Caitanya Caritamrta. Adi-lila Chapter 7 First Edition.

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 168

I thus explain the truth of the Pañca-tattva. One who hears this explanation increases in knowledge of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

PURPORT

The Pañca-tattva is a very important factor in understanding Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There are sahajiyās who, not knowing the importance of the Pañca-tattva, concoct their own slogans, such as bhaja nitāi gaura, rādhe śyāma, japa hare kṛṣṇa hare rāma or śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda hare kṛṣṇa hare rāma śrī-rādhe govinda. Such chants may be good poetry, but they cannot help us to go forward in devotional service. In such chants there are also many discrepancies, which need not be discussed here. Strictly speaking, when chanting the names of the Pañca-tattva, one should fully offer his obeisances: śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. By such chanting one is blessed with the competency to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without offense. When chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one should also chant it fully: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. One should not foolishly adopt any of the slogans concocted by imaginative devotees. If one actually wants to derive the effects of chanting, one must strictly follow the great ācāryas. This is confirmed in the Mahābhārata: mahā-jano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ. “The real path of progress is that which is traversed by great ācāryas and authorities.”

TEXT 169

TRANSLATION

While chanting the Pañca-tattva mahā-mantra, one must chant the names of Śrī Caitanya, Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa with their many devotees. This is the process.

TEXT 170

TRANSLATION

I again and again offer obeisances unto the Pañca-tattva. Thus I think that I will be able to describe something about the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

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Dear Prabhus.

Back in 2000 or a year before, I received a confirmation from the BBT regarding a question that I had sent them some 18 months or so previously. They can check their sent and received archives. The question was thus asked ( slight paraphrase mine ) . “Is the changed Bhagavada Gita As It Is that has been changed by the BBT and published in 1982 as potent spiritually as the original 1972 edition by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.” ? The answer was a resounding yes!. Therefore the BBT considers the original Bhagavad Gita As It Is that was printed in 1972 to be as spiritually potent as the changed 1982 edition of the exact same book. Then I responded with my answer…”Then why did you change it?” There has been no response so far. So far 14 years has passed regarding that last question and lack of an answer has yet to be been received here at home and my e mail address has not changed. If the BBT cannot answer that last question after 14 years then the original Bhagavad Gita As Its 1972 edition is not diss-approved by the GBC , the BBT or ISKCON. Therefore by lack of official condemnation they still recognize the original Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada as being as spiritually potent as the changed 1982 edition! The conclusion must be that the original Bhagavad Gita As It Is that was printed and released in 1972 still holds the most recognized position as the most authoritative edition around the world in all ISKCON circles. Therefore you may all distribute the original 1972 edition of The Bhagavad Gita As It is to your hearts delight!!! So get busy!!!

The majority of Americans accept the original 1972 edition of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is as most valid and prefer its classic original form.

Ys Hasti Gopala Dasa

Do not claim to be Kripa Siddhas but be Sadhana Siddhas

Unauthorized Gurus have no potency – it will not be effective

Nitya Siddha, Kripa Siddha, Sadhana Siddha

https://www.prabhupadavani.org/main/Bhagavatam/601.html

So we should not try to imitate Prahlada Maharaja. That is not good. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. I have already explained yesterday. Prahlada Maharaja is one of the mahajanas, authorized persons, authorized devotee. We should try to follow him. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah.

So if you want to approach the same level like Prahlada Maharaja, we should not immediately imitate him. We must follow the sadhana-bhakti, sadhana-bhakti, for general, and krpa-siddha, that is special. That is incalculable.

For us to bring that full attention may take hundreds and thousands of years, full attention. But Prahlada Maharaja, immediately. Immediately. Five-years-old boy. Because he is nitya-siddha. Always we should remember that we cannot imitate. “Now, Prahlada Maharaja has immediately ekagra-manasa, and I shall become also.” No. That is not possible. May be possible, but that is not the way.

Just like in our country, perhaps you know, there was a poet, Rabindranath Tagore. He got many distinction from the Oxford University. He got… He never went to school but he got the title “doctor,” “Doctor Rabindranath Tagore.” And if you think that “I shall also get doctorate without going to school,” that is foolishness. That is special. Similarly, don’t try to imitate. Follow the general course,

Unauthorized Gurus have no potency – it will not be effective

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730723BG.LON Lectures

Say, a typewriter. So if you send the typewriter to the heaven, what does it mean? It is to be worked as typewriter. Does it mean because it has gone to heaven, the work has changed? No. The work will continue. Either in this hell or heaven, typewriter will kat, kat, kat, kat. That’s all. Similarly, our position is servant. If you don’t become servant of Krsna, then you serve, you become servant of your wife, your children, your relative, your country, your nation, your dog. At last, if you have no family, then you become servant of your dog. You know in your country it is very usual. If he has nobody, then he keeps a dog, and takes it on the street. His dog passes stool, and he is standing, waiting: “Yes, sir. You pass your stool, I am waiting.” Just see. It is practical. If you don’t become servant of Krsna, then you have to become servant of the dog. This is nature’s way. Therefore intelligent person will take lesson from it, that “I have to become servant. Why not become Krsna’s servant? Then I will be happy. There are so many Krsna’s servants. They are so happy. Why shall I remain the servant of the maya?”

