There is no difference between the teachings of Lord Caitanya presented here and the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā. The teachings of Lord Caitanya are practical demonstrations of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. Lord Kṛṣṇa
(Originally delivered as five morning lectures on the Caitanya-caritāmṛta-the authoritative biography of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī-before the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, New York City, April 10-14, 1967.)
The Spiritual Mastersplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigCc. Ādi 1: The Spiritual Masters
The Spiritual Masters
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is none other than the combined form of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. He is the life of those devotees who strictly follow in the footsteps of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī are the two principal followers of Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, who acted as the most confidential servitor of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, known as Viśvambhara in His early life. A direct disciple of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was Śrīla Raghunātha dā…
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Is the Supreme Personality of Godhead
This chapter explains that Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa Himself. Therefore, the Brahman effulgence is the bodily luster of Lord Caitanya, and the localized Supersoul situated in the heart of every living entity is His partial representation. The
The External Reasons for Lord Caitanya’s Appearance
In this chapter the author has fully discussed the reason for the descent of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, after displaying His pastimes as Lord Kṛṣṇa, thought it wise to make His advent in the form of a devotee to explain personally the transcendental mellow reciprocations of service and love between Himself and His servants, friends, parents and fiancees. According to the Vedic literature, the f…
The Confidential Reasons for Lord Caitanya’s Appearance
In this chapter of the epic Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has stressed that Lord Caitanya appeared for three principal purposes of His own. The first purpose was to relish the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is the prime reciprocator of transcendental love of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of transcendental loving transactions with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. The subject of those loving transactions is the Lord Himself,…
This chapter is chiefly devoted to describing the essential nature and glories of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the absolute Personality of Godhead, and His first expansion in a form for pastimes is Śrī Balarāma.
The truth of Advaita Ācārya has been described in two different verses. It is said that material nature has two features, namely the material cause and the efficient cause. The efficient causal activities are caused by Mahā-Viṣṇu, and the material causal activities are caused by another form of Mahā-Viṣṇu, known as Advaita. That Advaita, the superintendent of the cosmic manifestation, has descended in the form of Advaita to associate with Lord Caitanya. When He…
Lord Caitanya in Five Features Cc. Ādi 7.1Let me first offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the ultimate goal of life for one bereft of all possessions in this material world and is the only meaning for one advancing in spiritual life. Thus let me write about His magnanimous contribution of devotional service in love of God.
The Eighth Chapter of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is summarized by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. In this Eighth Chapter the glories of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda are described, and it is also stated that one who commits offenses in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa
A summary of Chapter Nine has been given as follows by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. In the Ninth Chapter the author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta has devised a figurative example by describing the
The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Caitanya Tree
This chapter describes the branches of the tree named Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Cc. Ādi 10.1Let me repeatedly offer my respectful obeisances unto the beelike devotees who always taste the honey of the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If even a doggish nondevotee somehow takes shelter of such devotees, he enjoys the aroma of the lotus flower.
As the branches and subbranches of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu were described in the Tenth Chapter, in this Eleventh Chapter the branches and subbranches of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu are similarly listed. Cc. Ādi 11.1After offering my obeisances unto all of the devotees of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, who are like bumblebees collecting honey from His lotus feet, I shall try to describe those who are the most prominent.
The Expansions of Advaita Ācārya and Gadādhara Paṇḍita
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura gives a summary of the Twelfth Chapter of Ādi-līlā in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. This Twelfth Chapter describes the followers of Advaita Prabhu, among whom the followers of Acyutānanda, the son of Advaita Ācārya, are understood to be the pure followers who received the cream of the philosophy Śrī Advaita Ācārya enunciated. Other so-called descendants and followers of Advaita Ācārya are not to be recognized. This chapter …
This Thirteenth Chapter of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta describes Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s appearance. The entire Ādi-līlā section describes Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s household life, and similarly the
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given a summary of this chapter in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya: “In this Fourteenth Chapter of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta there is a description of how Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed His childhood pastimes-crawling, crying, eating dirt and giving intelligence to His mother, favoring a
The Lord's Paugaṇḍa-līlāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigCc. Ādi 15: The Lord’s Paugaṇḍa-līlā
The Lord’s Paugaṇḍa-līlā
A synopsis of the Fifteenth Chapter is as follows. The Lord took lessons in grammar from Gaṅgādāsa Paṇḍita and became very expert in commenting upon grammar. He forbade His mother to take grains on the Ekādaśī day. He narrated a story that Viśvarūpa, after accepting the
The Pastimes of the Lord in His Childhood and Youth
This chapter fully describes Lord Caitanya’s kaiśora-līlā, or the activities He performed just before attaining youth. During this time He studied deeply and was victorious over greatly learned scholars. During His
The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Youth
This Seventeenth Chapter, as summarized by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, describes Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes from His sixteenth year until the time He accepted the renounced order of life. Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has already vividly described these pastimes in the