Influence (CC Adi-lila)

Expressions researched:
"influence" |"influenced" |"influences" |"influencing" |"influential"

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Foreword:

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, is the principal work on the life and teachings of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the pioneer of a great social and religious movement that began in India about five hundred years ago and that has directly and indirectly influenced the subsequent course of religious and philosophical thinking not only in India but throughout the world. That Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya's influence has spread so far is due in large part to the efforts of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the present work's translator and commentator and the founder and ācārya (spiritual guide) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.46, Purport:

If one poses himself as an ācārya but does not have an attitude of servitorship to the Lord, he must be considered an offender, and this offensive attitude disqualifies him from being an ācārya. The bona fide spiritual master always engages in unalloyed devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By this test he is known to be a direct manifestation of the Lord and a genuine representative of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. Such a spiritual master is known as ācāryadeva. Influenced by an envious temperament and dissatisfied because of an attitude of sense gratification, mundaners criticize a real ācārya. In fact, however, a bona fide ācārya is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead, and therefore to envy such an ācārya is to envy the Personality of Godhead Himself. This will produce an effect subversive of transcendental realization.

CC Adi 2.10, Purport:

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained the word bhagavān in his Bhagavat-sandarbha. The Personality of Godhead, being full of all conceivable and inconceivable potencies, is the absolute Supreme Whole. Impersonal Brahman is a partial manifestation of the Absolute Truth realized in the absence of such complete potencies. The first syllable of the word bhagavān is bha, which means "sustainer" and "protector." The next letter, ga, means "leader," "pusher" and "creator." Va means "dwelling" (all living beings dwell in the Supreme Lord, and the Supreme Lord dwells within the heart of every living being). Combining all these concepts, the word bhagavān carries the import of inconceivable potency in knowledge, energy, strength, opulence, power and influence, devoid of all varieties of inferiority. Without such inconceivable potencies, one cannot fully sustain or protect. Our modern civilization is sustained by scientific arrangements devised by many great scientific brains. We can just imagine, therefore, the gigantic brain whose arrangements sustain the gravity of the unlimited number of planets and satellites and who creates the unlimited space in which they float. If one considers the intelligence needed to orbit man-made satellites, one cannot be fooled into thinking that there is not a gigantic intelligence responsible for the arrangements of the various planetary systems.

CC Adi 2.18, Purport:

The authorized scriptures direct the individual souls to revive their relationship with the Supersoul. Indeed, the system of yoga is the process of transcending the influence of the material elements by establishing a connection with the puruṣa known as Paramātmā. One who has thoroughly studied the intricacies of creation can know very easily that this Paramātmā is the plenary portion of the Supreme Being, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 2.25, Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has His eternal form, which cannot be seen by material eyes or mental speculation. Only by transcendental devotional service can one understand the transcendental form of the Lord. The comparison is made here to the qualifications for viewing the personal features of the sun-god. The sun-god is a person who, although not visible to our eyes, is seen from the higher planets by the demigods, whose eyes are suitable for seeing through the glaring sunshine that surrounds him. Every planet has its own atmosphere according to the influence of the arrangement of material nature. It is therefore necessary to have a particular type of bodily construction to reach a particular planet. The inhabitants of earth may be able to reach the moon, but the inhabitants of heaven can reach even the fiery sphere called the sun. What is impossible for man on earth is easy for the demigods in heaven because of their different bodies. Similarly, to see the Supreme Lord one must have the spiritual eyes of devotional service.

CC Adi 2.55, Translation:

“"This is the opulence of the Lord: Although situated in the material nature, He is never affected by the modes of nature. Similarly, those who have surrendered to Him and fixed their intelligence upon Him are not influenced by the modes of nature.""

CC Adi 2.55, Purport:

This text is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.11.38). Those who have taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead do not identify with the material world, even while living in it. Pure devotees may deal with the three modes of material nature, but because of their transcendental intelligence in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are not influenced by the material qualities. The spell of material activities does not attract such devotees. Therefore, the Supreme Lord and His devotees acting under Him are always free from material contamination.

CC Adi 2.96, Purport:

Although the potency of māyā is inferior in quality to the marginal potency, which consists of the living beings, who are part and parcel of the Lord, it nevertheless has the power to control the living beings, just as fog can block the actions of a certain portion of the sun's rays although it cannot cover the sun. The living beings covered by the illusory energy evolve in different species of life, with bodies ranging from that of an insignificant ant to that of Brahmā, the constructor of the cosmos. The pradhāna, the chief cause of all causes in the impersonal vision, is none other than the Supreme Lord, whom one can see face to face in the internal potency. He takes the material all-pervasive form by His inconceivable power. Although all three potencies—namely internal, external and marginal—are essentially one in the ultimate issue, they are different in action, like electric energy, which can produce both cold and heat under different conditions. The external and marginal potencies are so called under various conditions, but in the original, internal potencies there are no such conditions, nor is it possible for the conditions of the external potency to exist in the marginal, or vice versa. One who is able to understand the intricacies of all these energies of the Supreme Lord can no longer remain an empiric impersonalist under the influence of a poor fund of knowledge.