70-07-18.Tri Letter: Tribhuvanatha

I am very glad to know that you have been staying for some months at our London Temple in the association of our devotees. This is certainly the most fortunate company for you and I know that if you maintain the association of devotees your life will be happy and perfect. That is the version of the sastra that the most important thing for spiritual realization is the company of realized souls or pure devotees of the Lord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiPOKuOE-XU&feature=c4-overview&list=UUIT8sc3Iy_XMi_UzOEhvgkQ

Hare Krsna to all

pranams

All glories to Prabhupada

Last night the moon was full, so I decided to do a walk about and shoot the elk deterrent system as it operates.

Living in the country is not just about sitting back, doing nothing and just picking the fruits from your trees, while somebody fans you in your “easy chair”.Let there be no doubt about it-it is work, sometimes hard work, but the benefits are practically known, only, to those who do it.

Anyway, I just thought this might be interesting for some of you who would like to know more about

country living, and some of what goes on in an ordinary day.

Hari bol

Damaghosa das

Adi 8.31 But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.

PURPORT

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura remarks in this connection that if one takes shelter of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda, follows Their instructions to become more tolerant than the tree and humbler than the grass,and in this way chants the holy name of the Lord, very soon he achieves the platform of transcendental loving service to the Lord, and tears appear in his eyes. There are offenses to be considered in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, but there are no such considerations in chanting the names of Gaura-Nityananda. Therefore, if one chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra but his life is still full of sinful activities, it will be very difficult for him to achieve the platform of loving service to the Lord. But if in spite of being an offender one chants the holy names of Gaura-Nityananda, he is very quickly freed from the reactions to his offenses. Therefore, one should first approach Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, or worship Guru-Gauranga, and then come to the stage of worshiping Radha-Krsna. In our Krsna consciousness movement, our students are first advised to worship Guru-Gauranga, and then, when they are somewhat advanced, the Radha-Krsna Deity is installed, and they are engaged in the worship of the Lord.

One should first take shelter of Gaura-Nityananda in order to reach, ultimately, Radha-Krsna. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura sings in this connection:

gauranga balite habe pulaka sarira

hari hari balite nayane ba’be nira

ara kabe nitaicandera karuna ha-ibe

samsara-vasana mora kabe tuccha habe

visaya chadiya kabe suddha habe mana

kabe hama heraba sri-vrndavana

In the beginning one should very regularly chant Sri Gaurasundara’s

holy name and then chant the holy name of Lord Nityananda. Thus one’s heart will be cleansed of impure desires for material enjoyment. Then one can approach Vrndavana-dhama to worship Lord Krsna. Unless one is favored by Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, there is no need to go to Vrndavana, for unless one’s mind is purified, he cannot see Vrndavana, even if he goes there. Actually going to Vrndavana involves taking shelter of the six Gosvamis by reading Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Vidagdha-madhava, Lalita-madhava and the other books that they have given. In this way one can understand the transcendental loving affairs between Radha and Krsna. Kabe hama bujhaba se yugala-piriti. The conjugal love between Radha and Krsna is not an ordinary human affair; it is fully transcendental. In order to understand Radha and Krsna, worship Them and engage in Their loving service, one must be guided by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and the six Gosvamis, Lord Caitanya’s direct disciples. For an ordinary man, worship of Sri Caitanya and Nityananda Prabhu or the Panca-tattva is easier than worship of Radha and Krsna. Unless one is very fortunate, he should not be induced to worship Radha-Krsna directly. A neophyte student who is not sufficiently educated or enlightened should not indulge in the worship of Sri Radha and Krsna

or the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. Even if he does so, he cannot get the desired result. One should therefore chant the names of Nitai-Gaura and worship Them without false prestige. Since everyone within this material world is more or less influenced by sinful activities, in the beginning it is essential that one take to the worship of Guru-Gauranga and ask their favor, for thus despite all his disqualifications one will very soon become qualified to worship the Radha-Krsna vigraha.

