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Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 1

Date: 2020-03-09 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

Wish you all a very happy Gaura Purnima! On this auspicious day of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance, let us try to meditate on one of His glorious pastimes for our purification.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, even while staying in the householder life, inundated the whole with the congregational chanting of the holy names. Even mlecchas and yavanas were getting transformed into devotees, however mayavadis, fruitive workers and non-devotees were expert in avoiding the Krishna movement, so the flood of holy names could not touch them. Caitanya Mahaprabhu deeply thought over this and expertly devised a master plan to attract all these classes of people too.

1. A devotee should be ready for personal sacrifice: The mayavadis who focus mainly on the study of vedanta won't pay heed to the holy names and consider the devotees as some mad and illiterate people. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu, after deep consideration, decided to take sannyas even though he stayed in the householder life only till he was twenty-four years old. He did this because the mayavadis and false logicians give respect and pay heed only to one in renounced order and one who is expert in Vedanta. the Supreme Lord Himself, there was no need for Caitanya Mahaprabhu to take sannyas, but just like Lord Krishna studied in the gurukul of His muni to set a personal example, Lord Gauranga wanted to teach the devotees that in order to bring someone to Krishna consciousness, we should be ready to give up desires for our own comforts and undergo all kinds of austerities.

2. Mahaprabhu teaches how to tolerate like a tree: The Lord then passed through on the way to Vrindavana, but the mayavadi sannyasis still blasphemed Him saying He is not studying vedanta and is interested only in chanting the holy names. Even though His staunch devotees like Tapan Misra and Chandrashekara were very upset at these blasphemes, Mahaprabhu was not at all affected, He simply smiled because He had already decided the course of action. He exhibited taror api sahishnuna by tolerating all the blasphemes.

3. The Lord begins His master plan by His omnipotency:Taking compassion upon His pure devotees, the Lord then arranged by His omnipotency, inspired a from within his heart, to invite Him for a gathering at his home where all the other mayavadi sannyasis were also invited. He thus arranged a situation to meet with the sannyasis of Varanasi so that a discussion can take place with them. Thus the all-knowing Lord in one-go devised the plan to alleviate the pain in the hearts of His pure devotees as well as transform the powerful mayavadis into devotees of Krishna.

4. Mahaprabhu teaches how to offer all respects to others: When He went to the brahmana's house, as He saw all the mayavadi sannyasis of Varanasi who were given respectful seats, without waiting for them to offer respects to Him, instantly He offered His obeisances to all of them. He exhibited the quality of amanina manadena - to not demand respect from others and respect everyone without reservation.

There is an interesting why in the verse trnad api sunicena, Caitanya Mahaprabhu says amanina first and manadena next, i.e., not expect any respect from others and offer all respects to everyone. If we follow this sequence, then the desire for 'expecting respect from others' is removed from our heart first. Thus our heart becomes pure and then with this purified heart when we offer respects to others, we offer without any expectation of respects from them. This makes our 'offering of respect to others' pure. Whereas if we reverse the sequence, i.e., manadena amanina, we may pay respect to others, but the expectation for respect will still be there in our heart, "I have paid my respect to him, now he has to offer me respect in return." And when they don't reciprocate, then mental concoction, judging tendency, fault-finding, anger and their eternal associates take position in our hearts.

5. Mahaprabhu is the emblem of humility: After offering obeisances, the Lord sat near the place where people wash their feet. He exhibited His humility - trnad api sunicena by doing so. At the same time, He is also teaching all the preachers of the movement that how much ever great a scholarly devotee we may be, our preaching can be fruitful only through our good behavior like humility and simplicity.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is teaching us through His personal example that before we start preaching, it is very important to cultivate the qualities of devotees such as humility, tolerance, no expectation and respecting everyone. Unless we do this, our preaching will not be successful.

We will continue to meditate further on this most purifying pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the subsequent offering Krishna willing.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 2

Date: 2020-03-10 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

On the occasion of Gaura Purnima we began meditating on the beautiful pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's interaction with the sannyasis of Varanasi. In the last offering we saw how the Lord attracted all the mayavadi sannyasis by His humility, tolerance, pridelessness and giving respect to everyone. Let us try to meditate further on this pastime.

6. Mahaprabhu captivates the sannyasis by His transcendental form: Lord Gauranga washed His feet and sat right there even though it was not very clean. The Lord knew that though the sannyasis were attracted by his saintly behavior still they are attracted to the effulgence more strongly than to the personal form of Lord Sri Krishna, even though He is the source of the brahman effulgence. Hence upon being seated, the Lord then exhibited His mystic power by manifesting an effulgence as brilliant as the illumination of millions of suns. Thus the Lord mesmerized the mayavadi sannyasis by His mystic power. It is said that Lord Gauranga, in the yuga did not carry the usual weapons like sword, arrows etc. to destroy the miscreants and non-devotees. He instead brought His beautiful golden form and the holy name as His weapons. And by these weapons, the Lord conquered all the universes and is still continuing to do so.

7. Mahaprabhu teaches us how to develop friendly relationship: By this time, the leader of the sannyasis Prakashananda was very much attracted to Lord Gauranga and requested Him with great respect to come and sit with them. But the Lord responded again with deep humility, "I belong to the lower order of sannyasis and therefore and I do not deserve to sit with you." However Prakashananda Saraswati forcefully caught hold of the Lord's hand and seated Him with great respect in the midst of the assembly. The Lord again instructs us through this that if we are humble by , never expect any respect from others and give all respects to everyone (especially to those who blaspheme us) and in this mood chant the holy names lovingly, then automatically even the most envious persons will develop a positive relationship with us. Developing amicable relationship with others depends on our amicable loving relationship with Krishna and His devotional service.

It is aptly said in Srimad Bhagavatam 4.9.47,

yasya prasanno bhagavān guṇair maitry-ādibhir hariḥ tasmai namanti bhūtāni nimnam āpa iva svayam

Unto one who has transcendental qualities due to friendly behavior with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all living entities offer honor, just as water automatically flows down by nature.

8. Our purity attracts others, not material qualifications: After making Him sit in the midst of the assembly, Prakashananda Saraswati asked Mahaprabhu, "You are a sannyasi like us and are living in Varanasi. Why don't you associate with us?" This is a significant point for us to note. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was never anxious to either associate with the mayavadis or defeat them in any debate. He was completely self-satisfied in always chanting the Supreme Lord's holy names and relishing His pastimes. But this made the other mayavadi sannyasis and their leader Prakashananda Saraswati to wonder why He is not associating with them. They were even anxious about it. Whenever we go in the midst of the public for preaching, sankirtan, class etc. we should never be anxious to attract their attention. We should only do these services for the pleasure of Guru and Krishna. When we are self-content, in other words, we don't hanker for anything from others (amanina), then automatically other living entities get attracted to us. It is only the purity of our devotion that makes us attractive to others, not our material qualifications. So, by this time, all the sannyasis developed a lot of eagerness to hear from Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Lord decided this is the right time to speak to them.

Srila Prabhupada makes another beautiful point in his purport to CC Adi.7.67 about the lesson Mahaprabhu is teaching us by avoiding the association of mayavadi sannyasis: "Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirmed by example that a preacher of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement generally should not waste his time talking with Māyāvādī sannyāsīs , but when there are arguments on the basis of śāstra, a Vaiṣṇava must come forward to talk and defeat them in philosophy." We should sincerely strive to practice this very important lesson from Caitanya Mahaprabhu's personal example.

Krishna willing, we shall meditate further on the beautiful lessons from this pastime of Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the subsequent offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 3

Date: 2020-03-11 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the beautiful pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's interaction with the sannyasis of Varanasi. In the last offering we saw how the Lord attracted all the mayavadi sannyasis by exhibiting His mystic power by revealing His brilliant effulgence to the sannyasis and particularly their leader Prakashananda Saraswati. Let us try to meditate further on this pastime.

9. Respectful attitude develops amicable relationships: Mahaprabhu, by His blissful and self-content disposition, created the anxiety in the hearts of the mayavadi sannyasis to associate with Him. Prakashananda Saraswati questioned Him out of curiosity and concern that being a sannyasi why is He not associating with other sannyasis. This is the beginning point of their devotional service - their eagerness to associate with Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Srila Prabhupada reveals a sublime point beautifully about the result of Prakashananda Saraswati's respectful dealing towards Mahaprabhu in his purport to text 65, "The respectful behavior of Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī toward Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very much to be appreciated. Such behavior is calculated to be ajñāta-sukṛti, or pious activities that one executes unknowingly. Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu very tactfully gave Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī an opportunity to advance in ajñāta-sukṛti so that in the future he might actually become a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī."

The important lesson we should learn from the mutual interactions between Mahaprabhu and Prakashananda Saraswati is that no matter who the other person is or what his qualifications are, we should be respectful in our dealings.

10. False prestige leads to judgemental attitude: Prakashananda Saraswati then questioned Mahaprabhu, " You are a sannyāsī. Why then do You indulge in chanting and dancing, engaging in Your saṅkīrtana movement in the company of fanatics?"

As far as the mayavadis are concerned, chanting the holy names is considered as the activity of less intelligents and fanatics. And in the process of judging the devotees, they reveal their false prestige and lack of humility. So Srila Prabhupada aptly quotes from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur that the verse trnad api sunicena is not only applicable for devotees, but it is also a necessary prerequisite for Vedantists, "One must be very humble and meek, more tolerant than a tree and more humble than the grass. One should not claim respect for himself but should be prepared to give all respect to others. One must have these qualifications to be eligible to understand Vedic . "

11. is the root of knowledge and detachment: Prakashananda Saraswati then asked Mahaprabhu, " and the study of Vedānta are the sole duties of a sannyāsī. Why do You abandon these to dance with fanatics?" The mayavadi sannyasis generally have a mood of one-upmanship against devotees because they study vedanta whereas the devotees stick to Chanting, Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. The vedantists do not have any idea that Bhagavatam is the expanded (and much more sweeter) rendition of Vedanta sutra. As a result they carry a tinge of pride in their heart even though they are pious by nature due to their serious study of Vedanta. In addition to this, they considered devotees as fanatics and sentimentalists. However throughout Srimad Bhagavatam, it is repeatedly proved that Bhakti is fully based on the topmost knowledge and highest level of detachment.

SB 1.2.12 tac chraddadhānā munayo jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā

The seriously inquisitive student or , well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti.

Srila Prabhupada expands this beautifully in his purport by giving the definition of bhakti succinctly, "Devotional service , which is based on the foreground of full knowledge combined with detachment from material association and which is fixed by the aural reception of the Vedānta-śruti, is the only perfect method by which the seriously inquisitive student can realize the Absolute Truth."

So it is only a question of misconception on the part of the mayavadis about the devotees and the path of bhakti.

Krishna willing, we shall continue to meditate on this transcendentally enlivening topic further in the subsequent offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 4

Date: 2020-03-12 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the beautiful pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's interaction with the sannyasis of Varanasi. In the last offering we saw how the mayavadi sannyasis were attracted to Mahaprabhu and Prakashananda Saraswati inquired respectfully the reason for Him not associating with them and performing sankirtana instead of studying Vedanta. Let us try to meditate further on this pastime.

12. Mahaprabhu takes the of the mayavadi's austerities: Prakashananda Saraswati further inquired Caitanya Mahaprabhu,

CC Adi 7.70 prabhāve dekhiye tomā sākṣāt nārāyaṇa hīnācāra kara kene, ithe ki kāraṇa

You look as brilliant as if You were Nārāyaṇa Himself. Will You kindly explain the reason that You have adopted the behavior of lower-class people?

There are two points to consider here and Srila Prabhupada brings it out very nicely in his purport to verse 70. a) Srila Prabhupada says, "Māyāvādī sannyāsīs address one another as Nārāyaṇa because they think that they are all going to be Nārāyaṇa or merge with Nārāyaṇa in the next life." Though this merging into and Narayana is a wrong conception, Srila Prabhupada also points out the positive result of their sadhana in the same purport thus: "Due to renunciation, Vedānta study, meditation and the strict regulative principles of their daily routine, Māyāvādī sannyāsīs are certainly in a position to execute pious activities. Thus Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, on account of his piety, could understand that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not an ordinary person but the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sākṣāt nārāyaṇa: he considered Him to be Nārāyaṇa Himself."

Since Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, the fact that the mayavadi sannyasis were helplessly attracted to His personal form relieved them of the imperfections in their understanding of the Supreme Lord. Though 'Everybody is Narayana' is a wrong philosophy, the only instance it is correct is when it is applied to the Supreme Lord Himself, i.e., Seeing the Supreme Lord Krishna or Lord Gauranga as non-different from Narayana. This awe and reverence of the Lord is the second ajnata sukrti that Prakashananda Saraswati and his followers did, that attracted Mahaprabhu's causless mercy.

Also, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita that though the path of impersonal worship is troublesome, the impersonalists who fully worship with proper sadhana and service, can at last achieve Him.

ye tv akṣaram anirdeśyam avyaktaṁ paryupāsate sarvatra-gam acintyaṁ ca kūṭa-stham acalaṁ dhruvam

sanniyamyendriya-grāmaṁ sarvatra sama-buddhayaḥ te prāpnuvanti mām eva sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ But those who fully worship the unmanifested, that which lies beyond the of the senses, the all-pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, fixed and immovable – the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth – by controlling the various senses and being equally disposed to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all, at last achieve Me.

The main defect in impersonal worship is the denial of the transcendental eternal form of Krishna and when the Lord bestows upon the impersonalists the merciful darshan of His enchanting form, then their imperfection is completely removed. Kumaras for example obtained this causeless mercy. The Lord does not neglect anyone. He only looks for the right opportunity to transform each one of us, in His own way. b) However at the same time, the misconception of the sannyasis that as per Vedanta, the bhakti process of chanting and dancing does not have any foundational basis to attain the Supreme, and that it is only practiced by lower class people, is wrong. This has also been the general misunderstanding all over the world and the Lord wanted it to be corrected. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to utilize this meeting with the Vedantists to clear the misconceptions and establish the fact that the process of bhakti is indeed fully based on the revelations and conclusions of Vedanta sutra and that bhakti- are greatest of all transcendentalists. Hence it is indeed a master plan of Mahaprabhu - to transform the learned Vedantists because when the revered scholars of Vedanta accept the path of bhakti then the general mass will easily take it up.

Krishna willing, we will meditate further on this beautiful topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 5

Date: 2020-03-13 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how Prakashananda Saraswati questioned Mahaprabhu on why He is not studying Vedanta and has taken to chanting and dancing with the mass of people. Let us now try to meditate on Mahaprabhu's transcendental reply.

13.Lesson in obedience and humility: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, "My dear sir, kindly hear the reason. My spiritual master considered Me a fool, and therefore he chastised Me.

"‘You are a fool,’ he said. ‘You are not qualified to study Vedānta philosophy, and therefore You must always chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. This is the essence of all , or Vedic hymns."

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by His inconceivable humility reveals some very important lessons for us. a) Importance of following the orders of the spiritual master: The greatest danger of gaining some vedic knowledge or scholarliness in Vedanta is that we become proud of that knowledge and tend to disobey even our own spiritual master. Sripad Sankaracharya wrote commentaries on various scriptures and in the end he gave the best conclusion in his composition of bhaja govindam govindam bhaja muda mate. But many of his disciples said that Sankaracharya had gone mad and rejected this most beautiful composition. Without Sankaracharya's commentaries, they would not have even got to know of but because of the lack of devotion and obedience to the spiritual master and the Supreme Lord, they are not able to realize Their greatness.

The importance of spiritual master in our life cannot be overstated. That is why in our mangala charana we sing the very first for the Guru.

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.

Hence Srila Prabhupada beautifully writes in his purport to verse 72, "Only fools give up the service of the spiritual master and think themselves advanced in spiritual knowledge. In order to check such fools, Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself presented the perfect example of how to be a disciple. A spiritual master knows very well how to engage each disciple in a particular duty, but if a disciple, thinking himself more advanced than his spiritual master, gives up his orders and acts independently, he checks his own spiritual progress. Every disciple must consider himself completely unaware of the science of Kṛṣṇa and must always be ready to carry out the orders of the spiritual master to become competent in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A disciple should always remain a fool before his spiritual master."

Those who think themselves as fools in front of their spiritual master, are actually not fools. Only those who think they are advanced enough to step-over their spiritual master, are actually fools. It helps immensely in our devotional service if we present ourselves as a fool in front of our spiritual master. It enhances our humility, increases our awe and reverence upon our spiritual master, and prevents us from committing the offense of judging him or taking him for granted .

Srila Prabhupada, in his purport quotes Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur who says in his deep realization, “ One can become perfectly successful in the mission of his life if he acts exactly according to the words he hears from the mouth of his spiritual master.” Then Srila Prabhupada further says, "Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu here confirms this by saying that since His spiritual master ordered Him only to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, He always chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā- according to this direction (‘kṛṣṇa-mantra’ sadā, — ei mantra-sāra)."

Our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj would instruct us,"When the spiritual master asks you to bring water, you should only bring water, don't bring milk." This obedience to Guru makes one a genuine disciple and this is the only way to please our Guru and receive his mercy. Sometimes we may not be able to fulfill the orders of the spiritual master or may be fail in our attempts. What happens then? Maharaj said, "Just like Krishna, the merciful spiritual master also takes only the essence (endeavor) of the disciple, not the result."

Krishna willing, we shall continue to meditate on further lessons from this topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 6

Date: 2020-03-14 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu responded to Prakashananda Saraswati's question and the significance of spiritual master in our lives. Let us now try to meditate further on the deep wisdom in Mahaprabhu's transcendental reply.

13. Lesson in obedience and humility (contd): Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied to Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, " My dear sir, kindly hear the reason. My spiritual master considered Me a fool, and therefore he chastised Me.

"‘You are a fool,’ he said. ‘You are not qualified to study Vedānta philosophy, and therefore You must always chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. This is the essence of all mantras, or Vedic hymns." b) A humble attitude is an absolute pre-requisite for scholarly discussions: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu insisted to the mayavadi sannyasis that the purpose of all vedanta is to know about Krishna (vedaiś ca sarvair eva vedyo). Mahaprabhu's point is that, "The best way to know about Krishna is to discuss His pastimes, instructions and chanting His holy names. This is what the devotees do anyway. So what is the point in studying the vedanta without understanding its purpose?" However since the mayavadi sannyasis were proud of their scholarship, Mahaprabhu decided that the best way to shatter their ego is through a humble disposition. Hence he represented Himself as a fool and not qualified to study vedanta (however as we will see very soon how Caitanya Mahaprabhu was completely well-versed in vedanta philosophy).

Maharaj used to make a very interesting statement, "If you tell someone, 'you are a rascal', that person will beat you up or in the worst case will chastise you in return. But if you tell the same person, 'I am a rascal', he will tell everyone how great and humble person you are!" This is how, by a humble attitude we can win over other's heart.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Lord Himself, but He taught us by His personal example how by humility we can transform even the most difficult personalities into devotees of Krishna. c) A real devotee should study vedanta philosophy: In the process of glorifying the chanting the holy names and hearing the pastimes of the Lord, the natural tendency is to put down the importance of the study of vedanta. But that is not correct too. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us by His own example that as devotees we should be well-versed in vedanta philosophy but our ultimate focus must be to please Krishna. Because a devotee means one who sees Krishna in everything, so how can they not see Krishna in vedanta philosophy?

Srila Prabhupada therefore strictly warns those who ridicule the vedanta philosophy in the name of being a devotee, " A real Vaiṣṇava should, however, study Vedānta philosophy, but if after studying Vedānta one does not adopt the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, he is no better than a Māyāvādī. Therefore, one should not be a Māyāvādī, yet one should not be unaware of the subject matter of Vedānta philosophy. Indeed, Caitanya Mahāprabhu exhibited His knowledge of Vedānta in His discourses with Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī. Thus it is to be understood that a Vaiṣṇava should be completely conversant with Vedānta philosophy, yet he should not think that studying Vedānta is all in all and therefore be unattached to the chanting of the holy name. A devotee must know the importance of simultaneously understanding Vedānta philosophy and chanting the holy names. If by studying Vedānta one becomes an impersonalist, he has not been able to understand Vedānta. This is confirmed in the (15.15). Vedānta means “the end of knowledge.” The ultimate end of knowledge is knowledge of Kṛṣṇa, who is identical with His holy name. "

One may question, how can I, without any knowledge study such a complicated scripture as vedanta sutra? The answer is, Srimad Bhagavatam is a natural commentary of Vedanta sutra written by the self-same author Vyasadeva and it is non-different from it in anyway. The aphorisms () written in Vedanta sutra are expanded and explained in detail through historical narrations, discussions and pastimes of Krishna and His devotees in Srimad Bhagavatam. So the same vedanta sutra which is difficult to understand for common people has been made both easily understandable and relishable for one and all in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam. To top it all, Bhagavatam requires no qualification whatsoever, except the of purpose.

Upon compiling Srimad Bhagavatam, Vyasadev the author himself was relieved of his despondency, so why won't we be? This gives us ample encouragement to pursue serious study of this king of scriptures. And we have the most beautiful purports and explanations by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada for each verse of Srimad Bhagavatam which is non-different from Krishna. Hence we can take complete shelter of this literary incarnation of Krishna. Srila sings in his Sri Krishna Lila Stava, the glorification of Srimad Bhagavatam thus:

paathaaya prema-varshy-aksharayaaya te sarvadaa sarva sevyaaya sri-krishnaaya namo 'stu te

I bow down to You (Srimad Bhagavatam), who are supremely blissful to read. Your every syllable pours down a flood of prema. You can always be served by everyone. You are Sri Krishna Himself.

Krishna willing we shall meditate further on this transcendental episode in the subsequent offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 7

Date: 2020-03-15 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu responded to Prakashananda Saraswati's question, the importance of being humble in our interactions and also the importance of knowing the philosophy behind the process of bhakti. Let us now try to meditate further on the deep wisdom in Mahaprabhu's transcendental reply.

14. Glories of chanting the holy names: Continuing to speak to the mayavadi sannyasis about the order of His spiritual master, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that after advising Him to chant the holy names, Mahaprabhu's spiritual master instructed Him about the glories of the holy names.

Mahaprabhu's spiritual master Sripad Ishwara Puri told Him, "Simply by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa one can obtain freedom from material and see the lotus feet of Lord Krishna."

Srimati Kunti Maharani says this same point beautifully in her (SB 1.8.36) thus,

śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanty abhīkṣṇaśaḥ smaranti nandanti tavehitaṁ janāḥ ta eva paśyanty acireṇa tāvakaṁ bhava-pravāhoparamaṁ padāmbujam

O Kṛṣṇa, those who continuously hear, chant and repeat Your transcendental activities, or take pleasure in others’ doing so, certainly see Your lotus feet, which alone can stop the repetition of birth and death.

Realizing Krishna's lotus feet is no mean task, great saints and yogis are performing severe austerities for thousands of years to attain that perfection, but it is achieved by sincere devotees simply by the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. The Supreme Lord's lotus feet are the safest shelter for all devotees and once they catch hold of His lotus feet, they will never let go of it. It not only bestows upon us the unlimited bliss of the spiritual world but also vanquishes the material sufferings completely from its root. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, thus inspired the mayavadi sannyasis about the greatness of the Supreme Lord's holy names, how it gives unlimitedly more bliss than what we can achieve from the realization of the Lord impersonally.

Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu further quoted Sripad Ishwara Puri's instructions, "‘In this Age of Kali there is no religious principle other than the chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all Vedic hymns . This is the purport of all scriptures.’"

By repeating the above statements of His spiritual master, the Lord made the sannyasis understand that this process of chanting is not an imaginary or concocted one but is completely authentic. The greatness and glories of the holy names are repeatedly stressed in all , especially the king of all scriptures Srimad Bhagavatam.

There are shastric and historical evidences such as the story of Ajamila who escaped the jaws of death simply by offenselessly chanting the holy names of the Lord in his last moments. Lord Yamaraj himself, who is one of the Mahajanas, instructs his messengers in SB 6.3.22 thus, etāvān eva loke ’smin puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ bhakti-yogo bhagavati tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ

Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.

Concluding the glorification of the holy names by Lord Yamaraj, Srila Sukadev Goswami ends his narration of Ajamila's story to Parikshit Maharaj with this beautiful glorification of the holy names in SB 6.3.31,

tasmāt saṅkīrtanaṁ viṣṇor jagan-maṅgalam aṁhasām mahatām api kauravya viddhy aikāntika-niṣkṛtam

Śukadeva Goswami continued: "My dear King, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore the chanting of the saṅkīrtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously.

There are several such glorifications of the holy names in the entire text of Srimad Bhagavatam. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His discussion with the sannyasis then reveals this powerful verse from the shastras which His spiritual master instructed Him to always keep it within His throat.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

For spiritual progress in this Age of Kali, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative to the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord.

The process of chanting the holy names is deceptively simple. Its simplicity and ease of access makes one wonder how can we attain spiritual perfection by such an easy process, but on the contrary the most merciful Lord Caitanya has given us this most powerful process of self-realization to the most unqualified of kali yuga because He is maha vadanyaaya - the most munificient Lord. How fortunate are we to have been given an opportunity to engage in this most powerful yet simple, most blissful yet easy, most flexible yet authentic process even though we are most unqualified?

Krishna willing, we will meditate further on this topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 8

Date: 2020-03-16 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw the glories of the holy names as explained by Sripad Ishwara Puri Prabhu to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who in turn narrated it to inspire the mayavadi sannyasis. Let us now try to meditate further on the deep wisdom in Mahaprabhu's transcendental reply.

15. Real effect of chanting the holy names: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu then narrated the incident further to the sannyasis. After hearing about the glories of the holy names from His spiritual master, Mahaprabhu returned and started chanting as instructed. But because of chanting of the holy names in pure ecstasy, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu started to the various ecstatic symptoms like laughing, crying, dancing, singing etc. Then He thought something is wrong with this chanting and it has covered His spiritual knowledge. He thought He became mad by chanting. He thus ran to His spiritual master and submitted Himself at his lotus feet.

At this point, in verse 80, Srila Prabhupada writes a thought-provoking purport: "Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as an ideal teacher, shows us how a disciple should deal with his spiritual master. Whenever there is doubt regarding any point, he should refer the matter to his spiritual master for clarification. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that while chanting and dancing He had developed the kind of mad ecstasy that is possible only for a liberated . Yet even in His liberated position, He referred everything to His spiritual master whenever there were doubts. Thus in any condition, even when liberated, we should never think ourselves independent of the spiritual master, but must refer to him as soon as there is some doubt regarding our progressive spiritual life."

This is a beautiful point worth meditating and practicing in our life. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed us that even in liberated condition one should refer to the spiritual master for any doubts and clarifications, so what to speak of those of us who are bound? tat viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya - This is the instruction on how a disciple should approach his guru. When in doubt Arjuna approached the Supreme Lord Krishna who acted as his guru. When he was despondent, Vyasadev meditated on his guru muni and he instantly appeared to give him transcendental solution. Whenever we are in difficulty, if we sincerely approach our Guru Maharaj, he will immediately offer his soothing guidance for our ultimate benefit. We have experienced many times with our spiritual master. He once said, " I know your problem. I know what is troubling you even if you try to hide it. But unless you open your heart to me, you will not be able to appreciate my solution to your problem." That is why encourages guhyam aakhyati prcchati as one of the important qualities in devotional service.

Our defect lies in our fear that what if my guru knows about my anarthas and unwanted desires if I reveal to him? Actually as Maharaj said, even without revealing, the spiritual master knows everything about us by his transcendental vision. So there is no use thinking that if I hide my secrets, my guru will not come to know about it. He is our true well-wisher and loving guide. He is such a loving guide that even after leaving his physical body, he continues to guide the sincere souls. Srila Prabhupada received constant guidance from his Guru Maharaj because of his unflinching in him and as a result he was successful in all his endeavors. Hence we should reveal our hearts to the spiritual master with full confidence and faith in him. 16. Art of pleasing the spiritual master: So Caitanya Mahaprabhu submitted to His spiritual master His predicament about His strange experience with chanting. He said, "My dear lord, what kind of mantra have you given Me? I have become mad simply by chanting this mahā-mantra! Chanting the holy name in ecstasy causes Me to dance, laugh and cry."

Mahaprabhu continues narrating to the sannyasis, "When My spiritual master heard all this, he smiled and then began to speak."

Srila Prabhupada writes a short but very sweet purport to this verse 82, "When a disciple very perfectly makes progress in spiritual life, this gladdens the spiritual master, who then also smiles in ecstasy, thinking, “How successful my disciple has become!” He feels so glad that he smiles as he enjoys the progress of the disciple, just as a smiling parent enjoys the activities of a child who is trying to stand up or crawl perfectly."

The analogy is so beautiful. We are just crawling in our spiritual life, or at the best trying to stand. But the spiritual master is such a kind and loving father that he enjoys our attempt for perfection. Srila Prabhupada uses the word ' perfectly' twice in this purport and he also says 'trying to stand up or crawl perfectly'. It is the attempt for perfection that gladdens the spiritual master's heart, not a hodge-podge, namesake effort. When we chant, study or do any service, we may not be expert in the beginning but when we repeatedly practice it, the desire for perfection arise in our hearts by the grace of Guru and Krishna, and we work hard on our sadhana and . We do not wish to settle for anything less than a perfect endeavor. Perfect endeavor means without any ulterior motives, like desire for appreciations, glorifications, wealth, followers etc. and with the only desire to please Guru and Krishna. In that process, even if the outcome is a failure to the world's view, Guru and Krishna are fully pleased. That is the ultimate success for a sincere disciple.

Krishna willing, we will continue to meditate on this glorious episode in our next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 9

Date: 2020-03-17 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw the effect of chanting the holy names and the art of pleasing the spiritual master as explained by Sripad Ishwara Puri to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Let us now try to meditate further on the deep wisdom in that transcendental interaction.

