Teachings of Lord Chaitanya MahaPrabhu

Introduction-6

He is also called acharya, teacher, because he disseminated Krishna consciousness. In this way he is just like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Although Chaitanya is Sri Krishna Himself, He appears as a devotee to teach people in general how to love Krishna. Similarly, Advaitacarya appeared just to distribute the knowledge of Krishna consciousness. Thus he is also the Lord incarnated as a devotee. Krishna is manifested in five different expansions, and He and all of His associates appear as devotees of the Supreme Lord in the form of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Nityananda, Advaitacarya, Gadadhara, Srivasa and others. In all cases, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the source of energy for all His devotees. Since this is the case, if we take shelter of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for the successful execution of Krishna consciousness, we are sure to make progress. One devotional song by Narottama dasa Thakura states: "My dear Lord Chaitanya, 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 fallen souls, and no one is more fallen than I. I beg priority."

The author of Chaitanya-charitamrita, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, was an inhabitant of Vrndavana and a great devotee. He had been living with his family in Katwa, a small town in the district of Burdwan in Bengal. His family also worshiped Radha-Krishna, and once when there was some misunderstanding amongst his family about devotional service, Krishnadasa Kaviraja was advised by Nityananda Prabhu in a dream to leave home and go to Vrndavana. Although he was very old, he started out that very night and went to live in Vrndavana. While he was there, he met some of the Gosvamis, principal disciples of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He was requested to write Chaitanya-charitamrita by the devotees of Vrndavana. Although he began this work at a very old age, by the grace of Lord Chaitanya he finished it. Today it remains the most authoritative book on Chaitanya's philosophy and life.

When Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was living in Vrndavana, there were not very many temples. At that time Madana-mohana, Govindaji and Gopinatha were the three principal temples. As a resident of Vrndavana, he offered his respects to the Deities in these temples and requested God's favor: "My progress in spiritual life is very slow, so l'm asking Your help." In Chaitanya-charitamrita, Krishnadasa first offers his obeisances to Madana-mohana vigraha, the Deity who can help us progress in Krishna consciousness. In the execution of Krishna consciousness, our first business is to know Krishna and our relationship with Him. To know Krishna is to know one's self, and to know one's self is to know one's relationship with Krishna. Since this relationship can be learned by worshiping Madana-mohana vigraha, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami first establishes his relationship with Him.

When this is established, Krishnadasa begins to worship the functional Deity, Govinda. Govinda resides eternally in Vrndavana. In the spiritual world of Vrndavana 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 Vrndavana Krishna herds the surabhi cows, and He is worshiped by hundreds and thousands of gopis, cowherd girls, who are all goddesses of fortune. When Krishna descends to the material world, this same Vrndavana descends just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Krishna comes, His land also comes, Vrndavana is not considered to exist in the material world. Therefore devotees take shelter of the Vrndavana in India, for it is considered to be a replica of the original Vrndavana. Although one may complain that no kalpa-vrksa, wish-fulfilling trees, exist there, when the Gosvamis were there, the kalpa-vrksa were present. It is not that one can simply go to such a tree and make demands; one must first become a devotee. The Gosvamis 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.

Vrndavana 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 Vrndavana?" one great devotee asks. The more Krishna conscious we become and the more we advance, the more everything is revealed as spiritual. Thus Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami considered Vrndavana in India to be as good as the Vrndavana in the spiritual sky, and in Chaitanya-charitamrita he describes Radharani and Krishna as seated beneath a wish-fulfilling tree in Vrndavana on a throne decorated with valuable jewels. There Krishna's dear friends, the cowherd boys and the gopis, serve Radha and Krishna by singing, dancing, offering betel nuts and refreshments and decorating Their Lordships with flowers. Even today in India people decorate thrones and recreate this scene during the month of July. Generally at that time people go to Vrndavana to offer their respects to the Deities there.

Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami maintains that the Radha and Krishna Deities show us how to serve Radha and Krishna. The Madana-mohana Deities simply establish that "I am Your eternal servant." With Govinda, however, there is actual acceptance of service, and therefore He is called the functional Deity. The Gopinatha Deity is Krishna as master and proprietor of the gopis. He attracted all the gopis, or cowherd girls, by the sound of His flute, and when they came, He danced with them. These activities are all described in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. These gopis were childhood friends of Krishna, and they were all married, for in India the girls are married by the age of twelve. The boys, however, are not married before eighteen so Krishna, 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 rasa-lila dance, and it is the most elevated of all the Vrndavana pastimes. Krishna is therefore called Gopinatha because He is the beloved master of the gopis.

Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami petitions the blessings of Lord Gopinatha. "May that Gopinatha, the master of the gopis, Krishna, bless you. May you become blessed by Gopinatha." Just as Krishna attracted the gopis by the sweet sound of His flute, the author of Chaitanya-charitamrita prays that He will also attract the reader's mind by His transcendental vibration. It is the purpose of this book, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, to transmit the essence of that vibration in an easily readable summary study.

Teachings of Lord Chaitanya MahaPrabhu

Introduction-5

One may ask that if Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna 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 acarya (one who teaches by example), He accepted a spiritual master. Even Krishna 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 of 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is stated that Krishna, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, transmitted transcendental knowledge into the heart of Brahma. This then is one way knowledge is received—through the heart. Thus there are two processes by which one may receive knowledge: One depends 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 Krishna. Thus Krishna 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam there is a great deal of information given about the Vaikuntha planetary systems which are beyond the material universe. Similarly, a great deal of inconceivable information is given in Chaitanya-charitamrita. Any attempt to arrive at this information through experimental knowledge is not possible. The knowledge simply has to be accepted. According to the Vedic method, sabda, 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 which is 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 and 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 comprise only one fraction of the total creation. The majority of the creation is situated in the spiritual sky. In that sky innumerable planets float, and these are called Vaikunthalokas. In every Vaikunthaloka Narayana presides in the form of His four-armed expansions: Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Vasudeva.

As stated before, the material universes are manifested by the Lord in the form of Maha-Visnu. Just as a husband and wife combine to beget offspring, the Maha-Visnu combines with His wife Maya, or material nature. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita where Krishna states:

sarva-yonisu kaunteya
murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir
aham bija-pradah pita

"It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father." (Bg. 14.4)

Visnu impregnated Maya or material nature simply by glancing at her. This is the spiritual method. Materially we are limited to impregnate by only one particular part of our body, but the Supreme Lord, Krishna or Maha-Visnu, can impregnate any part by any part. Simply by glancing the Lord can conceive countless living entities in the womb of material nature. The Brahma-samhita also confirms that the spiritual body of the Supreme Lord is so powerful that any part of that body can perform the functions of any other part. We can only touch with our hands or skin, but Krishna can touch just by glancing. We can only see with our eyes, we cannot touch or smell with them. Krishna, however, can smell and also eat with His eyes. When foodstuffs are offered to Krishna we don't 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 Krishna 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.

Visnu does not require anything in order to create. He does not require the goddess Laksmi in order to give birth to Brahma, for Brahma is born from a lotus flower which grows from the navel of Visnu. The goddess Laksmi sits at the feet of Visnu and serves Him. In this material world sex is required to produce children, but in the spiritual world one can produce as many children as he likes without having to take help from his wife. Because we have no experience with spiritual energy, we think that Brahma's birth from the navel of Visnu 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.

Brahma is born from the navel of Garbhodakasayi Visnu, who is but a partial manifestation of the Maha-Visnu. Countless universes reside like seeds within the skin pores of the Maha-Visnu, and when He exhales, they all are manifest. 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 the Maha-Visnu, for within one breath all of the universes are created and annihilated. Lord Brahma only lives for the duration of one breath, and according to our time scale 4,320,000,000 years constitute only twelve hours of Brahma, and Brahma lives one hundred of his years. Yet the whole life of Brahma is contained within one breath of the Maha-Visnu. Thus it is not possible for us to imagine the breathing power of the Supreme Lord. That Maha-Visnu is but a partial manifestation of Krishna.

Thus Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami discusses Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as Sri Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Lord Nityananda as Balarama, the first expansion of Krishna. Advaitacarya, another principal disciple of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's, is accepted as an expansion of the Maha-Visnu. Thus Advaitacarya 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.  

Continued...