Bhakti Vikasa Swami's Blog, page 21

May merciful Saci-nandana be situated in your heart

May that Lord, who is known as the son of Srimati Sacidevi, be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow taste of His service.

Cc. Adi 1.4, Translation by Srila Prabhupada

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Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s highest contribution: sex with God

Sex is also to be engaged in Krsna consciousness. The conception of God as a father or mother does not allow the engagement of one’s sex in the service of the Lord because there is no sexual relationship with the father and mother. But in the conception of God as a lover, there is sexual engagement also. Therefore, Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave the most perfect information of our engagement with the Supreme Lord. In other religious conceptions of life, God is at the utmost taken as the father or mother. Many worshipers in India take goddess Kali to be the representation of God. Of course, that is not sanctioned, but the belief is there, and also in the Christian religion the conception of God is as a father. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu informs us that one can even have sexual engagement with the Lord. This information is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s unique contribution. In this material world, sexual engagement is considered to be the highest engagement, the greatest pleasure, although it exists only in a perverted form. No one, however, has conceived that there can be sexual engagement in the spiritual world. There is not a single instance of such theology anywhere in the entire world. This information is given for the first time by Caitanya Mahaprabhu: one can have the Supreme Personality of Godhead as one’s husband, as one’s lover. This is possible in the worship of Radha and Krsna, but no one, especially the impersonalists, can understand Radha-Krsna. The impersonalists have no idea; they cannot even conceive that God has form. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that not only does God have form, but He has sex life also. This is the highest contribution of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

From “The Highest Love” featured in The Science of Self-realization by Srila Prabhupada

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Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy

Even a little of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy serves as a great asset for spiritual advancement. Therefore the Krsna consciousness movement must be spread through the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

From Cc Madhya 16.14 purport by Srila Prabhupada

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Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission: killing the Jagai-Madhai principle

This is the business of Krsna, two-sided business: one side killing the demons, another side giving the protection to the devotees. So Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared on this part 488 years ago to hand the same two principles, paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam. He killed Jagai-Madhai not by the body, but stopped their atrocious activities. So Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission is to kill the demon — not by life but by their heinous activities. Anyone who comes to be killed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, his heinous, nefarious activities becomes killed and he becomes a Vaisnava, just like Jagai-Madhai.

At the present moment, the whole world is full of Jagai-Madhai, their four principles. Jagai-Madhai means illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. This is Jagai-Madhai. So this movement, Krsna consciousness movement, is killing these Jagai-Madhai principles: no illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling and no meat-eating. So one side, killing the Jagai-Madhai principle, and other side protection, chanting Hare Krsna maha-mantra.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.3 – March 3, 1974, Mayapur

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Why we should offer respectful obeisances to Gaura

The most munificent Supreme Personality of Godhead, known as Gaurakrsna, distributed to everyone — even the lowest of men — His own confidential treasury in the form of the nectar of love of Himself and the holy name. This was never given to the people at any time before. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 23.1, Rendered by Srila Prabhupada

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No more glowworms

There is no use any more of the glowworms. Caitanya-candrodaya, the rising of the moon of Lord Caitanya. Caitanya-candrodaya. Now He is rising gradually, just like moon rises gradually and one day becomes full moon. Similarly, Sri Caitanya movement is rising gradually, and one day it will clear the sky and all these glowworms will go away.

There will be no more any place for all these glowworms. So you be decided, determined to push on this movement, Caitanya-candrodaya. That’s your duty. You are coming out of very intelligent nation, very rich nation. Utilize this opportunity. So clear out all these glowworms and bring the Caitanya-candrodaya.

And the method is so simple: Hare Krsna. That’s all. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu gives you the benediction, and you go on pushing this sri-krsna-sankirtanam and everything will be cleared, ceto-darpana-marjanam. Don’t be after glowworms; just be after the moon, full moon, Caitanya-candrodaya.

Srila Prabhupada, Talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.44 – December 26, 1970, Surat

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An overpowering flood of love of God

The sankirtana movement inaugurated by Lord Caitanya is a transcendental pastime of the Lord. “By it I live simultaneously to preach and popularize this movement in the material world.” In that sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya, Nityananda and Advaita are His expansions, and Gadadhara and Srivasa are His internal and marginal potencies. The living entities are also called marginal potency because they have, potentially, two attitudes-namely the tendency to surrender unto Krsna and the tendency to become independent of Him. Due to the propensity for material enjoyment, the living entity becomes contaminated by the material world. When a living entity is dominated by a desire for material enjoyment and becomes entangled in material life, he is subjected to the threefold miseries of material existence. He is just like a seed sown in the earth. If a seed is overpowered by too much water, there is no possibility of its fructifying. Similarly, if a man is captivated by material enjoyment, and even if the seed of such enjoyment is within the heart of the conditioned soul, he can be overpowered by a flood of transcendental activities performed in love of God. In this way his potential seed cannot fructify into a conditional life of material existence. The conditioned living entities in the material world, especially in the present Age of Kali, are overpowered by the flood of love of God inaugurated by Lord Caitanya and His associates.

Srila Prabhupada, TLC, Ch. 17

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Turn the lust into love

If one is educated in Krsna consciousness from the beginning the natural love of God cannot deteriorate into lust. Lust is only the perverted reflection of the love of God which is natural for every living entity. But if one is educated in Krsna consciousness from the very beginning, that natural love of God cannot deteriorate into lust. When love of God deteriorates into lust, it is very difficult to return to the normal condition. Nonetheless, Krsna consciousness is so powerful that even a late beginner can become a lover of God by following the regulative principles of devotional service. So, from any stage of life, or from the time of understanding its urgency, one can begin regulating the senses in Krsna consciousness, devotional service of the Lord, and turn the lust into love of Godhead — the highest perfectional stage of human life.

Srila Prabhupada; BG 3.41 Purport

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Creating an auspicious atmosphere

Any literature or narration in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Uttamasloka, is described and glorified is certainly great, pure, glorious, auspicious and all-good.

The Krsna consciousness movement is spreading all over the world simply by describing Krsna. We have published many books, including Sri Caitanya-caritamrta in seventeen volumes, four hundred pages each, as well as Bhagavad-gita and The Nectar of Devotion. We are also publishing Srimad-Bhagavatam in sixty volumes. Wherever a speaker holds discourses from these books and an audience hears him, this will create a good and auspicious situation. Therefore the preaching of Krsna consciousness must be done very carefully by the members of the Krsna consciousness movement, especially the sannyasis. This will create an auspicious atmosphere.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.1.32, Translation & purport by Srila Prabhupada

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Varnasrama-dharma is sanatana-dharma

The life of a human being is a chance to prepare oneself to go back to Godhead, or to get rid of the material existence, the repetition of birth and death. Thus in the system of varnasrama-dharma every man and woman is trained for this purpose. In other words, the system of varnasrama-dharma is known also as sanatana-dharma, or the eternal occupation. The system of varnasrama-dharma prepares a man for going back to Godhead,  and thus a householder is ordered to go to the forest as vanaprastha to acquire complete knowledge and then to take sannyasa prior to his inevitable death.

Srila Prabhupada, SB 1.19.4, ppt.

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