Adi1.48

TEXT 48

naivopayanty apacitim kavayas tavesa

brahmayusapi krtam rddha-mudah smarantah

yo ’ntar bahis tanu-bhrtam asubham vidhunvann

acarya-caittya-vapusa sva-gatim vyanakti

SYNONYMS

na eva—not at all; upayanti—are able to express; apacitim—their gratitude; kavayah—learned devotees; tava—Your; isa—O Lord; brahma-ayusa—with a lifetime equal to Lord Brahma’s; api—in spite of; krtam—magnanimous work; rddha—increased; mudah—joy; smarantah—remembering; yah—who; antah—within; bahih—outside; tanu-bhrtam—of those who are embodied; asubham—misfortune; vidhunvan—dissipating; acarya—of the spiritual master; caittya—of the Supersoul; vapusa—by the forms; sva—own; gatim—path; vyanakti—shows.

TRANSLATION

“O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahma, for You appear in two features-externally as the acarya and internally as the Supersoul-to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You.”

PURPORT

This verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.29.6) was spoken by Sri Uddhava after he heard from Sri Krsna all necessary instructions about yoga.

Adi1.49

TEXT 49

tesam satata-yuktanam

bhajatam priti-purvakam

dadami buddhi-yogam tam

yena mam upayanti te

SYNONYMS

tesam—unto them; satata-yuktanam—always engaged; bhajatam—in rendering devotional service; priti-purvakam—in loving ecstasy; dadami—I give; buddhi-yogam—real intelligence; tam—that; yena—by which; mam—unto Me; upayanti—come; te—they.

TRANSLATION

“To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.”

PURPORT

Adi1.50

TEXT 50

yatha brahmane bhagavan

svayam upadisyanubhavitavan

SYNONYMS

yatha—just as; brahmane—unto Lord Brahma; bhagavan—the Supreme Lord; svayam—Himself; upadisya—having instructed; anubhavitavan—caused to perceive.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead [svayam bhagavan] taught Brahma and made him self-realized.

PURPORT

Adi1.51

TEXT 51

jnanam parama-guhyam me

yad vijnana-samanvitam

sa-rahasyam tad-angam ca

grhana gaditam maya

SYNONYMS

jnanam—knowledge; parama—extremely; guhyam—confidential; me—of Me; yat—which; vijnana—realization; samanvitam—fully endowed with; sa-rahasyam—along with mystery; tat—of that; angam—supplementary parts; ca—and; grhana—just try to take up; gaditam—explained; maya—by Me.

TRANSLATION

"Please hear attentively what I shall speak to you, for transcendental knowledge about Me is not only scientific but also full of mysteries.

PURPORT

Transcendental knowledge of Sri Krsna is deeper than the impersonal knowledge of Brahman, for it includes knowledge of not only His form and personality but also everything else related to Him. There is nothing in existence not related with Sri Krsna. In a sense, there is nothing but Sri Krsna, and yet nothing is Sri Krsna save and except His primeval personality. This knowledge constitutes a complete transcendental science, and Visnu wanted to give Brahmaji full knowledge about that science. The mystery of this knowledge culminates in personal attachment to the Lord, with a resulting effect of detachment from anything “non-Krsna.” There are nine alternative transcendental means to attain this stage: hearing, chanting, remembering, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, worshiping, praying, assisting, fraternizing with the Lord, and sacrificing everything for Him. These are different parts of the same devotional service, which is full of transcendental mystery. The Lord said to Brahma that since He was pleased with him, by His grace the mystery was being revealed.

Adi1.52

TEXT 52

yavan aham yatha-bhavo

yad-rupa-guna-karmakah

tathaiva tattva-vijnanam

astu te mad-anugrahat

SYNONYMS

yavan—as I am in My eternal form; aham—I; yatha—in whichever manner; bhavah—transcendental existence; yat—whatever; rupa—various forms and colors; guna—qualities; karmakah—activities; tatha eva—exactly so; tattva-vijnanam—factual realization; astu—let there be; te—your; mat—My; anugrahat—by causeless mercy.

TRANSLATION

"By My causeless mercy, be enlightened in truth about My personality, manifestations, qualities and pastimes.

PURPORT

The transcendental personal forms of the Lord are a mystery, and the symptoms of these forms, which are absolutely different from anything made of mundane elements, are also mysterious. The innumerable forms of the Lord, such as Syamasundara, Narayana, Rama and Gaurasundara; the colors of these forms (white, red, yellow, cloudlike syama and others); His qualities, as the responsive Personality of Godhead to pure devotees and as impersonal Brahman to dry speculators; His uncommon activities like lifting Govardhana Hill, marrying more than sixteen thousand queens at Dvaraka, and entering the rasa dance with the damsels of Vraja, expanding Himself in as many forms as there were damsels in the dance-these and innumerable other uncommon acts and attributes are all mysteries, one aspect of which is presented in the scientific knowledge of the Bhagavad-gita, which is read and adored all over the world by all classes of scholars, with as many interpretations as there are empiric philosophers. The truth of these mysteries was revealed to Brahma by the descending process, without the help of the ascending one. His mercy descends to a devotee like Brahma and, through Brahma, to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa, from Vyasadeva to Sukadeva and so on in the bona fide chain of disciplic succession. We cannot discover the mysteries of the Lord by our mundane endeavors; they are only revealed, by His grace, to the proper devotees. These mysteries are gradually disclosed to the various grades of devotees in proportion to the gradual development of their service attitude. In other words, impersonalists who depend upon the strength of their poor fund of knowledge and morbid speculative habits, without submission and service in the forms of hearing, chanting and the others mentioned above, cannot penetrate to the mysterious region of transcendence where the Supreme Truth is a transcendental person, free from all tinges of the material elements. Discovering the mystery of the Lord eliminates the impersonal feature realized by common spiritualists who are merely trying to enter the spiritual region from the mundane platform.

Adi1.53

TEXT 53

aham evasam evagre

nanyad yat sad-asat param

pascad aham yad etac ca

yo ’vasisyeta so ’smy aham

SYNONYMS

aham—I, the Personality of Godhead; eva—certainly; asam—existed; eva—only; agre—before the creation; na—never; anyat—anything else; yat—which; sat—the effect; asat—the cause; param—the supreme; pascat—at the end; aham—I, the Personality of Godhead; yat—which; etat—this creation; ca—also; yah—who; avasisyeta—remains; sah—that; asmi—am; aham—I, the Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

"Prior to the cosmic creation, only I exist, and no phenomena exist, either gross, subtle or primordial. After creation, only I exist in everything, and after annihilation, only I remain eternally.

PURPORT

Aham means “I”; therefore the speaker who is saying aham, “I,” must have His own personality. The Mayavadi philosophers interpret this word aham as referring to the impersonal Brahman. These Mayavadis are very proud of their grammatical knowledge, but any person who has actual knowledge of grammar can understand that aham means “I” and that “I” refers to a personality. Therefore the Personality of Godhead, speaking to Brahma, uses aham while describing His own transcendental form. Aham has a specific meaning; it is not a vague term that can be whimsically interpreted. Aham, when spoken by Krsna, refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and nothing else.

Before the creation and after its dissolution, only the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His associates exist; there is no existence of the material elements. This is confirmed in the Vedic literature. Vasudevo va idam agra asin na brahma na ca sankarah. The meaning of this mantra is that before creation there was no existence of Brahma or Siva, for only Visnu existed. Visnu exists in His abode, the Vaikunthas. There are innumerable Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky, and on each of them Visnu resides with His associates and His paraphernalia. It is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita that although the creation is periodically dissolved, there is another abode, which is never dissolved. The word “creation” refers to the material creation because in the spiritual world everything exists eternally and there is no creation or dissolution.

