 
The Golden Volcano   
of Divine Love

His Divine Grace

Swāmī B. R. Śrīdhar

Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh

© 1996 Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math

All rights reserved by the Successor President-Acharya

Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Kolerganj,  
P. O. Box Nabadwip, Dist. Nadia,  
W. Bengal Pin 741302, India

1984 Edition Acknowledgements

Editor in Chief: Bhakti Sudhir Goswami  
Editor: Swami B. V. Mahayogi  
Transcription: Prabala Dasi, Kamala Dasi  
Typography: Swami B. V. Mahayogi  
Proofreading: Alwarnath Das, Vamshi Vadanananda Das  
Graphic Design: Bhakti Sudhir Goswami  
Layout: Lalita Charaṇ Prabhu  
Photography: Vidagdha Madhava Das, Preraka Prabhu  
Sripping: Nabadwip Prabhu  
Recordings: Badri Narayaṇ Prabhu  
Consultants: Swami B. K. Giri, Sarvabhavana Prabhu  
Contributors: Yudhamanyu Prabhu, Bhakta Das, Swami B. K. Bhagawat, Brahma Das, Brishakapi Prabhu, Rishabdev Das, Markendeya Das, Premananda Prabhu, Ramananda Prabhu, Uddhava Prabhu, Deva Narayaṇ Prabhu, Bhaktapriya Dasi, Prabala Dasi, Anaṅga Mañjari Dasi, Kamala Dasi, Suchitra Dasi, Jivana Dasi, Dikṣavati Dasi

Special thanks to the following devotees for their help with this current edition:

Swami B. P. Janardan, Śrutaśrava Prabhu, Nabadwip Prabhu, Sarvabhavana Das, Ananta Kṛṣṇa Prabhu, Shobana Kṛṣṇa Prabhu, Jatindra Mohan Prabhu, Jagabandhu Prabhu, Tilak Dasi, Sri Govinda Prabhu, Mahashraya Prabhu

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Introduction

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu preached the full-fledged theistic conception given in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam mainly deals with the comparative study of theism and the ontology of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It surpasses all other Vedic literature, even the Purāṇas. The Brahma-vaivarta-purāṇa and Padma-purāṇa represent the importance of devotion to Kṛṣṇa through narration and history to some extent, but fall short of the philosophical and ontological standard set by the Mahāpurāṇa, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam can satisfy all Vedāntic scholars, for it represents Kṛṣṇa consciousness in its fullest dignity. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam expounds as the highest attainment of theism not consciousness, intelligence, or ontology, but ecstasy, beauty, and harmony—rasa. In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, rasa is all-important. It is a unique treatise, for it takes theism from the plane of intellectual jugglery to the domain of rasa.

I once began writing a book which was to be a summary study of the eighteen thousand verse Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur condensed the whole Bhāgavat principle into one thousand verses in his Bhāgavatārka-marīchi-mālā. I had a mind to consolidate it even more, to represent it within three hundred verses. I began that book, but could not finish it.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is a vast treatise in the Sanskrit language, filled with essential information, historical reference, and expositions on the major schools of philosophy. In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, many minor points of history and geography are also mentioned which, although nonessential, support its conclusions. Whatever is unnecessary in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is eliminated when its meaning reaches its purest and most intensified glory in the teachings of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. So, if we are to consider the very gist of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, we must study the life and precepts of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Just as the teachings of the great author of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Vyāsadev, were percolated by the realisations of Śukadev Goswāmī, the essence of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam has been percolated by the life and precepts of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.

Therefore, because the teachings of Śrīman Mahāprabhu represent the gist of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, I would like to include here one of the verses I originally composed to introduce my summary study. It glorifies the position of Gadādhar Paṇḍit, the most intimate associate of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Gadādhar Paṇḍit used to read Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in Jagannāth Purī, at the Ṭoṭā Gopīnāth Temple. He would read, and Śrīman Mahāprabhu and the great devotees like Svarūp Dāmodar and Rāmānanda Rāy were his audience:

nīlāmbhodhi-taṭe sadā sva-virahā-kṣepanvitaṁ bāndhavaṁ  
śrīmad-bhāgavatī kathā madirayā sañjīvayan bhāti yaḥ  
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ sadā sva-nayanāśru-pāyanaiḥ pūjayan  
gosvāmi-prabaro gadādhara-vibhūr-bhūyāt mad-ekā-gatiḥ

"On the shore of the broad blue ocean, Gadādhar Paṇḍit used to read Śrīmad Bhāgavatam to Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who was suffering from the great internal pain of separation from Himself (Kṛṣṇa). Gadādhar Paṇḍit supplied the wine of Kṛṣṇa-līlā to intoxicate his afflicted friend and give Him relief. As he read, tears would fall from his eyes like flower offerings onto the pages of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. May the pleasure of that brilliant personality, Gadādhar Paṇḍit, the best of the Goswāmīs, be my only object in writing this book."

The title of this book is The Golden Volcano of Divine Love. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu felt a great pain of separation from Kṛṣṇa which burned like fire and was expressed as the Śikṣāṣṭakam. This is explained in Prema-dhāma-deva-stotram (54):

śrī-svarūpa-rāya-saṅga-gambhirāntya-līlanaṁ  
dvādaśābda-vahni-garbha-vipralambha-śīlanam  
rādhikādhirūḍha-bhāva-kānti-kṛṣṇa-kuñjaraṁ  
prema-dhāma-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

"Diving deep into the reality of His own beauty and sweetness, Kṛṣṇa stole the mood of Rādhārāṇī and, garbing Himself in Her brilliant lustre, appeared as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. For the last twelve years of His manifest Pastimes, He was deeply absorbed in the mood of union and separation, and shared His heart's inner feelings with His most confidential devotees. In the agony of separation from Kṛṣṇa, volcanic eruptions of ecstasy flowed from His heart, and His teachings, known as Śikṣāṣṭakam, appeared from His lips like streams of golden lava. I fall at the feet of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, the golden volcano of divine love."

He was vomiting the fire of painful separation from Kṛṣṇa in the form of the Śikṣāṣṭakam. Therefore, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is compared to a golden volcano and the Śikṣāṣṭakam is compared to divine lava.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu has taught us that separation is the highest principle in divinity. Just as the most intense conception of ecstasy is association with Kṛṣṇa, the most intense conception of pain is separation from Kṛṣṇa. Yet the pain felt from Kṛṣṇa's separation is far more intense than the ecstasy felt from His association. Śrīman Mahāprabhu says, "Can't you understand the painful situation you are in? Your senses must have all been destroyed. Otherwise you would have died from the pain of separation from Kṛṣṇa. It is inconceivable. We belong to Him wholesale. He is all-in-all to us, but we can't see Him. We are forcibly separated from Him. How can we tolerate this?" And Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur once said, "I can't tolerate separation from Kṛṣṇa any longer. I can go on for only three or four more days, and then I shall have to leave this body."

To love Kṛṣṇa means that we shall have to "die to live". In the beginning divine love seems like lava, death, but really it is nectar, life. Many persons in this ordinary world are also frustrated in love. They sometimes go mad and commit suicide because they can't tolerate the pain. But the pain which comes with separation from Kṛṣṇa, although compared with lava, is not injurious like lava. Kavirāj Goswāmī explains:

bāhye viṣa-jvālā haya, bhitare ānanda-maya,  
kṛṣṇa-premāra adbhuta charita

"The wonderful characteristic of divine love of Kṛṣṇa is that although externally, it works like fiery lava, internally it is like sweet nectar that fills the heart with the greatest joy."

Although He felt the greatest pain of separation from Kṛṣṇa, still, within His heart, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu experienced the deepest ecstatic joy. The ecstatic symptoms manifested by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu have never been found in the history of the world or even expressed in any scripture. In Him, we find the highest conception of the ultimate reality. This is explained in my Prema-dhāma-deva-stotram (66):

ātma-siddha-sāvalīla-pūrṇa-saukhya-lakṣaṇaṁ  
svānubhāva-matta-nṛtya-kīrtanātma-vaṇṭanam  
advayaika-lakṣya-pūrṇa-tattva-tat-parātparaṁ  
prema-dhāma-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

"This is the all-conquering conclusion. The highest conception of the ultimate reality must also be the highest form of ānanda, ecstasy. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa, ecstasy Himself, tasting His own sweetness and dancing in ecstatic joy. His own Holy Name is the cause of His ecstasy, expressed as dancing, and the Holy Name is the effect of His ecstasy, expressed as chanting. The cause is the effect. The dynamo is creating ecstatic energy which makes Him dance, and His chanting distributes that ecstasy to others."

In this way, by every word from His lotus mouth and every gesture and movement of His beautiful golden figure, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu performs His ecstatic Pastimes of divine love.
Prelude

Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj appeared in this world on December 17th, 1929 at Bamunpara, a small rural village in the Burdwan district of West Bengal. He joined the Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh in 1947 when he was seventeen years old. A few weeks later, Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj surprised everyone by announcing that his young disciple would later become his successor.

Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj himself saw to Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj's education, and had him properly trained in Sanskrit grammar and composition, as well as the conclusions of the śāstras (Vedic literatures). From the beginning, Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj demonstrated a remarkable memory and the ability to learn quickly just by hearing. Later, he was sent to Kolkata, where he stayed with Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāj and learned Bhagavad-gītā from him. Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj has always shown the ability to properly represent the profound siddhānta, or spiritual conclusions of his teachers, and many of the prominent disciples and followers of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur had much appreciation for him and bestowed their blessings upon him.

On 26 March 1986, Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj formally gave his chair to Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj and personally seated him as his successor and the Āchārya (preceptor and guardian) of the Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh. Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj has also traveled extensively throughout the world; everywhere devotees and scholars alike have appreciated the profound insight and beauty of his teachings. Like his spiritual master, he has attracted many people by his strong common sense, profound intelligence, and disinterested, or nonsectarian nature. Today, with many centres and disciples, and books published in a variety of languages, Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj has become the leader of a flourishing worldwide Kṛṣṇa consciousness Mission.

Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj is the foremost pure devotee and is the patriarch of the followers of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. He is an intimate disciple and eternal associate of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, the Founder-Āchārya of Śrī Gauḍiya Maṭh who masterminded a spiritual revolution to inundate the world with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Noted for his wonderful ability to draw out the inner meaning of the scriptures, Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj once composed a poem describing the ontological positions of Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur and the line of disciplic succession stemming from Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī was so pleased with his poem that he remarked, "Śrīdhar Mahārāj is carrying the conception of Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur. Now, I am satisfied that although I may go, at least one man will remain behind who can represent my conclusions."

As he prepared to leave this mortal world, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī expressed his desire to fix his consciousness on the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī. He called his beloved disciple Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj to his bedside and requested him to sing the famous song of Narottam Dās Ṭhākur, Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī Pada. At that time, in what has been described as a 'mystic transmission', he gave Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj entrance into the eternal entourage of Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī. According to Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj's vision, however, he was posted as the gatekeeper, the guardian of devotion (bhakti-rakṣak), to protect the storehouse of conclusive truths about the full-fledged theistic conception of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful, as presented in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and preached by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and the line of disciplic succession that has descended from Him, known as the Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat sampradāya.

Śrīpād Nityānanda Prabhu. By the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu we develop our attraction to Śrī Gaurāṅga. Nityānanda Prabhu helps us consolidate the foundation on which we can progress further. His mercy sometimes exceeds the mercy of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. He won't allow even those who want to avoid Kṛṣṇa consciousness to escape. If someone says, "I don't want it", Nityānanda Prabhu won't allow it. He will say, "No! You must want it. I request you earnestly—take it! Use it and you will be able to feel the value of Kṛṣṇa consciousness." He used to roam about here and there, rolling in the dust with tears in His eyes saying, "Take the name of Gaurāṅga and I will be sold to you."

By His mercy, even the most fallen souls can attain the supreme goal. He is the most generous-hearted aspect of Guru-tattva, so we must bow down our head to Him, accept His holy feet, and surrender to Him.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Absolute Truth in its fullest and most dynamic expression. The influence of Rādhārāṇī over Kṛṣṇa has transformed Him into a devotee, and He is searching Himself. Kṛṣṇa—the personification of ecstasy and beauty—is mad in tasting His own internal nectar. His dancing indicates that He is full of ecstasy, and His saṅkīrtan movement is the distribution of that ecstasy to others.

Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the fountainhead of all pleasure, ecstasy Himself, and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the embodiment of ecstatic love of Godhead. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one and the same, but They have assumed two forms. Thus They enjoy each other, tasting the mellows of divine love. The service of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvan can be attained only by unalloyed devotion to the lotus feet of Śrī Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga.
Part One   
The Life of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu

The Golden Avatār

In the teachings of Karabhājan Ṛṣi we find mention of the different incarnations for different ages (Yuga-avatārs). In Dvāpar-yuga, the Yuga-avatār is mentioned as follows:

dvāpare bhagavāñ śyāmaḥ pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ  
śrīvatsādibhir aṅkaiś cha lakṣaṇair upalakṣitaḥ

"In Dvāpar-yuga, Lord Kṛṣṇa appears with the colour of a dark rain cloud, wearing lightning-coloured garments. He is decorated with beautiful ornaments, His chest bears the mark of Śrīvatsa, and He carries His own weapons."

After the description of the Yuga-avatār of Dvāpar-yuga, Karabhājan Rṣi mentions the Kali-yuga-avatār:

iti dvāpara urv-īśa stuvanti jagad-īśvaram  
nānā-tantra-vidhānena kalāv api tathā śṛṇu

(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.31)

He says, "O King, up to Dvāpar-yuga, I have finished describing the incarnations for different ages who come to remind the people of the most appropriate duty for Their age. They come and tell us, 'If you do this, you will get the greatest benefit.' O King, after the Dvāpar Age is finished, the Age of Kali comes. The incarnation for the Age of Kali has been mentioned in many places in the scriptures, and now I am just going to explain that information to you."

Then he says:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam  
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ

In a suppressed way, this verse explains the advent of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. The ordinary meaning of Kṛṣṇa-varṇam is "of a black colour". But tviṣākṛṣṇam means "His lustre is not black." "Accompanied by His associates, He is worshipped by the process of saṅkīrtan, the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and those of sharp intellect will perform this kind of worship."

Golden gift of the golden Lord

Jīva Goswāmī explains the meaning of this verse in his own parallel verse:

antaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ bahir gauraṁ darśitāṅgādi-vaibhavam  
kalau saṅkīrtanādyaiḥ sma kṛṣṇa-chaitanyam āśritāḥ

"I take shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is outwardly of a golden complexion, but is inwardly Kṛṣṇa Himself. In this Age of Kali, He displays His expansions while performing congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. That He is blackish within means that internally He is Kṛṣṇa; that He is golden without means that He has accepted the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. In the Age of Kali, that golden Lord is seen accompanied by His expansions, associates, and intimate devotees performing saṅkīrtan."

Someone may argue that the meaning of kṛṣṇa-varṇam is that His colour is black and His lustre is also black. But how is this possible? That would be redundant. The conjunction between the words tviṣā and akṛṣṇam mean that His colour is kṛṣṇa, black, but His lustre is akṛṣṇa: not black. Then, someone might say, "Not black does not necessarily mean golden. Why should it mean golden?" The answer is found in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

Once Vasudev sent the astrologer-priest Garga Ṛṣi to Vṛndāvan to perform the name-giving ceremony for Kṛṣṇa. At that time, Garga Ṛṣi came to the house of Nanda Mahārāj and explained that Vasudev had sent him. He said, "Your child is now a little grown up and the name-giving ceremony must be performed." At that time, he spoke the following verse:

āsan varṇās trayo hy asya gṛhṇato 'nuyugaṁ tanūḥ  
śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ

"In past incarnations, this boy has appeared with different complexions: white, red, and gold, according to the particular age in which He appeared. Now He has assumed this blackish colour."

He said, "Kṛṣṇa comes in a white colour in Satya-yuga, red in Tretā-yuga, and He also comes with a golden complexion. Now in this Dvāpar-yuga He has come in a black colour." So the reference to the golden colour (pīta) is found here, because only that colour has been left for this present age of Kali. There is another reference to this golden colour in the Upaniṣads: "Yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇam: Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Brahma, appears in a golden form." Rukma-varṇam means golden. And here also, non-black means golden.

Kṛṣṇa wanted to come as the incarnation for this Age of Kali, as well as to fulfil His promise in Vṛndāvan: " I shall chant the glory of the gopīs, especially of Rādhārāṇī. I shall chant Her Name, Her glory, and roll in the dust of the earth!" But Rādhārāṇī said, "I won't allow Your body to roll in the dust of this earth. I shall cover You with My lustre." Both the mood as well as the lustre of Rādhārāṇī capture Kṛṣṇa when He comes here in Kali-yuga. And this does not occur in all Kali-yugas, but only in a special Kali-yuga.

In all the days of Brahmā, in every yuga, the Yuga-avatār comes, but Kṛṣṇa appears only once in a day of Brahmā, or once every 4.3 billion years. At that time, the original personality of Godhead (Svayam Bhagavān) appears along with His abodes, Vṛndāvan and Nabadwīp. And Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu do not come here alone, but They come with Their paraphernalia and suitable companions.

Sweetness tasting itself

And in this Age of Kali, He performs a double function: He preaches Nām-saṅkīrtan, and more importantly, He assumes the mood of Rādhārāṇī to taste His own sweetness, rasa. He is rasa Himself. Kṛṣṇa thinks, "What is the intensity of the finest rasa in Me? I would like to taste that." But only devotees can taste that, so He took the position of Rādhārāṇī to taste Himself as Kṛṣṇa, the central, final, and perfect abode of rasa. Only Rādhārāṇī can taste the maximum rasa, so He has to take Her nature, Her mood, and temperament to taste His own intrinsic ecstasy. For that reason He descended. His first duty was to spread Nām-saṅkīrtan, and the secondary, internal, private duty was to perform svabhajan-vibhajan, to taste His own intrinsic ecstasy in the mood of Rādhārāṇī. In Purī, with Rāmānanda Rāy, Svarūp Dāmodar, and other intimate associates, He tasted that great ocean of union in separation continuously for twelve years. In His last twelve years, He passed His time only in the process of tasting that mellow.

That incarnation is generally worshipped by saṅkīrtan. Without saṅkīrtan, Gaurāṅga and His paraphernalia cannot be worshipped. He is the propounder of saṅkīrtan, He loves saṅkīrtan, and He gets satisfaction only by saṅkīrtan. Only those who have sufficient merit (sukṛtivān) will worship Him by this process. The common mob cannot join this campaign. Those who have good guidance internally, good fortune, can catch the very gist of truth and engage in this process of Nām-saṅkīrtan.

Love is supreme

A rubbish brain cannot detect what is right or wrong, or how precious this is. He cannot understand or follow this higher line of thought. A man should be judged by his ideal, his aspiration for higher things. If the ideal is great, the man is great. What should be the highest ideal? Love. Love is the supreme thing. It is the most rare and precious thing. Divine love and beauty is the highest thing ever known to the world, and those who can catch this are really possessed of good intellect (sumedhasaḥ). And one who possesses this highest ideal should be considered a man of higher order. He alone can understand and practise saṅkīrtan. He alone can take to this path, this process of satisfying the Supreme Being by chanting the Holy Name of the Lord.

The hidden incarnation

This is mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, as well as in the Mahābharata and other Vedic scriptures. Karabhājan Ṛṣi, the last of the nine great yogīs, has given us a clue to understand Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu as the special incarnation for the age. He has mentioned the incarnation for this Age of Kali in a mystic way. We may think, why has this not been described very plainly? So many Avatārs are clearly described, but when Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu as the incarnation for the Age of Kali, it is discussed in a mystic way. The answer is found in the teachings of Prahlād Mahārāj, who says, "O Lord, one of Your names is Triyuga, meaning one who incarnates in three ages—Satya, Tretā, and Dvāpar—but not in Kali. And why? Because the incarnation for the Age of Kali is in disguise (chhannaḥ kalau yad abhavas Triyugo 'tha Sa Tvam)." Here we find the key to this mystic way of representing Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to the fortunate and intelligent circle (sumedhasaḥ), that ordinary people may not have any clue.

dhyeyaṁ sadā paribhava-ghnam abhīṣṭa-dohaṁ  
tīrthāspadaṁ śiva-viriñchi-nutaṁ śaraṇyam  
bhṛtyārti-haṁ praṇata-pāla bhavābdhi-potaṁ  
vande mahā-puruṣa te charaṇāravindam

"O Mahāprabhu, Your lotus feet are the highest object of meditation, for they not only destroy the pain of material existence, but they bestow the greatest fulfilment to all souls who take shelter beneath them. Your lotus feet even purify all saintly persons and holy places. Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā aspire to take shelter beneath Your lotus feet. O Mahāprabhu, You give shelter to all who simply bow down before You. You relieve all the miseries of Your surrendered servants. In the grand ship of Your lotus feet, we can cross over this ocean of material miseries. O Mahāprabhu, I bow down before Your lotus feet."

After mentioning the incarnation of Godhead for the Age of Kali, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam suddenly begins this song in praise of that great Yuga-avatār, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. With a grand voice the Bhāgavatam has come to sing the praise of that guide for Kali-yuga. This follows the verse which hints at the Avatār of Kali-yuga. Kṛṣṇa-varṇam means one who is always describing Kṛṣṇa, who always has on his lips the words "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa." Another meaning of this expression is "One who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, but whose lustre is not black." If we look deeply, we shall find that hidden beneath His golden lustre is the blackish body of Kṛṣṇa. With His own paraphernalia He has come to this plane, and service to Him is performed only by saṅkīrtan, divine sound in mass prayer. By that symptom we can recognise His divine position.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is a hidden incarnation; He comes in disguise. Such an Avatār is worshipped by the divinely intellectual. In this way, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam first describes that uncommon, extraordinary personality, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, in a mystic way and then proclaims His nobility and greatness.

The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam explains, "That same personality who came as Rāmachandra and Kṛṣṇa has again appeared. He has come to direct you to the real fulfilment of life. He is drawing the sweetest nectar from above for the sake of everyone. Only meditate on Him and all your troubles will be finished. He is the agent purifying all the holy places of pilgrimage and saintly persons by His touch, by His saṅkīrtan, by His drawing the highest things down from the highest plane. And even Brahmā and Śiva, puzzled by His noble gift, will begin to praise Him. They will eagerly aspire to take shelter under His lotus feet in surrender. The pains of all who come to serve Him will be removed, and their inner necessities will be fulfilled. And He will take care of those who take shelter of Him; they will be given protection as well as everything they may need. In this world where mortality rules, where we are continually experiencing the undesirable changes of repeated birth and death, in this area where no one wants to live, a great ship will come for us and take us within and carry us away from this unpleasant position. Let us fall at the feet of that great personality who comes to give the highest nectar."

The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam continues:

tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīṁ  
dharmiṣṭha ārya-vachasā yad agād araṇyam  
māyā-mṛgam dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad  
vande mahā-puruṣa te charaṇāravindam

"O Supreme Lord, You gave up the Goddess of fortune and Her great opulence, which is most difficult to abandon, and is sought after even by the gods. In order to perfectly establish the principles of religion, You left for the forest to honour the brāhmaṇ's curse. To deliver the sinful souls who chase illusory pleasures, You search after them and award them Your devotional service. At the same time, You are engaged in search of Yourself, in search for Śrī Kṛṣṇa: Reality the Beautiful."

Śrīla Viśvanāth Chakravartī Ṭhākur has given his explanation that although it seems that this verse applies to Lord Rāmachandra, who left His kingdom and went with Sītā Devī to the forest to discharge the duties designed by His father, this also applies to Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Viśvanāth Chakravartī Ṭhākur has drawn out the internal meaning of this verse and applied it in the case of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīm means He left imperial prosperity which is hard to abandon. Generally we find this in the case of Lord Rāmachandra, but Viśvanāth Chakravartī Ṭhākur says that surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīm means the valuable devotional company of Viṣṇu Priyā Devī. That may not appear to be a materially big thing, but the dedication that Viṣṇu Priyā has shown in Her heart for Śrīman Mahāprabhu is greater than any imperial standard. And He had to leave that behind. Such a standard of sacrifice and service is never found even among the great society of the gods. For the sake of the public welfare, He had to ignore the serving, loving attitude of Viṣṇu Priyā.

The curse of a brāhmaṇ

This verse mentions the curse of a brāhmaṇ. That brāhmaṇ told Śrīman Mahāprabhu, "I want to participate in Your nocturnal kīrtans in which You taste Kṛṣṇa-līlā, but the doors are closed." When Śrīman Mahāprabhu used to perform kīrtan and taste the Vraja-līlā of Kṛṣṇa, He did so behind closed doors in deep night. But this brāhmaṇ thought himself a very qualified, religious person because he lived by only drinking milk and nothing else, so he said, "I must have entrance into that kīrtan. I do not eat anything but milk; why should I not be allowed?" Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu replied, "Milk drinking is no qualification for entering into Kṛṣṇa consciousness." The brāhmaṇ said, "Then I curse You to lose Your family life!" "All right", Mahāprabhu said and accepted the curse. And later He took sannyās and chased after those who were misguided by Māyā Devī in order to save them. At the same time, although He is Kṛṣṇa, He accepted the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. For these two reasons, He left His apparently worldly life: He acted for the welfare of the public and, after finishing that work, spent the next twelve years tasting the very inner aspiration of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and searching after His own inner sweetness. This was what He came to show to the world. In this mystic way, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam has proclaimed the magnanimous appearance of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.
A Mysterious Incarnation

After Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyās, He went to live in Jagannāth Purī. There, He converted the greatest scholar of the day, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya. After meeting Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, the great scholar Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya questioned his brother-in-law Gopīnāth Āchārya about the Avatār of the present age, Kali-yuga. Gopīnāth had been living in Nabadwīp, and he was a follower of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. In his own way, Sārvabhauma began to praise Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu as a beautiful man and a great scholar.

"I have great attraction for Him", he said, "But I don't think it wise that at such a young age He has taken sannyās, the renounced order of life. He has such a long life ahead of Him; how will He be able to keep up the dignity of the life of a sannyāsī, a life of renunciation? I can't sit by and do nothing. I like this boy very much. I shall have to help Him as a guardian, so that He may not lose His prestige by giving up sannyās, attracted by the fascination of worldly pleasures."

Gopīnāth could not tolerate all this guardian-like advice. He told Sārvabhauma, "This young man, who is very beautiful, charming, and scholarly, has attracted your attention, and you want to become His guardian to keep up the purity of His life. Do you think you will have to help Him? What do you mean by saying all these things? Don't you know that He is really the incarnation of Godhead for this age? He is the Avatār for Kali-yuga; He inaugurated the yuga-dharma of Nām-saṅkīrtan in Nabadwīp, and His appearance is mentioned in the scriptures." Sārvabhauma replied, "No, no! You are not talking to an ordinary person. Don't think that you can say whatever you like and I will accept it. I am a hard nut to crack. What are you saying? There is no Kali-yuga-avatār. One of the names of Viṣṇu mentioned in the Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma in the Mahābhārata is Triyuga, "The Lord who appears only in three ages". That means that the Lord has no incarnation in Kali-yuga except Kalki, who is a Pastime incarnation and not the Yuga-avatār, the incarnation for the age." Gopīnāth replied, "You think yourself so learned, but although you have studied all the scriptures, and are so proud of your learning, the Mahābhārata and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam are the main scriptures of the followers of eternal religious principles, and still you have no particular knowledge about that."

"Not man—but God'

At that time, Gopīnāth Āchārya quoted passages from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Mahābhārata (kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ, suvarṇa-varṇa hemāṅgo). In this way, he pressed his point: "Here we find the direct Avatār for the Age of Kali. He has appeared to spread Nām-saṅkīrtan. He is not a man, but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa Himself." Sārvabhauma said, "No, no. Go away. Mind your own business. Don't think that you can instruct me." And in this way they argued.

Later, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya told Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, "I would like to teach You Vedānta philosophy, so that You can keep up the standard of Your renunciation. I will teach You that this world is nothing, so that You never feel any charm to again enter into mundane life." Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Yes, you are my guardian. Whatever you say, I must do. I will come and learn Vedānta philosophy from you at whatever time is suitable for you.

Then Gopīnāth Āchārya told Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, "Sārvabhauma is saying this because he doesn't know Your real identity." Śrīman Mahāprabhu replied, "Why are you speaking against him? He is My guardian. He was My father's classmate, so he has great affection for Me. It is out of affection that he poses himself as My guardian and looks after My welfare. I don't find any fault in that."

Seven days of silence

In a few days, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began to hear Vedānta from Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya, and as Sārvabhauma would speak, He would remain silent like a good boy, as if He were hearing with a submissive attitude. But after he had been teaching Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu for seven days, Sārvabhauma had some doubt in his mind. He thought, "What is the matter? I am such a great scholar in Vedānta and logic, and I am trying my best with all my intelligence to put before Him the inner meaning of Vedānta, but I draw no response from Him. He is only quietly attending my discourse as if He is deaf and dumb. And I can't say that He does not understand me, for He has a sharp intellect. I am sure of this, but still He gives no appreciation, no response whatsoever. He raises no question and gives no indication whether He understands or not—nothing of the kind. Then what am I doing?" He could not keep himself any longer. He put the question straight to the Lord: "For more than seven days I have been explaining the inner meaning of Vedānta to You. Many sannyāsīs come to me to learn about Vedānta, but You don't have any question about my talk, my explanation? You maintain a strange and wonderful silence. What is the reason?

Atheistic scholarship

Then, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu revealed Himself. He said, "Sārvabhauma, what you explain is on the basis of Śaṅkar's philosophy, but I heard that it was by the order of the Lord that Śaṅkar Āchārya concealed the real purpose of Vedānta. Its author, Vyāsadev, is a completely theistic person, and he has prepared this Vedānta, but what you say is all based on atheistic scholarship."

Sārvabhauma was a very intelligent man. He realised, "In a very gentle way, He wants to tell me that what I am explaining is all bogus. I am labouring diligently to explain Vedānta to my utmost capacity for the last seven days, and now He shows His true colours and says that what I am explaining is all false. What is He saying?" Still, in a gentlemanly way, Sārvabhauma with some hesitation asked Śrīman Mahāprabhu, "You say that what I have been explaining for the last seven days is all unsubstantial and unreal. Then can You give the proper meaning? If this is all improper and false, then what is the real meaning of Vedānta?" Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu humbly replied, "If you order Me to explain Vedānta, I will try. The sūtras or codes of Vedānta are lustrous in themselves. They are self-evident. The proper reading of the sūtras leads towards Parabrahma, Kṛṣṇa." Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began with this introduction. He said that Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the real explanation and commentary on Vedānta. It is mentioned in the Garuda-purāṇa:

artho 'yaṁ brahma-sūtrānāṁ bhāratārtha-vinirṇayaḥ  
gāyatrī-bhāṣya-rūpo 'sau vedārtha-paribṛṁhitaḥ

"Śrīmad Bhāgavatam represents the real purport of Vedānta-sūtra. And although it is very difficult to draw out the real purpose of the one-hundred-thousand-verse epic Mahābhārata, the great history of the world, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam has come to give its real meaning. The mother of all Vedic knowledge is the gāyatrī-mantra. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam gives the gist of gāyatrī in a very full-fledged way. And the supplementary truths of the Vedas are also found within Śrīmad Bhāgavatam." Therefore, Vedānta must be explained in the line of the truth which has been expressed in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Only then can the real meaning be understood.

The aspiration of liberated souls

When Śrīman Mahāprabhu mentioned Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Sārvabhauma, being a learned paṇḍit could not deny its validity. He said, "Yes, I also like Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. And I especially like this one very beautiful verse. At that time, Sārvabhauma, to regain lost prestige, began to explain the ātmārāma verse of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam:

ātmārāmāś cha munayo nirgranthā apy urukrame  
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim ittham-bhūta guṇo hariḥ

"Even the liberated souls fully satisfied in the self are irresistibly attracted by the superexcellent qualities of Kṛṣṇa and surrender to Him with unalloyed devotion."

Sārvabhauma explained this verse in nine different ways, while Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, as before, sat silently hearing. After he had finished his explanation, Sārvabhauma thought that he had regained his position to a certain extent. Still, as a courtesy, he asked Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, "Are You satisfied with this explanation? If You can give any more light to this verse, I will listen to that." Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu told him, "If you order me, I may try." Then He gave eighteen different types of explanations of that verse, leaving aside the nine already given by Sārvabhauma.

At that time, while listening to the explanation of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Sārvabhauma gradually saw that he was losing his position. His pride was finished. Astounded, he thought, "This youth, this young boy, is not an ordinary person. No ordinary intellect can refute my arguments. Leaving aside all of my attempts to explain this verse, He gave eighteen wonderful explanations of this particular verse. What is this? Such consistent, irresistible, devotional, and beautiful explanations are coming, superseding all those that with great energy and effort I explained. No human being can surpass my explanations. No human intellect can cross mine. This is a different sort of explanation. It is all-encompassing. But it is coming from this young boy? What is this?"

Mystic revelation

Gradually, he lost his faith in himself and became baffled. He recalled how Gopīnāth Āchārya had said that Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was not a human being and thought, "It is not possible for a human to explain things in this way—it is something supernatural." Then Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu revealed to Sārvabhauma His spiritual position as Nārāyaṇ and Kṛṣṇa combined. In a trance, Sārvabhauma saw all these things and fell at the Lord's feet, and almost completely lost consciousness.

When he arose from his trance, he found that boy still sitting there like a student with great humility. Then Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu asked him, "May I go for today?" Sārvabhauma said, "Yes, you may go now." The Lord went away, and Sārvabhauma remained there. After some time, he recovered, and began to think, "What have I seen? Four-handed Nārāyaṇ, then Kṛṣṇa playing the flute! I was not defeated by a man—that is my solace. Sārvabhauma become a changed man and composed two verses:

vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga-  
śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ  
śrī-kṛṣṇa-chaitanya-śarīra-dhārī  
kṛpāmbudhir yas tam ahaṁ prapadye

"I surrender unto the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is an ocean of mercy. He is the original personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and has descended to teach us the real meaning of knowledge, renunciation, and devotion to Him."

kālān naṣṭaṁ bhakti-yogaṁ nijaṁ yaḥ  
prāduṣkartuṁ kṛṣṇa-chaitanya-nāmā  
āvirbhūtas tasya pādāravinde  
gāḍhaṁ gāḍhaṁ līyatāṁ chitta-bhṛṅgaḥ

"Let the honeybee of my mind dive deep into the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself. He has appeared to revive the path of unalloyed devotion, which had almost become lost due to the influence of time."

A taste supreme

These two verses were composed by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya expressing that Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Lord Himself. The next day, early in the morning, Śrīman Mahāprabhu, with some prasādam from the Jagannāth Temple, ran to Sārvabhauma while he was still in bed. He cried in a loud voice, "Sārvabhauma, how wonderful is this prasādam! It has a very extraordinary taste. Please take it. I have come for you with this prasādam." Sārvabhauma arose from bed as Mahāprabhu offered him the prasādam, and he could not but accept it without cleansing his mouth. Ordinarily a brāhmaṇ paṇḍit, early in the morning, will first cleanse his mouth, bathe, offer different prayers, and only then take prasādam. But when Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu personally came and offered it to him with His own hand, what could Sārvabhauma do? He had to accept that prasādam. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu told him, "We have previously experienced the taste of so many things like ghee, rice, sweets, and spices. We all know what flavours they have, but this is wonderful. This has touched the lips of Kṛṣṇa Himself. It is extraordinarily wonderful and tasteful." Then, Sārvabhauma eagerly ate that prasādam and began uttering some mantras:

śuṣkaṁ paryuṣitaṁ vāpi nītaṁ vā dura-deśataḥ  
prāpti-mātreṇa bhoktavyaṁ nātra kāla-vichāraṇā

"One should take the mahāprasād of Śrī Kṛṣṇa as soon as one receives it, without consideration of time or place, even though it may be dried up, stale, or brought from a distant country."

na deśa-niyamas tatra na kāla-niyamas tathā  
prāptam annaṁ drutaṁ śiṣṭair bhoktavyaṁ harir abravīt

"The prasād of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is to be taken by gentlemen as soon as it is received, without hesitation. There are no regulative principles concerning time and place. This is the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

"Today, I have conquered the world"

He took prasādam, and the Lord and servant embraced one another and began to dance in ecstasy. As they danced, the symptoms of ecstasy appeared in both of them. They perspired, trembled, and shed tears. Absorbed in ecstatic love, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Today, I have conquered the whole world, for I have converted a scholar like Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya. Now, he has so much faith in mahāprasād that without performing any Vedic rituals, he took the prasādam. My mission is successful!"

From that day on, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya knew nothing but the lotus feet of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, and could only explain the scriptures with the conclusions of devotion. Seeing that Sārvabhauma had become a follower of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Gopīnāth Āchārya began to clap his hands and dance. He said, "Well, Sārvabhauma, what do you think now?" Sārvabhauma replied, "Gopīnāth, you are my real friend, for it is by your grace that I received the mercy of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu."
Friend of the Fallen

Although it is the duty of justice to seek qualifications, mercy has no such limits. Divine mercy does not care for any qualifications, but is always ready to compensate the weak and unfit. Only one thing is required: our sincere eagerness to receive mercy. In Chaitanya-charitāmṛta it is said:

kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ  
krīyatāṁ yadi kuto'pi labhyate  
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ  
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate

"Pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa cannot be obtained by performing pious activities even for millions of births. It can be purchased only by paying one price: intense eagerness. Wherever it is available, one must purchase it immediately." No qualifications from one's previous life will help one to attain Kṛṣṇa consciousness; only eagerness and faith are important.

And what is the effect of Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś chhidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ  
kṣīyante chāsya karmāṇi mayi dṛṣṭe 'khilātmani

"Our inner aspiration for rasa, ecstasy, is buried in the heart and the heart is tied down and sealed. But hearing and chanting the glories of Kṛṣṇa breaks the seal of the heart, and the heart awakens and opens to receive Kṛṣṇa: the reservoir of pleasure, ecstasy Himself (raso vai Saḥ, Akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrtiḥ)."

The heart wants ecstasy

Our heart's concern is with ecstasy, charm, and sweetness. And this is felt by the heart, not by the brain, so the heart has been given the most importance. The next effect is felt in the plane of knowledge. After getting a taste of divine sweetness, suspicion vanishes (rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya paraṁ dṛṣtvā nivartate). When we have a taste of real ecstasy (rasa), then all doubts are cleared. By getting a taste of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the heart is captured, and when the heart is captured, the ecstasy of love of Godhead, prema, begins to flow. Being satisfied, the heart will say, "This is what I was searching for!" Then, the brain will follow, thinking, "Yes, there can be no doubt, this is the highest goal of our search. Dissolve everything else." The heart will say, "I have attained prema, divine love—this is the highest thing! Stop all works from now on." Then, karma will close all its workshops. After coming in touch with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the first result is that the heart awakens. When the heart is captured, the brain approves, and our karma, energising in the wrong direction, stops. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the real wealth of the heart.

It is the nature of divine mercy to extend itself without caring for any law. The only consideration is our eagerness to accept it. Mercy is offered in this way: "Do you want this?" If we simply agree, "Yes, it is wonderful and most tasteful", then we can have it. If our prayer is genuine, then nothing else is required. It is a simple transaction. If we want it, we will get it. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is most simple. Whether one is fit or unfit is unimportant. Anyone who simply wants it may have it.

And what of those who don't want this divine gift? For them, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu distributed special mercy through His most magnanimous canvassing agent, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. Nityānanda Prabhu won't allow even those who want to avoid Kṛṣṇa consciousness to escape. If someone says, "I don't want it", Nityānanda Prabhu won't allow it. He will say, "No! You must want it. I request you earnestly—take it! Use it and you will be able to feel the value of Kṛṣṇa consciousness."

To capture the market, a clever merchant may distribute free samples of his product to his customers, saying, "Take one free! There is no question of paying any price now. I am giving this away. Use it, and if you feel the value, the utility of my product—buy it." And then afterwards everyone will purchase.

"Please accept Gaurāṅga!"

In a similar way, Nityānanda Prabhu travelled throughout Bengal making His humble appeal. Nityānanda Prabhu would knock at the door and fall at the feet of His customers, crying, "Please accept this! Don't dismiss Me. Don't drive Me away. Please do what I say. Give all your attention to Gaurāṅga and you will be benefitted beyond expectation. This is My request to you." He would shed tears, roll at their door, and say, "You are reluctant to accept this, but have no doubts. I implore you—take it! Believe Me. Please accept Gaurāṅga!" In this way, Nityānanda Prabhu used to wander down both sides of the Ganges, roaming here and there and preaching about Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.

Nityānanda Prabhu knows only Gaurāṅga. He is represented in Kṛṣṇa-līlā as Baladev. Baladev apparently performed the rāsa-līlā, but at heart was only arranging Rāsa-līlā for Kṛṣṇa: His nature shows the experts of devotion that He is always dedicated to Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise He would not be Baladev. He has no individual thoughts for His own enjoyment; every atom of His body is always eager to make arrangements for the enjoyment of Kṛṣṇa. In a similar way, every atom of the body of Nityānanda Prabhu is conscious transcendental substance. And every atom of His body is meant only for the service and satisfaction of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.

"Come down from Your throne!"

One day, Mahāprabhu's mother, Śachī Devī, had a dream that Kṛṣṇa and Balarām were on a throne and Nityānanda Prabhu was addressing Baladev, "Come down from Your throne! Your days are over. Now My Lord Gaurāṅga will be installed." Baladev refused: "No. I have My Lord—Kṛṣṇa." There was a fight, but Nityānanda Prabhu was stronger, and He took Baladev down from the throne, saying, "Your day has gone. Now the time for My Master, Gaurāṅga, has come. You are a trespasser, an usurper—You must come down." And Baladev could not defeat Nityānanda, who took Him down from the throne.

This is the nature of Nityānanda Prabhu's relationship with Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. He has nothing of His own; His everything is Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. As Baladev is to Kṛṣṇa, Nityānanda Prabhu is to Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. The aim of Śrīman Mahāprabhu's descent was to distribute the devotional service of Vṛndāvan most generously. On the other hand, Nityānanda Prabhu used to sing,

bhaja gaurāṅga, kaha gaurāṅga, laha gaurāṅgera nāma  
yei jana gaurāṅga bhaje sei āmāra prāna

"Worship Gaurāṅga, speak of Gaurāṅga, chant Gaurāṅga's Name. Whoever worships Śrī Gaurāṅga is My life and soul." Nityānanda Prabhu tried His best to make the people at large accept Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. What did He say? "Come straight to the campaign of Śrī Chaitanya and you will safely attain Vṛndāvan."

Of course, Nabadwīp, the abode of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, is no less valuable than Vṛndāvan, the abode of Kṛṣṇa. The same rasa which is found in Vṛndāvan is present in another feature in Nabadwīp. Some devotees have a special attraction for Vṛndāvan-līlā, others have a special attraction for Nabadwīp-līlā, and a third group represents both camps, but Nabadwīp is the most generous. In Vṛndāvan, the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are confined to a confidential circle, but in Nabadwīp, those Pastimes are distributed. Gaura-līlā is more generous than Kṛṣṇa-līlā.

In the Chaitanya-charitāmṛta (2.25.261), Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī explains his conception of the difference between Gaura-līlā and Kṛṣṇa-līlā:

kṛṣṇa-līlā amṛta-sāra, tāra śata śata dhāra,  
daśa-dike vahe yāhā haite  
se chaitanya-līlā haya, sarovara akṣaya,  
mano-haṁsa charāha' tāhāte

He says, "There is no doubt that we find the highest nectarean taste of rasa in Kṛṣṇa-līlā. But what is Gaura-līlā? In Gaura-līlā, the nectar of Kṛṣṇa-līlā is not confined to a limited circle, but is being distributed on all sides. It is just as if from all ten sides of the nectarean lake of Kṛṣṇa-līlā hundreds of streams are flowing."

Our highest aspiration is to achieve the service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, but in the beginning, we must approach Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu through His manifest representation, the Guru. Nityānanda Prabhu consolidates the foundation which helps us progress further in devotion. Quick progress without a good foundation invites a negative reaction, so the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu is our primary necessity. This approach culminates in the service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī (Nitāiyer karuṇā habe Vraje Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa pābe).

To be reinstated as a servant of the servant to the extreme degree is the philosophy of Gauḍīya–Vaiṣṇavism. Our goal is not to become one with Kṛṣṇa but to receive service—we want to render service. The predominated moiety of the Absolute Truth is a negative potency—the energy that serves—and the predominating moiety receives that service. Our best interest will be reached when, according to our constitutional nature, we attain our position in the line of servitors in the negative, predominated moiety; not by considering ourselves one with the positive, pre-dominating moiety.

By the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu, we develop our attraction for Śrī Gaurāṅga. If we receive the grace of Śrī Gaurāṅga, we receive everything in the highest degree. And that is the safest way to approach Rādhā-Govinda. If we try to achieve Rādhā-Govinda in some other way, our attempt will naturally be artificial and defective; if we approach Rādhā-Govinda directly, avoiding Śrī Gaurāṅga, there will be great difficulty.

An investment in Nabadwīp

Therefore, we should invest all our energy in the service of Śrī Gaurāṅga. Then, we shall automatically find ourselves being lifted towards the highest level. Prabodhānanda Saraswati Ṭhākur prays:

yathā yathā gaura-padāravinde  
vindeta bhaktiṁ kṛta-puṇya-rāśiḥ  
tathā tathot sarpati hṛdy akasmād  
rādhā-padāmbhoja-sudhāmbhu-rāśiḥ

"As much as we devote ourselves to the lotus feet of Śrī Gaurāṅga, we will automatically achieve the nectarean service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in Vṛndāvan." An investment in Nabadwīp Dhām will automatically take one to Vṛndāvan. How one has been carried there will be unknown to him. But those who have good fortune invest everything in the service of Gaurāṅga. If they do that, they will find that everything has automatically been offered to the divine feet of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. She will accept them in Her confidential service and give them engagement, saying, "Oh, you have a good recommendation from Nabadwīp; I immediately appoint you to this service." Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is introduced in the form of Gaurāṅga with the added element of magnanimity. No selfish sensualism can enter our consideration of the Pastimes of Śrī Gaurāṅga, for there He appears as a sannyāsī and a devotee.

Of course, if we are to analyse Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, we shall find Kṛṣṇa in the garb of Rādhārāṇī. According to the impersonal philosophers, when negative and positive combine, they become nondifferentiated oneness, but Vaiṣṇava philosophy says that when both positive and negative aspects of Godhead are combined, personality is not lost. Rather, in the garb of the negative, the positive is converted and begins searching for Himself in the mood of the highest searcher. According to Vaiṣṇavism, when positive and negative combine, they do not create equilibrium; rather their dynamic character is always maintained. The combination of Rādhā and Govinda is Śrī Gaurāṅga, and by the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu, we may be attracted to Śrī Gaurāṅga.

All-embracing mercy

Nityānanda Prabhu's mercy sometimes exceeds the mercy of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Because it may create a bad precedent, Mahāprabhu sometimes cannot accept certain fallen souls—He has to consider their status as well as other things. Nityānanda Prabhu's mercy, however, does not care for any unfavourable circumstances; His mercy is very lavish and almost blind. He does not discriminate between different degrees of sinners. His mercy is all-embracing. And Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu cannot dismiss His recommendation. Even those who Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu rejected, Nityānanda Prabhu sheltered, and gradually Mahāprabhu had to accept them. So the grace of Nityānanda is the greatest both in magnitude and circumference, and that is our solace, for by His mercy even the most fallen souls can attain the supreme goal.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu once told His followers, "Even if Nityānanda Prabhu is found with a fallen girl of the lowest kind, drinking wine in a wine shop, still you should know that He is above all these things. Although you may find Him apparently engaged in lower activities, He is never implicated. He may appear connected with so many fallen activities, but you should know that He is always revered by the creator of the universe, Lord Brahmā, and other exalted devotees. Nityānanda Prabhu's mercy is so powerful that if one simply takes a piece of His loincloth and wears it respectfully on his body, he will be saved from all the disturbances of the mundane senses." Therefore we pray, "May my mind always stick to His holy feet; I offer my obeisances to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu."

Swallowed by māyā

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyās for the benefit of those souls swallowed by māyā. He ran and chased after the fallen souls to deliver them from illusion by giving them the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and Nityānanda Prabhu, like His shadow, ran after Him wherever He went. He fully surrendered and identified Himself with Mahāprabhu's cause. So we must bow down to Nityānanda Prabhu. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was merged in tasting the sweetness of Rādhā-Govinda-līlā, and diving deep into that reality, however, at the same time, He wanted to deliver all souls whose hearts had not been devoured by the false notions of renunciation and exploitation. He ordered Nityānanda Prabhu, "Go to Bengal and try to deliver them—give them divine love for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa."

He ordered Nityānanda Prabhu to distribute divine love for Rādhā-Govinda, but instead, Nityānanda began to preach about Śrī Gaurāṅga. He thought, "It will be better for them to worship Gaurāṅga; that will help free them from their offences in their present condition, and by doing so, they will automatically achieve a position in Rādhā-Govinda-līlā." He was ordered to preach the Name of Kṛṣṇa, but instead began to preach the Name of Gaurāṅga. So, for our own welfare, we bow down to Nityānanda Prabhu with all our humility.

We pray, "O Nityānanda Prabhu, O Gurudev, please give me a drop of firm faith in Śrī Gaurāṅga, who is Rādhā-Govinda combined, tasting the sweetness of the divine nectar of the Pastimes of Vṛndāvan. Give me a drop of faith, so that one day I may attain divine love and enter into that domain."

If we neglect Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, our aspiration to serve Rādhā-Govinda will be a dream, an abstract imagination without reality. Nityānanda Prabhu is the refuge of all fallen souls. He is the most generous-hearted aspect of Guru-tattva; we must bow down our head to Him, accept His holy feet, and surrender to Him.

In the spiritual realm of Vaikuṇṭha, Nityānanda Prabhu is represented as Saṅkarṣaṇ, the Supreme Lord who is considered to be the foundation of everything in existence. All possible existence is maintained by His energy. Nityānanda Prabhu is the original Baladev, the personality of Godhead. Therefore, we should view the Pastimes of Nityānanda Prabhu with full consciousness of His dignified position, although He used to roam about here and there, rolling in the dust with tears in His eyes, saying, "Take the Name of Gaurāṅga and I will be sold to you." Although He posed in this lower position, still, He should be considered in light of His actual dignified position. We must surrender to Him with that attitude.

Balarām is represented in different parts of the spiritual world in different aspects. He came here as Nityānanda Prabhu with Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. The truth about Nityānanda Prabhu has been exhaustively explained in Chaitanya-charitāmṛta and Chaitanya-bhāgavat. There, He is described as enjoying His life and relishing His Pastimes with His own younger brother. To that Nityānanda, we must bow our heads.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa-prema, divine love, is an inconceivable substance which is very pleasing and ecstatic. Great saints who get a taste of that wonderful substance throw away all sorts of aspirations, including salvation, which is lavishly praised by the Vedas. So Nityānanda Prabhu, although one with Baladev, is greater than Him? Why? He is distributing divine love.

What is divine love? It is so important and valuable, so much higher than all other sorts of achievements, that one who can give divine love is far superior to those who can give duty, wealth, pleasure, and even salvation (dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa). If we conceive that Kṛṣṇa is subordinate to Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, then of course Balarām is subordinate to Nityānanda Prabhu. In all other respects the two of Them are similar, but when magnanimity is added to Balarām, He becomes Nityānanda Prabhu.

First, the position of divine love must be established: the great saints discard salvation and other things after they get a slight scent of divine love. Once the position of divine love is established, we can understand that one who can give it must necessarily be superior to the givers of all other things.

So Nityānanda Balarām is superior to Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Supersoul of the collective universes, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Supersoul of this universe, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Supersoul of all living beings. And that Balarām has come here as Nityānanda Prabhu—not with majesty, grandeur, or power, but in a human form—to distribute divine love. And He is the giver of Gaurāṅga. His greatness is proved by this fact. We can understand this by further examining the different aspects of His life, step by step.

Nityānanda Prabhu was born in Ekachakrā, and there He passed His early life. His parents, friends, and neighbours were filled with ecstatic joy, being pleased with His sweet infant Pastimes. From His birth, He was a pleasure to the whole atmosphere of Ekachakrā, and in this joyful atmosphere He passed His childhood years.

One day, while Nityānanda was still young, a sannyāsī came to His home and begged Him from His parents. The sannyāsī was roaming about to different holy places and he prayed for Nityānanda as his alms. He took Him in his company, and Nityānanda Prabhu wandered about almost all the holy places, following that sannyāsī. It is said that the sannyāsī was Mādhavendra Purī.

Then one day, from within, feeling ecstasy in His heart, Nityānanda Prabhu could understand that Śrī Gaurāṅga had begun His Pastimes of saṅkīrtan in Nabadwīp. And with that inspiration, He came to Nabadwīp Dhām.

An extraordinary dream

That day, Mahāprabhu told His followers, "I had a dream that an extraordinarily great man, in a chariot marked with the palm tree flag of Balarām, came to My door and said, 'Where is the house of Nimāi Paṇḍit?' Twice, thrice, four times—again and again—he keeps saying, 'Where is the house of Nimāi Paṇḍit?'" Mahāprabhu continued, "That great personage must have come last night to Nabadwīp. Try to search Him out." They searched and searched, but could not find Him anywhere.