CC Adi 3.34, Purport:

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.

CC Adi 3.71, Purport:

In the realm of the Absolute, one plus one equals one, and one minus one equals one. Therefore one should not conceive of a fragment of the Supreme Lord in the material sense. In the spiritual world there is no influence of the material energy or material calculations of fragments. In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says that the living entities are His parts and parcels. There are innumerable living entities throughout the material and spiritual universes, but still Lord Kṛṣṇa is full in Himself. To think that God has lost His personality because His many parts and parcels are distributed all over the universe is an illusion. That is a material calculation. Such calculations are possible only under the influence of the material energy, māyā. In the spiritual world the material energy is conspicuous only by its absence.

CC Adi 3.71, Purport:

Demigods such as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva come in contact with the material energy, and their power and potency are therefore of different gradations. All the incarnations of Viṣṇu, however, are equal in potency, for the influence of māyā cannot even approach Them.

CC Adi 3.85, Purport:

One can also directly see Lord Caitanya's manifest influence in His uncommon deeds and uncommon Kṛṣṇa conscious realization.

CC Adi 3.87, Translation:

"O my Lord, those influenced by demoniac principles cannot realize You, although You are clearly the Supreme by dint of Your exalted activities, forms, character and uncommon power, which are confirmed by all the revealed scriptures in the quality of goodness and the celebrated transcendentalists in the divine nature."

CC Adi 3.89, Purport:

This verse is also quoted from the Stotra-ratna (13) of Yāmunācārya. Everything covered by the influence of māyā is within the limited boundaries of space, time and thought. Even the greatest manifestation we can conceive, the sky, also has limitations. From the authentic scriptures, however, it is evident that beyond the sky is a covering of seven layers, each ten times thicker than the one preceding it. The covering layers are vast, but with or without coverings, space is limited. Our power to think about space and time is also limited. Time is eternal; we may imagine billions and trillions of years, but that will still be an inadequate estimate of the extent of time. Our imperfect senses, therefore, cannot think of the greatness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nor can we bring Him within the limitations of time or our thinking power. His position is accordingly described by the word ullaṅghita. He is transcendental to space, time and thought; although He appears within them, He exists transcendentally. Even when the Lord's transcendental existence is disguised by space, time and thought, however, pure devotees of the Supreme Lord can see Him in His personal features beyond space, time and thought. In other words, even though the Lord is not visible to the eyes of ordinary men, those who are beyond the covering layers because of their transcendental devotional service can still see Him.

CC Adi 3.89, Purport:

The sun may appear covered by a cloud, but actually it is the eyes of the tiny people below the cloud that are covered, not the sun. If those tiny people rose above the cloud in an airplane, they could then see the sunshine and the sun without impediment. Similarly, although the covering of māyā is very strong, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14):

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī

mama māyā duratyayā

mām eva ye prapadyante

māyām etāṁ taranti te

"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." To surpass the influence of the illusory energy is very difficult, but those who are determined to catch hold of the lotus feet of the Lord are freed from the clutches of māyā. Therefore, pure devotees can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but demons, because of their miscreant behavior, cannot understand the Lord, in spite of seeing the many revealed scriptures and the uncommon activities of the Lord.

CC Adi 3.98, Purport:

In the grim clutches of māyā, the first-class prisoners of this material world wrongly think themselves happy because they are rich, powerful, resourceful and so on. These foolish creatures do not know that they are nothing but play dolls in the hands of material nature and that at any moment material nature's pitiless intrigues can crush to dust all their plans for godless activities. Such foolish prisoners cannot see that however they improve their position by artificial means, the calamities of repeated birth, death, disease and old age are always beyond the jurisdiction of their control. Foolish as they are, they neglect these major problems of life and busy themselves with false things that cannot help them solve their real problems. They know that they do not want to suffer death or the pangs of disease and old age, but under the influence of the illusory energy, they are grossly negligent and therefore do nothing to solve the problems. This is called māyā. People held in the grip of māyā are thrown into oblivion after death, and as a result of their karma, in the next life they become dogs or gods, although most of them become dogs. To become gods in the next life, they must engage in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; otherwise, they are sure to become dogs or hogs in terms of the laws of nature.

CC Adi 4.29, Translation:

“The influence of yogamāyā will inspire the gopīs with the sentiment that I am their paramour."

