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Click to watch, scroll to read the transcription (by HG Harsarani devi dasi) and connect with Lord Caitanya and the most nectarean Sri Caitanya Caritamrta.

- https://youtu.be/UTrAbAVXamQ

So the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is describing us the nectarean characteristics of Lord Caitanya. As we know from Rupa Gosvami’s writings in the verse:

namo mahā-vadānyāya

kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te

kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya

nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-lila 19.53)

That Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to give love of God to the most fallen. He came to give the topmost to the most fallen. And not just love of God. Although love of God is rare in this world still love of God can be found also in other traditions. But nowhere can the quality of love of God be found as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has displayed it.

Some years ago I did a presentation on the Caitanya-caritāmṛta which was called, “As the Caitanya-caritāmṛta provides us our identity.” The Caitanya-caritāmṛta provides us an identity in two ways. One is it is there that we find devotees like or similar to as we are finding them today. When we look in Srimad Bhagavatam or even Bhagavad-gita we find Arjuna is a powerful warrior. The Pandavas are royalty ksatriyas who are fighting great battles Who are controlling celestial weapons and who are practically super human. Bhima is stronger than ten thousand elephants. I mean that is rather on the strong side. So they are almost super human. But when we come to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta we find devotees who are in many ways similar to us. Although they don’t live in the modern day that we are in but they are trying to chant the maha mantra – they are chanting japa. They are rising early in the morning, they are hearing Srimad Bhagavatam. It is their main scripture, and of course Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they want to hear about Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, the author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta describes how daily in the Radha Govinda temple was the largest temple in Vrindavan. It was seven stories high, and on top of the temple there was a very big lamp that was lit at night. When that lamp was lit its light would shine so far that that even it could be seen in Aagrah which was sixty kilometres away. So it is said that later Arangzeb he broke four stories of that temple. But during the time of around Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s presence on this planet in Vrindavan in that temple the devotees wanted to hear about the past times of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Shortly after the disappearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu thousands of devotees daily were hearing from the Caitanya-mangala which was the name of Caitanya-Bhagavata that Vrindavana Dasa Thakura had on those days. It is said that all those devotees were very eager to hear about Lord Caitanya. And they would assemble there every night. Then the head pujari who was a very exalted devotee and another some other devotees approached Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami and they asked him to write a book about the later pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

So it was confusing because why ask Krsnadasa Kaviraja? He had not even met Mahaprabhu in person. There were still people living who had actually seen Mahaprabhu. Why would you ask someone to write about the Biography of Caitanya Mahaprabhu when he had not even met Mahaprabhu in person? Well but there was more to it. The exalted vaishnavas in the Radha Govinda temple they knew very well that Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami had been the protégé of Raghanutha Gosvami. And of all the Gosvamis Raghunatha Dasa was coming a little later, and he joined later in Jaganatha Puri and he joined Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu during His final days.

When Caitanya Mahaprabhu upon the orders of this mother went to Jaganatha Puri. He shortly visited there then He made His six years journey around South India and then returned to Puri. Then again another six years every year the devotees would come for Ratha Yatra and meet Mahaprabhu. Then twelve years remained, and during those last twelve years Caitanya Mahaprabhu was going more and more into an internal state of consciousness. He was more and more forgetting the material world and He was becoming more absorbed in the eternal pastimes of Krsna and sort of disconnected from everyday life on earth. So at that point it became more difficult to partake on functions such as Ratha yatra and so on, or to follow any time schedules. So at that time the devotees were no longer invited from Bengal to come and join Caitanya Mahaprabhu. At that time Mahaprabhu stayed with Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Ramananda Raya and His servant Govinda. And then Raghunatha Dasa was there in Puri. He was placed by Caitanya Mahaprabhu under the care of Svarupa Damodar Gosvami.

So Svarupa Damodar Gosvami was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s personal secretary. Svarupa Damodar Gosvami he kept a diary of everything that transpired in Jaganatha Puri. And then over time as Svarupa Damodar Gosvami left this world the diary was lost. Ragunatha Dasa who was younger, he knew the contents of the diary. He had heard from Svarupa Damodar and therefore it was Ragunatha Dasa who was sort of bringing that diary with him in his memory, it was not written down. And Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami he heard that diary from Ragunatha Dasa. So the assembled vaishnavas they knew that “Ragunatha Dasa knows the later pastimes of Caitanya Mahaprabhu that nobody knows. Oh we are so eager to hear. Every day was hear about everything Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has done and all the amazing ecstasies that He displayed. And now we particularly would like to hear about these later pastimes.”

Vrindavana Dasa Thakura has described how the Lord appeared. He appeared in Navadvip and how He spent His youth – on the banks of the Ganga, How He would wrestle with boys on the banks of the Ganga. How He would treat the proud smarta Brahmanas who were very proud of their Braminical status and while standing in the river Ganges and chanting their Gayatri. Standing waist down in the water, Nimai would swim underwater and pull their legs. They would just fall over under the water. Or Nimai would be sat on the bank with water in his mouth and then when the proud brahmanas would come out of the water Nimai would spit water on them. He would spit on them. I mean what is more awful than that? But imagine when the Supreme Personality of Godhead spits on you what great fortune. So in this way it depends on how one looks upon it. The brahmanas could not see it so transcendental. We of course would say that, “They were the most fortunate. Oh may the Lord spit on us a thousand times over if possible. Oh yes.” So in this way we appreciate. When Nimai was growing up into a youth He was an extraordinary student and He became very learned and He became proud of His learning. He was defeating everyone. After defeating everyone within the debate then He would defeat His own arguments as well. So in this way, that no one could defeat, He deferred. Finally we know that He met that Kaisava Kashmiri Pandit who was very proud and He defeated that Kaisava.

So in this way we can appreciate how the Caitanya-bhagavata described Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His childhood, His Youth and also some of the later pastimes once the Lord began to reveal His identity. Because only after the Lord had been to Gaya which was estimated to be in His early twenties. Only after that He had changed. Some say it was twenty two and at twenty four he took Sanyas. So Lord Caitanya then for about two years revealed His transcendental identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and performed pastimes with His associates. All these things are described in the Caitanya-bhagavata by Vrindavana Dasa Thakura in a very blissful way and so the devotees were daily hearing in the Radha Govinda temple. But they were eager to hear these final pastimes of Lord Caitanya which He performed in Jaganatha Puri.

Now I was saying earlier that the Caitanya-caritāmṛta provides us with our identity. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is there as bhakta-rūpa. Lord Nitayananda as bhakta–svarūpa. After the initial invocation is given then we get the verse:

pañca-tattvātmakaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ
bhakta-rūpa-svarūpakam
bhaktāvatāraṁ bhaktākhyaṁ
namāmi bhakta-śaktikam

(Adi-lila 7.6)

In that verse it is said that the Lord appears in His five features. Kavi Karnipura in his Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika has given the same verse in 1576, forty years before Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami gave us the verse. It is Kavi Karnipura who said that the verse came from Svarupa Damodar from that diary which is no longer available. And that Kavi Karnipura explained that, “Not only did Lord Caitanya appeared in five features. But Krsna also appeared in five features previously. Just as there is Krsna there is an immediate expansion who is non-different from Him is Lord Balarama.” Just as there is Lord Caitanya’s expansion is Lord Nityananda. Then there are so many avatars, so many incarnations. So Advaita-acarya also represents an avatar in the pastime there is Krsna there is many avatars of Krsna and many incarnations of Krsna. Then there is the śakti-tattva. Srimati Radharani she is śakti-tattva, the hlādinī-śakti – the pleasure giving potency. Finally there is the jīva-tattva the living being. So we had the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we had His immediate expansion, we had His avatar, then His pleasure potency and then we have the jiva. So Krsna also appears along with these same features. Kavi Karnipura explains. So yes we are looking at that. So we are in the jiva category as living beings. So when we are reading the Caitanya-caritāmṛta we are reading it as jivas.