Then Mahāprabhu told them, "Let Me try." He took them straight to the home of Nandan Āchārya, and when Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu with His followers suddenly arrived there, they found Nityānanda Prabhu sitting on the veranda. After seeing Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu stared intently at Him for some time, became absorbed in Him, and fainted. In this way, in one day, He became the most intimate associate of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. When He was ordered by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to give Kṛṣṇa consciousness to everyone, He began to distribute Gaurāṅga consciousness, divine love of Śrī Gaurāṅga. That Nityānanda Prabhu is the saviour of all fallen souls, without any discrimination of the degree of their fallenness; so we bow down to His holy feet.

Once, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu had a secret talk with Nityānanda Prabhu in Jagannāth Purī. When Nityānanda Prabhu went to Bengal and married, some say that Mahāprabhu asked Him to marry. It is our opinion that because the so-called 'high-class' people were so much surcharged with vanity, Nityānanda Prabhu was asked to approach the masses. Because He was ordered to mix with them very familiarly for His preaching purposes, it was found necessary for Him to marry. Otherwise, if He were to have mixed very familiarly with family men, accusations may have been levelled at His standard of renunciation. And to further that purpose, He married. He had to adopt that policy and accept that attitude. And He may have been told to do so by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu; it was not His own decision. Of course, marrying or not marrying was nothing to Him.

How He came in contact with His eternal consort, Jāhnavā Devī, is described in the Bhakti-ratnākara. It appears that when He was preaching all around Bengal, He preached at the house of Jāhnavā Devī's father, Sūrya Dās Paṇḍit, the brother of Gaurī Dās Paṇḍit, who was already a follower of Gaura-Nityānanda. Sūrya Dās gave Him intimate help in His propaganda work, as his house was a good base. And Sūrya Dās, who had two daughters, offered Nityānanda Prabhu his daughter in marriage. Ultimately, Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrīmatī Jāhnavā Devī are eternally associated, and although Their marriage apparently took place out of necessity, it was actually part of Their eternal līlā.

Of course, some so-called sannyāsīs take advantage of this to give up their vows of celibacy and marry. They give the marriage of Nityānanda as an excuse. But it is not a proven fact that Nityānanda Prabhu was a sannyāsī. Actually, the name 'Nityānanda' is a brahmachārī name. 'Ānanda' is a suffix added to the name of a brahmachārī. 'Ānanda', 'Svarūp', 'Prakāś', and 'Chaitanya' are different types of brahmachārī names. The name 'Ānanda' is also found in the sannyās order of life, but we find no sannyās title mentioned for Nityānanda Prabhu. There is also no mention anywhere of a Sannyās-guru for Nityānanda Prabhu, although we know that His Dīkṣā-guru was Mādhavendra Purī, the Guru of Advaita Prabhu and Īśvara Purī.

Nityānanda Prabhu is known as an avadhūt. 'Avadhūt' does not mean a sannyāsī, but one who is not very particular about his external practices and sometimes does things which should not be done. When an exalted person is seen engaging in lower practices, he is considered an avadhūt. It is understood that he is above that, but his practices are of a lower nature. Ava means lower, and dhūt means that he can either remove or purify.

Nityānanda Prabhu broke the single sannyās staff (ekadaṇḍa) into three; that indicates that when taking sannyās, the renounced order of life, we should accept not one, but three daṇḍas, which symbolise the dedication of body, mind, and words in the service of the Lord. And Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur Prabhupād was also inspired by this action of Nityānanda Prabhu's to give tridaṇḍa-sannyās to his followers, in contrast to ekadaṇḍa which was formerly current in Bengal. The system of tridaṇḍa-sannyās was the custom in Southeast India with the Vaiṣṇavas who follow Rāmānuja Āchārya, and Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta introduced it for the modern age.

Misconception: attack it—crush it!

Nityānanda Prabhu's approach was somewhat peculiar. His strategy was to uplift the most fallen. Like Napoleon, whose policy was to attack the strongest position of the opposing army, Nityānanda Prabhu wanted to capture the most sinful. Generally, we think that a saint flies away from this world of māyā and goes to a solitary place where he can enter into a cave and engage himself in meditation. Indian saints generally preach, "Give up everything, go to a solitary place in the jungle, find a cave, and engage yourself fully in understanding Godhead." But our Guru Mahārāj was different. Like Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu, he wanted to attack māyā and, like a great general, he declared totalitarian war on illusion and even all other existing conceptions of religion. "Why is there this misunderstanding and misconception?" he thought. "Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa: Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam. It is plain and simple and sweet. How can we think, 'This is for me, that is for Him?' Why should we let this misconception stand here at all? Attack it—and crush the whole thing!"

He told us, "Kīrtan means to preach against misconception. As soldiers, you must go door to door and preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness—Kṛṣṇa's interest—the Kṛṣṇa conception. If they understand that everything is for Kṛṣṇa, they will be saved. This truth is plain and simple. Why should they not understand this? Try to capture them, to release them from the world of misconception and misunderstanding where they are now suffering from reaction."

In this way, we are not afraid of anything. A Vaiṣṇava who loved solitary life once asked our Guru Mahārāj, "Why do you stay at Kolkata? That is the place of Satan, where fighting for selfish interest is so acute. Leave that—come to the Holy Dhām." But Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur especially chose that place, saying, "I prefer to represent Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's creed in an extremely contaminated place." For this reason, he wanted to send men to the West. "The East is captured by the glamour of Western civilisation", he said, "so Western civilisation must first be crushed. Then, its glamour will vanish and the whole world will come to join the campaign of divine love of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu." This was the same spirit with which Nityānanda Prabhu canvassed the fallen souls of this world, in His attempt to take them to the lotus feet of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.
Mad Nimāi Paṇḍit

At the time of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's advent, Bengal had fallen far away from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The people of the day had become so much degraded that they would pass their time spending money like water to see the marriage of cats. Deviating from the worship of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, they used to worship the serpent-goddess, Viṣaharī, or the controller of the demons, Kālī. Very rarely would the Name of Kṛṣṇa be heard from their lips. Only a few of the Hindu gentlemen, when bathing in the Ganges, would chant the Holy Name of Govinda, Hari, or Kṛṣṇa. And Nabadwīp Dhām, place of the advent of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, was under Mohammedan rule in those days. The Kāzī was in power in Nabadwīp, and the Hindu's religious feelings were checked by the strong hand of his Islamic rule.

Advaita Āchārya was a great scholar and the most senior among Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's followers. He appeared in Navagrām in Śrī Haṭṭa, in the eastern province of Bengal, and resided in Śāntipur. Ontologically speaking, Śrī Advaita Āchārya is the Avatār of Mahāviṣṇu, who creates the material cosmos through the agency of His illusory energy. Advaita Āchārya is the devotee who earnestly invited Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to descend here as the Yuga-avatār to look after the welfare of all souls. He began to worship the Lord with Ganges water and tulasī leaves and invoked His grace, praying, "O Lord, please come and deliver these people; the time has come to relieve them by the distribution of the sweet Name of Kṛṣṇa. Come, My Lord—they are most poor!" In this way Advaita Āchārya attracted Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu by pleading the cause of the fallen souls. Of course, the time had come for the advent of the incarnation for this age, the Yuga-avatār, but still Advaita Āchārya performed the function of inviting and welcoming Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.

The advent of Śrī Chaitanya

And when the Supreme Lord was about to appear, Advaita felt in his heart, "My prayer is going to be satisfied—He is coming!" Ultimately, He detected that Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, had personally appeared in the house of Śrī Jagannāth Miśra and Śachī Devī as their newborn boy, Nimāi Viśvambhar. And so, Advaita Āchārya went to pay due respects to the child and His parents on the divine advent day.

When the boy was a little grown up, Śrī Advaita Prabhu came down to bow at the feet of the child, Nimāi. Śachī Devī, Nimāi's mother, shuddered: "What are You doing? You are an old paṇḍit, a Vedic scholar. If You show this kind of respect to my young boy, it will spoil His future! What are You doing?" It was said that whenever Advaita Āchārya used to bow down His head to a Deity, the statue would shatter into pieces if it was a sham, if there was no genuine presence of the Lord. But here, when Advaita put His head at the feet of the boy, Nimāi put one foot on Advaita Āchārya's head. Everyone was astounded and wondered, "What kind of spiritual power does this child have? Such a great devotee-scholar and senior man as Advaita has bowed down to this child, and the child has stepped on Advaita's head, but the child is quite unaffected! Who is this child?"

Nimāi's childhood

When Nimāi was a boy, sometimes He would disguise Himself with a blanket and enter into the banana grove of a neighbour's house. With a push of His head He used to break down the banana trees. The neighbours would come out and think, "A bull must have entered and demolished our garden!" In these Pastimes the Lord was teaching His devotees, "I am demolishing all your banana trees that will be used for some other purpose besides My service. In the highest sense, you are My eternal associates, and I can do anything and everything with your possessions to suit My fleeting pleasures." Sometimes He would snatch fruit from the hand of Śrīdhar Paṇḍit, saying, "Oh, give Me this banana. I won't be able to pay you any price." Śrīdhar Paṇḍit would tell Him, "Why are You doing this? You are a brāhmaṇ boy; I can't refuse You. But You should not do these things. I am a poor man. If You snatch away my best things, how can I make a living?" In this way, Nimāi performed His Pastimes of stealing fruit.

As Nimāi Paṇḍit grew up, He used to show Advaita Āchārya great respect. But Advaita could not tolerate it. He said, "I know that You are not an ordinary person. You are a supernatural, transcendental personality of the highest order. Still, in the worldly sense, You are younger than Me, so You show Me respect, but I can't tolerate it. It is too much for Me." But what could Advaita do? Nimāi used to show His formal respect to Advaita Prabhu every time They met, so Advaita made a plan to stop this, and thought to Himself, "I shall see how clever You are."

He left Nabadwīp, went to Śāntipur, and began to preach against the devotional school. The news came to Nimāi that Advaita Āchārya, after such a long time as a devotee, was preaching against the devotional school. He was preaching that jñān, knowledge, is higher than devotion. "Devotion makes the Lord far away", He argued, "and knowledge tries to bring Him very near. With knowledge, one thinks, 'I want to experience You, O Lord.' And devotion says 'He is adhokṣaja: transcendental. He can't be traced by our senses.' So devotion makes Him far away by saying, 'It is only His sweet will that may connect us.' But according to the path of knowledge, the supreme authority is within you, in your heart. The devotional school is clearly secondary."

"Don't kill that old man!"

In this way, Advaita Āchārya began to preach. And when that reached the ears of Nimāi Paṇḍit, He went with Nityānanda to punish Advaita. They jumped into the Ganges and swam all the way to Śāntipur, where they found Advaita Āchārya. Nimāi confronted Him: "What are You doing, Āchārya? Why have You invited Me to come here? With Ganges water and tulasī leaves, You prayed for Me to appear, and now You are making fun of Me? You are speaking against devotion, against Me? What is the matter with You?" In this way, Nimāi Paṇḍit began to punish Advaita. He began to slap Him. The old wife of Advaita Āchārya began to cry, "What are You doing? Don't kill that old man!"

Nityānanda Prabhu was smiling, and Haridās Ṭhākur, perplexed, was standing at a little distance trying to understand, "What is the matter?" Then Advaita Āchārya Prabhu felt great satisfaction. He said, "I have taught You a lesson now—You have come to punish Me. You are defeated—I have gained victory over You!" Advaita Prabhu began to dance. "Today I have defeated You, My Lord! You had to punish Me. Where has that formal respect You were always showing Me gone now?" In this way, Advaita Āchārya rejoiced, and offered Mahāprabhu a feast of śāk, His favourite delicacy.

The Lord gave so much grace to Advaita Prabhu that although He was an old scholar and Āchārya, He was punished with slaps. It is not possible to punish or dishonour anyone we respect, but only our intimate friends. Disrespect and dishonour is possible only when there is great intimacy. Pure devotees want punishment. "Punish us!" they pray, but punishment from the high quarter is not very cheap.

Advaita's mystic poem

Many years later, just before Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began to manifest His final Pastimes of divine ecstasy, Advaita Āchārya Prabhu wrote some mystic lines of poetry which He sent to the Lord through Jagadānanda Paṇḍit:

bāulake kahiha,—loka haila bāula  
bāulake kahiha,—hāṭe nā vikāya chāula  
bāulake hahiha,—kāye nāhika āula  
bāulake kahiha,—ihā kahiyāchhe bāula

Tell our Prabhu, who acts as madmen do,  
that everyone has lost their sanity,  
And rice once high in price has no value.  
In love of God, half-crazed humanity  
neglects this world and all they once held dear;  
tell Him a madman brings this to His ear.

When Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu read that mystic poem, His mood became serious. Svarūp Dāmodar was there: "What is written here?" he said. Mahāprabhu replied, "I do not know what is the real meaning, but Advaita Āchārya is a great 'worshipper', and a certain class of 'worshippers' are accustomed to think, 'We shall invite the Deity, and for some time we shall try to keep Him here for worship. Then, when we are finished with our worship, finally we shall bid Him adieu.' Perhaps Advaita thinks, 'Now it is time for the Deity to go.' I don't know what is the real meaning, but perhaps this is His purpose." Svarūp Dāmodar took the poem, read it, and became very thoughtful: "Oh. Advaita Prabhu is saying that the requirements for Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's appearance have been fulfilled, and now, He is no longer needed to preach the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa as the incarnation for this age. The Avatār's duty is finished, and so He may go."

The last twelve years

After this, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu remained within this world for twelve more years, but not as before. His mood was quite changed. From that day on, He felt great separation from Kṛṣṇa in the mood of Rādhārāṇī. Divine madness became predominant in Him and His social connection was almost closed. Rāmānanda Rāy and Svarūp Dāmodar were His attendants at that time. He no longer kept any social connections; the fire within Him was burning—the fire of separation. He was absorbed in Rādhārāṇī's search for Śrī Kṛṣṇa after Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvan. In that mood of divine madness, He spent twelve years in a closed room within the house compound of Kāśī Miśra.

Sometimes at night, unconsciously crossing the boundary wall, He would run to meet Lord Jagannāth. When Svarūp Dāmodar and His other attendants would suddenly find that no sound of Kṛṣṇa's Name could be heard within His room, they would begin searching: "Mahāprabhu is not there, where is He?" Sometimes they would find Him fallen before the main gate of the Jagannāth Temple, His legs and hands drawn within His body like the limbs of a tortoise drawn within its shell. A very sweet fragrance could be detected emanating from Him, and the cows would flock there, smelling His body. While Mahāprabhu was lying in His trance, He was internally experiencing the Pastimes of Rādhā and Govinda with the gopīs in Govardhan. At that time, Svarūp Dāmodar and the others tried their best to revive Him from His trance by chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.

When Mahāprabhu was roused, He complained, "What have you done? I was enjoying a most happy experience there but by raising a clamour, you have drawn me down here." And what raised a clamour? The chanting of "Hare Kṛṣṇa". And who was chanting the Name of Kṛṣṇa? Svarūp Dāmodar and others of his calibre. The depth of the experience of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu in His divine trance was so great that He took the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa to be noise. So, we may chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and that may be simply noise. From another angle of vision, however, it may be seen that Kṛṣṇa-nām is of such immense value that it was given preference over direct participation in Kṛṣṇa-līlā. But the direction given to us by our Āchāryas, the spiritual preceptors of our line, is that we should consider our own chanting to be merely noise.

One day, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was wandering near the seashore. A girl was fervently singing in praise of Lord Jagannāth, and Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu ran straight towards that sound. He began running through thickets of dangerous thorns. Then Govinda, His attendant, somehow stopped Him. When He understood everything, He said, "Oh, a girl is singing? Govinda saved my life."

Half-man in ecstasy

Sometimes He would suddenly feel that Kṛṣṇa is playing with the gopīs in the Yamunā. In that mood He would jump into the ocean, crying, "Kṛṣṇa!" He jumped there and became unconscious, as the waves were playing with Him. Finding Him gone, His devotees would wonder, "Where is Mahāprabhu?" and, headed by Svarūp Dāmodar, would begin their searching. Once, the night was almost over and they still couldn't find Him. At last a fisherman came running, half-mad, chanting, "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa!"

"What is the matter?" Svarūp Dāmodar asked. The fisherman replied, "Every night I catch fish, but tonight I threw out my net and caught something very heavy. When I began pulling it in, I thought it was a big fish, but when I took it on shore I found a big human figure, and when I went to remove the body from my net, somehow I touched Him; now I am half-mad." Then, Svarūp Dāmodar said, "You must have seen our Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu?" "No, I have seen Him before", the fisherman said, "He has a beautiful figure. It is not Him. It is something else." Svarūp Dāmodar told him, "Anyhow, try to show us where He is."

They went and saw the long figure of the Lord, His joints dislocated, lying on the sands, senseless. Svarūp Dāmodar and the others began to chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa in His ear, until He came to His senses. At that time Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began to describe the līlā of Kṛṣṇa that He had seen in His trance. In this way, after Advaita Āchārya's poetry was sent to Him, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu lived His last twelve years in the mood of intense separation that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī felt for Kṛṣṇa.

Mad Nimāi Paṇḍit

This intense degree of divine madness was exhibited by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu in His last days on this earth. But even in His life in Nabadwīp, when Mahāprabhu was the great boy-scholar Nimāi Paṇḍit, everyone thought He had become mad after He had returned from Gayā and had begun showing signs of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. The normal-thinking men of the day said: "This Nimāi Paṇḍit was a good man, a gentleman, but after returning from Gayā, He is totally changed, and is doing so many undesirable things. He wants to preach so many new ideas. What is this? He has become a madman. He doesn't care for any rules and regulations, social customs, or ancient scriptures—only 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa.' Before, He was normal, but recently He has become abnormal. Of course, He has a powerful intellect. When He was a professor, He did not care for the scholarship of even the greatest of paṇḍits. He easily defeated the champion scholar, Keśava Kāśmīrī, and many others. But now we have lost Him. Now He is different. He does not care for the brāhmaṇs or the scriptures we follow. He has a new opinion, and He is presenting that to the world. His ways are incomprehensible." The neighbours complained to His mother, Śachī Devī: "Śachī Devī, what is this? Nimāi was not like this before; now He doesn't care for us anymore. He even has no charm for His wife. What has He become? You are the daughter of a gentleman, but just see your misfortune! What to do? The fact is this, Śachī, your only son, who was so brilliant, has become mad. You must arrange for proper medical treatment." Then, Śachī Devī called for the kavirāj, the doctor.

The doctor made an arrangement for a small, brick bathing tank to be filled up with Viṣṇu oil, which is supposed to be a very cooling thing. And Nimāi Paṇḍit was asked to bathe in that tank. He did so, and suddenly began laughing and playing in the tank. As He was diving and swimming in the oil, He was laughing madly. At that time, Śrīvās Ṭhākur arrived for a visit and asked, "How is Nimāi Paṇḍit?" Śachī Devī told him, "Just see my misfortune! My Nimāi has become completely mad. I called for the doctor and he arranged for this treatment." As she showed Śrīvās how Nimāi was playing in the tank, he asked, "What is this?" Śachī replied, "My neighbours advised me to do this." Śrīvās said, "You are a very gentle lady. You do not know how to deal with others. What Nimāi has—I want! Your boy has Kṛṣṇa-prema, and I want a drop of that. If only we are allowed to live a few days longer, we shall have the opportunity of seeing many wonderful Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa."

Then, Nimāi became sober for the time being and told Śrīvās, "If you had also remarked that I was mad, then I would have run to the Ganges and finished My life. At least you have understood what I am; that is My solace, Śrīvās. If you would have told the public, "He is mad", then I would have found that there is no man here to accept what I have come to give, so I must enter the river and drown myself without hesitation."

Before Nimāi Paṇḍit went to Gayā, He was a big scholar. When He returned from Gayā surcharged with devotion, He began to explain grammar again, as before, but now He would show Kṛṣṇa in the grammar. He would give interpretations of the roots of Sanskrit grammar which showed the relationship between Sanskrit and Kṛṣṇa. He explained that sound is only a vibration, and vibration means the potency of Kṛṣṇa. It is the potency of Kṛṣṇa that makes everything pure, that makes everything move. If that potency is withdrawn, everything is dead and gone. In this way, Nimāi Paṇḍit wanted to explain grammar in terms of Kṛṣṇa.

Then, His students became very much disturbed. "What is this!" they thought. "We have come to learn Sanskrit from Nimāi Paṇḍit, but our academic requirements will not be satisfied now. Still, the coaching we got from Him is never to be had anywhere else, so we can't abandon Him. But how to improve the style of His teaching?" They went to the previous teacher of Nimāi Paṇḍit, Gaṅgā Dās Paṇḍit. He had been Nimāi's tutor in His childhood. Gaṅgā Dās said, "You are all fortunate to be students of Nimāi Paṇḍit. He is such a nice professor. What is your complaint?" The students said, "We were very much pleased by studying under Nimāi Paṇḍit. But now, since He has returned from Gayā, He is explaining everything in quite a new way. He teaches Sanskrit in terms of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. He understands a very high philosophy, but that won't serve our purpose of studying grammar. It is certainly valuable, but it will not help our studies. Please ask Him to change His ways. He has regard for you because you are His teacher. Only you can influence Him." "All right", he said, "Ask Him to see me tomorrow."

The students went to Nimāi Paṇḍit and told Him, "Your former professor has called for You. He wants to see You." Nimāi said, "Yes, I shall go and see him." Later that day, He went to Gaṅgā Dās Paṇḍit, and offered His respectful obeisances. Gaṅgā Dās said: "How are You my boy? I am happy to hear that You went to Gayā and performed Your religious duties for Your ancestors. This is all very good, but what is the matter? Your students are complaining to me. Is it true that You do not care to teach them properly? Why don't You care to teach them as You did before? They all appreciate Your teachings, but after returning from Gayā You have adopted a novel style of teaching. Don't continue this, I say—teach them properly. I hear from the people that You have become a devotee. But were Your forefathers not devotees? Of course, You have become a devotee of an extraordinary type. But don't go astray. What You speak about devotion seems unnecessary—that is not really grammar. Do You think You are giving new light with Your new meanings? Do You think Your former professors were all idiots? What do You have to say?" Nimāi was silent. "All right then. Don't go astray. Remain calm and follow Your predecessors and teach the boys well, so that we will not have to hear any complaints against You in the future. Your students won't go to any other school. They are very fond of You, so teach them well." Then, Nimāi Paṇḍit took the dust of His teacher's feet and told him, "Yes, I shall try to obey your order. By dint of your footdust, no one can challenge Me in scholarship. Don't worry. I shall teach them well."

"Why should I worship Kṛṣṇa?"

A few days later, Nimāi Paṇḍit began to chant the name "gopī, gopī" while He was in a trance of devotion. Some big scholars that held a high social position went to Him and said, "Nimāi Paṇḍit! You were a big paṇḍit and now You are a devotee. That doesn't matter, but why do You chant the name 'gopī gopī'? Take the Name of Kṛṣṇa. According to the scriptures, that will bring You some benefit. But You are chanting 'gopī gopī'. What benefit will You get from that? You are mad." Nimāi said, "Who is this Kṛṣṇa? Why should I worship Him? He is a dacoit and a woman-hunter!" And Nimāi picked up a stick and chased them away.

Later they began to talk among themselves, saying, "Nimāi Paṇḍit has become stark mad. We went to speak something good to Him, and He came with a stick to kill us! We are not sons of ordinary men. We have our high position in society and our family dignity. We will show Him!" They began a conspiracy to teach Nimāi Paṇḍit a good lesson by giving Him a good beating.

At that time, Nimāi suddenly cried out: "I took the greatest measures to deliver these wretched souls, but I see now that they are simply creating more sins by abusing Me and conspiring to punish Me. Why have I come? What will be effective in delivering them? I shall have to take the role of a sannyāsī. Otherwise, they will think that I am simply one of them, a householder. But if I become a sannyāsī, a preacher, then they may have some respect. They will say, 'We are all householders, He has become a sannyāsī. He should be revered.' Then, from that reverence, they will get some benefit. Otherwise, they will have to go to hell for thinking that I am an ordinary man. To create some respect, so they may benefit, I shall have to accept the role of a sannyāsī." And He revealed to Nityānanda Prabhu and a few others, "On the last day of the first month of this year, I shall take sannyās."
A Tragedy of Separation

According to solar calculation, it was on the day of Makara Saṅkrānti, an auspicious conjunction of the stars, that Nimāi Paṇḍit went to Katwa to take sannyās, the renounced order of life. After this, He would become known as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. He swam across the Ganges and in wet cloth ran towards Katwa. Just before this, He told only a few of His friends, including Nityānanda Prabhu, Gadādhar Paṇḍit, Mukunda, and others, "The time when I will accept the robe of renunciation is very near."

Just a few days before this, an opposition party had been raised against Nimāi Paṇḍit. Those who believed that material nature is the highest principle, and that consciousness is a product of matter, began to abuse Nimāi Paṇḍit. He thought, "I came to deliver the lowest of men, but if they commit offences against Me, there will not be hope for their upliftment." Suddenly, He said, "I came with that medicine which gives the greatest relief, but now I find that their disease is rapidly growing worse and seems beyond treatment. It will take its own course towards doom. The patients are committing offences by abusing their doctor. They are making arrangements to insult Me. They take it that I am a family man—their nephew. They take Me as one of them. I came with the best medicine for the present degraded age, but now I find that they are plotting against Me. Now they are doomed. At least I have to show them that I am not one of them." He thought, "I shall leave family life and take sannyās and wander from village to village, town to town, preaching the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa." That was His decision, and within a few days He went to take sannyās at Katwa from Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāj.

Just the day before He left to take sannyās, from the afternoon until the evening, there was a spontaneous gathering of devotees in the home of Nimāi Paṇḍit. Every year in Bengal, that day was celebrated as Lakṣmī Pūjā, worship of the Goddess of fortune, when special cakes are prepared and distributed. Nimāi, knowing that early the next morning He would leave Nabadwīp to take sannyās, attracted His followers in such a way that almost every leading devotee came to see Him that evening.

The Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra

They came with flower garlands and many other offerings to be presented to the Lord. Nimāi accepted their garlands and then placed them on the necks of the devotees who gave them. Only four of His most intimate devotees knew He was leaving; the ordinary devotees did not know this would be His last night in Nabadwīp. With His own hands He garlanded the necks of His devotees and appealed to them, "Always chant the Name of Kṛṣṇa. Under no condition should you give up this Kṛṣṇa-nām. And don't do anything else. While working, eating, sleeping, or walking, day or night—in whatever you do—continuously take the Name of Kṛṣṇa. Always talk about Kṛṣṇa—nothing else. If you have any real attraction to Me, then don't do anything without chanting the Name of Kṛṣṇa.

"Cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa is the origin of us all. He is our father; we have come from Him. The son who shows no gratitude towards the father is sure to be punished birth after birth. Always chant these Names of the Lord:

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare  
hare rāma hare rāma, rāma rāma hare hare

"No other religious principle is required. Chant 'Hare Kṛṣṇa'. This is not an ordinary mantra, but this is the mahāmantra, the greatest of all the great mantras, the very essence of all the mantras known to the world. Only take to this, always. No other prescription is to be followed.

"Remember your Lord, your home. This is a foreign land; you have nothing to aspire after here. Try always to go back home, back to Godhead." In this way, the Lord spoke, and all His devotees intuitively came because it was Nimāi Paṇḍit's last night in Nabadwīp.

The Lord and the fruit seller

Late at night, one devotee named Kholāvechā Śrīdhar arrived. He used to make trade on the plantain tree and its fruit. He would sell the fruit, ripe or green, and the big leaves which are used as plates. Sometimes Nimāi would pay him less for his fruits than what they were worth, and sometimes He would snatch the best fruits from him. Śrīdhar came to see Him late at night to offer Him a choice pumpkin. And Nimāi thought, "I have spent almost My whole life snatching so many things from him, and now, on this last night he has brought this wonderful pumpkin. I can't resist." He asked Śachī Devī, "Mother, Śrīdhar has given Me this pumpkin. Please think of how it can be prepared." At bedtime, someone came with some milk. Nimāi said, "Mother, with this milk and this pumpkin, please prepare some sweet rice." So Śachī Devī prepared some pumpkin sweet rice: pumpkin boiled with milk, rice, and sugar.

Late at night, at about three o' clock in the morning, Nimāi went away. He left Viṣṇu Priyā Devī asleep in bed. His mother Śachī Devī, sensing what was to come, was staying awake all night guarding the door. Nimāi bowed down to her and went away. And like a stone figure, Mother Śachī Devī sat there by the gate as Nimāi left. She could not say anything, but was struck dumb.

A little after three o'clock in the morning, Nimāi swam across the Ganges and in His wet cloth went straight to Katwa, a distance of twenty-five miles. He reached there by nine or ten o'clock. There, He approached Keśava Bhāratī to take sannyās.

Mother Śachī's sadness

In the early morning, the devotees came to see Nimāi and found Śachī Devī like a statue, sitting at the door. The door was open. Everything was empty. "What's the matter Śachī Devī?" they asked. She told them, "Oh, I was waiting for you devotees. You take possession of the house. I shall go somewhere else. I can't enter this house any more. You are His associates; you are the true heirs. Take possession." They began to throng around her and console her. "You will go? What about the young wife He left? The girl is only fourteen years old. Who will protect her? You can't shun the responsibility given to you. It is on your shoulders." In this way they came and consoled her and tried to give her some hope.

Suddenly the devotees heard that Nimāi Paṇḍit, Śrī Gaurāṅga, had left Nabadwīp. They learned that He had gone to Katwa, to Keśava Bhāratī's ashram to take sannyās, bidding goodbye to the people of Nabadwīp forever.

A dark shadow came down. Many began to weep and cry for Him. Many of them ran towards Katwa. Nimāi Paṇḍit was an unprecedented scholar with beautiful features—tall, fair, and benevolent. He had already made the people mad with the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. He had released the two great sinners Jagāi and Māḍhāi from their nasty life. He had checked the Mohammedan ruler, the Kāzī, who had broken the mṛdaṅga drum. As a famous paṇḍit, he had defeated many scholars who came to conquer Nabadwīp, which was very much renowned for its high culture of learning, especially of logic.

At that time in Nabadwīp, logic (nyāya); worship of material energy (tantra), and official Hinduism (smṛti), were in high culture. Nabadwīp was highly renowned for scholarship. If paṇḍits could not defeat the scholars of Nabadwīp, they could not become famous. From far away in Kashmir, Keśava Kāśmīrī had to come to Nabadwīp to get a certificate that he was a paṇḍit. And he was defeated by Nimāi Paṇḍit. Keśava Kāśmīrī was such a big paṇḍit that it was rumoured he was the favourite child of Saraswatī, the goddess of learning. No one could face him. Still, he was defeated by Nimāi Paṇḍit.

Effulgent like the rising sun

But Nimāi Paṇḍit left Nabadwīp forever and took sannyās because the people of Nabadwīp could not appreciate Him. He reached Katwa, where, just on the banks of the Ganges, there was a sannyāsī named Keśava Bhāratī. Nimāi went to him and asked him for sannyās. Keśava Bhāratī suddenly found that his ashram was full of lustre. At first, it seemed as if the sun was rising before him; then he saw that it was a bright person approaching. He rose from his seat, and with strained eyes approached in wonder. "What is this?" he thought.

Then he realised that the great devotee-scholar, Nimāi Paṇḍit, had come. He appeared before him saying, "I want to take sannyās from you." But Keśava Bhāratī could not accept Nimāi's offer. "I am charmed by Your beauty and personality", he said. "But You are so young, only twenty-four years old. What about Your mother, Your wife, and Your guardians? Without consulting with them, I cannot venture to give You the robe of renunciation."

In the meantime, as it was Makara Saṅkrānti, a famous holiday, many people had come to take bath in the holy waters of the Ganges. They gathered there and the rumour spread like fire: "Nimāi Paṇḍit of Nabadwīp has come to take sannyās." Many men flocked there, until a huge crowd gathered.

Affectionate opposition

They all opposed Mahāprabhu's sannyās. Some of them raised their voices in protest: "You—Keśava Bhāratī! We won't allow you to give sannyās to this young man. He has a family, His mother and wife. We won't allow it. If you give sannyās to this charming, young, beautiful boy, we will break down your ashram immediately. It can't be!"

But Nimāi Paṇḍit kept pressing for sannyās. At last, Keśava Bhāratī asked Him, "So, You are that Nimāi Paṇḍit about whom we have heard so much? Many big scholars came to conquer Nabadwīp, the famous seat of learning, and You have defeated them all. Are You that Nimāi Paṇḍit?" "Yes", said Nimāi. Keśava Bhāratī told him, "I can give You sannyās, but You must take the permission of Your mother—otherwise I won't, I can't do it." Nimāi suddenly began running towards Nabadwīp to ask permission, but Keśava Bhāratī thought, "He has such a commanding personality, He can do anything."

Nimāi was called back. Keśava Bhāratī told him, "With Your most extraordinary personality You can do anything. You will go there, charm Your guardians, get permission, and return. Nothing is impossible for You."

The ordinary public was very much enraged, saying to Keśava Bhāratī, "We can't allow you, Swāmījī, to give sannyās to this young boy. It is impossible! If you do, then we shall smash your ashram." Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu began performing kīrtan, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and dancing madly. And the angry mob grew, sometimes creating a disturbance. In this way the whole day passed with no decision. The night passed in saṅkīrtan. And the next day, Nimāi's will prevailed, although there was still some opposition.

Tears from the eyes of millions

Nityānanda Prabhu, along with Nimāi's maternal uncle Chandraśekhar, Mukunda Datta, and Jagadānanda Paṇḍit, gradually arrived there. And that afternoon, the sannyās function began. Chandraśekhar Āchārya was asked to perform the ceremony on behalf of Nimāi Paṇḍit, who began to chant and dance and charm the audience.

lakṣa-lochanāśru-varṣa-harṣa-keśa-kartanaṁ  
koṭi-kaṇṭha-kṛṣṇa-kīrtanāḍhya-daṇḍa-dhāraṇam  
nyāsi-veśa-sarva-deśa-hā-hutāśa-kātaraṁ  
prema-dhāma-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

"While showers of tears fell from the eyes of millions, He delighted in having His beautiful hair shaved away. Millions of voices sang the glories of Kṛṣṇa, as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya accepted the staff of renunciation. From that time on, wherever He went, whoever saw Him in the dress of a sannyāsī cried in grief. I sing the glories of that beautiful golden God, the giver of divine love."

Mahāprabhu's sannyās

The scene was at Katwa. Four hundred and seventy-four years ago, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyās. He was young and beautiful, with a tall figure. He was only twenty-four and had beautiful curling hair. A barber was asked to shave Him, and approached Him, but then withdrew. The barber could not venture to touch Nimāi's body. He began to cry. "How can I remove such beautiful hair from such a beautiful head?"

And so many others were also crying aloud, "What a horrible thing is being done here! Who is the creator of this sannyās? Who is so hard-hearted that he created the sannyās-āśram, where one must give up all that is near and dear and go from door to door, begging, leaving his own friends and relatives crying helplessly? What is this creation of the Supreme? Is it logical? Is it a happy thing? It is most cruel!"

Nimāi Paṇḍit was smiling. After the barber was ordered repeatedly, somehow he was forced to shave Nimāi's head. At first, he could not venture to touch His hair, saying, "I can't touch Him." But at last, he had to do the service of shaving the beautiful, curling hair of the beautiful face of the twenty-four-year-old genius boy. He began with his shears. Some people could not stand the scene. Some even became mad. In the midst of the weeping, wailing, and crying of the threatening mob, it was done.

Nimāi Paṇḍit was senseless. After being only half-shaved, He stood up and began chanting in kīrtan and dancing in ecstatic joy. After He was shaved, the barber promised, "I will never again shave anyone with this hand! I would rather live by begging. This is my last service as a barber." After this, that barber took up the occupation of a sweetmaker.

Ultimately Nimāi's appeals pacified the mob, and a little before noon the inevitable gradually came: the sannyās function was performed. Chandraśekhar Āchārya, the maternal uncle of Nimāi Paṇḍit, was deputed to take charge of the rituals in the ceremony of sannyās. When the mantra was to be conferred, Nimāi Paṇḍit asked Keśava Bhāratī, "Is this the mantra you will give Me? I heard it in a dream." He whispered the mantra in the ear of His Guru who accepted, saying, "Yes, this is the mantra I shall give You." Then that mantra was given.

And the name of this sannyāsī was not given in an ordinary way either. A most peculiar name came through Keśava Bhāratī: 'Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya'. None of the ten names generally given to sannyāsīs was given to Nimāi Paṇḍit, but the name that was given to Him was 'Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya'. As soon as they heard that name, the mob began to cry, "Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Mahāprabhu kī jay!" "All glories to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya!"

The father of Śrīnivās Āchārya was a class-friend of Nimāi Paṇḍit. On his way to his father-in-law's house, he heard that Nimāi Paṇḍit had come to take sannyās. He ran there, and seeing everything, he became dumb—he was devastated and went half-mad. After that, nothing came from his mouth but "Chaitanya!" After he heard the name 'Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya', whatever anyone said to him, he would only say, "Chaitanya!" He became mad. After that, his name became Chaitanya Dās. His former name vanished, and everyone used to call him Chaitanya Dās. He could not stand the scene of Nimāi Paṇḍit's sannyās.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, newly dressed in red robes, embraced His Guru, and both of them began to dance, chanting the Name of Kṛṣṇa. After some time, the meaning of the name was given. Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāj said, "'Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya' means that You arouse Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the entire world. You have descended to make all people Kṛṣṇa conscious. So the most suitable name for You cannot but be 'Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya'."

The nectarean world

Mahāprabhu was very cheerful, thinking, "I am going to relieve so many souls from their eternal misery and affliction. I have promised to deliver the whole world from this ocean of misery and take them to the nectarean world, and now I am going to accept that task." He was cheerful, but everyone around Him was diving in the ocean of despair and sorrow.

Some scholars stress that Chaitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyās from Keśava Bhāratī, who was a māyāvādī, an impersonalist. But although Keśava Bhāratī may have externally showed himself in that way, it is seen that by coming in connection with Mahāprabhu, he became a devotee. Otherwise, we may also think that he was a devotee who came in the garb of an impersonalist to help the preaching of Mahāprabhu by assisting Him with the social formality of taking sannyās. At that time, all over India, māyāvādī sannyāsīs had greater recognition than Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, and Keśava Bhāratī was already situated in that post. Mahāprabhu took the garb of a sannyāsī from him for His own purpose, to help His preaching activity. All these things may be explained in different ways. In any case, after Mahāprabhu took sannyās, Keśava Bhāratī began to sing and dance with Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. He joined in saṅkīrtan and was immediately converted.

Kṛṣṇa conception: union in separation

In this way, the sannyās of Nimāi Paṇḍit took place. What is the meaning of His sannyās? Is it redundant, auxiliary, or a necessary part of spiritual advancement? Is it desirable? Although apparently undesirable, still it has its necessity. In the Kṛṣṇa conception of theism, there is a deep-rooted correlation between union with the Lord and separation from Him. Without separation, union cannot be deep-rooted. The pain of separation can enter into the depth of the heart much more than cheerfulness. Such apprehension increases our satisfaction. The greater our want, the greater our satisfaction. This is especially true in love affairs. If there is no necessity of a thing, it has no value. This principle is found everywhere. A glass of water is ordinary, but according to the degree of its necessity, its value will increase. So the degree of necessity is most important. Necessity means separation. Necessity independent of fulfilment is separation, hunger.

Separation plays the most important part in both Nabadwīp and Vṛndāvan-līlā. How many years of union were there between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs? Kṛṣṇa was only in Vṛndāvan from the age of seven years up to the age of twelve: five years. Then, He went to Mathurā. Of course, it is mentioned in the Padma-purāṇa that in peculiar or extraordinary cases, growth should be measured by multiplying by one and a half. So when Kṛṣṇa is eight years old, He should be considered twelve. When He is twelve, He should be considered eighteen years of age. So according to His growth, Kṛṣṇa was in Vṛndāvan from the age of twelve to eighteen, but according to His years, from the age of seven to twelve.

The depth of divine love

He stayed in Dvārakā for a long time; altogether He lived here on this earth for one hundred and twenty-five years. After He left Vṛndāvan at the age of twelve, the pangs of separation were felt by the gopīs throughout their whole lives. Their long, long separation has made their devotion so dignified; the test of separation shows whether love is real. Such a long-standing separation and such a great test has never been found in history; still, the depth of their love did not diminish. Rather, an inconceivable, ever-increasing depth of divine love was found there.

And in both Nabadwīp and Vṛndāvan, the background is almost similar. In Nabadwīp, to gain victory over the opposition party, Mahāprabhu left His household life. And in Vṛndāvan-līlā it is also similar. The opposition in Vṛndāvan-līlā came from Mathurā in the form of Agha, Baka, Pūtanā, Tṛnāvarta, and other demons who were being sent by King Kaṁsa. To uproot the opposition, Kṛṣṇa had to go to Mathurā. And when He went there, He found that the opposition was widespread. Kaṁsa's father-in-law, Jarāsandha, Kālayavana, Śiśupāl, Dantavakra, and many others were inimical to Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa promised the gopīs that after finishing His enemies, He would return to Vṛndāvan to play peacefully with them. To uproot the opposition party, Kṛṣṇa had to go away. And He told the gopīs in Kurukṣetra, "I have some other enemies; after finishing with them, I will be reunited with you." That sort of hope was given to the gopīs in Kurukṣetra.

Here also, to conquer the opposition party, Mahāprabhu had to leave Nabadwīp. Later, after His conquest of all the Indian scholars and religionists of different positions and creeds, after five years, when He returned to Nabadwīp, everyone was transformed. The mass approached Him madly. It is difficult to conceive with what madness the mass approached Śrī Chaitanyadev, the child of their own village.

The Ganges—filled with human heads

They crossed the Ganges. The whole Ganges, as far as it could be seen, was filled with human heads. They were running towards Him from all directions in such a way that the jungles were cleared by human feet. For a few days, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu stayed nearby in Vidyā Nagar, and then went towards Vṛndāvan, singing the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. Thousands of devotees were running behind Him, digging up the earth to take the dust of His holy feet, and huge pits were being created.

For about eighteen years Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu led a scholarly life as Nimāi Paṇḍit. After that, for about six years, He wandered through the length and breadth of India, including Vṛndāvan. The last eighteen years of His life, He remained in Jagannāth Purī continuously. For the first six years of His sannyās, He mixed with the general public. The last twelve years of His life, He almost retired from the whole human society and engaged Himself deeply in tasting the union in separation of Rādhā-Govinda. And many extraordinary symptoms of ecstasy which have never been experienced anywhere, nor even heard of, were expressed by Him. Separation can produce such wonderful effects in the body and mind.

Śrī Gaurāṅga-avatār

Śrī Gaurāṅga-avatār has twofold characteristics: the apparent reason for His advent is to deliver the people in general from sin, and to give them the highest attainment of life—to take them towards Vṛndāvan, Vraja-līlā, by giving the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. This is actually the function of the Yuga-avatār, the incarnation of Godhead for the age. The Lord comes to distribute the divine sound and to show how one can reach the highest position through divine sound. Still, He had another purpose to fulfil. Once in Brahmā's day—in a special Kali-yuga—Kṛṣṇa Himself comes in the mood of Rādhārāṇī to search Himself. He wants to taste the mood of Rādhārāṇī, to understand the nature of Her inner hankering for Kṛṣṇa, how She can taste the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa by Her mood, and what is the joy She derives.

Kṛṣṇa wanted to have some experience of why Rādhārāṇī is so mad for Him. He thought, "What is there in Me that makes Her so immeasurably mad for Me? What sweetness can She draw from Me? I can't ascertain it." He wanted to mould Himself in the mood of Śrī Rādhikā and try to taste His own self from that temperament. So He came as Śrī Chaitanya.

When He conceived of such an incarnation, and proposed His idea to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, we are told that Rādhārāṇī, on Her part, said, "Sometimes You will madly roll on the earth, taking My Name, but I won't be able to tolerate it. I shall cover Your body with My golden form. I won't allow You to roll on the earth. I shall cover You with My embrace." So it is said by those who know the ontological aspect of Śrī Chaitanyadev, "I offer my respects to Śrī Chaitanyadev, whose mood and colour is Rādhārāṇī's and whose inner self is Kṛṣṇa searching for Himself, tasting Himself, and trying to understand why Rādhārāṇī is mad to taste Him and what sort of sweetness She finds in Him (Rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi Kṛṣṇa-svarūpam)."

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu remained in this world for forty-eight years. In the last twelve years of His life, He engaged Himself with deep attention in tasting Himself. Just as everyone is mad to taste sweetness, Kṛṣṇa, sweetness personified, is also mad to taste Himself.

Introspection means to know oneself. Consciousness can know consciousness. And just as one can feel his own body, or consciousness can conceive of itself, ecstasy can also taste ecstasy. This is confirmed by Svarūp Dāmodar Prabhu, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's personal secretary, who is considered to be Lalitā Sakhī, the nearest friend of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. He has said what Śrī Chaitanyadev is:

rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād  
ekātmānāv api bhuvi purā deha-bhedaṁ gatau tau  
chaitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad dvayaṁ chaikyam āptaṁ  
rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa-svarūpam

"I worship Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, enriched with the emotions and radiance of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. As the predominating and predominated moieties, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are eternally one, with separate individual identities. Now They have again united as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya. This inconceivable transformation of the Lord's internal pleasure-giving potency has arisen from the loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa."

In this verse, Svarūp Dāmodar says that the Pastimes of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and those of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu are parallel and eternal. Whether winter is first and summer follows, or summer is first and winter follows is difficult to say. Similarly, in the eternal Pastimes of the Lord, the movement is rolling in a circle. Therefore, Svarūp Dāmodar says, "Whether Chaitanya-avatār is first and Kṛṣṇa-avatār is next, or Kṛṣṇa-avatār is first and Chaitanya-avatār is next is difficult to say—both are eternal."

And who is Śrī Rādhā? She is the development of the sweetness that springs from Kṛṣṇa Himself. That sweetness, in a developed form as Rādhā, springs up from within Kṛṣṇa; Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is a particular potency coming out of Kṛṣṇa Himself: hlādinī-śakti. So Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa cannot be conceived of as separate entities; the two of Them are one and the same. Still, we are told that in ancient times They divided into two. And then again, both of Them combine as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, whose lustre and mood is that of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and whose nature and reality within is Śrī Kṛṣṇa's. Fire and heat cannot be separated; sun and light cannot exist separately. They are one and the same. The Absolute Truth is one absolute substance (Advaya-jñān), but sometimes Rādhā and Govinda show Themselves as divided and again They are united. When They are together, They are enjoying each other, and sometimes They experience a painful separation without the possibility of union. That is Their divine nature.

Śrī Rupa Goswāmī explains this as follows:

aher iva gatiḥ premṇah svabhāva-kuṭilā bhavet  
ato hetor ahetoś cha yūnor māna udañchati

He says that just as a serpent naturally moves in a crooked way, in a zigzag way, the nature of love is naturally crooked. It is not straight. So the concerned parties quarrel, sometimes with cause and sometimes without cause, and separation comes. Separation is necessary for the transcendental Pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

The pangs of separation

There are four kinds of separation: pūrva-rāga, māna, pravās, and prema-vaichittya. Pūrva-rāga means before meeting. This is found when Rādhā and Govinda are not actually meeting, but somehow one has come in remote connection with the other's Name, portrait, or something of that nature. When Rādhā hears Kṛṣṇa's Name or the sound of the flute—no real meeting is there, but there is some connection. The sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, a picture of Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa's Name may bring about pūrva-rāga. And Kṛṣṇa may experience something similar by hearing the sound of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's Name. In this way, there are pangs of separation, but no actual meeting. The Name is so sweet that He can't contain Himself; She can't contain Herself.

When the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa enters within Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's ear, She becomes perturbed, thinking, "Is a Name as sweet as this possible within this world?" This is Her reaction, and She experiences this also. She feels, "I can't meet Him." A pang of separation comes within Her heart. That is pūrva-rāga: the pain of separation that comes before meeting.

Māna is another kind of separation. Māna means that when meeting, there is some difference between Them in trifling matters. This is the very nature of love. Therefore, Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī says that love moves in a curved way like a serpent. It is not diseased, but this is the nature of the path of love. Sometimes with a trifling cause, or with no cause, a feeling comes that, "He is neglecting Me; He wants to avoid Me." And thereby Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī thinks, "I don't want His company." Although cent per cent appreciation is there, still, for the time being, some opposing sentiments spring up from underground; a clash comes in the sentiments of the two, and one wants to avoid the company of the other.

Transcendental jealousy

In prema-vaichittya, jealousy rises to such a degree that although They are already together, still some sort of thought comes within and makes Them think that They are far away from each other. These different kinds of separation are found only in the madhura-rasa. Prema-vaichittya is that condition which arises when Kṛṣṇa is there and Rādhārāṇī is just nearby, but seeing Her own shadow reflected on the body of Kṛṣṇa, She is so jealous that She thinks that it is another lady. So, great pangs of separation come within Her, and She thinks, "What is this? Another lady is there!" Her mind revolts. But Her friend, Lalitā, is warning Her, "What are You saying? It is only Your own image reflected there. Can't You see it?" Then Rādhārāṇī comes to Her consciousness. She particularly notices, "Oh, it is My own shadow." Then that feeling is immediately gone. This is an example of prema-vaichittya. These are extremely high transcendental subjects, and although this is not to be discussed in details, this is the nature of divine love in union and separation. Both are interdependent, for one cannot stay without the other, and separation is created willingly to enhance union.

Another kind of separation is called pravās. There are two types of pravās: one is when the separation is for a limited time; another is when one has left the country for a far-off place, as when Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā to attend to other duties. These are the four types of separation pangs between the lover and the beloved.

Of course, these transcendental topics are very high, and we should not indulge in them carelessly, for if we project mundane characteristics into the higher plane, our future realisation will be harmed. Our mundane experience will tend to take us down, so we must proceed with caution. What we conceive of at present is not to be found in the plane of Kṛṣṇa's Pastimes—it is a far higher plane of existence than the realm of our experience. Our vision is adulterated. We have only an alloyed conception of the original thing. We must keep this in mind, and with this caution we may deal with these things.

It is safer to deal with the topics of the separation between Rādhā and Govinda than with Their union. Of course, we must understand that the pain of separation experienced by Rādhā and Govinda has nothing to do with this plane. And so, with this caution, we may talk to some extent about separation, but it will be extremely dangerous for us to discuss or to think of when Rādhā-Govinda and Their intimate friends are combined, enjoying each other's company, because if we deal with the Pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with any mundane conception, we will create a great offence. So to conceive of the union of Rādhā and Govinda is more dangerous than cultivating feelings of separation, as Mahāprabhu has shown by His example.

In separation from Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is thinking, "I can't tolerate even My own life without Kṛṣṇa! Without His grace, without His company, I can't maintain My undesirable existence." This kind of mood helps us, but still we should not imitate it; rather we must respectfully accept it as our highest ideal. This will help us brush aside our filthy, unwanted habits (anarthas). If some tears come, however, we should not think that we have realised the highest stage; that sort of thinking should be avoided. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu Himself says, "I don't have a drop of divine love within Me, for otherwise, how could I maintain My mundane life?"

And Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu took sannyās so that the residents of Nabadwīp would be drawn into this high stage of separation through affection's force. His old mother Śachī Devī was crying hopelessly. His young wife, Viṣṇu Priyā Devī, was helplessly passing Her days. Mahāprabhu took sannyās to create excitement, piercing into the hearts of the people the divine love that He came to give. They thought, "Who was Nimāi Paṇḍit? What great benefit did He come to give us?" That He left everything made them sympathetic towards Him. And for all these reasons the Lord went to take sannyās.

"I must run to Vṛndāvan!"

After the function of sannyās was finished, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu became mad. "I must run to Vṛndāvan", He thought. "I have given up all connection with this world. I have no attraction to it. I must run to Vṛndāvan to exclusively engage Myself in the service of Kṛṣṇa." In trance, He began to chant a verse from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam where Kṛṣṇa gives a description of sannyās to Uddhava. This verse was spoken by a tridaṇḍi bhikṣu, a mendicant. Mahāprabhu quoted this verse, thinking, "I have accepted this garb of a sannyāsī for this is favourable to My spiritual life. Now, no one in society has any claim over Me, and I will be able to exclusively devote Myself to the service of Kṛṣṇa. I am going to Vṛndāvan with no other engagement or connection with anyone." In this way, in ecstatic madness He began to chant and dance. Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāj embraced Him, and both Guru and disciple joined together, chanting and dancing. At that time Mahāprabhu spoke the verse of the brāhmaṇ who, in the last stages of his life, took tridaṇḍa-sannyās and had to tolerate the torture of society in different forms. He said:

etāṁ sa āsthāya parātma-niṣṭhām  
adhyāsitāṁ pūrvatamair maharṣibhiḥ  
ahaṁ tariṣyāmi duranta-pāraṁ  
tamo mukundāṅghri-niṣevayaiva

"The previous great sages have accepted and shown the path of sannyās. I have now accepted that very form of life. Now leaving everything aside, I shall run towards Vṛndāvan. There, taking the Name of Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa, I shall cross over the ocean of nescience. Crossing over this māyā, I shall reach Vṛndāvan and fully enter the service of Kṛṣṇa."

