Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila Chapter 23 Purports - Life's Ultimate Goal — Love of Godhead
Pages in category "Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila Chapter 23 Purports - Life's Ultimate Goal — Love of Godhead"
The following 138 pages are in this category, out of 138 total.
A
- A candidate for Krsna consciousness in the Western countries should be taught about the renunciation of material existence, but one would teach candidates from a country like India in a different way
- A person becomes interested in devotional service by some good fortune. Eventually he becomes interested in pure devotional service without material contamination. At that point, a person wants to associate with devotees
- A Vaisnava is immediately purified, provided he follows the rules and regulations of his bona fide spiritual master
- Above Devi-dhama is a place where Lord Siva and his wife Uma reside. Those brightened by spiritual knowledge and liberated from material contamination reside in that Sivaloka
- Above the sky is the sun and its orbit. This is the entrance to the heavenly planets. Above the heavenly planets are other planets, up to Brahmaloka, where those advancing in spiritual knowledge reside
- According to smarta-brahmanas, a person not born in a brahmana family could not be elevated to the position of a brahmana. Sanatana Gosvami, however, says that anyone can be elevated to the position of a brahmana by the process of initiation
- According to the Bhagavad-gita, simply by understanding Krsna one can get free from the cycle of birth and death
- According to the gosvami process, the Hari-bhakti-vilasa and the Narada-pancaratra, anyone can be a brahmana if he is properly initiated by a bona fide spiritual master
- After initiation, when one follows the regulative principles of devotional service, one becomes freed from all unwanted things. In this way one becomes firmly fixed and gradually develops a taste for devotional service
- All these symptoms (of subordinate ecstatic expressions of love) are divided into two divisions - sita and ksepana. Singing, yawning and so on are called sita. Dancing and bodily contortions are called ksepana
- Although the Lord is described and accepted by great personalities, acaryas and sages, the Mayavadis still do not appreciate Him
- As a result of this (devotee) association, he (a person) becomes more and more interested in discharging devotional service and hearing and chanting
- As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the asuras are given a chance to forget Krsna more and more, birth after birth. Thus they make their appearance in a family of asuras and continue this process, being kept in bewilderment about Krsna
- Asuras in the dress of sannyasis even explain the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam in different ways according to their own imaginations. Thus they continue to remain asuras birth after birth
- At the present moment human society is so degraded that people cannot even provide themselves with life's daily necessities, yet they are captivated by Mayavadi philosophers and are being misled
- Ayoga has two divisions - longing and separation
B
- Balarama appeared from the first hair (of Lord Visnu), and Krsna appeared from the second hair
- Beyond that planetary system (Sivaloka) is the spiritual world, where there are planets called Vaikunthalokas. Goloka Vrndavana is situated above all the Vaikunthalokas
- Bhava-bhakti is the platform of purified goodness. By such purified goodness, one’s heart melts in devotional service. Bhava-bhakti is the first seed of love of Godhead. This emotional stage is there before one attains pure love
- Bodily contortions, yawning, a trembling of the front portion of the nostrils, heavy breathing, hiccupping and falling down and rolling on the ground. These are the external manifestations of emotional love
- By means of vibhava, anubhava, sattvika and vyabhicari, hearing and chanting are activated, and the devotee is able to taste love for Krsna. Then attachment for Krsna, or permanent ecstasy (sthayi-bhava), becomes the mellow of devotional service
- By nature’s arrangements, shelter, clothing and food are supplied to the devotee who is completely surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a devotee does not need a puffed-up materialistic person to maintain him
- By various tastes, one’s heart is softened, and there is an awakening of one’s loving propensity to render spontaneous service to the Lord. This is called tatastha-laksana, the marginal symptom of bhava
D
- Devotional life is divided into two stages - sadhana-bhakti and bhava-bhakti
- Devotional service can be discharged in any condition
- Dry renunciation is forbidden by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and we have also learned this from our spiritual master. The essence of devotional service must be taken into consideration, and not the outward paraphernalia
- Due to envy, many asuras describe Krsna to be like a black crow or an incarnation of a hair. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Sanatana Gosvami how to counteract all these asuric explanations of Krsna
G
- God is described as the Supreme Being, and the living entity is described as a jiva
- God is described as the Supreme Being, the chief of all living beings, because He is supplying the necessities of all others - eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman
- Goloka Vrndavana is the kingdom of Srimati Radharani and the parents of Krsna, Maharaja Nanda and mother Yasoda. In this way there are various planetary systems, and they are all creations of the Supreme Lord
- Goloka Vrndavana-dhama is situated above the Vaikuntha planets. The spiritual sky containing all the Vaikuntha planets is very small compared to Goloka Vrndavana-dhama
