Chapter 2

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Is the Supreme Personality of Godhead

This chapter explains that Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna Himself. Therefore, the Brahman effulgence is the bodily luster of Lord Caitanya, and the localized Supersoul situated in the heart of every living entity is His partial representation. The purusa-avataras are also explained in this connection. Maha-Visnu is the reservoir of all conditioned souls, but as confirmed in the authoritative scriptures, Lord Krsna is the ultimate fountainhead, the source of numerous plenary expansions, including Narayana, who is generally accepted by Mayavadi philosophers to be the Absolute Truth. The Lord's manifestation of prabhava and vaibhava expansions, as well as partial incarnations and incarnations with delegated powers, are also explained. Lord Krsna's ages of boyhood and youth are discussed, and it is explained that His age at the beginning of youth is His eternal form. The spiritual sky contains innumerable spiritual planets, the Vaikunthas, which are manifestations of the Supreme Lord's internal energy. Innumerable material universes are similarly exhibited by His external energy, and the living entities are manifested by His marginal energy. Because Lord Krsna Caitanya is not different from Lord Krsna, He is the cause of all causes; there is no cause beyond Him. He is eternal, and His form is spiritual. Lord Caitanya is directly the Supreme Lord Krsna, as the evidence of authoritative scriptures proves. This chapter stresses that a devotee must have knowledge of Krsna's personal form, His three principal energies, His pastimes and the relationship of the living entities with Him in order to advance in Krsna consciousness.

TEXT 1

TEXT

sri-caitanya-prabhum vande balo 'pi yad-anugrahat taren nana-mata-graha- vyaptam siddhanta-sagaram

SYNONYMS

sri-caitanya-prabhum--to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; vande--I offer obeisances; balah--an ignorant child; api--even; yat--of whom; anugrahat--by the mercy; taret--may cross over; nana--various; mata--of theories; graha--the crocodiles; vyaptam--filled with; siddhanta--of conclusions; sagaram--the ocean.

TRANSLATION

I offer my obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by whose mercy even an ignorant child can swim across the ocean of conclusive truth, which is full of the crocodiles of various theories.

PURPORT

By the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, even an inexperienced boy with no educational culture can be saved from the ocean of nescience, which is full of various types of philosophical doctrines that are like dangerous aquatic animals. The philosophy of the Buddha, the argumentative presentations of the jnanis, the yoga systems of Patanjali and Gautama, and the systems of philosophers like Kanada, Kapila and Dattatreya are dangerous creatures in the ocean of nescience. By the grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu one can have real understanding of the essence of knowledge by avoiding these sectarian views and accepting the lotus feet of Krsna as the ultimate goal of life. Let us all worship Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for His gracious mercy to the conditioned souls.

TEXT 2

TEXT

krsnotkirtana-gana-nartana-kala-pathojani-bhrajita sad-bhaktavali-hamsa-cakra-madhupa-sreni-viharaspadam karnanandi-kala-dhvanir vahatu me jihva-maru-prangane sri-caitanya daya-nidhe tava lasal-lila-sudha-svardhuni

SYNONYMS

krsna--of the holy name of Lord Krsna; utkirtana--loud chanting; gana--singing; nartana--dancing; kala--of the other fine arts; pathah-jani--with lotuses; bhrajita--beautified; sat-bhakta--of pure devotees; avali--rows; hamsa--of swans; cakra--cakravaka birds; madhu-pa--and bumble bees; sreni--like swarms; vihara--of pleasure; aspadam--the abode; karna-anandi--gladdening the ears; kala--melodious; dhvanih--sound; vahatu--let it flow; me--my; jihva--of the tongue; maru--desertlike; prangane--in the courtyard; sri-caitanya daya-nidhe--O Lord Caitanya, ocean of mercy; tava--of You; lasat--shining; lila-sudha--of the nectar of the pastimes; svardhuni--the Ganges.

TRANSLATION

O my merciful Lord Caitanya, may the nectarean Ganges waters of Your transcendental activities flow on the surface of my desertlike tongue. Beautifying these waters are the lotus flowers of singing, dancing and loud chanting of Krsna's holy name, which are the pleasure abodes of unalloyed devotees. These devotees are compared to swans, ducks and bees. The river's flowing produces a melodious sound that gladdens their ears.

PURPORT

Our tongues always engage in vibrating useless sounds that do not help us realize transcendental peace. The tongue is compared to a desert because a desert needs a constant supply of refreshing water to make it fertile and fruitful. Water is the substance most needed in the desert. The transient pleasure derived from mundane topics of art, culture, politics, sociology, dry philosophy, poetry and so on is compared to a mere drop of water because although such topics have a qualitative feature of transcendental pleasure, they are saturated with the modes of material nature. Therefore neither collectively nor individually can they satisfy the vast requirements of the desertlike tongue. Despite crying in various conferences, therefore, the desertlike tongue continues to be parched. For this reason, people from all parts of the world must call for the devotees of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who are compared to swans swimming around the beautiful lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or bees humming around His lotus feet in transcendental pleasure, searching for honey. The dryness of material happiness cannot be moistened by so-called philosophers who cry for Brahman, liberation and similar dry speculative objects. The urge of the soul proper is different. The soul can be solaced only by the mercy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His many bona fide devotees, who never leave the lotus feet of the Lord to become imitation Mahaprabhus but all cling to His lotus feet like bees that never leave a honey-soaked lotus flower. Lord Caitanya's movement of Krsna consciousness is full of dancing and singing about the pastimes of Lord Krsna. It is compared herein to the pure waters of the Ganges, which are full of lotus flowers. The enjoyers of these lotus flowers are the pure devotees, who are like bees and swans. They chant like the flowing of the Ganges, the river of the celestial kingdom. The author desires such sweetly flowing waves to cover his tongue. He humbly compares himself to materialistic persons who always engage in dry talk from which they derive no satisfaction. If they were to use their dry tongues to chant the holy name of the Lord--Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare--as exemplified by Lord Caitanya, they would taste sweet nectar and enjoy life.

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada