Appeared in the March 2013 issue of Back To Godhead (India).
The Golden Promise
During this festive season, let us
make ourselves fortunate by becoming
a part of the glorious mission of the golden incarnation.
a part of the glorious mission of the golden incarnation.
Around 5000 years ago, Lord
Çré Kåñëa appeared in Våndävana, near Mathurä City. He established the
principles of religion by killing great demons like Kaàsa and by speaking the
superlative knowledge of the Bhagavad-gétä.
That was in Dväpara-yuga, but the yuga
has since changed; we are now in Kali-yuga – the age of rapid decline of
spiritual standards. To re-establish the highest religious principles, just
around 500 years ago, the Supreme Lord Çré Kåñëa once again descended to this
world, this time appearing in Mäyäpur, West Bengal, in His eternal golden form
of ÇréCaitanyaMahäprabhu. Çrémad-Bhägavatam(11.5.32)
glorifies this most loving avatära of the Lord as follows:
kåñëa-varëaà tviñäkåñëaà
säìgopäìgästra-pärñadam
yajïaiù saìkértana-präyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaù
“In the age of Kali,
intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation
of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kåñëa. Although His complexion is
not blackish[His complexion is the color of molten gold and therefore His name
is Gauräìga], He is Kåñëa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates,
servants, weapons, and confidential companions.”
The Absolute Truth – Subjects and Predicates
But who is Kåñëa? Without
understanding this it is not possible to fully appreciate the significance of
His descent in the form of Lord Caitanya. Kåñëa, His pastimes, and His
teachings are so famous that we can take Him for granted. But Kåñëa is not just
one part of our limited reality; He is the Absolute Truth.
The Vedic literature
frequently mentions Brahman, Paramätmä, and Bhagavän. These three terms are
widely known as the subjects of transcendental understanding. The ultimate aim
of all Vedic literature is the Absolute Truth. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam(1.2.11) describes the Absolute Truth as follows:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaà yaj jïänamadvayam
brahmetiparamätmeti
bhagavän iti çabdyate
“Learned
transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth say that it is nondual knowledge
and is called impersonal Brahman, the localized Paramätmä, and the Personality
of Godhead.”
The beginning of spiritual
enlightenment is realization of impersonal Brahman. Such realization is
effected by gradual negation of material variegation. However, in this
realization of the Absolute Truth, spiritual variegation is also absent. This
experience is therefore called advaita-väda,
or realization of the oneness of the Absolute. The Supersoul in everyone’s
heart, which is called the Paramätmä, is the controller of all living entities.
He is present everywhere, within the heart of every living entity and within
each and every atom as well. Thus by this feature, the Supersoul, the Lord is
all-pervading. Mystic yogis realize this feature of the Absolute truth by
meditation. The personal aspect of the Absolute Truth, who is complete in every
respect, full in all opulences, is known as Bhagavän. Pure devotees of the Lord
realize Him to be the Absolute Truth. This realization of the Absolute Truth
includes the other two as well. All incarnations of the Absolute Truth, commonly
known as incarnations of Viñëu, are the various forms of Bhagavän.
The three subjects – Brahman,
Paramätmä,and Bhagavän – are widely discussed in Vedic literature. What is less
widely known is that impersonal Brahman is the effulgence of Çré Kåñëa’s
transcendental body and that the Paramätmä is only a partial representation of
Lord Kåñëa. It is even less widely known that Lord Caitanya is identical with
Lord Kåñëa. In Çré Caitanya-caritämåta
(Ädi-lélä,chapter 2), Çréla Kåñëadäsa
Kaviräja Gosvämé cites conclusive evidence from authoritative Vedic sources to
prove the above claims. The Gosvämé likens this analysis to the structure of a
sentence. In a sentence, the subject is mentioned first because the reader
already knows the subject. And then something pertaining to the subject – known
as the predicate – is added to make an informative statement. Since Brahman,
Paramätmä, or Bhagavän are well known to students of the Vedas, they are compared to the subject in this analysis. The less
known facts mentioned above are compared to predicates.
Kaviräja Gosvämé uses the same
logic to further analyze the position of Lord Kåñëa, based on the following
verse from Çrémad-Bhägavatam (1.3.28):
ete cäàça-kaläù puàsaù
kåñëas tu bhagavän svayam
indräri-vyäkulaà lokaà
måòayanti yuge yuge
“All these incarnations of
Godhead are either plenary portions or parts of the plenary portions of the puruña-avatäras. But Kåñëa is the
Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. In every age He protects the world
through His different features when the world is disturbed by the enemies of
Indra.”
