CC Adi 1: The Inner Meaning of the Catuḥ-ślokī Verses

Hare Krsna,

As I was trying to meditate on this topic and wondering how to respond, I was also drawn by the once-in-many-lifetime ceremony of Srila Prabhupada’s grand welcome to TOVP today (Oct 15). The central theme that played in my mind is ‘guru’ (spiritual master).

We often wonder what would have happened if Srila Prabhupada hadn’t appeared to spread the Krsna consciousness movement and the chanting of the holy name. Because of his causeless mercy, teachings, books, instructions, and how to perform bhakti, the gates to the execution of pure devotional service to Lord Sri Krsna have been opened. This opportunity is bestowed to every living entity.

CC Madhya 19.151:

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru krsna prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.

“Kṛṣṇa is prepared to bestow His mercy upon all living entities, and as soon as a living entity desires the Lord’s mercy, the Lord immediately gives him an opportunity to meet a bona fide spiritual master. Such a person is fortified by both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master. He is helped from within by Kṛṣṇa and from without by the spiritual master. Both are prepared to help the sincere living being become free from this material bondage.” (Purport)

Without a bonafide spiritual master, we can neither understand not attend Krsna. Lord Brahma performed austerities and penance for many years but still he could not ascertain the cause of his existence nor the purpose of his birth. It is only when Lord Krsna bestowed his mercy that Brahma was able to see the Lord and take direct instructions from Him (the catuh-sloki verses). That mercy is obtained by submissiveness, simplicity, and surrender.

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.” (BG 4.34)

Just as the material elements enter the bodies of all living beings and yet remain outside them all, the Supreme Lord exists within all material creations (as Paramatma) and yet is not within them. (Catuh-sloki #3). Similarly, the Lord exists within every living entity as Paramatma (caitya-guru) and without (as spiritual master).

The inner meaning of the catuh-sloki verses is that we cannot understand Krsna’s name, form, qualities, pastimes, abode, paraphernalia, etc. without direct intervention by the Lord or His representatives.

“His existence can be realized by one who has the single qualification of submissiveness and who thereby becomes a surrendered soul. The development of submissiveness is the cause of proportionate spiritual realization, by which one can ultimately meet the Supreme Lord in person, as a man meets another man face to face.” (CC Adi 1.55 P)

The Lord reciprocates according to our degree of surrender. “As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.” (BG 4.11)

Krsna cannot be understood by our blunt material senses. The senses must be purified.

“‘Therefore, material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is.” (BRS 1.2.234)

A bonafide spiritual master such as Srila Prabhupada teaches us how to engage our senses in the service of the Supreme Lord while simultaneously purify them. This process gradually situates the devotee in transcendental platform; he develops loving attachment for the Supreme Lord.

“Because of his development of transcendental attachment for the Supreme Lord, a surrendered soul feels the presence of his beloved everywhere, and all his senses are engaged in the loving service of the Lord…Thus the Lord is manifested to a pure devotee from within and without. This is one of the mysteries of the devotional relationship in which a devotee and the Lord are bound by a tie of spontaneous love. To achieve this love should be the goal of life for every living being.”

In essence, pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master is the only method to understand Krsna (just as Lord Brahma surrendered unto the Lord). The spiritual master knows how to regulate the habits of a neophyte disciple, and therefore a serious student must learn the science in all its aspects from him. When an individual living entity surrenders to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa or His pure devotee, he can then develop natural transcendental love for Him. This surrendering process should be the primary concern of a human being. Thus, a conditioned soul must ultimately approach a bona fide spiritual master and try to understand perfectly the material and spiritual worlds and his own existential position. One must learn the process of devotional service in its two aspects: one must directly execute the process of devotional service and indirectly avoid the impediments to progress. (CC Adi 1.56 Purport)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Direct Communication between the Lord and His Devotee

Hare Krsna,

In the last lesson, we discussed about spiritual masters being representative of Lord Krsna. This reminds me of a particular like in Sri Guru Vandana (prayer to Srila Prabhupada) that we sing at temples every day. divya-jnana hrde prakasito. “By his mercy divine knowledge is revealed within the heart, bestowing prema-bhakti and destroying ignorance. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.” The key is that the divine knowledge is revealed within the heart.

In SB 1.1.1, it is again mentioned tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye. “It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being.”

