Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Simply by the causeless mercy of the devotees engaged in licking honey from His lotus feet, even a fallen soul becomes eternally liberated. (1) All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! All glories to Nityānanda Prabhu! All glories to Advaitacandra! And all glories to all the devotees of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! (2) The next year, all the devotees of Bengal went to visit Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and as previously, the Lord met each and every one of them. (3) Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed His pastimes with His devotees. Then a learned scholar named Vallabha Bhaṭṭa went to Jagannātha Purī to meet the Lord. (4)
When Vallabha Bhaṭṭa arrived, he offered his obeisances at the lotus feet of the Lord. Accepting him as a great devotee, the Lord embraced him. (5) With great respect, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu seated Vallabha Bhaṭṭa near Him. Then Vallabha Bhaṭṭa very humbly began to speak. (6) “For a long time,” he said, “I have desired to see You, my Lord. Now Lord Jagannātha has fulfilled this desire; therefore I am seeing You. (7) “One who receives Your audience is fortunate indeed, for You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. (8) “Since one who remembers You is purified, why should it be astonishing that one becomes purified by seeing You? (9) “‘One can immediately purify his entire house simply by remembering exalted personalities, to say nothing of directly seeing them, touching their lotus feet, washing their feet or offering them places to sit.’ (10) “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. (11)
“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. (12) “You have manifested the holy name of Kṛṣṇa throughout the entire world. Anyone who sees You is immediately absorbed in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. (13) “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. (14) “‘There may be many all- auspicious incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, but who other than Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa can bestow love of God upon the surrendered souls?'” (15) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “My dear Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, you are a learned scholar. Kindly listen to Me. I am a sannyāsī of the Māyāvāda school. Therefore I have no chance of knowing what kṛṣṇa- bhakti is. (16)
“Nevertheless, My mind has become purified because I have associated with Advaita Ācārya, who is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (17) “He is unparalleled in His understanding of all the revealed scriptures and the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore He is called Advaita Ācārya. (18) “He is such a great personality that by His mercy He can convert even the meat- eaters [mlecchas] to the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa. Who, therefore, can estimate the power of His Vaiṣṇavism? (19) “Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, the avadhūta, is also directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is always intoxicated with the madness of ecstatic love. Indeed, He is an ocean of love of Kṛṣṇa. (20) “Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya perfectly knows the six philosophical theses. He is therefore the spiritual master of the entire world in teaching the six paths of philosophy. He is the best of devotees. (21) “Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya has shown Me the limit of devotional service. Only by his mercy have I understood that devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is the essence of all mystic yoga. (22)
“Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya is the ultimate knower of the transcendental mellows of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service. He has instructed Me that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (23) “Through the mercy of Rāmānanda Rāya, I have understood that ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa is the highest goal of life and that spontaneous love of Kṛṣṇa is the highest perfection. (24) “The servant, friend, superior and conjugal lover are the shelters of the transcendental mellows called dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and śṛṅgāra. (25) “There are two kinds of emotion [bhāva]. Emotion with an understanding of the Lord’s full opulences is called aiśvarya- jñāna- yukta, and pure, uncontaminated emotion is called kevala. One cannot achieve shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, simply by knowing His opulences. (26) “‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of mother Yaśodā, is accessible to those devotees engaged in spontaneous loving service, but He is not as easily accessible to mental speculators, to those striving for self- realization by severe austerities and penances, or to those who consider the body the same as the self.’ (27)
“The word ‘ātma- bhūta’ means ‘personal associates.’ Through the understanding of the Lord’s opulence, the goddess of fortune could not receive the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja. (28) “‘When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was dancing with the gopīs in the rāsa- līlā, the gopīs were embraced around the neck by the Lord’s arms. This transcendental favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or the other consorts in the spiritual world. Nor was such a thing ever imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, girls whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the beauty and fragrance of lotus flowers. And what to speak of worldly women, who may be very, very beautiful according to material estimation?’ (29) “In pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a friend mounts the shoulder of Kṛṣṇa, and mother Yaśodā binds the Lord. (30) “In pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without knowledge of the Lord’s opulences, a devotee considers Kṛṣṇa his friend or son. Therefore this devotional attitude is praised even by Śukadeva Gosvāmī and Vyāsadeva, the supreme authority. (31)
