Adi2.1

TEXT 1

sri-caitanya-prabhum vande

balo ’pi yad-anugrahat

taren nana-mata-graha-

vyaptam siddhanta-sagaram

SYNONYMS

sri-caitanya-prabhum—to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; vande—I offer obeisances; balah—an ignorant child; api—even; yat—of whom; anugrahat—by the mercy; taret—may cross over; nana—various; mata—of theories; graha—the crocodiles; vyaptam—filled with; siddhanta—of conclusions; sagaram—the ocean.

TRANSLATION

I offer my obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by whose mercy even an ignorant child can swim across the ocean of conclusive truth, which is full of the crocodiles of various theories.

PURPORT

By the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, even an inexperienced boy with no educational culture can be saved from the ocean of nescience, which is full of various types of philosophical doctrines that are like dangerous aquatic animals. The philosophy of the Buddha, the argumentative presentations of the jnanis, the yoga systems of Patanjali and Gautama, and the systems of philosophers like Kanada, Kapila and Dattatreya are dangerous creatures in the ocean of nescience. By the grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu one can have real understanding of the essence of knowledge by avoiding these sectarian views and accepting the lotus feet of Krsna as the ultimate goal of life. Let us all worship Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for His gracious mercy to the conditioned souls.

Adi2.2

TEXT 2

krsnotkirtana-gana-nartana-kala-pathojani-bhrajita

sad-bhaktavali-hamsa-cakra-madhupa-sreni-viharaspadam

karnanandi-kala-dhvanir vahatu me jihva-maru-prangane

sri-caitanya daya-nidhe tava lasal-lila-sudha-svardhuni

SYNONYMS

krsna—of the holy name of Lord Krsna; utkirtana—loud chanting; gana—singing; nartana—dancing; kala—of the other fine arts; pathah-jani—with lotuses; bhrajita—beautified; sat-bhakta—of pure devotees; avali—rows; hamsa—of swans; cakra—cakravaka birds; madhu-pa—and bumble bees; sreni—like swarms; vihara—of pleasure; aspadam—the abode; karna-anandi—gladdening the ears; kala—melodious; dhvanih—sound; vahatu—let it flow; me—my; jihva—of the tongue; maru—desertlike; prangane—in the courtyard; sri-caitanya daya-nidhe—O Lord Caitanya, ocean of mercy; tava—of You; lasat—shining; lila-sudha—of the nectar of the pastimes; svardhuni—the Ganges.

TRANSLATION

O my merciful Lord Caitanya, may the nectarean Ganges waters of Your transcendental activities flow on the surface of my desertlike tongue. Beautifying these waters are the lotus flowers of singing, dancing and loud chanting of Krsna’s holy name, which are the pleasure abodes of unalloyed devotees. These devotees are compared to swans, ducks and bees. The river’s flowing produces a melodious sound that gladdens their ears.

PURPORT

Our tongues always engage in vibrating useless sounds that do not help us realize transcendental peace. The tongue is compared to a desert because a desert needs a constant supply of refreshing water to make it fertile and fruitful. Water is the substance most needed in the desert. The transient pleasure derived from mundane topics of art, culture, politics, sociology, dry philosophy, poetry and so on is compared to a mere drop of water because although such topics have a qualitative feature of transcendental pleasure, they are saturated with the modes of material nature. Therefore neither collectively nor individually can they satisfy the vast requirements of the desertlike tongue. Despite crying in various conferences, therefore, the desertlike tongue continues to be parched. For this reason, people from all parts of the world must call for the devotees of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who are compared to swans swimming around the beautiful lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or bees humming around His lotus feet in transcendental pleasure, searching for honey. The dryness of material happiness cannot be moistened by so-called philosophers who cry for Brahman, liberation and similar dry speculative objects. The urge of the soul proper is different. The soul can be solaced only by the mercy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His many bona fide devotees, who never leave the lotus feet of the Lord to become imitation Mahaprabhus but all cling to His lotus feet like bees that never leave a honey-soaked lotus flower.

Lord Caitanya’s movement of Krsna consciousness is full of dancing and singing about the pastimes of Lord Krsna. It is compared herein to the pure waters of the Ganges, which are full of lotus flowers. The enjoyers of these lotus flowers are the pure devotees, who are like bees and swans. They chant like the flowing of the Ganges, the river of the celestial kingdom. The author desires such sweetly flowing waves to cover his tongue. He humbly compares himself to materialistic persons who always engage in dry talk from which they derive no satisfaction. If they were to use their dry tongues to chant the holy name of the Lord-Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-as exemplified by Lord Caitanya, they would taste sweet nectar and enjoy life.

