Caitanya Caritamrta

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Introduction

(Originally delivered as five morning lectures on the Caitanya-caritāmṛta — the authoritative biography of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī — before the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, New York City, April 10-14, 1967.)

The word caitanya means “living force,” carita means “character,” and amṛta means “immortal.” As living entities we can move, but a table cannot because it does not possess living force. Movement and activity may be considered signs or symptoms of the living force. Indeed, it may be said that there can be no activity without the living force. Although the living force is present in the material condition, this condition is not amṛta, immortal. The words caitanya-caritāmṛta, then, may be translated as “the character of the living force in immortality.”

But how is this living force displayed immortally? It is not displayed by man or any other creature in this material universe, for none of us are immortal in these bodies. We possess the living force, we perform activities, and we are immortal by our nature and constitution, but the material condition into which we have been put does not allow our immortality to be displayed. It is stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad that eternality and the living force belong to both ourselves and God. Although this is true in that both God and ourselves are immortal, there is a difference. As living entities, we perform many activities, but we have a tendency to fall down into material nature. God has no such tendency. Being all-powerful, He never comes under the control of material nature. Indeed, material nature is but one display of His inconceivable energies.

An analogy will help us understand the distincion between ourselves and God. From the ground we may see only clouds in the sky, but if we fly above the clouds we can see the sun shining. From the sky, skyscrapers and cities seem very tiny; similarly, from God’s position this entire material creation is insignificant. The tendency of the living entity is to come down from the heights, where everything can be seen in perspective. God, however, does not have this tendency. The Supreme Lord is not subject to fall down into illusion (māyā) any more than the sun is subject to fall beneath the clouds. Impersonalist philosophers (Māyāvādīs) maintain that both the living entity and God Himself are under the control of māyā when they come into this material world. This is the fallacy of their philosophy.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu should therefore not be considered one of us. He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the supreme living entity, and as such He never comes under the cloud of māyā. Kṛṣṇa, His expansions and even His higher devotees never fall into the clutches of illusion. Lord Caitanya came to earth simply to preach kṛṣṇa-bhakti, love of Kṛṣṇa. In other words, He is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself teaching the living entities the proper way to approach Kṛṣṇa. He is like a teacher who, seeing a student doing poorly, takes up a pencil and writes, saying, “Do it like this: A, B, C.” From this one should not foolishly think that the teacher is learning his ABC’s. Similarly, although Lord Caitanya appears in the guise of a devotee, we should not foolishly think He is an ordinary human being; we should always remember that Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa (God) Himself teaching us how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, and we must study Him in that light.

In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.66) Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “Give up all your nonsense and surrender to Me. I will protect you.”

We say, “Oh, surrender? But I have so many responsibilities.”

And māyā, illusion, says to us, “Don’t do it, or you’ll be out of my clutches. Just stay in my clutches, and I’ll kick you.”

It is a fact that we are constantly being kicked by māyā, just as the male ass is kicked in the face by the she-ass when he comes for sex. Similarly, cats and dogs are always fighting and whining when they have sex. Even an elephant in the jungle is caught by the use of a trained she-elephant who leads him into a pit. We should learn by observing these tricks of nature.

Māyā has many ways to entrap us, and her strongest shackle is the female. Of course, in actuality we are neither male nor female, for these designations refer only to the outer dress, the body. We are all actually Kṛṣṇa’s servants. But in conditioned life we are shackled by iron chains in the form of beautiful women. Thus every male is bound by sex, and therefore one who wishes to gain liberation from the material clutches must first learn to control the sex urge. Unrestricted sex puts one fully in the clutches of illusion. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu officially renounced this illusion at the age of twenty-four, although His wife was sixteen and His mother seventy and He was the only male in the family. Although He was a brāhmaṇa and was not rich, He took sannyāsa, the renounced order of life, and thus extricated Himself from family entanglement.

If we wish to become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, we have to give up the shackles of māyā. Or, if we remain with māyā, we should live in such a way that we will not be subject to illusion, as did the many householders among Lord Caitanya’s closest devotees. With His followers in the renounced order, however, Lord Caitanya was very strict. He even banished Junior Haridāsa, an important kīrtana leader, for glancing lustfully at a woman. The Lord told him, “You are living with Me in the renounced order, and yet you are looking at a woman with lust.” Other devotees of the Lord had appealed to Him to forgive Haridāsa, but He replied, “All of you can forgive him and live with him. I shall live alone.” On the other hand, when the Lord learned that the wife of one of His householder devotees was pregnant, He asked that the baby be given a certain auspicious name. So while the Lord approved of householders having regulated sex, He was like a thunderbolt with those in the renounced order who tried to cheat by the method known as “drinking water underwater while bathing on a fast day.” In other words, He tolerated no hypocrisy among His followers.

From the Caitanya-caritāmṛta we learn how Lord Caitanya taught people to break the shackles of māyā and become immortal. Thus, as mentioned above, the title may be properly translated as “the character of the living force in immortality.” The supreme living force is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is also the supreme entity. There are innumerable living entities, and all of them are individuals. This is very easy to understand: We are all individual in our thoughts and desires, and the Supreme Lord is also an individual person. He is different, though, in that He is the leader, the one whom no one can excel. Among the minute living entities, one being can excel another in one capacity or another. Like each of these living entities, the Lord is an individual, but He is different in that He is the supreme individual. God is also infallible, and thus in the Bhagavad-gītā He is addressed as Acyuta, which means “He who never falls down.” This name is appropriate because in the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna falls into illusion but Kṛṣṇa does not. Kṛṣṇa Himself reveals His infallibility when he says to Arjuna, “When I appear in this world, I do so by My own internal potency.” (Bg. 4.6)

Thus we should not think that Kṛṣṇa is overpowered by the material potency when He is in the material world. Neither Kṛṣṇa nor His incarnations ever come under the control of material nature. They are totally free. Indeed, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam one who has a godly nature is actually defined as one who is not affected by the modes of material nature although in material nature. If even a devotee can attain this freedom, then what to speak of the Supreme Lord?

The real question is, How can we remain unpolluted by material contamination while in the material world? Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that we can remain uncontaminated while in the world if we simply make it our ambition to serve Kṛṣṇa. One may then justifiably ask, “How can I serve?” It is not simply a matter of meditation, which is just an activity of the mind, but of performing practical work for Kṛṣṇa. In such work, we should leave no resource unused. Whatever is there, whatever we have, should be used for Kṛṣṇa. We can use everything — typewriters, automobiles, airplanes, missiles. If we simply speak to people about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we are also rendering service. If our mind, senses, speech, money and energies are thus engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa, then we are no longer in material nature. By virtue of spiritual consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we transcend the platform of material nature. It is a fact that Kṛṣṇa, His expansions and His devotees — that is, those who work for Him — are not in material nature, although people with a poor fund of knowledge think that they are.

The Caitanya-caritāmṛta teaches that the spirit soul is immortal and that our activities in the spiritual world are also immortal. The Māyāvādīs, who hold the view that the Absolute is impersonal and formless, contend that a realized soul has no need to talk. But the Vaiṣṇavas, devotees of Kṛṣṇa, contend that when one reaches the stage of realization, he really begins to talk. “Previously we only talked of nonsense,” the Vaiṣṇava says. “Now let us begin our real talks, talks of Kṛṣṇa.” In support of their view that the self-realized remain silent, the Māyāvādīs are fond of using the example of the water pot, maintaining that when a pot is not filled with water it makes a sound, but that when it is filled it makes no sound. But are we waterpots? How can we be compared to them? A good analogy utilizes as many similarities between two objects as possible. A waterpot is not an active living force, but we are. Ever-silent meditation may be adequate for a waterpot, but not for us. Indeed, when a devotee realizes how much he has to say about Kṛṣṇa, twenty-four hours in a day are not sufficient. It is the fool who is celebrated as long as he does not speak, for when he breaks his silence his lack of knowledge is exposed. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta shows that there are many wonderful things to discover by glorifying the Supreme.

In the beginning of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī writes, “I offer my respects to my spiritual masters.” He uses the plural here to indicate the disciplic succession. He offers obeisances not to his spiritual master alone but to the whole paramparā, the chain of disciplic succession beginning with Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Thus the author addresses the guru in the plural to show the highest respect for all his predecessor spiritual masters. After offering obeisances to the disciplic succession, the author pays obeisances to all other devotees, to the Lord Himself, to His incarnations, to the expansions of Godhead and to the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa’s internal energy. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu (sometimes called Kṛṣṇa Caitanya) is the embodiment of all of these: He is God, guru, devotee, incarnation, internal energy and expansion of God. As His associate Nityānanda, He is the first expansion of God; as Advaita, He is an incarnation; as Gadādhara, He is the internal potency; and as Śrīvāsa, He is the marginal living entity in the role of a devotee. Thus Kṛṣṇa should not be thought of as being alone but should be considered as eternally existing with all His manifestations, as described by Rāmānujācārya. In the Viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy, God’s energies, expansions and incarnations are considered to be oneness in diversity. In other words, God is not separate from all of these: everything together is God.

Actually, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not intended for the novice, for it is the postgraduate study of spiritual knowledge. Ideally, one begins with the Bhagavad-gītā and advances through Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Although all these great scriptures are on the same absolute level, for the sake of comparative study the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is considered to be on the highest platform. Every verse in it is perfectly composed.

In the second verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the author offers his obeisances to Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda. He compares Them to the sun and the moon because They dissipate the darkness of the material world. In this instance the sun and the moon have risen together.

In the Western world, where the glories of Lord Caitanya are relatively unknown, one may inquire, “Who is Kṛṣṇa Caitanya?” The author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, answers that question in the third verse of his book. Generally, in the Upaniṣads the Supreme Absolute Truth is described in an impersonal way, but the personal aspect of the Absolute Truth is mentioned in the Īśopaniṣad, where we find the following verse:

hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṁ mukham
tat tvaṁ pūṣann apāvṛṇu satya-dharmāya dṛṣṭaye

“O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee.” (Śrī Īśopaniṣad 15) The impersonalists do not have the power to go beyond the effulgence of God and arrive at the Personality of Godhead, from whom this effulgence is emanating. The Īśopaniṣad is a hymn to that Personality of Godhead. It is not that the impersonal Brahman is denied; it is also described, but that Brahman is revealed to be the glaring effulgence of the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta we learn that Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa Himself. In other words, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is the basis of the impersonal Brahman. The Paramātmā, or Supersoul, who is present within the heart of every living entity and within every atom of the universe, is but the partial representation of Lord Caitanya. Therefore Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, being the basis of both Brahman and the all-pervading Paramātmā as well, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As such, He is full in six opulences: wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. In short, we should know that He is Kṛṣṇa, God, and that nothing is equal to or greater than Him. There is nothing superior to be conceived. He is the Supreme Person.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, a confidential devotee taught for more than ten days continually by Lord Caitanya, wrote:

namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is more magnanimous than any other avatāra, even Kṛṣṇa Himself, because He is bestowing freely what no one else has ever given — pure love of Kṛṣṇa.”

Lord Caitanya’s teachings begin from the point of surrender to Kṛṣṇa. He does not pursue the paths of karma-yoga or jñāna-yoga or haṭha-yoga but begins at the end of material existence, at the point where one gives up all material attachment. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa begins His teachings by distinguishing the soul from matter, and in the eighteenth chapter He concludes at the point where the soul surrenders to Him in devotion. The Māyāvādīs would have all talk cease there, but at that point the real discussion only begins. As the Vedānta-sūtra says at the very beginning, athāto brahma-jijñāsā: “Now let us begin to inquire about the Supreme Absolute Truth.” Rūpa Gosvāmī thus praises Lord Caitanya as the most munificent incarnation of all, for He gives the greatest gift by teaching the highest form of devotional service. In other words, He answers the most important inquiries that anyone can make.

There are different stages of devotional service and God realization. Strictly speaking, anyone who accepts the existence of God is situated in devotional service. To acknowledge that God is great is something, but not much. Lord Caitanya, preaching as an ācārya, a great teacher, taught that we can enter into a relationship with God and actually become God’s friend, parent or lover. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa showed Arjuna His universal form because Arjuna was His very dear friend. Upon seeing Kṛṣṇa as the Lord of the universes, however, Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa to forgive the familiarity of his friendship. Lord Caitanya goes beyond this point. Through Lord Caitanya we can become friends with Kṛṣṇa, and there will be no limit to this friendship. We can become friends of Kṛṣṇa not in awe or adoration but in complete freedom. We can even relate to God as His father or mother. This is the philosophy not only of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta but of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as well. There are no other scriptures in the world in which God is treated as the son of a devotee. Usually God is seen as the almighty father who supplies the demands of His sons. The great devotees, however, sometimes treat God as a son in their execution of devotional service. The son demands, and the father and mother supply, and in supplying Kṛṣṇa the devotee becomes like a father or mother. Instead of taking from God, we give to God. It was in this relationship that Kṛṣṇa’s mother, Yaśodā, told the Lord, “Here, eat this or You’ll die. Eat nicely.” In this way Kṛṣṇa, although the proprietor of everything, depends on the mercy of His devotee. This is a uniquely high level of friendship, in which the devotee actually believes himself to be the father or mother of Kṛṣṇa.

However, Lord Caitanya’s greatest gift was His teaching that Kṛṣṇa can be treated as one’s lover. In this relationship the Lord becomes so much attached to His devotee that He expresses His inability to reciprocate. Kṛṣṇa was so obliged to the gopīs, the cowherd girls of Vṛndāvana, that He felt unable to return their love. “I cannot repay your love,” He told them. “I have no more assets to give.” Devotional service on this highest, most excellent platform of lover and beloved, which had never been given by any previous incarnation or ācārya, was given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, quoting Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, writes in the fourth verse of his book, “Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa in a yellow complexion, and He is Śacīnandana, the son of mother Śacī. He is the most charitable personality because He came to deliver kṛṣṇa-prema, unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa, to everyone. May you always keep Him in your hearts. It will be easy to understand Kṛṣṇa through Him.”

We have often heard the phrase “love of Godhead.” How far this love of Godhead can actually be developed can be learned from the Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Theoretical knowledge of love of God can be found in many places and in many scriptures, but what that love of Godhead actually is and how it is developed can be found in the Vaiṣṇava literatures. It is the unique and highest development of love of God that is given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Even in this material world we can have a little sense of love. How is this possible? It is due to the presence of our original love of God. Whatever we find within our experience within this conditioned life is situated in the Supreme Lord, who is the ultimate source of everything. In our original relationship with the Supreme Lord there is real love, and that love is reflected pervertedly through material conditions. Our real love is continuous and unending, but because that love is reflected pervertedly in this material world, it lacks continuity and is inebriating. If we want real, transcendental love, we have to transfer our love to the supreme lovable object — Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the basic principle of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In material consciousness we are trying to love that which is not at all lovable. We give our love to cats and dogs, running the risk that at the time of death we may think of them and consequently take birth in a family of cats or dogs. Our consciousness at the time of death determines our next life. That is one reason why the Vedic scriptures stress the chastity of women: If a woman is very much attached to her husband, at the time of death she will think of him, and in the next life she will be promoted to a man’s body. Generally a man’s life is better than a woman’s because a man usually has better facilities for understanding the spiritual science.

But Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so nice that it makes no distincition between man and woman. In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.32), Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “Anyone who takes shelter of Me — whether a woman, śūdra, vaiśya or anyone else of low birth — is sure to achieve My association.” This is Kṛṣṇa’s guarantee.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu informs us that in every country and in every scripture there is some hint of love of Godhead. But no one knows what love of Godhead actually is. The Vedic scriptures, however, are different in that they can direct the individual in the proper way to love God. Other scriptures do not give information on how one can love God, nor do they actually define or describe what or who the Godhead actually is. Although they officially promote love of Godhead, they have no idea how to execute it. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives a practical demonstration of how to love God in a conjugal relationship. Taking the part of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Caitanya Mahāprabhu tried to love Kṛṣṇa as Rādhārāṇī loved Him. Kṛṣṇa was always amazed by Rādhārāṇī’s love. “How does Rādhārāṇī give Me such pleasure?” He would ask. In order to study Rādhārāṇī, Kṛṣṇa lived in Her role and tried to understand Himself. This is the secret of Lord Caitanya’s incarnation. Caitanya Mahāparbhu is Kṛṣṇa, but He has taken the mood and role of Rādhārāṇī to show us how to love Kṛṣṇa. Thus the author writes in the fifth verse, “I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, who is absorbed in Rādhārāṇī’s thoughts.”

This brings up the question of who Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is and what Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa is. Actually Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa is the exchange of love — but not ordinary love. Kṛṣṇa has immense potencies, of which three are principal: the internal, the external and the marginal potencies. In the internal potency there are three divisions: samvit, hlādinī and sandhinī. The hlādinī potency is Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure potency. All living entities have this pleasure-seeking potency, for all beings are trying to have pleasure. This is the very nature of the living entity. At present we are trying to enjoy our pleasure potency by means of the body in the material condition. By bodily contact we are attempting to derive pleasure from material sense objects. But we should not entertain the nonsensical idea that Kṛṣṇa, who is always spiritual, also tries to seek pleasure on this material plane. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa describes the material universe as a nonpermanent place full of miseries. Why, then, would He seek pleasure in matter? He is the Supersoul, the supreme spirit, and His pleasure is beyond the material conception.

To learn how Kṛṣṇa enjoys pleasure, we must study the first nine cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and then we should study the Tenth Canto, in which Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure potency is displayed in His pastimes with Rādhārāṇī and the damsels of Vraja. Unfortunately, unintelligent people turn at once to the sports of Kṛṣṇa in the Daśama-skandha, the Tenth Canto. Kṛṣṇa’s embracing Rādhārāṇī or His dancing with the cowherd girls in the rāsa dance are generally not understood by ordinary men, because they consider these pastimes in the light of mundane lust. They foolishly think that Kṛṣṇa is like themselves and that He embraces the gopīs just as an ordinary man embraces a young girl. Some people thus become interested in Kṛṣṇa because they think that His religion allows indulgence in sex. This is not kṛṣṇa-bhakti, love of Kṛṣṇa, but prākṛta-sahajiyā — materialistic lust.

To avoid such errors, we should understand what Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa actually is. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa display Their pastimes through Kṛṣṇa’s internal energy. The pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa’s internal energy is a most difficult subject matter, and unless one understands what Kṛṣṇa is, one cannot understand it. Kṛṣṇa does not take any pleasure in this material world, but He has a pleasure potency. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, the pleasure potency is within us also, but we are trying to exhibit that pleasure potency in matter. Kṛṣṇa, however, does not make such a vain attempt. The object of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure potency is Rādhārāṇī; Kṛṣṇa exhibits His potency as Rādhārāṇī and then engages in loving affairs with Her. In other words, Kṛṣṇa does not take pleasure in this external energy but exhibits His internal energy, His pleasure potency, as Rādhārāṇī and then enjoys with Her. Thus Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself as Rādhārāṇī in order to enjoy His internal pleasure potency. Of the many extensions, expansions and incarnations of the Lord, this pleasure potency is the foremost and chief.

It is not that Rādhārāṇī is separate from Kṛṣṇa. Rādhārāṇī is also Kṛṣṇa, for there is no difference between the energy and the energetic. Without energy, there is no meaning to the energetic, and without the energetic, there is no energy. Similarly, without Rādhā there is no meaning to Kṛṣṇa, and without Kṛṣṇa there is no meaning to Rādhā. Because of this, the Vaiṣṇava philosophy first of all pays obeisances to and worships the internal pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord. Thus the Lord and His potency are always referred to as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, those who worship Nārāyaṇa first of all utter the name of Lakṣmī, as Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Similarly, those who worship Lord Rāma first of all utter the name of Sītā. In any case — Sītā-Rāma, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa — the potency always comes first.

Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one, and when Kṛṣṇa desires to enjoy pleasure, He manifests Himself as Rādhārāṇī. The spiritual exchange of love between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is the actual display of Kṛṣṇa’s internal pleasure potency. Although we speak of “when” Kṛṣṇa desires, just when He did desire we cannot say. We only speak in this way because in conditioned life we take it that everything has a beginning; however, in spiritual life everything is absolute, and so there is neither beginning nor end. Yet in order to understand that Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one and that They also become divided, the question “When?” automatically comes to mind. When Kṛṣṇa desired to enjoy His pleasure potency, He manifested Himself in the separate form of Rādhārāṇī, and when He wanted to understand Himself through the agency of Rādhā, He united with Rādhārāṇī, and that unification is called Lord Caitanya. This is all explained by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in the fifth verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

In the next verse the author further explains why Kṛṣṇa assumed the form of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Kṛṣṇa desired to know the glory of Rādhā’s love. “Why is She so much in love with Me?” Kṛṣṇa asked. “What is My special qualification that attracts Her so? And what is the actual way in which She loves Me?” It seems strange that Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme, should be attracted by anyone’s love. A man searches after the love of a woman because he is imperfect — he lacks something. The love of a woman, that potency and pleasure, is absent in man, and therefore a man wants a woman. But this is not the case with Kṛṣṇa, who is full in Himself. Thus Kṛṣṇa expressed surprise: “Why am I attracted by Rādhārāṇī? And when Rādhārāṇī feels My love, what is She actually feeling?” To taste the essence of that loving exchange, Kṛṣṇa made His appearance in the same way that the moon appears on the horizon of the sea. Just as the moon was produced by the churning of the sea, by the churning of spiritual loving affairs the moon of Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared. Indeed, Lord Caitanya’s complexion was golden, just like the luster of the moon. Although this is figurative language, it conveys the meaning behind the appearance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The full significance of His appearance will be explained in later chapters.

After offering respects to Lord Caitanya, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja begins offering them to Lord Nityānanda in the seventh verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The author explains that Lord Nityānanda is

Balarāma, who is the origin of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa’s first expansion is Balarāma, a portion of whom is manifested as Saṅkarṣaṇa, who then expands as Pradyumna. In this way so many expansions take place. Although there are many expansions, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the origin, as confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā. He is like the original candle, from which many thousands and millions of candles are lit. Although any number of candles can be lit, the original candle still retains its identity as the origin. In this way Kṛṣṇa expands Himself into so many forms, and all these expansions are called viṣṇu-tattva. Viṣṇu is a large light, and we are small lights, but all are expansions of Kṛṣṇa.

When it is necessary to create the material universes, Viṣṇu expands Himself as Mahā-Viṣṇu. Mahā-Viṣṇu lies down in the Causal Ocean and breathes all the universes from His nostrils. Thus from Mahā-Viṣṇu and the Causal Ocean spring all the universes, and all these universes, including ours, float in the Causal Ocean. In this regard there is the story of Vāmana, who, when He took three steps, stuck His foot through the covering of this universe. Water from the Causal Ocean flowed through the hole that His foot made, and it is said that that water became the river Ganges. Therefore the Ganges is accepted as the most sacred water of Viṣṇu and is worshiped by all Hindus, from the Himalayas down to the Bay of Bengal.

Mahā-Viṣṇu is actually an expansion of Balarāma, who is Kṛṣṇa’s first expansion and, in the Vṛndāvana pastimes, His brother. In the mahā-mantra — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare — the word “Rāma” refers to Balarāma. Since Lord Nityānanda is Balarāma, “Rāma” also refers to Lord Nityānanda. Thus Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rāma addresses not only Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma but Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda as well.

The subject matter of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta primarily deals with what is beyond this material creation. The cosmic material expansion is called māyā, illusion, because it has no eternal existence. Because it is sometimes manifested and sometimes not, it is regarded as illusory. But beyond this temporary manifestation is a higher nature, as indicated in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.20):

paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo ’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ
yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati

“Yet there is another unmanifested nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.” The material world has a manifested state (vyakta) and a potential, unmanifested state (avyakta). The supreme nature is beyond both the manifested and the unmanifested material nature. This superior nature can be understood as the living force, which is present in the bodies of all living creatures. The body itself is composed of inferior nature, matter, but it is the superior nature that is moving the body. The symptom of that superior nature is consciousness. Thus in the spiritual world, where everything is composed of the superior nature, everything is conscious. In the material world there are inanimate objects that are not conscious, but in the spiritual world nothing is inanimate. There a table is conscious, the land is conscious, the trees are conscious — everything is conscious.

It is not possible to imagine how far this material manifestation extends. In the material world everything is calculated by imagination or by some imperfect method, but the Vedic literatures give real information of what lies beyond the material universe. Since it is not possible to obtain information of anything beyond this material nature by experimental means, those who believe only in experimental knowledge may doubt the Vedic conclusions, for such people cannot even calculate how far this universe extends, nor can they reach far into the universe itself. That which is beyond our power of conception is called acintya, inconceivable. It is useless to argue or speculate about the inconceivable. If something is truly inconceivable, it is not subject to speculation or experimentation. Our energy is limited, and our sense perception is limited; therefore we must rely on the Vedic conclusions regarding that subject matter which is inconceivable. Knowledge of the superior nature must simply be accepted without argument. How is it possible to argue about something to which we have no access? The method for understanding transcendental subject matter is given by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā, where Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna at the beginning of the fourth chapter:

imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha manur ikṣvākave ’bravīt

“I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.” (Bg. 4.1) This is the method of paramparā, or disciplic succession. Similarly, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains that Kṛṣṇa imparted knowledge into the heart of Brahmā, the first created being within the universe. Brahmā imparted those lessons to his disciple Nārada, and Nārada imparted that knowledge to his disciple Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva imparted it to Madhvācārya, and from Madhvācārya the knowledge came down to Mādhavendra Purī and then to Īśvara Purī, and from him to Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

One may ask that if Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, then why did He need a spiritual master? Of course He did not need a spiritual master, but because He was playing the role of ācārya (one who teaches by example), He accepted a spiritual master. Even Kṛṣṇa Himself accepted a spiritual master, for that is the system. In this way the Lord sets the example for men. We should not think, however, that the Lord takes a spiritual master because He is in want of knowledge. He is simply stressing the importance of accepting the disciplic succession. The knowledge taught in that disciplic succession actually comes from the Lord Himself, and if the knowledge descends unbroken, it is perfect. Although we may not be in touch with the original personality who first imparted the knowledge, we may receive the same knowledge through this process of transmission. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, transmitted transcendental knowledge into the heart of Brahmā. This, then, is one way knowledge is received — through the heart. Thus there are two processes by which one may receive knowledge: One depends directly upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated as the Supersoul within the heart of all living entities, and the other depends upon the guru, or spiritual master, who is an expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Thus Kṛṣṇa transmits information both from within and from without. We simply have to receive it. If knowledge is received in this way, it doesn’t matter whether it is inconceivable or not.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is a great deal of information given about the Vaikuṇṭha planetary systems, which are beyond the material universe. Similarly, a great deal of inconceivable information is given in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Any attempt to arrive at this information through experimental knowledge will fail. The knowledge simply has to be accepted. According to the Vedic method, śabda, or transcendental sound, is regarded as evidence. Sound is very important in Vedic understanding, for, if it is pure, it is accepted as authoritative. Even in the material world we accept a great deal of information sent thousands of miles by telephone or radio. In this way we also accept sound as evidence in our daily lives. Although we cannot see the informant, we accept his information as valid on the basis of sound. Sound vibration, then, is very important in the transmission of Vedic knowledge.

The Vedas inform us that beyond this cosmic manifestation there are extensive planets in the spiritual sky. This material manifestation is regarded as only a small portion of the total creation. The material manifestation includes not only this universe but innumerable others as well, but all the material universes combined constitute only one fourth of the total creation. The remaining three fourths is situated in the spiritual sky. In that sky innumerable planets float, and these are called Vaikuṇṭhalokas. In every Vaikuṇṭhaloka, Nārāyaṇa presides with His four expansions: Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vāsudeva. This Saṅkarṣaṇa, states Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in the eighth verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, is Lord Nityānanda.

As stated before, the material universes are manifested by the Lord in the form of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Just as a husband and wife combine to beget offspring, Mahā-Viṣṇu combines with His wife māyā, or material nature. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.4), where Kṛṣṇa states:

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

“It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.” Viṣṇu impregnates māyā, the material nature, simply by glancing at her. This is the spiritual method. Materially we are limited to impregnating by only one particular part of our body, but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa or Mahā-Viṣṇu, can impregnate by any part. Simply by glancing the Lord can conceive countless living entities in the womb of material nature. The Brahma-saṁhitā confirms that the spiritual body of the Supreme Lord is so powerful that any part of His body can perform the functions of any other part. We can touch only with our hands or skin, but Kṛṣṇa can touch just by glancing. We can see only with our eyes; we cannot touch or smell with them. Kṛṣṇa, however, can smell and also eat with His eyes. When food is offered to Kṛṣṇa, we do not see Him eating, but He eats simply by glancing at the food. We cannot imagine how things work in the spiritual world, where everything is spiritual. It is not that Kṛṣṇa does not eat or that we imagine that He eats; He actually eats, but His eating is different from ours. Our eating process will be similar to His when we are completely on the spiritual platform. On that platform every part of the body can act on behalf of any other part.

Viṣṇu does not require anything in order to create. He does not require the goddess Lakṣmī in order to give birth to Brahmā, for Brahmā is born from a lotus flower that grows from the navel of Viṣṇu. The goddess Lakṣmī sits at the feet of Viṣṇu and serves Him. In this material world sex is required to produce children, but in the spiritual world a man can produce as many children as he likes without having to take help from his wife. So there is no sex there. Because we have no experience with spiritual energy, we think that Brahmā’s birth from the navel of Viṣṇu is simply a fictional story. We are not aware that spiritual energy is so powerful that it can do anything and everything. Material energy is dependent on certain laws, but spiritual energy is fully independent.

Countless universes reside like seeds within the skin pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu, and when He exhales, they are all manifested. In the material world we have no experience of such a thing, but we do experience a perverted reflection in the phenomenon of perspiration. We cannot imagine, however, the duration of one breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu, for within one breath all the universes are created and annihilated. This is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Lord Brahmā lives only for the duration of one breath, and according to our time scale 4,320,000,000 years constitute only twelve hours for Brahmā, and Brahmā lives one hundred of his years. Yet the whole life of Brahmā is contained within one breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Thus it is not possible for us to imagine the breathing power of Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is but a partial manifestation of Lord Nityānanda. This the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta explains in the ninth verse.

In the tenth and eleventh verses Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja describes Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, successive plenary expansions of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Brahmā appears upon a lotus growing from the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and within the stem of that lotus are so many planetary systems. Then Brahmā creates the whole of human society, animal society — everything. Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lies on the milk ocean within the universe, of which He is the controller and maintainer. Thus Brahmā is the creator, Viṣṇu is the maintainer, and when the time for annihilation arrives, Śiva will finish everything.

In the first eleven verses of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī thus discusses Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Lord Nityānanda as Balarāma, the first expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Then in the twelfth and thirteenth verses he describes Advaitācārya, who is another principal associate of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s and an incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Thus Advaitācārya is also the Lord, or, more precisely, an expansion of the Lord. The word advaita means “nondual,” and His name is such because He is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord. He is also called ācārya, teacher, because He disseminated Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way He is just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Although Lord Caitanya is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, He appeared as a devotee to teach people in general how to love Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, although Advaitācārya is the Lord, He appeared just to distribute the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus He is also the Lord incarnated as a devotee.

In the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, Kṛṣṇa is manifested in five different features, known as the pañca-tattva, to whom Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja offers his obeisances in the fourteenth verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Kṛṣṇa and His associates appear as devotees of the Supreme Lord in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Advaitācārya, Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu and Śrīvāsa Prabhu. In all cases, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the source of energy for all His devotees. Since this is the case, if we take shelter of Caitanya Mahāprabhu for the successful execution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we are sure to make progress. In a devotional song, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings, “My dear Lord Caitanya, please have mercy upon me. There is no one who is as merciful as You. My plea is most urgent because Your mission is to deliver all fallen souls, and no one is more fallen than I. Therefore I beg priority.”

