Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Ādi 1.19

ei tina thākura gaudīyāke kariyāchena ātmasāt

e tinera carana vandoń, tine mora nātha

SYNONYMS

ei — these; tina — three; thākura — Deities; gaudīyāke — the Gaudīya Vaishnavas; kariyāchena — have done; ātmasāt — absorbed; e — these; tinera — of the three; carana — lotus feet; vandoń — I worship; tine — these three; mora — my; nātha — Lords.

TRANSLATION

These three Deities of Vrindāvana [Madana-mohana, Govinda and Gopīnātha] have absorbed the heart and soul of the Gaudīya Vaishnavas [followers of Lord Caitanya]. I worship Their lotus feet, for They are the Lords of my heart.

PURPORT

The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmrita offers his respectful obeisances unto the three Deities of Vrindāvana named Śrī Rādhā-Madana-mohana, Śrī Rādhā-Govindadeva and Śrī Rādhā-Gopīnāthajī. These three Deities are the life and soul of the Bengali Vaishnavas, or Gaudīya Vaishnavas, who have a natural aptitude for residing in Vrindāvana. The Gaudīya Vaishnavas who follow strictly in the line of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu worship the Divinity by chanting transcendental sounds meant to develop a sense of one's transcendental relationship with the Supreme Lord, a reciprocation of mellows (rasas) of mutual affection, and, ultimately, the achievement of the desired success in loving service. These three Deities are worshiped in three different stages of one's development. The followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu scrupulously follow these principles of approach.

Gaudīya Vaishnavas perceive the ultimate objective in Vedic hymns composed of eighteen transcendental letters that adore Krishna as Madana-mohana, Govinda and Gopījana-vallabha. Madana-mohana is He who charms Cupid, the god of love, Govinda is He who pleases the senses and the cows, and Gopījana-vallabha is the transcendental lover of the gopīs. Krishna Himself is called Madana-mohana, Govinda, Gopījana-vallabha and countless other names as He plays in His different pastimes with His devotees.

The three Deities — Madana-mohana, Govinda and Gopījana-vallabha — have very specific qualities. Worship of Madana-mohana is on the platform of reestablishing our forgotten relationship with the Personality of Godhead. In the material world we are presently in utter ignorance of our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord. Pańgoh refers to one who cannot move independently by his own strength, and manda-mateh is one who is less intelligent because he is too absorbed in materialistic activities. It is best for such persons not to aspire for success in fruitive activities or mental speculation but instead simply to surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The perfection of life is simply to surrender to the Supreme. In the beginning of our spiritual life we must therefore worship Madana-mohana so that He may attract us and nullify our attachment for material sense gratification. This relationship with Madana-mohana is necessary for neophyte devotees. When one wishes to render service to the Lord with strong attachment, one worships Govinda on the platform of transcendental service. Govinda is the reservoir of all pleasures. When by the grace of Krishna and the devotees one reaches perfection in devotional service, he can appreciate Krishna as Gopījana-vallabha, the pleasure Deity of the damsels of Vraja.

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained this mode of devotional service in three stages, and therefore these worshipable Deities were installed in Vrindāvana by different Gosvāmīs. They are very dear to the Gaudīya Vaishnavas there, who visit the temples at least once a day. Besides the temples of these three Deities, many other temples have been established in Vrindāvana, such as the temple of Rādhā-Dāmodara of Jīva Gosvāmī, the temple of Śyāmasundara of Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī, the temple of Gokulānanda of Lokanātha Gosvāmī, and the temple of Rādhā-ramana of Gopāla Bhatta Gosvāmī. There are seven principal temples over four hundred years old that are the most important of the five thousand temples now existing in Vrindāvana.

Gaudīya indicates the part of India between the southern side of the Himalayan Mountains and the northern part of the Vindhyā Hills, which is called Āryāvarta, or the Land of the Āryans. This portion of India is divided into five parts or provinces (Pañca-gaudadeśa): Sārasvata (Kashmir and Punjab), Kānyakubja (Uttar Pradesh, including the modern city of Lucknow), Madhya-gauda (Madhya Pradesh), Maithila (Bihar and part of Bengal) and Utkala (part of Bengal and the whole of Orissa). Bengal is sometimes called Gaudadeśa, partly because it forms a portion of Maithila and partly because the capital of the Hindu king Rāja Lakshmana Sena was known as Gauda. This old capital later came to be known as Gaudapura and gradually Māyāpur.

The devotees of Orissa are called Udiyās, the devotees of Bengal are called Gaudīyas, and the devotees of southern India are known as Drāvida devotees. As there are five provinces in Āryāvarta, so Dākshinātya, southern India, is also divided into five provinces, which are called Pañca-dravida. The four Vaishnava ācāryas who are the great authorities of the four Vaishnava disciplic successions, as well as Śrīpāda Śańkarācārya of the Māyāvāda school, appeared in the Pañca-dravida provinces. Among the four Vaishnava ācāryas, who are all accepted by the Gaudīya Vaishnavas, Śrī Rāmānuja Ācārya appeared in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh at Mahābhūtapurī, Śrī Madhva Ācārya appeared at Pājakam (near Vimānagiri) in the district of Mangalore, Śrī Vishnu Svāmī appeared at Pāndya, and Śrī Nimbārka appeared at Muńgera-patana, in the extreme south.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the chain of disciplic succession from Madhva Ācārya, but the Vaishnavas in His line do not accept the Tattva-vādīs, who also claim to belong to the Mādhva-sampradāya. To distinguish themselves clearly from the Tattva-vādī branch of Madhva's descendants, the Vaishnavas of Bengal prefer to call themselves Gaudīya Vaishnavas. Śrī Madhva Ācārya is also known as Śrī Gauda-pūrnānanda, and therefore the name Mādhva-Gaudīya-sampradāya is quite suitable for the disciplic succession of the Gaudīya Vaishnavas. Our spiritual master, Om Vishnupāda Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, accepted initiation in the Mādhva-Gaudīya-sampradāya.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness