(First Part continued from issue XXI)

"A person who is interested in the matter of transcendental knowledge must therefore enquire into it directly and indirectly always in order to know truth which is all pervading."

"All glory unto my spiritual master who is as good as Chintamani (the Lord). And all glory to the Personality of Godhead decorated with the peacock feather. Under the shade of His Lotus feet which is the desire tree, Jayashree or Radharani is enjoying the transcendental mellow of eternal consorthood."

Nobody can visually experience the presence of the super soul. He therefore appears before us as the liberated soul; such spiritual master is no other than Krishna Himself.

One should therefore forsake the evil company of persona non grata, if he is intelligent enough. And after that one must associate himself with devotees or sadhus only. Such sadhu can, by their realised instruction, cut off the link of connection which is against the principle of devotional service."

"The message of Godhead which are spiritually powerful can be well discussed in the society of Sadhus only. They are very much pleasing to hear in that association. If anyone tries to hear from such persons, thus very soon the way of transcendental experience becomes open to him and gradually he attains a taste in such knowledge developing into devotion and attraction in due course."

A pure devotee who is constantly engaged in the loving service of the Lord is identical with Lord. Because the Lord is always seated in the heart of a devotee, a bhakta and bhagwan is identical also.

"Saints are my heart and only I am their heart. They do not know anybody else than myself and therefore also do not recognize as mine besides the saints."

"Saints of your calibre are themselves the places of pilgrimage. Because the saints on account of their purity being constant companion of the Lord, they can purify any place including even the places of pilgrimage."

Such pure devotees are divided into two classes namely, (1) the personal associate and (2) the neophyte devotees.

There are three different denominations of the incarnations of Godhead. They (1) partial incarnation (2) qualitative incarnations and (3) empowered incarnations. The ansa or partial incarnations are such as Matsya, Purusha etc.

Qualitative incarnations are those like Brahma Vishnu and Shiva and empowered incarnations are those like king Prithu or Mahamuni Vyasa the compiler of the Vedas.

The Personality of Godhead exhibits Himself in twofold manifestations. One of them is called manifestation while the other is called Vilas (enjoyer).

When the Personality of Godhead expands Himself in as many forms which are non different in features with one another-as it was done during Lord Krishna's marriage with 16000 queens or as He expanded Him during His Rasa dance, such forms of the Lord are called manifestive forms.

When the Lord was engaged in the festivities of Rasa dance surrounded by the batches of the cowherd girls, at that time Krishna the Lord of all mystic powers remained one in between the two in a set.

When the cowherd girls and Krishna were so joined together, each one of the girls thought it that Krishna was embracing her nearly and to behold this wonderful pastimes of the Lord, the planes in hundreds of thousand began to fly in the sky which were loaded with the gods of heaven along with their wives who were all very eager to see the dance. At that time all of them began to drop flowers from the planes and beat on sweet drums.

If simultaneously and at once number of forms are displayed all of them equal in features-these forms are called Prakash Vigrahas of the Lord.

If however the form is little different from one another and there are such number of forms, they are called Vilas Vigrahas.

When the Lord's number of forms are displayed in different features by His inconceivable potency at that time such forms are called Vilas Vigrahas.

Examples of such Vilas Vigrahas are as Valadeva or as Narayana in Vaikunthadhama. Or as they are in the Chaturbuha such as Vasudeva, Samkarsan, Pradyumna, Aniruddha etc.

Energies of the Supreme Lord are of three different grades. The consorts of the Lord in Dwarka Puri are the queens and in Vaikunthas they are known as Laxmis. The chief of them are the damsels of Brajadham who are privileged to serve the Personality of Godhead Shri Krishna the primeval Lord also known as the son of the king of Braja.

Personal associates of the Primeval Lord Sri Krishna are His devotees who are identical with Him. He is complete with His entourage of devotees.

Now I have worshipped all the different grades of devotees and to worship them means all sources of auspicity.

In the first sloka there is invocation of benediction in a general way but in the second sloka I have prayed Lord in a particular form.

Sri Krishna and Valaram the Personalities of Godhead who had formerly appeared in Braja (Vrindaban) and were millions of millions times more powerful than the Sun and the Moon, then the same two personalities now being compassionate with the fallen state of the world have again arisen on the eastern horizon of Goudadesha (West Bengal).

They are Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Prabhu Nityananda. The atmosphere of the world is now surcharged with happy feeling on account of their appearance.