CC Adi 4.30, Purport:

In Goloka Vṛndāvana there is an exchange of love known as parakīya-rasa. It is something like the attraction of a married woman for a man other than her husband. In the material world this sort of relationship is most abominable because it is a perverted reflection of the parakīya-rasa in the spiritual world, where it is the highest kind of loving affair. Such feelings between the devotee and the Lord are presented by the influence of yogamāyā. The Bhagavad-gītā states that devotees of the highest grade are under the care of daiva-māyā, or yogamāyā: mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ (BG 9.13). Those who are actually great souls (mahātmās) are fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, always engaged in the service of the Lord. They are under the care of daivī-prakṛti, or yogamāyā. Yogamāyā creates a situation in which the devotee is prepared to transgress all regulative principles simply to love Kṛṣṇa. A devotee naturally does not like to transgress the laws of reverence for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but by the influence of yogamāyā he is prepared to do anything to love the Supreme Lord better.

CC Adi 4.30, Purport:

In the spiritual loving sentiment induced by the yogamāyā potency, both Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the damsels of Vraja forget themselves in spiritual rapture. By the influence of such forgetfulness, the attractive beauty of the gopīs plays a prominent part in the transcendental satisfaction of the Lord, who has nothing to do with mundane sex. Because spiritual love of Godhead is above everything mundane, the gopīs superficially seem to transgress the codes of mundane morality. This perpetually puzzles mundane moralists. Therefore yogamāyā acts to cover the Lord and His pastimes from the eyes of mundaners, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.25), where the Lord says that He reserves the right of not being exposed to everyone.

CC Adi 4.60, Purport:

What is the particular attraction that makes the Supreme Lord enthusiastic to accept devotional service, and what is the nature of such service? The Vedic scriptures inform us that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, is self-sufficient, and that māyā, nescience, can never influence Him at all. Therefore the potency that overcomes the Supreme must be purely spiritual. Such a potency cannot be anything of the material manifestation. The bliss enjoyed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be of material composition, like the impersonalist conception of the bliss of Brahman. Devotional service is reciprocation between two, and therefore it cannot be located simply within one's self. Therefore the bliss of self-realization, brahmānanda, cannot be equated with devotional service.

CC Adi 4.62, Purport:

The material modes of nature control the conditioned souls, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never influenced by these modes, as all Vedic literatures directly and indirectly corroborate. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself says in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.12), sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇā jīvasya naiva me: "The material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance are connected with the conditioned souls, but never with Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The Viṣṇu Purāṇa confirms this as follows:

sattvādayo na santīśe yatra na prākṛtā gunāḥ

sa śuddhaḥ sarva-śuddhebhyaḥ pumān ādyaḥ prasīdatu

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is beyond the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance. No material qualities exist in Him. May that original person, Nārāyaṇa, who is situated in a completely transcendental position, be pleased with us."

CC Adi 4.62, Purport:

Each of the three divisions of the internal potency—the sandhinī, samvit and hlādinī energies—influences one of the external potencies by which the conditioned souls are conducted. Such influence manifests the three qualitative modes of material nature, proving definitely that the living entities, the marginal potency, are eternally servitors of the Lord and are therefore controlled by either the internal or the external potency.

CC Adi 4.67, Purport:

The activities of the samvit-śakti produce the effect of cognition. Both the Lord and the living entities are cognizant. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has full knowledge of everything everywhere, and therefore there are no hindrances to His cognition. He can have knowledge merely by glancing over an object, whereas innumerable impediments block the cognition of ordinary living beings. The cognition of the living beings has three divisions: direct knowledge, indirect knowledge and perverted knowledge. Sense perception of material objects by the mundane senses, such as the eye, ear, nose and hand, always produces definitely perverted knowledge. This illusion is a presentation of the material energy, which is influenced by the samvit-śakti in a perverted manner. Negative cognition of an object beyond the reach of sense perception is the way of indirect knowledge, which is not altogether imperfect but which produces only fragmentary knowledge in the form of impersonal spiritual realization and monism. But when the samvit factor of cognition is enlightened by the hlādinī potency of the same internal energy, they work together, and only thus can one attain knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. The samvit-śakti should be maintained in that state. Material knowledge and indirect spiritual knowledge are by-products of the samvit-śakti.

CC Adi 5 Summary:

In Kṛṣṇaloka is a transcendental place known as Śvetadvīpa or Vṛndāvana. Below Kṛṣṇaloka in the spiritual sky are the Vaikuṇṭha planets. On each Vaikuṇṭha planet a four-handed Nārāyaṇa, expanded from the first quadruple manifestation, is present. The Personality of Godhead known as Śrī Balarāma in Kṛṣṇaloka is the original Saṅkarṣaṇa (attracting Deity), and from this Saṅkarṣaṇa expands another Saṅkarṣaṇa, called Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa, who resides in one of the Vaikuṇṭha planets. By His internal potency, Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa maintains the transcendental existence of all the planets in the spiritual sky, where all the living beings are eternally liberated souls. The influence of the material energy is conspicuous there by its absence. On those planets the second quadruple manifestation is present.

CC Adi 5.22, Purport:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Second Canto) states that in Vaikuṇṭhaloka the material modes of nature, represented by the qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance, have no influence. In the material world the highest qualitative manifestation is goodness, which is characterized by truthfulness, mental equilibrium, cleanliness, control of the senses, simplicity, essential knowledge, faith in God, scientific knowledge and so on. Nevertheless, all these qualities are mixed with passion and imperfection. But the qualities in Vaikuṇṭha are a manifestation of God's internal potency, and therefore they are purely spiritual and transcendental, with no trace of material infection. No material planet, even Satyaloka, is comparable in quality to the spiritual planets, where the five inherent qualities of the material world—namely ignorance, misery, egoism, anger and envy—are completely absent.

CC Adi 5.22, Purport:

In the material world one may try to make everything permanent by developing the above-mentioned qualities of goodness, but because the goodness in the material world is mixed with passion and ignorance, nothing here can exist permanently, despite all the good plans of the best scientific brains. Therefore in the material world we have no experience of eternity, bliss and fullness of knowledge. But in the spiritual world, because of the complete absence of the qualitative modes, everything is eternal, blissful and cognizant. Everything can speak, everything can move, everything can hear, and everything can see in fully blessed existence for eternity. The situation being so, naturally space and time, in the forms of past, present and future, have no influence there. In the spiritual sky there is no change because time has no influence. Consequently, the influence of māyā, the total external energy, which induces us to become more and more materialistic and forget our relationship with God, is also absent there.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

Someone might argue that the Absolute would be affected by duality if He were both all-cognizance (Brahman) and the Personality of Godhead with six opulences in full (Bhagavān). To refute such an argument, the aphorism svarūpa-dvayam īkṣyate declares that in spite of appearances, there is no chance of duality in the Absolute, for He is but one in diverse manifestations. Understanding that the Absolute displays varied pastimes by the influence of His energies at once removes the apparent incongruity of His inconceivably opposite energies.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has tried to prove that Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand through cause and effect. He has compared Them with earth and earthen pots. That is completely ignorant, however, for there is no such thing as cause and effect in Their expansions (nānyad yat sad-asat-param). The Kūrma Purāṇa also confirms, deha-dehi-vibhedo ’yaṁ neśvare vidyate kvacit: "There is no difference between body and soul in the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Cause and effect are material. For example, it is seen that a father's body is the cause of a son's body, but the soul is neither cause nor effect. On the spiritual platform there are none of the differences we find in cause and effect. Since all the forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are spiritually supreme, They are equally controllers of material nature. Standing on the fourth dimension, They are predominating figures on the transcendental platform. There is no trace of material contamination in Their expansions because material laws cannot influence Them. There is no such rule as cause and effect outside of the material world. Therefore the understanding of cause and effect cannot approach the full, transcendental, complete expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa Lord Viṣṇu is worshiped in the following words: "Let the Supreme Personality of Godhead be merciful toward us. His existence is never infected by material qualities." In the same Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is also said that all the qualities attributed to the Supreme Lord, such as knowledge, opulence, beauty, strength and influence, are known to be nondifferent from Him. This is also confirmed in the Padma Purāṇa, which explains that whenever the Supreme Lord is described as having no qualities, this should be understood to indicate that He is devoid of material qualities. In the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.16.29) it is said, "O Dharma, protector of religious principles, all noble and sublime qualities are eternally manifested in the person of Kṛṣṇa, and devotees and transcendentalists who aspire to become faithful also desire to possess such transcendental qualities."” It is therefore to be understood that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental form of absolute bliss, is the fountainhead of all pleasurable transcendental qualities and inconceivable potencies. In this connection we may recommend references to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, Chapter Twenty-six, verses 21, 25, 27 and 28.

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

“Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha have all the potent features of the absolute Personality of Godhead, according to the revealed scriptures, which contain undeniable facts that no one can refute. Therefore these members of the quadruple manifestation are never to be considered ordinary living beings. Each of Them is a plenary expansion of the Absolute Godhead, and thus each is identical with the Supreme Lord in knowledge, opulence, energy, influence, prowess and potencies. The evidence of the Pañcarātras cannot be neglected. Only untrained persons who have not genuinely studied the Pañcarātras think that the Pañcarātras contradict the śrutis regarding the birth or beginning of the living entity. In this connection, we must accept the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which says, "The absolute Personality of Godhead, who is known as Vāsudeva and who is very affectionate toward His surrendered devotees, expands Himself in quadruple forms who are subordinate to Him and at the same time identical with Him in all respects."

