Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya lila 06.255
Love In Separation (download mp3)
by Radhanatha Swami at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net
Madhya 6.255
kalan nastam bhakti-yogam nijam yah
praduskartum krsna-caitanya-nama
avirbhutas tasya padaravinde
gadham gadham liyatam citta-bhrngah
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 Krsna 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 Krsna states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy 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 Krsna, 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 Krsna advised complete surrender unto Him, promising all protection to His devotee. Unfortunately, people are so fallen that they cannot accept the instructions of Lord Krsna; therefore Krsna returned with the same mission, but He executed it in a different way. As Lord Sri Krsna, 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 Krsna. Therefore He is praised by the Gosvamis: namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaye te. Lord Sri Krsna is certainly the Personality of Godhead, but He is not as magnanimous as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Krsna simply gave orders for one to become His devotee (man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah), but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu actually taught the process of Krsna consciousness. If one wants to become a devotee of Krsna, he must first take shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, following in the footsteps of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya and other exalted devotees.
