19810617 Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 7.113

(The following transcripts need to be verified)

The following is a class given by HH Jayapatākā swami Maharaj on 17th June 1981 at Los Angeles, USA, Class begins with Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madya Līlā 7.113

namo mahā-vadanyaya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradaya te
kṛṣṇaya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-namne gaura-tvishe namah

he kṛṣṇa karuna-sindho dina-bandho jagat-pate
gopesa gopīka kanta rādhā-kanta namo ‘stu te

tapta-kancana-gaurangi radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devī pranamami hari-priye

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda

HARE KṚṢṆA HARE KṚṢṆA KṚṢṆA KṚṢṆA HARE HARE
HARE RĀMA HARE RĀMA RĀMA RĀMA HARE HARE

mukam karoti vachalam
pangum langhayate girim
yat-kripa tam aham vande
śrī-gurum dina-taranam

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda
jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

(devotees repeating along with Jayapatākā Swami)

Text 113 in Chapter 7 Madya Līlā Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta

ei-mata yāite yāite gelā kūrma-sthāne

kūrma dekhi’ kaila tāṅre stavana-praṇāme

Translation: When Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to the holy place known as Kūrma-kṣetra, He saw the Deity and offered prayers and obeisances.

Purport: This Kūrma-sthāna is a well-known place of pilgrimage. There is a temple there of Kūrmadeva. In the Prapannāmṛta it is said that Lord Jagannātha took Śrī Rāmānujācārya from Jagannātha Purī and one night threw him to Kūrma-kṣetra. This Kūrma-kṣetra is situated on the line of the Southern Railway in India. One has to go to the railway station known as Śrīkakulam Road. From this station one goes eight miles to the east to reach the holy place known as Kūrmācala. Those who speak the Telugu language consider this holy place very important. This statement is reported in the government gazette known as Gañjāma Manual. There is the Deity of Kūrma there, and, as mentioned above, Śrīla Rāmānujācārya was thrown from Jagannātha Purī to this place. At that time he thought that the Deity of Kūrma was Lord Śiva’s deity; therefore he was fasting there. Later, when he understood that the kūrma-mūrti was another form of Lord Viṣṇu, he instituted very gorgeous worship of Lord Kūrma. This statement is found in the Prapannāmṛta (chapter thirty-six). This holy place of Kūrma-kṣetra, or Kūrma-sthāna, was actually reestablished by Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya under the influence of Lord Jagannātha-deva at Jagannātha Purī. Later the temple became under the jurisdiction of the king of Vijaya-nagara. The Deity was worshiped by the Vaiṣṇavas of the Madhvācārya-sampradāya. In the temple there are some inscriptions said to be written by Śrī Narahari Tīrtha, who was in the disciplic succession of Madhvācārya. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains those inscriptions as follows:

Just for the sake of saving time, So... So, when Ramanujacharaya went to Jagannath Purī, then Lord Jagannātha spoke to him and told him that “You are going to Ranganatha, Tirupati, these are all, but these temples are like the peel of the banana. The real fruit is Navadweep Dham. You should immediately go tonight without telling, you send all your associates to Kurma Sthana, to the place of Kurma(as mentioned here).” And you go alone immediately to Navadweep Dham and there you will find the perfection of your life. And then you go and meet your disciples at Kurma Sthana. So, Of course whether he was thrown there, I am not sure. Then Ramanujacharya, he immediately proceeded to Navadvip. Reaching Navadvip Dham, in the island of Modadrum Dweep, in the place which is non-different from Vaikhuntha. There he saw Lord Nārāyaṇa with Neela, Bhu and Śrī. Bhu Devī, Neela, Śrī, and nearly prostrated himself and there Lord Nārāyaṇa became Caitanya Mahāprabhu, took that form and He blessed Ramanujacharya and told him that he should go all over and preach the daasya rasa. Ramanujacharya wanted to stay in Navadvip but He said no, “You have to go as Jagannath ordered to Kurma Sthana. Later when I come, then you will join Me,” like that. So then Ramanujacharya went to Kurma Sthana and continued his preaching. From “The story by Nityananada to Jīva Goswami on the glories of Navadweep Dham.

premāveśe hāsi’ kāndi’ nṛtya-gīta kaila
dekhi’ sarva lokera citte camatkāra haila

Texts 114-119 - While at this place, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in His usual ecstasy of love of Godhead and was laughing, crying, dancing and chanting. Everyone who saw Him was astonished.

