Lord Chaitanya in Five Features From: Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi Lila Chapter 7  By Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami Translation and Purports by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 1: Let me first offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the ultimate goal of life for one bereft of all possessions in this material world and is the only meaning for one advancing in spiritual life. Thus let me write about His magnanimous contribution of devotional service in love of God.

PURPORT: A person in the conditioned stage of material existence is in an atmosphere of helplessness, but the conditioned soul, under the illusion of maya, or the external energy, thinks that he is completely protected by his country, society, friendship and love, not knowing that at the time of death none of these can save him. The laws of material nature are so strong that none of our material possessions can save us from the cruel hands of death. In the Bhagavad-gita (13.9) it is stated, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsanam: one who is actually advancing must always consider the four principles of miserable life, namely, birth, death, old age and disease. One cannot be saved from all these miseries unless he takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is therefore the only shelter for all conditioned souls. An intelligent person, therefore, does not put his faith in any material possessions, but completely takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. Such a person is called akinchana, or one who does not possess anything in this material world. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is also known as Akinchana-gochara, for He can be achieved by a person who does not put his faith in material possessions. Therefore, for the fully surrendered soul who has no material possessions on which to depend, Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the only shelter.

Everyone depends upon dharma (religiosity), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification) and ultimately moksa (salvation), but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, due to His magnanimous character, can give more than salvation. Therefore in this verse the words hinarthadhika-sadhakam indicate that although by material estimation salvation is of a quality superior to the inferior interests of religiosity, economic development and sense gratification, above salvation there is the position of devotional service and transcendental love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the bestower of this great benediction. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, prema pum-artho mahan: "Love of Godhead is the ultimate benediction for all human beings." Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami, the author of Chaitanya-charitamrita, therefore first offers his respectful obeisances unto Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu before describing His magnanimity in bestowing love of Godhead.


TEXT 2: Let me offer glorification to the Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. One who has taken shelter of His lotus feet is the most glorified person.

PURPORT: Prabhu means master. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the supreme master of all masters; therefore He is called Mahaprabhu. Any person who takes shelter of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is most glorified because by the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu he is able to get promotion to the platform of loving service to the Lord, which is transcendental to salvation.


TEXT 3: In the beginning I have discussed the truth about the spiritual master. Now I shall try to explain the Pancha-tattva.

PURPORT: In the First Chapter of Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, the author, Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami, has described the initiator spiritual master and the instructor spiritual master in the verse beginning with the words vande gurun isa-bhaktan isam isavatarakan. In that verse there are six transcendental subject matters, of which the truth regarding the spiritual master has already been described. Now the author will describe the other five tattvas (truths), namely, isa-tattva (the Supreme Lord), His expansion tattva, His incarnation tattva, His energy tattva and His devotee tattva.


TEXT 4: These five tattvas incarnate with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and thus the Lord executes His sankirtan movement with great pleasure.

PURPORT: In Srimad-Bhagavatam there is the following statement regarding Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

krishna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi su-medhasah

"In the Age of Kali, people who are endowed with sufficient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of sankirtan-yajna." (Bhag. 11.5.32) Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is always accompanied by His plenary expansion Sri Nityananda Prabhu, His incarnation Sri Advaita Prabhu, His internal potency Sri Gadadhara Prabhu and His marginal potency Srivasa Prabhu. He is in the midst of them as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should know that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is always accompanied by these other tattvas. Therefore our obeisances to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are complete when we say sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu -ityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. As preachers of the Krishna consciousness movement, we first offer our obeisances to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting this Pancha-tattva mantra; then we say Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. There are ten offenses in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but these are not considered in the chanting of the Pancha-tattva mantra, namely, sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is known as maha-vadanyavatara, the most magnanimous incarnation, for He does not consider the offenses of the fallen souls. Thus to derive the full benefit of the chanting of the maha-mantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare), we must first take shelter of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, learn the Pancha-tattva maha-mantra, and then chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. That will be very effective.

Taking advantage of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, many unscrupulous devotees manufacture a maha-mantra of their own. Sometimes they sing, bhaja nitai gaura radhe syama hare krishna hare rama or sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu-nityananda hare krishna hare rama sri-radhe govinda. Actually, however, one should chant the names of the full Pancha-tattva (sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda) and then the sixteen words Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, but these unscrupulous, less intelligent men confuse the entire process. Of course, since they are also devotees they can express their feelings in that way, but the method prescribed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pure devotees is to chant first the full Pancha-tattva mantra and then chant the maha-mantra - Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Ram, Hare Ram, Ram Ram, Hare Hare.


TEXT 5: Spiritually there are no differences between these five tattvas, for on the transcendental platform everything is absolute. Yet there are also varieties in the spiritual world, and in order to taste these spiritual varieties one should distinguish between them.

PURPORT: In his Anubhasya commentary Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur describes the Pancha-tattva as follows: The supreme energetic, the Personality of Godhead, manifesting in five kinds of pastimes, appears as the Pancha-tattva. Actually there is no difference between them because they are situated on the absolute platform, but they manifest different spiritual varieties as a challenge to impersonalists to taste different kinds of spiritual humors (rasas). In the Vedas it is said, parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate: "The varieties of energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are differently known." From this statement of the Vedas one can understand that there are eternal varieties of humors, or tastes, in the spiritual world. Sri Gauranga, Sri Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Sri Gadadhara and Srivasa are all on the same platform, but in spiritually distinguishing between them one should understand that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the form of a devotee, Nityananda Prabhu appears in the form of a devotee’s spiritual master, Advaita Prabhu is the form of a bhakta (devotee) incarnation, Gadadhara Prabhu is the energy of a bhakta, and Srivasa is a pure devotee. Thus there are spiritual distinctions between them. The bhakta-rupa (Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu), the bhakta-svarupa (Sri Nityananda Prabhu) and the bhakta-avatara (Sri Advaita Prabhu) are described as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, His immediate manifestation and His plenary expansion, and They all belong to the Visnu category. Although the spiritual and marginal energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu, they are predominated subjects, whereas Lord Visnu is the predominator. As such, although they are on the same platform, they have appeared differently in order to facilitate tasting of transcendental mellows. Actually, however, there is no possibility of one being different from the other, for the worshiper and the worshipable cannot be separated at any stage. On the absolute platform, one cannot be understood without the other.


TEXT 6: Let me offer my obeisances unto Lord Sri Krishna, who has manifested Himself in five as a devotee, expansion of a devotee, incarnation of a devotee, pure devotee and devotional energy.

PURPORT: Sri Nityananda Prabhu is the immediate expansion of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as His brother. He is the personified spiritual bliss of sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. His body is transcendental and full of ecstasy in devotional service. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is therefore called bhakta-rupa (the form of a devotee), and Sri Nityananda Prabhu is called bhakta-svarupa (the expansion of a devotee). Sri Advaita Prabhu, the incarnation of a devotee, is visnu-tattva and belongs to the same category. There are also different types of bhaktas, or devotees, on the platforms of neutrality, servitude, friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. Devotees like Sri Damodara, Sri Gadadhara and Sri Ramananda are different energies. This confirms the Vedic sutra parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. All these bhakta subjects taken together constitute Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna Himself.


TEXT 7: Krishna, the reservoir of all pleasure, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, the supreme controller. No one is greater than or equal to Sri Krishna, yet He appears as the son of Maharaja Nanda.

PURPORT: In this verse Kaviraj Gosvami gives an accurate description of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by stating that although no one is equal to or greater than Him and He is the reservoir of all spiritual pleasure, He nevertheless appears as the son of Maharaja Nanda and Yasodamayi.


TEXT 8: Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the supreme enjoyer in the rasa dance. He is the leader of the damsels of Vraja, and all others are simply His associates.

PURPORT: The word rasadi-vilasi ("the enjoyer of the rasa dance") is very important. The rasa dance can be enjoyed only by Sri Krishna because He is the supreme leader and chief of the damsels of Vrindavan. All other devotees are His associates. Although no one can compare with Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there are many unscrupulous rascals who imitate the rasa dance of Sri Krishna. They are Mayavadis, and people should be wary of them. The rasa dance can be performed only by Sri Krishna and no one else.


TEXT 9: The selfsame Lord Krishna advented Himself as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with all His eternal associates, who are also equally glorious.


TEXT 10: Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the supreme controller, the one Personality of Godhead, has ecstatically become a devotee, yet His body is transcendental and not materially tinged.

PURPORT: There are different tattvas, or truths, including isa-tattva, jiva-tattva and sakti-tattva. Isa-tattva refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu, who is the supreme living force. In the Katha Upanisad it is said, nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme eternal and the supreme living force. The living entities are also eternal and are also living forces, but they are very minute in quantity, whereas the Supreme Lord is the supreme living force and the supreme eternal. The supreme eternal never accepts a body of a temporary material nature, whereas the living entities, who are part and parcel of the supreme eternal, are prone to do so. Thus according to the Vedic mantras the Supreme Lord is the supreme master of innumerable living entities.

The Mayavadi philosophers, however, try to equate the minute living entities with the supreme living entity. Because they recognize no distinctions between them, their philosophy is called Advaita-vada, or monism. Factually, however, there is a distinction. This verse is especially meant to impart to the Mayavadi philosopher the understanding that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme controller. The supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead, is Krishna Himself, but as a transcendental pastime He has accepted the form of a devotee, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna comes to this planet exactly like a human being, some rascals consider Him to be one of the ordinary humans. One who thinks in that mistaken way is described as mudha, or foolish. Therefore one should not foolishly consider Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to be an ordinary human being. He has accepted the ecstasy of a devotee, but He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, there have been many imitation incarnations of Krishna who cannot understand that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself and not an ordinary human being. Less intelligent men create their own "Gods" by advertising a human being as God. This is their mistake. Therefore here the words tanra suddha kalevara warn that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s body is not material but purely spiritual. One should not, therefore, accept Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as an ordinary devotee, although He has assumed the form of a devotee. Yet one must certainly know that although Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because He accepted the ecstasy of a devotee one should not misunderstand His pastimes and place Him in exactly the same position as Krishna. It is for this reason only that when Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was addressed as Krishna or Visnu He blocked His ears, not wanting to hear Himself addressed as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is a class of devotees called Gauranga-nagari, who stage plays of Krishna’s pastimes using a vigraha, or form, of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This is a mistake that is technically called rasabhasa. While Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is trying to enjoy as a devotee, one should not disturb Him by addressing Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.


TEXT 11: The transcendental mellow of conjugal love of Krishna is so wonderful that Krishna Himself accepts the form of a devotee to relish and taste it fully.

PURPORT: Although Krishna is the reservoir of all pleasure, He has a special intention to taste Himself by accepting the form of a devotee. It is to be concluded that although Lord Chaitanya is present in the form of a devotee, He is Krishna Himself. Therefore Vaisnavas sing, sri-krishna-chaitanya radha-krishna nahe anya: Radha and Krishna combined together are Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanyakhyam prakatam adhuna tad-dvayam caikyam aptam. Sri Svarupa-damodara Gosvami has said that Radha and Krishna assumed oneness in the form of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.


TEXT 12: For this reason Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the supreme teacher, accepts the form of a devotee and accepts Lord Nityananda as His elder brother.


TEXT 13: Sri Advaita Acharya is Lord Chaitanya’s incarnation as a devotee. Therefore these three tattvas [Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and Advaita Gosani] are the predominators, or masters.