Adi2.3

TEXT 3

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda

jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

SYNONYMS

jaya jaya—all glory; sri-caitanya—to Lord Caitanya; jaya—all glory; nityananda—to Lord Nityananda; jaya—all glory; advaita-candra—to Advaita Acarya; jaya—all glory; gaura-bhakta-vrnda—to the devotees of Lord Gauranga.

TRANSLATION

All glories to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Sri Nityananda. All glories to Advaitacandra, and all glories to the devotees of Lord Gauranga.

Adi2.4

TEXT 4

trtiya slokera artha kari vivarana

vastu-nirdesa-rupa mangalacarana

SYNONYMS

trtiya—third; slokera—of the verse; artha—the meaning; kari—I do; vivarana—description; vastu—of the Absolute Truth; nirdesa-rupa—in the form of delineation; mangala—auspicious; acarana—conduct.

TRANSLATION

Let me describe the meaning of the third verse [of the first fourteen]. It is an auspicious vibration that describes the Absolute Truth.

Adi2.5

TEXT 5

yad advaitam brahmopanisadi tad apy asya tanu-bha

ya atmantar-yami purusa iti so ’syamsa-vibhavah

sad-aisvaryaih purno ya iha bhagavan sa svayam ayam

na caitanyat krsnaj jagati para-tattvam param iha

SYNONYMS

yat—that which; advaitam—without a second; brahma—the impersonal Brahman; upanisadi—in the Upanisads; tat—that; api—certainly; asya—His; tanu-bha—the effulgence of His transcendental body; yah—who; atma—the Supersoul; antah-yami—indwelling Lord; purusah—the supreme enjoyer; iti—thus; sah—He; asya—His; amsa-vibhavah—expansion of a plenary portion; sat-aisvaryaih—with the six opulences; purnah—full; yah—who; iha—here; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sah—He; svayam—Himself; ayam—this one; na—not; caitanyat—than Lord Caitanya; krsnat—than Lord Krsna; jagati—in the world; para—higher; tattvam—truth; param—another; iha—here.

TRANSLATION

What the Upanisads describe as the impersonal Brahman is but the effulgence of His body, and the Lord known as the Supersoul is but His localized plenary portion. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna Himself, full with six opulences. He is the Absolute Truth, and no other truth is greater than or equal to Him.

PURPORT

The compilers of the Upanisads speak very highly of the impersonal Brahman. The Upanisads, which are considered the most elevated portion of the Vedic literature, are meant for persons who desire to get free from material association and who therefore approach a bona fide spiritual master for enlightenment. The prefix upa- indicates that one must receive knowledge about the Absolute Truth from a spiritual master. One who has faith in his spiritual master actually receives transcendental instruction, and as his attachment for material life slackens, he is able to advance on the spiritual path. Knowledge of the transcendental science of the Upanisads can free one from the entanglement of existence in the material world, and when thus liberated, one can be elevated to the spiritual kingdom of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by advancement in spiritual life.

The beginning of spiritual enlightenment is realization of impersonal Brahman. Such realization is effected by gradual negation of material variegatedness. Impersonal Brahman realization is the partial, distant experience of the Absolute Truth that one achieves through the rational approach. It is compared to one’s seeing a hill from a distance and taking it to be a smoky cloud. A hill is not a smoky cloud, but it appears to be one from a distance because of our imperfect vision. In imperfect or smoky realization of the Absolute Truth, spiritual variegatedness is conspicuous by its absence. This experience is therefore called advaita-vada, or realization of the oneness of the Absolute.

The impersonal glowing effulgence of Brahman consists only of the personal bodily rays of the Supreme Godhead, Sri Krsna. Since Sri Gaurasundara, or Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is identical with Sri Krsna Himself, the Brahman effulgence consists of the rays of His transcendental body.

Adi2.6

TEXT 6

brahma, atma, bhagavan--anuvada tina

anga-prabha, amsa, svarupa--tina vidheya-cihna

SYNONYMS

brahma—the impersonal Brahman; atma—the localized Paramatma; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; anuvada—subjects; tina—three; anga-prabha—bodily effulgence; amsa—partial manifestation; svarupa—original form; tina—three; vidheya-cihna—predicates.

TRANSLATION

Impersonal Brahman, localized Paramatma and the Personality of Godhead are three subjects, and the glowing effulgence, the partial manifestation and the original form are their three respective predicates.

Adi2.7

TEXT 7

anuvada age, pache vidheya sthapana

sei artha kahi, suna sastra-vivarana

SYNONYMS

anuvada—the subject; age—first; pache—afterwards; vidheya—the predicate; sthapana—placing; sei—this; artha—the meaning; kahi—I speak; suna—please listen; sastra-vivarana—to the description of the scriptures.

TRANSLATION

A predicate always follows its subject. Now I shall explain the meaning of this verse according to the revealed scriptures.

Adi2.8

TEXT 8

svayam bhagavan krsna, visnu-paratattva

purna-jnana purnananda parama mahattva

SYNONYMS

svayam—Himself; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; krsna—Lord Krsna; visnu—of all-pervading Visnu; para-tattva—the ultimate truth; purna-jnana—full knowledge; purna-ananda—full bliss; parama—supreme; mahattva—greatness.

TRANSLATION

Krsna, the original form of the Personality of Godhead, is the summum bonum of the all-pervading Visnu. He is all-perfect knowledge and all-perfect bliss. He is the Supreme Transcendence.

Adi2.9

TEXT 9

’nanda-suta’ bali’ yanre bhagavate gai

sei krsna avatirna caitanya-gosani

SYNONYMS

nanda-suta—the son of Nanda Maharaja; bali’-as; yanre—who; bhagavate—in Srimad-Bhagavatam; gai—is sung; sei—that; krsna—Lord Krsna; avatirna—descended; caitanya-gosani—Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

TRANSLATION

He whom Srimad-Bhagavatam describes as the son of Nanda Maharaja has descended to earth as Lord Caitanya.

PURPORT

According to the rules of rhetorical arrangement for efficient composition in literature, a subject should be mentioned before its predicate. The Vedic literature frequently mentions Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, and therefore these three terms are widely known as the subjects of transcendental understanding. But it is not widely known that what is approached as the impersonal Brahman is the effulgence of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s transcendental body. Nor is it widely known that the Supersoul, or Paramatma, is only a partial representation of Lord Caitanya, who is identical with Bhagavan Himself. Therefore the descriptions of Brahman as the effulgence of Lord Caitanya, the Paramatma as His partial representation, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna as identical with Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu must be verified by evidence from authoritative Vedic literatures.

The author wants to establish first that the essence of the Vedas is the visnu-tattva, the Absolute Truth, Visnu, the all-pervading Godhead. The visnu-tattva has different categories, of which the highest is Lord Krsna, the ultimate visnu-tattva, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita and throughout the Vedic literature. In Srimad-Bhagavatam the same Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is described as Nanda-suta, the son of King Nanda. Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami says that Nandasuta has again appeared as Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu because the conclusion of the Vedic literature is that there is no difference between Lord Krsna and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This the author will prove. If it is thus proved that Sri Krsna is the origin of all tattvas (truths), namely Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, and that there is no difference between Sri Krsna and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, it will not be difficult to understand that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also the same origin of all tattvas. The same Absolute Truth, as He is revealed to students of different realizations, is called Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.

Adi2.10

TEXT 10

prakasa-visese tenha dhare tina nama

brahma, paramatma ara svayam-bhagavan

SYNONYMS

prakasa—of manifestation; visese—in variety; tenha—He; dhare—holds; tina—three; nama—names; brahma—Brahman; paramatma—Paramatma (Supersoul); ara—and; svayam—Himself; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

In terms of His various manifestations, He is known in three features, called the impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramatma and the original Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

Adi2.11

TEXT 11

vadanti tat tattva-vidas

tattvam yaj jnanam advayam

brahmeti paramatmeti

bhagavan iti sabdyate

SYNONYMS

vadanti—they say; tat—that; tattva-vidah—learned souls; tattvam—the Absolute Truth; yat—which; jnanam—knowledge; advayam—nondual; brahma—Brahman; iti—thus; paramatma—Paramatma; iti—thus; bhagavan—Bhagavan; iti—thus; sabdyate—is known.

TRANSLATION

“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth say that it is nondual knowledge and is called impersonal Brahman, localized Paramatma and the Personality of Godhead.”