Every living entity has a heart. Within the heart, there resides the soul and the Supersoul. The direct communication between the Lord and His devotee is basically the communication between the soul and the Supersoul. As it is stated in the Upaniṣads, there are two birds sitting in one tree; one is acting and enjoying or suffering the fruits of the branches, and the other is witnessing. But one who is demoniac has no knowledge of Vedic scripture, nor has he any faith; therefore he feels free to do anything for sense enjoyment, regardless of the consequences. The fruit-eater (living entity) has forgotten his real identity and is overwhelmed in the fruitive activities of the material conditions, but the Lord (Paramātmā) is always full in transcendental knowledge. The Supersoul bird is always expecting when this individual soul bird will turn towards Him. He is so merciful. He is going, “My dear friend, why you are trying to become happy by enjoying this material fruit produced by your work in this body?”

But as soon as the individual soul (jiva) turns to the Supreme Lord through the execution of devotional service, the reciprocation commences from the Lord to the devotee. “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (BG 10.10) The condition for such enlightenment from the Supreme Lord is the previous verse. “The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” (BG 10.9)

“Pure devotees engage themselves fully in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Their minds cannot be diverted from the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Their talks are solely on the transcendental subjects.” (SB 10.9 P). In other words, the Lord declares that by enlightenment in theistic knowledge He awards attachment for Him to those who constantly engage in His transcendental loving service. “The qualification is that a person always engage himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and with love and devotion render all kinds of services. He should perform some sort of work for Kṛṣṇa, and that work should be with love. If a devotee is not intelligent enough to make progress on the path of self-realization but is sincere and devoted to the activities of devotional service, the Lord gives him a chance to make progress and ultimately attain to Him.” (BG 10.10)

The Lord resides within our heart as Paramatma; He therefore understands our prayers, desires, motives, aspirations, and level of love and surrender. He, thus, reciprocates accordingly.

“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.” (BG 18.61)

As sadhakas, it is therefore important for us to chant and hear the name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc. of the Supreme Lord sincerely and attentively following the instructions of bonafide disciplic succession. The direct communication between the Lord and the devotees through the medium of disciplic succession.

“The truth of these mysteries was revealed to Brahmā by the descending process, without the help of the ascending one. The Lord’s mercy descends to a devotee like Brahmā and, through Brahmā, to Nārada, from Nārada to Vyāsa, from Vyāsadeva to Śukadeva and so on in the bona fide chain of disciplic succession.” (CC Adi 1.52 Purport)

And depending on the level of surrender, the Lord reciprocates accordingly. Ya yatha mam prapadyante (BG 4.11)

Although the direct communication between the Lord and His devotees is a mystery to the non-devotees, it is a basic principle understood only by the devotees. Devotees understand and realize that the Supreme Lord is a person (Adi-purusa); they act with that understanding through the process of devotional service.

The best process to engage in devotional service in this age is the chanting of the Holy Name. Our sincere chanting pleases our dear Lord and spiritual masters; They, in turn, reciprocate in return for the pleasure of the devotees. Thus there is a constant blissful communication between the Lord and His devotees.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

How the Spiritual Masters Represent Lord Kṛṣṇa

Hare Krsna,

The greatest fortune of one’s existence (both material and spiritual) is to attain shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual master who is a pure devotee of the Supreme Lord Krsna. The greatest misfortune is to neglect the instructions of one’s spiritual master. In fact, one of the ten offenses to the Holy Name is disobeying the instructions of the spiritual master.

Why is spiritual master given so much importance? This is because the spiritual master is considered nondifferent from Krsna. Lord Krsna is the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees. (CC Adi 1.45). The importance of spiritual master exists in all faiths. Vedic culture has various spiritual master (Gurun); Christians follow Lord Jesus as their spiritual master; Muslims consider Prophet Mohammed their spiritual master; Buddhists to Lord Buddha, and so on. No bonafide religion is devoid of the mercy of spiritual masters. The Supreme Lord is so kind to His living entities who are struggling in this material ocean that He sends His bonafide representatives to reclaim the fallen souls.

One of the reasons we conditioned souls are in this material world is because of our forgetfulness of Krsna. Therefore the spiritual masters appear to remind us of our eternal relationship with Krsna. They remind us that we are the eternal servant of Krsna. It is a matter of great fortune to find such a spiritual master who reconnects us back with Krsna. A spiritual master is like a law enforcement official who finds a lost child and takes him/her back home, back to his/her loving parents.

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

“Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.” (CC Madhya 19.151)

““If the conditioned soul engages in the service of the Lord and simultaneously carries out the orders of his spiritual master and serves him, he can get out of the clutches of māyā and become eligible for shelter at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.” (CC Madhya 22.25)

Who is a bonafide spiritual master?

“kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya | yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya”

“Whether one is a brāhmaṇa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra — regardless of what he is — he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṇa.” (CC Madhya 8.128)

In Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote,

“kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāro, tomāra śakati ache āmi to’ kāṅgala, ‘kṛṣṇa’ ‘kṛṣṇa’ boli’, dhāi tava pāche pāche”

“Krsna is yours. You have the power to give Him to me. I am simply your servant running behind you shouting, “Krsna! Krsna!”

We must therefore aspire to surrender unto the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master. If we are initiated, we must serve him with all humility and surrender. If we are not initiated yet, we must intensely pray to Krsna to reveal our diksa-guru (initiating spiritual master) to us.

Fortunately for all the devotees in ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada is our param-siksa-guru.

“As the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and the preeminent teacher and ultimate authority within our society, Srila Prabhupada has a unique relationship with every ISKCON devotee.

Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the original guru whose Divine Grace descends through the medium of the Guru Parampara. As such, a devotee is ultimately delivered by Sri Krishna acting through a combination of various manifestations of His mercy. These include, but are not limited to, the chaitya guru, Srila Prabhupada, the Guru Parampara, one’s diksha guru, other siksha gurus, the Holy Name, sastra, and the nine processes of devotional service.

Within these cooperative elements, Srila Prabhupada, as the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, is the preeminent shiksha-guru for all members of ISKCON. All members of ISKCON, for all generations, are encouraged to seek shelter of Srila Prabhupada. All members of ISKCON are entitled and encouraged to have a personal relationship with Srila Prabhupada through his books, teachings, service, and his ISKCON society.” (ISKCON GBC Statement on Srila Prabhupada’s Preeminent Position)

The two most beautiful bhajans we sing in ISKCON temples are Sri Guru Astaka and Sri Guru Vandana. Some of my favorite verses of these songs are:

“The lotus feet of our spiritual master are the only way by which we can attain pure devotional service. I bow to his lotus feet with great awe and reverence. By his grace one can cross the ocean of material suffering and obtain the mercy of Krsna. My only wish is to have my consciousness purified by the words emanating from his lotus mouth. Attachment to his lotus feet is the perfection that fulfills all desires. He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge. He is my Lord birth after birth. From him ecstatic prema emanates; by him ignorance is destroyed. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character. Our spiritual master is the ocean of mercy, the friend of the poor, and the lord and master of the devotees. O Lokanatha Goswami! O master! Be merciful unto me. Give me the shade of your lotus feet. Your fame is spread all over the three worlds.” (Sri Guru Vandana)

“The spiritual master is receiving benediction from the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to extinguish it, so the spiritual master delivers the materially afflicted world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities.” (Sri Guru Astaka 1)

“By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement. Therefore, I should always remember and praise the spiritual master. At least three times a day I should offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master.” (Sri Guru Astaka 8)

Therefore, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami starts his narration of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta by offering obeisances to all 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.

vande gurūn īśa-bhaktān | īśam īśāvatārakān | tat-prakāśāṁś ca tac-chaktīḥ | kṛṣṇa-caitanya-saṁjñakam

(CC Adi 1.1)

I therefore end this forum post by expressing my immense gratitude to Srila Prabhupada, his dear disciples, our predecessor acaryas, and all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord.

vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha

kripa-sindhubhya eva cha

patitanam pavanebhyo

vaishnavebhyo namo namaha

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees and can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.”

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

GLORIFICATION OF SRI CAITANYA-CARITAMRTA

After reading & hearing Antya lila chapter 17 (The Bodily Transformations of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu), I must confess that these supreme transcendental pastimes of Mahaprabhu are beyond comprehension of our dull material senses. It is difficult to understand how much intense separation from Lord Krsna can affect a pure devotee in intense love of Godhead. But I definitely appreciate them, have faith in them, and consider myself immensely fortunate that I am able to hear about these pastimes of the Lord.  

But I do have several realizations from this chapter. 

My first realization is that Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta is the top-most Vaisnava literature. I will even boldly proclaim that it is even higher than Srimad Bhagavatam. I will explain my reasoning. I am studying Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Sri Caitanya Caritamrta simultaneously. Bhagavad Gita study is for my Bhakti Sastri course. I started reading Srimad Bhagavatam since beginning of 2018 and currently I am in Fourth Canto. And of course, we are studying CC under the loving guidance of HG Dhruva Maharaj prabhu since 2017. My personal realization is that Bhagavad Gita is based on sambandha-jnana (the process of understanding our relationship with Lord Krsna). Srimad Bhagavatam is based on both sambandha-jnana and abhideya-jnana (acting according to our constitutional relationship with Krsna). There is another aspect called prayojana-jnana (ultimate goal of life, which is to develop love of Godhead – premā pum-artho mahān). It is wrong to claim that Srimad Bhagavatam has no aspects of prayojana. It has but in limited terms. Srimad Bhagavatam does not elaborate much on prayojana-jnana. However, Sri Caitanya Caritamrta is purely based on prayojana-jnana. Sri Caitanya Caritamrta starts from the point after sambandha and abhideya are conclusively established.  

