At the conclusion of this meeting, Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was advised by the Lord to retire from service and come to Purī so that they could live together and relish a transcendental relationship. Some time later, Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya retired from the government service and took a pension from the King. He returned to his residence in Purī, where he was one of the most confidential devotees of the Lord. There was another gentleman at Purī of the name Śikhi Māhiti, who was also a confidant like Rāmānanda Rāya. The Lord used to hold confidential talks on spiritual values with three or four companions at Purī, and He passed eighteen years in that way in spiritual trance. His talks were recorded by His private secretary Śrī Dāmodara Gosvāmī, one of the four most intimate devotees.
Most confidential devotees
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Preface and Introduction
SB Canto 1
Devarṣi Nārada is described herein as bhagavān due to his being the most confidential devotee of the Lord. The Lord and His very confidential devotees are treated on the same level by those who are actually engaged in the loving service of the Lord. Such confidential devotees of the Lord are very much dear to the Lord because they travel everywhere to preach the glories of the Lord in different capacities and try their utmost to convert the nondevotees of the Lord into devotees in order to bring them to the platform of sanity. Actually a living being cannot be a nondevotee of the Lord because of his constitutional position, but when one becomes a nondevotee or nonbeliever, it is to be understood that the person concerned is not in a sound condition of life. The confidential devotees of the Lord treat such illusioned living beings, and therefore they are most pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā that no one is dearer to Him than one who actually preaches the glories of the Lord to convert the nonbelievers and nondevotees. Such personalities as Nārada must be offered all due respects, like those offered to the Personality of Godhead Himself, and Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, along with his noble brothers, were examples for others in receiving a pure devotee of the Lord like Nārada, who had no other business save and except singing the glories of the Lord along with his vīṇā, a musical stringed instrument.
SB Canto 4
Since there were so many discrepancies during the reign of King Vena, the Lord sent His most confidential devotee Mahārāja Pṛthu to settle things. Therefore, after executing the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and settling the affairs of the world, Mahārāja Pṛthu was ready to retire. He had been exemplary in his governmental administration, and now he was to become exemplary in his retirement. He divided all his property amongst his sons and appointed them to rule the world, and then he went to the forest with his wife. It is significant in this connection that it is said that Mahārāja Pṛthu retired alone and at the same time took his wife with him. According to Vedic principles, when retiring from family life, one can take his wife with him, for the husband and wife are considered to be one unit. Thus they can both combinedly perform austerities for liberation. This is the path that Mahārāja Pṛthu, who was an exemplary character, followed, and this is also the way of Vedic civilization.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
In connection with verses 16 and 17, Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains in his Anubhāṣya: "There are specific symptoms by which the internal devotees and the unalloyed or pure devotees are to be known. All unalloyed devotees are śakti-tattvas, or potencies of the Lord. Some of them are situated in conjugal love and others in filial affection, fraternity and servitude. Certainly all of them are devotees, but by making a comparative study it is found that the devotees or potencies who are engaged in conjugal love are better situated than the others. Thus devotees who are in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in conjugal love are considered to be the most confidential devotees of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Those who engage in the service of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu and Lord Advaita Prabhu generally have relationships of parental love, fraternity, servitude and neutrality. When such devotees develop great attachment for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they too become situated within the intimate circle of devotees in conjugal love."
Vāsudeva Datta, the nineteenth branch of the Śrī Caitanya tree, was a great personality and a most confidential devotee of the Lord. One could not describe his qualities even with thousands of mouths.
The Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (120–24) states that Rāmānanda Rāya was formerly Arjuna. He is also considered to have been an incarnation of the gopī Lalitā, although in the opinion of others he was an incarnation of Viśākhādevī. He was a most confidential devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Although I am a sannyāsī, My mind is sometimes perturbed when I see a woman. But Rāmānanda Rāya is greater than Me, for he is always undisturbed, even when he touches a woman." Only Rāmānanda Rāya was endowed with the prerogative to touch a woman in this way; no one should imitate him. Unfortunately, there are rascals who imitate the activities of Rāmānanda Rāya. We need not discuss them further.