The Lord indicates herein that before the material creation He existed in fullness with all transcendental opulences, including all strength, all wealth, all beauty, all knowledge, all fame and all renunciation. If one thinks of a king, he automatically thinks of his secretaries, ministers, military commanders, palaces and so on. Since a king has such opulences, one can simply try to imagine the opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the Lord says aham, therefore, it is to be understood that He exists with full potency, including all opulences.

Adi1.54

TEXT 54

rte ’rtham yat pratiyeta

na pratiyeta catmani

tad vidyad atmano mayam

yathabhaso yatha tamah

SYNONYMS

rte—without; artham—value; yat—that which; pratiyeta—appears to be; na—not; pratiyeta—appears to be; ca—certainly; atmani—in relation to Me; tat—that; vidyat—you must know; atmanah—My; mayam—illusory energy; yatha—just as; abhasah—the reflection; yatha—just as; tamah—the darkness.

TRANSLATION

"What appears to be truth without Me is certainly My illusory energy, for nothing can exist without Me. It is like a reflection of a real light in the shadows, for in the light there are neither shadows nor reflections.

PURPORT

Adi1.55

TEXT 55

yatha mahanti bhutani

bhutesuccavacesv anu

pravistany apravistani

tatha tesu na tesv aham

SYNONYMS

yatha—as; mahanti—the universal; bhutani—elements; bhutesu—in the living entities; ucca-avacesu—both gigantic and minute; anu—after; pravistani—situated internally; apravistani—situated externally; tatha—so; tesu—in them; na—not; tesu—in them; aham—I.

TRANSLATION

"As the material elements enter the bodies of all living beings and yet remain outside them all, I exist within all material creations and yet am not within them.

PURPORT

The gross material elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) combine with the subtle material elements (mind, intelligence and false ego) to construct the bodies of this material world, and yet they are beyond these bodies as well. Any material construction is nothing but an amalgamation or combination of material elements in varied proportions. These elements exist both within and beyond the body. For example, although the sky exists in space, it also enters within the body. Similarly, the Supreme Lord, who is the cause of the material energy, lives within the material world as well as beyond it. Without His presence within the material world, the cosmic body could not develop, just as without the presence of the spirit within the physical body, the body could not develop. The entire material manifestation develops and exists because the Supreme Personality of Godhead enters it as Paramatma, or the Supersoul. The Personality of Godhead in His all-pervading feature of Paramatma enters every entity, from the biggest to the most minute. His existence can be realized by one who has the single qualification of submissiveness and who thereby becomes a surrendered soul. The development of submissiveness is the cause of proportionate spiritual realization, by which one can ultimately meet the Supreme Lord in person, as a man meets another man face to face.

Because of his development of transcendental attachment for the Supreme Lord, a surrendered soul feels the presence of his beloved everywhere, and all his senses are engaged in the loving service of the Lord. His eyes are engaged in seeing the beautiful couple Sri Radha and Krsna sitting on a decorated throne beneath a desire tree in the transcendental land of Vrndavana. His nose is engaged in smelling the spiritual aroma of the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, his ears are engaged in hearing messages from Vaikuntha, and his hands embrace the lotus feet of the Lord and His associates. Thus the Lord is manifested to a pure devotee from within and without. This is one of the mysteries of the devotional relationship in which a devotee and the Lord are bound by a tie of spontaneous love. To achieve this love should be the goal of life for every living being.

Adi1.56

TEXT 56

etavad eva jijnasyam

tattva-jijnasunatmanah

anvaya-vyatirekabhyam

yat syat sarvatra sarvada

SYNONYMS

etavat—up to this; eva—certainty; jijnasyam—to be inquired about; tattva—of the Absolute Truth; jijnasuna—by the student; atmanah—of the Self; anvaya—directly; vyatirekabhyam—and indirectly; yat—whatever; syat—it may be; sarvatra—everywhere; sarvada—always.

TRANSLATION

“A person interested in transcendental knowledge must therefore always directly and indirectly inquire about it to know the all-pervading truth.”