As the sun and the moon do drive away darkness by their appearance only and manifests the respective inborn nature of everything that be-so also the two brothers do dissipate the darkness of ignorance of all living beings and enlighten them with the knowledge of the Absolute Truth.

The first grade darkness of ignorance is called kaitaba or the cheating way. And such kaitavas are respectively known as religiosity, improved standard of economy and the way of sense gratification etc.

Srimad Bhagwat was compiled by the Mohamuni Vayas Deva from the four original slokas. In this great scripture eternal functions of the highest kind-hearted devotees have been described and the cheating ways of so-called religiosity, etc. have completely been eradicated. The highest principle of eternal religiosity is really able to mitigate the threefold miseries of the living being and award unto them topmost benediction of all round prosperity and knowledge. Those who are willing audience of the message of this scripture in a serving and submissive attitude-can at once capture the Supreme Lord in the heart. Therefore except this scripture known as Srimad Bhagwat there is no necessity of any other one.

Amongst all types of cheating processes the desire liberation or merging into one with the Supreme. Accepting such way of activities means disappearance of the loving service of Krishna-for good.

(Annotation of Sridhar Swami)

The affixation of the word 'pra' indicates that in the Srimad Bhagwatam the design of liberation is also completely nullified.

All varieties of nefarious or altruistic activities are as a matter of fact detrimental to the discharge of transcendental loving service of the Lord Srikrishna and such activities are consequently the first grade actions of stupid ignorance.

By the grace of His (Lord Chaitanya) Lordship this stupid ignorance is completely removed and by dissipating such darkness of ignorance-He implements the discovery of real Truth.

Absolute truth is Sri Krishna His devotional service which is exhibited in pure love for Him. And in order to achieve that stage congregational chanting of the holy Name is the symbol of all bliss.

The sun and the moon do eradicate the darkness of the external world and by doing so they bring into light the material thing such as the pots and plates.

But these two brothers (Sri Chaitanya and Nityananda) dissipate the darkness of the inner core of the heart and doing so they help in meeting two classes of 'Bhagwat' (persons or things in relation with the Personality of Godhead).

One of the 'bhagwats' is the great scripture called by the name Srimad Bhagwatam and the other 'Bhagwat' is the pure devotee who is in the know of things pertaining to transcendental devotion.

By the actions of the two bhagwats-the Lord does inject into the heart of the living being the mellow of transcendental loving service. And by doing so the Lord becomes affectionately subjected in the heart of the devotee by his devotional dealings.

The first wonderful action is that both the brothers (like the sun and the moon) have appeared at a time simultaneously and the next wonderful action is that they go deep into the heart clear the cave of all darkness.

These two sun and moon are very kind to the people of the world and it is by good fortune of such people that they have appeared in the horizon of Bengal for everyone's good.

Let us therefore worship the holy feet of these two Lords as a result of doing so all can get rid of all varieties of difficulty in the path of self-realisation.

We have invoked the benediction of the Lords by these two slokas and you can hear now attentively the purport of the third sloka as follows:

I purposely do avoid extensive description being afraid and increasing the volume of the book and the whole thing is put as concisely as possible in the matter.

(Tradition of time immemorial)

One should speak concisely and factually only and this is the way of eloquency.

If one simply hears them submissively then he will be freed from all sorts of faulty ignorance in the heart and being so one can achieve deep love for Krishna which is the path of peacefulness.

You shall be able to learn the essence of the Absolute Truth if you patiently hear about the glories of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Adwita Prabhu, their devotees, devotional activities, name, fame, etc. which has been described (in the Chaitanya Charitamrita) logically and discriminationally.

Sri Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami speaks of Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita with an ardent desire to serve the purpose of the Goswamins beginning from Srila Rupa up to Srila Raghunath by following their footprints.

Thus ends the first chapter of the first adventure of Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita called by the name Prayer of the Spiritual Master.

In this second part, the author has very diligently proved that impersonal Brahman is the effulgence of the body and localized Super Soul is the plenary part of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Who is nobody else than Shri Krishna the Primeval Lord. Then again he has established that Sri Krishna is the original Narayana Who is the resort of all living beings. He has explained the necessity of understanding the three primary potencies of Shri Krishna. The Personality of Godhead in His different features manifests Himself in the Forms of Prabhava and Baibhava as well as in two different incarnations under the categories of partial and empowered Forms. The Personality of Godhead, although the oldest and the original person, He is never manifested as an old or aged Person but all His Forms and expansions are exhibited in childhood and boyhood as well as in adolescent stages out of which the original Form is always exhibited in the adolescent stage.