CC Madhya-lila
Paramānanda Purī is said to have been Uddhava in Vṛndāvana. His affections with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were on the platform of paternal love. This was because Paramānanda Purī happened to be the Godbrother of the spiritual master of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Similarly, Rāmānanda Rāya, who is considered an incarnation of Arjuna and by some an incarnation of Viśākhādevī, enjoyed unalloyed fraternal love with the Lord. Unalloyed personal service was enjoyed by Govinda and others. In the presence of His most confidential devotees like Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Jagadānanda and Svarūpa Dāmodara, Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed the ecstatic conditions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in Her conjugal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Absorbed in these four transcendental mellows, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu resided in Jagannātha Purī, feeling very much obliged to His devotees.
Almost all the conditioned souls within the material world are envious. Jealous people generally turn against one who automatically attains some reputation. This is natural for jealous people. Consequently, when a devotee is fit to receive worldly reputation, he is envied by many people. This is quite natural. When a person, out of humility, does not desire fame, people generally think him quite humble and consequently give him all kinds of fame. Actually a Vaiṣṇava does not hanker after fame or a great reputation. Mādhavendra Purī, the king of Vaiṣṇavas, bore his reputation, but he wanted to keep himself outside of the vision of the general populace. He wanted to cover his real identity as a great devotee of the Lord, but when people saw him overwhelmed in the ecstasy of love of Godhead, they naturally gave credit to him. Actually a first-class reputation is due Mādhavendra Purī because he was a most confidential devotee of the Lord. Sometimes a sahajiyā presents himself as being void of desires for reputation (pratiṣṭhā) in order to become famous as a humble man. Such people cannot actually attain the platform of celebrated Vaiṣṇavas.
A diplomat in the material world knows how to deal with people, especially in political affairs. Some of the great devotees of the Lord—like Rāmānanda Rāya, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī and Rūpa Gosvāmī—were government officers and had a background of very opulent householder life. Consequently they knew how to deal with people. In many instances we have seen the diplomacy of Rūpa Gosvāmī, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and Rāmānanda Rāya employed in the service of the Lord. When Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī’s father and uncle were to be arrested by government officials, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī hid them and personally met the government officers and settled the affair diplomatically. This is but one instance. Similarly, Sanātana Gosvāmī, after resigning his ministership, was thrown in jail, and he bribed the attendant of the jail so he could leave the clutches of the Nawab and live with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Now we see Rāmānanda Rāya, a most confidential devotee of the Lord, diplomatically soften the heart of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, despite the fact that the Lord definitely decided not to meet the King. The diplomacy of Rāmānanda Rāya and entreaties of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and all the other great devotees succeeded. The conclusion is that diplomacy used for the service of the Lord is a form of devotional service.
In this regard, Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī writes, yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhava-vatām. If Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu simply glanced at someone for a moment, that person immediately turned into one of the most confidential devotees of the Lord. The prince came to see the Lord for the first time, but by the Lord's mercy the boy immediately became a topmost devotee. This was not in theory but in practice. We cannot apply the nagna-mātṛkā-nyāya formula. This states that if one's mother was naked in her childhood, she should continue to remain naked, even though she has become the mother of so many children. If a person is actually blessed by the mercy of the Lord, he can immediately become a topmost devotee of the Lord. The logic of nagna-mātṛkā states that if a person is not elevated on such and such a date, he cannot become an exalted devotee overnight, as it were. This particular instance offers evidence to contradict that theory. On the previous day, the boy was simply an ordinary prince, and the next day he was counted as one of the topmost devotees of the Lord. This was all made possible by the causeless mercy of the Lord. The Lord is omnipotent—all-powerful or almighty—and He can act as He likes.
Actually, no one could see the inconceivable potency of the Lord. Only the most confidential devotees, those in pure, unalloyed devotional service, could understand.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself into many forms while engaged in the rāsa-līlā dance, and He also expanded Himself when He married 16,000 wives in Dvārakā. The same process was adopted by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He expanded Himself into seven forms to dance in each and every group of the saṅkīrtana party. These expansions were appreciated by pure devotees, including King Pratāparudra. Although for reasons of external formality Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu refused to see King Pratāparudra because he was a king, King Pratāparudra became one of the Lord's most confidential devotees by the Lord's special mercy upon him. The King could see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu simultaneously present in all seven groups. As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, one cannot see the expansions of the transcendental forms of the Lord unless one is a pure devotee of the Lord.
