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.
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.
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