20220712 Phalaśruti - The Result of Hearing About the Second Meeting of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Part 1

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on July 12th, 2022 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book compilation, the chapter entitled is:

Phalaśruti - The Result of Hearing About the Second Meeting of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Part 1
Under the section: Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Second Meeting with the Lord

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.192

rāyakarttṛka sahasra-mukhe śrī-rūpa-kavitvera ajasra-praśaṁsāḥ—

eta śuni’ rāya kahe prabhura caraṇe
rūpera kavitva praśaṁsi’ sahasra-vadane

Translation: After hearing this, Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya submitted at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu the superexcellence of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s poetic expression and began to praise it as if he had thousands of mouths.

Jayapatākā Swami: Pure Vaiṣṇavas are not shy to praise each other, here we see Rāmānanda Rāya is praising Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī for his poetic drama as if he had thousands of mouths. We should learn that Vaiṣṇavas are not envious, rather they appreciate the good service of others.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.193

kavitva nā haya ei amṛtera dhāra
nāṭaka-lakṣaṇa saba siddhāntera sāra

Translation: Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya said, “This is not a poetic presentation; it is a continuous shower of nectar. Indeed, it is the essence of all ultimate realizations, appearing in the form of plays.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Rāmānanda Rāya is appreciating the recitation of Rūpa Gosvāmī, he is comparing it to a flow of nectar and he appreciates the presentation of siddhānta or rasa in the form of plays.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.194

prema-paripāṭī ei adbhuta varṇana
śuni’ citta-karṇera haya ānanda-ghūrṇana

Translation: “The wonderful descriptions of Rūpa Gosvāmī are superb arrangements to express loving affairs. Hearing them will plunge the heart and ears of everyone into a whirlpool of transcendental bliss.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, pure devotees can understand how the exchanges are between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Expression of pure love and has nothing to do with the material world and Rūpa Gosvāmī is presenting these things very eloquently.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.195

prācīnakṛta śloka—

Translation: “What is the use of a bowman’s arrow or a poet’s poetry if they penetrate the heart but do not cause the head to spin?’

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.196

śrī-rūpera prati prabhura kṛpānumānaḥ—

tomāra śakti vinā jīvera nahe ei vāṇī
tumi śakti diyā kahāo,—hena anumāni”

Translation: “Without Your mercy such poetic expressions would be impossible for an ordinary living being to write. My guess is that You have given him the power.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya empowers certain devotees to do specific activities. Rāmānanda Rāya is submitting that Lord Caitanya must have empowered Rupa Gosvami to write such beautiful poetry. His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda said that Lord Caitanya or His pure devotees in the line of disciplic succession can empower devotees to do amazing things!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.197

prabhura śrī-rūpa-kavitva praśaṁsā :—

prabhu kahe,—“prayāge ihāra ha-ila milana
ihāra guṇe ihāte āmāra tuṣṭa haila mana

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “I met Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī at Prayāga. He attracted and satisfied Me because of his qualities.”

Purport: By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupāda! The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not partial to some and neutral to others. One can actually draw the attention of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by service. Then one is further empowered by the Lord to act in such a way that everyone can appreciate his service. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11): ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. Kṛṣṇa is responsive. If one tries to render his best service to the Lord, the Lord gives him the power to do so.

Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te

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

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed His special favor upon Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī because Rūpa Gosvāmī wanted to serve the Lord to the best of his ability. Such is the reciprocation between the devotee and the Lord in the discharge of devotional duties.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śrīla Prabhupāda made a very important point here that the Lord is not partial to some and neutral to others, He is reciprocating and if one approaches Him to serve him, He reciprocates. But if others are foolish and don’t want to approach Kṛṣṇa then He reciprocates. So, it is not that one is particularly favored, but the Lord is reciprocating with their attitude. So everyone has the opportunity to approach the Lord in order to serve Him and by doing that He will also give them the strength and intelligence to execute their devotinal duties. So, no one should feel that the Lord is neglectful to anyone. He is ready to reciprocate with anyone, it is up to us to approach the Lord in a proper loving attitude.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.198

madhura prasanna ihāra kāvya sālaṅkāra
aiche kavitva vinu nahe rasera pracāra

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu praised the metaphors and other literary ornaments of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s transcendental poetry. Without such poetic attributes, He said, there is no possibility of preaching transcendental mellows.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, preaching transcendental mellows requires particular skills of very poetic attitude. So, Rūpa Gosvāmī he presented very confidential rasa philosophy in a very artistically poetical and beautiful way. Lord Caitanya was knowing that such a poetic use of metaphors and examples was needed to preach transcendental mellows or rasas.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.199