17. Conclusion of all scriptures: Sripad Ishwara Puri upon hearing of the symptoms of chanting as explained by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, smiled in ecstasy and said, "It is the nature of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra that anyone who chants it immediately develops his loving ecstasy for Kṛṣṇa."

This statement is so true. When Srila Prabhupada went to the West, he had only kartal, Srimad Bhagavatam and Hare Krishna mahamantra. None of them in the US had an inkling as to what these are! But as soon as they heard the chanting of the mahamantra in the Tompkins Square Park from the mouth of the pure devotee Srila Prabhupada, automatically without any inhibition they all started chanting and dancing in ecstasy. This is the nature of the mahamantra and such amazing transformations happen by the purifying force of the holy names.

Sripad Ishwara Puri further said, "The conclusion of all revealed scriptures is that one should awaken his dormant love of Godhead. You are greatly fortunate to have already done so."

It is said in the shastras,

smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇur vismartavyo na jātucit sarve vidhi-niṣedhāḥ syur etayor eva kiṅkarāḥ

One should always remember Krishna and never forget at any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the śāstras should be the servants of these two principles.

And the following verse is quoted in three - Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and ,

āloḍya sarva-śāstrāni vicārya ca punaḥ punaḥ ekaṁ suniṣpannaṁ dhyeyo nārāyaṇaḥ sadā

By scrutinizingly reviewing all the revealed scriptures and judging them again and again, it is now concluded that Lord Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme Absolute Truth, and thus He alone should be worshiped.

Hence all the scriptures naturally and logically arrive at the one-pointed conclusion that offering our loving devotional service to Krishna is the highest goal of human existence (prema pumartho mahan).

18. The spiritual master feels obliged to a sincere disciple: When one develops love of Godhead by always chanting and remembering the Lord's holy names, qualities and pastimes, then the ecstatic symptoms such as crying, laughing, dancing, trembling etc. naturally arouse in the pure devotee's body. It is no more under his control, rather it is under the complete control of Krishna. Quoting shastric evidences, Ishwara Puri beautifully explains to his disciple Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu that how much a disciple pleases the guru when he strictly follows the guru's orders and attains the goal of life. He says, "It is very good, my dear child, that You have attained the supreme goal of life by developing love of Godhead. Thus You have pleased me very much, and I am very much obliged to You. "

The effect of pleasing the spiritual master is that he feels obliged and indebted to the disciple! This is absolutely impossible through any of the processes in all the three ! One may buy a weak spiritual master by giving him a lot of donations, luxurious arrangements etc., but he is of no use to the disciple for the advancement in his bhakti. However a bonafide spiritual master is very pure and strict. He cannot be swayed or bought by money, fame, women, followers etc. To force such an exalted acarya to feel obliged, a disciple has to execute the orders of his spiritual master with sincerity, enthusiasm, determination and discipline. Obtaining such a pure devotee as spiritual master is very rare and to become a sincere disciple of such an acarya is also extremely rare. Srila Prabhupada hence writes one of the most powerful purport to this verse 91:

"According to the revealed scriptures, if a spiritual master can convert even one soul into a perfectly pure devotee, his mission in life is fulfilled. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura always used to say, “Even at the expense of all the properties, temples and maṭhas that I have, if I could convert even one person into a pure devotee, my mission would be fulfilled.” It is very difficult, however, to understand the science of Kṛṣṇa, what to speak of developing love of Godhead. Therefore if by the grace of Lord Caitanya and the spiritual master a disciple attains the standard of pure devotional service, the spiritual master is very happy. The spiritual master is not actually happy if the disciple brings him money, but when he sees that a disciple is following the regulative principles and advancing in spiritual life, he is very glad and feels obliged to such an advanced disciple."

These glorious words have to be read and re-read again and again. The more we read these golden words, the more we will feel grateful to our Guru Maharaj, Srila Prabhupada, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and all the acaryas in our parampara.

Though we are not at all qualified to be the disciple of our dear spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj, we had a humbling experience when Maharaj showed what he really cared for in us. Whenever Maharaj used to travel he would ask us to print and send the Granthraj articles for him to read. Once when Maharaj was in Nasik, he asked me to send the articles for the past 2 months to a local address there. And I was also about to send a donation cheque for his seva. So I sent both of them in 2 separate posts, the Granthraj articles in normal, unregistered post (mainly because it was bulky and that it was cheaper) and the cheque in registered post. After a few days, Maharaj called me to say that he has received the cheque but not Granthraj. When I told him that I sent the Granthraj in regular post, Maharaj became very upset with me. He fired me, "Who wants your money man!? Granthraj is more important for me than your money. Why did you send it in regular post? In it will easily get lost." For the next 2 days, I prayed intensely for the mail to reach him and finally I got a call from Maharaj. He very enthusiastically said, "We got the Granthraj articles Kaal!" When I heard it I felt so relieved. Being mindful of my stress and anxiety, Maharaj then lovingly closed the call saying, "I liked your economic way".

The fact that we could interact with and serve such great Mahatmas in both vapu and vani is nothing short of in our lives and we cannot conceive of a greater fortune beyond these rarest of rare opportunities.

Krishna willing, let us meditate further on this transcendental topic tomorrow.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 10

Date: 2020-03-18 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw that the conclusion of all scriptures is to chant and remember the holy names and fame of the Lord and how a spiritual master is obliged to the sincere disciple as explained by Sripad Ishwara Puri to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Let us now try to meditate further on the deep wisdom in that transcendental interaction.

19. The Art of Preaching: Sripad Ishwara Puri was very pleased with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's obedience to his instruction and the resultant effect of His pure chanting. He then gives his instruction to Mahaprabhu, "My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing saṅkīrtana in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting kṛṣṇa-nāma, for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls."

The spiritual master is not pleased just with our own advancement in bhakti. He wants us to distribute the causeless mercy of Krishna bhakti to as many souls as possible in this world. For this he suggests the following two process to the sincere devotee: a) Always perform by blissfully chanting and dancing in the association of devotees. This is a result of the devotee's prema (intense love for Krishna) and his vinamrata (humility). b) Go out and preach the value of chanting the holy names to every one. This is a result of the devotee's unlimited kaarunya (compassion).

Srila Prabhupada's purport as usual is very deep and thought provoking. He says, "The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on the principle that one should become as perfect as possible in devotional service oneself and also preach the cult for others’ benefit.", This is the sum and substance of the Krishna consciousness movement. Every service and every activity is to be conducted with the aim of purifying the polluted atmosphere of passion and ignorance.

Srila Prabhupada then quotes this beautiful statement from his spiritual master's anubhashya, "A person who has attracted the attention of the spiritual master by his sincere service likes to dance and chant with similarly developed Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees. The spiritual master authorizes such a devotee to deliver fallen souls in all parts of the world."

Hence when a sincere devotee dances and sings in joy in sankirtan, he is not making an exhibition but rather it happens naturally and automatically as a result of the mercy of his spiritual master. For such a confidential disciple, the spiritual master bestows the greatest responsibility of transforming the suffering souls all over the world through their preaching the glories of the Supreme Lord.

Preaching is a high-risk service. If we are successful in our preaching, we can get deviated by the name, fame and followers that come as a result of our service. Then due to the association with non-devotees, there is a risk of getting attracted to material opulences and enjoyment. On the other hand, if we spread the wrong message to the society by our preaching either due to lack of proper knowledge or through our improper conduct, then it is a great dis-service to Guru and Krishna as well as to the world at large. Hence even Krishna had warned Arjuna not to speak to those who are envious or faithless in this path. Whereas Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu knew that it is not possible to put such restrictions in Kali yuga. Hence the sankirtana movement as established by Gauranga Mahaprabhu freely distributes both the knowledge and bhakti through preaching.

Srila Prabhupada thus explains beautifully encouraging us to preach, "Everyone should endeavor to preach the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in all parts of the world and thus become successful in spiritual life. One who is not very expert in preaching may chant in a secluded place, avoiding bad association, but for one who is actually advanced, preaching and meeting people who are not engaged in devotional service are not disadvantages. A devotee gives the non-devotees his association but is not affected by their misbehavior. Thus by the activities of a pure devotee even those who are bereft of love of Godhead get a chance to become devotees of the Lord one day."

When we see a suffering soul, we see it as an opportunity to serve them by giving them the highest medicine of Lord Krishna's holy names as beautifully sung by Kulasekara Alwar in Mukunda-mala-storta 32.

vyāmoha-praśamauṣadhaṁ muni-mano-vṛtti-pravṛtty-auṣadhaṁ daityendrārti-karauṣadhaṁ tri-bhuvane sañjīvanaikauṣadham bhaktātyanta-hitauṣadhaṁ bhava-bhaya-pradhvaṁsanaikauṣadhaṁ śreyaḥ-prāpti-karauṣadhaṁ piba manaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-divyauṣadham

O mind, please drink the transcendental medicine of Sri Krishna's glories. It is the perfect medicine for curing the disease of bewilderment, for inspiring sages to engage their minds in meditation, and for tormenting the mighty Daitya demons. It alone is the medicine for restoring the three worlds to life and for bestowing unlimited blessings on the Supreme Lord's devotees. Indeed, it is the only medicine that can destroy one's fear of material existence and lead one to the attainment of the supreme good.

At this challenging moment, the vicious atmosphere of kali is spreading its wings thick and fast around the world in the form of panic, desperation and depression due to the epidemic disease that has engulfed the humanity. No one is the cause of this disease except our own selves. Nature and mother earth are strongly reacting to all the horrendous sins committed for hundreds of years against the ecosystem, and there is no remedy. Hence it is all the more important for us to take shelter of the transcendental medicine of the holy names and glories of Lord Krishna (śrī-kṛṣṇa- divyauṣadham), and also distribute it widely all over the world. That is the best way we can please Guru and Gauranga.

Krishna willing, we will meditate further on this sublime pastime of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 11

Date: 2020-03-19 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw Sripad Ishwara Puri explaining to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu that the spiritual master is pleased when the disciple preaches the glories of the holy name to everyone and encourage them. Let us now try to meditate further on the deep wisdom in that transcendental interaction.

20. Shastric evidence for the sankirtan : Having given the instruction to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to lovingly and joyfully chant the holy names of the Lord and also perform sankirtan in congregation, Sripad Ishwara Puri gives shastric evidence for this method of self-realization from the topmost Srimad Bhagavatam. Bhakti, though topmost process for attaining the supreme destination, still its evidence has got to be established based on the from the shastras to uphold its authenticity. Ishwara Puri instructs the following verse SB 11.2.40,

evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā jātānurāgo druta-citta uccaiḥ hasaty atho roditi rauti gāyaty unmāda-van nṛtyati loka-bāhyaḥ

When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders.

King Nimi inquired the Navayogendras on what is the supreme good and how does one engage in devotional service.This verse is spoken as an answer to this question by Sri Kavi. It clearly establishes a few points: a) The supreme good in this world is performing pure devotional service unto the Supreme Lord. b) It must be performed by chanting the holy names of the Lord by taking full pleasure in it. c) If one does so, taking a vow to chant and dance (vratah) then all the ecstatic symptoms like laughing, crying etc. automatically manifest in their body as a merciful reciprocation of the Lord. d) In that process of experiencing the transcendental love of the Lord, the devotee forgets the awareness of the external world and hence he does not care what the general mass of people may think about him.

21. The perfect sankirtan mood: The words evam vratah is very significant. It is not that anyone and everyone can experience the ecstatic symptoms. One has to take a vow to chant the holy name and dance in joy. Taking a vow means, with great determination and focus. And in order to do this, he has to really love the holy name very dearly as much as one can love the Lord (sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā). We should be anxiously waiting for the time when we can pick up our beads and chant the holy names in the morning, or look forward to when we can sing and dance in kirtans.

In such a loving mood when we do harinama sankirtan, then jāta anurāga - intense attachment to the Lord spontaneously arises in our heart. And druta-citta - one's heart melts in that loving bhaava unto the Supreme Lord. In such an ecstatic state one is not in his bodily consciousness. So he doesn't care what an outsider think when he loudly chants the holy names or dance and sing in ecstasy. Our devotional service is successful when we don't pay attention to the opinions of the outsiders. Srila Narada muni says the same point in SB 1.6.25 in glorification of nama sankirtan, nāmāny anantasya hata-trapaḥ paṭhan guhyāni bhadrāṇi kṛtāni ca smaran gāṁ paryaṭaṁs tuṣṭa-manā gata-spṛhaḥ kālaṁ pratīkṣan vimado vimatsaraḥ

Thus I began chanting the holy name and fame of the Lord by repeated recitation, ignoring all the formalities of the material world. Such chanting and remembering of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are benedictory. So doing, I traveled all over the earth, fully satisfied, humble and unenvious. hata-trapaḥ means not caring for what others might think or what opinion they will form about me etc. It is a very important quality to cultivate in order to progress in devotional service with full velocity and force. However it does not mean being arrogant or having a one-upmanship mentality toward others.The general public does not know our relationship with Krishna. Nor do they know the potency of bhakti. Only when they experience it personally, they will appreciate. And we have to help them with that opportunity, by our love and kindness. This is our actual service to them. Everybody gets naturally attracted to a cheerful personality. They may not know the source of our cheerfulness initially but when they see someone cheerful, they will develop an eagerness to experience it. Once they experience it, then nothing can hinder their progress in bhakti, Krishna and Guru will take over.

Our Guru Maharaj once instructed us which beautifully sums up the entire philosophy of Krishna consciousness, " Be blissful always. And whenever possible, distribute that bliss to everybody and so doing, you will experience that your own blissful devotional service increases."

Krishna willing, we will meditate further on this sublime topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 12

Date: 2020-03-20 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw Sripad Ishwara Puri explaining to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu the shastric evidence for the sankirtan movement from Bhagavatam and also the perfect sankirtan mood to be imbibed. Let us now try to meditate further on the deep wisdom in that transcendental interaction.

22. Faith in the spiritual master is the secret of success: Until this point, Mahaprabhu narrated His spiritual master's explanation to Him about the glories of the holy names, nature of the sankirtan process and its shastric evidence, to the mayavadi sannyasis. Then He speaks the following beautiful words to them,

ei tāṅra vākye āmi dṛḍha viśvāsa dhari’ nirantara kṛṣṇa-nāma saṅkīrtana kari

sei kṛṣṇa-nāma kabhu gāoyāya, nācāya gāhi, nāci nāhi āmi āpana-icchāya

I firmly believe in these words of My spiritual master, and therefore I always chant the holy name of the Lord, alone and in the association of devotees. That holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes causes Me to chant and dance, and therefore I chant and dance. Please do not think that I intentionally do it. I do it automatically.

Firm faith (dṛḍha viśvāsa) in the spiritual master's words is an absolute must to take even a single step forward in Krishna consciousness. In the history of bhakti marg, if we see anybody who has achieved success in their spiritual life, we can trace the root cause of that success to their unflinching faith in the words of their spiritual master. Dhruva Maharaj had implicit faith in the words of his mother Suniti and his spiritual master Narada muni. And within six months, by his staunch bhakti, he forced the Supreme Lord to give His darshan. Pandavas had unflinching faith in the words of Lord Krishna and thus in spite of terrible sufferings, they achieved success of their life. Prahlad Maharaj had firm faith in the words of his spiritual master Narada muni. There are innumerable such examples.

