When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took His bath at Akrūra-ghāṭa, He submerged Himself in the water for a long time. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya decided to take Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Prayāga after visiting the holy place known as Soro-kṣetra. While stopping near a village on the way to Prayāga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu fainted in ecstatic love. Some Pāṭhāna soldiers who were passing through saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and falsely concluded that the Lord's associates, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and others, had killed the Lord with a poison named dhuturā and were taking His wealth. Thus the soldiers arrested them. However, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu regained His senses, His associates were released. He talked with a person who was supposed to be a holy man in the party. From the Koran, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu established devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. Thus the leader of the soldiers, named Vijulī Khān, surrendered to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he and his party became devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The same village today is known as the village of Pāṭhāna Vaiṣṇavas. After bathing in the Ganges at Soro, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu arrived at Prayāga, at the confluence of three rivers-the Ganges, Yamunā and Sarasvatī.
Concluded that... (CC)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
From the authoritative evidence cited by Jīva Gosvāmī we may conclude that Kṛṣṇaloka is the supreme planet in the spiritual sky, which is far beyond the material cosmos. For the enjoyment of transcendental variety, the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa there have three divisions, and these pastimes are performed in the three abodes Dvārakā, Mathurā and Gokula. When Kṛṣṇa descends to this universe, He enjoys the pastimes in places of the same name. These places on earth are nondifferent from those original abodes, for they are facsimiles of those original holy places in the transcendental world. They are as good as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself and are equally worshipable. Lord Caitanya declared that Lord Kṛṣṇa, who presents Himself as the son of the King of Vraja, is worshipable, and that Vṛndāvana-dhāma is equally worshipable.
As spiritual sparks of the beams emanating from the transcendental body of the Lord, we are all permanently related with Him and equal to Him in quality. The material energy is a covering of the spiritual spark, but in the absence of that material covering, the living beings in Vaikuṇṭhaloka are never forgetful of their identities: they are eternally cognizant of their relationship with God in their constitutional position of rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord. Because they constantly engage in the transcendental service of the Lord, it is natural to conclude that their senses are also transcendental, for one cannot serve the Lord with material senses. The inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭhaloka do not possess material senses with which to lord it over material nature.
Persons with a poor fund of knowledge conclude that a place void of material qualities must be some sort of formless nothingness. In reality, however, there are qualities in the spiritual world, but they are different from the material qualities because everything there is eternal, unlimited and pure. The atmosphere there is self-illuminating, and thus there is no need of a sun, a moon, fire, electricity and so on. One who can reach that abode does not come back to the material world with a material body. There is no difference between atheists and the faithful in the Vaikuṇṭha planets because all who settle there are freed from the material qualities, and thus suras and asuras become equally obedient loving servitors of the Lord.
The symptoms of the puruṣa are described in the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta. While describing the incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the author has quoted from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (6.8.59), where it is said, "Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Puruṣottama, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is always free from the contamination of the six material dualities; whose plenary expansion, Mahā-Viṣṇu, glances over matter to create the cosmic manifestation; who expands Himself in various transcendental forms, all of which are one and the same; who is the master of all living entities; who is always free and liberated from the contamination of material energy; and who, when He appears in this material world, seems one of us, although He has an eternally spiritual, blissful, transcendental form." In summarizing this statement, Rūpa Gosvāmī has concluded that the plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who acts in cooperation with the material energy is called the puruṣa.
I thought about what I had seen and heard and concluded that the Lord had ordered me to proceed to Vṛndāvana at once.
Since materialistic philosophers and scientists are too much engaged with their imperfect senses, naturally they conclude that the living force is a product of a material combination. But the actual fact is just the opposite. Matter is a product of spirit. According to the Bhagavad-gītā, the supreme spirit, the Personality of Godhead, is the source of all energies. When one advances in research work by studying a limited substance within the limits of space and time, one is amazed by the various wonderful cosmic manifestations, and naturally one goes on hypnotically accepting the path of research work or the inductive method. Through the deductive way of understanding, however, one accepts the Supreme Absolute Person, the Personality of Godhead, as the cause of all causes, who is full with diverse energies and who is neither impersonal nor void.
“Sometimes foolish people take it for granted that because scorpions are born from heaps of rice, the rice has produced the scorpions. The real fact, however, is that the mother scorpion lays eggs within the rice and by the proper fermentation of the rice the eggs give birth to several baby scorpions, which in due course come out. This does not mean that the rice gives birth to the scorpions. Similarly, sometimes bugs are seen to come from dirty beds. This does not mean, however, that the beds give birth to the bugs. It is the living soul that comes forth, taking advantage of the dirty condition of the bed. There are different kinds of living creatures. Some of them come from embryos, some from eggs and some from the fermentation of perspiration. Different living creatures have different sources of appearance, but one should not conclude that matter produces such living creatures.
Although Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all pleasure, He has a special intention to taste Himself by accepting the form of a devotee. It is to be concluded that although Lord Caitanya is present in the form of a devotee, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Therefore Vaiṣṇavas sing, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya: "Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa combined together are Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu." And as Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī has said, caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ caikyam āptam: Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa assumed oneness in the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
In describing the Kāśīra Māyāvādīs, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has explained that persons who are bewildered by empiric knowledge or direct sensual perception, and who thus consider that even this limited material world can be gauged by their material estimations, conclude that anything that one can discern by direct sense perception is but māyā, or illusion. They maintain that although the Absolute Truth is beyond the range of sense perception, it includes no spiritual variety or enjoyment. According to the Kāśīra Māyāvādīs, the spiritual world is simply void. They do not believe in the Personality of the Absolute Truth or in His varieties of activities in the spiritual world. Although they have their own arguments, which are not very strong, they have no conception of the variegated activities of the Absolute Truth. These impersonalists, who are followers of Śaṅkarācārya, are generally known as Kāśīra Māyāvādīs (impersonalists residing in Vārāṇasī).
Since these impersonalists who do not have perfect spiritual knowledge cannot understand the principles of bhakti-yoga, they must be classified among the nondevotees who are against the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We sometimes feel inconvenienced by the hindrances offered by these impersonalists, but we do not care about their so-called philosophy, for we are propagating our own philosophy as presented in Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and getting successful results. Theorizing as if devotional service were subject to their mental speculation, both kinds of Māyāvādī impersonalists conclude that the subject matter of bhakti-yoga is a creation of māyā and that Kṛṣṇa, devotional service and the devotee are also māyā. Therefore, as stated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī: "All the Māyāvādīs are offenders to Lord Kṛṣṇa." (CC Madhya 17.129) It is not possible for them to understand the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement; therefore we do not value their philosophical conclusions. However expert such quarrelsome impersonalists are in putting forward their so-called logic, we defeat them in every respect and go forward with our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Their imaginative mental speculation cannot deter the progress of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, which is completely spiritual and is never under the control of such Māyāvādīs.
Foolish Māyāvādīs, not knowing that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on a solid philosophy of transcendental science, superficially conclude that those who dance and chant do not have philosophical knowledge. Those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious actually have full knowledge of the essence of Vedānta philosophy, for they study the real commentary on the Vedānta philosophy, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and follow the actual words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as found in Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. After understanding the Bhāgavata philosophy, or bhāgavata-dharma, they become fully spiritually conscious or Kṛṣṇa conscious, and therefore their chanting and dancing is not material but is on the spiritual platform. Although everyone admires the ecstatic chanting and dancing of the devotees, who are therefore popularly known as "the Hare Kṛṣṇa people," Māyāvādīs cannot appreciate these activities because of their poor fund of knowledge.
Transcendental love of Godhead is not under the jurisdiction of the material energy, for it is the transcendental bliss and pleasure potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since the Supreme Lord is also under the influence of transcendental bliss, when one comes in touch with such bliss in love of Godhead, one's heart melts, and the symptoms of this are standing of the hairs on end, etc. Sometimes a person thus melts and manifests these transcendental symptoms yet at the same time is not well behaved in his personal transactions. This indicates that he has not yet reached complete perfection in devotional life. In other words, a devotee who dances in ecstasy but after dancing and crying appears to be attracted to material affairs has not yet reached the perfection of devotional service, which is called āśaya-śuddhi, or the perfection of existence. One who attains the perfection of existence is completely averse to material enjoyment and engrossed in transcendental love of Godhead. It is therefore to be concluded that the ecstatic symptoms of āśaya-śuddhi are visible when a devotee's service has no material cause and is purely spiritual in nature.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “I never chanted and danced to make an artificial show. I dance and chant because I firmly believe in the words of My spiritual master. Although the Māyāvādī philosophers do not like this chanting and dancing, I nevertheless perform it on the strength of his words. Therefore it is to be concluded that I deserve very little credit for these activities of chanting and dancing, for they are being done automatically by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī explains that the variegated personal feature of the Absolute Truth is the viṣṇu-tattva and that the material energy, which creates this cosmic manifestation, is the energy of Lord Viṣṇu. The creative force is merely the energy of the Lord, but the foolish conclude that because the Lord has distributed Himself in an impersonal form He has no separate existence. The impersonal Brahman, however, cannot possess energies, nor do the Vedic literatures state that māyā (the illusory energy) is covered by another māyā. There are hundreds and thousands of references, however, to viṣṇu-māyā (parāsya śaktiḥ), or the energy of Lord Viṣṇu. In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14) Kṛṣṇa refers to mama māyā ("My energy"). Māyā is controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; it is not that He is covered by māyā.
