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.

Continued....