## Chapter VI Kṛṣṇa Empowers the Preacher: The Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement Spreads by the Mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya ### 1. Kṛṣṇa can empower a preacher who is true to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and to the disciplic succession to excel Himself: **Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, "You [Nityānanda Prabhu] can perform a task that even I cannot do. But for You, I cannot find anyone in Gauḍa-deśa who can fulfill My mission there."** Lord Caitanya's mission is to deliver the fallen souls of this age. In this Age of Kali, practically cent per cent of the population is fallen. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu certainly delivered many fallen souls, but His disciples mainly came from the upper classes.... It was Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu, however, who delivered persons like Jagāi and Mādhāi.... In the incarnation of Gaura-Nitāi, the Lord is not supposed to kill demons but deliver them by preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In the case of Jagāi and Mādhāi, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so angry that He would have immediately killed them, but Nityānanda Prabhu was so kind that He not only saved them from death but elevated them to the transcendental position. Thus what was not possible for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was carried out by Nityānanda Prabhu. Similarly, if one is true to Gaura-Nitāi's service in the disciplic succession, he can even excel Nityānanda Prabhu's service. This is the process of disciplic succession. Nityānanda Prabhu delivered Jagāi and Mādhāi, but a servant of Nityānanda Prabhu, by His grace, can deliver many thousands of Jagāis and Mādhāis. That is the special benediction of the disciplic succession. One who is situated in the disciplic succession can be understood by the result of his activities. This is always true as far as the activities of the Lord and His devotees are concerned.... By the grace of Viṣṇu, a Vaiṣṇava can render better service than Viṣṇu; that is the special prerogative of a Vaiṣṇava. The Lord actually wants to see His servants work more gloriously than Himself. For instance, on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Śrī Kṛṣṇa provoked Arjuna to fight because all the warriors on the battlefield were to die by Kṛṣṇa's plan. Kṛṣṇa Himself did not want to take credit.... Therefore He asked him to fight and win fame.... Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives credit to a devotee who performs any heavy task perfectly. Hanumānjī, or Vajrāṅgajī the servant of Lord Rāmacandra, also serves as another example. It was Hanumānjī who jumped over the sea in one leap and reached the shore of Laṅkā from the shore of Bhārata-varṣa. When Lord Rāmacandra chose to go there, He paved the way with stones, although by His will the stones were able to float on the sea. If we simply follow Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instructions and follow in the footsteps of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can advance, and even more difficult tasks can be performed by the preachers remaining faithful to the service of the Lord. *— Cc. *Madhya* [[cc/madhya/16/65|16.65]]* ### 2. To become an empowered preacher, one must be favored by Lord Caitanya or the spiritual master: ****Whoever heard Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu chant, "Hari, Hari," also chanted the holy name of Lord Hari and Kṛṣṇa. In this way, they all followed the Lord, very eager to see Him. After some time, the Lord would embrace these people and bid them to return home, after investing them with spiritual potency. Being thus empowered, they would return to their own villages, always chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and sometimes laughing, crying and dancing.** **These empowered people used to request everyone and anyone—whomever they saw—to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. In this way all the villagers would also become devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simply by seeing such empowered individuals, people from different villages would become like them by the mercy of their glance.** **When these individuals returned to their villages, they also converted others into devotees. When others came to see them, they were also converted. In this way, as those men went from one village to another, all the people of South India became devotees.**** This spiritual potency is the essence of the pleasure potency and the eternity potency. By these two potencies, one is empowered with devotional service. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, or His representative, the unalloyed devotee, can mercifully bestow these combined potencies upon any man. Being thus endowed with such potencies, one can become an unalloyed devotee of the Lord. Anyone favored by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was empowered with this *bhakti-śakti. *Thus the Lord's followers were able to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness by divine grace. In order to become an empowered preacher, one must be favored by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or His devotee, the spiritual master. One must also request everyone to chant the *mahā-mantra. *In this way, such a person can convert others to Vaiṣṇavism, showing them how to become pure devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. *— Cc. *Madhya *[[cc/madhya/7/98|7.98-104]]* ### 3. If preachers of Kṛṣṇa consciousness are sincere devotees of Kṛṣṇa, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will spread by Kṛṣṇa's grace: The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has spread all over the world within a very short time (within five years), and mundane people are very astonished at this. However, by the grace of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we understand that everything is possible by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Why does Kṛṣṇa have to take five years? In five days He can spread His name and fame all over the world like wildfire. Those who have faith and devotion to Kṛṣṇa can understand that these things happen so wonderfully by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We are simply the instruments. In the fierce Battle of Kurukṣetra, Arjuna was victorious within eighteen days simply because Kṛṣṇa's grace was on his side.... If the preachers in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are sincere devotees of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will always be with them because He is very kind and favorable to all His devotees. Just as Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa were victorious in the Battle of Kurukṣetra, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will surely emerge victorious if we but remain sincere devotees of the Lord and serve the Lord according to the advice of predecessors (the Six Gosvāmīs and other devotees of the Lord).... Within the Society we must try to serve the predecessors by preaching Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cult and spreading His name and fame all over the world. If we attempt this seriously within the Society, it will be successfully done. There is no question of estimating how this will happen in the mundane sense. But without a doubt, it happens by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. *— Cc. *Madhya *[[cc/madhya/4/79|4.79]]* ### 4. Members of ISKCON must try to spread the movement; Lord Caitanya will be pleased and the movement will be successful: ... the members of ISKCON must increase this movement more and more, according to the principles that we are presently trying to execute. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, thus being pleased, will smilingly glance upon them, bestowing His favor, and the movement will be successful. *— Cc. Ā*di* [[cc/adi/9/50|9.50]]* ### 5. If preachers are pure and preach sincerely, their preaching work will be successful by Lord Caitanya's blessings: **The members of this [ISKCON] Society must always remember that if they stick to the regulative principles and preach sincerely according to the instructions of the *ācāryas, *surely they will have the profound blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and their preaching work will be successful everywhere throughout the world.** *— Cc. *Ādi* [[cc/adi/7/171|7.171]]* ### 6. A sincere devotee is empowered by the Lord to preach: **For ten days Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed at Prayāga and instructed Rūpa Gosvāmī, empowering him with the necessary potency.** This is a confirmation of the statement *kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana. *Unless one is specifically empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he cannot spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. An empowered devotee sees and feels himself to be the lowest of men, for he knows that whatever he does is due to the inspiration given by the Lord in the heart. This is also confirmed in *Bhagavad-gītā:* > teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te **"To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me." (*Bg*. [[bg/10/10|10.10]])** To be empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one has to qualify himself. This means that one must engage twenty-four hours daily in the loving devotional service of the Lord. The material position of a devotee doesn't matter because devotional service is not dependent on material considerations. In his earlier life, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was a government officer and a *gṛhastha. *He was not even a *brahmacārī* or* sannyāsī. *He associated with *mlecchas *and *yavanas, *but because he was always eager to serve, he was a qualified recipient for the Lord's mercy. A sincere devotee can therefore be empowered by the Lord regardless of his situation. In the preceding verse from *Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, *Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has described how he was personally empowered by the Lord. He further states in *Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu *(1.2.187): > īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate **"A person acting in the service of Kṛṣṇa with his body, mind and words is a liberated person even in the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities."** To keep oneself free from material contamination and attain the Lord's favor, one must be sincerely anxious to render service to the Lord. This is the only qualification necessary. As soon as one is favored by the mercy of the spiritual master and the Lord, one is immediately given all the power necessary to write books and propagate the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement without being hampered by material considerations. *— Cc. *Madhya *[[cc/madhya/19/135|19.135]]* ### 7. Unless one is empowered by the Lord, one cannot spread the holy names throughout the world: **To deliver people in regions throughout the Universe who could not meet Him, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally entered the bodies of pure devotees. Thus He empowered living beings [His pure devotees] by manifesting in them so much of His own devotion that people in all other countries became devotees by seeing them.** Unless one is empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one cannot spread the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra *throughout the world. Persons who do so are empowered. Therefore they are sometimes called *āveśa-avatāras *or incarnations, for they are endowed with the power of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. *— Cc. *Antya *[[cc/antya/2/13|2.13-14]]* ### 8. The Lord empowers the devotee to preach: The Supreme Lord has multi-potencies, which the Lord bestows on His fortunate devotees. The Lord has a special potency by which He spreads the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This is also explained in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya *[[cc/antya/7/11|7.11]]). *Kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana: *"One cannot spread the holy name of Kṛṣṇa without being specifically empowered by Lord Kṛṣṇa." A devotee who receives this power from the Lord must be considered very fortunate. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading to enlighten people about their real position, their original relationship with Kṛṣṇa. One requires Kṛṣṇa's special power in order to be able to do this.... The Lord again comes as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to induce people to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Lord also empowers a special devotee to teach people their constitutional position. *— Cc. *Madhya *[[cc/madhya/19/114|19.114]]* ### 9. A preacher's success depends on Kṛṣṇa's grace: While preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness with full vigor, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu faced many Māyāvādī philosophers. Similarly, we are also facing opposing *svāmīs, yogīs, *impersonalists, scientists, philosophers and other mental speculators, and by the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa we successfully defeat all of them without difficulty. *— Cc. Ā*di *[[cc/adi/7/40|7.40]]* ### 10. The secret of success in spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness is faith in the order of guru and Kṛṣṇa: Believing in the words of His spiritual master, He [Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu] introduced the *saṅkīrtana *movement, just as the present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started with belief in the words of our spiritual master. He wanted to preach, we believed in his words and tried somehow or other to fulfill them, and now this movement has become successful all over the world. Therefore faith in the words of the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the secret of success. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never disobeyed the orders of His spiritual master and stopped propagating the *saṅkīrtana *movement. Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī, at the time of his passing away, ordered all his disciples to work conjointly to preach the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu all over the world. Later, however, some self-interested, foolish disciples disobeyed his orders. Each one of them wanted to become head of the mission, and they fought in the courts, neglecting the order of the spiritual master, and the entire mission was defeated. We are not proud of this; however, the truth must be explained. We believed in the words of our spiritual master and started in a humble way—in a helpless way—but due to the spiritual force of the order of the supreme authority, this movement has become successful. *— Cc. Ā*di* [[cc/adi/7/95-96|7.95-96]]* ### 11. The key to successful preaching is in sincerely serving Lord Caitanya and following the instructions of the ācāryas: **Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates of the Pañca-tattva distributed the holy name of the Lord to invoke love of Godhead throughout the universe and thus the entire universe was thankful.** Here it is said that Lord Caitanya made the entire universe thankful to Him for propagating the *saṅkīrtana *movement with His associates. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has already sanctified the entire universe by His presence five hundred years ago, and therefore anyone who attempts to serve Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sincerely by following in His footsteps and following the instructions of the *ācāryas *will successfully be able to preach the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra *all over the universe. *— Cc. Ā*di* [[cc/adi/7/163|7.163]]* ### 12. Without being empowered by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot preach; the empowered preacher can raise the whole world to Kṛṣṇa consciousness: ****Śrīla Rāmānanda Raya replied to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "My Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If You like, You can cause even a wooden doll to dance. I** **see that the truths regarding transcendental mellow that You have expounded through my mouth are all explained in the writings of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Because of Your causeless mercy toward Your devotees, You want to describe the transcendental pastimes in Vṛndāvana. Anyone empowered to do this can bring the entire world under Your influence."**** This passage parallels the statement *kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe tāra pravartana, *which means that unless empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, one cannot spread the holy name of the Lord throughout the entire world (Cc. *Antya* [[cc/antya/7/11|7.11]]). Under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a pure devotee can preach the holy name of the Lord so that everyone may take advantage of this facility and thus become Kṛṣṇa conscious. *— Cc. *Antya *[[cc/antya/1/203|1.203-205]]* ### 13. To spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one must be empowered by Kṛṣṇa; the Kṛṣṇa conscious ācārya should be considered nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa: In this Age of Kali, real religious propaganda should induce people to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra. *This is possible for someone who is especially empowered by Kṛṣṇa. No one can do this without being especially favored by Kṛṣṇa.... Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura ... comments: "Without being empowered by the direct potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa to fulfill His desire and without being specifically favored by the Lord, no human being can become the spiritual master of the whole world.... Only an empowered personality can distribute the holy name of the Lord and enjoin all fallen souls to worship Kṛṣṇa. By distributing the holy name of the Lord, he cleanses the hearts of the most fallen people; therefore he extinguishes the blazing fire of the material world. Not only that, he broadcasts the shining brightness of Kṛṣṇa's effulgence throughout the world. Such an *ācārya, *or spiritual master, should be considered nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa—that is, he should be considered the incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa's potency. *— Cc. *Madhya *[[cc/madhya/25/9|25.9]]* ### 14. One must be empowered by Lord Kṛṣṇa to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness: **[Vallabha Bhaṭṭa said to Lord Caitanya:] **"The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Unless empowered by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot propagate the saṅkīrtana movement. You have spread the saṅkīrtana movement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore it is evident that You have been empowered by Lord Kṛṣṇa. There is no question about it. You have manifested the holy name of Kṛṣṇa throughout the entire world. Anyone who sees You is immediately absorbed in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. Without being especially empowered by Kṛṣṇa, one cannot manifest ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa, for Kṛṣṇa is the only one who gives ecstatic love. That is the verdict of all revealed scriptures."**** *— Cc *Antya *[[cc/antya/7/11|7.11-14]]* ### 15. Compassionate preachers are empowered by the Lord: Vaiṣṇavas, or devotees, are usually very compassionate upon conditioned souls. Without even being invited, a devotee will go from door to door to enlighten people and to bring them out of the darkness of nescience by injecting knowledge of the living entity's constitutional position as a servant of Lord Kṛṣṇa Such devotees are empowered by the Lord to distribute devotional consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to the people in general. *— TLC Ch 1*