The dress of a sannyāsī is meant only for an external adjustment, but the real thing is to serve Mukunda. And so, with this verse, He suddenly started towards Vṛndāvan from Katwa. Near the banks of the Ganges, He entered the jungle thinking, "Now, my duty is to reach Vṛndāvan as soon as possible and there, in a solitary place, I shall sit and chant and sing the Name of Kṛṣṇa."

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu ran towards Vṛndāvan and entered the jungle before evening. And Nityānanda Prabhu, Chandraśekhar Āchārya, Mukunda Datta, and Jagadānanda pursued Him through the jungle. Sometimes while running He would suddenly fall on the ground and begin to cry, "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa!" Getting up suddenly, He began running—without any apparent direction—to the north, east, west, and south.

Wandering in trance

Sometimes He would run away so swiftly that the devotees could not trace Him, especially in the night, when they would lose Him in the darkness. Then, they would all be disappointed, thinking, "Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, our Lord and Master, has left us!" But suddenly they would hear Him far away, crying, "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa!" in a piteous, wailing tone. Then they would run in that direction and see that He was lying on the ground, crying,

kāhā̐ mora prāṇa-nātha muralī-vadana  
kāhā̐ karo̐, kāhā̐ pāṅa vrajendra-nandana

"Where is My beloved Kṛṣṇa? I can't tolerate His separation. Where is the Lord of My life, who is playing His flute? What shall I do now? Where should I go to find the son of Mahārāj Nanda?" In a piteous, heartrending tone, He was crying. In a bewildered state, with no consciousness of any particular direction, He would say, "Who are you? I'm going to Vṛndāvan. Why are you disturbing Me?" After nursing Him, again they began to start towards the west, towards Vṛndāvan. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu continued wandering in trance. But the great attraction of His devotees did not allow Him to go towards the west.

Taking advantage of His trance, Nityānanda Prabhu somehow coaxingly turned Mahāprabhu's face towards Śāntipur. It is mentioned in the Chaitanya-bhāgavat that beginning from Katwa, they went west until they reached a place near Vakreśvar, about six miles north-east of Dubrarājpur, in the district of Birbhum. In Viśrāma Talā, on the other side of the Ajay River, there is a place which is observed as the seat of Śrī Chaitanya. There, they say, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu turned His face from the west towards the east, or from Vṛndāvan to Śāntipur.

They wandered throughout the remaining evening, and then another day and night. Finally, on the third day, in the evening, He returned through Kalna to Śāntipur through the arrangements of Nityānanda Prabhu, who appeared before Mahāprabhu in the red cloth of a renunciate. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, although so familiar with Him, couldn't recognise Nityānanda. He saw a sannyāsī before Him and thought, "I am going to Vṛndāvan, and here is a sannyāsī in front of me." He said, "O Śrīpād Sannyāsī, where are You going?"

"I shall go to Vṛndāvan with You."

"How far is Vṛndāvan from here?"

Nityānanda showed Him the Ganges, near Kalna, saying, "Just see, there is the Yamunā."

Mahāprabhu said, "Oh, We have come so near the Yamunā!" Then, He took his bath in the Yamunā, singing this verse:

chid-ānanda-bhānoḥ sadā nanda-sūnoḥ  
para-prema-pātrī drava-brahma-gātrī  
aghānāṁ lavitrī jagat-kṣema-dhātrī  
pavitrī-kriyān no vapur mitra-putrī

(Chaitanya-chandrodaya-nāṭaka: 5.13)

"O daughter of the sun: although you have appeared in the form of water, you are most dear to the son of Nanda, who is the spiritual sun. You dispel the sins of all sinners. Please purify this mortal body."

Just before Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu arrived there on the banks of the Ganges, Nityānanda Prabhu sent Chandraśekhar to inform Advaita Āchārya to come. When Mahāprabhu asked Advaita Āchārya, "Is that You, Advaita? How did You know I was in Vṛndāvan?" Advaita Āchārya said, "This must be some kind of joke. Wherever You are is Vṛndāvan. And it is My fortune that You have come here, near the Ganges."

"Oh, it is the Ganges?"

"Yes."

Then Mahāprabhu, regaining His consciousness of this world, said, "Oh, then it is a conspiracy of Nityānanda Prabhu. He has brought Me here to the banks of the Ganges and told Me it is the Yamunā. It is all a hoax! I have fallen prey to His hoax."

Advaita Āchārya argued, "No, no, Nityānanda Prabhu has not spoken any falsehood. You have really taken bath in the Yamunā. The confluence of the Yamunā and the Ganges is in Allahabad, and it is mentioned in śāstra that the western side is the Yamunā, the eastern side is the Ganges. Now You have taken Your bath in the western side, so You have taken Your bath in the Yamunā, according to scripture. So Nityānanda Prabhu has not told any lie. Anyway, I have come with this new dress for You. Leave Your wet clothes and accept this new garb. I have also cooked something for You. For three days You have been fasting, and today, as a sannyāsī, You must take some charity in My house. I am a poor man", He said with folded palms, "but You must come." They took Him by boat to Śāntipur, to the house of Advaita Āchārya. The next morning Śachī Devī came, and Mahāprabhu spent about ten or twelve days there in Śāntipur performing kīrtan.

What is Vṛndāvan?

What is Vṛndāvan proper? It is a stage of consciousness. In different stages of consciousness, there are different subjective realities. Everything springs from the willpower of the Lord. He is the subject, and His potency and sweet will is all subjective. The Lord said, "Let there be light"—and there was light. He said, "Let there be water"—and there was water. He said, "Let there be earth"—and there was earth. If, like a hypnotist, the higher subject wants to make the lower subject see something, he cannot but see that thing. We are all in the subjective, imaginary world, but above imagination is the supersubjective plane of reality. So, Kṛṣṇa reveals Himself to one who has developed pure consciousness, and in the stage of pure consciousness one can perceive the true nature of subjective reality (sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ Vasudeva-śabditam).

To show us that Vṛndāvan is everywhere, Mahāprabhu was running here and there in ecstasy. When They met, Advaita Prabhu told Him, "You must be jesting when You say You are going to Vṛndāvan. Wherever You are—that is Vṛndāvan. We have that experience. What You say is very peculiar: 'I am going to Vṛndāvan.' Simply to teach us the value of Vṛndāvan, You are posing in this way."

The land of love

Vṛndāvan, the highest plane of divinity, is a stage of consciousness. Above the plane of awe and reverence found in Vaikuṇṭha, is Vṛndāvan, the land of simplicity and divine love. The peculiarity of the inhabitants of that highest plane of consciousness is that they do not feel they are in Vṛndāvan. It is aprākṛta, supramundane.

Knowledge has been classified under five headings. The lowest is knowledge acquired through one's own sense experience: pratyakṣa—what we have experienced through our senses. That is the first stage. The next higher stage is knowledge we have not experienced with our own senses, but have gathered from the experience of others (parokṣa), just as the scientists have their experience, and we have gathered some knowledge from their inventions and discoveries.

The third stage is above the stage of human experience (aparokṣa). It is something like deep sleep. When we awaken, we say, "I slept very happily; I slept a very good, sound sleep." But when in deep, dreamless sleep, we have no consciousness of that state. When we return from a deep dreamless sleep, we express some awareness of that experience, but it is hazy. Aparokṣa is a sort of hazy experience which is indistinct, where the subject and material object come together, and the material object vanishes in the subject. Śaṅkar Āchārya, the great proponent of impersonalism, explains the gradation of consciousness up to this point.

The fourth dimension

On the other hand, the great devotee-scholar Rāmānuja Āchārya, as well as other Vaiṣṇava Āchāryas, are of the opinion that there is a fourth stage beyond this. That plane is called adhokṣaja, transcendental, or that which exists beyond the scope of the senses, whether gross or subtle. It is a plane that we can experience only when, by its sweet will, it comes down to our gross plane of understanding. If it withdraws, we are helpless; we can't find it. We cannot say that the Absolute Truth is under the control of our knowledge. We can't measure it like that. It is independent. By its sweet will it may come down and we may experience that higher realm, but if it withdraws, we are quite helpless; we can do nothing. We may cry or we may pray, but we can't enter there forcibly by dint of our own power. This is the fourth plane of consciousness, and it is grand, all-powerful, and all-inspiring. Only if it reveals itself to us can we have some experience of that plane known as Vaikuṇṭha, the unlimited spiritual region of awe and power.

That is the adhokṣaja plane. So, there is pratyakṣa, direct experience through sense perception, then parokṣa, learning through the experience of others, then aparokṣa, the negative plane of indistinct consciousness, and then the fourth dimension: adhokṣaja. We are underground. Real knowledge is above, on the surface, beyond our experience. If we can pierce through the thick coverings walling up our experience, we can come in connection with another plane of consciousness: that is adhokṣaja. Adhokṛtam indriyajaṁ jnāñam: adhokṣaja means the superior knowledge which can force down our knowledge of the experience of this world. That transcendental, supramental knowledge is the fourth stage of knowledge. That plane is different in every way. It is not similar to this world.

But through Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, we come to know that there is a fifth stage of knowledge which is very similar to this mundane world, yet is not mundane. It is called aprākṛta. That is Goloka, the full-fledged theistic conception which is only found in Kṛṣṇa's domain. Central knowledge of the Absolute must have a connection with even the lowest level of mundane creation; it must be able to harmonise the worst portion of the illusory world. This is known as aprākṛta, supramundane. To enter that highest realm is possible only through divine love.

Everything can be compensated only through love. There is a saying that a loving mother thinks that her blind child has beautiful lotus eyes. She is blinded by affection. So, what is mean and low can only be compensated by love—that shines very beautifully. That is prema, or divine love. Through mercy, through pity, through grace, a king can come to play with a boy on the street. Affection can make it possible. The difference between high and low disappears at such a stage.

The spiritual enchanting potency

The residents of Vṛndāvan think themselves ordinary. This is jñāna-śūnyā-bhakti, divine love which is free from any calculation and does not consider even the opulence and power of the Lord. That devotion is above even Vaikuṇṭha and goes on under the spell of yogamāyā, the spiritually enchanting potency. It is the special art of yogamāyā that those holding the highest position think themselves very insignificant. Love removes the difference of great and small, high and low. Vṛndāvan is such a plane of existence. There we find devotion free from any trace of calculation (jñāna-śūnyā-bhakti). Even the residents of Vṛndāvan may not know their own exalted position.

Advaita Prabhu tells Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, "Wherever You are, there is Vṛndāvan." Narottam Das Ṭhākur says wherever we find a true devotee of Kṛṣṇa—there is Vṛndāvan (yata Vaiṣṇava-gaṇa sei sthāna Vṛndāvana (Pbc)). Outwardly we may think that they are members of this ordinary world, but the object of all their conversation and behaviour is Vṛndāvan. Still, although they are in Vṛndāvan, they do not feel themselves to be there.

They are not conscious of their own exalted position. A king, when he is not very conscious of his power, thinks of himself as an ordinary person. It is something like that. Someone may be a great doctor but through affection he may do the work of a nurse for his patient. Out of his love and affection for the patient, he may come down to do such work, but still he is great. This is the beautiful nature of Vṛndāvan life. It is great without the attitude, the air of bigness. Although they are really great, they appear to be simple. Power dressed in affection and love, couched in humility—that is Vṛndāvan. And that is also Nabadwīp.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu say that this is the highest and most laudable place for us to live. There, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs are living in the forest. There, we find no grandeur or big buildings, but if we have a true eye for grandeur, we will see it in Vṛndāvan. From an impartial judgement of the facts, their position is very great, but through humility they have apparently descended to our level. It is a very sweet and beautiful form of life that we find in Vṛndāvan. And Mahāprabhu came to show that to us through Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of that land, and the cows, hills, forests, and the Yamunā River are all creating a favourable environment there.

So Mahāprabhu took sannyās to teach us, to take us up and make us the permanent inhabitants of that place. He says that actually, our real self lives in that plane, but unfortunately our consciousness has become focused outside. Now we are captured by the mundane aspect of this creation and think that we are suffering, but this is all illusion. We must get relief from this mania. Mania means madness, and now we are possessed by some mania. Just as a madman leaves his home and wanders in the street collecting pieces of paper and cloth, we are focused in this world, but when this madness is gone, we will awaken in our own home.

A great tragedy

We must return back to Godhead, back to home. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "Your home is a beautiful land. You must try for that. Why are you always troubled with the horrors of war, epidemic, earthquake, undesirable disease, stealing, dacoiting, and fighting with so many neighbours? At the bottom of all this is the fact that you have identified yourself with this material world and this body of flesh and blood. You have to retrace your path and go back to your home." That is what is necessary. Our homeland is such a lovely and beautiful and divine place. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's sannyās is all for us, and it is for the purpose of taking us back home, where we can have home comforts, home sweetness. If we have any home-consciousness within, then we must appreciate such a proposal: home sweet home.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's sannyās is apparently very cruel to His devotees, and to His family members, but it was meant only to take us to our home. To work out the ecstasy of union, it was necessary for Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to show separation from His devotees and relatives.

Separation and union are mutually helpful. Mahāprabhu's sannyās, His renunciation, is a great tragedy of separation.
Epilogue

When Mahāprabhu returned to Navadwīp after five years of His sannyās, all the men, women, and children madly came to see Him, to have a glimpse of His face. Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, the nineteenth-century founder of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, in his internal conception of the Pastimes of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, draws a parallel with the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in Kuruksetra. There Dvārakā Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs of Vṛndāvan were meeting, and the gopīs and gopas wanted to take Kṛṣṇa from Dvārakā back to Vṛndāvan. Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur expresses a similar aspiration. When Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu returned to Navadwīp and the crowds rushed to see Him, He stood on the roof of Vāchaspati Paṇḍit's house in the red dress of a sannyāsī. Taking himself as a permanent resident of Navadwīp, and as one of the members of Śrīvās Aṅgam, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur envisions himself seeing Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu on the rooftop. When Kṛṣṇa had gone to Dvārakā and wouldn't return to Vṛndāvan, the hearts of all the devotees were burdened with grief. In a similar way, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur fervently prays: "When will the day come when Nimāi Paṇḍit will give up the robes of renunciation and again come and join us in kīrtan in the house of Śrīvās? Now He can't come—as a sannyāsī He can't return to His old house. So now, we are deserted by Him, but our aspiration this: just as the gopīs wanted Kṛṣṇa's royal dress removed, and His cowherd dress resumed, so they could take Him again to Vṛndāvan and play with Him and rejoice, we aspire that Mahāprabhu's sannyās dress be removed, and His former dress resumed. In this way, we will get back our Nimāi Paṇḍit, who is one of us, in Śrīvās Aṅgam. And together we shall rejoice, taking the Name of Kṛṣṇa. Oh, when will that day be mine?"
Part Two   
Śikṣāṣṭakam:   
The Precepts of   
Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu

The Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa

Sanskrit

चेतोदर्पणमार्ज्जनं भवमहादावाग्निनिर्व्वापणं  
श्रेयःकैरवचन्द्रिकावितरणं विद्यावधूजीवनम्।  
आनन्दाम्बुधिवर्द्धनं प्रतिपदं पूर्णामृतास्वादनं  
सर्व्वात्मस्नपनं परं विजयते श्रीकृष्णसङ्कीर्त्तनम् ॥१॥

Roman transliteration

cheto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ  
śreyaḥ-kairava-chandrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam  
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ  
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

Translation

"The Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa  
cleanses the mirror of the heart  
and extinguishes the fire of misery  
in the forest of birth and death.

"As the evening lotus blooms  
in the moon's cooling rays,  
the heart begins to blossom  
in the nectar of the Name.

"And at last the soul awakens  
to its real inner treasure  
—a life of love with Kṛṣṇa.

"Again and again tasting nectar,  
the soul dives and surfaces in  
the ever-increasing ocean  
of ecstatic joy.

"All phases of the self  
of which we may conceive  
are fully satisfied and purified,  
and at last conquered by  
the all-auspicious influence  
of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa."

Illumination

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is the pioneer of Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan. He said, "I have come to inaugurate the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and that Name will reach every nook and corner of the universe (pṛthivīte āchhe yata nagarādi-grāma, sarvatra prachāra haibe Mora Nāma)."

What is the meaning of saṅkīrtan? Samyak means 'full', and kīrtan means 'chanting'. Together, these two words form the word saṅkīrtan, which generally means 'congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.' But samyak means full not only in quantity but also in quality. Full quantity means extensive in number: congregational. Full quality means complete praise. Complete praise can only mean the glorification of Kṛṣṇa, and not any other gods.

So saṅkīrtan means complete kīrtan, a song in praise of the complete whole, the Absolute Truth; anything else is only a partial representation and therefore defective to a certain extent. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa should be praised. His glories should be chanted, for He is everything. He is the master, the dispenser of both good and bad, the Absolute Controller of everything. Everything is due to Him. The fulfilment of all life is reached in Him alone. Just as a horse may have reins to check his movements, but if let loose will run freely, praise which is unchecked by any mundane purpose will run straight towards the Supreme Cause, Kṛṣṇa.

The word śrī means Lakṣmī Devī: Kṛṣṇa's potency. This means that in saṅkīrtan, Kṛṣṇa is worshipped along with His potency, for Kṛṣṇa's potency is included within Him.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says that Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan should thrive throughout the world; it should be victorious without any hindrance (paraṁ vijayate Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam). It should be a spontaneous, unchecked, and natural flow. It should be exclusive, independent, and without reservation. And this praise of Kṛṣṇa should be congregationally chanted—that vibration is beneficial for the whole world. Only by surrender and pure devotion can we take to Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan.

Cleansing the mirror of the mind

What are the different stages through which we will pass while chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa? The first stage is that it cleanses the mirror of the mind. If the mirror of the mental system is covered with dust, we cannot see things clearly, and scriptural advice cannot be properly reflected there. What are the different kinds of dust covering the mirror of the mind? Our infinite, fleeting, and organised desires are considered dust, and our hearts and minds are covered with layers and layers of this dust. Therefore we cannot see things properly; they cannot properly reflect in our mind because it is covered with the infinite ordinary desires of this mundane world (bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī—sakali 'aśānta').

So the first effect of Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan is the cleansing of the mind. The Vedic social system (varnāśram-dharma) has been formed for this purpose. If we discharge our social duties perfectly, without any attraction for the consequences, we achieve purification of our consciousness—but the first installment of Nām-saṅkīrtan gives us the end result of varnāśram-dharma: purification of the heart and mind. Then we can understand Vedic advice properly.

The next effect of chanting the Holy Name is that it extinguishes the fire of material existence in the forest of repeated birth and death. We are forced to come into creation and again die. The mundane wave catches the soul which mingles with that vibration in different stages. That is stopped by the second effect of Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan, and we become liberated.

With the first stride, the intelligence is purified. With the second stride, the Holy Name effects liberation from the great conflagration of threefold miseries. The threefold miseries are ādhyātmik: miseries within the body and mind, such as disease and mental anxiety; ādhibhautik: miseries from our neighbours: man, beasts, insects, and so many other living beings; and ādhidaivik: natural catastrophes like famine, flood, and earthquake. We have to suffer from these three kinds of miseries which burn in our heart like fire. But everything is extinguished forever by the second stride of Nām-saṅkīrtan which gives us relief.

The supreme goal of life

The next stage is śreyaḥ-kairava-chandrikā-vitaraṇam: the Holy Name bestows upon us the supreme goal of life. After doing away with these two negative engagements, our positive engagement begins and ultimately takes us to reality, to the real truth, which is eternal, auspicious, and beautiful. It takes us to that auspiciousness which is above this world of difficulty, and in a general way we achieve the supreme goal, the highest auspiciousness, the greatest good from chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. If we analyse this scrutinisingly, we find that in this stage, the Holy Name takes us to an intimate personal relationship with Kṛṣṇa which includes neutrality, servitude, friendship, and filial affection (śānta, dāsya, sakhya, and vātsalya rasa). Śreyaḥ covers the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu, for it is by His grace that we may be allowed to worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvan (Nitāiyer karuṇā habe Vraje Rādhā Kṛṣṇa pābe).

The next stage is vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. The Holy Name prepares us for the wholesale surrender to Kṛṣṇa that is found in conjugal love (madhura-rasa), where the devotees surrender themselves infinitely at the disposal of Kṛṣṇa.

The next stage is ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam. When we come to the proper level while chanting the Name of Kṛṣṇa, we find the transcendental ocean that is above all sorts of experience. The Name comes to assert Himself over us according to the degree of our surrender, and when our surrender is complete, we feel a new type of ecstatic joy; we experience an infinite ocean of joy which is not static, but always dynamic. There we find new life and a new type of blissfulness. It never becomes stale or static, but at every moment gives us a taste of the infinite ocean of ecstasy.

Complete self-purification

The last effect is that our entire existence is purified. This kind of enjoyment does not pollute—it purifies. Enjoyment means exploitation. Mundane enjoyment creates a reaction and pollution attacks the enjoyer, but here, because Kṛṣṇa is the aggressor, the result is purification. All enjoyment that comes from the centre, from the autocratic desire of Kṛṣṇa, purifies us completely.

In this verse, the words sarvātma-snapanam mean that all different phases of the self which may be conceived are fully satisfied and purified at once by chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. And there is another meaning of sarvātma-snapanam. If we praise Kṛṣṇa congregationally, we will be purified according to our capacity. Both the singer and the audience as well as anyone who comes in connection with the transcendental sound will be purified. Snapanam means 'purifying'. That vibration purifies everyone and everything that comes in touch with it.

So Mahāprabhu says, "Go on with saṅkīrtan, the congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa." Of course, saṅkīrtan must be genuine, so association with saints is necessary. It is not an empirical attempt. We are attempting to have a connection with the higher, unconditioned realm which can descend to help us here. We must have that connection with higher reality, for that is all-important. The Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa is not mere physical sound; it is not lip-deep only, but it has a greater and higher aspect (Nāmākṣara bāhirāya baṭe tabu Nāma kabhu naya). It is all spiritual. We are in the marginal plane of existence, so some higher connection is necessary in order that the wave will descend from that higher realm and come to us and spread its influence outside as well.

Wherever it goes, the saṅkīrtan of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa will produce these sevenfold results. This is the purport of Mahāprabhu's first verse. The first effect is that the Holy Name cleanses the soul which is attacked by the dirt of desires from the mundane world. By the second effect it gives mukti, liberation, perfect independence from material forces. The third effect brings real fortune: the opening of the soul's treasure. The innate resources of the soul are gradually awakened by the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. Here, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu includes the other forms of relationship with the Personal Absolute. In describing the next step, He takes the mood of conjugal devotion, where one is absolutely disposed for Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment, unconditionally surrendering everything for His maximum pleasure.

"I need millions of mouths!"

The next effect is the tasting of His ecstatic association. In Vṛndāvan, the realm of Kṛṣṇa, one who can chant the Name of Kṛṣṇa properly will express himself with a peculiar sort of ego:

tuṇḍe tāṇḍavinī ratiṁ vitanute tuṇḍāvalī-labdhaye  
karṇa-kroḍa-kaḍambinī ghaṭayate karṇārbudebhyaḥ spṛhām  
chetaḥ-prāṅgaṇa-saṅginī vijayate sarvendriyāṇāṁ kṛtiṁ  
no jāne janitā kiyadbhir amṛtaiḥ kṛṣṇeti varṇa-dvayī

"When the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa appears on the lips of a devotee, it begins madly dancing. Then the Name takes over and handles him as if the person to whom the lips belong loses all control over his lips, and the devotee says, 'With one mouth, how much can I gather the ecstasy of the Holy Name? I need millions of mouths to taste its unlimited sweetness. I'll never feel any satisfaction by chanting with only one mouth.'"

When the sound 'Kṛṣṇa' enters the ear, he feels that transcendental sound awakens in his heart. "What are two ears?" he thinks. "This is the greatest injustice of the creator—I need millions of ears! Then, if I could hear the sweet Name of Kṛṣṇa, my heart might be a little satisfied. I want millions and millions of ears to hear the sweet Name of Kṛṣṇa." This is the temperament of a devotee when his attention is drawn towards the Holy Name. Then he faints; he loses himself, merging in an ocean of ecstasy and joy. And in great disappointment he says, "I failed to understand the quality and quantity of the substance of Kṛṣṇa's Name. I am perplexed. What sort of honey sweetness does this Name contain?" In this way, the chanter of the Name wonders.

Kṛṣṇa's mystic flute-song

This has been taught to us by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, who said, "Properly chant the Holy Name, the sound representation of absolute sweetness." That sweetness is also to be found in the flute-song of the Lord. The sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute has the great mystic power of capturing and pleasing everyone and everything. Upon hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, the Yamunā's current is paralysed. The sweet sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute attracts the trees, the birds, and the beasts. Everything is astounded by contacting the sweet vibration from Kṛṣṇa's flute.

Sound vibration can work miracles; sound has the highest capturing potency. Sound can make or mar. It can do anything; it has such intrinsic capacity. It comes from the subtlemost plane, beyond the ether. That universal sound is absolute sweetness and goodness. How much power is there—how it can capture us! Like a blade of grass, we may be played by the current of that sweet sound in such a way that we cannot even trace out our own personality. We may lose ourselves there, but we do not die; the soul is eternal. Diving, up and down, we are played by the current of the sweet sound. We are less qualified than a straw, a blade of grass, and the Kṛṣṇa sound is so big and so sweet that it can play us in any way it likes. We cannot begin to conceive how much power is in the Name, the sound which is identical with absolute goodness and sweetness.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "Don't neglect the sound which is one and the same with Kṛṣṇa." Absolute sweetness and goodness—everything is there within the Holy Name. And the Holy Name is representing itself to us in a very cheap way: nothing is required to purchase it—no money, no physical energy. All these things are unnecessary. What is required? Sincerity.

One who simply takes this divine sound sincerely will be so enriched that no one will be able to conceive of so much goodness and development. And anyone may have it very cheaply, but one must chant sincerely with his whole heart. Of course, wholehearted sincerity presupposes going to a proper agent, a saint, and getting the Holy Name from him.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan is praised by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, the inaugurator of the saṅkīrtan movement who came as Rādhā-Govinda combined. His advice is most valuable and necessary to tell us that with a sincere spirit we must come to join this Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan, the most purifying transcendental sound, which effects liberation, gives all fulfilment, and grants us such a positive attainment that we lose ourselves in the ocean of joy and inconceivable sweetness.