āścarya śuniyā loka āila dekhibāre
prabhura rūpa-prema dekhi’ hailā camatkāre

Text 115 - Translation:After hearing of these wonderful occurrences, everyone came to see Him there. When they saw the beauty of the Lord and His ecstatic condition, they were all struck with wonder.

darśane ‘vaiṣṇava’ haila, bale ‘kṛṣṇa’ ‘hari’
premāveśe nāce loka ūrdhva bāhu kari’

Text 116: Just by seeing Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone became a devotee. They began to chant “Kṛṣṇa” and “Hari” and all the holy names. They all were merged in a great ecstasy of love, and they began to dance, raising their arms.

kṛṣṇa-nāma loka-mukhe śuni’ avirāma
sei loka ‘vaiṣṇava’ kaila anya saba grāma

Text 117:Always hearing them chant the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the residents of all the other villages also became Vaiṣṇavas.

ei-mata paramparāya deśa ‘vaiṣṇava’ haila
kṛṣṇa-nāmāmṛta-vanyāya deśa bhāsāila

Text 118: Translation: By hearing the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, the entire country became Vaiṣṇava. It was as if the nectar of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa over flooded the entire country.

kata-kṣaṇe prabhu yadi bāhya prakāśilā
kūrmera sevaka bahu sammāna karilā

Text 119:After some time, when Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu manifested His external consciousness, a priest of the Lord Kūrma Deity gave Him various offerings.

Here we see how Caitanya Mahāprabhu, just by seeing His chanting and dancing and ecstasy, people were converted to pure devotees, and they began to… all could chant and dance. And other people seeing them chant and dance also became devotees. In this way, one after another, everyone became devotees of the Lord, vaishnavas.

yei grāme yāya tāhāṅ ei vyavahāra
eka ṭhāñi kahila, nā kahiba āra bāra

Texts 120 – Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mode of preaching has already been explained, and I shall not repeat the explanation. In whichever village the Lord entered, His behavior was the same.

‘kūrma’-nāme sei grāme vaidika brāhmaṇa
bahu śraddhā-bhaktye kaila prabhura nimantraṇa

Texts 121 – In one village there was a Vedic brāhmaṇa named called Kūrma. He invited Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home with great respect and devotion.

ghare āni’ prabhura kaila pāda prakṣālana
sei jala vaṁśa-sahita karila bhakṣaṇa

Texts 122 – This brāhmaṇa brought Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home, washed His lotus feet and, with his family members, drank that water.

aneka-prakāra snehe bhikṣā karāila
gosāñira śeṣānna sa-vaṁśe khāila

Texts 123 – With great affection and respect, that Kūrma brāhmaṇa made Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu eat all kinds of food. After that, the remnants were shared by all the members of the family.

‘yei pāda-padma tomāra brahmā dhyāna kare
sei pāda-padma sākṣāt āila mora ghare

Texts 124 – The brāhmaṇa then began to pray, “O my Lord, Your lotus feet are meditated upon by Lord Brahmā, and these very lotus feet have come into my home.

This is a fact that, remember how Lord Brahma became a little bit proud and stolen the calves, and cowherd boys from Kṛṣṇa and put them in a cave and went away.

Of course when he returned, then Kṛṣṇa showed His transcendental power, because He had already re-manifested all the stolen calves and cowherd boys. And Brahma seeing that and... Kṛṣṇa out of each of those cowherd boys and calves manifested unlimited Nārāyaṇas, each Nārāyaṇa more brilliant than millions of suns. And out of those cowherd boys the Nārāyaṇas were coming out with four hands, Shanka, Padma, Gada and Chakra. They are coming out and going out in all the material elements on all sides, offering their respects to the forms of Nārāyaṇa. Seeing these millions of Nārāyaṇas coming out from the hundreds of cowherd boys he thought he had stolen, Brahma became so bewildered that he fell down and begged Kṛṣṇa, please forgive me! Please forgive me for my offence, do not forget that I am Your eternal devotee, and of course Kṛṣṇa forgave him. Brahma returned the stolen cowherd boys and calves. Brahma was thinking how fortunate are these cowherd calves these cowherd boys, these cowherd boys are playing with Kṛṣṇa just like His friends. How fortunate, if only I could be so fortunate. Instead, as a Brahma, I become so puffed up with my false position that I commit offence to the Lord, at the lotus feet of my Master, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Thinking this way, he left and decided to perform tapasya for purification and meditate on the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Navadweep Dham at the Yoga Pitha, the very place where Lord Caitanya comes in Antardweepa. There Lord Brahma, he meditated on Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu knowing that He was the ocean of mercy. Meditating on Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the all merciful golden avatar appeared to him. Lord Brahma bowed down with his forehead to the Lord seeing His beautiful form with His lotus eyes going back to His ears, His hair tied up in a kaccha, in a brahminical style, with His flowing robes and flower garland, with bumble bees flying all around the garland trying to get the nectar from His lotus feet. And accompanied by His associates. Lord Brahma said, “My dear Lord Gaurāṅga you are the most merciful avatar. I am so fallen, kindly have Your mercy upon me. Because I am a Brahma, therefore I always forget my position as Your eternal servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Since You are the ocean of mercy, please have Your mercy upon me that I may take birth in Your upcoming incarnation, as Your assistant, an associate; that I may be purified from my false ego. As a Brahma and learn humility so that I may never forget for the rest of my life the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He accepted with the words, Tathasthaha. So be it.

Lord Brahma, whatever you have wanted, you shall have. You will appear as My associate and when you leave your body, I will be personally present at that time. So your soul will be purified. But to purify you from the false ego of being a Brahma, you have to take birth in a Mohammedan family but you will be My dear devotee and your name will be Haridas. And you will chant everyday three hundred thousand names of Kṛṣṇa and by chanting these three hundred thousand names your whole life, that will give you enough sukriti to last you the rest of your life of Brahma. That you will never forget. Saying that Caitanya Mahāprabhu disappeared. Lord Brahma again fell down, jumped up in joy –

chatur mukhe brahma bole Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
pancha mukhe mahadeva Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

So Lord Brahma went back to Brahmalok to tidy up all the pending business and prepare for coming down in a few minutes of his time(laughing with devotees following), five thousand moments, to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So actually Lord Brahma did wish from Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and everything he desired was given to him by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. To be born in a Muslim family meant that he had to be humble, because he wouldn’t be accepted by the strict Hindus. But Lord Caitanya, He accepted him as His associate and devotee. So everything that he wanted was given. Actually we can see from this that Lord Brahma desired to be an associate of Lord Kṛṣṇa, friend of Kṛṣṇa, that was being fulfilled by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So what else did the brāhmaṇa say here?

mora bhāgyera sīmā nā yāya kahana
āji mora ślāghya haila janma-kula-dhana

Texts 125 - My dear Lord, there is no limit to my great fortune. It cannot be described. Today my family, birth and riches have all been glorified.”

kṛpā kara, prabhu, more, yāṅ tomā-saṅge
sahite nā pāri duḥkha viṣaya-taraṅge’

Texts 126 - The brāhmaṇa begged Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “My dear Lord, kindly show me favor and let me go with You. I can no longer tolerate the waves of misery caused by materialistic life.”

Purport: This statement(by Śrīla Prabhupad)This statement is applicable for everyone, regardless of how rich or prosperous one may be. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has confirmed this statement: saṁsāra-viṣānale, divā-niśi hiyā jvale. He states that the materialistic way of life causes a burning in the heart. One cannot make any provisions for the troublesome life of the material world. It is a fact that one may be very happy as far as riches are concerned and one may be very opulent in every respect, yet one has to manage the viṣayas to meet the demands of the body and of so many family members and subordinates. One has to take so much trouble to minister to others. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore prays: viṣaya chāḍiyā kabe śuddha ha’be mana. Thus one must become freed from the materialistic way of life. One has to merge himself in the ocean of transcendental bliss. In other words, one cannot relish transcendental bliss without being freed from the materialistic way of life. It appears that the brāhmaṇa named Kūrma was materially very happy, for he expressed his family tradition as janma-kula-dhana. janma means aristocratic birth. Janma kula means birth, aristocratic heritage and dhana means Lakshmi, money. Now, being glorious, he wanted to leave all these material opulences. He wanted to travel with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. According to the Vedic way of civilization, one should leave his family after attaining fifty years of age and go to the forest of Vṛndāvana to devote the rest of his life to the service of the Lord.