With verse 15, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī begins offering his obeisances directly to Kṛṣṇa Himself. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja was an inhabitant of Vṛndāvana and a great devotee. He had been living with his family in Katwa, a small town in the district of Burdwan, in Bengal. He worshiped Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa with his family, and once when there was some misunderstanding among his family members about devotional service, he was advised by Nityānanda Prabhu in a dream to leave home and go to Vṛndāvana. Although he was very old, he started out that very night and went to live in Vṛndāvana. While he was there, he met some of the Gosvāmīs, principal disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was requested to write the Caitanya-caritāmṛta by the devotees of Vṛndāvana. Although he began this work at a very old age, by the grace of Lord Caitanya he finished it. Today it remains the most authoritative book on Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s philosophy and life.

When Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī was living in Vṛndāvana, there were not very many temples. At that time the three principal temples were those of Madana-mohana, Govindajī and Gopīnātha. As a resident of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja offers his respects to the Deities in these temples and requests God’s favor: “My progress in spiritual life is very slow, so I’m asking Your help.” In the fifteenth verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa offers his obeisances to the Madana-mohana vigraha, the Deity who can help us progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In the execution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, our first business is to know Kṛṣṇa and our relationship with Him. To know Kṛṣṇa is to know one’s self, and to know one’s self is to know one’s relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Since this relationship can be learned by worshiping the Madana-mohana vigraha, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī first establishes his relationship with Him.

When this is established, in the sixteenth verse Kṛṣṇadāsa offers his obeisances to the functional Deity, Govinda. The Govinda Deity is called the functional Deity because He shows us how to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The Madana-mohana Deity simply establishes that “I am Your eternal servant.” With Govinda, however, there is actual acceptance of service. Govinda resides eternally in Vṛndāvana. In the spiritual world of Vṛndāvana the buildings are made of touchstone, the cows are known as surabhi cows, givers of abundant milk, and the trees are known as wish-fulfilling trees, for they yield whatever one desires. In Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa herds the surabhi cows, and He is worshiped by hundreds and thousands of gopīs, cowherd girls, who are all goddesses of fortune. When Kṛṣṇa descends to the material world, this same Vṛndāvana descends with Him, just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Kṛṣṇa comes His land also comes, Vṛndāvana is considered to exist beyond the material world. Therefore devotees take shelter of the Vṛndāvana in India, for it is considered to be a replica of the original Vṛndāvana. Although one may complain that no kalpa-vṛkṣa, wish-fulfilling trees, exist there, when the Gosvāmīs were there, kalpa-vṛkṣa were present. It is not that one can simply go to such a tree and make demands; one must first become a devotee. The Gosvāmīs would live under a tree for one night only, and the trees would satisfy all their desires. For the common man this may all seem very wonderful, but as one makes progress in devotional service, all this can be realized.

Vṛndāvana is actually experienced as it is by persons who have stopped trying to derive pleasure from material enjoyment. “When will my mind become cleansed of all hankering for material enjoyment so I will be able to see Vṛndāvana?” one great devotee asks. The more Kṛṣṇa conscious we become and the more we advance, the more everything is revealed as spiritual. Thus Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī considered the Vṛndāvana in India to be as good as the Vṛndāvana in the spiritual sky, and in the sixteenth verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta he describes Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa as seated beneath a wish-fulfilling tree in Vṛndāvana, on a throne decorated with valuable jewels. There Kṛṣṇa’s dear gopī friends serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa by singing, dancing, offering betel nuts and refreshments, and decorating Their Lordships with flowers. Even today in India people decorate swinging thrones and re-create this scene during the month of July-August. Generally at that time people go to Vṛndāvana to offer their respects to the Deities there.

Finally Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī offers his blessings to his readers in the name of the Gopīnātha Deity, who is Kṛṣṇa as master and proprietor of the gopīs. When Kṛṣṇa played upon his flute, all the gopīs, or cowherd girls, were attracted by the sound and left their household duties, and when they came to Him, He danced with them. These activities are all described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. These gopīs were childhood friends of Kṛṣṇa, and many were married, for in India the girls are generally married by the age of twelve. The boys, however, are not married before eighteen, so Kṛṣṇa, who was fifteen or sixteen at the time, was not married. Nonetheless, He called these girls from their homes and invited them to dance with Him. That dance is called the rāsa-līlā dance, and it is the most elevated of all the Vṛndāvana pastimes. Kṛṣṇa is therefore called Gopīnātha because He is the beloved master of the gopīs.

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī petitions the blessings of Lord Gopīnātha: “May that Gopīnātha, the master of the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa, bless you. May you become blessed by Gopīnātha.” The author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta prays that just as Kṛṣṇa attracted the gopīs by the sweet sound of His flute, He will also attract the reader’s mind by that transcendental vibration.

Preface

There is no difference between the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented here and the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā. The teachings of Lord Caitanya are practical demonstrations of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s ultimate instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā is that everyone should surrender unto Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa promises to take immediate charge of such a surrendered soul. The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is already in charge of the maintenance of this creation by virtue of His plenary expansion, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, but this maintenance is not direct. However, when the Lord says that He takes charge of His pure devotee, He actually takes direct charge. A pure devotee is a soul who is forever surrendered to the Lord, just as a child is surrendered to his parents or an animal to its master. In the surrendering process, one should (1) accept things favorable for discharging devotional service, (2) reject things unfavorable, (3) always believe firmly in the Lord’s protection, (4) feel exclusively dependent on the mercy of the Lord, (5) have no interest separate from the interest of the Lord, and (6) always feel oneself meek and humble.

The Lord demands that one surrender unto Him by following these six guidelines, but the unintelligent so-called scholars of the world misunderstand these demands and urge the general mass of people to reject them. At the conclusion of the ninth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa directly orders, “Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me alone, and offer obeisances unto Me alone.” By so doing, the Lord says, one is sure to go to Him in His transcendental abode. But the scholarly demons misguide the masses of people by directing them to surrender not to the Personality of Godhead but rather to the impersonal, unmanifested, eternal, unborn truth. The impersonalist Māyāvādī philosophers do not accept that the ultimate aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one desires to understand the sun as it is, one must first face the sunshine and then the sun globe, and then, if one is able to enter into that globe, one may come face to face with the predominating deity of the sun. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot go beyond the Brahman effulgence, which may be compared to the sunshine. The Upaniṣads confirm that one has to penetrate the dazzling effulgence of Brahman before one can see the real face of the Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya therefore teaches direct worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who appeared as the foster child of the King of Vraja. He also teaches that the place known as Vṛndāvana is as good as Lord Kṛṣṇa because, Lord Kṛṣṇa being the Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Him and His name, qualities, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia. That is the absolute nature of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya also teaches that the highest mode of worship in the highest perfectional stage is the method practiced by the damsels of Vraja. These damsels (gopīs, or cowherd girls) simply loved Kṛṣṇa without any motive for material or spiritual gain. Lord Caitanya also teaches that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless narration of transcendental knowledge and that the highest goal in human life is to develop unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya’s teachings are identical to those given by Lord Kapila, the original propounder of sāṅkhya-yoga, the sāṅkhya system of philosophy. This authorized system of yoga teaches meditation on the transcendental form of the Lord. There is no question of meditating on something void or impersonal. When one can meditate on the transcendental form of Lord Viṣṇu even without practicing involved sitting postures, such meditation is called perfect samādhi. That this kind of meditation is perfect samādhi is confirmed at the end of the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, where Lord Kṛṣṇa says that of all yogīs, the greatest is the one who constantly thinks of the Lord within the core of his heart with love and devotion.

On the basis of the sāṅkhya philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, which maintains that the Supreme Lord is simultaneously one with and different from His creation, Lord Caitanya taught that the most practical way for the mass of people to practice sāṅkhya-yoga meditation is simply to chant the holy name of the Lord. He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference between His holy name and His transcendental form. Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration. As one practices chanting this sound vibration, one passes through three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage and the transcendental stage. In the offensive stage of chanting one may desire all kinds of material happiness, but in the second stage one becomes clear of all material contamination. When one is situated on the transcendental stage, one attains the most coveted position — the stage of loving God. Lord Caitanya taught that this is the highest stage of perfection for human beings.

Yoga practice is essentially meant for controlling the senses. The central controlling factor of all the senses is the mind; therefore one first has to practice controlling the mind by engaging it in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The gross activities of the mind are expressed through the external senses, either for the acquisition of knowledge or for the functioning of the senses in accordance with the will. The subtle activities of the mind are thinking, feeling and willing, which are carried out according to one’s consciousness, either polluted or clear. If one’s mind is fixed on Kṛṣṇa (His name, qualities, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia), all one’s activities — both subtle and gross — become favorable. The Bhagavad-gītā’s process of purifying consciousness is the process of fixing one’s mind on Kṛṣṇa by talking of His transcendental activities, cleansing His temple, going to His temple, seeing the beautiful transcendental form of the Lord nicely decorated, hearing His transcendental glories, tasting food offered to Him, associating with His devotees, smelling the flowers and tulasī leaves offered to Him, engaging in activities for the Lord’s interest, becoming angry at those who are malicious toward devotees, etc. No one can bring the activities of the mind and senses to a stop, but one can purify these activities through a change in consciousness. This change is indicated in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.39), where Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna of the knowledge of yoga whereby one can work without fruitive results: “O son of Pṛthā, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.” A human being is sometimes restricted in sense gratification due to certain circumstances, such as disease, but such proscriptions are for the less intelligent. Without knowing the actual process by which the mind and senses can be controlled, less intelligent men may try to stop the mind and senses by force, but ultimately they give in to them and are carried away by the waves of sense gratification.

The eight principles of sāṅkhya-yoga — observing the regulative principles, following the rules, practicing the various sitting postures, performing the breathing exercises, withdrawing one’s senses from the sense objects, etc. — are meant for those who are too much engrossed in the bodily conception of life. The intelligent man situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not try to forcibly stop his senses from acting. Rather, he engages his senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa. No one can stop a child from playing by leaving him inactive; rather, the child can be stopped from engaging in nonsense by being engaged in superior activities. Similarly, the forceful restraint of sense activities by the eight principles of yoga is recommended for inferior men; superior men, being engaged in the superior activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally retire from the inferior activities of material existence.

In this way Lord Caitanya teaches the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That science is absolute. Dry mental speculators try to restrain themselves from material attachment, but it is generally found that the mind is too strong to be controlled and that it drags them down to sensual activities. A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not run this risk. One therefore has to engage one’s mind and senses in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, and Lord Caitanya teaches one how to do this in practice.

Before accepting sannyāsa (the renounced order), Lord Caitanya was known as Viśvambhara. The word viśvambhara refers to one who maintains the entire universe and who leads all living entities. This maintainer and leader appeared as Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya to give humanity these sublime teachings. Lord Caitanya is the ideal teacher of life’s prime necessities. He is the most munificent bestower of love of Kṛṣṇa. He is the complete reservoir of all mercies and good fortune. As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhagavad-gītā, the Mahābhārata and the Upaniṣads, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself, and He is worshipable by everyone in this age of disagreement. Everyone can join in His saṅkīrtana movement. No previous qualification is necessary. Just by following His teachings, anyone can become a perfect human being. If a person is fortunate enough to be attracted by Lord Caitanya, he is sure to be successful in his life’s mission. In other words, those who are interested in attaining spiritual existence can easily be released from the clutches of māyā by the grace of Lord Caitanya. The teachings presented in this book are nondifferent from the Lord.

The conditioned soul, engrossed in the material body, increases the pages of history by all kinds of material activities. The teachings of Lord Caitanya can help the members of human society stop such unnecessary and temporary activities and be elevated to the topmost platform of spiritual activities, which begin after liberation from material bondage. Such liberated activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness constitute the goal of human perfection. The false prestige one acquires by attempting to dominate material nature is illusory. Illuminating knowledge can be acquired by studying the teachings of Lord Caitanya, and by such knowledge one can advance in spiritual existence.

Everyone has to suffer or enjoy the fruits of his activity; no one can check the laws of material nature that govern such things. As long as one is engaged in fruitive activity, one is sure to be baffled in the attempt to attain the ultimate goal of life. I sincerely hope that by understanding the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented in this book, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, human society will experience a new light of spiritual life, which will open the field of activity for the pure soul.

oṁ tat sat

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

March 4, 1968
The Birthday of Lord Caitanya
Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Temple

Foreword

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

Caitanya Mahāprabhu is thus a figure of great historical significance. However, our conventional method of historical analysis — that of seeing a man as a product of his times — fails here, for Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is a personality who transcends the limited scope of historical settings.

At a time when, in the West, man was directing his explorative spirit toward studying the structure of the physical universe and circumnavigating the world in search of new oceans and continents, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, in the East, was inaugurating and masterminding a revolution directed toward a scientific understanding of the highest knowledge of man’s spiritual nature.

The chief historical sources for the life of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are the kaḍacās (diaries) kept by Murāri Gupta and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī. Murāri Gupta, a physician and close associate of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’s, recorded extensive notes on the first twenty-four years of His life, culminating in His initiation into the renounced order, sannyāsa. The events of the rest of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s forty-eight years were recorded in the diary of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, another of His intimate associates.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is divided into three sections, called līlās, a word that literally means “pastimes” — the Ādi-līlā (recounting the early period of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes), the Madhya-līlā (recounting the middle period), and the Antya-līlā (recounting the final period). The notes of Murāri Gupta form the basis of the Ādi-līlā, and Svarūpa Dāmodara’s diary provides the details for the Madhya- and Antya-līlās.

The first twelve chapters of the Ādi-līlā constitute the preface for the entire work. By referring to Vedic scriptural evidence, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja establishes that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the avatāra (incarnation) of God for the Age of Kali — the current epoch, which began five thousand years ago and is characterized by materialism, hypocrisy, and dissension.

The author also proves that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is identical to Lord Kṛṣṇa and explains that He descends to liberally grant the fallen souls of this degraded age pure love of God by propagating saṅkīrtana — literally, “congregational glorification of God” — especially by organizing massive public chanting of the mahā-mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. In addition, in the twelve-chapter preface Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja reveals the esoteric purpose of Lord Caitanya’s appearance in the world, describes His co-avatāras and principal devotees, and summarizes His teachings. In the remaining portion of the Ādi-līlā, chapters thirteen through seventeen, the author briefly recounts Lord Caitanya’s divine birth and His life until He accepted the renounced order. This account includes His childhood miracles, schooling, marriage, and early philosophical confrontations, as well as His organization of a widespread saṅkīrtana movement and His civil disobedience against the repression of the Muslim government.

The Madhya-līlā, the longest of the three divisions, narrates in detail Lord Caitanya’s extensive and eventful travels throughout India as a renounced mendicant, teacher, philosopher, spiritual preceptor, and mystic. During this period of six years, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu transmits His teachings to His principal disciples. He debates and converts many of the renowned philosophers and theologians of His time, including Śaṅkarites, Buddhists, and Muslims, and incorporates their many thousands of followers and disciples into His own burgeoning numbers. The author also includes in this section a dramatic account of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s miraculous activities at the giant Ratha-yātrā (Car Festival) in Jagannātha Purī, Orissa.

The Antya-līlā concerns the last eighteen years of Śrī Caitanya’s presence, spent in semiseclusion near the famous Jagannātha temple in Purī. During these final years, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya drifted deeper and deeper into trances of spiritual ecstasy unparalleled in all of religious and literary history, Eastern or Western. His perpetual and ever-increasing religious beatitude, graphically described in the eyewitness accounts of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, His constant companion during this period, clearly defy the investigative and descriptive abilities of modern psychologists and phenomenologists of religious experience.

The author of this great classic, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, born around the beginning of the sixteenth century, was a disciple of Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, a confidential follower of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s. Raghunātha dāsa, a renowned ascetic saint, heard and memorized all the activities of Caitanya Mahāprabhu told to him by Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī. After the passing away of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Svarūpa Dāmodara, Raghunātha dāsa, unable to bear the pain of separation from these objects of his complete devotion, traveled to Vṛndāvana, intending to commit suicide by jumping from Govardhana Hill. In Vṛndāvana, however, he encountered Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, two of the most confidential disciples of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They convinced him to give up his planned suicide and impelled him to reveal to them the spiritually inspiring events of Lord Caitanya’s later life. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī was also residing in Vṛndāvana at this time, and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī endowed him with a full comprehension of the transcendental life of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

By this time, contemporary and near-contemporary scholars and devotees had already written several biographical works on the life of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. These included Śrī Caitanya-carita, by Murāri Gupta, Caitanya-maṅgala, by Locana dāsa Ṭhākura, and Caitanya-bhāgavata. This latter work, by Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura, who was then considered the principal authority on Śrī Caitanya’s life, was highly revered. While composing his important work, Vṛndāvana dāsa, fearing that it would become too voluminous, avoided elaborately describing many of the events of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s life, particularly the later ones. Anxious to hear of these later pastimes, the devotees in Vṛndāvana requested Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, whom they respected as a great saint and scholar, to compose a book narrating these episodes in detail. Upon this request, and with the permission and blessings of the Madana-mohana Deity of Vṛndāvana, he began compiling Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, which, due to its literary excellence and philosophical thoroughness, is today universally regarded as the foremost work on the life and profound teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī commenced work on the text at a very advanced age and in failing health, as he vividly describes in the text itself: “I have now become too old and disturbed by invalidity. While writing, my hands tremble. I cannot remember anything, nor can I see or hear properly. Still I write, and this is a great wonder.” That he completed the greatest literary gem of medieval India under such debilitating conditions is surely one of the wonders of literary history.

As mentioned above, this English translation and commentary is the work of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the world’s most distinguished teacher of Indian religious and philosophical thought. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s commentary is based upon two Bengali commentaries, one by his guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī, the eminent Vedic scholar, teacher, and saint who predicted, “The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta,” and the other by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī’s father and instructing spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, who pioneered the propagation of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teachings in the modern era.

Śrīla Prabhupada is himself a disciplic descendant of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and is the first scholar to execute systematic English translations of the major works of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s followers. His consummate Bengali and Sanskrit scholarship and intimate familiarity with the precepts of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are a fitting combination that eminently qualifies him to present this important classic to the English-speaking world. The ease and clarity with which he expounds upon difficult philosophical concepts enable even a reader totally unfamiliar with the Indian religious tradition to understand and appreciate this profound and monumental work. The entire text, with commentary, presented by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, represents a contribution of major importance to the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual life of contemporary man.

— The Publishers

The Spiritual Masters

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is none other than the combined form of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. He is the life of those devotees who strictly follow in the footsteps of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī are the two principal followers of Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, who acted as the most confidential servitor of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, known as Viśvambhara in His early life. A direct disciple of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, stands as the direct disciple of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī.

The direct disciple of Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī was Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, who accepted Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī as his servitor. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura accepted Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī, the spiritual master of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, who in turn accepted Śrīla Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī, the spiritual master of Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, the divine master of our humble self.

Since we belong to this chain of disciplic succession from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this edition of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta will contain nothing newly manufactured by our tiny brains, but only remnants of food originally eaten by the Lord Himself. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not belong to the mundane plane of the three qualitative modes. He belongs to the transcendental plane beyond the reach of the imperfect sense perception of a living being. Even the most erudite mundane scholar cannot approach the transcendental plane unless he submits himself to transcendental sound with a receptive mood, for in that mood only can one realize the message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. What will be described herein, therefore, has nothing to do with the experimental thoughts created by the speculative habits of inert minds. The subject matter of this book is not a mental concoction but a factual spiritual experience that one can realize only by accepting the line of disciplic succession described above. Any deviation from that line will bewilder the reader’s understanding of the mystery of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, which is a transcendental literature meant for the postgraduate study of one who has realized all the Vedic literatures such as the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra and their natural commentaries such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Bhagavad-gītā.

This edition of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is presented for the study of sincere scholars who are really seeking the Absolute Truth. It is not the arrogant scholarship of a mental speculator but a sincere effort to serve the order of a superior authority whose service is the life and soul of this humble effort. It does not deviate even slightly from the revealed scriptures, and therefore anyone who follows in the disciplic line will be able to realize the essence of this book simply by the method of aural reception.

The first chapter of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta begins with fourteen Sanskrit verses that describe the Absolute Truth. Then the next three Sanskrit verses describe the principal Deities of Vṛndāvana, namely, Śrī Rādhā-Madana-mohana, Śrī Rādhā-Govindadeva and Śrī Rādhā-Gopīnāthajī. The first of the fourteen verses is a symbolic representation of the Supreme Truth, and the entire first chapter is in actuality devoted to this single verse, which describes Lord Caitanya in His six different transcendental expansions.

The first manifestation described is the spiritual master, who appears in two plenary parts called the initiating spiritual master and instructing spiritual master. They are identical because both of them are phenomenal manifestations of the Supreme Truth. Next described are the devotees, who are divided into two classes, namely, the apprentices and the graduates. Next are the incarnations (avatāras) of the Lord, who are explained to be nondifferent from the Lord. These incarnations are considered in three divisions — incarnations of the potency of the Lord, incarnations of His qualities, and incarnations of His authority. In this connection, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s direct manifestations and His manifestations for transcendental pastimes are discussed. Next considered are the potencies of the Lord, of which three principal manifestations are described: the consorts in the kingdom of God (Vaikuṇṭha), the queens of Dvārakā-dhāma and, highest of all, the damsels of Vrajadhāma. Finally, there is the Supreme Lord Himself, who is the fountainhead of all these manifestations.

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His plenary expansions are all in the category of the Lord Himself, the energetic Absolute Truth, whereas His devotees, His eternal associates, are His energies. The energy and energetic are fundamentally one, but since their functions are differently exhibited, they are simultaneously different also. Thus the Absolute Truth is manifested in diversity in one unit. This philosophical truth, which is pursuant to the Vedānta-sūtra, is called acintya-bhedābheda-tattva, or the conception of simultaneous oneness and difference. In the latter portion of this chapter, the transcendental position of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and that of Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu are described with reference to the above theistic facts.

Text 1:: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the spiritual masters, the devotees of the Lord, the Lord’s incarnations, His plenary portions, His energies and the primeval Lord Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.

Text 2:: I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauḍa to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all.

Text 3:: What the Upaniṣads describe as the impersonal Brahman is but the effulgence of His body, and the Lord known as the Supersoul is but His localized plenary portion. Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself, full with six opulences. He is the Absolute Truth, and no other truth is greater than or equal to Him.

Text 4:: May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.

Text 5:: The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, previously They separated Themselves. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Text 6:: Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean.

Text 7:: May Śrī Nityānanda Rāma be the object of my constant remembrance. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Śeṣa Nāga and the Viṣṇus who lie on the Kāraṇa Ocean, Garbha Ocean and ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions.

Text 8:: I surrender unto the lotus feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, who is known as Saṅkarṣaṇa in the midst of the catur-vyūha [consisting of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha]. He possesses full opulences and resides in Vaikuṇṭhaloka, far beyond the material creation.

Text 9:: I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, whose partial representation called Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, lying on the Kāraṇa Ocean, is the original puruṣa, the master of the illusory energy, and the shelter of all the universes.

Text 10:: I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, a partial part of whom is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu sprouts the lotus that is the birthplace of Brahmā, the engineer of the universe. The stem of that lotus is the resting place of the multitude of planets.

Text 11:: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, whose secondary part is the Viṣṇu lying in the ocean of milk. That Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the Supersoul of all living entities and the maintainer of all the universes. Śeṣa Nāga is His further subpart.

Text 12:: Lord Advaita Ācārya is the incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, whose main function is to create the cosmic world through the actions of māyā.

Text 13:: Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Ācārya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.

Text 14:: I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, who is nondifferent from His features as a devotee, devotional incarnation, devotional manifestation, pure devotee and devotional energy.

Text 15:: Glory to the all-merciful Rādhā and Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me.

Text 16:: In a temple of jewels in Vṛndāvana, underneath a desire tree, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, served by Their most confidential associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto Them.

Text 17:: Śrī Śrīla Gopīnātha, who originated the transcendental mellow of the rāsa dance, stands on the shore in Vaṁśīvaṭa and attracts the attention of the cowherd damsels with the sound of His celebrated flute. May they all confer upon us their benediction.

Text 18:: Glory to Śrī Caitanya and Nityānanda! Glory to Advaitacandra! And glory to all the devotees of Śrī Gaura [Lord Caitanya]!

Text 19:: These three Deities of Vṛndāvana [Madana-mohana, Govinda and Gopīnātha] have absorbed the heart and soul of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas [followers of Lord Caitanya]. I worship Their lotus feet, for They are the Lords of my heart.

Text 20:: In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions.

Text 21:: Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires.

Text 22:: The invocation involves three processes: defining the objective, offering benedictions and offering obeisances.

Text 23:: The first two verses offer respectful obeisances, generally and specifically, to the Lord, who is the object of worship.

Text 24:: In the third verse I indicate the Absolute Truth, who is the ultimate substance. With such a description, one can visualize the Supreme Truth.

Text 25:: In the fourth verse I have invoked the benediction of the Lord upon all the world, praying to Lord Caitanya for His mercy upon all.

Text 26:: In that verse I have also explained the external reason for Lord Caitanya’s incarnation. But in the fifth and sixth verses I have explained the prime reason for His advent.

Text 27:: In these six verses I have described the truth about Lord Caitanya, whereas in the next five I have described the glory of Lord Nityānanda.

Text 28:: The next two verses describe the truth of Advaita Prabhu, and the following verse describes the Pañca-tattva [the Lord, His plenary portion, His incarnation, His energies and His devotees].

Text 29:: These fourteen verses, therefore, offer auspicious invocations and describe the Supreme Truth.

Text 30:: I offer my obeisances unto all my Vaiṣṇava readers as I begin to explain the intricacies of all these verses.

Text 31:: I request all my Vaiṣṇava readers to read and hear with rapt attention this narration of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya as inculcated in the revealed scriptures.

Text 32:: Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoys by manifesting Himself as the spiritual masters, the devotees, the diverse energies, the incarnations and the plenary portions. They are all six in one.

Text 33:: I therefore worship the lotus feet of these six diversities of the one truth by invoking their benedictions.

Text 34:: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the spiritual masters, the devotees of the Lord, the Lord’s incarnations, His plenary portions, His energies and the primeval Lord Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.

Text 35:: I first offer my respectful obeisances at the lotus feet of my initiating spiritual master and all my instructing spiritual masters.

Text 36:: My instructing spiritual masters are Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī.

Text 37:: These six are my instructing spiritual masters, and therefore I offer millions of respectful obeisances unto their lotus feet.

Text 38:: There are innumerable devotees of the Lord, of whom Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura is the foremost. I offer my respectful obeisances thousands of times unto their lotus feet.

Text 39:: Advaita Ācārya is the Lord’s partial incarnation, and therefore I offer my obeisances millions of times at His lotus feet.

Text 40:: Śrīla Nityānanda Rāma is the plenary manifestation of the Lord, and I have been initiated by Him. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet.

Text 41:: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the internal potencies of the Lord, of whom Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu is the foremost.

Text 42:: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Personality of Godhead Himself, and therefore I offer innumerable prostrations at His lotus feet.

Text 43:: Having offered obeisances unto the Lord and all His associates, I shall now try to explain these six diversities in one.

Text 44:: Although I know that my spiritual master is a servitor of Śrī Caitanya, I know Him also as a plenary manifestation of the Lord.

Text 45:: According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees.

Text 46:: “One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.”

Text 47:: One should know the instructing spiritual master to be the Personality of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself as the Supersoul and as the greatest devotee of the Lord.

Text 48:: “O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahmā, for You appear in two features — externally as the ācārya and internally as the Supersoul — to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You.”

Text 49:: “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.”

Text 50:: The Supreme Personality of Godhead [svayaṁ bhagavān] taught Brahmā and made him self-realized.

Text 51:: “Please hear attentively what I shall speak to you, for transcendental knowledge about Me is not only scientific but also full of mysteries.

Text 52:: “By My causeless mercy, be enlightened in truth about My personality, manifestations, qualities and pastimes.

Text 53:: “Prior to the cosmic creation, only I exist, and no phenomena exist, either gross, subtle or primordial. After creation, only I exist in everything, and after annihilation, only I remain eternally.

Text 54:: “What appears to be truth without Me is certainly My illusory energy, for nothing can exist without Me. It is like a reflection of a real light in the shadows, for in the light there are neither shadows nor reflections.

Text 55:: “As the material elements enter the bodies of all living beings and yet remain outside them all, I exist within all material creations and yet am not within them.

Text 56:: “A person interested in transcendental knowledge must therefore always directly and indirectly inquire about it to know the all-pervading truth.”

Text 57:: “All glories to Cintāmaṇi and my initiating spiritual master, Somagiri. All glories to my instructing spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who wears peacock feathers in His crown. Under the shade of His lotus feet, which are like desire trees, Jayaśrī [Rādhārāṇī] enjoys the transcendental mellow of an eternal consort.”

Text 58:: Since one cannot visually experience the presence of the Supersoul, He appears before us as a liberated devotee. Such a spiritual master is none other than Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Text 59:: “One should therefore avoid bad company and associate only with devotees. With their realized instructions, such saints can cut the knot connecting one with activities unfavorable to devotional service.”

Text 60:: “The spiritually powerful message of Godhead can be properly discussed only in a society of devotees, and it is greatly pleasing to hear in that association. If one hears from devotees, the way of transcendental experience quickly opens, and gradually one attains firm faith that in due course develops into attraction and devotion.”

Text 61:: A pure devotee constantly engaged in the loving service of the Lord is identical with the Lord, who is always seated in his heart.

Text 62:: “Saints are My heart, and only I am their hearts. They do not know anyone but Me, and therefore I do not recognize anyone besides them as Mine.”

Text 63:: “Saints of your caliber are themselves places of pilgrimage. Because of their purity, they are constant companions of the Lord, and therefore they can purify even the places of pilgrimage.”

Text 64:: Such pure devotees are of two types: personal associates [pāriṣats] and neophyte devotees [sādhakas].

Texts 65-66:: There are three categories of incarnations of Godhead: partial incarnations, qualitative incarnations and empowered incarnations. The puruṣas and Matsya are examples of partial incarnations.

Text 67:: Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva are qualitative incarnations. Empowered incarnations are those like the Kumāras, King Pṛthu and Mahāmuni Vyāsa [the compiler of the Vedas].

Text 68:: The Personality of Godhead exhibits Himself in two kinds of forms: prakāśa and vilāsa.

Texts 69-70:: When the Personality of Godhead expands Himself in many forms, all nondifferent in Their features, as Lord Kṛṣṇa did when He married sixteen thousand queens and when He performed His rāsa dance, such forms of the Lord are called manifested forms [prakāśa-vigrahas].

Text 71:: “It is astounding that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is one without a second, expanded Himself in sixteen thousand similar forms to marry sixteen thousand queens in their respective homes.”

Text 72:: “When Lord Kṛṣṇa, surrounded by groups of cowherd girls, began the festivities of the rāsa dance, the Lord of all mystic powers placed Himself between each two girls.”

Texts 73-74:: “When the cowherd girls and Kṛṣṇa thus joined together, each girl thought that Kṛṣṇa was dearly embracing her alone. To behold this wonderful pastime of the Lord’s, the denizens of heaven and their wives, all very eager to see the dance, flew in the sky in their hundreds of airplanes. They showered flowers and beat sweetly on drums.”

Text 75:: “If numerous forms, all equal in their features, are displayed simultaneously, such forms are called prakāśa-vigrahas of the Lord.”

Text 76:: But when the numerous forms are slightly different from one another, they are called vilāsa-vigrahas.

Text 77:: “When the Lord displays numerous forms with different features by His inconceivable potency, such forms are called vilāsa-vigrahas.”

Text 78:: Examples of such vilāsa-vigrahas are Baladeva, Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma, and the catur-vyūha — Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.

Texts 79-80:: The energies [consorts] of the Supreme Lord are of three kinds: the Lakṣmīs in Vaikuṇṭha, the queens in Dvārakā and the gopīs in Vṛndāvana. The gopīs are the best of all, for they have the privilege of serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord, the son of the King of Vraja.

Text 81:: The personal associates of the primeval Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, are His devotees, who are identical with Him. He is complete with His entourage of devotees.

Text 82:: Now I have worshiped all the various levels of devotees. Worshiping them is the source of all good fortune.

Text 83:: In the first verse I have invoked a general benediction, but in the second I have prayed to the Lord in a particular form.

Text 84:: “I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauḍa to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all.”