When He descends in Person, He does so in that state of Form. Out of His innumerable potencies three primary potencies namely internal potency of which the transcendental nature is manifested, external potency of which the cosmic universes are manifested and the marginal potency of which the innumerable living beings are manifested-all these have been explained. He has definitely proved in this part that Shri Krishna Chaitanya is identical with Shri Krishna the Primeval Lord, the Supreme cause of all causes. The author has specifically stressed upon the fact that all deserving devotees of Shri Krishna must be very inquisitive in the matter of knowing Krishna in truth and all about Krishna so far as different potencies, His incarnations, His expansions etc. are concerned. By knowing these one can develop genuine devotional attachment for Him.

In the beginning of this part Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is worshipped by the author as follows:

"Let us offer our respectful obeisances at the lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by whose mercy only even a boy or an ignorant person also can cross over the ocean of multiconclusive opinions of various schools of transcendental realisation. Such different conclusions are at loggerhead with each other represented by Jainism, Buddhism, Jaiminism, Patanjalism, Goutamism, Kanadism, Kapilism, Shankarism, Duttatreyaism and so many others like Ramkrishnaism, Aravindaism etc. both in India and outside. All these different isms are compared with the sharks and crocodiles in the vast ocean of scripture for self-realisation.

Let us pray therefore that in the desert of our tongue, which is practically dried up being deprived of sufficient drinks of the nectarine derived from the activities of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,-a river be flown over. And what is that river? That river is like the Mandakini (the Ganges that flow in the heaven). Not only such Mandakini may flow but also she must bring in lotus flowers which represent the lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and such lotus flowers may also be overcrowded with the bees like devotees constantly engaged in humming by chanting and singing the glories of Shri Krishna combined with dancing of other devotees who may be compared with the white ducks and other aquatic birds."

The purport of the above mentioned description is that our tongues are always engaged in vibrating useless sounds which do not help us actually in realising a transcendental peace. It is compared with the desert because a desert so to say requires constant supply of refreshing water which only can bring in vegetation in the desert. Water is the substance required in the desert. The drop of water or transient pleasure derived from the mundane topics of so called arts and culture or that of politics, sociology, dry philosophy or poetry etc. have a qualitative feature of that transcendental pleasure, but because such topics are saturated with the modes of material nature, in greater proportion, all of them collectively or separately cannot quench the vast requirement of the desert tongue. The desert tongue therefore goes on crying on different occasions in varieties of conferences without any fruitive result. It is therefore that people from all the parts of the world must call for the devotees of Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who are compared with the bees and ducks assembled round the beautiful lotus feet of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and thus in transcendental pleasure humming like the bees in search after honey from that lotus flower. In other words the dryness of material happiness cannot be moistened by the so-called philosophers crying for Brahman, liberation and other similar dry speculative things. The urge of the soul proper is different from all these hum-bugs. Solace of the soul can be rendered only by the mercy of Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His many bonafide devotees who do not go away from the lotus feet of the Lord to become an imitation Mahaprabhu, but all of them adherently cling into the lotus feet as much as the bees do not go away from the honey soaked lotus flower.

Thus the author explains the third stanza out of the fourteen stanzas of prayer. He says that the compilers of the Upanishad speak very highly of the impersonal Brahman. The Upanishads are considered to be the topmost part of the subject dealt in the Vedic literatures. Upanishads means that persons who are desirous of getting rid of material association may approach a bonafide spiritual master for such enlightenment. The beginning of spiritual enlightenment is realisation of impersonal Brahman and such realisation is effected by gradual negation of material variegatedness. Impersonal Brahman is partial experience of the Absolute Truth from a distant place by rational approach exactly like the hill is experienced from a distant place like a cloudy smoke. The hill is never a smoky thing but it appears like that from a distant place on account of imperfect vision. In that imperfect experience of the Absolute Truth or smoky realisation, His spiritual variegatedness is conspicuous by absence and such experience is called Adwitavada or oneness of the Absolute. This impersonal glowing effulgence of the Brahman is only the rays of the Personal Body of the Supreme Godhead Shri Krishna. Shri Gour Sunder or Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being identified as the same Shri Krishna Himself the Brahmanic effulgence is therefore the rays of His transcendental body. And the Super Soul which is called the Paramatma is plenary representation of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is also the master of all opulences, powers, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation on account of His being Shri Krishna Himself. He is described as the Purna or complete. In the present feature the Lord is an ideal renouncer as much as Shri Rama is the ideal King. He accepted the order of a Sannyasi and the principles exemplified in His own life and actions are exceedingly wonderful. Nobody can be compared with Him in the order of a Sannyasi. Although in the Kaliyuga such acceptance of Sannyas order is generally forbidden, yet He accepted it because He was complete in this sense. Others cannot imitate Him but can follow only His footprints as far as possible. Those who are unfit for this order of life are strictly forbidden to accept it by the injunction of Shastras. He is therefore the highest principle of the Absolute Truth.