I
- I am very hopeful that some of our students can take up this responsibility and render the best service to humanity by educating people in Krsna consciousness
- I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings
- If one actually develops the devotional attitude, he must be freed from the material contamination of illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. These are the preliminary symptoms
- Imaginative mad talks, known as citra-jalpa, can be divided into ten categories - prajalpa, parijalpa, vijalpa, ujjalpa, sanjalpa, avajalpa, abhijalpa, ajalpa, pratijalpa and sujalpa
- In Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Visnu Purana and the Mahabharata there are references to Krsna and Balarama being incarnations of a black hair and a white hair respectively
- In the mellow of servitorship, love of Godhead increases beyond that to affection, counterlove (anger based on love), love and attachment. Similarly, the mellow of friendship increases to affection, counterlove, love, attachment and subattachment
- In the mellows of bhakti-yoga, there are two stages - ayoga and yoga
- In the stage of ayoga (separation), the mind is filled with Krsna consciousness and is fully absorbed in thoughts of Krsna. In that stage, the devotee searches out the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- In the transcendental mellows of neutrality and servitorship, there are similar divisions of yoga and viyoga, but they are not variegated
- In this verse, Sukadeva Gosvami advises Maharaja Pariksit that a devotee should be independent in all circumstances
- In those days, India was more or less following the principle of smarta-vidhi. Srila Sanatana Gosvami had to keep pace with this, and his Hari-bhakti-vilasa was compiled with this in mind
- Indra saying to Lord Krsna, "Both You and that supreme planetary system have descended here upon this earth. Unfortunately, I have disturbed You by my misdeeds, and that was due to my foolishness. I am therefore trying to satisfy You by my prayers"
- It is not necessary that the rules and regulations followed in India be exactly the same as those in Europe, America and other Western countries. Simply imitating without effect is called niyamagraha
- It is said that in that stage of separation, all the devotees in the different mellows are always active in thinking of ways to attain Krsna’s association
- It is stated that Lord Visnu snatched two hairs - one white and one black - from His head. These two hairs entered the wombs of Rohini and Devaki, members of the Yadu dynasty. Balarama was born from Rohini, and Krsna was born of Devaki
- It was foretold that all the asuras, who are enemies of the demigods, would be cut down by Lord Visnu by His white and black plenary expansions and that the Supreme Personality of Godhead would appear and perform wonderful activities
L
- Learned scholars in the science of bhakti-yoga say that when there is an absence of association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, separation takes place
- Liberation from material contamination is called anartha-nivrtti, indicating a diminishing of all unwanted things. This is the test of development in devotional service
- Lord Indra said to Lord Krsna, “We asked Lord Brahma about Your eternal planet, but we could not understand it. Those fruitive actors who have controlled their senses and mind with pious activities can be elevated to the heavenly planets"
- Lord Indra says to Lord Krsna, "Pure devotees who are always engaged in Lord Narayana’s service are promoted to the Vaikunthalokas. However, my Lord Krsna, Your Goloka Vrndavana-dhama is very difficult to attain"
- Love for Krsna, Kesava, as previously described, reaches the supreme state of being composed of mellows when its ingredients are fulfilled
M
- Maharaja Pariksit was not at all afraid of being bitten by the snake-bird. Indeed, he requested all the great personalities assembled to continue chanting the holy name of Lord Visnu
- Maharaja Pariksit’s expression of anxiety is explained in this verse. He says, “Let whatever is destined to happen take place. It doesn’t matter. Just let me see that not a moment of my time is wasted without a relationship with Krsna”
- Mana is a word used to indicate the mood of the lover and the beloved experienced whether they are in one place or in different places. This mood obstructs their looking at each other and embracing each other, despite the fact that they are attached
- Many great saintly persons, sages, brahmanas, kings and demigods came to see him (Maharaja Pariksit) in his last days
- Mayavadi philosophers, who have a poor fund of knowledge, simply dismiss the subject by explaining that krsna means "black." Not understanding the qualities of Krsna, these atheistic rascals do not accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Meeting each other and embracing each other are aimed at bringing about the happiness of the lover and the beloved. When this stage becomes increasingly jubilant, the resultant ecstatic emotion is called sambhoga
N
O
- One can collect old garments that have been thrown out, one can eat fruits offered by the trees, one can drink water from the rivers, and one can live within the caves of mountains
- One has to tolerate all obstacles on the path of Krsna consciousness, and one has to see that not a moment of his life is wasted outside of Krsna’s service
- One should not be jealous of members of other castes or nations. It is not that only Indians or brahmanas can become Vaisnavas. Anyone can become a Vaisnava. Therefore one should recognize that the bhakti cult must be spread all over the world
- One who is expert in devotional service calls such symptoms raty-abhasa, a mere glimpse of attachment
