A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Chaitanya Charitamrita (Complete Biography of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu)

r Caitanya-caritmta - 1975 Edition

Cc. Preface

Preface

There is no difference between the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented here and the teachings of Lord Ka in the Bhagavad-gt. The teachings of Lord Caitanya are practical demonstrations of Lord Ka's teachings. Lord Ka's ultimate instruction in the Bhagavad-gt is that everyone should surrender unto Him, Lord Ka. Ka promises to take immediate charge of such a surrendered soul. The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is already in charge of the maintenance of this creation by virtue of His plenary expansion, Krodakay Viu, but this maintenance is not direct. However, when the Lord says that He takes charge of His pure devotee, He actually takes direct charge. A pure devotee is a soul who is forever surrendered to the Lord, just as a child is surrendered to his parents or an animal to its master. In the surrendering process, one should: (1) accept things favorable for discharging devotional service, (2) reject things unfavorable, (3) believe firmly in the Lord's protection, (4) feel exclusively dependent on the mercy of the Lord, (5) have no interest separate from the interest of the Lord, and (6) always feel oneself meek and humble.

The Lord demands that one surrender unto Him by following these six guidelines, but the unintelligent so-called scholars of the world misunderstand these demands and urge the general mass of people to reject them. At the conclusion of the Ninth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gt, Lord Ka directly says, "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me, and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me." (Bg. 9.34) However, the scholarly demons misguide the masses of people by directing them to the impersonal, unmanifest, eternal, unborn truth rather than the Personality of Godhead. The impersonalist Myvd philosophers do not accept that the ultimate aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one desires to understand the sun as it is, one must first face the sunshine and then the sun globe, and after entering into that globe, one may come face to face with the predominating deity of the sun. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, the Myvd philosophers cannot go beyond the Brahman effulgence, which may be compared to the sunshine. The Upaniads confirm that one has to penetrate the dazzling effulgence of Brahman before one can see the real face of the Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya therefore teaches direct worship of Lord Ka, who appeared as the foster child of the King of Vraja. He also suggests that the place known as Vndvana is as good as Lord Ka because there is no difference between the name, quality, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia of Lord Ka and Lord Ka Himself. That is the absolute nature of the Absolute Truth.

Lord Caitanya also recommended that the highest mode of worship in the highest perfectional stage is the method practiced by the damsels of Vraja. These damsels (gops, or cowherd girls) simply loved Ka without a motive for material or spiritual gain. Lord Caitanya also recommended rmad-Bhgavatam as the spotless narration of transcendental knowledge, and He pointed out that the highest goal in human life is to develop unalloyed love for Ka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya's teachings are identical to those given by Lord Kapila, the original propounder of skhya-yoga, the skhya system of philosophy. This authorized system of yoga recommends meditation on the transcendental form of the Lord. There is no question of meditating on something void or impersonal. One can meditate on the transcendental form of Lord Viu even without practicing involved sitting postures. Such meditation is called perfect samdhi. This perfect samdhi is verified at the end of the Sixth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gt, where Lord Ka says, "And of all yogs, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me-he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion." (Bg. 6.47)

Lord Caitanya instructed the mass of people in the skhya philosophy of acintya-bhedbheda-tattva, which maintains that the Supreme Lord is simultaneously one with and different from His creation. Lord Caitanya taught this philosophy through the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference between His holy name and His transcendental form. Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration. As one practices this sound vibration, one passes through three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage and the transcendental stage. In the offensive stage one may desire all kinds of material happiness, but in the second stage one becomes clear of all material contamination. When one is situated on the transcendental stage, one attains the most coveted position-the stage of loving God. Lord Caitanya taught that this is the highest stage of perfection for human beings.

Yoga practice is essentially meant for controlling the senses. The central controlling factor of all the senses is the mind; therefore one first has to practice controlling the mind by engaging it in Ka consciousness. The gross activities of the mind are expressed through the external senses, either for the acquiring of knowledge or for the functioning of the senses in accordance with the will. The subtle activities of the mind are thinking, feeling and willing. Depending on one's consciousness, the individual is either polluted or clear. If one's mind is fixed on Ka (His name, quality, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia), all one's activities-both subtle and gross-become favorable. The Bhagavad-gt's process of purifying consciousness is the process of fixing one's mind on Ka by talking of His transcendental activities, cleansing His temple, going to His temple, seeing the beautiful transcendental form of the Lord nicely decorated, hearing His transcendental glories, tasting food offered to Him, associating with His devotees, smelling the flowers and Tulas leaves offered Him, engaging in activities for the Lord's interest, etc. No one can bring the activities of the mind and senses to a stop, but one can purify these activities through a change in consciousness. This change is indicated in the Bhagavad-gt when Ka tells Arjuna of the knowledge of yoga whereby one can work without fruitive results: "O son of Pth, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works." (Bg. 2.39) A human being is sometimes restricted in sense gratification due to certain circumstances, such as disease, but this is not the prescription for giving up sense gratification. Without knowing the actual process by which the mind and senses can be controlled, less intelligent men either try to stop the mind and senses by force, or they give in to them and are carried away by the waves of sense gratification.

The regulative principles and rules of yoga-the various sitting postures and breathing exercises performed in an attempt to withdraw one's senses from the sense objects-are methods meant for those who are too much engrossed in the bodily conception of life. The intelligent man who is situated in Ka consciousness does not try to forcibly stop his senses from acting. Rather, he engages his senses in the service of Ka. No one can stop a child from playing by leaving him inactive. A child can be stopped from engaging in nonsense by being engaged in superior activities. The forceful restraint of sense activities by the eight principles of