Teachings of Lord Chaitanya MahaPrabhu

Introduction-2

If we wish to become fully Krishna conscious, we have to give up the shackles of maya, or, if we remain with maya, we should live in such a way that we will not be subject to illusion. It is not necessary for one to abandon his family, for there were many householders amongst Lord Chaitanya's closest devotees. 

What must be renounced is the propensity for material enjoyment. Although Lord Chaitanya approved of a householder having regulated sex in marriage, He was very strict with those in the renounced order, and He even banished junior Haridasa for glancing lustfully at a young woman. The point is that one must take up a particular path and stick to it, obeying all the rules and regulations necessary for success in spiritual life. It was Lord Chaitanya's mission that He teach the path of Krishna consciousness to all men and thereby enable them to partake of the immortality of spiritual life.

From Chaitanya-charitamrita we learn how Chaitanya taught people to become immortal, and thus the title may be properly translated as "the immortal character of the living force." 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 individual. 

 

This is very easy to understand: We are all individual in thought 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. Amongst the created living entities, one being can excel another in one capacity or another. The Lord is an individual, just as the living entities are individual, but He is different in that He is the supreme individual. God is also infallible, and in Bhagavad-gita He is addressed as Acyuta, which means, "He who never falls down." This is indicated because in Bhagavad-gita Arjuna had fallen into delusion but Krishna had not. We often hear it said that God is infallible, and in Bhagavad-gita Krishna states:
 

nanyam gunebhyah kartaram
yada drastanupasyati
gunebhyas ca param vetti
mad-bhavam so 'dhigacchati

"When you see that there is nothing beyond these modes of nature in all activities and that the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all these modes, then you can know My spiritual nature." (Bg. 14.19)

Thus we should not think that Krishna is overpowered by the material potency when He is in the material world. Krishna and His incarnations are not under the control of material nature. They are totally free. Indeed, in Srimad-Bhagavatam 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?

The real question is how can we remain unpolluted by material contamination while in the material world. It was Rupa Gosvami who explained that we can remain uncontaminated while in the world if we simply make it our ambition to serve Krishna. One may then justifiably ask, "How can I serve?" Obviously this is not simply a matter of meditation, which is just an activity of the mind, but of practical work. Love of Krishna's service can only be attained by working for Krishna. In such work, we should leave no resource unused. Whatever is there, whatever we have, should be used for Krishna. 
 

We can use everything: typewriters, automobiles, airplanes, missiles—anything. If we simply speak to people about Krishna consciousness, we are also rendering service. If our minds, senses, speech, money and energies are thus engaged in the service of Krishna, we cannot be considered to be existing in material nature. By virtue of spiritual consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, we transcend the platform of material nature. It is a fact that Krishna, 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.
 

Chaitanya-charitamrita teaches that the spirit soul is immortal and that our activities in the spiritual world are also immortal. The Mayavadis, who hold to the view that the Absolute is impersonal and formless, contend that a realized soul has no need to talk. However, the Vaisnavas, who are devotees of Krishna, contend that when one reaches the stage of realization, he really begins to talk. "Previously we only talked of nonsense," the Vaisnava says. "Now let us begin our real talks, talks of Krishna." The Mayavadis are also 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 water pot is not an active living force, but we are. Ever silent meditation may be adequate for a waterpot, but not for us. Indeed, when one has has realized he has so much to say about Krishna, twenty-four hours in a day is 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. Chaitanya-charitamrita shows that there are many wonderful things to discover by glorifying the Supreme.
 

In the beginning of Chaitanya-charitamrita, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami writes: "I offer my respects to my spiritual masters." He uses the plural here to indicate the disciplic succession. It is not that he offers obeisances to his spiritual master alone but to the whole parampara, the chain of disciplic succession beginning with Lord Krishna Himself. Thus the guru is addressed in the plural to show the author's highest respect for all the Vaisnavas. After offering obeisances to the disciplic succession, the author pays obeisances to all the other devotees, God-brothers, the expansions of Godhead and the first manifestation of Krishna's energy. 

