Devotee: "Let me offer glorification to the Supreme Lord, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One who has taken shelter of His lotus feet is the most glorified person."

Prabhupada:

jaya jaya mahaprabhu sri-krṣṇa-caitanya
taṅhara caraṇasrita sei baḍa dhanya
[Cc. Adi 7.2]

Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya is Sri Krṣṇa. Srila Rupa Gosvami dictated this verse:

namo maha-vadanyaya
krṣṇa-prema-pradaya te
krṣṇaya krṣṇa-caitanya-
namne...
[Cc. Madhya 19.53]

He's Krṣṇa Himself. In this Kali-yuga, Krṣṇa's direct identification, incarnation, is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is also confirmed in all the Vedic literature—Mahabharata, Puraṇa, Upaniṣad—and the essence of all Vedic literature is Srimad-Bhagavatam. There is also Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He's accepted as the Supreme Lord.

krṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣakrṣṇaṁ
saṅgopaṅgastra-parṣadam
yajñair saṅkirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ;
[SB 11.5.32]

This is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, that in the Kali-yuga the incarnation of Krṣṇa is, by His bodily complexion, akrṣṇa. Akrṣṇa means "not krṣṇa." The "not krṣṇa" means there are many other colors. So in the sastra it is said that Krṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in the four yugas in four different colors: sukla raktas tatha pitaḥ; idaniṁ krṣṇataṁ gataḥ;.

When Krṣṇa was born, Gargamuni, the family priest... It is the system among the Vedic culturalists that as soon as a child is born, immediately his horoscope is made and his past, future is calculated. Janma-grasthi (?). So that function, on account of poverty and many other causes, nobody practically practices. But this is also one of the saṁskara. Before birth there is saṁskara, garbhadhana saṁskara. While the child is within the womb, there is saṁskara. In this way, a human body is purified by different kinds of saṁskaras, or purificatory methods. Dasabhidasaṁskara. Saṁskarad bhaved dvija. Janmana jayate sudraḥ;. If in... Anyone is born by father and mother, even cats and dogs they have got father and mother. Any life you get, there is father and mother. Therefore in the Prema-vivarta there is a sloka:

janame janame sabe pita-mata paya
krṣṇa guru nahi mile bhaja hari ei

In any birth, you'll get father, mother. That is not a very difficult thing. Without father and mother there is no birth. So to get father and mother is usual. It is not very difficult. But, krṣṇa guru nahi mile bhaja hari ei: in every birth, you cannot get Krṣṇa or you cannot get bona fide spiritual master. Krṣṇa guru nahi mile bhaja hari ei. Guru-krṣṇa krpaya paya bhakti-lata-bija [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. These are the statements of Caitanya-caritamrta. Those who have read Caitanya-caritamrta, they know it. So, perfection of human life is possible by the mercy of guru and Krṣṇa. And that mercy can be achieved in the human form of life, not in the life of cats and dogs. Therefore it is said, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is acting both as guru and Krṣṇa-combination of guru and Krṣṇa.

So, Kaviraja Gosvami the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, he first offered his obeisances to Lord Caitanya in the first verse, agaty-eka-gatiṁ natva [Cc. Adi 7.1]. After offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord, who is the only hope for the hopeless, now he's again offering, jaya jaya mahaprabhu sri-krṣṇa-caitanya. Prabhu and Mahaprabhu. Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu. Any Vaiṣṇava is addressed as prabhu, but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Mahaprabhu, the topmost prabhu, the master prabhu. All others are servant prabhu. Just like, it is very easy to understand: if you are working in an office, your immediate boss, you consider him as your master, but he's not the master. The master of the office is the managing director, manager or the proprietor. But still those who are working under him, sub-prabhus, they are also called prabhu. So all Vaiṣṇava should be addressed as prabhu; that is the etiquette. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Mahaprabhu. As soon as you utter the name of Sri Caitanya, the Mahaprabhu... Because He's the greatest master. That will be explained in the few next verse,

ekale isvara krṣṇa ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nacaya, se taiche kare nrtya
[Cc. Adi 5.142]