All the pastimes of Lord Caitanya and His devotees are based on pure love of Godhead. All the devotees in Gaur-lila are fully surrendered souls. Unlike Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya Caritamrta does not elaborate much on topics such as karma, jnana, dhyana, three modes of material nature, the four purusarthas (dharma, artha, kama, moksha), etc. Every aspect of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta is just pure love of Godhead. Of course, the author explains some philosophy in Adi lila but it is more to establish that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than Sri Sri Radha and Krsna combined (Sri Krsna Caitanya Radha-Krsna nahin anya). 

Since the goal of all devotees is to achieve love of Godhead, it is important for us to study Sri Caitanya Caritamrta in depth (not just once but again and again), meditate upon its teachings, and apply Mahaprabhu’s teachings to our practical life. Lots of things that Krsna said in Srimad Bhagavatam are actually enacted by Lord Caitanya as His pastimes. As an example, Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavat Gita are replete with Lord Krsna’s message that one should always think of Him, become His devotee, worship Him, offer Him obeisances, etc.) Lord Caitanya actually shows how this can be done by chanting the Hare-Krsna maha-mantra. 

I do not remember reading or hearing about pure devotees undergoing bodily transformations due to intense separation from Lord Krsna in Srimad Bhagavatam. May be in 10th canto but I haven’t reached there yet. There are examples of bhava bhakti in Srimad Bhagavatam. In general, Srimad Bhagavatam establishes the glories of devotional service. But Sri Caitanya Caritamrta is purely based on prema-bhakti. Not only that, it teaches us how to attain that state of prema-bhakti. And Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally enacts it. 

My second realization is about the mood of Lord Caitanya. We studied in Adi 1.6 that Lord Krsna appeared as Lord Caitanya in the mood of Srimati Radharani. 

CC Ādi 1.6 — 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. 

When I read this 17th chapter of Antya lila,  the verses spoken by Srimati Radharani in separation from Krsna, and Mahaprabhu’s explanation of the verses, I can actually feel as if Srimati Radharani is directly enacting the pastimes of Mahaprabhu. I could no longer feel distinction between Mahaprabhu and Radha-Krsna. I actually could realize that all these three personalities merged into one; I could see the superimposition of one personality upon another. Maybe the author (Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami) pealed the layers of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, one by one, to bring us to this final epitome of the topmost philosophical understanding of the whole creation (both material and spiritual). It is amazing how beautifully the author binds the book with the transcendental cloth of the concluding chapters. 

Therefore, I now understand why Srila Prabhupada considered Sri Caitanya Caritamrta as the post-graduate study of spiritual knowledge. He quotes in the introduction of the book, “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.“ 

It is mentioned somewhere that Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura read Sri Caitanya Caritamrta more than 108 times (I cannot cite the source). He said that if we are in danger and are in a position to just save one thing in this world, we should save Sri Caitanya Caritamrta. I can see why. 

We must consider ourselves very fortunate that we have been able to study the book through sadhusangaonline.com under the able guidance of HG Dhruva Maharaja Dasa. I personally consider myself fortunate that I enrolled in this program so early in my Krsna consciousness journey. Some senior devotees have forbidden me to study Sri Caitanya Caritamrta without completing Srimad Bhagavatam. But somehow by the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada, I ended up enrolling in the study program. 

Thank you Dhruva prabhu for your guidance. I admit that I haven’t understood all topics of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta completely because they are beyond my mundane understanding. But I hope to go deeper into the topics with repeated study of the book. 

Thank you to all my classmates (Faye Andrews, Madhuryalila dd, Sulakshana dd, William Starmer) for your association. It has been a pleasure to study with you and share our realizations with each other. As we are nearing the study program, I am already starting to miss this group. 

What’s next after the CC study? 

To continue the study of the book after the CC study program, I and few devotees have formed a small reading group. In early 2019, we started this group to devotee 15 minutes every day to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. We started with Krsna book with the goal of completing it by Janmashtami of this year. Now we have decided that we will embark on studying Sri Caitanya Caritamrta after the Krsna book. I am very encouraged by this and hope to guide, inspire, and share my realizations from the current CC study with the group.  

All glories to Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami for giving us the nectar of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta! 

All glories to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for teaching us pure love of God! 

All glories to Srila Prabhudapa! 

May They all shower their mercy and blessings upon all of us so that we may achieve pure love of Godhead, and thereby, engage eternally in Their loving devotional service! 

Written on the auspicious day of Pandava Nirjala Ekadasi (13th June, 2019)