In other words, whether one is very rich or one is very poor, this material world is designed just to create a burning in the heart, to create troublesome situations. Therefore, one should always be eager to take shelter of the Lord. bishoya chardiya kobe shuddho hobe mon – when will we stop to see this material world as an object of sense enjoyment? When will our mind become pure? What is that pure mind? That pure mind is the pure mind of Kṛṣṇa consciousness of wanting to see everything engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Whatever we see, we want to engage that in Kṛṣṇa’s service. This is the pure mind. But let us see how Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied.

prabhu kahe, — “aiche bāt kabhu nā kahibā
gṛhe rahi’ kṛṣṇa-nāma nirantara laibā

Texts 127- Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “Don’t speak like that again. Better to remain at home and chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa always.

Purport: It is not advisable in this Age of Kali to leave one’s family suddenly, for people are not trained as proper brahmacārīs and gṛhasthas. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised the brāhmaṇa not to be too eager to give up family life. It would be better to remain with his family and try to become purified by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra regularly under the direction of a spiritual master. This is the instruction of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If this principle is followed by everyone, there is no need to accept sannyāsa. In the next verse Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises everyone to become an ideal householder by offenselessly chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantraand teaching the same principle to everyone he meets.

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa

Texts 128- “Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.”

So this is the sublime mission of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, many people come and inquire what do they have to give up family life to join the society. That is not our mission. One can be very comfortably in his residence, we simply request that everyone to chant the mahā mantra

HARE KṚṢṆA HARE KṚṢṆA KṚṢṆA KṚṢṆA HARE HARE
HARE RĀMA HARE RĀMA RĀMA RĀMA HARE HARE

If one is little literate and can read Bhagavad Gītā as it is and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam that is so much to...(Not clear). These words are 28:40(Not clear).... are now available in English Translation and are done very well procreatively to appear to all classes of men. Instead of living engrossed materialistic activities people throughout the world should take advantage of this movement and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā mantra in home with their family. One should also refrain from sinful activities, illicit sex, meat eating, gambling and intoxication. All of this four items, the illicit sex is very sinful. Every person must get married, every woman especially must get married. If the woman are outnumber than men so men can accept more than one wife. In that way there will be no prostitution in this society. If men can marry more than one wife illicit sex will be stopped. One can also produce many nice preparations to offer Kṛṣṇa, grains, fruits, flowers and milk. Why should one should indulge in unnecessary meat eating and maintain 29:40 (not clear)... slaughter houses. What is the use of smoking and drinking tea and coffee? People are already intoxicated by material enjoyment. If they indulge in further intoxication what chance is there for self realization? Similarly one should not 29:57 (not clear) in gambling and unnecessarily agītāte the mind. The real purpose of Human life is to attain the spiritual platform to return to Godhead. That is the summum bonum of spiritual realisation. The Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement is trying to elevate Human Society to the perfection of Life. By pursuing the method described by Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu in His advice to the Brāhmaṇa Kurma. That is, one should stay home chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and preach the instructions of Kṛṣṇa as given in Bhagavad Gītā and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. hmm; This is the mission of International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. That everyone should know what are the orders of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as given in Bhagavad Gītā and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and instruct everyone else about these orders. In this way, we see that how the South Indian brāhmaṇa, he would chant and his friend would chant and his neighbors would chant and in this way the mission was expanding. So by this calculation, someone has come to the conclusion that the United States of America could be completely situated in a friendly mood to Kṛṣṇa chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahā Mantra in about 35 months! Ha! Ha! By a very simple process called the One a Month Club. That if you just started from one person and if he convinces one other person to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, 108 times a day, and to also convince his friend to be friends of Kṛṣṇa in this way, then 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 518...512, goes on like that till you get up to 250 million after 35 months. See, very easy! (laughs) Of course it works out mathematically, but only if everyone at least brings in one per month. So it may be difficult to get everyone. Even some people, they stay in the temple, they cannot pay their own rent. They accrue a deficit. So if everybody lives in the temple, then they all have to be at least rent payers.