PURPORT: Gosani means gosvami. A person who has full control over the senses and mind is called a gosvami or gosani. One who does not have such control is called godas, or a servant of the senses, and cannot become a spiritual master. A spiritual master who actually has control over the mind and senses is called gosvami. Although the gosvami title has become a hereditary designation for unscrupulous men, actually the title gosani, or gosvami, began from Sri Rupa Gosvami, who presented himself as an ordinary grhastha and minister in government service but became gosvami when he was actually elevated by the instruction of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore gosvami is not a hereditary title but refers to one’s qualifications. When one is highly elevated in spiritual advancement, regardless of wherefrom he comes, he may be called gosvami. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Advaita Gosani Prabhu are natural gosvamis because They belong to the visnu-tattva category. As such, all of Them are prabhus ("predominators" or "masters"), and They are sometimes called Chaitanya Gosani, Nityananda Gosani and Advaita Gosani. Unfortunately Their so-called descendants who do not have the qualifications of gosvamis have accepted this title as a hereditary designation or a professional degree. That is not in accord with the sastric injunctions.


TEXT 14: One of Them is Mahaprabhu, and the other two are prabhus. These two prabhus serve the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu.

PURPORT: Although Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Advaita Prabhu all belong to the same Visnu category, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is nevertheless accepted as the Supreme, and the other two prabhus engage in His transcendental loving service to teach ordinary living entities that every one of us is subordinate to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In another place in Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi 5.142) it is said, ekale isvara krishna, ara saba bhrtya: the only supreme master is Krishna, and all others, both visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva, engage in the service of the Lord. Both the visnu-tattva (as Nityananda Prabhu and Advaita) and the jiva-tattva (srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda) engage in the service of the Lord, but one must distinguish between the visnu-tattva servitors and the jiva-tattva servitors. The jiva-tattva servitor, the spiritual master, is actually the servitor God. As explained in previous verses, in the absolute world there are no such differences, yet one must observe these differences in order to distinguish the Supreme from His subordinates.


TEXT 15: The three predominators [Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu] are worshipable by all living entities, and the fourth principle [Sri Gadadhara Prabhu] is to be understood as Their worshiper.

PURPORT: In his Anubhasya, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, describing the truth about the Pancha-tattva, explains that we can understand that Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the supreme predominator and that Nityananda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu are His subordinates but are also predominators. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Lord, and Nityananda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu are manifestations of the Supreme Lord. All of Them are visnu-tattva, the Supreme, and are therefore worshipable by the living entities. Although the other two tattvas within the category of Pancha-tattva namely, sakti-tattva and jiva-tattva, represented by Gadadhara and Srivasa are worshipers of the Supreme Lord, they are in the same category because they eternally engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.


TEXT 16: There are innumerable pure devotees of the Lord, headed by Srivasa Thakur, who are known as unalloyed devotees.


TEXT 17: The devotees headed by Gadadhara Pandita are to be considered incarnations of the internal potency of the Lord. They are confidential devotees engaged in the service of the Lord.

PURPORT: In connection with verses sixteen and seventeen, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur explains in his Anubhasya: "There are specific symptoms by which the internal devotees and the unalloyed or pure devotees are to be known. All unalloyed devotees are sakti-tattvas, or potencies of the Lord. Some of them are situated in conjugal love and others in filial affection, fraternity and servitude. Certainly all of them are devotees, but by making a comparative study it is found that the devotees or potencies who are engaged in conjugal love are better situated than the others. Thus devotees who are in a relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in conjugal love are considered to be the most confidential devotees of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Those who engage in the service of Lord Nityananda Prabhu and Lord Advaita Prabhu generally have relationships of parental love, fraternity, servitude and neutrality. When such devotees develop great attachment for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, they too become situated within the intimate circle of devotees in conjugal love." This gradual development of devotional service is described by Sri Narottam das Thakur as follows:

gauranga balite habe pulaka sarira
hari hari balite nayane ba’be nira
ara kabe nitaicanda karuna karibe
samsara-vasana mora kabe tuccha habe

visaya chadiya kabe suddha habe mana
kabe hama heraba sri-vrndavana
rupa-raghunatha-pade ha-ibe akuti
kabe hama bujhaba sri-yugala-piriti