- One who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Krsna is not as complete in his renunciation
P
- Pravasa is a word used to indicate the separation of lovers who were previously intimately associated. This separation is due to their being in different places
- Prema-vaicittya is a word used to indicate an abundance of love that brings about grief from fear of separation, although the lover is present
S
- Sadhana-bhakti refers to the development of devotional service through the regulative principles
- Sanatana Gosvami was empowered to establish the cult of Vaisnavism
- Sanatana Gosvami was enjoined (1) to broadcast the revealed scriptures on devotional service and establish the conclusions of devotional service, (2) to reestablish lost places of pilgrimage like Vrndavana and Radha-kunda
- Sanatana Gosvami was enjoined to enunciate the behavior of a Vaisnava (as Srila Sanatana Gosvami did in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa)
- Sanatana Gosvami was enjoined to establish the Vrndavana method of temple worship and install Deities in temples (Sri Sanatana Gosvami established the Madana-mohana temple, and Rupa Gosvami established the Govindaji temple)
- Sanatana Gosvami wrote his Vaisnava smrti, Hari-bhakti-vilasa, which was specifically meant for India
- Serious students of this Krsna consciousness movement must understand their great responsibility to preach the cult of Vrndavana (devotional service to the Lord) all over the world
- Some of Lord Krsna’s pastimes are mentioned in the Mahabharata as mausala-lila. These include the stories of the destruction of the Yadu dynasty, Krsna’s disappearance and His being pierced by a hunter’s arrow
- Some of these symptoms (of subordinate ecstatic expressions of love) are dancing, falling down and rolling on the ground, singing and crying very loudly, bodily contortions, loud vibrations and yawning
- Some of these symptoms (of subordinate ecstatic expressions of love) are deep breathing, disregard for others, the frothing of saliva, mad laughter, spitting and hiccups
- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that the mellow of neutrality increases to simple love of Godhead
- Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura summarizes this growth of love of Godhead as a gradual process
- Srila Rupa Gosvami has refuted this argument about the hair incarnation, and his refutation is supported by Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana’s commentaries
T
- That which causes love for Krsna to appear is called vibhava. That has two divisions - alambana (in which love appears) and uddipana (by which love appears)
- The acarya’s duty is to accept the essence of devotional service. There may be a little change here and there as far as yukta-vairagya (proper renunciation) is concerned
- The asuras describe Krsna as an incarnation of a crow, an incarnation of a sudra (a blackish tribe) and an incarnation of a hair, not knowing that the word kesa means ka-isa and that ka means Lord Brahma and isa means Lord
- The basic principle for the execution of devotional service is faith. Above that, there is association with devotees, and after that there is initiation by a bona fide spiritual master
- The cause bringing about the tasting of love for Krsna is called vibhava. Vibhava is divided into two categories - alambana (support) and uddipana (awakening)
- The divisions of yoga and viyoga are always existing in the five mellows. However, in the transcendental mellows of friendship and parental affection, there are many varieties of yoga and viyoga
- The ecstatic symptoms manifest in the external body of a person in ecstatic love are called udbhasvara by learned scholars. Some of these are a slackening of the belt and a dropping of clothes and hair
- The impelling principles rise up and fall back in the permanent sentiments of ecstatic love like waves in an ocean of ecstasy. Consequently they are called vyabhicari
- The living entities have all the characteristics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in minute quantity, but the living entity is never equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind
- The love of Godhead is actually life’s highest perfection and the reservoir of all pleasure
- The many external ecstatic symptoms, or bodily transformations which indicate ecstatic emotions in the mind and which are also called udbhasvara, are the anubhavas, or subordinate ecstatic expressions of love
- The Mayavadis maintain that everyone is God, but even if this philosophy is accepted, no one can maintain that everyone is equal to the Supreme Godhead in every respect. Only unintelligent men maintain that everyone is equal to God or that everyone is God
- The meetings of the lovers that take place in dreams also have these four divisions
- The more one is interested in hearing and chanting, the more he is purified of material contamination
- The more the taste grows, the more one desires to render service to the Lord. In this way one becomes attached to a particular mellow in the Lord’s service - santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya or madhura. As a result of such attachment, bhava develops
- The object of love is Krsna, and the container of that love is the devotee of Krsna. Learned scholars call them alambana - the foundations
- The planets up to Brahmaloka are part of the material world (Devi-dhama). Because the material world is under the control of Devi, Durga, it is called Devi-dhama
- The platform of mahabhava includes rudha and adhirudha. These platforms are possible only in conjugal love. Advanced ecstasy is found in Dvaraka, whereas highly advanced ecstasy is found among the gopis
- The qualities of Krsna are present in the living entity in minute, atomic quantities. A small portion of gold is certainly gold, but it cannot be equal to a gold mine