svayaṁ prabhukarttṛka parama-sneha-kṛpā-bhājana śrī-rūpera prati bhakta-vṛndera kṛpā-yāñāḥ—

sabe kṛpā kari’ iṅhāre deha’ ei vara
vraja-līlā-prema-rasa yena varṇe nirantara

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu requested all His personal associates to bless Rūpa Gosvāmī so that he might continuously describe the pastimes of Vṛndāvana, which are full of emotional love of Godhead.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we can see how Lord Caitanya is bestowing His mercy on Rūpa Gosvāmī and how He requested all His devotees to do the same. I remember that Śrīla Prabhupāda was requesting everyone to bless Ghanaśyāma dāsa when he was going to do some very difficult preaching. But the devotees thought who are we when you are there Śrīla Prabhupāda? But Śrīla Prabhupāda said that Kṛṣṇa will also listen to you so he wanted everyone to shower their blessing on Ghanaśyāma dāsa, who was later known as His Holiness Bhakti Tīrtha Swami.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.200

prabhukarttṛka śrī-sanātanera praśaṁsā o vairāgyayuk—prema-bhakti-siddhānta— rasa-pāṇḍitya-viṣaye śrī-rāyera sahita sāmya-jñānaḥ—

iṅhāra ye jyeṣṭha-bhrātā, nāma—‘sanātana’
pṛthivīte vijña-vara nāhi tāṅra sama

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s elder brother, whose name is Sanātana Gosvāmī, is such a wise and learned scholar that no one is equal to him.”

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.201

tomāra yaiche viṣaya-tyāga, taiche tāṅra rīti
dainya-vairāgya-pāṇḍityera tāṅhātei sthiti

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Rāmānanda Rāya, “Sanātana Gosvāmī’s renunciation of material connections is just like yours. Humility, renunciation and excellent learning exist in him simultaneously.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.202

śrī-rūpa-sanātanake śakti-sañcārapūrvaka vraje preraṇa varṇanaḥ—

ei dui bhāiye āmi pāṭhāiluṅ vṛndāvane
śakti diyā bhakti-śāstra karite pravartane

Translation: “I empowered both of these brothers to go to Vṛndāvana to expand the literature of bhakti.”

Purport: By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupāda! Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu informed Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya that he and Sanātana Gosvāmī had engaged equally in devotional service after giving up all relationships with material activity. Such renunciation is a symptom of an unalloyed devotee engaged in the service of the Lord with no tinge of material contamination. According to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this is the position of tṛṇād api su-nīcena taror iva sahiṣṇunā. A pure devotee, free from the reactions of the material modes of nature, executes devotional service with tolerance like that of a tree. He also feels humbler than the grass. Such a devotee, who is called niṣkiñcana, or free from all material possessions, is always absorbed in emotional love of Godhead. He is reluctant to perform any kind of sense gratification. In other words, such a devotee is free from all material bondage, but he engages in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. Such expert devotional service is performed without hypocrisy. Humility, renunciation and learned scholarship were combined in Sanātana Gosvāmī, the ideal pure devotee, who was on the same level of understanding as Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya. Like Rāmānanda Rāya, Sanātana Gosvāmī was a fully cognizant expert in the conclusions of devotional service and was therefore able to describe such transcendental knowledge.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is why we are the followers of the six Gosvāmīs headed by Rūpa and Sanātana. So, they have written wonderful bhakti literatures which had been brought back by Śrīnīvās Ācārya and Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita. At that time there were not printing presses so actually the books had been hand copied by scribes and to get a copy of the book the price was to give your life and then they would bring the books and preach. Anyway that’s whole story how the books came back to Bengal. We can see how Rūpa and Sanātana were empowered by Lord Caitanya and some of these books like Nectar of Devotion, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu was Rūpa Gosvāmī’s writings translated by Śrīla Prabhupāda and Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta by Sanātana Gosvāmī was translated by the followers and disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Eventually, all these works of the six Gosvāmī’s would be translated into English and other languages. Lord Caitanya found Rādhā-Kuṇḍa and Śyāma- kuṇḍa but Rūpa Gosvāmī and the other Gosvāmīs located the other holy places and made them available to us today.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.203