The material potency is the energy of darkness, or complete ignorance of spiritual activities. In the material potency, the living entity engages himself in fruitive activities, thinking that he can be happy through expansion in terms of material energy. This fact is prominently manifest in this Age of Kali because human society, not understanding the spiritual nature, is busily expanding in material activities. The men of the present day are almost unaware of their spiritual identity. They think that they are products of the elements of the material world and that everything will end with the annihilation of the body. Therefore they conclude that as long as one has a material body consisting of material senses, one should enjoy the senses as much as possible. Since they are atheists, they do not care whether there is a next life. Such activities are described in this verse as avidyā-karma-saṁjñānyā.
It is to be concluded that the entire cosmic manifestation is a transformation of the energy of the Supreme Lord, not of the Supreme Lord or Absolute Truth Himself, who always remains the same. The material world and the living entities are transformations of the energy of the Lord, the Absolute Truth or Brahman, who is the original source. In other words, the Absolute Truth, Brahman, is the original ingredient, and the other manifestations are transformations of this ingredient. This is also confirmed in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.1): yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. "This entire cosmic manifestation is made possible by the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead." In this verse it is indicated that Brahman, the Absolute Truth, is the original cause and that the living entities (jīvas) and the cosmic manifestation are effects of this cause. The cause being a fact, the effects are also factual. They are not illusion.
It is therefore to be concluded that Śaṅkarācārya, in order to present the Supreme Lord, the living entities and the material nature as indivisible and ignorant, tries to cover the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He maintains that the material cosmic manifestation is mithyā, or false, but this is a great blunder. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a fact, how can His creation be false? Even in ordinary dealings, one cannot think the material cosmic manifestation to be false. Therefore Vaiṣṇava philosophers say that the cosmic creation is not false but temporary. It is separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but since it is wonderfully created by the energy of the Lord, to say that it is false is blasphemous.
One should not, however, foolishly conclude that because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is omnipotent, we have manufactured a combination of letters—a, u and m—to represent Him. Factually the transcendental sound oṁkāra, although a combination of the three letters a, u and m, has transcendental potency, and one who chants oṁkāra will very soon realize oṁkāra and Lord Viṣṇu to be nondifferent. Kṛṣṇa declares, praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu: "I am the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras." (BG 7.8) One should therefore conclude that among the many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, oṁkāra is the sound incarnation. All the Vedas accept this thesis. One should always remember that the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are always identical (abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ (CC Madhya 17.133)). Since oṁkāra is the basic principle of all Vedic knowledge, it is uttered before one begins to chant any Vedic hymn. Without oṁkāra, no Vedic mantra is successful.
Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī belonged to the Rāmānuja-sampradāya, whereas Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī belonged to the Śaṅkarācārya-sampradāya. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī wrote a number of books, among which are the Caitanya-candrāmṛta, Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi, Saṅgīta-mādhava, Vṛndāvana-śataka and Navadvīpa-śataka. While traveling in southern India, Caitanya Mahāprabhu met Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, who had two brothers, Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa and Tirumalaya Bhaṭṭa, who were Vaiṣṇavas of the Rāmānuja-sampradāya. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was the nephew of Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. From historical records it is found that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu traveled in South India in the year 1433 Śakābda (A.D. 1511) during the Cāturmāsya period, and it was at that time that He met Prabodhānanda, who belonged to the Rāmānuja-sampradāya. How then could the same person meet Him as a member of the Śaṅkara-sampradāya in 1435 Śakābda, two years later? It is to be concluded that the guess of the sahajiyā-sampradāya that Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī and Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī were the same man is a mistaken idea.
Previously Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had neither mixed nor talked with the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, but now He took lunch with them. It is to be concluded that when Lord Caitanya induced them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and excused them for their offenses, they were purified, and therefore there was no objection to taking lunch, or bhagavat-prasādam, with them, although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew that the food had not been offered to the Deity. Māyāvādī sannyāsīs do not worship the Deity, or if they do so they generally worship the deity of Lord Śiva or the pañcopāsanā (Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva, Durgā-devī, Gaṇeśa and Sūrya). Here we do not find any mention of the demigods or Viṣṇu, and yet Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted food in the midst of the sannyāsīs on the basis that they had chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and that He had excused their offenses.