CC Antya-lila
In the daytime Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged in dancing and chanting and in seeing the temple of Lord Jagannātha. At night, in the company of His most confidential devotees, such as Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, He tasted the nectar of the transcendental mellows of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
There is a specific difference between the pure devotee and the confidential devotee. Different potencies of the Lord are engaged in serving the Supreme Lord in different transcendental relationships. They are situated in conjugal love, in parental affection, in friendship and in servitude. By impartially judging, one can find that the internal potencies of the Supreme Lord who are engaged in conjugal love with the Lord are the best of all devotees. Thus both internal devotees and confidential devotees are attracted by the conjugal love of the Supreme Absolute Truth. These are the most confidential devotees of Lord Caitanya. Other pure devotees, who are more or less attached to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu, are attracted by other transcendental relationships, such as parental affection, friendship and servitorship. When such devotees are attached to the activities of Lord Caitanya, they at once become confidential devotees in conjugal love with the Supreme Lord.
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Caitanya Mahāprabhu, so long He lived on this planet, He was always associated with the devotees. The most confidential devotees, Caitanya Mahāprabhu: śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya, the central point, prabhu nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. So sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, kṛṣṇa-varṇam. He is always chanting Kṛṣṇa. He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, tviṣā akṛṣṇam, but His bodily complexion is not like that. And other feature: sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, and He is always associated with His devotees. They are His soldiers. Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. In other incarnation, Kṛṣṇa comes with weapon. As Lord Rāmacandra He came with bows and arrows. As Kṛṣṇa He came with disc and club. Here Kṛṣṇa has come compassionately to distribute mercy to the fallen souls. So He has not taken any astra, any weapon. His weapon is His associate devotee. Caitanya Mahāprabhu's associate, Nityānanda Prabhu, He is going to kill Jagāi and Mādhāi, not by weapon, but by His mercy. He went to preach Jagāi and Mādhāi, the drunkards, the woman-hunters, flesh-eaters, and they hurt Him. Still, He delivered them.
Just like Rāmānanda Rāya. He was gṛhastha, very opulent, governor. He is also akiñcana because nothing was possessed by personal; everything for Jagannātha. This is distinction. On one side, Rūpa Gosvāmī, and one side, Rāmānanda Rāya. And Rāmānanda Rāya is the most confidential devotee of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although he's a gṛhastha, because he is akiñcana, as akiñcana as Rūpa Gosvāmī. So we have to become akiñcana. Akiñcana. Then we shall realize Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is said, akiñcana-gocaram: "You are understandable only by a person who does not possess so-called material opulence." So we should always remember that whatever we are trying for material..., it is all for Kṛṣṇa, nothing for us. So that people may... Big, gorgeous temple means people will be attracted to come here, and we'll distribute Kṛṣṇa's prasādam. The aim is some way or other to turn them to convert them into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then you remain akiñcana. And if we think that "We have got now very big house. We shall live comfortably and sleep comfortably," then na gocaram, then Kṛṣṇa will not be realized. Then that comfort will be realized only, not Kṛṣṇa. Akiñcana-gocaram. We should always remember this.
So we have to become advanced in spiritual understanding. And people, the so-called artists, they indulge in Kṛṣṇa's pictures, His dealings with the gopīs. That is not very good. That is misleading. People may think, and actually that happens. If without being mature, without being advanced in spiritual consciousness, if one tries to understand or see Kṛṣṇa-līlā with the gopīs, then he will be misled. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu, you will find, rigidly He discussed this Kṛṣṇa-līlā with very confidential devotee, Rāmānanda Rāya, not with others. He never discussed with Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya or Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. He discussed on philosophy of Māyāvāda, but not on Kṛṣṇa-līlā. Kṛṣṇa-līlā He discussed with Rāmānanda Rāya, most confidential devotee. And to understand Kṛṣṇa, Vyāsadeva has devoted nine chapter, nine cantos. And then, from Tenth Canto, he begins Kṛṣṇa-līlā.
This is the method of worship. What is that? That Supreme Personality of Godhead who is always chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Kṛṣṇa varṇayati, kṛṣṇa varṇa tvīṣa akṛṣṇam. But His bodily complexion is not kṛṣṇa, not blackish, but yellowish, tvīṣa. Tvīṣa means by the complexion, akṛṣṇa, not Kṛṣṇa. And another symptom, sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. He's associated with His most confidential devotees and expansions. Therefore we chant
- śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda
- śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
(I offer my obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all others in the line of devotion.)
This is sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. This form of the Lord, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanaiḥ, He's worshiped not by ritualistic ceremony, which is very expensive or performance of yajña. That is not possible in this age because there is no yajnic brāhmaṇa at the present moment.
Just like government servant, they have to go anywhere the government orders, "You go and see there." So Yamarāja is, although one of the mahājanas, great personality, most confidential devotee and officer of Kṛṣṇa... There are twelve great personalities: Lord Brahmā...
- svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
- kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
- prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
- balir vaiyāsakir vayam
- (SB 6.3.20)
So Yamarāja is also one of the twelve exalted officers or representative of Kṛṣṇa. But still, he has gone to take charge of the judicial department for judging the sinful—not all, only the sinful.
Arjuna, he knew that Kṛṣṇa is God. Therefore he requested Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, can You show me Your form how You are universally working?" And He showed His universal form, how it is working, that is described in the Eleventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. Why? Arjuna knew from the very beginning that "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord; I am His servant." But either by Kṛṣṇa's yoga-māyā or Arjuna's humility, he played that "My family is more important than Your service." He played like that. At last, he agreed that kariṣye vacanaṁ tava (BG 18.73). So, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, they're teaching us by playing, because Kṛṣṇa can play with His devotee, not with others. Most confidential devotee. What He wants to teach. So Arjuna presented himself as ordinary human being. He's not ordinary human being; he's personal friend of Kṛṣṇa. He cannot be bewildered, but he played the part of ordinary being, that "I have got attachment with my family. Why shall I kill them by Your order, and what is this, what is that?" so many, you know. Bhagavad-gītā, there are questions and answers. And at last, Kṛṣṇa said that "Give up this foolishness. Surrender unto Me." So he agreed, Arjuna. That is perfection. That is perfection.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Just like Rāmānanda Rāya. He was governor. He was Governor of Madras, but he was the, one of the most confidential devotees of Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya and Rāmānanda Rāya were talking together, and Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya was feeling little shyness because he did not belong to the brāhmaṇa community. He was governor, householder. So he thought that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was asking him question and he was answering, that means he was taking the superior position. So he felt little shyness. And when he was feeling such shyness, Caitanya Mahāprabhu encouraged him,
- kibā vipra kibā śūdra nyāsī kene naya
- yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya
- (CC Madhya 8.128)
Encouraged him. Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught the whole world, how one can become exalted simply by learning the science of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā. Tattva means science. It doesn't matter whether he's a sannyāsī or a gṛhastha or a śūdra or a brāhmaṇa. It doesn't matter. These are all designations of the body. Spiritually, we are all one. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18).