But here Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is advising that at least everyone should chant in their homes, then they won’t have the obligation to pay the rent to the temple. But they still have to follow the instruction of the spiritual master. We should not forget that. It is said here very clearly, under the direction of a spiritual master, one should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mantra regularly and should learn how to follow the regulative principles. So this principle, if one is chanting in his home, it still means they have to follow the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master. Not that they become independent of the spiritual master. They may only be financially independent but spiritually they should always be under the shelter. In this way, simply by one person a month, within a short time, literally millions of people, it takes only 22 months in Bolivia, that’s when I worked it out first(devotees laughing), nearly four million people.

So atleast, of course, in the last months there will be a big rush trying to find out who is left.(devotees laughing) Who are the people who are still not chanting? But that’s what happened – Lord Caitanya got everyone chanting, but He said, there are still those yavanas, they are not chanting. Those argumental students and those particular type of butchers and others, somehow they all have to be brought. Haridas Thakur said, do not worry. This the mood of the devotee, to serve the Lord’s innermost desire, to deliver these fallen souls. Everyone who comes in contact with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, as Śrīla Rameshvara Swami mentioned yesterday, we want to distribute the Holy Name and the books which are giving the lessons, the instructions, whereby one will be induced or convinced to chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. When literally thousands and thousands of people start to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, following the example of the fully dedicated devotees in the temple, chanting in their homes, then the whole atmosphere will change. The karma of of this world, this country and the world will change. Simply by people chanting. So this is what is important. People who read out books, who are favorable, somehow or other there should be a program to encourage them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa more and more, and gain faith to chanting and reading those books and [hear]the spiritual master and follow his guidance how to be purified, how to give up all these anarthas, unwanted miserable situations of life. Then there can be a total renovation of this crashing society.

kabhu nā bādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga”

Text 129 Translation:Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu further advised the brāhmaṇa Kūrma, “If you follow this instruction, your materialistic life at home will not obstruct your spiritual advancement. Indeed, if you follow these regulative principles, we will again meet here, or, rather, you will never lose My company.”

Purport: This is an opportunity for everyone. If one simply follows the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, under the guidance of His representative, and chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, teaching everyone as far as possible the same principle, the contamination of the materialistic way of life will not even touch him. It does not matter whether one lives in a holy place like Vṛndāvana, Navadvīpa or Jagannātha Purī or in the midst of European cities, where the materialistic way of life is very prominent. If a devotee follows the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he lives in the company of the Lord. Wherever he lives, he converts that place into Vṛndāvana and Navadvīpa. This means that materialism cannot touch him. This is the secret of success for one advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So coming here to New Dwaraka, I can testify, in the association of Śrīla Rameshvara, that the place is converted into the Dham. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to have everyone to hear the nectar from Śrīla Rameshvara at this point. I have to pack for my plane.

Śrīla Rameshvara Swami: Actually, this is the essence of our mission, to teach people to chant the names of Kṛṣṇa. Hari Naam sankirtan. To get people to chant is the essence of our mission, because Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu came from the transcendental abode of Goloka Vrndavan to distribute pure love for Kṛṣṇa to those who had no good qualification. So that in itself is inconceivable. How someone without any good qualification can ever taste love of Kṛṣṇa which was previously impossible. Couldn’t even be imagined. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared to do the unimaginable and the impossible.

And how He did it was by placing this divine love of Kṛṣṇa, the ability to taste this divine love of Kṛṣṇa, within the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. So He personally came to distribute the Holy Name everywhere. Therefore this is the essence of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. To have the devotees educate the peoples of this world about the importance of singing the names of God by giving lectures, by distributing books, by personally demonstrating the chanting on the Hari Naam sankirtan parties – these Hari Naam parties are demonstrations for the public. Our whole life is centered around this distribution of love of Kṛṣṇa because we are followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

