Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 6.42

caitanya-gosāñike ācārya kare 'prabhu'-jñāna

āpanāke karena tāńra 'dāsa'-abhimāna

SYNONYMS

caitanya-gosāñike — unto Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; ācārya — Advaita Ācārya; kare — does; prabhu-jñāna — considering His master; āpanāke — unto Himself; karena — does; tāńra — of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; dāsa — as a servant; abhimāna — conception.

TRANSLATION

Śrī Advaita Ācārya, however, considers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu His master, and He thinks of Himself as a servant of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

PURPORT

The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmī explains the superexcellent quality of devotional service as follows:

brahmānando bhaved eṣa cet parārdha-guṇī-kṛtaḥ

naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ paramāṇu-tulām api

"If multiplied billions of times, the transcendental pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization still could not compare to even an atomic portion of the ocean of bhakti, or transcendental service." (B.r.s. 1.1.38) Similarly, the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā states:

tvat-kathāmṛta-pāthodhau viharanto mahā-mudaḥ

kurvanti kṛtinaḥ kecic catur-vargaḿ tṛṇopamam

"For those who take pleasure in the transcendental topics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the four progressive realizations of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation, all combined together, cannot compare, any more than a straw could, to the happiness derived from hearing about the transcendental activities of the Lord." Those who engage in the transcendental service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, being relieved of all material enjoyment, have no attraction to topics of impersonal monism. In the Padma Purāṇa, in connection with the glorification of the month of Kārttika, it is stated that devotees pray:

varaḿ deva mokṣaḿ na mokṣāvadhiḿ vā

na cānyaḿ vṛṇe 'haḿ vareśād apīha

idaḿ te vapur nātha gopāla-bālaḿ

sadā me manasy āvirāstāḿ kim anyaiḥ

kuverātmajau baddha-mūrtyaiva yadvat

tvayā mocitau bhakti-bhājau kṛtau ca

tathā prema-bhaktiḿ svakāḿ me prayaccha

na mokṣe graho me 'sti dāmodareha

"Dear Lord, always remembering Your childhood pastimes at Vṛndāvana is better for us than aspiring to merge into the impersonal Brahman. During Your childhood pastimes You liberated the two sons of Kuvera and made them great devotees of Your Lordship. Similarly, I wish that instead of giving me liberation You may award me such devotion unto You." In the Hayaśīrṣīya-śrī-nārāyaṇa-vyūha-stava, in the chapter called Nārāyaṇa-stotra, it is stated:

na dharmaḿ kāmam arthaḿ vā

mokṣaḿ vā vara-deśvara

prārthaye tava pādābje

dāsyam evābhikāmaye

"My dear Lord, I do not wish to become a man of religion or a master of economic development or sense gratification, nor do I wish for liberation. Although I can have all these from You, the supreme bestower of benedictions, I do not pray for any of these. I simply pray that I may always be engaged as a servant of Your lotus feet." Nṛsiḿhadeva offered Prahlāda Mahārāja all kinds of benedictions, but Prahlāda Mahārāja did not accept any of them, for he simply wanted to engage in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, a pure devotee wishes to be blessed like Mahārāja Prahlāda by being thus endowed with devotional service. Devotees also offer their respects to Hanumān, who always remained a servant of Lord Rāma. The great devotee Hanumān prayed:

bhava-bandha-cchide tasyai spṛhayāmi na muktaye

bhavān prabhur ahaḿ dāsa iti yatra vilupyate

"I do not wish to take liberation or to merge in the Brahman effulgence, where the conception of being a servant of the Lord is completely lost." Similarly, in the Nārada-pañcarātra it is stated:

dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣeṣu necchā mama kadācana

tvat-pāda-pańkajasyādho jīvitaḿ dīyatāḿ mama

"I do not want any one of the four desirable stations. I simply want to engage as a servant of the lotus feet of the Lord." King Kulaśekhara, in his very famous book Mukunda-mālā-stotra, prays:

nāhaḿ vande tava caraṇayor dvandvam advandva-hetoḥ

kumbhī-pākaḿ gurum api hare nārakaḿ nāpanetum

ramyā-rāmā-mṛdu-tanu-latā-nandane nābhirantuḿ

bhāve bhāve hṛdaya-bhavane bhāvayeyaḿ bhavantam

"My Lord, I do not worship You to be liberated from this material entanglement, nor do I wish to save myself from the hellish condition of material existence, nor do I ever pray for a beautiful wife to enjoy in a nice garden. I wish only that I may always be in full ecstasy with the pleasure of serving Your Lordship." (MM 4) In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also there are many instances in the Third and Fourth cantos in which devotees pray to the Lord simply to be engaged in His service, and nothing else (Bhāg. 3.4.15, 3.25.34, 3.25.36, 4.8.22, 4.9.10 and 4.20.24).

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