SRI SRI CAITANYA SIKSAMRTA chapter one part seven
Sri Krsna Caitanya spoke to Sanatana:
Now hear, O Sanatana, about the result of devotional service, which is love of Godhead (prema), life's ultimate goal (prayojana). If one hears this description, he will be enlightened in the transcendental mellows of devotional service (rasa). When affection for Krsna (rati) becomes deeper, one attains love of Godhead in devotional service (prema). Such a position is called sthayi bhava, permanent enjoyment of the mellows of devotional service to Krsna.
C.C.Madhya 23.3-4
The meaning of the Lord's words is this: devotional in its first stage of sadhana is called bhakti and later when the sadhana yields its results, it is called bhava, and finally it matures as prema. Sadhana bhakti continues up till bhava, which is also called rati or prityankura, the sprout of love.1 The difference between vaidhi and raganuga is that vaidhi proceeds somewhat slower to bhava. Practice of raganuga very quickly leads to the level of bhava.2 Faith, having surpassed steadiness (nistha), takes the form of ruci in the heart of the raganuga bhakta. Thus there is no delay for that to mature into bhava.3
When the devotee achieves bhava, the following qualities become visible.
If love for Krsna in a seedling state has fructified in one's heart, one is not agitated by material things. Not a moment should be lost. Every moment should be utilized for Krsna or connected with Him. in the material field, people are interested in material enjoyment, mystic power and sense gratification. However, these things do not appeal to the devotee at all. although a devotee's standard is above all, he still considers himself to be in the lowest stage of life. A fully surrendered devotee always hopes that Lord Krsna will be kind to him. This hope is very firm in him. Eagerness is chiefly characterized by an ardent desire to associate with the Lord. Due to having great relish for the holy name, one is inclined to chant the hare krsna mahamantra constantly. A devotee has awakened the tendency to chant and describe the transcendental qualities of the Lord. He has attachment for this process. A devotee absorbed in ectatic emotion for Krsna always resides in a place where Krsna's pastimes were performed.
C.C.Madhya 23.20-39
If one reads the Fifth Chapter, one can understand all these teachings of the Lord. The characteristics of prema are extremely difficult to discuss. Thus Mahaprabhu has said:
These are the symptoms of a person who has developed attraction (bhava) for Krsna. Now let me describe the symptoms of a person who is actually elevated to love of Krsna (prema). O Sanatana, please hear this from Me. Even the most learned man cannot understand the words, activities and symptoms of a person situated in love of Godhead.4
C.C.Madhya 23.38-39
Prema is of five types: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhura. Amongst these, madhura prema and madhura rasa are supreme. In the madhura rasa the devotee experiences the maximum extent of Krsna's sweetness. 5 The devotee situated in madhura rasa attains the highest perfection of prema.6 All sixty four qualities of Krsna are present in the madhura rasa of Vraja, and thus infinite sweetness is experienced by the devotee of Vraja.
Mahaprabhu has spoken of Radha, the topmost devotee in this way:
Srimati Radharani has unlimited transcendental qualities, of which twenty-five qualities are principal. Sri Krsna is controlled by these transcendental qualities of Srimati Radharani.
C.C.Madhya 23.86
Those alone who are fortune to be qualified for madhura rasa can taste this rasa. No one can understand it by logical thought. Thus the Lord said:
The exchange between Krsna and different devotees situated in different transcendental mellows is not to be experienced by nondevotees. Advanced devotees can understand and appreciate the different varieties of devotional service reciprocated with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
C.C.Madhya 23.99
After teaching Sanatana all of this, the Lord taught about rejection of dry renunciation and acceptance of yukta vairagya.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then told Sanatana Gosvami about proper renunciation according to a particular situation, and the Lord forbade dry renunciation and speculative knowledge in all respects.
C.C.Madhya 23.105
By reasoning and by interpretation of ambiguous Vedic statements some people conclude that we are spirit, but due to the contact with material energy we have lost consciousness of this fact. How to become freed from the material world? The body, house, and food are all material. How can we become free from these material obstacles? Thinking in this way, they smear ashes on their bodies, wear kaupinas, eat dry food, renounce wife and children. To give the impression that they are renounced they give up the household and wander in the forest or live in the asrama. Not considering what value such actions will do them, they indulge in dry speculation, being indifferent to the fact that real deliverance is caused by a relationship with the Lord. Though they become free from sin and piety and concepts of "me" and "mine," they cannot really understand what benefit they have attained. They pass their time in studying the statements of the Vedanta. When they die, a few associates come and break coconuts on their heads and bury them in the ground. What is achieved? They have not attained the Lord. All they get is brahman. Alternatively, if a person places the Lord in the center of his life while caring for his body and house, while eating and sleeping, then he gradually increases his devotion to the Lord through his devotional practice; finally, definitely, he achieves prema.7 This type of renunciation is called yukta vairagya. Mahaprabhu forbade Sanatana from practicing dry renunciation, and taught him yukta vairagya. To Raghunatha Das he said :
Be patient and return home. Don't be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence. You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false renunciate. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it. Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Krsna will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of maya.
C..C.Madhya 126.237-239
If a person can carry on his household duties without attachment and worship the Lord with inner steadiness, gradually the material world will fall away. By devotion, the soul becomes stronger and establishes a relation with the Lord.8 The alternative is to reject the gradual process and become a false renunciate, but this leads to degradation of the soul. To accept necessary objects, means not to accept objects for sense gratification or pleasure, but to accept them only for establishing a relationship of the soul with the Lord. Being merciful, these objects themselves will release the non-material soul. The body, house and objects meant for worship can all be used in yukta vairagya. All that is necessary is the internal steadiness of the devotee to achieve success. An external show of steadiness is only for others to see. If there is internal devotion and steadiness, very quickly the bondage of the material world will disappear. Pure knowledge and pure detachment will certainly increase to the extent that devotion increases.
Taking shelter of the holy name of Krsna is the ultimate practice for the real devotee.9 Sri Caitanya spoke to Sanatana:
Among the ways of executing devotional service, the nine prescribed methods are the best, for these processes have great potency to deliver Krsna and ecstatic love for Him. Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the holy name of the Lord. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.
C.C.Madhya Antya 4.70-71
Give up all your nonsensical desires, for they are unfavorable for getting shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna. Engage yourself in chanting and hearing. Then you will soon achieve the shelter of Krsna without a doubt. A person born in a low family is not unfit for discharging devotional service to Lord Krsna, nor is one fit for devotional service simply because he is born in an aristocratic family of brahmanas.10 Anyone who takes to devotional service is exalted, whereas a nondevotee is always condemned and abominable. Therefore in the discharge of devotional service to the Lord, there is no consideration of the status of one's family. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is always favorable to the humble and meek, but aristocrats, learned scholars and the wealthy are always proud of their positions.
C.C.Madhya Antya 4.65-68
This means that if a person has faith in the Lord, he will take chanting the Lord's name in association of devotees. He will not distract his mind with attempts at karma or jnana. He will constantly chant the sixteen names of Krsna while counting. He will maintain body, house and society to the extent that they can be favorable for cultivating the Name, and will offer them all in the service of Krsna. He will not labor in any other direction , and even here he will not overendeavor. He will not indulge in pleasurable objects or delicious food. He will maintain his body on sattvika food so that the senses, mind and internal mental faculties will e not be disturbed or destroyed.11 Not being over ambitious in his plans he will reside in a solitary place. Staying in association with those who can nurture devotion, he carefully progresses. The purpose of all these activities is to attain fixed chanting of the name, with no anxieties.12 This person will reject completely association with women and persons who associate with women, and he will be careful not to associate with materialists. 13 He will give up useless discussion, and consider himself as the most fallen. Being tolerant, he will endure everything and give benefit to the world. He is not proud of his caste, wealth, followers, beauty, strength, knowledge or position, and he respects all others in a proper way.14 Living in this way, he will constantly chant the Lord's name with devotion. in this way, by Krsna's mercy he will attain pure prema. Dharma, artha, kama and moksa will serve this devotee. 15
If there is some desire in the heart, then the devotee should continue his chanting humbly recognizing it yet detesting it. In a short time the Lord will come into the heart, purify it of all desire, and accept the devotee's love. 16
In Lord Caitanya's teachings there are only two concepts: taste for the name and mercy to the jivas. A person is a devotee to the extent that these two qualities are present. 17 It is not necessary to labor for any other qualities. The qualities of the devotee spontaneously appear, 18and the devotee naturally relishes acting for the benefit of all.19 When a jiva becomes the servant of Krsna, sorrow no longer exists.20 The devotee is careful to associate with the guru and others of the same category at the appropriate time.21 The life of an advanced devotee is very pure. His taste is always pure. 22 Mahaprabhu taught Raghunatha this briefly .
Smiling, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Raghunatha dasa, "I have already appointed Svarupa Damodara Gosvami as your instructor. You may learn from him what your duty is and how to discharge it. I do not know as much as he. Nevertheless, if you want to take instructions from Me, with faith and love you may ascertain your duties from the following words. Do not talk like people in general or hear what they say. You should not eat very palatable food, nor should you dress very nicely. Do not expect honor, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the holy name of Lord Krsna, and within your mind render service to Radha and Krsna in Vrndavana. I have briefly given you My instructions. Now you will get all details about them from Svarupa Damodara.
C.C.Antya 6.233.238
In these instructions the Lord hinted in a covered way the mental worship of Krsna at eight times of the day. Elsewhere instructions to Svarupa Damodara will be given, but the devotes should be careful to be qualified for such teachings.
The mentality during vaidhi bhakti of exclusive cultivation of devotion with the aim of achieving bhava bhakti, and the mentality during bhava bhakti of intense cultivation with the aim of achieving prema, is called nirbandhini mati or undivided attention. If such concentration exits, then very quickly the devotee attains perfection. In other words the devotee must make an effort corresponding to the goal he wishes to achieve. 23 From the very beginning of practice, the devotee must adopt this concentrated attention, and should beware of giving it up due to inattention.
1 One should learn how to associate with the devotees of the Lord by gathering with them to chant the glories of the Lord. this process is most purifying. As devotees thus develop their loving friendship, they feel mutual happiness and satisfaction. And by thus encouraging one another they are able to give up material sense gratification, which is the cause of all suffering. The devotees of the Lord constantly discuss the glories of the Personality of Godhead among themselves. Thus they constantly remember the Lord and remind one another of His qualities and pastimes. In this way, by their devotion to the principles of bhakti yoga, the devotees please the Personality of Godhead, who takes away from them everything inauspicious. Being purified of all impediments, the devotees awaken to pure love of God, and thus, even within this world, their spiritualized bodies exhibit symptoms of transcendental ecstasy, such as standing of the bodily hairs on end. S.B.11.3.30-31
2 One who constantly hears and chants the holy name of the Lord and hears and chants about His activities can very easily attain the platform of pure devotional service, which can cleanse the dirt from one's heart. One cannot achieve such purification merely by observing vows and performing Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. S.B.6.3.32
3 The inhabitants of Vrndavana, including the gopis, cows, unmoving creatures such as the twin arjuna trees, animals, living entities with stunted consciousness such as bushes and thickets, and snakes such as Kaliya, all achieved the perfection of life by unalloyed love for Me and thus very easily achieved Me. Even though one engages with great endeavor in the mystic yoga system, philosophical speculation, charity, vows, penances, ritualistic sacrifices, teaching of Vedic mantras to others, personal study of the Vedas, or the renounced order of life, still one cannot achieve Me. S.B.11.12.8-9
4 Having achieved love of Godhead, the devotees sometimes cry out loud, absorbed in thought of the infallible Lord. Sometimes they laugh, feel great pleasure, speak out loud to the Lord, dance or sing. Such devotees, having transcended material conditioned life, sometimes imitate the unborn Supreme by acting out His pastimes. And sometimes, achieving His personal audience, they remain peaceful and silent. S.B.11.3.32
5 O King, the Supreme Lord is inexhaustible and immeasurable, and He is untouched by the material modes because He is their controller. His personal appearance in this world is meant for bestowing the highest benefit on humanity. Persons who constantly direct their lust, anger, fear, protective affection, feeling of impersonal oneness or friendship toward Lord Hari are sure to become absorbed in thought of Him. S.B.10.29.14-15
6 As chaste women bring their gentle husbands under control by service, the pure devotees, who are equal to everyone and completely attached to Me in the core of the heart, bring Me under their full control. S.B.9.4.66
