiving the manuscript, the brāhmaṇa, being very pleased, said, “Sir, You are Lord Rāmacandra Himself and have come in the dress of a sannyāsī to give me audience.

CC Madhya 10.180, Translation:

Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya said, “The statements of both of you are correct. Kṛṣṇa gives direct audience through His mercy.

CC Madhya 11.95, Purport:

If a devotee sticks strictly to the principles governing Vaiṣṇava behavior, his bodily luster will naturally be attractive, and his singing and chanting of the holy names of the Lord will be effective. People will appreciate such kīrtana without hesitation. Even dramas about the pastimes of Lord Caitanya or Śrī Kṛṣṇa should be played by devotees. Such dramas will immediately interest an audience and be full of potency. The students of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness should note these two points and try to apply these principles in their spreading of the Lord's glories.

CC Madhya 16.271, Translation:

“Mādhavendra Purī went to Vṛndāvana alone, and Kṛṣṇa, on the pretext of giving him milk, granted him an audience."

CC Madhya 17.94, Translation:

Candraśekhara said, “My dear Lord, You have bestowed Your causeless mercy upon me because I am Your old servant. Indeed, You have come here personally to give me Your audience."

CC Madhya 17.97, Translation:

“My dear Lord, we two think of Your lotus feet incessantly. Although You are the omniscient Supreme Personality of Godhead, You have granted us Your audience."

CC Madhya 17.188, Translation:

People came by the hundreds of thousands, and no one could count them. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came out of the house to give audience to the people.

CC Madhya 18 Summary:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had no desire to climb Govardhana Hill because the hill is worshiped as Kṛṣṇa. The Gopāla Deity could understand the mind of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; therefore on the plea of being attacked by Muslims, Gopāla transferred Himself to the village of Gāṅṭhuli-grāma. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then went to Gāṅṭhuli-grāma to see Lord Gopāla. Some years later, Lord Gopāla also went to Mathurā, to the house of Viṭhṭhaleśvara, and stayed there for one month just to give an audience to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

CC Madhya 18.47, Purport:

On some pretext, the Gopāla Deity granted Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu an audience beneath the hill, and Gopāla similarly favored Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī. During his ripe old age, when Rūpa Gosvāmī could not go to Govardhana Hill because of invalidity, Gopāla kindly went to Mathurā and remained at the house of Viṭhṭhaleśvara for one month. It was then that Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī could see Gopāla's beauty to his heart's content.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.137, Purport:

The method of inducing the audience to become more and more eager to hear by praising the time and place, the hero and the audience is called prarocanā. This is the statement regarding prarocanā in the Nāṭaka-candrikā:

deśa-kāla-kathā-vastu-sabhyādīnāṁ praśaṁsayā

śrotṟṇām unmukhī-kāraḥ kathiteyaṁ prarocanā

Similarly, the Sāhitya-darpaṇa (6.286) says:

tasyāḥ prarocanā vīthī tathā prahasanā-mukhe

aṅgānyatronmukhī-kāraḥ praśaṁsātaḥ prarocanā

Any literature presented in Sanskrit must follow the rules and regulations mentioned in the authoritative reference books. The technical inquiries by Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya and the replies of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī indicate that both of them were expert and fully conversant with the techniques of writing drama.

CC Antya 3.182, Translation:

After reciting this verse, Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, "O learned scholars, please explain the meaning of this verse."

But the audience requested Haridāsa Ṭhākura, "It is better for you to explain the meaning of this important verse."

CC Antya 4.61, Translation:

“Because of feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa, an exalted devotee sometimes wants to give up his life. By such ecstatic love, however, one attains the audience of Kṛṣṇa, and at that time he cannot give up his body."

CC Antya 5.131, Purport:

Sometimes it is seen that when a Māyāvādī sannyāsī reads the Bhāgavatam, flocks of men go to hear jugglery of words that cannot awaken their dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes people go to see professional dramas and offer food and money to the players, who are expert at collecting these offerings very nicely. The result is that the members of the audience remain in the same position of gṛham andha-kūpam, family affection, and do not awaken their love for Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 7.8, Translation:

“One who receives Your audience is fortunate indeed, for You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself."

CC Antya 7.59, Translation:

"At present they are all living here. Their residences are in various quarters. Here you will get the audience of them all."

CC Antya 20.48, Translation:

“I am a maidservant at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. He is the embodiment of transcendental happiness and mellows. If He likes He can tightly embrace Me and make Me feel oneness with Him, or by not giving Me His audience, He may corrode My mind and body. Nevertheless, it is He who is the Lord of My life."

CC Antya 20.152, Translation:

I decorate my head with the dust of the lotus feet of my audience. Now you have all drunk this nectar, and therefore my labor is successful.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 15:

Sanātana explained his eagerness to hear the same explanation in order that he might be enlightened. Being thus requested by Sanātana, the Lord replied: "I do not understand why Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya so much appreciated My explanation. As far as I am concerned, I don't even remember what I said to him. But because you are asking this of Me, I shall, with the help of your association, try to explain whatever I can remember." Thus the speaker and the audience are very intimately connected; the speaker is enlightened by the presence of the audience. The speaker, or master, can speak very nicely on transcendental subject matters before an understanding audience; therefore Lord Caitanya said that He did not know how to explain the Sanskrit verse but that since He was in the association of Sanātana He would try to explain it.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 23:

Professional readers of the Bhāgavatam indulge in reading the confidential portions dealing with the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. These portions appear to read like sex literature. However, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is meant to be heard from the beginning, and those who are fit to assimilate the messages of Bhāgavatam are mentioned in the very beginning (SB 1.1.2): A bona fide audience fit to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is generated after many pious deeds. An intellectual person can believe in the assurances of the great sage Vyāsadeva and patiently hear the messages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in order to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

"It is similarly difficult for me to make You understand," Rāmānanda replied. "As far as I am concerned, I can only speak what You wish me to. No one can escape Your supreme will. Indeed, there is no one in the world who can surpass Your supreme will, and although I appear to be speaking, I am actually not the speaker. You are speaking. Therefore You are both the speaker and the audience. Thus let me speak only as You will me to speak about the performance required to attain this highest transcendental position."

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 13:

Rūpa Gosvāmī composed his verse in such a way that he was seemingly praising the material association of friendship and love and was condemning the audience of śrī-mūrti or Govinda. This metaphorical analogy is constructed in such a way that things which seem to be praised are condemned, and things which are to be condemned are praised. The actual import of the verse is that one must see the form of Govinda if one at all wants to forget the nonsense of material friendship, love and society.

Nectar of Devotion 17:

This statement is also confirmed in the Third Canto, Twenty-fifth Chapter, verse 25, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where Lord Kapila says, "My dear mother, when a person is actually in association with pure devotees, the sublime potency of My devotional service can be experienced." In other words, when a pure devotee speaks, his words act upon the hearts of the audience. What is the secret of hearing and chanting? A professional speaker cannot impress transcendental ecstasy within the hearts of the listeners. However, when a realized soul who is engaged in the service of the Lord is speaking, he has the potency to inject spiritual life within the audience. One should, therefore, seek the association of such pure, unalloyed devotees, and by such association and service a neophyte devotee will certainly develop attachment, love and devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Nectar of Devotion 33:

When a friend wants to satisfy Kṛṣṇa by performing some chivalrous activities, the friend becomes the challenger, and Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes the opponent; or else Kṛṣṇa may give audience to the fighting, and by His desire another friend becomes the opponent. A friend once challenged Kṛṣṇa thus: "My dear Mādhava, You are very restless because You think that no one can defeat You. But if You do not flee from here, then I shall show You how I can defeat You. And my friends will be very satisfied to see this!"

Nectar of Devotion 34:

Whenever there is a recitation of poetry or a dramatic play on the different pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, the audience develops different kinds of transcendental loving service for the Lord. They enjoy different types of vibhāva, anubhāva and sañcāri-bhāva. No one, while remaining on the material platform, should discuss these different descriptions of bhāva and anubhāva by quoting different statements of transcendental literatures. Such manifestations are displays of the transcendental pleasure potency of the Lord.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 43:

Kṛṣṇa immediately understood the purpose of Cāṇūra's statements, and He prepared to wrestle with him. But according to the time and circumstances, He spoke as follows: "You are the subject of the King of the Bhojas, and you live in the jungle. We are also indirectly his subjects, and We try to please him as far as possible. This offer of wrestling is a great favor of his, but the fact is that We are simply boys. We sometimes play in the forest of Vṛndāvana with Our friends who are Our own age. We think that to combat persons of equal age and strength is good for Us, but to fight great wrestlers like you would not be good for the audience. It would contradict their religious principles." Kṛṣṇa thus indicated that the celebrated, strong wrestlers should not challenge Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to fight.

Krsna Book 44:

All the arts of wrestling were perfectly exhibited by the parties as each tried his best to defeat his opponent. But the audience in the wrestling arena was not very much satisfied because the combatants did not appear to be equally matched. They considered Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to be mere boys before Cāṇūra and Muṣṭika, who were the strongest wrestlers, as solid as stone. Being compassionate and favoring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, the many ladies in the audience began to talk as follows: "Dear friends, there is injustice here." Another said, "Even in front of the King this wrestling is going on between incompatible sides." The ladies had lost their sense of enjoyment.

Krsna Book 44:

Lord Balarāma was fighting with the wrestler Muṣṭika in the same way that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was fighting and wrestling with Cāṇūra. Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared to be cruel to Cāṇūra, and He immediately struck him thrice with His fist. The great wrestler was jolted, to the astonishment of the audience. Cāṇūra then took his last chance and attacked Kṛṣṇa, just as one hawk swoops upon another. Folding his two hands, he began to strike the chest of Kṛṣṇa, but Lord Kṛṣṇa was not even slightly disturbed, any more than an elephant is when hit by a flower garland.

Krsna Book 70:

The professional singers called sūtas and māgadhas would sing, and others would perform their dancing art. In this way, as devotees, they would offer respectful prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes the learned brāhmaṇas present in that assembly would chant Vedic hymns and explain them to the audience to the best of their knowledge, and sometimes some of them would recite old historical accounts of the activities of prominent kings. The Lord, accompanied by His associates, would be very much pleased to hear them.

Krsna Book 71:

The audience of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is not at all commonplace. Therefore, when King Yudhiṣṭhira heard that Lord Kṛṣṇa had arrived in his capital city, Hastināpura, he became so joyful that all his bodily hairs stood on end in great ecstasy, and he immediately came out of the city to properly receive the Lord. He ordered the musical vibration of different instruments and songs, and the learned brāhmaṇas of the city began to chant the hymns of the Vedas very loudly. Lord Kṛṣṇa is known as Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses, and King Yudhiṣṭhira went forward to receive Him exactly as the senses meet the consciousness of life.

Krsna Book 72:

Informed by the hints of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Bhīmasena immediately took hold of Jarāsandha's legs and threw him to the ground. When Jarāsandha fell, Bhīmasena immediately pressed one of Jarāsandha's legs to the ground and took hold of the other leg with his two hands. Catching Jarāsandha in this way, he tore his body in two, beginning from the anus up to the head. As an elephant breaks the branches of a tree in two, Bhīmasena separated the body of Jarāsandha. The audience standing nearby saw that Jarāsandha's body was now divided into two halves, so that each half had one leg, one thigh, one testicle, half a backbone, half a chest, one collarbone, one arm, one eye, one ear and half a face.

Krsna Book 79:

When the fighting was going on, King Yudhiṣṭhira and others thought that Balarāma might have come there to say something in favor of Duryodhana, and they therefore remained silent. Both Duryodhana and Bhīmasena were very enthusiastic in fighting with clubs, and, in the midst of a large audience, each very skillfully tried to strike the other. While attempting to do so they appeared to be dancing, but nonetheless it was clear that both of them were very angry.

Krsna Book 86:

"My dear Lord," he said, "You are the Supreme Person, Puruṣottama, transcendentally situated beyond the manifested and unmanifested material creation. The activities of this material world and of the conditioned souls have nothing to do with Your position. We can appreciate that not only today have You given me Your audience, but You are associating with all the living entities as Paramātmā since the beginning of creation."

Krsna Book 87:

These four brahmacārīs, the Kumāras, are recognized scholars in the Vedas and other śāstras. Their unlimited volumes of knowledge, backed by austerities and penances, are exhibited by their sublime, ideal character. They are very amiable and gentle in behavior, and for them there is no distinction between friends, well-wishers and enemies. Being transcendentally situated, such personalities as the Kumāras are above all material considerations and are always neutral in respect to material dualities. In the discussions held among the four brothers, one of them, namely Sanandana, was selected to speak, and the other brothers became the audience to hear him.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 2:

The Personality of Godhead always does good for one and all, by empowering His devotees to preach and propagate the transcendental process of devotional service to Godhead everywhere in accord with the specific time, place, and audience. The Lord is therefore called "Govinda," or the prime cause of all causes and the reservoir of all blessings. And the people in general can attain to perfect peace and tranquillity when they come to know Him by the gradual process of work with transcendental results.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 33, Purport:

There are two different kinds of religious preachers. One of them is called the professional preacher, and the other is called the ācārya. The professional preachers are like the rainfall from the sky, but the ācāryas are like waterfalls. The professional traders in Bhāgavatam and Rāmāyaṇa will speak from the portion of the scripture that will appeal to the mundane senses of the audience. For example, the professional Bhāgavatam reciter will generally speak on the subject of rāsa-līlā, which appears to the layman to be something like the dealings of ordinary men and women. Thus the professional reciters earn money from their so-called admirers. But an ācārya will never speak on rāsa-līlā to the general mass of people. The rāsa-līlā chapters of the Bhāgavatam are the most confidential part of the scripture, and they are meant for advanced students of spiritual realization.