rāyera prabhuke prayojaka karttṛjñāne stuti —

rāya kahe,—”īśvara tumi ye cāha karite
kāṣṭhera putalī tumi pāra nācāite

Translation: Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya replied to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “My Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If You like, You can cause even a wooden doll to dance.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, when His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda entered the West by cargo ship then he wrote a similar prayer to Lord Caitanya, Lord Kṛṣṇa, begging the Lord to make him like a puppet, to make him dance the way the Lord wants.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.204

rāyera kīrtane o śrī-rūpera likhane ekai prema-bhakti-rasa-pracāraḥ—

mora mukhe ye saba rasa karilā pracāraṇe
sei rasa dekhi ei ihāra likhane

Translation: “I see that the truths regarding transcendental mellows that You expounded through my mouth are all explained in the writings of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya had been talking about the transcendental rasas but Rūpa Gosvāmī has put them in writing in his poetic dramas.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.205

svīya icchā-cālita bhaktadvārā aprākṛta vrajarasa-māhātmya-pracārakārī prabhuḥ—

bhakte kṛpā-hetu prakāśite cāha vraja-rasa
yāre karāo, sei karibe jagat tomāra vaśa

Translation: “Because of Your causeless mercy toward Your devotees, You want to describe the transcendental pastimes in Vṛndāvana. Anyone empowered to do this can bring the entire world under Your influence.”

Purport: By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupāda! This passage parallels the statement kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana, which means that unless empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, one cannot spread the holy name of the Lord throughout the entire world (Cc. Antya 7.11). Under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a pure devotee can preach the holy name of the Lord so that everyone may take advantage of this facility and thus become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda received the blessings of Lord Caitanya and the guru-paramparā and thus he was able to preach all over the world.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.206

śrī-rūpake prabhura āliṅgana, śrī-rūpera bhaktapada vandanaḥ—

tabe mahāprabhu kailā rūpe āliṅgana
tāṅre karāilā sabāra caraṇa vandana

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then embraced Rūpa Gosvāmī and asked him to offer prayers at the lotus feet of all the devotees present.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.207

Jayapatākā Swami: Rūpa Gosvāmī was blessed receiving the embrace of Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya told him to offer his obeisances at the lotus feet of all the devotees present. This is ou culture, we should offer our obeisances to all the vaiṣṇavas present.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.207

nityānandādvaitādi sakalera śrī-rūpake āliṅganaḥ —

advaita-nityānandādi saba bhakta-gaṇa
kṛpā kari’ rūpe sabe kailā āliṅgana

Translation: Advaita Ācārya, Nityānanda Prabhu and all the other devotees showed their causeless mercy to Rūpa Gosvāmī by embracing him in return.

Jayapatākā Swami: Although, Rūpa had offered his obeisances to the lotus feet of all the devotees, such great souls as Lord Nityānanda and Advaita Ācārya and others reciprocated and embraced Rūpa Gosvāmī. Who can imagine how much mercy he was receiving!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.208

śrī-rūpera prati prabhukṛpā o śrī-rūpera kṛṣṇākarṣaka guṇa-darśane sakalera vismayaḥ—

prabhu-kṛpā rūpe, āra rūpera sad-guṇa
dekhi’ camatkāra haila sabākāra mana

Translation: Seeing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s special mercy toward Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and seeing his personal qualities, all the devotees were struck with wonder.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya's mercy is available to anyone. But because Rūpa Gosvāmī had such wonderful qualities and he engaged everything in the service of Lord Caitanya, Lord Caitanya reciprocated with him and thus he received such mercy and everyone was stuck with wonder.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 1.209

śrī-rūpake ṭhākura haridāsera āliṅganaḥ —

tabe mahāprabhu saba bhakta lañā gelā
haridāsa-ṭhākura rūpe āliṅgana kailā

Translation: Then, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left with all of His devotees, Haridāsa Ṭhākura also embraced Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Haridāsa Ṭhākura is actually Lord Brahmā who has come as Haridāsa Ṭhākura and because he was born in Mohammadan family he would not go to the temple while Rūpa Gosvāmī was working with Nawab, in the Mohammadan Government as a finance Minister He didn’t go into the temple. But Lord Caitanya who is Himself Kṛṣṇa, went with His associates to a place where Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Rūpa Gosvāmī were staying. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, we should not try to see the Lord, but we should act in a such way that the Lord wants to see us.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!