138 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
problems. So Krsna guarantees that if one surrenders unto Him, if one
becomes fully Krsna conscious, then He will give one protection from all
reactions to sinful life.

This assurance was given by Krsna in the Bhagavad-gitd, but there
were many fools who could not understand Krsna. In the Bhagavad-gita
they are described as miidhas. Miidha means “‘rascal,’” and Krsna says in
the Gitd, ‘“They do not know what I actually am.’ So many people mis-
understood Krsna. Although Krsna gave us this message of the
Bhagavaa-gita so that we could understand Him, many people missed the
opportunity. Therefore Krsna, out of His compassion, came again, as a
devotee, and showed us how to surrender unto Krsna. Krsna Himself
came to teach us how to surrender. His last instruction in the Bhagavad-
gitd is to surrender, but people— miudhas, rascals—said, ‘‘Why should I
surrender?”’ Therefore, although Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna Him-
self, this time He teaches us practically how to execute the mission of the

. Bhagavaa-gita. That’s all. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is teaching nothing ex-
traordinary, nothing beyond the process of surrendering to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead which was already taught in the Bhagavad-gita.
There is no other teaching, but the same teaching is presented in dif-
ferent ways so that different kinds of people may take it and take the op-
portunity to approach God.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu gives us the opportunity to reach God directly.
When Rtipa Goswami, the principal disciple of Lord Caitanya, first saw
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he was a minister in the government of Bengal
but wanted to join Caitanya Mahaprabhu’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 maha-vadanyaya

krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-
, namne gaura-tvise namah

‘‘My dear Lord, You are the most munificent of all the incarnations.”
Why? Krsna-prema-pradaya 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 incarna-
tions. And it is not possible for any personality other than Krsna Himself
to deliver this benediction; therefore I say that You are Krsna.”’ Krsndya
