20240321 Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta 1.3. Kṛṣṇa—energy of Kṛṣṇa and Mellow

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Śrī Caitanya-Śikṣāmṛta

The Nectar of the teachings of Śrī Caitanya

Today’s chapter is: First shower—Third stream: Kṛṣṇa—energy of Kṛṣṇa and mellow

Kṛṣṇa, the form of eternity, knowledge and bliss is the Supreme Lord. He has no other origin. He is the origin of all. His name in scriptures is Govinda. He is the cause of all causes.

As mentioned in the instruction to Sanātana Gosvāmī: ―

kṛṣṇera svarūpa-vicāra śuna, sanātana
advaya-jñāna-tattva, vraje vrajendra-nandana

sarva-ādi, sarva-aṁśī, kiśora-śekhara
cid-ānanda-deha, sarvāśraya, sarveśvara

svayaṁ bhagavān kṛṣṇa, ‘govinda’ para nāma
sarvaiśvarya-pūrṇa yāṅra goloka — nitya-dhāma

O Sanātana, please hear about the eternal form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He is the Absolute Truth, devoid of duality but present in Vṛndāvana as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. Kṛṣṇa is the original source of everything and the sum total of everything. He appears as the supreme youth, and His whole body is composed of spiritual bliss. He is the shelter of everything and master of everyone. The original Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. His original name is Govinda. He is full of all opulences, and His eternal abode is known as Goloka Vṛndāvana. (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 20.152-155)

Jayapatākā Swami: Just like Śrīla Prabhupāda, he quotes that Kṛṣṇa is the Original Personality. He quotes from the Upaniṣads – eko bahunām – He is one but He has expanded into many. And that He provides for all the people. Even in the prison house, the government provides food. Nobody is starving in the prison house. I heard from some people that I knew, they would like to go into the jail so that they get free food. Kṛṣṇa is providing – eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). So Kṛṣṇa He provides for everyone. As long as we are competing with Kṛṣṇa, envious of Kṛṣṇa, we are in this material consciousness. So we have to become favorable to Kṛṣṇa, we have to want to please Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to be favorable to Kṛṣṇa. So He is a person with eternal knowledge and bliss, sat-cit-ānanda. So, Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that we give up our independent nature and we want to do everything to please Kṛṣṇa. It says also that He is the source of everything. All the spiritual and material worlds are coming from Him. So, the original form of Kṛṣṇa is sat-cit-ānanda, is spiritual. And He is present in Vṛndāvana as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. But Kṛṣṇa is the source of everything. And He is always youthful! His body is composed of spiritual bliss. I see some people wear shirts with the letters GAP – Govindam ādi puruṣam!

Note: Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.43

goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya
devī maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu
te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitāś ca yena
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Lowest of all is located Devī-dhāma [mundane world], next above it is Maheśa-dhāma [abode of Maheśa]; above Maheśa-dhāma is placed Hari-dhāma [abode of Hari] and above them all is located Kṛṣṇa’s own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.

Jayapatākā Swami: Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. So, this verse was told by Śrīla Prabhupāda that we should have it in the Scientific Museum of the Vedic Planetarium. So there are Devī-dhāma, Maheśa-dhāma, Hari-dhāma and Goloka-dhāma. So we are in the Devī-dhāma. Devī, she is in-charge of the Devī-dhāma. So, in our Scientific Museum of the Vedic Planetarium they are going to show the different aspects. 1,2,3, floors. The third floor is the cosmos. And then there will be a way to the spiritual world. The Maheśa-dhāma, Hari-dhāma and Goloka-dhāma are beyond this material world. We have them on the 4^th floor. So at least that way, they have a full description of Devī-dhāma. Then on the 4^th floor we will show you the three spiritual dhāmas. Between Maheśa-dhāma and Hari-dhāma is brahma-jyoti. And some of the impersonalists, they realize this impersonal brahma-jyoti. In the Bṛhad-bhāgavatamṛta the devotee, he wants to go back to Goloka. He is going through the brahma-jyoti to the Hari-dhāma. There he starts to merge in the brahma-jyoti. Then he chants Govinda! Govinda! He quickly went to the Hari-dhāma. He was almost merged oh! So, the danger is to merge and lose your individuality in the brahma-jyoti.

Gross body, subtle body or mind and spiritual experience —

In the world of the living entities, the realization of the Personality of Godhead is noticed. All of the higher living entities can realize the personal identity of the Supreme Lord by the very function of the realization that the Lord has given to the humans. The function of the realization of the humans is of three types — 1) the senses of acquiring knowledge (jñānendriya) from the gross body, 2) the subtle body or understanding power from the mind and 3) the function of spiritual vision from the spiritual living entities. The eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin are the five senses of acquiring knowledge. By these senses, the external understanding happens, are all only material knowledge. By the reflection of the material knowledge from the mind, such as contemplation (cintā), remembrance (smaraṇa), meditation (dhyāna), remembering without distraction (dhāraṇa) and so on, merely material knowledge and a dim reflection of the spiritual vision happens. Therefore, these two types of the functioning knowledge is material. By these two functions, the spiritual true experience is not possible.

Jayapatākā Swami: We saw that these two types of sense acquiring knowledge are all material. And someone may think, oh, something is very spiritual. But Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is saying that these things are just a dim reflection of the spiritual reality. They are actually material. It is so nice how Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he is describing step-by-step, very minutely the different aspects of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So you might be wondering how do we understand what is spiritual? And that is coming up! We are not there yet! But he is explaining that what we normally perceive with our senses, this is all material. So how to realize the spiritual?

Vision of spiritual and brahman —

Therefore, without taking shelter of the function of the spirit,

Note: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.26

yathā yathātmā parimṛjyate ’sau
mat-puṇya-gāthā-śravaṇābhidhānaiḥ
tathā tathā paśyati vastu sūkṣmaṁ
cakṣur yathaivāñjana-samprayuktam

When a diseased eye is treated with medicinal ointment it gradually recovers its power to see. Similarly, as a conscious living entity cleanses himself of material contamination by hearing and chanting the pious narrations of My glories, he regains his ability to see Me, the Absolute Truth, in My subtle spiritual form.

Jayapatākā Swami: So you were going all around the nine islands in the Navadvīpa parikramā, hearing about Lord Caitanya, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, hearing the mantra, this gradually purifies the consciousness.

The vision of the identity of the Lord does not happen. Those persons who try to see the identity of the Lord by taking shelter of the material knowledge, imagine a trance (samādhi) in the form of visualizing Supersoul (paramātmā), by identifying the Lord as the soul of the created world; this is done by them only by contemplation without taking shelter of the limbs of yoga such as, their sitting postures (āsana), breathing exercises (prāṇāyāma), meditation (dhyāna), fixed remembrance (dhāraṇā) and so on. Even in these activities, a complete form of transcendental (spiritual) vision is not obtained. They only gain a fragmented understanding in the form of negation of material knowledge. Those humans by a more separate thinking than this, imagine a formless, changeless identity of the Lord and think that to be the vision of Brahman. In fact, their vision of Brahman is only a pretention.

Note: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.16.42-44:

vācaṁ yaccha mano yaccha
prāṇān yacchedriyāṇi ca
ātmānam ātmanā yaccha
na bhūyaḥ kalpase ’dhvane

yo vai vāṅ-manasī saṁyag
asaṁyacchan dhiyā yatiḥ
tasya vrataṁ tapo dānaṁ
sravaty āma-ghaṭāmbu-vat

tasmād vaco manaḥ prāṇān
niyacchen mat-parāyaṇaḥ
mad-bhakti-yuktayā buddhyā
tataḥ parisamāpyate

Therefore, control your speaking, subdue the mind, conquer the life air, regulate the senses and through purified intelligence bring your rational faculties under control. In this way you will never again fall onto the path of material existence. A transcendentalist who does not completely control his words and mind by superior intelligence will find that his spiritual vows, austerities, and charity flow away just as water flows out of an unbaked clay pot. Being surrendered to Me, one should control the speech, mind and life air, and then through loving devotional intelligence one will completely fulfill the mission of life.

Jayapatākā Swami: So we have the baked clay pots, they can hold water and in the hot season the water becomes very cool. But the same clay pot if it is not baked, if it is just mud, then it cannot hold water. The water leaks out. So, if we sometime somehow have a material idea of Kṛṣṇa, then we are not able to actually realize Him as He is. Just like water runs out from an unbaked clay pot. We have to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa and offer Him unalloyed devotional service. One time Śrīla Prabhupāda, he said you should have 100% Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But some devotees were thinking, 100%, that is very tough! Śrīla Prabhupāda turned to the audience, and he was getting ready to go down the stairs. He said, even 90%. People were a bit relieved, but even 90% that seemed a bit high. So he was going down the stairway of the āsana and turned to the devotees and said, even 80%. Then people were more relieved. And then he was walking away from the āsana and he looked at the devotees and said, even 70%. Then he put his chadar over his shoulder. Recently when we were installing some of the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya, I think His Holiness Girirāja Mahārāja was the one who told me that he had heard a similar history of Śrīla Prabhupāda, but he had some other story. Some other ending. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “I have got the key for the back door, don’t worry!” So, if we are not able to see the Lord because of our reliance on the material senses, we should grab the lotus feet of Śrīla Prabhupāda and remember he has the key to the backdoor. Haribol!

Therefore, the Lord told Sanātana Gosvāmī; — (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 20.157)

jñāna, yoga, bhakti, — tina sādhanera vaśe
brahma, ātmā, bhagavān — trividha prakāśe

There are three kinds of spiritual processes for understanding the Absolute Truth — the processes of speculative knowledge, mystic yoga and bhakti-yoga. According to these three processes, the Absolute Truth is manifested as Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān. Again, He had told; — (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 20.146)

mukhya-gauṇa-vṛtti, kiṁvā anvaya-vyatireke
vedera pratijñā kevala kahaye kṛṣṇake

“When one accepts the Vedic literature by interpretation or even by dictionary meaning, directly or indirectly the ultimate declaration of Vedic knowledge points to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Somehow or another, directly or indirectly, all the Vedas are directing us to Lord Kṛṣṇa. But three processes are mentioned in the Vedas – meditation, mystic yoga and bhakti-yoga. I don’t know there is another verse which says,

kṛṣṇa-bhakta—niṣkāma, ataeva ‘śānta’

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī, sakali ‘aśānta’
(Cc. Madhya 19.149)

It says that the process of fruitive work, achieving of the impersonal Brahman, yoga and mystic power it makes one un peaceful. Only pure bhakti-yoga makes everyone satisfied.

So today here we learnt about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Absolute Truth and other forms like Brahman and Paramātmā. So, with Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy we focus on the personal form of Kṛṣṇa. And that allows us a complete realization.

Any questions?

Kṛṣṇe matir astu!