7 Having awakened faith in the narrations of My glories, being disgusted with all material activities, knowing that all sense gratification leads to misery, but still being unable to renounce all sense enjoyment, My devotee should remain happy and worship Me with great faith and conviction. Even though he is sometimes engages in sense enjoyment, My devotee knows that all sense gratification leads to a miserable result, and he sincerely repents such activities. When an intelligent person engages constantly in worshipping Me through loving devotional service as described by Me, his heart becomes firmly situated in Me. Thus all material desires within the heart are destroyed. The knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. S.B.11.10.27.30
8 All occupational engagements are certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for material gain. Furthermore, according to sages, one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense gratification. Life's desires should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one's work. S.B.1.2.9-10
9 O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.S.B.2.1.11
10 To hell with our threefold birth, our vow of celibacy and our extensive learning! To hell with our aristocratic background and our expertise in the rituals of sacrifice! These are all condemned because we were inimical to the transcendental Personality of Godhead. S.B.10.23.40
11 A learned sage should take his satisfaction in the simple maintenance of his existence and should not seek satisfaction through gratifying the material senses. In other words, one should care for the material body in such a way that one's higher knowledge is not destroyed and so that one's speech and mind are not deviated from self-realization. S.B.11.7.39
Food what is wholesome, pure and obtained without difficulty is in the mode of goodness, food that gives immediate pleasure to the sense is in the mode of passion, and food that is unclean and causes distress is in the mode of ignorance. S.B.11.25.28
Residence in the forest is in the mode of goodness, residence in a town is in the mode of passion, residence in a gambling house displays the quality of ignorance, and residence in a place where I reside is transcendental. S.B.11.25.25
12 An intelligent person does not take interest in a place, even in the topmost planetary system, if the pure Ganges of topics concerning the Supreme Lord's activities does not flow there, if there are not devotees engaged in service on the banks of such a river of piety, or if there are no festivals of sankirtana yajna to satisfy the Lord. S.B.5.19.24
13 Among all the attractions of material enjoyment, the attraction of riches bewilders one's intelligence more than having beautiful bodily features, taking birth in an aristocratic family, and being learned. When one is uneducated but falsely puffed up by wealth, the result is that one engages his wealth in enjoying wine, women and gambling. Unable to control their senses, rascals who are falsely proud of their riches or their birth in aristocratic families are so cruel that to maintain their perishable bodies, which they think will never grow old or die, they kill poor animals without mercy. l Sometimes they kill animals merely to enjoy an excursion.
S.B.10.10.8-9
14 Sistastaka 3
15 Krsna Karnamrta
16 Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. S.B.1.2.17
17 Sudama chose unshakable devotion for Krsna, the Supreme Soul of all existence; friendship with His devotees; and transcendental compassion for all living beings. S.B.10.41.51
18 All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva. S.B.5.18.12
19 It is the duty of every living being to perform welfare activities for the benefit of others with his life, wealth, intelligence and words. S.B.10.22.35
20 My dear Lord Krsna, until people become Your devotees, their material attachments and desires remain thieves, their homes remain prisons, and their affectionate feelings for their family members remain foot-shackles. S.B.10.14.36
How can persons completely under the shelter of Lord Krsna in devotional service be put into miseries pertaining to the body, the mind , nature, and other men and living creatures? S.B.3.22.37
21 One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod. S.B.5.5.18
22 ...One should mold his life in such a way that he cannot live in peace without drinking the nectar of the glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari. One can be thus elevated by being disgusted with the taste for sense enjoyment. S.B.4.22.23
23 sad dharmasyavabodhaya yesam nirbandhini matih
acirad eve sarvarthah sidhyaty esam abhipsitah
Those who are anxious to awaken their spiritual consciousness, who have unflinching intelligence and who are not deviated, certainly attain the desired goal.
Narada Purana, quoted in C.C.Madhya 24.170
??