Transcendental scholars interested in the empiric philosophical ways may realise impersonal Brahman. Such students interested in mystic powers can realise the localised aspect as Paramatma and those who are interested in the complete concept of the Absolute Truth can realise the Personality of Godhead Who includes in Himself the two other features namely Brahman and Paramatma.

In other words Personality of Godhead is complete Sat Chit Ananda (Full-life-knowledge and bliss) Form. By realisation of Chit portion out of the whole or the unlimited knowledge, one realises impersonal Brahman feature. By realisation of the Sat portion of the complete Whole or the unlimited existence, one can realise the localised aspect Paramatma. But both these partial realisations of the complete Whole cannot help one realise Ananda or complete bliss. And without such realisation of Ananda, knowledge of the Absolute Truth is incomplete.

According to the rhetoricians the subject of a sentence is mentioned first and the predicate is mentioned thereafter. In all the Vedic literatures all the three words namely Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagwan are somewhere or other mentioned and they are well known to the student in spiritual value. But the predication that Brahman is the effulgence and Paramatma is the plenary portion of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were known to us. Therefore the whole topic in this part of Chaitanya Charitamrita will be dealt on this unknown predication. The essence of all revealed scriptures is that Vishnu Tatwa is the Summum Bonum or Parampada of all other tatwas or truths or the topmost feature of the Vishnu Tatwa is Lord Shri Krishna. The Personality of Godhead described in the Bhagwat Puranam as the son of King Nanda is appeared as Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. As such the explanation of the Personality of Shri Mahaprabhu will depend on the essential knowledge of Shri Krishna. Both of them are non-different and identical in all respects of Chaitanya Charitamrita the author first of all wants to from that in other words in this part of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the identical Personality of Shri Krishna. And if it is proved that Shri Krishna is the original of all other tatwas namely Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagwan then it will not be difficult to understand that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is also the same origin of all Tatwas. The same Absolute Truth as He is revealed before the student of different capacity is called Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagwan respectively.

Srila Jiva Goswami has explained the word Bhagwan in his "Bhagavad Sandarbha" (3rd Part) as follows:

"The Personality of Godhead being full with all conceivable and inconceivable potencies, He is the Absolute Supreme Whole. And in the absence of such complete potencies in Brahman, impersonal Brahman is partial manifestation of the Absolute Truth. The first letter of the word Bhagwan is 'bha' which means sustainer and protector. The next letter 'ga' means leader, pusher and creator and 'ba' means dwelling. All living being dwells in the Supreme Lord and the Supreme Lord dwells in every living being within the heart. Combining all these concepts the word "Bhagwan" carries an import of inconceivable potency in knowledge, strength, energy, opulence, power and influence which are devoid of all varieties of inferior complex. Nobody can be sustainer and protector in full without such inconceivable potencies." A modernised up to date state is sustained by so many scientific arrangements which are completed by so many scientific brains. Can we imagine what sort of gigantic brain and power are required to sustain in gravity of unlimited number of planets and satellites in the unlimited space which is also created by the same brain. After the discovery of the Russian sputniks or man made satellite, we cannot bluff away people in general that there is no gigantic brain behind all these arrangements of different planetary system. There is no reason to disbelieve that there is no superior brain behind all these gigantic planets floating without any superior arrangement by a superior brain. The Bhagwat Geeta answers this question in the following words:-

The Personality of Godhead said, "It is I only who enter the planet by my own energy and hold the whole bulk like that of a handful of sand under my own grip otherwise the bulk of earth would have been strewn all around." This inconceivable strength of the Personality of Godhead is impractically explained by the modern scientist. The potencies of the words such as 'bha', 'ga', 'ba' etc. are also applicable in this sense. So far protection is concerned everything is protected by the Lord as much as sustained by Him by His potential agents and He Himself sustains and protects only His devotees personally. The king personally sustains and protects his own children but so far the state is concerned it is protected and sustained by the different administrative agents of the state. He is the leader of the devotees as we have it from the Bhagwat Geeta. It is mentioned there that the Personality of Godhead personally instructs the loving devotees to make solid progress in the path of devotion so that the devotees may surely approach the kingdom of God.