When Rūpa Gosvāmī left home, he wrote a note for Sanātana Gosvāmī informing him of some money that he had entrusted to a local grocer. Sanātana Gosvāmī took advantage of this money to bribe the jail keeper and get free from detention. Then he left for Benares to meet Caitanya Mahāprabhu, bringing with him only one servant, whose name was Īśāna. On the way they stopped at a sarāi, or hotel, and when the hotel keeper found out that Īśāna had some gold coins with him, he planned to kill both Sanātana Gosvāmī and Īśāna to take away the coins. Later Sanātana Gosvāmī saw that although the hotel keeper did not know them, he was being especially attentive to their comfort. Therefore he concluded that Īśāna was secretly carrying some money and that the hotel keeper was aware of this and therefore planned to kill them for it. Upon being questioned by Sanātana Gosvāmī, Īśāna admitted that he indeed had money with him, and immediately Sanātana Gosvāmī took the money and gave it to the hotel keeper, requesting him to help them get through the jungle. Thus with the help of the hotel keeper, who was also the chief of the thieves of that territory, Sanātana Gosvāmī crossed over the Hazipur mountains, which are presently known as the Hazaribags. He then met his brother-in-law Śrīkānta, who requested that he stay with him. Sanātana Gosvāmī refused, but before they parted Śrīkānta gave him a valuable blanket.
Advaita Prabhu married in the beginning of the fifteenth century Śakābda (late fifteenth century A.D.). When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to visit the village of Rāmakeli while going from Jagannātha Purī to Vṛndāvana during the Śakābda years 1433 and 1434 (A.D. 1511 and 1512), Acyutānanda was only five years old. The Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa, Fourth Chapter, describes Acyutānanda at that time as pañca-varṣa vayasa madhura digambara, "only five years old and standing naked." Therefore it is to be concluded that Acyutānanda was born sometime in the year 1428 (A.D. 1506). Before the birth of Acyutānanda, Advaita Prabhu's wife, Sītādevī, came to see Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at His birth. Thus it is not impossible that she had the other three sons by Advaita within the twenty-one years between 1407 and 1428 Śakābda (A.D. 1486 and 1507). In an unauthorized book of the name Sītādvaita-carita, published in Bengali in the unauthorized newspaper Nityānanda-dāyinī in 1792 Śakābda (A.D. 1870), it is mentioned that Acyutānanda was a class friend of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His spiritual forms during His residence at Navadvīpa, He asked Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura's brother, to go to Śāntipura and bring back Advaita Ācārya. Acyutānanda joined his father at that time. It is said, advaitera tanaya "acyutānanda" nāma/ parama-bālaka, seho kānde avirāma. Acyutānanda also joined in crying in transcendental bliss. Again, when Lord Caitanya beat Advaita Ācārya for explaining Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from an impersonalist viewpoint opposed to the principles of bhakti-yoga, Acyutānanda was also present. Therefore all these incidents must have occurred only two or three years before Lord Caitanya accepted the sannyāsa order. As mentioned above, in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa, Chapter One, it is stated that Acyutānanda, the son of Advaita Ācārya, offered his obeisances to the Lord. Therefore it should be concluded that from the very beginning of his life Acyutānanda was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
The transference of the Lord from the heart of Jagannātha Miśra to the heart of Śacīmātā is explained by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura as follows: "It is to be concluded that Jagannātha Miśra and Śacīmātā are nitya-siddhas, ever-pure associates of the Lord. Their hearts are always uncontaminated, and therefore they never forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A common man in this material world has a contaminated heart. He must therefore first purify his heart to come to the transcendental position. But Jagannātha Miśra and Śacīmātā were not a common man and woman with contaminated hearts. When the heart is uncontaminated, it is said to be in the existential position of Vasudeva. Vasudeva can beget Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, who is transcendentally situated."
The Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Six, fully describes the Lord's accepting viṣṇu-prasādam on the Ekādaśī day at the house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya. Regular prasādam is offered to Lord Viṣṇu on Ekādaśī because although fasting is recommended for devotees on Ekādaśī, it is not recommended for Lord Viṣṇu. Once on Ekādaśī in the house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita there were arrangements for preparing special prasādam for Lord Viṣṇu, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked His father to go there to ask for the viṣṇu-prasādam because He was feeling sick. The house of Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya Paṇḍita was situated about two miles from the house of Jagannātha Miśra. Therefore when Jagannātha Miśra, on the request of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, came to ask Jagadīśa and Hiraṇya for the prasādam, they were a little astonished. How could the boy understand that special prasādam was being prepared for Lord Viṣṇu? They immediately concluded that Nimāi must have supernatural mystic power. Otherwise how could He understand that they were preparing special prasādam? Therefore they immediately sent the food to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu through His father, Jagannātha Miśra. Nimāi was feeling sick, but immediately after eating the viṣṇu-prasādam He was cured, and He also distributed the prasādam among His playmates.
The word "bhavānī" means "the wife of Lord Śiva." But when we mention her husband, one might conclude that she has another husband.
It is firmly concluded that the ecstatic mood of the gopīs is possible only before Kṛṣṇa, and no one else.
CC Madhya-lila
Śrīla Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu; therefore when he heard that from Kuliyā Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was going to Vṛndāvana, although he had no material wealth he began to construct within his mind a very attractive path or road for Caitanya Mahāprabhu to traverse. Some of the description of this path is given above. But even mentally he could not construct the road beyond Kānāi Nāṭaśālā. Therefore he concluded that Caitanya Mahāprabhu would not go to Vṛndāvana at that time.
The Lord concluded that He would go alone to Vṛndāvana or, at most, would take only one person as His companion. In that way, going to Vṛndāvana would be very pleasant.
The disciples of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya retaliated, "By what evidence do you conclude that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Lord?"
Gopīnātha Ācārya replied, "The statements of authorized ācāryas who understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are proof."
They doubt this because as soon as they think of a person, they think of a person within the material world with limited potency. Sometimes the Māyāvādī philosophers will accept Lord Kṛṣṇa or Lord Rāma as Bhagavān, but they think of the Lord as a person having a material body. The Māyāvādīs do not understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has a spiritual body. They think of Kṛṣṇa as a great personality, a human being, within whom there is the supreme impersonal power, Brahman. Therefore they finally conclude that the impersonal Brahman is the Supreme, not the personality Kṛṣṇa. This is the basis of Māyāvādī philosophy. However, from the śāstras we can understand that the Brahman effulgence consists of the bodily rays of Kṛṣṇa:
- yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-
- koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam
- tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ
- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
"I serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the primeval Lord, the effulgence of whose transcendental body is known as the brahma-jyotir. That brahma-jyotir, which is unlimited, unfathomed and all-pervasive, is the cause of the creation of unlimited numbers of planets with varieties of climates and specific conditions of life." (Bs. 5.40)
Māyāvādī philosophers study the Vedic literature, but they do not understand that in the last stage of realization the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. They do accept the fact that there is a creator of this cosmic manifestation, but that is anumāna (hypothesis). The Māyāvādī philosophers' logic is something like seeing smoke on a hill and concluding that there is a fire. When there is a forest fire on a high hill, smoke is first of all visible. Since it is known that smoke is created when there is fire, from seeing the smoke on the hill one can conclude that a fire is burning there. Similarly, from seeing this cosmic manifestation the Māyāvādī philosophers conclude that there must be a creator.
When the atheistic philosophers or the Māyāvādīs, being unable to understand the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, imagine an impersonal void, their imagination is only the counterpart of materialistic thinking. Within the material world, there is nothing inconceivable. High-thinking philosophers and scientists can tackle the material energy, but not being able to understand the spiritual energy, they can simply imagine an inactive state, such as the impersonal Brahman. This is simply the negative side of material life. By such imperfect knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers conclude that the cosmic manifestation is a transformation of the Supreme. Thus they must necessarily also accept the theory of the illusion of the Supreme (vivarta-vāda). However, if we accept the inconceivable potencies of the Lord, we can understand how the Supreme Personality of Godhead can appear within this material world without being touched or contaminated by the three modes of material nature.
This is a quotation from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (3.8.9). As stated by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, “The purport is that one can realize life's perfection simply by satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” This is also confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.13):
- ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ
- sv-anuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
“O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.”
We cannot accept the theory that the Buddhist philosophy is the only way, for there are so many defects in that philosophy. A perfect philosophy is one that has no defects, and that is Vedānta philosophy. No one can point out any defects in Vedānta philosophy, and therefore we can conclude that Vedānta is the supreme philosophical way of understanding the truth. According to the Buddhist cult, the Vedas are compiled by ordinary human beings. If this were the case, they would not be authoritative. From the Vedic literatures we understand that shortly after the creation Lord Brahmā was instructed in the Vedas. It is not that the Vedas were created by Brahmā, although Brahmā is the original person in the universe. If Brahmā did not create the Vedas but he is acknowledged as the first created being, wherefrom did Vedic knowledge come to Brahmā? Obviously the Vedas did not come from an ordinary person born in this material world. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye: (SB 1.1.1) after the creation, the Supreme Person imparted Vedic knowledge within the heart of Brahmā. There was no person in the beginning of the creation other than Brahmā, yet he did not compile the Vedas; therefore the conclusion is that the Vedas were not compiled by any created being. Vedic knowledge was given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who created this material world. This is also accepted by Śaṅkarācārya, although he is not a Vaiṣṇava.