PURPORT

This Sanskrit verse appears as the eleventh verse of the First Canto, Second Chapter, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, where Suta Gosvami answers the questions of the sages headed by Saunaka Rsi concerning the essence of all scriptural instructions. Tattva-vidah refers to persons who have knowledge of the Absolute Truth. They can certainly understand knowledge without duality because they are on the spiritual platform. The Absolute Truth is known sometimes as Brahman, sometimes as Paramatma and sometimes as Bhagavan. Persons who are in knowledge of the truth know that one who tries to approach the Absolute simply by mental speculation will ultimately realize the impersonal Brahman, and one who tries to approach the Absolute through yoga practice will be able to realize Paramatma, but one who has complete knowledge and spiritual understanding realizes the spiritual form of Bhagavan, the Personality of Godhead.

Devotees of the Personality of Godhead know that Sri Krsna, the son of the King of Vraja, is the Absolute Truth. They do not discriminate between Sri Krsna’s name, form, quality and pastimes. One who wants to separate the Lord’s absolute name, form and qualities must be understood to be lacking in absolute knowledge. A pure devotee knows that when he chants the transcendental name Krsna, Sri Krsna is present as transcendental sound. He therefore chants with full respect and veneration. When he sees the forms of Sri Krsna, he does not see anything different from the Lord. If one sees otherwise, he must be considered untrained in absolute knowledge. This lack of absolute knowledge is called maya. One who is not Krsna conscious is ruled by the spell of maya under the control of a duality in knowledge. In the Absolute, all manifestations of the Supreme Lord are nondual, just as the multifarious forms of Visnu, the controller of maya, are nondual. Empiric philosophers who pursue the impersonal Brahman accept only the knowledge that the personality of the living entity is not different from the personality of the Supreme Lord, and mystic yogis who try to locate the Paramatma accept only the knowledge that the pure soul is not different from the Supersoul. The absolute conception of a pure devotee, however, includes all others. A devotee does not see anything except in its relationship with Krsna, and therefore his realization is the most perfect of all.

Adi2.12

TEXT 12

tanhara angera suddha kirana-mandala

upanisat kahe tanre brahma sunirmala

SYNONYMS

tanhara-His; angera-of the body; suddha-pure; kirana-of rays; mandala-realm; upanisat-the Upanisads; kahe-say; tanre-unto that; brahma-Brahman; su-nirmala-transcendental.

TRANSLATION

What the Upanisads call the transcendental, impersonal Brahman is the realm of the glowing effulgence of the same Supreme Person.

PURPORT

Three mantras of the Mundaka Upanisad (2.2.9-11) give information regarding the bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They state:

hiranmaye pare kose
virajam brahma niskalam
tac chubhram jyotisam jyotis
tad yad atma-vido viduh

na tatra suryo bhati na candra-tarakam
nema vidyuto bhanti kuto ’yam agnih
tam eva bhantam anubhati sarvam
tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati

brahmaivedam amrtam purastad brahma
pascad brahma daksinatas cottarena
adhas cordhvam ca prasrtam brahmai-
vedam visvam idam varistham

“In the spiritual realm, beyond the material covering, is the unlimited Brahman effulgence, which is free from material contamination. That effulgent white light is understood by transcendentalists to be the light of all lights. In that realm there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, fire or electricity for illumination. Indeed, whatever illumination appears in the material world is only a reflection of that supreme illumination. That Brahman is in front and in back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead and below. In other words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads throughout both the material and spiritual skies.”

Adi2.13

TEXT 13

carma-cakse dekhe yaiche surya nirvisesa

jnana-marge laite nare krsnera visesa

SYNONYMS

carma-cakse—by the naked eye; dekhe—one sees; yaiche—just as; surya—the sun; nirvisesa—without variegatedness; jnana-marge—by the path of philosophical speculation; laite—to accept; nare—not able; krsnera—of Lord Krsna; visesa—the variety.

TRANSLATION

As with the naked eye one cannot know the sun except as a glowing substance, merely by philosophical speculation one cannot understand Lord Krsna’s transcendental varieties.

Adi2.14

TEXT 14

yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-

kotisv asesa-vasudhadi-vibhuti-bhinnam

tad brahma niskalam anantam asesa-bhutam

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

SYNONYMS

yasya—of whom; prabha—the effulgence; prabhavatah—of one who excels in power; jagat-anda—of universes; koti-kotisu—in millions and millions; asesa—unlimited; vasudha-adi—with planets, etc; vibhuti—with opulences; bhinnam—becoming variegated; tat—that; brahma—Brahman; niskalam—without parts; anantam—unlimited; asesa-bhutam—being complete; govindam—Lord Govinda; adi-purusam—the original person; tam—Him; aham—I; bhajami—worship.

TRANSLATION

[Lord Brahma said:] "I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes.

PURPORT