Caitanya Mahāprabhu
jāti kula kriyā dhane kichu nāhi kare
jāti kula kriyā dhane kichu nāhi kare |
prema-dhana ārti vine nā pāi kṛṣṇere ||
ye te kule vaiṣṇavera janma kene nahe |
tathāpiha sarvottama sarva-śāstre kahe ||
ei tāra pramāṇa—yavana hari-dāsa |
brahmādira durlabha dekhila parakāśa ||
ye pāpiṣṭha vaiṣṇavera jāti-buddhi kare |
janma janma adhama-yonite ḍubi mare ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.10.99–102)
“Caste [i.e., birth in a high caste], family [i.e., birth in a noble family], accomplishment [i.e., performing great worldly works], and wealth do not do anything [i.e., cannot enable anyone to attain Kṛṣṇa]. Without the wealth of prema and heartache (ārti), one does not attain Kṛṣṇa. A Vaiṣṇava’s birth may be in any family. Why not? Still, all the śāstras say the Vaiṣṇava is the most exalted of all [i.e., exalted above and beyond all who neglect to engage in bhakti to Śrī Bhagavān, regardless of their caste, family, accomplishments, and wealth]. The evidence of this is Yavana Hari Dāsa, who saw a manifestation [of Śrī Bhagavān] difficult to attain [even] for Brahmā and others. A sinner who considers a Vaiṣṇava to belong to a caste [i.e., be no different than others in the caste of his birth] sinks to a lowly form of life and dies birth after birth.”
śrīmac-caitanya-devāya tasmai bhagavate namaḥ
śrīmac-caitanya-devāya tasmai bhagavate namaḥ |
yad-rūpa-maṇim āśritya citraṁ nṛtyaty ayaṁ jaḍaḥ ||
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.1.1)
“Obeisance unto him, Bhagavān,
Śrīmac Caitanyadeva,
By taking shelter in the jewel of whose form
[Even] This fool dances wonderfully.”
bhagavad-bhakti-śāstrāṇām ayaṁ sārasya saṅgrahaḥ
bhagavad-bhakti-śāstrāṇām ayaṁ sārasya saṅgrahaḥ |
anubhūtasya caitanyadeve tat-priya-rūpataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.11)
“This [text] is a compilation of the essence of the śāstras related to Bhagavad-bhakti [which has been] perceived [by me] in Caitanyadeva [i.e., in Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or, in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu] by reason of his beloved form [alt., by reason of his beloved bhakta Śrī Rūpa].”
āji muñi anāyāse jininu tribhuvana
āji muñi anāyāse jininu tribhuvana |
āji muñi karinu vaikuṇṭhe ārohaṇa ||
āji mora pūrṇa haila sarva abhilāṣa |
sārvabhaumera haila mahāprasāde viśvāsa ||
āji niṣkapaṭe tumi hailā kṛṣṇāśraya |
kṛṣṇa niṣkapaṭe hailā tomāre sadaya ||
āji se khaṇḍila tomāra dehādi-bandhana |
āji chinna kaile tumi māyāra bandhana ||
āji kṛṣṇa-prāpti-yogya haila tomāra mana |
veda-dharma laṅghi kaile prasāda-bhakṣaṇa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.6.230–234)
“[Śrīman Mahāprabhu to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya:] Today I have easily conquered the three worlds. Today I have ascended to Vaikuṇṭha. Today all my desires are fulfilled: Sārvabhauma has attained faith in mahāprasāda. Today you have guilelessly become sheltered in Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa has guilelessly been gracious to you. Today he has cut away the bondage of your body and so forth. Today you have cut through the bondage of māyā. Today your mind has become first for attainment of Kṛṣṇa: transgressing Vedic dharma, you have eaten prasāda.”
sarvajñera cūḍāmaṇi viśvambhara-rāya
sarvajñera cūḍāmaṇi viśvambhara-rāya |
jāne ‘vipra lukāiyā āchaye ethāya’ ||
rahiyā rahiyā bole prabhu viśvambhara |
‘āji kena prema-yoga nā pāṅa nirbhara ||
keha ni āsiyā āche bāḍīra bhitare |
kichu nāhi bujho̐, satya kaha dekhi more’ ||
bhaya pāi śrīnivāsa bolaye vacana |
‘pāṣaṇḍera ithe prabhu nāhi āgamana ||
sabe eka brahmacārī—baḍa subrāhmaṇa |
sarva-kāla payaḥ-pāna, niṣpāpa-jīvana ||
dekhite tomāra nṛtya śraddhā tā̐ra baḍa |
nibhṛte āchaye prabhu jāniyācha daḍha’ ||
śuni krodhāveśe bole prabhu viśvambhara |
‘jhāṭa jhāṭa bāḍīra bāhira niñā kara’ ||
mora nṛtya dekhite uhāra kon śakti |
payaḥ-pāna karile ki mohe haya bhakti?’ ||
dui bhuja tuli prabhu aṅgulī dekhāya |
‘payaḥ-pāne kabhu more keha nāhi pāya ||
caṇḍāleho mohāra śaraṇa yadi laya |
seha mora, muñi tāra, jāniha niścaya ||
sannyāsīo yadi mora nā laya śaraṇa |
seha mora nahe, satya balilu vacana ||
gajendra-vānara-gopa ki tapa karila |
bola dekhi tārā more ki tape pāila ||
asureo tapa kare, ki haya tāhāra |
vine mora śaraṇa laile nāhi pāra’ ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.23.34–46)
“The crest jewel of the all-knowing, Viśvambhara Rāya, knew, ‘A brāhmaṇa is hiding here.’ Prabhu Viśvambhara, stopping [his dancing] again and again, said, ‘Why do I not feel an abundance of prema’s presence today? Someone has been brought inside the house. I don’t understand anything? Look and tell me the truth.’ Feeling fear, Śrīnivāsa spoke this statement, ‘No heretic has arrived here, Prabhu! In all there is [just] one bramacārī, who is an exalted and excellent brāhmaṇa. He drinks milk all the time and has a sinless life. He had a great desire to behold your dancing. He is hidden [here], Prabhu. You have understood rightly.’
“Upon hearing [this], absorbed in anger Prabhu Viśvambhara said, ‘Quickly, quickly take him out of the house! What ability does he have to see my dancing? Does one attain bhakti to me [merely] by drinking milk?’
“Raising his two arms, Prabhu showed his [index] fingers [and said], ‘No one ever attains me [merely] by drinking milk. If even a caṇḍāla accepts my shelter, [then] know for certain that he is mine, and I am his. If even a sannyāsī [however] does not accept my shelter, [then] he is not mine. I have spoken a truthful statement. What austerity did Gajendra, the forest monkeys, or the cowherds perform? Look and say by what austerity they attained me? Even asuras perform austerities. What do they attain [merely by that]? If they do not accept my shelter, there is no deliverance [for anyone].”
