Prabhupada: ...Mayavadi sannyasis of Benares. There are two kinds of Mayavadis. The word Mayavadi is very significant. I saw yesterday in your iṣṭagoṣṭhi you have tried to understand what is this Mayavadi. Mayavadi means materialist. Maya, this matter, the external energy, the inferior energy, and those who want to stick to this inferior energy, never mind what class of philosopher, what section of philosophers they belong, if their idea is only within the boundary of this material energy, they are called Mayavadi. They have no information of the spiritual energy. They are called Mayavadi. So chiefly the impersonalists and the void philosophers, they are called Mayavadi, because they have no other information. They want to simply negate, nullify, but they have no positive information, so they are called Mayavadi. So the Saṅkarites... Saṅkarites, of course, they give positive information. Brahma satya jagan mithya. They say that this world is false and Brahman is reality. But because we want reality in variety, therefore impersonal philosophy, although we take it as a matter of sectarian philosophy, it does not appeal to the heart because by nature we want enjoyment. And whenever there is question of enjoyment, there must be variety. Variety is the mother of enjoyment. So philosophically or theoretically, we may accept voidness, negation, out of frustration. When we are frustrated in these material varieties we adopt the suicidal policy, "Let me commit suicide, finish." This is called Mayavada. Actual spiritual variegatedness, unless one is informed about it and one is situated in spiritual varieties, there is no satisfaction.

So the Mayavadi philosophers of Benares, after hearing the explanation of Vedanta-sutra from Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they were very much satisfied. Sei haite sannyasira phiri gela mana. Their mind turned. "Oh, this is the real explanation." Krṣṇa krṣṇa nama sada karaye grahaṇa. Now they also began to chant Hare Krṣṇa, Hare Krṣṇa, Krṣṇa Krṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

eimate taṅ-sabara kṣami' aparadha
sabakare krṣṇa-nama karila prasada

Caitanya Mahaprabhu excused all these offenders. Anyone who is godless, he is offender. So when they chanted Krṣṇa Krṣṇa and accepted the Vedanta philosophy according to the explanation of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He excused them. That is the significance of Lord Caitanya. He is very merciful. He excuses. Without excuse, how He can deliver the fallen souls of this age? Their condition is very precarious. Their duration of life is very small and they are not very intelligent, very slow to understand their importance of spiritual life. And even they are little advanced, they are under the clutches of so many so-called bogus societies. So therefore their condition is very precarious and... So there is no other alternative than to excuse them. Caitanya Mahaprabhu excused them.

tabe saba sannyasi mahaprabhuke laiya
bhikṣa karilena sabhe, madhye vasaiya

Then all the sannyasis, placing Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the middle... According to Indian system of dining... You are accustomed: they sit in a line. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu was requested to sit in the middle, and thus they took prasadam.

tabe saba sannyasi mahaprabhuke laiya
bhikṣa karilena sabhe, madhye vasaiya

bhikṣa kari' mahaprabhu aila vasaghara
hena citra-lila kare gauraṅga-sundara

So after taking prasadam, He came back to His place. And for Him it was a great victory that He conquered the mind of the Mayavadi sannyasis by explanation of Vedanta-sutra. So His, I mean to say, friend, Candrasekhara... Candrasekhara and Tapana Misra and Sanatana Gosvami, they were very much pleased. Caitanya Mahaprabhu had only three or four followers at Benares. Of course, when He was on the street, hundreds and thousands of people gathered round Him. But actually, in His residence there were three, four followers only: Tapana Misra, Candrasekhara Acarya, Sanatana Gosvami, and one Maharastrian brahmaṇa. They were very much pleased, naturally. Their Lord was victorious in that great assembly of sannyasis. And naturally, they were very much pleased.

prabhuke dekhite aise sakala sannyasi
prabhura prasaṁsa kare saba varaṇasi

Naturally, He attracted the attention of many other sannyasis, and they began to come and see Him and offer their respects. And throughout the whole city of Benares His name was immediately advertised: "Oh, such a great sannyasi has come. He has explained Vedanta-sutra in a different way, which has captured the mind of all other Mayavadi sannyasis."

So because Benares is a city of pilgrimage, it is not ordinary city, mostly the person who reside in Benares, they are retired life for cultivating spiritual consciousness, but they are almost cent percent impersonalists. Prabhura prasaṁsa kare saba varaṇasi

varaṇaṣi-puri aila sri-krṣṇa-caitanya
puri-saha sarva-loka haila maha-dhanya

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited this city of Mayavadi sannyasis. By His mercy all of them became glorified.

lakṣa lakṣa loka aise prabhuke dekhite
maha-bhiḍa haila dvare, nare pravesite

So many thousands of people gathered before His house, and they wanted to see Him, but due to the crowd, some of them could not enter into the house. Then,

prabhu yabe ya'na visvesvara-darasane
lakṣa lakṣa loka asi' mile sei sthane

But Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to go to the temple of Visvesvara. At Benares, the most famous temple is Visvesvara, Lord Siva's temple. Because this place, Benares, is the place of Lord Siva. Just like Vrndavana is the place of Lord Krṣṇa, Ayodhya is the place of Lord Rama, so there are different places in India. So Benares is the place of Lord Siva, and he's known there as Visvesvara. It is very old city, Kasi—the real name is Kasi—and it is coming from the Satya-yuga. It is not new city. It is very old city. Satya-yuga. Maharaja Hariscandra, he was the king of this, and Hariscandra happens to be previous to Lord Ramacandra. So it is very old city. Visvesvara sthane.

snana karite yabe ya'na gaṅga-tire
tahañi sakala loka haya maha-bhiḍe

So when Caitanya Mahaprabhu goes to the Ganges to take His bath, and after taking bath He used to visit the temple of Visvesvara in the morning, so at that time hundreds of people gathered round Him.

bahu tuli' prabhu bale—bala hari hari
hari-dhvani kare loka svarga-martya bhari'

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu's special feature, as you see in the picture, He would simply raise His hands and ask anybody to chant Hare Krṣṇa, Hare Krṣṇa. And people will, in the crowd, they will also respond to Lord Caitanya. So in this way, at Benares He was enjoying.

bahu tuli' prabhu bale—bala hari hari
hari-dhvaṇi kare loka svarga-martya bhari'

And the sound of "Hare Krṣṇa, Hari bol," that become... According... There are two slogans. One Hare Krṣṇa, Hare Krṣṇa. And another, short, is Hari bol, Hari bol. You can practice also that. Hari bol.

Devotee: Hari bol.

Prabhupada: Yes. Hari bol. That is a shortcut of Hare Krṣṇa. Yes. Hari bol. Hari bol means "the sound of Hari, or the Lord." Hari bol. So whenever there was some greeting, Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to answer, raising His hands, "Hari bol."

bahu tuli' prabhu bale—bala hari hari
hari-dhvaṇi kare loka svarga-martya bhari'

loka nistariya prabhura calite haila mana
vrndavane paṭhaila sri-sanatana

Now, and at this time Sanatana Gosvami arrived to see Caitanya Mahaprabhu after retirement from his government service. So He taught him for two months about the science of devotion and the principles of devotion. We have discussed to a certain extent, and we shall again discuss. Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught personally Sanatana Gosvami what is Krṣṇa—what is Krṣṇa, what is Krṣṇa consciousness, what is the position of the living entity, what is this world. All these things He has very nicely taught Sanatana Gosvami. And Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami, these two brothers are authorities of the disciplic succession of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

So,

loka nistariya prabhura calite haila mana
vrndavane paṭhaila sri-sanatana

Now after teaching Sanatana Gosvami, He asked him that "You go to Vrndavana." Because He was returning to Jagannath Puri. Caitanya Mahaprabhu authorized... You have seen the picture of Vrndavana in that catalogue? What is that book you have brought from library? No. That's all right. Oh, you have forgotten your book? Library book? Huh? Who brought that book which is lying in my room, apartment? Anyway, there is a picture of Vrndavana. That picture, there is a temple. This temple was first constructed by Sanatana Gosvami. That is the oldest temple in Vrndavana, not less than five hundred years old. And it was desecrated by the Aurangzeb, Emperor Aurangzeb. Then another new temple is now constructed where Madana-mohana is residing. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu authorized Sanatana Gosvami to go to Vrndavana and excavate the city. Before Lord Caitanya, the places of pastimes of Lord Krṣṇa was forgotten. People knew only that "In these quarters Krṣṇa was born and His pastimes was played here." But no particular places were excavated. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu... After Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent Sanatana Gosvami, the importance of that tract of land known as Mathura-Vrndavana became very important. And the importance of that city is due to this Sanatana Gosvami, because Sanatana Gosvami was authorized to go there and establish temples. So after Sanatana Gosvami and Rupa Gosvami, hundreds and thousands of temples were constructed, and there are at least five thousand temples now, after Sanatana Gosvami.

ratri-divase lokera suni' kolahala
varaṇasi chaḍi' prabhu aila nilacala

At Benares He was overcrowded with persons. Always there was tumultuous sound, "Hare Krṣṇa." And Caitanya Mahaprabhu left Benares and came back to Jagannath Puri. Jagannath Puri and Benares is not less than about eight hundred miles distance. So in those days there was no railway, no other conveyance. Caitanya Mahaprabhu had to travel through the jungles, and He came back to Jagannath Puri.

ei lila kahiba age vistara kariya
saṅkṣepe kahilaṅ ihaṅ prasaṅga paiya

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu thus came back, and the author says that after this incident we shall discuss in another chapter about the activities of Lord Caitanya, and so far His Benares visit was concerned, this is the end.

ei pañcatattva-rupe sri-krṣṇa-caitanya
krṣṇa-nama-prema diya visva kaila dhanya

In this way, Pañcatattva, these five pictures you have seen: Sri-Krṣṇa-Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri-Advaita Gadadhara Srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. They inaugurated this movement of Krṣṇa consciousness five hundred years before, and it is predicted here that this movement will sanctify the situation of the whole world.

ei pañcatattva sri-krṣṇa...
krṣṇa-nama-prema diya visva kaila dhanya

He has already impregnated the seed. Just like Ṭhakura Bhaktivinoda. In 1896 he sent the Caitanya Mahaprabhu's message to McGill University. That book you have seen. The letter was there. And these are coincidence. Now, after so many years, a servant of that disciplic succession has come here again to preach. So these things are significant. Caitanya Mahaprabhu practically sown the seed of this Krṣṇa consciousness, and it is spreading, and it is sure it will spread. Now it has come to your country, and I am sure the students who are taking very seriously about this movement, they will spread in the western world.

So, mathurate paṭhaila rupa-sanatana. Now this is incidental, that Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent Sanatana Gosvami to Vrndavana, and other Gosvami, Rupa Gosvami...

mathurate paṭhaila rupa-sanatana
dui sena-pati kaila bhakti pracaraṇa

Sena-pati means these two brothers, Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, were appointed as the commander in chief, commander in chief in this fighting with maya. This Krṣṇa consciousness means it is declaration of fighting with maya. Maya is killing all the poor conditioned souls, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu declared war against maya by spreading Krṣṇa consciousness. And the commander in chiefs are Rupa-Sanatana. In other words, if anyone wants to be expert in Krṣṇa consciousness to fight with maya, they must follow the principles of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.

There is a very nice song sung by one poet, Vaiṣṇava poet. He's singing like this:

gauraṅga bolite habe pulaka-sarira
hari hari bolite nayane ba'be nira

He's aspiring that "When I shall loudly call 'Lord Caitanya, Gauraṅga'?" Gauraṅga is Lord Caitanya. "And my body will be shivering. And when I shall chant Hare Krṣṇa, tears will flow down from my eyes."

gauraṅga bolite habe pulaka-sarira
hari hari bolite nayane ba'be nira

Ara kabe nitai-cander koruṇa hoibe: "And when I shall be favored by Nityananda Prabhu?" Ara kabe nitai-cander koruṇa hoibe, saṁsara-basana mora kabe tuccha ha'be: "When I shall be detached from material enjoyment?" Viṣaya chariya kabe suddha ha'be mana: "And when I shall be detached from this material enjoyment, my mind will be purified. My mind will be freed from all contamination of material dirty things." Kabe hama herabo sri-vrndavana: "And at that time it will be possible to see Vrndavana." Rupa-raghunatha-pade hoibe akuti. Now, here the author, I mean to..., the singer says that "When I shall be too much devoted to the principles of Rupa Gosvami so that I'll be able to understand what is the pastimes of Radha and Krṣṇa?" In other words, if we want to understand Radha and Krṣṇa and Caitanya philosophy, then we should try to follow the instruction left by Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami. They are the commander in chief in this movement.

Nityananda-gosañe paṭhaila gauḍa-dese. So Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, they were sent to Vrndavana, and Nityananda Prabhu was sent to Bengal, that "You go and preach there." Teṅho bhakti pracarila aseṣa-viseṣe. And in Bengal this Caitanya philosophy is taught by Nityananda Prabhu and His disciplic succession.

apane dakṣiṇa desa karila gamana
grame grame kaila krṣṇa-nama pracaraṇa

And He Himself went to the southern part of India, and He preached this Krṣṇa consciousness from village to village, town to town.

setubandha paryanta kaila bhaktira pracara
krṣṇa-prema diya kaila sabara nistara

Setubandha means Cape Comorin. He went up to Cape Comorin, and to northern India, up to Vrndavana. I do not know He went to the Punjab side, but up to Vrndavana, Delhi, and beginning from Delhi, up to the, practically the whole length of India, He traveled, through Maharastra and other provinces. Krṣṇa-prema diya kaila sabara nistara. So practically the whole of India was surcharged with this Krṣṇa consciousness during the starting of this movement in India by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

ei ta' kahila pañca-tattvera vyakhyana
ihara sravaṇe haya caitanya-tattva-jñana

Now the author summarizes that "These are some of the activities of Lord Caitanya, and one who will hear these activities, he will be elevated in Krṣṇa consciousness and the philosophy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

caitanya, nityananda, advaita—tina jana
srivasa-gadadhara-adi yata bhakta-gaṇa

Now the author humbly presents himself that "Lord Caitanya, Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu, these five personalities, I offer my respectful obeisances unto the feet of these five personalities." Yaiche taiche kahi kichu caitanya... "Therefore if I have got faith in these five personalities, then it will be possible for me to describe something about Lord Caitanya." Because he is writing this book, it is description of Lord Caitanya. So he is humbly presenting himself before... This is bhakti-marga. He is not proud that he is very learned man, he can very nicely comment. No. He is just trying to follow the footprints of his predecessors. This is the way of disciplic succession.

sri-rupa-raghunatha-pade yara asa
caitanya-caritamrta kahe krṣṇadasa
[Cc. Adi 1.110]

He's summarizing, at the end of each chapter he says, "My respectful obeisances are unto Rupa Gosvami and all other Gosvamis, so that I may be able to describe the activities of Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

Thank you very much. (end)