o govinda | The Hare Krishna Movement

A Short Sketch of the Life and Teachings of Lord Caitanya

05 Mar 2015 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Siksastakam, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: Appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krsna, Lord Caitanya, o govinda, Vrndavana

Today marks the appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the great apostle of love of God and the father of the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord. In honor of His Appearance we share with you “A Short Sketch of the Life and Teachings of Lord Caitanya”, which Srila Prabhupada has included in the introduction to the Srimad Bhagavatam.

In the modern age Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu preached the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by practical demonstration. It is easier to penetrate into the topics of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam through the medium of Śrī Caitanya’s causeless mercy. Therefore a short sketch of His life and precepts is inserted herein to help the reader understand the real merit of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

It is imperative that one learn the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the person Bhāgavatam. The person Bhāgavatam is one whose very life is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in practice. Since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is both Bhagavān and Bhāgavatam in person and in sound. Therefore His process of approaching the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is practical for all people of the world. It was His wish that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam be preached in every nook and corner of the world by those who happened to take their birth in India.

Sri Siksastaka

03 Dec 2014 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Sankirtan, Sri Siksastaka Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, ceto-darpana-marjanam, darpanam, fire of conditional life, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, holy name, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, marjanam, materialistic way of life, maya, o govinda, repeated birth and death, sankirtan movement, transcendental bliss

Although I have posted the Sri Siksastaka prayers from this site in the past, the importance of these eight prayers by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu can not be over emphasized. Therefore we are posting them again along with a Commentary by Srila Prabhupada and a sound file by Achutananda Prabhu.

…Although Lord Caitanya was widely renowned as a scholar in His youth, He left only eight verses, called Śikṣāṣṭaka. These eight verses clearly reveal His mission and precepts. These supremely valuable prayers are translated herein.

Śrī Śrī Śikṣāṣṭaka
Eight Instructions of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

The Gopīs’ Feelings of Separation

28 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Ecstasy, KRSNA The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Separation, Sriman George Harrison Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, adi 9.51, be with you, George Harrison, gopis, gopis feelings of separation, Krsna Book, Krsna The Supreme Personality of Godhead, My Sweet Lord, o govinda, see you, show you lord, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada

click on image to enlarge

We were discussing the other night with some friends, that the mood of Lord Caitanya was love in separation, and that this should also be our mood as devotees. George Harrison understood this mood, and in his song “My Sweet Lord” we find in his lyrics:

My sweet Lord
Hmm, my Lord
Hmm, my Lord
I really want to see you
Really want to be with you
Really want to see you, Lord, but it takes so long, my Lord …

I really want to know you
Really want to go with you
Really want to show you, Lord, that it won’t take long, my Lord …

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Srila Prabhupada has described this very nicely throughout all his writings, and in the Caitanya-caritmrta we find:

“O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from My eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.” This is the perfectional stage of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and eating the fruit of love of Godhead, as exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One should not artificially imitate this stage, but if one is serious and sincerely follows the regulative principles and chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the time will come when these symptoms will appear. Tears will fill his eyes, he will be unable to chant distinctly the mahā-mantra, and his heart will throb in ecstasy. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that one should not imitate this, but a devotee should long for the day to come when such symptoms of trance will automatically appear in his body. (Purport Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi 9.51)

This is all but and introduction to one of the very best, sweetest, chapters in the KRSNA Book “The Gopīs’ Feelings of Separation” which we have posted here in its entirety.