No difference between the instructions of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Sri Krishna | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! Oh my God— oh no... So as we said, we'll first have a little discussion today on Caitanya Mahāprabhu, a little on Rūpa and Sanātan, and then proceed to Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instructions to Rūpa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as we know, is none else but the Personality of Godhead. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-nāyaḥ anyaḥ. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is none else but the combined form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. So we get information on Caitanya Mahāprabhu's life through many authorized books of knowledge, such as the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the Caitanya-bhāgavat, Caitanya-mango. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta has been described by Śrīla Prabhupāda as the postgraduate education. Prabhupāda said that Bhāgavad-gītā was comparable to high school. Bhāgavatam to Kali and Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the postgraduate. So Caitanya-caritāmṛta was compiled by Kṛṣṇa's Kavirāja, and we have the great fortune of having the translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda. I'm sure we'll have it very soon in the Russian language also. So to understand Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we have to approach Him Through the disciplic succession. Actually, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta contains the remnants of foodstuff eaten by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Just by hearing about Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His wonderful instruction and pastimes, they get purified. The Supreme Lord can never be understood with our material senses. Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda have been compared to the sun and the moon. And when you have the light coming from the sun and the moon, then, and so Chaitanya Mahāprabhu Nityānanda compared to thousands of suns and moons put together. So there's no question of any darkness remaining if you have thousands of suns and moons combined together. Kṛṣṇa's Kavirāja says that by the mercy of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, even an ignorant child can cross over the vast ocean in which there may be unlimited crocodiles. Just like in an ocean you have various aquatic crocodiles, etc., so similarly, to come to the ocean of conclusive truth or real truth, you have to cross over various crocodiles represented in the form of different philosophies or ideologies. Krishnadasa Kaviraj compares our tongue to dry desert. So in a desert, what is the greatest necessity? Water. You need constant supply of water in a desert to make it productive or fruitful. So Krishnadasa Kaviraj says, similarly, our tongue needs a constant supply of chetanya reela, or recitation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pastimes, to make our tongue productive. Prabhupāda has explained that there's no difference between Lord Caitanya's instructions and the instructions of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the Bhāgavad-gītā. And there is no difference between Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. It says, mataḥ parātoraṁ nānyat kincid asti dhanujā. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, "There is no truth higher than Me." So similarly, there is no truth higher than Lord Caitanya's teachings. So even if one is a fool, he can collect the valuable gems by taking shelter of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So we should endeavor to understand Caitanya Mahāprabhu by following His instructions, and by meditating on His wonderful pastimes. Jaya-kṛṣṇa's Kābhirāṣṭha says that Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared like a lion. His shoulders were of a lion and His powers were of a lion and His voice was also like a lion. So he prays that may Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instructions destroy all our sinful vices. Caitanya Mahāprabhu at His birth was given several names. He was given the name of Gaurahari, because he was golden in complexion and he was very attracted to the chanting of the Holy Name, and his very presence attracted people to chant the Holy Name. He was known as Vishwāmbhar because his grandfather identified that he had all the symptoms, the 32 symptoms that are manifested by a powerful personality. He floods the world with the nectar of devotion. So, and he was given Gokor Hari, and later he was known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy is so great that even a dog can swim across the vast ocean. Even a fallen person can understand his pastimes. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu We know His childhood pastimes, how He would stop crying when people would chant the Holy Name. Once when He was a child, His mother had offered Him some sweet rice to eat. He started eating earth. She said, "What is this? I gave You sweet rice and You are eating earth." He said, "The sweet rice is also nothing but a transformation of earth. So what's the difference?" His mother was amazed how this child, young child, knew so much philosophy. Baby Gorhari was decorated with gold and diamonds. He was richly ornamented. So once two thieves had stolen him, but the young baby bewildered them and brought them back eventually to his house. They would run thinking that they're taking him away from the house and they could rob his riches, but he ended up bringing them back to his house. Finally, for fear of getting caught, they dropped the baby and ran away. Once when he was a young child, uh, Nimai's father— Nimai was another name given to the baby by Advaita Acharya's wife Sita. He was given the name of Nimai because he was born under a neem tree. Another reason why he was given this name was that before Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and his brother Viśvarūpa had appeared, 8 daughters were born and they were died. So Sita Devī was Advaita Ācārya's wife. Advaita Ācārya was almost the age of his father. She was concerned that no evil spirit may touch the child, so she gave him the name Nimādh. So his father Jagannātha Māsra was a very charitable personality. Just like Śrīla Prabhupāda described that his father Gourmandade was also very charitable in taking care of sādhūs. So many pilgrims would stop in Jagannātha Mīsra's house. So once a Brahman had come and Jagannātha Mīsra had induced him, "Please eat." So he was given some foodstuff that he could prepare and offer to the Deity. And when the Brahman had prepared the foodstuff and was about to offer it, A young Nimai appeared and spoiled the offering by eating it before it could be offered. It repeated itself the second time. So, the Brahman started thinking, maybe I shouldn't eat, I should just go home to sleep hungry. Brahman never complains. He is happy with any situation. So he said, maybe Lord doesn't want me to eat. Jagannath Misra couldn't tolerate that. He said, no, you must eat. And I am going to make sure my kid doesn't trouble you. So he had him locked up. At a distance. But at the third time, it was midnight, everyone was sleeping, and as the offering was being done, Nimai again appeared. And when he again appeared, the brahman was shocked. He said, "Oh, again, not you." But then Nimai showed him his transcendental form and revealed to him that how before when he had appeared as Kṛṣṇa, the same brahman had also come as a as a mendicant, as a traveler. These pastimes of the Lord were recorded in the Chaitanya-caritāmṛta. He soon became a Sanskrit pundit at the age of 10. He had mastered the whole Sanskrit language, grammar, everything. And when he would teach Sanskrit grammar in a very unique way. All rules of Sanskrit will culminate in Kṛṣṇa. So these were just some small sampling of Caitanya pastimes for today. We'll give you a few samplings every day. So just like the rivers flow downstream, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy flows upon the most fallen. So Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātan Gosvāmī, as you know, were very, very dear associates, dear devotees of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We, as they are part of our team, We'll give you a little introduction to the two. Vande Rupa Sanatana Raghya Gosvijiva Gopalakor. We devotees offer our obeisances to the Sikh Goswamis of Vrindavan. Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana were serving under the government of Nawab Hussein Shah. They were born in Brahminical families. They were very absorbed in Kṛṣṇa-kathā from a young age. But forcibly they were captured Nawab Hussein Shah to render government service, and they became the right and left hand of the Nawab. They were virtually running the administration. 500 years ago, the richest part of the world was the Kingdom of Bengal. Historically, there was no United States at that time. There was India, and the richest part of India was Bangalore. So just gives you an idea of how important these two brothers were holding a position. Their heart was in associating with Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Though they were serving the government, in their mind they were always meditating, when will we be able to give up this service and go and join Caitanya Mahāprabhu? Of the two, Rupa Gosvāmī was able to renounce his government position before his brother. Rupa Gosvāmī, when he retired, he had a lot of money with him. Not roubles, niyat rupley, and niyat dollars. He had gold coins. The roubles and the dollars don't have that much value. The gold coins have more value, isn't it? So when he retired from government service, he gave us a perfect example. He divided half his wealth and gave it to the brahmanas and the Vaishnavas. 