This is Śrīman Mahāprabhu's grace, and He proclaims, "Let Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan be expanded into this mortal world, that it may benefit everyone infinitely, for this is the highest and greatest benefit for the whole world. It is all-comprehensive. It releases us from all sorts of troubles, establishing us in the highest position of attainment."

And in this present degraded Age of Kali, only Nām-saṅkīrtan can help us. Of course, Nām-saṅkīrtan is beneficial in all ages, but it is especially recommended in Kali-yuga, because in this age all other attempts will be opposed by many forces. Nām-saṅkīrtan cannot be opposed by the troubles and waves of this material world, so one must adopt it. If we exclusively give ourselves to this, we will gain the highest fulfilment of life. There is no necessity of any other campaign, for they are all defective and partial. But the most universal, captivating, and beneficial thing is Nām-saṅkīrtan, which takes us to the highest goal. That alone can satisfy everyone.

All souls that are now disconnected from Kṛṣṇa may be helped in this way. No other movement is necessary. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu tells us, "Exclusively devote yourself to this. It is all-embracing and all-fulfilling. And you can achieve it with the least trouble and least energy. Let it flourish in this Kali-yuga—let it flourish for the welfare of the whole universe, to re-establish all souls in their normal position."

In the last verse of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam the conclusion of the book is given as follows:

nāma-saṅkīrtanaṁ yasya sarva-pāpa-praṇāśanam  
praṇāmo duḥkha-śamanas taṁ namāmi hariṁ param

Pāpa means all anomalies, all undesirable things: sin. Material enjoyment and liberation are also included as anomalies, sinful activities. Why is liberation considered sinful? Because it is an abnormal condition; our natural function is to serve Kṛṣṇa, but we do not do that in salvation. Mere salvation does not include service to Kṛṣṇa, so that is an abnormal position and therefore it is also a sin. To ignore our natural duty and stand aloof cannot but be sinful.

The spiritual gift of Vyās

The concluding verse of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam says, "Kṛṣṇa's Holy Name can relieve us from all undesirable sinfulness, all filthy characteristics, and all miseries. Let us all bow down to Him." Uttering this verse, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam stops; that great treatise becomes silent. The last word in the Bhāgavatam is Nām-saṅkīrtan. The Bhāgavatam has given such great importance to chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu developed it from there. The last publication of the compiler of Vedic literatures, Śrīla Vyāsadev, took theism to that stage, and gave it to the public announcing, "Chant the Name of Kṛṣṇa! Do this; nothing more is necessary. Take this!" This is the very conclusion of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the greatest spiritual gift of Vyāsadev: "Chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa and begin your life in this dark age with the most broad and wide theistic conception."

Nectar of the nectarean

We may consider ourselves fortunate that we have come to the verge of this most generous and useful thought, that we have come close enough to touch it, to accept it, and float ourselves in its waves according to our capacity. After passing through so many conceptions and the charm of different prospects, we have left them all behind and have come to the shore of the ocean of Nām-saṅkīrtan. Now we may throw our bodies in this ocean and begin to swim in the waves of Nām-saṅkīrtan, the nectar of the nectarean, by the grace of our Guru and the mercy of the Vaiṣṇavas.

It is their property, and we are their slaves. We have such audacity to throw our body into this ocean of Nām-saṅkīrtan and swim in that nectarean ocean! Swimming in Rādhā Kuṇḍa, the highest conception of spiritual attainment, can also be found in the highest form of Nām-saṅkīrtan. This verse represents the positive side of the unlimited ocean of Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtan. The next verse explains the negative possibilities.

Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur has given his Sanskrit commentary on the Śikṣāṣṭakam, as well as his Bengali translation, and his is a most original presentation. Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur Prabhupād has also given his commentary on the Śikṣāṣṭakam. They should be carefully studied in order to understand these points more completely. In these talks, however, I am simply coming out with whatever I feel in my heart. Whatever comes to my mind on these verses, I am expressing, and that is the outcome of what I have collected from Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, Rūpa Goswāmī, Sanātan Goswāmī, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, and all the predecessor Āchāryas. By their grace that is gathered in my storehouse, and I am trying to give the gist of these things.

The Kṛṣṇa conception conquers all

By accepting the path of devotion, a wholesale transformation of our internal system begins, and gradually our charm for the outside world vanishes. There is a war within, and when the Kṛṣṇa conception enters into the heart of a devotee, all other thoughts and ideas gradually have to retire. This is explained in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.8.5):

praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa svānāṁ bhāva-saroruham  
dhunoti śamalaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ salilasya yathā śarat

When the autumn season appears, the mud within the water vanishes. In the same way, when the Kṛṣṇa conception enters into one's heart, all other conceptions and aspirations will gradually have to retire, leaving Kṛṣṇa in possession of everything. When a real drop of Kṛṣṇa consciousness enters the heart, all opposing forces must leave and Kṛṣṇa will conquer and take possession of the whole.

That is the nature of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: nothing can stand in competition with it, not even the so-called devotion to the demigods or faith in creeds like Christianity, Islam, and others. All other conceptions of theism have to retire, leaving the field to the Kṛṣṇa conception. No aggressors can stand in the fight with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the absolute, sweet beauty.

Beauty, sweetness, and charm can capture and defeat power. We are really aspiring after beauty and sweetness, mercy, affection, divine love (prema). Self-dissipation—to compensate others with one's own energy and generosity—ultimately conquers everyone. It is more rewarding to give than to take. Divine love means die to live: not to live for yourself, but to live for others. The most generous form of life—self-forgetfulness to the extreme—is found in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so beautiful that one who develops it loses his own identification and existence also. He becomes totally self-forgetful. Such a charm is there. Who will stand to fight against Kṛṣṇa? Everyone who comes to fight against Him is disarmed. If in any way Kṛṣṇa enters the heart, there can be no other consequence but that He takes possession of everything. Such a benevolent, generous, and sweet person is Kṛṣṇa: Reality the Beautiful.
Unlimited Names of God

Sanskrit

नाम्नामकारि बहुधा निजसर्व्वशक्तिस्  
तत्रार्पिता नियमितः स्मरणे न कालः।  
एतादृषी तव कृपा भगवन्ममापि  
दुर्द्दैवमीदृशमिहाजनि नानुरागः ॥२॥

Roman transliteration

nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis  
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ  
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi  
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

Translation

"O my Lord, Your Holy Name  
bestows auspiciousness upon all.  
And You have unlimited Names  
such as Kṛṣṇa and Govinda  
by which You reveal Yourself.

"In Your many Holy Names  
You have kindly invested  
all Your transcendental potency.  
And in chanting these Names,  
there are no strict rules  
concerning time or place.

"Out of Your causeless mercy,  
You have descended  
in the form of divine sound,  
but My great misfortune is  
that I have no love  
for Your Holy Name."

Illumination

Here it is said, "O my Lord, You have revealed the chanting of Your Holy Names, and all Your power has been invested within those Names." Both the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa and Its potency are eternal. All potencies or energies are found within the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. And there is no particular time or place which has been fixed for chanting the Name. It is not that one can only chant in the morning, or only after taking bath, or only after going to a holy place—there are no such conditions. One may go on chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa anytime, anywhere, in any circumstance.

In this verse, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "O Kṛṣṇa, You have given a most sublime opportunity to all. You are so infinitely gracious that You have given us the service of Your Holy Name, (Nām-bhajan). Still, My misfortune is the worst. I don't find any earnest desire within Me to take the Name. I have no faith, no love, no tendency to take the Name. I do not find any innate hankering to chant the Name. What can I do?"

This is the second of Śrīman Mahāprabhu's eight precepts. He says, "O Lord, You have given everything from Your side to lift Me up from this mundane world of relativity. Your attempt to deliver Me is so magnanimous that all You require from Me is a little cooperation in accepting Your grace, but I turn a deaf ear to Your magnanimous call. O Lord, I am hopeless."

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu has given us great hope in the first verse of His Śikṣāṣṭakam or eight precepts. He explains that the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, when properly undertaken, may progress step by step, revealing seven consequences. The first effect is the cleansing of consciousness; the second is liberation from all mundane relativity. As the third effect, positive goodness awakens within our heart and takes us to Vṛndāvan. Then, under the guidance of svarūp-śakti, the Lord's internal energy yogamāyā, we come to the vadhū conception: we are potency, we are to serve Kṛṣṇa unconditionally. Vadhū means that rasa which gives full connection with the Lord (madhura-rasa).

Ecstatic ocean of joy

After attaining that stage, what are the other consequences that come? One becomes a particle in the ocean of joy, and that joy is not stale or static, but ever-new and dynamic; it is purifying to the utmost. Although we are allowed to keep our individual conception, still we feel that all parts of our existence become purified to the utmost when we take the Name. And this will not only affect me, but all who are connected with this Nām-saṅkīrtan. They will experience mass conversion, mass purification, the utmost purification. These are the sevenfold results of chanting the Holy Name.

After mentioning this thesis in His first verse, Mahāprabhu now gives the antithesis in the second verse. When such great hope is there in the Holy Name, why are we having so much trouble? Where is the difficulty? Why do we not realise the advantage of the magnanimous sanction of divinity found in the Holy Name? Inestimable grace is coming from Kṛṣṇa's side. He has given us so many opportunities, with the least requirement from our side. We must have some taste, some earnestness to accept the Holy Name; but there's the difficulty—we have none. So what hope can we have? How can we attain it? We may be approaching the Holy Name formally, but not from the core of our hearts, so by what process can we really benefit and make progress? The third verse answers this question.

Although one may feel that he does not have the minimum required deposit to receive the grant, still it is not a hopeless case. The very nature of this realisation takes him to the conception of humility. When one begins to practise devotion towards the infinite Lord, he cannot but feel that in relation to the infinite, there is nothing of value in himself. He thinks, "I have nothing to give in return; even the minimum requirement for the Lord's grace is absent in me." That takes him to the conception that, "I have no qualification. I am completely empty."

A devotee feels within his heart that he is not only unfit but too despicable for the Lord's service. Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī says: "I am lower than a worm in stool and more sinful than Jagai and Madhai (Jagāi Mādhāi haite muñi se pāpiṣṭha, purīṣera kīṭa haite muñi se laghiṣṭha)." We should not be discouraged when we think we have not even the least bit of merit which is required for the service of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, for this kind of consciousness is natural for a devotee.

At the same time, we must guard ourselves from an insincere conception of our own devotion; this is our enemy. To think, "I do not have the least liking or taste for the Lord", is all right. But to think, "I have some taste, some earnestness, some devotion to the Lord", is dangerous.

The egoistic world

If we are going to have a connection with the infinite, we must be fully empty; our self-abnegation must be complete. Worldly attainment is a negative thing, and we must withdraw from it completely. We should think, "I am nothing; I have no qualifications for being accepted or used in the service of the Lord. I am completely unfit." We must completely withdraw from the egoistic world and allow ourselves to be captured by yogamāyā, the Lord's internal energy. A slave has no position; the whole position is with the master. Everything is His. Realising this is our real qualification. As soon as we assert that we have some qualifications, our difficulties begin. So Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu Himself says, "I don't find a trace of love of Kṛṣṇa within My heart (na prema-gandho 'sti darāpi Me Harau)." This is the standard of humility. And that feeling must be sincere; it must not be an imitation. We must be careful. We must not venture to imitate the highest devotees. To genuinely feel, to conceive that we possess nothing and that everything is His—that is the only qualification for chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.
Humbler Than a Blade of Grass

Sanskrit

तृणादपि सुनीचेन तरोरिव सहिष्णुना ।  
अमानिना मानदेन कीर्त्तनीयः सदा हरिः ॥

Roman transliteration

tṛṇād api sunīchena taror iva sahiṣṇunā  
amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Translation

"One who is humbler  
than a blade of grass,  
more forbearing than a tree  
who gives due honour to others  
without desiring it for himself  
is qualified to always chant  
the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa."

Illumination

We should mainly couch ourselves in this mood: we should think of ourselves as the meanest of the mean. Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur has given his analysis of the meaning of this verse as follows: even a blade of grass has its value, but we do not even have as much value as a blade of grass. We have no positive value. It is one thing if a man is not educated, but a madman is worse than uneducated. He can think—but only abnormally. Therefore, Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says, "I have some consciousness, some intelligence, but it is all misdirected. A blade of grass has no misdirection. When trampled upon, it has no tendency to spring back in the opposite direction. A blade of grass can be blown here and there by a storm, or by the external environment, but I will always be reluctant to go in a particular direction. If the waves of the environment want to take me in a particular direction, I'll try to oppose them. If you really consider my value, my position is lower than a blade of grass because I have an opposing tendency."

When we want to bring ourselves in a closer relationship with the infinite goodness, we should think, "I have no value. Rather, my value is negative. It is my tendency to oppose the Lord's grace. If Kṛṣṇa wants to grace me, I try to resist. I am constituted of such an element that I commit spiritual suicide. Kṛṣṇa comes to grace me, but I oppose Him: the energy that is within me tries for suicide. This is my position, but a blade of grass won't oppose anyone. I have such a nasty position." We must realise that we are in such a predicament. With this concern we may accept the goodness of the Absolute Truth in the form of His Holy Name.

We should not think that the path will be very smooth; so many troubles may come from outside. When the devotees go to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa in the street, many people come and shout, "Hey, you monkeys! Red-faced monkeys!" So many forms of hindrances and opposition will come and try to affect us, to dissuade us from this path, but we must practise forbearance like that of a tree. Why has the example of a tree been given? It has been analysed in this way: if no one pours any water on a tree, it does not protest, "Oh! Give me water!" If anyone comes to disturb the tree, snatching its leaves, cutting its branches, or even chopping it down, a tree remains silent; it gives no opposition. We should try to see how insult, poverty, punishment, or other unfavourable dealings are necessary to purify us, and with minimal punishment we shall be released from material existence.

Through Kṛṣṇa consciousness we have connected with the highest object of life, the highest fulfilment of life—what price are we ready to pay for that? It is inconceivable. Whatever little demands may be exacted from us, we must accept with a smiling face, considering the highest goal. If we are really confident, if we have faith in our bright future, then we can gladly pay what little price nature wants to take from us.

"Kṛṣṇa—I shall teach You a lession!"

Once, Śrīla Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj, the Spiritual Master of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, was going through the town of Nabadwīp begging a little rice from different houses. The village people sometimes attack or insult devotees, and as he was going to his quarters they did not spare even such an exalted soul. Some boys were pelting him with stones and throwing dirt at him, and he remarked, "Kṛṣṇa, You are cruelly dealing with me! I shall complain to Your mother Yaśodā about You." That was his outlook, and in that way he harmonised everything. We should learn to see Kṛṣṇa in anything that comes to disturb or attack us. In philosophical calculation, of course, without God's will nothing can happen. But in a concrete way, a devotee sees, "O Kṛṣṇa! You are backing these children, You are disturbing me, and I shall teach You a lesson. I know how to deal with You. I shall complain to Mother Yaśodā, and she will chastise You."

The advanced devotees are established in the consciousness that Kṛṣṇa is behind everything, and they take everything in that way. This attitude is our beacon light, for it will guide us to adjust ourselves with those things that are apparently unfavourable to us. A sweet adjustment is found there, and so we are advised to be more tolerant than a tree. We may not give any opposition; still, opposition will come to disturb us. And we must forbear.

And we must show our respect to others. Prestige is the greatest and most subtle enemy of the devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Pride is the worst enemy for the devotee of Kṛṣṇa. And pride ultimately takes one to the conclusion of the māyāvadīs, the monists. They say, "So 'ham: I am!" Not, "Dāso 'ham: I am subordinate", but "I am of the Supreme Element; I am That: I am He", eliminating from their consideration the fact that we are tiny and suffering in misery. All these practical things are ignored by the māyāvadīs, the impersonalists, but position, or ego (pratiṣṭhā), is our worst enemy. In this verse, we are advised to deal with prestige and position in a special way.

The slave area of Kṛṣṇa

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "You must not desire respect from anyone or even from the environment itself; at the same time, you must give prestige to everyone and everything in the environment according to its position. Show respect, but don't desire any respect from outside." We must be very particular about this, for pride is our hidden enemy, our worst enemy. If we can somehow avoid or conquer this enemy, we will be able to enter into the slave area of Kṛṣṇa and join those who have given their lives wholesale in sacrifice to Him. The general meaning of this verse is, "Never seek position or prestige from any quarter. At the same time, give honour to one and all according to your understanding."

A great insult

When our Spiritual Master, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, went to Vṛndāvan in the early 1930's, he rode a motorcar. In those days, this was unheard of for a saint. One day, a priest insulted our Guru by deprecating the position of Śrīla Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī, the preceptor of our highest conception of spiritual achievement. He boasted, "We are not only residents of the holy land, but members of the cast of high priests (brāhmaṇs). Therefore we can offer our benedictions to Dās Goswāmī. He was born in a low-class family, and he himself asked such a benediction from us."

Of course, in great humility, Dās Goswāmī once prayed,

gurau goṣṭhe goṣṭhālayiṣu sujane bhū-suragaṇe  
sva-mantre śrī-nāmni vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-śaraṇe  
sadā dambhaṁ hitvā kuru ratim apūrvām atitarām  
aye svāntar bhrātaś chaṭubhir abhiyāche dhṛta-padaḥ

"O mind—my brother! I fall at your feet and implore you: 'Give up all pride and always taste ecstatic love while remembering the divine guide, the holy abode of Vṛndāvan, the cowherds and milkmaids of Vraja, the loving devotees of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the gods on earth or pure brāhmaṇs, the Gayātrī mantra, the Holy Names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the divine youthful couple of Vraja, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govindasundar."

That priest remarked, "We are residents of the holy abode of Vṛndāvan, and brāhmaṇs as well, so we are in a position to give benedictions to Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī." Upon hearing these words, our Guru Mahārāj, who was at Rādhā Kuṇḍa at the time, began fasting. He remarked, "I have to hear this? This fellow is under the control of lust, anger, and greed, and he says that he can show his grace to Dās Goswāmī, the most respected preceptor in our line! And I am to hear that?" Without retaliating against his remarks, he decided to fast.

We also stopped eating, and our whole camp began fasting. Then a local gentleman who came to know that the whole camp was fasting managed to find the blasphemous priest and bring him to our Guru Mahārāj. That priest begged to be pardoned. Our Guru Mahārāj was satisfied and, after showing him some respect, finally broke his fast. At that time someone told our Guru Mahārāj, "They are all ignorant fools. Why should you be so much affected by his words? You should ignore it." Our Guru Mahārāj said, "If I were an ordinary bābājī and heard such a remark, I could simply cover my ears and go away. But I am playing the part of an Āchārya, one who teaches by example. What justification do I have for riding in a motorcar if I do not oppose the remarks against my Gurudev?"

Repeatedly he used this expression: "Why am I driving a motorcar here in Vṛndāvan?" he said, "Had I been a niṣkiñchan bābājī, a saint living in seclusion and wearing only a loincloth, I would have given no opposition to this man. To save myself, I would simply leave the place and go elsewhere. But because I am riding in a big motorcar in the post of an Āchārya, a teacher, I must defend the dignity of the great devotees. I have accepted this charge and can't evade these circumstances. I must face it and do everything in my power that such things may not go on undetected or unopposed."

Humility must be adjusted or modified in its practical application. Once, when a Hare Kṛṣṇa Temple was attacked, a gun was used by the devotees to defend the Temple. Later there was a complaint among the local people. They said, "Oh, they are humble? They are tolerant? Why have they crossed the advice of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to be humbler than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree? They can't be devotees!" So many complaints were coming to me, but I defended them by saying, "No, they have done rightly. The instruction to be humbler than a blade of grass means one should be humble to the devotee, not to a madman."

The general class of men are ignorant. They are mad. They do not know what is good or bad, so their consideration has no value. Who is qualified to judge whether a devotee is offering respect to all and not expecting any for himself? Who will judge whether he is really humble and tolerant—madmen? Ignorant people? Have they any sense to judge who is humble, who is tolerant, and who is respectful to others? There must be a standard by which to judge humility. We are interested in the criterion given by higher thinkers, not the consideration of the ignorant masses.

The standard of humility

Of course, anyone may deceive the ordinary public with superficial humility. But a show of humility is not real humility. It must come from the heart, and it must have a real purpose. Everything—humility, tolerance, and pridelessness—must be considered by the judgement of a standard, normal person, not by the ignorant who are like elephants, tigers, and jackals. Should they be allowed to judge what is humility, what is audacity and impertinence? Of course not. Should a devotee think, "The Deity and the Temple is about to be molested, but I shall stand by and do nothing. I should be humble and tolerant. A dog is entering the Temple; I should show him respect?" No. This is not real humility.

We must have a normal conception of reality. We must not allow these anomalies to continue in the name of offering respects to others. We must not think that we may allow anyone to harm the devotees or molest the Temple, that we shall allow the dog to enter the Temple, and by doing this we are humble and tolerant, we are showing all respects to others. We are not interested only in the physical meaning of the scriptures, but the real meaning.

That I am humble means that I am the slave of the slave of a Vaiṣṇava. With that consciousness we must proceed. If anyone comes to molest my master, I should first sacrifice myself, thinking, "Because I am of the least importance, my sacrifice is no loss; I must sacrifice myself to maintain the dignity of my Guru, the devotees, and my Lord and His family."

We must always understand what is to be honoured. We offer our respects to the highest truth, the Lord of Lords; our dealings should be in consonance with that. If we always keep the highest conception of relativity within us, we will see that we are the lowest. If there is danger to our guardians, we shall sacrifice ourselves. All of this should be taken into account when trying to understand the meaning of humility, not physical imitation—but genuine humility; it is a question of practical realisation. Fame and honour must be given to the Lord and His devotees, not to anyone else.

In the higher stages of devotion, of course, humility may have to be adjusted in another way for the paramahaṁsa bābājīs, the topmost swanlike saints who have given up all connection with this material world. But in the preaching stage, the second class devotee must accept things differently. As our Guru Mahārāj said, "Had I been in the role of a bābājī, a non-assertive, reclusive saint, I would have walked away from the place without offering any opposition. But when we are preaching and have taken the responsibility of leading so many souls to the domain of the Lord, our adjustment must be made accordingly." Generally, we may be indifferent to those who are personally inimical to us, but when we preach on behalf of the Lord in an organised way, our duty changes: we cannot be indifferent to antagonists.

It is mentioned in the scriptures by Jīva Goswāmī that according to one's own particular status, these things should be taken into consideration and the necessary things should be done. He has given his decision that if the devotee has a position of power, if he is a king, and if someone repeatedly blasphemes a real Vaiṣṇava, or saintly person, then the king should enforce corporal punishment by banishing the offender from his state or by cutting out his tongue (Vaiṣṇava nindaka jihvā hāta). That is not the duty for ordinary persons; if they act in such a way, there will be a riot. We should not be eager to inflict physical punishment upon anyone.

Hanumān is a Vaiṣṇava, but he is seen to destroy so many lives. The same is true of Arjuna and so many other devotees. Even Kṛṣṇa and Rāmachandra are also seen to kill so many demons in war. Simply a physical show of meekness does not constitute the real meaning of humility. When there is an insult to the Guru or the Vaiṣṇavas, a devotee will oppose the blasphemers according to his might.

Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, in one of his songs, says that we should not only tolerate the evil-doings of others and a disturbing environment, but we should do good to those by whom we are being tortured. The example is given of a tree. One who is cutting the tree gets shade and comfort from the tree even while cutting it down. In conclusion, he says that humility, mercy, respect for others, and renunciation of name and fame, are the four qualifications for chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.

We are the meanest of the mean. We should always be conscious that we are beggars. We should think, "Although I am a beggar, I've come to beg for the highest thing; let no disturbance dissuade me from my attempt." At the same time, our attitude toward the environment should be respectful.

In this way, by becoming educated in the Kṛṣṇa conception of divinity, everyone should be given respect according to his position. It is the guiding instruction in the worship of the Holy Name (Nām-bhajan) that we must take the position of the slave of the slave of the slave of the Lord. If you want to chant the Name of Kṛṣṇa, then don't waste your energy with the trifling things of this world. Don't allow your attention to be disturbed by tiny acquisitions like prestige or gain which is relative to money or physical comfort. Remember, you are trying for the greatest thing, and all other things are very small in comparison to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, don't waste your energy and valuable time. Be economical. You have the chance to achieve the highest goal of life.
Unalloyed Devotion

Sanskrit

न धनं न जनं न सुन्दरीं  
कवितां वा जगदीश कामये ।  
मम जन्मनि जन्मनीश्वरे  
भवताद्भक्तिरहैतुकी त्वयि ॥४॥

Roman transliteration

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ  
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye  
mama janmani-janmanīśvare  
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

Translation

"O Lord, I have no desires  
to accumulate wealth, followers,  
beautiful women, or salvation.  
My only prayer is for  
Your causeless devotional service,  
birth after birth."

Illumination

We should try to move in this direction. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "I don't want any money (na dhanam), I don't want any popularity or manpower (na janam), I don't want the company of beautiful ladies (na sundarim). I don't want a good name, or the fame of a poet (kavitam vā)." This is the general meaning of this verse, but it has been deeply dealt with in the commentaries of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī and Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur.

Our Guru Mahārāj has commented that in this verse, wealth, followers, women, and scholarship represent duty, wealth, sense pleasure, and salvation (dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa). Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur has explained that in this context, 'wealth' means the wealth which comes from following one's prescribed duties. It can also mean artha, economic development. He says that 'followers' means physical relationship for comforts: wife, children, and so forth. The word sundarīm means kāma, the company of beautiful ladies. And kavitām, poetry, represents mokṣa, liberation. Liberation apparently has a high value but really, like poetry, it is only flowery words. Liberation is imaginary because the ultimate result of liberation is that one's existence vanishes.

Service capitalists

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "O Lord of the universe, I only pray for spontaneous devotion to You without motive for any reward. I want a natural serving attitude." Prema means affection, love. Prema means, "I shall serve You, and in remuneration You must give me more of a tendency to serve You—more energy and more hankering to serve You. My affection for You will be enhanced and the interest will become capital just as in the money-lending business." In this way, a devotee prays to Kṛṣṇa, "I am serving You, and if You want to pay me something, then give me more capital to increase my serving tendency so it may be more enhanced.

"Wherever I am born according to my karma, I aspire only for Your service, my Lord, and I pray for unmotivated service, not for anything else in return." The general temptation that surrounds us on four sides is of four classes: money, followers, women, and liberation, and that means dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa. In this way, the gradations of different goals of life have been scientifically represented.

But Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "I have no attraction for any of these things, but only for You, My Lord. I don't even aspire after liberation. I will not even ask, "Give Me liberation, for, being liberated, I will be able to serve You better." That sort of condition must not be placed on divinity. This is the purest of prayers. "According to my karma, I may be bird or beast, here or there, or even in hell—it does not matter. My whole aspiration is concentrated on one thing alone: I pray that my attraction for You may never be lost. I pray that it may always be enhanced."

Bhakti, devotion, is ahaitukī, causeless. It is quite natural and has no other aspiration. Someone may say, "If interest is always being reinvested as capital, I will never enjoy the profit", but we are interested in enjoyment by self-giving. "Let others enjoy at my cost"—that is the basis of the highest enjoyment. The devotee thinks, "Let Kṛṣṇa enjoy with others—I will be the scapegoat."

The suicide squad

Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says that when a baby has no knowledge, and an enemy or a disease comes to attack him, he cannot defend himself. In the same way, in the beginning, when one's realisation of the Holy Name is in the childlike stage, then crimes and offences against the Name can prevail. When one's realisation is grown up, no offence can approach him, but so many offences may come and attack the beginner.

Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says, "The Holy Name is so beautiful, gracious, and charming. Let me die along with all the offences against it so others may enjoy its nectar." He wants to sacrifice himself just as in wartime, with bombs under their armpits, the suicide squad would jump into a ship's chimney. The suicide squad began with Japan's campaign against the British, and when Hitler heard of their fearlessness, he said, "We have something yet to learn from Japan." So, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur prays, "I want to finish myself along with all the offences against the Name, that others may enjoy the nectar of the Holy Name."

Vāsudev Datta also prayed, "Give the sins of all souls to me, and throw me into eternal hell, so that they may benefit. Give them love of Kṛṣṇa." By that highly generous sentiment, he does not die. It is said, "Die to live". When we have so much appreciation for the Lord that we feel this kind of sentiment, we find a living attainment of higher life. That is the enjoyment we want.

The last verse of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's Śikṣāṣṭakam will explain this feeling. Another example of this is found when the great sage Nārad came to the gopīs and asked them for the dust of their lotus feet for the treatment of Kṛṣṇa's headache. Here we find self-abnegation to the highest degree, and that is the whole point of devotion. The very life of a devotee is based on sacrifice. As much as there is sacrifice, there is benefit. And sacrifice means "Die to live". This is a favourite saying of mine. These are Hegel's words: "Die to live". Kṛṣṇa is the highest consumer known to the world. We should not hesitate to give ourselves to Him.
King of the Land of Love

Sanskrit

अयि नन्दतनुज किङ्करं पतितं मां विषमे भवाम्बुधौ ।  
कृपया तव पादपङ्कजस्थितधूलीसदृशं विचिन्तय ॥५॥

Roman transliteration

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ  
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau  
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-  
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vichintaya

Translation

"O son of Nanda Mahārāj,  
I am Your eternal servant,  
yet because of My own karma,  
I have fallen into this terrible  
ocean of birth and death.  
Accept this fallen soul  
and consider Me a particle of dust  
at Your holy lotus feet."

Illumination

Here, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu prays, "O Lord, please consider Me; I want to enter into the realm of Your merciful glance. I do not know how to take proper care of Myself, and so I invite Your care. Please accept Me and give Me entrance. You are My guardian. I want to live under Your protection."

And who is He? We hear of different conceptions of God, but here we have come to a beautiful conception of God—Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāj. This is found only in Vṛndāvan.

A great spiritual scholar, Raghupati Upādhyāya, once met Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu near Mathurā. There, they had a discussion and Mahāprabhu asked him, "Whom do we want to have as our master? Who is the final goal of our life?" Raghupati Upādhyāya answered:

śrutim apare smṛtim itare  
bhāratam anye bhajantu bhava-bhītāḥ  
aham iha nandaṁ vande  
yasyālinde paraṁ brahma

"Those who fear rebirth in this world may follow the advice of the Vedic scriptures—others may follow the Mahābhārata—but as for me, I follow Nanda Mahārāj, in whose courtyard the Supreme Absolute Truth plays as a child."

In the system of varṇāśram-dharma, Vedic social duty, the people in general are under the guidance of the smṛti, Vedic law. In this way, they are engaged in bodily duties with a colour of godliness. Those who are free from physical demands, however, who are trying to transcend this life of enjoyment and exploitation, generally take their guidance from the Upaniṣads because higher advice is given there. Raghupati Upādhyāya says, "I don't care for all these things, but I feel a need to follow the guidance of my heart. I am not so much concerned with the brain; I consider that real peace has its connection with the heart. And my heart is always attracted by Kṛṣṇa's father, Nanda. Kṛṣṇa is said by authorities to be the Supreme Absolute Truth, and that absolute is crawling in the courtyard of Nanda Mahārāj, so I see concrete reality there."

How has Nanda attracted the Supreme Absolute Truth? In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.8.46), the devoted King Parīkṣit Mahārāj asks the boy saint Śukadev Goswāmī:

nandaḥ kim akarod brahman śreya evaṁ mahodayam  
yaśodā chā mahā-bhāgā papau yasyāḥ stanaṁ hariḥ

"O knower of Brahma, you are always merged in the exclusive conscious world. No trace of any mundane objective reference can be found in you, for you are always engaged in the subjective world of spirit. Never is your consciousness thrown towards this objective world of ours. And you say that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth. I ask one question of you, my Master: what duty did Nanda discharge, what sort of realisation did Nanda have, that the Absolute Truth is so intimate with him that He appears as Nanda's son and crawls about in his courtyard? He seems to be under Nanda's clutches. What is this? This is a most wonderful thing. Is it possible?

The Supreme Substance suckles her breast?

"The yogīs, the ṛṣis, the great scholars and penance-makers say that they sometimes have a rare peek into their object of aspiration and realisation, and then they come back suddenly. They can't keep their attention in that plane for long periods of time. How is it possible that the Supreme Substance sits on the lap of Yaśodā and sucks her breast? If such things are real, if it is at all possible, then why should I not be attracted by that method by which I can have so much intimacy with the highest entity?"

In his prayer, Raghupati Upādhyāya expresses a similar ego. He says, "I don't want to be entangled in the subtle discussion and analysis of the scriptures; I just want to surrender myself to Nanda and his party. I want to enlist my name in the group where Nanda is the master guide."

By the exercise of energy (karma), we can attain a good destination; without faith in the achievements of karma, we may try for salvation by raising our consciousness (jñan). But if we enquire into the solution of life with the help of the experts of that higher spiritual realm like Nanda and his party, we can enter into the land of love and dedication.

My faith, my common sense about religion, tells me that if I see that Supreme Absolute Truth who is so rare and find Him real, concrete, and intimate, appealing directly to my heart, then why should I engage myself in wild-goose chasing? I shall appeal directly to the object of my search. If someone tells me that a hawk has snatched my ear, should I chase the hawk without first touching my ear to see if it is still there? If I can have the Absolute Truth so intimately, why should I allow myself to run hither and thither? If I find that the Absolute Truth has kindly come with all His charm, and that His charm is not a secret and many personages are being attracted by Him, then should I run after the phantasmagoria of the meditationists, abstractionists, and renunciationists? Never.

It is common sense. The straight understanding is given by authorities that Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda, is Supreme. So when we have come up to that standard, then we can ask, "O son of Nanda, Kṛṣṇa, king of the country of love: I appeal for Your affection. I am Your servant. I feel within myself that I have some connection with You. I am subordinate to You, but somehow, I am in adverse circumstances. I feel that there are so many enemies within me that are trying to take me away from You that I can't give my attention to You all the time. At the same time, I feel from the inner plane of my heart that You are my Master, You are all-in-all to me. My heart won't be satisfied without Your companionship. So I appeal to You: I am under unfavourable circumstances; I am suffering, and without Your grace, I don't find any means of relief from my present imprisoned position."

The soul—like a ray of sun

Here it is said, "I feel that I am not eternally connected with You; if it were so, then this separation would have been impossible. Unlike an Avatār, I am not Your plenary portion." Other incarnations of the Supreme Lord are plenary expansions of Him (svāṁśa), but the jīva is a partial representation of His potency (vibhinnāṁśa). In Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says that the living entities are His eternal parts and parcels. The soul comes from marginal potency (Kṛṣṇera taṭasthā-śakti, bhedābheda prakāśa). And the soul is an atomic fragmental part of the Lord's potency like a ray of the sun. But here, the devotee prays, "I'm not part and parcel of Your own body, I'm not even a ray, but my representation is nearer to that of a particle of sand, a particle of dust—not even a particle of the ray coming out of the lustre of Your body." In this way, Śrīman Mahāprabhu is representing on our behalf that our petition must be of this type: "I cannot indulge Myself in thinking that I possess such fortune that I may be considered an inseparable part of You. I am a separable part, but I also want Your grace. Please be kind upon Me; I invoke Your mercy for a special grant. Accept Me in any position in Your connection—even the lowest position. At least this must be sanctioned. Consider Me a particle of dust at Your feet. This is My prayer."
Hankering for Perfection

Sanskrit

नयनं गलदश्रुधारया वदनं गद्गदरुद्धया गिरा ।  
पुलकैर्निचितं वपुः कदा तव नामग्रहणे भविष्यति ॥६॥

Roman transliteration

nayanaṁ galad-aśru-dhārayā  
vadanaṁ gadgada-ruddhayā girā  
pulakair nichitaṁ vapuḥ kadā  
tava nāma-grahaṇe bhaviṣyati

Translation

"O Lord, when will tears flow  
from My eyes like waves?  
And My voice tremble in ecstasy.  
When will the hairs of My body  
stand on end while chanting  
Your Holy Name?"

Illumination

In this verse, the devotee's prayer has been granted and he has acquired a position in Kṛṣṇa's domain. Now his ambition has no end. Although he is posted in a safe position, he is again praying for further promotion. First he aspired only for an insignificant position as the dust under the soles of Kṛṣṇa's divine feet. Then, the grant came. The touch of Kṛṣṇa's holy feet came to the dust and the dust was converted as if by a magic wand. Now a greater, higher demand automatically comes.

The devotee thinks, "What is this? I prayed only to become the dust of the soles of Your feet, but what do I now feel within me? I am the dust of the earth, and You are the Supreme Absolute Truth. But by the very touch of Your lotus feet, dust has been converted into such a great and inconceivable substance. I wonder, 'How is it that I have been transformed?' Now I find that my demand is for greater intimacy. First I aspired for servitude but now, by the touchstone of Your lotus feet, that hope has been converted into spontaneous attraction (rāga-mārg)."

The king of affection

Spontaneous attraction can only mean Kṛṣṇa, not Nārāyaṇ or Rāmachandra. Kṛṣṇa means "one who is worshipped by divine love and affection." He is the king of affection, the centre of affection and love. The devotee's whole conception of devotion changed just by coming in touch with Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, and he was graced by the demand for more intimacy; greater love and affection came to grace that servitor.

He was raised to such a plane of dedication that his prayer has changed. He thinks, "What is this? I can't check my tears. They are coming incessantly, and when I try to chant Your Name, my Lord, I feel that I am losing control. Some interference from another quarter is moving me, disturbing my normal-thinking and aspirations. I feel I am in the midst of another plane. I am nowhere. I have lost control; I have become a doll in the hands of some other power.

Lotus feet—magic wand

"My aspiration is taking me towards something else. Now I not only want a connection with You as a servitor from a distance, but coming in touch with the magic wand of Your lotus feet, my aspiration has changed. I see that so many devotees are engaged in Your service and chanting Your Name, and seeing this, my hopes have been raised.

"I want to be lifted to that position. I can visualise that position from far away, but now my earnest prayer is that I may be raised to that level. Your connection has given me such thirst. I want to be handled by You. Play with me as You like in Your own way. My heart hankers after such a relationship with You. When I chant Your Name with this feeling, I find that my previous conception has changed and my new hankering is for the standard of spontaneous love. I pray that You lift me into that plane of Your divine affection and love."
Forever Without You

Sanskrit

युगायितं निमेषेण चक्षुषा प्रावृषायितम्।  
शून्यायितं जगत्सर्व्वं गोविन्दविरहेण मे ॥७॥

Roman transliteration

yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa chakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam  
śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me

Translation

"O Govinda!  
Without You, the world is empty.  
Tears are flooding My eyes like rain,  
and a moment seems like forever."

Illumination

Sometimes this verse is translated, "O Govinda, without You, I feel a moment to be twelve years or more." The word yuga is sometimes translated 'twelve years'. Some devotees say this is because Mahāprabhu experienced the most intense separation from Kṛṣṇa in the mood of Rādhārāṇī for twelve years. In the Sanskrit dictionary it is said that one yuga means twelve years. That is one conception. Another meaning is 'millennium' or 'age'. A yuga can also mean an unlimited amount of time.

Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, "One moment seems like an unlimited period of time. And My eyes are shedding tears like rain. The rainy season produces so many floods, and now it seems to Me that My eyes are flooding. The visible is becoming invisible to Me. I am so withdrawn from the present environment that I can't see anything. My mind feels so much internal attraction towards the centre of the infinite that wherever I cast my glance I see nothing. Everything appears vacant, because I feel as if Govinda has withdrawn from Me.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa—Reality the Beautiful

"Such a peculiar sort of feeling is within Me—I have no interest in anything. All My interest is drawn towards Govinda, and to such a degree that I am a stranger to My present environment. I have nothing: no consciousness. It has gone somewhere else—towards the infinite. When there is a drought, all the rivers and lakes dry up. The water is drawn towards the gas world. Nowhere is a drop of water to be found. It is something like that. All charm is withdrawn so extensively that everything is empty. My senses, mind, and everything else has been drawn up, attracted by the all-attractive, all-charming, all-sweet personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful."

Sometimes it seems that the gap between union and separation is like so many millennia. A devotee thinks, "I have lost the consciousness of meeting Kṛṣṇa long, long ago." He has a faint remembrance: "I had some union with Kṛṣṇa, but I left that so far behind, so far off, that it appears to be an unlimited gap of time. I once had a faint recollection, but now it is gone, perhaps forever." He feels such a great degree of disappointment and despair.

This is the standard of the infinite world. Just as we measure the distance of the planets and stars by light years, here the transcendental temperament is being measured by such a standard. What audacity we have to deal with things so great and beyond our jurisdiction.

At first the devotee thought, "If I am raised to that standard of service, my heart will be fulfilled. My thirst will be quenched, and I will feel some ease and satisfaction within me." But the development of his devotion took him to an unexpected plane of life. It is the nature of divine love that when a drop of that medicine is given to a hankering patient, the patient thinks he is cured, but he is taken into a dangerous position.

He thinks, "Seeing the devotees shedding tears incessantly, the hairs of their bodies standing on end, their voices choked up while chanting the Name of Kṛṣṇa, I was charmed. Those symptoms attracted me and I thought that if I could attain this, I would feel real satisfaction, but upon attaining that plane, what do I find? Just the opposite."

Coming into real connection with the infinite, he feels hopeless. He thinks, "There is no limit to progress. Rather, as much as I come in intimate connection with the infinite, I feel hopeless." The more we advance, the more we find it unlimited, and finding it unlimited, we become hopeless but we can't turn back. There is no possibility of retracing our steps; we can only go ahead. This is the spirit of a genuine devotee.

Finding the infinite characteristic of our prospect, we can't leave—we become hopeless, thinking, "The highest kind of nectar is just before me, but I can't taste it—I am unable to touch it or get it in my fist. Still, its charm is so great that I can't retreat from this entanglement. And without that, a small span of time seems like millions of years."

Rivers of tears

The devotee thinks, "Oh, long, long ages have passed away; still I am in want! I am trying to get it, but I can't get it, and time is passing. Time is also infinite. So many rivers of tears take birth from my eyes; tears profusely run down from my eyes over my body, but I don't find the position of success within my reach. My mind is fully vacant. I can't find any trace of my future. I have no charm, no attraction for anything else that might seem to console this diseased body.

"I find no possibility of solace from any other quarter. All alternatives have been eliminated. I am fully in the clutches of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and love of Kṛṣṇa. If there is anyone who can come to my relief, help me! I am lost. I am helpless. If there is anyone who can help me, please come to my rescue."

Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says that when we are deeply situated in love of Kṛṣṇa, we can't leave it, but our thirst increases and we feel no satisfaction. We are in the midst of such an apparently horrible position.

The hankering for Kṛṣṇa which awakens in one's mind takes this direction. When a devotee really comes in connection with Kṛṣṇa, his position will be all-eliminating and all-exclusive. His complete concentration will be on Kṛṣṇa.

In this verse, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu describes how a devotee goes further, awakens a higher conception of Kṛṣṇa, and then, seeing Kṛṣṇa just before him but not getting Him, feels this kind of separation. The more he progresses, the more he finds himself in this position of hopelessness. This highest advice of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu helps us adjust ourselves to this intense mood of separation. He tells us, "You are going to be lost in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And what will be your position? You are a drop, and you will be thrown into the ocean of divine love."
Union in Separation

Sanskrit

आश्लिष्य वा पादरतां पिनष्टु माम्  
अदर्शनान्मर्म्महतां करोतु वा ।  
यथा तथा वा विदधातु लम्पटो  
मत्प्राणनाथस्तु स एव नापरः ॥८॥

Roman transliteration

āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām  
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā  
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo  
mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

Translation

"Kṛṣṇa may embrace Me in love  
or trample Me under His feet.  
He may break My heart  
by hiding Himself from Me.  
Let that debauchee do whatever He  
likes, but He will always be the only  
Lord of my life."

Illumination

This is the greatest medicine for the devotees. We have come to measure the immeasurable, but we must always embrace this principle. In attempting to connect ourselves with the infinite Lord of love and beauty, we must remember that He is the infinite. He is only one to us, but He has many devotees like us to deal with. He may embrace us with much affection and adoration, but we must be prepared for the opposite. We may stick to His feet, but He may cruelly trample us. We have caught hold of His holy feet with great hope, with our whole heart; still we may find that He tramples us and does not care for all our attempts and affection.

We may be giving our best and find that our offering is being hatefully dishonoured. He may embrace us, but at the same time we must be prepared that His dealings may be extremely cruel. He may trample all our offerings beneath His feet. We must be prepared for both His adoration and His hateful negligence. We should be prepared for any adverse circumstances.

Kṛṣṇa may be indifferent. He may not care. And when He is punishing us, He is nearer, but when He is indifferent it is even more intolerable than punishment. The devotee thinks, "Kṛṣṇa is ignoring me, neglecting me so much that He does not like to keep any connection with me. Doesn't He know me? Am I a foreigner, unknown to Him?" We may accept punishment as a boon, but indifference is even more heart-rending.

The pain of separation felt by a devotee may even go a step higher. Kṛṣṇa may affectionately embrace another right before our eyes, in front of our face, without caring even a little for us. We may think, "This is my claim, my right", but that may be given to another right in front of our faces. That will be a source of increasing trouble to us.

This is the law of affection. The law of love cannot tolerate indifference. It is too much to tolerate, but we must be prepared for that. We must be prepared from the beginning that this is the meaning of Kṛṣṇa-prema, divine love for Kṛṣṇa, because He is an autocrat. He is love. Divine love means mercy, and not justice. There is no law there. And we have selected divine love to be our highest fortune, so we must be prepared to be treated without justice. There is no justice in divine love; it is free. It may flow anywhere and everywhere. This is the very nature of divine love, so we can't make any claim—we have no rights.

This is the nature of the highest thing, and it is extremely rare. But unhesitating adherence to that principle is required from our side. It is real love, and you must be prepared for that. In all adverse circumstances, this is the real nature of Kṛṣṇa-prema: die to live. If you can accommodate all these different stages, good or bad, then you can enter this exalted plane.

Love is above law

Justice is within law; mercy is above law. Prema, divine love, is also above law, but it has its own law. Another verse whose meaning runs parallel to this one is given by Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhupād:

virachaya mayi daṇḍaṁ dīnabandho dayāṁ vā  
gatir iha na bhavattaḥ kāchid anyā mamāsti  
nipatatu śata-koṭir nirbharaṁ vā navāmbhas  
tad api kila payodaḥ stūyate chātakena

There is a kind of small bird named chātak that only drinks rainwater. It never drinks any water from the earth, whether it is from a river, fountain, or lake. Its very nature is that with its mouth upward, it hankers after rainwater. Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī gives this example to show how a devotee should always be waiting in expectation of the 'rainwater' of Kṛṣṇa-love, and no other love.

The devotee prays to the Lord, "You are the friend of the fallen, so I have some hope. You may grant Your grace, or severely punish me—in either case, I have no other alternative but to wholly surrender to Your lotus feet."

Our attitude of surrender should be just like that of the chātak bird, who always has his eyes fixed upward, praying for rainwater. Rainwater may come profusely—not only enough to fill up his small belly, but enough to drown his whole body. Thunder may come from above; a bolt from the blue may come and finish his small body, and send him to the nonexistent quarter, but still the nature of that bird is to pray exclusively for rainwater. He won't take water from any other place under any circumstance. Our attitude towards Kṛṣṇa should be like that: whether or not He extends His gracious hand towards us, it is our duty to surrender unto Him.

In this connection, one verse comes to my memory. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa met Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs in Kurukṣetra after a long separation of perhaps a hundred years, He felt that He had committed a great crime by separating Himself from them. Approaching near the gopīs, especially Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and remembering their qualities of love and surrender, He felt like the greatest criminal, so much so that He bent down to touch the lotus feet of Rādhārāṇī.

On poet has represented the scene in this way, and that poem has been collected by Rupa Goswāmī in his Padyāvalī. Kṛṣṇa was at that time the paramount king of India. But when He came in connection with the gopīs and the atmosphere of Vṛndāvan, He felt like a criminal, and bending down, He was just about to touch the lotus feet of Rādhārāṇī, when Rādhārāṇī, drawing back, remarked, "What are You doing? Why are You coming to touch My feet? This is astounding. Have You lost Your mind?

"I am the real criminal"

"You are the master of everything. No explanation can be demanded of You. You are swāmī. You are My husband and master, and I am Your maidservant. It may be that for some time You were engaged in some other quarter, but what's the harm in that? What is the fault in You for that? That does not matter, for that right is given to You by scripture and society. There is no crime, no sin on Your part. You have done nothing wrong.

"I am the real criminal. The meanness is with Me, the defect is wholly with Me. You are not responsible for Our separation, so why do You consider that You are faulty, or that You have committed some wrong? The positive proof that I am the real criminal is that I sustain My life; I did not die from the pangs of Your separation.

"I am showing My face to the world, but I am not faithful to You. I could not approach the standard of faith which I should have maintained for Your love, so I am the criminal, not You. It has been written in the scriptures by the saints that the wife should be thankful and exclusively devoted to the husband. This has been ordained in the scriptures. A woman should be devoted exclusively to her husband, her lord. So in this meeting, I should fall at Your feet and beg for Your pardon, for Your forgiveness that I have really no love for You. I am maintaining this body, and showing My face to society; I am not a proper partner for You, so please forgive Me. You are begging My forgiveness? This is just the opposite of how things should be. What is this? Please don't do this."

This should be the ideal of our affection for Kṛṣṇa. We, the finite, should take this attitude towards the infinite. At any time, He may only give a little attention to us, but we should be all-attentive towards Him. And there is no alternative. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu advises that we have exclusive devotion towards Kṛṣṇa, and as we are insignificant, our attitude must be of this type.

If we want such a great thing, then it is not an injustice that we should be treated hatefully. Our prospect, understanding, and adjustment must be that of self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness, just as when someone goes to fight for his country on the battlefield, there is no room for luxury or excessive desires.

I remember in this connection that when Gandhi formed his nonviolence army, one of the volunteer soldiers asked, "Please arrange tea for us." Gandhi told him, "The water of the river may be supplied to you, but no tea. If you are ready for that then come forward." If we want to connect ourselves with the Vṛndāvan-līlā of Kṛṣṇa, we can make no conditions. Then, we shall understand the method recommended by Śrīman Mahāprabhu: humility greater than that of a blade of grass. There should be no complaint from our side. Not only in the external position of our present life, but even in eternal life, any complaint from our side should be carefully eliminated and we must fully accept the ways of the Lord. Kṛṣṇa may accept us or reject us; we have to take that risk. Only then may we make progress.

In some way or other, if we can enter the group of Kṛṣṇa's servitors, we will find that everyone has such a nature, and when they meet together, they will console each other in their respective groups. In different serving relationships there are different sections of servitors of a similar nature, and they console each other with talk of Kṛṣṇa (Kṛṣṇa-kathā). In Bhagavad-gītā (10.9, 11) Kṛṣṇa says:

mach-chittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam  
kathayantaś cha māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti cha ramanti cha

"My devotees mix together, talk about Me, and exchange thoughts that give consolation to their hearts. And they live as if this talk about Me is their food. It gives them a high kind of pleasure, and they find that when they talk about Me among themselves, they feel as if they are enjoying My presence."

teṣām evānukampārtham aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ  
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā

"When sometimes the feeling of separation from Me is very acute in My devotees, I suddenly appear before them and quench their thirst for My company."

Sweetness within pain

In this last verse of His Śikṣāṣṭakam, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu has given another very fine and high type of solace. And this has been confirmed by Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī, who has written:

bāhye viṣa-jvālā haya, bhitare ānanda-maya,  
kṛṣṇa-premāra adbhuta charita

"Don't be afraid. Outwardly you may feel a horrible pain of separation, but internally, you will feel an unparalleled type of rasa, the most pleasing feeling of peace, joy, or ecstasy." Externally, there may be pangs of separation, but internally there is the greatest satisfaction.

In this way we are advised by the scriptures, and our practical experience corroborates our faith in this subtle matter. The English poet, Shelley, has written:

"Our sincerest laughter  
With some pain is fraught;  
Our sweetest songs are those  
That tell of saddest thought."

When we are reading an epic where there is cruel separation between the hero and the heroine, it is so sweet to us that although we shed tears, still we cannot leave the book. When we hear about the pangs of Sītā Devī, how Rāmachandra banishes Her and leaves Her uncared for in the forest although She is with child, this is very painful. We shed tears, but still we read on. There is sweetness within pain. It is possible.

Separation from Kṛṣṇa is like that. The special characteristic of Kṛṣṇa-prema is this: externally, we feel extreme pain, like lava, but internally our heart is filled with some extraordinary ecstatic joy. This is what Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu has given us. As much as we can catch the meaning of His instructions, we shall be prepared for that kind of life. This is the fare to go to Vṛndāvan, and when we are introduced to so many others like us, then our joy knows no bounds. When we meet others who have the same nature and mind as us, we get solace from them. We need not be afraid. In spite of all these things, we should think firmly that there is our home, and we should want to go back to home, back to Godhead.