 

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (sometimes called Krishna Chaitanya) is the embodiment of all of these; He is God, guru, devotee and the expansion of God. As His associate, Nityananda, He is the first manifestation of energy; as Advaita, He is an incarnation; as Gadadhara, He is the internal potency; and as Srivasa, He is the marginal living entity. Thus Krishna should not be thought of as being alone but should be considered as eternally existing with all His manifestations, as described by Ramanujacarya. In visistadvaita philosophy, God's energies, expansions and incarnations are considered to be oneness in diversity. In other words, God is not separate from all these; everything together is God.

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Teachings of Lord Chaitanya MahaPrabhu

Introduction-1

[Originally delivered as five morning lectures on Chaitanya-charitamrita—the authoritative biography of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, by Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami—before the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, New York City, April 10-14, 1967.]

The word Chaitanya means living force. As living entities, we can move, but a table cannot because it does not possess living force. Movement and activity may be considered to be 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, it is not amrta, immortal. The words Chaitanya-charitamrita, 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 Katha Upanisad that eternality and the living force belong both to 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.

On 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 conditioned 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 (maya) any more than the sun is subject to fall beneath the clouds. Because the Supreme Lord is not subject to illusion, He is unconditioned; because we, as finite living entities, are prone to fall into illusion, we are called conditioned. Impersonalist philosophers (Mayavadis) maintain that both the living entity and God Himself are under the control of maya when they come into this material world. This may be true of the living entity, but it is not true of God, for in all instances the material energy is working under His direction. Those who consider the Supreme Lord to be subject to material conditioning are called fools by Krishna Himself in Bhagavad-gita:

avajananti mam mudha

manusim tanum asritam

param bhavam ajananto

mama bhuta-mahesvaram

"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be." (Bg. 9.11)

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu should not be considered to be one of us. He is Krishna Himself, the supreme living entity, and as such He never comes under the cloud of maya. Krishna, His expansions, and even His higher devotees never fall into the clutches of illusion. Lord Chaitanya came to earth simply to preach Krishna-bhakti, love of Krishna. In other words, He is Lord Krishna Himself teaching the living entities the proper way to approach Krishna. 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." By this, one must not foolishly think that the teacher is learning his ABC's. Although He appears in the guise of a devotee, we should always remember that Lord Chaitanya is Krishna (God) Himself teaching us how to become Krishna conscious, and we must study Him in that light.

In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna sets forth the highest religious principle in this way:

sarva-dharman parityajya

mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo

moksayisyami ma sucah

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear." (Bg. 18.66)

This may seem to be a simple instruction to follow, but invariably our reaction is, "Oh, surrender? Give up? But I have so many responsibilities." And maya, 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 maya, 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. These are the tricks of nature. Even an elephant in the jungle is caught by the use of a trained she-elephant who leads him into a pit. Maya has many activities, and in the material world 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 Krishna's servants. In conditioned life, however, we are shackled by the iron chains which take the form of beautiful women. Thus every male is bound by sex life, and therefore when one attempts to gain liberation from the material clutches, he must first learn to control the sex urge. Unrestricted sex puts one fully in the clutches of illusion. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 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 member of the family. Although He was a Brahmana and was not rich, He took sannyasa, the renounced order of life, and thus extricated Himself from family entanglement.

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Teachings of Lord Chaitanya MahaPrabhu

 Lord Caitanya's Mission

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the Science of Krishna, a task which those who follow Him have continued to carry out down to the present day. The elaborations and expositions on the philosophy taught by Lord Chaitanya are in fact most voluminous, exacting and consistent due to the system of disciplic succession. Although Lord Chaitanya was widely renowned as a scholar in His youth, He left only eight verses, called Siksastaka. These eight verses clearly reveal His mission and precepts. These supremely valuable prayers are translated herein.

1. Glory to the Sri Krishna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious. 
   
2. O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benedictions to living beings, and thus you have hundreds and millions of names like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names you have invested all your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness you enable us to easily approach you by your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.
    
3. One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
   
   
4. O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want your causeless devotional service birth after birth.
   
   
5. O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krishna], I am your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at your lotus feet.
   
   
6. O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of your name?
   
   
7. O Govinda! Feeling your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in your absence.
   
   
8. I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.