“‘Neither those who are engaged in self- realization, appreciating the Brahman effulgence of the Lord, nor those engaged in devotional service while accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master, nor those who are under the clutches of Māyā, thinking the Lord an ordinary person, can understand that certain exalted personalities, after accumulating volumes of pious activities, are now playing with the Lord in friendship as cowherd boys.’ (32) “‘When mother Yaśodā saw all the universes within Kṛṣṇa’s mouth, she was astonished for the time being. The Lord is worshiped like Indra and other demigods by the followers of the three Vedas, who offer Him sacrifices. He is worshiped as impersonal Brahman by saintly persons who understand His greatness through studying the Upaniṣads, as the puruṣa by great philosophers who analytically study the universe, as the all- pervading Supersoul by great yogīs, and as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by devotees. Nevertheless, mother Yaśodā considered the Lord her own son.’ (33)
“‘O brāhmaṇa, what pious activities did Nanda Mahārāja perform to receive the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa as his son? And what pious activities did mother Yaśodā perform that made the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa call her “Mother” and suck her breasts?’ (34) “Even if a pure devotee sees the opulence of Kṛṣṇa, he does not accept it. Therefore pure consciousness is more exalted than consciousness of the Lord’s opulence. (35) “Rāmānanda Rāya is extremely aware of transcendental mellows. He is incessantly absorbed in the happiness of ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. It is he who has taught Me all this. (36) “It is impossible to describe the influence and knowledge of Rāmānanda Rāya, for only by his mercy have I understood the unalloyed love of the residents of Vṛndāvana. (37) “The transcendental mellows of ecstatic love are personified by Svarūpa Dāmodara. By his association I have understood Vṛndāvana’s transcendental mellow of conjugal love. (38)
“The unalloyed love of the gopīs and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is without any trace of material lust. The criterion of such transcendental love is that its only purpose is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. (39) “‘O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our lives rest only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path.’ (40) “Obsessed with pure love, without knowledge of opulences, the gopīs sometimes chastise Kṛṣṇa. That is a symptom of pure ecstatic love. (41) “‘O dear Kṛṣṇa, we gopīs have neglected the order of our husbands, sons, family, brothers and friends and have left their company to come to You. You know everything about our desires. We have come only because we are attracted by the supreme music of Your flute. But You are a great cheater, for who else would give up the company of young girls like us in the dead of night?’ (42) “The conjugal love of the gopīs is the most exalted devotional service, surpassing all other methods of bhakti. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa is obliged to say, ‘My dear gopīs, I cannot repay you. Indeed, I am always indebted to you.’ (43)
“‘O gopīs, I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.’ (44) “Completely distinct from love of Kṛṣṇa in opulence, pure love of Kṛṣṇa is on the highest level. On the surface of the world there is no devotee greater than Uddhava.(45) “Uddhava desires to take on his head the dust of the gopīs’ lotus feet. I have learned about all these transcendental loving affairs of Lord Kṛṣṇa from Svarūpa Dāmodara. (46) “‘The gopīs of Vṛndāvana have given up the association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very difficult to give up, and they have forsaken the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa, which one should search for by Vedic knowledge. Oh, let me be fortunate enough to become one of the bushes, creepers or herbs in Vṛndāvana, for the gopīs trample them and bless them with the dust of their lotus feet.’ (47)
“Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the teacher of the holy name, is the most exalted of all pure devotees. Every day he chants 300,000 holy names of the Lord. (48) “I have learned about the glories of the Lord’s holy name from Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and by his mercy I have understood these glories. (48-51) “Ācāryaratna, Ācāryanidhi, Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Jagadānanda, Dāmodara, Śaṅkara, Vakreśvara, Kāśīśvara, Mukunda, Vāsudeva, Murāri and many other devotees have descended in Bengal to preach to everyone the glories of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and the value of love for Him. I have learned from them the meaning of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.” (52) Knowing that Vallabha Bhaṭṭa’s heart was full of pride, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu spoke these words, hinting at how one can learn about devotional service. (53) [Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was thinking:] “I am a great Vaiṣṇava. Having learned all the conclusions of Vaiṣṇava philosophy, I can understand the meaning of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam and explain it very well.” (54)
Such pride had existed for a long time within the mind of Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, but as he heard the preaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, his pride was cut down. (55) When Vallabha Bhaṭṭa heard from the mouth of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu about the pure Vaiṣṇavism of all these devotees, he immediately desired to see them. (56) Vallabha Bhaṭṭa said, “Where do all these Vaiṣṇavas live, and how can I see them?” (57) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “Although some of them live in Bengal and some in other states, they have all come here to see the Ratha- yātrā festival. (58) “At present they are all living here. Their residences are in various quarters. Here you will get the audience of them all.” (59) Thereafter, with great submission and humility, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to dine at his home. (60) The next day, when all the Vaiṣṇavas came to the abode of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord introduced Vallabha Bhaṭṭa to them all. (61)
Deepen your Bhakti-yoga practice, harmonize relationships, and receive guided coaching — all at Vedavarsity.com