25% he gave to relatives. And 25% he kept with a grocer for emergencies in future. There were no banks at that time. Anyway, these days even if we have banks, they close all the time. They used to keep money with reliable grocery stores. Sarupa Goswami was anticipating Some possible legal trouble in future. So he saved 10,000 gold coins with a grocery store man. You better not try to keep your money with your productive store proprietor. You may never get it back. You may say, "Oh, Rupa Goswami kept it with a grocery store man, so why can't I keep it with my productive proprietor?" So Rupa Goswami left his wealth, and he met Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Prayāga. Have you heard of Prayāga? It's also known as Allahabad. The Ganga and the Jhāma is a very sacred location. And now we have a temple there, right on the bank of the Ganges. We got some very nice land, and it's right on the banks of the Ganges. Prabhupāda was initiated in Allahabad. You know that? Prabhupāda Spent considerable time of his early youthhood in Prayag. In Prayag, Śrīla Prabhupāda had a pharmacy called Prayag Pharmacy, and Prabhupāda made some very nice, uh, formula for the tonics there. And Prabhupāda was finally initiated in Prayag also. So Prayag is very significant because Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed Ārpāda Gosvāmī for 10 days about the process of devotional service. It is said that just like Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa inspired in the heart of Brahmā the Vedic knowledge, similarly Caitanya Mahāprabhu inspired and instructed Ārpāda Gosvāmī with Vedic knowledge to save humanity. Ṛpa Gosvāmī was a very humble devotee. Bhakti is the mother of humility. As you advance on the spiritual path, you automatically want to become more and more humble. Once ṛpa Gosvāmī, as you know, laid in Vṛndāvana, he compiled many valuable literature. So ṛpa Gosvāmī was just finishing, he had just finished compiling the Bhakti-rāsa-mṛta-sindhu,. And one day, Walabacarya came over there to review his manuscript. Jīvagosvāmī was sitting next to Rūpa Gosvāmī. Walabacarya saw the text of Rūpa Gosvāmī and said, "Ah, this word should be changed." So Rūpa Gosvāmī, out of respect to Walabacarya, changed it right away. So a little later, Rūpa Gosvāmī and Walabacarya went to the Ganges, went to Yamuna for a bath. And Jīvagosvāmī was junior, so he carried his clothes and his lota and accompanied him to the banks of the Yamuna. So as Jīvagosvāmī was accompanying Prabhupāda to the bank of the Yamuna, he pointed out that, "Sir, this correction that you did in Bhaktirasamhita Sindhu is really not correct. The original word was correct." So Prabhupāda said, "Okay." change the word back. But initially Rupa Gosvāmī, out of his humility, took the advice out of respect for his spiritual senior. So when they came back from the bath, Jīvā Gosvāmī told his uncle Rupa Gosvāmī what had transpired. So Rupa Gosvāmī became very upset that Jīvā Gosvāmī did not accept what his vālabhācārya, the senior, had suggested, and he argued with him and got him to change back. So he got very angry at Jīvagosvāmī, and he banished Jīvagosvāmī. And after a long time, then he took Jīvagosvāmī back. You want to hear one more pastime of Rūpa Gosvāmī? So, we're going to get to the philosophy, you know. That's the— wait till we start hearing the verses from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Wait till we start hearing the verses. A lot of the points that we devotees use in our preaching are from Lord Caitanya's teachings to Rūpa and So it would be nice for all of you to hear the verses also that describe these instructions. Śrīla Bhāgavat Swami was in Vṛndāvana. Vraja Caitanya Mahāprabhu had also given him the task of identifying the places that Kṛṣṇa performed His pastimes. He was constantly meditating, "When will I get Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's mercy?" Well, another name for Rādhārāṇī is Dhamaiṣvārī. Have you heard this word before, Dhamaiṣvārī? Dharmeshwari means the queen of the dham. Place, holy place where the Lord performs his pastimes, that's the dham. And one of Radharani's name is Dharmeshwari, the queen of the dham. So he was meditating, when am I going to get Radharani's personal darshan? Every day Rupa and Sanatan would eat together. Actually, if you go to the Radha-Dāmando temple in Vrindavan, there is one room where the Goswamis would eat together. Of course they would do madhukari. Madhukari means go and beg, and little bit they would get, they would eat. Rupa's elder brother was Siddhartha. So one day Rupa Gosvami manifested a desire, "I shall offer sweet rice, kheer, to my brother when he comes." Brother Ananda is known as Dhameshwari and also Brajishwari. So he wants to naturally to make kheer. What do you need? Milk, sugar, Price? Malakur rī sahar vāznā kāk dāvi kātya dekhi. So, but they were poor, they didn't have all this. They were begging every day and getting some dry chapatis and so on. But in his heart he had a desire to offer kīr to his brother. So, a very beautiful young girl came to the room of Rūpa Gosvāmī's. Residence. She