It should be noted in this connection that the holy names of Lord Krsna and Gaurasundara are both identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore one should not consider one name to be more potent than the other. Considering the position of the people of this age, however, the chanting of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s name is more essential than the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the most magnanimous incarnation and His mercy is very easily achieved.

Therefore one must first take shelter of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. By serving Gaura-Nityananda one is freed from the entanglements of material existence and thus becomes qualified to worship the Radha-Krsna Deity.

Below you will find that In February 1936, in Bombay, (parts of a) Vyasa Puja talk give by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami on behalf of his guru maharaj, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj.

His words then, are still relevent today .

Hare Krsna

Damaghosa das

—————————-

SSR 2 Choosing a Spiritual Master
Gentlemen, the offering of such an homage as has been arranged this
evening to the Acaryadeva is not a sectarian concern, for when we
speak of the fundamental principle of gurudeva, or acaryadeva, we
speak of something that is of universal application. There does not
arise any question of discriminating my guru from yours or anyone
else’s. There is only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to
teach you, me, and all others.

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Hearing: The real tradition

By Vidura Das

In the article by Vraja Vilasa Dasa from the Sampradaya Sun Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right, the author writes: “Real surrender to Srila Prabhupada means we should follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions on accepting a physically manifest guru…” I would like focus this article especially on this statement because this seems to be the central point from which the author makes his assertions. First and foremost, Srila Prabhupada has never instructed anywhere that we should approach a “physically manifest guru”. Sure there are places where Srila Prabhupada says we must approach a spiritual master, hear from him, render service under him, and inquire from him – submissively. These are the general aspects of the guru-disciple relationship. However, these aspects do not necessitate the guru from whom one takes initiation being present in his physically manifest [spiritual] body. All of the above aspects of approaching a spiritual master can be done through Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental books, as the following quotes by Srila Prabhupada prove:

HEARING FROM SRILA PRABHUPADA:

“The method by which the transcendental message is received is the method of submissive hearing.”

(Teachings of Lord Caitanya – 23, Why Study the Vedanta-sutra?)

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760527SB.HON Lectures
So we are concerned with the laws of God. God may be dead or
alive–it doesn’t matter. Suppose by law we are prisoners, we are in
the prison house, and all of a sudden the president or the king dies.
Does it mean you shall be free? No. You have to rot. Just like Bengali
proverb says (Bengali), that if the king dies, his government is not
stopped. We should remember that, that that government is prakrti, the
material nature. Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah. You are
reading Bhagavad-gita. So this is all foolish things, that “God is
dead,” “I don’t care for God.” But God, actually, God is not dead. You
are dead. You are dead actually because this body, the bodily concept
of life, this body is dead. Just like you are driving one car. But if
you think that “I’m the car…” The car is dead. The car is moving
because you are alive. Similarly, this dead body, this body is dead,
already dead from the very beginning, but it is moving on account of
the soul. This is knowledge. It is dead from the very beginning.

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Hare Krsna to all

Pranams

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktivinode thakur

What follows is a short excerpt from The Thakur’s book called Sri Caitanya Siksamrta….

“On hearing or reading about Krsna and His sweet qualities, the living entities according to their nature understand Him in two different ways: understanding through true knowledge, and understanding without knowledge. Even when Krsna is personally present and can be seen with mortal eyes, the two types of people will see in these two different ways. If a person desires to learn more about these two types of perception, they may study the Sat Sandarbhas, Bhagavatamrta and Sri Krsna Samhita under a competent authority. It is impossible to elaborate on this subject here.

Briefly, realization through true knowledge (vidvat pratiti) may be described as realization under vidya sakti (the knowledge potency of the Lord), and understanding without knowledge (avidvat pratiti) may be described as an attempt at understanding of the Lord under ignorance.
If Krsna is understood through avidvat pratiti, many controversies arise. If He is understood through vidvat pratiti, there is no place for disagreements. Those interested in spiritual development should immediately obtain vidvat pratiti. What is the point in understanding through avidvat pratiti, falling into argument and confusion, and losing the goal of life?

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Hare Krishna Society

The Pañca-tattva is a very important factor in understanding Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Caitanya Caritamrta. Adi-lila Chapter 7 First Edition.

The BBT Approves of original Bhagavad Gita As It Is 1972 edition.

Unauthorized Gurus have no potency – it will not be effective

Servant of Maya or Krsna?-SP

Hare Krsna Elk early warning deterrent system

Chant “Nitai- Gaura” and become purified-SP

Timeless words from Srila Prabhupada-1936 Vyasa puja offering

Hearing-the real tradition-by Vidura Das

WANTED-dead or alive, this body–SP

Love for God only thru pure knowledge-Bhaktivinode Thakur