Texts 85-86:: Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, the Personalities of Godhead, who formerly appeared in Vṛndāvana and were millions of times more effulgent than the sun and moon, have arisen over the eastern horizon of Gauḍadeśa [West Bengal], being compassionate for the fallen state of the world.

Text 87:: The appearance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Prabhu Nityānanda has surcharged the world with happiness.

Texts 88-89:: As the sun and moon drive away darkness by their appearance and reveal the nature of everything, these two brothers dissipate the darkness of ignorance covering the living beings and enlighten them with knowledge of the Absolute Truth.

Text 90:: The darkness of ignorance is called kaitava, the way of cheating, which begins with religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation.

Text 91:: “The great scripture Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, compiled by Mahā-muni Vyāsadeva from four original verses, describes the most elevated and kindhearted devotees and completely rejects the cheating ways of materially motivated religiosity. It propounds the highest principle of eternal religion, which can factually mitigate the threefold miseries of a living being and award the highest benediction of full prosperity and knowledge. Those willing to hear the message of this scripture in a submissive attitude of service can at once capture the Supreme Lord in their hearts. Therefore there is no need for any scripture other than Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.”

Text 92:: The foremost process of cheating is to desire to achieve liberation by merging into the Supreme, for this causes the permanent disappearance of loving service to Kṛṣṇa.

Text 93:: “The prefix ‘pra’ [in the verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam] indicates that the desire for liberation is completely rejected.”

Text 94:: All kinds of activities, both auspicious and inauspicious, that are detrimental to the discharge of transcendental loving service to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa are actions of the darkness of ignorance.

Text 95:: By the grace of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, this darkness of ignorance is removed and the truth is brought to light.

Text 96:: The Absolute Truth is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and loving devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa exhibited in pure love is achieved through congregational chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all bliss.

Text 97:: The sun and moon dissipate the darkness of the external world and thus reveal external material objects like pots and plates.

Text 98:: But these two brothers [Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda] dissipate the darkness of the inner core of the heart, and thus They help one meet the two kinds of bhāgavatas [persons or things in relationship with the Personality of Godhead].

Text 99:: One of the bhāgavatas is the great scripture Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the other is the pure devotee absorbed in the mellows of loving devotion.

Text 100:: Through the actions of these two bhāgavatas the Lord instills the mellows of transcendental loving service into the heart of a living being, and thus the Lord, in the heart of His devotee, comes under the control of the devotee’s love.

Text 101:: The first wonder is that both brothers appear simultaneously, and the other is that They illuminate the innermost depths of the heart.

Text 102:: These two, the sun and moon, are very kind to the people of the world. Thus for the good fortune of all, They have appeared on the horizon of Bengal.

Text 103:: Let us therefore worship the holy feet of these two Lords. Thus one can be rid of all difficulties on the path of self-realization.

Text 104:: I have invoked the benediction of the Lords with these two verses [texts 1 and 2 of this chapter]. Now please hear attentively the purport of the third verse.

Text 105:: I purposely avoid extensive description for fear of increasing the bulk of this book. I shall describe the essence as concisely as possible.

Text 106:: “Essential truth spoken concisely is true eloquence.”

Text 107:: Simply hearing submissively will free one’s heart from all the faults of ignorance, and thus one will achieve deep love for Kṛṣṇa. This is the path of peace.

Texts 108-109:: If one patiently hears about the glories of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrī Advaita Prabhu — and Their devotees, devotional activities, names and fame, along with the mellows of Their transcendental loving exchanges — one will learn the essence of the Absolute Truth. Therefore I have described these [in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta] with logic and discrimination.

Text 110:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

CHAPTER TWO

Śri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

This chapter explains that Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa Himself. Therefore, the Brahman effulgence is the bodily luster of Lord Caitanya, and the localized Supersoul situated in the heart of every living entity is His partial representation. The puruṣa-avatāras are also explained in this connection. Mahā-Viṣṇu is the reservoir of all conditioned souls, but, as confirmed in the authoritative scriptures, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate fountainhead, the source of numerous plenary expansions, including Nārāyaṇa, who is generally accepted by Māyāvādī philosophers to be the Absolute Truth. The Lord’s manifestation of prābhava and vaibhava expansions, as well as partial incarnations and incarnations with delegated powers, are also explained. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s ages of boyhood and youth are discussed, and it is explained that His age at the beginning of youth is His eternal form.

The spiritual sky contains innumerable spiritual planets, the Vaikuṇṭhas, which are manifestations of the Supreme Lord’s internal energy. Innumerable material universes are similarly exhibited by His external energy, and the living entities are manifested by His marginal energy. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is not different from Lord Kṛṣṇa, He is the cause of all causes; there is no cause beyond Him. He is eternal, and His form is spiritual. Lord Caitanya is directly the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, as the evidence of authoritative scriptures proves. This chapter stresses that a devotee who wishes to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness must have knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s personal form, His three principal energies, His pastimes and the relationship of the living entities with Him.

Text 1:: I offer my obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by whose mercy even an ignorant child can swim across the ocean of conclusions about the ultimate truth, which is full of the crocodiles of various theories.

Text 2:: O my merciful Lord Caitanya, may the nectarean Ganges waters of Your transcendental activities flow on the surface of my desertlike tongue. Beautifying these waters are the lotus flowers of singing, dancing and loud chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, which are the pleasure abodes of unalloyed devotees. These devotees are compared to swans, ducks and bees. The river’s flowing produces a melodious sound that gladdens their ears.

Text 3:: All glories to Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Śrī Nityānanda! All glories to Advaitacandra, and all glories to the devotees of Lord Gaurāṅga!

Text 4:: Let me describe the meaning of the third verse [of the first fourteen]. It is an auspicious vibration that describes the Absolute Truth.

Text 5:: What the Upaniṣads describe as the impersonal Brahman is but the effulgence of His body, and the Lord known as the Supersoul is but His localized plenary portion. Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself, full with six opulences. He is the Absolute Truth, and no other truth is greater than or equal to Him.

Text 6:: Impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramātmā and the Personality of Godhead are three subjects, and the glowing effulgence, the partial manifestation and the original form are their three respective predicates.

Text 7:: A predicate always follows its subject. Now I shall explain the meaning of this verse according to the revealed scriptures.

Text 8:: Kṛṣṇa, the original form of the Personality of Godhead, is the summum bonum of the all-pervading Viṣṇu. He is all-perfect knowledge and all-perfect bliss. He is the Supreme Transcendence.

Text 9:: He whom Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes as the son of Nanda Mahārāja has descended to earth as Lord Caitanya.

Text 10:: In terms of His various manifestations, He is known in three features, called the impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramātmā and the original Personality of Godhead.

Text 11:: “Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth say that it is nondual knowledge and is called impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramātmā and the Personality of Godhead.”

Text 12:: What the Upaniṣads call the transcendental, impersonal Brahman is the realm of the glowing effulgence of the same Supreme Person.

Text 13:: As with the naked eye one cannot know the sun except as a glowing substance, merely by philosophical speculation one cannot understand Lord Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental varieties.

Text 14:: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes.”

Text 15:: [Lord Brahmā said:] “The opulences of the impersonal Brahman spread throughout the millions and millions of universes. That Brahman is but the bodily effulgence of Govinda.

Text 16:: “I worship Govinda. He is my Lord. Only by His grace am I empowered to create the universe.”

Text 17:: “Naked saints and sannyāsīs who undergo severe physical penances, who can raise the semen to the brain, and who are completely equipoised in Brahman can live in the realm known as Brahmaloka.”

Text 18:: He who is described in the yoga-śāstras as the indwelling Supersoul [ātmā antar-yāmī] is also a plenary portion of Govinda’s personal expansion.

Text 19:: As the one sun appears reflected in countless jewels, so Govinda manifests Himself [as Paramātmā] in the hearts of all living beings.

Text 20:: [The Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, said:] “What more shall I say to you? I live throughout this cosmic manifestation merely by My single plenary portion.”

Text 21:: [Grandfather Bhīṣma said:] “As the one sun appears differently situated to different seers, so also do You, the unborn, appear differently represented as the Paramātmā in every living being. But when a seer knows himself to be one of Your own servitors, no longer does he maintain such duality. Thus I am now able to comprehend Your eternal forms, knowing well the Paramātmā to be only Your plenary portion.”

Text 22:: That Govinda personally appears as Caitanya Gosāñi. No other Lord is as merciful in delivering the fallen souls.

Text 23:: Lord Nārāyaṇa, who dominates the transcendental world, is full in six opulences. He is the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the goddess of fortune.

Text 24:: The Personality of Godhead is He who is described as the Absolute Whole in the Vedas, Bhāgavatam, Upaniṣads and other transcendental literatures. No one is equal to Him.

Text 25:: Through their service, devotees see that Personality of Godhead, just as the denizens of heaven see the personality of the sun.

Text 26:: Those who walk the paths of knowledge and yoga worship only Him, for it is Him they perceive as the impersonal Brahman and localized Paramātmā.

Text 27:: Thus one may understand the glories of the Lord through different modes of worship, as the example of the sun illustrates.

Text 28:: Nārāyaṇa and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are the same Personality of Godhead, but although They are identical, Their bodily features are different.

Text 29:: This Personality of Godhead [Śrī Kṛṣṇa] has two hands and holds a flute, whereas the other [Nārāyaṇa] has four hands, with conch, wheel, mace and lotus.

Text 30:: “O Lord of lords, You are the seer of all creation. You are indeed everyone’s dearest life. Are You not, therefore, my father, Nārāyaṇa? Nārāyaṇa refers to one whose abode is in the water born from Nara [Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu], and that Nārāyaṇa is Your plenary portion. All Your plenary portions are transcendental. They are absolute and are not creations of māyā.”

Text 31:: After Brahmā had offended Kṛṣṇa by stealing His playmates and calves, he begged the Lord’s pardon for his offensive act and prayed for the Lord’s mercy.

Text 32:: “I took birth from the lotus that grew from Your navel. Thus You are both my father and my mother, and I am Your son.

Text 33:: “Parents never take seriously the offenses of their children. I therefore beg Your pardon and ask for Your benediction.”

Text 34:: Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, “O Brahmā, your father is Nārāyaṇa. I am but a cowherd boy. How can you be My son?”

Text 35:: Brahmā replied, “Are You not Nārāyaṇa? You are certainly Nārāyaṇa. Please listen as I state the proofs.

Text 36:: “All the living beings within the material and spiritual worlds are ultimately born of You, for You are the Supersoul of them all.

Text 37:: “As the earth is the original cause and shelter of all pots made of earth, so You are the ultimate cause and shelter of all living beings.

Text 38:: “The word ‘nāra’ refers to the aggregate of all the living beings, and the word ‘ayana’ refers to the refuge of them all.

Text 39:: “You are therefore the original Nārāyaṇa. This is one reason; please listen as I state the second.

Text 40:: “The direct Lords of the living beings are the puruṣa incarnations. But Your opulence and power are more exalted than Theirs.

Text 41:: “Therefore You are the primeval Lord, the original father of everyone. They [the puruṣas] are protectors of the universes by Your power.

Text 42:: “Since You protect those who are the shelters of all living beings, You are the original Nārāyaṇa.

Text 43:: “O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead! Kindly hear my third reason. There are countless universes and fathomless transcendental Vaikuṇṭhas.

Text 44:: “Both in this material world and in the transcendental world, You see all the deeds of all living beings, in the past, present and future. Since You are the witness of all such deeds, You know the essence of everything.

Text 45:: “All the worlds exist because You oversee them. None can live, move or have their being without Your supervision.

Text 46:: “You oversee the wanderings of all living beings. For this reason also, You are the primeval Lord Nārāyaṇa.”

Text 47:: Kṛṣṇa said, “Brahmā, I cannot understand what you are saying. Lord Nārāyaṇa is He who sits in the hearts of all living beings and lies down in the waters of the Kāraṇa Ocean.”

Text 48:: Brahmā replied, “What I have said is true. The same Lord Nārāyaṇa who lives on the waters and in the hearts of all living beings is but a plenary portion of You.

Text 49:: “The Kāraṇodakaśāyī, Garbhodakaśāyī and Kṣīrodakaśāyī forms of Nārāyaṇa all create in cooperation with the material energy. In this way They are attached to māyā.

Text 50:: “These three Viṣṇus lying in the water are the Supersoul of everything. The Supersoul of all the universes is known as the first puruṣa.

Text 51:: “Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the Supersoul of the aggregate of living entities, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the Supersoul of each individual living being.

Text 52:: “Superficially we see that these puruṣas have a relationship with māyā, but above them, in the fourth dimension, is Lord Kṛṣṇa, who has no contact with the material energy.

Text 53:: “ ‘In the material world the Lord is designated as virāṭ, hiraṇyagarbha and kāraṇa. But beyond these three designations, the Lord is ultimately in the fourth dimension.’

Text 54:: “Although these three features of the Lord deal directly with the material energy, none of Them are touched by it. They are all beyond illusion.

Text 55:: “ ‘This is the opulence of the Lord: Although situated in the material nature, He is never affected by the modes of nature. Similarly, those who have surrendered to Him and fixed their intelligence upon Him are not influenced by the modes of nature.’

Text 56:: “You are the ultimate shelter of these three plenary portions. Thus there is not the slightest doubt that You are the primeval Nārāyaṇa.

Text 57:: “The source of these three features is the Nārāyaṇa in the spiritual sky. He is Your vilāsa expansion. Therefore You are the ultimate Nārāyaṇa.”

Text 58:: Therefore according to the authority of Brahmā, the Nārāyaṇa who is the predominating Deity in the transcendental world is but the vilāsa feature of Kṛṣṇa. This has now been conclusively proved.

Text 59:: The truth indicated in this verse [text 30] is the essence of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This conclusion, through synonyms, applies everywhere.

Text 60:: Not knowing that Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān are all features of Kṛṣṇa, foolish scholars speculate in various ways.

Text 61:: Because Nārāyaṇa has four hands whereas Kṛṣṇa looks just like a man, they say that Nārāyaṇa is the original God whereas Kṛṣṇa is but an incarnation.

Text 62:: In this way their arguments appear in various forms, but the poetry of the Bhāgavatam expertly refutes them all.

Text 63:: “Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth say that it is nondual knowledge and is called impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramātmā and the Personality of Godhead.”

Text 64:: My dear brothers, kindly listen to the explanation of this verse and consider its meaning: the one original entity is known in His three different features.

Text 65:: Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself is the one undivided Absolute Truth, the ultimate reality. He manifests Himself in three features — as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān.

Text 66:: The import of this verse has stopped you from arguing. Now listen to another verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Text 67:: “All these incarnations of Godhead are either plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions of the puruṣa-avatāras. But Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In every age He protects the world through His different features when the world is disturbed by the enemies of Indra.”

Text 68:: The Bhāgavatam describes the symptoms and deeds of the incarnations in general and counts Śrī Kṛṣṇa among them.

Text 69:: This made Sūta Gosvāmī greatly apprehensive. Therefore he distinguished each incarnation by its specific symptoms.

Text 70:: All the incarnations of Godhead are plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions of the puruṣa-avatāras, but the primeval Lord is Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the fountainhead of all incarnations.

Text 71:: An opponent may say, “This is your interpretation, but actually the Supreme Lord is Nārāyaṇa, who is in the transcendental realm.

Text 72:: “He [Nārāyaṇa] incarnates as Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is the meaning of the verse as I see it. There is no need for further consideration.”

Text 73:: To such a misguided interpreter we may reply, “Why should you suggest such fallacious logic? An interpretation is never accepted as evidence if it opposes the principles of scripture.

Text 74:: “ ‘One should not state a predicate before its subject, for it cannot thus stand without proper support.’

Text 75:: “If I do not state a subject, I do not state a predicate. First I speak the former and then I speak the latter.

Text 76:: “The predicate of a sentence is what is unknown to the reader, whereas the subject is what is known to him.

Text 77:: “For example, we may say, ‘This vipra is a greatly learned man.’ In this sentence, the vipra is the subject, and the predicate is his erudition.

Text 78:: “The man’s being a vipra is known, but his erudition is unknown. Therefore the person is identified first and his erudition later.

Text 79:: “In the same way, all these incarnations were known, but whose incarnations they are was unknown.

Text 80:: “First the word ‘ete’ [‘these’] establishes the subject [the incarnations]. Then ‘plenary portions of the puruṣa-avatāras’ follows as the predicate.

Text 81:: “In the same way, when Kṛṣṇa was first counted among the incarnations, specific knowledge about Him was still unknown.

Text 82:: “Therefore first the word ‘kṛṣṇa’ appears as the subject, followed by the predicate, describing Him as the original Personality of Godhead.

Text 83:: “This establishes that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. The original Personality of Godhead is therefore necessarily Kṛṣṇa.

Text 84:: “Had Kṛṣṇa been the plenary portion and Nārāyaṇa the primeval Lord, the statement of Sūta Gosvāmī would have been reversed.

Text 85:: “Thus he would have said, ‘Nārāyaṇa, the source of all incarnations, is the original Personality of Godhead. He has appeared as Śrī Kṛṣṇa.’

Text 86:: “Mistakes, illusions, cheating and defective perception do not occur in the sayings of the authoritative sages.

Text 87:: “You say something contradictory and become angry when this is pointed out. Your explanation has the defect of a misplaced predicate. This is an unconsidered adjustment.

Text 88:: “Only the Personality of Godhead, the source of all other Divinities, is eligible to be designated svayaṁ bhagavān, or the primeval Lord.

Text 89:: “When from one candle many others are lit, I consider that one the original.

Text 90:: “Kṛṣṇa, in the same way, is the cause of all causes and all incarnations. Please hear another verse to defeat all misinterpretations.

Texts 91-92:: “ ‘Here [in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam] ten subjects are described: (1) the creation of the ingredients of the cosmos, (2) the creations of Brahmā, (3) the maintenance of the creation, (4) special favor given to the faithful, (5) impetuses for activity, (6) prescribed duties for law-abiding men, (7) a description of the incarnations of the Lord, (8) the winding up of the creation, (9) liberation from gross and subtle material existence, and (10) the ultimate shelter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The tenth item is the shelter of all the others. To distinguish this ultimate shelter from the other nine subjects, the mahājanas have described these nine, directly or indirectly, through prayers or direct explanations.’

Text 93:: “To know distinctly the ultimate shelter of everything that be, I have described the other nine categories. The cause for the appearance of these nine is rightly called their shelter.

Text 94:: “The Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the shelter and abode of everything. All the universes rest in His body.

Text 95:: “ ‘The Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam reveals the tenth object, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the shelter of all surrendered souls. He is known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and He is the ultimate source of all the universes. Let me offer my obeisances unto Him.’

Text 96:: “One who knows the real feature of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His three different energies cannot remain ignorant about Him.

Text 97:: “The Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa enjoys Himself in six primary expansions. His two manifestations are prābhava and vaibhava.

Text 98:: “His incarnations are of two kinds, namely partial and empowered. He appears in two ages — childhood and boyhood.

Text 99:: “The Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally an adolescent, is the primeval Lord, the source of all incarnations. He expands Himself in these six categories of forms to establish His supremacy throughout the universe.

Text 100:: “In these six kinds of forms there are innumerable varieties. Although they are many, they are all one: there is no difference between them.

Text 101:: “The cit-śakti, which is also called svarūpa-śakti or antaraṅga-śakti, displays many varied manifestations. It sustains the kingdom of God and its paraphernalia.

Text 102:: “The external energy, called māyā-śakti, is the cause of innumerable universes with varied material potencies.

Text 103:: “The marginal potency, which is between these two, consists of the numberless living beings. These are the three principal energies, which have unlimited categories and subdivisions.

Text 104:: “These are the principal manifestations and expansions of the Personality of Godhead and His three energies. They are all emanations from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Transcendence. They have their existence in Him.

Text 105:: “Although the three puruṣas are the shelter of all the universes, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original source of the puruṣas.

Text 106:: “Thus the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original, primeval Lord, the source of all other expansions. All the revealed scriptures accept Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord.

Text 107:: “ ‘Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.’

Text 108:: “You know all the conclusions of the scriptures very well. You create these logical arguments just to agitate me.”

Text 109:: That same Lord Kṛṣṇa, the fountainhead of all incarnations, is known as the son of the King of Vraja. He has descended personally as Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 110:: Therefore Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Absolute Truth. To call Him Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu does not add to His glory.

Text 111:: But such words from the lips of a sincere devotee cannot be false. All possibilities abide in Him, for He is the primeval Lord.

Text 112:: All other incarnations are situated in potential form in the original body of the primeval Lord. Thus according to one’s opinion, one may address Him as any one of the incarnations.

Text 113:: Some say that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is directly Nara-Nārāyaṇa. Others say that He is directly Vāmana.

Text 114:: Some say that Kṛṣṇa is the incarnation of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. None of these statements is impossible; each is as correct as the others.

Text 115:: Some call Him Hari, or the Nārāyaṇa of the transcendental world. Everything is possible in Kṛṣṇa, for He is the primeval Lord.

Text 116:: I offer my obeisances unto the feet of all who hear or read this discourse. Kindly hear with attention the conclusion of all these statements.

Text 117:: A sincere student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions, considering them controversial, for such discussions strengthen the mind. Thus one’s mind becomes attached to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Text 118:: By such conclusive studies I know the glories of Lord Caitanya. Only by knowing these glories can one become strong and fixed in attachment to Him.

Text 119:: Just to enunciate the glories of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, I have tried to describe the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in detail.

Text 120:: The conclusion is that Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of the King of Vraja.

Text 121:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

CHAPTER THREE

The External Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

In this chapter the author has fully discussed the external reasons for the descent of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, after displaying His pastimes as Lord Kṛṣṇa, thought it wise to make His advent in the form of a devotee to explain personally the transcendental mellows of reciprocal service and love exchanged between Himself and His servants, friends, parents and fiancées. According to the Vedic literature, the foremost occupational duty for humanity in this Age of Kali is nāma-saṅkīrtana, or congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord. The incarnation for this age especially preaches this process, but only Kṛṣṇa Himself can explain the confidential loving service performed in the four principal varieties of loving affairs between the Supreme Lord and His devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore personally appeared, with His plenary portions, as Lord Caitanya. As stated in this chapter, it was for this purpose that Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared personally in Navadvīpa in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja has herein presented much authentic evidence from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other scriptures to substantiate the identity of Lord Caitanya with Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. He has described bodily symptoms in Lord Caitanya that are visible only in the person of the Supreme Lord, and he has proved that Lord Caitanya appeared with His personal associates — Śrī Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and other devotees — to preach the special significance of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. The appearance of Lord Caitanya is both significant and confidential. He can be appreciated only by pure devotees and only through the process of devotional service. The Lord tried to conceal His identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by representing Himself as a devotee, but His pure devotees could recognize Him by His special features. The Vedas and Purāṇas foretell the appearance of Lord Caitanya, but still He is sometimes called, significantly, the concealed descent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Advaita Ācārya was a contemporary of Lord Caitanya’s father. He felt sorry for the condition of the world because even after Lord Kṛṣṇa’s appearance, no one had interest in devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. This forgetfulness was so overwhelming that Advaita Prabhu was convinced that no one but Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself could enlighten people about devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Therefore Advaita requested Lord Kṛṣṇa to appear as Lord Caitanya. Offering tulasī leaves and Ganges water, He cried for the Lord’s appearance. The Lord, being satisfied by His pure devotees, descends to satisfy them. As such, being pleased by Advaita Ācārya, Lord Caitanya appeared.

Text 1:: I offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. By the potency of the shelter of His lotus feet, even a fool can collect the valuable jewels of conclusive truth from the mines of the revealed scriptures.

Text 2:: All glories to Lord Caitanya! All glories to Lord Nityānanda! All glories to Advaitacandra! And all glories to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya!

Text 3:: I have given the purport of the third verse. Now, O devotees, please listen to the meaning of the fourth with full attention.

Text 4:: “May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost core of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has descended in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most elevated mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.”

Text 5:: Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of the King of Vraja, is the Supreme Lord. He eternally enjoys transcendental pastimes in His eternal abode, Goloka, which includes Vrajadhāma.

Text 6:: Once in a day of Brahmā, He descends to this world to manifest His transcendental pastimes.

Text 7:: We know that there are four ages [yugas], namely Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali. These four together constitute one divya-yuga.

Text 8:: Seventy-one divya-yugas constitute one manv-antara. There are fourteen manv-antaras in one day of Brahmā.

Text 9:: The present Manu, who is the seventh, is called Vaivasvata [the son of Vivasvān]. Twenty-seven divya-yugas [27 × 4,320,000 solar years] of his age have now passed.

Text 10:: At the end of the Dvāpara-yuga of the twenty-eighth divya-yuga, Lord Kṛṣṇa appears on earth with the full paraphernalia of His eternal Vraja-dhāma.

Text 11:: Servitude [dāsya], friendship [sakhya], parental affection [vātsalya] and conjugal love [śṛṅgāra] are the four transcendental mellows [rasas]. By the devotees who cherish these four mellows, Lord Kṛṣṇa is subdued.

Text 12:: Absorbed in such transcendental love, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa enjoys in Vraja with His devoted servants, friends, parents and conjugal lovers.

Text 13:: Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoys His transcendental pastimes as long as He wishes, and then He disappears. After disappearing, however, He thinks thus:

Text 14:: “For a long time I have not bestowed unalloyed loving service to Me upon the inhabitants of the world. Without such loving attachment, the existence of the material world is useless.

Text 15:: “Everywhere in the world people worship Me according to scriptural injunctions. But simply by following such regulative principles one cannot attain the loving sentiments of the devotees in Vrajabhūmi.

Text 16:: “Knowing My opulences, the whole world looks upon Me with awe and veneration. But devotion made feeble by such reverence does not attract Me.

Text 17:: “By performing such regulated devotional service in awe and veneration, one may go to Vaikuṇṭha and attain the four kinds of liberation.

Text 18:: “These liberations are sārṣṭi [achieving opulences equal to those of the Lord], sārūpya [having a form the same as the Lord’s], sāmīpya [living as a personal associate of the Lord] and sālokya [living on a Vaikuṇṭha planet]. Devotees never accept sāyujya, however, since that is oneness with Brahman.

Text 19:: “I shall personally inaugurate the religion of the age — nāma-saṅkīrtana, the congregational chanting of the holy name. I shall make the world dance in ecstasy, realizing the four mellows of loving devotional service.

Text 20:: “I shall accept the role of a devotee, and I shall teach devotional service by practicing it Myself.

Text 21:: “Unless one practices devotional service himself, he cannot teach it to others. This conclusion is indeed confirmed throughout the Gītā and Bhāgavatam.

Text 22:: “ ‘Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion — at that time I descend Myself.

Text 23:: “ ‘To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.’

Text 24:: “ ‘If I did not show the proper principles of religion, all these worlds would fall into ruin. I would be the cause of unwanted population and would spoil all these living beings.’

Text 25:: “ ‘Whatever actions a great man performs, common people follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.’

Text 26:: “My plenary portions can establish the principles of religion for each age. No one but Me, however, can bestow the kind of loving service performed by the residents of Vraja.

Text 27:: “ ‘There may be many all-auspicious incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, but who other than Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa can bestow love of God upon the surrendered souls?’

Text 28:: “Therefore in the company of My devotees I shall appear on earth and perform various colorful pastimes.”

Text 29:: Thinking thus, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, descended at Nadia early in the Age of Kali.

Text 30:: Thus the lionlike Lord Caitanya has appeared in Navadvīpa. He has the shoulders of a lion, the powers of a lion, and the loud voice of a lion.

Text 31:: May that lion be seated in the core of the heart of every living being. Thus with His resounding roar may He drive away one’s elephantine vices.

Text 32:: In His early pastimes He is known as Viśvambhara because He floods the world with the nectar of devotion and thus saves the living beings.

Text 33:: The verbal root “ḍubhṛñ” [which is the root of the word “viśvambhara”] indicates nourishing and maintaining. He [Lord Caitanya] nourishes and maintains the three worlds by distributing love of God.

Text 34:: In His later pastimes He is known as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. He blesses the whole world by teaching about the name and fame of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Text 35:: Knowing Him [Lord Caitanya] to be the incarnation for Kali-yuga, Garga Muni, during the naming ceremony of Kṛṣṇa, predicted His appearance.

Text 36:: “This boy [Kṛṣṇa] has three other colors — white, red and yellow — as He appears in different ages. Now He has appeared in a transcendental blackish color.”

Text 37:: White, red and yellow — these are the three bodily lusters that the Lord, the husband of the goddess of fortune, assumes in the ages of Satya, Tretā and Kali respectively.

Text 38:: Now, in the Dvāpara-yuga, the Lord had descended in a blackish hue. This is the essence of the statements in the Purāṇas and other Vedic literatures with reference to the context.

Text 39:: “In the Dvāpara-yuga the Personality of Godhead appears in a blackish hue. He is dressed in yellow, He holds His own weapons, and He is decorated with the Kaustubha jewel and marks of Śrīvatsa. This is how His symptoms are described.”

Text 40:: The religious practice for the Age of Kali is to broadcast the glories of the holy name. Only for this purpose has the Lord, in a yellow color, descended as Lord Caitanya.

Text 41:: The luster of His expansive body resembles molten gold. The deep sound of His voice conquers the thundering of newly assembled clouds.

Text 42:: One who measures four cubits in height and in breadth by his own hand is celebrated as a great personality.

Text 43:: Such a person is called nyagrodha-parimaṇḍala. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who personifies all good qualities, has the body of a nyagrodha-parimaṇḍala.

Text 44:: His arms are long enough to reach His knees, His eyes are just like lotus flowers, His nose is like a sesame flower, and His face is as beautiful as the moon.

Text 45:: He is peaceful, self-controlled and fully devoted to the transcendental service of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is affectionate toward His devotees, He is gentle, and He is equally disposed toward all living beings.

Text 46:: He is decorated with sandalwood bangles and armlets and anointed with the pulp of sandalwood. He especially wears these decorations to dance in śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana.

Text 47:: Recording all these qualities of Lord Caitanya, the sage Vaiśampāyana included His name in the Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma.

Text 48:: The pastimes of Lord Caitanya have two divisions — the early pastimes [ādi-līlā] and the later pastimes [śeṣa-līlā]. He has four names in each of these two līlās.

Text 49:: “In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold. In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyāsa order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees.”

Text 50:: In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is repeatedly and clearly said that the essence of religion in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 51:: “O King, in this way people in Dvāpara-yuga worshiped the Lord of the universe. In Kali-yuga they also worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the regulations of the revealed scriptures. Kindly now hear of that from me.

Text 52:: “In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the name of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.”

Text 53:: My dear brothers, please hear all these glories of Lord Caitanya. This verse clearly summarizes His activities and characteristics.

Text 54:: The two syllables “kṛṣ-ṇa” are always in His mouth; or, He constantly describes Kṛṣṇa with great pleasure.

Text 55:: These are two meanings of the word “kṛṣṇa-varṇa.” Indeed, nothing else but Kṛṣṇa issues from His mouth.

Text 56:: If someone tries to describe Him as being of blackish complexion, the next adjective [tviṣā akṛṣṇam] immediately restricts him.

Text 57:: His complexion is certainly not blackish. Indeed, His not being blackish indicates that His complexion is yellow.

Text 58:: “By performing the sacrifice of congregational chanting of the holy name, learned scholars in the Age of Kali worship Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is now nonblackish because of the great upsurge of the feelings of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. He is the only worshipable Deity for the paramahaṁsas, who have attained the highest stage of the fourth order [sannyāsa]. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Caitanya, show us His great causeless mercy.”

Text 59:: One can vividly see His glowing complexion of molten gold, which dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Text 60:: The sinful life of the living beings results from ignorance. To destroy that ignorance, He has brought various weapons, such as His plenary associates, His devotees and the holy name.

Text 61:: The greatest ignorance consists of activities, whether religious or irreligious, that are opposed to devotional service. They are to be known as sins [kalmaṣa].

Text 62:: Raising His arms, chanting the holy name and looking upon all with deep love, He drives away all sins and floods everyone with love of Godhead.

Text 63:: “May the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of Lord Śrī Caitanya bestow His causeless mercy upon us. His smiling glance at once drives away all the bereavements of the world, and His very words enliven the auspicious creepers of devotion by expanding their leaves. Taking shelter of His lotus feet invokes transcendental love of God at once.”

Text 64:: Anyone who looks upon His beautiful body or beautiful face becomes freed from all sins and obtains the wealth of love of Godhead.

Text 65:: In other incarnations the Lord descended with armies and weapons, but in this incarnation His soldiers are His plenary parts and associates.

Text 66:: “Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is always the most worshipable Deity of the demigods, including Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, who came in the garb of ordinary men, bearing love for Him. He instructs His own pure devotional service to His own devotees. Will He again be the object of my vision?”

Text 67:: His plenary parts and associates perform the work of weapons as their own specific duties. Please hear from me another meaning of the word “aṅga.”

Text 68:: According to the evidence of the revealed scriptures, a bodily limb [aṅga] is also called a part [aṁśa], and a part of a limb is called a partial part [upāṅga].

Text 69:: “O Lord of lords, You are the seer of all creation. You are indeed everyone’s dearest life. Are You not, therefore, my father, Nārāyaṇa? ‘Nārāyaṇa’ refers to one whose abode is in the water born from Nara [Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu], and that Nārāyaṇa is Your plenary portion. All Your plenary portions are transcendental. They are absolute and are not creations of māyā.”

Text 70:: The manifestation of the Nārāyaṇa who predominates in everyone’s heart, as well as the Nārāyaṇa who lives in the waters [Kāraṇa, Garbha and Kṣīra], is Your plenary portion. You are therefore the original Nārāyaṇa.

Text 71:: The word “aṅga” indeed refers to plenary portions. Such manifestations should never be considered products of material nature, for they are all transcendental, full of knowledge and full of bliss.

Text 72:: Śrī Advaita Prabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu are both plenary portions of Lord Caitanya. Thus They are the limbs [aṅgas] of His body. The parts of these two limbs are called the upāṅgas.

Text 73:: Thus the Lord is equipped with sharp weapons in the form of His parts and plenary portions. All these weapons are competent enough to crush the faithless atheists.

Text 74:: Śrī Nityānanda Gosāñi is directly Haladhara [Lord Balarāma], and Advaita Ācārya is the Personality of Godhead Himself.

Text 75:: These two captains, with Their soldiers such as Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, travel everywhere, chanting the holy name of the Lord.

Text 76:: Lord Nityānanda’s very features indicate that He is the subduer of the unbelievers. All sins and unbelievers flee from the loud shouts of Advaita Ācārya.

Text 77:: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is the initiator of saṅkīrtana [congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord]. One who worships Him through saṅkīrtana is fortunate indeed.

Text 78:: Such a person is truly intelligent, whereas others, who have but a poor fund of knowledge, must endure the cycle of repeated birth and death. Of all sacrificial performances, the chanting of the Lord’s holy name is the most sublime.

Text 79:: One who says that ten million aśvamedha sacrifices are equal to the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa is undoubtedly an atheist. He is sure to be punished by Yamarāja.

Text 80:: In the auspicious introduction to the Bhāgavata-sandarbha, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has given the following verse as an explanation.

Text 81:: “I take shelter of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is outwardly of a fair complexion but is inwardly Kṛṣṇa Himself. In this Age of Kali He displays His expansions [His aṅgas and upāṅgas] by performing congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord.”

Text 82:: In the Upapurāṇas we hear Śrī Kṛṣṇa showing His mercy to Vyāsadeva by speaking to him as follows.

Text 83:: “O learned brāhmaṇa, sometimes I accept the renounced order of life to induce the fallen people of the Age of Kali to accept devotional service to the Lord.”

Text 84:: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Mahābhārata, the Purāṇas and other Vedic literatures all give evidence to prove that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 85:: One can also directly see Lord Caitanya’s manifest influence in His uncommon deeds and uncommon Kṛṣṇa conscious realization.

Text 86:: But faithless unbelievers do not see what is clearly evident, just as owls do not see the rays of the sun.

Text 87:: “O my Lord, those influenced by demoniac principles cannot realize You, although You are clearly the Supreme by dint of Your exalted activities, forms, character and uncommon power, which are confirmed by all the revealed scriptures in the quality of goodness and the celebrated transcendentalists in the divine nature.”

Text 88:: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa tries to hide Himself in various ways, but nevertheless His pure devotees know Him as He is.

Text 89:: “O my Lord, everything within material nature is limited by time, space and thought. Your characteristics, however, being unequaled and unsurpassed, are always transcendental to such limitations. You sometimes cover such characteristics by Your own energy, but nevertheless Your unalloyed devotees are always able to see You under all circumstances.”

Text 90:: Those whose nature is demoniac cannot know Kṛṣṇa at any time, but He cannot hide Himself from His pure devotees.

Text 91:: “There are two classes of men in the created world. One consists of the demoniac and the other of the godly. The devotees of Lord Viṣṇu are the godly, whereas those who are just the opposite are called demons.”

Text 92:: Advaita Ācārya Gosvāmī is an incarnation of the Lord as a devotee. His loud calling was the cause for Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation.

Text 93:: Whenever Śrī Kṛṣṇa desires to manifest His incarnation on earth, first He creates the incarnations of His respectable predecessors.

Text 94:: Thus respectable personalities such as His father, mother and spiritual master all take birth on earth first.

Text 95:: Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī, Śrīmatī Śacīmātā and Śrīla Jagannātha Miśra all appeared with Śrī Advaita Ācārya.

Text 96:: Advaita Ācārya having appeared, He found the world devoid of devotional service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa because people were engrossed in material affairs.

Text 97:: Everyone was engaged in material enjoyment, whether sinfully or virtuously. No one was interested in the transcendental service of the Lord, which can give total relief from the repetition of birth and death.

Text 98:: Seeing the activities of the world, the Ācārya felt compassion and began to ponder how He could act for the people’s benefit.

Text 99:: [Advaita Ācārya thought:] “If Śrī Kṛṣṇa were to appear as an incarnation, He Himself could preach devotion by His personal example.

Text 100:: “In this Age of Kali there is no religion other than the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, but how in this age will the Lord appear as an incarnation?

Text 101:: “I shall worship Kṛṣṇa in a purified state of mind. I shall constantly petition Him in humbleness.

Text 102:: “My name, ‘Advaita,’ will be fitting if I am able to induce Kṛṣṇa to inaugurate the movement of the chanting of the holy name.”

Text 103:: While He was thinking about how to propitiate Kṛṣṇa by worship, the following verse came to His mind.

Text 104:: “Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is very affectionate toward His devotees, sells Himself to a devotee who offers Him merely a tulasī leaf and a palmful of water.”

Texts 105-106:: Advaita Ācārya considered the meaning of the verse in this way: “Not finding any way to repay the debt He owes to one who offers Him a tulasī leaf and water, Lord Kṛṣṇa thinks, ‘There is no wealth in My possession that is equal to a tulasī leaf and water.’

Text 107:: “Thus the Lord liquidates the debt by offering Himself to the devotee.” Considering in this way, the Ācārya began worshiping the Lord.

Text 108:: Thinking of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, He constantly offered tulasī buds in water from the Ganges.

Text 109:: He appealed to Śrī Kṛṣṇa with loud calls and thus made it possible for Kṛṣṇa to appear.

Text 110:: Therefore the principal reason for Śrī Caitanya’s descent is this appeal by Advaita Ācārya. The Lord, the protector of religion, appears by the desire of His devotee.

Text 111:: “O my Lord, You always dwell in the vision and hearing of Your pure devotees. You also live in their lotuslike hearts, which are purified by devotional service. O my Lord, who are glorified by exalted prayers, You show special favor to Your devotees by manifesting Yourself in the eternal forms in which they welcome You.”

Text 112:: The essence of the meaning of this verse is that Lord Kṛṣṇa appears in all His innumerable eternal forms because of the desires of His pure devotees.

Text 113:: Thus I have surely determined the meaning of the fourth verse. Lord Gaurāṅga [Lord Caitanya] appeared as an incarnation to preach unalloyed love of God.

Text 114:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Confidential Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

In this chapter of the epic Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has stressed that Lord Caitanya appeared for three principal purposes of His own. The first purpose was to relish the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is the prime reciprocator of transcendental love of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of transcendental loving transactions with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. The subject of those loving transactions is the Lord Himself, and Rādhārāṇī is the object. Thus the subject, the Lord, wanted to relish the loving mellow in the position of the object, Rādhārāṇī.

The second reason for His appearance was to understand the transcendental mellow of Himself. Lord Kṛṣṇa is all sweetness. Rādhārāṇī’s attraction for Kṛṣṇa is sublime, and to experience that attraction and understand the transcendental sweetness of Himself, He accepted the mentality of Rādhārāṇī.

The third reason that Lord Caitanya appeared was to enjoy the bliss tasted by Rādhārāṇī. The Lord thought that undoubtedly Rādhārāṇī enjoyed His company and He enjoyed the company of Rādhārāṇī, but the exchange of transcendental mellow between the spiritual couple was more pleasing to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī than to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Rādhārāṇī felt more transcendental pleasure in the company of Kṛṣṇa than He could understand without taking Her position, but for Śrī Kṛṣṇa to enjoy in the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was impossible because that position was completely foreign to Him. Kṛṣṇa is the transcendental male, and Rādhārāṇī is the transcendental female. Therefore, to know the transcendental pleasure of loving Kṛṣṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appeared as Lord Caitanya, accepting the emotions and bodily luster of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Lord Caitanya appeared in order to fulfill these confidential desires, and also to preach the special significance of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare and to answer the call of Advaita Prabhu. These were secondary reasons.

Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was the principal figure among Lord Caitanya’s confidential devotees. The records of his diary have revealed these confidential purposes of the Lord. These revelations have been confirmed by the statements of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his various prayers and poems.

This chapter also specifically describes the difference between lust and love. The transactions of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā are completely different from material lust. Therefore the author has very clearly distinguished between them.

Text 1:: By the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, even a foolish child can fully describe the real nature of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the enjoyer of the pastimes of Vraja, according to the vision of the revealed scriptures.

Text 2:: All glory to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu! All glory to Lord Nityānanda! All glory to Śrī Advaita Ācārya! And all glory to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya!

Text 3:: I have described the meaning of the fourth verse. Now, O devotees, kindly hear the explanation of the fifth verse.

Text 4:: Just to explain the original verse, I shall first suggest its meaning.

Text 5:: I have given the essential meaning of the fourth verse: this incarnation [Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu] descends to propagate the chanting of the holy name and spread love of God.

Text 6:: Although this is true, this is but the external reason for the Lord’s incarnation. Please hear one other reason — the confidential reason — for the Lord’s appearance.

Text 7:: The scriptures proclaim that Lord Kṛṣṇa previously descended to take away the burden of the earth.

Text 8:: To take away this burden, however, is not the work of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The maintainer, Lord Viṣṇu, is the one who protects the universe.

Text 9:: But the time to lift the burden of the world mixed with the time for Lord Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation.

Text 10:: When the complete Supreme Personality of Godhead descends, all other incarnations of the Lord meet together within Him.

Texts 11-12:: Lord Nārāyaṇa, the four primary expansions [Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha], Matsya and the other līlā incarnations, the yuga-avatāras, the manv-antara incarnations and as many other incarnations as there are — all descend in the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this way the complete Supreme Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, appears.

Text 13:: At that time, therefore, Lord Viṣṇu is present in the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Kṛṣṇa kills the demons through Him.

Text 14:: Thus the killing of the demons is but secondary work. I shall now speak of the main reason for the Lord’s incarnation.

Texts 15-16:: The Lord’s desire to appear was born from two reasons: the Lord wanted to taste the sweet essence of the mellows of love of God, and He wanted to propagate devotional service in the world on the platform of spontaneous attraction. Thus He is known as supremely jubilant and as the most merciful of all.

Text 17:: [Lord Kṛṣṇa thought:] “All the universe is filled with the conception of My majesty, but love weakened by that sense of majesty does not satisfy Me.

Text 18:: “If one regards Me as the Supreme Lord and himself as a subordinate, I do not become subservient to his love, nor can it control Me.

Text 19:: “In whatever transcendental mellow My devotee worships Me, I reciprocate with him. That is My natural behavior.

Text 20:: “ ‘In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.’

Texts 21-22:: “If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as his son, his friend or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him.

Text 23:: “ ‘Devotional service rendered to Me by the living beings revives their eternal life. O My dear damsels of Vraja, your affection for Me is your good fortune, for it is the only means by which you have obtained My favor.’

Text 24:: “Mother sometimes binds Me as her son. She nourishes and protects Me, thinking Me utterly helpless.

Text 25:: “My friends climb on My shoulders in pure friendship, saying, ‘What kind of big man are You? You and I are equal.’

Text 26:: “If My beloved consort reproaches Me in a sulky mood, that steals My mind from the reverent hymns of the Vedas.

Texts 27-28:: “Taking these pure devotees with Me, I shall descend and sport in various wonderful ways, unknown even in Vaikuṇṭha. I shall broadcast such pastimes by which even I am amazed.

Text 29:: “The influence of yogamāyā will inspire the gopīs with the sentiment that I am their paramour.

Text 30:: “Neither the gopīs nor I shall notice this, for our minds will always be entranced by one another’s beauty and qualities.

Text 31:: “Pure attachment will unite us even at the expense of moral and religious duties [dharma]. Destiny will sometimes bring us together and sometimes separate us.

Text 32:: “I shall taste the essence of all these rasas, and in this way I shall favor all the devotees.

Text 33:: “Then, by hearing about the pure love of the residents of Vraja, devotees will worship Me on the path of spontaneous love, abandoning all rituals of religiosity and fruitive activity.”

Text 34:: “Kṛṣṇa manifests His eternal humanlike form and performs His pastimes to show mercy to the devotees. Having heard such pastimes, one should engage in service to Him.”

Text 35:: Here the use of the verb “bhavet,” which is in the imperative mood, tells us that this certainly must be done. Noncompliance would be abandonment of duty.

Texts 36-37:: Just as these desires are the fundamental reason for Kṛṣṇa’s appearance whereas destroying the demons is only an incidental necessity, so for Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, promulgating the dharma of the age is incidental.

Text 38:: When the Lord desired to appear for another reason, the time for promulgating the religion of the age also arose.

Text 39:: Thus with two intentions the Lord appeared with His devotees and tasted the nectar of prema with the congregational chanting of the holy name.

Text 40:: Thus He spread kīrtana even among the untouchables. He wove a wreath of the holy name and prema, with which He garlanded the entire material world.

Text 41:: In this way, assuming the sentiment of a devotee, He preached devotional service while practicing it Himself.

Text 42:: Four kinds of devotees are the receptacles of the four kinds of mellows in love of God, namely servitude, friendship, parental affection and conjugal love.

Text 43:: Each kind of devotee feels that his sentiment is the most excellent, and thus in that mood he tastes great happiness with Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 44:: But if we compare the sentiments in an impartial mood, we find that the conjugal sentiment is superior to all others in sweetness.

Text 45:: “Increasing love is experienced in various tastes, one above another. But that love which has the highest taste in the gradual succession of desire manifests itself in the form of conjugal love.”

Text 46:: Therefore I call it madhura-rasa. It has two further divisions, namely wedded and unwedded love.

Text 47:: There is a great increase of mellow in the unwedded conjugal mood. Such love is found nowhere but in Vraja.

Text 48:: This mood is unbounded in the damsels of Vraja, but among them it finds its perfection in Śrī Rādhā.

Text 49:: Her pure, mature love surpasses that of all others. Her love is the cause of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s tasting the sweetness of the conjugal relationship.

Text 50:: Therefore Lord Gaurāṅga, who is Śrī Hari Himself, accepted the sentiments of Rādhā and thus fulfilled His own desires.

Text 51:: “Lord Caitanya is the shelter of the demigods, the goal of the Upaniṣads, the be-all and end-all of the great sages, the beautiful shelter of His devotees, and the essence of the love of the lotus-eyed gopīs. Will He again be the object of my vision?”

Text 52:: “Lord Kṛṣṇa desired to taste the limitless nectarean mellows of the love of one of His multitude of loving damsels [Śrī Rādhā], and so He has assumed the form of Lord Caitanya. He has tasted that love while hiding His own dark complexion with Her effulgent yellow color. May that Lord Caitanya confer upon us His grace.”

Text 53:: To accept ecstatic love is the main reason He appeared and reestablished the religious system for this age. I shall now explain that reason. Everyone please listen.

Text 54:: Having first given hints about the verse describing the principal reason why the Lord appeared, now I shall manifest its full meaning.

Text 55:: “The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves eternally. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself.”

Text 56:: Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one and the same, but They have assumed two bodies. Thus They enjoy each other, tasting the mellows of love.

Text 57:: Now, to enjoy rasa, They have appeared in one body as Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 58:: Therefore I shall first delineate the position of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. From that description the glory of Lord Caitanya will be known.

Text 59:: Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the transformation of Kṛṣṇa’s love. She is His internal energy called hlādinī.

Text 60:: That hlādinī energy gives Kṛṣṇa pleasure and nourishes His devotees.

Text 61:: Lord Kṛṣṇa’s body is eternal [sat], full of knowledge [cit] and full of bliss [ānanda]. His one spiritual energy manifests three forms.

Text 62:: Hlādinī is His aspect of bliss; sandhinī, of eternal existence; and samvit, of cognizance, which is also accepted as knowledge.

Text 63:: “O Lord, You are the support of everything. The three attributes hlādinī, sandhinī and samvit exist in You as one spiritual energy. But the material modes, which cause happiness, misery and mixtures of the two, do not exist in You, for You have no material qualities.”

Text 64:: The essential portion of the sandhinī potency is śuddha-sattva. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s existence rests upon it.

Text 65:: Kṛṣṇa’s mother, father, abode, house, bedding, seats and so on are all transformations of śuddha-sattva.

Text 66:: “The condition of pure goodness [śuddha-sattva], in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead is revealed without any covering, is called vasudeva. In that pure state the Supreme Godhead, who is beyond the material senses and who is known as Vāsudeva, is perceived by my mind.”

Text 67:: The essence of the samvit potency is knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Lord Kṛṣṇa. All other kinds of knowledge, such as the knowledge of Brahman, are its components.

Text 68:: The essence of the hlādinī potency is love of God, the essence of love of God is emotion [bhāva], and the ultimate development of emotion is mahābhāva.

Text 69:: Śrī Rādhā Ṭhākurāṇī is the embodiment of mahābhāva. She is the repository of all good qualities and the crest jewel among all the lovely consorts of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 70:: “Of these two gopīs [Rādhārāṇī and Candrāvalī], Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is superior in all respects. She is the embodiment of mahābhāva, and She surpasses all in good qualities.”

Text 71:: Her mind, senses and body are steeped in love for Kṛṣṇa. She is Kṛṣṇa’s own energy, and She helps Him in His pastimes.

Text 72:: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency [hlādinī]. Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa.”

Text 73:: Now please listen to how Lord Kṛṣṇa’s consorts help Him taste rasa and how they help in His pastimes.

Texts 74-75:: The beloved consorts of Lord Kṛṣṇa are of three kinds: the goddesses of fortune, the queens, and the milkmaids of Vraja, who are the foremost of all. These consorts all proceed from Rādhikā.

Text 76:: Just as the fountainhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the cause of all incarnations, so Śrī Rādhā is the cause of all these consorts.

Text 77:: The goddesses of fortune are partial manifestations of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, and the queens are reflections of Her image.

Text 78:: The goddesses of fortune are Her plenary portions, and they display the forms of vaibhava-vilāsa. The queens are of the nature of Her vaibhava-prakāśa.

Text 79:: The Vraja-devīs have diverse bodily features. They are Her expansions and are the instruments for expanding rasa.

Text 80:: Without many consorts, there is not such exultation in rasa. Therefore there are many manifestations of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to assist in the Lord’s pastimes.

Text 81:: Among them are various groups of consorts in Vraja who have varieties of sentiments and mellows. They help Lord Kṛṣṇa taste all the sweetness of the rāsa dance and other pastimes.

Text 82:: Rādhā is the one who gives pleasure to Govinda, and She is also the enchantress of Govinda. She is the be-all and end-all of Govinda, and the crest jewel of all His consorts.

Text 83:: “The transcendental goddess Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the direct counterpart of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.”

Text 84:: “Devī” means “resplendent and most beautiful.” Or else it means “the lovely abode of the worship and love sports of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Text 85:: “Kṛṣṇa-mayī” means “one whose within and without are Lord Kṛṣṇa.” She sees Lord Kṛṣṇa wherever She casts Her glance.

Text 86:: Or “kṛṣṇa-mayī” means that She is identical with Lord Kṛṣṇa, for She embodies the mellows of love. The energy of Lord Kṛṣṇa is identical with Him.

Text 87:: Her worship [ārādhana] consists of fulfilling the desires of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore the Purāṇas call Her Rādhikā.

Text 88:: “Truly the Personality of Godhead has been worshiped by Her. Therefore Lord Govinda, being pleased, has brought Her to a lonely spot, leaving us all behind.”

Text 89:: Therefore Rādhā is parama-devatā, the supreme goddess, and She is worshipable for everyone. She is the protectress of all, and She is the mother of the entire universe.

Text 90:: I have already explained the meaning of “sarva-lakṣmī.” Rādhā is the original source of all the goddesses of fortune.

Text 91:: Or “sarva-lakṣmī” indicates that She fully represents the six opulences of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore She is the supreme energy of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 92:: The word “sarva-kānti” indicates that all beauty and luster rest in Her body. All the lakṣmīs derive their beauty from Her.

Text 93:: “Kānti” may also mean “all the desires of Lord Kṛṣṇa.” All the desires of Lord Kṛṣṇa rest in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Text 94:: Śrīmatī Rādhikā fulfills all the desires of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is the meaning of “sarva-kānti.”

Text 95:: Lord Kṛṣṇa enchants the world, but Śrī Rādhā enchants even Him. Therefore She is the supreme goddess of all.

Text 96:: Śrī Rādhā is the full power, and Lord Kṛṣṇa is the possessor of full power. The two are not different, as evidenced by the revealed scriptures.

Text 97:: They are indeed the same, just as musk and its scent are inseparable, or as fire and its heat are nondifferent.

Text 98:: Thus Rādhā and Lord Kṛṣṇa are one, yet They have taken two forms to enjoy the mellows of pastimes.

Texts 99-100:: To promulgate prema-bhakti [devotional service in love of Godhead], Kṛṣṇa appeared as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya with the mood and complexion of Śrī Rādhā. Thus I have explained the meaning of the fifth verse.

Text 101:: To explain the sixth verse, I shall first give a hint of its meaning.

Text 102:: The Lord came to propagate saṅkīrtana. That is an external purpose, as I have already indicated.

Text 103:: There is a principal cause for Lord Kṛṣṇa’s appearance. It grows from His own engagements as the foremost enjoyer of loving exchanges.

Text 104:: That most confidential cause is threefold. Svarūpa Dāmodara has revealed it.

Text 105:: Svarūpa Gosāñi is the most intimate associate of the Lord. He therefore knows all these topics well.

Text 106:: The heart of Lord Caitanya is the image of Śrī Rādhikā’s emotions. Thus feelings of pleasure and pain arise constantly therein.

Text 107:: In the final portion of His pastimes, Lord Caitanya was obsessed with the madness of separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa. He acted in erroneous ways and talked deliriously.

Text 108:: Just as Rādhikā went mad at the sight of Uddhava, so Lord Caitanya was obsessed day and night with the madness of separation.

Text 109:: At night He talked incoherently in grief with His arms around Svarūpa Dāmodara’s neck. He spoke out His heart in ecstatic inspiration.

Text 110:: Whenever a particular sentiment arose in His heart, Svarūpa Dāmodara satisfied Him by singing songs or reciting verses of the same nature.

Text 111:: To analyze these pastimes is not necessary now. Later I shall describe them in detail.

Text 112:: Formerly in Vraja Lord Kṛṣṇa displayed three ages, namely childhood, boyhood and adolescence. His adolescence is especially significant.

Text 113:: Parental affection made His childhood fruitful. His boyhood was successful with His friends.

Text 114:: In youth He tasted the essence of rasa, fulfilling His desires in pastimes like the rāsa dance with Śrīmatī Rādhikā and the other gopīs.

Text 115:: In His youth Lord Kṛṣṇa made all three of His ages, and the entire universe, successful by His pastimes of amorous love like the rāsa dance.

Text 116:: “Lord Madhusūdana enjoyed His youth with pastimes on autumn nights in the midst of the jewellike milkmaids. Thus He dispelled all the misfortunes of the world.”

Text 117:: “Lord Kṛṣṇa made Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī close Her eyes in shame before Her friends by His words relating Their amorous activities on the previous night. Then He showed the highest limit of cleverness in drawing pictures of dolphins in various playful sports on Her breasts. In this way Lord Hari made His youth successful by performing pastimes in the bushes with Śrī Rādhā and Her friends.”

Text 118:: “O Paurṇamāsī, if Lord Hari had not descended in Mathurā with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, this entire creation — and especially Cupid, the demigod of love — would have been useless.”

Texts 119-120:: Even though Lord Kṛṣṇa, the abode of all mellows, had previously in this way chewed the essence of the mellows of love, still He was unable to fulfill three desires, although He made efforts to taste them.

Text 121:: I shall explain His first desire. Kṛṣṇa says, “I am the primary cause of all rasas.

Text 122:: “I am the full spiritual truth and am made of full joy, but the love of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī drives Me mad.

Text 123:: “I do not know the strength of Rādhā’s love, with which She always overwhelms Me.

Text 124:: “The love of Rādhikā is My teacher, and I am Her dancing pupil. Her prema makes Me dance various novel dances.”

Text 125:: “O my beloved friend Vṛndā, where are you coming from?”

Text 126:: “Whatever pleasure I get from tasting My love for Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, She tastes ten million times more than Me by Her love.

Text 127:: “Just as I am the abode of all mutually contradictory characteristics, so Rādhā’s love is always full of similar contradictions.

Text 128:: “Rādhā’s love is all-pervading, leaving no room for expansion. But still it is expanding constantly.

Text 129:: “There is certainly nothing greater than Her love. But Her love is devoid of pride. That is the sign of its greatness.

Text 130:: “Nothing is purer than Her love. But its behavior is always perverse and crooked.”

Text 131:: “All glories to Rādhā’s love for Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of the demon Mura! Although it is all-pervading, it tends to increase at every moment. Although it is important, it is devoid of pride. And although it is pure, it is always beset with duplicity.”

Text 132:: “Śrī Rādhikā is the highest abode of that love, and I am its only object.

Text 133:: “I taste the bliss to which the object of love is entitled. But the pleasure of Rādhā, the abode of that love, is ten million times greater.

Text 134:: “My mind races to taste the pleasure experienced by the abode, but I cannot taste it, even by My best efforts. How may I taste it?

Text 135:: “If sometime I can be the abode of that love, only then may I taste its joy.”

Text 136:: Thinking in this way, Lord Kṛṣṇa was curious to taste that love. His eager desire for that love increasingly blazed in His heart.

Text 137:: That is one desire. Now please hear of another. Seeing His own beauty, Lord Kṛṣṇa began to consider.

Text 138:: “My sweetness is wonderful, infinite and full. No one in the three worlds can find its limit.

Text 139:: “Only Rādhikā, by the strength of Her love, tastes all the nectar of My sweetness.

Text 140:: “Although Rādhā’s love is pure like a mirror, its purity increases at every moment.

Text 141:: “My sweetness also has no room for expansion, yet it shines before that mirror in newer and newer beauty.

Text 142:: “There is constant competition between My sweetness and the mirror of Rādhā’s love. They both go on increasing, but neither knows defeat.

Text 143:: “My sweetness is always newer and newer. Devotees taste it according to their own respective love.

Text 144:: “If I see My sweetness in a mirror, I am tempted to taste it, but nevertheless I cannot.

Text 145:: “If I deliberate on a way to taste it, I find that I hanker for the position of Rādhikā.”

Text 146:: “Who manifests an abundance of sweetness greater than Mine, which has never been experienced before and which causes wonder to all? Alas, I Myself, My mind bewildered upon seeing this beauty, impetuously desire to enjoy it like Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.”

Text 147:: The beauty of Kṛṣṇa has one natural strength: it thrills the hearts of all men and women, beginning with Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Text 148:: All minds are attracted by hearing His sweet voice and flute, or by seeing His beauty. Even Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself makes efforts to taste that sweetness.

Text 149:: The thirst of one who always drinks the nectar of that sweetness is never satisfied. Rather, that thirst increases constantly.

Text 150:: Such a person, being unsatisfied, begins to blaspheme Lord Brahmā, saying that he does not know the art of creating well and is simply inexperienced.

Text 151:: He has not given millions of eyes to see the beauty of Kṛṣṇa. He has given only two eyes, and even those eyes blink. How then shall I see the lovely face of Kṛṣṇa?

Text 152:: [The gopīs said:] “O Kṛṣṇa, when You go to the forest during the day and we do not see Your sweet face, which is surrounded by beautiful curling hair, half a second becomes as long as an entire age for us. And we consider the creator, who has put eyelids on the eyes we use for seeing You, to be simply a fool.”

Text 153:: “The gopīs saw their beloved Kṛṣṇa at Kurukṣetra after a long separation. They secured and embraced Him in their hearts through their eyes, and they attained a joy so intense that not even perfect yogīs can attain it. The gopīs cursed the creator for creating eyelids that interfered with their vision.”

Text 154:: There is no consummation for the eyes other than the sight of Kṛṣṇa. Whoever sees Him is most fortunate indeed.

Text 155:: [The gopīs said:] “O friends, those eyes that see the beautiful faces of the sons of Mahārāja Nanda are certainly fortunate. As these two sons enter the forest, surrounded by Their friends, driving the cows before Them, They hold Their flutes to Their mouths and glance lovingly upon the residents of Vṛndāvana. For those who have eyes, we think there is no greater object of vision.”

Text 156:: [The women of Mathurā said:] “What austerities must the gopīs have performed? With their eyes they always drink the nectar of the form of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which is the essence of loveliness and is not to be equaled or surpassed. That loveliness is the only abode of beauty, fame and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever fresh and extremely rare.”

Text 157:: The sweetness of Lord Kṛṣṇa is unprecedented, and its strength is also unprecedented. Simply by one’s hearing of such beauty, the mind becomes unsteady.

Text 158:: Lord Kṛṣṇa’s own beauty attracts Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. But because He cannot fully enjoy it, His mind remains full of sorrow.

Text 159:: This is a description of His second desire. Now please listen as I describe the third.

Text 160:: This conclusion of rasa is extremely deep. Only Svarūpa Dāmodara knows much about it.

Text 161:: Anyone else who claims to know it must have heard it from him, for he was the most intimate companion of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 162:: The love of the gopīs is called rūḍha-bhāva. It is pure and spotless. It is not at any time lust.

Text 163:: “The pure love of the gopīs has become celebrated by the name ‘lust.’ The dear devotees of the Lord, headed by Śrī Uddhava, desire to taste that love.”

Text 164:: Lust and love have different characteristics, just as iron and gold have different natures.

Text 165:: The desire to gratify one’s own senses is kāma [lust], but the desire to please the senses of Lord Kṛṣṇa is prema [love].

Text 166:: The object of lust is only the enjoyment of one’s own senses. But love caters to the enjoyment of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus it is very powerful.

Texts 167-169:: Social customs, scriptural injunctions, bodily demands, fruitive action, shyness, patience, bodily pleasures, self-gratification and the path of varṇāśrama-dharma, which is difficult to give up — the gopīs have forsaken all these, as well as their own relatives and their punishment and scolding, for the sake of serving Lord Kṛṣṇa. They render loving service to Him for the sake of His enjoyment.

Text 170:: That is called firm attachment to Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is spotlessly pure, like a clean cloth that has no stain.

Text 171:: Therefore lust and love are quite different. Lust is like dense darkness, but love is like the bright sun.

Text 172:: Thus there is not the slightest taint of lust in the gopīs’ love. Their relationship with Kṛṣṇa is only for the sake of His enjoyment.

Text 173:: “O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our life rests only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path.”