PURPORT

Those who are serious about the knowledge of the transcendental world, which is far beyond the material cosmic creation, must approach a bona fide spiritual master to learn the science both directly and indirectly. One must learn both the means to approach the desired destination and the hindrances to such progress. The spiritual master knows how to regulate the habits of a neophyte disciple, and therefore a serious student must learn the science in all its aspects from him.

There are different grades and standards of prosperity. The standard of comfort and happiness conceived by a common man engaged in material labor is the lowest grade of happiness, for it is in relationship with the body. The highest standard of such bodily comfort is achieved by a fruitive worker who by pious activities reaches the plane of heaven, or the kingdom of the creative gods with their delegated powers. But the conception of comfortable life in heaven is insignificant in comparison to the happiness enjoyed in the impersonal Brahman, and this brahmananda, the spiritual bliss derived from impersonal Brahman, is like the water in the hoofprint of a calf compared to the ocean of love of Godhead. When one develops pure love for the Lord, he derives an ocean of transcendental happiness from the association of the Personality of Godhead. To qualify oneself to reach this stage of life is the highest perfection.

One should try to purchase a ticket to go back home, back to Godhead. The price of such a ticket is one’s intense desire for it, which is not easily awakened, even if one continuously performs pious activities for thousands of lives. All mundane relationships are sure to be broken in the course of time, but once one establishes a relationship with the Personality of Godhead in a particular rasa, it is never to be broken, even after the annihilation of the material world.

One should understand, through the transparent medium of the spiritual master, that the Supreme Lord exists everywhere in His transcendental spiritual nature and that the living entities’ relationships with the Lord are directly and indirectly existing everywhere, even in this material world. In the spiritual world there are five kinds of relationships with the Supreme Lord-santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. The perverted reflections of these rasas are found in the material world. Land, home, furniture and other inert material objects are related in santa, or the neutral and silent sense, whereas servants work in the dasya relationship. The reciprocation between friends is called sakhya, the affection of a parent for a child is known as vatsalya, and the affairs of conjugal love constitute madhurya. These five relationships in the material world are distorted reflections of the original, pure sentiments, which should be understood and perfected in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. In the material world the perverted rasas bring frustration. If these rasas are reestablished with Lord Krsna, the result is eternal, blissful life.

From this and the preceding three verses of the Caitanya-caritamrta, which have been selected from Srimad-Bhagavatam, the missionary activities of Lord Caitanya can be understood. The Srimad-Bhagavatam has eighteen thousand verses, which are summarized in the four verses beginning with aham evasam evagre (53) and concluding with yat syat sarvatra sarvada (56). In the first of these verses (53) the transcendental nature of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is explained. The second verse (54) further explains that the Lord is detached from the workings of the material energy, maya. The living entities, as parts and parcels of Lord Krsna, are prone to be controlled by the external energy because although they are spiritual, in the material world they are encased in bodies of material energy. The eternal relationship of the living entities with the Supreme Lord is explained in that verse. The next verse (55) instructs that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His inconceivable energies, is simultaneously one with and different from the living entities and the material energy. This knowledge is called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva. When an individual living entity surrenders to Lord Krsna, he can then develop natural transcendental love for the Supreme Lord. This surrendering process should be the primary concern of a human being. In the next verse (56) it is said that a conditioned soul must ultimately approach a bona fide spiritual master and try to understand perfectly the material and spiritual worlds and his own existential position. Here the words anvaya-vyatirekabhyam, “directly and indirectly,” suggest that one must learn the process of devotional service in its two aspects: one must directly execute the process of devotional service and indirectly avoid the impediments to progress.

Adi1.57

TEXT 57

cintamanir jayati somagirir gurur me

siksa-gurus ca bhagavan sikhi-pincha-maulih

yat-pada-kalpataru-pallava-sekharesu

lila-svayamvara-rasam labhate jayasrih

SYNONYMS

cintamanih jayati—all glory to Cintamani; soma-girih—Somagiri (the initiating guru); guruh—spiritual master; me—my; siksa-guruh—instructing spiritual master; ca—and; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sikhi-pincha—with peacock feathers; maulih—whose head; yat—whose; pada—of the lotus feet; kalpa-taru—like desire trees; pallava—like new leaves; sekharesu—at the toe nails; lila-svayam-vara—of conjugal pastimes; rasam—the mellow; labhate—obtains; jaya-srih—Srimati Radharani.

TRANSLATION

“All glories to Cintamani and my initiating spiritual master, Somagiri. All glories to my instructing spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who wears peacock feathers in His crown. Under the shade of His lotus feet, which are like desire trees, Jayasri [Radharani] enjoys the transcendental mellow of an eternal consort.”

PURPORT

This verse is from the Krsna-karnamrta, which was written by a great Vaisnava sannyasi named Bilvamangala Thakura, who is also known as Lilasuka. He intensely desired to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord, and he lived at Vrndavana for seven hundred years in the vicinity of Brahma-kunda, a still-existing bathing tank in Vrndavana. The history of Bilvamangala Thakura is given in a book called Sri Vallabha-digvijaya. He appeared in the eighth century of the Saka Era in the province of Dravida and was the chief disciple of Visnusvami. In a list of temples and monasteries kept in Sankaracarya’s monastery in Dvaraka, Bilvamangala is mentioned as the founder of the Dvarakadhisa temple there. He entrusted the service of his Deity to Hari Brahmacari, a disciple of Vallabha Bhatta.

Bilvamangala Thakura actually entered into the transcendental pastimes of Lord Krsna. He has recorded his transcendental experiences and appreciation in the book known as Krsna-karnamrta. In the beginning of that book he has offered his obeisances to his different gurus, and it is to be noted that he has adored them all equally. The first spiritual master mentioned is Cintamani, who was one of his instructing spiritual masters because she first showed him the spiritual path. Cintamani was a prostitute with whom Bilvamangala was intimate earlier in his life. She gave him the inspiration to begin on the path of devotional service, and because she convinced him to give up material existence to try for perfection by loving Krsna, he has first offered his respects to her. Next he offers his respects to his initiating spiritual master, Somagiri, and then to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was also his instructing spiritual master. He explicitly mentions Bhagavan, who has peacock feathers on His crown, because the Lord of Vrndavana, Krsna the cowherd boy, used to come to Bilvamangala to talk with him and supply him with milk. In his adoration of Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, he describes that Jayasri, the goddess of fortune, Srimati Radharani, takes shelter in the shade of His lotus feet to enjoy the transcendental rasa of nuptial love. The complete treatise Krsna-karnamrta is dedicated to the transcendental pastimes of Sri Krsna and Srimati Radharani. It is a book to be read and understood by the most elevated devotees of Sri Krsna.

Adi1.58

TEXT 58

jive saksat nahi tate guru caittya-rupe

siksa-guru haya krsna-mahanta-svarupe

SYNONYMS

jive—by the living entity; saksat—direct experience; nahi—there is not; tate—therefore; guru—the spiritual master; caittya-rupe—in the form of the Supersoul; siksa-guru—the spiritual master who instructs; haya—appears; krsna—Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; mahanta—the topmost devotee; sva-rupe—in the form of.

TRANSLATION

Since one cannot visually experience the presence of the Supersoul, He appears before us as a liberated devotee. Such a spiritual master is none other than Krsna Himself.

PURPORT

It is not possible for a conditioned soul to directly meet Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but if one becomes a sincere devotee and seriously engages in devotional service, Lord Krsna sends an instructing spiritual master to show him favor and invoke his dormant propensity for serving the Supreme. The preceptor appears before the external senses of the fortunate conditioned soul, and at the same time the devotee is guided from within by the caittya-guru, Krsna, who is seated as the spiritual master within the heart of the living entity.