This verse comes at the
end of a series of verses that describe the appearance and activities of
various incarnations of Bhagavän. This list includes Kåñëa as an incarnation of
Bhagavän. Citing the logic pertaining to a subject and its predicate, Kaviräja
Gosvämé explains as follows:
“In the same way, all
these incarnations were known, but whose incarnations they are was unknown.
First the word ete [“these”]
establishes the subject [the incarnations]. Then “plenary portions of the puruña-avatäras” follows as the
predicate. In the same way, when Kåñëa was first counted among the
incarnations, specific knowledge about Him was still unknown. Therefore first
the word kåñëa appears as the
subject, followed by the predicate, describing Him as the original Personality
of Godhead.” (Caitanya-caritämåta,
Ädi-lélä 2.80–83)
In this way Kaviräja
Gosvämé proves Krishna’s supreme position as the original Personality of Godhead,
the source of all incarnations of Bhagavän. Since Lord Chaitanya is directly
Lord Krishna Himself, Lord Chaitanya is that same Absolute Truth. Who would not
want to be part of His mission?
The Golden Mission
In this age of Kali there
is no way of achieving spiritual perfection other than loudly chanting the holy
names of Çré Kåñëa in saëkértana. Even though He is all powerful, as Gauräìga
the Lord doesn’t kill the demons but rather kills the demonic tendencies
present in their hearts by giving them the holy name. Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu,
as the yuga-avatära, appeared
in this world for the express purpose of spreading the harinäma-saìkértana movement far and wide, even outside the land of
India. The following verse from one of the authoritative biographies of Çré Caitanya
Mahäprabhu, Çré Caitanya-bhägavata (Antya 4.126), reveals His golden promise
in unambiguous words: påthivéte äche yata nagarädi gräma sarvatra
pracära haibe mora näma. “In every
town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.”
Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu persuaded
the highly learned non-devotional scholars like the great Särvabhauma
Bhaööäcärya and Prakäçänanda Sarasvaté with His unparalleled scriptural and
philosophical acumen. And he persuaded the masses with the all-conquering
weapon of the sweet uproarious chanting of the holy name in saëkértana.
Be it the philosophy or the holy name,
by both methods hearts were transformed, and everyone who came in contact began
chanting the holy names of Kåñëa and experienced the divine bliss of love of
God. Even the most wretched and infamous evil brothers Jagäi and Mädhäi, who
had left no sin uncommitted, weren’t spared by the all-merciful Çré Caitanya.
Indeed, after converting even them to superlative Vaiñëavas, Lord Caitanya’s
fame knew no bounds.
Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu
appointed one of His most trusted servants to carry out the unprecedented and
monumental task of spreading His mission all over the world. His prediction of
such a personality is recorded in the Caitanya-maìgala
as follows (paraphrased): If sinful people get away by being in distant
countries where my personal preaching will not reach, I will send my devotee
commander-in-chief (senäpati-bhakta) to deliver them.”
Carrying the divine grace
of Lord Gauräìga, to execute His golden promise, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupäda – the senäpati-bhakta – ventured
into uncharted territories, outside the safety of his peaceful dwelling in Våndävana,
to carry out the mission of the Supreme Lord. In 1965, at the ripe old age of
70, Çréla Prabhupäda found himself alone on the streets of New York with
unflinching faith in Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s mercy as his only shelter. But
what is impossible for the Lord? In 1966, Çréla Prabhupäda founded the
International Society for Kåñëa Consciousness (ISKCON) as the medium through
which he would spread Lord Caitanya’s message. He expanded Lord Chiatanya’s mission
by bringing harinäma-saìkértana to
the streets all over the world. In the short span of twelve years “Hare Kåñëa”
became a household word all over the world.Despite his busy schedule, which
included opening temples, giving discourses, and managing the world wide
movement single handedly, he wrote volumes of authoritative philosophical
literature based on the teachings of Lord Chaitanya and His intimate
associates.
Even today, as the number
of Lord Caitanya’s devotees and well-wishers grows, the mercy of Mahäprabhu
continues to reach thousands through the medium of Çréla Prabhupäda’s ISKCON.
On this most auspicious occasion of Gaura-pürëimä, the
appearance anniversary of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, we look back in amazement at
the limitless mercy of Lord Gauräìga, the astounding accomplishments of Çréla Prabhupäda, and the
unimaginable potential that this movement holds. The future is golden.