Text 174:: The gopīs do not care for their own pleasures or pains. All their physical and mental activities are directed toward offering enjoyment to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 175:: They renounced everything for Kṛṣṇa. They have pure attachment to giving Kṛṣṇa pleasure.

Text 176:: “O My beloved gopīs, you have renounced social customs, scriptural injunctions and your relatives for My sake. I disappeared behind you only to increase your concentration upon Me. Since I disappeared for your benefit, you should not be displeased with Me.”

Text 177:: Lord Kṛṣṇa has a promise from before to reciprocate with His devotees according to the way they worship Him.

Text 178:: “In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.”

Text 179:: That promise has been broken by the worship of the gopīs, as Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself admits.

Text 180:: “O gopīs, I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.”

Text 181:: Now, whatever affection we see the gopīs show for their own bodies, know it for certain to be only for the sake of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 182:: [The gopīs think:] “I have offered this body to Lord Kṛṣṇa. He is its owner, and it brings Him enjoyment.

Text 183:: “Kṛṣṇa finds joy in seeing and touching this body.” It is for this reason that they cleanse and decorate their bodies.

Text 184:: “O Arjuna, there are no greater receptacles of deep love for Me than the gopīs, who cleanse and decorate their bodies because they consider them Mine.”

Text 185:: There is another wonderful feature of the emotion of the gopīs. Its power is beyond the comprehension of the intelligence.

Text 186:: When the gopīs see Lord Kṛṣṇa, they derive unbounded bliss, although they have no desire for such pleasure.

Text 187:: The gopīs taste a pleasure ten million times greater than the pleasure Lord Kṛṣṇa derives from seeing them.

Text 188:: The gopīs have no inclination for their own enjoyment, and yet their joy increases. That is indeed a contradiction.

Text 189:: For this contradiction I see only one solution: the joy of the gopīs lies in the joy of their beloved Kṛṣṇa.

Text 190:: When Lord Kṛṣṇa sees the gopīs, His joy increases, and His unparalleled sweetness increases also.

Text 191:: [The gopīs think:] “Kṛṣṇa has obtained so much pleasure by seeing me.” That thought increases the fullness and beauty of their faces and bodies.

Text 192:: The beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa increases at the sight of the beauty of the gopīs. And the more the gopīs see Lord Kṛṣṇa’s beauty, the more their beauty increases.

Text 193:: In this way a competition takes place between them in which no one acknowledges defeat.

Text 194:: Kṛṣṇa, however, derives pleasure from the beauty and good qualities of the gopīs. And when the gopīs see His pleasure, the joy of the gopīs increases.

Text 195:: Therefore we find that the joy of the gopīs nourishes the joy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. For that reason the fault of lust is not present in their love.

Text 196:: “I worship Lord Keśava. Coming back from the forest of Vraja, He is worshiped by the gopīs, who mount the roofs of their palaces and meet Him on the path with a hundred manners of dancing glances and gentle smiles. The corners of His eyes wander, like large black bees, around the gopīs’ breasts.”

Text 197:: There is another natural symptom of the gopīs’ love that shows it to be without a trace of lust.

Text 198:: The love of the gopīs nourishes the sweetness of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That sweetness in turn increases their love, for they are greatly satisfied.

Text 199:: The happiness of the abode of love is in the happiness of the object of that love. This is not a relationship of desire for personal gratification.

Texts 200-201:: Whenever there is unselfish love, that is its style. The reservoir of love derives pleasure when the lovable object is pleased. When the pleasure of love interferes with the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the devotee becomes angry toward such ecstasy.

Text 202:: “Śrī Dāruka did not relish his ecstatic feelings of love, for they caused his limbs to become stunned and thus obstructed his service of fanning Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Text 203:: “The lotus-eyed Rādhārāṇī powerfully condemned the ecstatic love that caused a flow of tears that hindered Her sight of Govinda.”

Text 204:: Furthermore, pure devotees never forsake the loving service of Lord Kṛṣṇa to aspire for their own personal pleasure through the five kinds of liberation.

Text 205:: “Just as the celestial waters of the Ganges flow unobstructed into the ocean, so when My devotees simply hear of Me, their minds come to Me, who reside in the hearts of all.

Text 206:: “These are the characteristics of transcendental loving service to Puruṣottama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: it is causeless, and it cannot be obstructed in any way.

Text 207:: “My devotees do not accept sālokya, sārṣṭi, sārūpya, sāmīpya or oneness with Me — even if I offer these liberations — in preference to serving Me.”

Text 208:: “My devotees, having fulfilled their desires by serving Me, do not accept the four kinds of salvation that are easily earned by such service. Why then should they accept any pleasures that are lost in the course of time?”

Text 209:: The natural love of the gopīs is devoid of any trace of lust. It is faultless, bright and pure, like molten gold.

Text 210:: The gopīs are the helpers, teachers, friends, wives, dear disciples, confidantes and serving maids of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 211:: “O Pārtha, I speak to you the truth. The gopīs are My helpers, teachers, disciples, servants, friends and consorts. I do not know what they are not to Me.”

Text 212:: The gopīs know Kṛṣṇa’s desires, and they know how to render perfect loving service for His enjoyment. They perform their service expertly for the satisfaction of their beloved.

Text 213:: “O Pārtha, the gopīs know My greatness, My loving service, respect for Me, and My mentality. Others cannot really know these.”

Text 214:: Among the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the foremost. She surpasses all in beauty, in good qualities, in good fortune and, above all, in love.

Text 215:: “Just as Rādhā is dear to Lord Kṛsṇa, so Her bathing place [Rādhā-kuṇḍa] is dear to Him. She alone is His most beloved of all the gopīs.”

Text 216:: “O Pārtha, in all the three planetary systems, this earth is especially fortunate, for on earth is the town of Vṛndāvana. And there the gopīs are especially glorious because among them is My Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.”

Text 217:: All the other gopīs help increase the joy of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with Rādhārāṇī. The gopīs act as the instruments of Their mutual enjoyment.

Text 218:: Rādhā is the beloved consort of Kṛṣṇa, and She is the wealth of His life. Without Her, the gopīs cannot give Him pleasure.

Text 219:: “Lord Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Kaṁsa, left aside the other gopīs during the rāsa dance and took Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to His heart, for She is the helper of the Lord in realizing the essence of His desires.”

Text 220:: Lord Caitanya appeared with the sentiment of Rādhā. He preached the dharma of this age — the chanting of the holy name and pure love of God.

Text 221:: In the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, He also fulfilled His own desires. This is the principal reason for His appearance.

Text 222:: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa [Vrajendra-kumāra], the embodiment of rasas. He is amorous love personified.

Text 223:: He made His appearance to taste that conjugal mellow and incidentally to broadcast all the rasas.

Text 224:: “My dear friends, just see how Śrī Kṛṣṇa is enjoying the season of spring! With the gopīs embracing each of His limbs, He is like amorous love personified. With His transcendental pastimes, He enlivens all the gopīs and the entire creation. With His soft bluish-black arms and legs, which resemble blue lotus flowers, He has created a festival for Cupid.”

Text 225:: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is the abode of rasa. He Himself tasted the sweetness of rasa in endless ways.

Text 226:: Thus He initiated the dharma for the Age of Kali. The devotees of Lord Caitanya know all these truths.

Texts 227-228:: Advaita Ācārya, Lord Nityānanda, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Murāri Gupta, Haridāsa Ṭhākura and all the other devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya — bowing down with devotion, I hold their lotus feet on my head.

Text 229:: I have given a hint of the sixth verse. Now please hear as I reveal the meaning of that original verse.

Text 230:: “Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean.”

Text 231:: All these conclusions are unfit to disclose in public. But if they are not disclosed, no one will understand them.

Text 232:: Therefore I shall mention them, revealing only their essence, so that loving devotees will understand them but fools will not.

Text 233:: Anyone who has captured Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu in his heart will become blissful by hearing all these transcendental conclusions.

Text 234:: All these conclusions are like the newly grown twigs of a mango tree; they are always pleasing to the devotees, who in this way resemble cuckoo birds.

Text 235:: The camellike nondevotees cannot enter into these topics. Therefore there is special jubilation in my heart.

Text 236:: For fear of them I do not wish to speak, but if they do not understand, then what can be happier in all the three worlds?

Text 237:: Therefore after offering obeisances to the devotees, for their satisfaction I shall speak without hesitating.

Text 238:: Once Lord Kṛṣṇa considered within His heart, “Everyone says that I am complete bliss, full of all rasas.

Text 239:: “All the world derives pleasure from Me. Is there anyone who can give Me pleasure?

Text 240:: “One who has a hundred times more qualities than Me could give pleasure to My mind.

Text 241:: “One more qualified than Me is impossible to find in the world. But in Rādhā alone I feel the presence of one who can give Me pleasure.

Texts 242-243:: “Although My beauty defeats the beauty of ten million Cupids, although it is unequaled and unsurpassed, and although it gives pleasure to the three worlds, seeing Rādhārāṇī gives pleasure to My eyes.

Text 244:: “The vibration of My transcendental flute attracts the three worlds, but My ears are enchanted by the sweet words of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Text 245:: “Although My body lends fragrance to the entire creation, the scent of Rādhārāṇī’s limbs captivates My mind and heart.

Text 246:: “Although the entire creation is full of different tastes because of Me, I am charmed by the nectarean taste of the lips of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Text 247:: “And although My touch is cooler than ten million moons, I am refreshed by the touch of Śrīmatī Rādhikā.

Text 248:: “Thus although I am the source of happiness for the entire world, the beauty and attributes of Śrī Rādhikā are My life and soul.

Text 249:: “In this way My affectionate feelings for Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī may be understood, but on analysis I find them contradictory.

Text 250:: “My eyes are fully satisfied when I look upon Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, but by looking upon Me, She becomes even more advanced in satisfaction.

Text 251:: “The flutelike murmur of the bamboos rubbing against one another steals Rādhārāṇī’s consciousness, for She thinks it to be the sound of My flute. And She embraces a tamāla tree, mistaking it for Me.

Text 252:: “ ‘I have gotten the embrace of Śrī Kṛṣṇa,’ She thinks, ‘so now My life is fulfilled.’ Thus She remains immersed in pleasing Kṛṣṇa, taking the tree in Her arms.

Text 253:: “When a favorable breeze carries to Her the fragrance of My body, She is blinded by love and tries to fly into that breeze.

Text 254:: “When She tastes the betel chewed by Me, She merges in an ocean of joy and forgets everything else.

Text 255:: “Even with hundreds of mouths I could not express the transcendental pleasure She derives from My association.

Text 256:: “Seeing the luster of Her complexion after Our pastimes together, I forget My own identity in happiness.

Text 257:: “The sage Bharata has said that the mellows of lover and beloved are equal. But he does not know the mellows of My Vṛndāvana.

Text 258:: “The happiness I feel when meeting Rādhārāṇī is a hundred times greater than the happiness I get from meeting others.

Text 259:: “ ‘My dear auspicious Rādhārāṇī, Your body is the source of all beauty. Your red lips are softer than the sense of immortal sweetness, Your face bears the aroma of a lotus flower, Your sweet words defeat the vibrations of the cuckoo, and Your limbs are cooler than the pulp of sandalwood. All My transcendental senses are overwhelmed in ecstatic pleasure by tasting You, who are completely decorated by beautiful qualities.’

Text 260:: “ ‘Her eyes are enchanted by the beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Kaṁsa. Her body thrills in pleasure at His touch. Her ears are always attracted to His sweet voice, Her nostrils are enchanted by His fragrance, and Her tongue hankers for the nectar of His soft lips. She hangs down her lotuslike face, exercising self-control only by pretense, but She cannot help showing the external signs of Her spontaneous love for Lord Kṛṣṇa.’

Text 261:: “Considering this, I can understand that some unknown mellow in Me controls the entire existence of My captivator, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Text 262:: “I am always eager to taste the joy that Rādhārāṇī derives from Me.

Text 263:: “In spite of various efforts, I have not been able to taste it. But My desire to relish that pleasure increases as I smell its sweetness.

Text 264:: “Formerly I appeared in the world to taste mellows, and I tasted the mellows of pure love in various ways.

Text 265:: “I taught devotional service that springs from the devotees’ spontaneous love by demonstrating it with My pastimes.

Text 266:: “But these three desires of Mine were not satisfied, for one cannot enjoy them in a contrary position.

Text 267:: “Unless I accept the luster of the ecstatic love of Śrī Rādhikā, these three desires cannot be fulfilled.

Text 268:: “Therefore, assuming Rādhārāṇī’s sentiments and bodily complexion, I shall descend to fulfill these three desires.”

Text 269:: In this way Lord Kṛṣṇa came to a decision. Simultaneously, the time came for the incarnation of the age.

Text 270:: At that time Śrī Advaita was earnestly worshiping Him. Advaita attracted Him with His loud calls.

Texts 271-272:: First Lord Kṛṣṇa made His parents and elders appear. Then Kṛṣṇa Himself, with the sentiments and complexion of Rādhikā, appeared in Navadvīpa, like the full moon, from the womb of mother Śacī, which is like an ocean of pure milk.

Text 273:: Meditating on the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, I have thus explained the sixth verse.

Text 274:: I can support the explanation of these two verses [verses 5 and 6 of the first chapter] with a verse by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Text 275:: “Lord Kṛṣṇa desired to taste the limitless nectarean mellows of the love possessed by one of His multitude of loving damsels [Śrī Rādhā], and so He has assumed the form of Lord Caitanya. He has tasted that love while hiding His own dark complexion with Her effulgent yellow color. May that Lord Caitanya confer upon us His grace.”

Text 276:: Thus the auspicious invocation, the essential nature of the truth of Lord Caitanya, and the need for His appearance have been set forth in six verses.

Text 277:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

CHAPTER FIVE

The Glories Of Lord Nityānanda Balarāma

This chapter is chiefly devoted to describing the essential nature and glories of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the absolute Personality of Godhead, and His first expansion in a form for pastimes is Śrī Balarāma.

Beyond the limitation of this material world is the spiritual sky, paravyoma, which has many spiritual planets, the supreme of which is called Kṛṣṇaloka. Kṛṣṇaloka, the abode of Kṛṣṇa, has three divisions, which are known as Dvārakā, Mathurā and Gokula. In that abode the Personality of Godhead expands Himself into four plenary portions — Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma, Pradyumna (the transcendental Cupid) and Aniruddha. They are known as the original quadruple forms.

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

Outside of the Vaikuṇṭha planets is the impersonal manifestation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which is known as Brahmaloka. On the other side of Brahmaloka is the spiritual kāraṇa-samudra, or Causal Ocean. The material energy exists on the other side of the Causal Ocean, without touching it. In the Causal Ocean is Mahā-Viṣṇu, the original puruṣa expansion from Saṅkarṣaṇa. Mahā-Viṣṇu places His glance over the material energy, and by a reflection of His transcendental body He amalgamates Himself within the material elements.

As the source of the material elements, the material energy is known as pradhāna, and as the source of the manifestations of the material energy it is known as māyā. But material nature is inert in that she has no independent power to do anything. She is empowered to make the cosmic manifestation by the glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Therefore the material energy is not the original cause of the material manifestation. Rather, the transcendental glance of Mahā-Viṣṇu over material nature produces that cosmic manifestation.

Mahā-Viṣṇu again enters every universe as the reservoir of all living entities, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu expands Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Supersoul of every living entity. Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu also has His own Vaikuṇṭha planet in every universe, where He lives as the Supersoul or supreme controller of the universe. Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu reclines in the midst of the watery portion of the universe and generates the first living creature of the universe, Brahmā. The imaginary universal form is a partial manifestation of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.

On the Vaikuṇṭha planet in every universe is an ocean of milk, and within that ocean is an island called Śvetadvīpa, where Lord Viṣṇu lives. Therefore this chapter describes two Śvetadvīpas — one in the abode of Kṛṣṇa and the other in the ocean of milk in every universe. The Śvetadvīpa in the abode of Kṛṣṇa is identical with Vṛndāvana-dhāma, which is the place where Kṛṣṇa appears Himself to display His loving pastimes. In the Śvetadvīpa within every universe is a Śeṣa form of Godhead who serves Viṣṇu by assuming the form of His umbrella, slippers, couch, pillows, garments, residence, sacred thread, throne and so on.

Lord Baladeva in Kṛṣṇaloka is Nityānanda Prabhu. Therefore Nityānanda Prabhu is the original Saṅkarṣaṇa, and Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa and His expansions as the puruṣas in the universes are plenary expansions of Nityānanda Prabhu.

In this chapter the author has described the history of his leaving home for a personal pilgrimage to Vṛndāvana and his achieving all success there. In this description it is revealed that the author’s original paternal home and birthplace were in the district of Katwa, in the village of Jhāmaṭapura, which is near Naihāṭī. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja’s brother invited Śrī Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa, a great devotee of Lord Nityānanda, to his home, but a priest named Guṇārṇava Miśra did not receive him well, and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī’s brother, not recognizing the glories of Lord Nityānanda, also took sides with the priest. Therefore Rāmadāsa became sorry, broke his flute and went away. This was a great disaster for the brother of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. But on that very night Lord Nityānanda Prabhu Himself graced Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī in a dream and ordered him to leave on the next day for Vṛndāvana.

Text 1:: Let me offer my obeisances to Lord Śrī Nityānanda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose opulence is wonderful and unlimited. By His will, even a fool can understand His identity.

Text 2:: All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityānanda! All glories to Advaita Ācārya! And all glories to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu!

Text 3:: I have described the glory of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya in six verses. Now, in five verses I shall describe the glory of Lord Nityānanda.

Text 4:: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the fountainhead of all incarnations. Lord Balarāma is His second body.

Text 5:: These two are one and the same identity. They differ only in form. Lord Balarāma is the first bodily expansion of Kṛṣṇa, and He assists in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental pastimes.

Text 6:: That original Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in Navadvīpa as Lord Caitanya, and Balarāma appeared with Him as Lord Nityānanda.

Text 7:: May Śrī Nityānanda Rāma be the object of my constant remembrance. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Śeṣa Nāga and the Viṣṇus who lie on the Kāraṇa Ocean, Garbha Ocean and ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions.

Text 8:: Lord Balarāma is the original Saṅkarṣaṇa. He assumes five other forms to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 9:: He Himself helps in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and He does the work of creation in four other forms.

Text 10:: He executes the orders of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the work of creation, and in the form of Lord Śeṣa He serves Kṛṣṇa in various ways.

Text 11:: In all the forms He tastes the transcendental bliss of serving Kṛṣṇa. That same Balarāma is Lord Nityānanda, the companion of Lord Gaurasundara.

Text 12:: I have explained the seventh verse in four subsequent verses. By these verses all the world can know the truth about Lord Nityānanda.

Text 13:: I surrender unto the lotus feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, who is known as Saṅkarṣaṇa in the midst of the catur-vyūha [consisting of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha]. He possesses full opulences and resides in Vaikuṇṭhaloka, far beyond the material creation.

Text 14:: Beyond the material nature lies the realm known as paravyoma, the spiritual sky. Like Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, it possesses all transcendental attributes, such as the six opulences.

Text 15:: That Vaikuṇṭha region is all-pervading, infinite and supreme. It is the residence of Lord Kṛṣṇa and His incarnations.

Text 16:: In the highest region of that spiritual sky is the spiritual planet called Kṛṣṇaloka. It has three divisions — Dvārakā, Mathurā and Gokula.

Text 17:: Śrī Gokula, the highest of all, is also called Vraja, Goloka, Śvetadvīpa and Vṛndāvana.

Text 18:: Like the transcendental body of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Gokula is all-pervading, infinite and supreme. It expands both above and below, without any restriction.

Text 19:: That abode is manifested within the material world by the will of Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is identical to that original Gokula; they are not two different bodies.

Text 20:: The land there is touchstone [cintāmaṇi], and the forests abound with desire trees. Material eyes see it as an ordinary place.

Text 21:: But with the eyes of love of Godhead one can see its real identity as the place where Lord Kṛṣṇa performs His pastimes with the cowherd boys and cowherd girls.

Text 22:: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending cows yielding all desires in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune.”

Text 23:: Lord Kṛṣṇa manifests His own form in Mathurā and Dvārakā. He enjoys pastimes in various ways by expanding into the quadruple forms.

Text 24:: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are the primary quadruple forms, from whom all other quadruple forms are manifested. They are all purely transcendental.

Text 25:: Only in these three places [Dvārakā, Mathurā and Gokula] does the all-sporting Lord Kṛṣṇa perform His endless pastimes with His personal associates.

Text 26:: In the Vaikuṇṭha planets of the spiritual sky the Lord manifests His identity as Nārāyaṇa and performs pastimes in various ways.

Texts 27-28:: Kṛṣṇa’s own form has only two hands, but in the form of Lord Nārāyaṇa He has four hands. Lord Nārāyaṇa holds a conchshell, disc, club and lotus flower, and He is full of great opulence. The śrī, bhū and nīlā energies serve at His lotus feet.

Text 29:: Although His pastimes are His only characteristic functions, by His causeless mercy He performs one activity for the fallen souls.

Text 30:: He delivers the fallen living entities by offering them the four kinds of liberation — sālokya, sāmīpya, sārṣṭi and sārūpya.

Text 31:: Those who attain brahma-sāyujya liberation cannot gain entrance into Vaikuṇṭha; their residence is outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets.

Text 32:: Outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets is the atmosphere of the glowing effulgence, which consists of the supremely bright rays of the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 33:: That region is called Siddhaloka, and it is beyond the material nature. Its essence is spiritual, but it does not have spiritual varieties.

Text 34:: It is like the homogeneous effulgence around the sun. But inside the sun are the chariots, horses and other opulences of the sun-god.

Text 35:: “As through devotion to the Lord one can attain His abode, many have attained that goal by abandoning their sinful activities and absorbing their minds in the Lord through lust, envy, fear or affection.”

Text 36:: “Where it has been stated that the Lord’s enemies and devotees attain the same destination, this refers to the ultimate oneness of Brahman and Lord Kṛṣṇa. This may be understood by the example of the sun and the sunshine, in which Brahman is like the sunshine and Kṛṣṇa Himself is like the sun.”

Text 37:: Thus in the spiritual sky there are varieties of pastimes within the spiritual energy. Outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets appears the impersonal reflection of light.

Text 38:: That impersonal Brahman effulgence consists only of the effulgent rays of the Lord. Those fit for sāyujya liberation merge into that effulgence.

Text 39:: “Beyond the region of ignorance [the material cosmic manifestation] lies the realm of Siddhaloka. The Siddhas reside there, absorbed in the bliss of Brahman. Demons killed by the Lord also attain that realm.”

Text 40:: In that spiritual sky, on the four sides of Nārāyaṇa, are the second expansions of the quadruple expansions of Dvārakā.

Text 41:: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha constitute this second quadruple. They are purely transcendental.

Text 42:: There [in the spiritual sky] the personal feature of Balarāma called Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa is the shelter of the spiritual energy. He is the primary cause, the cause of all causes.

Text 43:: One variety of the pastimes of the spiritual energy is described as pure goodness [viśuddha-sattva]. It comprises all the abodes of Vaikuṇṭha.

Text 44:: The six attributes are all spiritual. Know for certain that they are all manifestations of the opulence of Saṅkarṣaṇa.

Text 45:: There is one marginal potency, known as the jīva. Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa is the shelter of all jīvas.

Text 46:: Saṅkarṣaṇa is the original shelter of the puruṣa, from whom this world is created and in whom it is dissolved.

Text 47:: He [Saṅkarṣaṇa] is the shelter of everything. He is wonderful in every respect, and His opulences are infinite. Even Ananta cannot describe His glory.

Text 48:: That Saṅkarṣaṇa, who is transcendental pure goodness, is a partial expansion of Nityānanda Balarāma.

Text 49:: I have briefly explained the eighth verse. Now please listen with attention as I explain the ninth verse.

Text 50:: I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, whose partial representation called Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, lying on the Kāraṇa Ocean, is the original puruṣa, the master of the illusory energy, and the shelter of all the universes.

Text 51:: Outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets is the impersonal Brahman effulgence, and beyond that effulgence is the Kāraṇa Ocean, or Causal Ocean.

Text 52:: Surrounding Vaikuṇṭha is a mass of water that is endless, unfathomed and unlimited.

Text 53:: The earth, water, fire, air and ether of Vaikuṇṭha are all spiritual. Material elements are not found there.

Text 54:: The water of the Kāraṇa Ocean, which is the original cause, is therefore spiritual. The sacred Ganges, which is but a drop of it, purifies the fallen souls.

Text 55:: In that ocean lies a plenary portion of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa.

Text 56:: He is known as the first puruṣa, the creator of the total material energy. He, the cause of the universes, the first incarnation, casts His glance over māyā.

Text 57:: Māyā-śakti resides outside the Kāraṇa Ocean. Māyā cannot touch its waters.

Text 58:: Māyā has two varieties of existence. One is called pradhāna or prakṛti. It supplies the ingredients of the material world.

Text 59:: Because prakṛti is dull and inert, it cannot actually be the cause of the material world. But Lord Kṛṣṇa shows His mercy by infusing His energy into the dull, inert material nature.

Text 60:: Thus prakṛti, by the energy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, becomes the secondary cause, just as iron becomes red-hot by the energy of fire.

Text 61:: Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original cause of the cosmic manifestation. Prakṛti is like the nipples on the neck of a goat, for they cannot give any milk.

Text 62:: The māyā aspect of material nature is the immediate cause of the cosmic manifestation. But it cannot be the real cause, for the original cause is Lord Nārāyaṇa.

Text 63:: Just as the original cause of an earthen pot is the potter, so the creator of the material world is the first puruṣa incarnation [Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu].

Text 64:: Lord Kṛṣṇa is the creator, and māyā only helps Him as an instrument, just like the potter’s wheel and other instruments, which are the instrumental causes of a pot.

Text 65:: The first puruṣa casts His glance at māyā from a distance, and thus He impregnates her with the seed of life in the form of the living entities.

Text 66:: The reflected rays of His body mix with māyā, and thus māyā gives birth to myriad universes.

Text 67:: The puruṣa enters each and every one of the countless universes. He manifests Himself in as many separate forms as there are universes.

Text 68:: When the puruṣa exhales, the universes are manifested with each outward breath.

Text 69:: Thereafter, when He inhales, all the universes again enter His body.

Text 70:: Just as atomic particles of dust pass through the openings of a window, so the networks of universes pass through the pores of the skin of the puruṣa.

Text 71:: “The Brahmās and other lords of the mundane worlds appear from the pores of Mahā-Viṣṇu and remain alive for the duration of His one exhalation. I adore the primeval Lord, Govinda, of whom Mahā-Viṣṇu is a portion of a plenary portion.”

Text 72:: “Where am I, a small creature of seven spans the measure of my own hand? I am enclosed in the universe composed of material nature, the total material energy, false ego, ether, air, water and earth. And what is Your glory? Unlimited universes pass through the pores of Your body just like particles of dust passing through the opening of a window.”

Text 73:: A part of a part of a whole is called a kalā. Śrī Balarāma is the counterform of Lord Govinda.

Text 74:: Balarāma’s own expansion is called Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa, and His fragment, the puruṣa, is counted as a kalā, or a part of a plenary portion.

Text 75:: I say that this kalā is Mahā-Viṣṇu. He is the Mahā-puruṣa, who is the source of the other puruṣas and who is all-pervading.

Text 76:: Garbhodaśāyī and Kṣīrodaśāyī are both called puruṣas. They are plenary portions of Kāraṇodaśāyī Viṣṇu, the first puruṣa, who is the abode of all the universes.

Text 77:: “Viṣṇu has three forms called puruṣas. The first, Mahā-Viṣṇu, is the creator of the total material energy [mahat], the second is Garbhodaśāyī, who is situated within each universe, and the third is Kṣīrodaśāyī, who lives in the heart of every living being. He who knows these three becomes liberated from the clutches of māyā.”

Text 78:: Although Kāraṇodaśāyī Viṣṇu is called a kalā of Lord Kṛṣṇa, He is the source of Matsya, Kūrma and the other incarnations.

Text 79:: “All these incarnations of Godhead are either plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions of the puruṣa-avatāras. But Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In every age He protects the world through His different features when the world is disturbed by the enemies of Indra.”

Text 80:: That puruṣa [Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu] is the performer of creation, maintenance and destruction. He manifests Himself in many incarnations, for He is the maintainer of the world.

Text 81:: That fragment of the Supreme Lord, known as the Mahā-puruṣa, appears for the purpose of creation, maintenance and annihilation and is called an incarnation.

Text 82:: That Mahā-puruṣa is identical with the Personality of Godhead. He is the original incarnation, the seed of all others, and the shelter of everything.

Text 83:: “The puruṣa [Mahā-Viṣṇu] is the primary incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Time, nature, prakṛti (as cause and effect), the mind, the material elements, false ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form, complete independence and the moving and nonmoving beings appear subsequently as His opulences.”

Text 84:: “In the beginning of the creation, the Lord expanded Himself in the form of the puruṣa incarnation, accompanied by all the ingredients of material creation. First He created the sixteen principal energies suitable for creation. This was for the purpose of manifesting the material universes.”

Text 85:: Although the Lord is the shelter of everything and although all the universes rest in Him, He, as the Supersoul, is also the support of everything.

Text 86:: Although He is thus connected with the material energy in two ways, He does not have the slightest contact with it.

Text 87:: “This is the opulence of the Lord. Although situated within the material nature, He is never affected by the modes of nature. Similarly, those who have surrendered to Him and have fixed their intelligence upon Him are not influenced by the modes of nature.”

Text 88:: Thus the Bhagavad-gītā also states again and again that the Absolute Truth always possesses inconceivable power.

Text 89:: [Lord Kṛṣṇa said:] “I am situated in the material world, and the world rests in Me. But at the same time I am not situated in the material world, nor does it rest in Me in truth.

Text 90:: “O Arjuna, you should know this as My inconceivable opulence.” This is the meaning propagated by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Text 91:: That Mahā-puruṣa [Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu] is known as a plenary part of Him who is Lord Nityānanda Balarāma, the favorite associate of Lord Caitanya.

Text 92:: I have thus explained the ninth verse, and now I shall explain the tenth. Please listen with rapt attention.

Text 93:: I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, a partial part of whom is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu sprouts the lotus that is the birthplace of Brahmā, the engineer of the universe. The stem of that lotus is the resting place of the multitude of planets.

Text 94:: After creating millions of universes, the first puruṣa entered into each of them in a separate form, as Śrī Garbhodakaśāyī.

Text 95:: Entering the universe, He found only darkness, with no place in which to reside. Thus He began to consider.

Text 96:: Then He created water from the perspiration of His own body and with that water filled half the universe.

Text 97:: The universe measures five hundred million yojanas. Its length and breadth are one and the same.

Text 98:: After filling half the universe with water, He made His own residence therein and manifested the fourteen worlds in the other half.

Text 99:: There He manifested Vaikuṇṭha as His own abode and rested in the waters on the bed of Lord Śeṣa.

Texts 100-101:: He lay there with Ananta as His bed. Lord Ananta is a divine serpent having thousands of heads, thousands of faces, thousands of eyes and thousands of hands and feet. He is the seed of all incarnations and is the cause of the material world.

Text 102:: From His navel grew a lotus flower, which became the birthplace of Lord Brahmā.

Text 103:: Within the stem of that lotus were the fourteen worlds. Thus the Supreme Lord, as Brahmā, created the entire creation.

Text 104:: And as Lord Viṣṇu He maintains the entire world. Lord Viṣṇu, being beyond all material attributes, has no touch with the material qualities.

Text 105:: Assuming the form of Rudra, He destroys the creation. Thus creation, maintenance and dissolution are created by His will.

Text 106:: He is the Supersoul, Hiraṇyagarbha, the cause of the material world. The universal form is conceived as His expansion.

Text 107:: That Lord Nārāyaṇa is a part of a plenary part of Lord Nityānanda Balarāma, who is the source of all incarnations.

Text 108:: I have thus explained the tenth verse. Now please listen to the meaning of the eleventh verse with all your mind.

Text 109:: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, whose secondary part is the Viṣṇu lying in the ocean of milk. That Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the Supersoul of all living entities and the maintainer of all the universes. Śeṣa Nāga is His further subpart.

