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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
problems. So Kṛṣṇa guarantees that if one surrenders unto Him, if one becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, then He will give one protection from all reactions to sinful life.
This assurance was given by Kṛṣṇa in the  Bhagavad-gītā , but there were many fools who could not understand Kṛṣṇa. In the  Bhagavad-gītā  they are described as  mūḍhas .  Mūḍha  means “rascal,” and Kṛṣṇa says in the  Gītā , “They do not know what I actually am.” So many people misunderstood Kṛṣṇa. Although Kṛṣṇa gave us this message of the  Bhagavad-gītā  so that we could understand Him, many people missed the opportunity. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, out of His compassion, came again, as a devotee, and showed us how to surrender unto Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa Himself came to teach us how to surrender. His last instruction in the  Bhagavad-gītā  is to surrender, but people— mūḍhas , rascals—said, “Why should I surrender?” Therefore, although Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, this time He teaches us practically how to execute the mission of the  Bhagavad-gītā . That’s all. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is teaching nothing extraordinary, nothing beyond the process of surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead which was already taught in the  Bhagavad-gītā . There is no other teaching, but the same teaching is presented in different ways so that different kinds of people may take it and take the opportunity to approach God.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives us the opportunity to reach God directly. When Rūpa Goswami, the principal disciple of Lord Caitanya, first saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he was a minister in the government of Bengal but wanted to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement. So he gave up his position as a minister, and after joining, when he surrendered, he offered a nice prayer to Lord Caitanya. This prayer says:
namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
“My dear Lord, You are the most munificent of all the incarnations.” Why?  Kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te : “You are directly giving love of God. You have no other purpose. Your process is so nice that one can immediately learn to love God. Therefore You are the most munificent of all incarnations. And it is not possible for any personality other than Kṛṣṇa Himself to deliver this benediction; therefore I say that You are Kṛṣṇa.”  Kṛṣṇāya