SRI SRI CAITANYA SIKSAMRTA
(Excerpt)
DÄSA MÜLA TATTVA
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura
CHAPTER ONE
By the mercy of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, five hundred years after His appearance, there are many learned people engaged in specialized research and cultivation of knowledge in various parts of the world. The result of their hard efforts, like rays of light, drive out the darkness from the hearts of those eager for knowledge. The youth of this country, obtaining all this material knowledge at universities, gain an acquaintance with their way of thinking. In their extensive studies, many have also studied the works of different preachers of religion in India and elsewhere. They have come to the conclusion that there is no teacher equal to Çré Caitanya and that there is no religion equal to pure Vaiñëava dharma. Inspired by this conclusion, thousands of men now desire to know the teachings of Çré Caitanya and the meaning of Vaiñëava dharma.
Wise men have conviction that the religion of humanity cannot be many. The eternal religion of mankind cannot be divided into extremely opposing factions. At root, eternal religion must be only one. Why have many religions then arisen? The correct answer is that the religion or dharma of man is one when the soul is in a pure condition. When the soul becomes conditioned, the dharma takes two forms: conditional and unconditional. Unconditional dharma does not differ no matter what country it is found in. When the soul takes on material designation and consequently different place, time and body, due to variety in matter, conditional dharma makes its appearance in difference countries and at different times. Conditional dharma takes on different forms and names in different countries. The dharma of the soul becomes unconditioned to the extent that the soul becomes freed from material conceptions. When the jévas reach the unconditioned state, they have only one dharma.
Çré Caitanya taught this eternal dharma to the jévas of this world; it is called pure Vaiñëava dharma.
mathuräte päthäila rüpa-sanätana
dui senäpati kaila bhakti-pracäraëa
nityänanda gosäïe päthäila gauòadeçe
tiìho bhakti pracärila açeña-viçeñe
äpani dakñiëa deça karilä gamana
gräme gräme kaila kåñëa-näma-pracäraëa
Lord Caitanya dispatched the two generals Rüpa Gosvämé and Sanätana Gosvämé to Våndävana to preach the bhakti cult. As Rüpa Gosvämé and Sanätana Gosvämé were sent toward Mathurä, so Nityänanda Prabhu was sent to Bengal to preach extensively the revelations of Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu personally went to South India, and He broadcast the holy name of Lord Kåñëa in very village and town.
C.C.Adi 7, 164-66
Listen to the instruction that the Lord Himself gave the world, through His orders to His commissioned generals:
ataeva ämi ajïä dilu sabäkäre
yäìhä täìhä prema phala deha' yäre täre
bhärata bhumite haila manuñya janma yära
janma särthaka kari' kara para-upakära
Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Kåñëa consciousness movement and distribute it everywhere.
One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.
C.C. Adi 9. 36, 41
Is it any surprise then, that a person would give up the teachings of spokesmen of various religions and simply desire to learn the pure Vaiñëava dharma of Çré Caitanya? It is necessary that we give the teachings of Çré Caitanya to the world at the present time.
However, taking this opportunity, some unintelligent persons have attempted to mislead the educated people by preaching their own doctrines. Some people, giving up the correct path, have taken up a speculative path, cheating themselves and the world. At the moment,. we must therefore, to the best of our ability, make a sincere attempt to help the innocent, educated youth. In such an auspicious work there are none of the obstacles that arise in selfish acts. Many people, with motives of self -interest, can take advantage and preach impure doctrines. However, dear readers, we have no type of self-interest at heart. We do not desire wealth, fame, surrender, or respect as an äcärya. We have only the desire to make the people understand and appreciate the teachings of Çré Caitanya - to the extent of our own appreciation-by the mercy of devotees.
Some time ago I happened to see one new publication called Çré Caitanya Bodhiné. The authors had vowed to give the pure teachings of Çré Caitanya to the world. The vow is not bad, but the system they proposed to gather Çré Caitanya' s teachings is very dangerous. The authors thought that they could extract the Lord's teachings from the Saàskåt works of the Gosvämés. They forgot that the essence of the Gosvämés' works is contained in Çré Caitanya Caritämåta. It is sufficient to take this work in order to present the teachings of Çré Caitanya to the world. There is no one as learned as Kaviräja Gosvämé today. Anyone who thinks that he can extract the essence from the Sanskrit works of the Gosvämés better than Kaviräja Gosvämé is certainly worthless and foolish. I have firm conviction that by presenting to the world clearly the teachings of Çré Caitanya Caritämåta, nothing else need be known. However, many topics in Kaviräja's work are described in a cryptic way. In those places it is best to const the Sandarbhas, Bhakti Rasämåta Sindu and other works of the Gosvämés in order to clarify matters. The aim of the Caitanya Bodhiné however was to bypass the superior authority. In the present work we will reveal the teachings of Çré Caitanya clearly, based on the statements of Çré Caitanya Caritämåta.
I have one request to the readers. The teachings of Mahäprabhu are a very confidential science. Without applying proper concentration one cannot understand them. It is a common practice nowadays to go to sleep after eating while reading a novel. One cannot read this book in that manner. These teachings are the esoteric truths of the Vedas and Vedänta sütras. If one slowly reads these teachings with faith and concentration while discussing the topics with devotees, the truths will be properly understood. Therefore give up the bad habit and attentively study the ten topics presented in this book.
All of Çré Caitanya's teachings-whatever they it may be-are discussed in terms of three divisions: sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana.
In teaching Sanätana Gosvämé, Çré Caitanya said:
veda çästre kahe, sambandha, abhidheya, prayojana
kåñëa, kåñëa-bhakti, prema-tina mahädhana
mukhya gauëa våtti, kiàva anvaya vyatireke
vedera pratijïä kevala kahaye kåñëake
In Vedic literatures, Kåñëa is the central point of attraction, and His service is our activity. To attain the platform of love of Kåñëa is life's ultimate goal. Therefore Kåñëa, Kåñëa's service and love of Kåñëa are the three great riches of life.
When one accepts Vedic literature by interpretation or even by dictionary meaning, directly or indirectly, the ultimate declaration of Vedic knowledge points to Lord Kåñëa.
C.C.Madhya 20. 143, 146
