Introduction
9
“when” Kṛṣṇa desires, just when He did desire we cannot say. We only speak in this way because in conditional life we take it that everything has a beginning; however, in the absolute or spiritual life there is neither beginning nor end. Yet in order to understand that Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one and that They also become divided, the question “When?” automatically comes to mind. When Kṛṣṇa desired to enjoy His pleasure potency, He manifested Himself in the separate form of Rādhārāṇī, and when He wanted to understand Himself through the agency of Rādhā, He united with Rādhārāṇī, and that unification is called Lord Caitanya.
Why did Kṛṣṇa assume the form of Caitanya Mahāprabhu? It is explained that Kṛṣṇa desired to know the glory of Rādhā’s love. “Why is She so much in love with Me?” Kṛṣṇa asked. “What is My special qualification that attracts Her so? And what is the actual way in which She loves Me?” It seems strange that Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme, should be attracted by anyone’s love. We search after the love of a woman or a man because we are imperfect and lack something. The love of a woman, that potency and pleasure, is absent in man, and therefore a man wants a woman, but this is not the case with Kṛṣṇa, who is full in Himself. Thus Kṛṣṇa expressed surprise: “Why am I attracted by Rādhārāṇī? And when Rādhārāṇī feels My love, what is She actually feeling?” In order to taste the essence of that loving affair, Kṛṣṇa appeared just as the moon appears on the horizon of the sea. Just as the moon was produced by the churning of the sea, by the churning of spiritual love affairs the moon of Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared. Indeed, Caitanya’s complexion was golden, just like the moon. Although this is figurative language, it conveys the meaning behind the appearance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The full significance of His appearance will be explained in later chapters.
The manifestations of the Supreme are also explained in  Caitanya-caritāmṛta . After offering respects to Lord Caitanya, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja next offers them to Nityānanda. He explains that Nityānanda is a manifestation of Saṅkarṣaṇa, who is the origin of the Mahā-Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa’s first manifestation is as Balarāma and then Saṅkarṣaṇa, and after Saṅkarṣaṇa He is manifest as Pradyumna. In this way so many expansions take place. Although there are many expansions, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the origin, as confirmed in  Brahma-saṁhitā . He is like the original candle from which many thousands and millions of candles are lit. Although any number of candles can be lighted, the original candle still retains its identity as the origin. In this way Kṛṣṇa expands, Himself into so many lights, and all these expansions are called  viṣṇu-tattva . Viṣṇu is a large light, and we are small lights, but all are expansions of Kṛṣṇa.
When it is necessary to create the material universe, Viṣṇu expands Himself as the Mahā-Viṣṇu. This Mahā-Viṣṇu lies down on the Causal Ocean and breathes all the universes from His nostrils. Thus from the Mahā-Viṣṇu and the Causal Ocean all the universes spring, and all these universes float in the Causal Ocean. In this regard there is the story of Vāmana, who, when He took three steps, stuck His foot through the covering of the universe. Water from the Causal Ocean flowed through the hole which His foot made, and it is said that that flow of water became the River Ganges. Therefore the Ganges is accepted as the most sacred water of Viṣṇu and is worshiped by all Hindus from the Himalayas down to the Bay of Bengal.