"When will there be eruptions on my body as soon as I chant the name of Lord Chaitanya, and when will there be incessant torrents of tears as soon as I chant the holy names Hare Krishna? When will Lord Nityananda be merciful toward me and free me from all desires for material enjoyment? When will my mind be completely freed from all contamination of desires for material pleasure? Only at that time will it be possible for me to understand Vrindavan. Only if I become attached to the instructions given by the six Gosvamis, headed by Rupa Gosvami and Raghunatha das Gosvami, will it be possible for me to understand the conjugal love of Radha and Krishna." By attachment to the devotional service of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu one immediately comes to the ecstatic position. When he develops his love for Nityananda Prabhu he is freed from all attachment to the material world, and at that time he becomes eligible to understand the Lord’s pastimes in Vrindavan. In that condition, when one develops his love for the six Gosvamis, he can understand the conjugal love between Radha and Krishna. These are the different stages of a pure devotee’s promotion to conjugal love in the service of Radha and Krishna in an intimate relationship with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.


TEXTS 18, 19: The internal devotees or potencies are all eternal associates in the pastimes of the Lord. Only with them does the Lord advent to propound the sankirtan movement, only with them does the Lord taste the mellow of conjugal love, and only with them does He distribute this love of God to people in general.

PURPORT: Distinguishing between pure devotees and internal or confidential devotees, Sri Rupa Gosvami, in his book Upadesamrta, traces the following gradual process of development. Out of many thousands of karmis, one is better when he is situated in perfect Vedic knowledge. Out of many such learned scholars and philosophers, one who is actually liberated from material bondage is better, and out of many such persons who are actually liberated, one who is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is considered to be the best. Among the many such transcendental lovers of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the gopis are the best, and among the gopis Srimati Radhika is the best. Srimati Radhika is very dear to Lord Krishna, and similarly Her ponds, namely, Syama-kunda and Radha-kunda, are also very dear to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur comments in his Anubhasya that among the five tattvas, two are energies (sakti-tattva) and the three others are energetic (saktiman tattva). Unalloyed and internal devotees are both engaged in the favorable culture of Krishna consciousness untinged by philosophical speculation or fruitive activities. They are all understood to be pure devotees, and those among them who simply engage in conjugal love are called madhurya-bhaktas, or internal devotees. The loving services in parental love, fraternity and servitude are included in conjugal love of God. In conclusion, therefore, every confidential devotee is a pure devotee of the Lord.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu enjoys His pastimes with His immediate expansion Nityananda Prabhu. His pure devotees and His three purusa incarnations, namely, Karanodakasayi Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu and Ksirodakasayi Visnu, always accompany the Supreme Lord to propound the sankirtan movement.


TEXTS 20, 21: The characteristics of Krishna are understood to be a storehouse of transcendental love. Although that storehouse of love certainly came with Krishna when He was present, it was sealed. But when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came with His other associates of the Pancha-tattva, they broke the seal and plundered the storehouse to taste transcendental love of Krishna. The more they tasted it, the more their thirst for it grew.

PURPORT: Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is called maha-vadanyavatara because although He is Sri Krishna Himself, He is even more favorably disposed to the poor fallen souls than Lord Sri Krishna. When Lord Sri Krishna Himself was personally present He demanded that everyone surrender unto Him and promised that He would then give one all protection, but when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to this earth with His associates, He simply distributed transcendental love of God without discrimination. Sri Rupa Gosvami, therefore, could understand that Lord Chaitanya was none other than Sri Krishna Himself, for no one but the Supreme Personality of Godhead can distribute confidential love of the Supreme Person.


TEXT 22: Sri Pancha-tattva themselves danced again and again and thus made it easier to drink nectarean love of Godhead. They danced, cried, laughed and chanted like madmen, and in this way they distributed love of Godhead.