Once in my more poetic days I used to write songs and in one song I came up with a line that, “Everything that you see has the colour of your eyes.” Or as we say in sanskrit ātmavan manyate jagat, (Srimad Bhagavatam 5.8.16). That we see the universe through our mind. So that is a fact. Therefore as jivas we are infinitesimal beings, we are insignificant. Our power is very limited, therefore we are always in need of shelter. When we are not situated in shelter then immediately we will be situated in fear, and that is the situation. 21.15 bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt (SB 11.2.32) as soon as we are separated from the Supreme Lord we are experiencing fear. The devotees described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta – they were all taking shelter of the Lord and they were always chanting. They are always turning to the Lord. Amongst them is Haridasa Thakura. Oh Haridasa – nāmācārya, always absorbed in chanting. “Oh Haridasa, yes we are praying that we may also take shelter.”

So the beginning of the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu there Lord Caitanya is the channāvatāra. He is the hidden avatar. He is not revealing Himself to everyone, He is just acting like a child. But what kind of child He is? When mother Saci was carrying Lord Caitanya in her womb she became effulgent. The demigods appeared, Lord Siva, Lord Brahma and many others of the demigods offered prayers. And they said, “Oh you are the mother of the demigods. You are Aditi, the wife of Kasyapa. Your are the mother of the Supreme Lord who appears again and again. You are Devaki. You are Yasoda the mother of Krsna. You are Kausalya the mother of Lord Rama.” In this way again you appear in this world as the mother of the Supreme Lord. Saci devi then is known in the Caitanya-bhagavata as ä-i”, ä-i” is referred to the original mother. So Saci Mata is the emblem of motherhood, and completely absorbed in taking care of her son. So in the beginning as Lord Caitanya is the channāvatāra. He is hidden but the demigods they understood, they offered prayers. And many miracles did happen- many. We recall that they could hear, when the baby while the was lying down the noise of ankle bells. They could see the footprints of the Supreme Lord on the floor. They could see that,”Actually that this child also had such footprints. But how could He run? How could that noise be?No, that could not be because He is a baby He cannot walk.“ So when we hear the noise of children’s footsteps running through the house and ankle bells, what can that be? Jaganatha Misra said, “It is a miracle, I think the salagrama sila is coming off the altar and running through the house. That is the only possibility.” In this way the childhood pastimes are going on, and miracles are being displayed. There are many miracles that are displayed.

During ekadasi there was a very opulent offering to the Lord of grains etc in the house of Hiranya and Govardhana Majumadara. Nimai was claiming to be ill that day. And when He was in bed He was demanding this offering, the maha prasadam,“That will cure me.” So the parents went there to the home of Hiranya and Govardhana Majumadara and they said, “How can this child know that there is a very opulent offering. We have a very special offering in the house. How can this child know?” So they immediately sent some large quantity of maha prasadam. Lord Caitanya ate it with great satisfaction.

Another interesting pastime is of the Brahmana. That Brahamana he was appearing in the house of Jaganatha Misra – the father of the Lord. Jaganatha Misra welcomed him. Generally Brahmanas would cook themselves and make offerings to their salagram silas. He gave the Brahmana the ingredients to cook. The Brahmana started cooking and was ready to make an offering. And just as he is chanting the mantras for offering, as he is chanting these mantras, then suddenly there was Nimai, and before anyone could do anything Nimai would just stick His hands in the bhoga and eat it. It was like, “Oh no this child has spoilt the offering.” And Jaganatha Misra. “You rascal what have you done. Get out of here.” A big thing and it continued to convince the Brahamana again. And at the second time Nimai came. The third time Brahmana did not want to cook anymore. But somehow or other Jaganatha Misra convinced him to cook for the third time. Again Nimai managed to get into the room, even though they were standing guard in front of the door. Still He got it and managed to eat that bhoga. Then the Brahamana said, “I am often at times staying in the forest. I am customed to live on roots and fruits and it is not a problem for me. The Lord does not want me to cook.“ But then Visvarupa came (the elder brother of Lord Caitanya). Visvarupa who was such a saintly person, he requested to that Brahmana, “Please cook one more time.” Then Brahmana what could he do? So he did, then when he was finished by midnight, then just as the Brahmana is chanting the mantras, there was Nimai and the Brahmana says, “No.” And Nimai had already put His hand through the rice and already took a bite. Then the Brahmana said, “No.” Then Nimai displayed His transcendental features, and He showed that He was Krsna and, Ramachandra. Then the Brahmana understood that He was the Supreme Lord. Then the Brahmana became so ecstatic that he smeared that rice all over his body and he ate it also. So in this way the ecstasy was very great. That Brahmana remained in Navadvipa and he was daily begging door to door. He would every day beg to the house of Jaganatha Misra just so that he would get the darshan of the Lord. But the Lord had forbidden him strictly to not tell anybody His identity.

So we see all these miraculous things in the early life of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When we are looking further at miracles we see that in His youth Nimai showed like super human learning. Later as a preacher Nimai was of course performed the Jarikhanda lila where He made all the animals in the jungle dance, and where elephants starting dancing, where deers and tigers danced and were embracing each other and even kissed each other. That was going on and then after that still other things.

There was Vasudeva the leper, who was such a devotee. Vasudeva he was just so amazing and a great devotee. He was totally transcendental to the bodily concept of life. Vasudeva was not at all concerned with his material body. Somehow or other he had gotten leprosy. So leprosy is horrible and the limbs start rotting away. There were worms in his body that were eating his body. What happened is that sometimes the some would worms fell out, and Vasudeva felt that, “This is not good because this body is their body so they will starve. So I cannot be the cause of their death.” So he picked them up and put back. So he was definitely quite transcendental. Then Vasudeva the leper heard that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was in South India, and he was eager to meet him. He went to the place where Mahaprabhu was but Mahaprabhu had just left. Then Vasudeva just cracked, he broke and he was just overwhelmed in the greatest dispair. Then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appreciating the greatness of Vasudeva and who was depth of his suffering. Then immediately He manifested in that spot again and then He embraced Vasudeva, who then got a beautiful body and who was freed from all disease. And in this way Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu performed another miracle. So also we know that later Sanatana Gosvami contracted sores, and Lord Caitanya cured that.

We know that in South India there were trees that Lord Ramacandra had been questioned if He was powerful enough to fight against Ravana. Then Lord Ramachandra had shot one arrow through seven huge sala trees. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to that place He embraced these sala trees and they all went back to the spiritual world so they disappeared. That was another miracle.

In Puri during Ratha yatra Lord Caitanya He pushed the chariot of Lord Jaganatha with His head and it immediately started to move. Although, even big wrestlers could not move, and although big elephants who were chained to chariot and the chariot did not move it. They could not move it but Lord Caitanya pushed it and it started to move and people were not even pulling the rope. It just rode along the road, He just gave it the one push with His head, and that was another miracle. So there some more miracles. So I have just sort of shown that Lord Caitanya has certainly shown many miracles.

Miracles are required when we are looking at the divinity of the Lord. But that is not the purpose of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The purpose of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not just to establish that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Lord. Yes it does so but that is not the principle purpose. The principle purpose is to reveal love of God. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed His miracle the greatest miracle that He had shown was His love of God. No greater miracle had been shown then that love of God that He showed – His tears would shoot in all directions within the temple in Jaganatha Puri there was a drain in the back and it was just filled with the water of Lord Caitanya’s tears. Lord Caitanya’s limbs they entered into His body. He became kurma Caitanya – He became like a ball. He was in the ghoshalla and the cows were licking and sniffing and not letting Him go. When anybody would come near, they would not let them come near.