Svarūpa Dāmodara was as expert a musician as the Gandharvas, and in scriptural discussion he was just like Bṛhaspati, the priest of the heavenly gods. Therefore it is to be concluded that there was no great personality quite like Svarūpa Dāmodara.
This verse is also included in the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (2.4), by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. The words viṣṇor ārādhanam refer to the worship of Lord Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa. Thus the supreme form of worship is the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. It is further concluded that the worshiper of Lord Viṣṇu renders better service by worshiping the devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. There are different types of devotees—those in śānta-rasa, dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa and mādhurya-rasa. Although all the rasas are on the transcendental platform, mādhurya-rasa is the supreme transcendental mellow. Consequently it is concluded that the worship of devotees engaged in the Lord's service in mādhurya-rasa is the supreme spiritual activity. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His followers mainly worship Lord Kṛṣṇa in mādhurya-rasa. Other Vaiṣṇava ācāryas recommended worship up to vātsalya-rasa.
The King said, “According to evidence given in the revealed scriptures, it is concluded that Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Why, then, are learned scholars sometimes indifferent to Him?
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then recited the following verse: “‘My dear Lord, one who always keeps Your holy name on his tongue becomes greater than an initiated brāhmaṇa. Although he may be born in a family of dog-eaters and therefore by material calculation may be the lowest among men, he is still glorious. This is the wonderful effect of chanting the holy name of the Lord. It is therefore concluded that one who chants the holy name of the Lord should be understood to have performed all kinds of austerities and great sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas. He has already taken his bath in all the holy places of pilgrimage. He has studied all the Vedas, and he is actually an Āryan.
In the material world, the external potency (material energy) can act only after one endeavors at great length, but when the Supreme Lord desires, everything is performed automatically by the internal potency. By His will, things happen so nicely and perfectly that they appear to be carried out automatically. Sometimes the activities of the internal potency are exhibited in the material world. In fact, all the activities of material nature are actually performed by the inconceivable energies of the Lord, but so-called scientists and students of material nature are unable to understand ultimately how things are happening. They evasively conclude that everything is being done by nature, but they do not know that behind nature is the potent Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa explains this in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.10):
- mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram
- hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate
"This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again."
It is thus concluded that even a neophyte devotee is superior to the karmīs and jñānīs because he has full faith in chanting the holy name of the Lord. A karmī or a jñānī, regardless of his greatness, has no faith in Lord Viṣṇu, His holy name or His devotional service. One may be advanced religiously, but if he is not trained in devotional service, he has very little credit on the transcendental platform. Even a neophyte devotee engaged in Deity worship in accordance with the regulations set forth by the spiritual master is in a position superior to that of the fruitive worker and speculative philosopher.
When such a living entity comes under the jurisdiction of the material energy, he is sent into one of the innumerable material universes created by the material energy to give a chance to conditioned souls to fulfill their desires in the material world. Being very eager to enjoy the fruits of their activities, conditioned souls become involved in the actions and reactions of material life. Consequently they enjoy and suffer the results of karma. However, if a conditioned soul becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, the karma of his pious and impious activities is completely destroyed. Simply by becoming a devotee, one is freed of all the reactions of karma. Similarly, simply by the desire of a devotee, a conditioned soul can attain liberation and transcend the results of karma. Since everyone can be liberated in this way, one may conclude that it is according to the sweet will of the devotee whether the material world exists or does not exist. Ultimately, however, it is not the sweet will of the devotee but the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who, if He so desires, can completely annihilate the material creation. There is no loss on His part. The owner of millions of cows does not consider the loss of one she-goat. Similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the proprietor of both the material and spiritual universes. The material world constitutes only one-fourth of His creative energy. If, according to the desire of the devotee, the Lord completely destroys the creation, He is so opulent that He will not mind the loss.
In a book named Navadvīpa-dhāma-parikramā, also written by Ghanaśyāma dāsa, it is stated: kuliyā-pāhāḍapura grāma pūrve koladvīpa-parvatākhyānanda nāma. "The town of Kuliyā-pāhāḍapura was previously named Koladvīpa-parvatākhyānanda."