PURPORT: People generally cannot understand the actual meaning of chanting and dancing. Describing the Gosvamis, Sri Srinivasa Acharya stated, krsnotkirtana-gana-nartana-parau: not only did Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates demonstrate this chanting and dancing, but the six Gosvamis also followed in the next generation. The present Krishna consciousness movement follows the same principle, and therefore simply by chanting and dancing we have received good responses all over the world. It is to be understood, however, that this chanting and dancing do not belong to this material world. They are actually transcendental activities, for the more one engages in chanting and dancing, the more he can taste the nectar of transcendental love of Godhead.


TEXT 23: In distributing love of Godhead, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity the members of the Pancha-tattva distributed love of Godhead.

PURPORT: There are some rascals who dare to speak against the mission of Lord Chaitanya by criticizing the Krishna consciousness movement for accepting Europeans and Americans as brahmanas and offering them sannyasa. But here is an authoritative statement that in distributing love of Godhead one should not consider whether the recipients are Europeans, Americans, Hindus, Muslims, etc. The Krishna consciousness movement should be spread wherever possible, and one should accept those who thus become Vaisnavas as being greater than brahmanas, Hindus or Indians. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu desired that His name be spread in each and every town and village on the surface of the globe. Therefore, when the cult of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is spread all over the world, should those who embrace it not be accepted as Vaisnavas, brahmanas and sannyasis? These foolish arguments are sometimes raised by envious rascals, but Krishna conscious devotees do not care about them. We strictly follow the principles set down by the Pancha-tattva.


TEXT 24: Although the members of the Pancha-tattva plundered the storehouse of love of Godhead and ate and distributed its contents, there was no scarcity, for this wonderful storehouse is so complete that as the love is distributed, the supply increases hundreds of times.

PURPORT: A pseudoincarnation of Krishna once told his disciple that he had emptied himself by giving him all knowledge and was thus spiritually bankrupt. Such bluffers speak in this way to cheat the public, but actual spiritual consciousness is so perfect that the more it is distributed, the more it increases. Bankruptcy is a term that applies in the material world, but the storehouse of love of Godhead in the spiritual world can never be depleted. Krishna is providing for millions and trillions of living entities by supplying all their necessities, and even if all the innumerable living entities wanted to become Krishna conscious, there would be no scarcity of love of Godhead, nor would there be insufficiency in providing for their maintenance. Our Krishna consciousness movement was started single-handedly, and no one provided for our livelihood, but at present we are spending hundreds and thousands of dollars all over the world, and the movement is increasing more and more. Thus there is no question of scarcity. Although jealous persons may be envious, if we stick to our principles and follow in the footsteps of the Pancha-tattva, this movement will go on unchecked by imitation svamis, sannyasis, religionists, philosophers or scientists, for it is transcendental to all material considerations. Therefore those who propagate the Krishna consciousness movement should not be afraid of such rascals and fools.


TEXT 25: The flood of love of Godhead swelled in all directions, and thus young men, old men, women and children were all immersed in that inundation.

PURPORT: When the contents of the storehouse of love of Godhead is thus distributed, there is a powerful inundation that covers the entire land. In Sridhama Mayapur there is sometimes a great flood after the rainy season. This is an indication that from the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya the inundation of love of Godhead should be spread all over the world, for this will help everyone, including old men, young men, women and children. The Krishna consciousness movement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is so powerful that it can inundate the entire world and interest all classes of men in the subject of love of Godhead.


TEXT 26: The Krishna consciousness movement will inundate the entire world and drown everyone, whether one be a gentleman, a rogue or even lame, invalid or blind.

PURPORT: Here again it may be emphasized that although jealous rascals protest that Europeans and Americans cannot be given the sacred thread or sannyasa, there is no need even to consider whether one is a gentleman or a rogue because this is a spiritual movement which is not concerned with the external body of skin and bones. Because it is being properly conducted under the guidance of the Pancha-tattva, strictly following the regulative principles, it has nothing to do with external impediments.


TEXT 27: When the five members of the Pancha-tattva saw the entire world drowned in love of Godhead and the seed of material enjoyment in the living entities completely destroyed, they all became exceedingly happy.

PURPORT: In this connection, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur writes in his Anubhasya that since the living entities all belong to the marginal potency of the Lord, each and every living entity has a natural tendency to become Krishna conscious, although at the same time the seed of material enjoyment is undoubtedly within him. The seed of material enjoyment, watered by the course of material nature, fructifies to become a tree of material entanglement that endows the living entity with all kinds of material enjoyment. To enjoy such material facilities is to be afflicted with the three material miseries. However, when by nature’s law there is a flood, the seeds within the earth become inactive. Similarly, as the inundation of love of Godhead spreads all over the world, the seeds of material enjoyment become impotent. Thus the more the Krishna consciousness movement spreads, the more the desire for material enjoyment decreases. The seed of material enjoyment automatically becomes impotent with the increase of the Krishna consciousness movement.

Instead of being envious that Krishna consciousness is spreading all over the world by the grace of Lord Chaitanya, those who are jealous should be happy, as indicated here by the words parama ullasa. But because they are kanistha-adhikaris or prakrta-bhaktas (materialistic devotees who are not advanced in spiritual knowledge), they are envious instead of happy, and they try to find faults in the Krishna consciousness movement. Yet Srimat Prabodhananda Sarasvati writes in his Chaitanya-candramrta that when influenced by Lord Chaitanya’s Krishna consciousness movement, materialists become averse to talking about their wives and children, supposedly learned scholars give up their tedious studies of Vedic literature, yogis give up their impractical practices of mystic yoga, ascetics give up their austere activities of penance and austerity, and sannyasis give up their study of Sankhya philosophy. Thus they are all attracted by the bhakti-yoga practices of Lord Chaitanya and cannot relish a mellow taste superior to that of Krishna consciousness.


TEXT 28: The more the five members of the Pancha-tattva cause the rains of love of Godhead to fall, the more the inundation increases and spreads all over the world.

PURPORT: The Krishna consciousness movement is not stereotyped or stagnant. It will spread all over the world in spite of all objections by fools and rascals that European and American mlecchas cannot be accepted as brahmanas or sannyasis. Here it is indicated that this process will spread and inundate the entire world with Krishna consciousness.


TEXTS 29, 30: The impersonalists, fruitive workers, false logicians, blasphemers, nondevotees and lowest among the student community are very expert in avoiding the Krishna consciousness movement, and therefore the inundation of Krishna consciousness cannot touch them.

PURPORT: Like Mayavadi philosophers in the past such as Prakasananda Sarasvati of Benares, modern impersonalists are not interested in Lord Chaitanya’s Krishna consciousness movement. They do not know the value of this material world; they consider it false and cannot understand how the Krishna consciousness movement can utilize it. They are so absorbed in impersonal thought that they take it for granted that all spiritual variety is material. Because they do not know anything beyond their misconception of the brahmajyoti, they cannot understand that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is spiritual and therefore beyond the conception of material illusion. Whenever Krishna incarnates personally or as a devotee, these Mayavadi philosophers accept Him as an ordinary human being. This is condemned in the Bhagavad-gita (9.11):

avajananti mam mudha
manusim tanum asritam
param bhavam ajananto
mama bhuta-mahesvaram

"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be."

There are also other unscrupulous persons who exploit the Lord’s appearance by posing as incarnations to cheat the innocent public. An incarnation of God should pass the tests of the statements of the sastras and also perform uncommon activities. One should not accept a rascal as an incarnation of God but should test his ability to act as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For example, Krishna taught Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita, and Arjuna also accepted Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but for our understanding Arjuna requested the Lord to manifest His universal form, thus testing whether He was actually the Supreme Lord. Similarly, one must test a so-called incarnation of Godhead according to the standard criteria. To avoid being misled by an exhibition of mystic powers, it is best to examine a so-called incarnation of God in the light of the statements of the sastras. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is described in the sastras as an incarnation of Krishna; therefore if one wants to imitate Lord Chaitanya and claim to be an incarnation, he must show evidence from the sastras about his appearance to substantiate his claim. 

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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