SRI CHAITANYA’S GIFT

heloddhunita-khedaya visadaya pronmilad-amodaya
samyach-chhastra-vivadaya rasa-daya chitarpitonmadaya
sasvad-bhakti-vinodaya sa-madaya madhurya-maryadaya
sri-chaitanya daya-nidhe tava daya bhuyad amandodaya
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 10.119)

[“Your mercy easily dispels distress, purifies the soul, produces the greatest joy, concludes all scriptural argument, showers rasa, maddens the heart, inspires eternal devotion, produces equanimity, and is the ultimate divine sweetness. O ocean of mercy Śrī Chaitanya! Please bestow Your non-harm producing mercy upon me.”]

Sri Gaurasundar, whose loving words made the residents of the land of Gauda glorious in all respects, whose sweet words the people of the world discuss and find peace within, is supremely merciful. We are all beggars of mercy. Humanity is stricken with deprivation. One who frees others from deprivation is accepted as a ‘benefactor’. Everything that is considered a gift in this world is temporary and incomplete, and the number of benefactors in this world is also very small. If beggars’ desires and expectations are too great, then all the benefactors in the world cannot come forward and give the beggars the gifts they desire. The wise cannot give the foolish, the rich cannot give the poor, the healthy cannot give the sickly, and the intelligent cannot give the unintelligent the gifts they desire. Yet can humanity even desire, even pray, for a gift as great as the gift Sri Gaurasundar has given? Previously humanity could not even think or expect that such a great gift could come to this world, could be showered upon souls by their good fortune. The unprecedented gift Sri Gaurasundar has given to humanity is pure love for the Supreme Lord. The greatest deprivation in this world is that of love, and it is because of this that violence, enmity, selfishness, and so on trouble souls so much. [In this world] even godly people—even the gods themselves—are prepared to obstruct souls who aspire to serve the Lord.

We are all men gravely stricken with deprivation—stunted vision. Being beaten by the three modes of nature, we cannot search for the real truth. This is why many accept the alluring bait of untruth, and if one becomes tempted by this, then one’s human life does not become successful.

From whose holy mouth did Gaurasundar’s gift emanate? Srila Madhavendra Puri is the central root of Gaurasundar’s gift—of the tree of divine love. Divine love is the only thing to be searched for, the pure soul’s only necessity. Sri Madhavendrapad sang a mula-mantra [axiom] about how divine love is achieved. Isvar Puri heard this song, and Mahaprabhu showed His Pastime of hearing this song from Isvar Puri’s mouth. That song is this:

ayi dina-dayardra-natha he
mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 4.197)

[“O Lord whose heart is melted with mercy for the poor! O Lord of Mathura! When shall I see You again? In separation from You, My broken heart trembles. O Beloved! What shall I do now?”]

This gift was distributed in India by Madhavendra Puripad. We do not know whether it was distributed in places outside of India. The Indians whose ears this mula-mantra for the Pastime of distributing Krishna-prema has reached have attained all perfection, and those whose ears it has not reached have remained entangled in insignificant matters. The human life of one who has not understood this mula-mantra’s importance is meaningless. This song of separation is our unadulterated soul’s dharma—our innate nature.

Thakur Bilvamangal once acted as if he were immersed in immoral affairs. When he was deeply engaged in the service of peacock feather-crowned Krishna, he also sang about service in separation [vipralambha-bhajan] within his Karnamrta, more or less. Let us discuss the message Gaurasundar came to speak to humanity. Even now, proud of being ‘residents of the land of Gauda’, we remain immersed in material affairs! This is such far gone deprivation that it cannot be described with human language. Madhavendrapad sang this song of separation to deliver us from such deprivation:

ayi dina-dayardra-natha he
mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham

We often, with sorrow, jokingly mock someone who does not understand our deprivation by calling them ‘dayita’ [‘dear’]. When the Lord went to Mathura and left the Vraja-vasis, then the Vraja-vasis called Krishna this name. And they also called Him ‘Mathuranath’ [‘Lord of Mathura’]. They did not call Him ‘Vrndavananath’ [‘Lord of Vrndavan’]. Many people have heard discussion of Mathura songs. All the words in these songs are terms related to separation [vipralambha]. What is called ‘viraha’ is called ‘vipralambha’ in lyrical Sanskrit texts. In separation, the Vraja-vasis are saying to Krishna, “You are ‘Dayita’ [‘dear’], but You now are ‘Mathuranath’ [‘the Lord of Mathura’]. You have broken away from us and left. We are destitute. You are our wealth, and today we have lost that wealth. Thus, when we go to express our sadness, what other than humour can arise? You are our eyes’ jewel, and today You have left our vision—You have shocked us and left for Mathura. [While saying this Srila Prabhupad’s voice faltered, his face glowed with a reddish colour produced by divine feelings, his eyes became absorbed in an extraordinary ecstasy, and he began to shed tears of love. In the midst of a general assembly, Prabhupad, though deeply situated in mahabhava, quickly checked his emotions and began to speak again.]

“O Krishna, will you remain invisible [adhoksaja] forever? Will we not be able to see Your beauty, form, and sweetness again? You are ‘knowable’ [attainable by renunciation—jnan], but because we have no such knowledge we cannot see You. We are unknowing, childish, and unintelligent. Considering we have not performed thousands of years of austerities, You have gone to the land of ‘knowledge’—where our senses cannot go. Yet You alone are our shelter, and Your heart is melted with mercy. When will we see You? You met us, and through that meeting You stole our hearts and wealth. Today Hari, the stealer of our wealth, has gone to Mathura! Deprived of Your sight, our hearts are broken.”

What is the medicine for this condition of the heart—for the pain in the heart of one who is bewildered by separation from Krishna? It is Gaurasundar’s mula-mantra:

ayi dina-dayardra-natha he
mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham

Gaurasundar says, “O people whose hearts are immersed in the mundane, to become detached from the triviality [lit. ash-pile] of worldly affairs even while labouring amidst it and attain good fortune, to reach a transcendental state, accept this teaching: engage in Sri Krishna’s sankirtan.”

cheto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Antya-lila, 20.12)

[“Sri Krsna-sankirtan cleanses the mirror of consciousness, extinguishes the raging forest fire of material existence, shines moonlight on the evening lotus of good fortune, is the life of paramour love for the Lord, expands the ocean of ecstasy, is the taste of full nectar at every moment, and soothes the entire self. May Sri Krishna-sankirtan be supremely victorious!”]