His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila

r Caitanya-caritmta

of Kadsa Kavirja Gosvm

di-ll

with roman transliteration,
English equivalents, translation
and elaborate purports

by

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda

Founder- crya of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness

Books by His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda

Bhagavad-gt As It Is

rmad-Bhgavatam (completed by disciples)

r Caitanya-caritmta

Ka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

The Nectar of Devotion

The Nectar of Instruction

r opaniad

Light of the Bhgavata

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahti

Teachings of Queen Kunt

Message of Godhead

The Science of Self-Realization

The Perfection of Yoga

Beyond Birth and Death

On the Way to Ka

Rja-vidy: The King of Knowledge

Elevation to Ka Consciousness

Ka Consciousness: The Matchless Gift

Ka Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System

Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers

Life Comes From Life

The Nrada-bhakti-stra (completed by disciples)

The Mukunda-ml-stotra (completed by disciples)

Geetr-gn (Bengali)

Vairgya-vidy (Bengali)

Buddhi-yoga (Bengali)

Bhakti-ratna-boli (Bengali)

Back to Godhead magazine (founder)

Books compiled from the teachings
of rla Prabhupda after his lifetime

The Journey of Self-Discovery

Civilization and Transcendence

The Laws of Nature

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Beyond Illusion and Doubt

Available from
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Copyright 19731974 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

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First e-book edition: March 2012

ISBN 978-91-7149-661-4

Presented to my friends
and devotees who like to read
my books and who approached me to request
that I render the great
Caitanya-caritmta into English.

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Contents

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 Kas teachings. Lord Kas 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) always believe firmly in the Lords 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 orders, Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me alone, and offer obeisances unto Me alone. By so doing, the Lord says, one is sure to go to Him in His transcendental abode. But the scholarly demons misguide the masses of people by directing them to surrender not to the Personality of Godhead but rather to the impersonal, unmanifested, eternal, unborn truth. 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 then, if one is able to enter 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 teaches that the place known as Vndvana is as good as Lord Ka because, Lord Ka being the Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Him and His name, qualities, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia. That is the absolute nature of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya also teaches 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 any motive for material or spiritual gain. Lord Caitanya also teaches that rmad-Bhgavatam is the spotless narration of transcendental knowledge and that the highest goal in human life is to develop unalloyed love for Ka, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Lord Caitanyas 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 teaches meditation on the transcendental form of the Lord. There is no question of meditating on something void or impersonal. When one can meditate on the transcendental form of Lord Viu even without practicing involved sitting postures, such meditation is called perfect samdhi. That this kind of meditation is perfect samdhi is confirmed at the end of the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad-gt, where Lord Ka says that of all yogs, the greatest is the one who constantly thinks of the Lord within the core of his heart with love and devotion.

On the basis of 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 that the most practical way for the mass of people to practice skhya-yoga meditation is simply to chant 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 chanting this sound vibration, one passes through three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage and the transcendental stage. In the offensive stage of chanting 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.