said, "You have been fasting for the last few days." And he was fasting because he had been in Vṛndāvana for so long and he did not have the darśana of Rādhārāṇī. So he was feeling great separation. Rādhārāṇī is also anxious to fulfill the desires of her pure devotees. So as he was meditating, "How am I going to offer cake to my brother?" A young girl walked in with rice, sugar, and milk. And the young girl said, "You look very weak. You may not be able to cook. Should I cook sweet rice for you?" Rupa Gosvāmī said, "No, no, no, no. I can do it. You can go home." So Rupa Gosvāmī prepared some very nice sweet rice. So when his brother came, He tasted that sweet rice, he was amazed. He said, "This sweet rice, that's a very special flavor. It is very aromatic. Every day we eat dry chapati and salt, and today you've got this aromatic sweet rice." How did he get it? So then Rupa Gosvami described that he had a desire to offer sweet rice to his elder brother, and as he was meditating on that desire, a young girl came in. So Sanatana said, that young girl was none else but Radharani herself. When the young girl had brought these ingredients, she told Rupa, if you don't cook and eat with your brother, Radharani will be very unhappy. So yes, Rupa could remember what Sanatana is saying, it must be true. Then he went while doing madhukari, begging, to that girl's house. And he asked the girl's mother, "Where is your daughter?" "My daughter? She went to her uncle's house and she hasn't been back for 8 months." So he could understand this was Radharāṇī. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave Rūpa and Sanātanādhvī very, very valuable instruction. As we said, we'll give you some pastimes and some philosophy. First Caitanya Mahāprabhu started explaining to Rūpa Gosvāmī, about the different living entities. He said, "The mellow, the devotional service is so deep, I will only give you one drop." In other words, the ocean of transcendental knowledge is so vast that even what you're hearing is only one drop of that vast knowledge. How many species there are that we hear about? 8,400,000. So in text 138 of Madhya-līlā chapter 19, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says as follows: Eita brahmānda-bhārī-nānta-jīva-gāṇa, choraśi-lakṣa-yunete-kraya-brahmāna. In this universe, there are limitless living entities in 8,400,000 different species, and they're all wandering within this universe. The Vedas are so precise that they not only give us information about the total number of species, they also given— give us a statistical breakdown of different categories. Can any other scientist give that? Forget it. They can't even give you a total, forget it, breakdown. And even if they gave you some statistics, it is maybe, probably, appears to be, most likely. But the Vedas don't say most likely. They say exactly. Jālā-jāvanāval-lakṣaṇiṣṭhāval-lakṣaṇtivamśati. It says, There are 900,000 species that live in water, gel. There are 2 million non-moving living entities. What are the non-moving living entities? Trees and plants, etc. There are 1.1 million species that belong to insects, reptiles category. There are 1 million species that belong to the bird category. And there are— Nearly 3 million that belong to the animal category. There are 1 million that belong to the bird category. And there are 400,000 that belong to the human category. In the Bhāgavad-gītā, 2nd chapter, what does Kṛṣṇa say about the duśa? It dies. Does the duśa die in Russia? Huh? Yes. Na jayate mṛyete vākalaḥ caṁ. Never takes birth and never dies. The soul lives on eternally. So we can see that as long as there's consciousness in the dūṣa, as long as dūṣa is in the body, the body manifests consciousness. And when the soul, dūṣa, leaves the body, the body has no value. So this was explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Rūpa Gosvāmī. Then he describes The measurement of the dūṣa. You all, what's the measurement of the dūṣa? So this was explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Rūpa Gosvāmī. I'll read the exact śloka to you. Kiśāraśrte bhagapūnā satāṁ sakāri tadā samaśrksma-jīvēra-sarūpa-vicāri. This is in Bengali language. The Vedas are composed in Sanskrit and Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Bengali. Bengali, but Bengali is very similar to Sanskrit. So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu first explains the different species of life, 8,400,000. Then he describes the length and breadth of the living entity. If you take the tip of your hair and divide it into 100 parts, then again take one part and divide it into 100 parts, That is the measurement of the self. Isn't it amazing? The soul is so small and your body may be like an elephant. So this is actually the Vedic conclusion. So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu— I just want to tell you devotees that in Lord Chaitanya's instructions to Sanatana and Rūpa, there are over a few thousand verses, but I have selected few important ones which you devotees