Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 10.177

bilvamańgala kaila yaiche daśā āpanāra

ihāń dekhi' sei daśā ha-ila āmāra

SYNONYMS

bilvamańgala — Bilvamańgala; kaila — did; yaiche — as; daśā — condition; āpanāra — his own; ihāń — here; dekhi' — I see; sei daśā — that condition; ha-ila — became; āmāra — mine.

TRANSLATION

"Bilvamańgala Ṭhākura abandoned his impersonal realization for the realization of the Personality of Godhead. I now see that my condition is similar to his, for it has already changed."

PURPORT

In his early life, Bilvamańgala Ṭhākura was an impersonalistic monist, and he used to meditate upon the impersonal Brahman effulgence. Later he became a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and his explanation for this change is given in a verse (text 178) that is quoted in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Sometimes a devotee gradually comes to the stage of Bhagavān realization, realization of the Supreme Person, after having attained the lower stages of realization — impersonal Brahman realization and localized Paramātmā realization. The condition of such a devotee is described in the Caitanya-candrāmṛta (5), by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī:

kaivalyaḿ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate

durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daḿṣṭrāyate

viśvaḿ pūrṇa-sukhāyate vidhi-mahendrādiś ca kīṭāyate

yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhava-vatāḿ taḿ gauram eva stumaḥ

Kaivalya, oneness in the effulgence of Brahman, appears hellish to the devotee. The heavenly planets, the abodes of the demigods, appear to a devotee like phantasmagoria. The yogīs meditate for sense control, but for the devotee the senses appear like serpents with broken teeth. The devotee doesn't have to control his senses, for his senses are already engaged in the Lord's service. Consequently there is no possibility that the senses will act like serpents. In the material condition, the senses are as strong as poisonous snakes. But when the senses are engaged in the Lord's service, they are like poisonous snakes with their fangs removed, and so they are no longer dangerous. The entire world is a replica of Vaikuṇṭha for the devotee because he has no anxiety. He sees that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, and he does not want to enjoy anything for himself. He does not even aspire for the position of Lord Brahmā or Indra. He simply wants to engage everything in the service of the Lord; therefore he has no problem. He stands in his original constitutional position. All this is possible when one receives Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's merciful glance.

In the Caitanya-candrāmṛta there are many more verses illustrating this same principle.

dhik kurvanti ca brahma-yoga-viduṣas taḿ gauracandraḿ numaḥ

(Caitanya-candrāmṛta 6)

tāvad brahma-kathā vimukta-padavī tāvan na tiktī-bhavet

tāvac cāpi viśṛńkhalatvam ayate no loka-veda-sthitiḥ

tāvac chāstra-vidāḿ mithaḥ kala-kalo nānā-bahir-vartmasu

śrī-caitanya-padāmbuja-priya-jano yāvan na dig-gocaraḥ

(Caitanya-candrāmṛta 19)

gauraś cauraḥ sakalam aharat ko 'pi me tīvra-vīryaḥ

(Caitanya-candrāmṛta 60)

A discussion of the impersonal Brahman is not very palatable to a devotee. The so-called regulations of the śāstras also appear null and void to him. There are many people who argue over the śāstras, but for a devotee such discussions are but tumultuous roaring. By the influence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all these problems disappear.

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