Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu
His Divine Grace A. C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada
"Jiva Goswami has explained this; [Cc. adi 1.5]. Radha and Krishna,
they are one, but for pastimes they have become
two. Again they unite as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."
(Lecture, 5 October 1976.)
"Krishna divided Himself into His energy and Himself.
That original spiritual energy is Radharani. That is
stated by Jiva Goswami. When Krishna wants pleasure,
he cannot accept the inferior energy. The same
superior energy, Krishna, is divided into two. That is
Radha and Krishna. And again, when they unite, that
is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Divided they are Radha and
Krishna, and united they are Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
sri-krsna-caitanya rädhä-krsna nahe anya — anya
means another. So Sri Krishna Chaitanya is the
combination of Radha and Krishna. And when they are
divided into two, they are Radha and Krishna. This is
the purport. These are the conclusions. Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu is Radha and Krishna combined. Krishna
is playing the part of Radharani to understand Krishna.This is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu." (Lecture, 26 June 1974.)
When we speak of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, we
should understand immediately that he’s Krishna
in Radharani’s attitude, rädhä-bhäva. Radha and
Krishna are one. They are not different from one
another. radha ksna-premaya-vikåtir hladini saktir
asmad [Cc. ädi 1.5] — Radharani is the expansion of
Krishna’s pleasure potency. So Sri Krishna Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, but the pleasure
potency of Krishna is prominent in His activities.
Krishna, in order to understand himself, took the
position of Radharani. Personally he could not
understand his potencies, but when he appeared as
Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the attitude of
Radharani’s love for Krishna, krsna-prema, then he
could fully understand himself as Krishna. These are
very intricate subject matters to understand, but this
is the fact. (Lecture, 3 March 1974.)
Gau ra-Lila and Gau ra-Dhama
Sri Srimad Gour
Govinda Swami Maharaja
"There is no difference between Gaura and Krishna in
tattva. Krishna is Gaura, and Gaura is Krishna. However,
Gaura is Krishna combined with mahäbhäva-svarüpini
Srimati Radharani. In vraja-lilä there are two forms —
rasaräja Krishna and madanäkhya-mahäbhävamayi
Srimati Radharani. But in gaura-lila, there is one
form. Radha combined with Krishna — that is Gaura.
Otherwise there is no difference between Gaura and
Krishna. This is the siddhänta, conclusion. The äcäryas
have described this:
‘nanda-suta’ bali’ yäìre bhägavate gäi
sei kåñëa avatérëa caitanya-gosäïi
He whom Srimad Bhägavatam describes as the son
of Nanda Maharaja has descended to earth as Lord
Chaitanya. [Cc. ädi 2.9]
In Srimad Bhägavatam it is said that the son
of Nanda Maharaja is Krishna. That same Krishna
has now appeared as Chaitanya Gosai. Swarup
Damodar Goswami has therefore said, naumi
krsna-svarüpam — I pay my obeisances to that
Gaura, who is krsna-svarüpa.
The special characteristic of Gaura is that he is
rädhä-bhäva-dyuti-suvalitam. When Krishna accepts
the mood and complexion of Radharani, he becomes
Gaura. caitanyäkhyaà prakaöam adhunä taddvayaà
caikyam äptam — The two forms Krishna
and Radha appear as one form combined together,
aikyam äptam, as Chaitanya.
So Krishna is Gaura and Gaura is Krishna. Krsna lila
is gaura-lila; gaura-lila is krsna-lila. There is no
difference between nämi and näma, abhinnatvän
näma-näminoù — there is no difference between the
name of Krishna and Krishna himself. Similarly, there
is no difference between krsn-lila and gaura-lila.
But pürvasmät parameva hanta karunam — though
there is no difference between nämé and näma, of
these two the latter is more merciful than the former.
The name of Krishna is more merciful than Krishna.
Similarly, there is no difference between krsna-lila
and gaura-lila, yet the latter is more merciful than
the former. That means gaura-lila is more merciful
and relishable than krsna-lila. Navadvipa-lila, vrajalila
— both are krsna-lila. There is no difference
between them. The dear associates of Gaura, the
nitya-siddha pärñadas Rupa Goswami and Sanatan
Goswami, have disclosed this tattva.
Radhika-raman Krishna is always in Vrajabhumi,
våndävanaà parityajya padam ekaà na gacchati
— Krishna never goes even a single step from
Vrindavan. He is always in Vrindavan.
How is it then
that Krishna left Vrajabhumi and went to Mathura
and then to Dwarka, thus creating mathura-lila and
dvaraka-lila? These two acaryas, Sanatan Goswami
and Rupa Goswami, have disclosed this tattva. They
have said that mathura-lila and dvaraka-lila nourish
vraja-lila, and that these two lilas are inside vraja-lila.
So vraja-lila is krsna-lila and navadvipa-lila is also
krsna-lila. Of these two types of lilas, one is manifested,
prakata, and the other is unmanifested, aprakata.
What is Nabadwip Dham? Acaryas and mahajanas
have said that it is a closed compartment in Vraja
Dham. So Vraja Dham is of two types — prakata
and aprakata, manifest and unmanifest.
In that closed compartment known as Nabadwip
Dham, Krishna, who is rasaraja, the chief of all
enjoyers of mellows, is feeling acute pangs of
separation, viraha, from Radharani, and he cries
and cries and cries. He had developed greed to
understand the feelings of Radharani, to understand
his own beauty, and to understand the happiness
that Radharani feels by enjoying his beauty.
He had developed these three desires and was
thinking of how to fulfill them. He concluded that
without accepting the sentiment and complexion of
Radharani, his greed could not be satisfied. Therefore
he entered into the core of the heart of Radharani
and hid himself there, and a molten gold complexion
manifested outwardly. So externally he is feeling the
pangs of separation, but in the heart there is union.
In that separation, viraha, vipralambha-bhava, he
chants the name of Krishna, “hare krsna hare krsna
krsna krsnahare hare hare räma hare räma räma
räma hare hare".
Similarly, in Radha-tantra it is
described that in Vrajabhumi, when Radharani feels
acute pangs of separation from Krishna, she chants
the name of Krishna. Mahaprabhu accepted the
same radhabhava and radha-kanti. So, absorbed
in vipralambha-bhäva, Gaura chants the hare krsna
maha-mantra.
That hidden Vrindavan is Nabadwip Dham,
a closed compartment in Vrindavan. Where is
Nabadwip and where is Vrindavan? They are so far
apart, hundreds and hundreds of miles apart. That
is external. But if you have an internal vision, you
will see that one is inside the other, Nabadwip is
inside of Vrindavan. Therefore, the acaryas instruct
us not to see any difference between gaura-vana
and vraja-vana. We sing that song by Srila Narottam
Das Thakur:
gaurängera saìgi-gane, nitya-siddha kari’ mane,
se yaya vrajendra-suta paça
sri-gauòa-maëòala-bhümi, yebä jäne cintämani
tara haya vraja-bhüme vasa
One who accepts the associates of Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu as nitya-siddhas is certain to be elevated
to the spiritual kingdom to become an associate of the
Supreme Lord. One should also know that Gaudamandala-
bhumi — those places in Bengal where Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stayed — are equal to Vrajabhumi
Vrindavan. There is no difference between the
inhabitants of Vrindavan and those of Gauda-mandalabhumi,
Sridham Mayapur. Therefore, no one should
see any difference between Gaura and Krishna."
— From a Gaura-Pürnimä lecture, Bhubaneshwar, 3 March 1994.
Sri Raghunandan Goswami
The following verse gives Gaura’s name in the eight
cases of Sanskrit Grammar:
gaurah sac-caritämåtämåta-nidhir
gauram sadaiva stuve
gaurena prathitaà rahasya-bhajanaà
gauräya sarvaà dade
gaurät asti kåpälur atra na paro
gaurasya bhåtyo ’bhavam
gaure gauravam äcarämi bhagavan
gaura prabho rakña mäm
(1) Gaurah — Gaura’s ecstatic transcendental
pastimes are like an ocean of nectar. (Gaura
as the subject)
(2) Gauram — It is Lord Gaura who is eternally
worshipable. (Gaura as the object)
(3) Gaurena — It is through Gaura that the
confidential secrets of kåñëa-bhajana were
revealed. (Gaura as the instrument of action)
(4) Gauräya — Unto Gaura everything should be
given. (Gaura as the recipient of action)
(5) Gaurät — No one is more merciful than Gaura.
(Gaura in a comparative sense)
(6) Gaurasya — I will become a servant of Gaura.
(Gaura in a relationship)
(7) Gaure — I shall always act by investing all my
pride in Gaura. (Gaura as the reservoir of a quality)
(8) Gaura — O Gaura! My Lord! Please protect me!
(Gaura being addressed directly).
— Sri Gauränga Virudävali 110. Mrinalakanti Ghosh (editor).
Sri Gaura-pada-tarangini. Sri Gauranga Press. Calcutta. 1903. Bengali. Page 15.
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