- The real symptoms of the fructification of the seed of love (rati) are manifested because the heart is melted. When such symptoms are found among speculators and fruitive actors, they cannot be accepted as real symptoms of attachment
- The six Gosvamis are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in the transcendental loving service of Radha and Krsna
- The space occupied by Goloka Vrndavana-dhama is called mahakasa, or “the greatest sky of all”
- The special feature of the mellow of friendship exhibited by personalities like Subala is that it increases from fraternal affection to counterlove, to spontaneous attachment, to subordinate attachment, and finally to the ecstasy
- The teacher (acarya) has to consider time, candidate and country. He must avoid the principle of niyamagraha - that is, he should not try to perform the impossible. What is possible in one country may not be possible in another
- The very sweet attraction of conjugal love increases through affection, counterlove, love, attachment, subattachment, ecstasy and highly advanced ecstasy (mahabhava)
- The word agraha means “not to accept.” We should not follow regulative principles without an effect, nor should we fail to accept the regulative principles. What is required is a special technique according to country, time and candidate
- The word anapeksa means that one should not be concerned with mundane people and should not depend upon them. One should depend solely on the Supreme Personality of Godhead and be free from material desires
- The word maitra, “friendly,” indicates that one who is able to preach the bhakti cult all over the world should be equally friendly to everyone
- The words sarvarambha-parityagi indicate that one should not be interested in the so-called smarta-vidhi of pious and impious activities
- There are many people who are by nature averse to the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu. Such people are called asuras. They have mistaken ideas about Krsna
- There are thirty-three transitory elements, known as vyabhicari ecstatic emotions. They especially wander about the permanent sentiments as assistants
- There is a difference between the smarta process and the gosvami process. According to the smarta process, one cannot be accepted as a brahmana unless he is born in a brahmana family
- These moods (bhavas) bring under control the favorable ecstasies (such as laughing) and unfavorable ecstasies (such as anger). When these moods continue to remain as kings, they are called sthayi-bhava, or permanent ecstasies
- They (vyabhicari ecstatic emotions) are to be known by words, by different symptoms seen in the limbs and in other parts of the body, and by the peculiar conditions of the heart
- This is a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, spoken by Maharaja Pariksit while he was sitting on the bank of the Ganges expecting to be bitten by a snake-bird summoned by the curse of a brahmana boy named Srngi, who was the son of a great sage named Samika
- This Krsna consciousness movement continues the tradition of the Six Gosvamis, especially Srila Sanatana Gosvami and Srila Rupa Gosvami
- Those things which awaken ecstatic love are called uddipana. Mainly this awakening is made possible by the qualities and activities of Krsna, as well as by His mode of decoration and the way His hair is arranged
- Those who are preaching this Krsna consciousness movement must try to understand Krsna from the statements given in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
- To be outwardly clean, one should regularly bathe with soap and oil, and to be inwardly clean one should always be absorbed in thoughts of Krsna
- To broadcast the cult of Krsna consciousness, one has to learn the possibility of renunciation in terms of country, time and candidate
W
- We should not introduce anything whimsically, without the sanction of the bona fide spiritual master
- When attachment produced in the lover and beloved before their meeting by seeing, hearing and so on becomes very palatable by the mixture of four ingredients, such as vibhava and anubhava, this is called purva-raga
- When one is freed from all material contamination, his firm faith in devotional service awakens. When firm faith develops, a taste arises, and by that taste one becomes attached to devotional service
- When one is not attached to anything but at the same time accepts everything in relation to Krsna, one is rightly situated above possessiveness
- When one meets Krsna directly, that is called yoga
- When the emotional stage intensifies, it is called prema-bhakti, or transcendental love of Godhead. This gradual process is also described in the following two verses, which are found in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.4.15-16)
- When the King of heaven, Indra, surrendered to Krsna after Krsna had raised Govardhana Hill, Lord Indra stated that above the planetary systems wherein human beings reside is the sky, where birds fly
- When the lover and the beloved meet, they are called yukta (connected). Previous to their meeting, they are called ayukta (not connected)
- When this attachment (for devotional service) intensifies, the seed of love of Krsna fructifies. This position is called priti or rati (affection) or bhava (emotion). When rati intensifies, it is called love of Godhead
- Whether connected or not connected, the ecstatic emotion arising due to not being able to embrace and kiss each other as desired is called vipralambha. This vipralambha helps nourish emotions at the time of meeting
- Without the sanction of the spiritual master, we should not try to imitate. This principle is recommended here: suska-vairagya-jnana saba nisedhila. This is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s liberal demonstration of the bhakti cult