Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 1 Summary

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is none other than the combined form of Sri Radha and Krishna. He is the life of those devotees who strictly follow in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami. Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami are the two principal followers of Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, who acted as the most confidential servitor of Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, known as Visvambhara in His early life. A direct disciple of Srila Rupa Gosvami was Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. The author of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, stands as the direct disciple of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.

The direct disciple of Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, who accepted Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti as his servitor. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura accepted Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who in turn accepted Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Om Vishnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, the divine master of our humble self.

Since we belong to this chain of disciplic succession from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, this edition of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita will contain nothing newly manufactured by our tiny brains, but only remnants of food originally eaten by the Lord Himself. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu does not belong to the mundane plane of the three qualitative modes. He belongs to the transcendental plane beyond the reach of the imperfect sense perception of a living being. Even the most erudite mundane scholar cannot approach the transcendental plane unless he submits himself to transcendental sound with a receptive mood, for in that mood only can one realize the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. What will be described herein, therefore, has nothing to do with the experimental thoughts created by the speculative habits of inert minds. The subject matter of this book is not a mental concoction but a factual spiritual experience that one can realize only by accepting the line of disciplic succession described above. Any deviation from that line will bewilder the reader's understanding of the mystery of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, which is a transcendental literature meant for the postgraduate study of one who has realized all the Vedic literatures such as the Upanishads and Vedanta-sutra and their natural commentaries such as Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gita.

This edition of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita is presented for the study of sincere scholars who are really seeking the Absolute Truth. It is not the arrogant scholarship of a mental speculator but a sincere effort to serve the order of a superior authority whose service is the life and soul of this humble effort. It does not deviate even slightly from the revealed scriptures, and therefore anyone who follows in the disciplic line will be able to realize the essence of this book simply by the method of aural reception.

The First Chapter of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita begins with fourteen Sanskrit verses that describe the Absolute Truth. Then the next three Sanskrit verses describe the principal Deities of Vrindavana, namely, Sri Radha-Madana-mohana, Sri Radha-Govindadeva and Sri Radha-Gopinathaji. The first of the fourteen verses is a symbolic representation of the Supreme Truth, and the entire First Chapter is in actuality devoted to this single verse, which describes Lord Caitanya in His six different transcendental expansions.

The first manifestation described is the spiritual master, who appears in two plenary parts called the initiating spiritual master and instructing spiritual master. They are identical because both of them are phenomenal manifestations of the Supreme Truth. Next described are the devotees, who are divided into two classes, namely, the apprentices and the graduates. Next are the incarnations (avataras) of the Lord, who are explained to be nondifferent from the Lord. These incarnations are considered in three divisions -- incarnations of the potency of the Lord, incarnations of His qualities, and incarnations of His authority. In this connection, Lord Sri Krishna's direct manifestations and His manifestations for transcendental pastimes are discussed. Next considered are the potencies of the Lord, of which three principal manifestations are described: the consorts in the kingdom of God (Vaikuntha), the queens of Dvaraka-dhama and, highest of all, the damsels of Vrajadhama. Finally, there is the Supreme Lord Himself, who is the fountainhead of all these manifestations.

Lord Sri Krishna and His plenary expansions are all in the category of the Lord Himself, the energetic Absolute Truth, whereas His devotees, His eternal associates, are His energies. The energy and energetic are fundamentally one, but since their functions are differently exhibited, they are simultaneously different also. Thus the Absolute Truth is manifested in diversity in one unit. This philosophical truth, which is pursuant to the Vedanta-sutra, is called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, or the conception of simultaneous oneness and difference. In the latter portion of this chapter, the transcendental position of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and that of Srila Nityananda Prabhu are described with reference to the above theistic facts.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness