तं श्रीमत्कृष्णचैतन्यं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम् ।
यस्यानुकम्पया श्वापि महाब्धिं सन्तरेत्सुखम् ॥
taṁ śrīmat-kṛṣṇa-caitanyaṁ vande jagad-gurum |
yasyānukampayā śvāpi mahābdhiṁ santaret sukham ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 2.1)
“I offer obeisance to him,
Blessed Kṛṣṇa,
Caitanya,
The Guru of the world,
By whose favor even a dog
Can easily cross over a great ocean.”
Commentary
Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda explains in his commentary on this verse that the compound Śrīmat-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanyaṁ refers to he who is blessed Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya-deva, that is, the Paramātmā. Then, he adds that from another perspective, the compound can also be understood to refers to the form of Īśvara, that is, the renowned Deva, named Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (śrīmān Kṛṣṇaś cāsau Caitanya-devaś ca Paramātmeti … pakṣe Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-caitanyeti vikhyāta-Devam Īśvaram). He then explains this as follows,
sākṣāt tasyopadeṣṭṛtvāsambhave’pi cittādhiṣṭhātṛtvādinā sarveṣām api jīvānāṁ parama-gurutayāmano’pi sa eva gurur ity abhipretya likhati jagad-gurum iti | pakṣe sarvatraiva bhagavan-nāma-saṅkīrtana-pradhāna-bhakti-pracāraṇāj jagatāṁ gurutvena viśeṣato dīna-jana-viṣayaka-samagropadeśānugrahaṇe gurum iti |
“Despite the impossibility of his [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’s] being an instructor in person [for everyone], he specifically, although unseen [directly with the eyes], is the guru [of all] because of [his] being the supreme guru indeed for all jīvas by virtue of being the overseer of the psyche and so forth [of all, i.e., the indwelling form of Śrī Bhagavān that enables and guides the functioning of every living being’s pscyhe]. Intending this, the author writes, ‘The Guru of the world …’ [i.e., he describes Śrīmat-Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya as the Guru of everyone in the world]. From another perspective, because of his favor in the form of [having given] complete instructions relevant to lowly persons in particular by virtue of [his] being the Guru of the world on account of his propagating bhakti in which saṅkīrtana of Bhagavān’s names is prominent indeed everywhere, he is [fit to be described as] the Guru [of the world].”