Therefore one can conclude that the present-day city of Navadvīpa and the places known as Bāhiradvīpa, Kolera Gañja, Kola-āmāda, Kolera Daha, Gadakhāli, etc., were known as Kuliyā, but the so-called Kuliyāra Pāḍa is not the original Kuliyā.
One may get a little light from these names, but one cannot understand that the holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord. One considers the Lord's names material due to a poor fund of knowledge. Māyāvādī philosophers and the pañcopāsakas cannot in the least understand the existence of the spiritual world and the blissful variegatedness there. They cannot understand the Absolute Truth and its spiritual varieties—name, form, qualities and pastimes. Consequently they conclude that Kṛṣṇa's transcendental activities are māyā. To avoid this misconception one has to directly cultivate knowledge about the holy name of the Lord. Māyāvādī philosophers do not know this fact, and therefore they commit great offenses. One should not hear anything about Kṛṣṇa or devotional service from the mouths of Māyāvādī impersonalists.
Nonetheless, we invited people to our storefront to join in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and the Lord's holy name is so attractive that simply by coming to our storefront in New York, fortunate young people became Kṛṣṇa conscious. Although this mission was started with insignificant capital, it is now going nicely. The spreading of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra in the West has become successful because the young people were not offenders. The youths who joined this movement were not very advanced as far as purity is concerned, nor were they very well educated in Vedic knowledge, but because they were not offenders, they could accept the importance of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. We are now very happy to see that this movement is advancing more and more in the Western countries. We therefore conclude that the so-called mlecchas and yavanas of the Western countries are more purified than offensive Māyāvādīs or atheistic impersonalists.
Vallabha Bhaṭṭācārya then recited the following verse: “‘My dear Lord, one who always keeps Your holy name on his tongue becomes greater than an initiated brāhmaṇa. Although he may be born in a family of dog-eaters and may therefore, by material calculation, be the lowest among men, he is still glorious. This is the wonderful effect of chanting the holy name of the Lord. It is therefore concluded that one who chants the holy name of the Lord should be understood to have performed all kinds of austerities and great sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas. He has already taken his bath in all the holy places of pilgrimage, he has studied all the Vedas, and he is actually an Āryan.
"O Lord, although the living entities who have accepted material bodies are spiritual and unlimited in number, if they were all-pervading there would be no question of their being under Your control. If they are accepted, however, as particles of the eternally existing spiritual entity—as part of You, who are the supreme spirit whole—we must conclude that they are always under Your control. If the living entities are simply satisfied with being identical with You as spiritual particles, then they will be happy being controllers of so many things. The conclusion that the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are one and the same is a faulty conclusion. It is not a fact."
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving clear instructions on how the living entities live under different conditions. There are trees, plants and stones that cannot move, but still they must be considered living entities, or spiritual sparks. The soul is present in bodies like those of trees, plants and stones. They are all living entities. Among moving living entities such as birds, aquatics and animals, the same spiritual spark is there. As stated herein, there are living entities that can fly, swim and walk. We must also conclude that there are living entities that can move within fire and ether. Living entities have different material bodies composed of earth, water, air, fire and ether. The words tāra madhye mean "within this universe." The entire material universe is composed of five material elements. It is not true that living entities reside only within this planet and not within others. Such a conclusion is completely contradictory to the Vedas.
The soul has nothing to do with the material elements. Any material element can be cut to pieces, especially earth. As far as the living entity is concerned, however, he can be neither burned nor cut to pieces. He can therefore live within fire. We can conclude that there are also living entities within the sun. Why should living entities be denied this planet or that planet? According to the Vedas, the living entities can live anywhere and everywhere—on land, in water, in air and in fire. Whatever the condition, the living entity is unchangeable (sthāṇu). From the statements of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the Bhagavad-gītā, we are to conclude that living entities exist everywhere throughout the universes. They are distributed as trees, plants, aquatics, birds, human beings and so on.
The revealed scriptures conclude that one should give up fruitive activity, speculative knowledge and the mystic yoga system and instead take to devotional service, by which Kṛṣṇa can be fully satisfied.
The following summary of this chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. According to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī’s request, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained the well-known Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam verse beginning ātmārāmāś ca munayaḥ. He explained this verse in sixty-one different ways. He analyzed all the words and described each word with its different connotations. Adding the words ca and api, He described all the different meanings of the verse. He then concluded that different classes of transcendentalists (jñānīs, karmīs, yogīs) utilize this verse according to their own interpretation, but if they would give up this process and surrender to Kṛṣṇa, as indicated by the verse itself, they would be able to comprehend the real meaning of the verse. In this regard, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu narrated a story about how the great sage Nārada converted a hunter into a great Vaiṣṇava, and how this was appreciated by Nārada's friend Parvata Muni. Sanātana Gosvāmī then offered a prayer to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained the glory of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. After this, the Lord gave Sanātana Gosvāmī a synopsis of Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, which Sanātana Gosvāmī later developed into the guiding principle of all Vaiṣṇavas.
We cannot, of course, imitate Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It is not possible. However, unless one is very serious about understanding Kṛṣṇa, he cannot understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the full narration of Kṛṣṇa's transcendental activities. The first nine cantos explain who Kṛṣṇa is, and the Lord's birth and activities are narrated in the Tenth Canto. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated, janma karma ca me divyam. Kṛṣṇa's appearance and disappearance are transcendental, not mundane. A person is eligible to return home, back to Godhead, if he perfectly understands Kṛṣṇa and His appearance and disappearance. This is verified by Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.9): tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ‘rjuna (BG 4.9).
It is therefore concluded that one has to learn about Kṛṣṇa from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā, and one has to follow in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Those who do not follow Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu cannot understand the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The Mīmāṁsaka philosophers conclude that if there is a God, He is subject to our fruitive activities. Similarly, the Sāṅkhya philosophers, who analyze the cosmic manifestation, say that the cause of the cosmos is material nature.
Therefore it is to be concluded that the Brahma-sūtra is explained vividly in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Also, what is explained in the verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has the same purport as what is explained in the Upaniṣads.
When everyone heard Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's explanation of the ātmārāma-śloka, everyone was astonished and struck with wonder. They concluded that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was none other than Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.
The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, has condemned all his enemies by comparing them to envious hogs and pigs. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, which is spreading throughout the world, is being appreciated by sincere people, although they have never previously heard of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Now even the higher, priestly circles are appreciating this movement. They have concluded that this movement is very nice and that they have something to learn from it. Nonetheless, in India there are some people who say that they belong to this cult but who are actually very envious of the ācārya. They have tried to suppress our activities in many ways, but as far as we are concerned, we follow in the footsteps of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī and take them as envious pigs and hogs. We simply wish to present the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to the best of our ability so that those who are really honest can cleanse their hearts. We hope that they enjoy this literature and bestow their blessings upon us. It appears that even such a great personality as Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī met with some envious obstacles; what, then, to speak of us, who are only insignificant creatures in this universe. We are simply trying to execute the orders of our spiritual master to the best of our ability.
CC Antya-lila
There are many other instances in which the pet animal of a Vaiṣṇava was delivered back home to Vaikuṇṭhaloka, back to Godhead. Such is the benefit of somehow or other becoming the favorite of a Vaiṣṇava. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has also sung, kīṭa-janma ha-u yathā tuyā dāsa (Śaraṇāgati 11). There is no harm in taking birth again and again. Our only desire should be to take birth under the care of a Vaiṣṇava. Fortunately we had the opportunity to be born of a Vaiṣṇava father who took care of us very nicely. He prayed to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī that in the future we would become a servant of the eternal consort of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Thus somehow or other we are now engaged in that service. We may conclude that even as dogs we must take shelter of a Vaiṣṇava. The benefit will be the same as that which accrues to an advanced devotee under a Vaiṣṇava's care.
Then all the devotees, headed by Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, concluded that because Haridāsa had committed suicide at the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamunā, he must have ultimately attained shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya that in the opinion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the govardhana-śilā, the stone from Govardhana Hill, was directly the form of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda. The Lord used the stone for three years, and then in the heart of Raghunātha dāsa the Lord awakened devotional service to the stone. The Lord then gave the stone to Raghunātha dāsa, accepting him as one of His most confidential servants. However, some envious people conclude that because Raghunātha dāsa had not taken birth in the family of a brāhmaṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not give him the right to worship the Deity directly but instead gave him a stone from Govardhana. This kind of thought is nārakī, or hellish. As stated in the Padma Purāṇa, arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ . . . yasya vā nārakī saḥ. If one thinks that the worshipable śālagrāma-śilā is a mere stone, that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being or that a pure Vaiṣṇava preaching the bhakti cult all over the world is a member of a particular caste or material division of society, he is considered a nārakī, a candidate for hellish life.
In separation from the Lord, everyone felt as though he had lost his very life. The devotees concluded that there must have been some mishap. They could not think of anything else.
| Page Title: | Concluded that... (CC) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 18 of Feb, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=61, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 61 |