Introduction

“HARE KRSNA” has become a household phrase in cities, towns and
villages throughout the world, fulfilling a prophecy made almost five hundred
years ago by Lord $i Caitanya Mahdprabhu. From Los Angeles to London,
from Bombay to Buenos Aires, from Pittsburgh and Melbourne to Paris and
even Moscow, people of all ages, colors, creeds and faiths are feeling the bliss
of the dynamic yoga system called “Krsna consciousness.”

This Krsna consciousness movement began in full force some five hundred
years ago, when Lord $ri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, an incarnation of Krsna
(God), flooded the subcontinent of India with the chanting of the mantra
Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama
Rama, Hare Hare. To reveal the secret of what real love is, Krsna came to earth
five hundred years ago in the guise of His own devotee—as Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. With His chief associates— Nityananda, Advaita, Gadadhara
and Srivasa—He taught how to develop love of Godhead simply by chanting
Hare Krsna and dancing in ecstasy.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, which was written by the great saint Krsmadasa
Kaviraja Gosvami shortly after Lord Caitanya’s disappearance, vividly de-
scribes Lord Caitanya’s blissful pastimes and probes deeply into His profound
spiritual philosophy.

The translations and purports, the explanations of the verses, are the work
of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the author of
Bhagavad-gita As It is; The Nectar of Devotion; Krsna, the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead (first published in 1970 with the kind help of Mr. George
Harrison); and numerous other books about yoga and self-realization.

Although this is the fourth volume of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, one need not
have read the previous volumes to understand and appreciate this book. Srila
Prabhupada remarks that such a spiritual work is like sugar, for wherever you
begin tasting it you will surely enjoy its sweetness.
