O fools, just read SrI Caitanya-mangala !

[gHari 0]

CC Adi-lila 8.33-47:

ore mUDha loka, zuna caitanya-maGgala

caitanya-mahimA yAte jAnibe sakala

 

ore--O all of you; mUDha--foolish; loka--people; zuna--just hear; caitanya-maGgala--the book of this name; caitanya--Lord Caitanya's; mahimA--glories; yAte--in which; jAnibe--you will know; sakala--all.

 

<font color=blue>O fools, just read SrI Caitanya-maGgala! By reading this book you can understand all the glories of SrI Caitanya MahAprabhu.</font>

 

<ul>PURPORT

SrI VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura's SrI Caitanya-bhAgavata was originally entitled SrI Caitanya-maGgala, but when SrIla Locana dAsa ThAkura later wrote another book named SrI Caitanya-maGgala, SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura changed the name of his own book, which is now therefore known as SrI Caitanya-bhAgavata. The life of SrI Caitanya MahAprabhu is very elaborately described in the Caitanya-bhAgavata, and KRSNadAsa KavirAja GosvAmI has already informed us that in his SrI Caitanya-caritAmRta he has described whatever VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura has not mentioned. This acceptance of SrI Caitanya-bhAgavata by KRSNadAsa KavirAja GosvAmI indicates his acceptance of the disciplic succession. A writer of transcendental literature never tries to surpass the previous AcAryas.

As VyAsadeva has compiled all the pastimes of Lord KRSNa in SrImad-BhAgavatam, ThAkura VRndAvana dAsa has depicted the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

 

ThAkura VRndAvana dAsa has composed SrI Caitanya-maGgala. Hearing this book annihilates all misfortune.

 

By reading SrI Caitanya-maGgala one can understand all the glories and truths of Lord Caitanya and NityAnanda and come to the ultimate conclusion of devotional service to Lord KRSNa.

 

<ul>PURPORT

SrImad-BhAgavatam is the authoritative reference book from which to understand devotional service, but because it is very elaborate, few men can understand its purport. SrImad-BhAgavatam is the original commentary on the VedAnta-sUtra, which is called nyAya-prasthAna. It was written to enable one to understand the Absolute Truth through infallible logic and argument, and therefore its natural commentary, SrImad-BhAgavatam, is extremely elaborate. Professional reciters have created the impression that SrImad-BhAgavatam deals only with KRSNa's rAsa-lIlA, although KRSNa's rAsa-lIlA is described only in chapters 29 through 33 of the Tenth Canto. They have in this way presented KRSNa to the Western world as a great woman-hunter, and therefore we sometimes have to deal with such misconceptions in preaching. Another difficulty in understanding SrImad-BhAgavatam is that the professional reciters have introduced bhAgavata-saptAha, or seven-day readings of the BhAgavatam. They want to finish SrImad-BhAgavatam in a week, although it is so sublime that even one verse of SrImad-BhAgavatam, if properly explained, cannot be completed in three months. Under these circumstances, it is a great aid for the common man to read SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura's Caitanya-bhAgavata, for thus he can actually understand devotional service, KRSNa, Lord Caitanya and NityAnanda. SrIla RUpa GosvAmI has said:

zruti-smRti-purANAdi-paJcarAtra-vidhiM vinA

aikAntikI harer bhaktir utpAtAyaiva kalpate

[brs. 1.2.101]

"Devotional service to the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures--the UpaniSads, PurANas, NArada-paJcarAtra, etc.--is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society." Due to misunderstanding SrImad-BhAgavatam, people are misled regarding the science of KRSNa. However, by reading SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura's book one can very easily understand this science.

In SrI Caitanya-maGgala [later known as SrI Caitanya-bhAgavata] SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura has given the conclusion and essence of devotional service by quoting the authoritative statements of SrImad-BhAgavatam.

 

If even a great atheist hears SrI Caitanya-maGgala, he immediately becomes a great devotee.

 

The subject matter of this book is so sublime that it appears that SrI Caitanya MahAprabhu has personally spoken through the writings of SrI VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura.

 

<ul>PURPORT

SrIla SanAtana GosvAmI has written in his Hari-bhakti-vilAsa:

avaiSNava-mukhodgIrNaM pUtaM hari-kathAmRtam

zravaNaM naiva kartavyaM sarpocchiSTaM yathA payaH

"One should not hear anything about KRSNa from a non-VaiSNava. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous effects; similarly, talks about KRSNa given by a non-VaiSNava are also poisonous."

Transcendental literature that strictly follows the Vedic principles and the conclusion of the PurANas and pAJcarAtrika-vidhi can be written only by a pure devotee. It is not possible for a common man to write books on bhakti, for his writings will not be effective. He may be a very great scholar and may be expert in presenting literature in flowery language, but this is not at all helpful in understanding transcendental literature. Even if transcendental literature is written in faulty language, it is acceptable if it is written by a devotee, whereas so-called transcendental literature written by a mundane scholar, even if it is a very highly polished literary presentation, cannot be accepted. The secret in a devotee's writing is that when he writes about the pastimes of the Lord, the Lord helps him; he does not write alone. As stated in the Bhagavad-gItA (10.10), dadAmi buddhi-yogaM taM yena mAm upayAnti te. Since a devotee writes in service to the Lord, the Lord from within gives him so much intelligence that he sits down near the Lord and goes on writing books. KRSNadAsa KavirAja GosvAmI confirms that what VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura wrote was actually spoken by Lord Caitanya MahAprabhu, and he simply repeated it. The same holds true for SrI Caitanya-caritAmRta. KRSNadAsa KavirAja GosvAmI wrote SrI Caitanya-caritAmRta in his old age, in an invalid condition, but it is such a sublime literature that SrIla BhaktisiddhAnta SarasvatI GosvAmI MahArAja used to say, "The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read SrI Caitanya-caritAmRta." We are trying to present SrI Caitanya-caritAmRta in English and do not know how successful it will be, but if one reads the original Caitanya-caritAmRta in Bengali he will relish increasing ecstasy in devotional service.

I offer millions of obeisances unto the lotus feet of VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura. No one else could write such a wonderful book for the deliverance of all fallen souls.

 

NArAyaNI eternally eats the remnants of the food of Caitanya MahAprabhu. SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura was born of her womb.

 

<ul>PURPORT

In text 43 of the Gaura-gaNoddeza-dIpikA, a book written by Kavi-karNapUra that describes all the associates of SrI Caitanya MahAprabhu and who they previously were, there is the following statement regarding NArAyaNI:

ambikAyAH svasA yAsIn nAmnA zrIla-kilimbikA

kRSNocchiSTaM prabhuJjAnA seyaM nArAyaNI matA

When Lord KRSNa was a child, He was nursed by a woman named AmbikA, who had a younger sister named KilimbikA. During the time of Lord Caitanya's incarnation, the same KilimbikA used to eat the remnants of food left by Lord SrI Caitanya MahAprabhu. That KilimbikA was NArAyaNI, who was a niece of SrIvAsa ThAkura's. Later on, when she grew up and married, SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura was born from her womb. A devotee of Lord SrI KRSNa is celebrated in terms of devotional service rendered to the Lord; thus we know SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura as the son of NArAyaNI. SrIla BhaktisiddhAnta SarasvatI ThAkura notes in this connection that there is no reference to his paternal ancestry because there is no need to understand it.

What a wonderful description he has given of the pastimes of Lord Caitanya! Anyone in the three worlds who hears it is purified.

 

I fervently appeal to everyone to adopt the method of devotional service given by Lord Caitanya and NityAnanda and thus be freed from the miseries of material existence and ultimately achieve the loving service of the Lord.

 

SrIla VRndAvana dAsa ThAkura has written SrI Caitanya-maGgala and therein described in all respects the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

 

He first summarized all the pastimes of the Lord and later described them vividly in detail.

 

The pastimes of Lord Caitanya are unlimited and unfathomable. Therefore, in describing all those pastimes, the book became voluminous.

 

He saw them to be so extensive that he later felt that some had not been properly described.