So Caitanya Mahprabhu’s miracles continued but the greatest miracle was the depth of His love of godhead. And He displayed that and gradually we see in the Madhya-lila how the love of God of Lord Caitanya is being revealed. In the Adi-lila when He is still the hidden avatar and performing childhood pastimes, then His love of God is not really showing other than in the times when He suddenly faints. But in the Madhya–lila He is with His devotees and He shows His love of God. But in the Antya-lila in Puri He shows this love of God to the fullest extent.

Therefore all the devotees who had heard the Caitanya-bhagavata were very eager for Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami to write because Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami could write about those later pastimes of Lord Caitanya, that fully displayed the miracles of love of God, and that was the amazing thing. That was the whole purpose of why they wanted the Caitanya-caritāmṛta to be written. That is why they were eager, and of course Krsnadasa was very qualified. He was a learned representative of the philosophical school of Rupa Gosvami. So he was the perfect person in terms of philosophy. He was very learned himself. He had received the great mercy of Lord Nityananda. There is the one description about a dream where Lord NItyananda appears in the dream of Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami and when that happens Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami becomes so ecstatic and so overwhelmed with love of God that it is clear that when Krsnadasa is writing about the topmost level of love of God that he is not just a theoretical writer but that he himself has the direct experience of that topmost level of love of God.

So this is the most amazing – how Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami is a representative of the six Gosvami. How he is himself is the realised prema-bhakta, and how he knew everything about the later pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore all the vaishnavas wanted Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami to write about Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to fully disclose this miracle of Krsna-prema and its amazing symptoms. And through reading it in the beginning when we are reading Caitanya-caritāmṛta we find ourselves as an identity as the practitioner but as we continue to read the Caitanya-caritāmṛta we find ourselves an identity as the lover of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So in this way it is most wonderful to study the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Therefore it is the topmost important book, because it describes the topmost goal in life in detail both philosophically in a practical way it describes to us by the practical example of Caitanya Mahaprabhu of what is the nature of pure love of God? So I will turn over the microphone to Rasika Raya who will represent your questions.

Question: A lot of devotees have been asking that the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is supposed to be the postgraduate study but yet some people have been distributing it and trying to encourage people to sponsor the Caitanya-caritāmṛta to place them in prisons, hospitals and schools. Is that appropriate?

Kadamba Kanana Swami: Srila Prabhupada told us that the Bhagavad-gita is the preliminary study, Srimad Bhagavatam is the graduate study and Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the post graduate study. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta had a different approach- his approach was for the people of Bengal that they should first read the Caitanya-bhagavata, then the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and then the Srimad Bhagavatam. So he was going through Lord Caitanya because in Bengal the culture of Lord Caitanya is very much known. So why was the Caitanya-caritāmṛta post graduate study? For one reason because some of the things such as some of the avatars of the Lord, some of the expansions of the Lord the energies which are described in a more detailed way than the Srimad Bhagavatam are very short and very quickly described without too much elaborate explanation in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

So it helps if we have the preliminary knowledge when we approach Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And if we have not studied Srimad Bhagavatam then we may not always understand everything from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. However, we should understand is that this what we are part of. We are part of Lord Caitanya’s movement and if we don’t read the Caitanya-caritāmṛta or don’t hear about the Caitanya-caritāmṛta then we will never understand the nature of our movement, the movement that we are a part of, and we will not fully understand our identity.

I was for example in a house and there was no Lord Caitanya to be found in the house. All I found was Vrindavan pictures and pictures of Krsna but not Lord Caitanya. So that is incomplete because without Lord Caitanya there is no question that we could even approach Vrindavan. Without that special mercy of being forgiven for our lack of qualifications etc. Where would we be? We totally depend on Lord Caitanya. So the Caitanya-caritāmṛta is the most important. So even if you have not read anything you should still hear from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and read it. Just like Srila Prabhupada in the 1966 with the hippies from the Lower East Side who really did not know anything. He started giving them lectures from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, from the post graduate, and one might just say, “Why If this is the post graduate then how can he speak on such exalted topics to these very new people?” I mean we know a lot more than they did, because we have many experienced speakers, we hear so many lectures. But Prabhupada spoke to these new people this philosophy understanding that they needed to know what the nature of this movement is.

Therefore yes it should be put in schools libraries. It should be put in our own libraries and we should read it. Sometimes one says, “Oh postgraduate I have never finished the Bhagavatam so I cannot read the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.” No you must read it Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is very important because it is what we live. I often say it and I will say it to you also, we are living in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, because right now we are living in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, and that is the miracle in our life. It is happening to us. The mercy came straight in through the door of our house. How? I don’t know how it happened in your case. But somehow my former wife who I met sort of for the first time, she had a new dog and she was looking for the name, so someone had just the day before had finished reading a book of Krsna Murti and said, “Call the dog Krsna Murti.” She said, “No that is too long. I will call it Krsna.” The next moment we had a dog named Krsna when I met her. When I was walking with that dog and calling it, “Krsna, Krsna”. Therefore the mercy of Lord Caitanya came into my life through a dog. I don’t know how that mercy came in your life but somehow Lord Caitanya made arrangements for all of us to come to Him. So see the miracles are happening at home.

Question: In what mood should we approach the Caitanya-caritāmṛta?

Kadamba Kanana Swami: I think we are very fortunate that we have a translation of a pure representative of Lord Caitanya in the form of Srila Prabhupada. And that Srila Prabhupada was able to perfectly represent Lord Caitanya without any alteration, and as a result we can approach the Caitanya-caritāmṛta with full faith that every word that is written there is the truth. Therefore we can fully trust it. We can place our trust in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and try to follow in the footsteps of the great personalities that are there. We can try to dedicate ourselves in hearing and chanting in devotional service in a way that is described and shown from these great devotees. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta is really a book is full of role models, so if we follow in the footsteps of these role models then we can also walk the path of pure devotional service.

Question: Was Visvarupa still there at home when the Brahmana guest had come?

Kadamba Kanana Swami: Yes he was still at home. Visvarupa is the elder brother of Lord Caitanya. He is known to be an expansion of Lord Nityananda. Visvarupa he left home to take Sanyas. It is said that he travelled and he left his body in Pandhapur. That is mentioned that is the place of Vithalnath in Maharashtra. Our Lokanatha Maharaj is from there. So yes it is said that Visvarupa became one with Lord Nityananda.

Question: How to be in shelter of Lord Caitanya and not in fear of Him?

Kadamba Kanana Swami: Why should we be in fear of Him? He is very kind. He is not one to be afraid of since He does not consider it as an offence. So there is no need to be afraid. We can be very easily appreciate that Lord Caitanya forgives. He is forgiveness personified. He is soft hearted. This is Radharani the female counterpart of Krsna is very soft hearted. Lord Caitanya is Krsna in the soft-hearted mood of Radharani – ready to forgive anyone. So there is no need to fear.

Question: A lot of devotees are asking how best to observe Gaura Purnima. What could be our meditation ahead of the big day tomorrow?

Kadamba Kanana Swami: It is a day of service. We are meant to serve and we are meant to glorify Lord Caitanya. We are meant to please the deity of Lord Caitanya. So we can make many nice offerings to Gaura Nitai with nice decorations, and spend our time remembering the pastimes and the philosophy and the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We can also do something to spread the mercy of Lord Caitanya further to other people.

