Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Madhya-līlā | Chapter 20: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Instructs Sanātana Gosvāmī in the Science of the Absolute Truth |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 20.120
sādhu-śāstra-kripāya yadi krishnonmukha haya
sei jīva nistare, māyā tāhāre chādaya
SYNONYMS
sādhu — of saintly persons; śāstra — of scriptures; kripāya — by the mercy; yadi — if; krishna-unmukha haya — one becomes Krishna conscious; sei — that; jīva — living entity; nistare — becomes liberated; māyā — the illusory energy; tāhāre — him; chādaya — gives up.
TRANSLATION
"If the conditioned soul becomes Krishna conscious by the mercy of saintly persons who voluntarily preach scriptural injunctions and help him to become Krishna conscious, the conditioned soul is liberated from the clutches of māyā, who gives him up.
PURPORT
A conditioned soul is one who has forgotten Krishna as his eternal master. Thinking that he is enjoying the material world, the conditioned soul suffers the threefold miseries of material existence. Saintly persons (sādhus), Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, preach Krishna consciousness on the basis of the Vedic literature. It is only by their mercy that the conditioned soul is awakened to Krishna consciousness. When awakened, he is no longer eager to enjoy the materialistic way of life. Instead, he devotes himself to the loving transcendental service of the Lord. When one engages in the Lord's devotional service, he becomes detached from material enjoyment:
bhaktih pareśānubhavo viraktir
anyatra caisha trika eka-kālah
(Bhāg. 11.2.42)
This is the test by which one can tell whether he is advancing in devotional service. One must be detached from material enjoyment. Such detachment means that māyā has actually given the conditioned soul liberation from illusory enjoyment. When one is advanced in Krishna consciousness, he does not consider himself as good as Krishna. Whenever he thinks that he is the enjoyer of material advantages, he is imprisoned in the bodily conception. However, when he is freed from the bodily conception, he can engage in devotional service, which is his actual position of freedom from the clutches of māyā. This is all explained in the following verse from the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14).
Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness