by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
GOPIPARANADHANA DASA joined ISKCON soon after graduating from Columbia University in 1972 with a B. A. in linguistics. Now a member of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Sanskrit department, he is continuing his translation of Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Sri Caitanya Siksamrta by the request of his spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura (1838-1914) was well known during his time as a respectable family man, the father of twelve children, and as the local magistrate for the colonial British government of the district of Puri in Orissa, India. There he supervised the management of the temple of Lord Jagannatha, one of the largest and most famous temples in India. Less publicly, he was recognized by the community of Gaudiya Vaisnavas as their spiritual master in disciplic succession from Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Thakura Bhaktivinoda's special interest was pioneering the distribution of Krsna consciousness to the English-speaking world. He dedicated much of his life to this effort, writing and speaking extensively in English and encouraging other devotees to do the same. His mission has been continued and greatly expanded by his son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, and by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's disciple, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Published in 1886, Sri Caitanya-siksamrta (The Nectarean Teachings of Sri Caitanya) was written in straightforward Bengali so that a general audience of devotees and interested laymen could readily appreciate its message. The book systematically and uncompromisingly establishes the basic principles of devotional research, carefully defeating the unsound philosophical positions of sentimental spiritualists, sectarian fanatics, and exploitative scientists. Its subject matter is based largely on the conversations between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis, which are contained in Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja's classic biography, Caitanya-caritamrta. Caitanya-siksamrta, presented by the author as "a flood of nectar," is divided into eight sections called "Rainfalls." Each Rainfall is further subdivided into several "Downpours." The present article is taken from the first Downpour of the first Rainfall.
Having reached an end, in Krsna's devotional service, to all theories born out of inconclusive and argumentative illusion, and offering my obeisances to the giver of that devotion, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, I am now undertaking the compilation of this book, entitled Sri Caitanya-siksamrta.
In this world there are three basic phenomena: the Supreme Controller (God), conscious living entities, and dead matter. Dead material things are those that have no capacity to desire, i.e., that are devoid of willpower. We thus designate as material such objects as earth, stone, water, fire, air, space, houses, clothing, and the bodies of living beings. On the other hand, such entities as humans, animals, birds, worms, and insects are types of living beings, each of which possesses the potencies of thinking and desiring. Among all forms of conscious life, the particular cognitive ability of the human species is unique, and therefore the human form is declared by many authorities to be the chief among all sentient and dull beings.
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