We were discussing a little bit about this in our Pancha Tattva Mandir in Laguna Beach that the vaishnava in this age of Kali, he carefully studies and hears from bona fide authorities and he comes to the conclusion that there will never be anything more important in his whole life and this is a very deep realization. That there will never be anything more important in his whole life than establishing a relationship with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The vaishnava cannot imagine anything being more precious or more valuable or more important to his life than this, because it is the characteristic of Caitanya Mahāprabhu that anyone who comes in contact with Him, immediately He bestows love of Kṛṣṇa on that living entity, on that living being. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s natural characteristic. Just like the natural characteristic of the sun is to radiate effulgent light and heat, so the natural characteristic of Lord Caitanya is to bestow love of God. So even though we are not very qualified, if we can somehow or other come into contact with Lord Caitanya, then automatically we will be able to taste this transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa.

It is written in the Adil Līlā, chapter 7 that anyone who is in contact with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Prabhupāda writes, “immediately comes to the ecstatic platform, “ Immediately. So how to have this transcendental contact with Caitanya Mahāprabhu? How to establish our transcendental relationship with Lord Caitanya? Transcendental, meaning that it is ever present, ever existing, that we are feeling Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s presence at every moment. That is the meaning of transcendental relationship. (aside)That is the goal of the devotee. His whole life is based on searching after this relationship and acting in a way and living in a way that this relationship becomes transcendental, permanent, ever present. That he is able to see every moment that he is in contact with Lord Caitanya. And he considers, the devotee thinks that this is the highest position, so let me go for it. There is nothing more important. There is nothing that is more valuable, let me therefore dedicate myself, all my energy and all my time to this pursuit of the transcendental Raas with Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Because I have otherwise no qualification and I have no hope to ever experience love of Kṛṣṇa. But if I can just find where is Lord Caitanya, automatically, He will bestow love of Kṛṣṇa, which I could never get on my own in this age. I could never get love of Kṛṣṇa on my own. So this is how the devotee is thinking. So to have a relationship, we can just study even in our ordinary dealings, there have to be similar mentalities, there have to be similar interests, there has to be compatibility. You can just study in ordinary human dealings why someone becomes a friend of someone else.

Why there is some mutual friendship existing, mutual, some kind of relationship. So, if someone has a great desire or a great anxiety and his friend who is devoted to him sees that, and then gives up himself his time and energy, he endeavors to relieve his friend of that anxiety or to fulfill his desire, then naturally the relationship becomes very intimate. So much gratitude and satisfaction and love is felt on both sides. So we learn from the Śrī Caitanya Caritamrita and from the Nectar of Devotion and from all of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purports and lectures and letters, we learn about the transcendental desires of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrī Caitanya mano abhishttam sthaapitam yena bhutale, this is the inner desire as revealed by Rūpa Goswami of Lord Caitanya. Śrī Caitanya mano – this is what is in His mind. Abhishtam – this is His desire. Sthaapitam yena bhutale – that His mission of chanting the Holy Names of the Lord be spread throughout the world. So one who wants this special benediction of love of God, who wants to taste this, he goes after the relationship with Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And when he hears about Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s inner desire, he is anxious for this to happen. Then that devotee who is serious about getting love of God and who knows he must go through Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he simply focuses his life, his mind, his whole heart on this inner desire, this anxiousness of the Lord, the mission of the Lord to get people all over the world to hear about Kṛṣṇa, to hear Kṛṣṇa’s message and to chant Kṛṣṇa’s names and his whole life becomes simply dedicated to this. This is the essence of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. To take up the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and spread it all over the world. By dedicating ourselves in this way, we can know for certain that we will be benedicted with love of Kṛṣṇa and thus we will be able, without a doubt, to return back to home, back to Godhead. That is the process for the members of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Śrīla Prabhupad has written over and over that if one simply endeavors to distribute Kṛṣṇa’s message, simply endeavors to go out and preach, just depending on the mercy of Lord Caitanya, by his endeavor alone to distribute books, to print books, to get people to chant and know about Kṛṣṇa, Prabhupad has written that certainly, he will return to Kṛṣṇa, which means he will be blessed with love of Kṛṣṇa. Returning to Kṛṣṇa is only possible when one has developed his love of Kṛṣṇa. That is the special characteristic of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and it is bestowed freely on His dedicated servants. That is the essence of our Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. Jai! Hare Kṛṣṇa!