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
Now Sanātana Gosvāmī and Caitanya Mahāprabhu is sitting together for discussion. This is called "Instruction to Sanātana Gosvāmī." Caitanya Mahāprabhu had discussion with some of His principal disciples. One was Rāmānanda Rāya. Raya Rāmaṇanda, he was Governor of Madras, and later on he retired from that governorship and became a constant companion of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Although he was a householder, he never accepted renouncement, but still, he was con... He was the most confidential devotee of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although he was a householder, because he was highly advanced in the science of Kṛṣṇa. So there was some discussion with this Rāmānanda Rāya, and there was some discussion with this Sanātana Gosvāmī, and some discussion with Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, and some discussion with Rūpa Gosvāmī. So He had no other discussion with anyone, and the rest of His life was spent by simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. And these disciples, under the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they have made volumes of books on the basis of the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not write any book in His own hand. He wrote only eight verses, which is called Śikṣāṣṭaka. That was His only writing. Otherwise, all the books, valuable books that you have got in His sampradāya, they are written by His disciples, especially by Rūpa Gosvāmī. He's famous.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1971 Conversations and Morning Walks
Interviewer: As confirmed by all the Vedic scriptures and by the great sages in the disciplic succession, He has a body made of eternity, bliss, and all knowledge. God has infinite forms and expansions. But of all His forms, His original form, His transcendental form, is as a cowherd boy. A form which He reveals only to His most confidential devotees. So go the teachings of Kṛṣṇa as laid down in the Vedic literature. And of the sages in the disciplic succession, which I mentioned, one is our guest for this conversation today. He is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, foremost teacher in the West of the Kṛṣṇa philosophy, which, moreover, he teaches not only by word, but by example. He came to this country in 1965 on orders of his spiritual master. As a Kṛṣṇa disciple, he is the present human exponent of a line of succession going back five hundred years to the appearance in India of Lord Caitanya, and beyond that, to a time five thousand years ago when Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself was on this planet and His words were recorded. Welcome, sir. What is Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that every living being, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has got many expansion. That is called personal expansion and separated expansion. So separated expansions we are, we living entities. But although we are very intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa, somehow or other we are now separated by contact of material nature. So we have practically forgotten that we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Actually that is the fact. And because... Just like a rich man's son. Somehow or other, he has forgotten his father, and he's loitering in the street as a poor man. But actually that is not his position. He has forgotten simply. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means we are trying to invoke that original consciousness that he's part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Why he should remain in this material world and suffer the threefold miseries? So we want to revive that original consciousness. The original consciousness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like a man born of a lord's family, his title should be the lord's family. But unfortunately, forgetting his own home, he is accepting some menial title. So our whole Vedic literature is meant for that purpose, to revive his original consciousness. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi.
Prabhupāda: Macmillan's publishes every year fifty thousand. (stage directions going on in background) You can inquire from your side any reading matter from Bhagavad-gītā original. That will be nice. Then I can explain.
Interviewer: All right. (aside to associate:) You're going to cue me, right? (addressing audience:) Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed by all the Vedic scriptures and by the great sages in disciplic succession. He has a body made of eternity, bliss and all knowledge. God has infinite forms and expansions, but of all His forms, His original form, His transcendental form, is as a cowherd boy, a form which He reveals only to His most confidential devotees. So go the teachings of Kṛṣṇa as laid down in the Vedic literature. And of the sages in the disciplic succession, which I mentioned, one is our guest for this conversation today. He is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, founder of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, foremost teacher in the West of the Kṛṣṇa philosophy, which, moreover, he teaches not only by word but by example. He came to this country in 1965, on orders of his spiritual master. As a Kṛṣṇa disciple he is the present human exponent of a line of succession going back five hundred years to the appearance in India of Lord Caitanya, and beyond that to a time five thousand years ago, when Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself was on this planet and His words were recorded. Welcome, sir. What..., what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that every living being, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has got many expansions. That is called personal expansion and separated expansion. So separated expansions we are, we living entities. But although we are very intimately connected with Kṛṣṇa, somehow or other we are now separated by contact of material nature. So we have practically forgotten that we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Actually, that is a fact. And because he forgets, just like a rich man's son, somehow or other he has forgotten his father, and he's loitering in the streets a poor man. But actually that is not his position. He has forgotten simply. So our, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means we are trying to invoke that original consciousness that he is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Why he should remain in this material world and suffer the threefold miseries? So we want to revive our original consciousness. The original consciousness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like a man born of a lord's family, his title should be the lord family, but unfortunately, forgetting his own home, he's accepting some menial title. So our whole Vedic literature is meant for that purpose, to revive his original consciousness, ahaṁ brahmāsmi.
| Page Title: | Most confidential devotees |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 17 of Jan, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=3, CC=10, OB=1, Lec=8, Con=2, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 24 |