CC Adi 5.87, Translation:

"This is the opulence of the Lord. Although situated within the material nature, He is never affected by the modes of nature. Similarly, those who have surrendered to Him and have fixed their intelligence upon Him are not influenced by the modes of nature."

CC Adi 5.89, Purport:

The material manifestation cannot exist separate from the Supreme Lord, yet Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in spite of His connection with the material nature, cannot be subordinate to nature's influence. His original form of eternal bliss and knowledge is never subordinate to the three qualities of material nature. This is a specific feature of the Supreme Lord's inconceivable potencies.

CC Adi 6.61, Translation:

"Wherever we wander in the material universe under the influence of karma by the will of the Lord, may our auspicious activities cause our attraction to Lord Kṛṣṇa to increase."

CC Adi 6.88, Translation:

The source of the sentiment of servitude is indeed Lord Balarāma. The plenary expansions who follow Him are all influenced by that ecstasy.

CC Adi 7.27, Purport:

Instead of being envious that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is spreading all over the world by the grace of Lord Caitanya, those who are jealous should be happy, as indicated here by the words parama ullāsa. But because they are kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs or prākṛta-bhaktas (materialistic devotees who are not advanced in spiritual knowledge), they are envious instead of happy, and they try to find faults in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Yet Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī writes in his Caitanya-candrāmṛta that when influenced by Lord Caitanya's Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, materialists become averse to talking about their wives and children, supposedly learned scholars give up their tedious studies of Vedic literature, yogīs give up their impractical practices of mystic yoga, ascetics give up their austere activities of penance and austerity, and sannyāsīs give up their study of Sāṅkhya philosophy. Thus they are all attracted by the bhakti-yoga practices of Lord Caitanya and cannot relish a mellow superior to that of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

CC Adi 7.83, Purport:

A sincere student aurally receives the holy name from the spiritual master, and after being initiated he follows the regulative principles given by the spiritual master. When the holy name is properly served in this way, automatically the spiritual nature of the holy name spreads; in other words, the devotee becomes qualified in offenselessly chanting the holy name. When one is completely fit to chant the holy name in this way, he is eligible to make disciples all over the world, and he actually becomes jagad-guru. Then the entire world, under his influence, begins to chant the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Thus all the disciples of such a spiritual master increase in attachment for Kṛṣṇa, and therefore he sometimes cries, sometimes laughs, sometimes dances and sometimes chants. These symptoms are very prominently manifest in the body of a pure devotee. Sometimes when our students of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement chant and dance, even in India people are astonished to see how these foreigners have learned to chant and dance in this ecstatic fashion. As explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, however, actually this is not due to practice, for without extra endeavor these symptoms become manifest in anyone who sincerely chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

CC Adi 7.89-90, Purport:

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.

CC Adi 7.95-96, Purport:

We believed in the words of our spiritual master and started in a humble way—in a helpless way—but due to the spiritual force of the order of the supreme authority, this movement has become successful. It is to be understood that when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted and danced, He did so by the influence of the pleasure potency of the spiritual world. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never considered the holy name of the Lord to be a material vibration, nor does any pure devotee mistake the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to be a material musical manifestation. Lord Caitanya never tried to be the master of the holy name; rather He taught us how to be servants of the holy name. If one chants the holy name of the Lord just to make a show, not knowing the secret of success, he may increase his bile secretion, but he will never attain perfection in chanting the holy name.

CC Adi 7.105, Translation:

"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."

CC Adi 7.105, Purport:

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. They knew that since a perfectly advanced spiritualist never says anything false, all his words are reasonable and agree with the Vedic version. A highly realized person never says anything that has no meaning. Māyāvādī philosophers claim to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this has no meaning, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never uttered such nonsense. The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were convinced about His personality, and therefore they wanted to hear the purport of Vedānta philosophy from Him.

CC Adi 7.113, Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, therefore, explains in this verse that Kṛṣṇa—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or the Absolute Truth—has a spiritual body that is distinct from material bodies, and thus His name, abode, entourage and qualities are all spiritual. The material mode of goodness has nothing to do with spiritual varieties. Māyāvādī philosophers, however, cannot clearly understand spiritual varieties; therefore they imagine a negation of the material world to be the spiritual world. The material qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance cannot act in the spiritual world, which is therefore called nirguṇa, as clearly indicated in the Bhagavad-gītā (trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna). The material world is a manifestation of the three modes of material nature, but one has to become free from these modes to come to the spiritual world, where their influence is completely absent. Now Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu will disassociate Lord Śiva from Māyāvāda philosophy in the following verse.

CC Adi 7.115, Purport:

Lord Kṛṣṇa explains very clearly in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14) that His material energy is very difficult to overcome: daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā. Māyā’s influence is so strong that even learned scholars and spiritualists are also covered by māyā and think themselves to be as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Actually, however, to free oneself from the influence of māyā one must surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as Kṛṣṇa also states in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14): mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. It is to be concluded, therefore, that Lord Viṣṇu does not belong to this material creation but to the spiritual world. To misconceive Lord Viṣṇu to have a material body or to equate Him with the demigods is the most offensive blasphemy against Lord Viṣṇu, and offenders against the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu cannot advance in spiritual knowledge. They are called māyayāpahṛta-jñāna, or those whose knowledge has been stolen by the influence of illusion.

CC Adi 7.118, Purport:

When we speak about the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, which is meant to make people intelligent, the conditioned living entity therefore misunderstands it. He is so engrossed in the material concept of life that he does not think there can be any activities that are actually based on intelligence beyond the construction of skyscrapers and big roads and the manufacturing of cars. This is proof of māyayāpahṛta-jñāna, or loss of all intelligence due to the influence of māyā. When a living entity is freed from such misconceptions, he is called liberated. When one is actually liberated he no longer identifies with the material world. The symptom of mukti (liberation) is that one engages in spiritual activities instead of falsely engaging in material activities.

CC Adi 7.119, Purport:

In this verse from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa the total energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is classified in three divisions—namely, the spiritual or internal potency of the Lord, the marginal potency, or kṣetra-jña (the living entity), and the material potency, which is separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and appears to act independently. When Śrīla Vyāsadeva, by meditation and self-realization, saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he also saw the separated energy of the Lord standing behind Him (apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam). Vyāsadeva also realized that it is this separated energy of the Lord, the material energy, that covers the knowledge of the living entities (yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam (SB 1.7.5)). The separated, material energy bewilders the living entities (jīvas), and thus they work very hard under its influence, not knowing that they are not fulfilling their mission in life. Unfortunately, most of them think that they are the body and should therefore enjoy the material senses irresponsibly since when death comes everything will be finished.

CC Adi 7.140, Purport:

In the Upaniṣads it is said:

oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate

pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate

(Īśo Invocation)

This verse, which is mentioned in the Īśopaniṣad, Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad and many other Upaniṣads, indicates that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full in six opulences. His position is unique, for He possesses all riches, strength, influence, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Brahman means the greatest, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead is greater than the greatest, just as the sun globe is greater than the sunshine, which is all-pervading in the universe. Although the sunshine that spreads all over the universes appears very great to the less knowledgeable, greater than the sunshine is the sun itself, and greater than the sun is the sun-god. Similarly, impersonal Brahman is not the greatest, although it appears to be so. Impersonal Brahman is only the bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the transcendental form of the Lord is greater than both the impersonal Brahman and localized Paramātmā. Therefore whenever the word "Brahman" is used in the Vedic literature, it is understood to refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

CC Adi 8.20, Purport:

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu delivered the two fallen brothers Jagāi and Mādhāi, but the entire world is presently full of Jagāis and Mādhāis, or, in other words, woman-hunters, meat-eaters, gamblers, thieves and other rogues, who create all kinds of disturbances in society. The activities of such persons have now become common practices. It is no longer considered abominable to be a drunkard, woman-hunter, meat-eater, thief or rogue, for these elements have been assimilated by human society. That does not mean, however, that the abominable qualities of such persons will help free human society from the clutches of māyā. Rather, they will entangle humanity more and more in the reactions of the stringent laws of material nature. One's activities are all performed under the influence of the modes of material nature (prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27)). Because people are now associating with the modes of ignorance (tamo-guṇa) and, to some extent, passion (rajo-guṇa), with no trace of goodness (sattva-guṇa), they are becoming increasingly greedy and lusty, for that is the effect of associating with these modes. Tadā rajas-tamo-bhavāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye: "By associating with the two lower qualities of material nature, one becomes lusty and greedy." (SB 1.2.19) Actually, in modern human society, everyone is greedy and lusty, and therefore the only means for deliverance is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's saṅkīrtana movement, which can promote all the Jagāis and Mādhāis to the topmost position of sattva-guṇa, or brahminical culture.

CC Adi 8.31, Purport:

For an ordinary man, worship of Śrī Caitanya and Nityānanda Prabhu or the Pañca-tattva is easier than worship of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Unless one is very fortunate, he should not be induced to worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa directly. A neophyte student who is not sufficiently educated or enlightened should not indulge in the worship of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa or the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Even if he does so, he cannot get the desired result. One should therefore chant the names of Nitāi-Gaura and worship Them without false prestige. Since everyone within this material world is more or less influenced by sinful activities, in the beginning it is essential that one take to the worship of Guru-Gaurāṅga and ask their favor, for thus despite all his disqualifications one will very soon become qualified to worship the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa vigraha.

CC Adi 8.78, Purport:

"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me." The opportunity to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord is open to everyone because every living entity is constitutionally a servant of the Lord. To engage in the service of the Lord is the natural function of the living entity, but because he is covered by the influence of mayā, the material energy, he thinks it to be a very difficult task. But if he places himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and does everything sincerely, immediately the Lord, who is situated within everyone's heart, dictates how to serve Him (dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam). The Lord gives this direction, and thus the devotee's life becomes perfect. Whatever a pure devotee does is done by the dictation of the Supreme Lord. Thus it is confirmed by the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta that whatever he wrote was written under the direction of the Śrī Madana-mohana Deity.

CC Adi 9.41, Purport:

India has many holy places of pilgrimage, such as Gayā, Benares, Mathurā, Prayāga, Vṛndāvana, Haridvāra, Rāmeśvaram and Jagannātha Purī, and still people go there by the hundreds and thousands. Although the present leaders of India are influencing the people not to believe in God, not to believe in a next life and not to believe in a distinction between pious and impious life, and although they are teaching them how to drink wine, eat meat and become supposedly civilized, people are nevertheless afraid of the four activities of sinful life—namely illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling—and whenever there is a religious festival, they gather together by the thousands. We have actual experience of this. Whenever the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement holds a saṅkīrtana festival in a big city like Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Ahmedabad or Hyderabad, thousands of people come to hear. Sometimes we speak in English, but even though most people do not understand English, they nevertheless come to hear us.

CC Adi 9.43, Purport:

Unfortunately, people in general do not know what is to take place in the next life. To prepare oneself for his next life is common sense, and it is a principle of the Vedic civilization, but presently people throughout the world do not believe in a next life. Even influential professors and other educators say that as soon as the body is finished, everything is finished. This atheistic philosophy is killing human civilization. People are irresponsibly performing all sorts of sinful activities, and thus the privilege of the human life is being taken away by the educational propaganda of the so-called leaders. Actually it is a fact that this life is meant for preparation for the next life; by evolution one has come through many species, or forms, and this human form of life is an opportunity to promote oneself to a better life.

CC Adi 10.89, Translation:

The people in general on the western side of India were neither intelligent nor well behaved, but by the influence of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī they were trained in devotional service and good behavior.

CC Adi 10.89, Purport:

Although it is not only in western India that people were contaminated by association with Muslims, it is a fact that the farther west one goes in India the more he will find the people to be fallen from the Vedic culture. Until five thousand years ago, when the entire planet was under the control of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the Vedic culture was current everywhere. Gradually, however, people were influenced by non-Vedic culture, and they lost sight of how to behave in connection with devotional service. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī very kindly preached the bhakti cult in western India, and following in their footsteps the propagators of the Caitanya cult in the Western countries are spreading the saṅkīrtana movement and inculcating the principles of Vaiṣṇava behavior, thus purifying and reforming many persons who were previously accustomed to the culture of mlecchas and yavanas. All of our devotees in the Western countries give up their old habits of illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. Of course, five hundred years ago these practices were unknown in India—at least in eastern India—but unfortunately at present all of India has been victimized by these non-Vedic principles, which are sometimes even supported by the government.

CC Adi 11.13, Purport:

Śrī Rāmadāsa, later known as Abhirāma Ṭhākura, was one of the twelve gopālas, or cowherd boyfriends, of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. The Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (126) states that Śrī Rāmadāsa was formerly Śrīdāmā. In the Bhakti-ratnākara (Fourth Wave), there is a description of Śrīla Abhirāma Ṭhākura. By the order of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Abhirāma Ṭhākura became a great ācārya and preacher of the Caitanya cult of devotional service. He was a very influential personality, and nondevotees were very much afraid of him. Empowered by Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, he was always in ecstasy and was extremely kind to all fallen souls. It is said that if he offered obeisances to any stone other than a śālagrāma-śilā, it would immediately fracture.