can use in your own cultivation of spiritual life and in your preaching. Because if you want to hear every verse, we'll both have to be here for at least few months. Jagadavam gato moshna bitya bhagavān. If you all are ready, maybe I'll stay here for few months. But I'm sure your Lakṣmi is going to run out in one week. So we'll try and cover it in one week. So after explaining the different species of life, different categories of species, after explaining the measurement of the living entity, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that the, the whole category of species can be divided into moving and non-moving. Among categories that can move, you have aquatic reptiles, animals, human beings. So the living entity is going through to different species of life. And if he's very fortunate, he comes in contact with a pure devotee or the process of devotional service. And he comes in contact with the process of devotional service and he receives the seed of devotional service. So we are all transmigrating to different species of life. And Having come to this human life, if you're fortunate enough, you receive the bhakti-lata beach. Now, before we get to the— we'll do the discussion on bhakti-lata beach tomorrow. It's a long discussion. We just want to cover one last point. Chaitanya Mahāprabhu told Rūpa Gosvāmī, kṛṣṇa bhaktāne 'ska mātaye vāśyānta bhakti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī-sakāli-āśyānta. Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains that there are many categories of devotees, but the devotees of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa are actually most peaceful. He uses the word niskāma. Have you heard that word niskāma before? What's the meaning of niskāma? Absence of desires. Yes. So when you take to a spiritual path and you have desires, then you can't be peaceful. Mukti means material enjoyment. Mukti means liberation. Siddhi means Mystic perfection. So siddhi, siddhi means— do you people want to go on till very late? You're not falling asleep? Anyway, so we— so Krishna's Kaviraj is explaining that there are many different types of transcendentalists. Some take to the process to get some material enjoyment. Some want Mukti, liberation. Do all of you want mukti? No? Yes? No! Devotees don't even want mukti. May I cut your mukti toes off? Then siddhi. Siddhi, there are 8 different types of mystic perfection. You read about them in Nectar of Devotion. You can become smaller than the smallest, bigger than the biggest. You can have one siddhi called prapti siddhi. Prapti siddhi is such You can stand in one place and stretch your hand anywhere. So if you had that prapti siddhi, you could just be sitting in your brahmachari ashram or priyāsta ashram, stretch your hand and distribute the books and take that man-mat-dengi. But you don't want prapti siddhi, do you? It will probably solve all your economic problems. You can just stay at home, take the money out of any bank teller. But it will make you lazy. And then we'll throw you in maya. So it's better to have to work hard for Kṛṣṇa rather than get things easy. A devotee of the Lord doesn't hesitate in serving, in working for the Lord. He doesn't mind struggling for Kṛṣṇa. Once devotees were advising Prabhupāda to take rest. Prabhupāda was not feeling so well at that time. So they said, Prabhupāda, you please go to Gītānanda Farm and take rest there. Prabhupāda said, "Please don't take away my privilege to struggle for Kṛṣṇa." So when you have to struggle to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, when you have to struggle to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you should view that as an opportunity to deepen your dependence on the Lord and the spiritual master. Frankly, we all hate to struggle. Am I right? All of you would love You take a book bag, go on the streets, stand over there with your books, and people line up and say, "Come on, come on, I want this Gītā. Come on, I want it. No, no, no, I want it." Okay, take it. Then everyone would love to go on Samkhya. But because you have to struggle a bit, endeavor, so we get scared of it. So a devotee is not scared of struggling. If you look at the Vedic history, Even the Pandavas had to struggle. They had to go through immense difficulties also. In fact, Queen Kunti prays that, my dear Lord, please may my calamities increase. The more my calamities increase, the more I meditate at the lotus feet. And the more I meditate at the lotus feet, the faster do I get freedom from birth and death. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Rūpa Gosvāmī that according to the karma, the living entities are wandering through different birds, different species of life. And if you're very fortunate, you'll see Bhakti-lata bead. Now once you get the Bhakti-lata bead, I think you devotees know what to do, huh? Or do you want to hear what Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Rūpa Gosvāmī? Viśnāite vikākite śluṣu. Okay, disaster. So we'll start. Hare Kṛṣṇa.