cira-kāla nāhi kari prema-bhakti-dāna
cira-kāla nāhi kari prema-bhakti-dāna |
bhakti vinā jagatera nāhi avasthāna ||14||
sakala jagate more kare vidhi-bhakti |
vidhi-bhaktye vraja-bhāva pāite nāhi śakti ||15||
aiśvarya-jñānete saba jagat miśrita |
aiśvarya-śikhila-preme nāhi mora prīta ||16||
aiśvarya-jñāne vidhi-bhajana kariyā |
vaikuṇṭhete yāya catur-vidha mukti pāyyā ||17||
sārṣṭi, sārūpya, āra sāmīpya, sālokya | …
āpani kariba bhakta-bhāva aṅgīkāre |
āpani ācari bhakti śikhāimu sabhāre ||20||
āpani nā kaile dharma śikhāna nā yāya |
ei ta siddhānta gītā-bhāgavate gāya |21|| …
yuga-dharma-pravartana haya aṁśa haite |
āmā vinā anye nāre vraja-prema dite ||26||
santv avatārā bahavaḥ paṅkaja-nābhasya sarvvato-bhadrāḥ |
kṛṣṇād anyaḥ ko vā latāsv api premado bhavati ||27||
tāhāte āpana bhakta-gaṇa kari saṅge |
pṛthivīte avatari karimu nānā raṅge ||28||
eta bhāvi kali-kāle prathama sandhyāya |
avatīrṇa hailā kṛṣṇa āpani nadīyāya ||29||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.3.14–18, 20–21, 26–29)
“[After his descent (avatāra) at the end of the Dvāpāra-yuga, Śrī Kṛṣṇa mused:] ‘For a long time, I have not bestowed the gift of prema-bhakti [upon the world], and without bhakti the world has no stability. The whole world engages in injunction-based (vidhi) bhakti to me. There is no power in injunction-based bhakti [however] to attain Vraja-bhāva. The whole world is mixed with awareness of [my] aiśvarya (masterdom). My satisfaction does not come about [however] through prema slackened by [awareness of my] aiśvarya. By performing injunction based worship with awareness of [my] aiśvarya, people go to Vaikuṇṭha upon attaining [one or more of] the four types of mukti: sārṣṭi [i.e., possessing opulence akin to mine], sārūpya [i.e., possessing a form akin to mine], sāmīpya [i.e., dwelling in my personal company], and sālokya [i.e., dwelling in my domain]. … [Therefore,] I will personally accept the bhāva of a bhakta, and I will teach everyone bhakti by practicing it personally. Dharma cannot be taught if one does not follow it personally. This is the conclusion sung in the Gītā and Bhāgavatam [see, e.g., BG 4.7–8, 3.24, 3.21]. … Propagation of the dharma for the age can be done by an aṁśa [i.e., a partial manifestation of myself]. No one other than I [however] can bestow Vraja-prema [since it is said], “There may be many all-auspicious avatāras of he of lotus-navel [i.e. Bhagavān], but who other than Kṛṣṇa is the bestower of prema upon even creepers?” Thus, I will personally descend to the earth with my bhaktas and engage in various merriments.’ Musing thus, Kṛṣṇa personally descended in Nadia during the first phase of the Age of Kali.”
śāstrera nā jāne marma adhyāpanā kare
śāstrera nā jāne marma adhyāpanā kare |
gardabhera prāya yena śāstra vahi mare ||
paḍhiyā śuniñā loka gela chārakhāre |
kṛṣṇa mahāmahotsave vañcila tāhāre ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.1.158–159)
“One who does not know the purport of the śāstra yet teaches [śāstra to others only] bears the śāstra and languishes like a donkey [i.e., as a beast of burden suffers from bearing a load without ever experiencing the benefit the goods it carries can provide, such as the fragrance that can be released from a load of sandalwood it carries, so someone who teaches the śāstra but does not understand its purport only undergoes the trouble of studying and teaching without experiencing the benefit that the knowledge meant to be conveyed by the śāstra can produce, that is, the superlative joy of Kṛṣṇa-bhakti].[Even] After hearing and studying [the śāstra], the person [who teaches the śāstra without understanding its purport] is laid to waste. Kṛṣṇa deprives them of the ultimate grand festival [i.e., the superlative joy of discussion, realization, and so forth of himself].”
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-vilāsa-vaibhava-rasaṁ śrutvā rudann apy asau
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-vilāsa-vaibhava-rasaṁ śrutvā rudann apy asau
tat-tad-rūpa-prakaṭana-paro mādhurī-dhurya-sāram |
vyaktīkṛtya sa jagati punar goṣṭha-bhāvena pūrṇaḥ
sāndrānando vijayati paraṁ śrī-śacī-nandano’yam ||
(Kṛṣṇa-caitanya-caritāmṛta: 4.10.23)
“Upon hearing of the rasa of the magnificence of the play of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa [in the kuñjas of Vraja] and weeping, he—this blessed Son of Śacī—became intent upon manifesting those very forms [of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa], revealed the essence of the foremost sweetness (mādhurī) in the world [i.e., self-manifested himself as Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with the totality of their sweetness], and, becoming fulfilled and intensely blissful with the bhāva of Vraja, triumphed completely.”