Photo: Lotus feet of Lord Gaurachandra
CB Adi-khanda 1.8
TEXT 8
“amara bhaktera puja-ama haite bada”
sei prabhu vede-bhagavate kaila dadha
TRANSLATION
That same Supreme Personality of Godhead has declared in the Vedas and Shrimad Bhagavatam, “Worship of My devotees is superior to worship of Me.”
COMMENTARY
The devotees who worship the opulent feature of the Lord first develop in their hearts the conception that only the worship of the Supreme Lord is important. This conception, however, diminishes the glories of worshiping the devotees and exhibits their lack of love and devotion for the Supreme Lord.
As stated in the Padma Purana:
aradhananam sarvesham vishnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi tadiyanam samarcanam
arcayitva tu govindam tadiyan narcayet tu yah
na sa bhagavato jneyah kevalam dambhikah smritah
“
Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Vishnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaishnava. One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride.”
The word dadha means dridha, or “determination.” In the path of awe and reverence, the Supreme Lord alone is worshiped and His servants are the worshipers. But in the path of spontaneous attachment, awe and reverence are not prominent in the relationship between the object of worship and the worshiper; rather, the attitude of service is prominent. The servants have great pride in their service. Therefore the servants in madhurya-rasa consider themselves greater than their worshipable Lord Krishna. In other words, such persons consider their worshipable Lord as their subordinate, or under their control.
The superiority of worshiping the Lord’s devotees is celebrated in the Vedas. Some examples are found in the following statements.
The Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.10) states: tasmad atma-jnam hy arcayed bhuti-kamah-“By worshiping the devotees of the Lord, all one’s desires will be fulfilled.” Baladeva Vidyabhushana has written in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51): atma-jnam bhagavat-tattva-jnam tad bhaktam ity arthah; bhuti-kamo moksha-paryanta-sampatti-lipsu
In Madhvacarya’s commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.47), he quotes the following from the Poshayana-shrutis: tanupasva tanupacarasva tebhyah shrinu hi te tamavantu-“Worship the devotees of the Lord, serve the devotees of the Lord, and hear from the devotees of the Lord, for they will protect you.”
In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23) it is stated:
yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakashante mahatmanah
“
Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” There are many similar statements found in the Vedas.
In the Itihasa-samuccaya it is stated:
tasmad vishnu-prasadaya vaishnavan paritoshayet
prasada-sumukho vishnus tenaiva syan na samshayah
“
In order to attain the mercy of Lord Vishnu, one should satisfy the Vaishnavas. There is no doubt that by their mercy, Vishnu will be pleased.” There are many similar statements in the Vaishnava literatures.
CB Adi-khanda 1.9
TEXT 9
mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika sarva-bhuteshu man-matih
TRANSLATION
“
Worshiping My devotees is better than directly worshiping Me.”
COMMENTARY
When the great devotee Uddhava inquired about pure devotional service and knowledge of the Supreme Lord for the welfare of the living entities, Lord Krishna glorified His devotees in this verse from the Shrimad Bhagavatam (11.19.21) while describing the various limbs of pure devotional service.
CB Adi-khanda 1.10
TEXT 10
eteke karila age bhaktera vandana
ataeva ache karya siddhira lakshana
TRANSLATION
I have therefore offered my prayers first to the devotees, as this is the secret for attaining perfection.
COMMENTARY
In the Adi Purana, it is stated:
ye me bhakta-janah partha na me bhaktash ca te janah
mad bhaktanam ca ye bhaktas te me bhaktatamah matah
“
My dear Partha, those who claim to be My devotees are not My devotees, but those who claim to be devotees of My devotees are actually My devotees.”
Also in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (3.17.2) it is said:
durapa hy alpa-tapasah seva vaikuntha-vartmasu
yatropagiyate nityam deva-devo janardanah
“
Persons whose austerity is meager can hardly obtain the service of the pure devotees who are progressing on the path back to the kingdom of Godhead, the Vaikunthas. Pure devotees engage one hundred percent in glorifying the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord of the demigods and the controller of all living entities.”
In the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, it is stated:
arcayitva tu govindam tadiyan narcayet tu yah
na sa bhagavato jneyah kevalam dambhikah smritah
tasmad sarva-prayatnena vaishnavan pujayet sada
sarvam tarati duhkhaugham mahabhagavatarcanat
“
One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride. One should always worship the Vaishnavas by all means, for by worshiping the great devotees one is freed from all miseries.”
In this way various other statements glorifying the worship of pure devotees are found in the scriptures.
The word karya-siddhi is explained by Baladeva Vidyabhushana in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51), wherein he quotes from the Shandilya-smriti as follows:
siddhir bhavati va neti samshayo ‘cyuta sevinam
nihsamshayas tu tad bhakta paricaryaratatmanam
kevalam bhagavat-pada- sevaya vimalam manah
na jayate yatha nityam tad bhakta-caranarcanat
“
One may doubt whether the servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead will attain perfection, but there is absolutely no doubt that those who are attached to serving His devotees will attain perfection. One’s mind is not as fully purified by serving the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord as it is by serving the feet of His devotees.”
Shrila Kaviraja Gosvami has written in the Chaitanya-caritamrita (Adi 1.20-21) as follows: “In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions. Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires.”
CB Adi-khanda 1.11
TEXT 11
ishta-deva vandon mora nityananda-raya
chaitanya-kirti sphure yanhara kripaya
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Shri Nityananda Raya, for He is my worshipable Lord. By His mercy the glories of Lord Chaitanya become manifest.
COMMENTARY
After first offering respects to the Vaishnavas, the author offers obeisances to his own spiritual master and then begins to describe the pastimes of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The mercy of Lord Nityananda, the author’s spiritual master, is the main qualification in his endeavor.
It is to be remembered that svayam-prakasha Shri Nityananda-Baladeva, who is nondifferent from svayam-rupa Shri Gaura-Krishna, is the source of the following vishnu-tattvas: Mula-Sankarshana, Maha-Sankarshana, the three purushavataras-Karanodakashayi
CB Adi-khanda 1.12
TEXT 12
sahasra-vadana vandon prabhu-balarama
yanhara sahasra-mukhe krishna-yashodhama
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the thousand-headed Lord Balarama. His thousands of mouths are the abode of Lord Krishna’s transcendental glories.
COMMENTARY
In the Shrimad Bhagavatam (10.2.13) the Supreme Lord glorifies Balarama before Yogamaya as follows: “He will be called Rama because of His ability to please all the inhabitants of Gokula, and He will be known as Balabhadra because of His extensive physical strength.”
In the Chaitanya-caritamrita (Adi 5.116-117 and 120-122) it is said: “That Lord Vishnu is but a part of a part of a plenary portion of Lord Nityananda, who is the source of all incarnations. That same Lord Vishnu, in the form of Lord Shesha, holds the planets upon His heads, although He does not know where they are, for He cannot feel their existence upon His heads. That Ananta Shesha is the devotee incarnation of Godhead. He knows nothing but service to Lord Krishna. With His thousands of mouths He sings the glories of Lord Krishna, but although He always sings in that way, He does not find an end to the qualities of the Lord. The four Kumaras hear Shrimad Bhagavatam from His lips, and they in turn repeat it in the transcendental bliss of love of Godhead.”
The word yashodhama means “the storehouse of all transcendental qualities and glories.”
It is to be understood that svayam-prakasha Shri Nityananda-Baladeva, who appears in a two-armed humanlike form holding a plow, increases the ecstasy of krishna-prema by constantly engaging in the service of Shri Gaura-Krishna in the mood of a devotee. Shri Ananta Shesha, the plenary portion of Lord Baladeva, holds all the universes on His hoods. His matchless service of always glorifying the qualities of Shri Gaura, His worshipable Lord, is being described here. Shri Anantadeva constantly recites Shrimad Bhagavatam to the great brahmana sages headed by the four Kumaras. He is the Lord and guru of the author, who is the incarnation of Vyasadeva for describing the pastimes of Shri Gaura-Krishna.
The thousand-headed Lord Anantadeva’s recitation of Shrimad Bhagavatam, which is full of the glories of Lord Krishna, is described in Citraketu’s prayers to Lord Sankarshana in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (6.16.40, 43) as follows: “O unconquerable one, when You spoke about bhagavata-dharma, which is the uncontaminated religious system for achieving the shelter of Your lotus feet, that was Your victory. Persons who have no material desires, like the Kumaras, who are self-satisfied sages, worship You to be liberated from material contamination. In other words, they accept the process of bhagavata-dharma to achieve shelter at Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, one’s occupational duty is instructed in Shrimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita according to Your point of view, which never deviates from the highest goal of life. Those who follow their occupational duties under Your supervision, being equal to all living entities, moving and nonmoving, and not considering high and low, are called Aryans. Such Aryans worship You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
Another meaning of krishna-yashodhama is Shrimad Bhagavatam, which is the treasure house of Lord Krishna’s transcendental glories.
JAI ACHARYAS, VAISHNAVAS, BHAKTI MAHARANI AND LORD
CB Adi-khanda 1.8
TEXT 8
“amara bhaktera puja-ama haite bada”
sei prabhu vede-bhagavate kaila dadha
TRANSLATION
That same Supreme Personality of Godhead has declared in the Vedas and Shrimad Bhagavatam, “Worship of My devotees is superior to worship of Me.”
COMMENTARY
The devotees who worship the opulent feature of the Lord first develop in their hearts the conception that only the worship of the Supreme Lord is important. This conception, however, diminishes the glories of worshiping the devotees and exhibits their lack of love and devotion for the Supreme Lord.
As stated in the Padma Purana:
aradhananam sarvesham vishnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi tadiyanam samarcanam
arcayitva tu govindam tadiyan narcayet tu yah
na sa bhagavato jneyah kevalam dambhikah smritah
“
Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Vishnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaishnava. One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride.”
The word dadha means dridha, or “determination.” In the path of awe and reverence, the Supreme Lord alone is worshiped and His servants are the worshipers. But in the path of spontaneous attachment, awe and reverence are not prominent in the relationship between the object of worship and the worshiper; rather, the attitude of service is prominent. The servants have great pride in their service. Therefore the servants in madhurya-rasa consider themselves greater than their worshipable Lord Krishna. In other words, such persons consider their worshipable Lord as their subordinate, or under their control.
The superiority of worshiping the Lord’s devotees is celebrated in the Vedas. Some examples are found in the following statements.
The Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.10) states: tasmad atma-jnam hy arcayed bhuti-kamah-“By worshiping the devotees of the Lord, all one’s desires will be fulfilled.” Baladeva Vidyabhushana has written in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51): atma-jnam bhagavat-tattva-jnam tad bhaktam ity arthah; bhuti-kamo moksha-paryanta-sampatti-lipsu
In Madhvacarya’s commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.47), he quotes the following from the Poshayana-shrutis: tanupasva tanupacarasva tebhyah shrinu hi te tamavantu-“Worship the devotees of the Lord, serve the devotees of the Lord, and hear from the devotees of the Lord, for they will protect you.”
In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23) it is stated:
yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakashante mahatmanah
“
Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” There are many similar statements found in the Vedas.
In the Itihasa-samuccaya it is stated:
tasmad vishnu-prasadaya vaishnavan paritoshayet
prasada-sumukho vishnus tenaiva syan na samshayah
“
In order to attain the mercy of Lord Vishnu, one should satisfy the Vaishnavas. There is no doubt that by their mercy, Vishnu will be pleased.” There are many similar statements in the Vaishnava literatures.
CB Adi-khanda 1.9
TEXT 9
mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika sarva-bhuteshu man-matih
TRANSLATION
“
Worshiping My devotees is better than directly worshiping Me.”
COMMENTARY
When the great devotee Uddhava inquired about pure devotional service and knowledge of the Supreme Lord for the welfare of the living entities, Lord Krishna glorified His devotees in this verse from the Shrimad Bhagavatam (11.19.21) while describing the various limbs of pure devotional service.
CB Adi-khanda 1.10
TEXT 10
eteke karila age bhaktera vandana
ataeva ache karya siddhira lakshana
TRANSLATION
I have therefore offered my prayers first to the devotees, as this is the secret for attaining perfection.
COMMENTARY
In the Adi Purana, it is stated:
ye me bhakta-janah partha na me bhaktash ca te janah
mad bhaktanam ca ye bhaktas te me bhaktatamah matah
“
My dear Partha, those who claim to be My devotees are not My devotees, but those who claim to be devotees of My devotees are actually My devotees.”
Also in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (3.17.2) it is said:
durapa hy alpa-tapasah seva vaikuntha-vartmasu
yatropagiyate nityam deva-devo janardanah
“
Persons whose austerity is meager can hardly obtain the service of the pure devotees who are progressing on the path back to the kingdom of Godhead, the Vaikunthas. Pure devotees engage one hundred percent in glorifying the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord of the demigods and the controller of all living entities.”
In the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, it is stated:
arcayitva tu govindam tadiyan narcayet tu yah
na sa bhagavato jneyah kevalam dambhikah smritah
tasmad sarva-prayatnena vaishnavan pujayet sada
sarvam tarati duhkhaugham mahabhagavatarcanat
“
One who performs worship of Lord Govinda but fails to worship His devotees should be understood to be not a devotee of the Lord but simply a victim of false pride. One should always worship the Vaishnavas by all means, for by worshiping the great devotees one is freed from all miseries.”
In this way various other statements glorifying the worship of pure devotees are found in the scriptures.
