6 June 2020
Understanding The Super Excellence of Gaudiya Vaisnavas (Day 6 )
Chanting is taking place from 721 locations. Welcome all. We are happy to see you again. Yesterday we discussed Jagannatha’s Abhishek Festival. The possibility is there that many of you have a temple in your home and that you also have a Jagannath temple.
This is the specialty of Gaudiya Vaisnavism that they worship Jagannatha. When Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was performing His manifest pastimes then He also worshiped Jagannatha Swami. Of course, when He becomes a worshipper, He is in the mood of Radharani. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is both Radha and Krsna.
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya.
If someone knows Jagannatha then they are Gaudiya Vaishnavas. It’s not that we only love the Lord, but Lord also loves His devotees. When we say, “I love You, Krsna” then the Lord replies “The same to you”. So who loves us? Krsna. We’re lovers of Krsna. What else is needed? If we understand this then lust will be finished. aham kami, aham lobhi,aham bhogi…. such thoughts which are there are thoughts of demoniac people.
na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah
Translation:
Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.[ BG 7.15]
When we understand that we love the Lord and the Lord also loves us, and also we love the Lord’s devotees and devotees also love us, then we have to understand that they love our soul. We also have love with other souls and with the Supreme Lord. This is premo pumarth mahan. This is the supremacy of Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
srīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalaṁ yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ
yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate
tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviskṛtaṁ
tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa-paro bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ
Translation:
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless Purāṇa. It is most dear to the Vaiṣṇavas because it describes the pure and supreme knowledge of the paramahaṁsas. This Bhāgavatam reveals the means for becoming free from all material work, together with the processes of transcendental knowledge, renunciation, and devotion. Anyone who seriously tries to understand who properly hears and chants it with devotion, becomes completely liberated.[SB.12.13.18]
Others have to reach up till Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. But those who make prema as their prayojana are Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Other sampradayas also love the Lord. Some love Laksmi-Narayana or Sita-Rama. They are also Radha Krsna. Those who love Them become residents of Vaikuntha or Saket Dhama. But Gaudiya Vaisnavas love and worship Radha and Krsna and become residents of Goloka. According to Caitanya Mahaprabhu…
aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam
ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena va kalpita
srimad bhagavatam pramanam amalam prema pum-artho mahan
sri-caitanya mahaprabhor matam idam tatradarah na parah
Translation:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is worshipped along with His transcendental abode Vrndavana. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopis of Vrndavana. Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless authority on everything and pure love of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life for all men. These statements, for which we have the highest regard, are the opinion of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. [Caitanya-matta-manjusa commentary on Srimad-Bhagavatam by Srinath Chakravarti.]
…Gaudiya Vaishnavas worship Vrajesh tanaya. Whom do we love and worship, proves the Supremacy of Gaudiya Vaishnavas. This is the specialty of vishrambha. Nobody is equal and above Gaudiya Vaishnavas. This is our last presentation.
The topic is Purna Purusottama Krsna and Prema Purusottama Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
Translation:
Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.[ Sri Brahma-Samhita 5.1]
This is the realization of Brahma. 33 crores demigods are “isvara”, but Lord Krsna is “parmeswar” [ Supreme]. In Caitanya-caritamrta it is also said …
ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya
yāre yaiche nācāya, se taiche kare nṛtya
Translation:
Lord Kṛṣṇa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.[ CC Adi 5.142]
Lord is sachidanand vigraha. It means the Lord has form. It destroys impersonalism. anādir ādir govindaḥ. It is said in two ways. That Lord is primeval and there is no one before Him. There is no-one who is His source. This applies to the Lord only. Who is the Lord? He is anadi. He is the cause of all causes.
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam…
ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge
Translation:
All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.[ SB 1.3.28]
This verse also says the same thing. This chapter enlists 22 incarnations, but there should 24. Suta Goswami has taken the name of 22 incarnations and he said that all these are amsas or portions of the plenary portions. All other incarnations are there, but we need to understand krsnas tu bhagvan swayam. It should be noted. Krsna is the original personality of Godhead.
In Nectar of Devotion Srila Rupa Goswami mentions the 64 qualities of Krsna. Within these 64 qualities, 50 qualities are there in the jiva. This is the abhed. But there is a big difference in the quantity. This becomes acintya-bheda-bheda in terms of qualities. Out of 64 qualities, 55 are there in Brahma and Siva. The maximum 60 qualities are there in the Lord’s incarnations. 4 more qualities are there in Krsna only. These 4 qualities are not there in any other incarnations. Here also we can apply acintya-bheda-bheda tattva in terms of quantity. As there are many incarnations like Shaktyavesh Avatara, Purusha Avatara, Lila Avatara, Guna Avatara, Manvantara Avataras, qualities vary from incarnation to incarnation. The four qualities which are in Krsna only are explained in the Nectar of Devotion by Srila Rupa Goswami. Srila Rupa Goswami is an authority who knows so many things.
śrī-caitanya-mano-‘bhīṣṭaṁ
sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale
svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ
dadāti sva-padāntikam
Translation:
When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfil the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet? (CC Antya 1.117 purport)
Srila Rupa Goswami is an authority who knows so many things. He is the resident of “Bhagavat Dhama”. He is Rupa Manjari. Manjaris may be there in other sampradayas such as Nimbakacarya. They understand and accept the Gopi bhava and their Lila. Madhavacarya sampradaya doesn’t believe in Gopis. In other sampradayas also there is the same situation. But in Gaudiya Vaisnavism, we talk about Manjaris and not only about Gopis. There are various types of Gopis. Within that, there are Manjaris who have appeared along with Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The acaryas who appeared during the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, among them, many Gopis and Manjaris appeared. Rupa Manjari is the leader of all the manjaris. Rupa Manjari has descended as Rupa Goswami and is giving running commentary of the pastimes over there of the most confidential things. Many associates who appeared along with Mahaprabhu are eternal associates. They are also mentioned as incarnations of devotees. So when Lord Rama, Lord Caitanya appear, along with them all the Dhama vasis and their eternal associates also appear. There is an incarnation of the Lord and there is also an incarnation of His devotees.
I was telling you that Rupa Goswami is the authority. He lives day and night with Krsna. Manjaris are so close that sometimes Gopis are asked to leave but Manjaris stay over there when some confidential pastimes are about to take place. So Rupa Goswami is Rupa Manjari.
People keep on saying, “Have u seen Krsna?” We say, “I don’t know Krsna but I know someone who knows Krsna. I also say this. The 4 qualities that make Krsna special which is called Krsna’s madhurya. They are Lila Madhurya, Prema Madhurya, Venu Madhurya and Roop madhurya.
lila premna priyadhikyam, madhuryam venu-rupayoh
ity asadharanam proktam, govindasya chatustayam
evam gunas chatur-bhedas, chatuh-sastir udahrtah
Translations:
“ ‘Above Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa has four specific transcendental qualities — His wonderful pastimes, an abundance of wonderful associates who are very dear to Him [like the gopīs], His wonderful beauty and the wonderful vibration of His flute.Lord Kṛṣṇa is more exalted than ordinary living beings and demigods like Lord Śiva. He is even more exalted than His personal expansion Nārāyaṇa. In all, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has sixty-four transcendental qualities in full.’ (CC, Madhya 23.84-85)
Because of these 4 unique qualities, Krsna is famous. In some sampradaya, Laksmi-Narayana are worshiped or only Visnu is worshipped. In Rudra Sampradaya Vallabhacarya worships in vatsalya rasa. They worship Laddu Gopala. In some sampradaya, just Krsna is worshipped, as in Udupi. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave darsana to Raya Ramanand, it was very special.
sri krsna caitanya radha krsna nahi anya
From here also it is proven that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Radha and Krsna. They both are Purna Purusottama and Lila or Prema Purusottama. By becoming Radha Krsna They tasted love.
namo maha-vadanyaya
krishna-prema-pradaya te
krishnaya krishna-chaitanya-
namne gaura-tvishe nama
Translation:
O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
In this prayer, it is said that I offer obeisances to Krsna. Which Krsna do I worship? That Krsna whose name is Krsna Caitanya. One’s name is Krsna and the other’s name is Krsna Caitanya. There is no difference and even in the name there is not too much difference. They are one only. This Gaudiya Vaisnavism is ISKCON. This is our philosophy, life, culture, and basis of Krishna Consciousness. His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada is the Founder Acarya of such an ISKCON whose base is Gaudiya Vaisnavism. In the Gaudiya Vaisnavas parampara Madhavendra Puri, Isvara puri and Caitanya Mahaprabhu also become acaryas. The six Goswamis were acaryas and in the same succession Srila Prabhupada appeared and he presented the tattvas in ISKCON. When ISKCON was founded in 1966, it was established with 7 purposes. Propagate Krsna knowledge, bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krsna, erect holy places of the pastimes of Lord Krsna, Goloka Dhama. The discussion which we were doing about the Superexcellence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism is reflected in these 7 purposes. Then the distribution of books like Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavatam, and Caitanya Charitamrita. Acintya-bheda-bheda is the ideology of ISKCON.
You all are seeing the acaryas in succession. Now Gaudiya Vaisnava is a separate parampara. First of all, it was Brahma Madhva Sampradaya. Then Laksmipati Tirtha was acarya at one time in this sampradaya of Madhavacarya whose base was in Udupi. Madhavendra Puri became a disciple of Laksmipati Tirtha and he started Gaudiya Vaisnavism. One time Laksmipati Tirtha visited Pandharpur and initiated Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu is adi Guru. So along with Madhavendra Puri and Nityananda Prabhu the Gaudiya parampara expanded over the whole world. While preaching, Gaudiya Vaisnavism reached Pandharpur. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also visited Pandharpur. Vishwarupa also visited and disappeared over here. We were preaching regarding Vitthala Bhakti,, but from here onwards preaching of Gaudiya Vaishnavism will take place from Pandharpur too. This is additional. Nobody in Pandharpur knew this. We have established the Jagannatha Temple in Pandharpur. Through this preaching the supremacy of Gaudiya Vaisnavism will be spread. Srila Prabhupada Ghata will also remind all about Gaudiya Vaisnavism. You also should preach about this.
yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa
In the next few minutes, you can comment on this. You can post your inquiries or realizations.
Hari