The purport for these verses 95-96 are worth meditating deeply again and again. Srila Prabhupada's words are so powerful and from his personal experience that we will get immense conviction to strictly follow the instructions of the spiritual master with firm faith.

Srila Prabhupada says, "Believing in the words of His spiritual master, He (Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) introduced the saṅkīrtana movement, just as the present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started with in the words of our spiritual master. He (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur) wanted to preach, we believed in his words and tried somehow or other to fulfill them, and now this movement has become successful all over the world. Therefore faith in the words of the spiritual master and in the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the secret of success....We believed in the words of our spiritual master and started in a humble way — in a helpless way — but due to the spiritual force of the order of the supreme authority, this movement has become successful."

We all are so fortunate to have been connected to this spiritual movement created by Srila Prabhupada in the parampara of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who Himself set the perfect example of a devotee and a disciple. Following in His footsteps, each one of the acaryas in His disciplic succession have set inspiring personal examples for us to follow. And Srila Prabhupada, broke open that treasure house of Krishna bhakti practiced by all our previous acaryas and freely distributed it to one and all. Srila Prabhupada inspired us by his personal example, with the essential ingredients for success in spiritual life such as: a) Keep firm faith in the words of the spiritual master. b) Strictly serve the orders of the spiritual master as one's life and soul. c) Sincerely, seriously and cheerfully relish and chant the holy names, sing and dance joyfully. d) Inspire and engage everyone in the congregational chanting of the holy names. e) Give all the credit to the spiritual master and not take any credit for oneself.

Srila Prabhupada pours his heart out in this purport. He started the movement in such a humble way, in deed in a helpless way. He had no help from family, friends, government, business contacts or any other source. Everybody deserted him. Every time he tried something, he had to face only challenges and failures. But he never lost heart, nor the faith in the words of his spiritual master. He tried, tried and tried and finally when the right time arrived, the entire movement grew exponentially and now 50 years after his departure, still the movement is growing in leaps and bounds all over the world. However, in spite of achieving such a magnificient feat, Srila Prabhupada humbly puts the root cause of all his success to the 'spiritual force of the order of the spiritual authority' - his spiritual master's words, without taking any credit for himself. He is the real acarya and we can be so transcendentally proud to have come under his shelter, that even if we offer millions of our lives in his service, it is not enough to repay the greatest gift of this sankirtan movement he has blessed us.

Krishna willing, we will meditate further on this transcendental purport in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 13

Date: 2020-03-21 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu insisting to the sannyasis that He was simply following the orders of His spiritual master with firm faith in his words. We also meditated on the beautiful purport Srila Prabhupada had written right from the bottom of his heart. The purport for this verse cannot be confined in one offering, hence we shall continue to meditate a bit more on Srila Prabhupada's transcendental purport for verse 95-96.

23. The secrets of chanting the holy names: Srila Prabhupada continues the purport by going bit more deeper on the secrets of chanting the holy names. He reveals three for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's purest form of chanting. a) Srila Prabhupada gives the first reason for Mahaprabhu's pure chanting, "It is to be understood that when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted and danced, He did so by the influence of the pleasure potency of the spiritual world."

His Divine Grace reveals to us what made Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu chant the holy names with so much pleasure. Mahaprabhu was not trying hard with His own might to attain perfection in chanting. Instead, He let Krishna in the form of holy names take full control of Him. He had firm faith in the potency of His spiritual master's words and the Supreme Lord's causeless mercy. When we chant in this perfect mood, then the Lord's internal pleasure potency (hladini ) is pleased with us and takes complete control of our chanting. In that state of being completely controlled by the pleasure potency, even the Supreme Lord comes under the control of the devotee, because it is Srimati Radharani who is controlling the 'ananda' domain. So the devotee never feels material tiredness or fatigue even after hours of chanting japa and or singing and dancing in the kirtana, in fact he feels complete bliss and nothing but bliss all around him, when Lord Krishna and His supreme pleasure potency Srimati Radharani are pleased with the devotee's sincere endeavors. Mahaprabhu revealed this to us by His personal example. b) Srila Prabhupada reveals the second reason for Mahaprabhu's pure chanting, "Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never considered the holy name of the Lord to be a material vibration, nor does any pure devotee mistake the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to be a material musical manifestation."

This is one of the biggest stumbling block in our sadhana and kirtana. Invariably due to our excessive contact with the material modes and our conditioning, we degrade our consciousness of the holy names to material standards. While chanting japa, most of the times our fingers try to find out if we reached the end of the mala, or try hard to remember which round we are in, or all the other important chores for the day etc, while we were actually supposed to remember Krishna's nama, guna, rupa and lila during japa. Counting we have done inside the mother's womb also (icchann ito vivasituṁ gaṇayan sva-māsān), while waiting anxiously to get out of the confinement! Why should we count the beads too, anxiously meditating, 'when the rounds would end for the day'? Suppose if we missed the count, we can always chant a couple of mala's more, what are we going to lose by that!? In fact, we will only gain more!

Our acaryas and Goswamis were counting the holy names meticulously (sańkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau) but that was to keep up their daily vow of chanting. It is like how a business man who is too greedy and attached to saving more and more wealth, will keep counting his earnings every day carefully, the goswamis were also counting the names, too greedy to chant more and more. But our counting is obviously material because we still see the holy names as a material vibration only and not as Krishna Himself who directly descended from vrindavana in His nama rupa (golokera prema dhana harinama sankirtana).

While singing kirtans too, our minds slowly meanders towards the melodies, the beats, the instruments and eventually losing focus on the mahamantra. Srila Prabhupada started the movement only with kartals, mrdanga and harmonium. Srila Prabhupada is the best example in front of us for authentic standards. But nowadays so many passionate instruments have taken control of the kirtans, that it is hard to hear the holy names in those kirtans. At its best, the entire experience only passes on as a musical entertainment in some cases. This is a result of our perception of the holy names as material vibration. The various tunes and instruments are definitely Krishna's gift for us to relish the holy names (and in turn, for Him to relish our chanting), and it is good to use those instruments as needed, but the priority of enjoyment is first and foremost for hearing the sound vibration of the holy names, not the musical instruments. The instruments are only accompaniment to the overall sankirtan, to embellish its sweetness, for Krishna's pleasure.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw the holy names as sakshat Krishna and hence He was able to taste the unlimited sweetness of Sri Nama Prabhu. He sang and danced endlessly in the kirtan procession and in nagar sankirtans. Haridas Thakur chanted the mahamantra 22 hours every day because he was not counting the beads, he was counting the holy names to keep up his daily vow, for Krishna's pleasure. Hence he could attract the mercy of the Lord by his pure taste to chant the holy names even in his most trying physical and mental sufferings. c) Srila Prabhupada then gives the third reason for Mahaprabhu's pure chanting, "Lord Caitanya never tried to be the master of the holy name; rather He taught us how to be servants of the holy name."

This is one of those succinct and hammering statements of Srila Prabhupada. It has so much depth in it!

When we try to be the master of someone, we want them to be always under our control. We want them to listen to whatever we say. We don't want the servant to challenge us when we make mistakes. We want them to be available at our disposal anytime.

However when we observe carefully, it is in fact Lord Krishna, in the form of His holy names, who is fulfilling all these requirements as our servant. i) The holy names accepts our control when we chant. He does not protest. ii) Our mind speaks all its material desires during our japa and Nama Prabhu patiently listens to them all. iii) The holy name never challenge us for whatever wrong we do. He ignores our distractions, offenses and imperfections but continue to bless us. iv) The holy names are available any time at our disposal. Anytime we feel like chanting, He is there.

Though Nama Prabhu has all these inconceivable qualities of being a servant to the devotee, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught us that we cannot factually relish the holy names by trying to be its master. Instead, we should becomes His servant by i) Making Nama Prabhu our supreme master and accept His complete control. ii) Listening to Nama Prabhu's sweet sound vibration and the beautiful realizations He reveals to us. iii) Accepting whatever He bestows upon us as His causeless mercy. Never doubt or challenge the potency of the holy names. iv) Earnestly waiting for His call to take the beads early morning, and associate with Him blissfully by chanting and hearing the -rupi , Sri Nama Prabhu.

Let us sincerely pray unto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to give us a fraction of that taste for chanting the holy names, in the mood of a sincere servant of Sri Nama Prabhu. Krishna willing, let us try to meditate on this transcendental topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 14

Date: 2020-03-22 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw about the secrets of the holy names and the reasons behind Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's purest quality of chanting, from the deeply thought-provoking purport of Srila Prabhupada. Let us continue to meditate a bit more on Srila Prabhupada's transcendental purport for verse 95-96.

24. Prayerful mood develops attachment to the holy names: We saw Srila Prabhupada's powerful statement on Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's chanting, "Lord Caitanya never tried to be the master of the holy name; rather He taught us how to be servants of the holy name." The essence of this statement can be realized in every word of the shikshastakam composed by Mahaprabhu. It is the best prayer to recite every time we chant our japa. The feelings of bhāva expressed in those words of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is best suited to develop servitorship and attachment to the holy names. In two of the 8 verses, especially the 5th and the 8th, Mahaprabhu expresses his mood of servitorship so perfectly.

ayi nanda-tanuja kińkaraḿ patitaḿ māḿ viṣame bhavāmbudhau kṛpayā tava pāda-pańkaja- sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaḿ vicintaya

O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krsna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu expresses His earnest prayer to the Lord, His repentance for having given up the eternal service to Krishna for so long, His humility in accepting that He is the most insignificant servant of Krishna and His anxiety in somehow or the other get back to His original constitutional position i.e., servitorship at Lord Krishna's lotus feet. Such a fervent mood of prayer is very beneficial to our bhakti.

āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally. Mahaprabhu concludes His shikshashtakam with the best prayer in this mood - "Whatever the Lord may do me, I am perfectly happy with it because He is my eternal master and I am His eternal servant. A master has the complete freedom to do whatever he wants with the servant. The servant's only job is to serve and keep the master happy . After so many millions of life time, I have now come to realize my original position and I am not going to put any conditions to perform my service. Forever I will stay as His unconditional servant." Such pure bhakti bhāva melts the heart of Lord Krishna and by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's causeless mercy we may also obtain this bhakti bhāva one day in this life time, provided our motives are pure.

25. Showy chanting never attracts the mercy of Krishna: When we chant lovingly, by the mercy of the holy names, all the ecstatic symptoms of bhakti will automatically manifest in us as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu expresses in the shikshashtakam prayers. However if we chant with material expectations, Nama Prabhu does not bestow any spiritual benedictions. One may even chant for millions of years, but if our intention is not one of serving the holy names and Krishna, then it is impossible to get loving feelings toward Krishna. Hence so many pseudo devotees get frustrated in not able to attain perfection. As much as Krishna is most merciful in the form of His holy names, He is also completely unforgiving of pseudo-imitators because these imitators are the most harmful entities in destroying the faith of common people in the process of bhakti by their cheap 'showy insincere religious fervor'. So He will never bestow upon them the benediction of perfection in chanting.

A sincere devotee never wants name, fame, followers etc. He runs away from them because he thinks they are extremely dangerous to his bhakti. He is simply satisfied with offering his unmotivated and unflinching service to the Lord and His devotees. But it is Krishna's special desire that He wants His devotees to become famous all over the three worlds. Hence such pure-hearted devotees, by their sincere endeavors, attract the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord who makes them famous all over the world.

Observing that many pure devotees attain name and fame all over the world by their chanting, singing, dancing and the resultant ecstatic symptoms of bhakti, pseudo-bhaktas try to imitate such symptoms artificially, make a show to become famous by short-cut. To such pseudo-bhaktas Srila Prabhupada responds at his wittiest best, "If one chants the holy name of the Lord just to make a show, not knowing the secret of success, he may increase his bile secretion , but he will never attain perfection in chanting the holy name."

The secret of success as Srila Prabhupada says, is to become a servant of the holy names, and not a master. Krishna is attracted only by humility. We have to realize it sooner than later.

Krishna willing, we shall try to meditate on this beautiful topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 15

Date: 2020-03-23 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw about how we can develop attachment to the holy names by a prayerful mood of devotion and also Srila Prabhupada's strong words of condemnation for those who want to show off ecstatic symptoms of bhakti simply for name and fame. Let us continue to meditate a bit more on Srila Prabhupada's transcendental purport for verse 95-96.

26. Chanting shuddha nama is the highest perfection of life: We may achieve many opulence in spiritual life through our expertise in management, preaching and other skills. Thousands of people may look up to us as a role- model. But unless and until we develop a taste for shuddha nama - to lovingly chant the holy names with pure devotion, our life is null and void.

Nowadays with the invention of the social media, many devotees utilize it for preaching and other services. This is commendable as long as it is engaged in the service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission, but the material inventions always brings with it the added baggage of kali. It gives a false perception that I am getting friends, many people are liking me, I am becoming famous etc. But it does not develop an emotional connection with others unless Krishna is in the center of those transactions. There may be many followers for us in facebook, but may not be in real life. For most people, no. of likes for their posts, no. of friends in social media alone are considered as a success in life these days. Thus we are hypnotized to live in a dream world of friends, well-wishers and followers and eventually we are psychologically imprisoned. Another danger is, how quickly one becomes famous in social media is being considered as the primary criteria for one's purity and advancement in bhakti.The danger here is that for the devotee who is thus distracted, the attention shifts from pleasing Guru and Krishna, to searching for one's own pleasure through name, fame and followers. And for his followers, the entire experience of bhakti becomes shallow and superficial, because Krishna is not present there.

Social media has a broader reach and is an excellent platform for communication but it also brings with it the danger of distractions and deviations from the main goal of life, which is to attain taste for shuddha nama. For eg., Our daily service of chanting is constantly disturbed when devotees keep their phone next to them. Every notification in Whatsapp or a post in Facebook takes our focus away from the chanting bead to the news feed. Before the invention of internet and smart phones, devotees would sit for hours together and reflect on Srila Prabhupada's books, but now we cannot sit with Bhagavad-gita or Bhagavatam and concentrate even for 10-15 mins without looking at the messages and notifications. While chanting in one hand, the other hand browses through unwanted chats and messages. In the ten offenses to be avoided against the holy names, Srila Prabhupada wrote the last statement specifically for our generation - "It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting." How can we taste shuddha nama with such inattentive chanting?

All our acaryas have intensely tasted shuddha nama in their daily sadhana. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written innumerable in the glorification of the holy names. In one of his bhajans he earnestly pleads the Lord,

kabe ha'be bolo se-dina āmār aparādha ghuci', śuddha nāme ruci kṛpā-bale ha'be hṛdoye sañcār Please tell me, When will that day be mine - when my offenses will end and a taste for the pure holy name will be infused within my heart by the power of divine grace?