The word karya-siddhi is explained by Baladeva Vidyabhushana in his Govinda-bhashya commentary on the Vedanta-sutras (3.3.51), wherein he quotes from the Shandilya-smriti as follows:
siddhir bhavati va neti samshayo ‘cyuta sevinam
nihsamshayas tu tad bhakta paricaryaratatmanam
kevalam bhagavat-pada- sevaya vimalam manah
na jayate yatha nityam tad bhakta-caranarcanat
“
One may doubt whether the servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead will attain perfection, but there is absolutely no doubt that those who are attached to serving His devotees will attain perfection. One’s mind is not as fully purified by serving the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord as it is by serving the feet of His devotees.”
Shrila Kaviraja Gosvami has written in the Chaitanya-caritamrita (Adi 1.20-21) as follows: “In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions. Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires.”
CB Adi-khanda 1.11
TEXT 11
ishta-deva vandon mora nityananda-raya
chaitanya-kirti sphure yanhara kripaya
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto Shri Nityananda Raya, for He is my worshipable Lord. By His mercy the glories of Lord Chaitanya become manifest.
COMMENTARY
After first offering respects to the Vaishnavas, the author offers obeisances to his own spiritual master and then begins to describe the pastimes of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The mercy of Lord Nityananda, the author’s spiritual master, is the main qualification in his endeavor.
It is to be remembered that svayam-prakasha Shri Nityananda-Baladeva, who is nondifferent from svayam-rupa Shri Gaura-Krishna, is the source of the following vishnu-tattvas: Mula-Sankarshana, Maha-Sankarshana, the three purushavataras-Karanodakashayi
CB Adi-khanda 1.12
TEXT 12
sahasra-vadana vandon prabhu-balarama
yanhara sahasra-mukhe krishna-yashodhama
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the thousand-headed Lord Balarama. His thousands of mouths are the abode of Lord Krishna’s transcendental glories.
COMMENTARY
In the Shrimad Bhagavatam (10.2.13) the Supreme Lord glorifies Balarama before Yogamaya as follows: “He will be called Rama because of His ability to please all the inhabitants of Gokula, and He will be known as Balabhadra because of His extensive physical strength.”
In the Chaitanya-caritamrita (Adi 5.116-117 and 120-122) it is said: “That Lord Vishnu is but a part of a part of a plenary portion of Lord Nityananda, who is the source of all incarnations. That same Lord Vishnu, in the form of Lord Shesha, holds the planets upon His heads, although He does not know where they are, for He cannot feel their existence upon His heads. That Ananta Shesha is the devotee incarnation of Godhead. He knows nothing but service to Lord Krishna. With His thousands of mouths He sings the glories of Lord Krishna, but although He always sings in that way, He does not find an end to the qualities of the Lord. The four Kumaras hear Shrimad Bhagavatam from His lips, and they in turn repeat it in the transcendental bliss of love of Godhead.”
The word yashodhama means “the storehouse of all transcendental qualities and glories.”
It is to be understood that svayam-prakasha Shri Nityananda-Baladeva, who appears in a two-armed humanlike form holding a plow, increases the ecstasy of krishna-prema by constantly engaging in the service of Shri Gaura-Krishna in the mood of a devotee. Shri Ananta Shesha, the plenary portion of Lord Baladeva, holds all the universes on His hoods. His matchless service of always glorifying the qualities of Shri Gaura, His worshipable Lord, is being described here. Shri Anantadeva constantly recites Shrimad Bhagavatam to the great brahmana sages headed by the four Kumaras. He is the Lord and guru of the author, who is the incarnation of Vyasadeva for describing the pastimes of Shri Gaura-Krishna.
The thousand-headed Lord Anantadeva’s recitation of Shrimad Bhagavatam, which is full of the glories of Lord Krishna, is described in Citraketu’s prayers to Lord Sankarshana in the Shrimad Bhagavatam (6.16.40, 43) as follows: “O unconquerable one, when You spoke about bhagavata-dharma, which is the uncontaminated religious system for achieving the shelter of Your lotus feet, that was Your victory. Persons who have no material desires, like the Kumaras, who are self-satisfied sages, worship You to be liberated from material contamination. In other words, they accept the process of bhagavata-dharma to achieve shelter at Your lotus feet. My dear Lord, one’s occupational duty is instructed in Shrimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita according to Your point of view, which never deviates from the highest goal of life. Those who follow their occupational duties under Your supervision, being equal to all living entities, moving and nonmoving, and not considering high and low, are called Aryans. Such Aryans worship You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
Another meaning of krishna-yashodhama is Shrimad Bhagavatam, which is the treasure house of Lord Krishna’s transcendental glories.
JAI ACHARYAS, VAISHNAVAS, BHAKTI MAHARANI AND LORD
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