Friday, June 5, 2009


Mahesh Dham (Lord Siva's Abode)

Madhya 21.54

When a living entity is liberated from Devī-dhāma but does not know of the opulence of Hari-dhāma, he is placed in Maheśa-dhāma, which is between the other two dhāmas. The liberated soul does not get an opportunity to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead there; therefore although this Maheśa-dhāma is Lord Śiva's dhāma and above Devī-dhāma, it is not the spiritual world. The spiritual world begins with Hari-dhāma, or Vaikuṇṭhaloka.


Size of the Universe

Madhya 21.84

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, one of the greatest astrologers of his time, gives information from the Siddhānta-śiromaṇi that this universe measures 18,712,069,200,000,000 x 8 miles.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Description of Yuga Avataras

Krishna doesn't appear in All Dvapar Yugas

Madhya 20.337

It is not that Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appears in a blackish color in all the Dvāpara-yugas. In other Dvāpara-yugas, previous to Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance, the Supreme Lord appeared in a greenish body by His own personal expansion. This is mentioned in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Hari-vaḿśa and Mahābhārata.

***********************
How to know who is an incarnation of God?

Madhya 20.351-363

Sanatana Goswami asks Lord Caitanya: "How can I understand who is the incarnation for this Age of Kali?"

LC replies: "As in other ages an incarnation is accepted according to the directions of the śāstras, in this Age of Kali an incarnation of God should be accepted in that way."

Sastra is the center: One should accept a thing as genuine by studying the words of saintly people, the spiritual master and the sashtra . The actual center is the sashtra , the revealed scripture. If a spiritual master does not speak according to the revealed scripture, he is not to be accepted. Similarly, if a saintly person does not speak according to the sashtra , he is not a saintly person. The sashtra is the center for all.

  • Only by His extraordinary prowess and uncommon activities, which are impossible for embodied living entities, can one partially understand the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. [355]
  • By two symptoms — personal characteristics and marginal characteristics [356]
**************************
Description of Saktyavesh (empowered) Incarnations
Madhya 20.367-376

*********************
Description of characteristics of Lord Krishna's childhood, boyhood and youth
Madhya 20.377-

Friday, May 29, 2009

Sanatana Goswami Meets Lord Caitanya in Varanasi

LC had so much love for Sanatana that when He first met him, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began cleansing Sanātana Gosvāmī's body with His own transcendental hand. This is the love Lord has for His devotees. But the Lord is also so humble. He said, "I am touching you just to purify Myself, because by the force of your devotional service you can purify the whole universe." [Madhya 20.55-56]

Glorification of a Vaisnava (His power to deliver and purify the world) [Madhya 20.55-61]

akṣṇoḥ phalaḿ tvādṛśa-darśanaḿ hi
tanoḥ phalaḿ tvādṛśa-gātra-sańgaḥ

jihvā-phalaḿ tvādṛśa-kīrtanaḿ hi
su-durlabhā bhāgavatā hi loke


'My dear Vaiṣṇava, seeing a person like you is the perfection of one's eyesight, touching your lotus feet is the perfection of the sense of touch, and glorifying your good qualities is the tongue's real activity, for in the material world it is very difficult to find a pure devotee of the Lord.'"

Lord Helps a devotee in unexpected ways [Madhya 20.62]

Staying within everyone's heart, Lord Krishna works very gravely. No one can understand how He is working, but as soon as the Lord understands the sincere activity of a person in devotional service, He helps him in such a way that the devotee cannot understand how things are happening. If the devotee is determined to serve the Lord, the Lord is always prepared to help him

Devotees should not have long hair, moustache, beard [Madhya 20.70]

The words bhadra karāñā are significant in this verse. Due to his long hair, mustache and beard, Sanātana Gosvāmī looked like a daraveśa, or hippie. Since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not like Sanātana Gosvāmī's hippie features, he immediately asked Candraśekhara to get him shaved clean. If anyone with long hair or a beard wants to join this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and live with us, he must similarly shave himself clean. The followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu consider long hair objectionable.

The System of Madhukari [Madhya 20.81]

The word mādhukarī comes from the word madhukara, which refers to bees collecting honey from flower to flower. A mādhukarī is a saintly person or a mendicant who does not accept a full meal at one house but begs from door to door, taking a little food from each householder's place. In this way he does not overeat or give householders unnecessary trouble. A person in the renounced order may beg but not cook. His begging should not be a burden for the householders. The mādhukarī process is strictly to be followed by a bābājī, that is, one who has attained the paramahaḿsa stage.

Lord takes away all material attachments of His devotees. [Madhya 20.82-91]

LC induced Sanatana Goswami to give up his costly woolen blanket.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then said, "I have already deliberately considered this matter. Since Lord Kṛṣṇa is very merciful, He has nullified your attachment for material things. Why should Kṛṣṇa allow you to maintain a last bit of material attachment? After vanquishing a disease, a good physician does not allow any of the disease to remain.

Inclination for spiritual inquiry is also a great mercy of the Lord [Madhya 20.94-96]

Being pleased with Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed His causeless mercy upon him. By the Lord's mercy, Sanātana Gosvāmī received the spiritual strength to inquire from Him.

Formerly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had asked Rāmānanda Rāya spiritual questions, and by the Lord's causeless mercy, Rāmānanda Rāya could properly reply. Now, by the Lord's mercy, Sanātana Gosvāmī questioned the Lord, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally supplied the truth.

How one can become fallen in this material world?
How should one approach the Lord [Madhya 20.99]

"nīca jāti, nīca-sańgī, patita adhama kuviṣaya-kūpe paḍi' gońāinu janama!

Sanātana Gosvāmī said, "I was born in a low family, and my associates are all low-class men. I myself am fallen and am the lowest of men. Indeed, I have passed my whole life fallen in the well of sinful materialism.

āpanāra hitāhita kichui nā jāni! grāmya-vyavahāre paṇḍita, tāi satya māni

"I do not know what is beneficial for me or what is detrimental. Nonetheless, in ordinary dealings people consider me a learned scholar, and I am also thinking of myself as such.

kṛpā kari' yadi more kariyācha uddhāra āpana-kṛpāte kaha 'kartavya' āmāra

"Out of Your causeless mercy, You have delivered me from the materialistic path. Now, by the same causeless mercy, please tell me what my duty is.

'ke āmi', 'kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya' ihā nāhi jāni — 'kemane hita haya'

"Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited?