Gauranger Duti Pada Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

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Purport Author: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Gaurāṅgera duṭi pada, yāra dhana sampada, sei jāne bhakati-rasa-sāra. This is another song composed by Narottama das Ṭhākura, and he says that "One who has accepted the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya, in other words, one who has the only asset of possession, the two feet of Lord Caitanya, such person is supposed to know what is the essence of devotional service." Sei jāne bhakati-rasa-sāra. What is the purport of devotional service, or what is the humor of devotional service, can be understood by a person who has accepted Lord Caitanya's lotus feet as everything. The idea is that actually Lord Caitanya, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, and He is teaching devotional sevvice to the living entities personally. Directly. Therefore the modes of devotional service, as taught by Lord Caitanya, is the most perfect. There cannot be any doubt. The expert, or the master, is teaching the servant how to work. If a... If somebody is master of some engineering work and he is personally teaching some assistant, that teaching, instruction, is most perfect. Similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, in the role of a devotee, is teaching devotional service. Therefore the path chalked out by Lord Kṛṣṇa is the most feasible way for perfection to devotional service. Sei jāne bhakati rasa sāra. Sāra means essence.

And then he says, gaurāṅgera madhuri-līlā, yāra karṇe praveśilā. Now he comes to the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. He says that "Lord Caitanya's pastimes are also as much transcendental as Lord Kṛṣṇa's." As in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that anyone who can simply understand the transcendental appearance, disappearance, activities, work of Kṛṣṇa, he immediately becomes eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. Simply by understanding the pastimes and the work, transcendental activities of Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, one who enters into the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, he immediately becomes freed from all contamination of the heart. Gaurāṅgera madhuri-līlā, yāra karṇe praveśilā. Karṇe praveśilā means simply one has to receive the message of Lord Caitanya. Karṇe means in the ear. To give the message a submissive aural reception. Then immediately one's heart becomes freed from all material contamination.

Then he says: yei gaurāṅgera nāma laya, tāra haya premodaya. Now, the devotees are concerned how to develop love of Godhead. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura recommends that anyone who simply chants śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda...'' Gaurāṅga means with all this paraphernalia. As soon as we speak of gaurāṅga, we should mean the five: Lord Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara, and Śrīvāsa. All together. So yei gaurāṅgera nāma laya, anyone who chants, immediately he will develop love of Godhead. Yei gaurāṅgera nāma laya, tara haya premodaya, tāre mui jaya bole hari. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says "I offer him all congratulation.'' Because it is certain that he has developed love of Godhead. Then he says, gaurāṅga-guṇete jhure, nitya-līlā tāre sphure. Anyone, if he cries by simply by hearing the transcendental qualities of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he at once understands what is the loving affairs between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

Nitya-līlā means the pastimes, or the loving exchange, affairs between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, that is eternal. That is not temporary. We should not think that Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa pastimes, loving affairs, is just like the business of a, of a young boy or girl, as we see in this material world. Such loving affairs is not at all loving affairs. They are lusty affairs, and they are not eternal. Therefore they break. Today I am in love with somebody and next day it breaks. But Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa līlā is not like that. It is eternal. Therefore that is transcendental and this is temporary. So simply one who is absorbed in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, he can immediately understand what is the actual position of the loving affairs of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Nitya-līlā tāre sphure. Sei yaya rādhā-mādhava, sei yaya vrajendra-suta pāśa. And simply by doing that, he becomes eligible to enter into the abode of Kṛṣṇa. Vrajendra-suta. Vrajendra-suta means the son of Nanda Mahārāja in Vṛndāvana. He's sure to go to associate with Kṛṣṇa in his next birth.

Gaurāṅgera saṅge-gaṇe, nitya-siddha boli māne. Anyone who has understood that the associates of Lord Caitanya, they are not ordinary conditioned souls... They are liberated souls. Nitya-siddha bole māni. There are three kinds of devotees. One is called sādhana-siddha. Sadhana-siddha means by following the regulative principles of devotional service, if one becomes perfect, he's called sādhana-siddha. Another devotee is called kṛpā-siddha. Kṛpā-siddha means even if he has not followed strictly all the regulative principle, still, by the mercy of ācārya or a devotee, or by Kṛṣṇa, he is elevated to the perfectional stage. That is specially. And another devotee is called nitya-siddha. Nitya-siddha means they were never contaminated. The sādhana-siddha and kṛpā-siddha was contaminated by material touch, and by following regulative principles or by the mercy or grace of some devotee and ācārya they're elevated to the perfectional state. But nitya-siddha means they were never contaminated. They're ever liberated. So all the associates of Lord Caitanya, just like Advaita Prabhu, Śrīvāsa, Gadādhara, Nityānanda, they are Viṣṇu-tattva. They are all liberated. Not only they, the Gosvāmīs... There are many others. So they are ever-liberated. So one who can understand that the associates of Lord Caitanya are ever-liberated... Nitya-siddha bale māni, sei yaya vrajendra suta-pāśa. Immediately he becomes eligible to enter into the abode of Kṛṣṇa.

And then he says, gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi, yebā jāni cintāmaṇi. A... The gaura-maṇḍala means the place in West Bengal wherein Lord Caitanya had His pastimes. In Navadvīpa, during Lord Caitanya's birth anniversary, the devotees go and circumambulate different places of Lord Caitanya's pastimes. It takes nine days. So that portion of Bengal is called gauḍa-maṇḍala. So Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, "One who understands that there is no difference between this part of the country with Vṛndāvana," tāra haya vraja-bhūmi vāsa, "it is as good as one lives in Vṛndāvana." Then he says, gaura-prema rasārṇarve. Lord Caitanya's activities is just like an ocean of loving affairs of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore one who takes a dip into this ocean, gaura-prema-rasārṇave, sei taraṅga yebā ḍube. Just like we take a dip and bath, and we play, sport, in the waves of the ocean or sea. Similarly, one who takes pleasure, taking a dip and sporting with the waves of the ocean of Lord Caitanya's distribution of love of God, such a person becomes immediately a confidential devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Sei rādhā-mādhava-antaraṅga. Antaraṅga means not ordinary devotee. They are confidential devotee. And Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, gṛhe vā vanete thāke. "Such devotee, who is taking pleasure in the waves of Lord Caitanya's movement," because he has become a very confidential devotee of the Lord...

Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, "Such devotee, it doesn't matter whether he's in the renounced order of life or whether he is a householder." Gṛha. Gṛha means householder. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement does not say that one has to become a renounced order, sannyāsī. Just like Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, impersonalists, Śaṅkarācārya, they first, they put the first condition that "You take up the renounced order of life first, and then talk of spiritual advancement." So in Śaṅkara sampradāya nobody is accepted as bona fide impersonalist unless he has accepted the renounced order of life. But here, in Caitanya's movement, there is no such restriction. Advaita Prabhu, He was a householder. Nityānanda, He was householder. Gadādhara, He was also householder. And Śrīvāsa, he was also householder. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu also married twice. So it doesn't matter. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says that to become in renounced order of life, or to remain in householder life, that does not matter. If he is actually taking part in the movements of Caitanya's saṅkīrtana activities and actually understanding what it is, he is taking sport in the waves of such devotional ocean, then such person is always liberated. And Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura is aspiring his association ever increasingly. That is the sum and substance of this song.

UPDATED: April 1, 2009