Then at night or whatever time you are meant to break the fast then eat a big feast and you have to fill yourself up to the neck. There is no such thing as healthy nibbling on Gaura Purnima. At Gaura Purnima you have to eat even if you have health issues. I have a whole list of health issues but to hell with them on Gaura Purnima – forget it. It’s like my assistant said, “Who will cook for you tomorrow?” I said, “I will just take maha-prashadam. Whatever they offer to the Lord that I will take as simple as that.” Just as Prabhupada would do that on such occasions, he would just take the maha-prashadam. In this way let us celebrate and glorify.

I remember my first Gaura Purnima, I was at the Bhaktivedanta Manor and in those days what is now the reception was just a big empty room, and it is a big room. We were sitting in that room rolling sweet balls. We were just rolling the sweet balls, and we just fill up a tray, push it away and then put another empty tray near us. The whole room was turning into an ocean of sweet balls, and I was just going crazy. I was thinking, “Why are these Hare Krsnas doing this? It is like they are fasting and they sit in an ocean of sweet balls. Isn’t that like torture? What is this?”

I found that I could not understand it because I could not fully appreciate that idea of pleasing the Lord. I thought it was the strangest thing. Anyway but that is what we did. Later on there was a very big harinama based on from what I had on my head they sent four hundred and seventy five devotees and we distributed lots of these sweet balls. And I ate some as well, and they were good. And I had been meditating on them the whole day.

Question: A question about the main nature of Lord Caitanya. Sometimes the human nature of Lord Caitanya make it difficult to recognise Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How come we overcome His human nature?

Kadamba Kanana Swami: Well you know we see that in all the avatars of the Lord – is that at least the ones that take the human form is that they sometimes act human and sometimes super human. So Lord Caitanya acts human and superhuman. But Lord Caitanya particularly is not showing so much super natural power in the fact in fighting with weapons like Lord Ramachandra or like Lord Krsna. But Lord Caitanya shows this super human power in His ecstatic love and in His dancing in just dancing for days and sometimes just stopping because the devotees are getting tired but Lord Caitanya is not getting tired because He is the Supreme Lord.

So therefore in His pastime because he does not lift Govardhana Hill or something like that. Although I gave a list of miracles that He performed. But Lord Caitanya He just cries tears, so many tears out of love. Now that is not human anymore. Where is all that water coming from? There is more water streaming away from Him then there can be from the human body. He is not human at all. Who is saying that He is human? He is divine. Yet in His divinity He comes close to us and acts in human ways out of His causeless mercy.

Rasika Raya: We have received so much nectar already. We are so grateful. In the western calendar we have got Christmas and the day before that is Christmas eve and we fill our tree with presents, And today is our equivalent of Christmas eve its, Gaura Purnima eve. Now we have taken from this desire tree, many gifts and many presents. It is the opposite so we are very grateful Maharaj that you kindly gave us your energies, and all these jewels and prepared us so nicely for the journey of Gaura Purnima ahead.

Kadamba Kanana Swami: You took it to the Christian Christmas tree. But of course in our own tradition and this is the ādivas. In the ādivas is the day before – the evening before the actual observance. It is true that on the night of the ādivas we begin to glorify the Lord and we are particularly looking at our purpose on the day. So let us tomorrow make a special effort to please Lord Caitanya. And if we use our Gaura Purnima for that, not like that we just say that, “Okay then we will eat the feast.” Or if you cannot go to the temple, “Okay I will wait until I get the package with prashadam sent home.” And when we received it we say we are certainly not going to offer it but we offer a lamp for Lord Caitanya. Whatever you can do, make it a special effort. Even if you are at home in lockdown, you can cook a big feast at home and offer it to the picture or deity of Lord Caitanya. Somehow let us think on what else we can do on this special day. And you can order a set of Caitanya-caritāmṛta for your home on this occasion of Gaura Purnima. That will be nice and I am sure that Rasika Raya will supply it to you and that will be a great thing to do.

Thank you very much to His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami for speaking about the miracles of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and the greatest miracle of love of Godhead that Lord Caitanya provides access to.