Text 110:: The material planets rest within the stem that grows from the lotus navel of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Among these planets are seven oceans.

Text 111:: There, in part of the ocean of milk, lies Śvetadvīpa, the abode of the sustainer, Lord Viṣṇu.

Text 112:: He is the Supersoul of all living entities. He maintains this material world, and He is its Lord.

Text 113:: In the ages and millenniums of Manu, He appears as different incarnations to establish the principles of real religion and vanquish the principles of irreligion.

Text 114:: Unable to see Him, the demigods go to the shore of the ocean of milk and offer prayers to Him.

Text 115:: He then descends to maintain the material world. His unlimited opulences cannot be counted.

Text 116:: That Lord Viṣṇu is but a part of a part of a plenary portion of Lord Nityānanda, who is the source of all incarnations.

Text 117:: That same Lord Viṣṇu, in the form of Lord Śeṣa, holds the planets upon His heads, although He does not know where they are, for He cannot feel their existence upon His heads.

Text 118:: His thousands of extended hoods are adorned with dazzling jewels surpassing the sun.

Text 119:: The universe, which measures five hundred million yojanas in diameter, rests on one of His hoods like a mustard seed.

Text 120:: That Ananta Śeṣa is the devotee incarnation of Godhead. He knows nothing but service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 121:: With His thousands of mouths He sings the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but although He always sings in that way, He does not find an end to the qualities of the Lord.

Text 122:: The four Kumāras hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from His lips, and they in turn repeat it in the transcendental bliss of love of Godhead.

Text 123:: He serves Lord Kṛṣṇa, assuming all the following forms: umbrella, slippers, bedding, pillow, garments, resting chair, residence, sacred thread and throne.

Text 124:: He is thus called Lord Śeṣa, for He has attained the ultimate end of servitude to Kṛṣṇa. He takes many forms for the service of Kṛṣṇa, and thus He serves the Lord.

Text 125:: That person of whom Lord Ananta is a kalā, or part of a plenary part, is Lord Nityānanda Prabhu. Who, therefore, can know the pastimes of Lord Nityānanda?

Text 126:: From these conclusions we can know the limit of the truth of Lord Nityānanda. But what glory is there in calling Him Ananta?

Text 127:: But I accept it as the truth because it has been said by devotees. Since He is the source of all incarnations, everything is possible in Him.

Text 128:: They know that there is no difference between the incarnation and the source of all incarnations. Previously Lord Kṛṣṇa was regarded in the light of different principles by different people.

Text 129:: Some said that Kṛṣṇa was directly Lord Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and some called Him Lord Vāmanadeva incarnate.

Text 130:: Some called Lord Kṛṣṇa an incarnation of Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī. All these names are true; nothing is impossible.

Text 131:: When the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa appears, He is the shelter of all plenary parts. Thus at that time all His plenary portions join in Him.

Text 132:: In whatever form one knows the Lord, one speaks of Him in that way. In this there is no falsity, since everything is possible in Kṛṣṇa.

Text 133:: Therefore Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has exhibited to everyone all the pastimes of all the various incarnations.

Text 134:: Thus Lord Nityānanda has unlimited incarnations. In transcendental emotion He calls Himself a servant of Lord Caitanya.

Text 135:: Sometimes He serves Lord Caitanya as His guru, sometimes as His friend and sometimes as His servant, just as Lord Balarāma played with Lord Kṛṣṇa in these three different moods in Vraja.

Text 136:: Playing like a bull, Lord Balarāma fights with Kṛṣṇa head to head. And sometimes Lord Kṛṣṇa massages the feet of Lord Balarāma.

Text 137:: He considers Himself a servant and knows Kṛṣṇa to be His master. Thus He regards Himself as a fragment of His plenary portion.

Text 138:: “Acting just like ordinary boys, They played like roaring bulls as They fought each other, and They imitated the calls of various animals.”

Text 139:: “Sometimes when Lord Kṛṣṇa’s elder brother, Lord Balarāma, felt tired after playing and lay His head on the lap of a cowherd boy, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself served Him by massaging His feet.”

Text 140:: “Who is this mystic power, and where has she come from? Is she a demigod or a demoness? She must be the illusory energy of My master, Lord Kṛṣṇa, for who else can bewilder Me?”

Text 141:: “What is the value of a throne to Lord Kṛṣṇa? The masters of the various planetary systems accept the dust of His lotus feet on their crowned heads. That dust makes the holy places sacred, and even Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Lakṣmī and I Myself, who are all portions of His plenary portion, eternally carry that dust on our heads.”

Text 142:: Lord Kṛṣṇa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.

Text 143:: Thus Lord Caitanya is also the only controller. All others are His associates or servants.

Texts 144-145:: His elders such as Lord Nityānanda, Advaita Ācārya and Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, as well as His other devotees — whether His juniors, equals or superiors — are all His associates who help Him in His pastimes. Lord Gaurāṅga fulfills His aims with their help.

Text 146:: Śrī Advaita Ācārya and Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu, who are plenary parts of the Lord, are His principal associates. With these two the Lord performs His pastimes in various ways.

Text 147:: Lord Advaita Ācārya is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although Lord Caitanya accepts Him as His preceptor, Advaita Ācārya is a servant of the Lord.

Text 148:: I cannot describe the truth of Advaita Ācārya. He has delivered the entire world by making Lord Kṛṣṇa descend.

Text 149:: Lord Nityānanda Svarūpa formerly appeared as Lakṣmaṇa and served Lord Rāmacandra as His younger brother.

Text 150:: The activities of Lord Rāma were full of suffering, but Lakṣmaṇa, of His own accord, tolerated that suffering.

Text 151:: As a younger brother He could not stop Lord Rāma from His resolution, and so He remained silent, although unhappy in His mind.

Text 152:: When Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared, He [Balarāma] became His elder brother to serve Him to His heart’s content and make Him enjoy all sorts of happiness.

Text 153:: Śrī Rāma and Śrī Lakṣmaṇa, who are plenary portions of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma respectively, entered into Them at the time of Kṛṣṇa’s and Balarāma’s appearance.

Text 154:: Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma present Themselves as younger brother and elder brother, but in the scriptures They are described as the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and His expansion.

Text 155:: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who by His various plenary portions appears in the world in different forms and incarnations such as Lord Rāma, but who personally appears in His supreme original form as Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Text 156:: Lord Caitanya is the same Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Nityānanda is Lord Balarāma. Lord Nityānanda fulfills all of Lord Caitanya’s desires.

Text 157:: The ocean of Lord Nityānanda’s glories is infinite and unfathomable. Only by His mercy can I touch even a drop of it.

Text 158:: Please listen to another glory of His mercy. He made a fallen living entity climb to the highest limit.

Text 159:: To disclose it is not proper, for it should be kept as confidential as the Vedas, yet I shall speak of it to make His mercy known to all.

Text 160:: O Lord Nityānanda, I write of Your mercy out of great exultation. Please forgive me for my offenses.

Text 161:: Lord Nityānanda Prabhu had a servant named Śrī Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa, who was a reservoir of love.

Text 162:: At my house there was saṅkīrtana day and night, and therefore he visited there, having been invited.

Text 163:: Absorbed in emotional love, he sat in my courtyard, and all the Vaiṣṇavas bowed down at his feet.

Text 164:: In a joyful mood of love of God he sometimes climbed upon the shoulder of someone offering obeisances, and sometimes he struck others with his flute or mildly slapped them.

Text 165:: When someone saw the eyes of Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa, tears would automatically flow from his own eyes, for a constant shower of tears flowed from the eyes of Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa.

Text 166:: Sometimes there were eruptions of ecstasy like kadamba flowers on some parts of his body, and sometimes one limb would be stunned while another would be trembling.

Text 167:: Whenever he shouted aloud the name Nityānanda, the people around him were filled with great wonder and astonishment.

Text 168:: One respectable brāhmaṇa named Śrī Guṇārṇava Miśra was serving the Deity.

Text 169:: When Mīnaketana was seated in the yard, this brāhmaṇa did not offer him respect. Seeing this, Śrī Rāmadāsa became angry and spoke.

Text 170:: “Here I find the second Romaharṣaṇa-sūta, who did not stand to show honor when he saw Lord Balarāma.”

Text 171:: After saying this, he danced and sang to his heart’s content, but the brāhmaṇa did not become angry, for he was then serving Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 172:: At the end of the festival Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa went away, offering his blessings to everyone. At that time he had some controversy with my brother.

Text 173:: My brother had firm faith in Lord Caitanya but only a dim glimmer of faith in Lord Nityānanda.

Text 174:: Knowing this, Śrī Rāmadāsa felt unhappy in his mind. I then rebuked my brother.

Text 175:: “These two brothers,” I told him, “are like one body; They are identical manifestations. If you do not believe in Lord Nityānanda, you will fall down.

Text 176:: “If you have faith in one but disrespect the other, your logic is like the logic of accepting half a hen.*

Text 177:: “It would be better to be an atheist by slighting both brothers than a hypocrite by believing in one and slighting the other.”

Text 178:: Thus Śrī Rāmadāsa broke his flute in anger and went away, and at that time my brother fell down.

Text 179:: I have thus described the power of the servants of Lord Nityānanda. Now I shall describe another characteristic of His mercy.

Text 180:: That night Lord Nityānanda appeared to me in a dream because of my good quality in chastising my brother.

Text 181:: In the village of Jhāmaṭapura, which is near Naihāṭi, Lord Nityānanda appeared to me in a dream.

Text 182:: I fell at His feet, offering my obeisances, and He then placed His own lotus feet upon my head.

Text 183:: “Arise! Get up!” He told me again and again. Upon rising, I was greatly astonished to see His beauty.

Text 184:: He had a glossy blackish complexion, and His tall, strong, heroic stature made Him seem like Cupid himself.

Text 185:: He had beautifully formed hands, arms and legs, and eyes like lotus flowers. He wore a silk cloth, with a silk turban on His head.

Text 186:: He wore golden earrings on His ears, and golden armlets and bangles. He wore tinkling anklets on His feet and a garland of flowers around His neck.

Text 187:: His body was anointed with sandalwood pulp, and He was nicely decorated with tilaka. His movements surpassed those of a maddened elephant.

Text 188:: His face was more beautiful than millions upon millions of moons, and His teeth were like pomegranate seeds because of His chewing betel.

Text 189:: His body moved to and fro, right and left, for He was absorbed in ecstasy. He chanted “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa” in a deep voice.

Text 190:: His red stick moving in His hand, He seemed like a maddened lion. All around the four sides of His feet were bumblebees.

Text 191:: His devotees, dressed like cowherd boys, surrounded His feet like so many bees and also chanted “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa,” absorbed in ecstatic love.

Text 192:: Some of them played horns and flutes, and others danced and sang. Some of them offered betel nuts, and others waved cāmara fans about Him.

Text 193:: Thus I saw such opulence in Lord Nityānanda Svarūpa. His wonderful form, qualities and pastimes are all transcendental.

Text 194:: I was overwhelmed with transcendental ecstasy, not knowing anything else. Then Lord Nityānanda smiled and spoke to me as follows.

Text 195:: “O my dear Kṛṣṇadāsa, do not be afraid. Go to Vṛndāvana, for there you will attain all things.”

Text 196:: After saying this, He directed me toward Vṛndāvana by waving His hand. Then He disappeared with His associates.

Text 197:: I fainted and fell to the ground, my dream broke, and when I regained consciousness I saw that morning had come.

Text 198:: I thought about what I had seen and heard and concluded that the Lord had ordered me to proceed to Vṛndāvana at once.

Text 199:: That very second I started for Vṛndāvana, and by His mercy I reached there in great happiness.

Text 200:: All glory, all glory to Lord Nityānanda Balarāma, by whose mercy I have attained shelter in the transcendental abode of Vṛndāvana!

Text 201:: All glory, all glory to the merciful Lord Nityānanda, by whose mercy I have attained shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Sanātana!

Text 202:: By His mercy I have attained the shelter of the great personality Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, and by His mercy I have found the refuge of Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara.

Text 203:: By the mercy of Sanātana Gosvāmī I have learned the final conclusions of devotional service, and by the grace of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī I have tasted the highest nectar of devotional service.

Text 204:: All glory, all glory to the lotus feet of Lord Nityānanda, by whose mercy I have attained Śrī Rādhā-Govinda!

Text 205:: I am more sinful than Jagāi and Mādhāi and even lower than the worms in the stool.

Text 206:: Anyone who hears my name loses the results of his pious activities. Anyone who utters my name becomes sinful.

Text 207:: Who in this world but Nityānanda could show His mercy to such an abominable person as me?

Text 208:: Because He is intoxicated by ecstatic love and is an incarnation of mercy, He does not distinguish between the good and the bad.

Text 209:: He delivers all those who fall down before Him. Therefore He has delivered such a sinful and fallen person as me.

Text 210:: Although I am sinful and I am the most fallen, He has conferred upon me the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Text 211:: I am not fit to speak all these confidential words about my visiting Lord Madana Gopāla and Lord Govinda.

Text 212:: Lord Madana Gopāla, the chief Deity of Vṛndāvana, is the enjoyer of the rāsa dance and is directly the son of the King of Vraja.

Text 213:: He enjoys the rāsa dance with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Śrī Lalitā and others. He manifests Himself as the Cupid of Cupids.

Text 214:: “Wearing yellow garments and decorated with a flower garland, Lord Kṛṣṇa, appearing among the gopīs with His smiling lotus face, looked directly like the charmer of the heart of Cupid.”

Text 215:: With Rādhā and Lalitā serving Him on His two sides, He attracts the hearts of all by His own sweetness.

Text 216:: The mercy of Lord Nityānanda showed me Śrī Madana-mohana and gave me Śrī Madana-mohana as my Lord and master.

Text 217:: He granted to one as low as me the sight of Lord Govinda. Words cannot describe this, nor is it fit to be disclosed.

Texts 218-219:: On an altar made of gems in the principal temple of Vṛndāvana, amidst a forest of desire trees, Lord Govinda, the son of the King of Vraja, sits upon a throne of gems and manifests His full glory and sweetness, thus enchanting the entire world.

Text 220:: By His left side is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Her personal friends. With them Lord Govinda enjoys the rāsa-līlā and many other pastimes.

Text 221:: Lord Brahmā, sitting on his lotus seat in his own abode, always meditates on Him and worships Him with the mantra consisting of eighteen syllables.

Text 222:: Everyone in the fourteen worlds meditates upon Him, and all the denizens of Vaikuṇṭha sing of His qualities and pastimes.

Text 223:: The goddess of fortune is attracted by His sweetness, which Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has described in this way:

Text 224:: “My dear friend, if you are indeed attached to your worldly friends, do not look at the smiling face of Lord Govinda as He stands on the bank of the Yamunā at Keśīghāṭa. Casting sidelong glances, He places His flute to His lips, which seem like newly blossomed twigs. His transcendental body, bending in three places, appears very bright in the moonlight.”

Text 225:: Without a doubt He is directly the son of the King of Vraja. Only a fool considers Him a statue.

Text 226:: For that offense, he cannot be liberated. Rather, he will fall into a terrible hellish condition. What more should I say?

Text 227:: Therefore who can describe the mercy of the lotus feet of Him [Lord Nityānanda] by whom I have attained the shelter of this Lord Govinda?

Text 228:: All the groups of Vaiṣṇavas who live in Vṛndāvana are absorbed in chanting the all-auspicious name of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 229:: Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda are the life and soul of those Vaiṣṇavas, who do not know anything but devotional service to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.

Text 230:: The dust and shade of the lotus feet of the Vaiṣṇavas have been granted to this fallen soul by the mercy of Lord Nityānanda.

Text 231:: Lord Nityānanda said, “In Vṛndāvana all things are possible.” Here I have explained His brief statement in detail.

Text 232:: I have attained all this by coming to Vṛndāvana, and this was made possible by the mercy of Lord Nityānanda.

Text 233:: I have described my own story without reservations. The attributes of Lord Nityānanda, making me like a madman, force me to write these things.

Text 234:: The glories of Lord Nityānanda’s transcendental attributes are unfathomable. Even Lord Śeṣa, with His thousands of mouths, cannot find their limit.

Text 235:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lord Caitanya in Five Features

Text 1:: Let me first offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the ultimate goal of life for one bereft of all possessions in this material world and is the only meaning for one advancing in spiritual life. Thus let me write about His magnanimous contribution of devotional service in love of God.

Text 2:: Let me offer glorification to the Supreme Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One who has taken shelter of His lotus feet is the most glorified person.

Text 3:: In the beginning I have discussed the truth about the spiritual master. Now I shall try to explain the Pañca-tattva.

Text 4:: These five tattvas incarnate with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and thus the Lord executes His saṅkīrtana movement with great pleasure.

Text 5:: Spiritually there are no differences between these five tattvas, for on the transcendental platform everything is absolute. Yet there are also varieties in the spiritual world, and in order to taste these spiritual varieties one should distinguish between them.

Text 6:: Let me offer my obeisances unto Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who has manifested Himself in five as a devotee, expansion of a devotee, incarnation of a devotee, pure devotee and devotional energy.

Text 7:: Kṛṣṇa, the reservoir of all pleasure, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, the supreme controller. No one is greater than or equal to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, yet He appears as the son of Mahārāja Nanda.

Text 8:: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the supreme enjoyer in the rāsa dance. He is the leader of the damsels of Vraja, and all others are simply His associates.

Text 9:: The selfsame Lord Kṛṣṇa advented Himself as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu with all His eternal associates, who are also equally glorious.

Text 10:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the supreme controller, the one Personality of Godhead, has ecstatically become a devotee, yet His body is transcendental and not materially tinged.

Text 11:: The transcendental mellow of conjugal love of Kṛṣṇa is so wonderful that Kṛṣṇa Himself accepts the form of a devotee to relish and taste it fully.

Text 12:: For this reason Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the supreme teacher, accepts the form of a devotee and accepts Lord Nityānanda as His elder brother.

Text 13:: Śrī Advaita Ācārya is Lord Caitanya’s incarnation as a devotee. Therefore these three tattvas [Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Gosāñi] are the predominators, or masters.

Text 14:: One of Them is Mahāprabhu, and the other two are prabhus. These two prabhus serve the lotus feet of Mahāprabhu.

Text 15:: The three predominators [Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu] are worshipable by all living entities, and the fourth principle [Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu] is to be understood as Their worshiper.

Text 16:: There are innumerable pure devotees of the Lord, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, who are known as unalloyed devotees.

Text 17:: The devotees headed by Gadādhara Paṇḍita are to be considered incarnations of the internal potency of the Lord. They are confidential devotees engaged in the service of the Lord.

Texts 18-19:: The internal devotees or potencies are all eternal associates in the pastimes of the Lord. Only with them does the Lord advent to propound the saṅkīrtana movement, only with them does the Lord taste the mellow of conjugal love, and only with them does He distribute this love of God to people in general.

Texts 20-21:: The characteristics of Kṛṣṇa are understood to be a storehouse of transcendental love. Although that storehouse of love certainly came with Kṛṣṇa when He was present, it was sealed. But when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came with His associates of the Pañca-tattva, they broke the seal and plundered the storehouse to taste transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa. The more they tasted it, the more their thirst for it grew.

Text 22:: Śrī Pañca-tattva themselves danced again and again and thus made it easier to drink nectarean love of Godhead. They danced, cried, laughed and chanted like madmen, and in this way they distributed love of Godhead.

Text 23:: In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity, the members of the Pañca-tattva distributed love of Godhead.

Text 24:: Although the members of the Pañca-tattva plundered the storehouse of love of Godhead and ate and distributed its contents, there was no scarcity, for this wonderful storehouse is so complete that as the love is distributed, the supply increases hundreds of times.

Text 25:: The flood of love of Godhead swelled in all directions, and thus young men, old men, women and children were all immersed in that inundation.

Text 26:: The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will inundate the entire world and drown everyone, whether one be a gentleman, a rogue or even lame, invalid or blind.

Text 27:: When the five members of the Pañca-tattva saw the entire world drowned in love of Godhead and the seed of material enjoyment in the living entities completely destroyed, they all became exceedingly happy.

Text 28:: The more the five members of the Pañca-tattva cause the rains of love of Godhead to fall, the more the inundation increases and spreads all over the world.

Texts 29-30:: The impersonalists, fruitive workers, false logicians, blasphemers, nondevotees and lowest among the student community are very expert in avoiding the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and therefore the inundation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot touch them.

Texts 31-32:: Seeing that the Māyāvādīs and others were fleeing, Lord Caitanya thought, “I wanted everyone to be immersed in this inundation of love of Godhead, but some of them have escaped. Therefore I shall devise a trick to drown them also.”

Text 33:: Thus the Lord accepted the sannyāsa order of life after full consideration.

Text 34:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu remained in householder life for twenty-four years, and on the verge of His twenty-fifth year He accepted the sannyāsa order.

Text 35:: After accepting the sannyāsa order, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu attracted the attention of all those who had evaded Him, beginning with the logicians.

Text 36:: Thus the students, infidels, fruitive workers and critics all came to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord.

Text 37:: Lord Caitanya excused them all, and they merged into the ocean of devotional service, for no one can escape the unique loving network of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 38:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in order to deliver all the fallen souls. Therefore He devised many methods to liberate them from the clutches of māyā.

Text 39:: All were converted into devotees of Lord Caitanya, even the mlecchas and yavanas. Only the impersonalist followers of Śaṅkarācārya evaded Him.

Text 40:: While Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was passing through Vārāṇasī on His way to Vṛndāvana, the Māyāvādī sannyāsī philosophers blasphemed against Him in many ways.

Text 41:: The blasphemers said, “Although a sannyāsī, He does not take interest in the study of Vedānta but instead always engages in chanting and dancing in saṅkīrtana.

Text 42:: “This Caitanya Mahāprabhu is an illiterate sannyāsī and therefore does not know His real function. Guided only by His sentiments, He wanders about in the company of other sentimentalists.”

Text 43:: Hearing all this blasphemy, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu merely smiled to Himself, rejected all these accusations and did not talk with the Māyāvādīs.

Text 44:: Thus neglecting the blasphemy of the Vārāṇasī Māyāvādīs, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu proceeded to Mathurā, and after visiting Mathurā He returned to meet the situation.

Text 45:: This time Lord Caitanya stayed at the house of Candraśekhara, although he was regarded as a śūdra or kāyastha, for the Lord, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is completely independent.

Text 46:: As a matter of principle, Lord Caitanya regularly accepted His food at the house of Tapana Miśra. He never mixed with other sannyāsīs, nor did He accept invitations from them.

Text 47:: When Sanātana Gosvāmī came from Bengal, he met Lord Caitanya at the house of Tapana Miśra, where Lord Caitanya remained continuously for two months to teach him devotional service.

Text 48:: On the basis of scriptures like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which reveal these confidential directions, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed Sanātana Gosvāmī regarding all the regular activities of a devotee.

Text 49:: While Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was instructing Sanātana Gosvāmī, both Candraśekhara and Tapana Miśra became very unhappy. Therefore they submitted an appeal unto the lotus feet of the Lord.

Text 50:: “How long can we tolerate the blasphemy by Your critics against Your conduct? We should give up our lives rather than hear such blasphemy.

Text 51:: “The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs are all criticizing Your Holiness. We cannot tolerate hearing such criticism, for this blasphemy breaks our hearts.”

Text 52:: While Tapana Miśra and Candraśekhara were thus talking with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He only smiled slightly and remained silent. At that time a brāhmaṇa came there to meet the Lord.

Text 53:: The brāhmaṇa immediately fell at the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and requested Him to accept his proposal in a joyful mood.

Text 54:: “My dear Lord, I have invited all the sannyāsīs of Benares to my home. My desires will be fulfilled if You also accept my invitation.

Text 55:: “My dear Lord, I know that You never mix with other sannyāsīs, but please be merciful unto me and accept my invitation.”

Text 56:: Lord Caitanya smiled and accepted the invitation of the brāhmaṇa. He made this gesture to show His mercy to the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs.

Text 57:: The brāhmaṇa knew that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu never went to anyone else’s house, yet due to inspiration from the Lord he earnestly requested Him to accept this invitation.

Text 58:: The next day, when Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the house of that brāhmaṇa, He saw all the sannyāsīs of Benares sitting there.

Text 59:: As soon as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the sannyāsīs He immediately offered obeisances, and then He went to wash His feet. After washing His feet, He sat down by the place where He had done so.

Text 60:: After sitting on the ground, Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His mystic power by manifesting an effulgence as brilliant as the illumination of millions of suns.

Text 61:: When the sannyāsīs saw the brilliant illumination of the body of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, their minds were attracted, and they all immediately gave up their sitting places and stood in respect.

Text 62:: The leader of all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs present was named Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, and after standing up he addressed Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu as follows with great respect.

Text 63:: “Please come here. Please come here, Your Holiness. Why do You sit in that unclean place? What has caused Your lamentation?”

Text 64:: The Lord replied, “I belong to a lower order of sannyāsīs. Therefore I do not deserve to sit with you.”

Text 65:: Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, however, caught Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally by the hand and seated Him with great respect in the midst of the assembly.

Text 66:: Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī then said, “I understand that Your name is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. You are a disciple of Śrī Keśava Bhāratī, and therefore You are glorious.

Text 67:: “You belong to our Śaṅkara-sampradāya and live in our village, Vārāṇasī. Why then do You not associate with us? Why is it that You avoid even seeing us?

Text 68:: “You are a sannyāsī. Why then do You indulge in chanting and dancing, engaging in Your saṅkīrtana movement in the company of fanatics?

Text 69:: “Meditation and the study of Vedānta are the sole duties of a sannyāsī. Why do You abandon these to dance with fanatics?

Text 70:: “You look as brilliant as if You were Nārāyaṇa Himself. Will You kindly explain the reason that You have adopted the behavior of lower-class people?”

Text 71:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, “My dear sir, kindly hear the reason. My spiritual master considered Me a fool, and therefore he chastised Me.

Text 72:: “ ‘You are a fool,’ he said. ‘You are not qualified to study Vedānta philosophy, and therefore You must always chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. This is the essence of all mantras, or Vedic hymns.

Text 73:: “ ‘Simply by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra one will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord.

Text 74:: “ ‘In this Age of Kali there is no religious principle other than the chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all Vedic hymns. This is the purport of all scriptures.’

Text 75:: “After describing the potency of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, My spiritual master taught Me another verse, advising Me to always keep it within My throat.

Text 76:: “ ‘For spiritual progress in this Age of Kali, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative to the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord.’

Text 77:: “Since I received this order from My spiritual master, I always chant the holy name, but I thought that by chanting and chanting the holy name I had been bewildered.

Text 78:: “While chanting the holy name of the Lord in pure ecstasy, I lose Myself, and thus I laugh, cry, dance and sing just like a madman.

Text 79:: “Collecting My patience, therefore, I began to consider that chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa had covered all My spiritual knowledge.

Text 80:: “I saw that I had become mad by chanting the holy name, and I immediately submitted this at the lotus feet of my spiritual master.

Text 81:: “ ‘My dear lord, what kind of mantra have you given Me? I have become mad simply by chanting this mahā-mantra!

Text 82:: “ ‘Chanting the holy name in ecstasy causes Me to dance, laugh and cry.’ When My spiritual master heard all this, he smiled and then began to speak.

Text 83:: “ ‘It is the nature of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra that anyone who chants it immediately develops his loving ecstasy for Kṛṣṇa.

Text 84:: “ ‘Religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation are known as the four goals of life, but before love of Godhead, the fifth and highest goal, these appear as insignificant as straw in the street.

Text 85:: “ ‘For a devotee who has actually developed bhāva, the pleasure derived from dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa appears like a drop in the presence of the sea.

Text 86:: “ ‘The conclusion of all revealed scriptures is that one should awaken his dormant love of Godhead. You are greatly fortunate to have already done so.

Text 87:: “ ‘It is a characteristic of love of Godhead that by nature it induces transcendental symptoms in one’s body and makes one more and more greedy to achieve the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.

Text 88:: “ ‘When one actually develops love of Godhead, he naturally sometimes cries, sometimes laughs, sometimes chants and sometimes runs here and there just like a madman.

Texts 89-90:: “ ‘Perspiration, trembling, standing on end of one’s bodily hairs, tears, faltering voice, fading complexion, madness, melancholy, patience, pride, joy and humility — these are various natural symptoms of ecstatic love of Godhead, which causes a devotee to dance and float in an ocean of transcendental bliss while chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.

Text 91:: “ ‘It is very good, my dear child, that You have attained the supreme goal of life by developing love of Godhead. Thus You have pleased me very much, and I am very much obliged to You.

Text 92:: “ ‘My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing saṅkīrtana in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting kṛṣṇa-nāma, for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls.’

Text 93:: “Saying this, My spiritual master taught Me a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is the essence of all the Bhāgavatam’s instructions; therefore he recited this verse again and again.

Text 94:: “ ‘When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders.’

Texts 95-96:: “I firmly believe in these words of My spiritual master, and therefore I always chant the holy name of the Lord, alone and in the association of devotees. That holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes causes Me to chant and dance, and therefore I chant and dance. Please do not think that I intentionally do it. I do it automatically.

Text 97:: “Compared to the ocean of transcendental bliss that one tastes by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization [brahmānanda] is like the shallow water in a canal.

Text 98:: “ ‘My dear Lord, O master of the universe, since I have directly seen You, my transcendental bliss has taken the shape of a great ocean. Being situated in that ocean, I now realize all other so-called happiness to be like the water contained in the hoofprint of a calf.’ ”

Text 99:: After hearing Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were moved. Their minds changed, and thus they spoke with pleasing words.

Text 100:: “Dear Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, what You have said is all true. Only one who is favored by fortune attains love of Godhead.

Text 101:: “Dear Sir, there is no objection to Your being a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Everyone is satisfied with this. But why do You avoid discussion on the Vedānta-sūtra? What is the fault in it?”

Text 102:: After hearing the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs speak in that way, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu smiled slightly and said, “My dear sirs, if you don’t mind I can say something to you regarding Vedānta philosophy.”

Text 103:: Hearing this, the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs became somewhat humble and addressed Caitanya Mahāprabhu as Nārāyaṇa Himself, who they all agreed He was.

Text 104:: “Dear Caitanya Mahāprabhu,” they said, “to tell You the truth, we are greatly pleased to hear Your words, and furthermore Your bodily features are so pleasing that we feel extraordinary satisfaction in seeing You.

Text 105:: “Dear Sir, by Your influence our minds are greatly satisfied, and we believe that Your words will never be unreasonable. Therefore You may speak on the Vedānta-sūtra.”

Text 106:: The Lord said, “Vedānta philosophy consists of words spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa in the form of Vyāsadeva.

Text 107:: “The material defects of mistakes, illusions, cheating and sensory inefficiency do not exist in the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Text 108:: “The Absolute Truth is described in the Upaniṣads and Brahma-sūtra, but one must understand the verses as they are. That is the supreme glory in understanding.

Text 109:: “Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has described all the Vedic literatures in terms of indirect meanings. One who hears such explanations is ruined.

Text 110:: “Śaṅkarācārya is not at fault, for it is under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that he has covered the real purport of the Vedas.

Text 111:: “According to direct understanding, the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has all spiritual opulences. No one can be equal to or greater than Him.

Text 112:: “Everything about the Supreme Personality of Godhead is spiritual, including His body, opulence and paraphernalia. Māyāvāda philosophy, however, covering His spiritual opulence, advocates the theory of impersonalism.

Text 113:: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of spiritual potencies. Therefore His body, name, fame and entourage are all spiritual. The Māyāvādī philosopher, due to ignorance, says that these are all merely transformations of the material mode of goodness.

Text 114:: “Śaṅkarācārya, who is an incarnation of Lord Śiva, is faultless because he is a servant carrying out the orders of the Lord. But those who follow his Māyāvādī philosophy are doomed. They will lose all their advancement in spiritual knowledge.

Text 115:: “One who considers the transcendental body of Lord Viṣṇu to be made of material nature is the greatest offender at the lotus feet of the Lord. There is no greater blasphemy against the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Text 116:: “The Lord is like a great blazing fire, and the living entities are like small sparks of that fire.

Text 117:: “The living entities are energies, not the energetic. The energetic is Kṛṣṇa. This is very vividly described in the Bhagavad-gītā, the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and other Vedic literatures.

Text 118:: “ ‘Besides these inferior energies, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.’

Text 119:: “ ‘The potency of Lord Viṣṇu is summarized in three categories — namely, the spiritual potency, the living entities and ignorance. The spiritual potency is full of knowledge; the living entities, although belonging to the spiritual potency, are subject to bewilderment; and the third energy, which is full of ignorance, is always visible in fruitive activities.’

Text 120:: “The Māyāvāda philosophy is so degraded that it has taken the insignificant living entities to be the Lord, the Supreme Truth, thus covering the glory and supremacy of the Absolute Truth with monism.

Text 121:: “In his Vedānta-sūtra Śrīla Vyāsadeva has described that everything is but a transformation of the energy of the Lord. Śaṅkarācārya, however, has misled the world by commenting that Vyāsadeva was mistaken. Thus he has raised great opposition to theism throughout the entire world.

Text 122:: “According to Śaṅkarācārya, by accepting the theory of the transformation of the energy of the Lord, one creates an illusion by indirectly accepting that the Absolute Truth is transformed.

Text 123:: “Transformation of energy is a proven fact. It is the false bodily conception of the self that is an illusion.

Text 124:: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is opulent in all respects. Therefore by His inconceivable energies He has transformed the material cosmic manifestation.

Text 125:: “Using the example of a touchstone, which by its energy turns iron to gold and yet remains the same, we can understand that although the Supreme Personality of Godhead transforms His innumerable energies, He remains unchanged.

Text 126:: “Although a touchstone produces many varieties of valuable jewels, it nevertheless remains the same. It does not change its original form.

Text 127:: “If there is such inconceivable potency in material objects, why should we not believe in the inconceivable potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

Text 128:: “The Vedic sound vibration oṁkāra, the principal word in the Vedic literatures, is the basis of all Vedic vibrations. Therefore one should accept oṁkāra as the sound representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the reservoir of the cosmic manifestation.

Text 129:: “It is the purpose of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to present praṇava [oṁkāra] as the reservoir of all Vedic knowledge. The words ‘tat tvam asi’ are only a partial explanation of the Vedic knowledge.

Text 130:: “Praṇava [oṁkāra] is the mahā-vākya [mahā-mantra] in the Vedas. Śaṅkarācārya’s followers cover this to stress without authority the mantra tat tvam asi.

Text 131:: “In all the Vedic sūtras and literatures, it is Lord Kṛṣṇa who is to be understood, but the followers of Śaṅkarācārya have covered the real meaning of the Vedas with indirect explanations.

Text 132:: “The self-evident Vedic literatures are the highest evidence of all, but if these literatures are interpreted, their self-evident nature is lost.

Text 133:: “To prove their philosophy, the members of the Māyāvāda school have given up the real, easily understood meaning of the Vedic literature and introduced indirect meanings based on their imaginative powers.”

Text 134:: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu thus showed for each and every sūtra the defects in Śaṅkarācārya’s explanations, all the assembled Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were struck with wonder.

Text 135:: All the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs said, “Your Holiness, kindly know from us that we actually have no quarrel with Your refutation of these meanings, for You have given a clear understanding of the sūtras.

Text 136:: “We know that all this word jugglery springs from the imagination of Śaṅkarācārya, and yet because we belong to his sect, we accept it although it does not satisfy us.

Text 137:: “Now let us see,” the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs continued, “how well You can describe the sūtras in terms of their direct meaning.” Hearing this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu began His direct explanation of the Vedānta-sūtra.

Text 138:: “Brahman, who is greater than the greatest, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is full in six opulences, and therefore He is the reservoir of ultimate truth and absolute knowledge.

Text 139:: “In His original form the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full with transcendental opulences, which are free from the contamination of the material world. It is to be understood that in all Vedic literature the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal.

Text 140:: “When we speak of the Supreme as impersonal, we deny His spiritual potencies. Logically, if you accept half of the truth, you cannot understand the whole.

Text 141:: “It is only by devotional service, beginning with hearing, that one can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the only means to approach Him.

Text 142:: “By practicing this regulated devotional service under the direction of the spiritual master, certainly one awakens his dormant love of Godhead. This process is called abhidheya.

Text 143:: “If one develops his love of Godhead and becomes attached to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, gradually he loses his attachment to everything else.

Text 144:: “Love of Godhead is so exalted that it is considered to be the fifth goal of human life. By awakening one’s love of Godhead, one can attain the platform of conjugal love, tasting it even during the present span of life.

Text 145:: “The Supreme Lord, who is greater than the greatest, becomes submissive to even a very insignificant devotee because of his devotional service. It is the beautiful and exalted nature of devotional service that the infinite Lord becomes submissive to the infinitesimal living entity because of it. In reciprocal devotional activities with the Lord, the devotee actually enjoys the transcendental mellow of devotional service.

Text 146:: “One’s relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, activities in terms of that relationship, and the ultimate goal of life [to develop love of God] — these three subjects are explained in every aphorism of the Vedānta-sūtra, for they form the culmination of the entire Vedānta philosophy.”

Text 147:: When all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs thus heard the explanation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu on the basis of sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana, they spoke very humbly.

Text 148:: “Dear Sir, You are Vedic knowledge personified and are directly Nārāyaṇa Himself. Kindly excuse us for the offenses we previously committed by criticizing You.”

Text 149:: From that moment when the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs heard the explanation of the Vedānta-sūtra from the Lord, their minds changed, and on the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they too chanted “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” always.

Text 150:: Thus Lord Caitanya excused all the offenses of the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs and very mercifully blessed them with kṛṣṇa-nāma.

Text 151:: After this, all the sannyāsīs took the Lord into their midst, and thus they all took their meal together.

Text 152:: After taking lunch among the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is known as Gaurasundara, returned to His residence. Thus the Lord performs His wonderful pastimes.

Text 153:: Hearing the arguments of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and seeing His victory, Candraśekhara, Tapana Miśra and Sanātana Gosvāmī were all extremely pleased.

Text 154:: Many Māyāvādī sannyāsīs of Vārāṇasī came to see the Lord after this incident, and the entire city praised Him.

Text 155:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited the city of Vārāṇasī, and all of its people were very thankful.

Text 156:: The crowd at the door of His residence was so great that it numbered hundreds of thousands.

Text 157:: When the Lord went to visit the temple of Viśveśvara, hundreds of thousands of people assembled to see Him.

Text 158:: Whenever Lord Caitanya went to the banks of the Ganges to take His bath, big crowds of many hundreds of thousands of people assembled there.

Text 159:: Whenever the crowds were too great, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stood up, raised His hands and chanted, “Hari! Hari!” to which all the people responded, filling both the land and sky with the vibration.

Text 160:: After thus delivering the people in general, the Lord desired to leave Vārāṇasī. After instructing Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, He sent him toward Vṛndāvana.

Text 161:: Because the city of Vārāṇasī was always full of tumultuous crowds, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after sending Sanātana to Vṛndāvana, returned to Jagannātha Purī.

Text 162:: I have here given a brief account of these pastimes of Lord Caitanya, but later I shall describe them in an extensive way.

Text 163:: Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates of the Pañca-tattva distributed the holy name of the Lord to invoke love of Godhead throughout the universe, and thus the entire universe was thankful.

Text 164:: Lord Caitanya dispatched the two generals Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī to Vṛndāvana to preach the bhakti cult.

Text 165:: As Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were sent toward Mathurā, so Nityānanda Prabhu was sent to Bengal to preach extensively the cult of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 166:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally went to South India, and He broadcast the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa in every village and town.

Text 167:: Thus the Lord went to the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula, known as Setubandha [Cape Comorin]. Everywhere He distributed the bhakti cult and love of Kṛṣṇa, and in this way He delivered everyone.

Text 168:: I have thus explained the truth of the Pañca-tattva. One who hears this explanation increases in knowledge of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 169:: While chanting the Pañca-tattva mahā-mantra, one must chant the names of Śrī Caitanya, Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa with their many devotees. This is the process.

Text 170:: I again and again offer obeisances unto the Pañca-tattva. Thus I think that I will be able to describe something about the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 171:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Author Receives the Orders of Kṛṣṇa and Guru

The eighth chapter of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is summarized by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. In this chapter the glories of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda are described, and it is also stated that one who commits offenses in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra does not achieve love of Godhead, even after chanting for many years. In this connection, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura warns against artificial displays of the bodily symptoms called aṣṭa-sāttvika-vikāra. That is also an offense. One should seriously and sincerely continue to chant the Pañca-tattva names śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. All these ācāryas will bestow their causeless mercy upon a devotee and gradually purify his heart. When he is actually purified, automatically he will experience ecstasy in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Previous to the composition of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura wrote a book called Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata. Only those subjects which were not discussed by Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura in his Caitanya-bhāgavata have been taken up by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī to be depicted in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. In his very old age, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana, and by the order of Śrī Madana-mohanajī he wrote Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Thus we are now able to relish its transcendental bliss.

Text 1:: I offer my respects to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by whose desire I have become like a dancing dog and suddenly taken to the writing of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, although I am a fool.

Text 2:: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is known as Gaurasundara. I also offer my respectful obeisances unto Nityānanda Prabhu, who is always very joyful.

Text 3:: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Advaita Ācārya, who is very merciful, and also to that great personality Gadādhara Paṇḍita, the learned scholar.

Text 4:: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and all the other devotees of the Lord. I fall down to offer them respect. I worship their lotus feet.

Text 5:: By remembering the lotus feet of the Pañca-tattva, a dumb man can become a poet, a lame man can cross mountains, and a blind man can see the stars in the sky.

Text 6:: The education cultivated by so-called learned scholars who do not believe these statements of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is like the tumultuous croaking of frogs.

Text 7:: One who does not accept the glories of the Pañca-tattva but still makes a show of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa can never achieve the mercy of Kṛṣṇa or advance to the ultimate goal.

Text 8:: Formerly kings like Jarāsandha [the father-in-law of Kaṁsa] strictly followed the Vedic rituals, thus worshiping Lord Viṣṇu.

Text 9:: One who does not accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is certainly a demon. Similarly, anyone who does not accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as Kṛṣṇa, the same Supreme Lord, is also to be considered a demon.

Text 10:: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu thought, “Unless people accept Me they will all be destroyed.” Thus the merciful Lord accepted the sannyāsa order.

Text 11:: “If a person offers obeisances to Me, even due to accepting Me only as an ordinary sannyāsī, his material distresses will diminish, and he will ultimately get liberation.”

Text 12:: One who does not show respect unto this merciful Lord, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, or does not worship Him should be considered a demon, even if he is very much exalted in human society.

Text 13:: Therefore I say again, lifting my arms: O fellow human beings, please worship Śrī Caitanya and Nityānanda without false arguments!

Text 14:: Logicians say, “Unless one gains understanding through logic and argument, how can one decide upon a worshipable Deity?”

Text 15:: If you are indeed interested in logic and argument, kindly apply it to the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If you do so, you will find it to be strikingly wonderful.

Text 16:: If one is infested with the ten offenses in the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, despite his endeavor to chant the holy name for many births, he will not get the love of Godhead that is the ultimate goal of this chanting.

Text 17:: “By cultivating philosophical knowledge one can understand his spiritual position and thus be liberated, and by performing sacrifices and pious activities one can achieve sense gratification in a higher planetary system, but the devotional service of the Lord is so rare that even by executing hundreds and thousands of such sacrifices one cannot obtain it.”

Text 18:: If a devotee wants liberation or material sense gratification from the Lord, Kṛṣṇa immediately delivers it, but pure devotional service He keeps hidden.

Text 19:: [The great sage Śukadeva said:] “My dear Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa is always ready to help you. He is your master, guru, God, and very dear friend, and also the head of your family. Yet sometimes He agrees to act as your servant or order-carrier. You are greatly fortunate because this relationship is possible only by bhakti-yoga. The Lord can give liberation [mukti] very easily, but He does not very easily give one bhakti-yoga, because by that process He is bound to the devotee.”

Text 20:: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has freely given this love of Kṛṣṇa everywhere and anywhere, even to the most fallen, such as Jagāi and Mādhāi. What then to speak of those who are already pious and elevated?

Text 21:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, is fully independent. Therefore, although it is the most confidentially stored benediction, He can distribute love of Godhead to anyone and everyone without consideration.

Text 22:: Whether he is offensive or inoffensive, anyone who even now chants śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda is immediately overwhelmed with ecstasy, and tears fill his eyes.

Text 23:: Simply by talking of Nityānanda Prabhu one awakens his love for Kṛṣṇa. Thus all his bodily limbs are agitated by ecstasy, and tears flow from his eyes like the waters of the Ganges.

Text 24:: There are offenses to be considered while chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Therefore simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa one does not become ecstatic.

Text 25:: “If one’s heart does not change, tears do not flow from his eyes, his body does not shiver, and his bodily hairs do not stand on end as he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, it should be understood that his heart is as hard as iron. This is due to his offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord’s holy name.”

Text 26:: Simply chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without offenses vanquishes all sinful activities. Thus pure devotional service, which is the cause of love of Godhead, becomes manifest.

Text 27:: When one’s transcendental loving service to the Lord is actually awakened, it generates transformations in the body such as perspiration, trembling, throbbing of the heart, faltering of the voice and tears in the eyes.

Text 28:: As a result of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one makes such great advancement in spiritual life that simultaneously his material existence terminates and he receives love of Godhead. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is so powerful that by chanting even one name, one very easily achieves these transcendental riches.

Texts 29-30:: If one chants the exalted holy name of the Lord again and again and yet his love for the Supreme Lord does not develop and tears do not appear in his eyes, it is evident that because of his offenses in chanting, the seed of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa does not sprout.

Text 31:: But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.

Text 32:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead, is greatly magnanimous. Unless one worships Him, one can never be liberated.

Text 33:: O fools, just read Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala! By reading this book you can understand all the glories of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 34:: As Vyāsadeva has compiled all the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa has depicted the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

Text 35:: Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa has composed Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala. Hearing this book annihilates all misfortune.

Text 36:: By reading Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala one can understand all the glories and truths of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda and come to the ultimate conclusion of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 37:: In Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala [later known as Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata] Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has given the conclusion and essence of devotional service by quoting the authoritative statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Text 38:: If even a great atheist hears Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala, he immediately becomes a great devotee.

Text 39:: The subject matter of this book is so sublime that it appears that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has personally spoken through the writings of Śrī Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura.

Text 40:: I offer millions of obeisances unto the lotus feet of Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura. No one else could write such a wonderful book for the deliverance of all fallen souls.

Text 41:: Nārāyaṇī eternally eats the remnants of the food of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura was born of her womb.

Text 42:: What a wonderful description he has given of the pastimes of Lord Caitanya! Anyone in the three worlds who hears it is purified.

Text 43:: I fervently appeal to everyone to adopt the method of devotional service given by Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda and thus be freed from the miseries of material existence and ultimately achieve the loving service of the Lord.

Text 44:: Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has written Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala and therein described in all respects the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

Text 45:: He first summarized all the pastimes of the Lord and later described them vividly in detail.

Text 46:: The pastimes of Lord Caitanya are unlimited and unfathomable. Therefore, in describing all those pastimes, the book became voluminous.

Text 47:: He saw them to be so extensive that he later felt that some had not been properly described.

Text 48:: He ecstatically described the pastimes of Lord Nityānanda, but the later pastimes of Caitanya Mahāprabhu remained untold.

Text 49:: The devotees of Vṛndāvana were all very anxious to hear those pastimes.

Text 50:: In Vṛndāvana, in a great place of pilgrimage underneath the desire trees, is a golden throne bedecked with jewels.

Text 51:: On that throne sits the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Śrī Govindadeva, the transcendental Cupid.

Text 52:: Varieties of majestic service are rendered to Govinda there. His garments, ornaments and paraphernalia are all transcendental.

Text 53:: In that temple of Govindajī, thousands of servitors always render service to the Lord in devotion. Even with thousands of mouths, one could not describe this service.

Text 54:: In that temple the chief servitor was Śrī Haridāsa Paṇḍita. His qualities and fame are known all over the world.

Text 55:: He was gentle, tolerant, peaceful, magnanimous, grave, sweet in his words and very sober in his endeavors.

Text 56:: He was respectful to everyone and worked for the benefit of all. Diplomacy, envy and jealousy were unknown to his heart.

Text 57:: The fifty qualities of Lord Kṛṣṇa were all present in his body.

Text 58:: “In one who has unflinching devotional faith in Kṛṣṇa, all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa and the demigods are consistently manifested. However, one who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord.”

Text 59:: Ananta Ācārya was a disciple of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. His body was always absorbed in love of Godhead. He was magnanimous and advanced in all respects.

Text 60:: Ananta Ācārya was a reservoir of all good qualities. No one can estimate how great he was. Paṇḍita Haridāsa was his beloved disciple.

Text 61:: Paṇḍita Haridāsa had great faith in Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda. Therefore he took great satisfaction in knowing about Their pastimes and qualities.

Text 62:: He always accepted the good qualities of Vaiṣṇavas and never found fault in them. He engaged his heart and soul only to satisfy the Vaiṣṇavas.

Text 63:: He always heard the reading of Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala, and all the other Vaiṣṇavas used to hear it by his grace.

Text 64:: Like the full moon, he illuminated the entire assembly of Vaiṣṇavas by speaking Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala, and by the nectar of his qualities he increased their transcendental bliss.

Text 65:: By his causeless mercy he ordered me to write about the last pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 66:: Govinda Gosāñi, the priest engaged in the service of Lord Govinda in Vṛndāvana, was a disciple of Kāśīśvara Gosāñi. There was no servant more dear to the Govinda Deity.

Text 67:: Śrī Yādavācārya Gosāñi, a constant associate of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, was also very enthusiastic in hearing and chanting about Lord Caitanya’s pastimes.

Text 68:: Bhūgarbha Gosāñi, a disciple of Paṇḍita Gosāñi, was always engaged in topics regarding Lord Caitanya, knowing nothing else.

Text 69:: Among his disciples were Caitanya dāsa, who was a priest of the Govinda Deity, as well as Mukundānanda Cakravartī and the great devotee Kṛṣṇadāsa.

Text 70:: Among the disciples of Ananta Ācārya was Śivānanda Cakravartī, in whose heart Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda constantly dwelled.

Text 71:: In Vṛndāvana there were also many other great devotees, all of whom desired to hear the last pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

Text 72:: By their mercy, all these devotees ordered me to write of the last pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Because of their order only, although I am shameless, I have attempted to write this Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Text 73:: Having received the order of the Vaiṣṇavas but being anxious within my heart, I went to the temple of Madana-mohana in Vṛndāvana to ask His permission also.

Text 74:: When I visited the temple of Madana-mohana, the priest Gosāñi dāsa was serving the feet of the Lord, and I also prayed at the Lord’s lotus feet.

Text 75:: When I prayed to the Lord for permission, a garland from His neck immediately slipped down.

Text 76:: As soon as this happened, the Vaiṣṇavas standing there all loudly chanted, “Haribol!” and the priest, Gosāñi dāsa, brought me the garland and put it around my neck.

Text 77:: I was greatly pleased to have the garland signifying the order of the Lord, and then and there I commenced to write this book.

Text 78:: Actually Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not my writing but the dictation of Śrī Madana-mohana. My writing is like the repetition of a parrot.

Text 79:: As a wooden doll is made to dance by a magician, I write as Madana-gopāla orders me to do so.

Text 80:: I accept as my family Deity Madana-mohana, whose worshipers are Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī.

Text 81:: I took permission from Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura by praying at his lotus feet, and upon receiving his order I have attempted to write this auspicious literature.

Text 82:: Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura is the authorized writer on the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. Without his mercy, therefore, one cannot describe these pastimes.

Text 83:: I am foolish, lowborn and insignificant, and I always desire material enjoyment; yet by the order of the Vaiṣṇavas I am greatly enthusiastic to write this transcendental literature.

Text 84:: The lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī are my source of strength. Remembering their lotus feet can fulfill all one’s desires.

Text 85:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps

CHAPTER NINE

The Desire Tree of Devotional Service

A summary of chapter nine has been given as follows by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. In this chapter the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta has devised a figurative example by describing “the desire tree of bhakti.” He considers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is known as Viśvambhara, to be the gardener of this tree because He is the main personality who has taken charge of it. As the supreme enjoyer, He enjoyed the fruits Himself and distributed them as well. The seed of the tree was first sown in Navadvīpa, the birth site of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then the tree was brought to Puruṣottama-kṣetra (Jagannātha Purī), and then to Vṛndāvana. The seed fructified first in Śrīla Mādhavendra Purī, and then in his disciple Śrī Īśvara Purī. It is figuratively described that both the tree itself and the trunk of the tree are Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Paramānanda Purī and eight other great sannyāsīs are like the spreading roots of the tree. From the main trunk there extend two special branches, Advaita Prabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, and from those branches grow other branches and twigs. The tree surrounds the entire world, and the fruits of the tree are to be distributed to everyone. In this way the tree of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu intoxicates the entire world. It should be noted that this is a figurative example meant to explain the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 1:: Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the spiritual master of the entire world, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by whose mercy even a dog can swim across a great ocean.

Text 2:: All glories to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari! All glories to Advaita Ācārya and Nityānanda Prabhu!

Text 3:: All glories to the devotees of Lord Caitanya, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura! In order to fulfill all my desires, I remember their lotus feet.

Text 4:: I also remember the six Gosvāmīs — Rūpa, Sanātana, Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa and Dāsa Raghunātha.

Text 5:: It is by the mercy of all these Vaiṣṇavas and gurus that I attempt to write about the pastimes and qualities of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Whether I know it or know not, it is for self-purification that I write this book.

Text 6:: I take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who Himself is the tree of transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa, its gardener and also the bestower and enjoyer of its fruits.

Text 7:: Lord Caitanya thought, “My name is Viśvambhara, ‘one who maintains the entire universe.’ Its meaning will be actualized if I can fill the whole universe with love of Godhead.”

Text 8:: Thinking in this way, He accepted the duty of a planter and began to grow a garden in Navadvīpa.

Text 9:: Thus the Lord brought the desire tree of devotional service to this earth and became its gardener. He sowed the seed and sprinkled upon it the water of His will.

Text 10:: All glories to Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, the storehouse of all devotional service unto Kṛṣṇa! He is a desire tree of devotional service, and it is in him that the seed of devotional service first fructified.

Text 11:: The seed of devotional service next fructified in the form of Śrī Īśvara Purī, and then the gardener Himself, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, became the main trunk of the tree of devotional service.

Text 12:: By His inconceivable powers, the Lord became the gardener, the trunk and the branches simultaneously.

Texts 13-15:: Paramānanda Purī, Keśava Bhāratī, Brahmānanda Purī and Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Viṣṇu Purī, Keśava Purī, Kṛṣṇānanda Purī, Śrī Nṛsiṁha Tīrtha and Sukhānanda Purī — these nine sannyāsī roots all sprouted from the trunk of the tree. Thus the tree stood steadfastly on the strength of these nine roots.

Text 16:: With the sober and grave Paramānanda Purī as the central root and the other eight roots in the eight directions, the tree of Caitanya Mahāprabhu stood firmly.

Text 17:: From the trunk grew many branches, and above them innumerable others.

Text 18:: Thus the branches of the Caitanya tree formed a cluster or society, with great branches covering all the universe.

Text 19:: From each branch grew many hundreds of subbranches. No one can count how many branches thus grew.

Text 20:: I shall try to name the foremost of the innumerable branches. Please hear the description of the Caitanya tree.

Text 21:: At the top of the tree the trunk branched into two. One trunk was named Śrī Advaita Prabhu and the other Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.

Text 22:: From these two trunks grew many branches and subbranches that covered the entire world.

Text 23:: These branches and subbranches and their subbranches became so numerous that no one can actually write about them.

Text 24:: Thus the disciples and the granddisciples and their admirers spread throughout the entire world, and it is not possible to enumerate them all.

Text 25:: As a big fig tree bears fruits all over its body, each part of the tree of devotional service bore fruit.

Text 26:: Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu was the original trunk, the taste of the fruits that grew on the branches and subbranches surpassed the taste of nectar.

Text 27:: The fruits ripened and became sweet and nectarean. The gardener, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, distributed them without asking any price.

Text 28:: All the wealth in the three worlds cannot equal the value of one such nectarean fruit of devotional service.

Text 29:: Not considering who asked for it and who did not, nor who was fit and who unfit to receive it, Caitanya Mahāprabhu distributed the fruit of devotional service.

Text 30:: The transcendental gardener, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, distributed handful after handful of fruit in all directions, and when the poor, hungry people ate the fruit, the gardener smiled with great pleasure.

Text 31:: Lord Caitanya thus addressed the multifarious varieties of branches and subbranches of the tree of devotional service:

Text 32:: “Since the tree of devotional service is transcendental, every one of its parts can perform the action of all the others. Although a tree is supposed to be immovable, this tree nevertheless moves.

Text 33:: “All the parts of this tree are spiritually cognizant, and thus as they grow they spread all over the world.

Text 34:: “I am the only gardener. How many places can I go? How many fruits can I pick and distribute?

Text 35:: “It would certainly be a very laborious task to pick the fruits and distribute them alone, and still I suspect that some would receive them and others would not.

Text 36:: “Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and distribute it everywhere.

Text 37:: “I am the only gardener. If I do not distribute these fruits, what shall I do with them? How many fruits can I alone eat?

Text 38:: “By the transcendental desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, water has been sprinkled all over the tree, and thus there are innumerable fruits of love of Godhead.

Text 39:: “Distribute this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world. Let people eat these fruits and ultimately become free from old age and death.

Text 40:: “If the fruits are distributed all over the world, My reputation as a pious man will be known everywhere, and thus all people will glorify My name with great pleasure.

Text 41:: “One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.

Text 42:: “ ‘It is the duty of every living being to perform welfare activities for the benefit of others with his life, wealth, intelligence and words.’

Text 43:: “ ‘By his work, thoughts and words, an intelligent man must perform actions which will be beneficial for all living entities in this life and the next.’

Text 44:: “I am merely a gardener. I have neither a kingdom nor very great riches. I simply have some fruits and flowers that I wish to utilize to achieve piety in My life.

Text 45:: “Although I am acting as a gardener, I also want to be the tree, for thus I can bestow benefit upon all.

Text 46:: “ ‘Just see how these trees are maintaining every living entity! Their birth is successful. Their behavior is just like that of great personalities, for anyone who asks anything from a tree never goes away disappointed.’ ”

Text 47:: The descendants of the tree [the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu] were very glad to receive this order directly from the Lord.

Text 48:: The fruit of love of God is so delicious that wherever a devotee distributes it, those who relish the fruit, anywhere in the world, immediately become intoxicated.

Text 49:: The fruit of love of Godhead distributed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu is such a great intoxicant that anyone who eats it, filling his belly, immediately becomes maddened by it, and automatically he chants, dances, laughs and enjoys.

Text 50:: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the great gardener, sees that people are chanting, dancing and laughing and that some of them are rolling on the floor and some are making loud humming sounds, He smiles with great pleasure.

Text 51:: The great gardener, Lord Caitanya, personally eats this fruit, and as a result He constantly remains mad, as if helpless and bewildered.

Text 52:: With His saṅkīrtana movement the Lord made everyone mad like Himself. We do not find anyone who was not intoxicated by His saṅkīrtana movement.

Text 53:: Persons who had formerly criticized Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, calling Him a drunkard, also ate the fruit and began to dance, saying, “Very good! Very good!”

Text 54:: After describing the Lord’s distribution of the fruit of love of Godhead, I now wish to describe the different branches of the tree of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 55:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps

CHAPTER TEN

The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Caitanya Tree

This chapter describes the branches of the tree named Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 1:: Let me repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the beelike devotees who always taste the honey of the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If even a doggish nondevotee somehow takes shelter of such devotees, he enjoys the aroma of the lotus flower.

Text 2:: All glories to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda! All glories to Advaita Prabhu, and all glories to the devotees of Lord Caitanya, headed by Śrīvāsa!

Text 3:: The description of Lord Caitanya as the gardener and the tree is inconceivable. Now hear with attention about the branches of this tree.

Text 4:: The associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were many, but none of them should be considered lower or higher. This cannot be ascertained.

Text 5:: All the great personalities in the line of Lord Caitanya enumerated these devotees, but they could not distinguish between the greater and the lesser.

Text 6:: I offer my obeisances unto them as a token of respect. I request them not to consider my offenses.

Text 7:: I offer my obeisances to all the dear devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the eternal tree of love of Godhead. I offer my respects to all the branches of the tree, the devotees of the Lord who distribute the fruit of love of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 8:: The two brothers Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita and Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita started two branches that are well known in the world.

Text 9:: Their two brothers were named Śrīpati and Śrīnidhi. These four brothers and their servants and maidservants are considered one big branch.

Text 10:: There is no counting the subbranches of these two branches. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu held congregational chanting daily at the house of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita.

Text 11:: These four brothers and their family members fully engaged in the service of Lord Caitanya. They knew no other god or goddess.

Text 12:: Another big branch was Ācāryaratna, and his associates were subbranches.

Text 13:: Ācāryaratna was also named Śrī Candraśekhara Ācārya. In a drama in his house, Lord Caitanya played the goddess of fortune.

Text 14:: Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, the third big branch, was so dear to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu that in his absence Lord Caitanya Himself would sometimes cry.

Text 15:: Gadādhara Paṇḍita, the fourth branch, is described as an incarnation of the pleasure potency of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. No one, therefore, can equal him.

Text 16:: His disciples and granddisciples are his subbranches. To describe them all would be difficult.

Text 17:: Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Caitanya’s. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours.

Text 18:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally sang while Vakreśvara Paṇḍita danced, and thus Vakreśvara Paṇḍita fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and spoke as follows.

Text 19:: “O Candramukha! Please give me ten thousand Gandharvas. Let them sing as I dance, and then I will be greatly happy.”

Text 20:: Lord Caitanya replied, “I have only one wing like you, but if I had another, certainly I would fly in the sky!”

Text 21:: Paṇḍita Jagadānanda, the sixth branch of the Caitanya tree, was celebrated as the life and soul of the Lord. He is known to have been an incarnation of Satyabhāmā [one of the chief queens of Lord Kṛṣṇa].

Text 22:: Jagadānanda Paṇḍita [as an incarnation of Satyabhāmā] always wanted to see to the comfort of Lord Caitanya, but since the Lord was a sannyāsī He did not accept the luxuries that Jagadānanda Paṇḍita offered.

Text 23:: They sometimes appeared to fight over trifles, but these quarrels were based on their affection, of which I shall speak later.

Text 24:: Rāghava Paṇḍita, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s original follower, is understood to have been the seventh branch. From him proceeded another subbranch, headed by Makaradhvaja Kara.

Text 25:: Rāghava Paṇḍita’s sister Damayantī was the dear maidservant of the Lord. She always collected various ingredients with which to cook for Lord Caitanya.

Text 26:: The foods Damayantī cooked for Lord Caitanya when He was at Purī were carried in bags by her brother Rāghava without the knowledge of others.

Text 27:: The Lord accepted these foods throughout the entire year. Those bags are still celebrated as rāghavera jhāli [“the bags of Rāghava Paṇḍita”].

Text 28:: I shall describe the contents of the bags of Rāghava Paṇḍita later in this book. Hearing this narration, devotees generally cry, and tears glide down from their eyes.

Text 29:: Paṇḍita Gaṅgādāsa was the eighth dear branch of the tree of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One who remembers his activities attains freedom from all bondage.

Text 30:: Śrī Ācārya Purandara, the ninth branch, was a constant associate of Lord Caitanya’s. The Lord accepted him as His father.

Text 31:: Dāmodara Paṇḍita, the tenth branch of the Caitanya tree, was so elevated in love of Lord Caitanya that he once unhesitatingly chastised the Lord with strong words.

Text 32:: Later in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta I shall describe this incident of chastisement in detail. The Lord, being very much satisfied by this chastisement, sent Dāmodara Paṇḍita to Navadvīpa.

Text 33:: The eleventh branch, the younger brother of Dāmodara Paṇḍita, was known as Śaṅkara Paṇḍita. He was celebrated as the shoes of the Lord.

Text 34:: Sadāśiva Paṇḍita, the twelfth branch, was always eager to serve the lotus feet of the Lord. It was his good fortune that when Lord Nityānanda came to Navadvīpa He resided at his house.

Text 35:: The thirteenth branch was Pradyumna Brahmacārī. Since he was a worshiper of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu changed his name to Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī.

Text 36:: Nārāyaṇa Paṇḍita, the fourteenth branch, a great and liberal devotee, did not know any shelter but Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet.

Text 37:: The fifteenth branch was Śrīmān Paṇḍita, who was a constant servitor of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He used to carry a torch while the Lord danced.

Text 38:: The sixteenth branch, Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, was very fortunate because Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu jokingly or seriously begged food from him or sometimes snatched it from him forcibly and ate it.

Text 39:: Nandana Ācārya, the seventeenth branch of the Caitanya tree, is celebrated within the world because the two Prabhus [Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda] sometimes hid in his house.

Text 40:: Mukunda Datta, a class friend of Lord Caitanya’s, was another branch of the Caitanya tree. Lord Caitanya danced while he sang.

Text 41:: Vāsudeva Datta, the nineteenth branch of the Śrī Caitanya tree, was a great personality and a most confidential devotee of the Lord. One could not describe his qualities even with thousands of mouths.

Text 42:: Śrīla Vāsudeva Datta Ṭhākura wanted to suffer for the sinful activities of all the people of the world so that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu might deliver them.

Text 43:: The twentieth branch of the Caitanya tree was Haridāsa Ṭhākura. His character was wonderful. He used to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa 300,000 times a day without fail.

Text 44:: There was no end to the transcendental qualities of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Here I mention but a fraction of his qualities. He was so exalted that Advaita Gosvāmī, when performing the śrāddha ceremony of his father, offered him the first plate.

Text 45:: The waves of his good qualities were like those of Prahlāda Mahārāja. He did not even slightly raise an eyebrow when persecuted by the Muslim ruler.

Text 46:: After the passing away of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the Lord Himself took his body on His lap and danced with it in great ecstasy.

Text 47:: Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has vividly described the pastimes of Haridāsa Ṭhākura in his Caitanya-bhāgavata. Whatever has remained undescribed I shall try to explain later in this book.

Text 48:: One subbranch of Haridāsa Ṭhākura consisted of the residents of Kulīna-grāma. The most important among them was Satyarāja Khān, or Satyarāja Vasu, who was a recipient of all the mercy of Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

Text 49:: Murāri Gupta, the twenty-first branch of the tree of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, was a storehouse of love of Godhead. His great humility and meekness melted the heart of Lord Caitanya.

Text 50:: Śrīla Murāri Gupta never accepted charity from friends, nor did he accept money from anyone. He practiced as a physician and maintained his family with his earnings.

Text 51:: As Murāri Gupta treated his patients, by his mercy both their bodily and spiritual diseases subsided.

Text 52:: Śrīmān Sena, the twenty-second branch of the Caitanya tree, was a very faithful servant of Lord Caitanya. He knew nothing else but the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 53:: Śrī Gadādhara dāsa, the twenty-third branch, was understood to be the topmost, for he induced all the Muslim Kazis to chant the holy name of Lord Hari.

Text 54:: Śivānanda Sena, the twenty-fourth branch of the tree, was an extremely confidential servant of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Everyone who went to Jagannātha Purī to visit Lord Caitanya took shelter and guidance from Śrī Śivānanda Sena.

Text 55:: Every year he took a party of devotees from Bengal to Jagannātha Purī to visit Lord Caitanya. He maintained the entire party as they journeyed on the road.

Text 56:: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestows His causeless mercy upon His devotees in three features: His own direct appearance [sākṣāt], His prowess within someone He empowers [āveśa], and His manifestation [āvirbhāva].

Text 57:: The appearance of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in every devotee’s presence is called sākṣāt. His appearance in Nakula Brahmacārī as a symptom of special prowess is an example of āveśa.

Text 58:: The former Pradyumna Brahmacārī was given the name Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 59:: In his body there were symptoms of āvirbhāva. Such appearances are uncommon, but Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu displayed many such pastimes through His different features.

Text 60:: Śrīla Śivānanda Sena experienced the three features of sākṣāt, āveśa and āvirbhāva. Later I shall vividly describe this transcendentally blissful subject.

Text 61:: The sons, servants and family members of Śivānanda Sena constituted a subbranch. They were all sincere servants of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 62:: The three sons of Śivānanda Sena, named Caitanya dāsa, Rāmadāsa and Karṇapūra, were all heroic devotees of Lord Caitanya.

Text 63:: Śrīvallabha Sena and Śrīkānta Sena were also subbranches of Śivānanda Sena, for they were not only his nephews but also unalloyed devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 64:: Govindānanda and Govinda Datta, the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth branches of the tree, were performers of kīrtana in the company of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Govinda Datta was the principal singer in Lord Caitanya’s kīrtana party.

Text 65:: Śrī Vijaya dāsa, the twenty-seventh branch, another of the Lord’s chief singers, gave the Lord many books written by hand.

Text 66:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave Vijaya dāsa the name Ratnabāhu [“jewel-handed”] because he copied many manuscripts for Him. The twenty-eighth branch was Kṛṣṇadāsa, who was very dear to the Lord. He was known as Akiñcana Kṛṣṇadāsa.

Text 67:: The twenty-ninth branch was Śrīdhara, a trader in banana-tree bark. He was a very dear servant of the Lord. On many occasions, the Lord played jokes on him.

Text 68:: Every day Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu jokingly snatched fruits, flowers and pulp from Śrīdhara and drank from his broken iron pot.

Text 69:: The thirtieth branch was Bhagavān Paṇḍita. He was an extremely dear servant of the Lord, but even previously he was a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa who always kept the Lord within his heart.

Text 70:: The thirty-first branch was Jagadīśa Paṇḍita, and the thirty-second was Hiraṇya Mahāśaya, unto whom Lord Caitanya in His childhood showed His causeless mercy.

Text 71:: In their two houses Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu begged food on the Ekādaśī day and personally ate it.

Text 72:: The thirty-third and thirty-fourth branches were the two students of Caitanya Mahāprabhu named Puruṣottama and Sañjaya, who were stalwart students in grammar. They were very great personalities.

Text 73:: Vanamālī Paṇḍita, the thirty-fifth branch of the tree, was very much celebrated in this world. He saw a golden club and plow in the hands of the Lord.

Text 74:: The thirty-sixth branch, Buddhimanta Khān, was extremely dear to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He was always prepared to carry out the Lord’s orders, and therefore he was considered to be a chief servant of the Lord.

Text 75:: Garuḍa Paṇḍita, the thirty-seventh branch of the tree, always engaged in chanting the auspicious name of the Lord. Because of the strength of this chanting, even the effects of poison could not touch him.

Text 76:: Gopīnātha Siṁha, the thirty-eighth branch of the tree, was a faithful servant of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The Lord jokingly addressed him as Akrūra.

Text 77:: Devānanda Paṇḍita was a professional reciter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but by the mercy of Vakreśvara Paṇḍita and the grace of the Lord he understood the devotional interpretation of the Bhāgavatam.

Texts 78-79:: Śrī Khaṇḍavāsī Mukunda and his son Raghunandana were the thirty-ninth branch of the tree, Narahari was the fortieth, Cirañjīva the forty-first and Sulocana the forty-second. They were all big branches of the all-merciful tree of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They distributed the fruits and flowers of love of Godhead anywhere and everywhere.

Text 80:: Satyarāja, Rāmānanda, Yadunātha, Puruṣottama, Śaṅkara and Vidyānanda all belonged to the twentieth branch. They were inhabitants of the village known as Kulīna-grāma.

Text 81:: All the inhabitants of Kulīna-grāma village, headed by Vāṇīnātha Vasu, were servants of Lord Caitanya, who was their only life and wealth.

Text 82:: The Lord said, “What to speak of others, even a dog in the village of Kulīna-grāma is My dear friend.

Text 83:: “No one can describe the fortunate position of Kulīna-grāma. It is so sublime that even sweepers who tend their hogs there also chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.”

Text 84:: On the western side were the forty-third, forty-fourth and forty-fifth branches — Śrī Sanātana, Śrī Rūpa and Anupama. They were the best of all.

Text 85:: Among these branches, Rūpa and Sanātana were principal. Anupama, Jīva Gosvāmī and others, headed by Rājendra, were their subbranches.

Text 86:: By the will of the supreme gardener, the branches of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī grew many times over, expanding throughout the western countries and covering the entire region.

Text 87:: Extending to the borders of the river Sindhu and the Himalayan Mountain valleys, these two branches expanded throughout India, including all the places of pilgrimage, such as Vṛndāvana, Mathurā and Haridvāra.

Text 88:: The fruits of love of Godhead which fructified on these two branches were distributed in abundance. Tasting these fruits, everyone became mad after them.

Text 89:: The people in general on the western side of India were neither intelligent nor well behaved, but by the influence of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī they were trained in devotional service and good behavior.

Text 90:: In accordance with the directions of the revealed scriptures, both Gosvāmīs excavated the lost places of pilgrimage and inaugurated the worship of Deities in Vṛndāvana.

Text 91:: Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, the forty-sixth branch of the tree, was one of the most dear servants of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He left all his material possessions to surrender completely unto the Lord and live at His lotus feet.

Text 92:: When Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī approached Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī, the Lord entrusted him to the care of Svarūpa Dāmodara, His secretary. Thus they both engaged in the confidential service of the Lord.

Text 93:: He rendered confidential service to the Lord for sixteen years at Jagannātha Purī, and after the disappearance of both the Lord and Svarūpa Dāmodara, he left Jagannātha Purī and went to Vṛndāvana.

Text 94:: Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī intended to go to Vṛndāvana to see the lotus feet of Rūpa and Sanātana and then give up his life by jumping from Govardhana Hill.

Text 95:: Thus Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī came to Vṛndāvana, visited Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī and offered them his obeisances.

Text 96:: These two brothers, however, did not allow him to die. They accepted him as their third brother and kept him in their company.

Text 97:: Because Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was an assistant to Svarūpa Dāmodara, he knew much about the external and internal features of the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. Thus the two brothers Rūpa and Sanātana always used to hear of this from him.

Text 98:: Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī gradually gave up all food and drink but a few drops of buttermilk.

Text 99:: As a daily duty, he regularly offered one thousand obeisances to the Lord, chanted at least one hundred thousand holy names and offered obeisances to two thousand Vaiṣṇavas.

Text 100:: Day and night he rendered service within his mind to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and for three hours a day he discoursed about the character of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 101:: Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī took three baths daily in the Rādhā-kuṇḍa lake. As soon as he found a Vaiṣṇava residing in Vṛndāvana, he would embrace him and give him all respect.

Text 102:: He engaged himself in devotional service for more than twenty-two and a half hours a day, and for less than two hours he slept, although on some days that also was not possible.

Text 103:: I am struck with wonder when I hear about the devotional service he executed. I accept Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī as my guides.

Text 104:: I shall later explain very elaborately how all these devotees met Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Text 105:: Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of Godhead in the company of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī.

Text 106:: The ācārya Śaṅkarāraṇya was considered the forty-eighth branch of the original tree. From Him proceeded the subbranches known as Mukunda, Kāśīnātha and Rudra.

Text 107:: Śrīnātha Paṇḍita, the forty-ninth branch, was the beloved recipient of all the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Everyone in the three worlds was astonished to see how he worshiped Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 108:: Jagannātha Ācārya, the fiftieth branch of the Caitanya tree, was an extremely dear servant of the Lord, by whose order he decided to live on the bank of the Ganges.

Text 109:: The fifty-first branch of the Caitanya tree was Kṛṣṇadāsa Vaidya, the fifty-second was Paṇḍita Śekhara, the fifty-third was Kavicandra, and the fifty-fourth was Ṣaṣṭhīvara, who was a great saṅkīrtana performer.

Text 110:: The fifty-fifth branch was Śrīnātha Miśra, the fifty-sixth was Śubhānanda, the fifty-seventh was Śrīrāma, the fifty-eighth was Īśāna, the fifty-ninth was Śrīnidhi, the sixtieth was Śrī Gopīkānta, and the sixty-first was Miśra Bhagavān.

Text 111:: The sixty-second branch of the tree was Subuddhi Miśra, the sixty-third was Hṛdayānanda, the sixty-fourth was Kamala-nayana, the sixty-fifth was Maheśa Paṇḍita, the sixty-sixth was Śrīkara, and the sixty-seventh was Śrī Madhusūdana.

Text 112:: The sixty-eighth branch of the original tree was Puruṣottama, the sixty-ninth was Śrī Gālīma, the seventieth was Jagannātha dāsa, the seventy-first was Śrī Candraśekhara Vaidya, and the seventy-second was Dvija Haridāsa.

Text 113:: The seventy-third branch of the original tree was Rāmadāsa, the seventy-fourth was Kavicandra, the seventy-fifth was Śrī Gopāla dāsa, the seventy-sixth was Bhāgavata Ācārya, and the seventy-seventh was Ṭhākura Sāraṅga dāsa.

Text 114:: The seventy-eighth branch of the original tree was Jagannātha Tīrtha, the seventy-ninth was the brāhmaṇa Śrī Jānakīnātha, the eightieth was Gopāla Ācārya, and the eighty-first was the brāhmaṇa Vāṇīnātha.

Text 115:: The three brothers Govinda, Mādhava and Vāsudeva were the eighty-second, eighty-third and eighty-fourth branches of the tree. Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda used to dance in their kīrtana performances.

Text 116:: Rāmadāsa Abhirāma was fully absorbed in the mellow of friendship. He made a flute of a bamboo stick with sixteen knots.

Text 117:: By the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, three devotees accompanied Lord Nityānanda Prabhu when He returned to Bengal to preach.

Text 118:: These three were Rāmadāsa, Mādhava Ghoṣa and Vāsudeva Ghoṣa. Govinda Ghoṣa, however, remained with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī and thus felt great satisfaction.

Text 119:: Bhāgavata Ācārya, Cirañjīva, Śrī Raghunandana, Mādhavācārya, Kamalākānta and Śrī Yadunandana were all among the branches of the Caitanya tree.

Text 120:: Jagāi and Mādhāi, the eighty-ninth and ninetieth branches of the tree, were the greatest recipients of Lord Caitanya’s mercy. These two brothers were the witnesses who proved that Lord Caitanya was rightly named Patita-pāvana, “the deliverer of the fallen souls.”

Text 121:: I have given a brief description of the devotees of Lord Caitanya in Bengal. Actually His devotees are innumerable.

Text 122:: I have especially mentioned all these devotees because they accompanied Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Bengal and Orissa and served Him in many ways.

Text 123:: Let me briefly describe some of the devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Jagannātha Purī.

Texts 124-126:: Among the devotees who accompanied the Lord in Jagannātha Purī, two of them — Paramānanda Purī and Svarūpa Dāmodara — were the heart and soul of the Lord. Among the other devotees were Gadādhara, Jagadānanda, Śaṅkara, Vakreśvara, Dāmodara Paṇḍita, Ṭhākura Haridāsa, Raghunātha Vaidya and Raghunātha dāsa.

Text 127:: All these devotees were associates of the Lord from the very beginning, and when the Lord took up residence in Jagannātha Purī, they remained there to serve Him faithfully.

Text 128:: All the devotees who resided in Bengal used to visit Jagannātha Purī every year to see the Lord.

Text 129:: Now let me enumerate the devotees of Bengal who first came to see the Lord at Jagannātha Purī.

Text 130:: There was Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, one of the biggest branches of the tree of the Lord, and his sister’s husband, Śrī Gopīnātha Ācārya.

Text 131:: In the list of devotees at Jagannātha Purī [which begins with Paramānanda Purī, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Gopīnātha Ācārya], Kāśī Miśra was the fifth, Pradyumna Miśra the sixth and Bhavānanda Rāya the seventh. Lord Caitanya took great pleasure in meeting with them.

Text 132:: Embracing Rāya Bhavānanda, the Lord declared to him, “You formerly appeared as Pāṇḍu, and your five sons appeared as the five Pāṇḍavas.”

Text 133:: The five sons of Bhavānanda Rāya were Rāmānanda Rāya, Paṭṭanāyaka Gopīnātha, Kalānidhi, Sudhānidhi and Nāyaka Vāṇīnātha.

Text 134:: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Bhavānanda Rāya, “Your five sons are all My dear devotees. Rāmānanda Rāya and I are one, although our bodies are different.”

Texts 135-136:: King Pratāparudra of Orissa, the Oriyā devotees Kṛṣṇānanda and Śivānanda, and Paramānanda Mahāpātra, Bhagavān Ācārya, Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Śrī Śikhi Māhiti and Murāri Māhiti constantly associated with Caitanya Mahāprabhu while He resided in Jagannātha Purī.

Text 137:: Mādhavīdevī, the seventeenth of the prominent devotees, was the younger sister of Śikhi Māhiti. She is considered to have formerly been a maidservant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Text 138:: Brahmacārī Kāśīśvara was a disciple of Īśvara Purī, and Śrī Govinda was another of his dear disciples.

Text 139:: In the list of prominent devotees at Nīlācala [Jagannātha Purī], Kāśīśvara was the eighteenth and Govinda the nineteenth. They both came to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī, being thus ordered by Īśvara Purī at the time of his passing away.

Text 140:: Both Kāśīśvara and Govinda were Godbrothers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and thus the Lord duly honored them as soon as they arrived. But because Īśvara Purī had ordered them to give Caitanya Mahāprabhu personal service, the Lord accepted their service.

Text 141:: Govinda cared for the body of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, whereas Kāśīśvara went in front of the Lord when He went to see Jagannātha in the temple.

Text 142:: When Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the temple of Jagannātha, Kāśīśvara, being very strong, cleared the crowds aside with his hands so that Caitanya Mahāprabhu could pass untouched.

Text 143:: Rāmāi and Nandāi, the twentieth and twenty-first among the important devotees in Jagannātha Purī, always assisted Govinda twenty-four hours a day in rendering service to the Lord.

Text 144:: Every day Rāmāi filled twenty-two big waterpots, whereas Nandāi personally assisted Govinda.

Text 145:: The twenty-second devotee, Kṛṣṇadāsa, was born of a pure and respectable brāhmaṇa family. While touring southern India, Lord Caitanya took Kṛṣṇadāsa with Him.

Text 146:: As a bona fide devotee, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya, the twenty-third principal associate, acted as the brahmacārī of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He toured Mathurā.

Text 147:: Baḍa Haridāsa and Choṭa Haridāsa, the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth devotees in Nīlācala, were good singers who always accompanied Lord Caitanya.

Text 148:: Among the devotees who lived with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī, Rāmabhadra Ācārya was the twenty-sixth, Siṁheśvara the twenty-seventh, Tapana Ācārya the twenty-eighth, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭācārya the twenty-ninth and Nīlāmbara the thirtieth.

Text 149:: Siṅgābhaṭṭa was the thirty-first, Kāmābhaṭṭa the thirty-second, Śivānanda the thirty-third and Kamalānanda the thirty-fourth. They all formerly served Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Bengal, but later these servants left Bengal to live with the Lord in Jagannātha Purī.

Text 150:: Acyutānanda, the thirty-fifth devotee, was the son of Advaita Ācārya. He also lived with Lord Caitanya, taking shelter of His lotus feet at Jagannātha Purī.

Text 151:: Nirloma Gaṅgādāsa and Viṣṇudāsa were the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh among the devotees who lived at Jagannātha Purī as servants of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Texts 152-154:: The prominent devotees at Vārāṇasī were the physician Candraśekhara, Tapana Miśra and Raghunātha Bhaṭṭācārya, Tapana Miśra’s son. When Lord Caitanya came to Vārāṇasī after seeing Vṛndāvana, for two months He lived at the residence of Candraśekhara Vaidya and accepted prasādam at the house of Tapana Miśra.

Text 155:: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed at the house of Tapana Miśra, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, who was then a boy, washed His dishes and massaged His legs.

Text 156:: When Raghunātha grew to be a young man, he visited Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī and stayed there for eight months. Sometimes he offered prasādam to the Lord.

Text 157:: Later, by the order of Lord Caitanya, Raghunātha went to Vṛndāvana and remained there under the shelter of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Text 158:: While he stayed with Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, his engagement was to recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for him to hear. As a result of this Bhāgavatam recitation, he attained perfectional love of Kṛṣṇa, by which he remained always maddened.

Text 159:: I list in this way only a portion of the innumerable devotees of Lord Caitanya. To describe them all fully is not possible.

Text 160:: From each branch of the tree have grown hundreds and thousands of subbranches of disciples and granddisciples.

Text 161:: Every branch and subbranch of the tree is full of innumerable fruits and flowers. They inundate the world with the waters of love of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 162:: Each and every branch of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s devotees has unlimited spiritual power and glory. Even if one had thousands of mouths, it would be impossible to describe the limits of their activities.

Text 163:: I have briefly described the devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in different places. Even Lord Śeṣa, who has thousands of mouths, could not list them all.

Text 164:

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Expansions of Lord Nityānanda

As the branches and subbranches of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu were described in the tenth chapter, in this eleventh chapter the branches and subbranches of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu are similarly listed.

Text 1:: After offering my obeisances unto all the devotees of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, who are like bumblebees collecting honey from His lotus feet, I shall try to describe those who are the most prominent.

Text 2:: All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Anyone who has taken shelter at His lotus feet is glorious.

Text 3:: All glories to Śrī Advaita Prabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu and all the devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu!

Text 4:: Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu is the topmost branch of the indestructible tree of eternal love of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. I offer my respectful obeisances to all the subbranches of that topmost branch.

Text 5:: Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu is an extremely heavy branch of the Śrī Caitanya tree. From that branch grow many branches and subbranches.

Text 6:: Watered by the desire of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, these branches and subbranches have grown unlimitedly and covered the entire world with fruits and flowers.

Text 7:: These branches and subbranches of devotees are innumerable and unlimited. Who could count them? For my personal purification I shall try to enumerate only the most prominent among them.

Text 8:: After Nityānanda Prabhu, the greatest branch is Vīrabhadra Gosāñi, who also has innumerable branches and subbranches. It is not possible to describe them all.

Text 9:: Although Vīrabhadra Gosāñi was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He presented Himself as a great devotee. And although the Supreme Godhead is transcendental to all Vedic injunctions, He strictly followed the Vedic rituals.

Text 10:: He is the main pillar in the hall of devotional service erected by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He knew within Himself that He acted as the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, but externally He was prideless.

Text 11:: It is by the glorious mercy of Śrī Vīrabhadra Gosāñi that people all over the world now have the chance to chant the names of Caitanya and Nityānanda.

Text 12:: I therefore take shelter of the lotus feet of Vīrabhadra Gosāñi, so that by His mercy my great desire to write Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta will be properly guided.

Text 13:: Two devotees of Lord Caitanya named Śrī Rāmadāsa and Gadādhara dāsa always lived with Śrī Vīrabhadra Gosāñi.

Texts 14-15:: When Nityānanda Prabhu was ordered to go to Bengal to preach, these two devotees [Śrī Rāmadāsa and Gadādhara dāsa] were ordered to go with Him. Thus they are sometimes counted among the devotees of Lord Caitanya and sometimes among the devotees of Lord Nityānanda. Similarly, Mādhava Ghoṣa and Vāsudeva Ghoṣa belonged to both groups of devotees simultaneously.

Text 16:: Rāmadāsa, one of the chief branches, was full of fraternal love of Godhead. He made a flute from a stick with sixteen knots.

Text 17:: Śrīla Gadādhara dāsa was always fully absorbed in ecstasy as a gopī. In his house Lord Nityānanda enacted the drama Dāna-keli.

Text 18:: Śrī Mādhava Ghoṣa was a principal performer of kīrtana. While he sang, Nityānanda Prabhu danced.

Text 19:: When Vāsudeva Ghoṣa described Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda while performing kīrtana, even wood and stone would melt upon hearing it.

Text 20:: There were many extraordinary activities performed by Murāri, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Sometimes in his ecstasy he would slap the cheek of a tiger, and sometimes he would play with a venomous snake.

Text 21:: All the associates of Lord Nityānanda were formerly cowherd boys in Vrajabhūmi. Their symbolic representations were the horns and sticks they carried, their cowherd dress and the peacock plumes on their heads.

Text 22:: The physician Raghunātha, also known as Upādhyāya, was so great a devotee that simply by seeing him one would awaken his dormant love of Godhead.

Text 23:: Sundarānanda, another branch of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, was Lord Nityānanda’s most intimate servant. Lord Nityānanda Prabhu perceived the life of Vrajabhūmi in his company.

Text 24:: Kamalākara Pippalāi is said to have been the third gopāla. His behavior and love of Godhead were uncommon, and thus he is celebrated all over the world.

Text 25:: Sūryadāsa Sarakhela and his younger brother Kṛṣṇadāsa Sarakhela both possessed firm faith in Nityānanda Prabhu. They were a reservoir of love of Godhead.

Text 26:: Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita, the emblem of the most elevated devotional service in love of Godhead, had the greatest potency to receive and deliver such love.

Text 27:: Making Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda the Lords of his life, Gaurīdāsa Paṇḍita sacrificed everything for the service of Lord Nityānanda, even the fellowship of his own family.

Text 28:: The thirteenth important devotee of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu was Paṇḍita Purandara, who moved in the ocean of love of Godhead just like the Mandara Hill.

Text 29:: Parameśvara dāsa, said to be the fifth gopāla of kṛṣṇa-līlā, completely surrendered to the lotus feet of Nityānanda. Anyone who remembers his name, Parameśvara dāsa, will get love of Kṛṣṇa very easily.

Text 30:: Jagadīśa Paṇḍita, the fifteenth branch of Lord Nityānanda’s followers, was the deliverer of the entire world. Devotional love of Kṛṣṇa showered from him like torrents of rain.

Text 31:: The sixteenth dear servant of Nityānanda Prabhu was Dhanañjaya Paṇḍita. He was very much renounced and always merged in love of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 32:: Maheśa Paṇḍita, the seventh of the twelve gopālas, was very liberal. In great love of Kṛṣṇa he danced to the beating of a kettledrum like a madman.

Text 33:: Puruṣottama Paṇḍita, a resident of Navadvīpa, was the eighth gopāla. He would become almost mad as soon as he heard the holy name of Nityānanda Prabhu.

Text 34:: Balarāma dāsa always fully tasted the nectar of love of Kṛṣṇa. Upon hearing the name of Nityānanda Prabhu, he would become greatly maddened.

Text 35:: Yadunātha Kavicandra was a great devotee. Lord Nityānanda Prabhu always danced in his heart.

Text 36:: The twenty-first devotee of Śrī Nityānanda in Bengal was Kṛṣṇadāsa Brāhmaṇa, who was a first-class servant of the Lord.

Text 37:: The twenty-second devotee of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu was Kālā Kṛṣṇadāsa, who was the ninth cowherd boy. He was a first-class Vaiṣṇava and did not know anything beyond Nityānanda Prabhu.

Text 38:: The twenty-third and twenty-fourth prominent devotees of Nityānanda Prabhu were Sadāśiva Kavirāja and his son Puruṣottama dāsa, who was the tenth gopāla.

Text 39:: From birth, Puruṣottama dāsa was merged in the service of the lotus feet of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, and he always engaged in childish play with Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 40:: Śrī Kānu Ṭhākura, a very respectable gentleman, was the son of Puruṣottama dāsa Ṭhākura. He was such a great devotee that Lord Kṛṣṇa always lived in his body.

Text 41:: Uddhāraṇa Datta Ṭhākura, the eleventh among the twelve cowherd boys, was an exalted devotee of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu. He worshiped the lotus feet of Lord Nityānanda in all respects.

Text 42:: The twenty-seventh prominent devotee of Nityānanda Prabhu was Ācārya Vaiṣṇavānanda, a great personality in devotional service. He was formerly known as Raghunātha Purī.

Text 43:: Another important devotee of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu was Viṣṇudāsa, who had two brothers, Nandana and Gaṅgādāsa. Lord Nityānanda Prabhu sometimes stayed at their house.

Text 44:: Paramānanda Upādhyāya was Nityānanda Prabhu’s great servitor. Śrī Jīva Paṇḍita glorified the qualities of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.

Text 45:: The thirty-first devotee of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu was Paramānanda Gupta, who was greatly devoted to Lord Kṛṣṇa and highly advanced in spiritual consciousness. Formerly Nityānanda Prabhu also resided at his house for some time.

Text 46:: The thirty-second, thirty-third, thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth prominent devotees were Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇadāsa, Manohara and Devānanda, who always engaged in the service of Lord Nityānanda.

Text 47:: The thirty-sixth devotee of Lord Nityānanda was Hoḍa Kṛṣṇadāsa, whose life and soul was Nityānanda Prabhu. He was always dedicated to the lotus feet of Nityānanda, and he knew no one else but Him.

Text 48:: Among Lord Nityānanda’s devotees, Nakaḍi was the thirty-seventh, Mukunda the thirty-eighth, Sūrya the thirty-ninth, Mādhava the fortieth, Śrīdhara the forty-first, Rāmānanda the forty-second, Jagannātha the forty-third and Mahīdhara the forty-fourth.

Text 49:: Śrīmanta was the forty-fifth, Gokula dāsa the forty-sixth, Hariharānanda the forty-seventh, Śivāi the forty-eighth, Nandāi the forty-ninth and Paramānanda the fiftieth.

Text 50:: Vasanta was the fifty-first, Navanī Hoḍa the fifty-second, Gopāla the fifty-third, Sanātana the fifty-fourth, Viṣṇāi the fifty-fifth, Kṛṣṇānanda the fifty-sixth and Sulocana the fifty-seventh.

Text 51:: The fifty-eighth great devotee of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu was Kaṁsāri Sena, the fifty-ninth was Rāmasena, the sixtieth was Rāmacandra Kavirāja, and the sixty-first, sixty-second and sixty-third were Govinda, Śrīraṅga and Mukunda, who were all physicians.

Text 52:: Among the devotees of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, Pītāmbara was the sixty-fourth, Mādhavācārya the sixty-fifth, Dāmodara dāsa the sixty-sixth, Śaṅkara the sixty-seventh, Mukunda the sixty-eighth, Jñāna dāsa the sixty-ninth and Manohara the seventieth.

Text 53:: The dancer Gopāla was the seventy-first, Rāmabhadra the seventy-second, Gaurāṅga dāsa the seventy-third, Nṛsiṁha-caitanya the seventy-fourth and Mīnaketana Rāmadāsa the seventy-fifth.

Text 54:: Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura, the son of Śrīmatī Nārāyaṇī, composed Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala [later known as Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata].

Text 55:: Śrīla Vyāsadeva described the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Vyāsa of the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was Vṛndāvana dāsa.

Text 56:: Among all the branches of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Vīrabhadra Gosāñi was the topmost. His subbranches were unlimited.

Text 57:: No one can count the unlimited followers of Nityānanda Prabhu. I have mentioned some of them just for my self-purification.

Text 58:: All these branches, the devotees of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, being full of ripened fruits of love of Kṛṣṇa, distributed these fruits to all they met, flooding them with love of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 59:: All these devotees had unlimited strength to deliver unobstructed, unceasing love of Kṛṣṇa. By their own strength they could offer anyone Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa.

Text 60:: I have briefly described only some of the followers and devotees of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu. Even the thousand-mouthed Śeṣa Nāga cannot describe all of these unlimited devotees.

Text 61:

With an ardent desire to serve the purpose of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps

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Notebook

Bhaktivedanta purports of Srila Prabhupada

Caitanya Caritamrta

Introduction

Preface

Foreword

The Spiritual Masters

CHAPTER TWO

Śri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

CHAPTER THREE

The External Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

CHAPTER FOUR

The Confidential Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

CHAPTER FIVE

The Glories Of Lord Nityānanda Balarāma

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lord Caitanya in Five Features

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Author Receives the Orders of Kṛṣṇa and Guru

CHAPTER NINE

The Desire Tree of Devotional Service

CHAPTER TEN

The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Caitanya Tree

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Expansions of Lord Nityānanda

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