CC Adi 11.41, Purport:

Calcutta was developed under British rule by the influential mercantile community, and especially by the suvarṇa-vaṇik community who came down from Saptagrāma to establish their businesses and homes all over Calcutta. They were known as the Saptagrāmī mercantile community of Calcutta, and most of them belonged to the Mullik and Sil families. More than half of Calcutta belonged to this community, as did Śrīla Uddhāraṇa Ṭhākura. Our paternal family also came from this district and belonged to the same community. The Mulliks of Calcutta are divided into two families, namely the Sil family and De family. All the Mulliks of the De family originally belong to the same family and gotra. We also formerly belonged to the branch of the De family whose members, intimately connected with the Muslim rulers, received the title Mullik.

CC Adi 13.29, Translation:

When teaching a course in grammar (vyākaraṇa) and explaining it with notes, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught His disciples about the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa. All explanations culminated in Kṛṣṇa, and His disciples would understand them very easily. Thus His influence was wonderful.

CC Adi 13.57-58, Translation:

Upendra Miśra had seven sons, who were all saintly and most influential: (1) Kaṁsāri, (2) Paramānanda, (3) Padmanābha, (4) Sarveśvara, (5) Jagannātha, (6) Janārdana and (7) Trailokyanātha. Jagannātha Miśra, the fifth son, decided to reside on the bank of the Ganges at Nadia.

CC Adi 13.90, Translation:

(According to the Jyotir-veda, or Vedic astrology, the auspicious birth moment is described as follows:) The moon was in Leo (the figure of the lion in the zodiac), Leo was the ascendant, several planets were strongly positioned, and the ṣaḍ-varga and aṣṭa-varga showed all-auspicious influences.

CC Adi 13.120, Translation:

Jagannātha Miśra was an ideal Vaiṣṇava. He was peaceful, restrained in sense gratification, pure and controlled. Therefore he had no desire to enjoy material opulence. Whatever money came because of the influence of his transcendental son, he gave it in charity to the brāhmaṇas for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu.

CC Adi 16.9, Translation:

Struck with wonder by the influence of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's intellectual prowess, many hundreds of students came to the Lord and began studying under His direction.

CC Adi 16.25, Purport:

The Bhakti-ratnākara mentions Keśava Kāśmīrī and lists his predecessors in the disciplic succession of the Nimbārka-sampradāya: (1) Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, (2) Viśva Ācārya, (3) Puruṣottama, (4) Vilāsa, (5) Svarūpa, (6) Mādhava, (7) Balabhadra, (8) Padma, (9) Śyāma, (10) Gopāla, (11) Kṛpā, (12) Deva Ācārya, (13) Sundara Bhaṭṭa, (14) Padmanābha, (15) Upendra, (16) Rāmacandra, (17) Vāmana, (18) Kṛṣṇa, (19) Padmākara, (20) Śravaṇa, (21) Bhūri, (22) Mādhava, (23) Śyāma, (24) Gopāla, (25) Balabhadra, (26) Gopīnātha, (27) Keśava, (28) Gokula and (29) Keśava Kāśmīrī. It is stated in the Bhakti-ratnākara that Keśava Kāśmīrī was a favorite devotee of mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning. By her grace he was an extremely influential scholar, and he was the greatest champion among all the scholars in the four corners of the country. Therefore he got the title dig-vijayī, which means "one who has conquered everyone in all directions." He belonged to a very respectable brāhmaṇa family of Kashmir. Later, by the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he gave up the profession of winning championships and became a great devotee. He joined the Nimbārka-sampradāya, one of the Vaiṣṇava communities of the Vedic culture.

CC Adi 17.7, Purport:

According to Āyur-vedic treatment, the entire physiological system is conducted by three elements, namely vāyu, pitta and kapha (air, bile and mucus). Secretions within the body transform into other secretions like blood, urine and stool, but if there are disturbances in the metabolism, the secretions turn into kapha (mucus) by the influence of the air within the body. According to the Āyur-vedic system, when the secretion of bile and formation of mucus disturb the air circulating within the body, fifty-nine varieties of diseases may occur. One such disease is craziness.

CC Adi 17.212, Purport:

Significant in verse 211 are the words kṛṣṇera kīrtana kare nīca bāḍa bāḍa, indicating that anyone can join in the saṅkīrtana movement. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.4.18): kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ. This is a list of the names of caṇḍālas. The pāṣaṇḍīs say that when these lower-class men are allowed to chant, their influence is enhanced. They do not like the idea that others should also develop spiritual qualities, because this would curb their false pride in having taken birth in families of the elevated brāhmaṇa caste, with a monopoly on spiritual activities. But despite all protests from so-called Hindus and members of the brāhmaṇa caste, we are propagating the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world, according to the injunctions of the śāstras and the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Thus we are sure that we are delivering many fallen souls, making them bona fide candidates for going back home, back to Godhead.

CC Adi 17.292, Translation:

The influence of Rādhārāṇī’s pure ecstasy is so inconceivably great that it forced Kṛṣṇa to come to His original two-armed form.