Copyright Š r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Ādi-līlā | Chapter 2: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Is the Supreme Personality of Godhead |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Ādi 2.22
seita govinda sākshāc caitanya gosāņi
jīva nistārite aiche dayālu āra nāi
SYNONYMS
seita — that; govinda — Govinda; sākshāt — personally; caitanya — Lord Caitanya; gosāņi — Gosāņi; jīva — the fallen living entities; nistārite — to deliver; aiche — such; dayālu — a merciful Lord; āra — another; nāi — there is not.
TRANSLATION
That Govinda personally appears as Caitanya Gosāņi. No other Lord is as merciful in delivering the fallen souls.
PURPORT
Having described Govinda in terms of His Brahman and Paramātmā features, now the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmrita advances his argument to prove that Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the identical personality. The same Lord Śrī Krishna, in the garb of a devotee of Śrī Krishna, descended to this mortal world to reclaim the fallen human beings who had misunderstood the Personality of Godhead even after the explanation of the Bhagavad-gītā. In the Bhagavad-gītā the Personality of Godhead Śrī Krishna directly instructed that the Supreme is a person, that the impersonal Brahman is His glowing effulgence, and that the Paramātmā is His partial representation. All men were therefore advised to follow the path of Śrī Krishna, leaving aside all mundane "isms." Offenders misunderstood this instruction, however, because of their poor fund of knowledge. Thus by His causeless, unlimited mercy Śrī Krishna came again as Śrī Caitanya Gosāņi.
The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmrita most emphatically stresses that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Śrī Krishna Himself. He is not an expansion of the prakāśa or vilāsa forms of Śrī Krishna; He is the svayam-rūpa, Govinda. Apart from the relevant scriptural evidence forwarded by Śrīla Krishnadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, there are innumerable other scriptural statements regarding Lord Caitanya's being the Supreme Lord Himself. The following examples may be cited:
(1) From the Caitanya Upanishad (5): gaurah sarvātmā mahā-purusho mahātmā mahā-yogī tri-gunātītah sattva-rūpo bhaktim loke kāśyati. "Lord Gaura, who is the all-pervading Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears as a great saint and powerful mystic who is above the three modes of nature and is the emblem of transcendental activity. He disseminates the cult of devotion throughout the world."
(2) From the Śvetāśvatara Upanishad (6.7 and 3.12):
tam īśvarānām paramam maheśvaram
tam devatānām paramam ca daivatam
patim patīnām paramam parastād
"O Supreme Lord, You are the Supreme Maheśvara, the worshipable Deity of all the demigods and the Supreme Lord of all lords. You are the controller of all controllers, the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of everything worshipable."
sattvasyaisha pravartakah
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Mahāprabhu, who disseminates transcendental enlightenment. Just to be in touch with Him is to be in contact with the indestructible brahmajyoti."
(3) From the Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.3):
yadā paśyah paśyate rukma-varnam
kartāram īśam purusham brahma-yonim
"One who sees that golden-colored Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Lord, the supreme actor, who is the source of the Supreme Brahman, is liberated."
(4) From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.33-34 and 7.9.38):
dhyeyam sadā paribhava-ghnam abhīshta-doham
tīrthāspadam śiva-viriņci-nutam śaranyam
bhrityārti-ham pranata-pāla-bhavābdhi-potam
vande mahā-purusha te caranāravindam
"We offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Him, the Lord, upon whom one should always meditate. He destroys insults to His devotees. He removes the distresses of His devotees and satisfies their desires. He, the abode of all holy places and the shelter of all sages, is worshipable by Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. He is the boat of the demigods for crossing the ocean of birth and death."
tyaktvā sudustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakshmīm
dharmishtha ārya-vacasā yad agād aranyam
māyā-mrigam dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad
vande mahā-purusha te caranāravindam
"We offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of the Lord, upon whom one should always meditate. He left His householder life, leaving aside His eternal consort, whom even the denizens of heaven adore. He went into the forest to deliver the fallen souls, who are put into illusion by material energy."
Prahlāda said:
ittham nri-tiryag-rishi-deva jhashāvatārair
lokān vibhāvayasi hamsi jagat-pratīpān
dharmam mahā-purusha pāsi yugānuvrittam
channah kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo 'tha sa tvam
"My Lord, You kill all the enemies of the world in Your multifarious incarnations in the families of men, animals, demigods, rishis, aquatics and so on. Thus You illuminate the worlds with transcendental knowledge. In the Age of Kali, O Mahāpurusha, You sometimes appear in a covered incarnation. Therefore You are known as Tri-yuga [one who appears in only three yugas]."
(5) From the Krishna-yāmala-tantra: punya-kshetre nava-dvīpe bhavishyāmi śacī-sutah. "I shall appear in the holy land of Navadvīpa as the son of Śacī-devī."
(6) From the Vāyu Purāna: kalau sańkīrtanārambhe bhavishyāmi śacī-sutah. "In the Age of Kali when the sańkīrtana movement is inaugurated, I shall descend as the son of Śacī-devī."
(7) From the Brahma-yāmala-tantra:
kalau sańkīrtanāgame
"Sometimes I personally appear on the surface of the world in the garb of a devotee. Specifically, I appear as the son of Śacī in Kali-yuga to start the sańkīrtana movement."
"The Supreme Person, Śrī Krishna Himself, who is the life of Śrī Rādhārānī and is the Lord of the universe in creation, maintenance and annihilation, appears as Gaura, O Maheśvarī."
Copyright Š r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness