Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 6.255

kalan nashtam bhakti-yogam nijam yah

pradushkartum krishna-caitanya-nama

avirbhutas tasya padaravinde

gadham gadham liyatam citta-bhringah

SYNONYMS

kalat -- from misuse of material propensities and attachment to fruitive activities and speculative knowledge over the course of time; nashtam -- destroyed; bhakti-yogam -- the science of devotional service; nijam -- which is applicable to Him only; yah -- one who; pradushkartum -- to revive; krishna-caitanya-nama -- named Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu; avirbhutah -- who has appeared; tasya -- His; pada-aravinde -- in the lotus feet; gadham gadham -- very deeply; liyatam -- let it be merged; citta-bhringah -- my consciousness, like a honeybee.

TRANSLATION

"Let my consciousness, which is like a honeybee, take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has just now appeared as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu to teach the ancient system of devotional service to Himself. This system had almost been lost due to the influence of time."

PURPORT

As Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7):

yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srijamy aham

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion -- at that time I descend Myself."

This is also the case with Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this world as a disguised incarnation of Krishna, but His appearance is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Mahabharata and other Vedic scriptures. He appeared in order to teach the fallen souls in this material world, for in this Age of Kali almost everyone has become attached to fruitive and ritualistic activities and mental speculation. Consequently there was a great need to revive the system of devotional service. The Lord Himself personally came down disguised as a devotee so that the fallen populace might take advantage of the Lord's example.

At the conclusion of the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna advised complete surrender unto Him, promising all protection to His devotee. Unfortunately, people are so fallen that they cannot accept the instructions of Lord Krishna; therefore Krishna returned with the same mission, but He executed it in a different way. As Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He ordered us to surrender unto Himself, but as Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He taught us how to surrender to Krishna. Therefore He is praised by the Gosvamis: namo maha-vadanyaya krishna-prema-pradaye te. Lord Sri Krishna is certainly the Personality of Godhead, but He is not as magnanimous as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Krishna simply gave orders for one to become His devotee (man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah), but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu actually taught the process of Krishna consciousness. If one wants to become a devotee of Krishna, he must first take shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, following in the footsteps of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya and other exalted devotees.

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