I offer my respectful obeisances unto the spiritual masters, the devotees of the Lord, the Lord’s incarnations, His plenary portions, His energies and the primeval Lord Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.(1) I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauḍa to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all. (2)
What the Upaniṣads describe as the impersonal Brahman is but the effulgence of His body, and the Lord known as the Supersoul is but His localized plenary portion. Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Himself, full with six opulences. He is the Absolute Truth, and no other truth is greater than or equal to Him. (3) May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī- devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.(4)
The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure- giving potency. Although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves eternally. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. I bow down to Him, who has manifested Himself with the sentiment and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī although He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. (5) Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī- devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean. (6) May Śrī Nityānanda Rāma be the object of my constant remembrance. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Śeṣa Nāga and the Viṣṇus who lie on the Kāraṇa Ocean, Garbha Ocean and ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions. (7)
I surrender unto the lotus feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, who is known as Saṅkarṣaṇa in the midst of the catur- vyūha [consisting of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha]. He possesses full opulences and resides in Vaikuṇṭhaloka, far beyond the material creation. (8) I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, whose partial representation called Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, lying on the Kāraṇa Ocean, is the original puruṣa, the master of the illusory energy, and the shelter of all the universes. (9) I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, a partial part of whom is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu sprouts the lotus that is the birthplace of Brahmā, the engineer of the universe. The stem of that lotus is the resting place of the multitude of planets. (10)
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, whose secondary part is the Viṣṇu lying in the ocean of milk. That Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is the Supersoul of all living entities and the maintainer of all the universes. Śeṣa Nāga is His further subpart. (11) Lord Advaita Ācārya is the incarnation of Mahā- Viṣṇu, whose main function is to create the cosmic world through the actions of māyā. (12) Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Ācārya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him. (13) I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, who is nondifferent from His features as a devotee, devotional incarnation, devotional manifestation, pure devotee and devotional energy. (14)
Glory to the all- merciful Rādhā and Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me. (15) In a temple of jewels in Vṛndāvana, underneath a desire tree, Śrī Śrī Rādhā- Govinda, served by Their most confidential associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto Them. (16) Śrī Śrīla Gopīnātha, who originated the transcendental mellow of the rāsa dance, stands on the shore in Vaṁśīvaṭa and attracts the attention of the cowherd damsels with the sound of His celebrated flute. May they all confer upon us their benediction. (17) Glory to Śrī Caitanya and Nityānanda! Glory to Advaitacandra! And glory to all the devotees of Śrī Gaura [Lord Caitanya]! (18)
These three Deities of Vṛndāvana [Madana- mohana, Govinda and Gopīnātha] have absorbed the heart and soul of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas [followers of Lord Caitanya]. I worship Their lotus feet, for They are the Lords of my heart. (19) In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions. (20) Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires. (21) The invocation involves three processes: defining the objective, offering benedictions and offering obeisances. (22) The first two verses offer respectful obeisances, generally and specifically, to the Lord, who is the object of worship. (23) In the third verse I indicate the Absolute Truth, who is the ultimate substance. With such a description, one can visualize the Supreme Truth. (24) In the fourth verse I have invoked the benediction of the Lord upon all the world, praying to Lord Caitanya for His mercy upon all. (25)
In that verse I have also explained the external reason for Lord Caitanya’s incarnation. But in the fifth and sixth verses I have explained the prime reason for His advent. (26) In these six verses I have described the truth about Lord Caitanya, whereas in the next five I have described the glory of Lord Nityānanda. (27) The next two verses describe the truth of Advaita Prabhu, and the following verse describes the Pañca- tattva [the Lord, His plenary portion, His incarnation, His energies and His devotees]. (28) These fourteen verses, therefore, offer auspicious invocations and describe the Supreme Truth. (29) I offer my obeisances unto all my Vaiṣṇava readers as I begin to explain the intricacies of all these verses. (30) I request all my Vaiṣṇava readers to read and hear with rapt attention this narration of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya as inculcated in the revealed scriptures. (31) Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoys by manifesting Himself as the spiritual masters, the devotees, the diverse energies, the incarnations and the plenary portions. They are all six in one. (32)
I therefore worship the lotus feet of these six diversities of the one truth by invoking their benedictions. (33) I offer my respectful obeisances unto the spiritual masters, the devotees of the Lord, the Lord’s incarnations, His plenary portions, His energies and the primeval Lord Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. (34) I first offer my respectful obeisances at the lotus feet of my initiating spiritual master and all my instructing spiritual masters. (35) My instructing spiritual masters are Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. (36)
These six are my instructing spiritual masters, and therefore I offer millions of respectful obeisances unto their lotus feet. (37) There are innumerable devotees of the Lord, of whom Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura is the foremost. I offer my respectful obeisances thousands of times unto their lotus feet. (38) Advaita Ācārya is the Lord’s partial incarnation, and therefore I offer my obeisances millions of times at His lotus feet. (39) Śrīla Nityānanda Rāma is the plenary manifestation of the Lord, and I have been initiated by Him. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet. (40) I offer my respectful obeisances unto the internal potencies of the Lord, of whom Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu is the foremost. (41) Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Personality of Godhead Himself, and therefore I offer innumerable prostrations at His lotus feet. (42)
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