We are not foreigners there. Here we are foreigners: every man treats me in any way that he likes. But Vṛndāvan is most hopeful and full of the highest prospect. It is the place of inner satisfaction. We aspire after that; we cannot but continue aspiring for our real home. What is real joy and ecstasy? We are not acquainted with that. This is our present trouble. Yet as much as we progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we shall become conscious of a practical feeling of real joy and ecstasy, beauty and charm, and in this way, we shall become more and more encouraged.

Yāmun Āchārya says:

yad-avadhi mama chetaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravinde  
nava-nava-rasa-dhāmany udyataṁ rantum āsīt  
tad-avadhi bata nārī-saṅgame smaryamāṇe  
bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭhu niṣṭhīvanaṁ cha

"Before I came in touch with the Kṛṣṇa-love of Vṛndāvan, worldly pleasure was of much importance to me; but now, if any mundane taste comes in my memory, my face becomes disfigured, and I spit at the thought."

So if we get a slight taste of that ecstasy, then at once we come to the conclusion that there can be no comparison between that and any peace or pleasure here in this mundane world. At the same time, once we are settled in that atmosphere, no pain can disturb or affect us in any way.

There is another side also: although we are advised to be prepared for painful separation, the fact is not so cruel in reality. Kṛṣṇa says, Mayi te teṣu chāpy Aham: "I am always with My devotees." Wherever there is an exclusive devotee, Kṛṣṇa is there like his shadow, always invisibly moving after him. This is the Lord's nature:

ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno hy asvatantra iva dvija  
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ

The Lord tells Durvāsā, "I am the slave of My devotees; I have no freedom apart from their will. Because they are completely pure and devoted to Me, My heart is controlled by them, and I reside always in their hearts. I am dependent not only on My devotees, but even on the servants of My devotees. Even the servants of My devotees are dear to Me."

Kṛṣṇa is not a sweetball

We must be prepared for any unfavourable circumstances, but we must not be discouraged. Kṛṣṇa is most affectionate; His care towards us is most acute and sincere. His affection towards us has no rival. Still, Śrīman Mahāprabhu has given us a warning in this verse: "You are coming to search after Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is not a sweetball from the market that you can purchase and finish so easily. You are trying to attain the highest of the high, so you must be prepared for anything."

At the same time, the devotees will come to us saying, "Have no fear. We are all like you. Let us all walk together in a straight line. Don't be afraid—we are here." We are told that Kṛṣṇa's devotees are even more sympathetic to us than Kṛṣṇa Himself. The solace of our life and our fortune is His devotees, and Kṛṣṇa says: Mad bhaktānāṁ cha ye bhaktāḥ: "One who is a servant of My servant is My real servant." Sadhu-saṅga, the association of saints, is the most important and valuable thing for us. To make our advancement and progress towards the infinite, our association is our guide; it is all-important. We must stick to this conclusion:

'sādhu-saṅga', 'sādhu-saṅga',—sarva śāstre kaya  
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya

"The conclusion has been given in the scriptures that all perfection can be attained by the help of the saints. Good association is our greatest wealth in reaching the supreme goal."
Part Three   
Conclusion

A Drop of Divine Love

Only Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu can give the conception of full-fledged theism. It is His grace, His sweet will. It is His own wealth, not the property of many. Kṛṣṇa is an autocrat. He is the highest. And whomever He selects to receive His own wealth will get it. No one can raise the question of "no taxation without representation"—there is no room for that sort of slogan here.

In order to explain this for our benefit, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, taking himself as a fallen soul, says, "My position is that of a servant of Kṛṣṇa, but I am devoid of Kṛṣṇa. What am I? I am a slave of Kṛṣṇa, a slave of the Lord, but I am devoid of my Master? What an ironic thing it is." You can wail, you can repent, you can mourn, but all rights are reserved by Him. And when you awaken to that higher stage of self-surrender, you will get that wealth. But still, we must conceive that Kṛṣṇa is above all law. Otherwise, surrender is meaningless.

If we analyse the very basis of surrender, we must ask where does surrender begin? In full surrender, there are no rights. Whenever any rights are established, surrender becomes unnecessary. We cannot think, "We must fight for our innate rights." To a certain extent we may try for our rights in this world, but in Kṛṣṇa's Pastimes this mentality has no place.

"All rights reserved"

Even the Goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī Devī, cannot enter there, what to speak of others. It is inconceivable. Kṛṣṇa is not under any law or within anyone's fist. "All rights reserved." Everything is His sweet will. But He is absolute good; that is our solace. We cannot enter His domain as a matter of right. Even Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, and Lakṣmī Devī cannot enter there. But still, if we take the path chalked out by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, we can enter and achieve a position there.

It is so dear, so rare, so valuable and desirable. We must look for the magnanimity of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu which is aspired for by Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. They are praying for a drop of His mercy, but Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu brought that here in a flood and inundated everyone with that nectar, a drop of which is rarely to be had or even thought of. We must approach His mercy with such an attitude of hankering and expectation. His gift is so great and magnanimous—who can understand it?

With two verses of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, one from the mouth of Kṛṣṇa Himself, and the next from the mouth of Uddhava, He takes us straight to that highest place, eliminating so many external things. Kṛṣṇa says:

na tathā me priyatama ātma-yonir na śaṅkaraḥ  
na cha saṅkarṣaṇo na śrīr naivātmā cha yathā bhavān

"O Uddhava! Neither Brahmā, nor Śiva, nor Baladev, nor Lakṣmī, nor even My own self are as dear to Me as you are."

And Uddhava says,

āsām aho charaṇa-reṇu-juṣām ahaṁ syāṁ  
vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām  
yā dustyajaṁ sva-janam ārya-pathaṁ cha hitvā  
bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām

"The gopīs of Vṛndāvan have given up the association of their husbands, sons, and other family members, who are very difficult to renounce, and they have sacrificed even their religious principles to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, which are sought after even by the Vedas. Oh! Grant me the fortune to be born as a blade of grass in Vṛndāvan, so that I may take the dust of those great souls upon my head."

The progressive march towards divinity

The gradation of theism can be traced from Lord Brahmā, the creator of the universe, to Kṛṣṇa's intimate friend Uddhava in Dvārakā. And Uddhava takes us directly to Vṛndāvan to reveal the highest devotion, eliminating various prospects in our progressive march towards divinity. We have to march on. And the way is that of surrender, of loving devotion, not mere formal devotion.

vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī tatrāpi rāsotsavād  
vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt tatrāpi govardhanaḥ  
rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ premāmṛtāplāvanāt  
kuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ vivekī na kaḥ

"Superior to the spiritual realm of Vaikuṇṭha is Mathurā, where Śrī Kṛṣṇa first appears. Superior to Mathurā is the Vṛndāvan forest where Kṛṣṇa enjoyed the Rāsa dance. Better still is Govardhan Hill, which was the site of even more confidential Pastimes of love. But best of all is Rādhā Kuṇḍa, which is situated at the foot of Govardhan Hill, and holds the supreme position because it is overflooded with the nectar of the highest kind of divine love. Who is acquainted with the science of devotion who will not aspire for the divine service of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī at Rādhā Kuṇḍa?"

The heart of Kṛṣṇa

We must place our faith in these subtle things. Only through faith of a finer order can we be led to that highest quarter. The highest conception is in the heart of Kṛṣṇa, and we have to enter into the heart of Kṛṣṇa, not any other place.

Although Kṛṣṇa's conjugal Pastimes with the gopīs (mādhurya-līlā) are supreme, they cannot stand alone: there are many other things which are present in His Pastimes. Kṛṣṇa's Pastimes with His friends and parents are essential in supporting His Pastimes of amorous love. Conjugal love is, of course, the main thing, but still it is dependent on the other paraphernalia of Kṛṣṇa's Pastimes. There must be Kṛṣṇa's family and friends and all the different groups of servitors. Even the environment of Vṛndāvan itself also has its valuable part to play.

And what is Vṛndāvan? The sands of the River Yamunā, the jungle, the birds, peacocks, and deer, the cows, cowboys, and caves of Govardhan Hill, the motherly relatives—everything is there, and it is well-designed and most suitable for the Pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Vṛndāvan is necessary for the Pastimes of Rādhā and Govinda. When Rādhārāṇī meets Kṛṣṇa in Kurukṣetra, Her mind runs to Vṛndāvan. She thinks, "Kṛṣṇa is here, and I am also here", but Her mind runs to Vṛndāvan. In Kurukṣetra, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is hankering for the environment of Vṛndāvan; She wants to have Śrī Kṛṣṇa's company there. All of Kṛṣṇa's paraphernalia and divine associates have their own unique value, and cannot be eliminated.

Rādhā-Govinda cannot be taken away from Vṛndāvan anymore than Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu can be taken away from Nabadwīp. The whole thing is a system. One part cannot be snatched away from the other parts. All the devotees have a necessary part to play in order to create the harmony of Kṛṣṇa's Pastimes. Otherwise, it would not be living, but dead, artificial, useless. It cannot even be imagined. Kṛṣṇa-līlā is an organic whole.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī says, "My mind is running straight towards Vṛndāvan. I have the main object of pleasure, Kṛṣṇa Himself, but it is useless without the favourable paraphernalia of Vṛndāvan." So Rādhārāṇī's pain of separation rises to the highest point in Kurukṣetra, where She has attained the object of Her union after a long separation. There, Kṛṣṇa is very close, but, without being surrounded by the favourable paraphernalia of Vṛndāvan, She cannot have the real advantage of union. In this way, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur has explained the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in Kurukṣetra.

A revolutionary Guru

Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur once revealed the importance of Kurukṣetra in a unique way. The words of our Guru Mahārāj were mostly very revolutionary. When I was a beginner with only two years or so in the Gauḍīya Maṭh, I was in charge of the Kurukṣetra Temple. Once, I came to the Kolkata headquarters at the hired house in Ultadanga for the yearly preaching festival. After the festival I was to return to Kurukṣetra. Śrīla Prabhupād was thinking of opening a 'Theistic Exhibition' in Kurukṣetra, showing with dioramas how Kṛṣṇa and His friends came there from Dvārakā, and the gopīs came there from Vṛndāvan.

It is mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam that during the solar eclipse, they came to bathe in Rāma Hrad, a sacred lake in Kurukṣetra. Śrīla Prabhupād wanted to show that Pastime with a diorama, and so the exhibition was arranged. He ordered handbills to be printed, and twenty thousand circulated in the area, inviting people to come for the exhibition.

Vṛndāvan—for shallow thinkers!

In this connection, he told us, "You all know that only the bogus, hollow people and men of shallow thinking like Vṛndāvan." I was very much perplexed to hear this. I had been told that Vṛndāvan is the highest place of spiritual perfection. I had heard that one who has not mastered his senses cannot enter Vṛndāvan. Only the liberated souls can enter Vṛndāvan and have the opportunity of discussing Kṛṣṇa-līlā. Vṛndāvan is for the liberated souls. Those who are not liberated from the demands of their senses may live in Nabadwīp, but the liberated souls may live in Vṛndāvan. Now Prabhupād was saying that the shallow thinkers appreciate Vṛndāvan, but a man of real bhajan, real divine aspiration, will aspire to live in Kurukṣetra.

Hearing this, I felt as if I had fallen from the top of a tree. "What is this?" I thought. I am a very acute listener, so I was very keen to catch the meaning of his words. The next thought he gave us was that Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, after visiting many different places of pilgrimage, remarked, "I would like to spend the last days of my life in Kurukṣetra. I shall construct a cottage near Rāma Hrad and pass the rest of my life there. Kurukṣetra is the real place of bhajan."

Shrewd merchants

Why? Service is more valuable according to the intensity of its necessity. Shrewd merchants seek a market in wartime because in that dangerous position, money is spent like water, without any care for its value. They can earn more money if a war comes. In the same way, when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's necessity reaches its zenith, service to Her becomes extremely valuable. According to its necessity, service is valued. And in Kurukṣetra, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is in the highest necessity because Kṛṣṇa is so close, but Their Vṛndāvan-līlā is impossible. In a football game, if the ball is just inches from the goal, but again comes back, it is considered a great loss. In the same way, after a long separation, Kṛṣṇa is there in Kurukṣetra, so the hankering for union felt by His devotees must come to its greatest point, but because He is in the role of a king, they cannot meet intimately. The circumstances do not allow the Vṛndāvan-līlā to take place. So at that time, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī needs the highest service from Her group, the sakhīs.

Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says that in that situation, a drop of service will draw the greatest amount of prema, divine love. In the Pastimes of Rādhā-Govinda, there are two aspects: sambhoga, divine union, and vipralambha, divine separation. When Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are very near to each other, but can't meet intimately, service at that time can draw the greatest gain for the servitors. Therefore, Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says, "I shall construct a hut on the banks of Rāma Hrad in Kurukṣetra and contemplate rendering service to the Divine Couple. If I can achieve that standard where the prospect of service is so high, then there is no possibility of returning to this mundane plane at any time."

The fifth note

Upon arriving in Kurukṣetra, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī said:

priyaḥ so 'yam kṛṣṇaḥ saha-chari kuru-kṣetra-militas  
tathāhaṁ sā rādhā tad idam ubhayoḥ saṅgama-sukham  
tathāpy antaḥ-khelan-madhura-muralī-panchama-juṣe  
mano me kālindī-pulina-vipināya spṛhayati

(Padyāvalī)

"O My dear friend, now I am at last reunited with My most beloved Kṛṣṇa in Kurukṣetra. I am the same Rādhārāṇī, and He is the same Kṛṣṇa. We are enjoying Our meeting, but still I wish to return to the banks of the Kālindī, where I could hear the sweet melody of His flute sounding the fifth note beneath the trees of the Vṛndāvan forest."

Wherever Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa are, Vṛndāvan is necessary. And Vṛndāvan means the favourable paraphernalia. In this way, Vṛndāvan is unique.

When Kṛṣṇa met the inhabitants of Vṛndāvan in Kurukṣetra, He first came to Nanda and Yaśodā's camp after their long separation, to show parental respect to them. In the midst of their great disappointment, they felt, "Oh, our boy has come to see us at last." It was as if life had returned to the dead. After some courtesy was shown to them, Kṛṣṇa made arrangements to meet privately with the gopīs, and suddenly He appeared in their camp. Externally, Kṛṣṇa was the leader of so many kings in India. And the gopīs had come from some unknown quarter, where they lived in the jungle in the society of milkmen. Externally, they had no position, and Kṛṣṇa held the highest position in the political and royal society. He was the central figure, like the eyeball in every eye. And they were in a helpless, poor and neglected condition. The gopīs pleaded with Kṛṣṇa, saying:

āhuś cha te nalina-nābha padāravindaṁ  
yogeśvarair hṛdi vichintyam agādha-bodhaiḥ  
saṁsāra-kūpa-patitottaraṇāvalambaṁ  
gehaṁ juṣām api manasy udiyāt sadā naḥ

The group of gopīs told Kṛṣṇa, "O You who have a lotus navel, we know that the great master yogīs who have nothing to do with this mundane world try to meditate upon Your holy lotus feet. Their interest is in higher realisation in the conscious world. They are said to centre their highest attention on Your lotus feet. And those who are busy elevating their life in this world of exploitation are also busy worshipping Your lotus feet to escape the entanglement of action and reaction. The centre of interest for the elevationists (karmīs) and the salvationists (jñānīs and yogīs) is Your lotus feet.

Kṛṣṇa country

"And what are we? We are simple people from the country with cows as our wealth. We are animal traders who live in the country, trade in the cow business, and sell curd and milk on the outskirts of society. We are neither scientific exploiters, nor are we the kind of exploiters who do research in the world of consciousness. We only know family life. We have no other qualifications. We are busy with our family life in the lower section of society. But in our audacity, we pray that if at any time You would kindly condescend to extend Your lotus feet to our negligible hearts, we would think ourselves blessed. We are busy in our family matters. We do not know scriptural life or the methods of the salvationists. We know nothing of yoga, jñān, Vedānta, or the Vedas. Our ultimate concern is neither with scriptures or moral standards. We hold a negligible position in society and simply pray that in the midst of our family life we may remember Your holy lotus feet. Please grant this to us. We can't expect anything more from You." That was their petition.

Kṛṣṇa replied to them, saying:

mayi bhaktir hi bhūtānām amṛtatvāya kalpate  
diṣṭyā yad āsīn mat-sneho bhavatīnāṁ mad-āpanaḥ

"Yes, I know. People want devotion to Me to achieve eternal life. To cross the limit of mortality and to have eternal life, they come to Me and worship Me. For these reasons they want My service, but fortunately for you, you have some natural affection towards Me. That will ultimately bring you to Me."

That is the formal or superficial meaning of what was spoken by Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. But the great preceptors of our line have squeezed out another meaning from these prayers. They are conscious of the real, private relationship between the two parties, so they have drawn out another meaning based on the divine sentiment between the lover and beloved.

When the gopīs prayed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa at Kurukṣetra, their real meaning was this: "Oh, we remember that one day You sent Uddhava to console us. He recited many scriptural references about how the whole world is mortal, how it is nothing, how we shall all have to die—affection has no great value; attachment must be cut out. He said that we must try to liberate ourselves from any attraction to the environment and attain salvation. You wanted to tell all these apparently sweet things to us through Uddhava.

"Now, You Yourself are also showing us the same path. You say that You are great and that everyone should try, for their highest interest, to think of You." This explanation is found in Chaitanya-charitāmṛta. The gopīs tell Kṛṣṇa, "Do You think we are yogīs who will be satisfied with abstract meditation on You? Can we be satisfied by imagination? We are not a party to that. Neither are we karmīs, fruitive workers who are incurring a great debt from nature, who come to Your door to get relief, praying, 'O God, please relieve us from all our previous sins.' We do not belong to either of these two sections.

"What are we? We want to live with You as Your family. We are interested neither in abstract thinking, nor in using You to clear off the faults of karma to nullify our sinful activities. We don't want to use You for any other purpose. We want to have a direct family life with You. Don't You know that? And still You send messages through Uddhava, and now this! Aren't You ashamed of Yourself?" This is their inner meaning.

Kṛṣṇa's inner answer

Kṛṣṇa's answer also has an inner aspect. He replies, "You know, everyone wants Me. Through devotion they want Me to help them attain the highest position in the world of eternal benefit. If they have a connection with Me, they consider themselves fortunate. But on the other hand, I consider Myself fortunate because I have come in touch with the valuable affection that I found in your hearts."

The gopīs read the inner meaning in that way. And when Rādhārāṇī could see into the inner meaning of Kṛṣṇa's reply, She became satisfied. "Wherever He may be in the physical sense", She thought, "At heart, He is mine alone." She composed Her troubles within and returned to Vṛndāvan thinking, "He cannot but come to join our party again very soon."

In Padyāvalī, Śrīla Rupa Goswāmī reveals the inner meaning of this verse. When Kṛṣṇa came to the camp of gopīs in Kurukṣetra, He suddenly found Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and stooped down as if to touch Her feet. Rādhārāṇī began backing away, saying, "What are You doing! You are trying to touch My feet?" She shuddered, "You have done nothing wrong. You are My Master. You are at liberty to do whatever You want. I am Your maidservant and should try with every nerve to satisfy You. You have committed no crime. I am the criminal. How? I still drag on My body and life. This is My crime—I could not die from Your separation! Still, I show My face to the public—I am not worth Your divine affection. The whole burden of breaking the law of love is on My head."

Not a bit of divine love

In this way Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī spoke. And in a similar verse, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says:

na prema-gandho 'sti darāpi me harau  
krandāmi saubhāgya-bharaṁ prakāśitum  
vaṁśi-vilāsy-ānana-lokanaṁ vinā  
vibharmi yat prāṇa-pataṅgakān vṛthā

"I have not even a bit of divine love for Kṛṣṇa within Me. Not even a scent of love for Kṛṣṇa is to be traced within Me. You may ask, 'Then why are You shedding tears profusely, uninterruptedly? Day and night, You are always shedding tears for Kṛṣṇa. How do You explain this?' Oh, you don't know. I only do this to make a show and deceive the people in general into thinking that I have divine love for Kṛṣṇa. In this way I want to become famous as a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. But I am a hypocrite. Why do I say so? The positive proof is this: I still live. I could not die! If I had any real love for Kṛṣṇa, I would have died from His separation. That is the positive proof that I have no trace of Kṛṣṇa-prema within Me."

Kṛṣṇa-prema is so high and attractive that once coming in contact with it, no one can maintain his life without it. It is so high, so beautiful, so enchanting—it is heart-swallowing! It is impossible even to conceive of it. Divine love of such a high degree is known as prema. That divine love for Kṛṣṇa is not to be traced in this mundane world. If by chance someone had any experience of that high and vital kind of devotion, then by any separation from that, he would die instantly. It is so beautiful and magnanimous. We are out to search only for that divine love in this world. And Śrīman Mahāprabhu came to distribute that to the world for our sake.

"Let us take poison..."

I have heard that a group of people in South America committed collective suicide because they felt that their faithful way of life was going to be destroyed by the present civilisation. They could not tolerate that, but rather, they thought, "Let us take posion and leave this world behind. Then we can live safely in the world of our faith. We have no charm for anything in this mundane world. Let us go with peace. We are members of the peaceful world. Let us enjoy that peace which is independent of material acquisition."

We can agree that there is no charm here that shall make us hesitate to withdraw from this world, but we must also disagree and say that our life in this world is valuable. Why? With this life we can acquire a higher aspiration. We can have the chance of acquiring the goal from this plane. This human life is so valuable that with it we can take the path of the highest divine conception. This human body is highly valued and rarely achieved. In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.9.29) it is stated:

labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte  
mānuṣyam artha-dam anityam apīha dhīraḥ  
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anumṛtyu yāvan  
niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt

"The human form of life is very rarely attained, and although temporary, gives us a chance to achieve the supreme goal of life. Therefore, those who are grave and intelligent should immediately strive for perfection before another death occurs. There are so many forms of life: the aquatics, the vegetable kingdom, the animals, the birds, ghosts and other living beings, but only in this human position do we hold the key to the complete solution of the problems of life."

If we can use this human life in a valuable way, we can acquire the key by which we can become free from the whole chain of life in this troublesome world. We can get rid of the bondage of all sorts of physical and mental troubles. The key is here, in this human form of life. Jīva Goswāmī says that lower life-forms have insufficient understanding to realise the highest truth. And in the higher life-forms, such as demigods, because previously acquired energy or karma has accumulated on all sides, the chief enjoying elements are surrounding the living being. It is difficult to escape the charm of those influences and begin the prospect of a fresh life in a higher plain of consciousness. This human form of life is the most advantageous position to escape this entanglement and reach the highest object of our divine life.

The highest conception of magnaminity

Sometimes people ask, "Why did Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu choose to give the highest conception of divine love—Kṛṣṇa-prema—to the lowest class of people, to the people of Kali-yuga?" But that is the very nature of Śrī Chaitanya-avatār. Why did the gopīs who are considered to be the most exalted devotees come from a neglected social position? What is the meaning of the highest conception of magnanimity? What should be its nature? To help the most needy.

And because Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu comes from the highest position, He cannot give ordinary things, and His attention must be drawn to the most needy. Is it unnatural? The highest magnanimity must take notice of the lowest and most needy. And if He wants to help them, He will do so with His own coin. He cannot distribute to them only glass or stone chips. When He has the opulence of jewels and gems, why should He search for stone chips to distribute to the lowest level? He must extend to the lowest and poorest people what He thinks to be real wealth.

Mahāprabhu—the great messiah

So we should all fall at the feet of the great messiah, Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu. His devotees say, "If we had to conceive of a place where Gaurāṅga had not appeared, we could not maintain our lives. We shudder to think of living without such a magnanimous friend as Śrī Gaurāṅga." How could one live his life without Gaurāṅga? It is impossible. The world is not worth living in without Gaurāṅga.

Śrī Gaurāṅga is most magnanimous. Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates the Pañcha Tattva have come to raise all souls from their fallen condition. Generally, only deserving persons can gain entrance into Vṛndāvan, into Kṛṣṇa-līlā. But as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa Himself has come down to cure the offenders of their offences and grant them entrance into Vṛndāvan. Simply by chanting the names of the Pañcha Tattva and by remembering Their līlā, we can be purified even from the lowest position and prepare for participation in Vṛndāvan-līlā.

In Goloka Vṛndāvan, Rādhā-Govinda are enjoying Their Pastimes of divine love within Their own circle. And there is another quarter, where Rādhā-Govinda are combined as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu—Kṛṣṇa Himself in the mood of Rādhārāṇī is tasting His own sweetness with His entourage. We have to realise this through the recommended process. Who is Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu? He came here to bestow upon us the gift that will promote us to the highest goal of life.

Gaura consciousness

To bring Śrī Gaurāṅga nearer to our soul is to get, even unconsciously, a guarantee of our achievement in Kṛṣṇa-līlā. For the fallen souls it is more useful to cultivate devotion to Śrī Gaurāṅga. That will give us the complete fulfilment of life with the least trouble. Devotion to Gaurāṅga will not lead us to any haphazard or misconceived Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but real Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We can have full Kṛṣṇa consciousness—plus something more. What is that? The distribution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī, the giver of Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, the most valuable theological literature that has ever seen the light of day, has written:

kṛṣṇa-līlā amṛta-sāra, tāra śata śata dhāra,  
daśa-dike vahe yāhā haite  
se chaitanya-līlā haya, sarovara akṣaya,  
mano-haṁsa charāha' tāhāte

"What is Kṛṣṇa-līlā? It is the real essence of nectar. It is the gist of sweetness, happiness, and ecstasy. The sweetness of the sweetest thing that can ever be conceived is represented in Kṛṣṇa-līlā. Then what is Chaitanya-līlā? In Chaitanya-līlā, that sweet nectar of Kṛṣṇa-līlā is flowing in all ten directions in hundreds of streams as if from a fountain. That fountain is Chaitanya-līlā." Although Chaitanya-līlā appears later than Kṛṣṇa-līlā, Chaitanya-līlā is the source, the foundation. We see that Kṛṣṇa appeared in Dvāpar-yuga, in the previous age, and then Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu appeared later, in Kali-yuga. Still, Their līlā is eternal. First there is the giver, then the gift. And the gift of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu is that in all the ten directions, He is distributing unlimited streams of sweet Kṛṣṇa-līlā to the world.

Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī concludes, "O devotees, come! Like so many swans, you must swim in the lake of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's Pastimes. From that lake Kṛṣṇa-līlā is flowing to the world in different streams. Devotees, like clouds, take nectar from that lake, and distribute that nectar freely to the fortunate souls. Come and live in that lake. Ask the swan of your mind to take shelter in that lake. May that swan swim in the nectarean lake of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu's life and precepts, from where so many hundreds of streams of nectar are flowing in all directions. O devotees, I offer this humble prayer to you."