We are simply dancing in this material world. We are trying to be master of the material world. Everyone is trying. Everyone wants to exploit the resources of the material nature. He wants to become master. That is the struggle for existence. I am trying to become master, you are trying to become master, so there is clash, there is collision. I am challenging you, "Why you should become master?" He's challenging why I should be master. This is going on. This is material world. But if we accept Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, if we accept this principle that none of us is a prabhu, everyone is a servant... Jivera svarupa haya nitya krṣṇa dasa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. If we accept this principle, that we are eternal servant, we are not master—master is Krṣṇa or Krṣṇa Caitanya, Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu—then our problems are solved. Srila Bhaktivinoda Ṭhakura, he has sung a song, jiv krṣṇa dasa ei visvas korle to ar duḥ;kha nai. This is the solution. Everyone is thinking to become the master, prabhu. Prabhu you can become. That is not, I mean to say, extraordinary. Someway or other we are prabhus. Suppose I am a family man. I am managing my family, my wife, my children, my servants, my subordinates, so I may be prabhu. In that sense I am a small prabhu. Similarly, everyone is prabhu, he has got some subordinates. But there is the supreme prabhu, the prabhu of all prabhus. So Mahaprabhu is Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya. He's Krṣṇa. As it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhita: isvaraḥ; paramaḥ; krṣṇaḥ; [Bs. 5.1]. Isvara means ruler or controller. So all of us more or less a little controller or ruler, but not the absolute ruler. The absolute ruler is Krṣṇa. Similarly, the absolute prabhu, master, is Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So, taṅhara caraṇasrita: The prabhu... Everyone is prabhu—that's all right—but if that prabhu takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Mahaprabhu, sei baḍa dhanya, he becomes glorified. Not to remain satisfied becoming a prabhu of your wife, children, family, country, or this or that, but you should try to become the servant of Mahaprabhu. Taṅhara caraṇasrita [Cc. Adi 7.2]. He's glorified because he receives... To become under the lotus feet of Sri. If you take shelter of the Supreme Prabhu, Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then your life is successful. Sei baḍa dhanya. He is glorified. To become servant of God or Mahaprabhu is very prestigious. It is not very easy thing to become servant of Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu or servant of Krṣṇa. So if anyone agrees to become the servant of the Supreme Prabhu, master, then his life is successful. Sei baḍa dhanya. He is glorified.

The Vaiṣṇava, their principle is to become, to come to the platform of eternal servitude. That is the philosophy of Vaiṣṇava philosophy: not to become the master but to become servant of the master. This is perfect philosophy. Gopi-bhartuḥ; pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasaḥ; [Cc. Madhya 13.80]. So long in the material conception of life we..., the brahmaṇa is thinking the master of the kṣatriya or the vaisya or the sudra; a sannyasi is thinking the master of vanaprastha, grhastha, brahmacari. Similarly, in grhastha also, the chief man in the household life, he is thinking master. So everyone, kṣatriya king, he's thinking he's master. So, you are master to some extent, but if you accept Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or Sri Krṣṇa as your master, then your life is successful. This is the secret of success. That is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam:

ataḥ; pumbhir dvija-sreṣṭha
varṇasrama-vibhagasaḥ;
svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya
saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam
[SB 1.2.13]

Just like Arjuna was fighting, kṣatriya. His business was to fight. Why he was fighting the battle of Kurukṣetra? To become master of the kingdom. But he remained eternally servant of Krṣṇa. This is success. Don't be satisfied simply I become master of your material position. At the same time, you try to become the servant of the supreme; then you are successful. Relative. Our mastership is relative. Under certain condition we become master, but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is master without any condition. Namo maha-vadanyaya krṣṇa prema pradaya te [Cc. Madhya 19.53]. Because He's master He can distribute krṣṇa prema very easily. Otherwise, krṣṇa prema... Not only krṣṇa prema; one cannot understand what is Krṣṇa.

manuṣyaṇaṁ sahasreṣu
kascid yayati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanaṁ
kascin maṁ vetti tattvataḥ;
[Bg. 7.3]

Out of many millions of persons, one may try to make his life successful, and out of many such person who has become successful, to understand the constitutional position of his life, one may understand—one may understand; there is no surety—Krṣṇa. So to understand Krṣṇa is very, very difficult job.

brahma-bhutaḥ; prasannatma
na socati na kaṅkṣati
samaḥ; sarveṣu bhuteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate param
[Bg. 18.54]

To understand Krṣṇa and to understand the service of Krṣṇa is very exalted post. Brahma-bhutaḥ;. One has to become brahma-bhutaḥ;, completely liberated. Then he can understand how to render service to Krṣṇa, mad-bhaktiṁ labhate param.

So, so difficult subject matter is given very easily by Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore Rupa Gosvami offered his first prayer to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

namo maha-vadanyaya
krṣṇa-prema-pradaya te
krṣṇaya krṣṇa-caitanya-
namne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ;
[Cc. Madhya 19.53]

Such a difficult subject matter: Krṣṇa. "You are not only giving Krṣṇa, but You are giving Krṣṇa-prema, love of Krṣṇa." You can meet somebody, some exalted person, you can see, but to become an intimate relationship with such exalted person in love, that is not very easy thing. I can meet the president or some exalted person, but to become in love with him in intimacy, that is not easy job. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu distributed this Krṣṇa love immediately, anyone. That is Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu's contribution to the human society. If you simply become under the lotus feet of Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then love of Krṣṇa is very easily achieved. Therefore it is said: taṅhara caraṇasrita, sei baḍa dhanya [Cc. Adi 7.2]. He's glorified because he receives... To become under the lotus feet of Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu means you have got Krṣṇa. You have already got. That is the verdict of the sastra and Caitanya-caritamrta. Because Krṣṇa, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, does not give anything else. Simply directly gives you Krṣṇa and His love. And to award this greatest benediction to the human society, He took sannyasa at the age of twenty-four years only in this land of Mayapur, Navadvipa. It is very glorified place. It is not ordinary place. Therefore Narottama dasa Ṭhakura says, gauḍa maṇḍala bhumi, yeba jane cintamaṇi tara hoy vrajabhume vasa. Anyone who understands gauḍa maṇḍala bhumi in Bengal—this Navadvipa, Navadvipa-candra, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu—if anyone understands the spiritual value of this land, he lives in Vrajabhumi, in Vrndavana. There is no difference between Vrndavana and this Gaudamaṇḍala-bhumi. That is the verdict of the sastra. Gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhumi yena jane cintamaṇi tara hoy vrajabhume vasa.

So read Narottama dasa Ṭhakura's Prarthana, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhakura's Prarthana. They are very, very valuable for advancement of spiritual understanding, especially Narottama dasa Ṭhakura's Prarthana. So, by reading them, by understanding them, we can understand Krṣṇa very easily. Otherwise, it is very, very difficult to understand Krṣṇa. Big, big scholars, big, big sannyasis, they cannot understand Krṣṇa. They understand Krṣṇa that Krṣṇa is like us—a very great man, politician, historical person—or sometimes thinks of Krṣṇa as a debauch because He was in association with the gopis or He married sixteen thousand wives. So, we shall be misled to understand Krṣṇa if we try to do so by our own knowledge. We have to accept Krṣṇa through Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advises everyone:

amara ajñaya guru haña tara' ei desa
yare dekha tare kaha 'krṣṇa'-upadesa
[Cc. Madhya 7.128]

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He is Krṣṇa Himself. Krṣṇa-upadesa. Avajananti maṁ muḍha manuṣiṁ tanum [Bg. 9.11]. Because He came as a human being, people have misunderstood Him, that He's a human being. He's not human being. He's the master of the human being. Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata tadatmanaṁ srjamy aham [Bg. 4.7]. Krṣṇa comes very kindly—because we are part and parcel of Krṣṇa—when we are in distressed condition on account of violating the laws of religion. Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavaty. Glani means deviation from the path of religion. And what is religion? Dharmaṁ tu sakṣad bhagavat-praṇitam [SB 6.3.19]. Religion means the laws of God. That is religion. Simple definition. Laws, the words, the rules and regulations given by the Lord, that is called religion. Just like I have several times explained, the laws, the rules and regulations given by the state is called law. You cannot manufacture law. Similarly, you cannot manufacture dharma. Nowadays, in this Kali-yuga, all the rascals, they are manufacturing religion. But who cares for that religion, or what will be the benefit of such religion? There'll be no benefit. It is simply... [break]

...that "I am Krṣṇa." Never said. Rather, when He was (in) Vrndavana, some of the devotees eulogized Him that "You are Krṣṇa," He immediately blocked His ear: "No, no. Don't say like that." That is the indication that to claim to become God or Krṣṇa is the highest type of rascaldom. That is rascaldom. Those who are these Mayavadis who are claiming that "Everyone is God. I am God, you are God," they are all rascals. Therefore I have said in connection, with reference to that boy-god..., you know, I do not wish to repeat. We do not accept such cheap God. No. We accept Krṣṇa. And we accept Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as God because sastra says, the acarya says; therefore we follow the footsteps of the acaryas. Rupa Gosvami says, krṣṇaya krṣṇa-caitanya-namne: "Sir, You have now come... You are Krṣṇa. You have come under the name of Krṣṇa Caitanya. You are so magnanimous that You are distributing..." Be... Without becoming Krṣṇa, how one can distribute Krṣṇa? Without one becoming millionaires, how he can distribute millions of dollars?

So it is the business of Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu... He's so magnanimous that He is distributing Krṣṇa. So take shelter of Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have come from distant place, you have spent much money, thousands of money to come here. Take advantage of this journey and chant sri-krṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. Then you'll get Krṣṇa. Then you'll get, surely. This land, Caitanya Mahaprabhu's birthsite. So anyone who takes shelter of Sri Krṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he is dhanya, he is glorified.

Thank you very much. (end)

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