This is the real mood of a devotee who sincerely wants to taste the pure nectar of the holy names. We cannot taste shuddha nama unless we eradicate our offenses. Hence we have to take lesson from great acaryas like and give utmost importance to developing a ruci for chanting and reading. It starts with taking simple steps from our end. We can be determined to keep away unwanted electronic items such as phone, laptop etc. when we chant. Switch off internet for those 1.5-2 hours while we chant or read. Bad habits can definitely be replaced by good habits but it requires endeavor, discipline and determination.

27. Real test of our Krishna consciousness: Our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj would say, " Your Krishna consciousness is tested by how long you can sit alone in the corner of a room with your japa mala and chant, or how long you can sit alone with Bhagavatam and study." We may have our excuses in the past, but fortunately or unfortunately, Krishna has descended Himself in the form of the deadly corona virus now. The only remedy He has provided us so far is 'quarantine', or 'isolate yourself'. Many people are becoming mad with just a week or two in isolation but for us aspiring devotees, this is the greatest benediction to practice shuddha bhakti. Instead of looking at the count of corona patients, we can patiently chant on the beads, praying for the karuna of the karuna , Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Instead of reading through pages and pages of articles about the virus in social media, we can meditate on the transcendental writings of Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavatam. We will surely be tested in the beginning, but if we can sincerely endeavor for a few days, then we will start enjoying our lone moments with Krishna.

Another thing is, as devotees we must be compassionate to all the living entities but the real challenge is, compassionate in what way? It is natural that in this precarious juncture, most people will question the reason for this pandemic. They will challenge, "Why is being so cruel?" even though it is a man-made disaster. We can inspire and educate inquisitive souls in the importance and benedictions of devotional service. We can convince them of the importance of peaceful co-existence with other living entities of this world and the power of compassion in uplifting our human life through devotion. Eventually we all have to leave this world one day. We can do our little bit in passing on the treasure of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's causeless mercy to the next generation, in its uncontaminated and unadulterated form. We should take this as a mission, and the secret of success in this mission is in following the mood of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as beautifully depicted by Srila Prabhupada in his golden words, "Lord Caitanya never tried to be the master of the holy name; rather He taught us how to be servants of the holy name."

Krishna willing, we shall reflect further on this episode in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 16

Date: 2020-03-24 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we meditated on how to avoid obstacles in chanting shuddha nama and how to perform our sadhana even in adverse situations. Let us continue to meditate further on what transpired between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

28. Pleasing words and friendly nature - Important ingredients of preaching: Enumerating the potency of chanting the holy names, Mahaprabhu explained to the mayavadi sannyasis that He was not singing and dancing on His own but because of the power of the holy names. He said, "The holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes causes Me to chant and dance, and therefore I chant and dance. Please do not think that I intentionally do it. I do it automatically."

He concluded His explanation to the sannyasis by saying that, compared to the bliss derived from chanting the holy names, the happiness derived from impersonal brahman realization is like the water in a calf's hoof print.

"After hearing Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were moved. Their minds changed, and thus they spoke with pleasing words."

One unique advantage we have in the human life as opposed to the other species is that we have the power to express our thoughts and emotions through words. Words are such powerful weapons that the entire material world is said to be created by the words (shabda) of the Supreme Lord. It can both create a relationship as well as destroy it in a matter or moments. Hence it is said that one who in expert in his speech is always successful. Our spiritual master would often quote a beautiful sloka from the shastras,

priya vākya pradānena sarve tuṣyanti jantavah tasmāt tad eva vaktavyam vacaneṣu kim daridrathā

By speaking pleasing words all the living entities are satisfied. Therefore, always speak pleasingly, why are you so poor in your speech?

Mahaprabhu showed us this quality in practice in this incident. Till this point, He had not countered the mayavadi sannyasis on philosophical argument over Vedanta sutra. By His humble, pleasing demeanor and a factual heartfelt explanation of the potency of the holy names He conquered the sannyasis' hearts.

29. Our gentle and friendly demeanor transforms the recipient's heart: Generally the impersonalists do not appreciate the personal exchanges of love between the devotees and the Lord. So when the mayavadi sannyasis heard that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was also invited for lunch at the brahmana's house, they were prepared to corner Mahaprabhu with various questions and defeat His conviction. This was their original aim. However the incident turned completely topsy turvy for them by the causeless mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Prabhupada, in his purport to verse 99, explains the reason for this unexpected reversal of events. In addition he also teaches us through the demeanor of Mahaprabhu, an important lesson in the art of preaching.

Srila Prabhupada says, "The original purpose of the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs of Benares in meeting Caitanya Mahāprabhu was to defeat His personal conception of God. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, however, as a preacher, turned the minds of the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. They were melted by the sweet words of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and thus became friendly and spoke to Him also in sweet words. Similarly, all preachers will have to meet opponents, but they should not make them more inimical. They are already enemies, and if we talk with them harshly or impolitely their enmity will merely increase. We should therefore follow in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu as far as possible and try to convince the opposition by quoting from the śāstras and presenting the conclusion of the ācāryas. It is in this way that we should try to defeat all the enemies of the Lord."

When we deal with the other living entities in a gentle, polite and friendly way, the Lord is extremely pleased with us. It is said in SB 4.11.13,

titikṣayā karuṇayā maitryā cākhila-jantuṣu samatvena ca sarvātmā bhagavān samprasīdati

The Lord is very satisfied with His devotee when the devotee greets other people with tolerance, mercy, friendship and equality.

At the end of the day, it is the purity of our devotion that attracts a living entity to Krishna consciousness, not our expertise in shastras alone. Hence it is very important to have the feelings of friendship, mercy and equality etc. toward the other party irrespective of whatever philosophy they follow or whatever sect they belong to. This is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's important teaching to us through this incident.

The qualities exhibited by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in this incident are exactly reflected in Bhagavatam in the incarnation of the Supreme Lord as Prthu Maharaj. Prthu Maharaj was so perfect in his speech that it is said in SB 4.21.20,

cāru citra-padaṁ ślakṣṇaṁ mṛṣṭaṁ gūḍham aviklavam sarveṣām upakārārthaṁ tadā anuvadann iva

Mahārāja Pṛthu’s speech was very beautiful, full of metaphorical language, clearly understandable and very pleasing to hear. His words were all grave and certain. It appears that when he spoke, he expressed his personal realization of the Absolute Truth in order to benefit all who were present.

The words sarveṣām upakārārthaṁ is very significant. When we speak, we should not speak superficially. We should express our personal realizations in bhakti from our heart. And it should be only for the ultimate benefit of the recipient, not with any other ulterior motive. Only then our preaching will be successful. If we simply speak for entertainment, there won't be any transformation in the recipient's heart. Both Prthu Maharaj and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu practically showed us the art of speaking.

There is another very important lesson for us to learn from Mahaprabhu regarding the preaching service. To successfully convey the message of Krishna consciousness and transform the heart of the recipient, we should first of all inspire them about the power of holy names. As soon as they appreciate the potency of the holy names, they will get attracted to the personal form of the Lord and all shastric conclusions get automatically reconciled in their hearts to firmly get fixed in devotional service.

Krishna willing, we shall meditate further on this topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 17

Date: 2020-03-25 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we meditated on the important lesson from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as to how a devotee, especially a preacher's demeanor with others should be, in order to transform their hearts. Let us continue to meditate further on what transpired between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

30. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu makes the impossible, possible: The mayavadi sannyasis, upon being conquered by the gentle and humble nature of Mahaprabhu, accepted all that Mahaprabhu said about the glories of the holy names, obeying the orders of the spiritual master and the glories of devotional service. They said, "Dear Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, what You have said is all true. Only one who is favored by fortune attains love of Godhead."

The fact that of all the people, the mayavadi sannyasis accept that 'only a rarely fortunate soul can attain Krsna-prema ' (kṛṣṇa-premā sei pāya, yāra bhāgyodaya), is the inconceivable miracle of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By this statement itself they have implicitly accepted the superiority of bhakti over all other processes. Srila Prabhupada tells in his purport to text 101, why impersonalists are called mayavadis:

1. According to the mayavadis, Krishna body is not eternal, it is made of . 2. Loving devotional service to the Lord executed by devotees is also maya. 3. Devotional service is an aspect of fruitive activities ( kanda). 4. Bhakti consists of mental speculation or meditation.

Due to these major fallacies in their understanding of Krishna and devotional service, it is almost impossible to convince them about the supremacy of bhakti over all other processes. They always uphold study of Vedanta as higher than any other spiritual process. Due to such a narrow mindset, it is extremely impossible to convince them. But Mahaprabhu's inconceivable causeless mercy gave them a rare chance to transform their knowledge and detachment into pure Krishna bhakti.

31. Preaching is a service to Krishna, not to our senses: After glorifying the process of bhakti, the sannyasis then continued,

kṛṣṇe bhakti kara — ihāya sabāra santoṣa vedānta nā śuna kene, tāra kibā doṣa

Dear Sir, there is no objection to Your being a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Everyone is satisfied with this . But why do You avoid discussion on the Vedānta-sūtra? What is the fault in it?

Three beautiful points are highlighted here: a) First the sannyasis express their acceptance for Caitanya Mahaprabhu being a devotee of Krishna. This is another ajnata-sukrti performed by them. Initially they had objections to Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement. But they are now convinced by Mahaprabhu's merciful glance. b) The mayavadis said that everyone in Varanasi was satisfied with Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's devotional activities of chanting and dancing in sankirtan. They initially had apprehensions that it is a sentimental process done by low- class sadhakas. But upon hearing the purity and greatness of the holy names from the lotus mouth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they could appreciate why everyone is enthusiastically participating in it. c) The sannyasis then out of curiosity, asked Mahaprabhu why is He not studying Vedanta sutra. This question, which they asked out of eagerness, is quite significant. The mayavadis came to the meeting initially with a critical mentality toward Caitanya Mahaprabhu that He is faking His order. But the purity of associating with Mahaprabhu and the subsequent adoration of His character, turned their mindset from criticism to appreciation for devotional service.

32. Mahaprabhu's important lesson to the preachers: Mahaprabhu teaches an important lesson here to the aspiring preachers in us. All these sannyasis were great scholars in Vedanta and were well-renowned in Varanasi dham. Any normal practicing spiritualist would feel anxious in their presence and would want to impress them with their vedic knowledge to get their appreciation and recognition. But Mahaprabhu had none of these anxieties before the meeting. Even though He is the knower of the complete Vedanta philosophy (in fact, He is vedanta krd veda vid eva ca 'ham), He did not straight away start speaking on the Vedanta sutra to them. He was extremely humble and meek. He offered them all due respects. He was satisfaction personified and was also transcendentally blissful. All these nature of Mahaprabhu attracted the sannyasis toward Him automatically. Thus preaching is all about introspecting and focussing on our devotional behavior (ācār) and then Krishna will automatically take care of inspiring them by our speech (pracār).

As practicing preachers, we may have studied some of Srila Prabhupada's books a few times. The inherent quality of Prabhupada's books is that if ever anyone reads his books, he has no choice but to preach, because that is the natural mood of Prabhupada's writings. Hence we will develop an urge and anxiety to speak the message of Krishna consciousness to everyone. By Guru and Krishna's grace, we will get a couple of chances to give classes here and there and then immediately we will start expecting everyone to invite and organize preaching programs for us. Then we become impudent and commit maryada vyatikrama by by-passing senior vaishnavas in preaching and other services. And when someone doesn't invite us for classes, we get frustrated that they don't recognize our expertise in preaching. All these thoughts are due to our immaturity in sadhana. We have to ingrain this point strongly in our mind that the primary goal of reading the shastras is not to preach to others, but to cleanse the dirt that has accumulated in our hearts for so many lifetimes. The aim of shastric study is not to make someone a devotee (we are no one to make devotees, it is only Krishna who makes them devotees), but it is simply to sing the glories of Krishna for everyone's pleasure and purification.

If an opportunity to preach has to come to us, it will come whenever Krishna feels that we are ready. Two examples are worth meditating upon, in this regard. Sri Bhishmadev was a great devotee right from his birth. He was expert in all the shastras under the sky. Still he never got an opportunity to preach about Krishna consciousness even once in his prolonged life time. But he never felt discouraged or dissatisfied. He was completely content. Krishna knew Bhishmadev's greatness and wanted the world to recognize it. Hence He gave him the opportunity in his dying moments, to teach his grandson all the treasure of his knowledge. His teachings are so famous and are glorifed in all the three worlds for thousands of years. This is Krishna's reciprocation to Bhishmadev's unflinching bhakti.

Our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj too, spent 9 years studying Bhagavatam non-stop in the temple. Not once he was asked to give a class though in those 9 years. But his aim was not to give class, his aim was only to glorify Krishna through the pages of Bhagavatam. He was completely self-satisfied in this service and would sit under a pillar in the temple and read from morning 9 to evening 7 every day for the sheer pleasure of associating with Srila Prabhupada through his books. Lord Krishna, at the right moment, gave Maharaj the opportunity to give a class, and from then on he never stopped traveling and preaching till his last breath.

Krishna is minutely watching every one of our activities. He knows our sincerity of purpose. He knows all our inner motives and desires. Whatever opportunities He bestows upon us is a perfect reciprocation for our sincerity. Let us have complete confidence in Him and peacefully enjoy our service. Krishna willing, let us meditate further on this transcendental topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 18

Date: 2020-03-26 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we meditated on how the mayavadi sannyasis' heart started changing by the transcendental association of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and also the important lesson that Mahaprabhu taught us all on how preachers should behave themselves.Let us continue to meditate further on what transpired between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

33. Lord Caitanya attracts the mayavadis by His gentleness and humility: The sannyasis were more or less convinced about the potency of the holy names and bhakti. But they were still puzzled as to why Mahaprabhu was not studying the Vedanta sutra. So they humbly inquired Him for the reason.

After hearing the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs speak in that way, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu smiled slightly and said, "My dear sirs, if you don’t mind I can say something to you regarding Vedānta philosophy." a) Mahaprabhu once again captivated the sannyasis by His behavior. Upon their enquiry, first He smiled slightly, as the Lord is always fond of doing when someone asks Him question and are on the verge of encountering a major turning point in their life. Krishna did this to Arjuna, who turned around from a confused & depressed state into an extremely strong-hearted & determined devotee. Narada muni also smiled upon seeing his disciple Vyasadev who was in a despondent state even after having written so many scriptures for the well-being of all generations. Taking compassion upon Vyasadev, Narada muni instructed him to compile Srimad Bhagavatam and it acted as a perfect panacea for Vyasadev's depression. Here again, we see Caitanya Mahaprabhu smiling gently upon being asked this question on Vedanta. Because He knows what was going to happen to those mayavadi sannyasis in a short while from then. They were naturally attached to their knowledge of Vedanta, but Mahaprabhu was going to bestow His causeless mercy upon them by transforming that attachment towards pure bhakti. b) The second point is that once again Mahaprabhu exhibited His uncommon humility by asking for the permission from the sannyasis that if they allow, He can speak a few words about the Vedanta philosophy. This demeanor once again melted the hearts of the sannyasis. In this entire episode Mahaprabhu, again and again, is teaching us the same lesson - Humility is an absolute must for devotional service. Without a humble approach one cannot successfully inject the message of bhakti into the hearts of the listeners. The danger of being a scholar is that pride automatically attaches itself to us and that becomes the cause of our downfall. Among so many hundreds of spiritual societies, it is only our society that has the strongest foundation of shastras, by the inconceivable mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Naturally when we read a lot of books, we have to guard ourselves against becoming proud arm-chair or dry mental speculators and focus on converting the knowledge into service. Hence Srila Prabhupada always recommended that how much ever learned we may be, we should do menial service to avoid becoming puffed up.

34. Only humility can make one humble: Upon hearing the humble submission of Mahaprabhu, the sannyasis too felt very humbled. As Krishna says in the Gita 16.8, amānitvam adambhitvam - humility and pridelessness are the topmost of the 20 elements of knowledge. When a spiritually knowledgeable person meets another person who is humbler than him, naturally will feel ashamed of his own lack of humility, provided he is mature enough to acknowledge that. Then by Krishna's mercy, he can immediately take steps to rectify the stumbling blocks in his spiritual advancement such as pride, envy etc.

Another significant lesson we can learn from this point is that when someone is puffed up or egoistic, they can only be humbled by our humble and submissive disposition . By exhibiting our pride, we can never make another person humble. He will only become more envious and angry upon experiencing our pride. This pride is worse than corona virus. Corona virus will only kill the body in the worst case, but pride kills our devotional service itself.

So many times we have seen our spiritual master destroying our pride and ego with his uncommon humility and unconditional love. Whenever devotees would visit him in Rajkot or other places, as soon as we reach, he would so lovingly welcome us. He would talk to us with so much joy that we would completely forget all our worries and swim in an ocean of bliss. He would appreciate each one of us so much that we will feel very much elated (and a little puffed up too). Even though he is the root cause of whatever success we had, he would never even once say so. In fact, when he glorifies us, even if we say out of namesake humility, "Maharaj it is all because of your mercy", he would immediately brush it off and say, "No no, Krishna is in each one of you. You are sincere and He is reciprocating to you. Why am I unnecessarily brought in between you and Krishna? I am just like the dog walking under the bullock cart, that does not do any endeavor to pull the cart but walks with its head high, as if it is doing all the hard work." We would feel so embarassed to hear him say thus, but it is only by the purity of his devotional service and his inexplicable humility, that he made even stone-hearted rascals like me realize (and still continues to make us realize) that devotional service is not just about preaching, managing temples, visiting dhams etc. It is only by cultivating essential qualities such as humility, gentleness, simplicity, friendliness and so on, that we can attract the causeless mercy of the Lord.

35. The Lord reveals Himself to those whom He chooses: Hence by the influence of Mahaprabhu's humility, the sannyasis also became humble and for the second time, addressed Caitanya Mahaprabhu as Narayana Himself ( sākṣāt nārāyaṇa). Srila Prabhupada writes a few beautiful points in his purport to verse 103,

"Māyāvādī sannyāsīs address each other as Nārāyaṇa. Whenever they see another sannyāsī, they offer him respect by calling oṁ namo nārāyaṇāya (“I offer my respect unto you, Nārāyaṇa”), although they know perfectly well what kind of Nārāyaṇa he is."

So it is a common practice among impersonalist sannyasis that they call each other as Narayana, but it becomes a ritual in due course because everyone knows nobody is Narayana here except Lord Narayana Himself, so they are only fooling each other. But when the sannyasis saw Caitanya Mahaprabhu's beautiful transcendental form, His uncommon qualities etc, they realized and agreed amongst themselves that He is indeed sākṣāt Nārāyaṇa.

One can question that since the mayavadis do not believe in Lord Narayana's transcendental form and have never seen it, how can they realize that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Narayana Himself? Srila Prabhupada gives a perfect answer, "Therefore although all these Māyāvādī sannyāsīs who called themselves Nārāyaṇa were actually unaware of the position of Nārāyaṇa, due to their austerities Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu enabled them to understand Him to be Nārāyaṇa Himself."

So it is Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's causeless mercy upon the mayavadi sannyasis that He enabled them to realize His transcendental position. He did this because He was conscious of the austerities they perform as part of their regular sadhana. It is not an easy joke to study Vedanta philosophy. On the one hand, it is an extremely complex subject and another is, it is extremely boring for those who are inclined towards jnana marg. Even then, the sannyasis did the austerities with all seriousness. And most importantly, they were also genuinely attracted to Mahaprabhu and adored Him during this meeting. Hence the Lord wanted to reciprocate to them in His own inconceivable way, reiterating the statement of the shastras (Katha upnishad 1.2.23),

nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām

The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, nor even by much hearing . He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form .

Srila Prabhupada's concluding words in this purport are worth meditating, "Lord Caitanya is certainly the Supreme Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa appearing as a devotee of Nārāyaṇa, and thus the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, understanding that He was directly Nārāyaṇa Himself whereas they were false, puffed-up Nārāyaṇas, spoke to Him as follows."

This is a tangible proof of the Lord's extraordinary mercy. None of us are qualified to realize Him by our own qualifications. The mayavadi sannyasis thought, "All these days, we have been calling each other as , even though we very well know we do not have a tinge of qualification to be called as Narayana. However, here is the original Narayana standing before us, but astonishingly He never called Himself as Narayana, even though He is Narayana Himself."

Krishna willing, we will continue to meditate on this transcendental topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 19

Date: 2020-03-27 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we meditated on how Mahaprabhu again conquered the hearts of the mayavadi sannyasis by His transcendental humility and how He showered His causeless mercy upon them to realize that He is none other than Lord Narayana Himself. Let us continue to meditate further on what transpired between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

36. Shravanam and darshanam - The most potent services: The mayavadi sannyasis being eager to hear about the reason why Mahaprabhu is not studying Vedanta sutra, became excited when He said that with their permission He can speak a little on Vedanta philosophy. So they respond nicely

tomāra vacana śuni’ juḍāya śravaṇa tomāra mādhurī dekhi’ juḍāya nayana

Dear Caitanya Mahāprabhu," they said, "to tell You the truth, we are greatly pleased to hear Your words , and furthermore Your bodily features are so pleasing that we feel extraordinary satisfaction in seeing You.

These words of the mayavadi sannyasis are so pleasing to hear for anyone, especially a devotee.

The sannyasis mention two things about Caitanya Mahaprabhu that captivated them. a) The first thing the sannyasis said was that they were greatly pleased to hear the Lord's words that they want to hear more and more from Him. It is a significant point to note. Normally we are pleased to hear topics that aligns with our convictions and liking. We do not mind hearing about it for a long time.But when the topics are either not related to our favorable subjects or it is something we dislike, we cut short the discussion and leave the place. For the mayavadis, though they outwardly accept that devotional service is also a path of self-realization, but they always consider it as inferior to jnana marg. And as they mentioned earlier, chanting, singing etc. are done by low class spiritualists, it is not for high-class vedantists. So, for them to sit and hear this 'not so favorable' topic on the glories of the holy names, devotional service etc. for so long, is an extra-ordinary mercy of the Lord upon them. Not only that they were pleased to hear Mahaprabhu's transcendental & nectarean realizations, but they wanted Him to go on speaking more and more.

Normally, when we speak, the audience cannot listen to us for a long time, even if it is on an important subject matter. That subject matter may be important to us but when the audience do not like it, it is very difficult to convey our message to them. Even though we may be capable speakers, unless we attract the focus and attention of the audience on our subject matter, we won't be successful in our endeavor. In order to attract their attention, we must actually enjoy what we teach and we should practice the instructions that we teach others. Mahaprabhu teaches us here by His personal example that preaching means to speak from the heart, and the heart must be absorbed always in service to Krishna. And then, there should be a genuine compassion in our heart for all the living entities. With such a soft and pure heart, we can attract Krishna to take residence in it. Once Krishna takes His seat in our heart, our focus will only be to glorify Krishna and not to convince others or get recognition from others. Speaking about Krishna is our job, Convincing them is Krishna's job. When we understand this point, we will be successful in our preaching service. b) The second thing that the sannyasis said is that the bodily features of Mahaprabhu were so pleasing that they were feeling extraordinary satisfaction by seeing Him. Normally renunciant don't pay attention to anybody's bodily features or differentiate them based on their beauty etc. More over, the mayavadi sannyasis deny this world as temporary and Krishna's body as maya. For such sannyasis to openly admit that they were attracted to the Lord's bodily features and were feeling extreme satisfaction is totally inconceivable and it was possible only by the causeless mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Appreciating the transcendental form of the Lord is not so easy. The Lord has mercifully descended in His deity form, but still when we go to the temples traveling hundreds of miles and wait in the queue for hours, how long do we stand in front of the deity and absorb ourselves in relishing the beauty of His various limbs? We just pay obeisances in haste, do some shopping, eat prasadam and rush back home in no time. This way, how do we expect to cherish the beauty of the Lord's form? Lord Siva in his prayers, describes Lord Krishna as sarva saundarya sangraham - He is the sum total of all beauty. Those who can appreciate the transendental beauty of the Lord are the most fortunate souls in this world and they are reaping the pious credit of their devotional service for many life times. Bhagavad-darshanam is one of the most important limbs of devotional service and the mayavadi sannyasis were able to obtain it by their service to the Lord.

37. Sincere service attracts the Lord mercy: Srila Prabhupada says that the reason why Lord Caitanya decided to show His causeless mercy upon the mayavadi sannyasis (even though they had no inclination to do bhakti), was because they unknowingly did a few sincere services that attracted the Lord.

1) The sannyasis' first service was to offer a little respect to Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He came to meet them. They respectfully received the Lord and gently enquired Him various questions. 2) When Mahaprabhu spoke, they very eagerly and attentively heard Him. 3) They were also very appreciative of the Lord's humility, His obedience to His spiritual master, and the glories of the holy names. 4) They were pious and actually followed the austere rules and regulations of sannyāsa. 5) They had some understanding of Vedānta philosophy. They studied Vedanta seriously. 6) They were genuinely attracted to the Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's transcendental form and felt extreme satisfaction to take His darshan.

In the shastras it is said,

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na / bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ sevonmukhe hi jihvādau / svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

With one’s materially contaminated senses one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His name, form, qualities or paraphernalia, but if one renders service unto Him, the Lord reveals Himself.

Only by service can one understand the name, form, qualities etc. of the Supreme Lord. The mayavadi sannyasis served the Lord in various ways during their meeting with Him, and hence they could attract His causeless mercy. As a result they accepted Him as Lord Narayana Himself. When we accept the Lord Krishna or Lord Gauranga as our dearmost Lord, there is nothing else left in this world for us to achieve.

Krishna willing, let us meditate further on this deep and instructive pastime of the Lord in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 20

Date: 2020-03-28 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we meditated on how the mayavadi sannyasis' service attracted the causeless mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and they encouraged the Lord to speak on the Vedanta philosophy. Let us continue to meditate further on what transpired between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

38. The pure devotee's influence satisfies our mind: In our previous offering we saw the how the mayavadi sannyasis openly admitted to being attracted to the purity of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They continued further glorifying the Lord's transcendental impact upon them,

"Dear Sir, by Your influence our minds are greatly satisfied, and we believe that Your words will never be unreasonable. Therefore You may speak on the Vedānta-sūtra."

The sannyasis made a very important statement that the Lord's prabhava (influence) is so powerful that they were automatically attracted to His personality and His words. Prabhava comes out of purity and sincerity of our purpose. Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport, "Unless one is spiritually advanced he cannot influence an audience." Influencing an audience means bringing about a change in their heart, character and habits, and this a devotee cannot do unless he himself is pure in his heart. When a person is influenced by a pure devotee, they will feel great satisfaction in their heart and clarity in their thoughts. The pure devotee is able to bring about this change in others simply by their unflinching attachment to the lotus feet of Guru and Krishna.

There is hardly any society in this world that insists on following the regulative principles strictly and hence there is hardly any change in the heart of their followers. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's purity and influence is unparalleled in the entire history of . He brought about a transformation in the heart of hundreds and thousands of persons who came in touch with Him (and are still coming in touch) because His thoughts were pure, words were pure and actions were pure.

Following the instructions of his spiritual master, another pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, with a single-minded determination, expanded the sankirtan movement all over the world. Now the entire world is doing sankirtan and worshiping Gaur- deities at home even though these devotees are completely foreign to the vedic culture. This is Mahaprabhu's transcendental miracle which He enacted through His senapati bhakta, Srila Prabhupada.

39. Integrity in devotional service leads to purity: There is a beautiful verse in the shastras,

manasy vacasy ekam karmany ekam mahātmanah manasy anyad vacasy anyad karmany anyad durātmanah

Those whose thoughts, words and deeds are always pure and one-pointed (towards Krishna) are called mahatmas (great souls). Whereas those whose thoughts, words and deeds are diverted towards everything else other than Krishna are not pure and hence are called duratmas (bad souls).

Everything begins with our thoughts. The words should follow our thoughts and then the actions should follow our words. This is called integrity. Only those who speak what he thinks, and does what he speaks, are respected in this world. Such pure personalities with high standard of integrity are very rare. However we are fortunate to have so many stalwart mahajanas in our bhakti movement, the best example being Mahaprabhu Himself. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's thoughts were always about devotional service to Krishna. He always spoke about devotional service and Krishna and His actions always followed His words. He never said something which did not align with His principles & convictions, nor He ever did something which was not aligned with His words. Hence He could capture the minds of the sannyasis who were convinced of His purity and integrity within a few minutes of associating with Him.

The world is full of cheaters and all the time we get cheated by people who promise something but do not care to keep up their promises. Faced with such cheaters 99% of the time, people naturally get frustrated and lose faith in any form of . Pure devotees never cheat anybody. Their life is fully dedicated to uplift the mankind from the state of material suffering to the state of spiritual bliss. In this Kali yuga it is extremely rare to find such a pure devotee, what to speak of associating with him and learning the process of bhakti. In such a depressing situation, the mayavadi sannyasis got to associate with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. How fortunate they must be?! Srila Prabhupada writes thus in his purport, "These Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were fortunate enough to meet the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of a devotee, and certainly they were greatly influenced by the Lord."

Krishna willing, we shall meditate further on this absorbing topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 21

Date: 2020-03-29 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how the mayavadi sannyasis were influenced by the purity and integrity of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and expressed their appreciation of His devotion. Let us continue to meditate further on the discussion between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

40. A pure devotee is always reasonable: We shall continue to meditate on the verse 105 of Adi lila, wherein the sannyasis said,

tomāra prabhāve sabāra ānandita mana kabhu asaṅgata nahe tomāra vacana

Dear Sir, by Your influence our minds are greatly satisfied, and we believe that Your words will never be unreasonable. Therefore You may speak on the Vedānta-sūtra.

In the last offering we saw the point about how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's purity and integrity satisfied the sannyasis mind. The next significant point is that the sannyasis were convinced that whatever Mahaprabhu speaks, He will be reasonable. Prabhupada translates the word 'asangata' as 'unreasonable'. The opposite of asangata is sangata and its English equivalent is 'reasonable'.

1) The word sangata (or sangati) is used quite common in many Indian languages. When someones asks, 'What is the sangati'?, he refers to, 'Is there any important news?'. So sangati also means 'that which is very important'. The sannyasis were convinced that anything that Mahaprabhu speaks will be very important for everyone's spiritual upliftment.

2) 'Reasonable' also means, whatever a person speaks or does, it is based on sound reason. i.e., he thinks deeply and ask questions such as what, why, how about any subject matter. Hence they are also able to answer any question on any subject 'with reason'.

3) Reasonable persons are equi-balanced in their minds. They are equally amicable with everyone and does not take a decision based on their emotions, preferences, personal bias etc. When two people have misunderstanding, and when a third person is called for mediation, if that mediator has a reputation of being equi-balanced, then the bickering parties will say, "He is reasonable, he will understand our situation perfectly and give his opinion." So reasonable persons opinions are always respectfully accepted.

4) Reasonable person's words and actions always 'makes sense' to everyone. In other words, they can understand the position of the recipient and speak in their language. Hence whatever they speak is easily understandable.

5) Reason also means 'cause'. Hence those who are reasonable, they always look at the root cause of any situation or problem. When someone acts in a bizarre manner, they don't pass judgement on that person immediately. They reflect on the root cause of the situation and thus they are able to provide lasting solution to any problem.

6) Since devotees who are reasonable, always look at the root cause, they see Krishna's hand in everything and everywhere because Krishna is the cause of all causes. Hence they are also sober and never bewildered or agitated in times of adversities.

7) Reasonable persons are able to make others see 'reason' in whatever is happening in their life. Devotees who are reasonable, are expert in making others understand the underlying reason for their problems and help them get rid of the anarthas in them that blocks their reasoning power.

We can see that all the above qualities are present in full in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and also in every pure devotee in the parampara following in His footsteps. This is the greatness of our sankirtan movement. Our greatest fortune is that we have the most 'reasonable' acarya in His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada whose every book makes perfect sense to anyone who wants to achieve the purpose of their human birth in this life itself.

41. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches everyone by practice: The sannyasis were firstly attracted by the humble and meek behavior of Mahaprabhu. They observed that Mahaprabhu was spiritually very advanced, even though He never advertised about it. He was gentle and assertive in His speech but at the same time it was based on the strong faith and conviction in the words of the spiritual master. They had some negative opinion about Him initially but He was not affected by it. Thus they were convinced that whatever Mahaprabhu speaks, it will make sense to them. Therefore they were eager to hear the explanation of Vedanta from the lotus mouth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Again it is an important lesson that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us. āpani ācari prabhu jīvere śikhāya - Whatever the Lord wanted to teach us in devotional service, He practiced and showed us how to do it ourself. We should practice before we preach. Our spiritual master would say a beautiful point, "The person who eats the food may not know how to cook, but he can tell whether the cooking is good or not. Similarly, a person may not know anything about devotional service or preaching, but he can find out if the preacher is a genuine devotee or not.", because he can simply compare our preaching with our actions and make his judgement. Hence it is extremely important for us to be genuine in our devotion.

Even in our society, genuine devotion is becoming very rare. While it is of course very important to distribute Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy far and wide, in the name of preaching, out-reach, numbers and targets, so much compromise is being done in our personsal sadhana that we lose the fabric of purity in our devotional service in the broader picture. We should ask ourselves, "What am I going to achieve by faking as a devotee?" When Krishna is not in the center of our thoughts, actions and words, nobody is going to be pleased with us including ourselves, and all our endeavors (in our so-called devotional service), for name and fame will only result in frustration. We should guard against this danger by getting back to our sadhana of sincere chanting and serious study. Srila Prabhupada's books are so full of deep devotion. Meditating on the transcendental purports of His Divine Grace is non-different from meditating on the lotus feet of Krishna. The bliss of studying and discussing the transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada with like-minded devotees is incomparable to any other form of bliss. Let us make a promise to Srila Prabhupada and our Guru Maharaj that every day we will at least read a few pages of Srila Prabhupada's books, contemplate deeply on it, find out practical points and practice them in our day-day life.

Krishna willing, we shall continue to meditate on this transcendental topic in our next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 22

Date: 2020-03-30 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how the pure devotees are reasonable in their thoughts, words and actions and also how Mahaprabhu taught us everything in devotional service by personal example. Let us continue to meditate further on the discussion between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

42. Mahaprabhu explains the defects in Shankaracarya's explanations: Upon being requested by the mayavadi sannyasis to speak on the Vedanta sutra, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave a detailed and clear account first on how it has been misinterpreted by the shariraka of Sri Shankaracarya. Here are some of the salient points from His explanations: a) Vedānta philosophy consists of words spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa in the form of Vyāsadeva. b) Since Vedanta is written by Krishna Himself, it is free of any mundane defect. Hence one must understand its direct meaning as it is and not give any indirect interpretation. c) The Absolute Truth is described in the Upaniṣads and Brahma-sūtra, but one must understand the verses as they are. That is the supreme glory in understanding. d) Sripad Shankaracarya has written his commentaries through indirect explanations. But he is not at fault because as an incarnation of Lord Siva, he did it under the order of the Supreme Lord to cover the real purport of the .

This is a very important point for us to reflect. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu never pointed out any mistakes in Shankaracarya and He only pointed out the faults in the philosophy, ie.,hate the sin not the sinner. This is a sign of a maha-bhagavata. Person bhagavatas never carry any malice toward any personalities. Mahaprabhu is once again teaching us through His personal example. e) According to direct understanding, the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has all spiritual opulences. No one can be equal to or greater than Him. f) Praṇava [oṁkāra] is the mahā-vākya [mahā-mantra] in the Vedas, but the mayavada explanation covers it and gives higher importance to tat tvam asi. This is incorrect. g) In all the Vedic sūtras and literatures, it is Lord Kṛṣṇa who is to be understood, but the followers of Śaṅkarācārya have covered the real meaning of the Vedas with indirect explanations.

Mahaprabhu then quoted from Purana, Bhagavad-gita, , Vedas and various other pramanas to prove that impersonal understanding of the Absolute Truth is not the ultimate. And He also referred to many sutras in Vedanta such as 'tat tvam asi' and how it was wrongly interpreted by the mayavada school of philosophy.

43. The transformation of the mayavadi sannyasi begins: When Mahaprabhu thus showed for each and every sutra the defects in Shankaracarya's explanations, all the assembled sannyasis were struck with wonder. All the sannyasis said, "Your Holiness, kindly know from us that we actually have no quarrel with Your refutation of these meanings , for You have given a clear understanding of the sutras."

This is the result of non-envious, humble and compassionate preaching. Shankaracarya is the founder acarya of the advaita and Mahaprabhu was directly refuting his philosophy in his own den in the midst of hundreds of his followers. Mahaprabhu teaches us that if have strong conviction and foundation of Krishna conscious philosophy, then we can boldly refute any philosophy through vedic pramanas. But He did so with a humble, gentle and compassionate mood. That is where He won over the hearts of the mayavadi sannyasis who openly admitted to Him, " We know that all this word jugglery springs from the imagination of Śaṅkarācārya, and yet because we belong to his sect, we accept it although it does not satisfy us."

Finally the sannyasis openly admit their predicament. Actually mayavada philosophy is completely illogical. Anyone with even a little bit of common sense can appreciate the faults in that philosophy but because it suits the nourishment of our ego, most people are attracted to it. The mayavadi sannyasis who did daily adhyayana and austerities said to Mahaprabhu that they are aware the mayavada philosophy is illogical and it does not satisfy them. What more evidence do we need to prove the deficiency in the mayavada ?

The above statement of the sannyasis reminds us of an interesting anecdote our spiritual master once quoted us. Many years ago when Maharaj was on a preaching tour, he was requested to speak in a public program where many other spiritual leaders were invited to speak. After Maharaj finished his speech, one other mayavadi sannyasi came up and spoke. He spoke very beautifully glorifying Krishna, devotees, the greatness of bhakti etc. Maharaj was quite surprised and when that sannyasi finished his speech Maharaj asked him, "You are a mayavadi sannyasi, how come you are so nicely speaking about Krishna bhakti?"

That mayavadi whispered in Maharaj's ears,"Please don't tell this outside. In my heart I am a Krishna devotee only, but I am putting on this vesha (mayavadi sannyasi) because otherwise I will not get the accommodation, prasadam etc in that ashram. They will drive me out."

Maharaj then laughed heartily and told us that this is real state of mayavadi followers. Their heart is not there in that philosophy nor are they able to preach the with conviction. Whereas in Krishna consciousness movement even an illiterate can speak the philosophy or even a small child can speak. The entire credit goes to our dear Srila Prabhupada, who compassionately wrote so many books in a simple and easily understandable language so that we can have a strong foundation of knowledge in the execution of our devotional service. It is very nicely concluded in SB 1.2.12,

tac chraddadhānā munayo jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā

The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti.

So the culmination of all the learning and gaining knowledge from the Vedanta is to render unflinching devotional service unto the Supreme Lord. This is crystal clear. We can meditate on this most potent statement from his transcendental purport in which His Divine Grace gives the perfect definition of bhakti:

"Devotional service, which is based on the foreground of full knowledge combined with detachment from material association and which is fixed by the aural reception of the Vedānta-śruti, is the only perfect method by which the seriously inquisitive student can realize the Absolute Truth." We are eternally indebted to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for having planned this crucial service of transforming the mayavadi sannyasis by pointing out the fallacies in their impersonal philosophy. If not for Him, many of us would have been in a grand illusion thinking we are God!

Krishna willing, let us continue to meditate further on this beautiful topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 23

Date: 2020-03-31 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how upon hearing the crystal clear explanation of the flaws in Shankaracarya's commentary of Vedanta sutra, the mayavadi sannyasis were completely convinced of Mahaprabhu's transcendental knowledge and devotion. Let us continue to meditate further on the discussion between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sannyasis of Varanasi.

44. Mahaprabhu's explanation of the Vedanta sutra: Mahaprabhu explained that Vedanta sutra, being written by Vyasadev who is incarnation of Krishna Himself, has no defects. One who takes the direct meaning does not get confused. But Shankaracarya had given indirect and round-about explanation to it and hence everyone is confused about it. The mayavadi sannyasis were fully convinced of Mahaprabhu's explanation and then they requested Mahaprabhu to explain the sutras in terms of their direct meaning.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu began giving His direct explanation of the Vedanta sutra:

1) "Brahman, who is greater than the greatest, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is full in six opulences, and therefore He is the reservoir of ultimate truth and absolute knowledge."

Mahaprabhu began explaining the direct meaning of Vedanta sutra with reference to the fact that the Supreme Lord is full in six opulences namely wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation and therefore He is called Bhagavan. This is a direct refutation to the incorrect theory of mayavada philosophy that 'God is formless and without qualities'. It is common sense that no one can possess all opulences such as beauty, knowledge, wealth etc. without possessing a form.

2) "In His original form the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full with transcendental opulences, which are free from the contamination of the material world."

3) "In all Vedic literature the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate goal."

We have several references in authorized scriptures: vedaisca sarvair aham eva vedyo - In all Vedas only Krishna is to be known (Bhagavad-gita 15.15) vāsudeva parā yoga - In the revealed scriptures, the ultimate object of knowledge is Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (SB 1.2.28) vāsudeva parā gatih - He is the supreme goal of life. (SB 1.2.28)

4) "When we speak of the Supreme as impersonal, we deny His spiritual potencies. Logically, if you accept half of the truth, you cannot understand the whole."

The between devotees and mayavadis is that devotees accept all three stages - brahman, paramatma and bhagavan combined together as the Supreme Absolute Truth whereas mayavadis accept only the impersonal brahman as the ultimate truth and reject the other stages of realizations. Accepting half the truth is not logical and they cannot realize the Absolute Truth in full. Hence the surrender is also not whole-hearted. In several places in Bhagavad-gita also Krishna repeats that In all the Vedas He is the Pranava mantra (pranavah sarva vedeshu), I am the foundation of the impersonal Brahman (brahmano hi prathishtaham), When one recites the vedic mantra , He should remember Me (om iti ekaksharam brahma vyaharan mam anusmaran) etc. So Mahaprabhu clarified this misconception too of the mayavadis.

5) "It is only by devotional service, beginning with hearing, that one can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the only means to approach Him."

The two points Mahaprabhu highlights in His explanation here is that, a) Bhakti is the only process by which one can fully understand the Supreme Absolute Truth b) Bhakti begins with the process of hearing (the name, glories and pastimes of the Lord).

This point is time and again repeated in Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and all the shastras. Krishna says in the Gita 18.55,

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tad-anantaram

One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service . And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.

Krishna strongly establishes the importance of hearing and the achievement of those who are attached to who are inclined to hearing about Him (śruti-parāyaṇāḥ) in Gita 13.26. He says that such devotees simply because of their eagerness to hear from the authorities and perform devotional service according to their instructions (śrutvānyebhya upāsate), they are able to easily cross over the ocean of birth and death and attain His eternal abode. This is an extremely important point for us aspiring devotees to reflect and put into practice in regard to the hearing process.

Devotional service begins with hearing and it is nicely established in the Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.17,

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.

We need to have the urge to hear the virtuous glories of the Lord's name, form and pastimes and it is the only perfect method to cleanse our heart of all contaminations. The beauty of this process of devotional service beginning with shravanam, kirtanam etc. is that we do not have to extraneously do all the cleansing work. The Lord Himself will take over the service of cleaning our heart. That is the unique potency of devotional service which we cannot obtain from any other process. Devotional service unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna is an activity of the heart. Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains the science of devotional service, how it works, in Madhya lila 22.107,

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya

Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.

The process of hearing is such a potent service that without any extraneous endeavors, simply by hearing about the glories of the Supreme Lord and chanting His holy names, our heart is completely purified.Thus there are unlimited such pramanas to establish the importance of devotional service beginning with the process of hearing and Mahaprabhu was able to give the direct explanation of Vedanta sutra in terms of the pure devotional service unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna as the only means to achieve perfection in our spiritual life.

Krishna willing, let us hear further explanation on this topic from Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the next offering.

Thank you very much Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 24

Date: 2020-04-01 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how Caitanya Mahaprabhu was explaining loving devotional service to Lord Krishna as the direct meaning of the Vedanta sutra. Let us continue to meditate further on the discussion between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the mayavadi sannyasis.

45. The three subjects of Vedanta sutra: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued to explain the direct meaning of the Vedanta sutra by delineating the three main subjects to attain the ultimate goal of life. a) : Sambandha means relationship. To interact with any entity in this world, living or non-living, first we have to establish a relationship. And to establish a relationship we have to have the knowledge of our relationship with that entity. Srila Prabhupada defines sambandha very nicely in his purport, "Knowledge of these four items — namely oneself, the universe, God, and their internal relationship — is called sambandha-jñāna, or the knowledge of one’s relationship." And this knowledge of our relationship with the Supreme Lord Krishna is revealed in our heart through the process of hearing and chanting - sravanadi shuddha chitte karaye uday.

Actually everything in this world is related to one another because the Supersoul is present in everyone's heart and in every atom as well. When one sees the Supreme Lord in everyone's heart by rendering pure devotional service, then his relationship with every other living and non-living entity is manifest in his heart. According to the level of one's purity, the relationship is established. Srila Prabhupada could establish this connection with people from unknown countries and unknown languages, simply by his pure devotional service.

In order to love someone or something, first of all one should establish a relationship with them. To establish the relationship, one should spend considerable amount of time. Because that is the only true relationship which stands the test of time. So, in order to develop relationship with Krishna in His form of Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-Gita and Chanting, we should spend considerable amount of time and quality time with them. Once we establish the relationship with Krishna, then we can extend that relationship to everything else and feel connected with them, because Krishna is present in everybody's heart. Our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj always insisted that we should acknowledge our relationship with all the objects and things that we use like our clothes, utilities etc, by dealing with them gently. And the nature of any object in this world is that it will reciprocate in exact same way we treat them. That is why it is said in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe, yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate - When we accept everything in relation to Krishna, even if they are previously unrelated, they become related to us. b) Abhidheya: Abhidheya means Activity in that relationship. Srila Prabhupada defines abhidheya as follows: " When one’s relationship with the Supreme Lord is established, the next program is to act in that relationship. This is called abhidheya, or activity in relationship with the Lord." Once the relationship is established with someone, then one has to nurture that relationship through constant service and exchange of love and affection. Only then it will progress. We cannot simply keep saying,"I have so much affection for you", "I can do anything for you" etc. but when that person needs our help, we avoid them. That will not build the sambandha.

So when we become aware of our relationship with Krishna, as His eternal servant, we continuously nurture that relationship through service. This is the most important aspect of bhakti. The devotee is so much absorbed in his service to the Lord that the Lord becomes indebted to him. And this service itself is so joyfully performed. This is the beauty of devotional service. Hence while explaining this concept to the sannyasis, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu makes a beautiful statement,

premā haite kṛṣṇa haya nija bhakta-vaśa premā haite pāya kṛṣṇera sevā-sukha-

The Supreme Lord, who is greater than the greatest, becomes submissive to even a very insignificant devotee because of his devotional service. It is the beautiful and exalted nature of devotional service that the infinite Lord becomes submissive to the infinitesimal living entity because of it. In reciprocal devotional activities with the Lord, the devotee actually enjoys the transcendental mellow of devotional service.

So Srila Prabhupada would say emphatically that the impersonalists are trying to be equal to God. But they are less intelligent. If you become a devotee, you can become greater than God because the Lord becomes our servant then. Hence devotees are more intelligent than other transcendentalists.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explains about the abhidheya process as follows:

sei sarva-vedera ‘abhidheya’ nāma sādhana-bhakti haite haya premera udgama

By practicing this regulated devotional service under the direction of the spiritual master, certainly one awakens his dormant love of Godhead. This process is called abhidheya. c) Prayojana: Prayojana is the ultimate goal of life. Srila Prabhupada explains, "After executing such prescribed duties, when one attains the highest goal of life, love of Godhead, he achieves prayojana-siddhi, or the fulfillment of his human mission." So when we render unconditional devotional service, Krishna bestows us with His prema-bhakti. This is the highest goal of life.

Srila Prabhupada then explains this point very nicely in connection with how the mayavadis do not even come to the relationship stage, "If one can understand his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and act accordingly, automatically his mission in life is fulfilled. The Māyāvādī philosophers miss even the first stage in self- realization because they have no conception of God’s being personal. He is the master of all, and He is the only person who can accept the service of all living entities, but since this knowledge is lacking in Māyāvāda philosophy, Māyāvādīs do not have knowledge even of their relationship with God. They wrongly think that everyone is God or that everyone is equal to God. Therefore, since the real position of the living entity is not clear to them, how can they advance further?"

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu thus concluded His explanation of the Vedanta sutra in terms of pure devotional service with this beautiful verse, "One’s relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, activities in terms of that relationship, and the ultimate goal of life [to develop love of God] — these three subjects are explained in every aphorism of the Vedānta-sūtra, for they form the culmination of the entire Vedānta philosophy."

The sweetness of devotional service cannot be experienced in any other process in all the three worlds. It is an exclusive property of the spiritual world and is bestowed upon us by the causeless mercy of Guru and Krishna. And the most merciful Lord Caitanya has brought this Krishna prema to this world out of unlimited compassion for suffering souls like us. Beyond that the most merciful Srila Prabhupada broke open the treasure house of devotional service and let the entire world float in the ocean of pure devotional service. Krishna willing, we shall hear further from this transcendental topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 25

Date: 2020-04-02 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

Wish you all a very happy Navami! Lord Sri Ramachandra bhagavan ki jai!!

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained the three principle subject matter of Vedanta sutra - sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana in a lucid way and concluded His talk. Let us now meditate on what happened after His preaching.

46. Mahaprabhu's mercy transforms the mayavadi sannyasis: When all the mayavadi sannyasis thus heard the explanation of Caitanya Mahaprabhu on the basis of sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana, they spoke very humbly.

vedamaya-mūrti tumi, — sākṣāt nārāyaṇa kṣama aparādha, — pūrve ye kailuṅ nindana

Dear Sir, You are Vedic knowledge personified and are directly Nārāyaṇa Himself. Kindly excuse us for the offenses we previously committed by criticizing You.

This is the third time the sannyasis express to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu that He is Narayana Himself. This proves an important point that even a wrong philosophy (that 'everyone is Narayana') when applied to the Supreme Lord, turns correct and purifies the person's heart. The difference between when the mayavadi sannyasis greeted each other as 'Narayana' and when they greeted Caitanya Mahaprabhu as 'Narayana' is that, the former was for the sake of formality whereas the later was genuinely from their heart, being captivated by the transcendental nature of Mahaprabhu. And it also reveals us the extra-special mercy of Mahaprabhu that He took only the essence of their devotion and rejected their imperfections.

Srila Prabhupada says in his transcendental purport, "The complete path of bhakti-yoga is based upon the process of becoming humble and submissive. By the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were very humble and submissive after hearing His explanation of the Vedānta-sūtra, and they begged to be pardoned for the offenses they had committed by criticizing the Lord for simply chanting and dancing and not taking part in the study of the Vedānta-sūtra. We are propagating the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement simply by following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We may not be very well versed in the Vedānta-sūtra aphorisms and may not understand their meaning, but we follow in the footsteps of the ācāryas, and because of our strictly and obediently following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, it is to be understood that we know everything regarding the Vedānta-sūtra."

Srila Prabhupada gives assurance and encourages us to boldly preach the instructions of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, having strong faith in His mercy, without being intimidated by the highly learned scholars in the society. In the process, even if we face any insults or intimidations, by Mahaprabhu's mercy eventually it will all turn around favorably just like how the mayavadis eventually sought forgiveness from Him for their offenses. We just need to endure the insults patiently like Caitanya Mahaprabhu did and we will definitely come out successful in our attempts to glorify the Supreme Lord. 47. A preacher's success is in transforming offenders into devotees: From that moment when the mayavadi sannyasis heard the explanation of the Vedanta sutra from the Lord, their minds changed, and on the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they too chanted “Krishna! Krishna!” all the time.

Srila Prabhupada exemplifies the goal of the sankirtan movement beautifully, "Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us that those whom preachers meet are almost all offenders who are opposed to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but it is a preacher’s duty to convince them of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and then induce them to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Our propagation of the saṅkīrtana movement is continuing, despite many opponents, and people are taking up this chanting process even in remote parts of the world like Africa. By inducing the offenders to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu exemplified the success of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement . We should follow very respectfully in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, and there is no doubt that we shall be successful in our attempts."

This is another lesson we learn from Srila Prabhupada's transcendental purport. It is no big deal to speak about Krishna consciousness to a believer of God. The real challenge is to convince a non-believer about Krishna conscious philosophy and transform them into devotees. Srila Prabhupada wrote this purport 50 years ago, and it holds true even today, in fact exemplifies it even more. He was so brave in taking risks for the pleasure of Lord Caitanya that the movement has been transforming thousands of offenders and uninterested people into sincere devotees of Krishna ever since.

48. Travel alone and conquer everyone's heart: Lord Caitanya excused all the offenses of the mayavadi sannyasis and very mercifully blessed them with the holy names. After this, all the sannyāsīs took the Lord into their midst, and thus they all took their meal together.

Thus Mahaprabhu conquered all the mayavadi sannyasis' hearts and they joyfully invited Him to take the meal along with them. Here Srila Prabhupada notes an important point which exemplifies the extraordinary mercy of Mahaprabhu and proves why He is maha-vadanyaya. This is one act that is His prerogative based on His transcendental nature which cannot be imitated - "Previously Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had neither mixed nor talked with the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, but now He took lunch with them. It is to be concluded that when Lord Caitanya induced them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and excused them for their offenses, they were purified, and therefore there was no objection to taking lunch, or bhagavat-prasādam, with them, although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew that the food had not been offered to the Deity"

Srila Prabhupada brings out another very vital instruction for us to follow, "Here is an example of how a sannyāsī should preach. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to Vārāṇasī, He went there alone, not with a big party ...Therefore, although He did not have many friends there, due to His sound preaching and His victory in arguing with the local sannyāsīs on the Vedānta philosophy, He became greatly famous in that part of the country."

Srila Prabhupada traveled alone to the West, with no support whatsoever. He was dependent only on his Guru and Krishna's mercy. Now a world-wide movement is expanding every day offering so many varieties of services to the society. Currently as the entire world is suffering from Corona calamity, ISKCON society is braving the situation and distributing free prasadam to millions of people everyday and are glorified by the Govt authorities in all parts of the world. All this is possible only because of the merciful glance of Lord Caitanya upon the sincere warriors trying to please His dear devotee Srila Prabhupada.

Krishna willing, we will continue to meditate further on this transcendentally beautiful topic in the next offering.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Kalacakra Krsna das Lord Caitanya's Master Plan - Part 26

Date: 2020-04-03 Author: Kalacakra Krsna das

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

We have been meditating on the transcendental pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu transforming the sannyasis of Varanasi into devotees. In the last offering we saw how Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by His personal conduct taught the preachers in Krishna consciousness several vital lessons to practice. In this concluding part of the series we shall see two more lessons from this pastime.

49. Mahaprabhu teaches us to respect demigods: As Caitanya Mahaprabhu's fame spread all over Varanasi, many local mayavadi sannyasis came to see the Lord, and the entire city praised Him. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited the city of Varanasi, and all of its people were very thankful. The crowd at the door of His residence was so great that it numbered hundreds of thousands. Mahaprabhu also regularly visited the famous Viswanath temple.

When the Lord went to visit the temple of Viśveśvara, hundreds of thousands of people assembled to see Him.

One can naturally question how is it that Mahaprabhu visited Lord Siva's temple since Vaishnavas generally don't visit demigod's temples? Srila Prabhupada succinctly clears the doubt teaching us one more lesson from this pastime of Mahaprabhu thus: "The answer is that a Vaiṣṇava does not behave impudently toward the demigods. A Vaiṣṇava gives proper respect to all, although he never accepts a demigod to be as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We must offer proper respects to all the demigods. If one can offer respects even to an ant, why not to the demigods?"

This is one of the most significant lessons that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and subsequently all the acaryas in the disciplic succession taught us by practice. Lord Siva is glorified as vaishnavanam yatha shambhu, and his glories are sung all over Bhagavatam, being one of the chief Mahajanas. Why would a devotee of Krishna not respect another devotee of Krishna, that too a maha-bhagavata? Thus Mahaprabhu's teachings are extremely practical and common- sensical, and by His personal conduct He taught us how to become a pure devotee.

We are reminded of an incident that our god-brother H G Devakinandan Prabhu recollected once when our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj visited Singapore in one of his world tours. In Singapore, due to Govt restrictions, the morning Bhagavatam class was being conducted in one of the rooms in a demigod temple named Veerama Kaliyamman temple. When Maharaj went to the temple to give Bhagavatam class, first he went to take darshan of Amman deity (Goddess Kali) and offered his dandavat pranam. Devakinandan Prabhu was a bit puzzled and asked Maharaj, "Maharaj, is it ok for devotees to offer respects to demigods?" Maharaj turned around and asked him, " Do you think you will be able to conduct Bhagavatam program here without her permission?"

50. A pure vaishnava keeps moving like a river: After a few months of stay in the city of Varanasi, though lot of crowd gathered to hear from Mahaprabhu and many mayavadi sannyasis came to see Him, Mahaprabhu left Varanasi and returned to Puri.

The final lesson that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches in this pastime is that a devotee, especially a preacher, should keep moving on, like a river and never be attached to place, name, fame, followers etc. The situation in Varanasi became so conducive for Caitanya Mahaprabhu that He gathered thousands of friends, well-wishers and disciples by His purity. But that purity is further glorified when the Lord revealed the last of His opulence - renunciation. He left Varanasi silently. Normally when we are successful in our services in a certain place, we get attached to the yatra, service, appreciations, local friends and devotees etc. It may be ok to serve in a particular place or group until we are kept there by Krisha's will. But we should be ready to leave on our own when the situation forces us to leave. Mostly though, we catch hold of the place, people and position like a leech and we do not want to let go of it. We justify it saying that it is only attachment to devotees and service and hence it is ok. But in that attachment is only to the intoxication of the name, fame and followers, not to the devotional service. Such attachments dilutes the intensity of our devotional service and drags it towards lower material modes.

Hence, as aspiring devotees, we should follow in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by keeping ourselves detached from the opulences and reciprocations we receive for our services and focus only on pure devotional service birth after birth as the Lord reveals in His fervent prayer in Sikshashtakam.

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ / kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare / bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth.

Conclusion: We are finally concluding this series of offering on the topic - Lord Caitanya's Master Plan. His plans are inconceivable. He planned the entire pastime of transforming the mayavadis into devotees to teach us all these lessons. When we began this series, we had no idea so much treasure is buried inside this pastime, but by the causeless mercy of our dear spiritual master who taught us how to love Srila Prabhupada's books, we were able to taste a drop of this nectarean pastime of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We are eternally grateful to Srila Prabhupada and all our acaryas for distributing this greatest treasure of Krishna bhakti freely all over the world. We offer our humble prayers at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who mercifully allowed this most unqualified entity to meditate on His glorious pastimes, by remembering this beautiful prayer in CC Adi lila 2.2:

kṛṣṇotkīrtana-gāna-nartana-kalā-pāthojani-bhrājitā sad-bhaktāvali-haṁsa-cakra-madhupa-śreṇī-vihārāspadam karṇānandi-kala-dhvanir vahatu me jihvā-maru-prāṅgaṇe śrī-caitanya dayā-nidhe tava lasal-līlā-sudhā-svardhunī

O my merciful Lord Caitanya, may the nectarean Ganges waters of Your transcendental activities flow on the surface of my desertlike tongue. Beautifying these waters are the lotus flowers of singing, dancing and loud chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, which are the pleasure abodes of unalloyed devotees. These devotees are compared to swans, ducks and bees. The river’s flowing produces a melodious sound that gladdens their ears.

Thank you very much. Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Kalacakra Krsna das