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Thread: Chaitanya Avatar: Qns Raised By Some

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    Chaitanya Avatar: Qns Raised By Some

    || om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ||

    Hare KRshNa
    praNAm

    A question raised here on HDF at least 4-5 times is something like this:

    "If Chaitanya Mahaprabu is Shri KRshNa, how is it that
    i) KRshNa spoke Uddhav Gita to Uddhav
    ii) Chaitanya Mahaprabhu refused to sit next to people following Keval Advaita philosophy"

    The questioner asks this implying that the Atma-jnAna that KRshNa taught as a small section of this Uddhav Gita, i.e. the 11th Canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam, is essentially kevala advaita philosophy.

    The first quick and immediate answer is given by KRshNa Himself, in this very Uddhav Gita: especially SB 11.20.31 to 35 below:

    SB 11.20.29: When an intelligent person engages constantly in worshiping Me through loving devotional service as described by Me, his heart becomes firmly situated in Me. Thus all material desires within the heart are destroyed.
    SB 11.20.30: The knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
    SB 11.20.31: Therefore, for a devotee engaged in My loving service, with mind fixed on Me, the cultivation of knowledge and renunciation is generally not the means of achieving the highest perfection within this world.
    SB 11.20.32-33: Everything that can be achieved by fruitive activities, penance, knowledge, detachment, mystic yoga, charity, religious duties and all other means of perfecting life is easily achieved by My devotee through loving service unto Me. If somehow or other My devotee desires promotion to heaven, liberation, or residence in My abode, he easily achieves such benedictions.
    SB 11.20.34: Because My devotees possess saintly behavior and deep intelligence, they completely dedicate themselves to Me and do not desire anything besides Me. Indeed, even if I offer them liberation from birth and death, they do not accept it.
    SB 11.20.35: It is said that complete detachment is the highest stage of freedom. Therefore, one who has no personal desire and does not pursue personal rewards can achieve loving devotional service unto Me.
    KRshNa is explaining - those who have chosen My Lotus Feet do not need anything else such as knowledge of AtmA. They have all that they need to stay eternally with Me.


    There are 4 factors here
    1. The complete system and philosophy of keval advaita
    2. Atma-JnAna that Shri KRshNa taught Uddhav
    3. Bhakti Yog that Shri KRshNa taught Uddhav
    4. Purpose of the Chaitanya AvatAr

    Lord Chaitanya is a channa (hidden) avatar of KRshNa dedicated to the purpose of teaching pure devotional service to the masses in Kali Yug.

    Therefore, He did not want His followers (of pure devotional service) to digress into the cultivation of that knowledge where BhagavAn was not the focus, and further on, the then prevailing norms and final destination of Keval Advaita - where every other person erroneously thought they were God and were being very offensive to the Supreme Lord.

    The 4 kumars (sanakAdi), ShukaDev GoswAmi, were jnAnis, but they acknowledged the Personality of Godhead after acheiving this jnAna.

    However, in the nascent stages, when the devotees' nishThA is not very strong, they are like naive vulnerable children who can be mislead easily by unwanted philosophies. So, to set an example to His followers, Lord Chaitanya as the Guru practiced what He preached - i..e. stay completely focused and one-pointed on pure devotion and not associate with those cultivating impersonal knowledge at all.


    On the other hand, KRshNa had to reach a far wider radius of all kinds of Yogis, although He did have direct and indirect instructions for the pure devotees in the Bhagavad Gita. Unlike Chaitanya avatar that had a very specialized purpose.

    In fact KRshNa taught Uddhav all different Yog and when Uddhav asked about Deity Worship He taught that also in detail -
    SB 11.14: Lord Kṛṣṇa Explains the Yoga System to Śrī Uddhava
    SB 11.15: Lord Kṛṣṇa's Description of Mystic Yoga Perfections
    SB 11.16: The Lord's Opulence
    SB 11.17: Lord Kṛṣṇa's Description of the Varṇāśrama System
    SB 11.18: Description of Varṇāśrama-dharma
    SB 11.19: The Perfection of Spiritual Knowledge
    SB 11.20: Pure Devotional Service Surpasses Knowledge and Detachment
    SB 11.21: Lord Kṛṣṇa's Explanation of the Vedic Path
    SB 11.22: Enumeration of the Elements of Material Creation
    SB 11.23: The Song of the Avantī Brāhmaṇa.
    SB 11.24: The Philosophy of Sāńkhya
    SB 11.25: The Three Modes of Nature and Beyond
    SB 11.26: The Aila-gītā
    SB 11.27: Lord Kṛṣṇa's Instructions on the Process of Deity Worship
    SB 11.28: Jñāna-yoga
    SB 11.29: Bhakti-yoga

    In JnAna Yog, KRshNa explained about the one all-pervading paramAtmA and the distinction between matter and spirit. He also explained the different tattva, sAnkhya shAstra etc. all over again.

    At the same time, He sent the Bhramha-jnAni Uddhav to the Gopis, who transformed him so much that he wanted to be the grass in Vraj and was in full devotion to Radha KRshNa. Uddhav was a confidential devotee of the Lord like Arjun. He asked questions on different methods of liberation from samsar for the benefit of others.

    _/\_

    Jai Shri KRshNa
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

  2. #2
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    Re: Chaitanya Avatar: Qns Raised By Some

    This is very helpful to read! Thank you so much smaranam!

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